#i’ve seen like 8 different ships so far

[crowleysplantmister]

I love the malevolent fandom cuz Harlan Guthrie essentially went ‘nah guys Arthur isn’t gay’ and the fandom reacted to that by shipping him with every single male character in the podcast

[exactlycleverpirate]

Wild Theories About Rafayel

Spoilers under the cut.

So, I've been contemplating how the various deceptions Rafayel has experienced occured and how that connects in his story over all. He or his story references being deceived at least 3 times: in Anecdote 3, in the Myth, and in Your Fragrance.

Anecdote 3:

"The young boy sits alone in the middle of the coral reef, softly humming “Siren's Ballad.” Waves lap the shores, staining it dark red. The color blends almost seamlessly with the bloody setting sun in the distance. Those who deceived him have long since sailed away on their massive ships, laughing all the while. “Siren's Ballad” isn't a song of revenge. It's an elegy sung for Lemuria.”

Myth:

Amund: “I believe in Your Quintessence. Her method of acquiring the heart wasn’t forgotten, was it? If that island sparked the beginning of our demise, then everything should end there. The Lemurians cannot be deceived again!”

MC: “The Lemurian tales I’ve read said the God of the Sea died long ago… I’m sorry, you must refer to it as a “slumber.” How can there still be a God of the Sea?” Rafayel: “Does Your Highness know why he perished? His heart was stolen by humans.”

Your Fragrance:

“It must be an allergic reaction. This isn’t perfume. How dare they use such underhanded methods to trap me…” “Who gave you the perfume?” “Are you trying to run away again?” “I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna lock me up again… You’re with them, I just know it. Don’t think I’m unaware of what you’re about to do. (MC name), I won’t fall for it again. Not this time.”

They all seem to be connected to you somehow, but not enough so to make him hate you or lose trust in you, as he is still willing to be incredibly vulnerable with you (Ebb and Flow), give up his life for you (Myth chapter 8-9), deeply love you, and want to be with you for the rest of his life.

So my thoughts are that MC has been used as bait against Rafayel in at least 2 lives. There seem to be events that reoccur in their different reincarnations, such as Rafayel meeting MC when they are young/children and vowing to find MC again. He gives her the blue fish, the Emissary of the Ocean, in both current and Myth lives as well.

So going with this idea of reoccurring events, I think on their first life, which I believe was the Island of Songs life, there was likely a vow made as children. But then as adults, I think there were a group of humans (or perhaps just one in particular) who decided to use her as bait to trap the God of the Sea and plunder Lemuria's riches while he was weak. She is unaware of any of this. She is offered to him as a sacrifice (think Bride of Habaek (manhwa)), essentially becomes something like a temple maiden trapped on an island. What she doesn't know is that those who sent her there are using her as a honey trap.

And it works. She and Rafayel fall in love and bind themselves to each other. Now, I haven't decided yet whether I think the humans knew he would go so far as to give her his heart or whether they just got lucky there. But the end result is, Rafayel is trapped when he is weak, Lemuria is plundered, and I believe they then go into hiding in the deep, becoming the stuff of myth and legend.

MC, meanwhile, is seen as the betrayer by the Lemurians, though not necessarily Rafayel, not completely at least. They curse her and turn her into a Sea Witch (Fragrant Dream). But eventually Rafayel finds her and saves her at the cost of his own life.

Now fast-forward to current day Rafayel. He has once again made a vow with her when they were children. And I think he is deceived by the same person/people as before, be they gods, reincarnations or some other immortal. And I think now that they are behind Ever Corp, Onychinus and related organizations. (I also like the idea that Astra from Zayne's Myth is somehow a part of all this.) So, they use MC as a lure, to draw him away from Lemuria, since even as a child, he is their protector. They once again plunder Lemuria, this time nearly wiping it out.

Meanwhile, I think they know MC has a Sea God’s heart, and were experimenting on her to find a way to use it. Hence the Aether core and what not.

Sometime in the far future, they will use what they learn from it to remake Earth into Philos, with a fake core that keeps all humanity immortal, except those sacrificed to it. Eventually, MC's immortal heart is essentially connected to the core like a battery, to drain, die, recharge the core, then be reborn to do it again. Essentially making all human life on Philos leaches off of Rafayel's immortality, draining him as well and eventually condemning him to eternal slumber if he does not reclaim it from her.

What do you think? Wild and crazy? Has some merit? What are your own theories? Let me know in the comments or PM me!

[nerdieforpedro]

20 Questions of Writers 📑

I was tagged by @frenchiereading @avastrasposts and @maggiemayhemnj (Bless the three of you. You know a dissertation is coming 🤣🤣🤣) 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 81 works on AO3. There are some that are there and not on Tumblr yet. As to why, some of them are other series I haven’t finished or I’m not sure if I should post them here.

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

As of today: 351,908 words (updated for a new chapter of one of my works)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently: Pedro Pascal, Oscar Issac, Garrett Hedlund and might dabble in Call of Duty (maybe)

No longer writing: Marvel

4. Top Five fics by kudos: (some of these were written long ago, when Nerdie was a wee one in fandom)

Sard’ika Sessions (the most in kudos and hits- it tells me ya’ll like Din being a soft dom and using several different tools, maybe at the same time?)

Our Journey Across the Star Ocean (people enjoy the way I write Din maybe?)

The Viper Longs for Foliage (the one fic I have about Oberyn Martell - I don’t feel I write him well but people feel differently I suppose 🤔)

The Best and the Worst Day (AO3 only - Chris Evans fix it was a phase 🫣)

I want him to see me (AO3 only - I had to look up what this was lol Sebastian Stan fic)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I make sure to go through my inbox to reply to anyone who was nice enough to leave me one. ☺️

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Bold of you to assume I finish fics regularly 👀

Scarlet Stains and their Echoes Such angst with a Backstreet Boys joke thrown in. 😆

7. What is the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

This is a three way tie (cheating because Nerdie is not above it) between Sard’ika Sessions, The Lake Between Us and Parts of you Mr. Morales. Each fic has a different Pedro character - Din, Ezra (I had to give him something happy 😭) and Frankie.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I’ve seen. I totally thought I would and that’s why something stay on AO3 or in the WIP folder but so far I have not. It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

9. Do you write smut?

I used to. I used to write a lot and enjoyed it. I find now that when I write smut it’s awkward and takes me at least a month to finish a smut scene because despite watching and reading reference materials (porn and other awesome smut fanfic here and on AO3) I don’t have the same mojo when writing it any more. I feel a bit sad about it, but there’s nothing that’s worked. It’s not like I don’t have thots. I just can’t get them in a fic. 😭😭

10. Craziest Crossover?

I haven’t really done many. One m/m fic where Din and Poe crossed blasters (pun fully intended), one sandwich with a female reader, Lucian Flores and Benny Miller, My Tim Rockford series where Dieter is his brother and that’s about it I think 🧐

11. Have you ever have a fic stolen? Not that I know of. So happy I’m in my small weird little box 📦

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? Nope I would be open to it but I dunno how the process would work.

14. All time favorite ship? The Razor Crest, it has room for passengers. 😆

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Such heart ache 😣 My first series that I started was with Dave York (he was done so dirty dammit!) and it was pretty smut filled. Felt with him and the OFC’s messed up dynamic as well but because of all the smut and how I can’t seem to write smut to save my neck now, it will likely go unfinished. 😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe just the weird plot ideas I can make and dialogue. That’s about it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing a fic, SMUT, weak comedy (I can’t resist it though), fixating on small details that don’t matter and everything that wasn’t listed as a strength. What is writing really? Can I make the words go together? 😨

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Pretty cool, just make sure you ask a native speaker in that language to look over things before posting. I have found that some of my Spanish is too literal and no native Spanish speaker is actually going to say that. Plus each language always has little nuances you need to take into account.

19. First Fandom you wrote in? Marvel 👀 Look it was a phase dammit! 🫣 Leave me alone. 😭

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Nerdie will cheat again, because this is her post! 😆 I enjoy all my fics. Otherwise, why would I write them? But one stands above the rest. It gives me all the feels, giggles, some funny banter, smut that took a damn month to write and inspired @soft-persephone to tag me in a meme that @boliv-jenta made, Weddings 101 with Dieter.

If there’s one fic that I feel has the majority of my writing (all styles and facets) in it, Weddings 101 would be it. My humor, agnst, attempt at making a villain and sub-plots, slow burn romance with a goat as Dieter’s ride or die. 🤗 That trash panda gave me a lot so I wrote him a wild ass series. 😋

NPT: @tinytinymenace @megamindsecretlair @perotovar @pedroshotwifey @lady-bess

@djarinmuse @alltheglitterandtheroar @inept-the-magnificent @lotusbxtch

@jeewrites @rosecentaur1916 @westside-rot @jessthebaker @trulybetty

@rhoorl @musings-of-a-rose @saturn-rings-writes @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @magpiepills

@secretelephanttattoo @morallyinept @goodwithcheese

[pinkasrenzo]

mid-year book tag

thank you @bloody-wonder for the tag🥰

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2024? Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat, positively destroyed me

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2024? also Dark Heir and I cannot wait for the sequel I need. answers.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black, tho I have yet to read the previous book so it’ll have to wait :”)

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2024? Nothing at the moment, but we’ll see if something catches my eye

5. Biggest Disappointment? Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman, it had a very interesting premise but didn’t do much with it? Or at least I feel like it could’ve done so much more cause the potential was there but it didn’t, instead went over the same point over and over again in a fairly boring way so the whole thing ended up falling flat for me

6. Biggest Surprise? Can’t say a book has surprised me yet so far, all have pretty much matched expectations, but there’s still time

7. Favorite New Author? Not exactly new but Pacat did confirm my love for her writing once again, and did not disappoint even with the “limits” of YA target audience which did have me a bit skeptical at first, but boy did she deliver

8. Newest Favorite Character? Will Kempen (Dark Rise) is the most pathetic wettest little meow meow he’ll have to be so strong to withstand book #3😔💪🏻

9. Newest Fictional Crush? I too would be weak for Sarcean (Dark Rise), I get it Anharion I truly truly do🙏🏻

💕Best Ship💕 James/Will (Dark Rise) have me chewing wires they’re so !!!!!! the rituals are so damn intricate jesus chRIST.

