skygiants | (no subject)

lacewood asked me for my Top Five OTPs! As with everything else, this is a difficult question to narrow down and will leave out many many things I love, but I WILL DO MY BEST, etc. etc.

1. Mordion/Vierran, Hexwood

Obviously I need to have a DWJ couple represented here every time I do this, and Mordion and Vierran are currently uppermost in my thoughts thanks to this fantastic Yuletide story, Childish Things, which reminded me how much I love them all over again.

Vierran and Mordion's relationship begins in the usual way - she's just gotten her first boring desk job working for a big corporation, he works in a different area but has to stop her desk a lot, they strike up a flirtation - except of course that the corporation they both work for is composed of interdimensional evil overlords, she's a hostage, and he's a MIND-CONTROLLED ASSASSIN. None of which negates the fact that most of their flirting occurs over office paperwork.

Okay, actually, Mordion/Vierran is probably the most amazingly cracked-out, idtastic relationship DWJ has ever written. He's an angsty mind-controlled assassin and she's a spy! She's from a privileged family and he's a slave! They know each other from an emotionally significant childhood but don't recognize each other as adults, and not only that, they are linked by a telepathic soulbond! They both spend a significant part of the story dramatically mindwiped and amnesiac, and at one point there is a canonical AU where Vierran is a medieval lady and Mordion is a wizard! At another point Mordion literally turns into a dragon due to the sheer weight of backstory angst, and Vierran rides her soulbonded dragon boyfriend around while her family makes disapproving noises! They fill up a cliche_bingo card all by themselves. ALIENS ACTUALLY ATTEMPT TO MAKE THEM DO IT. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING. (Okay, evil interdimensional overlords attempt to make them do it, but I THINK THAT COUNTS.)

And because it's DWJ in the middle of all this idtastic drama is actually the story of two damaged people who have idealized each other with starry-eyed crushes actually getting to know each other for who they really are, warts and all, and all the romance is very quiet and adorable. Which should not be possible, and yet, it's DWJ.

2. Sig Curtis/Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist

I was waffling on this one because I didn't want to include two relationships from the same canon, it didn't seem fair, but . . . on the other hand, relationships like Sig and Izumi's are so rare, and get so little attention from fandom, and INSPIRE IN ME SO MANY FEELINGS, that I feel the need to talk about it anyway.

Most fiction believes a couple of things I find to be highly problematic:
1. Women who are strong, especially physically strong, find it difficult or impossible to hold down traditional romantic relationships.
2. Older people are boring.
3. Happy married couples are boring.

Izumi Curtis is a middle-aged kickass lady alchemist and one of, if not the, most hardcore and dangerous characters in Fullmetal Alchemist. In any other canon this would doom her to being a cranky hermit. In FMA, Izumi is not just the MOST BADASS EVER, she is also in a ridiculously happy, adorable, and stable relationship with a loving, supportive and almost-as-badass husband. Sig doesn't need to compete with Izumi, or feel insecure because she is amazing; he is pretty clearly just happy to be with a lady who is that awesome, and Izumi is pretty clearly also happy to be with a dude who is that awesome!

And in pretty much any other canon this would mean that Sig was doomed to die, but - SPOILER - Sig and Izumi both survive and go on to live happy and adorably ever after. And I SHIP IT SO HARD. I'm not going to lie, if Sig or Izumi had died, I might have been even more upset than if Roy and/or Riza had - because Sig and Izumi's happy and stable marriage is the kind of thing canon never lets stand, and I was so hoping FMA would be different. And it was!

(Also, they are just so hilarious. MISS, YOU DROPPED YOUR BEAR.)

3. Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye, Fullmetal Alchemist

But of course it would now be remiss of me not to talk about the couple I . . . have actually written the most fic about!

Look, it is not news to anyone that I find Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye's relationship amazing. There are two major reasons for that, and one is the bedrock of absolute trust that their relationship is founded on. Whether you think they've had any kind of physical romantic interaction before the end of canon or not (and my personal mental canon is not) it almost doesn't matter, because they know each other that well, and they trust and rely on each other absolutely. And this is something that, as I get older, I find grips me more and more in fiction. Kids just figuring out that they liiiike each other are adorable, and I enjoy reading about them, but - the thing about these two is that they trust each other; they respect each other; it's a relationship of equals, and they have each other's backs. And guys, I don't know about you, but I think that trust is hotter than just about anything else.

. . . . and that's half of it. The other half is that - guys, call me hard-hearted, but I think 'love conquers all' is often not a healthy idea. Love is great! But I also think that in many circumstances, it can be pretty selfish or short-sighted to put that above all considerations. Which is why I have a huge bulletproof fictional kink for relationships that are driven by ideals - where it's very clear that no matter how much two people love each other, there are things they believe in that trump their feelings. Hawkeye loves Mustang, and she would shoot him if she had to do so to stop him from becoming monstrous. The dream they're working for is more important than their own happiness. (Uh, obviously I ship it and want them to be happy, don't get me wrong! But their ideals are a good part of the reason why, and why I respect them so much for it.)

4. Cha Song Joo/Lee Su Hyun, Capital Scandal

Speaking of ideals! Cha Song Joo and Lee Su Hyun combine, like, everything I love into one ridiculously angsty package. They are both passionately idealistic about their country - she's a glamorous courtesan by day and a secret freedom fighting assassin by night, he's a secret policeman - and they a.) love each other and b.) are fighting against each other a lot of the time. See that picture? That is him carefully checking on the BULLET WOUND HE GAVE HER IN THE PREVIOUS EPISODE WHEN SHE WAS SECRETLY ASSASSINATING SOME DUDE AND HIS POLICE TEAM CAME ON THE SCENE. Oh yeah, true love.

See, it's not that I love enemies-in-love, exactly. It's that I love enemies in love when the things that are making them enemies are, again, their ideals, for exactly the same reasons as above. And - all right, I know I just spent a lot of time talking about trust and friendship and how important that is to me in fictional relationships, and it's true, but I'm not going to lie, I also love dangerous mind games. Not when one person is playing mind games on the other, because that's creepy. But when both parties are equally clever, and equally dangerous? That is totally one of my id-buttons. Cha Song Joo and Lee Su Hyun's relationship gets me ideals and trust and dangerous mind games, and it is basically my kryptonite.

(Also:

I, uh, guess I just really like it when people point guns at each other as a sign of true love? IN FICTION, LET ME CLARIFY.)

5. OOTORI KYOUYA/AZULA, The Ouran High School Host Club/Avatar: The Last Airbender Crossover That Does Not Exist

AND SPEAKING OF DANGEROUS MIND GAMES.

Guys, I have been wanting someone to write me this crossover fic for years. YEARS. I'm just going to keep mentioning it until someone finally gives in.

Oh my god, that was the longest I have ever talked about shipping ever. EVER. Distract me from how embarrassed I feel by telling me why you love the relationships you love the most!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

moonyazu9.livejournal.com

I'm just now getting back into Fullmetal Alchemist, and I love Izumi/Sig SO FREAKIN' MUCH.

OOTORI KYOUYA/AZULA, The Ouran High School Host Club/Avatar: The Last Airbender Crossover That Does Not Exist
I just checked FF.net, it doesn't exist. BUT I WOULD TOTALLY LOVE IT IF SOMEONE WROTE IT SOMEDAY.

From:

skygiants

SOMEDAY SOMEONE WILL. It is the dearest crossover wish of my heart!

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