#however leaving it on a cliffhanger like that. ouch

[vooruitmariek]

love like yours will surely come my way

[nivisdreaming]

4 words

Hard dick

Grey Sweatpants

exactly. you get me.

Summary: Eddie’s thrilled to finally have his own place. Or at least, mostly his, since he does have a new roommate. A roommate that’s starting to give him some troubles, since she can’t seem to keep it down, and the walls aren’t all that thick. But, maybe she doesn’t actually mind all that much?

WC: ~1.8k

Tags: Roommates to lovers, mutual pining, a touch of emotional angst, fem!reader, 2nd POV, surprisingly un-smutty, cliffhanger, but still, exhibitionism, voyuerism, daddy kink, f!masturbation, vibrator use, mentioned m!masturbation, dry humping, bondage, heavy dom/sub undertones, implied oral (m!receiving)

“I’m gonna have to fucking move out. That’s my only option.” Eddie rests his forehead against the cool metal of the table in front of him with a thump.

“Don’t be so dramatic, I’m sure there’s something else you two can work out!”

“He has plenty of options, Stevie, however he is incapable of all of them because they include talking to pretty girls, something Edward Munson clearly has a chronic phobia of,” Robin chimes in as she lifts a french fry to her mouth. Eddie rolls his eyes despite knowing she can’t see them and lets out a long groan.

“What would I even say to her?? ‘Hey by the way, our apartment has the thinnest fucking walls in existence and I can hear every time you get off and it keeps getting me fucking hard so I would appreciate if you could not!’”

Steve makes an indigent sound. “Wait, hold your horses, you never mentioned this was a mutual thing Munson! This isn’t just a noise complaint, this is you dragging your roommate into your kink escapades, handcuffs on the wall guy!-“ He’s cut off by Robin bursting into laughter and throwing a playful punch to his arm.

Eddie grumbles a complaint and looks upwards just to fold his arms across his chest in annoyance. A pout crosses his face as Steve chuckles with Robin. “In my defense, it’s not like she didn’t get there on her own just fine,” he mutters, giving another roll of his eyes.

Robins jaw drops, “Wait, hold on, what?” Steve’s eyes fly between Eddie and Robin as he tries to puzzle out Eddie’s statement, his hand frozen over the basket of fries he was reaching into.

Now it’s Eddie turn to laugh, just glad he can finally find some humor out of this interaction with his friends. “I know I told you guys she was the total innocent type when I moved in, but, based on what I’ve been hearing… I assumed wrong,” he says with a smirk. He looks between Steve and Robin, both of them stunned into silence for a moment while Eddie takes another sip of his drink. “It would be easier if she was like, a vanilla girl or something, but god help me, I’m not allowed a bit of that Munson luck for once in my life. I just get to listen to her practically begging to be taken while knowing she’s not actually mine to be taken.”

Robin’s thoughts finally seem to reboot as she gives a clearing shake to her head. Steve shoots a nervous glance around them, trying to make sure there’s no children in range who could possibly overhear this, while she takes a long slurp from her milkshake. “Okay, but consider, could she be?”

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Could she be what?”

“Yours for the taking, dummy. If you’re really.. overhearing as often as you say you are, there’s no way someone else has a claim on her, right? I fail to see the blockage here. Besides the you part of the equation, but that’s fixable bud!”

“Hey! First of all, ouch, my ego! Second of all, I’m not gonna fuck my roommate. I’m not even going to ask to fuck my roommate, because that’s weird and like you said I’m me!” Eddie scoffs and downs the rest of his soda. “Neither of you are helpful, and I’m not spending the last 13 minutes of my lunch break being made fun of,” he climbs out of his seat and pulls on his jacket, “Sayonara, suckers!” He turns to leave, but Steve grabs him by the sleeve.

“Eddie. Look, I know Robin and I joke, but seriously. I’ve seen how you look at her and how she looks at you. You’re not as bad as you think, you know that? This isn’t Hawkins High anymore, you’re not ‘The Freak’, you’re Eddie Munson, the cool metal-rocker she shares an apartment with.” Eddie shoots him an unimpressed stare. “I’m not saying do anything you don’t want to, okay? Just… keep your options open, okay?” Steve pulls away from Eddie to scratch the nape of his neck nervously. Eddie nods and sidesteps around him, leaving Steve to depart back to Robin while he briskly makes the 10 minute walk back to the garage.

—

By the time Eddie makes it home from work his roommate is already holed up in their room, but when Eddie enters his shared-wall bedroom, he is met with silence on her end.

He tosses his jacket off and flops onto the bed, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he reflects on his day. Work was the usual, a few bitchy customers but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s his lunch with Robin and Steve that’s really eating at him, running circles around his mind and planting ideas in his head that previously he would have only entertained as fantasies. He hates it, how dirty it makes him feel, to imagine his innocent, introverted roommate pinned underneath him and making those sweet mewling sounds at his touch instead of her own, but he can only suppress his urges for so long, especially when he hears the mechanical buzzing start sounding through the wall.

They didn’t necessarily start as dirty thoughts. At first, he was imagining making dinner for you, stirring a big pot of mac and cheese while you sat next to him atop the counter, legs swinging back and forth while he let you ramble your day just to enjoy the sound of your voice in his ears. Then it shifted to eating the dinner in front of TV, you curled up into his side while you ate and giggled at one of the cheesy rom-coms you roped him into watching. Then he was placing a kiss on your cheek just to watch you get flustered, and you were getting brave and leaning in for a full kiss, and if he squeezed his eyes shut he could imagine the sighs coming from the other room were his to inhale. His breath to steal from your lips as he trailed down your neck, marking you with red and purple fireworks until there was no covering up how he was corrupting your innocence. His.

A high-pitched whimper snapped him out of his daydreams, followed by a harsh huff. He barely had time to register that the whirring sound had ceased when a knock came from his door as it was nudged open.

“Hey Eddie? Do you have any batteries I can borrow?” Eddie flies up to a sitting position, making eye contact with the meek figure standing in his doorway. You’ve got a blanket wrapped around your body, held together with a tight grip in the front to keep yourself completely covered. Or, almost completely covered, because the blanket bunches behind you as you shuffle, revealing your bare legs up to the tops of your knees. Eddie can’t seem to keep his eyes on yours anymore.

You shift uncomfortably under his gaze, but take a step into the room, not away. “Eddie, you’re… staring,” you take another step forward, “This.. might seem a bit weird, but I really like those pants on you. Especially like this.”

Eddie lets out a high pitched squeak as he takes in his own grey sweatpants, and the outline of his erection that clearly showing through them. He lurches to grab a nearby pillow to cover himself, but a hand around his wrist stops him. In front of him, you’ve allowed the blanket to fall away in favor of halting his movement, revealing yourself to be nothing but a pair a white cotton panties with a very visible wet splotch. “Just wait a second,” you release his hand and lean over to shut his door and lock it. When you turn back around, Eddie is wide-eyed and disheveled, as if starstruck by you. “I was gonna let you make the first move with all of this, but I think the endorphin rush has got me all confident, so I’m just gonna go for it,” You return to Eddie’s bedside and place one hand on each of his shoulders before swinging your leg across his lap and sitting directly atop him, laying your crotch right on his.

Eddie gasps and involuntarily bucks his hips upwards at the sudden pressure, further encouraging you. “I know you’ve been listening to me. The thin walls thing goes both ways, I can hear when you get off with me. Was hoping you wouldn’t make me ask for it, but I can’t wait anymore,” you whisper in his ear as you begin to grind, rutting your hips against his to stimulate your clit. You sigh happily at the feeling of his hands trailing up your back, glad to finally receive his warm touch, but his grip on your waist is quick to turn harsh as he forces your movement to stop. You’re ripped away from him as he flips you over, pushing you to your back so he can place his weight on your own.

“You wanted me to ask? All this time, all I had to do was ask?” He gathers both your wrists in one hand and pins them above your head while the other finds purchase pinching and pulling at your exposed nipple, triggering you to whine and squirm under him. His eyes meet yours again, and the uncharacteristically dark look in them sends a shiver through you. “God, darling, I am going to make you beg. Trust me, when I’m done with you, there will be no asking, just you pleading for mercy.” He releases your hands and pulls away from your breasts to unbuckle his belt and tug it off, fastening it into a set a restraints that you willingly slip your wrists through. “Safeword is Metallica. You can’t talk, you slap me twice anywhere. Either way, that’s the only way this stops. Am I clear?” You nod as a response, but a soft palm cradles your cheek and lifts your chin upwards.

“Words, princess. While you still have them.” His thumb strokes a soothing pattern along your jaw.

You can feel your heartbeat racing, and the fuzzy feeling in your head makes a full sentence hard to put together, but the gentle touch lures you to a moment of grounding. “Yes, I understand Eddie. Metallica or two slaps if I can’t take anymore.”

He snickers and gives a gentle pat to your cheek before pulling back. “Make that a ‘sir’ or a ‘daddy’ next time, sweet girl.” He climbs off from on top of you to tug off his t-shirt and sweats, leaving his inked skin and hairy chest for you to ogle at. You tug on your restraints with a slight whine, disappointed by your inability to reach out and touch him.

“On your knees, baby. Your hands may be indisposed, but I can still put that useful little mouth of yours to work.” Eddie pulls his boxers off from around his ankles and tosses them behind him as he stands at the edge of the bed. You shuffle towards him eagerly.

“Yes daddy.”

[maximoff-pan]

hi!!!!! how about an AU scene where everyone is happy and safe (the kids, steve, nancy, eddie, etc.) and they’re just down in the wheeler’s basement playing DnD??? bonus points if there’s something going on between eddie and the reader… whether it’s an established relationship or they’re just pining besties is up to you oh great one ;)

me??? oh great one??? this is going to be fun…

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: 1.6k

warning(s): no real spoilers except for the fact that Eddie exists in this :)

quick a/n: now, bear with me… I haven’t finished season 4 vol. 1 yet, but I fell so in love with Eddie’s character, that when someone sent me this, I just had to write it. I’m sorry if it doesn’t make a ton of sense, or if the characters are a little out of character, or if this would never happen in the show. This is more of a cute, almost au scene, but I hope you like it!

I also left it on a bit of a cliffhanger (ish) ending so you can imagine it however you like ;)

“Why is it,” you tilt your head quizzically, arms leaning forward on the large table in front of you, “that whenever there’s a campaign to play,” your voice drifts towards Eddie, “you always end up being the dungeon master?”

His stare is blank, as if offended you’d even ask that question. Gaze narrowing on you, his forehead crinkles as he brings his brows up in protest, “Because I’m the best.”

And he’s not wrong. Everyone at this table, including you, knows just how much effort he puts into D&D, spending hours planning to make it fun for each player. But as much as you’re aware of his skill as a dungeon master, you like to screw with him even more.

“Or is it,” you speculate mockingly, a mischievous twinkle glimmering in your eyes, “because you need to have control?”

“Ouch,” Steve nearly chokes on a laugh from beside you, leaving Nancy grinning widely on your other side. “Hit him where it hurts Sigmund.”

Eddie splutters at the nickname. He’s always hated the concept of Freud’s psychoanalysis, as little as he did pay attention to it in class. And it certainly doesn’t help when you’re the one behind the use of said psychological techniques. You’re trying to get into his head, trying to throw him off his game. It’s almost working. But as the gaze of many pairs of eyes turns to him, waiting for his response, Eddie does what he does best. He uses humour, pulling himself together nicely.

Being the competitive person he is, he’s sure as hell not about to fall victim to your teasing. Two can play at that game, he thinks.

Everyone watches on as a smirk spreads from one corner of his lips to the other, his jaw relaxing ever so slightly. “I thought you liked it when I was controlling.”

You scoff outwardly, a laugh bubbling in your throat, while simultaneously attempting to hide your embarrassment. This isn’t the first time Eddie has shot you a suggestive comment in order to watch you fall apart. You’re more than aware of how flirty his personality is, and while you’ve certainly adjusted to it over the years you’ve been friends with him, that doesn’t mean the flirting doesn’t get to you sometimes. 

From beside Eddie, Dustin’s reaction is much more crude, “Fucking ew,” he says, his face scrunching up in disgust, “I did not need to hear that.”

“None of us did.” Mike shoots a pointed look in Eddie’s direction, very much sharing his friend’s obvious distaste at the utterance. 

“Honestly Munson,” Max drawls, speaking for the first time today. She’s stopped picking her nails, you notice, a habit she resorts to when she’s bored. Suddenly Eddie’s offhanded wisecrack has piqued her interest, gripping the air out of the room. And much to Mike and Dustin’s dismay, she’s not about to let it go, putting their game indefinitely on pause.

“You’re all bark,” she continues, “and no bite.”

Eddie recoils, the confidence ripped from his tone. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Steve grins wildly, catching on swiftly. “It means,” he drags out his words slowly, brown orbs glowing in devilry. “You’re all talk.”

You’re starting to realize where this conversation is going, and you’re not sure you like it. As much as you’re usually game for a good bit of teasing, seeing as you started this whole situation, this is headed into dangerous territory, especially for you. Because, while you’d be the first to admit the feelings you hold for your best friend to yourself, you’d be the last person to ever admit it to him. 

And you’re fairly certain everyone here knows just how you feel about him, and just how much those comments effect you.

Max’s voice breaks through your thoughts. “How many times are you going to say those kinds of things before you actually act on it?” Her deep blue gaze is piercing straight into Eddie. “It’s pathetic.”

“Me? Pathetic?” Eddie tuts, his eyes widening in surprise. “Those two words just don’t go together.” 

Max crosses her hands across her chest, standing now, peering over the older teen. “Oh?” She challenges. “Then prove it.”

Eddie rises from his seat, heart beating out of his chest. “Okay.” He says, but he doesn’t sound entirely convinced about what he’s about to do. “I, uh,” any semblance of confidence he had, has now completely deflated. “I can’t.”

“Can’t, or won’t?” Steve cuts in airily.

From your seat, your foot meets Steve shin, and he groans in pain. You shoot him an icy look, one that warns him to tread carefully. “Jeez.” He says. “We were only playing around.”

You know they’re only teasing Eddie on your behalf, because they know how much you like him, but it’s for that reason that this bothers you so much.

Max crooks her neck to the left, the first sign of genuine emotion making its way onto her face. “I’m sorry. I pushed too far.” She admits. “It’s just, you two spend so much time dancing around each other, I thought it was obvious.”

Eddie looks confused. You’re not.

You just want to leave.

“Thought what was obvious?” The question spills from his mouth without a second of hesitation. You’re not sure whether that makes you feel better or worse.

Max groans, and you silently pray that she doesn’t say anything else. But then again, when has luck ever been on your side?

“God Munson,” she rakes a hand through her fiery locks, eyes flicking between you and Eddie, “either you’re playing dumb to hide from your own feelings, or you actually are that stupid.”

“For our sake,” Mike cuts in dryly, leaning over to Dustin, “I hope it’s not the latter.”

You can’t handle this anymore, your need to flee reaching its boiling point.

“You know what,” the discomfort is clear in your tone, “I think I need some air.”

Pushing yourself up from the table, you ignore any of the protests that come your way as you turn your back to them and make your way out of the Wheeler’s basement. Once you reach the top of the stairway, you push yourself through their kitchen and through the back door, collapsing shakily onto the steps in their backyard.

The weather is beautiful, the sun is shining, it’s warm and wonderfully breezy, the exact opposite of how you’re feeling right now. The fresh air fills your lungs, a much needed respite from the stuffiness of the Wheeler’s basement. But your mind won’t stop running.

You hear the back door open and close behind you, but you don’t have the energy to look up, as much as you’re curious to see who has come to join you. Given the way you left, you figured they would leave you alone, but, as it appears, someone has ignored your wishes.

“Hey.” The voice murmurs. Of course it would be Eddie. You should have known the second that door opened that it would be him walking out of it. Who else would it be?

Eddie takes a seat next to you, knees bumping yours slightly, his elbows coming to rest on his thighs. “Are you okay?” His voice is soft, a tone he often reserves just for you.

You intake a questionable breath. “I’m fine.” You say, though it doesn’t sound convincing. “Just a little overwhelmed.”

He nods in understanding, thinking for a moment before he speaks.

“You know they don’t mean it right?” He asks, brown eyes desperately trying to meet yours.

You laugh for the second time today. “Oh, they definitely mean it.”

Eddie’s brow furrows. He’s trying to make you feel better, but it’s clearly not working. He’s at a loss for words. “What?” Is the only thing he can think to say.

Your chuckle isn’t one of happiness. It’s one of pain. “They do it because they know how much I—“ you stop yourself from going too far.

But Eddie’s desperate to know what you were going to say. He thinks he’s finally caught on, thinks he finally understands, and his chest rises with hope. “I need to hear you say it.” He finishes.

Relaxing as much as you possibly can, you reach for Eddie’s hand, clasping it with your own. “They know—“ you struggle, “they know how much I love you.” The words come tumbling out of your mouth and you don’t know whether you’re more shocked you actually admitted it out loud, or that you admitted it to him.

Eddie’s palm squeezes yours, his other hand reaching up to cup your chin, turning your head to face his. Brown eyes meet (e/c), in a silent dance of acceptance. All this time he’d thought they were teasing him for not telling you how he felt, little did he know you felt the same.

He never thought there was any way you could feel the same.

“Are you going to say anything?” Your voice cracks, the nerves coming back in full force. His silence isn’t the most reassuring, despite the toothy smile that has graced his features.

He puffs out a light breath of air that catches in his throat. He hums in content. “Hmm…I kind of like fucking with you, Sigmund…” he drags out the nickname with the flick of his tongue. You feel your heart flutter in your chest.

“But I guess,” he smiles, bringing you closer to his lips, so his just barely graze yours as he speaks:

“I could tell you that I love you too.”

[taliaquinn]

Why Me!? Chapter 16

A/N: Hey peeps, I hope you guys enjoy today's update. I hope you guys like the fact that I uploaded so soon. Also I have a lot of oneshot ideas however the tricky part is actually WRITING. Who knew am I right? 

