#‘what role is this. i thought i was gonna be a supporting character. CLAIRE-‘

[aliendxde]

I CLAPPED SO HARD WHEN I SAW THIS

i absolutely love all of this. i imagine rhys has most likely seen claire online or on tv or something similar so she’d just be like “oh my god that’s CLAIRE SWANSON” and is gobsmacked by the way claire treats them. also rhys would def want to start crying because they do in fact have sibling issues so being treated like a little sister would mean the world (in a way she probably can’t verbalize)

im totally here for forcing rhys to listen to emo music, lord knows they need to listen to something other than the top 100

also bold of you to assume rhys doesn’t already have a mild starbucks addiction

rare (not really) crossover between hwu and hss- how do you think clair and rhys would interact? i can see rhys being super starstruck

claire would love rhys… this is something i am 100% sure of. i think claire would look at this nervous child and be so entertained by them… not in a negative way, more like in a big sister kinda way. there’s so much to life but being a teenager is hard and on top of that rhys is Going Through It. no perspective. i don’t know in which context they would meet (and at which point of rhys’ and claire’s life), but i imagined claire helping rhys get out of their shell… i think claire would give rhys her old teenage clothes… and force them to listen to fall out boy and help her with her hair (since they both have curly hair they’d rather damage than Properly take care of). also they’d get starbucks together. claire Will make that girl addicted to coffee.

[deancasbigbang]

Title: Searching for a Rainbow

Author: thefastestqueeralive

Artist: morla

Rating: Mature

Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy, Claire Novak/Kaia Niaves, Jody Mills/Donna Hanscum

Length: 20000

Warnings: No warnings applicable

Tags: Bar AU, Bartender Dean, Depressed Castiel, Dad Castiel, Hurt/comfort, Office sex

Posting Date: October 23, 2024

Summary: Dean Winchester runs a cosy pub in Lebanon, Kansas that welcomes any and every sort of patron. He’s good at his job, he knows he is, and Dean prides himself on how he’s built this bar from the ground up, turning it into the successful business it is. One that can support not only himself but enables him to send money back home to his father to aide in paying the bills. Castiel Novak, looking for a new place to drown his recent sorrows, stumbles in one night and catches the eye of the handsome and charming bartender. When the blonde barkeep won’t take no for an answer, Cass has no choice but to accept the offer of a shoulder to cry on, an audience of one to listen to his pity party. Dean discovers he never needed to fear how his family would react to news that could alter one’s perception of his character. He is presented with opportunities to grow and occasions to celebrate, but before he can fully enjoy himself, he has to accept his truth. He leans on friends before family while he struggles to come to terms with who he truly is, but after he succeeds, Dean is rewarded richly with happy days on the horizon. Castiel learns how to grieve, how to accept loss, how to open himself up to new possibilities and learn to share his life and his love. He is thrust into a life changing situation, one where he is suddenly a parental figure with no prior experience in the field, and worst of all he has to deal with teenage mood swings right off the bat—no cute gurgling and baby babble to soften the coming blows. Set in the perspective of the homely tavern, Rocky’s Bar, witness two grown men and their vast (and complicated) families support one another through good and bad, thick and thin.

Excerpt: “Got this great IPA from Austin—Cosmic Cowboy. You’re gonna love it.” Castiel hears the bartender say when he steps inside. The man listens to the conversation between barkeep and patron as he drips his way over to the bar, footsteps heavy. When he sits himself on the endmost red stained leather stool, the sodden length of his trench coat slaps wetly against the wooden legs of the seating. Castiel grimaces at the noise, heard only by himself beneath the hum of chatter in the public house. The bartender, who’d introduced himself as Dean a few nights back, focuses his attention on Castiel now. “Hey again! What can I getcha?” The man’s chirpy demeanour grates somewhat on Castiel, who silently nods toward the tap in front of him. He’s been coming to this same bar for the past week straight now, ordering the same on tap lager; coincidentally the very one Dean was just selling to his previous patron. Alcohol isn’t a healthy coping mechanism, Castiel knows. It’s just… He’s having a hard time as of late, and this seemed the least destructive way to deal with his problems—at least in the short run. It’s merely something he’s using to help him through some recent issues and then he’ll go back to being a very casual drinker. In his defence, it’s not like he’s getting completely and utterly shitfaced every night—just enough to feel lighter, to feel the weight leave his shoulders and allow him a deep enough sleep that he won’t have nightmares. Castiel doesn’t know how to deal with loss, how to cope with the newly gaping hole in his chest. A few beers a night seemed the easiest and cheapest solution to forgetting his sadness; he worries if Social Services found out he was attending therapy or counselling that they wouldn’t see him fit for the role of parental figure/guardian. A glass slides its way in front of the rain soaked man, snapping him from his musings. “Penny for your thoughts?” comes Dean’s perky voice once more.

DCBB 2024 Posting Schedule

[ozyras]

so i saw your response to my ask,,,, and so ofc i need to ask abt terrence in your au. i originally assumed evie and terrence would swap, but then i saw evie and claire swapped! so im curious about him :]

also! how does elaine fight with her ability as healing? and what was john's reasoning as to choosing cecile over blyke?

hope you dont mind me dumping you with questions!!! your au is so cool and i love the art you make for it- keep it up! <3

[also arlo, elaine, and cecile is the funniest trio ever to me i love their swap roles]

hehe i knew you were gonna ask about terrence :> ok so i was first thinking of swapping him with juni way before part 2 of season 2 had started, because i couldn’t find anyone else to swap him with and they were all minor characters we haven’t seen much of. however, now i think his swap would be dylan. he would still have the same backstory as canon about his mother but he wouldn’t be recruited by spectre. he’d still be hostile towards high tiers but kinda starts to look up to sera after she saves him from some bullies one day. he’d deny it if somebody were to ask him this though lol. he’s also good friends with claire and adrion :) oh also i think he wouldn’t have an ability level as high as he has in the canon and gets bullied a lot because it’s a non-combat ability. by the way evie - terrence would be a cool ass swap ngl i’d love to see some traitor evie >:)

i imagine elaine is very good at hand-to-hand combat so she either fights like that when necessary but mostly supports the others during a fight. maybe her ability could have a function like aura boosting in higher levels? so that she can make others’ abilities stronger this way.

gotta be honest, i have never thought of why john chose cecile over blyke before hgfhdj but in this au, blyke is a little cunning and has a lot of connections around the school (he’s pretty popular), while cecile is a less cunning version of her canon self. she’s also quite diligent and cool headed, contrasting with blyke’s hot-tempered nature. i think cecile overall would look more trustworthy to john so that’s why he’d choose her as jack. 

also yes, the swap au trio is the funniest thing ever and one of my favorite things in this au hhdjsh i really wanna explore their dynamic more. also, you’re not dumping me with questions, i really enjoyed them! feel free to ask more if you want to <3

[badassllamaclan]

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Real-time thoughts as I watched it yesterday)

Spoilers under the cut!!!

They’re gonna deny me Barbara seeing her human son again!?!?!?

Dafuq? Was that Otto????

Lol Incredibles?!?!?

STRICKLER FLYING IN THERE COULDA SOLVED HALF THEIR PROBLEMS

Men in Black needed

BRUH THAT WASN’T EVEN DETECTIVE SCOTT IN THE TRAILER

WHO IS BAILING THEM OUT OF JAIL

That fuckin your mom joke. These losers are so grounded when they get back to Arcadia

EXCUSE YOU, WHY DOES STRICKLER SOUND LIKE THAT???? But also, yay Strickler was there when Jim woke up.

FUCK ALRIGHT TROLLHUNTERS ROTT PRODUCERS AND WRITERS YALL ARE ON THIN FUCKING ICE, don’t give me that bullshit with Strickler’s voice and then HAVE STRICKLER ASK FOR JIMS BLESSING AND TO BE HIS BEST MAN AT THEIR WEDDING

Nomura…. Is her voice different I’m not 100% sure

Alright WTF ELI GOT HOT

ALSO WHY DID HIS GLASSES GET BIGGER

FUCKIN WHAT

“So we don’t technically have a school”

Why the fuck is Arcadia the center

WHERE ARE ALL THE BABIES THAT WALT AND BARBARA WERE RAISING?!?!?

Also Nari up close is serious leafmen vibes

I love that this is some of the most involved Barbara has ever been in anything

Wtf did they do to BARBARA’S NOSE?!?!?

Smooth morons

FUCKIN WHAT

IM SORRY FUCKING WHAT

THE WRITERS ARE ON CRACK THERES DEADASS MPREG

WAIT WHO IS GONNA TELL BARBARA THAT STEVE IS PREGNAT

ALSO WOULDNT MAKING JIM ARMOR BASICALLY MAKE HIM ON GHE SAME LEVEL AS TOBY?!?!?

Why didn’t that fuck test the amulet before they tried to stop the order???

Also why does Jim yelling sound so weird? Like his voice is deeper specifically when he yells.

Mad respect that the arctic base in Greenland wasn’t destroyed and that researcher won’t straight up freeze to death

Everyone is questioning troll dragons, WHEN STRICKLER EXISTS RIGHT THERE

At least Nomura is still Nomura

Fuck either Blinky or Arrrgh is gonna die or some shit… WAIT BLINKY IS TELLING THE STORY THAT MEANS HE LIVES… fuck

Also Jim you’re such a loser I love you, the world’s ending and you’re upset cause your mom is finally happy and her happiness is at risk

ALSO WHERE IS NOTENRIQUE

OH COOL, we addressed that Archie’s dad still exists and is ancient AF. LOVE GHE GUILT TRIPPING!!! Father son bonding over terrorizing Blinky, love it

ALSO EVERYONE WAS CAUGHT ON VIDEO IN THE BEGINNING HOW HAS THAT NOT BEEN ADDRESSED, they’re literally only acknowledging that the titans happened

Yay, Barbara and Strickler having active roles

ALSO HIS SWEATER

Hi I was not ready for Nomura

Cool they’re gonna kill Strickler in the exact way I said on tumblr a few years ago

THANK FUCK THEY WENT TO GO STEAL LITERAL FUCKING TIME FROM THE TROLL DRAGON

YES BARBARA VALIDATING HOW MUCH STRICKLER LOVED JIM, but random assedly bringing up Jim’s bio dad?????

YO YALL JUST GONNA LEAVE BARBARA FUCKING ALONE AT THE CASTLE

So they’re going to kill off as many fan favorites as possible because they have to fix everything with the time sphere

BUT ALSO I KNOW MOVIES AND SHIT AND THEY WOULDNT JUST MENTION BIO DAD FOR NO REASON (they did in fact)

YES SHANNON STILL HAS A GIRLFRIEND

Coach Lawrence is trying his best

Thus far the pacing of this is pretty good

Oh shit Nari and WHATS his face died, but I swore that wasn’t permanent when they killed WHATS his face the first time

Wait back up, I thought that Heartstone was dead, and now it’s glowing

Lol I love how they have military clearance

ALSO WHERE IS BARBARA

Aja is a wonderful and realistic queen

DAS A BIG HEARTSTONE

THIS IS THE GAYEST SHIT

ALSO WOULD LOVE IT IF THIS SHIT DIDNT WORK, but it did

I love how they brought Nomura back just to kill her

BRUH WHERE IS THE SPHERE SO YALL CAN FIX EVERYTHING

Lol I kinda knew Toby was gonna die when they kept bringing up him being moral support he felt underestimated and the underestimated ones always sacrifice themselves

Also I would be bawling my damn eyes out if it wasn’t for the fact they haven’t used the green time orb yet

Blinky comforting Arrrgh borderline looked like they were kissing

Arrrgh crying though almost got me

Lol I would love it if Jim time travels and when it catches up to the same point that the current timeline is at they’re just at Barbara and Strickler’s wedding.

WAIT HOW FAR BACK IS JIM GOING

ALSO WHY ISNT BARBARA THERE

ALSO CLAIRE AND JIM SAID THE ACTUAL WORDS I LOVE YOU

BUT HOW FAR BACK IS HE GOING WTF

IS THIS THE DAY HE FOUND THE FUCKING AMULET

WTF IS GOING ON

WAIT THESE FUCKS BETTER GIVE ME A MONTAGE OF JIM TRYING TO SLUGHTLY CHANGE THINGS

BRUH HOLD ON I HAD AN IDEA FOR STRICKLER BEING THE TROLLHUNTER BUT HIM NOT BEING ABLE TO WIN SO HE TRIES TO DESTROY THE AMULET AND ENDS UP MEETING WITH ALL THE OTHER TROLLHUNTERS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AND THEY ALL SEE A FUTURE WHERE JIM WAS THE TROLLHUNTER AND THEREFORE THEY WON

BUT IF TOBY IS THE TROLLHUNTER

also real quick Jim trying to set Strickler up with his mom OMFG

FUCK I WILL CRY

YEP IM CRYING

THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ON JIM IS SO GOOD

ALSO UPSET NORMURA DIDNT HAVE A SCENE IN THE ALTERNATE TIMELINE

FUCK it’s such a good ending for the series I love it

OKAY IT WAS JONATHAN HYDE BUT WHY WAS HE EXTRA GROWLY

Fuck there’s no more… I just wanna see more, like how the writers and creators think the little differences between timelines will be

I’m literally sitting here staring at the credits screen.

I love how the last bit of credits is the production babies

The ending also explains why there was so much fan service

[eztria]

trollhunters: rott and overall toa thoughts

decided to write down what i think of the movie and the series as a whole after watching rott

toby domzalski

first of all, i am so unspeakably sad that toby remained a comedy relief character until it was time for him to die. i really hoped he would get his time to shine but not like this. the death scene was definitely amazingly done and im glad that at the very least rott had a scene that showed the audience just how important tody’s friendship was to jim.

on that note tho, im sad that no one seemed to realize that toby was gone??? it was only after jim realized what happened that he was the first to desperately search for him. i get that toby has the strongest ties to jim but??? claire??? AAARRRGGHH??? they were also close with toby but even after seeing him take the car they didnt immediately shift their focus to him after finding jim???

i really wished we got more serious moments with him through all the toa series. i feel like after trollhunters (although he was also a comic relief there, but id say there was more to him back then), he became the designated comic relief and it makes him such a 2-dimensional character.

jim lake jr

jim is one of my favorite protagonists ever in any show, so seeing him struggle through all the series was always an emotional rollercoaster. i appreciate what rott was going for, the “he doesnt need the armor/amulet, hes always been a hero” sentiment but... the movie gives him the amulet back in the same scene in which he says it. i was severely disappointed when it happened, im not gonna lie. the scene would have been way more impactful if jim defeated bellroc by himself when they were stripped out of magic, instead of suddenly getting a power-up and besting her in combat. if jim didnt get the amulet right then the message of “i always was a hero, with the amulet or without” would have actually hit way harder. we see jim struggle about being just human and lacking the power to hold his own ground in a fight through the whole movie and him suddenly besting bellroc with the amulet is just. underwhelming. i think he should have gotten the amulet after the fight, so we still could have the whole time travel shenanigans thing happen, but def not when he got it. 

and on the topic of the time travel, what the fuck did they do to jim. like????? hello????? this. in Not. the same jim lake jr who went into the darklands all by himself so his friends wouldnt get killed/hurt. this is Not the same jim who refused to burden his mother with what he had to deal with as a trollhunter. the fact that he makes a concious choice to have toby pick up the trollhunter amulet????? is so out of character for him???? especially since he experienced all the struggles, the hurt, the trauma himself. i Refuse to believe he would ever have his best friend relive the hell he has been through all those years. especially since only He has the knowledge of the past??? how does he think this is going to play out??

not to mention that, by having the amulet choose toby, it means that the whole fate/destiny aspect of jim being chosen is out of the window. i didnt like how much the series leaned into it already, because im not a fan of stories which support the concept of “destiny/fate” but that ending really just confirm that jim was never the chosen one, he was just lucky to get the amulet first, because it could have been literally anyone. and im not trying to say that toby would not be a great trollhunter himself, i just mean that if toby can also be chosen instead of jim, the whole speech about destiny is kind of a lie.

claire nuñez

this isn’t really a criticism about her character, but more of how she has been treated by the narrative. im glad that claire gets to do more in this movie and that she keeps an active role (despite being spent in critical points to prevent her from solving problems). i really wish claire was more than Just jims love interest once they got together tho. i wish she was first and foremost his friend instead of his girlfriend, although that might be just my personal pet peeve of narratives putting romantic relationships above platonic ones. i felt it was really a shame that her wish for jim was to “find her and try until she falls in love with him again”. like i get that it was a sweet scene and sentiment overall but all i could think of was shouldnt she be freaking out that her friends and family are possibly dead because of the destruction of the whole town??? she could have been helping people evacuate and then join the fight.

the steve palchuk problem

ive seen a lot of people talk about this, but yeah the mpreg plot was really unnecessary. its really weird and it made me very uncomfortable considering both aja and steve are like. supposedly 18? in rott. this whole plot point not only feels like it takes up time that could have been better spent, but it also kinda portrays aja as a really bad partner to steve. like. you’re telling me she never really told him how this works??? like, ignoring how stupid and arbitrary the 7th kiss thing is, considering that she knows how kissing works for humans, she Should have told him about the possible consequences of it. i get that she was on akiridion-5 but is there really no way for her to communicate with him, considering that krel stayed on earth??? i dont remember if there was any communication mentioned, but if it was, that makes aja even worse in this context, honestly. they did my girl so dirty.

