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#like imagine thinking well it's fanon it's not gonna affect the canon-- and it's like NO SHIT. We acting like we brand new to fandoms!
royboyfanpage · 16 days
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roygarth headcanons and motifs?
Okay I wanna just give a disclaimer that I am not a Garth expert, I've only really read him in Titans comics (though I did read Tempest 1996 specifically for this ask), also Roygarth isn't my OTP, I do ship it but it's not something I've thought about in great length, so my apologies if I've gotten Garth's character wrong or if my interpretation of the ship is different to yours/OOC. Also I've not made any in depth ship posts before, I'm more of a passive observer of ships, so apologies if this sucks ass generally.
For it to work in canon, a very strong aspect of it would have to be communication. Roy doesn't always pick up on when he's done something that's upset someone, and Garth can become quite vocally angry if someone upsets/hurts him. I really wish that the progress they'd made in Titans (1999) #16 was expanded on in later comics because I think if they got past that initial barrier of miscommunication they could have such a good relationship. They're actually pretty similar in some ways, they both love very strongly and are fiercly protective of the people they love, but there are differences, too. Roy's very much an immediate reactor in a lot of cases, he reacts immediately when something upsets him and forgives just as fast, whereas Garth can let things fester/build over time and then eventually lash out in a much angrier way, so communication is definitely the most important aspect.
I don't think that they'd ever be the perfect honeymoon couple, there are always gonna be some things about both of them that drive each other insane. I can't see Roy completely dropping all the teasing, and I also can't see Garth suddenly becoming totally okay with it because Roy's explained he's only kidding. However, I do see it becoming more of an exasperation rather than actually pissing him off, and if they were to get closer I could see it becoming more mutual, good-natured teasing. I also think that they'd get better at resolving arguments too, and that they wouldn't escalate as far once a mutual level of trust's been built up. I think Garth kinda has an expectation that people are out to get him sometimes or that they underestimate his worth, so once that's been addressed and Garth's assured that Roy has no ill-will or negativity towards him then he'd be less likely to lash out and more understanding that that's just Roy's way of showing affection.
It's absolutely a slowburn relationship that would take a lot of time to develop. They're not gonna wake up one morning and realise they love each other and should date. I think, if anything, Cerdian would be a really good way for them to actually fall in love with each other (let's say for the sake of this, Cerdian's fine and Garth and Dolphin split up). I think being able to bond over being parents would absolutely open new opportunities for their relationship, and one of the things Roy looks for in a romantic partner is how well they get along with Lian, so another parent would definitely be a good choice of partner for him, especially since Garth already adored Lian even before Cerdian was born and he and Roy had their talk in purgatory. Plus them co-parenting Lian and Cerdian would be adorable.
I still think that the nicknames would persist, but they'd definitely become more terms of affection as they entered a relationship. Maybe not Gill-head specifically since Garth's explicitly stated he doesn't like that one, but other affectionate fish-related ones for sure. Also they'd keep calling each other Speedy and Aqualad affectionately.
Aaand from a more fanon-y perspective, I think Roy'd definitely be the one to initiate much of the physical affection. I 100% see him as a hugger, so I can imagine him just pulling Garth into hugs or dragging him over to the sofa to cuddle. Garth I can see as more of a spontanious kisser. Both of them go bright red whenever the other surprises them with affection. Also they should do the percabeth underwater kiss.
Anyway this is a family
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onehndredpercent · 1 year
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Asking as someone who just recently got into this fandom and feels a little like they arrived ten hours late with Starbucks to it and hasn’t seen nearly all the canon content that has been offered to us this far I thought I would ask about this because I am curious (and I hope people may get a kick out of m rambling even if it may be completly disproven):
Fanon likes to imagine older Mob is going to be a big boy ™️ that towers over Reigen but has there actually been anything in canon hinting or confirming that this might be the case? Because I myself have been immensely entertained by the thought of his height peaking relatively early and after that not much else happening (which he is probably a little disappointed about. Shigeo, age 16: „I think this is gonna be the year where I finally hit my growth spurt!“ age 17: „This year maybe.“ age 18: „This time for sure.“ age 20: „….Maybe i am just… a really late bloomer?“) , BUT still training and getting stronger which results in a relatively short but still ABSOLUTELY shredded Mob who kind of blows people away with how weirdly buff he is when he decides to wear something that shows that off a little. (Reigen in the background recreating that girl looking at guys Pecs meme constantly because he is utterly flabbergasted at Mob being built like a brick shit hou-… well more like a brick shit hut, he’s a tiny thing, but STILL?)
hey, first of all welcome to the fandom! im pretty new myself lol so don’t worry too much about that, everyone's pretty friendly here.
I don’t think there's any official material of mob past his 3rd year of middle school, so nothing that would suggest his height. I think a lot of people, myself included, hc mob as taller and stacked because its symbolic of him outgrowing reigen as he becomes his own person, kinda reflective of his emotional development. plus its just funny to imagine reigen being the shortest person at spirits & such with his loud personality. I guess if you wanted to get technical, mob's appearance has been shown to be affected by his emotional state (mob on a high horse stuff that happens before the divine tree arc kicks off) which could /technically/ lead to him getting pretty big as he feels more confident, but ive honestly never thought about it that deeply.
short but hench mob is honestly a great interpretation too, and would be very in character to remain pretty unassuming most of the time, also brick shit hut made me WHEEZE
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hhootzyer · 1 year
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This one gonna be a tad different from what we usually see, this is one of my worlds so all characters down will act different from either their canon lores or fanon harsh contents.
They are both related.
Brothers related actually.
This will be a sudden short story from my mind that runs on 6:14am, sky, my sky in-laws and my wife.
This will be a wholesome story for my wholesome little followers and those who need some break from reality at least, and ofc you who read and like this on tumblr! Or just like to read in general.
Cutting to the short end let’s begin before I hit my breaks.
After Minecraft became the so called popular game the one considered as god, Notch himself was thriving, not cause of all the population that spread like wild fire, well, maybe a little bit.
But he was even more overjoyed to spread around the fun of “actually creating things without having to involve so much material and mess in the real world called earth.”
It was mostly a way to escape the reality of how society been changing so frequently that he would feel left behind most of the times, with new words and abbreviations in words he would often get lost rather quickly than he liked to admit.
His brother, the one and only who were by his side ever since the beginning, always watching like a hawk, knowing how Notch would get carried away with patching notes and everything he often tended to skip quite a lot of meal and breaks.
For them it was normal living on a world of blocks, being able to build on their own and even live the life as whatever you though your mind and hands would result in to, laboratory? Farmer? Painter? World explorer? You could do anything the world allowed you to.
Hnngh….!! This one will be the biggest patch ever made… 78 and going up… again.
Notch wasn’t amused, the world is always filled with those parasite called bugs and viruses, not the normal bugs you see on grass, but bugs that would affect even the way you think to move your hand or even muscles correctly.
Ay big bro! Come check this one out!
Confused Notch went out only to flinch as a big pile of sand got dumped right in front of him, the backyard that was a empty space was completely flooded with sand from the beach, the beach itself wasn’t so far actually, within 20 to 47 steps you could already touch the warm soft sand with your barefoot.
Hero!? What’s all of this!? It’s a mess!
Not a mess if you call it… “art”~
I swear you and your upbringing hazards…
Heh, it’s me after all~
Herobrine now hopping down from the roof jumped straight in to the sand, chuckling as he looked at Notch with arms crossed and amused face.
…so, care to explain what’s all of this?
Oh you’ll see, come here first.
With such no care to the world that shown on the younger male’s face, Notch let out a sigh before followed to a smile, Herobrine was always up for a chaos but in a good way.
Herobrine, the little guiding hand of Notch.
That’s what he mainly was more than a little brother, he was a reliable family member and quite of a helper than others imagine.
All those bugs that Notch squash with the update is mainly those that Herobrine found, the way he found is by infiltrating on the worlds and test out new features and new items for any sort of misplaced codes or incompatible connections that could cause future problems.
This honestly was one of the reason why Minecraft spiked in popularity, one day the brothers did a usual routine except Herobrine entered the world of a player that already made the world it’s home.
By this accidental discover the person spread the words about Herobrine, at first Herobrine panicked and tried to stop the player but in the end it leaked out and with that more attention merged in, causing Minecraft itself to be a huge exploding success.
First you’ll need a shovel and we’ll, just dig around! I got plenty of buckets so it won’t be gone that easily.
You really know how to make a day fun don’t you?
Neither needs to say the brothers was the most inseparable duo, their life together was quite of a surprise despite how bad the reputations between siblings are for here and there folks.
The treasures are the best taste when found by blind eyes.
?
At first, Notch was completely clueless like anybody would be, something like that coming from no other than his own little brother.
Well, first time for everybody?
As they played in the sand they would find many things to add on a small collection, pretty rocks, unique shells, even surprising crab inside of it, well that one just snip snap on Herobrine’s finger which he flicked off in pain, ofc earning a good old laugh from the god.
A core memory to be remembered by both brothers of heart.
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I mean Nuts and Dolts may be gone but it still had moments actually interpretable as romance unlike Whiterose. The last two seasons of no development plus the VAs directly saying they don't see Whiterose happen canonically, did an irreparable damage to the likelyhood of the ship being a thing. I don't know what else has to be said to convince those few stubborn fans that Whiterose, while being a cute fanon concept, is probably never going to go beyond fanfiction, and baiting themselves will only result in more disappointment...i mean, it's kind of time to move on, and i say that as a former Whiterose fan.
Nuts and Dolts may be dead but Whiterose never even lived if you ask me personally...
oh so we're doing this now
we're doing this now okay let me pull up a chair-
If you sincerely think that Whiterose doesn't have any chance, and I don't mean to be rude here, you might not have been paying attention. Because these two are loud. They are absurdly loud in how in love they are and Volume 7 was a fluke. One dry season does not cancel out literal years of content! And you think that Nuts and Dolts had moments that felt romantic, and yeah they definitely had moments like that and it was very cute, but they had plenty of moments that were just as romantically inclined as Weiss and Ruby, albeit a lot fewer because Penny was, (is?) well, dead. There is a mountain of content I could post here but in the interest of not making this super long because I’m pretty busy rn with projects and this is cutting into my Tumblr time enough as it is...
For one, Whiterose is constantly compared to Bumbleby, the one cannonical WLW ship out of our main cast, in Volume 6 (best volume in my opinion, loved it so much) in the intro the affection between these two is shown as a direct contrast to Yang and Blake to show how at odds the bees were at by showing how close and loving the roses are. When you’re explicitly comparing a pair of character’s relationship to the relationship of a cannon one, that says a lot. It’s why the Bees are compared to Renora a lot too, there’s a lot of power in explicit parallel's and foils. This didn’t need to be here but it is. I don’t think I need to argue why the bees are cannon and definitely romantically involved so I’m not gonna, moving on-
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Let me introduce you to Weiss’ ‘I am madly in love with Ruby Rose’ smile as well
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She smiles at Ruby like this all the time throughout Volume 6 (and a few times in V5) and never looks at anyone else like this. Okay imagine Ruby was a man, say Jaune. Look me in the eyes and tell me that wouldn’t immediately be taken as romantic by everyone excluding fans including me that just want Jaune to be friends with Weiss and the rest of the crew and nothing more. I could go into this further, but again short for time. And I know that we all love our ship captains Arryn and Barbara, but the voice actors aren’t the ones writing the show, sure it might not be their preference, but, you know who has bearing on all of this and is a reliable source of information on the show?
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Yeah. Yeah.
I’ll just leave you with a few more pictures of these gaybies and get back to my current writing and drawing projects, I hope this didn’t come across as mean spirited, that wasn’t my intention. Hope you have a lovely day! :D
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Also thank you for being on anon, I know there’s probably people round these parts not as chill as me who’d go ape shit in your ask box over this and that’d suck, good on ya!
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aerltarg · 3 years
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Maybe this is a stupid question, buuuuut:
I just can't imagine a world that Rhaegar comes back from the Trident, wins the war and becomes king. No, I'm not a anti Rhaegar, matter of fact I like him very much, I'm just can imagine how would Lya, little Jon, this whole affair, would settle in the capital. The norm that fics (at least those I read) tend to follow is to make Rhaegar:
1. A douche, paranoid and destiny-obessed king.
2. Completely incompetent, aloof monarch, that deep down has a heart of gold, but can't really be understood.
I mean, isn't he supposed to be a scholar since he was a kid? What's are your thoughts about it?
oh, yeah, i can totally understand this! it's is the whole point in canon actually, "the wrong man came back from the trident". you would expect a hero win against his antagonist and have a happy ending w his lady love but it doesn't happen. instead the subversion happens to them with rhaegar being killed by robert who becomes obviously a shitty king and lyanna dying after him. they were never supposed to have happy ending, they were created as tragic and doomed and dead from the beginning for the whole plot to start, jon to have his parentage mystery and dany to take the passed baton as the last dragon, prophesied savoir and the heir who has to carry entire house on her back now.
as for the realistic rhaegar wins aus that's the difficult question. tbh we just don't know enough abt their situation, plans and wishes. you see, e.g. in agot we can be right in ned's head and see his motivations, what he was thinking abt, what he was planning, what he was hoping to do. but if his story was told the way rhaegar's was i bet he would have his own crowd of haters and ~intellectuals~ jumping out every two seconds w their "hot takes" how actually all hints abt what rlly happened (ned being a good man w his own sense of honour, justice and experiences affecting him and the deal w cersei's children) doesn't matter and he was an ambitious prick, planned to grasp the power by being joffrey's regent and make his daughter sansa queen. (you can actually insert there any bullshit and still don't reach the level of stupidity of such "hot takes" this fandom loves so much lmao). also he would be blamed to the hell and beyond for being too stupid and not foreseeing the future and actions of other ppl bc ofc after everything happened it's so easy to say what was so obvious to notice. also they would say that the deaths of his men and horrible fates of his kids are 100% his fault and even straight up say he killed them lmao. i can rant abt it for hours so yeah. this is a situation w too many unknown variables bc it depends too much on actions of too many characters we don't know enough abt. the only thing it's possible to tell for sure is the fact that there couldn't be any perfect solutions since things got too complicated at this point.
