#wild since I’ve been watching the show since like late s2

[crismakesstuff]

two sides 🃏♠️

[id-rather-be-home]

sometimes i still can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s CANON will byers loves mike. like. WHAT. rewatching stranger things with the knowledge that WILL BYERS HAS BEEN IN LOVE WITH MIKE SINCE SEASON 1. kills me. i’m broken. and the fact it’s BASICALLY canon that mike likes him back is FLABBERGASTING. you’re telling me my little crack ship that i’ve had since s2 is actually gonna be canon? i literally cannot process it.

it is actually wild, isn’t it?

i came into the show late since i only started watching it after s4 was released because i was sucked into the hell that was voltron so i already had the knowledge from s1 that will has been in love with mike the whole time

and dude, coming into the show with that base knowledge changes how i interpreted so much of it! especially mike’s own feelings considering will’s are already confirmed. there would be times i would be watching it and be like “is it really will that’s confirmed to be in love with mike or is it the other way around?” because mike is SO GONE for will

the people like you who have shipped them since s2 actually just have the hugest brains in the world and i love that for y’all 😌 you guys deserve an award when they become fully canon in s5

and let’s be honest, even though we all know it’s going to be canon we’re not going to believe our eyes when their love story comes full circle next season lol

[meandmyechoes]

A little-late 2022 anime roundup, all seasons were SO good.

I’m just catching up the Fall/Oct slot and I STILL have a couple more on the watch list. Looking back and at the upcoming shows, I’m glad I got to catch along with some wholesome and story-rich shows last year. I gravitate towards comedy with anime and I gotta say 2022 was brighter because of them.

January started with My Dress Up Darling. I was drawn to its dressmaking/doll setting and it turns out a very charming puppy love story. I’m in love with both of the protagonists. It’s a very sweet and (drawn) beautiful anime, albeit bit on the fan service side.

In a similar vein is April’s Love After World Domination, a romeo-and-juliet with a tokusatsu twist. I’m being FED at two seasons in a row of tokusatsu-themed anime, after January’s Ms. Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department. Neither of them have a “high-budget” but enough to deliver a heartfelt play on the genre. As a tokusatsu fan, I like Kuroitsu better she’s easily “one of us”, and for its spotlight on local heroes. The characters play off each other well in Love but the permise of fake not-dating can only go for so long before it turns stale. The anime hence takes direction off from the battlefield and paints a even greener high-school first love, then delivers a suited finale to maintain status quo. I’ve finished the rest of manga since, the quality still keeps up. The world could’ve been expanded but it’s not a bad ending to leave things there as well. I would miss it though.

Three anime active per season is about as much as I can handle (plus nitiasa and your week sw release) so I naturally watched the two biggest anime in April as well, Spy x Family and Paripi Koumei. Given Spy’s overwhelming popularity, I was just watching it like a 8pm sitcom, a familiar, cheerful presence. Koumei on the other hand, was wild as it was moving. This kind of insane permise is exactly what I look for. The brewing storm as Eiko and  Nanami face off is tense and when they sing! It may be a little dragging in the middle but overall a memorable show. Look forward to a S2!

During the July season I actually didn’t watched much? Oh wait, it was THREE seasons in a row of Tokusatsu anime because W is back!!!!!! I’m so excited for Fuuto Tantei. I remember looking up the manga just to see how the story goes after the first episode. The mysteries were good. Besides nostalgia, it was so refreshing to see the fantastical exaggerated in the animation format. Look forward to a S2 as well!

Another two lighter shows I watched in the summer was Isekai Ojisan and Kamikuzu Idol. Ojisan had me clapping and expectant, but I lost the motivation to finish it since their schedule conflict. Kamikuzu shares the same review from the next paragraph.

Onto Fall. On the slice-of-life side, The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting was a bit slow, but decent enough for a weekly lunch companion. The overall setting with its cast of handsome men feels very target audience so I’m not too attached to it.

Somehow tagged along to I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss. I’m  not into Isekai but I saw Katarina last year and that was interesting enough. I started watching because it was conveniently on Youtube. This one has an interesting plot, and I like the tease between the two protagonists, but it was so rushed. People say the light novel is better but I’m not sure I like it enough to read them. They are nice as thee short movies, especially that the finale is most evidently harmed by its rush pace.

Another light novel adaptaion is Koukyuu no Karasu. I eventually watched it when I had some time. It was more episodic than I expected and more detective than fantasy. It has some decent lore and as opposed, I am a little interested in reading the light novel as I don’t think this show performs good enough for a second season. (That said the probability of me actually picking one up is close to 10% only)

4nin wa Sorezore Uso wo Tsuku is a gem. I was laughing and clapping to it every episode. Plain as in nothing dramatic happen, but maybe that’s just because the set-up is about as absurd as it could get. I could watch this for hours. By the way, Tsubasa/Tsuyoshi’s older sister is MVP.

Akiba Maid War is so good. Yes, it’s a yakuza story wrapped under a maid costume but that in itself was good? The worldbuilding is rich and even side characters are memorable. It’s not as good as group character building like ZLS but the main characters (Ranko and Nagomi) stayed strong. I saw a review saying it was ‘using a formula on the wrong question yet still gets the correct answer’. Yeah, that’s what it was. The technical aspect is fantastic. Situation comedy top notch. It’s 90% how I felt the first time watching ZLS, it’s crazy it’s funny it’s moving it’s reflective it’s unexpected. Likewise, somehow wish I was there every week but also glad I now finished it in 24 hours.

It could be recency bias but I really do think Akiba Maid War is my favourite anime of 2022! I thought it was gonna be Marin even though I don’t thing it the objectively ‘best’ anime of 2022 but I enjoyed experiencing those characters very much. Then in the end AkiMaid is the only original anime on this list? Then it has to go to them! (LycoReco and Bochi is on my list but I don’t think I have time to watch them until March) The simple fact tha I remebered plot to every episodes and immediately want to rewatch it after the binge is no small feat, as is its comparibility/compatibility with ZLS.

P.S. Pick-ups!

I finally finished WEP after more than a year 😅 Episode 13 wasn’t... bad? It wraps up some plotlines but as a finale, the impact of Episode 12 was better with the metaphorical death of an “immature” Ai. It’s almost like 13 was necessary to tell a complete story but supplemental to an art piece. The show left a lot to interpretation in its beginning/building but the last few episodes with Frill feels like it took a swift turn into packaging it as a proper science fiction story that just seems, out of tone? with the coming-of-age metaphor aspect of it. It was like the egg hunt was an a dream space, a self-exploration journey that doens’t matter if it was real or not, and they took the veil off of it, but instead of clarity it’s just an ugly haze? Well maybe not ugly but, imbalanced. I’m not, disappointed in it, because I think my age right now has limited how I see the show, and I couldn’t turn back the clock and ask myself at 14 or 16 how I would feel about it. Overall just a little bit of a shame it wasn’t as good as it can get. But just the visuals and questions were a good worth of my time.

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 2x12 Review

Second Chances was a lacklustre finale for an uneven season. Let’s dig in!

Earlier this week I re-watched S1 in preparation for the S2 finale and the contrast between the two seasons is jarring. In almost every way S2 has been worse and after seeing this finale I’m less optimistic that Tim will be able to fix the long list of things that have gone wrong. Tim has said in some of his interviews today that pretty much all of S2 was written before the pandemic and that they didn’t have to do as much re-writing as people might think due to the stringent safety measures Disney put in place. Of course, that removes an excuse for the bad writing we’ve seen so much of this season as according to Tim what we saw of S2 is largely what he envisioned minus big crowds and background dancers.

 Across his many interviews today, the one consistent point is that Tim does not have any real plans for future seasons; things like Ricky’s endgame he hasn’t decided on and he can’t even guarantee the summer season the finale sets up due to the weather in Salt Lake. I do think a S3 is an almost certainty given the show’s popularity but I’ll take Tim at his word that he truly doesn’t know if they’ll be renewed since it seems to be a new Disney tradition to wait until seasons are done airing before making a renewal decision (the same thing happened for the popular and well received Mighty Ducks: Game Changers which got a silent renewal only after all of S1 aired). That being said as poor of a season finale as Second Chances is it is also a terrible potential series finale. In large part it goes back to his lack of planning, he wants to keep all options open but in doing so Tim is crippling the show’s ability to deliver any pay offs or tie up loose ends.  

The one mostly well done plot line this season was Portwell which got a happy ending tonight as they canoned. The only good thing about the big brother angst was that it was so insane that it had to be addressed and sure enough it was and Gina got her first kiss with a guy she really liked. If Tim is to be believed the reason we didn’t get an on screen Portwell kiss was not because of their age difference or covid concerns but because he felt that everyone’s first kiss was different so he wanted it off screen so viewers could fill in the blanks themselves. Tim’s line of reasoning is profoundly stupid. Imagine if they had Jamie show up and he and Gina talked off screen and Tim tried to claim that because everyone has a different relationship with their own siblings that he wanted the audience to fill in the blanks as to how their conversation went!

Still we saw great character development on Gina and EJ’s part as both really grew from the people they were in S1. As Tim noted, EJ bringing Gina back in 1x10 was kind of the set up for this story line. The only thing missing was a brief Portwell scene sometime in eps 2x01-2x04 to set them up. The consistent development they got from 2x05-2x12 is unlike any other ship on the show; only Rini exceeds their development. 

Unfortunately I don’t think that will last in S3 because Tim will always favour Ricky over EJ and if he wants to do Rina he’ll dispose of Portwell before doing so. I was surprised that they never bothered to have Ricky and Gina have a conversation about Gina’s S1 confession. It was a huge mistake to have Gina pine over Ricky for half the season and it was no surprise that Gina’s story line got instantly better once she stopped interacting with Ricky. Tim has made clear in interviews that he’s still interested in the possibility of Rina which makes his poor writing of them even more bizarre. What conclusions are the audience supposed to draw from the Rina story line this season? That Ricky never cared that much about Gina? That it’s totally fine for the show if they don’t interact for 6 eps in a row? That Gina has moved on? I’ve said before that a wiser man than Tim would recognize that doing both Portwell and Rina will do tremendous damage to the show and he should pick one and not do the other. Of course he’s not that smart but it is wild how he’s accidentally written their story line to make for a perfect end to Rina. 

Second Chances was great and is the only part of the finale that would have been well suited to being part of a potential series finale. 

The Rini closure was a sad inverse of their S1 opening night confession. They’ve fallen so far from being the it couple of the series and I fear Tim doesn’t actually know what to do with them now. He really needs to decide if he’s tearing down that treehouse for real. 

The less said about the Valentine’s chocolates the better but at least Gina and Nini are cool again and Nini can explore her budding music career with Jamie’s help. Tim repeatedly said in interviews that the scripts about Nini’s music career were all written before Driver’s License came out and I think he understands that the audience is just going to see the show as copying from Olivia’s life. 

The wildcats just deciding to drop out of the Menkies was a lame cop out. Tim has said he always meant for that to happen though they were originally going to compete at the Menkies then drop out (presumably that’s where we would have heard Lily singing Home). Somebody should have mentioned the $50 000 prize money which the East High theatre department could surely use after Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara burned it down (remember that story line that had no consequences?). And that NYU scholarship could have been life changing for one of them and yet no one even brought  it up once this season. 

I did like the twist that it was EJ and his dad who got Mazzara into Caltech. He’d be a fool not to take it but I’m glad he confessed to Miss Jenn. She’s had a really rough season and I hope she redeems herself in S3.

Howie was acting so weird tonight and last ep that I have a hard time believing he was really so awed by Kourtney’s talent rather than feeling guilty for helping to steal the harness. The harness is another useless plot device; there are no consequences for Lily stealing it, she’s not caught, East High pulls off another version of the transformation off screen, and then East High withdraws from the Menkies anyways. Doubtless the harness will eventually come up to serve Rily angst. 

At least Lily was straightforward, I’ll give her that. She has such an odd way of speaking, almost child like. As awful as it is there is potential for a forbidden/secret romance story line with Rily. It really does not speak well to Ricky’s character that he’s so easily fallen for Lily’s act when he has no reason to trust her and she never apologized for making fun of Big Red during the auditions or making Ashlyn feel insecure during the dance off. 

The one way in which S2 was drastically better to S1 was in regards to the Seblos story line. Clearly Joe being bumped up to regular made a big difference. We got the first same-sex kiss between two boys and the first love song sung by one boy to another in Disney history and that is a legacy to be proud of. Of course, there was still some Disney censorship such as Carlos and Seblos being unable to use the word gay in the same ep that focused on Carlos singing In a Heartbeat to Seb. 

S1 of HSMTMTS had a clear direction, the wildcats would have to try and come together to stage High School Musical and Ricky and Nini would have to decide if they still had a future together while Gina and EJ had to work on being better versions of themselves. It was simple sure but it worked very well. There was a lot of heart but also a lot of humor and the show never took itself too seriously. What has S2 had? Beauty and the Beast was hardly the main focus of the cast or the writers and the central couple that S1 was built around is now broken up either for a long time or for good. There was a lot less of the meta moments that jokes that made S1 such a hit, for far too many eps this season the show took itself way too seriously. Hell even the lighting this season was darker than in S1. 

Olivia Rodrigo’s team had complained in a recent article that Olivia wouldn’t be able to potentially tour until fall 2022 due to her contractual commitments which is a sign that they think a S3 is very likely though I wonder how late S3 filming would have to start to keep her occupied until late 2022. There’s no confirmation of this but I thought it might be worth keeping an eye on; a post on r/hsmtmts by someone who claims to have a source working on production says that the plan is for S3 to be a summer theatre camp possibly with Camp Rock renditions and the plan for S4 is to jump 6 months ahead to the final semester of senior year and end with Ricky, Nini, Big Red, and Kourtney graduating from East High. They also say that part of the delay in the S3 announcement is a conflict between Tim and Disney executives. Tim wants to move production to LA and film on sets as it’s easier and cheaper while the Disney execs still want some on location shooting in Salt Lake. Again this is all unconfirmed but if it pans out it will represent a major shift in the series. 

Regardless if Tim wants the show to remain successful he needs start planning out what he wants to happen. He should not assume he’s getting more than 4 seasons. If the series gets a S3 but then is suddenly cancelled then how would he want all the main story lines to wrap up? And if they make it to S4 where does he see it ending? The graduation of the current juniors is a logical series ending point but if Tim wants to do something different he needs to start thinking of that now. I can’t say I’m excited anymore for S3 but I do really hope that Tim and his writers can turn things around and that will only happen if they recognize what they did wrong and learn from their mistakes. 

Until next season Wildcats

[stonathanshipping]

//ST ramblings - this is just a personal post to get my feelings out on the show

This blog has not been super active as of late but since it exists, and since I’ve been thinking about Stranger Things lately, AND since the new trailer dropped today I’m gonna ramble about watching the show because I want to.

ANYWay the S4 trailer just dropped and it’s so weird, after S2 I am simultaneously excited and not excited about new seasons.  I lovedddd S1, so I was excited for S2.  I liked S2 a lot but now I see a new trailer and I’m like “looks cool, idk if I’ll be watching anytime soon”

It’s so wild because the new trailer looks great!  I love when stories get bigger and deeper and more dangerous.  Things are really getting darker and more serious and more messed up; I adore that in other media so idk why with Stranger Things specifically I partially like it partially don’t.

