#femslash recap

[aquila1nz]

Queer Women on Shortland Street in 2023

2023 started with Maeve battling it out for top dog in Ferndale Prison, as soon as she won she rang Rebekah, the leader of the evangelical cult Brightshine and asked her to get her out on bail. Meanwhile Brightshine was bankrolling the Shortland Street rebuild and Rebekah ended up in the CEO seat. She gave Maeve a no patient contact job, and as they spent more time together a romance built. Maeve was so relieved to have someone supporting her that she was prepared to overlook Rebekah's need to remain closeted, with only Nicole finding out about their relationship, but Rebekah's various lies slowly came to a head; when she had to go on the run she finally admitted to Maeve her part in Wilder's murder - Maeve tried to drown her but decided not to, and Rebekah was arrested. Goodbye Antonia Prebble.

Maeve returned chastened to Nicole's arms, and despite an STI scare they started fixing their marriage.

Gia took off to a job in Chicago and I guess is unlikely to return since her family has mostly also left the show.

Dawn also left for pastures greener, which is a pity because she was always a character who attracted gay shenanigans.

Six new surgery registrars were introduced, and one of them, Quinn, proved to have very good gaydar, admiring Harper and flirting with both Nicole and Maeve… Somehow Nicole acted liked they'd had a big romance instead of a weirdly inappropriate kiss when Quinn died in the winter cliffhanger. Pretty coulrophobic on the part of the show.

Leanne lost all her money financing son Eric's pyramid scheme, then won the lottery for the second time and announced she was off on a world tour - taking Rosalyn with her! Last we heard she and Rosalyn were living on a vineyard in the South Island - Pele went to stay with them for a while, and we saw Jennifer Ludlam on a video call briefly just before Christmas. Offscreen reunions are better than nothing!

Harper - still married to Drew. Billy - still a preschooler. Marley briefly had a storyline where he played with Drew's clippers and had to buzz cut his long hair, and then Billy had short hair just like their idol older brother a week or so later, I wonder if one or both actors wanted shorter hair in real life.

In the latter half of the year Cassie, Wilder's girlfriend, returned, no longer pregnant but with no memory of what had happened to the baby, and that mystery has been Maeve and Nicole's main storyline.

So an odd year, with decreasing numbers of queer characters, but at least Nicole and Maeve are still together, something that seemed unlikely this time last year. Somewhere in there they've become the show's longest running gay couple, passing Jay and Maia's threeish years.

Shortland Street returns on the 5th of February. Let's see what 2024 brings.

And let me know if I've missed anything, it's been a long year and I wasn't always paying attention!

2022 2021 2020

[podcastingjamaican]

Gal Pals just doing Gal Pal things in a bathtub, :-)

Goggling if I'm gay for my best friend....nothing quite like it

[mcytblrsource]

YEARLY MCYTBLR RECAP: 2024 EDITION

MCYTblr is a very large space if you see any missing events, exchange, or something else please send us an ask!

JANUARY

EVENTS:

FitPac Week Hermitcraft Rare Pair Week Wormman Week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event MCYT T4T Week SpiderBit Week Treebark Title Swap MCYT Fanfiction Appreciation Week MCYT Physical Disability Week

ZINES AND MAPs:

Flamekeeper Zine Limited Life MAP Tribute to Jellie MAP

FEBRUARY

EVENTS:

MCYT Build Month Etoiles Week Fitpac Valentine's Drabble Fest Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Love Month Techza Week MCYT Yuri Week - Valentines Vylenix Week

GIFT EXCHANGES: (Based off of the beginning of posting period)

QSMP Secret Valentine QSMP Valentine's Gift Exchange MCYT Valentines MCYT Dead Dove Kink Meme Driving After Dark 2

ZINES AND MAPs:

Empires Rainbow Zine Convex Matryoshka MAP

MARCH

EVENTS:

QSMP Month Dream SMP Eras Event SMPLIVE Bingo Shubble Support Day QSMP Language Day Decked Out 2 Writing Challenge Week MCYT Aro Week Skizzleman Week SpiderBit Week Vitalasubzam Week Grumbo Week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Themes Month MCYT Underdogs Event

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Recursive Dream SMP Rarepair Big Bang

ZINES AND MAPs:

Isla y Ovos Zine

APRIL

EVENTS:

Mumscarian Week The Bright Side of Life Series MCYT-Fem Slash Treebark Week Katecinda Week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Angst Month

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Horror Gift Exchange

ZINES AND MAPs:

Hermitzine 8.5: April Fools edition The Minecraft Speedrunning Tarot Project Hermits Zine: Geminitay Edition Desert Duo Tongues and Teeth MAP

MAY

EVENTS:

Hermit-A-Day May HideDuo Kiss Week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Duos Month! Fish Donna Week Hermitcraft Guess The Author QSMP AU Week

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Drabble Exchange

ZINES AND MAPs:

Hermit Coloring Book Mianite Zine

JUNE

EVENTS:

MCYT Omegaverse Month Voices For The Blade MCYT Trans Week Scarian Summer Smooch Fest MCYT Subversion Week Niki Nihachu Summer Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Pre-Canon Month

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Multilingual Big Bang

ZINES AND MAPs:

Boatem Village Zine Trafficzine Edition 5 Flowers in the Desert: A Desert Duo Zine

JULY

EVENTS:

MCYT Co-Create Event Gem Pearl Week MCYT Aspec Week Hot Scarian Summer RedScape Week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Post-Canon Month fWhimmy Week HideDuo Week MCYTblr Fandom Crossover/AU event

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYTBLR AU Fest MCYT Fic Fight Driving After Dark 3 QSMP Big Bang

ZINES AND MAPs:

Petals of a Rose - Hideduo Zine Fairytales from the SMP: Volume II

AUGUST

EVENTS:

MCYT Musical Bingo Event QSMP Month(s) Hypnotizd ship week Skizz Week 2 FelPac week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Crack Month

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Summer of Yuri MCYT RPF KinkMeme

ZINES AND MAPs:

Chronicles: a QSMP Egg Zine MCYT Sapphic Zine Empiropedia Hotguy Comics Zine Hermitzine 9: H is for Hermitcraft Bread Hermitcraft MAP

SEPTEMBER

EVENTS:

MCYT Non-POV Event Your Cubito, Your Culture Event Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Places Month Sausage September

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYTblr Fluff Gift Exchange MCYT Jukebox Bonanza Event

ZINES AND MAPs:

Hermitcraft Season 9 Zine The Hermit Arcana The QSMP Story- Animation Collab

OCTOBER

EVENTS:

MCYT Aro Week 2 Weekly Hermitober + Life Series Spiderbit/Guapoduo Fluff or Fright Scarian Autumn Smooch Fest fWhimmy Week QSMP Halloween Fanworks Event Hideduo Trick or Treat Week ImpSkizztober GTWScartober2024 Rats SMPtober Hermittober Team Ranchers Week Weekly Hermittober Pisstober MCYT Femslash: Vampires VS Werewolves Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Limbo Month 7 Holy Nights of Jeremy

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Horror Gift Exchange 2 MCYT Yaoi Exchange MCYT Trick-Or-Treat MCYT Halloween Gift Exchange

NOVEMBER

EVENTS:

DoubleHearted-vember Sixteenth Day Event: Memory Month MCYT Fan Fundraiser: Art Showcase

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYT Prompt Exchange

ZINES AND MAPs:

The Reason is You Zine [SpiderBit]

DECEMBER

EVENTS:

QPR Kersuma Week Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Festive Month Bedrock Bros Prompt Months MCYT Christmas Prompt List Shadowrot Week Fuga4 Week Zedaph Week Felps Weekend Event MCYT Advent Solstice Social Collaborative Fanwork Event

GIFT EXCHANGES:

MCYTblr Holiday Exchange Rivals Duo Holiday Gift Exchange MCSR Mini Gift Exchange MCSR Winter Big Bang MCYT Playwriting Festival

ZINES AND MAPs:

Treebark Zine Coloring with Hermits The Heart of the Ouroboros - LifeSteal Zine Views of Hermitcraft 2025 Calendar Moonrot-Pearleo Zine Hermit Heartthrobs 2025 Calendar Morning Star Zine Double-Hearted : DDVAU Holiday Zine

[saranova]

2024 Fic Writer End of Year Roundup

aka It's 2025 and I'm just getting to it now

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going! Tagging @feetreadyheartbeatsteady @fantasywithkassidy @thoughtsaboutshows because I don't think I saw any of you do this, but no pressure!