10. Book That Made You Cry? Not cry but The Body by Stephen King nearly had me there ngl

11. Book That Made You Happy? The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic, tho arguably not a happy book :”)

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? oh 3 Body Problem was amazing binged it in one sitting I could not stop watching and I definitely want to read the books some day! Also ofc Interview with the Vampire was insane and unhinged and so so so good and I need season 3 yesterday. and I will read the books for this too, need me more absolutely deranged vampires

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? I don’t really write reviews but I did spam Dark Rise to @novishu and got her to obsesses over read it so I’m counting that as a very successful review😌✨

14. Most Beautiful Cover? Firekeepeer’s Daughter is mesmerising, love the mirror effect and the colours! Also The Chosen and the Beautiful has very delicate feel to it, and fits the book perfectly so that’s a close second

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? I’m trying to get through all the books/ebooks I already have so that’s a plan. Also I’m currently reading The Goldfinch and if it doesn’t wear me out I might tackle The Secret History next and then Babel as I’ve had those on my TBR for a while now, and I wanted to read Babel after TSH since I’ve seen it described as a critique/different take on the same themes of that (and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell which I’ve already read)

(no pressure) tagging @fugitoidkry @novishu @montdargent

[thevibraniumveterans]

STAR WARS — The Acolyte

EP 8 — The Acolyte

MAIN THOUGHTS:

I loved this episode, because it leaves us with several more questions, in addition to the ones that have yet to be answered, and also because it results in almost a role reversal for Mae and Osha.

In Episode 5, the Stranger had said to Sol, “I’ve accepted my darkness, what have you done with yours?” Seems like in this episode, Sol has accepted his darkness and his failure.

There are a few familiar lines thrown in for good measure too.

Also, something about killing a Jedi without a weapon? Yeaaaah, about that… Somehow that’s always stuck with me, even though it’s not all that important of a line. Turns out it was pretty important this episode.

And that lightsaber scene? The one that stole this whole episode? You know the one; I thought it was by far the best on-screen visual example of a kyber crystal, and as a result the blade, responding to the owner’s emotions.

Spoilers in my thoughts in my notes below.

- We begin by hearing Osha calming her breathing, just like she did when it left off last episode. From the outside it sounds like pseudo-mechanical breathing, but not on the inside. The Stranger watches from a few feet away, but suddenly Osha gasps, as if something is choking her. She struggles to breathe. The Stranger, meanwhile, seems to worry, striding toward her with an outstretched arm. A second after his hand is inches away from the helmet, however, he experiences darkness around him, and he momentarily internally panics but tries to suppress it. What could be the source of this darkness he is experiencing?

- From the outside, we see that his eyes go dark, much like Torbin’s did last episode. Something is influencing him, but we’re not sure what. In his ‘experience’, the Stranger’s emotions flash across his face in rapid waves. We don’t know what he’s seeing. Osha, on the other hand, is still struggling for air, taking short and sharp breaths. The Stranger struggles to lift his other arm, and at last, removes the helmet from Osha’s head. She gasps for air, the feeling of drowning slowly escaping her. She shudders; what has she seen? She says she’s seen her sister, and that in her vision, Mae “had her hand outstretched” and that “she was killing Sol”. This visibly shakes Osha because she still considers Sol a good friend. After a short while, Osha says she still wants to stop Mae, but the Stranger notes that only he has the ship.

- Planetside Brendok, Mae and Sol are onboard the Jedi ship, and in orbit. Mae is still bound to the bed, and Sol says Master Vern will intercept him later. All these years later and Sol wants to prove that there is a Vergence on Brendok, but Mae still does not believe that her mother’s murder was justified. That’s a fair response; how else would one feel to talk to someone who killed their mom?

- We see, as was already obvious, two very different points of view. Sol maintains that the covens’ death was an “accident”, but Mae is adamant that in her eyes, the Jedi “invaded” her home and so she had to lock everyone in, irregardless of her setting Osha’s book on fire in the first place. While they argue, Mae uses Pip to pick the lock on her wrist binder to free herself. Sol says that the Jedi were right to intervene, but then tells Mae that she and Osha “are not twins. You’re not even sisters.”

- That’s when Mae’s restraints pop open, and she briefly shocks Sol, then bolts. Sol chases after her, but Mae makes it to an escape ship, and closes the door just as Sol reaches the ship. It’s too late for him; Mae takes the pilot’s seat, and flies off.

- TITLE CARD!!

- Sol reaches the pilot’s bay in his main ship and can only watch Mae fly off. He takes off after her. She chooses evasive maneuvers and flies straight into an orbiting asteroid ring. (Classic Star Wars moves.) No matter; he follows from above, but chooses to fly in after her, and pops up his rangefinder.

- The tracker creature pulls a few wires, sending alarms blaring. Sol’s ship veers out of balance, sending Mae’s escape ship also careening away. She manages to get her ship down to the ground, but it’s a rough landing, thankfully.

- Back on Coruscant, Vernestra meets with Rayencourt. This is internal Senate-Jedi politics, and Rayencourt doesn’t seem to like that Vernestra is keeping some things secret to the Jedi alone. Rayencourt tries to prod for answers, but Vern only reveals little. Rayencourt states point blank, “I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion, a delusional cult that claims to control the uncontrollable.” From an outside perspective, he’s absolutely right. It’s why Yoda, a hundred years from now, will say he failed; it’s why Luke, more than 100 years later, will say the Jedi are a failed system. It’s an easy thing to say when Jedi essentially kidnap children and train them to be soldiers under the guise of being so-called keepers of the peace. Rayencourt’s view of the Jedi is the same statement that many want to make but is also one that underpins the Prequels, so much so that it’s easy to see why they failed to stop Palpatine from rising to power. They were blinded by their own power, and could not see darkness from within their own ranks.

- Rayencourt continues, “You project an image of goodness and restraint, but it’s only a matter of time before one of you snaps.” He’s also absolutely correct in this regard; we saw what happened to Anakin, we saw what became of Ben Solo, we saw the man Luke became. They snapped, all in their own way. Rayencourt, with great if not unforeseen foresight, goes on: “And when, not “if”, that happens, who will be strong enough to stop him?” Vernestra takes all this in stoically, and shows him the door. He leaves, but not without a “May the Force be with you” valediction, but this time it sounds like an intended and well-placed insult.

- On the unknown planet, Osha and the Stranger head for his ship. He’s the curious one now, not knowing the destination. Osha, on the other hand, knows what she’s doing, and effectively holds his ship hostage by saying, “We do together or we don’t go at all.” Osha is decked in an athletic and hooded dress-like outfit; it is dark grey. The Stranger asks Osha if she ever considered being trained, but she refuses. The Stranger thinks that’s fair.

- We see the ship leave, but when the camera cuts back to the shadows of the hideout, one of the scarred witches appears from behind a wall, dark and ominous.

- On Brendok. Sol’s ship is stationed outside the fortress, much like he had done 16 years ago. He sets out alone.

- On Coruscant, Vern speaks over the comms to a person unknown to us. It sounds like this person had disguised their voice, deliberately. Vernestra is informed that Sol has been located; she wants to resolve something.

- Near Brendok, the Stranger’s ship approaches. Osha is in the pilot’s seat; why would she not be? The ship’s odd design means the Stranger is in a twin but separate cockpit. He makes a comment, but she shuts down his systems on his side to prevent him doing anything funny. She leaves on the comms to add insult to injury. She notices that Sol and/or Mae are already at the fortress.

- On the ground, Sol makes his way to the fortress, and hears, and sees, the approaching ship. He decides to ignore it for now, and encircles the fortress to find a way in. He does, and walks into the overgrown courtyard he hadn’t stepped foot in in over a decade. The place does not hold good memories; regardless, he calls for Mae, thinking that she would have made her way to her fortress home as well.

- Outside, Osha and the Stranger arrive at the fortress. She notes that the old elevator is the only way in, but then, hears the Stranger’s voice become an echo, asking her, “Are you sure?” She looks around; where has he gone? People don’t just vanish like that; not when they’re within arm’s length distance from you. As she stands there, confused, Sol makes his way through the fortress ruins. He arrives at the exact same point he had stood all those years ago when he made that fatal decision. He backs up and walks away, and just as his figure disappears from sight, Mae’s hand shoots up from beneath the floor, and she heaves herself up to the platform.

- Mae finds herself in her old bedroom, the same bedroom she had locked Osha in all those years ago to prevent her from leaving. It looks like she feels uneasy. Outside, Osha fiddles with the elevator controls, and opens the rusty doors.

- Sol makes his way through a hallway and calls Mae’s name, but is accosted by the helmeted Stranger. They face down; what is Star Wars without a good hallway saber duel? The Stranger backs Sol through a series of hallways, and they hover themselves down to the plaza. Sol says, “I will destroy you if I must”, to which the Stranger warns, “Not if she gets to you first.” The Stranger disconnects his saber, choosing to now duel with two blades, a longer one and a shorter one.

- Sol leaps at the Stranger, kicking him backwards, but this doesn’t faze him. The Stranger throws both his lit sabers, hoping to backstab Sol, but Sol sees this coming, and holsters his own sabers, and uses the Force to throw the red sabers off, and the Stranger to the ground. Sol reignites his saber. The Stranger is undaunted.

