#also i am a maggie stan!!!!

[celestial-sapphicss]

not that anybody asked but I'm still very much a ben apologist.

[eoieopda]

[visual content blog recommendations]

we see fic recs all the time, but i don’t think i’ve ever seen rec lists for visual content (gif/art/gfx/etc.) creators! they’ve been dealing with a bunch of shit lately between reposts, tumblr garbage, etc., so i wanna shout-out some favorites. thank you for keeping us fed!!

disclaimer: this is not an exhaustive list!! if you have recommendations of your own, please feel free to expand on this yourself and/or drop some of your faves in the replies for others to see. self-promo is always welcome here, too ✨ p.s. some of these are recent finds for me, so pls expect to see more of them on my blog. eta: i will be adding more as i go!!

[bts]

@yooboobies — réka’s gif sets are *chef’s kiss* and the ART? omg. the talent!!! 😭 we simply have to simp.

@cordiallyfuturedwight — apart from being one of the coolest/funniest people i’ve found on army tumblr, i am a kayla stan because the niche themes for her gif sets (ex. bangtan turtlenecks series) feel like they’re made 👏🏻 for 👏🏻 me 👏🏻 even though they absolutely aren’t, lmao.

@hopeinthebox — the bts as reductress headline + incorrect bangtan series are probably my favorite pieces of content on the entire internet??? also, lizzy is absolutely gd hilarious. tags are 11/10. a blessing upon my dash.

@kimtaegis — i’m not visually artistic enough to say this in a way that makes sense, but annie’s gifs are just… stunning? like, the colors? idk about the process that goes into that, but i imagine it takes a lot of time/finesse to be this vivid.

@kithtaehyung — ryen is the renaissance man of army tumblr, fr. not only can she write (like!!!) but she’s multi-faceted and insanely creative with her graphic design. i want her to tutor me, lmao.

@raplinenthusiasts — ooohhhhh my god. the coloring of their gifs makes my brain go brrrrtttt. this bts x the office set is on my “always reblog” list; i’ll share it every time i come across it.

@heybaetae — this set in particular is on my “always reblog” list, no matter how many times i’ve done so already. also, idk how to describe this, but kelli’s gifs are just…. crispy 🤌🏻 like, so satisfying with the…. texture? filtering? contrast? i’m an idiot re: editing terms, but go peep them and you’ll know what i’m trying to say.

@kth1 — literally who could ever forget maggie’s 100 days of (member) series??? the amount of work that had to go into that? unfathomable.

@jeurias — i want to wallpaper my house and office with their gfx. i’m deadass.

@jinstronaut — emmeline has been doing her “a jin a day while he’s away” series for OVER 250 DAYS NOW. i have never been nor will i ever be able to commit to anything to this level.

[multi/skz/atz/svt/etc.]

@starryoong — do not get me started on starry’s paintings, sketches, etc. because i will never shut up. ever. j’adore 🫠 is also a five-star human being.

@irlvernon — my queue is probably 80% max gifs at any given time. god-tier, fr. a must-follow for carats, as far as i’m concerned.

@vcrnons — incredible gifs, lovely human, and also the writer of some of my favorite svt fics??? we stan.

@yelhsaart — i don’t have any words for how much i love their art so please imagine guttural screaming instead. asdfghjkl!!!

@hizuillu — ……breathtaking. legitimately stunning skz art. like…… i have heart palpitations.

@snug-gyu — THE USE OF COLORS. i’m always a simp for pantone-inspired sets; they just scratch an itch in the back of my brain, and BOY HOWDY, is my brain satisfied 😵‍💫

@yunwooz — again, i have no idea what i’m talking about when it comes to the gif-making process, but the colors!!! the COLORS!!! like, taking a mv that’s not super vivid/is fairly greyscale and bringing it to life? ya know????

@booskwan — you want incredible gifs? they’ve got em. you want stunning gfx? they’ve got em. seriously, idk what to tell you except “pause right here and go follow immediately”.

@haechannabelle — listen……. annabelle’s art style is 😗🤌🏻 (that’s a chef’s kiss). the use of color, and the technique, and and and — ! ALSO, i must mention that she took, like, 50 hours to compile a boycott-friendly k-pop playlist. their vibes are simply impeccable.

rev. 4/10/24

[callmearcturus]

Fan Commentary Double Feature: MI3 and MI: Ghost Protocol

We did it. @interropunct and I have recorded 2 of the 6 threatened commentaries, in which we watch the Mission Impossible movies and talk over them in a way that will provide you all with a simulacrum of how insufferable we are to be in a voice chat with.

We have started with Fan Commentary: Haterade Edition and paired it with Fan Commentary: Stan Mode Edition by doing MI3 and Ghost Protocol as a double feature.

You'll want to hit play on your legal copy of MI3 at 2:58 into the commentary. This commentary includes:

Effusive love of Ethan Hunt, Autistic SuperSpy

Arc definitely not being in a kismesissitude with JJ Abrams

Punct trying to determine when the Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Myers' characters actually get named in dialogue in the movie

Thorough discussion of the underutilized kink potential of this movie

"Humpty dumpty sat on the wall" "(SCREAMS OF DISMAY AND AGONY)"

The gloriousness of Ethan Hunt doing physics equations on a window with chalk

The five stages of grief in audio form

The vibes are MST3k and jokes galore and fawning over Ethan Hunt, our babygirl.

However, if you don't need no holleration, hateration in this dancery, proceed directly to the Ghost Protocol commentary and hit play on your legal copy of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol at 2:47. This commentary includes:

Punct accidentally admitting they find Tom Cruise hot on a live mic

"That's my theory, I think prison turned Ethan from a cat into a dog."

SO MANY BEHIND THE SCENES FACTS ABOUT THE MAKING OF THIS MASTERPIECE

"You know when you think about it, Cascade was the turning point in Homestuck in the same way the Burj Khalifa sequence was--"

Fawning over how small and cute Jeremy Renner is

Discussion of MILF Mode Ethan Hunt

McQuarrie's Actually Very Reasonable Explanation Of Why Hendricks Was Disguised As Wistrom At The Burj, And Goddammit He's Right

"You know what this means?" "You have to watch Teen Wolf now." "No. Fuck you. We have to watch more Tom Cruise movies and compare." "That's true, we do." "No, wait, we just have to go ask @malewifebillcage for a comparative history of Tom Cruise's chest hair."

The vibes are jubilant. We love this fucking movie.

NEXT UP: The double feature of MI2 (the worst movie on a technical level) and MI: Fallout (the best movie on a technical level)

Also I am currently putting copies of this commentary on youtube, check the reblogs later for that.

[one-squash-one-end]

An analysis on gender and sexuality - Blue Sargent

Hi! This belongs to my big Raven Cycle analysis, click here for the masterpost!

