#but she sticks by her sister's side because she knows ivy is grieving

[need1etail]

Man. I haven't read Ivypool's Heart but tbh I hope there would be a scene in there where Ivypool and Dovewing bond over both having lost their daughters. Like, sure Dovewing can see Rowankit in StarClan but it's still painful.

[fencesandfrogs]

cloudtail’s daughter au

so i decided to do a full write-up of this au instead of doing a second post to cover books 4-6 and then everything will be self-contained.

the essence of this au is pretty simple: dovewing does not, imo, fulfill the prophecy by being the granddaughter of firestar’s nephew, because that’s at least 3 “kin” away from him. so while i think she’d actually have to be princess’ daughter to fit, i’ll let her be firestar’s grandniece and call that “close enough” because it’s better.

anyway, there’s no real reason for this to change anything, but i think given who cloudtail and brightheart are, and how close dovewing and ivypool are to whitewing, it would probably change quite a few things.

[4k words. 15 minute read. proper section headers.]

this is a big summary so i’m sure i’ll forget things, i’ve already had to add in the events caused by the dovewing/tigerheart romance/conflict that carries through the first three books, and that cloudtail being an atheist has a major effect on ivypaw. i know i wrote a detailed summary of the first arc, where i didn’t forget any of that, but nothing exists for the second arc. anyway this au is tagged cloudtail’s daughter and apparently i have a lot to say about it so i’m sure if you click on the tag you can find info about it. assuming this isn’t the first thing i post. which it might be.

section one: things that don’t happen

so i don’t want this to be a po3 rewrite, which means i’m going to take a moment to explicitly discuss what doesn’t change.

first, po3 stays pretty much exactly the same. i want jayfeather to be a warrior too. i also want him to be dovewing’s brother. but the au where brightheart gives birth to dovekit, anxiety child, and jaykit, blind, and feels like a failure despite the fact that its not like her half-blindness is genetic, is not this au. that is another au.

anyway, hollyleaf does keep herself more together, because she needs to be alive for some family drama. she’s in background character hell (BGCH) for a while, though, especially the first book.

she still goes to the tunnels, mind, she just comes out sooner.

but otherwise, despite my personal tastes, i’m not changing po3 very much.

section two: brightheart’s litters

okay so cloudtail and brightheart have four children, i believe, and my choice is either to replace whitewing, or to replace the others. now, i don’t particularly care for either of these options, but i’d rather they have their second litter younger, so we’re replacing amber/dew/snow. this still lets you have old queen drama, but not so much that you’re like “brightheart how on god’s green earth did you have 3 children with no issues”

instead, she’ll have dovekit and ivykit at about the same time whitewing had them.

now, for complicated cat genetic reasons, cloudtail could have been a black cat. now, here me out: what i mean is, if he wasn’t white, he could be black. basically, white is a masking color in cats, it goes on top of whatever pattern they would have displayed. both he and brightheart would have to inherit one dilute gene (princess was not dilute, so she had to carry it), and then either dovewing or brightheart are tortie, and that’s the best i can do for keeping dovewing grey.

i, personally, lean towards tortie brightheart, because i always pictured her that way, but i have seen some pretty cute tortie dovewing.

ivykit inherits red from her mother, and is tortie either way, because tortie ivypool is cute.

in fact, i’ve been tinkering with the idea that ivykit and dovekit have kind of mirrored grey and cream spots. not, like, perfectly mirrored, because that’s not how tortoiseshell/calico (they would technically be calico, since they have white) works, but close enough to be cute.

section three: arc one (summary)

these books are going to have six protagonists (dovekit, lionblaze, cinderheart, hollyleaf, jayfeather, ivypool, in that order) with a secondary character who gets less chapters but the most important b-plot (ivykit, hollyleaf, lionblaze, jayfeather, cinderheart, dovewing).

arc one focuses on “two braincells” i.e., dovewing, lionblaze, and cinderheart (sorry bb, ur not like the other two, but i’m putting you somewhere) and the main theme is dovepaw learning to manage her power. it’s a tug and pull between dovewing: glass canon, and dovewing: can’t do shit.

cinderheart and lionblaze also have a romance going on, which irritates ivypaw, who has a bit of a catalyst with the dark forest in the middle/end of the arc (like in the original). we only get this through external perspecives, though, because when this happens, lionblaze is in the secondary position.