- Osha, clad in dark grey, finds her sister Mae, in light grey, in their old room. Osha still feels grief and anger over the past, but Mae holds a different view of how things unfolded. Mae tells Osha that Sol has killed Mother Aniseya, and affirms Osha’s negative emotions that Sol could never hope to quell. Mae continues, saying, “You never failed; he did.” With that, the sisters come to blows, engaging in physical unarmed combat. Their movements mirror each other. They both kick high, legs clashing.

- The camera cuts right away to the clashed blades of Sol and the Stranger in the courtyard, their battle evidently not over. The Jedi’s ship arrives.

- In their bedroom, Osha and Mae keep duking it out. Mysteriously, Mae disappears, and Osha looks around the empty room.

- In the courtyard, the battle rages on. In a stunning move, Sol swipes his blade and slices the Stranger’s lightsaber hilt open. The Stranger discards his saber, removes his helmet, and turns to face Sol, whose saber is out and pointing to his neck.

- Mae appears in the courtyard, and hits Sol. In a swift movement, Mae grabs Sol’s lightsaber. The Stranger says, “Strike him down and your journey will be complete.” Mae, however, tosses Sol’s saber aside. Mae refuses, wanting instead for Sol to “confess what he did. I want him to face the High Council. The Senate. The Republic. I want him to pay for his crimes.” Sol still maintains that he “did the right thing”, but how was killing Mother Aniseya the right thing? Nothing can explain that away. He claims that he was trying to protect Osha and Mae from their mother, who might’ve in some way used the Force to create life. Sol says, “In the history of the galaxy, very few have been that powerful.” While he talks and is distracted, the Stranger picks up Sol’s saber. In Mae’s eyes, it still does not justify her mother’s death. Sol is hesitant, but finally admits that yes, he did kill Mother Aniseya. (On a separate note, one of the Stranger’s past last lessons to Mae was to kill a Jedi without a weapon; here and now Mae is weaponless, and had forced Sol, a supposedly respectable Jedi, to distill the Jedi’s order and idea of “protection” down to chaos and “murder” in the name of safety, and in a way, killed the idea of a Jedi, thereby fulfilling the Stranger’s last task.)

- Mae looks up, and sees Osha coming through the doorway. Osha had heard all she needs to hear, but shakily asks Sol, “Is that true?” Sol deflects by telling her he did what he thought was right, that he wanted to tell her the truth “so many times, but I couldn’t”. Osha is in denial; in her hand, she holds Sol’s saber. Turns out, the Stranger had handed it to her.

- Osha does not take this lightly; she Force-chokes Sol, and Mae looks on in concern. The crystal in the saber in Osha’s hand slowly bleeds red, and she closes her fist, killing Sol. He drops to the ground, and Osha sobs, realizing what she has done. Mae is also concerned; Osha had done what Mae could not. The Stranger slowly approaches Osha, who lashes out at him, saber ignited; we see the red from the crystal bleeding into the ignited blade, and within seconds, the blade turns an angry crimson from hilt to tip. Osha inspects the saber, fascinated.

- Elsewhere, Vern’s ship had arrived. With her are a small contingent of Knights. She reaches out, and realizes the Stranger is alive. He notices the Force shift, and puts his helmet on.

- Back in the fortress, Mae cautiously approaches Osha, saying, “We need to leave.” Surprisingly, Osha switches off the saber, and follows her sister. They run through the hallways, and escape down the internal cliff that Mae had earlier climbed up from. They reach a tunnel, and walk through it.

- In the courtyard, Vernestra and the Jedi find Sol’s lifeless body. Vern sends the Jedi to search the premises; the Stranger looks on from behind a hidden pillar as Vern approaches Sol’s body.

- Mae and Osha continue running. Elsewhere not too far away, the Jedi start tracking the sisters, who have arrived at the tree they used to come to as kids.

- Mae tells Osha that this is where she sat and waited; Osha apologizes to Mae, saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” Mae returns an apology: “I’m sorry I started that fire.” Osha starts crying, and tears appear in Mae’s eyes too. They repeat the same little chant they did as kids.

- The Stranger appears, and takes Sol’s now-red saber. Mae asks her sister, “What do you want, Osha?” What does Osha want to do? Osha tells the Stranger that she will train with him, only if he lets Mae go. Mae warns that the Jedi are using her scent to track the both of them, and the Stranger offers to wipe Mae’s memory in favor of letting Osha do what she wants. Mae willingly agrees, not wanting to risk her sister’s safety. This is not something she is forced to do, she is doing this of her own free will and out of love for her own sister. Osha doesn’t want to lose Mae, not again. Mae assures, “You’re not. You are going to do what you were meant to do. But I won’t stop you this time.” Osha makes a deal with the Stranger, but gives one last farewell hug to Mae. Osha promises to find Mae, who says, “I know you will.” They start their little poem again, and Mae discreetly nods at the Stranger, who proceeds to, with her consent, wipe her memory. Mae can’t even finish her line. By the time the Jedi arrive, only Mae is left standing under the tree, Osha and the Stranger long gone.

- Back on Coruscant, an arrested Mae gets shepherded through the Temple’s halls. At this point, as agreed, she has no memory of her sister and the Stranger. Mae is walked into a room, and sees Vernestra, who orders that Mae’s restraints be removed.

- Vern asks Mae if she knows why she’s here; to Mae she does not know anything, other than being told she’s murdered someone but has no collection of the event. She recounts fragmented memories, about a fire, a man killing her mother, and herself running off.

- Vernestra fills in the gaps for her, telling Mae her last memory is of when she’s 8. Vern affirms that Sol killed Mother Aniseya. Later, she tells the Senate what happened all those years ago. She tells them the truth, though a warped version of it. In this version, she names Sol as the rogue Jedi who “killed his accomplices to maintain the cover story.” When asked where Sol was, Vern says, “I believe he ended his own life.” Which, from a certain point of view, is true, considering he allowed Osha to kill him, accepting his failure and his guilt. Vern tells Mae, “Sol made a mistake. A mistake he lived with for so long it twisted his mind.” (Would Vern be telling a warped version of the story to protect Mae and Osha?) “He justified every selfish step with the live he had for your sister.” Mae does not remember the name Osha.

- Vern continues, “You poor girl. The Jedi have failed you. I am going to make this right. But I need your help.” Mae asks what with, and is informed, “A pupil of mine before he turned to evil.” (Which is more or less the same words Obi-Wan would utter to Luke in ANH.) Mae agrees.

- On the Stranger’s planet, Osha stands, looking out at the waves before her. The Stranger approaches, and lightly takes Osha’s hand, which is holding the saber. Sunset; Master and Apprentice look out at the waves beyond.

- Back on Coruscant, Vern walks into a room, and addresses her Master, who is none other than Yoda.

- The scene closes out. The credits roll.

[artsyriv]

The End

24 hours turned into 36 hours, which turned into 72. All of that time, Barry didn't sleep, instead asking everyone on the crew when they had last seen her, and taking a flyover of the local area. There was no sign of her.

Days turned into weeks. The monotony of it was driving Barry insane. He woke up, researched a new location, then scouted it with Taako, then back to the ship when they inevitably found nothing. Even Taako wasn't as ruthless as Barry, taking time to eat and sleep. These were luxuries that he couldn't afford. 

Sometimes he would break down in the middle of the night and Lucretia would make him a cup of tea. He didn't know why she was up, or why her knuckles were stained with ink, or why she looked so sad, but he appreciated the gesture. She tried to tell him to sleep but he ignored her, crashing for the bare minimum to stay functional. Functional as if he were a robot. 

He felt like a robot. The world felt grey and distant, and everything felt like a task, a chore assigned to his program. He didn't understand the glances towards him and then away, the whispers. 

Merle and Magnus persuaded him to take a shower and a nap after day 8, but when he had collapsed into his bed, he could smell her and he started crying so hard that he couldn't breathe. Magnus had come in to check on him, and when he saw the situation, he picked Barry up and put him in his own bed. 

They didn't suggest he try to sleep in his own bed again, but offered theirs as a lifeline. Barry knew they pitied him but he didn't have time to care. He had to keep working. He had to find her. She had to be out there somewhere. 

Weeks turned into months. Dead end after dead end was detailed on the map in front of Barry's eyes but he could barely focus. His hands shook from too much coffee, black coffee, he didn't have time for anything else. 

"Barry, can I talk to you for a minute?" It was Davenport, although Barry had to blink a few times to make sure. 

"Sure." 

They went into his office and Davenport began immediately. "Barry, you're unstable. You need to pull yourself out of your self-destructive spiral for the sake of the mission-"

"THE MISSION?" Barry didn't register his volume but Davenport's face showed his shock. "THE MISSION'S OVER! We can't get home, we outran the Hunger, we did it! There is no mission anymore!"

Davenport took a deep breath. "Ok, then. How about for Lup?"

"LUP'S GONE!" The silence extended beyond the room, the entire ship was silent, as if everyone was listening in. "Dav, I have to find her." 

"You can't do it like this."

That didn't stop Barry from trying. He was trying something different now. If Lup hadn't come back yet, she might be stuck as a lich without a body. And, lucky for both of them, his Relic would allow her to have a new body. He just had to go and get it. 

Taako walked into the room, stepping past crumbled paper and spilled inkwells and dirty mugs. "How's it going?"

Barry's head jerked up from where he had nodded off. He wiped away some drool that had formed. "Oh sorry, I- sorry, so, um, anyway, there’s a… there's a dungeon out beyond the Felicity Wilds? It's a… subterranean… demonic keep… thing. There’s a bunch of arcane energy coming off of it. I was gonna check it out tonight, if you wanna come with."

Taako looked at him with such pity but Barry tried his best to ignore it. "Yeah, where were- where were- remind me, how far is that in relation to the last glassing?"

