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f1crecs · 5 months

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Fic Rec List - Lando/Oscar

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Only a few months ago, we featured a Lando/Oscar fic on our super rare pair list. Now, it's our most requested ship. Wow!

We hope you enjoy these ones! 🍊

nsfw: By a thread by @mctwinkdom | 5k | E

Oscar and Lando have a text conversation about thongs – things escalate from there. I loved the formatting of this fic, the texting really works well as a structure and the rest is filled up by the authors lovely characterization of both Lando and Oscar. I especially love Oscar being his normal aloof self, a little bit nervous about his new teammate (but so so in to it when the convo turns spicy) while Lando is just a strange little horny boy with a liking for ”thongs”.

Oscar raises an eyebrow. He thought his answer was pretty straightforward, didn’t think he’d have to spell it out for Lando. (me): I wasn’t talking about shoes in my tweet” Now that would teach him. Fucking British. Always thinking they have full powers over the English language. Okay, granted, maybe they invented it but still.

Sanctus by debrief | T | 5.5k

This is a renaissance au with lovers to enemies (and back), beginning with Oscar serving Lando's high-status family. What I like: This is some of the most incredible writing I've encountered. Not only is it a masterclass in non-linear narratives, but it's packed with striking imagery and fascinating power dynamics. There are phrases and sentences in this fic that I can quote off the top of my head. It's immersive and heart-wrenching and beautiful.

'Lando had been blithe, Oscar had been brave. They were seventeen and unforgivably naive. It was a time of spires, domes, cathedrals, rebirth celebrated at the heart of the greatest city-state this side of the world. A war of high art and marginalized decadence, long expanses of moon-kissed skin bathed in gratuitous bathos, love and lust flirting vows over gilt-framed canvases commissioned by wealthy nobles who have known neither.'

legerdemain by anonymous | Not Rated | 5.8k

Oscar gets roped into teaching Lando how to play chess, and quickly finds out that Lando's endgame is a lot more complicated than it seems. I loved this fic for a variety of reasons - firstly because of the way that the author's love for and understanding of chess shines through so clearly. And secondly, the characterisation of both Lando and Oscar is complex and witty and so fitting to who they both are. Lando is cheeky and a little weird and far sharper than he lets on, and Oscar is dry and matter-of-fact and unexpectedly into Lando. This is one of those fics that can get you sold on the Lando/Oscar pairing if you were initially uncertain about it - the slow build-up of tension and realisation is brilliantly captured, with chess and chess strategy being used to build UST between these two in a way that feels perfectly fitting to them.

'“Gotcha,” Lando says. “So like. D’you prefer blowjobs?” He moves the white rook to attack the hanging pawn and figures out the rest of the endgame puzzle pretty effortlessly.'

soft vanilla foreplay by anonymous | M | 7k

AU. Lando, a member of a Robin Hood style crime group, meets Oscar, who turns out to be a cat-hybrid vigilante superhero himself. Oscar joins Lando’s gang. Together they fight injustice (by doing crime). This fic is really well written and incredibly funny. It leans hard into the cat-Oscar joke - Oscar is very catlike in all the best ways and has some mannerisms that made me think the author definitely has one. Their meet-cute is hilarious and sets the tone for the entire fic.

' “No, I actually inherited the genes from my ancestors, who came from a planet of felids.” “Excuse me, did you mean a planet of furries?” “No, Jesus, Lando,” Oscar says emphatically, then he’s laughing, crinkling eyes and soft cheeks and bunny teeth. God, he’s so fucking cute. “No, I was found, um,” Oscar says, sobering from the laugh. He takes a deep breath. “In a handbag. Someone left me on the. Doorstep of a stranger’s house.” Lando looks up and gauges Oscar’s expression. He’s telling the truth. “I don’t know why I’m a cat,” Oscar says. Makes this shrugging expression without actually shrugging. “So…” Lando says. “How did you find out?” “Well. For one, I can speak to cats,” Oscar answers. Huh. This probably explains all the neighbourhood cats serenading Oscar from his balcony so much. “Okay,” Lando says, taking it all in stride. “And you fight crime by night?” “I work graveyard shifts at the supermarket,” Oscar says. “Yeah. Part-time. That’s three out of seven nights.” And Oscar is with Lando for two or three of the four remaining nights (they fuck every evening though) (and morning). Anyways, the maths doesn’t add up. Oscar sighs. “Well, I.” He pauses. “I climb up to fancy penthouses of people who run trust mills, and I take stuff. Then I redistribute.” Oh. Lando is mouthing the oh. “You’re a cat burglar,” Lando whispers it like it’s the funniest secret ever.'

nsfw: Needs Improvement by @strawberry-daiquiris | 7.1k | E

Zak tells Oscar his 'teammate communication' needs improvement. Mark sends him to a 'Psychic, Clairvoyant, Sorcerer' who ends up doing some voodoo that leads to Oscar and Lando being able to read each others' thoughts. Its got great characterisations and some humour mixed in with some angst and, of course, some smut. Plus one of the first Landoscar fics I read and it really drew me in.

'If he’s really that worried, Mark suggests, he could see a sports psychologist. Someone who can advise him how to work with Lando, really get to the core of what it means to be a good teammate. They could even do sessions together. “Like couples therapy.” Mark grins, clapping Oscar on the shoulder. “Only worse, because you won’t get any sex out of it.” The irony, really, is that Oscar and Lando don’t not get on. He’d actually thought they were doing pretty well. Lando laughs at his jokes, Oscar smiles through his stories. They don’t see eye to eye on music, or hobbies, or the taste of fish, but none of those things matter on track anyway. Even more ironic is that Oscar really wouldn’t mind having sex with Lando, if he’s honest.'

nsfw: Never have I ever by @mctwinkdom | E | 13k

Lando and Oscar play a game of Never Have I Ever, and it leads to some interesting revelations. Although its majority (very good) smut, this was a very heartwarming fic. The dialogue is fun and keeps you reading more. The characterisation of them feels realistic!

'But there was something between them, without shape or name, something that made them avert their gaze after staring at each other for one second too long, something that made them slightly jump if their hands were to brush. Something Lando had named in his mind: “I wanna fuck my teammate: the Remix”, in bold orange (papaya) letters with some glitter and fireworks.'

we are all in the butter but some of us are looking at the cars by xiaoluclair | T | 14.3k

Oscar's first season in F1 is about reaching the stars. It becomes about reaching Lando, too. The timing of this one feels very real to me, the way pieces slowly slot into place. The author places threads and waits until the end to pull on all of them, and it's lovely.

'Peer pressure, thinks Oscar, this is peer pressure. But Lando keeps it held out, eyes on Oscar and Oscar. Oscar takes the damn shoe. It’s probably one of the oddest experiences of his life. When he lowers it again, can feel the thin river of it cold on his chin, Lando’s still looking at him. Crows have walked in the skin beside his eyes.A minute later, Oscar watches him tip his head back, shoe against his mouth. Light shines through the gap and, just for a moment, it looks like he is swallowing the sun itself.'

nsfw: carried away by venerat | E | 22.1k

AU, non drivers. Lando impulsively asks Oscar to pretend to be his boyfriend to make an ex jealous. Oscar agrees, even though it's probably a bad idea when he likes Lando so much. Lando gradually comes to realise he is in love with Oscar. I am crazy for the fake dating trope. This has all the best parts of it - miscommunication, angst, gradual feelings realisation from the POV character and obvious pining from the other. Venerat is so good at this and the fic is a lovely journey. The characterisations are perfect, especially Oscar and his natural talent for understatement, which muddies the waters a bit.

'If there was anything Oscar would do, it was was focus very intently on the task assigned to him, until he got it exactly fucking right. That was what made him perfect for this particular task: the task of being Lando’s boyfriend. Fake boyfriend. “Okay,” Lando said, clearing his throat. “Stunning. Was thinking, maybe we could try it out at the cinema tomorrow.” He, Oscar, and the Lefrères were going to see the new Bond film. It was the perfect opportunity to be dickish and in love, as far as Lando was concerned. “Just didn’t want you to get all jumpy if I touched you,” he explained. “If that’s alright. Like. Yeah.” Oscar nodded. “Got it. Sounds good, mate. I’ll be, er, ready.” It was nice to be around such passion. Lando rolled his eyes. He was smiling inside, when he thought it. But Oscar did have some capacity to surprise him. Before Lando fucked off, Oscar stepped forward, closing the normal non-sexual gap between them, and wrapped Lando in a light hug. It was nothing—Oscar’s arms were barely even squeezing him—but Lando’s breath still caught in his chest like a stupid fucking idiot, freezing inside the hug. “Have a good one,” Oscar said when he drew back. He was pink, which made Lando feel better, given that his own ears were warming. Okay. They clearly needed practice. Desperately, in fact. “You too, babe,” Lando said, and winked. Then, before he could embarrass himself further, he spun on his heel and walked out.'

nsfw: climb up to your lips by @scenetocause | E | 28k (wip)

This fic is Lando/girl!Oscar (the always-a-different-sex trope). Lando has a massive crush on his teammate. He also has a submissive streak that starts to express itself around her. As their relationship develops, she picks up on this and starts finding ways to take care of him. They’re both a bit inexperienced at relationships and sex in general. I just love these two. They’re both slightly weird and awkward and don’t quite fit with anyone else but are turning out to be perfect for one another. It’s a learning curve for them both.

“Yeah, fuck.” Lando has to tilt his head back onto the sofa. He can feel it in his arse, where she touched him. He might feel it for the rest of his life. “Yeah, I. Fuck.” “Later.” she says, like a promise. It takes him a moment to work out she means them, later. Fucking. Which might be ambitious because he currently feels like he needs a refractory period of about a decade, after that one but he won’t spoil her dreams just yet. She's acidic, clever as ever in debrief and brutal in the way she deconstructs her own, botched Q3. Lando's probably staring at her a bit lovestruck but he's been doing that all season anyway so no one has to know it's over the phantom sensation of her inside him. Despite the lecture from Zak earlier Oscar tucks him under her arm on the drive from the hotel, playing with his hair. He's actually less worried about being killed by Andrea or whatever now but still doesn't get his phone out because he hasn't had time to clean up his insta follows and he doesn't want Oscar to think he's into anyone else. For someone who doesn't seem to think much of herself, she seems fairly assured he likes her. Which might, in retrospect, be something to do with the best part of a year he spent broadcasting that to her before he'd even realised it himself.'

already home by @nyoomfruits | T | 32.5k

Lando marries Oscar, his best friend and roommate, to keep his family from worrying about him so much. This is an absolute gem. It's sweet, funny, cozy, and the dynamic between the pairing and their friends is delightful.

