#since i started this series. AND ITS BASICALLY ALREADY WRITTEN TOO

[whumpy-wyrms]

ITS BEEN A MONTH SINCE TLLR CHAPTER 11????? WHAT

[stardustjie]

𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜

when ellie wanted to go on a walk and you confessed your feelings for her (female reader, fluff)

author's note: this fanfiction was written in may 2023, so way before the current events in palestine. i apologise if posting this is inappropriate. please, boycott and donate to palestine if you can

"so, there is this theory. the universe is essentially cyclical, its destined to end and start again the exact same way. this means history has followed the same path since the dawn of time, humans have suffered and will suffer since we are meant to live the same life over and over an infinite amount of times. however, this also means we have been lived this exact moment and infinite amount of time. we are destined meet in every life, every single one of them" you said, enfolding yourself in ellie's jacket.

it was march. spring was slowly coming and the evening air was still quite cold, enough for ellie to lay her jacket on your shoulders the moment you started complaining about the temperature. there was a party in jackson and you didn’t care enough to ask what the reason to celebrate was. you just wanted to be there if ellie was there. you came earlier than everyone else, watching the door waiting to her to walk through the entrance. you saw her after a good fifteen minutes sat at your table and in a few moments she was sitting in front of you. when the music became too loud she asked if you wanted to keep talking outside.

"basically we are cursed" and she giggled. you were walking right outside the pub, trying to get away from the crowd and stay alone for a while. ellie started to talk about the universe before, about some theories she read on a book she found during one of her patrols. good heavens, you could listen to her ramblings for hours. you hoped that fun fact could impress her, at least a little bit. you could smell her on her jacket, so you squeeze its hems and ellie seemed to notice.

"so meeting me was a curse?" you jokingly asked and that was enough to make the other girl blush. you could feel her nervousness. it was dark already and the street light created a good atmosphere, everything made her face look ever prettier. you couldn’t wait for the summer to come, it would have accentuate her freckles and she would have her iconic half-bun hairstyle.

"absolutely fucking not! i mean... its probably one of the few things i want to experence again. like reading my favourite chapter for the first time again" she clumsily tried to explain, moving her hands a little bit to emphasize the concept. hoping it would make it make sense. for a moment you thought she could physically hear your heartbeat for how hard it was. you had a crush on ellie for quite a while and multiple times you found yourself doing whatever you could to spend more time with her. you even considered joining the patrol training. "how did we started talking about this?"

"well, we started talking about your comic serie, then about the universe and you got a little passionate about the topic. and i shared this amazing theory. i read a few articles in the library the other day, i thought you might find it interesting." you started, looking away to the street. you were to embarassed to actually look at her in the eyes and you could really feel the blood reaching your cheeks, so you decided to focus on a random point in the other direction. "i wanted to impress you. sometimes you start your ramblings and i find myself unable to reply, so i started looking for something to say. that's how i found the most depressing theory ever"

for a good moment you could only hear your own steps on the cobblestone and the confused background noise. ellie just stopped for a moment whike hearing your explaination, her eyes looking into the nothingness in front of her and her mind just internally replaying everything you have said. you stopped after a few steps, turning around just to see ellie lost for a second. before you could ask if everything was okay, she started talking. "wow... i mean, this somehow makes the idea less depressing"

"honestly? i would go through everything just to meet you again and i'm glad the thought of you doing the same isnt that depressing anymore" you replied smiling. in a few seconds ellie was right beside you like before and you just kept walking in silence. a little bit closer this time. the only sounds that filled the silence were your steps and some background voices you didn’t bother to listen. nobody could bother your personal heaven. and if the universe had to be destroyed and recreated to make you live it again, so be it.

"just to be clear, meeting you was the best thing that happened to me so far" you specified, still holding the hems of her jacket between your fingers to keep it on your shoulders. you had the courage to look at her and smile, waiting for a reaction. it was getting late, you were out of the town centre at this point and your two glasses of liquor at the bar made you braver than you would have thought. it was late, the stars were shining right above the two of you and there was no one around you. even the street light were fewer.

you walked a little faster, just a few steps and turned around to face the other girl. ellie had a perplexed expression on her face as she stopped. you slightly leaned forward, towards her. it was difficukt to describe how loud your heartbeat was in that instant and you could physically feel the change of the atmosphere, it was more tense and sentimental. you closed your eyes and took all the courage you had. you couldn’t go back anyway. "if the universe has to collapse to make each other meet again then good. if we had met each other in every universe, in every timeline,... i wouldn’t want to meet anyone else"

saying ellie was startled would be an understatement. little did you know she was hoplessly trying to hide her crush on you or how fast her heart was beating when she had the opportinuty to give you her jacket. you didn’t know about the times she looked at you from afar or how she talked about you to her friends when they were alone or about the many times she wrote about you in her journal. and now there she was, looking at you with wide eyes and not a single word on her mouth as you were essentially confessing your feelings for her.

you waited for her answer for a few moments. you tilted your head and watched her unsure of how you should behave, biting your own lips for the nervousness. you were almost sure you fucked up your friendships at this point. "oh, fuck" she started. her mind was crushing for a hot minute, not really processing what you said. you could see redness speading across her cheeks and over her freckles, decorating her face. "no, its just that... shit"

"too cheesy?" you asked with a slightly embarassed face. at this point you couldn’t really care anymore about whatever feeling of nervousness you have felt during the time you had a crush on her. crush that, at this point, was quite too obvious. it was the perfect moment, the perfect background to have either a romantic confession or your heart broken. it was worth it regardless.

"its the right amount of cheesy" she replied, hiding her mouth behind her hand. ellie never thought anyone would ever think of a space-themed love confession, especially she never thought the prettiest girl in town would confess her feelings for her with a space-themed love confession. "its the perfect amount of cheesy, actually" she commented quietly. she sighed.

you didn’t move a centimetre the moment she walked into your direction, so painfully aware of every step she took. of her perfume and how much you wanted to disapoear in the crook of her neck to snell it properly. of how warm her hand was when she reached for your cheeks. and under the stars, you kissed.

[scienceandstorytelling]

I can’t stop thinking about Will Branner’s performance as Max Jägerman and how it leads to my favorite usage of the Nightmare Time leitmotif in all the Hatchetfield musicals (and why I voted for NPMD as having my favorite title number in the poll I made a while back).

Max is a well-written character who already gives me hints of a tragic villain vibe, and then Will’s performance just fleshes that out tenfold. It features the duality Starkid has been playing a lot with in this series, where you’re sympathetic towards a character while also acknowledging the terrible things they do. Max is horrible and abusive towards his classmates and has given them years of trauma. But a teenage boy does not become a Literal Monster in a vacuum.

Alongside his role as a bully, the script gives us images of Max as someone who is struggling academically and would have probably fallen through the cracks if adults didn’t idolize him for his football prowess so they can live vicariously through him as he beats the rival town in the big game. We find out that he has a shitty dad who verbally abuses him for not being macho enough. That he probably doesn’t have all the sex people say he does. That the people he bullies hate-pranking him in revenge is “the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for [him].” And then Will’s acting keeps showing us glimpses of this goofier side of Max, glimpses of the person he might have been if he wasn’t such a bully.

And for those few moments in the aftermath of the prank, you think maybe he’s going to change now that someone has shown him what he perceives to be kindness. And then he falls through the floor and that opportunity is lost. But unlike what Mayor Lauter implies, I would argue that his fate isn’t fully sealed when he dies in the Waylon House. I think the moment of no return is when he kills Richie while the leitmotif plays.

Lots of people ship Max and Richie and have headcanons that they used to be friends, and I think it’s because of the parallels between them in this song. Here we have two 18 year old boys who have both been failed by the adults around them. Both are harmed by being stereotyped. Both are in the liminal social role of being in the process of stepping out of childhood and into living their adult lives after high school. And both of them are denied those adult lives. And then they fucking sing about it. The “will you pray for me” duet is such a powerful part of the song for many reasons, and I think it’s the moment that shows us that Max is still in the process of committing to being nothing more than a vengeful spirit, or at the very least is in the last stage of that process. The thing that strikes me the most is that Max is simultaneously trying to make Richie feel insignificant and alone while also projecting his own feelings onto him. “Is this the eternal dark without a dawn?” he asks, reaching up to the sky and not looking at Richie at all.

And what fucks me up is that Max fails in this moment. Richie is not alone. He never was, and now he’s even less alone. Not only will Pete and Ruth mourn him, so will Max’s former friends. Its so notable to me that this takes place immediately after Go Go Nighthawks, where we’ve just seen everyone, including, again, Max’s “friends,” sing about how great it is that he’s gone. It’s a real Ebeneezer Scrooge moment that makes me wonder if Max has been silently haunting the school these weeks since his death and it’s only now, having watched that, that he tips over into full villain mode. Max is the one with no one to pray for him, not Richie. And Richie basically says as much, and Max kills him anyway. Richie was doomed from the start in the sense that the show literally opens with a flashforward to his death, but I think Max is doomed too. “Don’t need no one to tell me high school will be my peak,” he says in his own introductory song. I said before how they’re both on the cusp of living their whole adult lives, but I wonder if Max had trouble seeing himself that way. He already didn’t think he would amount to anything after high school. A lot of these “peaked in high school” football star characters spend their adult lives being metaphorically stuck in high school, in their teenage years, because they can’t let themselves move on from their glory days. And here Max is, literally stuck in his teenage years forever as a ghost - but not literally stuck in high school, as we see when he follows them all to the Witchwood. When he makes he grand ghostly return he says to Richie, “I’m free!” (Free from what, Max?) He certainly has the freedom of a ghost to go anywhere and do anything. And yet he traps himself in high school. He prevents himself from moving forward. And all of that is why it makes me emotional every time when he casts aside any last chance of not being the villain and strikes the first blow on Richie, these two teenagers failed by the adults and the structures around them, their fates locked together, while the leitmotif plays and takes us back to that original line from Alice’s corpse singing to Bill about how he should have been a better father: Look what happens, nightmare time.

