#but they really missed the ball when s3 came around and she was still being called eleven on a daily basis. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

killiansprincss · 3 years

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We Found Wonderland

Summary: Trapped in the past after the S3 finale, Killian and Emma are forced to fade into the background as a newly married couple in a village while Rumplestilskin works on the portal to send them back to the future. (No Marian) What challenges will they face, after all it’s only pretending to be married after all right? Inspired by Taylor Swift ‘Wonderland’

Due to tumblr word limit I’ve had to post this in 2 parts, find part 1 here

Also on AO3

“It was so lovely to meet you Emma, I love that I finally get to see the woman who keeps Killian on his toes. I hope we can do this again sometime.” Cassian says.

“Good luck with your child, I can see he or she will be brought into a loving house.” Emma tells them as they leave, not even looking in Killians direction.

____

“What the fuck was that all about back there?” Emma practically screams as they enter their home.

“What do you mean love?” Killian asks dumbfounded,

“Don’t play dumb with me Hook. The proposal story.” She uses his moniker, she’s angry with him, she’s pissed off.

“Touching didn’t you think? Really brought a tear to their eyes.” He smirks, he knows he’s winding her up but he doesn’t care.

“You want to know what I think? I think someone’s getting a little too comfortable in this life, you know pretending to be married and all. I think someone is forgetting. We are not actually married! We are not from here, we do not belong here. You’re in love with me but I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same.”

“You want the truth Swan?” Killian said through gritted teeth. “Fine. Yes I am getting comfortable with this life, for once you’re not always yelling at me when I’m trying to help. I won't lie and say I don’t enjoy you flirting with me for once instead of it always being me. And I don’t believe for a second my feelings for you are one sided.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Emma asks, the anger building up inside her.

Killian scoffs. “You know what I mean. When we were getting your parents together, at the ball. You looked at me different that night, like you were seeing a new side to me. You could’ve said something when we danced together over and over, but you didn’t. You got closer and closer to me over those 2 days, and when I rescued you from that blasted prison you acted like we were lovers and they didn’t question it. Ever since we found out we were stuck you’ve only been flirting with me more and more.”

“Because we are technically married. And it’s not flirting. It’s-“ Emma begins.

Killian moves closer, closing the gap between the two. She can practically feel his heartbeat as he looks into her eyes, “it’s what? Because I think you’re trying to ignore that gut feeling that you feel something for me. You don’t want to admit how you truly feel. What I feel. I’m not an idiot, you kissed me back in Neverland for a reason, and you felt something as I did. Bloody hell, I gave up everything for you Emma, I traded my ship to Blackbeard to get a magic bean to find you in New York even though you had no idea who I was. I-I” he couldn’t quite finish his sentence.

“You did what? Your ship?” Emma’s tone suddenly changes, “as in the Jolly Roger?”

Killian nods. “Aye. It was the only thing worth a magic bean.”

“You traded your ship for me?” She asks, still in shock. Nobody had done that for her before, he literally gave up his home for her. Everything he had. And she was a bitch to him.

Killian just nods. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it important.”

His ship. His home. Killian traded his home to find Emma. She had no idea who he was, he didn’t know if the memory potion would even work, but he did it anyway. He came and found her, brought her home.

Instead of saying anything Emma takes another step towards Killian closing the already small gap between them and captures his lips with hers.

They both didn’t know how much they had been longing for this, it was similar to their first kiss back in the Neverland jungle, hot and fiery. It’s filled with passion and wanting. Killian breaks the kiss for just a second to move positions and when his lips are back on Emma’s small moans escape. For in this moment, in this kiss, nothing else mattered. They forgot about their argument, about the angry screams and cusses from before. All that mattered was each other and that they were together now.

Emma wraps her legs around a Killians waist as he leads them over to the bed. Suddenly only having one bed and having to share didn't seem like such a problem.

The moans escaping from each other’s lips were getting more frequent and louder with each kiss. These enchanted forest clothes were a lot harder to remove than modern ones, but Killian was happy to oblige the removal of the dress.

“God's you’re beautiful.” Killain says taking in the sight of the almost naked Emma.

“Just shut up and kiss me.” Emma tells him. She wants him, she needs him.

Killian happily obliges, kissing her lips and her cheek and her neck leaving marks that will need covering up tomorrow. He sucks on her neck and leaves hot kisses down from her neck down her body, paying close attention to her breasts and then her stomach and inner thighs causing her back to arch and more moans start to escape.

“Killian I need you please.” Emma pleads, she wanted him.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes please. Please.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After that night of pleasure, they never had to argue over the bed or awkwardly untangle themselves in the mornings. The next few months are spent exploring each other’s bodies every night, and finding out new things about each other every day.

Their relationship took a turn from pretending to be real and pretending to be in love, to not being so pretend anymore. They fell into the routine of a happily married couple.

There was also something else magical about that night. It seemed Emma’s magic had returned. Sparks flew that night in one way or another. It was electrifying.

___

“Hmm something smells good.” Emma says as she walks through the door after another horrible day at work.

Killian comes out from around the corner and presses a kiss to her lips.”I’m glad you’re home. I made you a surprise for dinner.”

“You know I hate surprises.” She whines

Killian chuckles, “I promise you are going to love this surprise.”

Emma sits down at the table as Killian puts a blindfold on his ‘wife’. “Whatever this is it smells good.”

Killian removes the blindfold as he pieces the plate of food in front of her,

“Is this?” Emma asks as she sees what seems to be a grilled cheese in front of her.

“My attempt at an Enchanted Forest Grilled Cheese. I went to the market and got the finest bread and the best cheese imported from Agrabah. I then made it into a sandwich and heated it up. I couldn’t figure out how to make the onion rings, which you so enjoy too, but this is the best I could do.”

“You did this for me?” Emma is shocked that he did this for her, he didn’t have to, but he did.

“I know you’re missing home, I can’t go to Granny herself and ask her to make you one, but this is the next best thing.” Killian gives her a smile. It wasn’t to get points or anything, he did it because he was really enjoying their time together but she was always talking about Stortybrooke, so he thought he’d bring a little bit of it to their home.

“Oh.My. God. This is incredible.”she says as she takes a bite “I love you.”

Realising what she just said, they’re both taken aback.

“Slip of though don’t worry I’ll pretend you didn’t say it.” He says awkwardly scratching behind his ear, a sad tone in his voice.

“No. No, I meant it. Sure it was a slip of the tongue but I don’t regret saying it. Killian, I love you.” She finally admits. “I didn’t admit how I was feeling for the longest time, but you stayed with me and helped me through it all. You didn’t have to come find me in New York but you did, you didn’t have to help me make sure my parents met but you did. You even became my fake husband so that we can slip through the cracks until we can go home.”

Her walls were slowly coming down each day she spent with Killian. He wasn’t running away, and Emma didn’t want to run when it all became real either. And for each wall he crashed through, she didn’t feel the need to build another.

“Gods I’m so pleased to hear you say that Swan.” Killian grabs her by the waist and spins her around, releasing laughter from Emma. “I love you too Emma. So much.”

_____

So we went on our way

Too in love to think straight

All alone, or so it seemed

But there were strangers watching

And whispers turned to talking

And talking turned to screams

Emma and Killian had been in the Enchanted Forest for around 10 months, hopefully Rumplestilskin would keep his word and have the portal so that they could go back to their world in 2 months time.

10 months in the Enchanted Forest, and Emma was still not used to the clothes or the food. Cassian and Maeve had invited them round a few more times, and this time they didn't need to lie about their relationship or their feelings as much anymore. The two of them had welcomed a baby girl, and Maeve had returned to work at the tavern, so at least Emma was no longer alone in battling off the creepy men.

Although, Emma couldn’t completely control her magic so there were times it spiraled out of control and she had hoped nobody would notice it was her. There was one time she was pouring drinks, it was a really busy shift, and she accidentally made the barrels explode and beer went everywhere. It took a lot of effort not to laugh at the beer that practically drenched the guy that had been trying to touch her up all shift.

“This happens all the time, don’t worry about it.” Maeve tells Emma as she grabs a rag to start cleaning up.

Phew. She got away with it. For now.

Except it kept happening.

Emma didn’t know why or what was happening, but her magic was uncontrollable.

“It’s happening again, I don’t know what to do.” She confides in Killian. She knows he will want to help, and not just because it will keep their secret safe.

Killian trusts her, he knows her magic is never intended to harm anybody. “Why does it keep happening at work, you don’t seem to have outbursts at home.”

“I feel safe at home.” Emma admits. “When I’m with you, I feel safe, I can pretend it’s just us and the rest of the world doesn’t exist. When I’m at work I get nervous because you’re not there and I have to do it all alone, keep up appearances. You’re so much better at it than I am.”

“I have something for you then.” Killian says as he pulls a chain from around his neck, with a cool silver ring attached.

“Wow, wow wow.” Emma’s heart suddenly starts to race, she loved Killian, but if this ring was his way of proposing they were moving way too quickly.

“Calm down Swan, I’m not proposing.” He realises he should have led with that before pulling out a ring. “You know I’m a survivor, and this ring is why. It belonged to my brother, a better man than I am. It’s kept me safe all these years, and now it’s going to keep you safe. At the very least it’s a reminder that you’ve got a smouldering piercing eyed pirate at home who loves you.”

She kisses him and smiles. Her smile is so bright, nobody has ever cared or loved her the way Killian does, and it’s kind of scary, but Killian hasn’t left her, he stuck by her and she’s slowly realising that being in love, especially with Killian, is nothing to be afraid of. “I love you too.”

Now when she was at work and felt her magic or became overwhelmed, she would hold the ring on the chain, and breathe. She would think of Killian and how they would be going home soon.

______

For the first couple weeks after clinging to the ring, Emma was fine. Her magic did become slightly overwhelming but she took the ring and held it for a few seconds, thought of Killain, and she was fine.

But then their story started getting poked at.

“Where did you say you came from again?” A girl at work would ask.

“Crestbourne, just north of here.” Emma says, hoping the subject will change soon.

“Crestborune? Isn’t that South?”

Emma plays dumb, “Right, I meant South. Sorry my head is spinning today, too much rum after work last night,”

Killian experienced the same thing.

“You say you were in the Royal Navy Jones?” Someone at work would ask.

“Aye, me and my brother. Under King Elijah.”

“Only because I have a friend currently in King Elijah’s army, and he hadn’t heard of a Jones in that army for over a hundred years.”

Killian didn’t know what to say, he didn’t expect to be caught out like this. So he just laughs and says, “Well I guess I didn’t make much of an impact if nobody remembers me.” It’s the best he can do.

That night at home, Emma and Killian discuss their situation.

“What do we do? Go back to Rumple? Work for him for the next 2 months?” Emma suggests, despite the fact that she doesn’t want to do this, maybe they had no choice.

“No. Absolutely not. I still don’t trust the Crocodile. If we go to him now before the Portals is ready- who knows what he’ll do with us?” Killian had every right to be afraid, especially as this Rumpelstiltskin was not the Mr. Gold they could threaten in Storybrooke.

