#i spent too much writing on that one particular moment in episode five

[hollowcryofthegodless]

wait! You're the author of Hinokami's Future?! OMG! I just wanted to drop by and say that I happened upon your story by accident and loved reading it! it's so refreshing to see a reaction fic that doesn't make it all about ships or exaggerated characterizations... Thank you for writing it!

Thank you so much! I try not to let my shipping biases slide to one side too often... I prefer it to be a blink and miss it moment. As for the exaggerated characterizations, that's actually one of my main gripes with gacha reaction videos. They're well made but what turns me off is the fanon interpretation of the characters, particularly Giyuu, Tengen, Obanai and Sanemi. Although I fear that Sanemi may slide into exaggerated character territory this next chapter, until I remembered all the shit he pulled in the canon series in total/affectionate

[snarkyfivehargreeves]

Thoughts on Allison, Luther & Five

Now I also have been moved to want to write something about the Hargreeves siblings and the importance or priority each of them give to their problems, what they're going through as opposed to everyone together.

Under the cut because ooops, it got a little bit out of hand here.

Look, I love Five dearly. He's snappy, smart and his wit's as sharp as a knife. He's a character I love very much. Not enough to say he doesn't have flaws. I know he does, and I've seen him make less than good decisions and I've seen him being somewhat insensitive, maybe a little abrasive. My point is, he's a flawed human being. So are the others.

That being said, I think it's really interesting to see over time (now that I'm almost done with Season 3, I've been able to see the progression of the characters and the way that each of them react to the things that happen to them) the way that Five and his siblings look at their situations. It just called my attention two particular instances.

1. Luther on the day of his wedding: I'll give it to him, it is his day and he doesn't want bad things to happen to ruin it. But (and maybe this just me), when he talked to Viktor and asked Viktor to make up with Allison, it didn't seem so much as 'Look, it would mean the world to me if I could see the two of you make up and not have this hostility between you' as it did 'This is my day, you should do this because I don't want you to be fighting. This is my day and this is what I want to ask for from you.' Also Viktor's 'Why should that be on my bucket list?' lends to that. It's just a little strange for me...And even later when Luther gets mad at Viktor and Allison and growls, "This is my day, behave for two hours. Don't ruin this for me" (paraphrasing ok). 2. Allison in...3x07? When she rumours Viktor: I understand that Allison has suffered and she's going through those painful things. But it did strike me when, in her upset, she looked at everyone and said something along the lines of that they aren't considering her pain, what she's going through. It seemed...it appeared to me, in my lowly opinion, that she's fixated on her hurts and the bad stuff going on in her life (which is natural, and it's just a thing that we do, when we hurt over things, we of all people feel it so much more because it's happening to us). I just don''t think she should have put that ABOVE all the other matters that they were discussing (might have been stopping Harlan, trying to stop the next fricking apocalypse because those poor people, they never get a break)

I could absolutely be wrong, and if I am, please folks, help a girl out and show me which episodes Five does do this. But I don't recall a moment where Five has vocalized painful shit that he's been through and asking or making a sort of comment as to why no one's paying any attention to this. It just came to my mind that when he landed back in the Academy after he set off those explosions...he had a shrapnel wound that he didn't breathe a word of to anybody. He actually ended up collapsing because he's losing too much blood when he, Diego and Allison are investigating Jenkins' house. He didn't speak a word about it. It just seems to me that the stuff that has happened to him, he definitely didn't make it a very big deal when speaking of it to his siblings (if he did at all).

For example, he snaps at someone about how he spent 45 years alone in the apocalypse. Now we suppose that really messed with his head and it wasn't an enjoyable experience for him. But he doesn't really talk to anyone about it. Okay, granted he avoids vulnerability like the plague and he'd rather die than do that. But then, there's another moment where he makes to Luther an offhand comment about the loneliness he felt. 'It does something to your head' or something like that. And also when he has his siblings gathered in Eliott's place and says 'You died, guys. I watched it. I want to forget it, but I can't.' There's some emotion there.

I mean maybe it's just not his personality to give any attention himself to the things that are hurting him (physically or emotionally) but I haven't seen him react to things the way that Luther and Allison have.

I'm not saying Five is a perfect, can-do-no-wrong character. Just what I've observed (and hah I miss things even in the simplest of settings so I could totally be wrong about all this, and in such a case, please ignore my nonsensical ramblings. XD)

It just caught my attention enough to write.

[saturn-sends-hugs]

🍊🍏🍐🍇 for the fruit emoji ask! Feel free to answer whatever is most interesting to you 😊

hihihi thanks for the ask! answers under the cut cause this could get long lol

🍊 Who’s a character you don’t write for that often, but keep meaning to write for more? (They’re so interesting! But maybe you have trouble pinning them down, or keep getting distracted by another blorbo…)

FIVES!!! For the fact that he's pretty much the most important person in Echo's life (or at least was) (sorry bskjdsfk), I really don't write for him often enough. He's usually either just in a memory or a dream where he's warped by Echo's perception. I have a WIP that will let me tap into his character a little more (and even explore how he would interact with the Bad Batch) and I'm very excited to get working on it!! I just.... need to have Slow Down finished first lol.

🍏 Is there something you overuse, whether it’s a certain phrase, trope, or piece of punctuation?

Em dashes. And maybe italics. And like single sentence "revelation" paragraphs or whatever for dramatic effect lol. (and outside of fic writing I use "lol" too much like gIRL but it's just my default "don't take this too seriously" thing and I almost used it again right there) (I blame my best friend) (literally never used it before her and now I can never go back aghhhhhh)

I definitely use the trope of like "oh fuck, they're hurt" a lot, but personally I will never get tired of that so it doesn't count as overusing. totally.

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

Characters not giving two shits about a traumatizing event or something. Like, they'll have the characters witness the literal death of their established best friend and then WALK AWAY. And they NEVER MENTION IT AGAIN RAHHHHHKJDGJBSGD im totally over the citadel arc as we can all tell. and tech's death. and that scene where Rex mentions Fives and they just kEEP WALKING WTFFFF

Anyway yeah, that's basically the reason I got into writing fanfic. I didn't like the lack of detail or time spent focusing on different events and I wanted to give the characters some time to actually work through things.

🍇 Is there a particular scene/episode/book/etc that you want to just write a million fics about, over and over? Which one?

Crosshair putting his hand on Echo's shoulder after previously having gotten punched in the face for saying "I would've left him for dead" like GIRLLLLLLL be so fucking fr rn. And like I'll never write a fic based solely on that scene, but that moment and what it means has seeped into every single fic I write with the two of them because they just work together so well its insane.

And other than that, most times it's scenes that don't happen that I end up writing about. For example, Echo learning about Fives' death or the time between TCW and TBB where Echo bonds w/ the batch and we just??? don't get to see it???? yeah so I'll never stop writing abt all that I think

Anyway, sorry this was kinda long but thanks so much for the ask!!!

[lesbianpegbar]

IS LINK CLICK GOOD AGAIN WAS RHE FINAL GOOD

okay god so. this is complicated. i'm keeping this spoiler free lol, but i wrote an essay so if you dont wanna read that tldr this season wasn't good and this episode retains those overall issues but left me with enough intrique that im still invested if incredibly cautious and heavily jaded

i have suchhhh mixed feelings on this final episode and on season 2 as a whole. having slept on it and letting the euphoria wear off a bit, the episode as a whole was like. fine. it was emblematic of a lot of the issues ive had with the whole season so far. i think the pacing wasnt great, i think we spent way too long on flashbacks, and oh my god the fight scenes were far far too long (looking at one in particular like i did not care about those characters or their relationship). but the ending of the episode, at least in the moment, made me forget all about that and all about the problems with the whole season. it focused back on the main trio, and we saw interactions between them that made me remember why i love these characters and why i loved season 1. and there was a reveal at the end that, when watching, made me quite frankly go absolutely ape shit insane and feel like i was dying so. lol

but again, sleeping on it, while the end of the episode was a reminder of what i loved, it feels a bit hollow when placed in the context of the rest of the season. i think of how crazy the reveal was last night for me, but then i wonder how much more intense and meaningful it wouldve been had we actually spent the last 12 episodes exploring these characters instead of speedrunning a plot that nobody really cared about. in that way, it almost feels a bit insulting? that's kind of harsh, but idk how else to put it lol. like they had this great idea and strung us along with the bare minimum while making some of the worst writing decisions ive ever seen, and then finally at the end are like "hey! remember this thing! remember! arent we smart and clever and good writers!" and its just. sigh.

i think about what we couldve had had we spent this season with lu guang and cheng xiaoshi. if we had been shown them interacting more than maybe two times this season. if we had spent less time on fight scenes and cops and murder drama and actually spent time on the characters that i watched season 1 for. this season feels like something that shouldve been a film or half a season, if it even really needed to exist at all. it feels like they were twiddling their thumbs for twelve episodes because they just wanted to set up li tianchen and the big reveal at the end. and in that way its a huge disappointment, and a bit of an insult. they made me watch twelve episodes of something that feels like they barely thought about just so they could move on to their greater plot in the last five minutes of the season. this whole season feels like it was a stepping stone, a minor or transitory plot point in a greater story, which is a little iffy considering we all waited for two years just for something that felt like it barely mattered.

all in all, this season in general has just left a bad taste in my mouth. the conflict arises bc what they do get right makes me want to keep watching. i care about lu guang and cheng xiaoshi and qiao ling, like a lot. and with the reveal they did last night i want to see what's happening and there's a part of me that feels vindicated for being right about certain plot elements. am i falling for a shitty carrot on a stick? yeah, kinda, and that feels a little gross. i'll watch season 3 when it comes out and we'll see from there. i want to believe they'll turn it around and maybe now that they've gotten all this plot bullshit out of the way they'll refocus on cheng xiaoshi and lu guang, and maybe then we can all look back on this season and laugh and say "oh yeah that season sucks lol but the rest of it is so good so we just ignore it." at this point that's kind of best case scenario. which isn't a glowing review but play stupid games win stupid prizes i guess

[ardathksheyna]

I've Quietly Quit Fate Grand Order

I started the Halloween Event thinking that I'd be able to finish, but then of course, my brain got distracted—clothing simulation in Blender using genuine sewing patterns, and oh boy how well that works—so well that I actually want to write a tutorial on it—but that's for another time.

The fact that I was that quickly diverted kind of said it all. Somewhere around between the Lostbelt 6 conclusion and this year's Summer Event, I got burned out. Why? I have no idea, but it's probably a combination of factors:

One: Spare time.

Most of my free time is spent in Blender making shit, and that's what I'd rather be doing.

Two: Repetitiveness.

Since I started playing five years ago, the game has gotten too repetitive—particularly in the amount of farming you have to do to level up your Servants.

Three: Gacha+money.

I had a good run of luck (some of it unwanted) over the course of the last two years. Most of that was due to being able to predict within two or three rolls whether or not I'd get the pickup Servant by rolling in the Friends Points gacha, watching for three- or the occasional four-star (namely Artoria Lily—the pity system was introduced before Habetrot was added) Servant. Unfortunately, that changed with the introduction of the pity system.

What's worse—maybe this has always been a thing—but it seems like it's harder to nab a limited-time four-star than it is to get the five-star pickup on the same banner. Recent example: rolled for Zenobia, got Molay instead (didn't really want her but okay). Also, gacha luck for five-star event CEs has and always will suck.

This past summer revealed just how much of a money-sink the game has become for me. I have limited funds now because I have a house and well, shit breaks in a house and you have to fix it. Plus everything, even food, is too fucking expensive at the moment.

Four: Story.

The Lostbelt saga has dragged on for too long, and I've lost my attention span—not that it was really there to begin with. I think the biggest reason why Part Two has dragged is likely because of the pandemic fucking everything up, and then the sale to Lasengle I'm sure slowed things down even more.

The dragging story is a complaint that I've seen made elsewhere, so I'm not really the only person who has made that particular complaint.

My attention span has always been an issue when it comes to long-running series. A case-in-point: series like Ronin Warriors, Cowboy Bebop, Garo: Vanishing Line, or any of the recent Fate series, hold my attention because they're generally shorter than 60 episodes. On the flip-side of that, I was briefly into Inuyasha but then the story started to drag (and then I started college), that I lost interest. When I finally graduated and then found out that the Final Act was out, I watched those those episodes but never bothered to go back and finish the main series.

Anyway, what it comes down to is if I do keep playing, I'll likely only play when the story chapters come out—maybe/unless the event is specific to a story. I think the problem I have with story-related events is that you have to farm to progress the story and that shouldn't be if the event story is integral to the rest of the series.

[taylorcline]

there's nothing like new york. the city that never sleeps. oh, taylor loves it. it's so timeless. whenever she wasn't touring, nashville was always the home base. always. it was where her family was and the place she felt most like herself. but she had found herself with an la condo, too. maybe this was the next city that she needed to get a place in. another thing she loves? award shows. they're just so fun. she'll probably always feel nervous, but she loves any opportunity to get dressed up and mingle with others in the industry. this particular award show she was looking forward to see someone special. taylor abbott: twilight heartthrob, the current object of every teenage girl's obsession, and the reason why she has so many butterflies lately. it was no secret that taylor cline's dating history was the talk of gossip. any woman in the industry could tell you, women can't write songs about their exes without being seen as obessesive and crazy. but men? men are untouchable and they know it. so instead of receiving backlash for breaking up with his girlfriend over a twenty seven second phone call because he met a brunette actress on his video shoot, taylor got all of it for mocking him with his doll on video. suddenly she was the immature one for acting like a kid, even though she literally was one. but he was just a kid! he didn't know any better! she's crazy, no wonder he dumped her! the cherry on top being the cheap attempt of song writing that was released this past summer. a five year old could've written a better song than that. so he was mad that she was mad. it's not her fault he didn't have the balls to break up with her in person. besides, he should feel so lucky the other songs she had written about him were not seeing the light of day. well, there was always another album. after all, the brunette actress was just so much better than her.

but taylor-- taylor abbott came out of left field. the blonde didn't consider herself an actress. no way. sure she did a csi episode or two, but a rom com? it was simply insane. she loves rom coms and a song on the soundtrack? there were no words. meeting him was a breath of fresh air, if you will. not that she was really looking to date, the media would make a joke to stay away from her because she will write a song about you and ruin your life. (and it's a promise, she can assure.) however, with all the time the two had spent together, she couldn't help it. enchanted, from the moment she met him. the need to want to know everything about him, seeing things that reminded her of him and wanting to tell him about it, being excited and wanting him to be one of the first to know about things, the sickness she felt when they were apart. nothing about it felt platonic. it was more of a 'oh my god, if i don't hold his hand, i'm going to drive off a cliff' way. she had always been a hopeless romantic, falling fast, it was both a pro and con. it felt utterly ridiculous. well it did until she found out it was very much mutual. and now all she wanted to do was protect it. it was all so delicate and she wanted it to work so bad. plus, it was a funny thing, dating someone with the exact same name as you. taylor squared. nothing like it.

