2023 Ship Promo Post!
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rarepairexchangeWe know most of you have been looking forward to this post, so without further ado, here's your chance to share what you love about the rare ships you've nominated and will either request and/or offer! Some of the rare ships in the tagset belong to rare canons. If you're someone who loves trying new canons or is currently on the hunt to become obsessive about something else, this is a great post for you!
You can use the form below to get started. (You don't have to if you don't want to, but we advise trying to make your comment easy to read.)
A few things to consider:
Please try to keep your thirst to one comment.
Please try to limit the number of gifs and videos you post, if you choose to provide some supportive material. (We recommend any more than one gif/video that you can link for anyone with a slower Internet connection.)
Please link and mark anything that is NSFW, especially if you're posting gifs/videos. (We'd also appreciate trigger warnings for the big triggers. If you think it needs a trigger warning, please add it.)
Please remember that this post may contain triggering topics due to canon content that may or may not be warned for, so please view the content at your own discretion.
You can also use this post to ask for canon recs. We recommend advising what you're looking for (a particular medium or a canon that's so many hours long?)—and it wouldn't hurt to mention what kind of ship dynamics/tropes you're into since that's why we're here!
We won't be moderating this page as closely, but we will screen/freeze threads as needed. If you need to get in contact with us, please reply to this comment.
Thanks toyuletide for the inspiration for the form.
You can use the form below to get started. (You don't have to if you don't want to, but we advise trying to make your comment easy to read.)
- Canon:
Ships:
Media:
A summary of the canon:
What do you love about this ship/these ships?:
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?:
Content warnings:
If you want to copy/paste the HTML:
A few things to consider:
Please remember that this post may contain triggering topics due to canon content that may or may not be warned for, so please view the content at your own discretion.
Thanks to
yuletide for the inspiration for the form.
— MOD CONTACT.
Date: 2023-05-24 04:30 am (UTC)Re: — MOD CONTACT.
Date: 2023-05-24 04:51 pm (UTC)Re: — MOD CONTACT.
Date: 2023-05-24 09:00 pm (UTC)Re: — MOD CONTACT.
Date: 2023-05-24 07:17 pm (UTC)Re: — MOD CONTACT.
Date: 2023-05-24 09:02 pm (UTC)Dragoncat (do not want to make a Dreamwidth account lol)
Date: 2023-05-24 04:31 pm (UTC)Ships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Ingrid Brandl Galatea ("Dimigrid")
Media: Video game
A summary of the canon: Fire Emblem is a tactical RPG game franchise with varying tones and art styles throughout its history. Three Houses puts the player in the shoes of Byleth, a professor at a military academy with divine and mysterious origins. Byleth must grow into their role as a teacher, bond with their students, and later lead them in a war that ravages the entire continent. Three Hopes is a spinoff that instead follows Shez, a mercenary who has history with Byleth.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Dimitri is a prince, Ingrid is a knight and Dimitri's childhood friend. They share a past tragedy, an event in which Dimitri's father was murdered, along with Ingrid's first love, Glenn. While most people who play Dimitri's story ship him with Byleth, I truly believe that Ingrid is a fantastic option to be his queen. Their personalities mesh well, they can be each other's rock. It's a genderbent knight/princess and also a childhood friends pairing! What's not to love!
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: There needs to be art. I might request some smut, but fluff is also nice!
Content warnings: Dimitri goes through some pretty rough mental illness for a bit...he turns vicious, feral, but the game itself doesn't show anything too graphic. We do see him snapping and killing a man with his bare hands. We see some mild blood. He loses an eye, which is patched when we next see him.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 07:39 pm (UTC)Ships: Pretty much any but the main three characters are an OT3
Media: TV Shows
A summary of the canon: Comedy Central show with drug/grunge-y/lowball humor. Think The Office meets It's Always Sunny meets Cheech and Chong, but set in a modern office about three roommates who are idiots and BFFs.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: In canon, they always end up choosing each other and having each other's backs, throughout the dumb things they find themselves doing/wrapped up in. Ultimately the show is about their bond and how people survive life with close friendships (but lots of toilet humor and stoner/drug references, it's not for everyone).
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Anything with the boys, really. There aren't many fics and the show is perfect for shipping.
Content warnings: Recreational drug use, toilet humor, dumb comedy (fun, but if you don't enjoy shows like South Park, It's Always Sunny, etc. you probably won't like it).
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 08:05 pm (UTC)Ships: Fake Indou Hikaru/Tsujinaka Yoshiki
Media: Manga
A summary of the canon: A boy's crush dies and is replaced by a body stealing monster, the boy decides to live with the monster like his crush never died.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Toxic canon gays, the story is so interesting and obsessive, Hikaru will be cute and sweet for a while and then will suddenly remind you that he is not human and actually doesn't understand people at all.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Yandere trope, erotic horror, Yoshiki living in the big city and Fake Hikaru shows up.
Content warnings: Murder, body horror, general horror (it's a horror series), child death, mild homophobia from other characters.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-05 05:02 pm (UTC)Cracker (UK TV) - Stuart Grady/Bill Preece
Date: 2023-05-24 09:11 pm (UTC)Ship: Stuart Grady/Bill Preece (aka Bill Nash)
Media: Television (one freestanding two-episode arc)
A summary of the canon: Cracker was a British drama series about a criminal psychologist that aired from 1993 to 1995. While the show serially followed the main character's personal dramas, cases were episodic and generally contained to two-part or three-part arcs.
"Best Boys" part 1 and 2 (03x04 and 03x05) can be watched independently for the story of the intense but doomed romance between Grady, a lonely and repressed army veteran turned factory foreman played by Liam Cunningham, and his charming but troubled teenage employee, Bill, played by John Simm. Bill quickly gets through Grady's defences, but the affair just as quickly crosses from a regular bad idea to an out-of-control downward spiral when a confrontation with Grady's homophobic landlady leads to murder followed by an increasingly unhinged crime spree.
What do you love about this ship?: The chemistry between Grady and Bill, and the tragic potential. These are two damaged and unfulfilled people finding each other, connecting unexpectedly and passionately, and then having everything go wrong for them when maybe things could have been good.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Fix-its and other happier AUs, more optimistic takes on the ending, or a focus on their better moments together.
Content warnings: The episode contains graphic scenes of violence and a child in peril. It ends with Bill being shot by police (fatally, it's strongly implied). Grady is 35 and Bill is 17, although Bill is portrayed by an actor in his mid-20s.
A Bill/Grady Picset
(note: includes a hostage situation and a non-graphic image of Bill's shooting)
Huge fandom, small ships
Date: 2023-05-24 09:37 pm (UTC)Ships: Uchiha Sasuke x Hyuuga Neji, Haruno Sakura x Rock Lee
Media: Anime/Manga
A summary of the canon: An action-adventure anime/manga about a lovable idiot (named Naruto) trying to prove himself and become a powerful ninja in a world that fuses modern and feudal Japan. Along the way, he charms people with his can-do attitude and optimistic outlook, in addition to his nearly unflagging faith in people's better natures. Of course, that's a 30,000 foot overview. Both the anime and manga are a weeks- to monthslong commitment, so this isn't a series to start if you're looking to explore new canons for this exchange!
What do you love about this ship/these ships?:
Neji x Sasuke - this one has sooo much potential! Both "genius" characters are defined by their clans in different ways, and they've both been shaped by the loss of their parents. Neji wants to escape his clan and hates its legacy and traditions, understandably so. Sasuke puts his clan on a pedestal. Put them together, and I'd love to read about them hashing out their differences and diving into their similarities.
Lee x Sakura - I wasn't crazy about this ship until reading one amazing fic about them falling for each other as adults. I want to see these characters come to see each other in a different light upon growing up. And Sakura visiting Lee in the hospital after the chunin exams? I feel like that subplot had some great interactions between them. I honestly wanted to see them get together.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I'd like to see some angsty Lee x Sakura after reading a fic that made me crave more angsty content for this ship. As for Neji x Sasuke, I'd love pretty much anything you create (that complies with my DNWs).
