#guys we can resurrect this fandom from the dead. together.

[iwontknock]

Your appearance has inspired me. I see it as the Lodger in the form of a phoenix bird. You resurrected him!

(I'm sorry about that. (´◦ω◦`))

AAAAA!! waking up to this made me SO HAPPY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE AMAZING ART!! The colors are so beautiful,,

I got a little carried away by your amazing concept, you inspired me!!

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lost Boys

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam

Summary: After Jonathan Lane Kent wipes himself from existence by canceling his own timeline, he finds himself stuck in the afterlife where he meets Jason Todd. He still wonders about the life un-lived on Earth, and how his parents would've felt about him.

Jason Todd, who is making the most of being dead, struggles with the reality of what he's left behind. He has one wish and one wish only: to send his family one final message.

Chapters: 6/?

Characters: Jonathan Lane Kent (Laney), Jason Todd, Catherine Todd, Boston Brand, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, John Constantine, Raven, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

Relationships: Platonic JayLaney

Additional Tags: Angst, Platonic Relationships, Magical Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Queerplatonic Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, POV Multiple

Chapter Six: Happy Trails (Jason's POV)

After my resurrection, I started seeing things and hearing voices, but they weren't talking to me. They were talking about me. After my dip in the pit, I knew I was stuck with them. Sometimes in the daytime, I would lie awake and listen to them talk. The spooky one would come and go, but the one in the weird Superman costume never left my side. Sometimes I felt like I knew him from somewhere. Sometimes he would sing songs to me when we were alone or talk as if he didn't know I could hear him. I wanted to give in and speak to him most times, but I was afraid that I'd lose my mind completely if I did.

I didn't realize how much I would need him until I found out about Tim Drake. "You all right?" Talia asked. Her voice was clear, calm, and tinted with a hint of concern.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be all right?" I lied. Once she was gone, I could hear the faintest whisper from my imaginary friend. I started to cry as I continued to try to ignore him.

"Jason, I'm so sorry," he said loud enough for me to hear. I looked away from the wall and directly at him. "Jason? You can see me?"

"What do you want from me?" I asked in tears. I finally succumbed to it. It didn't matter to me anymore if I was losing it or not. I just wanted to talk to somebody.

"Jason, it's me. Have you been ignoring me this whole time?" he asked. I nodded.

"I don't know who you are or if you're real. I just—. Can you sit down?" I asked. He nodded and sat at the table. I pulled myself together and sat back down. "Who are you?"

"Jason, it's me," he pleaded with me, "It's Laney. We're best friends. Why don't you—? Jason, don't you remember me?"

I shook my head and laughed. "No... I don't know who you are because you aren't real. You're not. This is just my brain damage and emotional trauma manifesting itself," I rationalized. Laney frowned. I pushed a hand through my hair and took a few nauseated breaths.

"This isn't who you are, Jason. We used to talk about it all the time... You said you wanted to tell Bruce you loved him, that he was a father to you. I know you're hurt, but has that changed?" Laney asked. I didn't answer him. "You don't believe me, do you? How can I prove it to you?"

"Prove what to me? I don't even understand what you're—."

"I'm a ghost. We were friends in heaven or the afterlife or whatever it was... And you disappeared, but Boston and I—. We uh—. I don't exist anymore, but you can do everything that I can't. You have a second chance, and Catherine wanted that for you," Laney whispered, "Jason..."

I started feeling panicked when he mentioned Ma, but I pushed the feelings back and went to bed. He stayed with me even after our conversation. When I woke up, Laney was still there, and his friend was back. "I'm not leaving him... Boston, I promised myself I would never leave him. So you can give me the address of the nearest person who can see ghosts, or you can come with us and help me prove that we're not just hallucinations," Laney snapped. I lay still and listened.

"The closest person I know isn't the kind of guy you ask for help. He's more trouble than he's worth—."

"Who is he, and where is he? Boston," Laney pleaded angrily through his clenched teeth.

"If he can prove that you two are real, I'm game... Actually, matter-of-fact, if you two are real, I'll do whatever the hell you want me to," I replied. Laney floated above the ground in a seated position, biting his nails. "Scout's honor."

"Jason, you were never a scout," Laney replied, "If we can prove that we're real, I want you to do just as we planned. Talk to our families."

I nodded, and Boston shook his head. "Jason, kid, you don't wanna go on and learn the hard way. Why can't you just take our word for it?" Boston asked. "Jay..."

I looked at Laney, and he softened up. "Jason, if you can't remember me, then you can't believe what I mean when I say that I know you in ways that you don't even know yourself anymore... And you won't be able to see that I just want to help you."

I wondered if he loved me. The way he spoke to me was like nothing I'd ever heard. I sometimes thought my mind made him up for comfort. Maybe he was real, and he was trying to protect me. I knew one thing for sure, everything he said was what I wanted to hear. I think that's what scared me the most. If he wasn't real, all I was doing was second-guessing myself.

They continued to argue back and forth, and I took my shower and got dressed before cutting out. Laney followed closely behind me. "Two choices. San Francisco, but you run the risk of seeing your brother or Louisiana meet this Constantine guy, and I hear he's more trouble than he's worth," Laney offered. Both choices sounded terrible, but I think he knew I'd pick anything over the idea of running into Dick. "Jason, I know you don't wanna risk seeing Dick if he's in San Francisco, but—."

"But nothing. I'm not risking everything I have planned. What happens if you're just my mind's way of sabotaging me?" I asked. He looked over my shoulder and waited for me to make eye contact.

"I don't want to sabotage you... I'd never do that. Jason, I know you're scared of what he'll say or think or do... But, just try to think. If this Constantine guy is as unpredictable as Boston says, don't you think you'd be safer if—."

I stopped just as I realized how crazy I must've seemed, talking to thin air. "Listen, on the off chance that you're real. Cool, great, good. But, on the chances that you're just a pretty little kindhearted and nurturing hallucination, my mind made up to change me back into the sweet boy you're saying I used to be... I don't wanna take any chances on screwing this up," I mumbled.

"You weren't always sweet. You were just as stubborn dead as you are alive. Either way, I promised your mom I'd find you, and I did. You're alive. I can't take that away from you, but I can look out for you," Laney whispered, "You don't have to talk to me out here. I know what it looks like. Just know when you find out that I'm not a hallucination and that there is actually someone on this planet that would move heaven and hell for you... I won't rub it in."

Secretly, I kind of hoped he was telling the truth. I needed him. Like it or not, I didn't know how I'd be able to bear the loneliness without him. So that was it. I was on my way to Louisiana to see a man about a ghost.

[bluebellthesponge]

Hey friend! I am Rae and I followed you because this stupid troll movie resurrected my ancient NSYNC obsession and you post about them some. But, I know a lot of younger people aren't comfortable palling around with much older people, and I am literally 20 years your senior, lol. So I just wanted to reach out and say hi, but also let you know if you'd rather I not follow/interact that's totally fine too, I won't be hurt or anything.

In payment for this awkward af message, I offer you "Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac and invite you to imagine Chris singing it. :)

hey there!!! welcome to my blog, glad you followed me because of my nsync posting teheheh! and you're good! feel free to stay following my blog i am totally fine with really any people older than me following me :)) i am glad you find enjoyment with what i post! :D

happy to hear your nsync interest was reignited with the trolls movie, makes me wonder if the movie will bring back old fans and bring in new ones! which i mean i am sure it will, it does feature nsync songs (i think? i don't know how many actually, all i know is better place and i want you back for trailers lmao) so it's cool and exciting to probably see some new people around considering at least nsync tumblr is pretty much dead lol

but it's cool to probably have a movie introduce people to nsync considering i say after nsync broke up??? (question marks because the breakup date confuses me so much) i say jt's songs have been more of the standard/what people are use to rather than nsync songs which is natural lol, music moves on and nsync obvs hasn't made a new album since 2001

because personally for me, i was literally born after nsync technically died, i was more used to it just being justin and that nsync was more of a fun fact on his behalf lmao. i only knew bye bye bye, it's gonna be me and merry christmas, happy holidays and probably pop because of jimmy neutron but that was it

it wasn't until the beginning of this year that my sisters and i started watching boyband music videos on youtube because when my one older sister was younger, radio disney i guess played pop and she hated that song when she was younger, so when she saw the music video we watched it,,,and kept on watching it the next couple of weeks and then their other music videos and at first, like i am with a lot of things i realize i might start getting interested in, i was in denial being like "oh i am NOT catching myself getting into some dead 1990s/2000s boyband with fucking justin timberlake in it like nuh uh" but then oh no!!! i realize i started watching their performances by myself and by spring/summer i already am familiar with all their names and searching for "nsync as vines" videos that i know i am already too deep in

and also on the last day of school back in june, to celebrate i guess, my sisters ordered pizza for us since our mom was out of the house and we watched the lou boyband con documentary and soon we want to watch the lance and joey movie together lol

ok sorry for explaining my nsync interest origin story i just felt like it hahah. i just have a lot of thoughts on nsync in general that i can make a whole ass video essay series about them but that's a later idea to execute

personally with me on any fandoms i usually am more shy i guess lol. i am just scared to interact with others in general because i am a socially anxious guy idk dsfjlkdslkf, that's why i follow like 84 blogs dfsljdsfkdsf and from what i seen a lot of the nsync fandom are people in their 30s which is fine! that's cool considering they did grow up in that era to experience the boyband phenomena like glad they are still enjoying something they liked 20+ years ago unlike me who never grew up with that and yeah boybands like one direction and big time rush existed, but a boyband craze like nsync i never was there to experience hahaha

considering the one direction fandom still seems to be going strong in some sense, i am not surprised nsync has been as well (at least on other platforms but i don't fuck with instagram/tiktok fandoms). but anyways personally for me i feel awkward for the most part being in the nsync fandom, the fans i have met are generally very nice (like you!) but i still feel a bit odd for not being a millennial who grew up with them but instead a chronically online gen z teen who found them really because my older sister in the late '00s hated a song of theirs lol

but anyways once again i am saur sorry for that long ass answer i just have a lot of thoughts about this stupid ass band, but once again feel free to stay! you're welcomed here :D thank you so much!

and ooooh i will listen to the song soon and see hehehe! after school or so i'll do it ljdsflkdsf thanks :)

*edit: how i also knew of the other members at first was also probably silly. i probably heard of chris because he voiced chip skylark on the fairly odd parents, lance was several timez on gravity falls, and joey and jc i was not 100% of them at first/didn't have other media i could attach them to at first when i wasn't sure of their names lolll. i knew joey was on hannah montana but i never watched that show and he was on big fat greek wedding which my mom liked, but with jc literally that man fell off the face of the earth after nsync (i know that's not 100% true, but you get what i mean dsflkjdslk)

also another unnecessary thought but i kind of lowkey feel well not weird but interesting that nsync are technically around my parents' ages (at least more so around chris, jc, and joey's considering chris is only a couple months older than my mom) and it's like "huh these guys could technically be my parents...and i am just giggling and kicking my feet watching these fucking losers dance for my entertainment"

once again thank you and have a nice day!

[died-but-not-dead-propaganda]

Kiriya Kujo Propaganda

He's a coroner that ended up helping fight a video game virus. He dies because he was too stubborn to ask for help before attempting to get info out of an immortal zombie. He dies for half the show (But his research that everyone finds is very important) but comes back as one of the monsters created by the video game virus working as an evil henchmen for the aforementioned zombie. But wow! He's not evil and becomes good again and may or may not have a crush on the cinnamon roll main character.

Look. Kiriya died on the Christmas episode (episode 12 for those wondering); he died while trying to get Kuroto, in the rain, and pratically in Emu's (the main rider) arms. HE got brought back initially as an Evil Person but that was a folly and yeah :) when he got brought back though, it was as a Bugster Virus so he had some video game type shit in his body. The V-cinema special had him revert back to a human tho.

He's the first character to die! They have him die in the main character's arms in the rain, during the christmas episode! 10 minutes ago the MC was dancing around dressed up as Santa and now he's crying while Kiriya is whispering his last words and the bad guy is being evil and it's all very sad.

Fast forward 20ish episodes and a lot has happened, a new bad guy shows up and says he can resurrect the dead and to prove it he brings Kiriya back! But now Kiriya is on his side! It breaks poor Emu's (The MC) heart! Ultimately it turns out to be a ploy to try and take down the bad guy and he switches back and he and Emu have a teary heart felt reunion!

So he died and got a Game Over (actual term used) but then he later got revived as a Bugster, which is usually like a sentient video game npc. He works for the bad guy and gets a black jacket instead of his usual red jacket so you know something's wrong, and when the hero tries to remove what he thinks is a brainwashing program that made Kiriya evil, Kiriya just straight up SLAPS HIM ONTO THE GROUND and went "No, I'm just evil now." Except he wasn't ACTUALLY evil and was just siding with the villain to get some important stuff that the heroes need and he was actually a good guy this whole time and gets a new white jacket for it and he kills the guy who killed him in the first place like 80 times to help save the world but also he deserves it. Also he can turn into a bike.

Episode 12  was a normal christmas ep with Emu helping a child who hates christmas because his parents are bakers and that's a real busy period for them. Then there's like 10 minutes left and Kuroto debuts the Dangerous Zombie suit and kills Kiriya to keep him from spilling the secret of the Bugster Virus. He dies in Emu's arms while only the sound of the torrential rain is audible instead of the typical ending song.

Was killed as a human and then brought back as a Bugster. He eventually died as a Bugster, but by that time his human body was able to be restored. So, he's currently a human who died 2x but is now alive.

It's December 25th, 2016.  Ex-aid has just reached the point in the show where Emu has started to trust Kiriya, realising that he wasn't the traitor he thought he was and that the true enemy is the man he trusted most.  You're so excited for the Christmas episode to see your favourite characters finally working together against the villain.  The first half of the episode is all Christmas with santa costumes and singing.  Then we cut to Kiriya arranging to meet the main villain in a warehouse, alone.  Ten minutes later, he's dying in Emu's arms.  You are 5 years old and you are going to kill the villain yourself.  His death leaves Emu devastated, setting him on the path of revenge.  The villain taunts him, presenting Kiriya's corpse and weapons like a trophy.  Then a third of the season later, Kiriya comes back.  The villain has resurrected him as one of his subordinates, and it's like he barely knows Emu.