[elliesbelle]

Since reading ncty literally NO OTHER FIC COMPARES TO IT! I love it so much but now my standards are really high :´)

Belle sweetie I think you already suggested some other fits buuuut…do you know any other series (need something long) that’s also Ellie or Abby x reader that you liked and would suggest? Trusting only you with recs

haha well, i'm gonna plug the works of my mutuals again then!

@lonelyfooryouonly has PLENTY of amazing ellie series that are long and got a lot to read! (can't even choose a fave between them honestly)

@seattlesellie's not about love will have you crying and screaming and screaming with the s all at the same time! i still go back to it every now and again.

i'm not kidding when i say that @carmellie's see you next summer is everything to me. one time, carm released a chapter while i was at work, and i legit excused myself to the bathroom and didn't leave until i finished reading it!!!!

my wonderful love @totheblood has several series as well, superposition being one of my all-time faves (literally was already obsessed with the series before i even started publishing on here and before star and i were even friends)!

@callmelola111 has a bunch of ellie series, one of my faves is color me purple! i love flirty tension ugh

@s-4pphics has a BUNCH of ellie and abby series, literally just go through my sal love's page and you'll find so much content fr

@spaceshipellie's we were never just friends had me screaming and crying on the bus ride home, it was so so SO good

@glowstickfracture doesn't have a whole abby series perse, BUT they have so much amazing and sexy firefighter/fire medic!abby content that it's basically its own series!

sorority secrets by @cinnnamongrl was just so bellisimo chef's kiss, i did naught want it to end

my babes @phantombriide has a shit ton of smaus that are so immersive and they feel like reading a full blown series fr (and she has a new one coming out soon that i helped with so 😘)

@elliespeach's the air that i breathe isn't done yet, but it's everything to me and i'm at the edge of my seat waiting for the next chapter!

my love my life @cherriesxinthespring's seattle grace hospital is the reason i breathe, rose hasn't finished it yet but idc cause it's just so good

@coeurify's perfect girl is one of the very first elie fics i ever read and rinie is such a talented writer that you should just read everything they've written regardless

this isn't a complete list and i need to get back to what i'm doing skldfjdskls (i'm compiling this during a break from cleaning my apartment), but that's a start!

you can also check out the other list of fave ellie fics i made of my mutual's works too here.

[greenerteacups]

Hi! Just wanted to say the latest chapter is lovely & amazing & sweet & had me smiling the whole time! I absolutely love your characterisation of everyone, especially Draco, so it was so so lovely to return to this world & to his thoughts!! with his best friend and crush at malfoy manor no less! All the yearning is already off to a great start hehe I am so excited for the rest of book 5!

Wanted to ask you how has it been for you to write this new book and volume? Has your writing process changed since when you’d first begun taking on a long form project like this?

& also are there any moments or surprises in this book that you’re especially excited about?

sending so much love & gratitude for you and your incredible works 💓

Thank you so much! This is really encouraging, I so appreciate it.

Inasmuch as I can use this metaphor without having kids myself, I sort of see each of the books as a different child. The first one flew out in basically a few weeks of very intensive writing, and it was a total dream — plot, pacing, symbolism, major beats, all fell into place basically without effort. The character stuff was the hardest, as I've written about before, but even then, the glorious part of writing beginnings is it's the most energy you'll ever have for a project, so the lows were pretty soft lows. Book 2, in contrast, I had to drag kicking and screaming by its ankle from under the bottommost mattress of my brain. It's one of my least favorite books (tone problem; COS has killer plot/setting/ingredients for a YA novel, but it's stuck in the doldrums of Harry Potter's well-documented Early-Installment Weirdness, before Cedric Diggory slams the gas and upshifts the whole series into its correct age bracket). More specifically, once I'd gone through and picked out everything in the book that happened because of Lucius, I didn't have a plot — hey alexa how do you rewrite Chamber of Secrets when We Got No Fucking Chamber Of Secrets — and oh by the way, even if you want to do a moody tone/political setup book, remember that your protagonists are still twelve, so if you go too dark or too intense, you'll risk torpedoing your readers' suspension of disbelief. Good luck, Charlie.

Book 3 felt the most like its own novel, if that makes sense? It's the last truly feel-good book of the series; it's a great stand-alone mystery novel with relatively low stakes. Plus you get a bunch of the big series icons: patronuses, dementors, werewolves, Hogsmeade, the Marauders' Map, and time turners arithmancy. It just felt like a good old-fashioned motherfucking romp of a mystery/adventure story, before any of the complex character work and major stakes of the late books come in.

Book 4 was the most fun I've had writing anything maybe ever. I don't even know what it was. Maybe the tournament arc, honestly? Love me a tournament arc. But in any case, I opened every new chapter feeling a tingle of excitement for what I was gonna get to do. Oh, and the romance started, finally, Jesus God (if it feels like a slow burn reading, just imagine what it felt like writing it, when everything takes ten times as long, and you have to figure out how to word the fucker.)

Book 5, in contrast, has felt much less like that tingle of "here we go!" and more like "oh, man, this is gonna be cool." Because this is the arc of the story that composed the original idea for Lionheart, literally years ago, and to be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far! If you'd asked me "do you know that it's going to take you 500,000 words of backstory before you can start writing that concept you're thinking about, and you're going to do it anyway?" I would have said: "absolutely not, strange mind-reader!" But like... I'm here! Finally! And it's... real now? Like, this isn't just a bunch of clips of scenes in my head anymore! That's rad!

That being said, it's definitely been slower than Book 4, because I kept switching back to my outline document to make sure that certain things were set up properly, and that I hadn't lost any of the plot threads or forgotten a minor beat that was vitally important for the story three chapters later. And I had a minor crisis about three months ago when I ripped out about 8 chapters in the first third of the book — basically everything from September to December — because I'd done a readthrough to check pacing (big mistake! never edit while drafting, that's satan talking) and realized I had a missing storyline. Like, there was a whole layer of the story that was just. Missing. Not there. And the existing text really couldn't fit another thread, so instead of taking weeks to pore through and try to sift out what I could save, I needed to factory reset and start over. And I didn't want to! I vividly remember sitting there with my head in my hands, trying not to weep, because I'd decimated 90,000 words of work in a single edit. But it had to be done. Because the story wasn't going to work. And now (hopefully) it will.

And of course, there's still that sense of excitement and exhilaration from before. Always. But whereas Book 4 felt like a delicious chocolate pudding, Book 5 is a medium-rare steak.

(Book 6, so far, is four shots of espresso and a whiskey chaser. FWIW.)

[standreamy]

A very problematic finale.

I really didn’t want to talk about this because I was spoiled with the leaks time ago so I was prepared for the worst, but even so... after watching it... it just made me so sick. 

I don’t really blame people who liked the finale, and I’m aware that this is not anymore the last season. 

But there are so many issues that it's even difficult to know where to start.  So, first of all, a premise...

We don’t know when season 6 was confirmed to the writing crew, but it was almost surely when writing was basically over. Or so we can presume. Season 4 and 5 were written kind of together and between the time the writing ended and season 6 was confirmed and then started to be written, passed quite some time. 

Logically, there wasn’t anymore time to change big stuff. Once the episodes were being animated there would be no chance to change the scrips. Thomas said already that they have too much rush and pressure from tv channels, which prevents them to fix mistakes in the writing or animation. Once things are done, they’re done. And from the leaks and the bible we know that most things, comparing what was probably the info for season 5 when it was the last season and when the series was renewed, stayed the same. 

Some minor changes are probably there, but again, they are MINOR. Changing Emilie’s name with Ladybug’s... removing her glance exchange with Adrien... But the basic issues stayed the same and we can presume they were present in every version of the finale, since from Thomas’s tweets about the choice of keeping Chat out of the finale, that seemed a willing choice made from the start. 

This means that most of this was planned even when season 5 was meant to be the last season.

Possibly no reveal, and if there was it was shoved the last moment or in a very rushed way (It’s already way late for that), Gabriel “winning”, Adrien never learning about the truth, Chat Noir non participating in the final fight. The actual ending of the show.

And all this portrayed to be something positive.

With an ending where all abusive parents were excused and paid no consequences.

“But there are more seasons, surely these elements will be picked up again”. Postponing elements for too long makes higher the risk to make the resolutions anticlimatic and out of their ideal context,  The new butterfly opens a new set of plotlines, and Adrien's plotline will be dragged on.  You may can’t rush Adrien’s reaction and trauma, but if this was the intention, it could have been done seasons ago. When there was still more confirmed seasons to go and it wasn’t a possible finale of the series. 

And I also feel like asking... when did Miraculous and its writing give any reason for fans to trust it picking up again these plotlines and handle them correctly? Where does this trust comes from?

The show is famous from dragging things for longer than they should and not resolving them properly. When there were 5 seasons to handle the plot, the relationships, the characters at the best possible. 5 seasons to build the fluff and the angst, to handle misunderstandings, to build friendship between the characters, between the protagonists... to then lead it to romance. 5 seasons to make the characters fall in love with every side of themselves slowly and gradually, to make character live negative events and heal, to have a decent reveal and seeing what comes after. And there was none of this. Since season 5 must have not been changed a lot since the confirmation of season 6... when was Chat supposed to discover about Chat Blanc? When was Ladybug supposed to develop a trauma out of it? 