Emma was worried, how much longer could this go on? “Then what do you plan we do?”

Killian takes Emma’s hand and pulls her in for a kiss. “We’ve come this far together. As long as we stick together, we can wager any more storms that come our way.”

Emma can’t help but smile at his sea analogies. But he was right, they had survived ten months together without any complications, they just needed to survive 2 more. As long as they were together, they could do this.

____

The next day Emma heads to work with Maeve, they both have an afternoon shift and she appreciated the company. Poor Maeve is working 3 days at the tavern and 4 days at the market. She and Cassian can barely afford clothes for their baby girl who is growing every day. Emma wishes she could tell her that it gets better, and that soon she hopefully wouldn’t have these problems. She’s pretty sure all jobs in Storybrooke pay a decent living wage.

“What’s happening up there?” Emma asks Maeve as they see a crowd start to form outside the tavern.

“I’m not sure.” Maeve looks equally as confused as they approach the growing crowd.

“WITCHES! BURN THE WITCHES!” They hear.

Oh no. No. This was not good.

This wasn’t like Storybrooke, people didn’t always accept magic here. And if they found out about Emma, who knows what they would do to her.

“I know there’s a witch here. Strange things have been happening, I know magic when I see it.” A man with a pitchfork says. Emma recognises him as a regular. A regular who likes to touch the girls that work there.

Emma’s heart is suddenly racing. Last night she made the barrels explode again. She tried to think of Killian and his ring, but she heard the name ‘Henry’ and her emotions, and therefore her magic was spiralling. The lights flickered before they cut out immediately and goblets started to shatter-despite being made of a heavy duty material.

Maeve looks at Emma, “Go. Go now before they find you.

Emma gives her a confused look, “what do you mean?”

In a quiet voice, she tells her, “I know you have magic. I see it, but you can’t control it. You would never use it to hurt anybody, but they don’t know that. Go now, escape while you still can.”

Emma gives Maeve a hug, “Thank you.”

“I know you don’t belong here. So I hope you can get back to wherever it is.” Maeve whispers.

Emma nods, Maeve was smart. “Things will get better. I promise.” Before she runs away back to their home.

Bursting through the door, she sees Killian taking a nap, he’d been working a lot more shifts lately, in his attempt to slip through the cracks.

“Killian! Wake up! Killain! We need to get out of here. They know. We need to find Rumple. I don’t care that it's only been 10 months. I need to be safe. I can’t do this anymore.” She’s rambling, Killian can’t understand what she’s saying.

“Swan calm down. What’s going on?” Killian asks, in his half sleep state.

Emma takes a deep breath and explains the Witch Hunt going on outside the tavern and how Maeve knows she has magic, and has given her a head start.

“THE WITCH LIVES HERE! I'VE SEEN IT!”

Suddenly there’s a pounding on their door. Emma and Killian look at one another. “Swan if you have a way of getting us out by magic, do it now.”

The door breaks down and there’s a crowd of angry villagers with pitchforks and spires, “There’s the witch, I’ve seen sparks and white fog coming from their house time and time again. She’s practising magic.”

“Killian I can’t control it, I don’t know how to get us out.” Emma whispers, panic setting in, her fists are glowing, letting the angry villagers know they’re right about their assumptions.

“Swan. Look at me.” Killian says, using his one hand to turn Emma’s face to his.”Your magic is inside of you. I understand you can’t control it, but I’ve seen you do it before. You can do this, I believe in you.”

Emma takes Killians hand in hers and thinks hard about what she wants. She wants to get home to their family. Killian has been by her side through it all, he’s been her rock, she thinks of his ring and how much she loves him. She feels her power, and focuses on escaping.

Her fists glow brighter, and a second later they disappear in a puff of white smoke, and appear into the great hall of Rumple's Castle.

Emma opens her eyes to see the results of her first time really using her magic.

“You did it Swan!” Killian wraps his arms around her. “You’re bloody brilliant you know that!”

Emma breathes a sigh of relief as she hugs Killian. She did it, she actually did it.

“You wield in magic. I’m impressed.” Rumples' voice tears them from each other’s thoughts about what just happened.

“The villagers found out about us lying. And we were at the centre of a witch hunt. Is there any way the portal can be ready early?” Emma is practically begging, which she never thought she would. This Rumple was far less likely to help them than Gold.

The Dark One just laughs. “Oh I haven’t been working on the portal.”

“Please tell me this is a joke.” Killian half laughs, hoping it wasn’t true.

Rumple raises his eyebrows, “I don’t joke. I’ve been working on a memory potion for myself. I already know too much about the future, can’t know anymore.”

Pressing her lips together to stop her from wringing her hands around his neck, Emma simply asks, “so how do we get home?”

“With this.” He says as a wand poofs into his hand.

“I don’t understand.”

Rumple rolls his eyes at Emma. “You have proven yourself powerful enough these past few months, you are the only one who can replicate the spell that brought you here.”

“So you’re telling me, these past 10 months have been a test? That we didn’t need to make up a fake life and live here?” Killian asks, anger building up.

Rumple laughs. “Of course it was a test! You needed to prove you were powerful enough. And like I said, there was no use for you in my Castle, I already had help.” Emma notices the Castle isn’t as clean as it was 10 months ago, assuming Belle had been captured by Regina by now.

“I’m gonna kill him when we get home.” Emma whispers to herself.

/\/\/\/\

Rumple poofs them into the basement, or the dungeon of his Castle, filled with what was most likely the most dangerous magic and weapons.

The glamour Rumple had put them on had vanished, and they were back in their other clothes, Emma’s leather jacket, her armour was back on and she felt somewhat safe. The wand felt heavy in her hand, it was powerful magic, also likely dark magic if it were able to replicate any spell or curse.

“How do I do this?” She asks Killian.

“You’re the magic one Swan not me.” His tone was cold, what was up with him?

“Are you okay?”

“Fine. Just eager to get home.” He says looking around at the magical objects

Emma lowers the wand and turns to face Killian. “What’s wrong with you?

Avoiding her gaze, he simply says. “Everything changes when we’re home.”

Emma furrows her brow, “What’s changing?” She grabs his hand and forces him to look at her. “Killian, what is going to change?”

“Us, Everything. Your feelings for me. It was nice while it lasted.”

“You think I’m going to leave you when we get back home?” She asks, slightly hurt that he would even think that.

“I’m a Pirate Swan. You think your family of royals and heroes are going to accept me?” Killian was afraid of going home, it wouldn’t just be him and Emma anymore.

“Killian, I love you. And that’s not going away when we get home. I don’t care what my parents think, you have stayed with me all this time. You have a mark in the hero column.” She kisses him, letting him know that while things will be different, things aren’t going to change between them.

As she kisses him, the wand In her hand begins to glow white. Holding Killians hand tight, she raises the wand in the air and thinks of home, and her family.

“You did it Swan.” Killian says, pressing a kiss to the side of her head, looking at the golden shimmering portal which had opened.

“Let’s go home.” She says as she places the wand on the table and grabs Killians hand as they jump into the Portal.

/\/\/\/\

They come through the Portal with a bump. Storybrooke. They’re home.

“We did it! We’re home!” Emma can feel tears coming from her eyes, she didn’t know when she would see home again.

“You did it Swan. You’re bloody amazing.” Killain says picking her up and spinning her around, the same way as when Emma told him she loved him.

“Let’s go. Let’s go find our family.” Killian could almost cry at the way Emma said ‘our’, they may not be married anymore, but she still loved him and they were in this together. Whatever they face next, they face it together.

And so they walk hand in hand to Granny’s to find everyone.

In Storybrooke, only a matter of days had passed, thankfully they hadn’t missed almost a year. But she did miss the official name ceremony of her baby brother, Prince Leo, named after Snow's father.

“So you’re Princess Leia?” Snow asks, as they flick through Henry’s book to find Emma and Killians adventure now in it.

Henry chuckles, “Nice alias Mom!”

“I guess that means you’re finally one of us. A fairytale princess at last.” David says as he muses the picture of Emma and Hook dancing together at the ball.

“So what happened after that? You were there almost a year? What was it like? Did you slay a dragon, or get caught in the ogre war?” Henry asks, wanting to know all about her Enchanted Forest adventure.

Emma rolls her eyes, “Sorry Kid, no dragon slaying or ogres. Gold, or uh Rumple. He wanted to test us, test my magic. So we had to pretend to be a married couple living in a small village out of sight, and I had to work in a tavern for 10 months until my magic returned and I was the focus of a witch hunt.”

“Witch Hunt?”

“Married to Hook?”

Her parents clearly had different reactions to her story.

Emma just laughs, “It was a scary experience all right. But I couldn’t have gotten through it without my ‘husband’. It wasn’t so bad, but I’m so happy to be back at Granny’s, I missed her onion rings.” And she gives Hook a knowing look that causes them both to smile at the memory.

“Wait-are you two?” Henry asks realising the looks and smiles his mother was sharing with Hook.

Emma doesn’t quite know how to react, she wasn’t ashamed, but her family didn't know Killian like she did.

“I’m happy for you Emma. Really.” Snow says, holding out her hands to both Emma and Hook.

“I guess the Pirate isn’t so bad, as long as you don’t hurt her I’m happy.” David fights the urge to say something worse, but in all honesty he was happy for Emma.

“Does this mean Hook can teach me how to sword fight?” Henry asks his grandparents with a grin on his face making Emma smile.

Her family was reunited. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had a family who loved her and wouldn’t leave her. It may have taken time, and a curse, but it was worth it. Henry didn’t bring her to Storybrooke to break some curse, he was bringing her home.

#Captain Swan #cs ff #captain swan fanfic #emma swan #killian jones #my writing

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royalcordelia · 4 years

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Tell Me About Purple Sunrises (1/1)

Merry Christmas @ladytharen! I was your Secret Santa this year! I played substitute santa for a few people, but you were the one I was actually assigned to from day 1. It’s been such a pleasure to get to know you a little better and to write this story for you. Here’s a lil snowed in + bedsharing for you, kindred spirit!♥ Sorry I’m posting this with 8 min left in christmas.

Summary: Anne can't make it back to Avonlea for Christmas Eve because of record breaking snow and temperatures, but to her delight, neither can Gilbert. (spoilers for awae s3!)

~~*~~

It was evenings like this when Anne could turn her face toward the warm candlelight and pretend she was a princess locked up in a tower. The nightgown Aunt Jo had loaned her was soft like rose petals and trimmed with lace as intricate as snowflakes, exactly what Cordelia would have worn as she combed her hair by moonlight. Sitting so close to the bay window, Anne could feel a frosty chill emanate from the pane. She shut her eyes and she imagined that the blizzard raging outside was the icy breath of a winter dragon blowing over the entire kingdom. If she wasn’t afraid of her fingers turning to icicles, she would have gone out and bested the beast herself.

Anne of the present was more than pleased to remain inside and warm.

“I’ve sent all the attendants home a day early to be with their families before the storm grows too strong.” Aunt Jo announced, sweeping into the room with a wool blanket wrapped around her frail shoulders. “Anne, you did right by coming here. Christmas Eve is meant to be spent with those you love. If I heard you planned to wait out this storm entirely alone in that boarding house, I would’ve marched through the tundra myself to procure you!”

