#just give me all the s1 parallels damn you

[leslieseveride]

can't wait for tim to immediately slap lucy with that scott wrigley guy from 1x02 after she tells him she's pregnant.

[lullabyes22-blog]

Hi lullabyes, would u mind sharing your take on the flashback with young Silco, Vander, and Felicia? :O

It's adorable. It's touching. It's sweet. It's a serene moment of intimacy and family (or polycule) bonding in an otherwise deeply frenetic season.

It's also so surreal it may as well be a fever dream.

I should note, at this stage I've shut off my cognitive reasoning about Arcane and begun approaching this as if it's a series of exquisitely crafted, animated short films that are all about to collide into a beautiful disaster.

Because that's what it is.

S2 has thrown a lot of the intelligent plotting out the window to embrace the chaos.  Whether due to time constraints, intellectual fatigue, or creative indulgence, I feel like we have a show that's now just hurtling breakneck towards the finish line. Previous story threads that once held weight and were the driving force behind character arcs and subplots, have since been abandoned. Nuanced motivations and character growth are being tossed to the wayside for the sake of action, montages, music videos, and a cavalier, anything-goes approach to world-building.

And yet, it's still such an incredible spectacle to behold.

@ravenkinnie delightfully noted that she is now watching this show with her pussy.

I agree 100%. S2 is a full-body experience, and one I find myself wholly consumed by. It's like a one-night stand you weren't expecting to be so fucking good. And when the sun comes up, you know it's going to hurt to say goodbye, and there'll be no follow-up call.

But damn, you enjoyed the shit out of that experience.

So yeah, the flashback was fucking adorable. I love the genuine emotion and closeness between the three characters. I adore the idea of Felicia, Silco and Vander being childhood friends (or, again, a very messy polycule) and both men sort of falling apart without her Manic Pixie Dream Girl presence in their lives. It's a nice little character arc.

However.

I cannot reconcile this scene with the rest of S1. It feels completely disconnected from the reality of the show and the world around them. The flashback has absolutely no impact on the current events, nor does it have any foreshadowing. The flashback exists solely to provide us with a glimpse into the past, with sweet little parallels to serve as bonbons that make us coo and sigh. It completely glosses over Silco's deeply, blackly visceral hatred of Vi in S1, reduces the class struggle culminating in the Day of Ash to "Oh, Silco. If only you've protested for your basic civil rights in a peaceful manner instead of tossing a molotov cocktail, you'd still have your family, a place in the community, not to mention your eye," does not really explain why Benzo reacted to Silco's appearance by calling him an animal, and, most importantly, gives the lie to the entire dynamic between Silco and Jinx.

We were led to believe that Felicia's death was the catalyst for Silco and Vander's falling out.  That if Silco had found Vander's letter in their little Brokeback bunk, they would've worked out their differences and found peace together. That they'd have raised Felicia's anklebiters side-by-side as the Zaundads of the revolution.

Except Silco is also the man selling Evil Anime PCP (Shimmer) as an economic cheat-code to earn respect for his people, and Vander is basically Captain Centrist and traumatized by war, and there is NO WAY they would've seen eye-to-eye on their respective methods. There's no way they would've come to any sort of accord. And there's no way Silco would've forgiven the man who mutilated and left him possibly sheared of half his lifespan, any more than Felicia's children would forgive the man who killed their mother.

It's such an incongruous narrative beat.

Which brings me to the other point:

Silco and Jinx.

imo, while I love the idea of Silco carrying either a secret torch for Felicia, or seeing her as a sister he'll always love, and while I absolutely treasure the idea of Jinx being a daily reminder of what he's fighting for - "I'm doing this for us, Jinx." - it sort of cheapens the key connection between them. In S1, Silco and Jinx's arc is, in my eyes, one of the best things about the series, and so incredibly well-written and executed. Silco is a monster, yes, but his monstrosity is the product of systemic and individual trauma, and the inextricable bleedthrough between the two. Finding this little girl and bringing her up under his wing, he has the chance to be the steadying hand and safe harbor he lost after Vander's betrayal. His monstrousness is not something he inflicts on her; it is something that, rather, grows on JInx like a kudzu vine, as the terrain of her damaged mind is already fertile for his worldview and methods to take root and thrive.

He is, perhaps, the best example of nurture triumphing over nature, even if his nurturing is rather, uh, extreme.

But if their bond is predicated on Felicia, rather than two strangers finding each other in the wilderness of heartbreak and learning to let their black hearts beat, messily entwined, as one family unit, and if Silco's obsession with Jinx is merely a projection of his guilt for killing her mother, and, by extension, a projection of his love for Felicia onto her daughter...

It's just.

Do y'all remember those uncomfortable frames that the showrunners admitted were deliberate, despite the evidence in the written text suggesting a familial bond? The subtext that, all the way into S2, carries the implication of a romantic relationship between a father and his daughter?

Well.

The implications now threaten to melt into explicit text, and the uncomfortable frames have turned into Unfortunate Implications, and I am not sure how I feel about this.

 It's not giving Lily and Snape; it's giving Sansa and Baelish.

It's giving the showrunners a big, fat "YEESH" rating from CPS.

And it's giving us the same, old, tired trope of a monstrous man unable to form an attachment unless it's through the lens of prior attachments, that whole 'You remind me so much of her' and the like.

 (I also admit I am the world's biggest hypocrite as the entire premise of Forward but Never Forget/XOXO is that the core foursome of Vander, Silco, Lika and Sevika knew each other, and that those ghosts haunt the machinery of the present day. But I try my damnedest to make plain there's politics buffeting all these relationships, and despite all their efforts to claw at self-sovereignty, reinvention and a new order, the past is a stubborn bitch that refuses to let go.)

(Also in FnF, Silco is triggered by Lika rather than into her in any affectionate or romantic way, because they're so similar: pragmatic survivors who aren't above rule-bending to get their way, and at their core just want a smoke break, a stiff drink, and a nap. It's a mutual respect rather than an affection, which is why she bestows on him the dubious honor of mercy killing her if she's too wounded on the Day of Ash to continue on.)

(He's the one person who could, and would, do her the service. It's kinship, and Jinx is the bright torch of their shared ambitions and ingenuity given both wing and voice.)

But anyway.

The flashback is a fever-dream. The kind you have when you're high on cold meds and can't think straight, and the world is a blur of sensations and memories that seem vivid in the moment but melt away into madness when you're better. It's a scene meant to be savored rather than interrogated. And I think if the showrunners had the time and inclination, we would've gotten a second episode solely dedicated to the flashback, rather than shoehorning it in. But since they're clearly trying to tie everything up with a neat bow before the finale, I don't blame them for having to skim past it and focus on the vibes/emotional resonance rather than the substance of a meaningfully written scene.

But hey.

Fanfic writers will have a field day with the open-ended dynamic and the fandom will never fucking stop, so that's nice.

Also we got loads of fantastic gifs of Young Silco. Bless.

<3

tl;dr: I've switched my critical brain off and decided to just enjoy the ride. It's so fucking epic. 

Also, Felicia was delightful and I hope her brotherhood/polycule/whatever with Silco and Vander gets its own spinoff, a la Road to El Dorado (or Zaun.)

