#this reminds me i should read the new an yu book is it out yet

[heavenlyyshecomes]

Do u have any books that are objectively bad but you love it will all your heart?

I don't think i have read any 'objectively' bad book and still loved it if i like something it can't be bad 4 me rly but there are exceptions like the ruins by scott smith and braised pork by an yu which i rated low but then thought about for months... There's also books somewhere in the middle mostly forgotten by people that are v dear to me like the square root of summer by harriet reuter hapgood or a concise chinese-english dictionary for lovers by xiaolu guo!

[hongluboobs]

ok i was cooking up another hong lu analysis thing bc i noticed SEVERAL things in his base id art the other day and wanted to share with the class but they just dropped a new one in the canto V trailer and i have some stuff i wanna talk about that one:)

My Hong Lu knowledge and interpretation is very heavily influenced by reading Dream of the Red Chamber, which may not be the best because I don’t know how much Limbus will pull from the book because it’s Long as fuck but I think it’s given me a deeper knowledge of Hong Lu.

Keep in mind this ego is NOT out yet so i could be totally off base depending on what the full animation/corrosion/sin affinities are like and this is totally theorizing but I wanted to have a go at anyway!! And this got totally out of hand so reading is appreciated :)

One of the first things I noticed here is this Hong Lu seems VERY Bao-yu. We still don’t know for sure what Hong Lu is within the context of Red Chamber (i don’t think it’ll be straightforward considering how that book works) but it’s important to note!

He has this little hat on (this is the best pic i can get atm to show it’s not a fancy hair tie, unfortunately the footage we have rn is a little scuffed)

and Bao-yu is ALWAYS depicted with a hat like this.

This could just be because that’s the appropriate outfit for Chinese nobility (I unfortunately have little to no reference point here, feel free to correct me, but from some quick searches hats aren’t ubiquitous and ESPECIALLY not ones of this style.) I think it’s worth noting because it comes up in nearly all modern depictions of Bao-yu.

There’s also the pearl Hong Lu is wearing on his neck/chest area, which is where Bao-yu wears the magic jade he was born with. His jade is translated into Limbus as Hong Lu’s jade eye, but this plus his hat and the abno’s themes REALLY makes me think we are dealing with some Bao-Yu stuff here.

Speaking of the Abno’s themes, now i can actually go over them! All we have for Walking Pearl right now is the MD event (as well as general observation), but there’s a few things that are relevant.

Just based off design, the abnormality seems to be mostly about the precious (the pearl) and the filth (the muck) intermixing. which makes sense with the EGO being named “Effervescent Corrosion” and our holders being Hong Lu and Rodya.

There’s some symbolism around greed/wealth (the offspring filled muck desiring the pearl and fighting for which one will earn it? the muck tarnishing the pearl? ) and I think we should read into that because it’s Hong Lu and Rodya who have this one and they’re both very tied to their financial status. Those two sharing an ego makes me insane for a bunch of reasons but that’s probably for another analysis piece! But duality is REALLY important for those guys and that’s a theme they’re emphasizing here with both the pearl and muck within the clam.

There’s also some elements of shelter/protection/potentially entrapment with the clam’s shell which are HUGE for Hong Lu, especially with his egos so I think those may come up.

But mostly it’s about the mixing of the precious (likely “wealth” here) and the unsavory, which works very well with what we know of the Jia family. The design likely referencing Bao-yu and thematically dealing with the Jia family makes me think each of those individual readings are more likely because they’re deeply tied together!

And now onto the MD event! I did not write this in order so I may repeat stuff here but. I realized I had to cover the design first so here we are!

First thing that stuck out of me is this portion when you choose to sample some of the clam’s slime.

Sibling/family infighting is very Jia family. It reminds me a lot of this line base Hong Lu says.

You could take this a step further because the clam is something that would typically offer shelter from the rest of the world, and even though it protects, its offspring continue to kill and eat each other.

It seems fine, the offspring have this lovely shell for protection, and they have the precious pearl held within, but even as they are sheltered and wealthy. They are still getting killed and eaten by one another! Reminds me of someone I know:)

It reminds me of some bits in the later half of Red Chamber, where family members more obviously start acting behind each other’s backs or turning on each other, some even killing other family members.

Another part of the MD event that I got something out of was the beginning portion.

using specifically jade as the color for the seawater is a Hong Lu thing. I may be reaching with this bc it’s more than likely just flavor text BUT when taking this color with the fact that there’s nothing in the water it makes me think of an important scene in Red Chamber where Bao-Yu is described as an empty shell, so I wanted to mention it. We know Hong Lu has TONS of water motifs, especially when relating to his family (see his base ego)

The main reason I brought up this section of the MD event is because of the question brought up by the last portion.

If you take one thing from Dream Of The Red Chamber into your perception of Hong Lu as a character, it should be the themes of ambiguity, duality, and being between binaries. Because he sure as hell does that a lot!!! (and i’m not just talking about his gender) He is both genuinely curious and sheltered with an urge to learn as much as he can, but he also plays dumb frequently, backpedals and asks a lot of stupid questions on purpose to maintain others’ perceptions of him. He is CONSTANTLY walking the line between truth and illusion and it can be hard to tell which is which and precisely how much is fake or real, which is why I find him such an interesting character to think about.

Tangent about Hong Lu's characterization aside, it's really easy to read this line as about his family's perceptions of him.

Hong Lu (or rather, Bao-yu) can be read as being the source of the contamination in that he is the heir of the Jia family who is just an absolute fucking failure of everything you’d want in an heir for that time period.

The clam containing the filth can be read as Hong Lu’s lies (whether conscious lies or otherwise) to himself and others about the true “filth” of his family. Really good example of this is with another bit of window dialogue, but these lies and half truths come up quite a bit if you know where to look. (what happened to cohort of kin looking to stab each other in the back at every turn???)

We already have Hong Lu’s assorted water motifs (his feet make ripples on the water in his base id, land of illusion has so much water theming and shows the Jia mansion is surrounded by water) so I think this is a reasonable analysis to make :)

There’s some other sections to the MD event, but there’s nothing of note that triggered the Hong Lu sleeper agent in my brain & also this has gone on long enough that I wanna talk about predicting some stuff for the ego!

I am manifesting Gluttony/Gloom/Wrath for this ego!!

Gluttony and gloom are in the MD event’s skill check already and I think tie in nicely with the themes. Gluttony works with the offspring in the muck killing and eating each other and themes of greed with the pearl (plus the ego is primarily green and that’s a pretty good clue) and then gloom comes up a LOT with Hong Lu’s family (Liu Hong Lu, the only one that remarks on his jade eye, is also the only Hong Lu with gloom. land of illusion requires 5 gloom resources and also relates a lot to red chamber/his family) Gloom’s also generally a stand-in for water which exists here.

Wrath in Hong Lu generally manifests in him going “yeah, maybe my family was a little fucked up actually” internally, instead of manifesting as taking direct action about the fucked up things like it works for most other sinners, and acknowledging that his family was at least partially filth and killing and eating eachother (metaphorically. maybe literally) works for that

i am not an expert on sin analysis but i wanted to take a prediction bc it’s fun :)

I have a couple of predictions for corrosion and i’ll be real they are the main reason i wrote this thing because i LOVE when bad things happen to Hong Lu!!

Since this ego seems to be referencing Bao-yu so much i can pull stuff from Red Chamber too which makes it more fun :)

First one I came up with is Hong Lu taking the place of the pearl within the clam and getting locked in there! A bunch of his egos have to do with being controlled/trapped so i think it works and it also can work as a parallel for Bao-yu’s treatment by his family. Bao-yu’s name means precious jade, and he’s often treated more like his namesake than a person, heavily controlled and never allowed to leave the Jia mansion (or, in this case, the clam.) I just think it’d be fun!

My other concept has to do with more Red Chamber stuff, notably what happens when Bao-yu loses his jade. I’m not quite there yet in the text, but from what i’ve heard he becomes incredibly unstable and essentially loses his mind. This sets the Jia family’s downfall into even faster motion and from that point things get REALLY fucked up. Since the pearl here parallels Bao-yu’s jade, I think having a reference to that part of the book would be really fucking crazy for all 5 people who have read 1800+ pages of red chanber to get to chapter 94 where he loses that thing. Also i just want to see Hong Lu lose his mind i KNOW it would be terrifying and chilling. but they may be saving that for his distortion (manifesting)

In my skimming Red Chamber table of contents to find when Bao-yu loses his jade i just found a chapter where Bao-yu’s father admires a pearl but we will just ignore that for now bc this has taken long enough to type already and that is several chapters off. but there may be more analysis when this thing actually comes out!

Thank you for reading this far!! I hope you enjoyed me looking far too deep into an unreleased ego we know next to nothing about for fun! this took WAY longer than expected to type out but i’m glad I did because I loveee telling people about Hong Lu!

There is a very real chance very little of my analysis and prediction is reflected in canon BUT please remember that truth becomes fiction when the fiction’s true and even if this doesn’t turn out to be correct now u know a little more about Hong Lu and the themes he plays with :)

[kricketbee]

WIP Wednesday Game

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

file names:

FreedomFighter! Dai Yu

chp 3

chp4

chp ?? (jee)

teenage vow in a parking lot

Robin 3 (rouph draft)

snippet from chp 3

The next day someone was sent to go pick up Dai Yu’s laundry, and as soon as they came back the Wani sailed out of Yu Dao.  

It had taken exactly one night with half the crew away on shore for everyone to know about her fight with Zuko. Kairo thought the whole thing was hilarious. He was still in his civvies from last night, and faintly stank like alcohol but looked better rested than she felt. “You have no idea how happy it makes me. Agni what I wouldn’t give to have been on deck to hear it myself.”

“You could have told me what it meant,” She huffed. Uncle had taken her aside that morning and gently explained that the word she’d so loudly called Zuko, in front of half the crew, didn’t mean exactly what she thought. Well it did, but also meant…something else. She hid her face in her hands when he said ‘female genitalia’ and kept hiding as he tried to ask about who’d said that to her. She’d eventually convinced him that no one in particular said that to her, and she’d just overheard it. 

“You didn’t ask.” He took a bite of her food. “So, you really don’t have your own money?”

They were sitting in a random cargo bay, by his suggestion. Cloudy skies, a light drizzle and chilling winds from the north made it too cold to eat outside, despite the fact that they were already firmly in the beginning of summer.

“No.”

“Huh…well, did’ya have fun?” He said in a tone mocking the way a relative might ask about a child's day out. 

Dai Yu spent a lot of time last night thinking about whether her criminal excursion had actually been worth it. She sank her teeth into a spa cake, it was a little stale on the outside at this point, but still moist and sweet in the middle. “Yeah.”

“Hah, good.”

The door of the cargo bay swung open and Daisuke stepped in followed by Lee, another seventeen year old. Daisuke stopped when he spotted them, mumbled something like an apology and started to turn back towards the door. 

“What, you too good to eat with us?” Kairo called. 

Daisuke glanced at her, and then to Lee. Lee was quite a bit taller than either Kairo or Daisuke, and had a square jaw and cheekbones that reminded her of the man on the covers of a book series cousin Mari liked. (She liked them so much in fact that she kept them hidden in the back of her wardrobe and made Dai Yu pinky swear not to tell Uncle Jaeyu).

Lee shrugged. “If Kairo hasn’t managed to get thrown overboard yet, we should be fine.”

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s permanently on the nightshift now,” Daisuke responded.

“Maybe I like the night shift, ever think of that, asshole?” Kairo had been on night shift ever since the trip to the western air temple, instead of the usual week on week off schedule. So after they ate breakfast together Dai Yu wouldn’t see him again unless they ran into each other by chance before she went to bed. She hadn’t given it much thought until now, assuming Lieutenant Jee put him there because he was the least likely to start fights with other people that way.

Lee seemed to have made up his mind, crossing the room to sit across from Kairo on Dai Yu’s right. He gave her a friendly smile.  “I’m Lee, by the way.”

“I know,” She said. 

He smiled wider. She felt her face heat slightly and turned her attention back to her cake.  

Daisuke seemed to give in and followed his friend, sitting across from her in between Kairo and Lee. “Do you also like being dragged into the mountains to sort through air nomad junk after not sleeping all night?”

Dai Yu examined Daisuke. This was the first time she’d been able to see him this close without him trying his best to leave. He reminded her a lot of her mother. Granted, before she left home most fire nationals did, with their black hair and yellow eyes. But something about the specific combination of Daisuke's features: round jawline, dark lashes, slightly upturned eyes. He really looked like mom. 

She realized she’d been looking for too long when he glanced nervously back at her. “Sorry, I’m staring and that's rude. You just kind of remind me of someone.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Mmhmm.” She didn’t want to say that he reminded her of a woman, even a pretty one. Boys hate that.

[sepia-mahogany]

Platonic Hanahaki

The stories are just as widely known, of loving and losing, of yearning and forgetting, common in present time as they were years ago, of loving someone so deeply, without desire but not without passion, of kings and warriors, of lovers and brothers, of people not kin not lovers, growing in their lungs the flowers with thorns that cut deep, and drank away their blood without leaving any survivors.

Of course the tales are many, as tragic as they are, of how a man who killed his beloved for making him feel what he deemed unnecessary, his beloved who offered him a little white carnation, covered red in blood, but he held up his sword and cut through flesh, only to follow few days later in his grief.

Or of how a woman travelled across seas, in search of her soulmate, for the agony of her blood kept her comfort, for the heartbeat that echoed along with the garden she grew inside her lungs, because it meant her beloved was well, until one day, she coughed up a black rose and sank to her knees, disappearing from the world.

Of course, there were the ones who lived and got their happy ends, filled with their beloved ones caress or tears of guilt, and so was recorded, the flowers turning to dust and fading away, for their love had been acknowledged, so why the need for the reminder in their veins? Only marks appear on their skin, the place where they first made contact, sometimes the cheek, sometimes the hand, sometimes unseen under the clothes from when they rough-housed as kids.

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

Jiang Fengmian closed the book that he read, the pain blossoming sharp in his lungs, since that night when he sat, staring at the lotuses under the moonlight, his mind drifting to moments of the past, of longing of what once was, Lotus Pier once his home, felt more like a shackle around his wrists, yet this was his responsibility and he would bear the weight.

He thought to the day he waved away his dearest friend, the one by his side since they were young and grown into the men they were today, and as life went on, it was natural and it was expected, so Fengmian had not been forlorn but rather joyfully wished them well with sincerity and hoped they could visit some time in the future.

He was happy for Changze, for he had found his One, he’d seen the way he looked at her and she at him, he may have held affections for one of them but his love for their friendship outweighed it, and he would be content if they were healthy and successful in the path they chose, but even he knew with their own busy lives, it would be difficult to meet for a long time, so he bid them farewell and cherished their memories.

He didn’t feel as disappointed over his marriage as he originally did, it might have been arranged because of Meishan Yu Sect’s pressuring and his mother’s continuous desire for wanting one of theirs to be his bride, ‘to be the stern hand to his mellowness’ she had said, and what kind of a filial son would he be if he broke the betrothal off now?

And it was not as if he knew the Third Lady of Meishan Yu personally, seeing his brother-in arm’s relationship, his heart could not help but swell with hope, perhaps they could come to understand one another? He looked at his flowers, the ones he had grown with them, and the purple lotuses blooming near the entrance and thought, would she notice how the the colour reflected her eyes? Maybe a boat ride would help? Making future plans with anticipation, he felt a smile blooming on his face.

The day of the wedding came and went, except the chambers of the first night of the married couple remained empty, for his wife had requested for separate quarters in the privacy of their room, he agreed, perhaps she was nervous? Knowing each other better was better than consummation with a stranger, he nodded to himself, he should probably help make her comfortable as her husband.

He approached her room after he finished dressing and knocked lightly, and hesitantly called out “Third-lady?” The door opened, by one of the two girl’s Yu Ziyuan had brought over, and he saw his heart skip a beat when he saw her sitting clothed in Yunmeng Jiang’s purple, her violet eyes staring at him, her lips pursed in a line.

“What is it?” she asked, annoyance clear by her expression, he hesitated yet again, perhaps he had come too early? Yesterday had been a busy banquet. “Would you like to come to the pavilion with me today?” her eyes narrowed and he thought he saw a brief anger flash on her face, was she misunderstanding his intentions?? “The flowers are quite beautiful and the weather is quite good today, tea outside seems a calming time, doesn’t it?” he added, trying to make sure his tone did not seem too hurried, except she became even more angry.

Just when he expected her to refuse, she nodded curtly, “What time?” He let out a breath he did not even realise that he was holding, “Whatever seems comfortable.” He smiled at her gently, her eyes roamed over his face once again before she looked away, knowing full well she meant for him to leave, he got up.

He was happy throughout the day and it must have shown on his face, because his right-hand man told him to leave the Sect work to him for today and ‘just go Sect Leader!”, he had prepared the afternoon snacks himself, the place polished and ready for a wonderful evening, despite that, he still could not help but anxiously look over everything as he waited for her arrival, and she arrived, wearing the same robes as she was in the morning.

He got up to extend her seat. “Good Evening, Third-Lady” She had been looking around the garden since she had entered, he thought it out of appreciation, since these were the flowers they cultivated for years, until her eyes landed on him, which held the same anger as they did earlier in the morning. He served her the tea which she held tightly in her hands, and he found himself worrying, “Is something wrong?”

He expected her to say that the tea was not up to her taste at best, he expected her to criticise the garden’s decor at worse, what he had not expected were the words that left her mouth. “So this is the garden you cultivated with that woman? And you dared to bring me, your wife, here on the first day after our marriage?” She hissed, her words crisp and cutting, he felt confusion, followed by horrified upon realisation of the implications. 

“Third-Lady! What are you saying??”

“What am I saying?! Do you deny it? Do you take me for a fool? You married me once you were rejected by her, everyone knows that and you think that I will sit here calmly while being disrespected!? What do you take me for??” She yelled at him, slamming the cup down, he was truly shocked and frozen in his spot looking at her in bewilderment, had that really been what everyone was saying?

However, she took his shocked silence for agreement and got up to leave, “Third-Lady wait! It isn’t as you think, at all! Let me explain, we were friends and nothing else” He saw her pause, her back towards him so he hurried to explain.

“Changze brought her over once, to show her the garden we had cultivated since we were kids.” He paused to take a breath, “The only thing that was planted upon her suggestion were the purple lotuses-” He saw her head tilt as she looked the flowers, with a hopeful heart he thought, ‘maybe..?’ But before he could finish, Yu Ziyuan had turned around, a sneer upon her lips as she trampled upon the flowers next to her.

‘...to be the first thing you see, when you enter the garden.’

She left him staring at the trampled flowers, the tea cup tipped all over the table from when she smashed it in anger, and he sat there, processing what had happened, until a disciple knocked at the door, “Sect Leader?” The disciple peeked inside to catch his eye and stammered, “The meeting is about to begin, some urgent things came up and-” he smiled and replied “Of course, I’ll be on my way.” He sent the disciple off, grabbed a few napkins to clean up the table, and picked up the trampled flowers from the ground.

The days that followed went on without much words spoken between them, he did not dare to make the first move, because if she could misunderstand him in ways to such high extents, he was not sure what she would think if her sent over gifts, even if the thought of sending some crossed his mind, her scowling face and the violet of her eyes reminded him of that day, leading him to stay away.

He entered the garden, as months went by, the flowers that were once blooming wilted, just like everything in life had its end, some more sooner than the others, some caused by another, he thought as his eyes lingered on the place where once the purple lotus flowers stood. 

--------

“She’ll love them!” Cangse Sanren had said with that confident smile of hers, giving him thumbs up with both hands covered in dirt from where she planted her side of the lotuses with Changze, who nodded as well when he looked at him. “The ones on the right are from us, the ones to left were planted by her were own future-husband.” She grinned as he could feel flush creeping up his cheeks, he cleared his throat accompanied by Changze’s fond sigh. 

“She’ll probably melt, Sect Leader Jiang, down on his hands and knees in dirt, planting flowers in her-” Jiang Fengmian cut her off “Okay, enough! Enough!” he muttered, wiping his hands clean and looking at Changze, who only looked the other way as his wife cackled, the traitor. “Besides I plant flowers anyway, so does Changze, it’s not anything special like that.” He said defensively, Cangse Sanren had the audacity to roll her eyes, at Sect Leader, and his own home at that. “Sureee, Fengmian, sure.” 

---------

When he began to plant new fresh seeds, it took him much longer without Changze doing the other half, now, the thought of even considering Yu Ziyuan to plant the other half seemed laughable, he had been wrong in thinking they could come to understand one another, but now what was done was done, he could not exactly with separate her just within a few months of marriage, so he took a deep breath and decided upon a peace offering.

She was the Violet Spider, with a harsh temper and equally cutting words, what would be a gift that would be to her liking? He did not need to ponder over it for long, because to his surprise, he was approached by her during the evening, when he was alone. “I want to handle the training of the disciples.” She stated more than asked, Jiang Fengmian hesitated, that was a mistake, “What? Don’t think I’m good enough to train Yunmeng Jiangs disciples? Not good enough as your-” he cut her off,

 “No! That’s not what I was thinking-” the original instructor had been hand picked and carried the legacy of his forefathers, how could he alter what was passed down for generations- “Did you speak over me!? Trying to silence me, are you? With how you married me as a substitute for her? Is that not it?? Is that why you’re so hesitant?? Or perhaps is it that I’m a woman and you’re scared-” what?? “My Lady! That’s not it at all! I-”

“Then prove it, or else it's not believable at all, what other reason would you have then, to think that I am somehow inferior in your mind?” Her words dripped with poison, her eyes locking onto him, eyes of a venomous spider, he raised up his hand to massage his forehead. “Its not that simple! The instructing handlers have been passed down through generations, I cannot just change it on a whim.”

