#no comment really but i wanted to make something for mick lmao

[rosyjuly]

dropping the first diss tracks at silverstone '23 // @f1blrcreatorsfest + albums

[thisismeracing]

Ex | MS47

SOCIAL MEDIA AU

Pairing: black!singer!reader (she/her) x mick schumacher

Warnings: curse words, Twitter environment, breakup, mention of food, pregnancy, it's not proofread, etc etc. Minors DNI!

summary: Y/n and Mick used to be the golden couple in the paddock, that's why the internet went wild when they announced their breakup. Imagine how they reacted when Y/n dropped a song about not wanting to be his ex. Would the couple have any hope in getting back together?

a/n: none of the pictures used are mine, they are all from Pinterest and other apps. everything else is made up by me and I do not give permission for it to be published on a different platform. I would appreciate it if those things could be taken into consideration 💛

my masterlist | my taglist

yourusername

liked by dualipa, mercedesamgf1, and others

yourusername New song is out 🖤 Hope you guys like it!

view all 19,976 comments

schumicedes This feels like such a personal song, it gave me chills!

⤷ yn1990 It's like she recorded a voice message for him and then dropped it as a song.

f1sainzito I still can't believe they broke up, I'm still mourning their relationship

⤷ charleslechair1 I bet they will get back after this song lol

ynprincess I love her but this cover feels so...weird, idk, like it's rushed

⤷ mickeyn someone made a thread on twitter explaining it a bit, but it's basically a picture mick took of her, she wanted to make her message clear and that's why it's so artistically beautiful, it goes beyond the aesthetic

jorjasmith you’re so brave and pure, Ily!❤️❤️

winteryn Yn wanting to be friends with her ex, meanwhile I literally changed cities so I wouldn't see mine again

⤷ cruelsummer1 that's why I feel like they like gave themselves time, not really broke up fr, and now they realize it was not the best idea because they literally love each other.

dojacat Don't make me miss my ex, yn!!!! ☠️

woffantastic NOT THE MERCEDES ADMIN LIKING IT

mickschumacher

liked by georgerussell63, mercedesamgf1, and others

mickschumacher ⛰️

comments on tihs post have been limited

ynandschumi I wanted to comment something but I just know it will be deleted, so I'm just gonna say: you guys look good, hope you enjoyed your hike!❤️ also Angie seems a bit sad without her mother doesn't she....................

⤷ mercedessummer bestie, you did not LMAO

lewishamilton Roscoe says he's mad he was not invited!

mickschum90 I love you, mick!

sunandstarsyn This does not give happiness vibe...

dailycelebsupdate

liked by wonderfulyn and others

dailycelebsupdate We woke up this morning to the leaking of Y/n Y/l/n’s baby shower. The singer spent a little over a year off the radar after her breakup with F1 star Mick Schumacher, only to show up now pregnant! Who are we betting on to be the baby daddy?

view all 10,467 comments

ynlove we aint betting a thing, and stop saying “only to show up” as if these pics were posted intently, they were LEAKED. Respect Y/n’s right to her privacy!

sainzsunny I hated the fact that the leaked something that she did not want people to know, but my bet would be that she and Mick are back together since that song release 🤐

mickeyf1 You guys are disgusting

swiftieyln She lookes so peaceful, glowing and everything 😭

⤷ ynhundreds that because she was being able to keep her private life to herself.

f1gossipupdates

liked by user90, and others

f1gossipupdates Is everyone thinking the same thing?

view all 9,789 comments

schumacher47 Is leaking season? Wtf the wrong, why cant celebs have their privacy??

⤷ f1khalid especially Mick, he’s really open about how he likes to have his personal life respected. 😔

ynstars BABY SCHUMACHER ON ITS WAY!!!

hockeyf1d They MARRIED???!!!

ynbrasil I just know Yn will be pissed when she open her socials to this shitshow

yourusername and mickschumacher

liked by mercedesamgf1, estebanocon, and others

yourusername It's been a long ride and we wanted to share with you guys in a different way, the circumstances, however, did not help, so we are sticking to the good ol' Instagram announcement. We got married last year and decided to keep living in our particular heaven, I hope you guys don't get this the wrong way because we love the love and support some of you give us, but Mick and I needed to bask in our own love without interruptions or assumptions. This love grew bigger than us and it will be walking around the world in a couple of months. We appreciate our friends' discretion, and our fans' love, we see you and we love you. We hope you guys can respect our privacy and our wishes on keeping some details to ourselves. Love, Mick and Yn Schumacher

view all 34,572 comments

ynweeknd SHE SIGNED AS YN SCHUMACHER OMGGGGG

schumickeyf1 "This love grew bigger than us and it will be walking around the world in a couple of months" PLEASE IM SO LONELY THIS IS A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF ROMANTIC

mickschumacher Forever, mrs. Schumacher ❤️

⤷ yourusername forever and some more, my love 💗

charles_leclerc omg thank goodness you guys told everyone, I was so scared I would let it slip

⤷ lechair16 Charles ☠️☠️ LMAO

lewishamilton you guys deserve all the happiness in this world 🤍

ynandmick I was right and nature is healing

twentyoneyns So let me get this clear, my ex gives me a reason to go to therapy, while Y/n's ex gives her a ring, then all the love and orgasms in the world, and then a baby??????????? God definitely has its favorites.

⤷ schumercedes not the orgasms 🗣🗣 HAHAHAHAHAH

ynandmickey MOTHER AND FATHER

⤷ popyn Literally

mercedesamgf1 We already have a spot for them 💜

sunnydaysyln Are we calling the baby schumini or minimacher? or baby schumi? or macherbaby?

⤷ yourusername HAHAHAHHA I love them all

********************

If you liked it, make sure to like and reblog <3 feel free to talk to me as well, my inbox is always open!

I will start a taglist on my posts, to be part of it you just gotta comment/send an ask saying so, and most important: have your age in your profile (I don’t interact with minors!). See you guys next story! <3

[schumachersricciardo]

Shiver

Chapter Two - My Heart in Your Hands 

♡ Mick Schumacher x Reader, Eventual Best friend!Danny Ricc x reader (I mean, come on, how could I not?) 

♡ TW: Swearing, inaccurate timeline of F1/F2/F3, badly translated German using Google, anxiety, slight anxiety attack, a lot of crying in this chapter, allusions to child abuse/unsafe household, bad family dynamic, rude interviewers!!!, cursing, hurt/comfort, uhhhh frozen lasagna in italy, lmao.

♡ She/Her pronouns are used, nothing descriptive about reader except that her hair is long enough to pull back into a ponytail or braid, no reader insert, timeline skips. ALSO: WARNING!!!! I will barely be mentioning Michael Schumacher. I do not presume to know what he is thinking, or would say in these fictional scenarios. I am trying to be respectful of their privacy and not make any assumptions!!!!!! He will be mentioned here and there, but I do not believe any dialogue will be associated with him. If you do not like that, then do not read it. :) 

♡ 4.6k words

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one year later 

“MERCEDES ANNOUNCES MICK SCHUMACHER AND LEWIS HAMILTON TO DRIVE NEXT SEASON” 

“MERCEDES ANNOUNCES THE FIRST FEMALE RESERVE DRIVER” 

“CAN SCHUMACHER LIVE UP TO THE FAMILY NAME, AFTER FAILING TO DO SO LAST SEASON AT HAAS?” 

“WILL THE FIRST FEMALE RESERVE DRIVER FOR MERCEDES BE ABLE TO RACE THIS YEAR AT ALL?” 

“IS TOTO WOLFF LEADING A WINNING TEAM OR JUST A WOKE ONE?” 

“WOLFF’S TEAM CONSISTS OF A BLACK DRIVER, A SCHUMACHER, AND NOW THE FIRST FEMALE RESERVE DRIVER… WHAT IS HIS PLAY?” 

The room around you was dark, the only source of light being the brightness from your phone. You had been scrolling on your phone endlessly that morning… Or evening. You honestly couldn’t tell since you did not get any sleep. 

It had been a whirlwind of a year. Never in your wildest dreams would you have thought that in your second year in Formula One would you become a reserve driver for one of the best teams on the grid. Lewis Hamilton was iconic in his own right, and while Mick’s last season was one to be forgotten, he was slowly creeping up the ladder of success. You were still in Formula Two, apart of the famous Prema Racing team. In your current environment, it was a fact that you were the only female driver in F2 right now. You were making your own strides finally, after such a bad year last season. Yet, you couldn’t shake the feeling that the announcement of you become the reserve driver for Mercedes was somehow going to bite you in the ass. You had some serious self doubt as you lay curled up on your bed under a pile of blankets. The news was blowing up and so were your messages. They were mostly congratulatory, at least the text messages were. The news outlets were something else, and you didn’t even want to look at the comments on social media. You were simply just reading headline after headline, your heart in your stomach and your anxiety at an all time high. 

But soon enough, your phone lit up again and you looked at with a blank expression. 

INCOMING CALL: Mickey 🐭

You blinked a few times hoping that he would just think you were still sleeping or something. 

MISSED CALL: Mickey 🐭

INCOMING CALL: Mickey 🐭 

You also knew though that he would just keep calling and calling, then texting and texting… So with a big sigh, you pressed ‘accept’ and put the phone on speaker. 

“Hello?” 

“Schätzen! Did I wake you? I could not have, since it is practically one in the afternoon!” Mick giggled to himself, as you could hear him moving around. 

“What do you want, Mick?” 

And of course he didn’t deserve your shortness, or any attitude you were dishing out, but it was as if you couldn’t stop yourself. You would’ve been short with anyone, really. 

“I want you to cheer up, Schätzen. I know you are just in your room, on your phone.” Mick did his famous hum as he waited for you to respond. But what could you say? He knew you better than anyone else. “I know you’re worried about him contacting you with all the news, Schätzen.” 

Mick’s voice was much softer now. His tone was serious, but respectful. You could hear a faint dinging noise in the background as he shifted the phone again. You knew exactly where he was. Begrudgingly, you lazily got out of your bed - still wrapped in your favorite blanket - and made your way to your apartment’s front door. You sighed deeply knowing you probably looked as great as you felt. Opening the door, you peeked your head out and soon enough there was Mick strutting down the hallway. His smile was bright and wide. He carried grocery bags on one arm and in the other, his backpack. You turned on your heel and left the door open, making your way to your couch. Oh sweet respite. 