Thank you to @ubiquitouslyme @lizardsrunfast @oh-no-its-dragons @overjoyedisland for the tags! I haven't actually participated in one of these tumblr things before and being more active on this platform is a 2025 goal of mine so here we go!

I'm not on Tumblr a ton, but I'm trying to be better and, yes, I know it's already 2025 but there's no time like the present to recap my 2024.

How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

According to AO3: 382,988 um ... what!?!?

How many fics did you complete this year?

Seven! The rest are WIPs.

That Infamous Infantry Guy - A Halden/Violet prequel story exploring the theory that he was her famous infantry ex.

The Mile High Club - A one-shot modern AU where Violet and Xaden meet on a transatlantic flight.

The Music of The Night - Iron Flame Violet/Varrish fanfic for the Riders Quadrant winter solstice fic exchange (for @lunatrixart)

Tropical Temptation - A V/X/L Modern AU one shot for the Rider's Quadrant winter solstice fic exchange for @shipmistress9 that I co-wrote with @tegantales

Secrets Die With Those Who Keep Them, So What's One More? - A canon compliant short fic where basically everyone is feeling horny and experimental. B/I/V, B/I/G

A Ray of Light in Shadowed Clouds - A Tairn/Sgaeyl piece for the Rider's Quadrant Summer Solstice Fic Exchange.

Measure Up - A Xaden/Dain piece for the Rider's Quadrant Summer Solstice Fic Exchange

How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

Nine

The Golden Dragons - My first ever fanfic, my baby! I had no idea what I was doing, I just started writing one day and this modern college AU has evolved. It's fun and I don't take this one too seriously, its a bit of satire and a lot of silly with a touch of serious.

My Adversary, My Abyss - An in-canon Mira/Syrena fic I began back in September as part of the Fourth Wing femslash week organized by @oh-no-its-dragons

One Manhattan - Modern Riorgail AU set in New York City. Co-authoring with @tegantales

Two Manhattans - Companion Piece to One Manhattan, sharing supporting character POV's.

XOXO, Aaric Graycastle - Basgiath's Gossip Column. A fun and silly series of tabloid style articles for Basgiath shenannigans.

Samara Man - Like Florida Man ... but at Samara. Spoiler: it always comes back to Garrick Tavis.

The Choreography of Combat - A series of one-shots of Bodhi Durran sexy sparring all the hot guys.

What was your favorite thing you wrote?

This is a really tough one. I love Golden Dragons b/c it is where my journey writing fanfic began ... but I wouldn't necessarily say it's my favorite thing I've written. Honestly, probably Chapter 6 of That Infamous Infantry Guy, it was my first time experimenting with writing something dark, and I love how it turned out.

What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

Probably The Music of The Night. It was my first time writing something that was really inspired by music and incorporating it's lyrics into the prose. It ended up being far more poetic than my usual works and is very dark and twisted. But I loved how it turned out so much.

Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

I was definitely surprised how much I loved writing Music of the Night, I wasn't sure how this Violet/Varrish pairing was going to come together, but once the idea came to me, the words just poured out of me.

I think the fandom's reaction to One Manhattan surprised me the most. I mean, I knew it would be fun and a wild ride, but I didn't expect so many people to take the ride with us and that has been awesome!

Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

Definitely My Adversary, My Abyss. Though the response to it has been small, it's been SO positive. The comments and messages I've gotten about it have been some of the most supportive and appreciative I've ever received. There's a lot of M/M fic in the fandom, but there really isn't much in the way of F/F so i am very determined and motivated to finish this one!

Who is an artist that inspired you?

Both @oh-no-its-dragons and @ann7av have created fan art based off of my works and if that isn't inspiration to keep writing, I don't know what is!! The fact that I wrote something that inspired artists to create absolutely blows my mind in the BEST possible way. It's the most wonderful thing, isn't it, to continue inspiring one another with our creations?

A shout out also to @lunatrixart for her amazing Tairn & Sgaeyl piece she created for the Rider's Quadrant Winter Solstice exchange. I started following her after I was assigned her as my giftee - I love how the exchange introduced me to so many creative and inspiring authors and artists!

Who is an author that inspired you?

I have met some really incredible authors this year in the Fourth Wing fanfic fandom through AO3 and the RQ Discord Server. Though, I have to call out @ubiquitouslyme because her Xaden Year 3 is the first fanfic I ever read. It was what I discovered when looking for a cure for my FW/IF book hangover, and it led me here! And for that, I will be forever grateful.

Additional shout out to Lydi (who's tumblr name is escaping me) for bringing me into the RQ Discord Server and introducing me to the fandom in a deeper way!

There are just too many authors to count because everyone inspires me in one way or another! I appreciate every comment, every encouraging word, every kudo, every meme, and just all our general discussions. Thank you to this fandom for welcoming me with open arms, it's been such a wonderful journey!

Who is a new author you discovered?

Well, I am so new to this fandom that literally everyone is a new author to me! So can I just say, all the authors of the Empyrean Fandom? There's just so much talent here it's unreal. This is such a tough one because there are so many on the RQ server.  

@overjoyedisland @lizardsrunfastt @fantasywithkassidyy @thoughtsaboutshowsows @suebswrites @yanny-77 @shipmistress9 @greeneyedwildthing @pillowqueen26 @sarcasticmothwrites @oh-no-its-dragons @june-s-pumpkins @tegantales @hockeyspiral23 @siobhanbooks @essjaywrites Mint (who's tumblr name I don't know) and everyone else I may have forgotten because I'm terrible with tumblr and don't know everyone's names on this platform (yet)

Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

I did!

I've been writing One Manhattan and Two Manhattans with @tegantaless. I am not actually sure how it started, I think one of us was like, "Hey, I like your writing, we should write something together" and the other responded "Yes, same. I'm in!" and then we just did. It clicked for us immediately, and it's been so easy to co-author together. It kind of snowballed from there - we've now met IRL and have probably 100K words and three different published works between us in just a couple months?

What accomplishments are you proudest of?

I have three things I'm most proud of this year:

I started writing. Period. Hard Stop. I've never written anything creatively before and just decided to try it and see what happens. To say I've surprised myself is an understatement.

As someone who had never read smut or fantasy before 2023, I have now written both. To say it was intimidating when I started would be an understatement, but I'm so glad I went for it!

I pushed myself beyond what I was initially comfortable with. I've now written smut, m/m, f/f, poly, fluff, angst, and some super dark stuff. It's hard for me to believe I started writing fanfic for the first time in May!

What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

That nothing is perfect. That every chapter doesn't have to top the last. That sometimes you just need to build out the story. That it's okay to walk away from something if you need a break or aren't feeling inspired, your writing will be better for it.

What is your advice?

Write what makes YOU happy! Write for yourself, not everyone else. 

Connect with your readers! One of the things that brings me the most joy as a writer is interacting with those who follow my work. I love it so much, that my first fic, The Golden Dragons, turned into an interactive fic where I have surveys and linkouts embedded and then draw from those responses to make it more interactive.

Support each other! I am a very slow reader, but I try to read as much as I can because I enjoy both the stories and supporting the other wonderful authors in this fandom!

What are your creative goals for 2025?

Finish my current Empyrean WIPs, flesh out Mile High Club into a multi-chapter AU fic, complete one original fiction.

Write at least one piece for another fandom. I'm coming for you @acourtofladydeath

[thisweekinfandomhistory]

Up, up, and... oh no. This week, V and Emily look at yet another fandom whose femslash juggernaut OTP got dealt an unfair hand by TPTB, in looking at the fallout of the Supergirl Season 2 Musical Recap from San Diego ComicCon 2017. So much rage. So much disappointment. So much annoyance. Why can't femslashers have nice things?!

