#its just interesting to me that the majority of the fandom and promo took it as the emma swan show

[florida3exclamationpoints]

(I love you Emma Swan I mean absolutely no shade to Emma Swan) it's crazy to me that ouat was The Emma Swan Show??? I mean I know especially season 1 was centered around her pov but the entire show revolved around Rumple. Every plot revolved around Rumple. Every character had an important connection to Rumple. Emma's most important relationships came from Rumple. Everything is about Rumple. It's always about Rumple. He just tricks you in the first season by pretending to be Behind The Scenes when actually he is The Main Character.

[outrunningthedark]

„The 9-1-1 fandom: “Omg yay no more piss poor promo from FOX because ABC actually cares about its shows!!!”ABC: *slaps their logo on an old ass photo to remind people 9-1-1 will be back soon*All interns/social media managers are the same no matter the network, lol.“ That‘s a massive letdown for me. I mean i at least hoped for some little changes, but i guess they will go with same old shit……

I'm still leaving room to be surprised, but I think there's two things "working against" the show when it comes to promo. - Audiences are pretty much set after the first handful of seasons. Whoever took the time to stream OG or watch live when it was on FOX will continue to do so, and the streamers in particular have no reason to jump ship since the episodes will continue to be released on Hulu regardless of broadcast channel. ABC doesn't need *new* viewers; they just need the same ones to come back and prove picking up a seventh season was a good move. - Sad to say...there's nothing to really promote that is going to catch everyone's attention. The average fan - the majority - is older than most of us and probably not stalking social media for updates. On top of that, we're not about to experience hype anywhere near, say, the latest season of The Rookie. Nearly every loved/popular ship is canon, and the one that people want (the way people wanted Chenford) isn't close to happening and may not ever. It truly is the "same old shit" because there's only so many stories to be told when writers resist new possibilities. And ftr, I don't just mean Buddie. It's like how Buck ended up in another relationship that was going nowhere for a whole season because of abandonment issues (and probably would have still had problems if TPTB weren't wary of cancellation...) or how Chim couldn't exist on his own when Maddie left for Boston or even bringing on different women to be teased as love interests (including Lucy) instead of doing something unexpected and letting those interactions stay platonic.

[mr-mr-ontheradio]

Something changed after Jan 2014. Harry changed. Jeff more in the picture. Enter Kendall still hanging by. Minimal Larry interaction. Something happened. Harry's entire look and persona changed. I always thought it was the time that Harry matured and wasn't naive or wide eyed anymore.. More closed off before cameras. Maybe Larry also had some fights, obviously like any couple. What are your thoughts about it??

ok 2014. I've been meaning to make a masterpost about this so thanks for the question.

So 2014 was the Where We Are tour, and the boys were all severely overworked and it SHOWS. Niall lost weight, Louis and Harry both look starved, and Zayn is horrifyingly skinny.

They look on the verge of passing out during this entire interview especially Harry and Zayn.

Zayn was ~rumored to be~ struggling with a drug problem and anorexia during this time, and dealing with his own range of drama but I'll keep this on Harry/Larry.

Obviously an easy explaination for the decreased Larry interaction is that they were broken up. And its very possible they are/were an on again/off again couple and 2014 could have been an "off" period but 2014 is also when

Harry got the anchor corresponding with Louis' rope (January)

Harry gets the heart (February) and Louis gets the arrow (March)

The christ-the-redeemer trip where Harry and Louis are heard kissing in the bread van and this picture is taken where they seem like theyre holding hands (May)

Harry goes to Jay's wedding (July) and holds onto the wedding bracelet all the guests had for the rest of the year, even after it broke.

Louis gets the dagger (November).

Harry sings "Night Changes" directly at Louis during both the Graham Norton Show and the Royal Variety Show (December).

There are a lot of little things/speculation in between but these are the big things I think definitely prove they were still more or less "together" throughout the year. The months we saw virtually no Larry interaction at all were from end of May to End of October, with the major exception being Harry publicly attending Louis' mom's wedding.

It kind of seems like the wedding was a big deal to management (even though I don't think the fandom saw it as proof of anything as much as they were happy to see it happen). But it kind of seems like Louis and Harry had to pay the price for this one because there was a big eleanor presence in the month or so leading up to it whereas before she was barely seen all year apart from one publicized ski trip in February before WWA kicked off. But from the 1st of June until Jay's wedding on the 20th of July, she and Louis were papped twice in paris and once in portugal, she went to 5 or so concerts, she was spotted leaving his hotel twice, she was spotted eating lunch with Louis and Lottie, Louis attended her graduation, Louis took her out for her birthday, and *drumroll please* it was announced Eleanor would be Jay's maid of honor (she was actually just a bridesmaid so they played that one up for the media).