The front door shut closed. You had your eyes shut and your head tilted back against the wall. The only thing that plagued your mind was that Mick was right. He was going to call you and until then, you were a ball of anxiety and stress. 

“Have you eaten today, Smidge?” 

“Was denken Sie? (What do you think?)” You replied with monotony pouring out with each syllable. 

Mick just hummed again. You could hear him scrummaging through your fridge, putting things away and throwing old things out… Presumably. 

“Tell me your mood, Smidge.” Mick’s question loomed in the air for a few moments. You turned your head to look at the blond haired boy. 

He had a small smile on his face as he leaned against the fridge door. His arms crossed over his chest, his black shirt hugging his biceps noticeably. He had a cap on backwards, and by the looks of it, it looked like the same hat you had; a Mercedes one. 

“Shitty.” 

He nodded his head as a matter of factly, pulling something out of one of the grocery bags. A frozen lasagna, which was sacrilegious in Italy, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone your secret. He began to turn the oven on and prepare the food, singing some song you probably could name if it were any other day, to himself. Once the oven heated up hot enough, he threw the lasagna in there and shut the door. Making his way over to you, he waved his hand slightly towards the space beside you. Without a word you threw that side of your blanket out and welcomed him to sit beside you. 

It was a tradition that started when you two were young, to share a blanket when someone was upset. The first time was when Mick’s dad was out of town for a special event, and had missed a karting event. Mick couldn’t quite understand the demand his father’s job had and how amazingly his mother was taking care of him and his sister when his father would be away. He was just a little kid. After his karting event, you were snuggled up on his family’s couch in your favorite blanket of theirs. You too were just a kid, but you could sort of see how upset he was too. He wasn’t his normally, bubbly self. He was solemn, and closed off. So you did the one thing you thought would cheer him up… Open up the blanket and share space with your best friend. Mick curled up next to you and rested his head on your shoulder. And from then on, it became something sacred between the two of you. 

But now, as young adults thrown into the world you know now as your life, Mick’s much heavier head sat on your shoulder, while you sat in complete silence. 

“Ich habe solche Angst, Mickey… (I’m so scared, Mickey).” You barely said above a whisper, not daring to move a bone in your body. Mick’s warmth was welcome and much needed. 

“I know, but I’m going to be here for you. Always, you know that.” 

“But… He’s out there. And now, he knows exactly what I’ve been up to, when I have been so damn careful of making sure he knows nothing about me!” You began to sob. After holding your sobs in all day, you broke completely at his kind words. 

“Hey, hey… Smidge, look at me…” Mick was sat up and his fingers under your chin. You were forcing yourself to look away, embarrassed by the state you were in now. “Smidgen, please look at me. I can’t take it when I can’t help you.” 

You turned to face him, his fingertips still under your chin as his thumb caressed your cheek. It was hard to believe that the small, tiny little boy who could barely fit into his clothes - now had hands as big as your face. 

“What can I do, schätzen? Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” His brows were slightly furrowed as pure concern washed over his face. 

“There’s nothing you can do, Mickey. I’m an adult now and that means he can find me if he wants.” You sniffled back more sobs and shut your eyes tightly. You could feel the pads of his thumbs wiping away the tears that soaked your flushed cheeks. “He’s going to find me… He’s going to find me… And… Fuck, I don’t even know what he’s going to do once he finds me.” 

“He is not going to find you, first of all. And second of all, I will never let that happen. I will do anything to make sure that never happens, okay?” 

You met his blue eyes, your own filled with hot tears. You were able to blink away a few of them to clear your eye-line. His jaw was clenched, pulsing with tension. If there was anyone else that would be angrier than you with the situation, it would be your best friend. And it was apparent as rage began to riddle his body. 

“You are only one man, Mick.” 

Finally, the hardened man broke with a scoff. He let out a laugh, much like the one on the first day you had met him. But this time, he didn’t cover his mouth and he was not apologetic. 

“No, Smidge. He is only one man. I am a man with thousands behind him, including you. He will never be able to hurt you, as long as I am living.” 

You couldn’t help but smile at your best friend sat in front of you. He knew you better than anyone else, and you knew he’d do anything to protect you from the evil that plagued this world. 

“Promise me? Promise me, Mickey.” 

Mick smiled his purely innocent and infectious smile. Bringing you close to him, engulfing you in a tight embrace. You could hear his steady heart beating as you took a deep breath, the smell of his cologne filling your senses with a calmness you hadn’t felt in days since the news was announced. If the world were going to end, you’d be happy with where you were. Mick placed a kiss to the top of your head and hummed. You could feel yourself drifting off, quickly too. You don’t remember the last time you slept to be honest. But as sleep took you, you could hear him mutter something in German. If you were more awake, maybe you could have understood it… But he was mumbling and the only thing on your mind now was getting rest, in the protection of your best friend. 

“Du hältst mein Herz in deinen Händen. Ich werde dich nie verletzen und ich werde dich nie verlassen. Das verspreche ich dir für immer. (You hold my heart in your hands. I will never hurt you, and I will never leave you. I promise you that forever.)” 

Age 9

It was strange for you to miss school. With Mick’s father’s schedule, it wasn’t strange for him to miss school sometimes, but you… There was a strange feeling that filled the air when you were absent. And not only did Mick feel it, but everyone in your class. You had managed to make some good friends at your school, and even with the kids that weren’t your friends, you were never absent. And if you were tardy, you always had a doctor’s note or your mother had called in ahead of time. 

Mick stared hard and long at your empty desk two rows over to his left. He was not paying one singular attention to what the teacher was saying. It was apparent that he was distressed. He was a year older than you, but the one class you shared was a math class. You were advanced, and he was… well Mick. Yet, your seat was empty and his mind began to fill with reasons as to why. Soon though, the bell rings and Mick is pulled out of his trance. Yeah, he was going to get an earful for not taking one note that class, but you slowly had become his best friend and his main concern. With a huff, Mick walked up to the teacher and cleared his throat. 

“Do… Do you know where Smidge is today?” 

The teacher cocked her head in confusion. 

“Smidge?” 

Mick’s cheeks flushed with pure embarrassment as he corrected himself to using your real name. Suddenly, the teacher’s demeanor changed and her posture straightened. 

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Mick. I would be more worried that you did not take notes today.” She was trying her best to redirect the 10 year old boy. 

“But-“ 

“I’m sure she is alright, Mick. Now, you wouldn’t want to be late to your next class.” The teacher stood to her feet and exchanged a soft expression with the boy. 

Leading him towards the door, she debated heavily in her mind if she should say anything. But then she saw his face. Mick was always bubbly, and friendly. Sure, he was shy sometimes, but she had never seen him be so much out of his shell until he met you. And clearly your absence was affecting him deeply. Moving her arm in front of him to impede him from leaving her classroom. 

“Mick, do you know anything about her family?” 

“Uh, I know her dad is in the military. And she moved her a few years ago? She really likes it here, though.”

The teacher nodded along and pulled her lips into a tight line. 

“Then that’s all I would think about, Mick. She enjoys this school and I know she enjoys being your friend.” 

Some smaller words were exchanged between the two in German, and as Mick made his way to his next class something caught the corner of his eye as he rounded the hallway. 

There you were. 

His eyes lit up, a smile creeping upon his face. Yet, your eyes were glued to the ground and your face expressionless. Your older brother stood by your left side, and your mother by the right. Mick moved over and tried to hide behind the row of lockers. You didn’t see him. You didn’t really see anything. You were so zoned out that you could barely understand what the principal was saying to your mother. Or you just didn’t understand that level of German yet. Finally, the principal and your mother shook hands. She placed a kiss to your brother’s head and he went on his way to the older kid’s part of campus. Turning to you, she whispered something into your ear and repeated the motion. Soon, it was just you in the hallway, putting your backpack on your back and making way to the next class. 

“Smidge! Smidge!” Mick finally and bravely called out to you once he saw you were alone. He caught up to you and noticed your body language was different. “Where were you today? Math class was so boring without you!” 

“I was, uh, busy.” You curtly answered, avoiding eye contact. “I have to go, but I’ll see you later?” You quickly looked up at your now very confused friend. You gave him a small smile and darted away before he could ask you anything. 

Again, there was the boy who you became the closest to, alone in the middle of the hallway. Something was not right, and he wanted to know what it was and how to help. He hated feeling like he couldn’t help you. 

So he turned to the one person he knew could help: His father. 

Current Day 

Two days after Mick and come over and cheered you up, you had your first media day to prepare for. They wanted to interview you, and you knew it was going to be absolute chaos. You had very little media training, and knew that your anxiety would be through the roof. But at least both Lewis and Mick would be by your side. 

“So, you’ll be in the middle of the two boys, and then there will be someone there to field the questions and make sure that you don’t get too overwhelmed.” 

“Alright.” 

You were finishing your hair and makeup while your new PR assistant went through the play by play of the afternoon. You never did well with big crowds, but knowing your two friends would be there was a big relief. 

An hour and a half later, you got into a large SUV - accompanied by Mick. 

“Smidge! You look so beautiful, are you excited for your first media day?” You scooted over in the back seat to the other window as he filed in beside you. 

“No.” You honestly answered, shrugging your shoulders. Mick reached over and squeezed your hand reassuringly. “He’s going to see this you know.” 

“Eh, so is everyone else. He can go fuck off for all I care.” Mick smiled widely and pulled his phone out. Propping it up, he ushered for you to scoot back to him. “I want to remember this day.” 

You leaned comfortably against him and smiled at his phone camera. 

“And don’t worry. I’ll send it to you once I edit out all my blemishes.” Mick gave you a wink and with a click of his tongue, the flash went off and you once again scooted over back to your side. 

Thirty minutes later, the car stopped and you could hear the absolute chaos outside. Your heart rate picked up and your hands began to shake. 