one of the ways to fix this book series is to decouple it from ivy and dove, much as i love them. both the beavers and the dark forest make up a b-plot in this arc, while the quest for the third prophecy cat, as well as growing tensions between clans, take center stage, and lionblaze and cinderheart work in the second and third book to give us the adult perspective of the tension that dovekit and ivykit can’t in the first book.

mostly, this is fairly low stakes. part of that is because characters are having stakes appropriate for them, rather than smeared around in a book. (looking @ u, flametail buddy). so dovekit/paw spends her first book worried about apprentice things and doesn’t get to narrate again until the end of the series.

section four: book one — growing shadows

i think the fourth apprentice is a stupid name, okay?

so book one is dovekit and ivykit, for pretty obvious reasons.

although actually i’m pushing off the beavers in this to book two or three. i’m not 100% sure where i want that, yet.

so anyway, dovekit is born and wow is she anxiety child. (i call dovewing anxiety child a lot, because, well, she is? i feel like it’s sort of implicit in the books and i’m making it explicity.) anyway, she’s in sensory overload like 100% of the time. see, she was born late, and so she didn’t have her powers kick in over time like lionblaze and jayfeather. nope. she got the adult version right away.

so she spends a lot of time hiding with cloudtail because he’s big and fluffy and not complicated to look at. cloudtail and brightheart are understandibly pretty worried about her, because no one really knows what to do about it. she’s skittish and distractable and extremely sensitive. she hates going out in the rain, hates bright sun, etc.

(side note: dovekit’s powers extend to pretty much all her senses. she can see, hear, and smell much farther than she should, and she can taste and feel much more strongly than an other cat.)

ivykit doesn’t feel unloved, but she does know her sister is getting more attention, and that always kind of hurts, even if you’re understanding.

cloudtail and brightheart work to try to help dovekit get on her feet, but they’re not super successful. she learns to cope enough to be able to function as a kit, but she’s always kind of a strange, quiet kit. she doesn’t know how to talk about seeing too much because she doesn’t realize its too much.

dove is given to cinderheart, because lionblaze is a terrible mentor for small anxiety child, and ivy is given to lionblaze. this will also create drama later, just wait.

so the main plot of this book is keyed into dovepaw learning to hunt. the stakes are pretty low, honestly. they’re mounting around dovepaw and ivypaw, but the girls are too young to properly understand everything.

dovepaw is initially successful hunting due to some luck and being good at spotting prey, but she can’t replicate it. ivypaw only trains with her a bit at first, and she sees this success, and feels like her parents’ attention on dovepaw made dovepaw better than her.

this gets ivypaw into the dark forest. this is the b-plot: ivypaw training, realizing she made a mistake, and not knowing how to get out. plus, she doesn’t have to mind her sister. (ivypaw is raised by an atheist, so while she’s smart enough to eventually work out that these cats are evil, she doesn’t have a sunshine and rainbows view of starclan. that’s the only way i can justify her not being smart enough to nope the fuck out of there, even if she is really young and really angry.)

in clan life, ivypaw knows she needs to look out for dovepaw. she doesn’t mind, but she gets to experience a life without that in the dark forest.

dovepaw does mind how everyone treats her like she’s made of glass. she sees cinderheart talking to brightheart and jayfeather and firestar and feels like everyone thinks she’s useless. so she decides to go out on her own and prove she can function.

dovepaw starts sneaking out at night and she finds the tunnels. her senses dampened, she panicks, running deeper and deeper, getting lost. fallen leaves will find her, and help get her strength up and then get her out. kind of like with hollyleaf, who is out of the caves by now.

ivypaw sees everyone searching for dovepaw and starts to feel guilty about wanting more attention, and the fact that part of why she wants dovepaw back is so people pay attention to ivypaw again. she also feels responsible for this.

cinderheart is distraught, because she really did care about dovepaw, and it’s been three days, her scent tracked to the tunnels but it was raining and no one has seen her since, so she’s probably dead.

ivypaw, grieving, refuses to accept that dovepaw is dead and she hunts outside the tunnel mouth until she thinks she hears something.

dove and ivy reunite and return to the clan. ivypaw’s convictions that dovepaw needs to be protected are strengthened, and dovepaw knows she failed in her goal. everyone is happy to see them.

