#ooc: she Maybe holds a grudge about her death! just maybe!

[clara-von-closen]

mo m i th ink im b ecom ing a pa rt of the we b

...we're all part of the Web, owlet. There's no way to escape it.

Apologies, I needn't get all touchy about semantics with you. I'm surprised. The Web doesn't, historically, get along very well with the Corruption. Hapless little flies get caught by the spiders... and a weaver's capable hands become clumsy and then still from fever.

[runningfrom2am]

leveling the playing field

summary: you didn't meet the requirements for the plinth prize, only to find out that you're not just missing out on that- you're missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. your friend wants to help, because maybe you can help each other.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.5k

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. do they love each other or hate each other? who knows. anyway no warnings for you guys today besides maybe this is boring lol

masterlists // nav // requests

join my taglist here

a/n: young coryo has me in a death grip rn guys this could be a problem-

next part

Fists clenched at your sides, you storm up to the front of the hall, staring intently at the Dean. You knew your odds were better pleading with Dr. Gaul, but that was a task far from your mind. "Miss Y/L/N, I don't have time for your petty complaints at the moment." He dismisses you before you even reach an appropriate distance to start your discussion.

"I was waiting for this." Festus chuckles, commenting on how none of the chosen mentors had a chance to process anything or even speak before you were stomping down the centre aisle, between all their seats, and up towards the podium where Dean Highbottom now stood.

Coriolanus found his gaze following you, despite his better judgment telling him to focus on the subject- scratch that, problem, at hand: his assignment of the mentorship of Lucy Gray Baird. She was fiery, that's for sure, and upon first impressions, she reminded him of you.

"You think I couldn't handle it, is that it?" You almost shout, discarding all formality in favour of getting answers. 

"You knew the qualifications, Miss Y/L/N." The Dean sighs.

"I got one B over a year ago! God, hold a grudge much? You're miserable!" People are staring now, noticeably, but you don't care. You're used to getting what you want, and the one time you don't, it comes back to bite you in the ass over a year later.

"Then you should have done better. Drop this or I'll demerit you." He states in response, clearly hardly caring. You huff, face red as you storm off again, making a point of slamming the door open so hard it hits the wall with a bang.

Coriolanus never understood fully why the Dean let you parade around with this attitude directed at him, but never so much as lifted a finger to punish you. If he had made a scene like that, he would have been expelled on the spot. "I should go after her." He turns to look at Sejanus as he's getting up, quickly gathering himself to follow after you. He had little interest in staying anyway.

"I'll go." Coriolanus stands, placing his hand on Sejanus' chest to stop him. "You stay. I'll sort her out."

"Coriolanus Snow, off to sedate his girlfriend again." Arachne teases as he walks off, leaving Sejanus to defend his name in his stead. He'd much prefer talking you down to uselessly explaining to the other kids in your class that the two of you were nothing more than friends. It was a wasteful endeavour. You were just the only one who's presence he could stand in a social capacity.

You made it outside, pacing the large front steps of the academy, fighting the urge to rip off your skirt and burn it right there. Along with the rest of the building.

"Y/N." You pause when you hear the door close behind someone, looking up to see your friend.

"Coryo." You reply, continuing with your fruitless crusade at this point.

"What happened to not caring about the prize?" He asks, stepping down so he's level with you on the staircase, getting in your path so you can no longer pace.

"I don't care about the prize." You grumble, crossing your arms over your chest. "It's not about that."

"I doubt that." Coriolanus raises an eyebrow at you. You had told him at length you didn't care about the prize when you found out you weren't even in the running, because your parents could pay your tuition anyway. He envied your privilege, but he had never envied you.

"No, it's not." You insist. "I got one less than stellar grade one time and now I'm missing out on this opportunity- effectively throwing away any shot I have at Gamemaker."

"That's dramatic." Your friend replies. "I think you're better off than me."

You scoff. "Oh, boo hoo, Coriolanus Snow. I'd take Lucy Gray in a second."

"Just because she can cause a scene doesn't mean she'll last a minute in the games." He replies.

"Duh, it's not about winning. It's about the experience, it's about-"

"Being on TV?" He asks, and despite his serious expression you know it's a joke.

"Even you know I'm not that shallow. I'm not Arachne." You can't help but smile. He does too, for just a second. "And frankly, I'm offended at the insinuation."

"Then enlighten me, Y/N Y/L/N." Coriolanus prompts, and suddenly your demeanor changes in a way he would deem hardly noticeable if he hadn't known you for years.

You sigh, dropping your tense shoulders. "My father will be up in arms when he finds out." You answer, voice in a whisper despite being alone out here. "I'm an embarrassment to my family name."

"That's impossible." He shakes his head quickly. "You're their pride and joy. A gem of the Capitol."

"Ah, but for how long?" You reply, poking his chest. "Until the oldest Y/L/N child doesn't get a mentorship? Until my brother does in three years and I am an irrelevant face in the University halls and he is winning the Plinth prize?" The small smile on your face fades as you look down, thinking over the consequences for the first time.

"Perhaps, but one day that will come back to bite anyone who doubted you when you're the new head Gamemaker. I'll be sure of it." He nods, and your smile returns. 

"Coriolanus Snow, future President of Panem, I salute you." You giggle, raising your hand in a salute. You had heard his cousin say that to him once, two or three years ago by now, and you were not prepared to let it go. You can tell it was something he believed, despite the misshapen buttons on his dress shirt and the weight he'd steadily lost over all the years you'd known him. Who were you to deny him his ambitions? Everyone else was fooled, so you would act as though you were as well. The same way he had habitually ignored the bruises on your arms and under your makeup the day after you brought home that B grade last year.

He just nods in response, jokingly tugging at his vest in pride. 

"I hate to tell you that I will have to decline your generous offer." You say, and he looks confused. "I don't need your charity. I'll make it so you'd be a fool not to hire me, Mister President."

You sit down on the stairs, looking out at the city. He joins you a moment later, dusting off the ground beneath him before letting his clothes touch the surface.

"So, how are you feeling?" You ask, sick now of talking about yourself.

"Honestly, not great." Coriolanus answers. "She'll be first down, and I'll be out. We're about at odds with each other, I have no shot at the prize now."

"I don't know, Coryo." You smile a little, bumping his shoulder with your own as you try to reassure him. "Lucy Gray has a or two fight in her. I can tell."

"She reminds me of you, a little bit." 

"Is that a bad thing?" You chuckle.

"No." He shakes his head. "You never back down from a fight. Even if you should."

You laugh, turning a little to hide the burning in your cheeks. "I suppose I could see the resemblance. I'm no stranger to telling someone to kiss my ass."

"That's true." He nods, smiling but not quite laughing. You're not sure you could remember seeing him laugh, not since Felix fell down the stairs in the lecture hall a few years ago and screamed like a girl. "Maybe you could help me."

"Help you? How?" You ask, brow furrowed as you look over at him. Whatever it is you'll agree. He knows too much about you for you to deny him anyway, and it's not like you really had anything to lose. If you couldn't have the Plinth prize, you'd want it to go to Coriolanus.

"With Lucy Gray. I don't even know where to start, what to think, what to do." He explains.

"Well..." You think about it for a second. "If you want her to listen to you in any capacity, she'll have to trust you. So be nice. And maybe convince her to sing again. People were talking, that's what you want. It's the best you can do."

He nods, sitting up straighter. "Thank you, Y/N. I have to go." Before you can respond, he's gone back into the building behind you. You sigh, calmer now, despite dreading the prospective task of having to go home and face your father.

"Mister Snow, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Dr. Gaul asks, readjusting her gloves without looking up at the boy as she throws what he assumes to be some kind of food into a blacked-out tank in front of him.

"I'd like Y/N Y/L/N to be my partner in the mentorship," Coriolanus states, making her pause.

"Why?" She asks simply, resuming her task.

"I believe she would be an asset for Lucy Gray."

"They do have a similar... spark. Don't they?" Dr. Gaul nods a little bit to herself. "But what makes you think that this wouldn't be an unfair advantage?"

"It wouldn't be an advantage. More like an experiment." He answers, effectively piquing the doctor's interest. "We can observe the benefits and faults of two mentors versus one, moving into the next games, and the effect of choosing based on compatibility, rather than random, careless selection."

Dr. Gaul hums, wiping off her leather gloves with a cloth as she thinks it over. "And this would have nothing to do with your relationship and sympathies towards Miss Y/L/N, correct?"

"No." He shakes his head. "Miss Y/L/N certainly doesn't get any sympathy from me." It's not a lie, at least he doesn't perceive it to be. You would be an asset to his cause, to his deliverance of the prize, and likely the most pleasant person to work with, ironically.

"I will think about it." Dr. Gaul states. "But the prize will not be awarded to her in any capacity, you must understand."

Maybe he does feel bad for you. He's entitled to that prize, no doubt, but it's hard to picture a world where you wouldn't be the runner-up; even if that is his reality. "I understand." He nods, before turning to leave.

"Oh, and Mister Snow." Dr. Gaul draws his attention once more, causing him to stop and look back at her. "Don't let her charm you."

"Y/N!" You look up from your textbook toward the door, knowing your brother will be opening it any second after he calls you. Surely enough, he does. "Coriolanus Snow is here. He wants to speak with you."

"Can you show him up to the library?" You ask, quickly wiping your reddened eyes.

"He's there with dad already." Your brother tells you and you sniff, nodding a little bit. "Thank you. Tell them I'll be right there."

You quickly throw on a sweater, double-checking in the mirror that you don't look like you were just crying before leaving. Besides a little bit of redness around your eyes and blotchiness on your chest covered by the sweater, you should be okay.

"Well, thank you for extending your influence on my daughter's behalf. I owe you a great deal." You hear your dad speaking from down the hall as you get closer. "Though, I wouldn't fault you if you changed your mind. I understand she will be a burden on you."

"No, sir. It would be an honour to work with her." You hear Coryo say as you step into the door frame. 

You knock gently on the open door, alerting them both of your presence. "Y/N." Your father says, nodding toward your friend. "Coriolanus has pulled some strings to try and help you maintain what's left of your reputation."

You sniff and nod, looking over at Coryo as he stands across from your dad in your library, posture perfect like a soldier standing at attention. His professionalism will always impress you, it never falters in the presence of others. "Thank you." You make an effort to smile at him, which he politely and uncomfortably returns. "Could you give us a moment?" You request, returning your attention to your dad.

He nods and shakes Coryo's hand before bumping into you as he exits the room, pausing before leaning down to whisper to you.

Coriolanus watches, your eyes widening for just a moment while your dad speaks to you and then you nod, thanking him quietly before he leaves. You stand there awkwardly staring at each other for a second while you listen to his footsteps descend the stairs, and then hear the door to his study close. As soon as it does, you're quickly walking up to your friend and throwing your arms around his waist, your head leaning into his chest.

He freezes for a second before hugging you back. "Thank you, Coryo." You whisper. "I won't let you down."

"Are you okay?" He asks, resisting the urge to just rest his chin on the top of your head and pull you closer. It's been ages since he's been hugged like this, and though it's meant more as a comfort to you, it's consolatory to him as well.

You nod, snapping out of it and quickly pulling away, taking a respectful step back. "Yeah, yes. Sorry." You clear your throat, quickly readjusting your sweater.

"Don't be." He shakes his head quickly, brows still furrowed as he looks you over. He doesn't know what you came home to, but he has a strong theory as to what the cause of your tear-stained cheeks could be, and it certainly wasn't an empty fridge like his. 

You stare at each other for another moment before you look away. "Uh, so, you spoke to the Dean?"

"No, he despises me." He answers. "Dr. Gaul was more sympathetic to the cause."

"Dr. Gaul and 'sympathetic' have never been used in the same sentence before." You tease.

"Well, she likes us for some reason."

"Thank god." You chuckle, slightly shaking your head.

"But... seriously, are you okay?" He asks again, this time blatantly looking you over. While embarrassing, it does feel nice to see that someone cares, that someone noticed. The remnants of pity behind his eyes makes you almost ill.

"Fine." You nod in confirmation. "Would you like something to eat?" You offer, leveling the playing field.

taglist: @keziahcore, @kitscutie

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[disneyanddisneyships]

Happier

Warnings: implications of (g)r^pe, and abuse, Jason being a decent guy, Alastor being an ass, alastor being ooc probably. Not proofread.

Summary: after aponi and alastor get into a small tiff at the studio, Jason takes it upon himself to try and let her express her emotions through dance. Part 2 to "Me Too".

Taglist: @gyubby99

Pairings: Huskerdust if u squint, chaggie, Alaponi angst, and a bit of jasaponi (ik julia. Im sorry.)

"There you go! Yes, wonderful form Vaggie! Good rhythm angel!" Aponi called out as the music played.

The group was practicing their dance. An activity Charlie had forced everyone into to get them to enjoy one another more.

Angel, Vaggie, and Nifty were having the time of their deaths, and they were quite good with the song they were dancing to.

Husk was trying his best, but couldn't focus when he kept bumping into angel and kept getting a face full of the spider's chest fluff.

Charlie was mixing up her steps.

"No, mi Vida, like this," Vaggie stated as she moved to the rhythm in the simple steps aponi had layed out for them.

"Right!" Charlie exclaimed as she tried her best to copy what her girlfriend was doing.

"Good job, Charlie! You're getting it. Try putting your hand here instead-" Aponi stated a she helped Charlie get into a better position.

Alastor however barely even tried.

"This is absolutely preposterous! This dance is horribly choreographed and much too modern!" He sneered, his smile becoming strained.

"Well maybe if you gave it a shot you wouldn't be such an asshole about it, deer boy," Aponi replied.

"Maybe I would try if we had a better instructor!" Alastor replied, his smile becoming triumphant and smug.

"Well maybe if you didn't argue about every single song I picked, everyone would've had a better time!" Aponi practically shouted.

"Aha! Well maybe if you weren't such a bitch, we'd all enjoy the class!" Alastor cursed.

"You are SUCH A-"

Aponi was cut off by a hand on her shoulder. Turning around to see her ex, Jason, standing behind her with a small smile.

