#Westallen At the Movies

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

here's a funny little thing i made bc at the end of the day, i'm just a girl who is attracted to many ppl and i am not ashamed of that

(planning on making two more, one with non-canon ships and one with animated couples)

[talkingtea]

Did you see the article about Grant and Candice's influence on the justice league crisis on infinite earths pt 1 animated movie? The producers said they purposely were inspired to write westallen like the TV show's westallen. They love their love story. I hope Eric and Guggie are somewhere crying because their faves, The Seal and Olicity, had no influence outside of the Arrowverse whatsoever.

☕️☕️☕️

[backtothestart02]

FANFIC TAGGING GAME

I got (honorable) tagged by the wonderful @theartofdreaming1- thanks!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? - 321

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,322,068 words (at the moment)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Still writing for The Flash, but every once in a while a new show/movie grabs my fancy and I write a few fics for that.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

An unimpressive bunch but here goes: Muse (456), Replacement Scrunchie (393), Fallen Star (357), Inconvenient Inspiration (343), and Drabbles (277). Muse is a handful of one-shots based solely off spoilers before I saw the eps they were for. Replacement Scrunchie is my sole fic for the TATBILB fandom about Peter & LJ's first date (which was way less impressive than what the sequel movie gave us, WOW). Fallen Star is my most popular westallen fic to date, so that one's actually not too surprising. But both Inconvenient Inspiration and Drabbles are requested (the latter) and spontaneous (the former) brainstorming ficlets and snippets for The Flash/WA. Bo-ring.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Eventually.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh, gosh, I have so many unfinished fics that it's hard to remember the complete ones that I finished that didn't end so happy, of which there aren't many. Maybe...Breaking Point though.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All the others have happy endings. Go read them. Lol.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

When I wrote for another fandom I did, but not really in The Flash fandom, which is nice.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yep. And uh...descriptive, I guess? I'm def not the best out there, but I do my best and for the most part smut-lovers seem to enjoy.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've attempted a couple crossovers, but I haven't completed any or gotten far with them, usually because there wasn't an audience for it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeah, I discovered a whole bunch on another website years ago.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

In the process of it!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Stuck on Westallen atm, but I used to write Chair, and I was highly obsessed with them as well.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Oh god, I have SO MANY WIPs. One that I really want to finish but fear I won't though has got to be He's MY Barry Allen. I'm just stuck on what the next chapter will look like, and as of yet no one has come forward with a solution. Lol. The Problem is Tony Woodward is another one like that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd like to think I can hook people into my fics fairly well and drop enough cliffies to keep them coming back for more. But ofc the smut helps too. Most of my fics include at least some smut, even a single scene.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Sometimes I have trouble making a chapter (or a scene for that matter) all that long. I've seen people write like 10k+ for a chap, and unless I'm crazy inspired, roughly 1-3k is what you're getting.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I actually dabbled in this a little bit for a westallen fic where Iris was learning Italian, I think? I did some research and managed to sift in enough for that one-shot, but I can't imagine I'd do it repeatedly or for a multi-chap.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I believe it was the STAR WARS prequels, but it might've been The Day After Tomorrow.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

It's unfinished, but there's so much untapped potential in my Flashpoint fic. Lots of world-building that's present as it rides the line between canon divergent and AU. Hopefully one day I'll get back to it.

...

As much as I'd love to tag a bunch of people, I can't recall anyone who still writes fic that I follow on here, so I'll just shout out my bestie @simplylove101 who is prob done with writing but may want to answer these questions either way!

[literaryspinster]

Nearly every single one of my ships have that one moment where I’m like “yeah, I’m done for, these bitches have got me for life”

for Firstprince in the RWRB movie it was “shut up, stop talking”

for Dickkory it was when Dick took the glass out of Kory’s hand.

for Saidan it was the first time Aidan tried to touch Sally and his fingers slipped through.

For Emisue it was Sue telling Emily why she would make a terrible husband.

For Westallen it was when Barry hugged Iris right before he told her he loved her for the first time.

For Finnpoe it was Poe saying he would call him Finn instead of FN-2187.

For Janine and Gregory it was Janine grabbing his lanyard right before kissing him.

for Mel and Jayce it was him gently kissing her wrist while he laid in her lap.

For Caitvi it was the two of them laying down exhaustedly on Caitlyn’s bed together.

For Taivan it was Van writing “boob” on Tai’s back.

[mychildhood101]

I’m gonna be so pissed if they pull an Olicity/Westallen style double wedding in the Zoey 102 movie

[planet-marz1]

get to know me tag

ty for the tags @amanitacowboy , @reddedmiller & @pamasaur 💗

top three ships: westallen(the flash), slexie(grey's anatomy) & deckerstar(lucifer)

fave color: purple

last song: fine line by harry styles

last book: just started reading Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher

last movie: the bubble

currently watching: rewatching narcos <3

current obsession: tlou ofc, but especially pixel joel

currently working on: getting my first wip ready to be posted

country you want to visit: greece!

np tags: @lovers-liability @hyzer34 @beskarandblasters @nostalxgic @littlegrungegirlaf @catchallfangirl @kajashe @joelscurls @wethairjoel

[shaloved30]

Please ask before using my gifs and please no reposting.