What did the Ladynoir dynamic lead to? Their whole talk in s4 finale, their newfound equality? What was that angst subplot needed for? Was it brought up again? Because I remember a lot of fans saying that surely Ladybug would apologize, that Chat would turn that experience as a lesson for self-love and acceptance, that the topic of their misunderstanding would be brought up again in season 5, yet it didn’t happen.  Chat questioning Ladybug about the identities of the secondary heroes, about Multimouse, about many things... Nothing.  I hear a lot of “Surely next season...” “Surely this will be-” And I don’t blame people for hoping, nor I’m judging, but I also think that people who don’t believe it anymore and and think this is way too late have their own reasons too. 

Now, going deeper into what I think are some big issues:

First of all, Adrien/Chat obviously not being included in the final fight and not discovering the truth. 

The first issue about this regards the usual discourse about the balance between the two heroes. 

We are told that Chat and Ladybug are equals even with her being the "leader" but it's always shown and proved otherwise. This happened for seasons with Chat being kept in the dark, then with Ladybug becoming guardian and then with the Ladynoir trust issues plotline in season 4, which was left mostly unresolved.

  Kuro Neko seemed the resolution of that plotline, but not only it didn't explain why Chat would be fundamental for the team (while showing instead that a perfect cat holder would be just more functional and then saying just "But Chat is better" without explaining) but it also mostly blamed the whole thing on Chat while Ladybug says she didn't know he felt left out and adds that he not as needed anymore.  S4 finale instead shows Ladybug admitting she pushed him away on purpose, the exact opposite, didn't apologize and the thing being forgotten because the other heroes couldn't be called up anymore. And this with it being said multiple times that Chat was then just a hero like the others and not anymore her equal. Then, in s5, with the opening even and the situation implying they'd be both just as important, ends up with excluding him from the finale. The co-protagonist, the other half of the whole. The one who is son of the villain.

After 5 seasons of him being extremely related to the plotline due to him being Hawkmoth's son and the plot being basically all centered on his birth, it just leaves everything uncomplete and unfullilling. 

Adrien was never able to have the realization, to deal with it even if it’s sad and heavy with the support system he built. He wasn’t able to live such a big personal growth, an important reaction out of his character was avoided, even with it being so important. True, Adrien would feel lost, angry maybe, sad, but these emotions would have been very important for his character. The reactions that characters have to situations is just as important as the events happening. Marinette's reaction over the truth wasn't as fundamental as it would have been Adrien's.

And this leads to the other big problem that makes me even sicker: Adrien not discovering the truth and Chat either. 

The thing is obviously wrong because of missed character development and for the abuse plotline. The thing that makes me sick about the finale is indeed how the abuse plotline was ended. When it was made such a big point, I find unacceptable to end it with not only Gabriel being fakely redeemed, reminded as a hero by the people but also his abused son. 

Adrien can't come in terms with his own situation as victim, he can't grow and heal from it. Gabriel's death doesn't erase what happened and making Adrien believe he was a hero and even saying he can't even dream to be like him, is... just wrong on so many levels.  It doesn’t matter if Marinette says to be himself and not his father. Adrien still thinks positively about one who abused him for years. Gabriel sacrificing his life for Emilie's may make it seem he wasn't so bad, but it doesn't cancel his actions. He still was a terrorist and an abuser and not only he didn’t pay for his actions (death isn’t a punishment, prison instead yes) but he was rewarded, because he was remembered positively for it.  And while his death could be acceptable eventually, even if him paying for his actions would be better, Adrien not finding out is ridiculous. And Chat not doing it either is just as much a problem, because as I mentioned already in a past message, it implies that Ladybug didn’t tell her "equal partner" about the true final fight. I think it's something pretty important he should know how things really went, instead of just being satisfied with "it's all over, gabriel helped against a random person who died" Of course, it would lead to Adrien discovering, but Chat knowing would only be the right thing. Just as of course Adrien.  Adrien should know. Marinette should have told him, instead of doing as Gabriel wanted. Like, at least not telling around Gabriel was a hero? 

Isn’t she the character who hates lies and injustice? Is not seeing Adrien sad worth making him sadder when he will discover he was lied at?  If we are supposed to believe she is on the right, she is the one showing what true love is and what Adrien deserves, opposite to Gabriel's, it should be portrayed as such. She is just keeping more secrets from him as she always has done with Chat. She isn’t letting him take his own choices. She isn’t letting him be free as he says she makes him feel. 

Of course, she can make mistakes and it could open up an angst plotline, but angst plotlines with Marinette/Ladybug keeping a secret they shouldn’t have kept was already done multiple times and it always ended up with the lesson being forgotten, with the entire resolution being underwhelming or Chat accepting the situation and blaming himself anyway....

We can also say that it’s Nathalie, Plagg, Amelie or Felix telling Adrien. But what counts is that he should have known.

“But Chat Blanc showed that Adrien can’t face his father” Chat Blanc was an alternate reality, one that was supposed to tell that it wasn’t “the right moment, in the right conditions”.  Character weren’t ready yet, they weren’t mature enough or ready to face such a difficulty. And perhaps you may never be ready for such a thing, but you can face it and heal.  Adrien has a better support system, more realization over his situation as victim and is more mature. He isn’t supposed to be the same of back then. 

Whether Season 6 will really pick it up again, Gabriel’s arc was this. The ideal moment for Chat to face his trauma was this.  And even accepting Adrien’s absense and unawereness...  The other issue is that these episodes treat his reaction as a good one. if you want to postpone his reaction, to make clear that it’s only Adrien that tries to convince himself of something that is wrong, you still need to put elements that remind that what he is thinking isn't "right" morally. Especially in a show that tries to teach morals and is always excused to be for kids. There are plenty ways to show with clarity that what Adrien believes is wrong with him still saying those things: soundtrack, Marinette doing a quick grimace of regret or disgust and him not noticing or their kwami saying something at all in the background.

There are plenty more issues, like Gabriel being once again not a solid villain or character, the wish allowing to choose a “sacrifice”, Gabriel “winning”.

Yes, Gabriel may didn’t revive Emilie, and made the perfect world he wished with Adrien as a perfect symbol, but he reunited with Emilie, was remembered as a hero, admired by his son, avoided being imprisoned and paying for his crimes between terrorism and abuse (I don’t see death as a penalty), dying with a serene smile on his face....

Even if the perfect ending wasn’t perfect, even if it resulted in an illusion, in dire consequences, Gabriel’s tale ended mostly in a positive light.   Once again also, it’s highly unprobable that big changes were made between the finale when it was meant as last season and the finale when season 6 was confirmed. So most of these factors would just be part of the real end.  While we can’t confirm that for sure, it’s still something to keep in mind.  I really want to to say again that I don’t want to shame on people who liked this season finale, but just to explain why I perceived these episodes as problematic and why I understand the view of everyone else expressing criticism. 

[lightheaded-dullahan]

Alright, strap in for the lie of the decade So I got this ask

So I think; “well what’s this all about?” I open it up and its this pretty quoted interview, so I’m like “huh so what’s ‘oh boy’ about this? Then I start to read. AND OH BOY.

I think most people who look into Fate/Apocrypha have heard of this interview with Nasu and Higashide. If you haven’t; here is a quick run down of its contents.

Written out; if the image is annoying to read:

