#the writers better fix this with season three though

[calsvoid]

nobody watch squid game season two the writers hate you and happiness isn’t real

[rifari2037]

What’s . , your Opinion On Katara. And Aang relationship, with each other.?

Short answer :

In my opinion, Katara and Aang's relationship would more beautiful and healthy as very good friends, because they support each other way better in friendship-relationship.

Long answer :

Kat/ang as couple wasn't build up with a good storyline even from the start. Their relationship felt and looked like siblings, Katara even acted motherly to him - many proof for that and the writers said so.

So, there's no reason for me to see them as lovers in the future but just supportive good friends with a crush. But a crush - even in real life - isn't a deep feeling and it's very easy to fade away. A strong feeling needs bond, chemistry, sometimes needs twist and turns to understand each other better and strengthen the foundation of their relationship.

Katara and Aang didn't have much chemistry, just physical contact (kisses on the cheek and hugs) and blushing. But for me, chemistry is not just about physical contact, chemistry and bond is about relationship development - it's Maiko problem as well.

Actually, the writers had so many opportunities to make Katara and Aang's relationship well-written - especially since the writers worship this ship - but instead they built up the conflicts between Aang and Katara in the last few episodes.

Well, at least, Aang and Katara's conflicts was resolved in season 1, but I can say that they were forced to end up together, even though their conflict wasn't resolved in season 3.

Conflict 1 : Aang kissed Katara without consent, then Katara acted like nothing happened in the next episode.

Conflict 2 : Aang yelled at Katara, even though she wasn't mocking him like the others, and she just wanted to help him, then they separated and there wasn't even a single conversation at all until they kissed in the end of the story.

Yes, the kiss was canon, but only because the writers forced it, not because Aang and Katara - both of them - deserved it.

The writers tried hard to keep Kat/ang as the winners in post ATLA. But, the more the writers fix Kat/ang the more the writers failed to make them better in their relationship, in fact the writers even ruined some of the characters - especially my lovely Katara, whose role was increasingly decreasing.

That would happen if two characters are forced to become lovers without being built with a good storyline and the writers don't care about female characters.

I don't read the comic and I don't want to read it. But I read quite a lot of criticism about it, especially how Katara's role was nothing more than just the Avatar's girlfriend.

Also, writing them calling each other 'sweetie' all the time is so cringe. I mean, look at Suki and Sokka, most people said they were the best canon pairing, I said the same. They never called each other 'sweetie', they called each other by name and they were still romantic.

Do you know what I felt when I saw this?

Katara sat alone in the corner, looked sad watching her boyfriend having fun with his fans. I could almost feel what Katara was feeling. Katara was angry, of course, but Aang couldn't understand her feelings. In the end, Katara was the one who understood Aang and let it go. Why is it always Katara who understands Aang? She deserved an apology!

Once again, the writers tried hard to keep Kat/ang as the winners in TLOK by writing them as a married couple with three children. Avatar's girlfriend changed to avatar's wife, but the writers still failed to convince people that Kat/ang was a healthy and happy couple.

Instead, Aang was written as a bad father who only favours his air bending child, while Katara had no role, no statue to honour her, and even her grandchildren didn't recognise her.

Actually, even though I am Zutara shipper, but sometimes I'm glad that they weren't canon. I mean, the writers worship Kat/ang but they failed to convince a lot of fans how good this pair - except the shipper only.

I can't imagine Zutara was canon while the writers hated it, the would ruin Zutara badly!

And since the writers are on board in The Avatar: The Last Airbender Movie next year, I'm guessing they'll try to win Kat/ang over (again) and I wouldn't be surprised if it fails (again).

That's why I'm not waiting for the movie.

Katara and Aang don't need to be lovers to be great characters, they can have a sweet relationship as friends and family. All the crush scenes between them could be removed and it wouldn't change the storyline one bit - maybe just annoy the shippers.

NATLA proved that. Aang and Katara had a family-relationship and it was very very sweet. NATLA removed all the scenes of Aang having a crush on Katara, even the Cave of the Two Lovers scene was replaced with Sokka and Katara. Did the main storyline changed? Not at all.

I once read an opinion from a Zutara shipper. The point is, when Aang and Katara are together, Katara has to stay away from Zuko (because their chemistry is stronger). It happened in TLOK, when Katara didn't show up to her granddaughter's coronation because Zuko was there.

Meanwhile, if Zuko and Katara are together, while Aang mature enough to accept his destiny, they will be forever great friends. He also will be a very very very sweet uncle and steam babies' favourite person. It happened in Zutara fanfics and fanart.

I agree 1000000%!!

[cloverfeildsinbloom]

Strawberry Field pt.1

~What if Lila and Five stayed at the greenhouse when they first found it? What if there was someone still living there?

{ fuck the writers of season 4 because what was that bullshit?? So this is my way of giving Five the love story he deserves}

[I am also using the theory that Fives given name is Max, like the diner just because I think it’s cool, it’s only briefly mentioned though!]

It had been three years, four months, and four days since they’d gotten in the stupid subway. The pair had explored every stop in hopes of something, anything of home, but there was nothing. Getting tired of scavenging, Five proposed to stay and rest at the next hospitable place, hoping to find somewhere to think and map his thoughts out. That’s when they came upon the greenhouse full of strawberries.

Lila’s eyes widened at the sight of the hundreds of plants around the room, most containing strawberries, but also containing berries and a few vegetables. Quickly, she pulled the man inside behind her and moved to pull off a strawberry, “holy shit these look delicious.” Five let out a laugh as he began to look around. He noticed there was a seating area in the room as well, most importantly he noticed the glass on the table, “uh, Lila, I don’t think we should get too comfortable just yet.” Looking at the boy in confusion as held up a berry, “what do you-“

*Click* *Click* “I’d advise you to step the fuck back,” a voice called from behind them. The sound of a gun made both of them immediately raise their hands, Five turning around faster than the woman behind him. His eyes met the narrowing green ones peaking over the gun, and he felt his heart race. She felt so familiar to him, yet he didn’t recognize her in any way. When their eyes hers immediately widened and her stance faltered, “Max?”

Lila looked between them with confusion, “Max?” The man shook his head, “I don’t know who that is.” Glaring, she straightened her hold and looked between the two, “who are you and why are you in my house?” The raven haired woman spoke up first, “we’re so sorry to barge in, we weren’t expecting anyone to actually live here. We don’t mean any harm.” The look of uncertainty crossed the brunettes face as she looked back to the man standing next to her, “when are you from? How did you find me?”

Five’s brow raised, “when? You asked when we’re from? So you know about the -“ “The subway, yes, now answer the question,” the strange woman rushed, narrowing her eyes, the look of conflict in her face. Stepping forward, Five raised his hands a little higher, “how about we put away the gun and just discuss this normally?” Her green eyes bounced from him to the nerve wrecked woman beside him before sighing and un-cocking the gun

The three of them sat around a small glass table inside the house as the mysterious woman fixed strawberry lemonade for all of them, “how long have y’all been, uh, traveling?” Five’s eyes stayed on her, the feeling of familiarity not going away. Lila eyed him as she answered, “about three and a half years, we’ve been trying to find our timeline.” The freckle faced woman let out a laugh that made the raven haired man’s heart skip a beat, “that’ll be a miracle. Trying to figure that damn system out takes a mad man,” her eyes met Five’s before she looked down to her glass.

Leaning forward Lila questioned, “who’s Max?” The woman visibly froze for a moment before she fixed her posture, “he was my husband, from our timeline,” her finger fiddled with the simple metal ring on her finger, “we found this place together.” Five’s brows furrowed, “what happened?” She shrugged and looked at him, “he had a family to save, just like every last one of you that comes in here.” That caught his attention, “one of me?” Nodding she stood up and grabbed something out of her satchel, as she got closer it appeared to be a picture that looked like it had seen better days. As she handed to him, his face dropped in realization, “Max is me? What happened to him? Is he here?”

Sighing she shakes her head, “no, he uh, he got tired of staying here. I was tired of searching for the inevitable end of our time, and he wasn’t satisfied enough to stay so he left one morning before I woke up. No note, nothing.” Scoffing Five handed her back the photo, “he sounds like an ass hole.” The silent woman next to him looked at her, “do you mind me asking what’s your name?” She gave Lila a smile, “not at all, I’m Lori, short for Delores.” That’s when it clicked for Five, his Delores.

Part 2⬇️⬇️

[finchxs-reverie]

I've been having some Oh No Will Izzy Actually Die thoughts that I'd like to stab on the right side so let's get into it.