I'm also planning to offer both pairings in my signup!
Content warnings: Both Neji and Sasuke have rather dark backstories in canon, so perhaps a general warning for angst and parental loss? Otherwise these characters are of the same age and unrelated.
Re: Huge fandom, small ships
Date: 2023-05-25 01:11 pm (UTC)Re: Huge fandom, small ships
Date: 2023-05-25 01:54 pm (UTC)The author also has a bunch of other Lee x Sakura fics that I haven't read yet.
As for Neji x Sasuke - it pretty much only exists in my head. I haven't read any fics focusing on this pairing, or seen any fanart of them together.
If you like those ships, definitely request them! I plan to offer both in my sign-up.
Re: Huge fandom, small ships
Date: 2023-05-26 02:34 am (UTC)Death and Cremation (2010) - Jarod Leary/Stan
Date: 2023-05-24 09:51 pm (UTC)Ship: Jarod Leary/Stan
Media: Movie
A summary of the canon: Death and Cremation is an independent thriller (think decidedly B-movie or straight-to-video release) about a bullied teenage goth named Jarod, played by Jeremy Sumpter who takes a part-time job at a crematorium and discovers that his ghoulish boss, played by Brad Dourif, is a serial killer who murders the rude.
Unused to positive attention, Stan soon becomes awkwardly and murderously protective of his young employee. He buys him lunches, lets him sleep over, and responds to Jarod getting beat up by killing his bully for him. For his part, Jarod becomes fascinated by Stan's work and decides to attempt a murder of his own—whose consequences Stan needs to rescue him from when he bungles it.
What do you love about this ship?: Stan and Jarod's relationship is textually positioned as paternal, with Jarod being fatherless and making up stories about Stan taking him on fishing trips. However, the way the growing intimacy plays out between two adult actors (complete with Stan going to watch Jarod sleep after waking up from a sexually traumatic nightmare, and Stan's murder of Jarod's bully involving wordplay about Valentines) in the context of more violent taboo-breaking activities, makes it very easy to interpret their relationship in a shippy way. Despite having a 30+ year age gap, they're both lonely, morbid/murderous outcasts who come to wholesomely and unwholesomely enjoy each other's company.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Honestly, anything shippy with a halfway happy ending. Fluffy afternoons spent doing crossword puzzles together, horror or near misses on their "fishing trips," seduction and sex, hurt/comfort involving Stan's past, Jarod having a chance to protect Stan in turn, or outsider points of view speculating on the nature of their strange relationship.
Content warnings: Graphic violence and wanton murder, although not very gory (largely because I don't think they had any effects budget). Stan is likely in his late 50s and Jarod is still in high school, although he's played by an actor in his early 20s.
Gifset: Stan Lending Jarod His Own Clothes After He Sleeps Over
Gifset: Stan Calming Jarod Down Post-Murder
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 10:37 pm (UTC)Ships: Seventh Doctor/Ace McShane
Media: TV show, audios
A summary of the canon: Long running science fiction that is still going, more lore than you can shake a stick at, some truly glorious monsters. A science wizard travels through time and space in a space ship that's bigger on the inside with his companion - usually a young woman. He met Ace when she was 16, and the two of them stayed traveling together for at least fifteen years (discounting the novels). She's an angry girl with a penchant for explosives (she got kicked out of school for exploding the school's art room), he's a manipulative asshole who's trying to save the universe and sometimes does some truly horrible things people (including the people who he loves).
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: I actually wrote a whole ship manifesto for them, although a lot of it is for folks who know the canon already. You can find it here - https://archiveofourown.org/works/43932891 . I really, really love the way they're so codependent - Seven scoops her up and uses her as a weapon, and the way she loves him and hates him for it. The way they're both so BAD at people, but they love each other. How hard it is to classify them, how they hurt each other but also GET each other, and love each other so much and so ridiculously. Also the age gap is hot, the mentor/mentee vibes of it is delightful. She's his guard dog, he uses her as a weapon, but they take care of each other *so* much. I love the way he does all these horrible things to her, but in the name of helping her. He was going to send her to the Time Lord academy!
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Mentor/Mentee, complicated feelings. Them loving each other and taking care of each other. Her making him admit to the things that he wants, him making her admit her fears. The stuff where she drags him down to her level (physical and raw and all emotions) as he pulls her up to his (the great terrifying, brilliant time an space traveller).
Content warnings: Age gap, manipulation.
Tom Swift
Date: 2023-05-25 12:31 am (UTC)Ships: Tom Swift/Isaac Vega/Rowan (any combination)
The Bait: standoffish bodyguard pines for his billionaire inventor boss (picture Lil Nas X) who is busily seducing a different bodyguard (who works for a secret evil organization plotting his downfall).
The Elevation: all of these characters are canonically queer, all are black, and one is trans (played by trans actor)
The Solution: THREESOME?????? HELLO??? A THREESOME?? OR SHENANIGANS
The Rarepair Exchange Bait: at the time of writing this, there are two (2) fics for the FANDOM on ao3. one of them is a crossover and the other one i wrote o(-< 10eps, 40min each, cheesy present day scifi and levar burton voices the computer/ AI
D20: A Court of Fey & Flowers - Andhera/Hob and Andhera/Hob/Rue
Date: 2023-05-25 12:40 am (UTC)Ships: Andhera/Captain K. P. Hob and Andhera/Captain K. P. Hob/Delloso de la Rue
Media: Actual-Play Tabletop Roleplaying Game Sessions (10 episodes of approximately 2 hours each)
A summary of the canon: A Court of Fey & Flowers is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign played by the improv comedians/actors/writers of Dropout (formerly College Humor), with gameplay elements from Good Society, the Jane Austen tabletop RPG. It's a Regency-inspired romantic comedy romp set in the Fey realm, with six representatives from Faerie courts attending a social event called the Bloom where matches are made, dalliances are dallied, court politics play out through subterfuge and duels, and secrets are revealed.
The game master plays multiple NPCs to fill out the world, but each player has one main character, with the three for these particular ships described below.
Prince Andhera
Heir to the Unseelie Court and son of the Queen of Air and Darkness, Andhera is a dark fey making their reinvented social debut at this year's Bloom. They are trying their best to present themself as a suave and poised royal, but their social awkwardness and big feelings soon shatter that illusion.
Major K. P. Hob
Guard and war hero of the Goblin Court, Hob arrives at the Bloom hoping to make a match for a jilted member of his court rather than for himself. He is a common-born bugbear and an almost permanently at-attention soldier who struggles with the chaos of his court and feels most at home in structured situations. He once bested a young Andhera in battle and spared his life.
Delloso de la Rue
An elegant member of the Court of Wonder, Rue is the calm, capable, and fabulously dressed event organizer of the Bloom. They enjoy the challenge of fostering just enough drama to keep things interesting but quashing it before any part of the event can actually be derailed. Things take a turn when their own romantic life becomes the subject of Bloom gossip.
What do you love about these ships?:
Andhera/K. P. Hob
Andhera and Hob canonically end up each other's wingmen rather than love interests, but the way these two awkward souls fall into such a warm friendship and become so invested in each other's happiness really made me want to see them get together instead. They go from former enemies in war to fighting a (half-naked wrestling) duel, to friendly sparring, to comforting and encouraging each other, to Hob calling Andhera "brother" and honouring him with a potential match in his court—and Andhera not wanting the match but offering to go through with it if it's what Hob needs. I love their mutual awkwardness but desire to connect, their shared appreciation for physical comfort, and the way that Andhera might be the higher ranking but Hob is the older and more experienced one who beat him in battle and can give him advice as a warrior and
manbugbear of the world.Andhera/K. P. Hob/Delloso de la Rue
Rue and Hob have one of the central romances of the show, complete with restrained yearning, concerns about honour, slow-burn revelations, and beautiful declarations of devotion. Rue and Andhera also share a really lovely moment where Andhera makes it clear they really see Rue, and Rue in turn completely reassesses everything they thought about Andhera. With the way Andhera inserts themself into Rue and Hob's early relationship on Hob's behalf, there's just so much potential in the idea of him being folded into it as the love becomes requited.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: A wide range of romance from first times to established domesticity, court intrigue, hurt/comfort, wartime, parties, duels, AUs stemming from Hob and Andhera's engagement in battle or Andhera's previous meetings with Rue, farce and comedy of manners, and magical worldbuilding.