This part will deal with our favorite short ant, Blue Sargent. A sort of silly but still intentional analysis/essay on why I think she's nonbinary, where I go off on random tangents because i have adhd and access to the internet. Enjoy! (This will be so fucking long though, I had Thoughts)

3. Trust me, the characters are queer as fuck and I can prove it (+ my professional opinion on whether they’d wear a crop top)

a) Blue Sargent

Look. No matter how I look at this entire character, there’s simply no way Blue is not genderfluid. (The fluid is one of Maura’s footy healing teas btw.) And I am here to spread the agenda and force my own identity onto fictional characters so that after you have read this analysis and interpretation, you will agree with me on my correct opinion.

To begin with, there is this entire theme of not fitting in and dressing in an “unusual” way. It becomes very evident that Blue is really proud of being weird and eccentric, this displayed in attitudes towards her mom, the boys and her internal monologue about Mountainview High. She does not want to fit in if it means changing for others, yet she says “the problem with being weird was that everyone else was normal”. This could possibly be a metaphor for being trans; being proud of it, yet being only surrounded by cis people, who conform to all those societal gender norms. It means one would feel sort of isolated (as Blue does mention she is), not being able to relate to or feel deeply understood by anyone in their environment.

Additionally, alternative fashion (or at least that’s how I would describe her aesthetic in general) has quite typically been claimed by queer people. I know this is a lot of interpretation here, and it’s worth mentioning that you absolutely cannot tell someone’s gender by how they present on the outside. However, the evidence gets stronger as we dive deeper. If we look at her fashion sense together with the statement of “I don’t care to be pretty, I care to look on the outside as I do on the inside.”, it sends quite a clear message: Her outside is very jumbled, not conforming to societal norms, a mix of many different styles that seems to change its focus daily. In my opinion, that’s pretty gender of her. If that’s how she presents on the outside (which is not traditionally “female”, among other things I just mentioned), just think about what that would mean for her inside. It’s chaotic, it’s messy, it’s just a lot of things. It’s called being genderfluid.

The second big theme we have is her constantly being treated as “one of the boys”. And yes, of course cis girls can be friends with large groups of boys (and the other way around) but it is quite rare or unusual, especially if all of them are straight (so my point is this: Blue is not cis and also the boys are all queer, more on that later). Either way, Blue defies traditional gender norms and “girly” hobbies by taking part in fun teambuilding activities such as cave exploring, trespassing, grave robbery and burying a body. We stan.

Then we have this quote, which is talking specifically about Blue truly being part of the group for the first time: “They were loud and triumphant and kings of Henrietta.” Now, while kings are a theme that is quite consistent throughout the books, each of the boys and Mr. Gray being called one at least once in significant scenes of their character arcs, by that time it is not yet that established. There would have been so many other words for Maggie Stiefvater to use. First of all, kings and queen, though that would be a bit unwieldy. She chose not to alienate Blue. But there were other alternatives, something not quite so gendered, such as royals, or gods even. Yet, that specific wording happened, showing she is in no way other than the boys. And maybe in that scene she really wasn’t, feeling more masculine that day perhaps.

Furthermore, “whatever her identity crisis was, it seemed to live at home, not with the boys”, meaning she does feel alienated around all those women, but she does somehow fit in with the boys. Yes, this is also a teen thing of being misunderstood by parents while identifying a lot with peers, but when what she rejects is femininity and she seems to embrace masculinity, it’s a bit sus, don’t you think? And then lastly it’s not only the Gangsey, but also the Vancouver crowd as well, a group of boys held together by somehow being different than the rest of Aglionby (if I remember correctly), that she feels immediately at home with.

Next, there are the 300 Fox Way women. As we just established, Blue feels a sort of identity crisis in this house filled with women. She does not fit in, because she is the only one without any psychic abilities, meaning she is already “other”, but there is a clear focus on showing how she is so, so loved, by her direct family (like Maura) but also the others (Calla, Persephone) have accepted her as one of their own. Now, what if she was also genderqueer? Wouldn’t that give her one more reason to be different, while simultaneously putting emphasis on the fact that trans people can and deserve to be loved by their families?

I saved the strongest evidence for last (well, sort of, there’s still more to come actually). The following quote is the ultimate confirmation Blue is not female. As she, the Gangsey and some of her family group together in the kitchen, she says there were “three boys, four women, and one Blue”! Here she is specifically not assigned either of the aforementioned genders, not grouped together with the 300 Fox Way women in a “five women, Blue being one of them” manner and also not one of the boys in this scene. This might be an age issue (like how for months I wasn’t sure if I dislike both the terms “woman” and “girl” being used for me because of age or gender), but the scene could have easily said “women, boys and one teenage girl”, focusing on groups divided by age and gender like the original intention might seem to be. And yet it didn’t.

Now for some more quotes. After some guy from her school draws a penis on the unicorn on her binder, she says “she preferred her unicorns ungendered”. For the reasons already listed I deduce that, much like the unicorn, Blue prefers herself ungendered.

“She felt one thousand years old. She also felt like maybe she was a condescending brat.” is of course supposed to show how contradicting growing up can feel, perception of oneself flickering between being terribly grown up and still being a little child, who cannot know anything. I would also argue, though, that this duality can be quite reminiscent of her gender identity, feeling like multiple, supposedly contrasting, things at once. As an additional afterthought, the theme of being ageless is sometimes associated with omniscient beings, detached from being human, such as deities. Another thing that would be quite typical for gods, especially when they are so apart from society, is being genderless, or having a gender that fluctuates. Some examples for this would be Dionysus, Loki or the ancient genderfluid entity Asushunamir, stemming from the mythology of one of humanity’s first civilizations, Mesopotamia.

Then, naturally, we have other people’s perception of her. While she probably has been described as a girl in quite a few instances in the book (one of them being Henry, though before he really knew her), to me it sticks out that she describes herself as a “sensible teen”, not a sensible girl, though that might have made even more sense in the context of not going around kissing random boys (but yes, let’s be honest, that’s some antiquated slut-shaming, people can kiss as many consenting people as they like). Further instance is that Gansey says “Blue was a fanciful, but sensible thing. Like a platypus, or one of those sandwiches […]”. Like, he goes out of his way to not describe her as a girl in that scene, instead drawing weird-ass comparisons. Now, while calling his friends magnificent creatures is totally his thing (maybe Gansey rejects gendered terms and embraces silly greetings), this did seem intentional to me. Not to mention the obvious parallel of platypuses being mammals but laying eggs, somehow combining different species. Despite reproducing differently than “normal” mammals (also having different sexual organs), they are still recognized as such, and if that isn’t very trans rights of them, I don’t know what is. (Yes I know being a mammal is not derived from reproductive organs and this is probably all somewhat wrong, but I am relying heavily on metaphors here and also I dropped Biology.)