[eerna]

i was one of the people who saw the early leaks post and i remember trying not to read too much of it but i had a moment of being like wow this cant be real but also it definitely could be. i remember reading about the damn caitvi sex scene and i thought to myself thats so ass why would they do it in a prison and then i realized the writers probably thought it was some meaningful parallel or something about vi being able to transform being imprisoned with something good

then the act dropped and i saw the damn parallels with cait finding her in the cell and i was like ok yeah. they basically had that as an idea. amanda overton was talking about it in a watch party and said they love their parallels and it was meant to symbolize vi addressing her trauma and im like. i see what they were going for and i get it I GUESS narratively but i really feel like this is such monkeys paw shit like we got this scene at what cost. and like the scene ITSELF was very good and sweet and lovely but like could it not have happened ANYWHERE ELSE?

i feel like the biggest problem with arcane s2 was that the creators rlly wanted to push the bar with animation storytelling. amanda talked about this too and like i feel like it kind of highlights the problem. where bc this show is so amazing graphically the animators wanna highlight that with as much action as possible instead of focusing on smaller scenes and more intimate quiet moments. i watched arcane s1 all at once after it came out and there were def parts that felt a little rushed in certain acts but it was nothing like s2. it just feels like they had all these story beats they wanted to hit but didnt give it the time it deserved and it sucks bc they said they always meant it to be 2 seasons so like why does it feel like this. they wrote them back to back around the same time what happened between s1 and s2. i just feel like the caitvi sex scene is a microcosm of the larger problem. they had these emotional beats and story moments that in isolation are really powerful but its almost like we didnt get a proper A to B transition. its like we skipped several steps for sooo many story beats.

such complex characters with real ass lives causing real ass problems. cait's privilege being an issue, how gratifying that could be to have explored. viktor's experience being explored more in depth. just so much more about zaun. like all of it was there in tiny slivers but it was never given the depth to GROW or properly BREATHE bc five million action scenes and plot points had to be squeezed in.

ultimately i love arcane overall. i think it has broken boundaries and done some amazing things. but its blemishes are really... painful at the same time. and knowing how the writers did such a good job in s1 makes me just like. cmon guys. you had it. YOU HAD IT

anyways sorry for blowing up your ask with so much rambling i just... idk. what are your thoughts on this stuff do you agree with my assessment or do you think the culprit is something else

No prob, welcome to the symposium~ Yeah, I totally get what the writers were going for with Vi. Which is why I am so shocked they thought it was a good idea. Like, okay, she is addressing her trauma in the sex scene... But why should her trauma get addressed by being locked in a jail cell by her sister, who just spent days being wrongfully imprisoned in there by the girl she's about to have sex with, and who then told her she was gonna off herself. If anything, the thing I was feeling was pain because it happened again, a Zaunite was thrown in jail by the Enforcers after she helped and saved them without any rights, and she was reminded she was less than them and her life is worth nothing... Mmmmm, the perfect memory to overwrite prison abuse!

I too felt s1 had some strange pacing choices, Vi and Jayce teamup comes to mind first, and that was, surprise surprise, a fight scene. But those were pretty minor, and still left time for other scenes to develop properly. It only becomes a real problem when it happens scene after scene, character after character, until no one is acting in character and you constantly feel like you have skipped a scene or two. I too remmeber them saying they wrote the seasons back to back, but. Dare I say it. I think s2 was so majorly rewritten by the time it went to recording that only the bare bones remained. In fact, that might be why we feel this way - maybe they DID have a frame they wanted to follow, but the rewrites warped and twisted the characters so intensely they ended up making no sense in the context of that frame. That's right, I'm talking about the way they decided to more closely follow and collaborate with LoL in s2. Jayce's final speech to Viktor only makes sense for game Viktor, and goes completely against s1 Viktor. Vi deciding police brutality doesn't really matter all that much makes sense for game Vi, and foes completely against s1 Vi. Jinx giving up on ever being loved or accepted by others makes sense for game Jinx, and goes completely against s1 Jinx.

So yeah my thesis is: Arcane knows it looks good, and sometimes it prevents it from being well written. It also decided to throw in its lot with LoL in s2, and no amount of good intentions from the writers could have saved it from crashing and burning.

[matchbet-allofthetime]

Jayvik Rambles + Arcane Babbling:

As an aro/ace queer...

I will NEVER see Viktor as strictly asexual. I can't, and I refuse to. I won't.

Lemme tell you why.

He is written in with quips and little moments and jokes that heavily imply sexuality, even if he prefers to brush it to the side in lieu of his work.

NOTHING about what he did with Jayce was ever, at any point (even the damn day they met), platonic or lacking tension.

As an aro/ace, I can ALSO say that even if he WAS asexual, almost every asexual has an exception at some point or another. Asexuality is not linear or specific, it simply means little to no sexual attraction.

Which means there is a firm chance that Viktor didn't give a damn about getting with much of anyone UNTIL Jayce.

That aside, I think it's important to note that they ARE romantically involved, they ARE sexually involved (see: Viktor literally picking Jayce up by the throat multiple times, stroking Jayce's lip, purposefully making their "fight" a dance on his end, a tease.)

I'm sick and tired— AS AN ARO/ACE DISABLED PERSON— of seeing characters like Viktor immediately thought to be aro/ace. Because he's just clearly... Not.

I'm all for people having HCs, but trying to say it's canon (regardless of what the creators have to say, bc clearly the producers didn't see jack shit that the animators and voice actors were getting up to, that shit is FRUITY) is absolutely just... Not right.

They're partners. Cosmically intertwined soulmates. They're destined to always find one another, always love one another, always protect one another. They live and die for one another. They parallel one another in more capacities than any other two people in the entire series (even Mel and Viktor don't have quite as many, and they've got several bc of how those two relationships correlate to Jayce.)

Jayce saying "he's like a brother to me" in S1 was absolutely him trying to convince himself that's all he felt. Convince himself he wasn't falling in love with his best friend, his other half.

And while I'm here, thinking about it, I want to say this:

Mel and Jayce found comfort in one another when they fucked. They found comfort, and they loved the IDEA of the other.

Jayce was a way for Mel to rebel, to be herself, to push back at something and have it give beneath her fingers while also pushing back in turn.

Mel was an idea for Jayce, what could be, what he could have. Not power, not money— but a purpose, and a place, and a pride worth keeping.

They didn't even really mean to fall into bed together— the idea of the other just appealed, and that's where it ended.

It ended the second Jayce left Mel's bed to find Viktor. Because she was important, but Viktor was so much moreso.

[constantfragmentation]

It's bugging me...

The inconsistencies and a lack of detail and continuity in S2. S1 was all about the tiniest details.

Don't get me wrong, the animation is gorgeous, BUT --

The underwater scene is where Jinx lets Silco go.

He was RIDDLED with bullets. Yet, not a mark on him?

Why is his damaged eye closed? I thought he didn't have an eyelid. Artistically, I think having his lifeless eyes glazed over would have been more dramatic, considering it's Silco. Nah, he just sinks like Jack to the depths of the Titanic.

How deep IS the Pilt River?? I'm assuming that's where she 'buried' him.

The whole first act is so damn rushed.

No one seems to wonder what happened to Silco? He was only the main person holding the Underground together by the strands of his pomade hair. His death is a BIG deal, yet it's glossed over. No one questioned any of it???

Sevika is just, okay, let's move on like it's another day (granted, Zaunites are probably predisposed to be like that, but that doesn't make for good storytelling if you're not letting the audience in on anything), and chatting it up with Jinx as if they just bonded. I didn't feel that happen. I like that they low-key ripped into him post mortem, because that feels natural but what got them in that room together DOESN'T.

I want to know how these characters FEEL. You got that in spades during S1. But S2 is just expecting you to assume or they would attempt to take the time to use what would be great writing and evolving these characters.

Caitlin is hurting, I get it. But she went full Commando Psycho mode. Girl, everyone has lost parents, siblings, etc... She doesn't even flinch when Vi tells her Enforcers killed BOTH her parents. She's lost a beloved sister... but Cait is affronted when Vi shirks from becoming an Enforcer. Let's just forget what PIltover did to Zaun for generations and to LOADS of people.

