#i only actually started s1 a few weeks ago

[gaylightisminetocommand]

wow i sure am glad that Loki can canonically go down to the timelines and visit his friends which he does so regularly since he is not eternally imprisoned outside of time! wouldn't it be horrible if he was stuck alone forever? so glad we got a canon Lokius wedding complete with Mobius finally getting to experience the thrill of jetskiing during their honeymoon instead of that, that would be super depressing lol

[sensei-venus]

S1 Robby Keene Liking A Good Girl

(Unedied) (Honestly kinda tame for S1 Robby, Drugs mentioned, Weed Smoking, Drug Dealing, Reader had mentioned anxiety??) ( @gemini-sensei )

😈💕He’s kind shy at first when he realizes he may have a crush on the new girl at school. He sees her in the hallways, in class, at lunch, in the parking lot. He sees her everywhere. It doesn’t help that she is a “good girl” in his book. She’s not rich or stuck up, she’s just too nice in his opinion and doesn’t do anything that he would consider bad. To him he had no chance with her, he definitely didn’t fit in her kind of world.

😈💕It wasn’t until he found out that she had anxiety super bad that his views on her started to change. It was weird how all of it started.

“I uh heard you might have some weed?” She was a little nervous as she corned him in the parking lot outside the school. The bell rang over a hour ago and his friends ditched him not long after. She had come out of no where, clenching the arm of her backpack. He raised a brow at her appearance.

“I have my card if that makes this better, I just don’t have enough money this month to go the dispensary. My insurance won’t cover the amount I need- I kinda wasted half of mine if accident. You don’t want to know.” She nervously giggled. It wasn’t like Robby was going to question her on it. Honestly he didn’t really care either. He looked for the nicest bag he had on him, and secretly he may have given her more then he said. She dished out a good few bucks before wondering off. Robby was quick to count it and noticed that she had given him WAY more then was needed. Before he could even say something she was already gone. He pocketed the extra and tried to not think about it.

😈💕It started to get harder for him to pretend his little daydream crush wasn’t starting to get bigger as the days went on. He started to see her more and more in and out of school. She would give him small waves and smiles, which he gave back in smirks and grins. He hoped he didn’t look like to much of a asshole. But with his friends watching be and to keep his guard up. The boys where already getting supsious of his feelings.

😈💕He really didn’t think she would come back to him for more weed after that month. But she did, asking for the same amount every time. She simply told him that it was cheaper to get it from him then the dispensary. He didn’t know if that was true but he didn’t care. As long as he got to spend a few minutes with her every now and then. She quickly started to warm up to him, no longer acting as nervous or scared around him. Smiling more and even cracking a few jokes which he admitted made him smile. She was just so cute that he couldn’t help it.

😈💕One day he just couldn’t take it anymore and asked her if she wanted to go smoke with him. At first she was little embarrassed but happily accepted his offer. He had no intention of taking her to the little hideout where the other guys liked to smoke. So he decided to take her to his place. His mom had been gone for weeks and even if she did find them in the apartment smoking, she couldn’t say much. Her drinking and pills where enough to throw back her way to get out of a little weed smoking. It was a Saturday when she came over. He tried his best to get the place cleaned up, made sure the light bill was actually paid that month. Showing up at his door with a bag full of junk food and a small giggle on her lips.

😈💕They spent the rest of the day on the couch smoking and watching tv. It was nice, it was nothing like when he smoked with the guys. They where always high and taking shit about anything they could think of. There was no peace and quiet which is what he liked. Just getting high and chilling out for a few hours. Reader seemed to like the same thing as she just sat quietly next to him. Only occasionally laughing and giggling at what they where watching. They both seemed to like watching cartoons while high. The pretty colors and high pitch voices making them laugh.

😈💕It started to grow late but Reader didn’t seem to care. She offered to order a pizza which Robby had no issue with. They ended up eating and smoking more while watching a late night show together. That was when things started to change in the vibe that was going on between them that night.

😈💕 “You ever shotgun before?” It was a smile question. She asked while looking over at him on the couch. Robby didn’t know what to say, he knew what it was but had never actually tried it. She slowly shook his head. Reader giggled saying “Well do you want to try it? You can say no if your don’t want to.” He raised a brow before thinking it over in his head. He could at least give to a try, and he would be doing it with Reader of all people. The girl he had a huge ass crush on. With a small nod Reader smiles and takes a nice drag of the blunt she was smoking. Soon enough her soft hands are cradling his cheeks as she leans over to him. Their lips meet in a soft kiss, her tongue prodding at his bottom lip trying to get him to open up. With just a small amount of energy he finally does. She gently blows a long stream of smoke into his mouth. He can’t help but moan a little as he takes it into his lungs.

😈💕A few seconds later the kiss gets hotter and hotter. He’s grabbing at her soft thighs and belly though her shirt. Her hands move, one cradling his neck and the other on his back. Her fingers dig into the flesh of his shirt covers back. He rolls his shoulders as his tongue works along side hers. Smoke escaping though their lips. He can’t tell who is being louder with their moans. As the minutes pass by he can tell this isn’t the high that’s making them like this so much. Reader is fully invested in this kiss. Robby smirks into the kiss as he starts to realize this must have been her little plan. Offering to help teach him how to shotgun. God she was so smart.

😈💕The rest of the night is spent kissing and cuddling on the couch together. Robby doesn’t even care anymore about school or his friends. If messing with the chubby good girl was so wrong, so be it.

[inevitably-ineffable-husbands]

Crowley's Past: Was He Archangel Camael?

With S2 now having been out for a few weeks, and the theories running wild, I think one of the unanimous beliefs within the fandom is that Crowley was SOME sort of Important Angel Before™. I touch upon the MANY clues in the various parts of my initial GOS2 Thoughts Meta, so I won't go into too many of those here, but inevitably this separate meta started out as the pulling-and-expanding-upon of the Archangel Crowley theory, primarily the "Raphael" theory, since I have loved that theory to bits since its inception early post-S1.

That was until my friend Peter finished watching the season early last week, and presented to me an alternative theory as to Crowley's identity that I thought deserved its own post breakdown, since I haven't seen this theory before.

NOW, I should make it clear I haven't been as DEEP in the fandom as many of y'all since S1 aired, so it's probably come up before S2 as just a light mention, but I personally haven't seen anything, so what follows is a joint speculation between my real-life, not-in-GO-fandom-spaces-whatsoever friend Peter, and myself, with my contributions being the expansion of his theory and linking it to what we already know.

The theory is this: Crowley might actually be Archangel Camael.

Please, PLEASE note that I am aware that authors and writers change things for creative liberty and originality, so please take this entire theory with a grain of salt (or go nuts with me, I'm happy either way!).

I'll TRY to keep this concise, but y'all know me. You can skip right to the "Conclusion" for a point-by-point breakdown if you don't want to read everything, but I hope you'll at least give me a chance to explain within the body of this meta.

I apologize in advance if any of my thoughts are a bit scattered. Here we go:

The Initial Text

Here is the initial text Peter sent to me after he finished watching S2 (and this was after I mentioned that the popular running fandom theory is that he's actually Raphael):

Okay… well - disclaimer I did not go to religious school and my biblical studies were a great many years ago. As I recall Lucifer was not one of the 7 archangels - he was meant to be but he rebelled before he was appointed (and there is some wiggle for a fictional story). So, based on what we have seen Crowley was one of the 7 but he hung out with the wrong people and asked too many questions. He never says his real name when we see him as an angel it is comically dodged - for a good reason. Crowley has a login and proves he had clearance way above a level 37th angel. He can see the top most important meetings… like he may have been allowed to attend in a previous life… And one line sticks out to me “one fallen prince has already gone to Hell. Two shows a problem.” As I stated Lucifer was not a Prince - we are not talking about him. Gabriel was banking on going to Hell like his “brother” - I’m guessing Camael, the one who Sees God - who ironically has cursed eyes now as a demon - the Prince of Fortitude (also Love and Charity). He often breaks his demonic spirit in cases of charitable needs or love. Crowley is one of the big Seven to be entrusted with creating the cosmos ;)

Naturally, this had a lot of things click for me, and I'm going to break them down below, with my additional research into the points that Peter made since he mentioned that he was going off memory.

Who Was Cameal?

When Peter mentioned this angel, it boggled my mind that I never actually recall knowing of this archangel. I went to a Roman Catholic school up until Grade 12, and with that comes Religious Ed classes, which also feature World Religions in the later grades. Funnily enough, I found out WHY I never heard of Camael:

Camael is not recognized by the Catholic Church due to the Vatican's decision to ban the veneration of angels not mentioned in the Bible [SOURCE]

Kind of explains why I only heard of Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael (which now adds another layer to a theory I will cover further down in "Does Crowley Remember?"), then.

Reading further:

[He] is the Archangel of strength, courage and war in Christian and Jewish mythology and angelology. [SOURCE] He is claimed to be the leader of the forces that expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden holding a flaming sword. However, in iconography he is often depicted holding a cup. [SOURCE]

A Flaming Sword, you say??? Interesting. Here's a good place to point out that there IS also a theory that Crowley and Aziraphale are one single archangel that was split into two (and Gaiman has stated that in original drafts of the original book, they were at first one character, so this fact might be an afterthought of that original idea). Also, interesting that this angel is depicted with a cup, traditionally used in Christianity to depict wine, which is Crowley's drink-of-choice. So, there's that.

