Sanvers fans know her from her amazing contributions of art and fic to the Big Bang, but @morganastorm24 is also a multi-talented writer and artist for multiple ships in the DC universe. She also has love of everything Lois Lane. In honor of the Planet's star reporter, we've asked her to share a glimpse into her writing process. Thanks, Morgana!

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get started writing fic? Have you written for other fandoms? What are your favorite tropes?  

I've been writing for as long as I can remember - even longer according to my mum. I've always loved creating stories and would sit with my teddies and toy horses, reading them stories (even before I could read, because that's what pictures are for, right? Telling a thousand words and all that). For my 6th or 7th birthday, I apparently asked for a "really nice writing set and an even nicer book to write in". I was given a ring binder with plastic pockets, a notebook and a pencil case full of stationery. I still have that ring binder to this day, though it's not filled with all my random childish scribbles like it once was. 

I started writing fanfiction not long after Star Wars: Attack of the Clones came out. That's the earliest fanfic I can remember writing, anyway. I wrote Anakin and Padme's adventures after they got married, and then when rumours started flying about what was going to happen in Episode 3, I wrote my very first "fix it fic" by finding a way to keep Padme alive (as I couldn't bear the thought of my favourite character dying). Most of those very early fics never left the pages of the notebooks they were scrawled in and nobody else ever saw them (thank god!), but it wasn't until I started reading fanfiction online that I realised I could actually do that too - share my ideas with the world. I dabbled a little in fanfic for the tv show Casualty (a British medical drama), had more success with Doctor Who, wrote some more Star Wars, then Merlin and eventually (and most recently) Supergirl (with a dash of other DC). 

What were your inspirations for this particular story? What was it about this/these ships that grabbed you?

This fic was born of a single image - namely Chyler first revealing that she was going to wear a black and blue super suit and become Supergirl for one episode. That image alone was enough to get my mind racing with possibilities and ideas of how it might come to pass. I have to be honest and say I stopped watching the show after the Crisis stuff, so I've never actually seen her episode as Supergirl, but maybe that's a good thing? At least this way I know that my version of her is different and unique.

I am and always will be a huge Sanvers stan, but there's something so appealing about AgentCorp as well, and the show really dropped the ball when they wouldn't let Alex and Lena be together. They're an interesting and dynamic pairing - they share interests, are both huge science nerds and yet so completely different that its great fun writing them both together.

As for Lois and Kara - that one literally came out of nowhere and took me by surprise. I'd never intended for it to happen, and yet now that it has, I'm wondering why I never thought of it sooner!

Has the time spent away from your story changed your outlook or approach to any of the storylines or themes? Have you had any new inspirations or breakthroughs/revelations in the meantime? 

Absolutely. I got to a point with the fic where it had grown stale, and I was constantly hitting up against a wall with no idea how to get around it, or to power through it. So, I walked away from the fic and decided to focus on other WIPs and new creations instead. Coming back to it now, I've been able to see everything with fresh eyes, and I can see not only where I was going wrong before, but also a way to fix it. Changing the villain, adding characters, getting rid of redundant plot threads and adding more relevant pieces has really helped to get this work to a place where finally, I can see the finish line and I know I'm going to make it. That's a huge relief, considering where I was 2 years ago when I first started writing it.

Any advice for new or aspiring fic writers?

Never give up. No matter how hard it might be, just put words on a page. It doesn't matter how rubbish they are, as my BFF always says, "You can't edit a blank page." Let yourself suck, let yourself write horrendously. It's all good practice. Even if those words never leave your notebook or the document on your computer, they've taught you something, they've helped you to improve, so be proud of them.

Writing is also a bit like a painting. Not even Da Vinci or Van Gogh sat at his easel and created a masterpiece on his first try. There's the initial sketches to plan out the idea. That's your plot or summary. Then you add basic blocks of colours. That's your first draft. From then on, you work away slowly, adding details, shading, contouring...those are your second, third, fourth drafts. Keep revising and editing as much as you need - there's no right or wrong number of times you should be doing it. Because each time you do, you're adding more detail to your masterpiece. And what you end up with is a work of art.

One final piece of advice... writing is not a solo event. All those times a writer is depicted sitting along, tapping away at a keyboard or scribbling in a notebook, it's so misleading. Get yourself a writing buddy. DKGwrites and I are best friends, we met through fanfiction (and I'm eternally grateful for that everyday). We have regular writing sessions together, and ok it's 90% messing around, distracting one another, talking utter nonsense or throwing random videos and links to each other, but that 10% when we do actually behave and get down to the task at hand, it's so much more fun writing together than it ever is when we try to write alone. Silliness aside, we help one another, bounce ideas off one another, motivate and encourage one another, and it's the best thing ever. So find yourself a writing buddy, and have a blast!

If you were going to promote this fic with a single line, what would it be? 

What if Supergirl was a badass redhead called Alex Danvers?

We'll have more about her artwork in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, check out her work on A03!

22, 31, 45 for the writer asks

Thank you for the ask <3

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22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

a lot actually. i write primarily to suit my own tastes and to have stories i'd like to read.

genre i wouldn't write a comedy because as i mentioned before i'm just not funny and it would be unintentionally cringe. other than that i would be open to most genres if i stumbled on a good enough idea for them that i'd feel is within my capabilities.

_

pov i wouldn't write a whole story in 1st and 2nd person pov. it's not like i've never used them. when i write the inner voice of the character i use both depending on the scene because that's how i talk in my head to myself sometimes in 1st sometimes in 2nd person. so i think they both have their uses but not as the primary pov of the story. and like i have no problem with empathising and sympathising with the 3rd person pov the other two make it actually harder for me.

with 1st person i could probably write a full drabble though i'm not sure if i've ever written a whole scene like that. and i don't like to read it when it's the primary pov, it just feels off to me as a narrative tool. like there've been some instances i've seen it work but that's the exception not the rule in my opinion.

2nd pov makes me actively uncomfortable, like i have physical reaction to it. i've always hated when people tried to put thoughts in my head and like after having gone through fandom harassment and discourse wars i react even more viscerally to it. and i know this is not the intention of people who write their stories in 2nd person but this is how it feels to me and i physically can't read them.

_

tropes wise, there's stuff that i have no problem reading but would never want to write myself because i'm soft and gooey inside XD and i sympathise too much with the characters when writing so there are emotions i just don't want to put myself through that actively. so like i can read hurt no comfort, torture or toxic relationship or non-con and sometimes even major character death but i wouldn't write it myself.

there are also tropes that i'm not very into but when the stars align i could and will write them. like i'm super meh about fairy tale retellings because i find them tired and overdone by popculture and i hadn't pictured myself as ever doing one. but i got into a new ship recently and in my head they felt perfect for a "beauty and the beast" inspired au and people weren't doing it on ao3, not that i could find anyway. so now i'm trying to write it in a way that suits my tastes. or like i can remember 1 slow burn i enjoyed and didn't find aggravating, plus like that one worked because the story and setting really facilitated a very slow development of the relationship and it didn't feel forced. but i don't think i have that kind of fucking patience.

then there are tropes that just make nope. there are some kinks i don't want to think about in fiction or rl - not that i think people shouldn't. but for more generally used tropes stuff there's abo for example. from what i've seen and what i understand from others talking about abo for me it just fails in every metaphor people claim it tries to be while being steeped in what reads to me as the worst kind of heterosexuality. and like i'm not going to write it because it's impossible to make it suit my tastes.

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

I'm not even entirely sure what starting with characters means exactly so i might be talking out of my ass here. but like for me it's kind of a feedback system. like i don't think i can create them separately.

and i think i start with the setting actually, often an aesthetic feeling. and from that the plot and characters emerge simultaneously and heavily feed into each other and the setting feeds into it as well. it usually happens in a bout of adhd madness. like when it takes off it's an extremly fast process. my first fic ever emerged within a few hours with extensive backstories for all pov characters, worldbuilding with cultural aspects and most of the plot for the first 5 chapters which all ended up 10k plus up to almost 20k.

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

neither really. if i wanted to make my readers laugh it'd be dooming myself to fail because i'm not witty and my sense of humour doesn't resonate. i do write angst but it's always with the promise of cheese so like i don't think i can break the reader at least not for long maybe i can scratch them a bit. i once left my fic open ended and people didn't like it but idk if it broke them, more like i think they felt it was unfinished? idk

i mostly want my writing to resonate. i want to feel i connected with the readers on some level. i'm very much in the art as communication philosophical camp - probably because my only true identity is a linguist as embarrassing as that is XD

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Get to know your fic writer!

Whenever I find someone else who actually likes Rory and Logan together it’s like a breath of fresh air, I feel like it’s such an unpopular opinion but imo they were really well suited for each other and neither Rory nor Logan are half as bad as people make them out to be. Their dynamic is cute and playful yet mature and sophisticated and I like it.

aaaahhh getting a girl more girls ask especially one about logan and Rory legit made sme so happy also i'm going to take this ask to be super unhinged about them <33

you're SO RIGHT it's so unpopular and I honestly do not understand why. while I was watching I was like oh yeah obviously they're well liked (never mins that I just knew about dean and jess... maybe should've been a clue lol) HOWEVER I WAS WRONG. idk why. someone enlighten me.

Rory and Logan are my favourite ship and Logan is my favourite character (with lorelai, she's a bit below him) so I'm uh very into them you could say. For me, it's a clear choice that logan is not just the best choice for her, but also the one she wants the most. Like.

Rory grows so much in her yale seasons and I love to see it so much!!! they have this sweet thing with the nickname where he calls her ace which just makes me swoon every single time and they have that you jump I jump jack episode which is just chef's kiss and SO good and he already looks at her like she's his sun and his entire world and I'm like logan!!!! you don't even know her yet aaaaahhhhhhhh !! and rory tries to be a casual for him at first even tho that's not who she is!! and like they're MESSY but they talk about it so soon after and they're always SO honest and mature with each other?? I feel like it's a good relationship cause they both learn to grow as people but also as people in a relationship cause they're besties too and genuinely enjoy the other's company and they believe in each other SO MUCH!!!

they're also amazing at getting each other out of their comfort zones like rory tries to be casual for him and loan's like fuck it I'll be your fucking boyfriend if the alternative is not seeing you at all and decides for the first tike to actually seriously date someone!! also I love how they're not afraid to say unwanted things? like rory keeps painting this picture of (Taylor swift in I bet you think about me voice) You grew up in a silver-spoon gated community / Glamorous, shiny, bright Beverly Hills / I was raised on a farm, no, it wasn't a mansion / Just livin' room dancin' and kitchen table bills which is something she does a lot and logan's like yeah my family's insanely rich bit also. you are literally a gilmore. remember your own privilege.