we get some fretting about how washed out everything is, how the rain didn’t even stick because the soil is so dry. that’s a cue to the drought, which will be a bigger deal next book.

section five: book two — fading echoes

honestly i’m not attached to book titles, but this works here too.

so this book is split between lionblaze and hollyleaf. i’m pretty sure hollyleaf is out of the caves by now, but i haven’t decided if she’s rejoined the clans. she feels strongly for fallen leaves: they’re listed as mates on the warrior cats wiki, and if hollyleaf and jayfeather are both going to have ancient dead ghost mates, she’s at least going to visit hers. her end goal is to get him to starclan so they can be together after her death.

anyway, this is beavers book. i don’t have a ton to say about it because it’s pretty much the same, except hollyleaf goes with dovepaw and cinderheart and she’s our pov as dovepaw falls for tigerheart because (and this is my understanding of her logic in the books to begin with): “big fluffy tom is safe fluffy tom.”

lionblaze feels the disconnect between him and ivypaw, but he can’t help that cinderheart is away. ivypaw is clearly preoccupied, but he can’t tell with what. his larger conflict is in finding the third cat.

this isn’t a filler book, per say. the tree falls and that happens, and lionblaze gets thrown into rebuilding camp. ivypaw feels doubly abandoned. lionblaze tries to win her affection, but he doesn’t know how.

beaver crew gets back. dovepaw has stars in her eyes. ivypaw is close to passing her warrior assessment, but lionblaze can tell she’s holding back because she doesn’t want to leave dovepaw. dovepaw can hunt by now, but she can’t really split her attention.

she’s scared of going into battle.

after a border skirmish where dovepaw just freezes, ideas of her being a medicine cat are raised.

ivypaw sees tigerheart in the dark forest, and she goes all bluefur being like “snowfur ur bf has rabies” on dovepaw, who is not happy with this. ivypaw pushes dovepaw to be a medicine cat because of this. the sisters are squabbling and barely talking.

book ends.

section six: book three — distant whispers

again not 100% sold on the names.

so this is cinderheart’s book, and she’s going to figure this out, because dovepaw and ivypaw are falling apart, and dovepaw deserves to be a warrior. so she convinces firestar to let her and lionblaze take ivypaw and dovepaw to the mountains. she believes, well, i’m not sure i haven’t worked that part out.

anyway, they go.

the tribe is like “yeah the world sure is a big place with a lot to look at. that’s why only half of us look.” (i know that’s not exactly how cave guard’s work but close enough.)

cinderheart is like “hm. what if, dovepaw, just a thought, what if you just, you know, avoid battles? i know it’s part of clan life but judging by the two souls crammed into my body, i’d say there’s been very few major conflicts over this and, reasonably, you should be able to avoid being chosen for battle control.”

dovepaw says, “but cinderheart, i’m a main character! unless i’m being punished or taught a lesson about duty, i’ll be automatically registered for every battle patrol until i die!”

cindheart says, “you’re right, i’m so sorry. hey ivypaw, [whoops yeah ivy and lion are here too sorry i forgot to mention that] what if you two learn to work as a team.”

dovepaw says, “i don’t want to work with her.”

ivypaw says, “that’s a great idea.”

because dovepaw talks very quietly (she forgets not everyone can hear as well as her), ivypaw wins.

they spend at least a month in the tribe, maybe longer, i’m not sure. eventually, they decide to go back. dovepaw is never happy in the tribe, it’s way too loud all the time, but she does manage to sort out her hunting issues, and so fighting is left.

so there’s still a big push for dovepaw to consider maybe being a medicine cat.

but that is not this au. this is the jaywing/dovefeather au where they basically switch roles. there’s a really good fic where dovepaw goes to riverclan for a while that i love and anyway this au is a as-close-as-possible to canon au for me to rectify my issues with dovewing in canon (nominally, i don’t have any, but i think her character was displayed…curiously, and i’m mad about the prophecy.)

ivypaw is team medicine cat. cinderheart and lionblaze are struggling. cinderheart eventually teaches dovepaw an extension of the techniques of the tribe, and they work out that dovepaw can kind of, track the cats she’s with to anchor herself in battle. this means dovepaw no longer is tied to ivypaw for her success, and so they both become warriors.