I don't think Izzy will actually die. He might seem to be dead for a minute for some other plot point to work, or do the whole die then come back to life thing, ala indestructible little fucker. (Though, considering both of these have already been done in the plot, I find it unlikely, unless it comes about as a meaningful parallel, but I won't speculate much on that.) However, permanent, canon character death doesn't seem plausible from the vibe I get off the writing so far in S2 (For context, this post is being made before episodes 6 & 7 have aired). Hopefully not being tainted by the fact Izzy is my favorite character, here is my reasoning.

Of course the writers want us to feel something, so stakes are going to be high and the waves are going to be big. But the writing so far has delivered the emotional impact by catching the audience after the big waves. Stuff this season just lands, and it is sooo good. It wouldn't make any sense to swell up Izzy's plot line/character in so many different ways only to dash him against the rocks at the end. To have him die, even in a way that is symbolically important or for a reason that lines up with his character motivations would just be garish compared to how every single other conflict or plot point has been handled this season. 

Yes, some stories do just use the emotional impact of destruction instead of a proper landing. The writer can't or won't do the heavy lifting of actually showing a character work through their shit, opting instead to kill the character with some symbolically emotional fireworks thrown in. It leaves the audience with this ache like, oh, ahh, they were so close to being able to fix their problem or get out of the situation, but at least we get some action and another character will stare whimsically into the flames so their death wasn't in vain.

Yeah, that's not this show. 

If Izzy were still yelling at his reflection about "Who are you even" we would at least have a set up for the answer being, "No one" and the only way for him to get out of that situation is to die. It's been done in other stories and it's honestly boring and not what OFMD is even about. 

OFMD is about change and being brave enough to confront our own broken and scary parts, and to carve out safe space ships regardless of what society expects of us or even what we expect of ourselves. It's about showing that this work is worth it and life is better on the other side of it.

I don't think this show would have a character begin to find who he is, become a part of the ship (literally), and start mending relationships with all the characters only to choose the destructive-symbolic-fireworks-death ending for that character.

Regardless of Jenkins comments about how the opening scene will be "satisfying" after we have seen the finale, the fact that everything about that scene is the opposite of what actually happens is, I think, a gesture the writers have put in so we might trust them when the wave gets big. We're going to get in over our heads, crew, but at least we know, even subconsciously, that Stede doesn't have a beard and Izzy doesn't die.

Now, regarding the comment Jenkins made about Ed, Izzy, and Stede's fates being intertwined, I think it would be completely unsatisfying, as well as just bad writing, to throw all three of them up in the air only to catch two. Honestly, we've already gotten some solid emotional landings from Izzy's plot (when he shoots the torch out of Ed's hand and when he reads the unicorn note the second time at the front of the ship to name only two), so I feel inclined to believe the emotional landing around whatever happens to Izzy will indeed fall on Ed or Stede. But I have enough faith in the writers and the story that it will not entail dealing with Izzy's death. That he doesn't have to die in order to contribute to their growth and understanding of themselves and the relationships they are in, with each other and with the crew. It's going to be something big, but not death.

I have absolutely no fucking idea what that something big might be, but honestly that just makes me trust the show and writers even more. 

At least. That's what I'm telling myself to survive these next two weeks 🦄🦄🦄

[wow-its-me]

Empire of Death opinions and takes

(Sorry if you disagree I’m not here to argue)

1. I didn’t like how the episodes were split up, the characters turning into dust should’ve been the end of episode one instead of the beginning of episode two. I didn’t feel any emotional build up to the characters “deaths” because I knew it would be fixed very very soon. I think we would’ve felt it more if there was more build up to it and we had more time to stew on it.

I also think that the spoon thing would’ve worked better as an opener, but they probably would’ve had to split it into three episodes for that to make sense

2. I really love that Sutekh was there since the 70s and not since the salt line like we all assumed

3. 🗣️ ‼️🔥🗣️SHOUTOUT OODS SHPERE 🗣️🔥‼️🗣️

4. Melanie. Was. Annoying as fuck. in this episode. I love Bonnie Langford and think she did great with the material she was given. I usually love Mel, but she didn’t do anything in this episode other than kinda stand on the sidelines and point out the obvious. It was extremely clear that she was only there to be a vessel for Sutekh because otherwise she had no reason to be in any of those scenes

5. Ruby dropping the computer REALLYYY GOT ME that scene had me at the edge of my seat, I loved it.

6. Loved the outfits but was a bit confused by them. Why? Is? 15 dressed like a PE teacher??

7. UNIT Spinoff??

8. I really really love that Ruby’s mother is completely ordinary…. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SNOW THEY NEVER PROPERLY EXPLAINED THE SNOW the reunion had me crying though

I get why she said it I do really get what she meant but I didn’t like how she referred to her bio mom as her “Real Mom” like Carla’s your real mom too

9. Ruby and her birth mom reuniting is going to eventually mirror Doc reuniting with Susan, why would they talk about her so much if she’s not eventually coming back, next season or the one after

10. Let’s loop back around to UNIT, cause I have things to say about Morris. The actor who plays him does a great job, but again I feel like the writers didn’t know what to do with him in. I do hope they’ll actually give him some shit to do in the potential UNIT spin off. Also does UNIT follow labor laws???? Isn’t he just 13??? 

11.

“Clever Boy”

Ms. Flood has Somthing to do with Clara??? WHOS MRS FLOOD????

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I mean to be fair the writers in the latter half of the show were fully aware of all this fanon madness and threw them some bones. Katara and Zuko were trolled 2 times at being together, Toph hinted at katara having a secret thing with haru (whatever that means) amd she herself seemee very needy and jealous being the only one without a zuko field trip,suki and sokka did it.

When people watch the show without any social media or fanon influence after netflix aired atla all the canon pairings make total sense but when i think bryke indeed did some fanservice (the way zuko jumped in slowmo into the lightning) so the writers definitely knew what they were doing.

I really liked kataang in the first 2.5 seasons but the fact that tsr and eip are both 2 episodes in a row and we never see katara apologizing to either sokka or aang even had me like wtf (tsr is a good episode but still.) Then aang disappears on the lion turtle and katara is pretty chill compared to all the times before. It would be prob better to have a book 4 where they grew apart for a few years and saw how important they were to each other to give them the proper development but it is what it is.

While I'm all for a book 4, splitting the Gaang up would be a HUGE mistake. "This could ruin the whole show" kind of mistake. They all are at their best and grow the most when they are TOGETHER. Hell, that's the whole point of the life-changing field trips with Zuko. Let's not "fix" what isn't broken.

I wouldn't really say that Katara was "chill" after Aang disappeared. They were on the edge of the biggest battle of their lives so they had a LOT to focus on, and even Sokka just immediately thinks "He's probably in the spirit world doing Avatar stuff that will help save the day." Mysterious bullshit making Aang be away for a little while, be it physically or just spiritually/mentally, is a Tuesday for them at this point. They spent an entire episode waiting for Roku to be done telling his backstory with Sozin to him. Katara not losing her mind with concern because of something that happens regularly is not the same them growing apart.

And while an apology to Katara for the Ember Island thing or her apologizing to Aang and SPECIALLY Sokka after how she acted on Southern Raiders would be great, Avatar has a tendency of just skipping apologies that are kind of taken as a given - see Aang not apologizing to Toph after how he acted when Appa was kidnaped, or her and Katara not apologizing to each other after the events of The Chase. They tend to focus on apologies for bad behavior that lasted a whole arc (see Zuko apologizing to the Gaang and to Iroh).

And about the writers throwing shippers a bone with stuff like Katara and Zuko being mistaken for a couple - yeah, I can see how fan would like that. I also remember the characters getting visibly uncomfortable with it and that the show basically mocked the very concept of the ship through the Ember Island Players.

More importantly: fanservice is not foreshadowing, set up and/or development. For exemple: I LOVE Tokka as a ship, and I find Toph's crush on Sokka really cute. But it was always VERY CLEAR that it was one-sided and that the writers decided to make him end up with Suki. The fanservice made me happy, but it was not meant to be taken seriously, so I didn't.

Meanwhile Zutarians use five minutes of bait to argue that there was a whole conspiracy in which their OTP was meant to be endgame but evil Bryke ruined it at the last second. They've argued that Ember Island!Katara saying she likes Zuko and thinks of Aang as her little brother was a reflection of the REAL Katara's feelings, even though she explicitly said it was not the case and the show itself made it obvious that it is simply an INNACCURATE fanon take on the show.

No one would have an issue with Zutara shippers enjoying the little treats the writers gave them if they weren't so hellbent on claiming that those little moments somehow invalidate three seasons of Kataang, and one season (plus a few book 2 episodes) of Maiko. Not to mention the constant "If you dislike the ship/say it's not canon, then you're sexist/racist and I get to harass you."