I just really love them so much cause I think being in a relationship is very beneficial for them both, they support each other and love each other so much and they're always very honest and they talk about stuff when something's not going great and ofc they're not perfect but I do feel like after having like 98% of all couples be majorly or at least minority rooted in the miscommunication trope, they're like a breath of fresh air. cute and playful yet mature and sophicated u said it !!!

tomura & stain

we all know stain was a major influence on tomura and his character development early in the series, so id like to take a closer look at why stain was so important to tomura (and why i sincerely believe tomura had an implicitly-canon crush on him.)

this is actually pretty glaring when you watch all of tomura's season 2 scenes all together. i think the reason it slipped by so many people (including me) is because the villains side of the story was so broken up by the sports festival and kids internships. (and, tomura was a relatively new character to the audience at the time - we didn't know yet that that is very much not how tomura behaves around most people.)

and before i get started, i just wanna say that this post isnt about shipping, i just think this is an overlooked part of tomuras character. i also need to establish this reading of their dynamic to further support another meta post i’m planning on writing in the future regarding tomura and afo.

I'll link a season 2 tomura compilation video in the notes so you can see what im talking about yourselves, but for now, here are my impressions. (all white subtitles in screenshots are tomura’s dialogue.)

we start with tomura admiring stain from pictures and videos. like… his eyes are literally sparkling. pretty sure he's never looked at anyone except afo with so much non-hostile intensity and interest.

ive talked a little bit about this before, but i get the feeling that tomura just genuinely doesnt expect to be understood by anyone at all. not civilains, not other villains, and certainly not heroes. since all tomura really knew about stain and his motivations at this point was that he was "the hero killer", he probably thought he'd finally found another person who shared his hatred for hero society with the same passion - someone who could understand him. no wonder he was so excited.

when face-to-face, tomura openly admits stain has more experience than him, and calls him “dai-senpai” (translated as “sir” below); this is used for people who have MUCH more experience than you in your field. starting strong with the flattery! (esp considering im pretty sure they both have roughly the same amount of experience, technically.)

(also, aren’t most crushes in these shows directed towards someones “senpai”?)

when he makes a truly terrible first impression and gets stabbed for his efforts, tomura just... laughs awkwardly. tomura has a general tendency to smile and laugh when hes in pain, but the sheer nervous awkwardness of it is what makes it significant here. i dont think he would have responded this way if it had been, say, dabi or toga who attacked him during recruiting instead.

when stain rejects his offer and monologues about why he doesnt like people like tomura, tomura responds in a clearly offended and hurt way. in other, similar encounters throughout the manga, tomura is much more level-headed than he is here. i dont think hes ever taken someones opinion of him so hard at any other point in the series, which is pretty notable considering the sheer amount of other times he gets insulted to his face.

...and yet, he remains civil during their conversation on the rooftops afterwards, even when stain makes another dig at him. (also, correct me if im wrong, but is the first line below not literally a romance trope...?)

after stain leaves (and only after,) tomura starts poking fun at him, despite having been the one to try to recruit him in the first place. makes sense that he's trying to point out all his 'flaws', sort of like hes trying to talk himself out of his previous admiration for him after being so thoroughly rejected. and, considering tomura had to later question how he and stain were different at all, these criticisms seem a little bit hollow in hindsight.

coping with heartbreak by seeking (indirect!) revenge. of course his idea of revenge involves making stain feel like everyone has forgotten about him. acting like you were never interested in someone is a pretty common trope for this kind of thing, isnt it? that they meant so little to you (or anyone else) that you dont even remember the rejection! and of course, tomuras trying to make stain feel as humiliated as he did.

also worth mentioning: i think this is the only time where tomura wanted to end up in the news for a reason unrelated to making people question justice and hero society. releasing the nomus didn't seem to be about making people doubt the heroes ability to protect, it was just to outshine stain.

tomura isn't really the kind of person who… gets that worked up over losses? So the fact that hes so agitated about it is significant. even at usj when he lashed out at kurogiri for letting iida escape, he pretty quickly bounced back and accepted that they had to retreat for the time being. still, it must hurt seeing the guy who so harshly rejected you get talked about nonstop, especially in a positive light.

(honey, you're the one hung up on stain.)

This leads to - as user palbabor-writes pointed out in her character analysis of tomura - tomura's worst outburst in the series. isnt it interesting that stain was responsible for that, in a character who is otherwise relatively calm and collected? that suggests some pretty strong feelings attached.

of course, losing his nomus and being insulted by some strangers certainly lended to that outburst, but those were both just salt in the wound that stain had already created.

then he literally dons his Sadness Hoodie (seriously, we only see him wear it while sulking at the mall and after afo is arrested) and goes off to wonder why he and stain were too different to work out. and he lingers on that for a long time. why were they too different? what went wrong? why didn't stain accept him?

this doesnt just seem to be about how society perceives the two of them, because the thoughts are "directed" at stain, rather than society as a whole. he wants to understand it from stain's perspective before anyone elses. (plus, everyone thought stain was a part of the LoV, so as far as society is concerned, he and stain are the same.)

...and hes so torn up about this that he goes as far as venting to and consulting a teenager on the matter.

i don't know. romantic feelings and tropes in media aren't my strong suit, but i hope you understand what im getting at!!

like i said at the beginning, i'll reblog this with a link to the season 2 tomura comp so you can kind of see it for yourselves. theres also some things from supplemental material for bnha that further supports this theory, but since thats only dubious canon, i'll put those in a follow-up post!

what would you say are the differences between 616 Tony and MCU Tony? 🤔

Hi anon! Many people have talked about this and I'm certainly not the authority on the topic, but I’ll try my best to explain some of the major differences that I have noticed! Thank you for asking and I’m sorry it took me so long to answer you.

Important to note: neither version of Tony has had a totally consistent characterization. Depending on who you ask and which comics/movies they've consumed, they might give you a different answer here and not be wrong.

616 Tony is even harder to put into one box because his character has been around since Tales of Suspense in the 1950s. That’s a long time. Things have changed over time, under different writers, changing political atmospheres, and outside pop culture influence (including influence from the MCU, unfortunately, in recent years.) You get the picture. So I’ll be making some generalizations and try to be clear about which eras I’m speaking when I make these comparisons, but ultimately, if someone wanted to be contrarian, you could probably refute a lot of what I say here if you cherry pick canon. Which is fair enough! That’s sort of the fun of comics, there’s so much to choose from and something for everyone.

So here are some observations from me, under the ‘read more’.

1. Physical Appearance

This is sort of an easy one, but worth mentioning!

MCU Tony does not look like 616 Tony. RDJ is great, but he would not be most 616 fans’ casting choice on looks alone. MCU Tony is tan, a Malibu man, with brown hair and brown eyes, and RDJ has sort of round facial features (a funny sloped nose, big, round eyes, round forehead, not a particularly sharp or classically “superhero masculine” face.) As you may know, this lends well to certain fanworks and tropes, such as Tony having Bambi eyes.

Or Tiny Tony. He is not actually canonically small, but he's smaller in the MCU than in 616 and from what I can tell, a portion of fandom has latched onto that. He’s a grown man, but RDJ is pretty short, and of slighter build than 616 Tony. RDJ is 5′9, but they make him act in heels, and I believe his canon MCU height is 5′11. Another popular trope I’ve seen is shrinking Tony in fanfic/fanart for a dramatized height difference with Steve, making him weak or fragile; this is fine because everyone has their own taste, but for the official record, he’s a capable, strong guy! Especially in earlier stages of the MCU, in which he’s a bit younger. Tony isn’t just a brain; he carries out his plans with his own two hands! He builds his armor, he remodels his lab, he survives hand to hand combat when he doesn’t have the armor. Muscles!

616 Tony is 6′1 without armor and 6′6 in armor (making him taller than his 616 Steve counterpart in armor and very close to the same height out of armor!) 616 Tony is generally paler with black hair (sometimes the classic blue-black I love so much) and blue eyes, and it obviously depends on the artist, but he has a pretty typically ‘masculine’ face and build. Generally he is drawn with a squared jaw and a high bridged nose (such as in the Extremis storyline, or drawn by Marquez), but again, this varies from artist to artist! Here's some examples of 616 Tonys.

Wait, you might be saying, but I have seen comic panels where Tony has brown hair/brown eyes!

Yep. Due to a combination of forgetfulness, inconsistency, and the MCU bleeding into the general consciousness of the comics, sometimes Tony is randomly depicted in the image of RDJ, or if not in his image, at least visually inspired by the MCU-- hair color and style, eye color, dialogue, etc.

616 fans don’t typically love this; he’s very handsome when drawn this way, of course, (look at him!) But it isn’t really the same character.

Also, MCU Tony has (at least for some of his movies) a reactor built into his chest. While 616 Tony has, at times, been more or less physically connected/dependent to his tech, he doesn’t have the built in reactor (most generally speaking, there are times in comics when he temporarily has the tech built in, but this isn’t really the status quo.)

2. Relationship with parents/ family history

While it is definitely implied in the MCU that Howard was not a good father to Tony, (such as in Iron Man 2 when Tony says “You're talking about a man whose happiest day of his life was shipping me off to boarding school” and “He was cold, calculating, never told me he loved me, never even told me he liked me”), Tony has a different sort of attitude toward Howard in MCU than in 616. It’s kind of weird, and hard to discuss. To me, it seems implied that MCU Howard was emotionally abusive to Tony based on what Tony does say about his childhood, and yet, the films kind of randomly give Howard weird moments of “Well, he tried his best and deep down he loved me the whole time!” forgiveness. MCU has a Howard kink and I'm very cringe-face emoji about it.

For example, Iron Man 2 shows that old film reel of Howard talking about how Tony is the greatest thing he ever created, and in Endgame, when Tony goes back in time, he meets Howard and has a very weird interaction with him in which Howard declares he would do anything for his son, (to his deeply damaged son who is a new father himself.) Yet, for all his talk, it's his actions that speak, and his actions left Tony damaged, traumatized, and emotionally inept at forming healthy relationships. So.

Sorry. I’m a little bitter. I'm just uncomfortable with how they sort of set up an abuse history but then treated it kind of lightly and Howard gets off the hook as "well, he tried his best" without really acknowledging the hurt he caused.

Avengers: Endgame 2019

I won't go super in depth into the abuse stuff because it's a little touchy and could take up a lot of this post. But.

I’m not against any reconciliation and I do appreciate the fact that a lot of times, victims of abuse feel a desire to forgive and reconnect with their abuser-- my issue with the MCU depiction of Tony and Howard is that Tony never really gets the vindication of his abuse being recognized for what it was before he forgives Howard. To me, that’s not forgiveness as kind of... gaslighting himself that it wasn't as bad as he remembered his own experience being, because of a sense of nostalgia and grief. It’s not the same, and I have issues with it.

However, a lot of my opinion is based on subtext and it is just my opinion; with depictions of abuse, different people are going to react differently, and other people may have found these scenes touching and gotten something positive out of them, and that's totally fine too!

It’s also a bit difficult to talk about Tony’s relationship with Howard in 616, for a few reasons: shifting timelines, lots of canon that I have not read all of, and the fact that it really is difficult to sum up such a complicated relationship.

Right off the bat, I’ll address the basics. I used the same scene in another ask, and I think it's frequently cited in any meta regarding Howard, but in Iron Man Vol. 1, we see more into Tony’s childhood and see Howard verbally abusing his family, drunk, at the dinner table.