Barry pointed to a spot. It was far from the last glassing, closer to some of the previous ones. He knew it was a stretch, but he couldn't tell Taako his real reason, not yet. There hadn't been a glassing in months, so it was fine to work back a ways, right? "I've triangulated it here."

Taako shrugged, buying it for at least the moment. "Yeah, it seems like a good a place as any. Do you want to do the usual: I’ll go down and start casting around, see if I can pick up anything, and then- you start talking to folks?"

Barry nodded, but he couldn't fight the ever-growing feeling that it was useless, this was all useless. She was dead somewhere, or started a new life or something. She was gone. He just had to accept that. "Taako, what if she's just gone?"

"Who?"

The floor fell out from under him. He was missing something, he was doing something. He had to remember something but there was something else in the way. It was all fading and dusty and as he looked at the map, he couldn't remember what he had been looking for. "Ta-Taako, I'm-" Taako had to remember. He knew. He was supposed to know. 

"What if who's gone?" She looked like Taako, they looked like Taako? They looked like? He was grasping at memories that were fleeing from him. He looked at Taako and saw a stranger. What was his name again. Lup. 

"What are we…? Oh, god, Lup… Taako, I’m- I can’t remember her face, Taako. Taako, where-" Barry grabbed at the table, at his face. What was wrong with him? He was missing something big, something important. He couldn't live without it.

"Whose face?" And if Taako couldn't remember, then no one could. Not unless they were the Voidfish.

"Is this Fisher?" Not unless they were a lich. Barry's eyes snapped to Taako's wand. They were out of options. Out of time. He knew what had to happen. 

"Taako, k- kill me! Right now! I’ll- I’ll remember if I’m a lich, I can- please, Taako, just kill me! It’ll- I’ll be okay! I can’t forget, I’m, I’m, begging you, please, Taako! Please!" And then a bolt hit his chest. And another in his stomach. Barry staggered backward, his back hitting the railing hard. This was the end of everything. 

He saw Taako standing there, and for a moment he almost reached out, almost thought it was her. But then the static claimed that thought, and he was just a strange elf who had a look of panic and dread. Barry gave a thumbs up and a smile. It's all he could do. 

Consciousness was painful. It had been so long since he had last slept. There was wind rushing in his ears, in his hair, as he fell. He let go. 

[mariejordans]

Listen I adore limoreau they're the first new ship I've had in a long time and I know the show only has 8 eps but omg they're skipping so many important things with them wtf we should've gotten to see flashbacks of their first time where's the convo after all the angst last episode we need more development and depth. I really don't think they anticipated how popular they were gonna be not as a ship but just romance in general they thought it was gonna be like the boys where 99% of the fandom could not care less about who is dating who but this is a college show and the dynamics and potential of the ships is 1000% greater than that of the boys and I LOVE the boys but it's not that show. Also although the boys doesn't kill most of its characters I think gen v is gonna be different we're loosing at least one main the finale and more in s2

okay this post kinda got away from me and i just started rambling (probably nonsense) so please forgive me if none of this makes sense and/or sounds stupid 😭

first off, anon i COMPLETELY agree with you on the first point. like, don’t get me wrong, i’ve loved and appreciated all the limoreau scenes we’ve gotten so far but right now limoreau just feels a bit….underdeveloped ig? i’m not saying that the writers need to take three seasons to get them together (that would be torture), but it feels like there are so many loose ends left with them and i don’t see how they can tie them all up in the final episode, considering it’s supposed to be a tie-in to s4 of the boys and SO MUCH SHIT is happening.

it feels as if the writers shoved in as much limoreau content as they could into the first half of the season and then were like “alright that should be enough” like???? no? we have not seen a proper conversation between jordan and marie about the state of their relationship since, what, episode 5? and they never resolved the issue of jordan being insecure about marie wanting to be with ALL of them, not just their masc self? if the kiss in tonight’s episode is the last limoreau romantic content we get, i’ll be very disappointed bc i feel like they definitely could’ve at least wrapped up that arc in less than eight episodes.

and don’t get me started on what happened during the memory wipe. the two main characters had SEX and we don’t even get to see the build-up to how and why that happened? it’s not as if marie and jordan don’t remember, bc cate literally gave them their memory back, so it kinda feels like we missed a couple steps in this episode 😭 like, yes, the kiss was super cute and soft and adorable and yes i was kicking my feet and giggling, but at the same time it felt a bit “whoa why we going so fucking fast” bc as far as WE know, they haven’t really talked about the kiss or the sex. like, i feel robbed a little bit bc this is supposed to be like THE main couple 😭

i also think you might be onto something with the writers not anticipating how popular limoreau bc the boys (while they do have some beautiful ships kimchie ily) is not exactly a ship/romance-heavy show and ig they expected the audience to take after the boys?? idk if that makes sense but 🤷🏼‍♀️

as for gen v having major characters killed off, i kinda agree, i kinda don’t. i think mostly bc they’ve already killed off two major characters (luke, who i am counting even though he was alive for 1 ep bc his death was a MAJOR plot twist bc he was literally being promoted as a main/lead character, and indira) and then they also killed off dr. cardosa, so i’d say the kill count is pretty high already. i think the characters most likely to die are andre or cate (or andre’s dad but idk if i’d consider him a major death.)

i think marie and jordan are probably the safest of the main characters (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!!) and should they survive this season (god willing!!!!) i think they will remain safe, if not safer. limoreau are the biggest draw (for newer viewers who haven’t seen the boys at least) to the show right now in my opinion. almost everyone i encounter who likes this show got into it because of jordan and marie. i got into it bc of jordan and marie. i don’t think it’d be smart of them to kill off their most popular characters (at least, i really really hope they’re smart enough NOT to do that) so (again, KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!!!) i think they are safe.

cate could go one of three ways i think; 1, she lives and ends up going full villain/anti-hero arc (which works well with the theory that marie is gonna blow off cate’s hands so she can’t use her power); 2, she has a whole redemption arc where she sacrifices herself for the group; and 3, (this one seems the most far-fetched to me idk if they would actually go this route) cate dies and becomes a martyr or symbol of the entire supes lives matter thing or whatever it’s called. either way, cate is going to go through some deep deep shit in the finale.

ppl have been saying emma and sam kinda have death trope written all over them, but idk i just don’t see it. i could MAYBE see one of them dying, but also not bc apparently there was a scene from one of the promo trailers of emma in the woods as a prisoner and considering this hasn’t happened yet, i’m thinking maybe it could be a cliffhanger for the end of the episode into season 2? as for sam, i honestly have no idea what the writers have planned for him. personally, i think it would be cruel to kill him off after what he experienced in the woods, not to mention his brother already is dead so it’d be kinda fucked up to kill both riordan brothers but 🤷🏼‍♀️ anything can happen in this show

as for andre, i hate to say it, but he’s kinda useless. he’s probably the weakest supe of the group if i had to pick one and i could definitely see andre dying being used as a way to either solidify cate’s villain arc or like, shock some sense into her(?) bringing her back to the good side, idk 🤷🏼‍♀️ plus there’s the whole controversy with chance, so unless andre survives and they decide to recast him, i really wouldn’t be that sorry to see him go. also, i think his dad is almost for sure dying, my main question is what the hell happened to him and how did he die bc that was random as hell.

i really just hope limoreau and cate survive, they’re probably the most interesting characters in this entire show (i may be a bit biased but it’s fiiine), plus the actors are so so so great, it’d be such a shame to lose them. i’m a little ambivalent on sam and emma, but i don’t really WANT them to die, and with andre, i kinda just don’t care for reasons explained above.

honestly, i think if they kill off another main character this season, it might lessen the chances of killing off another main character in the second season (unless they add more characters to the main cast), and if they end up surviving all the main characters, someone is def getting killed in s2, idk if it’ll be both, but again, anything can happen in this universe so i guess we’ll have to see 🤷🏼‍♀️

[scullysstrapblog]

So far I’m on season two, but already I’ve got a list of things I’d do if I owned the legal rights to OUAT.

In no particular order; this is that list:

1. Make SwanQueen canon.

2. Have Cora put her heart back in so she can be the mom that Regina deserves. (Definitely have Regina and Cora go to therapy though.)

3. Tf was all that Peter Pan/Neverland business. I get that that’s where we got Henry realizing Regina was actually trying to be a better person and that her past shouldn’t define her future, but like it was a dumb ark. So I’m getting rid of that.

4. In place of the Neverland ark, we’d see Regina and Emma exploring their relationship, Regina and Cora mending theirs, Henry would stop being a little shit. Maybe there’d be something silly and Emma and Regina would share TLK?

5. Snow and Regina would actively try to understand each other, Regina would explain what being married to the soggy raisin was like and snow would see that Regina wasn’t evil she was just hurting.

6. I’d get rid of Neal somehow, like I personally think that a 200+ year old getting a 17 year old pregnant is creepy. Even if he wasn’t in triple digits, he would’ve been around 27 if the show is to be believed and that’s still statutory r*pe in my opinion. Like yeah I get Henry needs to be born but maybe figure out a way to keep him from trying to win Emma back? Like he fucked up big time so, he’d definitely have to go.

7. Hook’s gay. No elaboration. He’s gay. Fight me.

8. Honestly the blue fairy meddled in so much and from what I’ve seen she’s 100% evil. So she’d definitely have to go.

9. Rumple and belle, I know a lot of people like this ship but tbh, it’s kinda icky. Like there’s definitely a Stockholm Syndrome type of thing going on. Idk. Maybe Rumple and Hook can get it on? Belle can be with Mulan.

10. The whole, “Regina’s soulmate has a lion tattoo.” thing? Weird but people change, so I’d explore that but with Tink admitting that people’s soulmates can change as the person evolves.