“Kaalki quick open a portal to that old alley, It’s better to transform there, Tikki you can finish Game of Thrones later” Marinette ordered a previously napping Kaalki, while pulling out a miffed Tikki from her mini-room in the closet. Tikki was almost done with the first season of Game Of Throne. The only reason it was taking so long was mostly that she had to watch it whenever Marinette wasn’t around due to uh reasons.

“Priorities much?” Marinette teased, quickly making a fake sleeping Marinette on her bed in case someone checked on her.

She quickly leaped through the portal, after appearing in some Paris alley she quickly ducked behind the dumpster and transformed into Ladybug, and made her way to the Attack.

To no one's surprise she was facing off with Lady Wifi again. Except for this time she was busy tracking down her ex-boyfriend Nino who had broken up with her over text. Ouch. Good for him regardless. The darker part of Marinette was pleased. He came to his senses. Finally. 

Unfortunately for her Lady Wifi was pissed, which made taking her down harder. She had to leave to recharge, Chat showed up during the last few moments but still proved himself useless by getting frozen by Lady-wifi somehow. Luckily Ladybug was sadly used to this and left him frozen. 

Quickly ducking to the side she delivered a blow to Alyas' side. Throwing her yo-yo she managed to tangle Lady Wifis legs, causing her to drop her phone. Ladybug quickly scooped it up to destroy. Seriously, what was it with this girl and her obsession with phones? 

Purifying the Akuma, she used the Miraculous Ladybug to instantly repair all the damage. Releasing a heavy sigh she turned to face her ex-best friend. To her disgust she was facing a pouting Alya and a smiling Chat. 

The instant that Alya saw Ladybug she immediately stood up and ran towards her, 

“Oh my gosh Ladybug thank you for saving me, I don't know what Nino was thinking breaking up with me like that, he KNOWS how mad I get” she said huffing out a laugh. 

Oh. my. god. She was trying to make it seem like Nino was at fault! Marinette was furious. She was acting just like Chat!!! Marinette is going to need so much therapy after all of this is done.

“Alya, you need to apologize to Nino,” she finally told her. “and afterward leave him alone, you have to respect his decision and space.” She added. They might not be friends anymore but that didn’t mean that Marinette didn't care about Nino. 

“L-L-Ladybug, you don’t get it, he broke up with me for no good reas-”

“It was a good enough reason that he felt the need to do it through a text” gesturing towards Nino's home she added “and as it turns out he was right to do so”

Alya huffed, “You just don't understand Ladybug”. She moved away from her and took out her phone to begin live streaming. 

She made her way towards Chat noir who was standing on the side watching the whole exchange a bit nervous. “Chat Noir, Are you aware of a certain girl named Marinette who got caught on camera criticizing you, when she had no right to mind you, about your most recent actions?. Do you have anything to say in response to it?” She asked pointing her phone camera in his direction. 

Chat Noir immediately leaped at the chance to defend himself.

“W-well like you said she had no right, what could she know about the struggles of being a superhero, heck I even had to save her a couple of times and that’s how she thanks me?’ He mentioned facing Alyas' camera. “Honestly I think she’s just jealous and mine and m’lady's partnership, but what can you do am I right?” he teased.

“What partnership chat?” Ladybug cut in. No way was she letting rumors spread when she was standing right there. 

“M'lady's just jealous as well,” Chat said with a wink

“Oh for Pete's sake” Ladybug pulled Chat away from Alyas prying eyes (and cellphone) and yo-yo away without a goodbye to the blogger.

A few rooftops away she finally plopped down and released Chat none too gracefully. The look on Chat noirs face wasn’t the charming one he was displaying for Alya and her Camera, he had the nerve to look annoyed.

“What was that?” He spit out

“What was what hmmm?” Oh she was annoyed now too.

“Al-that Cesaire girl has been your biggest supporter since Day One. You just don’t know what's going on with that Cesaire girl”

“I do, her boyfriend broke up with her because he was involved in an extremely toxic relationship” She stated, “I have to make sure she understands that, she’s trying to shift the blame!!!” 

“And what was that about our partnership, you sounded like you agreed with that Dupain-Cheng girl” He complained annoyed “That's cause I do”

“WHAT!?”

“You said it yourself Marinette could never understand the pressure cause she’s not a superhero, I on the other hand AM,” Not to mention they were one and the same but he didn't have to know that, “frankly you’ve been lacking in the superhero department if I can show up for every Akuma battle why can't you?” 

“Because I have a life unlike you” 

“Pfftt I am an independent business owner who still manages to be a stellar student AND I manage to handle Akuma attacks alone more often than not, what about you?”

“What does that matter? Marinette's gotten to you hasn’t she? You know she's been sent away for assaulting a classmate?”

“That's weird from what she told me she quit” she shouted “really chat you should leave the manipulating to Rossi and Cesaire”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK, I DONT MANIPULATE” He screamed at her. Why was it that everyone was turning against him lately?

“You’re right, you only do that after you try everything else to make yourself seem good” Ladybug finished staring back at Chat noirs infuriated green eyes, His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked the angriest he ever had. 

Staring at him Marinette came to a realization, she took a few step backs “We’ll talk later” She jumped off the roof and started making her way to a specific location.

Batcave                                                                                                      Wayne Manor, USA                                                                                      12:30 pm

“Master Dick I must ask you to please refrain from breaking your ribs in the future” Alfred sighed, Luckily Batman was able to arrive in time to stop Nightwing from getting kidnapped or worse. Red Hood quickly arrived and hauled an unconscious Nightwing to the Cave.

Batman, Red Robin, and Robin were currently spread around Gotham and Bludhaven trying to track down any stragglers. 

“Sorry Alfie, I’m way too cute for the criminals to stay away” Dick mumbled sleepily

 “-humph- Regardless No patrolling for 6 weeks,”

“You hurt me, I hope you know that Alf” He joked. Eh, they were all fast healers, he’ll probably be back on patrol in 4 weeks. 

“Heya Alfred, Now that Dick is alright I am going to head back out” Jason said adjusting his gloves and strapping his knives in place.

“Before you leave Master Jason please pickup the Tupperware filled with food I have left for you in the kitchen, And please escort Master Dick to his room for rest” Alfred knew good and well that his charges love not listening to doctors, er butlers, orders.

“Thanks, Alf, Comere Dickwad” Helping Dick up from the cot “but I don’t want to,” Dick whined. “Tough luck”

Making there way throughout the manor, Dick suddenly stopped “Marinette's room is right there, lemme check on her” 

Jesus sometimes Dick can be more of a mother hen than Bruce “Come on Dickface, It's almost 1 am any sane person will be asleep by now” he said tiredly but a part of him wanted to check up on her too. Curse these big brother instincts. “Fine only a peek”

Once they stumbled to the front of Marinette's room, Jason gently cracked open the door seeing Marinette sleeping he moved aside to allow Dick to take a peak. To Jason's shock Dick unwrapped his arm from His shoulder and pushed open the door, stumbling to Marinette's Bed. Quickly pulling off the sheets he revealed a bundle of pillows under the blanket. 

Marinette wasn’t in her bed.

 “Crap”

I just Love cliffhangers, don’t you guys love them as well? I am asking that you guys please message me any prompts you would like for me to write for my one-shot series. Else I’m just going to keep making sad angsty one-shots. Stay Safe and Healthy guys <3. 

Feel free to reblog,like and comment :)

Taglist:

@maribat-is-lifeblood @kass-is-weird @another-fan-of-anotherplan @damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @thezestywalru @dreamykitty25 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochinek0 @shamefullove @mochegato @souleateralicestein @thestressmademedoit @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticnpoetic @mysupporthyperfixations @itsmeevie01

[booasaur]

I JUST finished watching TBH and omg that cliffhanger :0 I really wonder how Sterling’s story is going to go for next season? (Really hoping they get a season 2!!) April once said Sterling always got her way or at least that’s how it looked like to her but now things have been flipped and she’s probably at her lowest point so I wonder how that’s going to affect her in terms of not just her relationships but also her personality...

Haha, yes, that cliffhanger! They really did pile EVERYTHING on her in that finale and I do very much hope we get at least one more season to round off all these major revelations and storylines.

April’s not wrong, tbh, Sterling had been leading a CHARMED ass life until this point. When you compare them, Sterling’s got a twin sister she really gets along with, kind parents, a loving bf, everyone seems to like her no matter what, she does well academically, while April’s stuck there already being an intense and competitive kid and just made worse by the realization she’s gay and the wall she’d had to put up because of that. She has no real friends, just lackeys, and however close she was to her dad before, she still knew how homophobic he was and had to protect herself from that. And at the time, it was funny, but remember how when Sterling was straight up confessing that she and Luke had sex, EVEN THEN that somehow turned on April. I kind of loved that after the twins started the rumors and April caught on and zeroed in on Sterling, they put a freaking halo around her:

And April knows that on this one, she’s absolutely the one in the right. I can WELL understand her frustration and resentment and wonder if that wasn’t also a part of how much the rift grew.

But anyway, ouch, all that seems like it was setting up the harshest of falls. Now she’s lost everything, the only thing that didn’t happen was being outed. Getting dumped, then kidnapped, by the “aunt” your mom’s lied to you about for your whole life, at gunpoint, tied up, and then worst of all, no twin, wrong parents, charmed life gone. I don’t know, man, where’s she gonna go from there? Who’s she gonna live with--whose car is she going to get into to leave the junkyard, to start with? And you know, I mentioned April not really having friends, but Sterling doesn’t either, outside Blair. Is she gonna avoid her? But then she wouldn’t have anybody to talk to and the show kind of needs her to process this and show us her reactions. Maybe they’ll get her a therapist? She definitely needs one! With this show’s track record, she’ll probably vent by telling Ellen everything in the first minute of season 2.

I don’t know, she’s such a sweetheart, she may just go quiet but seemingly be okay with things only to explode later, instead of getting angry at her parents--at the Wesleys--right off the bat. She may visit Dana in prison, that’ll open up some storylines. I’m not sure if it’ll be made public, even if people know who Dana is, it doesn’t have to be revealed that she’s Sterling’s mom. But however it goes, however tough it all is, it’ll be a period of growth for her in the end, she’ll get through it and she and Blair will come out stronger, that’s just the show. But I don’t really know how those first eps will go, especially with juggling Luke and April and April’s dad and the bounty hunting. 

But you know, this is one of the things I SUPER love about having central wlw characters, where that becomes part of the main arc. And in fact, for this show, with its strong religious themes, I mentioned this before too, but the show is literally better off for including this very relevant nuanced plot point for these particular characters and for providing this super organic reason for why Sterling would keep a secret from Blair and actually choose to hang out with someone else. This isn’t tokenism or trying to think of what to do with a character but built into the actual storyline. It’s something that’s a major part of her and will affect and be affected by all the other major storylines. It could be that April ends up being the confidante, although she may have even more reason to choose the “easy” safe option Luke is. We’ll see, I hope!

[queenofthedramedies]

Legacies Opinions: 3x04 (or 2x20) Happy Anniversary: Let's Get Apocalyptic!

Hello, my lovely readers!

Welcome back to Legacies Opinions! There is a lot to break down, and possibly some muddling through what could happen to our beloved gang...

Last week we had a musical. This week we had an apocalypse! Yeah! Crazy! But we're used to going up and down in the TVDverse, especially with Legacies: Where almost anything can happen.

Personally, I enjoyed this epi. It had all the trademarks of a season finale--including a shocking twist that leaves our heroes wondering how the hell they deal. More on that later...

Before we get to the biggest twists and turns of the epi.: Let's give a round of applause to the BFF of S2: Jed and Kaleb. They bounded over their fondness for Alyssa Chang, but found each other, in the end. Go, Team Jeleb, or Ked?

We get to see the twins at work. Yes, that does mean Josie used her magic. For a quick minute. But she still has guilt points from hurting Ethan, at the beginning of the season.

And so it seems we might be seeing Jo, and Lizzie going on seperate paths. Seems Jo wants to take a page out of Hope's playbook, and try to be a human kid, for a awhile. No doubt The Super Squad, or Lizzie, will need Jo back in the fold, sooner, rather than later.

Speaking of Jo, we also saw her hanging out with Ethan. Could this mean there is a new ship? Easie or Jothan? Time will tell...

Lizzie will struggle, without her twin, and it seems that she might be losing MG, too, who was last spotted smooching on Alyssa! What! Yes! That happened! And right when Lizzie finally figured out her feelings for MG. And Lizzie might be trying to play it cool, but we know she's a fighter. She's gonna shoot her shot. But will Milton want to be hit by her arrow?

It looked like Alyssa was working toward being a Big Bad, and would be willing to make MG into her love puppet, at any cost, including his life! Ouch! But she's not quite as bad as she wanted people to think and there is more to her story. No spoilers about her back story!

We had a five second moment of Hethan, but Hope was little busy, trying to save Landon. But we did find out that Maya is still around. Where! We want Maya!

Couples of the Week:

Mizzie, because their story is so not done. They just have an epic slow burn to, drive fans crazy with.

And Handon! And, OMG, their story in this epi. is all over the place! It starts all happy, with plans for a date. A big date: Read sex date. Yup. Time to let all of those hormones run wild and free. But they have to live to get there first.

The Necromancer caused some problems with that, as well as Malivore. Yes, I said Malivore! And Land made a deal with his daddy, to take down The Necro! Can you believe it?

So, it looks like Malivore, and the monster-of-the-week, may be a thing of the past. Finally! Personally, I felt that they needed to deal with Mali, at the beginning of S2, and move on. However, there are some seriously funny moments, including The Necro losing his head, after Hope thought Land was dead, again, and channeled her own dad before taking revenge. There was also some Handon playing with The Necro head, who just will not shut up! Ha!

Who loves HandonXfire, because that is becoming a thing. And then they went through Mali-gope. Kind of "Ew!", but hold on to someone you love, tight.

The epi. ends with that big cliffhanger: Where Landon becomes (spolier), after he and Hope (spoiler). It looks like Landon might have triggered a Malivore power, but can Hope help him? I will say this: I do not believe this is the last we will see of Mr. Landon Kirby. Looks like we'll have to tune it, to find out.

Until next week, and the not-a-season-premiere!

Be safe!

-J

[bigskydreaming]

meowmeowmeowkins Are you enjoying the show? :) It’s one of my favs. The books don’t read... all that great imo. Did you read them?

Yeah I like the show, its actually one of those rare adaptations where I think its better than the source material. I’ve read the books and I’m like.....eh, they’re hit and miss for me. The earlier books were better but the more the authors widened the scope of their narrative, the worse their characterizations got overall, I think. They traded strong character work for ambitious storytelling and I mean, it wasn’t without dividends, they definitely manage a “holy shit” factor at times, like I did NOT see that ending with Earth in Nemesis Games coming despite the writing being on the wall in hindsight. But I think the show actually has so far managed to balance the scope of the story with more contained, concentrated character work in ways the books haven’t.

That said, there’s still some elements of the books that have an edge over the show for me.....like the way they brought Havelock back from a bit character in the first book to being a major player in Book Four.....and then they went and cast Jay Hernandez as Havelock in S1 and I was like yesssssss because I thought he did a great job with the character despite it being a relatively small part.....and he’s a big enough actor that casting him for that role really only made sense by factoring in that he had a major role upgrade coming once they got to the storylines of Book Four....except by the time they DID get there in the show, like, they’d lost Hernandez to his own show as he was off starring on Magnum PI by now, and that’s just the downside of casting a bigger name with an eye towards the future but the possibility of him moving on before then. They took a gamble with that casting and lost, which meant Havelock ended up left out of the Ilus stuff entirely, which was kinda a bummer but like. The book version still exists so its all good.

And then there’s some parts where I’m like, I enjoy the show and I enjoy the books but in totally different ways. Like book Bobbi and show Bobbi come across extremely different to me but in very hard to define ways....its more of a feel than anything....but I like both versions just in different ways? Like Bobbi’s dynamic with Chrisjen on the show is similar to their dynamic in the books but also with its own ticks and nuances on the show, and I just appreciate both versions for entirely different reasons.

I actually have always really liked Thomas Jane though, so I think they really lucked out by getting him for Miller on the show, because Miller is just UNBEARABLE for me in the books, lol, like I can not stand the guy and have wanted him to die since book two, which is awkward because like....he did. And it, y’know. Didn’t help. hflakhflahflafhal

But Jane brings just enough of like....idk, maybe even self-deprecation to the role? Whatever it is, its enough to make his scenes kinda more poignant than just omg can this be over already, can he be gone now. Like, those moments where he kinda glitches and you remember that for all his romanticized soliloquies, he’s not really MIller, he’s just a kind of self-aware program that remembers being Miller even though he wasn’t ever really? Ouch. And those moments would never land like that for me in the books, like I think Jane really did just bring something to the role that then informed how the writers wrote his depiction of Miller moving forward. And I really enjoy when an actor’s performance like....then feeds back into how a show’s writers write future material for them. Gives the role a life of its own beyond what the source material ever envisioned for that specific character.

Also, the show does a good job of not over-using the character, which I think goes a long way towards making his appearances actually resonate. Frankly, I think the books’ writers are just too in love with their version of Miller and took full advantage of the narrative loophole that basically made him damn near accessible for every part of the story even when he reeeeeally didn’t need to be there, and like yeah. 

But yeah, I like the show, and its had enough near misses with cancellation that I’m really glad its been planned to end with season six since before season five even started, because it gave them two full seasons to work in everything they needed to give the show a satisfying ending instead of just a cliffhanger cancellation. That said though, I really have no idea how they intend to fit the rest of the major storylines into just this last season now, like, they’re going to have to trim some fairly sizable plots, I just have no idea what they’re gonna pick to do that.

Like, Season 5 isn’t over yet, and the finale has the fairly ominous title of Nemesis Games, and is written by the book’s writers so I think its safe to say at least what the S5 cliffhanger will be.....which makes me think that S6 will mostly be a mash-up of Babylon’s Ashes and Persepolis Rising.

And so I’m tempted to think that like, maybe they’re planning on just ending it there, instead of trying to bridge the practically seismic shift in tone from Persepolis to Tiamat’s Wrath? Because I mean, in the books, Tiamat’s Wrath basically completes the gradual evolution of the series from nearish-future space exploration to full-on space opera. Like.....Leviathan Wakes is space opera in the sense that like, Battlestar Galactica was space opera, but Tiamat’s Wrath is space opera more in the sense that Star Wars is space opera, y’know? Like, they’re both space opera but in ENTIRELY different ways and with completely different feels.

