smashthechampagnebottle (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
smashthechampagnebottle) wrote2024-09-01 06:46 pm
smashthechampagnebottle) wrote2024-09-01 06:46 pm
Ship Promo Post!!!
This is where you fall all over yourself telling us everything wonderful (Or not so wonderful as the case may be!) about your ships. Feel free to lament the lack of existing fics for them...we're all in the same boat (see what I did there?)
What fandom/s do they come from? What do you love about them? What gave you the ida to put them together? Do they make you smile? Do they break your heart? Do they make you laugh? Are they just idiots that make you roll your eyes? Do they do it all?
Please post one ship per comment...we can't wait to read about them!
What fandom/s do they come from? What do you love about them? What gave you the ida to put them together? Do they make you smile? Do they break your heart? Do they make you laugh? Are they just idiots that make you roll your eyes? Do they do it all?
Please post one ship per comment...we can't wait to read about them!
Mianmian/Mr. Mianmian/Qin Su
(Anonymous) 2024-09-02 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)I also love letting Qin Su find out the Shocking Revelation shortly before her wedding and finding someone else to be A-Song's legal and emotional father.
...well, looky hear, we have an obvious great father (Mianmian does not Settle) just wandering around husband-and-dadding! Let's blend this little family of five via a Values-Truth/Always-Supports/Follows-Her-Heart POWER THROUPLE!
Is a working-class/merchant-class/gentry marriage going to be frowned on? Of course. Do any of them have canonical signs of caring about class baggage? Of course not! They will make this work!
Pei Xiu + Shi Wudu (TGCF)
Pei Xiu is a fairly minor character introduced early in the story. He's a sullen young war god who mostly plays subordinate to his more famous ancestor, Pei Ming...until he is suddenly banished because of Crimes
Meanwhile Shi Wudu is the God of Wealth, arrogant and powerful, good friends with Pei Ming, and also has some Crimes under his belt. (though a significantly smaller body count than Pei Xiu). Also has a younger brother, Shi Qingxuan, who can't stand Pei Ming and is the one to ultimately bust Pei Xiu for his Crimes.
We get plenty of interactions between Shi Wudu & Pei Ming, Shi Qingxuan & Pei Ming, and a little between Shi Qingxuan & Pei Xiu - but canon never gives us the final piece of the square in Shi Wudu & Pei Xiu, and I feel like there is just a lot of untapped potential there.
SWD & PX are ultimately quite similar - they're both capable, hardworking types who would go to any lengths for their loved ones (whether or not those loved ones approve). SWD also just feels like the caretaking type (parentified older brother) who would want to spoil his friend's pseudo-nephew. Or offer him advice. Or help him cover up his Crimes (my personal headcanon is that he knew what PX was doing). Or use him as a shining example of 'other people's kids' to drive his own little brother mad.
On PX's side, he's going to be a good little grunt. Polite to his boss's friends and willing to assist with the occasional shady errand. But I think SWD is the person he could open up to about wanting to save his childhood friend from her awful fate, and he would sympathize. But there is also a fun contrast to be had with SWD as someone bright and arrogant (despite his shadiness) vs. PX as someone who prefers staying in the shadows and not standing out.
I just think there is just a lot of fun options to explore with them and I'm sad that there is no fic doing so!
Re: Pei Xiu + Shi Wudu (TGCF)
(Anonymous) 2024-09-03 06:51 am (UTC)(link)Kang Tae-Shik/Sung Jin-Woo (Solo Leveling)
A quick spoiler-free version is – portals start opening up in South Korea, there are deadly monsters in said portals but also very useful stones crystals which can be used in the real world. Humans with supernatural abilities aka Hunters go in and fight these monsters, and everyone has a set Hunter rank (or so it seems…).
Sung Jin-Woo is the main protagonist, he’s a Hunter and he’s the weakest of the weakest of the weak until something super cool happens, then he ends up getting super cool.
Kang Tae-Shik is a minor character *sobs* who is super cool to begin with. He works with the Korean Hunters Association and he’s one of only two assassin class Hunters to appear in the entire series.
The webtoon is beautiful, and A1 Pictures adapted it beautifully!