This Week In Fandom History is a fandom-centric podcast that tells you… what happened this week in fandom history!

Follow This Week in Fandom History on Tumblr at @thisweekinfandomhistory

You can support the show via our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thisweekinfandomhistory. 

If you have a fannish company, event, or service and would like to sponsor or partner with TWIFH, please contact us via the Tumblr link above.

Please remember to rate the show 5 stars on your listening platform of choice!

[femslashfortnight]

Hey there participants!

While pride month is now over and the official fortnight of prompts has wrapped up, we wanted to remind you all that we will still be taking submissions for any prompt/any day until July 7th!! If you have any wips that you hadn't quite wrapped up, you still have plenty of time to finish and submit them! Once July 7th has passed, we'll be making an official announcement recapping the event and talking about the future of Hatchetfield Femslash Fortnight. Thanks! - Sam <3

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, October 18th

XANDER: Arrr! Careful, me mateys! These be fireflies spat from a volcano off the coast of Katmandu. Arr! LITTLE BOY: You're not a real pirate! Real pirates live on boats and don't look stupid!

~~All the Way~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Unraveling by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Chaptered Fiction]

In the Company of Witches and Slayers: Chapter 165 by VladimirHarkonnen (TheLightdancer) (Willow/Tara, E)

Book Stew! Chapter 13 by MGAllan (Michael [from Gingerbread]/Lance [from The Pack], G)

Kinktober 2024, Chapter 18 by HuonParticlesAreHarmless (Buffy/Giles, E)

Kinktober 2024, Chapter 15 by DancingAngel0013 (Buffy/Giles, E)

Painting Flowers, Chapter 2 by crowncitydreams (Buffy/Angel, T)

Birds of a Feather, Chapter 6 (complete!) by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Oh My Goddess, Chapter 8 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, R)

Me and the Devil Blues, Chapter 3 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

In Your Dreams, Chapter 4 by Geliot99 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Giles meme cross stitch pattern by VioletWanes (worksafe)

Wallpaper: Beauty and the Beasts by revello-drive-1630 (Buffy/Angel, worksafe)

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike | Treacherous by iCraveEdits (0)

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike | Guilty as Sin [Buffy The Vampire Slayer] by iCraveEdits (0)

Fanvid: Buffy Summers || Nobody's home by Captain Swann (0)

Fanvid: Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Anyway You Want It by juliaroxs241 (0)

Fanvid: spike & buffy - exile by Giulia Wonderwall (0)

Fanvid: Buffy+Dawn+Joyce | Phantom [BTVS] by leticia (0)

Fanvid: Buffy The Vampire Slayer | Smalltown Boy by Delenadiarixs S (Buffy movie)

Fanvid: Tara MaClay- (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)- Machine Learning by Multifandom_Fanatic (0)

Vidlet: Buffy Summers | Teen Idle (short) by ImagineDragonlords (0)

Vidlet: Buffy, Willow Xander Edit for @fire.is.catching's edit comp! by swiftie.reputation13 (0)

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer 6x06 voiceover | Buffy "Costumes that take over your personality” by A Pixie's Whisper (0)

Audio: Meeting Buffy At Your New School (F4A) (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) (New Student Listener X Buffy) by Violet's Audios (0)

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Spike you're the one Monologue) by Aria Eleutheria Aurora (0)

Music: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Theme --- Fingerstyle Guitar Cover + Free Tabs by Jacob Neufeld - The Little Strummer Boy (0)

AI Music: The Gentlemen are coming by. - reimagined by NeXuS JWF (0)

Video resource: Buffy and Oz scenepack by Scenepacks (0)

Video resource: Buffy and dawn scenepack by Scenepacks (0)

Demon design: From the Archives: Black Death Demon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 by Christopher Burdett (worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Weekly Watch-Along [October 10th-October 18th] by BPD-and-Lipstick

Video: DWR 426 Buffy The Vampire Slayer 1992 by The Dream Warrior Review Podcast

Video: Is the Buffy Movie 'Good Actually'? by Better With Bob?

Video: Thoughts On Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV Show by ramboraph4life

Video: Summary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 1) by Romi Pegaro (in Spanish)

Video: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE Slayer, beyond myth, icon of strength and courage! by SerieTvRetro (in Italian)

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4: Episode 9 - Something Blue by The Cheshire Kiwi

Video: The Killer in Me-Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Library Edition Season 8 Vol.4 Review/ Overview by Comic Swag

Video: RTFC #06 - Buffy The Vampire Slayer 7 (2007) DEEP DIVE [Features an exclusive interview with Georges Jeanty!] by Read the Freaking Comics!

Video: S4E09: Something Blue by One Girl in All the World

Podcast: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Sarah Michelle Gellar, High school drama, and slaying by TV Pilot's License

Podcast: Episode 033 - Becoming (pt. 1) by Boys Watching Buffy (several other episodes were uploaded as well)

[Rec Search]

Does anyone have any good femslash BtVS fic recs? by acaseofthewiggins

[Fandom Discussions]

Spike sleeping on a stone slab in his coat, boots, and lil blankie by Aphony Cree

For people who think Xander deserves some sort of punishment for him going after Buffy in the Pack by confusedguytoo

The thing about vampires is they are immortal so of course they will outlive all their mortal friends by stellernorth

Does anyone else find it so weird how Dawn is treated like a little kid when she is 15, 16 years old? by suiriswhite

I can’t BELIEVE I never noticed that Spike only started calling Buffy “Buffy” to her face AFTER he realized he was in love with her by thequeenofsastiel

I was counting the names Spike called Buffy and the amount of times he used them in s6 because I was curious, and I noticed something interesting by thequeenofsastiel

The cars Angel keeps giving Spike by thequeenofsastiel

Angel is such a weird show to watch by jimbodyson

after buffy season 3, contrary to popular belief, angel becomes more morally grey and fucked up by after buffy season 3, contrary to popular belief, angel becomes more morally grey and fucked up

Basically i want the way Buffy is sweet to Spike in season 7 to transfer to season 4 starved and tortured Spike by skyegraves21

Scoobtober: Best Weapon in the Buffyverse? by Plasma

The impact of loss and trauma on Angel's outlook continued by Lostsoul666 and Stoney

Double Entendres by Technical_Juice_6959

The Shanshu prophecy by moses616

Best Acting Performance in Angel by Troyaferd

How was the dagger of the beast made? by Nikstar112

Do they ruin willow’s arc? by Ijustliketodraww

Angel Season 5 Poster by authenticriver

I love Anya by ClutchPencilQuadRule

Did Giles just become sexier post-Season 3? by Personal_Reward_60

Was there a moment in the show where you thought to yourself ‘I did not expect this?’ by DarkCryptt

If you had the money or the power by Vixen22213

Rewatching Hells Bells… by erulisseh

Help with this Angel art by midwest_manic

Missed opportunities by CoasterTrax

Prom by moses616

Someone finally does what we were all thinking 😆 (S3 E1) by ghostrider1938

Real time Buffy/Spike Reactions by Adventurous_Grand878

What are some interesting motifs, references, or metaphors you've found in the show that not a lot of fans catch? by Deep_Ad_2691

Buffy is BRUTAL with killing people off it makes it more realistic in a sense by hatchbackkk

this was PAINFUL [Buffy cutting her hair in Gone] by hatchbackkk

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[kujo1597]

Hey remember how I said I was writing a few verses for a song in Unbreakable? Yeah I changed my mind. Nothing’s coming to my mind so instead of delaying the update for a couple months I’m just going to describe the song and let the readers imagine their own version. Sometimes the best thing you can do as a writer is know when to cut things out.

Anyway, time for another episode of Jem!

When we last left off the TV set was on fire and Jem was caught in the middle of the blaze.

I’m glad Pizzazz slapping Lindsey was part of the episode recap.