They also brought Paige back breifly in the days leading up to and after the wedding with her posting pics of herself in Harry's clothes on instagram, them attending a party together, them going out to lunch with jeff and the mirror reporting they were dating again.

Meanwhile apart from the stunting, the fandom as a whole was FREAKING TF OUT over the video that was "leaked" at the end of May of Louis and Zayn smoking weed (coincidendally two days after the European leg of WWA had started) and we were being bombarded with articles about bad boy Louis and Zayn, and how perfect 🥰 harry 👼🏼 was 😱 totally 😵 offended 👎🏼 and 😤 against 🙅🏻‍♂️ Louis 😖 and Zayn's 👿 drug addict 🤢 ways 😒.

This wasn't the first time we saw articles about Louis and Harry no longer being friends, but this was definitely a new angle that started to separate Harry and Louis because of an actual reason and it was the beginning of Harry's image being separated from the other boys.

As far as Kendall goes, Hendall seems to have wrapped up in Februrary and then she disappeared for the rest of the year in typical Harry-stunt fashion. Nothing strange there. And when he did hang out with her Jeff was always there. Harry's most prominent "relationship" in 2014 was actually Nadine which didn't even start until December.

Jeff and Harry were definitely attatched at the hip right from the beginning of January for sure. It's not unlike Harry to be like this with new friends though, and he was the same way with Grimmy during the years before.

Jeff is a special case too becuase he's very connected in the industry so I think Harry felt safe with him and it might have comforted Harry to have someone like that he could trust looking out for him. I think Jeff was maybe helping him navigate his way around the utter PR nightmare that was his public image too. He certainly had a lot less "womanizing" stunts in 2014. Jeff might have even been talking to him about taking a break from the band, since 2014 is supposedly when Harry suggested hiatus.

As far as Harry's "look" goes he's literally been changing it every single year. 2010-2011 was baggy pants abercrombie and jack wills. 2011-2012 was the blazers and bowties and the fetus harry hair. 2013 was take me home/fratboy harry. headscarf harry was 2013-2014 until he started wearing those fedoras, then that was his look for a while as his hair grew out and he started wearing the unbuttoned shirts and took on a more hipster/rockstar aesthetic. then he started with the floral shirts and the skin tight jeans leading up to the floral suits and it went from there. Like I said it's never been weird for Harry to completely change his look in a whim. We literally have grandpa harry now.

His persona changed too but really it's not that strange considering he was entering is 20s, 2013 had been hell for him and Louis, he was so overworked that he was probably getting burnt out on the positive side of his life (making music and performing) and starting to resent the negative side of it even more.

As far as being more closed off in interviews, he was probably sick of them since they all ask the same questions and there wasn't much he could say that he hadn't already said. At this point if he'd been in a relationship with Louis for four years then he wouldn't have many anecdotes or side interests that didnt involve Louis or their private life on some level so he might not have had much to talk about. Try to avoid saying "my boyfriend" when you're talking about your life after you've been together for years and years, it's not easy. And he obviously learned the hard way that every thing he says on camera will follow him forever so I think he forced himself to stay quiet rather than risk letting something slip.

In my opinion, overall things weren't really that odd during most of 2014 until november/december when they started Four promo. They were touring most of the year so their lives were pretty out of the spotlight apart from the occasional stunting and Harry hanging out with Jeff in his free time. The changes we saw were typical of someone his position.

I think there were some power struggles behind the scenes based off their little rebellions during WWA ("i have a secret", refusing to deny larry twice when asked directly if there were rumors they wanted to clear up) and 2014 is when RBB started (though i think it was just for fun at the time). Jeff might have been encouraging Harry to stand up for himself against his management or at least teaching him that he didn't have to take everything lying down and he did actually have some leverage.

Jeff also might even have been priming him to go solo and if Louis and the boys suspected Harry was being eyeballed for a solo break out there might have been some tension and I'm sure Louis at least thought that's what was going on. But I don't think it's something they would have broken up over considering at the end of the day Louis has always been supportive of Harry.

I will say that 2015 was one crisis after another though and i think at the end of 2014 we saw that ball start rolling because all the boys looked strung out for the majority of Four promo and Harry was kind of being rebellious as far as maintaining his hetero image with comments like "not that important" and "dont knock it til you try it".

