#otp: i miss your battle cry

[jewishclarkkent]

Fic: On the Run to Nowhere (Steve/Tony, 616 CW)

Read on AO3

Shards of glass crunched under the weight of Steve’s boots as he entered the remains of Avengers Mansion. The structure looked worse, somehow, than the last time he had been here — worse even than how it looked on that fatal night it was destroyed. It seemed evident, now, that it had been the exact moment their team fell apart. 

When he reached the grand staircase leading up to the private quarters, Steve’s body froze in place, trapped by memories like he had been trapped in the block of ice that brought him to this century. What would he find on the second floor? Ruin and debris, in all likelihood; wreckage was all that remained of his old room and life with the Avengers. It’s not your home anymore , a cruel voice reminded him, a familiar pang of loss situating itself in his chest. Steve clenched his jaw and fists and kept walking. This was not the time for sentimental, childish thoughts.

Coming here had been stupid and careless — two things he couldn’t afford to be, especially at this critical juncture. It was only the latest in a string of poor decisions he’d made in recent weeks, but perhaps the most reckless. He had not informed any of his allies about this meeting — not even Sam — and he did not allow himself to consider how he would handle the situation should it go awry. Steve had already been impetuous enough to lead his team into a trap once, and Bill Foster was dead as a result.

Still, part of him desperately clung to hope that it wasn’t too late to make things right. Tony was a friend. They had been able to resolve differences in the past, their friendship stronger for having done so. There had to be a way for Steve to remind him of that, to make him see reason. For all his bravado, Tony Stark was a good man — always had been. Steve knew that better than most.

They’d agreed to meet in the area that once served as the public conference room. Despite being half an hour early, Steve was not the first one there. Even more surprising was the fact Tony Stark sat behind the oak desk, looking immaculate in a designer suit rather than his armour. Of course, with the help of Extremis, Iron Man could appear at Tony’s whim. Still, it was not what Steve had been expecting; for a moment, ill-prepared and at a tactical disadvantage, he allowed the surprise to register on his face. When their eyes met, Steve nearly stumbled under the wave of emotion he was not willing to name. It was harder to smother this particular weakness when faced with familiar blue eyes rather than shiny metal plates. 

“Hello, Steve,” said Tony in the voice he reserved for business meetings and press conferences. The expression on his face was impassive and carefully controlled; a skill he had had a lifetime of mastering. Steve hated and envied it in equal measure. In comparison, Steve’s anger and betrayal rattled inside him like a pressurized canister ready to ignite. “I’m glad you could make it. I was afraid you might think this is a trap.”

“No. You wouldn’t. Not here,” Steve insisted, failing to mention that very thought had occurred to him. He curled his fingers around his shield, finding comfort in the bite of the cold vibranium against his skin. “And if I’m wrong — I’ll deal with it.” 

Tony’s lips twitched, dangerously close to a show of displeasure, but he quickly regained control and squared his jaw. Steve felt childish, smug satisfaction at having elicited some sort of emotion out of him. “You’re not,” Tony said slowly, voice measured. “I haven’t told anyone about this meeting. I just… I thought we should talk.”

The sincerity in his voice surprised Steve a second time, something he hoped his expression was able to mask. Tony stood up from his seat, walking over to the eastern wall of the room. An old photograph of the Avengers hung crooked and precarious on the plaster, the glass shattered. Tony reached to fix it with trembling hands, tracing the cracked wood of the frame with his fingers. “All these years… everything we’ve been through together… we owe it to each other to try and work it out, one last time…”

“All right,” Steve acquiesced, lowering his shield as Tony turned to face him. It was the reason he’d agreed to meet, after all. “Let’s talk.”

“Listen, about Bill…” Tony said. Steve’s shoulders tensed. “You have to know I never—”

“Not about that,” Steve interrupted, heart thundering in his chest. “Not a good idea. Start with something else.”

Tony stood frozen, seemingly at a loss. No longer the futurist always ten steps ahead, no solutions to offer. He looked around the room as if in search of answers. “That wall. That’s the one I came through, remember?”

“How could I forget?” was Steve’s immediate response, the memory surging to the forefront with hardly any effort. “The first time we fought. You came crashing through the wall like a bull, convinced I was someone named Chameleon, an imposter. I had no idea what you were talking about.”

“Those were the days. When we could almost kill each and smooth it out with a few simple words, remember?” Tony reminisced, mouth turned up with the hint of a smile. “By the end of it you would always say something wonderfully old-fashioned, I wish I could recall—”

“'I’m glad it all came out in the wash, partner,’” Steve recited, a mirroring smile tugging on his lips as he met Tony’s eyes. For a moment, it was as if nothing had changed between them. “I remember.” 

They fell silent, transfixed by the bittersweet memory, longing for what once was. Seconds ticked by and the silence stretched, poisoning the room with unbearable grief. The smile slipped from Tony’s lips, mouth flattened to a grim line. He averted his gaze and looked to the ground as if it could offer a reprieve. Frozen with shame, Steve did the same, berating himself for getting carried away by fanciful nostalgia.

“Anyway,” said Steve, unable to bear the tension, “we’re here to talk about what’s going on now.”

Tony sighed. “Can we start with why you’re so damn adamant about this? Didn’t we stand together in this very spot, not so long ago, trying to shut down the Young Avengers because they were inexperienced and untrained? And when we couldn’t stop them, didn’t we agree to train them? The Registration Act makes sure would-be heroes are fully trained in the use of their powers. For the public’s safety, and their own.”

“And what happens when the identities of these heroes are made public? You know how many of our friends have lost loved ones after their identity was compromised.”

“No one’s identity becomes public knowledge unless they choose—” 

“Come on, Tony,” Steve demanded, unable to keep his exasperation buried. “We have dozens of enemies who could hack a government database without breaking a sweat. But even if they couldn’t—governments change, administrations come and go. The Registration Act takes away any freedom we have, any autonomy. You don't know who could get elected, how public sentiment might change.” 

“Believe me when I tell you, Steve,” said Tony, irritation flashing in his eyes, “your way is a lot more likely to turn the public against us and jeopardize everything we’ve fought to represent.”

Steve took a deep breath, willing down the anger that simmered under his skin. “It was Stamford that changed things for you, wasn’t it?” he tried. “Before that you went to Washington and lobbied against the Act.”

“It was coming anyway,” Tony confirmed with a defeated sigh. “I always thought it was inevitable, though I did try to delay it. But after Stamford, there was no stopping it.”

“But you’re not just bowing to the tide of history, Tony,” Steve observed, wondering if he sounded as desperate as he felt. “You truly believe in this, I can tell. And I don't understand why.”

“I…” Tony tried, the words unable to escape. The expression on his face was visibly pained, and Steve ached to reach for him. “It could have been me, Steve. Instead of the Warriors, it could easily have been me.”

Steve nearly recoiled at the admission. “Ridiculous,” he blurted on instinct. “You’re a brilliant tactician. You’d never have engaged the enemy so close to a school.”

“I would have if I’d been drunk,” Tony said simply.

Steve did flinch at that, his stomach turning.

“I never told you this. Never told anyone,” Tony continued, voice trembling with shame. “When Obediah Stane was stealing my company out from under me, I fell off the wagon… I started drinking… hard.” He sighed and looked down at the floor, struggling with whatever it was he wanted to say next. “On a particularly bad day, Machine Man showed up at my office. I wanted him out, so I put on the suit to throw him out. I swung a lamppost at him and would have hit two of my employees if he hadn’t pushed them away.This close. This close and I would have been a murderer.”

“My god, Tony…” Steve said helplessly, the horror of the confession washing over him. He often wondered how the team had been so blind to Tony’s addiction when he was in the depths of it, how they had been oblivious while he struggled for so long. Unsure of how to express that, Steve took a deep breath, the exhale morphing into a resigned sigh. “I honestly don’t see how registration would have made a difference. If we didn’t know you were drinking again — your friends — if we couldn’t stop you…” he closed his eyes, overwhelmed with the memory of the night he pulled Tony out of the fire. “Once I found out, I tried…”

“I remember,” Tony said, a mix of emotions in his voice that Steve had no hope of deciphering. “And I recognize registration won’t stop every tragedy, but people in our position need accountability .” 

This, at least, was a point they could agree on, even if their ideas on what that looked like differed. “Of course we do,” Steve acknowledged. “But this isn’t the way. Look, Tony, I know it’s… comforting to think there’s someone watching over you, seeing you don’t make mistakes. But consider the downside here—”

“See, that’s the problem here,” Tony interrupted, frustration clear in his voice. “It’s why you can’t see things from my perspective. Because it’s predicated on the premise that superheroes make mistakes. And you’re Captain America. You don’t make mistakes.”

“I…” Steve stammered, taken aback by the accusation. After everything they’d been through together, all the times they’d bled on each other, had it not been evident to Tony that Steve was made of flesh and bone, the same as anybody else? After years of friendship, years, was Tony still incapable of seeing him as anything other than a symbol, as cold and unfeeling as a statue? Steve knew he’d been disappearing into the uniform the last couple of years, but next to Tony he always felt like more than just a living legend — he felt like a man.

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes,” he finally managed to say, the words heavy on his tongue. The next moment, his mind was transported back to the night he and Bucky had been captured by Zemo and his men, ears ringing with the sound of his friend’s tortured screams. The look of horror on Bucky’s face was the last thing Steve witnessed before he plunged into the English Channel, engulfed by the nothingness that would eventually deliver him to a new century.

Steve’s muscles tensed and twitched and he only barely resisted the urge to shiver. The cold spread through his body in an instant, as if his veins were carrying ice into his heart. He bit on the inside of his cheek until the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.

“If everyone were like you, we wouldn’t need registration,” Tony was saying. Steve’s mind felt so foggy that he could hardly concentrate on the words. He watched Tony’s mouth form sentences and heard the sounds, but there was no way to process any of it. What he noticed instead was the way Tony’s shoulders slumped. “But they’re not . Everyone feels inadequate next to you. God knows I always have.”

“You —?” Steve asked, certain he must have misunderstood. The static in his head intensified, his eardrums aching with pressure. “Tony, you’re brilliant. You’re—” 

You’re you , he wanted to say. Instead, he pursed his lips to trap the truths that threatened to escape. After all these years, there wasn’t much of a chance that Tony hadn’t figured it out, but he had been kind and merciful enough to spare Steve the humiliation of confronting it.

Tony was speaking again, and Steve fought to regain focus. “—they idolize you, Steve. We all do.”

Steve gritted his teeth. There it was again, Tony speaking to him as if he had no first-hand knowledge of Steve’s humanity. “The resistance to Registration isn’t about me, Tony,” he said, trying to keep his voice measured. “It’s about our freedom.”

“You don’t like the Registration Act? Do you have any idea what the alternatives are?” Tony raised his voice, patience running thin. “I do. I saw the plans when I was Secretary of State. Have you heard of Project Wideawake? Imagine sentinels hunting us down. Inhibitor circuits in our brains, taking away our powers. Genetic testing of the entire population to keep superhumans under government control before they’re even born.”

“It would never happen,” Steve said with conviction. “We would fight it. We’d stop it.” Together .

Tony slammed his fists against the conference table, the old wood splintering under the force. “What do you think I'm trying to do?” he yelled, his voice an equal measure of exasperation and desperation. “I've been trying to keep this from getting as bad as I know it can be! And from day one, you’ve been fighting me. And now it’s come to this.”

It was Steve’s turn to raise his voice, rage burning in the pit of his stomach as he clenched his fists. “You built a super-prison in the Negative Zone to imprison our friends! Is that what you call fighting this?” 

Tony’s eyes widened with surprise; clearly, he had not been aware that Steve knew about this particular development.

“What about them, Tony? The heroes who have risked their lives for years to help others, the friends you’ve fought side by side with? Men and women you know to be brave and righteous. Do you have no qualms about rounding them up and giving them up to SHIELD custody? You think that’s just ?”

Tony broke eye contact and looked down at his shoes. For a moment, Steve was certain his expression was one of contrition. “They broke the law,” he responded quietly. “That’s not on me — I can’t — I can’t bear responsibility for that.” His voice was small and desperate, like he was trying to convince himself of the words. “They’ve made their choices. They must answer for them and face the consequences.”

Anger continued to spread through Steve's body like a toxin, galvanizing him into action. It felt like he was on fire; once the flames were lit, there was no smothering it.

“Then arrest me,” he demanded hotly, closing the distance between them in two short strides. The proximity forced Tony’s back against the wall, boxed in by Steve's body. He brought his wrists together, pressing them against Tony’s chest in an offering. His shield was still strapped to his forearm, the metal cold between them.“If I’m nothing but a common criminal to you, Tony, then arrest me !” 

A long, insufferable silence followed, suffocating the room. Tony’s eyes were wide and alarmed as they studied Steve’s face. They were close enough to feel each other’s breaths, faces nearly touching. Slowly, Tony brought his hands to Steve’s forearms, fingers reaching to circle his wrists. Even through the thick leather of his gloves, the touch felt scalding. His muscles tensing, Steve held his breath in anticipation of Tony’s next move. The look in Tony’s eyes made it clear he was just as uncertain about what that might be. He pressed closer into Steve’s chest, quickly searching his face before attaching their mouths together. It was less a kiss and more of a dry press of lips, a clunking of teeth. Taken by surprise, Steve kept his eyes open, staring until Tony pulled away. 

“Is this your idea of a joke?” he asked, barely willing his voice not to crack. Tony was many things, but a cruel man was not one of them; despite everything that had happened between them, Steve refused to believe he would toy with him like this.

Tony deflated against the wall, pressing his back further into it as if hoping it would make him disappear. His eyes remained closed as he slid down the length of the wall to sit on the floor. “I don’t have any jokes left in me, Steve.”