Content warnings: Not really content warnings, but more about access and my requests. The first episode of the show is available for free on Youtube, but the rest of the series needs to be accessed through the Dropout streaming site or through membership on Youtube. Also, Andhera's actor has spoken about playing Andhera as somewhere on the asexual spectrum; I'm extremely flexible about where that 'somewhere' is in fic and will be requesting both things that lend to ace romance or to Andhera exploring their sexuality post-Bloom.
The Official Trailer
The Official Transcripts
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 12:44 am (UTC)Ships: Lu Yao/Qiao Chusheng, Bai Youning/Lu Yao/Qiao Chusheng
In 1920s Shanghai, a slacker gets strong armed into solving increasingly badly written mysteries by a beautiful "police officer" who is openly an enforcer for the mob. The slacker is also bullied by the daughter of the mob boss (an aspiring journalist whose writing is just as bad as the four separate cases of human combustion in the show) into being her roommate, in which position they endlessly bicker as the "police officer" falls deeply (and unspokenly) (thank u censorship) (boo) in love with the main chara.
The two men have great chemistry, or you could enjoy an absolutely stellar M/M/F. Flirtatious interactions abound in canon. Some Chinese language fic, not a ton in English.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 05:12 am (UTC)Ships:Lena/Leon, Graham/Tiara, Kagetsu/Lena/Tiara, Lena/Tiara
Media: anime OVA
A summary of the canon: a short, bittersweet pseudo-magical-girl anime that excels in showing, not telling. the first arc follows Tiara, Kagetsu, and Lena, who each have the same goal: rescue Sara, Kagetsu's little sister, from a mysterious entity known as 'the throne of yord'. these three each have mighty complex relationships with each other that allow for more nuance than your average anime love triangle. the second arc sheds some more light on the backstories of these characters, particularly Tiara and her relationship with her former partner, Graham.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: any combination of Tiara/Lena/Kagetsu is fun and juicy, although they work best as a trio, methinks. one scene from the first arc always sticks out to me: it's been established that Kagetsu is Tiara's ex, and Lena is jealous of whatever they had going on. Lena is trying to intimidate and talk smack, getting all up close and personal with Tiara. she shapeshifts into a form that looks like Kagetsu and embraces Tiara; for a moment, Tiara is simultaneously receptive, guilty, confused. She still loves Kagetsu, but whatever happened between them must have been nasty. And she knows this isn't really him, but Lena. still...
speaking of messy: partners. partners are weird in Shamanic Princess. these relationships are not made up on equal footing, like the title implies. Tiara and Lena both have partners; Graham and Leon, respectively. their partners are beings from another universe, which they have given names, bodies, and autonomy to. of course, that only goes so far; the relationship here is one more akin to master and servant, one where the servant is, admittedly, hopelessly devoted to their master.
case in point: lots of complex, messy relationships to work with.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: smut, let's be honest. character explorations; not really looking for fluff or anything feel-good, with the exception of maybe Lena/Tiara/Kagetsu.
Content warnings: non-graphic major character death and some scenes that could be considered visually unsettling/scary (although as someone who's very sensitive to jumpscares and the like, i was fine during my viewing experience).
side note: i will also be offering to write for these ships!
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 06:05 am (UTC)Ships: Wang Xiaoyu/Xiao Tianyu
Media: Liveaction Mini Drama (40 2-4 minute episodes or one 2.5 hour compilation)
A summary of the canon: Stick to the Script! is a mini drama based on a manhua (which I have not read). It's a transmigration story where a modern music major ends up in the TV show she was watching. She tries to adapt to the cultivation setting, causes havoc with her remote control, and accidentally redeems and falls in love with Tiandao Headquarter's mean fifth disciple. SPOILERS: [ And then she gets sent back to the modern world rip]
It's low budget but is genuinely funny with a few emotional moments. Generally not something that needs to be taken super seriously.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: I'm gonna be honest, part of the appeal for me is the male lead (Wang Haoxuan, he played Xue Yang in The Untamed). But I think they're really cute together too. He was such a stiff character and then he's like a puppy in love with her by the end. And she was determined to hate him at the beginning but then she's so happy when he confesses to her! SPOILERS: [Honestly I think I would have liked them even without the ending, but the sudden separation in different worlds made me go crazy about the lost future they would have had. They were getting married!!]
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Most of my prompts have to do with the way the show ended...
Please check out this show and join me in rare fandom hell! There are 8 works for this fandom on AO3. I wrote 5 of them. Two of the remaining three are multifandom videos.
Our Flag Means Death - Multiple Pairings
Date: 2023-05-25 06:51 am (UTC)Ships: Black Pete/Fang/Israel Hands/Lucius Spriggs, Fang/Israel Hands, Fang/Israel Hands/Ivan, Fang/Lucius Spriggs, Fang/Roach, Frenchie/Roach, Israel Hands/Spanish Jackie, Oluwande Boodhari/Frenchie/Jim Jimenez
Media: Television (10 half-hour episodes)
A summary of the canon: Our Flag Means Death is a historical workplace/romantic comedy set in the Golden Age of Piracy. Very loosely based on real events, it follows what happens when wealthy landowner Stede Bonnet has a midlife crisis in 1717 and embarks upon an eccentric career in piracy that soon brings him to the attention of famed pirate Blackbeard. It's a show with silly humour but also a lot of heart, with an interest in relationships and a bent toward finding love in unexpected places.
The romance between Stede and Blackbeard is a focus of both canon and fandom, but the show is packed with interesting supporting characters from Stede and Blackbeard's respective crews who are just trying to survive their bosses' mad courtship, as well as folks from places ashore, all with their own intriguing canon dynamics or promising possibilities.
A quick rundown of the characters featured in these ships (with linked photos).
Fang - A veteran of Blackbeard's crew who can hurt people when necessary but reveals his teddy bear side on Stede's ship (as well as the rest of his form when he's flattered into posing nude for artist Lucius).
Frenchie - Musician and songwriter, conman extraordinaire, and hopeless klutz. Knows that cats are scary because they're witches and have knives in their feet.
Ivan - Another member of Blackbeard's crew, and Fang's partner in crime. He thinks Stede's crew are a bunch of weirdos but appreciates that his captain is more open and available in Stede's company.
Izzy Hands - Blackbeard's exhausted and tightly wound right hand man who goes from the frying pan of a failing partnership to the fire of having his life upended when his boss meets Stede. Nominally an antagonist, but 90% of the time only succeeds in making things worse for himself and bringing Blackbeard and Stede closer when he tries to separate them.
Spanish Jackie - Owner of a tavern in the Republic of Pirates, a badass wooden hand, and a jar full of the noses of those who've crossed her. She has twenty husbands. Well, eighteen now, thanks to some recent downsizing.
Jim Jimenez - Surprisingly well-adjusted for an orphan raised by a nun to be a killing machine.
Lucius Spriggs - Artist, scribe, former pickpocket, and constant mood. Is fantastic at breakups and also at drawing certain parts of his crewmates' anatomy.
Oluwande Boodhari - Pretty much the only sensible person on Stede's ship, for all the good it does him. Jim's partner, and the kind of man who will take away the scissors right before someone get stabbed.
Black Pete - Totally a real pirate who used to work for Blackbeard before working for Stede. In actuality, an excitable braggart who stops overcompensating quite so much after getting into a relationship with Lucius.
Roach - The cook and surgeon on Stede's ship. As he says, knives are knives and meat's meat.
What do you love about this these ships?:
(Grouping these where possible and trying to be brief.)