11. Emma’s tattoo would definitely be explained. Because we all deserved that story.

12. Zelena saw how Cora treated Regina when Rumple showed her Regina’s life so I’d say that she wouldn’t have held any resentment towards Regina. I honestly think the writers could’ve made a much better storyline for them.

13. Another thing, why’d they just send Ruby away? Like, she’s such a great character and they just tossed her aside. They could’ve come up with something better. Especially if she was gonna just pop back up at random times.

14. The Robin/Zelena thing also gave me the ick. So that’s out. That shouldn’t have even been a thing.

15. I liked the time travel thing but if I made Zelena and Regina have a better relationship then that wouldn’t have existed so I’d have to find another villain to make it happen. BLUE!! She’d totally do it.

16. Emma would totally fall through the portal, regina would follow her because “Ms. Swan when will you stop being an idiot?!”

17. Maybe rather than being thrown into one point in time we could see Emma and Regina navigate through different points in their life while trying to keep blue from messing things up?

18. I’d have liked to see a bit more of Henry exploring his role as author. Maybe he’d write the stories properly rather than having a biased story that portrays things as black and white. Idk, I’d just like to see the stories get written as they should have been rather than the way Issac (was that his name?) wrote them.

19. Snow and charming would definitely apologize to Maleficent for taking her child and forcing her to take on Emma’s darkness. Maybe I’d show Emma and Lily finding a spell or something to balance themselves so they wouldn’t be so messed up.

20. Dark Swan ark would definitely happen but it would totally be explored the way it should’ve been. It was the “Dark Swan” ark not the “Pity me Hook and Dark Swan” ark.

Honestly this is all I’ve got so far, if you guys want more I’ll definitely add more but I have to get further along in the show because currently this is all I can remember.

And if you have some things you’d like to add to this list, please do! I would love to see what you all think!

[no-where-new-hero]

Blake Wrapped #1: K-Dramas 2024

'Tis once more Blake Wrapped season. I watched nearly all of these dramas in the first half of the year, so it was fun to revisit them all and my opinions for this wrap-up! Reviews and pictures under the cut.

Cheese in the Trap (2016)

Would be my favorite drama of all time if it weren’t for the plot/character nosedive around 2/3 of the way in, which destroyed the delicate psychological rendering of the main characters. TBH this drama gives me pain, but in a way that's also kind of enjoyable to tear apart. Aside its faults, it's beautifully filmed, perfectly cast, and did introduce me to Park Hae Jin (belovedest). 8.5/10 for the costuming, music, Kim Go-Eun's curly hair, and the first 10 eps.

Man to Man (2017)

Saw this one purely because it starred Park Hae Jin, Park Sung Woong, and Chae Jung An, and they were the only good things about it. The plot volleyballed among different genres (action, comedy, thriller, romance) in a way that felt almost like a pastiche, but which never committed to the bit enough to bring it all into a satisfying whole. A star-studded and talented cast let down by poor direction/writing. 6.5/10 for the fun of shipping the wrong people.

Who Are You: School 2015 (2015)

Yook Seung-jae gave me a SEVERE taste of second lead syndrome and carried the last few episodes. One of the best kdrama performances I’ve ever seen. The whole cast was exceptional and held together the many mini-plots, which nicely dealt with real and relevant themes. Some later scenes felt unnecessarily drawn out to fill 16 eps, but at least every story and character arc felt complete. 8.5/10 for Kim So-hyun’s eyeliner being a paid actor.

The Killing Vote (2023)

I had my eye on this one ever since I saw that Park Sung Woong won an award for his performance and then after getting to know PHJ, I put it to the top of my watch list. It absolutely delivered in terms of symbolism and suspense and had relatively few plot holes considering all its twists and reveals. The 12 ep structure worked well, though I hated the obvious season 2 setup in place of a proper finale. 8/10 for Seo Young-joon’s character stealing the heart of the show.

My Love from the Star (2013)

This felt like the K-dramaest kdrama I’ve seen so far in terms of tropes: philosophical dialogue about fate and humanity, (literal) time-stopping romance, murders, chaebol family tensions, a scene-stealing second lead, homoerotic hyung-dongsaeng friendships, non-existent female relationships, turtleneck sweaters, first snows, and hospital/police station scenes galore. Jun Ji Hyun is perfect and adorable and my wife. 8/10 for Kim Soo-hyun and Mr. Jang’s farewell.

Bad Guys (2014)

It’s clearly become a thing for me to watch a crime show because of my man of the moment and it ends up being underrated cinematic excellence. Gripping pace, sharp cinematography, and great characters are just the tip of the iceberg: everyone talks in poetic metaphor! Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” is a central haunting leitmotif! Jo Dong-hyuk (in the middle there) looks personally and lovingly sculpted by God Himself! PHJ plays a tormented emo babygirl! 9/10 for everyone being unhinged.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)

Satisfyingly lived up to its reputation. Despite the emotional heartache, I did appreciate that the overarching theme was “love pushes you to make tons of bad decisions.” And the ending wasn’t horrible, as I had been led to believe! Biggest gripe was Kang Ha-neul’s lifeless stare, but otherwise the whole supporting cast was fabulous. 9/10 for this iconic scene and the Death Song.

Winter Sonata (2002)

This drama has been a classic in my family since I was young, though this was the first time I watched it through. Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo are lovable and brilliant in their leading roles with fantastic chemistry and an absolutely perfect ending scene. I find it hard to review it, because it's basically an emotion in and of itself. 9/10 for the OST to end all OSTs.

Again My Life (2022)

This one had all the right elements—atmospheric music, aesthetic direction, fascinating premise, good cast—but the delivery just…plodded a bit? I skipped five episodes in the middle and didn’t miss a substantial amount of plot, so this really should have been a 12-episoder. Also had the same downer “efforts toward good are ultimately useless because evil is regenerative and eternal” message from Killing Vote that I didn’t love. 7/10 for a strong start.

From Now On, Showtime! (2022)

A refreshingly fun and humorous take on magic, past lifetimes and ghosts. Started it for PHJ, finished it for the found family of ghosts and spirits, who captured the heart of the show and gave it necessary energy. Solid chemistry among all the actors, and I enjoyed the Easter eggs for other shows of this type, like TOTNT and Goblin. 8/10 for incredibly funny writing and a fabulous emotional ending.

Forest (2020)

There’s a great drama in here somewhere, but the writer never exactly finds it. Jo Bo Ah and PHJ are fantastic (and their chemistry is off the charts) with some great set-piece scenes to develop their connection. Unfortunately, no rhythm or satisfying through-line was able to hold it together from a plot (or even a character) perspective, especially with the short-episode structure. 6.5/10 for the hand-touching scene and the kiss-under-the-bridge (that no one has gifed whyyy).

DNF: Death’s Game (2023)

I like to think I’ve gotten pretty chill about violence in shows, but this one had what felt like an undercurrent of glee in its depictions of the series of deaths that was so at odds with the message it was purporting to convey, to the point where I no longer believed in the message at all. Good premise, decent performances, tone just wasn’t for me.

Movies: Snow Is on the Sea/Snow in the Sea Breeze (2015)

I watched this one for the plot, and the plot really was PHJ being sweet and cuddly and husband material and showing far more skin than I had seen in the 50 or so hours of his drama episodes combined. It makes cleaning a penguin enclosure the height of romance. Corny, tragic, melodramatic mush, 10/10.

The Beauty Inside (2015)

Unexpectedly poignant with a lovely hook and great performances, grounded by the adorable Han Hyo-joo. I love ensemble cast concepts like this (imagine Doctor Who except for a daily regeneration) and the gender play conferred a sweet queer touch. Love wins, 10/10.

The Great Battle (2018)

The battles were lifted almost verbatim from LOTR and some of the quieter plot beats were completely predictable but it still delivered a great visual spectacle. I have no idea why I watched this but it compelled me though. Gorgeous cinematography, 7/10.

[namtanlovesfilm]

axelle judges bl shows > The Eighth Sense

summary: Jae Won, in his last year of university and just came back from his stay in the military, is the popular kid from the surf club. When Ji Hyun, a freshman from the countryside, joins the club for him, sparks fly, and a long tumultuous relationship starts.

where to watch: dramacool

grade: 8/10

pros:

- this show stands out a lot from its directing, which is very indie looking compared to other kbls. it feels like a film d’auteur, which makes it so there is a lot of experimentation in this show which is very appreciated, and also makes the show stand out & way more memorable.

- the chemistry is amazing. and I don’t mean just between the main ship, but the friendship chemistry is equally as great, be it jae won with yoon won (my fave friendship, I loved them sm together & she was by far my fave character!), ji hyun with ae ri, or jy hyun with his boss, the relationships of the show are portrayed very realistically & with great banter!

- the pace is SO much better than usual kbls that are way too short for my liking! with 10 episodes of 40 minutes, we get to fall in love with the story & characters way more, and moreover the writing was quite good & balanced so the story didn’t feel like it dragged often, if ever.

- the characters are amazing, and again, bc of the length of the show, we get way more attached to them. they’re all very flawed & sassy, and they truly feel like real people which is not always easy to achieve!

- the acting is very good & natural. it doesn’t stand out as the most incredible acting, but for a series that seem to want to be a bit more realistic than most kbls, it landed perfectly for that job.

- the soundtrack lowkey slaps, it’s very different from usual kbl soundtracks & contributed to make the show stand out. in a way, it reminded me of the not me soundtrack (my fave soundtrack ever) in the way it can sometimes feel a bit random but still works amazingly with the show.

cons:

- bc of its indie feel, there are moments that do feel a bit amateur, and the execution isn’t very uniformous, which makes it so certain scenes are truly amazing, while others feel like they should’ve either been cut down or shot/written differently. imo eps 7 & 8 especially were less good than the rest.