Another standout point for me is the Adam and Eve bit (which I bolded above). The Snake of Eden is TECHNICALLY the instigator (the "leader") who encouraged the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden. "Forces" in this reading of it could be the metaphorical definition of it; the knowledge of good and evil, and the desire to see beyond the Garden. AND also the Flaming Sword itself BEING the object of force given to the couple for protection.

Furthermore, Crowley's a strong and brave character, given all the shit he endures time and time again. Strength (and bravery for that matter) can mean many things: emotional strength, physical strength, possibly also a strength of character and an unwavering belief in the values one holds dear. I should also note that it's interesting that an angel of war, should Crowley indeed be this character, wants nothing to do with a war and is actively trying to stop one: an angel of War can absolutely NOT want a war, because he knows it's wrong.

And without the Angel of War up in Heaven to PREVENT any war at all? Well, they would just get all willy-nilly crazy on the idea of War without having any pushback on it, wouldn't they?

Kind of like how Gabriel was to be demoted (cast out) for denying Heaven a War. Funny old world, isn't it? Seems the parallels write themselves.

What's in a Name?

Because Peter mentioned the name meaning, I had to look into it myself, and indeed, one of the various meanings of Camael is apparently "he who sees God" in Hebrew.

As Peter stated above, I think this is very significant because it's seemingly only Crowley who has "demon" eyes that he himself cannot change. It's the ONLY part of him that always remains a constant, and why he is forced to hide them. We know from S1 and bits of S2 with Shax that other demons can change their eyes because we see them mimicking other humans time and again without the black eyes if they choose to.

Crowley's eyes could have been cursed specifically because was ordained as "the one who sees God" and possibly was the ONLY angel who ever "saw" a physical God in the literal sense (it's implied in the show that no one actually SEES a physical god). It's possible that Crowley being cast out literally burned his angelic eyes and left a visible scar that can't be fixed or erased – a forever-reminder of what he did and can no longer do. AND as the one who sees God, he indeed was a very high-ranking angel.

In the GO universe, I suspect he was indeed the FIRST Supreme Archangel, tasked with creating God's Vision (HAH) of the Universe. And when Crowley questioned what the point of creating such beauty was only for it to be destroyed, God (or, I suspect more likely, the other Angels) saw it as Crowley questioning their "vision" in the metaphorical sense.

Does Crowley Remember?

In light of Season 2, and some interesting exchanges and moments of Crowley with other angels, some people speculate (and as I watch the series more, I'm starting to also agree somewhat) that Crowley may not remember everything from Before.

Now, while I do like this theory a lot, and it makes sense with the context clues from S2, I don't think it's that he doesn't remember anything at all, however, as many versions of the theory postulates.

My speculation is this: what if, by having his Angelic Name removed from recognition in the Bible, and going through a similar Trial to Gabriel, THEN by Falling the traditional way, the memories are still there, but they're just a bit fuzzy and scattered? It could also explain why some of the other Archangels DON'T remember him... he was removed from the memories of other ranking angels (Saraqael is the only angel to seemingly remember who Crowley was, so I postulate that she WASN'T a top angel until fairly recently, because of the named angels in the next section).

The show brings up the Book of Life in S2 on several occasions, leaving me to believe that this will be an important item in the next season. What if the phrase "it will make it like you don't exist" literally means "don't exist in memories"? Maybe a Book of Life 1.0 existed at one time, and everyone who Fell was forgotten because their angelic names were removed. Because wouldn't that be more awful than never having existed? Remembering that you WERE something or someone, you had a name that you can't remember, that you WERE important to people and events, and having everyone around you who you considered family forget who you are? It's its own kind of personal Hell ... kind of like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, a movie that references angels, funnily enough. And Crowley remembers the furniture being there but not where it all belongs. I think his memory haziness is also a side effect of Falling the traditional way (burning sulfer and all that jazz, possibly causes trauma amnesia?).

It's a stretch here, I know, but I thought I would put this one out there as a possibility as to what it could mean (given that Gaiman and Pratchett tend to "play on words" a lot, I think it is worth mentioning this as an alternative meaning).

In S2, when Gabriel was sentenced, the Trial stated that Gabriel would forget his time as Gabriel, but not his time as an angel. I think a similar thing happened with Crowley, only much more violently with the "burning the eyes out" and "staining his wings black" thing.

My friend Peter mentioned that the show avoided Crowley's Before-Name "to a comical degree". I reckon, rather, that Crowley just simply doesn't remember his Angelic name, and his changing of his demon names is him possibly trying to find an identity. I think he recalls it having started with a "C", maybe? And now he's a snake, so he's kind of crawl-y, must be "Crawley". As time moved forward and as he learned more and more about humanity, he changed is namee to fit in better. Having a full Human-esque name makes him feel more connected to the Humanity he prefers.

And because I'm a romantic sap at heart, I think he enjoys spending time with Aziraphale because perhaps some part of Azzie's presence helps Crowley remember bits and pieces of his broken memory. He is LITERALLY Crowley's Emotional Support Angel – remember Shax can read into people, it seems. Azzie brings comfort to him, and seeing another Angel that also questions the choices Heaven makes allows Crowley to feel less alone.

The Original Seven Archangels

It's brought up a couple to several times in S2 the point that "God loves sevens". I actually couldn't remember why Seven was such a big Biblical number so a bit of quick Googling reminded me that "Seven [...] communicated a sense of “fullness” or “completeness” [...]. This makes sense of the pervasive appearance of “seven” patterns in the Bible." (SOURCE).

And of course, after Peter had mentioned it, I had to look a bit more into who the Original 7 could possibly be. Wikipedia mentions it could be Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel.

Peter was correct in his assumption that Lucifer wasn't one of the original 7 archangels, so that leaves us with Raphael, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel, if we're assuming that Crowley is one of these top Archangels.

I would also like to speculate that "God likes 7's" could also mean (if you allow me to reach a bit) "God's favourite angels are the initial 7". If Crowley happened to be one of these 7, it could explain why he's able to get into Heaven without raising alarm at all, why he still maintains his immense power that set off alarms in Heaven when it was used purposefully against Heaven, why he was able to access the Gabriel Files, and why Sarqael allowed Crowley to continue watching the Trial (because if God allowed Crowley access even when he's no longer an angel, then Sarqael has no reason to believe that he's still not important to God).

Perhaps, in Modern Day, only having four archangels making the decisions symbolizes that, indeed, God's not really calling the shots anymore – and hasn't been for a long time – and that the whole system is all broken and not complete.

It also begs the question: if Crowley was one of the Original Seven (if they are indeed going to go in that direction), what happened to the other three? Did they also suffer the same fates? Were they turned to Scriveners just like Gabriel was to be?

Here is where I will also throw out there that my random thought that Muriel possibly also may have been one of the other three, as my own expansion of this theory, but I digress.

Anyway, I think I found the original Fandom Wiki that Peter quick-referenced when doing his quick message to me, and it's very interesting:

How they were founded as a unit is unknown, but it is said that it happened during Lucifer's rebellion. When Lucifer rebelled against God, one entire choir of angels followed him and was lost. Many angels from other choirs also followed him in his rebellion. It is revealed that Lucifer was meant to be apart of the Seven Archangels as well, however, since his fall he was replaced by Camael. 

Disclaimer here that I understand that Fandom Wiki isn't THE BEST resource, but we're also talking about a fictional story that loosely references actual scripture, so I think it's valid enough, heh.

But I bring this point up because Peter links it to Metatron mentioning the "Prince of Heaven" falling, as Gabriel as being "another" one. "Another one" what?? We have to assume that Metatron means another "Supreme Archangel" as holding the title of "Prince of Heaven", meaning Gabriel was NOT the first and only Supreme Archangel. I don't think Metatron is referencing Lucifer here. In fact, they deliberately avoid saying a name. We just ASSUME that it was Lucifer because that's the "common knowledge".

If GO is going to reference the theory that Lucifer actually fell BEFORE becoming an Archangel, then that means in my theory Crowley became his replacement of the Original Seven. And given that he was possibly the One (and only angel, in my above theory) Who Sees God, he was in-turn given the position of Supreme Archangel, charged with creating, again, God's Vision of the Universe.

I think having Crowley be the one who witnesses Gabriel's Trial is important if we're going on the theory that they are mirrors of each other in S2. What if:

Crowley ALSO had a similar Trial when he questioned God (or the other Archangels) about "what's the point of" the destruction of the universe, then subsequently saying "nah" to having Armageddon 6,000 years before the events of S1?;

In said Trial, Gabriel was a presiding member, and, given that we know his prior cruelty from S1, he voted on Camael being cast out in a vicious and cruel fashion "for betraying God". Thus, his eyes burnt and forever scarred to prevent him from ever seeing God again, had his name and memories removed from the Book of Life, and sent to on a one way trip to Hell. I speculate this because Trial-Gabriel certainly believe he was going to "Fall" that way. I'd also wager Camael/Crowley was the last angel to ever "properly" Fall, which is why the modern angels still think that they do it this way, rather than the way they planned for Gabriel. I realize that this point DOES contradict my theory about the other missing Archangels quietly being erased and reassigned, but perhaps BECAUSE Gabriel is SO High up the chain, they HAD no choice but to make an example of him. Perhaps Metatron just quietly deleted the other Archangels' original names without anyone's knowledge.

