Similarly in Ranking of Kings there's not a ton of horny stuff, and it's quite a wholesome show, despite the violence
but near the end
(of a show entirely devoted to "nobody is evil, everyone has reasons for what they do, we can all work together" !!!)
basically the narrator turned to the camera and said "by the way, Japanese imperialism is great" and you're reminded "ohhhh right!!! this is made by a 50 year old Japanese guy who is probably very conservative!"
I’m seeing comparisons with Hudcon with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande that I can’t fully get onboard with. I think something deeply unhealthy was happening on the Wicked set between those two. The weight loss and between the two and the finger holding and fixing a necklace (as Ariana acknowledges what she’s doing) that doesn’t need fixing. That doesn’t hold a candle to the heart eyes and rubbing and touching Hudcon does. One party is very aware of what they are doing and the other one does it because that’s how they naturally are with each other and that’s what it comes down to for me.
Full disclaimer: I don’t know a lot about Ari and Cynthia, so I won’t discuss the unhealthy aspects. I’ve had my concerns, but that’s not my lane, so I’ll only address this topic partially.
I do agree that it’s very different from Hudcon. I understand that the comparison is being made because people are searching for a similar example that feels equally as homoerotic… but it sometimes feels a little ignorant to me? Conflating two different, unique queer-coded relationships into “the same thing” just because they’re both codependent and enamored with each other.
It also undermines the importance of Hudcon’s bonded dynamic. They didn’t just bond on set and in that era, they have fully incorporated each other into their lives, social circles, and careers. Like no, it’s not the same….
I think HC perplexes a lot of outsiders because they are uniquely bonded in ways that just aren’t comparable to most pairings. At all. In general. The entire phenomenon of them is that they are the ambiguous couple to end all others, unfathomably obsessed with each other (but I understand.. 🤭).
I understand using A&C as an example for “if a female pairing acted like this, there would be speculation,” only because there’s so little other prominent examples to reference. But the similarity doesn’t extend much farther than that, for me.
This is a gift for my beloved @cloudbells who definitely asked for a WinterIron list specifically.
Mutually-Assured Destruction by Sineala (@sineala) (Explicit, 108,711 words)
Note: Most of the fic on this list is MCU, but this one is 616!
Summary: It's 1966, the Cold War is well underway, and the Winter Soldier has escaped his handlers. He makes it to the United States and shows up at Avengers Mansion. He'd like to defect to the west and join the Avengers. Tony isn't the only one to wonder if the team can trust an ex-Soviet ex-assassin, and yet he finds himself falling for this mysterious stranger, a man who has a shadowy past, who has done a great many things he regrets, and who won't talk about why he doesn't want to be in the same room as Captain America. Over the years, the Winter Soldier has gathered quite a wide variety of secrets. And the secrets the Winter Soldier and Tony learn about each other could bring them both down.
Found Assets by hobbitdragon (@bittylildragon) (Rape/Non-Con, Explicit, 11,927 words)
Summary: What happens if the Asset's cryo-tube was stored in a Stark facility, found by non-Hydra Stark personnel, and turned over to pre-Iron-Man Tony Stark as a curiosity? What happens if this is the second time Tony Stark has defrosted a man, having continued his father's hunt for Captain America and thus found him early in the Arctic?
Trash. That's what happens.
More below the cut!
Temptation by The_Winter_Writer (@the-winter-writer) (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Not Rated, 5,418 words)
Summary: Tony would rather be anywhere but sitting in a cemetery, alone, waiting for vampires. It was cold, creepy and this whole thing was entirely Howard's fault for trying to force the family legacy on him.
The (Not So) Great Pretender by RayShippouUchiha (@rayshippouuchiha) (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Teen And Up Audiences, 19,587 words)
Summary: “What,” Tony says softly but with a great depth of feeling, “the actual fuck just happened?”
“I believe, Sir,” JARVIS pipes up from the phone in his pocket, an unnecessary amount of what sounds like glee in his voice, “that you’ve once again managed to maintain your closely guarded secret identity. Truly your subterfuge skills know no bounds."
“You’re an asshole J,” Tony mutters back as he reaches up to rub at his temple. He either has a headache coming on or a blood clot. At this point he’s honestly not sure which he’d prefer.
"I did learn from the best, Sir,” JARVIS tells him sunnily.
Tempest in a Teapot by AvocadoLove (@awesomeavocadolove) (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Teen And Up Audiences, 30,742 words)
Summary: Or, how Bucky watches his best friend die in his place, wakes seventy years in the future, takes up Captain America's shield, joins a group of super heroes, and finally begins the process of forgiving himself.