while they’re still in the tribe, ivypaw has time away from the dark forest and lionblaze finally puts two and two together, and that basically makes up the b-plot for the back half of the book, lionblaze trying to get ivypaw to admit what’s going on and then trying to help her.

dovewing’s senses begin to return but since they come back slowly she’s able to manage them. so she quickly excels in hunting.

ivypool cottons on to the dark forest breeding loyalty between its members, not to their original clans, and realizes that this is going to threaten all four of the clans.

end book with a bang, end first arc. we will now turn to the actually-have-more-than-two-braincells crew (sorry cinderheart, you don’t deserve to be in this group, but your prefix doesn’t end in -y, so you can’t be with jay/holly/ivy in the brainy crew.)

section seven: arc 2 (summary)

so this arc is when the main conflict (dark forest battle) becomes obvious. dovewing’s problems have been sorted out, so she’s pushed into BGCH for a little bit while the smart adults sort things out.

book three ends with ivypool realizing the dark forest isn’t a personal problem, but a clan-group (like, all of the clans together? not sure how to call it) sized problem. ivypool, jayfeather, and hollyleaf together manage to sort out a lot of the dark forest’s eventual plan, and they try to sort out a way to solve it. then the battle happens. that’s basically the summary?

in here, the clans start working together way sooner and the prophecy comes out way faster.

section eight: book 4 — the forgotten character

alright, hollyleaf is liberated from BGCH. actual title is still the forgotten warrior.

hollyleaf and ivypool start to bond, and hollyleaf is convinced all the clans need to know about what’s up.

ivypool disagrees, and they talk about it like rational people.

hollyleaf and fallen leaves are still cute.

jayfeather has his timetravel thing in this book so he can do flametail’s job in the next book. he gets to talk to hollyleaf and fallen leaves about it.

i don’t think i’d mess with jayfeather and briarlight’s relationship in this au, because i think it’s sweet in canon as is, but you know i have thoughts about half moon and briarlight. anyway, jayfeather gets his book next, this is about hollyleaf.

fallen leaves helps hollyleaf learn to control, idk, spirit dream travel? jayfeather helps with this too. hollyleaf has to share extra hard with jayfeather because she took up a disproportionate amount of time in lionblaze’s book.

so anyway, hollyleaf is learning to travel into the dark forest. similar to the way dark forest cats leave it? but in reverse. this is the main plot.

like the second book, it’s not really filler, so much as lower stakes, and like the second book, i don’t have a ton to say about it because the plot is self evident. unfortunately, hollyleaf has the two “chill” books. sorry bb.

anyway, this is building into jayfeather going all angry old man yells at sky at starclan next book, so the biggest conflict in this book is hollyleaf realizing she can just, leave. she can go back in time the way jayfeather did, but on purpose, save fallen leaves, and they can be alive.

i mean, that wouldn’t actually work, not the least because i’m not keen on hollyleaf being a reincarnation, espcially in the reincarnation-lite universe, but also because she can’t save fallen leaves, then he wouldn’t be a sharpclaw, not really, and like a whole host of other issues but anyway

at the end of power of three, hollyleaf runs away from her problems. this book is about her standing up to defend them.

i don’t know if she explicitly breaks up with fallen leaves, but they have a falling out that won’t get resolved until after the great battle. this is a mutual/not mutual thing where they both know that fallen leaves is stopping hollyleaf from fully committing to helping her clans now, but they love each other.

relationship conflict that isn’t forbidden romance.

speaking of, ivypool getting close to hollyleaf means that the two of them start to reconnect with their siblings. hollyleaf’s actions alienated her from jayfeather and lionblaze and she kind of just was sad and apologetic but they didn’t want to forgive her.

(sorry hollybush, says jayfeather,

that’s not my name, says hollyleaf,

oh, says jayfeather, guess i forget. well anyway, i have a new sister now. her name is dovewing.

dovewing?, says hollyleaf. but you don’t like her.

it’s okay, says jayfeather, she never tore my family to shreds and then abandoned me to deal with the fallout.)