We now know from S2 that regardless of an angel's status, the angels will veto against anyone who goes against their interpretation of The Great Plan. We now also know that the "Supreme Archangel" is also a "title only" job that has benefits only if you're going to go with the Majority Vote. And if you don't, they're going to make an example out of you.

And I reckon Camael/Crowley, just like Gabriel after, tried to "go his own way" (as quoted by the Metatron) and got banished for it.

Aziraphale really now has himself in a pickle, and I suspect that he will figure ALL of this out when he gets there.

And finally because this is the "Sevens" section of this meta, I also want to mention these "a-bit-reaching-but-still-plausible-theories" that I came across while I was researching:

This tweet speculates that Gabe is morse coding "7"

Michael tweeted 7 dots after S2 aired

CONCLUSION

While this theory doesn't outright bust the Raphael Theory (since there are some similarities with Crowley and Raphael within the theory), as well as the "he was Lucifer" theory (which I also really like, but Crowley mentioned in S1 he was "hanging out with Lucifer and the guys" before he fell, so... I'm more apt to not really run with this theory). BUT it does tie up a lot more things, and it connects things better than the Raphael one does, in my humble opinion.

The TL;DR of this entire post is this:

I think Crowley was an Archangel, that is the only CERTAIN thing I feel.

I think he was Camael, The One (and only angel) Who (Literally) Sees God. He was the First Supreme Archangel who created God's Vision of the Universe.

I think that Camael questioned the Council of Angels why they need to destroy beauty that God created. It didn't make sense to him.

They told him about Armageddon (the S1 one). As the angel of war, and as the Supreme Archangel who had final say, he said "nah". And he tried "to go his own way" to avoid Armageddon.

The Council and Metatron did not like this, saw it as blaspheming against God. Camael then had a Trial similar to Gabriel's.

I think this all happened shortly after the war that sent down Lucifer and the other rebelling Angels, so Heaven was still VERY tetchy about anyone who questioned God and The Great Plan. Because Camael was a Supreme Archangel, the original Prince of Heaven, this was seen as SEVERE betrayal of the Council. For the record, I think the "Before the Beginning" sequence takes place AFTER the War that created Hell.

My belief about the Book of Life is that its ACTUAL purpose is to remove people from being remembered, which is far worse of an existence for someone banished. A metaphorical interpretation of "removed from existence" simply could mean "and everyone forgot about you", à la It's a Wonderful Life, a movie that references "angels getting their wings".

Camael was sentenced in a way that would make an example of him to other angels to remind them of their place: He was cast out of Heaven, his angelic name erased from the Book of Life which caused his other Council Members at the time to forget him, and for him to have foggy memories in turn, although he KNOWS he was an angel (perhaps as a side effect of being cast out the traditional way, you are forced to remember that you once lived in Heaven). His eyes were burnt out to quite literally leave an unremovable scar so he could no longer "see" God and their vision, which explains why Crowley cannot ever change his eyes regardless of how he presents himself. He has to hide them away.

I think Crowley was the last angel to be cast out in this way. BUT because his ANGEL name was erased, none of the remaining Original Council angels (Gabriel, Michael, and Uriel) recognize him. I suspect Sarqael remembers him because she was NOT an Archangel at the time since she was not one of the Original Seven Archangels.

I also suspect that there are purposely missing Archangels for a reason, and the fact that only 4 rather than 7 seemingly run things symbolizes the problems in Heaven and that God has not been in charge for a long time. I think those missing 3 or 4 are actually Scriveners, who were quietly sentenced and erased by the Metatron, hence why Gabriel thought that he was going to be cast out like his predecessor. But because Gabriel WAS a Supreme Archangel, he HAD to be made an example of, just as Crowley before.

"Supreme Archangel" is a Title-Only job, and if you go against the Council, you are indeed made an example of. I think this is purposeful setup for S3 to show that Azzie is in DEEP shit.

EPILOGUE

I still want to expand upon my Angel Theory section from my S2 Meta, but for now, I am so pleased with how this turned out, and I hope you've enjoyed this Deep Dive into another Archangel Theory. I had a lot of fun with this one; I like learning about supernatural things, it's always interesting.

I am interested in others' thoughts on this theory, especially if your memory of your religious education is a bit better than mine! Feel free to expand upon this more, because I am an interactive blog, so it will be added to the post! <3

I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading!

[laylajeffany]

Word Count: 800,000+ (in-progress, with regular updates) Rating: T

Summary “Wednesday, you are so new to love’s torturous sting. It simply takes time to get used to the poison, my darling. You have to build up a tolerance for it. Then – you’ll start to wonder how you ever lived without it.”

Enid accidentally summons a demon in an attempt to communicate with her wolf, and somehow – that is not Wednesday’s biggest problem upon the return to Nevermore. With a raging suspicion that Principal Weems was not actually murdered, Wednesday starts to unravel her latest mystery while trying not to unravel herself. As emerging powers cause her to manifest physical symptoms, Wednesday has to learn to rely on those around her if she is going to grow as a Raven.

Ultra slow-burn WenClair, moving forward in an organic relationship, building from roommates to best friends to more. Picking up on some plot points from S1, Wednesday develops not only new abilities, but emotions and friendships as she examines her life through her new lens of Nevermore.

If you're new to this fic and unsure about starting due to the length, below the break will give you a spoiler-filled idea about when some of the major plot points/relationships happen.

Author's Note As I am squeezing in my writing time before vacation, I am reflecting on how proud I am of this fic. This is year 21 of writing fanfiction for me, and of course as we grow, our talents naturally increase, but I have never felt so accomplished about a piece of writing before. If you need some light reading (lmfao this fic will top one million words by the end of summer), I would like to recommend my own story. I don't ever do that and I probably won't do it again - but writing this fic has been such a bright spot in my life, and every opportunity I have to carve out a few thousand words I feel myself transcend.

When I received an old Addams Family book in the mail (here) a few weeks ago, I was flipping through and found the above summary of Wednesday. I have never felt more proud to be borrowing another character, as I feel that I do Charles Addams' Wednesday justice in this writing as we explore her sensitive/poetic side in addition to the harshness of her 2022 adaptation. (Don't worry - Enid will find Wednesday's sixth toe when she finally visits the Addams family home in Chapter 21.)

Chapters 1-5: Wenclair Roommate Friendship developing as Wednesday realized she'd genuinely missed Enid over the summer.

Main focus of early chapters is Wednesday trying to determine how Weems is alive, focusing on her powers starting to develop as physical symptoms and discovering more about how to tap in to her Raven abilities with the help of her mentor, the new administrator, Dr. Zypher. Dr. Zypher (39) is a herpetologist with a psychic ability to work with reptiles. She has been dating the only other known Raven, Emiliana, for 23 years, since they met via Larissa Weems at Nevermore. These two OCs have a very supportive and important role in the story. (We needed adults and ALL the important ones were killed off in S1. These OCs have been extremely well-received by the audience and are real people with flaws and strengths, distinct personalities. No Mary-Sues here, I promsie.)

Chapter 6: Enid breaks up with Ajax, Wednesday and Enid get closer than ever when the spirit Enid released attacks again. Wednesday vows to protect her. As Wednesday has found Weems trapped in her accidental shape-shift, she starts looking for divination-related ways to change her back. Wednesday starts to have to cope with very uncomfortable feelings that emerge from the ever-darkening of her visions as her powers start to grow massively.

Chapter 8: Wednesday starts to think she's closer to Enid than she ever has been to anyone else before. Wednesday learns about the importance of being vulnerable and showing some feelings. Starts to explore ways to protect Weems in her lower life form.

Chapter 10: Wednesday wonders what attraction is supposed to feel like, starts to think there may be something wrong with her. She knows what she is feeling for Enid is more than friendship but isn't experiencing physical attraction. Wednesday casts a powerful protection spell for Enid. Enid reveals that she imprinted on Wednesday during her first transformation and this has caused her extreme stress and alienation from her pack.

Chapter 11: Wednesday and Enid confront the spirit again. As it tries to possess Enid, Wednesday's protection spell holds and she confesses that night that she won't let anything happen to her because she loves her. She admits, she isn't sure if that love is romantic. Enid agrees with the sentiment and they decide to give it all more time. The girls start to work together to help Wednesday divert from the negative energy within her divination as part of her Raven nature to blend their energy together, earning more positive energy for Wednesday shared by Enid. Enid's mother is determined that Nevermore finds something to do about Enid's imprinting.

Chapter 13: Finally, the girls are dating after the full moon. It's adorable. Enid talks to her father and requests him to visit Nevermore.

Chapter 14: Things really take off with ways to help Weems transform Halloween - Wednesday temporarily banishes the spirit with Enid's help as they have grown so close.

Chapter 15: Wednesday starts to lose herself to divination a little bit as she becomes more desperate to complete the transformation on Weems. Dr. Zypher's Raven girlfriend arrives.

Chapter 16: Wednesday finally puts the pieces together and knows what she has to do to transform Weems. Enid's father arrives - she formally leaves her pack and considers Wednesday her main family. The Addams Family have accepted her whole-heartedly.

Chapter 17:-19 Successful transformation of Weems leads to extreme physical consequences for Wednesday. Lots of Wenclair Hurt/Comfort Wednesday resolves lots of tension with her family

Chapter 20: Closure of the first semester of events Wednesday invites herself into the "Nevermore Network" - an ambiguous concept alluded to throughout the story of how the Outcast world is all connected. These adults are increasingly interested in Wednesday's extreme shows of power and she goes behind her family/admin wishes to meet up with them when she returns to school in January.