such fics as you've mentioned tho are just a part of this dumb fanon where rhaegar is "too prophecy obsessed"/"incapable of love"/shrodinger's rhaegar both smart and stupid at the same time/whatever/all of this combined lmfao. the man was notably intelligent from the early age as you've absolutely rightly mentioned, his guesses abt himself being tptwp have nothing to do w egocentrism as some parts of the fandom would want us all to believe unless he wouldn't be so reasonable abt it and later on, after so many years, wouldn't have changed his mind and thought his son could be tptwp.
and literally fuck all antis that think you shouldn't consider prophecies that hold real power in this fantasy world lol. you know, aegon the conqueror was said to be motivated (or at least partly) to unify westeros by the prophecy and still got the treatment of perfect/maximum close to perfect figure of a leader everyone should look up to from the narrative and grrm. prophecy obsessed much, huh? i don't even talk abt all these parallels between him and rhaegar grrm put there not for bitches to ignore them completely! and i will never get tired of reminding that dismissing prophecies is UNWISE for targaryens of all people. the house whose story is built on the dream of young daenys and her father aenar that listened to her despite common sense (or what local "anti magic"/"anti prophecies" clowns consider to be common sense). targs would be as dead as the rest of dragonlords if not for daenys the dreamer. who else in the world has as many reasons to take prophecies seriously as them?
yet antis out there act as if rhaegar is one dimensional weirdo whose every character trait is abt mf ~prophecy obsession~. like how can they miss one of the main points so badly?? the game of thrones distracts ppl from the real danger beyond the wall, yk, the one rhaegar was aware of and meant to deal with. there wouldn't be such a problem if he became king and had as many years of head start before ice zombies apocalypse as ignorant bobby b did. rhaegar had to die just for westeros to sink in shit and our main heroes to save everyone to make this story more epic LMAO
so yeah, too many ppl portray rhaegar as this one dimensional robotic creature without any knowledge of what feelings are idk even for what reason. it seems these ppl can't read for real bc rhaegar was not only intelligent af as well as dutiful ("it seems i must be a warrior" but "he loved his harp more than his lance") but also. ugh emotional?? my boy had constant emo sessions w brooding at ruins of summerhall, sleeping out there beneath the stars all alone and writing songs that made all women cry. does it sound as someone who "isn't capable of love" lol? folks act as if he was completely heartless from the day he was born (bc he didnt play w other kids ig??) but in reality their emotional range is less than the one of a spoon in comparison to rhaegar's lol. i'm not even gonna address the horrible attitude of demonizing him for his implied depression, vile clowns never listen to themselves when they talk abt targaryens and their "madness".
tldr; these fics are mostly lame af and suck at characterization if they're making rhaegar like that lol. anyway his character isn't abt being a good or a bad king, it's abt being a would-be-king for characters in books and readers in reality to sigh over his tragic aura and pretty aesthetic abt how it could've been. however, grrm clearly doesn't write rhaegar as evil or incapable as some parts of the fandom would want to try to persuade others. realistically speaking in the scenario where he wins there couldn't be any perfect decisions but it's a territory of speculations on thin air and lit nothing more since canon doesn't provide us with enough information to rlly theorize anything instead of building biased headcanons some ppl call "analysis".
but remember what barristan said about rhaegar while practically watching him all his life, from a literal baby to the man grown:
“I know little of Rhaegar. Only the tales Viserys told, and he was a little boy when our brother died. What was he truly like?”
The old man considered a moment. “Able. That above all. Determined, deliberate, dutiful, single-minded.” (ASOS, Daenerys I)
“Prince Rhaegar’s prowess was unquestioned, but he seldom entered the lists. He never loved the song of swords the way that Robert did, or Jaime Lannister. It was something he had to do, a task the world had set him. He did it well, for he did everything well. That was his nature. But he took no joy in it. Men said that he loved his harp much better than his lance.” (ASOS, Daenerys IV)
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peachy-inserts · 4 years
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alright, here we go; long post coming up y’all
(sorry for any errors, or for too much repetition. i am incredibly tired today)
tdlr; bakugou is angry and deserves love and patience
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the name thing is what bothers me the very most about fanon bakugou. he frequently calls people by insults, but even lately in canon has shown to use them less and less, and with people he personally knows, or someone who’s being a dick
and for someone who has so much trouble opening up and developing close relationships in the first place, why the hell would he ever choose to call an s/o by these names? it’s an abusive behavior to do that; i know it’s fictional but could you imagine if your boyfriend called you a ‘fucking dumbass’? ‘endearingly’ or not, i just don’t see how some people could characterize bakugou like that and find it appealing
about showing respect by using names, notice how he hardly calls midoriya anything other than ‘damn deku’, but has rarely slung dumbass or idiot into the mix. he also would never adress his teachers or idols by those things, even though we all know he’s got enough balls and anger to
granted, he doesn’t spare this courtesy with his friends, but speaking realistically i think i say bitch and whore more times a day when talking to my friends than i do their names. i think platonically, with the right context, bond, and tone you can certainly use names like this to show affection. but never to hurt them with
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bakugou is definitely incredibly insecure, which of course we saw in the deku vs kacchan 2 fight when all might broke them up. he’s just a messed up kid with a warped perception of reality (which we’ll go more into on in the next part) a lot that goes into making bakugou the personality he is on fanon is this in the works, and yet it’s completely ignored and excused as an extremely confident dude who shows affection through violence and insults/threats. like, what? you can’t play that off as ‘haha he means well’ like no, no. any perosn with an inkling of sense knows you don’t act like that to people you care about
going off of him being insecure, you’d have to have to be forceful with him to get him to open up, as well as showing him a little bit of tlc because it’s not like literally anyone has ever offered that to him. deku has definitely tried to be close with him, but i don’t think he’s going as deep as he should and to no fault of his; his history with bakugou and bakugous feelings of inferiority prevent that from happening on his end. i don’t think bakugou would be able to be vulnerable to somebody unless they opened up to him first, and had written a reliable history with him. he’s someone who could stand to learn by example
still yet though, a lot of what i see with him on the other side of fanon (him not, y’know, basically being abusive) is that he’s a mellowed out fellow, doesn’t let things bother him, is super sweet. even without everything making him him the way that he is, that’s still his personality. even if he were to overcome all of his issues, that doesn’t mean his entire personality would change. he’s certainly aware of how he presents himself, and how people shy away from him, but as of currently where the anime left off (i’m not caught up on the manga) is okay with that. he focuses on his goals to distract himself from those matters weighing down on him but i think in the future as he had more time to bond with others he’d definitely try to make an effort to change, and from that point is where i tend to write him from. he can still be brash, confident, and teasing all while showing kindness to others, it’s just gonna take time
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mitsuki is, if you ask me, the root of his problems. for real. mitsuki literally criticizes him for the way he handles being kidnapped, makes him feel guilty for it, treats him as if he should have been able to solve everything in his own, shouldn’t have been there in the first place if he was really strong enough, and reinforces this idea in him that a hero should be able to work completely alone. she gives him the idea that needing help or asking for help is weak and he should be ashamed for ‘inconveniecing’ everyone, despite him literally being her 15 year old son kidnapped by the most notorious and dangerous group of villains in the country
that’s not tough love, that is emotional abuse. mitsuki and bakugou’s relationship is more than them both simply being rough around the edges, she sets out to degrade him and knock him down every time he shows an ounce of confidence. it is extremely toxic, and caused him to develop this inferiority complex that we see (only to be amplified by the one person he could confidently assert himself over becoming the all powerful successor to his idol)
if she would have showed him a little bit of weakness, a little bit of the motherly love expected of her, i don’t think he’d be nearly as insecure as he is now. his flashy quirk would still play into his personality, what with adults fawning over him and saying he should be a hero (seen in the beginning of the series) but i think more than anything it would be a not so intense fear of failure. if he had his own mother backing him up, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad
mitsuki has lead him to believe that unless he’s the best and achieves his goal without any help whatsoever, that he should be disappointed, pitied, and seen as a loser
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finally touching the lighter side of things, bakugou would be absolutely hilarious the first time he ever committed himself to a relationship. he’s genuinely never been interested in it, and the few crushes he’s had were completely ignored to fulfill his goals. so far we’ve established that he’s insecure, feels inferior, and has trouble expressing his emotions unless the right person caters to him patiently. there is absolutely NO way that he could go into a relationship confidently, he’d be completely flustered and nervous as hell. i think bakugou is definitely the type to play into cliche romance standards all while pretending he’s too cool to care, and it’s whimsical to say the least
all he cares about is being a hero, so unless someone willing to work with him slowly and show him kindness latches into him and cracks him open, i don’t see him starting a relationship in high school. he wouldn’t be concerned with those matters until he’s finally settled down into a routine work life, and even then wouldn’t be able to develop a good romantic relationship with someone he wasn’t already friends with
as for pda, his flashy show off style and embarrassed ‘never dated anyone and is terrified’ ordeal would clash and leave him wanting to be able to indulge in pda, but far too flustered to go through with it. he’ll hold hand with you, yeah, maybe leave a hand on your waist when you’re idle, but a kiss is taking it outside of his comfort zone. once he’s adapted and overcome these, he’s all over it though. so long as it doesn’t get gross, you know?
i think he would mimic his parents in one sense, that being banter. he’d argue with his s/o, but not in the aggressive manner you’d expect; more so, arguments are a way to exercise his mind and keep him entertained? so i think he’d need an s/o who can keep up with him and playfully bounce back and forth with him over useless things. he’d never take it to the point of anyone being hurt or actually angry, although there would be a couple times he’d lose his temper over something and start an ACTUAL argument that has the potential to escalate. after doing this once or twice though i think he’d work extensively on keeping his cool and having a peaceful albeit tense discussion
otherwise though, i don’t think he wants to be anything like them, and consciously works toward providing a relationship for his s/o much much different from theirs, once that’s open and nurturing
so sorry for the repeated thoughts and spelling mistakes, but those are my thoughts! feel free to add on anymore or elaborate on what’s here so far, and thank you for sending these in babe 😍
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andsmile · 3 years
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why do you ship dramione?-coming from a romione shipper. like how does it add up? draco is literally so terrible.
took me a while to answer this because... well, i wanted to give you a good answer. draco and hermione are my favorite ship ever. if there’s a meaning to the word OTP, they are mine.
full disclosure, i ship ron and hermione in the canon hp universe. always have, always will. i think hermione in the books and how they were constructed as a narrative for children/teens, needed someone who would challenge her and entertain her and be a little ‘out-of-the-box’, and i think ron is perfect for that. he’s definitely a happy ending for her. 
more under the cut cause this is going to be a long discussion.
however, i started reading hp when i was really young - 11 - and eventually i found fics online, and they had “bad boy/good girl” tropes featuring sexy bad boy draco, and i wanted to read that. i was a kid, and no one’s gonna judge me, everyone went through the bad boy phase. there are a thousand books and movies about it.
but that version of draco wasn’t exactly what his character was, right? we first meet him as a kid and a bully, a little racist per se, but if there’s one thing that we learn through the years and the development of the plot, is that draco is a lot...less than that. he’s not a strong sexy bad boy, he’s a weak loser. he repeats what he’s told like a parrot. he’s a product of his environment.
and what an environment!
because, let’s face it. the wizard world is crazy prejudiced. it’s awful. we see it through harry’s eyes and we love it because he loves it and because it literally saves him from an abusive home and a sad, sad childhood, but the wizard world is actually dark and full of awful people. 90% of the characters in harry potter are highly flawed. it’s not just draco. from ~all slytherins are evil to the mudblood issue, to the goblins, centaurs, and people like ron who have such a good heart but mistreat house elves just because, you see that it’s a filthy world full of ugly stuff. it’s not just draco who’s terrible. it’s not just the slytherins. they all are. james was a bully, snape sucked, everyone is grey. everyone has light and dark inside them, even dumbledore. it’s what makes hp such a great story, how complex the characters are. ron’s character (who is MY FAVORITE i swear) deals with his own darkness, and bitterness, and fears. but ron is someone harry (the narrator) loves so much so we love him too (most of us), and we witness ron’s redemption through harry’s eyes, and we forgive him. draco doesn’t get that chance.
if you read harry potter you see the building of a world and a belief - that love, friendship and good will prevail, and that all magic blood is the same. that’s on harry’s point of view. harry, who didn’t really suffer with any of those big prejudices in the magical world because he was, after all, harry potter. a kid who grew up thinking he wasn’t shit but was actually the chosen one, the savior of this world that he loved so much. 
imagine reading that book through hermione’s eyes, though: the building of a very incredible world that you love but where you have to prove yourself at every step of the way because so many people in that world think you ain’t shit. in fact, there’s a lot of focus on draco’s prejudice because he’s the first one we see using the word mudblood and he’s the first one to tell hermione she’s worth nada in ~his world when everyone else was always praising her.
imagine reading that book through draco’s eyes: the deconstruction of this world that you believed in so bad, that you thought was the greatest thing ever. you were told you were the greatest, that your family worked for the greatest wizard ever, and then, little by little, you find out that all your beliefs were stupid and everything you’ve always known was a lie, and that the lord you praised was actually a murderous monster and that you weren’t special. you weren’t shit. and the very object of your childish hate is so much better than you.
so why do i ship draco and hermione?
because they are, in my eyes, the two most complex characters in opposite ends. she’s the reason why the world he’s so used to is falling apart, she breaks his prejudices. she’s the reason why he ain’t shit. and he’s the embodiment of all the things she wants to prove wrong, and she’s so much stronger than him. she could teach him so much, she could teach him how to see the world through different eyes, through her eyes.
as for hermione, she’s always seen more in draco than harry or ron. she’s always seen a little bit past the bully even though she was often the object of his vile ways. he’s always affected her in a way that was very blatant, and i think that with her personality and tendencies, watching him change would be a way to change herself. she could become even more confident and self-aware, she could find a different meaning for love. he could teach her so much about the world she wants to be a part of, things she might never understand without someone like him.
the very meaning behind harry potter, that love should be bigger and better than hate, is what a relationship between draco and hermione could encompass, if written the right way. 
however, draco and hermione couldn’t work in a book written in someone else’s point of view. they’re not a canon hp romance, they can’t be, and it would’ve been a disservice to try and cramm a love story for them in the hp books. it can’t be treated as a fun hookup or something like that. dramione is a ship that would require patience, so many levels of redemption in his part, so many levels of forgiveness and growing up in her part. of course, if you’re in fanon and you’re already going past all of this, you can read a one shot and think ‘oh such fun dynamics’ but if you want to be convinced of dramione, you have to go for the big works that will give you a full analysis on their characters and place them together carefully. it’s not just the typical bad boy/good girl thing we all thought they could be.
the complexity of how to turn hate into love attracts me.
all the ways you can make them fall for each other and have them grow with each other attracts me.
i think hermione’s character needs and would thrive on challenge, because that’s what she’s made of. ron is a perfectly good pairing for her but imagine if she could have something even harder and more puzzling.
i think draco’s character is the weakest link and i love to see how people come up with redemption stories for him not at the expense of hermione’s character.
the dramione fandom is incredibly talented and some of the best writer’s i’ve seen in my life.
maybe they aren’t the healthiest. some versions of them are actually pretty toxic. but i think that both characters could stand being in a relationship like it if written the right way. the nuances of their ship are amazing, you just have to open your mind and think outside of the canon box.