Black Pete/Fang/Israel Hands/Lucius Spriggs and Fang/Lucius Spriggs
Lucius has a lovely canon relationship with Black Pete, the sweetest flirtation and affection with Fang (Lucius drawing him naked and admiring his body, and Fang in turn protecting Lucius when he was hurt and calling him "our beloved Lucius"), and a power struggle with Izzy full of sexual tension and what looked like one moment of weakness on Izzy's part away from being a kiss. In turn, Izzy and Fang have a longstanding working relationship and Izzy almost made Pete his First Mate. I just want Lucius to have more devoted older men in his life, and maybe for those men to be his own little harem who also get together with each other thanks to having him in common.
Fang/Israel Hands and Fang/Israel Hands/Ivan
I mean, just look at them. Here too. They might not always have the best relationship, but they have a shared history and knowledge of each other as those who came over to Stede's ship with Blackbeard, and I love a henchman/henchman romance.
Fang/Roach and Frenchie/Roach
These are both based on very small moments and general vibes. For Fang/Roach, it's this picture of a season 2 spoiler and this picture of the actors looking adorable together. Fang and Roach share a fondness for roughing up naval officers and both balance a violent side with a capacity for camaraderie and gentleness. For Frenchie/Roach, it's mostly based on this shot of them cozied up at storytime, their moment of agreement over the science of gender and crystals, and their shared survival instinct that manifests in two very different ways. We haven't seen all that much of them together, but what there is makes me want more.
Israel Hands/Spanish Jackie
It's the way Izzy ran his hand through his hair before approaching her with his plan to take down Stede, and the way she looked him up and down in consideration before letting him in. Izzy's the type who loves to serve, and Jackie has an opening in her collection for a new favourite husband.
Oluwande Boodhari/Frenchie/Jim Jimenez
Oluwande and Jim have a wonderful canon romance, and Frenchie and Oluwande had fantastic chemistry when they were pulling off a con together and Frenchie was calling him "babe." Throw in the fact that Jim and Frenchie may well be having a shared experience next season, and I just want to see what these three could get up together.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Anything and everything, as long as it's got a happy ending. Backstory, far future, AUs, cozy vignettes, high drama, intimate moments, humour, hurt/comfort, D/s, it's all good.
Content warnings: The show includes scenes with cartoonish gore, a lot of profanity, and some isolated moments of male nudity.
Fanvid: it's the hard-knock life by
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 07:11 am (UTC)Ships: Shi Guang/Yu Liang
Media: Live action drama (36 episodes, free to watch on iQiyi. Also apparently on Amazon Prime but I can't speak to that)
A summary of the canon: In early 2000s China, Shi Guang is the only one who can see Chu Ying, a go expert from the Southern Dynasty. Although he's reluctant at first, Shi Guang comes to love the game of go and works to become a professional player. Along the way he meets a variety of friends who leave their marks on his life.
This drama is an adaptation of the popular Japanese manga/anime. Some things are changed, including the setting and the characters' names, and some things are expanded on. I haven't watched/read the original story, but I know enough to pick out a few easter eggs in the drama!
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: These boys are obsessed with each other in a way that other people notice. Their relationship in canon goes something like one-sided rivals > rivals > friendly rivals. It's not canon, but there's definitely a lot of material for extrapolating their relationship to romantic without much stretching. They literally share a bed at one point to try to get more comfortable with each other to play a pair game.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Mostly post-canon romance. Plus soulmate AUs bc I accidentally started brainstorming that in my sign up
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 07:24 am (UTC)Ships: Li Yu/Mu Tianchi
Media: Novel (Originally in Chinese, full English translation here)
A summary of the canon: A modern guy transmigrates into a historical novel... as a fish. He becomes the pet fish of one of the princes and eventually becomes his love interest (as he gets a human form back at least partially). He marries his prince and has a bunch of babies with him. Generally humorous tone, palace intrigue.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: I actually discovered this novel bc someone wrote a SVSSS Bingqiu AU using the plot of DTPPF as inspiration. Li Yu reminds me a lot of Shen Qingqiu in personality. Mu Tianchi dotes on him! They are very cute together and also good parents. Watching them figure each other out before they got together was very entertaining!
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Canon-adjacent content... post-canon, missing scenes, canon divergence
Content warnings: Mu Tianchi is mute. However, he does become healed of that disability by the end of the novel, which I understand is not to everyone's taste. There is canon mpreg and the kind of violence that generally accompanies Ancient Chinese palace intrigues.
P.S. There are only 3 fics on AO3 for the whole fandom
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 08:35 am (UTC)Ships: Saviorshipping | Ryoken/Spectre/Yusaku
Media: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains
A summary of the canon: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains is the fifth spin off of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series, it follows the protagonist Fujiki Yusaku, a boy whose past was stolen from him due to a mysterious incident known as the Hanoi Project, a project which involved five other children aside from him. He endeavours to take revenge on those who had kidnapped and experimented on him, the results of which was an artificial intelligence with free will known as the Ignis, his being the Dark Ignis he later names Ai.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Yusaku and Spectre are narrative foils with seemingly nothing in common save for experiencing the same traumatic event: the Lost Incident/Hanoi Project. They came away with totally different recollections and reactions to it, Yusaku hated it, Spectre loved it, Yusaku wants to protect the Ignis, Spectre wants to kill them. The only thing they really, truly have in common is Ryoken, the son of the man who conducted the lost incident. Yusaku wants to save/reconnect with Ryoken and Spectre has undying loytalty unto him as his second-in-command of the Knights of Hanoi, the organisation that Yusaku is trying to take down but later allies with when new threats arise.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I have no idea, I'm horrible at setting prompts. I would kill for anything tbh, just as long as its equal on all sides, Yusaku has TWO supervillain boyfriends, Ryoken has TWO yanderes pining for him, and Spectre has TWO weird sexual fixations on these two.
Content warnings: canon typical child abuse? Yusaku and Spectre were starved and electrocuted as children, Ryoken watched and had a generally neglectful father, etc
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 04:11 pm (UTC)Ships: Hikari/Agnea, Hikari/Agnea/Partitio
Media: jrpg
A summary of the canon: set in medieval fantasy world about 8 interconnected storylines between travelers. Agnea is a young dancer working to become world-renowned; Hikari is an exiled prince fighting to save his country from war and genocide; Partitio is a traveling merchant that wants to bring welfare across the continent.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?:
Hikari/Agnea
i was rly obsessed with these two immediately upon playing the game and idk why. bc of how little in-game character interactions there are, there soooooooooo much room for creativity. i think they have a nice duality: agnea is a small town country girl who knows how to rough it, and hikari is a richboy prince with a lot of former training, but no real street smarts and certainly no social skills. they both care deeply about family, but have complicated relationships with such. they're both sweethearts! and care deeply for their friends <3 hikari is a pacifist and only kills when he must, possessed by a hateful, bloodthristy side of himself (which,,,,,,,,,, SO much potential for angst right there) and agnea is no murderer but will ABSOLUTELY cut a bitch to protect those she loves, no hesitation. remember how she cut down that bear in her prologue? i like to think that of the two, she's a little more bloodthirsty, itching for a fight, where hikari would be content to never touch a sword again. also!!! hikari's little dancer outfit is cute; i like to imagine her teaching him dance, and in exchange, maybe he teaches her the way of the warrior? they clearly have a friendship that goes deeper than simply being apart of the group, and i just think they're cuteeeeee.
Hikari/Agnea/Partitio
an extension of my love for the previous ship. parti joins the group and is like oh my god.... she's so pretty and capable and funny..... oh my god..... hes so handsome and capable and funny without meaning to be..... WAIT. let these three shower each other with love. i like to imagine what sort of funnies will arise from hikari, newly crowned king, dating a world-famous dancer AND a sweet little country boy. like how great would that be. agnea always finding time in between performances to see her boys? i feel like parti would do the most traveling, and would always alter his routes to make sure he sees em, sometimes separate, sometimes together. i'm weak for the caught-in-the-act... wait-do-you-wanna-join trope. and i like to think parti is the only one who knows his way with alcohol, and can get a laugh out of watching the other two get shitfaced for the first time. drunken confessions, anyone?