You can't be "fair" to people that are asking to be allowed to be unfair to everyone else. They need to grow the fuck up first and realize that, if they want to be left alone, they shouldn't go around picking up petty fights with people then complaining when they get punched.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

The fact that Mabel (Gravity Falls) and Marcy and Sasha (Amphibia) get more hate than Catra is crazy. The aforementioned three definitely did bad things, but they actually FELT REMORSE, REALIZED THEY WERE WRONG, AND STROVE TO FIX THINGS.

i know mabel gets a lot of hate (and most of it is definitely undeserved) but i've only mostly seen people loving marcy and sasha? maybe i'm in the wrong side of the fandom but i've definitely only seen praise for these two, even though marcy's switch from bad to good was too sudden and sasha's redemption arc happened completely offscreen.

of course, they're not as bad as catra and at least they actually change in the end, but i still found their arcs to be pretty unsatisfactory. marcy was a really compelling character in s2 but then the writers decided to woobify her for the entire third season, adding more and more reasons why we, the audience, should sympathize with her.

i would have liked to see them explore her moral greyness more but i feel like the writers made the same mistake that spop writers did with catra. instead of just giving us a proper redemption arc, they put marcy through hellish torture because apparently suffering = redemption. then she's rescued and she just apologizes once and everything is solved. idk, there was a lot of potential with marcy's character that was unutilized.

sasha's character was handled a tiny bit better but it was still a lazy choice to not show her redemption arc at all. she does one good thing, then we cut to anne and the plantars, and when they return to amphibia, sasha is suddenly a hero and everyone has forgiven her already. it just felt off to me but these two characters are definitely still better than catra, which is honestly not a huge achievement, the bar is in the earth's core at this point.

[the-lark-ascending69]

I didnt love S3 but Steve peaked there. Robin became the final puzzle piece he needed to complete his development - thanks to the actors because the duffers clearly didn't know what to do with him. Steve spent the last three seasons chasing after a girl who would never be his soulmate, and when he accepted that, he tried to find someone else to love instead. He tried flirting with any girl whose attention he could hold for over 60 seconds, except for Robin - setting her apart already, though for the wrong reasons initially. She was originally meant to be Nancy's replacement as Steve's arm candy, it seems, but making her a lesbian at the last moment is really what saves S3 for me, not only because she's my baby, my favorite character and I adore her with my whole heart, but also because... the improvised straightbait turned out to work incredibly well at the time to cement the conclusion of Steve's arc - he was a piece of shit and lost Nancy to someone who was better for her (say what you want about Jonathan, but that's clearly the idea the writers had with him, regardless of the effectiveness of the execution). Steve couldn't get Nancy back, and really, he shouldn't be focusing on romance at all because that's just not what he needs to grow as a person. The people who truly challenge him, push him to be better and motivate him to grow are his platonic bonds - Dustin and Robin. He couldn't "fix" everything with Nancy (meaning that he couldn't go back to before everything changed, as if he hadn't messed up). Nancy may appreciate the change but she won't go back to him. Steve doesn't need to change for love - he needs to change for himself, in order to be a better person, period. And Nancy has no reason to stay and watch him grow, she has her own matters to attend to, and she doesn't have enough space in her life for Steve. So Steve finds new people, somewhere else, away from Nancy, and he grows thanks to them.

Robin being not only just his friend but also being completely and eternally unavailable to him works perfectly here. The audience believed, alongside Steve (and the Duffers lmfao) that what Steve needed was romantic love, but Robin proves him wrong. He gets over his ex-girlfriend and finds a sister instead.

And then Season 4 ruins that, for no reason and to no one's benefit. Steve regresses. The growth is undone, for the purpose of keeping Nancy in that eternal love triangle loop that seemed to have been solved two seasons ago. It's sad and disappointing and I'm hoping they don't revisit that in S5.

What I would've done instead would've been to let Steve finish his arc in S3. S4 Steve has a flat arc now. He learned all he had to learn. He's fine. Now, he's here to teach others what he's learned, and I think it would be very interesting if the person who learned from him the most turned out to be Nancy. Steve basically just discovered the power of friendship, and deep emotional connections and trust and how closeness to others makes you stronger. Gives you a purpose. He learned to love and care for others and now that's his strength. Have him tell her about how much he cares about Robin and Dustin. Show him bonding more with Lucas and Max. Contrast him with Nancy, who is isolated, who just lost another friend after leaving him alone, and is desperately trying to protect Max from Vecna. Maybe she's hesitant to become friends with Robin, or to rely on her and Steve to share the burden, or trust the kids to take care of themselves on some capacity. Nancy has become more and more isolated as Steve grows closee to other people.

Then Steve sacrifices himself in S5 to save either Robin or Dustin or both of them idk I think that would be the best conclusion to his arc. Passing on the torch to one of them. Maybe Robin becomes the new babysitter and protector. Maybe Dustin becomes the new hot boy at Hawkins High idk but I think an ending of this sort would fit. He doesn't even need to actually die, if he somehow survives it still works, just having a sacrifice scene (not played for laughs) would be a perfect way to conclude his growth and move on to inspire others to grow like others have done for him.

[jamietwat]

I should be doing other things, but instead I'm typing out a long ass post because I know we talk a lot about the throuple implications in Mom City from Keeley and Roy putting their whatever was going on on pause to have their undivided attention on Jamie and stalk him when he took off on his own, Jamie bringing them both home and his mom totally outing that he talks about them both all the time, the side by side posters in Jamie's room (and Jamie pretending like he has to introduce them as if they're not clearly both on his wall and his mom doesn't know exactly who they are), Simon deliberately giving them a tour and showing them the posters and pointing out that Roy's the one player that's poster always stayed, and the whole walking off arm in arm in arm to go get drinks together

And yes all that, but also I don't think we talk enough about "Mommy, I'd like to introduce you to Keeley, and this hairy prick's Roy." Not "You remember Keeley, and this hairy prick's Roy"

No, it's very clearly established that this is the first time Georgie is meeting either of them. And like season 1 Jamie absolutely fumbled Keeley, but he was quite clearly serious about her and quite clearly already a momma's boy and while the Keeley/Jamie relationship certainly had its flaws, it also was strong in a lot of ways. And Keeley was clearly very involved in every aspect of Jamie's life in like a codependent he wanted her around all the time kind of way

And yet Jamie never brought Keeley around his mom before and the writers felt the need to establish that and that no, he's bringing Keeley and Roy home and introducing them to Georgie and Simon for the first time together. Keeley and Roy might be feeling like they're third wheeling Jamie and his mom's moment, but neither of them is third wheeling Jamie and the other or any less important to Jamie historically or currently

And for that matter, even when Roy makes a move to try to get back with Keeley, Jamie isn't in the room and yet his presence quite palpably is (I mean Roy's literally trying to talk things out and get back with her while on Jamie's bed) and that's the point when things turn from the setup that Roy and Keeley are on the path to getting back together into no, that's not something they can slip right back into even though the feelings are still there... And then, there's Jamie, interrupting but not really and really just sparing them both the awkwardness of it and it's like a relief that he's there to intervene

And it's not an oh look, here's Jamie, the obstacle to the romance and Roy's romantic rival that Roy's annoyed to have around like early season 2. It's way more of an actual triangle than the usual love triangle drama that kind of scene would be and there isn't weird tension and uncomfortableness between Jamie and Roy after or Keeley feeling weird being around them

No, they all three happily leave together arm in arm in arm to go drink together. And that (and the whole episode) is very much that Roy tries to help Jamie and fix whatever's wrong with him and it doesn't work. Then Keeley the senior Jamie expert steps in and tries to help him and fix whatever's wrong with him and it doesn't work either. And it's only when they're both there together with him (and with his mom but I'm going to get to that aspect still) that Jamie starts feeling better and anything works. And then Roy tries to fix things with Keeley and it doesn't work then things are so much more natural and uncomfortable once Jamie's back with them because basically the whole episode is look any pair on its own isn't the answer and isn't working on its own anymore because they all three care about each other and are inextricably tangled up in a good way instead of the toxic way it was back when Keeley was pouring coffees together and hoping that would avoid a huge fight

And back to the Jamie for some reason not having brought Keeley around his mom or even having FaceTimed with her with Keeley in the room like look at my girlfriend thing. We know that Jamie's dynamic with his dad is fucked up and he didn't want people knowing about it or the extent of before they'd witnessed it and it became kind of apparent. So if he didn't introduce Keeley to his family and kept her separate from Manchester, he didn't have to get into that or worry about her hearing the shit his dad said or seeing him the same way. And we know that Jamie's bravado is a whole thing and like yeah he is that full of himself but it's also a shield too

And season 1 Jamie doesn't really let that bravado slip outside of the scene with his dad that he didn't expect anyone to witness, for like three seconds with Roy when he admitted that he had a poster of him before immediately swerving to toasting to the idea of Roy dying, and the scene when he burned his boots and let his guard down just to end up transferred and dial the abrasive cockiness up more after