I loved S1.  It felt small in scale.  There weren’t too many main characters.  The way they portrayed and showed or didn’t show the monster and upside down was cool.  It had humor but the serious parts were always played as serious and sad or dark.  Character-wise it reminds me of the Goonies, with the kids sticking together (and the teens sticking together).  My theory is I just love the tone of S1 too much that it overrides how I feel about later seasons.  That’s why, when ST is doing all the tropes and tone stuff and whatever that I normally love (with bigger monsters, things getting darker, the problem getting bigger), I think I am not 100% excited for it.  I miss S1 where I didn’t have to keep learning new protagonists and stuff.  With all the new protagonists, I feel like the main S1 cast interacts less.

SO anyway, this is not supposed to be negative at all (well okay adding too many main characters is a genuine criticism of mine that I feel strongly about but that’s my only negative point in this post)!  This is all subjective and just me rambling publicly for fun about why I am so-so about S3, S4, S5.  Maybe other people miss how S1 was with the amount of characters, the characterization, the tone, the size of the world, etc.  Maybe not.  But yeah this was all just me saying I love the show, new season looks great, no negativity towards it, it is just personally and subjectively maybe not my thing anymore?  I can’t put it into words well

[weirdlyfitting]

late to the party eh? :(

Weeks ago : Aight it's finally here!!!

Not only some teaser images but a GOSHDARN TRAILER OMGGGG

Edit, weeks later : *sigh sorryy I'm too late to post this but eh it's better than never right? Also THE HELL IT'S BEEN A WEEK SINCE THE TRAILER LAUNCHED?!?!?!? THIS MEANS S4 ARRIVE IN 1 FRICKIN WEEK WHATSKAJSKF-

And few hours ago I saw a bit thumbnail in youtube that had a title of new clip promos for cc but I won’t go discussing or even trying to watch them because WELL watching them made me feel like I’ve watched spoilers lol. So maybe won’t be active in cc’s tag until s4 came out, sorry y’all :(

Aight JUST get into it!

OH THEY'RE FINALLY USE THE MOSA! (tb to what Ben said in s2 lmao). Also THESE POOR KIDS GIVE EM' A BREAK 😭

I noticed when the Mosa jumped there's an island in the back, meaning they weren't THAT far from Isla Nublar. BRUH THEY'RE JUST GONE THROUGH ALL THE STUFF IN S3 AND THIS IS WHAT THEY GET?! 😭

Also kinda get on my nerves that the kids didn't really show a bit bleeding here. I mean the ship got split in pieces HOW THE HELL THEY SURVIVED THAT- (too explicit I get it but I guess getting traumatized made it up)

Ah so glad that Brooklynn didn’t get sucked to a town and lost her identity caused by a- oh wait wrong show (I was refering to wandavision lol). Anyway WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS PLACE????

Their reaction nooooo :(((( poor kiddos aweee

It’s really interesting on how Ben showed fear in here, I mean after he snapped and became wild he’s kinda fearless yk? the only time he showed genuine fear was when E750 appeared but the rest isn’t cause he already know how to live with the environments (from what I remember)

And saber-what-tiger??? is that from an ice age time? I don’t know much abt jurassic/cretaceous creatures but I think yeah they exist in the same time

AYO WHAT THE HELL- is Darius trying to seal the hole in the boat?

OK HOW MANY TIMES DID I SAY “POOR KIDS” WITH A FROWN??? HOW MANY TIMES DO THEY HAVE TO RUN AWAY AND DIDN’T FEEL SAFE I-

Also I saw someone pointed out that the thing that made the gang ran away was E750 from a sneak peak AND I WISH IT’S WRONG CAUSE GOD ANOTHER TRAUMA FUEL?!?!?! CAN THAT BITCH DIED ALREADY PLEASEEE 😭😭

WAIT THE T-REX HAD SO MANY SCARS AWE POOR DINO :( But I get that back then was still a start but TOOK EM LONG ENOUGH! (Rexy didn’t have her battle scar got me dissapointed k 😔)

anotha notes :

-The drones are so annoying just leave it alone will y’all?????

-Somehow a beautiful shot. Darius, Sammy, and Kenji are looking small compared to the environments there, meaning like it’s a new place and they’re really had no experience so just analyzing things that happened to the creatures that lived.

OH SO THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN THE VOL.4 COVER!!! Is that a quicksand tho? I gotta speed down the gif cause it was so fast lol

SHOOT DARIUS IS GOING TO GET LOST WITH THE OTHERS NOOOO😭

YOOOOOOO!!!!

Aside from how happy I am that JP 3′s Spino made a comeback, these shots are still terrifying holy shit! I love how in the second gif of this scene the shot is in low angle so it made it wayy bigger and terrifying haha

And uh I think I’ve seen a post abt Brooklynn had her jacket off but as I rewatch the trailer I didn’t see that. Prob in other article but I missed that. STILL FINALLY SHE DID IT!

SNOWY LAND INSIDE THE DESSERT????

DOG ROBO DON’T YOU DARE REPLACE BUMPY’S PLACE. DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE >:(

God it’s such a good shot omggg! but also I felt so sorry for Sammy she’s through this once with Rexy :(

WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DID TO THESE DINOS- or was it just a dino thing to roar at each other lol. Still can the drones just go away? :/

AYE HELL YEAH THEY’RE GOING TO RESCUE DARIUS!! Kenji better fix his friendship with Darius cause gosh that s3 ending left a hole in my chest :(

and again WHAT THE HECK IS THIS PLACE??? SNOWY LAND, DESSERT AND JUNGLE ALL IN 1 ISLAND???

OK finally done with it and some final notes

Yikes this is a really long post so I bordered it, and it’s nice to know that I can upload 10+ gifs & photos if I use my laptop/pc. What I don’t like was how I couldn’t get the gifs & photos to be side by side :(

and do I think s4 will be good? well idk, if I’m not mistaken some crews left after s3 and even that I hope it’s good. If this season will be a lighthearted one then it’s def ok. If it’ll be darker than s3 OH MAN I’M NOT PREPARED-

I think that’s all for now, thank you for reading and se y’all after s4 came out!

[rainbow-filmnerd]

My Ranking of the Sohmas from Fruits Basket

Back in late May 2020, I began to watch the 2019 reboot of Fruits Basket (I first discovered it from my good friend @sweet-chinchilla), and it's become one of my favorite anime series EVER. At the end of September 2021, I was finally able to finish the series, and I loved EVERY MOMENT of it! I felt like to do a ranking of each of the Sohmas from least favorite to top favorite (I'll try to keep it brief because there are 14 CHARACTERS to discuss!)

Also, if you haven't read the original manga and/or seen the 2019 anime, there will be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!

13. Kagura Sohma (my least favorite)

The first female cursed Sohma I was introduced to. As much as I liked Tia Ballard as her in the dub, I just did not care for Kagura. Sure, she eventually moved on from it, but it kinda annoyed me how she kept pursuing Kyo despite him being not all that interested in being her boyfriend. Also, I know she had good intentions to talk some sense into Tohru, but knowing how violent she gets, was it really necessary to SLAP HER?!

12. Hiro Sohma

There was a point where I hated him more than Kagura. I did not like how he was such a brat and jerk when we were first introduced to him, but slowly, I warmed up to him. His crush on Kisa is adorable, and him growing to become a responsible big brother was just too sweet.

11. Shigure AND Akito Sohma (they're pretty much tied in this position)

Shigure is someone I'd like to call a "Sly Dog". He's a bit of a scumbag, but he's well aware of it. He's also one of those characters that's either "lawful evil" or "true neutral". He provides a lot of comedy in the anime including him being just a smart-ass. Also, when he's not acting like a jerk/creep, he's a pretty decent guardian figure for Tohru.

As for Akito, she's a beautifully written antagonist/character in general, and she's definitely someone I pity. Sure, much of her actions are unforgivable, but I feel like she's not expecting everyone to forgive her that easily (or at all even). Also, Colleen Clinkenbeard's performance as her is nothing short of spectacular.

10. Ritsu Sohma

To be honest, he needed way more love! I know people found him annoying, but part of me relates with constantly saying "I'm sorry!" over the smallest of things. He's a gorgeous character that I feel like deserves better. He'd be higher if that were the case, and if not for some of these other characters.

9. Kureno Sohma

I didn't expect to like him that much, but I do! Part of it is that charm that comes with most characters Ian Sinclair voice in the dub (his performance in the s2 finale was especially amazing). He's just a sweet and kind man, and I can see why Uotani fell for him and also reminded her of Tohru. Only complaint I have is that I wished there was a flashback scene of him transforming before his curse broke. I would've loved to see his Zodiac form at least once.

8. Isuzu "Rin" Sohma

Another character I didn't expect to love. Rin is a very tragic character, and what she had to go through was devastating, but seeing her being able to heal was just as emotional. Brina Palencia was amazing as her and is easily my favorite role of hers.

7. Kyo Sohma

Yeah, he's a little lower, but I don't love him as much as the ones that follow. However, he's still a GREAT character, and deserves so much after meeting Tohru. Kyo would sometimes remind me of Bakugo, but he's also a true cat. Feisty, acts like they dislike people but has a real soft spot (especially towards one person). Also, this was my favorite role by Jerry Jewell.

6. Ayame Sohma

The Sassy Snake himself. Oh, how much I LOVE Ayame! Like Shigure, he provides a good portion of the humor to the anime. Chris Sabat's performance as him is mind-blowing but also amazing (since most of his well-known roles are tough guys). Ayame is just so extra, and I love it. Also, his love towards Mine is sweet and I kinda wished we got more moments between them.

5. Momiji Sohma

The boy who was possessed by my Zodiac animal, the Rabbit! I strongly prefer how he looked before his growth spurt, but Momiji is just a precious bunny boy. It is heartbreaking to see that he's suffered and feels sad, but he's just so pure and precious. I hope the one he fell in love with makes him feel so happy.

4. Hatsuharu Sohma

This is who I like to call the "Bi Himbo Ox". Haru was instantly one of my favorites because he just cracks me up, he's super handsome (the studio behind the 2019 reboot really just made everyone look pretty), and also Justin Cook's performance as him. As much as I adore Kirishima, Justin showed off and executed the range of Haru's dumb, sweet, loyal, seductive, and harsh personality. Also, his love for Rin is adorable and him and Yuki is definitely one of my favorite crack ships.

3. Kisa Sohma

The precious tiger cub. I adore this sweet little girl so much, and how she looks up to Tohru like an older sister is so adorable! She's a precious angel that deserves SO MUCH LOVE. And I ALWAYS smile whenever I see her on-screen. And speaking of that last part...

2. Hatori Sohma

I don't know what it is, but upon first introduction, I've been drawn to him and he quickly became a favorite. There's just something so comforting about Hatori, from his kind and no-nonsense personality, prettiness (as mentioned, the 2019 anime animators make everyone look pretty), and his voice (all thanks to Kent Williams' performance). Hatori also has some of his moments of being a little silly, but it's due to the chaos he deals with whenever he's around Shigure and/or Ayame. Out of the Three Musketeers, he's my favorite.

1. Yuki Sohma

He was an INSTANT favorite of not only the Sohmas, but of the entire series, and seeing him grow makes me so happy! I also love how kind and gentle he is, and lemme tell you. This was the first anime I've seen after My Hero Academia, so hearing Eric Vale as Yuki was WILD (same can be said about Jerry as Kyo), because I was used to his creepy and chilling performance as Tomura Shigaraki. But hearing him as Yuki was amazing and it made me appreciate him as a voice actor. SO FREAKING TALENTED. If you wanna know how much I love Yuki, I have his Funko Pop! figure, which captures his beautiful likeness well.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Circe Invidiosa

Circe Invidiosa has 11 stories at Gossamer, but there are even more X-Files stories at her website. Some of my favs I’ve recced here before, like Make It Worse and Slap a Goatee On Me and Call Me Evil. She also made a bunch of X-Files collage art, including some cover art for fics (hers and others), which you probably saw if you were reading fic back when authors posted fics on their own websites where art could be shared. Big thanks to Circe Invidiosa for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Well, it would surprise me if people did read my fic. As it happens, I don't hear much feedback from my fic these days. Probably because the bulk of it is on Gossamer and my own site rather than AO3. Also, I was never a BNA. I worked a lot behind the scenes – hosting other authors' sites and making fanart and dustjackets. I think that's what I'd be remembered for, if anything.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience?

I miss the collective excitement and discussions we had as groups. When you got in with a group in the XF fandom, you felt like you knew everybody there. Now the fandom feels a little faceless except for the people I still follow from my old groups.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Most of my experience was on Yahoo Groups. I joined Scullyfic while it was still there and then E-muse when it became an e-mail list, which I'm still a part of. I was part of several Yahoo Groups (can't remember all of them now), where I'd post my fic, RealPlayer slideshows (remember those?!), and collages. I never really took part in discourse because I'm shy and don't think anyone cares about my opinions (still don't!). The e-mail address I used for those groups was purged a couple of years ago, so I've lost all those messages.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

My take away is that fanfic made me a better writer, thanks to having some great betas, and it made me a better professional writer for it (my real-life work is writing but not fun writing) because I learned to take criticism.

I also used to make a lot of fanart, collages and dustjackets for fic mostly. My big take away from that was that I really got into graphics and I got super proficient at Photoshop, which helped my own artistic endeavours and photography. I didn't realize how much skill I had developed until I've had to help someone with their graphics or photo editing.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

My mother was watching X-Files before I was and she was raving about it. I don't have a great relationship with my mom, but one thing she was usually right about was TV shows. It's where I got my love of Sci-Fi.

I think the first episode I watched was Ice, which definitely hooked me. As for when the shipping started, I remember we were watching Lazarus, and when Mulder was yelling at Lula (I had to look that up) about hurting the hostage Scully, my mom said, "Oh, he's so in love with her." And I was all, "What?! Pfff." But then I could not stop thinking about it. And then I thought about it way, way too much.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I was in my late 20s, and it was around the end of S7 and I kept thinking about what if these two dumb idiots actually talked one day. And I kept thinking about dialogue in my head about what they'd actually say. The internet was still in its infancy back then, but I'd seen fan sites here and there. So I decided to search around to see if other people were talking about it and thinking about it like I was. I was such a noob I'd never even heard of fanfic. Imagine my delight when I discovered it. I found a few stories and thought, 'Well, I can do that.' And I wrote up my first story, found a place to post it (wasn't Ephemeral the best?), got some kind feedback, found a really nice person (not sure she wants to be named since she used her real name in the fandom back in the day) who encouraged me a lot and directed me to all the e-mail lists and Yahoo Groups that I needed to be on, and then, Bob's your uncle, I wrote more and more.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Periphery. Most of my experience in any fandom is now on Tumblr because that's where my attention span is. Show me pretty pictures and funny stuff. I am old now and don't want to think hard.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Veronica Mars was my next fandom experience. A number of my XF friends got me hooked on VM. The VM fandom was a LOT younger compared to the XF fandom. When I joined the XF fandom, I was the kid compared to most of the other fans who were all goddesses and royalty in my eyes. But in the VM fandom, I was in my 30s and the rest of the fandom were all in their early 20s if not younger. It often showed, so I stayed out of discussions and just posted my fic once I started writing it. I took a new handle (invida) when I started writing VM fic. Just in case these kids felt like my writing sucked, I didn't want it getting back to the XF fandom that I’d branched out and failed spectacularly.

By then fandom experiences had moved over to LiveJournal. I never really got involved in the discourse or the fandom fights. I knew what people were saying and where the schisms were, but I was all about the fanfic and the pretty pictures. Most of my LJ friends just discussed the episodes and posted their fic and that was good with me.