“No marching through the tundra for you. Remember, it’s the coldest night on record!” Anne replied, meeting Aunt Jo to wrap the blanket more tightly around the older woman’s shoulders. “Still, I’m grateful for your hospitality. I really thought we’d be able to make it back to Avonlea before the storm got too bad.” She plucked a browning petal from the poinsettia flowers on the parlor table with a small smile. “You know, when I have a home of my own, I hope to have ever so many flowers upon every surface. Our gate latch will be forever open to you, of course.”

“That won’t be for a while yet I hope,” Jo teased lightly, though Anne could hear the truth in the words.

“Not for a long, long while. Everything with Gilbert is so new that we’ve barely even mentioned the future. All I can say of Gilbert’s plans for the future, aside from his medical aspirations, is that he’d like for me to be there. I can say the same of him in my own plans. Right now, I’m more than content with such hazy views into our crystal ball.”

“That is quite the way it should be, I think,” Jo agreed. “If you plot out every point in life, how can it take you on a wild adventure? Simple - it cannot. Many people are subjected to a lifetime of miserable mundanity because of it.”

Outside, a gust of wind struck the house with a fury, rattling the old walls with creaks and moans. Anne peeled the curtain away from the window once more, finding a hint of lavender light igniting a break in the clouds somewhere in the distance. She wondered where that little speck of land was where there would be no snow, just a royal hint of dusk on the crystal ground.

“How blessed I am to be awake to all the colors of life,” she breathed. Then, drawing the curtains back closed, Anne spun on her heel. “Enough of my poetical indulgences. We have yet to decide how we want to spend our evening snowed in. Is there, perhaps, a trio of Bronte sisters in our future?”

Aunt Jo was halfway through a hearty assent when an odd sound came from the front hallway. Anne’s laughter froze in her throat as she listened again. Silence fell over the house for another moment before being shattered by an insistent knock at the door.

Grabbing her robe from the edge of the couch, Anne covered herself and crept toward the door. When she pulled it open, a flurry of snow swept into the foyer like a broken snow globe. A young man stood shivering, half an inch of snow blanketing his person. A scarf wrapped around his face shielded his cheeks, but Anne would have recognized those warm eyes anywhere.

“Gilbert ? What are you - oh my goodness, you’re freezing. Get in here!”

Before he could say a word, Gilbert was being dragged into the manse and pulled into Anne’s frantic embrace. She immediately recoiled away from all the snow on coat, and began unwrapping the scarf from his face. He was smiling underneath so tenderly that Anne’s hand froze midair as she moved to grab his hat. The apples of his cheeks were rosy from the cold and some snowflakes still hung from his dark lashes. She sighed, suddenly more lovesick than she ever remembered being.

“I really missed you,” she whispered truthfully.

Gilbert, still gently shivering from the cold, shucked off his coat and wrapped Anne in a tight embrace. Anne’s arms were around him immediately, rubbing warmth into his back in gentle circles. Resting his cold cheek against her shoulder, Gilbert heaved a sigh of relief. Her touch felt like fire light, incandescently warm and soft around the edges.

“I missed you too,” he murmured, digging his face closer to her loose hair. Anne could feel him grinning against her shoulder. “You smell nice.”

Anne hummed in response. She wondered if it would be alright to tell him that he smelled nice too. Even though the scent of winter air stuck on his clothes, he still carried his usual essence of honey sweetness and cologne. But she couldn’t tell him that. It probably wouldn’t be alright, either, to tell him that his shoulders still felt strong, and that she liked the way he’d grown his hair out. Instead, she settled on, “Are you feeling any warmer?”

Gilbert nodded, pulling back when he caught sight of Aunt Jo standing in the doorway.

“Much, thank you,” he murmured shyly. He couldn’t help how one of his hands had stayed at her waist, nor did he notice. It felt so natural to stay connected to her, and in person, he didn’t have to hide his connection to her anymore.

“Not that I’m not effervescent with happiness to see you, but what are you doing here? I thought you were arriving to Avonlea tomorrow.” Anne’s hand came up to his cheek as she spoke, wiping away a drop of melted snow that had fallen from his hair.

“I thought I’d surprise you a day early, but then the storm rolled in. Apparently the tracks are all ice, so the last train to Carmody has been cancelled. I, uh..” He glanced up at Aunt Jo. “I didn’t bring enough money to stay anywhere because I was planning on making it home. The only place I could think of was here.”

“Ah, you came seeking refuge,” Aunt Jo chimed in. Gilbert blushed. He wasn’t one to ask for help, but apparently had the capacity to do it when the threat of frostbite loomed. It was a smart move, Anne had to admit, and a brave one. He’d never even met Aunt Jo before.

“Yes, ma’am.”

He straightened his shoulders under Aunt Jo’s appraising gaze. If Anne didn’t know any better, she’d say Aunt Jo delighted in making the poor boy squirm.

“You’ve come to the right place,” she said finally, and Gilbert inhaled a sharp sigh of relief. Then, remembering the manners his father taught him, he peeled off a glove and stuck his hand out.

“Gilbert Blythe, ma’am. It’s an honor to meet you. I apologize for inviting myself on such short notice.”

“Our paths were bound to cross at one point or another. You cannot thwart destiny where kindred spirits are involved, and my door is always open to kindred spirits.” Aunt Jo shook Gilbert’s hand with as much regality as he expected, then straightened the blanket on her shoulders. “Well, Anne-girl, I think the Bronte sisters will just have to wait for another night.”

“I don’t want to interfere with an evening with your beloved Charlotte,” Gilbert rushed to say, but Anne waved him away.

“I’ve read Jane Eyre dozens of times already, yet I’ve only spent a handful of minutes with you. And while I love both of those things, there’s just one I love much more than the other.”

Gilbert had to bite back the grin that threatened to take over his lips. With a glint in his eye, he reached for his hat and scarf.

“How presumptuous of me to assume I could compete with Charlotte Bronte. I’ll just be heading back into the blizzard, then. Fare thee well. Tell Jane Eyre I concede.”

Before Gilbert could even think about reaching for the door, Anne interrupted his dramatic speech by grabbing his hand and pulling him to her side. Aunt Jo found the whole display rather amusing, much to Gilbert’s delight. At his side, Anne found herself nearly holding herself back when his face was so close and rosy, practically begging to be kissed.

“I think I ought to let you two become acquainted while I reacquaint myself with Mr. Dickens and his ghost tales,” Aunt Jo said, darting a glance between them. “Gilbert, I’m sure you and I will have plenty of time to exchange stories on the train ride to Avonlea in the morning.”

It took a split second to realize exactly what Josephine was doing. She was leaving them alone in a house, unchaperoned, with only trust assuring her that nothing too immoral would occur.

“Oh! Well, I look forward to it. I hear you’ve lived an adventurous life.”

“Funny, I hear the same of you. In fact, I hear a great many things about you on a daily basis,” she replied slyly, lifting a brow at Anne.

“Goodnight, Aunt Jo,” Anne hissed between her teeth. “There’ll be plenty of time to tease me in the morning.”

Aunt Jo gave one last appraising look at Gilbert, apparently approving of what she saw, before kissing the crown of Anne’s head. Her careful footsteps up the stairs left silence behind them, and suddenly Anne was entirely too aware of Gilbert’s presence beside her. His gentle fingers moved to hold hers, fitting together even better than she remembered. She peered down at their entwined hands in bewilderment. Was he truly here?

The quiet was comfortable, giving Anne proper room to eat her heart out over her beloved with as many longing looks as she pleased. Through the thrumming of her heart and the haziness of her focus on him, she was only half aware of his arms wrapping around her waist.

“So, Anne-girl, huh?”

Anne bit her lip to force back a smile, watching his lips with keen interest.

“I like it when you say it,” she admitted with a smile.

For a moment, she wondered what exactly was appropriate for this moment. She knew what she wanted to do, but how could she know if it aligned with what she should do. Perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to wrap her arms around his neck and catch his next words with her lips. Perhaps he’d think her strange if she placed her hand above his heart to feel it beating, or if she kissed the line where his jaw met his throat. It was a good thing he was holding her because she was melting. In a few more seconds, she’d dissolve into a puddle right in the middle of the foyer.

Then again, he only spurred her demise by leaning his cheek against hers. Anne shivered. His skin was still frigid to the touch, but she kissed the icy spot before pulling away.

“You’re still so cold. Come on,” she said, pulling him by his hand into the parlor.

Heat hit them like a wall, blazing comfortably from the hearthfire. Gilbert’s gaze was just as warm as he watched Anne lay out a blanket and some pillows in front of the fire. She settled on one of the cushions, then reached her hand toward him. He as at her side in an instant, his hand finding her cheek.

“It doesn’t seem real that you should be here,” Anne said dreamily.

“Me? You’re the ethereal creature that saved me from a frozen death. I really had no idea you’d be here. I was certain you’d have made it back to Avonlea hours ago.”

“I tried, but the trains started getting canceled nearly as soon as the storm began. We’re supposed to experience record breaking temperatures tonight, and I knew that if I tried to keep warm all by myself in the boarding house, I’d only make an icicle of myself. So I came here.”

Gilbert nodded in understanding, eyes wandering to the rest of the room. It seemed he was only just realizing how grand the manse was, especially when the lights were dimmed. It also seemed to occur to him that they were completely, utterly alone.

“Cole has gone to bed for the night?” he asked carefully.

“Cole actually is spending Christmas with a friend of ours. They’re going to see some museums in Montreal. You actually might remember Roy from my letters.”

Gilbert scowled. “That English major that thought he could convince you to court him instead of me? Yes, I remember.”

“Fortunately, my convincing abilities are far better than his. Once I assured him that I would never leave you, he quit all of his advances. Besides, I have it on good authority that his affections lay heartily elsewhere.”

His jaw caught shadows as he nodded. “So, we’re alone?”

Anne smiled coyly, causing Gilbert to swallow. There was so much overwhelming him all at once - the possibility to have a conversation without any interruptions for hours and hours, the porcelain skin above the lace of her dress where freckles traced a trail up her throat, and the incessant need to kiss her for as long as she would allow him. He feared he would confess these incoherent longings, so he remained silent after she said, “Yes, love, we’re alone.”

At his speechlessness, Anne situated herself closer before him, grabbing his hands that rested on his knees. Of course she could read his mind, he thought to himself. Either that, or she was feeling the exact same thing. Maybe both?

“I’m not entirely sure how to go about this,” Anne admitted. “You know I haven’t courted anyone before.”

Gilbert realized a shaky breath, kneeling before her to bring her as close as possible.

“This sort of thing shouldn’t have rules or guidelines,” he whispered. Her cheeks took on a strawberry hue when he leaned closer to her. “I don’t want to worry about what hours people say I can see you or how other people think I should or shouldn’t touch you. I want you to tell me when you want to see me.”

Anne grasped his hand tighter, grounding herself.