And even when season 2 Jamie let people behind the bravado, it was usually to try to get something. And I don't mean that in a manipulative way, I just mean like there was something he wanted that was a carrot to make him dial back the cockiness and open up. Like when he realized he'd fucked up his career and went to Keeley for help. Or when he went to Ted to try to get back on the team. Or when he started acting differently around the team to try to get them to stop shunning him (and obviously also to try to be a better teammate and whatnot but like them shutting him out was the push that got him to do it). Or trying to convince Roy to coach him too

And then there's season 3 Jamie who is starting to open up to people and drop the bravado just because he wants to or wants them around when he feels like shit. And then there's Jamie catching Roy and Keeley stalking him when he's taking off on his own to go be sad with his mom away from the team. And instead of getting mad at them or telling them to fuck off or asking what the hell they're doing, there's no conflict at all. It's just okay, come on then

Like sure neither of them knew what to say or do to help him, but he knows they're worried and he knows they're his go to people outside of his mom, so sure, why not come along? And he lets them both fully into the last part of his life they weren't in yet and brings them both along. And that's the point that it goes from I don't know what's wrong, I just know I feel like shit to sure come meet my mom and my stepdad (who we never saw Jamie mention in the show and who at least Roy looked surprised existed) and watch me sulk on top of my mom and complain about every single thing that's upsetting me without putting on any cocky act or turning any of it into a joke. He's next to Georgie's Jamie Tartt shrine and it could have been a Roy and Keeley awkwardly listening to him talk about how great of a player he is scene, but no

Instead, it's Georgie being Jamie's biggest supporter but not caring at all about how Jamie plays (in a good way) and Jamie being at his most vulnerable walls down level. And it's Roy and Keeley being the ones a little uncomfortable with that shift and awkwardly sitting there eating Simon's baking while watching this while Jamie seems fully comfortable with them being there for all of this and he isn't even the one that suggests them going off somewhere else for a while

And anyway, I didn't mean to ramble for this long but I just think that says a lot more than if Keeley had been around Georgie before or if they'd been introduced in some happy cocky this is my mom and this is all the pictures of me she has up because I'm such a star kind of scene

[xanthippe74]

The mood this year, as this header photo demonstrates, was Le Tired. Just physically and emotionally slogging along. Brain stuck on perpetual static. A pull-the-covers-over-my-head sort of year. I read a few books, watched a lot of shows, found new songs to listen to on repeat, and spent way too much time futzing around on Tumblr.

But that's not what this post is about! This is to remind myself that I did accomplish writer-ly things this year, even if it didn't feel like it sometimes. So here's my 2023 Fandom Year in Review:

Drarry

🐈 A Dreadful Invasion (of the Feline Persuasion) rated G | 6K words

Most of the time, it’s easy for Harry to forget that Draco Malfoy is his next-door neighbour—until the night Malfoy seemingly goes round the twist in his back garden. Of course Harry has to investigate. A birthday gift for @caroll-in.

🍷 Under the Table rated T, 4K words

A string of nearly-insufferable dinner parties has made Draco acquainted with Harry Potter’s completely insufferable, social-climbing boyfriend. But tonight it seems like Potter’s finally had enough, and Draco’s more than happy to watch it all play out from across the table.

Microfics: Different  |  Thalassophile  |  Role play  | Careless |  Mama’s Gun  |  Raven  |  You Should Probably Leave  |  Afraid of the Dark  |  Eerie

WIP progress: I added about 25K to my Drarry retelling of Howl's Moving Castle. The working title is "Skybound" and it will be about 55 to 60K words when complete (by spring 2024, god help me!). Featuring: lots of banter, secret identities, adventures and misadventures in a floating house, a plucky house-elf, and (of course) a fire demon who wants to make a bargain.

9-1-1 fics, HP recs, and 2023 highlights under the cut!

9-1-1/Buddie

🌧️ It pours, man it pours rated T | 11K words

An endless rainstorm. A head-on collision on a dark canyon road. Eddie and Buck find themselves stranded with a woman in labor after they’re cut off from the rest of the 118 by a flash flood. With the fate of their team unknown, can they weather the night ahead—and mend the rift Buck caused by trying to kiss his best friend?

💣 A Few Good Pranks rated T | 4K words

The firefighters of the 118 decide to give Bobby a turn at pranking them after seeing how disappointed he was to be left out. And since two heads are better than one, why not three? Or four? If only they could figure out who's pranking and who isn't, and who the intended victim is. It's all in good fun, though—as long as everyone is too distracted to notice that Buck and Eddie keep sneaking off alone.

❤️‍🩹Let It Be Me rated T | 1.8K words

After another Buckley Family reunion-turned-disaster, Buck makes a decision about his parents. Of course the 118 has his back. Or, Bobby employs some LAFD equipment to help Buck out—and tell him something he needs to hear.

Episode codas/fix-it ficlets: 1x01 | 1x03 | 2x01 | 2x03 | 6x10 | 6x11 | 6x12 | 6x13 | 6x15

WIP progress: First chapter of a season 3/canon divergence Buddie fic. Featuring: angst with a happy ending, a secret marriage of convenience, and pandemic bed sharing.

HP Rec List

I was inspired by this post to rec twelve favorite fan works from 2023 in twelve days in December. It actually took fourteen days, but I did it!

💖 12 Favorites from 2023 💖

(after posting those twelve, of course I thought of a few more faves that I missed. I'll try to share them soon!)

2023 Highlights

I'm so very grateful for the wonderful, funny, imaginative people here who shared their creative works, the memes that made them laugh, photos of their pets, gif sets of shows I didn't know I needed to watch, and insights into the characters we love. You all got me through the year, honestly.

I had a good time doodling some Halloween treats for Inbox Trick-or-Treating. I hope it will become an annual Tumblr event! Thanks to the folks who rang my doorbell that night and the other blogs who gave out treats.

I truly treasured every kudos, comment, and rec I received this year. I was also very fortunate to receive a few special gifts:

🎙️ EllaMcSmellBella recorded a Podfic of "Spooked in Salem," my Drarry 'Round the World fic.

🎙️ Spades/bumblingbees recorded a Podfic of "Crimson Neon."

📕 @cheriecherishchen wrote a lovely rec for "Vortex" and designed gorgeous book covers for that fic and its sequel, "Riptide."

✏️ @saijordison drew this incredible piece of art for "Riptide."

And finally, if you read all the way to the end of this post, I'm grateful for YOU. 😁

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and an excellent 2024!

[rockinlibrarian]

Two AO3-Writer Year-End Surveys that astonishingly don't have THAT much overlap in questions.

And I believe they were both originally meant to be "Ask Me a Number" Games so they wouldn't be as long as this is? But I'm using it as a proper yearly wrap-up. And I've done so for the past two years at least. So there.

I apologize to whomever wrote these surveys that I no longer have your info because I just dumped them both in a Scrivener file. I'm pretty sure I personally got both sets of questions from @uniasus. So that's sort of credit. Anyway, to begin:

I better put it under a cut for length, even though I'm afraid no one will click through. You can click through and THEN skim! I give you permission!

Survey Set 1:

How many words have you written this year? 36,643 new words POSTED to AO3. Don't even know how many words I've WRITTEN. But it's more than that.

2. How many works did you publish this year? Seven. And this year I didn't even update any previously posted ongoing fics.

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? Mayyyybe "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely"? Because it does a really fun job of combining characters from two different fandoms, and some of those characters were quite complicated to write and I think I pulled it off.

4. What work of yours has the most hits? This is always weird to answer when you've done Yuletide and inevitably the work that WILL have the most hits— and kudos, and comments (judging by one year's previous Yuletide at least)— will get them all in the very last week of the year. But AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, the answer is "New World Symphony" — by a lot (936), actually, so maybe the Yuletide fic WON'T be able to catch up.

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? I have a kind of complicated answer for this, involving my two new multichapters, because it's not so much more feedback as "not the feedback I expected). When I started "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely," I thought it would get more attention than "New World Symphony," because it's Gen and a post-season-4 fix-it, as opposed to the latter with its controversial ship. But even AFTER I posted the former, "New World Symphony" got way more kudos (and, as you see above, hits). Someone on the TUA Discord pointed out that it's about finding a niche— something can be more generally appealing, but it's got loads of competition that way, people may never find it— whereas they're going to come LOOKING for your weird ship if they also ship it. ON THE OTHER HAND, though, I'd also figured "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely" would get relatively more attention from TUA fans, because it's a bigger fandom than Legion…but instead, Legion fans came out of the woodwork to be the primary readers of that one! Now if they'd just go and read "The Magic Man of Oz" while they're here…!

6. Favorite title you used. If you stick only with titles I've actually PUBLISHED… possibly "Viktor Squares a Love Triangle" in "Beginning of Something Else Entirely." But my absolute favorite title I wrote this year is for Chapter 5 of "New World Symphony": "Fugue for Strings and Synth." It is SUCH a good title you have no idea. Maybe in three years when I finally post Chapter 5 of "New World Symphony" I'll say it again.