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: both post-canon and fics set during canon! smut's cool, but probably not the main thing i'm lookin for. Agnea & dancing shenanigans... angst with a happy ending... stuff involving Hikari's shadow hold... JUICY!
Content warnings: the game isn't graphic at all, but certain routes have implied/referenced heavy-hitters. you can find a full list here.
side note: i will be offering to write for these ships as well!
no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 04:23 pm (UTC)Ships: An Zhe/Lu Feng
Media: Book (Original in Chinese, English translation published in two volumes by Peach Flower House and available in print or ebook)
A summary of the canon: In a post-apocalyptic earth, what is left of humanity shelters in walled cities to avoid the creatures and contamination outside. A mushroom gains a human form and goes to look for his spore, which was taken by humans. When he gets to the Northern Base, he draws the attention of the Arbiter, whose job it is to immediately execute anyone who has been infected by xenogenics. An Zhe (just a little mushroom)/Lu Feng (the Arbiter) is the canon ship for the book. The apocalypse keeps happening around them.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: The book is from the POV of the non-human character, so it's really interesting to see their relationship developing from the perspective of someone who doesn't really have a frame of reference for human relationships. They have a lot of really cute moments (like Lu Feng giving An Zhe his jacket to wear). I like how they always come back to each other even with everything else that's going on. Other people assume they're together before they are, while An Zhe is just sweating bc he's not human and he's not sure what Lu Feng can tell about that since he hasn't killed him yet.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Alternate POV, post-canon, mpreg/kidfic, smut, fluff
Content warnings: Lots of violence and death, a lot of it at the hands of one of the main pairing. It wrestles with the morality of things like killing some people to save others and putting that choice in the hands of specific people without oversight.
Uncle (TV 2014) - Andy King/Val Pearson
Date: 2023-05-25 11:20 pm (UTC)Ships: Andy King/Val Pearson
Media: Television (19 half-hour episodes)
A summary of the canon: Uncle is a comedy about Andy, played by Nick Helm, who's a depressed, impulsive, and cantankerous musician in his thirties whose rock career and life in general are in a slump. After he finds himself called upon to babysit his awkward twelve-year-old nephew, the two form an unlikely friendship (and a band) that puts Andy on the road to figuring himself out, reconnecting with music, and forming meaningful relationships with family and friends.
One of the people in his circle is his ex-girlfriend's father, Val, played by Con O'Neill in a supporting role. Val is a middle-aged nonbinary former punk rocker turned events manager who now owns a gay club. Fiercely protective of his daughter and initially not at all a fan of Andy from the days the pair were dating, he soon becomes a mentor figure for Andy, dispensing sage and vaguely threatening advice from his own challenging journey as well as the occasional bit of, ah, application of force below the belt that Andy really doesn't seem that opposed to.
The show has a warm heart under its sometimes darker and rougher-edged humour. While a lot of the comedy arises from the way Andy makes things more difficult for himself and the first six episodes take him to a new low, he nonetheless grows in very satisfying ways throughout seasons 2 and 3, and the finale is one of my all-time favourites.
What do you love about this ship:
The Payoff
Andy's character development is closely tied to times when Val is advising him, but we know he's arriving when Val steps back and expects him to stand on his own—and that he's reached someplace to be proud of when he's the one that Val can reach out to for a willing ear and good advice. Andy's final conversation with Val on the show involves him seeing Val's strengths and insecurities, kissing his hand, and by his own admission accidentally hitting on him.
The Chemistry
Even when they're antagonizing each other—or especially when they're antagonizing each other—there's a flirtatious note to it. Andy compliments Val's appearance. Val climbs into bed with Andy to grab him by the tender parts to threaten him (with a reaction from Andy that implies he doesn't hate it). Andy forbids Val from flirting with his father, which Val goes ahead and does in front of him anyway to vex him. They've got each other's full attention in scenes, and when they don't, it's something the other one wants to correct.
The Potential
There's a little moment I love where Andy is about to go out on stage, and Val is waiting in the audience watching for him, dressed very much like the sexy girlfriend in an early '90s music video. We can see that Val knows what's keeping Andy as he has a crisis over whether to play, and when Andy stakes the stage and starts singing, there's a glimpse of Val mouthing along to the lyrics. That combination of how they know each other and the way they overlap as musicians (including another great scene where Andy has angry notes for all his volunteer session musicians but has to admit that Val was all right) makes me want to see what they could be together moving forward.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Primarily things set near the end of the series and beyond, although AUs and backstory would be fantastic too. Anything to do with music or fashion. Comedy, drama, bad-idea-sex, genuine romance, Andy re-examining his sexuality, Val re-examining his taste, it's all good.
Content warnings: The show deals with some difficult topics such as mental health and substance use as well as cancer treatment. The series opens with Andy poised to attempt suicide before a call from his sister diverts his plan.
Video: Val Giving Andy Life Advice
Picset: Val Taking a More Hands-On Corrective Approach (SFW because of where the screen cuts off)
Gifset: Andy Being Earnestly Sweet to Val
We Only Kill Each Other - Jonas Kaminsky/Levi Solomon
Date: 2023-05-26 06:34 am (UTC)Ships: Jonas Kaminsky/Levi Solomon
Media: Comics (5 issues / 1 trade paperback)
A summary of the canon: We Only Kill Each Other is a comic book miniseries by Stephanie Phillips and Peter Krause, set in New York City in 1938. Two Jewish gangsters—one a young up-and-comer, the other a veteran mob boss—are locked in a turf dispute that's one bad night away from murder. New York doesn't seem big enough for the both of them, but their rivalry is put into perspective when an unexpected bust and a terrorist attack force them to team up to take down some homegrown Nazis.
Comic Panel: Jonas Kaminsky
Comic Panel: Levi Solomon
While working together to foil the German-American Bund's next move, Jonas and Sol confront the generational and cultural differences that divide them as American Jews, bicker, protect each other, and by the end of it are sharing secrets and sitting down to a Shabbat dinner together.
What do you love about this ship?: The canon Enemies to Reluctant Allies to Friends trope—which just makes me want to append "to Lovers" at the end of it. Jonas and Sol have a fascinating dynamic with a wealth of backstory and further potential revelations to explore. They have so much in common but start off defining themselves by their differences, and with Jonas kicking hard against the age and experience gap between them. The way they spark off each other doesn't just bring out the most interesting sides of their characters, but is also what makes it so satisfying when they start truly operating as partners. Their last scene together is a hell of a thing and leaves the door open for a future where they spend more time together.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Everything from a future partnership, to missing moments within the comic, to flashbacks to their earlier interactions, to AUs exploring Sol's comment about having been open to taking Jonas under his wing. Other cases, other clashes, quiet nights in, or lively nights out.
Content warnings: Nothing I can think of that isn't covered by the summary: some violence, portrayals of antisemitism, etc.
Comic Pages: Jonas and Sol on the Case
Comic Panel: Jonas's Hand on Sol's Shoulder
Comic Panel: New Friends Having a Smoke Together
Mathieu of Neuchâtel/Rüdeger of Bad Tölz (Pentiment)
Date: 2023-05-26 04:34 pm (UTC)Ships: Mathieu of Neuchâtel/Rüdeger of Bad Tölz (Pentiment)
Media: Video Game
Pentiment is a 2D role-playing adventure, so you don’t need specific gamer skills to play it! You move the main character to visit places and read dialogues. It's also not very long (14½ hours for the main story according to How Long To Beat, and that's enough to see the content about my ship). The gameplay is similar to Disco Elysium, if you’re familiar with it.
Pentiment is available for PC (Windows) on Steam, for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S platforms. There are also multiple Let's Play videos on YouTube, in case you prefer to watch it.
A summary of the canon: The story takes place in a mountain town in 16th century Bavaria. You play as Andreas Maler, an artist with personalized background and skills who ends up involved in murder cases and a mystery to solve.