6 Things Meme

AU’s (gifsets)

Annalise Appreciation Week

Any Day Now

Animation

Archer

Bob’s Burgers

Banana

Black Lightning

Celebrities

Chasing Life

Chasing Life Week 2014

Chasing Life Week 2015

Claws

Dynasty (CW)

Femslash Things

Femslash February Celebrates Black Women 2017

Glee

Grace and Frankie

Grandfathered (Cancelled)

Greenleaf

Characters

Grey’s Anatomy

Happy Valley

Harlots

Harlots Week

House of Cards

How To Get Away With Murder

Insecure

iZombie

Last Tango in Halifax

Little Mcelliot Things

Lethal Weapon Fox

Legends of Tomorrow (No longer watching or editing)

Mona Vanderwaal

Movies

Mistresses US (Cancelled)

Orphan Black

Outsiders WGN (Cancelled)

People

People of Earth

Pitch (Cancelled)

Pitch+ ( My Favorite Dynamics/Relationships)

Quantico (No longer watching or editing)

Queen Sugar (All, including QSDaily post reblogs)

Cast Gifs

Nova Updos

Nova Loose Locs

Charley Updos

Charley Blowouts

Queen Sugar Week 2017

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Rosewood Meme

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SMILF

Still Star-Crossed

Supergirl (No longer watching or editing)

Superstition (Syfy)

The Bold Type

The Chi (2018)

Timeless

The Family (Cancelled)

The Flash (All)

The Flash Cast

Westallen Appreciation Week 2014

Westallen Appreciation Week 2015

Cisco Ramon Ship Week 2014

The Fosters (No longer watching or editing)

Various Works of Nina Sosanya

Webseries

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Firsts

Other Edits

My Picspams

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My AU’s

[ofthebrownajah]

get to know me(me)

tagged by @amemoryofwot and tag 9 people to get to know better

three ships: RandMin (Wheel of Time), Fitzloved (Realm of the Elderlings), WestAllen (The Flash)

first ever ship: I don't know actually? I'd really have to think back

last song: Not a single song, but the Wheel of Time soundtrack

last movie: Across the Spiderverse 🕷️

currently reading: The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin

Currently consuming: not eating or drinking anything but I am currently binge watching The Clone Wars animated series and am emotionally compromised

currently craving: more sleep (but I know I won't get it cause I never go to bed at a decent time)

Tagging: @lordgolden @wheelwheelwheel @spectrum-color @molasses-iv @wheel-of-fine @hawksnat @birgittesilverbae @markantonys @bi-aviendha

[wilygryphon]

For the ask game: 13 and 14. Plus 17 for Kairi.

13. What's a character or ship you haven't written/drawn yet but would like to some day?

There's a bunch for stories that I am writing and stories that I plan on writing that I just haven't gotten to. In Heart of Steel, I plan to bring in Superman, the Arrow cast, the Flash cast, and other DC heroes, plus various associated ships (Lauriver, WestAllen, Throy, Nyssara, etc.). In Kingdom Hearts - Destiny Vault, I've yet to bring Xion, Terra, and Ventus in, with associated ships Rokushi, Terraqua, and Ventus x Alice (Wonderland). And then there's everything I have planned for the Gryphonverse- Ben 10, Lilo & Stitch, Miraculous Ladybug... not sure how much of what I laid out I will actually write. With those associated ships (Ben x Lilo, Adrigaminette, Chlobrina)

14. Is there a character or ship you were so sure you would never write/draw but now you've changed your mind?

I used to be against Soriku, but nowadays I am more neutral to it by itself and I've become fond of SoRiKai

17. What's a book, movie, or show you think Kairi would like?

I think she would like The Wizard of Oz, Supergirl, a lot of Disney films, Avatar The Last Airbender + Legend of Korra, Miraculous Ladybug (for the most part, at least), Septimus Heap, Nimona, Marvel movies, the lighter/more balanced tone DC fare

[icedteaandoldlace]

A couple years ago, my family and friends had a PowerPoint party where everyone put together a presentation and delivered it before the rest of the group. Mine was on Snowbarry and the fandom drama wrapped up in it, and though I initially wasn’t going to let it see the light of day on the Internet, because I didn’t want a bunch of angry shippers in my DMs, I’ve decided to go ahead and post it (‘cause tbh the worst luck I’ve had in this fandom has been with fellow Westallen shippers).