And she leaned back, smug as if she had won the argument, “Then perhaps it is not I who is lacking.” He felt cold all over, the anger he felt giving him no warmth, insulting his friends, insulting him, and now his sect. “Third-Lady, please be careful of what you speak, careless words aren’t able to be taken back easily.” Her smile remained, “Who says these are careless words? I mean every one of them, your Sect teachings haven’t produced any excelling disciple for the past years, while other Sect’s flourish, give me the reigns and I’ll show you how its done.”

Not only accepting all her words as intentional, but also implying she could do better than the Jiang Sect’s teachings over hundreds of years, he realised more and more what sort of a person he had been tied down to, would it not be better to just end the marriage? He instead looked over her smug expression and took a deep breath, “Fine, but give me time.” She nodded and left at that, a means to an end, giving her the benefit of the doubt, he did not know at the time, would turn out to be one of his worst mistakes.

It took him months but he managed to get some disciples under Yu Ziyuan, but his concerns were not simply over the teachings, if Yu Ziyuan could act the way she did with him, well with disciples? So he supervised the training lessons, but again to his surprise, other than some curt words, she did not verbally attack them the way she had attacked him, so it wasn’t her behaviour in general, just with him.

Of course he had called over one of the disciples randomly, although nervous and stuttering, the boy had answered that the training was going quite well, and with no reports or complaints in the following months, he could not do anything but let the matter drop, with this however, the matter of their distance remained as it was.

Soon he found that she relocated the aides he had, he had been angry of course, and immediately gone to her. “Where did you send Li Feng and the rest? And with what authority, you have no right-” she cut him off slamming her hands on top of the table. “With authority as your wife!? Or have you forgotten who your wife is?? So what? Can’t I move around servants here??” the anger churned his insides more so than anything else. 

“Those people aren’t servants, Li Feng is my right-hand man, please refer to them respectfully.” He tried to speak as calmly as possible, she glared at him “As the Madam of this house, I can do however I want.” he pinched the bridge of his nose, looked at her, her violet eyes, and exhaled. “Every action I do is met with anger, scorn or contempt,” He began, voice devoid of previous anger, “Then perhaps we should part ways.” He finished and her expression changed.

Out went the anger from her glare, instead for the first time she looked at him with shock instead of rage, and it was the first time he heard her stutter. “F-Fengmian, you can’t…” He looked at her, much relaxed with his mind made up, “Third-Lady, we clearly aren’t meant to be, we are completely different.” He turned his back and made to leave, with his hand on the door handle, “How dare you do this to me?”

Still the same, he closed his eyes, “How dare you, when I work day and night to train your disciples, how dare you, when you agreed to marry me in the first place, if anything, it's all your fault these things happen!” She yelled and he turned to look at her in disbelief, she cried “Why did you marry me if you were going to abandon me later?? How dare you!” she grabbed the nearest object, a cup and threw it at him, but he caught it before it broke.

‘Your fault’ she said, how was it his fault with any of it?? With how she behaved- “Have I caused problems in your Sect?? Have I gone out of my way to harm your people? All I did was rearrange the schedule setting but you seem to think I have committed treason?!”

She looked at him with anger “Did you not approach me first on that day? I was fine in my own quarters but you had to approach me.” He did but it was for purpose of getting to know each other better!

“Then all I asked was to train your disciples, only to get your suspicion” She huffed angrily “Do you think think me blind? That I would not if you called them to check if I was abusing them?? What do you take me for exactly!?” She saw him staring wide-eyed and nodded “You don’t get to ask for separation when I’m one who has suffered, after I’ve worked so hard, you could make some efforts too, if you weren’t so obsessed with that woman, and hate me unreasonably for not being her, then perhaps you would know!” She left, slamming the door behind her.

Her words repeated over and over in his head, ‘your fault’, true he had approached her first that day...but..and again the thing with disciples, he felt guilt creeping up in his heart, he should have tried harder if she misunderstood him, he should have explained it better, in a few days he saw his aides once again under him, but instead of greeting him like they usually did, they looked at him as if a stranger. 

“Is everything alright?” He asked, Li Feng answered “Of course, Sect Leader.” He nodded, not noticing anything odd, except over the next month, he realised they were treating him distantly, he couldn’t share with them what was on his mind, nor any of his opinions, being met with “As Sect Leader wishes.” Was Yu Ziyuan right? Was he the one lacking in communication? But he never had Changze misunderstand him...

In his state, he did not notice rumours spreading about how Jiang Fengmian did not like Yu Ziyuan because he was ‘still in love with another woman’.

Most of time was spent busy with his work, not knowing how to face her again, days became months, he would sometimes reminisce over his past times, feeling guilt weighing him down and pain in his chest, there no reason for him to feel anything out of the ordinary, until one day, when he was sitting in his room while looking down at his garden, the flowers did not bloom, he thought, and he felt a wave of coldness wash over him

Thinking how the once lively Lotus Pier turned into a place of coldness for him, his wife refused to talk to him, his aides and friends looked at him with judgement in their eyes, and then the pain increased unnaturally, until he couldn’t help but take in deep breaths helping to no avail, and then he coughed.

He coughed and coughed until he could feel his lungs bleed and he tasted metal on his tongue, until he could feel thorns scratching his throat as he choked with panic overtaking him, barely able to breath he vomited, instead of feeling his blanket get wet from what he thought was bile, he opened his eyes to be greeted by flowers, lots of carnations, stargazer lilies and purple hyacinths mixed together, covered in blood and vines.

He laughed, he had not laughed since the day he got married to Yu Ziyuan, he laughed and laughed bitterly, tears forming in his eyes, he felt so alone, he thought ‘how good would it be if I could just leave?’, at least, he thought between breaths, at least they are alright, it had been a long time since he had heard from his friends.

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

A year had passed just like that, Yu Ziyuan’s angry scornful comments continued any time he so much as tried to speak to her that he gave up trying, his aides while weren’t exactly the same with him anymore, he did catch them staring at him with concern sometimes, few reassurances had them going back to work.

Hearing knocking at the door, with Yu Ziyuan’s “It’s me”, exhaustion filled him, and his heart skipped a beat with fear, of course it wasn’t that he was afraid of her, but her reaction, her words if she knew, he glanced once at the hiding place of the book and got up to open the door, tired as he did not want to face more of her tirades or whatever she wanted from him.

She walked in, eyes roaming over his room and sat on the edge of his bed, “Fengmian” she began, and he took a deep breath, she wanted to ask for something when she spoke like that, “What is it Third-Lady?” he asked, a bit resigned.

“The people have been talking.” She said a bit curtly, that phrase always sent his thoughts back to when they first talked, and since whenever she uttered it, it was almost always followed by anger, he did not like it at all.

Though reluctant, he still asked weakly “About what, Third-Lady?” she looked away. “Heirs” With that one word, he felt a surge of that unpleasant coldness forming in the pit of his stomach. “‘Heirs?’” he repeated, he had known that one day he would have to consummate their relationship, and he had foolishly avoided it being brought up, with what reason could he deny this?

“Make up your mind, people have been talking, how Fengmian has not touched his wife since her arrival.” She said, turning to look at her, the violet of her eyes made him sick, his thoughts filled with the purple hyacinths covered in blood, he felt breath come short to his lungs. “Give me time, Third-Lady.” He whispered weakly, and winced when he realised it was the wrong thing to say as her expression twisted.

“Do you hear yourself? Always ‘give me time’ whenever I ask you for something, haven’t I given you enough time to come to yourself? Always dazed nowadays!” She snapped and he flinched, “Third-Lady no! I-” She interrupted “Don’t speak over me!” She got up, and walked closer to him, prompting him to take a step back. 

“You, always yearning for your beloved it it?” She sniffed and he felt his heart drop, she couldn’t possibly have known, he went alone and- “You...you had people following me??” He whispered, angered, afraid, he did not know what he was feeling, except that he wanted to be far far away from her. Were it the people he once called his aides? 

“Does it matter? Who knows when you’d meet up with that wh-” He slammed his hand on the door “Third-Lady, please leave.” He said taking in deep breaths to keep the pain at bay, “Just go” He added when a look of anger overcame her yet again “Fengmian you-” he didn’t let her speak. “You want heirs? Heirs right? Let's talk about that later, out” He pointed to the door, she bit her lips but ultimately left, knowing her words wouldn’t be needed any more having accomplished what she came for.

He closed the door and tried to move to the inside of the room, where he coughed, coughed until blood poured down his mouth, blood until the purple flowers fell from his mouth, it was getting worse than before, he huffed and washed clean the blood, washed cleaned the flowers, a drawer he opened, entirely filled with violet flowers, a reminder of the fool he had been. 

He sat on his knees as he stared them, despair heavy on his face,  “Ah Changze, what am I supposed to do?”

So, they shared the moment of what should have been their wedding night, he left as soon as morning came, with the urge to vomit yet again at his throat, and it was not entirely due to the diseases spike, he would hope that was the one and only moment time they would ever have to take part in matrimonial duties, for her cutting words didn’t ever seem to hold back, no matter the occasion.

Months passed and confirmation came that she was with child, it was a relief to him, less about acquiring an heir and more not having to deal with the woman, except in her state she was more unbearable than ever but he couldn’t say anything, for he would be met with her rant of “You did this to me!” From her, he fulfilled her every wish, but he couldn’t think to be with her in the same room for more than a few minutes, without bile rising to his throat.

But when the day of the birth came, he sat as she held his arm, as she screamed in pain, that was the least he could do as her husband, suppressing all moments of disgust he felt upon her touch, and after hours and hours, he got to hold his daughter while her mother took rest, and his heart filled with love, his little one, she was his dearest child, Jiang Yanli.

For a few days, things seemed better, Yu Ziyuan seemed to hold back on her anger, he assumed she had been happy as well, how wrong he had been, when she came to him and spoke about betrothal with her Sworn Sister, Madam Jin of Jin Sect, and he felt disbelief coursing his veins and it was the first time he truly raised his voice at her. “No.” he said firmly, no matter how much she yelled or screamed, he refused.

He had said, “Her marriage will done with her own choice, no matter what.” he thought later that had been a mistake, because Yu Ziyuan started to arrange play-dates between Yanli and the Jin heirs son, he still refused, until Jiang Yanli herself came to him, claiming she loved the boy she saw but barely knew anything of, if she did, she would have seen the disdain the boy held for prospect of marriage, the same disdain he saw in Yu Ziyuan.

The woman came to him again, “A-Li likes him, or are you going to deny what you had said?”  He wanted to argue, Yanli was barely old enough to understand but knowing Yu Ziyuan, he knew there was no way she would give up, so he agreed, hoping to break it off later in the future, when Yanli was old enough to understand, his daughter would know that there was no love lost between her and the boy.

Until her 3rd birthday, when it became more and more obvious that Yanli could not form a core, and Yu Ziyuan’s anger burned again, he tried to keep Yanli around him more than her, but when she came asking to talk to her daughter, as her mother, he could not refuse, his daughter usually looked down instead of looking at her.

One of those days, when Yu Ziyuan had come to ask, Jiang Yanli held tightly on his clothes and looked at him with her light coloured eyes, Ziyuan’s purple reminded him of poison, of those hyacinths in his lungs, and Yanli’s reminded him of those purple lotuses, that he had grown with love, he made an excuse, and the woman huffed away, “Fine, send her over later then.” He did not, “She was tired.” He said calmly, when Yu Ziyuan later yelled at him.

They had to share the bed once more when the question of heirs was brought up, and he had spent the rest of the day in his room, vomiting, sick to his stomach, both the blood and the food, for the first time since Yanli’s birth. As usual, he cleaned up without letting anyone know.

Nearing the evening, he heard a light knock at his door. “Father?” He heard, Yanli call out, he got up to open the door, and invited his little daughter in, “Father’s not well?” she questioned as she climbed up onto his lap, he patted her head lovingly. “Father is okay. A-Li does not have to worry, but he wonders what has she been doing? I saw her go to the kitchen earlier today.” He pretended to be puzzled.

“A-Li learnt how to make soup from Old Fa!” She said excitedly, holding her hands together. “But Mother says its a servant’s job, she doesn’t like it.” She wilted and he looked at her directly. “Father would love to eat a-li’s soup.” She looked at him hopefully, “I know it’d taste delicious!” She cheered up. 

“I made it for father today.” She ran out and came back with a bowl filled with what was..the soup. He drank it anyway and gave a strained smile, “Could use a little less salt” He choked out, and her smile was worth it.

Weeks passed peacefully, he was with Yanli in the kitchen, watching as Old Fa taught her how to knead, cooking was one of the few things that brought a smile to her face, seeing her so excited, he relaxed as well, until Yu Ziyuan joined them, he hadn’t expected her to, given her mindset of it being a servants job,  “A-Li you’re doing it wrong.” She said after watching her for a moment, in the same tone of voice as she used when training disciples.

“A-Xuan won’t like it if all you can do is cook, come with me to the training grounds.” She said, he cut her off “A-Li doesn’t have to do everything for him.” And Yu Ziyuan turned to him “If you want her to do a servant job then that's on you, she’s my daughter too, and as the daughter of Violet Spider, she should be able to fight! Not partaking in these weak acts-” He cut her off “Third Lady! Control your words!”

Before he could say more, soft sniffles cut him off, he looked at his daughter, her hands still inside the dough, tears she was trying to wipe on her shoulder, “Third-Lady is not allowed in the kitchen anymore.” He said and watched Old Fa escort her out, not before Yu Ziyuan shouted, “You cannot keep me from training my daughter!” She yelled as if he had ordered her banishment instead.

“No one is keeping you, if you have nothing good to say to a-li, it's better if you stay away from her, Third-Lady, take the day to cool off” He nodded towards the door, “Fine! If you want your daughter to be a weak-” he cut her off “Third-Lady! Leave.” She threw one last look at them and left fuming.

He knelt next to his daughter, pulled her into a hug. “A-Li is sorry Father!” She sobbed, and rubbed her back “A-Li doesn’t have to be sorry, a-li’s mother should be saying sorry.”

“Mother says father doesn’t like a-li” She said after calming down a bit “Because a-li looks like her mother-” he pulled back to look at her in the eye and enunciated his every word, “A-Li is not her mother, a-li is my beloved daughter, and I love everything a-li does” He told her comfortingly. 

“A-Li is not weak, a-li is peaceful, there is strength in nurturing and kindness.” Yanli finally seemed to calm down, hiccuping but not sobbing anymore, he wiped her tears away and smiled “Father loves a-li a lot.” he said as he kissed the top of her head.

---------

And then the day came when Yanli’s little sibling came into the world, accompanied by just as much of screaming, but less hours lost, Yanli cooed over her little brother, a tiny little thing in her mother’s arms, she reached out and lightly pressed his cheek, “So small.” Her father chuckled and said “A-Li was also this small when she was born.” Yu Ziyuan showed a rare smile as well, “His name will be Jiang Cheng.” She said.

Things went a bit smoothly after that, even though Ziyuan was the same as always Yanli his beloved daughter was eight years old, and his son, Jiang Cheng was four, his core formed well and he thought Yu Ziyuan had been happy, so he had not expected when she was walked into his room and started yelling,

 “Why are you ostracising your son!? Yanli’s going to be married into Jin Sect and yet you spend time coddling her! And you don’t spend the same amount of time with your son?”

He really hadn’t expected her random onslaught, nor where she was coming from, his son was working hard, and he had overlooked his training personally, teaching him the Jiang teachings along with Yu Ziyuan’s own training. “Oh is it because I’m his mother? Because you cannot handle seeing your own son when you want to see a son with her-” Where was she coming from, he felt horrified, “Third-Lady! What’re you saying!?”

The door swung open and their son, Jiang Cheng stood shocked, scared at being caught and tears in his eyes, before he ran away. He turned to her disgust forming heavy, before leaving her where she stood spluttering how she didn’t mean for him to hear her.

He found his son sobbing as Yanli comforted him in his room. “Mother doesn’t mean it.” Yanli told him as she rubbed his back, “She loves you.” He only sobbed louder, “But she’s right, Father likes you more because he hates me. He likes that boy more-” Yanli looked as if she didn’t know what to say, and Fengmian felt confused, who were they talking about?

“No, I absolutely, do not.” He said and his children froze and turned to him, “You do! Why do you make me work more than everyone else!?” His son got up, and lightly started punching him from where he reached his knees while he sobbed, Jiang Fengmian, placed a hand on his shoulder, suppressing the pain in his heart and lungs.

“Because A-Cheng is going to be the Sect Leader, A-Cheng needs to be strong.” He said evenly as his son shook his head. “That’s not what you said to Jie!” and ran to his bed, “A-Cheng listen-” His son turned to look at him with anger “If you did then you wouldn’t have that disease!”

Jiang Fengmian stared at him, too shocked to feel anything. How? Or Why? Did she tell them that?! How did she even- his thoughts cut off as he thought back, if she could send people tailing him, what couldn’t she do? 

He looked at his daughter who avoided his gaze, “A-Li?” she answered silently “Mother said Father would replace him for-” She frowned, trying to remember a name, “‘Wei Ying’, the son of your-” She sneaked a peak at him “Your ‘beloved’.” And looked away, as if feeling guilt.

“A-Li, no, I love you both, how can she-” Yanli nodded, “I know that you love us, but A-Cheng thinks Father doesn’t like him because of Mother…” she hesitated. “And that you regret it wasn’t someone else, instead.”

He regretted, he regretted letting his children near Yu Ziyuan’s poisonous words, but the only regret was Yu Ziyuan, not his love for his children, it was not something he would ever regret, he didn’t even know Wei Changze had a son. 

“A-Li” He began gently, knowing A-Cheng was listening when his shaking under the blanket stopped, “They were my friends, like you and-” He thought for a second, “-like you and A-Cheng, we grew up together but they were my friends, and you’re my children, I love you both.” He kissed the top of her head and her shoulders dropped in what could only be relief, and reached up to pat Jiang Cheng’s head under the blanket, and left them for a moment.

He knocked on Yu Ziyuan’s door, only to find it open and empty, he walked inside and opened the cabinets and drawers until he found what he was looking for, for her to know she must have- and there they were.

Pages over pages, written in a familiar writing, ranging from containing details of travels, requesting permission to visit, to mentions of ‘Wei Ying’s’ birth, he felt tears form in his own eyes, with his heart filled with overwhelming pain and indignation, he now understood her random bursts, they were each time a letter was received, over jealousy-

Before he could go out and confront her, the pain in his lungs became unbearable, he choked and coughed, no matter how much he tried to restrain it, he coughed until he collapsed to his knees, why now? His body heated up feeling thorns tear at this lungs and throat. 

He could barely breath as he vomited, vision fading from the corner of his eyes, he was confused until he caught a look of the flowers he coughed, pure black roses mixed with the hyacinths, the rose thorns dripping with blood, no sign of lilies and carnations, his heart and soul filled with agony and he cried, and then he knew nothing more.

When he woke up, he felt nothing, he knew he hated Yu Ziyuan, but he felt nothing but blank emptiness, when he stared at the woman standing at the door, his children on either side of his bed. “Oh good, that you’re awake.” She hissed as if he was an inconvenience and he found no rage, and he nodded calmly instead.

He knew his friends had passed but he did not, could not feel grief, he knew he loved his children, so he reached out with both his hands, patting them as they muttered apologies while sobbing. “It wasn’t your fault, father was a bit sad, and was already sick, but he’s well now.” He said gently, and once the children left, he looked at the woman who was his wife and said “I’ll bring A-Ying back.”

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

Authors note

Jfm knew he cared for Wei Ying, yet he felt nothing.

He knew he loved his children, he felt nothing,

He knew he hated his wife, yet he felt, nothing.

---------

So yesterday i was looking through @angstymdzsthoughts  and came across platonic hanahaki and thought hey sounds angsty, and thought ‘hey what if jfm had platonic hanahaki for cangse sanren and wei changze?’ i deliberately tried to keep it ambiguous which one he was in love with XD Madam Yu kept assuming and he didn’t give a fuk about correcting her, also like i couldnt bring myself to even write them spending the night together idk y, took a lot of effort lol. Started out with thinking hanaki, got more of JFM’s descent to feeling nothing oof.

Also like it turned out more focus on the fact that even before wwx was brought to lp, there would still be yzy biching and making everyone miserable so-

[stiltonbasket]

Hi!! Could I perhaps request LQR baby-sitting A-Yu and A-Lan for the renouncement verse? Thanks, love you <333

(brief author’s note: please please reblog if you can, since that’s how we get prompts for future chapters!)

Lan Qiren’s nephews keep overworking themselves. 

This wouldn’t be a bad thing if they hadn’t been doing it for the last several years, but it’s beginning to wear on them. Xichen’s eyes are always red and swollen from writing letters by candlelight, and Lan Qiren doesn’t remember the last time he saw Wangji without trade reports in his arms and spit-up milk on his robes, so he finally puts his foot down and decides to give all three of them a break in early autumn. 

“Xichen, go take a soak in the hot springs,” he orders, sweeping into the hanshi and shoving everything on Lan Xichen’s desk up one of his sleeves. “Now.”

Lan Xichen is so exhausted that he tries to paint a line of calligraphy onto the expensive wood of his writing table. “Shufu?” 

“You heard me,” Lan Qiren scolds. “Go on! I’ll finish the petition forms by tomorrow.” 

Somewhat bewildered, Lan Xichen ambles out through the hanshi’s back door and splashes into the hot spring, leaving Lan Qiren to march down to the jingshi and confiscate all of Wangji’s trade contracts. He also confiscates baby A-Lan, who is lying in Lan Wangji’s lap and trying to eat his jade pendant. 