“Schätzen, just keep your eyes on me, okay? You can grab my shirt if you feel overwhelmed. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

The door opened and what seemed like a million flashes of professional and phone cameras begin to go off. Mick seemed a natural in this world, and you obviously seemed like you are not. Instinctively, you grabbed the hem of his Mercedes branded shirt as he guided you through the crowd. Soon enough, you got inside and met up with Lewis and Toto. 

You took a deep breath, and felt some sort of relief. 

“Wow, you look beautiful today.” Lewis smiled his famous smile, and gave you a nod. “You’re showing both of us up!” 

“Yeah, okay Mr. Knighted Lewis Hamilton.” You elbowed him jokingly, earning a small laugh from Toto as well. 

Small talk ensued and before you knew it, the three of you were sat at a table, in front of what seemed like one hundred journalists and cameras. Toto was off doing his own interview for with upcoming season’s other team leaders. 

“Hi, and welcome. We will start with questions for any of these three lovely drivers… And we will start with you… Nicole from SkySports.” 

“Hello, as they said my name is Nicole and I am from SkySports. My question is for Lewis.” 

Lewis waved and nodded in agreement as she proceeded. 

“You’ve been driving with Mercedes for four years now, winning an unbelievable amount with Mercedes. Are you more nervous for the upcoming season with the added pressure of being teammates now with a Schumacher?” 

You did your best to keep your facial expression neutral. 

“Thanks for the question…” Lewis began with a grin. “No, not at all. I don’t think there is more or less pressure now. I think the amount of pressure remains the same, and that we all want to win. Regardless of someone’s name or gender - that’s why we’re here. To race and win.” 

Both Lewis and Mick fielded a few more questions about their new teammates and the upcoming season. You remained silent, trying to take it all in. 

“Hi, my name is Gabrielle. My question is for the new reserve driver.” 

Finally, you straightened your posture and gave a small and polite smile, indicating for her to go on with it. 

“My question is: Do you feel that being the first female reserve driver is being overshadowed by the news of Schumacher and Hamilton becoming a team?” 

Remain unbiased. Calm. And truthful. You tried to repeat your PR assistant’s instructions in your head as you conjured up an answer. Biting your lower lip, you finally exhaled. 

“That’s a great question, thank you. Um, no I don’t feel like anyone or anything is being overshadowed by one thing or the other. Like Lewis said, regardless of name, race or gender… I think we’re all here because we love the sport and want to be successful in it.” 

“And is it true that you have pretty much come on this journey on your own?” 

Mick immediately straightened up as he scanned the room. He was trying to make it obvious that he was on high alert now. It was no surprise that you two were childhood friends and friends even now, but he still felt overly protective, especially it being your first media day. 

“Um, yes. I live in Italy alone, but I have many friends that I care about so - I don’t think I am ever really alone.” You tried to let out a small chuckle, as your nervous played with your hands in your lap. 

“We are glad to hear have friends and have made friends, but what I was referring to was your family. Is it true that you do not have much contact with your brother and no contact whatsoever with your father?” 

“I don’t think-“ You began to blink quickly and your words began to sputter. “That’s just… I… I’m not… Uh…” Your eyebrows were pulled in a tight line as your eyes darted around the entire room. You took a deep breath and paused, but before you could say anything else a familiar voice interrupted your racing thoughts. 

“I don’t really think that’s appropriate to talk about at this time. We are here to speak about motorsports, not our personal lives.” Lewis interjected. “Whether or not she wants to answer is up to her, but let’s try to stick to Formula One, huh?” With added lightness, Lewis smiled at the flashing cameras. 

“We just are trying to get to know her better! We know a lot about your upbringing and obviously, Mick’s, but-“

“You know those things because we have both have been open about those things, or at least as open as we choose to be. This is her first day in front of all these cameras, and Lewis is absolutely correct - this is completely inappropriate. And I will have no problem leaving this interview if it continues.” Mick’s face was serious. His jaw was clenched again. Scratching his stubble that peppered his jawline, he made eye contact with the interviewer that asked you that question. “Do we all understand?” 

Hours had passed by and you were sitting alone in the hotel room. You were sitting by the window, in a comfortable chair, your makeup off and softest sweatpants on. The media day didn’t go quite as planned to begin with, but once Mick made sure there were no more inappropriate questions, it actually went quite well. You felt brave and pretty good towards the end. There was solace where you sat and relief as you looked out at the skyline. 

A knock on the door pulled you out of your day dream and as you happily toddled over to the door, the feeling of joy and accomplishment quickly left every fiber of your body. 

You felt the ground fall out underneath you, and your heart stop beating. You looked up with tears beginning to brim in your eyes, and with every breath you tried to take, your body became more and more numb. 

“So it is true. All this time, you've been in Europe.” 

Your father stood at ease in front of you, in the hallway of your hotel. He was much older than you thought, the salt and pepper stubble making it obvious he’s aged. He still wore his uniform, and clearly still was in undated with their values as he stood there - detached. He knew you weren’t going to invite him in, and truly he didn’t come here for that. And you know why he came here. 

“You saw the media coverage, I take it then.” 

He nodded, remaining stoic. Clearing his throat, he began to walk back down the hallway. But before you could run into your room and call Mick, he turned his head back and smiled at you, making everything in your body want to jump off the nearest bridge. 

“It’s a shame it had to be like this. But you’ve grown up very nicely. I’m glad to have seen you.” 

And as soon as he turned the corner to get on the elevators, you ran inside and grabbed your phone. Your hands were shaking uncontrollably, your sobs and cries filling the empty air of your hotel room. 

“Smidge? Smidge? Are you okay? I cannot understand you! Smidgen, please calm down!” Mick was panicked. He was in his own room, playing video games trying to relax and wind down for the evening. “Smidge, take a breath.” 

You did your best to breathe for a moment, and with one big breath you told him that he had found you. Mick didn’t waste any time. He even ran up three flights of stairs to get to you. Sure, the elevators could have been faster, but he didn’t want to risk that. He was breathing heavily, but he grabbed the spare room key you had given him out of his wallet and opened your hotel room. 

He spotted you in the corner of the tiny living room of your hotel room. You were pressed up against the wall, in the fetal position. Your shoulders were bobbing up and down as you internally screamed and audibly cried. You didn’t even hear Mick open the door. 

Mick made even faster time crossing the room, scooping you into his arms as he sat beside you on the floor. He knew you were in no shape to talk, and he knew what you needed. He began to rub your back and hum softly. 

“Shhhhh… It’s okay, schätzen… I’m here… I’m here… I’m so sorry, I wasn’t before, but I’m here…” 

You took a few more big breaths and finally got your heart rate down. You looked up at him, your eyes bloodshot, and your face wet with your crying. Mick did his best to catch up to wiping your tears as they fell. 

“Schätzen, I’m never going to let him breathe the same air as you ever again. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there… Fuck, I should’ve been there.” 

“Mickey… It’s alright. I didn’t even know…” 

Mick pressed a kiss against your forehead, knowing you didn’t and couldn’t finish your sentence. And what seemed like an eternity later, you finally had stopped crying. The two of you had moved to the couch and were sharing a blanket you found in the linen closet. You had your head rest against his shoulder, again dozing off. His one arm was tightly wrapped around you, his other sending off emails on his phone. He was going to do whatever it took to protect you. Soon, he put his phone down and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He could hear your steady breathing. And as he gently moved you to lay your head on his lap instead, he got more comfortable on the couch and draped a lazy arm over your side. His fingers traced caressing circles on your outer thigh as he himself began to drift off. 

You knew that depending on him this much was not healthy, and that you should not be falling asleep on his lap. But you also knew he wasn’t going to let you go or out of his sight in the near future. You didn’t know whether to love this moment or hate this moment. 

But you knew one thing was for certain. 

You never wanted to forget it. 

[12romy]

Thanks @sebchal for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Oof. 57, damn that's a lot, what am I doing with my life?? 53 of them in F1 (I know it says 52 but one of them is on anon lmao)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

GUYS I JUST COUNTED AND APPARENTLY I'VE PUBLISHED AROUND 477K FOR THE F1 FANDOM??!!??! SEND HELP (there's another 100k in my wips rn)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

F1rpf, although I have a fic for The Sandman and one for Our Flag Means Death (let's forget about my works for spn lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

So the first one is Odd ducks, the fic I wrote for The Sandman, which is pretty normal since the fandom is bigger. After that, only F1, with Let's try something else (sewis fake dating feat Seb and gay panic), A Change of Habits (my lonnnnnnng chewis fic following the 2022 season), Your Crush is Showing (Brocedes, the first long fic I completed. Lots of smut.) and finally, Remember to forget (me), brocedes lewis!amnesia fic. I am very proud of the last one, mostly because it's super angsty and I torture Nico so much in it lmao

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do, actually, but usually I procrastinate on it, and I took ages. It's just, like, I feel it important to thank everyone for the comments, but it can feel a little repetitive and so I just tend to... Push it back to the next day, again and again. When it's on a multi-chapter fic, I reply before publishing the new chapter usually, but if it's a one-shot or the last chapter... Well. You'll get an answer but god knows when ahah

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

Oof, that's between Losing it all, a really dark fic about Nico, and Too Late, a bad ending 3344 fic based on Monza 2021 :)

(be careful about the tags if you go and read them btw)

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

Damn, that's a difficult question, I love writting sappy endings... But actually I think it's the ending of Welcome in the family!

It's a cute fic about Kimi/Tonio/Minttu, and the ending is definitely what I consider one of the happiest, mostly because of a little time-jump that allows to see the future ^^

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I did once, actually, on the 3344 fic I mentionned earlier. I think the person was just a max fan and didn't appreciate the way I make him suffer... I had put the write tags and all, so idk why they clicked on it. Anyway, it was scary and upsetting and I'm glad it only happened once ^^"

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

Hell yeah. Go have a look, honestly, there's no way I can summarise it. I write way too much of it, I think (and most of it hasn't been published yet I think)

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

Nope, but I should, it could be fun! Actually, I'd like to write a Lewis/Lil Nas X one day, so who knows. That's not at the top of my list, though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I... Don't know, actually? How do you even check that? I hope not ahah ^^"

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Someone offered to translate one of my fic in Chinese!