Chapter 21: Yuletide & New Year - Enid at the Addams Family House

Chapter 22: Start of Second Semester at Nevermore Wednesday gets herself involved in some major drama within the Outcast community via the Nevermore Network Setting the stage for the second semester of events

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: The Odd Squad UK Gadget-Making Competition Video

I was originally going to make this into a longer post where I discuss Odd Squad UK more in-depth, but to keep things simple (and to avoid frying my brain), I'm going to keep this and another post separated. They will be linked, though, so keep an eye out for an edit and a reblog in the coming months.

We got a first taste of OSUK a little over a week ago, and with it came quite a few things to dissect. Because Season 2 can't be the only season that gets something UK-exclusive that never made its way to the States and never will. Curl up, try to cry, cry anyway.

Join me below the break as I make a Thanksgiving feast out of mere crumbs. Or try to, anyway.

Those of you who have been in the loop might have seen the BTS photos of the UK Headquarters on Instagram. This is what I can safely assume is the bullpen, going by the seal, the desk on the right with some kind of a green form, and...well I mean fuckin' look at it.

As you can see, it's an incredibly stark difference from the Headquarters seen in the past three seasons, though this one looks similar to S1 and S2's, for, y'know, obvious reasons. It actually looks more like something you'd see in some kind of a government building, like your local city hall or the DMV, than anything else.

There's not even any sliding doors either! Which is...well, I mean I watched Season 3, this surprises me next to none.

Take it all in...take it in...

...You took it in? Goood, goooooood. Moving on.

"NOT SO ANDROGYNOUS NOW IS SHE. HAPPY PRIDE MONTH, BITCHES."

-- The CBBC, probably, maybe

Anyway, this is our first look at a living, moving, breathing Captain Oooooooooooooh whoa what the FUCK is at the end of her ropes? Are...are those knitting needles? Stabby-stabs?

I'm...what even are those?

Okay, okay, someone else can answer that. I'm moreso interested in the smartwatch she's wearing, because Oprah and other Directors in the past haven't worn smartwatches. That, combined with how nautical she looks, donning upper clothing usually reserved for male Directors, and having a unique title, makes her have a rather unique appearance.

"Orwell, I am giving a speech. What do you want."

"Someone stole your copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

"Damn it!"

Jokes aside, we now get to the second newly-debuted living breathing moving character of this very short video: Orwell, a Security agent who's about as cheerful as someone whose entire family got run over by Cybertrucks. I don't know if I ever made this joke in any public form before, but in promotional images, he reminds me of Fin Tutuola and...well, with this video, the comparison just launched itself outta my head. Just a lil'. Not a whole lot. Only a lil'.

Yeeeeeah...I'm starting to see how this is poorly edited. Captain O's and Orwell's voices coming through two different audio channels instead of the same one, no BGM in the beginning...this weird-ass cut to Ozzie...I mean I don't expect high quality, but come now. For one of the first promotional things for Odd Squad UK, you'd think they'd do better.

...

This is just a regular-ass home, isn't it. Lookit that Backrooms-esque kitchen there. Lookit the hypnosis wheel ta- no seriously, whose home is this, and if it's Ozzie's, why? And if it's Headquarters...again, why?

I do appreciate the tea set, though. The tea set is to the UK what sharing actors is to Canada. Don't do it, don't get tax credits.

"The Mondays? In my Christian Headquarters?! Inconceivable! Blasphemous!"

No but seriously, this is the most unserious shit I have ever seen from Odd Squad as a franchise, and that is genuinely saying something. The Mondays isn't an odd disease. It's not an odd illness that will grant you extra limbs or make your blood turn blue. It's what everybody who has ever worked a paid job a single day in their life goes through.

*takes off the glasses* You're not boostin' my confidence, BBC.

"It doesn't matter what we seem to do. We can't put a smile on his face."

I'M AN ADUUUUUUUUULT!!!

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD, JACKASS!!

(...Who the hell said McDonald's?)

*slaps on helmet*

Mmmmmmmmmhm. Strap in, human beings. This is where the real shit gets even realer.

So as you can see, Ozzie isn't in his Investigation agent suit here. Promotional material has shown that he's in that suit pretty much all the time, and given how Orli doesn't appear in this video, it's safe to say that we can plop it into the pre-series era.

This specific department had people in the fandom theorizing for the longest time about what it was. Was it a new look for the Creature department? An updated piece of clothing from the Mobile Unit department? A new department enti- oh shit, wait, that's actually it, isn't it.

Yeah, so if you look at the wings on the hexagon symbol there, it's clear to see that this is some kind of a flight department. I'm just going to quote part of the official show synopsis here, so you folks can get a view of what I'm trying to get at:

Not to worry, brand-new agents Orli and Ozzie are on the case. Their job is to solve the toughest and oddest cases now wreaking havoc across the land, sea, and sky (and even that hard-to-reach area behind the couch cushions).

I might as well spit out a theory (one of few, believe you me) that have been spinning in my mind like a nuked rotisserie chicken clinging to life ever since Odd Squad UK was officially announced as a project.

*deep breath*

Okay. So. You guys know Captain O. Loves nautical things. Looks the part. Has assistants who look like sailors.

What if -- and hear me out for a moment -- what if she has a boat? One that can travel across the sea and across the sky?

For land, that's what the tubes are for. That's a nonissue. But for missions that involve going out onto open water or going high into the sky...that's what the boat is for. And if you have a boat that goes up into the sky, you're gonna need some agents who deal in flight matters.

Headcanon accepted. If you hear screaming at any point this fall, assume it's me.

*long exhale*

See, with Odd Squad, child actors can be hit-or-miss. Some, like Dalila Bela and Millie Davis, knock their roles right outta the park, sometimes even going beyond their abilities and really getting into character (for those two specifically, Olive and Oprah are relatable to their personalities as actors, so it makes things easier). Some are okay -- they're neither good nor bad. And some just don't have the range.

The kid playing Orwell here...is on the latter end.

I get it. It's a video out of a twelve "testing the waters for another season or series" episodes of a UK-based spinoff series in a franchise that keeps going nose-down. I shouldn't go in expecting top-notch quality. I'm setting the bar low, as are a host of other people. And I have absolutely no disrespect against the kid who plays Orwell, because for God sakes, I have standards. But twelve episodes of stiff, the-script-might-as-well-be-in-the-damn-hands-when-filming acting like this is gonna be really hard to stomach, especially since Orwell is a main character.

Getting back to gooder things: this "yeeeeeeah, obviously" bit made me laugh harder than it should've. There is no customer service persona for Orwell here. Concept is foreign to him.

Onom is, unfortunately, not in this episode. However, I do appreciate that the Lab is just as eccentric as he is. Not even Precinct 13579's Lab was this crazy!

(And if you're wondering who Onom is: he's the brother of the Pokemon Snom.)

(...No, I'm kidding. He's our Science man for this series. The gods are returning to their roots.)

this video is about viewers making a gadget

orwell grabs a gadget for absolutely no reason other than by proxy

If this is giving a hint to contest entrants, they sure are being vague as hell about it.

If this is not giving a hint to contest entrants, Orwell's taking the gadget like it's the thing that made Onom go vamoosh in the first place.

...

Hold up-

Wake up? Drank.

Feel sad? Drank.

Go to work? Drank.

Get paid jack shit? Drank.

Take a shower? Drank (with the tea bag you showered yourself with).

Last season, they didn't commit enough to a whole entire newspaper page and had to use Lorem ipsum text.

This series, they have someone write words on a paper that are actually read.

I don't know, guys, that says a hell of a lot of things quality-wise.

I see Onom's leaning real damn hard into the Oona archetype, because you can bet your damn asses she would pull this shit on Olympia, Otis, and Oprah with absolutely no remorse.

...No, let me correct myself: she has pulled this shit on them with absolutely no remorse. And fuck it, she'll do it again.

They were probably expecting people to react like Captain O here.

In reality, my body folded in on itself so hard the local urgent care place became a 24/7 business.

...I'm starting to realize what that one person said about OSUK making references to past seasons/series now. I laughed it off. I said "in 12 episodes, that'll never happen."

But it did.

And it will haunt me so.

The Emergency Un-Monday Protocol is the Odd Squad version of workplaces telling you "we're like a family".

It's an unneeded red flag that fucks people over royally.

0/10, sweet summer child didn't even try.

Let's be honest here: if Ozzie encapsulates the reaction you should have when listening to this left-audio-channel-only, bobbin-n-weavin', lip-syncing-does-not-exist bit, then that's...not really a good sign.

Oooohoho no. I'm not the gal to turn to, kiddos. Not when I get the Mondays every goddamn day of the week.

...You're pointing at a person who feels crushing depression every time she walks into a Target, what are you doing-

...God damn it, this eyebrow-raising makes me cackle. It's so unexpected.

Honestly, I might be asking too much of a series that has the episode span of 70% of anime, but I want more fourth-wall-breaking moments like this. Keep the meta alive!

"But please, no Slime-inators. I just washed my hair."

Ozzie's been to one too many Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for his liking.

That, or he's taking after Otis and his "regular hair".

AH!! AAAAAAAAAHH!! YOU CAN SEE ALEXANDER CRACK A SMILE THERE!! I SAW IT!! I GOT MY GLASSES ON SUCKERS, I CAN SEE THAT SHIT.