“What are you doing?” Wangji asks, watching him tug the rest of his letters out of Wei Ying’s hands and stuff those up his sleeves, too. “Uncle?” 

“You and Wei Ying need a rest,” he announces. “I am taking your work to the meishi, and I am also taking your children. Do not come to fetch them until sunset.” 

And with that, he straps Wei Shuilan to his chest and takes Lan Yu by the hand, bundling them off to his own residence before their parents have time to do much more than blink at him in confusion. 

“Huh,” Wei Wuxian says, after he leaves. “I think your uncle has a point, actually. Let’s go to bed, Lan Zhan.”

__

When Lan Qiren gets back to the meishi, he settles A-Lan down for a nap and gives Xiao-Yu a snack and some silver puzzle rings to improve his hand-eye coordination. “It almost reminds me of the old days,” he sighs, as Shuilan kicks her chubby little feet before falling asleep with her thumb in her mouth. “Even if Wangji never went down for naps without a fuss.” 

Lan Qiren was nineteen when he became acting sect leader, and he was also nineteen when he received custody of Xichen: not coincidentally, because the clan hoped that taking charge of the sect would prevent him from raising his nephew and allow one of them to take over his care instead. But Lan Qiren was nothing if not stubborn, so Lan Huan went with him everywhere—to meetings, discussion conferences, and even the odd wedding now and then, and was generally such an amiable baby that he adjusted to his uncle’s fraught travelling schedule without a fuss. In fact, the first time Lan Huan met Jiang Yanli had been during a week-long cultivation event at Lotus Pier, yawning in a sling on Lan Qiren’s back while Jiang Yanli napped on Jiang Fengmian’s chest, and Jiang Fengmian had even mentioned the possibility of a betrothal between the two babies when they were older. 

“My wife wants to contract an engagement between Xiao-Li and a son born to her sworn sister, but Jin-zongzhu and Jin-furen have not yet had a child,” Jiang-zongzhu had sighed, letting his daughter’s little fingers wrap around his. He looked heartbroken at the mere thought of parting from her, Lan Qiren remembers—which was probably why he named her yan li, to hate separation, because Jiang Yanli’s premature birth nearly stole her away from her parents the moment she entered the world. 

“Lanling is closer to Gusu than Yunmeng,” Lan Qiren pointed out. Yunmeng Jiang would make an excellent alliance by marriage, and he was fairly certain at the time that Jiang Yanli would grow up to resemble her mild-mannered father rather than her hot-tempered mother. He was right, of course, since Jiang-guniang took after Jiang Fengmian in both looks and character, but contracting a betrothal with her for Xichen would have done both of them a disservice—because Xichen could never have loved her as she would have wanted to be loved, and he could never have given her children, either. 

“Shugong?” a little voice says at Lan Qiren’s elbow, distracting him from the possibility of a world where Lan Huan married Jiang Yanli and crippled Lanling Jin’s influence after the Sunshot Campaign. “Xiao-Yu is done with the puzzle. I have another one?”

“Already?” Lan Qiren asks. This is yet another trait Xiaohui inherited from Wei Wuxian despite not being related to him, and Lan Qiren feels his heart swell with pride at his great-nephew’s intelligence. “Then you may play with the wooden blocks on that shelf, and see how high you can build your tower without letting it fall over.”

Xiao-Yu settles down on the hearthrug to stack up the fine-carved building blocks, and Lan Qiren goes through his nephew’s papers in peace for another hour before A-Lan wakes up from her nap and wails for her milk at the top of her lungs. 

“Do not cry,” Lan Qiren soothes, securing the child in her swaddle before heating a bottle with a warming talisman. “Here is your supper, and your xiongzhang is there on the mat.”

He has to keep A-Lan in his arms after that, since his tiny great-niece is so used to being held that putting her down would break her little heart; and Lan Qiren would rather die than let go of her, because he dearly misses holding his nephews, and not so long ago he was certain he would never have the chance to hold a baby again. 

And then, as if cuddling A-Lan to his chest wasn’t wonderful enough, Xiao-Yu pulls one of Wangji’s old picture books out of Lan Qiren’s storage trunk and runs over to sit in his lap, pushing the trade contracts aside and replacing them with the fable of the magic lotus lantern.

“Shugong, read to Xiao-Yu?” the little boy begs, snuggling into Lan Qiren’s overgown next to his cooing baby sister. “A-Die likes this story best.”

Of course he does, Lan Qiren thinks, as he flips the cover open and starts to read. The tale of the magic lotus lantern was written about a child whose mother was stolen away from him, taken back to the heavens by force when her godly brother discovered the magic lantern that illuminated her way to the mortal world—and for a while Wangji believed that his mother was like the immortal Sanshengmu, who loved a human man and had a child with him before returning to the realm she came from. Sanshengmu’s story ended with her being reunited with her husband and son, and the little Wangji never gave up hope that his own mother might come back in much the same way, even after he was old enough to stop believing in fairy stories. 

“Why did they fight?” Xiao-Yu asks, leaning closer to see the picture of the goddess’s lover with his brush and scroll. “That’s against the rules!”

“Sometimes people who love one another fight because they cannot understand their feelings,” Lan Qiren tells him, tapping the point of his soft button nose. “So it was with Sanshengmu and Liu Yanchang-gongzi, and when he awoke, she revealed her true identity, and explained why she sent a rainstorm to plague him after she read his poem. 

“Both apologized profusely. Days went by, and Liu Yanchang finally recovered. By then the goddess and the scholar had fallen deeply in love, and marriage naturally ensued. Encouraged by Goddess Sanshengmu, Liu Yanchang continued with his journey to the capital to take the imperial examination, and months later, the goddess gave birth to their son, whom she named Chenxiang.

“At the same time, the goddess’s celestial family had learned about her marriage to an earthly man. Her brother, known as Divine Erlang, found his unruly sister and demanded that she renounce her new family and return with him to their heavenly home, but Sanshengmu refused, and battled him with the power of her magical lotus lantern…”

__

“I want to paint a portrait of this,” Wei Wuxian whispers, when he and Lan Zhan creep into the meishi after sunset to find Lan Qiren fast asleep on the floor, with A-Lan snoozing on his chest and Xiao-Yu curled up in the crook of his arm. “They’re so sweet, Lan Zhan!”

“Mm,” Lan Zhan murmurs, his eyes softening as he looks at the open book on his uncle’s desk. Lan Qiren clearly just finished reading it before he fell asleep, because the book is open to the very last picture; a color painting of a goddess embracing a youth and an older man with a lotus-shaped lantern hanging at the crook of her elbow. “Bring a blanket and a pillow, Wei Ying. We should let them sleep.”

(Lan Qiren often finds himself toting his little great-nephew and niece around the Cloud Recesses after that, and Xiao-Yu’s favorite place to play in his parents’ absence is always the house where his shugong lives.)

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 17 second part

(Masterpost) (Previous Post) (Pinboard)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!!

Breaking Good

Wen Qing comes to visit Wen Ning in their backyard meth lab, and tells him that he fucked up a recipe, merely by taking a whiff of the concoction. She uses the approved "wave fumes toward self" way of smelling that you learn in high school science if you live in a country that believes in teaching science, which OP does not.

Wen Ning wants to know if they are going to have a feud, and she tells him there already is one. She tells explains to him that they're good Wens, not evil Wens, and that Jiang Cheng is fucked, and they should send the Jiangs away in the morning before Wen Chao comes around. 

Wen Ning whines at her about all of this, shifting into little-brother persona and acting like he didn't just take down 40 of Wen Chao's soldiers in a single night. He does this same persona shifting in his later unlife, with Wei Wuxian. When there is trouble, he's extremely effective, and can even tail WWX and Lan Wangji without getting caught, but then he is hopeless when dealing with turnips or children. 

Here, it seems like a version of Wei Wuxian's own little-brother persona, in which he pretends to be helpless so that his sister can take care of him.

#studyblr

Wei Wuxian comes into Wen Qing's head shop to ask her for medical books. He loves his brother so much he's volunteering for a research project. We've seen him be clever before; we've seen circumstantial evidence that he's a good student, but now we're going to see him actually buckling down and doing intellectual work.

Wen Qing thinks its hopeless and wants Wei Wuxian to get some rest. But he gives her puppydog eyes, so she sets him up in her library.

Wei Wuxian reads a huge pile of medical books and learns interesting things about the human body.   

(more after the cut)

Hopefully he does not splotch ink all over them while he holds this wet brush directly over the page. Why does he even have a brush in his hand? Is he taking notes in the margin? 

Wen Qing eventually tells him to take a break and go see Jiang Yanli.

Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Jiang Yanli is tending to Jiang Cheng, gently telling him to suck it up by citing their father, which is probably not the greatest idea. 

Yanli's wearing dark blue with white and looks awesome.  It's not Gusu Lan blue, but the blue and white is an interesting choice for the excruciating heart to heart they're about to have.  

Wei Wuxian shows up looking terrible, or the Xiao Zhan version of terrible, i.e. handsome and a little scruffy. But also worn out, unhappy, and fragile.

Jiang Yanli wants him to rest, but he wants to find a way to repair Jiang Cheng's core, and his mind races, trying to think of where he can get books and who can help him. His thoughts instantly go to Cloud Recesses and Lan Wangji. His face lights up at the thought that Lan Wangji will help him, and he hops up, ready to dash off and find him.

The first time I watched this I was like, dude yes you’re in love, but you can’t just dash off to find Lan Wangji, not when there’s a war on.  This time I was like, actually wow things would turn out a whole lot better if you got Lan Wangji to help you, instead of coming up with your own plan.

Mother Mother Can You Tell Me

Jiang Yanli tells him to slow his roll.  He's pushing himself too hard and she's afraid he will collapse. Then Wei Wuxian comes out and says what's driving him: maybe all these disasters are his fault.

It's telling, I think, that he cites Madame Yu, not Jiang Cheng, in this moment, even though Jiang Cheng has blamed him much more thoroughly and consistently. He's talking about one mother figure, to another mother figure, and looking for absolution.

He super does not get what he's looking for.

Jiang Yanli slowly lets go of him and goes the fuck off. She asks, rhetorically, what he's to blame for, and then lists off all of the shit that's happened.  She finishes up by saying, look at our situation; blaming won't help anything. 

It's unclear, because language/translation, if her answer is "it doesn't matter who's to blame" I.E. "yes, it's your fault, but I'm letting it go" or if she is saying "how does blaming yourself help anything?" I.E. "it's not your fault, stop being a drama llama."

Her body language, though, seems pretty blameful - she lets go of him, yells at him, sits down and turns away from him.  And his reaction is not one of shared grief, or of someone who is trying to get over himself; he's totally crushed, and he literally never unburdens himself to her again.  Even when he asks her, much later, about love, he immediately backs out of the conversation. 

There is no violence in this moment and her reaction is understandable, but this is kind of similar to that one time when his brother choked him in a beautiful field of grass, in order to make himself feel better. 

Then she kind of relents and takes his hand, telling him that she needs him and reminding him that he promised that they will go back to Lotus Pier. I don't remember him promising this, but okay. 

He puts his head on her lap and he cries, she cries, comatose Jiang Cheng cries; FUCK this episode.  

Jiang Cheng manages to cry only one tear and does it on the side of his face that his siblings can't see because he's not going to give them the satisfaction of sharing this moment with him, I guess.

When Wei Wuxian puts his head on Jiang Yanli's lap, it's part of a ritual for them, that they both are comforted by; he does it again much later, after they return to Lotus Pier. But this ritual does not actually do anything to relieve his burdens. As a male adult, and the only Jiang Clan disciple with any abilities, it falls to him to save the clan, whatever it takes, and he is heavily aware of it.

Wen Qing comes along and sees the sweet part of this complicated Shijie-Shidi dynamic, and decides to help with Wei Wuxian's research project. When the trio had just lost their parents, gotten sick, been pursued by enemies, & had one of Yanli's little brothers horribly wounded, Wen Qing was like, eh, I'll do the doctor stuff but that's it. But lap-crying is another level. 

Wen Qing: Nooo don't put your head on her knees I failed my saving throw

Group Project

Wen Qing goes and cleans up the mess in the library, putting everything in order and settling in to read systematically. Wen Qing probably has the prettiest bullet journal. (OP looks proudly at the 100 loose slips of paper and piles of random stuff on her own desk)

Wei Wuxian has shaved and rested and comes in with a tray of food for Wen Qing, and then goes to his table in the back to start working. He claims he made "porridge" for her and that she has to eat to gain strength, and she gives him an intrigued expression.  This moment is just blatant het baiting.  

In fact the food he brings her is clearly not porridge, which might just be a translation error, but also he totally can't cook, so it's not clear if he's joking and Yanli or Wen Ning made the food, or if this is just inedible.

The Things We Do For Love

Yanli is working in the meth lab and coughing a lot. Yanli's chronic illness is a sign of what's to come for Wei Wuxian, because strong cultivators don't get sick. Yet Yanli, as a physically vulnerable person, who has either a weak golden core, or none, is still intrinsically valuable.  Her presence in this scene is a reminder that Jiang Cheng's life is not, actually, over; he just feels like it is.

While Yanli cooks the meth, Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing have a study montage that is the equivalent of a training montage, except without "Eye of the Tiger" on the soundtrack.

Jiang Cheng remains unconscious. Apparently if you stick nails in the top of someone's head, you make them sleep, and in the back of their head, you turn them into part of your zombie army. Fortunately Wen Qing's aim is good. Jiang Cheng is looking devastatingly handsome as usual the TV version of unwell, and has grown a perfect Dorito-chip of stubble on his chin to go with his new 'stache.

Eventually Wei Wuxian changes back into his non-vampire robe and he finds the answer in an old scroll book. The Ikea instruction picture shows arrows going from the guy on the left to the guy on the right.  Clearly it's not a great procedure for the guy on the left.

Wei Wuxian's face shows us exactly how not great. 

Like walking in the rain and the snow and there’s no place to go and you’re feeling like a part of you is dying

He goes outside and gazes up at the trees and the sky as he contemplates the sacrifice that circumstance is forcing on him. He's not even making a choice at this point; his choice was made the moment he found the procedure. But it's going to be a tremendous loss for him. He values sword cultivation at least as much as Jiang Cheng does; he even fell in love with a boy over crossed swords. So he sits and just kind of comes to terms with this new understanding of his future. (Big gifs here)

Wen Qing finds him sitting, stunned, on the porch. She doesn't know what's up so she just sits quietly with him until he's ready to tell her.

She doesn't love the plan.  

Thunder, Th-th-thunder

Wen Ning is bringing food up when he sees them arguing, and he is startled by situationally appropriate thunder and lightning. Having recently watched The Lost Tomb Reboot I've come to expect thunder and lighting to appear on cue in any possible situation, so the fact that this mini-storm clears right up again doesn't bother me.

What About You?

Wen Ning dashes inside to see what Mom and Dad are fighting about. They're having a polite shouting match because Wen Qing refuses to yank out Wei Wuxian's core. 

Wen Qing: I hate the idea of harming you Wei Wuxian: I don’t even understand that sentence

Wei Wuxian doesn’t, of course, feel that he is important in any way, and ignores her concerned and appalled expressions in favor of telling her to just do it anyway. Amazingly, this does not convince her. 

OP’s 177cm-tall son keeps telling her this

Then Wei Wuxian plays the "you know Jiang Cheng" card, which...I guess she does? Maybe he was chatting her up more than we saw in Cloud Recesses? He hasn't given her the comb or anything yet. Wei Wuxian explains that Jiang Cheng cares about gain and loss, and cultivation is his life. If he can only be ordinary the rest of his life will be ruined.

Wen Qing asks the question that nobody ever asks him: What about you? 

Wei Wuxian has literally nothing to say to that, possibly because the question is so new to him. 

Wen Ning doesn't know what's going on but comes squarely in on team Wei, of course, and begs his sister to Do The Thing.  How fucking horrified is Wen Ning going to be when he learns what The Thing is? What he is personally going to help do to his beloved friend? Yikes.   

Wen Qing caves, warning them that the chance of success is only 50 percent. Wei Wuxian is happy to take those odds.

Lan Wangji, projecting his voice from Episode 46: fifty percent, are you fucking kidding me?

Soundtrack: 1. Mother Mother by Tracy Bonham 2. The Things We Do For Love by 10cc 3. Thunder by Imagine Dragons

[butterflymar]

DAY 2: FAVORITE BL DRAMA

I have quite a few... I can’t choose just one so bare with me lol

Life Senjou No Bokura

Synopsis According to MyDramaList: One day after school, the serious Ito and the child-like Nishi meet by chance, as each endeavors to remain walking  on the sidewalk`s white line. As time goes by, Ito recognizes he is drawn to Nishi in a way that is new to him. Nishi, for his part, is frustrated that they only get to meet on the sidewalk. Ito decides to act upon his feelings and kisses a surprised Nishi, who agrees they need to walk side by side for a change. The sparks between them are undeniable as their relationship blossoms in high school, survives the college years, and matures into adulthood. A deeply moving work that bears witness to loving partners, whose unchanging feelings must co-exist within a world of changing realities.

My Personal Thoughts: I already wrote a review for this so I am going to re-share some of those thoughts here. This is one that I have watched countless times already. They went by the manga for mostly all of the episodes and I appreciated seeing that. They gave more context for certain details that may have been lost while reading the manga and translated it to screen. I think they depicted the age gaps well too. For 4 episodes only, I feel that they did a great job including the most important aspects. Actually now that I think of it, I would have loved to see more of them in their early 20s depicted on screen because that was like one of there honeymoon phases and I’m a hopeless romantic lol but that’s just a personal preference not complaining. Also, the show stopped at age 40 and they could have gone on throughout there entire lives but I understand why they chose not too. The manga is great as well!!! I think that the main actors depicted beautiful true love very well. They had amazing chemistry. Japanese BL’s have that special spark about them that I love. I also loved that it showed there relationship from high school till there later years. I don’t see that a lot with BL’s. They usually just stick to one time period. The aspect about them being connected by a line in relation to there love was a nice touch as well. I am glad that it has a happy ending as well. This is a pretty quick one to watch and a great one at that!!! If you haven’t watched it yet, I would highly recommend it!!!

I Told Sunset About You 

Synopsis According to MyDramaList: Teh and Oh-aew were best friends until a boyhood line of reasoning turned them into rivals. Years later as they're preparing for university admissions, both pursuing interests in the field of Communication Arts, the two meet in a Chinese language class. Their reunion awakens complicated and unstable feelings.

My Personal Thoughts: Same as above, I already wrote a review for this so I am going to re-share some of those thoughts here. This is DEFINITELY one of my top BL shows of the year 2020. This is such a beautiful masterpiece of a show!!! I remember when the preview trailer first came out… I was already hooked!!! I was on the lookout for it and it did not disappoint me one bit when it finally started. I looked forward to seeing it every week. It made me feel all of the emotions. I was up here sitting in my room crying over everything. I don’t think any other BL has made me this emotional before in my life. The two lead actors really DELIVERED!!! I could feel every single stare, every single body movement, and every single touch. You could cut the TENSION with a knife!!! No one couldn’t tell me that there wasn’t a magnetic true love between these two. I know this sounds cliche but it's like they were destined to be together from when they were childhood friends. Also, I would love to see them in future projects!!! The cinematography in this show is TOP FREAKIN NOTCH!!! Every single scene is just so beautifully shot. The cinematography alone makes me want to cry lol I saw somewhere that someone said the filming of the show reminded them of an indie film and I totally agree!!! The writing and directing on this show was impeccable to me!!! No cringy dialogue and every single line served its purpose well. This is movie grade writing. I also wanted to quickly just say that I loved the attention and callback to details throughout like with the tutoring book that Teh made for Oh-aew that was left empty by the end of episode 4, the flower that was supposed to be colored the same as Tan’s garment but Teh colored it red because he was thinking of Oh-aew, the rubbing of Oh-aew’s back when he sniffles, the references to Teh’s favorite actor, and the use of Chinese phrases to get meaning across. I could go on and on but wow I just loved how they really connected all of the details throughout. I can’t wait for Season 2!!!

Theory of Love

Synopsis According to MyDramaList: Third is a filmology major and a member of the Savage Team along with his best friends Two, Bone, and Khai, but he has a secret. Third has been secretly in love with Khai for years. For three years, he has kept his secret love in his heart, silently supporting and loving Khai while knowing there is absolutely no future between them since Khai is as straight as a streetlight pole and also an absolute player. To make matters worse, Khai has a "no dating friends" policy. How long can Third love Khai silently while watching Khai bring a different girl home every night? Third has tried to see Khai as just a friend. But has failed time and time again. Because as easy as it is to fall in love, to stop is just as hard.  Maybe even harder. That is until Third learns a secret that breaks his heart completely. But when Third decides to stop, Khai decides to start.

My Personal Thoughts: As sad as this show can make me feel at times, I love rewatching it. I still to this day think that it is one of the most well written BL’s that I have seen. Everything flows nicely and everything connects. Your not left wondering how you got from point A to point B. I thought the show had great character development especially when it came to Khai’s character towards the end of series. I know a lot of people had mixed feelings about his character due to how careless and dare I say stupid he acted at times but if he can make the audience hate him that much as a character... I would say he is doing something right!!! Gun’s acting never fails to amaze me!!! He really is one of the best actors I have seen. I know he had to be drained from all of that crying that he did throughout the show though lol It just goes to show that when you truly love someone you can’t just stop what you are feeling inside that easily no matter how the other person feels about you or treats you. As the old saying goes, love is blind. I also loved the friend group as well and Two and Bones side stories with the teacher and crush from school. They added to the shows greatness and didn’t take away from it. The friendship dynamics throughout the show was I feel something that really kept me engaged. The cast acted well together. There was no awkwardness or hesitation. I feel everyone bought there best for this drama. They incorporated the movie references so cleverly and I love how the title of each episode was the title of a real romance film. Just the overall theme of film was very intriguing to me. This drama left me filled with heartache and a rollercoaster of emotions but the ending is worth it!!!