- this is a story that feels very reminiscent from the gay stories released before or in the early 2010′s. so if you’re like me & you’ve watched so many stories like this before, it will definitely limit the reach that this series has on you emotionally bc it feels like you’ve seen this story happen before. they did offer enough changes to make it stand out & different, but it is still a reason why this series isn’t an 8,5/10 for me.

would I rewatch it: yes!

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this show & would absolutely recommend it to everyone! I absolutely love these more indie-feeling shows, and here it definitely made a story I’ve otherwise seen over twenty times work way more! I also gotta praise the actors & writers for making me this attached to the characters, they were lovely!

[eluvisen]

twenty questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @commander-krios thank you! <3 If you'd like to do this, consider yourself tagged!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

43 works

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

838,649

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Fallout, KOTOR, Andromeda Six, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. I used to write for Elder Scrolls back in my FFNet days.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Marriage and Other Forms of War (Fallout 4)

One If By Land (Fallout 4)

Welcome Home (Fallout 4)

What Makes a Memory (Fallout 4)

Remnants of a Dream (Mass Effect: Andromeda)

I wasn’t expecting to see my ME:A fic make this list lol.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to every one, but sometimes it takes a while to muster the energy to reply.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don’t usually go for angsty endings but probably Almost So Perfect. After some emotional hurt/comfort Bastila kisses Carth and then freaks out and immediately cuts things off.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

My personal rule is that I can torment my characters as much as I want as long as they get a happy ending, so most of my fics have happy endings, but the fic I think of first is What Makes a Memory. The difference between the first and last chapters is like night and day. Kaelyn begins the story wanting to forget it all because her grief overshadows everything, but by the end she’s ready to live in the present again. I’m still proud of that one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no. Although I did turn off comment notifications on FFNet because commenters on my FO4 fics wouldn’t stop trying to outsmart me and play gotcha.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I used to, mainly M/F.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Crossovers aren’t my jam so I don’t write them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I’m aware, no. 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nobody’s asked me if they could translate a fic, so I’m assuming no.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have. As a teen, a cousin and I cowrote some stuff. More recently, a friend and I were working on a Fallout fic with our Sole Survivors, but we both burnt out before it was finished.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

If I had to pick one (and I don’t like choosing lol) I’d have to go with Revanasi since it's my oldest ship.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The aforementioned Fallout collaboration would be nice to finish, but we’re both in different fandoms now so the inspiration isn’t there.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterisation, emotions, dialogue and description.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Combat, action and plot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I’ve used things like Mando’a and I made up some Catharese words for one fic since it doesn’t have its own conlang. My personal rule is that the meaning of words in another language should be clear based on context. A translation guide in the author’s notes is okay, but when I'm reading I know I won’t constantly scroll up and down to the translations because I'll lose my place in the chapter. So I won’t do that to my readers, either.

That said, I’ve seen workskins for AO3 that allow users to hover or tap on text and see a translation. If I were going to include other languages more often in a fic, I’d probably use that to make it easier on readers.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

KOTOR

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Probably Marriage and Other Forms of War. That fic remains the longest I’ve ever written, clocking in at 233k words, and I gave Kaelyn and Nate the ending they deserved.

That said, I have an Andromeda Six fic in the works that might take the cake once it’s finished…

[canonsunkmyships]

get to know YOU

i’ve seen a bunch of get-to-know-me tag/ask lists on here so i thought i’d try something different. rules are: you pick a question/prompt and then answer it in whoever you reblogged this from’s inbox (or rb with tags, whatever floats your boat). the point? aggressive self-introduction, make yourself a nuisance, tell someone stuff about you that they didn’t ask for. anyway-

1. favourite colour

2. your pet’s name/breed+species/cute personality trait/iconic dumb story™ (bonus points if u include a picture)

3. your old-person hobby

4. the random specific beef you have with someone

5. your star sign + what you think it says about you

6. your favourite band

7. that fun fact that’s been stuck in your head for ages that you haven’t had any reason to tell someone. now you do!!

8. a song that you turns you into the feral karaoke rockstar that you were always meant to be

9. if your life was a tv show: the song you think would be played in the opening scene to hook the viewers in

10. your least favourite ship from your favourite fandom

11. your weird internet nickname + the story behind it 

12. who you voted for in the great tumblr sexyman rematch of 2023 (or who you would have if you missed it. i feel you, brother.)

13. a condiment you would eat a whole tablespoon of (voluntarily or under pressure? i’ll leave that up to you. no one needs to know that you actually like mayonnaise, don’t worry)

14. if you write or draw: your favourite software/medium

15. your favourite artist (like painting and drawing)

16. a song that makes you super mad for no reason

17. your most used app (mobile or desktop, idm)

18. your most visited website

19. what your FBI agent is the most weirded out by

20. the best movie soundtrack/score + the specific song you love from it

21. something funky or interesting from your family tree

22. your Categories (hogwarts house, mtbi type, etc - pick and choose what you like)

23. your favourite random thing (for example, i really love square numbers. they’re just so satisfying.)

24. what you do when you have a bad day

25. what you do to have a good day

26. the fictional character that you relate to the most

27. your favourite teacher from high school

28. your most hated celebrity/elon musk/billionaire

29. your favourite thing about yourself

30. something really cool that you thought of

31. your least favourite vegetable

32. an amusing anecdote from your childhood that you still think about

33. your favourite word

34. something you do in your downtime

35. what you are supposed to be doing right now, and why you’re not doing it

and finally, 36 (the best square number of all):

36. your favourite thing about the person you’re telling all of this to!

if you made it this far i’m sorry congrats!

[msfcatlover]

OKAY THIS IS A BIG ONE, just answer the ones you want to :D

DC (preferably Batman or Green Arrow or Superfam but actually everything) - games, comics, movies, books, fandom

what is your (can be more than one each category):

favourite fan AU

favourite headcanon

favourite female character

favourite male character

favourite comic

favourite canon AU (you know all these Future State and Kingdom Come and Injustice and Arkham verse and all that!!!)

favourite ship (IF you have one, otherwise the ones you can tolerate)

favourite death (if the character died more than in one universe or more than once, specify which death)

favourite powerset

favourite resurrection (LOL, same with #8)

favourite AU villain/antagonist (those who aren't villains but you imagine would be cool villains in your opinion)

favourite canon villan/antagonist (if characters like Jason or Talia then specify which plotlines/comics)

favourite DC loser.

sorry for bad English!!!! have a good day/night

Oh boy, that’s… that’s actually really hard for me. I have a hard time picking favorites, because I generally love things for very different reasons. I know much more clearly what I dislike when I see it; enjoying things is sorta my default state, y’know?

Like, take the AU question. I’d be hard pressed to tell you whether a good Reverse Robins setup was something I liked better than, say, @jube-art’s Superfam/Batfam role-swap (which, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out!)

I’m also working my way through canon chronologically, and am still in the early/mid-90s, so there’s a lot of characters I haven’t officially gotten to, and a lot of stories I haven’t gotten the chance to really dig into yet. (I made it to Knightfall, realized I hadn’t put any of the buildup to that arc in my comic library, and decided to go back and read Barbara’s time with the Suicide Squad instead.) I don’t feel comfortable planting a flag on this until… oh, at least until ~2006, probably. (Which, given just how many books/characters suddenly got added in the 90s, will probably take a while.)

(There are also lots of characters who have so much potential in their backstory/power set, but who never got to use them to their full potential. Or who only had the cool parts of their backstory tacked on as an obvious retcon in the process of writing them out of the story, because the fans were vocally upset about them, meaning they never got the exploration any of those story ideas deserved.) (I have a special level of ire for power sets that are really cool on a surface level, but where the creators added just one power too many to stop them from being fully interesting. For example, Menagerie’s bugs having mind control properties overcomplicates her too much, in my opinion. Or—if you’ll let me hop over to Marvel—a character like Alpha who has all the “standard” superpowers, but only one at a time? What makes that interesting is having to choose between being super-strong or invulnerable or super-fast (etc.) therefore this character should not have ranged attack options built into said power set; it disincentivizes him from ever getting up-close with enemies, forcing the writer to choose between having the character be stupid or having the character never use the interesting elements of their powers. (…I mean, Alpha being stupid is kinda the point of his plot, but you see what I’m getting at, right?))

I will say, I adored Jason’s post-Crisis Robin run (in both Batman series, though for very different reasons) and so far very little has brought me as much joy as reading DC’s Detective Comics from that time period! And those few pages of Dan Mora’s B&W cyberpunk short that went around recently had me absolutely frothing with excitement for the possibilities that verse holds. And Jason being Tim’s Robin brings me endless joy, which neither canon nor jerkfaces will take from me.

(Aaaaaaaand while shipping isn’t the catharsis I come to comics for (thank gods, basically every canon ship I’ve witnessed thus far has been awful in motion even when their potential is off the charts,) I can actually blame DCEU SuperBat for getting me into this whole mess in the first place. Blame @susiecarter, whose fics I found immediately after watching someone do a deep-dive analysis of everything that went wrong with BvS, which I paused when I thought, “Huh, these are actually all really good points… I bet fanfiction has done this exact story, but with much better execution, recognizable characterization, and probably a hell of a lot gayer. Let’s go check.”)

[icedteaandoldlace]

A couple years ago, my family and friends had a PowerPoint party where everyone put together a presentation and delivered it before the rest of the group. Mine was on Snowbarry and the fandom drama wrapped up in it, and though I initially wasn’t going to let it see the light of day on the Internet, because I didn’t want a bunch of angry shippers in my DMs, I’ve decided to go ahead and post it (‘cause tbh the worst luck I’ve had in this fandom has been with fellow Westallen shippers).