Anyways thats my thoughts on it. I am intoerested to know what you think changed though ?

[ngame989]

It's sad to see people losing interest in the show, but maybe it's mostly because of the hiatus. Hiatues, especially longer ones, tend to make people lose interest in shows. Other times, it's people that have pessimistic views of the show because they hated the direction the show took. I like you and Seddm because, despite your personal feelings, you try to analyze why the show did what it did and giving credit where credit is due. The show isn't perfect, but it does some things right.

Just got back from a very satisfying tag filtering session. 75+% of all SVTFOE-tagged content is now filtered for me, hooray!

On topic, you’re definitely right that the hiatus has something to do with it, but that can’t be the sole factor. The fandom was at its peak during the post-2A hiatus and maintained a TON of show-related activity for months after Starcrushed, while after Divide/Conquer activity tanked or just went back to fankids within a few weeks. 

My own personal intuition, is that it’s a combination of a ton of things.

2B bomb (not allowing much time to let content sink in) -> 5 month hiatus -> Resolution to the big plot event everyone was hyped for in under 90 minutes -> Tomstar SDCC clip just days later, tossing the shipping portion of the fandom into chaos -> 4 month hiatus -> 3A bomb (same as before, but also with less fun episodes a lot more fast-paced serious stuff overall, plus shipping drama) -> 4 month hiatus -> 3B (weekly was nice, but more relationship drama without actually resolving anything although as I’ve pointed out 667 times before, it’s clear what’s going to happen very early into S4)

Honestly I think this sequence of events was the death knell for the fandom. Basically anyone that likes the show for a particular reason found something to be turned off by. Starting after BFM, it was already clear that interest was waning a bit - I didn’t run actual statistics or anything, but my own experience indicates that art and fics fell off a good bit post-BFM compared to post-2B. As this chain of events wore on, things only got worse.

All the plot season 2 was building up? Solved in BFM, Toffee is dead and Ludo is gone now.

Jarco? Dead 3 episodes after BFM. 

Star and Marco’s wholesome, carefree friendship? Filled with tension throughout almost the whole season. 

Tomstar? Star starts ignoring Tom mere episodes after they get together, spiraling further downward in 3B. 

Eclipsa? Definitely a major character in season 3, but doesn’t actually do much like some of the 3A promos hyped her up to do. 

Meteora? Also “solved” at the end of season 3.

At the end of the day, this show is and has always been a character piece, a coming of age story. Mostly for Star and Marco, but obviously including a bunch of other characters’ own personal growths as well. Yeah, it has plenty of other stuff going on, but this is what everything is founded on. Could it do a better job in some other areas? Absolutely, and I have plenty of issues with aspects of it myself, especially involving some areas of the plot - season 3 didn’t really have much going for it besides setting up future events, imo, it felt like a “new beginning” rather than an actual fluid continuation from what came before. But I think this whole sequence of events, for better or worse (probably worse) exposed the true colors that the fandom really doesn’t care about the unfolding of Star and Marco’s journeys of growing up. Rather, they care about specific steps along that journey that either are done now, or haven’t happened yet, and interest/hype plummeted when the show didn’t kowtow to that. 

And while obviously Seddm and myself (thanks for the compliments, btw, it truly means a lot) and everyone else in the world has stuff they prefer and stuff they don’t, and that’s totally OK! I’m not trying to morally guilt trip anyone into liking the show if they just don’t anymore. But the problem comes in when that mentality of “what I wanted didn’t happen” leads one to say the show itself failed - that’s just objectively false. Maybe once the show does things people like again, the fairweathers will come back and the tags won’t be almost entirely garbage.

[meldacio]

honestly, i should really take a moment to call out two major reasons why this blog even exists in the way it does. it’s gonna be a loooong post, so i’ll add a cut. but, in short, this blog owes so, so much to @hyperionknight & @meldaciomartyr. and i’m gonna tag like a gazillion people. my bad.

tl;dr i love y’all. my follower’s are beautiful peaches and thank you for making me feel so loved and welcomed. y’all are the best.

okay, y’all, there’s actually three people that are owed credit, but whatevs. so, like, a month ago i was in a super funk. my best friend got me hooked on ffxv because she loves it. she couldn’t decide if i would like prompto or gladio more and i was like “yoooo?? let me dive head first into this thing and report back to you.” (cause gladio and prompto are a pretty even spilt of My Type.) and i thus my journey into being ffxv trash began. as we are prone to do, we started building all these headcanons and asking “what if...??” which quickly turned into our own (off tumblr) rp. it focuses on rebuilding the world after the dawn returns. its a lot of politics and fighting monsters. (we each have an oc that we focus on. her oc is a former ambassador from accordo; my oc is a hunter from meldacio. cause of course she is.)