HIStory3: Make Our Days Count

Synopsis According to MyDramaList: At first glance, high schoolers Xiang Hao Ting and Yu Xi Gu appear to be polar opposites: While Xiang Hao Ting is an outgoing, hot-headed extravert and some-time bully, Yu Xi Gu prefers to keep a low profile and focus on his schoolwork. They seem bound for totally different futures – the bookish Yu Xi Gu looks destined for academic success, while life is just a long popularity contest for Xiang Hao Ting. But a quirk of fate – and a crucial intervention by a female schoolmate – results in the two young men’s paths crossing. But there is more to both young men than first meets the eye. Xiang Hao Ting was not always this way. He started out as a perfect student until he discovered the joys of going off the rails. And Yu Xi Gu has a reason for being so aloof and studious: His parents died in a traffic accident while he was younger, and he is being fostered by his aunt. As such, he works hard to get good grades in an effort to win a scholarship and ease the financial burden on his relatives. Yu Xi Gu also works part-time at a convenience store, where his manager Liu Zhi Gang has developed a crush on a man he has met at the gym. Back at school, meanwhile, Yu Xi Gu and Xiang Hao Ting find themselves drawn together, and passions ignite. The former notices that he has the unique ability to bring Yu Xi Gu out of his shell – and becomes intent on melting his cold-as-ice exterior. What will happen when their two worlds collide? And can love be the catalyst that helps bring these two unlikely students together – as their high school days draw to a close?

My Personal Thoughts: I will stand by this notion for all of my days but this show is one of the best shows I have seen PERIOD!!! Not even best BL shows I have seen but just in general. It highkey saddens me that it is rated at an 8.1 right now on MyDramaList due to how it ended when other than that... it’s a top notch show. This was one that I watched as it was airing and I would get excited to see it every week. My clown self should have known by the title “Make Our Days Count” that some mess was about to occur but I didn’t pick up on it. Now, I just disregard the last episode (WE DON’T KNOW HER!!!). You can just tell that they had a great budget for this series. The production was on point. It had great cinematography, great storylines, and it felt realistic too. The main couples acting was OFF THE CHARTS AMAZING. I loved the whole opposites attract thing going on. Although the show was set in high school... it almost didn’t feel like it nor did it have those typical clichés going on. I liked how it dealt with topic of LGBTQ+ acceptance as well. I wasn’t so sure about the side couples relationship at first but I grew to love them as time went on. One last thing I wanted to point out was that even though I am always looking for a happy ending... I learned from this show that not everyone can get a happy ending. That’s not how life works sadly. In real life, there have been a lot of people who were truly in love and lost there partners tragically. Although it may be hard to accept the outcome, it is something that happens in real life. This is a drama that you appreciate even more as time goes on. It truly is a gem of a series!!!

TharnType

Synopsis According to MyDramaList: Type Thiwat is a handsome freshman with a passion for football and spicy food. Although he’s a friendly boy, he hates gay people because, in his childhood, he was molested by a man. His life turns upside down when the new academic year of college brings along a charismatic roommate, Tharn Kirigun. Tharn is a gorgeous, compassionate music major, who is also openly gay. When Type learns this, he is determined to make Tharn leave the dorm, as he won't live with a gay person. Tharn is equally determined not to give into Type's homophobic tantrums. With a gay guy and a homophobic guy that have to share a small space together for the rest of the year — what can possibly be the outcome of their story? Hatred? Or maybe love?

My Personal Thoughts: *Goes to hide in a corner* I know this drama is problematic and controversial as hell but it’s like a train wreck that you can’t turn  away from. What truly carries the show I feel is the chemistry between MewGulf. I don’t think I would have enjoyed the series as much if other actors were cast in those roles. They just exude confidence, passion, love, and lust. In terms of the storyline, I found it to be a chaotic occurrence of situations where I just had to know what was going to go on next. Everything that occurred had me intrigued for the next episode and so on and so forth. I loved Type’s character development. One quick thing I want to touch on was I know there were a lot of problematic things that happened which I will touch on at a later date but one thing I wish people were more understanding of was Type’s outbursts, thoughts, and feelings in certain situations. He was a victim of sexual assault so I felt the way he handled certain things was in response to what he had gone through as child and I think some viewers kind of missed that and were almost too harsh on him. Everyone processes and deals with trauma differently. This show went through so many twists and turns and I honestly lived for it especially the shocker towards the end of the series. I didn’t see that one coming at all!!! Despite all of its flaws, this show still holds a special place in my heart.

Honorable Mention:

Cherry Magic: As of today, this show has 4 episodes left and I think I am just going to come out and say that THIS IS MY FAVORITE BL OF THE YEAR!!! It’s a beautiful Japanese BL and I rewatch the old episodes while I wait for new ones to come out alot. It’s such a fluffy, heartwarming, and precious Bl series!!! I love it to pieces!!!

[msbeccieboo]

Arrow 8x03 Brain Dump

ASDADGHSADFSAF!! Back on form this week, with more returning guests, massive sibling feels and concentration on characters that we love, AND THE COLLISION OF FUTURE AND PRESENT TIMELINES IN THAT EPIC ENDINGGGG!!!!!!!!! YAAAASSSS!!! I’m still spiralling now!!!

Oliver and Thea

Welcome back Thea Queen!! Oliver had missed his Speedy 😍

So following on from last week, Oliver travelled to Nanda Parbat (which looked suspiciously like Lian Yu...the S8 Budget was clearly too used up on guest stars to recreate the outdoor Nanda Parbat scenery we saw in S3 😂), where he hoped to find some answers about The Monitor. I’m not actually sure if he intended on visiting Thea, or if her appearance was just a happy coincidence! But either way he was able to tell her about Mia and show her the picture of his new little family GAJKFSDGHFHDSGFS!!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

More below the cut...

In a shock move for Oliver Queen, he is open and honest with Thea straight away about his prophesied and imminent death. Thea wasn’t buying it, and Oliver even made a little sarcastic comment to “take as much time as you like to be upset” 😂😂 I’ve seen a few people say that they wanted to see more emotion from Thea here, and in later scenes. My take is that Thea/Willa’s nonchalant air is just classic Thea Queen Swagger™, but did feel like Willa maybe wasn’t really all that present in all of the scenes (mainly the LoA stuff though really). I however loved her total chill at the prospect of Oliver dying...not dissimilar to us...we know what's what! Our boy will be okay in the end!

Oliver seeks out Talia Al Ghul to use the Leagues archives (?) to find out more about The Monitor, because she owes him one. I love the idea of Oliver collecting his debts for once...this could fill the rest of the season to be honest; he’s racked up rather a few favours over the years. Talia’s help comes in the form of an Indiana Jones-esque scavenger hunt to uncover an ancient League book, and some special Demon’s head sword (?), with interruptions by the pesky Thanatos Guild from last season, who Thea is at war with. Honestly, plot-wise, I struggled a bit this week; even on rewatch I found it hard to concentrate😂 . I just zoned in on the character moments to get me through. But luckily, there were lots of those! 

One such beautiful character moment with the Queen siblings was on the side of a mountain, and reminded me a little bit of the Will/Mia scene up the Glades wall back in 7x16, I think? Oliver getting all emotional about missing his family and doubting his decisions every single day just punched me right in the feels 😭😭

Source: feilcityqueen

Then his explanation for trying to find answers before the Crisis: “My sacrifice, my death will protect the people I love. I need my family to be safe.” MURDERER!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Thea reassures him with some sage Queen family words, that their parents also made some questionable choices regarding them (that’s putting it lightly), but it ultimately made them heroes because of them. I think this scene was one of my favourites this episode, if not the season so far. Love me some Queen siblings 💗

The upshot of this random adventure with Talia was that Oliver read that the upcoming Crisis will actually be caused by The Monitor (dun dun DUUUNNN!!), complete with a lovely drawing of him 😂😂 But what Oliver doesn’t know, cos The Monitor doesn’t tell him anything is that there is also an Anti-Monitor, who will be the big bad of Crisis...so this may be a bit of a red herring for now!

Oliver ends his time in Nanda Parbat by saying one final (in his mind) goodbye to Thea, which actually made me sob like a baby out of nowhere, and has done every time I’ve rewatched the clip haha! Thea didn’t see it as a goodbye (cos Oliver dying? Pass!), but Oliver just cracks and won’t let go of her, and now I’m tearing up again 😭😭😭

Source: smoakmonster

I think by the way the goodbye scene played out that that will be the last we see of Thea, and ugh it’s such a shame because she has always brought out something special in Oliver, but we know she’ll be with him the whole time...😭😭😭

Stray thoughts:

They had Thea acknowledge Moira as her namesake (still think it’s a stretch, Moira-Mia? No.) but also had a callback to Thea’s Corto Maltese alias, which made me lol, and frankly, I find a better reference 😂

“All beings burn but a Phoenix rises from the ashes”. The Phoenix references this week were as subtle as a sledgehammer...Oliver is the Phoenix, and he will rise from the ashes following his death!

The Guild calling Oliver and Speedy ‘outsiders’ 🙄🙄 Oliver was Ras al Ghul and Thea is heir to the demon; get your facts right, biatch!!

Thea was a total badass this week, taking down Talia was sooo cool, and shows how far she has come as a fighter/hero.

Nice drop-in that Felicity gave the hozen to William!

Thea and Talia joining forces to raise a female ‘League of Heroes’; better than any faux-feminist Canary bullshit!!

The guest stars are fantastic, but their novelty and distraction is wearing off...I MISS FELICITY SMOAK 😫😫 Next week should hopefully tide us over, though!!

Dyla

Dyla had their own little adventure this week, that  echoed their suicide squad mission in Season 2. Bronze Tiger killed a bad guy whilst working for Lyla, and in revenge, that bad guy’s son kidnaps Sandra and little Connor Hawke, then also tries to kill Lyla, but obviously she’s a total badass so that doesn’t happen! Anyway, all’s well that ends well and Dig rescues Connor and his Mum, and that’s about all I can remember plot-wise 😂😂

What we got character-wise, though was really cool! We got the first hint of JJ’s story of being 'neglected' by Dyla...with Dig and Lyla being increasingly away on missions and unable to call him, and in turn finding Connor and obviously starting to fall in love with him because he is the softest little bean 😍 When ickle Connor said “thank you Mr Diggles” I was a goner 😂😂

We saw Dig having a crisis of faith (pun intended) after seeing Earth 2 disintegrate before him, but ultimately he realises (after some Lyla wisdom) that they just have to hold on to each other and do their best. Lyla made a few comments and pulled some ‘I’m keeping secrets’ faces, asking Dig to remember the good times no matter what happens, and I need to know what Lyla knows dammit!! I still believe that she is on the good side, and her appearing to double-cross Dig and Oliver with The Monitor last week is a little bit of a red herring. I need to believe, ok!!!

Flash-forwards

Plot-wise, I actually think the flash-forwards were the strongest storyline this week. Following on from last week we had the team rushing back to the bunker to check on William, after JJ threatened him. This scene brought us another “frack” from Mia 😍, and a mention of Felicity as “Mom” from William 😭, as he managed to electrocute the bad guys all by himself! Will being a techy little badass is a forever mood and is yet another reminder of our Felicity. She is never really gone.

With the Deathstrokes now targeting William and other members of the Star City Unification Movement (SCUM, really?? LOL), William offers himself up as bait. As Oliver’s daughter, you can imagine how that went down with Mia. Badly. Big nope from Mia, who decides on a more direct approach of going to their HQ and kicking all of the ass 😂. Zoe is very much against this, but Mia is all “I know best, we’ll just storm in and take them all out myself” (S1 Oliver anyone?). Said storming in leads to this absolute beauty of a moment:

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Prior to kicking all of the asses, Mia and William have a heart-to-heart, with Will still angry at Mia for not trusting him to go into dangerous situations. Will thinks it’s because he’s not a fighter, but Mia comes back with “it’s because you’re my brother” 😭 😭 😭

Source: olicitygifs

In another Felicity-worthy pep-talk, William tells Mia that operating out of fear is not the way to go, and that they need to trust each other to survive. I’m really gonna need a Mia/Will hug soon, please and thank you. Honestly, Will is the perfect balance/offset to Mia with his easy humour and quick wit, but he ALWAYS brings the feels as well. He reminds me so much of Emily’s portrayal of Felicity, and not just in the way that his character has been written, but just by what he brings to the role. Ben is a wonderful actor; I adore him and he and William must be protected at all costs!

In the final confrontation, Mia, Zoe and JJ storm JJ and the Deathstrokes, but JJ gets Mia by the throat in an awesome 3x23 Felicity/Slade parallel. Mia couldn’t save herself like Felicity did in this instance, but we must remember that this is just the beginning of Mia’s journey. She has time. Unlike Zoe, who saves Mia, but is then fatally stabbed by JJ 😬 Poor Zoe dies in Mia’s arms. Kat’s acting here was perfection. I may have shed a tear. They had kept Zoe pretty much in the background in the FFs, so I wasn’t particularly attached; if one of FTA needed to die, then I’m good with her. Sorry Zo. But in all honesty, this fridging trope really needs to end. Another female character didn’t need to die in order to elevate JJ’s evil-factor, or to spur on Mia’s hero journey, or Connor’s struggle with his conscience. Enough now. Hopefully, being a bird, Zoe will be back from the dead soon enough anyway 😂

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 💗

Connor sees Zoe die and goes after JJ. Hard. Tries to kill him. Between 2 generations of Queens and Diggles, the sibling parallels were so strong this week, and I’m loving it! I wrote a little meta here about it. But does Connor have the guts to actually kill JJ? JJ taunts that he doesn’t, Connor disagrees, but then the bright light comes for all of FTA and so we come to…

THAT ENDING

OH MY GOD ALL OF FTA IN THE BUNKER IN 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!

So most people following any kind of interviews or spoilers had a pretty firm idea that Mia would come back in time at the end of the episode. We were expecting it. What the show did was really quite clever...they allowed these pretty big spoilery-type interviews and tweets to be released, heavily implying that Mia would rock up in the last 30 seconds. They let us think we were all clever and had figured it out then BOOM! EVERYONE CAME BACK (minus Zoe 😬)! 

I am so pleased with this!! All the paparazzi pics etc that we’d seen of Mia in the crossover etc had made me so happy, but equal parts sad that William couldn’t go back and see Oliver too, but now he can!!!

Uggghhhh it was so fucking goooood!! Oliver’s initial confusion of being beamed back to the bunker, stunned Dig, Dinah and Rene (I can live with their 5-second appearances this season 😂😂), then the camera and Oliver pan around to Mia, William and Connor just stood there!! Mia still had tears running down her face from seeing Zoe die, and she has her Arrow suit on and is covered in blood and she sees her Daddy for the first time in her memory!!!!!!! Just one word is delivered in those last few seconds and it was still one of the best moments of the season so far!!

Mia’s “Dad”, followed by Oliver’s confusion, realisation, then shock was just gaaahhhh!! But my absolute favourite reaction (I decided after multiple rewatches, for science, haha) was William’s 😍😭😍 His eyes full of tears, and utter gobsmacked-ness was fucking sublime!!  

Source for all 3 reaction gifs: tylerposey

Next week is going to be so epic!! We have Mia, who has never met Oliver and who has built him up so much in her head and heart from Felicity and William’s stories, and also the tainted Star City archives, getting to finally come face-to-face with him. Then conversely, there is William, who got a few years to know his father, but then left him and eventually believed to have been abandoned by him and Felicity, and has had to live for 20 years until very recently still believing that, and now he gets to see him again, only a few months after little William left! Then there’s Connor, who Dig barely even knows in 2019 and he’s gonna call him Dad and then have to tell him that he nearly just killed JJ, who just killed Zoe, and Rene is right there and I AM HERE FOR ALL OF ITTTTTT!!!! 

There’s so much content coming in next weeks episode it’s going to be so beautiful!!  I wrote a post of things I really hope to see here, and I’m pretty confident we’ll get most of them and so much more!

Then there’s the implications of what FTA being in the present means for the future!! I had a bit of a spec meltdown here about how this could end up saving Oliver, and I think that’s pretty much just wishful thinking, but either way, them coming back to the present to help with the Crisis and to try and stop future Star City turning so bleak is going to make my head hurt and my heart sing in equal measure, I’m sure! After all, what is the point in having the multiverse, time travel, super powers etc in Arrow if we can’t reap some benefits from it somehow? The ending to this episode, and hopefully next week will be our reward for the fuckery we’ve had to endure with the more sci-fi-esque elements since Larry rocked up and the Arrowverse was extended. And I. cannot. wait.

Thank you to the beautiful, talented, and super speedy gifmakers for blessing us with all the amazing gifsets from this episode!! Mwah! 😘😘 (Uncredited gifs are mine)

💗💗💗

[korora12]

Tagged by @corisanna

1. What is your favorite relationship type to write/read? Romantic, platonic, familial, and any subtypes.

I like romantic relationships that don’t rely solely or primarily on physical attraction, but instead on a deep similarity between the two characters. I like when two people meet eyes and realize that “You understand me. You get me better than anyone else I’ve ever met, and I feel less lonely knowing that someone else sees the world the same way I do.”

2. How much or what kind of research do you do for your fiction? If you don’t write, has a fic ever made you curious enough to research something?

Only as much as is necessary. I usually use research as a springboard for inspiration when I hit a block, letting myself wander the fields of Wikipedia until I stumble upon something that knocks the block loose.

Of course, sometimes I research stuff just for fun, with no relation to my writing whatsoever, until some random point down the line where it suddenly does and I’m super happy I already know [Random Fact #237].

3. What was the first work of fiction you remember becoming completely engrossed in?

Hmm. Probably Animorphs. I remember doing everything I could to hunt down the numerous books in the series (back in the ancient, pre-Amazon Prime days). I’d prowl the various school and public libraries near me, ask for specific books in the series for Christmas and birthdays, and even buy the occasional book at the yearly Scholastic Book Fairs, using what little money I got for an allowance.

I made it most of the way through the series, but then there was one book, near the end, that I couldn’t find, no matter how hard I looked. And it was an important, plot-changing, book that I had to read before continuing. Which meant I never actually finished the series.

Of course, nowadays you can find them all online as pdfs. Maybe I should revisit the series sometime and finally finish it. I already know how it ends, but I still feel like those last few books deserve to be read.

4. What work(s) had a lasting influence on you or your writing style?

Going back to Animorphs again. There is a straight-line connection between me reading that series as a child, through my elementary school friends Brooke, who was obsessed with dogs, and Caitlin, who was even more obsessed with dolphins (I used to find pictures of dolphins in magazines and cut them out just to give to her), through my Grandma’s love of science, all the way to my decision to study Zoology in college. If I had never read those books, I wouldn’t have developed the passion for animals and animal behavior that has shaped my life for over two decades.

Also, stylistically speaking, I really respect that series for how it treated its readers. Its target audience was grade schoolers, and yet it never shied away from showing the realities of violence and war. I don’t know that I’ll ever write children’s literature, but I’ll always have this series to remind me of what kids are capable of understanding and handling.

5. What kind of sound environment do you prefer for writing/reading? Silent, white noise, music with/without words, sitting in a public place with the ambient noise of humanity, etc.

Depends on how well my brain is cooperating. Pure silence is ideal, but more often than not there’s some manner of song stuck on repeat in the background of my mind, and the only way to drown it out is with non-lyrical music of some sort. Usually I try to pick songs that match the mood of whatever scene I’m trying to write.

6. Are you or do you like authors who are teases, in story or out?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’m a big fan of the Death of the Author trope, so I tend not to get too worked up by whatever the author may be saying and just let the story speak for itself.

My first instinct is to say that an author shouldn’t worry too much about what their fans think and should write the story they want to write, and it will find readers that appreciate it. However, I recognize that the nature of serial online writing, such as fanfiction, changes the game a bit. Such authors have a much more immediate, direct connection with their readers than authors who release one or two physical books every year or so. Some authors take that to an extreme, turning stories almost into a dialogue with their readers, each new chapter in some way defined by how people reacted to the previous one. And that doesn’t even touch on Quests, a type of story on forums sites such as Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity that require player input on a regular basis to continue. In these types of situations, I can hardly blame an author for playing with their readers heads a bit. The reactions they have can be a form of entertainment all their own.

7. Have you ever experienced a “the characters write themselves” or “character rebellion” mental state?

Not yet. For the time being, I remain in complete control of my universes, but I recognize the hubris of assuming this to be a permanent state.

8. Do you have a favorite franchise crossover? Like Bleach/Harry Potter, Madoka Magica/Card Captor Sakura, etc.

I don’t know if I have a particular favorite. I was really fond of Secret Trio for a while, which is Danny Phantom, American Dragon Jake Long, and Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja. I’m still very fond of the Disney/Square Enix megacrossover that is Kingdom Hearts, despite being very disappointed in the most recent game in the series. Then there’s Kino’s Journey/Anything, mostly because I love Kino’s Journey, and I love seeing her response/reaction to various other worlds.