Terrible audio balancing aside...and the terrible timing of the logo bouncing...

...Oh wow, that's the other logo. The secondary one. Kinda cool!

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

So overall, this was...a rather disappointing first taste. Whether this sets the standard for the series remains to be seen, but I'm not all too hopeful. Maybe the September results video will see things improve.

That being said, the characters are at least pretty engaging thus far. I'll need to see them in action a little more to make any final decisions, though.

Like I said in the beginning, I'll be putting out a Seren's Study about OSUK when we get more info on it. I'm aiming for August, but it might come out in September when the results video does. We'll see.

For now, thanks for reading. If you want to see the video for yourself, it's here:

[veryace-ficrecs]

Ted Lasso fic recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

Wings Wouldn't Help You Down by ViolentlyRed - Rated G

He thought the most awkward thing he'd have to endure was a rigid Roy Kent embrace in the Man City locker room months ago. He was wrong. And he’s getting better at admitting when he’s wrong, so. Turning up on Coach's doorstep at two thirty in the morning was infinitely, infinitely more awkward. Or, Jamie's hurt and not about to say much about it, and Ted's a good coach.

Reset With the Sunset by fandomfrolics - Rated G

Sam tries to figure out how to navigate his first Ramadan in the English Premier League. Set in S1.

Mull River Shuffle by bibliothekara - Rated G

Ted falls in the Thames; Beard, Rebecca, and Sam to the rescue.

The First Rule of Fight Club is No Fight Club by Lolapola - Rated T

A few days after relegation, an angry investor pays a visit to the Richmond AFC locker room, and he has his sights set on Ted Lasso. Fortunately, Roy Kent has been well and truly won over by now, and - yeah. He's not about to stand for this.

Diary by TwoAces - Rated G

It’s not a diary, really. At least, not in the traditional sense. It’s supposed to be an appointment book—a gift from Keeley, so she’s not having to text him reminders all the time. He’s promised to use it, and is surprised that it’s actually mad convenient to help remember events, so he starts using it for other things, too.

that mask will never look the same by tensecond_memory - Rated T

“Right. Okay. Is that… it?” “No, actually,” she says after a beat in which she fights back another wave of that mysterious Guilty Face, “there’s one more discussion on the agenda courtesy of one Coach Ted Lasso,” her voice is quieter now, and suddenly something shifts in the air and it feels like she’s the one who’s turned back into a scolded child. Jamie stares at her. “There are some… specifics regarding the… premature termination of your loan last season that Ted, rightfully, believes you deserve to be informed of, now that we’re all more aware of how the decision impacted your well-being,” OR Jamie isn't the only one who owes some apologies.

Little Kitmen Have Big Ears by andrealyn - Rated T

Most people don't really notice when Will's in the room, which leads to him hearing some very unique conversations. Every now and again, though, he's seen and it makes all the difference.

we're not in kansas anymore (we're now in missouri) by ceterum - Rated G

Shortly after the devastating loss on final matchday, the West London’s Finest are back in action. After a compilation of their… innovative plays goes viral, they are invited to play a friendly against Ted Lasso’s home state’s MLS club. AFC Richmond’s pre-season one(-and-a-half)-stop American tour, as observed by Trent Crimm, The Independent.

Adding Steel To The Team by BrittaTheBest - Rated T

“I feel… really weird, Roy.” “Yeah, I’m not surprised. Listen, I think you should lie down, yeah?” - Quick little fic. Ted is stabbed outside Richmond the night before a match. Mostly Roy-centric, but also feat. the rest of the club

Journalism Continues To Be The Villain That Moves The Plot Forward For This Show by MagpieWords - Rated T

When the press finds out Ted uses an unknown intramuscular substance, speculation runs wild while our favorite coach avoids dealing with his feelings. alternate titles lovingly include : "lost in the sauce" and "a saucy misunderstanding"

The Official AFC Richmond TikTok by mariip - Rated T

Keeley isn't there to manage their socials anymore, so when Jamie and Sam ask to make a TikTok for the club, everyone decides it will be a good idea. (Or, completely self-indulgent AFC Richmond silliness)

Make them Gold by mariip - Rated T

Roy realizes he has no idea when Jamie's birthday is, and when he realizes it's only a week away, the only solution is obviously cake in the dressing room after training. Or, the himbos manage to pull off a surprise party.

every boy wants to be like his father by themightyduck - Rated G

"It turned out all right in the end, though," Jamie says quietly, ears burning red. "Oh yeah?" Ted asks. "How's that?" Jamie gestures at the pizza and the beer and the TV. "Watching a game with me old man, ain't I?"

did i really say that? by believeinbelieve - Rated G

For the first time in history - AFC Richmond have won the premier league trophy. It was a tie game until Colin scored a historic goal in injury time. Everything was going perfect for him — until the press conference. The game went to his head and next thing he knew everyone was telling him about how brave and inspiring he was — but he had no clue why. or ~~~ Colin accidentally comes out after a major victory.

stand a little stronger as I walk a little taller all the time by inlovewithnight - Not Rated

Post season 2, Jamie does a PSA for the National Council on Domestic Violence. He does not expect anyone to notice this. He is not aware that he's surrounded by people who notice everything.

The Art of Seduction by jumpfall - Rated G

"Is Coach cheating on us with another football team?" Sam asks. "Worse," Roy says. "An American football team."

[originallypoki]

Our Flag Means Death S2 Spoilers!

Something people doesn't seem to realize, is that pacing has a key impact to a story. Yes, the tale you want to tell can be the best someone has ever come up with, but if your pacing of it is awful, it pulls the whole story down with it. To rushed pacing? It loses meaning and impact, because there's no time to become attached. To slow paced? It becomes boring and uninteresting, finishing the book, show or movie feels more like a task than actual fun.

The first 4 episodes of season 2 of OFMD were awesome. The pacing was perfect, we had enough time to register what was happening and to sort out our emotions. I was a bit thrown off by ep 5. Because, while still good paced, you can start the see the problems because of the missing 2 eps ( for example the skipped fight, instead choosing to tell, not show. )-

Then episode 6 and 7 happened. And oh boi, I wanted to drop the show, only my love for it keeping me going.

I know that it isn't David Jenkins and the production team's fault, since the 2 episodes got cut, giving us the total of 8. But I can't excuse the decision to cram the plot of 10 eps into 8. If you have so little time left, why don't just cut some 'unimportant' storypoints?

Like Ned Lowe, he was introduced and died in the same episode. His purpose was to give GentleBeard development I know, that still doesn't give him enough importance to let him stay in the shortened version. Just like the second break-up from GentleBeard we got in ep 7.

Instead we got very out-of-character characters, Stede for example. I can see why he acts the way he does in ep 7. It would make sense, had he more time to have proper character development! Instead he feels weird, plus the very very uncomfortable second-hand embarrassment scenes (like the fight with Zheng). And sadly after ep 3, I couldn't feel the same chemistry GentleBeard had in S1. While there were cute scenes, like the end of ep5, I felt like something was missing to make me actually care. It's just my feelings, so not very important, but it was a bit disappointing.

The end of ep 7 gave me hope. Because it was a perfect way to introduce a villain, who's a genuine threat to our heros. And I maybe like Prince Ricky a bit to much. Then ep 8 came crushing down while drowing my love for OFMD, that made me ignore everything wrong with the second half of S2.

I like ep 8, well the first few minutes. It felt like I finally had time to see what's happening and David Jenkins didn't leave us completely clueless. ( Let's ignore the logic holes since it was is a comedy show and they were always there. ) And I was way to busy squieking like a pig of happiness to think critical.

I have many criticism points, but will only focus on one;

Izzy's death. And by god, I. Am. Pissed. Killing a character that is beloved by the fandom isn't the problem. While I love him, he's my favorite, I also love a good ol' angst. But he was in the middle of his redemption arc, and ending this with death is just such weak writing. I have nothing against killing a character off for development. Iron man for example, his whole story is about becoming a better person and jumping over his ego. And it ends just like Izzy in death. But Tony was through his arc, his death was the final, showing he has changed, showing he would do everything to save the universe and more important, the people he loves.

If Izzy died at the start of or before S2 I wouldn't complain, because it would've been perfect for him. Maybe if he died a more impactful death I wouldn't write this. But you can't make a character finally change and then destroy the meaning of it by killing him off in the fucking middle of the change. It would've had so much more impact seeing how he becomes a part of the crew he loathed not even a few weeks ago. Episode 5 did that great, while a bit fast. I like how he and Stede get along. Growing closer. It was a bit too fast paced, and I hoped for them to finally communicate, not talk. The same with Ed, I wanted him and Izzy to finally talk to eachother and not through eachother. However, giving us acutally communication while Izzy's fucking dying is not how you give impact. (And credit where credit's due; I really like that dialog, it was beautiful and the right words choosen to explain how Izzy feels)

Not to forget what a meaning it conveys. Izzy always did what he thought was right, even when it was completely wrong. But when he finally grows and begins to do actually what is right and let's go of Ed, he dies?

Still, I wouldn't say that they shouldn't have done a season 2 at all. It has great potential and I can see what they were going for. So, while it has it's problem's, it's nothing what a good fanfic can't fix. So I look forward to the amazing works that will build up on this hot mess and / or 'correct' it.