(jayfeather and hollyleaf always seemed closer to me than lionblaze and either of them, until hollyleaf’s whole event. anyway he remains petty about everything and lionblaze stands by him because, well, he’s not wrong, also dovewing is important to cinderheart so he feels like he should be on her side on this which means jayfeather’s side. even though cinderheart is friends with hollyleaf look i said lionblaze is a loveable dumbass already, didn’t i?)

so anyway hollyleaf is sad and ivypool sees that and is like “hm maybe i shouldn’t be a petty bitch for no reason” and this is fine until after this series is over when dovewing and tigerheart are like “bitch we gon b together”

dovewing’s emotions get jayfeather to, well, not go back on his actions, but recognize hollyleaf is the most effective person to work with. because lionblaze and dovewing are just. so dumb.

and yeah this book ends with things feeling almost hopeful.

section nine: book 5 — sign of the moon

i cannot overstate how little i care about the titles of these books.

anyway, jayfeather and cinderheart.

i don’t have a ton of thoughts about this one. jayfeather reunites starclan, cinderheart helps convince ivypool and dovewing to work together. this is the book where clans find out about the propechy but not the dark forest that is for next book

they know something is coming, but everyone agrees not to give ivypool away yet. they like her, you know, alive.

anyway, i don’t have much to say because it’s pretty obvious what happens, because this is just a bunch of events from other books crammed into this book, now, and they’ve been written and i don’t see the need to make many changes.

cinderheart and lionblaze have kit drama, maybe? cinderheart counsels dovewing about tigerheart, maybe? my point is it’s not super important.

the book ends with the two warriors to every camp. and dovewing, jayfeather, and lionblaze, are going to get split up.

this is my biggest change so far imo because it’s the most plot relevant.

dovewing is going to shadowclan with ivypool. jayfeather is going to windclan with…i’m not sure yet? i don’t want him going to riverclan because leafpool has ties to riverclan and, well, i want jayfeather to get a chance to stand on his own. and lionblaze goes to riverclan, with either cinderheart or hollyleaf.

jayfeather is super grumbly about this, but admits that it’s important as a show of unity, and also, he’s pretty functional in wind clan? like they’re all playing to their strengths.

jayfeather learns to navigate pretty quickly, dovewing appreciates quiet and also not being that-strange-cat who everyone is super careful around, and lionblaze is big and gregarious and enjoys riverclan being chill and friendly. so yeah, people get a chance to chill and be happy.

ivypool is in position to be angsty next book.

end book.

section ten: book 6 — the last hope

despite my claim that the biggest change is sending the three to different clans, i don’t have a lot to say about it.

basically, well, okay

first, we see ivypool and dovewing again. reminder that last time we were in one of their heads, they were apprentices. in book one.

dovewing couldn’t even hunt last time we had her pov.

so there’s a few chapters to some characterization that happens. dovewing is no longer anxiety child. she’s somewhat shy, she’s soft spoken, but she’s not skittish. you can’t surprise her. and she’s intense. she’ll just stare at you with wide eyes if you come talk to her until you say something she wants to respond to.

ivypool sees why dovewing and tigerheart are good together. she’s still not supportive, but, like, he understands her. he doesn’t treat her like she’s fragile, but he also is kind and forgiving and soft to her.

plus he’s a total simp for dovewing. that helps.

anyway, ivypool gets along fairly well in shadowclan. i don’t have ton of thoughts about this.

ivypool, hollyleaf/cinderheart, and jayfeather’s companion, as well as half of the other cats away on missions, are acting as messengers between their host clans and their home clans. that’s how ivypool gets to find out about info. they meet on the island every morning. or something.

anyway, this bit is where i most hate the set up of this with two pov per book hard cap because it’d be cool to see into everyone else’s head but that’s for novellas and side stories.

the battle happens.

everything sucks. dovewing has basically committed to tigerheart, but bramblestar’s storm messes with the timeline.

and that’s pretty much it.

section eleven: what’s next?

so i swore i wasn’t starting new fic and then i thought of this and now i do want to write it so, maybe?

the most important thing is:

tl/dr: the reason dovewing shouldn’t have been a prophecy cat is because she’s not the kin of firestar’s kin.

[keepingupwithfundies]

CO 1101: La La Land

The Vuolos travel to LA, making fun stops along the way. Ben shaves his beard and decides to pull a prank on his kids. Joe & Kendra prepare for a new addition. Miscarriage TW: Joy & Austin grieve a loss. Finally, John & Abbie host a gender reveal. 