Also, Stargate/Anything. The only reason I ever started watching the show was because I’d read several different fics, all in different fandoms (Avatar, Yu-Gi-Oh, Star Wars, Naruto), and all of which crossed over with Stargate. Despite the similarities, both being sci-fi stories set around the turn of the millennium involving mind-controlling aliens, I’ve yet to see a good Stargate/Animorphs crossover. It’d be pretty easy to do, too. There’s a point in the Animorphs series where they decide to bring knowledge of their guerrilla war to the attention of the US government. If they’re already in the Stargate universe, I’m sure the president will quickly pass the problem along to the experts, and suddenly you’ve got the perfect setup of adults who think they know how to handle the problem, are mostly right, and don’t want kids fighting in a war, vs child soldiers who have no intention of giving up the fight so near its end, even if the adults are more competent than they expected.

I’m gonna have to write it myself, one of these days, if no one else gets around to doing it.

9. Do you remember anything about the first fanfic you ever read?

Two Halves by DameWren. My first fandom was Naruto, and my first fanfic was a NaruHina fic that both introduced me to the concept of fandom, and also sold the ship for me in a way that I’ve never shaken. I remember very little beyond that, except that it managed to correctly predict that Naruto would go on a training trip, despite being written before such an event happened in canon.

10. Is there a work of fiction that you are annoyed doesn’t have much if any fic? Like Bizenghast.

Kino’s Journey, Cowboy Bebop, Double Arts (just never got enough attention in general)

11. What fictional character do you strongly identify with?

Weiss Schnee, from RWBY. While I’ve never been accused of being rich, I am a middle child with a much older sister that cut ties with the family when I was young and a younger brother that I never got along with while growing up. My parents were also abusive, my father physically and both of them emotionally, and they taught me a number of unhealthy ideas about race, amongst other things, that I’ve had to put serious effort into unlearning. And I have, since becoming an adult, traveled long distances across the world, partially for my own benefit, and partially to distance myself physically from a family I’ve never felt particularly close to, resulting in a drastic personality shift that took a couple years to complete, but ultimately left me a very different, and much better, person.

So, yeah, Weiss is basically my favorite RWBY character, and one I really need to write more often, all things considered.

That was fun! I’ve never been tagged in anything like this before. My turn for questions!

1. What is your the most recent fandom you’ve gotten involved in? Have you made any content for it?

2. Do you have a favorite AU/plotline that you love regardless of fandom (ie. Peggy Sue, Coffee Shop AU, Space AU, Self-Insert)? What about it do you like?

3. If you write, how do you go about deciding a character’s sexuality? If not, do you ever have any sexuality headcanons for characters?

4. What’s the longest fanfic that you’ve ever read, beginning to end?

5. How often do you make something you’re proud of? Doesn’t have to be writing, just has to be something that wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t made it yourself.

6. What are your opinions on OCs in fanfiction?

7. What is your favorite storytelling medium (ie. television, written word, spoken word, video games, song, etc.)?

8. What was the last song you had stuck in your head, and what was it about?

9. Do you prefer reading/writing stories set in fictional worlds, or stories set in the real world/real world analogous (ie. Supernatural or Marvel Comics)?

10. If you could bring one fictional character into the real world, who would it be and why?

11. Pick your favorite of the questions I was asked to answer for yourself.

I just realized that I don’t know how many of my followers are writers. I guess @hunkygoddess @tmifangirl21 @queendarktigress @ladyvallhalla @i-mushi @xekstrin @shinobicyrus and anyone else who sees this and might be interested. No pressure, it’s just for fun!

[livefreeordie13]

how about “No, sorry, you laughed. I … I never saw it before. It’s — pretty.” for souyo, if that's okay? I hope this one's alright, thanks! love your writing

GDI >////

Warnings: (none)

(from this list of soft sentence starters)

(Study Session)

Yu Narukami had quickly grown fond of Inaba and every small delight it had to offer. He even liked attending Yasogami High - a drastic change from the looming, overcrowded school buildings he was used to wandering back in Tokyo and other cities. Yasogami’s library however, was a different story. In the room’s defense, it was perfectly sized for the school itself and remained quaint and charming (albeit cramped). But it had less than half the variety he preferred. He supposed he was a little bit spoiled on that aspect of Tokyo, admittedly, as he’d never run out of books to read up to the day he left the city behind.

But, as far as using it to simply study, his high school’s library served his purposes just fine. It was rainy today, yet the library seemed mostly empty, with a group of third years near the back muttering to themselves over their upcoming exam notes. He and Yosuke practically had the whole place to themselves. Yosuke didn’t seem to care where they sat so he chose a quieter spot near a window - a table meant just for two. Yu hoped (desperately) that it was secluded enough for the two of them to concentrate without any distractions.

Yosuke had been the one to approach him after class asking to study, but Yu had the sneaking suspicion that it would be difficult to get through even one of their lessons together without the topic straying onto more pertinent matters, like the one currently hanging over all their heads. It was worth a shot, though; he hadn’t yet had the opportunity to sit one-on-one with Yosuke in a school environment and get a feel for how he approached his schoolwork (other than with great reluctance).

It also might be a good opportunity to get closer with him. He was trying his best to get to know all his new friends, but Yosuke seemed special almost from the very first day they met. Already, he was a trusted confidant and reliable teammate, and was fast becoming the closest friend Yu had ever made. That wasn’t saying much, but that just meant this was much scarier for him.

Yu quickly chose the seat that faced out towards the rest of the library so that Yosuke would be forced to focus on his friend sitting across from him. He was glad that their table was placed next to a window that overlooked the roiling storm clouds and pattering rain since he’d always found that served as nice background noise to his studies.

“What do you want to start on first?”

“Ugh,” Yosuke said as he sat. “Whatever’s the easiest. How about history?”

“History, really?” Yu asked with a surprised smile.

Yosuke sneered at him. “Not if you’re gonna make fun of me for it. Math, then.”

Yu smirked. “I wasn’t making fun of you, but math it is.”

This should be interesting. They both pulled out their math books and flipped to their most recent lesson, which Yu reminded Yosuke was page 78.

“You want to start on the review problems and see how far we get?” There were only ten in all; shouldn’t take him long to get through them. Yosuke seemed less than thrilled about that proposition, but he knew he didn’t struggle as hard in math so he didn’t let his friend’s mopiness change his mind.

They started quickly and fell into a comfortable silence, the only sounds outside of the brush of rain over the window being the soft scratch of their pencils over paper. For all his whining, Yosuke seemed to be doing fine so far. He bit his bottom lip as he worked, which Yu found much too cute for sitting so close to him. But Yosuke was cute all around, wasn’t he, Yu remembered. He had long ago come to terms with that. It may or may not have been partially why he was interested in getting to know Yosuke at their current breakneck pace. Yosuke was cute, and Yu had never really thought that about anyone else before. Yosuke also seemed to rely on him, and Yu had never really thought he’d ever want that, either, to be counted on and trusted.  

He was watching how the soft overhead lights reflected off the brunet’s hair and cheekbones (and traitorously not working on his own formulas), when Yosuke did something Yu had never seen him do before - he threaded his hand into the left side of his hair and began twirling the strands around his index finger. Yu tilted his head in fascination. When Yosuke finished with a strand, he released it, combed it a few times, and then started again. He did it three times … four … until Yu realized with a start that Yosuke was almost done and he’d gotten through precisely one math problem.

Yu basically flew into action, which caused Yosuke to look up with a chuckle. “You okay, partner?”

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry. Lost in thought for a minute, I guess.”

Yosuke let his arm drop to the table with a thud and looked at him in offense. “I thought I was the residence spacecase.”

Yu chuckled. “Don’t worry, you still are.”“Hey, I was joking!”

“Shhhhhh,” Yu held up his finger over a wide grin.

“If anything, Chie’s the spacecase.”

“Shhhh!” He was trying not to chuckle anymore, but it was too late, not helped by the fact that he was still recovering from his embarrassment at being caught staring. He dropped his pencil and shielded his eyes from view as he got it out. He just hoped he wasn’t disturbing the students across the room.

When he looked up with a face he could feel was too red (faint chuckles still tumbling out), Yosuke was giving him a curious look. “… What?” Yu asked, a little self-conscious. He retrieved his pencil.

Yosuke blinked and shook his head. “Uh, no sorry, you laughed. I … I never heard it like that before,” he said quietly, demurely, also picking his pencil back up. Yu blinked. “It’s — pretty.” Yosuke had been smiling when he said that, cheeks dusted a faint rose - but then his face went utterly pale. He dropped his pencil and looked down slowly, back to his notebook, and put his hand up in a “visor” shape to cover his eyes. “Oh my god …” Yu could hear him muttering to himself.

Yu, meanwhile, could only stare in astonishment. “Pretty?” His pencil scattered over his notebook.

“Sh-shut up, pretend I didn’t say anything, I-I don’t think that, okay?!” Yosuke panicked, looking up at him with a horrified expression.

Yu’s face fell. “You … you don’t?”

The shift from pure terror to regret on Yosuke’s face would have impressed a seasoned movie director it was so riveting. Everything Yosuke felt and thought flashed over his face when you paid attention - and Yu was always paying attention. “N-no, that’s not what I mean, uh …” He looked at Yu some more, while simultaneously trying not to, which Yu noticed because he kept trying to look at his own workbook, or out of the window, or anywhere else but Yu’s magnetic face. “Just. Please don’t tell anyone else I said that, okay?”

Yosuke was blushing furiously now, and Yu’s mouth softened into a sympathetic smile. He realized, quite gently, that he was doomed.

“Sure. It’ll be our secret.”

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 188: Part of Your World

David smiled at his wife, as he twirled her again and then swayed with her in his arms.

"So...where to next, my love?" Snow asked.

"I was thinking the maritime Kingdom. It should be a fairly easy sell to Ariel and Eric, I think," he surmised.

"Do you think she'll not want to come if she can't convince her father? You know how much he wanted to return to Atlantica," Snow worried.

"Maybe...but I think if Ariel tells him that essentially Atlantica will be coming with them this time, he'll agree," he said. She nodded.

"I hope so," he replied, as they glanced over to see that their children were having a lot of fun with Raja and the Sultan. The Tiger had immediately taken to their children, as had the Sultan, who clearly missed having children around.

"If we get him the medical help he needs...maybe he'll be around to see his grandchildren," David said hopefully. She smiled.

"I truly hope so...he's going to be a wonderful grandfather," she mentioned.

"He will be...he never misses an opportunity to remind me that he would love to hear the pitter-patter of little feet around here again," Jasmine interjected fondly, as she overheard their conversation. They smiled at her and David kissed her cheek.

"I'll get us some wine," he said, as Snow sided up to Jasmine.

"I didn't think there was any way father would see that day...until you and David offered us this new chance," she mentioned. Snow smiled.

"I'm just glad that we can and hope we can help even more people with this venture," she replied, as they hugged.

Meanwhile, David went to get a couple glasses of wine and saw Aladdin hop through the window from a flying carpet.

"Wow...so the carpet is real," David mentioned.

"Yeah...you want to take Snow for a spin on it?" Aladdin asked.

"Seriously?" David asked. Aladdin chuckled.

"Go for it...carpet will take you anywhere you want," he replied. David smiled and put the wine down, before retrieving his wife, who looked confused for a moment.

"David...what are you doing?" she asked, as he pulled her toward the window and she saw the magic carpet there, hovering in waiting.

"What do say?" he asked. A smile spread across her face, as she eagerly hurried to it. He stepped onto it and helped her on, before the carpet took off, sailing into the air.

Snow gaped at the utter beauty and amazement of flying among the stars.

"Oh Charming…" she gushed, as he held her tightly in his arms and they gazed at each other, eyes shimmering with love. They flew over the desert, admiring the way the sand sparkled beneath the stars and then found themselves whooshing over the Arabian sea, marveling at the moonlit waters, and then over the mountains to the north, before the carpet landed on a cliff side that overlooked Agrabah, which was lit up in the night, providing Snow and Charming with a romantic interlude. He held her in his arms, as they gazed up at the moon their shared heart beat in sync and their lips met passionately.

"I love you, Charming," Snow uttered breathlessly.

"I love you, Snow," he said, with a smoldering gaze that lit her every nerve on fire. Their lips met again with searing passion and insatiable wanton. Eventually, the carpet returned them to the palace after the short, romantic respite. They thanked Aladdin and Jasmine, as the party winded down and put their tired children to bed, before the evening was theirs again for passion and romance...

~*~

Boston

2018

"So...you really want me to believe that David Nolan is really Prince Charming and there was a curse. He was trying to escape this curse with his infant daughter and that's how he ended up on the side of the road in Maine in 1983? That's the story you're going with?" the Major questioned skeptically. Cecily shrugged, as she sipped at the decadent Moscato wine that had been provided at her request.

"It's not my story...I told you that it's all in the book. You haven't even read it yet. I suggest you do, before you can get the full scope," she responded.

"Give me the highlights. I'll read it, but I want real answers and I want them now," the Major demanded.

"If you turn to the next page, it starts to explain everything. David Nolan was in a coma until 1993 when his daughter, having previously been in foster care, finally found him in the hospital. And then he woke up," Cecily explained.

"Just like that? After being in a coma ten years?" the Major questioned.

"Yep...like magic," Cecily added and the other woman rolled her eyes.

"If this is true, then where did they go? Even if Mr. Nolan woke up and took custody of his daughter, there would still be a lot of paperwork and things to settle with social services. He was in a coma, after all. He would have needed to be medically and psychologically cleared to take custody. Not to mention, Mr. Nolan likely had no money," the Major said.

"David Nolan walked out of the hospital that day like nothing had happened to him. He didn't age a day in ten years. He also didn't lose motor skills, muscle tone, or the ability to speak, as most coma patients do. His hair didn't even grow. Check the medical records. He was something they didn't understand," Cecily replied.

"So...he and Emma Swan just disappeared?" the Major asked.

"You know the answer to that. They fell off the radar at that point for many years," Cecily replied.

"And you know where they went?" the Major asked. Cecily smirked.

"I know exactly where they went. They call it home. A town aptly named...Storybrooke," Cecily revealed.

"And you know where this...Storybrooke is?" the Major questioned.

"I do...but it's not easily accessed. There are ways...but they are not easy and it requires things no longer in my possession," Cecily answered.

"But you can get what we need and you can take us there," the Major stated.

"I can...but I'm not stepping foot in that town without being sure it's not ill-fated. They have magic, of the likes which your small mind can't comprehend. I don't care how many soldiers you take...it will never be enough against the arsenal they have," she warned.

"But you know of ways to combat their magic?" the Major questioned.

"I do...but most of my father's Collection is in Storybrooke, which means I have to collect what we need all over again, which takes time and requires travel," Cecily responded.

"Then we will travel," the Major stated.

"Fine...but I insist you read up, Major...because you need to know exactly what you're walking into. And if we're going to travel...then we need to start by going to New Orleans. That's where my father's submarine is still hidden," Cecily explained.

"And why exactly do we need a submarine?" the Major questioned. Cecily smirked.

"Because this is no ordinary submarine. This vessel, thanks to being coated with mermaid scales, can travel to other realms and will be the easiest way into Storybrooke when the time comes. But everything else I need exists in realms that you think are pure fantasy," Cecily responded.

"Then I'll read this book and we will leave in the morning for New Orleans. Then you'll show me everything," the Major stated firmly.

~*~

Nephilim

"So...you're Seth. And you're more powerful than the Gods of Olympus?" the Queen inquired.

"Believe me...had they possessed the power needed to kill me, they would have done so. Instead, they tricked me and found a way to banish me here. But I wrought enough havoc on the ten realms that it caused irreparable damage," he explained.

"Ten realms? I was under the impression that there were only nine in our sector," the Queen mentioned.

"There are now. Before the Dragon King and his Queen, there was the first pair of truest loves, Serenity and Endymion of the Crystal Kingdom. It was destroyed in a cataclysmic event by a woman called Mother Gothel," Shan Yu explained.

"Hmm...she sounds like my kind of woman," the Queen commented.

"In my time, ten thousand years ago, all ten realms existed in one plane. The Gods of Olympus succeeded in sealing the Titans away in the Underworld and defeating Cronus, whom was executed. Their victory was largely thanks to me and my power," he said.

"So...you were one of them?" the Queen inquired.

"No...my mother Gaia bore me in anger at the Olympians for sealing the Titans away in Tartarus and slaying all the Giants. Then I went by the name Typhon. She birthed me from Tartarus itself as an instrument of destruction and revenge. The battle between me and the Olympians was so catastrophic that it ripped all ten realms apart. I broke the realms apart in my monstrous snake form. Unfortunately, this form was also the reason I was trapped by a powerful containment spell," he explained.

"I was then cast into Oceanus for all eternity and then ended up here in this lost realm," he added.

"I took up the new identity of Seth, an ancient Pharaoh and God of Evil that existed some fifty-thousand years ago. I have ruled here and created this refuge for all those cast out by heroes in hopes of one day, finding a way to leave this place and have our revenge," he continued.

"And now...it looks like it may be possible with a Dark Curse," he finished.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but I can't cast another curse. It requires the heart of the thing I love most...and I don't have those kinds of feelings for any of you," the Queen quipped.

"But you have already cast it once...which means that your blood is all that is required to cast it again," Seth responded and her mother curled into a smirk.

"You're right…" she realized.

"But there are other ingredients it requires," she added, as she turned to Madam Mim.

"I assume you have a store of ingredients and potions?" she questioned. Mim didn't look at all happy about having to share anything with the Queen, let alone her collection of magical ingredients and potions.

"Show her Mim...it is time we finally leave this place and return to the realms of the living," Seth ordered. Mim stalked off in a mood, as Regina followed her. Perhaps her revenge would be possible after all…

~*~

The next morning, Aladdin and Jasmine saw them off. To cut down on travel time between Kingdoms, they had opted to use portals since they had plenty of beans.

"Thanks again...we'll see you soon," David said, as he and Aladdin shook hands, while Jasmine hugged Snow and the children.

"Thanks to you both...you are at the very least giving my father a chance to extend his life and give my people the same chance," Jasmine said.

"We can't wait until we're all in the same place," Snow agreed.

"Good luck with the other Kingdoms and realms," Aladdin said, as they waved. David tossed the bean down, creating a vertical portal, as they stepped through and found themselves in the Maritime Kingdom. They were already dressed back in their traveling clothes. They found themselves on the beach that the castle overlooked and made their way through town. They finally made it to the gates and were pleasantly surprised to see Eric there, having just returned to the gates in a carriage.

"Snow? David?" he asked, as he in surprise.

"Long time, no see," David replied, as they shook hands.

"Wow...this can't be Summer and Bobby?" he asked in amazement, before they heard another voice.

"Daddy!" a little girl called, as she rushed up to Eric and he scooped her up. She looked to be around four and then Snow heard another welcome voice.

"Snow?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"Ariel!" Snow called, as the two friends hugged each other tightly.

"It's so good to see all of you!" Ariel gushed.

"You too...and I see you have a little one now," Snow gushed in return. She beamed and looked at her dark haired daughter in her husband's arms.

"This is Melody. Sweetheart, this is Queen Snow, King David, and their children, Summer and Bobby, though I'm not sure how that's possible considering how little they were the last time I saw them," Ariel explained, as little Melody waved at them shyly.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Eric asked. Snow and David exchanged a glance.

"We have something important and exciting to discuss with you both," David said.

"Then by all means...let's find a more comfortable place in the castle," Eric suggested. They agreed and followed the other royals through the Kingdom gates.

~*~

Fandral observed his Knights, as they went through their daily practice that he mandated. Since they took back the Kingdom from John, there hadn't been a lot of conflict, but enough that a strong Royal Guard and army was necessary. As a warrior at heart, Fandral was always ready to defend what he loved, even in peaceful times and he insisted that his Knights were ready as well.

With the coming merger of the realms, he knew that more population naturally meant a potential increase in conflict. He and David had already discussed it quite thoroughly with the latter expressing that he wanted Fandral leading not only his own Knights, but any David was going to be employing as well. And he would be honored to do so. In the back of his mind, he questioned his worthiness of such a post. It may have been twenty-years to him, but learning that it had only been a number of days to the people he left behind had re-opened those old wounds. He worried that he might fail his Kingdom and these friends, like he had failed Asgard and his old friends.

"Papa! Papa!" Ben and Ari called, as they scampered into the courtyard. His sour thoughts were instantly pushed aside, as he caught their precocious twins in his arms and lifted them up.

"Well...what are you scamps up to today?" he questioned, as he spotted their nanny hurrying into the courtyard after them, looking exasperated.

"Besides giving your poor nanny gray hairs," he joked, as he motioned to that he had it under control and she could take a break.

"We want to be Asgardian warriors like you, Papa," Ari told him.

"And fight with swords!" Ben added. He chuckled.

"I see…" he said, as he fetched something he had been waiting to give them.

"Then I suppose it's time that we start your training," he said, revealing two wooden swords.

"Wow!" Ben exclaimed.

"Thank you, Papa!" Ari gushed.

"You're very welcome, sweet pea. Now, the first step in sword fighting is proper form, young ones," he instructed, as they copied his stance and started lightly sparring each other with the wooden swords. For now, they would have fun and then when they were older, if the path of the warrior was really what they wanted, Fandral would be there to train them and hone their skills.

"Well...it's seems I now have two more Knights in my Royal Guard," Rose mentioned, as she entered the gardens. It caused all the other Knights to immediately bow to her and she nodded to them in acknowledgment, before siding up to her husband.

"Mama...look at what Papa gave us!" Ben called excitedly.

"Yeah...we're gonna be Knights, Mama!" Ari added.

"Yes...and you'll both make wonderful Knights, just like Papa," she said, as she cuddled against her husband and he put his arms around her.

"You seem a bit distracted, my love," he mentioned.

"There is something I think you should know. It's been a few weeks and so more time has passed in your home realm now...eighteen days to be exact," she replied.

"Has there been more advancement to the situation?" he questioned. She nodded.