"taylor brooke!" "you don't have to middle name me, mom, i'm ready!" taylor announced, taking one last look in the mirror, red lipstick complimenting her silver dress. the carpet, a nomination, a quick outfit change, and a performance. then she could spend all the time she wanted with her other half. leaving the hotel and settling into the limo, she pulled out her phone from her bag. a few notifications graced the front of her maroon lg env2, the (1) missed call from tay tay <3 and the voicemail notification immediately catching her eye. hm? she has to fight back the huge smile as she hears his voice on the other line. oh, is she completely enamored with him. he's everything she's ever wanted and more. cliché? maybe she's just really happy. the flashing of the lights almost enough to blind a person, but never fully. this was the life she chose, after all. there's a sea of hellos, hi, oh it's so great to see you, how are you? as she makes her way through the crowd, blue eyes finally settling on a pair of green ones. the amount of time it takes for her face light up? a second tops. well, there was still some time before the show officially started, right? everyone move out of her way, please and thank you. excusing herself with a smile from her previous conversation, he now had all her attention. "so, you leave all your costars really cute voicemails, or am i just the lucky one?" taylor teased, pearly whites on full display.

a distinct, crisp bite of a september evening whistled through stand lights of new york. ribbons of hazy fog cuddled against the blades of grass that lined the corridor of radio city music hall, colliding abruptly with the geometric design of idle porticos. fingertips crested the lip of the opening of his suit chest, smoothing the soft grey fabric as if it were the millionth time he had done so that night. nerves sprouted from the depths of his feet, slowly cascading up a warm, novel sensation to his neck. the hollow dome held a multitude of collaborative echoes, including a sea of audiences matched with the appearances of celebrities of all walks of life. tonight, taylor abbott was simply another fan. a fan of taylor cline’s, that was evident. the relationship was still so brand new, clunky footing of an actor paired tantalizingly with america’s sweetheart. their origins were deeply rooted earlier that year. flushes of longing gazes and petrified conversations that he pleaded wouldn’t allow his soft crush to show form. at least, not yet. they were co-stars, sharing time onscreen while harbouring the inevitable feelings that he adorned for her now. it was somewhat spontaneous, how overnight he morphed from laggy co worker to imagining her delicate, dainty hands enfolded in his own. how each breath he inhaled was swiftly evaporated from his chest within nanoseconds as his jade irises settled on her. even for just a split moment, that was all it took for taylor cline to completely and irrevocably encapsulate him. but he was a nervous, rattled actor on the cusp of what he had hoped was a fulfilling career ahead. taylor cline had everyone’s attention. it was a risk, to believe he had any shot of mutuality, and yet? there he was, now into an amber, sun-setting september night as a plus one to witness greatness. within the last few months of keeping company, the nineteen year-old sat front row at the abundance of potential of her career. of course, that reasoning wasn’t a tactic in climbing any sort of social ladder at hand to abuse and manipulate the trust the two had already set out for one another. paparazzi had a predominate role in stirring up fabricated mess to evoke a reaction to those they spoke about. taylor was still wobbly fumbling through the highs and lows of newfound fame, an unsung blessing to be traipsing through it with the curly tow-headed singer by his side. he beamed with unadulterated pride of her accomplishments. if the future was any indication, he anticipated it to be just the beginning for her. whipping his razor phone out of his breast pocket, nimble fingers made work of him calling his girlfriend, hoping against all hope he would receive her voicemail. when it rung and beeped, that was his signal to speak, clearing the lump that invaded his throat before forming his words. “hey, cline. superstar. should i gear myself up to share you with all of these people who love you? kidding. i know how to share. i just wanted to let you know that i’m so proud of you, you deserve this. i’m right here cheering you on…just call me your biggest fan. break a leg tonight, sincerely your valentine’s day costar,” taylor concluded, a flash of a smile curled at each corner of his lips, front teeth sinking into the border of his bottom lip. ending the call, he shoved the device back into its rightful place, a slow sigh escaping into the air as he was ushered into the building. tonight, he wanted nothing more than to celebrate taylor. the girl whom he was gracious enough to call his girlfriend. girlfriend…girlfriend. girlfriend. that word was something to get used to.

[harrywritingsbyme]

The Shark Stuffie

Anonymous Said: my life’s been pretty shit recently and I’m so stressed rn and my anxiety is through the roof meaning I can’t sleep either..could you maybe write something small about harry comforting you and coaxing you to sleep with sweet coos💕

Based Off Of This Ask

And This One 

A/N: I feel like I haven't written some fluff in a LONG ass time...like the last pure fluff piece I wrote was all the way back in the beginning of January. That’s lowkey due to my vibes being off, my lack of motivation to do just about anything, and the fact that my writing schedule has been rearranged too many times. Either way tho...I hope y'all like this fic, it’s rlly cute and softtt and it’s definitely relatable for many of us. Enjoyy🙃

3.5k wordss

You had a bit of an obsession with animal documentaries. There was just something about them that just drew you in and captivated you. Whenever you watched the films or shows, you were always glued to the screen and utterly fascinated with the creatures being displayed before your eyes. Whenever you watched them with Harry, he’d always tease you about your obsession and being completely glued to the screen, jokingly saying that you were more in love with the animals than you were with him. Which couldn’t have been the farthest thing from the truth of course. But in true Y/n fashion, instead of just shooting his far fetched claims down, you would always tease him back; saying that you were in fact madly in love with whatever animal was on the screen at that moment, and that if he wanted to reclaim his number one spot on your list of loves, he’d have to put in some serious work. And then over the following couple of minutes, the two of you would go on to further the banter, trying to land the snarkiest little remark and “win”...even though it wasn’t even a competition to begin with. Sometimes you two were able to go a good while going back and forth on who you loved the most, Harry or the animals and their documentaries. Other times, and most times for that matter, you two would just burst into a fit of laughs before snuggling up together for the rest of the documentary. You of course rewinding it to play back anything you missed when your attention was on Harry. 

Which speaking of Harry, he thought your obsession with animals and the documentaries was the most precious and adorable thing thing in the entire world. He couldn’t (and never wanted to for that matter) get the image of your face lighting up when you watched the documentaries or discovered that a new one had come out for you to watch. He loved how happy and at ease you were when you watched the animal documentaries. On top of the fact that Harry loved how happy you got when watching the documentaries, Harry was slowly growing a little bit of an obsession with the documentaries too. And because of that, not only did he suggest making you guys’ date nights animal documentaries nights, but he also began to feed your obsession by means of plushies. If you two watched a documentary on giraffes, he’d be on the hunt for the cutest little giraffe plushie the entire week after and leading up to you guys’ next date night. And if you were going on and on about a particular animal he’d try to find the cutest plushy to get for you to add to your collection. Most times Harry was able to get lucky and find the cutest plushy for the animal you were obsessed with at the moment. But there were also times where he wasn’t so lucky. Either the animal was too exotic to be in stuffed animal form, or it wasn’t cute enough for Harry’s liking. He took his job of feeding your animal obsession very seriously. 

But either way, plushy or no plushy, you were just happy to enjoy and share your love of animal documentaries with your boyfriend who you loved even more. And Harry, whether or not he’d be able find the perfect plushy, was always going to do his very best to put an even bigger smile on your face. Even if it meant having to get a little creative at times. 

Now for the first time in the five or so months you’ve been obsessed with animals and watching the documentaries, you were stuck on one animal; Sharks. You weren’t quite sure as to what was so fascinating about the incredibly deadly creature but you couldn’t get enough of them. You were watching documentary after documentary on them and you even went as far as to find and watch old shark week episodes. You were quite obsessed to say the least. For the past, just about two weeks when you and Harry had your weekly animal documentary night/date night, you’d turn on something about sharks. Which prompted Harry to go out and find the perfect plushies to add to your collection. He managed to find the cutest one online the thought you’d love and he immediately placed his order so that it would arrive as soon as possible. While he waited for that stuffed animal to arrive, Harry figured you’d be onto the next animal. But no, the following week you were still obsessed with sharks. Which meant that a knot her shark plushy would be coming your way in no time. So once again, Harry went back on the “prowl” for the best shark plushies out there, spending the better part of his Wednesday evening looking for the perfect one. 

After looking through the pages of plushies, hoping to find one that he could buy in-store, Harry finally found the one. It was a fairly big shark plushy, and from the photos it looked to be pretty cute, and it seemed to be very soft. All of Harry’s boxes were checked off. But the ultimate selling point for it though, was the fact that it was weighted. See, you had really bad anxiety. Your mind was constantly racing, you were constantly worrying about things and what could go wrong, and you couldn’t stop overanalyzing everything and the decision you made. It was hard for you to get rest, even when you were exhausted and in dire need of a good nights sleep. And your preexisting anxiety was only exacerbated by school. One of the things that made your mind and body all calm down in those moments where you were completely overloaded and inundated with anxiety and stress was your weighted blanket. It kind of forced you to take time out for yourself and relax, and feel comfortable, taking your mind off of the stresses that were fueling the fire of your anxiety. It was honestly like a much needed big hug and was absolutely perfect when you couldn’t exactly have Harry, your ultimate anxiety and stress reliever. 

And on the topic of school, you were drowning. You were having a very rough week to say the least. Your to do list grew longer and longer as the days passed, and you were pretty sure your anxiety had reached an all time high and was on the path to reaching another record high. This week you had so many academic responsibilities you had to take care of, on top of all the things you had to do and wanted to do when it came to your personal life. You felt like every time you got one thing accomplished, two or three more things were thrown at you and demanded your attention. No matter how hard you tried to put things on a schedule and properly manage your time, a sudden wrench would be thrown into your plans and screw everything up; making your life increasingly difficult to navigate. Just the idea of school caused your anxiety to flare up. So to add everything you had to do for school this week along with your other responsibilities on top of that was quite much for you to handle. You didn’t even have the time, let alone the energy, to even have a proper breakdown and let it all out. You’d simply shed a few tears, take a deep breath, take a sip of your water, and push your feelings of being overwhelmed and tired to the side so that you could get shit done. The only things that brought you some type of relief this week were your weighted blanket, Harry’s comforting words, and you guys’ Friday night date night. And the plushies Harry told you he had for you.

When Harry spoke to you throughout the week and listened to how your week was going and how horrible it was going for you, he made it his mission to give you everything you needed when you came over on Friday night so that you can throw the terrible week you had away and have a relaxing and stress-free weekend. Once Friday finally arrived for you two, Harry spent most of the day just getting everything ready for when you came over. He went out and picked up all your favorite snacks, food, and anything else you liked, along with the weighted shark plushy and a new weighted blanket for you. You on the other hand were laser-focused on your school work and anything else that needed to be taken care of. You wanted to get everything done so that you’d have to spend no time whatsoever over the weekend doing anything besides being with Harry and relaxing your entire being. The only thing keeping you going today was the weekend Harry had planned for you. That’s it. And once you finally cleared your plate later on in the day, you dashed right over to Harry. You couldn’t wait any longer to watch your shark documentary with Harry and your new, no doubt, shark plushies.

 When you get to Harry’s place, you practically break the door down and you nearly knocked Harry off his feet from how you ran in and immediately nestled yourself into him. It was nearly five minutes before the two of you even verbally greeted each other. At that moment, you just wanted to be held. Harry was the sure-fire way to calm you down when you were going through a major bout of anxiety. His presence alone made you feel safe and okay. You had your arms locked around his midsection, keeping your grasp on him as tight as possible. Almost as if you were afraid that he was going to float away from you. And Harry didn’t mind this one bit, nor did he hesitate to wrap you up in his arms and just hold you just as tight and close to him. 

“Hi” You mumble into the soft fabric of Harry’s hoodie, breaking the silence between you two.

“Hi baby” He softly replies to you, squeezing you a little bit. 

“Missed you this week.” You continue on, relaxing a bit more into Harry. 

“I missed you too sweets. You had a pretty rough week huh?” Harry coos, continuing to hold you and stroke your back. 

“Mhm…m’so tired.” You sigh. 

“Well how about we get you upstairs and in a nice warm shower to get you relaxed a bit while I bring everything up. And then we can watch one of your documentaries. How does that sound sweets?” Harry proposes. 

“Sounds amazing.” You agree, loosening your grip on Harry in the process. 

“Then let’s get you upstairs” He then proceeds to loosen his grip around you as well before guiding you from the front door and up the stairs. Once you’re all squared away and in the shower, Harry moves his setup in the living room upstairs in the bedroom, hiding the little gifts he got for you on the floor on his side of the bed. Harry also lays out some clothes for you to throw on. You had your own drawer and everything, but even though that was the case, you still went right to his clothes. So Harry didn’t even bother going through your drawer for anything. After laying out your clothes and everything you needed for when you’re all done with your shower, Harry orders what you told him you wanted for dinner before you got in the shower. Which ends up being a good thirty minutes. It was just so nice to have some time to yourself and not have to stress or worry about something you had to get done. It was such a relief to be able to just stand under the running hot water and just not have to think. The steaming hot water melted the caked-on stress from the week and just rinsed it away, making you feel so much better than you did when you first walked through the door. 

It was also a relief to walk out of the bathroom and into your boyfriend's bedroom with everything waiting for you. When you stepped out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, you stepped into this warm and cozy atmosphere Harry created for you. The bed is all warm and comfy, and extremely inviting. He had your clothes and all your post-shower stuff laid out for you on the bed. Harry even had one of your favorite candles lit on the bedside table. The tv was even on with an array of animal documentaries for you to pick from. Up until he had to rush downstairs to get the takeout he ordered for you two, Harry helped you get all settled in bed. And when he comes back upstairs, this time with the food you (and your stomach) were beyond excited for, you were all done getting ready and tucked right under the covers waiting for him to come back.  

Harry quickly shuffles across the room to sit the food down onto the bed before lifting the little basket he filled to the brim with your favorite little snacks up onto the bed, making you even happier than you were already, and hopping into bed with you. He then hands you the remote, giving you the power to choose whichever documentary you wanted to watch, along with a small peck to your cheek, marking the official start to you guys’ date night/relaxing weekend. While you and Harry watch the first documentary of the night together, you’re intently watching the screen just like always as you happily stuff your mouth with the delicious food in front of you. As you watched the documentary, Harry on the other hand couldn’t help but sit back and just watch you. He was so happy to see you all relaxed and peaceful, opposed to being all stressed out and anxiety-ridden like you were when you first came over.

By the end of the first film, you and Harry are completely done with your food and have moved on to clearing off the bed so that you two can cuddle and possibly fall asleep during the next one. Once the bed is all clear and free for you and Harry to move around, you two immediately move in closer and get nice and comfortable in each other before starting the next shark-related documentary.

“Thank you so much for all of this Harry.” You thank him, breaking your focus on the tv and shifting it to Harry.

“Anything for you sweets” Harry coos, turning his attention away from the tv as well. “I hate it when you’re going through it, especially when I cant be there to help you get through. So I just wanted to give you a nice relaxing and calm weekend for you to just feel better.” He explains.