Quick disclaimer: I love all of these characters and their canon dynamics with each other, so I’m not bashing any of them here. I’m also not saying that anyone is wrong for liking the idea of Barry and Caitlin as a couple, or that shipping them inherently makes someone a bad person. But I am speaking critically about both the ship itself and a good chunk of its fandom (see: reading them for filth), and some of my points will be fact-based and some will be opinion-based. I myself do not ship Snowbarry, and that fact is made very obvious in this post, so bear that in mind if you wish to continue reading.

Also, the images are not sized to Tumblr’s dimensions, so I recommend clicking/tapping to see them more clearly.

As an additional side note, I made this presentation before the major Killer Frost retcon, so Frost is referenced as a part of Caitlin and not as a full-fledged individual separate from her. I’m also disregarding the last two seasons entirely because 8 was trash and I didn’t even bother with 9.

Now on to the presentation.

Just what is Snowbarry, you may ask? Snowbarry is the ship name for Caitlin Snow and Barry Allen, two characters from The Flash, usually shipped in opposition to Westallen (Barry Allen and Iris West), which is the main couple in Flash canon.

If you are not familiar with the characters on this show, take a moment to look at the chart above. Pretty self-explanatory. Got everyone’s names and relationship to each other? Good.

Moving on.

So right off the bat, let’s get into how this ship got its start. Barry Allen is, of course, a comic book character first, and it was already canon in the comics that the love of his life was Iris West, so naturally it followed that she would be the person he’d end up with in the TV adaptation. One noticeable difference between the Iris from the comics and the Iris from the TV show is that Iris in the comics was drawn as a white woman, and Iris in the TV show is played by Candice Patton, a black woman. This caused a big stir among Flash fans before the show even aired, because the TV version of Iris “isn’t comic accurate”.

Neither is Barry, a hunky blond man, now being portrayed by brown-haired beanpole, Grant Gustin, but that detail didn’t get nearly as much or nearly as dramatic of backlash. Most fans are very pleased with Grant’s portrayal of Barry, and some even think he should play him in the DC movie universe. But Candice’s casting was received with an inordinate amount of vitriol, with many fans going so far as to bombard Candice with death threats and other forms of harassment, and people began calling for Caitlin to be Barry’s main love interest since before the first episode even aired.

It’s worth mentioning that Caitlin wasn’t even a Flash character before the TV series; she’s a character from the Firestorm comics who was brought in for this adaptation specifically, so there was no basis to say that she would be a better fit for Barry when there was no preexisting relationship between them in the comics universe. (Comic accurate whom?)

So basically, Snowbarry as a romantic ship was born out of racism, if you didn’t pick up on that already. They became a popular ship, even among people who had liked Iris in the comics, and had their own ship name before anyone had even seen them share screen time. All because they didn’t want to see Barry in love with a black woman.

Now that you know how the ship originated, let’s take a look at some fan arguments for how it maintained its popularity after the show started airing. While there are some Snowbarry shippers out there who will state outright that they don’t like Iris because she’s black, most of them have the sense to not want to be thought of as racist, and have defenses for why they prefer Snowbarry to Westallen.

I have encountered a handful of Snowbarry shippers whose claims are genuine, and who even like Iris/Westallen, or even ship all three of them as a polycule. The majority of Snowbarry fans, though, dislike (if not outright hate) Iris, and claim that their reason for preferring Snowbarry is simply that it’s a better relationship, and/or that Caitlin is simply a better character.

A common argument in defense of this preference is that Barry has more chemistry with Caitlin than he has with Iris. I’ve often heard it said that chemistry is subjective, but it’s hard to believe that Barry and Caitlin have such great chemistry--or even that the people who say they do feel it with conviction--when the Snowbarry fandom relies so heavily on photoshop.

If Barry and Caitlin had such outstanding chemistry, it would show in their scenes together, and it would be easier to find un-manipulated images of them looking like a couple.

Furthermore, if Barry and Iris had such poor (or nonexistent) chemistry, slapping Caitlin’s image over Iris’s wouldn’t make it look like Barry was in love with her. If Barry and Iris were so lacking in chemistry, their scenes together would not be a desirable template to make Snowbarry manips out of.

As a bonus, here’s some shots of Caitlin with her main canon love interest, Ronnie. Ronnie is absent for the majority of season 1, and dead for the entire rest of the series, but he is hands-down the person Caitlin has the biggest case of heart-eyes for, as well as the person she has the most passionate kisses with.

On to the next pro-Snowbarry/anti-Westallen argument, which is that Barry and Iris’s relationship is incestuous. Because as is the age-old fandom philosophy, if you don’t have a good reason to take the moral high ground, make one up.

Do Barry and Iris share DNA? No. This alone makes their relationship non-incestuous, but even when you get into the particulars, their getting together is still...not weird or bad at all.

Did Barry and Iris grow up in the same house? Yes. Starting at age eleven. At which point they already knew each other as friends, and Barry had already developed a crush on her, and then had to deal with moving in with the girl he liked. Because he had no choice.