"Very much so, my love," she said, as she opened the book for him and he witnessed the additions to the story.

"They found him...and Thor slayed him," Fandral said.

"Yes...the threat is over, though I fear the damage is done and the healing from this will be nearly impossible for some," Rose replied.

"Thor blames himself for not stopping him sooner," Fandral realized.

"He should know that you live. A visit from an old friend could help him immensely...and now that this threat is gone, I think we should go," Rose insisted. Fandral sighed.

"What if my presence has the opposite effect on him? I received a second chance and a wonderful life. Thor may never know peace now. I don't want to rub my happiness in his face," he lamented.

"You would never do such a thing, unintentionally or not. Knowing one of his oldest friends escaped a grim fate will only have a good effect on his weary heart," she insisted.

"You're right...I can't let Thor drown in his grief without trying to do something about it," he agreed. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"I will summon Hermes and we can go tomorrow," she said and though he felt anxiety about that, he was ready to face this. This was his home now and he would never return to his home realm permanently, but that didn't mean he wouldn't help his oldest friend deal with great tragedy.

~*~

Eva finished a long shift and filed her tablet at the nurse's station. Being back home in Storybrooke felt really good and she was grateful that it had only been days for all her patients since she had been gone and not two years like it had been for her.

Though she spent the curse working as a doctor in a hospital, she had spent it as a lonely single woman with no family. She much preferred her practice in Storybrooke, surrounded by the people she loved and very importantly, her husband.

"Hey…" Paul said, as he joined her at the nurse's station and kissed her cheek.

"Hey yourself," she greeted.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Starved," she replied.

"Good...I could go for some of Frankie's cooking right about now," he said. She giggled.

"I think it's great how Granny is turning the diner over to Frankie and Joe. She's been trying to run things by herself since Red left and it's just too much. I'm glad she's going to slow down and just run the Inn now," she mentioned.

"Me too," he agreed, as he was reminded.

"Oh...I got Leo's test results back from that full blood work up we did and no anomalies," he mentioned. She sighed in relief.

"That's great...it's a really good thing that Jack is already dead or I'd kill him myself for everything he did to my twin," she replied.

"That goes double for me...especially after he tried to kill you too," he said, as he hugged her. She smiled and cuddled against him.

"I'm just glad that's all over. Even though we didn't know it...we were still apart for two years," she mentioned.

"I know...but now we're home, where we belong. And our shifts are over, so it's time I take my wife to dinner," he replied, as he offered his arm. She smiled and took it, as they left the hospital for the night.

~*~

"...And essentially, that is the proposition we are bringing to each Kingdom and all the realms," Snow finished, as she had explained what they wanted to do.

"And you really think uniting all the realms is really possible?" Ariel questioned.

"And with a curse of all things?" Eric asked skeptically.

"Technically, it is a curse...but not a dark curse. There wouldn't be any stealing of memories or breaking apart families like a dark curse. This is, for all intents and purposes, a good curse," David explained.

"Huh...a good curse. Who would have thought," Eric mentioned.

"And we were hoping you could explain this to your father. He doesn't exactly like me and you'd be able to assure him that his whole Kingdom would be coming," Snow replied.

"Daddy has mellowed a bit in the last few years," Ariel mentioned.

"Grandchildren will do that," David said. She nodded.

"And as long as he knows he won't have to become human again, I'm sure he'll agree. Especially if he knows that we're going," Eric replied. Snow looked hopefully at them.

"Then you want to come?" she asked. Ariel nodded eagerly.

"We love being home, but we miss Storybrooke too...and our friends," she replied, as the two women hugged.

"She's right...and if what you told us is true, all the realms used to be one anyway. If that was the way it was, then maybe that's what it's still supposed to be," Eric added. David nodded.

"Any idea what could have caused all the lands to be ripped into ten separate realms?" Eric inquired.

"Actually no...but it's definitely an interesting question," David replied.

"I think I'll ask Rose next time we see her. If there is an account of such a battle, then her library would be the place to find the story," Snow added.

"Well, we know that you're eager to keep traveling, but I hope you'll join us for dinner this evening?" Ariel asked.

"We'd love to," Snow agreed.

"Great...until then, how about a venture out to the beach?" Eric suggested.

"Yay!" Melody cheered, as her father picked her up.

"We can scarcely keep this one out of the water," he said fondly.

"Can we?" Bobby asked excitedly.

"Sure...sounds like fun," David agreed.

"I'll show you to the guest wing. There will be swimwear available there," Ariel said, as she led them up the stairs to another level of the palace.

~*~

Paul and Eva arrived at the diner and smiled, as they found most of their family there, minus her parents and youngest siblings, of course.

"Just in time. Fried chicken just came out," Frankie announced, as he set the large platter down on the table.

"Mmm...that is good," Robin mentioned.

"Mmm...definitely. Don't tell Granny, but this place seriously needed some new menu items," Regina agreed.

"I heard that...but when you're right, you're right," Granny agreed from behind the counter.

"So...did you get those test results?" Leo asked his brother-in-law nervously. Paul smiled at him.

"Everything came back normal," he confirmed and Leo sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness," Robin said.

"Yes...that piece of…" Regina started to curse, but Robin gave her a look and she rolled her eyes.

"That disgusting person should feel lucky he didn't meet his end at my hand. It would have been far more painful," she said and Leo smiled at her.

"I love you too, Aunt Regina," he said. She smiled.

"You better," she teased.

"Ooh...what's this?" Eva asked, as she snatched the ring box from his hand.

"Hey...that's not for you to see," he protested, as she opened it and gasped.

"Are you giving this to Elsa?" she asked.

"Maybe...none of your business, nosy," he replied, as he snapped it back.

"You are...you're proposing!" she said excitedly.

"Shh...will you not broadcast it? I want to surprise Elsa and that will be impossible if you announce it to the world!" he said in exasperation.

"Were you really not going to tell us?" Eva questioned.

"No...actually, I wasn't until I propose, because you have a big mouth," Leo replied.

"I do not have a big mouth," Eva protested, as she looked at her husband, who looked sheepish.

"You know I love and support you...but he's not wrong," he said, with a wince, which made her huff.

"I'd like to stand up for you too, sweetie, but you are your mother's daughter," Regina added, as she smiled at Leo.

"But congratulations," she said and Leo smiled.

"She hasn't said yes yet," he reminded.

"But she will," Regina replied confidently.

"Sorry we're late," Emma said, as she and Killian entered the diner and sat down with their family.

"So...what did we miss?" Killian asked.

"Leo bought a ring for Elsa," Eva gushed.

"Really?!" he exclaimed, as he looked at his twin, but she just shrugged.

"Oh please, the rest of us already know. They might as well too and we should start planning your engagement party," she said.

"Who says Elsa and I even want an engagement party?" he asked. Emma chuckled.

"You're the son of Snow White...you're getting a party. She didn't give us a choice, so you're not getting out of it either," his older sister answered. He rolled his eyes.

"Eloping is looking pretty good there, huh mate?" Killian teased him.

"You have no idea," Leo agreed, as they continued to eat and enjoy each other's company.

~*~

Hermes appeared before them in the library that evening and was met with expectant faces.

"I assume I am here, because you are aware of the new developments in your home world," she said. They nodded.

"Now that the threat of that monster is gone, I feel more comfortable in taking my family there. And though this is now my home and will forever be my home, I feel that my people deserve to know that I live," Fandral stated. Hermes nodded.

"I'm inclined to agree. Traveling between realms in your own sector is one thing, but to leave your own sector for another is something else entirely," she responded.

"Is it forbidden?" Rose asked.

"No...not expressly forbidden, though Zeus doesn't like it. But then Zeus doesn't like a lot of things. To quote Aphrodite, he's a complete stick in the mud," she quipped.

"To ordinary people, I would not provide passage, but neither of you or your children are ordinary," she continued.

"Fandral...you are a valiant warrior that led the life of a warrior in your former home. But your true destiny has always been at Rose's side," she added.

"I will never regret my time in defending and protecting Asgard. But my personal life used to be quite empty and frivolous," he agreed, as he caressed Rose's beautiful face.

"I knew my true place was with you the moment I met you, my love and that is why this realm is now my home, because it is where you and our children are," he added.

"But my oldest friend is lost in a despair that I am not sure I can see him through. But we must try," Fandral pleaded. Hermes smiled.

"And that is why I am granting your request to travel there. Gather your things and the children. I will return in the morning," she said, as she disappeared. Rose put her arms around her husband and they shared a tender kiss. Tomorrow, they would embark on a journey to help his oldest friend and reveal that he was alive to his people.

~*~

Snow and David watched Summer and Bobby play in the water with Melody, while they waded nearby. Eric and Ariel were on the shore nearby, so they took a moment to enjoy just being in each other's arms. Aside from the few days they had rested in Storybrooke, they hadn't had much time to just be. They spent two years apart, because of another dark curse. He spent them raising their daughter with a hole in his heart that could never be filled, thinking his beautiful wife and their son were dead. She spent them half the time as the confused Mary Blanchard, who had been locked away in a mental hospital, because of a multiple personality disorder. And the other half as herself, where she remembered who she was and what she had lost, while an evil man kept her son from her. She still shuddered at the memories of those nights in her cell, as she cried for her husband. Their half hearts had never stopped yearning for the other half, but it had taken their son finding him to reunite them this time. Cursing them to a city the size of Seattle had almost ensured that they may never find each other, but thankfully, true love in the form of their precious son ended their suffering by reuniting them.

"I'm so glad we brought them with us and they're getting to unwind a bit," Snow said fondly, as they watched their two youngest.

"Me too...they've been through a lot and I wish I could have prevented it," he mentioned, as he held her close. She tilted her head to the side and kissed his cheek.

"It's not your fault," she assured.

"I know," he agreed.

"You found me again, but after this, I'm hoping you never have to again," she said passionately.

"One more curse...a good curse to bring us all together and then there will be no need to find each other ever again," she added. He smiled and kissed her tenderly.

"Hopefully we can just enjoy being found," he agreed, as their lips met again passionately. They lost themselves in each other, that is until they felt a large splash of water hit them. Their lips parted and they looked at their precocious children.

"Really? That's the game you two want to play?" David asked, with a smile.

"Mmm...I think this means war," Snow agreed, as they splashed their kids, who retaliated with more splashing, which ensued more family fun together than they had been allowed to have in a very long time...

[oosteven-universe]

Soulfire vol.8 #2

Soulfire vol.8 #3 Aspen Comics 2019 Written by J.T. Krul Pencilled by Raffaele Forte Inked by Sara Ianniello Coloured by Valentina Taddeo & Jesse Heagy Lettered by Zen     Grace is determined to protect magic in all its forms from a world still locked in their technological ways, but she is not outwardly looking for a fight. Minerva, on the other hand, has amassed a strike force from around the globe and is ready to face this strange new danger. And now, she has a target--Rainier’s realm at Devil’s Tower!     They weren't kidding this really is the biggest story that they've told yet. The opening here is a great way to look back at the history of the franchise thus far and for new readers it is a boon and for long-time fans it's just a beautiful reminder. Just to look back and see what Malakai has been through as young man and to have survived it none the worse for wear, seriously, just makes me think he is much more impressive. Also to see how far he's come and how much he's grown up, whether he was ready to or not, is a nice thing to see.     J.T. Is an incredibly good, strong writer and he understands how a story should be structured. The way he utilises the story & plot development and weaves it with the character development, like a Twizzler or a Red Vine, that is carried along the pacing is so well done. One of the things that I found to be very enjoyable is the dialogue between Mal and P.J.. This to me is how two best friends are not only going to talk to each other but who have each other's back in a way that says the bonds of friendship they have have made them family, brother's if you will so that looking out for each other is as instinctive as it gets.     With folks like Defence Minister Cordella who needs friends or more apropos enemies when you've got her. I don't like this woman and I don't think we are supposed to. She is motivated by something that puts her at odds with the situation and that's dangerous plus she's also power hungry another trait that spells potential disaster. Add into that those she has paid to be brought to her side, otherwise some of them wouldn't have the right motivation.     I love the interiors that we are seeing here. There is something about the linework that is so classically comics and yet is has this stellar attention to detail while managing to add this manga-ish feel to the book. P.J.'s hair and the wings, and Rainier himself help fuse the genre's together like we saw in Yu Gi Oh. Good grief seeing Abel and all the linework on him is a complete wow factor. The way that we see the composition inside the panels through the perspective, angles and utilisation of backgrounds show this wonderfully talented eye for storytelling. Also I'm madly wild with how we see the inking done and how they finish the linework perfectly. The colour work here is outstanding! From lights of all kinds and the brightness in the hues it just stands out and draws the eye. The way we see the colour work define musculature's is sensation and the colour blocking is utilised effectively and even some colour gradation brings this life.     It is nice to see Vanyss again even if she's with Rainier at this point in time. Why Grace is with him though is beyond any true reasoning I can see. I mean let's think about it for a moment, she wants to protect magic, she unleashes magic into the world through Mal as she betrays him, then she runs to Rainier who wants to yield all the magic and rule the world. Saying he's reformed, she is taking him at his word and wants him to change her mind on their past. So that the ending plays out like it does sends my head spinning faster than a kid on a sit-n-spin! This is just a damn fun read.

[iohourtime]

Love Goddess: An Ariyama Exchange Fic (Translation)

Myojo 2013.12 to 2014.05

T/N: I want to make it very clear that I didn't write this! 😅’ Please let me know if there were any errors.

I came across this recently after Yamada mentioned how he tends to write tragic love stories in the recent Urujump and someone commented that we should revisit “Love Goddess”.

I thought about making 6 posts but at the end of the day, each chapter is pretty short, so I grouped all 6 of them. The “author’s comment” are actually messages between Yamada and Dai-chan and they described their... um... thought process.  They were clearly half-assing this, so don’t take it too seriously.  Also, I think when they came up with their unit song, My Girl, they were probably thinking about this story.

Original source: @Momomo415  https://mobile.twitter.com/momomo415/status/772828405490331648

Also here, here, and here

Myojo Staff

Starting this month, you can read the exchange fiction written by Yamada and Arioka!  Taking the “top batter” position, Yamada started the story with a bang!!

----------

Chapter 1: My Best Friend is My Rival in Love?!

By Yamada Ryosuke

Arioka and I were in the same year in the same high school.  We knew each other since we were kids; in fact, we were best friends.  However, we had completely opposite personalities.  Arioka was serious and a bit timid and weak, and in comparison, I was a bit of a player*… if I may say so myself.  I didn’t have a steady girlfriend; I dated a lot of girls from school.  

[* Charai refers to flashy, shallow, frivolous, goof, thoughtless and also super flirty behaviour.  When used to describe a person, it’s probably closest to “player” in English.  I will stick with “charai” when they are talking about behaviour since I haven’t thought of a single word that describes all of the above.]

Recently, Arioka had fallen for Yuko, a girl from the class next to his.  Every day, he would nag me with questions like “How do I get her to go out with me?” Once in a while, I gave him some advice on matters of love.

This story started one day after school.  As usual, I was in the gym making out with a girl whose name I didn’t know.  I heard familiar footsteps approaching, and even though my eyes were closed, I knew it was Arioka who was coming over to get me.

“Yamada!! Let’s go home!! Hey you, you are doing that with [random] girls again?!”

My eyes opened and the girl slowly looked back at Arioka.  At that moment, Arioka froze; the bag he was holding fell on the ground.

“Yu...Yuko-chan…!!”

[T/N: Yes, “Yu” as in Chinen Yuri.]

Author’s Comment:

While this is totally fictional, I wanted to write a love triangle where Dai-chan and I were fighting over a girl.  Dai-chan, I leave this to you to make the story more messed up (lol)!!

----------

Chapter 2: Hitting Rock Bottom, My Revenge Begins!

By Arioka Daiki

I definitely saw something I didn't want to see.

My best friend Yamada and my crush Yuko kissing!!

Unable to take the shock, I ran out of that place.

“That girl is Yuko-chan, my crush? That can't be!! I don't know what to think~!”

I heard Yamada's urgent appeal from behind me, but I wasn’t listening, I ran and ran aimlessly… and without noticing, I ended up at the park.

“Why is this happening…”

For me who lost my best friend and the girl I liked in one shot, I didn’t know what to do.  I wondered why I am so useless...

“Yamada is so popular, why can't I be like that... What does he have that I don't?”

I was thinking about that as I walked into a convenience store. And then it appeared before my eyes: a handbook for love called “From Today Onwards, You Can Be Popular Too”. Grasping at straws, I poured over the contents of the book, studying [the methods] over and over again…

A few days later, I, who used to wear my uniform super properly, left three buttons of my shirt open and wore a sparkly earring in my pierced ear.  My hair was waxed and big and I had a party girl* under each of my arms.  This was the new me that bumped into Yamada.

[* Ike ike girl (イケイケガール) is literally translated as a “go go girl”. Similar to “charai”, there seems to be certain traits associated with the term.  I am just going to use “party girl” here.]

“You are Ar...Arioka?”

Facing this shocked Yamada, I openly declared.

“I will make you feel the pain I felt!”

Author's Comment:

Since Yamada requested that I make “the story messy!”, I turned this into a revenge drama.  It was an experience imagining ourselves being bad (laughs).  Let’s see what you can cook up next [Yamada]!

----------

Chapter 3: The Playboy met His True Love?

By Yamada Ryosuke

Unbuttoned uniform, sparkly earring, and waxed hair.

The Arioka in front me had certainly turned into an “unmissable character”. However, his eyes were wide opened from shock.

That’s right. I had dyed my hair blonde and was wearing colour con, so I had become more charai than ever!

“Take a good look, Arioka! This is called “the comeback of a player”!!!”

Faced with that [embarrassing] situation, Arioka was crestfallen. Yet the party girls with him became turned on by this defeated Arioka.

I casually met the eyes of one of the girls…

Eh?! Is that…. Is that Yuko?!

In other words, Yuko, who made out with me just a few days ago, was attracted to Arioka at this moment….

What?  When have I cared about Yuko?  She was just one of the many girls I made out with!  

Well then, why is my heart so confused…

I slowly left that place.

Author’s Comment:

This month’s theme is the comeback of a player (laughs)! Yuko, who was uninterested at first, had finally turned around and looked at Arioka.  Dai-chan, how will you continue this battle of the players?

----------

Chapter 4: The Curtains are Drawn on the Battle of the Players!

By Arioka Daiki

With a sad look on his face, Yamada turned back and started to walk away slowly.  

And then... “Wait a minute!”, Yuko-chan suddenly shouted at Yamada.  I looked up when I heard her voice. Yuko-chan slowly looked back and forth between me and Yamada, and with determination, she said this.

“I love players. The more they play the field, the more I love them. So with that, the first ever “Battle of the Players” begins!”

Not quite knowing what she meant, both Yamada and I asked, “Battle of the Players?”

“Yama-chan and Dai-chan are part of it of course, but all the guys at school who feel like they are players are welcome to join too.  The winner of the “Battle of the Players” can go out with me!”

Hearing Yuko-chan’s words, I was fired up. “I’ll do it!”  

Yamada, cracking his knuckles and brushing his hair upwards, said, “I am not going to lose!”

And then Yuko-chan explained the details of the battle; both Yamada and I were dumbfounded.

Author’s Comment:

No way. I didn’t expect Yamada to become even more charai than me, I wasn’t sure how to continue… So, I decided to add the popular battle element from shounen manga.  Let’s heat this up!

----------

Chapter 5: Arioka’s Secret is Revealed…?!

By Yamada Ryosuke

[T/N: To be honest, some of the characters’ actions are making me a bit uncomfortable.  I guess they are stereotypical “charai” behaviour?  Which kinda made them creeps, but whatever...  😅’ ]

“Simply speaking, I am going to observe the two of you round the clock to see which of you have a more charai lifestyle.”

And just as she said, Yuko started observing us the next day.  Even though we were being watched, I was very charai to begin with, so I was pretty confident in my chances of winning.  After all, I was someone who greeted every girl a “good morning” with kisses.

While I was confident I had the edge, two days, three days later, the winner was still not decided.  Yuko said Arioka was showing his “player” quality by repeatedly flipping girls’ skirts and she was feeling turned on by that.

This went on until one day, I was in the nurse’s station getting hot and heavy with this girl from my class.  Yuko and Arioka happened to walk by.  To appeal to Yuko, Arioka cut in and started getting involved with the same girl I was with.

“WTH is this?! I am not going to lose!”, I said as I ripped open my uniform to show my beautiful, muscular body*.  Seeing me and not wanting to lose, Arioka also started taking off his shirt.  However, when Arioka saw his own topless self, he immediately regretted doing that.  That is because Arioka’s tummy was on full display!  In that moment, the battle was over…  I snickered, knowing that I had won.

[* Yamada just really wanted to remind people he got a nice muscular body, huh?]

Author’s Comment:

Since we didn’t really thought through the plot of the story, it was a bit hard to keep going but I trust Dai-chan’s powerful ideas! Who will get Yuko’s heart? I am very curious to know too!

----------

Chapter 6: The Battle of the Players is Over! Who Got True Love in the End?

By Arioka Daiki

Facing Yamada’s well toned abs, I started taking off my shirt too and immediately realized it was the wrong move.  That was because my abs were not in top condition.  I was eating a lot of good food during winter and didn’t train my body, so it was no wonder I looked like that.

Yuko was staring at Yamada’s body and she was definitely into it.  Yamada pulled Yuko into his embrace and they kissed passionately.

Yup, total defeat-----.

To stop my tears from coming out, I held my head up, but then I felt someone’s warm gaze on me.  Suddenly, I remembered there was someone else in the room other than Yamada, Yuko, and I.  In the room, there was also Keiko* who was making out with Yamada earlier!  Keiko slowly opened her mouth, her eyes turned heart shaped, and shouted.

