girlofprey | (no subject)

End of the year, so it's the Slashies 2019.

Slashies 2019

Well. Fandom has been thin on the ground for me for the past few years, but there has still been some stuff I enjoyed. New stuff! Old stuff that was new to me, and actual new stuff that was new to the world. So that was nice. But there are a few pairings and characters you might see more than once below. But without further ado! Let the award-giving commence.

Best Enemy Pairing:

Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things): I genuinely didn't think we'd ever see another rival slash pairing that involved open flirting, and then Stranger Things came along. 'Is that you Harrington, or am I dreaming?'. 'Pretty boy'. Pretty boy. The way Billy looked at him. The way Steve just didn't care, because monsters. They didn't super love each other, and then nothing happened with them in Season 3, but it was wonderful all the same. Poor Billy. Poor Steve if you just believe all the fanon. I loved them a lot.

Deacon St John/O'Brian (Days Gone): People didn't love Days Gone enough, in my opinion. I loved it. And I genuinely loved Deacon and Sarah, and want them to be together, but Deacon and O'Brian. It wasn't quite an enemy pairing, but it wasn't quite a buddy pairing either. It started out with guns and Deacon being desperate and having survivor's guilt and thinking O'Brian had abandoned Sarah, and then it was about them sort of using each other, but also sort of being a point of contact in their fucked-up world, but Deacon really cared about what was going on with the freaker virus anyway, and O'Brian clearly felt something about wanting to help Deacon, about being able to help Sarah, about being able to save one life. And then at the end O'Brian really cares about Deacon, you can tell, you can hear it in his voice. And then that ending, where he tells Deacon something he probably shouldn't. God. I hope there is a sequel. I hope it so hard.

Rabbit/Tanner (Year of the Rabbit): Well, it was all played for laughs, but there was tension so I slashed it, and then there was a touch of tenderness, and then it was just canon. Literal old lover. I really enjoyed Year of the Rabbit, it was weird but good. And Rabbit/Tanner was a pleasant surprise. Just actual legit canon. Beautiful.

Napoleon/Laurence (Temeraire series): LITERAL NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. I mean not really, because it's a fictional representation of him, but still. I started thinking of it as a joke - like, 'haha, this is what I would ship', and 'Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte becomes overly obsessed with the British Naval captain who usurped his dragon...'. AND THEN. Spoilers, and Napoleon kissed him, in the French way, and Laurence didn't know what to do about that. 'He fancies himself a seducer'. "If only you were a subject of France already", after a weird dialogue about his 'English masters', and a section earlier where Laurence was glad to be bowing again because everyone kept treating him like a prince, which he wasn't, and he wanted to be back in his proper place. And then at the end, the Empress is like "maybe you loved him more than me", and Napoleon touched his face in consolation. It was very. It was more than I expected.

David/Michael (The Lost Boys): I watched the Lost Boys this year. It was Halloween and I wanted a new horror film to watch, and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't think it was that special. Kiefer Sutherland was very pretty, but Michael almost wasn't a character. I'd been spoilered for a lot of the twists by a Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove AU fic, but still. But it was nice. David was genuinely obsessed with Michael, in a way that was slightly confusing for the plot, but still was nice. I read fic afterwards. It wasn't amazing, but it was a nice pairing, and it was good in that way old films used to be plotted, and the fic was good in that way old fic used to be written.

And the winner is...: It was a close one, but Napoleon/Laurence takes it. They were a proper pairing. With changing situations and changing attitudes to each other and progress through their relationship and everything. And they were properly enemies for the most part, in that genteel, honourable, regency way. And I'm pretty sure Napoleon would have married Laurence, if only the courts and Laurence would have allowed it. If only he was already a subject of France. Plotbunnies abound.

Best Buddy Pairing:

Deacon St John/Boozer (Days Gone): I didn't ship it, is probably the first thing I should say. That might be a bit of a theme in this section. But it was lovely all the same. They lived together, they were brothers, they were all each other had from the old world, and in the new one. Deacon had to help with cutting Boozer's arm off when it got infected. Boozer wasn't super happy about that, and then he was. If they were going to die, they were going to die together. Deacon got him a dog, and everything he could to make sure Boozer was happy, and still wanted to live. And then that ending. Ahhhhh! Their relationship was beautiful and important and lovely, whether you shipped it or not. Important for the plot, and genuinely believable as two really close friends. And I saw that it was shippable even if I didn't ship it, to the point of looking up fic or daydreaming about it, at least. It was beautiful.