And so I’m wondering if the show’s plan is to like just end things with the conclusion to Persepolis and like, set up the potential for the later books like lay stuff with Duarte in motion, etc...but then try and springboard that into another project entirely, like a sequel show? After all, there is a thirty year gap between books there so there’s a built in development breather for production to almost take a break and then try and come back later with a successor show that picks up with Tiamat.

The only thing keeping me unsure about that is like.....in the books, the threat from whatever destroyed the Protomolecule Builders, like....still very much has not been shown or dealt with as of Tiamat, and its pretty much a given that final conflict will be the focus of the upcoming final book, Leviathan Falls......so there’s no way to end the show with a potential bridge to be crossed later with a sequel about Tiamat’s Wrath, etc.....unless you leave the Who Killed the Protomolecule Builders mystery still unsolved as well. And I don’t know if the show’s going to want to do that, because that will leave some very dissatisfied fans....but I mean, the show does like to take risks so maybe that is the plan. I don’t know. I’m definitely interested in seeing what they decide however.

[kerrycfendley]

The Success of Construction

When it involves construction projects, only too usually individuals begin out with pretty drawings and find yourself with shouting matches or - worse - costly lawsuits. Your project is also steel and concrete. however even a “minor” mistake, like victimization the incorrect waterproofing caulk, will flip it into a leaky, musty mess that’s prepared for the wrecking ball - or a minimum of a multi-million dollar rehab. So, whether or not you’re constructing an living accommodations building, the alterations for your new workplace house or a custom home, learn from the painful lessons of others.

Lesson #1: Do Your Due Diligence. I’ve got three cases on my table wherever project house owners are battling probably huge re-design and repair prices as a result of they didn't do their due diligence. In one case, the soil is like pudding - and can’t support the building while not the addition of a chic stabilising foundation made from “helical screws.” I know: the owner, looking at the sudden invoice, thinks the building isn't the sole one obtaining helically screwed. this case could are rare, however dominating potential issues is common. Some owners get buildings with plans to renovate, only to get the building is loaded with lead paint, amphibole Associate in Nursingd PCBs. Businesses rent house and have grand styles for the design and feel of their new mausoleum solely to search out out they have an stairway wherever their hi-tech room was speculated to go. Mom-and-pop householders get fixer-uppers only to get the septic field is shot, the well has dry out and therefore the home is one wolf-huff-and-puff from collapse. The list of potential issues is endless. however the answer is simple. Don’t buy, design or place a shovel within the ground while not hiring the proper consultants - like engineers and designers - to research the feasibility of your project. each project presents different, and generally hidden, challenges. Do your school assignment before you are doing something else.

Lesson #2: you would like an honest Contract to make a good Project. once individuals constructing comes suppose contracts, the words that return to mind are “standard,” “boilerplate,” “boring,” and “who reads these items anyway?” Paint colours get a lot of attention. Then disaster strikes. A contractor delays ordering the lumber, a shortage hits and therefore the worth skyrockets. The balconies on many hundred residences don’t fits code and got to be ripped out and replaced. The survey was wrong and part of the muse was poured on the adjacent property. Ouch! That’s gotta hurt. In Associate in Nursing instant, these contracts become decide and jury and choose whether or not you or some other person should write an oversized check to create the matter go away. That contract’s not therefore boring now. Actually, it’s quite the cliffhanger. however you want that you just had scan that contract before you signed it. higher still, you'd have likeable to determine what it says. So, let’s begin over. Don’t assume any contract is appropriate, though it's wide used or if the opposite aspect says “everyone signs it” (I am positive your mother mentioned one thing concerning everybody else jumping off bridges). If you’re within the construction business, produce your own type contracts. However, if you're operating with the opposite side’s contract, get Associate in Nursing skilled to scan and negociate it. If that negotiated contract helps you avoid only one important downside during a dozen deals, it’s all worthwhile.

Lesson #3: once Hiring a Contractor, opt for Quality. Don’t merely choose the most cost effective contractor. only too usually, the cheapest contractor will lousy work and creates tons of other problems. In fact, in the right lightweight (this often comes from the holes they leave in your roof), you'll see that the low bidder may be the foremost expensive, once you add the additional time and cash you’ll pay to finally get the task done right. So, investigate every potential contractor to envision who will provide you with the most effective overall value. For example, I represent contractors that may fix work that's not even a part of their responsibility simply to go away behind a glad consumer and defend their name. to search out them, get recommendations from individuals you trust. Also, use a contractor with a longtime reputation for quality. They didn’t get that name by doing unhealthy work. and that they are far more doubtless to speculate in obtaining your project done properly to stay you content and defend their brand.

Lesson #4: Respect the Legalities. Construction comes are progressively being bombarded with laws and lawsuits. styles should fits accessibility requirements. Wages on varied projects are mandated by government regulations - and therefore the hourly rates sure enough masterful trades are shockingly high. If subcontractors and suppliers don't seem to be paid, they will lien your project. Flaws in construction can result in lawsuits from purchasers, particularly in condominium projects wherever a dispute-free project is as rare as a imaginary being or bipartisanship on the Hill. and therefore the house owners usually face risk notwithstanding who causes the problem. Again, a number of the most effective protection comes from victimization practiced and knowledgeable contractors that price quality. however you'll would like further protection. confirm your contract clearly spells out who will what and what happens if they don’t. For important projects, take into account requiring bonds, particularly for vital elements of the work. Then, monitor performance throughout the job. it's a lot of easier to mend a tangle once it begins than it is to destruct a building and start over.

Lesson #5: Get the proper Insurance. At construction sites, individuals get hurt and property gets damaged. additionally to creating positive the planning and construction team has the right insurance, you would like to create sure you’re covered. build your deal team get the right insurance. make sure that this insurance additionally defends you. Also, get your own insurance to fill within the gaps and supply coverage wherever your team’s insurance doesn't protect you. You’ll need skilled recommendation relating to the precise insurance needs to impose. place these requirements in every of the applicable contracts. most vital of all, get proof - certificates, endorsements and policies - of the insurance that everybody is meant to buy. Also, some insurance ought to be unbroken in result for years. For example, insurance sure enough defective work - coated by “completed operations insurance” - should stay in effect for several years once the task is done. Associate in Nursing recent expression says that “for need of a nail, a kingdom was lost.” several construction issues snowball into nightmarishly expensive and long messes as a result of individuals overlook those vital “nails.” Follow these lessons to make sure an on time, on-budget success.

[aj-artjunkyard]

I think this is going to be a bit of a one shot series. There might be some time skips and not every chapter is a continuation of the same storyline. I like this better as if I ever go off writing this, you won’t be left on a cliffhanger. Every chapter has a complete story, so it’s also longer, which is a bonus. 

There is a four year time skip. Apollo is now a fourth year.

My gold and black robes billowed behind me as I sprinted up another staircase and hung a left, barreling through some unfortunate first years as I made my way up to the hospital wing.

I’d began training with the Hogwarts matron in my first year, ever since I’d learned a particularly nifty healing spell that had popped a fellow student’s dislocated shoulder back into its rightful place. The Hogwarts matron had seen me and was impressed by my potential - and nearly four years later I was still being taught between classes. Today, they started at 1:55PM. It was now 2:15 (What? I had missed a staircase. Nothing to do with my poor awareness of schedules).

I readjusted my grip on my leather satchel and rushed past the little plump lady standing in the doorway of the hospital wing, smiling a greeting. She kept her ever-present stern facade intact as she shooed me inside. 

“Don’t you be late next time young man, or I’ll be having a word to your father about your punctuality!” She called after me, slamming the door behind her. I smiled at the empty threat. There was no way she would tell my father about my secret lessons, or else both our heads would be on a stick. Headmaster Zeus had some pretty questionable ideology when it came to assigning genders to their copybook jobs. Nursing was a woman’s world, not a man’s. 

I came to a halt at the trolly that overflowed with a mix of different overhanging herbs, anthropomorphised plants and some questionable-looking dried out slug-type creatures. Conical flasks hung suspended in the air, swishing their contents around in miniature whirlpools of colour. This, I’d been told, kept the contents oxygenated. The matron appeared beside me, her wrinkled features comparable to the severe expression of a weathered military general.

“Today is simple,” she barked. “Damage to the left arm due to a high fall. Broken humerus, dislocated shoulder, shattered clavicle. The patient is in bed A6. Collect what you need and do what you have to. No lollygagging!” She turned on her heel and marched to a patient who had managed to have the placement of their hands and feet switched. I stifled a grin. My younger brother, a third year Slytherin named Hermes, got a kick out of forging fake love-heart shaped chocolate boxes filled with enchanted candies and leaving them to be found by his unfortunate targets. His spells were never actually dangerous per se (however I would not put it past him. He is unnervingly clever), but they tended to land the non-willing participant in the hospital wing until the matron could figure out how to undo them, which was usually a few weeks. Hermes was a complete ferret of a person, and I always told him so, but he was undeniably good at his craft. I sniggered to myself. As soon as I worked out how to fix the enchantments, I’d have potential blackmail against my darling little brother. I planned to get him do give me something in exchange for me not immediately healing his targets and ruining his fun.

After choosing a few conical flasks and a vial of my experimental Skele-Gro (just in case) I jogged to bed A6 and slipped out my private notebook of healing spells from my satchel. As I flicked through the pages, I didn’t give the red-clad student a second look. It was just another reckless Gryffindor who had probably jumped from the astronomy tower for fun while testing out their friend’s levitating spell (that obviously hadn’t succeeded). I found the right page and set the notebook on the bedside table. Only then did I glance down at the the boy strewn on the bed. He was well-built and broad shouldered, even for a seventh year. His muddied, black hair was chopped in a military buzz cut, and his face and arms were littered with old and new scratches, some much deeper than the others. He wore the scarlet robes and leather armour of a Gryffindor Beater, though his uniform was torn and caked with mud and soaked through from the December rain. He looked like the definition of a stereotypical high school bully. His face held a permanent scowl. I gulped.

“Hey Ares,” I greeted weakly. His scowl deepened. I tried to ignore that. “Um, I just need to check your arm…” I edged around my older sibling like he was an angered boar, waiting to run me through with its horns. I all but hid behind my clipboard while I examined the twisted arm.

Let me be crystal clear with you, reader. I was not scared of my brother. He was violent and reckless, yes, but a coward. I knew that if he bothered me, I only needed to poke his shoulder and he’d be wailing for an hour. However, do you recall how I was trying to keep this little side gig a secret? For years I had been keeping track of the quidditch games and taking note when any of my siblings got injured in one, so I could avoid the hospital wing until they were healed. I was usually quite on top of the Hufflepuff games (as I was their seeker), and Artemis, who happened to be the seeker for the Gryffindor team, helped remind me when her matches were. If any of my dear half brothers or sisters found out that I was learning a ‘woman’s trade’, they’d either tell father (resulting in my death) or use what they’d found as blackmail, threatening to tell father if I did not do their dirty work (resulting in my drawn out, much more embarrassing death). Of course, there had been a few close calls and a few accidental slips of tongue. My best friend Meg (a first year Gryffindor that I had met back in September of this year, while she was stealing my bag) knew. So did my twin, Artemis, and my aforementioned brother, Hermes. I had sworn them all to secrecy, but I did not trust Tell-Tale Ares one little bit. I did not even know how I had forgotten today’s Gryffindor v Slytherin match, but it had crossed my mind that the corridors were emptier than usual. 

I copied down useless bulletpoints on the clipboard, such as ‘broken arm’ and ‘ouch’, while my mind wandered down the dark paths of my anxiety, each thought more desperate and panicky than the last. What will father do when he finds out? Will he give me a lifetime of detentions? Will he expel me? Would my uncles and aunts step in? Probably not. Would I have to leave the country to go to a different wizarding school? Would I have to give up learning magic entirely? Will I-

“Apollo!” The matron hollered across the room at me. “Stop your clowning around! Treat the patient!” I wondered if she even knew Ares’ relation to me. My dad had so many kids with so many women that we were admittedly hard to keep straight, and I certainly did not act like Ares did. I was far more - how do I put this - refined.

Ares snickered at the matron’s tone. 

“Stupid little Sunny can’t even do a girl’s job,” he taunted.

I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to the task at hand. 

“Okay,” I said, starting as I would with any other student. “I am going to use the Brackium Emendo charm to fix your humerus and clavicle. I assure you that I am well trained in this charm, otherwise I would not be allowed to practice it on students. I then have to-”

“Get on with it, Sunny.” Ares growled, his mood swinging faster than the Whomping Willow’s branches. Wanting to give him the best hospital experience ever and possibly convince him not to blab, I obliged in silence. My hopes of getting out scot free were demolished when I was straightening out the newly mended arm a few minutes later. “Dad’s gonna love this one, Sunny,” Ares grunted through the pain. His face was tense with restraint, his forehead glistening with sweat and rain from outdoors. “If you’re lucky, you’ll even make it onto the papers. ‘Loser Son Disappoints Dad Yet Again’. Yeah, that’ll be fun.” I tried my best to bite down on my tongue, let it wash over me. I tried not to get angry. I tried not to scream at Ares to shut his face, and I almost failed. Luckily, I was distracted.

BANG!

The hospital wing door flew open, and a young girl sprinted in, looking around wildly until her cat-eye glasses landed on me. I recognised her as the one and only, bag-stealing, meat-scoffing ragamuffin Meg McCaffrey. She, like Ares, was soaked to the skin, her lenses dotted with raindrops and steaming up from the indoor heat. She wore her red high tops over her uniform grey tights, an obvious infraction of the school dress code (the teachers had already given up, and she had only been here for just over three months, which I think sums her character up very well). Her black and red Gryffindor robes were wrapped around her torso in a useless attempt to keep in heat. We shared a look of dread. 

“You can go,” I said defeatedly to the healed Beater, all the angry wind gone from my sails. Ares stood, sneered at me and sauntered out, flicking Meg in the head as he passed her. She hissed, which I thought was an appropriate response. I kept staring at the empty hospital bed, my eyes fixated on the dent in the mattress where Ares had lay, slowly inflating itself. I heard the loud squelching of wet shoes approach me. Meg appeared at my side.

“I’m sorry,” She muttered. “I didn’t realise he was injured enough to go to the hospital wing. I was too far up the stands. By the time I noticed he was already on his way.” She lowered her head. “I didn’t warn you in time.”

I sighed. “It’s quite alright, Meg. You weren’t to know about the extent of my father’s strictness. Thanks for trying so hard though. It means a lot.”

“I know what it’s like.”

I turned to face her. Her glasses were still steamed up, and I couldn’t see her eyes. The expression she wore was blank and unreadable. I wanted to know more, but I didn’t want to push too much. I simply asked, “Your father?” 

“Step-father,” she replied plainly.

…

Meg scoffed down her eggs and bacon like there was no tomorrow. I sat between her and Artemis at the Hufflepuff table. This was an advantage to all of us. Artie and I got to eat where the rest of our family didn’t bother us and Meg got to inspire terror into the meek Hufflepuff first years with her champion eating skills. Win-Win. Also, it was good to have two bodyguards from a house that was known for being protective and rash after the proceedings of yesterday afternoon. The enchanted roof was dull and grey with clouds, a reflection of my tense and dreading mood. I was awaiting the call to go to my father’s office, where my sentence would be given. Needless to say, I was not excited.

Nothing happened at breakfast. No word at lunch. By the time dinner rolled around at 6pm, I was almost gaining a little ray of hope that Ares had forgotten, or maybe held back in order to threaten me with it later. Then all conversation died around me at the Hufflepuff table. A low, gruff voice sounded from behind me, making me jump a metre and drop my fork.

“Apollo.”

My stomach sank to my feet while my heart leapt to my mouth. I turned to meet the stone chiselled, bearded face of Headmaster Zeus. 

“Sir,” I squeaked.

“My office. After dinner. Do not be late.” He moved on to the teacher’s table at the back of the hall, leaving me pale and faint, unable to eat another bite of chicken pie without feeling like I was going to hurl, despite Artie and Meg’s attempts to reassure me.

Dinner ended so much quicker than it needed to. Students and teachers started filtering out as soon as 6:45. By 7, the hall was practically empty except for a couple of teachers and some Gryffindors, who were celebrating their quidditch win against Slytherin. I knew my time was running out. Father had stomped out a few minutes ago, glaring holes into me as he passed. Meg and Artie had stayed with me, but even now they seemed to be on edge about my punctuality. They wanted me to go and get things over with, while I just wanted the ground to swallow me. But eventually, even I could not make up another excuse. I stood and bade them farewell, then made my way towards my executioner on the seventh floor.

Reaching the headmaster’s tower had never been so exhausting. Every step reminded me of what and who I was waltzing toward. Questions burned through my head, demanding attention. I ignored them and instead focused on striding briskly through the hallways, trying my best not to get lost and be even later. I turned a corner and saw the gargoyle entrance to the office awaiting my arrival. The regal stone eagle had already leapt aside, the rotating staircase revealed. I stepped on and waited. The grinding of stone against stone grated my ears as the the stairs moved up the walls. It was an agonising wait. But of course, it ended.

I stepped into the silent office. It was small enough, but not cramped. Certainly smaller than father’s office at home. It was a round room, decorated with waist-high pedestals that held marble busts of past headmasters. The left wall had a large rectangular indent in the stone, which showed shelves that were stacked neatly with different objects, some I recognised as my father’s belongings (a bronze shield carved with the twisted face of Medusa and some bronze rods - his renowned enchanted lightning bolts), and some of which had obviously been confiscated - a stack of chocolate boxes that glowed a dim green (Hermes’ little experiments), a bunch of sharp iron weaponry, enchanted to drip blood and gore (Ares’ favourite toys) and a bottle of Dio’s Delectable Delight (an alcoholic drink made by my Gryffindor first year brother, Dionysus, that gave a bunch of Slytherins and Gryffindors sick with poisoning while they were having a drink-off between the houses. I remember because I had to treat them all). 

At the back of the room, behind an intricately carved wooden desk, sat my father. 