This man died so hard his actor got flowers but the fandom loved him so much he came back anyways. He was my first love in Rider and his death is a key point in the series but so is his revival. I love him so much

[rearranged-fanfic]

I was literally thinking about you the other day and now there’s an update it must be fate 😩 I joke but I saw the other fandoms your thinking of doing (gonna be totally honest I personally am not a part of any of them but do your thing it’s totally cool) except maybe final fantasy, I haven’t thought or played that for so long though omg I think you’ve just unlocked some hidden memories for me, but now I’m just totally curious what other fandoms your a part of (whether you’d want to write for them or not doesn’t matter lol) because I myself am a part of some small fandoms some very dead fandoms and this is the first in a very long time I’ve seen someone say final fantasy so, yeah basically the gist of this is what are your fandoms I would like to bond please I’m lonely and starved 😔😔

But if you don’t want to reply to this that’s totally cool too I know I’m rambling it’s very late lol

~I’m from out of nowhere you never saw me coming anon

Hello, Anon! This response is very, very late. And that's on me; I'm so, so sorry 😭

I can use this ask to give all of you guys a little info on me, though! I've been asked a few times what I did before AO3/how long I've been writing. And I don't know if I've given an in-depth answer.

If you want to see my list of fandoms, just scroll to after the cut.

I've been extensively involved with fandom ever since I was pretty young. Lol. I got a laptop (with restricted access, of course) when I was about 11 and never looked back. I started writing headcanons on DeviantArt and Quizilla in, like, 2006. But I didn't really know what fanfiction was. So, I was essentially unknowingly making drabbles for years until I discovered fanfiction proper.

I think the first fanfiction I ever read was for Danny Phantom? Or Avatar: The Last Airbender? Something Nickelodeon. Lol.

But I've always been a very, very active member of fandom. I tend to hyper-fixate because of ADHD, and I use fanfiction/fanart as a way to continue exploring whatever my current obsession is, even after I've ravenously consumed all the official media of it. I've done everything from reading and writing to moderating fandom communities on LiveJournal to liaising with artists and managing commissions on DeviantArt.

Though, sadly, most of those old accounts that I used to have are dead. Very dead. Unable to be resurrected.

I started writing officially (as in more than small blurbs) on a little-known platform called Fanfiction.net. A very close family friend, and somebody that I'd grown up with wanted to become co-authors. They did all the idea work, planning, character creation, outlining and posting. I just wrote what they wanted.

This partnership lasted for a few years, but it became kind of tense after a bit. I wanted to do my own thing, and they wanted to stop doing something that they considered childish to take over the family business. We dissolved our partnership and most of the fanfictions that we wrote together were deleted.

They agreed to let me keep using the account for my own works, though.

That account has 3 stories left: a one-shot for Devil May Cry, an unfinished Naruto AU, and an abandoned Resident Evil 2 multi-chapter - all that I wrote completely by myself. But my old partner deleted the email associated with the account. So, I lost access to the whole thing.

Here is the account.

Needless to say, the whole experience killed my love of writing for a few years.

So, I just became a reader. And I did a few other fandom things behind the scenes. But I wasn't as active in participating as I had once been.

Until my husband encouraged me to start posting what I wrote again. As a 27-year-old woman. Lol. And I forgot how much I genuinely enjoyed writing and interacting.

Below is my list of fandoms. I haven't written for all of these, but I've been involved in all of them in some way or another - whether that's hosting an RP server, moderating a community or forum, compiling/commissioning fanart, cosplaying, manning booths at conventions, or simply enjoying them in the comfort of my own home.

This isn't all of them; I'll probably add more when I think of them. Also, in no particular order. Very disorganized. Oops.

Video Games

Left 4 Dead (All) Devil May Cry (4 & 5) Far Cry (4 & 5, Primal) Final Fantasy (7 Remakes, 10, 12, 13 Trilogy, 15, & 16) Fable (2 & 3) Elder Scrolls (3, 4 & 5) Dragon Age (1, 2, & 3) Red Dead Redemption (1 & 2) Love and Deepspace Batman Arkham

Anime, Manga, Donghua, Manhua, Manhwa, Light Novels

Naruto InuYasha Attack on Titan My Hero Academia Jujutsu Kaisen Baccano! Mushi-Shi Apothecary Diaries Heaven Official's Blessing How Dare you! Another Dusk Maiden of Amnesia Tokyo Ghoul Killing Stalking Hellsing Chainsaw Man Solo Leveling Noragami Demon Slayer Fullmetal Alchemist

Western Animation

Avatar (TLA & TLOK) Danny Phantom Code Lyoko Kim Possible Ben 10 Batman (TAS, Movies, & Beyond) Teen Titans Helluva Boss Futurama Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Live-Action Shows

Bones Lucifer Supernatural House Medium Phil of the Future Wizards of Waverly Place Penny Dreadful Doctor Who

Movies

🤷🏻‍♀️Can't think of any ATM; No brain power. Oops.

Books

Harry Potter (But seriously fuck JK Rowling; I only buy stuff secondhand and pirate the movies because I'm NOT funding her anti-trans agenda) The Forbidden Game Peter Pan Goosebumps The Chronicles of Narnia The Binding of the Blade Series The Farsala Trilogy Tunnels Septimus Heap Level Thumps Larklight Trilogy Stravaganza Series

[chirpingchorus]

EPISODE 2: IN WHICH I REALLY BEGIN TO QUESTION MYSELF AND ALSO THIS FANDOM

(an unfortunate case of haterism follows. either 90% of fma fans watched a completely different version of this show or 90% of them have lied on the internet for funsies.)

Ah, the train. A staple of FMA.

Ed seems to have a bit more faith this time that the Philosopher's Stone is real and at Liore.

Okay, the Xerxes lore. Let's hear it.

"Reinforces alchemy"...

Little Ed in a wheelchair! I don't think we ever see that in 03. Also, sheep in Resembool. Don't remember those, either.

Why is she so shocked that that's alchemy? Huh?

Little Al looks different here and I'm uncomfortable.

Ed's a lot more upfront about saying they learned alchemy specifically because their mom liked it.

Trisha passed away from an epidemic specifically here.

Very small difference, I know, but in 03, Ed stands and looks down while Al sits and cries during the funeral. A few hours later, they're in the same positions, but Al has stopped crying. Here, they're both sitting together. Not sure what to think of that, but I liked seeing the differences in their reactions.

"We'll keep it between us." And what, Ed? Just keep her in the house and not let anyone find out you've resurrected her? That actually sounds like a really fun story. Antithesis to hiding a dead body-type hijinks. This is the most valuable insight I've gleaned from this show so far.

Why is Ed so mean to Winry?!

I, for one, don't think they would've left the grave for dinner.

Ed being a little jerk again.

"Awesome"? やった? That's all we get? The bloopers have spoiled me.

I could've sworn he made this point about stew in some much later episode in 03.

Why is Ed narrating this, anyway? It's not like he's explaining this to anyone, like Al was to Rose in 03.

Nice music. Also, wow, we actually see Izumi!

Glad they kept Al not saying any words before the transmutation.

This scene is just not scary at all. Okay, the last shot once the hands got Al's face was creepy, but other than that...

Oh, you! Already!?! All is one and all is one is this guy's thing!?!

I'm going to be so real right now. I don't see why anyone would be compelled to keep watching this show. I know most people are, and countless people say it's the best anime ever, but I'm not attached to this version of the characters at all yet. And this version of the failed transmutation is just not that compelling to me, despite showing me more unknown elements than the other one did.

Hm, asking to see the Truth again. Interesting. This music is kind of ridiculous now, not suiting the mood. Where's my blood?

The music is a bit better now, but not super suiting of this scene.

Says they can take his heart. Nice. Usually love this VA, but something about the acting here is just a bit too much.

THAT ENGLISH VOICE. I CAN'T. Will anything in this show ever make me laugh more?

I like that we're seeing different sides of Hughes already.

Imagine seeing a kid with limbs torn off in a wheelchair and thinking, "Oh, yeah, time to guilt-trip him." I mean, whatever works to coerce him into joining the military...

I think Pinako could have much better reasons to be against alchemy, but whatever.

This Winry/Riza interaction already?

Ed looks so completely miserable in these shots. Rare Brotherhood W. Wonder what he's thinking as Mustang spews all this.

Whether or not they come is not, in fact, up to them. Not Mustang saying refusing to join would be ending their lives in despair!

How did Riza become a soldier because of (presumably) Mustang? I can imagine some reasons. Hm... I think she also says this in 03, I don't remember.

At least the music is ominous. This makes me want to hope/pretend for now that Brotherhood knows joining the military wasn't the Best And Most Morally Justifiable Path for the Elrics.

I do like the portrayal of Ed's recovery better here, I have to say.

Why does Ed just immediately know he can transmute without a circle? Oh, the Truth. He doesn't tell Al about it.

Uncute?? Why is Ed so much meaner here?

Why do people who view Brotherhood first like Mustang more? I'm still not over that. He just intimidated a newly disabled eleven-year-old. He obviously coerced him into joining in 03, too, but it was so much more intense here. My issue isn't with the fact that he does this as much as it is with the fact that people who watch Brotherhood in particular really like Mustang. I just don't get it. Also, from what I've gathered, I get the feeling the show isn't going to frame all his actions as bad.... Man, oh, man.

Also, EdWin is not off to a great start. I know he's just a kid in the flashback, but Ed's super mean to Winry! I think the closest he ever got to insulting her in 03 was calling her an automail otaku, which is nothing like insulting her appearance. Yet another thing people praise in Brotherhood that I just don't get.

Ed gives an excuse for the arm. Hm.

Ed doesn't know King Bradley.

Wait, this is the exam? That's so lame!

Okay, that's really funny. I feel like an error this large would've been ironed out sooner if Bradley's stayed alive this long, but maybe this is a special occasion and he doesn't usually drop by. It's also a nice way to show us Ed's a quick thinker, and not afraid to challenge adults' thinking.

They don't even consider having Al take the exam. Huh.

I do love getting to see Al and Winry interac--oh, it's over.

We're just speedrunning the lore. No offense at all to people who started with Brotherhood, but how could this hook anyone? I'm really not a TV person, but 03 was an addictive substance to me. This... Is just a show I can watch, I guess. I know people said the beginning was rushed and rather unemotional, but I didn't expect it to be that true.

Um... On the bright side, the animators have decided Ed's Fullmetal certificate will not be mostly comprised of a British history textbook! They mention the yearly research assessment (haha), and also use 'he' as a default pronoun. "The State Alchemist is entitled to the use of ample research funds, unrestricted access to classified documentation, access to various governmental facilities, and a military rank equal to that of 'major'."

Man. This is show is so dumb. It's almost like it's. A shounen or something.

Guess I have to wait until next time to see Liore. I was looking forward to seeing how they'd handle that today, but I don't really feel like it. I could be rewatching 03 instead. Oh, hello, white Rose!

In case it's not super evident, I'm not having the best of times with this show. I don't hate it (at least not yet), but it's just not my thing at all, and feels less like a story and more like an order of events. I love so many of these characters, but they all feel so flat and so different. More than anything, I'm watching the show so I can defend 03 when people ask why I like it when Brotherhood is better. This hasn't happened to me yet, but I haven't talked to any BroHo fans IRL yet, either. I just think it's unfair to compare the two and critique BroHo while having not watched it.

Still, I'd get so much more enjoyment watching so many other anime. I think I'll keep the pace to one a day, or one for every two 03 episodes. I told myself I'd absolutely watch up to the point where BroHo and 03 "diverge" (wherever that is, anywhere from Sloth's first appearance to Rush Valley), but I really don't think I'd get much joy from that. I find cool bits and pieces in each BroHo episode, yeah, but I think I'd find more cool things on a rewatch of 03 Filler Episode Number Four.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to watch 03 Filler Episode Number Four for the third time this month.

Okay. I'm going to watch Brotherhood. I'm going to be so brave about watching this new show. I'll try it out and form my own opinions.

(I have to talk to myself like a parent trying to get their toddler to eat vegetables... Or drink milk, perhaps.)

I'll try to keep all my thoughts in this reblog chain so I don't clog the FMA tag with my reactions to each episode, but they'll still be tagged on my blog, so followers who filter out the tags don't have to see them. (Though, if you've filtered the tag, how are you seeing this? Oh, well.) Because it's an RB chain, though, I won't be able to ramble in tags like usual, so there will be a lot of text in these.

Okay. Starting episode one. Being very brave.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC Writer of the Month: Jamespotterthefirst

Each month CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers, and this month’s writer of the month is @jamespotterthefirst! We hope you will enjoy learning more about her and her work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

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1- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played? 

I started playing back in 2018. I kept seeing this thing called “playchoices” trending as number 1 on Tumblr (lol remember those days?). This would happen, without fail, almost every week! When I clicked on it, the posts were all about the finale of a royal story (The Royal Romance!). People made the most hilarious posts, complete with memes. I had no idea what it was, but I gathered it was an app. I downloaded it, and the rest is history. 

The first book I played was Desire and Decorum. It was absolute torture because it wasn’t completed yet. So I binged the available chapters. Yes, I spent real money on keys and diamonds, telling myself at least I wasn't spending that money on drugs. It was so much fun waiting for a new chapter every week, even if I’m an impatient mess. 

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined the fandom almost immediately after downloading the app. 

As I sat in my living room, tapping my foot and waiting for the new D&D chapter to drop, I went back into the playchoices tag for content. It felt good to find other people who loved the story as much as I did. There were other users out there who were also waiting impatiently for the new chapter, writing fics and discussing theories in the meantime. There were also some of the funniest memes I have ever seen in my life. At first, I would quietly read and reblog. Then, I slowly started posting my own thoughts and theories (which were not very good lol but hey, this is tumblr after all).

3- How did you pick your url name? 

My life is one hyperfixation after another… The one before Choices was Harry Potter. More specifically, the Marauders era. I used to write for the pairing called “Jily”, composed of Harry Potter’s (dead) parents. Kelsey (@takeharryandgo) is a witness of just how much I love James Potter, Harry’s (dead) dad. In fact, our shared love for the pairing and character is one of the things that brought us together. 

In short, this URL is a reference to James Potter the first, Harry’s (dead) dad. Not James Sirius Potter the second, Harry Potter’s (living?) son. 

I saved it as a sideblog, meant only for writing resources for me to use at a later time. One day, I decided I didn’t want the followers on my main page to see all the Choices spam I was posting, so I resurrected the JP blog. 