Jason was an asshole when the two were together. Abusive. He was even the reason she was down here, but Aponi didn't have it in herself to hold in that grudge, no matter the shitty things he did. And he did some REALLY shitty things.

"What do you want, Jace?" Aponi snapped, still seemingly calming down.

"I know its.. not my place, but.... everyone is pretty tired, and its almost 6pm... Maybe it would be best if everyone went home for the night?" Jason stated.

Aponi sighed. He knew her signs. Of course he did. They've known each other for years....

"Alright..." her eyes softened before she turned to the group. "Today's session is over. You can all go back home," she stated.

Her regular dancers began packing their stuff while Charlie walked up to her.

"I am SO sorry about alastor! I mean if I'd have known before that you two used to uh..... y-you know.. I never would've put either of you in that situation!" Charlie apologized.

"Oh, honey don't worry about it. It's not your fault he's such a self absorbed prick. Why don't you all go back to your hotel, yeah?" Aponi reassured.

"FINALLY! you've said something clever!" Alastor exclaimed as he immediately walked out of the room, forgetting his microphone in his rush.

As the rest of the hotel patrons walked out, Jason stayed.

"....... you wanna talk about it?" He asked as aponi walked to turn off the lights in the studio.

"To you? No. Absolutely not," Aponi stated as she started to pack up her stuff.

Jason chuckled. "Okay okay. Fair..... but I see the way your nose is scrunching up. You need to let off some steam," he replied.

"Maybe I do...... what's it to you?" Aponi asked as she zipped up her bag and walked over to the speakers to make sure they were off.

"Lilly,"

That made her pause.

"....... he just..... hes.... he was my-......" aponi tried before wiping away the tears in her eyes. "And after you did what you did he was the first person to......"

Jason looked down in shame.

"..... you wanna work on the dance that we've been practicing? No one's here. You could scream at the top of your lungs. As much as you want," Jason offered.

"........ yeah.... okay yeah... that's a good idea, Jason," Aponi replied before turning the speakers back on, along with the music.

.......

Alastor froze just outside of the hotel when he went to mess with his microphone, only to realize it wasn't in his hand.

He cursed himself internally. In his haze of storming out he must've forgotten it in the studio....

Usually he would just summon it to him, but the implication of snooping around the studio that he bought and handed the deed over to the love of his death, was too enticing. Especially when he figured she wouldn't be there.

As he made his way back to the building, his smile grew at the sight of it being pitch black inside.

It was only when he walked through the halls, closer to the studio did he hear what sounded to be.... music...

With a raised eyebrow and a relaxed smile, he sunk into the shadows of the room, spotting Aponi and Jason starting a dance.

As the music played, aponi stood in the middle of the room, turning slowly.

From where he stood, Alastir could see that she was.... crying.....

He unwillingly felt a pang in his chest at the sight. He always hated when she'd cry.... and now he hated that he hated it...

As she cried, she took hold of the choker around her neck.... Alastor's eyes widened at the sight.... he had given her that when they had first began dating..... was she wearing it this whole time?

As the music went on, aponi collapsed gently onto the floor, where Alastor finally noticed Jason sitting as well.

Alastor tilted his head as the music picked up.

Alastors eyes widened at the choreography. He had always loved watching her dance... even now....

However, the sight of Jason laying his hands on her in the way he was.... even though it was a dance, it struck something inside of alastor....

Alastor flinched at the scream Aponi let out. It was drowned out by the music.....

As the dance went on, the two ended up on the floor, Jason cradling aponi tightly before she screamed so loud the windows may have broken.

Alastor felt something in him feel a tinge of regret.

His head perked up when he saw Jason get off of her, concern on his face.

"Shit.. did I hurt you?" He asked.

Aponi layed on the floor in tears, the flashbacks of their mortal life running through her head.

"Hey, Aponi, it's okay. I-...." Jason stuttered. He promised himself he'd never hurt her again. "Aponi?"

Still no response, other than the tears falling onto the floor.

Jason gulped. "Lilly?" He asked before sitting down on the floor and gently heaving her onto his lap, rocking back and fourth as she clung onto him, digging her nails into his skin as she cried.

Alastor shook his head as his smile strained, summoning his microphone I to his hand and melding into the shadows so he could get back to the hotel.

.......

Alastor morphed into his room, tears in his eyes.

He was so confused. He felt everything at once. Guilt, anger, jealousy, pity, regret. Every emotion except for happiness.

Why was it whenever SHE was near, alastor could barely breathe.... he hated her... she broke his heart. He had given her a contract. They would give their souls to one another as a marriage certificate, but she refused.

So why was HE the one feeling guilty?!

Alastor's eyes softened, as if he finally realized why she was so mad at him that day....

Her whole life she's been confined to someone.... her abusive mother, Jason, Valentino......

Alastor took in a shaky breath.

Oh..... That's why...

[another-forgottenkid-of-zeus]

Skyler ☁️ Jazzlyn ⚡

Name: Skyler Jazzlyn Storm

Aliases: Sky, storm cloud, Jazz, Jazzy, Lyn, Zally, child of Zeus

Birthday: January 1

Age: 16-19 years old

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: She/they

Sexuality: Bi-curious

Godly Parent: Zeus (Legacy of Dionysus)

Personality: Quiet, stubborn, rude, aloof, prideful, assertive, serious yet humorous, sarcastic, "clumsy", mean, introverted, temperamental

Physical description: blonde curly hair, greyish-blue eyes (let's pretend my Facelclaim has these eyes alright), light beige skin, 5'10

Weapons: dagger, sword, sais

Power: flight, aerokinesis, audiokinesis, orniokinesis, nephelpkinesis (just got these from the fanon wiki)

Likes/Interests: ballet, ice-skating, painting nails, k-dramas (secretly), snow, crochet, fencing, physical affection and touch

Dislikes: Zeus, rains and storms, the skies, anything that has got to do with Zeus, "physical affection and touch"

Hobbies: ballet dancing, ice-skating, crocheting, fencing, training, sleeping, running

Year rounder or not?: year rounder

Neurpdivergence: ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Autism, Bipolar

Fatal flaw(s): Hubris and Holding grudges (yes she has two fatal flaws)

Trivia

• has slight memory loss

• hates physical affection and touch but yearns for it

• has a necklace that's pendant is a storm cloud that was gifted to her by her mother but never wears it (anymore) because it's associated with Zeus, instead just keeps it in a jewelry box

• faints every so often because of a head injury

• has an allergy to all kinds of nuts

• doesn't want to be associated with Zeus in any way possible

Jazz's background (S@ MENTIONED)

Jazzlyn's (step) dad used to love her so much but when he found out she wasn't his child, he killed her mother for cheating on him (she was r@p3d by Zeus) and killed Jazzlyn by giving her a nasty head Injury which gave her slight memory loss. Jazzlyn's step dad ended up killing himself and Jazzlyn was only 5 years old. Jazzlyn was dead for a while before being resurrected by these two spirits. She could only remember her name and her necklace (that was gifted to her by her mother). Jazzlyn wasn't easily identified because when she was resurrected, some things went slightly wrong. She isn't fully alive, but isn't fully dead either so she didn't really have any DNA in her blood. She was bouncing around houses for about a year because her foster parents just wanted money till one day, she just ran away. Jazzlyn stumbled into the labyrinth and was there for a while (who knows, 3 years or more). She got out during the lightning thief and was maybe 11 to 13 years old. For the remainder of the time, she was unclaimed. Why would Zeus want to claim the child of his whose parent didn't want him? They weren't even claimed after the battle of Manhattan and was just there at the Hermes Cabin, one of the only ones whose parent hadn't claimed them. Few campers already had some speculation about who her parent was but couldn't really do much because she hadn't been claimed yet. Until then, she ran away from camp again. While Jazzlyn was gone, she was again, put into foster homes and in one of them, hypermania took over her and she was getting aggressive. She also almost killed herself and was put into a mental asylum. She was there a while before escaping and turned up again in the mark of Athena and stayed at camp again until Zeus finally claimed her, only out of some silly ego competition with Poseidon. Now, she remembers only her mother's death. She was manipulated by these random spirits and is bitter and angry.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

IC will be blue and bold

OOC will be normal

Faceclaim: Sophia Anne Caruso

General tag: do not fear for jazzy is here

[absolutelyfizzing]

No flirting

Sam Wilson x Bucky's relative!reader

Description: Out of timeline! Reader is Bucky's great niece (his sister's granddaughter) who he found when he got to NY. She is staying in the tower for a week or so to take a sort of vacation. While she is there, she meets a certain flying man of the south and she starts to fall for him, much to her uncle's dismay.

Warnings: fluff? Sort of old fashioned Bucky, maybe a little ooc sam? I tried but idk if it went okay. This is awful writing, it was late and I don’t know how to write dialogue!

Word count- about 3000

MASTERLIST

You pulled into the parking garage of the avenger tower with a smile on your face. It had been a couple weeks since you had seen your uncle, well your grand uncle, because he had been off on a mission with Steve and the Falcon. You'd never met Sam Wilson before, only hearing about him from Bucky and Steve, but you figured he had to be pretty great to be an avenger.

You got your bag out of the trunk after you parked and began to make your way to the elevator. You had a room that remained pretty empty when you weren't there. Because of your closeness with most of the team, it had been offered to you permanently. You declined in favor of having your own place in Brooklyn and just staying at the tower whenever you needed a break from work or your friends or something. You waited patiently for the elevator doors to open on the right floor excitedly, knowing FRIDAY probably alerted Bucky you were on you way up. Your suspicions were confirmed when you were tackled in a pile of super solider as Steve and Bucky hugged you tightly. Steve had become family as well to you, just as much as Bucky was. You loved them both very much but at the moment they were squeezing the life out of you.

"Excuse me, I am a non enhanced person." You gasped out "I need air please."

At this they let you go, dopey grins on their faces.

"How is my favorite niece?" Bucky asked with a smile on his face, knowing it bothered you a little bit. You saw him as more of a friend than an uncle so being reminded that he was related to you and also was 100 and something years old was a little exhausting.

"Oh shove off. I'm great but I'd love some help getting this to my room?" You hinted while lifting your large bag.

Steve didn't hesitate to pick it up, absolutely no sign of effort on his face as he did so which frustrated you to no end.

"Thank you Steve" you chirped as he smiled kindly back at you and the three of you began to make your way to the room you would be occupying for the next week.

"So how's your mom?" Bucky questioned genuinely.

"You mean your actual niece? She's good, struggling to enjoy retirement at the moment." You smiled at the mention of your mom.

"I would have thought she would be enjoying it. Teaching always seemed like an exhausting job to me." He mentioned.

You agreed but then remembered "Says you, you've been on the job for over 80 years."

He gave you a side glare and then grumbled, "Touché"

You had arrived at your room, it was just the same as the last time you saw it besides the sheets having been changed, the room vacuumed, and the bed made. You smiled lightly. Tony was as softhearted as they come.

Steve put your bag down and they looked at you waiting for you to do something.

"Well come on! I wanna go say hi to the team!" You gushed as you grabbed their hands and started hurrying towards the living room of the floor where you knew most of the team members would be found on any given day.

As you walked in you heard multiple squeals and you were hugged by two redheads. Natasha and Wanda both loved you as you were about their age and were a little less jarring than most of the men they spent the day with. "I missed you guys." You whispered to them as the hugged you, Bucky and Steve having moved off to the couch to chat while you caught up with everyone.

"You missed us?! We have so much to tell you! What has taken you so long to come back here?!" Wanda whined a little.

"Buck wasn't around for the last couple weeks, he was away!"

"So? We are here and you're welcome any time, you know that!" Nat scolded. You knew she was right but you didn't want to intrude.

"You could never intrude." Wanda responded and you glared that she read your mind. She gave an apologetic look but you knew it was mostly fake. You were then pulled away from them by a rather large hand, when you turned around you saw the blond god who you were so fond of.

"Lady Y/N! How great to see you! So glad I was here when you were visiting." He said merrily. You wrapped him in a hug, it was a rare occasion that he was actually here when you stopped by. Other than them there was only one other person in the room, someone you presumed to be Sam Wilson. He was smiling at you already, waiting his turn to introduce himself. When you pulled away from Thor he walked over and you took a moment to admire him. He was tall and strong looking but his eyes were gentle and he looked like he gave good hugs and made people laugh. He stuck his hand out to you.

"Y/N, right? I'm Sam." He smiled. You smiled right back and shook his hand.

"No no no, no flirting." Bucky called from the couch, glaring daggers at Sam in front of you, your hand still holding onto his as you both looked over.

"Buck I didn't even do anything!" You whined, slightly embarrassed as you blushed. Sam noticed and just smiled again but let go of your hand.

"So you’re the Bionic Man's niece, yeah?" You smiled and nodded.

"Great niece, technically. My grandma is his little sister." You smiled and Bucky groaned.

"God that makes me sound so old."

"That's cause you are old!" You countered and Bucky just grumbled under his breath something about how he could still kick it with the kids.

You made eye contact with Sam again but looked away shyly and moved toward the kitchen in the common area to get yourself a cup of water. The conversation around the room buzzed and the only person who wasn't occupied was Sam as he followed you over to the kitchen.

"A shame I haven't met you before, I’ve been missing out." He smirked. He seemed a little cocky but you didn't mind. In fact you found it kind of attractive as it complimented your shy personality pretty well.

"Well don't worry I've heard all about you, Bird-Man. My relative has a grudge." You smirked as you sipped your water.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Oh he's just grumpy cause I can beat him in a fight."

"That sounds about right. I can't imagine what else he could be holding against you."

"Pretty soon he's gonna be mad at me for trying to flirt with his niece but I don't think I care much." He smirked.

Your eyes widened but you couldn't hide the smile he gave you very well.

"Oh Sam, I think he would kill us both."

"A worthwhile death." He continued.

"You're gonna have to step up your game then cause from where I'm standing, I don't wanna piss of my uncle with a vibranium arm over just anything." You challenged, wanting to see if he was serious. He smirked at you.