He was a six foot five giant of a man, muscular and powerful. His middle age eye creases and greying black hair did not distract from his obviously handsome features. His salt and pepper beard covered the bottom half of his face, and reached down to the base of his throat. His hair was long and slightly wavy, like mine, but less flamboyant and stylish. He wore a smart grey pinstriped suit, with dress shoes and a black tie. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed in anger over his striking blue eyes. He gestured to the small wooden seat opposite him.

“Sit,” he commanded. I sat. My palms were damp with sweat, so I rubbed them on my robes and folded my hands in my lap, fidgeting and changing their position constantly. My head was lowered and my golden hair swept down the side of my face, blocking my peripheral vision. I locked my sight onto a dark circle on the table before me. I could feel my fathers stormy eyes on my seemingly insignificant frame.

His voice thundered; “You know why you are here.”

I tucked my hair behind my ear nervously and chanced look up into the eyes of my father. They were a bright electric blue, and seemed to flash a warning, daring me to speak out of place. I looked down again.

“Yes, sir,” I muttered.

Zeus leaned over the table. It made a loud creak, and I wondered whether or not it would be able to support his weight.

“Do you know who told me?”

I nodded. “It was Ares. I healed him after the quidditch match yesterday.”

“Then you know that he is not innocent either.”

I looked up at him again, confused as to why I had not been zapped yet. He seemed to be…giving me a chance? No, that was impossible. And yet…

“Sir?” I asked, daring to ask for some clarification. Zeus narrowed his eyes and sat up straighter in his chair, increasing his height. His hands rested on the desk, his fingers laced like a top boss talking down to his lowly employee.

“I wanted to expel you,” he growled. “You embarrass my family tree time and time again. I need solid proof that you belong here. Unfortunately, I cannot put you to work as I would like. The ministry would never allow it. However, I have a different task in mind.”

I held my breath and waited for the verdict of my disproportionate offence. “Impress me.”

“W-what?” I spluttered, choking on the air I’d been holding in. Impress him? Him? My father? The most powerful wizard in my extensive family that could harness lightning? “How?” 

“I don’t care for specifics, boy” Zeus scoffed, waving off my question. “This is a magic school, is it not? Prove you have ability. Prove to me that you are not just some filthy squib, destined to become a nanny. Such beings do not deserve to be called my son. If you succeed, which I doubt, you may continue with your hobby. If not…” He left it to me to fill in the blanks, which was almost worse. I just knew my imagination was going to run wild with that unfinished sentence. “You have until the Christmas holidays begin. Do not disappoint me.” He leaned back in his chair. This meeting was Over.

…

“He didn’t expel you?” Artemis exclaimed, looking mildly impressed. “Not even a little zap?”

“No! It was…very unlike him.” 

“So you got off easy then,” Meg piped up through her breakfast, spraying me with bacon bits. “That’s good.”

“If you count vague instructions to show off to a guy that has the emotional range of a teaspoon as simple, then sure!” - I glared at Meg - “I got off easy.” Meg rolled her eyes and went back to licking the runny yolk off her sunny side up. I thought that to be selfish. I was the one in peril here! “The deadline is the holidays! We get off on the twenty-first of this month, and it’s already the third! Not to mention that I have the concert on the last day! How am I supposed to learn how to gain fathers respect in seventeen days?”

“Maybe you should start by thanking mother,” Artemis mused. “She is the one who got him to lighten up.”

I looked at my twin questioningly. “How did she know?”

Artie rolled her eyes and Meg snorted a laugh, spewing out half of the contents in her mouth onto the table. 

“Honestly Ollie, do you ever listen?”

“No,” Meg sniggered, answering for me.

“I wrote a letter to mother about the whole predicament right after I heard about it. I got her response at lunch yesterday. I gave you her letter to read so you would calm down.”

“What? No you didn’t!”

“Uh, yeah, she did,” Meg mocked in an ‘obviously’ tone. “Check your pocket, dummy.”

I reached into my robe pocket and drew out a few items; a keyring, a harmonica and a folded up piece of parchment. Meg snatched the parchment from my hand and unfolded it roughly, then slammed it on the table in front of me. The ink was fashioned in neat cursive.

“Read it,” Meg stated. I picked it up and scanned down the lines.

Dearest Apollo,

I sincerely hope you are feeling better than yesterday. Artemis wrote to me about what happened. I wanted to tell you not to fret, for I am on my way to purchase a howler as I speak - the quill is writing for me. Please do not worry, darling. Your sister and I will not let that man touch a hair on your head, and from what you have told me about your new friend, Meg, I suspect she will help you too.

The letter went on, more reassurances, more threats at Zeus, more pet names. Yes, this would have helped yesterday. If I had not been so numb to the world around me and taken the time to actually read it. The letter ended;

Love you, Sunshine! 

~Leto

“Oh,” I said dumbly, feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “I didn’t see that.”

“Yeah, no duh.” 

“Shut up Meg.”

I remembered my mother fixing this kind of problem for me before. When I first arrived at Hogwarts, I had been sorted into Hufflepuff - what my father called The Weak House. The Friendly House. The house that none of his children should be put in, especially because he was such a model Slytherin, the house known for storming through the door first, instead of the house known for holding the door open for others. My father had gotten yellow on his ledger, and wanted to wipe it out. My mother shouted him down, and I kept my place in Hogwarts.

A new voice spoke calmly behind me. 

“Begin with the library. Information is the starting point of all wisdom.” I spun around. Standing there was the tall, lean form of a seventh year Ravenclaw. Her dark brown hair was gathered into a tight bun on her head, and her arms clutched several dusty old rolls of parchment. Her grey eyes peered down her nose at us. The sapphire and obsidian robes she wore sat perfectly on her form, and her tucked in shirt and neat tie was exemplary of a Head Girl and Prefect - the badges of both gleamed on her lapel. Athena held herself with pride and confidence, knowing well that she was smarter, more privileged and generally better than the rest of us (read: Daddy’s Favourite). She knew rightly that whatever she did, she was untouchable. Thankfully, her freedom included helping me. “I can get you on the list for the restricted section. It is going to take some light-show to get on father’s good side. And,” - she smiled cockily - “some hard work and research.” Of course.

“So you aren’t really going to help me then?” Athena said nothing, but only smiled before turning on her heel and striding out of the hall to her first class. I rolled my eyes. Turning to my teammates, I announced; “I guess it’s just the three of us, then! No worries, I am positive that if we all work together-”

“-Actually Ollie,” Artie interrupted, totally stomping on my Inspiring Speech Hero Moment. “I have a load of stuff to do…with Orion. So…yeah,” she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. I tried to ignore the blush forming on her cheeks. She gained confidence and stated; “I will not be around a lot this month. Sorry.” My beloved twin stood abruptly and rushed out of the hall. 

Naturally. The one time she gets a teeny crush, she abandons me to do my own dirty work. How rude. I was not fond of that tricky fifth year Slytherin boy, and let me tell you, I planned to get rid of him. But that was for later. Right now, I needed to stay on task. Though looking at my only remaining teammate, who was currently showing her chewed-up food to a grossed out Hufflepuff girl, I wondered if that was even worth doing.

…

“This is so boring!” Meg lay with her feet up a against a bookcase, tapping her toes together as she flung another priceless book into the Useless Pile.

“Meg, you aren’t even helping. You’re just looking at the pictures!”

“Even those are dull,” she whined. “It’s so late and the Gryffindor dorms are sooo far from here.”

“It’s only seven o’clock, Meg.”

“It’s dark!”

“It’s winter!”

“Shhhhhhh!” The librarian hushed for the umpteenth time that evening. I whispered our apologies and kept reading about turning people into birds of prey. However I did not think that giving my father another eagle would suffice. I too, chucked my book onto the Useless Pile. It was now the sixth of December, giving me exactly two weeks until the last day school before the holidays.

“Right,” Meg announced, “I’m going back to the greenhouses. Good luck, or whatever.” She grabbed her wand and stuck her hands in her pockets, then disappeared into the maze of the library, leaving me alone in favour of checking on her secret karpos friend Peaches in the herbology classroom.

I sighed. Admitting defeat for the night, I grabbed a thick book I had read many times before. The leather bound book was emblazoned with silver text in ancient greek, a language every member of my family was fluent in, and I was no different. The title read ‘θεός’. I flicked through the weathered pages. Every chapter was a different relation, introduced with a detailed portrait - It was a family tradition to get one done one your twenty-first birthday, when you are your in prime stage of life. I saw my father’s, my uncles’ and my aunts’ portraits, and stopped at the chapter entitled ‘Hecate’. Her mother was sisters with my own mother, making her my first cousin. She was extremely experienced in charms and transfiguration, one of the best witches in the business. I figured I needed some inspiration, so I sidled through the mess of ancient greek and scribbled diagrams. I found that her specialty was inventing new spells. Then I came across a very interesting quote from some guy named Hesiod who had wrote a different book:

“Zeus, Cronus’ son, honoured [Hecate] above all others: he gave her splendid gifts - to have a share of the earth and of the barren sea, and from the starry sky as well she has a share in honour.”

My eyes lit up. That’s exactly what I needed. Well, maybe father wouldn’t ‘honour me above all others’, but he might at least give me a pat on the back, and to get that from my father would be good enough for me. Inspiration struck as I slammed the book shut and began my hunt for any information that might be of help. 

By ten o’clock, I had been chased out of the library and back to the Hufflepuff dorms. I went to sleep cosy and content, knowing that all I needed to do now was invent a new spell.

Apparently, this is harder than it sounds. Drat. Even thinking of a new spell took me all Sunday, but at least there was no classes. Meg and I spent all day outside by the lake, sitting underneath a laurel tree while I poured over a seemingly endless stack of books, eliminating spell ideas as I saw them mentioned. I knew I wanted something flashy, something I could add into my concert - which was a great opportunity to show it off in front of the whole school. But alas, as I crossed off ‘self playing violin spell’ I began to loose the inspirational buzz I’d started the task with. Meg leaned over and swiped my list of possible spells from my lap.

“‘Poetry generator spell’? Really?”

“Gah! I don’t know!” I wailed, waving my arms desperately and throwing down my quill in defeat. “I can’t think of anything else! There is not a single spell out there that has not already been created!” 

I slumped back against the tree and sighed, watching Meg make a dandelion grow with ten times the regular speed. She had a real knack for herbology and garden magic, just like I did for divination. Divination class had never steered me wrong, especially because the professor is my grandmother, Phoebe, who says I’ve inherited her talent. I had stayed behind after class last Friday to ask Professor Phoebe about the future outcome of my little trial, and she’d told me to grab a crystal ball and see for myself. All I had gotten was the mist in the ball turning gold.

I glanced over to the lake where my uncle Poseidon was lobbing fish for the giant squid. He was wearing his usual attire; a loud Hawaiian shirt and tan kakis with loafers and his signature fishing cap, even in the cold winter weather. As his bucket emptied, he turned to stroll back into the castle when we locked eyes. Noticing my distress, he ambled on over to us, his hands in his pockets and his kind, sea-green eyes twinkling. 

“I heard you’re in a bit of hot water with my dear little brother again, Apollo.”

I blew out my cheeks in exasperation and slumped even further down the tree, making Poseidon chuckle. “I know the feeling.”

“He’s impossible!”

“What have you got so far?”

I handed him my list of possible spells, which he read through with careful consideration.

“I want to invent a new spell for dad. Like Hecate did. But every spell is already taken! There’s nothing to invent!”

Poseidon scratched his neatly trimmed beard thoughtfully.

“Well, when people want to sell a product, they usually want the product to solve problems.”

“So?”

“So what problems - besides the whole ‘Impress Zeus’ chore - do you have that can’t be solved with magic right now?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration.

“I have a gig on the last day of class. I have this one song prepared that requires a whole congregation of different instruments, and I still can’t find anyone else with the mere skill set to play with me, so I had to enchant the whole orchestra to play itself. There’s no backup singers either, since all the muses are doing their own parts, and if they play every single song they’ll be exhausted.” I huffed. “Mnemosyne remembered her girls coming home to her in first year after the concert, and she banned them from doing it again. And she never goes back on a rule.”

“Enchanted backup dancers,” Meg snorted. Poseidon raised an eyebrow at my young friend, smirking at her humour. 

“Yes,” I mumbled, my mind running at full speed, giving me the ideas and inspiration I had spent a week looking for. “Yes, that could work.” I grabbed my quill and ripped out a new piece of parchment and began scribbling like a madman, muttering and blocking out everything in my peripheral vision. 

“Well!” I heard Poseidon say, his voice retreating and getting more distant. “Glad I could help.”

“Don’t Bother,” Was that Meg? I couldn’t tell, I wasn’t paying attention. “He’s gonna be in that trance for hours.”

…

It was 9pm on the eighteenth of December. Exactly seventy-two hours until the concert began. I stood in an empty classroom that was packed with grimy wooden crates that had probably been there for years. A few of the stacked crates acted as Meg’s high throne, where she proceeded to look down upon myself, who trying feebly to summon my incantation. I glanced yet again at my jotter, which was propped open on top of a crate to my left. On it was my scrawled notes on my new spell: the Golden Charmer. The incantation words were translated into ancient greek: Χρυσεαι Κηληδονες, or, Chryseae Celedones. Their purpose was to act as my backup group, to sing, dance and play whatever I asked of them. They amplified my own voice, but in any voice type (tenor, soprano, bass, you name it) or gender that I pleased. They were also supposed to have a golden form, but so far, I had only accomplished a yellow wisp protruding from the end of my wand.

“Be more magic,” Meg suggested unhelpfully before stuffing another fistful of popcorn in her gob. I rolled my eyes, turned back to the empty room, set my jaw and tried again. I pointed my wand at my voice box, uttered “Χρυσεαι Κηληδονες!” and flicked my wrist until the wand tip was pointed away from me. I then drew a steady line downwards with my wand, the golden mist following in its wake and sculpting itself until a beautiful apparition stood before us, casting out warm light and an aura of grace. Her detailed face held an impassive expression, like she could just as quickly bare her teeth in a growl as she could in a smile. Her sleeveless dress was draped across her shoulders and flowed majestically down to the floor. Her hair was folded in a loose bun on her head, the fibres drooping but far from messy or unkempt. She was perfect. I could feel my heart rate rise unnaturally with unbound excitement. I had done it! 

Meg, whose mouth was hanging open and spilling chewed kernels all over the place, quickly shut her trap and made an effort to look unimpressed. 

“Does it work?”

I glared at her, thinking about that bat-bogey hex Hermes had just taught me, and how many times I would get to use it on my young friend by the end of the school year.

“I just invented a charm, Miss McCaffrey. Can you be impressed for a little bit before ruining my fun?”

“Nope,” she stated, twisting to lie upside-down on her crate, her glasses falling up to her forehead. “Get her to sing.”

I sighed. Tapping my wand on a crate for the golden being’s attention (which was most likely unnecessary, but still, delightfully dramatic), I held my hands up like a conductor with my wand as his baton. The Celedon sang in tune to my gestures.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!”

I smirked at Meg, deciding I had every right to be cocky. The celedon’s voice was pristine. It carried brilliantly, and was as clear as day. 

“Are you just gonna conduct, then?” Meg asked. “Like, you’re not actually singing?”

“No, no, no. I’m singing and playing violin for this particular piece,” I said, loosing a bit of my confidence. Did the Celedons need me to conduct them? If so, id just created a whole new problem. “I’m sure if I just…” I turned once again to the Celedon and cleared my throat. “Ahem. Celedon, sing Greensleeves.” Thank the heavens, it seemed to understand. She burst into a rendition of the mournful tune. Meg’s eyes turned glassy with tears that threatened to fall, her soul plunged into the despair of loosing a loved one. I, on the other hand, felt the sound was empty. It was good, yes. But it could be better. I held a hand up for the spell’s sound to cease. It obeyed. 

Meg stared at me, wiping her eyes. “Why’d you stop?”

“One moment…” I performed the spell’s gesture thrice more (now knowing the correct way to cast the spell), and soon had a quartet of golden women before me, awaiting my command. “Let’s try that again, shall we?” This time, the song was flawless. The first Celedon took the lead, while the other three vocally danced around the first’s notes, emphasising the main tune. Even I had a tear in my eye by the end. I was glad I had soundproofed this classroom beforehand, or I might have reduced the transfiguration class down the hall into a sobbing wreck.

“Ah ha!” I exclaimed. “Fantastic!” My mind raced for something else I could give them to do. “Uhhh…here! Try this! Accio violin!” 

Whoosh - craSH. 

A violin smashed through a window, and flew into my open hand.

“Couldn’t you have just went and got your violin?” Asked Meg. “I thought the Hufflepuff dorms were like, a floor down from here.”

“Pizzaz, Meg.”

“You’re dumb.”

I handed a Celedon the violin and announced; “Celedon, play Swan Lake.” But instead of Tchaikovsky’s magical piece, a sound not unlike a spiteful cat dragging its claws down a chalkboard screeched from the instrument. Meg fell off her wooden throne in surprise, clutching her ears and screaming at the charm to stop. The Celedon, obviously not used to being hated on by twelve year olds (despite her limited existence time) paused her torturous tune and glared holes into the red-clad preteen. After the ringing in my ears subsided, stared into space wearily, knowing that I now needed to teach a spell to play expert level violin. And I had less than three days.

…

I tugged nervously on my blazer sleeve as Calliope finished up her last song. I had decided to wear my usual house uniform, but instead of the cloak, I had donned a sharp black blazer with a bright yellow lapel. I smiled at my half-sister as she jogged offstage and joined me behind the great hall’s doors.

“You’re up next, Ollie,” Calliope panted, her sweat dampening her brow and coming through the folds of her stylised Ravenclaw-blue t-shirt dress. Black skin-tight jeans clung to her legs and her socks had sunk below the rim of her pastel pink converse boots. She grappled blindly for her water bottle before dumping the contents on her face and chugging the rest of it. Her wavy caramel hair straightened and darkened under the weight of the water. Cal and I were the main participators in each year’s Christmas concert. And every other concert at the end of a school term. She had just finished her version of ‘Jingle Bell Rock’, and just before that, had sang a variation of ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ with me and her other eight sisters. She had also sang the song before that, and after three songs with hardly a break, she was rightfully exhausted. No wonder her mother had banned her from playing every song (a rule that my mother had belatedly decided to enforce on me too). Once she caught her breath, Calliope straightened up and patted me on the shoulder. “I hope this last one goes well for your sake, Ollie.”