It was then that Steve really looked at Tony, noticing the drawn lines on his face, the deep shadows under his eyes. A fit of nausea hit his stomach at the realization that he had been too absorbed in his own pain to notice the evidence of Tony’s exhaustion. Steve crouched down so they were on the same level. His hand shook as he reached for Tony’s face, tracing the sharp curve of his jaw. His face was thinner than it had been only a month ago. Steve wondered if he had been drinking — if his sobriety was yet another casualty of this war, sacrificed in the same manner they’d sacrificed everything else. The question was heavy on his lips, but Steve knew he’d lost any right to ask it.

“Steve,” Tony called, his voice hoarse with desperation. The sound of it made Steve want to collapse, suddenly so tired. He was taller and bulkier, but he still felt like the same 98-pound asthmatic kid who came from nothing — ill-equipped to fight this battle, much less lead it.

It was then that he realized that even with its armour, his uniform won’t protect him — not from this. His fingers went limp, releasing their tight grip on his shield until it met the floor with a deafening clang. Slowly, he pulled off his cowl and chucked it aside, cold air creeping up his neck. He allowed his head to drop against Tony’s shoulder, nose brushing the chord of muscle in his neck.

“I don’t want to have to do this,” he confessed, speaking the words against Tony’s clavicle. This battle was not one he wanted to fight, but Steve had never been able to ignore the call of duty. The uniform on his back had never felt so cumbersome. 

He expected Tony to respond with a simple ‘then don’t.’ Evidently, he knew him too well for that. Instead, Tony surprised him a second time when he reached to card his fingers through Steve’s hair, gentle and comforting. “Me neither,” he admitted. His other hand came to rest on Steve’s back, firm and grounding.

Nothing had changed between them. The circumstances remained the same. Each of their convictions remained resolute. Nothing had been accomplished in this meeting. If anything, it was more evident than ever that they were at an impasse, that each of them was a staunch advocate for the position he had taken. In truth, they hadn’t arranged this meeting to try and understand the opposing side, but instead to convince the other. A losing game neither of them was prepared to call.

The wise thing to do would be to leave. Give himself time to process and refocus on the mission. Outside the walls of this dilapidated structure that they once called home, the real world awaited. Was there really a rush to get back to it? In the course of his miserable, lonely life, had Steve not earned the luxury of claiming just a few minutes of self-indulgence? 

Lifting his head, Steve searched Tony’s eyes for answers. There was a mirroring sorrow etched in his expression. Recognition. Resignation. Ironically, they had reached an understanding. 

With trembling fingers, Steve reached for Tony’s face and tipped his chin. He leaned in and kissed him, pouring all the things he wished he could say into the simple gesture. Tony’s lips were warm and pliant, his tongue hurried and desperate. He fisted Steve’s uniform in his hands to draw him closer still, knowing it was the only chance they would get to share this. There was no time to mourn the what-ifs , only the fleeting opportunity of the moment.

Steve was going to fight for what he believed in. So was Tony. But here, for just a moment longer, they could be suspended in time.

#stevetony #stony #superhusbands #my fic #otp: you gave me a home #otp: i miss your battle cry #otp: i'm not half as good at anything as i am doing it next to you #otp: the ultimate weapon for good #otp: you could be my rudder #marvel civil war #marvel 616

[beans-core]

I finally got around to watching season 2 of Invincible (great show btw) and… oh my lord.

I need to ramble. I MUST.

spoilers after the cut! (If there’s still people who haven’t watched it lol I’m late to the game)

Oh my good god. There’s so much, but this is just the stuff that’s lurking near the front of my brain.

First off, Allen the Alien is the pookiest pookie to ever pookie. He’s so sweet and so determined. He literally risked loosing a battle on purpose to try and be taken to prison, a prison of the enemy, on the off chance that Mark’s dad would be there. And even then it was still a maybe that Nolan would even want to help the cause! Allen still trusted Marks word completely, even though it sounds crazy... “yeah dude okay I believe you, your mass-murdering Viltrumite father who totally tore up Earth and a bunch of other planets has changed his mind and feels bad. Good to know, I’ll make sure to find him and make sure he isn’t executed. I also understand you not wanting to ditch your planet and loved ones, and even though I’ll get in trouble with my commander I’m not going to force you to come to space with me. Bye now, sorry for breaking your bed, nice seeing you man!” And this was all in season 2. Even in season 1 he was still a bro. Allen is the Bro Code personified and I love him for that.

Eve and her family always makes me tear up. Because I can understand how her father, a hardworking man who was probably raised on the saying ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ — who now has a daughter who can literally make money grow on trees— would feel so upset. It doesn’t make up for the fact that he’s yelling at his family like a dickhead, but it’s still a whole shitty situation. It’s always a grand ole time when Eve is back with her parents… ha ha. The little pep talk from Rex was an awesome little insight on their relationship through the years too.

Rex… my boy, how do I even begin. He’s been a reluctant fav of mine since season one, but he’s also such a douchebag! Sucks that it took being shot in the head and watching your superhero friends/coworkers die in front of you to realize that maybe the whole douchebag thing isn’t really the way to go. But yeah. Good for him! Want more of his backstory tbh, think that’d be cool. And yes, I know I could probably look through the comics and see if there something in there if I really wanted to. But what if I spoil something for myself :c

The Immortal grieving and confused on why he feels so much… the parallels to Nolan with that… not to mention the reveal of Kate being alive! The way he stood there stunned before hugging her was so beautiful. Ugh. Was a bit weary of their relationship until Kate said ‘he knows what it’s like to die over and over’ and then it was like bam they’re in love your honor new otp.

And man. Amber and Mark were my old otp… I knew it was going to end sooner or later (I accidentally got spoiled bruhhh) but I really had hope for them. Sad but honestly Amber deserves the world and if Mark can’t give that to her (and he’s so sad about it too he just wants to go to college and be normal and love his bae) then literally no one can fault her for putting her needs first. That’s another thing I love about the show, there’s no shame when people put their own lives first, and the tough conversations are organic. Magnificent. Anyway Amber is amazing I’m going to miss herrrr T-T hopefully they stay friends and she shows up in other seasons!!

Have I mentioned that I love the gorey fight scenes? Because I really really do. It’s the whole reason I started watching Invincible. So the scene with Mark beating the life out of that slimy megamind with the name I don’t remember? AMAZING. For me, anyway. Mark experiencing the panic and mania right after was still not so great for him, but for me? Good soup. I like my soup seasoned with extra angst, morality struggles, and mental breakdowns. Yum.

Mark hugging his mom so so tight after he gets back to his dimension and curling up crying on the hospital bed next to her? Hitting a little too close to home. Had to pause to wipe my eyes. Also grape baby Oliver has all my love. If something happens to that child, I’ll want to burn the world down. Mark Grayson probably will.

Mark telling his mom he needs to get better so he’s leaving college. ouch. “I need to learn to control myself”… “I can’t be like dad”… gods above. And also “what am I going to do, become a dentist?” LMAO it sucks but he’s right, unless some crazy shit happens and his morality suddenly crumbles to dust, he’ll be a superhero. Because with great power comes great responsibility and all that. There’s usually a bonus savior complex included in the package, but everybody doesn’t learn about that until later womp womp. He and Amber talked about it too, she said something like “if you were the type of person who didn’t immediately leave to go save people, we wouldn’t be dating”. PERIOD.

Don’t even get me started on that last line from Nolan. Caught me by surprise, came out of nowhere. “I think I miss my wife.” STRIKE ME DEAD… I actually shed tears. After everything he’s done, after getting a new wife and having another child and seeing Mark again,,, this bastard is just now missing his wife?? He’s so fucked up fr. But the pain in his voice, BRO, he sounds so confused and heartbroken, like he’s wondering how after everything he’s done to earth and their family, how can he still miss his wife when he doesn’t even deserve to think her name??

Man. This show. So many different subplots and they come together like *chefs kiss* it’s amazing. This show makes me FEEL, even for the characters that I thought I’d always hate… the writers and actors and everyone make all of the characters so human it hurts. EVEN WHEN THE CHARACTERS ARE ALIENS—

#rambling again #ramblings #spoiler warning #invincible #invincible show #invincible season 2 #invincible season 2 spoilers #I’ll be damned if I spoil something for someone #I will not become the enemy #lmao anyway #this is an Allen the Alien fanclub

[apfelhalm]

Since we kinda know each other a lil bit I am brave enough to ask....what's the appeal of Cap/Tony to you? I know a tooooon of people ship this and I never really got the appeal (but I would love to get it this is not a AND HERE IS HOW YOU'RE WRONG question I am genuinely asking...)

Ooooooooh. I am actually thrilled about you asking me this because Cap/Tony is one of my oldest and pretty much the most beloved OTPs of all time <3

I got into Marvel during the waiting period for the 2012 Avengers movie. Cap and Tony hadn't even met onscreen yet, so what I did, like most people back during that time, was: I turned to the comics. And in the comics ... well. Their friendship has been established over decades of various comic arcs.

They're pretty much like yin and yang, opposites that complement each other, past vs. future, idealist vs. cynic, the team parents, soulmates friends that will find each other in every universe and just need to be at each others side. They banter a lot (which can sometimes come off as flirty, especially from Tony's side), they have nicknames for each other (winghead and shellhead).

Especially Tony grew up idolizing Captain America and describes finding him frozen in a block of ice as the greatest day of his life. (I think he canonically has a room full of Cap memorabilia and merch but I can't find the scans to back that up right now.) He once opened his faceplate surrounded by toxic gas to give Steve mouth to mouth/CPR, because he thought keeping Steve alive was more important than his own life (x).

Things Tony once said to or about Steve:

I'm not half as good at anything as when I'm doing it next to you.

you were my rudder, steering me when others couldn’t

I miss your battle cry

And then there was Civil War. It was a huge event in the comics that had an impact on pretty much everything and Steve and Tony were the heart of that dispute. See, that conflict was mostly shoehorned and silly, but it was an angsty gold mine for shippers. A lot of what happened hit so hard because Steve and Tony had such a special and deep friendship. And then, in the aftermath of Civil War, Steve gets shot and dies. Tony, feeling partly responsible for what happened, completely loses it. He's supposed to hold a speech at Steve's funeral, but he breaks down crying in front of everyone before he can finish it. In one of the spin-off comics you can see Tony sitting beside Cap's dead body, pouring his heart out. And Tony, having played the villain throughout the entire Civil War, having betrayed and lost friends because he fought for what he thought was right (something he learned from Cap!), bitterly admits: "It wasn't worth it." (This is a callback to when Steve angrily asked him "was it worth it?" - Tony didn't have an answer back then.) (x)

Fun Fact! In one of the multiverses, Civil War canonically gets resolved because Tony is a woman and marries Steve:

Movie!Cap and movie!Tony had a very different dynamic. They were more of a enemies/rivals to friends (to lovers) kind of thing - which is also fun! - but A Lot of aforementioned comic canon bled over to how I and many over fans depicted/interpreted them. And that was a lot of fun, for a while. Except over time and with every new movie that go released, it got clear that the MCU had no interest in actually making them and showing them be friends. They were begrudging co-workers at most (and not just Tony and Steve, the whole team besides Tasha and Clint were rarely shown to have meaningful interactions) and that took away a lot of the impact of Captain America: Civil War.

So yeah. It's this deep and meaningful friendship that draws me to Steve and Tony. I still ship them in the MCU, but it certainly got soured a little by what the movies did (or didn't do) with their friendship.

#ask #black-out-marker #i'm sorry this got so long but i couln't not elaborate haha #i love them too much haha #if you want a wholesome and awesome representation of steve and tony being besties I strongly recommend the Avengers Assemble cartoon #also i have written a post civil war (mcu) fic about them that i'm still proud of actually haha #SUPERHUSBANDS

[shysheeperz]

love ur blog!! I check it out before starting an anime/manga 💞

just wondering do u have any recommendations for complete anime/mangas?

thank u either way!!!

Completed??????

Manga:

Fullmetal Alchemist- the gold standard

Silver Spoon- by the same person who did FMA. Agricultural school stuff. Cute.

Agravity Boys- space sci-fi gag comedy, a wild ride to say the least, I miss my stupid boys

Magu-chan: God of Destruction- cute digimon/pokemon-shaped gods get woken up and mingle with a bunch of middle schoolers. Cute fluff mostly, will occasionally pull at your heartstrings (including the ending)

High School Family: Kokosei Kazoku- comedy/ slice of life, about an entire family attending high school. Has a volleyball arc that rivals the likes in haikyuu!!

Haikyuu!!-sports manga, if you want to cry over boys and their love for the game then this is for you, Boys x Volleyball is the tru otp of the show

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku- dark historical fantasy, so very, very good. Don't get attached.

Dr. STONE- sci fi, technically the main story is complete. We still have been getting the occasional side chapter or three that continue where the main story left off tho. A very solid shonen jump series. includes one of the best shonen jump dads in the history of ever. Will make u emotional over lightbulbs and stuff. hard not to root for the main cast.

Dr. STONE Reboot: Byakuya- a non-canon little one volume spin-off about byakuya and mainly about a funky lil robot that will make you sob uncontrollably I'd personally say to read up to the end of the Treasure Island arc in the main story first before tackling this one (about ch 140ish)

Dr. STONE 4D Science- a continuation of the main story, only a couple chapters, the ending is a really cruel tease imo and if Inagaki/Boichi don't give us more may they be cursed to lose all their left shoes forever

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Sanji- spin-off of sanji side stories by the duo who did food Wars. ONE PIECE related ofc. Tasty looking food. Sanji too cool for school. One volume.