“Yeah, well, you’re marrying me, so,” Lando says, sticking out his tongue, and Oscar laughs, that loud, bursting out of him laugh he does sometimes where he completely folds his body in half. Lando hides his self-satisfied smirk behind another bite of his pancake, and pretends like he isn’t committing the little laugh lines in the corner of Oscar’s eyes to his memory.'

thank you to @singsweetmelodies, @ocontraire, @maaxverstappen, @lydia-petze, @frickinsweet & @welightitup for compiling this list 🧡

#landoscar #driver:lando #driver:oscar #pairing:lando/oscar

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felicjana050896 · 1 month

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A few words about Charlastor

Today I saw this post:

(Sorry, I can't post the link, Twitter doesn't want to work on my computer today :\ )

I will quote it here because it made me think again:

Currently, the closest person to Charlie is Vaggie, while Alastor invades her space, Vaggie and Alastor are opposed to each other, Vaggie wants to run a hotel for Charlie (her whole life is based on Charlie...), while Alastor has his own reasons (more on which later we don't fully know) and the two are portrayed as opposing forces pulling Charlie, Vaggie in one direction and Alastor in the other. Charlie's relationship with Alastor will deepen in future seasons (which the author wrote about, that Alastor and Charlie are the main characters of HH and what we see after the pilot), thus distancing it from Vaggie, which we see already in the first season (and what I wrote posts about ), that Charlie's relationship with Vaggie will surely deteriorate as it goes on, their quarrel over Vaggie's lie was, in my opinion, just the first glitch in their relationship (although not very well written in my opinion anyway), at some point in the story Charlie will had to choose between Vaggie and Alastor (and Niffty):

And considering the other screenshots, they are either forshadowings only to the fact that in future seasons Charlie will be getting closer to Alastor and away from Vaggie, or they may generally herald Alastor's victory over Vaggie, it depends, they are definitely confirmation that the further the seasons, the more Charlostor's content we will have than Chaggie's, the only question is which one will be the endgame?

Alastor stealing Charlie:

Significant bed scene, Vaggie wakes up without Charlie, alone, and Charlie is later in bed with Alastor on a heart-shaped pillow:

Besides, I read about Zoophobia and old sketches of Alastor and Autumn, and in my opinion Autumn reminds me a bit of Charlie... but in order.... First, let's go to Roo or Eve (if you prefer), well, I saw one Tik Tok and I definitely agree with it:

Charlie actually resembles Eve much more than Lilith, it always surprised me that Charlie has more father-like features both in appearance and character, and has none of Lilith's (especially when it comes to her ahem... physical qualities...), but I thought they just made her a typical "daddy's girl" and that's it... but if Eve is Charlie's mother and not Lilith..., we still had Lucifer's comment that he stole from Adam both wives, both Lilith and Eve, and although he married Lilith, he probably slept with Eve..., then the only question arises: why did Lilith decide to raise a child that was not her own?

Roo (Eve):

Charlie:

Lilith:

Lucifer:

Charlie and Eve (Roo) have exactly the same nose, the same lines under their eyes (Charlie in his demonic form has them) and the body sharp is the same, Lucifer by the way does not have a nose (:D), Lilith has a completely different nose, only Eve's nose matches Charlie's....

Moving on, we know that Alastor made a deal with someone, many people speculate that he made it with Lilith, but there are also people who believe that with Roo and I, although I also considered Lilith at the beginning, it was thrown in our faces this 7-year break (that Lilith has not been in Hell for 7 years and Alastor disappeared for 7 years), seems too obvious..., moreover, we know that Lilith had a contract with Adam (end of episode 8), and Adam did not know Alastor, so how could Alastor have an agreement with Lilith and be with her for these 7 years in heaven, if Adam didn't know him at all..., while Roo..., and this is where the issue of Zoophobia begins, i.e. Viv's first idea, where most of the HH characters came from:

In Zoophobia we had the so-called KayCee, i.e. chaos itself and the main antagonist, interestingly KayCee liked apples (a reference to Eve and her picking an apple from the Garden of Eden, the first sin?):

KayCee had white hair, horns, and the original Alastor was in love with her:

So KayCee is nothing other than the prototype of Eve.

Moving on, the original Alastor was also obsessed with Autumn, the character of Zoophobia, a blonde deer:

Autumn is a very helpful and good-hearted character and: ,,Although outwardly he appears mature and rational, in reality he is extremely insecure, suffering from low self-esteem. Autumn continues to seek recognition and thanks from others for a little help from him, showing that he needs the appreciation of others. Autumn is also very sensitive and short-tempered: in the webcomic, when Rusty teases him about the little antlers, Autumn explodes in anger and violently scolds him."

Doesn't this in some way resemble the description of Charlie..., a girl with a good heart, wanting to help everyone, and also sometimes quick-tempered (when, for example, heaven rejects her or when Susan pisses her off :D )

So we have Eve, who used to be KayCee, and Charlie, who has a lot of Autumn in her, and if it turns out that Charlie is actually Eve's daughter, Charlie will be a combination of KayCee and Autumn, considering her appearance and character traits are taken from both, two characters that the original Alastor was crazy about ;)

And finally, some shots of Charlie and Alastor:

And remember about Niffty and KeeKee, they are very important, after all they are in the HH logo :)

KeeKee, a pet belonging to Charlie and Niffty, Alastor's ,,pet" ;)

Sorry for the long post again, but I just can't keep it short :D

Thank you for reading and have a nice day, evening or night :)

#charlastor #hazbin hotel #radiobelle #alastor #charlie morningstar #charlie x alastor #anti chaggie #niffty #keekee #zoophobia #eve #roo #lilith morningstar

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babybells123 · 21 days

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“The wind was howling fiercely. It sounds like a wolf, thought Sansa. A ghost wolf, big as mountains.” (AFCC, Alayne II)

Is such an insane quote to me. All I can think of is how GRRM had no reason to put that in if not for literary thematic reasons. The phrase also works so incredibly well for GRRM’s self proclaimed style of subconscious foreshadowing, and using a literary sleight of hand when it comes to planting seeds. (I.e whilst he’s placing in hints and clues he’s waving his other hand with some flashy wording).

So the thing with a lot of Jonsa clues is that it lives between the lines . It lives in this implicit subconscious place that you’d only pick up on if *critically* reading. It’s what you pick up on through re-reads , and you have to be unbiased, open to anything and willing to look - and then it’s quite literally screaming off the page and you cannot unsee it.

The issue with the majority of the fandom, is that they refuse to see it. They claim “no narrative basis!!” You guys are reaching … but are willing to accept targaryen imagery in Sansa’s chapters as long as it relates to fAegon. Or the blue rose in the wall of ice meaning that J/D are the fated soul lovers of the saga etc etc.

The primary quote that is used by J/D shippers is Jon’s death and the link to the wolf howl with Dany.

I’m not one of those asoiaf fans who kicks and screams , denying any semblance of foreshadowing for other ships. You do you. (I have a problem with the people who choose to be condescending and towards my ship, which happens to Jonsa’s a lot since it’s quite niche compared to J/D). I can acknowledge all the foreshadowing for J/D, I saw it from ACOK - but the difference is that I don’t view it as overtly positive and as an endgame fated romance.

What is interesting to me is that the GA will overemphasise this quote as absolute proof that J/D are endgame, (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read it on Tiktok, reddit, Twitter etc) though they are quick to dismiss literally anything else….even a very very similar quote with uniquely distinct phrasing because it can’t be !! It’s a delusional ‘reach.’

The Dany quote in question:

“Off in the distance, a wolf howled. The sound made her feel sad and lonely but no less hungry.” (ADWD Daenerys X) .

Later in that chapter she embraces ‘fire and blood.’ So to me, the hunger represents both a physical absence and insatiable desires which she will soon embrace and no longer reject - she’ll likely sail to Westeros in TWOW. I actually love this interpretation of the quote, though it seems rather in the minority for the GA. Is it foreshadowing ? I believe non-J/D shippers can absolutely agree on that. But it doesn’t seem an overly positive quote that suggests everlasting romance. I mean, the fact that she hears it in the distance, so it isn’t a loud sound, and though it despairs her, she’s more concerned with that ‘hunger.’ It’s interesting word-play from GRRM as there are obvious double meanings to the quote.

And you know what ? I’m intrigued to see where he goes with that - I’m far more enamoured by potential conflict - though conflict is never without its complexity of course . See I do find J/D compelling, and I see the appeal that the GA finds, - I used to like the it in the past because of fanart and edits. I then just realised that J/S are far subtler, but make more sense and tie together beautifully in terms of thematics, parallels, and characterisations . In terms of J/D I’ve realised I’m more interested in a uniquely conflicting dynamic rather than the conventional hero boy x hero girl saves the world . I’m all on board for GRRM subverting that tired tired fantasy trope and giving us something else - unexpected - raw, beautiful, (angsty) and unequivocally there since the beginning. Here’s a hint; starts with J and has 5 letters.

Okay I went on way too much of a ramble here !!! Back to Sansa’s quote.

“The wind was howling fiercely. It sounds like a wolf, thought Sansa. A ghost wolf, big as mountains.” (AFCC, Alayne II)

GA pass over Sansa’s line which is simultaneously subtle and visceral. And it’s easy to do so, because it’s in AFFC - but then that’s a perfect way for GRRM to weave something in. Sansa is physically surrounded by mountains in her chapter, just as the fierce howling is an overwhelming presence. Jon dies and calls for Ghost in his last chapter - it could be around the same time - Ghost reacting to Jon’s death, grieving over him. it’s also a ‘ghost’ because something (someone) important to Sansa has perished. Someone she hadn’t thought of in a long time and was only just reminded of.

“A ghost wolf big as mountains” “howling fiercely.” Ghost wolf. Did George need to specify that it was a GHOST wolf in the exact same chapter where Sansa is consciously thinking of how sweet it’d be to see Jon again? After not thinking of him in 2 books?? And then once more lamenting “that could never be.”

Now I’m primarily analysing this quote through a Jonsa lens, but both ^ the Dany and Sansa quote also allude to Jon’s sheer importance to the narrative - his loss is profound, and his resurrection will be even more so.

#jonsa #jon x sansa #anti asoiaf fandom #meta

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luna-rainbow · 6 months

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i FINALLY watched Avengers: Age of Ultron (i'm a marvel fan because i've seen the characters on tumblr 🫣🫣) and i noticed in the scene where steve tries to lift the hammer he smirks with his face tilted kind of down, sort of like he's trying to hide his face. SO i wanted to know,, do you think he knew he could lift the hammer way back then and just didn't say anything? i knew that scene existed, but i assumed he didn't know that Thor stopped him... maybe not? *grabby hands* what thoughts do you got?