So bye, I'll go cry and give the last three episodes of S2 of OFMD, the last 20 minutes of S2 Go treatment T^T (except that GO S2 was fucking fantastic through the whole season)

[buffyfan145]

Got the latest "Rings of Power" season 2 spoilers from Fellowship of Fans today but starting out with actual news about the show in general and when it'll likely air!!! :D

Amazon is planning to have the show be done in post-production by June 2024. This indicates a fall 2024 release as compared to season one they finished post-production in May and it started airing in September. Most of us have been thinking it'll be fall of 2024 due to multiple factors with the strikes, no promotion so far this year, skipping both major Comic Cons in San Diego and New York, and then Amazon also having their other popular fantasy series "The Wheel of Time" and not wanting these two shows to compete against each other. I've seen others speculate too it's likely now both these shows will air in opposite years to avoid this as 2021 was s1 of "WoT", last year was "TROP", this year was s2 of "WoT", 2024 will be s2 of "TROP, 2025 s3 of "Wot", 2026 s3 of "TROP", and so on. So likely "TROP" will be at both SDCC and NYCC next year too.

Now onto the major spoilers!!! :D

The first scoop was that Charlie Vickers and the actor playing what FOF called the "Original Form" but is likely Annatar filmed a very important scene together that the showrunners were present for. This was filmed before the writers strike happened in May too and the showrunners insisted on being present for this scene. In the YouTube video the FOF's hosts all think this scene is likely either showing either Halbrand/Sauron turning into Annatar in front of Adar before going to Eregion and the audience is in on this plot, or that Annatar shapeshifts back into Halbrand in front of Galadriel and Celeborn in the season finale battle shocking not only them but the audience which was a scoop we had a few weeks ago. :)

FOF clarified too in the YT vid that this scene is not a flashback. Also they insisted again that there's no indication that this Annatar actor is staying past this storyline and is only a recurring guest-star compared to Charlie being a series regular and the main actor as Sauron for the rest of the series. Supposed the Annatar storyline is also only in episodes 6-8 at the most. Though was funny hearing in the YT vid the hosts compare this to "Sailor Moon" transforming. LOL But realistically they think like myself that it'll be similar to how we've seen other shapeshifters like Loki, Mystique, Martian Manhunter, and more do it on-screen in live-action shows and movies.

Then the final scoop was that Círdan will make his debut in the season 2 premiere!!! :D I didn't think he would show up that early but excited for it. Very curious as to how as supposedly the premiere is Sauron centric but this could still work too to show Círdan. In the YT vid they also talked more about him and if his story will connect with the other elves and if he'll get his ring Narya this early or later, and if this will tie into the storyline with The Stranger (possibly Gandalf) and Nori as we've had very little spoilers on their storyline besides them filming in Spain. Still don't know Círdan's actor yet either but again excited to see how this plays out.

[fezwearingjellybananas]

If you're still taking au headcanon prompts, Hartley as a recurring rogue/ teaming up with more rogues circa s1/early s2 OR whoops, s1 Eddie got powers from the particle accelerator

Oh, they both sound fun though.

Hartley's plan worked. He got Harrison to admit he knew the accelerator was flawed. He got Ramon to get him out the Pipeline, and he pointed them in the direction they needed to look to find out how to help Ronnie (he will not admit this is part of his plan).

He saw Harrison run though, when he broke the window, saw the traces of red lightning, and that seems like bad news for him. He heard a rumour about another speedster, one who killed people at Mercury Labs, and Hartley has a terrible feeling he just inadvertently got on the wrong side of a murderer

But he does know the Flash has weaknesses, and knows Snart and Rory didn't make it to Iron Heights. He can find them, and he's sure he can build them new guns easily enough if Ramon can do it.

Leonard just steals the blueprints and Barry's name from Cisco, Hartley does build the guns, and Lisa's Gold Gun, and he's got an idea for a flute that might come in handy

Hartley helps with the not actually handing anyone over to shady government organisations part of the Pipeline plan. This is when they recruit Shawna to the Rogues, and maybe Mark.

Mark's still grumpy he didn't get to do his tidal wave plan and Leonard's very insistent the Flash made him promise not to kill people any more, but Hartley still persuades him to join the group by saying killing the Flash will give him some revenge for a few minutes, or he can cause problems for the Flash constantly by helping them steal things and cause chaos he's got to go deal with, and more of them have a better chance of beating him and showing him up in front of the whole city. Mark's a little dubious, but willing to give it a try, since it'll make them all rich

All the Rogues are willing to help with the stop Lewis Snart plan, especially when they find out what he's done to Lisa, even if it means teaming up with the Flash. Hartley goes in as the tech guy after Barry because Hartley figured out who he was ages ago, and he's obviously going to mess this up.

Working together once does not mean they're not all going to carry on with the ruin the Flash's Christmas by causing as many problems as they possibly can for him in a few months though. They already had to delay it because this other speedster went and hurt their enemy

(If anyone sees them helping stop Zoom's forces at the end of the series, that's only because they can't rob any banks if all the banks get destroyed. It's definitely not because they got attached to the Flash and he's their guy to fight, who does this other speedster think he is?)

Hartley's very happy with his new weird little family. They're planning on stealing from his parents next.

As for Eddie gets powers, I have less right now, but:

The windows shatter, the power goes out, and there's this huge bang from upstairs and before he's even thinking Eddie's sprinting to the lab.

He finds Barry unconscious lying on a set of shelves and immediately goes to start chest compressions. Only there's this residual charge left in Barry and Eddie's last thought as he's thrown back away from Barry's body is you're not meant to touch someone who's been electrocuted.

It would be suspicious to only take one of C.C.P.D.'s comatose employees into his care, so Eobard is forced to also bring his ancestor to S.T.A.R. Labs. He's very, very grumpy about this.

He's even more grumpy when Eddie wakes up about two weeks after Barry and also appears to be a speedster, but he had to inherit it from somewhere.

Eddie puts his foot down and the Pipeline doesn't happen. He's more hesitant about the superheroics too, technically it means being a vigilante which is illegal, but ultimately Eddie wants to help people, so he does put on a costume just to help Barry with the fires and things like that. He'll leave the dealing with criminals in costume to Barry, unless he really needs help, Eddie sticks to doing that part the normal way as his day job

Thank you!

[5+ headcanons for an AU]

[fifteensjukebox]

tagged by @amidalleia tysm!!💖

last song: winning by emily haines & the soft skeleton has been in my head and i have whatever a photographic memory but for music is called so i think it counts. i was trying to figure out the change in timing starting about a minute into the song and my memory wasn't good enough to figure it out, and i think the last song i actually listened to was wet blanket by metric (emily's band) in the car yesterday. what can i say i love her! (the update is that I tossed this post into my drafts earlier and i have now actually listened to winning and almost figured out what she's doing but i'll have to discuss with my music theory-knowing brother)

favourite color: turquoise/mint/teal/sage/cool amethysty purples/the denim blue VW car colour (my beloved first car was a vw beetle we called lulu so that colour is now lulu blue in my house à la dodie yellow)

currently watching/reading:

rewatching btvs and angel mid s4/s1 respectively while showing it to my mom and brother for the first time! it's taking ages but we're having the best time

gilmore girls - (late mid s3) first watch w my parents! there's so much i know from here and so much i don't but i know i love jess

grey's anatomy - watched s1-17 with my family a few years ago (begrudgingly at first bc i so did not want to watch a medical show. and sooo long! but it really is that good (sometimes)) & have been watching weekly as it airs since, but we just caught up on the first bit of the current season yesterday bc i didn't realize it was back. and i love the new class of interns so much we are SO BACK

not dead yet - the only show i'm currently watching by myself week to week as it airs and of course my favorite character is the white man i hate it here... i do love the women too though!!

doctor who 12th doctor rewatch but i stopped like a month ago in the middle of the episode before the cybermen plot starts bc it's just going to break my heart to lose bill for a third time. but i miss them! missy most of all so i will get to it soon

i'm not really reading anything at the moment but i have a couple audiobooks on hold at the library (yeah this is jenny's answer exactly but it applies!)

relationship status: single and i don't go out enough so i doubt it'll change anytime soon

sweet/savory/spicy: i want to say sweet bc i loooove sugar but i add salt to everything lately, i even added it to a rice krispie square the other day, so....

current obsessions:

also still nancy drew forever and always, but honestly i don't have a fandom hyperfixation atm! it's all about furniture shopping.... i'm looking for a small chair/stool for my bedroom desk, and a bigger table to go with my living room big chair so i can have my laptop/food/whatever else i want bc i seem to spend most of my time here

and emily haines/metric music (lately i haven't been listening to much me after 2007, but i love the more recent stuff just as much!

last thing you googled: something about the st vincent rock&roll hall of fame exhibit bc i'd seen a clip about it on someones story but i couldn't find the full video (still haven't)

no-pressure tags: @redheadedbrunette @apolloamy @godofsmallthings @jemhowling @acafemmeic @electrictouchfeaturingfalloutboy @coldnightairinmylungs & anyone else who wants to! i love these sm

[morphofan]

Hyper-Fixation and The Bad Batch

Or, "WTF Is Going On With Morph, Lately?"

Me and The Bad Batch

SO, I first started watching The Bad Batch during the hiatus between S1 and S2. I was big into Boba Fett (thanks to The Mandalorian) and so I found The Bad Batch because Boba was mentioned in one episode. But I didn’t sit down to watch it until my friend, Cyn, told me I HAD to watch it.