"Challenge accepted." He said and then he didn't leave your side for the rest of the day. This was much to the frustration of Bucky but you were an adult and he had other things he had to do anyway so he left it be besides the constant glare at the man who always seemed to be beside you. He followed you around like a lost puppy as you said hello to the avengers you hadn't seen yet, including meeting Peter for the first time. By the end of the night he was already through your shell and you were conversing with him with no effort. You could feel that this was not going to go well later but you couldn't help yourself.

"You know I'll take you up in that flying lesson sometime, sounds like fun to me." You smiled at him and he beamed back.

"That's why I offered it, I'd love an excuse to spend some more time with you."

"You don't need an excuse, you know. You could just hang out with me." You blushed and he did a little bit too. Without another word you headed to the room he had just walked you to and opened the door.

As soon as you closed it you smiled giddily and slid down the door, you could see Wanda and Nat talking to each other before looking at you. You had planned to have a sleepover the first night you were back and they had been waiting for you for like a half hour.

"Spill!" They both shouted at the same time.

You grinned before telling them about how Sam was being so sweet to you and that you were starting to get feelings for him.

"But it's only been a day, why do I already feel like this?!" You complained

"Y/N, he's been all over you all day, I'm sure he's in the same boat!" Wanda pulled you up from your spot on the floor and brought you over to the couch in your room.

"Yeah he's been following you around with puppy dog eyes. And it's really starting to piss off bucky too, as if they need another thing to hate each other over." Nat sighed.

You felt doubt start to creep in, Bucky was your family and you didn't want to go against his wishes. But Sam was so sweet and arrogant at the same time and the thought of him made your heart pick up speed.

"I'm not gonna act on it yet. I don't wanna make Buck upset over nothing. I'll wait till the end of the week and if it's still a thing I might consider talking to Sam about maybe going on a date." You said, getting quieter and quieter with every word. Both girls yelled out their excitement and began planning your outfits and actions for the next week so you could "keep him interested" in you. You went to bed exhausted but ready to take on the week of figuring out if your chemistry with the superhero was real.

The next week was torturous. Sam was just as flirtatious as he had been the first day and he got bolder and bolder as the week went on. He had asked you out a number of times, each time you responded with some non answer to try to buy more time. Bucky was getting progressively more frustrated about the flirting between you two until day 5 of your stay.

You and Sam were watching a movie together, you told yourself it was just as friends. You were on opposite ends of a couch and you could feel yourself getting more and more tired. Eventually you fell asleep during the movie and Bucky happened to walk by as you did. Sam noticed you asleep and smiled at the sight before he wrapped you in a blanket. Bucky sighed quietly and made his way to the kitchen to get water, not having been noticed by Sam yet who was too occupied with you. As Sam lifted you off the couch and began to carry you to your room, Bucky found it harder and harder to believe that the mans intentions were anything but pure. And he had never seen you so smitten. He begrudgingly decided he would not stand in the way of you two and he might even have to convince you to ask Sam out if you kept up the shy act.

The next day you awoke in your room. Not knowing how you got there you looked around. You remembered falling asleep on the couch while you were watching something with Sam. There was a note on your nightstand so you reached over to pick it up, heart rate increasing as you read the note.

"Didn't want to wake you, I hoped you slept well

- Bird Man"

You smiled as you read the note and began to make your way out of bed. You noticed there were socks on your feet even though you were sure you hadn't put them on. You almost got lightheaded at the realization that Sam put socks on you feet last night before you went to bed so that you wouldn't get cold in the night. The thought made you blush at how domestic it was but you wanted to thank him. You made your way down the hallway, still in your pajamas pants and hoodie you'd worn last night and you knew your hair was a mess. Still when you got to the kitchen and made eye contact with sam, his eyes brightened a bit and a smile came across his face. 

"Thanks for getting me to my room last night." You blushed shyly. You could feel your heart going faster and faster as you looked down at your socks.

"I would happily do that every night if it meant I got to take you out on a date." He smiled, already expecting you to avoid the implication again. You smiled at him and then glanced over at Bucky who was already looking at you. He winked and nodded and you knew what he meant.

You made eye contact with Sam, "Tomorrow night at 7, you can take me to dinner." You said while looking into your mug of coffee you had just poured. You looked up at Sam to see his reaction as his face fell neutral before he grinned. He quickly corrected his face too look like he was less excited.

"I knew I'd get you to crack eventually" he pointed out. You rolled your eyes before turning to walk toward the couch.

"I can take it back" you began before he interrupted you.

"No no, no need to do that, I have a great place in mind for dinner." He quickly said and you just smiled up at him lightly. The rest of the day was spent daydreaming about your date tomorrow.

The next night you were getting ready for your date, you had a flattering dress on and had your makeup done up, just finishing before there was a knock on your door. You checked the time and sure enough it was 7:00 sharp.

You mentally prepared yourself and took a deep breath before opening the door to reveal a fidgety Sam Wilson. The sight made you laugh a bit as he had never looked so nervous. It made you feel a bit better that he was nervous too. You took a moment to look each other over. Sam's eyes drifted south until he reached your legs and then back up to your lips. His eyes stayed there for a second before moving back up to your eyes. You had just finished gazing over his built frame that was squeezed perfectly into his suit. You nearly swooned. He had a bouquet of your favorite flowers ready which you shyly took and put into a vase in your room, thanking him quietly. There was a single moment of nerves before you broke the silence.

"You look very handsome." You smiled as you made eye contact with him, your hands fidgeting.

"I can't even believe I managed to get a date with a girl as pretty as you." Sam smirked before offering his elbow to you, which you promptly took. When you reached the elevator you both saw Bucky standing there with his arms crossed.

"Have her back by 10:30. No funny business." He glared at Sam before looking at you. "Have fun sweetheart, you know how to throw a punch if you need to." He smiled at you as Sam gulped. You gave Bucky a peck on the cheek before you and Sam both entered the elevator and it was on it's way down.

You ended up having dinner at Sam's favorite southern food restaurant in the city. More specifically, Louisiana barbecue. You loved the food and you didn't even feel pressure to eat pretty as you and Sam were having such a good time. You both were wildly overdressed but that was part of the fun. He payed for dinner and you promised to get the next one which had him smiling like a fool cause it meant you would go on another date with him.

After dinner he took you out to a dancing bar, but it wasn't fast paced or gross like many seemed to be in the city. Instead they played slower songs and it was less loud. You were grinning ear to ear as you slowly danced together, pressed together as close as you could be. At about 10:00 you began to head back to the tower. You decided to walk there because you didn't want to get home too fast and it was such a nice night out. You had never felt safer than with Sam at your side either.

When you made it back up you the residential floor of the tower, you saw Bucky sitting in the common space with a glare on. He made eye contact with you and when you smiled at him he winked and made his way to bed, not missing a chance to glower at Sam on his way by. You could feel Sam growing nervous next to you as he walked you back to your room. You turned around to face him and his hands were fidgeting. You took a deep breath to gather your courage before leaning up to him and kissing him deeply. He responded immediately and wrapped one of his hands around the back of your neck. You kissed until you had to come away to breathe and you both made eye contact. He smiled at the event that just happened and he took your hand in his before kissing it.

"I think that was the best date I've ever been on." He smiled.

"Well you're gonna have to top it next time." You smirked. He looked back at you and had a faraway look in his eyes. You said your goodbyes and you went to bed with cheeks that hurt from smiling so much.

He did indeed top it next time, and every date after that.

[fragilemxnds]

Was that [ELIZABETH GILLIES]? Oh no no, that was just [POPPY MCKINNON], an [OC] from [HARRY POTTER]. They are [TWENTY FOUR] years old and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long. {ooc: kat, 24, est, she/her}

wanted connections || head canons || pinterest || open for plots

How long has your character been here?

poppy has been in d.c. for about 3.5 years now.

What is your character’s job?

poppy owns and started her own marketing and public relations firm called “poppy” ( no one should be shocked she named it after herself or that the logo is literally a poppy flower. super original.)

Where has your character been pulled from in their fandom?

poppy was pulled after her and her families death.

Has any magic affected your character?

no, poppy remembers everything but chooses to have selective memory about certain things... (like the death of her entire family.)

And any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know:

*hold on tight folks this’ll most likely be too long of a ride*

tldr; middleish child with an attention complex, career woman and self-appointed bitch, obvious slytherin and fashion icon.

poppy mckinnon made sure she wasn’t forgotten. attention seeker since the age of 2, how could she not be in a family like hers. she always felt looked over or just unceremoniously looped in with her sisters. does she maybe hold a petty little grudge over all her sisters because of this, of course, but what can you do about it really. because of this poppy learned to stand out, she made sure to excel in all her classes, and boldly correct each professor when they accidentally called her by the wrong name. she used the tools necessary to look different from her sisters and create her own... ‘brand’. whether it was fashion, make-up, the way she walked...poppy stood out. she had plenty of friends within her house and out of it,  but always traveling with a little posse of green through the halls or in classes. poppy was one of those annoying people that just made everything look easy, and when she graduated she immediately accepted a position in the ministry of magic as a pr rep for the department of magical accidents and catastrophes. if anyone could spin a story from a dumb wizard accidentally causing a snow storm in the middle of summer it was poppy mckinnon and she did that job very well.

the war was something poppy didn’t necessarily want to get involved in, solely for selfish reasons of course. but nonetheless the war didn’t care about her personal opinions and decided to ruin everything for her... including the promotion she was very sure she was about to get. in hindsight, that didn’t matter all that much because at one moment she felt her entire being leaving her physical body and the next she was waking up in a bed in what she thought was washington d.c.

it didn’t take poppy long to accommodate to her new life. she had no idea why she or anyone else was in this strange new place... but she was alive again and so was her family and thats all that mattered to her. she made the decision very early on to ignore the past life she had lived and to just create a new one. maybe this was a second chance or her true life... she didn’t dwell on that often. this was her reality now, might as well accept it.  after taking a job at a small marketing and pr firm to pass her time in the city she outgrew their talents and decided to open her own firm. it wasn’t an overnight success but she worked hard to get the firm to where it was today.

poppy can admit that she isn’t the easiest person to be around, she has expectations for herself that are through the roof and expects the people around her to live up to them no matter how impossible they may be. she knows she should hold her tongue a lot more often than she does and that she shouldn’t give her opinion when she isn’t asked for it... but what fun would that be? she maintains her cold exterior to the best ability despite the constant fight of the warmth inside her. she would die ten times over for her family but acts as if they are just blips on her radar at times. in all honest she is out to protect herself, whether that be from heart break or happiness she isn’t quite sure.

[alternislatronemhq]

Congrats, Karli, you have been accepted to AL for the role of Sirius Black (FC: Rob Raco). Wow, Karli, well done! As I was reading your app, I found myself totally taken in by your characterization of Sirius. You really understand him the way that I had envisioned him for this plot — the slightly immature, bitter, grudge holding mischief maker who has had to grow up and be a parent because of the loss of his brother and best friend. You really had a grasp of the plot and I found myself getting so excited to play Lily alongside you. Just, really great job, I’m so excited to have you here! Please send in your blog (no sideblogs for first characters, please) in the next 24 hours and be sure to take a look at our new player checklist.Welcome home, we’re so excited to have you join the family!

OOC

name — Karli age — 29 pronouns — she/her timezone — CST activity level — Probably an 7-8 right now. I’m off work for summer break with a few things to do here and there, but I’m typically on every day and doing replies every couple of days. It might lessen in the fall months but right now, I’m VERY free!

IC Overview

name — Sirius Orion Black age — 26 | 3 November 1959 gender — Cis-male sexuality — If asked, Sirius would say he doesn’t like labels. He’s fluid - people know that. He sleeps around with many genders, but doesn’t really make an announcement about it. He also doesn’t work for it. If someone wants to have sex with him, he’s likely pretty open to it. But he also isn’t going to put in much effort to make it happen. He’s not a relationship-type of bloke and, even though there are people out there who think they can “change him,” no one has been able to yet. In more modern terms, he’s likely pansexual, aromantic (on the spectrum of little romantic attraction over no romantic attraction). But he wouldn’t know that, nor does he really care to know it. Sex is sex. That’s all.

patronus — Sirius has always struggled with producing a corporeal patronus. Perhaps it was the necessity of focusing on one good thing that made the spell work - or maybe it’s just that Sirius isn’t as good with the abstract stuff as he likes to think. During the moments where it did work during the war, it was a large black dog, unsurprising to anyone who knew of his animagus form. He liked to smirk at James - or perhaps Remus or Peter, if they were around - whenever it popped from his wand. After the war, however, there wasn’t much use for the spell. The last time he performed it had been during his extracurricular project with Dumbledore… and he was surprised at what he saw. No longer the dog moving swiftly, brightly from his wand… but, instead, a brilliant form of a stag, large hooves and antlers that once matched James’ patronus. However, when the stag turned towards him, showing the familiar markings around its eyes, Sirius realized… it wasn’t just James’ old patronus, but rather Prongs himself. It had taken his breath away for a moment, causing a near-fatal distraction that needed Dumbledore’s help to escape.

boggart — Sirius’ boggart is a silver mask, but not for the reasons one might expect. He is less afraid of being a follower of Voldemort than he is about what that would mean about him. It would mean he conformed to what his family wanted - and conformity is Sirius’ biggest fear… or, at least, that’s what he’d tell someone. In reality, especially with another looming war, he is likely more afraid of Harry ending up like his father - or dead. But, in the moment, conformity would be Sirius’ biggest fear.

IC In Depth

personality traits —

[+] Loyal - There’s a reason Sirius’ animagus form is a dog - he is loyal to those he cares about. In the past, this was in relationship to the Marauders, particularly James more than anyone, but has changed as the years have gone by and things shifted. He is now mostly loyal to Harry - and, by extension, Lily. The problem with Sirius’ loyalty is that it can be very dark. Peter is out - and that’s forever. There is no coming back with Sirius once he views something as a betrayal and that includes someone he used to love.