Now as a last thing I chose the entire theme of “something more”. If I’m not mistaken, “something more” is important for every other character as well (I specifically remember Henry), but it begins with Blue and seems to be most relevant to her either way. As I’m writing this I realize so much of the evidence I have collected can also be read under points of view of growing up, but still fits her gender, showing not only that Blue is pretty reminiscent of how teenagers feel, how things in their lives contradict, but also that we come to realizations about our own gender as we grow up, whether it’s realizing at five, fifteen or fifty years old, self-discovery is an ongoing process. So “something more” is absolutely about her future, but it might also relate to her gender being something more than simply female, more than the binary dictates.

If you read this entire series with the opinion that Blue is not cis (like I do! And like my real life friends hopefully will after reading this J), there are masses of hints pointing towards it and creating evidence. Smash the cis-tem.

By now I’ve made my point about her gender pretty clear, so now it’s time to point out that Blue isn’t straight either. First of all, if she does not confirm to either of the binary genders, she cannot, in any way, be heterosexual, but either way, there’s just no way she’s straight.

Now, if you read this essay (? analysis? meta deep-dive?), you will soon be convinced that her entire friend group is queer somehow, which absolutely accounts for something because I can confirm, from real life experience, that queer people seem to flock towards each other. I will admit that we don’t really see her interact with many female characters outside of family (yes I will admit this is a red flag, but I promise the book passes the Bechdel test), but the vibes she gives off are clearly m-spec.

Additionally, because I am always looking for some representation of my own identity, Blue could potentially be somewhere on the aro-ace spectrum. This isn’t shown super strongly, especially since she does get a canon relationship and it’s very sweet and romantic. Yet, she is not really sex-driven or anything like that and seems to value friendship a LOT, though the entire theme of friendship in general throughout the series will be explained in a later part of this analysis. Also, while I am aware that the books are YA and thus won’t focus on sex too much either way, especially in teen characters, it’s comparably low, considering the premise is (wrongfully) about true love’s killing kiss. We can also compare her storyline and character to Kavinsky, someone her age who seems to be very obscene, and characters like Ronan, who are somewhere between them on that scale. Overall, I would probably call her pan, but once again, there might be some greysexuality or something similar in there.

Lastly, Blue would absolutely wear crop tops of course. Now that I think about it, she probably even does at some point in the books.

[stefanmikaleson1864]

Yall it's time I'm ready after taking the day let's discuss

I just wanna i totally respect Luke for wanting to leave to be with his family as heartbroken as I am i wish him nothing but love and happiness in everything he does I'll always stan

As for FBI !!

It was sooo good but honesly I do think Isobel needs to take a moment to be like okay let me think ATF told her how bad it was and it wasn't good and she was right it was bad and I'm surpised it didn't end up worse

I don't think Maggie is leaving I think we would have heard somehting and I swear I just promo pics of her filming i hope they wasn't old But maybe she's taking a small break or in true FBI Fashion were gonna time jump like nothing happend

Also can we talk about angry OA like wheeeew that man does things to me he was insane when he was yelling at that guy I was like get it !!

This episode was so intense so good and I loved it so much it was one of the best episodes so far !!

[sunshinereddie]

So I've had a very interesting conversation with my cousin ( who is very much a smol baby to fandoms, I'm so proud that I managed to achieve making IT as the first fandom she officially joined lmao ) regarding our dearest trashmouth.

So we were in the middle of watching Bowers scare Richie out of the arcade in Chapter ii when this conversation happened ::

Cousin :: Dude, imagine if Richie came from old money, this guy would've been toast

Me :: ...Huh?

Cousin :: Like, imagine this, okay?

Me :: *nods eagerly*

Cousin :: Imagine Henry tells his dad about the little /f-slur/ in town ( Me : don't say that, Cousin : sorry sorry ) and knowing how shitty this dude's dad is, he'll probably try and get Richie in trouble for a chance to "punish" him for sinning or something hypocritical like that... Then, maybe he tried to get arrested, spurted out some false accusations, and since the people of Derry could care less about the children of the town, they listen to the asshole and took Richie to the station to detain him... Richie's parents found out and not even a minute later, Richie's out with clean records and three police officers got fired, including henry's dad. Can you imagine how wild that would be?

I proceeded to spend the rest of the movie just looking at her in awe because what the fuck? What if, indeed?

Wentworth could've come from a very long line of various medical fields and that's why the Toziers are old money or Maggie could be one from old money as well since from what I understand, old money tends to only marry to other old money families. Maybe the only reason they live in Derry and not in either of their estates is to give Richie a chance to live a "normal" life and not the lavish one they've had. Am I tripping? Probably, but can you imagine also imagine the Losers' reaction to it?

Beverly :: Alright, not that I want Richie to be in jail but how the fuck did you get out so fast? I don't think you can get out of jail that fast even if you're a little well-off

Stan :: Perks of being born into old-money, I guess

Eddie :: H U H ?

BSSNBSLAHSKA THIS…… this is an IDEA I COULD GET BEHIND!!!!!

like i can definitely imagine maggie and went trying to be humble and not wanting to raise richie with the idea that just because his parents have money doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants to get away with whatever he wants. and maybe both went and maggie’s families are actually shit, like their families are kind of toxic and stuff and they didn’t want to raise their son around them, hence why they moved out to derry!!!!

and i feel like even though for the most part, maggie and went stay out of richie’s troubles (they want him to learn how to solve problems on his own and they don’t want him to rely constantly on his parents), but when someone does something to really hurt him, like what bowers did…… you best believe they’re gonna do something about it!!!!

AAAAHHH!!!! i am enjoying this idea immensely……. rotating this idea in my mind….. except now i’m also thinking about what if they don’t come from regular old money, what if they come from some sort of like mafia background……. au brewing in my mind…..

[nice-and-accurate-ramblings]

⚠️WARNING: GOOD OMENS 2 EPISODE 1&2 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!⚠️

I need to get my live reactions out because I am LOSING IT. Do not read beyond this point if you don’t want spoilers for the first two episodes!!!

I am going insane after the prime premiere so here are my insane ramblings externalized:

THE COLD OPEN IN EPISODE 1 KILLED ME IN MY SEAT INSTANTLY

THE NEBULA. ANGEL CROWLEY (whose name we don’t get, ofc, that made me laugh). HE WAS SO EXCITED AND AZIRAPHALE’S “I WOULD HATE TO SEE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE” AND THE W I N G.

The fjuckin. WING. I AM UNWELL. I AM GOING INSANE JUST THINKING ABOUT IT

AAAAAAAAAA

And then the title music played and I apologized to my friend that I dragged to the premiere for being Extremely Not Normal. And then told her it Would Get Worse.