Thanks for the ask, nonnie!

I am not very well-versed in the Thor mythos, but it's impossible to talk about this scene without discussing what lifting Mjolnir actually means. "Whosoever holds this hammer, be he worthy, shall posses the power of Thor" -- and there is a lot of debate on what exactly this "worthiness" means. In particular, what does it mean when you consider that blessing is bestowed by Odin, the ruler of Asgard, and instigator of many wars and (again I haven't watched the Thor movies in years so don't quote me) near-genocides. That said, when Odin set out to strip Thor of his powers in the first movie, the older Odin is a very different God to his younger days, and there is a sense of ruefulness about his past victories. Based on the first movie alone and its depiction of what Thor learned before becoming "worthy", I feel that the core values are around selflessness and compassion and humility, as opposed to being a brutal and ruthless and egocentric monarch. So, while there is some value in the interpretation of Mjolnir being a judge of worthiness for a monarch, I tend to lean towards the interpretation of Mjolnir making a judgement for a benevolent leader. (But yeah, the Thor franchise is also about as consistent as the Cap franchise...ie. the third movies really dropped the bundle on themes and character arcs).

Now onto the scene in question!

I like both popular interpretations of this scene -- that Steve could lift it but decided not to. I mean, it's a pretty difficult scene to physically enact with a light prop, but the close-up of Evans' hands would support this theory. You can see his hands loosening as the hammer shifted and his loose grip sliding back on the handle (rather than a true slip from gripping something heavy). There's all sorts of reasons for why Steve wouldn't want to lift it -- he felt it would spoil the party, he didn't want to deal with the ribbing or questions afterwards, he has no use for Mjolnir, he knows how important Mjolnir is to Thor and doesn't want him to distrust that magic link.

I also like the second interpretation that Steve had to further grow as a person before being able to lift Mjolnir in Endgame. Again, it could be for a variety of possible reasons: Steve needing to truly separate from his "Captain America" identity between Civil War and Infinity War, or Steve truly growing into his defiance of authorities, or maybe even something as simple as Steve having some measure of accepting grief and loss, because he's certainly gone through a lot of that between Infinity War and Endgame.

To be quite honest, the most poetic ending they could have given Steve was to die in that battle. He was worthy of wielding Mjolnir because he was once again -- just like on the Valkyrie all those decades ago -- ready to lay down his life for the rest of mankind.

#steve rogers #steve rogers meta #asks

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brf-rumortrackinganon · 3 months

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How do you know from whose PR articles are coming from? Can’t it be that the publications are just writing them themselves?

Recently, there have been articles about how Kate feels lonely without Meghan. It’s clickbait obviously. The article just talks about how they could’ve been like Diana and Sarah, but then continues to says that Kate has been successful in the rf because of her inner circle. Where do you think this is from?

Also, during the BAFTAs, William asked one of the nominees about her experience filming, saying they must have had fun. It was completely innocent and was said in a politely engaging in a casual conversation kind of way, but the Daily Mail spun it to look like a “gaffe” because the film was about a girl who was raped. I stumbled upon a sussex squaddie’s tiktok talking about it and although the account acknowledges it was a spin, he also says “William must have made some enemies” meaning there must be someone trying to make him look bad. Do you think that’s true? I thought maybe it’s just the dailymail stirring stuff to punish William for keeping himself and Kate away from public eye these days.

Honestly, this is the thing that drives me insane with royal watching. It causes paranoia. And most royal watchers begin to hate on certain royals just because they assume certain narratives are coming from that royal’s pr even though we have no proof.

You sound like you might be new to the analytical side of royal watching. That's okay!

The only reason I mention that is because if you've been a royal-watcher since before Meghan, you would have noticed a very distinct, very obvious shift in how the royals are covered and discussed in the media after Meghan came in (2016/2017). This happened because Meghan had her own PR, strategy, and comms people, Sunshine Sachs and Gina Nelthorpe-Crowne among them, promoting and marketing instead of relying on the BRF or just doing it herself personally as all the other royal girlfriends/married-ins did. And we know Meghan kept her LA team even after moving to London and getting married; it was confirmed in one of the royal books. I think it was Bower's Revenge.

How do you know from whose PR articles are coming from? Can’t it be that the publications are just writing them themselves?

It's in the details. Here are a few.

If the article is talking about apologies or olive branches, it's from the Sussexes. They're the only ones who've demanded apologies and olive branches, ever since the Oprah interview and including in Harry's Spare interviews.

If the article is discussing several members of the royal family but Meghan is listed first, it's her PR. If the article uses titles, it's from the BRF. If the article uses their first names but William and Kate are first, it's just the publication writing.

If the article is about Meghan and it's on a random topic (like that beauty article the other day about her magical hair) or it appears randomly (like when she otherwise hasn't been in the news), it's her PR. Publications aren't going to randomly write about someone unless there's cause, and cause is usually a pay incentive.

Now, People will also take stories from the BRF too, especially and mostly about Kate. Usually any long-form article about Kate that includes "close sources" or "palace insiders" quotes, it's from Kensington Palace/William's PR.

People and US tabloids also regurgitate stories from other media. If you see similar articles with near-identical quotes, that's their own writers, not usually sourced from someone's office.

Everyone also has preferred journalists that they give info to and will seek out for stories. For Meghan, it's Scobie (though she doesn't seem to be talking to her anymore, probably because she's pissed about the Dutch Endgame leaking the names) and Gayle King. For Harry, it's Bryony Gordon. For the BRF, it's usually one of the Richards, sometimes Rebecca English. For Camilla, it's Piers Morgan. (I track some of this in my Timeline series.)

If an article is about Charles and talks about a new idea or a new initiative, it's from his PR. We call them trial balloons - Charles is notorious for using the public reaction to these ideas to decide what to do.

If the piece is overly critical of Kate in comparison to Meghan, it's usually from Meghan's PR. If Meghan's name is listed first, then it's definitely from her PR. If it's bashing the Waleses children or criticizing Kate's parenting, it's from Meghan's side (though she's been very careful lately not to have her name directly connected to those stories).

If the piece is overly critical of the Waleses/Cambridges while simultaneously full of gushing praise for the Sussexes, it's usually Sussex PR.

I don't believe that William/KP briefs against the Sussexes anymore but back when they used to in late 2018/early 2019, you could tell when it was KP speaking versus the publications reporting - e.g., stories about concern for Harry's mental health were William and KP.

There are also key phrases that each principal royal like to use. Like you'll hear "keen" a lot with Kate - that's Kensington Palace speaking. "Olive branch" is Meghan.

There's also a very specific way that the writers refer to insiders/close sources, especially for William/Kensington Palace, but I'm totally blanking on that right now.

There are other ways to tell whose PR has sourced a story. These are just the ones off the top of my head. If anyone else can think of others, please share them!

Kate feeling lonely without Meghan is from Meghan-friendly associates. Meghan might be shit when it comes to public service, but she really knows her shit when it comes to PR and media. She knows that for maximum effect, she needs an affiliation to Kate. That's why she wears outfits similar to Kate's. That's why she styles her hair in big bouncy Chelsea blowouts. That's why she tries to be kid-friendly like Kate. She needs Kate for the attention she can't get on her own. Meghan needs Kate. Kate doesn't need Meghan - she's shown us that over and over again.

Anything that connects Meghan to Diana is also from Meghan. There was a whole PR campaign back in 2017/2018 when she was trying to convince Harry's world that she was royal material about how she was just like Diana. So Meghan (and Harry) also uses Diana for the attention boost.

However, anything that mentions Diana and Sarah together, that's not Meghan. Those are from the reporters themselves. Meghan so obsessively wants to be Diana that Sarah is the last person she wants to be associated with or compared to. Meghan thinks she's better than Sarah.

Kate being successful because of her inner circle is KP. Kate herself rarely speaks through PR - she's content to let William and their comms team speak for her. (Which I suspect is one of the reasons why Meghan immediately disliked her; Kate has no interest in using all this fame she has for her personal benefit where you know it's Meghan's dream to be that famous.)

Nah, it's just the Daily Mail stirring shit up. It goes back to the old adage "if you won't give me the news, you'll be the news." It's not really punishing William so much as using William for clicks, attention, and traffic, which is how digital media makes their money. Everyone does it and everyone understands that to keep their media coverage positive, they need to give the reporters something to write about. It's an unofficial pact that the palace has with the media.

William and Kate do understand this but it's not their priority to do something just for the optics and media coverage. I suspect this approach largely comes from how they were both treated by the media and paparazzi - they both understand that the interest in them is organic due to their positions. It's very 'if you build it they will come' so they don't necessarily worry about media and press coverage the way others in the BRF might.

(I do think they're a little too extreme with how media-averse they are. On the one hand I understand it because maybe they do have legitimate PTSD from how they were treated by the media and they seem to be closer to the Elizabeth/Philip style of monarchy with royal mystique and palace intrigue than the Charles/Diana/Camilla style of royalty and monarchy with transparency and open coverage. But on the other hand, they're public servants living in publicly-funded and publicly-subsidized estates; they need to be pulling their share of the weight and that means needing to be seen by the public on a regular consistent basis doing regular, consistent service. This is a lifetime commitment, not a "in 20 years when I'm King" commitment. Obviously exceptions apply when there are health concerns at hand, like there are now, but they can't alawys lean back on health concerns - not when Charles has cancer and is still seen regularly by the public.)

And that's fine! I don't think it's paranoia though - it's more stan culture to me, where the more consumed you are by your favorites, the more obsessive you become about how they're treated by others and covered in the media. At the end of the day, it's all parasocial relationships. The celebrities we favor, pay attention to, follow - they have no idea we exist and they have no idea how consumed by their life we are. Collectively, sure, they get it but individually? No. They have better things to do and they think we have better things to do.

That's why I think it's healthy to take a few steps back, look at everything more objectively, and ask exactly the kind of questions that you're asking.

As for not having proof about certain narratives, to an extent you're correct - no one is going to explicitly come out and take responsibility for saying certain things or causing certain drama. But they have subtle ways of showing their hand and giving us the proof. You just have to know what to look for and, barring that, just wait for the royal books. The books fall on a spectrum with deeply researched and investigated (like Tom Bower) on one side and biased reporting (like Scobie) on the other. If you read more of the 'biased reporter' books, those authors are falling over themselves to defend their sources and when they do that, they throw everyone else under the bus and end up confirming rumors or spoiling someone's PR game.