[+] Intelligent - It’s not something easily identifiable by just looking at him, but Sirius is smart. In the books, he was one of the only people ever to escape Azkaban. In school, he hardly had to study and managed to keep up good grades and make his way through Hogwarts without trying. He’s careless in this intelligence sometimes, assuming he just knows without really thinking much about it. His “smarts” do well in both books and streets - he knows how to navigate life at the bar where he works and that different sort of nightlife. He’s a good dueller, able to use intuition to anticipate the moves of his opponent. The intelligence he does have helped to design the Marauders Map, become an animagus, and find and destroy the Horcruxes with Dumbledore.

[+] Open-Minded - Not the best word for this with Sirius, who can be incredibly stubborn and unwilling to change, but there is a reason he didn’t chuck out a werewolf as a friend, despite the teachings by his family. While Sirius himself is rather indifferent to these sorts of things, he does listen - and maybe, in part, this was due to James - and try to be better. Once, as a child, he thought muggleborns were scum… then he grew up, met more open-minded people, and followed their lead. He tries and that’s more than some others.

[+/-] Highly Emotional - Sirius is impulsive and uses emotions to make decisions before he thinks it through. This is what led him to trying to kill Peter the night James almost died - this is what leads him into at least half the arguments he has. He didn’t think through the “Prank” with Remus and Snape… just did it… because he thought it would be funny. That being said - this isn’t always a bad thing. He feels big and that means happiness, too. He can make Harry laugh more than anyone because he loves to joke around and play with him. He’s protective and those emotions come into play whenever someone is trying to mess with his family. It can just sometimes be hard for someone to truly know what they might be getting with him, as he can often flip from one emotion to the next rather quickly.

[-] Jealous/Distrustful - Sirius doesn’t accept change very easily when it comes to his outside world, particularly friendships. He wasn’t very keen on Lily in the beginning of her relationship with James because of his fear that she would “take his best friend away.” It made him mean - even aggressive - towards her, until James put a stop to it. When he finally realized that Lily could be in love with his best friend and he could still have his friendship, he cooled down and was more willing to bring her into his life. It wasn’t until the war that she truly became part of his family and that’s stuck with him since then, especially more so since James didn’t wake up. He’s now more likely to side-eye others she brings around, suspicious of them and their intentions, particularly if it is a man he’s worried about trying to hit on her. He doesn’t trust easily but, once a person has earned it, it’s much easier for him to open up.

[-] Resentful/Vindictive - Sirius Black knows how to hold a grudge. Once someone is dead to him, they are dead to him. He has made it a point that he will kill Peter Pettigrew one day and that has not gone away. Even though there’s part of him glad that he never got the chance five years ago (despite his best effort), he hasn’t given up hope. It’s not just good enough for Peter to die… he wants to be the one to do it. There’s also the grudge with Remus. While this one is to much a lesser extent, he’s angry that Remus hasn’t forgiven him, but has forgiven everyone else. He’s wary of Remus being around Harry because he thinks anyone around his godson should have to be okay with him. This is an argument that often peaks with him and Lily. He’s apologized to Remus - he hates himself for what happened to James - it’s about time Remus just got over it and realized that.

[-] Ruthless - Sirius is willing to do anything to get something done. If it had come to it during war, he wouldn’t have been above torture of a captured Death Eater and definitely killed without blinking an eye. His world is often very black and white - therefore, the good guys were good and the bad guys were bad. He’s willing to do what it takes to make sure he gets revenge for James. He’ll do anything to get the Horcruxes and take down Voldemort. He’ll do whatever he has to in order to protect Harry.

character biography —

Born to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, Sirius Black was the son his parents wanted - or so they originally thought. Cousins, Walburga and Orion married one another only to produce an heir. There was no love within their relationship, just duty - when the first son came, they were almost thrilled. But perhaps Sirius’ mother was just as suspicious as him because she forced her husband into bed again and again for a second child… just in case.

As if turned out, they would need it. Regulus was a docile baby, while Sirius had been finicky. They played well together as they aged and, despite being one another’s deepest confidants, there was clear favoritism from his parents to the younger son. This was rarely violent, but Walburga, particularly, made it clear that she preferred the way Sirius’ brother learned the proper pureblood ways so much more quickly than he did. Orion was rather indifferent to his family in general, preferring the young girls at the underground clubs - sometimes a bit too young for society’s tastes.

Despite many not realizing this, Sirius did try to be the son his parents wanted… at first. He believed what they believed - he did what he was told. But he screwed up often. Questioned things without thinking them through - talked out of turn. Whenever Regulus messed something up, Sirius would try his best to take the fall, ensuring any wrath of his mother stayed on him over his younger brother. As he grew, he began to see more of the world. But it wasn’t until he met James Potter on the train to Hogwarts that he began to change his beliefs. When he talked about the dangers of mudbloods, James set him straight - made sure to keep that word out of Sirius’ mouth. When he questioned the sanity of Muggles, James shrugged and said he thought they weren’t all that bad. It opened his eyes to something new. They were joined by Remus and Peter that year - and, while Sirius loved them, too, he truthfully could care less about expanding the group in the beginning.

The closer he got to his new friends, the farther away he got from the Black family name. He stopped writing home - stopped paying much attention to Regulus. In his young mind, he didn’t realize how detrimental this might be to his brother, but he was wrapped up in this new life. Gryffindor - change - rebellion. It was intoxicating. James became the most important person in Sirius’ life and he clung to his friend with all he had. They pulled pranks as a group, learned about Remus, found a way to help him. The Marauders were born and a map was made and life was good. It didn’t matter that the shadow of his brother donned in Slytherin robes hung over Hogwarts sometimes because Sirius ruled the school. Grimmauld was Regulus’ - Hogwarts was his.

When he decided to tell Severus Snape about the Willow, he hadn’t been thinking. But, really, nothing happened! Remus was being rather dramatic, in Sirius’ opinion! It was just a prank! Why couldn’t anyone else see that? They were mad at him for a while - probably some of the darkest times in Sirius’ life at school, the inability to be with friends - but they came around and it was restored. Things were good - things were right.

Then the war came and it was like the Marauders were thrust into adulthood with Sirius clinging to the life they had. The Order made sense for all of them - they were built for a revolution. But it wasn’t as much of an adventure as they assumed it would be. People died every day - battles were brutal. But Sirius still took it less seriously than he should’ve. He revelled in the fight, laughing alongside his best mate as they shot curses at those fucking cult-followers. He cracked jokes about Voldemort’s dick being so small he had to make an army to try and make up for it. He smiled with blood running down his face into his lips, tasting the iron. He was fearless - and reckless. War wasn’t a game, but Sirius treated it as one.

And it made some people angry. Perhaps that was why Remus suspected him for the spy - or maybe it was lingering distrust over the Willow. Sirius couldn’t help his old prejudices coming up as war grew into their veins, swimming through their blood. A werewolf. Remus had always been able to hold secrets… perhaps this was one of them.

When James was targeted - well, young Harry, but James - Sirius didn’t hesitate to name Remus the spy. James may not have been able to see it… but Peter, Sirius said. We’ll use Peter! No one will suspect! And perhaps that judgement was his worst mistake of all. For Peter was the spy. Peter would come to betray them. And when Voldemort died, there wasn’t much time for celebration because less than a week later, James was found on the ground of Godric’s Hollow, unable to wake up.

Sirius knew who was at fault -it was him! He did this! His own idea! - and that person would pay. It was so much easier to react with vengeance than feel his own guilt. So much easier to want to kill his old friend than cry over his own mistakes. James was as good as dead - and Peter would die, too. Sirius knew the officials would arrest him for the murder - that he would spend his life in Azkaban - but he didn’t care. He searched for Peter the night of James’ torture with the attempt to kill him. But Peter was a rat - and there were thousands of them in London. Whether Peter was using his animagus form or not, Sirius had been unable to track him down before getting apprehended by Aurors. He stayed two days in a holding cell, grieving the near-loss of his true brother - until Lily was able to prove that the secret keeper had never been Sirius, after all.

Since that day, he vowed to do what James would’ve wanted him to do - he looked after Harry and Lily. He became the godfather he was supposed to have been. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t stop thinking about the murder he tried committing that night. If Peter were to ever resurface, Sirius would be ready. It was a good thing that he had the locket - that he had Dumbledore and the Horcruxes. It was something to keep his mind occupied. If he couldn’t kill Peter, then he could at least work on killing Voldemort, who started this entire war in the first place.

Those months after James, he spent his days with Harry and Lily and his nights searching for the Horcruxes. He would wind up back at Lily’s place in the middle of the night and crash on her couch. Eventually, he officially moved in, getting a job at a pub located right between Diagon Alley and Knockturn - causing many different types to enter into the place. These days, he still splits his time - almost like he has two lives; one where he helps raise Harry, the other in an underground nightlife world of darker wix and Horcruxes. He hasn’t forgotten his friend - James is at the forefront of everything Sirius does - or his promise to avenge him. But stopping a potential war and making sure Harry has everything he needs is just as important. Sirius has grown more responsible in the past five years, but he still holds on to much of the person he once was. There’s a chance he’ll end up doing something reckless again - something he can’t take back.

plot ideas —

ONE. I think exploring the interpersonal relationships will be the most interesting thing in this rp. This isn’t a huge action rp (as of yet) and so the quieter moments within relationships is what I’m eager to do. What will it be like trying to co-parent with Lily, when Sirius isn’t even really the parent? I think they likely butt heads and argue from time to time, while also relying heavily on one another. It’s probably in the realm of unhealthy at times, given Sirius lives with them and has devoted his new life to them. Sirius is still very much about James. So, if Lily were to try and move on with someone new, this would be very likely to anger him, even though she deserves a life with love. Then there’s Remus to think about - Remus blames Sirius, but Sirius also blames himself. He just doesn’t think Remus should hold that grudge, while forgiving others in his life. They both thought one another was the spy, after all. I also think it’ll be fun to see how Sirius and Fabian play out together as friends, particularly since they both lost a brother. I’m also looking forward to exploring relationships not within the connections and learning about these characters within this world.

TWO. James wakes up. I see you included “James Potter” as a potential plot drop release – I’m assuming this might mean he wakes up. If that’s the case, I don’t think it’ll be as easy as it would seem for Sirius. He would be glad his friend is back, of course. But it’s also complicated. Harry is only six years old - and lived a whole life without his dad. James would be this “mystery guy he’s heard about” and likely not about to jump into his dad’s arms. I don’t think Sirius would make him, either, which might be frustrating for both Sirius and James. It would complicate their relationship a lot - Harry is his kid now, after all.

THREE. Horcruxes. I think it’ll be important to bring other characters into this, especially since it’s doubtful there will ever be a Dumbledore. I’d like Sirius to be given tasks to ask others for help - and do these missions without Dumbledore present. He’s had to learn more responsibility in the past 5 years, but Sirius was never the leader (that was James), so it would be interesting for him to have to take on a leadership role.

FOUR. Fuckbuddies! I’m not really here for shipping, especially with a character like Sirius, but I think he probably has a few people he’s slept with a couple times. I’m honestly up for anyone for this, but I don’t think just anyone could end up in a romantic relationship with him. First off, he’s aromatic and it’s really hard for him to have a romantic connection. It would take time and a lot of chemistry to ever break Sirius past just sex with someone. But give me fuckbuddies all the way.

FIVE. Sirius may be more responsible than 5 years ago, but that doesn’t mean everything about him has changed. While he’s a good parent to Harry and around very often - his schedule is extremely flexible - that doesn’t always mean he knows what he’s doing. He’s likely to give in rather quickly if Harry were whining and is easily frustrated. While he has good influences around like Molly or Lily, he doesn’t always listen to what they have to say (look at him in OOTP!) and just does what he wants. I’d like to explore how his more passive parenting style might affect Harry and the people around him.

[theartisticace]

Aftermath

I have nothing better to do so I might as well post it here as well. It’s a bnha fanfic, and I have no shame currently. This actually started somewhere else and ended up entirely different from where I imagined it. Also, this is really self-indulgent and might be out of character, so don’t expect a masterpiece.

Title: Aftermath Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia Relationships: Dabi/Hawks Other Tags: Minor Character Death mention, post-LOV defeat, implied Dabi-is-a-Todoroki, possible OOC, slight crack? Summary: A mere twenty-four hours after the League's defeat, Hawks finds himself standing in front of Dabi's cell. In hindsight, it shouldn't be a surprise.

                                                   | AFTERMATH |

In the end, Hawks breaks him out of jail.

He doesn’t know why he did it. Maybe it's because of his feelings, maybe he just decided that Dabi doesn’t deserve to rot in Tartarus. Wait, no, that’s wrong. Completely wrong. Dabi’s done a lot of terrible shit (i.e. murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, arson…) throughout his career that would land him a nice, isolated little cell in that hellhole. But he did half of that to get to his family (oh god are they messed up), so a part of Hawks decided that he didn’t deserve to be locked up with the rest of the League.

It wasn’t a conscious decision; it was one of those decisions that just happened with or without your approval.

One minute he was heading out to get a few drinks with the other pro-heroes in celebration of the League’s defeat. The next thing he knows, he’s standing outside of Dabi’s cell with a bundle of keys clutched protectively to his chest, hands bloodied from breaking a police officer’s nose. Several police officers' noses, now that he thought about it.

He blinks.

Dabi’s head is buried in his folded arms, so he clears his throat. In this situation, what else could he do? He’s already knocked a few officers out, might as well go the whole way.

The villain looks up and holy shit does he look horrible. There are bags under his eyes (no doubt from the night of endless interrogation and horrible conditions), bruises around his neck from Endeavor’s eager choke-hold, and a stitched up wound just above his left eyebrow he received from one of Rumi’s kicks. He winces, because he knows how horrible those kicks could be from personal experience.

Something in Hawks’ chest burns at the sight and after a moment he realises it’s anger. Anger at seeing Dabi looking like shit. But there's also a smidgen of guilt and a dash of something he had, until now, chooses not to dwell on.

Ah, he thinks dully, that explains why I'm here.