Jem manages to dodge all the flying equipment and Rio rides on a... camera thing and picks Jem up and brings her to safety. But Jem is shaken up, as anyone would be, and Lindsey tells Rio to take Jem to Lindsey’s dressing room. (You’d think all the femslash I write would make me better at being clear which girl’s is the “she” in the sentence.)

Lindsey tell the Holograms to get up on stage with her to finish the interview. I wonder how Jem suddenly being missing got explained. Did Lindsey tell the viewers that Pizzazz started a fire on the set? If she didn’t I’m sure Kimber did.

And this is when we get our episode’s title.

Frame Up

We see Jem delirious in the dressing room mumbling about The Misfits and Rio’s being attentive, telling Jem that she’s in no shape to get up.

We get a spinning pan of both Jem, and Rio before they start to kiss.

And Aja and Shana come into the room in the middle of it and sees. Rio immediately gets up and runs out. Then Aja has a bit of a chuckle about how Rio’s going to be steamed when he finds out that Jem is actually Jerrica.

And then Jem says, “It isn’t funny. Rio’s very proud. How can I tell him the truth without him feeling like I made a fool out of him?”

Shana holds Jem’s shoulders and tells her that she’s dealing with a very delicate situation.

And now to talk about Rio and how Jerrica is nervous about hurting his pride. The “Rio’s very proud” line is a pretty clear indication of why Jerrica doesn’t tell him. We see later in the series that Rio’s “pride” can get bruised easily and that leads to yelling and kicking things over. We don’t see this side of Rio yet but they have sown the seeds of future problems in this relationship.

But let’s deal with that later. Mrs. Bailey tells Jerrica that she’s worries about Ashley who’s barely been at home lately. Time to see what Ashley is up to.

She’s in her room imagining how she’ll look in a Misfits t-shirt at their next concert.

I forgot to talk about this last time when I was talking about why Ashley’s behaviour is understandable. One of the biggest reasons why she’s hanging out with The Misfits a lot is because they made her feel welcome. Pizzazz scares her a little with how loud and pushy she is. But overall Ashley doesn’t feel like she has to live up to an impossible standard to earn their approval. They immediately invited her into the bar, showed her the ropes, and started hanging out with her. What has Lela done to make Ashley feel welcome? Not much. Maybe in moments we don’t see Lela has been a lot nicer to Ashley but even if that is the case those moments where Lela’s making Ashley feel like she’s not good enough probably stand out far more in Ashley’s mind than those moments where Lela’s being nice.

Like it’s no wonder Ashley has been spending so much time with the Misfits.

I appreciate Jerrica’s respect for Ashley’s privacy, she knocks on the door and waits to be invited in. Jerrica mentions to Ashley that she’s heard that she’s been away from home a lot and Ashley immediately gets defensive. But before Jerrica can talk to Ashley some more Kimber catches up to Jerrica to tell her that an a concert promoter from Vegas has arrived. So Jerrica tells Ashley that they’ll finish their conversation later.

But Ashley won’t be around. She takes the t-shirt and runs off.

Now we cut to the promoter, Dirk Hayes and he asks where Jem is during the contract signing. Jerrica explains it by saying that she handles all of Jem’s business. And Hayes accepts that answer pretty quickly. No fussing from him. Kimber asks who the opening act is and Hayes says that it’s The Misfits. All of the women in the room get worked up about that because the Misfits hate them.

Hayes laughs and says that he knows they hate each other, he just likes to watch sparks fly. With a chuckle he walks out of the room.

While everybody else is still steamed Shana points out a bright side. Being Jem’s warm-up act with drive Pizzazz berserk.

Everybody has a laugh at that one.

As Pizzazz is signing the contract Stormer asks who the main act is and Hayes tells her it’s Jem and The Holograms. Which gets exactly the reaction you’d expect. Roxy even pulls a framed poster off the wall and charges toward Hayes with it. But he laughs and leaves the room before Roxy can hit him over the head with it.

After Hayes leaves Pizzazz declares that she’s the brains of the operation and hatches a scheme to make Jem unable to perform. And to do that she’s going to need some help from Ashley.

And right on cue Ashley sneaks into the building and knocks on the door to whatever room the Misfits are in.

Pizzazz uses her “sweet voice” and asks Ashley if she’d like to come to Vegas with them. And Ashley is touched by this, she asks Pizzazz if she means it and is reassured that yeah, they’ll be taking Ashley with them. And Ashley says that the Misfits are the best friends she’s ever had.

In the background Roxy and Stormer are laughing. Menacing music is playing during this scene.

We’ll find out the plan later. Now it’s time to catch up with Jem and The Holograms in Las Vegas. They rented a jeep I guess. I do like that they aren’t driving around in the Rockin’ Roadster.

While in a casino Shana is sitting at a table with Jem and asks if she’s decided what she’s gonna do about the Rio situation. Jem says, “I’d like to tell him but…” and Shana finishes the sentence with a slightly disapproving sounding, “You don’t know what he’ll do if he knows the truth.” and then she walks away.

And finally our first song of the episode.

I like Deception a lot. I like the song, I like the music video quite a bit. Give it a listen some time.

The song is about how Jerrica feels torn. She didn’t intend for things to turn out like this, and she truly didn’t, and now that this love triangle has started to take shape she doesn’t know what’ll happen if she comes clean. What would happen if she tells Rio that is was kind of a game for her at first but it went too far. She’s afraid that their relationship will go up in flames. And all of this is true. Jerrica is very in love with Rio and as we saw in previous episodes they do start off as a pretty darn cute and functional couple. However, Rio’s pride and anger issues didn’t suddenly become a thing. This is just when they start becoming a problem in the relationship. Or at least have the potential to. None of Jerrica’s fears have been realized yet. But she still has these fears.

I can’t wait to really dig into this relationship becoming as dysfunctional as it does. I’m just going to say that I am a big Jerrica defender but she’s definitely not blameless. But let’s move onto the next scene. Me breaking down this relationship will be a continuing thing throughout these recaps.

The Misfits are talking to Ashley in their dressing room in Las Vegas and filling her in on the scheme. Ashley’s hesitant, Stormer assures her that it’s just a joke, but Roxy gets Ashley onboard by egging her on. Something tells me that Roxy wasn’t much different from Ashley when she was a young teen.

The plan is simple, Ashley lures one of the Holograms, ends up being Aja, into the luggage compartment on a bus. Aja is surprised to see Ashley in the casino and chases after her. And my god, what a breakdown in communication. How did Ashley get here without anybody knowing? Did she just tell Mrs. Bailey that Jerrica invited her? But even if she did, Mrs. Bailey probably would have checked with Jerrica. *does a quick Google* Well I suppose it is only an hour long flight and Ashley has already been missing for much of the day anyway.

Anyway, Aja follows Ashley into the compartment and Roxy closes the doors after Ashley climbs out. Then we learn that this bus is on its way to New York. Hey fun fact, I have to specify that I want a labelled map of the US when I Google it. If I don’t specify I get unlabelled ones which are less than useful to me. There’s 50 States! FIFTY! Anyway, I looked up a map because fuck if I know where Las Vegas is compared to New York and wow that is on the other side of the country. Look man, I’m Canadian. I can barely label my own map.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Ashley being in school currently and growing up in the US does know how far away New York is and is feeling really guilty about this scheme.

We cut to Pizzazz telling Hayes that one of the Holograms just ran off and tells him that The Misfits are ready to perform. And Hayes says that if Aja doesn’t show up in time then the Misfits will be the opening act. Jem tries to assure Hayes that Aja would never abandon a commitment.

Then we see Aja in the compartment banging on the door and shouting “help” over and over again as the bus is driving away to New York.

A couple passengers hear the banging but not the yelling and the husband figures it’s a flat tire. The wife tells the driver that she thinks he has a flat. The bus driver gets out to check the tires and hears Aja banging on the door. He opens it up and Aja just bolts. The driver’s reaction is so well acted. I love it.

Back to Jem and the remaining Holograms, they decide to split up and search for Aja.