11 year old me did that, and i’m glad, because i’m never going back.
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Note
gonna split this between canon character ships and oc-sprinkled ships. we'll start with canon (i also know most of these answer but eh): jeremy/rich, mr. heere/mr. reyes, michael/chloe, jake/rich, squip/michael, squip/brooke, brooke/madeline (STILL COUNTS, SHE'S TECHNICALLY A CANON CHARACTER), squip/rich's squip (in general fanon 'rich's squip isn't mo' situations--i'mma ask about OUR r!squip in the next ask)
HI SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG
Warning: Some of this goes into darkfic territory, and is lightly NSFW/NSFT.
Jeremy/Rich
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell (when this option is italized, it means OTP feelings, not Shipping Them As Problematique)
THIS IS MY FAVORITE ALWAYS-FLUFFY (or the comfort portion of hurt/comfort, or tragic lovers, etc) SHIP. It makes me SO VERY INCREDIBLY happy; Rich and Jeremy have this magnetic chemistry in the musical and in fandom--Hell, I even genuinely enjoy most fanon interpretations of the ship, which is really rare for me (still don’t read much fanfiction besides yours though... >u>; )
Also? Hot. Very hot.
... that was not meant to be a pun but I think it probably is...
Mr. Heere/Mr. Reyes
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell (bolding this one means it is/can be Problematique, obvs)
Platonic H/R? Nahhh. I think portraying both of them as queer is a good idea (Reyes gay and aro, Heere bisexual with a strong preference for women and femme enbys), but it just feels like Mr. Heere would want something else tbh. I mean, Mr. Reyes is pretty openly anti-children during the play, and Mr. Heere really loves his son and his son’s friend. I just can’t imagine they’d have much chemistry if they tried dating
Oh but what if... they were predators bonding over their mutual love of abusing the vulnerable people in their lives... haha jk... unless?
Michael/Chloe
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell
This... is fascinating. I’m getting more into bisexual Michael for the sake of variety, and this would be... a very fun ship, actually. Especially if it was the two of them targetting Jeremy together... or, oh, actually, this would be a FANTASTIC companion to a Jeremy/Brooke story, w/ Michael and Chloe playing the villains... hm...
(I just really like playing around w/ evil Michael)
Jake/Rich
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell
I’m so torn on this one. I really dislike most Jake/Rich in large, large part to just... the fandom around it... but I can also picture it being really fucking good in NSFW art, portrayed in particular ways (especially if it doesn’t act as a companion to boyfs), or like, if you did it? IT COULD GENUINELY WORK, but I haven’t seen it done in a way I particularly enjoyed.
Evil!Jake on good!Rich is fun, though I’m not suuuuuper into it--it’s a VERY nice change of pace with us, I like it in AUs, but I prefer Jake to just not be involved or else a small blip/one-off mention... or as the metaphorical sugar daddy to shenanigans gfnbhjvgfdfvdjnjvhfk
Squip/Michael
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell
... I’m sorry friends, I’m just not interested. I see why it’s intriguing, I can see that it has what-if potential, but I just can’t care. Not even in an OT3 with Jeremy (though Jeremy being in a relationship with both of them separately would actually be pretty cool). 
tbh, if I have to ship the Squip with a human that isn’t Jeremy, I reaaaaaally like your growing interest in his and Rich’s relationship. 
Oh, and...
Squip/Brooke
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell
Much as I think Squip is generally boy and nb masc-attracted attracted, Squip/Brooke would be genuinely, extremely, incredibly fucking adorable. I wouldn’t do much with it personally, but this is the sorta thing I’d love to see shippy art and/or an ask blog for if that makes sense?
Fuck dude, Jeremy watching his Squip come back in a body just to fuck his ex is the funniest shit ever tho, he’d be so disgruntled.
Brooke/Madeline
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell
[insert heart eyes emoji]
Even though we’ve generally portrayed Mads as het-but-fools-around-a-little, this is probably my other Really Good Brooke Endgame Ship right next to Brooke/Jenna. I just feel that like... their chemistry, both how we portray it plus the canon stuff (“implied sluttiness” and the way Brooke thinks she’s so cool and tries to model herself off her) is. Mmm. Mmmmmm. 
Plus, not to be all My Autism Makes Me Hyperfocus On Other Character’s Autism, but like... their autistic peculiarities would line up fantastically? Imagine them cuddling and like... touching each other to stim...
squip/rich's squip
vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell / additional category: I’m genuinely unsure because I’ve only seen hints of how other people portray Rich’s Squip
So the thing about Rich’s Squip in the fandom is that like... outside the occasional character design making a brief appearance in larger prints, nobody really talks about them?
I mean. Okay, granted, I haven’t read enough fanfic yet (... God I really want to eventually, I’d just like a Handy Guide for Who Is And Isn’t An Anti and also I keep going “okay but x character would never be like that” even though that’s wroooong and I don’t seem to have that issue in visual media and....... you get the picture), but after... 2017? After the fandom’s first explosion died down, people rarely talked about R!S. 
I think this was a direct reaction of the Anti movement finally making the solid change to fandom landscape it’d wanted to, unfortunately; this found a swift and sudden tidal wave of backlash to most Squip (primarily shipping) related anything, seemingly killing ALL Squip content that was not sufficiently “briefly used for boyfs or JakeRich angst” enough for a good long while.
Eventually, the growing rise of a sub-fandom around Squip thirsting and Squip redemptions (attempting to be ~untainted by gross shippers~, usually) started around the time badlydrawnBMC started to really pick up steam along with a few selfshippers, inspiring people to Squip-ship in an “acceptable manner”.
The problem is, none of this has affected Rich’s Squip--at least, not yet. The kinda people scared of (or that are) antis have “no good reason” to redeem Rich’s, since “she” (he/they at the beginning of BMC fanon, widely-used she now) did or caused stuff way more egregious, IE the fire, making Rich a bully, and stifling his bisexuality. As a result, there’s a very subtle, unspoken pressure not to really... use her much. 
Jokes are... mostly okay, but there’s a huge preference for Kermit!Rich!Squip if you do.
Anyway.
From the little bit we hear of her in actual canon, Rich’s own words and her brief voice and stuff... I could see her being much colder, possibly meaner then Jeremy’s Squip, probably. They probably have a dom!bottom/sub!top abusive slave relationship. She makes Rich fuck her while mocking everything he does, and then seduces him and promises a little bit of love when he tries to refuse. He would be hopelessly devoted to her, desperate for her approval, and she’d string him step by step. By the time he realizes how well and truly fucked he is, it’s too late; the last stand happens, they fight in front of everyone, and it all goes up in smoke.
Thanks for the question! Hopefully the next doesn’t take this long @_@
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leftenantsparkles · 5 years
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and we kissed (as though nothing could fall)
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Summary : James Barnes went to war. He lived it—survived with all his limbs intact and his heart still beating… But Bucky never came home. [ao3]
Pairing : Bucky x Femme!Reader ; background Bucky x Reader x Steve
Rating & Warnings : Rated M for canon typical violence, fanon typical language, and intrusive thoughts. Buckle up for a little smut, a lot of angst, and some smutty angst. 18+
Notes : This a meditation on grief and memory that I wrote for the incomparable @youngmoneymilla’s 5K challenge. I also wanted to write some Jewish!Bucky, so I’m pretty hyped with how this turned out. I hope you enjoy and a big congratulations to Eliza for this well deserved milestone!!
Prompt : Oh, we can beat them, forever and ever // Then we can be heroes just for one day  Heroes // Gangs of Youth 
Word Count : 7060 
It plays in his head like a night at the pictures back in the day—twenty five cents a head, if you can believe that. The shadow looming inside the ticket booth greedily takes the coin as the door parts moments later.
 He’s not even sure how he finds his seat. All he knows is that he’s out of the cold.
 When the film reel whirs to life, he can’t imagine how he could’ve gotten it more wrong.
 Bucky can feel the biting chill as he watches the Howling Commandos wait for their train, his eyes narrowing on the cable meant to carry them all across.
 “Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?”
 Steve follows his gaze. “Yeah, and I threw up?”
 “This isn’t payback, is it?”
 “Now why would I do that?”
 Phantom voyeurs jeer in anticipation beside him. All he can do is sit there with them in silent agony, same as he has every other night. He’s locked in the memory… there’s no changing it now.
 You come onto the scene with worry on your brow and a curse under your breath.
 Even exhausted in a war zone, you’re the prettiest thing he’s seen. Your hair is a mess, already spilling out of the pins you’d only just put in that morning.
 “Need some help with that, Agent Sunshine?”
 You look to him, momentarily distracted from your panic. “What’s that?”
 He nods at your hair and you sigh. The ghost of a smile catches as you fish the errant pins out.
 “All this damn hair’s a menace,” you tell him pointedly, handing them over. “You boys are lucky like that.”
 “C’mon on, doll. You an’ I both know if you cut it all off today, you’d be hard pressed to find somethin’ else better to whine about tomorrow.”
 A shrug. “Well you’re not wrong…”
 Turning away from that smug face, you catch a glimpse of Steve and Gabe on the radio sifting through static. Every uttered sound out of that thing put you on edge… It made your skin burn and your throat close up.
 He pulls you from wreckage of your mind, those deft fingers working you over. Teasing you. Healing you.
 “There’s no shame in sittin’ tight, you know.” His voice is low in your ear—his words just for you. “We’ll be quick. In an’ out. You won’t even have time to miss us.”
 He concentrates his efforts on pinning down your locks. The silence is forgiving as he gives you the space you need to collect yourself.
 “Who said anything about missin’ you?”
 His eyes wrinkle a touch as he beams down on you. All the affection and hope someone ought to feel for another person… There was a time you thought you could drown in it.
 This is the last time he would see you alive. He’s watching you like he doesn’t know.
 “I’m serious. Stevie an’ me…”
 He trails off when the warmth of your palm blooms over his cheek. You surprise him, turning before your time with a playful roll of your eyes.
 “You boys ain’t never been quick a day in your life.”
 He leans into your touch, a sharp inhale filling his lungs.
 “Ain’t no shame in it,” you agree with a solemn nod. “But walkin’ away from a fight? Not my style, Sergeant.”
 He holds you there with him for a beat, lacing his fingers with yours.
 He turns your hand in his own and kisses it so tenderly…
 And before he can blink, the moment’s gone.
 Steve’s passing off T-bars to everyone, laying down parameters of the mission.
 “Alright, this is a very short—very fast train. We’ve got a ten second window, tops. Mistime it, you’re a bug on the windshield.”
 Dugan raises his watch and taps the face. “Better move it, bugs.”
 Bucky scratches at the wooden arm on the seat, his shaking fingers begging for purchase as he watches you disappear down the cable after him…
 He watches you board, watches those bastards get the jump on you.
 He’s helpless as a hole is blown out the side of the train. You pull him to safety, shoving him from the danger.
 He watches you fall.
 He watches his lips wrap around your name as he screams for you to come back to him…
 He wakes on his own, throat still aching over forty years later.
On the nights Bucky can’t sleep, he’s in the lab. It beats just laying there. Staring at the ceiling and praying things are gonna be different by the morning doesn’t do it for him anymore.
 He comes here to use his hands—to think. There’s a sterile tranquility when he gets his groove going. So when he’s got some company in there with him, he knows it.
 “What are you doin’ home, kid?”
 “I could ask you the same, you know.”
 The younger Stark pushes off of the door he’s leaning against, coming closer to inspect his Godfather’s handiwork. His voice moves around the lab in what feels like an endless stream of questions.
 Was it another one… How bad was it tonight… Is there anything I can do…
 It’s not right and he knows it’s not fair… but every lingering syllable is an itch under his skin. He just wants to be left to his own devices so he can scratch himself raw.
 Bucky’s eyes narrow on the wire transfer he’s got going on as he tenses over his workspace.
 “Really not a good time, son,” he warns. “I’m sorry… Just not the best for company.”
 Tony sighs, more than a little disappointed. “Whatever you say, Howard.”
 He takes a breath. Bait or no, that shit smarts.
 And the poor kid almost looks guilty. Hopping off the bench, he shuffles out of the lab. Bucky stops him before he can get too far, though. He doesn’t even have to get up to do it.
 “Your old man ever tell you about Azzano?”
 “Azzano…” he echoes. “Italy, right?”
 Bucky nods, attentions back on his project.
 “During the war?” Tony asks tentatively.
 “They ran experiments on me—pumped me full of… fuck if I know, somethin’ else.” He shrugs, “I mean, it sure as shit wasn’t what Erskine had gone and gave Sonny an’ Steve.”
 Tony’s quiet for a beat, brows furrowed trying to make sense of the unfathomable. “Then what happened?”
 “Steve happened. He brought us home.”
 Moments pass in silence. Just a man and his tools clashing with metal, tiny sparks flying contained.
 It’s a good while before either moves to break it.
 “Dad only ever really talks about him when he’s been drinking… Sometimes he’ll namedrop if I’ve been an extra disappointment.” Tony looks down at his shoes, kicking at some lint on the floor. “Then Aunt Peggy’s out because I refuse to make her cry again.”
 “Why not just come to me?” Bucky tries to hide the hurt in his words. “Not enough of a leading expert for you, Mr. Stark?”
 “I don’t know… Deductive reasoning?” he asks rhetorically, almost contrite. “Figured you didn’t want to talk if you can’t even tell me what’s eating you up at night.”
 Shit.
 He puts down his tools and peels his gloves off in an inelegant snap. Bucky gestures for him to sit so he does, scrubbing across his face.
 “You’re not gonna find any of this in the history books, alright? So don’t go runnin’ your mouth to impress some so and so.”