-T 

At the main house, Michelle is playing with Felicity as Jinger and Jeremy prepare to head to LA. They delayed their move due to Grandma's passing, which makes this move extra difficult. Jinger and Jeremy head off, and JB says their pace of life is going to pick up. Jinger recalls when she said it would be cool to marry someone who lived in a big city, and getting to live in LA is even bigger than she had imagined. They head off, and they will make stops to break it up. Jinger recalls her RV travel days and so she knows what to expect and it will be fun to make memories as the Vuolos. In Oklahoma, they make a pit stop to fill up on gas and change a diaper. Jessa tells a story from a drive when Spurgeon threw up all over his car seat.

Back in Arkansas, Jessa is cooking with Henry and Spurgeon while Ben and Ivy chill on the couch. Henry is talking more and Spurgeon likes to help out. Ivy is so chill and relaxed, she is an easy baby. Henry is delighted with his pancakes. Ben says he is going to trim his beard, and he thinks he might shave it off. He says it requires more maintenance at this length and it is time for a change.  Ben is curious to see if he does it if the boys will recognize him with no beard. He calls Jessa over to show her his goatee look, and then he does a hipster mustache. Jessa thinks its cute and he should keep it. He decides to dress up and knock on the front door to see what the boys do. Ben comes in, full Irish accent going, and his kids are looking at him with a lot of doubt. When they go looking for their dad, they don't see him. Ben then shows him the video him shaving, and they realize that their dad is with them. Ben thinks he did fool Henry but he isn't sure about Spurgeon. Spurgeon tells Ben he likes his beard on. Ben says he is planning on growing it back, but keeping it shorter.

Jinger & Jeremy arrive is Roswell, NM. Jeremy recounts the alien rumors about the town, and they are excited to check it out. They visit some kind of alien haunted house type thing, and take pictures with Felicity. Felicity laughs at the aliens. All the Duggars do not believe in aliens, although Abbie just says "I feel like an alien sometimes" which I found oddly relatable. The Vuolos had fun tho, and head on their way.

Joe & Kendra are upgrading their baby gear since they are expecting their second child. They got a new carseat for Garrett and a double stroller. Kendra is 30 weeks. She says she thinks this time around the baby will be earlier. Garrett is mobile now and fast- he's running around which is tricky for very pregnant Kendra to keep up with. Kendra says when the new baby comes, Garrett will be daddy's buddy. Joe and Kendra try to figure out how to put the car seat in the new stroller. They read the instructions. Kendra says she doesn't feel ready yet, but Joe says he does.

[tw: miscarriage]

Joy & Austin found out they were expecting earlier in 2019, but when they went in for their 20 week ultrasound, there was no heartbeat. Joy broke down, and Austin said it didn't feel real. Joy had to be induced, and Austin was focused on Joy being ok. When she got through it fine, Austin said they began the grieving process. Joy says they named her Annabell, both for the meaning and because it was a childhood nickname of Joy's. Elise, the middle name, went well with that. Annabell was buried out on Fort Rock. Today, they place a headstone where she was buried.  They also plant an oak sapling, which Joy would be able to watch grow near where she is buried. Austin said they have supported each other by how blessed they are which helps overcome the despair. The Forsyths pray by the new headstone. Joy says it is comforting to have the support of her mom and sisters. Lauren says she recalls when Jessa and Lauren were pregnant together and she lost Asa, how Jessa supported her and now she is trying to do that for Joy. Jessa said they had that big photoshoot with all the pregnant girls, and she is still so excited for everyone but how hard that must be for her. Austin told Michelle in the hospital that they still wanted to be happy for all the babies on the way. Joy says having the headstone and tree brought closure for her, and while it is hard, they'll get through it.

[/end tw: miscarriage]

In Nevada, the Vuolos arrives in Vegas.  Jeremy has never been before, but Jinger has been to the area before- in particular, the Hoover Dam. The Duggars talk about their perceptions of Vegas and do Elvis impersonations which is funny. Kendra doesn't know "what" Elvis is. Jeremy has decided to do the Sky Jump- and 829 controlled leap from the stratosphere building. Jinger is worried about watching this. Jeremy heads up, and Jinger tries to talk him out of it. She waits at the landing for him. Jinger tells Felicity that this will be scary, and Jinger is clearly worried for him. It is a wild thing to do and a long way down. Jeremy says he is and idiot and keeps asking what is he doing. He's got a go pro and Jinger is filming from the bottom. Jeremy is terrified, but he makes the leap and seems to enjoy it- it's actually quite a smooth and slow descent, and he is glad he did it. He kisses the ground. Jeremy says you do feel like you are free falling and it was exhilarating. Jinger says she wishes she was that brave. They go take a pic with the Vegas sign and then tomorrow they will head to LA.