Are Barry and Iris legally siblings? Technically unconfirmed, but most likely no. Iris does refer to them as “kind of like brother and sister” in the pilot episode, but in the same sentence, she also says the words, “we’re not brother and sister”. And Joe has been referred to as Barry’s guardian, adoptive father, and (unless I’m mistaken) foster father, and Barry has also affectionately referred to him as simply his father, and called him “dad” once. Exactly what the legal terms of Joe’s custody of Barry in his childhood were is unclear, but it’s safe to say Barry isn’t his son in the full legal sense of the word, considering he still goes by his biological father’s name and he didn’t run into any legal issues in marrying Iris.

Regardless, it’s Barry’s relationship with Iris that should determine whether or not his getting with her romantically is weird, not his relationship with Joe. If seeing Joe as a father figure makes getting with his child incest, then you could argue that any combination of Team Flash getting together would be incest because Joe is practically everyone’s dad at this point.

There are scenarios in which a romantic relationship between two characters in a situation like Barry and Iris’s would be weird and uncomfy, and come off as practically incest even though it wouldn’t be in a literal sense. Adoptive siblings do count as ~real~ siblings, and a romantic relationship between two unrelated individuals who grew up under the same roof can absolutely have some of the same negative ramifications that such a relationship between blood siblings could have. But Barry and Iris simply do not have the kind of sibling-like relationship dynamic that would cause those kinds of issues, so that plus the fact that there’s no biological relation between them makes the incest argument, frankly, stupid.

Sure, everyone has their own comfort level on matters like this; the most believable/relatable sibling relationship on this show is between two characters with no biological or legal ties to each other, and who met in their twenties (more on them later), and it makes me viscerally uncomfortable to see people ship them as a couple because they’re too much like brother and sister. But I consider myself an expert on siblings--I have six of them myself--and that’s not what Barry and Iris are.

Perhaps the most common claim among Westallen antis is that Iris is a bad person, or at least a bad girlfriend, or maybe even straight up abusive. These claims are...incorrect, and once again we delve into outright making stuff up, when simply blowing small matters out of proportion doesn’t do the trick. No one is perfect, and Iris is no exception. That doesn’t make her a terrible person.

As a person, Iris is brave, caring, ambitious, stubborn, loyal, charismatic, honest, assertive, forgiving, jealous, selfless, and protective, among other things. As Barry’s partner, she is very gentle and supportive, and she is often the only person who can get through to him when he’s either being too hard on himself, or being too single-minded and needs someone to talk some sense into him. They don’t fight often, but when they do, their issues are usually resolved fairly quickly with open and civil communication. Iris shares the responsibility of protecting the city with Barry, despite not having any powers of her own, in addition to finding ways to help people outside of official Flash business. She has her faults, but overall she’s a pretty good and well-rounded person.

The one negative claim against her in this matter to have some degree of credibility is that the individual fan simply finds her annoying. Annoying is a subjective term, so I can’t really argue that someone is wrong for being annoyed by someone I find to be very lovable. There have been moments where I was annoyed with Iris, and I think that Iris is the bee’s knees. There have also been moments where I was annoyed with Caitlin. And with Barry. And even Cisco (and I’ll fight anyone who dares call Cisco annoying).

What this argument against Iris basically boils down to is nitpicking over her being human and thus flawed. Well-written characters should be wrong now and then, and even the most lovable person can be annoying on occasion. But when it comes to Iris, first of all, a lot of the criticism for her is non-factual, and often wildly so. But also, even when it comes to valid critiques of her, there’s a tendency to focus on the negative when her positive traits far outweigh them--yet when the same or even worse negative traits are present in another character, they’re often excused or overlooked.

I’m not going to pretend that Iris stans aren’t guilty of doing the same with other characters out of bias for their fave, too (and boy do they), but by and large, Iris is the one who is disproportionately judged unfairly and subjected to double standards by the fandom.

If you’re just a fandom puritan hellbent on liking only the most unproblematic of characters, then technically Caitlin should be the one getting more flack since she has the longer rap sheet between the two, and Iris has one of the strongest moral compasses on the show.

As for personal preference? Of course, it’s totally possible that someone “just thinks she’s annoying”--but the tendency of black characters (or any non-white character for that matter), women, and especially black women being labeled “annoying” regardless of personality is a little too common to be taken at face value, so I’m automatically suspicious of anyone who calls her annoying, and bases their whole opinion of her on that, instead of recognizing her merits (because if you haven’t guessed, it’s not very plausible that that many people genuinely find her annoying as a person with no underlying prejudices at play).

Now, there are some people who started shipping Snowbarry during season 1 (y’know, after actually seeing the characters in action), because there was actually some groundwork laid for it. Not much, but it’s not nonexistent. Barry had a few love interests before ultimately getting with Iris, and a fleeting romance with Caitlin was also considered, before Grant vetoed that idea in favor of prioritizing what he felt was the more interesting and satisfying relationship, i.e. Westallen.