 “Lay it on me,” Tony challenges.
 “What do you want to know?”
 “What happened?” He doesn’t even miss a beat. “Why did he crash the plane?”
 Bucky’s eyes shoot to the ceiling, a little laugh on his breath. Tony frowns.
 “You don’t have to talk if it’s too painful.”
 “No, no. You stop that,” he waves him off. “This is what they call a teachable moment, right?”
 “So what happened?” he says again.
 “When Steve went down… Man alive, Tones. I can tell you, I’ve never been more angry at another living soul.” He scratches at his jaw, shaking his head. “So he’s on the comms, hollerin’ out the words he knows are gonna be his last—some shit, like he didn’t have a choice?”
 He was hurt and tired and so, so furious. He just wanted to take him home and leave the war behind… Maybe take him over his knee for scaring him so bad, but he never got the chance.
 Steve had to play the hero and save everyone.
 —C’mon, Stevie… I just lost my best gal. You really gonna make me go at this all alone over you, too?
 Bucky looks at his hands, hoping for answers—begging for release. These hands of his that could’ve done more for the people he loved.
 “We were partners,” he says, devastated. “If he had a deathwish, he should ah’ told me. But he just—he left before I could have a say… He died alone when I could ah’ been right there with him. How is that right?”
 “No.” His voice is thick and Tony has to shake his head. “It’s not.”
 His gaze returns to the boy, remembering who this was all for.
 “There’s always a choice, Tony. Don’t you forget that.”
  After the war, he doesn’t leave service… Not right away.
 He was tired. He just wanted to go home and see his Ma, have a good cry… But there was still work to be done.
 He toured with the Commandos some, but it was never the same. They knew it. He knew it. But they got the job done—that was all that mattered.
 No one acknowledged that a quarter of their team was missing in action.
 No one breathed a word about their hopes or their fears—all of them united by trauma, but forever alone to it…
 No one talked about the fact that Bucky had barely aged a minute since V-E Day.
 Then came the day they couldn’t hide it anymore. The day the Commandos retired.
 It was at a pub in London that they had their long goodbyes. He remembers the night so vividly, their glasses raised high as they toasted eulogy after eulogy… Didn’t make a lick of difference to anyone how much time had passed. Memories flowed in tandem with the booze in their glasses.
 Time had made superstitious men of them all. They didn’t want to chance bringing anything more than their wrinkles and pains home with them.
 “For Cap… Cap and Sunshine,” Dugan starts off. “For getting all of us sorry bastards into this mess all those fuckin’ years ago.”
 Echoed sentiments erupt across the table.
 “To Cap and Sunshine.”
 And for the first time since you died, he felt like he could breathe… Like he didn’t just dream you up and lose you in the night.
 Steve was real. You were real. He had loved you… You and Steve, Steve and you… Bucky loved you both.
 Sometime’s you gotta take the loss with all that love. And it hurts.
 But he couldn’t bare part with you.
 If his choices were suffering while remembering and moving on without you or Steve, he’d choose you every time. There were times the pain was so bad it was almost blinding. But he needs those reminders. He needs to know that it really happened, that it was real.
 And it was. What you had together was real.
 They all went home to their wives and mothers—shame buried on the other side of the war, heavy embraces slung around the necks of their brothers in arms.
 He went home and kissed his Ma. He had that cry. And for a while, he was done… There’s a part of him that knows it was never going to last.
 Peggy sought him out, offered him a position at the organization she built from the ground up.
 She brought out her sales pitch. She called him James and told him it’s what you would have wanted—but he doesn’t even know if that’s true. You’d been gone so long, the years apart far outweighed your time together. He doesn’t know what you would have wanted.
 He still jumped at the opportunity with such an urgency to leave.
 Before SHIELD came to collect him, he was living in a purgatory of his own making. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for the ghosts in his head. Not when his life expectancy was so up in the air.
 With nowhere else to go and no better reason to say no, Bucky paired off with Howard for a minute. He lived in his guest room, worked in his lab… He put as much distance between himself and Brooklyn as he could stomach.
 And it was good for a time. That is, until Howard found himself in the family way.
 It’s an amicable separation. He was even able to maintain lab access with 60% of profits off any future patents. So, you know, not too shabby for a shayna punim from The Borough.
 Between grad school and work, he kept himself fairly busy through the sixties and seventies. By the time the eighties rolled around, the money was so good he got himself a studio in DC so he might live out his sleepless nights in some semblance of comfort…
 They send him where there’s a need for his skill set. He doesn’t go digging. He doesn’t ask questions. Bucky can only keep his head down and pray for world peace when praying for rest might just be too tall of an order.
  The dream starts the same as any other. He pays the toll. He finds his seat. But when the film comes alive, it’s a far cry from the bitter cold of the Alps.
 The scene laid before him is soft and so damn warm… The room is flush with the pastels of a Parisian hotel ravaged by time and circumstance. Building’s probably just as gone as everything else, he expects.
 His breath catches as you slowly fade into view—tangled in silk sheets, limbs akimbo with lips smeared red and bruised by kisses. It’s a sight he thought he’d have to die to see again.
 There’s an old record on in the background. The needle crackles as one song bleeds into the next, but he knows it’s not quite right. You look on with a lazy sort of hunger, almost breaking the fourth wall with him…
 You hum softly as you watch him, watching you.
 Non, rien de rien, non, je ne regrette rien…
 Bucky watches a gentle touch trace the slope of Steve’s nose as he sketches you both on the bed. His fingers. His touch.
 …Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait, ni le mal… Tout ça m’est bien égal…
 Without even thinking, his legs are moving of their own accord. The seat snaps shut behind him as he makes his way towards the screen… He’s all too desperate to bridge the gap that separates you.
 …Non, rien de rien, non, je ne regrette rien…
 He watches himself kiss a trail down the column of your neck, staining your skin something filthy with whatever shade of lipstick he stole from you. When he finally disappears under the blanket, you arch into his touch. Your brows are knit as you palm the sheets in search of purchase.
 …C’est payé, balayé, oublié, je me fous du passé…
 Bucky’s hand spreads against the wall of screen, the fragmented projection washing his skin with yours.
 …Avec mes souvenirs j’ai allumé le feu… Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs…
 He wants more than a wash—what he needs is a damn soak… With all the red on his ledger, he could easily drown himself in the sight of you just to feel clean.
 …Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux… Balayé les amours avec leurs trémolos…
 He rests his head on the wall. His eyes fall shut against the sounds of the three of you together after so long… A merciful lullaby. A soft epilogue.
 …Balayé pour toujours… Je reparts à zéro…
 He wakes mid-flight, somewhere over the Adriatic Sea. The year, 1989.
 You feel closer today than you did yesterday. But there’s a mission on and he can’t afford to think about it just yet.
 If he wavers, he dies.
 He’s been tracking a top ranking assassin for years now with next to no leads. Bucky has yet to see him in the wild. Some dispute their very existence.
 Up until recently, the intelligence community’s been keeping mum on the subject. Months of radio silence.
 It started small, just a murmur at first. Then it picked up traction on the underground servers. Hardly a hit on the guy, but it’s enough to tip SHIELD off.
 His flight’s en route to Berlin. What they’ve got is a source going into witness protection in exchange for information. Simple extraction, in and out. No time to get in his head about this.
 Bucky won’t stop until he’s silenced the fist of HYDRA.
 He digs a carton of Whitehorse and a lighter from his pocket—
 And maybe the thought should scare him… the desire to end a human being. It should bother him.
 —he lights up, really breathes it in. His shoulders drop the slightest amount as he shuts his eyes on the exhale.
 Should.
 The illusive fucker he’s been after might not have been the one to end your life, but they were sure as shit about to return the favor.
 If he dies in the process, that’s just as well. He wants to be with you. With Steve. A good rest never hurt anyone.
 He looks out the window with another drag in his lungs. However the lampshade swings, events are already set in motion. There’s nothing he can do now but wait and see.
  Bucky clocks his witness from outside the restaurant. She sits on a stool at the bar, hunched over her drink as she keeps to herself.
 It’s a slow night, almost dead. There’s no one around to bother her. Still, the girl’s  clever enough to speak out… She’s gotta know there’s a target on her back.
 So he pops his collar and lowers his shades, heading inside. He nods at the bartender, already fixing him up with a shot. Bucky hands him a fist of cash for the drink and his discretion. He’s been with SHIELD for some time now, he’s good people.
 Taking a seat two stools over, he keeps his eyes forward.
 He doesn’t say a word until they’re alone.
 “Wunderbares wetter heute.”
[Wonderful weather today.]
 This is the point where she would give him the go ahead… She’s no spy, but she’s hardly a civilian either. It’s one of the simpler codes on the memory…
 But still, she says nothing.
 “Ich kenne… Es ist nicht so toll,” he offers apologetically. “Das Letzte, was ich tun möchte, ist, deine Muttersprache zu schlachten.”
[I know, it’s not great—the last thing I want to do is butcher your mother tongue.]
 Silence.
 “Wenn es sich nicht um eine Zumutung handelt, ich könnte Englisch sprechen, wenn Sie lieber.”
[If it’s not an imposition, I could speak English if you prefer.]
 Eyes fixed beyond the bar, he makes out a lull of her head from his periphery. It’s the most she’s given him since he sat down.
 Definitely a start towards building trust.
 “I know you’re probably scared,” he says under his breath, lifting the glass to his lips. “Hell. I’ve been there, myself.”
 He downs his drink. Winces a touch.
 “But you work with me here? I swear to you—together? We will work this out.”
 He sets his glass facedown with a firm tap.
 It hits him like a ton of bricks when he spots her virgin shot seated shoulder to shoulder with his own.
 Her glass has been full all along.
 He turns slowly, reluctant to look on the dead woman beside him.
 “Shit,” Bucky sighs. He beats his palm against the top of the bar… “Shit!”
 That’s where her fingers rest, idle as the rest of her. Defensive wounds sheath her knuckles like a pair of lace gloves.
 Bucky runs a hand through his hair, just wanting some goddamn peace for a change.
 “Fuckin’ fuck,” he hisses.
 Her eyes are heavy lidded and locked on nothing. He closes them with a shaking touch, wishing he could have done more for the woman.
 He hangs his head. “I’m so sorry…”
 There’s a moment.
 And then… bam.
 She’s spread across the bar with a bullet in her before he can even think what to do with the body.
 Fuckin’ sniper. 
 He stands at attention. He follows the direction of the shot—past the shattered glass, over the neighboring businesses. Another lands by his feet and this time, he’s prepared.
 He spots the fucker on the roof, reloading their gun. They wisp from one spot to the next, donning a sexless uniform in head to toe black. There’s a silver glint where their other sleeve should be.
 Bucky tucks inside an alley and jumps to the fire escape. Up and up and up, and he’s finally able to make sense of it. He crouches low, watching the figure slip through a door on a rooftop two buildings over.
 He takes off running after them. Screams from below hit his ears as attention draws to the scene he’d just abandoned.
 Once the buildings are cleared, he has to catch his breath before passing through the door—he draws his side piece, swings it open.
 It’s a long hallway with doors lining either side and he has to strain to hear it. Faint sounds in the distance, something metallic… footsteps rushing down stairs, three at a time, maybe four… He finds the door leading to the stairwell and gives into the chase.
 Down, down, down, ‘til he reaches the bottom.
 When he opens the door, he’s met with a gun trained on him and it’s only reflex that has him tossing his gun to disarm them… He’s wanting in time and patience at the moment—ain’t enough going around to spare on a goddamn standoff.
 Bucky pushes his assailant until their back meets the wall with a grunt. They kick his chest, he catches their calf and shoves them a beat harsher than before.
 He moves to rid them of the balaclava masking their identity. But they double down, blocking his arm away in a sweeping motion… knocks their heads heads together, too. But Bucky catches on quick, pulling on a generous amount of exposed hair.
 A whine—sharp and feminine. The sound pierces his ears like a freezing tub of water on a cold winter’s night.
 He uses this window to take the mask. He rips it clean off.
 She turns… His face falls… Time slows—
 “Sunshine?”
 “Who the hell is Sunshine?”
 —and he chokes.
  You raise your metal fist and flex it around the target’s throat, neutralizing the threat.
 “Who the hell is Sunshine?”
 His response is a garbled mess of broken syllables and dangerous looks.
 You back him into the rod at the center of the boiler room you’ve found yourselves in. You could have moved him with your flesh hand with what little resistance he was showing you.
 Fuck it. This intel might just prove to be useful.
 You release your hold on him.
 “Answer me, American,” you order him.
 “American?” He coughs out, touching at his neck. “You were born in Chicago, you big asshole!”
 “I have no business in Chicago.”
 He’s rendered slack against the pole.
 “Fuckin’ A,” he nods in realization. “So I’m gone, too. Is that it?”
 “Don’t make me hurt you, American.”
 His face twists in anguish.
 “My name is James Buchanan Barnes. You know me.”
 You slap him. “No. I don’t.”
 “The fuck did they do to you?” his voice is so small, you wonder if he knows he spoke the words out loud. “Sunshine—”
 —Need some help with that, Agent Sunshine?
 You grimace. “Don’t call me that.”
 “It’s what I’ll call you ‘til the sun goes dim and the sky turns black.” He looks up at you, his eyes defeated. He swallows. “It’s your name.”
 “Stop it,” you warn him.
 When he looks as though he’s about to advance on you, you push him back against the pole. You step away, desperate to put some distance between the two of you.
 “Sonny, please. This isn’t you.”
 Your fist slows his approach, but he just keeps coming for you. You need to shut him up.
 Shutting your ears to the noise, you shake your head. “You don’t know me.”
 “We can beat this.” He grinds his words with mortar and pestle—it’s a desperate plea on his tongue with emotion you don’t give yourself permission to name. “We can beat them.”
 An animalistic scream wretches its way out of you, your eyes hot and itching as you rage at him. You throw yourself onto the target, locking him in place with your thighs.
 You strike him. Again and again and again, until you’re both leveled. And he lets you do it, he lets you hurt him.
 Something twists inside you. He won’t last much more of this. You’re sure he’s thinking the same.
 “Fight back…”
 And still, he refuses you.
 He aches to touch you. That much is obvious. Even as his body bleeds by your hand, it’s all he wants just to have you here with him.
 You don’t understand him, this man at your mercy.
 You don’t even know him… You’re sure it’s only his face you’ve seen before and it’s barely that. His hair is longer than the man from your dreams. He looks battle worn… Lost.