4- Go back to your archive and tell us about the first post on your Choices blog. 

My first Choices post was a shitty theory about Desire & Decorum: 

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I’ve been writing fanfiction since I was a literal child. I used to write in a notebook and my friends would read during recess. It was awful but they were into it. One day, I used up the whole notebook and my friend was desperate for the next part of the story. I told her I needed to wait until my mom took me to the store (literal child) to get a new one. My friend got me a new one by the end of the day lol.

TL;DR that puts me at about 20+ years of writing. 

6- What is your favorite Choices book to write about?

Without a doubt, Open Heart! 

7- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

Oh god, the first fanfic I wrote was Lily Evans and James Potter from the Harry Potter universe. I forgot the exact title, but it was named after an Avril Lavigne lyric. Again, I was a child, don’t judge me lol. It’s handwritten in a notebook I still have somewhere, but I will never open it again lest I die of cringe. 

My first Choices fic, on the other hand, was a Desire and Decorum fic called “A Wedding Gift” that only like 5 people read at the time. 

8- What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Oof. This answer changes depending on the day you ask me. I always overthink it and end up saying picking a favorite fic is like picking a favorite child. To avoid being here all day, however, I’m going to say: Fake Husband, She Walks in Beauty, and Lovely.

9- Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be but could use a little more love?

Definitely, the fic I didn’t expect to do well at all if my first Open Heart fic: Lovely. 

I was so naive back then, knowing nothing about the Open Heart writing fandom. I had no idea what format or tags to use when posting. I was afraid there would be no readers out there who wanted to read a silly little story about my MC posting a thirst trap. All I knew was that the latest chapter of Open Heart Year 2 inspired an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it. 

I posted it and I was so incredibly lucky to receive so much support. Words cannot explain how special that was. To this day, I cannot verbalize how grateful I am for that. 

There isn’t really a fic I can think of that could use more love. It always amazes me that anyone gives my fics their time. So any feedback my fics get will always be valued and treasured by me. 

10- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

Oh no. 

If forced to choose, I’d say fluff. 

11- Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Absolutely! While I try to make every MC different, I often pull from experience when I write. My Open Heart MC and I have a lot of things in common (heritage, hometown, astrological sign, etc.) But I also wanted her to be her own character with life choices that are different from mine. Since I'm very boring, it definitely makes for better fiction that way. 

12- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

It depends on the day. Some days I struggle the most with dialogue. Others, my biggest struggle is descriptions. It's rare when I feel confident in both when I write. 

13- Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

*laughs nervously in unfinished series*

There are a few series I have yet to finish. Once again, I apologize for leaving them untouched for so long! I plan to get my shit together soon! 

14- If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first? 

No! 

I don't think I could look anyone in the eye if they read some of the stuff I've written, especially for Choices. 

15 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

I strongly believe that one of the best ways to learn as a writer is reading. As such, I believe I've learned from most pieces I've read, particularly published rom com novels. In the fanfiction world, I admire my lovely friend @takeharryandgo. I've had the absolute joy of following her writing for over a decade. And with every work, I am still amazed by her masterful way with words! And her characterization is always spot-on. I simply love to read her spellbinding work and learn from the master! 

Other writers/creators I admire are:

@heauxplesslydevoted- one of the first OH writers I've ever read! Her smut is top-tier!

@jerzwriter - her stories, dialogue, and characterization are a delight to read. Her angst is painful. Her smut is sizzling hot! 

@liaromancewriter - a true master at romance! Her writing style is magical and synonymous with the best of rom-coms! 

@genevievemd - I bow down because the amount of love and care she puts into every piece truly makes her work special! 

 @lucy-268 - I have always respected the amount of research she puts into every piece. She pours so much care into it so that the narrative flows seamlessly! 

@a-crepusculo - her writing is so vivid and immersive. Reading her work is like listening to the most beautiful of symphonies!

@writer-ish - she is such a master at the craft! Her characterization is so vivid that the reader will fall in love no matter the format. Her text edits are legendary! 

@bex-la-get - such a talented and dedicated writer! She also pours hours of research into her work, ensuring every detail makes sense! 

@potionsprefect - she's such a creative and talented writer. She develops writing ideas like no one else I've ever seen! 

@headoverheelsforramsey- I love her storytelling and characterization! She's created a beautiful, inspiring, and intelligent MC for all of us to adore!

@gryffindordaughterofathena - her writing style is one of the most original I've ever seen. Reading her work feels like reading the loveliest of poetry! 

@coffeeheartaddict2- the dedication she puts into her work blows me away! She's daring when exploring themes in her writing, and she's not afraid to pull from personal experience. 

@lsvdw-blog - the person I'm sending my therapy bill to. Just kidding! Her writing is beautiful, even when it's the most painful angst. 

@trappedinfanfiction - she is such a lovely writer. The amount of detail she's given both of her MC's back stories has my absolute respect! 

@quixoticdreamer16 - I adore her MC and the wholesome, beautiful background she's given her! 

@mysticalgalaxysstuff - Another MC that has stolen my heart. I am so happy she started writing this past year because she's a real talent! 

@peonierose - love her beautiful MC and the beautiful love story she built for her with Bryce! 

@cariantha - a brilliant writer with talent for days! 

16- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

I would love to see She Walks in Beauty along with its series (1800s AU) in live action. Imagine Ana de Armas and David Gandy in period costumes? That alone would be worth it! 

17- Do you write original stories? 

I've crafted and outlined original stories before but I've never actually written them. One of my biggest goals for the new year is to finally start. Wish me luck! 

18 -  What other hobbies do you have?

I love reading, hiking, and dancing! 

Yes, I picked the most “impressive” of my hobbies to seem cool. On most days, you'll catch me cuddling with my dog or bf watching YouTube/TikTok/Hell's Kitchen reruns lol. 

19 - What’s your favorite emoji? 

I used the orange 🧡 and purple 💜 hearts a lot because they're my favorite colors!

20: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

For the record, I am also contractually obligated to read anything Kelsey writes 😘 

Thank you so much to every single reader who has given my work a chance these past three years!

Thank you to the wonderful mods of CFWC for all you do to support writers in the Fandom! 

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

I read your headcanons about James Potter and I’m really interested to hear your thoughts Sirius and regulus Black pls pls pls

Oh no.

Alright, strap in people, because I’m about to say some things that nobody will like.

Let’s start in alphabetical order with Regulus. 

Fandom often sees Regulus as a reformed Death Eater, the redeemed villain, or else a cooler suaver version of Sirius steeped in pure blood culture, making him more palatable than many pureblood characters as a love interest. There’s a lot of fics of him having almost defeated Voldemort, coming back from the dead and actually defeating Voldemort, reconnecting with Sirius, showing Harry the cool pureblood ways without being racist, etc.

Well, I don’t really buy into any of that.

I think, even with his defection, Regulus was likely still a very racist character and never really disavowed the cause. True, he was young when he was sucked in, he had his whole family meltdown when Sirius was disowned and suddenly he was heir, but I do think he really did believe in blood purism and nothing from the books suggests that he died not believing in it. He just stopped believing in Voldemort.

Instead, I believe he discovered that Voldemort a) did not mean anything good for his culture and b) Voldemort was a fraud.

What do I mean by that?

Well, in the first case, I’ve always viewed Tom Riddle in that period in time as a hate filled nihilist who doesn’t really believe in what he preaches. It’s just convenient to him as the purebloods are the ones with the money and the power. There’s no point in him appealing to Dumbledore’s ilk as they’re far less likely to be able to make him king (also it would mean putting up with Dumbledore and his stupid speeches about love and friendship). Most of Voldemort’s actions throughout the books don’t make the muggle borns’ lives miserable (at least not until he gets into power) but makes hell of the purebloods’ lives and absolutely ruins them. 

The Black family, in particular, he essentially wipes off the face of the Earth. 

With that in mind, I imagine a young Regulus eventually came to realize that Voldemort was systematically destroying the great families from the inside to put himself in power. It was never about the muggleborns or the country, it was only ever about power.

Then we get to the other bit, Voldemort being a fraud. Unlike many, I believe the Death Eaters had no idea who Voldemort was. It’s too unbelievable to me that some guy named Tom Riddle, who their fathers all went to school with, who everyone knew as a muggle born impoverished orphan, could convince them all that he was the next Merlin who they should devote their lives (and their money) to. Tom’s charismatic, but he’s not that charismatic. Better for Tom Riddle to just disappear entirely and show up as the Count of Monte Cristo, descendent of Salazar Slytherin himself, impressing all the young heirs while their young, angry, and stupid. 

With Regulus finding out that his great leader is actually just the halfblood son of a squib, the whole movement falls apart. Regulus is a pawn, fighting for nothing he believes in. Now, that said, I don’t think Regulus ever figured out who exactly, Tom was. He clearly knew the name, as we see from the locket, but just knowing that Riddle is a muggle last name would be enough to know that Voldemort was nothing he presented as.

Basically, Regulus becomes extremely disillusioned with the Death Eaters and Voldemort in a few short years. The change he wanted to see sweeping the country doesn’t happen. Instead the violence, which he was initially very excited for (guys, Regulus did join a domestic terrorist organization and I will not cut him slack for that, he was excited to blow up some muggle borns) is pointless and hurting their own people as opposed to the muggle borns. 

During all of this we have Kreacher borrowed by Voldemort for the creepy horcrux placement. This certainly makes Regulus go “hm” and he’s clever enough to put together on his own that the locket must be a horcrux.

That said, I do not believe he knew enough about Tom Riddle to have been able to hunt down the rest or even know where or what they would be. Dumbledore had been paranoidly collecting memories of Tom Riddle’s entire goddamn life and relying on the plot convenient aspect that Tom was apparently so much of a romantic he never left his horcruxes anywhere but Britain and always left them in very noticeable sentimental objects. Regulus knew about the locket because of Kreacher, had he lived, he’d have no idea where the hell else to start.

So that’s Regulus for you, a fairly intelligent, yet youthfully stupid, extremist whose dream did not live up to the reality and probably still would have spat in Hermione’s face had the gang resurrected him from being a lake zombie.

As for Sirius, well, he’s James the asshole times a thousand to the point where he makes some “ha ha, very funny, but actually really this is horrifying” decisions. 

I guess we’ll start back when he’s young.

We don’t see much of the young Sirius, and granted, what we do directly is given to us by a very bitter, resentful, and biased Severus Snape but his actions still read a lot like pretty much any Stephen King bully villain. The scene where they’re tormenting Snape (and Snape drops the slur, Lily abandoning him) is horrifying to read. And it’s clearly one of many moments over many years of this group of boys sexually harassing him (and yes, that was sexual harassment guys, let’s not pull out stops here).

Then we get to the joke with Lupin that... really wasn’t a joke.

The flimsy excuse we’re given in canon is that a) it was all in good fun b) Snape was so much of a coward he’d never actually go to the Shrieking Shack because he’s a big chicken. Bawk bawk bawk, Snivellus the chicken. But, well, these excuses are flimsy. 

When you get down to the bare bones of it what Sirius did there was attempted murder via his chronically ill best friend. It’s one of those actions that I simply cannot justify, even had Sirius not thought it all the way through, as boys will be boys. What was the good outcome there? Snape sees Lupin and shrieks in terror? (Only to probably run to some authority and try to get the uncontrolled werewolf the fuck off of campus, nice going Sirius) Snape gets infected with lycanthropy? Snape dies, Lupin wakes up covered in blood with the horror of knowing he ate a classmate? 

Later, we do get Sirius sort of apologizing for his behavior. But it’s at best a ‘sort of’ apology. He never admits the full horror of what he did, just how relentlessly brutal he was to Snape, or what the werewolf thing really would have ended in. Instead he goes, “yeah, James and I were kind of assholes. He grew up though, Lily married him so he couldn’t be an ass anymore! And it was Snape, Come on, Harry, it was Snape.” And Harry, messed up asshole that he himself is goes, “Yeah, it was Snape! Stupid Snape!”

I also never got the feeling he ever fully apologized to Remus. Sirius used Remus in the worst of ways, made it clear he had no respect for Remus and no compassion for his condition, and continues to treat him as a sort of secondary friend to James. I think it says a lot that Remus was able and willing to believe Sirius was guilty of murdering James and Lily in cold blood. 

Which probably gives you a hint that I think Remus/Sirius would never happen except in the most toxic of ways possible.

Basically, in a fair world, Sirius should have been expelled if not tried for the werewolf incident. However, Dumbledore plays favorites and chose the sons of two lords as opposed to the poor half blood (which I imagine cemented Snape’s path to becoming a Death Eater). And so there is some cruel irony in that Sirius was eventually jailed for something, even though it was something he didn’t do.

Now, after Azkaban, Sirius seems to have mellowed out a lot. While he’s a bit unhinged and thoughtless (his rescue attempt of Harry’s rescue attempt at the end of Order of the Phoenix) a lot of this can be seen as after effects of his stay in literally hell on Earth for over ten years. 

That said, a lot of people see him as the cool uncle character who, if Harry had been able to live with him, all would have been well. I firmly disagree. Young Sirius was, well, god knows how warped Harry would have been growing up with a young and reckless Sirius Black. After prison he’s in no condition to take care of Harry, and even says as much multiple times. Sirius is cool to hang around at a distance, but up close and personal he’d be very messed up and not at all ready to be a father to a teenage boy. 

Otherwise, Sirius was very very very gay for James Potter. Unfortunately for him, James Potter was straight and into Lily Evans. I’m sure it was a very sad day for Sirius when Lily actually said yes to James. Except not really, because James always strikes me as a “bros before hos” kind of dude. Not that I’m sure if Sirius ever admitted he was gay and in love with James, I’ve always been of the belief that pureblood culture is extremely homophobic and it just... wouldn’t come up. 

So there it is, now excuse me while I go hide behind this barrier before I get eaten alive.