There were a few hinting comparisons drawn between Barry and Ronnie in early episodes, and a few platonic-but-in-a-heteronormative-way interactions between Barry and Caitlin. One episode in particular more overtly teased the idea of a possible attraction between them that they were too hung up on other people to recognize, but nothing ever came of it (partly because that episode also served to introduce one of Barry’s temporary love interests, Linda). And even the more shippable moments in it came across as mostly one-sided, and more as Caitlin trying to get over Ronnie than as being truly interested in Barry (spoiler alert: it didn’t work).

There have also been moments of light fanservice with no depth, such as the two kisses pictured above, which are two moments that the Snowbarry fandom treasures, and points to as validation of their ship.

The first is of someone who is not Barry, Caitlin just thinks he is in the moment. It is actually Hannibal Bates (aka Everyman), a shapeshifter who is causing trouble around town by committing crimes while impersonating innocent people. He kisses Caitlin to distract her while she’s trying to work on something to negate his powers, and Caitlin is confused and weirded out by his advances. And while one could argue that she started to seem a little into her second kiss with him, if she was, it didn’t last. Regardless, she was clearly not feeling the first one, she was relieved when she learned that it hadn’t really been Barry putting the moves on her, and she got uncomfortable and jumpy later when, for a split second, she thought the real Barry was going to try to kiss her again (so romanticizing that situation isn’t concerning at all).

For the second pictured kiss, Caitlin was in the middle of a mental breakdown/being taken over by someone whose actions she was strongly opposed to when she was stable and in control, and she kissed Barry not because of any feelings she might have toward him, but with the intention of freezing him to death with her ice powers--yup, she was actively trying to kill him with that kiss.

So to review, there are two Snowbarry kissing scenes in canon, and both of them are:

nonconsensual

not done with romantic intent

not really between Barry and Caitlin

Moving on from the Snowbarry fandom’s perspectives, now it’s time to address the elephant in the room that no Snowbarry stan ever wants to address, and that is the matter of the dynamic of O.G. Team Flash.

As indicated at the beginning of this post, Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco are a best friends trio. This kind of friend group is a common occurrence in both fiction and real life, and in the case of fiction at least, it’s common for there to be a favorite friend (which is almost always the main character).

In the case of the two other trios pictured above, for example, Gordo and Miranda have their own friendship independent of their respective relationships with Lizzie, and Shawn and Topanga similarly have their own friendship independent of their relationships with Cory--but in both cases, each friend has a closer relationship with the protagonist (Lizzie and Cory) than they have with each other.

O.G. Team Flash also has one character who is closer with the other two than they are with each other, and is therefore the favorite friend. And in this case, that friend

is Cisco. By a landslide, it is Cisco. It’s obvious in the show-don’t-tell sense that he is the friend they each have the closer bond with, whom they are both more likely to turn to for comfort or advice, and whom they would rather hang out one-on-one with, given the choice between him or each other. But it’s also implied in the way they talk about each other.

Cisco has referred to Barry and Caitlin both as his best friend, independently of each other, and it’s a tough call to say whether he’s closer with one or the other.

Barry has referred to Cisco as his best friend (singular) multiple times, with no mention of Caitlin, but in the times he referred to Caitlin as one of his best friends (plural), he did so in a way that was inclusive of Cisco. He has never called just Caitlin his best friend the way he has with Cisco (or with Iris, before they started dating).

Caitlin as far as I can recall has never used that term in regards to her friendship with either guy, but it’s obvious who she’s closer with. For that matter, Cisco is easily the most consistent and most important person in her life, whether she is aware of that fact or not. (At this point in the original presentation, my mom interjected to ask why Cisco and Caitlin weren’t the big fandom ship then, and I explained that they act like siblings and canonically think of each other as such, so most of the fandom doesn’t ship them romantically because That’s Weird, and their canon platonic relationship is something that most everyone values as is.)

I mean, heck, in The Icicle Cometh--an episode widely regarded as a ~Snowbarry episode~ because of the amount of scenes Barry and Caitlin get together in it--Barry all but says outright, “Cisco cares about you more than I do.” (pictured above)

Seriously, what does that line even mean if it’s not an acknowledgement that he does?

Of course, many Snowbarry shippers don’t like the fact that Cisco is the favorite friend because it blows holes in their ship, so they rationalize that closeness by likening Barry and Caitlin to his parents, which is all kinds of wrong and gross and just, no.

Considered but not included for this slide (because it would be hard to fit and would’ve required providing context for a room of people who don’t watch the show) was a screencap of Barry asking Frost, aka Caitlin’s other side, “How do you convince your best friend not to save your life?” while referring specifically to Cisco, just to further emphasize my point.