 Nothing like the charming soldier who stole your heart when you had your wits about you… Your head’s pumped full of code and strategy as the serum corrodes your veins, but you know this man. You know his eyes.
 Try as they might, they could never burn them out of you.
 Blood mars his mouth and cheeks as he lies on the ground. He watches you on his back, looking at you like you meant something to him… like you mean everything.
 You find yourself drawn to those pouting lips, wanting nothing more than to abandon the mission and get some answers out of them.
 That’s when you hear it.
 …Quand il me prend dans ses bras… Il me parle tout bas… Je vois la vie en rose…
 Visions of this man invade your senses as music plays from a distant memory, not made for you.
 …Il me dit des mots d’amour… Des mots de tous les jours… Et ça me fait quelque chose…
 His tongue is inside you as another man holds you in check. This man, blond hair with faraway eyes, wipes the sweat from your brow, whispering filthy nothings in your ear. He holds his head against your own as you chase your release.
 …Il est entré dans mon cœur… Une part de bonheur… Dont je connais la cause…
 Your charming soldier emerges from between your legs, so smug. He drags the back of his hand across his face, smearing his stained lips even further.
 …C’est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie… Il me l’a dit, l’a juré pour la vie…
 You flush as you come back to yourself.
 Is that what these are—
—what they’ve been?
 Overcome, you pull back from the blow… Your metal arm leaves behind a crater in the naked slab of concrete where his head would be if you weren’t so weak.
 Your flesh fingers curl around his bruised face, forcing him to meet your eyes. You narrow your gaze on him, fury and shame building up inside of you. “Stay the fuck out of my head…”
 “Oh, Sonny.” He frowns. “Not me… ‘M not the one in your head.”
 You sink down onto his chest, head resting uncomfortably on his tac vest. Your training takes over when you feel fingers at the small of your back and you’ve got his wrists pinned, seconds later.
 There’s a charged beat between these bodies, the pair of you a panting mess.
 “So what’s it gonna be?”
 Your head tilts to the side in silent curiosity.
 He breathes into his aches and pains and he’s almost smiling at you. “Still wanna kill me, doll?”
 You shut your eyes, worrying at your mouth. You can’t concentrate when you know he is who he says he is.
 “Still weighing my options,” you fire back.
 A pained nod. “How’s it lookin’ on my end?”
 You can’t concentrate when you still don’t know… When you know enough to know his eyes, but can’t place the rest of him.
 You roll your hips over him like it’s an answer… You’ll tell yourself all sorts of lies later about centering yourselfand gaining control of the situation.
 Чушь собачья.
[Bullshit.]
 He betrays the mission, same as you… Betrays his countrymen, same as you.
 But at the end of the day, you’re the one on top of him.
 You work him over because you want to.
 You fuck him because you want to watch him come apart—
—sleep with him because you want to dream…
 And when the night is through, you leave him bloody and broken outside the remote home of a civilian doctor because you’re not ready for this to be over.
  The sounds of a German broadcast tickle his ears as he comes to. Bucky doesn’t open his eyes just yet. It’s all he can do to lie there, focused solely on his breath, repeating his mantra over and over.
 …To die, to sleep—to sleep, perchance to dream, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come…
 He slept like the dead. Nights like these are even worse than the times he’s powerless to save you. A night without you is a day without the sun.
 “I know you’re awake.”
 It’s a voice that puts ice in his veins and a heat in his chest.
 You’re on the chair, sat beside the bed in a flannel top that doesn’t fit you right. Your hair is short—shorter than he’s ever seen it, resting just below your chin. You’ve got a split in your lip and a bruised look in those eyes focused intently on him.
 All this on, and you’re absolutely gorgeous.
 “Last time I saw you, you threatened to cut it all off.”
 Self consciously, your fingers go to your hair. He’s so sore, every move is working against him. His hand meets yours and he’s so, so gentle.
 “It suits you,” he says.
 “I don’t remember,” you admit softly.
 He pulls back with a sigh. “That’s ‘cause it hasn’t happened yet.”
 You watch him, so confused.
 “What are you talking about?” you ask him carefully.
 “This.” He gestures around the room, so tired he lets his eyes fall shut. He scrubs a hand across his face as he struggles to find the words. “The dream.”
 You’re stunned to silence.
 “This is a good one, y’know… Can’t say I’ve had this much free range before. Not this side of the century, at least.”
 “This isn’t a dream.”
 He has to laugh at that. Otherwise he’s gonna make himself sick later with liquor and tears. “Says the spider to the fly…”
 “You think I’m lying,” you say, almost hurt. You know you’ve no rights to his trust. Doesn’t stop those stabbing pains from gutting you from the inside out.
 “Can you tell me I’m asleep right now?”
 You shake your head fiercely. “No.”
 “Then yes.”
 There’s a huff on your breath as you push up from the chair to pace around the room.
 “Unless what you’re saying is true and I’m not sleeping…” he starts.
 “You’re not.”
 His face falls. His head sinks back onto the pillow, resigned as he stares at the ceiling. If this is his Hell, he’s gonna at least make himself nice and comfortable.
 “So I’m dead, then.”
 He wants so badly, so desperately, for this to be real. But if it’s real… that means he’s gotta take it all with him.
 Last night.
 The mission.
 The fucking train.
 If this is real, that means he left you. He left you in the cold, bleeding and dying, waiting for some fucker to pick you up and make you a human weapon.
 He left you when he could have saved you.
 So, yeah… He’s good with being dead for now and it’s a blessing when you don’t argue.
 You’ve got your arm crossed over your chest as you stare out the window. It’s the first time he gives himself permission to look. You’re not wearing it now, but he knows it won’t be long before you put the arm back on. It looked so heavy when he saw it up close—felt heavy when it was beating his face in.
 Bucky has spent so long praying you back to life. He went back to Temple every Friday for you and Steve, both. He said your names. So many times, in so many words…
 But he never wanted this for you.
 “Who was she?”
 The question pulls Bucky from his reverie. Those three little words dry his throat and force him out of the delusion.
 “You called me Sunshine. Who was she?”
 He’s not ready… but Steve would have his hide to make you wait so selfish like this. You’ve suffered enough.
 A number of shaking breaths later and he’s finally talking.
 “I’m a lot older than I look, same as you. I went to war. And Stevie…” God, where to start with Steve. “Well, he wanted it, too. He needed to be with the fight. That I’d ah’ been there with him was a happy accident. Kismet, y’know? The army needed bodies but they just weren’t taking him. And it’s not just that he was small, which he was.”
 Bucky smiles remembering his little love… then he looks at you, remembers that you can’t. And then he wants to cry all over again. He doesn’t. Just a little sniffle and the clear of his throat because this is what you need from him right now.
 “But he had health problems, y’know? Probably would ah’ taken a shorter list to write up what wasn’t wrong with him. So they said no. Figured he’d ah’ been more trouble than he was worth.”
 “Then what happened?”
 “He’s a persistent little shit’s what happened. Got himself in too deep with some government types, and they made him big,” he says like that’s a thing that happens to people. “You were the agent assigned to his case. The SSR gave you the last of the serum before they sent you in to keep tabs on him, paradin’ you around as a USO girl.”
 It’s quiet for a beat. And then you laugh.
 “I can’t even dance,” you simper, more than amused by the idea of yourself in those little outfits singing about freedom.
 “Can’t claim to have seen you in action, doll. ‘M afraid that was before my time.”
 “And when was that?”
 “When Steve saved me. You both had a nasty habit of doing that.”
 You don’t understand his words. Just last night, you were trying to end him… But there’s that name again and curiosity wins out, clawing at your throat like a mad dog for scraps.
 “Is he the other man?” you ask, incredulous. “The man from my dreams?”
 “Depends.” He shrugs on the bed, scratching at the shadow on his jaw. “What sort ah’ dreams you been cookin’ up in that head of yours?”
 You stall, feeling a surge of insecurity. You hate how vulnerable this man makes you feel.
 “Did you ever take me to Paris?”
 Hand in his hair, he looks you over as your face starts to heat. It’s a long while before he speaks. When he does, you almost regret saying anything at all.
 Almost.
 “See, I wasn’t sure last night. But now I know you’re trying to kill me.” He lays his head back on the pillow, spent.
 “What were we?”
 “We were together.” His voice breaks on the word. “We were in love…”
 You shake your head. “That’s not me. I’m not that girl anymore.”
 He frowns, mood effectively sobered for the day.
 “No.” In that moment, he looks so sad for you. “Not anymore.”
 The radio clamors for his attentions again and he nods at the next room over. “They talking about us in there?”
 Your lips twitch as you cross the room. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
 “Seriously,” he presses. “It’s not like we have a mutually exclusive extraction plan here. They gotta have Commie APB after us. Why are we sitting ducks right now?”
 You go to turn up the radio—of course he wouldn’t know, he’s been asleep…
 “The Wall fell last night. No one’s coming.”
 He blinks at you, shocked as you leave. “What?”
 […and therefore we have made the decision today to institute a regulation, which permits every resident of East Germany to depart the country through any border crossing of the GDR…]
 You cross the room to sit next to Bucky on the bed.
 “What will you do?”
 “Do?” You cock a questioning brow in his direction. You’re so wiped you kick your feet up before realizing that puts you fully in bed with him. “I wasn’t aware that anything needed doing.”
 “Can’t imagine your higher ups are gonna be too happy with what happened here,” he points out.
 “Nothing happened. I completed my mission.”
 You say it so cavalier that you can feel him staring at you. Disbelief radiates from his spot on the bed.
 “They’ll never be happy,” you deadpan, slinging an arm across your face. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
 “You sayin’ you’d lie for me?” he asks, unsure.
 “I’d lie for me… There’s a difference.”
 “You do that a lot in your line of work?”
 A knowing smile betrays you. “As much as any other woman today, I’d like to think.”
 “You thinkin’ ah’ going back so soon?”
 Who said anything about missin’ you—
 You lower the arm and crane your neck towards the window. “We’re holed up here until the press dies down. You want to take advantage, be my guest. That’s not my style.”
 —Ain’t no shame in it… but walkin’ away from a fight? Not my style, Sergeant.
 He must hear it, too. You make out the hitch in his breath as he sits, worked up and shaking so bad… You reach out for him, your thumb brushing over the back of his hand.
 “You really don’t remember. Do you.”
 That it’s not a question when he says it breaks your heart.
 “Fragments… Bits and pieces,” you say weakly. “I remember feeling the warmth of two bodies next to me. It helps… It gives me something to hold onto when they try and clear out those defective parts that tell ‘em no.”
 “Ever enough to walk away?” he asks, all too hopeful.
 You look down at the hand wrapped in yours as you burn stars and stripes over his skin with your touch. He already knows your answer.
 He shakes his head into your neck. “I’m so damn sorry.”
 You place a deft kiss onto his shoulder without even thinking. All you want to do is soothe this broken boy… give him anything he wants. Not because he’s asking for it, but that he’s showing it’s possible at all.
 “You could render me unconscious,” you offer. “Just knock me out. Then I’d have no choice in it.”
 “No.”
 “If they see that I’ve openly defected, there’s nothing stopping them from coming after us. We’ll never know peace.”
 “No,” he argues. “There’s always a choice. You’ve had enough ah’ that taken away from you in your time.”
 He puts both hands at either side of your head. You’re eye to eye now, there’s no other option than giving him his say. “If we do this, we accept the consequences…”
 You shut your eyes and think of Paris. You savor it. 
 It’s a good dream, you think to yourself. The best so far…
 “Besides… You asshole’s are always savin’ me. Let me wear the tights for a bit and play hero for a change, yeah?”
 Your stomach burns. Your heart aches. Tears prick at your eyes as you try and picture this life they had, this life of love. It’s a life your very existence spoils like a plate of fresh fruit turned to decay.
 Wasted potential and bygone promises. That’s what his life with you on the run will be. And he’ll do it all.
 He never said it was for you.
 “You must have really loved her… Your Sunshine.”
 He stares at you like he doesn’t know all that you’ve done… As if the only answer to a question never even posed should be so natural, so glaringly obvious.
 “I love you, dummy.”
 Damn him.
 You collapse beside him as much as you can collapse in a bed. You press his forehead into your own, all of the tension leaving your body in one foul swoop.
 You’re left behind a quaking heap of emotion, tears clouding your vision.
 “I’m so tired,” you cry out.
 Those fingers thrum soft against your scalp, his calloused thumbs flexing to dry your cheeks. He drops a kiss on your hairline and holds you close. What remains of the broadcast lingers in the background—the last vestiges of an old world adapting for the new, just like the wavering of a chrysalis ripe for rebirth.
 “Listen to me,” he whispers against your temple. He rakes your hair back as he goes. “Listen. You don’t have to fight anymore. I’m gonna make this right and I’ll spend the rest ah’ forever makin’ it up to you.”
 There’s a beat of silence. His promises should scare you— 
 You look up at him. “Together?”
 “Together… Forever.”
 —but all you can feel is the warmth of his body and the beat of his heart.
 He’s alive. 
 You both are.
 Silence falls around you as your breathing steadies in his arms.
 …I, I will be King… And you, you will be Queen… Though nothing will drive them away… We can be heroes just for one day… We can be us just for one day…
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judgehangman · 5 years
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youre on honestly a good writer, both in the way you express your opinions and the details in your essays maybe? idk. anyway i could go on (maybe later) but you also have very valid and interesting opinions so im curious on your take about jack making anti real and how it affected egos from then on out? especially dark but its sounds like you might have already written about that haha
@gaychasebrody
Okay, so full disclosure that while I have been watching Jack since early 2014 apparently, I didn’t actually join the fandom until the week of Say Goodbye. So while I was aware of og fanon Anti because he was very much adjacent to fanon Dark, I really couldn’t tell you much about it. Specially because when I started watching Jack constantly, it was a direct result of feeling hurt and betrayed by the shit Mark did, so I really wasn’t gonna involve myself with any dark ego content.
What I can tell you is that, while I personally missed the entirety of sister location (I really just don’t care about the FNAF games), I did watch Say Goodbye when it first came out. And that was a video that came out on the exact same month Mark hammered the final nail on the Darkiplier fandom’s coffin and laughed at its corpse.