“And how I want you to touch me?” The words almost knocked the air from his lungs. He nodded slowly. “Then can we just stop dancing around each other?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Instead of answering, Anne surged forward and captured her lips against his. He tasted like freshly fallen snow looks, sweet and smooth. Suddenly, they were transported back to a moment on the front lawn of her boarding house where kissing her seemed to make every mystery of the world fall into place. One of his hands held desperately to her waist, the other pressed against the floor to hold them up. All bets were off, though, when she buried her hands into the hair she loved so much and pressed him against her chest. The arm so steadily holding them upright went slack and they fell to the side, almost bumping foreheads. Laughter erupted out of them like champagne bubbles.

“ Shhh! She’ll hear us!” Anne whispered with a smile, settling on her back to face him. Hovering over her, Gilbert smiled as he watched the firelight flicker over her freckles. He released a shuddering sigh over her lips before running a finger down her face. Would he ever grow accustomed to being with this woman? To holding her? To seeing her grey eyes turn into lightning storms at his touch?

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he stay in this moment, right here. Anne’s hands found his cheeks, pulling him down with reverence and kissing him with a tenderness he’d always known she possessed. Lowering himself from his hands to his elbows, Gilbert shuddered into her touch.

The only thing that could’ve broken the moment for them echoed down the foyer staircase. Thankfully Aunt Jo spared them the embarrassment of coming all the way downstairs.

“Anne! Make sure you feed that man of yours. I’m sure he’s hungry!”

Breaking away from Gilbert with a jolt, Anne pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing again.

“Alright! Thank you!” she called back. Then, glancing up at the man above her, she ran her thumb over his lower lip. “Are you hungry?”

Gilbert collapsed at her side with a sigh.

“A bit. I haven’t eaten since I left Toronto.”

“Gilbert!” Anne admonished. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

He shrugged. “I guess I just...forgot I was hungry.”

“Let me make you something to eat. You can tell me all about your trip.”

Some time later, there was a warm plate in front of Gilbert that he demolished on like a man who’d never had a meal in his life. Anne rested her head on her palm and a little more color return to his face. They talked about everything they could think of - odd students in their classes, old memories from their school days, news from their friends. The one topic they hadn’t broached was that of the “follow up questions” they’d saved for when they reunited in person. That is, until a distracted expression came over Gilbert’s face as he rolled a potato around his plate.

“Can I ask you something, Anne?”

“Always,” was her immediate response.

“You mentioned in your letter that you saw Winifred in town the day that I came and saw you, but you never told me what she said.”

“She told me you’d decided not to propose,” Anne said easily.

“No, I mean, I knew that. But what did she say?”

Anne shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She knew that no matter the answer she gave, it wouldn’t change anything that had happened.

“At first she thought I was there to gloat. She must’ve assumed that you’d gotten right off the train and broken her trust right away. I’m surprised she didn’t know you well enough to know you’d never do that.” And expected you to marry her, was what Anne wanted to say, but bit back.

Gilbert kept his eyes glued to the wood grain of the table.

“But I did break her trust,” he admitted. “That letter I wrote you revealed everything I promised I’d wait to say. But I couldn’t, and-”

“Hey,” Anne interrupted, reaching across the table for his hand. “I would’ve done the same thing. Besides, even if I had read the letter you wrote, I would have never judged her or told anyone else. I believe it all happened the way it was supposed to.”

He still wouldn’t meet her eyes, but nodded.

“What else did she say?”

Anne took a deep breath. “Once she realized that I really didn’t know anything that happened, she said this to me: ‘He couldn’t marry me because his unrequited love for you isn’t ever going away .’ I think she figured out right away though that you were mistaken when you told her your feelings were unrequited.” She paused. “Why do you want to know?”

“Curiosity, mostly. But I also worried that because I’d left her heartbroken, she’d be cruel to you. I’m glad she wasn’t, but the thought of anyone behaving hateful to you because of me makes me feel sick.”

“Gilbert, there is nothing hateful or cruel about you. No one could ever be anything but good on your behalf.” She smirked. “Besides, I have thick skin and a smart head on my shoulders.”

A heavy sigh left Gilbert, releasing a heavy burden from his shoulders that he didn’t know he’d been carrying. Anne wiggled his fingers with a smile.

“It all makes for a good story to tell the kids,” she teased, but they both knew what she was suggesting.

Gilbert’s throat grew thick. With the burden of his guilt alleviated and the promise of the future resting in the air, his heart grew light with affection.

“I want that too,” he managed to say sincerely. Anne returned his smile with so much love laced in it that Gilbert’s heart jumped in his chest.

Later that night, Anne leaned against the doorframe of one of the guest rooms while Gilbert appraised the space with amazement.

“I don’t know if you brought nightclothes, but Cole is only a little bit taller than you. I’m sure he has some in his room you could borrow. If you get hungry again, the kitchen is well stocked.”

“You’re wonderful, Anne, but I promise I’m all set.”

She nodded, not moving a muscle.

“Alright, then. Goodnight,” she said evenly, a playful glint in flickering in her eyes. Gilbert knew a hint when he saw one. He crossed the length of the room and cupped her face the way he so loved to. Anne had already closed her own in blissful acceptance of the kiss, sighing when it came with tender sweetness.

“Goodnight, my love,” he murmured, pressing one last kiss to her forehead.

When Anne closed her own door behind her, she pressed her back up against it and released a shaky breath. Marilla had told her being with the person you love was worth sacrifice, heartache, and all the tribulations of life, but Anne never shared the perspective until then. The trials of the world didn’t seem so insurmountable now, with the promise of Gilbert at her side.

Alone in her room, Anne became aware of all the things she’d been distracted from wrapped in Gilbert’s warm embrace. The first, of course, was that it was freezing. No matter how many blankets she threw on top of the bed or how many pairs of socks she borrowed from the guest dresser, she felt the chill from her fingers all through her body. She tried to focus on the hollowing of the wintry wind outside her window, but it seemed to keep her up even more. How had she been content and warm by the fire only a few hours ago? Certainly by now, the fire had gone out and there would be no warming up.

Finally, Anne firmly made up her mind that enough was enough. Slipping out of bed, her cold toes met an even colder ground. She slipped one of the wool blankets from her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders to guard her from the hallway’s cold breezes. With astounding stealth, Anne crept down the hallway without creaking any old boards or startling any mice. When she made it to Gilbert’s guest room, she drew in a breath and knocked on the door.

No answer. Anne sighed. The poor boy was probably exhausted from his traveling, fast asleep. Fortunately, he left the door unlocked, allowing Anne to sneak in before anyone was the wiser. Tightening the blanket around her shoulders, she called out in a strong whisper.

“Gilbert?”

Even though he seemed fast asleep, her voice was enough to stir him out of his dream. Hair wild and eyes groggy, he propped himself up on an arm.

“Anne?” he croaked, voice rough from sleep. “Sweetheart, is everything okay?”

Suddenly uncertain, she shifted her weight.

“I’m so cold, I can’t sleep,” she admitted miserably.

Without hesitating, Gilbert reached for her, opening his own covers up when she was close enough to slide in. He made room for her without complaint, smiling at the relief that washed over her. When she laid down completely, she was right in the warm spot he’d just been in. So comfortable and warm, Anne wondered how they were even in the same house.

“Better?” he whispered, eyes heavy.

“Almost.” She reached for him, pulling him so that he was close enough to bury her face into the soft fabric of his shirt. At Gilbert’s hesitation to overstep any boundaries, she pulled his arm to wrap on her waist. Still, it rested there too loosely, as if he was scared to tighten his grip. Moonlight bathed his cheeks when she met his eyes. “Gilbert, you said you wanted to know what I want. I’d like it if you held me. That is, if you’re comfortable.”

He did not have to be told twice. Suddenly the arm on her waist snaked around even further, and the other one wrapped beneath her, pulling her close to his chest. Anne returned the favor as she ran her hand up and down his back.

“How’s that?”

“Perfect,” she breathed. Focusing on the sound of his breath, she leaned forward and kissed where his heart was slowing to a sleeping pace in his chest. The cold which seemed so unavoidable before was completely forgotten. In its place was a clear view of the future as crisp as the stars above the storm clouds.

In the morning, Anne would take one glance at the sleeping boy in her arms and another out the window, and wonder why she’d thought winter sunrises were always purple. In his sleep, Gilbert would tighten his hold on her, and the dawn would turn into every color her eyes could see. And when he woke up, Gilbert would see them too.

#anne of green gables #anne with an e #shirbert #shirbert fic #tessa writes #annesecretsanta #catch this on ao3 where the formatting isn't wack!#merry christmas everyone! ♥

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lovecanbesostrange · 4 years

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There was no reason for Station 19 to go that hard on all fronts, but wow they did. I honestly watched S1+2 mostly out of habit, but S3 was like cleaning house, setting everybody up as a character with their personal flashback gave them far more layers and now I truly care. Thanks. Well, and then Grey’s happened and I cried for like half the episode...........

Maya and Jack have definitely profitted the most from the shift in tone and the character development overhaul. And I liked both their storylines. Maya dealing with all that crap from her father and coming to terms with why she maybe isn’t 100% ready for this very steady relationship and sharing all her emotions was great. Can she tell Carina everything she told Andy? In almost exactly this way, please? Because being afraid of slipping and finding these moments and naming what she has trouble with adjusting to - that is all good. And Carina is one of the most compassionate and patient people (from the limited scenes we have had with her over the years). Dear Maya, if you communicate, she will be there for you.

And wow, Carina than talking about her home and her own fears. Magnificent. Early days of covid? All the horrible, horrible news from Italy come to mind. So thanks writers for building that international bridge. (I wonder how any Italian tv shows that will incorporate the pandemic will deal with this. Every country has their very unique story in this.)

Of course we will see nice side characters getting covid and probably die. Gonna keep my fingers crossed for Marsha nonetheless. Jack having this make-shift family did wonders for his character and I don’t want him to take a blow. It’s a found family on the side, not bound by trade and I like it. I love that thanks to Marcus the masks with plastic windows were mentioned (even tying back to Dr. Riley’s visit to Grey-Sloan. Good job.

Well, Miller and Sullivan. That all happened. And I am exactly 0% qualified to discuss the issues raised. I do empathise with Sullivan a bit more (not that I dismiss Miller’s points, because like Sullivan and Warren say, he is right). Because I absolutely hate this thing were being part of a (minority) group makes you the spokesperson and you get judged far more harshly. And then also taking in-group crap about it. Yes, it is how the world is. But it’s unfair. (And tbh luckily Sullivan hurt mostly himself and he did stand up and face any consequence coming his way. And yes, he was the kind of person to always tell everybody else to better not make mistakes *blablabla* and look, he fell down that high horse... I do think that is something Miller pointed out very rightfully.)

Glad Travis talked to his dad. And I do like the way he did. Just letting him know he knows and leaving that door open. His breakdown about how the church/religion is letting gay people down, while so many sins are just forgiven... damn. Hard to watch. And if just one viewer watching suddenly went like “huh, fucked up”, it was worth it.