GOOD OLD FASHIONED LOVER BOY, IM-

Maggie: Oh nooooo, we’re locked in the coffee shop together,,, what will we doooooo (every fanfic author in the room just got so many ideas.)

Hm. Lindsey, huh? Hmmmmm.

That’s uh. Not a normal amount of texts. That seems a bit Not Great. I’m watching you Lindsey. I haven’t seen you yet but I am watching

THE APOLOGY DANCE AHSHDJFJF!!! Stan Pines and Crowley have something in common apparently. Also. Aziraphale what do you mean you had to do it in 1941. what were those other times. Where did this come from. I need EXPLANATIONS.

There’s no way their two-halves-make-a-whole miracle is what set off alarms in heaven. Gabriel Absolutely Did Something.

There are too many flies in the book shop for this to NOT come back to Beelzebub somehow

Re: Beelzebub- why ask Crowley to keep them in the loop if Shax already asked him that? Are they just not communicating, or is this somehow connected to Beelzebub???

My heart fuckin stopped when Gabriel started singing Everyday.

Crowley. Crowley I need you to repeat that bit about Jane Austen. CROWLEY YOU CAN’T JUST DROP THAT, I-

Good to know that scene overlooking the ocean was in fact as emotionally intense as expected. aaaAAAAAA

Re: Job minisode- “I’m a demon. I lied.” Gives a whole new fuckin context to the “Would I lie to you” “You’re a demon” from season 1. AaaAAAA

Another one from that minisode: Aziraphale thinking that heaven could be convinced to not destroy the earth if they just understood properly in season 1… aziraphale being disgusted by human food and drinks until he was tempted to try it and understood… Mr Gaiman I am in your walls for this

Anthony J “You can’t kill kids” Crowley strikes again. And we still don’t get clarification on what kind of kids he meant, which is incredible honestly. Plus, the goats were adorable :)

How is the jukebox doing the same thing as the Bentley. Is this a “every record eventually turns into Everyday in the same way music left in a car too long turns into Best of Queen” or is this a Pointed Thing

Have I mentioned that I would die for Muriel? I would die for Muriel. It has been two episodes and I simply adore the low ranking sunshine angel.

They are so fucking married

“OUR CAR” “OUR BOOKSHOP” they are so fucking married. Crowley why are you sleeping in your car, pls it’s OUR bookshop 😭😭😭

Aziraphale took drivers tests before they were cool (aka mandatory) 🙄 come on Crowley keep up

Aziraphale driving the Bentley is something I didn’t know I needed and yET-

First the “naked man friend” comment and then a random guy stealing the seat across from Aziraphale in the pub… rip crowley

Gabriel with the Terry Pratchett paperback… Gabriel reading off the first line of Good Omens… wait the book exists in the world of the show- Aziraphale owns the book in the world of the show- what

Never thought “Archangels don’t know where babies come from” would be a plot point and yet. Here we are.

Pausing one more time to go absolutely feral over the ending of the Job minisode because that played my heartstrings like a FIDDLE. “I’m like you now” “I’m a fallen Angel” and “I’m not here to take you to hell, don’t think you’d like it”; “I’m on my own side” “Sounds lonely” and “I’m a demon. I lied.”; how heckin PRETTY THE WHOLE SCENE WAS

someone please send help because idk how I’m going to be normal after this.

Okay, scheduling this for a little after the episodes drop and spoiler tagging like crazy! SOON, THE REST!!!

[krookodyke]

I cannot tell you how much I adore your fics for cathleen & emanuel. you capture the tone of them so perfectly and seamlessly. maggie betts needs to hire u to write their sequel when she directs it (pls maggie). I’d love for you to keep going and continue writing their story. so necessary for us sapphics who stan niche and underrated ships. PLS I NEED MORE. especially leading up to cathleen’s confessions in the chapter of faults in the movie pls

anon ;__; 🖤🖤🖤 this is so incredibly sweet of you, i love my niche obscure yuri more than anything else and it means the world to me that it also hits the spot for the few others who Do care about these obscure little film gays too… but trust me i AM writing much more!!! i’m writing a post-canon thing wherein after cathleen leaves the convent she goes to find emanuel cue them falling in love (and nora being supportive because emanuel essentially saved her daughter from the hell of Nunnery), so trust me that you WILL be satiated. that is also a genius idea though too… i will for suresies take it into account. just for you though anon i’ve attached a little preview of said post-canon fic under the cut. mwah mwah.

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

i lowkey would totally be interested in your richie and stan dance moms au lore. I read that fic ages ago and now can't get richie and stan being dancers out of my brain. especially because im a dancer myself

Richies strengths are performing (obviously), but i also think she would have this super cool and unique quality to her dancing while stan is super technical. and i think stan would struggle with a perfectionistic mindset (ugh dont we all) and sometimes lose her artistry while richie is relaxed and genuinely just dances for enjoyment, not really caring if shes not completely technically sound

(btw you are such a talented writer i could read ur writing forever. and you characterization skills are so fucnjkh good)

(Here's the fic for reference btw)

Dude, homie, bestie, my dear like it’s so STUCK IN MY BRAIN because like?? I in general am of the opinion that gals Stan and Richie were in dance classes as little kids together, because I think it’s fun, and I ALSO think they’re the two funniest characters to throw onto reality television? Like,,,, come on?  

(Also like I’m Bad at describing dance for a person who dances so unfortunately there isn’t nearly enough dance info forthcoming in this as there is in my brain)

SO the basic timeline and lore built out in my head is:

Age 2: Richie and Stan start dancing at the ALDC in those baby ballet classes, Andrea and Maggie become friends sitting in waiting rooms and tiny Richie and Stan baby bond INSTANTLY, so they’re best friends immediately 

Age 8: The show starts filming, and it follows the actual real life incredibly fucked up dance moms lore where everyone thought they were signing up for a short documentary style thing about dancing and got locked into YEARS OF TELEVISED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

They’re in a one year contract at first, which then gets upped to a five year contract once the show starts picking up, so six years in total that they’re REQUIRED to be on the show.

Stan genuinely is very invested in dance and both her and her parents specifically put a lot of weight in her being successful (without meaning to be kind of fucked up about it), and she’s an only child with a stay at home mom who can spend all her time on Dance, so that’s why they sign on

Richie is pretty much Gonna Do What Stan Is Doing and is generally having fun (-ish) with the being a minor celebrity of it all because she’s Nine Years Old so she’s down

She does have one older sister but she’s way, way older (18 when Richie is 8 kind of vibe) so she’s going to college by the time the show begins and therefore Maggie and Went feel comfortable committing to it

(There are some episodes where Maggie isn’t there because of Richie’s sister and Abby thinks she’s a bad mom because of it and says it a lot)

It’s also important to note that they’re just normal people being intensely manipulated by production to sign on

At the start of the show A La Maddie (DISCLAIMER: i refuse to write any semblance of real person fanfiction, Abby doesn’t count because she fucking sucks, so decide on ur own if the normal real dance moms girls are there or there are just other random Dance Children) Stan is very much the golden child who Always wins and Always gets very good solos because she’s abby’s favorite

Their solos are mostly Ballet and Lyrical because they are technically incredible and a very pretty dancer

HOWEVER like you said she is SUCH a perfectionist (mood) and takes every loss REALLY personally, so it becomes a sort of toxic fandom mindset that she is a spoiled brat because they cry a lot and have panic attacks over not liking how a dance went (FILMED LIVE ON FUCKING TELEVISION AT EIGHT! WUH OH!) 