What got me writing fic for VM was Anjou's brilliant VM fic Into the Blue. Seriously, if you love VM S1, read her fic. Just so beautiful.

VM was also where started writing a WIP, which was a wild trip. I wrote a much-loved WIP called Damn, Damn the Circumstance which people still ask me about finishing to this day. Someday…*wistful sighs*

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Scully. She was everything! Lapsed Catholic, degrees in science, skeptic, always trying to work within the rules but still not taking crap. Yeah, she was the best.

Veronica Mars was great until she wasn't. I have a lot of issues with her beyond S2. And don't even talk to me about S4. For me, S1 was the best, I enjoyed the movie, the books were okay, but nothing else happened after that. NOTHING.

And the first character I ever loved was Princess Leia. She was also everything to me growing up. I wanted to be her. I still do.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

Now and then. Not as much as I used to. I sometimes have it on in the background when I'm doing other things. Back before the pandemic, my BFF and I would have get togethers where we would play Scrabble, eat a lot of candy, and binge several XF episodes. I miss doing that. Hopefully, we will get back to that soon.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I am not an active XF fanfic reader right now. I will read any stories my friends put out. Otherwise, I only occasionally read some I come across on Tumblr in my feed, but I am not seeking them out. I will beta for any XF author who asks me as well.

I am reading fic in other fandoms though – Endeavour, Broadchurch, Sherlock…huh, I'm just realizing that's a lot of British stuff. I have been really into British detective series for the last few years.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I used to run an XF fic recommendation site called How Will It End usually with at least one other person (I went through at least 4 partners on that project because I'm a control freak). We'd compile our recs and then I'd post them on my site. We'd also feature authors we really liked and interview them. Not unlike these interviews!

I'm terrible at giving feedback/comments. So I solved that problem by making a rec site. That way I could tell authors I loved their fics by recommending them. I didn't have to comment, I'd just say, 'I'd like to rec your fic'. And then they'd get promotion. Win-win. Back in those days, the fandom would absolutely roast you for promoting your own fic, so to get on a rec site was a big deal. Not that I had a popular rec site or anything. But I think authors really enjoyed being asked.

All that to say I've liked a lot of fics. I can pull up the archives of HWIE and show you all the faves I liked. :)

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Back in the day, E-muse would hold Improv Challenges, where other members would give you a prompt that you had to include in your fic. I was always really proud of the stories I created from those challenges (No Earthly Means and Elephant in the Room if you want to read them).

I enjoyed writing Dead to Rights which is an XF/Dead Like Me crossover because I loved the challenge of writing a crossover. It was the first crossover I ever tried writing even though I only recently published it.

Otherwise, I like re-reading In a Graveyard, Importuning Life for Life, and Some By Virtue Fall. Of my more recent fic, I like Slap a Goatee on Me and Call Me Evil because the premise was ridiculous and I think it's funny as all get out.

Probably my favourite of my VM fic was Stay Outta Riverdale. Because: 1. The title is a Simpsons reference who doesn't love a Simpsons reference? And 2. I think I was hilarious throughout it.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I'm always open to writing more fic (and, of course, I don't mean my WIPs…don't look at me like that). Lately, my only motivation has been from writing prompts on Tumblr. I haven't had anyone give me a prompt in over a year, so here we are. I have snippets of dialogue in journals and word documents that have never found their way into stories. I'd be happy to dust off any of those and shoehorn them into a new story.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

The last fanfic I wrote was a mini-fic over a year ago (with a prompt from Lilydale!). I've written a bit of original fiction but I haven't been able to finish it. Otherwise, I do have a number of real life hobbies which are where my creative outlets lie now.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Lately, challenges and prompts. It used to be from wanting to see more from a scene. I really had a thing for fill-in-the-blanks or scene continuations. And sometimes my motivation is just plain old spite. :)

What's the story behind your pen name?

Circe Invidiosa is the title of a painting by John William Waterhouse. Love the colours and the absolute malice on the face of the subject. It felt like a good pen name – the envious witch. That's me!

I chose it when I posted my first XF fic (which I cringe to read now, ugh so terrible) without knowing there was already a Circe in the fandom. Whoops. I tried to go by the full Circe Invidiosa or Invidiosa as much as possible after realizing that (invidiosa is my url and my username on a lot of sites, etc.). Now I think that I've been around long enough that it doesn't matter as much but I still like it.

As I said, I took the name Invida for the VM fandom which is just a shortening of Invidiosa.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My significant other knows and that was quite a reveal (oh how awkward). However, the SO has been very supportive and has read all my stories since the reveal and sometimes betas them. The SO also wants us to collaborate on writing some original fiction but we haven't found a project that works for both of us creatively or timewise.

My BFF knows because I dragged her into the online fandom. We've known each other since we were 14, but our love of XF really solidified our bond in our 20s. She wrote some short but sweet fics under the penname Helen Quilley which I bullied her into posting, and we wrote Of Ladies Most Deject and Wretched together. She is mostly embarrassed that she wrote fanfic now but we still fangirl together.

No one else really knows other than fandom folks I've met in real life. And some friends know I've written 'short stories' but I don't elaborate. I work in a stodgy, uptight industry where anything fun or actually having a life is frowned upon.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Over the first lockdown, I got my shit together and got my fic site, invidiosa.com, up and running again. My site houses fic by Rain (now @doctorhelena on Tumblr and AO3), Helen Quilley, ML (who I miss so much), Folieadeux, Shelba, TLynn, Oracle, Piper Sargasso, Diehard, and me. And I made all their dustjackets (except Folie's). The site got hacked a few years back and it was so much work to get running again that I put it off for years and years. I still feel terrible that I did not get the site back up before ML passed away, especially when ML had asked me about it a few months before she passed.

Anyway, all my XF fic is here: circe.invidiosa.com. I have 3 of my newer XF stories on AO3. And my fic-LJ also has some of my stories. Some of the newer stories are on Tumblr but the tagging is so erratic that I'd have to list several tags before you'd find them all. I don't know why I haven't moved everything over to AO3. Probably laziness.

I'm @invidiosa on Tumblr. I'm still on E-muse. I'm still on LJ. I'm always reachable by e-mail (invidiosa at gmail).

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Thanks for reading, writing, and commenting. It is always appreciated.

(Posted by Lilydale on January 5, 2021)

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Re:Zero S2, Episodes 16-17

In which Garfiel’s psyche is laid bare, Subaru proves how far he’s come, and we finally dive into Emilia’s past.

The Lost Child

At this point, Garfiel is the biggest question mark left in Re:Zero’s second season. We’ve gotten backstory, development, and/or motivations for pretty much every other player in this complicated puzzle, except maybe Ryuzu. But Garfiel has been a wild card pretty much since we met him. At times he’s helped Subaru free Arlam’s people from the sanctuary, at other times he’s been Subaru’s worst enemy. The only consistent thing about him was the fact that for some reason, he didn’t want to open the Sanctuary. Other than that, his actions have been all but unpredictable. So it’s about damn time we found out what’s going through his head. And while I’ll have to re-watch this season to really sort out what influenced all his different actions throughout the different loops, finally digging into Garfiel’s heart and soul reveals him to be possibly one of the show’s best characters so far. Yes, I know I’ve been saying that about a lot of Re:Zero’s cast lately, but can you blame me? They’re all so fucking good. Even just on the surface, finding out that Garfiel is still only 14 years old makes so much of his eccentricity click into place. He’s not just an overly zealous chuuni edgelord, he’s the literal age that the phrase “chuunibyou” describes. No wonder he rattles off so many supposedly cool-sounding sayings that just make him sound like a dork.

But that young age also reveals something far deeper: for all his bluster, Garfiel is still just a child. He’s still emotionally immature, even more so than Subaru was before he god isekai’d over. When his mom left him and Frederica behind in the Sanctuary almost a decade ago, he convinced himself it must be because they were a burden on her. It was easier that way, imagining that staying behind was a worthy sacrifice for his mother’s happiness. As long as he thought that way, he didn’t have to think about how much pain she was going through by leaving him. He could hide from the trauma and imagine something good was coming out of this mess. But when he first attempted the trial, he was shown the horrible truth: his mother died in an accident soon after leaving them (Assuming the trial was showing him the truth, to be fair; that’s still a little up in the air). He wanted his suffering to mean she got to be happy, but thanks to a cruel twist of fate, she never got the chance. Which meant not only was his suffering meaningless, but his mother died in pursuit of making his suffering go away. And he couldn’t live in the reality. So he chased the truth out of his mind, replaced it with the lie he told himself, made himself believe his mother didn’t love him because it was easier than believing she died for his sake. And to make the lie complete, he smashed his forehead into the stone until it split and left that ugly cross scar, a scar big enough to cover up the last kiss she’d left on it.

Just... god. Everything about this situation is fucking tragic. Garfiel would rather believe himself unloved than believe he was somehow responsible for robbing his mother of her happiness. And the trauma of that loss has followed him to this day. He’s still the same lost child he was ages ago, crying in a corner and hiding from the truth. He hasn’t moved forward a single step since then. Quite the opposite, in fact; his pain is what’s made him desperate enough to keep all his kinsmen locked inside the barrier. As long as no one leaves, then no one has to risk suffering the same tragedy his mother did. No one has to face the real world and all its misery. They can all stay shut up inside, never moving, never changing, never growing past what’s kept them stuck in place. Garfiel describes himself as a barrier protecting his people from the outside world. In his words, none of them need to know the pain that awaits them out there; he’s the only one who needs to suffer for them all to be happy. He’ll take all their burdens on himself, even if those burdens end up breaking him. It’s a childish, simplistic view of suffering and reality, but that’s what happens when you’ve spent ten years refusing to grow up for fear of what waits when you do. And it’s not lost on me how very familiar that kind of possessive kindness is. You could put these words in Subaru’s mouth just a couple loops ago, and they wouldn’t sound out of place at all. Garfiel might as well be the one who said “I’ve seen hell” during his confrontation with Subaru; that sentiment is what drove both of them at their worst. A desire to take on all the pain and shield their loved ones from it, no matter how badly they had to destroy themselves to do it.

First Step Forward

Thank god, then, that Subaru’s spent the last few episodes breaking out of that mindset. He’s seen the folly of trying to take on everything himself, and he’s seen how wrong it is to deny yourself love because you think it might hurt you. He’s been in Garfiel’s shoes, and he knows that staying stuck in place like that is the fastest way to destroy everything you’re trying to protect. No matter how terrifying it is, you have to take that first step forward. You have to let yourself grow and change, to let in pain and let others help you carry it. Because once you decide to move forward, who has the right to stop you? With Rem’s encouragement, with Emilia at his side, with everyone’s expectations pushing him forward, he’s braver and stronger now than he ever was when he was trying to shoulder everything alone. And Jesus fucking shit does he prove it. I was already cackling when he took Garfiel’s punch to the face without flinching, but then he PULLS OUT THE GODDAMN UNSEEN HAND?! WHAT?!?!?! I guess Echidna wasn’t kidding about him picking up the Sloth Factor from axing Betelgeuse, because GOD. Subaru’s come so far that he’s even able to call on one of his worst enemy’s weapon and use it to his advantage. That’s how much he’s grown just by having the courage to step forward. Even if he’s still a giant fucking loser who gives his new attack a chuuni-ass name, writes cringey graffiti to support to Emilia on the trial walls, and absolutely fucking dies in embarrassment when he realizes Garfiel saw his “love letter” before the girl he wrote it for (”You’re not a kid, so don’t act like- wait, you are a kid!”) God, I love this dork so much.

And as overly direct as his approach might be (”Sorry, but it’s the Natsuki family way to trample over people’s hearts with our shoes on!”), that message reaches Garfiel loud and clear. Garfiel’s just a kid; he can’t take on all this pressure alone, and his can’t keep hurting himself by staying stuck in place. He needs to face his past, accept the pain, and accept that no matter how much it hurts, his mother loved him. She cared for him. And he deserves to see the outside world she wanted to give him. And man, I’m not ashamed to admit how emotional I got when he finally smiles and thanks Subaru for reminding him that his mom loved him. At the end of the day, Garfiel really is just a big, sweet idiot, someone who loved his family too much to give up on them so easily. Someone who deserves the same happiness that Subaru and his friends are fighting for. And I’m so fucking happy he’s on the nakama squad now (”Did you just say thank you?” “I’M NOT SAYING IT AGAIN!”) God knows, his future is looking much brighter now that he’s no longer facing it alone.

Child of the Elven Forest

But before we reach that future, there’s still one more person who needs to face their past. Which means it’s time, at long last, to dive into the life Emilia led before her people were frozen in ice. This lore dump has been built up since the beginning of this season, so you better believe I’m gonna hang on to every piece of it. By the looks of things, it’s gonna take three whole episodes to cover it all, making it the longest backstory in this show’s history by a wide margin (and that’s not even counting how ludicrously long the episodes are in comparison to earlier episodes of exposition). Safe to say, the shit we’re learning here probably matters more than any other information we’ve taken in this arc. It’s also probably going to be the most traumatizing part, as terrifying as that is to imagine. If not to us, it certainly will be to Emilia; whatever horrors are in her past, we’ve seen full well the effects they’ve had on her. This time, though, she’s determined to face them head-on. No more cowering, no more fear, no more leaning on the men around her for strength; this time, Emilia’s gonna be the hero that the Sanctuary deserves, no matter how deep her fear still runs. Hell, she even tells Echidna off with the same swaggering introduction Subaru first used on her all those episodes ago. And can I say, I did not expect to love Emilia and Echidna’s banter as much as I did. Echidna absolutely hates her guts, but Emilia’s such a softie that she happily takes the barbs in stride and tosses them back in the witch’s face (”Thank you for explaining, even though you hate me.”) They play off each other scarily well.

Of course, as fun as their interactions are, the real meat here is the dive into the Elven village Emilia once called home. And even just this first chunk of it has my brain spinning with information. This village was sealed away just like the Sanctuary, and all its inhabitants were kept inside, unable to leave. On the bright side, it’s at least a far nicer place to live than the run-down Sanctuary; this forest enclave is drop-dead gorgeous. Elves in fiction always have the best fashion/architecture sense, what can I say? You get such a strong sense of community from their few interactions, how they’ve some to rely on and support each other through this difficult situation. And then there’s baby Emilia herself, who is just... the most adorable creature on the planet. Mother of god, I cannot with this child. Her enthusiasm, her giggles, how she verbalizes so many sounds she makes (”Sneaky sneak!”) (”Clap, clap, clap!”), how she prances around the forest like the rambunctious, easily excitable kid she is... god, it’s too fucking precious. She’s a scampering pule of rainbows and laughter and I don’t know how to handle it. Clearly, her aunt’s only keeping her locked in a small room because she knows how dangerous such concentrated cute is. The rest of the world must be protected from the sheer power her adorableness. Surely there’s no darker secret going on that would explain why Emilia has to be kept out of sight. Nothing worrying about it at all, no sir. Nothing wrong with this picture.

Nope. Nothing wrong at all.