I blew out my cheeks. “Me too.”

“It’s not a Christmas song though, right?”

“No, It just packs a punch. I wanted something that could really wow someone, y’know?”

Calliope nodded solemnly. “Of course. No one can do that with ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’.” 

I knew she’d get it. Still, from behind the doors to the great hall where the tables had been cleared and a stage set up, I questioned every decision I had made leading up to this moment. Every face in the crowd was blurred together, but somehow I could easily see my father, reclining in his chair and glaring at the empty stage as if that would make the acts happen faster. I was terrified, and I do not get stage fright. I love being the centre of attention, especially when it’s for something I’m brilliant at. I did not doubt my own ability to put on a show. I only doubted my ability to read my father. 

But of course, that did not matter. I had to start anyways.

As I sauntered out and onto the stage, I felt the heat of the room smack me dead in the face. The chatter of the crowd lowered to a mumble. I turned from my spectators and waved my wand at the hoard of unmanned instruments packed at the back of the stage, which sprung to life and readied their first notes. I then turned to my side and muttered “Χρυσεαι Κηληδονες!”. Twice before turning to my other side and doing the same again. I now stood between four Golden Charmers, readily holding matching violins. I silently prayed they had picked up the song I had attempted to teach them. Anything could’ve gone wrong at that point, and I could do nothing about it. I heard gasps and mutters go up from the students, but did not dare look. They may have been laughing - or something worse. Instead I focused on grabbing my own violin - whistling a single low note to signify that I was starting - and played.

As soon as my bow hit the strings, I felt the adrenaline flood my being, filling every bone in my body. I was no longer apprehensive. This was the feeling I lived for, and I intended to let it take over. My fingers flew across the strings, and at just the right moment, the Celedons joined in with perfect synchronisation. Everything was going to plan. The operatic voices of the Celedons joined the choir, singing along with the notes. “Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!” 

The first verse arrived and the Celedones ceased their play, as planned. I continued with my violin, belting out the lyrics with all my heart and soul. The instruments gradually picked up, and I sang louder and louder, summoning all the melancholy I could muster. I could feel my musical magic making the audience break into tears. The exhilaration fuelled me. I could feel no exhaustion. 

As soon as the last note evaporated, I felt my energy drain, my shoulders and head suddenly becoming a lot heavier. I wanted to heave for breath, but I simply could not allow myself to do so while still onstage! So I shortened my breath to what I hoped was normal, and not a person who had just ran several marathons back to back. My brow and torso were sticky with sweat and I had the urge to rip off my blazer for some relief from the overwhelming heat. I could hardly hear the applause that had erupted until I actively forced myself to listen.  I was too busy scanning the audience to soak up the praise, but my eyes only landed on the unreadable, impassive expression of the headmaster.

…

I would have liked to be able to truthfully say that I spent most of the night celebrating the deadline of my trial and the end of the term with the muses, my twin, and all my good friends, partying to Pompeii by Bastille until the little hours of the morning, not bothering to concern myself with past mistakes or future hardships, drink too much butter beer and pass out on the Hogwarts Express the next morning. You know, the good life. But alas, that was not the case. For one, we were told to trot off to bed right after my final song, which was only a couple of minutes past ten o’clock, and warned that our heads of houses would be checking that we were all asleep by ten-thirty. If we were not, we would receive a detention for the first day back. 

However, I still attempted to force my way through the swamp of students making their way to the doors so I could talk to my father, and perhaps get some clarification on my fate. However, my plans were spoiled when I couldn’t get past a particularly moody cow.

“Bed, Goldilocks!” Hera commanded, her hatred for any children of Zeus that were not hers abundantly present in her poison tipped words. “That husband-stealing mother of yours may cause Zeus to lighten his punishments, but don’t think for a second that I will have any displeasure in seeing you in detention for the rest of your years at this school!”

I leaned past her and searched around, not really taking in her threats (this is a common and practised reaction to children of Zeus), and tried once again to slip past her.

“I just need to talk to father real quick, then I promise I will be out of your…” I glanced up at her. “rapidly greying hair. Won’t be a moment.” At that second, Hera grabbed my wrist and yanked me backwards, almost pulling my shoulder from its socket. She sneered down at me, bearing her teeth and pointing to the exit. I realised it was not worth my trouble. I huffed and, turning on my heel, strode back to the Hufflepuff common room.

If nothing else, being in the common room was always a nice experience. The whole place radiated a calm laziness, the ever-burning fire in the fireplace keeping the temperature cozy in winter months. The low ceilings were just above ground level, so the highest windows let in the sweet smell of cut grass towards the end of the school year. A few older students were lounging on the comfortable yellow sofa facing the mantelpiece and the dozen beanbags scattered throughout the room. These were the students who were staying over the winter break, and had few concerns over the timing of their retirement to bed. Some congratulated me on my performance. A couple gave a thumbs-up and nothing more - I returned these with an added smile, of course. I took a crumb of shortbread (which I had stuck out of the kitchen on the way to the dorms) out of my pocket and tossed it to Badger, the friendly mouse who lay reclined on one of the low tables in the centre of the room (I had found him in first year and the whole Hufflepuff house had unanimously adopted him as our secret mascot). Then I slipped through the rounded, honey-gold wooden door that lead to the boy’s dorms and threw myself onto my mattress.

Was I off the hook? Did I pass the test? Did father approve? Did he hate it? It looked like he hated it. Why is it always me who’s on the wrong side of father? Would it have been different if I was in Gryffindor? Is that why he hates me? Does he hate me? 

Fathers words rang in my head. “If you succeed, which I doubt, you may continue with your hobby. If not…” WHAT DID HE MEAN BY “IF NOT”? What did that IMPLY? Does it mean detention, expulsion or worse? Should I be terrified? 

…

Why was I still worrying? Everything was out of my hands. I had done my best.

…

…

…

BUT WHAT IF-

The anxieties didn’t cease all night. I do not know when I finally managed to drift off.

…

I hurriedly stuffed my trunk full of the belongings I would need for the two week break. Artie and I were staying with our mother on Delos for the duration of the holiday, and I did not intend to miss the train. When all my things were safely tucked away, I slammed the trunk shut and hauled it out of the dorms and through the earthen exit of the Hufflepuff common room, bidding my farewells to the few students who were staying. 

Due to my late night worries, I had woken up late and already missed breakfast, so I took the obvious solution to a Hufflepuff. I lay down my trunk at the end of the corridor and tickled the pear - the entrance painting to the kitchens.

I left ten minutes later, licking my fingers which were sticky from strawberry juice and greek yogurt. The house elves had been grudgingly generous, having just finished cleaning up for the winter. Smirking as they chased me out of the kitchen, I grabbed my trunk and began dragging it up the stairs and towards the castle grounds. Halfway there, I ran into a slight problem. Well, we kind of ran into each other.

The headmaster, my father, stood in all his muscular, bulking glory, blocking the way to freedom. He looked as authoritative as always, his grey-streaked beard and hair well-kept and neat, his navy suit and tie clean and imposing, his eyes a sharp shade of piercing blue. I backed off a few steps and tried for a chill smile, but I had a strong feeling that it looked more like a pained grimace. Father straightened his back, rolled back his shoulders and rumbled; 

“So. You made… a singing spell.”

I gulped down the bile that was fighting its way up my throat. I hated the way he oversimplified things. It made all my achievements look so much smaller in comparison to their real gargantuan importance. For instance, take that time I recorded a mashup of myself and the muses singing to hit tracks in howlers, and installed the howlers in between walls - our own in-built speaker system! Genius! Unfortunately, a few party-poopers (cough, Athena, cough) complained and had father tell me to ‘Take the paper planes back’, which, frankly, is an utterly ridiculous understatement of the hard work and effort put into that project. But the past is the past. In the present, Zeus was still waiting for an answer.

Oh reader, I so desperately tried to tell him of the wondrous things even a single Charmer could accomplish! They were not merely singing spells! They could entertain, play for those who were lonely, fill vacancies in choirs or orchestras in emergency last-minute cancellations! They could solve more problems for a showman than there are notes on sheet music! 

But Zeus would have none of it. He stopped me halfway through my righteous rant. Rude.

“Enough,” he commanded somewhat wearily, holding one hand up for silence and rubbing his temple with another. “It is too early for your passionate outbursts.” I may have pouted slightly at that. It’s not important. Zeus regained some of his intimidating authority and continued, “I have already decided the outcome.” I knew it. I was expelled, I was dead I was- “You were not at breakfast. I was on my way to your common room to inform you of your success before you depart.” 

My face paled. I dropped my heavy trunk with a loud thump. 

“My… success?”

Zeus grunted.

“Yes. It was… a good show. Many staff and students were moved to tears. That would be the sort of reaction I cannot ignore in my decision making. Spells are typically not simple to create from scratch. And to have seen someone pull such things off in a few short weeks was…” he paused, considering the right word to use. He begrudgingly settled on: “…impressive.”

Let me tell you, if I had still been holding onto my trunk, I would have dropped it all over again. I swallowed, struggling to process a compliment coming from the lips of the toughest, most powerful wizard in the family. My heart was buzzing, my head was light, my breathing was uneven (though I tried my best to hide it). My brain worked overtime to somehow comprehend these impossible words. Impressive. Dad…impressed. I was impressive. I had done something worth being impressed over. For him. He was impressed. Eventually I managed to croak a measly “Thank you.”

It could’ve been me hallucinating, but I could’ve sworn I saw the slightest smirk underneath the greying beard, and a minuscule spark of pride in those electric eyes. 

“Ten points to Hufflepuff.”

@psychologymademeunderstand @go-danielle

[1358456]

Review Response, Destiny #043

The count reached past 10, so here it is. Even with one review being for a chapter that does not exist (???), the count is still past 10. So... yeah!

1) You really made a bitch cry during this chapter, like damn I already guessed it but all my Hoenn favs lost in the waves. Just thinking about what happened to Tate and Liza who are even younger than emerald just haunted me. I had said in a previous review that emerald was gonna lose all his loved ones(by that I mean the ones closest to him) and that’s what happened. One can only pray that there’s even a hint of an ethnically Hoenn population left after this entire ordeal As for everyone else Red and Blue lost their bestie’s and brother but have each other, the Johto kids gained nothing and lost everything, Sinnoh kids are traumatized but otherwise fine, Black and White have each other, and X is probably a level of depressed incomprehensible for the human mind. This story was a fun emotional roller coaster and I’m happy I could be apart of the ride.

Ah, the review for a chapter that does not exist. Given the buggy nature of this, I will consider this review to be for chapter 43.

Emerald has indeed, lost everyone. In fact, if the epilogue scene played out like a video game and you could explore around, on the skeleton around “Emerald Gate”, you’d find a secret chamber containing a lot of worn out journals and two Soul Dew. ... Ouch, huh? And yes, there would be Hoenn population left, having evacuated to the other regions. While most of Hoenn cities have catastrophic casualties, the towns and cities near the fringes but away from the calamity (such as Fallarbor and Rustboro) would have most of their dwellers alive, just evacuated.

Red and Blue are happy (in fact, the popular “rivals” for that pairing are all dead) and will have their own happy ending sooner or later, the Johto folks got a doom ending, the Hoenn folks got a doom ending, Sinnoh got a happy ending, Unova got a happy ending, and Kalos got a doom ending. 3:3. BALANCE!

2) The chapter title honestly reminded me of Avengers: Endgame XD

And thank you as well! It's fun writing Ruby and Sapphire so I don't wanna miss the opportunity. Thank you again! TwT

(Still don’t know anything about the Avengers or whatever)

Thanks so much, Cap! I really love what you did for that segment, and I really appreciate it. I hope we can do something similar once again!

3) That was a great way to end,can’t wait for the other stories to unfold!

Thank you very much. Legacy will certainly get interesting later on!

4) Damn, pretty much all of Hoenn is gone. That's death on a far grander scale than anything I was expecting. Still, the ending is oddly satisfying. Hmm, not sure how else to word that.

Anyway, this entire story is awesome! Kinda wish there was a bit in the epilogue as to what happened with the surviving dex holders, but oh well. Amazing writing as always~

Destiny has the highest death count of all the stories I’ve ever written. Even in terms of named character deaths, SA has the most, since everyone notable in Hoenn are gone. ... It’s a good thing Emerald never got confirmation... “... Even the Shoe Store Guy...”

I was originally going to put in some stuff for the survivors, but they were kind of out of place and incorrect in terms of timeline, as Emerald would seal his two friends and a few days later, the survivors would’ve returned home for their happy endings or whatnot. And thank you!

5) Jeez, what an incredible story. I've been following this since 2014 & all I can really say is damn. Looking forward to keep reading your other stories.

Thank you very much!

6) Why have a cliffhanger ending without a sequel? It's not a horror movie.

Because it’s FUN! Hehe. In truth, I always liked the concept of a teaser ending, especially a teaser ending that shows a new threat/event that it not going to be elaborated on. At least not by the original creators, anyways. Besides, I did this once before back in SA. Never created SA2, you know. Same deal here. Hehehe...

7) Wow...

That was...

Let's just say, I was NOT expecting that.

At all.

Hehe... then it was as intended. Huhuhu...

8) Both of the Unova casts survived?! What is this blasphemy! Hooray for finishing Destiny, really good work. Cya at your other stories.

What a shocker! Black and White lived!!

Ahem. Okay, to be REALLY fair, I did intend to kill White in Destiny. In fact, the “fake Destiny” short story I made years ago (Short Story - Mercy) was supposed to happen exactly in the actual story. White gets mind controlled and convinces Black to kill her to spare her from the torture and to stop her from bringing Unova into ruin by pissing off Kyurem. I just decided to not go with it at the last moment to show some mercy, and because the Kyurem issue will be brought up in another story later on and I didn’t want a repeat. So... now you know! Hehehe...

9) As Ethan Kironus said, "Why have a cliffhanger ending without a sequel? It's not a horror movie." I freakin' hate when someone do that. I'm disappointed and will not read this story, and I regret I ever followed it.

I’m so glad you decided to not read the story after you followed and read it all the way to the very last chapter. Well done.

10) Heheh. You and your cliffhanger endings. They almost always end like that which perfectly sets up for a sequel. Then you never make it to leave us in suspense forever.

Okay. I feel really bad for emerald. Everybody he loves is gone. Like Ruby and Sapphire, he has nothing left. He chose the hard thing to do, however, and spend the rest of his life guarding the orbs. It’s pretty noble, and pretty depressing. At least the others got a somewhat of a happy ending...except for X.

Whats this? Black and White actually lived through a full story?! I didnt think it was possible!

I think this is the most people you killed in a story since everyone in an entire region died.

Anyway, great job with this fic! Its been a very enjoyable one, and I’m glad I got to read it! There truly aren’t enough good stories that involve the dex holders!

Hehehe... them teaser endings!! Though to be fair... I only did it once before with SA. But in terms of “plot based, long story”, there are... 3. SA, Destiny, Legacy. So... with 2 of those stories finished, and 2 teaser endings... 100% rate thus far. Ha!

Poor Emerald indeed. Lost Crystal. Lost Gold. Lost Ruby and Sapphire. Lost even the Trick Master. And later on, loses Latias and Latios. Poor boy. Curious that no one thus far had said “poor Sapphire”. And yes, X had a horribly sad ending too. Because he gets to go home and “bury” Y in Vaniville Town, which means he also has to talk with Y’s mother and tell her of Y’s death. Ohh...

Hehe. About Black and White... To be fair (again), the... er... misconception that I tend to kill Black and White a lot started with how I kind of... tossed them away in SA. And I only had them die in SA because they were post-plot-plan additions. Generation V as a whole debuted after SA started and its plans fully set. So the two did not have a place in the finale thus were thrown away. While it’s true that I bullied the crap out of them in DE, I didn’t really kill them much. ... I think. Ahem. Now, similarly, Sun and Moon both debuted after Destiny began. Which means if I decided to include Sun and Moon in Destiny, they both would’ve died in the final battle to increase the death count. And the misconception that I bully and kill the Alola cast will begin. Maybe. So... yeah. ... That said, I do find a bit of amusement in torturing Black & White, but... hehehe...

Not everyone in Hoenn died, but pretty much everyone. I think the population focused cities are Lilycove (doomed), Slateport (doomed), and Mauville (doomed), so... yeah. A LOT of deaths of faceless nameless people.

Thank you so much! I’ll see you at the other stories!

11) Sorry to give another review, but...

Yeah...

Like I said, wasn't expecting the ending.

The destruction of Hoenn was pretty much the death-wish I asked for. Thanks.

Can't be a 135 story without a cliffhanger ending, can it?

Anyways, as many others have said, the Unovan cast surviving was very surprising.

To end this off (for now), all I can say is that I'm glad I read this. Thanks for giving us a story that can make us feel so many different emotions. There aren't as many out there as there used to be, but you pulled through and that's what mattered.

And to the people who say that the cliffhanger ending was unnecessary... What did you honestly expect? It's a 135 story. Whenever you read one of those, you're always going to be left with one of them. And people actually can LIKE cliffhangers. I'm one of them. No hate to those who disagree with me. I'm just stating my opinion.

(To 135): I'll be back eventually.

You aren't getting rid of me just yet.

Thanks for the story.

You made the “death wish” years after I decided to obliterate Hoenn and its population. So... hehehe. Nice. Works out, eh?

Can’t be a 135 story without one? ... Ehh... maybe. I mean, I guess all the post-endings in SE/DE kind of do that too. Hehehe...

Yeah, yeah. Unova cast... the “usual” targets, apparently.

Thanks for the compliments!

And looking at it strictly, the loose ending is technically unnecessary. And do not cause disputes, s’il vous plait.

“I’ll be back”. ... Do not drive a vehicle through a building? (REFERENCE!)

Well then. I will wait. Thank you!

[jbuffyangel]

Lingering Effects: Arrow 6x01 Review (Fallout)

Hello friends!!! Missed you guys! Man it has been a long writing break for me. I hope I remember how to do this!