Iron Man Vol. 1 #285

We get this scene with adult Tony’s retrospective commentary on how his own issues that he blamed himself for were actually a cycle starting with his father, the insecurity and abuse and alcohol, and that he realizes how much this has influenced him. Both MCU Tony and 616 Tony have some form of “stop the cycle of shame” arcs, but I don’t really see how this works narratively in the MCU because Tony makes excuses for Howard and continues to blame himself for a lot of his own personal struggles, whereas I think there’s just a bit more nuance in 616.

But uh. This isn’t totally true, and in recent years, things got real weird. I choose to ignore this chapter of canon, but in the Dan Slott run, Tony Stark: Iron Man, Tony’s whole backstory gets imploded. For one thing, the little of Tony’s childhood it shows in a flashback is uh. Uh. Well, it’s certainly out of character compared with previous 616 material, depicting Tony as an overly confident poor sport.

Basically, Tony is adopted. Tony has an evil brother. Tony’s biological parents make an appearance, as do his ‘classic’ parents, Howard and Maria. It’s just weird. It’s kind of out there. I’m honestly not a huge fan of this and ignore a lot of it, but it is certainly a difference between MCU and 616.

3. Personality

I’m going to be very general. Both Tony’s have an outer self which they present to the public and an inner self, but they’re a bit different. Both Tony’s have struggled with self loathing, but I think MCU Tony’s actual self worth is a bit higher, even just at some points in time. Even if his ego is part of his facade, I think he does believe some amount of the “I’m awesome”, even if just when it applies to his own work/inventions/saving people. Not to say that these moments of fluctuating self esteem make him egotistical, but this combined with his egotistical act and snarky, non-stop sassy dialogue, he’s quite different in general personality from 616 Tony, who is much more reserved.

Some more recent iterations of 616 Tony have been adapted to reflect the snark of the MCU, but he’s not so snarky and he tends to approach things more seriously. This is not a dis on MCU Tony; I think MCU Tony uses false ego and excessive sassy jokes as a means to deflect and control, which I think is very interesting and it’s nice to see this explored more in depth in fic where you get to see the thought process behind the bravado. MCU Tony is a partier, a good times guy, especially during Iron Man 2, in which he really does disregard consequences to have fun (driving his race car, partying drunk in his suit, letting pretty  girls play with the armor, shooting off repulsor blasts for fun in a crowded room); I’m not bashing MCU Tony-- I think he had psychologically understandable reasons for behaving this way, the man was dying-- but 616 Tony really doesn’t act this way generally, and I think it’s a personality difference more than a difference of one being “better.”

616 Tony handles his stress differently, and they just have different psychological patterns, I think. I’m coming up kind of blank trying to think of a good comparable 616 arc, (sorry, I’m brain dead) but a less-than-perfect  example might be Tony’s brain delete arc; he’s “dying”, like in Iron Man 2 he  knows his expiration date, (circumstances are quite  a bit different), but he throws himself more into work, into a cause, and as he really fall apart, we  see him spiral into self doubt, remorse, fear, and insecurity, sort of falling into  himself with lots of manly tears and calling himself pathetic.

(Some things happen in this arc that a lot of people find Gross. I also find these events gross. But. I don’t count the sex in “World’s Most Wanted” as partying to cope with personal mortality, because I think both character involved are in “end of the world” mode, and it’s more seeking intimacy for comfort than partying to numb the hurt. Does this distinction make sense? No? Perfect, moving on.) 616 Tony is generally much more humble.

Whereas MCU Tony, I think, tries to outrun those feelings via parties or making dozens of new suits, or seeking comfort by comforting others! Gifting things to people, building things for people, highly personalized individual living quarters, teaching Nebula games and trying to show her a fun time when they were in peril together.

They have some traits in common, for sure! But canon being inconsistent both in the MCU and in 616, my observations aren’t the rule, because I’m kind of cherry picking and going based on limited memory. But off the top of my head, they’re both extravagant gift givers! Recall Tony gifting Pepper the giant bunny in Iron Man 3, and compare this with Tony carrying a mile high pile of Christmas gifts after shopping with Rumiko in Iron Man Vol. #3.

I would say that while both Tony Starks are considered humanitarians, this is much more fleshed out and supported by canon in 616. Some examples of his philanthropy in the MCU: Tony makes charitable donations of art and money, Tony has an organization which provides disaster relief/cleanup which is referenced in Spider-Man Homecoming, Tony has an MIT grant for students and staff members. But to be honest, a lot of his MCU philanthropy is only mentioned in passing, or is largely handled by other people on his behalf and on his dollar.

In 616, we see Tony using charity almost as a means of therapy: it’s something he does very privately, not in the public eye (at least, not always), and it’s something deeply personal to him. One example that immediately comes to mind is Tony’s home for disadvantaged girls in Iron Man Vol. 3, and we see scenes of Tony basically driving the streets at night, picking up underage prostitutes, feeding them and listening to their stories before bringing them to a home he’s established where he knows all the residents, and provides educational opportunities and protection.

Another more recent example in canon that the Tony fandom loves is that Tony canonically holds babies at an orphanage. Sorry I don’t have panels for all of this, this section got long and I have been working on answering this ask in a very scattered way for a very long time.

Both Tony’s are romantics, I literally could write a whole other post about their canon love life similarities and differences, but I will briefly say that while MCU Tony does the long on and off, and eventual ultimate commitment, to Pepper Potts, 616 Tony is a serial monogamist; he is always falling in love, and he’s definitely not a playboy, but the hero-ing, self loathing, and lifestyle make it very hard for him to keep anyone in his life, and most of his partners fuck his life up and betray him. Needless to say, 616 Tony is not married, and certainly not to Pepper Potts.

Oh, and I guess this is so obvious I almost forgot to include it, but a huge similarity between both iterations of Tony is that they both constantly use their own life as a bargaining chip, and will pretty much die for anything. Or be the bad guy for a good reason (at least, in his own mind... see Civil War, or Hickmanvengers; 616 Tony, especially, does not shy away from making the hard decisions, and this leads to a lot of guilt and tension in his  relationships-- often with Steve because 616 Steve/Tony angst fans are well fed, I guess)

Remember that time Tony had Steve’s mind wiped because Tony felt that Steve’s inflexible morality might hinder the Illuminati’s ability to save the world? And it eats Tony up inside and erupts into a homicidal fight when Steve finally gets his memory back? Me too.

Tony Stark as a character is defined by sacrifice, both of his own life but also of his own happiness and reputation and conscience, I think, in a lot of ways, and we see this in many universes. I could go on about Tony’s propensity for sacrifice in the less obvious ways, because I think in terms of heroic sacrifice, Tony has done a lot that other heroes wouldn’t be able to do because of moral inflexibility and conflicting philosophical schools of thought; Tony really is the “whatever it takes” type, and often believes the ends justify the means if he deems a threat worse than the potential wrong that could be done in preventing the threat. We see this a little bit in the MCU in the creation of Ultron, and in Civil War with the Accords. But there’s a whole lot more going on there I don’t want to get into.

4. Alcohol

MCU Tony’s alcoholism is never really explicitly explored. He is shown drinking in Iron Man 1, and in Iron Man 2 he drinks a lot and makes a fool of himself publicly, but MCU Tony doesn’t get any specific narrative arc focused on his drinking, and if I recall correctly, I don’t think he ever refers to his drinking as alcoholism in the movies? Also, while his binge drinking and embarrassing behaviors ostensibly stop after the events of Iron Man 2, he is shown drinking on screen at least one other time after that which I can remember, and it wasn’t a “falling off the wagon” moment, and an alcoholic in recovery such as 616 Tony would not take a drink casually. This article sheds a little light on some decisions made about Tony and alcohol in the MCU.

Alcoholism is a huge part of 616 Tony’s personality, which I went a bit more into depth about in this post, so I won’t repeat myself too much.

5. Their relationships with the Iron Man armor

A few points here: MCU Tony is famous for the “I am Iron Man” line being repeated throughout the franchise after he blows his own secret in the end of the first movie. MCU Tony sees himself as one with Iron Man, and the suit is the tech that enables him to be this version of himself. He sees Tony Stark and Iron Man as inextricable: you cannot separate them, and his identity is public. He, as Tony Stark, is an Avenger.

You may remember MCU Tony’s induction into the Avengers; in Iron Man 2, Nick Fury is forming the Avengers and tasks the Black Widow with going undercover to assess Tony to be a part of a hypothetical initiative. “Iron Man yes, Tony Stark no” and the comments about Tony as a narcissist may be funny, but the fact is, the snark and erratic personality of MCU Tony at the time of the formation of the Avengers in the movies is not at all like the Tony of the comics, at the time of the Avengers being formed. 

In 616, things are quite a bit different! Tony invents the Iron man armor to save himself (like in the MCU) and uses it for hero-ing, but in secret. He works very hard to protect his identity as Iron Man, and for a long time, as far as the world is concerned, Iron man is a mystery man piloting armor built by Tony, hired as Tony’s personal body guard, (hence the 616 Steve/Tony fandom’s proclivity for identity porn as a trope!) When the Avengers form, Iron Man is the Avenger, close friends with the Avengers, (particularly Steve!) and Tony Stark is just the benefactor of the Avengers, providing them with a place to live and finances with which to operate.

In the very early days, Tony did not have the “reactor” like in the MCU, but his chest plate did keep him alive, leading to some very dramatic shots of Tony charging up using a wall socket, lamenting the plight of a secret hero.

616 Tony, generally, and especially in some of these earlier comics, was quite reserved, rather serious, and very angsty, (in private of course.) He may be wealthy, but speaking generally, he’s much less ostentatious than MCU Tony, less of a show off, less into flashy things and grand gestures. Of course, this isn’t always true in the comics, and some iterations of Tony are more like this than others, but MCU Tony is showier, sillier, and more of a fun-times guy. Any MCU fan would find those panels quite contrary to the Tony Stark you know:

Iron Man 1

Iron Man 2

I think I would say that while MCU Tony sees himself and the Iron Man identity and the  armor as all being inextricably connected, we see a bit more compartmentalization with 616 Tony, who pretends that the armor is a whole separate person for years when his identity was private, and we see instances in older and newer comics, in which Tony  is uncomfortable with some aspect of himself as Iron Man (for instance, during the second drinking arc, Tony temporarily swears off being Iron Man entirely, or for another example, when Tony is in a comma and Tony AI exists during Secret Empire, Tony “lives” in the Iron Man suit, and I think this could be interpreted as a meta parallel to Steve during this arc; Steve has had some core aspect of his character inverted, Captain America becoming Captain Hydra, so Tony experiences a similar inversion-- Tony Stark and Iron Man are forcibly merged, in a way that Tony seems deeply uncomfortable with, if his digital drinking relapse is any indication. But I digress; sorry for the tangent.)

Okay this post is inexcusable long, and very, very tangential, and I don’t feel like I’ve really covered everything I wanted to. But it has been sitting in my inbox for too long and if I don’t post it now I never will, so I hope this long, rambling thing has been a little bit helpful to you! Thank you so much for asking, I had a lot of fun rambling about this.

If you want to read a similar post, but well written and organized, with other insights, this post by Sineala answers a similar question!