*Inhale*

SO HOW ABOUT THAT FUCKING BETELGEUSE HUH

Before His Brain Trembled

Holy shit. Holy goddamn shit. Of all the surprises I was expecting from Emilia’s backstory, this was a twist I never saw coming. The Witch Cult was in regular contact with the sealed village! They were the elves’ liaison to the outside world! And not only that- they were nice! They were just a bunch of normal people who didn’t hide their faces with sinister hoods! Betelgeuse himself was just a decent guy with a normal face who didn’t gibber about his trembling brain every five seconds! This is, without question, one of the biggest mindfucks this show has pulled yet. After all the despicable things we saw the cultists do in season 1, after knowing how evil Betelgeuse turned out to be, finding out they used to be actually decent people has thrown me for a loop like nothing else. Who were the cultists before they went mad? What was the purpose of their organization? Did the Witch of Envy used to be genuinely nice, as we’ve seen she’s capable of? Why were they, of all people, the ones who looked out for the elves? Betelgeuse makes a comment that he and his fellow cultists are already sinners by this point, but what does that mean? Perhaps he means that his group has become a target of scorn and distaste for helping the elves, and now they’re just as much outcasts? Perhaps some of the darkness that will one day warp them into monsters has already taken hold? There are too many possibilities to keep track of, and each one is wilder than the last.

And then there’s the Geuse himself. I’m not gonna lie, seeing this dude be so normal after his manic flailing and Looney-Tunes expressions is somehow even more terrifying. The Geuse we meet in the past is a stand-up dude who seems to have the elves best interests at heart. He even has a sweet family dynamic with Emilia and her aunt, Mother Fortuna, and god dammit I hate that I agree with Emilia shipping them. They are too perfect together for the horrors I know are about to descend. What could have possibly changed Geuse from a decent dude to a raving lunatic? The one terrifying thing he’s done thus far is break down in tears at the sight of Emilia, and even then we’re still not sure why. Does he see Satella’ silver-haired half-elf image in her silhouette? That must be part of it, but what does that realization mean to him? Does he love her? Covet her? Want to protect her? Is this the start of his affection that will one day grow in the poisonous envy we know and love/hate? How do his feelings for Mother Fortune play into the person he’ll become? Once again, there are too many variables. But one thing’s for sure: Betelgeuse wasn’t always a monster. Once upon a time, the group he led was a force for good. And something burned that peace to the ground. Something- or someone- turned this man into a living nightmare. And with the Archbishop of Greed suddenly announcing his presence, I think we’re about to find out just how things went so horrifically wrong. God help me, I’m not ready. I can only hope that Emilia’s will is stronger than mine.

Odds and Ends

-”You think I’m afraid?!””That’s why you’re shouting and trying to make yourself bigger, isn’t it?” Man, Emilia gets the best lines.

-He... stabbed him with Frederica’s crystal? Okay, huh.

-”Maybe there’s a really hungry cat hanging around outside it?” SUBARU I SWEAR TO GOD

-PATRASCHE GOT REVENGE!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHH!!!!!

-”Then get off me. My feet are going numb.” Ram I love you so much

-I appreciate that just losing the battle didn’t make Garfiel change his mind. He’s got to get over his shit first.

-”Between the two of us, you’re above me, though.” And don’t you forget it.

-That shot of Emilia entering the trial chamber is beautiful.

-”He really has rubbed off on you.” “Really? Thank you.” sdkjfhsdf you sassy fuck

-”You’re always flirting with her anyway, why does it matter if you put it in writing this time?” YOU’RE NOT WRONG OTTO

-”I expect her to brush it off!” Well, Subaru, you’re sort of in a real relationship with her now. Get ready for her to take you seriously.

-”A promise is the embodiment of trust.” Well, now we know why she puts so much faith in promises. Fortuna really made them matter to her.

-Okay, so Geuse is super long-lived as well, huh? Interesting...

-”Stop talking like you’re drunk on yourself!” I swear, Regulus is totally being built up as a supervillain version of a whiny Reddit mansplainer. It’s great.

I’m not ready for the next set of episodes, folks. I’m really not. But I’ll see you then regardless.

[dotthings]

Now that there’s a good bit of S15 already aired to ponder, I’m going to revisit some more Dabb quotes about S15. This is from Variety, October 7, 2019.

Concerning Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack as a unit: “ultimately this is a found family, and they have deep emotional bonds”

This point is pretty straightforward. The current showrunner regards the four of them as a family, and that’s been reflected in the story. While SPN has never been only Sam and Dean, in this era of SPN, the family they assembled has become more important than ever.

On the overall emotional approach of modern SPN:

“This is not just true of this season, this has been true for awhile, but we can devote a lot more time to the emotions of the guys. In the beginning of the show they were always on the road, but since they’ve been able to be settled, we’ve been able to see their lives beyond just the next monster.”

This quote is so interesting to me, and matches a lot of what I’ve been saying for a while on various platforms about how the characters and story evolved. The importance of the bunker, the importance of their expanded family becoming more and more a constant. I’m not watching SPN for the plot ultimately, I’m watching for the characters and their emotional life, with monsters, demons, angels, and mytharc to keep things lively. This is a big reason why I love genre. The monsters and mytharc are fun, but it’s the monsters and adventure and wild plots as a wonderful springboard to explore and reveal characters. Late run SPN is embodying this balance really well. I could also list off a number of shows I love that operate under this principle. So much of genre TV operates under this principle.

About how TV has changed and SPN has changed:

“I think you really get an evolution of TV as a medium. When this show started it was a very different show than where it will end, and the same thing about television generally. And I think what’s allowed the show to stay on as long as it has is that it’s been able to adapt.”

Gosh it’s like a show that’s been on for more of a decade will evolve or something! What a half-baked notion, who gave this guy the keys and put him in charge? LOL. I’m sorry I have to laugh at the rage in fandom over the mere fact that SPN didn’t stay frozen in amber carbon dated S2 and why anyone is surprised by that. It’s not just SPN itself changing, it is TV industry changing around it and SPN had to keep pace. SPN would not have survived to S15 without being adaptable. Now you can say it all sucks so you think it should have ended when Kripke left, but you can’t brag about SPN’s longevity and then dump all over the things that helped get it there, knee jerk rejecting necessary change on a hard core level. As if change itself is the reason you’ve got criticisms. It’s not. Execution of the story would be a reason to criticize, but not change in and of itself. We can all differ on the effectiveness of that execution, but there’s plenty of fans who are loving Dabb era just fine, just as there are fans who exist who despise it.

On “fan service”

“I hope we’re speaking to the majority of our fans. There’s definitely episodes where we do address things that come out of the fandom and out of social media, but in terms of how the story ends, in terms of bringing back certain characters, it was [about] what makes sense for the guys on their journey and in this story at this point. To some extent, all television now is fan service, but it’s not about direct fan service in that way; it’s more about what is going to get us to the emotional conclusion that we want for these guys.”

Notice the “I hope.” There’s no assumption here that absolutely everyone will love what they do, there never has been, from anyone at SPN in fact. They try to tell the best possible story they can that will appeal to the most fans. “All television is now fan service” is a very interesting statement, and Dabb doesn’t elaborate, but I want to try and unpack what he could mean.

In this era of social media and so many different possible delivery platforms, the scrutiny all shows fall under, the heavy interaction between creators and fans, and TV being by its nature, in its creation, a collaborative medium to begin with, it’s unrealistic to think any show could survive and operate in a bubble that completely ignores fan responses or disregards industry changes happening around it. That doesn’t mean spn or any show has to alter things at the mere whiff of every negative or positive fan response. Social media can also be a bit of a funhouse mirror of fan response, or provide a far too selective idea of fan response. For every SPN fan shouting that it’s wrong for SPN to listen to fan responses, there’s a fan response saying the same thing to shut down the opposing lane. Who do they listen to? What does it even mean to protect the sanctity of the story in this era of TV?

SPN fandom currently has multiple lanes claiming to be the arbiters of what “everyone” wants, and the reality of the fandom is very different, it actually looks like chaos. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Remember that for a long long time SPN fandom wank focused around brosonlies who kept saying caring only for Sam and Dean was the 99% and anyone who had any concerns for Sam or Dean’s autonomy in the story, who loved Cas, female characters, found family, and who cared about diversity on SPN was the 1%. It’s been obvious for a while now that TPTB are much more astute about the actual make-up of the fanbase than that false narrative. Over time the wanking got less locked into a few clear-cut lane divisions and now it’s a mess of internal lane conflicts and 3-5 lanes in opposition at any given moment, lanes within lanes, subsets within subsets. I don’t think that’s because SPN sucks. I think it’s because a) we’re approaching the end so people’s emotions are really really jacked up and heightened and b) a natural evolution of what would happen when a show like this goes on as long as this one has.

It’s funny how at the time this interview came out, fandom narrative ran with that quote as Dabb saying SPN is all fanservice when he’s saying the opposite to that. “It’s not about direct fan service” “it’s about what is going to get us tot he emotional conclusion that we want.” They aren’t bringing back familiar characters merely because fandom loves them, although he’s not denying that as a benefit to it, they’re back because they serve a story purpose. They don’t do anything just to service fandom. “Fan service” as a term is mis-used in SPN fandom so often it’s lost all meaning. “Fan service” in SPN fandom means anything the angry fan doesn’t like, no matter how much build-up it’s been given, no matter how logical it is for the character to return, no matter how tied into the major core themes of the show for umpteen years already certain reltionships are, they will be yelled down as “fan service” just because there’s a bunch of fans who love it, while fans who don’t are mad about it, therefore “fan service.”

PR is a lot of smoke and mirrors a lot of the time, but the reason this is relevant is so many Dabb’s quotes are reflected in the actual execution and tone and focus of canon.

SPN revolves around Sam and Dean and Cas and found family, and has for a very long time. Sam and Dean are the most central figures, but Cas is part of the central hub of that pov, and the show isn’t just about Sam and Dean, or just about Sam, Dean, Cas, it’s them...and their familiy. SPN has always been about family. That’s...the show.

[olicitytropes]

Olicity Tropetastic Awards: Fandom Writers

And with this post, we’re at our final rec list for this year’s Tropetastic Awards! Thank you everyone for helping us make it through this hiatus! (instant tears)

We can’t express how much we love Olicity, this fandom, and every writer who shares their stories with us. We wish we could buy you all some real trophies (or give you a really good hug) for the time and effort you’ve poured into your fics! There are just so many talented writers that we’ve talked about and fangirled over. Hopefully through this process, we’ve been able to shine some light on all of that talent. And we hope that everyone in this fandom can appreciate and respect it as much as we do! We could’ve made this post go on forever, so all of the kudos to all of you<3

As fans, we’ve followed Arrow for seven seasons, and we’ve found so many fanfics along the way that touched us and pulled at our heart strings as much as (sometimes more than) canon. It’s hard to put into words how much that means to us, but we had to try;) Here are some writers who we want to thank. And of course, they’re only the tip of the iceberg on this giant, powerful fandom.

We will always, always, always love you. 

@smoaking-greenarrow’s recs:

** @supersillyanddorky06 **

Strangers in the Night

The Firebird

The Predator

The Phoenix & The Phoenix Rises

Award: The Alternate Universe Specialist

Kudos: I’ve been so happy to let @supersillyanddorky06’s worlds distract me from real life when I needed it. The Firebird was my study-break savior in college when I needed to step out of reality and stop stressing over finals. Devouring The Phoenix and The Phoenix Rises kept me up way too late reading and made me way too tired for work the next morning, but it was so worth it! There are infinite things to love about Olicity, and infinite things to love about this talented writer. Matty, I know I can speak for more than just myself when I say that your stories mean a lot to this fandom. You’re already one of my favorite authors, but I can’t wait to read The Predator as a novel. And watch it captivate the rest of the world like it did for Olicity fans. Arrow captured lightning in a bottle when they got Stephen and Emily on screen together, and I think the same thing happened when you watched the show, fell in love with Olicity, and decided to write fanfic for them. I’m beyond excited to see what you do next, and low-key telling myself that I basically got to read a first draft of The Predator before it becomes a bestseller ;)

Bonus Kudos: MY QUEEN. Sending you all the love for the hours I’ve spent with your amazing fics! Finding an email notification that The Predator had updated always made me squeal out loud! Thanks forever for that! -Meegan (@it-was-a-red-heeler)

** @it-was-a-red-heeler **

Lost and Found

A Dance with the Devil

Desperation Club

Deep Water

Award: The Storyline Mastermind

Kudos: I know that when I start one of Meegan’s fics, it’s going to be satisfying from start to finish. I first read Lost and Found, and I was so impressed with it that I had to write this little fic review. Everything that I read of hers after that was just as wild and just as incredible. She’s a genius at pacing, building tension, and plot twists. Meegan, I’m so happy I’ve had the chance to read your dreamy and steamy versions of Olicity. And I’m even happier that we’ve had the chance to get to know each other because of this fandom. Be my friend and stay forever, K?

** @tangled23works **

Like A River

Whatever It Takes

Nothing Short of Perfect

My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark

Broken Bones and Porcelain Dolls

Award: The Hook, Line and Sinker

Kudos: Sascha writes the kind of fics that I don’t want to put down. She’s insanely good at picking up her story in the perfect place, one that keeps me hooked and wanting to read more (and since those important first words are something I often struggle with, I’m so envious of her for that;)). All of the kudos to you my friend, for your out of the box thinking! Sascha, I’m so happy that you share your writing with all of us, and just your presence in this fandom in general is amazing. I can’t even tell you how many times you’ve brightened my day! Thank you for being the talented writer and awesome person that you are!

** @mindramblingsfics **

Forget Me Not

Will Fate Allow?

Summer Flame

Was It Ever Real?

Award: The Creative Trailblazer

Kudos: @mindramblingsfics I have so many praises to sing for you, but most of all I just think you’re insanely cool. The way you craft your fics is so unique and clever. You take us on a journey with everything you write. You take all of our favorite tropes and spin them on their heads in ways I’ve never seen before. I’ve never read a summary or teaser of yours that didn’t make me excited to read the story, and those stories are always better than I imagined. Thank you for all of your special fics, and all of your hard work. We all appreciate it so much!

Bonus Kudos: Oh my goodness. This amazing writer. I cannot even begin to thank you for your incredible works! They always leave me wanting more. Summer Flame is one of my Top 5 favorite fics of all time! Along with Whiskey and Romance too! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for writing such wonderful fics! -Caitlin (@blondeeoneexox)

** @felicityollies **

Vampire and the Geek

Secrets Don’t Make Friends

Trust Me

Doppelgänger

Award: The Jack of All Trades

Kudos: I dare you all to try to find a fic from Bev that doesn’t give you everything you’re looking for. This writer can do it all, and it’s amazing. I promise you’ll be impressed by every world you jump into and you’ll fall in love with every version of Olicity that you read. Bev, I’m blown away by every story of yours, you never disappoint, and I can’t wait to read more! Thank you for everything you’ve given this fandom!