We go back to Aja who asks a couple guys for directions and they get into an argument so Aja tries to find somebody else. She’s then picked up by a guy in a cowboy hat riding a motorcycle. I thought Texas was where the cowboys live, Hayes wears a cowboy hat too. Anyway, the cowboy gets stuck in traffic but he’s only a block away from the casino and point Aja to where she needs to go.

We keep moving locations. Rio asks if she can look in the Misfits’ dressing room. Roxy immediately opposes to it but Pizzazz lets Rio in. And then she flirts with him and promises Rio the world. But Rio tells Pizzazz that she isn’t fit to breathe the same air as Jem.

And then pushes Pizzazz. Yeah she’s not a great person but wow, what a shove. She went flying.

Welp, Aja is still missing and Hayes is sick of waiting. He tells Jem that it’s too late and that there’s a penalty clause for failing to perform.

But wait! Aja calls out that they always perform and runs up to her family and gets a hug from Jem. She says she’ll explain what happened later.

Hayes tells the Misfits to go up and warm up the audience. Pizzazz is mad and says that she wouldn’t even warm up leftovers for Jem. But they do still walk towards the stage. And I assume perform. But we don’t see them play anything because it’s time for the next music video.

Too Close for Comfort, I like this song. Britta Phillips has such a nice singing voice. Man. She’s great. The editing in the music video is a little strange. But eh.

Let’s see what Pizzazz is doing. Oh, complaining. She’s blaming Ashley for Aja getting back to the casino and Stormer points out that Ashley did exactly what she was told to. Ashley was about to come into the room but overhears Pizzazz and ducks out. Stormer also leaves.

Then Eric phones and tells Pizzazz that there’s going to be a commotion in the casino. And that the police are going to search it. Pizzazz’s job is to make sure they look in Jem’s room.

We cut to Ashley hiding behind a standee, she’s scared. Stormer spots Ashley who is terrified and Stormer assure her that she’d never hurt her. And joins Ashley behind the standee. Ashley says that Pizzazz and Roxy scare her sometimes, and Stormer confesses that they scare her a little too. Stormer has her sweet side and I wish we found out why she’s even in this band. How did she get involved with them?

While hiding behind the standee Stormer and Ashley witness Zipper and a couple of his goons stealing money from the casino. Then they hide the sack of cash in Jem’s dressing room.

Stormer asks Ashley what they should do. And Ashley being like, thirteen tells Stormer, “You tell me.” Because yeah, there’s one adult in this situation and it’s definitely not Ashley.

Meanwhile Jem and The Holograms are done their performance and apparently they gave three encores. Hayes is very pleased with them.

But not for long! Hayes is informed that the concert money has been stolen. Pizzazz immediately tells the cops to look in Jem’s dressing room.

And we get our first moment of Kimber wanting to throw hands! :D That’s my girl! I always forget about this one because it goes so fast. You can tell this is a semi-regular occurrence because Jem already has her arm blocking Kimber off. She didn’t even have to look.

I should make a “Kimber About to Throw Hands” folder to go with my crying folder.

One of the cops tells the detective that he found money in Jem’s room. And the detective promptly handcuffs Jem without hearing her out.

After the commercial break we see Pizzazz being bitter about Rio turning her down so she tells the detective to arrest him as well. Jem keeps arguing and makes a good point, she was on stage, how could she have possibly stolen the money.

The detective says that the thieves were men (How did he know this? The smell of cologne?) and that Jem is only suspected of being an accomplice.

Then Ashley shouts from off the screen that Jem didn’t do it. Pizzazz and Roxy try to stop her but fail. And Pizzazz tells the detective that Ashley is friends with Jem. And Jem being Jerrica and therefore being a mom stands up for Ashley saying that she would never lie about such a thing.

The detective says that what he thinks doesn’t matter. And then gasp! A raspy new voice enters the conversation! Who could it be? Definitely not anybody voiced by Sue Blu.

Nope, definitely not.

Well, the mysterious woman tells the detective that she also saw the crime and that she can prove that Jem didn’t commit it. The detective invites the mystery lady and Ashley into Jem’s dressing room to get their account of what happened.

What I wanna know is, what proof did Stormer have?

Outside of the dressing room Jem’s trying to figure out why Pizzazz wanted to get Rio arrested too. He laughs and says that Pizzazz doesn’t take rejection well.

Not too long after that the detective comes out and announces that Jem is free to go. Everybody who likes Jem cheers while Pizzazz tells Roxy that they need to find Stormer.

Who of course was the mystery lady. She promises Ashley that they’re going to keep this moment a secret.

I love Stormer so much. You have no idea.

With that all resolved we have a time skip. Pizzazz is in Eric’s office complaining to him that Jem’s more popular than ever. And Eric says that they need to take another approach to the problem. He figures that Jem is a stage name and that maybe if he can find out her real name he could blackmail her or something. So Eric hired a private detective named Malone to find out who Jem is. (I always want to spell it Malogne for some reason.)

And then to help our transition to the next scene Eric tells Pizzazz that Jem is at a fashion show being hosted by our good friend Danielle.

Why yes I am trying to avoid having to look up how to spell her title.

Naturally the Misfits are here to sabotage things. Stormer questions the wisdom of this. And she really should be.

Danielle announces Jem and The Holograms and how they’re wearing her designs. And we get our last music video of the episode.

Oh! This is when Truly Outrageous plays! It’s a nifty song.

Heeeey. Kimber’s been wearing that outfit in the last two episodes. Danielle met her in that jacket! In fact all these outfits are repeats!

After the song we see Roxy point out the lights shining onto the stage and Pizzazz knows exactly what she’s thinking. They shine the light onto the sprinkler because those things do get darn hot and the sprinklers go off soaking everybody. By the way, Jem and The Holograms did a quick outfit change and now they’re all in new clothes. I forgot a couple of them debuted here. They become wardrobe staples. (I ran out of screenshot room. I could have deleted Kimber wanting to throw hands but no. I will always include those moments.)

None of the Holograms would be surprised to find out that the Misfits were behind the sprinklering. But Jem points out that there’d be no way to prove it was their fault. While they’re driving we see Malone following behind them in his car.

He turns off at the drive-in theatre where Synergy is located and hides his car. He watches the rest on foot and see the Rockin’ Roadster go through a wall.

Inside the base everybody changes while talking about the fact that the battle of the bands was in only two days.

They all leave and Malone follows soon afterwards.

Synergy’s security system is shouting “intruder” over and over again. It’s not very effective.

Malone takes a picture of this weird yelling machine. And then he gets annoyed and smashes Synergy with a chair.

She explodes.

And that’s it for Jem. It’s too bad we won’t see her performing in the battle of the bands. Unless Jerrica decides to wear a pink wig.

[nightowlqueen]

Instead of making a giant collage I've decided to recap my daily Femslash February posting from twitter/bsky into just one post here (under a cut of course)

February 1st: Suletta Mercury x Miorine Rembran from Gundam: The Witch From Mercury

February 2nd: Falin x Marcille from Dungeon Meshi

February 3rd: Grandmother's of Yuri, Haruka x Michiru from Sailor Moon

February 4th: Yuzuki x Makoto from Skip and Loafer

February 5th: Korra x Asami from Legend of Korra

February 6th: Nomoto x Kasuga from She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki! It's an ongoing series that I HIGHLY recommend!