The Phantom from 10 000 Leagues

I found this movie online while looking for From Hell It Came (which I haven’t yet found – someday I will and then you’ll all be sorry) and it looked bad, so I checked out the details.  Turns out it stars Kent Taylor from The Crawling Hand, Cathy Downs from The Amazing Colossal Man, and was written by Lou Rusoff, who was behind It Conquered the World, The She-Creature, and… oh god, he also wrote Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow.  This is gonna suck goat nads.  I must watch it right away.

You shouldn’t picture me groaning when I write stuff like that, by the way.  You should picture me giggling like a maniac and rubbing my hands together with glee.

A monster is killing people at sea near an incredibly bleak and depressing California college town, and the bodies and wrecked boats it leaves in its wake are scorched by radioactivity! Washington sends Agent Grant to find out what’s going on, and he soon discovers that the Pacific College of Oceanography is positively overflowing with suspicious characters.  There’s the reclusive and paranoid Professor King, who is working on weird experiments in his locked laboratory.  There’s King’s assistant George, who follows him around and hides in the bushes to watch what he’s doing.  King’s secretary Ethel blames the professor for the death of her son and wants revenge, and George’s girlfriend Wanda is a foreign agent.  Not to mention the visiting Dr. Stevens, a radiation expert with an unsettling habit of turning up just in time to discover the bodies.  Someone among this motley crew has created a sea monster… and someone else is planning to sell it to the highest bidder!

You know how some movies save their monsters until the last minute, in order to build suspense?  Or because what we imagine is always scarier than what we actually see?  Or because the monster sucks and they’re ashamed of it?  Or some combination of the above?

Phantom from 10 000 Leagues is not one of those movies.  Before we’re even a full minute into it, the monster has appeared on screen in all its ridiculous glory.  Stevens calls it a hideous beast that defies description but I think I can make an attempt.  It looks sort of like the lovechild of a saber-toothed tiger and the Horror of Party Beach.  There’s a ridge down its head and back like an iguana and a poorly-camouflaged window in its neck so the dude inside can see what he’s doing.  The whole costume is also rather buoyant, and the actor is having to work hard to stay underwater.  Sadly, this beast remains lurking in the depths and never shambles out onto the beach to menace sunbathers, which is the only thing it would have needed to make it a perfect bad movie monster.

The creature is not the only nuclear threat in this movie… or even the silliest one!  During an investigatory dive, Stevens discovers a glowing patch on the seafloor which he says represents an ‘activated’ uranium deposit with the potential to form a naturally-occurring death ray!  We finally get to see this in action when stock footage of a ship passes over it – and turns into a different ship that immediately blows up! I’m just sad this only happens once. The glowing stone itself is represented by a mirror with a light shining on it in underwater shots, and by the reflection of the sun when seen from the surface.

So the effects are not special and make an already silly threat even more hilarious.  What about the story?  Like all cheap monster movies, the focus of The Phantom from 10 000 Leagues is not the creature killing people but the investigation into it.  There’s a large number of potential monster-makers here, which could have made the movie a bit messy – but by the time the words The End appear, we know who all these people are, how they’re involved, and what they hope to accomplish.  Even the women are given distinct motivations and personalities, although those fall neatly into the ‘maiden, mother and whore’ tropes I’ve discussed in the past. The dialogue is not exactly subtle, but it seems like I can’t wholly blame Lou Rousoff for Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow.

It’s also nice that, despite the preponderance of White Men In Suits (Stevens and Grant both walk along the beach in suits and ties at all hours of the day and night), the characters all look different enough that I can tell them apart!  None of the cast are great actors, with a lot of stilted or awkward line deliveries, but then, a lot of the things they’re saying are completely ridiculous, so I probably can’t lay that entirely at their feet.

Unfortunately, the plot of Phantom From 10 000 Leagues is rather unfocused, and like so many of these films it’s not sure who its main character is.  It seems like either Agent Grant or Dr. Stevens, who are each conducting some kind of investigation into the goings-on, ought to be the protagonist… but both are introduced in contexts that make them seem potentially suspicious.  Dr. Stevens is actually significantly more suspicious than Grant, because when he first turns up he gives a fake name, and later proves to have actually performed experiments with mutating sea life in the past.  Yet for much of the movie, it’s Stevens we’re watching, as he cozies up to Professor King and flirts with King’s daughter Lois.  He actually gets far more screen time than Grant, with the latter sometimes being out of the movie for long enough that the audience kind of forgets he’s there.

Stevens and Lois’ love story is, as is probably inevitable for a movie of this kind, completely bland.  Kent Taylor and Cathy Downs have no appreciable spark between them, and one gets the uncomfortable impression that he’s about twice her age. The movie never offers even an approximate age for either character, but Lois is still unmarried and living with her father, which in the 1950s suggests she’s in her early twenties.  King describes Stevens as a ‘young man’ but between his appearance and his impressive academic credentials he’s obviously not, and when I looked up the actors I learned that Taylor was forty-eight when The Phantom from 10 000 Leagues was made, while Downs was twenty-nine.  That’s… well, they’re both adults, but he’s still old enough to be her father, and the younger we assume they both are, the worse the two decade gap gets.

Once we actually get to know the characters, the solution to the mysteries is fairly obvious, but this lets us spend some actual time with these men and find out what they think about the situation.  Stevens, who’s been down this road before, wants these terrible experiments to stop before any more people get hurt.  King, hearing about it for the first time, is more excited about what he might be able to learn by building on Stevens’ work. This represents an interesting inversion because if you’ll recall, King is supposed to be significantly older than Stevens (though actor Michael Whelan was actually born only five years before Taylor).

Usually knowledge and wisdom are both associated with age.  This is a very old trope and has some fairly sound logic behind it: the elderly have had longer to learn and to experience.  In Phantom from 10 000 Leagues, however, we have the older Professor King excited by the ground-breaking discoveries made by a younger scientist and wanting to learn more about them, even when the (supposedly) younger Stevens warns him about Tampering in God’s Domain.  Each assumes the role their ages might make us expect of the other.

This is reflected in their respective fields: depending on how you define it, oceanography is as old as mankind.  Humanity has been mapping the seas for as long as we’ve known how to sail across them, and marveling at the monsters we pull from its depths for as long as we’ve been catching fish.  That is the Professor King’s domain. Stevens, on the other hand, is a specifically nuclear scientist. Nuclear physics technically begins with the discovery of radioactivity in the 1890’s, but it seemed like a new and scary field in the 1950s, as the development of atomic weapons forced scientists to take a closer look at the phenomenon’s effect on living tissues. To King, who is an expert in another field, the possibilities of this relatively new work outweigh the potential consequences.

As sloppy and poorly-made as Phantom from 10 000 Leagues can be, this contrast between Stevens and King does make it a movie with something to say.  It of course has the standard moral for a fifties atomic monster piece, about paths science is not meant to tread, but it also wants us to think about that connection between age and wisdom.  On the one hand, King’s interest in Stevens’ work tells us that you’re never too old to learn something new.  On the other, just because somebody is young doesn’t mean they have nothing to teach. If King had taken in Stevens’ wisdom along with his knowledge, a lot of suffering need not have happened.

Even if you’re not into that, the crappy monster, the bad acting, the ridiculous science, and all the sneaking around and backstabbing that goes on makes Phantom from 10 000 Leagues plenty of fun watch.  It’s much like Beginning of the End in that it ticks all the MST3K boxes, while remaining coherent enough that you can enjoy the actual story along with the badness.

Since my mind only seems to come up with these things during school and very late at night when I should be asleep-

Actor AU!! this does feature shipping so if that makes you uncomfortable feel free to skip this, it’s only with content creators who are ok with it tho!! and ofc personas and characters, not the irl people

- Techno is the stunt choreographer/trains all the actors in stage combat, Dream actually did parkour and skateboarding before auditioning so he and Techno bond over doing stupid tricks and choreography

- Karl is an assistant director, he’s fresh out of college and a bit of a klutz but he loves helping out around set and he always remembers everyone’s coffee orders

- Philza is Tommy and Tubbo’s agent/manager, although he’s close friends with Wilbur and Techno as well

- Since I absolutely love Tommy and Dream’s dynamic we’re going to throw in some Tommy/Dream mentor/mentee vibes, Dream finds Tommy practicing some stunts one day in the studio and goes over to help him out, they end up talking for hours while training, now it’s a Thursday night tradition (Techno shows up sometimes too)

- Dream gets anxiety attacks sometimes, Tommy helps him learn how to manage them (Tommy got them too for the first few years of acting, Tubbo helped him learn how to cope)

- George and Sapnap have been acting/modeling for years, although Sapnap is definitely a better actor. George gets a lot of modeling gigs, Dream takes every opportunity to make fun of how he doesn’t have a fashion sense of his own but still ends up on the front page of Vogue

- Wilbur and Fundy prank everybody on set all of the time, Wilbur’s known for purposely messing up lines or going full improv mode (although they usually end up keeping the improv scenes for the final cuts)

- Fundy and Niki help design the costumes sometimes, Niki and Wilbur both sit in the costumes room and sew to destress, and Fundy is surprisingly good at design

- Tommy and Tubbo share a trailer on some of the outdoor sets, it’s covered in posters and string lights and empty cans of coca cola but they hold sleepovers there sometimes when filming goes really late

- Tubbo is secretly really good at hacking and has sabotaged filming on more than one occasion just for fun

- Eret is really good with makeup/special effects, he helps out the makeup team when they’re prepping Tommy for a fight scene and gives him a huge cut across his arm, Tommy takes a million pictures for Instagram and immediately goes to find Tubbo and scare him

- Dreamnotfound but they’re too oblivious to realize their true feelings, fake dating trope for the publicity, it goes well enough for the first season but once they inevitably ‘break up’ things get rough

- Dream gets really close with Fundy during the filming break, they watch Treasure Planet together and talk about how difficult all relationships are as a celebrity

- Techno and Dream fight each other and challenge each other to do reckless parkour moves all the time, they’re amazing at coming up with fight choreography together even if they won’t admit it

- Premiere night of the first episode! Everybody gets ready in the same hotel room, it’s loud and chaotic and there’s a lot of panicked yelling while people pull on dresses and suits and do their makeup

- They all decide to wear some variation of the strawberry dress in support of Tubbo, Eret and Niki wear the actual dress, Tubbo wears the dress over a black turtleneck, Dream wears a strawberry-patterned button up with suspenders and a jacket, George wears a pink suit coat and a strawberry tie, Sapnap wears a black suit with strawberries on it (and a cowboy hat, much to everybody’s confusion), Fundy has a patterned button up and a vest, Wilbur has a pink sweater and a black coat lined with strawberry fabric, Tommy wears a white suit with a pink shirt and tie

- It makes quite a statement at the premiere, they’re on the front page for weeks and the show is an immediate success

- Dream skyrockets to fame as well, which is a bit overwhelming

- Quackity, Punz, Ponk, Antfrost and Schlatt all join for the second season, there’s some controversy with Schlatt because of his contract and then him leaving during the first season, but everything gets smoothed over

- Dream and George don’t talk at all during the filming break, even at conventions and signings and photoshoots they manage to avoid each other

- Until the script read-through, of course

Do you ever 100% have those days when you believe supercorp is in fact canon in all the ways compared to the het tropes? But there’s the thorn on your side that’s “waiting” on everybody behind the show to “confirm” what we’ve been saying and preaching for years now? And if it highkey comes down to the show pulling a catradora on us with supercorp I’ll be totally fine with it because I’ll just take that as a big fat “I told you so” to the haters. Analysis GO OFF 😚

Dude, you have no idea how many little break downs I have every once in a while because I just feel so confident that Supercorp will happen! Everything in the Supercorp-specific writing, music, cinematic tropes, actress choices, etc. has shown that Kara and Lena will and should be canon. Look, I’m in graduate school for psychology and I haven’t taken a film class in my life. I’ve never even been a big “shipping” person. But I watched Supergirl live all throughout undergrad, often with my straight friends (who were less into the show) and even they noticed all the things that we "delusional" fans discuss.