Richie is sort of set up to be a Jojo type character, where she’s REALLY REALLY fun to watch dance and a ball full of energy but because she’s so Much all the time the producers end up painting her as very, very rude and sort of lazy brat

But she’s a fantastic performer, which is crazy important in dance, and it’s not like she’s BAD she’s just not super technical? Which actually sometimes works in her favor because she ends up being a really a super versatile dancer

Jazz and musical theater are her Big Two but she’s pretty much good at everything except ballet because WHO IS? (Stan)

The dynamic is basically Stan is a incredible dancer but really just at certain styles (idk if I’m describing this well but she’s very much the kind of dancer you watch and think Wow She’s Good At Dancing and Doing This Correctly) and Richie is very much a jack of all trades master of none

They’re very good at duets though because Richie gets Stan to loosen up and Stan refuses to let Richie Not Practice Constantly

Richie’s coasting the bottom of the pyramid WEEKLY even when she wins because of her ‘behavior’ and Stan is usually at the top

Generally the production team tries to frame the two of them as enemies because they’re SO different that it makes good television for perfect, ballerina Stan to be constantly butting heads with obnoxious brat Richie but they’re genuinely such good friends it Does Not Work

One episode is set up to sort of push the Hate Each Other narrative in season one where they give Stan a really cheesy, big performance jazz number and Richie a really, really technical ballet number, expecting it to be a big competition and fight but instead they just help each other practice and cheer each other up when they get upset

Stan wins the first nationals, obviously

Age 9-10ish: By the second season it sort of starts to pick up in intensity and both of them start to get homeschooled/setschooled and the show becomes their entire lives, which is Bad

By this point both of their mental health isn’t Awesome but Stan is really not doing great, especially because they’re so anxious the social media perception is really getting to them, and her mom is trying really hard to get out of their contract, but they’re stuck. 

Stan and Richie (along with their moms) decide they’re both leaving together the second their contracts are up.

Someone else from their team wins nationals second season but because Stan is so in her head about everything she gets like fourth, which is also Bad For Her and the narrative starts to slightly switch from ‘golden child’ into ‘is she Still the golden child?’

Age 11: THIRD SEASON, though, Richie win’s nationals and Stan gets second, which like… isn’t supposed to happen

(Fun actual Dance Moms fact: pretty much all the competitions are rigged but nationals are Less Rigged like they’re tilted in their favor but the judges are a little more real)

Abby is PISSED and basically tries to make it seem like the judges messed up scoring or it was a mistake and it’s one of those Famous dance moms scenes because Abby is basically saying that Stan should have won because she is better and Richie is clearly very genuinely upset (which doesn’t happen a lot she’s very good at like making when she’s upset a joke when the cameras are around) and Stan fully stands up to Abby and calls her out on her bullshit 

After that the whole energy skews more against Stan where suddenly production is airing a lot more of the little insults they usually cut out specifically for Stan to try and push the agenda that Abby is unfairly nice to them

Everyone sort of blames Richie for it a lot of the time, though, and the two of them probably have a thinly veiled duet called like The Bad Influence 

Age 12: Abby really fucks up and says something Genuinely So Bad (and probably Pretty Antisemetic im ngl because have you fucking watched dance moms?) to Stan so production literally cannot make them stay legally, like with Kelly situation, where it could get them into actual trouble so Stan and Andrea are allowed to break their contract and leave the show

The show runners cut most of the argument out and edit it to seem like it wasn’t Abby’s fault

Richie and her mom try to follow but because it’s a specific situation that wasn’t aimed at Richie they aren’t allowed

They both know they’re leaving when the contract is up but there's still two years stuck on the show without her immediate best friend support system and it really sucks

People make a lot of sad edits about it and Richie thinks it’s really funny but also it's genuinely the crux of why she's QUITE so mentally ill (in general being hated by abby was never good for her but once Stan leaves it's ROUGH)

Age 14: Richie’s off the show, she knows she’s gonna be off the show, so she like fully flips Abby off in the dressing room after nationals and storms out with her mom and the show honestly just keeps it in because it’s good tv to have a big reason like that to explain why she left

They worked it out so Stan and her mom are waiting outside and they drive them home and hang out and it’s a good time :)

OTHER LOSERS LORE:

Richie and Stan were best friends with Mike from before the show and they went to school together/continued to post both of them leaving the show

She’s in One (1) episode for two seconds at like a party or something and Richie and Stan pretty much Just Post That Scene when they’re older, like if someone asks them about their favorite moment they’re like oh yeah when mike was there

She’s got a big social media following from the two of them and thinks it’s hilarious

They meet the rest of the losers in college

Bill and Mike are college roommates who are crushing hard on eachother so she becomes their friend through Mike

Stan and Ben are roommates and Ben is dating Bev so that’s how they become friends

Bev was a childhood Dance Moms stan, like ran a fan instagram account and went to meet ups because I think that's really funny don’t worry she’s better now

Bill and Eddie have been best friends since elementary school so she gets dragged to a lot of their hangouts and is completely and entirely unaware that Stan and Richie are like c-list celebrities for a WHILE

tbh this is like a very train of thought bare bones explanation but do with it what you will :)

[alltimefail-sims]

random question but erwin gives Lana stan vibes and same lolz but then i wondered what music your characters from strangerville story all listen to?

First off I am so happy to answer this question for you!! Thank you for asking! I love love love music and love this question!

That being said, before I begin I want you to know that I'm so sorry to burst a personal headcanon you've made about my version of Erwin Pries...but he has probably never heard a Lana Del Rey song in his entire life lmfao (I'm assuming that's who you're talking about). But Erwin is an EA premade, so if your Erwin is a Lana Del Rey stan I love that for you and that's valid!!! My Erwin just isn't haha (but his sister Maggie would like her music!) Anyway!!!