“I love you Harry.” You hum, lifting your head up from his chest to peer up at him. You weren’t able to fully comprehend why and how you even deserved such an amazing boyfriend who always wanted to make you happy when you were sad and not doing okay, and even happier when you were already beaming. He was one of the best things in your life, and one of the few that didn’t stress you out. 

“I love you too baby.” Harry whispers, looking down at you and locking eyes with yours. The same way you felt like Harry’s mere existence made everything at least feel better, Harry felt the exact same way. So whenever you were going through it and not doing okay, Harry didn’t take that lightly. He always made sure to do everything in his power to get you to a better place. 

When Harry puckers his lips in your direction, you immediately lock yours with them, sucking you both into a love-filled little kiss. It was nice and soft for the atmosphere you and Harry were in, but it wasn’t incredibly slow, nor it did it feel rushed or like it was lasting forever. It was perfect.

“I got you something baby!” Harry whispers excitedly upon pulling away from your lips, tapping at your sides for you to sit up.

“You told me they were plushies.” You reply, excited to see what he picked for you this time. Harry always managed to get you the cutest little stuffed animals so you were really excited to see what he got you this time. 

“Yup! And here’s the first one.” Harry says, leaning down to pick up and reveal to you the regular plushy he found for you the first time.

“Oh my goodness! That’s too adorable!” You coo, holding up and looking at the adorable little shark Harry got for you. It was absolutely amazing and you were so so so excited to see the next one. 

“Ready for the next one? I think you’re gonna like this one the most.” Harry says, causing you to immediately nod your head in response. “M’gonna need you to close your eyes too.” He instructs.

Once your eyes are closed, Harry leans down and picks up the weighted and fairly big shark plushy before sitting it in your lap. He then grabs the new weighted blanket he got for you and sits it between you both before instructing you to open your eyes.

When you see what Harry placed into your lap, you could instantly feel the tears welling up in your eyes. It was like Harry knew exactly what you wanted and needed. You absolutely loved your weighted blanket and you always used it, even when you weren’t in need of something to calm your anxiety. You also loved plushies, even before you were heavily into animals and Harry was finding you all sorts of plushies. They brought you some much-needed serotonin whenever you were feeling down and they were your little cuddle buddies. So to have a weighted one, a combination of everything that never failed to calm your anxiety down was absolutely amazing and you couldn’t have been more happy and appreciative. That’s why you just couldn’t help it when you started crying. You wasted absolutely no time wrapping Harry in the biggest hug, thanking him over and over for the plushy. But it wasn’t long until you just broke down. 

“You have no idea how much this means to me, I had such a horrible week.” You sob into him.

“I know baby.” He coos, stroking your back as you cried. Even though he hated it when you cried, he knew that you always felt lighter whenever you just let it all out.

“I had panic attacks every day and I didn’t get enough sleep and I didn’t eat much either and I didn’t have you there for cuddles. It was so bad.” You cry, your voice cracking at the end, making Harry only tighten his arms around you. He knew it was a bad week for you, but he didn’t know it was this bad. You only told him but so much over the phone.

“Well I’m here now baby and I’m gonna take good care of you and get you back and feeling better.” Harry promises, continuing to hold you as you cry into him. You were so vulnerable right now and he just wanted you, his baby, to feel better. 

As you continued to cry, you continued to mumble and talk about just how bad your week was and how much he was doing for you helped you feel better. Eventually, you ran out of words and the energy to speak or even cry. So Harry began to whisper sweet little nothings and reassurance that you’re going to be okay and that he’s going to take care of you. And as he did this, Harry could feel your body heave less and less from the crying and the little hiccups that came along with it. Once you’ve calmed down a little and as the sleep begins to overtake you, Harry then unwraps an arm from around you and reaches over to turn out the light and blow out the candle before pulling the covers higher up over you two. He also pulled the plushy and still folded blanket up as well, just in case you wanted either of them.

 “Please don’t watch without me.” You mumble, your voice all nasally and filled with sleep. You were no longer tightly wrapped around Harry, but instead resting on his chest.

“I won’t darling. I just paused it so that we can go back and watch it later on when you’re nice and rested.” Harry replies through a soft chuckle continuing to stroke your back. 

“Pinky promise.” You mumble back, lazily lifting your pinky up from under the covers for Harry to hook his around.

“Pinky promise.” He replies softly, bringing his pinky in to hook it around yours, sealing his promise. “Now get some rest baby.” He whispers, pulling your still intertwined hands down and pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

Masterlist

[highsviolets]

INTERVIEW NO. 1: RACHEL @djarinsbeskar

hello hello! i am so happy to announce that rachel — aka the immense talent that is @djarinsbeskar — has agreed to be my first interviewee for this new series! thank you to rach and to each one of you for all of your support. to read more about the project, click here, and to submit an author, click here.

| why rachel? |

Rachel captured my imagination from the first time we interacted as mutuals-in-law. She’s bursting with energy and vivaciousness, with a current of kindness just underneath everything she does. Her work is no exception. Oftentimes gritty, raw, and exposing (in … ahem…more ways than one), Rachel challenges her readers to dig deeper into both the story and themselves. Her smut brings a particular fire as it’s laced with need, desire, and mutual trust that leads us deeper into the characters’ identities and how physical affection can mimic other forms of intimacy. She’s a tour de force in this fandom and an absolute joy.

| known for |

Engaging with and encouraging other authors, cultivating inspo posts, attention to world building & character development

| my favorites |

Stitches

Boxer!Din

Full Masterlist • Ko-Fi

| q & a |

When did you start writing? What was that project, and what was it like? Has that feeling or process ever changed over time? Why?

I can’t remember a time I wasn’t writing. I was an avid reader, as I think most writers are—and I remember, after picking up Lord of the Rings—that I could live so many lives, experience so many things, all from the pages of a book. I could make sense of the world through words and ink and paper. And it offered me a level of peace and clarity I wanted to share with others. So, I started writing.

My first project I remember to this day, was a short story about a dog. I had been so heartbroken when I learned that dogs were colourblind. I must have been about seven or eight at the time, and I was fixated on this idea that dogs couldn’t see the vibrant hues that made the world beautiful. It was something I wanted to change—and with all the righteous anger of a child not getting their own way, I sulked over the fact that I couldn’t. Until I wrote it down.

“How do dogs see colour?”

And much like my writing today, I answered myself.

“Dogs don’t need to see colour. Dogs smell colour.”

And so, I wrote a story, about a puppy being brought on different walks by its owner. And with every new street it walked down—colour bloomed with scent. Colours more beautiful and vibrant than we could ever hope to see with our eyes. And it gave me solace and helped me work through an emotion that – granted was immature and inconsequential – had affected me. To this day, I still smile seeing dogs sniffing at everything they pass on their walks. Smelling colour. It gave me the key to my favourite thing in life. I don’t think my process has changed much since then. Much of what I write is based on a skeleton plan, but I leave room for characters to speak and feel as they need to. I like to know the starting point and destination of a chapter—but how they get there, that still falls to instinct. I think I’ve found a happy medium of strict planning and winging it that suits me now—and hopefully it will continue to improve over time!

When did you start posting your writing, and on what platform? What gave you the push to do that?

I mean, fanfiction has always been part of my life. I think anyone who was growing up in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s found their way to fanfiction.net at some time or other. The wild west compared to what we have now! My first post was for the Lord of the Rings fandom on fanfiction.net. It was an anthology of the story told through the eyes of the steeds. Bill the Pony, Shadowfax—it was all very innocent. That was probably in 2010 when I was fifteen. I had been wanting to share writing for a long time but was worried about how it would be received. I didn’t really have a gauge on my level or my creativity and – one of the many flaws of someone with crippling perfectionism – I only ever wanted to provide perfection. That was a major inhibitor when I was younger. By wanting it to be perfect, I never posted anything. Until that stupidly cute LOTR fic. It was freeing to write something that no one but me had any interest in, because if I was writing for myself then there was no one to disappoint, right? And that was all it took. I had some pauses over the years between college and life and such, but I’ve never lost that mindset when it comes to posting.

What your favorite work of yours that you have ever written? Why is it your favorite? What is more important to you when considering your own stories for your own enjoyment — characters? fandom? spice? emotional development? the work you’ve put into it? Is that different than what you enjoy reading most in other people’s fics?

I don’t think it’ll come as much of a surprise when I say Stitches. While not original, I mean—it follows the plot of the Mandalorian quite diligently, it is the piece of work I really hold very close to my heart. Din Djarin as a character is what got me back into writing after what must have been five years? He inspired something. His manner, his personality—he resonated with me as a person in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. And gave me back a creative outlet I had been missing.

It’s funny to say out loud—but I wanted to give him something? I spent so long thinking about his character that half my brain felt like it belonged to him—how he reacted and responded to things etc. and of course, like every dreamy Pisces—I wanted to give him love and happiness. So, Stitches came along. Personally, when writing—it’s a combination of characters, emotional development and spice (I can’t help myself) and when we can follow that development. With Stitches, it’s definitely the spice that is the conduit for development—but I adore showing how the physical can help people who struggle to communicate emotions too complex for words.

I don’t usually read for Din, as most people know—but I do enjoy reading the type of work that Stitches is. Human, damaged—but still with an undercurrent of hope that makes me think of children’s books.

You said, “much like writing today, I answered myself.” Could you talk about that in relation to Stitches?

So, I’m endlessly curious, it has to be said. Especially about why people are the way they are. Why people do A instead of B. Why X person’s immediate thought went to this place instead of that place. And I’m rarely satisfied with superficial explanations. One of the most exciting parts of writing and fanfiction especially, is making sense of that why. There can be countless explanations, some that are content with what is seen on the surface and some that go deep and some that go even deeper still.

Stitches is almost a – very long winded and much too long – answer to the questions I was so intrigued by about Din Djarin, about the Mandalorian and about the Star Wars universe as a whole. I often wondered what happened to people after the Rebellion, the normal people who fought—the people in the background. What did they do next? Did some of them suffer from PTSD? What was the galaxy like right after the Empire fell? That first season of the Mandalorian answered some of those questions, but I wanted to know more. So, I created a reader insert who was a combat medic—and through her, I let myself answer the questions of what happened next.

Regarding Din as a character, I wanted to know what a bounty hunter with a code of honour would do in certain situations—what made him tick, what made hm vulnerable. I wanted to explore the discovery of his identity. Din Djarin didn’t exist after he was taken from Aq Vetina. He became a cog in a very efficient machine of Mandalorians—and it was safe there. I wanted to see what – or who – might encourage him to step into his own. Grogu was that person in a familial sense, but what about romantically? What about individually? There’s so much to explore with this man! So many facets of personality and nuances of character that make him so gorgeous to write and think about.

Talk to me about the Din Djarin Athletic Universe. How does Din as all of these forms of athlete play off who you see him as in canon?

The Athletic Universe! How I adore my athletes. Despite being in a modern setting, I have kept the core of Din’s character in each of them (at least I hope I have!). I like to divide Din’s character into three phases when it comes to canon because he’s not as immovable as people seem to think he is. We discussed this before, how I see Din as a water element—adaptable, but strong enough that he can be as steadfast as rock. But I digress, the first phase is the character we see in the first episode. Basically, before Grogu. There’s an aggressive brutality to Din when we see him bounty hunting. He works on autopilot and isn’t swayed by sob stories or promises. He has the covert but is ultimately separate. Those soft feelings he comes to recognise when he has Grogu are dormant – not non-existent – but they haven’t been nurtured or encouraged. This is the point I extracted Boxer!Din’s personality and story from.

Cyclist!Din on the other hand—is already a father, a biological father to Grogu. And his personality, I took from that moment in the finale of Season two where I believe Din’s transformative arc of character solidified. He was always a father to Grogu, but I do believe that moment where he removes his helmet is the moment, he accepts that role fully in his heart and mind. And that is why I don’t believe for a second, that removing his helmet was him breaking his Creed. In fact, I believe it was the purest act he could do in devotion to his Creed—to his foundling, to his son. The Cyclist!AU is very much the character I see canon Din having should Grogu have stayed with him. This single dad who isn’t quite sure how he got to where he is now—but does anything and everything for his child without thought. It’s a natural instinct for him, and I like exploring those possibilities with Cyclist!Din.

You also said, “he has the covert but is ultimately separate.” What does it take for him — and you — to get to that point of being ‘not separate?’

I mentioned this above, but one of the biggest interests I have in Din as a character is his identity. He’s a Mandalorian, he’s a bounty hunter, he’s the child’s guardian but those are all what he is, not who. I think Din is separate while being part of the covert because he doesn’t know. I don’t think anyone can really be part of something if they don’t know who they are or, they struggle with their identity. It’s curious to me—how you can deceive even yourself to mimic the standard set for the many. In the boxer verse, he identifies himself in relation to his boxing—and every part of his outward personality exhibits those qualities. But when he’s given a softer touch—an outlet of affection, and comfort—we see the softer side of him surface. It’s very much the same with Stitches Din. Identity is like anything, emotions—relationships, bodies. It needs nurturing to thrive, an open door—a safe space. At least, that’s what goes through my mind when I think of him.

Who is your favorite character to read?

Frankie because there are so many ways his character can be interpreted and there are some stellar versions of him that I think of at least once a day. Javi because he reminds me of kintsugi-- golden recovery, broken pottery where the cracks are highlighted with gold. I also adore reading for Boba Fett, Paz Viszla and the clones!

Is there anything else you want your readers to know about you, your writing, or your creative process?

Hmm... only that I am quite literally a gremlin clown who is always here to chat Din, Star Wars, literature, book recs and anything else under the sun! I like to hear people's stories, their opinions etc. it helps me see things from alternative points of view and can truly help the writing process! Other than that, I think I can only thank readers for putting up with my ridiculously long chapters and rambling introspection. Thank you for indulging me always! ❤️

[tuiyla]

Can I just start out by saying that of all the blogs that talk about Santana/Quinn/Rachel/Brittany/other ND girls, I have never actually found one that’s as interesting and as intelligent as yours. Especially when you write your meta and thoughts on these ladies. You seem to really understand these characters and I love reading what you write.

My question is this - reading all you and your anons say about the various stories about the girls of ND, and bearing in mind there are also the huge storylines involving the male characters, there just wasn’t enough time to be spent each episode, giving everyone in the fandom what they wanted, developing relationships and friendships. There had to be at least four/five songs in most episodes I believe?? It’s a rare episode to have very few (Shooting Star?).

So what would you cut out and want to see less of, in order for more detailed content of the characters? Less characters overall? Eg reduce ND to ten members so there are less stories, who would you cut though? Also, my feeling would be to reduce Will or Sue’s input, but then Matthew and Jane were two of the lead characters, and probably got paid the most!

What do you think?

Well thank you anon, that's very flattering but for the record, there are so many cool peeps out there who talk about the ND girls and all their awesomeness. I am in fact very much like other girls haha. But I'm happy to be providing some commentary on the show and its characters and happy to have these conversations. Frankly, I think the characters and the girls in particular were too good for Glee.