@blondeeoneexox’s recs:

** @smoaking-greenarrow **

The Hardest Part

Mine at Midnight

Just Beneath the Surface

Come Back When You Can

My Favorite Faded Fantasy

Kerosene and Desire

Award: Queen of Olicity Happy Endings

Kudos: Okay, y’all are going to have to forgive me cause this is about to get really sappy and kinda personal. @smoaking-greenarrow’s fics were the first I read after joining this wonderful fandom. I was so in awe of her talent and how she could make you feel like you were really inside the fic. How she could make me laugh, cry, and really bring out the sap in me. I wanted to talk to her and rave to her about how amazing she is, but I didn’t want to be THAT person, you know? 😂 Then one day SHE messaged ME about something totally different (😉) and I was SO excited! I actually got to tell her how incredible her fics were without seeming like a crazy person, hahaha. Now, she’s my best friend in this fandom and I am SO beyond lucky to have her. Thank you for not thinking I was some random, psycho fan girl, E. I am so thankful for you and for your absolutely phenomenal writing. If you haven’t read her fics, please do yourself a favor and go do it right now! I’d start with Mine at Midnight and work down the list. You won’t regret it. 😘

Bonus Kudos: Ellie, what can I say? Besides your unsolicited review of my little fic that launched me under the fandom’s nose (forever grateful for that, my friend) your fics are beyond amazing! So many great stories to choose from, all of them a world I can fall into with my favorite couple. Love ya! -Meegan (@it-was-a-red-heeler)

** CSM **

Lucas’ Adventures

Impeccable Genetics

A Future Worth Fighting For

Almost, But Not Yet

Award: Queen of Time Travel Fics

Kudos: Oh my goodness. Nikki! I am COMPLETELY OBSESSED with her time traveling kid fics. From Ellie to Mia to Lucas, it doesn’t get any better. She puts wit, charm, sass and hilarity into every single one of her amazing works. I am currently obsessed with Lucas’ Adventures (updated every Sunday in case y’all wanna start 😉), where a sweet 10 month old Lucas shows up and completely disrupts S2 Oliver and Felicity’s lives! If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend along with every other one of her kid fics. She is an absolutely incredible writer, I’m so happy to know her and love her works!

Bonus Kudos: Nikki, Lucas’ Adventures is exactly what I need and want to be reading in this trying time. While Arrow and season 8 look very daunting and sad right now, this fic has been so much fun to read. Can’t wait to see what you do next, and thank you! -Ellie (@smoaking-greenarrow)

** @alexiablackbriar13 **

little wonders (twists and turns of fate)

whenever you’re ready 

#olicity lives!

two pints of mint chip it’s a girl 

Award: Queen of Canon Divergence

Kudos: Oh boy. @alexiablackbriar13. Where do I even begin? I’m sure as all of you know, she is a PHENOMENAL writer! From little wonders to all of her amazing one shots, I’m forever in awe of her writing! I think my absolute favorite though would have to be little wonders, because OBVIOUSLY. She took canon and transformed it into something the Arrow writers couldn’t DREAM of doing. I remember when she posted the teaser of this story. I knew it was going to be one of a kind, and it did not disappoint! GO READ IT IF YOU HAVEN’T, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. 😍 and I can’t forget my other favorite, whenever you’re ready. I remember reading this and SOBBING. Mia and Lucas travel back to 2019 and meet their parents. It’s a fic that should be read by all. You’re sensational, Lexi. This fandom is so lucky to have you!

** @dust2dust34 **

Four Walls (Of Law Firms and Honey)

Forever is Composed of Nows

Wanna Be Yours

(i will be the fire) that keeps you warm

Award: The Fandom’s Real MVP of Smut

Kudos: BRE. Okaaay, I don’t think this writer needs any introducing. I mean, one of the masterminds of the perfection that is FICON? Come ON. What you have given this fandom is more than I could put into words. From your oneshots to your sultry, smutty, smut fics, to the beautiful multi-chapters you’ve created, your writing is unparalleled. I, on behalf of the fandom, want to thank you for all of your masterpieces! They are truly incredible and we are so lucky to have you!

Bonus Kudos : Bre, I will forever be grateful to the time you have spent writing Olicity fics and obsessing over Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen. Through the years you have become a master of your craft and I honestly can’t wait for your next story. Thank you for everything. -Sascha (@tangled23works)

@allimariexf’s recs:

** @MachaSWicket **

Deceive, Inveigle, and Obfuscate

And Then It Ends, Your Little Winning Streak

Long Time Coming

The Unbearable Hotness of Being

Va Banque

Award: Master of the Essence of Olicity

Kudos: How can I possibly summarize why Macha’s works are so special? She writes with a perfect blend of compelling plot, moving emotional development, and effortlessly beautiful prose. She writes characters that jump off the page, so that we hurt and rejoice and lust with them. She adds elements of surprise and delight to even the most well-worn tropes, infusing them with the essence of Olicity. Her canon-related and AU stories always feel like just another (and in many cases, better) path that Oliver and Felicity could have taken. Every word she writes is a treat, every story is a gift to the fandom. I know this sounds effusive but it’s barely scratching the surface of how amazing her works are! I have definitely laughed, cried, and everything in between while reading (and re-reading...and re-re-reading, etc.) her stories. (Okay also I already listed 5 of her stories, but I also have to mention two more: the utterly delightful AU WIP Our Version of Events (co-written with geneeste), and fandom-favorite Little Black Dresses and King-Sized Messes.)

** @anthfan **

Devil’s Backbone

Tropes

Times like these

Tell me a story

Dust to Dust

Above and Beyond 

Award: Queen of Canon-related Tropes to end all Tropes

Kudos: anthfan’s stories were some of the first I read in this fandom, and WOW what a high bar she set. Those of you who know me know that I tend to prefer canon-related stories to AUs (well okay, more recently I have begun to love AUs too, but canon-related will ALWAYS own me), and anthfan just hits that pitch-perfect spot of great storytelling - intriguing twists, heartfelt scenes, perfect characterization, and ANGST - OH, THE ANGST - while still remaining in that familiar Arrow universe we all know and love. And nowhere does she shine as well as when she’s taking well-known tropes and giving them a uniquely Olicity twist. Devil’s Backbone remains my favorite Olicity fic of all time (probably!), but truthfully I wish I could read every one of these stories over and over again for the first time.

Bonus Kudos: I thought the first chapter of Dust to Dust would actually kill me, but it proved itself to be clever and badass and witty and FUN! As far as Devil’s Backbone goes, I watch Season Three now and just assume all the stuff from the fic is going on after hours (headcanon accepted)—one of my all-time favorite stories! -Meegan ( @it-was-a-red-heeler)

** @mogirl97 **

Crazy for You 

Along The Way

Sportsmanlike Conduct 

The Offer

It Takes Two

Award: Master of Swoony, Romantic AUs

Kudos: So I mentioned above that I only recently (in the past year or so) really got into AUs, and mogirl97 offered a crash course that I couldn’t resist! I started with Along the Way and I was HOOKED, quickly gobbling up everything else she wrote, and it was all equally swoon-worthy. She has a way of making you absolutely fall in love with each of her universes, and every time a story comes to an end I never want to let it go. Sweet, soft, longing, gently angsty - those words can describe basically all of her stories. And romantic. So, soooo romantic!

 ** bri617 **

Across The Highs, The Lows, And The In-Betweens

Did It Hurt When You Fell From Heaven?

Without You (I’m Incomplete)

You Were Mine (Just For One Night)

Freeze Frame, Pause, Rewind, Stop

Award: Queen of Fluffy AUs

Kudos: bri617 is just a master of FUN. Fluffy, fluffy, soft, delightful FUN! She has cornered the market on college AUs, but basically everything she writes captures that perfect blend of flirty, simmering, quirky, playful, slightly-awkward, mutual heart-eyes Olicity that we all crave. In every one of her stories, I fall in love with Oliver and Felicity and Olicity all over again, and laugh my ass off while doing it.

@tangled23works’ recs:

** @someonesaidcake **

Ride or Die

ONE (Oliver The Footballer)

Truly, Madly, Stupidly

Award: Queen of Emotional Impact

Kudos: I’ve been trying to find a way to explain how I feel when I read @someonesaidcake’s fics and I keep failing. The best way to understand what I’m talking about would be to start reading them yourself, if you haven’t already. These stories are powerful enough that they’re gonna make you cry, smile and wish you could experience such a unique, powerful love story in real life. The fandom was truly blessed when this amazingly talented author decided to write Olicity fics.

** @olicityaddicted **

Never Tear Us Apart 

One More Chance 

And She Will Be Loved

Award: Queen of Heartfelt And Comforting Romance

Kudos: I chose @olicityaddicted for my second award because, to be honest, she deserves to be far more appreciated than she is. Her stories provide a safe refuge for me, a place where I can relax and forget about real life for a while. Her brilliance lies in simplicity; her fics will not punch you in the gut but make you feel like you’re cocooned in gentle warmth and Olicity love.

** @bindy417 **

Caught in the Rapture

Arrows & Airwaves

Bound to You

Award: Queen of Page-Turners

Kudos: @bindy417’s complex and beautifully drafted stories are one of the reasons I enjoy reading Olicity fics so much. She has written one of my all-time favorite Al Sah-him fics. I made the mistake of reading it on a bus once and missed my stop. Seriously, there are published books which are less well-thought-out and more predictable. Brittany’s works are imaginative, compelling and addictive. She deserves ALL the awards.

Bonus Kudos: Okay, okay. I’m kind of mad at myself for not choosing Brittany because she has written some of the most BEAUTIFUL multi chapters in this fandom. Bound to You. Caught in the Rapture. I have read those two fics I cannot tell you how many times! I’m completely obsessed. I bow down to you, lady! You and your stories are so amazing! -Caitlin (@blondeeoneexox)

@msbeccieboo’s recs:

** @so-caffeinated **

Forever Is Composed Of Nows series

Stop the Presses series

Award: Favourite Universe-Creator

Kudos: I adore an extended AU universe, and (together with the amazing Bre, of course) Janis has created one of my absolute favourites, the “Forever Is Composed Of Nows (ficon)” ‘verse. What I love most about her writing is her ability to not only write beautifully for our known characters, but to create wonderful, captivating and just full original characters that we quickly fall in love with, and are immediately pulled into their world to experience with them. I now love and treasure characters like William, Amelia and Jules (my personal faves) as completely as I do Oliver or Felicity. I also love how much she interacts with her readers, constantly asking for ideas and feedback, answering asks and writing to prompts. Her storytelling is original and immersive, and I can’t wait to read her original works!!

** @smkkbert **

10 Rules of Rebounding

The Way You Make Me Feel (I Call it Love)

Time For a Story

If Loving You is Wrong (I Don’t Want to be Right)

Award: Most Diverse and Constantly Creating Writer

Kudos: Kathi has a huge range of any type of Olicity fic you can think of! LoA/Bratva/canon/AU/kid fic/high school/friends to lovers/season rewrites/missing scenes, there is something and everything for everyone! From one-shots to epic multi-chapters, as well as some of my favourite smut? YES PLEASE!! I am not ashamed to admit I have read some of her stories many, MANY times over!!

She has consistently posted fic after fic after fic, writing over 50 Olicity stories, with “Time For a Story” constantly updating alongside, and set to reach 500 chapters!! I love how she seems to be able to write Olicity in a million different ways/scenarios and still always pull me into their new world and fall in love with them over and over again. Superb, AND not in her first language either! Amazing!

** @realityisoverrated-fic **

Infinite Love series/universe (of which there are >200 one-shots/mullti-chapters)

Award: Smoaking Billionaires QUEEN (we all bow to her)

Kudos: You want Smoaking Billionaires? This should be your first port of call! But to imply she simply writes around one theme would be an epic disservice.  This series has everything, Olicity/Flommy/Toliver/SBs, fluff, family feels, kids, canon, canon divergence/swerve, action, humour, angst…oh the angst, oh, and a healthy dose of smut!

Her stories can be so deep, heart-breaking, raw and real-feeling in places, whilst also fluffy, hilarious, happy and contain some of the hottest smut ever!

** @allimariexf **

Not Your Typical Secretary series

Burning Souffles

Coming Home Again

A Dream That I Can Call My Own

Award: Queen of Canon/Canon-Divergence

Kudos: Alli has the gift of writing in canon, or slightly divergent, whilst still perfectly capturing the essence of Olicity and improving on the show’s writing, all whilst bringing the angst!! An absolutely beautiful writer, more beautiful human, and mah P.I.C.!! 😍

Bonus Kudos: Alli, I’m so happy that you share your fics with the fandom and that you created a whole channel for us to be as geeky and Olicity-obsessed as we like. Thank you for writing these stories (seriously, Succumbing to Shadows is a masterpiece), for organizing Arrow rewatches and for being a true friend. Even though there are hundreds of miles between us, I still feel that I know you and you should know that you can count on me. Always. -Sascha (@tangled23works)

** @stephswims **

One Step Ahead

That’s The Way It Is

Drunk Cuddly Oliver

Numb Lips

Award: Sweetest Little Smut Monster

Kudos: Steph has written some of my current favourite WIPs, and has a knack for writing badass AU Felicitys, in particular. She always manages to get the narrative voices of her characters juust right, which makes reading her stories all the more relatable!  Oh, and the smut is glorious hehehe!!!  My love and fandom sister wife! 😍

@it-was-a-red-heeler’s recs:

** @ruwithmeguys **

What Wouldn’t I Do

Indecent Proposal

Restless Heart

Award: The Queen of Nuance

Kudos: A sideways glance. The hitch of a breath. The babbling, breathless inner dialogue of a beautiful IT genius in love with a broody-but-lovable warrior. These are the elements of Olicity we all love so much, and Jessica’s magical talent as a writer. She makes you feel the angst and the love in her writing. Long after the story ends you’ll be thinking about her characterization. The tickle of a breath on the back of a neck...a heartbeat...a kiss...

** @missyriver **

Left to Fate

A Queen 

Award: Badass Olicity Queen

Kudos: The first time I read one of Missy’s fics I assumed she was a professional author; she’s just that good. Left to Fate is one of my all-time favorite re-reads, full of the perfect mix of angst, fluff, and smut. Yum yum! I’m so glad I found her works!

** @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl **

Home to You

The Queen’s Mage

Award: Wise Beyond Her Years

Kudos: Y’all, read this author’s works and know that she is going places. I am continually amazed at the maturity of her writing and the depth of her understanding of the characters we all love so much. This is only the beginning for her and I’m so proud to call Arianna a friend!

** @callistawolf **

twelve hours

ready for the fall

Award: Olicity Fandom Royalty

Kudos: Jen (jbuffyangel) may have introduced me to the Arrow fandom that exists beyond the tv screen, but Calli’s Ready for the Fall showed me I didn’t have to fear the idea of fan fiction. She helped open up a new world to me, where very talented anonymous authors could right the wrongs of showrunners and let the characters I love so much live on forever; as each other, or as pirates, or even as werewolf soulmates. Several years later she wrote Twelve Hours and taught me not to be too hasty in my preconceived ideas (ahem, Chapter 10, just sayin’). I love her stories, her analysis and words of wisdom on Tumblr, and her podcasts with Jen. Thanks for everything!

Bonus Kudos: I remember waiting every Wednesday last summer for Calli’s latest update of real love (is never a waste of time). I would be refreshing my tumblr every ten mins it felt like. It was such an amazing fic (along with every other one of her fics!), but that one will always be my favorite of yours! You are phenom! -Caitlin (@blondeeoneexox)

@memcjo’s recs:

** @hope-for-olicity **

Love Letters

Hidden Thoughts and Feelings

I Am Not Broken

No Sex Until There is Hair

So Much Love

Choices

Award: Queen of Fix it Fic and Felicity’s POV

Kudos: I don’t even know where to begin to tell all of my love for Jacq and her amazing stories. Jacq’s stories are so easy to become wrapped up in. She has a way of putting you right there as Oliver and Felicity navigate whatever life has thrown at them. During the seasons, I become dependent on her to help me through the trama the Arrow writers have inflicted upon me with their horrible treatment of Oliver and/or Felicity. Jacq’s fix it fics have brought me tremendous joy. Her treatment of Olicity, showing them as flawed people, doing the best they can while loving each other so very much, has brought me to tears more times than I can count. I highly recommend ANY and ALL of her Olicity fic!