Trivia from interview with Kinoko Nasu, Takeshi Takeuchi, Konoe Ototsugu & Yuichiro Higashide. (Source from Comptiq, Newtype and etc). - The ligh novel was greenlit by Nasu, as supervisor, Higashide as writter and Konoe as illustrator art. - David, St.George, Kintoki Sakata & Musashibo Benkei were scrapped by Kinoko Nasu’s idea. - Nasu said these servants doesn’t fit into plot and they were replaced by four new servants instead. - Chiron, Avicebron & Achilles were designed by Takeuchi & Nasu, illustrated by Konoe in charge of character design. - Mordred is the culture of festival achievement thanks from TYPE MOON fanbase. - Addition of Mordred into F/A was Takeuchi’s idea and Nasu agreed. - Mordred was orginally to be male but Nasu feel that having two male characters look feminine (the other being Astolfo) would be too much. - However, Mordred as a male was not Nasu’s claim of actual fact. In truth, Nasu didn’t decided for final Mordred’s gender since Fate/Stay Night until Fate/Apocrypha. Which mean Mordred was “genderless” in F/SN. - After the project of online game was scrapped, Nasu said that all servants are too ridiculous powerful and might bored if the player’s powerful servant was facing against other player’s powerful servant. It’s like a hax. - The online game was based on Infamous 2’s gameplay style. - Nasu & Takeuchi were laughing about more Saber clone. In fact, Mordred is the real clone of Saber (Altria), so the wish has come true for those people who still saying about Saber clone. - Karna is Nasu’s favorite servant. Karna’s popularity has been skyrocket thanks to Fate/Extra CCC. - Astolfo is Konoe’s favourite servant. He is symbol mascot of Fate/Apocrypha. Higashide can’t even tell if this is comfortable or not since Astolfo is dude. - Yggdmillennia, Sisigou & Kotomine Shirou were planned by Nasu, Takeuchi & Higashide. - Higashide wrote all Sisigou, Reika & Black camp’s character development, while Homunculus, Kotomine Shirou & four new servants’s character development was already written by Nasu. - Nasu said that Shirou is basically a character who look to have “light outside and darker inside” personality. Uncanny different trait from Kirei. - Homunculus (Sieg) was Nasu & Takeuchi’s idea. Nasu wanted introduce male homunculus in Fate series for the first time. - Takeuchi & Konoe said Homunculus looks cute but dense person. - Takeuchi stated Homunculus & Jeanne are his new favorite characters, along with Altria. - Interviewer mention about why Takeuchi like Homunculus. He reply "It’s a secret" due it will trigger the spoiler. - Jeanne is based on real french student girl according to Takeuchi. She was at same college where Takeuchi studied, before he met someone as model of Arcueid Brunestud’s design from Tsukhime come to his mind. - The difference between Altria & Jeanne is sex appeal. Which is already explained in TYPE MOON April Fool 2012, where Heroine X (Altria) in furious when she heard that Jeanne’s sex appeal is better than her. - Tsukihime is Higashide’s favorite visual novel. - Nasu stated homunculus like Mordred can summoned as Heroic Spirit despite not human being. - The rules of magecraft in Apocrypha universe are same as in Fate/Stay Night & Fate/Zero except that there is no rule of Ruler classes. - Ruler’s duty is protect the Holy Grail and oversee the battle. - Interviewer asked Nasu & Higashide about why Jeanne hijack Leticia’s body rather than ritual summon. Nasu stated it was something broke the rule of HGW and corrupted the system. - Nasu mention the first servant who hijack human body is Avenger, Angra Mainyu from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. Who control Emiya Shirou’s body and mind since he has no body but void form. The theory that come from Rin Tohsaka was correct. - Roa from Tsukihime was also can hijack the human body (Ciel & Tohno SHIKI) but reincarnation soul while he was in Akasha. - Nasu & Higashide admit it was silly idea in the first place. But they wanted Jeanne to have some disadvantages/weakness for herself due she was powerful servant and might kinda “boring” if she summoned as spirit form. (Avoid fan calling her a mary sue). - Which mean any servant can hijack the human body while in critical condition but it's rarely. - Karna’s background story has been altered in comparison to his original myth in Mahabrarat. This means, Karna is Nasu!Karna, not Myth!Karna which we know. - The rule of summoning Ruler is who can guide the war during in his/her past and a sainthood(?) as specific condition. Only one Ruler class is summoned in one war. The this system works in Apocrypha universe only. - St.George was remove because of this. Karna, however he refuse refer himself a saint and a killing machine who can kill God, summoned as Lancer class instead. - The Greater Grail force summon the servant as Ruler when met the condition completed. - If Jeanne is summoned in different universe without rules of Ruler, her class will be obviously Saber. She still will be summoned as Ruler if the mishap of war affected the result in different universe. - Jeanne was first mention in Kara no Kyoukai’s light novel reference: Mikiya Kokutou mentions her when he was discussing about Heroic Spirits who utilized the power of the Counter Force. - While the design for Jeanne wasn’t made during the production of the Fate/Zero novels, the design was completed around the time of the anime adaptation.

This translation was provided by @/ shinichameleon - who, in fact, is still pretty active in this fandom. They still post to this day. Now; what’s wrong with this? Well most importantly, Mahabharata is misspelled- no I’m joking that’s not the most important. 

Most importantly is This interview is a lie.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151107012557/http://shinichameleon.tumblr.com/post/62039911382/fateapocrypha-vol2-translation-of-detail

This is the interview being claimed has this information. But - this is an interview by Higashide ALONE after Apoc Vol. 2 was releasing. Nasu isn’t in this interview. At all. So; is there *any* interview with Nasu & Higashide? Yes; in Type Moon Ace 8. But that was *before* Apoc began its release so none of this information would have been there. So; maybe its another one? Well, as Petrikow on Fate/Apocrypha Free Range Spoiler thread discovered; no archivist has listed any other interview with both of them. Well what about the rest of the post? Seems like information is just from the product itself, not any interview. But why does this matter? Well; because this user, Shinichameleon has a rather ...unsavory reputation.

In addition this this set; they’ve also posts a supposed new route for the Ufortable adaptation.  Which....is blatantly untrue as we’ve seen. But then so this person lies about fate stuff (and gets it circulated for a decade), so what? Well they’ve also got banned from fate reddit(s) for posting false information. This includes falsely claiming Japanese Mordred and Semiramis fans hated each other; than Semiramis was hated in JP, KR, and CN fan bases after vol.4,5, and 6. They also tried to pull something similar with summer Ibuki, which is also proven not reliable at all through machine translation, using their own opinion as proof of character popularity, taking people out of context, and genuinely bringing bad fate (heh) arguments. But what else have they done? Completely make up information about Kiara Sessyoin?? Yep. They completely made up info.

“According from Kinoko Nasu & Takeuchi Takashi in EXTRA Material, Kiara Sessyoin is not her real name. Her real name is Inoriara Sessyoin and her actual age is late twenties. She was born as the daughter of true mantra of Tachikawa yo Tennaga, but she was bedridden and didn’t existed until at the age of 14 because she was sickly by birth. She was caught in commandments, that for their own “pitiable” appearance of the surrounding people who didn’t know it saves by saying, a pure human’s image that existed in the story vanished too.

At the age of 14, the believer was told by a doctrine of spirit hacking, her sickness recovers in a moment completely unknown to the outside. However, it accompanies along missing people and the dead increased suddenly, and she was completely denied in the presence level to the father who became aware of the accident, the reason “Though she is a woman, I am seeking to become one with that woman”, he  denied to realize it, then expelled on suspicions of violating two taboos of the Tachikawa Style. To that morrow, she takes away the father’s skull principal image, states “the master is deprived of technique tools” the last taboo was broken with this, the killer match of the believer, it left from all religious organizations that had become the dead, excluding her.

Afterwards, though she has saved the believers’ belief of the Tachikawa Style, the believe who became loved dearly was said to committed suicide one after another for her. In addition, she was put on the wanted list by the Western Europe plutocracy for the exploitation of code cast of the electronic brain, the maximum taboo in history.

Also she can fights and take down an average human nor a weak servant by her own potential without her final boss form. Just look at this video and count how many skills she got (Spoiler alert). And she is the first person who awakes ORT from eternal slumber....according from Koha Ace. Are you for real Keikenchi? “ So; fun fact -- none of this is true. It’s all made up. Oh; but you know what’s the MOST infruitating? “ The difference between Altria & Jeanne is sex appeal. Which is already explained in TYPE MOON April Fool 2012, where Heroine X (Altria) in furious when she heard that Jeanne’s sex appeal is better than her. “

THIS IS FAKE. THE FUCKING SEX APPEAL DIFFERENCE IS FAKE. You know the shit about Siegfried and Semiramis having a different artist and copyright issues with that is probably fake too. Anyways; what does this all mean? WE need to fucking recheck probably a good chunk of things we’re spreading around in this fandom. It also means that a lot of information on the Fandom wiki is likely straight up false (not surprising) which can mean its absolutely *useless* for lore referencing for *anyone*. This is for the English speaking side of the fandom so far; so; yeah. This is pretty fucked. Shinichameleon is now posting in danganronpa reddits so; I guess look out danganronpa fans.

[acotar-taylorsversion]

Another Rant

I think its funny how people will say that Sarah has had this series planned since 2015/2017 and convince themselves that this means elucien is endgame because they are already mates on page because she said "not much has changed" and that this must mean that gwynriel is real, too.

Like I'm pretty sure it only started out as the first 3 acotar books and the novella anyways. "Not much has changed" means that she didn't go with mor/az and elucien. You can literally see the moments in acowar where she changed this. And please don't forget about acofas. The one where Sarah said that we would have an idea about what Elain would do with her bond. And then in acosf when she literally made Elain and Lucien's only moment together so incredibly awkward. That moment was so telling. And do I really have to go into detail about all of Elain and Az's moments? By the end of acofas I was convinced of elriel and acosf only confirmed it for me. That bonus chapter confirmed that both Elain and Az are attracted to each other and were willing to explore that.

Like first Lucien was meant to be with Nesta and then she realized that wouldn't work out cause Nesta would have destroyed him if he ran up to her after she was turned and told her he was her mate, so she stuck him with Elain. I believe she did this to keep Lucien in the story for one little part of the koschei plot and she has done absolutely nothing to prove that Elain will ever be happy with him. Like I don't honestly see anymore how Lucien could be important anymore. I used to think that he would be this vital thing for the koschei plot but when you think about it, they really don't need him. The only thing he could do is realize his spell breaking powers and free Vassa. That's it.

And Gwyn? All signs point to her being a lightsinger and I don't know why people can't realize that. Az AND Nesta both react to her powers in almost the same way. His shadows reacted to her powers, her music or singing. They also danced to the music that was played off of Bryce's phone so I can't believe that his shadows dancing is a sign that Gwyn and Az are mates. I do not see any kind of attraction or hints of gwynriel. If anything, I think Gwyn just wants to prove herself to everyone around her, especially the one who rescued her and seen the horrible thing that she went through.

And whoever thinks that Nesta would not be happy for Elain and Az because it would "leave Gwyn alone and without a love" clearly do not understand Nesta. Elain is her sister, her favorite sister, and Az is quickly becoming her best friend. She supposedly "hated" Feyre and look at what she did for her at the end of acosf. Feyre, Rhys, and Nyx would literally be dead if it wasn't for her. I can only imagine what she would do for Elain. Yes, she has found true friendship with Gwyn and Emerie, but Elain is her sister, her blood. I believe that Nesta would be ecstatic for Elain if being with Az is truly what she wanted. She would support it. The last time we seen Elain on paper was when she was walking basically arm in arm with her sisters on a happy stroll in Velaris. And I want to know why everyone thinks that Gwyn is ready to be in a relationship anyways. She can't even leave the library yet. And I highly doubt that the first man she will be with is the man that saved her, like that would be a constant reminder of that night for me. And what's to say that she is even interested in men? Like why does everyone assume that she just has to be with Az?

And yes, I know these are characters and not real people. Yes, I know Sarah will write whatever she wants. And yes, I know I could be completely wrong, but based on what she talks about, who she talks about, and what/how she has written things, I can only believe that she is going to make elriel endgame.