Vi? Oh girl. What happened to you?

Jinx is a bit better but not much. I don't buy Silco's death was a zap to the brain to chill her out a bit. She's still my Chaos Queen but unless there is something to explain some shit in the following episodes, I'm going to be really ticked at the lack of care in characterizations with who are the supposed leads in this story.

Jesus Viktor. That's it. That's all I got.

Well, I did LOL when he woke up and gave Jayce the "bye Felicia" in 2.2 seconds.

We don't get to know what Ekko is thinking since all this shit went down? As far as he knows, Jinx is dead and to learn to she bombed Piltover?

The music videos substituting for the plot are REALLY bugging me. It's lazy writing. The music was used well in S1 to ENHANCE the scene (well, except for giving Imagine Dragons an animated cameo). Here, it's used as exposition, but it's not nearly good enough.

Useless characters and side-characters. Poorly executed plot devices. Uninteresting plot devices and trying to use the S1 parallels for characterizations.

S1 took time to introduce and flesh out these characters, even the side-characters.

We only had Vander for 3 episodes but he was a HUGE character. Marcus, Mylo, Claggor, Benzo, Grayson, Finn.... all were interesting and played an important part.

Jayce continues to be blah. So I'm not bothered.

Ambessa looks to be the new villain but it's not hitting with me. Plus, there's zero foreshadowing on some stuff in her arc that would have been useful last season.

I like Mel but I'm waiting to see what happens with her.

Hermydingding going all Mission Impossible. Just stop. Does he not give two furry fucks about what happened to his fellow councilmembers and Piltover?

I feel like RIot is trying to shove way too much into one season and sacrificing good story-telling to do it.

I miss the details.

So far, I'm really underwhelmed with this season.

[vidavalor]

Hello! I trully love your metas ♥️

And I want to believe… but how do you match the fact that they have kissed (even fucked) for so many time with the only kiss we have seen which is so clumsly, so fist-time-type, and so turbovirgin?

Thank you!

Hi @margotmignard-blog Thank you and nice to meet you. :) Ok, this is for you and the few Anons who have sent me more or less the same Ask in the last 2 weeks or so as some of my posts have circulated a bit more so yeah, alright, I'll take it on. All of you please help yourself to hot chocolate and holiday M&Ms, even if you are making me think about Every again to write this lol.

Why do I think Crowley & Aziraphale are long-time lovers when Every is an awkward kiss? Because you know what looks just like clumsy, first-time kisses?

Old-married argument kisses of desperation when all other communication is failing that then wind up failing, too, that's what.

Two people kissing in distress is clumsy and messy no matter what stage of their relationship they're in and if they're upset and think the other is about to walk out the door and conflicted about opening up to the kiss because of the argument then all of that makes for a truly gut-wrenchingly awkward kiss. It didn't read as a first time kiss to me at all but I can understand how it might to someone.

I actually think that's the insanely evil genius of it lol. This show is such a bastard worth knowing, I tell ya. :) Right now, they have everyone being all "they need to have a better second kiss!" and just well... if you were them, wouldn't you want that? Would seem a good way to bury the surprise of an older kiss, wouldn't it? Would be a good way to sleight of hand some doubt into *checks notes* apparently everybody but me and a handful of others lol and so help to have everyone flailing again but for a better reason when they throw in an older, better kiss.

It's also a bolder move, both story-wise and performance-wise. Sadly, it's still a big deal that they've even kissed at all and it shouldn't be but, thankfully, it's becoming more common. In a way, though, that makes the fact that they made the first kiss you saw less than ideal a better choice and a better story.

Some more thoughts on this under the cut below that is beneath some gifs of these two who haven't apparently ever kissed before moments away from sex in the wall slam scene in S1... which is Every's parallel scene. By design. To illustrate a contrast. The first kiss we saw is a mirror of oh, just the start of some casual public sex that got interrupted by SatanicNun!Nina. Haven't we all had that relationship where we let someone throw us against a wall before we ever kissed? I mean...

Look at Aziraphale and his little 'getting up to some sexy trouble' smile here... does he not look like he knows *exactly* what he's asking for here and does Crowley not know what the request is and give it to him in a way that screams that this is not the first time? The tone here is a bit... You know, Crowley, I've always said I wanted to fuck in an empty broom closet in a former satanic nunnery and luck of the devil, you just kicked in a door and found one so you are sooooo nice throw me against the wall baby let's go... oh terrific of course this is exactly when the damn nun shows up oh well at least I can enjoy you slurring your S's in sexual frustration for now...

Good Omens throws something down and then gives you context for it later on that causes you to revisit what you thought when you initially watched it, right? They do this all the time. The scenes themselves always work fine on first viewing but they change and morph into a different scene when viewed with the added context the show gives you later. If you're writing a show in that way, you absolutely would make Every the first kiss you showed the audience... *especially* if it was in a cliffhanger-y season finale. Your Ask is exactly the reason why. You and I and a bonkers number of others are engaging with one another on the topic and we're engaging with the show as a result. Some of us are apparently willing to fight to the death insisting that Every is their first kiss. Some of us are like how you appear to be from your Ask, where you're willing to keep an open mind but you're leaning towards it was the first kiss. Some of us are like me and are feeling that, when all is said and done, they are building a relationship that is millennia old and that the show will wind up illustrating an entire history of it by its end and the idea that we have scenes out there already like Rome and The Globe Theatre and 1941 and Tadfield Manor but people think that they just kissed for the first time in 2023 is kind of head-scratching to me.

I've had people ask me how an ancient times vavoom would advance the story and I've answered in other meta how I think it would but I have an ask back for you all: how, honestly, would 2.06 being their first kiss advance the story? They've written characters who have had a relationship of some form with one another since before the Garden of Eden and have shown us that story throughout different points in time. S3 is going to be, at best, set a couple of years out from S2 and is probably set a lot sooner than that, so we're going to end their story sometime before 2026 on their timeline, probably... and the first kiss was in 2023? When you have the opportunity to write an entire millennia-old romantic relationship with all of its highs and lows and show it in the flashbacks and how they inform the relationship in the present? Because that story is already there. That's the story I see watching this and have since the first time I watched it. I'm frankly kinda floored by the number of people who insist that it's their first kiss, especially two seasons into the show. The same show that gave you this before it gave you The Blitz, Part 2?

I got accidentally spoiled for Every like a lot of people and when I saw Crowley's glasses on, I had the feeling that it was probably going to be a terrible kiss. I was hoping that it wasn't the only kiss in the season but when 2.05 finished without it showing up yet, it became obvious that it was going to be a big thing in the finale (hahaha oh God, remember when we didn't know? simpler times lol) and that meant that it was likely the only kiss in the season and while it ripped my heart out like it did everyone else, I never saw it as a first kiss for a second.

If you've been with somebody for a long time and, like everyone else, you have your disagreements and your things to work through but you tend to be the kind of couple where you can always or almost always rely on a baseline of physical communication that helps you express what you feel for one another-- which is a wordy way of saying 'when you've been with someone forever and the sex is amazing' lol-- maybe the worst thing that can happen between you is if that feels like it's falling apart, too. That's what I see in that kiss and, in particular, Aziraphale's reaction to it.