(on a quick note tho, i do like how aja was reluctant to follow jim. she’s a queen now and her priority will always be the safety of people surrounding her so her sentiment of “you can do the risky thing But my ships are still showing up either way” was really nice and i actually liked that she kinda went against jim and questioned him.)

with the mpreg steve plotline also comes the fact that eli is barely in this movie. we literally only get to see him to see that he has a growth spurt and then to have him deliver the babies. i really wish we could have gotten more about eli himself, maybe see how his relationship with aja developed into a friendship??? or the good old eli-steve friendship after a long time of being apart.

anticlimactic deaths/losses

nomura’s death scene was so fast and we didn’t even really linger on its impact, which honestly was. really disappointing. strickler was also done really dirty by being killed off nearly immediately after the reveal of his engagement with barbara. at the very least we got a scene of the lakes mourning him.

nari’s death served a purpose. they sacrificed herself to kill skrael. i did like how much it impacted douxie, but after the deaths, the characters are not really mentioned again until the very end when jim decides to time travel.

archie being left behind felt kind of forced and i wish he stayed in the story if only so douxie didnt have to lose two people close to him on the same day. we also never mention him again which... okay.

this is the finale... where is everyone, what is happening

is barbara just stranded in the castle now??? where is nana?? the changeling babies??? notenrique and claire’s family??? the trolls from the troll market??? this whole movie just felt rushed, honestly. we never were told how barbara and strickler got to the castle and we never even got to witness them see jim in the human form for the first time too. i honestly think this movie should have just been a series. it has enough action to stretch it out and we could have had more scenes that were about finishing arcs for characters and lingering on the consequences of certain deaths. its not a bad movie in itself, but it does not feel like a proper finale to the toa series, especially with the last 5 minutes of rott. im kind of disappointed, but at the same time we p much got an open ending so everyone can go wild with their interpretations/speculations.

[ravenfirelair]

Trollhunters: rise of the titans movie review

!!!!!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!!!

so I just watched the conclusion movie of the tales of arcadia series and yeah, wow, there is a lot to unpack in this movie. First I’m gonna talk about what I liked about this movie then talk about what I didn’t like about this movie. I still liked all the characters in this movie, I thought they all had good conclusions to their story arches. I liked that jim despite not having the amulet anymore, it stills wants to continue the fight as the hero even thought he doubts himself as points. Toby was good in that is proves to be more in just a worthless character and willing to sacrifice his life for jim (quite literally!). Aja and claire were fucking queens! I did like that Aja took more a strong commending role and proved himself worthy to be queen and of course claire willing to put in everything she has was awesome. I thought the relationship that formed between douxie and nari was good, it made me feel for these two characters a bit more. The rest of the characters didn’t really do that much development wise, they mostly just filled their supporting roles in the fight, which really okay for this kind of movie.  

I thought the action was really good, though I thought it was a little too fast paced throughout the whole movie. I thought it needed some time just to slow down a bit so the viewer could get a bit of breather. Plus the movie gives you very little set up before getting straight into the action, which makes the viewer to have watched all the previous series to fully understand what is going on. But the fight scenes were really well done nonetheless. You can tell del toro wanted to put a lot of elements from his previous works into this movie as the fight between the giant akiridion robot and the fire titan was very pacific rim-ish. The animation was really good, I could tell the animators put the extra effort into the character animation, the textures, the effects and the lighting to make it more movie quality. I thought the music score was pretty good too, there were a few moments were the music really stood out. Something I kind of liked and didn’t like is the amount of character deaths in this movie. Hooray for more character death trauma! Yeah, I get some character deaths are necessary to up the stakes of the outcome in this movie, but I think this movie is a little to harsh in deaths. The character you least expect dies, which is toby. Yeah, this movie certainly does not pull back on any punches.  

Now to the stuff I didn’t like about this movie. First thing was steve’s weird pregnancy, WTF WAS UP WITH THAT?!! why was this needed?!  It felt like someone’s weird fetish fanfiction come to life and it felt kind of really disturbingly graphic to put in a kids movie. Secondly, I felt there were too many characters in this movie, yeah I get most of the characters from the previous series needed to be in this so everything connects to each other, but then they put in this new dragon character that was kind of like a villain and is barely in this movie for a few minutes. I was just like why was he necessary? Plus I felt the humor moments were kind of hit or miss, some jokes worked, but a lot of them really didn’t.

And of course the last thing, the ending. I have really mixed feelings about the ending. I didn’t mind so much that it was just basically I reset button type of thing, but that fact that toby becomes the new trollhunter, it just doesn't make any sense! Because A: The amulet only responds to the person who is destined to be the trollhunter right? So the amulet would not respond to toby as he is not destined to be a trollhunter. Then B: there is an episode that clearly shows what would happen if jim was never the trollhunter, that gunmar would win and all of arcadia would be destroyed. And then C: if jim is the only one that remembers all the events that happened in the previous time line, why would he put all the hardship, trauma and burden on toby? That seemed very out of character for him as he is not a person that wants to put huge responsibility on others. Plus in the trollhunter series it clearly shows jim is willing to take on the responsibility of being a trollhunter by himself just so his friends won’t have to risk their lives for him. And finally D: did jim choose toby to be the trollhunter because he thought by doing so it would change events in the renewed time line? But if jim is the only one who remembers the events that happened in the previous time line, wouldn’t he become the trollhunter again and figured out ways to prevent those tragic events from ever happening in the first place? I don’t know, this decision to make toby the next trollhunter felt very confusing and stupid to me.

So resetting the timeline does mean all the characters that had died in the all 3 series have come back to life now (including tronos madu, so that gives some glimmer of hope) because the events that lead up to their deaths have not happened yet. So that means all the good characters are back, but so are all villains, so that means jim and others would have to face all the villains all over again and I’m not sure jim could handle going through all that again. Also the reset button ending didn’t feel deserved, like jim reset the timeline only because the cost of lives was too high, but it’s not like their sacrifices were done in vain because jim won the battle in the end. It would of made more sense for the reset if jim didn’t win in the end and he reset the timeline just so they could start over and could figure out a way to win in the end.

Also I feel there were a lot of unanswered questions the movie didn’t address, like what happened to all the other trolls the used to live in troll market? Did they ever find a new home? Did jim just abandon them after the events that happened in Wizards? What happened to all those babies that got replaced by changelings? What happened to all those other wizard and witch characters in arcadia that was revealed in Wizards? How did their underground society really work? Why did zadra never come back with aja and varvatos vex in the movie? In the movie Blinky said the only heartstone was the one that was destroyed in troll market under arcadia, but didn’t blinky mention that there was another one in new jersey somewhere? Whatever happened to that one? But I guess none of that matters now because everything ended up being undone by the timeline reset anyway.

Overall, I did really enjoy this movie despite it’s flaws and it’s disappointing and confusing ending. I’m not going to let a few minutes of the end spoil the whole movie for me. I thought it was a good conclusion to the overall arching storyline of the trilogy series. As for rating this trilogy series as a whole, I thought it could have been better honesty, it felt like this series had a strong start, but soon lost it’s steam by the end. I think there were a lot butting heads in the per-production of the series as I felt there were a lot of ideas and concepts that never got fully utilized either due to run time or budget constraints. Plus I think this series suffered from “too many chefs in the kitchen” syndrome, where too many people lead the direction of this series with all of them wanting to put in their own ideas into it and ended up with del toro not having much control over it. Still I thought this trilogy was really interesting and entertaining enough, I thought it one one those middle ground kids show that was not afraid to go to those dark places and put more mature adult elements into it. And I still thought what guillermo del toro tried to accomplish with this series was ambitious, even if some of the parts didn’t fix together in the end.  

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 14 Return of the Trollhunter

Now we begin the second half of season 1 (It’s actually season 2 but we don’t talk about that)

“Holy moly!”

Toby survives that.

“What the heck was-?”

“Huh?” We now return to your daily schedule bizarre adventures.

“Hop on!”

“Adios, fire cat”

“Hey, maybe save the jokes for when we aren’t gonna die” Well it sounded cool in his head.

“I can’t believe you took that stupid rock to your science class!”

“First, it’s not a rock. It’s a volcanic slag”

“And how was i suppose to know there was a flaming monster hiding in it?”

“You bought a magic rock off a troll named “Marvin the Monster Dealer” What did you think would happen, Tobes?” What happened before this moment?

“Um, Master Jim, you said this was a luminaire”

“When that is obviously an infernal hellheeti” Getting away with saying hell.

“Should i punch it?”

“Can i punch it?”

“Yes!” “No!”

“I was going to add, make sure you do not feed the fire by attacking it!”

“Opps” Punching doesn’t solve everything.

Jim uses Water Breathing. Tanjiro would be proud.

“Uh, guys, the fire hydrant-”

“Close enough”

Just keep walking.

Why is the opening still the same, even though Bular is dead now?

“Morning mom”

“Hi”

“Made your favorite breakfast”

“Sorry, kiddo, in a rush”

Should i be glad that Miraculous Ladybug doesn’t have something like this? It would be painful to watch. Fortunately, everyone in Miraculous Ladybug is stupid.

“I mean, it’s been like a month” Wait it’s been a month since last episode? So what have they been doing in a month?

“I don’t know how to fix this unless i tell her the truth”

“But if i do, they’ll send me to the crazy house” Hey, you told Claire, and she didn’t send you to the crazy house. Well she was tempted to do that cause you weren’t making any sense, but she didn’t.

“They fixed your tooth” Why did it take this long for Steve’s tooth to get fixed? I doubt all of the first half happened in a single month.

“I heard he was run out of town by the mob”

“I heard he got a mail-order bride and moved to North Korea”

“As if. Where do you think Mr. Strickler went, Jimmy-Jam. After all, he was dating your mom”

“Why does everyone keep bringing this up?!”

“Guys, this is my brother, and NotEnrique’s driving me nuts”

“You know how many times i have to change him?”

“He knows how to use a toilet”

“He chooses the diaper” “Yeah? Well at least you didn’t have to shove your hand in stinking diapers, and have it still stink to this day” “Ugh. Why does it still still stink? Have you washed your hands?” “Yes! 100 times since i got home with my cold McDonald’s French Fries” “Well excuse me, prince” “It’s well excuse me, princess!” “Are you two gonna kiss right now?” “Shut up Toby!”

“You spend so much time with Lake, you’re practically swimming in him” That’s what she said.

“We’re just friends. End of story” Wait, did- Did Claire just Adrien Agrested Jim? Goddamn it Adrien! Your Just a Friending made it’s way to Arcadia and got Claire. I hope you’re happy.

“Okay, people, who can tell me what happened in the year 1989?”

“No, seriously, i don’t remember. It was a crazy year” Let’s see. What video games came out that year.

“Really, Palchuk? That’s it. I’m dating your mom” “No, no, wait!”

Okay hold on. Why does it take a month for Claire to see Trollmarket? Out-of-Universe reason i can understand. You want to do a one month skip, and we all want to Claire’s reaction to Trollmarket. Could you imagine Claire going to Trollmarket off-screen? We get a few mentions of it here and there, but we never see her full reaction. I can understand the out of universe reason. But what i don’t understand is the In-Universe reason. Like Jim told Claire the truth a month ago. There’s no reason to keep anything a secret with her. Like why? A month to progress all of this? Cause i think it would take Claire a week at most to take it all in. Slower than when J- Never mind.

“Now, you’re gonna want to start drawing a semi-circle”

“Oh! You have it. Okay, never mind” Easier than me drawing an actually circle.

“It’s... It’s lively. Shit that’s Aja’s thing!”

He pets.

“Jim told me you helped him face Draal”

“And slay Bular” Wait Jim explained the entire first half of the season to Claire? Where are the fucking fanfics?

“And that Vespa!”

“Best birthday ever. Except for the part where Jim gets chased by a Stalkling” “That is something i want to forget”

“You’ve read A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore?”

“Volumes 1 through 47 It took me a while to decipher the symbols”

“But once i got past the Fifth Declension, i started to get the hang of it” It’s embarrassing when your (Not yet, almost, but not really, not for another season) girlfriend knows more about Troll Lore than you.

“She read the book!”

“She read the book! Master Jim, i love my daughter in law!” “Wait what?”

“She’s a flower” Mood.

Always have a drink before you continue.

“I accepted a human Trollhunter’

“And allowed the pudgy one to stay for moral support” Toby is the moral support boyfriend. Claire is the moral support girlfriend. See? Two different roles.

“But this? A third?”

“It’s an infestation!” Hey they’re not rabbits where they multiple every 5 seconds. Then again, Jim and Claire- Never mind again.

*Talks in Troll*

“She speaks Troll”

“And Trollmarket is honored to have you as well”

“Oh, Blinkous! If only the amulet had chosen such a learned and delightful fleshbag”

“Hey!” Trollhunter Claire au.

“That was awesome, Claire”

“Vendel loves you and he hates everyone!” I said it once, and i’ll say it again: Vendel is the most relatable character in this series.

Where did this light came from?

“Hopefully, this will give the girl some closure”

“She does understand why we cannot allow the bridge to open?”

“Well, you said it yourself, we’d be fools to open the bridge and risk letting Gunmar out”

“Right, Jim?”

“Oh, of course”

“We’d be crazy to do that“ Yeah... A crazy fool, heheheheh...

“Hey buddy, it’s your sis”

”Don’t you start thinking i’ve forgotten about you”

“We’re gonna get you back. I promise”

“See you soon, little chicharron”

*Cries in Troll*

“I need to share a word with our Trollhunter” That’s what it’‘s like when dad wants to talk to you alone. Then again, i don’t have a dad so...

“Hey, Draal? It’s strange, but i feel like i’ve seen you before. Have we met?” “Uh...”

“No. You must’ve mistaken me for someone else”

“Hate to be there when we have to rebuild Jim, right?”

“What a mess”

“Well, i just grossed myself out” We’ll see about that in Wizards.

“You fight in an arena surrounded by the remains of dead Trollhunters?”

“That is...”

“The most heroic thing i’ve ever seen. If their ghosts talked, then it be like Mulan”

“Sometimes, the heart leads you down paths you should not cross”

“How did you-?”

“Figure it out?”

“Your devotion to this girl is as obvious as Marinette’s feelings for Adrien. WHICH IS STILL DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!”

“But you know the danger”

“If you went in alone, you’d be killed”

“Which is why we will answer every call”

“You said i have to answer every call. Now-“

“Wait, did you just say “We”?”

“Aaarrrgghh and i discussed it. We knew you were going in, with or without our approval”

“But... If Claire’s brother is important to you, then he’s important to us”

“For folly or for fraught”

“We are a team”

*Cries in Troll again*

“Is this normal?”