Some details that you might like:
• You talk to a lot of different characters with interesting personalities, and their fate often depends on your answers and choices. Some people will get better because of you and some of them will die, but you can replay the game to see what happens if you do something different.
• You can pet the cats and the dogs you meet! :D
• The art is great! If you’re interested in history, literature and paleography, this game is definitely for you. The writing changes based on the characters’ education and there are accurate manuscripts and printed books from different eras and countries.
• Even if most of the culture you see is European, there’s an Ethiopian priest that can show you his Ethiopian Bible (all you have to do is accepting to have dinner with him). Among European characters, you can also interact multiple times with a Romani man and (later in the game) you’ll meet several Jewish characters.
• There are a lot of good female characters!
• The ship I love is a canon m/m pairing. There is also a heavily implied f/f ship between two women in the town, where it looks like their husbands know and are fine with it. This game has a lot of ship potential in general, and all the ships are eligible for this exchange. :)
What do you love about this ship?
Brother Mathieu and Brother Rüdeger are Benedictine monks who live in the monastery with the other brothers. First of all, I’ll be honest and say that they are not main characters, so if you play the game just for them, you might be disappointed; however, you can meet them multiple times in different moments of the story, and they are a canon m/m ship with great potential, so if you pay attention to their interactions, you’ll remember them for sure!
I absolutely love the way you find out about their secret affair. While you’re investigating the first murder case with the MC Andreas, you can choose to sneak inside the library of the abbey during the night (of course, you must do it! :D); after Andreas finds what he’s looking for and tries to leave, he accidentally sees Mathieu and Rüdeger having a tryst in the library. The two monks hold hands, kiss and are very obviously going to do more. While Andreas is hiding, you can choose between 3 options: 1. wait for them to finish, 2. talk to them, 3. run away. To see more about this ship, my personal recommendation is to run away (and talk to Mathieu the following day) or talk to them immediately. Waiting is good if you want to make out with a nun the following day, but it’s not an option related to this ship.
Unless you are very mean to them on purpose, I love that Mathieu and Rüdeger will be happy! In a world where a lot of characters can die or have a sad life even if you’re trying to help them, this is definitely a lot! And even if you threaten them and Rüdeger runs away, there is still fic potential for good fix-its!
I also love that Rüdeger is a cantor and you can actually listen to his beautiful voice singing. I always ended up spending too much time inside the church just to listen to him – and Mathieu is probably also enjoying that part of the day while he’s standing close to the sacristy. I also like that Mathieu is doing his best at his job, he takes care of the shrine and is a guard inside the church (which is interesting because his eyesight is not good, but he was still chosen to do that).
Other reasons to like this ship:
• The height gap! I usually feel neutral about height gaps, but it is very cute to see it between them.
• The opposite personalities. Rüdeger is a big guy everyone likes, a kind and gentle soul who wouldn’t hurt anyone; Mathieu is a small mean guy who judges everyone (but he’s still willing to help people in need).
• The conflict between their celibacy vows and their homosexual desires. In the 16th century becoming a monk wasn’t always a choice, but Rüdeger and Mathieu’s Catholic faith looks genuine. They are afraid of getting caught, but that doesn’t stop them from doing something forbidden. It’s interesting to explore their feelings on the matter and the way they might feel guilty about what they’re doing, at least at the start.
• If you like couples growing old together, there’s a lot of potential for them! <3
• Their relationship is obviously sexual, so there’s a lot to explore in that sense too. What do they *actually* do alone in the library? :D
• There's great hurt/comfort potential. I especially recommend visiting the monks in the library in Act II, there's a great scene with Rüdeger.
• I don’t know if it’s true because I haven’t finished Disco Elysium yet, but Pentiment writers admitted that they accidentally made Mathieu “a Kimlike”.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?
Romantic missing scenes! Any rating, any era, any route as long as it has an eventual happy ending. Even if this ship is canon, we only see short moments about their relationship. We don’t know anything about their first meeting, their first kiss, how their secret relationship started, what they did between Act I and Act II, between Act II and Act III, post-canon, etc.
Also, the rare fan-content with them is all G or T rated, but we know that their relationship is sexual, so I’m definitely into Mature/Explicit missing scenes too! :D
I would also love to see romantic art with them together!
Content warnings:
From the developers:
Pentiment contains public executions, stylized gore, suicide, references to abortion, frequent strong language, references to sexual assault, and references to sexual activities. Small parts of the game also reference notable alcohol consumption and incidental ergot-induced hallucinations.
Based on common DNWs I see in exchanges, I’ll also add that this game has a lot of off-screen child death, because it’s pretty realistic about the mortality rate of the period, and both on-screen and off-screen hunting/fishing scenes with animal harm and death.
If you have questions about this game and this ship, feel free to ask here! ^_^
no subject
Date: 2023-05-26 05:32 pm (UTC)Ships: Falcon Lightwing/Iceman Hotti
Media: Anime (26 episodes)
Content warnings: Boob and feet fanservice that feels unnecessary, especially early on
For all the other questions, I've written a manifesto about this ship!
no subject
Date: 2023-05-27 01:41 am (UTC)Ships: Costello Jones/Florian Selby
Media: TV
A summary of the canon: Rain Dogs is a half-hour 8 episode series about best friends Costello, a stripper and currently homeless single parent, and Selby, her rich gay best friend who just got out of prison. They're fucked-up, they're co-parents, they're in an emotionally, physically, and financially abusive relationship with each other! It's funny, it's brutal, it's beautiful, it's the best television I've seen in years. Also I'll think you'll be the first to write this fandom on AO3 if you write it for me.
Content warnings: Every typical bad thing that happens to people.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-27 02:22 am (UTC)Ships: Shurale/Lumberjack | Dhizgit
Media: Fairy tale
A summary of the canon: Shurale is a fairy tale in verse about Şüräle, which are basically trickster forest spirits who tickle people.
There's a translation here: https://uofa.ru/en/poema-shurale-na-russkom-yazyke-muzeinyi-kompleks-gabdully/
And a more literary translation here: http://gabdullatukay.ru/eng/work/1907-year/gabdulla-tukay-shuraleh/
no subject
Date: 2023-05-27 11:54 am (UTC)Canon 1: Cinderella Phenomenon
Ships from canon 1: Lucette Riella Britton/Rod Benedikt Widdensov
Media of canon 1: Video Game / Visual Novel / Otome game
Availabilty of canon 1: Cinderella Phenomenon is a PC game, available on Steam and Itch.io.
A summary of the canon 1: Cinderella Phenomenon is the story of Princess Lucette Britton (Daughter of King Genaro Britton III and Crown Princess of Angielle). She is an aloof and closed-off princess who has her life turned upside-down when a witch decides to curse her to try to "teach her to be kind". Because of the curse, Lucette is forgotten by the most of the townsfolk and even her family. In order to break the curse and go back to her royal life, she has to complete 3 good deeds. She is then advised to choose someone to team up with, then she teams up with one of her 5 love interests so they can help each other break their curses.
What do you love about this ship/these ships from canon 1?: Lucette and Rod are one of the best enemies-to-lovers romances I've seen. They had an understandable reason for their initial dislike, not trivial, but also not too serious. None of them came off as childish, but the reason for their initial enmity wasn't so serious that the romance could be irrealistic. They had a gradual build-up in their relationship, going from enemies - to reluctant allies - to friends - to lovers. They are both tsunderes that don't go overboard with their abrasive/tsun side and their abrasiveness was understandable.
What sort of things are you likely to request for the ship(s) of canon 1?: Fluff
Content warnings of canon 1: There is the "flirty stepsiblings" trope in the game since Rod, who is one of Lucette's canonical possible love interests, is also her stepbrother (though you don't have to play his route, of course. There is also parental alienation, abusive parent (which includes psichological abuse from parent against child), mentions of a genocide, mentions of torturous situations envolving excruciating pain (but it's only mention, so nothing like this happen on-screen); mentions of non-con situation (though, again, it's only mentions, so it doesn't happen on-screen).