February 7th: Madoka x Homura and Kyouko x Sayaka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

February 8th: Venus x Jupiter x Neptune from We Know The Devil

February 9th: Meryl Stryfe x Milly Thompson from Trigun

February 10th: Catra x Adora from She-Ra and The Princesses of Power

February 11th: Kiki x Namari from Dungeon Meshi

February 12th: Aerith x Tifa from Final Fantasy 7

February 13th: Harley Quinn x Poison Ivy from DC Comics

February 14th: A very special Valentine's Day femslash with Utena x Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena

February 15th: Dame Aylin x Isobel from Baldur's Gate 3

February 16th: Luz x Amity from The Owl House

February 17th: Athena x Janey Springs from the Borderlands series

February 18th: Princess Bubblegum x Marceline The Vampire Queen

February 19th: Alphys x Undyne and Susie x Noelle from Undertale/Deltarune

February 20th: Leo x Vega, Peony x Silkrose, and Bunny x Velvet all from indie comics Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip To Love, Goodbye, Battle Princess Peony, and Vampire Blood Drive by Mira Ong Chua

February 21st: Starfire x Raven from Teen Titans (2003)

February 22nd: Lana x Mia, Franziska x Maya, Kay x Ema, Aura x Metis, and Susato x Rei from the Ace Attorney series

February 23rd: Agott x Coco from Witch Hat Atelier

February 24th: Sorawo x Toriko from Otherside Picnic

February 25th: Lyn x Florina, Lissa x Maribelle, Edelgard x Dorothea and Dorothea x Petra from the Fire Emblem series

February 26th: Lady x Trish from Devil May Cry

February 27th: Elise and her three love interests Rozenmarine, Freya, and Lebkuchen

February 28th: Any combination of Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3

February 29th: Elster x Ariane Yeong from Signalis

See you all next February!

[wildercrow]

Just Leave A Comment Fest: Winter 2023 Recap

We participated in @justleaveacommentfest this past week and had an absolute blast! Our grand comment total was, wait for it...

✨69 Comments!!!✨

For those of you who know us: Yes, Boaty was responsible for that number. Was it because she wanted to make a 69 joke or because her competitive streak kicked in and she wanted to leave the most comments out of anyone in our system? Yes.

Either way: she succeeded.

~*~*~

We commented on 58 fics across 7 fandoms! We left:

42 Dragon Age comments

9 Transformers comments (6 Earthspark, 3 Prime)

7 Baldur's Gate 3 comments

5 Yu Yu Hakusho comments

4 Voltron comments

1 Monster Hunter comment (we don't even go here but we love our friends)

and 1 original fic comment

9 system members participated (that's half our system):

Boaty came out on top with 18 comments

Nuri left 15

Matt left 12

Haunt left 10

Roan left 5

Mulch left 3

And the remaining 6 were group comments made by various combinations of the above + Naeem, Sariq, and Snow

~*~*~

We also received 3 comments this week, and we treasure them all:

This one from @warpedlegacy

This one from @rakshadow

This one from @leggywillow

Thank you all, and thank you to the friends who cheered us on during this week's reading marathon as well! We appreciate you!! <333

~*~*~

We also got a 12 bingo combo (that's ALL THE SQUARES) on this bingo card we got from here!!

See below the cut for what fics we commented on for each square! They're all good fics, so consider this our belated contribution to fic rec day.

Please heed the ratings and tags -- there's some spicy fics and heavy themes in the mix. Also note that while the majority of these fit the theme of this blog (Dragon Age and BG3), there are some other fandoms mixed in.

In the parentheses, we'll list the fandom, rating, wordcount, and main character or ship. Fandoms will be abbreviated as follows:

Dragon Age > DA

Baldur's Gate 3 > BG3

Transformers Earthspark > TFE

Transformers Prime > TFP

Voltron Legendary Defender > VLD

Yu Yu Hakusho > YYH

Monster Hunter > MH

~*~*~

Bingo Fics!!!

B1 - Angst: To Plant A Seed by SerialChillr (DA, T, <1k, Lavellan)

I1 - Fluff: That Night by Toshi_Nama (DA, T, 1k, FWB Fenris/Isabela)

N1 - Crack fic: Spaghetti Regretti by platonicharmonics (VLD, G, 2.5k, Shiro/Matt & Keith)

G1 - Major Minor Character Death: The Many Virtues of Failure by dismalzelenka (BG3, M, 11k, Tav)

O1 - Gen fic: Card Shark by SulkyValkyrie (DA, T, <1k, Sigrun & Isabela)

B2 - Under 50 kudos: A Betting Man by dismalzelenka (DA, G, <1k, Anders & Varric & Isabela)

I2 - No comments until now: Kadan and Kadath by brainwormterrarium (DA, M, <1k, Adaar/The Iron Bull/Dorian)

N2 - <100 works for the ship: What To Get the Elf Who Ha(te)s Everything by dismalzelenka (DA, G, 2k, Sigrun/Velanna & Friends)

G2 - WIP updated <1 week ago: Heart of Glass by delicatefade (DA, M, 4k, Lavellan/Lavellan)

O2 - WIP updated >6+ months ago: Laughter in the Halls by JellyDishes (DA, NR, 1k, Leliana/Josephine)

B3 - New to you fandom: Sick Day by FantasiaWandering (TFP, G, <1k, Bulkhead & Miko)

I3 - New to you ship: The Autobot-Decepticon Tango by platonicharmonics (TFE, G, 6K, Bumblebee/Breakdown/Knock Out & Megatron/Optimus & The Maltos)

N3 - Free space: need me 'til i need no more by silverwolfbunny (DA, M, 2.5k, Fenris/Isabela)

G3 - New to you author: Pajamas by kaiamira (YYH, G, 1.5k, Hiei/Kurama)

O3 - New to you trope: Guilty Pleasure by platonicharmonics (TFE, E, 15k, Megatron/Optimus/Elita One)

B4 - Time travel: Who You Used to Be (We Want to Know You) by deadlysoupy (TFE, T, 5.5k, Bee & The Terrans)

I4 - Femslash: things that die over and over by tatertwitch (DA, T, 1.5k, Sigrun/Velanna)

N4 - Canon compliant: Number Six by warpedlegacy (DA, T, <1k, Cassandra & Trevelyan & Dorian & Sera)

G4 - Original character-centric: alis volat propriis by Hanoden (DA, T, 36k, OC-centric)

O4 - Person of color main character: From Ashes by Fenrevas (DA, M, 70k, Fenris/Hawke)

B5 - Author's first work: History by DeftAlec (MH, T, 3k, OCs)

I5 - Under 1,000 words: The Gifts of Life by CelestialArcadia (DA, G, <1k, Sigrun)

N5 - Neurodivergent main character: If You Could Only Be What You Pretend To Be by platonicharmonics (TFE, M, 4k, Starscream & Megatron)

G5 - Over 100,000 words: Enlea'Ensal (series) by lalaen (DA, E, 200k, Lavellan)

O5 - Written for a fest or challenge: Let's go hand in hand, not one before the other by limeblood (VLD, E, 9k, Shiro/Matt)

We bent the rules a liiittle on Major Character Death and over 100k words because we generally just. Don't read either of those things. At all. And the point is to have fun, not to torture ourselves.

[aquila1nz]

Shortland Street's Queer Women in 2022

We finished 2021 with an unexpected kiss between Samira and Francesca, plus two ongoing f/f relationships, and then 2022 turned out to be an absolute rollercoaster.

The new relationship between Samira and Francesca was very popular and absolutely lovely - and then went downhill very fast, as Francesca pushed too hard, then left the show. Samira immediately decided Marty was the love of her life instead, then promptly left the show without him.

Dawn tried to set Louis up with cosplayer Demelza but instead she kissed Dawn. Dawn was very flattered and is never good at saying no to people, but had to tell her she had been down that path before and it was not for her. Demelza turned out to be an ex of Maeve's (pre-Saskia) that she had a bad break up with which Maeve was apparently still harbouring a lot of anger over. I'm sorry Demelza didn't hang around after that.

Rosalyn left Leanne for a man who grew flowers; Rosalyn's side of the breakup all happened off screen. Leanne didn't swear off women forever (which would have been within character) but she did sleep with newly married Damo and then got involved with an evangelical church which would have drastic repercussions down the line. She did quit the church when her closest friend there proved homophobic, in time to prevent them fleecing her of all her money, so well done Leanne. Not sure if she'll get a girlfriend again but she has evolved a bit. Still trying to run Nicole's life though. And then at the end of the year Ros showed up for a funeral.