“Nothing’s normal around here”

“Get used to it, sister” Translation: “Welcome to your new life”

“But only a Trollhunter can wield Daylight”

“We are Trollhunters!”

“Oh, man! Now, i’m dead!”

“That stupid Soothscryer killed me in the Forge” He thought Bular would kill him. But nope, instead it’s the fucking Soothscryer.

“What do you mean, he’s in the Void?”

“The Void sounds like a very empty word. A bad word” I hear the Void is very welcoming.

“Yeah. And are these happy ghosts we’re talking about here”

“Or Mulan’s ghost family?”

“He is now under the spiritual guidance of”

“Master Trollhunters”

“Ghost guidance counselors?”

“So, it is like Mulan”

“Wow! So trolls and ghosts exist”

“What’s next? A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”

“Fairies?”

“Fairies? Preposterous!”

“Fairies lost the war to the pixies centuries ago” Hate to meet these pixies, right?

“But if we’re going in, they said the only way we’re getting out alive is if we kill Gunmar” Well that’s a bigger lie than any lie Lila can make.

“And with Strickler gone, maybe we have a chance”

Speak of the devil. Or changeling.

If i ever seem dead, be sure to throw rocks at me to be sure.

“Who has awakened me?”

This is me and my sister.

“You know my name”

“A shame i will never know yours”

Angor Rot had to deal with the goblins wrath.

“My ring”

“My flesh”

“Yield to me!”

“For i wear the One Ring”

“You have killed thousands”

“You are chaos incarnate”

“And you”

“are...

“mine”

“Hahahahaha!”

The second half of season 1 (Actually season 2) is off to a great start.

Shit, what do i say that has something to do with next episode? Uh... See you next episode?

[sincerelyreidburke]

Hey again! So like, you are under no obligation, and I send you too many asks anyway but... if you're down for writing Spencer's reaction to A FROSH GETTING EVAN THE AUDACITY I would be so pleased :) lol

First of all: you don’t send me too many asks. I believe the phrase you’re looking for is “I enable you to write fun things often”. Which is highly encouraged, in this establishment.

Second: yes. And for those who aren’t Via, let me enlighten you. Spencer is a Kiersey College drama club OC, part of the group of characters I created to enhance Quinn’s college drama club experience (and to have more fun on “Quinn Theatre Hours” Monday nights). You can read a comprehensive introduction to the drama club cast in this fic, which tells the story of the week leading up to Quinn’s casting in Dear Evan Hansen his freshman year.

Spencer is... hm, how shall we say. A giant asshole. He’s a junior theatre kid who fully expects that the role of Evan will land neatly in his lap. This ficlet depicts as much. It takes place pretty much simultaneously with the casting fic I linked to above.

This is also a precursor of sorts to a longer drama club fic, which I’m working on, that Via has also asked after. Stay tuned for that, because there is where you’ll see some serious, well... drama.

Until then: Spencer can choke. I’m entertained by the fact that I’m now being asked to write things from the point of view of the bully. Here’s what you asked for!

//

Today is going to be an amazing day.

And here’s why. Spencer has been waiting— all week, certainly, but also for months, even since the school year began, to see something he finally gets to see today. During all three of his years at Kiersey, the spring musical has been something to look forward to, but especially this year, with so much riding on it. Today, the cast list goes up for the biggest show of his life. Today, he confirms his place in a  role he’s been dreaming of playing for months. Today, he starts to lead this year’s cast.

He knows that the show was chosen for him. Dr. C is notorious for it— she’s not shy about choosing shows based on who she has available for casting. It’s resourceful, Spencer has told her time and again; after all, you have to work with what you have. It’s like how she chose Book of Mormon last year for him— well, and for Reid, he guesses, but mostly for him. And how the director at his and Kelsie’s high school chose Thoroughly Modern Millie for the two of them their senior year.

He planted the seed for Dear Evan Hansen in Dr. C’s head last spring, an offhanded mention in a conversation, right around the time Book of Mormon was closing. He forwarded her a few articles over the summer, just to jog her interest, and he and Kelsie even went to New York to see the show in June, so he typed up a review and sent it her way. When he arrived on campus this past fall, he was thrilled to hear she’d taken his advice. It would be their spring 2018 show.

His audition went just as expected, and he read for Evan during his callback. So this morning, when he rolls out of bed at five-thirty sharp, it’s the first thing on his mind, without a doubt in it. Today is the day he starts being Evan Hansen.

He deserves this.

To start his great day, he grabs a morning workout, like always. In the gym, he sees one of the freshmen who auditioned, using an elliptical and wearing pink leggings. She has curly, golden blond hair piled into a high ponytail, full lips, and tan skin. Her name is… Maddie? Mallory? He isn’t sure, but what does it matter anyway. She was in callbacks with him last night, and she wasn’t projecting well.

So he doesn’t say hello, and doesn’t even think she’ll notice him until he passes her as he’s leaving. She’s refilling a water bottle with stickers all over it, and she waves. “Hey, Spencer.”

“Oh!” He pretends to be surprised. “Hi, Maddie.”

“Uh.” She chuckles a little, and shakes her head. “It’s— Maggie, actually.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” He stops in front of her, and bends down— she’s a little short— to deliver a word for the wise. “Hey, by the way… don’t take it too hard if you aren’t cast in a bigger role today.” She arches an eyebrow, and he continues, because she ought to know. “There just aren’t a lot of roles that would fit… you, y’know?”

It doesn’t look like Maggie understands what he means, but she shrugs and folds her arms, all standoffish. “Well, good luck to you, too.”

“Thank you!” He flashes a smile. “It’s always great to see beginners joining the musical.”

Maggie purses her lips and scowls as he turns to go. Huh. What a bitch. He was only telling her what she needed to hear.

Well, it’s her loss. Freshmen rarely ever get speaking roles. And it’s not like Zoe is going to anybody besides Kelsie.

He texts his girlfriend on the way out of the gym. Kelsie is an early riser, too, but she doesn’t work out in the morning like he does. By now, in her morning routine, she’ll be through with her shower and doing her hair.

They meet for breakfast every morning, but this morning, it’ll be a quick affair. The cast list goes up at 9:00 sharp in the Beckett Performing Arts Center lobby, and they have every intention to be the first ones there.

So Spencer showers and gets dressed, donning a blue shirt for the occasion. He meets up with Kelsie in the lobby of their dorm, and they walk to the dining hall hand-in-hand, leaving right around 8:00. It’s sunny out today, but still freezing cold.

“So,” she asks him, as they stroll down the sidewalk. “Any bold predictions?” She pauses to grin and bump against his hip, as she adds, “Besides the obvious.”

Spencer beams. He loves their relationship for so many reasons, but especially because they support each other so well. “Well,” he begins, pulling his stocking cap down on his head. “I think Reid is a dead ringer for Jared.” Which will be easy, because although Reid is unfunny at best, Spencer is used to working with him; he got well accustomed to it on Book of Mormon.

“Oh, absolutely.” Kelsie nods. “And I think… Claire, as Heidi? I can’t be sure, but—” She pauses for an exaggerated eyeroll, which is absolutely warranted, because Claire is such a goody two-shoes it’s insufferable. “I know Dr. C likes giving her principal roles.”

“Which I, for one, do not understand,” he quips.

“Tell me about it.” Kelsie sighs, then shakes her head. “But I could see Claire going that way.”

“I could, as well.” He pauses, racks his brain of the names on the audition list. He checked it religiously, to see who was trying to get involved, even after he had secured his spot as first on the list. “And… hm… alright, I’m not saying I’d like to see Danny Cho as Larry, but given they didn’t run his part in callbacks at all last night…”

“Mm,” Kelsie hums. “I think you’re right. That’s a shame. His singing is suspect at best.”

“And his acting…” He sighs. “I hope he can pull it off.”

“Maybe he can.” Kelsie swings his hand a little, and they sidestep for a rushing student who must be late to their eight-AM class. When they regain sidewalk space, she looks to him, smoothing her bangs, and asks, “And Connor?...”

“Hm.” Spencer’s mind lands on someone, but it’s an underwhelming thought. “Cole?”

“Oh.” Kelsie pauses, like she forgot he existed. Which is easy to do, because Cole, the sophomore he’s thinking of, is quiet and irrelevant. Spencer was surprised to see him audition; he played guitar in the pit for Book of Mormon, and from there he always assumed he was a fly-under-the-radar type. But he read all of Connor’s parts in callbacks. “Well, he has the look.”

“It’s a typecast,” he agrees. “He seems… sketchy?”

“Right? Kind of a weirdo,” Kelsie says. She raises an eyebrow at him, and asks, “Do you think you could work with him?”

“Well, it isn’t like I’ll have much of a choice,” he remarks. “But who knows? Maybe someone else will get Connor.”

“Maybe.” Kelsie pauses, then smiles and says, “You can do it.”

He kisses her cheek, as they walk along. “Thank you.”

From there, they move onto a rehearsal schedule tangent. It’s not until they’re almost at the dining hall that casting gets brought up again. “What about that kid?” Kelsie asks, suddenly, almost laughing. “The really short one, the freshman? Could he beat out Cole or Danny?”

“Oh…” Spencer thinks he knows who she means. “Scarf kid?” When she nods, he laughs out loud. “I highly doubt he’ll be seeing the cast list. I mean, Kels, he’s a freshman.”

“That’s true.” She shrugs. “You did get Anthony freshman year, though…”

He straightens a little as he walks, because it still makes him proud to think about Sweeney Todd freshman year. “I reserve myself as a small exception to the rule.”

Kelsie grins. “You’re gonna be great, babe,” she says, and even though he knows he will be, it still feels nice to hear it.

Breakfast is very nice. He has scrambled eggs and sausage patties from the grill, and she has a fruit salad with unsweetened tea, in accordance with her New Year’s weight-loss diet. They have a breakfast table in the corner, by tradition, and they even see Reid when they’re in there. He’s eating with his girlfriend, and flashes jazz hands at the both of them, with a grin. “Happy casting day!”

Spencer wonders, just slightly, if Reid has seen the cast list yet. He may be a student, but he’s drama club president all the same, and maybe he has pre-existing knowledge. But on second thought, Spencer doesn’t think Dr. C would do that. She doesn’t even give him advance knowledge of casting, and he would venture to call himself her favorite student.

So he just waves to Reid, because he and Kelsie are on their way out. “Morning, Reid.” There’s something like a shit-eating grin on Reid’s face, so he can’t resist asking. “Have you seen the list yet?”

“Oh, yeah, dude!” Reid kicks back in his chair. “Didn’t you hear the good news? I’m Evan!”

Spencer’s soul leaves his body. “You— I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m so excited.” Reid smooths out his hair before he dusts off his graphic tee. “Tell me— do you think I’ll look good in striped blue?”

This is not real life. “You can’t be serious.”

“No, tell him, Bri!” Still grinning, Reid looks to his girlfriend, this chubby art student who always has ceramic work on display in the admissions lobby. “Weren’t we just discussing how lovely my angelic voice will sound on Words Fail?”

Bri nods, with her chin in her hands. “Oh, for sure.”

Reid throws his hands up, all smiles. “See?”

Kelsie steps forward, like she’s about to say something. And just as Spencer’s heart is set to beat out of his chest, Reid doubles over and bursts out laughing. “Jesus, Spencer,” he says, smacking the table. “I’m just fucking with you, dude. Could you not tell I was joking?”

“Well, he’s a little on edge,” Kelsie cuts in. “We both are.”

Reid shrugs, putting his hands behind his head like his dining hall chair is actually a lounge chair on the beach. “Well,” he remarks. “I have seen the list, but it’s not up for another…” He glances at the big clock on the wall in the dining room. “Fourteen minutes, so you won’t hear any leaks from me.”

“Wait, really?” he asks. “Have you actually seen it.”

Reid shrugs, making a face like he’s just been instructed to ‘do a silly one’ in a family portrait.

Spencer hates Reid Burke. He’s never really been sure about this fact until today. It’s partly the fact that Reid is still kind of grinning, like this is some big joke— Reid treats everything like a big joke— and partly the fact that he knows, even if he resorted to groveling (which he will not), that he truly won’t get any leaks out of him. Even with fifteen minutes left until he’ll see it himself, it’s tantalizing to know that Reid is sitting right here with full knowledge of the cast, and won’t say a word.

And by the way, what the hell, Dr. C? Since when does she leak the cast list to students?

But standing here being mad at Reid isn’t going to make the list go up faster, so he rolls his eyes, as Reid zips his lips, and says, “Well, I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” Kelsie adds, like she is less than enthused that she wasted three minutes of her life on this useless conversation. Which is exactly how Spencer feels.

“Idiot,” he mutters, as they walk away, and doesn’t even care if he’s in earshot. “He almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Spence,” Kelsie says, taking his hand to squeeze it. “You know you have nothing to worry about.”

“I know,” he replies, because she’s right, “but what’s up with Dr. C letting Reid see the list early? How does that work? I practically picked the show—”

“It’s bullshit,” she replies, as they bust their breakfast trays. “You should say something to her, later.”

“I think I will,” he says. He’s already planning what he’ll say, as they leave the dining hall and head at a brisk pace in the direction of Beckett. It’s a quick walk, fueled by both of their adrenaline, and when they reach the double doors, Spencer takes one last breath of crisp winter air before walking inside.

Dr. C is in the lobby, crossing from the direction of Beck 1C, where the board is, back toward her office. She’s in a multicolored knit sweater, and she holds her head high, a surefire sign she just did something important. “Good morning, Dr. C,” he says, with a chipper wave. “Is the list up? We wanted to be the first ones to see it.”

“Yes.” Dr. C nods, adjusting her glasses as she stops a moment to talk to them. “It was definitely difficult to cast, and… some people may not be happy, but it’s the best fitting for the programme, as we say.”

Her wording is cryptic, but it always is. Two and a half years in her inner circle, and he knows her well. “Ah, I’m sure you picked the right people,” he says, with a wink.

Dr. C looks between him and Kelsie, then nods. “I’m confident I did,” she says, and it gives him an extra thrill of excitement. A quick glance to Kelsie and she’s smiling like she won the lottery. “Have a nice morning, you two!” Dr. C says, as she starts for her office again.

Kelsie blows her a kiss, and Spencer waves. When they meet eyes again, he takes her hand, and looks to the corner where the bulletin board is.

“Ready?” she asks him.

It’s time.

“Never more ready,” he replies, and together, they walk to the board with its promised sheet of paper.

The anticipation is adrenaline enough. Spencer knows what he’ll find on the list, but is still eager to get to it, to see his name at the top. They round the corner, and there’s the list, fresh white against the board’s maroon paper base. It’s only a few more steps.

When they get there, Kelsie sees it first. She leans forward, then recoils, like she’s been burned. “What?!” she cries, loud enough to be heard inside the actual auditorium.

“Kels? What’s wrong?” He wonders if Claire beat her out for Zoe. He consults the list to investigate, and— and— oh.

Right around then is when the world stops turning.

*

“Quinn Cooper?” Kelsie is staring at the list, her arms crossed over her chest, a permanent scowl etched on her perfect face. “The scarf freshman? Are they kidding?”

Spencer feels frozen. He stares at the list in disbelief, reads it up and down again and again. He feels like he’s been standing here for twenty minutes, but it’s probably only been two or three.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

Cast & Crew List

Evan Hansen: Quinn Cooper

Connor Murphy: Cole Kolinsky

Zoe Murphy: Claire Deshaies

Heidi Hansen: Allison Halterman

Larry Murphy: Daniel Cho

Jared Kleinman: Reid Burke

Cynthia Murphy: Kelsie Wilkes

Alana Beck: Maggie Atkins

U/S Evan: Spencer Bergen

It’s fake. One of Reid’s practical jokes. They’re all out to play a big junior-year prank on him. Everyone is in on it. Including the scarf freshman.

There’s. No. Way.

“This is—” Kelsie sputters, then shakes her head. “I can’t believe this.”

“I won’t believe this,” he says, speaking for the first time since he saw the list. “There has to be some kind of mistake.”