i like making little aesthetics or moodboards or whatever you wanna call them. especially when i’m mapping out characters. so, my girl sent me a link to @hyperionknight‘s post as we were discussing hunter culture within our little verse. i was, like, instantly smitten. cause it felt so much like the mood we were discussing. beautiful. i’m still in love with that post.

a week or so passes and i’ve created this blog to try and manage my all consuming thirst for this stupid game that was never supposed to take over my life and, yet, here we are. i figured i’d dump some of my location and hunter aesthetics and what not. just babble into the void as you do. 

it’s about this time that i stumbled upon @meldaciomartyr. of course i was like “oh, shit. this is perf??” and i just had so many feelings. there was this sudden need to create an aesthetic for dave. (this is before i had interacted or really had any grasp of the verses any of the muses are involved with. it’s kinda a weird aesthetic in the sense that it’s this weird marriage of the canon verse, my own verse’s dave and light inspiration from the meldacio hunter hq verse dave.) now, i’m super used to existing on the outskirts of any fandom i’m interested in. (y’all, i’m 26; i’ve been on tumblr for nearly a decade. i’ve seen fire and war and all sorts of toxic in fandoms over and over again. i’m used to staying in my lane and really only interacting with the above mentioned friend and almost exclusively in private messages.) so i took a gamble and messaged this lovely muse and asked if i could post an aes featuring their fc. 

that started this slippery slope into me actually interacting with people and becoming more invested in the verses and hc’s y’all pass around. @ciindyaurum left some wonderful compliments in a tag? we’re bros now. i don’t really know ‘em, but i’ve adopted ‘em. i got a sweet message from @croweoftheglaive? honey, let me attempt to consume as much info as i can on your muse and throw an aes at you to show my love. @arachnexdragoon shows up and someone better hold my beer so i can spit out a thing for that babe. @loqis and @meldacioxhq are staples in my notifications, y’all best believe i’m working on stuff for y’all. (some character’s are trickier than others. some grab you by the wrist and tug you down a rabbit hole to a quick aesthetic like sania. i can’t control that.) @thekingsshield mentions bandits and now i’ve got this oc that keeps tugging at my attention. 

i’m a small side blog. i just make (hopefully) pretty or pleasing aesthetics and kinda throw them into the wind. i know i don’t “have” to do anything or you might not think i need to thank you or gush about y’all, but you’re also wrong. i adore y’all and thanks for having me along for the ride. thanks for the promos and the appreciation and the feedback. y’all are always welcome to message me to talk about ideas or whatever. (you’ll probably get an aesthetic out of the ordeal, too!)

[mooncaps]

thoughts on The Carmilla Movie

I've tried not to go too terribly crazy about posting spoilers yet, but now I'm really diving into it.

Fantastic. I haven’t felt this at peace in ages. (More or less since the last time there was new Carmilla content, give or take a month.)

I rewatched the series before beginning the movie and it fits perfectly with what came before. It’s approachable and even has a very brief recap of the series, but it also feels very much like a product made for the fans of the series, first and foremost. The movie stands on its own, but the experience is definitely enriched by knowing the series.

My biggest complaint about the movie is that there’s not more of it. It’s a tightly packed 90 minutes, never dragging or slowing down. Maybe too much more would have stretched out into filler territory, but plenty of movies go longer than 90 minutes and I think there was enough room here to expand on the story.

In particular, I’d like to better understand how exactly one human life can be used to free these ghosts, why a therapist would start a ritual with their patient that would cost that patient her human life, and what exactly is the fate of all the other victims of the Deep One who weren’t lured there by Carmilla? And sidebar: If these are all of Carmilla’s victims, shouldn’t there be more than just Victorian costumes? Some girls from 1954? 1974? 1994? Carm said she helped girls escape “when [she] could,” not that she never lured another victim. I’d also just generally like more flashbacks of Carm’s life before Laura and especially some history on how Carm (and Elle?) came to know Emily Brontë.

Dominique is fantastic as Elle and I would have loved to see even more with her. Her “did you really think there’d be no consequences” entrance was a great moment. Steph in the NYCC video talking up how Elle is really understandable even though she’s an antagonist may have set my expectations a little too high. Like, I can follow how Elle reached this point, but I don’t exactly sympathize as such. I’d like to have understood her better and just seen more of her in general.