Nicole and Maeve have had a difficult year of never quite being on the same page, struggling with intimacy and whether the other really wants them. Which culminated in Maeve suggesting a threesome with a woman who had been flirting with Nicole because she thought that might make things better with Nicole. Nicole was not pleased but later trying to initiate a threesome with a man they worked with which Maeve said yes to but then freaked out about, and shortly after that Nicole decided their relationship had become too hard and asked Maeve to leave. Maeve did not take this well, got drunk a bunch and kissed Harper once. And then someone from Brightshine church killed Wilder, which briefly brought them back together in their grief, the year ended with them loosely together, Nicole obviously not happy about it, and Nicole was last seen in the IV as it burned down. Cliffhanger! On the one hand that's three f/f couples that have broken up on Shortland Street this year. On the other, that's a soap record, because no other soap has three unrelated (or overrelated) wlw couples to break up.

Saskia also returned for one episode for Wilder's funeral (not surprising - Amanda Tito had been doing some directing - including directing the episode where Nicole and Maeve first broke up).

Young Billy is still not quite up to full dialogue scenes, but has become more vocal with the addition of Marley, and there was a nice storyline where Marley wanted to wear a blue Frozen dress for Halloween to match Billy's princess dress. After Marley came home from school angry at being laughed at for wearing it to the school Halloween Drew also dressed in a dress to go trick or treating, leading to drama with a friend's parent who had unnecessary opinions. And Billy ended the year with a full sentence of dialogue!

In other news in November new doctor Gia Te Arakura was introduced when Jack employed her as a locum. Gia was avoiding meeting TK who had recently found out that the older child he was estranged from was dead, and it quickly became clear that Gia was that child, who had transitioned. And had also become a fully fledged doctor in the five years since she last appeared on the show as a teenager focused on rowing - we could solve the country's health worker shortage if we used Shortland Street's sped up training methods! Gia is played by trans actress Awa Puna.

So yes, a year with lots of ups and downs for the fans. Shortland Street is back from hiatus on Monday, it'll be interesting to see where they go this year.

[rootingfordorks]

i always meant to talk about reading on here too, so here's some of that.

2023 Reading Recaps

AO3

read 263 fics (according to BotHermione)

bookmarked 61

got super invested in Ted Lasso Trent Crimm

top pairings: Ted/Trent (and sometimes a third), Roy/Jamie/Keeley, I'm sure I read some check please! fic too so Zimbits

longfic and romance had my heart (any rating tbh), and explicit one-shots came in a close second

tbh I can't muster the energy to go thru and grab links for faves but off the dome:

"Number Four Was Always You"

"Class Outside"

"Here Comes the Sun"

"Bizarre Love Triangle"

maybe I should do a fic rec post soon? hm.

okay, Published Books

99 books read (my goal was 52 so I'm delighted by this!)

that's apparently 34,658 pages (according to story graph)

not many audiobooks

I read the Percy Jackson series for the first time

A Lot of Romance & Fantasy

About half of those books were queer

Some 5⭐ reads:

The Golden Enclaves

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Camp Damascus

Promises Stronger than Darkness

The World We Make

Reading goals this year:

*Read 100 books

*Finish the Book Riot Read Harder challenge, and the Beat the Backlist challenge

*Write more reviews!

*Read and review more ARCs

*Keep track of fave fanfic some way that makes sense to me

*Read more femslash

[mcytblrsource]

MONTHLY MCYTBLR RECAP: SEPTEMBER 2024

CHECK PERIODICALLY FOR UPDATES!

REBLOGS ARE ENCOURAGED!

EVENTS:

Jun 1-Sep 30: MCYT Omegaverse Month (18+) hosted by @mcyt-month-of-omegaverse

Aug 4-Sep 21: QSMP Month(s) hosted by @qsmp-month

Sep 1-30: Your Cubito, Your Culture hosted by @yourcubitoyourculture

Sep 1-Sep 30: Sausage September hosted by @rhapsoddity

Sep 16: Dream SMP Sixteenth Day Event: Places Month hosted by @sixteenth-day-event

ZINES & MAPS:

Sep 7: The Hermitcraft Season 9 Zine releases @hermitseasonzine

Sep 14: The Hermit Arcana releases @the-hermit-arcana

Sep 15: The QSMP Story - Animation Collab releases

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR OCTOBER:

Sep 22-Oct 5: MCYT Non-POV hosted by @mcyt-nonpovs

Oct 1-Oct 31: ImpSkizzTober hosted by @iridium-bookandquill

Oct 1-Oct 31: [There are no real deadlines] QSMP Halloween Fanworks Event hosted by @atthebell

Oct 1-Oct 31: GTWScartober2024 hosted by @dailygtwscar

Oct 1-Oct 31: Rats SMPtober hosted by @avyene

Oct 1-Oct 31: Hermitober hosted by @collierose1

Oct 1-Oct 31: MCYT Femslash: Vampires vs Werewolves hosted by @mcyt-femslash

Oct 1-Oct 31: Pisstober/DeathFamtober hosted by @pepper-mintzyy

Oct 6-Oct 12: MCYT Aro Week hosted by @mcyt-aro-week

Oct 6-Nov 2: Weekly Hermitober + Life Series hosted by @ink-ghoul

Oct 13-Oct 22: 7 Holy Nights of Jeremy (Smallishbeans Week) hosted by @risibledeer

Oct 16: Sixteenth Day Event: Limbo Month hosted by @sixteenth-day-event

Oct 20-26: Spiderbit/Guapduo Fluff or Fright hosted by @atthebell

Oct 21-27: Scarian Autumn Smooch Fest hosted by @scarian-smooch-fest

Oct 25-31: HideDuo Trick or Treat Week hosted by @iridescentpull

Oct 25-31: fWhimmy Week hosted by @fwhimmy-week

Oct 27-31: Team Ranchers Week hosted by @teamranchersweek

Oct 31-Nov 30: DoubleHearted-vember hosted by @rebelrenee36

Dec 1-7: QPR Kersuma Week hosted by @qpr-kersuma-week

OPEN APPLICATIONS/SIGN UPS:

MCYT Couture Zine: @mcyt-couture-zine close Oct 7

Grian Zine: @hermitszine close Oct 12

Technoblade Cookbook - RECIPE SUBMISSION: @technobladecookbook close Oct 14

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Rivals Duo Holiday Gift Exchange: @rivalsduogiftexchange close Oct 15

The Snow Castle: A Q!Baghera Zine: @bagherasnowcastle-zine close Oct 21

ESMP Gift Exchange: @esmp-gift-exchange close Oct 26

C!Dapduo Zine: @cdapduozine Oct 10-Oct 30

InTheLittleZine - MODERATORS: @inthelittlezine Oct 12-Oct 27

MCYTblr Escape Room: @mcytblrescape close Nov 31

Chronicles: A QSMP Egg Zine - TRANSLATORS : @qsmpzine closing undetermined

Lay all you love on me - Desert Duo MAP: @oinkable close when all parts claimed

MCYT RPF Kink Meme - @mcytrpfkinkmeme open until collection reaches 100 works

Colourful Crafters Colouring Book: @colourfulcrafterscolouringbook closing undetermined

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MCYT Advent 2024: @mcytadventevent Oct 20-27

Technoblade Cookbook - ARTISTS AND WRITERS: @technobladecookbook Oct 20-31

SMPSona Gift Exchange: @smpsona-gift-exchange Oct 20-Nov 20

MCYTBLR Holiday Exchange: @mcytblrholidayexchange Nov 4-Nov 17

[lacroixblood]

Just a quick recap of some of my fav drawings from this year

[timepetalscollective]

fanworks recap: 1.30 - 4.19

Thank you all who kept tagging us in your lovely works while we’ve been a bit absent. Hold on to your jumpseat, we got a bunch for ya :)  If we missed a fic/edit/art let us know so we can fix and add it! Have fun! 