“Um, I would sure hope so,” she says, popping the p in ‘hope’. “This is— this is a joke.”

Quinn Cooper. The freshman the size of a hobbit. Who wears scarves to every drama club meeting. Who’s barely been at Kiersey for half a year. Who just stole the role of his dreams right out from under him.

Spencer absolutely cannot believe this. “I have to talk to Dr. C,” he says, and it’s more an out-loud realization than anything, but he turns on his heel and marches straight for her office as soon as the words are out. “Like. Right now.”

*

But talking to Dr. C is a useless affair. “I work with what I’m given, Spencer,” she says, sitting behind her desk like some kind of supervillain, more closed-off to him than he’s ever seen her. “The cast may not look exactly how you imagined it, but some of the newer students showed real promise this year.”

“But Dr. C—” He paces in front of her desk. “I suggested the show. I practiced all summer. I thought for sure—”

“Spencer, I chose the show on my own accord,” she says, evenly. “It’s true I take input from students, but that has no bearing on my casting decisions.”

He throws his hands in the air. “But you have to see how this is unfair to me—”

“I think,” she cuts in, in this icy tone that’s usually reserved for people who fuck up majorly, and never for him, not in his entire time at Kiersey, “that once you see how the cast falls together, you’ll respect the casting decisions I made as your director.”

He sputters and rants, but he doesn’t dare disrespect her, no matter how much she’s betrayed him.

And so it goes. He’s lost out on his role, in his spring musical, to some no-name freshman who probably can’t even belt.

And just in case there needed to be a cherry on top, he’s his understudy. Of all things. How humiliating.

Spencer’s life is over.

It’s not until much later that day, when he’s sulking in Kelsie’s dorm room, mourning his lost musical season, that the idea for a solution crosses his mind.

It’s sort of her idea, but sort of his. She, at least, brings it up. “Spence,” she says, nudging his arm. He’s been scrolling mindlessly through Twitter for who knows how long, while she flips through her newly acquired script. “Y’know… you’re his understudy.”

“Well, jeez, Kels, I hadn’t noticed,” he snaps, dropping his phone onto the bed. “Thanks for reminding me.”

“That wasn’t my point,” she replies, scowling. “What I meant was… you’re his understudy.”

He knows she isn’t stupid enough to say the same thing twice over, so he tries to read her meaning. She’s gesturing, like she wants him to get it, and on top of the day he’s had, he doesn’t appreciate being made to feel like an idiot. He’s about to tell her as much when something dawns on him.

Something in the form of very, very useful knowledge. “And that means…” he says. “I perform if he can’t.”

A wise smile crosses Kelsie’s face. “Exactly.”

“So all we have to do is…” He nods. It’s taking shape in his head now. His spring musical season may not be completely lost.

Kelsie’s fingernails dance over his knee. “You’re getting it.”

“Figure out a way to inhibit his ability to perform,” he finishes. He loves her so much. “Kels. You’re right.”

“I’m right?” Her smile goes innocent. “What are you talking about, babe? That was all your idea.”

For the first time since before the saw the list, he smiles, too. He wonders if he looks as conniving as he feels. “I might be able to figure this out,” he says.

“That you might,” she replies, with a nod. “All we have to do is figure out what that looks like.”

To save his musical, Spencer is very much willing to figure that out.

[admutual]

any hayley or steve childhood headcanons hell add stan if thats ok!!

oo !!

hayley ones:

hayley was always bringing weird animals inside and trying to convince stan and francine to let her keep them. multiple instances of her running inside, covered in dirt, and holding a garter snake begging ‘please please can we keep her??’ while steve screams in terror.

that hc i mentioned of francine always standing up for the other kids ,, hayley inherited that trait. my god she was The Most protective kid during her school years, she absolutely refused to let anyone get walked over when she knew they didn’t deserve it.

hayley was a wolf girl growing up,, change my mind. and black wolves were always her fave.

hayley definitely read animorphs growing up. those books shaped her and her fave character was cassie,,, also once she got more comfortable with living with roger she bullied him for not looking as cool as an andalite or a hork-bajir.

hayley went through an emo phase during her middle and high school years. she tried really hard to get an emo fringe, she was always blasting mcr and the used and three days grace, and her first job was at a hot topic.

hayley and stan were obviously tight-knit buds back in the day. like ,, she’d set up tea parties for them in the backyard, going out to movies was almost a weekly activity for the two of them, they were always planning picnics together,, they were really close. also every time they went to familyland together, hayley was always trying to drag him along with her to the more Extreme rides. francine kept telling her she’d go since she knew stan wasn’t the biggest fan of those rides like she was, but hayley kept insisting and it’d always end with stan near traumatized. big cia man goes on scary missions daily but he can’t handle a little roller coaster.

hayley’s hair was . pretty often a Mess when she was young. it was staticky, always sticking up at some angle, she often got too excited that she never took the time to comb out her hair in the mornings. plus it’s always been a habit of hers to play with her hair whenever she gets too excited or nervous, so even if she got it all straightened out it’d still turn into a mess by the end of the day.

hayley was always covered in scrapes and bruises. there was never a day where she didn’t have a bandaid somewhere.

she was a really tall kid during elementary school. she was almost always the tallest kid in her class. around high school everyone outgrew her though and now she’s . really short compared to most people her age, but yeah when she was little . Tall Girl (2019).

hayley skateboarded in middle school, and she was really damn good at it. she got in loads of trouble for skateboarding on school property and she thought she was the coolest kid for doing it.

stan and francine tried really hard not to curse around hayley when she was little (once steve came around they gave up trying), but occasionally something would slip out and hayley would always parrot it. stan looking at a bill and muttering ‘shit’ and then in the living room hearing what is obviously a toddler screaming ‘SHIT’

hayley, like steve, was always kinda lonely during her school years. steve eventually found friends in snot, barry, toshi, and roger too once he moved in, but hayley never really learned proper social skills as she was often pushed away for being the loud rowdy ‘annoying’ kid, and they always viewed her attempts to try to get close to others as too ‘desperate’. she has found friends in her adulthood, but yeah during her childhood she mostly just stuck around her family.

hayley was That Kid who would always use those fake clip-on earrings you’d get from claires, as well as cutting up the spiral from her notebook to use as a fake lip piercing, and she’d spend all day trying to convince her classmates ‘yeah no it’s real’

hayley liked stealing her dad’s camera and using it to film fake vlogs. they have multiple reels that go from cute family videos, to hayley making lps vids and fake cooking tutorials.

hayley drew a lot growing up and francine still has dozens of her drawings magneted to the fridge. hayley’s always cringing and asking her to take them down, but tbh francine’s never going to.

hayley’s always loved being outside at night. occasionally she’d sneak steve out with her to play in the backyard and it’d always lead to them in the treehouse, and stan catching them because they kept shining their flashlight against their bedroom window.

steve ones:

steve’s definitely adhd, autistic, and dyslexic. (the latter’s literally canon, and the two former ones are hcs that to me feel so obvious that i’m always a little hesitant calling it a hc). i really like imagining his parents being really patient with him in this area, even stan learned to be more composed and gentle with him when it came to this, and the two of them helping him find ways to cope. francine especially enjoyed nights helping him read.

steve’s interest in birds has been with him for pretty much his entire life, i like to imagine it’s always been his biggest special interest. also i’ve noticed there’s random scenes where stan’s displayed a bit of an interest or at least an appreciation of birds, so i kinda like to imagine stan used to take steve to the park for birdwatching trips when he was young before steve started going with roger. sometimes francine and hayley would tag along, but mostly it was just stan taking steve out and listening to him ramble about all the birds he’s spotting,, every time steve had a bad day stan’s immediate solution was to take him to the park.

when roger first moved in, he and steve were inseparable. steve was obsessed with learning everything about him and his species and his home planet, while roger saw steve as the one safe person to be around (francine, hayley, and klaus were still anxious towards him while stan was too strict and controlling for him). for a good few months until he started bonding with the rest of the fam roger would get really mopey whenever steve would go to school or leave to hang with his other friends, and the second steve walked through that door roger would excitedly hug him and try to lead him off to go do something together.

@a-d-lesbian got me into the hc that steve’s a theater kid and like ,, i’m always thinking about steve getting a tiny little background role in a 6th grade christmas show that they were required to do as a class, and he just loses his mind. he convinces stan and francine to let him invite the grandparents, he has francine film every scene he’s in where he just . Stands There. and then after the show when they get home he makes them all rewatch them all because he’s really damn proud of himself.

steve’s fave books growing up were always xenofiction. stuff like warrior cats and guardians of ga’hoole and redwall. he loved that shit. like i’m just imagining him trying to get his friends to larp warrior cats but none of them read it so they don’t know what he wants them to do, and he keeps assigning them warrior cat sonas and calling them by warrior cat names at school,, and he keeps calling god ‘starclan’ (which makes stan. Mad). am i projecting? that’s a secret, i’ll never tell.

steve was absolutely the Anime Kid in middle school. the amount of times he got yelled at for naruto running in the hallways was far too much. and his faves were fruits basket, nichijou, and k-on.

i’m so obviously projecting with my steve hcs here but i’m not gonna stop and i’m gonna say steve’s a trans guy. i know it makes no sense in canon, but canon’s dead it’s mine now. anyways he’s known since around the time he started middle school, and stan and francine love him and support him and i don’t have much else to say without getting Too Projecting, but yeah steve’s trans.

steve was pretty socially anxious growing up. he did get better as he grew older obv, but when he was little he was A Mess in school.

steve loved making flower crowns when he was little. he learned how to in his 2nd grade art class and just obsessed over it for a good few years and he was always making them for the fam. francine, stan, and hayley didn’t mind, they thought it was cute. i can see hayley learning to make them too and the two of them exchanging crowns,, and francine probably learned how to make some too during her college years and steve would always get really excited whenever she tried making some with him. poor roger though, once he moved in, steve took him as his new model and roger was forced to suffer through sitting in the hot sun while steve covered him in flowers.

steve never stopped singing. oh my god, stan loves him but he eventually reached a point where he started hiding their disney movies because steve would always loudly sing along and he just wanted some peace and quiet to work.

i like to imagine klaus has a sibling-esque relationship with pretty much the entire fam, but especially with steve. he was always pretty protective of him despite not really being able to do anything if he got hurt, and klaus was always there to talk to whenever steve needed it.

steve’s always liked to help francine bake. originally it was just so he could claim the mixer of batter before hayley could, but he quickly got really invested and he still loves helping out.

and in general for the both of them:

steve was the type of kid who bonked his head against the table a little and would spend the rest of the night crying while francine comforted him,, while hayley was the type of kid who could fly down the stairs and leave an actual dent in the wall and she’d still jump up assuring everyone ‘i’m okay!!’

hayley and steve used to play pokemon together growing up. hayley was more casually into it while steve was more obsessed (i like to imagine it was a special interest of his growing up). nowadays hayley doesn’t play it too often, but every now and then some big news will happen like new starters getting revealed, and steve will show her and hayley still can’t help but get at least a bit excited each time.

francine tried to do cute little family halloween costumes a few years. the idea of them doing an addams family group costume is precious.

francine always took them out for christmas photos every year. just dozens of photos of the four of them in the tackiest sweaters. they don’t do it as often anymore (or at least they don’t take as many photos outside of a few while they’re setting up the tree) but they still have framed photos of them that they set on the fireplace mantle every year.

listen …….. there were definitely multiple instances when they were really little of stan coming home from work ,, and steve and hayley excitedly tackling him,,,, and stan dramatically acting like he’s being attacked and losing ,,,

despite roger being a Dick, he was super protective of the two of them back in the day. either of them come home from school with a bruise, and roger’s already planning out an elaborate revenge scheme.

as for stan ,,

i’m adopting @stancine’s hc to say he was definitely a country boy. i kinda like to imagine his uncle on his mother’s side lived on a farm, and stan was really close to him growing up and it just sorta became monthly to take weekend trips to see him.

stan loved horses. he was definitely a Horse Kid, and his fave breeds are clydesdales and friesians.

sheep too!! one of his favorite yearly activities is during the springtime when his uncle helps him out with shearing the sheep.

also stan loved camping. he loved going out on walks through the woods and he especially loved fishing, but the second the sun went down he cowered in the back of the tent next to his mom because he was terrified of the noises coming from outside.

stan was a really quiet kid growing up. he sucked at properly standing up for himself, that’s kinda the reason he’s so harsh on steve for accepting mistreatment because he knows how hard it is and he doesn’t want his son to go through the same shit he did.

mother’s day was always one of his favorite holidays. he’d be obsessed with planning the whole day around trying to make it perfect for betty. making her breakfast in bed and saving up his allowance to buy her a gift, and he’d always make elaborate art projects for her every year.

stan . tried to learn how to ride a motorcycle in high school. it was this random obsession he got for no reason where he just really wanted one, but he always panicked whenever he got the chance to try one out. never even got his permit because he was so scared.

stan had a lot of pent-up anger as a kid that he never even recognized as anger until he got older. because of that he often broke his toys on accident because something wasn’t working correctly, and sometimes he’d snap at teachers on accident. obv he still had a problem with it but at least now he knows what’s going on and can at least try to work on dealing with it.

betty used to read to stan at night when he was really young. they didn’t have many books around so it was just stan listening to her read the same four dr. seuss books over and over. he didn’t mind though.

stan’s always loved writing and a good chunk of his free time was writing little short stories. he took a creative writing class in high school and he almost immediately became the teacher’s pet.

stan was a pretty lonely socially inept kid and i like to think growing up he tried getting a lot of his ‘advice’ on how to interact with others through television. one time he tried to get a girl’s attention by doing the ‘throwing pebbles at their window’ trope, but he fucked up and got too big a stone and threw it too hard, and just shattered this poor girl’s window. and stan spent the rest of the night crying in his room before caving and turning himself in.

i can see him being really into superheroes when he was younger. just him bounding around the house with a blanket for a cape, acting out random scenes he read out of the latest issue he bought.

stan was obv a dog kid. he’d often find himself going to the adoption shelter near his house just to see the dogs there whenever he was feeling down. and his fave breeds were golden retrievers, pit bulls, and shelties.

god i have tons more for all of them but i’m gonna stop because this is already long enough as it is.

[deniigi]

It may not be exciting, but I personally find it INCREDIBLY HEARTWARMING that there's a Matt who can get TWO nurses trying to look out for him. It's definitely NOT a one person's job - too taxing, bad hours - but two? Now, if only Claire and Rio could get in touch... "Hey, I've got a date this Saturday, can you go mother the idiot for me?" "Sure, Claire, go and have fun". So... exciting? Nah. Relatively practical? YES, for Claire's own good :D

heya boo!

So, I’m totally into how much you love this and I’m not sayin’ what I’m gonna try to say to rain on your fun.

That is 100% not my intention. And I absolutely don’t think that you meant it to come off this way. So you’ll forgive me if I take a moment to kind of talk into the void a little bit from your ask.

But I want to kind of explain why I feel a little lukewarm about that ficlet and about the idea of Rio filling this secondary role as a nurse to Matt.

So as a person who is mixed but who identifies as white (basically, my mom’s mixed, but my dad is hella white and I have never suffered discrimination as a result of my skintone) I work very hard to be careful and thoughtful about the roles that people of color perform in my work, and this was a moment that I wrote that I went, ‘Hm. Actually, I dunno about that.’ Because there is a very fine line between appreciating characters like Claire and Rio as strong, empathetic women of color in public service and imagining those characters as essentially, just supports for a white person’s success.

I’m iffy on the idea of Rio serving as a ‘second nurse/mom’ character to Matt because I feel uncomfortable with the idea of Matt having another women of color essentially acting as his mom.

Like. We are kind of skirting into ‘mammy’ territory here. (Mammy, for those of you unfamiliar with the term is an archetype of a black female housekeeper who historically oversaw the running of white, middle and upper class households in the American south, which included the rearing of children in many instances, you can read more about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammy_archetype )

Matt is a grown man and he’s a grown white man and it’s fine every so often for him to scurry off to Claire for patching up and medical attention, but I am very very wary of the characterization of Claire or Rio going past that professional, friendship-based, or moral-good sense of obligation into mothering territory. There are too many dangerous implications there, including the suggestion that women of color can only fulfill these motherly types of roles in our media and the suggestion that it is fine for a white man to act recklessly and irresponsibly without thinking about the consequences because he’s being heroic--that’s essentially just a different form of the man-child trope.