“Why the fuck are you here?” Dabi hisses like an angry cat, equally defensive as furious. Hawks gets the feeling that if it weren’t for the quirk suppressing choker, he’d be a dead man. Or burning chicken. Take your pick.

“That’s something I’ve been wondering about for the past five minutes,” he confesses in a low voice. At first he wanted to get this over with as quick at humanly possible (which, considering who he is, is quite fast), but now that he’s gotten a good look at his… whatever Dabi is to him, he’s realising this is going to take longer than five minutes.

The captured villain goes to stand up but quickly realises he can’t. His hands are cuffed to the table for maximum security. He sits back down and slumps, something cold and bitter entering his eyes.

“Why are you here?” Dabi’s voice sounds too tired and too old, and maybe Hawks’ heart breaks a little. “Come to gloat? Go ahead. You managed to fool me and infiltrate the League. You destroyed us from the inside out.” He pauses, eyes darkening and lips curling. “Himiko’s dead because of you.”

Hawks flinches. He hadn’t meant to. He’d actually grown to like the little psychopath in spite of everything. Her death hadn’t been part of his plan. But there had been no other way to stop her at the time, the young villain had been furious and heartbroken and she almost killed Midnight – so Snipe had taken the shot.

He swallows around his heavy tongue, searching for something, anything, to say.

“I’m sorry,” is what comes out. It’s pathetic and stupid and utterly ridiculous. Dabi won’t forgive him just after one sorry. Maybe he won’t forgive him after a thousand. Maybe he’ll never forgive him.

Dabi snorts. “That the best you can do?”

Hawks stays silent, hands playing with the keys.

“After everything that happened, a ‘sorry’ is all I get?” Dabi’s furious. His fury is unlike Endeavor’s, largely different from All Might’s. Dabi’s fury is calm and hissed and burning. If he could, Dabi would probably melt the skin right off his bones. But he can’t, because he’s locked up. He can’t, because Hawks put him in a cage he has no hope of escaping alone.

“This whole time, you’ve been lying. You’ve looked me in the eyes and told me you wanted to be a villain because society is fucked up—” a harsh laugh bubbled up from his throat. “And I was the fucking moron who believed you! Trusted you! L—” His voice cracked and he fell silent.

Hawks’ throat closes up as his eyes burn. His heart aches when confronted with Dabi’s expression – Dabi, of all people, should never have had to wear that face. It reminds Hawks of the night on that one rooftop where Dabi spilled his heart to him – his deepest fears, his secrets, his grudge. Dabi had decided to trust him, and what did Hawks do? He played the spy, the traitor, the hero. All for what? Recognition? A false sense of duty?

All of a sudden, Hawks feels sick to his stomach.

“I told you everything. God, how much of an idiot could I have been?” His forehead falls against the cold iron table. “And the whole time you were—you must’ve been laughing the whole time. Poor old Dabi with a shitty life, shitty quirk and even shittier body. You must’ve felt great about yourself, huh? Dating someone only a mother could love—oh wait.” His shoulders shook with either laughter or suppressed tears, the winged hero couldn’t tell. “Was it a pity thing? Or was it for the mission? Or do you just get your kicks from playing with people’s emotions?”

“It wasn’t that,” Hawks finds himself saying. Dabi pauses, looking up at him through his thick black fringe. Hawks’ heart skips a beat, he really is screwed up, isn’t he?

“Then what was it? You can’t expect me to believe you actually had feelings for me.” He snorts, but Hawks’s silence is telling. Eyes widening, Dabi’s head shoots up so fast Hawks is surprised he didn’t get whiplash. “Holy shit, you are one sick fuck. I don’t know whether to laugh at your stupidity or punch you in the face because of it. Do the heroes even know about us?”

“I didn’t tell them,” his mouth is so dry he can barely get the words out. “I didn’t tell them anything. I only told them about the League, nothing about us… or you.”

The implication of that settles in the air. There’s no going back now.

“Oh,” Dabi slumps and Hawks likes to think it’s relief. “So they don’t know about my family issues, huh?”

“Absolutely nothing,” and Hawks finds it a little ridiculous that after everything the heroes and detectives haven’t connected the dots. He had suspected long before Dabi’s confession on that rooftop, it was pretty obvious considering. He thinks that Todoroki Rei might know, but if she does she certainly isn’t talking. he can't say he blames her.

“… You really are a moron, aren’t you, bird brain?” The familiar nickname makes something in Hawks’ chest uncurl. He’s not stupid enough to think Dabi still isn’t furious, but it’s better. “Falling in love with you enemy is one thing, but not telling your colleagues about it and not spilling his secrets? I have half a mind to tell them myself, just to see the fallout.”

And Hawks didn’t doubt that he would do it too, if the situation was different. He can almost imagine Dabi telling everyone that ‘bird brain and I fucked’. Endeavor’s face would be hilarious. Hawks getting locked up for screwing with the enemy less so. Maybe in a different world…

He shakes his head at the thought. In a different world, somewhere out there, Dabi remains a runaway and meets Hawks under better circumstances. He’d like to live that life, but it isn’t possible. Never was and certainly never will be now.

“So why are you here then? To check up on me? Make sure I don’t spill the beans?” He leans back in his chair and raises an eyebrow.

Before he could come up with an excuse as to why he knocked out several law enforcement officers and stole the keys to his high-priority cell, his impulse control decides to throw itself out the window. “Do you want to elope?”

Hawks dies a little on the inside. That was not where he was going with this, but there are no take-backs. What’s done is done.

Dabi stares. Opens his mouth, then closes it. He stares a little more before sighing through his nose and letting his eyes fall shut.

“First of all, what the actual fuck.” That’s fair, all things considered. “Second of all, okay. I hear Iceland’s a nice place to settle down. Real private. And cold.”

Hawks’ wings poof up in surprise. He expected a rejection, a few curse words, and a fair amount of attempted murder after breaking Dabi’s heart, trust and little finger.

“Uh…”

Dabi sends him a sardonic grin. “Didn’t expect that, now did you?”

“To be honest, I didn’t even realise what I was doing until I was here.” He confesses and hunches his shoulders, trying his best to not hide behind his wings.

“So you can say you were…” Dabi’s grin grows. Oh no. Oh no. “Winging it?”

“I hate you,” Hawks tells him as he unlocks the cell doors and warily approaches the table. Surely Dabi won’t turn on him now, right? Well, Hawks did betray his trust times a thousand, so he wouldn’t be surprised if the taller man tried to kill him as soon as he was near enough.

“Trust me, I know,” well shit. Hawks screwed up a lot, didn’t he? He’s going to spend literal years making up for it.

He unlocks the cuffs first and the quirk suppressing choker next. Dabi rubs his raw wrists with a frown, expression thoughtful.

In hindsight, Hawks should’ve expected it. But he didn’t, idiotic move, trust him he knows.

Dabi’s fist collides with his nose and one loud ‘crack!’ later, Hawks’ nose will never be the same.

“That,” Dabi says with finality. “Was for Himiko.”

As Hawks hold his bleeding nose, he eyes his significant something. “Are you going to break my nose for Shigaraki and the rest, too?”

“Fuck no,” he snorts. “They’re assholes and, unfortunately, perfectly alive assholes. If they want to punch you, they’re going to have to escape by themselves and track you down.”

“Oh thank god,” his wings relax. “You have a pretty mean right hook. One is enough, thanks. Anyway, let’s go?”

“You deserved it,” Dabi shrugs. “What about the cameras and officers?”

In the end, sneaking out of the police station Dabi was being held in is surprisingly easy. Hawks is a little insulted on Dabi’s behalf. Sure, most of the precinct and the heroes are off celebrating their hard-earned victory, but seriously? Hawks expected a lot more resistance, maybe a dramatic fight or two. And if they were lucky, a chance to punch Endeavor's face in. He’s extremely disappointed.

It’s even easier to empty his accounts and pack some clothes and other important essentials a hero needs when on the run. Hawks goes and buys Dabi a large scarf reminiscent of Eraserhead’s (but more bright purple), a hoodie with a Harry Potter logo on it, a box of black hair dye for himself and other stuff they would need. While he did that, Dabi acquired two passports and papers for two whole new identities altogether.  

Five hours after Dabi’s escape, they were on a plane heading for Hungary, then from there they would go to Norway and from there to Iceland.

“You know you’ll have to let your natural colour show now, right?”

“Duh, I, unlike someone I can name, am not an idiot.”

“Rude.”

“…”

“…”

“It’s going to take me a long time to forgive you. You know that, right? Even longer for me to trust you again. Maybe I’ll never trust you.”

“I… I know. I’m okay with that. I think.”

“Hm…”

“…”

“You think they have soba in Iceland?”

“Oh my god, are you for real?”

“It’s a legitimate question!”

[easilydistractedbyfanfic]

6x01 Raven Reyes - Some Thoughts about Emotional Avoidance and Sex

Anybody who follows this blog knows Raven is my favorite female character on The 100. I watched 6x01 early (no self control), and I have plenty of thoughts about what happened onscreen, but this is the first time I’m writing anything down. 

I’ll start with my conclusion and put the rest under the cut if you want to see how I get there -  Bottom line - Raven does deserve happiness, it just hasn’t happened for her yet because she goes looking for the exact things that WON’T bring it to her in order to protect her heart.

My fave doesn’t deal with emotion too well, does she? Upon seeing the video from Monty and hearing about her friends and being upset by this, she then takes complete offense at Abby’s comment (understandable after the way they left things between them in S5), and storms out of the room. Sh*w follows and Raven says the line “They left us”, which definitely gives some insight into where her mindset is - she’s mad at Monty & Harper, doesn’t understand the choice they made even when Sh*w offers insight, instead telling him “No more talking”. Now... where have I heard Raven and comments about “no more talking” before? Buckle up, because I’m gonna tell you. 

1x08 - in the space of a few days, she’s come to Earth, figured out Finn cheated on her, confronted Clarke about it, saw him poisoned and close to death and therefore tortured a Grounder for an antidote, and then Octavia heckles her over her actions because Octavia sides with Lincoln - Octavia says something like “must be hard coming down here only to discover your boyfriend has moved on”. Raven literally goes to Finn and initiates sex right then, actually telling him “I don’t want to talk” and when he tries again “I don’t want to talk about it EVER” - saying she knows about Clarke but asking if Finn loves her. He replies “always” and she proceeds to kiss him again. Things continue and the short view of the aftermath is that they are both lying awake and not talking. The scene feels awkward to me like they each have things to say but aren’t saying them. Then they are interrupted. Note the lack of talking and emotional distress that pushed her into the sex - it’s literally the overall tone. 

1x11 - Raven has very recently broken things off with Finn for good (in 1x10), but things are strained between them and she is not unaffected by seeing Finn & Clarke together. When Murphy replies to her to say that Finn & Clarke are still out hunting together and his words about it goad her into another bout of jealousy/unhappiness, it is no accident that the scene literally has Murphy ripping out fish guts - his words are tearing Raven’s guts out because it hurts to be set aside so easily (as a Murven shipper, I have a lot more to say with regard to this scene but let me shut up for now). She goes right for Bellamy, telling him ‘they don’t waste time’ re Finn/Clarke. Interesting convo here where Raven is determined to move on, and she seems to think that by moving on sexually, it may help her get past seeing Finn with someone else. Bellamy warns her he is not going to “talk her out of it” or “talk her down because she’s upset”. And I can add some armchair psychology here about Raven perhaps seeing Bellamy live that love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude at this point of the show, and maybe hoping that will rub off on her. Anyway, we find out it doesn’t work when she gets out of bed quickly and when Bell asks if it helped and she says no. Note the lack of talking and emotional distress - once again the tone is set. 

2x14 - in the days prior to this, Finn dies traumatically after killing innocent people, Raven is tortured by Grounders when she’s thought to have poisoned Heda, Jasper & Monty (among others) are trapped in Mt Weather and they know they’re taking out bone marrow, she’s trying to figure out the pain & limitations of her body with the leg brace, TonDC has blown up and she can’t figure out how to solve the acid fog which is what their whole plan to go into Mt. Weather depends on, including Bellamy who’s undercover there. She literally blames herself early in this episode - “...because I can’t figure this out.” So she’s stressed. Wick makes her laugh and together they solve the acid fog issue, which makes them both relieved and somewhat giddy. They leave each other after flirting but Raven soon returns and just kisses Wick. He says it’s a bad idea - she says “We’re going to war. Stop talking.” She chastises him again, saying “what did I say about talking” when he tries to. They have sex. Afterwards, she gets up quickly to dress and he tries to connect/reach out to her/says he’s in but she has to figure it out. He accuses her of shutting down. She does not respond. He says “this was too much” and she does not deny it. She only says “we have a war to win” - aka we can infer that either this was a mistake to her or that she tried, yet again, to use sex as a way to avoid emotional distress, but it didn’t really work out for her. Again with the lack of talking - at least on her part - and while I do think there was attraction and chemistry here, there was emotional distress involved and we have that confirmed with Wick’s comment of “this was too much”. 

And now we’re back at 6x01 -  Raven literally goes from near tears over Monty and Harper to rage at Abby to hurt that Monty and Harper “left us” to kissing Sh*w and saying “no more talking”. Aww, my poor little avoidance baby. For his part, Sh*w makes attempts at saying romantic sorts of things - saying “...spending a life... with someone you love...” sounds good to him, also insinuating that he would not go on a long-term mission then or now if he had her. Meanwhile, my fave girl is reading a book, talking about Becca’s accomplishments (I have so much crap to talk about here but once again I will shut up), wondering what Becca was like and then calling it sex (and not making love). At no time does she say her feelings to him or about him in this scene, but it does seem to have distracted her from what she was feeling on the Bridge. There’s talking, but for her part, the focus is Becca or suggesting more sex aka changing the subject. And do we really think the emotional distress is gone, or just put off in the moment? 