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

I DID, The Prince and the Knight, with my wonderful @feuerspirit !!!!!! And I don't want to spoil, but me and @metheevilgenius miiiiight publish a little os at some point ;)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Oh, such a hard question... I'll go with brocedes, but it's really mean to make me chose only one. They're just.... *siiiigh*

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

Definitely this BDSM seb/charles/mick and lewis/pierre I have started. I didn't publish it and it's like 20k long but I'm completely stuck and haven't worked on it in a long time. Not totally happy with it either ^^"

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uh, good question? I don't know, I get compliments about the characterisation... But other than that, I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humour and I'm able to make people laugh (or like, I hope. I make myself laugh, which is a good begining)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The fucking dialogues.

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

I like to use petnames in other languages cause petnames always feel more personnal when you use it in your own language. So with the F1 drivers, it's nice cause not all of them are english! I tend to put some German or some French sometimes in my fics for full sentences, but I try not to do it too much. If you don't understand the language, it can be very frustrating.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Time to dig up my old ff.net account lmao

Nah, actually, I remember very well of my first fic. I was 15, it was two pages long, I was feeling bad about writing a fic in the first place although it didn't involve any romance. I deleted it a few hours after posting it, ahah. It was for the fandom of a french youtube show called Aventures. It's like, people playing a dnd style game, it's pretty cool and I was really into it for a long time.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

The fic I love the most of is definitely Up or Down. It's one of my favourite fic I've wrote. It's one of my early work, so it's a little clumsy and far from perfect, but I have good memories of myself writing it. I was in vacation in Rome at the time, alone, and I spent my time wandering in the city and thinking about my fic, it was amazing. And well, the content of the fic is also nice I guess XDDD

-

noooo idea who did this thing, and who didn't, so ignore if you've already done it or don't want to! I tag @feuerspirit @n-ico-ando @sunshinesebby @sionisjaune

[mego42]

what is 68 // kink meme?? i am only familiar with 69 bc i have the mind of teenage boy lmao

hahahahahaha okay but same though and every time i look at it i crack up, so.

i had grand ambitions during the kink meme/fest of doing multiple prompt fills but as i write at the speed of something very slow AND decided to get ambitious with my primary prompt fill, i never got further than the premise.

the prompt was “Beth and Rio are secretly hooking up. Beth is blowing Rio in his office (bar? warehouse? au where he works in an office? idk) and when they’re interrupted, she continues secretly blowing him underneath the desk. exhibitionism, public sex” and @foxmagpie​ did an absolutely delicious job filling it with her fic salty sweet and it scratched my itch, so idk if i’ll ever go back to it but also never say never i am notoriously impulsive.

ANYWAY, if you want to read the intro/set up, it’s below the cut

--

It wasn’t supposed to go like this. 

Sure, since Beth and Rio had gotten—did it count as back together if they’d never really been together in the first place? Weren’t even really together in any sense of a formal, organized, been talked about at all sort of way? 

They were...they had a lot of sex. And had been for a while now.  

It started one night in the Paper Porcupine. He’d come by without warning; she’d been alone, he’d made some snarky comment, she’d made one back, then they’d been yelling, and the next thing she’d known, she had him pinned up against the storage cupboard and was using her mouth to get him just to shut up. 

In hindsight, it’d been a really effective way to end the argument, whatever it had been about. 

At first, Beth tried telling herself it was a one-time thing, but a few weeks later, she’d found herself kneeling over him on top of Dean’s desk at the showroom, riding him so hard, so fast, she’s pretty sure they both saw stars at the end of it. Then it’d only been a matter of days before he had her spread out in the back seat of the Mercedes during a drop she’d told the girls she could handle alone, pretending she didn’t know why she wanted to.

After that, it was pretty hard to ignore the fact that something happened any time they were alone, so Beth just tried to keep it walled off in her mind and pretended not to noticed it didn’t keep her up at night nearly as much as she felt it should. 

She didn’t really know what to call it, didn’t really want to think about it too hard because thinking led to talking, and talking generally led to fighting, and when they fought—well.

So, really, it was best for everyone if they just...did what they did.

They’d decided keeping it a secret was for the best. Or at least, Beth had. Rio probably would’ve told everyone, and Beth doesn’t know if it’s more about rubbing her face in it or wanting people to know, but regardless, in a rare moment of open sincerity, she’d asked him not to, and he’d agreed.

There’d been something in his eye when he had, something complicated that made a something of her own in Beth’s chest twist, and she’s not ready to talk, to even think about any of that. 

But on top of that, there was a gleam she knew spelled if not trouble than mischief, and Beth soon discovered that while he may have agreed to keep it a secret, that didn’t mean he was opposed to people finding out.

It started small, a finger trailing down her back when he stood too close to her at a drop, her body blocking anyone from seeing. A gauntlet thrown down; the challenge: can she keep any visible response from breaking free, or will a shiver slip past her guard?

And obviously, she had to retaliate. 

It still makes her grin and squirm a little when she remembers the first time. Rio came up behind her at the workbench in the backroom of the Paper Porcupine, crowding her as he looked over her shoulder to check her work. The bang of his knee hitting the cabinet when she’d cupped him and made both Ruby and Annie—oblivious on the other side of the counter—jump had rung in her ears for days like a victory bell.

The whole thing escalated from there. 

If they were within reach, chances are one of them had a hand on the other, touching, stroking, teasing, never letting the surface conversation stutter. The unspoken but mutually understood rule was you break, you lose, and neither one of them had ever been all that good at losing. 

Beth nearly cracked one night at the bar. It’d been a busy night, and they’d ended up crowded together at a high top in the corner. Beth wore a dress thinking—well, she knows what she was thinking—and they’d been in the middle of hashing out a pick-up schedule for the clean cash when she’d felt his hand on her thigh, creeping slowly but steadily higher.

She flicked her eyes to Mick, standing at the other side of the table, and back, but Rio hadn’t given any hint he’d read her silent question, hadn’t given any sign there was anything to question at all, just slid his hand further up until she’d felt his fingers brush along the edge of her panties. 

Her hips jerked as heat flooded through her, and she’d seen it, the quicksilver flash of his triumphant smile. Not willing to lose a point—and turned on beyond all belief—Beth let her legs spread just enough to give him easier access, breathlessly waiting to see what he’d do. 

But instead of advancing, he’d only nodded his head towards the bar, sending Mick to grab another round. When the other man walked away, Beth’s pulse spiked, and she knew Rio’d felt her thigh muscles tighten because he'd given her a little squeeze in response before asking her another question about production.

She’d had to take a deep breath but answered with a steady voice and held her composure as the conversation went on, even with the heat spooling tighter the longer he left his hand—warm and sure but infuriatingly still—on her upper thigh. Every now and then, someone in the crowd around them would jostle the table, and the heat would spike, and her breath would catch, and every time Rio’s smile would grow a little sharper, a little more triumphant, but he didn’t move his hand, just kept talking through the schedule. 

When Mick returned with their drinks, Beth snatched hers, taking a hasty gulp that had Mick raising an eyebrow. He’d looked from Beth to Rio, and whatever he’d seen in his face was enough to have him rolling his eyes and mumbling something about darts before disappearing again.

Rio’d waited until Beth put her glass down. Then, without warning and in the middle of rattling off dates his boys would come by the dealership to collect the duffles full of cash; he’d hooked his thumb in the lacy edge of her panties, pulling it aside and slipped a finger inside of her.

check out the nightmare factory that is my wips folder and if you want ask me about one

[mishervellous]

tagged by my beloved @energievie 💙💙

Author Interview

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

43477

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nobody makes me crazy like you (ambivalent)

Mick's Sunshine

Back on Track (Off the Rails)

Por Fin

Fix You

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I usually do! lately I’ve been falling behind on answering them but I’m planning on doing it really soon! I’m incredibly forgetful, but I appreciate every single one of them

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I wouldn’t necessarily call it an angsty ending, but I think the ending to Fix You is kinda open ended, so that technically isn’t happy…? though it’s hopeful! I don’t really write angsty endings tbh

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I would have to say Nobody makes me crazy like you just because it’s the only finished one with an actual structure and a possibility for a happy ending lmao

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I’ve never written one but I’m planning to 👀👀

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not publicly, just some anons with nothing better to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

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

yup! pretty standard romantic stuff really lmao nothing beyond some dirty talk and such. planning something for Gallavich kinktober though eheh

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

unfortunately not 😫 would love to

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

nothing that has been published yet, but something’s the works 👀

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

I would have to go with Destiel. you know I love me my Gallavich boys, but Dean and Cas own my whole heart and then some. I’d say Ian and Mickey are reaaally close seconds!

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

there’s this Gallavich canon divergent one that is halfway done but it’s just too much work for my weak brain! 😫😫 I would love to publish it one day sigh

15. What are your writing strengths?

humour I guess? banter more specifically! just because it’s really fun to write so I think I’m not doing that awful of a job with it lmao

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

backstories!! like establishing things and building relationships from the ground up is what kills 99% of my writing ideas, I just can’t do it

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

why not! if I know that language I would totally write some dialogues in it, with translations when necessary

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Hetalia dbsidndk I will not elaborate on that

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Destiel!! I have some fic drafts here and there but I would love to write a fully realized thing and publish it someday

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

uuuhhh probably Back on track (Off the rails) because it’s the one I’ve had the most fun writing 💙

it’s social anxiety night (it’s a recurring theme I know) so I’m only tagging @mere-mortifer because I love bothering her AND she’s my favorite author ever 😌💙 but if you’re reading this: you’re tagged! 🔪

[fishandships]

Ok now I'm curious- which F/Os do you see yourself gaming with, and what games do you see them playing with you? Who'd go for competitive games, who'd go for party games, and who would sink 80+ hours into an RPG with you? And who would be baffled but supportive of your hobby?