Vic is the unsung hero of this episode. I loved how she kept defending that drugged up dude. Yes, he is stupid and it’s horrifying that he stays with his obviously abusive wife, but also keeps drugs around and just... lives like this. But she kept talking about how he didn’t mean to hurt anybody else and that he needed help far more than punishment. Travis and Vic are both good people, but in that situation I think most of us would react more like Travis. Being annoyed, mouthing back and wanting those two shut the fuck up. It’s a normal reaction. What Vic said is the harder choice. And it felt like there was an untold story there.

Okay, wow, much to say about Station 19 for once. But oh boy, Grey’s...........

I remember the “early” episodes we met Bailey’s father. And then we barely talked about her parents. They were somewhere in the background. Until in “(Don’t) Fear the Reaper” we met her mom, got that whole thing with her dead sister and got this picture of her early home life. It was really good. And last week her parents get mentioned again, because hey, elderly people. AND NOW THEY TELL US HER MOM HAD ALZHEIMER’S AND THEN SHE DIED............................................................... it was so fucking heartbreaking start to finish.

And I love all the quiet scenes we got out of this that are just so human. Sad and human. Bailey talking to Meredith, saying she misses her and relating to the whole seeing your mom withering away (so dying twice in a way). I like the use of the beach, because Meredith is semi-conscious, she hears it all, but she just can’t wake up long enough. And then Maggie and Bailey on that bench.

Two people sitting on a bench, talking. Nothing special happens. They don’t need to distract by having them in a busy hallway or somethng. It’s a whole ass conversation with no shorthand. Showing all the emotions. Having Maggie go back to that time her mother died and how she views it all in a different light now. Talking about dying with dignity. Chandra Wilson was so good in this scene. (Her best performance to me will probably always be when Charles died in front of those elevators, I can cry just thinking about that.) And she was allowed such a variety of feelings. And the pain of it all brings up joyful memories. Thanks so much for that hilarity that her scholarship came from the fucking Daughters of the Revolution. HA!

I don’t get people who still watch Grey’s and the relationship drama is the thing they care most about. This is what I’m here for first - the personal lives and relating to all these emotions (and also the mistakes and the way to do better next time).

Well, at least Tom got better quick, I guess. Nice way to give Amelia a reason to get to work for a day and thus have her confronting Teddy. Look, I am done with storylines involving cheating and all. Teddy as a character is often hard to like. But the way she is isolated and like the most contact she has is with DeLuca when he updates her on Meredith’s vitals... it’s harsh. And I liked that Amelia can talk to her without making her feel more terrible. And then I did like Teddy talking to Tom, who was his charming self in the end. Bonuspoints for mentioning that the kids are with Owen’s mom. And hey, I give this to Owen, I believe this must be hard for him, because being a dad is the biggest deal for him. Actually something to make him more likeable - if handled correctly - and this situation sucks for him as well.

Which brings me to Link. Who was left at the Grey home. With Zola, Bailey, Ellis and Scout. Wow. Who would have thought? Amelia’s pregnancy was a good thing, I guess, to give them the excuse of baby time and also Link sorta moving in to deal with all the kids. (Shipping all of them off to their own living Grandma isn’t an option. lol ) Link is a good dude. So please, okay, it was news to him, no need to hate on Tom, push through the irritation, Link! Ahahahahaha.

Jackson being so nervous about his mom being a bit too proud to always keep her mask on - wonderful. Sure, she’s a doctor, she’s also stubborn and he was so scared of losing her not that long ago. Family drama everywhere! I always like seeing Jackson and Webber together. And then they had another big talk, hammering home the fact that people are affected differently. That it’s worse for poor people and not by accident, but systemic problems, most of them are PoCs. So many black and brown patients dying left and right, and it’s clear where the problem starts... I do believe for some viewers this is actually news, because the “news media” they consume won’t talk about that.

So, well, and then there is the Jo of it all. OMG where do I even start? Now, first off, Levi and Jo living together is still hilarious and thanks so much for getting two scenes at the loft. Especially that first one with Levi pretty much pushing her out of bed. Now, I do want Levi to talk to his mom, I desperately need to know how things are. I’m sure the pandemic has shed some new light on what’s important. Second I’m also glad Levi is with Jo, so she is not alone, which makes it harder for her to fall into really bad habits and down that depression hole.

I kinda freaked out seeing Val again and was sure she’s gonna die (might still happen aaaaah). They have a tendency to kill the nice ladies. Still haven’t forgiven Grey’s for killing CeCe. So it was cool that the surgery was a success and wow, did I love when Jo sent Levi out to just listen to Val and connect. And then the baby delivery happened and....... what is going on? Jo even just casually thinking about switching specialties? TO OB?????????? WHAT?????? Dear writers, you dropped the ball on her entire medical journey so often, giving her a bonkers fellowship, having her residency take way too long and shoving her into general, because oops no mentor or anything. And now you give me this? Please, so this is how I would accept this as a set-up for an actual carthartic moment:

Let Jo stalk Carina, play out this thought “what if this thing that made me happy for a day is the thing I am supposed to do longer”. And then let her have joyous moments, but also something complicated, and finally a very distressed woman in labor. And Jo feels for the woman, is compassionate and all and when the baby is there, the woman struggles to connect. And this joyous second is withheld from Jo. And boom, full circle, this woman feels like shit for not loving that baby instantly, for the feeling of resentment and being out of her mind. And finally Jo can forvige Vicki. And that’s the end of that particular journey.

I mean we all pretend that we have forgotten that time Jo stole a baby, right? Because that was the S16 hiatus and there was a storyline set in motion that blew up with Justin leaving like that. And we have had Jo interacting with babies and new moms so often over the course of the show. While also staiting that Jo’s self-worth is tied to being in an OR, which is also her safe space. So this whole thing...

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Addison was the attending OB/GYN once upon a time. (”I’m being stalked by pregnant women!” “You are an obstetrician.”) She was also a fetal surgeon, which was what Arizona eventually became. So it’s not like when Meredith wore pink scrubs for a few weeks and got made fun of. There could be a long interesting road that eventually does include surgeries. But it’s just so....... dumb. In a way. Especially with Jo having so many issues. And the writers - who give out pregnancies and babies like halloween candy - constantly skipping a potential Jolex-as-parents-storyline.... which kinda bites them in the ass now. ugh F R U S T R A T I O N......... I could write a five page essay just about Jo so far this season, I’m sorry. (Also if I ever have to see Jo in pink scrubs, a part of my brain will explode thinking back to Jason for sure.............)

Oh, and then there was Ben Warren. Just existing. Being a good man. Thanks. :3

#Station 19 #Grey's Anatomy #ramblings

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xsecretblastsx · 4 years

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1x10 - High Society

Finally I’ve reach a double digit episode, and what an episode, I feel this is where I really start questioning characters decisions, but I also love drama so, withouth more preamble, here’s the recap. Again it got insanely long.

Thoughts I had while watching the episode:

I love “comin home baby”, so right there this show is making me so happy.

I’ve actually paused the episode to see the date of the debutante ball a.k.a Cotillion

I love Blair’s red tigh outfit, also where did that guy Prince Theodore came from?

Chuck’s proud face when Nate mentions how happier Blair seems lately, and also, dude really you don’t miss your girlfriend haha

Honestly I feel this scene with all these parallel conversations about Cotillion is great, right up my alley.

All the subtle drama in that rehearsal, the secret glances, Chuck and Nate keeping their eyes on Blair all the time, this is the kind of content I’m here for.

I would like to know why everyone is in their preppy uniforms and then there’s Kati and Is who look like they’re part of Flashdance

Lilly rolling her eyes the moment she sees CeCe, and then really enjoying Cece’s mortification when she realizes Dan is a Humphrey. I love Lilly.

And from Cece’s horrified face we go to hottest PG-13 make out ever. For real though I love this scene, they both look so good and so into it, and they’re so deliciously flirty and their chemistry is out of the charts. Great choice in music too.

I don’t know who is more frustrating by Nate interrupting Chuck or myself.

Chuck’s little smile when Blair says to Nate they should move on, only to be whipped out in the next minute

Two things about the heart pin: that was an incredibly smart move on Nate’s part, and if you had any doubt Blair Waldorf is such a hopeless romantic.

Cece such a manipulator, it’s unbelievable. Imagine if Serena was more like her family...

Nate’s tux fitting deserves an honorable mention just for the fact that Blair’s actually wearing jeans. Also he kind of deserves she’s lowkey ignoring him

I mean, Dan is so annoying, like yeah I get his point Cotillion is such an elitist unnecessary event, but the way he goes about it gets on my nerves.

Hello Carter. I actually don’t mind him this episode.

Out of all the seasons I feel like Season 1 is the one where it’s weirder for the final reveal of who gossip girl is, right now it makes the guy really look like a sociopath, with all the stuff he pretends not to know.

Oh Nate! This scene is so fun, like Chuck is so done with the conversation and then “you guys are still pretty close aren’t you?” Dude you have no idea. And the Cherry on the cake “Could you find out who she’s seeing? - Me” he told you Nate, he told you.

Cece’s words to Dan are cruel, but it is the crux of their relationship,, right until the very end and he deals with it in the worst way possible, and why in his mind, every issue in their relationship is always Serena’s fault. Ugh.

Between Dan and Carter, yeah she should have ended with Carter, too bad Cece’s word weren’t profetic.

I wish we had a clearer view of Blair’s outfit in that scene she’s talking with that New York Times guy, because I think it’s purple, and I wish we had seen her using that color a bit more.

Chuck is so jealous and Blair’s like yeah whatever as if. But a jealous Chuck is scheming Chuck.

I love Rufus, you go Dan (just for this one time)

I’ve always felt Serena’s look for Cotillion was a lot of gold, not in a good way, but right now? I’m kind of feeling it. And she looks gorgeous.

I mean I think there was probably a better way to say that Grandma Cece is evil, but still I’m not sure it would have matter Serena didn’t want to listen, she never does actually now that I think of it, the end of S3 comes to mind.

Blair has the funniest lines “I’m gonna go Naomi Campbell on you” Is so sad though that we got to see so little of that Erickson Beamon necklace, it’s lovely.

“Hey Beatiful” oh the things one notices when one no longer hates Carter and VanderBaizen is your second Serena ship.

Lily and Cece’s faces at Serena’s presentation stament are to die for.

The pretty little liars song! But since I haven’t watch that show, this one is going to remain a Gossip Girl song for me.

Seeing Cece and Lily at Cotillion makes me think that Blair’s parents are the worst, it’s their daughter debut and none of them could be bothered to attend the event

It didn’t remember this was the first time they mentioned the Santorini incident, less of all in the way Carter tells it, I thought this was first mentioned in S2,

Not exactly a fan of Lily’s scene with Dan, because yes I agree at this point for the most part Dan is a good influence, but she almost makes it look like Serenas change is thanks to Dan, and that’s not the case. She had decided to change even before she met him.

Also this is feeding Dan’s ego and his belief that he’s the best thing to happen to his girlfriends.

Oh Chuck finding out than when it comes to Blair scheming is not an easy feat, and to think this in only the first time this is going to happen.