Mattie and Danny featured all-too-briefly and I hope they’re both able to play more of a part in the second movie. (There had better be a second movie.)

I get that last year’s clip was just a teaser and they hadn’t even begun shooting the movie yet, but I was expecting it to maybe tie in somehow. They seem to have nodded to it in the post-credits scene. Maybe the teaser scene will tie in to the second movie. (Seriously. Second movie when?)

Carmilla’s new haircut is super cute. My favorite look used to be the Season 1 bangs, but this might be my new favorite.

On the minor nitpicks front, there were some points where the score felt a bit much. The score always fits and sounds great, but there may be a couple of spots where it could have been mixed a tad lower. For the most part though, it feels very much in keeping with the established tone of the Carmillaverse and it’s certainly never as intrusive as some of the stuff in Season 3.

When this movie was first announced, I assumed it would be a final send-off for Carmilla’s story. When the official feeds started up that “create a creampuff” thing with talk of “we want to show people that this audience still has room to grow so we can tell more stories,” I scratched my head a bit. How could they really stretch more than one more story out of Carmilla if she were no longer a vampire? So, as Elle told Laura how to free the ghosts and it built up to Carm reaching her decision, the realization dawned on me that of course Carmilla would be a vampire again at the end. Hopefully we get to see the giant black cat in the second movie. (When is the second movie coming?)

Carmilla losing the humanity that, as Laura puts it, she earned in the course of the series, definitely feels like a sacrifice. Gives gravitas to the story. Carmilla choosing to give up her humanity to atone for her past transgressions and give peace to those she’s wronged really demonstrates how far she’s come in the time we’ve known her. Or, as Emily puts it, it shows a real strength of character.

I also find myself questioning the significance of this sacrifice, relative to the existing mythology. Surely Ereshkigal would know about departed souls being kept from their proper resting place. Especially given Mattie’s appearance at the end, it would seem that Ereshkigal does have a vested interest in stopping the Deep One and its spawn. Was she always aware that the ransom for these souls would cost Carmilla’s human life? Was that why she went easy on Carm in the finale? If she took that human life from Carm back then, would she have ever been able to claim these victims of the Deep One? And again, what of the other victims of the Deep One? What of its newly-discovered spawn? (♫ Seeecooond Moooviiieee ♪) I guess the reason Lophi got stuck in the first place was because she was pregnant, huh? ... But I digress.

I like that they brought up Laura knowing Krav Maga.

It wasn’t exactly a stretch, but I feel chuffed for noticing that LaF didn’t have an eyepatch in the promo pictures. Turns out that they did in fact get a cybrog eye. I hope it shoots lasers in the second movie. (Still waiting for that official second movie announcement.) Also, they definitely called Perry “honey.” LaF and Perry were great all throughout the film.

There were so many little nods to the series (and the fandom...and the book.) Nothing so major that you’d feel like you’re missing something if you were new, but definitely some cool bits and bobs to notice if you’ve been around a while.

One of my favorites is when Laura says, “Well, that was a kick.”

Mel and Charlotte were magical. I want more Mel in the second movie too. (When is that second movie, by the way?) Maybe we can properly meet Samira from Mel’s podcasts?

This thing really just opens up the Carmillaverse so much.

When the movie was announced, I expected it to end things and I expected to be content with that. After watching it, I definitely want more. With everything that’s happened in the past year, I’d almost forgotten how good it feels to indulge in a universe with so many wonderful queer characters. This series, this movie, these characters...they give me hope. The make me feel seen, understood, and loved. I want more of that in my life.

[agl03]

Okay I'm totally going to need you to convince me how this is going to be okay because right now I actually feel pretty sick. I don't see how they have enough time once they leave the framework for Fitz to deal with this trauma. Fitz has killed a woman now, even if he wasn't aware he was doing it. And if he tortures Daisy, I just don't think I can watch that. To come out and have their happy engagement would be wrong and rushed. When do they get to heal? Where is the payoff???

Hi Anon!  And anyone else who needs this…

Its Going to be Okay!

This story isn’t supposed to be happy or fun, we are in a reality built by a crazy, evil book influenced, programmed by the questionable Dr. Radcliffe, and obsessed with becoming a real girl AIDA here.  She has twisted each and every single character.  Fitz and May more than anyone else. 