#ask #brf #in this essay i will

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poptivist · 5 months

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metaphorical deaths across trench

the day trench was released, kerrang published an article which contained the following quote: “neon gravestones, tyler explains, is the heart of trench.”

and i just didn’t get it. we’d had jumpsuit, natn, levitate and my blood for months; all in-world, all not having very much detail about death other than showing the literal gravestones lit with neon.

in early 2019 i ran a small poll on twitter asking “do you think this is related to the narrative” for each song on trench, and of 132 voters, only 67% said yes, neon gravestones seemed related. i didn’t then – and still don’t now – know what exactly neon gravestones as a song has to do with every other part of trench the album.

here are some things we do know: ending your life is the goal of vialism. in the third verse of neon gravestones tyler lists reasons that someone might end their life (as a form of legacy, as a form of lashing out) and says as a counterpoint that our culture should glorify old age instead of an early death. in leave the city, the record’s last song, tyler says “in time i will leave the city; for now i will stay alive.” and we know it’s the goal of the vulture/bandito to turn death into life (be a vulture who feeds on pain).

with the “heart of trench” thing in mind, i’m looking for ways that neon gravestones relates to each other song on the album – because before there were articles, interviews, or music videos, these songs existed first on their own, together. i’m starting from here:

the first verse of neon gravestones gives us this:

what's my problem?

what’s his problem? he’s about to explain. excellent.

well, i want you to follow me down to the bottom underneath the insane asylum keep your wits about you while you got 'em 'cause your wits are first to go while you're problem-solving and my problem? we glorify those, even more, when they

(“lost ‘em,” presumably.)

so based on tyler’s description of song structure i’m looking for problem-solving as a point of conflict (specifically, losing wits) and death as a topic.

this is what i’ve scraped together -- i've categorized each song as wits kept, wits lost, and incorporating death into living.

jumpsuit. jumpsuit ends with tyler in a pose that definitely screams dead.

though “attempted escape should be honored,” considering tyler tried (with zero endgame) to run on foot from a bishop on horseback, i would place this firmly in the category of wits lost.

02. levitate “i am a vulture who feeds on pain”. vultures feed on carrion, so there’s some relationship between pain & death. in a sense he’s incorporating death into living.

03. morph. tyler can’t stop thinking about life after death, even though nico is always trying to stop him.

he takes this song to methodically reason out his thoughts about death. for that reason, i would categorize this as wits kept.

04. my blood says “if you find yourself in the lion’s den, i’ll jump right in and pull my pin.” taking the grenade with you is a one-way trip 💀 so i would categorize this as wits lost.

i noticed a bunch of these songs have high emotion in them, like for example jumpsuit's “i can’t believe how much i hate…” if there’s high emotion in this one, i would call it loyalty (but past the point of self-preservation).

05. chlorine. chlorine says "rebel red carnation grows while i decay." decay suggests a death occurring. “i’ll be back when it’s all complete” and “the moment is medical” says this leaving-of-the-city is temporary and necessary; it’s incorporating a death into living.

06. smithereens. “for you i would get beat to smithereens”. smithereens literally means small pieces, which is generally considered pretty dead. if there's high emotion here i would call it most likely rage. you could maybe say what he wants to save he'll kill: in jumpsuit, himself, in my blood, his brother, in smithereens, his relationship. i would call this one wits lost.

07. neon gravestones: is the song we’re talking about.

08. the hype. the hype music video shows tyler and josh getting shot up by invisible bullets, which according to the director symbolized the metaphorical death that took place before the band redefined themselves for trench. this is incorporating a death into living.

09. nico and the niners. this one does say we will win but not everyone will get out. that doesn’t necessarily mean death, but the whole rap verse is a half-assed plan at best. (still better than jumpsuit, which was a zero-assed plan)

10. cut my lip. the cut my lip visuals show the arms of the statues pictured in natn sticking up out of the ground as though drowning. so maybe wits lost? being buried in the ground/drowning is dying, and in the song he says explicitly this isn't what he wants.

(the cement people periodically turn yellow like the vulture)

11. bandito. in jumpsuit tyler’s death is preceded by a fall; in bandito the lyrics say “we know you don’t know to fall”. they also say “i created this world to feel some control; destroy it if i want”. wholesale destruction does seem death-adjacent. i would call both of these things incorporating death into living.

12. pet cheetah. no deaths here. tyler says “no, i move slow, i’ll sit here til i find the problem.” the squealing tires tell us there is an urge to move hastily, but tyler makes a decision to be patient with his problem. i would call this wits kept.

13. legend. during the live show tyler would say during legend “if i my grandfather taught me one thing it’s that it’s worth it to keep on fighting all the way to the bitter end.” he also says “you’re a legend in my own mind” and notably, dema maps have a compass rose, but no legend, so maybe his grandfather is an example for him? either way, “keep fighting to the bitter end” is a clear plan, so i would call this wits kept.

14. leave the city. “it’s only time before they show me why no one ever comes back with details from beyond.” this suggests he’s talking about a final death, a final leaving-of-the-city, the point of no return (assuming people aren’t coming back with anything else either, like cashews or scratch tickets or whatever). this isn’t incorporating death into living then, but it’s a plan to live. i would call this wits kept.

so that's my attempt to see neon gravestones as central to trench beyond what is explicitly said in the third verse. i'm basically full of question marks and this is the best i could come up with. any ideas? what am i missing?

#twenty one pilots #twentyonepilots #tyler joseph #fan theory #lua archives #lore #dema #trench

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voylitscope · 1 year

Text

Stucky Recs: Fairytales, Fae, and Magical Realism

I enjoy fairytale-style Stucky fics because they often involve Steve and Bucky's love for each other being able to do things like break curses and, as that's also the plot of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it feels very fitting for them. (Curses, seventy years of Hydra mind control, whatever. It's the same principle.)

I wasn't going to do another rec post so soon, but then I thought aiming to get one out on the 10th made sense. So, some happily ever after recs, just for Bucky's birthday.

Note: As part of my personal campaign to combat the persistent idea that every great fic in this fandom was written in 2015, I'm now marking recs of fics written post-2016 and recs of fics written post-Endgame.

Fairytales

🏰Under One Small Star | notlucy | Teen | 50,923 words | *Post-2016 Rec*

In which the world tries to keep Steve and Bucky apart and fails miserably. Also, Steve gets a Cinderella moment. This fic is so, so lovely. There's magic and fairytale elements involved, but a lot of this is also just Steve and Bucky saving the day through their own determination, intelligence, goodness, and intense draw to each other. I'm very here for it.

Quote:

There is no such thing as love at first sight.

Before we continue, we must be perfectly clear on that matter. Love at first sight is balderdash—a silly, fanciful notion borne on children’s wishes and lies spun by unlucky dreamers.

However, love at hundredth sight? Thousandth? That, my darlings, is perfectly reasonable.

It was a lucky thing, then, that the young king and his pretend knight were more the latter than the former. Certainly, the king remembered none of those sights and the pretend knight only the most recent, but being as love ran truer than faded memories, what did it matter?

No, it was not first love that drew them together, neither was it mere infatuation that had them walking through the gardens, hand-in-hand, exchanging shy glances and secret smiles. It was old love, bone-deep and bound up in their very souls.

🏰A Marvelous Gift | biblionerd07 | Teen | 75,554 words

It's an Ella Enchanted AU! Well, it uses the magic, fairytale elements, and plot-defining curse itself from Ella Enchanted. The rest is primarily actual, reworked, canon plot points done in fairytale style. Steve and Bucky's relationship in this captures so many beats of canon, including the tragic ones, but there's an unbelievably well-deserved happy ending. Really beautifully done.

Quote:

"I’m going back to the Academy and I’m ripping the whole place down brick by brick.” Steve’s hand was warm against Bucky’s skin. It was strange, because all their lives Steve’s weak heart had meant his hands and feet were always cold. Now he was radiating heat even from a few inches away.

“Wasn’t the whole Academy’s fault,” Bucky told him, slightly hushed because his voice suddenly felt too loud for some reason.

“Anyone who knew what was happening and didn’t protect you helped hurt you.” Steve’s voice was soft, gentler than he usually was, and he was stroking his fingers up and down Bucky’s back. It made Bucky shiver a little, his stomach whirling the way it usually only did when he was disobeying an order. He couldn’t think what order he was forgetting about, though.

They stayed like that for a minute, looking at each other, and Bucky couldn’t figure out what this buzzing under his skin meant or why he was finding it hard to breathe. He finally swayed just a little and Steve frowned.

🏰 La Belle et la Bête | maichan, moonbooning, sirsable | Explicit | 66,720 words | *Post-2016 Rec* 🧚

This is both a Beauty and the Beast retelling, so a fairytale, and a story that relies on Fae lore, because things start off with Steve and Sarah in Ireland. It's straddling categories, here. A crucial early event of this fic involves Steve arguing with the fae. This is, of course, a terrible life plan, but it's also such a very Steve thing to do. I love it a lot. This fic also features a veteran Bucky who is doing his best and who will also do anything to help Becca. There's a slow burn, some ID porn, a lot of healing, and love overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles.

Quote:

He’s in trouble and he knows it, because already when he sees Bucky’s face in the morning, he finds himself thinking of returning to the garden and making the one small cut that will seal his fate. But he has no way to know how Bucky feels. If he might be open to the idea of love at all. Steve talks himself out of it constantly now, and then he starts all over again when he sees Bucky’s slate-blue eyes and thinks, Love is a leap of faith.

He thought he’d gotten used to the burden of the curse; accepted it, even. But now that he knows Bucky in both forms, there’s part of him that fights it. He wants to stay in a single body. Wants to offer Bucky an explanation and an entreaty. He wants to feel whole again—a single person can hope to be worthy of a man like Bucky, instead of the patchwork parody he’s become.

Stubbornness is writ in his bones, in his very soul. It’s not in his nature to give up—that’s what has kept him sane for the unnatural life he’s led so far. So he fights all of it, from the twilight transformations to the compulsions that lock away certain words, details, confessions.

Fae

🧚Under the Hawthorne Tree | odetteandodile | Explicit | 57,123 words | *Post-2016 Rec*

There is something that hits so right about an AU Steve and Bucky who are drawn to each other for reasons they don't fully understand at first but who, by the end of a few days, can't stop thinking about each other. Even when one of them is a fae whose life force is tied to a tree, and who has no memory of their life before they were part of the forest. Another story about these two overcoming the impossible.