So basically, there are some hypermasculine and racialized types of discourses going on in this little space which I am not sure I want to engage with.

I get that realistically, in the world, there are hella folks who would not (and probably do not) see this as a problem and who believe that maternal instincts or behavior is part of certain identities and professions etc. etc.

I get it. And maybe if I was a woman of color writing this material, I wouldn’t feel the same way about it. But because I am not, I am just very reserved about working in this type of space, if you know what I mean.

Sorry if I’m not articulating myself very well here. I just want to be clear that while I’m happy that folks are interested in a Rio-Matt dynamic, we also just have to be careful about thinking what roles those characters are serving and how they might reinforce some problematic ideas of the roles that people of color perform in media.

So yes.

Again, anon. This is not in any way directed at you. I totally don’t think you were intending to suggest any of that at all. It’s just something that’s been sticking me in the side basically ever since I posted that little snippet and something that’s always in the back of my head when I write from Brett and Sam’s POVs in other fics.

[isitgintimeyet]

The Ties That Bind

AO3

Previous

Thanks for reading and liking and commenting. And thanks to @mo-nighean-rouge for the continued beta-ing.

So Jamie and Claire have been living in their own little bubble of lurve... time for a wee bit of reality. Bit of angst ahead

Chapter 15: A Complicated Predicament

“I don’t know what to do,” he said.

“ No harm in that. I’ve never known what to do, said Rincewind with hollow cheerfulness. “Been completely at a loss my whole life.” He hesitated. “I think it’s called being human…” - Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

As a rule, after a gruelling gym session or an energetic game of squash, Jamie and John would catch up over a coffee and cake, or sometimes, a beverage of a more alcoholic nature. Of course, Jamie’s tipple was always whisky. John could occasionally be persuaded to partake in whisky, but generally preferred a gin and tonic. For the sake of their friendship, Jamie tried to ignore this character flaw.

The landlord of the pub they frequented turned a blind eye to their tracksuit bottoms, training shoes and shower-damp hair, provided they sat in a discrete alcove and nobody tripped over their gym bags.

Jamie sat nursing his whisky, while John sipped his gin and tonic.

“So, how are Jenny and Ian doing with the baby?”

“Jes’ great. Three weeks old now. She’s a wee sweetheart. Jenny says thanks fer the gift. She will write ye a proper thank ye when she has a spare minute!”

“No, she doesn’t need to bother, honestly. And how’s Jamie coping with the little usurper?”

“Ah, gettin’ better. He reckons she’s not too bad as long as she doesna play wi’ his toys and he doesna have tae give up his Spiderman bedroom. I think…”

Jamie was interrupted by the ring of his mobile. He pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, frowning, then rejected the call.

“Geneva, again. She’s started sendin’ me texts and callin’, wanting tae meet up. I’m ignorin’ her at the moment, but if she keeps on mitherin’ I’m gonna have tae tell her straight.”

“Have you told Claire?”

“Nah, didna want tae bother her. Nay point if Geneva stops.”

A brief chirp told Jamie that a text had arrived. “Geneva again. Wants me tae go round tae talk.”

“Look, why don’t you just go? Explain to Claire what you’re going to do, but just put an end to it. Otherwise she will keep on.”

“Aye, guess ye’re right. Face it head on.”

************

The hospital coffee shop was not the most ideal place for a date, but with Claire on call, it would have to suffice. Jamie had already ordered and was sitting at a table with two large Americanos by the time Claire arrived.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late, I know.” Claire pulled her chair around to sit next to Jamie, rather than facing him. “I had to change out of my scrubs. They won’t let you sit in here with them on. Maybe it upsets the visitors, but they didn’t have any blood or any other bodily fluid on them, so I don’t know why. God, I needed this.”

She took a huge swing of her coffee. “OK. Out with it. You, sitting there with those puppy dog eyes. Either you’ve done something that you think I won’t like, or you’re about to do it. Tell me.”

Jamie cleared his throat and nervously tapped his finger against his coffee mug, beating out a random rhythm. “Weel, you ken I told ye about Geneva…”

Claire nodded. She folded her arms across her body, ready to provide protection if, or when, the blow should fall. She felt his tension radiating outwards.

Jamie saw her instinctive move. “Nay, Sassenach, dinna worry, it’s no’ bad. Jes’ wanted to let ye know, she’s started tae mither me wi’ texts and calls. Doesna seem like she’s willin’ tae give up. I need to get her tae stop. I’m no’ interested and she kens that.”

He ran his hands through his hair, the curls now sticking up around his head as if he had just woken. Claire unfolded her arms and stroked it, straightening it into a slightly neater hairstyle.

“When we went out last year, I never gave her any promises, never told her… weel, what I’ve said tae ye. So, I’m goin’ tae see her, jes’ tae put her straight once and fer all. Are ye alright wi’ that? I want tae always gi’e ye honesty. I want ye tae trust me completely.”

“I do trust you, Jamie, I really do. This is new to me - trust and honesty in a relationship. You know, when I was with Frank, I don’t think there was ever honesty between us. He wasn’t honest to me about the phone calls, the so-called out of hours department meetings, the extra tuition pretence for his attractive students. And me, I wasn’t honest to him: playing along, pretending I believed all his excuses. But, I trust you. Go and sort things out with Geneva. And make it clear about us.”

“Seems like we’ve both had some dodgy exes, eh?” Jamie joked as the tension between them lifted.

Jamie shuffled his chair closer to Claire. He whispered in her ear. “I’ll make sure she knows I’m completely in yer power and happy tae be there. I love ye, Sassenach.”

**************

Deja vu, Jamie thought to himself as he stood at Geneva’s front door. Wiping his sweating palms on his jeans, he tried to calm the rolling in his stomach before he pressed the doorbell. He really didn’t want to hurt anyone, but once again, he was standing here waiting to give Geneva the bad news. He wished he hadn’t seen her again at Rupert’s wedding nearly three months ago, hadn’t gone out with her, hadn’t slept with her. Two more deep breaths and he rang the doorbell.

Geneva answered the door almost immediately, obviously waiting for him to arrive at the agreed time. She ushered him in with a tight smile. Not saying a word, she pointedly looked at the doormat. Jamie, knowing the drill, quickly pulled his shoes off and followed her into the living room. He moved to the middle of the room as she hovered by the door.

“Would you like a drink - tea, coffee, water, juice?” Geneva ran through the list of possible beverages.

“Nay, I dinna want anything tae drink. I’m no’ stayin’ fer long. I dinna want tae upset ye again, but I’m in a serious relationship and…” Jamie began his practiced speech.

Geneva interrupted him abruptly. “No, it’s not that. Did you think I’d come begging for you? Jamie, I’m pregnant. About eight weeks.”

The colour drained from Jamie’s face. Feeling his legs start to shake, he sat down hard on a nearby chair. “Wh…”

He cleared his throat and tried again. “What?”

Geneva spoke slowly and clearly, almost as if explaining to a child. “I’m pregnant. About eight weeks. That means due in February. And it’s yours. I haven’t slept with anyone else in over a year.”

Jamie rested his elbows on his knees with his face in his hands. No one spoke. Finally he raised his head.

“But when I asked that night whether ye were still on the pill, ye told me ye were. What happened?” His voice was hoarse and trembling.

“I was. I don’t know what happened. There was a sickness bug going round at work, I caught a touch of that.”

Was it Jamie’s imagination, or was there a tiny hesitation in Geneva’s words, a momentary downward gaze, the slightest reddening of her cheeks?

“Listen, the important thing is I am having a baby, your baby. I can show you the pregnancy test if you don’t believe me. I can even go and do another test right now if you don't believe me. I’ve been to the doctor. You can contact them. I’m not getting rid of it either.”

“My God, did ye think I would ask ye tae get rid?”

Jamie rested his head against the back of the chair. His eyes prickled and he rubbed them harshly. A thousand thoughts cascaded through his mind, too many to focus on clearly. A baby, an unplanned and truthfully, an unwanted baby. And was this pregnancy really unplanned? How was this going to work? What would his role be? And, oh God, how much will this hurt Claire? He couldn’t bear to see her upset. Tears welled up in his eyes, but this time he made no attempt to stop them.

A hand touching his knee brought him back into the conversation.

“So what happens now?” Geneva asked quietly. She was sitting on the footstool by his chair. The hand remained motionless on his knee.

“I dinna ken. Has yer doctor no’ made an appointment fer yer twelve-week scan at the hospital?”

“I didn’t mean that.” The hand started moving, the fingertips drawing lazy circles round and round Jamie’s knee. “I meant us. What happens now about us?”

“Geneva, I will support ye as much as I can through this. I dinna want tae be harsh, but it doesna mean that there is an ‘us.’ I was tellin’ ye, I’m with someone, someone I mean tae have a future with and I’m no’ lettin’ go of that.”

“But surely, you’ve been together such a short time. How can you know? Could we not have a future together- you, me, and the baby? I know you’ve always wanted a family.”

“Aye, I have, but we shouldna be together, no’ jes’ for a bairn. It’s no’ right. We will figure something out. Other people do.”

The hand crept steadily up Jamie’s thigh. “We could make it work, you and I. I’m sure of it.”

Jamie deliberately lifted Geneva’s hand and stood up. “Nah, I mean it. I ken ye’ll be goin’ through a lot over the next months. And I mean what I say, I will support ye and the bairn. But more than that I canna do. I will go wi’ ye to the scan. Let me know the date. And please dinna tell Rupert and Fiona until I’ve had chance tae tell Da and Jenny. Have ye told anyone yet?”

“Only my sister.”

He made his way to the front door, Geneva following. Once he had put his shoes back on, they stood there, face to face, unsure of the next steps.

“So, text me the date and I will come tae the scan wi’ ye. We can work out what I’m tae do, tae help ye.”

Geneva nodded and bit her lip, as though willing herself not to cry. Jamie stood still, his hands by his sides, drumming his fingers against his leg. How strange it felt, he thought, to be so awkward around someone, having previously shared each others’ bodies in the most intimate way and to be starting this journey of parenthood together as virtual strangers. He bent down and touched his lips briefly to her forehead before walking back to his car.

***************

Jamie wasn’t quite sure how he managed to drive home. Restless and unsettled, he wandered through the rooms of his house and tried to imagine them filled with all the paraphernalia that follows with a baby. How would that work? He supposed that there would have to be two sets of baby ‘stuff’- one lot for him and one for Geneva.

In the kitchen, Jamie opened his fridge and stood there for a minute, unable to decide what to do next. One of Mrs. Crook’s cottage pies was defrosted and ready for his dinner this evening. He had taken it out of the freezer that morning, when he still had an appetite. He let the fridge door bang shut and moved to the kitchen cupboard. Opening the door, he stood contemplating the whiskies on offer before closing that door as well. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to swallow anything. The lump in his throat was so large, he was surprised it was allowing him to breathe.

Suddenly, the whole house seemed airless and claustrophobic. Jamie ran upstairs, stripping his shirt off on the way and quickly donned his running gear.

**************

Jamie set a steady pace as he pounded the pavements. He tried to clear his head. The only decision he needed to make was whether to turn left or right at each junction. Even that seemed too much of a challenge as his feet automatically led him to the park.

He speeded up as he entered the park, forcing his legs faster and faster, his calf muscles beginning to complain. Jamie relished the pain, focussing his mind on that stopped him from thinking about any other pain. Like the pain he knew he would have to inflict on Claire. Because of him, she had allowed her barriers -- built over years of sadness and an unhappy relationship -- to break down and to let herself become vulnerable. And he knew he was now about to hurt her to her very core.

He stopped abruptly, seething with pent up anger. Anger at Geneva, anger at the prospect of a baby, and anger at himself. He turned and, balling his fist, drove it into a tree trunk several times before continuing his run.

As he exited the park, he realised where his feet had brought him. He slowed to a walk and tried to get his breath. He stopped at a tall Victorian building, entered and climbed a single flight of stairs. He hesitated slightly before knocking.

The door opened.

“Claire. Sassenach...”

[pedra-ring-blog]

Top 10 Greatest Leonardo DiCaprio Movies of All Time

Source We all love Leo for his promising performance. May he be a bad boy, a romantic boyfriend, or a mentally-ill child, we couldn't deny the fact that he's an incredible actor. Plus, he's the King of Freak-Out scenes! Now, let's find out his top 10 greatest movie roles of all time. 1. Titanic

His most popular movie performance of all is playing Jack Dawson in the award-winning 1997 movie, Titanic. This box-office, record-breaking movie that stunned millions of people across the globe has made a worldwide phenomenon that goes deep down in history. Besides the heart-breaking story of the tragic ship, there's also Leo and Kate's chemistry that binds the audiences into a more level of attachment. No doubt, it's still the summit of Leo's career, and one of the greatest old-school movies to come out of Hollywood in the last 20 years. Fun facts: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet committed to the film even before the script was written, on the basis only of a 165-page outline James Cameron had written.The hands seen sketching Rose are not Leonardo DiCaprio's, but director James Cameron's. In post-production, Cameron, who is left-handed, mirror-imaged the sketching shots so the artist would appear to be right-handed, like DiCaprio.Both Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio learned how to dance the polka for the scenes set at the party in the third-class compartments.Johnny Depp was offered the role of Jack Dawson, but turned it down, and considers it a big regret. 2. What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Source In this emotional, tear-jerking movie, our young Leo plays Arnie Grape, who is a mentally handicapped teenager. He's the younger brother of Gilbert (Johnny Depp), who struggles to bring their family out of difficult circumstances. Leo's performance as a mentally disabled teen is so convincing, it'll make you think that he's definitely not normal at all. This movie brought our young Leo to his first Oscar-nominated role. It's just so sad that he won't be able to tell his "Mamma" about his Oscar award, because she won't wake up anymore. Fun facts: Leo said that playing Arnie Grape was "the most fun I've ever had."When getting into character, Leo remarked of it. I spent a few days at a home for mentally retarded teens. We just talked and I watched their mannerisms. People have these expectations that mentally retarded children are really crazy, but that isn't so. It's refreshing to see them because everything's so new to them."Leo created Arnie's trademark flicking his finger against his nose, describing it as a sort of "brain wipe...like Arnie is massaging the inside of his brain."Leo really did not bathe during the period in filming when Arnie refused to go near water! 3. Romeo + Juliet

Before Leo had the role of Jack in Titanic, he's already a hot icon for being the handsome, sexy, and romantic boyfriend that every single ladies dream of having. Set in the modern era, Baz Luhrmann's histrionic, gang-war-filled setting take on the classic play. Although Kate and Leo's chemistry is so much perfect in Titanic, it is undeniably true that Leo and Claire's pair up is also stunning. Fun facts: Leonardo DiCaprio's version of Romeo's speech at Juliet's bier was so good it movedClaire Danes to tears, nearly ruining the scene. The moment the director yelled "cut!," Danes smacked DiCaprio on the arm and said, "Don't make me cry. I'm supposed to be comatose, here!"Leonardo DiCaprio was Baz Luhrmann's first choice to play Romeo.Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio initially did not get along well on set. Danes accused Leonardo DiCaprio of being immature, while Leo said Danes was just uptight. 4. Catch Me If You Can

Source Who would've thought that this handsome, good-looking man is a fugitive? Not in real life though, but in Steven Spielberg's hit movie, "Catch Me if You Can". Leo is Frank Abagnale, a real-life con-man who traveled around the country and lived the high life as he impersonated pilots, lawyers, and doctors. Leo's acting from one character to another is just so promising, we'll all convinced that he's not just impersonating. Fun facts: To get her to achieve the way he wanted her to sloppily kiss Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg asked Amy Adams to pretend she was starving to death and eating a cheeseburger.According to the real Frank Abagnale Jr. approximately 80 percent of the movie is true.When Frank begins recruiting decoy flight attendants; when announcing the girls picked he announces the actresses by real name.17-year-old Frank tells Brenda he's 28 years old, which was Leonardo DiCaprio's true age when Catch Me If You Can premiered in 2002. 5. The Departed