Iconic Superhero/Love interest tropes

The Hero having to choose between saving their LI or kids/city/world, but miraculously save both. May I present Exhibit A:

The LI standing between the Hero and their one weakness: literally every time Lena has built anti-kryptonite suits, protected Kara before she knew her identity, and specifically Exhibit B:

Dramatic saves of the LI: I present the longing looks mid-rescue for Exhibit C:

The Hero running flying toward certain death to save their LI: Kara disregards a kryptonite bomb in Exhibit D:

The LI being the last to know the hero's identity, but Hero will still risk their identity to save the LI: Everyone say hello to Exhibit E:

The Hero finding strength from their LI: the CW sure loves using El Mayarah in Supercorp posts! And social media aside, we've seen how confident and strong Lena makes Kara, both in dialogue and visually. (And it's a bonus that Kara makes Lena stronger too!)

Everything with food

Kara literally referred to food as a love language when talking to Nia. Only an episode or so away from bringing Lena food from 3 different countries. And let’s remember how Kara offered to fly to Italy for her first date with James...

Kara also always brought Lena food, even before season 5. That was their Thing.

We also have to talk about the absences of food: Kara dropping potstickers at Pulitzer ceremony when she sees Lena and not accepting Dansen’s invitation to get food after her falling out with Lena.

It was established all the way back in Season 1 (very much so in the fun Flash crossover) that Kara thinks food is more important than everything and will often use it as a coping mechanism when she’s sad (like in Season 2/3 about Mon). Yet, she’s so devastated over Lena that she can’t even eat her favorite foods? Interesting.

Color schemes and certain shots

The red/blue color scheme consistently used with Supercorp, with exception to the purple tones used in Season 5 to represent their conflict.

No other love interest for Kara has consistently used that iconic Super/LL color palet. Not James, Mon, William, or the two episodes with Adam.

I'd like to specifically remind everyone how Kara chose to wear purple with William, against Alex's explicit advice.

There are always lighting choices made with Supercorp shots. No other duo (besides dramatic Danvers sisters shots) seem to have such artistic care.

Do I even need to mention the balcony scenes? Both at the Pulitzer Ceremony and in scenes from multiple seasons where Kara has hovered over Lena's balcony-- most notably in 5x03.

Like seriously, do I need to mention the scene from 5x08 where Kara and Lena are looking longingly at the same picture of the two of them?

Music

If I know anything as a musician, I know scores. And Blake Neely has created certain melodies just for Supercorp saves. There’s the typical “Supergirl hero” melody, but it’s rarely used for scenes with Lena (besides the one instance in 5x07 cliff scene, when Neely combines the Leviathan theme with the Supergirl theme).

If you want to listen to examples: the brief save in 2x15 and the plane save in 3x05. Both melodies are unique, unreleased scores that (to my musical knowledge) have not been repeated with other Kara rescues. 

Also, can we talk about how Supercorp has their own heroic theme, composed specifically for the 100th episode? Played by a live orchestra? For the one AU where Kara and Lena were partners from the start?

Decisions made by Melissa and Katie

We know they've known about Supercorp since at least the end of Season 2. Melissa showed Katie and they've been aware for years.

Yet, they play into the Supercorp dynamic. Longing stares, giggly dialogue, tear filled eyes, etc.

Regarding Melissa specifically: for her directorial debut she made two significant decisions. 1. She chose to have a camera pan over the room during Lex's speech, showing only Lena noticing Kara leaving and upset. 2. She dressed Lena in two comics Lois Lane outfits, one of which in red to parallel Kara's blue.

Melissa also has played Kara's interractions with Lena very similarly to how she played the Kara/James dynamic in Season 1. Something she chose not to do with Mon or William. But let's get into my next point...

Direct parallels with heterosexual superhero couples most on the CW

This includes Westallen, multiple iterations of Clois, Olicity, WonderTrev, Karolsen, PeterMJ, Deckerstar, Brainia, SpiderGwen, Lanolsen...need I go on??

On my blog, I have them tagged as: supercorp and hetero hero parallels

Individual ships are tagged as: [couple]/supercorp (ex. clois/supercorp)

Apologies for just giving links, but damn if I wrote all of the parallels out then it would probably take days and this post would be absurdly long.

And let’s not forget all the parallels Supercorp has with canon w/w

This includes Korrasami, Catradora, Clexa, Dansen, Avalance, Harlivy, Sanvers, etc.

I have these examples tagged similarly to the het examples: supercorp and canon sapphic parallels (same with individual ones)

You’ll notice there are actually more posts and parallels between Supercorp and het couples (the couples that most non-LGBT fans think of as more valid lmao), so take that as you will🙃

Despite the mistreatment of Supercorp fans, and LGBT fans in general, by some actors and crew, and despite the tone deaf plot lines and usage of characters, Supercorp has consistently held up with all of my points stated above. That's why I still have days where I can just feel it in my bones that Supergirl is playing the slow burn game with Supercorp. It clearly won't be as well-done as Catradora, because of how much sh*t they've pulled over the seasons. But just like you, I have days where I get strong feelings that maybe it’s all part of their poorly thought out plan and we’ll get that validation and happiness.

ah, if you're still doin the character thing, how about Lenalee? (I didn't see anybody asking about her, but if sb did, sorry! maybe Johnny then?)

I’m sorry for the delay on replying to this one! This is probably the last ask thingy I’ll be doing for the Character Questions, as they take me some time to type and I’ve been busy 💓 But thank you all very much for the interest in these, I really love writing for stuff like this! I’ll be covering both Lenalee and Johnny in this one - so, a two character reply again! I was hoping someone would give me Lena so the OT4 was complete, but I also really love Johnny... 😭 

Lenalee

My otp for them: With Lavi! I had never paid much attention to the two of them as a couple, but after I reread the series last year, they have grown on me. Lavi has been Lenalee’s emotional support many times and it’s clear he cares about her. People would consider that the time he snapped at her for grieving over “losing Allen” was bad, but I quite don’t think he meant harm; rather, I think he kinda acted on impulse because he wanted her to feel better. He marvelously made up for that during the following arcs (”I didn’t come here to stop you; this is your decision to make. Just let me come along.” - 150th Night). Those interactions made me like them a lot as a pairing. My brotp for them: Miranda! She played a big part in Miranda’s life, and I’m sure they got really close thanks to that. Imagining them doing all the girly things together without a care in the world makes me so happy 🥺 It’s like getting to see the happy girl Lenalee could have been, if she weren’t another victim of the war. I also used to ship them because I have no self-control apparently, so. XD Any other ships: Have you all ever considered her and Emilia? 💦 Both share guts and very strong legs, it seems. I can picture them bonding easily over shared interests and it makes me weak. I also love Lenalee and Kanda’s relationship, so they also get the cake here. As for Allen, they make a beautiful pairing, but only when it comes to appearance to me; imo they would need to work many things out, personally speaking, to work in a healthy way for both. Their best friend: Miranda, Jeryy and Kanda! Miranda, for the reasons stated above; Jeryy, because he was her “motherly figure” when she was growing up and needed a feminine, understanding input from someone she could feel comfortable around. And Kanda, due to their relationship as “childhood friends”, in a way. Lenalee loves everyone close to her, but I see these three being the ones she’s the closest to. My favorite nickname for them: “Lena”, given by Kanda. It just sounds so cute and delicate; it suits her. My favorite AU headcanon of them: People often say they would like to see Lenalee abandon the Order and join Allen’s side. I say the opposite; she should stay. She could be a big helping hand on throwing a rebellion of sorts that could benefit him from the inside. That way she wouldn’t need to abandon the people she loves for Allen’s sake, but would still be on his side, on her own way. My favorite outfit they wear: Lenalee has the cutest chinese themed outfits! The ones I love the most are the one she used during the Zombie arc, and this one I saw her wearing on Gray Log. She looks so darn cute, too precious for this world. *gross sobbing* Defining color: When I think of her, I think of several shades of green, namely Fern (#4F7942) and Pine (#01796F). I also think of deep red (#D30000), because of the ribbons she uses on her hair and the shapes of her Crystal Type Innocence. Would I date them: Lenalee is a strong, amazing girl! However, I wouldn’t date her. She can also be headstrong, and so am I hahah At times, I find myself thinking we’re similar in the way we’re insistent (at the risk of being unreasonable) about some things and I quite don’t see that working out at all 😅 First impression: Bland. Nice character, but her design didn’t interest or stand out at all to me. Dark Boots are an awesome Innocence though! Current impression: I really like her. Not one of my favorite characters, and I have a lot of criticism when it comes to Lenalee, but I love her design and the development she got so far. I started taking her more seriously after the fight against Eshi; it was one heck of an awesome fight! The way she put everything on the line on that suicidal move was impressive; so badass. Hogwarts House: As much as I would love to assign her to Gryffindor for her commendable courage, Lenalee’s home is in Hufflepuff! Before anything else, she cares deeply for the people she loves, and will sacrifice herself for them without thinking twice. Loyalty and kindness are her most prominent trait, but that doesn’t make her a pushover in the slightest. Which Pokemon starter they’d be: Torchic! According to the Pokédex entries, Torchic feels warm to the touch and this makes it very huggable. I have this type of impression about her, warm and welcoming. It also develops a fighting type upon evolving, and Blaziken are well known for their strong legs and jumping capacity!