Very long response below the cut! ↓

Erwin mostly listens to older music: he loves music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s and listens to everything on vinyl or cassette (he is very passionate about the preservation of physical media, he is the Paranoid ass king after all). His favorites are Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, David Bowie, Abba, Neil Diamond, Jim Croce, Billy Joel, John Denver, James Taylor, Elton John, The Mamas and Papas, Johnny Cash, and so on. He also has a not-so-secret love for musicals and claims that the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack is one of the best pieces of composition to ever exist (he also likes Godspell, Rent, Xanadu, and many more) Get him drunk enough and he will talk about how Mamma Mia is "Literally a transcendent work of art with whimsy and heartbreak and joy and a tender ass storyline at the heart that quite literally fucks so hard. Fucking Meryl Streep. Fuck!" Direct quote. That man hardly listens to anything post-1990, with the exception of "Queen Florence Welch" (Florence and the Machine).

Zoe appreciates all kinds of music, but has a deep love for the soul music that she heard around the house growing up. She likes music with feeling and depth, and the lyrics are most important to her but if the song isn't deep, it better have a good beat that she can dance to! Her personal favorite artists include Otis Reading, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Rhianna, Lauryn Hill, The Temptations, Roberta Flack, Janelle Monáe, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and so on!

Beckett's looks deceive him because he loves pop music. He is listening to the current hits, think Billboard 100s exclusively lol. He might have listened to a few rock or rap songs to get "pumped up" back in his football days, but for the most part he is always listening to pop - he even likes boybands, but won't willingly admit that lmao. He's a Swiftie through and through, and he will fight for her honor on any Twitter thread or in-person discussion. He also has a love for 90s and early 2000s country artists like Shania Twain, Alison Krauss, Lee Ann Womack, and The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) because of cleanin' and cookin' Sundays with his momma <3

Junia doesn't care about music that much! She doesn't have any favorite artists, she's never even bought a CD and probably couldn't tell you 5 bands or artists off the top of her head. She's one of those people who will listen to anything that "has a good beat" while she's working out, and it doesn't even have to have words. She's listening to music more for background noise as opposed to being passionate about it or seeking it out.

Anwar listens to alternative music mostly! Bands like the 1975, The Strokes, Paramore, The Clash, Fall Out Boy, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, The Neighborhood, and so on. He definitely went through a pop-punk, Hot Topic, combo of emo and scene phase in his teen years in the 2000s. (Iykyk, if you don't... look it up lmao. It was a time to be alive.) If they could play at Warped Tour, he listens to them lmao. But he's cool with most pop or radio music, he's not like a music snob or anything.

Tashia listens to pretty much everything, but she also loves metal music. Idk if you've seen the Pixar/Disney movie "Monster's University" but there's a scene in there where the mom of one of the main characters drops them off at Monsters Inc. and she's like "I'll just be listening to my tunes until you get back" in like the sweetest voice and then as she's rolling up the windows you can hear metal music blasting through the speakers and she's just like... calmly vibing like she's listening to elevator music or smooth jazz lmfao. It's very funny. That's how I imagine Tashia's music taste to be and it concerns everyone around her <3

[chicagomedfans]

Hello there, my friends. Is it just me or does it sometimes seem like Chicago Med is the proverbial red-headed stepchild of the One Chicago franchise? There are far less m-vids, fanfics, and overall discussions circulating about the show than there are for Fire & PD, which is disappointing to me since I personally see a lot of merit in Med. Don't get me wrong here. I absolutely love the other One Chicago shows too (I was even into Justice! Yep, you heard it here!), but I have to admit I have a certain affinity for Chicago Med. I can't even really explain it. I am just oddly addicted to it & the characters on it. I wish more people enjoyed it the way I do, or at least chatted about it a bit more.

It got me to thinking, wondering how I could help encourage people in the ChiMed fandom to engage with each other more while also spreading positivity for the series & all the while possibly gearing up interest from potential new viewers to check out the program. And then I had it! Why, create an appreciation week event, of course! So, that’s exactly what I’m doing. If you're a Chicago Med stan or just a sorta fan, please feel free to participate in this fun event coming soon! It will run from Feb. 12-18, 2023.

Please hashtag your posts with #chicagomedlove & #chimedaw23 so we can find you and see all your awesome posts. There are two types of prompts. General question prompts & fan fiction prompts. You are welcome to do both sets if you'd like. I know I'm going to try to do both, but hey, no pressure to you. I hope we get a great turn out for this. Go forth and create please and thank you! :)

*** General Posts/Gifs/Pics:

Day 1. Favorite character Day 2. Favorite couple (canon or otherwise) Day 3. Saddest moment Day 4. Favorite friendship Day 5. Favorite Nurse Maggie moment (Let’s face it. Gaffney is still standing because of her. Plus, Marlyne Barrett deserves all the love!)  Day 6. Favorite season Day 7. Your favorite cast photograph

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Writing Prompts:

Day 1. Gonna Party Like It’s 1999: Write about a story about a party that happens at the hospital. What goes on? Are there presents? Does someone spike the punch? Are startling truths revealed? Do people start hooking up in the linen closet? You decide!

Day 2. Valentine’s Day: Write something about the characters celebrating or not celebrating Valentine’s Day, as the case may be.

Day 3. I Don’t Know Nothin Bout Birthin’ No Babies: Write a story about someone having a baby. It can be a patient. Or even one of the doctors themselves.

Day 4. You Got a Friend in Me: Write a story about your favorite friendship on Med. Or about two characters you wish had a close friendship.

Day 5. We’re Going to Need a Bigger Band-aid: Write a story where someone is really sick, and things get dicey. Will they live or die? I mean, it’s Chicago Med. It’s anyone’s guess!

Day 6. It’s a Nice Day for a White Wedding: Write about your favorite ChiMed couple on their wedding day. (Pairings do not have to be canon! Crack ships and fantasy ships totally count!)

Day 7. I Missed You: Is there a character who left the series that you really miss? Write about their return to Chicago and show you would bring them back to the fold.

[susandsnell]

🐭 I think you COULD be intimidating (positive) but I haven’t seen that side of you, because you’re also very sweet (being a Scarecrow fan does not count as being intimidating)

Tell me in my askbox how intimidating I am

This is so lovely, Maggie! Sorry for getting to this late - I don't think I'm all that intimidating owing to the dorkiness, and agreed on stanning Scarecrow lolol <3 love you, hope your weekend is great!

[thxrunaways]

Twd character tier list. from who I hate the most to the ones I stan.

Andrea (annoying and awful and also mean to Dale. also fucked bald ugly Shane.)

Shane (all of the above but had the decency to die earlier in the show. becomes bald and ugly.)

Maggie and Daryl and Carol (whatever. I like them during season 1-2 but they get annoying later.)

Rick (should've let Lori abort that thang)

Gleen and T-dog and Carl (stupid but cute)

Hershel (only cute. I like him.)

Lori (motherquake measuring 9.9 on the cunter scale)

Dale (if Dale has a million fans then I am one of them. if Dale has ten fans then I am one of them. if Dale has only one fan then that is me. if Dale has no fans then that means I am no longer on earth.)