I’m just going to run down my major points here.  I hope it helps.  Again I am not ashamed to say that I am still enjoying this arc.  Its uncomfortable and frustrating as all get out.  But it has me rooting SO HARD for Fitzsimmons right now.  For the entire team right now. 

Fitz partly a distraction:

We all know that something the writers do is the fake out.   They have us looking at and focused on one thing so we literally don’t see the truck that is coming at us from left field.   Season 2 for example.  When Real Shield made their move it looked like they were our big bad of the season, that would be the arc.  When in fact it was Jaiying and the Inhumans that were the bigger threat.  So right now they have the fandom so wrapped up in Fitz….that we are ‘missing’ that thing over in left field about to hit us.  A betrayal is coming guys and its going to hurt.

Fitz has been brainwashed:

This is not our Fitz.  Period.  Iain said at Wondercon that they were two different people.  Two different characters.  Radcliffe said when talking to him, he talked about our Fitz as a different person, because he was.   We saw over and over throughout the episode AIDA manipulate him.  I see things like taking his hand, asking for him to protect her, of vocalizing they are trying to take him from her as the triggers.  You know how we know he’s been brainwashed…how down right TERRIFIED AIDA was of Radcliffe talking to him.  That Jemma was taken out of the picture even before she could be a factor in his life.  That AIDA boasted that she had manipulated this world and those in it to meet her needs and wants.  Yes, she fixed a regret but each regret built on her fantasy.

With Fitz this goes well beyond fixing a regret.  I still believe that initially making him the son his father wanted was just step one in AIDA’s process.  AIDA took him as her own. 

Everyone is Dark:

We’re not done yet here guys.  We have more oh please no moment coming with everyone coming.   And yes, Fitz is one of the most drastically different and one they are making sure to highlight but I am uncomfortable with everyone.

Coulson:  Yes he’s breaking thanks to Tahiti but he still let Hydra take off with one of his own students.  The big reason I think we have Coulson back is he is getting that “you did make a difference/Shield needs you arc here”.   Mace is not the leader that Shield needs…he wasn’t in the real world and he won’t be here. 

Mace:  I am really worried about this version of Mace.   While he is doing the right thing I’m afraid he’s going to do some things in that quest that aren’t good.  Not to mention that he is a massive threat to the lives of May and Fitz.  He will kill either one of them given a chance.  He almost reminds me of Jaiying a little here with the “One of us” comment from the promo especially makes me thing of this.

Mack:  He will do ANYTHING to protect his daughter (and low key worried how he found the Resistance so easily here guys).  He sold out Daisy.  But what was very interesting was his view on Inhumans.  When we first met Mack he was ‘against’ them for lack of a better word.  It was work with Daisy, Coulson, and Shield that helped him change his mind and become one of their greatest protectors.

May:  Has been twisted as much as Fitz has.  She has been in there the longest.  Gone through the most ‘reboots’ of the Framework.  It was her team that beat up Daisy.  It was her that manipulated Mack using Hope. She is number 3 in Hydra and is a huge threat to her own team as well as a target.

Ward:  So leery of Ward.  I really fear Jemma will be who he betrays again.  And its also interesting he could have gotten a shot on Madame Hydra there…#1….instead aimed for Fitz Hydras #2.  Just saying guys…our master manipulators might be at work again here.  For him if it comes down to giving up Jemma to save Skye…he’s going to give up Jemma to save Skye.  Just as Mack gave up Daisy to save Hope.

They are their own worst enemies: 

AIDA is likely the worst villain they have gone up against, a horrid culmination of everyone they have faced before.  She isn’t dumb she built this world for HER.  She is using loopholes to her advantage.  Otherwise I firmly feel that everyone but Fitz would already be dead.  So since she had to keep them alive she manipulated (even bragged to Radcliffe that she’d done it) those regrets for her gain.

She also has been in everyone’s heads.  She’s been around the team before. She knows they are the biggest threat to her when they are working together as a team.   So she either split them up or turned them on each other. 

She has also made them each others dragons.  It is clear now AIDA is in Madame Hydra.  She knows right where Mace and the Playground is but allows the Resistance to continue because it feeds into the manipulation.  Especially with Fitz, its another thing he has to protect her from.

I discussed in my meta last night that AIDA seems to be trying to make it so the team won’t ‘want’ to save Fitz (more lies, more manipulation).   Here he’s The Doctor, Mace won’t bat and eye if he can kill him  Isn’t going to give Jemma the resources she needs to get him alive.  AIDA has painted Jemma as the villain.  Leaving Jemma pretty much alone now in trying to save him (oh look another parallel).  She has Coulson for now but I’m betting he will be pulled away too soon by saving Daisy or getting to May.