I LOVE THIS ASK TYSM especially because now that im thinking about it, i love the idea of my FOs playing games my other FOs are from

i had the idea of G-Jr. playing Stardew Valley with me the other day and i can’t stop thinking about this it makes my heart warm ;w;

i also think Mitsukake would enjoy Stardew Valley but it would take him a minute to get the point. like ‘why do you want to spend time pretending to be a farmer it’s so commonplace’ but then the cat shows up and he’s like ‘...ok this is cute’

i feel like Garrus would also really enjoy video games in his downtime but i can’t decide whether he’d like super competitive high-intensity games OR if he’d veer to the other end of the spectrum and actually enjoy calmer games? i can see him playing TF2 with me - he’d take Sniper so i’d be Medic and we’d get Tali to play Engineer but she’d get bored relatively quickly so she’d just sit with us and watch and cheer us on

Guzma would absolutely be a Gamer(tm) - getting super into competitive games and yelling at the screen constantly. i like to play with him but i can’t really keep up for very long so i tend to watch and bring him water and snacks. are you winning, babe? you’re doing amazing love you <3

i don’t think there’s a game out there that would be challenging enough for Eddie but he does design his own now and then in canon and i would play the hell out of anything he created (his side missions are the only thing i care about in Arkham City lmao)

Waylon is the king of fighting games. he can kick anyone’s ass. i don’t like playing against him cause i always lose (if i win i can tell it’s only cause he let me) but i do love teaming up with him against others :3c

Fenton would get so into RPGs. he tanks, i heal. i might pocket a tiny bit but the results pay off. he has all the lore memorized and he’d write fanfics to fill in his characters’ backstories. we meet up with Della and Huey regularly for D&D (Della DMs)

omg it would be so fun to play party games with Raph, Miko, and Jack. or any multiplayers really but the party games get intense. 

i feel like if any of my FOs were to not really get it but be supportive, that would be Mick. he does have a soft spot for cute little animals tho and he likes watching me play Animal Crossing more than he would actually admit. the koalas are his favorite and the only time he comments at all is when one is at my campsite and he asks, ‘...is he gonna come live with you?’

Jeremy is Peak Obnoxious Dudebro Gamer and has no mercy for me regardless of game. its PvP enabled no matter what. he rubs it in my face when he beats me but he’s a pretty good sport when i beat him. we play for small-scale stakes a lot - just like loser buys the winner a beer or something. 

i’m on the fence about whether Jet would also be a hardcore Gamer or if he’d act like he’s too cool for video games (but join me anyway and have fun). i think i could get him to play survival games with me, possibly Don’t Starve (he mains WX-78). he also likes solo racing games and i’ll sit with him and do my own thing while he plays. he’s kind of a sore loser and bitches a lot when things go wrong.  

[kiraraneko]

CATS as reviewed by a furry

Apparently this is a movie review blog now lmao (listen I just have some Opinions™ I feel like writing down lately) You’ve already heard from a hundred sources about the terrible CGI and bad quality of the film overall, so I’m going to focus more on the characters themselves and how they’ve been translated from stage to film. As someone whose been a fan of CATS since childhood AND is active in the furry community, I hope this will be different from the other reviews. (YES THERE ARE SPOILERS)

Let’s just start this off by saying - everyone who keeps comparing this film to “furry porn” clearly is not familiar with furry porn, because the alleged “hornyness” of the actor portrayals is pretty in-line with the stage play. The only reason this movie comes off as so much more sexual is because the bad fur CGI doesn’t keep your brain from knowing these people are all basically nude. The stage play costumes feature fur tufts and limb wraps that work to somewhat hide the human silhouettes, whereas (even with some characters in coats and accessories) everyone’s fur in the movie is so skin-tight they end up being unmistakably human, so every sway and hip-thrust comes off as slightly disturbing in an uncanny way instead of feline and graceful.