If I Was Gonna Haunt Somebody, It Would Be You by Linedragon (Sameshima_Shuzumi) (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, General Audiences, 20,507 words)
Summary: A creepy house they can't leave. A blond giant who can't stay. A promise that they'll be fine if they stick together. One little problem: his name's not Bucky.
Take My Hand (Don't Fear the Reaper) by dracusfyre (@dracusfyre) (Major Character Death, Not Rated, 6,693 words)
Summary: For the ITAB prompt: After Afghanistan tony became a part-time grim reaper assigned to the winter soldier, since Bucky has a messed up head he can see tony.
The Road Less Traveled at the End of the Line by NarutoRox (@muteelfmoonmoon) (Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Teen And Up Audiences, 27,889 words)
Summary: To say Steve is surprised to wake up haunting his loved ones after sinking his plane into the ocean would be an understatement. To say he enjoys it would be just plain cruel.
For starters, there’s the ‘minor’ problem of said loved ones being unable to see or hear him, which is bad enough. Things only get worse when he finds out Bucky is alive, but held prisoner by the very people he and Steve had fought against, leaving Steve to watch as HYDRA slowly tries to unmake his best friend. Then there’s Tony, Howard’s genius son, whom Steve loves dearly and may or may not be a little protective of after watching him grow up under Howard’s less-than-stellar care.
Steve doesn’t know if they keep him sane or drive him crazy, but he does know that Bucky and Tony are the two most important people in his world. He also doesn’t know if it would make his life easier if they knew each other or not, but it doesn’t matter; they’ve never met, are on opposite sides of the world, and other than being cared about by Steve, have nothing else to do with each other.
Until Tony is kidnapped by the Ten Rings…and HYDRA thaws Bucky for a mission…And Steve decides it’s about time these two met.
Unconditionally by Potrix (@potrix-the-queerschlaeger) (Teen And Up Audiences, 5,479 words)
Summary: “Hello,” Steve whispers quietly, carefully brushing some of the tears away from the baby's cheeks.
Giving a sniffle, the baby latches on to Steve’s hand, then whines unhappily, hiccuping wetly.
“I don’t know how to, you know,” Steve explains helplessly, making something that vaguely resembles a cradling, rocking motion with his free arm. The baby is less than impressed with that, though, and takes a noisy, stuttering breath. Steve’s eyes widen in alarm. “Oh, no. No, ssh, no. Here, c’mon, it’s all right.”
Very gingerly, Steve slides one hand under the baby’s back, cups its neck with the other, and slowly lifts the squirmy bundle out of the crib, and against his chest. “There, ssh. That’s better, isn’t it?”
In answer, the baby tucks its damp face into Steve’s neck, apparently content to stay where it is. Steve glances around the room, a little lost, but the baby just gurgles, and doesn’t start crying again, which he decides to count as a success.
tell me i'm your national anthem by lanyon (Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Mature, 3,829 words)
Summary: Alternate Universe: Steve Rogers falls from a speeding train and Bucky Barnes is left to carry the mantle and the shield. In the twenty-first century, the Winter Soldier is brought in from the cold and there can be no redemption.
so three questions in one, i would like to know your:
-xuexiao thoughts
-songxiao thoughts
-songxue thoughts
separated from songxuexiao
(if you would also like to provide your songxuexiao thoughts i would love to read that too i just wanna see specifically how you feel and think about each ship individually)
(+bonus: any a-qing ships you do or don't have, why/why not, and/or any sexuality/gender headcanons you might have for her)
Oh wow, that’s a very broad question! Let’s see what we can come up with…
XueXiao was my entry point to the SXX ship. I love their chemistry in CQL (much more than in MDZS) I love how – when all other variables were stripped away – they make each other happy. How they share the same silly, almost childish humour, and love to laugh and tease and joke together.
How Xiao Xingchen’s patience and gentle nature allows Xue Yang to experiment with being a kind of person he’s never been before – just a human being, a bit sharp around the edges, but no longer an attack-dog, a weapon or tool. Just a person, being given affection for free, just for being.
And how Xue Yang makes Xiao Xingchen happy, makes him laugh. He’s helpful – first, no doubt, because he’s learned to make himself useful to stay alive. But later just because he actually enjoys taking care of the people he likes. And Xiao Xingchen relishes in being loved and appreciated – and also getting to be just a human being. No legendary hero or world-saviour. But just a person, loved.
I also have a huge weak spot for the kind of hopeless obsessive devotion Xue Yang expresses after Xiao Xingchen’s death! That getting him back somehow matters more than anything, even his own life. That he never stops trying. That his final moments is remembering Xiao Xingchen’s kindness, smiling as he looks at the candy and finally lets go.
That’s a major reason why I started writing Heaven – to give them a second chance at realizing how much they did and do care about each other, how much the other cares. How much of that was real.