Johnny

My otp for them: With Cache! I’m very weak for couples where the woman looks (and is) stronger than the guy, and we’ve seen her carrying Johnny to the medical wing before - an occurence that, according to her, happens a lot. He seems to have a crush on her, seeing his reaction (fidgety, blushing) when he was saying goodbye to his science friends. According to Vol. 27′s Discussion Room, the scrunchy he’s using to tie his hair used to be hers, and I love how Allen went “hmm, I see...” when he told them she had given it to him hahah (it’s alright, Allen; I ship it too 👌) My brotp for them: Allen, hands down. Differently from what people say, Johnny has always supported and cherished Allen, what he’s doing for him now isn’t out of the blue. It was actually what Johnny told him that started to change his perception on things and realize that his heart longed to be with the ones he loves despite the hardships (”As Johnny Gill and your friend, I’m going to help you!”, - 215th Night). He loves him, and I can tell how important he is for Allen too; he was able to come back from Nea’s inner world thanks to Johnny’s calling that reminded him of his ties with everyone in “Home”. This part has some of my favorite scenes from the entire series; Johnny didn’t even bat an eye, he simply jumped for Allen. I called it Allen would avoid their fall, but Johnny patting his head in happiness and relief and then hugging him, to which Allen returned, as relieved and happy for having come back... It was so sweet and hopeful. It brings good tears to my eyes!  Any other ships: I don’t have any~ Their best friend: I think Johnny is friends with pretty much all of his buddies from the Science Division, but I notice him being closer to Reever. I would like to mention Suman as well; despite him being deceased, Johnny still seems to hold a fond memory of him. And then comes Allen who’s clearly someone important to him, and it doesn’t seem to be one-sided, judging by the time they (used to) spend together having fun. My favorite nickname for them: I don’t have one! But Johnny deserves cute nicknames, let’s give him some, Hoshino-sensei? 👀 My favorite AU headcanon of them: I don’t have one because Johnny is already perfect as a character and for the plot as he already is imho. All I wish is for him to survive until the ending. Hang in there, Johnny! Allen needs you, but for all you’ve been doing, you deserve to make it out alive and earn your own happiness! My favorite outfit they wear: Out of all the characters, I feel like Johnny is the one that has the most “stripped-down” style, quite modern looking. But I love his current outfit the most! He looks great in vests and the long coat definitely reminds me of the lab coats he used to wear while in the Order. I also like a lot more how his hairdo is atm, it looked a little painful to have tied for too long in the previous style (similar to pigtails). His new frame glasses are also pretty! Gives him a more serious look. Defining color: Curiously enough, I think of an array of varied colors when I think of Johnny? I can’t seem to be able to pick one. There is black, yellow like Mustard (#FEDC56), brown like Cherrywood (#CB6F36) and blue like Maya (#73C2FB), to name some. Would I date them: But of course! Johnny is the sweetest guy I’ve ever seen. He gives off all the geek vibes, but not on the annoying way; he looks like the type of person that would talk lots about things that make him happy, excitedly, while you’d look at him go, feeling blessed with all the bright energy vibes emanating from him. He’s also shown to be extremely supportive, and honestly, everyone deserves someone like him 🥺 First impression: Regular geek scientist guy? Current impression: *incoherent sobbing* I love him so much! Why does Johnny not have more appreciation?! Why do people think he’s annoying??? Anyone who loves Allen gotta admit this guy is the MVP. He’s the trope you’d expect for a smartsy science guy, and at the same time, he’s not only that. I’ve babbled enough on that in the reply under this question. Hogwarts House: I’m in a tie between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but I think I would give him Gryffindor. People would be quick to place him in Ravenclaw for his smarts and his love for learning, but this guy is extremely courageous. Despite being seen as “weak” and fragile, he was the one to stand up for Allen in multiple occasions throughout the series. He’s also the one who confronted the Earl to ask him what he wanted with the 14th (196th Night), while no one had really questioned or directly talked to him. He left the Order to go after Allen, knowing he was awakening as a Noah (which is already dangerous on its own) and would be in constant situations of peril because of Akuma and other Noah. Johnny, the “regular guy”, did all that, having no care as to what could happen to him. So, Gryffindor for his extreme courage, but maybe Hufflepuff for his honest loyalty and goodness. Which Pokemon starter they’d be: Grookey! The way Grookey and its evolutions handle wood makes me think they’re skilled Pokémon that can craft things and know how to use them as instruments, just like Johnny does with his scientific creations. The tied “hair” also reminds me of him!

About my abandoned fic “The truth of you”

@eu-nao-sou-um-chapeu​ I’m so sorry for dropping the ball. Thanks for the compliments ♥

Since I am a terrible, terrible person who failed her readers:

Oh my. It’s been a while. But here we go, from what I remember:

Over weeks

Marinette exchanges more emails with crimson.8, trying to set up a meeting with them

Adrien spends more time with Marinette, since she is in a bit of a crisis with the soulmate situation. He realizes he likes her very much.

Chloé and Sabrina's friendship seems to collapse

Adrien notices that Chloé is acting weird, and wears enough bling on her wrist to hide half her palm, AND makeup underneath. So he suspects she got her mark at roughly the same time as Marinette

Marinette investigates Nathanaël, who is acting weird around her.

Adrien catches his father and Nathalie acting like VERY GOOD FRIENDS, standing close to each other to talk, with Nathalie's hand brushing Gabriel's cheek and things like that. I am gabenath filth.

Eventually, the plot thickens.

Marinette sets up a meeting with Crimson 8 at the park, which Chat decides to spy on just to make sure she is safe. Crimson 8 does not show up, but Nathalie does, telling Marinette she is looking for Adrien. Gabriel arrives a bit later to fetch Nathalie. Crimson 8 sends an email to Marinette saying he had an emergency and could not come.

Nathanaël admits to Marinette that he saw her mark and figured out who she was, and that he won't tell anyone. But he is not Crimson 8.

Chloé admits to Adrien that her soul mark is a diamond, and that her soulmate is Sabrina (because diamonds are a girl's best friend). Sabrina noped out because she realized that living the rest of her life with Chloé and her behaviour was not acceptable.

Newspapers imply that Nathalie and Gabriel are soulmates after a paparazzi with a drone takes a picture of them kissing, and it ends up in tabloids.

Then we get to the end:

Marinette sets up another appointment with Crimson 8, who promises he will be there. She tells her friends, and Alya and the girls wait nearby the place to see if it all goes well, while Chat spies from a rooftop.

It turns out they were very right to watch, because it's Volpina who shows up, and kidnaps Marinette, using an illusion to make the others believe Marinette is talking to some teenage boy.

Alya spots Volpina dashing away with the true Marinette, and raises the alarm. Chat gives chases.

Meawhile, Volpina has taken Marinette to a secluded location and tied her up, and is taunting her about how Ladybug will HAVE to come rescue her "soulmate" and surrender her Miraculous. Chat comes to beat her up.

While Chat is busy fighting Volpina outside and much to Marinette's horror, Hawk Moth joins her in the hideout. And instead of talking about "Ladybug, your soulmate", his first words are "Checkmate, Ladybug," as he goes straight for her earrings.

Marinette is not an idiot, so she is NOT wearing the Miraculous, but plain plastic earrings. So Hawk Moth is about to have a fit of rage and great villain soliloquy, but Chat is done with Volpina and kicks him in the face. He frees Marinette, who runs away and gets her Miraculous out of her shoe so she can transform and go kick some supervillain ass.

Once Volpina is deakumatized and Hawk Moth forced to retreat, Ladybug hurries to go detransform and cower behind shrubbery as Marinette. Then she waits for Chat to retrieve her.

As she exits the bushes, she bumps into Nathalie, who was, for some totally non suspicious reason, cowering behind a tree, in the middle of a workday, streets away from her workplace. Nathalie leaves in a hurry.

Marinette thanks Chat for the rescue. And he answers "Thanks for lending me a paw" so she can figure out he knows her secret by now.

When she checks her phone, she discovers messages from Crimson 8 asking her, in order:

where she is

if she knows that Chat Noir is in a fight with an Akuma

If she is okay

She doesn't answer, pretty suspicious about Crimson8 by that point.

She ask a little chat with Tikki about the soul marks and how they work.

Now.

I must remind you that the Kwami (especially Nooroo) are NOT fans of the 'soul marks' and think it's the work of an idiotic god with too much pride.

Nobody is entirely sure how it works. Nobody knows which god started the damn thing.

So Tikki admits that there is no way to be certain that it is triggered by "love", because *of course* if someone believes someone else is their soulmate, they will make every effort possible to have a good relationship.

Which leaves Marinette wondering if she is bound to Hawk Moth. Marinette is a smart cookie.

Meawhile, Adrien goes home and hears Nathalie and Gabriel argue loudly in Gabriel's office, something like "You took things too far" from Nathalie and Gabriel arguing back louder. So he runs off to his bedroom and waits for the storm to pass.

When he comes back downstairs after things have calmed down, he finds Nathalie with her arms wrapped around Gabriel. Both of the idiotics grownup jump away, make lame excuses and run away in separate directions. Adrien is like "I SHIP IT".

Two days go by.

Crimson8 emails Marinette again, telling her that "Obviously, this whole soul mark business is not going to work out," and that he is getting a dark tatoo sleeve to hide the mark so it cannot cause problems anymore. He wishes her "a lot of happiness with much more suited partner Chat Noir". She goes scarlet at that comment, but is quickly distrated by the feeling of tattoo needles stabbing her hand.

Chloe and Sabrina somewhat make up.

Gabriel admits to Adrien that he is considering dating Nathalie.

Chat Noir visits Marinette's balcony and asks her on a date be cause he really, really likes her in all shapes and forms by that point.

Adrien never gets a soulmark. He doesn't care. He found his soulmate just fine on his own.

The end.

Notes:

The fic is a subversion of the soulmates trope, based on the fact that everyone assumes that the mark means people are bound by “true love”, and conform to that because of societal pressure. 

What it actually does is mark people who are bound by fate. So, of course, Ladybug ended up bound to her supervillain nemesis, who is kind of an important character in her personal story.

Fanfiction meme

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

Well, from 2-4 and every now and again, I hit 5.

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

I love to write and in fanfiction, I can explore the characters I love and not spend all my time building a world.

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I am a one shot smut and/or angst writer with a love of humor, too.

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

Annie Proulx's writing is perfect. I'd like to write like her.

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

Tie Your Heart to Mine

- my own Endgame.

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

Love scenes - I like to write smut.

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most?

Long plots - I tend to write seat of the pants so long plots are not my strong suit.

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?

Steve Rogers

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

Clint Barton

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for?

Angst maybe

11. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

Steve Rogers

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

I'm working on a 10K+ thing as a Timely fix-it. I LOVE the old West.

13. First fandom you ever wrote for?

CATS and none of them exist.

14. What’s your favorite fandom to write for?

Right now, MCU.

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for?

I did a My Little Pony Drabble once.

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

Virgin Steve Rogers, first times.

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

A|B|O I think - is it a trope. I also don't care for bondage and BDSM.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

Not sure what WILD means but MLP hinted at porn.

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

I like canon compliant in the big picture but perhaps different pairings and divergent elements, though I have read some really great AUs.

20. Gen fic or shippy stuff?

I like to write smut but I am not shippy so much as a romantic. I like my favorites to love a lot of others, so i write lots of one shots.

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

3 actually, maybe 4 -

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - MCU and other Marvelverse

Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov - MCU and other Marvelverse

Gimli/Legolas - Tolkien

Holmes/Watson - most any Sherlock Holmes fandom that I am familairr with.

22. Do you listen to anything while you write?

Not often. I do listen for titles and themes.

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

I love, love, love prompts and challenges.

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

Normally once shots

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic?

Little bit now and again.

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

Not really. I even did some BDSM writing years ago.

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

well, a long time ago, a young woman told me I was her influence to write and even had photos of all my work that she had printed and put into binders. She considered me one of her first influences.

Some readers love my Brock Rumlow because he's a tragic hero instead of all bad guy.

28. How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

I don't get a lot. Sometimes you get the 'your ship is wrong' at Ao3, but I normally delete those.