Victoria the White Cat Now here’s where I’ll admit to my blatant bias - Victoria has always been my favorite cat (other than Rum Tum). Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Ever wonder why my fursona is a white cat? (Jumpcut to me as an 8 year old wearing a scarf around my waist, pretending to be Victoria). Her role in the play is small but she’s elegant, beautiful, and an incredibly talented dancer, and I always idolized her for that. So, you can imagine I was pretty delighted to find that she plays the role of “main character” in the film. Now in the play, the cats explain to the audience about who and what they are, with Munkustrap (the grey tabby) serving as a kind of narrator/translator and leader. Since you can’t exactly address a stage audience in a movie, Victoria fills that role of the “questioning onlooker”, which I feel fits her character very well considering she’s both a younger/newer cat to the Jellicle scene and she was the first to accept Grizabella, which connects her nicely to the entire story (both in the play and the movie). What I was markedly less jazzed about was the addition of her own song in the movie. I think it was a nice attempt to expand her role, but as an extension to Memories, I found Beautiful Ghosts to be frankly kind of boring and unnecessary. She’s essentially saying to Grizabella “I was just abandoned and I don’t have anything, at least you have good memories to look back on” which to me, came off as belittling to Grizabella with a dash of “poor me” for Victoria. However, the reprise version with Old Deuteronomy I actually ended up liking much more. It is less condescending when two old cats are singing to one another, versus a kitten who has their whole life ahead of them lecturing Grizabella about a past she knows nothing about. One last thing I’ll note about Victoria is her slight re-design in the movie - she’s been given some light striping patterning as opposed to being a pure white cat. This doesn’t bother me at all as I assume when it comes to lighting and rendering, pure white fur would have been too distracting on screen. Jennyanydots / The Gumbie Cat I’ll just come right out and say that this segment was probably the worst translation from the play in the entire movie, and it happens early in the film, so you’re already questioning what the hell the rest of the movie is going to be like. In the play, she’s a slow-paced and motherly type cat that only becomes energetic at night, when she sheds her fur to reveal a vibrant coat and goes to work teaching vermin of the house good manners and skills like crocheting (as opposed to hunting them, like other cats would do). In the movie, she’s flitting about the kitchen like a hyperactive rabbit, rampantly consumes some of the insects she’s painstakingly coached, and whines about wishing to leave her household. If this butchering of her character weren’t enough, they actually included the fur-shedding bit in an incredibly disturbing skin-unzipping sequence where she steps out of her cat skin to reveal a sparkly dress underneath. Characters in the CATS play occasionally do wear some clothing accessories, but this movie does not know the meaning of subtlety, and various characters are wearing fullbody clothes which even further breaks any illusion of these characters being cats. It just constantly wants to remind you that these are human people in unitards jumping around on a greenscreen. Rum Tum Tugger Undoubtedly a fan favorite, Rum Tum is the rockstar cat who swoons all the kittens and makes a general ruckus, with stylistic influences of Mick Jagger and Elvis. To say the least, I thought his part in the movie was fine, but certainly doesn’t quite have the punch to it that the stage play does. The movie has him breaking into a 50′s style diner while milk is liberally poured for all the younger cats. Both his character and that of the Gumbie cat’s are diminished further as she makes fun of his singing and dance moves - which may have been a funny addition, if it weren’t for her alleging his show-offiishness to a recent neutering. This joke just went a little too far in my opinion, and really detracted from the rest of Rum Tum’s performance. Bustopher Jones A very charming and gentlemanly cat, Bustopher’s sequence started well and then just got really weird. His song prominently describes his love of fine dining, his cheerful demeanor, and his well-groomed fur. The last of which was directly contradicted in the movie, as he rolled around in actual garbage making an utter mess of himself. He’s shown gorging himself through the entire segment with increasing fervor, until it’s just a bit too much to bear witness to. At one point, he’s meant to trapeze into a trash can, but the cat who jumps on the other end of the catapult is markedly smaller, and nothing happens. This is actually quite a funny moment, until once again, the joke goes a little too far and Bustopher comments being “sensitive about his weight”. This is just.. a bizarre comment considering he’s sung an entire song about being charmingly large and we’ve just watched him unabashedly stuff his face for five solid minutes. Applying human weight-shaming to the ideals of a cat is just completely unnecessary, awkward, and contradictory to his character. It changes him from an indulgent but experienced chap into something to be pitied. Asparagus / Gus the Theatre Cat Possibly my favorite segment of the movie, this is the only part I actually teared up at. As a child, I always thought Gus was a very boring character with a boring part, but watching as an adult I can understand and appreciate him much better. Sir Ian McKellen did an absolutely phenomenal job of channeling the frail, endearing, proud character of Gus (despite the wonky camera work of the scene). This might be the only part of the movie that matched, or perhaps even exceeded the stage play version, and I don’t think it’s any surprise that it also happens to be the most subdued sequence, relying almost entirely on character acting and line delivery, instead of fancy effects cluttering up the screen (as this musical should be). The end of his storytelling features some “lightning strikes” for emphasis, created by what I imagine would be a simple shadow stencil, and it added some genuine atmosphere to the idea of Gus as a performer with simple stage effects. It was a nice subtle touch, and I only wish the rest of the movie could have been more like that. I found his line condemning “modern productions” to be more poignant than ever before, and it makes you wonder if this movie suddenly became painfully self-aware.  Also I just want to throw this in: Before Gus’s song, there’s an unintentionally hilarious shot of Mr. Mistoffelees walking up on him drinking milk from a dish, except Gus is mostly in shadow with his cat features obscured and is standing fully upright, so he just appears to be a hobo man lapping at a dish, like someone legit just walked up on Ian McKellen being a complete fucking weirdo.  Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer This segment was another one that just didn’t come across quite right. These two are mischievous partners in crime, causing mayhem and stealing treasures. The '98 film version characterizes them as playful and upbeat, delighting in trouble-making, but they don’t seem to be quite experienced or clever enough to get away 100% of the time. The 2019 version came off as almost.. sinister to me. They coerce Victoria into stealing, frame her, and then leave her to what could nearly be her death, all while sort of talking through their lines with a cold inflection. This is supposed to take after the original “languid” London version, but they don’t play off each other very well and you don’t get a sense of the fun, amusing partnership they’re supposed to have. It’s mostly just watching them destroy several rooms of a house and then leaving Victoria to her fate like utter assholes. I don’t really have anything more to say on these two, it was just kind of bland and forgetful and leaves you disliking them instead of enjoying watching them have a fun romp. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat I would give Skimbleshanks the award for “most baffling redesign”. As mentioned earlier, this movie takes cats-wearing-clothing to an uncanny level, and this is certainly the uncanny-est. While the play version has him in a cute waistcoat and arm warmers with elbow patches to give a “train conductor” vibe, the movie has him in full bright red overalls, with other reviews calling him “gay nightclub Mario”, lmao! As much as I wanted to enjoy this number, the sight of him was just too weird to look past.  The tap dancing during his skit was a fitting addition to his character - he is quite bouncy and light on his feet, so I thought it suited him very well and really liked that part. His song picks up after that, with all the cats dancing on the rail and there’s more weird camera work, at one point zooming out so ridiculously far it’s actually jarring. The rest of his song was okay, a CGI greenscreen that can do anything you want unfortunately just isn’t as creative and inspiring as watching actors build a train engine representation out of junkyard scraps on an actual stage.  Magical Mr. Mistoffelees The movie really took some liberties with this character, and I’m still on the fence about whether it was a good choice or not. In the play, Mistoffelees is a magician cat, performing tricks through his segment (including the most complex dance routine of any character) while other cats usually sing about his feats (in the ‘98 film, it’s Rum Tum). They went for the younger, unsure version of Mistoffelees in this new movie, and doubled up on it by turning him into something of a comedic-relief character. He doesn’t quite have a handle on his magic, and he trips up on his words and his feet several times through the movie. This would have been fine if his musical number hadn’t been such a let down. This is supposed to be his grand moment, but his “magic” ends up being underwhelming and the chorus repeats for SO long you’re practically begging for it to end. Where “Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr Mistoffelees?” was once a cheerful and upbeat line, it will certainly become a droning echo in your mind after watching this movie. The added plot of his implied attraction to Victoria I also found kind of weird, though I’ll admit that might just be my personal tastes. I always liked Mistoffelees being a more aloof kind of cat.  Grizabella / The Glamour Cat Alright buckle in, I’ve got some strong opinions about this one. Grizabella is undeniably the star of CATS - she’s an incredibly emotional character, visually intriguing, and her performance in the musical is nothing short of heartbreaking. She was referred to as “the Glamour Cat” in her prime, but it has turned into an almost mocking title as the other cats reject and shun her. We never really know why, but it can be implied she may have been cold and elitist to the other cats who once adored her, or had some other tragic and sudden fall from grace. Despite Jennifer Hudson putting in a damn good effort to play the role of this character, the movie itself let her down. The CATS play and the Jellicle ball which it centers around, while being a musical, is foremost a ball in which cats perform for the honor of being chosen. The dancing is just as important as the singing, and Grizabella’s character is heavily communicated by her posture. She’s hunched, stiff and limping, reaching out for others to accept her, and at one point even attempts to mimic some of the other cat’s dance moves before slinking away in shame. The 2019 movie paradoxically chooses to use extremely tight face-shots for just about every character routine. It is frustrating and claustrophobic to watch a movie where cats who are supposed to be expressing their character through movement are shown from only the shoulders up, just standing there singing into a camera - and this frustration is paramount at the Grizabella sequences.  Jennifer Hudson, singing her absolute heart out with tears pouring down her face, is still emotionally lacking because of the terrible cinematography refusing to show her doing any actual acting. I was so distracted by the mucus running down her face that I couldn’t even connect with her. I thought the costuming of Grizabella was very well done, but you barely got to see any of it. Overall a very disappointing performance, because Hudson was doing all the right things, and it could have been great if the movie had met her even halfway. Macavity the Mystery Cat Played by the incredible Idris Elba, Macavity underwent some heavy changes and expansion in this new movie. He’s the main antagonist of the play, and most of his antics like committing serious crimes and alluding the police are sung about as rumors but doesn’t himself sing, and actually doesn’t have any speaking lines in the play, adding to his mysterious character. When he eventually appears, he battles with Munkustrap and steals Deuteronomy (who is brought back by Mistoffelees). Macavity is usually depicted with vibrant clashing colors, wild hair, and uses quick threatening movements, while the Idris Elba version rein-visioned him as extremely sleek, black-furred, and sly and cunning, often emerging from the shadows to tempt other cats with their vices. He is given numerous speaking lines, and his villainy is expanded on as he kidnaps the other cats in an attempt to be the chosen Jellicle. I actually quite like this interpretation of the character, and it makes him a little more relatable instead of the vicious enigma he is in the play.  Something of note is just how literally the new movie took the rumors of Macavity’s powers. His abilities, which were muted and used sparingly in the play, were used constantly and without hesitation in this movie. He spends most of his time teleporting other characters and creating illusions, but then uses trickery to try and win the Jellicle ball, and fails to demonstrate his power of levitation when it really matters. So whether he does or doesn’t have real powers seems to be.. situational to say the least. Another thing I want to point out is just how uncomfortably sudden Macavity’s reveal is. He spends most of the movie in the shadows hidden under an oversized coat and hat, and then suddenly appears at the Jellicle ball without any disguise on whatsoever. Idris Elba is a damn fine looking dude, and you can clearly see his very human-shaped abs beneath his sleek Macavity fur, which is so close to his actual skintone that I’ve seen him described as “extra naked” and it’s pretty accurate. You just really aren’t prepared for this moment when it happens. Growltiger This guy is a rough and rowdy pirate-esque character with a dramatic love life. His segment was cut from the ‘98 film, so seeing the play in person is just about the only way to experience it. Because of this, it’s probable that many people may not even be aware of this character, so I was pretty excited to hear that he would be featured in the 2019 movie. Growltiger is quite overdue for his time in the mainstream spotlight. Turns out, unfortunately, Growltiger's Last Stand is not what you get. His appearance in the movie is more or less a cameo with a short introduction, and the rest of the time he’s serving as Macavity‘s henchman in the background. This is based on the 2015 revival of him as a dock worker, but I feel it was a weak representation of his character, and really wish he’d been shown in a better light. The movie cuts out pretty much every fight scene, and Growltiger‘s would have been dramatic and fun to watch, especially after Gus’s reminiscing. Instead, he was kind of lazily thrown into a river by Gus, who previously bragged about playing the role of Growltiger on stage, which is kind of an interesting juxtaposition if you don’t think about it too hard. Old Deuteronomy A surprising change was the decision to make Deuteronomy female, played by Judi Dench. I love old grandpa Deuteronomy, but this didn’t really bother me. Deuteronomy is a wise, beloved leader of the Jellicles and there’s not really anything integral about the character that says they couldn’t be female. Deuteronomy carries himself with dignity, but isn’t afraid to dance along with the songs of the other more lively cats, and Judi Dench certainly has an air of authority and respect about her. The character’s songs are reflective and thought-provoking, but once again, the 2019 movie fails to make any of these sequences actually entertaining. The absolute worst part of the entire movie comes at the very end, when Deuteronomy makes horrific, unblinking eye contact with the camera, and slowly talks her way through the Ad-Dressing of Cats. This is absolutely bewildering considering how the movie deliberately sets up Victoria as a main character in place of the audience, only to completely chuck that out the window of a moving car just to break the 4th wall in the most uncomfortable way possible and directly address the audience anyway. What is even the point? I can’t imagine there’s a single person that would watch that and be okay with it. The Ad-Dressing of Cats is supposed to be a cute, fun little recap of everything the cats supposedly taught you, but this movie made it feel like a lecturing stare-down. Other notes The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles was cut entirely from the movie, which is fine because it isn’t integral to the story or anything, considering it was also cut from the stage play when I saw it live. I kind of shudder to think of how The Great Rumpus Cat would have been interpreted in this movie, so I think we were all probably spared some indignities.  While this movie was watchable and certainly an interesting take on the play, it creatively added very little and only succeeded in making me desperately want to go watch the ‘98 musical. I thought at least this movie would be a fun soundtrack to view, but many of the songs just didn’t have the punchiness, joy, charm, or energy that I’m used to. There were parts of it that I liked enough to say this isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but that’s not exactly a glowing review. From the perspective of a theatre fan and a furry: If I want to see CATS, I’m most certainly going to choose the filmed musical over this new movie any day.  I’m infinitely more charmed by the graceful 80′s style dancers of the play than I am by the uncanny valley, painfully human cat-people of the new movie (and honestly I haven’t seen a single piece of fanart for it, so that really tells you all you need to know).

[lenalvthor]

I am itching to post a comment for the recent update, but I’m also in the middle of finals and would not be happy if I didn’t give this week’s update the comment it deserves. To think it took all day to send this out alone! So instead, I’m hitting both of you up with a couple questions and headcanons requests. (Apologies in advance cause there’s quite a few of them 😅)

1. I’ve been wondering for a while now since we’ve seen them interact with other Arrowverse characters in their social media, but do the Legends still maintain contact with Snart? He’s the only one that’s literally a city away and contacting someone you’re used to seeing face to face constantly isn’t always easy.. How’s he doing over in Central City?

2. Do y’all have any headcanons for the OG Legends? How did they become the Legends? Or tell us about one of their OG misadventures (that may or may not have resulted in detention). 😉

3. Since y’all also mentioned that Ali is now running with the Soph Squad™, I was wondering if you have any headcanons about them? I just want to hear some cute stuff for them (especially cause Lil’ Sharpe is a fucking fav. Did they adopt her like how Sara merged the friend groups? Did they playfully tease Ali after learning her middle name like finding any and every way to play “Jenny from the Block” every hour on the hour (totally haven’t done that >.>).

(Imma stop there cause I don’t want to push it, but I hope that both of you have a good week ahead. Best of luck during finals, hope work isn’t to busy, and I do hope you’re feeling better from your being sick!)

do you know how much getting massive messages like this asking for this many details about our story literally makes our Entire day? like, screw entire days, our entire Weeks. it’s just so hard to comprehend that people care this much about our dumb little world that we’ve created, so firstly, literally thank u so much for taking the time to send this, and thank u for the time you’ve spent reading this fic and being this invested 💖

and RIGHT HEADCANONS AND STUFF. 