Astra Lost in Space- space sci fi survival, solid story that deserves more appreciation, the ending is just a tad lackluster in actually showing what a lot of readers would have liked to physically see. By no means ruins the story tho.

Blue Flag (Ao no Flag)- high school, romance, slice of life, boys and gals just trying to figure out life and relationships. Solid.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles- gag comedy that leans a little too much into the shonen battle-esque stuff towards the end imo, but a decently enjoyable time. A mash up of Harry Potter and other various manga like mob, opm, etc.

Mitama Security: Spirit Busters- comedy, axed but I enjoyed it. Goofy fun. nothing spectacular but reading it won't hurt anyone.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes- spin-off of mha obviously, average joe Koichi >>> deku FIGHT ME, the goodest of boys, world building u don't get in the main series, Aizawa's backstory, Knuckleduster is the man the myth the legend.

Chihayafuru- screaming crying throwing up, it's niche it's technically a sports manga, romance, female MC, growth™, love triangle but at the end of the day that's not what's important

My Love Mix-Up!- comedy romance, big big mix-up on who loves who and lots of shenanigans ensue.

Noragami- TECHNICALLY not complete until like 2 days from now when the final chapter releases. my emotions! MY EMOTIONS!!!! 😭

Gintama- comedy/gag with dashes of really good drama

I have no idea what your tastes are, anon, so here's a mix that I've personally enjoyed. Some of them were axed, but technically that makes them complete so I included them :P yes I cheated.

Anime:

There's a lot less of them bc I haven't actually watched a lot of completed series.

Run with the Wind- more boys x sports but this time it's about running. Also the boys are in college. Will trick u into wanting to run.

91 days- ol timey story about VENGEANCE. Set during the prohibition.

Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann- makes you emotional and feel all fuzzy inside, sci fi, mecha

Cowboy Bebop- a classic

Samurai Champloo- also a classic and I actually prefer this one over cowboy bebop tbh, god tier baseball episode

Astra Lost in Space-the anime version, if you'd prefer watching over reading, but I always prefer manga > anime just cause.

FMA 03/FMA BROTHERHOOD- the gold standard. I appreciate both versions. 03 goes the anime original ending root bc obviously the manga wasn't completed yet no biggie.

Mob Psycho 100- MOB!MOB!MOB! and tumblr sexy man reigen arataka

Gintama- animated version alternative lol. The voice actors bring the characters to life.

Obv there are the old school classics like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Gundam and all that jazz if you haven't already checked out some of those. Oldies but goodies.

#ask #manga rec #anime rec #pretty positive i've read more axed manga than those who've reached thier natural conclusion #doesn't mean they shouldn't get some appreciation #manga #anime

[shadechu]

Let's do this stuff… after including some options

With my personal tastes about every interactions and/or headcanons entirely inspired in the same interactions (or possibilities and "What if" scenarios)

OTPs:

💛Gretacard: Alucard X Greta💚

🖤Trepha: Trevor X Sypha💙

♥️Draculisa: Dracula X Lisa💛

💜Strigana: Striga X Morana🖤

Guilty pleasure ships:

💛Syphacard: Alucard X Sypha💙

Alucard's Crush on her was very cute ;w; and they had a respectful dynamic too, both of them could have been a very interesting couple ✨ I'll need to imagine canon divergence though, one where Sypha didn't say Alucard was "cold" and stuff, it was then that I understood why Sypha preferred Trevor over Alucard… i still love to imagine their potential together, and considering how Alucard respected her canon romantic choice, he appreciated Sypha's friendship more than his own desires for her (what a good boy) Their interactions at the end of S4 showed precisely the same, Sypha's importance for him didn't change even if she was with another man. Imagine scenarios where Lisa didn't die coughOrMaybePostS4cough give me feels regarding the 2 blonde women interacting and talking about their Immortal, gentle husbands. OMG, just imagine Father-in-law!Dracula AFTER what happened in S2, wonder how those family dinners could be 😂🤣 Treffy became Syphacard's family because Mommy Lisa adopted him, and what Lisa says, it's law for Dracula lmao so, Uncle Treffy for Syphacard's babies ✨✨✨

🖤Isaacard: Alucard X Isaac💛

I know, I know! These 2 didn't meet each other in the series 😅 But imagine the potential of the beloved son of Dracula and the loyal forgemaster that Dracula saved before he died; they could have had a bloody battle if we talk about S2, sure… but then we saw this wholesome development from Isaac and his hopeful ending, he wasn't the same man anymore compared to S2. How could have been the things between S3 and S4: if the dhampire who protected the good side of the mankind AND the human who hated mankind had interacted, and what if Alucard had helped Isaac (similar to how The Captain did) talking him over the kindness of the mankind? So, in a post-S4 scenario: how could have been an ending between the New King of Styria and the son of the vampire who saved him? Dracula and Lisa like Isaac's parents-in-law had been another example of what Alucard knew that Isaac ignored. Alucard's bisexuality and Isaac's homosexuality were confirmed, so… why not? 👀✨

💛Hectorcard: Alucard X Hector💜

Yeah, similar to Isaac&Alucard, we didn't see them interacting never once in the series. But all those parallelisms between Hector and Alucard over their traumas, they were sweet souls that were manipulated and suffered because of other people's desires… man, they could have understood each other in a very deep way. And why not? Let's imagine that after he killed Taka&Sumi one crying Alucard was surprised by Cezar (yeah, we miss the zombie puppy in this house 😩) and he wasn't alone anymore✨ but some time later… this unexpected and adorable team we didn't know we needed; dhampire and undead puppy; those Immortal heroes discovered the Castle's magic mirror and they went to Styria to rescue Cezar's former forgemaster from Carmilla and Lenore's tyranny. Finally, Hector and Alucard became friends, returned to Wallachia together, and lived happily ever after with their undead puppy ✨✨✨ let me and my crazy what if fantasies alone, okay?! 😩😂

BROTPs:

💜Isaactor: Hector & Isaac🖤

I need to be honest, I was THIIIIIIS close 👌 of ship them in a guilty way after their powerful scene when my poor Hector recovered his freedom in THAT way, it's your fault, Lenore!!!! *cough* And the evolution of their bond at S4 compared to how it was in S2… whao!! I could have accepted the possibility of them like a plot twist endgame if this had happened! An unexpected, but very positive one. Sadly it wasn't :C Oh well, Dracula's wish became true at the end, his former forgemasters became friends and this was so beautiful 🤗

🖤Trevorcard: Trevor & Alucard💛

Oh yeah, the most popular ship from the fandom is one of my biggest brotps not bromances deal with it :P I enjoyed their dynamic but I never shipped them, Trevor NEVER showed that type of attraction towards Adrian, nor Adrian to him neither. They're just pals, buddies, Bros, and Trevor's love for Sypha DOESN'T involve a poly-orgy with Alucard at all. Sorry, Trephacard shippers. The only confirmed guy as bisexual here was Alucard, not Treffy :P it's even more valuable to see a friendship between a hetero guy and a "queer" guy WITHOUT homophobic tension. That's what the world needs to be a better place, full of acceptance and respect! But well, apparently Alucard cannot have platonic friendships only because he is bisexual… "he must fuck every guy he is close with" because he is Bisexual, right? 😬That's actually more homophobic or problematic if you think carefully about it… and the fandom can still shipping them if they enjoy their fanon/headcanon romance without forcing it like if that was their "canon" dynamic in the series. But for me??? Treffycard platonic supremacy ftw ✨ I loved how their bond evolved since S1 to S4 uwu

💛Grepha: Greta & Sypha💚

Like I already said over Trevorcard, why a female/bisexual confirmed character needs to fuck with every female character she interacts with? "Only because Greta had a poly-orgy before"? Bisexual people can have platonic friendships too. I could understand "Grepha" if they had talked more than ONCE at the FINAL episode of the LAST season. Greta interacted a lot with Alucard, she even showed attraction towards him because she blushed for him… but when Greta reflected that interest for Sypha? Greta with Alucard is a forced romance but Greta with a woman she just met is not forced? The show-runners already denied the theory of Greta being the genderbent design of Grant Danasty, so you cannot use the excuse "Grant had feelings for Sypha in the games", Greta isn't Grant, she is only Greta. Greta was the Bisexual girl confirmed here, not Sypha. Maaaaybe I could have liked the potential of their dynamic… if the fandom hadn't showed Grepha (or Greta+Trephacard) like their way to avoid the possibility of Gretacard like an individual, BISEXUAL m/f couple. And if Greta had talked with Sypha more than once lol For a f/f ship involving Sypha with a WoC, the show already gave me a lot more of deep interactions and SO MANY FEELS between her and Zamfir, even if they killed Zamfir at the end (WHYYYYYY?! 💔) Syphamfir supremacy!!! 👊😭

💚Gretrevor: Trevor & Greta🖤

Almost the same that with Grepha, but worst… because Trevor and Greta never interacted at all, nor once 😅 I can only imagine them like future buddies while they're training or something like that. Maybe Greta can be the future godmother of Trevor's future baby while Alucard can be the godfather 😊 and Trevor is hot, but Greta DOESN'T need to feel attraction for every handsome, badass guy she meets lol Trevor is already happy with Sypha anyway. Maybe I could have had a different opinion if they… had…interacted… maybe someone could make me feel different in some AUs, idk 😂😂😂

NOTPs:

Hector with any of his 2 vampire abusers… I cannot believe that one of them had even a ship name with him!!!

#castlevania #OTPs #guilty pleasure ships #BROTPs #and NOTPs #Trepha #Gretacard #gretadrian #draculisa #Strigana #Isaactor #Syphacard #hectorcard #Grepha #greta X Sypha #Gretrevor #Trevor X Greta #Lenector #isaacard #Carmilla X Hector #I don't need to explain my OTPs if anyone who is not racist nor biphobic respected and understood what the series reflected #Syphamfir #Zamfir x Sypha #sorry Saint Germain 😹 #Treffycard platonic Supremacy uwu ✨ #Treffycard

[theolympusfiles]

rereading the PJO and HoO - part one: the lightning thief

before i start, all italicized parts are from the lightning thief by rick riordan. they're not my words and these are not my characters. my thoughts are the only thing that are mine :)

• "mom, you're coming too." her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. "no!" i shouted, you are coming with me. help me carry grover". - the first(ish) appearance of percy's fatal flaw! i love the early establisment, especially because it helps foreshadow to the sea of monsters when fatal flaws are formally introduced.

• "that's -" "pasiphae's son," my mother said. "i wish i'd known how badly they wanted to kill you." - sally is underappreciated. she's smart as hell and clearly took the time to research demigods. yes, she was a little bit selfish with keeping percy out of the loop and not sending him to camp. but can you blame her? she lost all of her family and if she sent percy to CHB at an early age, that most nearly means she won't see him often (he'll attract monsters because he's aware of his status as a demigod and will most likely be at camp full-time). but sally ensured that she knew enough about the demigod world to protect percy because she knew that her selfishness would come with consequences. best mom.

• i was crying, calling for my mother, but i held on to grover - i wasn't going to let him go. - percy's first loss as a demigod and i am broken. honestly, so sad to think of, especially knowing all the losses he'll face in the future books. this line is also his fatal flaw showing once again (refer to first bulletpoint)

• "it (america) is the great power of the west. and so olympus is here. and we are here." - if olympus follows the west, where would the next location be? obviously, america is still a big powerhouse in terms of western civilization but that's not going to last. my bet is south korea but who knows? would love a fanfic on this tbh

• "the truth is, i can't be dead. you see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. i could continue the work i loved. i could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. i gained so much from that wish... and i gave up so much. but i'm still here, so i can only assume i'm still needed." - how will it be decided that he's not needed? honestly, can't imagine CHB without him but chiron also deserves retirement

• i started to understand luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, hermes so okay, maybe gods had important things to do. but couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder or something? - percy has always showed some hesitance when accepting the demigod world, so i wasn't really surprised to see doubts like this pop up, especially with luke's influence. i'd think most demigods feel this way, luke and percy are just the ones who exhibit it the most in the series. i'm really interested in the parallels between the two and i'm looking forward to reading more and examining them

• "during the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, zeus and poseidon had an argument. the usual nonsense: 'mother rhea always liked you best', 'air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters', etc. - despite the fact that the gods are all-powerful beings, i appreciate the petty sibling spats that are mentioned briefly

• "so let me get this straight," i said. "i'm supposed to go to the underworld and confront the world of the dead." "check," chiron said. "find the most powerful weapon in the universe." "check." "and get it back to olympus before the summer solstice in ten days." "that's about right." i looked at grover, who gulped down the ace of heaers. "did i mention that maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly. - this would be perfect for those 30 second trailers

• "gee," i said feigning surprise. "who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a q uest like this?" the air shimmered behind chiron. annabeth became visible, stuffing her yankees cap into her back pocket. - the way he knows her pretty well already, i-

• the truth was, i didn't care about retrieving zeus' lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. - early on, we see from the get go that percy has a dislike for the gods. it's small mentions like this that really gets me thinking. he never really showed any dislike of the gods when he first arrived at camp (understandable) but he was hopeful for his father. it wasn't until luke planted the seed into his head that these thoughts came to light. i love this little detail, especially as we know that towards the end, luke does seem to think he can turn percy against the gods. his plan backfired a little bit on him in the end but like i said before, the parallels between luke and percy are so glaring. riordan definitely thought it out extensively

• do not be a pawn of the olympians, my dear. you would be better off as a statue - this is said to percy by medusa and again, feeds into his dislike of the gods. i wonder if monsters have some opinion on this. most would probably hate the gods but i wonder what their stance is on demigods. we know that they work with them (see kronos' army). the real enemy for monsters are the gods, the demigods killing them are just pawns to the gods so maybe that's how some monsters see them