Shit flipped. People who weren’t even in the JSE fandom were praising Jack left and right for respecting fan creations and not mocking people for their interests. People loved how he didn’t give a shit that it was cringey, people loved how much he loved Anti. People loved this content, people wouldn’t shut up about this content, people were making up theories upon theories about a character that was most definitely meant to be a one-off Halloween thing.
Most importantly, Anti was a proper character. He was no longer “imagine Jack except evil”. He was a proper character with a personality and goals. Not a well-rounded character, mind you, but most definitely a deliberate one.
Which couldn’t be said about Dark at that time. Every single little “Mark being creepy” thing qualified as Darkiplier. There was no real distinction between “Mark being creepy” and Darkiplier. Those were interchangeable. Mark talks about the realization that it was his fault for not making him a proper character to begin with in the ADWM stream, and honestly his anger at us for “ruining the character” didn’t mean shit to us when there was no character, only a concept people obviously ran with in many directions because concepts can be explored in a multitude of ways.
I gotta say that of course Anti isn’t the sole reason Mark brought Dark back. He said that ADWM would’ve featured Dark anyway, he just didn’t know how. But I do think that, because of how close these two fandoms are, Anti fundamentally changed the way we engage with Dark content. And I’m glad for that. I’m glad that because the circumstances changed and Mark realized that people are actually interested in canon depictions of the character, he gave us just all these incredible things centering on Dark that nobody would ever have expected.
There’s a lot of good that came out of Jack just being like “I’m gonna kill myself on Halloween and y’all are gonna like it”.
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speakgermanhier · 5 years
Text
This is gonna be long
Though I only really watched the first season of the original Roswell series, Maria and Michael were my OTP before I even knew what an OTP was. Their relationship was fraught, they had undeniable chemistry, and it was a relationship to root for.
In Roswell, New Mexico, to say that Michael and Maria would be a forced thing or rushed or anything like that would be completely inaccurate. The scenes they’ve had together are filled with flirty energy. And it has been established that Michael has been sleeping with women while Alex has been away. (And we can assume Alex has been sleeping with men while away). The potential is there, whether for a fling or something more.
HOWEVER, the intense, “I see you” chemistry that defined Michael and Maria’s relationship in the original series is now firmly in the grasp of Michael and Alex. They are the on-again, off-again pair that keep being pulled back to each other, filled with intense longing, explosive sexual chemistry, and past hurt.
If we were to forget Alex for a moment and Michael were to sleep with or start seeing Maria in Roswell, New Mexico, it would have a very different energy than their pairing in the original series. As I said before, their energy together in the new one is flirty, there’s potential there, and it could be the start of this new, healthy, and unencumbered relationship. It hasn’t been shown to be a fiery passion like they had in the original (or like Michael has with Alex right now--couldn’t forget him forever) but perhaps it would be good for both of them. And perhaps they could get there. 
Knowing how the past show went and given the flirty energy between them (and given that it’s The CW), it does seem inevitable that they’ll hook up. It doesn’t feel as destined as it did in the first iteration or as destined as Michael and Alex are being framed so far, but I definitely feel like it’s being teased.
And perhaps the writers could pull it off EXCEPT for the fact that Maria and Alex are BEST FRIENDS. And here is where I get filled with dread.
Forget the fact that I absolutely despise love triangles--I don’t think they do any of the characters any favors. This PARTICULAR love triangle would be especially disastrous.
Maria is not just a woman that Michael has chemistry with, she is one of Alex’s best friends. For Michael to make a move on Maria (or reciprocate a move she makes on him) he would either have to be completely insensitive to how that would impact both Alex and Maria, not just with their relationships with him, but with each other as well (which would be out of character, he is neither a callous nor a stupid person) , or he would have to firmly and unequivocally be done with Alex (which is not how love triangles work). Because having a love triangle between 3 characters where 2 of them are best friends and having the characters keep going back and forth between each other stretches credulity and, I feel, destroys all 3 characters and thus, my enjoyment of the show.
I mean, it gets tiring to see love triangles when the 2 (or more) potential love interests involved DON’T already have a deep connection that ties them together completely independent of the romantic love interest. I can just imagine how devastating it would be to watch a love triangle, like there might be here, when they DO. Because it is not just the romantic love that gets messed with, it is the friendship and sense of family, security, and support that we’ve seen between Maria and Alex that gets messed with and potentially destroyed as well.
I’ve been seeing people say they don’t want Michael and Maria to happen because they don’t want her to turn into a plot device, which is pretty damn presumptive and insulting, both to her character and to the writers. I mean, they have been working really hard to develop these characters individually, outside of any romantic plot (e.g. Maria’s running her own business while taking care of her mom, Alex’s confronting his abuser, and Michael’s search for understanding and accepting his past). To just assume all she could bring to a relationship is the angst 2 men need to finally get together is not showing respect for her character. 
I don’t want them to get together because I don’t want to see the drama of how it will affect Michael and Alex’s relationship AND Maria and Alex’s relationship. Whether Maria develops feelings for Michael and makes a move (or finds out about Michael and Alex and doesn’t make a move) or Michael makes a move on Maria, I feel like there are enough real moments of joy and angst/drama in the show that are far more engaging than pining after someone in a love triangle. I feel like the writers are better than that and that the characters deserve more than that.
Beyond Maria and Alex’s relationship, there is how it will affect Michael’s character, that he suddenly becomes the type of man who will mess with people’s emotions like that, knowing what Maria and Alex mean to each other. I like these characters, watching them every week is a pleasure and the drama they experience feels real. Their stories are engrossing, separate and together, the writers are doing a great job developing characters that feel real, and the contrived drama of a love triangle feels like a betrayal of that.
While I never want to tell anyone who to ship, I think everyone should let people ship who they ship, those who see Michael and Maria as endgame, can you understand why Malex shippers might be overprotective, reactionary, and prickly? We have a canon m/m relationship with two fully fledged characters who are getting separate character arcs as well as an epic, feels like endgame, romance that is getting the same serious treatment and development as heterosexual relationships, but it’s precarious. With all of that development and groundwork, from the very first episode, just to be leading to Michael and Maria, it would be unexpected and like having the carpet pulled out from under you. In the first episode, Michael and Alex were framed in parallel with Max and Liz and yet we don’t expect a separate endgame for them. Yet, with the canon of the first series, the flirtatiousness between Michael and Maria, and the ever persistent resistance to have gay/bisexual characters be happy together, it does feel like a threat is hanging over us that the writers might go in that direction despite all logic.
And speaking of logic, Alex has been set up as very integral to the show outside of his romance with Michael, so if Michael and Maria are endgame, where does that leave Alex? How do we get from how drawn these two men are to each other (Michael “I never look away” Guerin and Alex “I feel 17 again” Manes) to a healthy and happy relationship with Maria where Alex can find peace and acceptance with their relationship and Michael doesn’t look like complete shit? Because will Maria be happy to lose her best friend for a guy? Because Alex and Michael, as we saw in the very first episode and have seen again and again, are still very much hung up on each other and not ready to move on in any meaningful way. 
When I say I don’t want Michael and Maria to end up together, I’m just talking about in the actual show, in the canon--people can do what they want in the fanon, that’s what fix-it fics are for. I just don’t see Michael and Maria working as endgame and I see the drama involved in such a relationship as unavoidable and hurtful instead of entertaining. And honestly, you’re not going to make a move like that and completely ignore the drama it produces. 
Finally, I do see Michael and Alex as endgame, they certainly have been framed that way so far and I just don’t see how the writers can have Michael sleep with or have a relationship with one of Alex’s best friends and still make it believable that Michael and Alex end up together. If Maria weren’t one of Alex’s best friends, maybe, but given that she is, Alex just does not seem like that kind of person. Nor do Maria and Michael, for that matter.
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codenamesazanka · 5 years
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What are your top ten Shigaraki ships (and if you've got time for it: why)?
Oh man! idk if I have enough - if there even is enough - Shigaraki ships (in the traditional romantic sense) to fill ten. Plus I hadn’t ship Shigaraki much with anyone because it wasn’t until recently that he got all this screentime and developing relationships with other characters. 
But going with interesting dynamics and relationships of all types, platonic or romantic or enemy or cautionary or imaginary/fanon (because I’m a sucker for my own imagined potential of a relationship) or canon(ish), and which ones intrigues/affects/impacts me the most? and then ranking them??? impossible hmm
(using the names and honorifics the characters call Shigaraki for some variation and also because I’m a weeb) (also ranking is suspect because I’m bad at making decisions)
10. Shigaraki and Bakugou
I didn’t actually like Bakugou until his Remedial Course mini-arc, and so didn’t pay attention to him much. So I was surprised when Shigaraki wanted Bakugou for his League. It wasn’t until I understood Shigaraki much better and finally took the effort to consider Bakugou’s side of things that I found myself wishing they had more interaction during his kidnapping. Because here was Shigaraki going 110% to woo Bakugou into joining him, he had honestly thought the boy would make a good Villain. And there was Bakugou who was adamant about being a Hero despite not being very Heroic. We could’ve had a great look (if Bakugou ever talked) into Heroes and Villains and motivations and more stuff about how they’re two sides of the same coin… or so I wish, making this a purely speculation about a battle of ideas and these two enemies coming to a grudging respect. But that’s all over now. 
9. Shigaraki and Twice
Shigaraki took off Twice’s mask to shut him up (sorta), then put it back on for him! If that isn’t the most warmhearted mean thing to do. Twice is very much invested in the League and I wanna see Shigaraki appreciating that. Is Twice the first member to get to touch Shigaraki’s hands? To measure them for a clone? Very big deal. Not a very intense dynamic, but good fun downtime Villain Out Shopping fluff. 
8. Shigaraki and Mr. Compress
Gotta say it’s @happojin’s ficlet about these two scheming over personal revenge on Overhaul that got me intrigued in this no-ideology partnership-in-pure-villainy. Mr. Compress is the exact type of chaos-loving dramatic criminal that’s right up his boss’ alley, though I can see too much of it getting onto Shigaraki’s nerves - which makes for good, mischievous conflict. These two would blow up buildings purely for fun and I wanna see that joy on their faces. But also! Not yet knowing the reason for Mr. Compress join the League makes for great speculation - like maybe he’s just enamored with Shigaraki’s spirit and youth (that makes him feel young himself???) that he’ll be okay with losing an arm and poverty and getting kicked around by a giant naked mountain man for a month. We see Mr. Compress with Shigaraki in chapter 114, calling Toga (for Shigaraki?) and I want to think it’s Mr. Compress fancying himself as Shigaraki’s (all) right hand man. 
7. Doctor and Shigaraki
The Doctor is creepy and I’m iffy about him cuz, well, he’s creepy but he sure is making the plot move forward and now he’s the guy who will be giving the League zany inventions like some episodic comedic cartoon. If it wasn’t so horrifying that they’re Noumus. But mostly, this is a guy who knew Shigaraki from childhood, who preserved (and maintained???) the hands, who Shigaraki is familiar with but also knows nothing about. What stories can you tell us about Shigaraki, Doc? I wanna know. I’m scared, but I wanna know.
6. Giran and Shigaraki-san
How long have they known each other??? (Consider - middle-aged seen-his-shit-in-the-underworld-and-now-respected-broker Giran having to be polite to a sulky teenaged Shigaraki and needing to address him as ‘san’ - idk, maybe I’m getting the nuance there wrong but… hilarity) What other dealings have they done? Giran sure is a champ to lose five fingers for Shigaraki and the League - is the League his best customer? Did Shigaraki ‘inherit’ the use of the broker from AFO? Has Giran met AFO? I guess this is just me wanting to know more about Giran, and Shigaraki is the proxy for that. But I wanna know! I wanna see them interact when Shigaraki rescues Giran. 
5. All Might and Shigaraki(Shimura Tenko)
I love my Shimura Tenko gets a father figure in All Might AUs! I’m writing one lol. But I acknowledge this is less about the characters themselves and more about the exploration of a legacy that ties them together. Cuz I love that shit. I love the idea of All Might being such a loyal disciple that he would do anything for the grandson of Nana - except it’s just that, he’s only chasing after a reminder of Nana. What would he do with Shigaraki/Tenko himself? And I love the idea of Shigaraki/Tenko deciding how to incorporate the tale of the sordid Shimura family into his life - if he chooses to do so at all. Lots of family/identity drama. Also completely in headcanon territory. Ah well.
4. Toga and Tomura-kun
The recent chapters have really up my interest in the friendship/siblinghood/whatever admiration Toga has for Shigaraki. She calls him Tomura-kun, which yes it’s expected of her as a cute high schooler; but no one else has ever called Shigaraki just his first name besides AFO. And Shigaraki seems to have a soft spot for her? He’s been very nice to all of the League, but for someone who immediately hated her at first sight cuz she was a ‘brat’ who didn’t make any sense, that’s the biggest attitude change. Right now, they’re confirmed to be the youngest and closest in age of the League, and I like the idea of them being able to be ‘young people these days’ together and relate to one another. Toga is very loyal to Shigaraki, but not above stabbing him should he be a jerk. Like with Twice, I wanna see Shigaraki be appreciative, or rather, I wanna see another scene where he’s really nice to her (the first one being, of course, that Overhaul arc flashback). 
Also they were in an omake drama CD being silly and if that isn’t the best thing.
3. Kurogiri and Shigaraki Tomura
Hmmm I’m lazy and I already planned a whole post dedicated to analyzing their relationship, so I’m gonna skip this. I’ll edit with the link to that post later!
2. Shigaraki and Spinner! In danger of being an OTP for me, which isn’t hard cuz I don’t have any other
The only romantic relationship on this list. Spinaraki. Like I said before, though Shigaraki was really the only option after Stain, Spinner was so clearly ready to believe in Shigaraki, to follow him, because he wanted the League to change the world. That’s a lot of faith put onto someone who is Shigaraki (I mean, look at him, he’s a skinny NEET goth), so much so Spinner, implied to have not been a criminal before joining the League, is ready to kill (and does). That’s intriguing enough, and then comes his month long observation diary about his leader. Who he still stays with after knowing Shigaraki’s very-not-Stain-like-nor-revolutionary plans. And now we wait for the climax of his journey of wavering loyalty. True, a lot of it is my own hyped-up imagination but I’m enjoying it. If Spinner stays and become Shigaraki’s most loyal follower, that is so my shit I’m going to die. I’m gonna die anyways whenever they interact in the near future chapters. 