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

I did. I wrote a very dark RP fic about obsession, possession and physical and mental torture.

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

Both! I love love and sweetness BUT life is often full of pain.

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

I have one or two in Tolkien who I am fond of -

Bellothia - Thranduil's cook

Araval - lover of Elrond's sons (This fic is not available right now)

And I have a Mary Sue who hasn't been published yet named Annie, who is in love with Steve Rogers.

What's the appeal of balthyuri to you? Imo they don't have as much chemistry as you often make them out to have, Yuri immediately shoots down his sex appeal in the first support, and it almost completely relies on Yuri's pre-established bisexuality. Balthus on the other hand won't shut up about how much he likes women, and his supports with other characters don't paint a pretty picture for his own sexual fluidity

I wouldn’t say it’s a major ship for me mostly because there’s still not much content for them, but I will say that the fandom is sleeping on this pairing that has a fair amount more to pull from in canon than anything gay Claude ship. As various people have pointed out after all, Yuri is the flirty bisexual lord Claude was built up to be pre-release. Some other highlights:

Their support line explicitly acknowledges the possibility of sexual chemistry between them which no other line between two (non-Byleth) men does that I can recall, and then ends with Balthus dubbing them “bash bros” which is as bizarre as it sounds but still feels like it’s pivoting around subtext in the same way that the Dimidue supports pivot around the word “friend.”

This is because, for all that he’s into women and Claude’s mother specifically, Balthus clearly has some issues with attraction to men he’s never thought much about working through. This is most evident with his eagerness to wrestle Dimitri, which comes up on multiple routes and actually happens (offscreen) in AM in a way that does not sound particularly heterosexual. Also, it’s Dimitri; the man’s got a thing for beefy guys plus he ogles Balthus’s abs in that one scene in CS, and this has led to entertaining headcanons about Balthus joining the Lions harem but having to find increasingly silly ways to declare that it’s totally not gay and just bros being bros, etc.

And back to Yuri. He and Balthus do have a paired ending after the bash bros nonsense, one that some have pointed out resembles a trope in Japanese media of planting gay subtext between a yakuza boss and his subordinate. While I don’t know anything about that that’s easily translatable to a Western equivalent where that does seem highly suggestive, like an organized crime Dimidue without the extreme trauma bonding. A lot rougher and less fluffy, but that seems to suit both their characters better anyway. 

I don’t see Balthus as the type to be very comfortable with that aspect of his sexuality, at least not compared to the Lions guys or Yuri himself, but he and Yuri fall into a professional relationship in their ending that just happens to involve them shacking up on the regular where neither of them care to talk about what they’re doing. Not super romantic, but FE16 already has a wealth of different M/M pairings that are romantic in various ways so that’s fine by me.

002: Narcissa, and also Lily; 001: dorcas/Marlene, and lucissa

That’s a lot, but here you go!

002 Narcissa

How I feel about this character: She’ll never be my favorite, but I do love sticking her in as a snarky, snobby side character.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don’t actively ship her, but I think she and Lucius are probably well-suited for each other, and since I don’t have super strong ship opinions on her, I’m open to reading and embracing anything presented to me.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I like the idea of her and Regulus being close. She’s the baby in her family, but Regulus is the baby in the family overall, so I think she would have felt very protective of him and tried to shelter him but also steer him toward more traditional pureblood values if she ever thought he was wavering or acting a bit too much like Sirius. She was devastated when she heard about his death, even more so when she learned it was (supposedly) caused when he tried to defect from the Death Eaters. Narcissa sees a lot of Regulus in Draco and it scares her.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Lucius probably didn’t care much about all of the stuff Draco complained to him about, but Narcissa did. She was the one who always pushed Lucius to take care of anything that hurt or inconvenienced their son.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she had some on the page interactions with more characters. There’s so many she’s related to or would have known that it’s a shame we never go to see her show a bit more complexity when directly confronted with Sirius, Andromeda, or Tonks.

my OTP: Probably Lucius just because it’s canon and Narcissa isn’t a character I spend much time shipping. I like her potential, just

my cross over ship: I don’t read cross overs

a headcanon fact: After Regulus’s death, it was Narcissa who sent a letter to Sirius (care of Andromeda) telling Sirius the facts (such as she believed them to be) about his brother’s death.

002 Lily

How I feel about this character: She’s fantastic! I love her, and I love writing her!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Generally just James. I do enjoy some Jegulily too, but that’s about it. I see Lily as a character who could be very happy and lead a fulfilling life without a romantic partner, so if I’m not shipping her with James I generally just picture her having casual flings and otherwise enjoying life as a happy, confident single woman.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Sirius and Lily! I mean, I wrote a 100,000 word fic about them becoming friends (also some other stuff happened, but mostly friendship). I think they would have really challenged each other (which would have made them struggle to get along for a while, but once they connected it would have been very good for both of them). They called each other on their bullshit, weren’t afraid to yell at each other, but genuinely listened to each other and always apologized the next morning when they fought.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t know if it’s an unpopular opinion, but I think she struggled with self-confidence and self-worth a lot more than most people ever knew. She was probably very good at hiding it behind perfectionism and some rather exhausting facades. The reason she fell in love with James was because he had this perfect mix of pushing and supporting her in a way that finally allowed her to relax and be fully her imperfect self with someone, and that was priceless.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Honestly, the thing I want most is for her to have had some ghostly/afterlife/other moment where she absolutely rips into Snape and all the terrible things he did in his “love” for her.

my OTP: Jily. We don’t know from canon how exactly these two went from antagonistic to deeply in love, but what little we do know implies a story of personal growth, second chances, adventure, and deep, deep love, and that’s gorgeous.

a headcanon fact: Her favorite band is ABBA.

001 Dorcas Meadowes/Marlene McKinnon

when I started shipping it if I did: I probably started shipping it while reading We Were Infinite by @wewereinfinitelywolfstar​. That might not have been the first time I encountered it, but it was the first time it made a mark and made the characters feel real and shippable.

my thoughts: I like this ship a lot! It’s definitely drenched in that First War tragedy, but still gotta love more wlw ships, and that’s what AUs and canon-divergent fics are for.

What makes me happy about them: We no almost next to nothing about these two, so they’re basically blank slates to build upon. I personally head canon them as a Slytherin/Gryffindor couple and love playing with that dynamic. I also love the opportunity to build heroic Slytherin characters.

What makes me sad about them: Canon, obviously. Making them a couple does also add to the “dead lesbians” and “bury your gays” tropes, which sucks.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: It’s pretty common for Marlene to have a tomboy-ish or more wild personality in fics, which is cool, but Dorcas doesn’t seem to get as much personality in a lot of fics where these two appear.

things I look for in fanfic: Well-developed characterizations, often AUs or canon divergent fics that don’t leave them dead.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I’m down for Marlene and Sirius as a ship (Blackinnon). As for Dorcas, I have such strong headcanons about her, but I haven’t really thought about other ships for her. I’d be open to suggestions or whatever I encounter in fics, but honestly in my head canons, Dorcas is very ambitious and career-oriented (falling for Marlene was unexpected and not part of the plan), so I could see her too busy to have a romantic relationship or finding a spouse who could aid or complement her career ambitions.

My happily ever after for them: They live through the war, adopt a couple of orphans. Marlene coaches youth Quidditch teams for their kids and has some sort of freelance job she can do while being flexible schedule-wise. Dorcas rises through the ranks at the Ministry and is elected Minister for Magic instead of Cornelius Fudge. She fucking crushes it. When she’s served a few terms and the kids are out of school, Dorcas takes a job as ambassador to some other country and she and Marlene see more of the world and attend lots of fancy embassy dinner parties.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: They don’t really spoon. Marlene flops like a starfish in bed and Dorcas tends to sleep on her stomach or side. They do cuddle on the couch though, and Marlene likes to lay her head in Dorcas’s lap and have Dorcas scratch at her scalp and finger comb her hair.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Dancing. One of their first dates was a disastrous Muggle dance class where neither of them realized the Muggle instructor wouldn’t understand that they were there as a couple and paired them up with various male partners. They both managed to laugh through it and went home and practiced with each other. After that, they learned a lot of different dances and one of them will often spontaneously pull the other into a dance across the kitchen or living room, even if there’s no music on. They take turns leading.

001 Lucissa

(sorry if this one’s a little disappointing)

when I started shipping it if I did: I don’t really ship it, but I don’t not ship it either, if that makes sense.

my thoughts: I don’t actively ship it. It’s there, it’s canon. I’m fine with it. I just don’t put much thought into the relationship.

What makes me happy about them: They both seem to care for their son very deeply.

What makes me sad about them: I’m sad that we didn’t get to see more of Narcissa sooner, otherwise no real sad feelings toward them.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: When the criminal acts they (particularly Lucius) commit are excused way too easily, or they change their politics way too swiftly and seamlessly.

things I look for in fanfic: I don’t really look for this ship in fics. If it’s there I’m usually fine with it, if not, that’s fine too. I do like fics that give me more of Narcissa’s complexity and inner conflict though. She’s clearly got layers.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I really don’t put enough thought into these characters and their love lives to ship them with other characters. I’m open to it though. No strong preexisting feelings mean I’m pretty open-minded to new ships for these two.

My happily ever after for them: Actually having to make some restitution for their crimes/wrongdoings, then probably moving away from Britain to live quietly in like Monaco or somewhere.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Honestly, they probably have separate bedrooms.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Plotting political coups while drinking very expensive wine.

Send me some HP Character asks!

8, 15, 23, 35? -Robin

8. Favorite fanfic trope?

I really like when the story has this unique sorta charm to it, like a very thick aesthetic I can just,,, drink up. So like any trope can be amazing when done right 😎

But I will create a more specific questionnaire for myself because I like talking 😹😹

Angst:

Best line: “...I love you.”

Best plot: Major character death,,, I mean there’s a lot of good angst prompts and I e a t t h e m u p,,, but like,,, when one knows they’re dying and the other is painfully oblivious,,, it doesn’t matter which one is actually dying either is fucking devastating,,, its beyond words,,,

Best tag: I cant remember the tag but if one never got to confess before the other died I’m s o l d. I debated making unrequited love what I talked bout here rather then major character death but I have never read a really really good unrequited love fic? But just the idea of all the things you could do with that... just thinking about it is making flashes of different ships and moments in my own life and that Bible verse that’s like “when they strike your face, turn the other cheek” or something for some reason is swirling round my head,,,

Fluff:

Best line: “You’re such an idiot.”

Best plot: domestic fluff bores me to be honest so it has to be dynamic 🤔🤔 problem is the really really good fluff fics have all been super creative so I can’t really pin down one trope I liked? I think anything with a lot of sensory language and a sorta rolling, wavelike pace to it will work... that’s pretty vague but I can’t describe it

Best tag: projecting because every fic with that tag has so much personality since it’s so close to the authors heart you all know what I’m talking about

Smut:

Best line: well now that Natalia has a tumblr I am regretting writing this but I’ve committed so. just the word cockslut and that’s all I’m gonna say.