[eveningstar1516]

Rise of the Demon King ~ Epilogue

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: I gotta Discord server guys! It's primarily Obey Me but other fandoms are welcome as well. It's kinda baby and dead so me and the other members are looking to revive it and we'd love for you to come join us. A roleplay area is included :) https://discord.gg/F3YEmDZCPS Please remember to read and accept the rules once you join for access to all the channels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously:

I spent that night cuddled close to Lucifer. After I bathed, he tended to my injuries and wrapped my upper back where my top set of wings once were. We layed in bed together, Lucifer holding me protectively against him as we fell asleep to the sound of our heartbeats, beating in sync. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHAPTER 13 - Epilogue (3514 words)

“Mmm, Lu?” Gingerly, I opened my eyes. I had woken up to the feeling of someone nuzzling the side of my neck. Opening my eyes, I found that we had shifted into a spooning position in our sleep. His arms were wrapped around my waist and my hands were clasped over his. Lucifer was still asleep, holding on to me tightly. Carefully, I turned over to face him. His expression was relaxed. Sleep melted away any forehead creases making him look infinitely younger. His lips parted ever so slightly as his hair fell over his face, framing it just right. Carefully, as not to wake him, I lifted my hand to tuck some loose strands behind his ear and pecked him on the cheek. Being the notoriously light sleeper he is, Lu stirred at the movement. “Good morning Lu” “Mmm, good morning love” “Did you sleep well?” “Mhm.” Lucifer opened his eyes. The soft morning glow of the Devildom moon cast a soft light over him masking the demonic entity next to me in a celestial glow. His eyes were soft and docile, sleep still apparent. Not wanting to ruin the moment, but also not wanting to miss breakfast and see the rest of the brothers again, I started to shift away.

“Come on Lu, it’s time to get up.” “No. Just a little longer.” Lucifer immediately tightened his hold on me and buried his face into my chest. Letting out a small laugh, I brought my hand to his head and started stroking his hair. He sighed and leaned into my touch. “I’d love to stay in bed longer, but if we do that, Beel would eat everything.” Lucifer muttered something into my chest before pulling away and placing a kiss on my forehead. “We wouldn’t want that now would we? Come, let me change your dressings, then we’ll go.” It was then I remembered that I didn’t exactly have anything to wear. “Um, Lu? What am I supposed to wear?” Lucifer was already across the room getting the first aid supplies and a change of clothes out of the closet. He laid them out in front of me as I sat up. Spying the outfit, I realized it was my own, the one I would always wear when Lucifer and I spent our limited alone time. “Lu? Why do you have my clothes in your closet?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as he started removing my dressings and cleaning the wounds. A small blush appeared at my question. “It’ll be about 2 weeks before these fully heal.” “Lucifer, you’re avoiding my question.” “It will take you a little longer to learn how to fly with 2 pairs of wings instead of your usual 3.” I caught Lucifer’s hand in my own. He averted his gaze away from mine, his blush intensifying. “Lucifer.” “I-I couldn’t let you go. These reminded me of you, so I kept them. We still have most of your stuff in the catacombs. I just wanted these for myself.” When he finished, he was looking anywhere but my face. I held his hand and cupped a cheek with my other hand, gently turning him to face me. I leaned up and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “You missed.” Lucifer looked at me with his signature smirk on his face. I put a finger on my cheek and tilted my head. “I did? Huh, that’s strange I never miss.” Leaning up, I placed a kiss on the opposite corner. “Now you’re just teasing me.” I giggled. “Yup. Now come on, we better get down there before Beel eats everything.” ~Dining Room~ Lucifer entered the room first, announcing that they had a visitor that would be staying with them. “Ooh, really? Yay! Another Spa mate!” Asmo clapped his hands excitedly. “Great, I don’t have time for another normie.” Levi went back to his switch not caring. Belphie was half awake and not really caring, giving the barest hint of acknowledgement. “Who are they?” Satan asked, putting his book down. “Well, we have met before. It would be quite awkward to have to introduce myself a second time.” I stepped around from behind Lucifer and looked to the brothers sitting at the dining table. Pin. Drop. Silence. A full second went by before I found myself under a pile of demons. “Y/N! You’re back!” “Y/N, I can’t believe this!” Asmo clung tightly to me, practically bawling his eyes out. Belphie was clinging to my other side with Beel wrapping his arms around both of us. Levi was hugging me from behind, pressing his cheek into my back. Satan waited by Lucifer for his turn while Mammon was still standing there in shock.

“G-guys! I missed you too but I still need to breathe!” “Alright everyone, Y/N is still sore from their fall. I know you’re all excited to have them back, but give them some room.” After Lucifer got his brothers off me, I went and gave Satan a tight hug. “Welcome home kitten.” “It’s good to be home.” After letting go of Satan, I made my way to Mammon. “It’s really you, ain’t it treasure?” “Come on Mammoney, who else would I be?” Mammon lowered himself to my level and tucked his head into the crook of my neck, holding on to me. “Ya dumb human.” “Not human anymore I’m afraid.” “That’s right! Darling, can we see your demon form please? I’m sure you look absolutely stunning!” “Not really much of a demonic form Asmo, but, well, you’ll see.” I stepped away from Mammon as the rest of the brothers backed up to give me some room. I rolled my shoulders feeling a swirl of magic surround me as I unfurled my wings and let my Nephalem form (A/N: That’s what I’m calling it. Don’t like it, too bad 🙃). I looked up at the shocked look on the brother's face. “You look stunning kitten.” “Your halo. It’s beautiful darling!” “You look just like him.” “I know Beel. I don’t know why my halo stayed. You guys can touch it, but Satan, I don’t know if you can yet.” “Y/N’s halo repels demons but doesn’t have an effect on beings that once held, or have traces of grace within them. Since you are born from me, you might have some trace, but we shouldn’t risk it. For now, just avoid touching it Satan.” “Will do, although I am curious. When the rest of you fell, your halo’s broke off and your uniforms changed completely, so why is it that Y/N’s outfit stayed Celestial, albeit with their colours, and they kept their halo, even if it is now a ring of black fire?” “I wish I knew Satan, although it might have something to do with my decision to willingly fall instead of being cast out by force.” Satan opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Beel’s stomach decided to make a guest appearance. “What, we stopped breakfast for this?” “Alright big boy, let’s eat, we can invite Dia and Barb and talk about this afterwards.” “Dad. What’s going on, and who's this?” I turned to the doorway where the voice came from. I looked as a young demon woman walked into the room. Her long black hair was braided down her shoulder. Serene coloured eyes looked me up and down. She wore a simple outfit consisting of dark blue denim tights with a white v-neck shirt, a black cropped jean jacket, and a pair of knee-high combat boots. “Who are you?” She asked again with her hands on her hip, eyes pinned on me.” I turned around to face the brothers. “Alright spill. Who’s the father?” I looked at the brothers with an equally pinning gaze as all eyes looked to Satan. “That would be me. Mezu, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is my daughter Mezu.” “You had a kid and didn’t tell me?!” “When could I have done that? We literally found out you were alive not 3 minutes ago. Mezu, Y/N here is an old friend of ours. They were the one that brought our family together and sacrificed themselves for us.” “Nice to meet you Mezu.” I stuck my hand out for her to take. She didn’t. “Why do you don and angels garb and halo with demonic features?” Mezu looked at me with her arms crossed, distrust evident across her features. “Mezu, you can trust them.” Lucifer came and put a hand on my shoulder. Mezu looked unconvinced and took one more look at me before reluctantly letting the subject drop. “If you say so. Although I still want to know why.” “I’ll explain that all after breakfast when Diavolo and Barbatos get here. I look forward to learning more about you too Mezu.”

~After Breakfast in the Common Area~

“So, I guess I should start.” “What happened after the execution?” Mezu asked. “Mezu!” “It’s fine Satan. I figured that’s where I should start anyway. After the execution, I woke up in some sort of pocket dimension. Lilith was there, she says hi by the way. She explained this dimension that she called the “Void”. It’s a place where souls that have no destination but don’t return to oblivion go to. She presented me with two options. She didn’t have enough power to resurrect me the way she did before, so she told me that she could either make me into a demon and return to the Devildom, or make me a Seraph and take me to the Celestial realm. I wanted to return badly, and I almost did but I didn’t want to return as a demon serving under Abandon. I chose to go to the Celestial realm. I woke up in the House of Honors wearing, according to Michael, Lucifer’s old uniform. Needless to say, he was not happy about that. After he gave me something to eat, we headed to the palace to see your father. It was there where we struck a deal. Neither of us wanted me to be there, but I also didn’t want to return and serve under Abandon. No offence” “None taken.” “He took an interest toward my knowledge of Lucifer's old habits and position. He struck a deal with me, one I would have also struck if he had not suggested it. I was to serve as Lucifer’s replacement, as head of the council of 7, until such a time that King Abandon steps down and Diavolo rises to the throne. During my time as the Council leader, I was to fulfill my duties as Lucifer would have, not abuse my power, and make decisions based on the best interest of the realm. The period of the agreement ended yesterday when Diavolo was crowned. I-” “Y/N?” I turned to look at Lucifer. “Diavolo wasn’t crowned yesterday. He’s been king for almost half a century now.” My eyes widened. “You mean to tell me. That I could have returned HALF A CENTURY AGO?! I should have done more than sock that bastard while I had the chance.” At the last part, half the room doubled over laughing. “You-you actually punched him, in the face?!” Satan asked, clutching his stomach. “Yup. In Front of the entire council, right before I jumped. You should have seen their faces but I could only do so much within the element of surprise before I made my dramatic exit. I would have done it sooner if I knew Dia had been crowned. I just didn’t want to risk falling while his dad was still in reign.” “Darling, have I ever mentioned how much I love you?” “Only every day since we met Azzy. Anyway, back to the story.” ~A Few Hours Later~ “And that’s when I woke up in Diavolo’s garden yesterday.” “It seems like the past millennia had been eventful for everyone.” Mezu commented once I had finished. “How was everyone's time here? I really want to know the story behind Satan’s love life and what the rest of you were up too.” “Well, the first few decades or so were quite difficult. It was hard to forget that you weren’t with us. Eventually though, we all grew closer through grieving you. Your death opened a familial bond between us. Something we had a hard time admitting existed while you were here.” Lucifer explained. “Don’t worry, we still haven’t changed. Mammon still ends up hanging from the ceiling, Satan spends all day reading and coming up with ways to prank Lucifer with Belphie, Asmo is still as narcissistic as ever, Beel keeps cleaning out the fridge, and I still spend my days in my room.” “Although, I noticed you have been starting to come out of it more often Leviathan.” Diavolo stated “Well, yes. I’ve been visiting the catacombs whenever I get the chance to add something to Y/N’s collection by their casket.” “Uhh, if my dead body is still down there, could we, like, get rid of it? It’s a little creepy to live in a house knowing your dead body is in the basement.” “We’ll clean that out and bring your stuff to your old room.” Satan said. “Alright. Ok then. Your turn.” “Me?” “Yes you. Come on Satan, spill. What is this love story of yours? I want to know more about Mezu and her mother.” Satan scratched the back of

his neck, looking lost in thought, a longing look in his eyes. I looked around the room and noticed that the occupants avoided my eyes, some looking towards Satan with a pitying look. Only Mezu looked at me. “My mother died 50 years ago.” “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” “Of course you didn’t. You angels don’t care for any demon or their relations. You all think your so high and mighty yet-” “Mezu, that’s enough! Y/N is not an angel, not anymore. I assure you, they care more than you think.” Lucifer starred his granddaughter niece down as she sat back down. A scowl still present on her face. “I’m sorry Mezu, I truly am. I didn’t mean to make you feel like that. Please forgive me.” I smiled at her. She looked away, almost guiltily before Satan broke the silence. “Mezu was named after her mother. She was killed by an angel when Mezu was 25. She was beautiful and the only one who could cool my wrath after you passed.” “Were you happy with her? Like truly happy?” “Truly.” “That’s all I need to know.” I stood and hugged Satan. He returned it, resting his head above my heart.

~2 Years Later. At RAD~

It’s been 2 years since I returned. My wounds have healed and I found my place among the demons once again. Diavolo appointed me as an official member of the student council. I served as a secretary of sorts to Lucifer to allow for fewer sleepless nights and to make sure he didn’t bury himself in his work. Because of my status as a fallen, I was considered a noble and given the title “Avatar of Loyalty. The 8th of the 8” by Diavolo himself. I returned to RAD as a teacher on angel studies and a student in demonic politics. Lucifer and I became an official couple. During long night grading, I found myself chuckling at my students' interpretations of the Celestial Realm. I reminisced about my time with the council. Michael was probably glad to have finally gotten rid of me. Luke was promoted as Michael’s personal protegé. The rest of the angels were probably too busy to think about me though. Having finished marking, I went to go get Lucifer to turn in for the night.

~The next day~

“Dia, not to sound rude or anything, but why did you want us all to meet so early? RAD isn’t starting for another hour.” Diavolo sat in his head seat at the table as the rest of us sat in our usual spots. All of us displaying varying levels of consciousness. Belphegor having fallen back asleep as soon as he sat down. Diavolo had a beaming smile on his face as he spoke. Never a good sign... “We have some new exchange students joining us today. I want you to meet them all and show them around RAD. This is an opportunity for the rest of you to mend some old ties” “My Lord, what exactly are you getting at?” Lucifer asked tentatively. Diavolo’s smile only grew brighter, but before he could say anything, the doors to the council room burst open. “Y/N!” Looking up, I managed to catch a mop of reddish-orange hair before I was buried under a pile of bodies. After I finally wiggled my way out, I backed up towards Lucifer; his arm finding its way around my waist. Standing in the council room were the 7 Archangels, all donning RAD uniforms, all smiling sheepishly save for Michael who was standing off to the side with his arms crossed. Looking at the rest of the brothers, I found that Bell was now wide awake as the rest of them looked a tad bit uncomfortable. Lucifer had a displeased frown. “What are you guys doing here?” “It was Father's idea to have us participate in this program. He thought it best to-” “Don’t kid yourself Michael. We volunteered to come. We missed you Y/N. Especially Michael. He wouldn’t stop talking about you after you left. Things weren’t the same after you fell. He also really wanted to see Lucifer again.” Raphael cut Michael off mid-sentence. Looking around, the brothers each had a murderous look in their eyes. “Ok, first off, you volunteered, I got dragged into this. Second, I did not miss Y/N and I did not talk about them after they left. If anything, I was glad that they were gone, especially after that little stunt they pulled before they jumped. You didn’t think I’d forget that Y/N, did you?” I loosened myself from Lucifer's grip and made my way over to the angels, giving them each a hug in turn. “Aww, I missed you guys too. Mike. What did I say about your pride? Honestly, for someone who used to adore the Virtue of Humility and claims to hate the Avatar of Pride, you really seem to take after his sin. Besides, you didn’t deny wanting to see Lu again.” The occupants in the room started snickering as Michael’s face started turning a lovely shade of beet red. Lucifer looked taken aback at the revelation but lightly chuckled into his fist as well. “I’d be careful Mike. You wouldn’t want to lose that angelic status of yours for something as childish as misplaced pride.” Lucifer said with a smirk on his face. Michael started stuttering, trying to defend himself. “I-I didn’t! I-I don’t have any Pride I swear! Besides-” “Alright, alright. That’s enough.” Gabriel stepped in to save Michael from any more embarrassment. “It’s true, we did miss you and saw the exchange program as an opportunity to see you again. That’s why we volunteered to come.” Gabriel stopped in front of me and hugged me, much gentler than before. “We really did miss you Y/N. Things up there were too quiet without you.” “Oi! Hands off Y/N!” Mammon jumped up from his chair and pushed Gabriel away from me. Levi had shifted into his demonic form and wrapped his tail around my waist. “Y/N Belongs to us, not you normies.” “NORMIES?! I’m hurt that you think of us like that Leviachan. It is nice to know that you still kept your love for the Japanese animation even after you left.” Azrael said as he turned to look at Levi. A hand on his chest and a look of faux hurt in his eyes. This time, it was Levi’s turn to turn beet red. His self conscious not being able to take the attention. I was pulled away from Levi by Lucifer who placed a quick kiss on the top of my head. A prideful smirk on his face as he addressed the angels.