Laurence/Granby (Temeraire series): Before there was Laurence/Napoleon, there was Laurence/Granby. They started out as enemies, which was probably part of it for me, but it was clear that they were going to become the best of friends. Granby not being able to cope with how wonderful and honourable and brave Laurence is, even if stuffy. Granby being so constantly desperate to keep Laurence from getting himself killed, 'for the sake of the Corps and to keep his dragon in service to Britain', okay. Granby always believing in Laurence, and sticking by him. And then: "'...' Granby said, with a look half affection and half exasperation". !!!! At about this time I was thinking, and realised they'd never spoken of Granby getting with any girls at all, and so it was genuinely no surprise to me when he turned out to be canonically gay. But not canonically in love with Laurence. Only in my heart. And there they shall stay.

Laurence/Tharkay (Temeraire series): I don't ship it, again, but I saw how gay it was. Laurence has the most romantic non-sexual relationships with other men I've ever seen. He was unconcerned about Tharkay's race and birth, only his character. Tharkay was a good man, and finally got to stop being sarcastic about it with Laurence. Tharkay kept trying to help Laurence, even if he didn't always tell him he was going to first. He brought him dragons. He saved him from fire. HE MADE LAURENCE REMEMBER HIS SOUL. And then Laurence lost his memory, and his dragon couldn't bring it back, and all his friends couldn't bring it back, and then he just saw Tharkay's face while saving him and remembered everything. I think Tharkay was always a bit too detached and sarcastic (and rightly so) for me to fully attach to, which is why I didn't ship them personally. But they went to live together at the end, with the fortune of Tharkay's that Naomi Novik hadn't mentioned up to that point, and that was epic.

Crush/Djinn (DC Teen Titans): Well, I loved Crush from the very beginning, obviously, and got slightly gay vibes from her. Then I kept seeing 'queer character' and 'LGBT representation' bandied about discussions of her, while avoiding spoilers, so I assumed there was some canon mention of her preferences. But I didn't know. Canon. Literal canon. One-sided, so far, but still. She and Djinn just randomly went on a road trip together, and who would have ever put those two characters together, but they did and it worked, and Djinn was happy to listen to Crush, and Crush didn't push Djinn for her secrets, and Djinn made Crush realise she could be a better person, the person she actually wanted to be instead of like her twat father, and ugh. It was very unclear for a while if Djinn really knew how Crush felt about her or was oblivious, and she's bizarrely obsessed with the much more boring and annoying Robin, and I haven't been keeping up with the latest issues so if anyone knows spoilers don't tell me, but ugh. I think Crush will defend Djinn from anyone who tries to hurt her, and I think Djinn will always keep fighting for Crush, and I love them. I hope they become canon, or at least continue to love each other as much as they do now.

And the winner is...: Laurence/Granby. Because I genuinely shipped them, and looked for fic about them, and I loved all of their canon together. They were really lovely.

Best incest pairing: (NB: None of these pairings have actual genuine incest in them. I did my best.)

Ryan/Ali (Coronation Street) Not a pairing that started for me this year, but one that continued into this year. Ryan and Ali are not technically brothers, they aren't blood related and weren't raised together, but they both consider Michelle their mum and had to share a room for about a year, and seem to stick up for each other like brothers nowadays, so that is lovely. Ali killed a man who was trying to kill Ryan. To be fair, it was after the (criminal) man threatened his mum, but still. Ryan stood up to giant biker men he couldn't hope to beat to save Ali, when Ali picked a fight with them because of his guilt for killing a man. I love how they are together. I love how clearly better off Ryan would be with someone like Ali running his life, and how Ali seems to also know this, and how exasperated but also fond he ended up with Ryan. And Ryan is just always annoyed when Ali lets himself down, and really tries to support him. And warn him when there is danger. They could do with loving each other more recently, Ali could do with loving Maria less because the way he is doing it is annoying, I don't even think he cares in an incensed sort of way that Gary beat up Ryan. But I still quite love them together, and they are still sort of incest. I love the way Ryan looks at Ali.

Dutch/Arthur (Red Dead Redemption 2): Again, not technically incest, and again not a pairing that started for me this year, but I was still playing RDR2 into January, and I was still shipping Dutch/Arthur up until the ending. And I still cared enough, even after the weird ending, to go looking for fic. Dutch loved Arthur so much. Just not more than himself sadly. And Arthur just wanted to do what Dutch said, and have what Dutch said to him be the right thing to do, either morally or right for the gang, or both, or neither but trying to be at least one or the other. Dutch really let Arthur down. And all narrative structure. But he kept trying to talk Arthur round. And Arthur was always the dutiful son, for all he grumbled. I don't know if I quite saw them as father and son, but they had a bit of that dynamic (Dutch taught Arthur to read!), and I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it while it was still enjoyable.