She took Fitz as her own:

A lot of what AIDA has done was to build this world how she wanted.  To get who and what she wanted, and she wanted Fitz.  Someone who would love and protect her.  Made her happy.  Her interaction with Radcliffe very telling.  We said that Fitz treating her like a person would come back…and boy has it ever.  She also wanted someone that loved and protected her like Fitz did with Jemma…so she took Jemma’s place.  May too, she’s ‘rewarded’ May with a high position because I believe May respected her, liked her, called her brave.

But in taking Fitz in so many ways we really do have an epic love story set up here.   Jemma is going to have to fight to get him back.  I feel like part of that whole spectacle on the island with Agnes was for show.  That AIDA knew Jemma was there  set up that whole thing with Agnes so Fitz would see it.  Try to shake Jemma, make her think that he was too far gone,.  It also took away the little support Jemma had found.  Leaving her alone in trying to save him.  AIDA is scared as heck of Jemma and her saving him.

AIDA also doesn’t have him fully yet.   Fitz says he would cross the universe for her but he HAS done it for Jemma.

Fitz is in there:

In the horror of feels that was last night we saw Fitz peeking through more than once.  And every single time we saw it it was because Jemma was in the mix either in person or in a picture.  And only with Jemma, May, Daisy, and Radcliffe had no effect (though Radcliffe planted seeds, very important seeds). 

Aside for Coulson who is aided by Tahiti we haven’t seen anyone else ‘break through” at all. 

May:  Came into contact with Fitz, Daisy, and Mack…nothing. 

Mace:  Came into contact with Jemma, Mack, and Coulson…nothing.

Mack:  Came into contact with Daisy, May, Mace, and Coulson…nothing.

Engagement is Endgame:

When we look back at interviews from Loeb, Jed, and Mo they have been hinting at this arc all season.  And they have been setting up an engagement for Fitzsimmons all season too. 

“This young man as you have never seen him before” that was what Leob said at SDCC and also where we first heard the ‘reward’ talk.  And we have seen them pay off everything so far. And coupled with the timing of Jed’s quote in EW, engagement coming up in 15, hints all season, and getting their middle names.  I think once they are out they aren’t going to risk it again.

“It could happen.  If they ever get back together, that’s something that could happen in their future.”

And I’m sorry to say this but this is TV, A drama at that, we have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get this kind of pay off.  That is part of why we are now tearing our hair out and crying until Jemma gets him back.  And when she does the pay off will be worth it.  Look at what we got after Hogface.

The Fallout:

AOS has never ‘dealt’ with trauma and recovery very well.  Even Daisy’s recovery a victim of the Ghost Rider Arc.  It is often done over hiatus or “off camera.  Now we have a situation where its the whole cast that will have things to deal with.  So yes, we will miss seeing it but because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. 

We can also have the healing ‘begin’ in the Framework, especially for Fitz as he helps get everyone out or plays a part in stopping AIDA once as for all. 

Sorry that was a lot but I hope it helps.  Just remember its always Darkest before the Dawn and our Sunrise is coming guys.

[jdeowrites]

I have an agent!

The short version: I am happy to announce I am now an agented writer! I have signed with Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary. She first expressed interest during this April’s #DVPit!

The long version: I debated whether to just make an announcement or actually write a whole “How I Got My Agent” post, and eventually decided to do the latter. Why? Well, firstly, because I’ve always found them fun to read. And secondly, it was by reading dozens and dozens of these posts from different writers that I fully grasped the amount of variability in peoples’ querying journeys— some were long and some were short, some were straight-line and some went all over the place before they got there. And it’s interesting to see. So my hope in writing this post is that it will add to that conversation, and be helpful to someone the way so many similar posts have been for me.

I got the idea for this book (a YA contemporary fantasy) in 2014, while on the rowing machine at the gym. It was just one scene—the opening scene. With no context or literally anything helpful. But it intrigued me, and it stayed with me. I didn’t start writing it until near the end of 2016, and I had basically pantsed my way through a truly terrible first draft by the end of April 2017. Then I took a month long break, picked it up again and revised it until early November, when I no longer felt I could productively improve it on my own. So I asked a close friend of mine, who I found in fandom years ago and is a huge support in all my writing endeavours, to read it for me (love you, MJ).