Now onto canon 2 ...
Canon 2: Hollywood U
Ships from canon 2: Female MC/Thomas Hunt
Media of canon 2: Mobile video game
Availability of canon 2 The game itself unfortunately is not available anymore since it was taken off the app store. But there are still some let's plays and, of course, the fanfics.
A summary of the canon: The MC gets into the prestigious Hollywood University with the help of some anonymous benefactor. After that, MC trives to make a name for themselves in Hollywood, but has to go against some inescrupous people and some entitled people. Of course, MC finds many friends along the way too.
What do you love about this ship/these ships from canon 2?: MC and Thomas are a great, an amazing grumpy/sunshine couple. And I love their banter.
What sort of things are you likely to request for the ships from canon 2?: Fluff
Content warnings of canon 2: Well, I think Hollywood is generally CW-free (or very close to it, at least), but ... there are mentions of a past age-gap romance in which the younger person was barely legal ... and one of the possible love interests for the protagonist is their professor, Thomas Hunt, which means there is possibility of teacher/student romance, though you don't have to choose Thomas as a love interest for the MC if you don't want to.
And ... it was said we could use this post to ask for recommendations, right? I would like some recommendations. So ... which fandoms have good protagonists with an aloof, closed-off personality? Like a tsundere or maybe a kuudere or a dandere? Which fandoms have good M/F grumpy/sunshine couple? (it doesn't matter who is the grumpy and who is the sunshine). Which fandoms have good grumpy/grumpy couples? I'm looking for something without explicit content that is more on the light-hearted side. A bit of angsty is okay, but I'm not looking for something heavy or dark. And I prefer something for general audiences or PG or PG-13. Nothing explicit. No horror stories. Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2023-05-28 03:46 am (UTC)Ships: Kathleen Townsend/Michael Graves
Media: TV Shows
A summary of the canon: Poker Face is a Columbo-style murder-of-the-week show centered around Charlie Cale, a woman who is able to accurately detect when other people are lying. Kathleen Townsend and Michael Graves appear in only one episode, Exit Stage Death. The episode is self-contained; you don’t need to watch any other episode to understand it. Kathleen and Michael are former stars of TV cop show called Spooky and the Cop, and when we first see them, Kathleen is begging Michael to appear in a play with her, and he agrees very reluctantly, because they appear to despise her. Poker Face streams on Peacock in the United States, and Sky Max in the UK. I’m not sure about its availability elsewhere.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Kathleen is played by Ellen Barkin, and she is absolutely incandescent in the role. The fire between Kathleen and Michael is fascinating, and the relationship is deeply complicated. I could watch an entire series of these two together.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Pre-canon backstory, like they’re time working together on Spooky and the Cop, or an AU where they call off the play for some reason. Either true love blossoming, or a vicious, messy, passionate relationship.
Content warnings: As this is a murder-of-the-week show, a murder does occur in the episode. There are several other murder attempts.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-28 09:45 pm (UTC)Ships: Richard "The Shade" Swift/Charles "Dr. Mid-Nite" McNider
Media: Live Action TV
A summary of the canon: Stargirl is about Courtney Whitmore, a teenager from LA who moves to small town Nebraska and discovers that her new stepdad Pat used to be a sidekick for the superhero Starman, until Starman and the rest of the Justice Society of America were killed by the rival supervillain team the ISA ten years before - and more importantly, finds the cosmic staff that used to be Starman's to become a superhero herself, because the ISA is still around and making plans in her new little town.
All three seasons are currently streaming on MAX and the first two seasons are out on bluray (Shadenite is mostly containted in S2, but it's such a good show!)
(Spoilers from here on!)
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: The Shade comes to town in S2 seeking an artifact called the black diamond that's connected to a very dangerous villain named Eclipso, but since the Shade was also a member of the ISA and Pat saw him murder Dr. Mid-Nite with his own two eyes, Courtney and her friends don't exactly trust him (and to be fair, he doesn't do a whole lot to help his case there.)
Until Courntey's friend Beth, the new Dr. Mid-Nite, accidentally makes contact with the still very alive but trapped in the Shadowlands Dr. Charles McNider and catches him up, telling him that the Shade is there ("The Shade is there?") and that don't worry, they know better than to trust him. "I know he tried to kill you."
"Kill me? No, Beth, he saved me."
And a ship launches! 🖤
Rewatching S2 with the knowledge of what is actually up with the Shade and why he's doing all of this may be the most fun I've ever had with a canon.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I will take ANYTHING. JSA era fic when the two of them are obstensibly enemies (but clearly not completely, or in any case they don't stay that way.) There's an important moment that's referenced but not scene where after Eclipso kills McNider's young daughter the Shade shows up drunk and guilty in his house because he feels like he should have prevented it that I would love to see fleshed out, especially if McNider did not say everything that happened that night. How did they become friends? Did any of the other JSA know? McNider knows the Shade's whole tragic backstory! When did that conversation happen??? When did the Shade start calling McNider "Charles," and why does McNider let him? I love all those gaps getting filled.
And there's a ten year gap between the end of S3 and the epilogue that is a perfect setting for any kind of fic, as the two of them figure out who they are and what they are to each other after everything that's happened, the presumed deaths and the near deaths. Do old enemies come back? Old friends come back from the dead to find things are very different?
I love them and would love any fic about them.
Content warnings: Their story in particular deals with the death of a child - the death happens offscreen but it's very clear what happened, and Rebecca McNider's death is brought up multiple times. In general Stargirl also has the usual superhero violence and deals with the trauma involved actually really well, and the show deals a lot with the relationships between the kids and their parents, both the heroes and the antagonists, and some of those relationships are...not good (and not just on the villain side.)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-29 01:07 am (UTC)Ships: Andy Farrant/Jane Douglas
Media: YouTube channel Outside XBox: https://www.youtube.com/@outsidexbox
A summary of the canon: These two are fellow hosts of a video game YouTube channel. They are not actually involved with each other romantically and both have partners IRL, but oh god the *potential!*
What do you love about this ship?: They are both gorgeous and have such amazing chemistry! Their banter is absolutely top quality (and could occasionally be interpreted as flirtatious). When I watch them/listen to them, it just makes me sigh and think "they would make such a great couple!"
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: There is literally no Outside XBox RPF currently on AO3, so I would be happy to receive just about anything. I don't think of it in terms of a speculative 'oh i bet they're actually cheating on their partners with each other' thing in any sense - more of a 'what-if' fantasy of sorts. But I'm open to whatever scenario comes to mind, whether it's sweet and fluffy or full of drama.
Content warnings: None! Their content is generally wholesome and SFW.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-30 04:32 pm (UTC)Ships: Beatriz Soria/Pete Wyatt
Media: YA Novel
A summary of the canon: The Sorias are a Mexican family living in the Colorado desert in the 1960s. They have the ability to perform "miracles," i.e. making the darkness inside people into an external phenomenon. The pilgrims must then work on themselves until their darkness leaves, but the Sorias can't help without risking their own darkness. With young Daniel's decision to help the pilgrim he loves, and the arrival of Pete, who isn't here for a miracle, the lives of the whole Soria clan are shaken up and their traditions questioned.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Beatriz is a quiet but intensely thoughtful, logical girl always thinking about the universe. People say she doesn't have feelings and she's started to believe it. Pete's dream of joining the army was put off by his heart defect, and he throws himself into physical labor to avoid thinking about his own feelings. They are immediately drawn to each other but don't immediately act on it because of their issues, but events bring them together. I love that Pete sees through her facade and encourages her to accept her feelings. I love their similarities and differences.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Quite a variety! They kind of instantly have an understanding and know they have strong feelings for each other, but I don't know if either has ever been in a relationship; Beatriz certainly wouldn't have been. (I think she was probably homeschooled.) They have also had fairly different upbringings, with Beatriz raised "Catholic" but with this magical realist experience of miracles (including a priest with a coyote's head and a young woman who is always being rained on), with a tight-knit but argumentative Mexican family, and Pete a WASP in Oklahoma. Anything with them navigating how to be together, trying to deal with their feelings for the first time in their lives, etc would be great, but also established relationship stuff, fluffy or not. I'd love to see Beatriz studying science somewhere, but I'm not sure what that looks like for a woman in the 60s.
