#coolfire333

your asks are always so sweet, i'm sorry i don't answer them in a timely fashion. thank you so much for everything you've said.

You didn't specify which questions so I'm going to go off on a few questions that appealed to me! :)

Original Ask Meme

1- what do you think is the appeal of their dynamic

The story “Glances” by SprolliesDontJump succinctly sums up this relationship: “There's something reassuring about entering a relationship knowing each other's worst secrets.” This is also echoed in a piece by schuu-art which is captioned “You’ve been through it all together, you know each other best.”

This is exemplified in Trauma Team as they get ready to take down the Raging Bomb and Navel says “it's like the old Dr. Kimishima I knew is finally back” which makes Naomi stumble in her reply to him. I LOVE this moment! Because who else but him has seen that spark, that fire in her like that? It is incredibly obvious that he has feelings for her but on her end I think that idea of being so wholly seen by him does appeal to her very much! They truly were there for each other at the very worst and very best moments of their lives.

There is something so appealing about two characters who have this dynamic. There is so much to surmount, so much to overcome– together! It is so interesting!

And, not to mince words, they were villains. They did terrible things, knowingly. And the narrative redeems them quietly by letting them be the ones who discover the cure for the Rosalia Virus– I love the full circle nature of their joint character arcs there so much!

2- how do they weaken and strengthen each other

On his end, I think he likes that she challenges him and she pushes his buttons and that she cannot stop the part of herself that tries to do the right thing, so she makes him do the right thing. 

On her end, I think at the end of the day, he is someone she can be fairly honest with and she can reveal parts of herself to him that she can’t to anyone else. She says in Trauma Team that he’s such a “worrier” and I do think she, whether she knows it or not, enjoys being cared for in that way.

So functionally, his presence allows for her to tap into her inner humanity and her presence helps keep him on a more righteous path.

But I think they weaken each other because they’re in various states of precarity– she could relapse and his cover could be blown, at any time. It is a risk to be together when it’s just the two of them, nevermind having Alyssa in the mix too!

7- how much time did it take each of them to notice their feelings for the other and how long did it take for them to act on those feelings

I think by the end of Second Opinion there was a subtextual implication that what was passing between them was charged and not completely platonic. And then by the end of Trauma Team, he was fully in love with her and she had outwardly and probably internally recognized that she enjoys and appreciates his presence.

I bet it takes less than a year after Trauma Team for one of them to be brave enough to take that leap of faith. And then the rest is history.

27- what is the most extreme thing they have done in the name of love

I know there is a popular headcanon that he sought her out after Second Opinion but I do not subscribe to that particular headcanon myself. You could generously interpret that as loving but I know most do not! :)

But there is also another popular interpretation within the fandom that Navel arranged for the Savato samples to be left with Naomi after their last operation together so she could use them as a bargaining chip for amnesty– which she does! I think risking everything in Delphi for her is probably the most extreme decision in his life, followed closely by him pushing her way out of an explosion in Trauma Team. There’s also the quieter but still significant decision to arrange for Naomi to have custody of Alyssa. He did not have to do that but he saw how much Alyssa meant to her so he tried and he succeeded.

28- would you want to be in a relationship like theirs

lmao no, are you fucking kidding me

42- how intensely are you consumed by this ship, from casual to way past the point of help

God help me, I think they are truly my life’s OTP.

I’ve loved a lot of other pairings in my life but not enough to write what must be 100K words about them. I don’t think I have ever met a pairing where the pairing is on the brink of canon (ikr) and that edge of the cliff really drew me to writing for this pairing. I found a love for this franchise and for these characters at a very formative time in my life so they’re just stuck on the inside of my brain forever, oh well!

46- in what ways does their relationship fall within the norm and in what ways does it stand apart

Love this one!

At the end of the day, they are just two people who are attracted to each other, make each other smile, feel the need to protect each other, and who both like spending time with the other. Even in the midst of the dying days of her life, you can see that she genuinely enjoyed teasing him and pushing his buttons. It is CUTE. It is so NORMAL.

Also I'm really sorry you keep stumbling across these posts, I have ocd too and I get nervous about even using ao3 sometimes because of the amount of vitriol that people throw at those who "support" the website (even though I know that using it doesn't mean I'm giving a big ol thumbs up to it and everything anyone posts on there, ocd makes it hard for me to be realistic about things)

​I'm gonna tell you and everyone here right now that using AO3 will not and never makes you a bad person. it is, at its foundation, a niche website catered towards nerdy types who want to write about their blorbos. Some of those nerds have fucked up ideas for stories. Literally who cares. Ignore them. Are they committing actual crimes for writing stories like that? No one is out there rounding up and arresting sad sweaty nerds who are a little too obsessed with naruto for writing weird naruto fanfiction. They don't have time for that shit, there's actual criminals to arrest.

The worst thing those nerds do is write some shit and post it to a dinky ass website that most people won't even register as significiant. Has the creator of Cupcakes actually gotten into real trouble for writing weird torture porn about colorful ponies? I hate that story, it's stupid and a gorefest but I loved it as an edgy teenager, but other than being a meme online there's nothing else it's really doing.

I swear, you text your coworker, your cousin whatever whoever is not a terminally online dweeb and ask them what they think of age gap destiel mpreg fanfic. They'll just say some variation of "lol you use too much internet" and move on, do their taxes, whatever. They don't give a shit. The cashier at walmart doesn't give a shit. Your grandma barely knows what the internet is.

And you cannot equate this situation of "niche nerd website opens donations" to "there's an actual genocide going on". You cannot say someone is a bad person for donating to ao3 on the principle that there's also a genocide happening. This makes zero sense, and is sheer black and white thinking because what if people donate to both?

Because those idiots' minds will explode if they figure out you can do both because they cannot grasp that very concept. They strictly believe the "evil cannot comprehend good" trope and this isn't a fucking disney cartoon.

You're fine, I promise. Whether you donate to a stupid site for silly stories is completely irrelevant to whatever the fuck else is going on.

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Kingdings, I just don't think they mesh very well as a couple + Gaster strikes me as a very aromantic type of guy (married to job stuff). But kingdings shippers do a lot of really cool stuff i've reblogged before

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Lowkey I love all the tidbits about Spamton's character from Snowgrave. Everyone's there for the Kris and Noelle angst but I just really love how yucky he is and how much of his character you can get from it, stuff that usually people ignore when thinking about him

But also, for Homestuck it's the intermission. Talk about a criminally underrated arc in a webcomic, my god

23. Unpopular character you love?

@coolfire333

Thankyou!! I used to muse and draw her a lot back in like 2015 or so, it's so good to have her back as a character :D