“Now then, there is no need to fight over this. Y/N belongs to me. Isn’t that right my love?” One cannot describe the look of utter hurt, shock, betrayal, and jealousy that overtook the features of everyone present in the room at Lucifer’s bold statement. My own expression being that of shock before all bloody hell broke loose. Everyone started arguing over who I belonged to and who I loved the most. I stood there trying to calm everyone down but alas, my voice was never heard over the shouting. “It seems the exchange program is becoming quite the success, isn’t it Barbatos?” “Indeed My Lord, although perhaps we should put a stop to this before someone loses control?” “No need Barb. Let them talk among themselves. I know, how about some tea while we wait?” “Of course My Lord.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And there we go. It's done! Thank you to everyone who stuck through reading this until the end. Thank you to everyone who left comments and Likes.

For those who are wondering about the candle and magical energy that surrounded Y/N, the energy is the magic used to take away their angelic status and made them into a Nephalem (Demon, Angel Hybrid). Their candle kept changing itself because it needed to form a new substance to match Y/N's new physiology.

[melis-ash]

have you watched elite's season 4 finale already? what are your takes on caye and phillipe? no judgements here tho, just want to know your opinion on them

 Hello, nonny! Yes, I did. My opinion about Caye and Philippe has several different aspects (which a litle bit conflict with each other).

Lets write long post.)) Sorry for mistakes and typos, English is not my first language and I`m not really good with grammar.

1) Caye and Philippe story is feminist retelling-reverse of the Beauty and the Beast, where main characters didn`t became couple and The Beauty left her Beast not for Gaston other romance, but for her own path. And their relationship helped the Beast to realize his past mistakes and make to want to fix it, even if it`s too late . Comparing with many other things in that season that storyline was not bad. Really. There MANY problems with s4, I think the best stolyline had Rebe and Mencia, it was really good, and in my personal opinion, despite many flaws, Caye and Philippe storyline is second one for me. Kinda it was not really good, but it had plot, idea, composition and message. Writers knew very clear, what they tried to say, and despite obvious lack of screen time, they handle it, and this story, despite it doesn`t connect with main plot, resonate with main storyline on the level of their ideas. (About it later.) I know, Georgina is feminist, so I wonder, could she give some advice writers? Kinda “it can work better if...” something like it.

2) Personally I`m very disappointed how OOC was Caye in that season and how few screen time she had. For me Caye from s4 feels like too much different person than in s2-3. I wanted character development for her, but something more slow and realistic. S4 Cayetana feels like all her character development happened between s3 and s4 (and partly in special, which really was very good), and I don`t believe in it. Caye from s4 is good character, but there is no real connection with Caye from s2-3.

I knew, she was very upopular character in s2-3, so maybe creators afraid to gave her too much screen time. But also they still wanted she was part of story and write redemption arc for her. And honestly, anon, these two thing can`t work together well. When you write redemption arc for well written nuanced character that Cayetana was in s2-3, you need give character enough screen time and nuances. But it seems, s4 writers don`t care enough about writing S1-3 characters in character. In s2-3 Caye was bad girl, but also she was comedy relief (but s4 has very few comedy moments), she had family (where the fuck her mother and granddad now? We know only that her mother cannot work in Las Ensinas, but don`t know, why), we saw, that she did`t sleep almost, because she learn in Las Ensinas, worked as janitor and still hung out with rich kids. (I think I began feel compassion for her, when realized it). It that seson she almost has not other scenes than with Philippe. OK, she was pariah in school during previous year, but if writers began that things with Caye and Rebe friendship, can they continue it. Rebe and Caye both had problem with their love interests and they never discussed it. Only time they speak about Philippe was in 402. Also Benjamin fired Azucena, and wanted to expel Samu and Omar, but Caye still works there? And Benjamin still protects her even? Why? I mean, after whole thing with scam in s2. Maybe it because protection of Polo`s mothers, but it never was said in s4 even. It seems, Benjamin knows things about her story with Polo (like he knows about Philippe`s past), and it could be really interesting possiblity to bring on scene that aspect of situation and Benjamin`s character and him and Caye interaction. 

Also there is something with Georgina`s acting in s4, in most of scenes she acts as different character, so maybe it was and her (as actress) decision too. I wrote before, she is feminist, and maybe she wanted to bring more feminists vibes in s4 Caye, because it makes storyline works better? Given how few connection with previous seasons on script level her s4 story had, it make sense even, it`s just feel OOC for me, because Caye is not feminist at all. She is strong and ambitious, but she is not type of women what call themselves feminists, and when she said “I became my own Fairy Godmother” in s2, she meant that she was forced to do it. Caye was girl who wanted to be princess from old school Disney animation. In s3 she wanted to live and study on Polo mother money in London and was fully OK with it. When she refused their proposition, it was because thoughts, that Polo could be alive and even more or lesser happy in other school without those her messages, haunted her. Plus when Polo died, he thought Caye was with him more because his money than because Polo himself. I remember, in her first scene Caye read  The Second Sex, but it was spectacle for her schoolmates. And when she spoke with them about her fake rich life, it always was “look how rich and glamour I am”. Partly she spoke in this way because she knew very few about rich people`s life, but also there were some of her dreams. She wanted to be rich and and be part of this glamour life. In s3 she became in some way, and she had a lot of possiblities to understand how many shit, pain and tragedies can hide for glamour facade. Theoretically she knew it before. But she was exctremely poor, so it was a little bit difficult for her to think about it too much.

3) So I think more mention of Caye`s story from s2-3 could make her and Philippe story better. Philippe himself have same problem as Polo in some way: he is rich guy, and his mother indulged him too much. Caye saw how Polo`s mother indulged him and saw where it ended. Not good for Polo and many other people. Marina and Polo could be alive and Samu`s family could live with him in Spain, if Polo`s mothers raised their son better. Even if Caye don`t care much about Guzman or Samu and she never knew Marina, she had enough time between seasons to reflect of situation. So with more s2-3 reference that “matter of education thing” Caye says to Philippe`s mother could sound not only as sort of feminist  slogan, but as something very personal and painful for Caye. She was in love with boy, who was spoiled too much by his parents (like Philippe), and it brought a lof pain him, his friends, Caye. I don`t say there are not at all attempts include previous Caye experience in s4. For example, when Caye does google research about Philippe and finds nothings, she is still suspicious because she know, how easy money could erase some thing.  Also that thing with Pilippe`s mother. I think after conversation with her,Caye realized that Philippe`s and Polo`s promblems had very much same roots. But such moments really have not enough space. Guzman had at least one scene, where he speak about his reflection on s1 evens (where he compares Mencia and Marina). I would like to see something like it with Caye.

4) Many things in Caye and Philippe storyline feel offscreen. We know they regularly talk in school, but see very few of it etc. Actors have good chemistry, and since they both like fashion design, it feels enough for beginning of communication, plus Caye had crush on Philippe long before they met, plus she was first who was really friendly with him in new school (in some way it`s repeat of Caye and Polo story, but with more positive vibes). But I want to see more illustration, why Philippe fell in love with Caye so much.

5) Now about Philippe himself. I saw many hateposts and hatecomments about him, and it`s really funny, because I constantly see how many people in this fandom love Polo and think he deserved better, despite Polo is murderer. Yes, he killed Marina out of emotion, but she is fucking dead. She will never resurrect. Guzman will remember till grave that his best friend killed his sister and then was killed by Guzman`s ex-girlfriend, because policy failed to handle their job well. Samu`s brother was forced to left Spain because it. But it took 2 seasons for Polo to understand he needs go to policy and confess he killed Marina. Caye didn`t understood how wrong her actions were till Polo`s death. I don`t know how long was Elodie`s rape, but at least Philippe didn`t need someone`s corpse to realize his mistakes. Inside standart of this show that guy isn`t hopeless. “Everybody deserve second chance” was important point in Caye`s story in s2-3, so now I wonder how writers will play this card in s5 in relationship between Philippe and Caye. 

Also I want to say I was wrong, when doubted in Pol Granch acting, he`s good additon to Elite cast.

6) Caye x Philippe storyline and main storyline. In that seson Elite brings of scene, in additon of another murder and drug traid, sex crimes. Prostitution, rapes. It`s interesting, that connection here takes place through Ari, girl, who has serious problem with sexual behavior, when she`s drunk. She`s know it`s perfectly, but also she knows, that when woman says “no”, it`s means “no” and end of story. I really like her role in Caye and Philippe story and I hope in s5 there will be at least some scenes with her and Caye. Also interesting point were Ari`s word that she never report to the police without prove. It feels ambigous. She knows, Phillippe is not angel at all. But also there is other side of coin. I think, she also knows, reputation can be ruined very easy. During s4 there was subplot with discussion club. And Samu speak that ex-criminals cannot become somebody else, even if they wants. Their reputation in society was ruined. In final of Philippe story he sent Elodie his confession. So maybe writers tried to write about theme “can criminal, who admitted his mistakes, to became somebody else?” through season and I think they will continue it in s5.

Sorry if this all sounds muddled and too long. Maybe later I will make some additon into reblogs to this post, I don`t know.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lost Boys

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam

Summary: After Jonathan Lane Kent wipes himself from existence by canceling his own timeline, he finds himself stuck in the afterlife where he meets Jason Todd. He still wonders about the life un-lived on Earth, and how his parents would've felt about him.

Jason Todd, who is making the most of being dead, struggles with the reality of what he's left behind. He has one wish and one wish only: to send his family one final message.

Chapters: 2/?

Characters: Jonathan Lane Kent (Laney), Jason Todd, Catherine Todd, Boston Brand, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, John Constantine, Raven, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

Relationships: Platonic JayLaney

Additional Tags: Angst, Platonic Relationships, Magical Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Queerplatonic Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, POV Multiple

Chapter Two: Sunrise (Jason's POV)

Laney was the only person I'd ever met that had to learn how to be a kid. He could be so stern and tense and uptight sometimes, but it didn't bother me much. It was easy to see through the facade. Laney had the biggest heart out of anyone that I knew. He could be sweet. He could be attentive and intelligent and a few other things, but I don't want to get too mushy.

Laney and I spent every day together in heaven, and for several weeks I couldn't manage to get him to laugh like I had the first day we met. I'd almost given up before it dawned on me after breakfast one morning. "Laney, what do you like to do?" I asked. Laney shrugged as he walked along the lake. "Jump in the lake."

"Why?" Laney asked. I took off my cape and jumped in. "Jason, what's the point?" I splashed water at him. He grabbed my hand, and I pulled him in with me.

Once the shock of being pulled into the water subsided, he started to laugh as he splashed around. That's all I wanted was for him to laugh. I wanted him to be happy. It felt good to see Laney laugh. He dove deep into the water before coming back up and pulling me down with him.

After spending what felt like a lifetime in the water, we lay in the sun and dried off. "The point is that I want you to live," I whispered.

"Jason?" Laney whispered back. I turned on my side, facing him. "I'm glad you're dead." I turned back on my back and made a face. It was weird. "I mean—. Jason," Laney sat up and grabbed my wrist. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I was trying to say that I'm glad that you're here," Laney stumbled over his words as he tried to fix what he said. I cracked a smile.

"I know what you meant," I laughed. Laney stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Climb on my back," Laney commanded. I got up and obeyed. "Hold on, I don't want to drop you." I nodded and held on tight. I held my breath without thinking as Laney took me up into the sky. "You don't have to do that." I took a breath, and I sat on his back as his incline slowed, and I rested one hand on his shoulder as I stretched my other arm out. "I know I suck at being a kid, and I know I suck at telling you how I feel, but maybe this speaks for itself..."

"Lane, this is awesome!" I yelled. I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was smiling too. Laney would never admit it, but deep down, I think he was more of a softie than I was.

Laney made me hold onto him again on the way down, and he carried me the rest of the way home. "Jason, I—. Before we go in, can I—..." He trailed off, and I jumped off of his back and gave him a hug.

"Thanks for today, Laney. You're the best friend a guy could ask for," I smiled. We went in for dinner, and Ma hugged us both. She really liked Laney. I think he cared about my mom too.

"What'd you boys do today?" Ma asked as she set the basket of muffins out on the table.

"We went swimming, and then we went flying," I replied as I sat down at the table. Laney sat down on the other side of my ma with a smile on his face. It was the happiest that I'd ever seen him.

He didn't say much during dinner. "Are you boys going to the dance?" Ma asked. We blinked hard.

"What dance?" I asked.

"Some of the kids are putting together a dance... It'll be on the beach tomorrow if you both wanna go," Ma answered. Before Laney could answer, I shook my head.

"I don't think so," I mumbled. Laney sank down in his seat. "What?"

Laney shrugged. "Sure you don't wanna go?" he asked. I wished I could've told him I wanted to go, but I was more afraid of dancing in front of people than anything. I shook my head.

"I don't have to go with you. You could go have a great time and tell me about it," I whispered, "And we'll go swimming after." Laney didn't say anything else the whole meal, but I could tell he was upset with me.

After dinner, I followed him outside, but I didn't know what to say. "Do you not wanna go because you don't wanna go with me?" he asked. I shook my head.