So what are we left with when we consider all of this? First, let me say that as a Murven shipper, I realize that I come to the table with some biases, but let me also say that I I am a fan of this character, not just my ship, and I rewatched EVERY SINGLE SEX SCENE IN THIS SHOW for comparison purposes and when we look at both Monty/Harper onscreen along with Kane/Abby, they both show conversations after sex that get them onto the same page, make a connection. Even Clarke/Finn have a revealing moment although there is some teasing there too. What was interesting to me was that Clarke/L*xa included a comment about “we don’t have to talk at all”, but I’m not touching that one with a 20ft pole. However - let’s note that Clarke/Niylah has Clarke saying “Niylah, would you mind not talking?” and gosh what does THAT remind us of?

Anyway, my girl Raven has been traumatised by the love she had for Finn and hasn’t allowed herself to get anywhere near that since he slept with Clarke and broke her heart. She was willing to forgive him, and they both agreed they’d always be each other’s family, and in a past post, I discussed why I think she really doesn’t hold some kind of a grudge towards Clarke about all this - as in, she doesn’t blame Clarke for Finn cheating, but she may still be hurt/sad that the whole thing happened, I guess we’ll see about that. Lemme know if you wanna read it. BUT even so, that doesn’t mean that she trusts love or even feels romantic love at this point, and I could do a whole other post on how I think she rushed herself into Sh*w just because he was there and it was even OOC for her, but it’s late and i’m tired and as you can see, I spend way too much time thinking about this stuff anyway. 

Let me say it again - Raven does deserve happiness, it just hasn’t happened for her yet because she goes looking for the exact things that WON’T bring it to her in order to protect her heart. All you have to do to see what will make her happy in the future is to look at what made her happy in the past *cough cough intimacy best friend & family, guy who looked out for her cough cough*. And BY THE WAY - even though it might fit with her arc, it still pissed me off that they had her sleep with this dude so fast just to increase her pain, damn it. Like - I see you, misogyny! Get outta here!

[wolfenm-marveling]

There are three big reasons I have not and don’t want to see Endgame ....

For one, I wrote a lengthy article about that will run in June at Sequential Tart (I'll update this post with the link when it goes live *EDIT* Here it is: The Subject of Character Death, Revisited - http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=3362 ). The other two, I'll talk about here; they involve Steve and Bucky.

I know what you’re thinking: Wolfie, how can you form an opinion on a movie you haven't seen? Well, I do have mental health issues (undiagnosed and untreated because I have no insurance or job, yay), so when the film was released in China, I found someone to spoil me so that I might make an informed decision as to whether or not I could *handle* seeing it, given some worries I had (and especially since 3 hours without a bathroom break was not going to work for me or my companion). I determined from that convo that it would be a Very Bad Idea for me to see the film.

Even seeing the constant posts about it  -- especially ones that called it a  “beautiful” or “perfect” end, etc. -- was triggering anxiety and mental anguish / circular thoughts (admittedly in part because there were similarly “bad” things happening in other fandoms of mine -- it was too much at once). And I'm STILL having massive issues with circular thoughts about it.

This essay isn't meant to tell anyone they’re wrong about how they perceive / feel about the film, BUT, while I know I shouldn't care what other people think, the sitch still makes me feel how I feel: frankly, a bit disturbed that people are loving things that are making me so awful. I feel like I've stepped into some sort of Bizarro world -- like I'm somehow in the wrong universe. It’s very distressing. (I mean ... they call it mental *illness* for as reason, right?)

In this franchise where I once found such great joy, I now find little more than anguish. It’s actually been making me physically ill to see the posts -- or to look on my massive Marvel collection; I've had to box much of it away for now. Hopefully some day I can enjoy it again. (I can't exactly stop using my $60 Captain America backpack I begged for, for my birthday, though. :/)

I find that when my thoughts get like this (like I'm on a runaway train that keeps revisiting the same stations), the only thing that helps even a little is to sort out my thoughts on the page -- even if I’ve done it before, as I have with this in the comments section of friends posts. (You may have seen other people express similar thoughts, too.)  And really, I don't want to rain on my friend’s parades, so I figure I’ll post it in my own space, and then if people ask me my thoughts, I can just point them here. And hopefully this post will help others who are similarly struggling (I know there are at least a few).

As for the old chestnut “It’s just a story/ a fictional character”, well, for one thing, let me repeat: mentally ill here. If I could control how I feel, I wouldn’t BE mentally ill. But also, I'm a writer who feels writing is a sacred calling, so when I feel a story is badly told, I tend to take it personally. Yes, I know my opinion is not the be-all, end all -- if you think it’s a good story, yay for you. Me, I feel betrayed by this story in a way I have rarely felt before (the other biggest instance having happened the week before the film's release, so double-whammy, yay).

Warning: if you read any further, I assume you either saw Endgame or don’t care about Spoilers.

(*edited to add* If you need some solace too, check out @antiendgame to find other people who are upset.)

The first upsetting points for me were the Noble Deaths (and, in Loki’s case, lack of resurrection) -- I hate that trope with the fire of a thousand suns. But that’s what I wrote the article on (including how 2012 Loki’s escape doesn't make me feel any better), so no more on that here.

Now, let me preface the rest of this by saying no, I wasn’t expecting a romantic presentation of Stucky. And as hard as I ship them fanon-wise, I don’t actually hate Steggy -- I adore Peggy in her own right (and like the idea of them  being a threesome with Bucky).

What I DO hate is that Steve abandoned Bucky for her.

Aside from Steve’s moral compass, Bucky was the impetus behind pretty much *everything* Steve did in his trilogy. He found the missing soldiers because Bucky was amongst them. Bucky’s death broke him -- and finding him again in Winter Soldier seemed to give Steve, who was clearly depressed, new life. Despite Sam insisting Bucky was Gone, Steve wouldn't kill Bucky to save the world. And in Civil War, Steve fought other dear friends, and was willing to throw away his own freedom, to protect his best friend. So how the FUCK is them being *separated pretty much forevermore* a satisfactory end to that story???????

TL;DR, the Captain America movies were about the repeated separation and reunion of Steve and Bucky … and yet we barely got to SEE them together before Steve said sayonara to the man he’d been best friends with for over a for over a decade, to go be with a woman he’d known for about a year. 

A woman who’d already had a family without him.

Yeah, we can say her family still exists in the original timeline -- but I have seen soooo many different explanations of how the time sitch works out, it’s not even funny.

Really, that’s the third reason I don't want to see the movie: I HATE time paradox, and this movie sounds riddled with it. Also, as I understand it, the writers and the Russos are saying different things, with the Russos saying it’s a different timeline (which apparently Steve would be going *back* to after the shield pass, for some reason, and yeah, that bothered me, that he didnl't even give his best friend that momento, and sent their last onscreen moments together talking to SAM), and the writers saying no, the alternate timelines were only a thing when the Stones were in play. So yeah, Steve could spend the rest of his life with Bucky then ... but that means he also would have erased Peggy’s family (and maybe her work). Unless he was the man she married all along.

Either way, it would mean that Steve let Bucky suffer, and let HYDRA infiltrate SHIELD, neither being things I could see him doing.

And if it IS a branched-off timeline, I LOATHE that time theory, because it means NOTHING WE DO MATTERS. There’s always a version of us that’s our worst selves, and people who suffer because of it. That’s hella depressing. (Even if it would explain why I feel like I'm in the wrong world.)

At any rate, the ONLY end I really wanted was to see Steve and Bucky get to be together, no matter how -- “just friends” would have been fine. It was literally the thing I wanted most in the whole damn MCU franchise (aside from seeing Loki be redeemed and then fight alongside the Avengers. *sigh* At least I didn't have high hopes there ...). I would rather Steve had taken Bucky back in time WITH him, even if Steve still married Peggy; time paradox issues aside, I could have lived with that -- yes, even if it meant we didn’t get The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. (And honestly, how much am I supposed to look forward to that anyway, when Sam has been such an *inexplicably* uncompassionate asshole to Bucky in WS and CW? A guy who runs meetings for people with PTSD holds a grudge against a guy who was brutally mind-raped? It's like they made him OOC for the lolz!)

As for “Oh, but Bucky knew and he was okay with it!”

Uh, if he was okay with it, it's just because the writers *wrote* him that way for their own convenience, so they could do this ending. I have been besties with someone most of our lives. We broke up a few times, but we managed to keep finding our way back to each other. We don't live in the same state, so we rarely see each other, but at least we DO sometimes, and we write each other. If this person said they were going to go live somewhere with no way to communicate with me ever again, so they could be with someone they loved, of course I wouldn't want to say don't leave, because I'd want them to be happy, and wouldn't want to stand in the way … but that doesn't mean I'd be “okay”. in the slightest. And I wouldn't WANT other people I care about to go through such pain, much less think it beautiful to watch.

Plus, as I always say, this is fiction -- I don't need *that much* “reality” in my escapism. Temporary angst is my bread-and-butter -- it’s cathartic -- but I need a happy ending to be the payoff. To me, A TRULY happy ending for Steve -- and the one that would have been the best payoff for the narrative we’ve spent a decade watching -- would have been for him to not have to choose between the two people he loved most.

Edited 5/11/19 to add: For all those who are all “Oh, they’re just friends, they aren't gay”, I am more or less fine with sexual Stucky staying fanon; they still love each other platonically, are SOULMATES, ACCORDING TO THE SCREENWRITERS THEMSELVES (Christopher Markus and Steve McFeely), who wrote this as part of the intro to the graphic novel Captain America: White - “…Of course, this is still a rollicking adventure tale, and no adventure is complete without a love story. And yes, these books have one – the longest, most tortured one in Marvel history, in fact. We’re talking about Steve and Bucky, without smirking or innuendo or raised eyebrows. Platonic though the relationship may be, from the meet cute to the tragic separation, their bond has all the elements of a classic romance.  These two men love each other – as any pair of friends who faced exclusion, combat, inhumanity, and death would. Their bond stretches across half the twentieth century. The loss of it gnaws at Steve throughout the modern day, and it slices his heart in half when the Winter Soldier rears his tormented, homicidal head. Just as Jeph and Tim’s earlier Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue, and Hulk: Gray all dealt with the major love interests in the heroes’ lives, so too does Captain America: White. Steve and Bucky are each others’ soulmate, if you will, because no one on Earth understands what either of them has been through as well as the other does. The book deals deftly with the strengths and weaknesses that relationship engenders. As the Red Skull himself says to Bucky, “The captain has a … ‘soft spot’ for you. A spot I intend to put a bullet through this very evening.” Soldiers fight for their country. They fight for themselves. They fight for each other. And sometimes they die for these things, too.  The ones who don’t carry the memory of the ones who did for the rest of their days. Steve Rogers is no different.”

So he's gonna leave his soulmate (no matter the nature of their love) behind forever? FUCK THAT NOISE. I am completely baffled ow two writers who see Steve and Bucky that way would go on to give them that ending.

And retouching the whole for Bucky “knows and is okay” thing, the Russos also said that Bucky is too damaged still to be Captain America. Uh, THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE THEY REALLY THINK HE’S OKAY.

[little-purple-thundercloud]

LFRP: L’yhta Mahre (Balmung)

Character Name: L’yhta Mahre

The Basics ––– –

Age: Somewhere in her early to mid-20s (thanks, time bubble)

Birthday: 12th Sun of the 3rd Astral Moon (May 12th)

Race: Seeker of the Sun Miqo’te

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual. Prefers women romantically, prefers men sexually.

Marital Status: In a poly pod. By mutual agreement, the pod has certain open characteristics.

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Elemental Affinity: Astral, Wind over Fire

What I’m Looking For ––– –

Adventure, including IC dungeons

Friends

Fellow mages to talk shop with

People with problems that need Magic! to solve

An apprentice

Possibly, romance?

What I’m Not Looking For ––– –

Unpleasant or abusive rivalries

Villains (got enough of those already...)

Mean, demanding, or uncommunicative RP partners

Other OOC Notes ––– –

Hi! I’ve decided to put this out there to see about expanding my RP circle. L’yhta’s a fairly easy to get along with character, as long as you don’t mind (or if you’re especially interested in) adventuring and magic theory. She has other interests, but being somewhat of an awkward sort at heart, she tends to fall back on what she knows -- and gets quite excited about it, to boot.

I’m usually in XIV during the evenings US Central Time (after 8pm or so), but I’m also available on Tumblr and Discord much more. Please don’t hesitate to message me if you’d like to interact! I swear I’m not scary.

More under the cut!

Physical Appearance ––– –

Hair: Highly variable, but naturally purple.

Eyes: Bright heliotrope.

Height: 5 fulms, 5 ilms

Build: Lanky, rangy, bony, and muscular, without many curves. She looks rather like a runner who eats far less than she should.

Distinguishing Marks: One thin white scar across her throat. What’s most distinguishing is her utter lack of distinguishing marks; outside of that scar, her skin looks eerily perfect and almost painted on, as if it were magicked to be such by some obsessed with flawlessness.

Common Accessories: L’yhta typically carries a pouch of candied fruits with her, along with a small ritual kit. She wears a linkpearl stud in her right ear that looks like a rainbow-colored flower. Her constant companion is Astrea, one of the Stardust Rods from the age of Mhach that she’s carefully restored over the years. When she can’t carry that artifact with her, she keeps a small mythrite scepter with a ruby focusing gem in a garter on her upper thigh.

Usual Attire: In public, L’yhta is often found wearing the robes of a mage with a taste for the historical (leaning towards Mhachi or late Allagan styles), along with short skirts or tights, ring guards, and ankle boots. In more casual situations, she prefers light skirts and sleeveless tops or Doman-style attire.

Personal ––– –

Profession: ~ Adventuring mage: L’yhta is a member of the Adventurers’ Guild of Eorzea and holds an honorary commission in the Maelstrom’s Foreign Levy for magical services rendered. She is known to actively practice all four Eorzean Disciplines of Magic and then some, with her primary adventuring praxis being thaumaturgy augmented with arcanima. ~ Researcher of esoterica: She’s also relatively well-known at the four magic guilds (though their opinions of her vary) as a researcher and once student. She has a reputation for devising new spells and trying to explore areas of magic that don’t neatly fit into the Eorzean Disciplines of Magic.

