#hellstrop

[starperchek]

happy valentine's day!

[solarelementdruid]

I think that Person of Interest is the only show (that I can think of) that wrote father figure cliche in a right way

I talk about Shaw and Hersh

He cares for her in a way that is like 'do you eat well? do they treat you well? will you be okay?' and she has some of his traits (like liking shooting at people and some mannerisms too)

We saw that she lost her father young and Hersh taught her everything she knew about their job

Their relationship is like father and daughter not just because 'we said so', it's because of quality script and chemistry between actors

The other shows don't have plausible explanations for that kind of relationships but creators are too afraid to make it into romantic relationships

In many of those cases it's just a younger actress is in awe of older, more experienced actor who she might have a crush on like any one of us. You can't just throw attraction between people away (I'm not talking about romantic kind of stuff here) and don't give explanation. Because fans anyhow will see the spark, will see that THOSE people liked each other and enjoyed working together and they ANYWAY will make a couple from those characters, you want it or not

In POI we have another similar couple - Finch and Root (same between Michael and Amy) but in their case they did it differently. They just made Root adore Harold for his creation and his skills and it worked as an explanation!

In The Librarians they went another way - they made Cassandra and Jenkins CANONICAL pairing. And here problem solved too

As for the other shows - I'M ANGRY AT YOU!!! Yes, you The Good Place and Only Murders in the Building!!

P.S. I completely forgot about Dead Like Me, about Rube and George

I'm pissed off at that show too!! Because in the first 5 eps or so they're really something MORE than just a girl who lost her family and a father-figure man. They're attracted to each other, IT'S IN THE SCRIPT!!!!

[roseofithaca]

We stan the girl who beat Satan 800 times.

(And Jason for that one time).

[wolveria]

Rewatching The Good Place and remembering how much I love Eleanor/Michael

[asettledsky]

Top 9 Romantic Ships

I got tagged by @gay-and-tiredaf

So here's my Top 9 Romantic ships that are sorta kinda in order (well, the top three definitely, the others have wiggle room)

9. Jack Daniels

They'd be a lot higher on this list except I don't go looking for the content as much as I used to. They're hilarious though and they play off of each other so well. One of my Top 10 fics I would recommend to most people is called "Doctor Jackson's Diary" and it's hilariously slapstick and has quite a lot of sex in it.

8. JohnLock

If you could see my AO3 history it would have a frankly embarrassing amount of these two in various convoluted (and not so convoluted) scenarios that end up with them getting it on.

I regret nothing. Or maybe I do a little, which is why they aren't higher on the list.

7. JDox

I just really like the whole "The grumpy one loves the sunshine one" trope. Also John C. McGinley is a hottie.

6. Shassie

See above Re: Sunshine/Grumpy. Also these two just take the sassy up to eleven somehow. They're both so snarky. Everything about the show Psych is just great. There are so many good fanfics for this pairing, but I particularly like "The Dah-Ling Store It Yourself" series.

5. Chelley

I have a few reasons for this one. But by far is the fanfic "Blue Sky" by Waffleguppies, I cannot possibly tell you how amazing that fanfic is.

4. The Love Square

I'm not posting 4 gifs for you guys to get the point. I love all iterations of these two dorks. (Though not equally, Ladrian is definitely my favorite dynamic). I could write a few thousand word essay on why they're the most annoying couple of dorks in all of fandom though. Miraculous Ladybug is an infuriating show to watch sometimes. I stand by my theory that it was specifically designed to spawn fanfiction with it's design, which is all build up and no resolution.

3. Hellstrop

(Not me choosing the saddest part of their relationship as the most romantic gif available, whaaa?)

The only reason this one isn't #2 is because I haven't been into The Good Place for very long. I feel like, given enough time, it'll outpace Beetlebabes just because Silverfox Ted Danson is more attractive than Alex Brightman. (Yes I did say that, no I won't take it back). Also because of Michael's completely Adorkable personality.

2. Beetlebabes

3 ships for the price of 1. My preference being musical, movie, then cartoon as a distant 3rd. They are all very different dynamics. I love their relationship in the musical. Totally toxic, but somehow they're still the best thing that has ever happened to each other.

And our GRAND FINALE.....

1. Quodo

When I say the relationship between these two idiots is always in the back of my mind I am probably not exaggerating.

Never have any two grumpy middle-aged men had such belligerent romantic tension.

These two have the relationship and communication skills of people who had been married for three decades and then had a messy divorce but still have to work together so they choose to needle each other every day because they refuse to admit they actually still like one another.

[take-me-to-the-good-place]

Time to leave

What if...

------

Art by @take-me-to-the-good-place

[hello-nichya-here]

Why do you say Eleanor and Michael is your most problematic ship? I never watched The Good Place, is it good?

Here are the basics: Eleanor dies and is sent to "the good place" (kind of a type of heaven), and Michael is an angel that is looking after her and other humans, and ends up befriending her. The problem is that she is a terrible person who was only sent to heaven because they mistook her for someone else. Michael eventually finds out, but wants to save her from having to be sent to "the bad place" (essentially hell) and he ends up becoming fascinated with humans. The show is good, but I did find the first season to be somewhat slow at times... but there's a plot-twist at the end of it, which leads to why I think this is my most problematic ship:

SPOILERS!

Eleanor is already in the bad place. Michael isn't actually an angel- he is a demon who is there to psychologically torture Eleanor and the other main characters for all eternity. So yeah, the motherfucker was lying to her the whole time with the goal of making her be in pain forever. "Abusive" wouldn't even begin to describe their "friendship", let alone a possible romance.

However, he is eventually forced to team up with them because Eleanor kept figuring out what was actually going on, which would get him in trouble since the whole psychological torture instead of regular torture was his idea and his superiors were against it. Naturally, that leads to a redemption arc with him genuinely wanting to help them, and all humans, to escape hell, essentially becoming the person he was pretending to be in the first season...

Which leads to the second problematic aspect of the ship: Michael becomes a father figure to Eleanor (he explicitly refers to himself as such). Even when the ship turns wholesome, it is still a little fucked up - which is 100% the appeal of it for me.

What's better than a perfect, heavenly creature that grew to care for a insignificant mortal who failed to deserve paradise? A literal demon that turned out to have a heart and a soft spot for a disaster human.

[h0tdiggitydog]

Eleanor: Are you decent?

Michael: Not morally, but I’m wearing pants, if that’s what you’re asking...