[silasplaskett]

wish i could watch dead city bc lauren cohan looks incredibly hot tbh and before i am human i am a maggie stan but. unfortunately. negan is also there. rendering it entirely unwatchable for me

[deb-1106]

Asdffghjkkllllll!!!

I’m so excited to see Drake actually get medical care after the attack 😀 No but for real, I am 😂 Like how he just got shot and it got brushed under the rug like it was nothing is still baffling to me lolol

I KNOW! The poor man has been walking around with a bullet lodged in his shoulder, but can somehow still herd cattle, fight assasins, and throw his wife around like a damn blow-up sex doll. 😂

AND I LOVE THAT HE HAS BRYCE AS HIS SURGEON LIKE … I WOULD TAKE A BULLET IF I COULD HAVE BRYCE AS MY SURGEON TOO 😂

Right?!? 😂🤣 He could do exploratory surgery on me ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

When Maggie and I started writing together, we were like...we're both Drake stans, so how is this gonna work. Lol But Maggie also wrote an amazing Bryce story where he stripped his way thru med school. 😂 So Drake + Bryce = REMOVING THE DAMN BULLET. 🙄

Honestly, a girl after my own heart 😍

Hard Same. I'm on cup #2 already, and it's only 8:45. ☕️

I love you so much!! Thank you for ... well, EVERYTHING. Your support and unconditional friendship means EVERYTHING to me. ❤️❤️❤️

Choices Flash Fic week 31

Hey all!!  ❤️ 

Because we've both been out of the game so long, and have really missed writing, my good friend (she was actually my very FIRST friend on this hellsite 😋❤️) @walkerismychoice and I have decided to motivate each other by writing together using our LI's and MC's from different choices books.  I'll be using Drake Walker and my MC, Ava Matheson from TRR, and Maggie will be using Bryce Lahela and her MC, Charlie Hawkins from Open Heart.  

This story will hopefully be the first of a weekly series of one-shots using @choicesflashfics prompts.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it! ❤️

Prompt 3  — “Wait a second. Pause and rewind … what did you just say?”

Book: TRR/OPH

Pairings: Drake x Ava, Bryce x Charlie

Rating: M

TW: Gun Violence

“Little Blossom?”

Ava’s eyes flew open.  

She was momentarily disoriented, caught somewhere between a memory and a nightmare. But as her eyes focused and she took in the institutional green walls and naugahyde seating of a hospital waiting room, the crushing reality of the evening’s events came flooding back.

***

Ava! Get down!”

Drake’s warning was the last thing she heard before his body slammed into hers, knocking her to the ground.  She screamed as a bomb exploded nearby, raining chunks of rubble down all around them as the acrid smell of gunfire burned her nostrils.

“Drake?” She cried, “Drake, we have to get out of here!

He didn’t move.

“Drake!“  Ava began to panic as she felt the warm, sticky dampness of his blood seep into her ballgown. She reached out to press her hand to his cheek and his eyelids fluttered open for just a moment.  He gave her a small smile. 

“I love you, Matheson.” He mumbled faintly as his eyes closed once again.

“NO!  Drake, wake up!  Please, baby.  I need you to wake up!”  She tried to wiggle out from underneath him, but the weight of his body was too much for her.

HELP!” She screamed, praying that her cries were loud enough to be heard over the chaos around them,  “PLEASE! … SOMEBODY HELP US!”

After what felt like an eternity, she felt Drake’s weight lifted from her body.  She immediately scrambled to her knees crawling on all fours to where he lay prone on the ballroom floor, his suit soaked with blood.

“Oh my God!” She gasped, “Drake!”

Bastien was kneeling over him, both hands pressed over a wound in Drake's shoulder as he barked out orders. “I NEED A MEDIC AND AN UNMARKED CAR…NOW!”

“Bastien! What’s going on?”  Tears streamed down Ava’s face as she grabbed Drake’s hand, alarmed by how cold it felt.

“Terrorist attack.  Drake took a bullet.”

Ava looked to Bastien for reassurance, “But…he’s going to be okay, right?”  

He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Bastien! Tell me he’s going to be okay.” She begged, “Please!”

He finally looked up, and the expression on his face made Ava’s blood run cold.

“The wound is close to his heart and he’s lost a lot of blood.” Bastien’s voice was somber, “If we can get him to the hospital quickly, he might have a chance.”

“Might?” Ava pressed a hand over her mouth and felt her stomach lurch. 

No!  This can’t be happening.  We were finally going to start our lives together. I can’t lose him now.

***

Maxwell knelt down beside the chair Ava had finally collapsed into after pacing the hospital corridors for hours.  He placed his hand over hers and squeezed gently.  “There’s a nurse here who wants to talk to you.” 

Heart hammering in her chest, Ava jumped to her feet, ignoring the pain of her own injuries as she anxiously faced the young nurse standing in the doorway.

“Is he okay?” She asked, “Is he out of surgery?  Can I see him?”

The nurse smiled kindly, the rapid-fire questions not phasing her in the least.

“Mr. Walker is still in surgery…” 

When Ava’s face crumpled, the nurse crossed the room to place a comforting hand on her arm, “But he has one of our top surgeons working on him, so rest assured, he’s in the best possible hands.”  She smiled warmly, “In fact, Dr. Lehela wanted me to let you know that Mr. Walker is out of the woods.  The bullet has been removed and they’re just cleaning out the remaining debris.  There was some concern about bone fragments splintering off and causing damage to the surrounding heart tissue, but that doesn't appear to have been the case.”

Ava felt her legs go weak with relief.

“Oh, Thank God.”

She felt Maxwell’s arms encircle her and sank wearily into his comforting embrace.

“See, Blossom.” He said, encouragingly, “I told you he was going to be okay. It’ll take more than a tiny little bullet to take him out.”

Ava nodded and squeezed Max’s hand without breaking eye contact with the nurse.

“How much longer do you think it’ll be before I can see him?”

“Once he’s out of surgery, he’ll go to recovery." She replied with a comforting smile.  "It’s hard to say how long he’ll be there, as everyone comes out of anesthesia differently, but a conservative estimate would be another hour or two.  Then he’ll be settled into a room and can receive visitors.”

Ava nodded and swiped at the tears which were once again sliding down her cheeks.  But this time, they were tears of relief.

“Thank you.”

The nurse smiled.  “Of course.  I’ll come get you when I have his room assignment.”  

Ava thanked her again.

Drake was going to be okay.  Liam had been unharmed in the attack and Bastien and Kiara came away with only minor injuries.  Somehow they’d all survived.

Suddenly Ava’s stomach growled…LOUDLY.

Maxwell laughed.  “Okay, now that we know Drake is okay…it’s time to take care of YOU.”