Bonus Kudos: Jacq’s fics are what you read when you want to be happy. I can’t thank her enough for all the sweet, feel-good, wonderful stories that always come full circle in a beautiful way. And for all the moments I’ve had to try not to smile/giggle while reading her stories in public. Jacq, you’re truly an amazing writer. And even better, an amazing person! Thank you so much for helping to make my fandom experience so incredible! -Ellie (@smoaking-greenarrow)

Bonus Kudos: Jacq, my love, we’ve talked about this. Adore you and your fluffy full-of-goodness stories and your amazing comments on other author’s fics. The show may have broken your heart, but you and I have a lot of years of great stories ahead of us! -Meegan (@it-was-a-red-heeler)

** @mel-loves-all **

A Touch Unlike Any Other

Vivez

Softly Comes Love

Under a Winter Sky

Award: Olicity Historical Romance Writer Extraordinaire

Kudos: Ah, Mel. How do I love your romance novel Olicity? Let me count the ways...Mel seriously provides the exact right mix of sweet meetings and budding romance in her Olicity novels. I adore her feisty and endearing Felicity, I swoon over her stoic yet thoughtful and loving Oliver. When Olicity comes together in her beautifully crafted stories my heart simply becomes a puddle of goo. Historical Romances are my go to get-aways, and Mel’s stories always takes to a magical Olicity AU.

** @dmichellewrites **

Wanted

Distractions 

Hover

What Are You Thinking?

Under the Stars

Award: Most Fabulous Writer of Olicity Family Life in One Shots

Kudos: Devon is the master of creating Olicity in all their flawed, passionate, driven, loving glory. Her stories never fail to give me a new insight into Oliver and Felicity and their life together. I love the way Oliver and Felicity love each other in Devon’s stories.  As she shares her Olicity slices of life I find myself cheering for my OTP. Devon is an amazing story teller and I would recommend all her Olicity fics!

** @geneshaven **

Mother and Daughter

To Do It All Over Again

Ivy Town To Star City

One On The Way

Award: Master of Thought Provoking Olicity Stories (this link leads to his Tumblr account where all his fics are posted)

Kudos: Nobody can craft a story about Olicity quite like Gene. His blend of light and dark, joy and angst has rocked me to the core more times than I can count. Gene’s love and respect for the characters of Oliver and Felicity are evident in the way he treats them in his stories.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve reread some of his stories, but every time I do it’s like the best present you can open again and again.

Bonus Kudos: I LOVE a @geneshaven update! I remember first seeing his Tumblr posts through Louise’s blog and being fascinated that a BOY loved Olicity as much as me! And then he started posting stories that mesmerized all of us. A truly special addition to our fandom. I’m so happy to call Gene a friend! -Meegan (@it-was-a-red-heeler)

** @absentlyabbie ** 

Long Way Down

You’re Not a Friend (No, You’re Nothing)

Interludes

Way Down We Go

Award: MVP of Emotionally Compromising Fanfic

Kudos: When I say emotionally compromising I mean it in the most, best, angsty possible way. Abbie’s fics can rip your heart out and stop you from breathing, leaving you shaken and in the next moment your heart is melting from the amazing tender actions any and all of our fav Arrow characters. These roller coaster ride stories takes you to the highest heights only to drop you to rock bottom! This series I’ve posted is just HEART WRENCHING, MOVING, and OH MY GOD~ addictive. Her updates are celebrations, her cliffhangers can drive me to drink. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!!

Bonus Kudos: Parts of Long Way Down still run through my head now again, it’s that powerful a story. Angsty in the best way possible, dark, sharp, and wonderful. A must-read for the fandom. Thanks for an amazing story! -Meegan (@it-was-a-red-heeler)

[petekaos]

Rahul yes! Absolutely watch the stranded once you have time! It's such a good show and you also get to join the SUS2 club (suffering until season 2) ♡

Work's fine, it's just that as a more of an introverted person customer service can be draining. And since I'm still new I'm constantly afraid of making mistakes and getting scolded... But at the moment I'm completely slacking off since I only have one more shift this week. Not a good thing money-wise but I appreciate a break rn. So I've been practicing self-care aka rewatching all the aired cherry magic episodes once again and drinking way too much milk tea. I've also been meaning to make the tangerine pie for what feels like ages now but I can't seem to find a recipe I'm satisfied with so do you have any suggestions or should I just make up my own? 🤔

Hctm... Yeah, one more reason to expect great things from bad buddy. And I have faith in ohm and nanon's performance considering they're so close irl, though ohm probably could have chemistry with even a trashcan if he had to. And faiza really is keeping the lovely writer hype going and I have to appreciate that! On the topic of other blogs, I don't think I ever thanked you for the list you compiled for me in my anon days, just know that they've been on my dash ever since ♡

How're things with you lately? Any holiday plans yet? I love our convos so much too, I was worried I'd come off as annoying or that you liked the mystery of anonymity more so hearing you say that makes me ❤❤ Sorry though, I clearly have a problem with making my asks brief and to the point...

Sending holiday hugs! 💛

neneeeeee!!! aaaah so sorry for the fairly late reply but here i am now! i’ve seen everyone suffering and begging for s2 hnshfg it’s truly frightening but also i am very intrigued as to watch it! just have to get through every other show on my neverending watchlist... mess.

ah i’m sorry about work, that’s rough :( however, i’m sure you’ll get used to it soon and that you’ll form a routine! customer service can be incredibly draining though so i’m glad you’re getting some kind of break at least. milk tea and cherry magic sounds wonderful, i can’t wait until i get my break in a couple of weeks so i, too, can just sit down and rest for a while and find some time to write, gif, and watch new shows! everything’s been a bit hectic right now and i have so many things to catch up with :( this time of year is difficult for everyone though, especially this year, and so i’m glad you’ve been holding up okay, all things considered. 

also tangerine pie!! yeah, it can be difficult to find a recipe and i rarely make it myself because i can never find tangerines BUT this is the recipe i used a while ago, because i love gingersnaps and i thought it worked well! once i get my break, i’m going to try and bake more and see if i just can’t find some tangerines and tweak this recipe a bit. but feel free to go wild with it - tangerines go super well with ginger, cinnamon, and i’m partial to tangerines and blueberries/lemons myself! they’re a fairly sweet fruit and so depending on your taste, it’s always fun to pair it with something sourer that’ll compliment it too. this has just turned into a tangerine ramble fhsnfh i’m sorry!!

aaaah i am so hyped for bad buddy! yeah, considering their close friendship irl, they’re gonna have super good chemistry, and also they’re both brilliant actors so i know they’ll deliver. i just hope people aren’t weird about them or try to ship them irl... that goes too far for me. and omggg your anon days!!! ah i remember that blog list still, they’re all so lovely and i’m so glad you like them too!

i’ve been doing okay! busy busy busy as always and i feel like i may be nearing a burnout but i have some time off soon so it’ll be time for me to rest and heal haha :^) no holiday plans unfortunately :( the original plan was to drive down to a neighbouring country and see some friends but since covid cases here are rising again we’ve decided it’d be smarter and more responsible to relent from that and see each other when it’s safer! i’ll probably (hopefully) just bake a lot and write a lot! i’m thinking about pete, kao, and achara in japan... they’d have so much fun going there in the winter holidays and seeing all the snow! 

you never come off as annoying at all! i love your long asks, they always put a smile on my face and i hope my answers aren’t too rambly lmaoo!! but what about you - any plans for the holidays? and since i was just rambling on and on about tangerine pie - what’s your favourite dessert? ALSO speaking of cherry magic - who’s your favourite character? [eyes emoji] mine has to be udon-chan bc if you made me pick the humans i would PERISH. either way, many holiday hugs to you my friend! 💛

[georgefancys]

Endeavour Fandom Meme

alright @bryndeavour tagged me in this literally five seconds ago but i wanna gush about endeavour immediately so

- Top 5 Episodes

Trove, Neverland, Prey, Canticle, Confection. Changes all the time tho (Icarus is not included bc while i really like it, it makes me genuinely depressed when i watch it. rip me)

- Seasons in Order of Preference

S2, S1, S5, S6, S4, S7, S3. Right so: season 2 interests me the most thematically and with the plot arc. Season 1 is just rlly consistently good even though it hasn’t produced any of my top 5, and same with season 5 - i think both of them are just consistently good without any standouts for me? Season 6 i think has a really cool vibe. season 4 is very good except i don’t particularly love Game - i would have said i disliked Harvest too, but I watched it recently for only like the second time and LOVED it so idk what was going on there. Season 7 i honestly think is really good, though i found a lot of problems with it in retrospect (treatment of women and the resolution of Ludo and Violetta’s storyline). Season 3 is WEIRD, because i LOVE Prey and quite like Arcadia. Now im gonna be controversial here: i’m not the BIGGEST fan of Ride. I didn’t like it the first time i watched it, then, since then every time i watched it i liked it more until the last time i watched it when i went back to not particularly loving it...? And i straight up don’t like Coda lmao, after the previous episode had a literal tiger, a shittily-executed bank heist that lasts for half the episode doesn’t really do it for me?

- Favourite Scene(s)

Tiger scene. Sorry to be cliche but tiger scene. The scene where Morse tries to get with Rosalind in Overture. Morse’s father’s death in Home. The ‘you’re not yellow, you’re just blue’ scene in Trove. The scene between Morse in Nick Wilding in Canticle. The LSD scene in Canticle (it’s just so fucking funny). The water-throwing scene in Muse. The fight scene in Passenger. The minefield scene in Colours. The ‘have you eaten?’ ‘of course’ ‘today?’ scene in Quartet. Morse and Isla’s kiss in Confection. The entire finale of Deguello. The scene between Morse and Ludo in Morse’s house in Oracle. Where Strange gets stabbed in Zenana. And my favourite scene in the whole show: the scene where Morse and Thursday are talking to Benny and Clyde in Neverland. Chills the whole time.

- Favourite Musical Piece or Moment

Miserere Mei, Deus in... i think Pylon - i love that piece of music. Jennifer Sometimes in Canticle is a bop. Hard Times from Lewis being in Passenger is a really nice callback. Dies Irae in Harvest is fun. Also, if it counts, i love All Along the Watchtower in the season 5 trailer (and i think it might be in Colours too?)

-  Favourite Cinematography/Imagery (season, ep, whatever)

The entirety of Harvest and Canticle. Arcadia is cool - the lovely typical supermarket, House Beautiful, it all fits with the theme of the episode.

- Favourite Ensemble Character that isn’t Morse

oooooof... probably Shirley and George?? Strange is close, esp. in season 7.

- Favourite One episode Character

Eve Thorne. i would die for her. I like Anthony Donn but honestly he doesn’t have much to do in Ride and half of my love for him is cos of his actor, Samuel Barnett. Also Ellie Bagshot in Quartet - for the Foyle’s War crossover.

- Favourite Morse Look (season, ep, whatever)

The red sweater thing in season 3. The weird boiler suit in season 7. The schoolmaster look in Icarus.

- Biggest disappointment

It’s horrendously un-diverse. They should have got another main female character after Shirley left. And it doesn’t treat the women it has amazingly, either - especially Violetta in Zenana. And it wouldn’t hurt to have some more gay rep - a fair few of the episodes have a gay side character, usually one where you only find their sexuality out in one scene late-on. But there should be a gay main character. Grantchester managed it in its second episode! Even Lewis gave us extremely good fodder for bisexual Hathaway. I really thought Ludo would deliver - i was a fool in man’s shoes. Also, Coda - nothing could top the tiger for me, seemingly.

- Provide some Spicy Takes (on canon, fandom, anything)

MORSESTACHE RIGHTS

I’ve already said it twice but, my dislike for Coda. Also, i know this Riles Up some people (cough cough) but there needs to be more canon gay rep, like there just needs to be.

ALSO - i’ll say this now - i love this fandom because there is never ever drama, and i want it to stay that way, but some of us just wanna watch Endeavour for the vibes, some of us wanna enjoy the wider universe, and both are okay and good! But what we shouldnt do is push people in the former group to watch IM or whatever and it can come across slightly as elitism. But enough of that.

- Free Space! (make up something - anything - you want to share or say)

I write fic - https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexpls/works you may be interested in a Morse/Max or a Morse/Anthony Donn, and one of these days i will get that bi Morse casefic and that gay Fancy fic done.

I ship Fancy/Trewlove to death, but i also love them both being gay and being each others’ wingmen.

Tagging: @petersjakes @fitzrove @jasmiinitee @lieutenantmalcolmreed(ik youve been tagged by ange but i love yall) @endeavourous @endeavourmors @melbows

[fraudulentzodiacs]

never let me down, just lead me home

I’m supposed to be working on my RNM Week fics, but this wouldn’t leave me alone. Inspired by this amazing Bellarke gifset. I hope it’s okay I borrowed this beautiful poem! Set during S2, with Alex disappearing and his return becoming Michael’s sole focus in life. 

For @partsofthesamecosmicbeing and @bisexualalienblast, for just being them. 

Clotho declares “He is gone”

And he breaks

Alex is gone for two days before anyone notices.

Kyle bursts into the makeshift lab he and Liz have set up in Max’s house, both desperately working to find a way to revive a now pod-bound Max.

“Kyle?” Liz asks in a worried tone, and it’s only then that Michael looks up from the latest test results to see the wild, scared look in the man’s eyes.

“Alex is gone.”

“What do you mean, ‘gone’?” Michael feels his entire body tense at Liz’s question, the worry quickly escalating to panic clear.

“I mean, I hadn’t heard from him in a few days, so I drove out to the cabin to check on him, and he’s not there.”

“It’s not too out of the ordinary for Alex to take off. Not lately, anyway.” Liz replies, and Michael doesn’t need her to look at him to know that he’s the reason why Alex has taken to disappearing. They haven’t been on the best of terms since he began dating Maria - in fact, they hadn’t said more than a handful of words since their last showdown at Michael’s trailer the day Max died. Since then, Alex had distanced himself from their group, which Michael understood despite having to live with the hurt and guilt in his girlfriend’s eyes when Alex flatly refused to speak to her at all.

“No, it’s not.” Kyle agrees. “But when I got to the cabin, the door was busted open, and it looked like there had been a fight. One that Alex apparently lost.”

“Jesse?” Michael pushes away from the table, sidestepping Liz.

“No, he’s still in the coma. This is something else.”

“Aliens?” Liz asks, and Kyle’s shrug sends a jolt of irritation down Michael’s spine.

“It didn’t look like it. Looked human, and it could have been any of Jesse’s Project Shepherd cronies.”

“Flint.” Michael states, and Kyle nods.

“Probably. We haven’t heard anything about him since Caulfield, but Alex was digging around in the hard drives we were able to steal. He told me a few days ago that he was trying to track Flint’s movements, see if he could find another blacksite.”

“Show me everything you have.” Michael uses his telekinesis to pull his jacket from across the room, gesturing to the door.

“I don’t need your help, Guerin.” Kyle argues. “I can find him myself, I just wanted Liz to know.”

“It’s Alex.” Michael replies, his voice like steel. “You’re getting my help whether you like it or not.”

“Wish you had been this concerned for Alex while you were busy breaking his heart and sleeping with his best friend.” Kyle throws back, and Liz slips between them before he can escalate the fight.

“That’s enough.” Liz warns. “We all care about Alex, and we are all going to work together to find him. Okay?”

“Yeah.” Michael deflates. “I’ll meet you outside, just give me a minute to call Isobel.” Liz nods, guiding Kyle out of the lab as the man shoots daggers in Michael’s direction.