Why I like this ship:
I like Kang Tae-Shik. He is the coolest character by far in my opinion, and I will forever be salty that he was so underutilized, and we got so little of him. Like, sure, he played an important role, but I want more! And given that there’s so little of him in canon, I think it’d be very fun to imagine what sort of dynamic he’d have going on with Jin-Woo in various situations.
Also? They’re both hot and look hot together.
Haijima/Kinjou Aigo (Atarashii Joushi)
This was my healing show when it aired in fall last year. Work was destroying me, and it was so nice to watch each episode as it came out. It’s so fluffy, and so cute, and so sweet, and so heartwarming.
Atarashii Joushi is about a salaryman who leaves his old position under an abusive boss in a toxic work environment. He’s found a new job, but it’s clear that his previous experience still weighs heavy on him. Thankfully, his new boss is FECKING AWESOME; he’s kind, he’s caring, he’s clever, he’s a team worker, and he knows how to bring out the best in his subordinates. And the reason he’s an awesome boss? Because his boss was fecking awesome too.
Why I like this ship:
Which brings me to Kinjou Aigo, who is not the main character but in similar fashion works under an abusive boss and quits, joining the main character at his new fluffy workplace. Haijima is his ex-boss, and we only get to see tiny snippets of him. In an anime full of BL teasing, they weren’t teased at all. Still, it took me all of two seconds to start shipping them. Just one. Single. Scene.
What I like most about Haijima is, in contrast to the main character’s ex-boss who is portrayed as a completely one-dimensional irredeemable asshole, his propensity to change. Haijima is a product of his own experiences, a breed of old-school bosses who believe in throwing chalkboard dusters at students because it instills discipline and builds character. I adored that flashback shown of him holding his cigarette, tip slowly turning to ash where he’d held it over the ashtray, completely still and completely silent in his spiffy pinstripe suit as Kinjou told him why he was quitting. We get a teeny, tiny crumb of his reflection on his previous behaviour, and a tiiiiiiiny (?) possibility that he and Kinjou may meet in person again somewhere down the line, as friends rather than as boss and subordinate. And by golly, I just want moaaaaarrr!!!
(If none of the above is enough to persuade you, Haijima is hot, and I think he and Kinjou look hot together.)
Pei Xiu/Shi Qingxuan (TGCF)
I've also realized I forgot to introduce the fandom, sorry! TGCF, aka Tian Guan Ci Fu, aka Heaven Official's Blessing is a Chinese BL novel by an author who goes by the handle Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX), and a thrice-ascended God with a tragic past and terrible luck solving various mysteries around the Heavenly, Mortal, and Ghost Realms with the aid of a fearsome yet completely devoted Ghost King. These mysteries may or may not be related to the events of 800 years ago...
The novel is full of comedy and well-written tragedy, the main romance is very sweet and passionate, and the side characters are absolutely delightful!
My favorite side characters are the three dubious besties of Heaven called 'The Three Tumors' in-universe and the the two characters I affectionately call their kids
Pei Xiu & Shi Qingxuan are the kids in question.
I've described Pei Xiu a bit already in a post above, but also wanted to add that he is widely seen as a nepo baby in-universe and in fandom, getting the position he did because of his famous ancestor. Except he is a hard worker himself...
Shi Qingqxuan is the God of Wealth's younger brother. Kind, generous and righteous, he is one of the nicest cheeriest characters in the novel, but also one with a strong sense of justice, and is the one to ultimately expose Pei Xiu's crimes before the Heavenly Court and get him exiled.
Things get a little more complicated when he has to face his older brother's Crimes...
He is the actual nepo baby in the story.
SQX & PX have one interaction in the actual novel, but I just think about their relationship a lot. Their elders and close friends and they've known and would have been around each other for 200 years. They also just have a lot of interesting parallels with each other and with their relationship with their respective relatives. The best way I would describe that relationship is, if this were a Mob AU, SQX is the spoiled sweet princess who knows nothing of the crime side of the family, while PX is the promising young heir with a bright future (and the designated errand boy).
I think there's a lot of fun to explore with them pre-canon as two young gods with powerful backers - SQX is bright and friendly, while PX is sullen and avoids standing out. I think SQX is one of the few people who could get PX to smile if he tried hard enough. And then Post-canon when neither one is a god anymore and I think there is a lot for them to talk about. They could be vagabonds together! Partners in avoiding Pei Ming together!