"What? No. You're my best friend. I'd go anywhere with you, but I don't-. I've never been to a dance before," I confessed, "So, I don't know how—."

"I don't know how to dance either," Laney replied, "I don't even know how to have fun without you. Jason, you don't have to stay if you don't like it... I just don't want to go without—."

"I'll go with you, but don't think you're gonna get me to dance with anybody," I replied.

Laney lit up and picked me up off of the ground, and he spun me around. I guess it was worth seeing him smile like that. He looked more like a kid than I did. I had an eternity to make him laugh, and that seemed like a blessing in itself. I wanted to hold onto the sound of his laughter forever. Laney was my best friend, and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Well, maybe I could ask for one more thing.

[itsclydebitches]

I'm still weirded out by Penny's choice to transfer the power to Winter instead of Weiss. She didn't even know if Winter was alive at the time and the powers could've gone to a random person. And, if the main motivation behind that decision was to keep the power away from Cinder... why didn't she just walk through the portal, together with the staff, on the episode prior? One episode she's trying to defend her friends, on the next she's willing to send the powers away even if Weiss is in danger.

It's another one of those writing decisions that feels like it hasn't been integrated into the story well. Like going to Vacuo, we understand why the story might want to give the powers to Winter (especially after there has, apparently, been claims by the crew that Team RWBY will never become Maidens), but not why Penny wants her to get them. I mean yes, she and Winter had a bit of a relationship. Fans are right to point out that a decent amount of time in Volume 7 (for RWBY) was spent having Penny and Winter challenge one another, or simply exist in the same missions with an implied comradery. Had Penny somehow given the powers to Winter in Volume 7, combined with the knowledge that all her original friends have been out of the picture for at least a year, I would have quite easily bought this. Penny now trusts the woman she's been working with off screen since she was resurrected. People change.

The problem is, well, everything in Volume 8. The group splits from Ironwood with Winter treated as an inevitable enemy now, so cut off from the heroes that her own sister shrugs and dismisses her. We as the audience watch as Winter (unintentionally by the story, I'm sure) falls deeper into Ironwood's villainy, wherein she watches him murder the councilman and simply doesn't care. Now factor in the threats of torture and bombing Mantle. From the characters' perspectives, they don't even know that Winter is looking scared and unsure during these scenes. For all they're aware, she's very happily helping Ironwood enact these atrocities. So how does she come back into the heroes' good graces? With a single phone call that we don't hear. And then an attack on Ironwood that Penny isn't there to see. Sure, she knows what the plan is, but she's also distracted by the hack and never gets to experience this 'I'm good again!' moment for herself. By the time she's dying with Jaune, Penny has had a whole volume's worth of 'Winter is the bad guy now' experiences and one second-hand experience of her being good again. That's a lot to ignore in the name of giving her one of the most dangerous powers on Remnant.

Finally, factor in the group itself. Unlike Winter, Penny met Ruby years ago and got close to her outside of a professional setting. Unlike Winter, Penny has spent the last two days seeing Weiss always do (from their perspective) the right thing. Unlike Winter, Penny has just recently had a heartfelt moment with Nora who was injured while trying to save her. Both from a friendship perspective and a (again, to their mind) 'Who are the good guys?' perspective, the women of Team RWBYJNOR beat Winter by a mile. A while back when the finale first dropped and everyone was discussing the stupidity of having Jaune kill her, there was a lot of pushback in the form of, "It couldn't be Ruby because then she'd get the Maiden powers." Ignoring the actual logistics of how the transfer works (if Penny can think about Winter while Jaune kills her, why can't she think about someone else while Ruby kills her?), why can't Ruby get the powers? Or anyone else on her team for that matter? What is the in-world explanation for why they can't go to them? We don't have one. The two explanations I've heard from the fandom are a) the creators said Team RWBY wouldn't be Maidens and b) Ruby is already too overwhelmed by her silver eyes. But the creators' intentions are not an explanation and, similarly, Ruby hasn't said a word about not wanting to become more powerful. If anything, her tendency to seize power every chance she gets implies otherwise. Ruby is the closest person to Penny, period. Ruby is a woman. Ruby is a fighter. Ruby has presumably been the perfect hero this entire time. According to this basic criteria, Penny should want to send the powers to Ruby.

"But Ruby is dead!" Yes she is and that is an excuse I could buy. Give us a scene where Penny is dying, wants to send the power to her first and closest friend, the hero of this story, but her friend is gone. So who else is there? How about Ruby's partner fighting a Maiden right in front of her? Weiss' life is currently on the line. Her aura is broken! She's fighting Cinder! Penny already saw Cinder seriously wound an aura-less Winter last volume! And, as you say, anon, she doesn't even know if Winter is alive, she doesn't emotionally know how much she can trust Winter, and after the entirety of Volume 8 she no longer has a solid reason to care for Winter over the girl she likewise befriended back at Beacon. Even if we decide to ignore all the questions that should be plaguing Penny about Winter's loyalty and intentions, the mere fact that Weiss is definitely still alive, definitely in mortal danger, definitely in that danger because she's protecting Penny, and definitely one of the good guys should have been reason enough to just look at her (no risky thought experiments here) and transfer the powers. But because RWBY continually insists on certain outcomes without explaining in-world why those outcomes are best, we're left with Winter.

[captainficspace]

Game Night- Five’s Day

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy 

Characters: The Hargreeves Sibs

A/N: I think this is actually my favorite fic I’ve written for this week. I couldn’t wait to post it :) 

Movie night wasn’t the only “mandatory fun” the household had started keeping up with. Game night probably never would have happened in a million years if Vanya hadn’t suggested it and everyone wanted to let her have this one thing. Not that it had gone well, naturally. The initial concern would be that no one would care enough to show up, but the opposite ended up being true. No, everyone cared entirely too much when it came to game night. She had forgotten that everyone in the house was competitive as all hell, and so far there had been three game nights in a row that ended in someone flipping the board in frustration. It took serious begging to give it all one more try, and reluctantly, everyone agreed, if not out of the potential entertainment that would come from giving Klaus a Taboo buzzer.

Vanya had also thought things over, learning from the past nights. This had to be different. Everyone gave her looks of startled bewilderment when she came into the house that day, Klaus in tow, with a traffic cone, a 2x4, spray glitter, and a bulk bag of googly eyes.

“We’re making the game this time and it’s gonna be better than anything else you suggest, so don’t even start.” Klaus announced.

 It somehow ended up being so much worse. There were seven pages of hand-written rules and a haphazardly painted board studded with google eyes and plastic dinosaurs. They had all been trying to play for a solid half hour and not even Vanya could remember what the objective had been. Putting the finishing touches on the game had taken up a good part of the night, so midnight was slowly approaching when things started to get real.  

 “So clearly, the spacemen need to roll to enter the chaos volcano and trade for the ice crystal if you’re going restore the dinosaur kingdom.” Diego moved the plastic army man they had been using as pawns, approaching a cardboard volcano at the center of the board.

“We don’t have enough HP to enter the volcano realm, yet. Everyone still needs to collect the spells.”  Luther said, flipping back through the rules again for what seemed the thousandth time. None of it made sense. Vanya sank down in her seat ever so slightly. The goal was to make a game where everyone used their competitive-ass natures to work together for once, and she couldn’t even do that right. Five kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye, silently begging for her to allow him to leave. If this didn’t turn around in fifteen minutes, she was throwing in the towel.

“How can we be spacemen and also wizards?” Allison asked, looking over Luther’s shoulder to see the rules for herself, trying to find the bizarre cast of characters they had to pick from when starting the game. Spacemen, necromancers, aliens, ghosts, something called Bananamen…was there even a mention of wizards here? Five, on the other hand, had not looked at the rules since beginning out of silent protest for being part of game night once again. He stared into space or at the bottom of his empty mug, waiting for everyone to give up so he could just go to bed.

Klaus had long stopped trying to explain the rules that he and Vanya had come up with and instead became distracted with how many of the little plastic eyes he could pick off the board and stick to his face.

 “Well, my character is a dinosaur and also a necromancer, so anything is possible.” Vanya added, trying to stay positive.

 “See, so she can resurrect us in the volcano realm.” Diego said.

“She can only be allowed three healing spells. Did you pay any attention to the lizard king?”  Allison asked.

“If Diego had used the action cards to fill out the sidequest-“ Vanya tried to balance between letting the others figure things out and outright telling them what to do out of growing frustration, and it wasn’t going well.

“Who has time for the sidequests?”

Five buried his face in his hands, slowly slumping down in his chair. No one could tell him he wasn’t being a good sport for just showing up.

“You’re just going to sit there as a level-two hermit and tell me, to my face, that I’m wrong?” Oh great. Diego was on his feet now, staring Luther down across the table. It was only a matter of time before the giant sheet of plywood they had used as a board was going to go flying.

 “I will look you dead in your face and say you have zero idea how the sidequest with the elf queen was supposed to get us to the volcano realm.” And now Luther was also standing, nearly hitting his head on the chandelier that hung over the table. A shadow fell over the board

“Hey, guys. Look. I’m an angel now.” Klaus interjected, drawing attention to his eye-covered face, “I’m using my holy damage by punching the volcano in the face until we get the ice crystal.” The two feuding brothers ignored him, still refusing to take a seat until the problem was solved.

“You shut your damn velociraptor mouth.” Diego growled.

From behind his hands, Five squeaked. Vanya looked closer and realized his shoulders were shaking. He wasn’t just playing up his exasperation for dramatic effect; he was giggling. The others turned as well, equally surprised.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Allison asked, “We hadn’t heard much at all from our level 3 firebreather.” Five shook his head, still covering his face. He was doing a progressively worse job at keeping himself quiet, and his laughter was beginning to break through, high-pitched and sweet.

 “He would always get like this when he stayed up too late.” Luther said, “Don’t you guys remember?” The memories slowly started to come back of them sneaking into each other’s rooms after lights-out to actually be kids for once. Five was always the first to succumb to the midnight giggles, curling up and hiding his face in a pillow to muffle the sound so he wouldn’t get them caught. It would spread like wildfire, and they would all end up giving into that magical hour of the night where everything became funny, cracking jokes and teasing each other and finally not taking anything too seriously. Either Five had never outgrown it, or it was just another perk of new form.

“He’s overtired. I guess he’s just loopy.” Allison said, grinning as she heard a muffled snort come from the giggling pile of sleep-deprived goo that was her brother. He put his head down on the table and buried his head in his arms, well-past being able to stop at this point.

“Instead of turning into a pumpkin at midnight he just turns into a gigglebox.” Klaus leaned over and squeezed his knee, “Come on, let me see your smiling face!” Five squealed, nearly falling out of his chair trying to squirm away. He still refused to lift his head and show that he was actually capable of laughing.

 “We need your firebreather wisdom, be a team player!” Diego added, coming over from behind and digging his hands into his ribcage.

A solid thud came from under the table, knocking over several pieces on the board from the force. Everyone sitting nearby said a silent word of thanks that Five ended up kicking the underside of the table and not anyone’s shins. Five kicked like a mule when he was tickled, especially in the scream-laughing stage Diego had him in as he wiggled his fingers in-between each bone.

“Oh, and now he’s taking down the bananamen army.” Luther said, throwing up his hands in mock-anger.

Five finally lifted his head, swatting his brothers away. His unrestrained cackling bounced off the walls, almost startling in its volume and intensity.

“E-Enough!” He squeaked out, sniffling. His face was bright red and streaked with tears. The brothers slowed down, but still didn’t stop completely, sneaking in pokes and squeezes to keep him giggling.

“His dimples hadn’t changed at all.” Klaus said, pinching his cheek and giving him one last tickle behind his knee. Five swatted him with one hand and muffled his laughter with the other, shoulders shaking. He couldn’t look Klaus in the face with those stupid googly eyes and Diego’s ‘ ”shut your velociraptor mouth” comment kept playing over and over in his head. The teasing and the tickling did nothing to help his attempts at pulling himself together. He pounded his fist on the table, the hand over his mouth doing little to suppress his giggle fit.

“Is it past someone’s bedtime?” Allison asked, doing everything in her power to be condescending.

“I h-HA-hate you!” He managed out at last. Everyone waited for him to blink away in a burst of angry eyebrows and swearing, but he stayed. He actually stayed. Vanya then considered every part of game night a success. No one had seen or heard Five laugh, really laugh, in forever. She had almost forgotten what it sounded like. Five himself probably forgot what it felt like, still shaking with leftover giggles from the tickle attack. He finally caught his breath, trying to scowl but failing.

“I hate you.” He repeated, wiping his eyes.

 “You hate how much I’m kicking this volcano’s ass.” Klaus said, “You wish you were a level 420 angel spaceman like me.”

“Now you’re just making things up!” Vanya said. The game was hopelessly out her hands at this point, but she was strangely at peace with it.

“We made up the entire game! If anything, I’m just creating the expansion pack as we speak.” Klaus defended, grabbing the rules out of Vanya’s hands and scribbling a new page of ideas.

 The game went on well into the night, with each twist and turn becoming more and more bizarre. Five’s uncommonly giddy mood was infectious, and everyone had to stick around to enjoy it while it lasted, even grabbing at his knees when he tried to shift back into his typically grouchy state. The ice crystal was never acquired, but Five ended up with the hiccups from laughing so much and so hard, so everyone thought the evening was worth it. As the game wrapped up, everyone left the room feeling somewhat lighter, relieved almost. They were going to have to start later more often.

[marshmallowprotection]

Do you think MysMe fandom resurrected from its grave, due to the announcement of Ray's AE and such?

Buddy, I don't think we've been dead in the first place. I've been here consistently writing and like interacting with a lot of people for nearly my entire time in this fandom and on my blog here! If you mean like, a wider pool of new people joining in or coming back, well, it's possible. I would love to see old and new fans alike joining in on the fun here with us!

However, a lot of the people who "left" in the first place were lovely content creators who were disrespected by tons of reposters. That's how you kill a good chunk of your fandom, reposting and "Credit To Whoever Did This!!!" Instead of, I don't know, reverse searching for the image and saving the links to whatever you've saved in the past so you can send people to the artist. So, if you wonder why sometimes there's people no longer here in the fandom 9/10 times it's because people disrespected the one simple rule of fanart. Credit your artists. Support your artists.