Poor Chuck, that hurt. Nate’s wink adding salt to his wounds ouch.

That phone between Ruflus and Lily, yes you shouldn’t have let her go!!!

Oh how I used to like that last scene between Dan and Serena.

Seeing that scene of Cece taking her pills made me think of S5, and that’s probably the episode I hate the most in the whole show.

Blair and Nate finally get to it, but seriously Blair doing it with Nate while wearing the necklace Chuck gave you, is tasteless. Also compared to a certain scene at the start of the episode, this looks a bit dull..

Chuck running away, also him looking at the news paper where Blair is happily smiling with some guy, reminded me again of S5.

Ending this episode with “Apologize” was so 2007, remember how popular this song was?

This was a really packed episode. It introduces us to Cece, and gaves a bit more insight into Rufus and Lily’s history. We have Jenny picking the UES over her family, she’s changing. A dash of Van der Baizen, and our first glimpse to their shared past. Dan and Serena having another clash of worlds, that ends with Lily finally acepting Dan for real; and finally the end of Chuck and Blair 1.0 and the star of Nate and Blair 2.0.

While interesting Jenny’s and Rufly bits this episode, they’re a small part of the episode, Jenny’s in particular feels like a setting up of events to come and as such I feel I have not much to say about it right now. So this episode Dan and Serena had to deal with quite an opponent: Grandma Cece.

Cece while manipulative did raised some interesting points, mainly how out of place Dan feels in the UES, all those things she mentioned are things that Dan resents about the UES, and he may be brushing it up aside for now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t linger and fester in his mind. And then we have Serena who for some reason (which i can’t help but feel is related to Dan) has decided to ditch Cotillion, the even that according to Lily she wanted to attend since she was much younger, and sure people change, Serena is proof of that but in this case I feel her not going is in part to annoyed her mother but also to prove Dan she’s the girl he thhinks she is, i know I may be projecting my dislike of Dan and Derena on this, but it just feels like that to me, and it’s a troubling aspect of their relationship. Also when Dan mentioned to Serena about Cece’s ploy, she doesn’t believe him, doesn’t want to hear it at first, and I just feel for her because sadly is not the first time she’s going to have to accept that her family is not who she think they were.

Last but not least there’s Chuck and Blair. So their secret fling lasted only a month, since the beginning it took Chuck much less effort to embrace the situation, for all his playboys ways the morning after their first time... he wanted them to get breakfast, and it took him Nate messing up again for him to convince Blair of giving them another chance. So when Nate shows interest in Blair, this is Chuck’s worst nightmare come to life, Blair had her whole life with Nate planned out since she was a little girl, she only gave up on that dream when it was clear Nate wanted no part of it, and sure Chuck knows the potential they have, he lowkey always knew, and that’s why he falls so fast, because subconciously he was halfway there since foreve, but it’s very hard to compete with years of Nate, Nate Nate, in Blairs head. So he panics, he gets jealous... and he plots. And it backfires horribly. And for the first time in his life he gets his heart broken.

I don’t judge Blair on this one though because well she knows Chuck, he has an agenda always, and him being Chuck Bass it never occurs to her that he may be realy into her beyond just sex, to her all they being doing is fooling around, she tells Chuck that he needs to learned to behave for them to move to something more, and Chuck behaving is an eufemism of so many things: trust,knowing that she matters to him enough, that he cares. And that’s a big step and it’s a conversation that needed to happen.. and then it doesn’t. Thanks Nate. But really having Nate finally wanting her, and then Chuck seemingly only caring for himself and his own amusement is not suprise she picks Nate.

I do feel for Chuck because when he gets desperate he doesn’t think properly at all, he knows Blair, how smart she is and that she’s a good at him at plotting and manipulation,and yet he fails to take that into account, like this episode, he wants Nate to cause a scene to shatter Blair’s image of Nate, because she tells him he would never, so it’s not hard for Blair to see that Nate only caused one because Chuck manipulated into it, it’s transparent. And this is a lesson that sadly he’s not going to learn anytime soon.

Random bits I would like to mention: ( a bit surprised I got so many for this episode)

So Blair’s birthday is the 15th of november, this means Chuck and Blair version 1.0 lasted a month. Common knowledge I suppose, but I’ve read fanfics where the timeline is much shorter.

A bit of personal trivia: I love the song “you’re a wolf” (the one playing when Chuck and Blair are making out) and last year was kind of weird for me and I had like a thousand mood changes so anyway, so there was one week I started listening to this song, and I just couldn’t stop re playing it, just so out of nowhere, I played it so much, it ended up being my most played song last year according to Spotify.

I remember when the type of purse Jenny has was on fashion, and it was cool because it got to the point that street markets they were sold really cheap because they made them out or recycled materials

Chuck tells to Nate that “like the book says she’s just not that into you” and it made think that this was so long ago that there was only the book, the movie wasn’t out yet, wow..

I wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t fight with Dan, because then Carter wouldn’t have been at Cotillion, and then the drama between Chuc, Blair and Nate could have ended up in a completely different way.

The Palace does likes like a good place to have the Cotillion, not sure that would have been the case in real life, but here it fits nicely.

Irrelevant but apparently Kati and Is do everything together at such an extent they were scorted by two guys that I guess were brothers because they had the same last name.

You won’t believe but The Pierces have a 2020 version of Secret, it came out on my new releases list on Spotify last week.

#gossip girl #gossip girl recap #gossip girl rewatch #1x10 #high society

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sasuhinasno1fan · 4 years

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Save a cat, get cheese buns

I have only ever written one (1) ML fic before, not counting an AU I did for a klance week, and I think it is very obvious here, but I really wanted to try @marichatmay. MariChat is my top fav of the love square and after watching part 2 of s3, I just wanted to write fanfic for this fandom. It’s also very obvious puns are not part of my every day vocab. I struggled to fit a few in there, so don’t expect more than maybe one in the rest of the month’s fics. I hope you like this anyway. I was inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Sevice. I know for this au, Chat is usually an actual chaton, but I decided to switch it up a little. Also side note, Tom and Sabine aren’t Mari’s parents in this fic. She grew up with her grandfather Fu and met the couple when they offered her a place to stay in exchange for helping out at the bakery. So, please enjoy. Witch AU

“Plagg? Plagg?” how did this happen? She arrived in this small Parisian town only about 2 weeks ago with her broom, Plagg and a fully packed bag in hand. She had gone out on her own as was tradition in her family of witches. She met Sabine and Tom who offered a place in their home in exchange for help out in front and doing deliveries – though seeing how clumsy her landings were, she could tell they were starting to reconsider that one, even though she never destroyed any orders. If Plagg wasn’t stealing cheese related pastries, he was laying all over the fabrics for Marinette’s lucky clothing. he’d been sleeping in the sun up in Marinette’s attic room and when she came back after doing a delivery he wouldn’t move for, he was gone. She hadn’t been too worried, he wondered around, getting into trouble. He lived up to his name of plague and bad luck, despite his owner being able to give good luck to her clothing items. But it became the evening and he wasn’t back. Nor was he back the next morning or that afternoon. She knew Plagg, he wouldn’t disappear like that, not when he complained about always wanting food and Tom and Sabine spoiled him with it. His disappearance didn’t make any sense.

So here she was, putting off orders she’d received for her blooming business to look for the only piece of home she had in a brand new place.

“Plagg!”

“Marinette!” the dark haired witch turned to see Luka and Rose riding up next to her. Luka had been one of the first people she met when she arrived. His calm demeanour and the way he seemed to read her – and everyone one else – helped her feel a bit more at ease. Rose was a walking sunbeam who stood out when you placed her next to her more dark loving girlfriend, but they were one of the sweetest couples Marinette had met. Ok so maybe Sabine and Tom beat them, just a little.

“Are you ok? You seem stressed. Is it creator’s block?” Luka asked.

“I wish. Plagg is missing. He went out yesterday and he hasn’t come back yet. It isn’t like him. He might go missing for a while, but then he always comes back begging for food. Have you seen him?”

“Well, it’s a little hard to miss a sarcastic talking cat.” Rose pointed out. “But I’m sure he’s fine. You said he belonged to your grandfather?”

Plagg did originally belong to her grandfather, the only other person of magic in her life. He created healing potions and balms and stood out even more as a warlock by having a turtle as his main familiar. Plagg might of belonged to her grandfather, but he’d always been hers.

“Yeah, but disappearing like this isn’t like him. I’ve already checked the cheese shop he’s always trying to sneak in to. He doesn’t like any other cheese pastries except for Tom’s, so I can’t even begin to think where he could of gone.”

Luka had a thoughtful look on his face before turning to look at Rose. “What about the guy Alya mentioned?”

Rose brighten and started to slap Luka on the back, who didn’t even flinch.

“Of course! Alya’s been looking into this guy who’s been going around taking care of all the town’s cats. Everyone calls him Chat Noir because he’s always in this black cat eared beanie and a whisker face mask.”

Chat Noir?

“He’s got to be about your age but no one has ever reported their child missing so my guess he isn’t even from here. The colony apparently lives at the old music hall, if you’ve ever seen it.” Luka threw out.

“I have! I’m going to get my broom and check. Thanks guys!” Marinette yelled as she ran back towards the bakery.

Hopefully she would get lucky and Plagg would be there. And maybe she could met this Chat Noir guy.

_________

It was strange to be on her broom without nails digging into her purple dress or a black ball of fur curled up precariously on the front of her broomstick. She just hoped Luka’s suggestion was right. She landed in front of the old music hall. Before it was shut down, she could see that it would have been the place to be, but now wear and tear had lessened it’s splendour The front doors were still attached and the bottom glass of the doors had been replaced the a flap big enough for cats to get through. She took her luck with the door and opened to the sound of cats scattering. The carpeted floors were torn up, no doubt from the many cats using it as a scratching post. There was a mild smell, but from what she could see, there weren’t any accidents anywhere. Marinette wondered if this Chat Noir guy got litter boxes for all the cats in the building. She could see a few glowing eyes in easily reaching hidey holes, but none with the unnatural green of Plagg’s eyes.

“Plagg? Plagg, are you here?”

“Can I help you?” a voice asked.

Spinning around, her heart in her throat, she stared at the guy standing not far behind her. He had to of picked up sneaking skills from the cats because she didn’t even hear him. Like Rose said, his messy blond hair was mostly hidden by a cat eared beanie and half of his face was hidden with a black face mask with white cat whiskers printed on it.

“You scared me.” Marinette said, breathing so her heart would restart.

“My apologies Purr-incess. Didn’t mean to make your fur stand on edge. Just the last person who came here was the reporter girl and she promised to come through the back entrance next time she wanted an interview. Cats are usually up front here and I hate to scare them every two seconds by coming through the door.” his green eyes took in Marinette in the purple dress and broomstick in hand. “I hope you’re not here to look for a familiar. Most of these felines aren’t great around people yet.”

“Um, no. I already have one. His name is Plagg and he’s obsessed with cheese. he’s been missing since yesterday and I haven’t been able to find him since. Have you at all seen him? His eyes are like a green glow stick, they’re really green.”