Once they’re out of the room, a shaky breath escapes Michael as he leans against the wall, the chaos in his head even worse than usual as he thought of Alex missing - Alex gone - with no clue as to where he was or what was happening to him. It was Alex’s deployments all over again, only this time worse, because Michael could do something about it this time, but he had no idea where to start. Tears burned in his eyes as he struggled to control his breathing, and he could feel Isobel on the edges of his mind as his panic increased, probing and searching and Michael is sure that all she can get from him is Alexalexalexalexalexalexalex. He takes a few more deep breaths before hitting the call button on his cell, Isobel picking up almost immediately.

“Alex is missing. Meet us at the Crashdown.” He manages to get out.

“I’ll be there in ten.” Isobel replies. “Are you okay?”

“I have to be.” Is all Michael replies before hanging up. He can’t afford to break right now.

Alex is depending on him.

Lachesis pronounces “You will never have him again”

And he crumbles

Michael spends the next five days in the Project Shepherd bunker. The place makes him physically ill, but it’s the best place to be as they search for Alex. Kyle is there outside of any shift he can’t get out of. Liz alternates between the bunker and their lab - Michael loves Max, but he can’t spare any time while Max is relatively safe in the pod and Alex is gone. Maria and Rosa make sure everyone is properly taken care of and that Michael survives on more than energy drinks, acetone, and pure stubbornness. Maria doesn’t question Michael’s determination, but he can’t miss the faraway sad look in her eyes when she thinks he isn’t looking. He can’t worry about that now, though, because he has to bring Alex home. Everything else can wait.

Isobel is a steady presence, seeming to understand instinctively when to be there to support him and when to leave him to his work. It’s the most together she’s been since Max died, and Michael thinks that it has more to do with Isobel feeling needed when it comes to Michael than a desire to find Alex.

Michael loses all sense of time in the bunker, only marking the passing of the days by his visitors changing their clothes. Isobel arrives with coffee and bagels, and manages to pull Michael away from the computers and into a chair at the table long enough for him to give her a decent conversation.

“Have you made any progress?” She asks as she spreads her bagel with cream cheese, watching him closely to make sure he eats his own.

“No. Maybe. It’s hard to tell.” Michael admits, running his hand through his hair. “It feels like we’re always three steps behind them. I think I found the site they were holding him at initially, but the site went dark before we could even think about getting out there.”

“Why do you think they’re holding him? I mean, they haven’t made any demands or anything. What do they want?”

“To keep him quiet. He knows about everything, but he’s against his father and that makes him dangerous.”

“But, Michael, if they want to keep him quiet…” Isobel begins, but Michael gives a cold glare before she can finish.

“Don’t.” He replies, begs, his voice harsh and sharp.

“I know you want to bring him back, Michael, but maybe you can’t track him because there’s nothing to track.”

“That’s not true. He’s alive, Iz. I know it.”

“Michael…” Michael feels Isobel move her chair closer to his, can feel her on the edges of his mind.

“He has to be alive.” Michael hears the sob in his voice before he feels it escape. “I would feel it, I would know.”

He hasn’t cried, not once, since this whole thing began. He had refused, because - after Max, and now Alex - he’s afraid that if he starts he’ll never stop. Isobel pulls him into her arms and he cries into her neck, her familiar perfume the only thing he can sense with any clarity.

“I can’t, Iz.” Michael sobs, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably despite Isobel’s attempts to calm him. “I can’t, not now. After Max, I…”

“I know, Michael, I know.” Michael can register the wobbly, wet tone in Isobel’s voice, which just makes him cry harder against her.

He slowly calms in his sister’s arms, though she doesn’t let go of him until his breathing is even and steady once again.

“I have to find him.” He finally says, and Isobel nods.

“And we will. We just have to find Flint first, right?”

“But he’s always ahead of us, always gone…” Michael drifts off, his gaze returning to the computer monitors. “We need someone who knows Flint’s mind, who knows his orders…”

“Michael…” Isobel’s voice is wary. “You can’t…”

“Call Valenti, tell him to wake up Manes.”

Atropos taunts “He is lost to you forever”

And he falls

It takes Kyle a full day to get Jesse stable enough to sneak him out of the hospital and into the bunker. Alex has been gone for over a week, and Michael feels like he’s going to crawl out of his own skin as he waits. He knows that Jesse is their best chance at tracking Flint - at finding Alex - but the thought of bringing the person he hates most in the world out of the coma that’s kept them all safe makes him want to be sick. But, he reminds himself, they’re not all safe, not until Alex is home. Not until Michael can have him in front of him and know that he’s not suffering and dying for trying to protect Michael and his siblings from his own family.

They set Jesse up in one of the small interrogation rooms in the bunker, shackled to an uncomfortable metal chair by his hands and feet despite the fact that Jesse is too weak from months of being bedridden to be any kind of real threat. It’s just him and Valenti in the room with him, Isobel, Maria, Liz, and Rosa waiting in the main room of the bunker.

“Where would Flint take Alex?” Kyle asks evenly, staring hard at Jesse Manes.

“I have no idea.” Jesse replies, his voice lacking any kind of emotion as he stares at the man he shot not six months earlier.

“Wrong answer.” Michael informs him.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been in a coma. How would I know?”

“Because Flint is a good little soldier who always follows Daddy’s orders.” Kyle snaps back. “He wouldn’t do anything as stupid as kidnapping Alex without knowing it’s what you would want. We know he has him, now tell us the locations of the blacksites or how to contact Flint.”

“Why, exactly, would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll let Isobel in here and have her turn your brain into pudding.” Michael points out, and Jesse scoffs.

“You wouldn’t. You do that, and you’ll never find my degenerate son.”

“You help us get Alex back, and I’ll think about not putting you back under. How about that?” Kyle offers, and Michael can see every muscle in his body tense.

“If Flint has taken Alex, he is gone.” Jesse turns to look at Michael, disgust clear on his features. “He is lost, forever, and good riddance. You’ll never see him again.”

Kyle yells out at him to stop as Michael stands so quickly the chair he was sitting in flies across the room. The chains holding Jesse snap as Michael uses the full force of his powers to pull him away from the chair, pinning him against the wall, his healed hand wrapping itself around Jesse’s neck.

“Tell me where he is, and I won’t snap your neck here and now.” Michael growls, using both his hand and his power to tighten his grip.

“That’s it, prove me right.” Jesse wheezes, his eyes cold as he stares at Michael. “Prove that you’re the monster you’ve always been. Kill me. You and my son deserve each other.”

“You’re the monster, not me, and not Alex. Alex is good and kind and all we ever did was love each other. But you couldn’t stand that, could you? Couldn’t stand that he wasn’t just like you. That he was better. He’s better than all of us, he could never kill you. But I could.” 

“Michael!” Maria calls, and Michael pulls away from Jesse, turns to see that the girls have entered the room. He lets his telekinetic hold on Jesse go, the older man slumping to the floor. He turns back to Jesse, coughing as gasping as he stares up at Michael with pure hatred. He crouches down, gesturing over his shoulder at Isobel.

“You don’t want to tell us where Alex is? Maybe you’ll tell Isobel.”

Michael stands and moves to where Isobel is, watching him with wary eyes.

“Do whatever you have to do.” He instructs her before slipping out of the room.

They decree “This time you cannot save him”

And he defies them all

Michael leaves Isobel to deal with Jesse, his breathing heavy as he stumbles out of the room, out of the bunker, and into his truck. It’s the first time he’s left the bunker in days, and he’s not sure where he’s going until he’s driven out of town and is pulling up to Alex’s cabin. It looks just like it always has, Liz, Maria, and Rosa having come over and cleaned it up to give them something to do while they searched for Alex. He uses his power to unlock the front door, the house quiet and still, everything in its place. He wanders through slowly, taking in the small pieces of Alex that he finds. It’s tidy, orderly in a way that Michael has to assume comes from years of living with Jesse Manes and then serving in the military. When he enters the bedroom, however, his eyes go straight to the leather jacket resting on the back of a chair, the jacket he’d been wearing when Michael had finally pushed him away, looked away from him and at something easier, less painful.

He cares about Maria - loves her, even. She is everything that is bright and hopeful and new on this godforsaken planet. She makes him feel lighter. He ran his hand over the jacket, feeling the soft material on his fingers, pictures gripping it in his hands while Alex wore it. Pictures it lying across the counter in his trailer, thrown aside haphazardly as Michael surrounds himself in everything Alex the way he had always wanted to whenever he was near. If he hadn’t been so out of his mind that day, if he had fought one more time for them, maybe Alex would still be here. Maybe he could have protected him.

“I thought I’d find you here.” A familiar voice calls out, and Michael turns swiftly to find Maria leaning against the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, and Maria shrugs.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. I figured this was where you were headed.”

“Has Isobel…”

“No, not yet. Apparently, he’s fighting her pretty hard despite the fact that he just got out of the coma.”

“Okay.” Michael murmurs, turning his gaze back to the jacket.

“I don’t know how I ever missed it.”

“Missed what?” Michael asks, and he hears Maria sigh. When he looks at her again, tears are bright in her eyes.

“You love him.”

“You knew that.” Michael points out.

“Yeah, but I thought that it was over. But it isn’t, is it? It never has been. It’ll never really be over between you two.”

“Maria…” Michael begins, and Maria interrupts him with a raised hand.

“I’m not going to say it’s okay, because you used me, and Alex was my best friend. We both made a mistake. But, that’s not a conversation we need to have today You have to know, though, that it’s over between us.”

“I’m sorry.” Michael tries, collapsing onto Alex’s bed, his head in his hands. He feels the mattress sink next to him as Maria sits.

“I know.” She replies. “I’m worried about you though. What if this doesn’t work? What if you can’t save him?”

“I will, I have to.”

“Michael, what if he’s already gone?”

“Have you been talking to Isobel?” Michael snaps, his tone harsh.

“She has a point, Michael.”

“No, she doesn’t, because Alex isn’t dead. He’s not, you’re all wrong, and I’m going to save him. I’m going to fix this.”

So the shears break against his thread

And he vows, “Watch me do it anyway”

Alex has lost track of the days.

He knows that he’s been moved several times, presumably from one blacksite to another. But they stagger his meals, keep him in darkness, making it impossible for him to know where he is or how long he’s been there. It feels like it’s been months, though he knows that it hasn’t. They’ve taken his prosthetic, making it impossible to do little more than hobble from one end of his cell to the other. Flint shows up every now and then - usually when he’s about to be moved. He doesn’t say anything beyond ordering him around, and Alex stopped asking questions when he realized that he wouldn’t be getting any answers. The fact that he’s alive, however, has convinced him that they need him for something. He assumes that he’s meant to be bait for Michael and Isobel, a way to get the aliens they’re hunting to expose themselves. Alex prays to a god he doesn’t believe in that Michael doesn’t take the bait, but he knows Michael well enough to know that will never happen. Michael will come for him. Alex knows that in his bones. It’s what keeps him going, because Michael has always been what keeps him going. Despite the pain, and the bullshit, and the military, and Maria, Alex’s faith in Michael is something that never wavers.

He sleeps in fits and spurts, uncomfortable on the metal bed and thin mattress he’s been provided. They never question him, never torture him, and the endless silence has him crawling the walls. He can fight an enemy, an interrogator, but he can’t fight loneliness. He’s been trained to withstand all sorts of interrogation techniques, forms of torture, but this is difficult, the waiting. Perhaps that’s the point, he thinks. Their ultimate goal will be to drive Alex crazy in solitary. Then, Flint doesn’t get his hands dirty with his own brother’s blood. He doesn’t see his father, which gives him some measure of comfort. It means he’s most likely still in the coma that Kyle put him in, locked away in his own body and unable to hurt any of them. But Flint is still obviously following his orders, including holding the son he hates prisoner.

He’s pulled from his thoughts by a distant crash, the sound of bullets. He pulls himself up and leans against the wall, his ears straining for any other sounds. It gets closer, then there’s silence until the door to his cell begins to shake. The wall groans until the door flies off the hinges, revealing Michael, his hand in mid-air. Alex feels a shaky breath escape him with a short laugh.

“About time you got here.”

“Alex.” Michael’s voice is rough and heavy with emotion as he rushes in. He pulls Alex into his arms, his face in Alex’s neck as Alex’s arms go around him instinctively, gripping his waist tightly.

“I’m here.” Alex soothes, rubbing his hands up Michael’s back. “I’m okay.” He feels Michael drag his face up his neck, then his jaw before burying his nose in Alex’s hair.

“I love you.” He whispers harshly, and Alex grips Michael tighter.

“I know.” He replies as he pulls Michael against him.

“As heartwarming as this is, we really need to get out of here.” Isobel’s voice calls from the doorway.

“They have my prosthetic.”

“On it!” Liz replies, slipping past Isobel with his prosthetic above her head like a trophy.

“I’ve got it.” Michael responds, taking his leg as Liz helps him onto the bed. He attaches it with a familiarity that makes Alex’s heart stutter in his chest. It feels strange to be wearing it again after days without it, but he and Michael follow Isobel and Liz out of the cell and through the winding hallways of whatever underground facility they’re in. Kyle and Rosa are waiting in what looks to be the main entrance, both guarding an unconscious Flint.

“What do we do with him?” Rosa asks, and Michael looks to him.

“Leave him.” Alex decides.

“He kidnapped you!” Michael argues. 

“And he’ll pay for that, but not today.”

“Let’s get out of here before more of their friends show up.” Kyle orders, and soon enough Alex is seeing daylight for the first time in however long. Maria is waiting behind the wheel of his Humvee, looking almost unrecognizable in her stolen Air Force uniform.

“How…?” Alex asks as they move to the vehicle.

“Isobel may have visited your father, forced him to admit some truths.” Michael replies, helping Alex into the backseat before Maria peels away from the blacksite. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

“I knew you’d come for me.” Alex leans into Michael, exhaustion overtaking him.

“Always.” is the last thing he hears from Michael before he passes out.

For the fates could never touch a love like theirs

[thethirdwheel404]

Med Rewatch Series (#1)

Right, monkey brain said no sleep no rest, only suffering at the hands of med.

I am going to start with the first episode of S2: Soul Care. Reasoning? I need to check if Latham references Ava in his first interaction with Connor.

If my memory serves me right, when Connor is passed over to Latham for his fellowship, Latham says that he was not his first choice. In fact, his first choice was a brilliant surgeon from South Africa. In the first episode of S2, a season where Ava Bekker is only introduced with one line at the end of the last episode.

If I remember correctly and Latham does actually say that in the first ep of s2, it will be huge for the continuity (and my theory that I came up with today, if you’re interested in following this you should really read that really long post that came a little before this where the basis of the theory is laid out). 

Also in rewatching this I see more of Sarah which, again, I have not seen in two years, and she was the reason I became invested in the show, and the reason I stopped watching after she left.

And all of this even before I start the episode.

There are so many emotions and thoughts running through my brain it literally hurts. I think i’m getting a headache. I’m already really regretting this, this cannot be healthy for me.

(btw, this will basically be a train of thought type thing, I’ll do my best to keep it coherent)

- omg its starting

- i completely forgot how s1 ended but its not importnat in anyway

- just, why are they in a helicopter

- how fast does the episode move ive forgotten and i need to know

-JESUS CHRIST SO DRAMATIC

- THE BEGINNING WITH WILL WHY

- it is at this point where I apologize to all those who made it this far bc we’re literally not even 30 seconds in yet

- i just have a lot of med thoughts

- oh god save me

- i am laughing hysterically

- JESUS CHRIST THE APRIL TB STORYLINE AND TATE WTF

- god that feels like a lifetime ago it was relevant holyshit

-remember when she was pregnant?