Source One of the most intense roles that Leo ever had was playing the role of Billy Costigan as a cop infiltrating the mob. Together with Matt Damon as a mobster infiltrating the police force, the film is an intricate, fascinating tale of competing cat-and-mouse games. However, the film director and his screenwriter infuse it with so much tragedy that it winds up becoming something almost mythic. But seeing Leo's performance is just so intense, in a totally unglamorous way by being a desperate man who almost loses his identity. It's one of his all-time greatest performances. Fun facts: Leo could've won an Oscar award for this movie. A possible reason why he did not receive an Oscar nomination for his performance in this movie was because the Warner Bros. Studios initially did not want to favor him over his co-stars and place him in the leading actor category. The studio favored his leading performance in Blood Diamond (2006) (which eventually got him a nomination). DiCaprio himself refused to campaign against his male co-stars in the supporting actor category, so Warner bought no supporting actor ads for DiCaprio, and he did not receive a nomination.Leonardo DiCaprio was cast in the title role in The Good Shepherd (2006).Leonardo DiCaprio called his one-on-one scene with Jack Nicholson "one of the most memorable moments of my life." 6. Django Unchained

Source Playing the matured role of a slave owner Calvin Candie in a smooth and attractive way is definitely a credit to Leo's amazing talent. His dirty, racist, and demented heart on Quentin Tarantino's hit movie "Django Unchained" brought him into a remarkable role of being the bad guy playing his cards on a sophisticated way. This is a man who breeds and forces his slaves to fight each other, who has a weird fascination with France, and who is, at heart, a murderous psychotic. Fun facts: When Leonardo DiCaprio's character Calvin Candie smashes his hand on the dinner table, the actor accidentally crushed a small stemmed glass with his palm and really began to bleed. DiCaprio ignored it, stayed in character, and continued with the scene. Tarantino was so impressed that he used this take in the final print, and when he called cut, the room erupted in a standing ovation. DiCaprio's hand was bandaged and he suggested the idea of smearing blood onto the face of Kerry Washington. Tarantino and Washington both liked this, so Tarantino got some fake blood together.During the filming of one of the dinner scenes, Leonardo DiCaprio had to stop the scene because he was having "a difficult time" using so many racial slurs. Samuel L. Jackson then pulled him aside telling him, "Motherfucker, this is just another Tuesday for us." 7. The Basketball Diaries

Source Another young Leo movie, this is just one of the many proofs that Leo was born to act. His role in the movie adaptation of Jim Carroll's memoir, The Basketball Diaries, is a big shift from playing the sweet, innocent, and mentally-challenged Arnie in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" to a high school basketball star, who eventually becomes broken, and worse, a homeless drug addict. But Leo's flexible character made him so amazing in this movie, which brought a dramatic atmosphere in his struggles as a broken teenager. Fun facts: The guy Jim talks to in the underground drugden, is the real Jim Carroll.Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis previously appeared together in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993).This is the first film with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg. They would later appear together in The Departed.Jim Carroll was unaware of who Leonardo DiCaprio was at first. "When they first told me it was gonna be Leo, I didn't know who he was," Carroll told The Los Angeles Times. "If they'd said the kid from Growing Pains (1985), I would have known, because when I first saw that kid, I said, 'This kid has a lot of presence.' I said, 'That kid is very pretty. He's gonna do well.'"To prepare for his role, Leonardo DiCaprio hung out in Greenwich Village and went to a poetry reading with Carroll. 8. The Aviator

Source This movie is another Martin Scorsese's. Leo plays the role of Howard Hughes in his early years of being an inventor, and at the same time, a bigtime millionaire businessman. He's facing a lot of problems in almost everything. As he tries to continue chasing his plans and dreams, there are times when he's about to get mad, and Leo's characterization on this part of Howard's life is truly convincing. He's definitely a great actor for this movie. Fun facts: Leonardo DiCaprio spent a day with Jane Russell to hear her memories and impressions of Howard Hughes. She was very impressed with DiCaprio's visit and told him that Hughes was a quiet yet extremely stubborn man who always got his way in the end.Howard Hughes' Los Angeles home in the film was actually the home he lived on Muirland Drive.Leonardo DiCaprio received an Oscar nomination for playing Howard Hughes.Leonardo DiCaprio (standing roughly 6ft) is several inches smaller than the actual Howard Hughes (6ft4). 9. Revolutionary Road

This 2008 movie is kind of special, as Leo and his Titanic partner Kate were reunited for this adaptation of Richard Yates' classic novel "Revolutionary Road". This movie is mainly about suburban despair and two adults who realizes that life is not as easy as one-two-three. Contrary to their adventurous and colorful characters in Titanic, their roles in this movie is matured and somehow full of problems. Leo's excellent performance in this movie is his signature freak-out, where we're all stunned and scared for a moment as he burst out his anger and disappointment. Fun facts: While directing the love scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, director Sam Mendes (husband of Winslet at the time) opted to watch the monitor from another room.This was the second movie Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet worked on together since Titanic (1997). Paramount Pictures, which distributed the early film in the U.S., was the worldwide distributor of this film.This film marked the second time Kate Winslet has been in a movie where she makes love in a vintage car, and someone's hand hits the window and slides down it in the throes of passion. The first time was in Titanic (1997). 10. The Man in the Iron Mask

Source After the success of Titanic comes this movie. Leo, who played the sneering, playboy King Louis XIV with his long-imprisoned twin has become a hit after Leo's stardom in Titanic. Young Leo was so versatile, he was able to play two different characters in one movie! Besides, we can also see Leo in his elegant robes while hiding the fact that there's something more dreadful in those shiny dress. Fun facts: Leonardo DiCaprio's mask was made out of polystyrene.Louis XIV did have a brother named Philippe, but he was not a twin. He was several years younger, a flamboyant homosexual, and had the title Duc d'Orleans.MGM discovered the audience the movie attracted was "directly related to appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio", being 55% female and 46% under the age of 25.The film cast includes two Oscar winners: Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeremy Irons; and two Oscar nominees: John Malkovich and Gérard Depardieu. Read the full article

[mermaidsirennikita]

What are you looking forward to this awards season? I think Killers of the Flower Moon and Women Talking are my most anticipated. I’ve read both books and they’re excellent. I just really hope for the former Scorsese is thoughtful with how it’s framed; like Leo’s character’s indigenous wife really should be a co-lead with him…

The trailer for She Said looks so tepid to me. But the industry will prob be eager to award it. Idk whose the lead there, they might run both in supporting. I love Naomi Ackie but I’m so over biopics. I hope Michelle Yeoh’s hype can sustain…I’m sure Margot will win for Babylon though. I feel like the narrative is already that she’s “due,” despite her only having been in Hollywood for like 8 years. And the academy doesn’t believe in recognizing WOC in lead actress.

Good question! I'm definitely interested in Killers of the Flower Moon. That cast is.... stacked. Jesse Plemons is looking for that Oscar, obviously De Niro is a legend, I'm excited that Brendan Fraser is doing something serious business in the midst of his mini comeback, and Leo and Scorsese are always a pretty safe bet for a collab. However, I am.... very worried about how the subject matter is going to be handled. I think Scorsese is extremely talented, but I don't think he's necessarily equipped to handle this sensitively. Nor do the sea of white guys leading the cast is a great sign. I'm excited for Lily Gladstone, though; I hope her role is substantial. How often does an actress of Blackfeet descent land this kind of movie? (Answer: not enough.) Also, love that she's from Montana.

Women Talking does sound good, though likely an incredibly difficult watch. I won't lie to you, I'm kind of a bit... over.... Frances McDormand playing a certain kind of role, which is often "offbeat, hardcore lady of some sort" and I hope this is different? Nor am I huge fan of Rooney Mara--I think she can act, but I also think she's been overrated at points. But Ben Whishaw and Claire Foy I love, and I though Jessie Buckley was really good in The Lost Daughter, so it could totally be an acting showcase. Tbh, I think the focus being on Mennonites gives this a much more interesting spin than She Said.

Like, to me, She Said could very well come off as self-congratulatory when in reality Hollywood has done basically nothing to combat the rampant sexual predation in the industry. I'm not super interested in this. I think Zoe Kazan is kind of an.... ironic choice for this movie, as she's like, OOOOOOLD SCHOOL nepotism. So watching someone with the last name Kazan play someone EXPOSING HOLLYWOOD will be odd. Carey is fine as an actress, but tbh I'm so bored of her doing the same thing over and over, which is like... kinda hollow feminist treatise. Suffragette, Promising Young Woman (which I have very mixed feelings on)... Okay now.

I'm not against good biopics, and I think Naomi is super talented, but I have my doubts about the ability to... tell an honest and sensitive story about Whitney. I think so much remains in debate about her--her relationship with Bobby Brown, her issues with drugs, the abuse she experienced in her childhood, her sexuality. Then you add to her tragedy the fact that her daughter died so shortly and tragically after her. I'm just very wary.

As for who will win Best Actress--lol, y'all have gotta stop counting these chickens so early. Remember when everyone was telling me Kristen Stewart was DEFINITELY gonna win Best Actress? Who the fuck knows what'll happen. I can't see anyone surpassing Michelle Yeoh's performance, but the release date of the movie, its unconventionality, and Michelle being a middle-aged woman of color who's not from the U.S. is going to make that an uphill battle for her. But I don't think Margot is a shoe-in at all. I think Margot is seen as very talented, but I don't think she's gotten like... WOW reviews since I, Tonya. I still really don't get why she was nominated for Bombshell, as the reviews for that movie were meh, she wasn't a standout, and her subplot was pretty harshly critiqued by some.

In her favor is the fact that she will be playing Clara Bow, but against her is the fact that she will be playing Clara Bow. Plus, she's got Amsterdam coming down the pipeline. There was a time when being in a David O. Russell movie guaranteed you a nom, but tbh I think that movie may be overshadowed by people finally reckoning with his horrendous behavior. Margot (and the entire cast) has been dogged a LOT online for working with him. I think he's also vulnerable because it's been a while since his last movie (which was underwhelming on every level) and his winning streak of The Fighter - Silver Linings Playbook - American Hustle was a long time ago. Since Joy, everything went down with Weinstein. And while I think critics fawning over three of his closely-released movies in a row gave him protection, a movie about the wonder mop or whatever with a Jennifer Lawrence on the brink of her big backlash hit his armor. The thing is that men in Hollywood get away with their sexual misconduct all the time, but he's also an asshole to talent and difficult to work with. Big names have dragged him; Clooney, Amy Adams. Imo, the potential for bad press with Amsterdam is huge and could hit anyone involved in that movie. There are people I like in it--Margot, John David Washington. There are people I dislike--Anya. I hope all of them get backlash for working with him, and I think they could. As for Babylon, I guess I've gotta bite based on the cast and the subject matter, but God Chazelle is annoying.

I'm excited for the Knives Out sequel--I don't know how that'll fare awards-wise, but tbh the original got more noms than I expected for a movie that was actually fun and easy to follow. The cast is once again great, and tbh? It's early does, but wouldn't be shocked if Kathryn Hahn got nommed. She's a hardworking character actress who can do drama and comedy equally well and if it's a good movie with a good role I could see her getting a supporting nom somewhere... The Globes if nothing else lmao. But who knows at this point.

Blonde will be interesting. I doubt it'll go anywhere serious awards-wise, but I can't tell if it's going to be a total mess critical flop thing or a "polarizing, let's reevaluate in 30 years" type of movie. Netflix being terrified of its content doesn't necessarily mean it'll be bad. It's based on a deeply weird book and has been adapted by a deeply weird director. I am honestly just SO interested in seeing how Ana does with Marilyn's voice, because that's a tough gig for a native English speaker, let alone someone who's ESL with a naturally heavy-ish accent like Ana.

I'm super interested in Don't Worry Darling. It looks really stylish and fun, kinda topical for today, and while Florence has aggravated me lately.... She's very talented. It's not a matter of if, but when she wins an Oscar at this rate. Chris Pine could also get some praise, imo, as he's been consistently underrated and excels in this types of ~mysterious charismatic man~ type roles.

I think I'll have to see The Menu for Nicholas Hoult, and I do love the premise... But lmao I'll have to put up with Anya bug-eyeing the camera and people acting like it's TALENT. It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it.

I have very little interest in The Fabelmans but with that cast, the fact that Spielberg is directing, and the autobiographical nature means it'll be in some kind of conversation. Like, I really just need people to realize that Spielberg isn't.... very interesting anymore... and I doubt this'll do that but we can dream.

I'm looking forward to My Policeman. I don't know if it'll be kinda trite and expected for a "closeted man period piece" movie, or actually good, but I love Emma Corrin and I honestly appreciate the hustle with Harry Styles this year, so.

I'm really hoping that The Woman King is good. Viola got some (.... deserved) bad press for her Michelle Obama recently, but I will say that she's normally the type of actress I could totally see racking up another win, so who the fuck knows? To me, it doesn't quite read as a movie that will get that for her, but like... again, you never know. Is it gonna be awardsy? Or is it gonna be the kind of historical epic that actually works as a popcorn movie, which people used to make all the time (think Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans) but don't anymore. Either way, I'm watching.

Bones and All could be good? I do not... like... Timothee, but Taylor Russell could be on the verge of a breakout and tbh the hilarity of Chalamet being in a cannibal movie is kind of difficult for me to resist.

Anyway, that's what I've heard some chitter chatter about as of late. WE SHALL SEE.

[originalsdaily]

THE ORIGINALS SEASON 5 - ALL THE FACTS AS OF PREMIER DAY 18TH APRIL 2018 - All ship information, TVD character cameos, new characters, flashbacks, how the show will end and other tidbits (also 'accidental’ spoilers the writers didn’t want us to see)

DISCLAIMER: 

These are compilation of spoilers issued by the writers and cast themselves through social media, SDCC and text/video interviews, also IMDB listings. Please don’t read if you don’t wish to have spoilers for the upcoming season. The ‘accidental spoilers’ for the season are going to be posted under a cut, so those who want the official spoilers and wish to stay away from the other ones can do so.

Below is a summary of everything we know so far about season five. I’ve sourced where possible, though for some things there is no available source, (such as Danielle Russells instagram live video which isn’t available in it’s entirety, though I watched live and wrote down what she said as it was airing, and a photograph from Carina Mackenzie’s instagram of a draft of 502 which was not screenshotted.)  At the time of posting, all tweets are active, though tweets can be removed at any point. This is up to date at time of posting, I’ve scoured and added everything I could find. If I’ve missed something out, please link me and I will add on.

For SDCC 2017 facts, I’ve simply put “SDCC” as the source. Here are links to watch the SDCC panel  - (xx)      

A compilation of like 97% of the bts photos are here (x)

General Season Info

The Originals season five premiers Wednesday, April 18th at 9:00 p.m and this season is the final season of the show (x) (x) The show was originally due to premier on the 20th April, but got moved from Friday to Wednesday. The show has now been on every single weeknight. (x)

The Tagline of the season is “Family, Always and Forever” (x)

Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies and Charles Michael Davis will be directing again. Joseph is to direct episode 3 “Ne Me Quitte Pas,”  Charles to direct episode 6 “What, Will, I, Have, Left” and Daniel is to direct episode 10 (SDCC) (x)(x)(x)(x)

Episode titles are as follows (followed by director, writer(s) and synopsis where possible) (x):

5x01 ‘Where You Left Your Heart’ - Directed by Lance Anderson, written by  Marguerite MacIntyre (x)(x) 

“Desperate to see her father Klaus after seven years, Hope resorts to drastic measures to bring her father back to New Orleans. Hayley attempts to minimize the fallout from Hope's actions, but not before news of what she's done ripples through the city. Meanwhile, Freya's guilt over not being able to reunite her family gets in the way of her happiness with Keelin, while Rebekah struggles with her inability to fully commit to Marcel. Finally, struggling without Elijah by his side, Klaus' murderous rampage throughout Europe leads to an unexpected encounter with Caroline Forbes.”