That's it for my rant this time. I kinda rambled on in this one lol.

And by the way, HAPPY ELRIEL MONTH 💜

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Bloody Beetle | Part Three

Summary: a conversation with Harrow decides your fate

Pairing: this chapter is mostly Arthur Harrow x Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: Manipulative Harrow/Lying Harrow. a LOT of artistic interpretation on Harrow’s abilities...

A/N: So sorry its been a year since I updated this story but im fully back on the Moon Knight hype right now and I actually have part four written, part five half written and the rest of this story *mostly* planned out! For the purposes of this story, lets just pretend Harrow has the ability to give people strength or make them need to sleep... As always, spelling and grammar are not my strongest skills so please be kind :)

Part Two | Series Masterlist 

- - - - -

Nothing.

The first thing you notice when you wake up is that you feel nothing. No aches, no pain, no shortness of breath. Before you fell asleep you felt so weak, you weren’t sure you would even make it thought the night. And now here you are feeling better than you did before Harrow made you ill.

You get out of bed and go straight to the door. To your surprise it opens. You half expected Harrow to have locked you in here. But then he probably thought you were still too ill to move.

This is your chance to escape.

You open the door as quietly as possible and try to remember the route back to the exit. The floorboards creak under your feet and you freeze, listening to hear if anyone is coming after you. You only hear silence so you continue.

Eventually you make it back to the communal area you had walked through yesterday, only now it is completely empty. It’s still night. Everyone must be asleep. You spot the exit ahead of you and your heart skips. This is it. You're free. Free to go to Steven.

But wait; Steven left you here.

Or did he? What if Harrow was lying? What if Steven is trapped here too?

You stare ahead at the exit, take a breath and turn away. Away from your chance at freedom.

Steven said he would find you. He promised. He wouldn’t just leave you here.

Which means he must be in trouble.

You have to find Steven.

You head back into the communal area, a huge stone walled courtyard with half crumbled arches and mismatched furniture. You pass the selection of random armchairs, all facing towards a giant screen. Past the shelves covered in various items, boxes and books. Past the tables and chairs and the small kitchen area. You reach the end of the room and as your about to start climbing up one of the sets of wooden stairs…

“You intrigue me, Y/N.” Harrows voice comes from the archway behind you. You turn around to see him step out into the light, his eyes fixed on you. “You could have left. The doors are open, there’s no one here to stop you and yet you didn’t leave. Why?”

“Did you want me to leave?”

“Oh no. Quite the opposite, I’m actually glad you decided to stay. What I do want is to know why?”

“Where’s Steven?” You ignore his question.

“Ah.” He says, nodding with understanding. “You believe he’s still here.”

“I know he’s here.”

“What makes you sure?”

“He wouldn’t abandon me.”

“No you're quite right. I can’t imagine Steven Grant would do such a thing.” He pauses. “But Marc Spector did.”

“I don’t know what you're getting at, but I already know all about Marc. Steven told me everything.”

“What exactly did he tell you?”

“The truth. He said he didn’t fully understand it himself but there’s this other person, Marc, living inside of him and that he is basically the reason Steven’s life has been falling apart. Sometimes Marc takes over the body and does things… are you saying that Marc took over and forced Steven to leave me here?”

“Let’s take a seat.” He moves over to the closest table, sitting down and gesturing for you to sit opposite him.

You stare at him for a moment, watching as he leans his cane against his chair and places his hands on the table in front of him. He looks back up at you again then back to the empty chair. You sigh as you pull out the chair and sit opposite him with your arms folded across your chest, leaning back away to create distance between the two of you.

“Steven Grant doesn’t exist.” He starts and you look at him confused. “Marc Spector created this Steven persona and ran away to England in an attempt to escape the many sins of his past. He is a very bad man Y/N, he has done some terrible things. He was a mercenary. He killed a lot of people and got in a lot of trouble. That is why he made up Steven. He pretended to be someone else just so he could hide. But it wasn’t real. His gentle personality. His job at the museum. His friendship with you-”

“No-”

“-It was all an act Y/N, and I am so very sorry to have to tell you that. Truly I am.”

“Just stop-”

“I know how much you cared for this Steven-”

“You're lying!”

“You're feeling better now, yes?”

“What?”

“You're alive, you feel no more pain. Why do you think that is?” He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, placing on the table in the middle of you both. “He gave me this.”

It’s the scarab beetle.

“He gave me this and told me to keep it. And you.” Harrow explains, a false sympathetic look on his face. “He told me he has no use for either of you anymore.”

You can’t take your eyes off the golden beetle in front of you. Your heart sinking further and further with every second as you take in what Harrow is telling you.

“I know this is a lot to process Y/N but there is one more thing I must tell you. You are free to leave if that is what you wish-”

“Great!” You get up out your seat and start to walk away.

“But I really think you should stay.”

“Why the hell would I do that?!”

“Because if you leave you will become weak again and you will die.” He states, making you stop and turn back.

“What?! No, he gave you the scarab and now I’m okay, that was the deal.”

“An error on my part.” He stands, taking a step towards you. “I failed to mention that in order to keep you alive Ammit must restore your strength every day. Through direct contact with me.”

“You..? How?”

“A simple touch of my hand.”

You remember him last night, placing his hand on your head right before you fell asleep.

“You healed me last night?” More of a statement than a question.

“I did.” He takes another step closer to you.

“But you told me Steven had left with the scarab. Why did you lie to me?”

“I was trying to protect you, protect your feelings. I knew you weren’t strong enough for the hurt that the truth would cause.”

“And you think I’m strong enough for it now?” you scoff and he reaches his hand out to hold yours.

“You are stronger than you know Y/N.” He locks eyes with you, his bright blue eyes almost staring into your soul. “Ammit sees something special in you. That is why she’s allowing you to live.”

You shake him off, taking a step back as you gather yourself. You take a breath.

“So either I stay as a prisoner for the rest of my life or go out there and die? Are those really my only options?”

“You're not a prisoner, Y/N, there are no locked doors. No guards forcing you to stay. You could live a happy life with us.”

You think for a moment.

“Or option three; I leave, go live my own life in my own home and then I’ll just come back here every day so you can top up the life support.”

“That won’t work I’m afraid. I move around a lot from place to place, there is no way of knowing exactly where I will be from one day to the next. The safest option for you is to join me.” He pauses. “Join us.”

He raises his arms out to the side as small groups of disciples begin emerging from the doorways and shadows, all facing you. The way they’re all looking at you makes you feel uneasy.

“Just to be clear, if I agree to stay with you that does not mean I’m on your side. It’s purely self preservation, okay? I am not helping you find Ammit. I will not help you murder innocent people. Got that?” Arthur nods. “Good.”

“Good.” he echos, smiling.

“Okay. So what happens now?”

“Now, we go to Cairo.”

Part Four

Taglist : @sleepylunarwolf / @ahookedheroespureheart / @sleepyamaya / @spicydonut25 / @kult6 / @uncle-eggy / @malaanii / @toracainz / @pinkiestwinkie / @galacticstxrdust / @mateihavenoidea / @xmariakx / @oscarissac2099 / @whycantwebefriendz / @parkeepingparker

(If you want to be added/removed on the tag list please let me know, but note that I can’t reply to comments from this blog)

[masterj]

Chuggington Headcanon: Wilson The Artist - WE WERE ROBBED \😫/

So if you know the CGI TV series Chuggington, you know its three main protaginists, Brewster, Koko, and Wilson, who is ultimately the main character overall, and TOTALLY THE BEST AND MOST RELATABLE talking train with face to grace the face of the earth and I'M TOTALLY NOT SAYING THAT OUT OF BIAS I'm NOT obsessed I'M PERFECTLY NORMAL I totally didn't kidnap him from his roundhouse to adopt him as my son I don't know WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT CRAZY A-

...Anyways, yes, Wilson is in fact the overall main character of Chuggington. He is mostly known for showing severe signs of ADHD, including having a short attention span and getting easily distracted, particularly in the first three seasons, and then in season 4, when our beloved trio move up to advanced training, Wilson becomes promoted as an apprentice for Chug Patrol Rescue Squad, due to various past occasions of him rescuing his friends from certain disaster.

Wilson has always been my favorite characater because he has the most relatable character of the main three, his fun personality is always so well-written, coupled with the voice acting from Morgan Overton and Tony Terraciano in the UK and US dubs respectively, and while his dodgy attention span, cheekiness and foolishness can get him into trouble, he always comes through to put things right and has creative and ingeniously unique ideas to solve problems. But you know what people DON'T talk about? >:( The fact that Wilson is CANONICALLY an ARTIST. 😎👌🎨

Let's quickly go over three examples:

Exhibit 1: Wilson and the Paint Wagon (Season 1 Episode 41)

So naturally, we must first go over the one that started it all: In "Wilson and the Paint Wagon", our trio learn how to use said wagons. Wilson struggles at first like the ADHD boi he is, but with Old Puffer Pete's help, he quickly learns how to control his paint wagon. 🎨

Right afterwards, see Wilson paint a yellow butterfly on his roundhouse door with some basic 2D detail. 🦋

And at the end of the episode, Wilson's newfound talent comes full circle when he demonstrates his skill to his friends as paints a picture of the main trio with Dunbar on the wall in the Training Yard, and coming from someone who's been drawing since three, I think it's safe to say he's got quite the unique artstyle for a beginner. 😎👍

Exhibit 2: Trainer Wilson (Badge Quest Season 2 Episode 13)

In the 13th and final second series episode of the Badge Quest short series, Wilson is to teach Hoot and Toot how to use the paint wagon, where he graces us once again with his painting skills with a picture of Hoot and Toot. 😌

Not too much difference in the artstyle compared to last time, but still a vitally noteworthy mention nonetheless.