Also, if you want to read more written content from people, and you want to see more writers in fandom, even like myself, reblog more content instead of liking it. I'm not saying you have to reblog all the written content you see. If you like something, reblog it. I consistently get 20-40 likes on something for example, and do you know how many reblogs and shares that I get in that count? 2-5, if I'm lucky.

I know there's a lot of ghost followers and people who are really shy, don't talk to me or reblog my content for their own reasons. But, you always see me reaching out and reblogging people who are just starting out as writers or artists to give them a boost from my slightly larger platform because if we want to see our little fandom thrive, we have to support each other when we can do it.

So, if you want to see things more active, start supporting the people you follow by doing a small and very simple reblog, go into their inboxes and cheer them on, chat to each other, interact, be kind, and see everyone make a great and healthy circle where we all scream together about whatever is going on at the time. You want to see everyone come together? Well, everyone has to work together to support one another. It doesn't mean rapid reblogs, or anything, just change how you approach your content creators and each other!

You have no idea how much I love seeing people support each other, or how much I cry when I've seen that I got a reblog or a comment from any one person. I check the tags. I read all the keysmashes and compliments. You guys fuel people by being supportive and kind.

[veilofher]

Things that fanfics pretty much always get wrong about WangXian.

Lan Wangji is gay. Um, no. He's actually demisexual pan, and demi romantic. I know people don't understand this and are almost never willing to think of this demography as a part of the wheel, but yeah. They (we) exist. There are people who've never felt any sort of romantic or sexual attraction to people, except for maybe one person? Or two? The whole thing about Lan WangJi was how he was famously ascetic. That's literally his arc, breaking his untouchable-ness for that one person. His one person. And the proof of this is how he never thinks twice about the body Wei WuXian was in. It could've been a girl that resurrected Wei WuXian, and the moment Lan WangJi knew, he would've shifted his perception to that and dragged Wei WuXian back to Gusu. I'll even go as far as to say that he might even be a sapiosexual, which as one myself I totally feel like he is, because he is almost always, completely turned on when Wei WuXian is being a smart ass.

Wei WuXian is almost always a flamboyant gay or bi. Um.. No? I mean his entire arc was literally flirting with girls and then there is Lan Zhan. Like literally he's like I wanna travel with Lan Zhan like my parents did, and we'd live in one house and he'd do the weaving and I'd do the farming, and we'd spend our retirement like that, and then holy shit this body has turned me gay! How does that translate into being gay? Or bi? He's actually always shown to be very flirty with girls, but never holding any attraction or romantic feelings for anyone? Also why do fan fics always make him flamboyant? Don't get me wrong, but except for when he's actively attempting to act like a lunatic cut-sleeve, he's actually a very simple guy? Even when he was under Jiang Cheng, he was very dramatic with his gestures, yes, but he was still dressed very practically and simply? That's literally his whole, ya know, aesthetic?

Wei WuXian crying. I get this. Trust me, we all want to see characters who are more emotional, but canonically, unless like he was a baby who was facing down dogs larger than him, he cries twice in the whole book: once after YunmengJiang burns down, and second after Jiang YanLi dies. And I won't lie, I hate when I see fictions where he just you know, cries at the drop of a hat. I totally click out of it. I'm always like why are you butchering his fucking character! Why is it so hard to show that a person is angry or sad without them crying? Between Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian, I'd say Lan WangJi is the one who cries, because he totally cried after Wei WuXian confessed. Wei WuXian on the other hand was just very emotional? But not crying? I just wanna tell the fan fic authors, there are so many other ways to show that the character is feeling something very powerful without them crying. Explore.

Wei WuXian is tiny compared to Lan WangJi. Um. No. This is a factual no. In his original body, Wei WuXian was 2cm shorter than Lan WangJi, which is a negligible height difference, and in the Mo XuanYu body, he was 8cm shorter than Lan WangJi, which is like about 3/4th of a head difference depending on the head size. So if you're writing a fanfic where either Wei WuXian doesn't die, or is a modern fanfic, don't make him fucking tiny! Don't call him the shorter man or Lan WangJi the taller man, or that he looked up to Lan WangJi or Lan WangJi bent down to kiss him. None of that is needed for that height difference!

Jiang Cheng needs therapy and cuddles after the book ends. Which, I won't lie, I won't deny entirely, because every single one of the cast needs therapy after that, but yeah no, Jiang Cheng is literally one of the last people I'm sympathetic towards. And I have good reason for that. Hear me out. Since we're reading the book from Wei WuXian's perspective, we don't feel the passage of time, but it was 13 years for the rest of the people. 13 years to move on from that whole shitz of the Nightless city massacre, and almost everyone does. To a great extent. Even Lan WangJi. They all move on with their lives without hanging on to dead people, because that's the thing about living. But not Jiang Cheng. Even 13 years later he defines his life by Wei WuXian, and that is so fucking unhealthy I can't even. And I cannot feel sympathy for that. For obsessing so hard over one person who has died, in one of the most brutal of ways, more than a decade ago. He CHOSE to hold on to that. To that hatred. When Wei WuXian says after the second siege, what else can I give you. I have died once, and not even my body remained on this earth, its not a plea to ask for forgiveness. It's literally him pointing at the fact that he died and their all consuming hatred should have died with him. Because after that, he's not responsible. When Jiang Cheng ruined relationships in his life after Wei WuXian's death, it wasn't Wei WuXian's fault, because then, moving on was his duty. Blaming Wei WuXian for all the miseries in his life 13 years after everything ended is literally pathetic. And I won't apologise for thinking that. Yes, Jiang Cheng is painfully human, but he's the extremity of humanity that we're all warned against. The fandom collectively condemns the father of the Twin Jades of Lan, for obsessing over his wife a decade after her death, and still do not think of how Jiang Cheng is the repetition of that in the present life. The emotion may have been different, the method and behaviour different, but the outcome the same.

Wei WuXian is insecure and believes the worst about himself. Okay this we need to have a conversation about, because yes, this is something that most people think is canonical, but like the whole "thirteen years of inquiry", is not. And if you believe in this, I can't blame you either. But here's a reason why I believe it's not.

After the whole slaughtering the fake XuanWu of slaughter, when Jiang FengMian and Yu ZiYuan have the fight and Jiang Cheng is like, my father hates me, Wei WuXian responds with "my parents are real people in this world, and I don't want anyone assigning me to their households." Which to me just sounds very confident and proud of his blood and family. And a lot of that credit for that confidence should go to Jiang FengMian, who took a broken street boy and taught him how to be comfortable in who he is and comfortable in his place in the world. And when he did not have something, he was taught that he could fight for it to get it. Yu ZiYuan did not teach Wei WuXian that. The streets did not teach Wei WuXian that. Jiang FengMian did. And its doing disservice to that teaching about self-worth if you think anything otherwise.

Everytime people blame Wei WuXian, he fights against them. Be it verbally or physically. Wei WuXian is very aware of his actions, and he takes them knowing the consequences they could give rise to. Example, saving the Wen remnants and defecting from the Jiang sect. But never once, not even after his resurrection, does he ever think he was wrong. Yes he knows he crossed a line when Jin ZiXuan died and then the Nightless city massacre followed with the death of Jiang YanLi, and he feels guilty and responsible, but never once does he think he was wrong in saving and standing up for the Wen sect remnants. His whole thing is the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Like literally. Saying that he believes the worst about himself is casting a doubt in his believe in doing good.

After they get married, when they overhear how Lan Qiren is gonna lose it if Lan WangJi doesn't return, Wei WuXian is the one who suggests that they should go back to the GusuLan, and that Lan WangJi should smuggle him in and hide him with the jars of emperor smiles, and if that doesn't work then they can just leave. What we're supposed to take from that is that he's so confident in his relationship with Lan WangJi that he knows, push come to shove, Lan WangJi would chose him. Saying that he is insecure, is literally making a mockery of their relationship, which did not happen overnight. It grew gradually. During the second siege, when he asked Lan WangJi to stay with him, that was him, from his perspective being like let's fight, if we die, we die together. And then for readers to go on and say that he could be insecure in a relationship with a guy who was willing to die with him and willingly ruined his reputation for him is so ridiculous to me.

Um I feel like I should apologise if I offended any of the fanfics writers, you guys are great! But I just felt like these are things that needed to be out there in case someone forgot what the actual book feels like.

[rayofspades]

How to Write a Horror Story: The Magnus Archives

This post is kinda weird since most tumblr fandom content is based on the assumption that Everyone Has Seen The Thing, but since this is a transcript of a video essay, it’s more broad. 

I might link the video in a reblog since, you know, tumblr doesn’t like links.

Anyways, here’s the post:

Hello Jon, apologies for the decep-

I’ve seen a lot of mystery shows in my day, and some supernatural shows, and the common thread between them is that they kind of...fall apart as they go on. 

Obviously, this is a generalization and I haven’t seen every mystery show or every paranormal show, but it’s a pretty common problem. 

At this point in pop culture criticism, it’s basically common knowledge that these shows fall apart due to a lack of planning. If a mystery series is making shit up as it goes along while trying to surprise the audience, it’s going to stop making sense at some point. And if an episodic paranormal show is constantly trying to up the stakes, eventually it’s going to become absolutely ridiculous and stretch the audience’s suspension of disbelief past a breaking point. 

Other people have already talked about this stuff to death, but today I want to talk about a paranormal mystery show that actually succeeds at what it set out to do.  

The Magnus Archives is a podcast written by Jonny Sims and directed by Alexander J. Newall. It ran from 2016 to 2021 and it’s...really really good. It’s an episodic horror story, taking place at the fictional Magnus Institute where the head archivist reads various statements about people’s encounters with supernatural entities. It’s got it all; scary stories, mystery, an overarching plot, office comedy, office romance, office tragedy, a villain that’s making straight men everywhere question their sexuality, and an overall really solid structure. 

If you listen to the Q+As put out by the writer and director, you’ll hear them talk about how they planned the series from the beginning, setting up the layout for each season. Some things were definitely changed throughout the actual writing process; that’s just inevitable and necessary when you’re working on a long running show, but in a general sense, they knew where they were going. But, writing a good story doesn’t just involve knowing where you’re going; it’s about executing whatever plan you have effectively. And I think the execution of The Magnus Archives is pretty brilliant, so I want to talk about it. 

And for the record, I said “brilliant,” not “perfect.” I do have a lot of criticisms of this show, and I’m definitely going to talk about those too, because honestly? Even the problems with this show are interesting in their own right. 

Ok, let’s go. 

Oh, spoilers by the way. For the whole plot. Whole thing. 

Part 1: Horror and Mystery 

Ok, so The Magnus Archives has two separate plots going on: the episodic stories that can be listened to individually, and the underlying meta plot. The former is where most of the mystery storytelling takes place, and it’s a really engaging mystery. It’s starts off slow, and almost undetectable at first. The main character, Jon, also known as The Archivist, is just reading out old scary stories that people have delivered to the Magnus Institute. Stuff like; a college student sees a ghostly inhuman figure asking for a cigarette, a woman’s fiancé dies and she finds herself trapped in an empty graveyard, there’s this goth kid who apparently murdered his mother and then skinned her? But she’s kind of still alive? What the f*ck? Hope we never see that kid again. Also, this “Jurgen Lietner” guy wrote a bunch of cursed books and Jon knows about this? Are more books gonna come up? And then you’re like, wait is the goth kid who killed that burn victim the same goth kid who killed his mom like 8 episodes ago? Holy shit the family of that girl’s dead fiancé FUNDS THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE? Did this famous youtuber meet one of the missing people from episode one? The goth kid is back and he’s looking for Leitner books? The name “Michael” has come up like 6 times? Are they all the same guy? I just—who the f*ck is Jurgen Leitner? 

So yeah, as you can see, a lot of these stories connect in cool ways, and I’ve only mentioned like, 0.2 percent of all of those connections. Furthermore, these stories are told out of chronological order, and sometimes the same scenario appears in more than one statement, told from different perspectives. This asymmetrical storytelling and odd doling out of information creates a mystery that’s really interesting. It also makes for a great re-listen, since you can retroactively see what elements were set up before you even realized that they were going to come back.  

The audio format contributes to this too; you can’t just see that the table from episode three matches the pattern on the box in episode eight. You have to pick up on clues that were mentioned and pay attention to what people are describing, and it’s highly rewarding when the pieces all start to fit together. 

There is a bit of a downside to this though. Technically The Magnus Archives is a horror story first and a mystery second, and these two elements can mesh in weird ways. 

The horror is element is really strong. Each story is completely different, sometimes focusing on psychological horror, body horror, or supernatural versions of more primal fears like heights, darkness, enclosed spaces, etc. Basically, if you’re afraid of anything, there will be at least one episode of The Magnus Archives that gets under your skin. 

Jonny Sims can really sell his stories through both his writing and acting. He plays Jon, by the way, and plagiarized his own birth certificate for the character name. (For future reference, Jonny is the actor, Jon is the character). Overall, he’s really good at writing prose, and each narrator has a very distinct voice even though the large majority of the stories are being read by one character/actor.  

Obviously not every episode is a bull’s eye. Sometimes it’s due to the subjectivity when it comes to what you as an audience member are scared of, and occasionally it’s just weird writing decisions. I’m thinking specifically of episode 21 where the line “the sky ate him” is said, and it is the worst line in the entire show. The whole goddamn show. That’s it. That’s the number one worst line. 

But still, overall, the horror storytelling is incredibly solid, and some episodes even gave me brand new fears, like the unholy isolation of being in space, or the concept that someone you love could be replaced by someone completely different without you noticing.  

But here’s the thing; 

A lot of good horror is based on the absence of explanation. Most of the episodes that gave me the most visceral reactions of genuine terror come from the first two seasons, because that’s when the audience has the least amount of information. 

For example, in episode two, a really terrifying coffin is introduced. It’s creepy, it reacts very strangely to water for some reason, and appears to compel people to try opening it. By the end of the episode, the audience never finds out what’s in that coffin and that is a good thing. That is a huge part of what made that episode so unnerving.  

And then a few seasons later, we do find out what’s in the coffin, and to be fair the answer is both very creative and very scary, but it also takes a lot of the punch out of episode two. 

 No matter how f*cked up your thing is, it’s not going to compare to whatever the audience can conjure up in their own mind after such a creepy set up. This problem isn’t just stuck in this one scenario either; there are a lot of early episodes that, while still good, seem a lot less creepy in hindsight after you learn more about the scenario. 