- literally what have I missed

- side note, i really like the cup april drinks out of.

-THERE SHE IS

-SARAH

-SHE’S HERE

-and she’s a barista

-literally wtf is this show

-and the dramatic music is still going literally chill man god

-THE WAY SARAH SMILES HOLY SHITTTT come on man there was literally no way i’d survive this but fuck not even a minute in...

- okay but i never understood charles’ family scenario but this is already too fucking long for a minute in so i hope we can just skip past that

-hahahah sharon’s fucking divorce? holy shit, this is too dramatic for the first ep literally save me (at least she acts well)

-yeah the one thing I will say about med (thats a lie ive already said a hundred but yk) is that for the crap storylines and all, the actors take what they’re given and give it their all and i appreciate it so much

-the helicopter’s number is N365UCC and just... succ

-ethans bird (!)

-also the fact that’s so big for ethan to be chief resident is so weird to me. like the last medical drama I watched was greys and they are all like grizzled veterans and have been doing that stuff for actual decades and i tend to put med and greys on like the same level bc they are the only medical dramas ive watched but.. holy crap the people on med are so young?? half their main cast is med students and residents. when nearly every main character on greys is a department head. its wild.

-proud of ethan. proud of my boy (did you know that adam jacobs who played aladdin on broadway was in a s3 episode? fun facts) (fun fact: did you know that ava is the only main character on the show who’s status is now deceased? I’ll shut up now.)

-oh my god i say roland buck III’s name and GOD noah jesus

- i find noah incredibly annoying, especially bc he tries to overshadow reese (my fav) but also just bc hes spoiled [that thing that said that one of the biggest mistakes med made was not having sarah get the emergency med residency at the end of s1 comes to mine, and the fact that noah got his residency easy peasy] - but, i will say that the moment at the end of this season where noah and reese dance together at the party is very adorable. (pre reesker brain showing lmao I really did love sarah with my whole heart) (moreover my snapchat memories were filled with just recordings of reese scenes lmaooooo)

-okay at this point I need to stop once i get to the potential ava thing bc what is happening we’re not even two minutes in why is this so long. (so many thoughts)

- i find will annoying but,,, he is kind of nice to look at. and what i mean is like facial acting (i am a lesbian). like. just. don’t speak. and when he’s being a good character he’s fine. it’s very few and very far between ig

-natalie annoys me so much and shes only had one line, and it wasn’t even a character line, it was mainly exposition.

-EW

-FUCKING EW

-ITS CONNOR HE’S HERE. god i forgot what he looked like in red scrubs and his poofy hair. child compared to s3 and s4. hopefully we see latham soon so we all don’t have to suffer through this. and he looks so angsty. he definetly glowed up in the later seasons.

- i have no clue how to spell definetly. I am guessing literally everytime.

-latham please come and end this all.

-oh haha there’s downey hes dead.

-okay so i actually watched s1 after i watched s2 which is so weird to think about. like that means that i liked s2 so much that i BOUGHT THE DVD FOR S1. yeah. I liked it that much (it really only means I was that much of a simp for sarah). but it also means that technically i watched s1 after i met ava?? like i honestly had NO CLUE what was in my future. did young me ever think she was going to stay up late at night, avoiding history hw while analyzing a defunct character from this show on a whim? a character i was super annoyed with at the beginning? who has no become a huge part of my personality? honestly? no. no she did not.

-and the story with downey was so jarring. and the story with zanetti. like i think i first started watching with the first ep of s2 (the one im talking about rn) and i was a bit lost. so going back and watch s1 to like connect the dots. but i never expected the dots to look like that. its like each season of this show is a completely different show from all the other seasons. like i’ve said before, this show is a headache. but literally latham please come and end this for now.

-GOD CONNOR LOOKS SO YOUNG WHAT THE HELL thats so weird lmaooooo

- like i had absolutely no clue who downey was going into this. and they they started talking like ‘oh yeah he killed his attending’ and i was just like ‘damn bro ill cheers to that’

- that’s literally ava’s first line actually. “i heard your girlfriend went insane and you murdered your attending.” - which was why she was hated at first. that was literally her first line to connor which is like, so hilariously rude that it was instantly iconic.

-also HAHAHAHAH CUE FUCKING ANGST ABOUT CONNOR HURTING EVERYONE AROUND HIM WTF BRO THE EFFECT YOU HAVE ON PEOPLE

- but i’m also sad now. --- “I heard your girlfriend went insane.” Oh. Oh, sweetie. Ava... No. --- but why does s2 ava (all two lines) foreshadow s4 ava in so many ways. like literally what were the writers on.

-baghdad.

-ah yes. the return of baghdad. been a long time since i heard that one, but it is easily one of my favorite running things about med. its just a little detail but the nick name is like perfect. (when i read fanfic where the chars are actually doing doctor stuff in the hospital it makes me light up) the WORLD BUILDINGGGGG. but whatever

-this is the girl who has the fake baby right? that was a really good ep (bc sarah content. can you see my favorites? for the same reason the one where the girl has split personalities easily ranks high with me.) oh wait this is the one where the dad like dies but then comes back for a split second to see his grand child. there’s not really a lot I can say about that, but the fact that i remember it vividly is... weird.

-okay but I actually love the ED in this show. I love how the show is centered around the ED and not the OR like greys. its fast paced, you see a lot about the characters really quickly (one of the reason’s connor’s intro to the hospital in the pilot is certified iconic in my mind [his interactions with will are gold]). the team works well together (usually, when things are good. - which is another reason I hated the show more as time went on. The personal lives interfered more and more and more with their work as time went on. it got so annoying). but like right here will just calls maggies name and maggie is just On It. I love it. I love the fast pace. it’s why this show got me to come back. so many things happen, it overloads my brain, like the way a video game works y occupying all of your attention.

-when is the dad gonna pass out i’m just waiting

-AHAHAHAHAHA JEFF NOOOOO. what even was the deal with jeff that storyline annoyed me so much I never got it. he was friends with nat’s husband (who died) and they were both named Jeff? and she actually ended up getting with Jeff a few times?

- the more you watch med and see how the characters get with each other, the more jaded you become

-omg they’re transferring the girl to the bed i love it when they count

-maggie was great but from what i heard/read they ruined her character too??? just not the same

-lmao only real g’s remember the chicago fire backdoor med pilot (if you want an explanation ask me lmao it was a ride)

- i was a real med simp bc I bought that episode on apple video.

-ahahaha this is so stupid. Jeff tries to do things and Will (being a fucking asshole and jealous, doesnt’ let him). he’s a med student let him fucking learn. also i remember why i hated will

-okay but if you look at greys vs. med, greys literally gives their med students no rights. scratch that. they give they’re interns little to no rights. (i only watched the last three seasons bc lesbian, but in those seasons they introduce the bottom of the totem pole, the sub I’s, who are a step ahead of med students, yet they are jokes on the show.) its just a weird juxtaposition is all.

-”lungs are wet.” dramatic music intensifies.

-OKAY BUT I LITERALLY FORGOT NATALIE SPECIALIZED IN PEDS. LIKE I COMPLETELY 100% FORGOT. HOLY SHIT THATS SO FUNNY i can’t believe in my mass hyperfixation i forgot, just more proof that she doesn’t deserve anything.

-why did will make nat do that call? also idk why but is it weird to anyone else when the characters call each other but just.. their names.

-ahahahah i laugh literally everytime i remember that will is supposed to be in charge like he is threatened by anything that MOVES. (also more juxtapositon to greys bc here the attendings are treated as a joke!)

- hly shit i just remember monday mourning and god damn the angst literally never takes a day off but whatever.

- i dont usually get like this but the dad’s acting here is actually making me sad lol. Usually i get annoyed when family members get emotional (im weird uhhhh)

-why did we have to watch the tube being put in for so long - med is so dramatic this fucking show whyyyy

- i bet u the dad is gonna pass out

-oh ig not oops

-OKAY FUCK ME THAT LITERALLY ONLY TOOK US TO THE TITLES HOW DO I HAVE THESE MANY FUCKING THOUGHTS.

-wait latham introduction we may just be able to call it here.

-haha i fucking hate him (connor). he just... comes off so fake-charming its annoying. i cant get over it lmao

-okay but literally every gives connor shit and I am here for it. Latham: “did you kill him?”

- it is literally so funny but annoy how connor throws hands with literally everyone in his path (like dude just chill come onnn)

-okay. okay. okay. finally the part i was waiting for.

- Latham: I preferred a young woman from Groote Schuur, but I was outvoted.

That’s an actual quote, from Latham. For those who are wondering, Groote Schuur is a famous hospital in, you guessed it, South Africa. This is where I’m calling the episode. This is all I needed.

I just want to restate. This is the first episode of season 2. Ava Bekker is introduced to the show in the last episode of season 2. What does this mean, my friends? It means everything.

For those of you who stuck through to the end, I am very thankful. Here we have probably the first piece of evidence to my theory, at least chronologically.

I, personally, think it’s absurd I remembered this point, but I did. That point, that line, presently, watching this episode with no idea of what the future holds, is only there to tell us that Latham and Connor are not going to agree. But this is the single greatest piece of foreshadowing med has ever done.

Med has never planned anything. I feel confident when I say that. Look at their storylines. They are literally on fire, and every decision the characters make reads like the writers going ‘we have no idea how we made it this far, we thought we would get stopped like ten steps ago.’

When has med ever planned things more than a few episodes in advanced, honestly? Almost never, and going a full season sitting on a plot point, that’s major. This was the first time med has ever planned something miles in advance.

In all honestly, yes I am probably giving the med writers a lot more credit than they deserve. It’s quite possible that as the season progressed they just decided connor needed a new love interest or at least a new dynamic, so they could have just easily looked back and thought ‘oh, hey, here’s a fun little thing we said earlier in the season, wouldn’t it be fun if it paid off?’ That could be true.

Here’s why it probably isn’t. The med writers have no respect for their own continuity. you really think that, in order to come up with a whole new character, they went back to the first episode of the season and paid off a line that is said in less than 2 seconds? no way. Bull. Shit.

honestly, it is probably equally unlikely that either of these things happened. The med writers don’t look back at their story. It’s true, but they also don’t plan things in advance either.

here’s the thing, the more i write, the more absurd it starts to sound. Yeah. Sure. the med writers sat on a character for an entire season, that’s totally a thing that happened and not sarcasm. When pigs fly. everyone knows med is impulsive and messy. But what I am saying is that they planned one thing. One thing.

Ava has an accent. That was a commitment. A pretty uncommon one too. South Africa is such an out of the box choice that god its barely on the map. It asks a lot of someone to act hard while also doing an uncommon accent. If the med writers just decided they needed to give connor a new dynamic, they could have made it a n y o n e. Yeah, sure it would have been nice to have the latham dynamic with the new character, but it would have been so much easier to just create a new character that doesn’t have such a commitment. We all know people who play opposite of Connor Rhodes do not stay around that long.

There is absolutely no reason Connor’s s3 love interest had to be the girl from South Africa. It could have literally been anyone. They could have kept Robin on. They could have made the new character not have so many specific requirements.

At this point, I’m pushing this really hard. Yeah, obviously Ava was planned from the beginning of s2. She had to be. It’s way too specific to be anything else.

What I’m pointing out here is med has never done that before. (at least to my knowledge, if i’m wrong please tell me i don’t want to be a fool) They have never had such a concrete plan for a character, so much as to tease them a full season before they were introduced.

I’m saying, that Ava was special. She was the only character who was teased ahead of her arrival. The one who they knew they wanted, other than the originals, and honestly saying the ‘knew what they wanted to do with the originals’ is being generous. But Ava was different. They had big plans for Ava.

It’s undeniable. Ava was the only character who was planned and teased ahead of her arrival. Ava has such a different style and character than anyone else on the show. She was always planned to be, even when she was just being teased, a rival to connor, meaning she could stand her own against him (or without him).

Now of course, the med writers forgot this when writing s4 and s5. But for the purposes of the important things, all that really matters are the two mentions in s2, and what happens in s3. (for the theory at least).

In conclusion: think about how odd it is that Ava was the only character that was planned over the course of the show. Like sure the characters are planned, but never this far in advance. Med writers don’t really plan anything. I would be shocked if they did anything but through a dart at a spinning wheel. But they had plans for Ava, and they had plans for s3, when she was good.

Think about how odd it is that the med writers had a character planned from the start of s2, that they sat on for a whole season. They never, ever did something so slow and deliberate. Never. It goes against their formula. Like a fucking shark, they have to be moving or they die, at least in their heads. But Ava was always a change to the formula. They had a plan for s3.

that’s it for now. we will see what happens when i watch the last episode of s2.

read the next parts:

Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Extra

[breashub]

A way overdue life update

Okay, obviously I haven’t been writing much if at all lately. I’m a full time film student at the moment and I’ve spent the first 3 months of 2019 drowning in production design mockups and pre-production on 2 films + my weekends have been crewing on other films & location scouting (or just literally trying to storyboard and production design and not drown). I’ve barely had time to even write anything outside of Tumblr I have about 6 pilot ideas I want to write for my portfolio but I just do not have the time or energy by the time I get home. On top of all of this, Tumblr makes my anxiety worse so I’ve been trying to stay away for my mental health.

Because of this, I’ve decided that moving forward I’m putting all my blogs on an indefinite hiatus except for @burnedkingdom my ASOIAF multimuse, which I’ve recently revived on a low-activity hopefully low-stress basis, if you’re seeing this message & still wanna write hmu over there or on discord ( brea#5926 ). I’m notoriously terrible at overcommitting myself but I do miss the rpc and don’t want to totally remove myself from it. For a while I was considering deleting all my blogs but honestly I’ve worked too hard on them and I don’t want to do that.

I’m going to be reblogging this same note across all my blogs, but I just wanted to throw out some specific notes for a few of my accs:

For my mutuals over @stellarstolen: I love Maia a whole tone, but for some reason she’s the muse that gives me the worse anxiety and being on her dash for five minutes brings my mood way down. The last 2 years I’ve come back for the new season, however I have no intention of doing that this year. Maybe I’ll be back in the future (I love you all too much to stay away forever), but I really just have too much on my plate to deal with Maia right now. Thank you guys for being amazing (special shout out to Lenee & Yuffie <3333 ) it’s been a wild ride.

@ all my WW babies on @codeminded: WOW OK some of y’all *coughtrip&haleycough* have been around since Emily was Beth and then watched me fight becoming canon complaint (and eventually fail at that too lmaooo). I love you guys and our gc, I’ll probably be back with s3 rolls around but right now I’m still too disillusioned w/ s2 but ily.

The mutlifandom crossover mess that is @arzodae: I honestly love every character on this blog & how no one knows what books they’re from but it’s FINE I’m fine. I don’t doubt that I’ll be back on this blog at some point, ya girl spent too much time on her crossover verse bios to not revive it. For my SOA/Mayans bbys, I’ll be back for Mayans s2 I already know it, my Hanna muse is always hanging around and Liana rly never got a chance before I peaced out. @ my marvel bbys: I literally love my marvel verses so much I know I’m gonna end up showing back up for those too. ALSO @ my ASOIAF babes: if you like Cyra’s ASOIAF verse: I’ve moved it over to @burnedkingdom & changed her into Jalani (but it’s literally the same backstory as Cyra’s verse just expanded).

Lastly @silvcrbow & @incruentum: I never rly got going on these two as much as I would have wanted but I also loveeee all the people I met on them. Even if we never got to write together as much as I would have wanted I love u all.