1. All For One and Tomura
What is there to say about…. this? It haunts me. It’s number one on this list cuz it’s the dynamic that I think about most, has impacted me most (Chapter 222 was a lot to handle), and it’s like trying to untangle thorny vines. Gotta say, in my intepretation, it’s a very accurate portrayal - from Shigaraki’s side - of caring about someone who has hurt you a lot, and you know it. But it’s the person you knew best and depended on when there was no one else, and you’re always going to have their influence - of which includes positive things. It’s one of the very few portrayal that gets all the paradoxical messy details while being explicitly clear to the reader it’s wrong, Shigaraki doesn’t deserve this. It’s also clear that while AFO may have affection for people, that doesn’t matter. He’s a monster. Still wrong, and cruel. And I think that’s important to show, important to depict and an important message told well. Now all that’s left is to wait to see what Shigaraki will do now and how this bond will break. 
This to be absolutely clear, this isn’t a ‘ship’, it’s a portrayal of an abused child solider that is now flourishing away from his guardian and I’m hopeful for the future. And it’s so poignant to me, that a story is tackling this. Gets it. Its a dynamic I’m invested in because it’s a story of survival and I will see it through.
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Honorable mentions? I wanna see Shigaraki and Hawks. That should be interesting. 
I used to like ShigaDabi, but mostly because it was available. I’ve got no opinions about it now. :/
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Thanks for reading!
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bigskydreaming · 4 years
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Um... /post/188248925631/dick-and-damian-dont-love-each-other-more-than Explain, please. Also curious about your opinion on the Dick and Damian being the mirror of Bruce and Dick, especially things like That scene in Nightwing #20 and fanon's heart nut material that is Dick being Damian's father figure along with brother.
LOL that was a goof post that basically is just another way of me saying “stop making the Batkids have favorites, let them all love and appreciate each other just in different ways.” With the fact that Dick and Damian tend to interact with each other more comfortably than with their other siblings not being proof of favoritism, but rather just...a lot of the same things and experiences appeal to them in very similar ways, so they have plenty of available bonding activities at any given moment. 
Like I see them both as adrenaline junkies in a way that say, Tim perhaps isn’t....like Tim isn’t afraid to do any of the things he does as a vigilante, of course, but he’s a more cerebral character, more of a thinker, happy surrounded by computers and data and investigation files as much as anything else...whereas Dick and Damian I both see as very physically oriented people, they like action, danger and excitement that gets their blood pumping and adrenaline going, like....on its own merits. 
So they’re like “HELL YEAH, LET’S DO THE THING” when the thing isn’t always the most....logical course of action, but hey, at least they’re not gonna be bored, lol. Y’know?
As far as Dick and Damian mirroring Bruce and Dick....I both agree and disagree with it.
I disagree in the sense that canon and fanon frequently views them as an INVERTED mirror of Bruce and Dick, with Dick as the happy Batman trying to cheer up the brooding Robin Damian, as opposed to when Bruce was the brooding Batman cheered up by his happy Robin Dick.
Because I think that devalues Bruce and Dick’s VERY early relationship, the inception of it, the foundation of their bond....and perhaps ironic given how critical I am of Bruce and his badly written or acted upon parenting a lot of the time....I think this perception of Bruce and Dick undercuts some of Bruce’s BEST times as a parent to Dick, specifically.
Because Bruce WASN’T just a dark, brooding Batman for most of the time Dick was Robin, historically speaking. Before the late 70s/early 80s, which was also around the time they started transitioning Dick out of Batman’s sphere and into his own role as Nightwing and most associated with the Titans, like....before all that, Batman tended to be as silly, tongue in cheek, and yes, even cheerful, as he was at times dark and brooding. Like, in pre-Flashpoint stories that trace back to Dick’s early years, Bruce SMILED, even when in the cowl. He laughed, he joked, he called Dick by personal endearments. He was PATERNAL and affectionate.
And given that in pretty much every version of his origin story, and like....in logical view of the events that unfolded in it....Dick himself did not START as a cheerful, happy go lucky Robin without a care in the world. He was traumatized, he was grieving. Depending on which origin you go with, he had massive trust issues, in all origins he has abandonment issues....early Dick Grayson had a darkness every bit as much as anyone else, because he was a lost and grieving child trying to find his way in the world with his usual support, lifeline, the familiarity that had defined so much of his early life in the form of his parents, his friends, his circus....like all of that was gone, and he had to start over in terms of finding things good and worthwhile in a world that had taken all of that away from him.
And it was Bruce who helped him do that. Who was HIS light, HIS brightness every bit as much as people tend to credit Dick with being his, if not more. Like, I would argue that it was NEVER that Dick made Bruce lighter and happier by simply being himself and always being cheerful and joking. More accurately, I’d suggest that it was more that Dick made Bruce lighter and happier by giving him reason to make a conscious CHOICE to be those things...for Dick’s benefit, specifically, so as to help steer Dick away from becoming a replica of his darkest and most brooding self, by setting a more carefree, light-hearted example for Dick to look at and use to help decide how he wanted to shape himself and what he wanted to shape himself into.
So the irony is, I think Dick and Damian are MORE of a mirror to early Bruce and Dick than people actually deem them to be. That they weren’t actually an inverted mirror, with Dick always playing the role of the cheerful inspiration that brightened his counterpart’s demeanor. I see it as Dick occupying the exact same role Bruce did in Damian’s life, leading him by example, out of his own personal darkness, the way Bruce had once done for him...no matter what differences came between them later in life.
The part where I DO think they’re actually an inverted mirror of Bruce and Dick, is in the paternal bond between Dick and Damian, that fandom highlights so consciously. Its not that Bruce wasn’t paternal, as I said earlier. Its more that like....there was always that slight distance or buffer (that grew as Dick grew older) that came about because of the uncertainty between Dick and Bruce as to what they actually were to each other, what label to use for each other....friend, brother, partner, father/son? And I do firmly believe that as the adult and guardian, it was Bruce’s responsibility to take the lead in establishing what they were to each other...or at least, what they COULD be, if Dick wanted it to be.
Like, I mean, the popular take is that Bruce never adopted Dick as a kid because he didn’t want to replace Dick’s father in his eyes. But like, there’s all of one story in pretty much their entire history when Dick ACTUALLY says anything like that himself...and its back when he’s like, ten or eleven, and they’re trying to keep him in Bruce’s custody and so like, a judge is forcing ten year old Dick to like....put a label to them himself. And Dick is many things, but presumptuous on his own behalf has NEVER been one of them, so I have super negative feelings towards that always being pointed at as why Bruce didn’t adopt Dick as a kid and saying see, it was for Dick’s benefit because he was just doing what Dick wanted....like, no. An orphaned kid who lost everything once, has massive abandonment issues, and ended up taken in by a billionaire who gave him more than he could have imagined....like that kid is NEVER going to be the one to push the envelope and say “hey this isn’t quite enough for me, could you please also adopt me, Bruce, even though you’ve never given me any clear indication that this was okay with you or something you even wanted?”
Like. Its just not realistic. Or fair to put that on the kid, to be the one to open up that avenue for exploration. This is why people who foster or adopt older kids are HEAVILY stressed to make clear to the child like....what their OPTIONS are. Like if they foster them initially, its not presuming anything about the child’s wants to just....make it clear that hey, if this is ever something YOU want, we would be very much open to adopting you and changing our dynamic accordingly, but if not, that’s fine too.
Kids just aren’t going to have the confidence to ASK for that. They’re just not. Especially when they come into the relationship with the kind of emotional baggage and familiarity with total upheaval that Dick had.
So my point being....I don’t think it was ever truly that Dick wanted to not be adopted, or expressed or hinted at that in any way. I think its more likely that Bruce projected his own wants on Dick, based on the fact that he initially identified with him and his circumstances so much, seeing himself reflected in Dick’s tragedy when losing his own parents. I think Bruce’s hesitancy to raise the issue of adoption when Dick was a kid was far more likely to do Bruce assuming Dick wouldn’t want that....because Bruce projected himself into DICK’S shoes, and based on THAT, operated off of what HE would have wanted as a kid....which was to NOT see his parents replaced in any real way, even though Alfred of course was very much a paternal presence throughout his later childhood.
So its not even that Bruce didn’t want to adopt Dick either - I think he very much did. He just told himself that Dick wouldn’t possibly want that, because Bruce couldn’t imagine have wanted that himself when he was Dick’s age, in Dick’s situation. And so Bruce held back from ever really raising it while Dick was a kid, because he was afraid he’d only get rejected if he did....again, just based purely on his personal assumptions and history.
The irony, for me, and why I see this as an inverted mirror to Dick and Damian’s bond....is that I think once Dick was in Bruce’s shoes....he did the EXACT SAME THING BRUCE HAD DONE....just in the other direction. He, just like Bruce had with him...projected himself into Damian’s shoes, and based his decisions off his assumptions about what Damian wanted or would want....which were in turn, based on his memories of what HE had wanted when he was the one in Damian’s position. Which was for Bruce to fully act like a father to him, to not hold back or hesitate or be afraid to step into that role.
So because of that, Dick tried to avoid what he saw as responsible for so much of the distance between him and Bruce - that hesitancy to establish a clear relationship and bond that left no real doubt how either felt - and so he in contrast all but threw himself into the paternal role with Damian...also using it at the same time to hide from his own grief and other issues stemming from Bruce’s death as well as having to be Batman. He EMBRACED being there and available as an actual father figure to Damian, if Damian made moves in that direction - which of course Damian inevitably did, because he was a kid desperately in need of affection, and here Dick was offering it freely and openly.
I think this additionally played into why Dick was so resistant to believing Tim about Bruce - it wasn’t that he didn’t WANT Bruce to be alive or that he didn’t trust Tim or WANT Tim to be right....it was that on some level, because of what he saw as so crucial to being for Damian’s benefit, and to avoiding making the same ‘mistakes’ with Damian that he felt Bruce had made by holding himself back from him at times, emotionally....Dick couldn’t afford to see himself as a placeholder in Damian’s life. Especially not without any guarantees that Bruce actually was alive or could come back....let alone how long that would take to happen. If he did that, accepted that, it would be all to easy to put off establishing that firm presence and role in Damian’s eyes for longer and longer....until one day he might look up and years might have passed and Damian was sixteen and pissed off and moving out because he didn’t know what he was to Dick and Dick was afraid to tell him, because he was afraid of replacing Bruce in Damian’s eyes.
So I think on some level, Dick just couldn’t allow himself to believe Bruce might come back, because if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to commit to what he truly, honestly felt Damian needed him to be, for Damian’s sake.
With the end result being that strong father/son seeming bond between them....and Dick not having ANY clue how to handle it when Bruce DID ultimately come back, and he probably went in his head....oh shit, I fucked up, I replaced Bruce in Damian’s eyes, or at least made it weird or difficult for them...I gotta get 1000 miles away from here STAT, otherwise I’ll fuck things up for them more and they’ll never have the father/son relationship I want them to have and they deserve to have, and it’ll be all my fault. And PS no this does not have anything to do with my devastation that I went all in on this whole ‘treating Damian like my own son’ thing and now I can’t do that anymore, I have no real claim, that’s not my place and I gotta just make my peace with Bruce occupying the role I came to want and love having myself.
*Shrugs* So yeah. All of that.
Oh and also....it does feed my ire on the ‘treating Dick like he’s only sorta Bruce’s son because of the smaller age gap between Dick and Bruce and how young Bruce was when he took Dick in’ front. Because Dick and Damian have just as small an age gap and Dick was pretty much just as young and Damian just as old as Bruce and Dick had been, originally...
And yet notice how fandom has NO trouble characterizing Dick and Damian having an almost father/son dynamic even WITH Bruce still present and even WITH them only having occupied those roles in each other’s lives for a year.
But meanwhile, Dick raised solely by Bruce from ages 8 through the end of his childhood, and some people still can’t wrap their heads around how they could possibly be TRULY a father and son to each other because this reason or that one?
Meh. Sounds fake. Hard pass. LOL.
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fandomboy15 · 6 years
Text
Shiro and Keith are parallels of Aang and Katara
I’ve never done anything like this before but this popped in my head and thought it would be fun to write. Okay so for a long time now we’ve seen people comment on their ships and how they parallel other shows, the most common that i’ve seen is The Legend of Korra. However Voltron creators Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery also worked on Avatar the Last Airbender, with JDS joining in season 2 and LM in season 3. After seeing screenshots and watching season 7 episode 1 it made me think as a whole how the relationship of Shiro and Keith parallels close to that of Aang and Katara. This is just my own idea and people can disagree if they want to but this is my own personal interpretation. Also would like to add that people can ship whatever ship they want as all ships are valid in fanon, and again this is my own idea of what could happen in canon. So let’s start by analysing Aang and Kataras relationship and how it then parallels Shiros and Keiths. 
1) The brother complex: One of the biggest things people use to discredit Sheith is the use of the brother line. People often use this to call Sheith an incestuous ship and that it means nothing else. I feel like i have to say that it’s obvious that they’re not actually brothers due to multiple reasons, such as season 7 episode 1 showed them meeting for the first time as well as confirmation that Shiro never knew Keiths dad and Krolia upon meeting Shiro never referred to him as her son. Instead the brother line in my opinion is more used to confirm either one of two things. One tumblr blog called ‘Arahir’ mentioned that Keith uses the brother line as a way to ignore his feelings as he saw Shiros relationship with Adam and didn’t want to get in the way of Shiros happiness. Or alternatively the brother line is more Keith mistaking his own feelings as in season 6 episode 5 he also says I Love You, confirming that Keith does love Shiro which shows how deeply they’re connected. 
In ATLA Katara once referred to Aang like a little brother and in another episode as a good friend. This automatically doesn't mean that these two characters are related or their friendship discredits them ever being in a relationship, its shows that their is a bond between them with a mutual level of respect and care for one another. As well as the fact that feelings develop and change over time as Katara learned to stop viewing Aang as a brother and started to develop real feelings for him which eventually them to be in a relationship at the end of the series. This is what I see happening with Sheith which I will go into more detail later that it is a slow build, it’s not going to happen until the end as their feelings are still developing and growing in that Shiro and Keith are learning to realise their true feelings for one another go deeper than that of a friendship. 
2) The Mentor / mentee relationship
In ATLA we can see this with Aang and Katara. When these two first met Katara was fascinated by Aang and the fact that he could help her learn Waterbending. Katara soon becomes a master and eventually becomes Aangs Waterbending master to help him reach his full potential as the Avatar. 