• "so, what's your status?" luke asked me. "chiron will be sorry he missed you." i told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. it felt so good to see him, to feel like i was back at camp even for a few minutes, that i didn't even realize how long i had talked to him until the beeper went off on the spray machine. - there's no doubt that percy really considered luke a friend. he wasn't hesitant to tell luke about his dreams, something that he didn't share with annabeth or grover until later on the book. luke was a sort of mentor to percy and it was conveyed pretty well through their interactions, which makes his betrayal even more heartbreaking

• "you think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" she wouldn't meet my eyes. "please. i'm not into self-inflicted pain." - my heart breaks for annabeth and her relationship with her father. i've read most of the riordanverse books and the growth in annabeth's relationship with her family is definitely something i'm looking forward to watch grow as i make my way through the books again

• i looked over at the desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket - so i never paid the dreams any mind but now that i think about it, they're really good for analysis. for example, the straitjacket could mean something like the gods are keeping them restrained. maybe i'm overthinking it or have been analyzing text too much in AP english but i think that the dreams are worth some deeper thinking

• i pretended not to see annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend - i need to see annabeth play with cerberus again D:

• i turned and faced my mother. i desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and the last pearl on her, but i knew what she would say. she would never allow it. i had to get the bolt back to olympus and tell zeus the truth. i had to stop the war. - percy's growth as a character really shines through here. the lightning thief is a pretty short book and the journey they took was less than 2 weeks but despite that percy's grown immensely as a character. his goal was always to save his mother but in the end, he sacrificed her because he knew it was his duty to save olympus and i respect that

• "you have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "you have sealed your fate. every time you raise your blade in battle, everytime you hope for success, you will feel my curse. beware, perseus jackson. beware." - ares cursed percy to be unsuccesful in battle but does his curse ever take effect? i don't recall any mention of this curse later on the series. obviously, percy is the main character and a really good swordfighter but the curse might have affected some battles right? but then again riordan has a lot of plotholes so i wouldn't put too much thought in it

• i knew dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting my name wrong. - i've always accepted the fact that dionysus called the demigods by their wrong name for humor. but what if it's deeper? what if it's a way to put some space between him and the demigods, just as an extra precaution so he won't get attached. or it could be a ploy to showcase that he's more powerful than them and that they are beneath him, which is why he doesn't need to know their name. i like the former headcanon more though :P

• i opened my eyes. i was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the big house, my right hand bandaged like a club. argus stood guard in the corner. annabeth sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead. "here we are again," i said. - the parallel

well, that's everything i had notes on. overall, i liked rereading it. i really do miss this series and i'm finding my love for it be rekindled by rereading. i miss the humor of the early books (i could literally make a whole post of underrated lines). the last time i read the series in its whole was when i was 7 and now that i'm 16, i have more thoughts and can analyze the story better. also loved seeing baby percabeth as they're my OTP. i'm excited to continue with the series. to the sea of monsters!

#Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJO #Pjato/hoo #reading #rereading #books #Greek Mythology #percy jackson #annabeth chase #luke castellan #Grover underwood #analysis #the lightning thief #pjo series

[efinna]

Some Notes on Dramione Fan Fic - My First Text Post!

So I just worked on this as one of the permanent pages on my blog (you can find it in the sidebar menu now) and spent entirely too long on it not to post it here too...three cheers for fan fic!

I do have several Dramione fic ideas and (surprisingly long and detailed) drafts of my own floating around in the ole noggin and hard drive, respectively. For the moment, though, I’m having a blast focusing more on drawing and don’t have enough time outside of work to do both drawing and writing well.

If you’re interested in following my currently empty account on fanfiction.net in case anything cool pops up in the future, go for it and thanks in advance! If I publish I’ll post about it here as well.

To hold you over and/or win you over to this ship in the meantime, here are some amazing Dramione fics by some really amazing people.

Have Read / Would Strongly Recommend:

Clean / Marked by @OlivieBlake

OlivieBlake is truly SO talented. This is a two-part series where you need to read the first (Clean) for the second (Marked) to make total sense, and it is 100% worth every one of the 300k+ words. I laughed. I sobbed. I fell in love with Theo as a character for the first time. Lots of amazing character development all around. This is my current all-time favorite Dramione fic. Hermione is such a badass and the writing will punch you in the gut.

The Fallout by Sage / EveryThursday

This one is truly foundational to the whole ship, but somehow I completely missed it until a friend recommended it in fall 2019. Cue my descent into adopting Dramione as an OTP and creating an entire art blog mostly focused on them, oops. Lots of angst, action-driven, a bit impressionistic in its treatment of time and the progression of Hermione and Draco’s relationship, will 10 out of 10 make you cry. It’s a classic for a reason.

Breath Mints / Battle Scars by @Onyx-and-Elm

Enough angst for you, your mom, your cat, your third cousin twice removed, and the entire rest of the world for that matter. I love that both Hermione and Draco are broken and flawed yet still sharp as a tack in this fic. The storyline will keep you on the edge of your seat, or, in my case, just glued to the couch in pajamas all day binge reading. The dialogue is top notch. U will cri everytiem for Theo also.

Isolation by Bex-Chan

Another classic that's constantly recommended for a reason. This one accomplishes the transition from enemies to lovers very believably in my opinion and does a great job branching out from a sole focus on that dynamic to a broader storyline that incorporates a lot of other characters very well. I really loved the inclusion of Andromeda especially.

Nightmares and Nocturnes by @OlivieBlake

I just like….really really love OlivieBlake’s writing, ok? And this one is extra noteworthy for me to have loved because in general I really don’t vibe with a Hermione who’s lost her mojo in fan fiction. A very creative, unique concept, and OlivieBlake always masterfully fleshes out side characters in a way that makes you care about them deeply.

Currently Reading and Loving:

The Disappearances of Draco Malfoy by Speechwriter / @BatmanSymbol

A work in progress but the writer updates regularly and also posts on Tumblr about it! The storyline is fantastic and the progression of events and writing style both feel very true to the original HP books, which perfectly fills a void left in my heart from having boycotted buying any more JKR merchandise due to her transphobic nonsense. Highly recommend! Let’s sit on the edge of our seats together waiting for more updates!

On the To-Read List / Heavily Recommended by Others:

Manacled by @Senlinyu

(I have avoided this one for a while due to being very very sensitive to descriptions of non-con situations. BUT Senlinyu is lovely, everybody I know who has read Manacled loves it, and I do in fact love The Handmaid’s Tale despite how dark it can be. Planning to dive in soon while also keeping up with Disappearances!)

The Right Thing to Do by @Lovesbitca8

Cruel and Beautiful World by @LenaPhoria (fic is no longer on ff.net or AO3 but a file can be found with some creative googling)

Wait and Hope by @MightBeWriting

The Gloriana Set by ThebeMoon

If you’d like to recommend anything else, well…hey, you’re here so you know how to find me :)

#dramione #fanfiction #fanficrecommendations #fanfictionrecs #dramionefanfiction #dramionefanfic #senliyu #olivieblake #onyx-and-elm #lovesbitca8 #batmansymbol #everythursday #bex-chan #lenaphoria #thebemoon #mightbewriting

[morkofday]

5 OTPs ♥

got tagged by sierra @jockvillagersonly ♥ thank yoouu~ also sorry that it has taken a while but here i am!

i did a similar thing just a while back but bc i never tire of talking about my fave characters and their love for each other, i am now giving you new ones! the previous thing you can find here. the new ones are listed below in no particular order!

tagging: @jaecomments @jazthespazz @xiejie-liubo​ and @mejomonster​ ♥ no pressure of course :’D (also jaz i know that i got the previous one from you but i bet you also have more than five otps to talk about haha)

Qingming/Boya (QingYa)

going with the dream of eternity movie version bc i have zero idea of the og novel? also am in my feels again bc i rewatched the movie for the hundredth time

opposites attract, battle couple, enemies to lovers (and beyond) speedrun

spirit guardian boya adds a nice layer to everything

the heartbreak and mutual healing, finding understanding and strength in each other, realizing the right person can change your whole worldview

found family undertones!! with all the spirit guardians

“qingming, is there no one you would die protecting?” cue vishie sobbing in the corner

Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen (HeiHua)

ultimate note went hard with this one but also consider: tlt2 blink-and-you-miss-it flirting through murder plus sha hai heihua being separated while xiao hua fakes his death

once again opposites attract but underneath, these two are very similar in a way

it’s all about Trust and Vulnerability when faced with the right (and most unlikely) person

hxz revealing his true name and eyes to xiao hua vs. xiao hua being open about his feeling when it comes to his uncle 

they are so MarriedTM and bicker accordingly 

Nam Seonho/Seo Hwi

“your sword still feels affectionate.”

“live. that is the last favor i ask of you.”

tragic love, heartbreak created by circumstances, friends to enemies to allies to lovers 

could also be thought of as one sided love from seonho’s side and i will scream about it

they both have their own ways to solve things when facing a problem and usually those ways are the exact opposites so they clash 

both of them deserve so much comfort but they have horrible self worth issues and that’s why they keep killing each other (aka “if i cannot have you, then die” but make it painful and impossible to achieve bc they cannot truly hurt each other) 

the sun and moon comparison is making me go INSANE

Win/Team

confident bi meets easily flustered baby gay

aka a boy who doesn’t believe he’s worthy of true love meets a boy who doesn’t feel he’s going to ever get love for himself bc no one sees him that way (news flash: they love each other)

winteam and mingkit are the only thai bl couples i cry about even after all this time and am so excited for winteam’s own drama plus i adore boun and prem 

they are FragileTM and i am holding my breath so that they don’t break 

so cuddly and comforting but also Hot (i blame boun bc wtf)

Li Jia/Zhang Chacha/Shi Cheng

technically not an otp but an ot3 but we support polycules in this house, especially this one 

they click like a puzzle and everyone brings in something the others lack 

chacha and a-cheng are so in love with li jia oh my god

li jia is so in love with both of his friends and would basically die for them 

chacha and a-cheng bicker like an old married couple and it’s a delight 

the world might be dark but between the three of them everything is fine and beautiful and they’re happy that way bc they get to be themselves no matter who they are and what problems they have

did i mention their Devotion to each other and understanding of each other bc that is just the Greatest Thing 

+ bonus: Dominic Toretto/Brian O’Conner

my excuse for this is that i went to see fast and furious 9 last friday and got hit to the feels by all the references in that movie, it was very unnecessary

they were my first non-canon couple i shipped and read fanfiction for

they’re a damn delight, and even as platonic their relationship is amazing, there’s just so much trust and devotion between them

the found family aspect is of the roof ok, imagine being a young cop sent out to weasel your way into this car riding heist group and finding a family instead, how can you leave at that point anymore 

every day i cry bc of brian’s smiles and not being able to see them anymore, we miss you man ♥ 

dom is so proud of brian and they only wish for each other’s happiness and safety and if that’s not love then idk what to tell you 

thank you if you read this far! i feel like this was very random bunch of otps but i tried to pick some of the ones i haven’t had the opportunity to talk about yet ^^ also pls don’t judge me for my obsession with f&f, i know it’s funny lol 

#tag game #this was so much fun #every day i cry bc of love #gonna tag this #the journey across the night #plus just #heihua #bc am horrible like that

[snickertoodles]

Megalist of Tropes and Themes to Tag Your Story With

If you’re prone to staring at your tags on AO3 wondering “what the hell do I put here?”, knowing you want to add a tag like “friends to lovers” or “found family” but not remembering all the popular tropes and themes everyone is into, this is for you. I basically spent an entire night on this so I hope it helps.

Notes:

I tried to keep it general and avoid really obscure tags no one would ever use.

This is made for AO3 and thus there’s a lot of fandom or fannish stuff in here. 

I didn’t include any “inappropriate” tags. Feel free to make your own list.

Romance tropes and themes at the bottom. (Not all of them have to be romantic, but if they’re generally associated with romance and there are very few gen fics with that tag, it went there.)

Under cut because I’m probably going to edit this often and I’d like reblogs to be up to date. Please suggest any ideas you have.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Apocalypse/Post-Apocalypse, Contemporary, Comedy/Humor/Parody/Satire, Coming of Age, Crime, Cyberpunk/Steampunk, Drama, Dystopian/Utopia, Fairy Tale, Fantasy/High Fantasy/Low Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Isekai, Family, Friendship, Gothic, Historical Fiction/Alternate History/Period Piece, Horror/Slasher, Mystery/Murder Mystery, Paranormal, Philosophical, Poetry, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural, Surreal, Suspense, Sci-Fi/Science Fiction/Space Opera, Spiritual, Thriller/Psychological Thriller, Tragedy, Urban, Western

Genre (Fandom): Angst/Light Angst, Case Fic, Crack Fic, Crossover/Fusion, Dark Fic, Fix Fic/Fix-It/Deconstruction, Fluff/Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Podfic, Missing Scene/Gap Filler, Self-Insert, Shipping, Sickfic, Songfic, Whump

Length: Drabble, Ficlet, Flash Fiction, Short Story, Novella, Novel, Epic, One-Shot/Two-Shot/etc, Series/Duology/Trilogy/Saga/etc, Long, Short

Pairing: M/F - F/M - M/M - F/F - F/F/M - You get the idea. Also [Character] x [Character], Slash, Yaoi/Yuri (if people still use those...)

POV: POV Alternating, POV Multiple, POV First Person, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, POV Outsider

Ending: Happy Ending, Sad Ending, Bittersweet Ending, Ambiguous Ending

Diverse Characters: Gay Character/Nonbinary Character/Asian Character/Disabled Character/Autistic Character/Jewish Character/etc.