Buckle up because your question is very interesting and this is gonna be a long one! And it was actually going to be even longer before I realized no one would read it all. So hmu for the director’s cut lol. But this is a shorter version; I’d be happy to elaborate on any of this.

I got another ask about particular storylines/scenes I'd cut or felt like were unnecessary so I'll talk more about those when answering that question. To answer yours, I'll list some more general ideas about the show's structure and how I’d do things differently to allow characters more quality storylines and character moments, which imo would make them feel so much more fleshed out and not like a pile of wasted potential. And to be clear these ideas are also in the spirit of getting the guys their dues, lol, I'm not discriminating when it comes to wishing Glee was a better show.

Use songs to tell stories and further characters’ journeys

You bring up a good point the songs and how they also take away from the screentime. But here’s the thing, that doesn’t have to be to the characters’ detriment. A good musical, whatever the exact medium is, uses songs not to sell CDs and get that sweet iTunes money but to serve the story. And serve the characters’ story, more importantly. The cliché goes, characters sing when their feelings are just too powerful to be expressed through anything but music. So do that! Have those four-five or even six-seven musical performances per episode but put your characters first. Don’t look at it in a “what’s in the top 40″ kind of way, look at from a “what works for my character” kind of way.

Out of 700 songs some will be assembly or prom performances that don’t have to be some grandiose character moment. But it hurts to know that Glee was perfectly capable of utilizing their songs pretty much perfectly some of the time and the rest, they just chose not to. I’m going to bring up Santana-related examples just because she’s the one I personally analyse the most but she isn’t the only one who got really good songs that doubled as character moments. Landslide tells a beautiful story in two minutes and is a milestone for her character. Songbird is a quiet but poignant confession through song. And Rumour Has It/Someone Like You? Oh my god. It’s an incredible rollercoaster that perfectly complements the actual plot and even does a better job of telling Santana’s story from her perspective than the script ever did. It’s astonishing.

Not everything has to be RHI/SLY, but surely we could have more songs that are actually meaningful? Utilize solos well, utilize duets, utilize group numbers. Your line distributions should have meaning. For example, wouldn’t it have been nice to get a Quinntana duet in season 2 where their rivalry was so intense and their relationship so complex? That’s really just the most basic of examples. It’s more effort to have the songs fit the storylines and for them not to be shoehorned, sure, but it does wonders for making us feel for the characters.

Overarching stories instead of issue episodes

Glee really tried to do it all and failed to do pretty much any of it well. Now by overaching stories I don’t mean it should lose the assignment of the week format because that actually worked well for the most part, even if it was forced in some places and particularly with tributes. I just mean that instead of saying “we’ll tackle religion” or twerking or SA or whatever this week, make sure that, once again, it makes sense for the character. And once again I know Glee was capable of this when they wanted to be.

Early season 2 is an excellent example for Kurt in particular. There’s real buildup to him going to Dalton and juicy character moments scattered throughout the episodes leading up to it. In Grilled Cheesus, the religion issue episode we hammer home the point that Kurt feels alone and alienated even in this club that’s supposed to be his safe space. Do more of that! Plan where you’re taking the characters and plant these things. Don’t go week by week and hope for the best, writing characters around these one-off issues. You can still have weekly topics and have it be leading somewhere. And have fewer storylines! You don’t need a bomb dropped every two episodes, geez, just deal with the consequences of the last one. Quality over quantity.

Sort of side note, I know a lot of people divide Glee into two, the good and the bad with the first and last three seasons but I think it’s more complex than that. The first 13 episodes are the most self-contained (though not without issues) and then the second half of season 1 is already a different show. Season 2 is yet again an evolution and then going into season 3 is a bigger jump than most realize. I bring this up here because the expanded writing staff meant that we got a lot less of season 2′s overarching greatness a lot more of storylines that would have needed much more time to develop but nope, must dash. And the issue episode problem started becoming more emblematic here as well. Quality over quantity is something the first half of season 3 failed at miserably.

Make it an actual ensemble

If we’re talking doing right by as many characters as possible, this is the way. With no fewer than 24 actors who were at one point or another billed as main characters it’s tough to spread the love. But just talking about 12 kids at a time, I don’t see why we couldn’t do more of an ensemble. See, Glee kind of tried to be one but it started with three obvious focal points (Rachel, Finn and Will) and even as Will got somewhat left behind the show couldn’t bear the thought of making it more equal. Rachel can still be the ultimate protagonist, don’t get me wrong, and Finchel the ultimate focus. But make it more balanced.

We didn’t need Rachel and Finn, sometimes one and a lot of the times both, to be the A plot 90% of the time. Give them the most focus, sure, but give the others something. Glee’s problem isn’t even that Rachel was the main character or that she sang the most, it’s how wack the scale of things is. Rachel and Finn didn’t need so much and shifting things so they’re in the foreground less would have dramatically improved things for everyone, including the two of them.

In this ideal structure of mine, more characters would get A plots and crucially, stories that focus them. So often in Glee we have Quinn or Mercedes or Tina plots that aren’t, ultimately, about them. Even Quinn’s pregnancy in season 1, as I’ve talked about before, was often not about her. Always ask whose story is being told; with Glee, it often came down to the same handful of people. That’s a sure way of making a character’s journey less impactful and make it feel cheaper, when upon closer look you realize it wasn’t actually about them.

And tangentially related, mix it up with the plots! Have the whole club interact with each other instead of pairing up the same people over and over again. It’d be the classic sitcom structure that, for example, makes Brooklyn Nine-Nine succeed in feeling like an actual found family. Each week the B and C and even D plots would see different dynamics, and with a good distribution of focus on characters it could be a very smooth way of furthering their stories and providing us with good content.

Smaller things and closing thoughts

You ask about cutting characters and I’m not sure. I think 12(/13) plus some minor teachers content could work. I don’t know if we’d need to cut the New Directions but we don’t need to add to them. The season 3 newbies? Mostly added nothing and took valuable screentime away from people we actually cared about.

As for the adults, I think we could still have Will content and even a bit of his personal life but dial it back. We don’t need all the details of his sex life, gross. He can still have his back and forth with Sue and she’d still serve as the primary antagonist. We can still pay Matt Morrison and Jane Lynch just as much lol, just have their shenanigans be mostly secondary or relevant to the kids’ lives. More Sue and UHT content, anyone? Because that could have added so much.

As for how I’d do things season 4 onwards with the newbies and New York and all that, honestly, no idea. But just talking about the first few seasons, I think if they’d done things the way I described them all the characters would have felt so much more fleshed out.

I think the ultimate bottom line is to prioritize characters. Characters make the story, not the latest wild plot twist you can come up with or the latest charting song that has no meaning in the context of the show. Write around the characters. Which Glee clearly didn’t do, or didn’t do for enough of them.

I think there was time to do, if not all then most of it. Glee just didn’t care enough.

[ravenadottir]

Okay wait, what was Hope’s original dialogue during the bathroom argument?

in the weekly releases, up until march/2020, hope was arguing about the possibility of noah leaving her for priya or mc. her dialogue had many pearls, but the worst one was this:

"i'm fighting for us to stay together, and shame on you if you don't do the same!"

with exaclamation points and sour faces to accompany her words, because the dialogue wasn't toxic enough. there was banging fists on the sink and slamming doors action. it was tragic!

this particular argument led me to write her beach hut confessions the way i did. her being so toxic was pretty much based off that dialogue fusebox gave us.

it was also the main reason for most of us, noah stans, to hate on hope and call her possessive, controlling and jealous. because she was acting like that behind the curtains, according to that scene.

after a lot of complaining, for perpetuating a negative stereotype, not only for her as a woman but also as a dark skin woman, they recognized they did her wrong and changed the dialogue.

the main reason for the complaints was because she wouldn't act like this in public at all. not that intensely, and mostly was looking for noah to be honest with her.

back then she was angry about not being the girl he wanted and shaming him for his feelings.

now when you get noah saying something about her crying being an act of manipulation is because back then it seemed that was her tactics, but they never adapted his words either, so it seems he's shaming her.

hope and noah have been sucked into this whole nope mess since the very beginning. this was probably around week 5 or 6, and it stood there for a solid five months after the finale. it was early on and people were under the impression noah was endgame because fusebox spent that whole time promising him as such.

towards the final episodes they decided to change their personalities completely and have them stay together just to reinforce he wasn't a possible li, but it was too late. too many promises had been made at that point.

so what you see today, in all dialogues, is pieces of plots that happened before but were never truly fixed according to their actual storylines.

they just villanized hope back then for the sole purpose of having a villain in his playthrough, even though they knew fully well he wasn't gonna choose mc at any given moment.

MESSY. WRONG. USELESS. OVERALL A PIECE OF SHIT PLOTLINE, WOULD GIVE IT A SOLID -2/10.

[lettheladylead]

Title: Witness

Summary: Scrooge is on trial and he needs a character witness, but he's not sure how helpful she'll be. Ship: Scrooge/Goldie Word count: ~3080 Notes: I needed to write something after seeing the summary for the upcoming episode, The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck. ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29510085

-

“This trial is a sham!” Scrooge shouted, slamming his shackled fists onto the desk in front of him. “You havenae allowed me a proper lawyer or allowed anyone to testify on my behalf!”

The giant mystical judge scoffed and held the gavel in his hand, ready to use it if the duck continued yelling. Holding him in contempt of court would be an easy way to end this trial early, but he wanted to make sure Mr. McDuck paid properly for his crimes.

The prosecutor rolled his eyes and walked in front of the desk. “And whom would you have testify for you? In the High Mystical Court of Good Versus Evil, family members aren’t allowed.”

Scrooge gaped. “Not even as a character witness? I spend all my time with my family!”

The smug, suited creature shrugged at him with a smile. “Too bad, then. Looks like we’ll just have to continue listing how you’ve corrupted these fine men and women and forced them into lives of villainhood.”

The old duck seethed, grinding his teeth and considering his options. If he let the trial continue this way, his poor family up in the spectator’s seats was about to watch him get destroyed and they had yet to even discuss punishment, but Scrooge was sure it would be worse than anything he could get on Earth.

As he glanced up at his family - Donald, Della, and the boys in particular - he wondered if Webby or Twenty-Two would’ve been allowed to defend him had they been zapped here along with the rest of them. They just happened to be in the kitchen at the time of abduction and were probably losing their minds with worry. Hopefully one of the boys was able to send some sort of textual message to let them know what was going on.

At that thought, Scrooge’s eyes lingered on Louie and his phone, and a thought suddenly came to mind. It was something he wasn’t sure about...perhaps it’d be a bad idea...but he had no other options.

“I know someone!” he shouted. “I have a character witness who’s not in my family!”

The judge and prosecutor stared down with their many, many eyes - giving Scrooge an expression he could only describe as terrifying and suspicious.

��You still want to try this?” the prosecutor asked. “Alright, fine. Who is it?”

“Goldie O’Gilt.” Scrooge ignored the reactions from his family - particularly Della and Donald’s resounding ‘oh, please no’ - and hoped this would be a good choice.

The prosecutor looked up at the judge, who nodded his head and slammed his gavel down three times before snapping his fingers. “Alright.”

A few seconds passed without anything happening or anyone saying a word. Scrooge glanced from side to side. “Should you...call a recess so I can contact her?”

“That would be a waste of time,” the prosecutor said as there was suddenly a poof of purple smoke at the witness stand.

Everyone stared as the smoke dissipated to reveal one Goldie O’Gilt - currently wearing a bathrobe and her hair was down and wet and as soon as she opened her eyes she was immediately very unhappy.

“Oh, what the hell is this?” Goldie shouted, choosing to stay seated but glaring around the room. “What am I on trial for this time?”

Scrooge felt himself getting sweaty. Maybe this was a terrible idea.

“Nothing, Miss O’Gilt,” the judge said as he leaned down to look at her. “Mr. Scrooge McDuck is on trial for crimes of harassment, manipulation, and corruption against multiple innocent victims.”

Goldie blinked up at him and then turned her head to look at Scrooge.

He gave her a toothy grin and a small, nervous wave.

“So what does that have to do with me?” Goldie asked as she grabbed her hair and wrung it out onto the floor.

The prosecutor stared at the puddle of water and then glared up at their new witness. “You’ve been called as a character witness for Mr. McDuck. Now do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

Scrooge dropped his head to the desk while the prosecutor and judge glanced at one another.

The bailiff walked over with a large brown book that had a giant lock around the side and was shaking a bit and making snarling sounds. Goldie raised an eyebrow as he held it towards her.

“Put your hand on this.”

Goldie grimaced. “Must I?”

“If you don’t want to testify, we can’t force you,” the prosecutor said with a pretentious glance up and down her body. “Clearly you were in the middle of something, after all.”

Goldie glared at him and in that moment decided she hated him more than she enjoyed inconveniencing Scrooge. She slapped her hand down on top of the book. “I swear to tell the truth.”

The bailiff mumbled something under his breath and then the book lit up and shone a bright light onto Goldie for a few seconds before fading away. He walked away as Goldie rubbed at her eyes.

“What was that?”

“That was a Light of Honestly,” the prosecutor said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Which means that so long as you’re at the witness stand, you’re physically incapable of lying or excluding relevant information from your statements.”

“What?!” both Goldie and Scrooge shouted at the same time. They immediately locked eyes with one another and could feel their shared nervousness almost psychically.

“Since when do you use something like that?”

“It was specifically requested and provided by one of the accusers in this case. Now, could you state your name and occupation to the court, please?”

Goldie’s left eye twitched as she squeezed the sleeves of her robes into her hands. “Goldie Kathleen O’Gilt. I…” She paused as if considering her words - or, Scrooge suspected, trying to find a way to word her lie so that it was still true. “...I own and operate a hotel.”

Scrooge’s eyes widened. She did what? He attempted to make eye contact with her so he could let her know how confusing what she just said was to him, but she was purposefully avoiding his stare.

“And how do you know Scrooge McDuck, Miss O’Gilt?”

Goldie frowned and glanced up at Scrooge before glaring at the lawyer. “He’s my…” She seemed to struggle with the words again. “...boy...friend?”

A collective groan could be heard from the duck boys in the peanut gallery while Scrooge couldn’t help the small smile that came to his face.

“Are you asking?” the judge asked sternly, leaning towards her again.

She grunted and angrily waved her hands around. “We’ve never really talked about it, alright? He’s the love of my life and we’ve been seeing each other on and off since 1897. How’s that for you?”

Scrooge was surprised not to hear another groan, and looked back to see the boys and Della looking quite touched by Goldie’s confession. They weren’t the only ones - even after their little Florida adventure, he never expected to hear those words come out of her mouth. Now he had ten times as much reason not to die right then and there.

“That’s descriptive enough, I suppose,” the prosecutor responded, clearly not recognizing or not caring about the emotional turmoil Goldie was going through after blurting that out so carelessly. “In the one hundred and twenty years you’ve known Scrooge McDuck, have you found him to be cruel?”