So I watched the whole first season, and then had to go back and watch The Bad Batch arc in Season 7 of The Clone Wars. I was hooked. I couldn’t wait for Season 2. I was writing again, inspired again, hyper-fixated.

My sweet cat, my baby, Thomas, died at age 5 in November of 2022. It emotionally destroyed me.

Then my desktop computer had a total hard drive failure. Up until then, I was backing stuff up in a separate folder on my computer, which did f*ckall because the entire hard drive went bad. This was before I learned about backing stuff up on a cloud or OneDrive or whatever.

I lost all my fics, including a half-dozen Bad Batch fics in various states of completion. It was some of the best work I’ve ever written, and it was gone. Poof.

So, there was that sense of lost, and I almost left the fandom from sheer depression. I tried to rewrite the fics, but it wasn’t going to work because I knew I could never replicate what I had written.

Then came “Plan 99.”

I didn’t eat for a week. Not a bite, not a calorie. For seven days. I dropped 16 pounds. At the time of this writing, it’s been nearly 10 months since the finale of S2. The Bad Batch has occupied my mind this entire time. I couldn’t tell you what I did over the last ten months, because it was all just a long blur. I neglected my family, my duties, all the things that a grown ass woman is supposed to focus on.

I still tried to contribute to the fandom, with “Travels With Tech,” fic and video edits, but most of it has been more or less ignored.

A week or so ago, the friend that originally told me about TBB died, very suddenly, of a heart attack at age 45, leaving three kids.

We still haven’t been publicly shown the S3 Bad Batch teaser that was revealed at Star Wars Celebration back in May 2023. There’s been no word of a release date, aside from 2024. It feels now like the creators are mocking us by dropping little comments on TwiX about S3, but not actually giving us anything.

And I’ve realized now, that I’ve built up S3 in my head so much, and imagined so many scenarios I want to see, that I am destined to be disappointed when it does finally air. No matter how amazing S3 is, it cannot live up to the standards I’ve assigned it in my mind.

I did the same thing with S3 of The Mandalorian. I kept thinking, if I could just hold on until S3 of Mando, everything would be good again. But when it came, I was disappointed. And I know the same thing is going to happen with The Bad Batch.

Hyper-fixations always follow the same pattern. I get obsessed with something, and then, quite suddenly, it passes over and I become ambivalent to it. It’s happened with every fandom I’ve been with. Something that, for a time, I thought I could not live without becomes ho-hum. I don’t ever want it to happen, but it always does.

And now I have the guilt of wasting the last two years of my life on yet another hyper-fixation, only to lose interest in it just as suddenly as it started.

S3 of TBB is NOT going to make everything right again. It might provide some happiness for a few months, but then it will end and that will be it.

So anyway… sorry.

END

[pumpkin-spike18]

✨Weekly Progress 2024 #22-23✨

#22 would've come out last week if I didn't forget my planner when I packed for traveling.

Weekly Progress #22

Updated tumblr tags

Thumbnailed, sketched, refined sketched, lined, and finished [fan project #2] illustration

Submitted forms for [fan projects]

Made work plans for P-M and SFB

Basic o2a2 outline

Fixed SYVNH bug

Generated sprite pieces for P-M and SFB

Fleshed out o2a2 outline

Weekly Progress #23

Coded P-M sprites

Updated itch page images

Made new BWBOK schedule

Copied P-M script into Renpy

Scripted P-M s1-s3

Answered BWBOK comments

Drafted [fan project] posts

Designed P-M GUI

Wrote 100+ words for SFB

A Sky of Falling Birds

As I mentioned before, SFB is my next big project, which I plan to submit for BAF VN Jam. That's... 7/1.

It's okay, I still got... 20 days.

There's a lot of work left to do and not much to show off at the moment.

Pre-Make

Or Pre 🕰 Make (P-M), I haven't completely decided on how to advertise the title yet. It's a "small" project that I came up with back in 2020 and still haven't finished. I thought I'd dedicate a few days' time to it and see how far I'd get. There's still a bit of work to do, but much of it is done.

The art's quite old and the story telling was the original test I did for SYVNH's looping mechanism so it won't be anything novel. The screenshot above is from this game. If he looks a little familiar, don't worry. That's not your imagination.

The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows

My other big focus for this month, we're hoping to finish it for Otome Jam... which also ends 7/1. I've a loose schedule for achieving that, but the team's health is the top priority so we're playing it by ear. It may take a little longer to finish up.

Other!

O2A2: Because I couldn't sit still!! I started planning for O2A2 2024! It'll be another entry into the kill series, but I hope to include some point and click elements to it. Last year I finished 9 VN projects, something I don't want to do again-- but!! I don't want to only finish one project this year!! I've been skipping and fomo-ing all the jams in the first half of the year. Well, no more! I'm going to get some work done this summer!!

Fan Projects: I don't think I need to keep my involvement in fan projects a secret anymore! I took part in the D. Gray Man 20th Anniversary Project, which we actually started work on late last year! I also took part in the Narumitsu Big Bang 2024 event, which... also started work late last year 🤔 Huh, I was really busy back then. Maybe that'll teach me to sign up for too many fan events... (😂 no ofc not!)

Misc: I finished some tedious updating work that I promised myself to do a while back. I'll admit I make my blog easiest for me to navigate, first and foremost. But if there's something that's bothering you, or have an idea to make navigation better, feel free to let me know through an ask! I also updated all of my itch io pages' images. They were originally linked from discord, which changed its policy and broke all direct image links. Thankfully, I had everything labeled in a private server so I could easily retrieve and reupload to update the pages. Yes, I should've done that long ago. And I'm sorry I just... didn't;;

[winderlylandchime]

I wrote this all out while pretending to work and actually working so it’s a little all over the place. But now I’m laughing reading it back because it genuinely looks like one of the “check up” texts I send to mom/dad about my brother. Minus the qaf related topics at the end. Anyway, hi! Hope you’re doing well and had a good start of the week! And now back to the idiot I’m related to:

Take a guess who has been listening to Lover’s spit sincere yesterday? I’m talking sitting outside, drinking his coffee while it’s absolutely freezing and listening to Lover’s spit like he’s in some sad music video. (Btw the songs he listened to were Lover’s spit, you look so fine (which was in like s1 so he was really going through it), Save the last dance, Here nor there and true faith. And this was on a loop!) And the only thing he has “said” to me so far is just a simple lip smack with a side eye whenever he looks at me. So i’d say he is doing as expected but he’s also upset with me for making him like the show (bc yeah, i did that. I made him have a crush on Brian)

He also has bunch of doctor check ups today and I can only drop him off and later pick him up since my work is hectic since holiday’s are coming up. And ngl i am keeping all the doctors and nurses in my thoughts today. Usually (even tho it doesn’t look like it) i stop him or at least limit his ramblings so i have no clue how today will go. He might surprise me and behaves like an adult. Also he said that he barely slept overnight because he kept thinking about what could happen in the last 3 episodes and in case you wanted to know, he told me that through the cat. As in ‘Brian, guess who didn’t sleep today cause of Justin and the other Brian? That’s right, me’ and yes, it was said in a baby voice. I did also get a text from his friend asking me if he’s doing okay cause apparently he sent him a voice memo “talking about Brian and how he’s really worried about him” and my brother has absolutely no memory of even sending that. All this is just after 5x09. I am mentally not prepared for him after the finale.

But to answer some of your questions since I didn’t have the chance to yesterday: He only watches the American RuPaul. And he watched season 5 because of Jinkx (on Saturday he watched the video they did with Trixie a few years ago so he started to miss them). And yes, he has managed to drag the entire family into qaf although grandma has no fucking clue what or who he’s talking about so she just nods her head and smiles. And grandpa only knows about it through grandma who is even less reliable than my brother. But he is very happy that he found a hobby even tho at first he thought Brian was his friend. So basically: yes, he has made it everyone’s problem.

And you saying he’s just like Debbie if she was a man made me laugh so hard cause I’ve been thinking the same thing! Im glad someone agrees with me. And I’m happy(?) to report that 3 of our cousins and our aunt(!) actually got in trouble with our grandpa because it turns out they had bets going on if he’ll figure out by the end of the show that he might be a little queer. And then during a family dinner last week it was revealed that it was our uncle who was the one behind the bets and it was his husband who exposed him (yes the uncles whose wedding he went to with rainbow hair). And no it was not cause he thought the bets were immature but because my uncle didn’t let him be in charge with him. So I’d say the whole family is kinda waiting to see what happens and also treating it like their personal entertainment since we do tend to be more chill with these topics (which is such a huge blessing and we really are lucky about the fact that they dont even bat an eye at anything queer related including coming outs). Also I honestly have no idea how he will react to the proposal. I keep trying to think about it and I can never pinpoint his reaction. His reaction to the comic book was as if he saw the worst thing ever so we shall see. Which tbh same, i always hated that cover story :/

As for the Gale/Randy/Hal thing: first of, I didn’t expect that people were going to later talk about it to you so i hope I didn’t cause problems for you of any kind. But I do admit that even years later, it’s still a topic that has me curious since we know so little and since the lack of social media meant they (aka hal) was shady in interviews. Who does that omg? But also: i was so shocked when he said that. Wish you could see him cause he really had that look in his eyes as if he was there and saw them arguing every day and had inside knowledge and like I was the one who didn’t know anything about qaf. You could literally see the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out if he was right or not. I do wonder how he will feel about it once I tell him the little info I know about.