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This can be seen with Keith and Shiro, as Shiro became Keiths mentor and helped him get into the Galaxy Garrison as Shiro believes that Keith has a lot of potential and wants to help him reach it. In both of these ships I feel like it signifies the the mutual level of wanting to help one another and support and lift each other up to do the best they can, which we know was a problem that Shiro had in his relationship with Adam. (also I feel bad but i’m not trying to hate on Adam at all but based on what the creators of the show said and what happened in the episode with him it does portray him in not the best light but I think he’ll be an interesting character to know). 
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Also would like to add in this part the age difference. With the introduction of Adam it makes sense that Shiro would not have had feelings for Keith pre-series for a couple reasons. Number one is that it would be pedophila which is not okay at all and also is something that people use to discredit them since its not true nothing romantic happened between them before the series began. Number two is that Shiro and Adam before they broke up, which people are seeming to ignore, where in a loving relationship and Shiro doesn't seem like the kind of guy to be eyeing some-other guy, especially one that is about seven years younger than him in the pre series. Also by the start of the series we know Keith is 18 and with the two years on the space whale and the fact that a year has passed since they’ve been in space it puts his age at 21 and Shiros age to 25-26 which is not that big of a difference and it further help show that they are two consenting adults. 
Also on another note to signify their closeness and support of one another is the parallels of dealing with responsibility and how the mentor helps the mentee. With Aang he never wanted to be the avatar he just wanted to be a normal kid, but Katara is the one who helps him realise the responsibility he needs to take on in order to save the world which she does by supporting him and eventually helping him master waterbending. This parallels Sheith as Keith had to deal with the responsibility of becoming the future leader of Voltron and it was Shiro who helped him realise his potential to be the leader that Voltron needed. 
3) You saved me: 
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“You Saved Me”
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“You saved me”
“We saved each other”
This is another parallel i found interesting is how both they are saving one another. The first image was Aang realising Katara saved his life after he was shot by Azula, and the second image was Shiro grateful for Keith rescuing him. That ones interesting since it was more Allura saving Shiro by being a magical USB haha, but it shows that Shiro thought more of Keith saving him. Also it was so cute how Keith never once let go of Shiros pod because he could never leave him. 
Also holding the other in their arms there was a parallel for this as well. 
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Katara holding Aang after she revives him.
Keith holding Shiro after he wakes up. 
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Not even reaching they are literally holding each other the exact same way, if that ain’t a parallel then I don’t know what is. One cradling the other in their arms after being hurt really bad. 
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“You’re Okay”
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“You Found Me” 
Fuck my heart hurts i love them all so much. We stan two people holding each other and in love aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
4) Its a slow build relationship: With Aang and Katara their relationship was a slow build between them falling in love with each other. You can see how Aang obviously has a crush on Katara but it eventually turns into love and Katara slowly falling in love with Aang as the series progresses. They didn’t immediately become a couple even though they kissed three times before the end of the series they still needed to grow as characters and eventually fall in love. 
As for Voltron many of the cast and crew have also talked the show being a slow build. It’s the reason why characters like Lance haven’t had a pivotal arc yet because it takes time to properly set up these characters and how it affects the story. With Keith and Shiro their relationship has also been a slow build that I feel like with Kataang won’t happen until the very end of the series. But yeah this was kind of short but also I just feel like we need to be patient cause it yields focus, get it haha. So yeah just based on everything that has happened between these two I can just see it slowly growing more and more from friends to eventually boyfriends and then husbands cause if Shiro almost got engaged once so he’s gonna do it again. I feel like since Shiro and Adam broke up he probably needed the time to find himself and wheres a better place to do that in space, and eventually Shiro is slowly growing more and more in love with Keith, and as for Keith he also needed to find himself and I think him spending those two years with his mom really helped him grow and become the leader that Voltron needs him to be and now he can focus on other things... like Shiro. 
5) Other characters to ship them with:
It’s not really a secret that a part of the Voltron fandom has been about shipping and a lot of times it has turned toxic which is stupid because people should be allowed to ship whatever they want. This also happened in the avatar fandom with the ship war of Aang and Katara vs Zuko and Katara. This was a really big deal and there was a lot of people who shipped Zutara and were not happy when they didn’t end up together . 
In all honesty since I think that Sheith parallels Kataang then I believe that Klance parallels Zutara. Again I am not hating on Klance this is jut my opinion (it’s funny i act like people will actually read this) but with Klance and Zutara they are similar in that they're opposites you know the whole red/blue contrast, fire and water, ones cool headed and the others hot headed. To me thats how Klance is they started off not really fond of each other but they have had moments which has led to a friendship and trust between the two similar to that of Zuko and Katara. But also with Sheith like i’ve said in this whole post is that its slowly building up to a romantic relationship just like Aang and Katara and even JDS mentioned and its on the official Voltron twitter that Shiro will have a stronger relationship with Keith, i mean like seriously the only place that they're relationship could possibly be stronger is if they start dating, in my opinion thats the only way it can become stronger with them both admitting how much they love each other, but again I don’t think this will happen until the very end because once again its a slow burn and it takes time to build up even more. 
Also another parallel that I can imagine is comparing Shiro and Adam to to Katara and Jet. Obviously Shiro and Adams relationship was more serious than Jet and Katara, but I do see a parallel in their relationships. Katara wanted Jet because she thought he was this amazing person but of course his true intentions were shown and he tries to convince Katara that he is right and that her opinion is wrong. This is similar to Adam in that I don’t think he is a bad guy just that he doens’t truly have what Shiro wants at heart and I feel like when we meet him in season 7 it will be similar to when Jet returned in season 2 of ATLA where it was awkward but eventually they’ll make up but won’t get back not because Adam will die like Jet, but because Adam just isn’t the one and Shiro has found someone who truly supports and accepts every part of him, *cough Keith cough*. 
6) Earthly attachment: 
Okay so we in ATLA there was an arc for Aang where we could learn to control the avatar state. However in order to do so he would have had to let go of his love for Katara as she is what bounds him to the earth. However Aang is like nah fam i love her and then leaves. Eventually he gets his avatar state powers back but basically this shows how to Aang, Katara is his entire world. 
Now while there hasn’t been any spirity parallels between Sheith I can see the parallel of them being the one that ties the other to the earth. The first comes from Haggar in season 6 where she says that Keith and Shiros bond runs deeper than any of the other paladins showing how much they mean to one another and that literally their fucking connected on a spiritual level. The second example comes from another blog which you can find here: 
http://acekeith.tumblr.com/post/176132479409/a-little-vent-post-about-whats-been-bothering-m
Basically they talk about how in season one when the paladins focus on their important memories, and in it Shiro doesn’t think of Adam because they broke up and Shiro doesn’t see him as being him home anymore, instead Shiro thinks  of the Kerberos mission and the rocket which is where he took Keith to say goodbye to him showing how Keith and his dreams of being in space is what is most important to Shiro.
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Also on Keith’s side we can see how important Shiro is to him back in season 2 i think when Keith was fighting the blade of mamora. in this episode we learn that Keiths greatest fear is Shiro leaving or abandoning him. I feel like this says that Keith can literally not live without Shiro as he is the only person in his life that he truly cares for and feels love for. 
Also speaking of spirit magic i do have a headcanon that something like this could happen, cause of how they said the white lion isn’t done with Shiro so what if Shiro tries to gain cool powers from the white lion but he’d have to let go of Keith but he can’t do that, my heart would burst but this is just a headcanon though I would love it if that were real. 
7) Flustering mess: I saw this and thought it was a funny parallel that i wanted to include. 
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Aang literally becoming a mess at the sight of Katara wearing a different necklace. 
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Shiros gay panic when Keith came back older and hotter. They are both actual messes when they see their baes looking good. 
So maybe this is a really interesting theory or maybe i’m just crazy. But honestly i loved making this I thought it was really fun to see the parallels between two of my favourite shows ever and two of my favourite couples ever. If people can think of anymore parallels then let me know. Also again please don’t hate me on this just wanted to share my own opinion of this and am not trying to invalidate any other ships as people can ship whatever they want. But yeah I just really love Sheith and pray to god everyday it becomes canon haha.
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deathgatesideblog · 5 years
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@thatclumsysartanisbi reblogged this ask meme and instead of reblogging it and waiting for someone to ask me, I’m just gonna do it with the OT3 unprompted, because I feel like it.
Who would win tickle wars: I have two main impressions about this. First, between Haplo and Marit, one of them is completely immune to being tickled and the other one is completely and utterly ticklish, but I’m not sure which one is which. I’m inclined to say Marit’s the ticklish one, though. Either way, Alfred’s about in the middle. Second, a tickle fight with them would turn very violent very quickly. My mother WILL kick us in the face if we try to touch her feet. Does any of this actually answer the question? No, it does not. Moving on. (actually, my real answer is that the younger kids would get in on it and end up warring with themselves, making one of THEM the ultimate winner)
Who would draw pictures of the other in their sketchbook: This started as a high school AU thing, but Haplo+drawing is interesting to me? Initially it was cos I figured runes+required art credit for high school. I don’t think he’d really be interested in it, necessarily, but he IS a pretty fast learner in canon and he has the attention to detail for it, I think. Like, didn’t his journals have at least a few diagrams and things? Anyway, I just imagine Haplo sketching things on blank pieces of paper when he’s bored in Alfred’s study or between lessons with the kids or things like that. Not great, but better than either of the other two.
Who would holds hands while walking: Haplo is a chronic hand holder. It’s canon, basically. [Haplo has two hands dot meme]
Who would gives cheek kisses: I feel like all of them would, but I’m gonna give this one to Marit. Cheek kisses, along with pats on the shoulder and shoulder nudges, are a quick and easy way to show physical affection; just something quick that an onlooker might miss if they weren’t paying attention. 
Who would start a snowball fight: [Is once again haunted by the fact that none of the worlds seem to have snow except MAYBE the High Realms in Arianus] Uh if I have to pick one I’m gonna vote it’s Alfred demonstrating what he used to see kids doing in Arianus after they made it snow there (assuming we’re going by my one fanon that the Sartan used to do that) and then the Patryns take it WAY too seriously.
Who would slip the most on a date to go ice skating: Is this even a question? I am terrified at the idea of Alfred + knife shoes + slick surface.
Who leaves letters in the others’ locker: HIGH SCHOOL AU HIGH SCHOOL AU HIGH SCHOOL AU I’m going to say leaving notes is a very Haplo thing to do. (Partially because Alfred opening his locker and being very surprised to see a piece of paper falling to the ground is very cute, 10/10 do recommend)
Who would bring lunch to school/work for the other: Hng, see this is another thing that I can see all of them doing. I do think Alfred gets food brought to him more often than the other two, because he gets distracted easier (hey @thatclumsysartanisbi that adhd alfred headcanon about hyperfocus). Between Haplo and Marit, Haplo usually does the actual bringing of the food, but that’s mostly because Marit will just delegate the task of bringing Alfred food to either him or one of the kids.
Who would want cuddle at the movie theater date: Alfred would, but would worry about it being too public. Haplo would, and wouldn’t care about the setting. Marit doesn’t care as long as the other two will quit talking about it and let her watch the dang movie.
Who would buy cheezy cliche gifts for each other on holidays: Hm. Alfred, I guess? Apologizing for being silly and cliche, but, well, he has a soft spot for a little cliche.
Who would start an argument about what color curtains they should have at home: Marit and Alfred. I’m going with Marit and Alfred here. Except really, it’s more like Alfred spending more than a little time mulling it over, Marit loudly and vocally Not Caring, except that Alfred’s somehow managed to get Haplo into his dithering too, so then it’s Marit vs Alfred, “it doesn’t matter and I want to go home” vs “just give me a few more minutes to think about this, hm” and it’s not even really a fight because they all agree to just leave it to Alfred pretty easily and just give him a nudge when it starts to take too long again.
Who would remember their anniversary: Alfred is the one to notice and point out that they’ve lived in the Nexus for a year now, shouldn’t they do something to celebrate, maybe just something small, and Haplo and Marit have never really celebrated annual dates like that before. Marit isn’t all that into it and won’t remember anything on her own, though she’ll go along with whatever they’re doing and end up enjoying it, but Haplo actually really likes marking anniversaries and kid’s birthdays and things like that, now that he has them.
Who would blurt out how much they love the other in front of people: Alfred “Unreliable Narrator” Montbank, Mr. “I met a man with a dog” himself, Mr. “I shouldn’t even be acting like I know you but I can’t resist shouting about the Chamber of the Damned stuff”. He would accidentally go on little rambles about the other two. That being said, Haplo is drinking “I love my spouse” juice 100% of the time, post canon, and it shows. Compared to them, Marit seems like the reserved one, but say something bad about Haplo or Alfred in front of her and she’ll be on you like a hawk tbh
Who would offer to wash the others’ back in the shower: Ugh, all of them again? Helping someone wash a kind of quiet, understated show of practical affection that makes me think of something Marit would do, but that goes for Haplo as well. And of course Alfred is all about being helpful too, but I’m pretty sure it’s also lowkey a thirst thing/an Intricate Ritual(tm) for him in a way it isn’t for the other two, because he’s just that repressed. Not that it’s that hard to see through.
Who would post up statuses about the other on facebook: I really really can’t see any of them being all that into social media, but I guess if I had to pick I guess I’d pick Alfred being the classic “Older Person On Facebook Who Doesn’t Quite Get It” trope.
Who would have the others’ picture as their phone background: Haplo. Because I have the phone as heart metaphor from Sherlock of all things in my head, and then I associate Haplo with heart metaphors because dog = heart, and... it makes sense in my brain, okay? So yeah, Haplo has a cute picture he snapped of Alfred and Marit doing something together and not noticing him take the picture. Possibly (probably) with some of the kids in there, too.
Who would take pictures of the other while they’re sleeping: That’s an Alfred thing, if only because I’m still emotional about that quote from Serpent Mage about him watching Haplo sleeping.
Who says I love you: What kind of question is this? They all do?? Haplo says the actual words most often, until he stops feeling proud of himself for managing to say them out loud. Alfred says “I love you” second most often, but when he talks he also uses a lot of little “my dears” and other terms of affection. Marit also says “I love you,” sometimes, but it’s always rarer than either of the other two and all the more special for it. But she’s also gentler when she speaks to the two of them compared to other people, will give and take more teasing from them, all those little things that Marit does for them that she doesn’t do for other people that make them know they’re loved!
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