Another hellatus survived! Another season premiere! Six seasons - wow. We've put in a chunk of time with this show. What I admire about Arrow is they really pay attention to what worked and what didn't in the previous season and try incorporate those lessons into the next. Arrow has five years of lessons informing their sixth season premiere and the episode reflected it.  

There is a seamless fluidity and confidence to "Fallout." Arrow knows what it does best and what it doesn't. The captain of the Arrowverse, the original DC TV show, "the veteran" is owning their experience. The cast feels incredibly well integrated, it's fast paced, funny and emotional. Most importantly it answers the long awaited "cliffhanger" while still leaving some unanswered questions and launching new mysteries.

The term "Fallout" is an interesting choice for the episode title. It stuck with me as I watched because of the open endedness to the term. The definition of fallout is:

1 a :the often radioactive particles stirred up by or resulting from a nuclear explosion and descending through the atmosphere; also :other polluting particles (such as volcanic ash) descending likewise

b :descent (as of fallout) through the atmosphere

2 :a secondary and often lingering effect, result, or set of consequences

There is no conclusion or end to what happened on Lian Yu and what Adrian Chase did.  The characters are still falling through the consequences. Some are grappling more than others with the, but the lingering effects are shifting them all in new directions. For some, these new directions are wonderful. For others, it is like a radioactive particle slowly descending all around them... like a cancer taking hold.

Let's dig in...

Who Survived?

Let's just get right to it because thankfully Arrow did. In order of appearance: Diggle, Rene, Curtis, Felicity, Dinah, Lance and Bl&ck S&ren. There are absolutely no surprises in this list. We knew all the series regulars would be returning.

We'll get to Thea.

Arrow didn't go more than one minute without John Diggle because... they know how this works. Our Queen came home around the 5 minute mark. It's good the show can acknowledge they cannot survive more than five minutes without these two.

Who Didn't Survive?

Samantha is the only confirmed death.  Again, no surprises there. We knew William was living with Oliver. As saw in the preview, Samantha charges into the woods in a panic looking for their son moments before the explosion. 

I appreciate a mother's love and all that, but WHAT ARE YOU THINKING WOMAN? It's an island with 250 bombs about to go off in a matter of seconds. If William is truly in any danger don't you think Oliver would have SAID SOMETHING to Felicity over the comms? Perhaps something like, "Hey by the way, I have no idea where my son is so could y'all not leave him for dead? Enjoy the flight honey."

Which I am sure is exactly what Thea (and Felicity) were going to tell Samantha as they charged after her into the woods. Samantha's actions were nothing more than suicide, which part of her had to know. Some part of her had to know that she couldn't save William because BOMBS! So instead she chose to die with him.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Samantha or disparage William's mother. Obviously, she deeply loved her son and would do anything to save him - even if it meant the cost of her own life. It's selfless love and what any good mother would do. But one has to admit the extreme stupidity of her actions. IT. IS. AN. ISLAND. 250. BOMBS.

It's pretty obvious Arrow wanted Mama Clayton permanently gone, so Oliver was forced into the full time dad position. That's fine. Story arc has to go where the story arc has to go. However, that's not going to stop me from pointing out the illogical actions so they could blow the woman up.

Of course, @callistawolf​ called it as she always does and Samantha dies in Oliver's arms. She makes Oliver promise to be a father to William and he does because of course.  Then... she's gone. For a character we really didn't know all that well it was pretty effecting. In no small part to Oliver barely keeping it together during their conversation. I cry when Stephen Amell cries.

Unknown

The fates of Talia Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul and Evelyn are left unanswered. Slade tells Oliver that Ra's Al Ghul's daughter went after the girl in the cage. He didn't specific which one, but I'm assuming he meant Nyssa. We don't know if any of them survived, so they could pop up anytime. I will take whatever hope I can get for Nyssa's survival.  

Oliver Queen and William

Of course, the biggest change to the show is Oliver becoming a full time dad. I agree with Stephen Amell's assertion that Oliver's mind send is similar to the Season 4 premiere. He's at peace and settled.

Source: @olivergifs

However, it's not because he ran away from the hood, his past and the darkness. It's because he faced it. The lessons Oliver learned in Season 5, primarily letting go of the guilt he carried over Robert Queen's death, have taken hold in his soul in a way we've never seen before. 

Source: @olivergifs

There are some stunningly refreshing comments from Oliver throughout the episode. Our man is embracing logic and approaching life from a new perspective. Except, the difference between this man and Season 4 Oliver is... he hasn't abandoned one side of himself. He accepts it and is balancing it.

This makes Oliver ready to be a father, but it doesn't mean it will be easy. Obviously, William is deeply traumatized. A man kidnapped him and his mother, put a gun to his head, announced rather unceremoniously that the Green Arrow was his father, and then blew up an island with his mother on it. It's safe to say William needs therapy. Call your insurance carrier Oliver. See who is in network.

William is withdrawn, sullen, distant and angry with Oliver.  He refuses to talk about anything with his father even though he's not sleeping and having nightmares. Instead, he takes comfort in RAISA!!!

Source: dmichellewrites

God bless this woman. It is good to see her back on my television screen. Oliver doesn't have  a lot of good parenting examples to draw from. Raisa is the grandmother role Oliver so desperately needs filled. One Moira is sadly unable to fulfill. However, I think Raisa probably provides a more grounded and less nefarious approach to parenting than Moira ever did.

Can I just say... I love that this kid is carrying around a Flash backpack? Let's review. Initially, William was obsessed with The Flash. 

After the Green Arrow saved him from Damien Darhk, the kid chucked the scarlet speedster action figure for one of Green Arrow.  

Now, we're back to carting Barry (in backpack form) around all day. There is a direct correlation between William's toys and his emotional progression with his father. Come fight me.

Sure it's totally possible for the kid to love both, but I don't think that's what's going on. This is exactly the kind of passive aggressive behavior a ten year old boy would pull.  William knows Oliver is the Green Arrow and blames him for his mother's death. This kid is no dummy. Toys R Us presents an effective and not so subtle dig at his father. William took it. His petty is my kind of petty.

The biggest insight into the state of their relationship is when Oliver says goodnight to William. His son replies, "Goodnight Oliver." Ouch.

I winced right along with Oliver. That hurts. It's harsh, but very fair on William's part.

Being a father is more than biology and Oliver has to earn this. Samantha isn't the only issue between father and son. Oliver didn't know about William for many years. That's not Oliver's fault, but it doesn't erase the feelings of abandonment William has carried around his entire life either.  Even after Oliver discovered that William was his son, he sent him away.  The reason? The Green Arrow. Trust me, this kid has connected all the dots.

William is right to make Oliver earn being his father. The problems between them aren't going to be fixed with junk food, video games, staying up late, watching sports or tiptoeing around their issues. Oliver's initial approach to parenting felt very reminiscent to Moira's in Season 1, specifically with Thea. In "Lone Gunman," Thea steals some clothes, but rather than punish her Moira gives her space.  Oliver called out on it:

Obviously, the situations are very different. William doesn't need to be punished, but Oliver doesn't need to tiptoe around him either. This isn't about being William's friend. This is about being his father.

He delivers the message with a gentle and loving tone, but it is firm. 

Oliver has learned the first rule of parenting. Your child doesn't have to like you in order to take care of them. 

His message to William is clear: William can push Oliver away all he wants. It won't change anything. Oliver is never walking away.  He will never leave him.

Source: @olivergifs

This is exactly what William needs to hear from his father whether he knows it or not. There is a deep rooted fear under all this anger. Every time Oliver puts on that hood, every time he leaves the house, William is afraid he's going to lose him just like he lost his mother.

This reassurance is what William so desperately needs and will continue to need for a very long time. It's why we see the first crack in the wall he's put up. He agrees to watch a baseball game with his father.

Source: @olivergifs

It's a small step, but it means everything to Oliver.  He mourned deeply when Samantha "lost" the baby and carried that pain with him always. The moment Oliver knew William existed he wanted to be a father to him.  However, Oliver is also learning what "being there" means and it's not always easy.  

When William finally calls Oliver "Dad" it will be because he earned it. And Oliver Queen will earn it because he loves his son and that's what fathers do.

Olicity

Fandom... we have done our time in Angst City. Hello Sunshine & Rainbows. I have missed you.

The first scene between Oliver and Felicity tells us everything we need to know about the state of their relationship. Yes, they are together (five months and counting). They are currently living separately. Felicity is not spending time with William yet.

There are several reasons why I love this scene. First, Oliver Queen is the cutest cute to ever cute. Felicity Smoak walks into the room carrying cheeseburgers and Oliver cannot hide his pure joy at her arrival.  So, he smiles shyly and does his patented "Felicity Smoak Shuffle. "

Felicity brought food for both Oliver and William, covering the basis for all lactose digestion possibilities.  

Source: westallenolicitygifs

(Motherhood will be no issue. Felicity has this sewn up).

The man just wants to eat cheeseburgers with his girl and son AND BE ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY OF THREE.  I just want to throw glitter all over his puppy face.

Felicity has a very Felicity Smoak reaction. COMMENCE THE BABBLE.  

She asks Oliver, "Unless you're asking because you think now is a good time..." and immediately we know that William and Felicity have not spent any time together. This is extremely wise on both Oliver and Felicity's parts.

William just lost his mother. No, five months is not a long time when a monumentally life altering event such as this happens to a child. He is deeply mourning.  Oliver introducing Felicity too soon could potentially make William feel like his father is pushing a  "replacement mother"  on him. It will only make William more confused and angry. There is no escaping that any woman romantically involved with Oliver carries that kind of connotation because he is William's father. The child needs time. Oliver and Felicity are respecting Samantha's death and William's grief.

Not to mention, William and Oliver are just getting to know each other.  A lot of William's resentment is created by Oliver not being in his life before now and his fear over something happening to his father (like his mother). William shouldn't have to share Oliver's attention when they are together. Not yet. Not at first. William needs to feel secure with his father first. Also, Oliver and Felicity need time to feel secure in their relationship before they are ready to tackle William together. This is Oliver and Felicity putting William's needs first, which is exactly what they SHOULD be doing.

This doesn't mean it's easy on Oliver and Felicity. 

Oliver tells Felicity he doesn't need a buffer, but c'mon son you would absolutely LOVE a buffer right now. I give you an Oliver Queen internal monologue:

Who doesn't love Felicity? Felicity fixes everything!!! She is my lobster and harnesser of my light! She's bringing cheeseburgers. This is a perfect time to get my forever family together and BOND. William will immediately fall in love with her, then fall in love with me, forgive all and call me Dad. We'll all watch the game together, I'll put William to bed and then Felicity & I can have all the sex.

I'm not saying I've nailed his every thought, but feel strongly I'm on the right track about the sex. “I could use some company” is one of the most blatant euphemisms for sex that I've ever heard in my life. I bet you could use some company big fella.

Kidding aside, life with William isn't easy and Oliver is lonely. He misses Felicity. Felicity, in her infinite wisdom, tells Oliver this isn't the night.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

This is probably the dirtiest thing Oliver Queen has ever said to Felicity. The way he lowered his voice and looked her up and down? My man. Keep it up Mr. Queen. 

It rivals the eye sex of, "I believe you ordered the crate of stolen military weapons Mr. Queen.”  

He was giving serious thought to going at it on the floor mats again. I know it. WE WERE ROBBED.

See? This is all I need. Felicity babbling and Oliver looking at her like my dog looks at hot dogs on a stick. I'm a simple woman Arrow writers. Takes very little to keep me satisfied.

Real talk though, just between us girls Oliver, how long as it been? Are we hitting the week mark? Couple weeks? Months? Welcome to parenting!! Finding time for sex is a little trickier now. Honestly, Oliver and Felicity have never been more relatable. Cheer up though. William isn't a baby. He's 10. Eventually, he'll make a friend and this is why God invented sleepovers. Also, we have Raisa. *Jen fall to her knees and thanks Jesus for Raisa*

Oliver isn't the only one who is disappointed. Felicity pouts when he walks away. Even though she knows now isn't the time, Felicity wants to spend time with William. She misses Oliver and wants to YA KNOW too. The two of them are on the same page, which is glorious to see. This is how open and honest communication works.

Speaking of open and honest communication, Oliver comes into the bunker upset because his son basically called him a murderer the night before. 

Oliver’s broken puppy face kills me. 

Source: @olivergifs

Felicity notices Oliver is upset right away.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

He would love to talk about it? 

THIS IS SIX YEARS OF CHARACTER GROWTH!!! I AM ALIVE. OLIVER QUEEN IS READY TO GET MARRIED AND MAKE ALL THE BABIES.

We end the episode with what seems like a nightly ritual - Oliver and Felicity speaking on the phone after William is in bed. SWOON

Unfortunately, this conversation isn't all adorableness and phone sex (C'mon it's a 9 pm time slot. We need SOMETHING.) It seems there is a photo of Oliver in the Green Arrow suit. 

Source:  queensarrow

DUN DUN DUNNNN!!!! I love nothing more than when Oliver is up against the ropes and has to punch his way out. Revealing his identity is a perfect way to infuse some significant trouble into all the character's lives. We've danced this dance before, but they never had PHOTOGRAPHIC evidence before. 

Watching Oliver wiggle his way out of this one will be fun. Or maybe he won't? We shall see! But what I love about the scene is Felicity asking, "Oliver what are we gonna do?"

Source:sharingmyworld

"Fallout" gave Oliver and Felicity just plenty to contend with. They may not have all the answers, but they are in this together. This is the Olicity I've been waiting for... and we're just getting started.

John Diggle

My biggest complaint with Season 5 was benching John Diggle. "Fallout" assured me that is NOT happening in Season 6. If Oliver and William are the A storyline, then John Diggle is the solid B storyline. He has the strongest arc and set up of all the supporting characters.

I've come to find stunt scenes are Arrow's way of saying, "This character is back and better than ever." They've returned to the gritty, one man against twenty, fight sequences of Season 1 and 2 in the Green Arrow stunt scenes. There's still group fights, but Oliver isn't standing on the sidelines watching the team work. He's taking down eight guys all by himself. The shift happened in Season 5 after complaints that Oliver's fight scenes were becoming too soft for the man who can do this. Arrow put the spotlight back on the Green Arrow.

It was the same with Diggle in "Fallout." There are some standout fight scenes in which Diggle kicks major ass.  If Oliver Queen is the quarterback, then John Diggle is left tackle... and they are bringing him off the bench.

Diggle is hurt during the blast, but we don't know how. 

Source: olvrsfelicity

Felicity stumbles as they race to the plane (THIS WOMAN IS ME) and Diggle comes back for because of course he does. DELICITY FOREVER. He's caught in the blast some way. 

What we do know is there's a big surgical scar on his shoulder, his handshakes when he's aiming a gun, he can't make a shot, he's in a lot of pain and he's not telling anyone about it.

Source: plotbunnyshipper

John is perfectly capable of defending himself without a gun, but it's causing some problems in the field. He fires at a mercenary and misses, giving the man the chance to shoot Rene. Rene is hurt badly. A collapsed lung is no joke my friends. Of course, falling 10 feet with Oliver Queen onto a car didn't help matters either.

John chooses to say behind on the next mission and run comms. Even Felicity gave him a WTF look when he volunteered. I am glad we are all on the same page. John Diggle sitting one out is weird. LET'S NEVER FORGET IT AGAIN ARROW. Another mercenary gets the drop on John and almost blows his head off during the Bl*ck S*ren attack. Honestly, this was the most we've ever seen John in danger. Things are not going well.

I read a lot of summaries of the episode and many reporters were saying Diggle is suffering from some form of PTSD and that's what is causing his hand to shake. I am a little flabbergasted by this. Certainly John can be suffering PTSD and it is Arrow's mainstay mental health issue. But I don't think this is just mental. I believe this is physical. A real injury - not just phantom pain. Diggle is absolutely hurting after the BS attack and it's apparent he is not in tip top physical shape. Despite a lack of medical expertise in pretty much anything, I'm thinking it's some kind of nerve damage/central nervous system thing.  

Keeping it a secret from the team isn't good. It puts them at risk and John would never want to put anyone's lives in danger. So... why is he keeping it secret? Well, I think it's pretty easy to fool yourself that everything is fine in these kinds of circumstances. I also believe John knows that if he tells the team, if he tells Oliver, then they won't let him in the field. Therefore, something serious is going on with John physically and he knows it.

Something may be going on with John mentally too and I'm not just talking PTSD.  Diggle has to be afraid what life looks like without Team Arrow. This mission pulled John out of a dark hole more than once. If John Diggle can't fight for the city, if he can't help people... then who is he? These are terrifying questions he may not want to answer.  John is running. Not unlike how Oliver ran from the questions that haunted him for ten years. Oliver eventually faced those questions and came out the other side. It'll be his turn to help Diggle do the same. Once he finds out the truth.

There is one person sniffing out John's lies more than anyone else: Dinah.

Source: @valeriemperez​

She knows Diggle wasn't telling the whole story about what happened on the bridge with Rene or the Bl&ck S&ren attack. John also knows Dinah isn't telling the truth about what happened between Lance and BS. John and Dinah had each other's numbers last night.

So, let's just talk about the elephant in the room. Yes, I noticed the chemistry between the two actors. 

I think you might have to live in a cave NOT to notice it. Their scenes were electric. I didn't particularly notice anything in the writing, but rather feel it's just the natural chemistry between the two actors. And... I noticed it last year too.

Do I think Arrow is going to put Diggle and Dinah together? Well... not while John Diggle is married. That's for damn sure. This is John Diggle we are talking about here.  Keep in mind, David has great chemistry with Audrey too. It's one of the reasons we love Dyla. Do I want more of Dyla? Sure, but Audrey's availability is always a factor with them.

Now, before we all start a Dyla panic I think it's absolutely possible for two characters to have great chemistry together and not be romantic. Entire television shows have been built around that concept. They've also been built around the opposite concept, so it's really anybody's guess.