Exhibit 3: Chug-O-Flage (Season 3 Episode 4)

And last, but definitely not least, "Chug-O-Flage" from season 3.

After unsuccessfully trying to make a camouflage net for safari training with Mtambo, Wilson decides to instead camouflage himself by getting painted as a parrot (Big mistake, it almost got him killed lol 🦏) but I'm sorry, the fact he got himself painted as A PARROT?🦜 HE CAME UP WITH THAT PAINT JOB, He TOTALLY DESIGNED THAT and somehow programmed it into the spray shed computer or something- THERE IS NO OTHER WAY- I SWEAR TO GOD, he HAD to- You can't tell m- there's NO WAY-

Your honor, my boi is an artist, I rest my case. 😌

This is why Wilson is best chugger. He's not only my inner child, (yours too, don't lie 😈) he's an artist. CANONICALLY an artist. He has ALWAYS had talent, Why wasn't there MORE of this, LUDORUM YOU ROBBED US ALL-

So finally here's where my headcanon comes into play:

Whenever Wilson makes the time for it, he likes to make paintings with the paint wagon just for the fun of it, usually of his favorite things like butterflies, ice cream or even his friends.

'Course, he already knows he can't just do it anywhere without permission, cuz dat's graffiti which is illegal, he usually uses whatever flat junk or scrap he can get hold of such as old metal sheets or wooden boards, even unused hopper cars rusting away in sidings that haven't met the cutter's torch get a touch up.

Sometimes, he does have actual canvases for painting (Lori gives them to him 😊) and he even puts them up in the wall in his roundhouse. Whatever he can't put in there is safely put in a storage unit located behind the Loading Yard.

It's safe to say his artstyle has improved quite a lot since what we've seen on-screen. 😉😎👌🎨

[brainbuffering]

Review of "Tank Chair" by Manabu Yashiro

(T: Max Greenway, L: Evan Hayden, E: Maggie Le)

Power Fantasies come in lots of different forms. Sometimes they’re about becoming a world leader who can enact lasting change. Sometimes they’re being a big beefy hero with the ability to punch out hitler. Sometimes they’re attaching Boudica Spikes to your wheelchair and taking people out at the ankles for refusing to move out of the way. And when it comes to disabled-on-abled violence, Tank Chair provides one hell of a power fantasy! In a time where people are still claiming that wheelchairs don’t belong in fantasy, Tank Chair gives us a blood thirsty alternative where a wheelchair takes an already deadly assassin and gives them a high speed tank with extra knives. 

Written and drawn by Manabu Yashiro, the series follows two siblings– Nagi and Shizuka Taira – as they make their way through a post-apocalyptic Japan. Nagi is an assassin who, after taking a bullet to the head protecting Shizuka, became comatose and unable to move from the waist down. However, he has a unique ability where he will come back to consciousness anytime he senses a deep desire to kill him. And thus begins Shizuka’s mission to find someone with such an intense desire to murder her beloved older brother, that he comes back around permanently. 

As a mobility aid user, I was initially drawn to the series for rather obvious reasons. Cripple Punk has been around since 2014 but has rarely gotten any mainstream notice. Cripple Punk is the radical idea that disabled people are people, not just inspiration porn to get the ableds to go to the gym. No, “If Alice Tai can have her leg amputated and then win a gold medal 8 months later, what’s stopping you from doing it?” but rather “Holy FUCK how hard core is Alice Tai?! She got her leg removed and then swam 100m in 1 minute 13 seconds?!” Cripple Punk allows for disabled people to be loud, angry and visable. It allows us to misbehave and throw up the middle finger at those who try to fuck with our basic rights. It's been a long time coming that we’ve had a manga that helped embody this, and Tank Chair is off to a great start in reflecting this much needed aesthetic and attitude. 

I was a little anxious when starting the series that it would fall into dangerous “vegetable” stereotypes where Nagi’s lack of consciousness is only played as a joke about taking away his agency and personality. However I was delighted to find that Nagi is still shown to have agency and choice in his situation. He does have some issues with a few of his sister’s choices of mission, but doesn’t appear to be too bothered and it comes across more as sibling banter than anything else. In fact, one of the best parts of the series so far is the relationship between the two siblings! It’s a surprisingly realistic one, where you do feel the genuine love they have for each other – even with some of the more fucked up dynamics at play. For example, how Shizuka is able to awaken Nagi by charging at him with a dagger and genuine pure intent to stab him in the neck. But hey, it’s a nice take on the Cain Instinct by taking the term back to its abrahamic fratricidal origins, rather than the usual cop out of just having siblings thwack each other with wrapping paper tubes. 

Another concern I had was around the idea of them seeking a cure for Nagi. However the series makes it incredibly clear that the only thing the siblings are seeking is for Nagi to regain full consciousness, something definitely worth seeking! I was particularly happy to see Nagi explicitly say that he has found benefits in becoming a chair user! He sees it as a way of bettering his bond with those around him, and also who wouldn’t enjoy charging about in a personal murder tank? 

In terms of design, I’d rather the chair take more inspiration from active sport chairs. Whilst I love that his sister has designed him multiple ones for different tasks and missions, his regular chair feels a little too passive in design despite all the awesome spikes. I do give credit for Nagi’s chair resembling actual wheelchairs, but it's formed around a very basic budget model. The square design and leg clamps might give it that Diesel Punk vibe, but I think the series should continue to embrace the Cripple Punk aesthetic more. In this case therefore, I think it would have been better for it to draw inspiration from the most Cripple Punk Sport in the word: Murder Ball. Also known as Wheelchair Rugby. Chairs for Murder Ball are built more like race karts, with solid steel structures and bumpers. Wheelchair Rugby is probably the most Cripple Punk Sport out there, given that it actively challenges the weak and helpless disabled person stereotype, but is also one of the few full contact mixed gender sports! It also proves to anyone who might think that Nagi’s antics are unrealistic that no – wheelchair users are fully capable of incredible stunts and outrageous blood lust. 

I do have other concerns for the series. So far both disabled characters introduced – Nagi, and Touko Kurosaka – have been used as an instrument for murder. Even if they did choose to be Assasins, there’s still something inherently uncomfortable about how both characters are deliberately sent into action on their siblings orders. Touko in particular is a concern for me, given that she is way more presented as a tool of her brother’s than Nagi is. However, the bonus content at the end of volume one does give me a bit more hope that she will have her story expanded upon and given personality beyond “giant high school girl who can smash people with her fists”. I hope that the current toxic undertones of the Kurosakas’ relationship is just to emphasise the surprisingly loving and balanced relationship between the Taira Siblings.  

On a final note, I’d like to give a shout out to Evan Hayden’s lettering. In my opinion they did an excellent job of matching the style throughout, allowing for a proper 1:1 experience whilst still maintaining Kodansha’s style guide of subtitling rather than completely touching them up. I particularly liked how on page 59, the subtitle was drawn in a way that combined the existing smoke trail to become the “I” of “Kill”.

I’m not usually a fan of excessive violence in manga. I’m not opposed to it, it’s just not for me. I gave Chainsaw Man 3 Volumes and decided that I preferred Fujumoto’s more person-focussed manga like Look Back. Yet I think the personal wish fulfilment of Tank Chair makes it so appealing to me! Whilst I would absolutely recommend it to fans of Chainsaw Man and Dorohedoro, I believe that fans of Run On Your New Legs and Real will also enjoy this athletic narrative of platonic relationships and adapting disabled life. I very much look forward to seeing where this series goes in the future, and hope that we get more Action Packed Cripple Punk series in the future!

[lacrimae23]

ANOTHER 'FELICITY-HATE' RANT. THERE ARE QUOTES SO DON'T READ IF YOU'RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH READING HATEFUL COMMENTS!!!

[quotes]

"How I hate this moron. It's been a long time since there was such a crappy [i couldn't find accurate translation for English language, sorry. in my native language it is meant to be even more insulting] character in the series."

"did you know that the actress playing that whiney felicity is only 24 years old? i would give her at least 30 some"

"Best Arrow ending so far. I was moved. It was just too good to be true. Our dear Felicity is finally up out of her wheelchair and walking on her own. She will finally be able to fall down the stairs and break her neck."

"- Oliver really needs to start killing people again.  - Starting with Felicity."