My goal for 2018 was to start querying it, although I didn’t know when exactly. I just knew I wanted more eyes on this story beforehand. Alas, I didn’t really have writer connections. So I started looking at CP swaps and critique giveaways, and it was around this time that I came across Meredith Ireland’s announcement that she was looking for a mentee for the April 2017 DVPit Twitter event. I’d applied for a similar mentorship already without any luck, but I thought what the heck and submitted to this one too. I ended up getting that mentorship (if you’re reading this, Meredith, you’re the best. Legit.).

We worked on polishing the manuscript (MS) for a month and a half. Then, we worked on tweaking my query letter, synopsis, Twitter pitches, and all that good stuff. I’ve learned a LOT from her, stuff that would have taken me much longer to learn on my own (not to sound like an echo chamber buuuut…. you’re the best Meredith).

DVPit came and went. I posted multiple pitches, with varying degrees of success (the majority of my tweets that day got no likes, lol). Here’s the one that my agent, Jen, liked:

Meredith and many other lovely writers on Twitter boosted my pitches, which I’m super grateful for, because I doubt I would’ve gotten any interactions otherwise. After the day was over, I compiled a list of agents who had expressed interest during DVPit as well as other agents I wanted to query and sent these in small, staggered batches for the next few months.

And then… I waited. Checked my email a lot. Got some interest, got some rejections. Got some interest that ended in rejections. The usual.

DVPit and the beginning of my querying journey also happened to coincide with the end of my school year. I started on a new MS (I’d read advice to do that while querying, and spoiler alert, it was great advice.). I wrote the rough draft of this new story slowly over my four month summer, and fell in love with it along the way. By mid-August, I had typed “The End”. I had also queried the majority of my list of agents; I still had a few partials and fulls out (including a partial Jen had just requested), but mostly things didn’t seem like they were going anywhere. However, it didn’t bother me as much as I think it would have if I wasn’t working on something else. I hadn’t looked at my old MS since April. I still loved its concept, but figured if nothing came of it, I could always revisit it in the future.

It was near the end of August, a few days after I had started research for revisions of my new project, when I got Jen’s email. She wanted to have a call.

It’s safe to say I didn’t sleep very much for the next few days. I prepped madly for our talk, and then the call itself was just amazing. At least, she was. Friendly, eloquent, full of great ideas. I’m pretty sure I came off as a weirdo, but she seemed unfazed by my level of Cringe™ and instead of hanging up, offered me representation (!!!!!). Afterwards, I did a lil happy dance and notified the other agents who still had my materials. I got some more interest. Some step-asides. And calls with two other absolutely wonderful agents.

I won’t lie—it was difficult to realize I’d have to say no to two agents who loved my work, especially after so long being rejected myself. I considered multiple factors in making my decision. Ultimately, I chose Jen because she felt like the right fit for me and my life.

Before I signed, I did a more thorough review of the agency agreement, since I’m new to this and wanted to understand all the nitty-gritty details. Jen was absolutely amazing about making me comfortable with everything. And I’m thrilled to be her client!

It’s surreal to think that almost two years after I wrote the first words of this book, I am continuing work on it with such an incredible agent by my side. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and for all the people who have made my journey to this point easier. That number includes family, friends and mentors who’ve encouraged me, read or boosted my work, and supported me in general—both in writing, and other aspects of my life. I’ve been very fortunate to have you with me; thank you so much.

So there you go! That’s How I Got My Agent. Upon reflection, two things still strike me as funny. One is that Jen was never even on my initial list of agents to submit to (Because she wasn’t open to unsolicited queries.). If it wasn’t for DVPit, we may never have connected! Second thing is that four months after DVPit, I’d started to assume my window to get a DVPit offer had passed. I was definitely naive for thinking this, but I hadn’t really heard of anyone getting one so long after the actual event. The organizers had already started promo for the next DVPit, for god’s sake. But I was wrong! Things like this just speak to how unpredictable this journey can be, and how much of it is out of our hands. It’s humbling to realize just how much luck was involved in mine. The best we can do as writers is ensure that our best possible work is out there and giving us the best chance.

And at the end of the day, when I was disheartened, it was about realizing that I’d be here, writing, no matter whether I had an agent or not. I want to remember that going forward, too: No matter what happens in my traditional publishing career, telling stories is something I want to do my whole life in some capacity or another. I don’t have control over the industry, but I do have control over that.

I’ll close this post with my stats:

Queries: 49 (19 of those to agents requesting from DVPit)

Partial/Full Requests: 11 (6 from DVPit)

Offers: 3 (2 from DVPit)

Number of times I checked my email: …. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.