The point is, I enjoy Diggle and Dinah's scenes together. The chemistry adds an interesting complexity to them and every relationship (romantic or not) needs that kind of spark. Actor chemistry is an important piece of the organic puzzle. We've seen it in romantic and non romantic relationships alike. We've seen how bad it is when the chemistry is lacking between actors - both romantic and non romantic relationships alike.

So, I'm just going to enjoy it. The same way I enjoy OTA, Rene and Lance, Felicity and every character she comes into contact with. If I see something romantic in the writing I will say something, but I don't. Not yet anyway.

What I am excited about is John's storyline. The push/pull with Dinah, his marriage to Lyla, keeping secrets from Oliver and Felicity, dealing with whatever his injury is - this is the kind of attention I've been waiting for John Diggle to get. It's time to sit back and watch Diggle shine.

Thea Queen

Again, not a lot of surprises here. Thea is in a coma.  They pretend Thea is dead most of the episode, instead of John and Felicity like I expected. Finally, Oliver returns to the island and runs into Slade. At least the supreme jackass had the decency to admit he abandoned everyone. (Really bummed out my "Slade saves everyone" theory didn't pan out. You are very disappointing Slade Wilson.)

Slade leads Oliver to Thea's body.

Source: olivergifs

Kudos to Stephen Amell. Every time he has to act like Thea is dead Stephen knocks it out of the park. Is this his fourth time? I've lost count. Each time it is effecting because of the bond between brother and sister. QUEEN SIBILINGS FOREVER.

Somehow Thea was revived and receives the medical attention she needs. She's in a coma and Oliver sits vigil while waiting for a miracle.

This is Arrow's way of dealing with Willa Holland's shortened contract. I'm not upset about it. This is the way it goes with long running television shows. But I have to say... I feel like we are running out of ideas with Thea. I love the character, but we've done the "Thea is going to die" storyline multiple times. It does start to lose the edge after awhile.

Season 5 was a make or break year for Oliver for me just like Season 3 was make or break for Laurel. I'm willing to see where Thea goes in Season 6 after she wakes up, because she is going to wake up. However, I believe the story needs to comes first. If Arrow is unable to service the character then it's time to let her go. They don't need to kill her like LL. Let her run off and live happily ever after with Roy. Or take the character in a new direction. Either way... a decision needs to be made. 

Quentin Lance/Bl&ck S&ren

Hot mess alert! Things are a little rocky over on the bird side of the storyline, but what else is new?

Quentin and Dinah lied to Team Arrow and told them Bl&ck S&ren is dead. The truth is BS was alive after the explosion. She was about to take Dinah out and Lance shot her. STONE COLD! I loved it. 

Unfortunately, BS survived the gunshot wound. This bitch is like a cockroach. Can't kill her.

Unfortunately, Quentin is in a shame spiral over it. 

Apparently, he's decided that Bad Laurel (Their name for her. I have gleefully embraced it.) is his daughter and this parallel universe thing is crap. He feels in his bones that HIS L*urel is in there and he has to save her.

I have whiplash. 

What happened to, "You're not my Laurel?" and THIS

The 180 degree turn is confusing. Quentin Lance YOU DID NOT TRY TO KILL YOUR DAUGHTER BECAUSE SHE IS NOT YOUR DAUGHTER.

Everyone needs to get on the same doppleganger definition page. 

Where's Barry? He might actually prove useful right now.

Not that Oliver wasn't. He told Quentin that BS is not L*urel and he needs to stop blaming himself. Whole and healed Oliver embraces LOGIC. I could get use to this.

I don't believe this is a lingering effect from Lian Yu. This runs deeper for Lance. This feels like transference. Lance feels responsible for L*urel's death because of his involvement with Damien Darhk. He wasn't able to save his his daughter. He's projecting that guilt and blame onto Bad L*urel. He's using her to make amends because he can't with L*urel. It's really no different than what Oliver was doing in 5x10.

Is it me or did Arrow try to build Bl&ck S&ren's vendetta against Team Arrow, and particularly Lance, around her anger over Quentin shooting her? 

Because Bad L*urel was such a supportive friend BEFORE Lance shot her???? We do remember she was one of the primary reasons they were all on Lian Yu in the first place right????

We are not doing this. We are not pretending that BS is suddenly bad because Lance shot her. I live in a world called reality.

It's clear BS has some kind of deal with Michael Emmerson's character. That was Emmerson saving BS on Lian Yu even though we didn't see his face. She was in cahoots with Emmerson's character before Lian Yu otherwise why would he save her? So, it wasn't all about Adrian Chase for her.  She has another agenda. One that has NOTHING to do with with Lance shooting her. BS knows it even if Quentin does it.

Are they redeeming LL? Honestly, I don't think so. Primarily because she ended the episode telling Lance she would have pulled the trigger if the roles were reversed. But she has an ooey gooey center of caramely goodness deep down.

@fanmommer​ told me she feels like BS is the new Malcolm Merlyn and I have to agree. It makes sense to me if BS is evil with occasional moments of goodness/potential hope for redemption. They can play that grey zone with her no different than they did with Malcom or even Slade now.

Thea hoped for Malcolm's redemption. Sometimes that hope was rewarded, but a lot of times she was left disappointed. I have a feeling we'll see the same with Quentin. They are going to play with this redemption. However, If they redeem BS then we are simply back to LL 2.0 and all the same problems we had with the character. 

What BS has going for her is that she is DIFFERENT than LL and I don't think Arrow has forgotten that. But again time will tell.

It frustrates me to see Quentin Lance pulled back into the LL black hole. I was very excited with where the character was going in Season 4 with his interactions with Felicity and relationship with Donna. That seems to be all over now though. I'd be more interested in the "Save Laurel" storyline if we hadn't already done it in Season 2 with LL's alcoholism storyline.

Imma need to talk about KC's performance now. Is it me or was the camp factor at an all time high? I felt like I was watching a rerun of Adam West's Batman. 

I know this kind of campiness is what some of the comic book fans love, but it doesn't make for particularly great acting. 

I say this as someone who enjoyed KC's performance in 5x10. The sneering voice and facial expressions just felt waaaay over the top in "Fallout." She needs to dial it back. Way back.

Also... the stunts. It hurt y'all to watch. 

I don't watch stunts with a terribly critical eye. I never notice if they make errors. However, BS & BC would go at it and there were entire long shots of KC's stunt double doing the entire fight. They didn't even attempt to hide it. Just as the fight was getting going they would cut/pan away from it. I don't know a thing about stunt work, and I say this as a person who survived Season 1 of Buffy, but those scenes need some work.

Source:  arrowsource

However, BS as Dinah's villain does work. The snappy comebacks were fun and the two women battling it out made for acceptable "episode villain filler" as Arrow focused on larger arcs like William and Diggle. As long as Arrow is strategic with BS and uses her in pinpointed ways like in Season 5, it'll be fine.

Stray Thoughts

Felicty Smoak's outfits were off the hook. I want to buy every single one. Slay on Slayer. Source: @songbin

Dinah's outfits too. I just want to shop in her closet. Source: luthores

"What do you mean by that?" I have waited six years for Oliver to respond with this question every time he receives sage advice nobody understands.

Oliver used his mayoral power to get Rene another hearing for custody of his daughter. I AM EMOTIONAL. Also, these two need to hug more. Source:  arrowsource

“It’s like I keep telling you hoss. I got the soul of a poet.” HA! My fondness for Rene keeps growing. Keep it up Arrow. He also seems to be keeping secrets of his own too. Hmmm..

Diggle is so happy his OTP is back together. Same brother. Source: sharingmyworld  Also, never learn subtle Team Arrow. Less fun for us.

Curtis just threw the t-spheres and Felicity put him in his place. This is how I want my Curtis Holt always. Source:  sharingmyworld

Coolest entrance ever. Source:  olivergifs

Oliver calls William "kiddo." I call my daughter that.

If you wondering what 6x02 will explore this is it:

Source:  oliverdant

He’s still Oliver. Things haven’t changed THAT much, but he made a funny about it. Source:rinmaidtsuoka

Just a note on the reviews, I'm doing this new thing called sleeping on Thursdays. So, I probably won't be finishing reviews until Friday night or Saturday morning. Work is just too busy and I am getting old. I can't keep the same pace up anymore, so I am finally listening to all of you who said that you don't mind how long the reviews take. I really appreciate your patience.

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 6x01 episode gifs credited.

[sparda3g]

Attack on Titan Chapter 103 Review

Wow. I mean wow. Now that’s what I call an explosive chapter. It’s not just an action-packed one; it’s a hell of an adrenaline rush that had me on the edge of my seat. It’s not an expression, I really was. With many cards place on the table and few surprises, it was as intense as it can get, and it’s not over yet. 

First of all, the good news is that Falco and Reiner are alive with a really good save. Reiner just saved him in a nick of time before Eren transforms. Armored Titan’s hands were displayed like a flower shape, which is disturbingly nice. It’s as if the one who was protected is too gentle for this world. Long behold, he’s now in a midst of a total warfare. I absolutely love that shot of Falco overwhelmed by the chaos. After rising back up, he happened to see an all-out war with titans and humans. It’s a massacre.

One of the effectiveness of long buildup is the deep foundation created within these characters. Falco was practically the underdog of the group and he was trying to make things better for himself after pressurized by Reiner and others. Krueger was his only shining light that motivated him to keep it up. Now, he’s watching his once-beloved friend terrorizing his hometown. Not only that, but can’t fathom on the sight of warfare. Everything is happening too fast for his mind to comprehend.

The saddest part to me is how Falco finds out about Reiner’s true feelings. Reiner did well to disguise his problems in front of the kids, but you can’t hide it when you’re in Titan’s stage. Reiner has a heart to care for the future generation, but nothing for himself. When he wasn’t responding, Falco picks up and gets a clear understanding about him. He has no will to live. 

He’s so broken apart. It’s painful to even think about it. Isayama cleverly use his downhill spiral as a tool to prevent himself to get involved with the battle. It’s relevant to the character and the ongoing battle. Although the aftermath may be a disaster, but what difference would that make? He meant what he said. He meant to put an end to his misery.

From there on, it’s a thrilling ride with so many chaotic moments that keeps rising the tension. The teamwork from both fronts is well coordinated and damn impressive in their own ways. Ape Titan is still devastating as ever with his long arms swing demolishing buildings like nothing. That said the strengths of the current Survey Corps clearly have evolved significantly from the last bout with its new gadgets and experiences.

They’re going all maneuvers against him, but the cooperation from other titans like Cart Titan won’t allow anyone to get close. It’s rather cool for Cart to be a carrier for armed men, like a tank; truly fits the name perfectly. Right before it was about to get thunder spear, Jaw Titan comes out of nowhere and smack the hell out of him. Ouch! Even though they overcame that small skirmish, Porco insist that they’re at disadvantage with Ackerman lurking around. So who is the underdog again? Seriously, it showcase that everyone is in the same length and that’s what makes it engaging.

This chapter has plenty of great suspenseful moments that had me gasping. To begin with, Eren actually tries to eat War Hammer Titan user, even when she is crystallized. He will do anything to win, so chow down and everyone froze. The problem is the crystal is absolutely amazing that it cannot break at all. It freaking breaks his mouth like someone slashed his upper lip off. Even the thunder spear didn’t penetrate. Lady Tybur can glare all day and nothing would change.

I would assume that it would mean that Annie hasn’t broken free yet or perhaps Eren is unaware of the status. I’m not saying to give up your hope on her but it is a suggestive idea that could translate to that. Eren has improved wonderfully by leaving and entering Titan after three times and not a moment of slowing down. It’s amazing when the anime resume, we’re going to see his novice days of struggling; in the manga, he’s professional and clever. I don’t know what his plan is but he got to make it quick.

The difference between Porco and Pieck in terms of handling the warfare is clear as day. Porco comes off as a pure rookie and can’t control his temper or emotional distress. Pieck however is thoughtful; if it wasn’t for her, Porco would probably have a panic attack in midst of combat. He already feared of the Survey Corps taking him on like a normal soldier, so her thought-provoking statement does help out. I can see why she is fans’ favorite, though I do like her as well. It’s a necessary moment for us to believe that Marley has the upper hand; it’s only a matter of when they will come out. On the other hand, it is Isayama’s ploy to believe otherwise when “that” moment happens.

It’s amazing how the shift of emotional focus goes to Falco and other Marley soldiers; as if we followed the villains since chapter 1, now finally shifting to the heroes. I do have a bad feeling about the way how the reunion of these soldiers came together at a bad time. Falco is asking for anyone to help Reiner and Gabi arrives in time to hear the news. It would only add fuel for her anger that may come in play in the next chapter. It’s crushing to see them in an ongoing process of changing persona with Falco looking tore and Gabi seeking vengeance.

Recall on what I just said about Pieck mentioning that they have soldiers all prepared and can take out Paradis Island men. I believe Isayama lured the fans to believe that, only for a response come in play. Finally, we got to see Armin, but no Colossal Titan. It’s just a tease for another day to see the debut design.

It’s kind of distressing to see him transforming on the boat along with battleship, mainly due to his reaction. It’s a look of not wanting to do it but it has to be done; polar opposite from Eren who does it and go with it. It could create a new character arc of which a user doesn’t want to use a Titan but because he’s chosen to wield it, he is left with no choice. The wrong man gets the destructive power. It’s on Isayama’s call in the end.

I really adored the atmosphere and the bone-chilling vibe of the destruction. The Colossal Titan’s transformation has proven to be an incredible explosive, almost like a nuke size, so it happened here again. From afar, it creates a massive shock wave that practically caused a powerful wind gust. After they feel like they may start getting some advantage over the Survey Corps, this happens. From here on, it begins a new chapter of the battlefield: the Fall of Marley.

If you look back before finishing the chapter, you would notice that the first half is like a false hope for Marley to win. While the War Hammer Titan is safe for now, it won’t be long before Eren does something insane to claim the power. Porco was held back from doing anything irrational; however, the Colossal Titan reminds him of his old friend, Bertholdt and that what it takes to cause him to rage. I am glad that someone remembers an old friend being killed by the “devils” and this does takes the cake. The problem is his action is going to cost his team severely. How bad? Ape Titan gets taken out. That bad.

The silent holy shit moment is so good. It’s pretty surreal to see the Ape Titan to be taken out in a matter of a second. The expressions from everyone made this moment extraordinary. You can grasp the tension of a massive shock. Hell, I was even shocked with my jaws open. Levi is a real monster out of the two in that one great double page shot. It’s also telling that Isayama creates the sensation of Marley being the victim. We know they are the enemy, no doubt, but it doesn’t force you to react the same way I did. If you think, “Good riddance,” then that’s good. If you think, “Oh this is torture,” then that’s good as well. Levi goes for good measure by dropping a grenade inside and Zeke is now dead.

Right?

Honestly, I believe something is strange with Zeke ever since the festival began, or even earlier. After calming my mind, the one moment I skipped here is how he told Eren that he is not his enemy today, but someone or something else. The most questionable moment is when he told Levi that time is running out and he holds a clock for something. I would assume it has to do with what Jean mentioned here as well, but I am not so sure.

The execution is convincing to be a ploy from him since it did come out of nowhere and he took his time to let everything happened in Survey Corps’ advantage. If he and Levi are working together somehow, why? What would convince them to work together, especially how much damage they caused towards each other? In short, I don’t think Zeke is dead, but part of a ploy that we may be on to something or just our imagination. Either way, it didn’t take away the breathtaking moment. It was fantastic. What’s not fantastic is what happens next to Pieck.

As much as I like the action here, the part that happens to Pieck is pretty damn brutal, I mean Good God almighty. Just when I was talking about her being a fan favorite. It becomes a slaughterhouse or more like a slaughter-cart (I’ll stop now…) when Sasha aims for a headshot and bang, right between the eyes. Sasha got even sharper at her shots; how many potatoes was she offered. Jean was getting his payback on Cart Titan and he wasn’t going to let any second missed. The call to attack it leads to some brutality display of wreckage.

It’s like watching a mobile suit series, seeing the men inside getting blown up as the carrier inside slowly breaks apart. Pieck may not have died instantly but those brute forces of thunder spears have to be deadly enough for her to spill massive blood while as a titan. It’s pretty much overkill; she has to be out of combat for a long time. That said damn, who am I rooting for again?

The cliffhanger leaves a great suspense that is going to give you a headache from many possibilities. It stops right when Jean is about to shoot Pieck to secure the kill, but Falco gets in the way to prevent him from firing. This could go to many ends, including an outcome that has someone to die. Will Jean die by say Gabi (if she still holds the rifle)? I hope not. Will Falco gets killed here? Will everything go normally as in no one dies and just let Pieck live? I don’t know but I’m really worried for the next chapter, which is oddly a good thing.

What a chapter this was. It was explosive from start to finish. There are plenty of moments that will you get amped up like Levi taking out Ape Titan, despite the mystery behind it, or emotional with Reiner letting his life to dust metaphorically speaking. The action is tensed and brutal with a lot of clashes and destruction. The artwork is solid with great panel shots of the landscape and dark tone atmosphere. There are plenty of suspenseful moments that the chapter even ends with a suspense that could result a horrible outcome. I am seriously scared to read the next chapter.

[grovyrosegirl]

It’s that time again! Reaction post time for episode 4! And as always, I’ll put it all under a read more for the folks who don’t want to be spoiled!

Wow. I mean- WOW. This episode- I-

I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE- Ah who am I kidding, we’re ALL crying. Is it time for the fandom group hug?

Anyway! On with the reactions.

This intro reminds me of Scooby Doo and I love it.

Oh yikes, however Fred got killed by Romeo, it probably wasn’t pretty.

Awwwww Nuuuurrrrrmmmm. He still feels so bad about leaving Lluna and SO DO I.

All Xara wants is some sleep. I feel ya Xara, I want more sleep too.

Radar, you know we all love you, BUT STOP LOOKING AT THE ENDERMAN.

What is with MCSM characters and calling each other “Squishy”?

Jack, you and Jesse were on a literal cliffhanger, I think a sword is a small price to pay for not falling into lava.

“The Underneath” ...Must resist...urge to...make an Undertale joke...

PUPPY. PUPPY. PUPPY. PUT THE PLOT ON HOLD FOR A SEC, WE GOTTA PET THAT PUPPY.