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? No use of song lyrics this year. I don't think. I may have made lyric references without thinking about it too hard, since I do that in real life, but nothing's standing out, and nothing in the titles. No Sound of Music ones since I didn't update "Captain with Seven Children"…

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Um, Fiktor. Still. A couple just platonically, even. And I worked really hard to keep the platonic ones that way! If you ask I can still point out the places where my shipper heart was poking through…

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Well, obviously Fiktor as far as / pairings go. But & pairings I can't narrow down, because I found so many fun ones combining the Legion and TUA characters for "Beginning of Something Else Entirely." Those characters were destined to meet! On the obvious side, the Chaos Couple of Lenny & Klaus is RIGHT THERE, but I'm probably proudest of pairing up Allison & Syd, who just— their relationships with their powers and their similarly checkered pasts, they're so good for each other, especially with Syd's post-Astral-Plane growth to lead the way. And speaking of the astral plane, Oliver Bird & absolutely anyone.

10. What work was the quickest to write? "Brother and Also Brother Home for Christmas" literally took me an hour, and part of that was just watching the commercial it was based on a few times. Somebody on the TUA Discord server pointed out that the Folgers Incesty Christmas commercial was practically a ready-made Fiktor fic and as the only Fiktor writer there, well… I responded. —I started filling this out before I spontaneously posted "Did Anyone Ever Tell You You Look Just Like Aubrey Plaza?" which was probably physically written in even less time, but I'd been telling it to myself in my head for a few months already so I'm not sure that counts?

11. What work took you the longest to write? No idea, especially since two are multichapters that are still in progress.

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year? Well besides the two I started posting this year, there's "Captain with Seven Children" and "Tesseract" which are still slowly in progress, a couple more bits and pieces side works for the Legion/TUA crossover now-series, aaaand… I think that's it? How many is that?

13. What’s your longest work of the year? "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely" at 18,377 words posted so far, and that's not even counting the additional 2,248 I've drafted. Then again, "New World Symphony" has a LOT drafted, so with its 12,655 posted… no, with draft chapters it still only comes to 18,305, so "Beginning" wins.

14. What’s your shortest work of the year? That would also be "Brother and Also Brother Home for Christmas" because it's a retelling of a 30-second commercial. Unless you count "happy birthday," which is a piece of visual art and therefore appears on AO3 as having a Wordcount of 0. It technically has a wordcount of 12, which is still the shortest, but @destinyandcoins wrote those words, anyway. See... some number below for more.

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you? ALL OF THEM.

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? For just this year, it's a tie between "Remix" and "TUA Masked Author Summer Remix 2024 (Umbrella Academy)," with two each, because I did two remixes for said event. And otherwise none of the fics had ANY overlapping tags! … For all time, it's still "Backstory." …oh, after I added "Did Anyone Ever Tell You You Look Just Like Aubrey Plaza?" I double-checked because I thought there might be some overlap with "Brother and Also Brother," but no, I tagged one "ficlet" and the other "flash fiction," and only one of them as "crack" even though they both probably count. And apparently "Brother and Also Brother" is the only one I tagged "pseudo-incest" in. Because they're NOT brothers in "New World Symphony," I guess. It might be… pseudo-pseudo-incest?

17. Your favorite character to write this year? I THINK it may still be Oliver Bird. He just keeps consistently delighting me, enough that I felt the need to squee about how much I love writing Oliver Bird on social media several times. There's also a character in my Yuletide fic that I kept having to STOP myself from squeeing about how much I loved writing, being that it's STILL A SECRET that I WAS writing them. I'll tell ya later.

18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? I had a lot of trouble getting into Diego Hargreeves's internal voice when I first started trying to write his scene in "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely," but once it clicked I ended up really enjoying it! I also found writing David Haller's alters butting in to a conversation to be an interesting challenge, but that one really did feel more like a puzzle, a challenge to overcome, than that it was actually giving me trouble.

19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? I don't… know really? No, that's not true, I have been thinking a lot about the father/daughter aspects of Oliver Bird and Syd Barrett. Maybe it's me still missing my own dad; and I'm writing this crossover full of crappy or at least absent dads in both sources, EXCEPT for this foster-father relationship that was only established in one episode and never got to be explored further, but now that they're living together again post-Astral plane, I just feel like Syd and Oliver are going to be hanging out a lot, especially since she's been avoiding David— Oliver's really the closest thing to a best friend she has at Summerland now (though also now she has Allison!). I did throw that soup-making scene into Chapter 2, but I love the idea that it's just COMMON for them to be doing father/daughtery stuff around all the time, and maybe you'll see more of it in the chapters to come.

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most? None are really sticking out. Either "New World Symphony" or "Beginning of Something…"

21. How many kudos in total did you get this year? Again with I KNOW I'm going to get a boatload in this last week on the Yuletide, and I just posted another new fic that has gotten two kudos in the twenty-four hours since I posted it, so— as of me writing this it's 156. Oh, and that's just on new fics! I got a lot of kudos on old fics, too! ("The Invitation" is still going strong at #1)

22. Which work has the most comments? Currently (again, Yuletide people are so good at leaving comments, so this may change in the next week) it's "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely" with 36! And most are from Legion fans! Holy Legion fans Batman! To cross your Marvel/DC streams!

23. Did you do any collaborative works this year? Yes, technically! The TUA Masked Author event was focused on Remixes, and I did TWO! One was an elaboration on a drabble written by @faithfulcat111 , the other was an actual piece of VISUAL ART based on @destinyandcoins' "Notes from Nowhere" when I realized I could actually do art for it that didn't require me to draw people!

24. Did you write any gifts this year? YES BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT YET. Unless you count the remixes, which were also kind of gifts for their original writers. I mean I would have considered a remix of my work a gift at least.

25. Did you receive any gifts this year? Yes! TWO! One proper Yuletide gift and a BONUS one in Yuletide Madness! I do a happy dance! But I can't actually read them for another couple of days! I'm still so delighted though!

26. What’s your most common category? Gen

27. What do you listen to while writing? This year I listened to my Legion playlist (combining the actual score-soundtrack with the needle-drops) a LOT lot while writing "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely," because Viktor is also listening to it in the story. But to be honest I listened to the Legion playlist a lot when I WASN'T writing, too. IT'S JUST SUCH A GOOD SOUNDTRACK!

28. Favorite work you wrote this year? Eh, tie between "Beginning" and "New World Symphony." Depends on what I'm more in the mood for. That goes back to the one I reread the most question, doesn't it.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? Okay, the next survey breaks this question down farther, into beginning lines, ending lines, dialogue, and funny bits, so see down there, but I guess I can put my favorite lines that aren't any of those four things here:

He giggled, and Five set a new goal for the week: to make the little Russian boy laugh at every opportunity. —that was my ship threatening to slip in the otherwise platonic "What's In a Name?"

Less hopeless than he thinks? What did that mean? He'd have to deflect and think about it later. —Just the right amount of a look at the way Klaus works.

Blonde, conventionally pretty. The kind of girl she used to have to Rumor studio execs into not wanting as their lead. —Allison's first impression of Syd is just exactly what she would think.

[Allison to Syd Re: the Birds]: "You're their daughter?" Syd startled, then slowly broke into a wry smile. "Well….Yes." She nodded sharply, as if she'd only just decided this. "In a way. The Birds have been second parents to me. Sometimes more literally than others." --Because! Like I said in #19 above. I just feel like Syd genuinely considers the Birds to be her parents now, and she's maybe not put it into words until this moment.

It wasn't like someone could sneak up on Viktor. Especially not someone with his own musical motif— a high, looping piano, melodic lines joining in canon. —there is so much potential for the ways Viktor's powers could work, and I love coming up with new ones.

"OH." Cary's eyes lit up. He started shaping an imaginary sphere in his hands. "I invented— but I didn't, you see, that's the fascinating part— this orb came from the future to kidnap David and warn him about this— catastrophic future if he didn't— well, I don't know, but I do know my own work, and I could tell I invented it— but that future never happened and I never did invent the orb, but the orb itself," he emphatically tapped the table, "remained." —It's just so Cary, and I've missed writing Cary.

On the lower level was a big round atrium with a large tableau in the center: a hill of real plants and trees and taxidermied mountain goats, as if the building in the middle of the forest couldn't bear to remain separated from the forest by anything as silly as walls. —sometimes I write good description. Actually is this good description or just nicely metaphorical description?

"And, Viktor—” She leaned in. “When I say 'power,' I'm not just talking about the ability to manipulate energy waves. You have power just by existing in the world— in a society. In a family. You've always had that power, even when you felt the most powerless. What you choose to do— or not to do— can have huge effects on those around you, whether you realize it or not." —Melanie is directing this right through the screen at ME.