I don’t think it’s bad writing, but I do think it’s a double-edged sword. Jonny Sims even mentions this sort of issue in the first Q+A. 

But yeah, to sum up; the narration is good, the ideas are creative, and seeing the mystery unfurl itself is deeply compelling. And for the record, the mystery elements aren’t of the Sherlock Holmes variety. It’s less about finding out who did the thing, and more about discovering how all of these individual points are intricately connected, pulling on each other as they move. Woven together like a... oh shit what’s the word? Gah, it’s on the tip of my tongue. Ah, whatever, I’m sure it’s not like a running motif or anything.  

Part 2: Stakes 

One of the main reasons I stopped watching Supernatural is that it devolves into complete f*cking nonsense. At the end of season five, the boys literally defeat the devil, and then the show...keeps going? Which would be fine. It’s also, largely, an episodic show, so if they have more creative ideas, they could definitely keep going with it. In fact, there are some post season five episodes that I thought were pretty good. But as they kept trying to outdo themselves with Bigger Bads, it got kind of difficult to suspend my disbelief. And the final nail in the coffin for me was the end of season nine, when Crowly basically points out to the audience that the main characters keep dying and coming back to life, so there are no stakes. The most-badest bad guy can always be defeated because some new Thing can just come out of left-field, and dying isn’t even on the table as a threat since people have tons of ways of coming back to life. 

The Magnus Archives, while being a show based in the supernatural, notably doesn’t bring anyone back to life, even though some very beloved characters die. I say “notably,” because in the season three Q+A, Jonny even says, “We make a point not to bring people back from the dead in Magnus, I know it sometimes feels like that, but we are very careful to never actually resurrect anyone.” 

Upon listening to this I said “oh my god, these guys are the only writers left who at least kind of know what they’re doing.”  

Also, as far as plot progression goes, The Magnus Archives is lowkey structurally perfect in the way the threats escalate in the underlying plot; both in terms of destruction and power and in terms of emotional consequences. Season one starts off with one major threat that’s dealt with by the end of the season, season two reveals the main villain, season three lays out the grander forces at play, season four ends the world, and season five is about un-ending the world. The difference between season one and season five is vast, but how we got there makes perfect sense. 

As for the emotional stakes, let’s talk about themes and characters. 

Part 3: Themes and Characters 

At the very end of season two, it’s revealed that the supernatural happenings in the Magnus universe are the result of entities far beyond our understanding. Since their existence is so fundamentally different from what we can comprehend, they interact with the world through cursed items, creatures, and humans who have dedicated themselves to an entity.  

A lot of people read this as a metaphor for late-stage capitalism, and I am one of those people. A bunch of faceless entities exploiting humans through means of dehumanization and causing people to suffer because it feeds them seems like an appropriate metaphor. 

While we’re on this topic, I do want to talk about Elias, since he’s the main villain of the entire series and also one of my favorite villains of all time. The Magnus Archives is a series that deals with a lot of moral questions and has a lot of characters who do morally questionable things, so one might assume that the villain of said series is, you know, morally ambiguous and sympathetic to some extent despite being “the bad guy.” 

Nope! No stops, full bastard. It’s great. 

He falls under what I’ve deemed the “unbeatable boss” archetype. He just doesn’t tolerate insubordination or resistance, and that combined with his lack of empathy means that anyone who crosses him is either killed or brought to heel. His power set is cool too. On the surface the ability to see out of any eye and read minds sounds useful, but not deal breaking, but the way he uses that power to manipulate people and anticipate threats...yeah, it makes him kind of impossible to beat.  

He’s just...so evil and he loves being evil and every single f*cking thing he does pisses me off and makes me want to kill him. It’s. Great. 

Anyways, I think Elias’s role as the central antagonist is what makes the capitalist reading so common. He’s the head of the institute, he’s wealthy, he’s powerful, and he dehumanizes people in ways that are both brutal and chillingly indifferent. He seems like an appropriate stand in through that lens. 

I also love how voice actor Ben Meredith plays him like’s he’s trying to seduce the audience.  

With all of that said, I wouldn’t call this the critique of capitalism a direct allegory or anything; in much looser terms, this could be a metaphor for any power structure that exploits humans. Organized religion or cults might be even more on the nose, considering there’s a lot of mentions of rituals and worship within the show. 

But if we boil it down to its barest aspects and focus on the avatar characters, The Magnus Archives is a series about people becoming monsters. Or, at the very least, becoming worse versions of themselves. That can mean a lot of things to different people in a metaphorical sense; the tense relationship between desperation and morality, the eagerness to please at the cost of one’s own mental health, the psychological traumas that lead people down dark paths, and how personal choices can still be dictated and manipulated by outside influences. It’s kind of heavy stuff, but put into a digestible package through the show’s abstractions. 

Well, for the most part.  

There’s some debate as to whether or not Daisy’s arc was handled tastefully. While her demise and Basira’s character arc were clearly meant to condemn police brutality and the deeply corrupt system that allows it to foster, it’s still a weird subject to discuss in such a fantastical context, and there is a strange sympathy for the devil angle that can get kind of uncomfortable for some listeners.  

Okay, stepping back from that for a bit, let’s talk about Jon and how he fits into this whole “people becoming corrupted” thing. 

Jon has one of my favourite brands of character arc, which is one based in deterioration alongside growth. The most obvious way this takes form is his departure from humanity as his relationship with the Eye drives him to psychologically harm others, and he finds himself sympathizing more and more with the people he was afraid of, stating in episode 152 that anyone listening to his recordings might compare him to the other avatars that have had their minds and morals twisted. 

Over the course of the series, he is repeatedly traumatized and the show makes a point that he is being both physically and emotionally scarred. These happenings are what drive his motivation for revenge in season five, and he even states that revenge is making him a worse person. As a character he’s constantly berating himself and his own monstrousness, much to Martin’s dismay.  

That’s why the finale destroys me in the best way. Upon seeing that Jon has betrayed him and basically given himself over to the Eye, Martin asks “how much of you is even left?” And when Jon tries to reassure him that he’s still himself, Martin’s response is “how would you even know?” This cuts through me every time. Up until this point, Martin had consistently stood up for Jon and Jon’s humanity, even in the face of Tim’s doubt, Basira’s mistrust, Elias being cryptic, and Jon’s own self-hatred. This is the ultimate breaking point, the point where even Martin, the love of Jon’s life, doesn’t really recognize him. It’s brutal. Because at the end of the day, Jon is still himself; he’s a deeply broken person trying to make the right decisions.  

We’ll come back to the finale later, but for now I want to talk about the romance. 

Jon’s emotional growth throughout the series is largely tied into Martin. Martin’s the first person that Jon really opens up to, and this later grows into trust which then turns into a genuine emotional connection.  On the flip side, Martin’s growth in season four is largely tied into Jon. Martin starts season four basically waiting to die, but Jon’s return gives him a reason to keep living, and he’s later able to recognize his own value outside of the pure utility of ‘you need to set yourself on fire to keep everyone else warm.’ Both of them give each other reason to push onward despite everything becoming more and more hopeless.  

It’s a good romance. I wish the two had had a few more scenes together before the culmination, but it is built up over the course of four seasons and comes together in an utterly fantastic confession.  

And yeah, the scene with Martin and Jon in the Lonely is cheesy as hell, but it is the highest quality of cheese. These are some gourmet nachos.  

Umm, also kind of stating the obvious here, but it’s also pretty cool that the main character in this horror story falls in love with another man. You don’t see that a lot, and it’s cool that no one even makes a big deal out of it. It’s just a normal romance, but with two guys. It’s nice. 

So, they go to Scottland, they hang out, they’re in love, Jonalias starts the apocalypse through Jon, the world ends, and season five starts! 

...Let’s talk about season five! 

Part 4: Season 5 

At the very start of this post, I said that supernatural mysteries tend to get worse as they go along, and I am deeply sad to report that I don’t think that The Magnus Archives is an exception. It just goes downhill in a very different way than its ilk. 

And, so we’re clear, I don’t think season five totally tanks or becomes unlistenable, it’s just, in my opinion, notably worse than the rest of the show. 

As discussed earlier, it doesn’t fall apart due to a lack of planning; everything still makes sense, but the presentation has changed drastically. The episodic statements are no longer scary stories, but more like slam poems about the various hellscapes that Jon and Martin are trekking through. Honestly if these were published in a book of slam poetry, I would probably think they slapped pretty hard. I genuinely believe that Jonny Sims is a good writer, but as a podcast a lot of these statements just made me zone out. There’s at least four that I don’t even slightly remember. Myself and many others have noted that they just...aren’t scary, unless there’s a specific episode that really gets under your skin due to a certain fear or phobia. 

To quote my friend, “it’s harder to feel a solid impact when the setting is literally divorced from reality. People would either go numb or insane to the point where their fears become unrelatable.” 

And, to be honest, I think that this same surreal odyssey set up could have worked with a slight shift in narration. Two stand out episodes for me were “Strung Out” and “Wonderland.” Both of them show the tormented target actively trying to resist and interact with their tormenter, instead of just trying to escape or live through their situation. “Strung Out” is also more of character study; you learn about Francis’s life before the apocalypse through their interaction with the Web hellscape. Meanwhile “Wonderland” is just...f*cked, and you get to see Jon take the perspective of first-person Bad Guy throughout the whole thing, which is its own level of disturbing. 

But the majority of episodes feel so abstract that I kind of forget the people trapped in them are supposed to be characters and not just concepts, so it’s harder to feel their dread and pain. 

But I’m still here for the metaplot, the drama, and the romance. And when that’s good, it’s great! I think the final handful of episodes are really solid in that regard. 

Buuuuuuut... 

A decent chunk of season five is dedicated to the “kill bill” plot. Jon discovers he has the power to smite people, and while at first, he’s embarrassed about this, since he actively enjoyed killing Not!Sasha, Martin is super into it! He’s encouraging Jon to murder people.  

This is actually the set up for a really good arc. As Jon gets more and more into his own avenging angel persona, Martin could get more and more disturbed by it so by the time they get to London, Martin could be really upset that Jon is so willing to wreak his own divine justice by killing or torturing all of the avatars. 

And this does kind of happen. We do reach this end state, and it makes for a good final conflict, but the way we got here was borderline nonsense. Thematic gibberish, if you will. 

Throughout the journey, Martin is clearly motived by a sense of justice; these people are bad, and so they should die. Whereas Jon is clearly more motivated by revenge; he only goes after the avatars that hurt him personally. At one point, Jon admits that maybe all of this killing isn’t making anything better, but just making him worse. Martin apologizes for egging him on, Jon absolves him by saying he started it, and then Martin’s like “I’ll keep my apology then.” This is the second worst line in the entire series, right after “the sky ate him.” And it’s close. 

But it kind of feels like we’re back at square one. Jon is back to being ashamed of killing and Martin is still keen on his justice stance, but now just less pushy about it. The arc is basically half resolved at this point. 

But then it doesn’t matter, because Jon kills Helen anyway. So, Jon’s back on his revenge/justice thing. Then what was the point of his earlier revelation? Why have that if it’s not going to matter and the conflict that was escalating still culminates with Jon leaning into the avenging angel stuff, and Martin being disturbed by it? It just makes both of them look like huge hypocrites! I f*cking hate it when they’re in the tunnels and Martin says “you weren’t meant to enjoy it this much,” regarding Jon’s smiting. Where did this come from?! Why didn’t you say this earlier? Third worst line in the series. 

And yeah, I’ll say it; the boys fight too much in this season. I loved their romance up to season five, and their cute moments and more lowkey serious discussions are still good in this season, but God, they fight so much. And I’m not saying couples can’t have fights or tension, that’s just realistic and also stories need conflict to be interesting. Jonny Sims is on the record saying that balancing a healthy romance with the stress of a literal apocalypse was a priority, and I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s well balanced.  I’m just saying that sometimes it feels like they don’t even like each other and it really started to grate on me. 

Maybe it would have been better if the beginning of this season was dedicated to charming romance at first, so we as an audience could better appreciate how strong their love is and how it’s truly being tested. But obviously that was never on the table— 

ALEX NO. 

So, yeah, I have a lot of problems with season. I think it’s the worst one by far, even though there is a lot of it I still enjoy, including the ending. 

As I mentioned before, the moment where Martin confronts Jon in the panopticon absolutely kills me, and Jon’s reaction kills me even harder. Throughout the season, Jon had largely been motivated by revenge, martyrdom, and the subconscious call of the Eye, and all three of those factors led him to his position as the pupil. He’s getting revenge against the powers, sacrificing his humanity to get rid of the Fears, and taking his place as wearer of the watcher’s crown. But all of this gets thrown out the window when he realizes that Martin is going to die. And not only is Martin going to die, Martin is going to die specifically because he loves Jon and refuses to leave Jon alone to die horribly. Martin had always been an underlying motivation for Jon, his “reason” as stated in episode 167, but now love as a motivator has come to the forefront, and Jon can no longer go through with his plan because of it. But at this point in the series, they’re both utterly doomed, and Jon concludes that the only possible chance they have of surviving, however unlikely, would be to sever the pupil of the eye, technically killing Jon, but maybe, just maybe, allowing them to escape with the Fears. Whether that’s meant to be literal or more ethereal is left unclear. Hell, maybe Jon’s just making it up completely and creating his own potential happy ending. It’s a pretty potent ending in emotional terms; Jon has to release the Fears and Martin has to kill Jon, and those are the two things they were dead set on not doing.  

The Web, arguably the real main antagonist, basically won, and their manipulation of Jon worked. The destruction spread, and there is kind of a bleak underlying tone to that. 

But at least this ending has some semblance of hope to it. I’m not saying that releasing the Fears was objectively the correct moral decision; the entire point of the dilemma is that there was no objectively correct moral decision. But, while Jon’s solution does have merit, it was also the most hopeless. I think dramatically, any one of the choices on the table could have worked if the writing was well executed, but thematically this one seemed like the perfect combination of grim and optimistic. Like, all of the evils that plague humanity can’t just be defeated forever and things could get worse, but maybe not. Maybe everything works out... 

So yeah, The Magnus Archives...is a podcast. And it’s a really good podcast. Great, even. I can complain about season five all I want, but regardless of how that worked out, you can tell throughout the entire show that the people working on it were trying to tell a genuinely excellent story. 

It’s good. Go listen to it. Even though I spoiled the entire thing and if you’re still here, you’ve probably already listened to it. Listen to it again.