Quote:

“I was human, once,” he says. His voice is soft, but the words still ring through Steve with the shock of a gunshot in the hushed clearing. Now Bucky’s eyes do slit open, long, dark lashes fanned low over his cheeks. “Before this, I think…I was a person.”

He lifts his eyes to Steve’s, and his face does something complicated that almost, maybe could be mistaken for an attempt at a smile—if only his eyes weren’t so unspeakably sad. His cheek twitches and he drops his gaze again, to somewhere around the hollow of Steve’s throat. He tips forward, just slightly, but Steve’s breath catches anyway. Bucky’s still not close enough to touch, though he’s curled in toward Steve now. Steve can see Bucky’s pulse jumping against the thin skin under his jaw, and his hands almost ache with the urge to press against it, to pull Bucky against his chest.

Instead he licks his lips, mouth unaccountably dry, to form the only question that comes to him.

“How do you know?”

🧚You are Light | AidaRonan | Explicit | 4,028 words | *Post Endgame Rec*

Technically, Steve is tagged as being a "forest deity" in fic, but I feel like it fits here. If, by the end of this fic, Bucky is Winter Soldier Bucky and Steve is pre-serum skinnny Steve (who is a forest deity) does that count as a shrinkyclinks? I have no idea. But whatever it counts as, it's terribly romantic.

Quote:

“You said you could feel me. You weren’t just saying what I wanted to hear?”

Steve smiles warmly and traces the line of Bucky’s jaw. “Of course you care about that and still have the nerve to think you’re not a good man.”

Bucky swallows.

“You should sleep though,” Steve says. “I’ve met two of your needs. Let me meet the rest.”

Bucky frowns and looks out the window, trying to gauge where the moon is at in the sky. What he really should do is get back. Wake up and get back.

“Time does what I need it to here. I’ll make sure you’re awake before it’s too late.”

“If you are real and this ain’t a dream, you’ll let me kiss you goodbye?”

Magical Realism

🪄69 Beans And a Cup of Magic | crinklefries | Teen | 28,070 words | *Post-2016 Recs*

This one is also a coffee shop fic! A modern skinny Steve is studying literal magic, often at Bucky's coffee shop. A lot of this fic involves Steve talking about magic to Bucky, and Bucky being like, "I have no idea what that means, and it was sort of a weird thing to say. But, damn, you're so cute I can't stand it." This fic is heartwarming, sweet, and charming. Everything you want from a coffee shop AU, plus magic!

Quote:

“Work what out?” Bucky grumbles. “The rules of arson?”

“I totally promise that I very likely won’t set your coffee shop on fire, Bucky,” Steve says. He sighs and removes some of the post-it notes from his person.

“How does one person have this many post-it notes anyway?” Bucky mumbles and reaches forward to help Steve.

His fingers brush against Steve’s hair as he removes a piece stuck to the top of his head and his heart beats a little faster in his chest once he realizes how soft it is. He goes back for another post-it note, careful to touch the hair again.

So soft, he marvels, while simultaneously glaring at Steve.

“I’m trying something,” Steve says. “It’s not going well.”

Steve puts his elbows up on the counter and rests his face on his palms. He looks so despondent and it’s so unreasonably cute that Bucky has to refrain from smiling.

🪄Wishes and Words | wearing_tearing | Explicit | 48,425 words

This fic is an absolute delight. Grumpy Bucky is just fine being a recluse in his cottage, okay? He's a bad person, anyway, and people should stay away from him. It's for the best, really. So maybe he saved that one guy's life last night, whatever, no big deal. Oh, was that guy the prince? The weirdly persistent prince who keeps showing up at Bucky's door to try and express his gratitude, for the whole, saved-his-life, thing? The oddly sincere, blue-eyed, prince who keeps bringing presents because he really wants Bucky to know how grateful he is? Look, Prince Steve just wants to thank Bucky, okay? Seriously, this fic is so ridiculously cute.

Quote:

It looks like the easier way to deal with this is just to accept whatever he’s brought with him. Bucky could use new tools, that he knows, and the prospect of having the Prince leave him alone after he accepts them is just an added incentive. He can thank the man for this small kindness, and then never see him again.

Finally.

Bucky regards the Prince for a few more seconds, just for the pleasure of watching him squirm. Then, in his best dignified voice, the one learned when the King ruling him was nothing more than a tyrant and a murderer, he speaks.

“Thank you,” Bucky says, and then adds, with every ounce of respect he can muster, “Your Highness.”

It is worth it, although Bucky does his best to ignore it, for the grin that takes over Prince Steven’s face. It is bright and bold and happy, and a little bit blinding under the light of the sun.

🪄 Heirloom | 2bestfriends | Explicit | 21,734 words | **Post-Endgame Rec**

The thing about fairytale, fae, and magic AUs, is that Bucky does tend to go through terrible things in them. Which, of course, is canon, and does happen in a lot of other AUs too, but fairytale-style AUs are a perfect place for curses/magic to work as a stand-in plot point for Hydra-related Bucky things. And for Steve and Bucky's love to break those curses. At least in this fic, when Bucky is cursed, blackmailed, and forced into an arranged marriage with someone he sure is going to hate him and have no problem demonstrating it, that person turns out to be, well, Steve. So really, things are looking up from the start.

Quote

Steve’s heart sinks. Bucky has had to leave his home, to uproot his life and come to live in a completely unfamiliar country, with no support from his family, all of whom are dead or missing. How would Steve feel, if their positions were reversed?

"I hope that you will be comfortable here," Steve says quietly. He hesitates, then offers, "I know this can't be easy."

Some switch seems to flip, and that flirtatious personality returns, Bucky winking lasciviously at Steve. "But I definitely am,” he laughs, a slight edge to it, and then helps himself to a roll from the basket, the thin gold band around his wrist reflecting the candlelight and catching Steve’s attention again. "You've been exceptionally charming, Steve. I have no doubt I'll be very comfortable here with you."

Steve takes a deep breath and butters his own roll.

It's going to take some work to get to know the actual Bucky hidden beneath this mask, he thinks. "Tomorrow, the ceremony will likely take most of the morning, and then the celebrations will be expected to fill the rest of the day. In the evening, we'll leave together."

Bonus!

💮listen to your heart (don't say goodbye to me) | CinnamonCake | Explicit | 9,834 words

Greek mythology can't really be classed a fairytale, and magic doesn't feel like the right word for anything that happens, either. That said, I have no idea what other rec list I'd possibly put this fic on. So, I'm throwing it onto the end of this one — Stucky Hades and Persephone. Because, these two creating seasons so they can be together, seems fitting.

Quote:

"Don't," Bucky says, panic etching his words, and Steve looks up at him, confused frown on his face. "Don't touch the water. Don't eat the food. That's for them, not for us."

"What would happen if I did?" Steve asks, but he gets up and takes a step back and Bucky can’t help but curl his fingers protectively around his wrist .

"You'd be damned to this world."

Steve closes the gap between them and his lips graze Bucky's. "Would it be that bad? For me to be here forever?"

Bucky takes a deep breath, taking in the scent and warmth of Steve so close to him, so foreign in this place. He still wakes up in the middle of the night afraid he’ll turn to find Steve cold next to him, skin and eyelashes powdered with the ashes of funeral pyres. Only when he puts his lips to Steve’s wrist and feels the pulse there, the quiet beat of it against his skin, does he close his eyes again.

"Not like that," Bucky says and touches Steve's cheek until Steve looks at him. "Not because you were forced to."

(Additional bonus!

So, As I was creating this list, @raven-writes-fanfic posted this fic: The Tale of Prince Steven of Avalon. I haven't read this yet, but I am incredibly excited about it. It is inspired by this Irish Folktale, that I once posted about because it is so very perfect for Steve and Bucky.)

Fic Rec Series

#SteveBucky #stucky fic #stucky fic recs #fic rec series #me rambling about other people's writing

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minquiec · 10 months

Text

My 5k word essay on why I like bringing pain and suffering to the two idiots I love dearly (A thesis)

[alternative title being: me ranting abt jipunk for 2 hours straight im kiddingg]

So like

At this point I'm pretty sure most people can tell I enjoy pulling angst out of nowhere for absolutely NO reason necessary other than pain heeheehaahaa well it ain't gonna stop 😁 CAUSE TRUST THAT I will make sure every au I ever make of these two end in numbingly tragic angst one way or the other 🦅 jkjk they won't all be that bad it'll just have varying degrees of sadness

Anyways

I actually do have a reason for never giving them a happy (canonical or implied) happy ending ☝️ the thing abt me is every detail or like choice I make in character design/relationship/etc is that it's always intentional (most of the time) like there's always some kind of corny reason behind it bc I'm jwndkwjd insane and just think too hard abt two characters that don't even exist.

So like so like

I am an absolute loser for tropes like 'in another life' or 'in every life' or just anything among those lines. Like genuinely it does smth irreparable to my brain it's not even funny.

And basically the thought process for jipunk was like they're LITERALLY from different universes which quite literally means they can't end up together bc it's just not possible. But tbh the whole multiverse logic and how it works is up to interpretation cause y'know it's just a movie but personally I see it as smth pretty impossible for lore sake and stuff HAHSHA

So because the 'original' jipunk (atsv versions) can't end up together, I decided to go and think

"HMM."

"WHAT IF THEY ARE THE EPITOME OF 'ill find you in every universe" BUT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM END IN THE SAME WAY (never ending up tgt)"

Cause for the different au's each of them is technically a different reincarnate in different worlds with different lives.

And like going back to when I said varying levels of sadness: what I meant was in some aus they'll be literally universes apart (which in itself is already sad asf) but in other aus they could live in the same world but their lives are like perpendicular lines because they'll meet and then never cross paths again (BECAUSE this is what their fate is supposed to be if we base it off their atsv counter parts: they were never meant to be bc they're from different universes)

BUT DONT KILL ME YET BC

technically

teccchnicaalllllyyy

In the long run they do have a happy ending

(longass run bru)

So there isn't a proper timeline for which universes 'happen first' bc that just doesn't make sense but

The modern au where it has the convenience store

Is their happy ending

Endgame au fr

Cause if you think abt it right (this is a headcanon), hb isn't the type of person to fall in love based on looks.

Yet in the modern au he ends up crushing on a silly little employee of the convenience store he goes to.