Classic Doctors x Rose:

In a Heartbeat part 1 (Eight x Rose) by @one-novelist-in-the-tardis

Untitled One x Rose fic by @asarahworld-writes

Nine x Rose: 

Cabin Fever by @badwolfinthetxrdis

Untitled fic by @asarahworld-writes

Love Always, the Doctor parts: 5, 6, 7, epilogue by @fleurdeneuf & @chiaroscuroverse

Down to Earth parts: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 by @blueyesandleatherjacket

Through Dark and Light by @blueyesandleatherjacket

Diving in Together by @blueboxesandtrafficcones

Ten x Rose:

Love Snap by @thegeekywhovian

The Doctor, the Divine, and the Dungeon parts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 by @lizann5869

Home, Commute, Be My Jack by @khaelisfics

Getting Through part 17; Once We’re Through prologue; Across the Universe parts: 1, 6, 13, [whole fic] by @khaelisfics

Filters by @hanluvr

Tentoo x Rose:

Everything I’ll Ever Need, A Rendevous en Paris by @blueboxesandtrafficcones

Intimacy by @wordsintimeandspace

The Doctor’s Last Song by @hazelcmist

You + Me = ? parts: 1, 2, 3 by @badxwolfxrising

Eleven x Rose:

Shenanigans by @lizann5869

Twelve x Rose: 

Savages by @blueboxesandtrafficcones

Thirteen x Rose: 

Edit by @thirteenxrose

Untitled fic by @megabadbunny

Manicures are Gay by @homeisabluebox

Broadchurch, Teninch Fic, Torchwood, other DW:

If You Love Something, Spilling the Beans, What the Heart Wants, Quilting a Family, The Beginning in the End (Hardy x Miller) by @blueboxesandtrafficcones

Stay With Me (Hardy x Rose) by @blueboxesandtrafficcones

Untitled Tosh fic by @asarahworld-writes

Martha Jones moodboard by @natural--blues

Bill Potts moodboard by @natural--blues

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, February 3rd

Darla: The Master has grown past the curse of human features. Angelus: I'm not gonna get a bat-nose like that, huh? Am I?

~~Darla~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

His Proper Place by MadeInGold (Angel/Darla, E)

In My Dreams (You Should See The Things We Do) by Anonymous (Buffy/Faith, G)

Please Be Gentle by AmmoniteSkin (AmmoniteFlesh) (Darla/Drusilla, M)

Am I Sexual? by ThatShipper13 (Buffy/Faith, M)

Night Light by ami_ven (Willow, G)

AITA For Lying to My Friend And Causing Her To Kill Her Boyfriend? by ineffablecabbage (Xander, M)

Understanding by Anonymous (Cordelia/Faith, T)

Бабочка by B_E_S (Buffy/Angel, T, in Russian)

Femslash February 2 - 'Please Be Gentle' by AmmoniteFlesh (Darla/Drusilla, M)

Graveyard by Lilacsandorangeblossoms (Buffy/Spike, G)

Unwrap me by the fireplace by Lilacsandorangeblossoms (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Raven: Chapter 1 by sparrow2000 (Vamp!Xander & Spike, G)

Forgiveness Doesn't Come Easy, Chapter 20 by slaymesoftly (Buffy/Spike, R)

Shadow Over Hellmouth, Chapter 103 by Tuxedo_Mark (Ensemble, E)

They Know Exactly What We're Here For, Chapter 6 by MadeInGold (Angel/Riley/Spike, E)

Sisters, the adventures of Sam and Buffy Carter - Year 1, Chapter 16 by FPBarbieri (Buffy, Stargate crossover, G)

Let me rest in peace, Chapter 11 (complete!) by cauliflower666 (Spike/OC, E)

Forgiveness Doesn't Come Easy, Chapter 20 by slaymesoftly (Buffy/Spike, R)

Afterburn, Chapter 10 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Beg, Chapter 2 by Maxineeden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Ring Talks, Chapter 36 by myrabeth (Buffy/Spike, 13+)

Rules of Engagement, Chapter 9 by all choseny (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Love Lives Here, Chapter 17 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: The Power Within by veronyxk84 (Darla, Drusilla, Anya, Willow, Buffy, Harmony, worksafe)

Artwork: they went to in-n-out by genericaces (Lorne, Fred, Cordelia, Gunn, Wesley, Angel, worksafe)

Artwork: Spike in Hush by notbraveenoughforpolitics (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy characters as My Little Ponies by wiltinn (worksafe)

Playlist: The Mixtape Chronicles, Chapter 4 by Julikobold

Fanvid: Dawn Summers - All American Bitch (BTVS) by Scarlet Speedster

Fanvid: Buffy || Hold Me While You Wait [Grief] by Lucy Whiskers

Fanvid: buffy and one tree hill edit by Buffy the vamire slayer fan

Fanvid: I'm in love with a monster by Obx Queen (Angelus)

Fanvid: Buffy Summers - All I Wanna Do by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: Buffy and Angel - It Ain't Easy by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Greatest Show by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: Buffy and Angel - I Miss You by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike - Les Rois du Monde by Nina Mironovitch

Video: “This is Hell” Monologue from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Six Episode Three Acting Casting Reel by Bobby Aiello

[Reviews & Recaps]

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story releases all episodes today - thoughts? continued by Stoney

by

Video: Flooded-Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

Video: The Controversial Episode of Angel that never was! by Screen Rant

Podcast: 1.5 Never Kill a Boy On the First Date by Once More: A Rewatch Podcast

[Recs & Search]

Fic search: Spike/Willow-centric with Angel/Tara by Kaden Pekarovich

Vid rec: Buffy & Angel / You get me by darkswordfish7x recced by bisexualblckcanary

Search: Buffy analysis videos on YouTube by justanother1990sdude

[Fandom Discussions]

[Xander in Halloween] by irkallanprince

buffy’s friends are honestly so rude to her during the slayerfest episode by lightsaroundyourvanity

Analyzing Anya & Xander’s Duet by melinoephilia

Angel would at first want Buffy to try and mend the bridge with her dad if at all possible by oveliagirlhaditright

Do people really think Buffy saying “when you kiss me I want to die” to Angel meant she wanted to become a vampire?? by targaryenvampireslayer

In season 5 when Spike is watching Dawson’s Creek and says, “Oh, Pacey you idiot can’t you tell she doesn’t love you?” by kat--writes

Initial Reaction to Buffy continued by multiple posters

So Bored By the Joss Whedon Disclaimer by Priceless

30 Day Challenge: BtVS vs AtS - Best season finales by multiple posters

Amazing ending [Not Fade Away] by SerranoStreamer

Cordelia being nasty to Darla by BlueisGreen2Some

Cangel Forever by Sweet-Siren

Story purposes - Why did Wesley go to Faith for help and not Buffy or Willow? by jdpm1991

Anything in Angel You Think Could've Been Utilized More? by Big-Restaurant-2766

People who read the comics and didn't hate it, do you feel like it's an extension of the show? by SafiraAshai

As a Midwesterner, the snow kills me every time by koakoba

The ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Storyline That Ruined a Great Season by panbear69

Something I just noticed. Season 5 episode 1 & EP 22 connection (Buffy vs Drac/The Gift) by kipcarson37

Previously on Buffy... by not_firewood_yet

Why do you love BTVS? by smilbs1996

Fool for love: How did buffy even lose? by Tsole96

What exactly was the advanced 2.0 slayer training? by Tsole96

Was The First telling Dawn the truth? by Sad_Abbreviations318

Two ways to be become a vamp? by AntiTas

Why is Angel watching Buffy in season 4? by Chris55730

Were you surprised by the Heaven reveal in S6? by AllHailMyFace

Favorite seasonal music scores by Crosisx2

Was The First's limitation of only being able to appear as dead people a change in season 7 by theredacer

The US government be like: by Eagles56

ASH comments on an IYKYK moment 💔 [The Body] by Dependent_Room_2922

Jenny translates Lord's Prayer by your_kind_doctor

Backup has arrived [Dirty Girls] by SuperSaiyanMoon

Whats your favorite Buffy haircut and least favorite? by bevgron

This is one of my favourite Bangel scenes [Angel biting Buffy] by Sweet-Siren

I watched “the body” at night by goodandpure

What's Your Best Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and/or Angel Relationship or Dynamic? by Big-Restaurant-2766

Does City Of encompasses what Angel the series is like? by sadhungryandvirgin

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