AU/Alternate Universe: (I do not have the time to list out Coffee Shop AU/High School AU/Canon Divergence/What-If/etc, I assume if you’re writing one then you already know to tag it lol)

Abuse

Adoption

Afterlife

Aftermath

Aged Up

Alcohol

Aliens

Amnesia

Androids

Angels

Animal Transformation

Anti-Hero

Awkwardness

Babysitting

Backstory/Origin Story

Band of Misfits

Best Friends

Betrayal

Blood

Bodyswap

Bodyguard

Bonding

Bounty Hunters

Bromance

Bullying

Canon Compliant

Character Development

Character Study

Childhood Friends

Children

Chosen One

College/University/Higher Education

Corruption

Criminals

Crying

Curses

Cute

Death

Delinquents

Demons

Depression

Destiny/Fate

Disability

Domestic/Curtainfic

Dragons

Dreams/Dreamscape

Drugs

Education

Ensemble Cast

Epilogue

Fanon/Headcanon

Father Figure/Mother Figure

Feelings

Feels

Fights

Flashbacks

Forgiveness

Found Family

Freedom Fighters

Frenemies

Future

Genderswap/Gender Change

Ghosts

Gods

Good Versus Evil

Gore

Grief/Mourning

Growing Up

Healing

Heartwarming

Heroes to Villains/Villains to Heroes

Holidays

Homesickness

Hospital

Hurt

I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping (A very legitimate tag.)

Imprisonment

Injury

Introspection

Illness/Sick Character

Immortality

Isolation

Jealousy

Kidnapping

LGBTQ/LGBTQ Character/LGBTQ Themes

Light-Hearted

Locked In

Loss

Love

Mafia

Magic

Magical Girl(s)

Major Character Death/Minor Character Death

Manipulation

Medieval

Medical

Melancholy

Mental Health Issues

Mentors

Merpeople

Mind Control

Military

Misunderstandings

Modern

Monsters

Morally Grey/Ambiguous Characters

Murder

Mythical Beings & Creatures

Mythology

Neighbors

Next Gen/Next Generation

Nightmares

Original Character/OC/OCs

Orphans/Orphanage

Out of Character/OOC

Parenthood

Past Lives

Peggy Sue

Pen Pals

Pirates

Platonic Relationships/No Romance

Platonic Soulmates

Plot Twists

Politics

Possession

Post-Canon/Pre-Canon/Mid-Canon/Bad Ending/etc.

Prompt Fill/Prompt Fic

Protectiveness

Rags to Riches

Rebels

Recovery

Redemption/Redemption Arc

Regret

Reincarnation/Resurrection/Rebirth

Rejection

Relationships

Religion

Rescue/Rescue Missions

Restaurants

Reunion

Revenge

Revolution

Rivalry

Road Trip

Robots

Roommates

Royalty

Sad

School

Secrets

Secret Identity

Self-Discovery

Self-Harm

Shapeshifting

Siblings

Single Parents

Slow Build

Soft

Spies

Spoilers

Substance Abuse

Suicide

Superheroes

Sweet

Sympathetic Villain

Teamwork

Team as Family

Team Bonding

Team Dynamics

Teenagers

Tension

Time Loop

Time Travel

Training

Trapped

Trauma

Travel

Undercover

Unreliable Narrator

Vampires

Villains

Violence

War

Weapons

Wedding

Wilderness

Witchcraft

Worldbuilding

xxx to Friends (Rivals to Friends/Enemies to Friends/etc.)

Zombies

ROMANCE TROPES

Battle Couple

Blind Date

Breakup

Confessions

Dating

Divorce

Dorks in Love

Drunken Confessions

Established Relationship

Eventual Romance

Falling in Love

Fake Relationship/Fake Dating/Pretend Relationship/Pretend Couple

First Kiss

First Love

Forbidden Love

Heartbreak

Idiots in Love

Long-Distance Relationship

Long-Term Relationship

Love/Hate

Love at First Sight

Love Confessions

Love Potion/Love Spell

Love Triangle

Marriage/Accidental Marriage/Arranged Marriage/Marriage of Convenience

Marriage Proposal

Mutual Pining/Pining

OTP

Pregnancy

Rarepair

Secret Relationship

Sharing a Bed

Slow Burn/Slow Romance

Soulmate/Soulmate AU

Tsundere/all of the other -deres

Unrequited Love/One-Sided Attraction

xxx to Lovers (Enemies to Lovers/Friends to Lovers/etc.)

#tagging #archive of our own #ao3 #tumblr #tropes #trope list #tag list #tag ideas #writing #writing resources #toodles talks

[its-chelisey-stuff]

Tale Of the Nine Tailed, thoughts on the finale

Well, it wasn’t really a surprise, was it? How many times did people say Rang was gonna end up dying/sacrificing himself in Yeon’s place?

Oh, Rang! Of course you did some terrible stuff but I came to love you and most people (including the ones you tried to hurt) forgave you. I want to take back all those times I said you were gonna end up dying because I didn’t know it was gonna hurt this much (Damn you, Kim Bum! Did you have to make hims such a likeable psycho? That was mean!) I CRIED! I actually cried and I was a mess in that scene where Yeon saw his video! Ugh. Family love always gets to me. Always.

But... murder is still murder, honey. No matter what, Rang couldn’t erase that from my mind. So the ending for him feels right. I find consolation that he did some really good things for Yuri and the little kid (which he didn’t do just out the goodness of his heart, he did it because the kid was a reincarnation from his pet lol) and of course, his life in the end was something he valued so much that it was enough to bring back his older brother. Maybe one day the brothers can be reborn within the same family and reuinite in a much less complicated life.

I liked that the episode tried to make a little tribute to Yeon while he was gone and showed how much he was loved and by how many people. For a dude who was basically a licensed killer for the supernatural, he managed to find himself a very loving family. Especially with Taluipa and her husband, who practically saw him as a son and helped them fill a little the void their own son had left in them. Like Yeon said, that kept him sane for hundreds of years while waiting for his love to be reborn.

*wipes tear away* Excuse me.

“... But my death is the most passionate love letter sent to my first and last love.”

I’m happy that OTP got their happy ending, of course. But that was also kinda obvious (lol at me because I wasn’t always sure but I like to sound like a know-it-all with lots of experience in dramas hahaha), there was a moment where Jiah made me angry and I think it was the only time in the whole drama where she actually pissed me off and it was when she had the grand idea of trade her life for Yeon’s.

Because being willing to give up her life was the most idiotic thing I have ever heard Jiah say in this drama. That was the entire reason why Yeon died, so she could live. She made me so angry for a whole minute 😂 I was like: “if you die then the entire sacrifice, the countless problems and the battles Yeon fought FOR YOU become meaningless and that's the biggest way to disrespect his memory. Ugh” Thank God for Rang who brought her to her senses but I kinda wanted him to slap her lmao.

I still love Jiah, though. I’m not kidding, I think she is one of my favorite female leads of this year (along Taeul from TKEM and Sera from Into the Ring) I loved that she always tried to actually think before jumping to conclusions and acting on impulse and the one time she “pushed” Yeon away it was only because she had just received awful news on how she died in her past life. And it didn’t really last. Her brain and her bravery and how much she loved Yeon, are the biggest reasons of why I loved her so much.

Of course I loved Yeon, but I don’t need to actually say why, right? I mean I don’t think I have to explain it he loved one woman and one woman only and super devoted to her. Also I loved his personality from the moment we were introduced to him. However, his witty lines, his sense of humor and his wonderfuly delicious abs rank high on the list. Not in that specific order *winky face*

I’m okay with that ending and Yeon regaining his powers. I sort of missed them in this last episode lol. Also, what this drama did GREAT and never gave me enough of was the creepiness factor. I actually got super creeped out a couple of times and I LOVED IT. It’s my only critic to the drama but I didn’t mind it so much.

I loved the main three leads’ acting (and the acting by our villain, Lee TaeRi) but if I had to pick a favorite... I’m sorry I cannot pick just one. It’s DongWook and Kim Bum. They SHINED and OWNED their roles. This drama reminded me why I fell for DW in the first place many years ago. And I hope I can see more of KB in the future, because he is amazing.

Fun useless fact: the actress who played Jiah's mom was also the mom of two male leads in other dramas: More than Friends and Start Up, and if memory serves right the first drama to wrap up was Tale of the nine tailed, then Start Up and then More than friends, however it was MTF the first drama to end its run, then Tale of the nine tailed and finally Start Up this weekend. Kdramaland is such a weird place lol

Because even when you do Product Placement you can make your audience cry :D more dramas should learn

#tale of the nine tailed #lee dong wook #jo bo ah #kim bum #kdrama #kdrama commentary

[gizkasparadise]

Recs! Top 10 dramas this year

My top 10 dramas that aired in 2020! These are not always Objectively the best, but rather my favorites/ones that crossed off all the tropes. Note that I haven’t seen or haven’t completely finished the heavy hitters It’s Okay Not to Be Okay, Hospital Playlist, Crash Landing on You, and Itaewon Class yet, but they all got high ratings

10. 18 Again | shitty powerpoint

Premise: Remake of the Zac Efron/Matthew Perry movie 17 again. Washed-up, tired husband gets transported into his teenage body and Shenanigans ensue

Highlights: The plot twists being all about how the main guy is actually a v nice man, an entire family ready to fight someone in a parking lot, moments of A+ comedy, so so much dad energy

9. Into the Ring | Review

Premise: local woman tries to take on the corruption of her district politics. her soon-to-be boyfriend says “kick their ass, baby, i’ll hold your flower”

Highlights: quirky sense of humor that stays consistent throughout the drama, one of the best OTPs with really refreshing dynamics, a chaotic good and a lawful good team up to fight crime! and fall in love!

8. Kingdom 2

Premise: zombies in joseon korea somehow don’t stop bullshit attempts to take over the throne

Highlights: Production Value(tm), great acting, great set design, lots of high-paced action

7. The Romance of Tiger and Rose | Review

Premise: A screenwriter accidentally ends up writing herself into her own television show, where she is in the role of a princess who dies by episode 3

Highlights: fucking hilarious, no really, probably the funniest drama i watched this year, a murder cat husband, A+ trope and self-awareness, cute!

6. Twisted Fate of Love | Shitty Powerpoint

Premise: A general travels 8 years back into the past in order to stop an uprising against the emperor and she tries to conduct many assassinations. local corrupt politician--who is actually one of the said uprisers--falls hard and tries to wife it up

Highlights: T H E power couple, anti-hero male lead who actually stays an anti-hero, one of the rare shows where i like the male and female lead equally, this will probably be higher but it hasn’t finished airing yet/being subbed yet

5. Flower of Evil | shitty powerpoint

Premise: a very attractive detective is married to a very attractive artisan who is basically a stay-at-home dad who cooks real well. this is all way too good to be true, and turns out it is, because her husband might just be a serial killer

Highlights: A C T I N G, one of my favorite couples this season, fast-paced and intriguing plot, just a really good time (but not for the characters)

4. Kairos | shitty powerpoint

Premise: a young woman, whose mother is missing, realizes that she’s able to call a man who lives one month in the future at 10:33pm every night. said man has just had his entire life torn apart. the two team up in an attempt to stop the tragedies in their lives 

Highlights: great character development, tight execution, fast-paced, so many WHAT THE FUCK moments, cliffhangers that get you AMPED, great plot start to finish 

3. Love and Redemption | shitty powerpoint

Premise: oh boy. *deep inhale* many years ago, heaven and the devil realm battled in a cosmic shit show, with THE GOD OF WAR being the trump warrior for heaven and THE STAR OF MOSHA being the trump warrior for the devils. THE STAR is defeated and the GOD OF WAR disappears

cut to today: xuanji is a girl who belongs to a warrior sect, and she was born with the inability to understand the 6 senses. she meets sifeng, who belongs to the most dramatic clique you’ll ever see, and he’s forbidden to love. GUESS WHAT HAPPENS.

and oh yeah she’s the reincarnated GOD OF WAR and so so so much shit is going to go down for everyone and it’s all set to a bitching soundtrack

Highlights: this was 100% percent my brand of crack, surprisingly feminist, surprisingly not heteronormative. just lots of pleasant surprises from start to finish on this one and awesome characters across the board

2. Go Ahead | Review

Premise: A slice of life/melo that follows a found family of two single dads and three kids as they all grow up together. as high schoolers, they’re separated by Circumstances, but they reunite 8 or 9 years later

Highlights: you wanna cry? this will get you to cry. probably the best parent/child relationships i’ve seen in a drama, lots of beautiful family moments across the board. all the mains are wonderful. deals with issues such as toxic parenting, emotional abuse, depression, and abandonment in real/respectful ways

1. Mystic Pop-Up Bar | Review

Premise: a shaman pisses off god 500 years ago and to repay she has to solve the grudges of 10,000 humans (i think, idr the actual number). to do this, she runs a pop-up bar where she gets humans magic!wasted and enters their dreams. she teams up with a retired ghost!cop-turned-sous chef and a magical baby young man whose touch gets others to tell their secrets

Highlights: my favorite female lead of the year, my favorite found family of the year, my favorite male leads of the year, my favorite ship of the year, the best  the best

#mystic pop up bar #go ahead #love and redemption #kairos #flower of evil #twisted fate of love #the romance of tiger and rose #kingdom 2 #into the ring #18 again #kdrama #cdrama #gizkarec #long post

[mysterylover123]

Mysterylover watches Bleach episodes 126-127

mysterylover123

1. Hitsu is such a tsundere. Though only in thought. Anyway he and Momo are great together and I assume they’re considered a fandom OTP.

2. WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU MOMO?!!? Aizen is like the evil emperor the final boss the evil mcdoucheface bad guy what is your major malfunction?!!?

3. Yay Renji’s gonna help Chad train! Also Renji and Rukia both love mooching off of humans don’t they? The couple that mooches together...