And speaking of Barry and Cisco,

I could do a whole PowerPoint presentation dedicated to why they would be better and more sense as a couple than Barry and Caitlin!

(And for the next PowerPoint party I kind of did, plus I’ve made a few other posts related to this subject.)

It just doesn’t make sense to me to make such a big fuss over two people who are clearly each other’s second-favorite friend. Personally, I’d be a little embarrassed to be shouting from the rooftops about how much better Snowbarry is than Westallen, and how Caitlin is the person Barry really loves and should end up with, when they don’t even like each other as much as they like Cisco.

And for my final slide, here’s some screenshots of Snowbarry fans being awful and unhinged + my commentary on them.

It’s not that Snowbarry is an inherently bad ship or entirely baseless--no more so than many of the other fanon ships for this show--but the fact that it’s as mainstream as it is when it has such little canon support and such weak arguments in favor of it reeks of racism, with a dash of hetero-/amatonormativity. The most sincere and non-toxic Snowbarry shippers I’ve seen around tend to be multishippers and/or rare-pair fans, which is where I see Snowbarry as a romantic ship making the most sense. But for such a large number of people to be adamant that the show should change its trajectory to make Caitlin the love of Barry’s life instead of Iris? That’s just bullshit.

[coldflasher]

also bc i've been having westallen sideplot in dndb i've started getting majorly tempted to polish up and post the first chapter of my first ever purely westallen fic, which is based on the movie don't worry darling, starring harry styles and florence pugh, but those are the bad, evil thoughts talking, we don't listen to those. i won't be seduced

[shrinkthisviolet]

cute character questions for Morgan :)

Gladly! I love talking about her 🥰

Basics

Name: Jessica Morgan Wells (goes by “Morgan”. Went by “Jesse” pre-Eowells…she was only a baby then, but still)

Age: ...depends on when you ask 😅 her birthday is October 11, 1998! She turns 16 during early s1, 17 during early s2, and so on

Zodiac sign: Libra

One good trait: Resourceful—if she wants something done, she will often do whatever it takes

One bad trait: She’s reckless to a fault, especially when it comes to protecting people (her loved ones mainly, but also just…people she feels responsible for). This often gets her into trouble (ex: Zoom in s2 threatening her with Jesse’s life because he can deduce some sort of connection between them)

Habits

One good habit: She’s not gullible. Unless she unequivocally trusts the person telling her something, she’ll have doubts about it and try to verify it herself.

One bad habit: She’s so used to people-pleasing that she falls back into it with close loved ones…even to her own detriment

One habit she can’t break: As above…people-pleasing :( she does slowly recover from it, but it takes a while

Family

Her parents’ names:

Harrison Gertrude* Wells (father)

Esther "Tess" Morgan (birth mother)

Christina "Tina" McGee (godmother -> mother)

*this is a headcanon, but you can pry it from my cold, dead hands ✋

Her siblings’ names: Henrytina and Westallen ofc aren’t married yet in the AU, but they’re endgame, so this is what the sibling relationships will look like by s4:

Jesse Chambers Wells (doppelgänger/“cosmic sister”)

Barry Allen (stepbrother)

Iris West-Allen (stepsister-in-law)

(There’s also Wally and Linda but like. Truth be told, idk what the exact relationship is for them besides in-laws 😅)

Favorite childhood memory: When she was very little (pre-age-7), she used to be terrified of thunderstorms. Eowells sometimes let her curl up next to him on the couch while he worked, where she usually fell asleep...but one day, he decided on a different approach. He told her a story about a hero surrounded by lightning, who used it to power his superspeed and save lots of people. Morgan never feared thunderstorms after that...and the day she met the Flash, she saw that hero in him 🥰

(This may have been some of Eobard’s lingering hero worship...after all, as much as he hates Barry, he loves him too. He never names the Flash in the story, but Morgan recognizes so many elements of that hero in Barry when Sentry and the Flash first team up)

Favorite childhood toy: a rainbow slinky! She loved playing with it 💞 but she's not sure what happened to it

Embarrassing story: The pre-accelerator STAR Labs crew found out she could sing because they walked in on Morgan dancing around the Cortex with her headphones on, singing loudly but not realizing it 😂 Caitlin and Cisco insist to this day that it was adorable, but Morgan is so embarrassed by it

Favorite family member: Tina!

A story about that family member: She has a younger sister, Eleanor, though she hasn't spoken to her since a few years after moving to America. Not out of anything malicious, but they sort of...lost touch. Tina also often wonders if their parents had a hand in splitting them up...but she knows she also could've done more to stay in touch instead of letting them grow more and more distant from each other

What they prefer

coffee or tea?

showering in the day or night?

taking baths or taking showers?

tv or movies?

writing or reading?

platonic or romantic love?

iced tea or lemonade?

ice cream or smoothies?

cupcakes or cake?

beach or mountains?