"THIS FELICITY IS THE WORST CHARACTER I HAVE EVER WATCHED SERIOUSLY AND THE ACTOR IS A COMPLETE WOOD" "Felicity's character used to be pretty cool, but after the last episode even I wouldn't mind if she flew out the window"

[quotes]

just a few "lighter" examples from my own playground (Arrow fandom from my country) (i knew i shouldn't even visit this website with films/tv shows and its Arrow page. i know this part of this website's community all too well) and i'm sorry because i usually try not to generalize but all of this was written by men of course (and i know this; in my language you're using form of verb which indicates your sex) and some other person wrote something which in this particular case i agree with: "why nobody likes felicity" thread

"Because she helped defeat Slade and that's basically where it started. HOW DARE an IT girl in a ponytail and stilettos have the nerve to humiliate the great Deathstroak like that. She started to be hated when she became more independent and strong. Annoying when her opinion actually mattered and her decisions affected the plot and the main character. And already when she put HER in the first place for the first time is already a chapel. This is no accident. Still too many guys feel threatened by "strong female characters" and that's the problem. And it's that kind of strong, in a way that can be applied more to "real" life."

there are maaanyy reasons why people can hate felicity (or every other character) but i think that in the most part these are the guys who don't like a strong female character, who actually has an opinion that affects the plot, her opinion counts, oliver or/and digg [so men of the show] listen to her opinion etc. it's somehow wrong, right? she should be just 'nerding in the corner' or something. and she's not a human being, so she's not entitled to human emotions. [BAN EMOTIONS!] she also can't make mistake, right? right.

and i know that in season 4 we can have strongly different opinions about the break up [i think we ALL can at least agree that this drama was so unnecessary ech] but i saw all too many men just hating on felicity because HOW DARE SHE DUMP A MAN WHO DIDN'T TELL HER ABOUT HIS SON KEPT SECRETS FROM HER LIED TO HER FACE FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS DIDN'T LEAN ON HER WANTED TO LIVE ON AN ISLAND ALL OVER AGAIN - ALONE [...] HOW DARE SHE, STUPID WOMAN! yeah, so there's no 'okay, so i don't agree with her, but maybe she has her point. maybe he hurt her, maybe she couldn't be with him after that. or maybe she just run, because she was scared, or maybe she wanted partnership from him, she wanted to be a team [...], or maybe she's just a human and-blah blah blah". NO! she's stupid, how dare she, but at the same time - it's kinda good because now writers can un-alive her somehow, and show will be great again! yupi!

yeah, so amazing

so when i did this GIGANTIC rant yesterday or- when i wrote this rant, again? doesn't matter, anyway- i was writing about this kind of hate. maybe less insults and more "i think she shouldn't leave him because-[...] and it affects my opinion of her- blah bla blah something-something" and i would be cool with it even if felicity is your least favourite character of the series. it's cool! you don't have to love her, you don't have to like her or tolerate her, but stop hating like t h a t

//also, i wanted to apologise for the sound of my rants. i know they can be "passive-aggressive" and sarcastic (can't help myself, sorry) but i saw this hate too many times and had bottling everything up in me and now i just can't help it and be a little too much on the offensive[??] sorry about that, really. all of this is just frustrating. so sorry

AND I KNOW I SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS TO MYSELF AND READING ALL THESE COMMENTS BUT SOMETIMES MY EYES DISCONNECT FROM MY BRAIN OR SOMETHING OR MAYBE I'M A MASOCHIST IDK nevertheless, these comments exist, and this knowledge is sad for me, welp

stay safe, stay strong 💜

[bloody-wonder]

starting new series

in order to balance my reading i like to track the progress i'm making with old series vs how many new series i'm starting. my loose goal is usually to finish/catch up on at least five and start at least ten new series in a year - which turns out isn't as difficult as it sounds bc we're not even halfway through the year yet and i already hit the latter mark! here's an overview of what i read and my opinions :)

series that were so good i immediately read all the books available:

doctrine of labyrinths by sarah monette (book one: mélusine). okay so this was life-changing. not sarah monette inventing dark aroace romantasy in 2005! they hated her for her slay so much she had to start writing cozy fantasy under a pen name! this story is so weird and unique i honestly have no idea how to pitch it except to say that fans of books like the locked tomb, mdzs and captive prince will very likely enjoy it too. the fact that it's not a depraved booklr cult classic by now is a travesty. but we can still make it happen so if you fall into this particular reader category (and wouldn't be put off by the fact that someone may or may not want to fuck his brother a little bit) please do yourself a favor and read this series! check the trigger warnings first tho

the cemeteries of amalo by katherine addison (book one: the witness for the dead). i liked the goblin emperor, didn't love it, but after binging doctrine of labyrinths in less than a week i sorely needed a cure for my book hangover so i decided to pick up this spinoff series and wouldn't you know it - i binged it too lol. ig february was my monette/addison era. amalo felt like course correction after the goblin emperor and, while it's set in the same world and written in the same tone as that book, many of its aspects reminded me more of doctrine of labyrinths which is probably why i ended up liking it more - and was surprised by that too since i typically don't like this slow meditative writing style in fantasy but ig sarah monette just brings a certain je ne sais quoi to her books (emotional whump). the third book is coming out next march and i'm very excited to see what the saddest gay priest detective will do next👀

the stolen heir duology by holly black. to be completely honest i don't think these books are necessary. ig it was cool to return to elfhame several years post tfota and see some of my favorite ya fantasy characters from outsider pov but i found the main couple quite bland, especially in the second book where they are predictably overshadowed by jude & cardan in every respect. jude & cardan are simply The Power Couple, i love them and i appreciated the opportunity to revisit them in their 20s. madoc, everyone's favorite worst dad, has some nice scenes too but apart from that this installment was neither adventurous nor action-packed nor particularly romantic. it's clear now that holly black plans to continue writing in the elfhame universe and i sincerely hope she will try to shake things up by going full adult and/or changing the genre (i have this galaxybrain idea of a wwdits style mockumentary about madoc's exile in the human world which i'm trying to telepathically plant in holly black's brain as we speak)

evander mills by lev a. c. rosen (book one: lavender house). lavender house was the first book i read this year - i picked it up on a whim, honestly not expecting much, but ended up liking it a lot. in many respects it's a pretty basic closed circle murder mystery but with an all queer cast, whereas the second book has our gay detective investigating blackmail. the fact that the story takes place in the (homophobic) 50s and the queer victims are not protected by the law whatsoever adds an interesting spin to the whole idea of seeking and serving justice. i never thought i'm a serialized detective story type of person but ig if you make it queer enough i'll read anything lol so now i'm eagerly awaiting the next andy mills mystery which will come out in fall.

series i'm maybe going to continue reading later:

aubrey & maturin by patrick o'brian (book one: master and commander). seeing all the old man yaoi on a boat memes on tumblr rapidly propelled this series to the top of my tbr. now i have finally read the first book and,, liked it? lol idk the prose was very good, aubrey & maturin's friendship was sweet and the reading experience was cozy, with funny moments here and there, but overall i wasn't gripped by the plot nor did i particularly connect to the characters. i'm glad i read it but rn i'm not planning to continue this (extremely long) series any time soon. the book did have a delightful nautical atmosphere tho so there's a chance i might return to aubrey & maturin's adventures one day, if the mood strikes

page & sommers by cat sebastian (book one: hither, page). this one i didn't like at all tbh. i think cat sebastian just isn't the author for me and i should quit trying to read her books. however, i am both blessed and plagued by completionism and this series only has two books so i might read the second one this year just to appease my demons lol

series i'm not going to continue:

adam binder by david r. slayton (book one: white trash warlock). someone on tumblr recced this book to me ages ago and i wanted to read it ever since - purely bc of the title tbh😅 something i failed to consider tho is that urban fantasy is probably my least favorite subgenre of fantasy. and this book unfortunately didn't feature any memorable character moments or mind-blowing plot bits that could have broken through my unimpressedness with the urban fantasy setting🤷‍♀️

rook & rose by m. a. carrick (book one: the mask of mirrors). okay now we're entering the Dislike & Disappoint territory. i got interested in this series bc i heard it being compared to gentleman bastard but the similarities end at the renaissance venice setting and a conperson protagonist. the mask of mirrors completely lacks the rizz and swagger of scott lynch's writing and its characters just don't have the oomph of locke lamora and his team. so that was disappointing. on top of that the book is extremely long and convoluted with a worldbuilding that bothered me a lot and i couldn't put my finger on why until i read the themes section on its wiki page - ah yes, the us politics, again, using a foreign setting as a window dressing, again. listen, ik the us politics are important for the us authors to write about but when i pick up a book inspired by the italian renaissance what i want to get is themes and motifs representative of that time and place, even if we modernize them by (honestly lackluster) queernormativity and gender equality. i was mildly curious about the identity of the rook but now that it's been revealed i see no reason to continue this series.

the masquerade by seth dickinson (book one: the traitor baru cormorant). i intended to finish this book last year and leave it there but it was so unbelievably boring it put me into a reading slump for like two whole weeks and i ended up finishing it in january. i noticed that books about colonialism often try so hard to strike this solemn literary tone and say something profound that characters and plot just get bulldozed over by that dedication to conveying this very serious theme. admittedly, baru isn't as bad as that - i'm just biased bc she was pitched to me as a character in the same category as lymond and tyrion lannister so i was disappointed on that account seeing as it was the only reason i decided to give this book a try. i will say the general concept of the story and the plot twist at the end were indeed good but the overall reading experience was so aggressively meh that they just weren't worth it for me and so when the Big Thing happened i was still underwhelmed.

emily wilde by heather fawcett (book one: emily wilde’s encyclopaedia of faeries). i wrote a long ass goodreads review about why i disliked this book so much but let's see if i can be concise for once (ha, as if). i'm a big fan of olivia atwater's books so based on all the buzz around emily wilde i thought i was picking up a similar faerie story. turns out this was more like an "elevated" cozy fantasy version of ali hazelwood's books featuring howl in leather pants (tweed pants?). where atwater uses faerie tale tropes and fae lore to explore classism, neurodivergence and nuanced romantic and platonic connections, fawcett seems to write from a perspective that is decidedly normative. just like emily wilde, half a soul has a heroine who reads as neurodivergent but the narrative is always firmly on her side, whereas the moral in emily wilde seems to be that she has to smile and socialize more or smth. just like emily wilde, a thousand stitches features a faerie as a love interest but in this case he indeed reads like a whimsical magical being, so similar to humans and yet so different at the same time, whereas mr cheap howl knockoff reads like a quirky human man who is an asshole sometimes and can do magic. atwater's books are fairly popular but emily wilde is the book that has mass appeal and ig i shouldn't really be surprised bc when have the stories that question the status quo ever have been more popular than the ones that reinforce it? so i'm not really surprised but i am bitter. this book left a sour taste in my mouth and made me feel really bad about myself which was something i hadn't reckoned with when i picked up this cozy fantasy. tbh i initially was going to masochistically read the sequel out of morbid curiosity but then i remembered that i can read literally anything else instead lol the hater gods spared me just for once😅