Scrooge stared at her pleadingly, despite knowing she physically couldn’t lie he still hoped she’d find a way to make him sound good.

Goldie brushed her fingers through her damp hair. “On occasion. But usually I was cruel to him first.”

“Usually, but not always?” the prosecutor asked, taking a look at the jury who were watching with gradually increasing interest. “So he has been cruel without provocation.”

“The first night we met involved me drugging his coffee and then him kidnapping me,” Goldie said nonchalantly, clearly starting to realize there was no fighting the Light of Honesty. “At the time I thought he was cruel, but looking back on it, I don’t mind that it happened.”

Scrooge closed his eyes and wondered what his family was thinking at that moment. He was thinking about all the different painful, mystical punishments he was going to face after Goldie destroyed his already limited chances of surviving this trial.

“Interesting. And over the years, have you witnessed Scrooge McDuck inflicting such cruelties on anyone else?”

Goldie rolled her eyes. “No. I like to think our relationship is special,” she added with a wink.

The prosecutor scoffed, annoyed by her response. “Can I assume this means your time spent with Scrooge McDuck is usually just the two of you, making you less than an expert on how he treats people he’s not having sex with?”

“Objection!” Scrooge yelled, standing up. “Curse me kilts, there are kids here!”

The judge shrugged. “He’s got a point.”

“Fine,” the prosecutor responded, putting up his hands in mock surrender. “But my question still stands.”

Goldie huffed. “Unfortunately for me, I have spent plenty of time with Scrooge’s other associates. I can’t confirm whether or not I’ve seen him around your particular accusers, but I’ve interacted with most of his enemies at one point or another.”

“...good to know,” the prosecutor said and brushed invisible dust off of his lapel. “Have you ever known Scrooge McDuck to harass others?”

“Only when they owe him money.”

“Oh? And does that happen often?”

Goldie let out a short laugh. “No one would be dumb enough to borrow from Scrooge! He adds interest even when you borrow five bucks for lunch.”

Scrooge pouted and ignored the temptation to argue that he had every right to do so.

“Have you known Scrooge McDuck to be manipulative?”

There was a pause at that question, one that filled the space between Scrooge and Goldie with a modicum of tension. “Yes.”

“...can you elaborate on that?”

Goldie sighed. “Well, he’s the richest duck in the world, a businessman, and an adventurer. You can’t be successful in any of those categories without being at least somewhat manipulative. Though he’s certainly not the most manipulative man I’ve dealt with, he’s not exactly a saint.”

Scrooge groaned and slammed his head against the desk multiple times in a row.

The blonde pouted angrily and tried to think of a way to save face. “That being said...if the accusers in question aren’t ex-business partners or fellow adventurers, I question the relevance of anything I’ve said.”

The jury seemed to find that statement interesting and the prosecutor glared angrily at Goldie for causing a stir. Scrooge lifted his head and smiled at her - now he was sure she was fighting to help him.

“I think we can allow the jury to decide the relevance of this information for themselves,” the prosecutor said with a snarl. “We don’t need any unfair extrapolation from our witnesses, Miss O’Gilt. Stick to the facts.”

Goldie let out a short, low hum and grabbed her hair to wring it out once again, getting water all over the attorney’s shoes. He gasped and stepped away from her.

“Oops!” Goldie put a hand to her beak, but offered no apology. No one needed to think twice to realize it was because she was incapable of doing so at that moment.

“Corruption is the biggest charge,” the prosecutor said matter-of-factly. “The accusers all claim that their villainy is a direct result of damages done to them, their property, or their livelihoods by Scrooge McDuck. Have you known Scrooge McDuck to be a corrupting person?”

Scrooge wondered about that charge against him in particular. He couldn’t deny that a lot of his enemies were a direct result of something he did - but it wasn’t purposeful nor was he the only person capable of causing these problems for them. If Scrooge hadn’t indirectly negatively impacted their lives, some other billionaire would’ve done it instead. It’s not like he was the only businessman-adventurer in the world.

“...yes.”

Scrooge sucked in a breath. He didn’t know what Goldie was going to say, but it couldn’t be good.

“Could you elaborate on that?”

“Not in any way that’s appropriate for the audience,” she answered with a smirk. “Wouldn’t want to corrupt the kids, too, after all.”

Scrooge exhaled loudly and blushed. Alright.

The prosecutor slapped a hand against his forehead. “Not that kind of corruption!” he shouted, pointing a finger into her face and getting much too close for anyone’s comfort. “Have you witnessed Scrooge McDuck influence the life of an innocent person in a way that led to them falling down a path of villainy?”

The jury reacted more than expected to the prosecutor’s anger, whispering among themselves briefly. Scrooge and the prosecutor both looked over at the Jury Box, but Goldie kept her eyes forward.

“...not purposefully, but yes.”

The prosecutor smiled. “Ahh, well naturally, if it wasn’t on purpose, then it doesn’t matter! Is that what you’re saying?”

Goldie’s left eye twitched again. “You asked me to state facts. I stated a fact. Do you have any other dumb questions?”

He glared at her and glanced up at the judge, who was leaning on his hand and watching their discussion closely. “I want to summarize what you’ve told us so far, Miss O’Gilt.”

“According to you, Scrooge McDuck may not be prone to harassment, but he is often cruel, fairly manipulative, and has been known to corrupt innocent people to villainy. Is that all correct?”

She frowned and tapped her fingers against her leg. “That’s all accurate to what I’ve said here, yes.”

The prosecutor turned back to look at Scrooge, whose expression could only be described as defeated. “Some character witness you’ve found yourself, Mr. McDuck.”

“Stick to the witness, Prosecutor,” the judge said quickly, holding up his gavel.

“Yes, Your Honor,” the prosecutor responded, moving back towards Goldie again. “Now, Miss O’Gilt, based on what you’ve told us here, Scrooge McDuck is not a nice man nor is he a noble man. Yet you referred to him as the, quote, love of your life, unquote. This leads me to believe that you, yourself, may not be a nice or noble person, either.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s your point?”

“If anyone has any doubts as to whether or not Scrooge McDuck is a cruel, manipulative person capable of horrible deeds, we need look no further than the fact that his girlfriend here is similarly cruel, manipulative, and as many of us here are already aware - a criminal.”

There were gasps among the crowd and the jury - the prosecutor turned his head towards them as he continued. “Yes, everyone, Miss O’Gilt here is actually quite familiar with the inside of this courtroom. She’s been on trial dozens of times over the past one hundred years for theft of mystical artifacts from every dimension and realm you can think of.”

Scrooge closed his eyes again and started counting. Perhaps if he did this long enough, he’d wake up from this nightmare he found himself trapped in.

Goldie, on the other hand, was unperturbed. “Been on trial, but never been convicted. Who’s the one bringing up irrelevant information now?”

“I simply thought it was important for our jury to be aware of the witness’ extracurricular activities.”

“The activities you have no evidence of,” Goldie said sternly. She glanced up at the judge. “I believe your prosecutor is harassing me when all I’ve done is comply with every question I’ve been asked both here and at previous trials.”

The judge considered this for a moment and looked down at the prosecutor. “She has a point. Was she convicted of any of the crimes you’re accusing her of?”

The prosecutor frowned. “No, but-”

“But nothing,” the judge said as he slammed down his gavel again. “You will move on from this statement of irrelevant accusations or I will have you replaced with another attorney.”

“...yes, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said with a bow, glaring at Goldie.

She smiled back at him, then glanced at Scrooge and blew him a kiss.

======

After court was adjourned and Scrooge’s handcuffs were finally removed after all those hours of magical metal chafing against his feathers, he spent an enjoyable few minutes being congratulated by his family before Goldie stepped out of the courtroom and stared at them.

“Um...Uncle Scrooge?” Louie said, tugging at his uncle’s sleeve.

“Yes, lad?”

“I think Aunt Goldie wants to talk to you.”

Scrooge considered taking a moment to discuss that nickname with his nephew, but Goldie’s presence distracted him enough that he simply turned around and walked towards her.

“You really saved me in there, O’Gilt,” Scrooge said softly as he reached down and grabbed one of her hands.

Goldie shrugged and squeezed his hand back. “Well it wasn’t like I could let them throw you in interdimensional prison. They don’t have conjugal visits, you know.”

He blushed and pulled his hand away. “Must you always be so inappropriate?!”

“Not always,” Goldie said as she took a step closer to him. “Just with you.”

Scrooge felt his heart racing and couldn’t help the nervous smile that came back to his face. “...I would’ve thought you’d run out of here as fast as possible after what you said.”

She played with her hair for a bit, roughly running her fingers through the knots that had formed since the judge had summoned her from her bathroom before she’d had a chance to brush. “It’s not like I said anything you didn’t already know.”

He smiled brighter and leaned forward to press a quick kiss against her beak; a disgusted groan sounded from behind him that he was pretty sure was Louie’s. “Is the judge sendin’ you back home?”

“After I’m done with you, yes.”

Scrooge grabbed her hands again. “How about you come to the mansion instead, dear?”

Goldie breathed out a laugh. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I’m not wearing anything under this robe and I’d kind of like to do something with my hair before it knots into a nest.”

“I’ve got some of your clothes,” Scrooge said quickly. “And showers. Towels. Hair brushes. Anythin’ you need.”

She raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Scrooge’s family who were all pretending not to pay attention to them. “Well...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”

[wishingstarinajar]

I am going to ramble a bit but I will hide it under a cut because it's a bit long. It will be about the previous fandom I was active in around two years ago and how it affects me to this day. It's also about popularity and putting others on a pedestal.

If this sort of ramble isn't up your alley then feel very free to skip over this post! I don't mind. If you want to read more about it, just check under the cut.

The Franchise And Its Creators

====

THE FRANCHISE AND ITS CREATORS Around mid-2014, I joined the Wakfu and Dofus fandoms, a small-ish fandom as a whole but popular in certain circles.

For those who don't know, Wakfu and Dofus are (online, console, mobile, figurine, card and board) games, comics, animated series, specials and movies created by a French studio named Ankama. These two franchises are intertwined with each other as they play out in the same universe but in different timelines. I myself dabbled around in the animated part of the fandom; I was a huge fan of the two series and the Dofus movie.

There was very little catering to the international part of the fandom when it came to the studio's attention and interactions. There were no English dubs or subtitles; international fans had to rely on English fan subtitles on ripped/pirated episodes of the show and movie, same for the franga/comics. Merch was hard to get. A lot of articles related to the shows and whatnot were in French only, which is understandable because it is a French-made product. But there's no denying that the international fanbase felt a little neglected back then.

====

MY FANDOM JOURNEY

Because I was very interested in the lore of both franchises, I had to do a lot of digging and translating to be able to fully indulge in it all. I went full in! I dug deep, created OCs, art and also tried to write fanfiction. I also shared news and info about the series and movie; I ran a fan blog dedicated to sharing things with the international part of the fandom. I was also often approached about lore, particularly for a few of the canon characters and one of the races that play a role in the Wakfu franchise; the Eliatropes. It was fun, it felt good to help other fans out, it was nice to make friends and be creative with others about similar things.

Eventually, the character and art theft began. We all know this is a 'normal' part of fandoms, so I won't hammer too long on it. My issue with it was the fact that my main OC, a female Eliatrope, gathered a lot of attention because female Eliatropes were a rarity in the Wakfu franchise. They existed but didn't get a moment in the limelight, except for one that even received her own game (Islands of Wakfu) but it was so obscure that a lot of fans didn't know about its existence. My OC was somehow mistaken as canon by plenty of folks and many others started to use her as a template to create their own (female) Eliatrope OC. I didn't mind, as long as they weren't straight-up copies and I tried to be supportive by answering lore questions and give feedback whenever it was asked for it (which happened a lot). Of course, copying and theft happened more often than not; over the five years I was part of the fandom, I sent out almost a hundred DMCA reports for art and character theft (like true theft; I could handle some similarities or one-time occurrences). One particular case went to the extreme but I won't beat that dead horse any further; it brought me enough misery to last me half a lifetime, that's all I'll say on it. I kept a lot of the negative experiences behind closed doors and dealt with a lot of it quietly to not bother, worry or burden anyone else with any of it. I wanted a positive and supporting environment for my followers, even if the truth wasn't as pretty.

====

ANKAMA'S STRUGGLE

Over the years, studio Ankama increased attempts to cater more to the international fanbase of its animated properties (articles in English, English dubs and subtitles, etc). However, the studio's struggle to garner the attention of international supporters (aka companies and sponsors) didn't go too smoothly, and to make matters worse, they were also struggling with finding a platform in France to broadcast the Wakfu series on after wishing to take a different and more mature direction. Ankama wanted more freedom with the Wakfu show, like less censorship, a serial rather than episodic, and it not being aimed at a young audience like its previous contractor demanded Wakfu to be. Ankama even turned to crowdfunding to get certain projects (like new Wakfu seasons) off the ground and let's just say that those crowdfunding projects are best described as tiny dumpster fires; they weren't pretty to watch. The first one was a disaster with plenty of displeased backers and the following crowdfunding attempts often didn't meet the end goal due to bad past experiences or the lack of interest.

Luckily, Netflix breathed some life into the international Wakfu fandom, which was great! But it was still received badly (mostly due to the awful English dub and sound mixing of the first two seasons and special) that the third season Netflix made possible was not getting the attention it deserved. It was also a rushed product due to financial and time constraints on Ankama's part. Netflix eventually declined a fourth season and it all fell a bit apart from there. Ankama turned to crowdfunding once more to try and make season 4 a reality. Last time I checked (which was quite a while ago), it did decently enough to make season 4 a reality. (Please don't ask me about it, I don't know anything about it.)

====

THE PEDESTAL

While all this was happening behind the scenes, I was starting to struggle with the reputation I built up in the Wakfu and Dofus fandom over the few years I was a part of it. The best way to describe it is that I had grown exhausted.

Aside from dealing with the theft and answering people's questions daily, I wanted to be treated as an average fan but I kept getting put on a pedestal. People went as far as to call me by titles (like lady Wish and miss Wish) more often than not. To be called and treated as such made me feel alienated, like as if I wasn't considered real. I often asked to just be called Wish, no titles/formalities required, and that I wasn't as 'popular' as they believed, but the majority of the people didn't seem to listen. People were either afraid or refused to interact with me because they considered me 'too popular', or simply wanted nothing but my validation, feedback and/or free art. I also had my fair share of haters and people that didn't approve of my 'status' in the fandom. Join the club xD I wasn't very happy with it either.

I really started to dislike being called 'popular' because it had such a bad impact on the people around me (and my own mental wellbeing). Friends started to become jealous of the attention I garnered and it dragged me down every time. At times, it would turn toxic. It was never my intention to make my friends feel like they meant less because they surely didn't. To learn that they believed others were only friends with them or only looked at their art/writing because they were good friends with me hurt so much. It still does. I refuse to believe that was fully true because I was (and still am!) surrounded by very creative people and they all deserved as much attention as I was getting, at times more. I wish others saw it that way too.