"Not me. I don't get to be loved. I don't get to be happy. I am…fated to wander from universe to universe, alone. I can't even get annihilated from existence properly!" —best single line of angst I wrote this year.

And the whole of Viktor discovering smart phones in "New World Symphony."

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year? I don't know. I am tempted to answer with some interesting facts I learned while writing my Yuletide piece. Oh, here's one: when I was first writing David and Viktor's conversation in "Beginning" Chapter 2, and suddenly realized I'd been writing Divad instead of David Prime the whole time.

ALRIGHTY THEN, here's Survey Set #2!

1.How many fics have you worked on since January? Maybe…9? 10 if you count "happy birthday" as a fic? I have a couple side things going on in the "Beginning of Something Else" crossover universe that I'm not sure how much count as separate. —Actually one of those was "Did Anyone Ever Tell You You Look Just Like Aubrey Plaza?" which I just posted.

2. What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? It's not something new to ME, but I never POSTED a fic written in script form before "Brother and Also Brother Home for Christmas."

3. What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.) I guess Umbrella Academy, by sheer numbers.

4. How many fandoms did you write for this year? Just three (and two of those in the same fics). Or at least I POSTED fics for just three— worked on some others.

5. What ships captured your heart? Um, nobody new. I'm still not a shipper, and I'm still inexplicably obsessed with Fiktor.

6. What characters captured your heart? All…of them? I've never written so much Klaus before this year, and he kind of writes himself, which is quite fun, so maybe I'll go with Klaus.

7. Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year? Nope. Spoilers for Yuletide I guess— yep it's one I've written for before. But I have quite a few obscure or at least rarely-written fandoms on my list so don't get cocky.

8. What fic meant the most to you to write? I think— I think this question is making me oddly uncomfortable actually. It's probably "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely," because it was my response to TUA Season 4 and there was so much negativity around so I was like "No, see this? I've got an idea. I'm gonna make it work. It's gonna be great." And I think I put a little too much on its metaphorical shoulders, and I got a little desperate, like I was going to save the fandom, but nobody actually cared so I got all Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria about it, like everyone was yelling "STOP TRYING TO MAKE 'Everyone loves Beginning…' HAPPEN! IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" But then, like I said above, the Legion fans found it and made me remember everything I loved about it, so now I'm just writing it for the fun of it again.

9. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? Conversely, "New World Symphony" was really just for my own enjoyment, and it's very happy because things are actually working out WELL for everyone for once, so I think that one was the most pure enjoyment.

10. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing? Not sure any really fits the bill. Getting the Yuletide fic in on time was satisfying for that reason, but also unsatisfying because I know I could make it better if I just had more time…!

11. What fic was the most difficult to write? I don't think the fic ITSELF was difficult to write, but real life and the writing of my Yuletide fic were vying VERY hard for my attention. It was down to the wire, and I really wish I'd gotten more of the fic done BEFORE the last minute when I've also been prepping for Christmas.

12. What fic was the easiest to write? Not actually sure. Oh, now that "Did Anyone Ever Tell You You Look Just Like Aubrey Plaza?" exists— that one. Like I said, Klaus writes himself, Lenny almost writes herself (she's so much more crass than I am that it does take a LITTLE work to get in the mindset), and this totally crack conversation between the two of them definitely wrote itself.

13. What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year? See 14 and 13 in set 1.

14. What were your go-to writing songs? As 27 in the first list said, I listened to the Legion playlist on shuffle. But if I had to pick just one song, at least to start, I'd usually go with "Darkness (Full Suite)" because it captured the whole mood best, and was also instrumental so perhaps better for writing than the needle drops. Though if I was putting the playlist on and NOT necessarily trying to write, I usually started with "Undiscovered First." For no reason other than I love it. (I just looked at the comments on that YouTube video and 2/3 of them are "Who's here from Legion????")

15. What was the hardest fic to title? "The Beginning of Something Else Entirely." I even put up a Tumblr poll.

16. What's your favorite title of the year? See #6 in Set 1.

17. Share your favorite opening line: "Klaus had more experience with the Afterlife than any living person, and this wasn't it." This is the only one I don't feel compelled to give multiple answers for, because how can you beat that?

18. Share your favorite ending line: My ending lines suck in comparison. Plus I have this problem of extending my natural endings with little epilogues. For example, I think my answer to this is from "What's In a Name?" which emotionally ends with, "They could make of themselves whomever they wanted to be," which is a GREAT closing line on its own. But then I add this little scene:

The three giggled through the keynote speech, drawing a cumulatively bizarre caricature of the speaker together. Ben had started the doodle, then encouraged the others to collaborate. It was silly and subversive and utterly language-barrier-demolishing. The tall blonde boy who’d joined their table waved impatiently backward at them, keeping his eyes dutifully on the keynote speaker. “Tyst! Our lecturer is speaking!” Ben added the tall boy to the doodle.

—which I ALSO love, actually, but it's much less of a closing line. Also, yes, that was Luther making a little cameo there. Don't know how subtle or not it was. I figured pointing out that his nametag had a Swedish flag and an aerospace symbol on it would be a little too obvious. The other ending vying for this answer is from my Yuletide story, which has even LESS of a standout ending line and is more like Very Short Concluding Scene than Epilogue too, but I love the imagery of it. Tell ya later.

19. Share your favorite piece of dialogue: Conversely, my dialogue is my favorite part of my writing, because it tends to come easiest, and is basically hearing the characters in your head so— I have a lot of contenders, but I think I'm going to go with this scene (first speaker is David Haller, I add since he doesn't get a tag until far into the conversation):

"I heard about what's going on with you and your wife. And all I can say is, time travel sucks ass." The irritable jitters were back. "Hey, let me pose a scenario for you guys. Is it cheating to hook up with a future version of your own girlfriend?" Diego and Luther exchanged a glance. "What, like…in the future?" "Whenever. She came from the future. You went to— time travel. It's confusing, is what I'm saying." Luther frowned, and drew in the air as if connecting the dots. "Well, is that really different than hooking up in the future without time travel?" "That's what I said! But if there's also a version of you in her future, who's very different from you now—" "So you're cheating on yourself?" Diego clarified. "No, they broke up. And that future ended up not happening." "So it's a separate timeline." "But they're still the same person," Luther offered. "Wait, no. That's like saying our Ben and Sparrow Ben are the same person." "But aren't they? In a way?" "No." "But you're talking about two versions of a guy who was raised differently from birth," David said. "I'm talking about a potential future version of the same girl." "So she was going to turn into the future one?" "She didn't. But she could have, is the thing." Diego shook his head. "Damn. Time travel." Luther looked sympathetic. "I'm sure if you just explained to her—" "Hah. Too late for that. She's gotten all kinds of new ways to be pissed at me since. This is where Divad used to butt in to remind us that we're fundamentally unlovable, but no, he's trying to self-actualize or some shit now don't even think of it, Divad, it's my turn, we need to be angry."

I love it for so many reasons. First, it just flows nicely, like you can hear these guys having this "philosophical" discussion, it's just how it would go. Second, I kind of lied about the first speaker, because it IS technically David, but he switches to Dvd during the first sentence (find the moment!), and it amused me that Diego and Luther are completely oblivious to the fact that this guy's alter personalities are having an argument right in front of them. Third, the seeming randomness of the topic, which sounds theoretical at first, unless you know (or until you realize) that it's not theoretical, and this has been nagging at David— or at least at Dvd— for a year or so and suddenly he's talking to someone ELSE facing time-travel-complicated-fidelity-issues so he can't resist getting an outside perspective.

Runner up: every single conversation Oliver Bird has with anyone whatsoever. Wait, I'm going to give you a preview of "Beginning" chapter 4, because this is exemplary of one of those times I just kept squeeing "I LOVE WRITING OLIVER" after:

"She's right, you know." "What?" He turned to see Oliver Bird poking his head out of a room. "Your— what should you call her. Conscience?" "You heard… Delores?" "Is that her name? Old-fashioned, but charming. Our Lady of Sorrows. Martini?"

20. Share your funniest line: Hard to choose, first being that I don't know that I'm the best judge of my own humor; second being that they inevitably are probably all in my Yuletide fic, which is the only straight-up comedy I wrote this year. Again, I'll get back to you on that.

21. What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story? I answered the first part in 30 above, but it DID change the story a bit, in that it made me way more aware of which of David's alters might be fronting at any time, and I realized I could do more with them intentionally. For example, the scene at breakfast referenced two questions ago.

22. What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand? I keep most of my stuff in Scrivener, because I love the ease of adding interconnected files and pages, particularly as I tend to write out of order. I compile it into Word before printing and/or posting it. And I do write by hand, usually in the middle of a draft, when I have the basic shape of the chapter/work down and need to fill in the gaps. I also edit by hand.

23. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year? What drives me nuts is that I had an answer to this— I remember distinctly feeling "Wow, was THAT satisfying to write!"— but I forget what it was, now. Maybe Viktor and David's conversation in "Beginning" chapter 2. Talking to a guy with a dissociative disorder was REEEELY enlightening for Viktor on a lot of levels.

24. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic? When I posted my Yuletide entry, I went to bed. It FELT like a special thing to do!

25. How did you recharge between fics? I was so busy in real life I don't think I noticed much. I just wrote whatever I felt like writing in the moment.

26. Did you create fanworks other than fic? *preens* as referenced in 14 and 23 in the previous survey, I made an Art!

27. How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!) Two! The TUA Masked Author and Yuletide!

28. If this were an awards show, who would you thank? First I'd like to thank @versaphile for doing all the research and posting it on AO3 on How the freak to write David Haller (Not to mention the deeper characterizations of his alters in "When My Fist Clenches…" which I was probably drawing on even subconsciously). And secondly, to Guest User Valerie, who's most recent comment on "Beginning…" was just what I needed to hear to stop feeling like it was all Pointless, made me feel motivated again. And thirdly, @sunnymarbles, who was sitting across the room most of the time I was writing and gamely put up with me speaking my thoughts out loud and occasionally asking them questions like "Which one of these concepts is funnier?" and also supplying a made-up brand name for my Yuletide fic.

29. What's left on your to-do list for 2024? My annual round-up post of life events and media reviews!

30. What would you like to write next year? Continue "Beginning" and "New World Symphony" and maybe get back to "Captain with Seven Children." And as I've said for like the past three years now, I SWEAR I'm going to update "Tesseract" and finally post "Child of Hypnos"! But maybe this time I mean it!

[yukii0nna]

"Only human" miraculous's problem in growth and character handling.

Time for me to finally say some things about "miraculous" in mlb. I may rag on it quite a bit but there was a time I genuinely thought it was good and even now I still like the characters though maybe that's because I'm in fanon part of the show. Plus there's a reason I like working on JLM to see what I can fix.

My biggest problem is how every character is handled. Like I could forgive bad world building. I like filling in the blanks for that stuff and can expect it but when the fans can write better than the actual paid writers, you have a problem. HELL WHEN THE MOVIE BETTER THAN THE SHOW, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

Pick any character and I can name how they were screwed over by the creator and how I want to fix that. Go ahead, try me. I am dead serious about it. I can and I will.

If you think that me just being salty, it's not. It's me disappointed. Season two was my favorite because it actually tried to let its characters grow and change. Then three came out and while it was a bit off, I just thought it would get better after that season four came and felt my stomach sink with how it went down. I stopped watching after that and was sad to say I'm glad I did because I heard season five and it was a train wreck.

Looking back on it now, I'm glad I'm not as attached to it anymore. What's sad is that, I genuinely think that the writers have at least good intentions and genuinely want to tell a good story. It just bombed miserably.

Don't help that Astruc doesn't want to hear criticism and blocks anyone who tries. His ego is ruining a genuinely good story and it makes me sad. He treats every character as they're perfectly written when they're not. And he doesn't know what the problems are.

He would rather make teenagers scapegoats and punish them for the right thing and reward them for the wrong things *coughs*marinette*coughs*ruining their psychic, make teenagers outright villa and redeem actual terrorists or try to anyway*cough*chole,lila and gabriel*coughs*, tackling abuse poorly*coughs*adrien,kagami, zoe,felix*cough*and others I can't think about at the moment. My point is that he seems to hate allowing his character to grow and when he does, it makes things worse.

*Sighs* Do yourself a favor and stick to fan content. Trust me, you'll find yourself having a much better time with it. Both with writing it and creating it. I do at least.

@lovelyllamasblog @bakawitch @fair-night-starry-tears @gritsandbrits @zexal-club

[chainofclovers]

biscuits 😭

Literally just staying up all night crying about the end of an era and attempting to wrangle 7800 layers of feelings into a thing that can come out in English

But I've been thinking about the biscuits

Not just the croissants she's eating in the scene where we think they've slept together (I refuse to feel baited by that scene btw, even though it and Beard's entrance made me feel like I'd ascended to a new plane of reality; the scene happened for a reason; I'm too tired to go into it; my relationship to heterosexual ships is interesting enough as it is and I don't need to develop a fucking straightbaiting chip on my shoulder and walk around with that; also Ted/Rebecca's incredibly intentional yet incredibly unconsummated-within-the-three-season-arc connection is like every femslash ship I've ever loved; I've decided to just lean into T/R's story being unfinished and to treat the rom-com leave-cute reference as a fond homage to what could be; I'm allowed to be as generous as I want to be with this show and these writers; LMAO; crying my ass off [stilted Scorpio version]; but genuinely--I can be as generous as I want to be and I don't have to hate this if I don't want to hate this)

Anyway

I've been thinking not just about the croissants she's eating in the scene where we think they've slept together, and how those aren't biscuits, but also about how she doesn't tell him she'll miss the biscuits and he doesn't talk about the ritual and he never bakes her biscuits again as far as we can tell and he doesn't give her the recipe

And it hurts but I love it

[[[[ The biscuits are his dick (-- @boglady ) ]]]]

Because it's so intrinsic to who they are that they just don't talk about this ritual engrained in the last 2.5 years of their lives, I think...and sure, sometimes we see Ted reference the biscuits when he walks in with some...but no one notices. Ted's mom doesn't notice. Trent doesn't notice. Higgins notices, but he was involved in the early s1 biscuit taste-testing, and he's all-seeing in a lot of ways so it's different. Lord knows Sassy isn't getting a biscuit even if she's gotten to enjoy Ted's actual dick a few times. Keeley is close enough to notice, but she's suspiciously quiet about it. Beard has to come over and fix Ted's oven all the time, but we never see him comment.

So how perfect is it that in everything Rebecca has to process about Ted leaving, she almost becomes another person who has taken for granted that Ted performs this absolutely deranged gesture of love in baking her biscuits every single week and delivering them to her in a pink box every day...because that's really telling. She puts a lot of work into asking him to stay. She's feeling all kinds of desperate things. She isn't at all like the people who don't see what he's been doing for her; her reasons for never mentioning the biscuits again are nothing like the biscuit-invisibility everyone else experiences. She just can't or won't say anything because the biscuits are untouchable

And in the season 4 that will exist in my head but will almost certainly never be a reality, someday, when they see each other again, he makes her some biscuits and she's so angry she can't eat them

(And then things get better and she does, but not at first)

(This is why I had to take Wednesday off work)

(I'm fuckin' losing it)

[willel]

I've wanted some kind of Jonathan and Steve friendship or comradery for a while. It may be because the actors have wanted this from the very start, but I am a big enjoyer of trios.

I despise love triangles that overstay their welcome. Especially love triangles that have already died and are resurrected because the writers can't think of anything more interesting to do.

Nah, I prefer a team of three pre and post love triangle drama. In real life I know it's probably way harder to get along with people you were previously in a love triangle with, especially if it ended badly or violence was involved. Which it was. But also see so much potential in a dynamic like that. The three of you have literally been through hell and back. Fought each other. Hated each other. Protected each other. At the end of the day, because of all that drama, you somehow know each other very well and can't help but want to stick around.

All that said, I don't like what season 4 did with this at all. Like I mentioned, I loathe zombie love triangles. I hate that they used Robin and Eddie's characters to dig it up and give Steve second thoughts about the whole thing. I dislike it even further than Steve doesn't have the decency to not make intentional moves on someone who is already in a relationship.

I think season 2 did a great thing by showing even though Jonathan and Steve don't exactly get along, he purposely got out of Steve's way and even lied for Steve about leaving the party to help a relationship that wasn't even his.

Petty love triangle relationship drama aside, no matter which side you land on or which ship you ship, I appreciate how they wrote Jonathan's behavior back then and I wish that had been extended to Steve. I also believe Steve would be the kind of person to lie or make up excuses for someone else from time to time, so why didn't they write that?

What I want for next season is basically the same thing, but better. I don't want more scenes of Steve trying to "win the girl". I want scenes of Steve trying to figure Jonathan out. What makes him different. Why did Nancy choose him? Who is he? I don't need Steve trying to fix Nancy and Jonathan's relationship, that isn't a requirement. I just need Steve to come to some kind of understanding about Jonathan specifically.

As an extension of that, I'd like Robin to do the same thing as I didn't appreciate her role in the S4 relationship drama either.

It's like they've both made up their mind about Jonathan without knowing him at all and tried to undercut him. I mean, that is something teenagers and young adults do so I'm not hating them for it. Just urg, why did it have to be written that way. They writers didn't have to do that.