And like it's just this pull he can't understand for the life of him??? Cause it feels so shallow to him to like someone bc he thinks their pretty

Little does he know

So after they get tgt in the modern au, I'm thinking of this one moment where he kind of figures it out/sort of/not really but he is just like

"idk what it is but it feels like I've spent lifetimes with you"

BECAUSE YOU HAAAAAAVE@)$()2(# AAAAAAUEGEGHHEGEG JM SOBBING

HE SAYS IT BC HE REALIZES HIS SOUL IS JUST SO COMFORTABLE WITH HER PRESENCE ALMOST LIKE ITS GOTTEN USED TO IT SINCE A LONG LONG TIME AGO

And I realized just now but omfg the comic I made where he drunk confess and goes 'I liked you first'

HES LITERALLY BEEN LIKING HER FIRST IN THEIR FIRST LIFE (ATSV) IM GOING TO FUCKIGNNEF THROIWN UP

Soulmates idc idc IDCCCC

Took the quote I love you in every lifetime and RAAAAANNNN WITH IT

I enjoy tragic love stories tm

This isn't delusion anymore this is derangement

They r so dear to me

They are my kdramas, they are my bridgerton, they are my therapy this is how I cope.

#jipunk #lorerambles

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aysekira · 10 months

Note

Hi, I have been going through your lyf tags and you are one of the few whose thoughts matches mine on the love traingle. I think despite complaining about overused cold-overbearing ML trope, many people are still too attached to that and can't accept somone like Jing as the endgame. I have never been a big fan of MLs that makes grand gesture w/o FL's knowledge but acts aloof/cold, either because he can't deal with his feelings or think he knows better or for the greater good. It's not fair to the FL and I believe that just because you made sacrifices for the FL you are not owned her love. Xiao Yao has been clear about her wants from day 1, if XL was honest about his feelings they could have had a shot. But even if he switched sides I can't imagine them living a mundane life together. That's why I think Jing being the end game makes so much sense, they both want someone to earnestly love them. (1/2)

Hi anon. First of all, let me just say i hope you enjoy the posts under the tag. Secondly, while i see that this is a two-parter ask— pardon me, but i think um you kinda forgot to turn on the anonymous feature on the second one so just to be safe as to not disclosing the username let me just go at it with this one& paste some quotes from the other part that i think is relevant.

I agree with what your point about xy’s decision in choosing jing/17 is not in any shape or form a way of settling with reasons stated per your points&basically what i stated on other posts. Also, i too am quite puzzled as to how&why it is being viewed as such, vehemently at that, by some people to the point that i just see them as basically having xy’s non achievable standards heck even higher than that, in evaluating jing/17 as an ML option, heck him as a character! (eg. Non retaliation is seen as weakness, etc)— wouldn’t elaborate on how i feel or my views about it because i reckon one page wouldn’t suffice. Let me just say it goes between perplexed to annoyance depending on one’s mood that day.

In your second part you mention: “I dont think choosing a caring, gentle man who loves you sincerely and who you find very desirable is a bad move in fictional or real world. Their relationship was very uneven but when they get together later they both have grown as person and it is much more balanced.” This part i agree with fully and are some of the reason as to why i wholeheartedly supports 17 as the end game.

If nothing else, we’re talking about end game as long term relationship here, in deities timeline at that: where 15 years’ basically the equivalent of our 1.5years to these characters. out of the MLs options, jing’s the only one that consistently shown the trait that xy keeps on hammering as being the things she seeks: availability— that is steadfast enough he makes her believe that no matter what reason that may/will come he will never ever not be available for/abandoned her. From waiting on her bird rides to this point in the drama: he basically&consistently rehashing that scene on the bridge where it’s never him that walks away first. And if that’s not checking the biggest point in xy’s want&need list for long term relationship/end game. Then idk what is.

#lost you forever #长相思 #random bits

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nomi--sunrider · 7 months

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⭐ for the fic writer's ask!

Ah, a behind the scenes for Then, Now, and Always. Let's see....

Oh I know! I'll unpack the scene that got me the most negative feedback I've ever received on anything I've written: The Duel from Chapter 25: Battle of the Goddesses.

(I haven't talked about Then, Now, and Always in like a month, so be prepared for an essay.)

I thought up the silent Tally/enraged Alder epic duel very early on in the drafting process. Literally, it's in the first, very very rough draft in my docs, which is about 15 pages long and half-summary, half- little bites of scenes.

The reason I wanted them to have The Duel is twofold:

It's genuinely the most tragic thing I could think of for two people who love(d) each other. Y'know? Like Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar. Badass scene, but you're fully aware of the tragedy all the way through. It's supposed to hurt that these two women who once loved each other are now on opposite sides of a war and forced to do battle.

2. I thought it would be fucking awesome.

Part of the inspiration of Then, Now, and Always was this scene:

Tally Craven's hottest scene in the whole show imo. What was I gonna do, give her an enhanced witch baton and not let her use it to full effect? And who else was she going to fight who mattered? It had to be Alder.

Also, Alder's headbutt was dumb. You can quote me on that.

Look, if nothing else, Alder and Tally fight in the actual show. And that fight is important, it does have narrative and thematic relevance, and there is a damn good reason it happened. Unfortunately, that fight is also LAME. Seriously, it is the lamest thing ever! And not even because Tally gets her ass kicked in seconds! The scene is shot cleverly, with perspective shifts and quick camera cuts to veil the fact that the actors and stunt doubles aren't really doing that much. It's the only time we see an actual scourge battle that might have given some indication as to why it's the weapon of choice for witches and why witches make such deadly soldiers. And then it's five seconds long and nothing special.

So I wanted to write a cool fight scene for the fic. Not a spar, by the way. Sparring scenes are popular in fiction, but I personally think they're pointless (unless the author is trying to accomplish something unserious). Literally, a spar is a fake fight. A fascimile. It isn't real. I wanted to write something very, very real. And that led to a lot of the narrative wrapping around making Battle of the Goddesses possible.

Someone on Discord posted during a TNAA discussion "Oh Alder would never hurt Tally." The thing about that is a.) canonically, she can and she has, and b.) For Then, Now, and Always, that's actually not an unreasonable assertion to make. Alder is carrying one hell of a torch. Therefore, I had to make Alder angry enough to actually fight Tally with no holds barred and every intention of beating her.

And that ended up making Chapter 24: Judgment, what it is. In that same very early doc, I had this Petra line.

Literally, that's all. I had no idea where I'd put it or for what reason, but it felt important. I knew about the Ozarks twist from the start, so I knew that someone had to call out Alder for her judgment eventually. Then I realized that, since my plan when I started drafting TNAA was to fix everything, including mandatory freaking conscription of a persecuted minority group, I had the perfect, perfect opportunity to make Alder vicious enough to kill.

Tally's trying dissolve the Salem Accords. That was her endgame the whole time.

Now Alder's angry enough to fight to the death and make the duel truly epic, Tally's goal is much broader, the fic has the chance to move into deeply philosophical, big-picture territory, and I get a pair of dope-ass chapters out of it. Eight birds, one stone. I was so happy.

Zooming back out, I think part of the reason a lot of folks were upset by Battle of the Goddesses pertains to my theory that fanfiction is like ice cream. Easy to eat, requires no effort, delicious and instantly satisfying. The main romantic pairing isn't supposed to fight each other to the literal death, even if it's fucking awesome and deeply symbolic. Duels/battles/wars between two love interests are common fare in sci-fi/fantasy because of their intense thematic and narrative heft, but not in fanfic. That's serving roasted sweet potatoes and kale at an ice cream parlor. It's too much for a lot of readers.

Finally, I think a lot of readers were upset about Alder losing the fight. Here's the thing:

It's not interesting if she wins.

Just like it's not interesting if Goliath beats David or if Jamal doesn't win the jackpot in Slumdog Millionaire. It's a story. The underdog has to win against all odds by their cleverness and mettle. Yes, I too, am sad that Sarah Alder's trauma was never addressed. She's a traumatized, damaged victim of the narrative and her story is a tragedy, start to finish. I think a big draw of the Talder ship is that it allows us to protect and humanize Alder in a way the show never did. Few people want to see her be the victim of even more pain in fic.

This doesn't change the fact that General Sarah Alder is brutal, unyielding, and violent. She's a three hundred year old soldier and her entire existence is war. She is not a good person. To defang her without earning it would be OOC. Trauma doesn't make good people. Healing makes good people. And there's no indication in canon that Sarah Alder has healed in any way, shape, or form.

If you've read this all the way til the end, that's very kind of you. Thanks for letting me ramble!

Why her character arc in Then, Now, and Always really doesn't start until Arc III lmao. When Alder is on her knees, defeated and disgraced, but instead of Petra and Tally going for the kill like they did in the show, they both offer a hand to help her back up. Alder heals because she's given the chance to do so by the people around her. Because I chose to not, y'know, immediately kill her off after tearing her from her pedestal. Genuinely, I have lost so much sleep over all of the amazing, transformative character work the show had in its damn lap and chose to ignore.

#talder #fanfic #nomi--sunrider #then now and always #tally craven #motherland: fort salem #sarah alder #asks

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averyjamesqn · 2 years

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FINAL GAMBIT SPOILERS!!!!

some averygrayson shippers are so immature and petty for rating final gambit(a MYSTERY novel) one star just because their ship didn’t get the endgame.acting like they even stood a chance after the hawthorne legacy? if you believed they would end up together that’s on you and discrediting jlb’s work is just sad to be honest.she never encouraged any of your hopes about this ship.the love triangle wasn’t even in the synopsis?? she didn’t even repost grayson’s quote from the novl,probably because she knew it was baiting(it was).all she did was promise you there would be lot of grayson in this book and she was telling the truth .i think some of you based all your hopes on the existence of the third book.because for some bizarre reason you thought that the purpose of the third book(repeating,in a mystery series) was to make avery switch brothers.or on theories that made zero sense with out of context quotes.that’s not the author’s fault.if you didn’t like the plot,i get rating it 1 star,but because of a ship that was obvious wasn’t gonna be endgame? unfair to her,especially since this is her favourite book she’s ever written.i feel so bad for her and she deserves better than getting hate over a fictional ship

#some of you need to grow up #avery grambs #avery kylie grambs #averyjameson #jameson hawthorne #jameson winchester hawthorne #the final gambit #the hawthorne legacy #the inheritance games #avery x jameson #avery x grayson #averygrayson #grayson hawthorne #grayson davenport hawthorne

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randomnameless · 1 year

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That is racist of Dheginsea. Othering the children who aren’t responsible for their parents choices and demonizing them so they have no place to go, and so those children end up with resentment to the Laguz for the way they’re othered and treat. Not to mention it wouldn’t stop Laguz from willingly being with a Beorc despite the consequences, which further leads to both sides hating the other. Of course the narrative of how both sides wrote history to say they alone are descended from the Zunanma rather than admit both are closely related sub species itself furthers the othering as well, as it means there’s no reason to view the other species as deserving to exist when they’re the Goddess chosen people.