It's not 'turbo-virgin', in an unfamiliar with kissing way, imo-- it's a situation causing conflict for Aziraphale over whether or not he wants to give into the kiss. We've all seen it from every damn angle by now lol. We see him unable to not give in, just a little. He kisses Crowley back a bit. He touches his shoulder and his side. He doesn't pull away because he just can't, really, because he never really wants to not be kissing Crowley, but he also can't just give in because that's the situation that Crowley's set up by kissing him the way he did. Crowley wants him to run away with him and that's not a solution to any of this, either, and everything is a total mess and if Aziraphale just gives in and opens up more and really kisses Crowley, he's saying yes to just running off with him and they can't. There's really nowhere to go.

Even with all of that, he still can't resist kissing Crowley a bit and touching him because Crowley and because what he really wants is for them to be literally anywhere else, somewhere safe away from all of it, without having to worry about Heaven & Hell, but they aren't and he can't pretend that they are. That'd be even crueler, really, to really kiss Crowley and then still go to Heaven, right?

It's not a first kiss and at a bad time panic-- it's oh God, I think we broke it. It's the heartbreak of suddenly being in this place together where they aren't communicating well on any level and that going past having a verbal disagreement and into the pain of having an absolutely brutally bad kiss with someone with whom you've had countless passionate ones and the terror that it might be the last one and you're never going to feel any of that again.

That's happened to them before.

It's the brutal 1862 scene. Aziraphale in 1862's comment about The Agreement is the most embittered you won't touch me anymore thing ever. They've gone from The Arrangement in their looser, flirtier Globe Theatre era to now what Aziraphale calls The Agreement in 1862. The difference between an arrangement and an agreement is basically where the future is concerned. An agreement is, well, an agreement lol but it tends to be more formal, more restrained, while an arrangement is an agreement that contains more of a view to the future. It's a plan. You agree to meet up but you arrange how, basically. They don't have The Arrangement in 1862 anymore, they have The Agreement and it sounds like the exact fucking opposite of The Arrangement. The Agreement is "stay out of each other's way. Lend a hand, as needed," according to Aziraphale.

Read that again: "Stay out of each other's way. Lend a hand, as needed." See a problem here? If we're just talking about helping each other out with work assignments then this literally just doesn't make any sense at all as how can you both stay out of each other's way but lend a hand as needed? It's one or the other. It can't be both. It's "stay out of each other's way" when it comes to work assignments. It's "lend a hand, as needed" in their love life and Aziraphale is bitter as all holy fuck about it. They're barely having sex anymore.

That scene in 1862 actually also parallels part of the scene that contains Every. Funny how alike "we have a lot in common, you and me" sounds to what Crowley says in 2.06, isn't it? Dude has got to stop asking for holy water or to run away when they're both a mess-- it not working lol.

The point is that they've been together a long time and they've also both experienced a lot of trauma. They've have times where miscommunications snowballed and it felt broken beyond repair but it's not and it's not because they love each other and they eventually figure it out. That's part of the pain of Every, though, because what happened after Crowley came back from Hell in 1827 was bad and it took a long time to get to a better place with it but they did and better than before and then this kiss that they think could wind up being their last is a complete disaster straight out of the mid-1800s on top of the fact that they're in what feels like in the moment irreversible disagreement.

It's a painful kiss. It hurts to watch. It's supposed to. Not because they've never kissed before but because they've kissed a trillion times and this is by far the worst of the lot.

And these bastards decided it was the first one we should see lol. It's okay, though. These are coming soon, in the past and present:

[sexybritishllama]

thoughts from the first 3 eps of arcane season 2

major loss in the form of cait and vi's new cop outfits, major win in the form of viktor's new jesus-like messiah look. ultimately it's swings and roundabouts for bisexuals

art direction is so so pretty all the time, genuinely so impressive

i think the pacing could slow down a bit? i appreciate it's rushing into the conflict after the climax of season 1 but i think individual conversations even could just be left with a bit more breathing room between dialogue. there's some pretty significant character development happening that is a big shift from the character's initial views and i think the end result is totally reasonable given the circumstances (e.g. cait's fall into fascism following her grief and trauma from everything in s1, vi giving in and joining the enforcers), but we could use a bit more time to actually get there yknow

i like jinx getting a little orphan kid imprinting on her, that's a fun parallel to play with where she's the adult in the relationship now

when they said black rose i did a proper double take because that just makes me think of ffxiv. garlean empire is that you

i got my caitvi kiss but at what cost......

overall very good! don't think it's quite hitting the highs season 1 did for me yet but it's still early on so i'll give it its time, and season 1 was a damn high bar so even when it's falling short of that it's still good tv

[corruptedhyena]

hello to the like 3 people who have been waiting for Bindertales

im so sorry, the next 2 pages are done dw but it's in progress ;w;

in the meantime HELLO NEIGHBOR AGAIN IM SO SORRY the new episodes are making me scream again so please give me a moment to share some doodles whilst i share my thoughts.

SEASON 2 SPOILERS INCOMING!!

firstly, my favorite part of the series: Trinity and Nicky's friendship! i'm really not a fan of romance plots so i ADORE that they aren't trying anything with these two, just leaving it to mosty one-sided Enzo.

so, when the teasers showed an almost direct parallel of Nicky leading Trinity into Peterson's house by giving us a shot of Trinity leading Nicky, it really got my hopes up!! it thankfully didn't disappoint too horribly, but damn if it isn't painful to watch Trinity go from "yeah Nicky you've been through a lot huh ): " in episode 1 to "c'mon dude you're the one who told me to be brave, why are you being so scared???" it was a bit AAAAA

thankfully, it does seem somewhat purposeful, as she is still a kid and seems to be doing her best to help Nicky the way he helped her be brave, it's just really backfiring. as seen when she's taken home from school in ep 2, she's clearly worried about him and is very much aware something is going on, so it's not like there's some sorta character betrayal! i really hope they'll have a chance to really talk things out and reach an understanding. OR AT LEAST JUST GIVE NICKY A HUG FOR FUCK'S SAKE POOR BOY, THAT CLIFFHANGER HURTS SO MUCH OML

I LOVE SIBLING CONTENT PLEASE GIVE US MORE!! some of my favorite bits of background detail in s1 are Maritza's reactions to Enzo being a simp. she's such an asshole and i love her for it. she's also still acting as the greatest voice of the straight man, which is a breath of fresh air sometimes among the children playing detective during MULTIPLE MURDERS AND ACTS OF ARSON!!!

speaking of, why the hell did Mrs. Bales immediately get suspicious of the LITERAL CHILDREN who were OUTSIDE during the housefire? especially since she herself said her outlet blew? i understand stories following kids have to find a way to write out the parents sometimes, but it's just baffling that it was handled so well in s1 compared to s2. and they also jump on the anti-Nicky train? did they not literally witness that child escape from Peterson's after their daughter told them he was kidnapped weeks ago????? DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND THIS IS A LITERAL CHILD WHO JUST GOT TRAUMATIZED AND WHOSE PARENTS WERE SAID TO BE HARD TO CONTACT??!?!?!?!

i'm

far less agonized, i just thought about how in the world Peterson hid among gravestones as a grown-ass man during Trinity's story in s1, and thought it'd be funny if, as i draw him, he pretended to be a bush behind a gravestone. hunched up so his body's behind the stone and the big flumf of his mane and tail stuck out. logically, a flashlight would catch the red of it despite the dark, but cartoon logic could hand-wave it away.

in terms of s2 thoughts with him, it's cool to see his backstory! i'm still pretty much in the dark when it comes to the whole Hello Neighbor lore, as i only saw gameplay of the alphas and never heard the intended storyline, but i did see that last Matpat video! i can't wait to see what's up with his brother being the shadow guy (i think) and why he's terrorizing Nicky. i'm betting it's not a malicious thing, that maybe he's trying to make contact or keep him safe, considering the flashback! and it seems like the grown-up bullies might be the ones behind the kids' disappearances and Crowface, though i'm not quite as confident about that one. i just know a lot of the adults are suspicious and i think it's a red herring that there's supposedly a secret neighbor. i think it's all of them, and Peterson knows.

still doesn't excuse kidnapping and traumatizing Nicky tho

thanks to anyone who reads this rambling mess, i just have a lot of thoughts about this show and don't have anyone i know who's caught up or into it (:

[seventhdoctor]

For the yugioh character ask meme: Supreme King Judai!