Chat Noir’s eyes lit up. “So you’re the Marinette he was talking about. Right this way princess.” he said, gesturing down the hall like some kind of prince.

She was cautious, but he did know her name, so she followed him. He opened one door and put a finger up to his hidden lips before taking her hand and leading her up the stairs. She had to guess that he was taking her to the theatre's booth.

“Ow! Stop biting me!”

“Plagg!”

she didn’t bothering waiting for Chat Noir as she ran to the top of the stairs where she saw Plagg in the middle of a little kitten playroom, getting attacked by 3 kittens, all using him as a chew toy.

“Marinette help me!” Plagg begged. Other than looking very uncomfortable, he seemed to be ok.

“Alright kittens, leave the poor guy alone. Chew any more and you’ll turn him into a Rex.” Chat Noir called, slipping out of his shoes before stepping over the barrier and pulling the kittens off of Plagg, before picking him up and handing him to Marinette.

Plagg’s claws dug into her shoulder as he clung to her. “Never let me leave the room ever again.”

“What happened anyway? I came back from the delivery and you were gone.”

“I found him running from Minnie. she’s kinda the resident leader.” Chat Noir said.

“I did not run!” Plagg defended.

“Oh, of course not. You were trembling with excitement when she drove you into a corner like she would do any street dog. Looks like your kitty likes it ruff.”

Marinette couldn’t tell if he meant that pun but she was starting to get an idea that he liked them. He wore black and was called Chat Noir.

“I don’t like him.” Plagg grumbled.

“Hey, I feed you my cheese buns last night because you wouldn’t eat the cat food I offered. That was my dinner.”

“Well I saved you the trouble of really bad cheese buns. Clearly you haven’t had a Dupain Patisserie cheese bun.”

Chat Noir’s eyes glowed in amusement. “They’re a little far from my territory, but I have had their macaroons. they’re meow-vellous.” he looked proud of that one. “He’s ok, by the way. Checked him over for as long as he let me hold him and brought him up here because the kittens don’t care much who comes up here. He makes a pretty great foster dad.”

“My first and last time!” Plagg yelled, Marinette moving her head away from his screeches.

“Well, thank you for looking after him. I’m glad to know he was in good hands.” Marinette thanked.

“No problem. I don’t know what your skill set is, but maybe you could find a way of keeping him out of trouble? Something tells me this isn’t his first time.”

Marinette looked at Plagg, who was still sulking and twitchy from being around the kittens. He was pretty good at getting into trouble. Maybe she would have to pick him up next time he wanted to be too lazy.

“I’ll do my best. I should get back. Thanks again.”

“Not a problem princess. don’t hesitate to come again.” he offered, bowing like a prince.

On their way back to the bakery, Plagg complained about the things he’d been through but she could tell it was just him complaining about everything. From what she gathered, Chat looked after all the cats himself, changing litter, filling food and water bowls, catching any sick cats to get them checked out. that’s why Chat hadn’t seen Plagg when he came wondering into the music hall when his curiosity got the better of him. He’d been bringing back the kittens from their check up when he heard the ruckus and saved him.

“He must be doing something pretty well to have the money to pay for all that. I know what a simple check up costs for you.” Marinette pointed out.

“Don’t ask me. He can’t even get decent cheese bread. They were hard.”

“Hard? Like they were stale?”

“Tom’s given me stale bread as a toy. They weren’t fresh, that’s for sure.”

money spent on the cats but old bread for dinner? Could he be spending all his money on the cats? She wanted to show him how much she appreciated him looking after Plagg. Maybe a simple cheese bun could be the key? She looked down at Plagg, who was still going on his ‘woe is me’ spin. Of course, she was going to have to steal a few before she feed her poor attacked familiar.

____________

“Why are we here?” Plagg whined.

Marinette rolled her eyes. Plagg was obviously back to his usual self. She did noticed that he did stick closer to her on the broomstick, so he clearly wasn’t taking any chances.

“I just want to thank him for looking after you. he’s obviously got his hands full with all the other cats and he gave you his dinner.” Marinette pointed out.

Plagg pouted. He didn’t like admitting he was wrong, but she knew that he had a heart of gold.

She floated down to the back of the music hall, like Chat Noir had asked her to. A few cats watched her land, growling when they saw Plagg, who growled right back.

“Down guys. No need to growl. I’m sure if you asked nicely, purr-incess here would be happy to give you a ride.”

Chat Noir came from the back entrance, hefting a large bag litter in his hands.

“I didn’t expect you back so soon. You missed me, I’m sure. I’m paw-sitivly purr-fect to be around.”

“Ease up on the puns or I’m feeding these to Plagg.” Marinette warned, holding up the basket that was in her hand.

“A gift for me? Why princess? We barely even know each other. If you’re asking me to run away with you, just know I’ve got about 40 children to bring with me.”

Marinette got the feeling puns and flirting was this guy’s way of talking. She hoped if she dug a little deeper, she’d find something a bit different.

“Something to say thanks for looking after this one. I’m sure he was a handful.” she said, waiting till he dropped the bag of litter and dusted off his hands to hand him the basket. It had cheese buns as well as a few other filling pastries. “They’ll last you a while.”

“Dupain Patisserie? My, my, you spoil me. I didn’t mind looking after him. I’m just glad you two found each other again. I’ve got to ask though. Purple dress and black cat means your a witch right? What brought you to our small town?”

Marinette shrugged. “Most witches go out on their own at my age. There was something about this place that just drew me to it.”

“Well, hopefully our meeting didn’t make you look at things in a bad light.”

“I’ll survive I’m sure. Besides, my skill set is making lucky items. I think I’ve got a bit of protection.”

Chat Noir got close, leaning down a bit so he could look her in the eyes. “I think we lucked out with you princess.”

She couldn’t help but to laugh. She didn’t know Chat Noir that well yet, but something told her she’d be surprised with what she discovered.

#marichatmay2020 #witch au #familiar plagg #non miraculous chat

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carrotsofavonlea · 5 years

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Since you’ve asked about prompts.... there’s a cute passage in the books (Anne of Avonlea) that seems to fit the S3 vibe that goes “It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities”... MAYBE it’s something to write about, focusing on Anne’s feelings and MAYBE this time she doesn’t put the veil backc

The Veil

(Shirbert week - final day)

Anne was hiding in the barn, trying to forget about the looming Queens' results being released. The scratchy hay and sounds of the horses was oddly calming for her, especially since Jerry was out on the fields helping Matthew.

She was focused on reading her beloved Jane Eyre, always bringing her comfort in times of stress, with her legs tucked up underneath her. Suddenly she heard footsteps climbing up the ladder and she was about to yell at Jerry when some familiar dark curls crept into view, followed by a warm lopsided smile.

"Marilla said you'd be up here." Gilbert laughed, pulling himself up the ladder fully and sitting down next to Anne in the hay.

"What are you doing here?" She closed her book slowly, placing it beside her.

"I came to see how you were feeling about the results. If I know you, and I'd like to say I do, I know you're bound to be worrying." He nudged her with his shoulder and she rolled her eyes.

"Well you're wrong because I feel perfectly fine."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

"I'm definitely not worried about my dreams potentially being dashed." She sighed, hugging her knees to her chest.

Gilbert put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she didn't flinch away. "You're going to do great. And you're Anne Shirley Cuthbert, nothing can keep you down for too long."

"How can you know that?"

"You're the smartest person I know." He tilted his head to try and make eye contact with her.

She looked up, a mischievous smile on her face, "Smarter than you?"

"Let's call it a tie." He laughed, and she joined in to, finally feeling more at ease.

She didn't know when it had happened, but Gilbert had become one of her closest friends. Of course, she loved Diana dearly, but there were some things that Gilbert just understood, things that Diana had the fortune of not experiencing yet. Gilbert knew the hardships, knew what it was like to feel alone. He was a kindred spirit, and Anne realised that perhaps they weren't quite as rare as she'd once thought.

"Anyway, the ball is coming up. Surely you're excited about that?" Gilbert tried to sound casual about the whole thing.

"More excited than you could ever know." She laughed happily, and Gilbert was glad to see her smile again. "It's like a fairytale. I can't wait to dance, preferably with someone who actually knows what they're doing."

She gave him a pointed look, both remembering how Miss Stacy had lined then up and made them dance during class.

"If I recall it was actually you who stepped on my foot." He pretended to rub his shoe as if it still hurt.

"I think you're mistaken." She folded her arms, but knew full well she had stepped on his foot.

"Maybe you can help me practise then. Since we worked quite well together in class." He added that last part quickly, awkwardly picking at a piece of straw.

"If it'll save you the embarrassment later." She conceded, beginning to climb down the ladder to the barn floor.

She took his hand in hers and placed the other on his shoulder. He took the lead and they spun around the barn, Gilbert twirling her very differently to how they'd been taught at school and she wondered where he'd learned to dance like that.

They were in fits of laughter, all fear of tomorrow driven out of Anne's mind. She kept her eyes locked with his, and found herself unable to look away. It was as if a veil had been lifted and suddenly she was seeing clearly for the first time.

"You know Gilbert has a crush on you, right?" Cole had once said, and she'd been so quick to deny it. But now she was looking at him, really looking at him. And the way he was looking back at her was something she'd only ever read about. There was a fondness in his eyes that made her heart flutter, something new…

For so long she had been waiting for a handsome prince type to declare his undying love, waiting for love to just hit her. But that wasn't the case. Maybe love wasn't always so obvious at first. It was the little moments, the small gestures, slowly creeping up to your side without you even realising.

Love wasn't always about knights and gestures of grandeur. Perhaps it came from friends, shifting into something more, falling too far before you even knew how to stop it.

"I suppose I better go," Gilbert said, reluctantly letting go of Anne's hand. "Bash will be wondering where I am."

She nodded, following him out of the barn.

As she walked back towards the house, Anne looked over her shoulder at Gilbert. She knew she was not the same Anne she was once. He had crept into her heart and planted himself firmly there, that she was sure of. No matter how hard she wanted to deny it, she was in love with him. That revelation had come as a surprise to her, but once it was there in her mind, nothing had made more sense.

He wasn't just her friend, he was her equal, a kindred spirit. It had always been him, from the shy smiles exchanged in class, the witty competitions and friendly debates. He drove her crazy sometimes, but in the best possible way.

So, before she could stop herself or change her mind she called out to him. "Gilbert! Wait!"

He stopped walking, turning in surprise before his eyebrows softened when he saw her running at full speed towards him.

"Anne what-"

She cupped both his cheeks in her hands, interrupting him with a kiss. After a second of him registering what happened, his arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed her back, everything he'd wanted to say for all those years being said.

The veil had been lifted, and there was no way Anne could ever put it back. For the first time she was seeing clearly just what made her heart sing, and that was none other than Gilbert Blythe.

#awae #shirbert #anne shirley #gilbert blythe #anne with an e #shirbert week

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msbeccieboo · 5 years

Text

Arrow 8x02 Brain Dump

Meh! This is gonna be a shorter one, because quite frankly, this just wasn't worth staying up late for (it airs at 2am my time 😩😩), and I felt it a waste of one of the final run of episodes. It wasn’t the worst episode everrr, by any means, but it was just meh. And I think for the last season we deserve better than meh, every single week.