2024 reading updates | goodreads

[symbiotic-slime]

idk how much you’re willing to spoiler about your fic BUT I am so curious if there will be any other avatars besides Eddie/Venom & which entities you associate with which characters!! :o I always thought a tma/marvel crossover would be so cool, I’m so interested in this :]

I’m always happy to share more about these fics!! I admittedly haven’t thought of many characters since I’ve basically only made lore for Eddie/Venom and Flash 😅 I’m hoping the fics will be written like a statement/series of statements!

for what entities they’d serve, I think Eddie would be an avatar of the Corruption! it just fits symbrock so well— like a parasite (affectionate) who is obsessively in love with you is basically combining all of the aspects of the Corruption into one. in my fic, Venom starts out as mold growing in Eddie’s apartment which he starts off trying to kill but eventually the Corruption gets a hold of him mentally and he bonds with Venom! there’s a lot of body horror with Eddie since the Corruption is just perfect for body horror. lots of rot/decay (he’s basically Jane Prentiss-esque but instead of worms it’s goop) and also to highlight the obsessive/toxic love part Eddie’s rib cage is ripped open and Venom is wrapped around his heart >:3

I think Flash would be an avatar of the Slaughter! I know I’m so original by making the solider character a Slaughter avatar but it fits him too well 😭 his fic is a lot sadder than Eddie’s, since I’m kinda making the unpredictable abuse he suffered from his dad the catalyst for the entity noticing him and starting to influence him. I’m warping around the comics timeline a bit so he joins the army right after high school and also making it so his legs being amputated is the result of his need for violence instead of him being a war hero to fit the Slaughter better! in the hospital, since he can’t really feed the Slaughter anymore, its influence on him starts to wain and he resolves to become a better person (think like what happened with the coffin in s4)! it’s not entirely a happy ending, since he is getting weaker and weaker by trying to be a better person, but he makes amends with Peter and their friendship starts there in the fic! that’s as happy of an ending as anyone in a TMA au can get unfortunately :,(

I was also thinking of making the Venom symbiote an avatar! I kinda scrapped that idea because I figured they would be an avatar of the Hunt and I wasn’t sure how to show that in a way that significantly deviates from canon? like they already kind of have to kill to survive, and are an apex predator with a drive to hunt. I’ll make a fic about that if I can think of a fun supernatural way to do it but as of now it’s still a headcanon but I’m not a planning a fic about it

I’ve also thought about what entity they would be a victim of! I’m a big fan of putting my favourite characters in situations, so it’s very fun to assign them their own personal hell, but I haven’t thought of any fic ideas for it. they’ve just been given a vibe lol.

Eddie would be a victim of the Lonely (he starts having a breakdown every time he thinks the symbiote has died and starts weeping about how “we’re dead” and cannot get over Anne for the life of him… he just seems like his biggest fear is being alone)

Flash would be a victim of the Web (specifically with the addiction imagery from s5, but also with him being repeatedly blackmailed in the comics)

Venom would be a victim of the Desolation (especially with Eddie and Dylan both “dying” in the current run, I’d also ignore Flash’s resurrection so it’s just like “all my friends are dead”)

[mitchelldailygames]

Heroes of Song Devlog Part 12: Refining

Now that all the Exemplar Hero art has been revealed, I can get back to my main devlog series!

Here’s a picture with all the heroes. The alt text is a little brief on this one because I was worried about it being more exhaustive than the casual scroller was looking for, but reach out or look at my previous posts if you’re interested in more descriptive alt text. Art is by Warren Kennedy. Follow him on Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter.

My design principles:

The heroes are cute.

Kindness matters.

The world is weird.

Sometimes you don’t fight. Sometimes you do.

Health is hearts.

I’ve made quite a few small changes and additions since the last devlog that I’m going to run through quickly. I’ll probably miss something, since I don’t really want to go back and comb through my edit history, but I should be able to hit the main points.

Exhausted

I’ve added a condition called exhausted which makes it so a character can’t add any of their positive Aspects to their rolls. Exhausted is most commonly a consequence for running out of Effort. If felt like there needed to be more of a cost to using all of your Effort to balance it with using Spirit and to make it feel like it matters when an ability is used to damage Effort. It also just gives me more conditions to work with for special abilities, both for the heroes and enemies. It hasn’t come up in play yet, but I think it could be pretty impactful.

Slippery Scamp

I changed the Scamp’s Life of the Party move to the Slippery move. I think the new move is going to be more useful to Scamp players and is going to make the Calling play more like people will be expecting it to when they choose it. In my most recent playtest (which I will give its own post later), it seemed to be a good fit. It basically means you can crawl, climb, and squeeze in and out of pretty much any situation.

In the Works

I have some dual wielding rules drafted up. I think these are going to mostly revolve around decisions about what to hold in your hands. The main downside for holding a sword and a dagger, for example, is that you wouldn’t be able to also hold a shield and neither has the damage output of a two-handed ax doing a power strike. What I initially drafted out is a little on the complicated side, so I’m thinking about slimming the system down a bit.

I also wrote up a couple more runes. One is a Deflect rune, which I think fits the Zelda-like genre well. The idea is that you could knock ranged attacks back at the attacker. The other rune I wrote before but didn’t include initially was the Hood rune which would block senses like hearing and seeing. Both of these are a little wordy as currently written, but I think have potential.

I also have a couple more enemies written out that I’ll probably drop into the doc soon. One is a flying enemy. Another is a lizard-person enemy called a scalikin (which will probably eventually be a player option too).

Why’d You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated

Some of the new additions, plus mechanics already present like the dodge/perfect dodge and weapon moves, make me worry a little bit about a pitfall I often associate with OG Pathfinder. In Pathfinder, there is a system for everything and I love it. But, I also come by memorizing a bunch of numbers and being able to quickly reference things pretty easily. That’s not necessarily the play experience I want associated with Heroes of Song and it just isn’t accessible for everyone.

So, I could strip things way back and cut a bunch of features—many of which make the game feel more like its inspirations. What I think I want to do instead, while also being mindful of bloat, is find a way to encourage tables to start simpler and add mechanics to their repertoire as they go. This is how it is handled in video games where new systems are doled out over time with a tutorial to go along with each new mechanic. I’m not sure exactly how to work this into a game book, but I think some direction about how to start with less experienced tables would be helpful. I might note this in enemy descriptions (e.g. the hobkin is an “easy” enemy, both to run and fight, while a sawshell is “moderate” because heroes will need to know how to use the stun mechanics to take it on). I might also include some tutorial encounters to go along with different mechanics.

Anyway, I definitely have a lot of work left to do! Don’t expect a full release of this game any time super soon! But I feel like I got some momentum last month and am excited about how things are going.

I also have some other projects in the works, so there will probably be other game releases in the coming months.

The world is weird; kindness matters.

--Daily

[shrinkthisviolet]

⭐⭐⭐

…well I had an answer all written out, and then Tumblr erased it 💀 because no autosave for asks, I keep forgetting. Take two:

Gonna go with the Childhood Friends AU for this one! (EDIT 1/27/24: it has its own series now, so I’ve updated with the series link!)

So I gotta be honest, this started as kind of a joke/offhand comment. I sent this post to a friend and said “BARRY & MORGAN omg somewhere out there is an AU where they met earlier” or something, and they ofc replied with the Eyes (you know: 👀) and “I will patiently await for when you have more to say,” so like. What else was I supposed to do. Ofc I had to find a way 😂

It was just meant to be a concept—a snippet, or a few bullet points. Guess what it turned out to be? A FULL, SPRAWLING OUTLINE

(Ofc it did 😂 that’s the way of things, right?)

Quick rundown/elevator pitch: Barry knows Morgan (who is, in the intro fic and part of the next fic, called “Jesse” since that’s her legal and preferred name until Eowells) from basically her infancy. Her fetushood, really. This is because Harritess moved to Central City at Tina’s urging, met real-estate-agent Nora Allen (this is her canon occupation, believe it or not), settled down in Central, and then remained friends with Nora and her husband, Henry.

Barry took some time to come around to baby Jesse Morgan, a little jealous of this new baby in his house who wasn’t even related to him…but ofc it only took a little time holding her and being present with her to declare himself her big brother 💞 much to the delight and amusement of the adults (and Iris ofc).

Sadly, they’re separated when Nora Allen dies—Tina takes Morgan while her parents’ fates are uncertain, and Barry ofc goes to live with Joe. He later finds out from Joe that her dad is alive and her mom is dead…and Eowells apparently has no interest in reuniting Barry and Morgan. Eowells in particular was apparently quite annoyed by Joe’s questions and suggested that he should “focus on your own family situation, Detective, instead of involving yourself in mine.”

Barry’s crushed by this. He was already blaming himself for the accident that possibly killed Morgan’s parents, considering he encouraged them to go on that honeymoon beach trip during which the accident happened, now he knows it killed her mom and hardened her dad…no matter how much Joe and Iris insist it isn’t his fault, Barry won’t hear of it. Though he can tell Joe’s tired of hearing about it some months later, so…Iris is really the only one who hears about Barry’s guilt following him into his dreams. Specifically into a particular one that Iris finds quite interesting…but more about that in the CF AU reunion fic 😉

This AU is gonna cover pre-canon, s1, and s2, though s2 will probably not be too canon-divergent? I’m mostly including it because a few minor things about it will be amplified in interesting ways…but really, s1 is where the major divergences happen (Iris is looped in sooner, Barry and Eowells start off on a bad note, Barry and Tina are a united front by the time s1 starts, etc). We’re still in pre-canon for a while, though, so that’s not anytime soon 😅

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