Hobbies: Reading, exploring dark places, listening to ribald music, writing questionable poetry, drinking to excess, musing about grand schemes to improve the world, swimming

Languages: Eorzean Common. She can read Belah’dian, Mhachi, and Nymian, and has a passing familiarity with Allagan script. Beyond that, she knows a few phrases in Doman. She does not know huntspeak.

Residence: An apartment in the Ivory Tower in Shirogane. She also has a small apartment in Fisherman’s Bottom in Limsa Lominsa.

Birthplace: A small coastal village in Vylbrand, about 100 malms north of Limsa Lominsa.

Religion: Worship of the Mothercrystal

Patron Deity: She would say the Mothercrystal, for all that matters.

Fears: Losing friends and family; the disintegration of her poly pod; an ignoble and irrelevant death; being unable to help someone she finds in need; the Empire steamrolling over Eorzea, Doma, or Hingaishi; being hated for no reason. Oddly, she doesn’t really fear death, and a part of her wants to die as a martyr.

Nicknames: Lyta, Y-hta, Lady Sorceress, Mistress Lyta

Relationships ––– -

Spouse: Divorced. She is part of (and quite committed) to a poly pod, but none of them would describe it as a “spouse-type” relationship.

Children: None

Parents: Deceased

Siblings: Six sisters and one brother, all of whom reside in the tribe where she grew up.

Other Relatives: She has about ten nephews and nieces at this point, as well as several cousins. One of her nephews followed her back to Limsa Lominsa and is a newly minted Yellowjacket.

Pets: None

Traits ––– -

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Personality: L’yhta is impulsive, but largely good-natured, as long as she doesn’t view someone as Evil (which usually requires they demonstrate a desire or intent to harm others for their own benefit). She has an unfortunate tendency to speak her mind and to accidentally flirt with people, and while she’s often quiet at first when in a large social situation, she’ll quickly engage with anyone who interacts with her. Those who get to know her will discover that she can sometimes be dryly snarky, cares for others quickly, is often impatient, loves and trusts her friends deeply, and can have a very nasty temper.

Recreational Substances: L’yhta has a very high alcohol tolerance and tends to drink to excess. She also partakes in recreational herbs, but only ones she considers “mind-opening,” such as hallucinogens and empathogens. She very assiduously avoids drugs like somnus.

Favorite Foods: Sweets, fish, miqa’bobs, and most Doman fare.

Likes: Adventurers, people who don’t take themselves too seriously, open-minded mages, battle, surviving nearly getting killed, helping others, the sense of a spell well-executed

Dislikes: Religious zealots, most nobility (knights she can be okay with, depending on their behavior), boredom, abusive individuals, being alone

Virtues: Loyal, trusting, defends others without hesitation, playful

Vices: Drinks to excess, lustful, holds grudges, temper

RP Hooks ––– –

Mistress of Magic: Whether you’ve got a magical problem that needs fixing, a desire to learn new magicks, a drive to talk shop about magic, or just an interest in the Art, L’yhta can range from anything from sounding board to plot device dispenser, drinking buddy to teacher, research friend to spellcrafter. She knows a lot about magic and I enjoy sharing the lore.

Adventuring Buddies: Need someone to blow things up for you? Maybe some combat healing magic? As a member of the Adventurers’ Guild, L’yhta can pick up leves that can put her just about anywhere in the world. Maybe she gets assigned to your adventuring party, maybe you end up investigating the same ruins, or maybe you’re looking for adventurers for a job.

Anything else! We can come up with lots of reasons, I suspect, for our characters to interact!

[jbuffyangel]

Bored Now: Arrow 6x19 Review (The Dragon)

What in the ever-loving hill tops of Olympus was THAT?

I was exhausted Thursday, so I missed the episode. However, I waited until Sunday because I wasn’t motivated to watch given the fan reaction. But I figured it couldn’t be that bad right?

Yes. Yes it can.

I would rather watch Oliver pontificate about his super-secret plan to stop gun violence (without revealing his super-secret plan to stop gun violence) than “The Dr*gon.” I would rather watch L*urel earn her BC suit (without really earning it) by hallucinating her dead sister. I could watch Oliver and Sara bang fifty times over. Yes, I know what I am saying. 6x19 is worse than all the terrible 13th episodes combined! After six years and 134 episodes I am bestowing “The Dr*gon” with the title of WORST EPISODE EVER.  Congratulations. We have a new low.

I flitted between enraged and bored watching “The Dr*gon”, so I feel Evil Willow’s iconic expression conveys my emotions nicely.

Let’s dig in… it won’t take long. I promise an excess of snarky gifs.

Felicity Smoak and Curtis Holt

This is the first week post Oliver firing Felicity. Yes, he can dress it up any way he likes, but that’s exactly what he did. Felicity chooses to devote her extra free time to her company and reaches out to Curtis for a truce. A truce in these writers’ minds means FELICITY APOLOGIZES TO CURTIS. 

Liz Kim, who co wrote the episode, explained:

Let’s pretend we live in a world of rainbows and unicorns where the main governing body is the Girl Scouts and instead of paying taxes we get free cookies. 

We must live in this kind of world to understand what Liz Kim is pushing. Fine. Felicity isn’t holding a grudge. She’s being the bigger person and is sorry for her role in the fight. If we look objectively at all six characters Felicity has the least to apologize for, but that’s just details. 

What infuriates me is Curtis just stands there and glowers at her. He oozes moral superiority, contempt and arrogance. 

Why, dear writer, didn’t Curtis then apologize to Felicity? If this is all about being the bigger person and not holding a grudge, why didn’t Curtis step up to the plate next? Last time I checked, Curtis has as much to apologize for if not more than Felicity. Instead, we get Felicity apologizing to yet another man on this show and Curtis just stands there like a condescending lump. 

UNACCEPTABLE.

Then Curtis cannot hide his glee over Diggle quitting the team. He wants to skip around the room and sing, “Nananana boo boo” while Felicity is distraught about her husband being alone in the field. CURTIS HAS THE NERVE TO TELL FELICITY HE MUST FIGHT THE DESIRE TO GLOAT. But sure, what an amazing friend. 

Listen asshat, if you tell someone you are trying not to gloat that’s the same as gloating.

Why is Curtis the only “friend” Felicity is ever allowed to speak to? Why couldn’t she have gone to Lance or even Diggle. Diggle has a beef with Oliver, not Felicity. I don’t see how going to Curtis is any better than going to John in Oliver’s eyes. Hell, I’d take a phone call Thea over this. I don’t need to hear her side of the conversation.

How does anything Curtis says correlate to real friendship? He states the obvious – Felicity is using work to distract her from worrying about Oliver. OH MY GOD. THANK YOU SO MUCH CURTIS. WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE WITHOUT YOU HERE TO EXPLAIN THAT COMPLETELY OBVIOUS PLOT POINT TO US ALL?

Then, he almost laughs in her face about it, but can control himself enough to only gloat. Wow. Felicity’s friendship cup runneth over. And last, but not least, he refuses to take any responsibility for his role in the team breakdown. How magnanimous of him. What a petty little prick.

Also, why is Curtis always the one to fix a problem with the Helix tech? JUST ONCE I would like to see Felicity solve something tech related to this company without Curtis’ help. Felicity Smoak can program and hack anything. SHE INVENTED THE KEY PIECE OF RAY’S ATOM SUIT. But whenever Curtis is around she is forced to be clueless and rely on Curtis’ brilliance to save the day because LOOK AT WHAT A GOOD TEAM THEY ARE. She is a shining example of a genius female character and now she’s being used to prop Curtis’ man baby brain. It’s nauseating and unbelievably insulting to my gender.

If this is the route Arrow chooses to fix the breach between the two teams (OTA members apologizing while Newbies gloat) then I can safely say I will not forgive the newbies for anything they’ve done. They will be on my list of “Characters Who Need to Die” for the remainder of the show. Starting with my number one spot – Curtis Holt.

Olicity

At least the writers knew the only way to get Olicity fans to watch this garbage pile of nonsense was to stick a 3 minutes Olicity scene at the end and promo the crap out of it.  Unfortunately, the scene didn’t give me “all the feels” the writers intended. 

Felicity comes home in a panic after watching a news report stating the Green Arrow is probably dead. 

Source: @oliverfelicitygifs

Oliver pops up behind her and a very relieved Felicity throws herself into his arms. Any gooey feels I have over Felicity’s concern and emotional hug are about to be obliterated. Felicity informs Oliver this set up doesn’t work for her. When she’s in the bunker, and knows where he is or can see what is happening, it’s easier to cope with her worry. Oliver condescendingly implies there’s very little Felicity can do to help him while she’s in the bunker.

Excuse me, but is Oliver a pod person now? How do we get from THIS

to THIS 

to THIS. 

Do the Arrow writers watch Arrow? This is why people get so fed up. We can go from one episode to the next and characters act completely OOC to push a storyline along. Oliver “You’re My Partner” Queen is now saying Felicity can do very little to help? 

Let’s just unravel the entire basis of the show and the reason the character exists in the first place 

for another bullshit Oliver Queen regression that makes no sense. 

All I am asking for is a modicum of character cohesion and storyline consistency. Is it so much to ask that the Arrow writers know the show and characters they are writing for? I think not.

After Felicity correctly argues she can and HAS helped Oliver many times, he does another 180 and tells Felicity she can never be helpless. Cool bro, but you stated the exact opposite 15 seconds ago. 

Oliver decides it’s time to placate his wife’s legitimate fears by telling her he will always come home.

Source: @oliverfelicitygifs​

Sure, it’s a nice foreshadow for the future since Oliver is probably going to land himself in jail. This scene can serve as reassurance for all those terrified Oliver is going to do 25 to life. I take issue with the promise, however. Do you know why Oliver didn’t make that promise to Felicity in 2x09? 

Because he respected her too much to lie to her. Oliver knew then he doesn’t always have control over what happens to him in this line of work. Accepting death and not being afraid of it is part of the job description. Oliver knows this is a promise he can’t keep because NOBODY CAN. The tiny look of hesitation and resignation his face after hugging Felicity proves it.

Source: @oliverfelicitygifs​

We tell our children little white lies to ease their fears because sometimes they aren’t old enough to understand the truth. Was the promise Oliver made to William completely true? No. Should he have made the promise? Probably not, but I understood why he did. Oliver was trying to ease his son’s fears because William is a child.

But Felicity is a grown woman. Oliver doesn’t need to tell little white lies to his wife so he can continue his deeply stupid need to regress. The only reason Felicity needs to buy into this obvious lie is so she can function while Oliver is out in the field by himself.  How about Oliver LISTENS to his wife and acknowledges the truth – he can’t do this without her. Even emotionally stunted Oliver Queen understood THAT. 

We’re really supposed to believe emotionally evolved Oliver doesn’t? 

I MEAN GIVE ME A FRIGGIN BREAK.

This is why viewers get so frustrated with Arrow. The characters can change personalities like the show changes writers. 

Things we know to be true, and are the backbone of the series, are tossed aside to make an illogical plotlines work. It does nothing to service the characters, show or viewers. All that’s left is a terrible hour of television.

The Dr*gon and Bl*ck S*ren

The function of this episode is to make us give a flying flip about the Dr*gon. However, we are given a sloppily slapped together back story that doesn’t connect to any of the main characters whatsoever – particularly Oliver.  

Di*z grew up in an orphanage and was bullied by an older boy. This is the reason he’s become a menace to society. 

He named his fear “The Dr*gon” and tattooed it everywhere because he’s so tortured and intense.

He’s been trying to move up the criminal ladder to conquer his fear and be respected as a legitimate crime lord. Ummm… okay? Good luck with that. WHY DO I CARE? Oh, that’s right. I don’t. 

Ultimately, Di*z gets a seat on the Quadrant (Season 7 villain set up for sure) and revenge on the kid who bullied him as a child. The moral of the story is don’t be a bully because someday the kid you tortured might show up on your door step and light you on fire.

I thought this was supposed to be the season of many villains. Weren’t we doing away with the singular Big Bad? Why are we suddenly zeroing in on the lamest villain in the group? He’s so lame the writers had to come up with an entire episode to mitigate the lameness.

Di*z and Sir*n spend 85% of the episode sitting in a car trading fortune cookie sayings with one another. They go on and on and on about power, control and not being a dog. It’s a lot about not rolling over, bellies, tails... maybe an ear. Think of every single villain cliché you’ve ever seen and that sums up “The Dr*gon.” 

Di*z’s moves are utterly predicable and I’ve heard the dialogue in about fifty other shows/movies. I wish they had just gone full throttle with plagiarism and stuck, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” in there. It’d feel more honest.

BS spends the entire episode asking the big strong man how to be a big strong villain. So, a win for feminism all around. 

BS is so busy telling Di*z not to “roll over” she fails to see she’s following him around like a lost puppy.  

Di*z is the lamest Arrow villain in history (Yes, even worse than Sebastian Blood), but BS is his henchman. So, what does that make her? Nothing good! I’ll tell ya that much. 

In C*ssidy’s defense the dialogue is cringe worthy, but she didn’t make it any better with the over the top acting.

BS tells Di*z not to be a wuss, but when he listens she acts like she has a problem with violence. YOU JUST TOLD HIM NOT TO ROLL OVER. HE’S DOING WHAT YOU ASKED, KEVIN. 

Yet, her eyes cannot behold the horror of Di*z beating a man. Her soul withers at the sight of Di*z killing. She blinks, sighs and turns away in disgust. SHE IS SO CONFLICTED.

Oh, holy hell. Are you kidding me with this crap? This is the same character who killed a security guard begging for his life. This is the same character who screamed in another man’s ear until his veins popped. She’s tried to kill the team multiple times. It’s a little difficult to believe BS has a hard time watching someone get punched. But we’re supposed to believe it because REDEMPTION. Sorry, Imma gonna need a little more than excessive blinking from C*ssidy to sell me on that one.