“Lapis blue. Same color as my underwear.” ...Ummm, thank you for sharing that with us, Jesse. Uh. Good to know I guess.

My memory is terrible, I made sure to write down all the Fred Trivia stuff. And thank god I did.

Oh my gosh Fred seemed like such a nice guy. Awwwww.

Romeoburg. Romeoburg. ROMEOBUR-

OHHHH CRAP, IT’S THE NINJA. Let’s see who it really is!

Waaaiiitttt a minute. I know this theme...NO WAY IS THE NINJA-

IT’S IVOR. I mean, I’m super happy it’s Ivor, but man, I was WAY off with my predictions.

“I’m a ninja, Jesse!” Never change, Ivor. Never change.

I can’t believe Ivor became the protagonist of the Minecraft Karate Kid. 

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH. JESSE HUGGED IVOR. AND THEY HAD A GROUP HUG WITH PETRA. THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER.

“Anyone who questions ‘Jesse’ disappears.” UM. IS LUKAS OKAY. IS HARPER OKAY. IS NELL OKAY. Oh boy episode 5 is gonna hurt, I can feel it.

Protect Soup. Add Soup to the list of MCSM characters that everyone needs to protect.

SIX HUNDRED LEVELS? I mean I know the Admins are all powerful and could probably beat the challenges easily, but GEEZ ROMEO. What if your friends needed a bathroom break? Or a snack break?

“The power of our friendship prevails!” Oh no. Oh no. They were all happy dorky friends once before something went wrong, weren’t they? THIS IS GONNA HURT, ISN’T IT?

A beautiful little cabin and calm music. *INHALES* Alrighty I can smell the angst coming, bring it on.

Awww, it reminds them of the treehouse.

I am so ready to find out how the potato thing is gonna come into play.

PETRA DON’T CRY. YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME CRY.

TOO LATE, HERE COMES THE TEARS.

“I’m really gonna miss you.” *Insert the sound of Grovyrosegirl crying like a baby because ouch this hits right in the heart here*

Awwwwww. WELP. Petra and Jesse have just skyrocketed near the top of my favorite Brotp list.

Oh my gosh YES PLEASE TAKE THE BED XARA. Poor lady just really needs something left of her happiness.

Radar I don’t think that’s helping, but I’m sure Jesse appreciates the effort.

JAAAACCCCK. AND ANOTHER GROUP HUG, IT’S A MIRACLE.

Wait a minute. WAIT A MINUTE. NO NOT THIS AGAIN, DON’T MAKE ME LEAVE SOMEONE ELSE AGAIN-

-URRRRGGGGHHH. Radar, you are a brave cinnamon roll and I’m sorry I gotta leave you. BUT GO BE A HERO, MAKE YOUR PARENT JESSE PROUD.

I’m still sad, but oh my gosh, I hope this means that in episode 5 Radar and Lluna are gonna come bursting in the final battle riding the giant Endermen. Maybe some of the Sunshine Institute prisoners like Oxblood will be there too. I’m calling it now.

Oh my gosh it’s the Order’s Temple! Yaaaay, it’s still there!

UM. WHAT IS THAT. ROMEO WHAT DID YOU DO TO BEACONTOWN.

Is Jack singing the credits? HE IS. I love this.

LUKAS RUN. Romeo’s gonna make us fight him next episode isn’t he

WOW. What a ride. This episode was amazing! I am super excited to see how this is all gonna end! Until episode 5 I suppose! 

[circular-time]

Spare Parts Liveblog 6 - Disc 2 

Dinner break! Okay, the Doctor and Nyssa leave after the ep 1 cliffhanger, and they never get into any trouble at all. JUST KIDDING.....

Track 2.1 “Necessary Force”

Part Two opens with something that’s a stock scene in new Who, but rare in classic Who, especially with Nyssa of all people:  the companion and Doctor in a shouting match. I remember when Tegan was dissed by many fans because bossy/outspoken women were not popular. Then again, she did it all the time; Nyssa saves it for special occasions.

“And if you won’t get involved, then I must stay behind and do it by myself” —Nyssa

Every time I hear this bit, I cheer and wince all at once.

Never forget that Nyssa. Has. GUTS. The moment she realizes it’s the homeworld of the Cybermen, after she’s seen just how miserable and horrible and hopeless life is there, and knows she’ll probably die of starvation or consumption or be carved up for spare parts— that is where she, child of privilege who grew up in an idyllic paradise, decides to end her days. To help. Which is the sort of thing she does: she did it on Terminus. Big Finish keeps hammering home this basic aspect of her character.

While fighting, she and the Doctor run smack dab into the recurring dilemma of Doctor Who: you want to help, and you have a time machine, but you can’t alter history. Nyssa: I want to give these people some hope! I want to stop the Cybermen from coming into existence! Doctor: Yes, very laudable, but you can’t do it on your own! You’re not an army! You can’t turn the whole of history around on a sixpence! Nyssa: I’ve seen you do it!

(Again, Nyssa has guts, and  also, long before Clara was doing it, Nyssa had a very dangerous habit of trying to be Just Like the Doctor). 

The whole scene is so well-acted by Peter and Sarah. Chills down spine.

Also we get a chance to hear them face their pain about Adric’s death at the hands of the Cybermen, something Earthshock and Time-Flight really didn’t address. 

[Doctor talks about running after disasters with a stretcher.]

“A pity that didn’t occur to you before when it came to sacrificing Adric!” Ouch, Nyssa. Ouch. [she’s still mad they didn’t run after Adric with a stretcher.]

Which gives her an additional motive for wanting to stop the Cybermen from coming into existence: it will save Adric’s life.  Oh, Nyssa. 

Doctor, after she finally lashes out: “So much that never gets said. Bound to boil over sooner or later.” Yeah, with scriptwriters who actually think about the story’s impact on the characters.

However, they are very dear friends and rational people, and by the time Nyssa’s collected her belongings to leave, they’ve both cooled down; Nyssa apologises for that barb. 

And the Doctor honors her wishes and lets her go. 

Or would have done, if she hadn’t mentioned bringing a cybermat into the TARDIS. At which point he goes all angry-squeaky-Five:

YOU BROUGHT A CYBERMAT INTO MY TARDIS!!!!!!

oops. 

Track 2.2 “The Thousand Natural Shocks”

Oh FINALLY. I had a huge crush on this badass lady when she played a space pirate and crack pilot on Blake’s 7: 

(hooray for farrah fawcett hair) 

So I’m stoked that Sally Knyvette playing Doctorman Allan, the morally-grey-area scientist developing the Cybermen.

She’s cynical. She defies the Committee and laughs when she hears about the Doctor’s troublemaking— she’s about the only person with enough privilege/power to risk thinking for herself.  She’s alcoholic (because Mondas is too horrible to deal with sober— and so is her conscience). She really is trying to save her people, but she’s got a brutal way of doing it: turning the weak and sick into a cyber-workforce to serve the strong. Eugenics ahoy. And she’s too damn proud of her creations, a standard Ethically Challenged Scientist trope. 

She teases Sisterman Constant at every opportunity, making fun of her hypocrisy, (e.g. calling the Hartleys her “patients” when they’re just terrorized citizens). Sisterman Constant is a religious type, but actually she’s just another version of the secret police.

So anyway, we get Allan’s first scene treating “crewmen” from the surface and arguing with the Sisterman.

When I first listened, I had trouble with of “-man” used as a suffix to denote profession. A Sisterman is a nun (Constant prays to the “sky above” at one point, their heaven), a Doctorman is a doctor, an Electriman is an electrician, and so on. Sounds odd, but then so does the universal “he.” 

I also appreciate how many female characters are major players in this story, typical of Big Finish especially when Gary Russell was director. They don’t fall into stereotypical villain/victim female roles. (While Yvonne is a victim, she has a rather atypical part to play too.)

Got to meet Sally Knyvette a few years ago at a signing in Barking, but alas I took the worst picture AND stuck my foot right down my throat. Ah well. Good thing is that actors meet so many fans they’ll forget your foolishness.

(still with the great hair, damn her) 

Track 2.3 “Onto the Carpet”

Back in the TARDIS, testy!Doctor is frantic about the cyber-pest loose in his TARDIS. Just as bitterness about Adric’s death made Nyssa lash out at the Doctor, Nyssa endangering his TARDIS makes him lash out at her.

And go all squeaky. Of course.

He blows up at her, but once the Cybermat shorts out and she’s apologized again, he apologizes as well. Typical deflection: he rather awkwardly asks her to see what she can do to fix the damage: “Please, take a look. You’re good at this sort of thing. I’m going out for some fresh air.” 

Exactly as he used to do when Tegan got under his skin and he needed to calm down. Have I mentioned how good Platt is at capturing the nuances my favorite TARDIS team? 

Except this is the moment when the Doctor makes a FATAL mistake: HE GETS INVOLVED and leaves Nyssa, who is not going to stay safely put for very long. (And I note that it is partly Nyssa’s fault he gets involved, and/or her compassion makes things more difficult. See also: Creatures of Beauty, Emerald Tiger, trying to rescue the Doctor in Masquerade and screwing up the interface, etc.) 

Scene jump to Doctorman Allan arguing with the ominously robotic voice of the Committee. She wants to slow down their Cybermen program and try to improve the process to save lives. The Committee, ignoring her pleas, decide the city is consuming too many resources and must be shut down. Why look after the interests of the people you represent when you could just eliminate them? 

A parable of Tories shutting down UK social services over the past 20 odd years? Not sure, but the GOP is voting on Trumpcare in the US this week.

Allan: “What could possibly be more important than saving people?!”  Committee: “We. must. survive.” 

Every time i hear a new Who Cyberman say “delete” or “upgrade,” I shake my head. They just don’t have the Scary Motto down like their predecessors. 

Outside the TARDIS, the Doctor finds a Cyberman, Allan’s drone. I think it was Platt’s idea to make them used for surveillance.

Frank shows up at the TARDIS to inform Nyssa that Dad Hartley is all sad; his daughter’s been called up for the work crews. Again, tying into Nyssa’s backstory; she knows what it’s like to lose a family member (and she guesses Yvonne’s being cyber-converted). Whereas Frank’s oblivious and angry he didn’t get what he thinks is a glamorous, well-paying job.

He’s been pretty angry and self-centered through the story so far. Then again he lost his mom pretty recently, so he’s suppressing grief. 

Track 2.4  - “Bones to Pick” 

Act II means taking action, although not necessarily effective. The Doctor is upset that the riot he started last night seems to have died off. 

He wants to stir up the resistance some more. (Not realizing the cost they’ll pay, or else knowing the cost will be 100% fatal if they don’t do something soon.) This time he’s trying to draw attention to the graverobbing by hijacking a lorry and scattering its shipment of bones all over the street. I love his pre-smart-device kettle and ball of string approach to grave danger, although it doesn’t always work. 

Meanwhile the Committee’s decided to cyber-convert the remaining population. Or at least that’s what Allan guesses. She’s drinking to keep from thinking. Sisterman Constant, selfish git, says the Selectors (the nuns) should be exempt; they’re the ones who choose “recruits” to be processed, making them elite. Whereas Allan can read the writing on the wall.

Track 2.5 - “Processing Credit”

Poor Yvonne. Constant blesses her while sending her to the slaughter. The victims being taken for Cyber-processing have their clothes stripped, exactly like prisoners in Nazi interment camps. Deny them their humanity before taking it away, whee.

Scene switches to the Committee (one thing I don’t like about BF -- too many modulated weird voices I have trouble understanding). Moment of doom (if it wasn’t before): They’re recalling Commander Jeng from the surface to take over. Military coup in progress.

But bringing Jeng down endangers the project on the surface, which has hit a critical juncture: radiation’s really high; laborers die off quickly, They’re caught on the horns of an impossible dilemma, and unfortunately a soulless Committee with no compassion is in charge of choosing. Sound familiar?

At LAST. Back to Dodd, disreputable rogue, being mean to Mr. Hartley who’s signing away his own organs just so he can feed his son.. Mondas is so horrible.

Mr. hartley passes the Doctor on the way out. Tells him Nyssa will make a good doctor, considering how she helped him. 

“Oh, really?” the Doctor says, a bit dubious. But she will, in both senses: as a doctor on Terminus and, once she’s older, she starts behaving more and more like him. (Jupiter Conjunction, Mistfall, Entropy Plague to name a few examples.) 

But that’s to come. Now the Doctor is pestering Dodd again.

Track 2.6 - “Taking Stock” (the track names on this audio are great) 

The Doctor wants Dodd to help him break into the Committee’s central HQ. Dodd has other ideas, involving locking him in a freezer with the other spare parts.

Meanwhile Nyssa handily beats off a swarm of Cybermats with her nerdy smarts, electrocuting them.

Frank: It worked! Amazing! Nyssa: Not really. But worryingly satisfying. 

She’s a gentle soul. Usually.

Sure enough, the Doctor’s been gone too long, so Nyssa grabs some food to go help Mr. Hartley. 

Doom. Doom. Doom. JUST STAY IN THE TARDIS.

___________

Poor Yvonne. We get to hear her final moments as a human, begging for her Dad. Heartbreaking. Ugh: sound of a dentist’s drill just to trip all the horror nerves.

“You will join us. We are the future.”

Again, the Cybermen in this story are so much scarier than shiny robots saying “delete” and “upgrade.”

Because they are like the Borg— long before the Borg— people being assimilated into walking corpses. No wonder Death in Heaven tried to bring back this aspect of them, remind us what’s inside the armor. 

____________

Doctor escapes Dodd and a random Cyber-policeman, and promptly tries to steal the guy’s horse. Using his Tristan credentials, the Doctor tries talk to the beastie.

Shades of Black Beauty in this bit, I think, although I haven’t read it in so long I’m not sure. “the whips are hard, the feed stale....” 

Alas he doesn’t succeed in escaping; Allan rescues him from being executed, but requisitions him.

Track 2.7 “A Cracking Holiday”

Poor Mr. Hartley is in shock after losing Yvonne a second time, watching her last shreds erased before his eyes.

I love the way Big Finish often uses the sound of a teakettle going off as a sort of shorthand alarm: it’s warning of imminent danger, but the heroes are being too British and Keeping Calm and Carrying on 

And now everything goes to hell. The power cuts out, the Cyber recruits escape in the confusion, the roof cracks, the lights go out, the cyber-police are trying to herd everyone into the Committee Palace for processing, and rioting breaks out— it’s apocalyptic.

Amazing how an audio with just a few voices and sound effects can suggest the death throes of an entire world... this  hollow, terrifying world, the claustrophobic city in a cavern. It’s epic. 

Because our imaginations are still a damnsight scarier than CGI.

DOO WEE OO.

[sparda3g]

Fairy Tail Chapter 535 Review

You may have heard already that this arc, no, the entire series is coming to an end in about 2 volumes worth of chapters. However, it was stated in the recent volume release; therefore, it's only less than 2 before we can say goodbye. If the series is ready to make an epic climax, now it would be a really good time to do so.

This chapter either gives a vibe that it has another plan in mind or Mashima is simply ending this in a normal manner. On one hand, it is fine to end it without making it incredibly over the top; on the other hand, it would be best if it ends with a higher value note before it feels like another arc. It's not to say that Mashima doesn't care about it; it's the fact that he placed a countdown clock that we the audience begin to grow impatience with its setup and endgame. As calm as I am, I am skeptical on how everything may conclude.

The scene with Lucy and END gave me a letdown feeling on how it was addressed with the cliffhanger from the last chapter. It turns out that Lucy was on conscious; only she was feeling burning pain like flame inside her body. Luckily, Gray covers her with ice, so she can cool down and proceed to help Natsu further. In a way, it does feel like the fans were cheated out by simply saying how majestic the magic of END is yet it resumes to the status quo, now with helping hand of Happy and Gray.

Yes, it is a nice scene for friends working altogether to help another friend; however, the note it left in the last chapter doesn't apply to this moment as it could have been something sinister or real sense of danger. It falls under the line of "ouch, that hurt. Need a hand, friends," rather than "oh god. I can't move. I'm scared..." In other words, the promising cliffhanger didn't lead to a significant moment.

It's true that not everything has to be that serious, but in this type of scenario should give more of a thrilling and terrifying vibe that puts us unease. Because of it being just pain more so than something worse, it doesn't heighten the danger level. Not to mention, the Book of END continues to be a cheat code for Natsu, so that doesn't help.

After that scene, the chapter shifts to more on an action course, though not as active as you may think. It's more of Natsu's willpower to fight and win against Zeref. It all boils down to the power of friendship and he roars his way to damage Zeref. It is cliché that the power of friendship is the key to victory, considering it is Shounen where it does input most of the time, though it could have address it stronger. Either way, the battle isn't over yet; just a matter of how it can get better before it ends.

To be honest, I am more interested with Acnologia and Jellal because it at least has a good tension of whether Jellal will die with him or not, and I do mean in many ways. Again, it's probably based on my expectation from Mashima's last work that makes me think otherwise. It becomes tensed when Jellal gets grabbed and crushing to death. So it's either he fails to push him to the hole or he could join with him, and that's why I am more engaged with this event.

The art is pretty good for its impactful panels. It does take a good amount of spaces that could have used for more content or in this case, more action panels. That said it still leaves a good enough of profound moments that brings in the sense of all or nothing attack. It's the sensation that everything ends here.

Although the power of friendship is played here, it at least has a justified reason for Natsu to get back and resume fighting. It is done in a cheat code sense, but it is a bit forgiving that his source of his power didn't come out of thin air. It's the battle of returning home or entering a new one. Both of them pull the almighty punch, assumingly their most powerful attack, to decide the victor. It ends on a deciding factor cliffhanger and that's fine. I just don't think it should end there.

Admittedly, this chapter got me feeling a bit underwhelmed and I can't say I like where this is going. Now with a hidden countdown clock, it's tough to be intrigued with its final showdown due to so far delivered content. I don't dislike the chapter and I know I shouldn't rely on the countdown as anything can happen, but regardless, it is disappointing.

It's underwhelming that the power of friendship could have done stronger, a disappointing follow-up, and the fight that may end without truly have a stronger focus. On the other hand, Jellal against Acnologia is what balance out the factor, so there’s that. My opinion can change within the next chapter and hopefully so.