I think Dheginsea at least meant well, but he never truly considered the idea that his actions to preserve his species at the cost of a new species(as that’s what the Branded are) caused the same problems he feared for an even smaller minority.

No pbs anon!

That's why I really really really hate the Tellius situation, it's a "divide by 0" equation where no matter what, some people will be screwed at the end.

And that's the issue!

Of course protecting a minority from being persecuted is an obvious step on a path to protect everyone - but it's the ultimate railroad dilemna where you have to choose who is going to be rolled over.

Sadly I've tried to find the chapter from which the Misaha quotes were ripped off on SF but it's not from the endgame?

It's those lines :

"Misaha: All of the apostles have borne this brand. It is our greatest secret. The senators must never know. Because of this brand, I thought that I had been born of some great sin. It plagued me always. Guilt tore at me every day as I hid my mark from my people, deceiving them constantly about my true nature. Lehran: Oh, child...how can I apologize to you? Misaha: And yet, now that I’ve met you, I understand. There is no shame in my heritage. None at all. I will not live in hiding. I will reveal to the world that I am one of the Branded. They must see there is no shame in who I am."

Misaha thinks she was born from a "great" sin because of her brand, most likely hearing the stories of Deghinsea about brandeds being "parentless" children and "sins against the goddess".

But why is Lehran apologising here?

Is he apologising because he participated in that lie, or more twisted- Lehran apologises because if Misaha has a brand and cannot pass as a beorc in Begnion, it's because of "him" for not being a beorc? Is Lehran actually apologising for being born a laguz?? For befriending Altina and getting their first kid?

Granted, when Lehran has his breakdown because of chaotic energies before making the decision to erase both Laguz and Beorcs, it goes like this :

Dheginsea: “You, who have lost your birthright?”

Misaha: “And yet, now that I’ve met you, I understand. There is no shame in my heritage. None at all.”

Ashera: “In deference to you, I will place my faith in your kind one last time.”

Altina: “You… are the gentlest soul of them all, my sweet Lehran…”

Lehran: “Why? Why did I lose my power? Why? Why was my tribe stolen? Why, why, why?”

More than 800 years later, Lehran is still "not over with" losing his powers. Lehran who is kind and gentle, but who wants to help - loses his birthright, he cannot fulfill his promise to Ashera anymore - thus cannot help - his descendant is proud to be, well, his descendant - but he cannot help/save her (as if he had the possibility anyways!) because he lost his powers - and Deghinsea who inadvertently (I think Deg had no malicious intent here) reminds him that he is powerless...

Imo, it encapsulates everything - there is nothing wrong about Laguz and Beorc accepting each other, but why the fuck Laguz lose their powers? ?

As for the lie in itself and crossbreeding...

What do you mean by "weren't taught properly"?

That's precisely the point of that lie, the truth, if taught to the world, would be unearable for both Laguz and, to a lesser extent, Beorcs. Like, telling the truth to Laguz? "Don't fuck Beorcs or you will end up losing your abilities forever" ? But for Beorcs it's just "you're free to fuck Laguz, you'll create another being with superpowers and cripple the laguz that way!"

(also, I think it is most likely taught around, there's the joke UST between Elincia and Tibarn, and Bastian cockblocks Tibarn because they remember this tale?)

Yes, each side think they are the ones who descend from the Zunama - instead of learning the truth of how they "both" descend from the Zunama, but if both sides try to return to, idk, Zunama roots and the original "we were both one" myth, well, one side loses all of its powers, while the other get away scot-free.

So, are they that "closely related" as sub-species as they are supposed to be, in one species "dies" when it breeds with the other? We know they are, as they both descend from the same "ancestor/species", but the result of the two breeding says the inverse.

Of course the lie wouldn't stop Laguz and Beorcs who like each other a lot to live together and get kids, but the Branded's sheer existence, regardless of Deghinsea's words and edicts, is something of an anathema to Laguz, as we see with Vika and Miccy's base convo :

Micaiah: You always run away from me… Did I do something to offend you? Vika: No, I’m so sorry. I can’t explain why this happens. I get so jumpy around you. There’s just… something about you. Micaiah: Oh… Vika: Oh, but please don’t be sad! It’s not you. It’s me. I get… confused… sometimes. I really admire you, and then I get a bizarre feeling, and… Micaiah: It’s all right. Sorry to bother you. Vika: …No. Wait. Micaiah: Hm? Vika: I want to overcome this. I don’t like that I feel I must avoid you for some inexplicable reason.

Why Laguz, in general, feel Branded are people "they must avoid"?

Is it because to Laguz, even subconsciously, a branded's existence means one of them "died"? Or in a more metaphysical sense, because Brandeds herald the end of the Laguz race (because if more brandeds are born, it means more laguz "die" ?)

Misaha didn't only want to end injustices and racism against the Branded, she wanted to stop racism in Begnion against Laguz (thus by proxy, against Brandeds).

In conclusion, Deginshea's lie created discriminations against Brandeds, but I think it's more nuanced than a general "to protect one race he put another under the bus".

When Soren goes :

Hate… That I could understand. This was denial. They made me feel like I wasn’t supposed to exist at all. That my simply being alive was an affront to the world.

It's painful to read, because no one should ever think they shouldn't have been born, or their mere existence is "an affront to the world".

Tibarn puts it this way, talking about "an old song" :

It is said that the goddesses forbid laguz and beorc to procreate. If a couple breaks the taboo, the punishment is dealt to the laguz parent. She or he loses the power of the laguz and becomes something that does not belong to either species.

Deghinsea created the "taboo" and the decree, but he wasn't the one who created the "punishment".

Heck, the punishment is the reason why the "taboo" was created, to reduce the number of "punished" people, but also, and maybe, to find a reason why those "punishments" are given?

The sitation becomes unbearable : we have people who are shunned hated and at times even killed for "existing", and we have people who "die"/lose their abilities/are "punished" automatically when the first people mentionned start to exist (iirc Almedha lost her powers when she became pregnant).

For what it's worth, per Nasir, both Beorcs and Laguz came to accept the concept of Deginshea's decree :

Nasir: Even so, the taboo was broken several times over the next few decades. Usually no child was conceived, but when there was, it was swiftly covered up. The parents soon learned what it meant to bear a child who possessed both laguz and beorc blood. After they learned of the consequences, none of these parents ever rejected the edict forbidding it.

Of course comes the obvious question of did anyone even thought about asking a Branded their opinion on that decree ? Miccy is part of that conversation too, and reacts when "honor killings" of brandeds are mentionned.

But afaik, we don't have Miccy's pov about that edict - after this conversation - and the game sure as hell doesn't want her to talk to Lehran (all of his convos are reserved for Sanaki!) - whose fault is it that Lehran lost his powers, thus direct line to the goddess, thus will to live? Hers because she was born (or her ancestor's)? His, for loving Altina? Whose fault is it that Brandeds are shunned? Deghinsea, who made that decree, or Laguz in general who can sense what they are and see through them the extinction of their race, or an unfair "punishment" from whoever ?

As always, with complicated questions, Ike is nowhere to be seen, but even without Ike, what would be the best solution?

Of course, stop persecuting and denying the existence of Brandeds would be a good start.

And then?

When Laguz and Beorcs will argue againt about something stupid, reject coexistence because, to Beorcs, Laguz are beings that "stop existing" as soon as they shag? And to Laguz, who will feel cosmically "cheated" because they are the only ones who receive "punishment" from miscegenation, to the point of thinking maybe Beorcs are really the superior race?

It's why Lehran's tale is so sad, he wanted coexistence but was punished for it by his very own world - why did he lose his powers?

What kind of solution can be found in a world that pushes for equality between races, but also reveals when they coexist, only one race is "punished"?

That's why I mentioned the divide by 0 equation -

The Tellius equation has no solutions.

#anon #replies #tellius stuff #i wanted to reply earlier but I had rl stuff to deal with lol #and this is a heavy subject to I wanted to check SF first!#I think it's still different in archanea bcs manaketes degenerate naturally #it's still stupid but #they're not punished for the 'sin' of living with someone different #that's why this Tellius aspect is imo one of the worst things to have come out from the FE series #of course neither ike or even stefan hear the laguz part of the tale #would they change their pov? I don't think so because it's still brandeds who are persecuted for existing #would they reveal the truth and say the goddesses never thought about it it's just that laguz are inferiors to beorcs? thus start a new war #idk #I think the writers wrote themselves in a pit with this #Gareth even says Deg regretted his lie and wanted to have revealed the truth #but what about his earlier misgivings? are they just shat upon?#wouldn't that lead laguz to hate the brandeds even more?#would almedha have wanted to discover the world if she knew the truth?#wouldn't dragon 55 and 58 want to raze Daein if they learnt their King/Prince made their princess 'lose her abilities'?#wait i'm suddenly wondering #if Almedha has a kid with a rando red dragon would that kid post soren be a laguz or a branded or something else?#a beorc?#Fe tellius

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acourtofthought · 1 year

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Goodnight!

Do you think that SJM would make E/liriel endgame for Elain to be more accepted by the public since Azriel is quite famous?

I actually think an E/riel endgame would have the opposite effect for Elain popularity.

For starters, a good number of Elain "stans" tend to be E/riels (I say that in quotes because I've noticed that a good number of E/riels have a very different idea of who Elain is as a character than I do so I sometimes wonder if they actually like her as SJM as written her or only like her as long as she's the version of Elain they see her as) but Elriels make up less than 50% of the fandom. And that means more than 50% do not ship E/riel.

Unfortunately, there is a good number of Gwynriels and Eluciens alike that aren't the biggest fan of Elain's or, might be fine with her but she's not their favorite. So I don't think Elain ending up with Az is going to endear her to someone who ships Gwynriel or Elucien and I think the only way a majority of people ARE going to become fans of her is if she does not end up with Az (because Gwynriels and Elucien's see that pairing as problematic for a variety of reasons) AND SJM has Elain explain her actions (through her thoughts) to some readers who feel she allowed the others to coddle her and provide understandable reasons for things she's done that readers haven't liked. It's not just about the ship.

I personally don't feel Elain allowed others to coddle her so much as she was trying not to cause issues and more arguments (as she was always witness to them between Nesta and Feyre) within her family and there's not much about her I've disliked so those aren't things I need to see in order to like her more but I've heard the complaints from others. I guess the main thing I'm looking forward to is an explanation about her situation with Lucien and Az, one that makes the suffering of it all understandable.