4. Some worldbuilding! Chad’s powers come from something new. And Hime is here! She’s brilliant and deduces something about a barrier real easily. We stan One Smart Girl. 

5. And Ichi is still training with the Squad of Bowl Cuts. The Hollowy Blondes. The Shouty Half Humans. I need a snappy nickname for them.

6. OOH and HIme found them! She’s gonna meet HollowIchi I bet! OMG she looks so cool as she arrives in Hollow Town.

7. And is immediately so endearing that everyone likes her. And as predicted she immediately meets HOllowIchi. 

8. And we cut to them after Hime gave him the PlotSposition. Since we don’t need to hear it repeated again. 

9. “It’ll be OK hime. I’ll stop Aizen.” Damn these two are really sweet together. And she immediately analyzes what he’s doing.

10. more worldbuilding as we realize that HIme is an OP Badass. And from the looks of it SHE’S ABOUT TO START TRAINING WITH YORUICHI?!!? BEST TRAINING TEAMUP EVER!! Oh and Ishida’s in this arc still apparently. 

11. Why is Renji dressed like that outfit Bakugou wears in the Fantasy AU? Not complaining, just curious.

12. HIME BE ALL INSPIRED BY ICHI TO TRAIN AND GET STRONGER YAS. TRAIN THOSE POWERS HIME YOU’LL BE UNSTOPPABLLE

13. “I want you to stay out of the battle”?!?! WTF Urahara I thought we were cool. Are you just aware that her being in the fight would allow the fight to be over too quickly. You are aren’t you. 

14. CHAD STICKS UP FOR HER. Yes go Chad. You shut up now Urahara. I thought we were cool. YOU ALMOST MADE HIME CRY URAHARA. You proud of yourself?! Like Renji does make a good point (she doesn’t like fighting) but still. 

15. OH WAIT A SEC RUKIA’S HERE?! Go comfort her Rukia. Those idiots aren’t respecting her right. You fix this Ruki!!!!

16. RUKIA BEING LIKE “Stand up for yourself girl!” OMG Go build up her confidence Ruki. The RukiHime gods have smiled on this day. 

17. “Better to be lonely” holy shit Hime. These guys did a number on her. And Ruki is building her up. And wiping her tears away. under the stars. And thanking her for saving her. (please kiss now). And dammit blondie why’d you have to interrupt our nice shippy moment? 

18. Hime brought Hime to Ichi’s training ground. ARE YOU GUYS GONNA TRAIN HER? Holy shit are Ichi and Hime gonna train together? That would be amazing. ORIHIME’S HAIRPINS are the source of her power?!!? Holy wow. HAIRPINS. 

19. Shut up greenette girl. You all so jealous. And they healed Hime’s fighter guy, and she’s so exuberant and happy. But then he immediately tells her not to fight. Dammit. BUT SHE STIL LWANTS TO FIGHT CAUSE SHE’S ORIHIME AND SHE WON’T ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS.

20. You’re cool walrus looking guy. And Hime and Ruki reunite. And Ruki is all happy that Ichi’s safe, aw. And she and Ruki walk off together cause they gfs now. 

21. NOT L IS BACK. YAS. Missed you Ulqui. I know very little about you but I just have the feeling you’re gonna be a favorite in the future. And HOLY SHIT HE JUST KILLED THAT LADY, What’s wrong with you NotNappa?! That was your white mage! 

22. NotL’s hotness status: Still ridiculously hot. And Aizen is spying on Hime huh?! HOLY SHIT. Aizen you stay awy from my girl

#mysterylover watches bleach #bleach #orihime inoue #ichigo kurosaki #renji abarai #chad #urahara kisuke #yoruichi shihouin #ishida uryuu #rukia kuchiki #rukihime #grimmjow #ulquiorra cifer #insert obligatory #orihime stanning #here #she's just the best #these two episodes were great btw #so far i love this arc #go hime go #train like crazy

[magical-girl-coral]

you get two characters- Entrapta and Hordak!

Thank you, babe 💜 

First, Entrapta

Why I like them - she’s the best autism rep I’ve seen yet. She’s funny, brilliant, beautiful, and all-around best girl. Her complexity and brilliance will never be forgotten

Why I don’t - It’s not a problem with her as much as the writers. In the last season, her treatment has been awful which ruined some of her better moments. Out of context, they’re great, but in context, most things fall flat.

Favorite episode (scene if movie) -  Ignoring that one scene fans have already torn to pieces, the rescue from Beast Island was incredible.

Favorite season/movie - Season three. 

Favorite line - Everyone already knows the more iconic lines so I’m choosing my favorite underrated one, “Wait, do I have to explain math to you?”. I love unintentional sass.

Favorite outfit - Her space outfit.

OTP - Entrapdak, of course.

Brotp - Honestly? The Super Pal Trio. I miss their dynamics.

Head Canon - Entrapta secretly wanted revenge against the princesses for leaving her behind. Part of the reason why she joined the Horde so easily was that her anger took control of her actions. When Catra apologized on Darla, Entrapta remembered how her anger brought her nothing and forgave Catra instead.

Unpopular opinion - Entrtapta should have been allowed to get angry in season five. She was abandoned twice, almost died thanks to depression vines, and had to work with people who hated for weeks. I don’t care for emotional maturity, she already showed signs of anger and annoyance in the earlier season and with how the show treated her. Entrapta’s acceptance of Catra felt like a mix of “autistic character feels emotions like a robot” and “neurodivergent putting their feelings aside for a neurotypical.” It all just left a bitter taste in my mouth.

A wish - Please let her have a good break after this. She has been used enough.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen - Getting together with Wrong Hordak. He’s like her fucking kid, y'all serious about this?

5 words to best describe them - brilliant, naive, funny, unique, and perfectly imperfect.

My nickname for them - tech wife.

Now, Hordak

Why I like them - The more complex villain in the last few years. A beautiful and tragic story arc with a happy ending that still makes me cry. One of the best written male characters in cartoon history and you can fight me on that.

Why I don’t - I don’t there is something I don’t like about them as much as the fandom sometimes. He’s not an innocent baby. He was a conqueror and a dictator with a lost cause who most likely killed Scopria’s family. Stop watering his character down so you guys will have your “unproblematic fave.”

Favorite episode (scene if movie) - The season finale of season four. The escalation of the events left me breathless and Hordak’s tears did something to me. Literally, everything about this episode was perfect.

Favorite season/movie - Season five. He was there for less than fifteen minutes but he still stole the show.

Favorite line - “I am Hordak, and I defy your will.” (Sidenote: I memorized his entire speech and practiced it before sleep for weeks. I love it that much)

Favorite outfit - His slutty battle outfit. Nothing says “how to make your ex take you back” like an open cut dress and a giant fucking arm gun.

OTP - Entrapdak

Brotp - Him and Adora. I feel like they’re going to talk a lot after some dust starts to settle.

Head Canon - Hordak sneezes just like Catra. They both got into a pollen field once and refuse to talk about it ever again.

Unpopular opinion - Hordak’s arc in season five was kind of clumsy. I found It odd how was there to find the Luvd crystal, be there for Prime’s speeches, see Prime look into his old vessel,  find Entrapta AND be the guard that stood next to her in Prime’s big final villain speech. It was all very convenient.

A wish - For Hordak to find out more about his own biology. I highly doubt he knows a lot thanks to Prime.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen - NO ONE KILL OFF THE SPACEBAT. I FUCKING MEAN IT.

5 words to best describe them - intelligent, beautiful, hard-working, hot-headed, misunderstood.

My nickname for them - space-bat, emo space-bat, Entrapta’s trophy husband.

#Asks #simplyender #Entrapta #Hordak #She Ra and the Princesses of Power

[ajokeformur-ray]

I got somethin: write headcannons about Erileck. Your own, personal view. Gotta give my favorite ship some love, and also more ideas when I write you stuff 😈💜

OMFGGGGG omgomgomgomg skskksskk I’ve been stockpiling this for a few days bc I gotta think even though it’s my relationship sksksk but I hope this hits your OTP spots + helps as a future ref.

This is written in 1st person bc it’s Joker + I. I hope that doesn’t bother anyone skkssk this is gonna be so much fun I’m hyped!!! There’s no organisation to this lmao so there are jumps all over the place pfft.

Warnings for mentions of trauma, anxiety, depression, also smoking, swearing. Also NSFW bc duh xp 

Word count: 3, 207 (woops?)

Questions or comments on my relationship with Joker are welcomed!! I’m sure there are things I haven’t even considered skskks and ngl I do love talking about our relationship pfft.

Joker and I… sksksk I’d be lucky.

Someone like him loving someone like me??? Ridiculous. A dream.

Someone like me loving someone like him??? Don’t be silly.

… And that’s precisely why we work so well together.

We choose to love each other each and every single day. Again and again, no matter what, we find the time to come back together at the end of a long, exhausting day.

I was with Arthur from the very beginning of the film.

I bumped into Carnival outside Kenny’s Music, and I stood to the side to watch him spin that everything must go! sign. 

I’m scared of clowns but something about this clown captured and maintained my interest and so it was that once this particular rendition of Temptation Rag was over, I approached Carnival and sincerely thanked and complimented him on his performance. 

Both of us blushing, both of us unsure, but neither of us can resist the almost magnetic pull which the other gives off. So I invited him to coffee and dinner (and I paid for everything, of course) and neither of us ever looked back.

I fell in love with Arthur before I even knew his name, and when I love it’s… intense and I fall hard, and I fall fast, and I can never stand back up.

I’ve been told before that I love “too intensely” and it’s “too much” for people (I was told this by my abusers so I suppose they were lying but… it’s a very open, raw wound which I battle daily), but for Arthur the way I love is just right. He needs that clinginess, that reassurance.

I’m already in tears thinking of everything I feel and everything I want to say lmao…

I turned my entire life upside down for him without a single regret, forethought or anything like that, and I never looked back sksksksk.

I stayed with him as Arthur and I did everything I could for him - bought his prescriptions, bought him food, helped him to keep the apartment clean… there were arguments because he thought I was merely looking at him as a charity case, or he was wary in case I was just after something…

But with time, patience and persistence I managed to get Arthur to be at least comfortable around me.

We fell in love together but neither of us said anything. We’re both too shy, too scared of rejection…

I don’t know how we got together, it’s just that one day I stayed overnight at Arthur’s apartment to help him take care of Penny and to take care of him, so exhausted was he…

… And I never left.

I was with him through it all and I made it known only to him that I was proud of him every time he stood up for himself. They all had it coming, anyway (I have a flexible morality lmao).

I love his jokes; he and Bill Hader are my favourite comedians (shush I know Bill wasn’t around in the 80s but work with me) and I adore it when he shares them with me.

The darker the better, imo. My favourites are the ones you laugh at because there’s no other reaction to give.

But I digress.

So. Present day. 

He’s Joker and oh, if I thought I loved Arthur… 

I have a very deep, very raw and passionate love for Joker. He is… he’s my entire world and I love him so much I’m tearing up while I type this. He’s so beautiful it makes me cry daily.

Every time I cry because of how beautiful he is, I go straight to Joker. He deserves to see how loved he is. Sometimes I get upset because I don’t feel satisfied with the level of love I’m showing him; it’s never enough and he deserves more.

This most often happens at night, because I get very Soft™ at night.

As such, Joker and I have a very special nightly routine. 

We spend all day thinking about it but we don’t do this particular thing until nighttime, when we can put our lives away and just soak in each other’s presence.

I cry very easily. Happy, sad, angry, frustrated, upset, elated, joyful, sorrowful… any mood you can think of, I will cry if the emotion reaches a certain intensity.

It’s not unusual for me to come into the living room late at night when I’m in my pyjamas (an oversized t-shirt and a pair of undies - yes, even in winter lmao just pile on the blankets) with tears in my eyes, for whatever reason.

Every time Joker looks up to see this sight, his eyes roam over my body and he smiles, a soft “awwh” leaving his lips as he straightens his legs so I can sit down on his lap.

I sit on his lap and cup his painted face in my hands and I smother him in kisses. I start off slow and then I speed up as the love within my heart grows, and Joker always ends up holding my wrists in his hand and giggling under my touch. 

It usually ends up with one or both of us crying. Joker’s so shocked and so awed that I’m still with him even now, and I just love him so much I can’t do anything else.

Joker’s lap is the best seat and it’s my favourite.

I study there, I sit there, I sleep there. 

Cockwarming is also a common occurrence.

If he’s sat a certain way so I can’t sit on his lap, I’m not afraid to press down on his uppermost knee so he straightens out so I can get comfortable on him.

“Can I have my seat back, please?” or “You stole my seat” are common ways of asking for him to move for me.

He is also my clown blanket skkksksk our favourite sleeping position is for me to lay on my back and for Joker to lay atop me. He becomes everything I can feel and his head rests either on my chest or on my stomach, depending on what he wants. My hands are in his hair… and we sleep.

So, naturally, there are copious opportunities for Joker to love me awake ;) many a morning do I awaken to the sensation of fingers gripping my hips, holding me down while he worships me with his mouth.

We don’t do NSFW things .v. often, we prefer to cuddle and just be close. 

Both of us are virgins and shy ones at that, lmao, so it took awhile for things to even get to that point.

We discovered we just prefer to cuddle over full out sex; less messy, for one.

Full sex is usually for the times when words aren’t enough; after an argument, or when either of us is especially sad or just needs something.

When I want to do this, I usually say, “how about you werewolf and go wild on me now?” and he howls before breaking out in laughter, which I stifle with a kiss…

If Joker wants to, one look from him and I just know. He doesn’t even have to say anything.