On the reverse side of that, I want Jonathan to be doing the same. Who is Steve really? He's not that bad apparently so why not figure that out for himself? Doubtful they'll find a lot in common but hey, maybe they do find that one thing they can get along on and become friendly or friends?

If Robin and Steve are witness to Will (and El) being targeted again, maybe they can both come to an epiphany like "Oh, that's why he's like this. I get him now." (by that I mean, Jonathan's crippling fear of his family suffering or being alone, so much so he will drop EVERYTHING. School, friendships, and even relationships will take a backseat for the purpose of protecting his family)

I don't want this to turn into a "Gasp, I didn't realize you were sooooo amazing Steve!" I really want some mutual "You know... you aren't too bad at all." energy. It's LONG overdue.

Do I have any real hopes of this happening? No. Lol. This kind of stuff would require them actually writing Jonathan for once, which they haven't done a significant amount of in 2 seasons. My true hope is that they will completely shock and surprise me, pull a 180, and make a Steve and Jonathan friendship believable because I really do like the idea of it if it's coming from a mutual place of understanding and respect.

[nobodylikety]

I accidentally deleted the request, but here's this little fic! I hope it's something fluffy enough for the Christmas season, I've had a bit of writer's block (now I can basically only write archaeological research projects, thanks Uni)

chaeyoung x reader!

tags: christmas holidays, college au!, fluff.

summary: The Christmas season has always been your favorite. During childhood it was about helping decorate the tree, gifts, animated movies—especially Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004)—and going looking for Santa Claus. Now it's because Chaeyoung is here, even if you're too shy about it to say it directly.

I. Dinner.

Chaeyoung's college house is basically empty, except for Mina—one of her roommates—who is almost certainly locked in her room doing god-knows-what, so it's just you and her in front of the house chimney.

“Mina would rather die than cook anything other than instant noodles, so we're in charge of dinner, buddy,” Chaeyoung announces, patting you on the shoulder as she stands up. You roll your eyes with a snort of mock annoyance, and go after your girlfriend. Let's do it!

And it actually turns out pretty well, considering that college students don't eat real food very often and therefore don't cook anything more complex than microwave reheating. So with the help of a YouTube video, as well as the desire for this to turn out well and the kitchen not to fly into pieces in the process, you and Chaeyoung cook a very appetizing-looking braised salmon, caramelized onions, boiled potatoes, broccoli. steam and samphire, with a creamy white sauce.

Although it is not turkey, the traditional Christmas food that was present during every Christmas dinner in your childhood, braised salmon is still delicious. Not only because it is salmon, a fish that is quite popular among those most knowledgeable about gastronomy, but because you and Chaeyoung prepared it. And they say that the most important ingredient is love, right? and even if you guys are very shy to say those three words (I love you), there is a lot of this one. Even without saying it verbally. Because it is evident in each of your gestures. Even in this Christmas salmon.

“We deserve applause for not burning the kitchen down.” Chaeyoung pours two glasses of white wine and hands you your glass, while she holds hers in her other hand. With proud little smiles, you two make a toast and under the clink of the crystalline clinking of glasses, Chaeyoung's gaze locks with yours.

“I really thought we were going to burn down the kitchen. We’re, like, criminally bad at cooking,” You say as you laugh, taking a sip of your wine. Chaeyoung comically wrinkles her nose as he smiles.

“Tutorials on YouTube do wonders. Oh, and me too” The cocky little smile on Chaeyoung’s lips makes both you and her crack up. During the Christmases of your childhood, there were also moments of laughter like this, many times between your parents or uncles, or an older cousin, silly and light jokes have always been part of your Christmas dynamic.

And this Christmas dinner has never been better. The atmosphere is full of teasing and laughter that goes from you to Chaeyoung and vice versa—because it seems like you share the love language of teasing each other—and with every smile or sweet glance you drop, you both know very well what's here. Love.

II. Opening gifts

On Christmas night you have always liked to wear a Santa hat, specifically for the time of gift giving. When you were little, it was too big and probably slid halfway down your face and you couldn't see anything, so you had to be fixing it or asking mom to help you.

But now it looks perfect on you! Time works great miracles.

And now you're waiting for one, because you're going to give Chaeyoung her gift. Even though you've been dating for a couple of months, your stomach still flutters full of butterflies at certain times, like now. It is your first Christmas together and the idea makes you excited, but also nervous, knowing her eaction when she see the gift.

"So you like it?" You ask, fiddling restlessly with the pom-pom at the end of Santa's hat.

Even though you don't know how to knit, you tried to crochet a tiger plush for Chaeyoung, because it's her favorite animal. You were watching the same tutorial on YouTube over and over again and knitting for weeks, even between exam season, because you wanted to finish the stuffed animal just for Christmas. Even if it ended up being a disaster, you put all your love and effort into trying.

“I love it” The hug Chaeyoung pulls you into is as warm as the fireplace, and as sweet as hot chocolate with marshmallows. You sink into that hug, into the feeling of security and home that only she makes you feel. “Now you have to see my gift, come on.”

She pulls away from the hug and excitedly extends you something square-shaped, wrapped in gift paper. When you carefully tear off the paper, you discover what it is. It's a painting. Chaeyoung made it for you. They are doodles of everything that represents you, she even included all your favorite colors to paint it.

Giving you a painting is as if she gave you a part of her soul, an extension of herself, something that she will always let you know that she thought (thinks) of you.

So smiling like a fool, you take the Santa hat off your head and put it on Chaeyoung, pulling it down over her ears. Chaeyoung frowns (the hat is too big for her, like it did when you were little), but you simply kiss her on the nose and laughter flows sweetly from her lips.

"I love it. It’s the best Christmas gift in the world” You smile, leaning in to give her a kiss.

III. Love on snow

Post-gift opening you're dozing on the couch, because the warmth of the fireplace is so cozy, while you're snuggled up with Chaeyoung.

Sometimes you don't need to say anything, just be together in silence.

“It's snowing,” Chaeyoung suddlenly says, and rushes to the window. With a yawn you get up from the couch, kinda awake, and walk towards her as she cleans the window glass, which is fogged up because it's too cold.

This way, both can see how the snow falls outside, accumulating between large piles that embellish the Christmas atmosphere. You hug her from behind, snuggling in like you're cold, but you just want to be close to her. I love you, I love you, I love you, you say in that hug without having to resort to words. She presses herself against you, returning the gesture.

“The city is so beautiful when it snows” You comment, looking out the window. There are thousands of Christmas lights of different colors displayed all over the houses, at least the ones you can see, which is why it is such a beautiful visual panorama. You smile, holding Chaeyoung close to you.

“And my Christmas is so beautiful with you here” And her voice is so sweet, so peaceful.

[discet]

“it really feels like the writers room went, ‘Wouldn’t it be fucked up if Marcy got possessed?’ and just really have much else for them to do until the finale.”

Ironically you’re kind of right. Matt wanted a three way fight between the girls, but realized that Marcy would never intentionally hurt Anne and Sasha. So that’s where the possession idea came from.

Yeah that sounds about right. Man how cool would a Darcy vs. Anne and Sasha fight could have been.

This is just tangentially related, but I really think a lot of my beef with season 3b could have been solved if instead of Sprivy the episode after commander Anne would have just been Anne making an incredibly rash run at rescuing Marcy. Just take Jo in the middle of the night and b-line it for Andrias' headquarters. Sasha catches her at it and tries to get her to stop, that it was suicidal, but Anne won't listen insisting her super powers would be enough to carry her through. Instead Sasha insists on coming with her saying while she still doesn't think it will work, they have been scouting out the best way to approach the castle.

They manage to get to the castle stealthily somehow and after each get a chance to show their new skills separately they are led into an ambush with Darcy eating up the screen. They get restrained again but Anne uses her powers to release them and we get a badass fight scene with Anne and Sasha kind of interfering with each other and clearly not on the same wavelength yet. Mid way through the fight Darcy is just toying with them, knocking them around and generally being a little shit. Anne tries to make an appeal to Marcy inside but Darcy just laughs and taunts them.

They ultimately manage to get away, (though Jo gets injured to give some stakes to the lose) and resolve to build up their resources before saving Marcy for real.

This would fix a lot of my gripes without too much screen time since

Establishes Darcy as a threat early enough to make their eventual defeat feel cathartic along with cluing Anne and Sasha in to whats happened to their friend.

Imply that Anne was thinking of Marcy during 3a and was just pushing it down until she had a chance to do something about it

Imply that Sasha has been thinking about ways to save Marcy, even if she wasn't confident they could pull it off yet.

Establishes a narrative precedent for gather forces for a proper face off as Anne is not able to solo an army by herself and narrowly gets away.

Like it wouldn't fix everything but Man it would have gone a long way to making those middle episodes feel better.