John and Abbie are having a big gender reveal party at about 16 weeks pregnant. Coming up with an original idea was very difficult, and they have boarding passes for everyone. Everyone picks a pink or blue boarding pass which have 4 numbers on them. Jeremiah is going to do 3 passes with the plane: one will have the first two numbers, a middle one which will narrow it down to two passes, and the final one which will have the last number. The four numbers will match either a pink or a blue ticket, and that's the gender. (Maybe just stick to cakes?) But anyways, they all head outside to wait for the plane. Jer is taking off and heading towards the house. Jer does the first pass, the number is 82, and then everyone with an 82 steps up. Next, they look on the side of the plane and see a 7. The two last people are Abbie's mom and her sister Carinna. The plane comes around again, and they look for the last number on the other side of the plane. It's a 3, and that reveals it is a girl. Abbie and John pop pink confetti over everyone. Jer says the flight went great and he is super excited for John and Abbie. Both John and Abbie were hoping for a girl, and they're thrilled. Everyone congratulates them.

The Vuolos finally arrive in LA, and Felicity claps. Their trip took 5 days, and they are happy to be in the big city.  

[grahamgumball-andotherstuff]

Okay, so @jackie-shitposts I respect your opinion on Crackle, but, here are a few thoughts as to why lots of ppl also like him:

Note: I colored some of the sentences bc it's aesthetic (ok now keep reading)

So first, you mentioned this:

Okay. In my opinion, Crackle, as his true, VILE self, is a bad person.

Yes, that's true, but, most ppl, (including me lmao) love him for that bc some (most) of us like his stealth suit, his sassy, charming attitude, and a lot more reasons. Also, his VILE self is not his "true self" per se. (I'll explain later on, keep reading)

Next, you said that:

I don't know how many people know this, but Gray tried to kill Carmen on the train in the first episodes. That sizzle stick was canonically set to fatal levels, as said in the novelization of the first two episodes. Duane confirmed this as well. Gray tried to kill his old kid sister to suck up to an evil organization that threw him away in an instant.

Lemme explain-

first, VILE didn't "throw him away," bc VILE protocol dictates that failure to complete the mission will be forgiven, but getting caught won't. Crackle clearly got caught, leaving VILE with no choice but to kick him off the organization. Next, I know his so-called "sizzle stick" (sorry pet peeve IT'S CALLED A CRACKLE ROD PPL!) was set to fatal levels, but he turned it off. He turned it off when Carmen started talking to him. In the last part of episode 2, we can see him fighting Carmen using the crackle rod, but, was it set to fatal levels in that scene? Also, in s4, in The Big Bad Ivy Caper, we see him knocking out all the ACME agents (while he still has a headache from getting his memory back, no less), and we can only assume he hasn't had any professional training from VILE after his brainwashing, so his fighting skills are supposed to be pretty rusty, right? So what if he knew what he was doing back in s1 and just let Carmen win the fight in the train? I mean, it's all worth it for his old kid sister, right?

Next:

Mind wiped Gray isnt too bad imo. He’s a little bland, but I do like his complex relationship with Carmen (im not a RedCrackle shipper, dont get it twisted) and her feelings and grieving about losing her ex best friend to the organization she’s trying to take down.

I agree with you- brainwashed Gray is a little bland. I mean, for me, the best thing brainwashed Gray did was that charming "Oh?" in The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper lmao

Okay, here's the big issue:

The REAL kicker here is in the Himalayans, when Carmen and Gray have that chat in the lab. Here, Gray isn’t mind wiped, he isnt under anyone’s control or influence, he is 100% his VILE self.

...

Then, he says “Give up trying to stop us, because I never want to be in a position to hurt you again.” This is absolutely AWFUL of him to say. Gray just told Carmen to give up her life’s purpose just for his own fucked up conscience.