My answer is always yes. There’s nothing I won’t do for him and he knows it; it’s okay, though, because he’s the same way for me. We balance each other out really well.

During the rare times I’m awake before Joker is, I’ll kiss him awake; his face, his neck, chest, those adorable soft curves on his stomach… 

Any and every excuse which I can think of do I use to love him. 

It’s a daily goal to love him so hard that he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He deserves nothing less.

I steal his red blazer… often.

If Joker can’t find it, it’s either in the wash or I’m wearing it.

As soon as he takes it off, I’ve got it cradled in my arms, holding it to my face to hide my smile. I wear it when he isn’t, I sleep in it when I miss him (even when he’s right there beside me I still miss him), and I often use it as a pillow.

“Are you sure you don’t love that blazer more than you love me?” // “No.” // Any pout he gives me is kissed away and he giggles against my lips because he got what he was after all along.

We can’t sleep without each other. Joker needs to know that he’s needed, and I need to know that my clown is there for me to keep me safe from the things which my mind tells me are in the dark.

Joker does get annoyed with me sometimes because we both know I’m scared of the dark and I have a vivid imagination, and those two things are difficult to handle on the best of days, but I also love horror films.

Slasher ones are my favourite but I also really enjoy the ones which are dark, gritty, the ones which are based more in the psychological than obvious jumpscares.

I know how Joker can get when I watch them, though, so I tend to watch them when he’s out of the apartment or when there’s nothing else to do.

He never stops me from watching them because I’m a grown ass woman, but he makes his disapproval known by by saying he won’t be comforting me that night when I get too scared to turn the lights off.

In the end, though, there isn’t much he can say because he has unhealthy coping mechanisms just as I do, so he wraps me in his arms and hides my face in his chest or in the crook of his neck. “Close your eyes so you can’t see it’s dark.”

“I love you” is said often between us. 

And never just once: “I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you - “ it can and will be said multiple times.

It makes the other person giggle and get teary eyed. We’re slightly obsessed with each other and we love the way we love each other.

There are other ways we say those three words, spoken too much yet never enough:

“You got what you deserved, Joker” // “I suppose I did.”

I wear my outfit sometimes and go out in it, and on rarer occasions (I have acne so I have to be careful) I even do my face like his.

When I really make to say ‘I love you’, I’ll do both. It never fails to make him cry.

The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra is our song, as is The Carpenters songs Close to You and Yesterday Once More. 

Every time those songs are on, Joker spins me into him and even though I have two left feet, he dances with me.

The slow, eerie dances he does are my favourite and I love watching him. He knows and he loves it. He always throws me a wink and it never fails to make me blush and emit such a high pitched noise that I feel compelled to pull my shirt collar up and over to cover my face entirely.

Joker always coos and plays peekaboo with me when I do this to coax me out of hiding.

Neither of us want children but we have two pure black rescue kitties whom we love dearly!

That’s Life is another favourite. I love that song and it never fails to make me smile, even when I don’t want to. I play it every day and Joker always dances with me. We prefer the instrumental version; it reminds us of the simpler times when he was still the unseen (not by me, by Gotham in general) Arthur Fleck.

Aaa, Fleck…

I proposed to him. Kinda.

Joker wanted marriage from day one but I was unsure; I despise the institution of modern marriage but one day I caught sight of a ring I liked the look of in a magazine and I took it over to Joker.

I didn’t say anything, I just held the magazine out at that page for him to take, barely able to speak was I through the depths of my emotions.

It took him ten minutes to stop laughing before he dipped a hand into his blazer and withdrew a small box. 

Neither of us said yes and neither of us said no. 

We just put the rings on the other and that was that.

The next day, I went and got it registered with a cackling Arthur in tow. 

I can be emotionally distant at times; if I’m feeling too much, I tend to withdraw into myself rather than upset Joker by burdening him with what I’m feeling. 

He hates it when I do that, though a lot of the time I’m not even aware I’m doing it, and it upsets him and then he withdraws from me.

When Joker starts to pull away from my kisses and stops accepting hugs, that’s usually my holy shit what the fuck, Erika? moment and then I do my best to apologise to him.

I’m always forgiven after it’s made clear that I hurt his feelings, and then we don’t let each other go for the rest of the night.

When I need a reminder of why I love Joker or when I just need to see him for all that he is, I watch his segment on the Murrat show (that’s not a typo - I know what I said.) and I’m sobbing in seconds.

*sigh* “Why do you do this to yourself, Erika?”

“I needed to - you were in so much pain and I - “

He pulls me to him and shushes me. I tuck my face into the warm crook of his neck and lavish him with kisses and I just hold him and hug him as hard as I can and I apologise again and again.

Joker doesn’t understand why I watch it sometimes and tbh neither do I but I do and he always comforts me even though I feel like I should be comforting him.

As I said earlier, I’m scared of the dark and I drink as much coffee as Joker smokes (I can easily reach 18 cups a day. Easy.), so night times are... interesting. 

It can take up to an hour for me to sleep. Not really because of the caffeine (I’m used to it by now and I feel calmer with it than I do without it) but because I just can’t get comfortable or because I’m convinced something just moved in the corner of the room.

Even with my nightlights, I’m still scared.

It annoys Joker when he’s really tired or trying to sleep and it’s not unlike Joker to grumble “lay the fuck still” and wrap his arms around me so I feel obligated to stay still for him.

Joker never holds me so tight that I can’t move, though. I have trauma relating to body autonomy so he makes sure that I know I can move if I want to.

I prefer to sleep either on my back so I can have my clown blanket or on my side so I can face Joker. I keep my phone by my bed so when I miss Joker or need to see him at 3 AM I’ve got pics and GIFs right there, scared am I that I’ll wake up and he’s just a dream and I’m alone again, so I appreciate seeing him when I wake up in the mornings.

Sleepy morning sex

He’s also at perfect liberty to start things when I’m still sleeping, too.

I gave him an all time free pass - that is how much I trust him. It was the biggest display of trust I could think of, and I’ve never gone back on it or regretted it.

I really just want Joker to know, to know, that he’s loved and cherished. I do my best to let him know that he can be his entire self with me, that I want him to, and he does the same for me.

Fair’s fair though so I’m at liberty to start things when he’s sleeping, though I rarely do because he sleeps so little as it is because insomnia, nightmares etc.

We steal each other’s clothes a lot of the time. 

I wear really baggy clothes (my shirts can pass as short dresses) so Joker fits into them easily.

Joker’s very needy and physically affectionate and clingy and even on the days when I don’t want to be touched (again, for trauma reasons), I still allow him to do with me as he pleases.

Not because I feel like I have to, but because I trust him and I know I’m safe with him. When I’m with Joker, I’m the safest woman in the world.

We only use each other’s names - Erika and Joker (Arthur for serious situations) - when attention is needed now or when it’s a deep situation which requires total candour.

Otherwise, for me it’s “my girl” (I melt every time), “my Erika”, “my Queen”, and then generics like darling, sweetheart, love, angel.

For Joker, it’s “my Joker” (he melts), “my King”, “my clown” and then generics like darling, angel, love, honey. 

We do anything for each other and we always do small gestures for each other; Joker makes me a cup of coffee and I slip a cigarette between his thin lips before I light it for him. He changes the batteries in my nightlights without saying anything and I hand scrub the blood out of his clothes while it’s still fresh.

Things like that tell us, even without words, that we want it to work.

When he comes home from whatever he does as Joker (I don’t ask and he doesn’t tell), I check him all over. Any bruises, scraps, cuts... 

The ‘rule’ is this:

As long as he comes back home to me without even a paper cut, then he can do what he wants as Joker, the reputation he didn’t want or ask for.

We do everything together and with each other and of course we get space from each other when it’s wanted or needed; a lot of the time we’re in the same room doing our own things. 

We argue, though I’m not sure what about - but we always make it up to one another. We don’t go to bed angry, either, and we both get upset during fights so tears are shed and wiped away, apologies whispered against trembling lips.

It’s not an easy relationship and there are probably things I haven’t even thought about lmao, but we work hard and the amount of love we have for each other is so strong and so deep it’s bigger than both of us. 

We choose to love each other every single day, no matter what, and that’s why we’re still together

Erileck met: 4/10/2019 // married: 26/3/2020. We skipped the engagement. We’re in love and we know it, so why wait?

#jokershyena #requests closed #erileck #this is intensely personal #im so nervous i legit feeling sick posting this

[disneydreamlights]

i did not realize tippi/bleck was your OTP please tell me more about why you love them (i also like them but its been years since i played spm so i need to renew that love)

(It’s been years for me too and I’ve been meaning to replay I will just never tire of them.)

So I’m actually going to break this ask down into two parts. The first just talking about their relationship in general and what the game presents, the second actually getting into how they are the ship that very much defined what I consider a lot of my personal ship tropes today. This also isn’t the first time I’ve gone off about them either so I’m going to link this post from 2013. (It’s not my best analysis and I don’t necessarily agree with everything in it now but I mean I was 17 so for a seventeen year old who had no critical thinking skills, I think it was good for what I wanted to convey at the time. XD)

So with that out of the way let’s talk about those memories.

"I remember that day well... The room was warm. The whole place was at peace."

This is the introducing line to the first memory, to the story of Blumiere and Timpani that serves as the foundation for the story of the game, and it shows how much this day meant to Blumiere that even lost in the shadow that became Count Bleck, fallen into darkness and depression and utter self loathing, that he remembered this day as a positive despite it being, as he himself says, “the day that our tragedy was set in motion.” The memories are fond to him and his small bits of happiness, and the idea of that is heartwarming to say the least. It also gives a very early establishment on why their interactions are significant. A lot of the lore is read between the lines, but the game establishes quickly that humans and the Tribe of Darkness do not like each other. So when Timpani shows that she doesn’t care what he is, just that he needed help, it very quickly establishes both her character and why we should empathize with this unknown, and it establishes her bond with Blumiere.

She saved him without knowing who he was. Her kindness and empathy is what draws Blumiere in. And it proves a very strong foundation for their relationship as it progresses. From here in story, we’re only given snippets of who they were before. They give further background on the prejudices against them, how Blumiere’s father is working to keep them apart, and how they seem willing to overcome the obstacles at every turn. Despite the warning from the first memory, you cheer for these unknowns and hope for their happiness, it’s what they deserve. The memories where they’re happy (Blumiere proposing to Timpani, the one with them under the stars, even them just getting to talk again) are wholesome and heartwarming. And the one where Timpani tries to leave after Chapter 3 is heartbreaking. Because you want to believe in their happy ending.

Which of course gets taken away in the Chapter 6 interlude. Watching Blumiere learn that Timpani is gone, well...I’ll grab the dialogue exchange here:

"Timpani! What did you do with her? I must see her!"  "Still your tongue, Blumiere... Can't you see you've been duped by a dirty human? You have brought shame to my name...and to the entire Tribe of Darkness!"  "And so what if I did? That doesn't matter to me! She's my entire world!" "Well, then it will interest you to know...that she no longer resides in this world." "What... What do you mean by that?!"  "This is the price those who resist their own fate must pay, my son."  "She... No... It can't be so!"  "Someday you will see, Son. Our kind and humans must never mix."

Yeah, it’s pretty depressing honestly. Blumiere is so clearly heartbroken and destroyed to the point that it basically convinces him that nothing matters. That he’s willing to destroy his home and everything else in the entire universe because he has nothing. This is a broken man, and it’s why he finally heeds the Prognosticus’s call in the final interlude before the main fight to become Count Bleck.

Now granted it’s not a sucker punch to see the interlude unless you haven’t been picking up the hints in the Castle Bleck scene (Chapter 6 does a fantastic job of hammering in who Blumiere is) watching Blumiere in desperation turn to the book right before you lead into Chapter 8 really hammers home how little he had to live for.

And this is double if you take a lot of the popular fan headcanons (his mother being dead, often times at the hands of humans. His father being abusive. That kind of stuff) as fact for Blumiere’s story. This was quite possibly one of the only people to ever show him kindness, and he lost her, for as far as he’s concerned, forever, and it destroys him.

Which takes us to the timeline of the main game which does an equally good job of fleshing out their love. While the game first points Count Bleck out as an absolute madman and threat with a desire to do nothing more than destroy and recreate the world however he wants, he doesn’t stay that way. The game first foreshadows that something happened to push him over the edge early on and his interactions with Nastasia where he even lets her back out show that he’s fully aware of his actions and not some delusional monster, but chapter 6 in this exchange really drives everything home.

Count Bleck: You QUESTION Count Bleck?! This worthless world's destruction matters not! Far better for Count Bleck to wipe it out of existence than let it remain!  Tippi: How can you say that? That's...horrible!  Count Bleck: Count Bleck scoffs at you! An insignificant Pixl lectures Count Bleck on what is right and wrong?  Tippi: This is not up for discussion! You're wrong...and sick! All living things have a heart. They're all priceless. You can't just...erase them!  Count Bleck: Of all things, you defend the heart? Nothing could be more worthless...All things...are meaningless. Aside from Timpani, no treasure mattered in the least to me...

First since this happens before the memory I put earlier this is your first sign that something awful happened to Timpani, but it also just really drives home just how the loss of Timpani drove the hopelessly in love Blumiere into depression and sent him spiraling. All you know is that Blumiere lost Timpani, and he might as well be dead for what’s left of him, and it’s heartbreaking.

But then Tippi remembers, and Count Bleck realizes exactly who she is. Blumiere learns his quest for destruction of the worlds that took her away from him and of himself is meaningless, and Timpani learns that the madman she’s hated, wanted desperately to stop, is the one person who means the world to her. And the result when they reunite is absolutely devastating as Blumiere attempts to play the part the prophecy sets out for him, and Timpani just wants her husband to stop. Blumiere is throwing the battle because now that he knows she’s alive, he can’t hurt her. He doesn’t want to win. He wants to die, and he wants the world to be safe for her, because all he wants is her happiness and her ability to live. The final boss sequence is absolutely killer if you have any investment in their relationship for that reason at all because they’re so in love and both know what they want can’t happen. And it’s heartbreaking.