I was also heavily chained down thanks to the role (model) I played in the fandom. Too many people (especially young ones) looked up to me and there were a lot of expectations that I felt forced to meet. I started to lose the energy for it, but if I dared to stray a little from the path, the pitchforks and torches would come out. It was very restricting.

In the end, I felt stuck. Things started to grow toxic. There was a point where I began to dislike the franchise because of the bad feelings it brought me. I couldn't even get myself to watch the series or movie anymore. I focused less and less on the canon side of things and more on my own ideas, which was one of the only comforts I really had left in the fandom. I started to shut myself off, which upset a lot of people. I am sorry for that, I wish it didn't happen that way but I was at my wits' end.

When I realized and also accepted that I was no longer enjoying myself with canon or fanon, I knew I had to move on or stuff would end badly. It was a very tough realization and decision to accept and make; I literally dedicated five years of my life to the fandom. I spent hours a day digging for info and news to translate and share, doing 'research' for my fanfics, answering questions, and whatnot. I truly lived the fandom day in and out. It was the first fandom I ever actively participated in to this degree. What the heck was I going to do without that?

====

THE NOW

Abandoning the fandom was a scary step to take but not one I regret. I left the Wakfu and Dofus fandom behind me in late 2019. I feel freer now and so much happier. I no longer have the burden of expectations, being a lore guide or be forced to portray a certain role model weighing me down. I am no longer on that f*cking pedestal. I can finally explore interests that aren't exactly child-friendly without a big part of my following pummeling me down for it. (Don't worry, I always try my best to keep it in the appropriate places.)

Do I still like Wakfu/Dofus and all the stuff I've created with it? Yes, I do but I also want nothing more to do with it. Aside from the friends I've made there and also stuck around on my new adventures, I left the fandom behind me.

I still get approached at times about how my Wakfu OC, art and writing inspired someone and ask me if I could give them feedback for their own ideas or give them advice/information on Wakfu/lore. I am extremely humbled by it every time. It's great to see someone feeling inspired and be creative. However, I've moved on. I've left interacting with the Wakfu/Dofus fandom and fan-made stuff far behind me. I haven't touched it for almost two years and it shows on all the social media I share my art and writing on. I at times wish people could be considerate about the fact that I moved on but I also know and understand that not everyone knows my reasoning or my side of the story. I try not to be too harsh on it.

====

MY ADVICE

I don't hate anyone for how things turned out; a lot of it was my own doing by not saying no or taking a stronger stand.

It did teach me a lot of things, especially about caring for my own well-being and putting others on pedestals. Please be mindful when you treat someone like others treated me before; it's not healthy, for yourself and the person you put on that high pedestal. Take everything in moderation and consideration, that's all. Everyone's human, everyone has feelings, and everyone deserves a sense of being. Even your favorite artists and content creators. Don't treat them like an otherwordly being that you have to worship.

In turn, if a fandom or something you enjoyed is making you unhappy nowadays, you owe it to yourself to make or find a change. Be good to yourself, always!

~~

Thanks to anyone who read through this ramble. I needed to get this off my chest. I am not asking for advice, neither pity or whatever else. I just wanted to share my thoughts on past experiences because I have a feeling others might be going through something similar.

Thank you again, please take care.

[tundrainafrica]

Hi!! Do you think Levihan as a ship is kinda underrated? Like even though its the third most popular ship(just behind Ereri and Eruri) but I don't really think many people give it the credit it actually deserves. Someone on reddit pointed out how if the interactions LH had, especially the ones in and after ch 115, were between some ship involving two cis man, literally everyone would've called it canon. Do you agree?

Do you think Levihan as a ship is kinda underrated?

You know, I actually used to think Levihan is underrated. But i was surprised to find out that Levihan actually still has a fair amount of fics. In fact it has more fics in ao3 than Aruani or Eremika and maybe even Connie/Sasha. It’s actually surprisingly one of the top non M/M ships in the AOT fandom in ao3. But I don’t know how much the number of AO3 fics have to do with popularity though.

But why is it lower than Eruri and Ereri? 

I think you partially answered your own question by pointing this out.  “Someone on reddit pointed out how if the interactions LH had, especially the ones in and after ch 115, were between some ship involving two cis man, literally everyone would've called it canon. “

But there is something else I want to point out actually. I think that even if Levihan was a relationship between two CIS men, I still think it would remain less popular than Eruri and Ereri. 

First things first though, let’s answer the question: Why are Ereri and Eruri popular? Because Levi is popular and the general consensus of the majority of fangirls is to put Levi aka the most popular character in ao3 with the two sexiest men in the whole fandom who have at least a reachable and justifiable bond with Levi. 

If we consider what actually gets people into a ship, (personally I still don’t understand Ereri but lemme try), 

1. They look cute together

2. They have a very obviously deep bond with each other. 

3. The enemies to friends trope gets incredibly enticing.

So Ereri I think fell with number 1 and number 3 (I’m honestly thinking of the courtroom scene now).

 And I read a fair amount of Ereri fics (no, I never liked Ereri I just wanted my hurt Levi fic and I was desperate), and one thing which a lot of Ereri fans like to explore is the fact that Levi becomes his bodyguard for a while and Eren has to stick close to Levi right? There are a lot of themes relationship wise (enemies to lovers, slowburns, bodyguard and ward) which can be explored with this set up. Eren is obviously one of the most popular characters in AOT too and the main protagonist so it is only natural that this would fall on top. 

On top of that Eren is pretty cute. 

What about Eruri? Eruri takes the cake for reasons 1 and 2 first of all.

On top of that, Eruri rose through the ranks of one of the top ships in AOT because of Season 3 in particular but I think even before that, Erwin and Levi had enough crumbs already to justify shipping them. 

Sure, Levihan won with the fact that Levi was first introduced next to Hange. But, in the more iconic Levi scenes in Season 1-3, for example when Eren got to talk to Levi for the first time in the dungeon, who was Levi with? Erwin. 

When it came to the more serious, more plot relevant scenes, Erwin and Levi were almost always together. Actually, the only time Levi and Hange spent a lot of time together in very plot relevant scenes was during the uprising arc when Erwin was out of commission. 

But then after that, we get the Take back Shiganshina arc where Erwin and Levi had their most iconic moments. 

So with Levi and Erwin constantly together during the more plot heavy scenes, most of the audience, even the most casual people would remember their relationship over Hange.

That’s why Eruri is still more popular than Levihan. 

What about Levihan? Only number 2 applies to Levihan actually.

Also, it’s not very memorable? Like if you’re not looking for a relationship in AOT you won’t find it. And really, who looks for a relationship in AOT.

Most of the scenes where Hange and Levi are shown together are incredibly light scenes and they’re usually shown for the lolz and are not as blatantly plot heavy as the scenes where Erwin and Levi are seen together,. Most of the plot heavy Hange and Levi scenes happen when Erwin was out of commission which makes it easy for the audience to think that Hange and Levi were together out of necessity.

And when we consider reason number 1. Hange is not conventionally attractive or cool to the average viewer. I have lots of friends who actually don’t like Hange and they’re casual watchers. They find her weird, crazy, and not as clear cut or cool as Erwin or Levi so even if Hange were a guy, I don’t think her relationship with Levi would have topped the AOT charts

Where does Levihan actually shine though? 

It shines in Season 4. We notice in Season 4 that Levi and Hange are constantly together. But the thing is, with Season 4, we kinda ended up with a new setting, we have new characters and we have new perspectives on how to approach the story. So even if Levihan is more obvious there, even if Levi and Hange are shown to have a closer bond in Season 4, it gets overshadowed by other things like the Marleyans, the actual war and the actual chaos. 

Let alone the fact that Levi and Hange spent a huge chunk of the chapters before chapter 115 away from each other. And when they are together, the plot and the overall war ends up outshining whatever relationship development they have. 

Yet regardless, even if a lot of their interactions weren’t very plot relevant thus, very forgettable for the casual reader who is not in the mood to analyze relationships, I think that 115, 126 and 132 are still very important for the relationship of Levihan and are decisive evidence that there is definitely something there. Like actually I showed 115, 126 and 132 to multiple people who have never watched AOT in their life and a lot commented that the scene in 126 in particular screams ‘COUPLE.’ but the thing is, the forest scene in 126 was overshadowed by more pressing things. In fact a lot of people criticized it for being a slow chapter. 115 was overshadowed by Zeke’s backstory and the actual war. 132 was overshadowed by her death.

And when I did notice the relationship enough to appreciate it, I did look back at the previous AOT episodes and the previous Levihan scenes and I really did see that most of the interactions of Levi and Hange in the earlier seasons are not as obviously relevant to the overall plot. So if people don’t actually look for it, they won’t see it. 

It’s an incredibly subtle ship and as a fan, I actually only appreciated it in retrospect so I kinda understand why it’s not so popular. 

So to answer your next question.

Someone on reddit pointed out how if the interactions LH had, especially the ones in and after ch 115, were between some ship involving two cis man, literally everyone would've called it canon. Do you agree?

Actually, I don’t agree with this. 

Sure, if Levihan was a ship between two CIS men then Levihan would probably be more popular. But I think a lot of people still wouldn’t consider it canon. 

I used to read a lot of works and participate a lot in Shonen manga fandoms, sports anime fandoms (I’m literally a simp for sports animes man I think I’ve watched most of the iconic ones) in particular so I am aware of how ships with two cismen go. And even if they do have a lot of sexual tension like let’s say Daichi and Sugawara, Kageyama and Hinata  from Haikyuu, Kuroko and Aomine from Kuroko no Basuke, Oishi x Tezuka from Prince of Tennis, people in the fandom at least have the head to say “It’s not canon.” 

But at the same time, people still ship them. 

On the contrary, I think people are actually more likely to deem something canon if they are a heterosexual ship because we live in a heteronormative society. On top of that, writers (especially Japanese writers) are more likely to make something canon if it’s a heterosexual pairing because societal expectations and marketing and corporate synergy and bullshit like that. 

I need to point out something about male writers though. Male writers are incredibly good at writing male to male dynamics but for some reason tend to fuck writing women up a lot. So we end up with incredibly blah ‘die for our ship’ women and two guys with so much sexual tension if they were a man and a woman, people are more likely to deem them canon. 

Naruto and Sasuke for example or Riku and Sora from Kingdom Hearts. I can swear that Riku and Sora had way more development over the course of five games than Sora and Kairi but Sora and Kairi became canon. Naruto and Sasuke had more than enough development and literally Naruto did the equivalent of Hange jumping into the river at 115 by literally begging all the fucking kages to spare Sasuke during the great ninja war but Naruto married Hinata and Sasuke married Sakura.

And even in Western media, we have Johnlock, we have Destiel. And even among female writers I have half the mind to add Will and Jem from Clockwork Princess to the mix for men with the most sexual tension but are never made canon. 

So I don’t think it’s the male/male dynamic which makes people think, oh they’re canon. I think it is the premise of the show overall which makes people hesitant to deem Levihan canon. 

The scenes which are very important to the Levihan shippers are scenes which the casual watchers who are allergic to romance will skim over. We saw a taste of that when people got angry that ch. 126 was winning the Besatsu polls for example. 

People just wanna focus on the titans, the action and the exposition. And the moment anyone decides to add romance to the mix, suddenly people are like, NO DON’T RUIN THEIR CHARACTER. OR NO STOP TURNING AOT INTO A ROMANCE.

Because people have this idea that the moment we decide to explore the relationships of the show, when people start falling in love in the show, the show becomes bad. Really, I believe a lot of the reason for this though is because a lot of male writers don’t know how to handle romance or it becomes difficult to pair people off in the end because a lot of their Male x male relationships actually have more sexual tension than a lot of the male x female relationships they write so a lot of the endgame heterosexual pairings end up falling flat.

Going back to AOT though....

One other thing to note:  Looking from the eye of those who don’t look for romance or are just a casual watcher,  the scenes which had more titans and action and overall exposition (which most people watch AOT for) tended to show Levi and Eren together or Levi and Erwin together more which explains why these relationships ended up shining more since these scenes are more memorable. 

I like to think of Levihan as this awesome product with lots of potential but has the shittiest marketing team ever. Because the marketing team just did a horrible job on where to put the ‘billboards’ and how to design their flyers if you know what I mean. So even if Levihan is a great product, it won’t sell because they just didn’t have the right ‘billboards’ ‘flyers’ or other marketing material in canon. Like people have to make the effort to look for it to actually find it and to actually appreciate the canon but when they do, they got some high quality product. 

So I like to compare Levihan to those  hole in the wall restaurants in the small towns or those street shops which sell the most authentic cuisines or those treasures we find in the antique shops. 

Thanks for reading and sorry for this long ass meta. Anyway...

I’d like to end this long ass rant with just two tweets which summarize my overall thoughts on this.

Link to the tweets: 1 2

Again, Thanks for reading!

[darling-i-read-it]

Savoureux

1x13

Hannibal Lecter x reader x Will Graham 

Hannibal Re-Write Series Masterlist

Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings: spoilers for hannibal, murder, mental health problems, jail, angst

Author’s Note: I am super super happy with how this whole season turned out. I might take a few days break of posting to simulate a very small season hiatus but I absolutely adored this and I’m so excited to do more. I think this stuff is some of the stuff that I was most proud of. And y’all...I love will graham (and hannibal lecter which is gonna show more hopefully in season 2!) 

I took lines directly from the script so some may seem familiar. Those sentences are not mine. 

Official Episode Summary : The BAU team finds evidence linking Abigail to the Minnesota Shrike victims; Will checks Abigail out of the hospital; Hannibal convinces Jack that Will is capable of murder.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

Tag List: @llperfectsymmetryll​

(not my gif) 

You stepped into your home. You had spent the whole afternoon, much into the night trying to contact Will who hadn’t picked up his phone. You had been dragged along by Hannibal Lecter as you continued to complain about how Will had not done the things he had said. You dragged your feet and faced the wall as you kicked off your shoes. You would have no sleep tonight. You would be forced to sit at home, think about where Will had gone. 

Will hadn’t ever gone anywhere without telling you if he knew it was going to worry you. He would leave a note, a call, a text. You were forced to wonder where he had gone. Why he hadn’t told you where he had gone. You let out a shaky sigh and held back tears as you turned to the dogs who gathered at your feet. You turned around and pet them. You finally let a few tears escape your eyes as you sat down on the ground and let the dogs run you over. 

“Where’s dad?” you whispered to Winston. He licked your face and you laughed lightly nodding. “I don’t know where either.” 

You stood up and walked through the house, ready to get in bed and not go to sleep. 

You entered the bedroom and almost didn’t even notice Will in bed, fast asleep. You actually walked past him at first and then stopped, turning to the bed and staring down at him. You let out a gasp and a small sob escaped your lips.

Safe. 

He was safe.