Oh boy is this an interesting one.

Why I like them/why I don’t I'll be honest, at first I didn't like him. Back in 2007 when I was experiencing GX through Photobucket screencaps and forum discussion, I was like "Wait. Why is Judai evil now. What's going on. I don't like this. Also the Evil Heroes look ugly."

[Haunted voice] I understand now.

Supreme King Judai says a lot about Judai Yuki, how he deals with his guilt and his fear and his trauma, and what he'll do to try and...feel safe? Regain control? I bet he'd like to know the end to that sentence, too. And I came back to GX after one of the worst periods of my life so uh, that part really got me when I was rewatching GX last year!

I love love love his little monologue about how "I won, and I kept winning, but still [all of this happened, I lost everything, etc.]" and how it parallels early S1 Manjoume. We heard that lesson and learned nothing! It says a lot about both Judai (who failed to internalize it) and the way he's treated (because yeah that feels emptier when everyone and their mother and even the bad guy is depending on you to beat the bad guy, SAIOU I SEE YOU WITH THAT SATELLITE KEY). I even appreciate the symbolism of the Evil Heroes: to defeat evil he did indeed become evil, and yet defeating evil makes you the hero doesn't it?

He also raises questions about Judai and his past life. Like...how did this guy:

...become this guy?

He came like this. Judai lost himself in the darkness of his heart and out came a side of himself buried underneath a life he doesn't remember, and this is how he came out. The little boy who made a tearful promise in response to another's self-sacrifice turned into a tyrant who believes power is the only way to achieve anything, and how did that happen?

Obviously this is a question that's driving me to write a 40k word prequel fanfic. Help.

What I like about their appearance

Hey, do you think those shoulder spikes were originally meant to match Yubel's? :'D But also, the cape. Of course in that black and gold armor, he's got a red cape.

If I can give voice acting a shout for appearance, KENN's work was amazing too. I recorded his debut monologue to show a friend who watched the dub and sometimes it's nice to revisit that clip because damn.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? There really isn't much that isn't carried over from the original Judai -> Jaden change; Haou is just Supreme King. (I use Supreme King as a title and Haou to refer to the character but that is extremely a personal thing for my brain only.) As with Asuka I'm neutral on the name change here aside from being ehhhhh on localizing names to Western ones as a broad trend but that's for another kind of post entirely.

OTP What Haou are we talking about here. Probably with Yubel or Johan but it EXTREMELY depends on time point and circumstances.

NOTP IDK man. Any ship with him is probably a little fucked up but we enjoy that here.

OT3 See above.

Favourite card they use

CHOU YUUGOU

Favourite moment they were in

Definitely his debut in episode 136. That monologue about "In order to defeat evil, one must become evil" and "In this world with the rule of the jungle, one must rule with power" is iconic.

Least favourite moment

Is there a moment that qualifies? His scenes are bangers.

[thevillagequeer]

for ur playlist ask game thing i got 2, if that's cool: come sail away on luther's playlist & a boy named sue on diego's playlist (:

of course it's cool :) if i ever turn down a yap session about music and the umbrella academy, i don't want to know that day

okay! so first

Come Sail Away - Styx

listen here!

okay i'm just gonna write as i listen first and then edit this down okay so first off the song is by styx which is interesting because an in show 'klaus song' is renegade, also by styx, which i think gives a nice parallel to how luther wishes he could be like klaus (so carefree lol)

and also, just the space-vibes of course. its a song about space travel and aliens that look like angels. luther vibes amiright

but lyrically, it's very luther, very hopeful (very demure). i think that is something so interesting about luther, for all his gruffness. he is incredibly earnest and full of hope for a long, long time, it really only crashes down when he learns Reginald didn't open anything he sent him from the moon.

i think of childhood friends and the dreams we had

we lived happily forever, so the story goes,

but somehow we missed out, on our pot of gold,

but we'll try, best as we can to carry on

do i even need to say anything-- if that ain't luther's pre-apocalypse mantra, i don't know what is. the idea that the Umbrella Academy wasn't a farce is something he holds onto for so long. that maybe his siblings were just jaded to the point they couldn't see the promise, the potienial. that it wasn't all fruitless abuse.

AND THE BEAT DROPS

we all know Luther loves a good groove and if Come Sail Away is not a good groove, i don't want to talk to you.

i thought that there were angels, come to my surprise,

we climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies!

this also just strikes me as a luther line too, his love and joy of space, the way i can picture him looking up at sloane with such affection because she's like his awesome floating space angel

I can also just picture little luther absolutely breaking it down in his bedroom to this like he puts on the record while he's studying or whateve but then as it picks up he's just crab dancin' all round that joint.

additional viewing: this scene from Freaks and Geeks (great show, with great writing and an amazing soundtrack--shows like this are why s1 of TUA make my brain sing) if Luther didn't know the song beforehand, i feel like this is something that could very well happen to him. wants to use his one promised dance with his crush on a slow dance, but then it ends up being a synthy rock disco banger.

damn that got long lol I think I will do Boy Named Sue as its own post so people aren't stuck scrolling forever and ever

hope that was vaguely coherent! thank you so much for the ask :)

Send me an ask about a song from my playlists for the characters of the Umbrella Academy!

[entelodontidae]

Word Parallels in Stranger Things

These are just ones I’ve noticed so far!

——————————————————

You don’t love me?

Its bullshit.

Nancy to Steve, S2 E2

It’s romantic.

Its bullshit.

Max and Dustin commenting on Mike and El, S3 E1

——————————————————

Lucas to Max, S4 E4

“I thought we lost you.”

Joyce to Hopper, S4 E?

“Thought I lost you.”

Mike to Will, S4 E4

“Maybe I feel like I lost you or something.”

——————————————————

Mike to Will, S4 E4

“Thanks, by the way. For knocking some sense into me, I was being a total self pitying idiot.”

Steve to Nancy, S4 E9

“I think like, right out of the gate, I’m super confident. But I’m also, like, an idiot. … Thank you, for giving my head the biggest thump of its life.”

——————————————————

“Holy shit. What happened to you?” Mike to Dustin, s2 e9

“Holy shit! What happened to you?” Richie to Ben, IT(2017)

——————————————————

“I can do anything, I’m the chief of police.”

Brody, Jaws

“I’m the chief of police, I can do anything.”

Hopper, s3

——————————————————

“That sounds nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Nancy to Steve, S4 E7

“El needs you Mike, and she always will.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Will to Mike, S4 E7

——————————————————

“So, he asked you to take me home?”

“Yeah, I mean, he was really upset.”

Nance to Jonathan, S2 E3

“I mean… she [El] told me what to draw. She commissioned it, basically.”

Will to Mike, S4 E8

——————————————————

I knew you were acting weird. I just thought it was because of Will.” Nancy, s1

“I thought you were acting weird. I thought it was because of Steve.” Mike, s1

——————————————————

Mike to El, s3

“You said nana was sick.” El

“She is-“ Mike, gestures for Lucas to play along

“She is, super sick.” Lucas

“That’s why we were here, actually-“ Mike

Followed by breakup

Mike to Will, s3

“Fine. You guys win. I’m going home.” - Will

“No- no we want to keep playing, right?” Mike, gets Lucas to play along

“Uh- yeah.” Lucas

“We were just joking around, let’s finish the campaign for real.” Mike

Followed by fight

——————————————————

“I feel like I’m losing my mind”

“Not anymore than I am”

Hopper and Joyce, S3 E3

“Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Me, too.”