Favorites

Song: Style by Taylor Swift

Band: Imagine Dragons

Outfit: Jeans and her black STAR Labs sweater! She has a gray one too, but she prefers the black one:

Though she doesn’t really wear it off-the-shoulder like Jesse does 😂

(There’s another favorite outfit she’ll have later, which will eclipse the STAR Labs sweaters as her favorite…but that’s a spoiler for a later arc!)

Place: Tina’s house and STAR Labs

Memory: Tina celebrating with Morgan the day Morgan found out she could skip two grades ��� Eowells treated it as a big thing too (as he should), and Morgan was pleased that she could impress her dad, but…Tina was always supportive in a way that felt more like sharing a victory than earning a trophy (if that makes sense 😅)

Person(s): Tina and Barry 🥰

Movie: Empire Strikes Back!

Show: Wizards of Waverly Place

oc ask game!

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @vexic929 @raith-way @ironverseocs @thechaoticfanartist @goldheartedchaoticdisaster @negative-speedforce

[talkingtea]

Barry/Iris in the movie was not it. Even taking biases aside, Kiersey/Ezra did not click the way Grant/Candice did. I know they didn't have many scenes together but if we look at their ending scene and CW Barry asking Iris out, there is no comparison. WestAllen clears Newsflash easily.

DCEU struggled to pair actors with chemistry. Cavill/Adams was a bust. Ezra/Kiersey was okay.

The only pairs that sparked were Arthur/Mera and Steve/Diana.

In hindsight the DCEU have struggled with pretty much everything they’ve tried to do 😂

[hawkgirlz]

My ★ review of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/5xH9B9

[backtothestart02]

Merry EXmas - 1/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: Based loosely off the EXmas movie that recently came out. I was hoping I'd get it done in time for Christmas, but that's highly unlikely. Hope I'll at least get a couple more updates in this month though.

...

Synopsis: AU - The break-up was brutal, but ending up in the same house for the Christmas holidays was a gut-punch neither of them saw coming.

...

Chapter 1 -

Barry waited at their candlelight kitchen table for over an hour, watching the wax drip down the candlesticks before he realized it would be another late night for Iris. It didn’t matter that it was their four-year anniversary. It didn’t matter that his grandmother’s engagement ring had been burning a hole in his pocket, and he’d finally figured out the right time and place to pop the question. He wondered if she’d even noticed the love notes he’d stuck on post-its in her most frequented places. Or if she’d be happy at all to see the puppy she’d been melting over for the past month every time she passed the pet shop on her way to work and told him after about it. The little dog was named Muppet at the store, but he was sure Iris would find a cuter name for it.

He’d been so excited for all of it.

But rounding on nine p.m. for the third night that week, Barry knew he had to face facts. This relationship they had going was no longer a priority for her, and as much as he loved her, he couldn’t keep draining his energy hoping she’d look his way for longer than a second the few conscious moments they shared together in a day.

So, he packed his things, enough for a week, and wrote a goodbye note. He’d planned to leave his key there, but he’d need it to grab the rest of his stuff when she was working throughout the next week, so he tucked it in his pocket, set the puppy in a box on the chair he’d vacated and left the house he’d thought they’d live out the rest of their lives in, tears streaming down his cheeks.

He’d make his way to his parents’ place across town. They’d let him stay for a while till he found a new place. They’d understand. They loved Iris like a daughter, but they’d been understanding for a while now. Even the extended family had been counting down the days for when he’d finally cave and give up on love.

What a start to summer.

…

Iris checked the time in the car before shutting it off.

11:03 p.m.

She winced and turned the key, gathering her purse and the late-night take-out she’d grabbed on her way home. Her first thought was Barry was not going to be happy. Her second was that she might not have to deal with that till morning, because he’d probably gone to bed. She felt guilty about that thought. Guilty that she wasn’t looking forward to speaking with her long-time boyfriend because all their conversations had turned either one-sided or full-on fighting lately.

She knew she was partly to blame, but he had to understand that she loved her job, and she worked hard at it. And the facts were, she was mostly paying the bills. He worked his cute little CSI job at the precinct with her dad, but it was nowhere near enough to cover everything. He had to understand that what she was doing wasn’t just for her but for them.

When she turned the key in the lock and was greeted by complete silence and the faint aroma of cold food, she immediately regretted her thoughts.

“Oh, shit.”

It was their anniversary tonight. Not the anniversary of their first date or the day she said yes to him moving in with her, but their first kiss, which happened before both of those prior events.

“Barry?”

A rough bark came from a box with a bow on it that suddenly jumped on one of the kitchen chairs.

Iris’ eyes widened.

“No way.” She gasped and flipped on the light switch, revealing the sad-looking dinner set-up, long ago gone cold and the jumping box that she quickly untied and opened as fast as she could. “No way! No way! No way!”