Then Dimentio happens and in a desperate attempt to save the world, they confess they love each other and use the power of the Pure Hearts and their love for each other to destroy the Chaos Heart. The lines like actually made me emotional now and I’m reading them out of context in a script and not after the about ten hour journey of the main game.

Count Bleck: There were so many things I wanted to say to you...but I could not find the words.  Tippi: Oh, Blumiere... Only one thing matters to me now. I never had the chance to return your question... Blumiere... Do you still love me, as well?  Count Bleck: Of course... I have thought about you every moment since you disappeared... But I have caused you so much suffering...  Tippi: Perhaps...my life would have been more carefree without you, that is true.  Count Bleck: But I had to be with you, Timpani. I will never apologize for that...  Tippi: I know, Blumiere. And I love you...  Count Bleck: And I love you, Timpani... Hundreds of thousands of years from now, that fact will not have changed...

Like look I’m not here to provide an emotional analysis I don’t have to this is just very good. “And I love you, Timpani... Hundreds of thousands of years from now, that fact will not have changed...” is just honestly a beautiful line and I honestly cry just reading it now. (I’m not joking I have fangirl grin on my face just from reading this I miss these two so much.)

And to get their final dialogue, much like the memory scenes from earlier in the game, the conclusion to their tale immediately after this:

"Timpani...do you remember the promise we made to each other that day?"  "Yes, I remember..."  "If there was a place where we could be happy together, we would find it."  "Will you come with me to that place now?" "Blumiere... Of course... I will always be with you..."

It’s just very sweet and satisfying after going through the story. You’ve spent so long rooting for them to have their chance (since the moment you understood what was going on in the memories) that it makes the conclusion all the more just wholesome and satisfying that after everything they’ve been to, they finally get to be together and happy, as shown by the scene in the after credits where they walk down the hill together.

So to tie all this part together, the brilliant writing of SPM is really what gives this ship the chance to shine. By giving us time to get attached to Count Bleck and Tippi first before revealing who they are, we already have a baseline investment in their happiness and thus in the ship. The ship comes secondary to their characters so you have these two already very enjoyable characters (Tippi’s sarcasm and interactions with the heroes of light are a a lot fun, and Count Bleck is so charismatic that whenever he and his minions are on screen they dominate) and then you add in ship that makes an enjoyable build up to the game with good chemistry and mostly heartwarming moments, and make it a tragedy, and it becomes very easy to get invested in it, and to love. And it makes for one of my personal favorite love stories I’ve seen in gaming.

The rest of this essay is more to do with my personal taste and less objectivity so I’m going to throw it under a read more but oh boy did this ship either literally shape my ship tropes or just hit almost every single one of them I have that well.

So needless to say I have loved this ship since I first beat the game probably about thirteen years ago so it’s hard to say whether my ship taste came first or this game defined my ship taste but let me just list all my tropes and you’ll see what I mean:

Light/Dark Dichotomy - From looks to roles, these two embody this trope to a tee. Timpani is light, she’s a descendant of the Tribe of Ancients, the guardians of the Light Prognosticus, and in game is represented in the rainbow butterfly form, who while angular her colors and overall form (butterflies) tend to give her this general association of friend. She fights for the heroes and radiates a presence of general light. Blumiere is her opposite, a member of the Tribe of Darkness, the guardians of the Dark Prognosticus, and in game is represented by mostly darker colors. He is the main antagonist and his presence in game is often tied to some of its darker moments. They embody this contrast.

Opposing Sides - I need to preface the way I’ve phrased this. In most instances I would call this “Enemies to Lovers” however because of the storyline of this game it’s not quite enemies to lovers but it sure does embody the spirit of the trope where two people are fighting against each other despite loving each other and spend the majority of the game not in love with each other because Blumiere has no idea who she is and Timpani has zero memories. The important thing is that they are working against each other, and the tension of going against somebody you love is wonderful. The scene preceding the Count Bleck boss fight embody everything good about this trope.

Forbidden Love - I mean this is literally obvious but Blumiere’s father is literally against the pairing from minute one and literally tries to kill Timpani over it this pairing is as forbidden as they come.

Tragic - I don’t need to define why Timpani and Blumiere are tragic but boy do I love me some good angst and these two are legitimately swimming in it it’s very very good. My favorite thing about the angst is that it never affects the overall tone which is a testament to how well the game is written. Slight tangent but like SPM as a whole gets very very dark, partially due to the Timpani/Blumiere elements and their tragedy but also in part due to the last three chapters of the game. Like Chapter 6 is definitely the heaviest hitter but there’s a lot to unpack in Chapters 7 and 8 as well. But despite this the game’s atmosphere never feels oppressing, it’s still fun with lighthearted moments and it’s still a game that won’t make you feel super depressed. It balances its darkness with the bright colors and the tone of the writing very well. And because of that, despite the fact that they literally destroy a world while you’re on it and then send you to the Mario version of hell, the game never feels too dark to be enjoyable.

The rest of these aren’t as clearly defined by words but I am very much a sucker for the idea of “my love for you is my one weakness” and the one thing that could be used to bring somebody down and drag them to hell. But also being the one thing that’s keeping them out of going down and the one thing that can bring them back out. It makes me emotional and I love it. I would also like to propose the idea that Timpani and Blumiere are soulmates since they’re most definitely true loves but things like soulmates are kind of subjective in the first place.

To tie it all home you can see the elements of my long standing SPM obsession littered in my fandom tastes today if you look hard enough for it. This game had a major part in forming my tastes because before Kingdom Hearts, even before Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, this was the game that captured my heart and attention. It’s the only game to have an amount of (sadly unpublished and lost on old devices that no longer work) writing to rival the amount of things I’ve written for KH over the years. And at the heart of the phenomenal game is a wonderful ship that, years after my last playthrough of the game, still holds a spot in my heart reserved for it.

Timpani and Blumiere are a fantastic ship and between its wonderful writing and its effects on my taste, it has a lot of reasons to still be my favorite ship of all time.

#Paper Mario #Super Paper Mario #Tippi #Count Bleck #Timpani #Blumiere #I love these two beyond words #taliaxlatia #Heather Answers #Heather Does Something #Forgot to add my analysis tag to this post

[laudedliar]

1,15,16 for the dramatic ask, for any ship you like, please!

I finally did it!  I mean it’s not a super long one T_T  Sorry.  But it was fun to write. :) 

OTP #15: Who would fight an impossible battle to allow the other to escape?

@noire-pandora‘s Elluin Lavellan x Solas

It was gone.  The orb lay broken and dormant on the ground, shattered to pieces beside the dead Magister.  Slowly he knelt down to pick up the sphere, cradling it in his hands as a crushing despair began to wrap its stifling tendrils around him.

How could he fix all that had come to ruin without it?

The Veil rippled above them, crackling with energy in the aftermath of their battle, and Solas glanced to the side as Elluin called out to her companions shakily.  Cassandra answered an affirmative word as she stepped around the cooling corpse towards him.  Solas could not find his voice to answer, but felt the Seeker’s cool gaze upon him as he continued to attempt to piece the orb together futilely.

“Varric!  Varric!”  Elluin shrieked in sudden panic as she rushed through the rubble of the tumbled ruins to where the archer’s leg was visible from beneath a heavy rock.  “Cassandra, help me!  I can’t lift it on my own!”  The Inquisitor begged as she threw her small frame against the stone.

The Seeker, who had been quietly watching Solas cradle his broken prize, turned her attention to Elluin’s plight, rushing over to assist in getting the rubble off the dwarven author.  Pale brown eyes wrenched away from the two women pushing against the fallen rock to look back at the cracked orb nestled in his hands.

“Solas, please, we need your help!”  Elluin cried out.  A tug at his heart.  She was straining and grunting with effort as her and the warrior shifted the largest rock and it moved off the prone dwarf.

All he had done had been for her.  For The People she so loved, so that they may understand the true power of what they could be.  The power that he had blindly taken away.  Sundered them from who they truly were, until only shadows remained of his once great peoples.  To set them free from chains of slavery he had fought a nearly impossible battle.  Only to have unwittingly thrown them into the cage of mortality.

An unwinnable battle it seemed.  To keep the elvhenan from one master, he had enslaved them to another.  Yet he would continue to fight until the elvhen future was brighter than even it’s luminous past.

For all of them.

But, now, most of all: For her.

As he stood from where he knelt, still clutching his orb tightly, Solas watched sadly as the two women pulled the unconscious archer from under the debris and checked his vitals.  Cassandra slapped the dwarf’s ruddy cheeks a few times, and Elluin cried in relief as the cross-bowman coughed and groaned in response.

They were preoccupied.  Checking for broken bones, forcing the archer to drink a potion of healing.  One of Solas’ own concoctions none the less.

Desire tugged him towards her.  But duty and pride forced his sliding steps away.

He must absolve himself for her.  A war was on the horizon, one that he did not wish to see such a gentle soul fight.  He would not force her hand, one way or the other, if he could help it.  Though, he had been known to make mistakes before and drag innocents along in his rough wake.  As long as he was far away from her, she could not be held responsible for the actions he must take.  For the path that he must walk.

For the seemingly unwinnable struggle he must fight.

And he would, that is, fight for her.  So she could finally see the wonders she had begged him to tell her about while beneath the blazing stars above SkyHold.  How marvelous it had been to witness such wanton desire as he told her of the stories he’d exhumed in his walks through the Fade.  When she would hold his hand just slightly too tight as he escorted her through their shared dreams.

What he wouldn’t give but to always hold that hand.  As she walked forever by his side.

Step by aching step he moved away from his companions and into the shadowy tree line.  He could not bring her with him.  This was his battle.  This was his war.

And she deserved to be free.

Elluin wiped at her brow, brushing away a gathering of dust and blood from her forehead.  She glanced at Cassandra and they shared a smile as Varric began to complain about his back hurting and how he would never again fight another ancient Magister asshole as long as he lived.

Cassandra helped the dwarf up, letting him lean on her hip as they walked down towards the crying calls of their compatriots sifting through the fallen rubble for them.  Elluin looked around, her breathing returning to a steady beat as she took in the battlefield around her.  Her attention was drawn over towards the Magister’s body, where last she saw Solas kneeling.  But the Fade Mage was not there.

He was nowhere to be seen.  The ruins were empty, save the dead Magister and his blighted dragon companion’s corpse.

“Solas?”  She called out tentatively.

But the only answer was that of a howling wolf in the far distance.  And the shattering of her heart as it broke into a million agonizing shards.

“He had been piecing that orb together.  Corypheus’ orb.”  Cassandra told her that night during the revelry.  “I did not see where he went after.  I’m sorry, Inquisitor.”  The raven haired warrior bowed low to her.

“Don’t worry yourself over it now, Cassandra.  Go!  Drink, feast!  We can talk about it tomorrow.”  Elluin said, trying her best to keep her tone light even as her chest ached empty.

“And we have you to thank, Inquisitor, that we even have a tomorrow.”  The Seeker said, nodding her head respectfully towards her before turning to join the others at the long tables decorating the great hall.

The celebration carried long into the night.  But Elluin excused herself long before the festivities ended.  She paused at the door to her chambers, looking over them all.  So much hope and love shared between people who had barely known each other only a short time before.  People that Elluin would never have met, would never have known had it not been for such dour events.  Had it not been for that cursed orb.

Her feet made their tired winding way up the stairs to her quarters.  Alone.

Her sheets were cool against her skin as she slid into the bed and held a pillow close.  There was a very faint scent upon the sheets.  Like milkweed and honey.  Bittersweet.  Solas’ scent.  Tears gathered along her lashes as she remembered him joining her in her room and reading to her on nights she was mending after returning from some far off assignment.

”Hm, Dorian is right.  This is nothing more than trite propaganda.” He’d said once, flipping through the pages of some Tevinter history book.

”Would you tell me a story you know?” She’d asked, hopeful for another peek into the ancient elvhen world.

”It would be my pleasure.”

Her eyes opened to the rising sun, blinking slowly.

Solas lay beside her, head resting on a pillow facing her.  His eyes never left her gaze, and his lips stretched into a matching smile as her own bloomed across her face.

“Where were you?  I was so worried.  You missed the feast last night.”  She whispered, afraid to break the calm of early morning.

He didn’t answer, only shook his head gently.

“I was thinking,” She continued, “We could let Dagna see the orb.  She’s so talented, perhaps she can help you figure out it’s magics.”

His smile faded with each word she uttered.

Elluin paused, searching his familiar face.  Searching for whatever it was hidden behind his eyes.  To find the truth of what he was secreting away.

“Solas?”  She asked hushed as she lifted a hand to reach for his own settled below his chin.

But the elvhen apostate pulled away from her reaching fingers, sighing softly.  Sadly.

She pulled back, realization settling like a weighty blanket and drowning her.  “Solas.”  She called softly, trying to keep herself there in the Dream.  Heart pounding and fretful she reached again for his hand.  “Please.”  She whimpered as the edges became faded, the sound of bird song piercing the cloudy haze.

Still his eyes never left her own, as if he were trying to memorize all of her as the Dream turned murky grey.

“Please!”  She cried out once more before being jerked awake, still clutching tight his pillow.  Her room was cold and dark, only the barest hint of pink blushing along the horizon through her window.  And she was alone.

”I’m sorry, vhenan.”

#solas romance #solas fanfic #lavellan #finally got around to it #don't hate me #mild angst #dragon age #da:i