“Hey, well, if we’re both going crazy, we’ll go crazy together, right?”

“Yeah. Crazy together.”

Mike to Will, S2 E2

“Only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart, and that damn stupid.”

Flo to Nancy, S2e6-8?

“You know, they do say it (love) makes you crazy.”

Mike to El, s3e7?

These might all just be coincidence, but it’s still fun to point them out!

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 6

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! the fact that it was a musical episode is totally the cherry on top; i love it when series come with their own music (cough cough me @ project sekai). but overall it was also really funny, and had some great character moments, too.

i'll save my thoughts on strategy and where the season might be headed for my next power ranking post (whenever that is :,( ), but were some of my other thoughts/highlights.

specifically the phrase "fuck my life" and Yul saying it made me cackle. seems like Emily ISN'T Yul's manager, but she might still kinda take on that role this season? we'll see. the lack of phones is really having an effect on the plot.

they hate her so fucking bad

okay, i guess i forgot to consider this angle when i was saying it would've made more sense for them to vote out Fiore. however, having started with 18 participants, the merge will probably happen at, what, 10 people? (modern Survivor describes the merge as "at least 11," but obviously this isn't survivor.) sure, Hunter is a bit of a challenge beast, but he can't protect all three of them every episode. if this trio is only 3/10 of the votes, you could literally split the votes on Ally and Tess in a 3-3-4 if you can get everyone else to unite against them. you know what you should be worried about? THE VILLAINS ALLIANCE HAVING 6/"10" VOTES AT THE MERGE!!! sigh. why am i relying on Jake to be smart (/j)

i'm more impressed that there was hot water in the first place. this thing is in the middle of a field, no?

i'm finally starting to see how Yul can be a hilarious "love to hate him" kind of villain. he had some of the best lines this episode hands down.

TREVEK BECOME CANON???

there was absolutely no reason to put the apple on the stick other than to fit in. love this for her.

idk if this is a winner's cut moment or not. glad that the money would go towards schools and NOT the police force, though.

man, now i want to go back and check the other episodes to see if Tess has had the "Cyan Team narrator" role the whole time. in Survivor, that's indicative of a deep run. ...i really need to stop applying Survivor logic to everything.

and why are you thinking about what would make Oliver laugh, Kristal? ',:)

i appreciate the s1 callback, but Trevor doing this dance move gives me so much second hand embarrassment that i keep inadvertently closing my eyes every time i have to "see" it again. anyways, given how most of the episode songs had lyrics related to the Team's emotional state, it's interesting to see that Trevor is singing a romance song. trevek become canon pt 2?

this was an interesting parallel. with Kristal laughing at Derek's joke, it seems like they were trying to show how she's growing closer to Derek, in a way which Trevor might fear is romantic. were there supposed to be romantic undertones to Alec being the only one to laugh at Connor's joke? and, if there were, was that just a fun nod to the aleconnor shippers, or will it actually be canon/relevant to later in the season?

NOT a surprise. i need to see the "i want you died" poetry he wrote about Fiore after last season.

of course you were, you fucking fruit (affectionate)

the anguish: i love my gf :D let's frolick through a field together

"trust me dude i'm the divorce man"

GABBY?????

mood but also damn is Ellie really leaning into the villain thing this season. this doesn't even help her win the season, she JUST wants to see him suffer.

i forgot that the s1 contestants didn't know that Nina was her own separate being yet

they were NOT lying, Aiden's VA is a great singer! Tom's backing vocals and Ellie and Gabby's harmonies(?) were also really nice too, though. this was probably my favorite song of the episode just bc i think Cyan had the strongest singers. all of the rocking, shoulder-moving dances are also impossible not to imitate.

well, there's the thumbnail. their choice of thumbnail made me laugh bc i remember, back when i was watching s1, seeing all the thumbnails of Aiden kissing both James and Hunter and thinking that Aiden was going to be some sort of troublemaking flirty antagonistic character only to be blindsided by his actual characterization. i'm sure the s1 watching me would have only added this to her arsenal of evidence, although hilariously idk if i would have been able to tell the other character was Tom at the time. anyways, i was pretty certain from the start that this must be part of the performance. although, while i'm happy that Aiden seems to think that James will be okay with the performance, i wish we could have cut to James somehow just to confirm that that was true. i don't want the next time we see James, whether in the finale or some other time, to show that he was actually really jealous and upset at Aiden for kissing another man while in a committed relationship. also gabbielle(?) super cute in the bg :D

he's so fucking stupid... (/pos)

bold of you to say this to Ashley, who has been in a two year relationship with the guy who went home in episode 2.

i also really liked this song :D i understand why they made Jake and Ally the main singers, because they best encompassed what the theme of the song was about, but i think i actually liked Ashley's vocals the best. i wish she'd gotten to sing more. also for a moment i thought Marcus had a trans flag on his hat. it's still close enough. trans Marcus canon.

this was probably my least favorite performance of the episode, although idk how much of that was just how much i hate Alec's outfit. glassesless Alec scares me so bad... no hate to the VAs, obviously, i think they have nice voices! it's actually the way that they didn't sound like they had confidence in their singing abilities that made the performance feel a little shakier to me. i do think that this song had the best lyrics in terms of encapsulating each member of their team, though. i really like how Yul and Riya are the ones to sing "i'm going to chase it" as a duo, because they're the ones chasing fame and the limelight, and then Grett sings that she can't ignore it, because eventually she's going to have to realize that her entire relationship with Yul was a result of him clout chasing. Connor only singing "live in the moment until i die" is also very fitting given his placement... in both seasons. L.

really surprised that Riya (or anyone else) didn't even mention Yul's foot injury as part of this equation. Riya just said that she didn't want to lose any more challenges, and Yul's bad foot could totally lead to a loss. maybe i'm just overestimating the extent to which that foot injury will stick around, though.

season 2 characters are REALLY suffering out here.

HELP??????

love to see Alec and Fiore's kinda sorta dual redemptions. i have high hopes for them.

and those were my initial thoughts, which got way longer than i expected. thanks if you wound up reading towards all the way down here. i have no idea who the leakers are, obviously, but i really hope that they stop acting up soon so that the series can continue. i would hate to have the artists have to take a pay hit and/or stop making the series just because of some people's impatience and delusions of power, or have the honest patrons lose out on being able to watch the episodes early to protect from others' immaturity. see ya!

[caphayzardous]

arcane season 2 spoilers

anyway we all know I only care about viktor. I kinda feel like there were some major scenes missing there. like yeah i get what happened off-screen for all that, just that personally I am always interested in "watching someone become a cult leader" u know. or become a robot freaky guy. I think that a bit more of that corruption could have been shown because it's Interesting. and also because he ended up being kind of important to the Plot right but was not really.. Around. anyway large main cast and only 9 episodes I get it my fave will never have enough screentime etc etc.

and then also idk he had that happy cult where yes he could inhabit their bodies at will, but they did otherwise seeming to be thriving and having free will (I think?) and like. the turn from that to 'no I gotta take away the free will' is a bit like rushed LMAO. like yeah it was going to go that way but really, like that? sure he got exploded, plus it's da magic and stuff messing with him a bit, it's not just viktor-as-we-knew-him making that leap, but yeah man idk

all of this pairs alongside with my other complaint which is: Too Much of Jayce being Boring As Fuck again ! mans boring what can i say. whats up with that scene where he busts in and ruins like 4 different happy endings at once. I know that's ostensibly because some future viktor encouraged it, but then that act was also the turning point for vitkor fully 'evolving' people, so ? idk maybe he woulda got to that point anyway (you know what cults, literally all cults, are like)

Jinx was interesting, Vi and Jinx still have an interesting story together, the back and forth "one last betrayal, one last I've-always-got-your-back" maybe was a bit like drawn out right at the end but hey it suits 'em. I liked Jinx's arc w da kid. The entire time I was watching this season i was remembering someones commentary of s1 which was "damn this show really likes to kill children, huh" and uh well Yeah. rip but in terms of plot that one was real cheap and I think honestly boringly predictable to do the 'rip it all away again' thing for jinx. round 3!