And the winner is...: Ryan/Ali. Because no-one's let anyone down yet. Although Ali is trying his hardest.

Best hatesex:

Evan/Cameron (Holby City): There is only one pairing for this category, and I didn't think there was even one, until I remembered these two. Evan was the secretly manipulative ex-and-then-on-again boyfriend of a female character, and Cameron was her younger, more naive, less confident new love interest. The female character got back with Evan, but he kept on seeing Cameron as a threat, and kept cornering him in empty corridors and stairwells to taunt him and prod at him about all his insecurities. Evan was genuinely manipulative, and it was genuinely more comfortable to see all his interactions with Cameron (who was being a bit jealous, I think) than to see his interactions with the female character. And then they made Evan into a genuine stalker, abuser and rapist, and Cameron ended up letting him die in a hospital bed because he just didn't want Evan to hurt the female character or any other women any longer. But right at the beginning, before we knew that was going to happen, it was the exact kind of mind games I like, and so I remembered them for this category.

And the winner is...: Evan/Cameron (Holby City). Hatesex was thin on the ground this year.

Best Pairing: Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things). It was a tough one, there've been a few pairings I've liked this year, in different ways, but I think Steve/Billy was genuinely my favourite. I genuinely loved them both, and I really loved their interactions with each other, and the dynamic and potential of their characters with each other, and all the ways I think their characters suited each other even in a fucked-up way, and I loved watching them onscreen together, and I loved reading fic about them together. And I genuinely wanted better for both of them, and hoped they would find it with each other, romantically or not. And I just really loved them both. They were my favourite pairing of this year, both onscreen and off.

Most Beautiful Man:

Steve Harrington from Stranger Things - it seems I can't put pictures in a post anymore, so here's a link. askjfhsajkdfh

Billy Hargrove from Stranger Things. asdkjsadkj

Will Laurence from the Temeraire series. I CAN'T EXPLAIN. He is so beautiful and perfect and desperate to do the right thing, and bereft, genuinely bereft, when he can't do the right thing, and loves his mother, and could never get his father to approve of him, and loved all his friends no matter who they were without even trying, and loved his dragon even when he really wasn't expecting to, and he was unbearable, genuinely so painful, very often, and I loved him, loved him, loved him.

Deacon St John. Not enough people loved Days Gone. Even some of those that did didn't love Deacon St John. HE WAS AMAZING. Sam Witwer did an amazing performance, and Deacon was heartbreaking and beautiful and funny. One of my favourite characters of the year, genuinely.

And the winner is: Steve Harrington. HIS FACE. HIS SELF. ALL OF HIM AND HIS SOUL.

Most Beautiful Woman:

Crush from DC Teen Titans.

Maya from Borderlands. My baby Maya.

Lisa Jackson from Days Gone. Not beautiful in sexy way, but amazing, genuinely my second favourite character in the game.

Laura Bailey. Watched some more Critical Role at the beginning of this year, and ye ye! And she's in my favourite outfit of hers in that picture. I am genuinely floored by her and her existence whenever I see her. She also happened to do the voice of the entry above. Love.

Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones. I know I didn't watch her properly or read the books, and I know that's not allowed. But everything I was ever really interested in in Game of Thrones was Cersei Lannister, and her general doneness with sexism. And her craziness. Earlier this year, when everyone was going on about Game of Thrones, which I didn't care about, and how bad it was, which I didn't care about, I knew I could always google something about Cersei Lannister and feel better. What's she doing now? Oh, she's obsessed with elephants. Perfect.

Vera Stanhope from Vera. I always forget about Vera because she's on at the beginning of the year. But she's on in January again soon, and so I remembered. She's genuinely one of my favourite things on TV at the moment, Vera is the only show I still regularly watch. She is amazing.

Flora Wilson from Year of the Rabbit. Easily one of the best parts of Year of the Rabbit. The best Victorian assassin you've ever seen.

Nadja from BBC What We Do in the Shadows. Oh Nadja. The best one.

And the winner is: Maya. My baby Maya.

Lifetime Achievement Award: John/Jim from the Hitcher (1985). One of my first enemyslash/psycho pairings, and one I still think about and look up fic for sometimes, to this day. Rutger Hauer died this year, but before that he gave us some pretty good films. Stay gay, boys.