1. snart. mick definitely keeps in touch with him, and he’s pretty good friends w barry so wally hears abt stuff through barry. sara tags him in memes every once in a while and texts him abt stuff, occasionally they tag each other in #tbt posts, but they don’t maintain That much contact really, but they catch up if they ever get a chance

2. i feel like you wanted something nice and fluffy for this but we ended up just going on angst spirals about freshman year sara instead lmao. in our minds, the legends group isn’t Quite the legends group until late in their freshman year. sara grew up being best friends with laurel, tommy, oliver and thea and they were pretty tight knit for most of her life. it wasn’t until middle school (or rather, sara’s eighth grade) that suddenly the older three were at a different school and both thea and sara kinda looked to expand their friend group (and it’s around this time that sara met and started dating nyssa). in freshman year, sara’s going through a bit of a hard time finding herself. she’s in this super low spot of trying to be both like laurel and not like laurel at the same time, and it hits her super hard how much her mother just Doesn’t care and her outlet ends up being acting out a lot. 

she becomes pretty tight with mick and snart and they get into a lot of trouble together for a while during the year. ray, amaya and jax are the three who manage to worm their way into sara’s life and become friends with her and slowly ease her away from that self destructive behaviour, esp ray and amaya - ray with getting through to her understanding what it’s like to have that constant comparison to a sibling, and amaya by being one of the first female friends that sara has had in a while and who she refreshingly needs to find her own since of femininity and style and stuff that isn’t in some way trying to emulate or be opposite to laurel at all

sara drags mick and snart with her away from that whole troublemaking thing and at the same time, ray starts dating kendra (who sara knew through nyssa) and amaya becomes quite close with nate, so them + jax are the original legends.  

it’s very early sophomore year that snart moves away (he comes back to visit a few times and he and sara hook up one time after nyssa leaves). kendra starts to drift a bit after nyssa leaves as well, and has her own group of friends even though she and ray are still dating. zari moves to star city right after christmas break and ray and jax are assigned her ‘buddies’ to show her around and she sits with the legends those first few days at lunch. she and amaya click almost immediately, and she likes nate even though he’s a bit annoying and ray is sweet if not a little overwhelming and jax and mick seem pretty chill. but she and sara butt heads so quickly, and a lot of that is bc sara isn’t in a good place at all after nyssa leaving and zari reminds her so much of herself that she’s starting to think all these things about the legends replacing her somehow, and it’s not until ray picks up on that and quietly takes her aside and promises that it’s nothing like that, that zari just needs friends the way they all did last year, sara eases up a bit. (zari tries out for the soccer team soon after though, and it’s there that she and sara realise how well they work together and how good friends they could be if they just tried) 

ray and kendra break up early junior year, but they’d been distant for a while anyway. kendra still remains pretty good friends w the legends tho. nate and amaya also break up junior year but it’s an amicable break up and obvs they both stay in the legends. 

as for how they became legends - i don’t think neither me or rachel are particularly inventive when it comes to pranks and creative adventures and misdemeanours, so if you (or anyone else) has any ideas for various mischievous things the legends got up to to earn their name, pls send them our way!! 

3. they are the fucking cutest okay. thea and ali have been friendly and all since middle school and they’re on the same lacrosse team and ali always thought their group seemed cool, but it’s not until she’s trying to find a new table to sit at (pointedly avoiding looking at her old friends) that thea waves as though they’re Best Friends and points at a free seat beside roy. we have thea, roy, curtis, rené, sin and probs a few other OC’s as their friend group. it’s a big group but everyone has kinda smaller mini groups within it and that group ^ w those names is the group that ali gets adopted into. it’s kinda weird for ali bc she hasn’t had a lot of guy friends before, but she immediately loves it. curtis teaches her how to play video games and she schools rené big time in basketball and when she realises sin is gay, she explains why she left her old group after their homophobic comments abt ava and sin immediately grins and goes “i like you.”  roy and thea become ali’s best friends out of the group though, always inviting her to stuff and making points to get to know her and funnily enough, ali never quite feels like a third wheel (i mean, she does sometimes), but it just feels natural. she joins the school archery club bc thea encourages her to, she goes round to the queen house all the time to study and it’s cool bc the queens are friendly with the sharpes bc they’re in the same social circle and thea gets having parents who are Like That and ali realises that she’s never felt more comfortable with a group of friends in her life

(there are so many more headcanons abt the third thing but the post is so long & so we’re gonna save those for another time heh) 

[lotrewrite]

LOT Rewrite: And we have our first comment!!! :D :D :D Thank you @calmandcalculating! Putting it behind the cut for spoilers, in case people haven’t read it yet :)

—————————————————————————–

@calmandcalculating:​ Episode 1 – my thoughts 

I really like the cold start scene with Kendra! Having that lead up to the title card was a good choice. A hook as the cold start is the best way to go – especially the season’s first.  I’ll be looking at the rest of them, too.

How does Oliver know when the bomb was invented?

Are all the places Nate lists time periods that the Legends will go?

“Sonar readings” sounds like an awkward wording – sonar echoes? fish sonagram?

lmao are we hopping over why Oliver has a sub? I guess we did that in canon too, so

I know in 2x01 when Mick was shown in each scene, the number of beer bottles around him increased. Maybe make that explicit here?

Re: the Cisco scene, this might be my cinematography knowledge talking a bit, but maybe doing the typical “zoom into star labs while starting Cisco’s audio / J-cut” would work better, but I wouldn’t know which cut to get back to the waverider after. The scene might be too short to really necessitate the J-cut, might need more of a comedy style instead of a drama. Cutaway style?

(will this all be edited into Final Cut?)

(the Mick narration is called an L cut – where the video changes into the next scene before the audio. J is the opposite, where audio changes before video)

“warmed up” – wording check? It’s the queen talking, I’m not sure how that would be.. expressed. 

Though I’d probably give Stein a pass for being snappy at everyone because the Nazi mess.

Darhk not Darkh, Chronos not Kronos

Eobard’s spewing exposition early.

I don’t really understand Jax wanting to come in from above, maybe there’s some action scene visualization I’m missing?

“You don’t have a choice.” “I never did” ouch

Finishing off with Oliver and Kendra was a good choice too, since she’s opening the episode. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOT Rewrite: Since these are comments on episode 1, which I wrote, I’ll respond myself:

First - putting comments straight in the document is actually really convenient for editing specific paragraphs, so thank you for that! And I’m so happy you liked the cold open - I was very pleased with how that came out. (And I’m really glad that the ouch moment was effectively ouch)

As for how Oliver knows when the bomb was invented - he’s Oliver Queen. He seems to pull these facts off the top of his head in canon. It's probably just something he learned in school, tbh. Also, he pulls subs off the top of his head with equal ease (aka - nah, we’re not explaining that XD)

I’m actually going to put up a poll in the next few days regarding whether or not we want these episodes to be written in script style or fic style or some amalgamation of the two. I’m not a film writer, just a consumer, so adding details like J-cut and L-cut are a bit too much for me.

I have clarified Jax coming in from above and that Mick’s drinking is continuing throughout the scene, so thank you! And I’m glad you liked it!

[rosyjuly]

@kritischetheologie tagged me for the 20 questions for writers game, thank you c!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

twenty!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

76,628. it's kinda insane that i wrote 51k under just six months last year.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

currently only writing for f1, but i've published works for star wars, peaky blinders, the old guard and batman. on another account that has been liquidated many years ago i had footy rpf and teen wolf fics.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

carry each other (hal jordan/bruce wayne), worked the blade (seb/mick), to the finnish line (seb/charles/kimi), spoils of war (seb/mick) and a favour returned (seb/lewis).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do, unless it only says "please write more of this", because i don't have anything polite to reply. but i love getting replies from authors too, so only fair to return the favor. there are definitely times when i just re-read a bunch of comments and they can really help to lift my mood or feel better about my writing.

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

lmao that would be the prince au break up sex fic, someday to say out loud. making george ask alex to tell him he loves him even if it isn't true and ensuring that he can't and won't believe him... partly why it's hard for me to go back to writing prince au is because it was very easy for me to project my unmedicated depression onto george, and (thank god) i'm not in that place anymore.

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

mmhh my star wars fic maybe? i'm not overly fond of happy endings, the best i deal out is a hopeful but kinda open ending. out of my f1 fic it's a favour returned, i guess -- there's some talk about longer term commitment and trying and failing to say that they like like each other, or consolation prize, where mick admits twice that he's been thinking about seb.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not in the classical sense i guess or not that i've seen.

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

boy do i. i mostly write smut and use it as a catalyst to nudge a relationship to another level. i don't really get the what kind? question. what kinds are there? wholegrain?

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

haven't written one yet, but i've been toying with the idea of an f1 and the expendables crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

if i had a nickel for every time someone pulled entire lines from a fic of mine and barely paraphrased them, i would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

on my old ao3 account, yes! i haven't been approached on the new one and i don't think i'd give permission now.

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

prince au aka the myth of devotion with gabby @prettydangrotten. sorry to be sappy on main but galex truly one of the best things on the internet that's happened to me just for the friends i've made because of them :)))

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

all time? propably stiles/derek or eames/arthur from inception. also it was sterek that first got me to tumblr, back in like 2012 or something.

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

ugh right now it feels like i'll never finish anything again. but i have a long star wars wip that's like 75% done but i haven't touched for three years. there's a roc sebmick fic i started and i actually know how it should go from start to finish, but i've been struggling with writing this year, so, i don't know.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i've been told the internal struggle/tension that narrator is facing is pretty tight and i do agree :) i also think the porn i write is nicely physical and pretty hot.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

longfic. like. i wish i could do it -- i had a 54k wip on my old ao3 account -- but i don't have the energy or the commitment. this is also why i struggle with WTB and SOW -- i want to write more to both but i feel like they are snappy and valuable as they are and i'm worried i'll ruin that if i add more.

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

english isn't my first langauge so all dialogue is in another language in fic for me. i'm not super fond of adding another language on top pf that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

teen wolf!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

spoils of war or prince au. prince au has probably the most of me and gabby is incredible and one of the best writers and kindest persons i know and i feel incredibly fortunate to have created something with her. spoils of war was a challenge on a lot of fronts but i'm proud of the storyline and it has some of the best lines i have ever written i think. and it got @antimonyandthyme and me very close :))

aaaand i'm gonna tag @prettydangrotten @des-iderate @grideon @antimonyandthyme and @husbono.