[* Yes, Kei as in Inoo Kei]

“Arioka-kun’s tummy reminds me of my papa’s!  I loooove it!”

From that point on, Keiko pursued me relentlessly!  No matter where I was, she was always beside me. No matter what I said, she would laugh [like it was the funniest joke].  My heart slowly turned towards the single-minded Keiko.

3 days later, I saw Yamada and Yuko taking a walk and holding hands.  Now I was able to wholeheartedly support this couple.

That was because beside me…

My new love goddess, Keiko, was smiling at me.

Author’s Comment:

Since Inoo-chan was there, the story has a happy ending (laughs).  Honestly, at first I was worried as the story kinda went off the rails!  But I was enjoying the writing process.  Will this story be published? Until the day we meet again, to be continued~

[Aside: I don’t know what to say.  I guess Keiko likes the dad bod… in any case, she can help Dai-chan draw on some abs if need be. All things considered, the fight in My Girl makes more sense - at least the 3 of them had grown up together and frankly, I think the girl in the song probably think they are ridiculous and dump them anyway. ]

Cast

[keeloves]

My Top 10 least favorite Celebrities

Now keep in mind this list is simply my opinion I don’t mean to offend people and I do my best to give good reasons on why I don’t respect or like any of these people.

#10 Danielle Panabaker

I haven’t always had a problem with Danielle. She is the reason I started watching the Flash. I was also familiar with her work on Disney channel. She starred in the movies “Stuck in the Suburbs” “Read it and Weep” alongside her sister Kay Panabaker and most of you know she was in the movie Sky High. I was excited to see Danielle move on to bigger and better things. However, my issues with her began after watching her interviews and how I heard she tried to steal Candice’s spot as leading female. I tried to let it go at first but the more interviews I watched of her the more I started to lose respect for her. There was this ‘Ship war” between West Allen & Snowbarry. The problem with that is that Snowbarry is nonexistent. That was made up shortly after Candice Patton a black woman was cast as the leading female. Danielle has baited her racist shippers into thinking Snowbarry could happen. She has boasted about her and Grant’s chemistry right in front of Candice and Carlos and she has disregarded canon for the sake of baiting her SB shippers. Candice Patton has always talked about including more females on the show and Danielle boasts about being the “Only girl in STAR Labs” She even implied that her character Caitlin was jealous of Candice’s character Iris simply because of attention Iris waEs getting from guys. Candice on the other hand says, “That Iris will be fighting over a guy.” Danielle never once mentions Candice or her character in an interview but completely gets excited over Emily Bett Rickard’s character Felicity because “It was great having another female on the show.” Even though she got done bragging about being “The only female in STAR Labs” The worst thing is she tried to pass off a moment of sexual assault/harassment as a cute Snowbarry moment just get her portion of the fan-base excited. Even worse than that she did that in front of Candice and Carlos. Carlos even had to remind her she had her own ship called SnowStorm. In a most recent she did, she was asked about a Snowest friendship (Iris & Caitlin) she didn’t even give a straight answer she said something along the lines of “Iris doesn’t really make a lot of sense in STAR Labs and I am excited to see her journalism arc” and I am like that had absolutely nothing to do with the question that was being asked. Her answer sounded a lot like Iris West Allen haters. I don’t know if Danielle is doing this on purpose because she is mad at the fact she was not cast as the lead or is it because she really is that oblivious to the kind of horrible stuff people say about her female costar? Either way I don’t have much respect for Danielle because she is willfully ignorant to her privilege she has a white woman. Honestly Candice deserves a better female costar than the one she has now.

#9 Alexandra Shipp

She is known for playing Storm and the singer Aaliyah. Storm in the comics is a dark skin full blooded black woman. Alexandra Shipp is a mixed woman. Once again, the casting directors were too lazy to hire someone like Lupita to play Storm. When people expressed how upset they were that Alexandra Shipp was cast as Storm she basically told people to get over it. Okay now on one hand Alexandra is an actress so she should be allowed to play a part without getting back lash. However, the problem is that Hollywood has a long history of casting racially ambiguous/mixed women as all out black female characters who are supposed to be dark skin. Hollywood is colorist as hell. Alexandra basically said she isn’t going to miss any opportunity to audition for a part or take a part even if it is meant for a dark skin woman. As an actress she has a right to do that but the downfall this prove she is unaware of the privilege she has a mixed woman. As a mixed woman myself I believe we should be using our privilege to help up lift dark skin women. Media shits on black women enough and it’s even worse when mixed women who are half black are helping this problem. Sadly, Alexandra Shipp isn’t the only woman guilty of this. Yara Shahidi and Amandla Stenberg will acknowledge their privilege as mixed women but then turn around take parts meant for full on dark skin black girls. That is so hypocritical and this trend Hollywood and in media in general really need to die. So, I hope that these women stop doing this and really do something to fight against the colorism in Hollywood.

#8 Julie Plec

I have only watched to season 1 episode 7 of The Vampire Diaries. I have watched clips online too. Three reasons I have trouble getting through that show. One Damon is an abusive asswipe, two Delena and three Bonnie Bennet’s piss poor treatment. I put Julie Plec on this list because she called Delena sexy and treats her one black character the worst out of all the characters on the show. She is entitled to her opinion on Delena. However, my question is what is exactly sexy about an abusive relationship? Damon has raped and abused Elena and her friends, has killed several people she has care about because she didn’t do what he wanted, the biggest example is that when Elena rejected Damon he murdered her brother by snapping his neck. Yet she calls that a sexy relationship? She sabotaged Stelena and Bamon actual healthy relationships to force an unhealthy couple. The only time Damon is likable is when he is around Bonnie. Bamon on the show didn’t happen because Bonnie is black. They happened in the books because Bonnie was white in the books. The fact that Julie Plec can tease ships like Delena and Stelena but is so quick to shut down Bamon shippers is part of the reason racism in fandoms exist. Behavior like that from people like Julie Plec and Danielle Panabaker are only helping fuel a racist fanbase. You can’t tell me Julie has never seen the nasty racist stuff that Kat Graham the actress and Bonnie Bennet the character gets. If she has seen it and said nothing, then shame on her for not saying anything. Anyways I don’t have too much else to say but when I complete the series of TVD I will make sure to give more thorough opinion on the show and Julie.

#7 Marc Guggenheim & Wendy Mericle (This picture felt right due to my feelings on them)

These two will forever be known as the two idiots who ruined Arrow. I have three big problems with these two. One, their treatment of female characters, two the vast amounts of white washing and three how unprofessional they are. Every female character that has been killed off died in a way where they  had no chance to defend themselves. Shado and Moria stabbed with their hands tied behind their backs and killed off for the sake of man pain. Sara Lance shot off a building with arrows while caught off guard. Dinah Laurel Lance Earth 1 the true Black Canary frozen by magic stabbed with an Arrow gets successful surgery only to have a random seizure and die. Really? However, the men on this show no matter how evil get to die as a hero. The worst thing about Laurel’s last moments is that she spent it with Oliver a man who treated her like shit and her last words were spent propping up his relationship with Felicity. Laurel was treated like trash all through out the show. Marc and Wendy didn’t know what character was going in the grave until episode 16. The death took place in episode 18. Katie Cassidy found out two episodes before that her character was going in the grave and she didn’t even find out in person she was told over the phone. So not only are Marc and Wendy unprofessional but they have proven themselves to be incompetent writers. Even John Barroman was dissatisfied at his departure from the show. They are also heavily misogynistic in their writing in the way they kill their female characters without giving them chance to defend themselves as I have mentioned earlier and in the way, they write Felicity. Felicity is written as a jealous bitch. She has been jealous of every single one of Oliver’s relationships. They had her refer to Lian Yu as fantasy Island a place that Oliver describes as his personal hell, just because there were two other women with him on the beach. Now on to the problem of white washing. Arrow has a bad habit of white washing characters. Here is a list of characters that Arrow has white washed https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2015/04/10/white-canary-and-arrows-habit-of-whitewashing/  Arrow also treats characters especially female characters like they are interchangeable.  The character Evelyn Sharp is Starling in the comics but because she was introduced the episode after they killed Laurel she got the name Artimis attached to her due to the popularity of the Young Justice character to simply gain them more views. Evelyn Sharp/Starling are characters that have never had a live adaptation so why not do that character instead of mix matching characters. The next character they messed up is Dinah Drake who was established as Laurel’s mom on the show and she is the first Black Canary in the comics. Yet the show introduces to a new Black Canary named Tina Boland whose real name happens to be Dinah Drake.  Arrow now has had four different Dinahs two of them being Laurel. Conner Hawk is now randomly John Diggle Junior and they have completely erased the Asian half. William and Samantha are supposed to be Blasian characters named Conner and Sandra Hawk only to be random white washed nobodies. .I hate how they treat their queer/lgbtq characters like trash. They forced a lesbian into a hetero marriage and have their one bi character sleep around. Marc even admitted two bi characters of the oppososite gender hooked up simply because they were both bi. I am sorry to all the LGBTQ people out there for being represented so terribly. Anyways thank god Marc and Wendy won’t be around for season 7 of Arrow. All though sadly their damage of the show will be left behind

#6 Marlene King

She is the writer for Pretty Little Liars and Famous in Love.  I put Marlene on this list because of “creative choices” she has made in her shows. In Pretty Little Liars and Famous in Love she had characters statutorily raped and did nothing about it. Toby was raped by two women, one being his step sister Jenna and the second woman being Alex, Spencer’s identical twin sister. For those going to Alex didn’t rape Toby yes, she did because she pretended to be Spencer to trick Toby into having sex with her. Tricking someone into having sex with you is rape. The fact that Toby’s rape from Jenna was played off as a secret love affair is disgusting and purpurates the stereotype that all guys are horny and want sex. This ignores male rape victims. Then I watched the scene where Alex and Toby are “having sex” and the people in the comments are calling it cute just because Alex looks like Spencer. That is so gross. There is nothing cute about watching someone get raped. Then on Famous in Love Nina who is the mother of Jordan’s best friend was having sex with Jordan when he was 16 and she was an adult. All though I am having trouble with that because people say she didn’t know because Jordan lied about his age. I am not sure if that is true but if she didn’t and found out it was her job as the adult to put to a stop to it but if she did know and didn’t care then shame on her and she needs to be in prison in a cell next to Ezra Fitz who I will talk about next. Ezra Fitz purposely stalked four underage girls and started a relationship with one of them knowing full well that she was underage and knew he was going to be her teacher all to write a book about their missing friend who is another underage girl that he had a relationship with.  This was never addressed in a nuanced way. Ezra never went to jail or prison. Instead people questioned his relationship with Aria, but not once did they call the police on him.  He stalked the four girls while he claimed to be away on business.  Then at the end of the series Aria and Ezra get married. Yes, that is right folks Marlene King had a victim marry their statutory rapist/stalker. Sadly, that is not the only abusive couple that ended up together. The one LGBTQ couple that ended up together was abusive and only ended together because of whiny ass fanbase and Emily’s eggs being implanted into Alison without either girl’s knowledge which is a violation of both girl’s bodies. I have gone on in the past on why I hate Emison so if you want to know more read my Top 10 worst couples list where you will find Emison and Ezria.  The next problem I have is how Marlene treats poc characters and her lgbtq/queer characters. She treated Paige badly even though Paige had the most common sense. She made a few mistakes but learned from them and she didn’t get the happy ending she deserved. The show Pailey lived together but we don’t get to see that instead we get flash backs of Emison where Alison is abusing Emily. Maya a woman of color who was also bisexual killed off for shock value. Yvonne woman of color Toby’s finance killed off just because of Spoby, Charlette a transgender character made into a villain and killed off, Shauna made into a villain and killed off. Ugh. Anyways Marlene is guilty of promoting abusive relationships by having two be endgame. She is basically saying if “Your abuser is nice to you sometimes then you should give them what they want.

#5 Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis

They are best known for making the show Once Upon A Time. I wrote a long post on deviant art that I will copy and paste here if you want a more thorough explanation but those of you wanting a brief explanation on what my problem with them are here you go. I have four main problems. One, they way the treat male rape victims on the show, two the fact it took them seven seasons to have people of color on the show because prior to that they have been killed off, three the vast amounts of queer baiting they do and four the fact that a woman needs to have a child and a man to have a happy ending. The first lgbtq/queer couple they had were rushed, forced and slapped together and then the two characters were never seen again. It just felt like they wanted brownie points from the lgbtq/queer community for representation. They have had three females on male rape which two out of three of them were done by deception and two out of the three rapes had babies born from this. Okay now here is the long-winded version from Deviant Art about my problems with Adam and Eddie. Its long because it is my review on Once Upon a Time. “There is a lot I am going to say here. These are my overall thoughts on Once Upon a Time and the writers. Not all of this is going to be positive so be prepared.  Once Upon A Time was a show I really enjoyed because of the many characters I grew up with got to be done differently and interpreted different ways. I thought the names characters had were quite clever. For example, Cora is the Queen of Hearts and Core means hearts, Regina Mills last named being Mills was because her mom was the Miller's daughter or how Rumpelstiltskin was called Mr. Gold or Detective Weaver because he weaved and spun gold. I loved all the clever names. My favorite story lines were Ruby being the wolf, and her boyfriend being named Peter as a nod to Peter and the wolf. I also enjoyed Ingrid as a character and I enjoyed the show for what it was. However, this show has many problems which I will now get into. The show's main problem is that villains’ actions are not called out properly. The two biggest examples are Regina and Rumple. Regina, has mass murdered three villages worth of people, separated children from their families, locked away Belle in a tower for 28 years and straight up raped Graham and yes folks I said it she RAPED Graham. Several people of asked Adam and Eddy about the Regina raping Graham argument and they have dismissed the argument by saying it Graham was Regina's sex slave. This isn't the only problem with Regina. She has committed so many heinous crimes and none of her main victims have called her out for it they just give her a free pass because "She's good now".  Once Upon A Time has a huge problem with rape in general. Adam and Eddy have written three female on rape cases and never once bothered to address any of them. Two out of three of the came a child and two out of three rape victims ended up dying by murder basically and it was never dealt with again. Zelena killed Marion a woman of color (We are getting to that soon) shape shifted into her then raped Robbin Hood who was dating Regina at the time. Then Zelena gets pregnant and names her daughter Robin? Why? I truly believe it was to spite Regina and rub it in her face that she can't bear children of her own. What the hell were Adam and Eddy thinking naming Zelena's baby Robin? Then Gothel raped Nook/Wish Hook and had Alice. Why won't they address this issue. What about Emma and Neal. Neal aka Bealfire is over 300 years old or 24 for safety and Emma was 16 or 17 years old. No one thought that relationship was weird? I feel conflicted about Swanfire. The most problematic relationship to me is Rumbelle, it’s so awful even the actress who plays Belle hates the relationship. Why did Adam and Eddy make that a relationship at all? Rumple did nothing but lie and deceive Belle. He murdered Milah twice and now he can't respect Belle. It is honestly the most emotionally abusive relationship I have seen. These writers tried to shove it off as a dysfunctional relationship. It was that all right but it was very emotionally abusive and just really creepy. Rumple went so far as stalking Belle by putting a tracker bracelet on her and showed up at the library when Belle clearly didn't want him there. Belle honestly should have ended up with Ruby, Graham or Adam who was never introduced. Moving on from Rumblle up next the show's problems are how they treat their characters of color. Up until season seven there were no main characters of color. The characters were either one offs, or they died too soon. Rapunzel who was black appeared once and never mentioned again despite being a popular story, Gus Gus dies, Ursula basically a one off never seen again, Sydney a black man brought on and used as a slave or indentured servant depending on how you look at it either way bad. Tamera Neal's girlfriend killed off by Rumple, Mulan an Asian bisexual woman never got a happy ending but was there to cape for the white characters. The Dragon guy killed off, Merlyn dead, and many others have died as well. The next problem is the queer baiting on this show. This show took five seasons to give us a lgbtq couple and it was rushed, and they weren't seen again. The two most popular couples are Sleeping Warrior and Swan Queen. Sleeping Warrior was the closest thing to a healthy lgbtq interracial relationship. We were so close but nope Aurea had to get pregnant with Prince Philip's baby and they won't even let Mulan say she was in love with Aurea which really pisses me off because the writers have established her as bisexual but won't allow her a happy ending or a chance at true love. The only main canon lgbtq couple we got were Robbin and Alice. I think if Mulan were a white woman and in season 7 she would have gotten a happy ending and a wonderful love interest. (All though Mulan is Asian and should stay Asian because, I hate white washing) Swan Queen all though I am not big on it I do see why people ship it. All though can people take a minute and realize that Emma and Regina are step granddaughter and step grandmother? Then again Emma married her almost step father in law so this show is close to having incestuous relationship so why shouldn't they give Regina and Emma a chance? My biggest problem with the show is how Emma got treated like shit by the fandom and the writers. Emma who tried to save Marion's life had to apologize to Regina for "ruining her chances with Robin or making her life more complicated?" Excuse me but Regina was going to murder Emma as a baby, Regina is the whole reason Emma didn't have a family for 28 years of her life. Regina can drink a tall glass of STFU. Seriously these writers coddle the hell out of Regina and it is annoying as hell. As I said before Regina has kidnapped an entire town by cursing them, she raped Graham for 28 years and she mass murdered thousands upon thousands of people. Here these videos are a summary of all the messed up things Regina have done.www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q8bNf…. Then the writers have retconned Henry. He told Regina "You were the first person to love me." Excuse me but this kid was going to build an armory against her and ran away to Emma. Yeah Regina isn't abusive. Adam and Eddy also think that happy endings mean children and other true love. Really characters like Regina and Rumple should work hard to improve themselves but nope corners were crossed for those two and they got happy endings meanwhile good characters such as Mulan, Facillar, Milah, and many other characters who were actual good people didn't get a happy ending. Yet mass murdering rapists got happy endings that is so messed up. In conclusion Adam and Eddy are misogynistic assholes and have proven to be racist in their writing. They have also don't care about lgbtq people, male rape victims and the people of color on their show. I also found it really insulting that they portrayed women as incomplete if they couldn't bear children of their own. All in all, Once Upon a Time could have been a great show but instead it was mediocre.”

#4 Kanye West

If there were a contest on being the most arrogant and most full of yourself person Kanye would either win first place or he would take second to his in laws/his wife. He is colorist, he is an attention whore and he said that slavery is a choice. I hope he meant the mind set of slavery is a choice but I highly doubt it but I highly doubt it. He put a confederate flag on his clothing line. I have seen the price of his clothing is way too expensive. $200 for a shirt all because it says Yeeze? Then again there are purses that cost more than that just because the purse has the word Coach on it. His wife who isn’t even black takes things from black culture but never pays respect to the culture she is borrowing from and Kanye just supports this. Kanye has bashes other types music just because it is not his own and he is just so full of himself. He even said he supports Donald Trump which his right, but he probably said that for attention too. Anyways I have never really cared for Kanye I can’t say too much else about him.

#3 James Gunn

He directed both Guardians of the Galaxy movies which are both great. However, I don’t think he will be directing the third since he was recently fired over some ten-year-old tweets. Now tweets shouldn’t get someone fired but if you are making several jokes about pedophilia then that is probable cause to be to be fired. James Gunn made these tweets in his forties and never deleted them. First off why is James Gunn making several jokes about pedophile at the age of 40? He is now 50 and he didn’t use his common sense back then to know those are not things you joke about?  Second why is that type of thing on his mind. He didn’t just make one joke about it he made several jokes about child molestation. If that is on his mind constantly then he needs to be psychologically evaluated. I honestly hope he hasn’t acted on the pedophilia because the fact that is something on his mind at age 40 is terrifying and he needs serious help.

#2 Robert Sylvester Kelly/R Kelly

He refers to himself as the Pied Piper of R&B. Which is ironically fitting since he the Pied Piper is known for kidnapping children. R Kelly is one of the most talented singers I have ever heard in my life. I listened to his music growing up. He “wrote” the song “I believe I can fly” and the song “Ignition” Now for those wondering why I put the word in qoutioans its because R Kelly is illiterate he can’t read or write. I am serious he is not dyslexic he has never learned to read or write according to his brother Carrey and Wendy William. Now as I said before R Kelly is one of the most talented singers but sadly he is also one of the most garbage human beings I have ever had the displeasure of hearing about. Where do I even start? There have been stories since the early 90’s of him being a predator. He would hang out at middle schools in Chicago as an adult picking up young girls, and promising[HK1]  them money, gift cards and McDonalds. The girls he did get to come to his house he kept him them in their rooms or the basement, forced the girls to call him daddy and made them perform sexual acts on him. He pissed on a fourteen girl and married the singer Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27 at the time. In fact, for more detail about R Kelly and his creepy behavior here is a documentary of all the fucked-up things he did. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p060m6qx  When R Kelly was 49 he dated a 19-year-old which wasn’t illegal but given his past history with girls that is just creepy. I also hate the fact he could afford to pay someone to teach him how to read and write but won’t because he used his money for lawyers and paid off the families of the girls he abused to keep them quiet. One day R Kelly will go to jail. I think the reason he stayed out of prison for so long are for two reasons. Number one he is famous and loads of money to pay people off and two he targets young black girls/women who are the least protected group in America. Anyways R Kelly needs to be in prison in solitary confinement until the day he dies. He is disgusting, and he is probably just as disgusting as my next choice for my number one pick.