I think about their one interaction in the novel a lot where PX goes from being antagonistic to the protagonists to instantly polite and respectful to SQX, and they really also give me a bit of a knight and lady dynamic. I can see PX playing bodyguard to SQX at PM or SWD's request and SQX really liking the politeness and attentiveness. SQX just also really attracts the cold, frowning types if his brother and best friend are any indication. Let him attract his nemesis' pseudo-nephew too!
I just think there is just a lot of fun options to explore with them and I really want to see more fics doing so!
Also for the platonic version of this ship, I like to imagine them as seeing themself as the older brother in the dynamic. SQX is centuries older but sheltered and innocent, while PX is the more mature one (and also was an older brother once)
Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
Lele is a mage, Alma is an alchemist. Alchemists and mages are at bitter odds in this world. Lele didn't gt that memo, she wants to be friends. Almathinks she doesn't need friends and while she isn't as hostile to Lele as many mages and alchemists are towards each other, she also isn't particularly fond of Lele initially and thanks that Lele isn't serious enough.
As the four of them work against time to prevent disaster, Alma warms up slowly to the others. She and Lele become friends, and the story further develops as the truth of Alma's existence as a homunculus comes to light- and her father nearly destroying them all in his attempts to create a final body for her that will allow her to live the duration of a normal human life.
These two become friends as the story progresses but the vibe easily translates to the beginning of a sweet, innocent young romance. Alma's a mild tsundere to Lele's more genki girl personality. Both are powerful in their chosen occupations, I imagine long hours of magical and alchemical experimentation and study together, and lots of time spent petting every cart they can find, and moonbathing (a passtime they both love) with Hom (Alma's pink cat-like creature pet) snoozing nearby.
Re: Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
Re: Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
Re: Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
I see from your profile that femslash is an interest for you, Another Eden is absolutely rife with possibilities. There are sooooooooo many good female characters!
Re: Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
Re: Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
I don’t use DW much except for checking events..are you on any other social media? I’d love to have someone else to scream at about AE…and I’d love to know how you find the game also of course!
Re: Alma/Lele (Another Eden)
Pei Xiu + Ling Wen (TGCF)
Please see my earlier posts for an introduction to Pei Xiu and the fandom
Ling Wen, meanwhile, is the third member of the Three Tumors. She is the Top Literature God (and also the Heavenly Discord Mod - this is only half a joke). She's very calm and helpful, keeping the heavens running smoothly, but also overworked, constantly badmouthed as inefficient and is worshiped as a male god by mortals because a woman can't be a scholar
I think she and Pei Xiu have quite a few similarities in terms of personality and history - both of them have been put down in the past by authority figures due to their poor backgrounds (LW as a woman and PX as the son of exiles). I see Pei Xiu as someone who is very capable and smart, but chooses to keep a lower profile and not stand out. Ling Wen could sympathize with that after her own experiences with her former boss. I just see them as having a relationship of mutual respect and Ling Wen being able to rely on Pei Xiu when she needs someone to help her with some of her endless tasks.
Also I just want her to try and poach Pei Xiu for her own palace because he's so polite and efficient and it's not fair that Pei Ming gets to have the one capable junior god in Heaven!
Shi Qingxuan + Yushi Huang (TGCF)
I've introduced the fandom and SQX in an earlier post but going to add that Shi Qingxuan is very outgoing and loves making friends. If his brother and his friends are the Mean Girls of Heaven, then SQX is the It Girl of Heaven!
Yushi Huang meanwhile is the calm reclusive Rain Master who simply does what she's supposed to and doesn't get involved in outside matters unless something serious happens. She spends her days on a farm and has a cool Ox familiar. Shortly after we meet her, we learn that she and Shi Qingxuan are friends.
They don't get to interact directly in canon unfortunately, but at one point in the story SQX hides out at her farm and the dialogue from the character who comes to pick him up suggests that SQX hiding out at her farm is a regular occurrence. Which just makes me think of all the times SQX would visit either to hide out or just to check up on a friend, and how YSH probably looks forward to these visits in her own way.
Both of these characters are beloved by everyone in-story but both have very few deeper connections with others and I just think its very nice that they enjoy each other's company.
I want all the stories of them hanging out and SQX bringing over various gifts and trying to figure out what kinds of things YSH would like, and YSH always giving him fresh produce to take home
(Meanwhile the designated babysitter waits at the entrance to the farm and scowls)