[kaedekisaragi]

Kaede Kisaragi Watches The Flash S3E21 - Cause and Effect

Flash of Two Lives

Barry says Savitar is a time remnant of himself. Savitar exposits how, last year, to defeat Zoom, Barry sacrificed a time remnant to save the multiverse, while he went on with his merry life. But when Barry made Flashpoint, it changed everything. Future Barry created several remnants to stop Savitar, all remnants got killed... Except Savitar himself. And then, a funny thing happened: everyone, including Barry himself, shunned the remnant for not being the real barry allen. Just an Aberration. Future Barry didn't tell this to Barry. Savitar was broken, wanted the pain to end... And Gods feel no pain, so he had to become a God. All he has to do is kill Iris so Barry is forced into darkness and permits Savitar's birth... But the second thing he needs, he's gonna keep secret (I know, shocker, Barry Allen keeping secrets). BARRY ASKS WHAT HAPPENS IF HE SUICIDES, VIBRATING HIS HAND! Savitar reminds him how cause and effect (HA! HE SAID IT!) didn't work so good for Eddie. The more one time travels, the less its rules apply to you. Savitar says it will be Barry who is forgotten.

Then Barry uppercuts him and prepares to kill Savitar himself.

Then Savitar's armor smacks Barry away, being a cooler suit than his. The two face off, in their respective suits, using speed lightning, causing a massive explosion. Savitar escapes.

The team reacts shocked to the reveal. Cisco takes in all the info and manages to understand it, despite being appalled that HR didn't have Star Trek TOS but Voyager in his Earth. He rushes to the glass pane and proceeds to do a classic expository explanation:

-4 years from now, future Flash creates Time Remnant to fight Savitar. -Savitar lets that one live so IT can become Savitar. -Savitar is imprisoned in the Speed Force. -Remnant goes crazy, travels in time to the past, becomes Savitar. -Remnant creates the lie that he was the first speedster, spreading the myth and gathering acolytes.

This doesn't explain who came first, Remnant or Savitar. Because it is a closed loop. No beginning, no end. Predestination Paradox. Savitar exists because he's fated to exist by creating his own existence despite never originally having existed. Wally points out that a Remnant of Barry shouldn't want to kill Iris, but Barry has no answer to that.

Iris and Barry talk about Savitar. Finding out the monster isn't a monster isn't fun. Part of him was still Barry. The pain inside Savitar, Barry felt it when his parents died, how he wished he could be violent as they were to his parents. He knows he can be as evil as Savitar. Because he too lost someone. Iris reassures him he'll beat Savitar, reminding Barry that Savitar (and Barry) is not a god. Barry reflects that being a god is possible, when bad outweighs the good. It's not about being possible to do it, but about whether they should do it. What will he need to be to stop Savitar?

Cisco runs in with an awesome/worst idea. He wants to stop Barry from being able to remember what they're doing now by messing with his brain. To stop him from retaining new info, so Savitar can't learn what they're doing... Why do I feel this is why future Barry doesn't know who Savitar is? Barry agrees to it.

AND THEN THEY PROCEED TO GIVE BARRY AMNESIA! DAMN IT CISCO! THIS IS WHY CAITLIN WAS THE BRAIN SURGEON!

Amnesiac Barry is a bit hillarious, finding his official name (Bartholomew Henry Allen) kinda bad, and wondering if his name shouldn't be Bart (next season, man, next season) and being completely and realistically hysterical that they might be trying to steal his kidneys. Iris shows him photos of them. He doesn't even remember he is engaged to Iris. AND THEY ALSO MADE HIM FORGET HE HAS SUPERSPEED! And then Cecile calls, needing Barry at CCPD. AND WHY THE FUCK DID IRIS TELL JULIAN TO STAY?!? JULIAN WAS A FORENSIC GUY, HE SHOULD BE THERE IN BARRY'S PLACE!!!

HR, back to flirting with Tracy, sees she's having problems making the Speed Force Bazooka (awesome name) work. He tells her to stop being so obsessed with what's not working, and to step back to try and figure it out from a broader point of view. AND OMG, THESE TWO DORKS ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER, THEY ARE BOTH OBSESSED WITH COFFEE! AND THEY ALMOST GO FOR IT, BUT THEY BOTH STEP BACK LMAO

So, the emergency on CCPD: Lucius Coolidge, the Heat Monger, worst arsonist since Mick Rory went AWOL. And since his hearing is today, Barry needs to testify since he was the CSI on the case, to hold Coolidge for trial. BRUTAL DAMN LIFE WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH A LITTLE AMNESIA! Cecile is livid that they did this NOW of all times, and tells them to hurry up, or else Heat Monger will be walking free. Barry can only cutely apologize, despite not having a clue why he feels this is his fault. And he warmly asks whether they've been busy planning the wedding, to Iris' utter heartbreak on realizing all the things they have not done.

Elsewhere, Savitar listens to Frost rambling about her problems with their plan... Only to choke her and ask her who is he... Ooooookay, interesting side effect. At least it worked?

Barry was in the anime club, he loved Dragon Ball Z. Badass. He and Iris are at Jitters and he's looking himself over on his mobile. The two laugh about how horribly nerdy he used to look and how clearly Iris never tried to help hard enough XD Iris is feeling amazed at how... light Barry is now. No worries. No burdens. No brooding. He's happy. And why wouldn't he be... He'll be with her forever, right? Iris is not amazed now. Barry leaves for the courthouse... WHY?!? HE STILL HAS NO MEMORY!!!

At the courthouse... Barry is  called to testify, but Cisco gives him glasses to wear... Why? Also, quirky music. This will be good. They are TYPING HIS ANSWERS ON THE GLASSES. GOOGLE GLASS. AND JULIAN IS MAKING HIM SAY SHIT. AND USING SMILIES. THIS IS A MASSIVE HILLARIOUS DISASTER OF A TRAINWRECK.

The testimony, despite stumbles, seems okay... But Barry is heating up something fierce. And it burns up so much he fizzles out the google glass. I can't even look. The case is dismissed. Heat Monger is walking free.

AND THEN FROST SHOWS UP ON THE LAB. AND WALLY LOST HIS SPEED! AND SHE DEMANDS THEM DO EVERYTHING SHE SAYS.

...fuck me... Of course. They made Barry forget everything. This means Savitar never remembered his plans. Which means he also didn't make Wally into a speedster. Cause and Effect. Time rules affect speedsters in all stupid ways.

Iris is glad at least Barry has the same 'wanna help' attitude without memories. He cannot see it in himself as being able to afford their big apartment or that he did the decorating. Also, he doesn't remember his parents :( Iris lies to him, saying they died peacefully. She comments how when they first met, he was the happiest boy ever. He says it might be because she entered his life, and they kiss. The kiss triggers his superspeed, and terrifies him.

Barry is psyched, actually, about having powers. At the lab, they find Frost, and Barry is dismissed (not before asking gleefully about Frost being a super villain). Frost tells them if she helps them fix Barry, all goes back to normal... But Iris says they could just re-teach barry everything. Frost claims this might be good... But currently, there's lots of villains and no flashes. Is it worth the risk?

HR and Tracy continue trying to fight their lustful desire for each other. They lose. Hard. They kiss. The kiss somehow makes her have an epiphany for her project.

Frost tries to act all serious and focused on her task, and Cisco casually talks about the past with Julian, clearly trying to make Caitlin return by talking on how they were three musketeers with Ronnie under Wells. He even casually namedrops Hartley (and how Julian was Hartley 2.0). And Frost remembers their funny stories about Ronnie. It gives her pause. She is clearly reluctant.

Joe and Iris bask on happy Barry running for funsies. Joe realizes he hasn't seen him this happy in ages... Or ever. The burdens of his past always weighing him down. He realizes Iris doesn't want him to remember everything. Joe reminds her that, without 28 years of experiences (OMG I HAVE BARRY'S AGE!), he isn't the same man she fell in love with. She can't help but wonder if maybe the city doesn't need the Flash...

Then Heat Monger uses a flamethrower. Damn it. Barry, even without any idea how to use his powers, puts on the suit and goes, for he needs to help. But he can barely even stop himself, how can he even rescue a whole building full of people? Frost wants them to use their plan: electroshocking his brain from the suit's sensors. Cisco activates the device, shocking Barry hard. It doesn't work. They need to kickstart his brain with a visceral memory... Iris knows what to do. She tells him how his mom was murdered. How he came to her house and was just shocked, not crying. And then she woke late at night and found him sitting and crying alone. And she sat there, letting him cry in her lap. That was the night they fell in love, realized how much they needed each other. She wanted to take it away, but she can't. And for every bad memory, he has a good memory to get him through the suffering...

Barry remembers everything. Savitar too.

Flash and Kid Flash put out the fire together. Heat Monger is caught. At the labs, Barry remembers all the nerdy tidbits, and also that he named his class hamster Alexander Ham Bell. Frost tries to leave, but the team try to persuade her to stay. Julian swears he'll try harder, no matter what, to fix her. AND HE SAYS THE L-WORD. But Frost says she never loved any of them. But as she leaves in the elevator, her eyes fizzle out briefly. She's fighting.

Barry wonders if Iris really wants him with his baggage. Barry comments how he had the chance to be free when he made Flashpoint. But he needs the pain to not forget who he really is. Iris is glad her Barry is back. They kiss. HR walks in. Tracy finished the Bazooka... But she needs 3.86 Terajoules of energy.

3.86 TERAJOULES?!? THAT'S MORE THAN THE SUN!!! WHERE ARE THEY EVEN GONNA FIND THAT?!?

Elsewhere. Red glowy rock. Big room... King Shark.

This episode was a classic character study. What is Barry Allen? Who is he as a person? Would you recognize him if I pulled his dark suffering away? Would you like him if he wasn't an experienced superhero? Would he be the same person? Well, the episode proved that, despite the excess suffering on future Barry or the lack of suffering of amnesia Barry, Barry Allen will always be a person who helps. That is what makes him a hero, not his powers, not his suffering. This was Iris' Flashpoint, the idea of letting him remain amnesiac was her last temptation. But like Joe, she too had to embrace the fact this is their 'normal', and she wouldn't have loved Barry better if he was a different person than the one she fell in love with. If anything, this episode gave Barry some good weightless fun to chill out before the big confrontation with Savitar. Likewise, Caitlin's showing more and more signs to still be inside of Killer Frost, and the chances are high she will keep on fighting harder from now on after Cisco's stellar work using their good times to remind her why they were friends.

Two episodes left!