Quick disclaimer: I love all of these characters and their canon dynamics with each other, so I’m not bashing any of them here. I’m also not saying that anyone is wrong for liking the idea of Barry and Caitlin as a couple, or that shipping them inherently makes someone a bad person. But I am speaking critically about both the ship itself and a good chunk of its fandom (see: reading them for filth), and some of my points will be fact-based and some will be opinion-based. I myself do not ship Snowbarry, and that fact is made very obvious in this post, so bear that in mind if you wish to continue reading.

Also, the images are not sized to Tumblr’s dimensions, so I recommend clicking/tapping to see them more clearly.

As an additional side note, I made this presentation before the major Killer Frost retcon, so Frost is referenced as a part of Caitlin and not as a full-fledged individual separate from her. I’m also disregarding the last two seasons entirely because 8 was trash and I didn’t even bother with 9.

Now on to the presentation.

Just what is Snowbarry, you may ask? Snowbarry is the ship name for Caitlin Snow and Barry Allen, two characters from The Flash, usually shipped in opposition to Westallen (Barry Allen and Iris West), which is the main couple in Flash canon.

If you are not familiar with the characters on this show, take a moment to look at the chart above. Pretty self-explanatory. Got everyone’s names and relationship to each other? Good.

Moving on.

So right off the bat, let’s get into how this ship got its start. Barry Allen is, of course, a comic book character first, and it was already canon in the comics that the love of his life was Iris West, so naturally it followed that she would be the person he’d end up with in the TV adaptation. One noticeable difference between the Iris from the comics and the Iris from the TV show is that Iris in the comics was drawn as a white woman, and Iris in the TV show is played by Candice Patton, a black woman. This caused a big stir among Flash fans before the show even aired, because the TV version of Iris “isn’t comic accurate”.

Neither is Barry, a hunky blond man, now being portrayed by brown-haired beanpole, Grant Gustin, but that detail didn’t get nearly as much or nearly as dramatic of backlash. Most fans are very pleased with Grant’s portrayal of Barry, and some even think he should play him in the DC movie universe. But Candice’s casting was received with an inordinate amount of vitriol, with many fans going so far as to bombard Candice with death threats and other forms of harassment, and people began calling for Caitlin to be Barry’s main love interest since before the first episode even aired.

It’s worth mentioning that Caitlin wasn’t even a Flash character before the TV series; she’s a character from the Firestorm comics who was brought in for this adaptation specifically, so there was no basis to say that she would be a better fit for Barry when there was no preexisting relationship between them in the comics universe. (Comic accurate whom?)

So basically, Snowbarry as a romantic ship was born out of racism, if you didn’t pick up on that already. They became a popular ship, even among people who had liked Iris in the comics, and had their own ship name before anyone had even seen them share screen time. All because they didn’t want to see Barry in love with a black woman.

Now that you know how the ship originated, let’s take a look at some fan arguments for how it maintained its popularity after the show started airing. While there are some Snowbarry shippers out there who will state outright that they don’t like Iris because she’s black, most of them have the sense to not want to be thought of as racist, and have defenses for why they prefer Snowbarry to Westallen.

I have encountered a handful of Snowbarry shippers whose claims are genuine, and who even like Iris/Westallen, or even ship all three of them as a polycule. The majority of Snowbarry fans, though, dislike (if not outright hate) Iris, and claim that their reason for preferring Snowbarry is simply that it’s a better relationship, and/or that Caitlin is simply a better character.

A common argument in defense of this preference is that Barry has more chemistry with Caitlin than he has with Iris. I’ve often heard it said that chemistry is subjective, but it’s hard to believe that Barry and Caitlin have such great chemistry--or even that the people who say they do feel it with conviction--when the Snowbarry fandom relies so heavily on photoshop.

If Barry and Caitlin had such outstanding chemistry, it would show in their scenes together, and it would be easier to find un-manipulated images of them looking like a couple.

Furthermore, if Barry and Iris had such poor (or nonexistent) chemistry, slapping Caitlin’s image over Iris’s wouldn’t make it look like Barry was in love with her. If Barry and Iris were so lacking in chemistry, their scenes together would not be a desirable template to make Snowbarry manips out of.

As a bonus, here’s some shots of Caitlin with her main canon love interest, Ronnie. Ronnie is absent for the majority of season 1, and dead for the entire rest of the series, but he is hands-down the person Caitlin has the biggest case of heart-eyes for, as well as the person she has the most passionate kisses with.

On to the next pro-Snowbarry/anti-Westallen argument, which is that Barry and Iris’s relationship is incestuous. Because as is the age-old fandom philosophy, if you don’t have a good reason to take the moral high ground, make one up.

Do Barry and Iris share DNA? No. This alone makes their relationship non-incestuous, but even when you get into the particulars, their getting together is still...not weird or bad at all.

Did Barry and Iris grow up in the same house? Yes. Starting at age eleven. At which point they already knew each other as friends, and Barry had already developed a crush on her, and then had to deal with moving in with the girl he liked. Because he had no choice.

Are Barry and Iris legally siblings? Technically unconfirmed, but most likely no. Iris does refer to them as “kind of like brother and sister” in the pilot episode, but in the same sentence, she also says the words, “we’re not brother and sister”. And Joe has been referred to as Barry’s guardian, adoptive father, and (unless I’m mistaken) foster father, and Barry has also affectionately referred to him as simply his father, and called him “dad” once. Exactly what the legal terms of Joe’s custody of Barry in his childhood were is unclear, but it’s safe to say Barry isn’t his son in the full legal sense of the word, considering he still goes by his biological father’s name and he didn’t run into any legal issues in marrying Iris.

Regardless, it’s Barry’s relationship with Iris that should determine whether or not his getting with her romantically is weird, not his relationship with Joe. If seeing Joe as a father figure makes getting with his child incest, then you could argue that any combination of Team Flash getting together would be incest because Joe is practically everyone’s dad at this point.

There are scenarios in which a romantic relationship between two characters in a situation like Barry and Iris’s would be weird and uncomfy, and come off as practically incest even though it wouldn’t be in a literal sense. Adoptive siblings do count as ~real~ siblings, and a romantic relationship between two unrelated individuals who grew up under the same roof can absolutely have some of the same negative ramifications that such a relationship between blood siblings could have. But Barry and Iris simply do not have the kind of sibling-like relationship dynamic that would cause those kinds of issues, so that plus the fact that there’s no biological relation between them makes the incest argument, frankly, stupid.

Sure, everyone has their own comfort level on matters like this; the most believable/relatable sibling relationship on this show is between two characters with no biological or legal ties to each other, and who met in their twenties (more on them later), and it makes me viscerally uncomfortable to see people ship them as a couple because they’re too much like brother and sister. But I consider myself an expert on siblings--I have six of them myself--and that’s not what Barry and Iris are.

Perhaps the most common claim among Westallen antis is that Iris is a bad person, or at least a bad girlfriend, or maybe even straight up abusive. These claims are...incorrect, and once again we delve into outright making stuff up, when simply blowing small matters out of proportion doesn’t do the trick. No one is perfect, and Iris is no exception. That doesn’t make her a terrible person.

As a person, Iris is brave, caring, ambitious, stubborn, loyal, charismatic, honest, assertive, forgiving, jealous, selfless, and protective, among other things. As Barry’s partner, she is very gentle and supportive, and she is often the only person who can get through to him when he’s either being too hard on himself, or being too single-minded and needs someone to talk some sense into him. They don’t fight often, but when they do, their issues are usually resolved fairly quickly with open and civil communication. Iris shares the responsibility of protecting the city with Barry, despite not having any powers of her own, in addition to finding ways to help people outside of official Flash business. She has her faults, but overall she’s a pretty good and well-rounded person.

The one negative claim against her in this matter to have some degree of credibility is that the individual fan simply finds her annoying. Annoying is a subjective term, so I can’t really argue that someone is wrong for being annoyed by someone I find to be very lovable. There have been moments where I was annoyed with Iris, and I think that Iris is the bee’s knees. There have also been moments where I was annoyed with Caitlin. And with Barry. And even Cisco (and I’ll fight anyone who dares call Cisco annoying).

What this argument against Iris basically boils down to is nitpicking over her being human and thus flawed. Well-written characters should be wrong now and then, and even the most lovable person can be annoying on occasion. But when it comes to Iris, first of all, a lot of the criticism for her is non-factual, and often wildly so. But also, even when it comes to valid critiques of her, there’s a tendency to focus on the negative when her positive traits far outweigh them--yet when the same or even worse negative traits are present in another character, they’re often excused or overlooked.

I’m not going to pretend that Iris stans aren’t guilty of doing the same with other characters out of bias for their fave, too (and boy do they), but by and large, Iris is the one who is disproportionately judged unfairly and subjected to double standards by the fandom.

If you’re just a fandom puritan hellbent on liking only the most unproblematic of characters, then technically Caitlin should be the one getting more flack since she has the longer rap sheet between the two, and Iris has one of the strongest moral compasses on the show.

As for personal preference? Of course, it’s totally possible that someone “just thinks she’s annoying”--but the tendency of black characters (or any non-white character for that matter), women, and especially black women being labeled “annoying” regardless of personality is a little too common to be taken at face value, so I’m automatically suspicious of anyone who calls her annoying, and bases their whole opinion of her on that, instead of recognizing her merits (because if you haven’t guessed, it’s not very plausible that that many people genuinely find her annoying as a person with no underlying prejudices at play).

Now, there are some people who started shipping Snowbarry during season 1 (y’know, after actually seeing the characters in action), because there was actually some groundwork laid for it. Not much, but it’s not nonexistent. Barry had a few love interests before ultimately getting with Iris, and a fleeting romance with Caitlin was also considered, before Grant vetoed that idea in favor of prioritizing what he felt was the more interesting and satisfying relationship, i.e. Westallen.