HE DID NOT TELL CARMEN TO GIVE UP HER LIFE'S PURPOSE DAMMIT *breathes deeply* okay, yes, he has a "fucked up conscience" but only bc he's still basically brainwashed; only he believes that VILE is the "good" side now, thanks to the videos VILE showed him. The only part where he's just genuine Graham Calloway, his own self, was in the flashbacks in s1, with no influence by VILE whatsoever. You cannot say that he's his 100% self here bc he's still under VILE's influence. And I think him saying that is also setting Carmen free- GRAY WANTS CARMEN TO HAVE A NORMAL LIFE BC SHE HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT BEFORE AND HER NOT DOING SO IS HURTING HIM (also guys don't misinterpret this part of the essay as romantic- I mean Gray wants Carmen to have a normal life in a friend way, but-nvm interpret the scene however you like)

But then:

After this point, he chooses to allow Carmen to be brainwashed, and he steals with her, knowing its against her morals and watches her almost kill people for 6 months because “it was fun!” It wasn’t until he hears that Carmen may kill their old mentor that he decides it suddenly isnt cool that Carmen has no agency over her own actions. he KNEW what being under mind control felt like, and he still chose to do nothing for six months.

As I've said, his VILE self is not his real self. He allowed Carmen to steal because, yes, "it was fun!" and this might be his only chance to see Carmen as "Black Sheep" again but also bc he wasn't in the right mind in during that time! He's still "brainwashed" by VILE, making him do this.

Lastly:

He isn’t irredeemable, but i do not think he was redeemed.

Yes, I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one, since we don't rlly know what happens to him after the show bc his ending still has a lot of possibilities and we don't rlly know what he does after he goes back to normal life- does he keep stealing? Or does he try to live like he did when he was brainwashed, no drama whatsoever? Or, Does he try to find Carmen (here's one for the Redcrackle fans everyone)?

We don't know (that's what fanfics are made for, duh lmao).

why do you and so many others on this side of the fandom seem to dislike crackle? (i am also on this side of the fandom ps) like hes not my favorite character or anything, but i dont rlly recall him doing anything *wrong*. Hes just there. Good for him. Just hoping you can spell it out lol

oooh boy buddy lemme take you on a RIDE

Gonna preface this and say that i do like Gray as a character, but he’s a bad person and fun to dislike as a person lol. AND this is all my opinion and not true of everyone, please dont attack anyone or anything.

Okay. In my opinion, Crackle, as his true, VILE self, is a bad person.

I don't know how many people know this, but Gray tried to kill Carmen on the train in the first episodes. That sizzle stick was canonically set to fatal levels, as said in the novelization of the first two episodes. Duane confirmed this as well. Gray tried to kill his old kid sister to suck up to an evil organization that threw him away in an instant.

Mind wiped Gray isnt too bad imo. He’s a little bland, but I do like his complex relationship with Carmen (im not a RedCrackle shipper, dont get it twisted) and her feelings and grieving about losing her ex best friend to the organization she’s trying to take down.

The REAL kicker here is in the Himalayans, when Carmen and Gray have that chat in the lab. Here, Gray isn’t mind wiped, he isnt under anyone’s control or influence, he is 100% his VILE self. He tells Carmen that being good only mattered to him because Bellum made him believe so (we see this is true in the application interview video Maelstrom showed) and that he knows Carmen won’t go back. Then, he says “Give up trying to stop us, because I never want to be in a position to hurt you again.” This is absolutely AWFUL of him to say. Gray just told Carmen to give up her life’s purpose just for his own fucked up conscience. At this moment, Gray could have chosen to go with Carmen, or at the very least could have said “i just want you to know if we encounter each other in the field and im attacking, the missing IS intentional.” Yet, he chose to go with the organization that repeatedly showed they could not give two shits about him, instead of his old best friend.  After this point, he chooses to allow Carmen to be brainwashed, and he steals with her, knowing its against her morals and watches her almost kill people for 6 months because “it was fun!” It wasn’t until he hears that Carmen may kill their old mentor that he decides it suddenly isnt cool that Carmen has no agency over her own actions. he KNEW what being under mind control felt like, and he still chose to do nothing for six months. He isn’t irredeemable, but i do not think he was redeemed. 

That, and its fun to make fun of him lol. So yes, I am a cracklephobe, thanks for asking