A bit interesting watching Jinx go quiet depwession and Vi go rage depwession but perhaps also I just think after a whole season 1 of tragedy it was like man . . . can they catch a break though. and I dont think that having jinx do the sacrifice at the end was really necessary or satisfying. it was satisfying having those two unite. but I think jinx has actually died enough LMAO

Cait's arc. uhhh. like. man. woof. nah. pretty fucking egregious choices, words, and actions, there! she kinda fucked up a lot this season. I was vouchin for her and Vi in s1 but honestly by the end of this one I'm liek dude. like idk about that. I guess Vi already compromised or rewrote her morals when she agreed to uhh [checks notes] "Gas Civilians utilising Zaun's literal air ventilation systems" while hunting for her sister. so. sure. the cell makeout scene was so funny for how intensely censored it was.

Ekko was cool I liked His Episode w the parallel stuff that was interesting and also a bit sweet. he kinda faded into da background a bit all season and hten I thought he was going to come in clutch but he kinda didnt. I mean he did, in the way everyone did, but not for the actual resolution.

speaking of the resolution look idk space viktor scenes are ok they are like. ehh. ok. that imagery was all a bit wishy-washy 4 me. but it was alright. kinda sweet to have those two reunite sure but. idk their friendship breakup wasnt like...... I mean it was like a gradual falling out? sorta? 'jayce growing apart from viktor' and then 'viktor refusing to compromise his morals any further and deciding to leave' u know I think its nice they were partners at the end again but who am I kidding jayce is too boring for me to give a fuck his friendship (or... whatever we are calling it :) ) with viktor IS interesting but once its over im kinda like good riddance !

Mel is cool idk man I didnt expect her to disappear and come back a mage umm like she was a bit more interesting as a manipulator or even as A Person u know ? but good for her. As for Ambessa I will say she is. well. consistent. actually, until the robots thing - I know she's obsessed with obtaining A Weapon but that particular angle doesnt seem to align with her principles at all. but yknow. these things happen. still kind of tracks for obsession to win there.

Who else. uhh. why DID heimerdinger explode asfjsknd. did that serve any purpose. also Sevika had the MOST "this character will be killed off" energy for all of BOTH seasons I actually cant believe she lived to the end.

all in all. I liked season 1 more, I maaay have liked this one more if I had rewatched it beforehand, because I was playing a little bit of catch-up and the emotional points may have hit harder if I had rekindled my investment in the characters that s1 did stoke so well. I did like this one though. but. was not as moved by it and just kind of wanted to see how it all ended. and then it all ended and I was like ah ok. thats ok I guess.

in s1 I was all in for the tragedy and p sure I cried a bunch at various things lmao. in this one I felt like it was just hmm not cheap exactly but idk none of it really landed. maybe you can only watch vi scream and punch a wall so many times?

the animation still rocks though. (except why was one random guy in the last episode given normal eyes where everyone else is cartoon? it was so noticeable?) I like the sequences of Different Style as well. fun stuff.

did find it a bit funny how no one (of the main characters) is ever allowed to win in a one-on-one because they are all part of an equal and balanced Video Game its just kind of funny in the cooonstant match-ups in the show when you sort of pick that like. every fight is going to be interrupted, or made uneven by numbers, or etc etc for some reason and no one can ever appear to have too much of an advantage over anyone else, hahah.

[mothmage]

20 Qs for fic writers

Tagged by @monstersinthecosmos , thank you!!!

1. How many works do you have on A03? 31 (and a few anon, i think 2 or 3. idk, when i post a fic on anon i forget about it forever)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 446,135

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently/primarily vc, iwtv (amc), star wars, and merlin (bbc)!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? A Lovely Little Normal Life (which, honestly, kind of annoys me lol. i know it's just bc it's a huge fandom, but really? the stupid little 12k harry potter fic i wrote in two days is my most kudos? please...); Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (forever pushing my lesbian genderswap agenda); The Face of God (les mis slightly canon divergent javert character study); The Odyssey of Recollection (amc iwtv s1 pov armand); Away From Stranger Tides (potc philip/syrena fic i started ages ago and never finished, lol)

5. Do you respond to comments? yes i love talking to people in comments!!!! i've made a lot of friends through comments!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? omg. umm. merthur fans don't know this yet bc i havent finished posting but it's arthur pendragon long may she reign (BUT it's part of a series, so it's literally fine). idk, i dont tend to write long fics that end angsty. but my angstiest fic in general is probably Hollow-Boned Boy (armand contemplating his human life in the early CoD era) or Vision of the Damned (daniel's turning from armand's pov)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i love a happy ending!! my series Odysseus in White Silk is probably the happiest ending, and in such an undeserved way hahaha it's so very AU because i was sad after s1 of the show and just wanted them all (and armandaniel) to live happily ever after

8. Do you get hate on fics? i dont think i ever have, but i tend to read comments in good faith too, so maybe someone out there is annoyed that i interpreted their vague dislike comment as a genuine comment or something, idk. in general though, i'll say no

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes but i dont post that often, idk if there's a particular kind, but generally it tends to be a little rougher than is probably appropriate without discussion in real-life situations, but also very...idk my friend described it as very tender, like theyre very clearly in love. which is so funny considering that that kind of tenderness irl gives me fucking hives lmfao

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? oh wow, not in a long time. i do have a wip sitting around rn that's a crossover between london spy and cloud atlas, which is really crazy until you remember that ben whishaw is in both london spy and the cloud atlas movie lol. and cloud atlas is already about weird reincarnations and parallel worlds and stuff, so it isnt too out-there.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? i dont think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!! The Face of God was translated into Korean by ao3 user Crescent919 !! i've had a few comments on other fics asking to translate for personal use (always yes, of course), but no one else has asked to share a translation publicly

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no!! i've been thinking about it lately though

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? all-time? probably merlin/arthur from merlin (bbc). it's the whole fate-destiny-choice thing, it just compels me like nothing else

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hmmm, i would like to finish Roswell -- well, kinda (agent carter farm girl / alien crash landing au) because i still have all the original notes and outlines and stuff. i also made a shitty conlang when i was first writing it, which is crazy lol. but it would need some pretty serious revisions, and i would definitely rewrite the first few chapters that i posted years ago. i just kind of lost the agent carter bug, but i might return to that fic if i ever get in the mood for it again.