You walked to the bed and sat on the ground beside him, not on the bed but instead the ground where you could stare at Will’s face. Peaceful. You wondered when the last time you saw him look peaceful was. 

You stared at him and had a decision to make. You could call Jack or Hannibal, tell them that he was at home and without blood stains from the looks of it. You could sit here a moment more and think. Or you could simply get in bed and go to sleep beside the man you loved. You could go pretend nothing was wrong. 

Tears were soundlessly streaming down your face. You wanted to play with his curls and laugh at him and make fun of each other as you attempt to make food carelessly. You didn’t want to make this decision. 

Will shook and you wiped your eyes quickly. He looked up at the ceiling and his eyes locked on yours. The peace was broken into panic and the moment was gone. 

You stared at each other and he stood up, running into the kitchen. You stayed on the ground for a moment, wishing you could have savored the moment a second longer. Then you got up and walked over to the kitchen where Will was leaning over the sink. Your bare feet patted over to the sink. 

In it was a bloody ear that Will had just thrown up. You let out a shaky breath and Will looked over at you, fear in his eyes. 

Will had never once seen you afraid of him. He had seen you afraid for him but never afraid of him. For a second he saw the fear in your eyes and he wasn’t sure if it was for him or of him.

“Where did you go?” you whispered. He shook his head and you met his eyes again. Terror in his eyes. You had asked the wrong question. “I was scared.”

“I am too.” 

You hugged him tightly and he held you closer than he ever had before.

“I don’t know if this is going to be okay,” you whispered. He whimpered very quietly. 

“I love you,” he promised. “I’ve always and always will love you.” You nodded and shut your eyes tightly. 

“I’ll always love you too,” you whispered. “Always.” 

You pulled away. 

“Let’s call Hannibal.” 

-

When Jack arrived at your home you didn’t recognize it. Jack was such a separate entity from your home. The comforting place, the dogs, Will, a home. That wasn’t what Jack was to you. 

You stared at the house. Crime scene tape over the porch you and Will would drink beer and swap stories on. Strangers in the bedroom you slept in. You looked over at Jack who was holding Will hostage with words.

“They’re going to take him away,” you whispered numbly. Hannibal nodded.

“Yes.”

You walked over as Will got into the back of a cop car. You smiled very weakly at him, stopping the door from being shut. One of the dogs sat at your foot and looked at him.

“I’m not going to tell you it’s going to be okay,” you whispered.

“Just be here. With the dogs.” Someone shut the door harshly and the car was gone way before you were prepared for it to be gone. Hannibal stood behind you and you turned, throwing your arms around him so that Jack wouldn’t see you sob. Hannibal held you tightly, watching Will leave his home. 

After a moment you pulled away from him and turned to Jack.

“You swore to me he wouldn’t get too close!” you yelled, so loud that people could likely hear you in the house. You pointed a finger at him and Hannibal grabbed your arms before you could fight Jack. “You swore!” 

“I told him-”

“Stop talking. You could see he was breaking!” you screamed. 

“Yes, I could,” Jack said simply. “And I kept pushing him because he was saving lives.” You broke free of Hannibal’s grasp and poked him in the chest, staring at him directly in the eyes. Your eyes were crazed and sad and heartbroken and above all, dangerous. 

“I told you he was breaking. Now Abigail Hobbs is dead,” you sneered. Your heart wasn’t able to comprehend that just yet. 

“You think he did it?” Jack asked.

“I know he didn’t,” you promised. “But for the sake of proving you wrong, as I have constantly, Abigail Hobbs is dead because someone messed up. And that someone is not Will or Freddie Lounds or Hannibal or Alana. That someone, Jack, is you.” 

Hannibal pulled you away. You turned to him. 

“You,” you whispered, weak now. “I sent Will to you for help and he seemed to simply get worse.” 

“I thought I was helping him. I don’t know yet where I went wrong,” he whispered. “This is going to be a long process if he is arrested. You have to realize, perhaps not now but eventually that Will killed people even if he didn’t mean to.” You shook your head.

“I know he didn’t.” 

“Either way,” he started and held you by your upper arms, “you’re going to need support through this. You said yourself Will was all you had before.” You stared at him, holding it together the best you could. He was right. You hated it. But he was right.

You didn’t say anything. Instead you just hugged him again.

-

The next day you walked into the headquarters of the BAU. Hannibal walked with you. You had managed to keep yourself together as you walked in. Hannibal stood closely beside you as you walked into his office.

“I’m going to talk to Will,” you stated.

“After the last time we spoke you think I’m going to allow you-”

“I am going to talk to Will,” you said again. Jack looked to Hannibal who somehow was still a valid perspective in his mind. 

“Will it help or harm?” Jack asked Hannibal as though you weren’t there. Hannibal shrugged.

“I will be seeing him. Alana, you, presumably Chilton,” Hannibal said. “It seems unreasonably cruel to not allow her to see him especially before you’ve arrested him simply because you dislike her,” he said. Jack stared at you and you stared back, adjusting your posture to not seem nervous when you in fact were. You hated that the viewing of your boyfriend was going to be held in the hands of a man who you hated vocally. 

“Five minutes,” Jack said. “No more.” You nodded stiffly and Jack led you to the room where Will was being held. You stared through the two way mirror as he stared at the wall. The wrongness of it made you shiver. Jack opened the door and Will turned around. He let out a gasp of almost relief at the sight of you. You walked over to him and hugged him tightly. 

Someone hit the two way mirror. You moved back. 

You sat down carefully at the chair across from him.

“This seems much too formal for us,” he said quietly.

“I don’t think we ever ate dinner at a table this formal,” you said quietly and you both shared a sad smile at what might have been and what had been. “I will be showing the dogs a picture of you every day for...however long,” you whispered.

“However long could be a long time from now.” You pursed your lips at the realization.

“I’ll do it until then,” you promised. Will stared at you.

“Do you...think I did it?” he asked. You shook your head quickly. There was no part of Will Graham that made you feel unsafe. 

“No. You couldn’t have. I know that.”

“Ted Bundy’s girlfriend didn’t think he was a murderer until he was,” he told you.

“Actually she suspected. I have never suspected,” you promised. 

“Has Jack tried to convince you otherwise?” he asked. You laughed dryly. 

“Jack could show me a dead body in our crawl space and I would think he was making it up. That man has never been someone I trusted,” you promised. “Plus, I might get to join you if I decide to go through my plan of killing Jack.” Will raised an eyebrow.

“What about the dogs?” 

“You’re right,” you whispered. “I’m going to try and see you as soon as I can.” He nodded.

“I don’t want you to be particular about it. I want you to live your life,” he whispered. You shook your head.

“You’re my life.” 

The door opened and you looked over, fighting tears again. 

“Be safe,” he whispered. You stood up and walked to the door, holding yourself together by only a string. “And Y/N?” You turned around and Will looked at you, up and down, taking you in.

“Yes?” 

“Don’t forget to turn off my work alarm,” he whispered. You nodded stiffly and Hannibal helped you out of the room. You were okay until you got in the car where you immediately broke down crying.

-

You didn’t go home, it was still a crime scene. You went to Hannibal’s home, sitting on his couch and staring out the window. He walked up to you and sat down beside you.

“Jack has just called me,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” Your voice held no emotion. It was odd for Hannibal to hear. He was so used to emotion to lace your voice. Sometimes excitement, fear, happiness, worry, boredom. You were such an outward emotional person. Even when he walked into the office you would tell him the day's appointments with a smile and chirp.

“They have found victims' hair and teeth in the fish hooks,” he said. You shook your head. “And Jack has just arrested him.”

Your mouth opened and for a moment no words came out. Hannibal waited patiently.

“I passed those fish hooks every single day,” you whispered. “Going to work. Coming home. Going on a date, stumbling inside drunk and happy.” You turned to face Hannibal. “And I watched him work. I would sit on one of the chairs and pretend to read when Will and I both knew I was watching his fingers move.” Hannibal watched your eyes rewatch that memory. “There was no hair or teeth in those fish hooks when Will worked on it.” 

“The evidence speaks otherwise,” he told you quietly. 

“And yet I will refuse to believe it,” you said. Your smile was almost eerie. Hannibal was so curious about this part of you. Almost a numb anger.

“Go home,” he whispered. 

“It’ll only make it worse,” you muttered. 

You hugged him and he hugged you and for a moment Hannibal was the only anchor you had to the world. You felt like without him you could fly away immediately and die somewhere. Hannibal held you like he knew that was what you were thinking.

You pulled away and for a moment, as you felt numb, you stared at Hannibal’s face differently.

“Thank you,” you whispered. He put his hand on your face and you let him. Before he could do anything further you stood up. Home. Go home.

-

The house was empty. Despite the dogs it was empty.

You sat on the bed and stared at the pillow you never touched. Do you wash it? Will used to sweat on it so you had to wash it often but now did you have to? Should you? 

The blanket that you had bought for Christmas for his nightmares seemed so useless now. 

You turned around and grabbed the pillow and held it tightly, gasping. 

The front door clicked open. You turned your head and your emotions went back to static as you stood up, putting the pillow on the bed. You walked into the main room and then there was Will, in orange, but there. You walked over to him quickly and sobbed into his shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” you asked, sobbing loudly. 

“I’m going to Minnesota with Hannibal,” he whispered. “But I had to come to you first.” You pulled away and he wiped your eyes for you. He pet the dogs one by one as you continued to cry. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.” 

“Soon,” you told him. “I’ll get you back soon,” you promised. 

“How are you going to do that?” he asked. 

“I have no idea. Somehow.” He got up from petting the dogs and turned to you, tear stained face. 

“Someone is framing me. I don’t know who. I think maybe Hannibal,” he whispered. “But I want you to know that outside of that prison. The copycat killer.”

“You think Hobbs copycat is Hannibal?” 

“I don’t know yet. Minnesota will tell me,” he promised. You walked over to him, hugging him again. 

“I’ll never stop trying to get you out,” you whispered. He nodded, laughing dryly a bit.

“I know.” He kissed your forehead shakily and you grabbed his hand. 

“Stop shaking,” you whispered. “I always wanted to tell you that. You shake a lot when you’re not sure what’s going to happen and I always wanted to tell you to stop shaking.” For a moment, very brief, he was still.

“I’ll try.” 

-

You held your phone tightly to your ear as you sat on the porch, alone once again. Alana picked up after two rings.

“Hi.” Her voice seemed wrong, hesitant. You took a shaky breath in and released a laugh.

“You think he did it.” She let out a sigh herself.

“I don’t know what I think. The evidence is all there Y/N.” You shook your head.

“And you know Will,” you whispered. “And you have to know that there is no way in hell that he did this.” You were pleading now. She was silent and that was answer enough.

“I’m sorry.” 

You hung up the phone and stared at the barren land of the house that you alone were going to brave. You and the only ally you had left. Unfortunately that was Hannibal Lecter. 

-

The next time you saw Will Graham he was in an induced sleep in the hospital. Hannibal  sat at the side of his bed and you stood at the edge. Jack had yet to come and kick you out so you just sat with Hannibal and Will. Jack had also shot Will in the shoulder which he would surely get an earful about later. 

“Hannibal?” you whispered. He nodded.

“Yes?”

“The last time I talked to Abigail she told me you loved me and Will,” you said very quietly. Your voice went out for a moment while you spoke. He smiled a tad.

“Abigail was always eccentric.”

“No, she was a teenager. Although I suppose she was wrong.” Hannibal raised an eyebrow.

“She wasn’t. I truly care a lot about you and Will. I wouldn't’ go as far as saying that I was in love with you two,” he told you. You looked down at Will and thought about his words.

“What happened in Minnesota?” 

“Will had a breakdown,” he said simply. You wondered what Will had found out. You wondered if he would ever be able to tell you.

“I’m not going to let him stay in there,” you said quietly. 

“No?”

“And I would like your help but if I don’t get it then that’s simply how we’re going to have to split ways,” you whispered. Hannibal smiled very subtly. That was ruthless of you. You, while caring about him, were willing to do anything to get Will back.

You and Hannibal stared at each other. He realized that you and him were not all that different. There was a piece of you that perhaps was capable of murder. You were not just his secretary who took calls and made appointments. 

Your eyes stared at Hannibal’s and his stared back. Will laid between you. That was when Hannibal Lecter noticed that you were not an obstacle to get to Will Graham or an obstacle at all. 

You were a piece of Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham. 

2x01

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About the Climax of "Reunion" from Amphibia

Salutations, random people on the internet who are already scrolling right past this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

So, Season Three of Amphibia is coming pretty soon. And I am...excited, but not as much as most people.

If you've seen my reviews, you'll know that while I do like Amphibia, I wouldn't go so far as to say it grabbed me as well as a series like The Owl House. With a show like that, it took me until Episode Five before I realized The Owl House was something special that was worth remembering. For Amphibia? It took me until the Season One finale before I had a similar reaction. But, to be fair, that's because this series is really good at making an ending. "Reunion," for example, takes a lot of the small things the first season has been building up, taking plots from episodes I considered filler and tying it all together in a pretty satisfying ending. I know people are still reeling over the epicness of "True Colors," and all for a good reason, but I want to start the new season on the right foot by discussing a moment that made me consider giving the series a chance.

But it also contains spoilers, so if you haven't seen Amphibia yet, now might be a good time to check it out. It may not have grabbed me and might not even grab you, but trust me when I say that it's worth it just to get to that final scene.

Now, let's review, shall we?

Grime Explaining Flipwart and Bogjump: One thing I will always defend about this series is its humor. More often than not, it succeeds in getting a chuckle out of me with perfect timing and solid comedic delivery. And stuff like this? Where Grime takes a break from his evilness to explain how two board games work to two teenagers? Only to then give up and stick with a simple answer? Yeah, I'm sorry, but that's funny to me. A good thing, too, given how this show relies more on humor than anything else. It may have an overarching plot and its fair share of grim moments (I give you Marcy's maybe death), but Amphibia knows when to keep things light amongst the darkness, which I always appreciate.

Anne Pleading with Sasha: Here, the scene showcases Anne's own personal struggle with Sasha. We know Sasha's a bad friend, primarily because we have eyes. But Anne still needs convincing. Because while she speaks up, she still doesn't assert herself. Anne doesn't yell at Sasha or tell her she's going too far. Instead, she just begs and pleads, hoping to seek the bit of humanity of this girl that Anne sees as a friend. Only for Grime to cut things short in demanding Hop Pop.

Anne Grabbing a Sword to Defend Hop Pop: This, on the other hand, was a defining moment for Anne. She spent so much time with the Plantars, risking life and limb for their own personal health and safety in multiple episodes before this one. So in desperation and due to being backed into a corner, she yanks out one of the guards' swords and orders people to back up, including her "best friend." This moment is when Anne is right on the edge of standing up against Sasha, ready to do all she can to help a person, er, frog that treats her right.