Content warnings: Let's see. Minor character death, usually in stylised, fairy-tale ways (like Daniel's parents being turned into wood; baby Daniel being cut from his mother's body). It's not discussed in detail, but the implication is that the priest gets a little too much enjoyment from, say, hugging his parishioners. People planning to walk out into the desert and never return.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-30 05:28 pm (UTC)Ships: Ingrid Yun/Jeff Murphy
Media: One-season TV show (cancelled), available on US Netflix
A summary of the canon: Ingrid Yun is a Korean-American lawyer gunning for the promotion to senior partner at her law firm, a promotion that's pretty much in the bag as she takes on a huge case. Jeff Murphy, a man she had a steamy one-night stand with 6 years ago, just signed on as a lawyer at her firm, but he doesn't seem to remember they've met before. Major themes of the show include the racism she and her Black coworker face at the firm, privilege, and what's important in life.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Even when (spoiler) Murphy is pretending not to remember her, the CHEMISTRY. The push and pull as they're competing for the same jobs, and flirting when she's dating someone else. The way he urges her to be a better person and do what's right, not just what is good for the firm. But honestly, given the way the show ends, (spoiler) in that he sabotages her promotion and snags it for himself, I'm here for messy feelings as well. How do we justify what he did with what he claims he stands for?
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Honeymoon period fluff, banter, (spoilers) post-relationship dissection, possible reconciliation.
Content warnings: Racism at the firm, both institutional and much more personal: there is a racist stand-up comedy routine at the firm's retreat that sets off an investigation of the firm's culture and policies. (The routine would be skippable, of course, but the rest might be harder to avoid.) Infidelity. Minor character death (one of the law firm's clients).
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 04:28 am (UTC)Ships: Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne, Daniel Grayson/Nolan Ross/Emily Thorne, David H. Clarke/Nolan Ross/Emily Thorne, Nolan Ross/Emily Thorne, Tyler Barrol/Daniel Grayson/Nolan Ross, Tyler Barrol/Nolan Ross, Victoria Grayson/Emily Thorne, Victoria Grayson/Patrick Osbourne/Nolan Ross
Media: TV Show
A summary of the canon: The Count of Monte Cristo, except the Count is a young woman (Emily VanCamp) who returns back to her childhood home under a false name, seeking revenge for the death of her father. There are many to blame, but the primary target is Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe!), a woman who betrayed her father, and her husband, Conrad (Henry Czerny!). She is aided by her prodigious skills, her keen intellect, and her fabulous wealth, the last of which came from Nolan Ross (Gabriel Mann), a tech genius who owes his start to her father investing in his company. Together, they take down the people who wronged her, try to keep the ones who didn't from becoming collateral damage, and generally look fabulous doing it.
By the way, this general summary does not even remotely begin to explain how insane this show gets. Multiple people come back from the dead, Hiroyuki Sanada plays a morally ambiguous sensei, there's a power walk onto a plane that blows up to the tune of "Seven Devils," somehow a dog has discovered the Fountain of Youth... Even though it only covers the first season, this video is a terrific primer to the show (and why I love it so much).
What do you love about this ship/these ships?:
Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne - remember that time when your yandere bestie who switched identities with you brained a dude with a tire iron to keep your secret safe?
Daniel Grayson/Nolan Ross/Emily Thorne - so many twisted schemes and gut-wrenching betrayals and the one thing for certain is that Nolan will never get any sleep.
David H. Clarke/Nolan Ross/Emily Thorne - the tragic realization that your father (figure) wasn't worth your devotion, but you still want to sleep with him.
Nolan Ross/Emily Thorne - when your morality pet still helps you destroy all of your enemies and then you have to keep saving him because people have figured out he looks really good when he's being threatened.
Tyler Barrol/Daniel Grayson/Nolan Ross - Tyler is that cat who dropped a twitching mouse on your bed and then wondered why you weren't taking full advantage of it.
Tyler Barrol/Nolan Ross - bondage, voyeurism, pain/bloodplay - it's all canon!
Victoria Grayson/Emily Thorne - every single man in your life is deeply disappointing and the previous hot blonde rival in your life just fell five stories onto a taxi cab, so you might well go pay a house call (and something more?)
Victoria Grayson/Patrick Osbourne/Nolan Ross - it's lovely, Victoria thinks, that she really won't have to break in Nolan that much for Patrick, given how much groundwork Emily's already unwittingly done.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Honestly, a wide range of things. Revenge does lend itself well to darker stories, especially given the gray to black morality of the majority of the characters, and most of the ships aren't exactly "happily ever after" types. But it's also deeply funny - Nolan is always good for a few quips and to lighten the mood, and Emily has her own brand of dark humor, especially when she's taking a target down. And given its nature, it lends itself quite easily to smut (as Tyler and Nolan's storyline can attest).
Content warnings: It's a very soapy primetime show with a dark premise so murder, violence, sex (including infidelity and dubious consent), drugs (someone overdoses in the first season finale, though she recovers), the usual for that sort are all present, but it aired on ABC, so you're not getting HBO levels here. However, the second season has a deeply misguided plot involving a nefarious organization called the Initiative that culminates in a false flag bombing which I thankfully blocked from my memory until I researched it for this post. Luckily, the showrunners agreed with me because the third season ignores the plot as well, though there's a subplot about infertility caused by a violent act, so there's that to take into consideration.
Tomoya/Tomoyo/Takafumi
Date: 2023-06-02 05:59 pm (UTC)Ships: Okazaki Tomoya/Sakagami Tomoyo/Sakagami Takafumi
Media: Video Game (/powerpoint presentation- it’s a visual novel)
A summary of the canon: A ~15 hour VN that is a sequel to Tomoyo Route in Clannad (a much, much longer VN, but Tomoyo’s route is probably 10 hours max including common route?). Okazaki Tomoya has graduated and moved out, he is dating Sakagami Tomoyo and is also regularly visited by her brother Takafumi.
Slice of life that gets interrupted by plot- an abandoned illegitimate child and half-sister of the Sakagami siblings comes to stay at the Okazaki residence (called Tomo- yes, the similar names are certainly a... choice), followed by Takafumi’s ex-girlfriend Kanako who has run away from home. There is a main plot about trying to reunite Tomo with her mother which is supposed to be emotional, though I mostly find it frustrating. For me, this game is best at showing the playful everyday interactions between the characters.
What do you love about this ship/these ships?: Canon is full of moments for each element of this ship. Tomoya/Tomoyo are dating, so that’s easy enough, and they already had a much more sexual relationship than with most Clannad girls. Takafumi has only recently met Tomoya yet he calls him Nii-chan and constantly hangs out at Tomoya’s flat ‘til late at night (and has his own key). The game opens with Tomoya/Tomoyo sexy scenes that Takafumi keeps interrupting. As seen in Clannad, Tomoya is a filthy incest-shipper and he asks Takafumi if he’s attracted to Tomoyo. Tomoyo repeatedly accuses Tomoya and Takafumi of being romantically/sexually involved. Tomoyo literally kisses Takafumi on the mouth. Etc. etc.
Tomoya and Takafumi get on very well, incest ships are fun, Takafumi is the cutest! With a different target audience, this would be an obvious ship: writer Maeda Jun’s enthusiasm for homophobic ‘ha, gay’ jokes read as shippy as ever, but maybe not to people seeking a waifu.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Pretty much anything, all is welcome emotionally- happy or sad, romantic or casual or relationship issues or non-con or whatever. But porn definitely appreciated.
Content warnings: Underage incest ship. The VN has a sad ending, deals with death, protag makes poor choices, child abandonment, early 2000s humour.
You can check the Tomoyo After tag on my journal for some screenshots