16. What are your writing strengths? ooh, i'm not really sure! i get a lot of comments mentioning characters' voices and/or personalities, so i would say maybe that!!! i also feel that i'm fairly good at mimicking an author's writing style when i want to (notably, i do not mimic anne rice when writing vc fic, lol)

17. What are your writing weaknesses? editing for sure. i have at least a hundred fics sitting on my hard drive fully or almost-fully written that i just need to edit. but i would simply rather die than do all of that. it's also why my whole merlin fic got put on pause while i went down the vc rabbithole, because i just can't bring myself to go edit the next chapters lol

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? hmm, i think it's usually unnecessary and comes off as a bit silly. that said, i did do it once (maybe excessively) in Daniel Molloy, Time Bandit (1984 daniel ends up in 1794 theatre des vampires, it's more of a character study than a time travel fic) BUT, let me defend myself -- i did it because daniel doesnt understand french, it's his pov, and he's incredibly confused and distraught for most of the fic. i felt like the dialogue being in french conveyed this sort of "daniel does not belong in this time/place" vibes. but, also, my french is...a little rough. so i'm sure it's an annoying fic for french readers lmao

19. First fandom you wrote for? warriors cats, a million years ago hahahah

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? ok, i have three different answers for this. the fic i think is the best, objectively, in terms of writing and content: The Story of Dani [...] (r63 devil's minion from armand's pov, starting with lestat's house). the fic i am the proudest of, mostly because it was my first "big" fic (it's funny now, bc it's only 41k) and i feel like i grew a lot as a writer while working on it, and i'm still happy with it: The Face of God (les mis pov javert, character study from childhood). the fic i have the most fun with and think about almost 24/7: Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (r63 merthur, canon divergence, this is like a 4-part series that's currently over 300k lmao)

no-pressure tagging: @aunteat @leslutdepointedulac @butchybats @graygiantess and anyone else who wants to!!

[kitkatt0430]

2 [You Must Live (For Me)], 6, 16 [A Tale of Two Timelines], 20 [Timeline Poker]

2.) What was your favorite scene in You Must Live (For Me)?

It's hard to pick. I definitely love the diner scene at the start where Savitar steal Reverb's dinner. No shame that one, when there's free food at stake. But... I think my favorite scene is when Reverb has his vibe about Savitar potentially hesitating too much to kill Iris.

Savitar shows up right after the vibe ends and Reverb immediately confronts Savitar about still being in love with Iris and how when the time comes Savitar had damn well better choose his own life over hers. And then kisses Savitar because Reverb has zero chill. It's when the whole dynamic of their relationship changes and, really, the whole first half of the fic is leading up to that moment.

6.) Who is the easiest character to write?

i answered that one here

16.) Talk about something you like in A Tale of Two Timelines

I really liked how frank I had Barry be with Iris about the timeline he came from. Including how poorly he handled things with Eddie. (And him having a crush on Eddie, because I cannot help but slide in a little Westhallen even when Eddie's not there.)

I'd wanted him to be honest, of course. Iris needed that to counter Eobard's lies. But it also became a counterpoint to Barry's S1 behavior and a demonstration of how much he's grown as a person since then, becoming better at taking responsibility for his mistakes and at treating Iris as his equal.

Iris can't help but be touched by Barry's words because his love and respect for her is so clear. He sees her in a way that, in this timeline, I don't think she's used to.

20.) If you had to change the main pairing in Timeline Poker what would you change it to? How do you think that would effect the story? 

I think if I were to change the main pairing for Timeline Poker, it'd be from Thallen to Westhallen. Which would, of course, disrupt the Cisco/Iris secondary pairing, but would give more chances for parallels with the Farooq/Daria/Jake ship. Especially if i ever finally get started on the sequel fic.

But in the fic itself, the whole setup at the start would have changed, with Iris questioning her decision to reject Barry's feelings in December. It'd set a different direction for the fic really - while it'd still have the main points of the blackouts leading to the discovery of Farooq, all the relationship beats would have to change entirely.

I think Iris would feel jealous that Barry and Eddie are interested in each other and would be deliberately third wheeling as a result, only for Barry to be confused by her attention and Eddie to find he rather gets why Barry likes Iris while Iris starts to gain feelings for Eddie too. It'd probably be realizing that Farooq, Jake, and Daria are in a polyamorous relationship for the three of them to realize that maybe they could have that with each other too.

Eobard would still be flipping out at the end over Eddie kissing Barry. He'd just also be flipping out over Eddie kissing Iris, too.

Poor Cisco, though. No cute girlfriend for him with this change. Still, he gets to have some new besties in his life so he's still happy.

[chocolatepot]

2.02 thoughts!

DAMN Crowley talking to the goats about himself, basically, yeah? God will destroy you for no fucking reason.

Muriel is such a John Finnemore idiot character. Love that.

My ambivalence to Ineffable Bureaucracy aside, Gabriel remembering the song even after putting all of his memories into a fly is pretty sweet. (Gabriel is also such a John Finnemore idiot. He writes great idiots.)

This whole thing with the Scottish pub's jukebox feels like something that should have been given to Maggie to investigate, maybe. Like all of the stuff that the human characters were able to look into for the viewers' benefit in s1/the book - it feels like too much of a digression for Aziraphale when there's so much going on in the plot. I feel like it could have helped to make things less jam-packed.

Aziraphale doing the little miracle to get the guy out of his seat (and seeming to be closed to get away from street association man) - again, a little selfishness!

When I first watched this ep I KNEW he was going to characterize Maggie as having a "pash".

I don't like the Jane Austen joke ... I know I'm being a killjoy/taking it too seriously. A friend pointed out that it's very Doctor Who-ish and it is. We don't have TIME for stupid jokes, there is too much plot to cover.

Truly love that Peter Davison is Job and Ty Tennant is Job's annoying gay son. "Bildad the Shuite" is so silly that it really pleases me.

The first time in history that Crowley insists to Aziraphale that "no I really am evil and awful, I'm such a bad guy"? And he's immediately proven wrong.

I always liked the idea that Aziraphale discovered the pleasures of human food himself (with pleasure in physical comforts and food/drink being his own personal love of the Earth to mirror Crowley's), but it being something that Crowley introduces him to, as supreme lover of Earth, works as well.

Aziraphale being jealous that Job gets to speak to God (when was the last time God actually interacted with any angels besides Metatron? is she talking to the archangels, even?) when God is just lecturing him like an asshole, asking him questions he obviously has no answer to ...

I am such a child, the "reach into his robe - no, higher" joke really landed with me.

I feel like Gabriel and Michael would have questioned the number of children being given, since she was supposed to have seven? Also makes me wonder if the poor woman still conceives seven more times, since that was apparently divinely ordained. (I guess she could still miscarry. I just want to save her from seven births at her age.)

The "our car, our bookshop" conversation hits so well on a second viewing - but again, so selfish. There is no way he has ever considered the car shared until the moment that he needed it!

Pride and Prejudice foreshadowing/parallel - Gabriel sort of was an angel in possession of a "good fortune" as supreme archangel, and the first line is sarcastic, but he did find himself in want of a wife, of sorts. I'm connecting the dots! (You haven't connected shit.)

The interesting thing about Aziraphale's abusive relationship with Heaven/God is that it's a staple of fic, yet ... not quite like this. The focus in my experience is usually on him being directly bullied rather than on the doubt engendered in him by God/Heaven doing shitty things and his fears about what doubting would mean (though tbf I don't read as much GO fic as I do OFMD fic). I'm sort of eager to see if people jump on this.

Crowley thinks he's so adorable when he's freaking out about being "fallen". So cute so cute so cute. How does David Tennant load so much affection into his smile? And the "as far as he can" callback ... *chef's kiss* It is interesting to me how in/after s1 I was very into the dynamic where Crowley gets off on protecting Aziraphale, and now I am kind of like "... he's been GIVING for so many centuries, when is Aziraphale going to turn around and match that?" Some of that is obviously echoes from having seen the finale, but some is definitely what I was thinking as I watched the first time. (Presumably the answer is "in s3," obviously.)