Sasha Talking Anne Down: But she isn't fully ready to fight back yet. Sasha sees the panic and desperation and uses that to her advantage and takes control. She speaks calmly, attracting Anne with talks of going home and pointing out the ridiculousness of standing up for Hop Pop. And my blood boils with how easily she does it. It was like a light switch, turning off her intensity just so Sasha appears to be empathetic. Even though she isn't. You can tell just how cold hearted she can be with the way she says the line "End of discussion." Does the way she say that really sound like a person who has Anne's best interests at heart. I wouldn't think so.

Sprig’s Reaction to Anne Lowering the Sword: And neither does Sprig. I mean, look at Sprig's expressions when he sees Anne lower the sword:

First, there's shock and empathy in seeing Anne crumble to Sasha's will. And unlike the fake empathy Sasha offered, you can see that it's real.

Almost as real as the look of pure disgust he gives Sasha afterward. Personally, I can't blame him. Sprig cares deeply for Anne, as the two of them have the most real friendship out of everyone else in the main cast, one built on mutual trust, respect, and willingness to have the other's best interests at heart.

Sprig Standing Up for Anne: This only proves my point. By slingshotting mud (was that mud?) into Sasha's face and praising how incredible Anne is, Sprig proved he really is the true friend that Sasha can only wish to be. And it's just the boost Anne needed to snap out of her stupor and do, in her words, "something that [she] should have done a long time ago."

Anne Standing Up to Sasha: If standing up for Hop Pop was a defining moment for Anne, defending Sprig from Sasha was a moment Anne could never go back on. It was one thing to fight for her found family against soldiers she's never met before. It's something else to do that against Sasha, Anne's best friend, who she pleaded with earlier and was so close to falling into submission for. But not anymore. At this moment, Anne decided to think for herself and do what needed to be done. Rather than let a bully tell her what to do instead.

Grime’s Words of Warning for Sasha: Grime’s little warning is similar to how a commander gives tips to a fellow commander in leading the troops. Because that's what Sasha really seems like. Not a friend, but someone who takes charge and orders what Anne and Marcy should do rather than listen to the opinions of the group. You see it more in "Battle of the Bands," and that's why I think she follows his advice to "stamp this out." Especially with how he finishes his warning: "Fail, and nothing will ever be the same."

There are two things to take away from that.

The fact that Grime was right. Sasha failed, and nothing was the same because of it. Anne now stood up to her and won't take her orders anymore. The thing is, that would have happened if Anne failed or not. Sasha winning may have stamped Anne's spirit a bit, but it still shows a dark side to her that wouldn't have been forgotten for long.

The fact that Sasha vocally admits that she won't let things change. It proves how twisted her mindset on friendship is that Sasha would willingly partake in a sword fight with her "best friend" because she refuses to have Anne standing up for herself. She likes being in charge and refuses to lose her power no matter what needs to be done to keep it.

If Anne defending Sprig is a moment where she crosses the line for the better, Sasha listening to Grime is a moment where she crosses the line for the worst.

“Anne, you don’t have to do this”: I love how Hop Pop tries to talk Anne out of the challenge. It's his life that's on the line, but he cares just as deeply for Anne as she does for him, that letting her duel Sasha, her supposed "best friend," is a choice he doesn't want her to make.

“Yes, I do.”: But Anne isn't about that. She now knows the type of person Sasha is, and letting her get away with more control is something no one should allow. And Anne won't. Not anymore.

The Fight: The fight isn't all that special compared to other action animation, and even to a certain fight scene we see in "True Colors." But as is, it is still pretty tense. I mean, for f**k's sake, it's two thirteen-year-olds fighting each other with swords! It's a miracle that only Sasha got a small scar at the end of it. Plus, while not the show's highest standard yet, there is a lot of effort and attention put into this battle. Anne is a lot more inexperienced and frantic with her attacks, where Sasha shows she was trained well in her time with the toads and is rotten given that she cheated by blinding Anne to force a victory. In a way, it illustrates the desperation the two of them have for winning, making Sasha's actions, in particular, easier to root for Anne.

Anne Wins: So when Anne is victorious, it's all the more satisfying. Primarily thanks to the look on Sasha's face. Look at it:

That is the definition of shock and anger, mostly shock. Sure, Sasha might be ticked that she lost, but it's Anne's words that I think really hit a specific soft spot: "You're not going to push me around anymore." That's probably the first time that Anne called Sasha out on her awful behavior. Saying that she's standing up to her huts, but pointing out how Sasha basically controlled Anne and how that's something she won't allow anymore, could be an eye-opening moment that Sasha needed.

Grime Goes Against the Deal: Ok, full disclosure, while this post is meant to shine a light on how great a scene is, there is one complaint I've got to get out of the way. You see, Grime going against his deal to let Hop Pop go free if Anne wins was way too predictable. Because why the f**k would he?!

I mean, does this seriously look like the face of a man you can trust? This scene may excel at everything else, but this one predictable moment is just a little off to forgive.

The Tower Blowing Up: This predictable moment, however, is done flawlessly. Because there's a difference between a twist and a payoff. Where a twist is meant to shock the audience, a payoff has to, well, pay off a setup brought up earlier in the story. And Wally's boom-shrooms going off at just the right time, transitioning to the most iconic moment of the series? Yeah, that's a payoff done right.

(Also, Wally cursing his one eye is hilarious)

“Lean On Me”: By the way, NOT joking when I say what follows is the most iconic moment of the series. All of which is aided by the inclusion of "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers. I'm not a music theory major and have no idea if the song itself is actually mildly appropriate to the scene, much like how "All Star" and "I Need a Hero" work perfectly for Shrek and Shrek 2, respectively. With that said, "Lean On Me" really does add an extra Umph! power to what follows. And as Matt Braley, series creator, describes, it is the coolest thing, but it will never happen again.

(Apparently, the song was too expensive).

Anne Goes to Save Sasha: Believe it or not, I actually do love this decision. Sasha may be a bad friend...Actually, no. Sasha is definitely a bad friend, but that doesn't mean Anne wants her to die. Not after all the good times that they had with each other. Anne might refuse to let Sasha push her around, but she's not ready to cut Sasha out of her life. Not yet.

Anne Holds Onto Sasha, the Plantars Hold Onto Anne: ...I mean...just f**king that! Through this moment, we get a perfect idea of how Anne's relationships work.

To put it simply, the Plantars raise Anne up and keep her safe, where Sasha just weighs her down and risks her safety. And the saddest part is that Sasha knows this.

“Anne. Maybe you’re better off without me…”: Some say that this could be Sasha trying to get in one last manipulation, using her own sacrifice to stick to Anne for choosing talking frogs over her. While I could see that perspective as a possibility, I personally take this moment as Sasha finally realizing the damage she causes for Anne and admits her faults. Sure, Sasha might have backpedaled in later episodes. What with refusing to change and even directing her anger towards Anne instead of towards herself. But that's because she had time to process these events and unfairly aim her negative feelings at Anne for wanting something better. So it doesn't seem implausible to me that Sasha admitting that Anne's better off without her is something she believed deep down and, for just a moment, allowed herself to accept this heavy truth. I won't deny the possibility that she's still trying to manipulate Anne, but to me, with the tone and expression Sasha has with her admission, you can't fake that. And you can't fake what she does next.

Sasha Lets Go: This...shocked me right down to my core.

I knew Grime would go back on his word, and I assumed the boom-shrooms would pay off somehow. But Sasha, willingly and unhesitantly, letting go of Anne's grip and falling to an expected demise? I...I couldn't have ever predicted that. Not with what we've seen from her before. When I hear how people see this as one last manipulation tactic, I just can't see it. Yes, there are monsters on this planet who would go this far, but I don't think Sasha is one of them. Later episodes like "Battle of the Bands" (despite a rough start) show signs of a person who could be better, and the Season Three trailer hints that she might actually learn from her mistakes. So her letting go, with no way of knowing her survival, could be the first sign that Sasha would one day make that first step. She might not be able to become Anne’s friend again, thanks to burning that bridge in "True Colors," but she'll at least try to become a better person. She just needs to do one good thing in her life first.

Plus, whenever I see this image:

I’m reminded why I could never say that I didn’t like this show.

Grime Saving Sasha: A lesser viewer would say this cheapens Sasha's sacrifice, but not to me. She had no way of knowing Grime would save her, so to her, so this is still a bid decision to go through with, even if she couldn't have gone all the way. In no way does it take away from the sacrifice, just as much as it doesn't strike a chord deep in Anne's heart.

Anne Breaks Down: Because what else would she do?

It's true, Sasha isn't a good friend, and Anne would likely be better off without her. But that's not what Anne's thinking at this moment.

She's thinking about the good fun she had with her best friend.

She was thinking about the person she could lean on.

And she was thinking about how she almost lost this person forever.

So when it all comes crashing down on Anne at once, there's nothing left to do but cry. It is such a real moment that proves one thing: There was effort put into this finale.

IN CONCLUSION

Would I say Amphibia draws me in as much as The Owl House does? No. But it still has my respect. A finale like this proves how hard the writers try to give a good experience. Even if a Schmuck like me thinks that all the pieces don't come together, they still do all they can to make a beloved series.

Season Three is on the way, and while I'm not as hyped as others, I still can't wait to see how it ends. Because if "Reunion" taught me anything, this series really nails an ending.

(And if you want me to do a scene breakdown of the finale in "True Colors," I'll tell you now: I won't...alright, maybe I'll do something for the mid-season premiere. But no promises!)

[statusquoergo]

do you ever wonder about what mike's arrest would have been like, angst and story wise, if mike and harvey had been together at that point in time? because i do. like all the time haha. i saw a post on here talking about that once and i haven't stopped thinking about it since!!

Gallo wouldn't have made it to the end of the season alive, that's for sure. Nobody puts the love of Harvey Specter's life in danger, pal, you can bet on that much.

No, okay, with the usual caveat of "let's pretend Suits has a little self-awareness and can carry out the emotional repercussions of a heavy plotline for more than five minutes," it sure would've been... Well, I think it would be very similar in some ways, and very different in others. As it is, Harvey dedicates himself body and soul to getting Mike out of prison, and them being together obviously wouldn't change that. Maybe he would've done even more, somehow, although I'm struggling to think of, like, how that could possibly have happened.

Let's back up a little bit, to the events of the trial.

Now, being that the show spent remarkably little time during the second half of Season 5 focusing on Mike and Rachel as a couple, I don't think much would necessarily change prior to the aborted wedding in the finale. Mike and Harvey are at odds over Mike's defensive strategy, but that's mainly because they want to protect each other, so being a couple would only intensify that response.

The first place there's really room to showcase a different narrative is when Rachel gets mad at Mike for defending that man in court rather than spending time with her. Being that Harvey is, by and large, more empathetic towards Mike's need to prove himself and his desire to help people in need, I think he might be frustrated that Mike wasn't taking perhaps one of his last moments of freedom to spend time with Harvey, but he would also understand where Mike is coming from. That is, Mike has had this amazing experience over the past five years and worked so hard all this time to use his fairly accidental power to help people who would not normally be helped by someone in his position, and now the life he's built for himself is about to be ripped away, but he's stumbled on this one last chance to help someone else who's in the midst of being fucked over by the system, and he's going to take it, because he has to. Because he's Mike, and that's what Mike does.

So where does that leave us? With a great opportunity for Harvey and Mike to have an actual heart-to-heart that comes less from a place of anger, as their glass-throwing fisticuffs in the next episode, and more from a place of hurt—not Harvey's hurt feelings that Mike isn't spending time with him, or Mike hurting over his potentially impending imprisonment, but them both hurting for each other for what's going to happen if Mike goes to prison. From an angst perspective, this is a wonderful opportunity for a really soul-baring scene from the two of them, especially if Mike is starting to feel the hopelessness that prompts him to accept Gibbs's deal, and Harvey might or might not see the writing on the wall but refuses to accept it without fighting to the last breath.

Anyway, they missed out a little bit there.

As I said before, Harvey canonically devotes himself wholeheartedly to getting Mike out of prison, so I don't know that a lot would necessarily change in the overall scheme of things once he's there, but there are specific events that could be very interesting to handle differently. First of all, Harvey and the warden drugging Mike to give him a few hours with Rachel. The plan is stupid, the plan has always been stupid, and now that plan isn't going to happen, so that's good, but also Harvey still needs Mike to accept Cahill's deal, so how's he going to do that?

More emotive speeches!

No seriously think about it, if Harvey and Mike are a couple and the only thing keeping Mike from getting out of his sentence early is his refusal to turn on his cellmate who he's known for all of five minutes (hyperbole, but not much), what kind of impassioned conversation do you think Harvey and Mike might have arguing over that? There can still be backdoor shenanigans with the warden, even, if Harvey wants to secure them a conversation someplace where they won't be recorded so they can really release their inhibitions. I'm actually not talking about a sexual encounter, but Harvey in particular is, as we know, very guarded with his emotions, and Mike might've learned by that point not to be so cavalier about saying or doing whatever he pleases wherever and whenever it occurs to him, so getting them into a completely private space could be very...freeing, to use a slightly misguided word in these circumstances. More angst, is what I'm saying, this is a great opportunity for another really deep, vulnerable, angst-ful scene.

And that's all very well and good from a plot-alteration standpoint, but how about emotionally? Though I don't know that Harvey's actions would change much if he and Mike were in a relationship as opposed to merely...dangerously codependent, I could see his mental state fraying more than it does in canon. Not to bring this all back around to his mother, but let's bring this back around to his mother: It's heinously unfair to say Harvey would feel abandoned by Mike going to prison, so I'd like to think that if Harvey does feel that way at any point, he recognizes it and shuts it down pretty quickly. He's not the most emotionally astute guy around, sure, but he's not a total idiot.

But what I do think there's room for is the collision of Harvey's mantra that "Everybody leaves," and his somewhat more hidden resignation that "I drive everyone away." Mike is in prison, because Harvey couldn't save him. Because Harvey wasn't fast enough at the courthouse. Because Harvey wasn't a good enough lawyer. Because Harvey couldn't convince Mike to let him take the fall for them both. Mike is in prison for Harvey. If they're a couple, I'd love to see this played out more thoroughly with some more attention given to some of the actual reasons Harvey is moving heaven and earth to get Mike out, aside from just "He's Mike and we're attached at the hip," or even in this alternate universe, "He's my boyfriend and I love him." No, let's get down in there and talk about what the parameters of this situation are doing to Harvey, who never talks about his feelings or examines his own emotional state. He's gotta start coming apart at the seams, to say the least, and what do you think Mike's response would be to that during their way-too-frequent-to-be-legal visitations? Nothing good, I'm sure of that, especially on top of the hardship of living in prison. Harvey is hurting, Mike is hurting, their hurting is hurting each other, everyone is miserable and there's not a whole lot to be done about it. So what do we do? Fight harder, of course! Ugh, I hope Harvey doesn't do anything too unhinged...

Well, anyway, I certainly think there's room to explore that idea and I'm sure I haven't exhausted the possibilities here, but it was fun to think about! Thanks for bringing this up!