There were a few hinting comparisons drawn between Barry and Ronnie in early episodes, and a few platonic-but-in-a-heteronormative-way interactions between Barry and Caitlin. One episode in particular more overtly teased the idea of a possible attraction between them that they were too hung up on other people to recognize, but nothing ever came of it (partly because that episode also served to introduce one of Barry’s temporary love interests, Linda). And even the more shippable moments in it came across as mostly one-sided, and more as Caitlin trying to get over Ronnie than as being truly interested in Barry (spoiler alert: it didn’t work).

There have also been moments of light fanservice with no depth, such as the two kisses pictured above, which are two moments that the Snowbarry fandom treasures, and points to as validation of their ship.

The first is of someone who is not Barry, Caitlin just thinks he is in the moment. It is actually Hannibal Bates (aka Everyman), a shapeshifter who is causing trouble around town by committing crimes while impersonating innocent people. He kisses Caitlin to distract her while she’s trying to work on something to negate his powers, and Caitlin is confused and weirded out by his advances. And while one could argue that she started to seem a little into her second kiss with him, if she was, it didn’t last. Regardless, she was clearly not feeling the first one, she was relieved when she learned that it hadn’t really been Barry putting the moves on her, and she got uncomfortable and jumpy later when, for a split second, she thought the real Barry was going to try to kiss her again (so romanticizing that situation isn’t concerning at all).

For the second pictured kiss, Caitlin was in the middle of a mental breakdown/being taken over by someone whose actions she was strongly opposed to when she was stable and in control, and she kissed Barry not because of any feelings she might have toward him, but with the intention of freezing him to death with her ice powers--yup, she was actively trying to kill him with that kiss.

So to review, there are two Snowbarry kissing scenes in canon, and both of them are:

nonconsensual

not done with romantic intent

not really between Barry and Caitlin

Moving on from the Snowbarry fandom’s perspectives, now it’s time to address the elephant in the room that no Snowbarry stan ever wants to address, and that is the matter of the dynamic of O.G. Team Flash.

As indicated at the beginning of this post, Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco are a best friends trio. This kind of friend group is a common occurrence in both fiction and real life, and in the case of fiction at least, it’s common for there to be a favorite friend (which is almost always the main character).

In the case of the two other trios pictured above, for example, Gordo and Miranda have their own friendship independent of their respective relationships with Lizzie, and Shawn and Topanga similarly have their own friendship independent of their relationships with Cory--but in both cases, each friend has a closer relationship with the protagonist (Lizzie and Cory) than they have with each other.

O.G. Team Flash also has one character who is closer with the other two than they are with each other, and is therefore the favorite friend. And in this case, that friend

is Cisco. By a landslide, it is Cisco. It’s obvious in the show-don’t-tell sense that he is the friend they each have the closer bond with, whom they are both more likely to turn to for comfort or advice, and whom they would rather hang out one-on-one with, given the choice between him or each other. But it’s also implied in the way they talk about each other.

Cisco has referred to Barry and Caitlin both as his best friend, independently of each other, and it’s a tough call to say whether he’s closer with one or the other.

Barry has referred to Cisco as his best friend (singular) multiple times, with no mention of Caitlin, but in the times he referred to Caitlin as one of his best friends (plural), he did so in a way that was inclusive of Cisco. He has never called just Caitlin his best friend the way he has with Cisco (or with Iris, before they started dating).

Caitlin as far as I can recall has never used that term in regards to her friendship with either guy, but it’s obvious who she’s closer with. For that matter, Cisco is easily the most consistent and most important person in her life, whether she is aware of that fact or not. (At this point in the original presentation, my mom interjected to ask why Cisco and Caitlin weren’t the big fandom ship then, and I explained that they act like siblings and canonically think of each other as such, so most of the fandom doesn’t ship them romantically because That’s Weird, and their canon platonic relationship is something that most everyone values as is.)

I mean, heck, in The Icicle Cometh--an episode widely regarded as a ~Snowbarry episode~ because of the amount of scenes Barry and Caitlin get together in it--Barry all but says outright, “Cisco cares about you more than I do.” (pictured above)

Seriously, what does that line even mean if it’s not an acknowledgement that he does?

Of course, many Snowbarry shippers don’t like the fact that Cisco is the favorite friend because it blows holes in their ship, so they rationalize that closeness by likening Barry and Caitlin to his parents, which is all kinds of wrong and gross and just, no.

Considered but not included for this slide (because it would be hard to fit and would’ve required providing context for a room of people who don’t watch the show) was a screencap of Barry asking Frost, aka Caitlin’s other side, “How do you convince your best friend not to save your life?” while referring specifically to Cisco, just to further emphasize my point.

And speaking of Barry and Cisco,

I could do a whole PowerPoint presentation dedicated to why they would be better and more sense as a couple than Barry and Caitlin!

(And for the next PowerPoint party I kind of did, plus I’ve made a few other posts related to this subject.)

It just doesn’t make sense to me to make such a big fuss over two people who are clearly each other’s second-favorite friend. Personally, I’d be a little embarrassed to be shouting from the rooftops about how much better Snowbarry is than Westallen, and how Caitlin is the person Barry really loves and should end up with, when they don’t even like each other as much as they like Cisco.

And for my final slide, here’s some screenshots of Snowbarry fans being awful and unhinged + my commentary on them.

It’s not that Snowbarry is an inherently bad ship or entirely baseless--no more so than many of the other fanon ships for this show--but the fact that it’s as mainstream as it is when it has such little canon support and such weak arguments in favor of it reeks of racism, with a dash of hetero-/amatonormativity. The most sincere and non-toxic Snowbarry shippers I’ve seen around tend to be multishippers and/or rare-pair fans, which is where I see Snowbarry as a romantic ship making the most sense. But for such a large number of people to be adamant that the show should change its trajectory to make Caitlin the love of Barry’s life instead of Iris? That’s just bullshit.

[mondscheinprinzessin]

⭐ For any part you like to talk about (preferably from your Soulmate AU☀️🌕🌟)💖

I never can decide on anything, or even a specific part, so let me just ramble a bit about it^^

For starters, this was my first soulmate project ever, and while I am not the biggest fan of the trope (it can be so cliche if done without proper inspiration), I got reminded of a fic I read in another fandom, and oh the drama and hurt, I just couldn't resist putting my favs though it as well.

It was also the first fic where I included my now favourite OT3 ship (apart from a short febuwhump prompt). So many firsts!

I think for this AU I did the most planning I ever did for a fic, meaning chapter outlines, what exactly I want to include, I had a big doc of inpsiration of dialogue and scenes etc. But even though I did that a lot changed thoughout the story, sometimes I just went with the flow, for example in chapter 8 where Aleksi has this big blowout with Joel and Joonas, and it's all a big misunderstanding.

With the argument I only knew the start and and the end, but between that it was complete spontaneity, with what would sound natural, what would make sense, and how for Aleksi, and for Joel and Joonas this is a complete different situation, they are playing two seperate parts here with different understandings and goals, and I really wanted it to be frustrating for a the reader, because at some point they will have to find together, right? But it didn't feel right for Aleksi's character at all to be so quick to fall into this.

Now even Joonas seemed to lose his patience and ran both his hands over his face. “No, that’s not how it is at all. We really like you and not just as a casual hook -”

(All they want is a chance, but there's not breaking through at this point of the story, it's too early)

“I’m not stupid, okay?!” Aleksi yelled at them. His hands fell from his arms and tightened into fists. “I’ve seen your mark, I know you’re waiting for someone else, so don’t pretend I’m so important to you when I’m not.” 

(At least Aleksi has grown over the time enough to stand up for himself now, I doubt it would have been the same in school)

This is why in chapter 9, I first had to establish a curve of his character that made sense for Aleksi to finally allow himself to trust, and boy was that difficult. I love love love leaning into character's feelings and thoughts, as difficult as it is sometimes, but I have to admit I'm really proud on how this one turned out.

And yet when it comes to the scene of Aleksi inviting Joel and Joonas in, I couldn't give it the happy ending yet. There was still a point of pessimism, the hint that Aleksi will get hurt, because after years and years of pain it didn't make sense for me to make a fairy tail ending out of this so quickly. And I had to span the character arc a little longer (and I really hope it wasn't too much at this point).

"Because let’s be real, he was far from perfect, and he knew that best out of all people. How long could it take them to realize that too? Obviously they had this picture of him in their heads that they were chasing and once they had him they would be disappointed."

"But no, they had betrayed and hurt him, who was to say Joel and Joonas couldn’t do that too despite saying they liked him? At the latest when they found their soulmate and let go of Aleksi."

But I think in the end it was worth it. This part of the fic really was hard work for me, and Aleksi's character ran away from me and my plans (ryyyd😄), but it was also very much fun to write it.

[heyharoldsboo]

So about the whole shipping situation on the show, I honestly think it’s pretty evenly split between Wavier/Wyler/Wenclair/Wednesday being single. Just from what I’ve seen online, the Wenclair shippers are the loudest and most obnoxious, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the biggest. Online shippers also don’t account for the vast majority of people who watch the show, who might have a completely different opinion. From the first season alone, I think the most amount of hints were planted for Wavier, and if that’s what the writers were thinking make the most sense with where they want to go with both characters, than they should do that.

Not to say they can’t change their minds about what they want, but I don’t like the idea of the writers getting bullied by fans into making something happen that they didn’t really want in the story. I hope they won’t let some people’s opinions sway them. I also think that which characters people ship could easily change after season 2 comes out, once everyone gets more character development. It’d be pretty stupid for them to listen to the fans this early on anyway, since the show has only had 8 episodes so far.

Preach, anon!

Once I can get the software running on the ships names, maybe I can bring some insight on internet popularity 🤞