#1 Gregory Daniel Jackson

He is better known by his YouTube alias Onision. He is a famous youtuber who tries to be like Shane Dawson in video style and in hair style. I put him on the list for the countless fucked-up things he has done to basically gain attention.  He has met all his wives and his current wife over the internet while they were either 16 or 17. He was an adult at the time. He flies these women out to his house and has isolated them from their families. He put his first wife on blast because she didn’t want to have sex with him and gave out the number of partners she had as revenge for not wanting to have sex with him. The number was pretty high, then after treating her like garbage he left her several voice mails. If you don’t believe me here is the video of the “voice mails he left for her” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPnC3n2fpYs&t=1s . His second wife Shiloh lost three years of her memory and posted a video of her having a break down but apparently she was faking I am not entirely sure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz_9s9SgQao and then filmed her having a meltdown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7HcGsMb5PQ I am linking these videos as proof because Onision is just gross. He encouraged Lainey to get a girlfriend even though she/”they”  (Lainey is nonbinary but Onision calls her she all the time so I am not sure what pronoun to use for Lainey so I used both) was not into it. He only encouraged it to for his benefit. He killed his pet turtle/tortoise and to this day he will not admit that he did it. He put his turtle in on the grass put a plastic container upside down over the turtle and left it in the sun for two hours. He never owns up to what he did wrong and when he does he always makes himself out to be the victim. He has made jokes on self-harm, 9/11 and sexual abuse. He has made fun of people who struggle with their weight, eating disorders. He says things but later goes on to deny them. Anyways, he isn’t worth watching but if you plan on watching his videos I advise you to watch with caution. I almost forgot to mention people have had to call animal control on his ass. I pray he goes to prison soon. He even had to get a lawyer to find out if his marriage to his wife was legal or not. He lied about being honorably discharged from the military. Anyways, Onision is a narcissist, a sociopath and psychopath. He needs to go to prison and he doesn’t need to be making youtube videos. I forgot to mention if you are a meat eater Onion boy will hate on you wish death on you and get on his high horse on he is better than you because he doesn’t eat meat. He has done that in the past.

[geneshaven]

Freedom

Part 2

Standing together in Massey Park, Oliver and Felicity stared at one another as if they were admiring majestic natural formations; the Grand Canyon  or Yosemite for example. For Oliver, seeing Felicity again reached him on a level that brought him temporary relief from the violent pressures that had carved into him over the past five months. For Felicity, Oliver’s sudden appearance brought a myriad of emotions surging through her heart, feelings she had tried to deny herself since he went away.

“I like what you’ve done to you hair,” Oliver finally broke the silence between them. “You’ve always looked good in pink.’

Felicity wanted to smile at his compliment, but she could not find the levity yet to bridge the gap of time they’ve spent apart. She was torn, between throwing herself into his arms and beating the crap out of him for creating the distance that separated them in the first place. Yet, she couldn’t deny that standing this close to him was something her heart has been yearning for, something her dreams of loneliness kept battering her mind with, like a loose window shutter in a strong wind.

Oliver could sense her inner struggles, not only by the creases in her forehead and the look in her searching eyes, but also because he knew her so well. The last time he saw her, Felicity was overcome by the raw emotions his decision brought alive in her. He remembered the tears she shed, and with that memory, his guilt for leaving her alone took on a life of its own. It seemed to make everything that happened to him while locked up, all the fighting and animal instincts it brought out in him, pale in comparison.

“Oliver,” Felicity spoke, breaking in on his self-recriminations. “What happened? How did you know I was in New Mexico? How did you get out of that prison? You know that they will be coming after you?”

There was so much he needed and wanted to tell her. In spite of the obvious tension between them, Felicity was still his wife, still the one person in his life that would always be able to save him. And he needed to be saved. There were times in that prison when he felt his humanity slipping away, felt the darkness that claimed him back on Lian Yu and in Russia start to snuff out the light she set ablaze by being in his life.

“Oliver, you can’t just suddenly appear like this and not tell me what is going on.” Felicity’s stare tried to probe into Oliver’s thoughts, tried to find some answers she could build her hopes on again.

When Oliver didn’t immediately answer her, Felicity took a closer look at him. The first thing she noticed was the distant look in his eyes. She recognized it. It was the same look he had after Tommy and Moira died. It was him being lost in his survival. The next thing she noticed about him was the battering his face had taken. The new scars he wore were almost Frankenstienish. But she had always been able to look past the violent tracks on his body. Maybe some plastic surgery...

“Felicity,” Oliver finally responded to her. “Can we go somewhere...uh, maybe to your place?” He broke away from his gaze at her and looked down at Felicity’s assailants. “It would probably be a good idea to leave this park.” He looked back into Felicity’s eyes. “Those two guys...they’re dead. Broken necks for both of them.”

**

William was stretched out on his bed. An open book lay next to him, a Harry Potter novel; maybe the second one. He really didn’t care. After trying to read a few pages of it, he put it aside. He could not lose himself in its narrative. He was already lost in his own story.

William also didn’t think about Felicity being late coming home from work. The silence in their apartment was just another reminder to him of how empty his life has become since his dad was taken away from him. He could tolerate being uprooted from Star City, of being put in this small town and forced to eke out another major change in his life. What he could not handle was the feeling that Oliver had lied to him again, betrayed his trust by leaving him and Felicity to fend for themselves. It ate away at him like some kind of parasite infecting his soul.

William rolled out of his bed and stood next to it like he was trying to figure out its use. He had become wary of it, scared of the dreams he found beneath its covers. He could remember having the same fears after his mother died, of how his nightmares showed him who and what was responsible for her death.

Oliver.

Yet there was still a part of him that struggled against that blame. After a time, Oliver had proven that William still had a family, still had a home. He latched onto it, despite Oliver lying to him about being the Green Arrow again. With Felicity’s help, William was able to move past his mistrust and pain, to find an understanding behind his father’s need to put on his hood and save the city. William came to believe, and even support, Oliver’s crusade.

William left his bedroom and wandered out to the kitchen. Maybe he should have something to eat. He wasn’t really hungry, but going through the motions of making a sandwich felt like a distraction he needed to take his mind away from thinking about his dad.

As he started to pull ingredients from out of the refrigerator, the front door opened and Felicity came into the apartment. William looked up at her entrance  and he could immediately see that something had changed in her.

“William,” Felicity started to say. Then his world suffered another upside down shift as Oliver stepped into view.

“Hey buddy,” Oliver said to him.

William froze in his sandwich making and locked his stare onto Oliver. And the first emotion that overwhelmed him was intense anger.

Oliver again tried to put a smile on his battered face, and again he failed to find that softness in him.

Then William released his anger and rushed at Oliver. He crashed into his father and began pummeling his fists into Oliver’ chest. “You son of a bitch,” William cried out through tears of rage. “You left us and you might as well be dead.”

Oliver didn’t try to stop William’s fists hammering away at him. In supplication, Oliver let his body go limp, as if he deserved his son’s wrath. He half expected Felicity to join in on the punishment. But she only stood aside and let this father and son dysfunctional reunion unfold.

Finally, William ran out of steam and stepped away from Oliver. His anger was still alive; it shined in his eyes as if it was unrepairable. “You deserved to go to prison,” he lashed out. Then he turned away and went back to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Oliver and Felicity stood in the open doorway and let William’s actions wash over them like an unspeakable act.

“Well, “ Felicity said to Oliver. “That went like I expected it to.” She looked over at Oliver. “He’s right, you know.”

Oliver was beginning to feel outnumbered. “What, you think I deserved to be in prison? Do you really believe that?”

“No Oliver. He was right calling you a son of a bitch.” Felicity moved over to the kitchen counter William had put his sandwich makings on and started to return them to the refrigerator.

“Felicity...”

“Oliver, we need to talk.” The image of the two men Oliver killed in the park mixed in her mind with the five months of pent up sadness and rage.

Oliver let a sigh out and nodded. He turned and closed the door behind him. “You’re right. But what about William?”

“I don’t think William is really in your corner right now,” Felicity responded. She left the kitchen and went to sit down in one of the drab chairs in the living room. “I’m pretty pissed at your right now, Oliver.” She paused for a few seconds as a tear fell down her face. “But, I still love you,” she went on. “I think I know some of the reasons why you left us. I don’t feel abandoned, Oliver. But I do feel left out. We should have talked about things before you blindsided me and William.”

Oliver followed her into the living room and sat on the couch across from her chair. “Felicity...I’m so sorry I caused you and William so much pain.” He stopped to gather his thoughts, taking a look around the apartment. “You know, this place ain’t so bad. A lot of space...”

“Oliver.”

“Okay. Felicity, I wanted to tell you everything...” he finally began.

@memcjo @it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @swordandarrow @arrowqueen84 @vaelisamaza @cruzrogue @blondeeoneexox @candykizzes24 @1106angel

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - June 1st, 2018

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! They are posted in the order I read them. Thank you so so much for your fics they really do help with pain.

The Old-Fashioned Way multi-chapter complete by @primpim -Felicity always wanted a family. Tired of waiting for Mr. Right, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She has a steady job, savings, a good support system and, after all, who needs a man in this day and age? Thirty, single and quite happy to be, Oliver isn't looking to settle down and hasn't really even entertained the idea of having kids. But when Felicity starts looking for a potential biological father, he doesn't hesitate. Purely because he doesn't want someone to take advantage of her... or so he tells himself. From awkward starts to the wonder of creating new life, it will soon become obvious that getting pregnant isn't just about expecting a baby: it's also about facing feelings that had been buried for years. And in the end, Felicity might realize that what she's been looking for has been right under her nose from the start...and Oliver will quickly understand that when it comes Felicity and their unborn child, he wants much more than what they had originally agreed to. PLEASE NOTE: The author is taking this story of AO3 soon download to keep reading. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961009/chapters/27046173

Time for a Story multi-chapter WIP by @smkkbert - This fic shows Olicity and their life as a (married) couple with family. Although Olicity (and their kids) are the protagonists, other characters of Arrow and Flash make appearances. YOU NEED THIS STORY IN YOUR LIFE. http://archiveofourown.org/works/3912157/chapters/8757172

Above All Else multi-chapter WIP by shesimperfect_butshetries - A different take on episode 6x14: Rene shoots but Oliver jumps in front of Felicity. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14101470/chapters/32490537

Arrow 7x01 Spec #1 by @lostolicityscenes - I wanted to write a scene of Felicity visiting Oliver in prison where they reassure/inspire each other. And well, this isn’t that really. Sometimes it’s out of your control. So, here’s a spec of a tearful angsty angry scene where they fight for most of it. https://lostolicityscenes.tumblr.com/post/174254452871/arrow-7x01-spec-1-an-i-wanted-to-write-a-scene

Nothing Hurts by @alanna-the-lionheart - Oliver gets hurt on a mission. He’s banged up badly, but nothing’s broken, and Felicity insists on taking him home, where she decides to draw him a bath. For the first time in a long time, Oliver lets someone else take care of him, and Felicity comforts him and heals him in more ways than one. Based off of that video on Stephen’s Facebook page where he’s sporting fake bruises after filming. https://archiveofourown.org/works/4880014

Out of Place by @diggo26 -NSFW Oliver takes care of Felicity after her horrible ex-boyfriend shows up at a party - http://diggo26.tumblr.com/post/162323884919/out-of-place

Lawyers at War multi-chapter complete by @crazycrystal10 - AU Neighbours Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak are at war. Their animosity doesn't let them come together but their love doesn't let them drift apart from each other. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11321694/chapters/25341486

The Queen's Mage multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Words have power, and mages, those with the aptitude to draw on that power, are few in number. Thus, their services are highly sought after by anyone who has exhausted all mundane means of solving whatever problem is plaguing them. Felicity is reminded of this fact the hard way when she is hired by Moira Queen, the Lady Starling, to find and return to her her son Oliver, who fled his family home five years ago following the death of his father. With a threat hanging over her should she return without Robert Queen's heir, Felicity begins her search. When she finds Oliver, and ends up joining his vigilante crusade while she waits for him to decide whether to return home, the last thing she expects to do is fall in love with him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14617068/chapters/33781269

The Distance Between Two Hearts multi-chapter WIP by @geneshaven - A glimpse at Oliver's life in prison. Part 4 https://geneshaven.tumblr.com/post/174257333769/the-distance-between-two-hearts  Part 5 https://geneshaven.tumblr.com/post/174294103039/the-distance-between-two-hearts  Part 6 https://geneshaven.tumblr.com/post/174303636249/the-distance-between-two-hearts-missions-end

(Is it Desire) or Is it Love That I'm Feeling For You? by @emilyszuko - Iris speaks again, “Felicity, do you love him?” She doesn't answer, tongue twisted and heart about to beat out of her chest. She knows she does, and part of her doesn't answer Iris because even if he'll never hear them, those words are for him. The other part of her though is just scared as hell that it'll blow up in her face like everything else has. “I don't think Oliver wants to hear anything else from me,” she settles on instead, crestfallen as she scratches at the black paint on her fingernails.“And what if he's just as afraid as you are?” https://archiveofourown.org/works/14756849

Elizabeth Grace Smoak multi-chapter WIP by @lynn8828 - What if Felicity and Oliver briefly had met before he got on the Gambit? Despite her best efforts, Felicity was unable to get in contact with the famous Oliver Queen after having a one night stand with him and getting pregnant with his child. After raising their child for five years after finding out that Oliver died on the Gambit, she finds out he is alive and knows that she needs to tell him about their daughter. But will he believe her? AMAZING STORY!! http://archiveofourown.org/works/13639371/chapters/31322715

Inner Odds by @imusuallyobsessed - Ivy Town seems perfect. So, why does Felicity feel this way? https://archiveofourown.org/works/11322804

Lost Love by @onceuponanolicity - After the bombs have gone off on Lian Yu, Oliver searches for his team and finds them in the A.R.G.U.S. bunker, only to find out there has been some casualties. One of them being Felicity's memory of him. Now, he must deal with the results. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11320017

Idiot with a Death Wish multi-chapter WIP by @bitchwhwifi - Felicity Smoak is a firm believer that her soulmate has a death wish. One night out with friends changes when her soulmate’s life is once again on the line she get’s nosy and ends up in the basement of Verdant and meets the head of the Bratva in Starling who helps her put an end to the search to find her soulmate.https://archiveofourown.org/works/11322231/chapters/25342872

You Remind Me of Our Love (That I Miss) by @bokayjunkie - She looks exactly how he remembers her and yet... everything about her is different. That's because she's not his Felicity https://archiveofourown.org/works/11321283

Tempest multi-chapter WIP by @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 - Three years ago, tragedy struck Julianna Queen’s life. Now, she wears a mask and fights at her father’s side, looking for closure and justice as she tries to find a path to move forward with her life while holding on to her past. But that may a bit more complicated than she thinks… http://archiveofourown.org/works/13309731/chapters/30461850

Yin-Yang multi-chapter WIP by @lgtwinkie99 - Felicity is shocked to find that her mother Donna Smoak has entered into a program where she gets to choose a husband for her daughter. The only problem is that Felicity will get to go on one date with the prospective candidates but will only meet the man who she will be spending the rest of her life with, at the altar. Will Felicity trust her mother’s judgement and marry a man she does not know or will she quit before reaching the altar? https://archiveofourown.org/works/6820756/chapters/15569500

Count the Days multi-chapter WIP by @olicityandklaroline - Soulmate fic http://olicityandklaroline.tumblr.com/post/174324025311/count-the-days-ch-9

Blue Linens by @callistawolf - Felicity and Oliver finally have some alone time together. But something seems off... https://archiveofourown.org/works/11113194/chapters/25364307

The Disappearance of Felicity Smoak by @smewhereelse - Season 2 AU. In her haste to expose Malcolm Merlyn as the mastermind of the Undertaking, Moira Queen accidentally implicated an unknown party as his real accomplice. And in her haste to provide directions to Lance, Felicity left her digital fingerprints all over the files for the Markov device. Realizing that she’s up shit creek without a paddle, Felicity disappears after Moira’s acquittal. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11315301

Oliver's Kitchen by @gypsyfire1066 - Oliver is protective of his kitchen. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11333868

Book Club by @obibaldwin - Oliver gets invited to Felicity's book club and it's all downhill now. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11339310

We Loved With A Love That Was More Than Love multi-chapter WIP by @wrldtravler - When Felicity's father leaves her and her mother behind, she loses all her faith in the very idea of soulmates. After Donna Smoak remarries into the Merlyn family, events are put into motion that bring Felicity into proximity the very destiny she never wanted to be apart of, and the family she never knew she needed. After years of unknowingly fighting and dancing around her fate, Felicity finally receives her soulmark on her 18th birthday. With the truth revealed, Felicity's fate is left in her hands, and only she can decide whether to let him in before it's too late. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10216829/chapters/22672961

The Event by @cruzrogue - Call back to season 2 when Oliver was dating Sara and oblivious to his own feelings. Felicity as his EA intertwines herself with the elder lady of a powerful conglomerate. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11341002

Following the Lead of the Setting Sun multi-chapter WIP by @adiwriting - When Oliver agrees to a life in prison, it lights a match to the entire Queen family’s world. How can Oliver be a good husband and father, while he’s in prison and fighting for his life? https://archiveofourown.org/works/14715020/chapters/34008707

Harder Than You Know by griever11 - Post Season 6 finale fic. Oliver is released from Slabside after five months away from his family and is now faced with the fallout of the decisions he made. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14779838

Red by dreamsofolicity - Due to a mixup with luggage, Oliver finds himself at the house of one Felicity Smoak. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11349582

Despacito by @someonesaidcake - It had been Felicity's idea. After everything....everything, she convinced him to get out of Star City for four days of something that wasn’t what they had left behind. Four days in San Juan, Puerto Rico. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11356551

New Friends and Concerts by @felicityollies - Felicity is trying to enjoy herself at a concert, but she can’t see past the ridiculously tall guy in front of her. https://archiveofourown.org/works/6610375/chapters/34228028

Ordinary Days by @arrowgirl20 -When Felicity finds out she is pregnant, her father finds a man who will save her reputation, a farmer, Oliver Queen. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11359116

A Nightmare multi-chapter WIP by HopeShannon3000 - Oliver comes back from prison to his world has fallen apart https://archiveofourown.org/works/14795831/chapters/34230347

Hotel Vegas multi-chapter complete by @it-was-a-red-heeler - Heartbreak sends Felicity home to her mother for a vacation that just might change her life forever. https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217708/chapters/2506231

This is War multi-chapter WIP by x_olicity_files - Set as a fix it of sorts from the season 2 finale and onwards. Instead of baiting Oliver with Felicity, Slade Wilson kidnaps her because it was his primary goal. Slade had been working for someone else and he was tasked to bring Felicity with him by any means necessary. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14802056/chapters/34246403

Damn It, Why Won't the Eagle Just Land Already? multi-chapter WIP by @smewhereelse - President John Diggle would really appreciate it if everyone would stop gossiping about his security detail and his science advisor and get back to work. He’d appreciate it even more if his best friends would pull their heads out of their asses and get together already. A White House romantic comedy AU. https://archiveofourown.org/works/13132602/chapters/30040788

Re-airrow 1x20 by @lostolicityscenes - This episode had Oliver torn between catching Edward Rasmus, who puts a hit out on a family and helping Diggle who, with Lyla, has lured Deadshot to Star City. The following Delicity scene takes place after the video above, but before Oliver makes his choice. This week’s post is short and sweet. https://lostolicityscenes.tumblr.com/post/174417068731/re-airrow-episode-1x20-an-this-episode-had

Broken Love multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow - Felicity and Oliver try to adjust to their new normal, but with Oliver in jail and Felicity in protective custody, neither are coping well with the distance. Oliver receives an offer from Agent Watson and Felicity takes matters into her own hands. (6.5 fic) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717075/chapters/34014233

Home To You multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Oliver Queen has never done what his family expected of him. He took a gap year after high school instead of going to college right away. He quit his fraternity sophomore year to join the student newspaper, switching his major from business to journalism. He became a photojournalist for a wire service instead of taking a place at Queen Consolidated. He went missing after six months instead of coming home for his sister’s twenty-first birthday. He survived five years of captivity in a war zone when everyone thought he was dead. He came home. But home didn’t have a place for him in it anymore. His parents were both dead, casualties of their own mistakes and a city they had turned against them. His sister was all grown up, the CEO of Queen Consolidated with a fiancé and a dog and a life of her own. Oliver didn’t belong in his old life, but there was nowhere else for him to go. He was a man without a home, without any way of finding one, until he stopped by the IT department of his sister’s company to get files off an old, battered memory card, and found a woman with curly blonde hair and bright, intelligent eyes chewing on a bright red pen and swearing at a computer screen. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12613188/chapters/28734552

Nothing Short of Perfect multi-chapter WIP by Tangled23 - Five years ago Felicity Smoak had to pay for all of her mistakes, sacrificing the one thing that she treasured most in life. Five years ago Oliver Queen learned that he was a father, a fact that forced him to grow up and stop being an entitled brat.  Now he is the successful CEO of Queen Consolidated and she is a woman focused on setting things right. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14810714/chapters/34269434

Sex Restrictions by @alexiablackbriar13 - Oliver has back, pelvis and knee problems stemming from past injuries due to Green Arrow work. In a post-operation check-up, Dr Schwartz advises against all strenuous physical activity. Yes, that includes sex. They manage to reach a compromise. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14812418

Sometimes It Rains multi-chapter WIP by Izzyface and @missyriver - Life happens fast. But we live through it slow. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14726736/chapters/34039875

// @emmaamelia95 // @mel-loves-all // @oliverfel4 // @green-arrows-of-karamel // @coal000 // @miriam1779 // @memcjo// @captainolicitysbedroom // @tdgal1 // @spaztronautwriter // @lalawo1// @quiveringbunny // @wrongshipper // @thebookjumper // @vaelisamaza // @myhauntedblacksoul // @lovelycssefan // @laurabelle2930 //