The puppy jumped into her arms, instantly taking to her.

“Muppet?!”

She held the pup away from her long enough to see the tag on its collar. Sure enough, it said ‘Muppet’.

“Oh, my god. Well, we’ll be changing that name. Won’t we little one?”

She nuzzled its face and giggled as it licked her cheek.

“Barry?” She called again. “God, he must be asleep. Let’s go find him.” She proceeded to talk in a baby voice. “Let’s go find the best boyfriend ever!”

She hefted the pup into her arms and carried it throughout the house as she called for Barry till she reached their bedroom. She frowned when the bed was made, and he wasn’t in it.

“Well, that’s…weird.”

She saw his drawers were partway open on his dresser and walked over to them. When she drew them out, her heart nearly stopped when she found half of the contents gone. She carried the pup to the bathroom and found his toiletries gone.

“Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no.”

Her heart pounding, she went to every room in the house. He wasn’t anywhere. And when she peeped into the garage, his car was gone.

“Not even a note, Bartholomew?” She raged angrily, walking back into the kitchen. “Not even a god forsaken note?!”

Her heels echoed on the wood floor, and from the edge of the table floated a scrap of note paper.

Iris’ eyes zeroed in on it, afraid to walk any closer but knowing she had to. She set the whimpering pup down and picked up the piece of paper, her fingers trembling.

Iris,

I’m so sorry you had to find out this way, but I couldn’t bare to face you for what I have to say.

Her fingers lifted up to her lips.

It’s just not working out. I love you so much, and I planned our whole life, but it’s not the life you want or deserve. I hope you can forgive me for not having the strength to wait for you to be ready for me.

She scoffed. “Ass.” But she was sniffling.

I’ll pick up the rest of my stuff while you’re working over the next week, and then I’ll leave my key on the kitchen table. Hope you enjoy the puppy.

Barry

P.S. Dog food and other doggy things are in the pantry.

The note fell from her fingertips, and she glared at the table.

“Didn’t even put away the food,” she snarled. “He left me, and he took his stuff, but he couldn’t even bother to- He must’ve known I’d be home late, and-” She frowned, gutted. She supposed that was entirely the point.

She took the two plates and scraped the food into the trash, her appetite gone. And besides, she had take-out.

If the man wanted to break up with her and couldn’t even do it to her face, then she had every right to throw his attempt at an anniversary celebration in the trash too.

She opened the pantry door and found bowls and food and toys for the dog, along with a leash and a second collar.

“No crate for potty-training, I see.”

The puppy whimpered.

“Well, I suppose we can get through one night together, can’t we?”

The puppy barked, then went into the pantry and grabbed a squeaky toy and ran off with it.

Iris sighed and filled up the food and water bowl before setting them where she wanted them in the kitchen.

“Well, it’s not like I’ll be getting any sleep tonight anyway. Screw you, Barry Allen. Screw you.”

[literaryspinster]

About the blogger meme ❤️

Thanks for tagging me @ambelle!

Star Sign: Virgo

Favorite Holiday: I’m a Christmas girlie for life! Halloween is a close second.

Last Meal: Breakfast sandwich (I need to eat again, I know, it’s been a day)

Current Favorite Musicians: Rina Sawayama, SiR, Arlo Parks, Kali Uchis, Beyoncé, Japanese Breakfast

Last Music Listened To: Been on a Hamilton kick (I know it’s problematic I’m sorry but I love it 😭)

Last Movie watched: Godzilla Minus One (great film!)

Last TV show: Titans, Arcane, Rap Sh!t, Gen V, The Bear, Daisy Jones and the Six, A League Of Their Own, Fall of the House of Usher (all really enjoyable)

Last Book Finished: Watching You by Lisa Jewell (a very well-done thriller with an epilogue that left me speechless)

Last Book/Fic Abandoned: Forever Yours, Iris West (sorry y’all, I really tried. But if it helps it would have had a happy ending, also Wally was the one who sent the letters, but if you’re familiar with To All The Boys I’ve loved before you should already know this as he was the Kitty stand-in)

Last Thing Researched for Art: Not sure but probably something to do with shading.

Favorite Online Fandom Moments: When my first ever Westallen fic went semi viral. People still talk about it and it’s very flattering.

Favorite Old Fandom I wish Had A Resurgence: Not sure how to answer this. I guess the first year as part of the Titans fandom was pretty dope (aside from the annoying comments about Starfire).

Favorite Thing That You Enjoy: decorating cakes, reading, sewing, writing when I don’t have writer’s block, watching movies and shows and getting way too into them, and most recently drawing

Tempting Project You Don’t Have Time To Finish: I think I can make time for just about anything, it’s motivation that I lack.

tagging: @tarotofbadkitties @neshatriumphs @anakinskywalkerisfave @stefanotis @blackfemmecharacterdependency @eddawrites @thisislostinlace @bratzdoll05