5x02 ‘One Wrong Turn On Bourbon’ - Written by Carina Mackenzie (x)(x)

“When a mysterious disappearance brings Klaus back to New Orleans, Hope looks forward to the prospect of seeing her father again. However, when the dark magic that had been keeping them apart begins to manifest in dangerous ways across the city, Vincent turns to Ivy for guidance about what it may mean. Elsewhere, Marcel returns to New Orleans amidst increased tensions between the supernatural factions, while Freya makes a decision about her future with Keelin. Finally, Roman's surprise visit to the Mikaelson compound forces Hope to reveal some dark truths about her family. Josh also appears.”

5x03 'Ne Me Quitte Pas’ (Do not leave me) - Directed by Joseph Morgan (x)(x)

“In the immediate aftermath of having his memory erased by Marcel, Elijah awakens to find himself in the middle of nowhere and without a clue as to who he is. Unable to control his instinctive vampire ways, Elijah encounters Antoinette, a beautiful and free-spirited vampire, who helps him navigate his new life. However, a run-in with Klaus threatens to destroy the peace he's finally found.”

5x04 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’

5x05 'Don’t It Just Break Your Heart’ 

5x06 ‘What, Will, I, Have, Left” - Written by Marguerite MacIntyre, Directed by Charles Michael Davis (x)

5x07 ‘God’s Gonna Trouble The Water’ - Written by Bianca Sams & Julie Plec (x)(x)

5x08 ‘The Kindness Of Strangers’ - Written by Carina Mackenzie (x)(x)

5x09 ‘We Have Not Long To Live’

5x10  ‘There In The Disappearing Light’ - Written by Jeffery Lieber & Eva McKenna, Directed by Daniel Gillies (x)(x)

5x11 ‘Till The Day I Die’

5x12 ‘The Tale Of Two Wolves’ - Written by Carina Mackenzie (x)

5x13 ‘When the Saints Go Marching In” - Written by Jeffery Lieber & Julie Plec    (x)(x)

On returning special guests:

Nate Buzolic, Claire Holt, Danielle Campbell and Sebastian Roche are all also returning for their roles as Kol, Rebekah, Davina and Mikael respectively. (x)(x)(x) 

Julie said there’s a chance Cami, Finn or Jackson will appear this season. Soon after posting this, Leah Pipes was on set for one of the final episodes (x) (x)

On the Mikaelson Family:

There are “several” Hope/Elijah scenes and “a few” Rebekah/Hope scenes (Danielle’s insta live) 

"This season is about the Mikaelsons trying to find a way to bring the family back together" (x)

Danielle Russell said Hope was 15 (in her insta live) and that eight years have passed, which was originally said during SDCC by Julie also. However, Julie has stated seven years elsewhere (x) (There seems to now be a general consensus 7 years has passed)

Hayley, Klaus and Hope are ‘a family’ (Danielle’s insta live)

More sister bonding for Freya and Rebekah will be in the show. (x) 

Klaus’ true ship of the season is the family (x) 

We can tell that a lot has changed, but as the siblings have been alive for 1000 years, it’s almost like a blink of an eye for them. (x)

Hope and Klaus have a strained relationship, despite Hayley and Freya trying very hard to keep them all close. Klaus ignored Hope over the years and Hope isn’t thrilled about it. (x) (x)

Nobody at school knows Hope is a Mikaelson. (x)

Riley describes Freya’s first love as her family.  (x) 

Hayley has found happiness with her new boyfriend Declan (x)

Freya is experiencing peace for the first time in her life though struggling to put herself first, she’s in love and happy, though working to bring her family back together and has also been very active in Hope’s life, working as her mentor and support system, which causes conflict with Klaus. It has also been stated that she is in her late 30′s / early 40′s but has physically aged slowly (SDCC)(x)(x)(x) 

During the time jump, Klaus has gone on a murder spree (SDCC)

Hayley and Hope have a typical chaotic mother/daughter relationship and there  will be ‘many’ scenes with the two of them together. During the time jump Hayley has helped Hope with school projects, focused on her personal life, and also tried to overcome her heartbreak to be strong for Hope. (SDCC) (x) (x)

Marcel will reflect on his past and how he’s managed the quarter. (x) 

We see why Rebekah makes the same mistakes over and over, going deep into who she is. (x) 

Klaus hasn’t been in touch in five years (x)

Klaus visits Elijah in Manosque, France and converses with him, though Elijah has no clue who he is (x)

There’s a Freya/Elijah moment in which there’s tears of happiness (x)

Hayley is not in every episode this season. Elijah will also not be in at least one episode. However, Klaus is in all. (x) (x) 

We get an episode that is Elijah from start to finish. We get to see where Elijah left off in the s4 finale, and what he’s been doing in the seven years that’s passed. Julie has said she had “Being able to write a narrative for Elijah that allowed him to live an entirely different life and imagining what that life would look like was a lot of fun,”  (x) (x)

Hope is aware of the kind of man her father is and what he’s done, and is annoyed he's trying to hide it from her (x)

On new characters:

Minor characters cast for the season include Nicholas Alexander as “Henry Benoit”,  Alexis Louder as “Lisina”, Katie Cook as “Poppy”, Malone Thomas as “Colette”, Jamie Thomas King as  “August Muller”, Kyle Jackson as “Lookie Loo”, Jason Burkey as “David”, Shiva Kalaiselvan as “Ivy”,  Bella Samman &  Allison Gobuzzi as “Josie & Lizzie Saltzman”  (x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Several love interests have been cast for main characters. Jaime Murray has been cast as Elijah’s new love interest Antoinette - “a beautiful, “old-school” vampire who meets Elijah shortly after he loses his memories. Her flirtatious, free-spirited nature masks dark secrets about her painful past” - who will appear in episode 3. Torrance Coombs has been cast as Declan - a flirty Irish chef completely ignorant to the supernatural until Hayley introduces him to it - and he’s to be Hayley’s new love interest. He’s been described as her ‘friend with benefits’ and Hayley has been described as ‘the woman he loves’ Jedediah Goodacre has been cast as Roman - “ a charming vampire who takes an interest in Hope after a “mysterious incident” occurs at her school” - Hope’s love interest. Another love interest for Hope includes Landon, portrayed by  Aria Shahghasemi  -   “a thoughtful, compassionate and self-aware kid from the wrong side of the tracks who catches Hope’s attention when she witnesses him being bullied by his affluent classmates,” & “desperate to escape his broken home and the small southern town in which it stands. Despite being human, Landon apparently has a shady past, and investigating it could lead him into the dangerous world of the supernatural.” - who will appear in the penultimate episode  (x) (x) (x) (x) (SDCC)

A character named Margot is set to appear, described as “a “calculating” vampire, whose glory days trace all the way back to 1920s Europe. She recently moved to New Orleans, and she has an “almost zealous devotion to her family.”  (x) It’s highly likely that ‘Margot’ has been renamed to ‘Greta Sienna’ and will be played by Nadine Lewington as the character descriptions are identical (x)(x)

On TVD character appearances 

Candice King is set to appear in 4 episodes,  501, 506, 512 & 513, reprising her role from The Vampire Diaries as Caroline Forbes-Salvatore, Headmistress of the school Hope attends - it was also confirmed she recorded audio for a fifth episode. Matt Davis will reprise his TVD role as Alaric Saltzman in episode 512. Demetrius Bridges will also reprise his TVD role as “Dorian Williams” 501 at least (x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Stefan Salvatore mentions are possible. And due to a bts photograph of stand ins that have hair unmistakably like that of Stefan, it’s almost certain he will appear along with his brother Damon. (x) (x) (Though in an interview, Paul has said he likely wont cameo, which means that the stand in’s may simply be filmed from the back to represent the Salvatore’s, though their faces and voices wont be appearing) 

Regarding Flashbacks:

Summer Fontana will return as Hope in flashbacks  as we see her struggle with her magic as she grows older. (x) (x) ( Also confirmed by Danielle Russell in her insta live when she said she met Summer on set) 

There’ll be a flashback to 1x22 show how Hope got her name (x) (further evidenced by this photo of Phoebe on set wearing her 1x22 post-birth costume)

On the final episode:

In the finale there’ll be a bench scene between Elijah and Klaus similar to the one in the first episode (x)

When asked about the finale, Joseph said “The family doesn’t all sail off together into the sunset. There is hope there, there is definitely some sort of peace for everyone. It’s very emotional.”  (x)

One of Julie’s regrets is that there was never a full scene on why Elijah believed Klaus had dropped the family into the ocean, though it is touched upon in the finale.  (x)

Julie says there’s no character who had their ending planned from day one (x)

The show probably won’t get a happy ending and it’s possible that the final words of the show may end up being the iconic “always and forever” (SDCC) (x) (Danielle said in her insta live that she believes the finale ties a lot of things together)

On Vincent:

It’s confirmed Vincent will be given a love interest and has just been carrying on with ‘business as usual’ in New Orleans, he’s been maintaining the stability of the city. He’s comfortable but vigilant. (SDCC) (x) 

He is managing the quarter, restoring peace and calm (with a little help from Freya) (x)

On Hope / Roman

Roman and Hope is described as “Complicated but really interesting” (Danielle’s insta live)

Roman appears to be the only person who knows Hope is a Mikaelson, it’s unknown if he’s always been aware or is new to the fact.  (x)

On  Freya / Keelin

Freya and Keelin have a love that runs deep but they’ll hit hurdles along the way (x)

Freya is ‘so in love with’ Keelin - “Keelin definitely wants her to put herself first, and it’s just really hard for Freya. But I think you’ll start to see that transition a little bit, where she starts kind of considering, you know, ‘This is what’s best, and my family understands, and that doesn’t tear us apart.’ - Riley (x)

Keelin has been spending time with Doctors Without Borders, in the Middle East (currently in Lebanon) and is often away from New Orleans; Freya astral projects to her. They spend a lot of time apart, as Freya doesn’t want to leave the city till her family are reunited, this gets to Keelin. Keelin wants to spend the rest of her life with Freya, but wants to explore their relationship when Freya isn’t as connected to her family. Freya fears she’ll lose Keelin if she doesn’t join her in Lebanon. (x)

On Hayley / Elijah -

Elijah and Hayley will have a conversation about their past, future, regrets and dreams and their relationship this season is described as “equal love and pain” in regards to them, though Julie hopes the two will find peace in eternity together (x) (x) (SDCC) 

Hayley & Elijah will appear in Mystic Falls during the season (x)(x) 

On Marcel / Rebekah - 

Marcel and Rebekah have remained in New York over the time jump, Charles joked they were ‘catching broadway shows’ and couldn’t get tickets to see Hamilton (SDCC) 

They have a penthouse in New York, and they’re doing ‘pretty good’, coping well with the Mikaelson separation, though Rebekah does get upset and it sometimes causes tension. (x)

On Kol / Davina -

Kol and Davina are married in season 5, the wedding happened in the time jump. Nate described their relationship this season as  “The struggle that comes into play is now that he has this responsibility to his wife, he also has this struggle with his family. And I guess as he tries to separate from the family, his family tries to drag him back in. It becomes a bit of a struggle between wife and family.” (x)

On Klaus / Caroline -

Caroline and Klaus will have three scenes together in 501. She will be there to call Klaus out on his shit. Caroline also has at least one scene with Klaus in the season finale in New Orleans. (SDCC) (x)

Julie say’s that they don’t collide and get a happy ending - because she thinks their relationship is more mature than that.  In the same interview Joseph is satisfied with how the characters leave off, and he hopes the way it’s done will pay tribute to the fans and their devotion, but warns that not everyone will be happy. (x)

According to Candice, Julie has always had a ‘clear idea’ of what she wanted from Klaus and Caroline together, and the final season of The Originals gives life to that. (x)

Misc info:

The Hollow will remain a prominent enemy in the season, but there’ll be another big bad to contend with.  “The Big Bad this year is launched from an ideology more so than one singular person’s nefarious desire, It’s an ideology that was spawned almost a century ago, a movement that has been simmering and stewing over that century. It does have a personal connection to the Mikaelson family, but it also has a thematic resonance that is very timely.”   (x)

Every year, Josh, Freya, Vincent and Hayley prep for Mardi Gras together  (x)

Julie promises a ‘sliver’ of hope for Klaus and Cami fans (x)

Don’t expect a friendship between Caroline’s twins and Hope, it seems that the age gap isn’t workable for the three witches to become friends. (x) (x)

New Orleans has been at peace without Klaus (x) (x)

The werewolves still have their upgraded power, as Hayley and Jackson kept their vows until he died, and the werewolves will be included more this season (x)(x) 

Caroline and Freya don’t have scenes together (x) 

Caroline will also have a scene with Josh in 501 (SDCC)

Julie scripted a wolf!Klaus scene but it was cut (x)

UNDER THE CUT ARE THE ‘ACCIDENTAL SPOILERS’ FROM THE WRITERS ROOM. DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED BEYOND WHAT THE WRITERS HAVE OFFICIALLY CLEARED

These are the ‘accidental spoilers’ - spoilers that were leaked by the writers unintentionally and the photograph which revealed them was quickly deleted. These have been put under the cut so those who do not wish to view them do not have to.

This was posted by the new showrunner Jeff Lieber, the storyboard is from episode 507 - it was promptly deleted

As the image is hard to read, I’ll decode it down here;

Hayley dies in 5x06, she burns to death. Klaus tries to save her but is unable to as someone stops him. Elijah watches her death.

Elijah’s memory returns.

Someone (possibly Margot due to the last letter of the name being ‘T’ and she is the only character with a name ending in ‘T’) knows Hope could be the ‘Ruin or Salvation’ of New Orleans.

Margot is killed to protect Hope (Which furthers the theory that she knows Hope could ruin NOLA and may have tried to stop her)  

Vincent is on the outs with Klaus and Freya

Keelin is pregnant - judging by the comment “Freya/Keelin resolution” it could be assumed that Freya is unhappy about the situation

Marcel and Davina reunite, and Elijah is going to help Davina with a problem.

There’s a flashback in 507 -which is presumably the 1x22 flashback that Julie has all but confirmed is where Hope’s name is decided upon  (due to the nature of the flashback and the episode in which it takes place in, one can assume that Klaus is telling Hope how she got her name in an attempt to comfort her) (also see this post here explaining how people came to the conclusion that the flashback is set in 1x22)

Hope goes missing and is searched for by Klaus and Caroline

Hayley’s funeral is in 5x07, Klaus speaks at her funeral. On the board there are several points questioning the kind of funeral Hayley will have, a second line typical of new orleans, or a crescent ceremony in the bayou -judging by info from fans who watched filming in Conyers (from videos that have now been deleted) - there was a second line funeral parade filmed meaning Hayley probably doesn’t get a Crescent ceremony.

Hope is angered by Hayley’s ‘calm funeral’ and is to make a ‘big move’ at the end of the episode.

[somepinkthing]

I just finished reading Tess Sharpe's book, The Evolution of Claire, and I'll admit that I'm a bit conflicted. I would give it either a 3.5 or 4/5 rating because, while I really enjoyed it, I can also see where it fell flat as far as character dialogue and action goes. However, also felt that it did a great job tying the conflicting parts of claire’s personality that we see in the movies together by setting her on the path to becoming who she is in JW. I feel that the book really builds this idealistic, young claire up to eventually become the woman we end up seeing. Though, I will admit that some of the hints of claire starting to slip into her new persona are easy to miss. So, as a tribute to claire, I’m gonna do a pros and cons list

CONS:

The dialogue and character interactions seemed a bit forced to me. It wasn't like it was completely unbelievable but that somehow made it seem weirder? If that makes sense. It was like the activities and themes of the interactions were familiar enough to me but then the characters spoke to each other and it often just seemed a bit... off. A lot of the references and quips felt forced and some of the lines simply didn’t feel like something a 19 yo would say or hear their peers say

The book did lack actual action. Which may be because the book is a prequel to a movie. Obviously it couldn't detail a big event where many people died because then how would you explain the park opening at all? But it was almost as if the author wanted every single thing claire did to have meaning and to say something about her person. Like, I can see that Claire caring enough about the dinosaurs to spend a whole day planning and then another painting a gyrosphere showcases that claire has a heart and believes in justice. I just didn't need that spelled out for me time and time again and I didn't need like 3 whole chapters of her doing just that. It just got a bit redundant to hear about how meaningful claire's actions were again and again.