SongXiao is by far the weakest part of the triangle for me, personally. Not as in they’re not close, because they are, but because they don’t interest me much without Xue Yang there to spice things up. They have some issues, certainly, but on their own they’re just a bit too straight-laced and wholesome to be very interesting.
I do find Song Lan’s issues with touch clashing with Xiao Xingchen’s tactile nature interesting, and the Yearning can be good, too.
But still... Without Xue Yang there, I don’t connect much to these two on their own. I virtually never read fic for just the two of them (and not only because a lot of SongXiao fics sadly often spring fun surprise “fix-it”s that just boil down to “kill Xue Yang and everything’s fine!” on you without even warning for it.) They’re just a bit eh.
SongXue is delicious. It’s hurty and crunchy with a lot of fun chemistry to poke at. They both start from a place of loathing everything the other is, and then take a fascinating further detour through destroying the most precious things the other has. For that to turn into any kind of working relationship… It takes a lot of work. And that work, the dealing with and overcoming past trauma, forced cooperation, realizing the things they have in common, the world’s most grudging respect and appreciation slowly growing between them... That’s my catnip. I love it. I’m not interested in canon divergent stories where they just rush past all that to forgiveness and love. I want to see the work.
When I first started writing Heaven, my outlook was to fit in some angry hatesex at best, and really struggled with imagining a way for them to actually grow to love each other. And it did take a lot of work! Some 350k of it! And a lot of hurt, and compromise, and dogged determination from the both of them! But now they’ve finally gotten there and it feels solid. It feels earned.
No forgiveness for the unforgivable hurt of the past, but an unspoken mutual agreement to look to the future. Love that for them.
Finally, the SongXueXiao triangle as a whole – I love how well they all balance each other when together.
Xiao Xingchen can be overly idealistic, but paired with Song Lan’s pragmatism it turns into more concrete things to actually do, and Xue Yang’s irreverent habit of pointing out the weakest links in their reasoning to tear down their arguments also identifies what really needs working on… It’s a good way of making progress!
I like how Song Lan’s stubborn patience and stern sense of justice can temper Xue Yang’s worst and most violent impulses, and how Xue Yang can push Song Lan out of his comfort zone and force him to consider greyscales and not just neat blacks and whites.
I love how Xue Yang grows when he’s feeling loved, and how much he loves taking care of his loved ones, though he wouldn’t realize himself that that’s what he’s actually doing. He just likes pampering them, when given the chance! It does piss him off to no end, sometimes, the way they try to "change" him and "hold him back" - but once he’s calmed down a bit, he can usually see when it’s merited and for his own good, and even when not… the compromises are an acceptable trade-off to get to have the good parts of the relationship.
They’re good for each other, a mix of supporting the best in each other, and helping temper and guide their weaknesses into better habits and more nuanced understanding.
This is a set, do not separate. ♥
As for a-Qing… I love her as a character! Especially her weird aggro-sibling relationship with Xue Yang. But I don’t have any very strong feelings about her aside from that – I’ll happily read fics where she stays single all her life, or ends up in a happily married polycule, or settles down with husband and kids, or dates around as she pleases. She can be ace or lesbian or pan or anything. You do you, Queen!
In Deep Blue Sea, she had a friends with benefits situationship with Wen Qing. In Under The Wheel it wasn’t stated outright, but the way she kept wandering with the other three, she never settled down with any one partner, but had the occasional flings and a number of more or less casual bedmates along the journey.
The only real notp I’d have for her would probably be Xiao Xingchen or Song Lan, who are more gege/parent-coded to her in my mind. If, in some version of events, she would be interested in exploring sex with the mysterious (canonically designated handsome) stranger who lived with them in Yi City, though? Sure, why not. I don’t know if Xue Yang would go for it, and it’s not a ship I would seek out, but that I can imagine enjoying if handled just right.
Other than that, as I said, pretty much anything goes. She’s not a character I would seek out fic for, but I very much like her as part of the whole Yi City mess. She should get to have fun and get good things! She certainly deserves it every bit as much as the other three disasters.
follows a privileged but emotionally neglected girl who’s sent to live with the uncle she’s never met in rural Ontario after her parents die
she becomes friends with the Indigenous housekeepers and locals, and her younger cousin - who’s kept in the attic because of her health by an abusive stepmother
i didn't anticipate all this grown men slapping and getting slapped discourse on my dash today but okay.
fwiw chris's joke was horrible. like, mock people for their fashion choices not their medical conditions asshole. but hitting someone over words is also not on and it's not excusable just bc someone was mean to your loved one. i would never want my partner to HIT someone for making fun of me, that's fucked up.