Di*z’s need to be a legitimate crime boss doesn’t mean the character translates as any more than the common street thug he is. His backstory is intended to make him look complex, but it does the direct opposite. We’ve seen “a villain is made not born” trope a thousand times, including on Arrow. Unfortunately, “bullied in an orphanage” doesn’t hold up against the backstories of Slade, Merlyn, Ra’s Ahl Ghul or Prometheus. 

BS has the nerve to compare Di*z to Adrian Chase and I laughed out loud. 

BS spent all of 15 seconds with Chase, but she knows his anger consumed him? Okay, cupcake. Whatever you say. Comparing the genius ways Chase inflicted pain and revenge on Oliver to the Dr*gon’s hum drum plan of vertigo and the Quadrant is just wrong. Why didn’t they do this villain focused episode with PROMETHEUS? That would have been a good time.

“But Jen, you didn’t like Prometheus at first. You thought he was boring and then you loved him.” Sure, that’s true, but by episode 19 we were full throttle on Adrian’s crazy.

There’s nothing to unmask with Di*z. This isn’t Josh Segarra going to another level. If it was those things then 6x19 was the episode to do it. All that’s revealed is more boring on top of boring.  I can tolerate a misfire in the 10-15-episode range, but we’re rapidly approaching the end. It is incredibly late in the season to be telling us why we should give a flying fig newtin about Di*z. The writers need to come armed with a hell of a lot more than bullied and power hungry for a chair.

Stray Thoughts

It’s safe to say it’s going to be a terrible episode if the writer is tweeting as a PR defense strategy. We shouldn’t need episodes explained to us, but if we do then the answers should make a modicum of sense.

Oliver was in episode 3x10 more AND HE WAS “DEAD.” There’s a reason why Stephen Amell is the star. He carries the show. Don’t ever bench him, writers.

This wins Twitter:

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 6x19 gifs credited.

[theduplicitousdame]

RP hooks for Naharé Mergrey and Kezia Bashalde

Naharé Mergrey

*If you are Lynx tribe. Naharé’s parents are X’rahz Tia and X’adeya Mhasa. After their exile they packed their shit and moved Limsa for a new start. Naharé refuses to acknowledge her tribal heritage, but can be approached by fellow Lynx tribesmen if they were privy to her parents’ scandal. (PM for details)

(Addendum: She has a half-brother and a twin sister. X’khajirr Tia and X’tohba Rahz. Both of them live and work out of Gridania as a conjurer and lancer/leatherworker, respectively. They exist in game and are available for RP. PM for details if you’re interested.) 

*If you live, work, or were born in Limsa. She’s a born and raised city girl. You could have known her from childhood days, worked with her, or seen her working.

*She’s a mercenary and a bounty hunter. Security, escort, shipping/receiving, tracking, scouting, sabotage, information gathering, and racketeering are some examples.

*Got a grudge against Garleans or Magitek? Naharé’s left arm was replaced with a Magitek prosthetic and sometimes she openly carries a Pre-Imperial Garlean Revolver. 

*In addition to her Garlean ties, her estranged husband is a defected Garlean engineer and airship pilot by the name of Askier kir Mergrey (aka Jin’a kir Epinoch).

*Alternatively you can use the above if your character is interested in or has knowledge of Magitek and Garlemald.

*She crafts guns, ammunition, upgrades Mammets, and works on airships. Mayhaps she helped you out?

*For you law enforcement types: She holds a criminal record out of Limsa. Currently she’s not wanted for any crimes, but feel free to have seen her file. (PM for details)

*If you’re a fellow mercenary or bounty hunter you could have worked with her or heard of her.

*She’ll often times frequent taverns or fighting tournaments.

*Here is a link to her wiki: https://wiki.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/pages/Nahare_Mergrey

Kezia Bashalde

*If you were born in Ala Mhigo and/or present during the war

*If you live, work, or were born in Limsa. After Kezia escaped through what is now Baelsar’s Wall, she and her family settled roots in Limsa Lominsa.

*You may have seen her hunting or fishing across La Noscea.

*She’s also a leatherworker. Maybe she filled an order for you or you’ve heard of her wares?

*She’s enlisted with the Maelstrom as a Storm Private. 1st Squadron, 9th Levy.

*Here is a link to her wiki: https://wiki.ffxiv-roleplayers.com/pages/Kezia_Bashalde

Welp, I think that’s a pretty good list to start with. Now let’s move on to some OOC info.

*I’m on EST. I work in a veterinary hospital so my hours vary, but I’m usually free in the evening after 7PM.

*I will play mature content and themes (violence, sexuality, drug / alcohol use) as long as they're logical in a plot-driven encounter. Coarse and excessive language. Temporary injury and incapacitation. Temporary imprisonment. Most walk-up encounters.

*Ask about long-term and/or permanent injury and disfigurement. Long-term captivity or imprisonment.

*I won't play permanent character death or rape.

*I can keep my posts simple or do paragraphs.

*I play on the Balmung server.

That should cover it. If I’ve forgotten anything then I’ll just edit it in. You can contact me here, in game, or via Discord at NerdyLuu#4092. ^__^

[mrsbluebertgreggleson]

“Bring ‘Em Back Alive”

-100 for Lucifer trying to get what is technically his little sister to play strip poker with him. What a classy characterization we have going here.

+10 because I like Sister Annaby's outfit.

+20 for when Lucifer flipped his eyes red and said "He's a PRIORITY" to try to spook Duma and she was... very much not intimidated. She's just like, "*sigh* *fake smile* Of course!" like he's her annoying boss. I love this angel. She'd better live.

+30 for the "You sure that's what this is about? You sure it's not... personal?" about AU Charlie because oh MAN I could feel the editors just itching to drop like 10 flashbacks in that pause. Thank you guys, for the restraint.

+5 for when Dean was getting jumped because I really wanted him to look up and see Ketch hiding behind a tree, just peering out at him and cocking his eyebrow. Dean should probably know the importance of being stealthy since he's been hunting since he was a teenager, but I'll let this one slide because Sam and Dean usually are pretty inelegant in their approach to hunting, lol.

-5 for Dean: "Where were you going to take me?" Slaver: "You think I'm going to tell you?" Dean: *shoots him right in the stinkin knee* Slaver: "AAAAH!! ... okay, all right." Like dude you are SO composed, you should be crying like a baby into that snow and blubbering out answers.

-20 because it’s weird to me that the writers explore the fallout of Gabriel’s torture trauma but not so much Sam and Dean’s. Angels canonically per S4 can’t be tortured but degraced ones can and degracing is canonically extremely painful as well, so Gabriel being traumatized I can believe, and I can headcanon an explanation on torture in Hell affecting the mind differently than torture on Earth to justify why Sam and Dean are even remotely functional, but the show itself doesn’t really touch on this and really, after all the angst and suffering the Winchesters have undergone, they really should be allowed to fall apart and build back up. It’d be cathartic for the audience. The fanficcers do a way better job exploring this and I really wish the show writers would show at least some instances of Sam and Dean dealing with their issues in the day-to-day and trying to handle it as best they can. Otherwise it’s just a Trauma Conga Line and it’s harder to care about bad things happening to them when we know it’s gonna be like water off a duck’s back and never really addressed/handled.

-20 So Gabriel faked his death well enough to fool Lucifer and also God? I'd think either one of them would be able to tell whether Lucifer was killing the real deal... I mean the fake Gabriel's death looked very permanent so maybe Gabriel created a lesser angel replica of himself to bite it so the light show would convince everyone, but... idk that explanation is not a great explanation to me, I would've preferred it if he'd really died and then been resurrected (maybe from Cass waking up, maybe somehow that woke up Gabriel too and in his newly resurrected state Gabriel got captured). I also just really like how the big explanation does not at all try to explain how presumably fully powered and crafty Gabriel got captured by Lucifer's weakest creation. I have to assume he found some spell similar to the one Crowley used on Lucifer, to enslave an archangel; it's just weird that they glossed over it so completely.

-5 Also dinging them for the “Hammer of the Gods” flashbacks. Just a little, because it has been eight seasons since it happened, but still, I count it as excessive flashbacking.

-5 because that Exorcist's girl “demon” voice was very unfitting and goofy.

-10 for "Your wound might be more serious than we thought." HE GOT SHOT, DUDE. Like TV is usually pretty flippant with how serious gunshot wounds are if they're not in the heart/head, but I'm pretty sure in real life Dean would be bleeding to death no matter where he got shot, lol. Let's assume they patched him up offscreen with some secret MoL magic trick that kept him from dying.

-5 because I'm surprised Dean doesn't fight Ketch more on the cure. I think Ketch is probably honest here, but Dean obviously didn't trust him a whole hell of a lot - and Ketch could easily be poisoning him or something. I guess he figures Ketch is his only shot, he's Ketch's ride home and route to possible redemption, and Sam and Cass would kill Ketch if he came back alone, but still, Dean doesn’t forgive easily, likes to be stubborn, and give people a hard time. It’s to advance the plot faster but still a little OOC that he didn’t at least give a token protest.

-10 because shouldn’t the BMoL already know about the Winchesters' connection to Charlie? Even though they were supposed to be all researched about the Winchesters and went through their bunker and belongings and never found anything out about her?

-30 because THERE'S the sad Dean-Charlie flashbacks. I’m taking back all my restraint points.

+5 Now I want Ketch to feel bad about killing Mick, because Mick was the only cool BMoL. Five points in remembrance, cheers, mate.

-10 because what the hell, Dean is all cool with Ketch now, even after everything? That's weird, he usually holds onto grudges like a mofo. Is it because Ketch has a thing for Mary and Dean wants someone for his mom to live with? I... wouldn't think Dean would want his mom to be with anyone other than his dad, and I especially wouldn't think Ketch. It's weird Dean is doing such a turn-around on this guy he was eager to kill. Between Ketch and Benny, I guess there's just something about washed out, dirty pocket universes that makes Dean click with the guy he's with.

-5 for Sam's Inconvenient Auto-Speakerphone Phone

-5 because Sam should’ve just fuckin hung up on Asmodeus after Asmodeus was like “DON’T YOU DAHR HANG UP”. That would've been such a power move. Just keep pissing off King Dedede while he's riled.

+10 because Sister Annaby is really pretty, dang. I do like that healer-for-pay business she set up in the last (?) episode she was in, it was a good idea for Earth-bound angels. I just wish she weren't stuck in a storyline with Lucifer because he's just... the worst (or that the had not named her so similarly to my poor lost Anna). If they'd used her in a separate role and spent more time on the healer-for-pay thing, for example, that could've been a cool nugget.

-5 Shouldn't the angels have known and called her by her real name instead of "Charlie Bradbury"?

-50 ABADDON SHOULD HAVE ATTACKED THE BUNKER, DAMN IT. She should've known where it was after her first episode, she wanted the things in it, and we got a demon break-in this episode. I’m still so mad that the writers in S8/S9 didn’t do this, and I’m taking it out on this episode! MANNN.

-30 lol Sam's like, "I'm warding the bunker!" You should always have the bunker warded, my dude! Otherwise you're sitting ducks staying in one unprotected spot.

+15 Sam and Cass were sitting close enough during Asmodeus's attack that for one second I really thought one of them would reach out and hold the other one's hand while they were dying. I don't know why I thought that because the writers would never in a million years do that, but it would've been touching (and also because it would be so funny to see the fandom explode).

+100 Don't have to listen to Asmodeus ever again, yeeeee. I'm just disappointed he didn't die via punch-to-the-heart so that his killer could pull their arm out, smack their lips, and say "Finger-lickin' good", the ultimate final and best joke.

-50 Dean's whole emotional, angry blowout at the end, Sam and Cass standing all silent and scared, and I'm just thinking of "The Thing" like, "If you cared so much, maybe you should've read more fucking books last episode to help your mom sooner, Dean." Like my dude, don’t get mad that your brother and friend restored Gabriel (he also killed Asmodeus, who would’ve killed them if Gabriel wasn’t all juiced up? and SINCE he was all juiced up, how were they supposed to stop him? I get Dean’s upset and frustrated because it seems they’re all out of options, but it really seems like he’s not getting that they’re only alive because of that, and lashing out at them because he’s frustrated, which is one of his worse character traits), another one will probably fall into your lap in like... four episodes? whenever the next big plot advancement needs to happen. It’s been awhile so I don’t remember if Lucifer got his archangel grace still or not, but I think he’s recharged by now, so they can just concentrate on tracking him down. Or hey, maybe convince Rowena to pop the Cage back open and snatch some of your Michael’s grace. I just wish character development meant addressing Dean’s anger issues so that Dean’s loved ones maybe don’t flinch and get scared whenever he gets mad. Not a good look for a heroic character.

To sum it up: Pure plot episode. We were teased the idea of Dean and Ketch in Apocalypse World saving Mary and Jack, but somehow ending up too far away (is the portal opening up in different spots going to come up again?) and saving AU Charlie instead. Dean bonding so quickly with Ketch seemed hinky considering their past; since it seems like Dean might have a snarky frenemyship with Ketch in the future like the one he had with Crowley, I guess Ketch is gonna die by the end of this season since Death Equals Redemption and we need a reason for Dean to look stoically sad. I think it would’ve been more fun to leave Dean trapped in Apocalypse World to get more POV on it for the audience, maybe see some other old characters, and reunite with Jack and Mary.

Meanwhile, Gabriel recovered enough to kill the Big Bad. Sleep well, sweet Prince. You were the only thing I was looking forward to going into the season and I had high hopes you’d be cool, and much like Dagon, you were not. Hopefully the next demon Big Bad is better - maybe a white-eyed demon, so we can find out what those were compared to Knights and Princes? ... but only if it doesn’t finish ruining the demon mythos for me. I’m surprised they repowered Gabriel so quickly since I thought they brought him back to be a fan favorite member of Team Free Will and that means he can’t be too powerful, but part of his appeal is that he can snap his fingers and do whatever zany thing he wants, which would be considerably harder to pull off if he were powerless. I’m still kinda surprised that they went the route of bringing him back the way they did, but until we see more of him, I’ll have to wait to see if it was worth it in terms of character development. Still kinda weird they never explained how Asmodeus got him.

Grade: -140 Kentucky Fried Demons in the Empty