Best plot: ............anything where they hate that they like the other person or cant help it or just anything really dynamic and tense that sorta builds I’m not about wholesome birthday segg or whatever I want SHAME and POWER and HATE and LOVE ok

Best tag: I was horny at 3am so I wrote this bc it guarantees that i am going to discover kinks I did not know I had

anyway

15. Ideal first date?

Picnic!!! Wanna lay in grass and put you head on my shoulder and go to the symphony and fireworks go off at then end and then we kiss ,,,

23. Ideal wedding?

I haven’t really thought about it... weddings are funny... why is everyone staring at us kiss...

I’d imagine some cottagecore bullshit cause I’m gay,,, hopefully ride in on a horse in a nice suit... I wear a flower crown... we’re both crying,,, they’re in a maid dress,,, the priest is a catboy... quackity is ring bearer... none of my friends or family is there cause fuck em... theres a strange subplot where quackity is trying to subtly take pictures of the priests tail and ears to prove that he’s a catboy but something always fucks it up like cadence showing her mom phonemes and verbs inventions,,, the four of us segg afterwards...

35. Ideal proposal?

Saying no and then they cry and then I take out a gun and they beg for their life and then i shoot but another ring just weakly falls out instead and I say “no, will YOU marry ME” and anyone else would be mad cause what the hell that’s really fucked to pretend to reject someone’s proposal and the subsequently threaten their life but they’re my soulmate obviously so that’s actually their dream proposal scenario too. Then they take out another fake gun and pretend to threaten ME, so I take out the one in my other pocket and pretend to threaten them, then they take another one out of their pocket and pretend to threaten me, and we only stop when

1. The cops are called

2. We are crying from joy and love and want to go home and make out to Jschlatt videos

3. We accidentally pull out a real gun and shoot it

4. There’s just a pile of guns on the floor and if we go any longer it’ll be waist-deep and we won’t be able to reach our pockets (where we were pulling the guns from) anymore

tagged by @littlepetbee, thank uuuu <3 i spent way too long thinking about htis lol,

Rules: pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions, tag a bunch o ppls to do it too (if y’all want to, supes no pressure or anything!)

Natsume yuujinchou  (a teenage orphan who sees spirits/monsters sets out to free the spirits who were bound in magical contract by his grandmother after he inherits a powerful book, aided primarily by a spirit who appears as an exasperated fat cat (who is just as fun as he sounds). Titular character is like my Fave boy in the whole world, he’s so kind and soft despite all the hardships he’s faced, the series has very gentle pacing/character development, and each episode is a carefully crafted lil story that have often moved me to tears, chuckles, or outright chinhands of fondness as u watch natsume slowly find a home in the world and amongst the humans &spirits around him. big focus on friendships, there’s like no romance with any of the main characters, lots of cool different creatures (most of whom arent all that scary once u get to know them), its just literally everything i could ever dream for in a show and it exists! <3)

Leverage (team of modern day robin hoods ruin rich peoples’ lives via  delightfully crafted spy cons to give back to the regular folks the rich people hurt. Extremely good, strong found family vibes, and v cathartic)

Brooklyn 99 (follows diverse cast of character who make up a NY precinct. Hilarious, immensely wholesome & groundbreaking, & probs the most lighthearted crime show besides like psych tbh)

Blackspot/Zone Blanche (spoopy french/belgium crime series set in a small village way out in the mountains surrounded by misty, mysterious and murdery woods. eerie and atmospheric, but also like one of my fave characters (everyone calls him teddy bear) keeps a pet guinea pig at work, so it’s not entirely grim and bleak)

Longmire (a modern western crime drama centering around the titular sheriff and others in their small town wyoming county, well written and lot of chracter development revealed alongside some really good case mysteries bc i love trying to figure out whodunits apparently based on a book series well adored by dads btw)

who is your favorite character in 2? (leverage) ahhh,,, this is hard... Eliot maybe? like Hardison is baby ofc, but i relate to elliot a ton (i think if i was on a team i would want to be the hitter tbh?) and love the subversion of so many action hero tropes that he is, also endlessly amused by how very put upon he is despite all his rad/random skills

who is your least favorite character in 1? (natsume yuujinchou) oh seiji matoba for sure, he can go eat a mouldy tree stump. absolutely evil nasty dude

what is your favorite episode of 4? (blackspot) the end of the road. great opening, didnt end up too devastating unlike a lot of the cases, Hermann was gr8, cool twist i hadnt super expected in the plot which was neat.

what is your favorite season of 5? (longmire) probs 1, walter reeally started to piss me off being Such A Man in later seasons, also me being extremely anxious about Henry and his life choices later, that creepy stalker storyline starting up with Someone and when Someone else in the main cast got died really suddenly and upsettingly later on as well, also when a weird relationship started between some of the characters that i really aint feeling so. before all that happened was nice (also sorry if this is super vague, im trying to avoid spoilers)

who is your favorite couple in 3? (B99) Besides Jake/Amy and Holt/Kevin (bc oviously theyre gr8) uh.. i know it was a long time ago and didnt last very long, but i thought rosa and marcus were really sweet? it brought another layer out to her character, even when they broke up that helped rosa starting to show emotional vulnerability and all, even tho it ended it was still just, idk, i liked them.

who is your favorite couple in 2? (leverage) Does trio count, cos Parker/Eliot/Harding 4 life yo

what is your favorite episode of 1? (natsume yujinchou) i have sooo many faves ahhh!!! i dont think i could pick just one on pain of death, every episode is acrefully cosntructed gem all on its own and i have too many that i love and adore to pick jsut one :((

what is your favorite episode of 5? (longmire) Dog soldier!! ive rewatched that one a ton, so so many good bits, really satisfying resolution of the case despite the shitty system that was revealed, and i rmr getting chills by the end the first time i saw it.

what is your favorite season of 2? (leverage) i guess season 1? just, idk, everything being set up and watching all these grumpies/less grumpies who have no plans to stay together start working together as a baby team, and just the joy of seeing their first heist together with the first plot twist, just.. such a delight, but all seasons that ive seen so far were all excellent, it’s a stellar show

how long have you watched 1? (natsume yujinchou) oh idk exactly, like years and years man... defs the longest out of all on this list

how did you become interested in 3? (b99) i think it was just on netflix way back in season 1 and i started watching it, loved it and never stopped? i think that might have even been before it got rlly popular lol

who is your favorite actor in 4? (blackspot) i dont rlly know any of these french peeps? but teddybear’s one of my fave characters, so hopefully the person who plays him is also cool, in which case hubert delattre (if not, Suliane Brahim does a v good job as the lead)

which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5? (natsume yujinchou, leverage or longmire) um... real torn between natsume and leverage here, they’re both such lovely gems that do found family so, so well.. leverage is a team of modern robin hood-esque spies with brilliant writing and exciting heists and multiple delightful plot twists every episode and great character building and so much catharticism in ruining evil rich peoples lives.

but natsume’s title character is one of my very favorite characters ever, hes been through so much but he becomes the most kindest and thoughtful boy ever, and its so, so soft and gentle in its development of characters and their slow build of getting to know each other and becoming friends, and the interactions with the paranormal world are very rarely entirely malicious/scary, and there’s pretty well no romance, at least like no romance for plot/with the main characters anyways, and there’s lots of female characters who have important roles but arent sexualized/killed off for man feels/exist for romo (which sadly cannot be said about a lot of media, especially manga/anime tbh, even leverage does not win entirely on that front).. its defintiely my favorite anime ever (i dont watch loads, but literally no other one can ever come close to topping its perfection),

i guess tho, leverage is over, and natsume is still technically ongoing, so i guess for that then i have to go with natsume?

which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3? (natsume yuujinchou or b99) Natsume for sure, they’re so short its easy to power thru like half a season in an afternoon

if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? (blackspot) i would probably want to be someone who didnt live in villefranche actually haha uh, it’s a pretty spoopity place.. even some of the characters i do like make some Bad decisions that are v bothersome. Dr. Leila barami seems to have a good head on her shoulders tho, so if i Must be a character here then let’s go with her

would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? (b99 or blackspot) oh god... the cheery upbeat department at the 99 meet up with a grim, misty tiny mountain forest village with bleak day to day life, solving crimes amidst small town paranoia and weird maybe cult-related conspiracies and honestbhly something/s paranormal and menacing going on in the woods?? i just... cant see any of the characters even interacting lol, im just picturing jake’s confused befuddled face when he hears something weird but like x 10000

pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? (natsume yujinchou) hm... i mean, one of the things i love about Natsume is that there arent really any romo relationships tbh? at least not with any of the main characters in the main storyline (so far), just like the odd one-off of minor characters (and takashi’s adopted parents ofc, but that’s different). so, yeah, i cant really think of one (although i think the big fandom fave ship of takashi and his worst enemy is rlly.. nope, and i dont know what’s going on there? takashi and tanama however, that would make sense, tho it is not unlikely so i cant answer this question with them)

overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5? (b99 or longmire) b99! cos ya know my annoyances with some of the stuff happening later on in longmire lol, b99 just got better n better as it went along, and it’s still going :’)

which has the better theme music, 2 or 4? (leverage or blackspot) blackspot has a real good eerie atmospheric theme which is gr8 and i love it <3 (leverage’s tune is like, elevator music/cheesy jazzy spy tune, which does suit it tho lol)

and idk, anyone bored and stuck at home who wants to do this? no pressure if ur like nah but if u wanna go ahead.... @creepy-friend-of-darkness @anna-wa @rhinky-thingz @rexbasileus @aeolian-harp @warrenkoles @softbrobarnes @damnitttana @cluelesswolf @moondoggiestyle @blloodorangeisthenewblack @my-nail-beds-suck @frankiecolours @savvylikeyeahhh @lake-effectkidx @justhugharry @casualmisandry @j4ya @galaxygalpals @thesecondwarm @dealwright @knipperdollin @curlycombover @kaspbrakeddie (and if i didnt tag u and u still wanna do this, consider yeself tagged)

Enemies-to-lovers? 😔🙏 (or rivals-to-lovers if enemies is too strong of a word for u)

Thank you for sending this in!!

I really like this for most Ryan ships, because it’s so easy to put him into an antagonistic relationship with people, and then it’s really fun to have people see past the Big Bad Vagabond or Mad King or whatever AU it is, and then in turn see him get off his high horse and actually admit to having feelings for someone.

Specifically, I have a special soft spot for both Freewood and Myan with this. The former because I have a huge soft spot for Freewood in general, but also it works really well for MadVav and in Kings!AUs ((and boy, am I a sucker for the latter at the moment)). Myan is great for this because Michael’s Anger and Hatred is really fun, and he and Ryan play off one another well, and it’s so easy to picture them just trying to hold on to their hatred of one another until that one moment of realisation (maybe when one of them gets seriously hurt? :3c ) and then seeing all the walls come tumbling down.

I also really love this for Jerevin because the playful mock-hatred that Jeremy puts on in videos is really fun to see played straight in fics and then see it turn into gentle teasing and cuddles and the like. Their dynamic is just really well-suited to this trope!

So yeah! I really, really like this trope. It’s all about Character Development and Evolving Feelings and there’s huge potential for angst with a happy ending and I’m all about that. I frickin’ adore it. And now that you’ve reminded me of it, I really want to write it. Not saying I definitely will… but I Might :3