Btw, im glad to hear you cat is doing well. It is the absolute worst when an animal is sick since they can’t tell you what’s wrong. So please give Emmett some kisses and pets!

Oh and the most important part: your little teasers about your fic are making me lose my mind. Nonbinary Gus?! Older Brian?? I might lose my mind completely when i get the chance to read it.

Anon! I was just texting Europe about your brother. It’s now 12:45 as I start to write this and look:

I’m so glad you wrote because I wanted to remind you and let you make a decision based on whether he’s been paying attention to the titles.

I’m sorry I find it so funny he’s angry with YOI for making him care so much about this show and fall in love with Brian. It’s like when my dogs are mad at me for the rain. (If you’re doing math I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, all rescues because some lesbian stereotypes are accurate.)

Your family is taking bets about whether your brother is going to come out as so form of queer? I love that! Way better than the qaf family taking bets about how long Justin and Brian were going to last.

Don’t worry about mentioning the drama from the cast! I’m still so impressed with how insightful your brother is and how much he’s picked up on everything that the fandom discusses at length. The dynamics between the cast were bound to be one.

Emmett the cat continues to do well and come back from poor pathetic sickly mewmew to absolute bastard of a cat. We love to see it.

I am hoping to start posting my fic next week. I was hoping to have more done but oh well! I need the pressure of readers to focus lol. I’m so glad you’re excited!

[lillywhitefield]

Just saw a Buzzfeed article about fat shaming in the media and it got me really upset because it included Penelope in it. And I’m just like ‘tell me you haven’t actually watched the show without telling me’ because like-besides Penelope herself I feel like the only person who comments on her weight is Cressida. And it is a disservice to Pen’s actual story to say she is seen as undesirable because of her weight. Literally her entire arc is that she is overlooked-not because of her weight but because she is such a wallflower! And even the book makes it very clear because even though she talks about how she lost weight-she wasn’t noticed after that either! She is literally still ignored up until she starts coming out of her shell. And to say that she is considered undesirable because of her weight is just such a huge slap in the face as someone who really relates to Pen because for once it feels like a story can be about a heavier character without focusing on her weight and then they have to go and make it all about that. Makes me very sad

Other than one comment made by Prudence early on in S1 (something about her weighting two stone heavier than she should), I can't think of any other instances of comments made about Penelope's weight (off the top of my head, I'm in the middle of a re-watch so that one was fresh in my mind from a week ago). It's really disappointing that someone either assumed that's why she was overlooked without watching, or forced their pre-conceived of weight onto their viewing of the show. She's overlooked for so many other reasons. I feel like the show especially plays up the unlikeability of her family, her obnoxious sisters and overbearing mother, not to mention the unflattering clothing she has to wear. She's also shy; I don't know if I've seen her speak with many people outside of her family (Colin, Eloise, Madame Delecroix, and Edwina for like three sentences?) The whole idea that it is only her weight making her undesirable is reductive of her story.

I also relate a lot to Pen, and enjoy that her weight isn't a huge part of her story. I feel like a lot of fat characters in love stories (the few that exist) are loved "in spite of" or even "because of" their weight, and I don't want that. I want love because someone loves me, because they know who I am and they chose to share themselves with me in return. Weight or height or hair color or whatever doesn't factor into that. Maybe this is my demisexuality doing the talking, but I wish there wasn't so much of a focus on looks in what makes someone fall in love. Anyone can be beautiful and worthy of a love story; that doesn't depend on their looks. That's also not to put down anyone that relates to her weight and loves her for it, I can also see how it's great that a character with a non-traditional body type gets to lead in a romance. I like that it is NOT the focus of her story, and just adds to why I like Pen, if that makes sense?

I will also say I don't think I see a lot of comments about her weight within the fandom (generally, that's not to say it hasn't happened or I haven't seen it, I just don't think it happens a lot or I have blocked the people that do lol), but it's really disappointing that there are places that picked out her weight as a main contributor to her character or story.

[olivieraa]

my main gripe, and has always been my biggest problem with SnK since the day I first watched it 10 years ago, is that it has a pacing issue

I don't understand how a show can be both fast paced and slow paced at the same time, but no matter how many times I've watched it (seen s1 4 times, s2 once (now twice)), I feel the same every time

there's a lot of dragged out dialogue

and I mean draaaaaaaaaaaged out

I've had this problem with a few animes in the past as well, mainly YGO. YGO went on for 4 years I think? but what happens in the show is done in the span of a year, possibly only a few months. literally all of Battle City, Noah's arc, and the duel tower take place in about 3 days. That's around 100 eps = 3 days (I'll have to check to get the accuracy here but I'm either exactly right or not far off). but 100 eps, from different seasons, that was probably done over a 2 year span when it was released.

so while watching a show, and it takes 2 years for these two seasons to come out, your mind doesn't register that those 2 years irl are 2-4 days in the show.

and I know its the dub, which cant be credited, but one character even mentions how its been 4 years (I THINK someone says it to Yami in the airport, it may have been Anzu, I skip that ep a lot bc of its woeful animation)

SnK is a little different. its similar in the sense that a good chunk of eps are just one day in that world, but then they also do a lot of flashbacks to show that there was a lot of behind the scenes development we didn't see, shit like that. so its a lot better.

but its still dragged out. everyone's inner monologue takes up half an ep. the constant planning takes so long, only for them to not actually do that plan bc something interrupted the plan so its now a new plan.

Eren's basement was mentioned mid-way through season 1. barely ever brought up again. and I know it then took fucking 4 years to bring out s2 (where I dont even know if it was mentioned at all), and I've no idea what happens s3 wise.

my past memory of SnK manga from 10 years ago was Armin getting kidnapped cause they think he's Historia. that or the part where Levi picks her up. that's where my knowledge of SnK ends. I have not seen that animated. I'm assuming it'll be in s3.

I remember the whole "WHAT'S IN THE DAMN BASEMENT???" shit going around. and its very frustrating, bc the storyline makes you think they forgot, and just kept making new plans and prioritising everything else over getting this one damn answer, and that months and months to maybe even a year have passed by without nobody mentioning the basement again or making any plans to get to it.

but in actuality, the majority of these eps prob take place in about a week, maybe 2. and that it actually hasn't been THAT long since Eren mentioned the basement. but its made so unclear, that it feels dragged out to fuck, which is what caused such fandom frustration.

for all I know, season 3 is aaaaaaaaaall about getting to that damn basement. but still, it is frustrating when your mind is going, "these damn people are constantly on the hunt for answers and yet there's no adamancy to get the basement which may have all the answers???"

ANYWAYS

finally onto a season that'll be completely new to me (minus whatever I saw in the manga before I'd caught up to it 10 years ago)

I'll start tagging it now lol

[weixint]

talking about jan

2023 began a month ago but and i subsequently fell back into my reading, fanfiction and webtoon phase. it’s been like that since 2020, slurping up as much content as i can. i’ve started a new job, a stone’s throw away from home and university is (hopefully) going fairly well.

webtoon reading was one of the many hobbies that stuck when i first discovered its ability to mitigate my anxiety back in early 2021. the hobby gradually made its way into my nightly ‘quiet’ time routine for 5-6 months before i started a different hobby.

but!! for the past few weeks, i mustered the courage to clear my gallery and download ‘webtoon’. i caught up with so many manhwas, mostly new but some were manhwas from back in 2021 that i used to enjoy!!! my favourites would be:

manhwas/manhua/manga:

salad days (kuaikan) - a ballerino and a boxer met at the children’s palace (if you like that childhood friends to lovers trope)

jinx (lezhin) - most importantly, if a manhwa is from lezhin, it’s much likely a BL (and toxic) main character is a professional mma boxer

pearl boy (lezhin) - i really liked this but i only stopped because the main character, dooshik, looked like someone i previously dated 💀 edit: HE LOOKED DIFFERENT AFTER THE AUTHOR WENT ON HIATUS HENCE THE CONTINUATION (spoilers: main character is a gangster so there’s a lot of fighting and violence)

omniscient reader (webtoon) - apparently a very popular manhwa

the boxer (webtoon) - this is such a shonen themed manhwa but i like it!!!

hectopascal (webtoon) - street fighter main character and rich tycoon main character on a revenge partnership

homesick (webtoon) - my latest obsession after Eleceed and Jungle Juice! saving the chapters so i don’t have to wait months for an update

she’s hopeless (webtoon) - high school romcom

the guide to capturing a black lotus (kuaikan) - i like this because it’s such a typical isekai manhua but the art style is so dreamy (like most chinese manhua actually)

games, books, shows, updates:

playstation games: elden ring

recent purchase: hogwarts legacy (pre-order)

switch games: ace attorney trilogy; stardew valley

recent purchase: persona 5 royal

books: jellicoe road; carrie soto is back

currently reading: hp goblet of fire; lockwood & co the screaming staircase

shows: ginny & georgia; the office s1 & 2

anime: chainsaw man; record of ragnarok

btw i no longer have a physical planner so i will be updating this space instead to save the trees 🌳

xoxo gossip girl

ps: i created a pinterest board filled w joo jaekyung’s pictures from jinx it’s called ‘red flag society’ where seungho from painter of the night and jiwon from BJ alex can mingle and talk about how to treat their partners like a puddle of pig’s piss (pearl boy’s dooshik is actually kinda nice and possessed a tinge of kindness so he isn’t required to attend this gathering)