I sometimes feel like I'm floating in my little ship all alone in the great big ACOTAR fandom ocean because I'm an Elucien who absolutely loves Elain's character, just as much as I love Lucien. And I've not really found many of those 😂 But I love her character because I think I've grasped what SJM has told us about her. If in her book, I turn out to be completely wrong and she's someone entirely different than what I thought, maybe my opinion will change.

But I do hope I've figured it out so that maybe when it's time for her book, more readers will enjoy her as much as I have so far.

#pro elain archeron #elain archeron #elucien #pro elucien

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zutaralesbian · 11 months

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I’ve been in this fandom off and on so some people already know me. But I’ve missed talking about Gallavich and decided to do this intro idea that the lovely @callivich came up with! Hi to everyone whose new to the ship or whom I’ve never interacted with! :)

Name: Danielle

Age: 27

What made you fall in love with Gallavich?

I started watching Shameless because my sister was binging it on Netflix and I thought it looked interesting. Gallavich took me by surprise because at first, they were not on my radar. I knew Ian was involved in a popular gay ship but they weren’t the reason I started watching. My interest for them started picking up during S3 when they began to further develop Mickey’s character. And then I watched S4 and suddenly Mickey was my favorite character on the show and the Gallavich brainrot became strong lol. At the time, they were also one of the most developed gay ships I knew about.

How long have you been a fan?

I started binging the show when S7 was first originally airing. So…*looks it up* since 2016. Damn. I believe 7x08 was the first episode I watched live. I saw the border scene in real time and it broke me lol. As much as I complain about seasons 10 and 11, it is still amazing to me that there was a time where I didn’t think Gallavich would be endgame and now they’re canonically married.

Favourite Gallavich moment/scene?

The wedding scene. Just all of it. It was so validating to see Ian and Mickey get married after all the shit the show threw at them lol.

Favourite Shameless character apart from Ian and Mickey?

Fiona!!! I think she was a beautifully complex character and Gallavich was the only reason I kept watching after she was gone lol. Her absence was still highly noticed though imo.

I also think Lip is one of the better-written characters but my feelings on him as a person are complicated lmao.

Do you write or draw or make edits?

I’m a mediocre fanfic writer. My ao3 username is we_were_younger

Favourite type of Gallavich fics?

When it comes to Gallavich specifically I really dig canon divergence and full on AU’s. With how long their canon history is, there’s so many different twists and outcomes that could have changed how things went for them, and I find ideas like that very fun to explore. They’re also one of the few ships I have where I think they can fit really well in most popular AU settings.

I am an angst lover though, so angst with a happy ending is my ultimate favorite trope. Not just with Gallavich but with fic in general. I’ll occasionally read and enjoy a fluffy one-shot but when it comes to multi-chapters, there usually has to be some angst for me to be fully engaged lmao.

Favourite Gallavich quote?

For Mickey: “Ian, what you and I have makes me free.”

For Ian: “I wanna be where you are, Mickey.”

I think both of those quotes just sums up what the other means to them so well.

#gallavich #gallavichintro #*

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fatesdeepdive · 8 months

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Entry 119: Amen

We’ve reached the end.

Revelation Chapter 27: Hear My Cry

The shadow mist that flew out of Gunter flies into the big stone head on the wall. It comes to life, now possessed by Anankos. Corrin says that Anankos has been toying with them for too long. Anankos says it isn't wrong to manipulate humans, because they exist solely for the amusement of dragons. Anankos asks why he was left to suffer and die, why humans flourish while he is burried in a dead world, ignored and forgotten. It's because you destroyed Valla, dickhole.

Jokes aside, Anankos having a crisis about being forgotten isn't a bad idea. The concept of an ancient god, now no longer worshipped, angry about being forgotten is decent. Too bad it's relegated to a couple of throwaway lines.

Corrin answers Anankos by hitting him with a sword, because Corrin is an articulate speaker. This fails, because swords don't cut through giant stone statues generally. Anankos says that, because Corrin is part of his bloodline, he will make Corrin his vessel. Xander and Anakos rush in and get their asses handed to them by Anankos’s laser breath. Anankos also attacks Azura, because dancers are OP.

The legendary weapons randomly start glowing and Yato transforms into its true form, a flaming golden chainsaw sword called Omega Yato. AKA the legendary Fire Emblem.

This chapter uses the same map as the last one, with Anankos serving as the boss. There are Dragon Veins that can be used to make healing tiles. As an aside, I'd like to praise Anankos's design in this chapter. The decayed statue works well for a forgotten god and is visually unlike anything else in the series. The moments where the head rears out from the wall, revealing there's an eldritch monster wearing it, and the moments where the jaw of the mask breaks apart so Anankos can shoot lasers are creepy.

Anankos is a powerful enemy who has bullshit skills that negate stat drops, poison, statuses, Lethality, Counter, and damage after battle from Poison Strike and similar skills. It also halves damage from all weapons but Omega Yato, which is instead reduced by 25%, and reduces the damage from criticals and activation skills. This final battle is lactose intolerant. Fortunately, Xander and Takumi were strong enough to beat him down.

After being defeated, Anankos summons Garon to give him a power boost. Garon tells Anankos to fuse with him so they can rule together. Anankos laughs and eats Garon. The Nohrians are given a single line of mourning each. Anankos then brags about getting his power back. The stone mask cracks, revealing four red eyes. The monster body retracts into a hole. The palace explodes as Anankos's real form, a bigass dragon, flies away. Dragon Anankos summons a fucking black hole, which sucks in all of the rubble of the palace and eventually entire flying islands as he rears up to attack.

So, power scaling is kinda dumb, but Corrin and company don’t get sucked in, meaning they can casually shrug off the pull of a black hole. This makes Corrin arguably one of the strongest characters in Smash.

Revelation Endgame: Anankos

Takumi and Leo say that they can't possibly beat Anankos's dragon form. Xander said he never thought his final moments would be alongside a Hoshidan prince; Ryoma messes up the Legolas quote because he hasn't seen Return of the King. Ryoma says he'll meet his end on his feet. Corrin says to not give up and that they can win through teamwork!

The setting for this final chapter is cool. The black hole makes the sky change to a beautiful starry night, for some reason, with Anankos taking up half the map. Dragon Anankos is a pale dragon covered in spikes, with sharp black nails and rotting wings filled with holes. The dragon's head has no eyes; in his jaw, it holds a giant green orb covered in red eyes, which I assume is Anankos's soul. An excellent remix of Lost in Thoughts All Alone plays as the battle begins. Unfortunately, despite the game giving me dozens of different units, I was only allowed to bring a paltry 12.

There are a few enemies milling about in this chapter, but the main threat is Anankos. You first have to kill Anaknos’s two arms, which causes him to lower his head. Anankos hits like a truck. His attack animation has a tree grow out of his head as he shoots out an energy ball. It looks cool but I don't know what the significance is. I split up my army, with Takumi and Kenshi taking out the two hands, while Corrin took on the central head. Corrin was unable to fell the head in a single blow, so I resorted to callously throwing my units away through an endless parade of human wave tactics. Setsuna, of all people, managed to dodge a lethal dragon breath attack and kill Anankos with a counterattack.

Psyche! There’s a third form that is just the eye ball! This final form tore through my army. I sacrificed Takumi to get the eye weak and attacked with Corrin, who just barely failed to kill the god. I had Kenshi Galeforce boost back to the center and attack over Corrin’s shoulder with a shuriken. This didn’t work, but Corrin killed Anankos with a pair-up attack. If I felt like it, I could wax philosophically about friendship and bonds killing a god.

Anankos dies, the black hole disappears, and everyone celebrates. The game cuts to the throne room, where Azura crowns Corrin ruler of Valla as their siblings watch. Yay! Corrin is the ruler of a dead kingdom without any subjects! Corrin thanks Xander and Ryoma for donating land to rebuild Valla, but the fact remains, who the hell is going to live there? Also does the curse still exist?

Corrin pledges to believe in their people and works for their betterment. Everyone says Corrin will be a good ruler, as Gunter watches from a distance. Corrin and Azura meet by the lake. Corrin says Azura should be the leader, but she counters that they stopped Anankos and were chosen by Valla. Azura sings the song and Corrin speculates it's about them. Azura says Anankos wrote the song, so it could be used one day to save him by killing him. Corrin and Azura vow to write a new verse to the song, together.

In the final anime cutscene, Xander and Ryoma stand on a green hillside and vow to keep peace. Hinoka and Camilla say they will all be bound by this vow. Elise and Sakura say they're friends now. Takumi says he wishes it were that easy to forgive, but Leo says that healing can only begin with trust. Everyone turns to Corrin as the two kings swear to their people, countries, and Mary Sue sibling.

It sure is good that this ending fixes the massive economic issues in Nohr that force the country to result to raids on neighboring countries for supplies and also fixes the lingering resentment Hoshidans feel over the decades of constant slaughter of civilians at the hands of Garon!

I don’t know who my MVP was because I accidentally skipped the credits. Let’s say Kenshi.

Closing Thoughts

Revelation is a bit of a mess. There are things I like. The idea of a golden ending where everyone unites is cool. Mikoto and Sumeragi coming back as ghosts is interesting. Gunter was a good villain, even if the writing regarding Scarlet’s murder was haphazard. Valla at least looks amazing.

But, I can’t deny this route has heavy, heavy flaws. The first half of the route is mostly retreading the other two, with characters reduced to single lines of dialogue and major plot points tossed aside, and feels like filler. It picks up once the gang gets to Valla, only to grind to a halt with the Anthony arc. The idea of new lore and ancient secrets is appealing, but that isn’t really given. All of the depth to Anankos’s character is relegated to DLC chapters and Valla is a boring country, free from any culture or depth. The ad-hoc worldbuilding and dumb character decisions return from Conquest, but at the same time, Corrin being a decent character returns from Birthright.

The reliance on gimmick maps is far more common than in the other routes, and while I do appreciate attempting to make maps unique, many of them are just annoying to play. The game gives you an absolutely massive army, but never gives you a chance to use this bigger army.

Revelation exists to give a happy ending where everyone lives, a route where you can recruit dozens of soldiers and customize your army as much as you want. And it succeeds at being that. But, as this epic finale, this ultimate battle against the ultimate villain, it falls woefully short. And as a result, I think it’s my least favorite of the three routes.

I’m not done yet with Fire Emblem Fates. I still have a few more DLC chapters, most notably the Heirs of Fate Xenologues, and would like to end this blog with my honest thoughts on every character. But, for now, let’s close the book on this chapter of Fates.

#fire emblem revelations #fire emblem fates #anankos #corrin fire emblem #azura fire emblem #fe 14

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