Claire’s characterization. Claire does seem a far cry from the person we see at the beginning of JW right up to the end of the book. And its not like the characterization is completely off but something is absolutely missing. Most notably, somewhere between the end of the book and the beginning of the movie, claire completely lost her investment in the dinosaurs and her sense of wonder. And it’s actually her attitude towards dinosaurs that is the hardest to reconcile. Unfortunately, during the course of a lifetime, losing your sense of wonder is a common enough occurrence, as is regaining it. But it’s hard to imagine this young claire growing into someone who calls the dinosaurs ‘assets’. My real criticism for it is that the book should have added an epilogue or given us more glimpses of older claire and her thoughts on what happened between then and now. That may have made the change in attitude seem smoother. Because, while I can see this claire becoming the one we’re introduced to, it did take a lot of thinking. So I do think some dialogue from an older claire may have made that easier for readers to follow

I’ll be honest, if I accept the book events as canon, a lot of how claire reacts to the indominous doesn’t add up. I would expect her to be more upset about it. I would especially expect her to have more of a reaction to masrani’s cover up, either trying to justify it or being against it. THOUGH I suppose that depends on what we’re assuming happened in the interim and what lessons claire had to learn. Plus, doing a prequel after the sequel has already been made does make it hard to make everything line up

That scene at the end, where claire pets the dinosaur. I feel that she should have turned away given the state of mind the author was trying to convey and the direction she was trying to take claire’s character. That would have been more in line with the tone of the last few chapters and with the person claire would eventually become by JW. However, I can also appreciate trying to end the story on a hopeful note and it’s not a game changer

PROS:

First off, feminism. Acknowledgment of privilege from a main character. Casual LGBTQ relationships. Girls supporting girls. Guys supporting girls. This book’s got it all.

The book really does well in helping bridge the gap between the claire we see at the end of JW and what she becomes by Fallen Kingdom. It brings more depth to her development in the time skip. How, with the events of this book, claire went around full circle. Returning to her old calling and the drive that was always there after the disaster on Isla Nublar but this time with more fortitude and experience

It also did a pretty nice job of giving some backstory behind why claire does some of the things she does. For example, why she stayed on the island, why park security is so important to her. It also gives some of her reactions in the movies some depth--her aversion to the dinosaurs at first, her distress at the sight of the dead dinosaurs, her desperation to stay in control once the indominous escaped. The book ties itself in pretty well in that respect

I loved the characters, despite their unnatural interactions with claire. It's refreshing to see a book about characters with ambition. Characters who aren't the wandering hero, who want more, who seek out more. And claire and her friends were definitely that. Plus, the book also gave movie characters like masrani and wu some more background

Claire’s internal dialogue was amazing. Every part of it

I really like how they let claire be idealistic and young. That actually makes it more believable to me that claire would have such a distant and pragmatic reaction to dinosaurs and other people later in life. No one starts out as jaded as claire was in the first movie without some kind of reason. A careful but idealistic teen suffering a major betrayal from two close friends which caused her boyfriend to die in her arms, horribly mauled at the jaws of a creature that once gave her hope and inspiration would do it.

Most of the characterization seems to be pretty spot on for a younger claire tbh. Her interactions with people, her likability despite her unconventional personality, her ambition, her need for control and organization, her aggressiveness, her forward thinking attitude, her righteousness; those were all intact.   

Although I criticized it earlier, I believe the book does a good job of setting 19 yo claire up to become who she is in the first movie, just that it takes too many mental acrobatics to get it. But once I saw it, all the pieces did fall into place

You have to consider time as a factor. Assuming claire stayed with masrani all the way to the beginning of JW, then she has spent over a decade cultivating the park from its beginning by the time the movie rolls around. That is a lot of time for a young woman to go through some major changes. And claire, after justin’s death, is definitely on the brink. 

Environment also has a part to play. The deeper she gets into this park and the more her role at the park plays into her need to feel in control, the harder it’ll get for her to take that step back and realize what this is becoming. 

At her most vulnerable, claire was surrounded by people like Henry Wu and Simon Masrani--her heroes. While they meant well, they filled her with their skewed, biased ideas of the truth and of what was right for her. They sold her their explanation for what happened with both iz and justin which claire started to normalize it in an attempt to feel sane. Then they gave her a concrete goal that they thought would be best for her and she clung onto it. She grabs onto this goal set out before her and focuses on that instead of actually dealing with her trauma and fear. Instead of learning to accept the situation and move on, claire’s decided that the situation was her fault and that she should have been able to control it. Going forward, she intend to make sure this never happens again, to be in total control next time. Pile that mentality onto trauma, respect for rules and regulations, trust issues that have been worsened by betrayal, and an overwhelming sense of responsibility and you have a slippery slope---one that I can absolutely see taking claire to where she ends up in the beginning of JW.  

At the beginning, claire is someone who has the whole world set out in front of her. And some of that hope and idealism is based in innocence and the illusion that she’s safe. By the end of the book, that’s taken from her in the worst way. Now, every dinosaur related disaster will hit too close to home for her. Every injury will make her think “that could’ve been another justin”. Sure, she still loves dinosaurs to some extent, but what happens the first time one of them hurts one of her staff on her watch? And once people start entering the park? How far is claire from realizing she can't keep everyone safe without hurting some dinosaurs? In the last chapter, claire admits she’s now looking over her shoulder, waiting. She’s already started seeing dinosaurs as dangerous creatures--that isn’t that far of a jump from ‘Asset That Needs to be Controlled’ given her self-imposed mission and mental state

The book leaves claire on a precipice. She’s one sticky, dino-related mishap from realizing that there is no absolute control or safety where dinosaurs are involved. And that’ll snap something in her. She’s running scared and is trying to pretend she's not. She will do anything she has to do to feel safe and in control again. Slippery slope.

[cupidsbower]

Alive and burning brighter

Supernatural 13x09 “The Bad Place,” and 13x10 “Wayward Sisters.”

Wayward daughters, here we come!!!

The Bad Place

The title of this episode is interesting because there’s more than one way to read it, as with so much of this season. “The Good Place” is a TV show, which has a central twist [spoiler] of actually being an experiment in Hell, where people think they’ve been sent to Heaven by mistake, only to realise they’re really damned after all. So the Good Place is really the Bad Place. What does that mean for Supernatural? Is the title meant to be ironic or straight? Is the Bad Place Kia’s dream-walking destination, or is it something else? Is it an inversion -- a place people think is bad, but is actually good? The Earth of the Supernatural ‘verse has always seemed a place of horrors, until we contrast it with Mordor, or Purgatory, or Kia’s Bad Place. Of course, there’s also a horror novel by Dean Koontz called The Bad Place about a guy who wants a normal life but keeps getting dragged into a life of supernatural horror by his inbred family. On point.

This episode overtly sets things up for the Wayward Sisters ep to follow, but it still has some interesting things to say about our core story threads of how to be a good father, Dean’s wonky moral radar, and people having heard of hunting and/or Sam and Dean.

James continues to be a terrible father. He’s loving and decent, but doesn’t trust Patience enough to start being her own person and making her own choices. It’s no wonder she leaves. That’s not a tenable place to be if she actually wants to grow and have her own life. I hope James will get his head out of his ass and realise that. It would be nice to have him in Wayward Daughters as an ongoing supporting character, especially if we get to see the relationship become more healthy. That’s not something depicted enough, so it would be refreshing.

The writers continue to do the bait and switch with Jack, and it’s working because I can’t decide if it’s going to pay off with him actually doing something terrible when no-one expects it or if they are just using it for tension. I’m leaning towards tension, but I won’t be surprised if he ends up killing Lucifer down the track. Patricide, you know, would fit in with this season’s themes pretty well.

Dean’s moral radar continues to be all over the place. He still thinks Jack could be a monster, and that he’s going to go looking for Lucifer. That says at least as much about Dean and his own daddy issues as it possibly could about Jack. Assuming for a moment that I’m wrong and Dean moral radar is actually fine, perhaps it’s wonky for Jack because Jack is still forming his moral character and could go either way. I’d be tempted to go with this idea, because it’s interesting, except then we got the moment Dean decides to threaten Kia with a gun and force her to help them, falling right back into the old habits of making bad choices when family is on the line. That was more than a dick move, it was a monstrous one. The ends don’t justify the means, and he was plain wrong and cruel. I find Dean’s choice here even more interesting than the possibility that Jack is morally unformed. We’ve already seen this season that Dean’s emotional support system has shifted, and is much more reliant on Castiel now, and I’m wondering if the moral wonkiness we’re seeing is because he hasn’t really found his balance yet. Is he awkwardly straddled between needing his birth family for emotional support, and creating his own more adult connections? He’s so terrible at actually talking to Castiel about anything to do with emotions, so I find this an entirely believable reading.

We also have another instance of people thinking they know about the Winchesters. The angels kidnap Kia specifically as bait:

Kaia: Your plan? It sucks. They won't come for me. Female Angel: What do you mean? Kaia: I mean, you picked the wrong bait. I'm not the kind of girl folks come for. In this world, I don't even rank a milk carton. No one is gonna come for me. I'm not white, rich, blonde. No one's gonna fight for me. I don't matter. Female Angel: Of course you don't matter. But they think you do. They'll show. And when they do, we'll kill them and take the boy. (x)

I actually thought the dialogue in this scene was really clunky. It was like Berens had to shoe-horn stuff in, and used bad exposition to do it. It was really jarring compared to the rest of the episode. But putting that aside, the angels take on the Winchesters is that they will try to save anyone human, but also that it will be easy to kill them and take what they want.

Frankly, I’m living for this theme. For ages, I’ve wanted the text to explore what other characters know or think they know about the Winchesters, and it’s now quite clear this is a major arc this season. Anyway, Housemate and I were talking about this, and we were wondering why everyone (except Crowley) always underestimates the Winchesters. I made the following case:

When they are at their most deadly, no-one survives to tell the tale; or else it happens in a place where stories aren’t likely to end up with the Earth-bound monsters -- like Dean’s stint in Purgatory.

Those who do survive the Winchesters to tell the tale are often around when things go wrong, and Sam and Dean act like bumbling idiots. The scene in 13x12 is an example of this. The witches easily enspell Dean, and get away (temporarily) because Sam and Dean are rolling around on the ground fighting each other. Let’s be real, most of the pleasure in watching that scene was in Jared and Jensen pulling faces and being ridiculous. If the witches were to tell anyone about it at this point, it would be all, “Pfft, they aren’t all that.” I suspect a lot of the monster gossip about the Winchesters comes from those moments, and paints them as half-assed -- yes, they are hunters so sensible monsters steer clear, but they kill things by luck a bunch of the time, so the gossip goes. A hard-ass monster wouldn’t be that worried, based on the stories.

There must also be something in the gossip about the Winchesters being bleeding hearts who make stupid sentimental decisions -- mostly focused on saving people, and that always includes Humans, but can include monsters too if they are law-abiding. Hence the witch going to them for help, and these angels taking Kia as bait.

This really fascinates me, and I hope we actually get to see some of the gossip happening in an episode down the track. Even better if it’s played off against Sam and Dean at their most competent and deadly, so that the chasm between the stories and the reality is obvious.

There were two other things I particularly loved about this episode: The angels attacking the wards as a group. So cool. And that Dean and Sam ended up in a giant monster footprint. Housemate and I both screeched “Dinosaur World!!!” at the same time.

This season really is giving me all the things I want. :)

Wayward Sisters

*happysigh* We have all been waiting for this episode for ages, right? And it didn’t disappoint. The showrunners put some real care into this, from writing, performances, and direction, down to giving the ep prime place as the mid-season finale, as it deserved.

I wonder if “I Am the Fire” will be the show’s anthem in the same way that “Carry on My Wayward Son” is for Supernatural. Good choice if so.

Halestorm, I Am the Fire

There was something viscerally satisfying about seeing all these women on the screen together. I love them all. I love that Claire is being set up as the lead, the kick-ass Hunter with a chip on her shoulder. God, her opening scene was fantastic! Mr Werewolf. Hahahaha. She’s going to be great. I love that Jody and Donna are there as role models and protectors, and Donna’s smiling face is a treasure. I love that Alex and Patience have completely different skill sets from hunting but still have a place. I love the female energy.

I also really liked Kaia, and as always have mixed feelings about her fridging. The show really has learned, because here we have a fridging that is not a fridging. I’m still not happy with it, because the larger cultural trope of killing off the women of colour is still a thing, so it bothers we whenever it happens. But Supernatural at least seem to be trying hard to include more diversity, and to be fair to the writers, that presents a real problem given the genre and death count on the show. This new method they’re trying -- fridging some characters of colour as needed for the story, but making sure there are other characters who survive from the same demographic, is definitely a step forward. I’m never going to be 100% happy with this, as long as minorities of all kinds have a higher death count and lower representation on screen, but I will pay that Supernatural is actively trying to do better, and succeeding for the most part. As fridgings go, this was effective in deepening Claire’s characterisation in a way that should play out really well in the new show, especially with the New Kaia in the mix.

In terms of Kaia as a character, I’m sad they killed her because I liked her, but I’m pretty optimistic we’re going to get a similar Kaia with the hooded figure. With all the set up of Morder, we know that the people in the other worlds are very like the ones here, just with a few different quirks and edges, so the Kaia who came through is likely to have most of the same characteristics as Kaia Mark 1, including the dreamwalking. I’m happy about this, as I really want Kaia as part of the Wayward team.

Apart from that, I don’t have much to say. The writing was strong, and I loved the touches, like:

JODY: They were on a hunting trip and I haven’t heard from them in a few days. It’s time to come home. (x)

If this is what the show is going to be like, I’m here for it. I’m actually more excited for it than I thought I would be, and I can’t wait for the show to start airing.

I looked up a guide to the must-watch episodes to get ready for Wayward Sisters, because I thought some of you might find it useful:

Season 5, episode 15 - “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”: This episode will introduce you to Sheriff Jody for the first time and show you how she got into the supernatural life. Season 9, episode 19 - “Alex Annie Alexis Anne”: In this episode, we not only get to see Sheriff Jody in action as a hunter, but also her rescue and “adoption” of Alex. Season 10, episode 8 - “Hibbing 911”: Though this isn’t Sheriff Donna’s first episode, it is the firs.  where she’s clued into the supernatural realm, and where she begins her friendship with Sheriff Jody. Season 10, episode 9 - “The Things We Left Behind”: This episode reintroduces us to Claire and shows us the troubled, solitary life she’s been leading since losing her father. Season 10, episode 20 - “Angel Heart”: Claire hunts down her mother in this episode, and ultimately loses her. While it’s tragic, the episode ends with Claire being sent to live with Jody and Alex. Season 11, episode 12 - “Don’t You Forget About Me”: If you only have time to watch one episode, watch this one. This was the first episode where we got to see some glimpses of Wayward Sisters. It is our first look at the unique hunting family Jody has created. Season 13, episode 3 - “Patience”: This episode introduces us to Patience, and gives us insight into her powers. It’s also where Jody and Patience first meet. Season 13, episode 9 - “The Bad Place”: In our first introduction to Kaia, we learn about her powerful dreamwalking abilities, as well as the lonely life she’s been leading as she’s tried to find some sort of peace from “the bad place.” It’s also the last episode to air before the backdoor pilot. (x)

I’ve actually already seen the next two eps, but will post about them separately, otherwise I’ll get too far behind.

Previously:

I never opened myself this way (13x01 and 13x02)

You say you’ve only got one life to live (13x03, 13x04, 13x05)  

Let me tell you people that I found a new way (13x06, 13x07, 13x08)