Ava began to protest but Maxwell was already propelling her toward the door. “No more excuses!  You need food, or at the very least some coffee, or you’ll find yourself in a hospital bed of your own.  Now MOVE!” 

Maxwell was wearing his stubborn expression, so Ava knew resistance was futile.

She let him lead her down to the Cafeteria. “I’ll go back up to the waiting room and let you know immediately if I hear anything from the doctors.”

“Thank you.” Ava replied weekly before walking through the cafeteria doors and meandering aimlessly towards the various food offerings.

—--

Charlie checked the time on her Apple watch. Wow, a whole 30 minutes for lunch today, she thought. Typically she was lucky to get half of that. Nobody ever told her the life of a hospital internist would be glamorous, but she still hadn’t been prepared for how tired and hungry she’d be so much of the time. Although they bill residency as a training program for your selected specialty, Charlie swore it was also meant to be a boot camp that only the strong survived. Only one more year and she’d have some semblance of a normal schedule as an attending physician.

“Coffee. Must have coffee first.” Charlie mumbled to herself, taking in the aroma of freshly brewed beans as she marched towards the machines only to be stopped in her tracks by someone hovering in front of them. Charlie went left, but then the woman went left. Then she tried to go right, but the woman shuffled to the right. Her patience running thin, Charlie spoke up. “Excuse me, could I sneak in here?”

“I’m sorry.” The woman spun to face her, and Charlie’s irritation melted away. The woman looked sad and tired for sure, but that was not an uncommon sight for visitors of the hospital cafeteria. There was something about her that drew Charlie in and made her want to comfort the woman. Maybe it was the fact that Charlie could see a little bit of herself in her - definitely not the flawless deep olive skin tone and dark hair, wildly contrasting with Charlie’s strawberry blonde locks and accompanying creamy white skin, but they appeared about the same age, and there was just something there that made them alike. Although Charlie was not prone to striking up friendships with hospital visitors, something told Charlie this was a connection she should make.

“Let me buy you a coffee.” Charlie offered.

The woman looked Charlie up and down, seemingly noting Charlie’s white coat and ID badge. “No, that’s okay. You can just go first. I have no idea what I want.”

“Please, I insist. Free coffee is one of the few perks I get for devoting my life to this place.” They both laughed and Charlie saw the first little spark of life return to the woman’s eyes.

Charlie grabbed two prepackaged sandwiches to go with the coffees and brought them over to the woman who had already seated herself at a cafeteria table.

"Thank you so much…" she glanced at the ID badge again, "....Dr. Hawkins. "I was too much of a wreck to even pick out something to eat. I'm sure you're busy, but would you care to join me?" 

Again, it wasn't typical of Charlie to hang out with random hospital guests, but she knew this woman needed a friend right now, and maybe that feeling was mutual. "Sure, I still have about 20 more minutes." Charlie sat down. "But you can call me Charlie."

"Well thank you again, Charlie, I'm Ava."

"Nice to meet you, Ava." Charlie hesitated for a moment before asking, "If it's not too forward, do you want to talk about your loved one here that's got you so worried?... Only if you want to talk about it."

Ava's facial expression grew somber once again. She took a deep breath before letting everything spill out - getting invited to Cordonia on a whim to compete for the future King's heart, fate stepping in when she fell for his best friend Drake instead, and all the political drama and everything leading up to the events that brought her to this particular hospital cafeteria. Despite the tears streaming down Ava’s face, the air about her felt a little bit lighter.

"I'm sorry." Charlie squeezed Ava’s hand from across the table. "This must be so scary for you, but Edenbrook is a great hospital. I'm sure Drake is in great hands. Do you know who his surgeon is? I probably know them or at least know of them.”

Ava pursed her lips in concentration. “Dr, La-....hala? I think it’s something like that.”

Charlie smirked. “Young, kind of surfer boy-esque, and cocky as all hell because he knows how good-looking he is?”

Ava laughed nervously. “Yeah, that sounds like him. Please tell me he’s also a good surgeon.”

“Dr. Lahela can be kind of cocky bastard at times, but I love him. And yes, he’s a great surgeon, and I’m not just saying that because I’m biased.”

“Wait…” Ava seemed to be putting the pieces together. “You like love, love him? Are you two-”

“Yes, Bryce is my boyfriend. I might not have been so complimentary about his other characteristics otherwise.”

They both devolved into laughter until Ava spoke up again. “I like your sense of humor. Sounds like you need it to put up with him, just like me with my….Drake.” Ava quiets for a moment and then asks, “So I take it you two met here at Edenbrook?”

“Well, that’s a funny story.” Charlie wondered if she really wanted to get into this with a relative stranger, but Ava had already shared so much and could probably use the distraction anyway. “We actually met at a strip club, and believe it or not, Bryce was a stripper.”

Ava’s eyes opened wide. “Wait a second. Pause and rewind … what did you just say?”

Charlie inhaled deeply. “Okay, I don’t have a ton of time left on my break, so I’ll give you the condensed version. My med school friends dragged me out to a strip club to celebrate after we graduated. I was in a funk because I’d been recently dumped by the douchebag I thought I was going to marry and to top it off, I was set to be in my awful cousin’s weeklong wedding extravaganza and was in no mood to be questioned about the whereabouts of my plus one. Said friends paid for a private lap dance for me. In my drunken state, I got the bright idea to hire the stripper to be my fake boyfriend for the wedding. Somewhere along the way, fake boyfriend turned into real love interest. I learned he wasn’t just a stripper but had worked his way through med school and was about to hang up his banana hammocks to start his residency. As fate would have it, we’d both matched at Edenbrook and two years later, here we are.”

“Woah. And I thought mine and Drake’s relationship had an unconventional start.” Ava peeked down at her phone on the table. “I’m definitely going to need the feature-length presentation of this story another time, but my friend Maxwell just texted that Drake’s out of surgery!”

“That’s great news!” Charlie got up with Ava and walked out to the elevators with her. “I’ll walk you back up there since I’m headed that way.

Little did either of them know that this chance meeting would be the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

Taglist: @ao719 @burnsoslow @sincerelyella @charlotteg234 @choiceswreckedme @walkerismychoice @txemrn @twinkleallnight @imashybish @blackcatkita @katedrakeohd @boneandfur @sfb123 @queenrileyrose @foreverethereal123 @kingliam2019 @nestledonthaveone @bebepac @petiteboheme @yukinagato2012 @princess-geek

**As always, if you want on or off my Tag List, let me know. **

[mothicalspoken]

Reminder that Anne technically does have a friend(s) in the human world, like Gabby, and that Maggie was openly and purposefully xenophobic to her, as confirmed by Matt Braly.

Maggie showed up for 30 seconds in reunion and bullied Anne the entire time. She is not her friend. And the fact that some people want a character like her to come back says a lot about their beliefs.