The good 😍

Always start with, and double-down on the positives haha!!

Antonio Negret and Stephen Amell really came through for us with The Ring Moment, which, albeit very brief, just gave us a little moment to remind us that Felicity was on Oliver’s mind throughout all of this, that she was his driving force for doing this crazy mission, and that (through the quotes they selected for flashbacks) he still had hope in what he was doing, and that Felicity will find him, and they were “gonna be fine” 😭😭😭

Source: olicitygifs

If this wasn’t foreshadowing a happy Olicity ending, then why are we even here haha!

Some more below the cut:

Antonio did a great job overall in this episode; his episodes are always beautifully shot and he gets the absolute best out of the character moments in the scripts. I’d have actually loved for Antonio to have directed the premiere last week…ugh that would have amped that up to astronomical levels of awesome!!

Oliver’s moments with Tatsu. I’m glad they used her to service Oliver’s character; we could have done with her joining the team back in the day instead of NTA! She was a true ally!

Source: oliverxfelicity

This moment was wonderful to show why he is still there on the mission (short version, he's a paragon of heroes, duh). I’m really glad they had Tatsu question his reasons so he could give this answer; that he is in this for his family. He ‘knows’ he’s going to die, and he left his family behind to keep them (and the rest of the multiverse) safe, so he has to keep trusting The Monitor, because if not, and he doesn’t see this through, then he left his family for nothing. However, I’m pleased that Tatsu challenging him on this, led him to ultimately actually question The Monitor, by deciding to go to Nanda Parbat for more answers.

Source: oliverxfelicity

The flash forwards. A very welcome reprieve from the A storyline this week! Mia taking the lead back in the lair, and being all protective sister over William is A MOOD.

I love seeing her in softer moments like when she was reassuring Connor, or her panic over William. We have seen glimpses of this before last season and it reminds us that she does have a big squishy heart inside like her papa, along with the empathy of her Mama Smoak, as well as being the kickass team leader/warrior/vigilante.

William continues to be his witty, adorable, hacktastic self and he has my whole heart!! 💗💗💗

Connor and JJs relationship is adorable. Connor has so much John Diggle in him, I just cannot 😍😍 And we saw the mask slip a little on JJ, and heard about the little hero boy that he used to be, but appears to have well and truly left behind 😩 I can’t wait to see future Dig because this good/evil brother thing is just going to remind him of him and Andy and he’s going to blame himself and it’s going to be fantastic!! I hope we get to see that!!

What else…ooh THAT ENDING!!! From that awesome shot of Lyla's Amanda Waller shoes to finding out that she is already working with The Monitor 😱😱😱 This ending was gooood. Do I think that Lyla is really evil? NOPE. Do I hope that this will lead to a beautiful Dyla confrontation? HELL YES!!! But as Mia said in the flash forwards that Lyla and John were “basically saints”, I hope that that implies that she (1) isn't evil and (2) doesn't die...yay!!

The bad 😡

Black Siren😒😒😒 My brief love affair with BS has officially ended haha! I really wanted to continue liking her after there was no Felicity for her to bounce off, but NOPE. Instead they’ve had her revert back to every other incarnation of LL, whereby she just blames Oliver for everything that goes wrong for her (and let’s not even get started on that terrible fake crying). Blaming Oliver when he literally had no clue what he was doing on that Earth, and it would undoubtedly have happened anyway (The Monitor confirmed this later). Oh and he just saved your ungrateful arse, when you could have stopped to help (and would have definitely died), but you just hopped straight on through the portal instead so shut the fuck up and sit down!! RAAHHH!! Ok, I know that she was just processing her grief etc etc etc, but ugh!! And then she comes back and takes all the glory for saving Tatsu when she should have been there repaying Oliver and Dig and helping them out in the first place, without even a hint of an apology?! **SHAKES ANGRY FIST**

The Monitor manipulating Oliver by telling him he was responsible for the loss of Earth 2. This was later revealed to not be the case, him stating that it was a necessary sacrifice. So what was the point in this? To keep him in line? To ready Oliver somehow, as he alluded to with Lyla at the end? Ugh. The Monitor sucks balls.

The plot…what even happened? Some Dr bloke was needed by The Monitor for Unknown Reasons (I feel like we’ll be getting a lot of this, I only hope that most of it is accounted for later). He didn’t appear to be interested in the new Alpha-Omega virus, leaving that plot point seemingly shoehorned in because ode to S3 🙄🙄 Oliver stopped the virus getting out and rescued the Dr, but didn’t want to hand him over right away (but Lyla did anyway), so he decides to go to Nanda Parbat next week for answers. The end.

The Meh 😕

Meh sums up this episode for me really. This is how I thought I'd be feeling about S8, but last week showed that they could still make it good, so why aren't they?!😭😭 I really want to be enjoying this last run!

Action, action, action! 🙄🙄 A fight sequence-heavy episode was never going to be a favourite, it’s just not what I watch for, so that’s not a bad thing; lots of people are here for all the fighting, so this is for them! The fight scenes were actually shot well, and didn’t have any of the awkward camera-moves-past-each-character-one-by-one-and-hopes-no-one-misses-their-marks-or-gets-caught-standing-still moments that we often see **cough** last weeks episode **cough** 😂

Lyla. Don’t hate me. I love Lyla! But until that (awesome) ending, her presence was wasted by being BS’s cheerer-upper, when she could have been with the A team haha! I did like her little “hi honey” moment with Dig though 😍😍 I’m hoping they use Lyla more as the season progresses up to the crossover, especially given that ending!

Source: feilcityqueen

China White. Although it was good that they kept her a secret, and were able to use an already-established baddie for the episode, she just fell a bit flat for me, much like other times in later years that they brought her back.

Of course the episode wasn’t 100% terrible, there were some beautiful little character moments for Oliver and the flash forward crew, but for me, a few heartfelt moments does not a great episode make. It felt like they got Tatsu to come back for an episode and thought ok, how do we build an episode around that. It didn't drive the story forward, it didn't particularly offer any character development (all of BS's fake crying notwithstanding), it was meh. There are so very few episodes of this show left, ever, and I feel like each one they should just be squeezing out all of the excellent Arrow juice and making them count, and this just didn’t feel like that for me, sadly. But onwards and upwards!! Next week has potential!!

Next week

Speedy and Nanda Parbat!! And if we don’t get a 3x20 sexytimes call-back then quite frankly what is the point hahaha!!

Thank you to the wonderful gifmakers, who always capture the best moments so beautifully 😍😍😍 (Uncredited gifs are mine)

#Arrow 8x02 #Arrow #Oliver Queen #Olicity #John Diggle #Arrow Season 8 #Arrow spoilers #beccie's brain

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bombshellsandbluebells · 6 years

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“Murphy plans, Emori reacts”

When we started season 5, I confidently said a few times, “Murphy plans, Emori reacts” and then the show proceeded to prove me wrong like five times in a row, so I was like, “okay, I clearly read that part of their dynamic wrong, let me adjust my reading of them.”

But I’ve been thinking about it more and more, and I don’t think I’m wrong that that WAS true for most of season 3 and 4 - and the shift in that dynamic is another sign of how the time in space affected and changed them.

Emori can be incredibly cautious about things, she tries to avoid situations that will put her in danger, and she IS conniving and clever and smart and has thought and manipulated her way out of some dangerous situations (namely the iconic Baylis con). All of that is true. But once Emori was IN a dangerous situation, she often tended to react rashly:

she was going to fight three large, armed men in the forest when they captured John and only stopped because he told her not to (there was literally no grand plan there other than fight to the death with one (1) knife)

she took the chip despite seeing what it had done to Otan because it MIGHT have helped her find John

she wanted to go after Otan despite it being incredibly dangerous and only didn’t go because John argued against it (acting as the rational voice of reason)

she tried to cut and run after 3x16 because she was afraid of what John’s reaction was going to be

her first response to hearing about the plan to test nightblood was to immediately assume it was going to be her and try to run away, despite not having all the information

her immediate response to everyone finding out about her con was to RUN FORWARD AND TRY TO DESTROY THE MACHINE WITH EVERYONE STANDING THERE WATCHING (literally the dumbest thing Emori has ever done)

Up until s5, Emori tends to panic and then react. The fact that she is cautious and wary tends to keep her out of dangerous situations in the first place, but once she’s in them, she doesn’t take the time to plan an escape - she runs for it, ready to throw fists at anything and anyone in her way.

Because that’s what Emori had to do to survive in the world. She faced so much danger in her life that she had to learn to react to things quickly, and if something started looking like a dangerous situation, she really only had two options: throw some fists or flee.

Emori is brilliant. She’s a master manipulator. But she’s really not a strategist.

Before s5, Murphy really is the more level-headed of the two of them, even though there seems to be some sort of disconnect that keeps the fandom from viewing Murphy as level-headed in any way. (He WAS, guys.) Emori’s the one who wants to fly into a situation fists swinging without all the information, Murphy’s the one who wants to stop, take a breath, figure out what the situation is, and THEN come up with a way to get out of it.

And this is all because of what happened to Murphy when he was the one acting on impulse. The way that Murphy reacts to danger in s3/s4 is absolutely a result of the hanging and the banishing (and likely, getting locked in a lighthouse he immediately decided was a safe haven without knowing otherwise.) Acting on impulse ended badly for Murphy. Using violence ended badly for Murphy. And because he’s the ultimate survivor - because he LEARNS and adapts to keep surviving (the whole survivor identity is more than just luck, guys) - he learned to stop, assess a situation, and then approach it. (Not to say that he doesn’t sometimes still act rashly or with violence when strong emotions are motivating him, of course.)

That’s why he:

wisely told Emori not to fight a bunch of armed men in the forest with one (1) knife and instead found a way to save himself using the information he learned by not acting rashly

found a way to keep himself alive with Ontari that didn’t require him to fight everyone in the tower and die

was the ONLY ONE in the ALIE Resistance Team that pointed out going up the tower with no way down was going to likely end badly for them

calmed Emori down during 4x07 and then went to a) learn more information about the situation (aka, hey Clarke are you REALLY going to use my girlfriend in your experiment?) and b) potentially to try to talk Clarke out of it

Pre-s5: Emori panics and reacts. Murphy thinks things through. Both as a result of things that have happened to them in the past.

And then in s5, the dynamic flips completely.

This isn’t a case of bad writing or the writers losing track of their characters (like some of s5, tbh) - this was a deliberate change in character indicative of the change both of them went through in space.

I’ve talked before about how the environment on the Ring affected Emori and Murphy both completely differently, and I won’t go a long rant here - but the gist is this: to Emori, space was a safe haven she’d never experienced before. Space was an entirely new place that held no trauma for her and had never operated under the laws of Earth that banished her. Space was a fresh start, populated only by people who had been willing to save her life and later came to accept and love and support her.

Space for Emori was almost paradise. Sure, they were stuck, and sure, it was constantly trying to kill them, but it was a far improvement from Earth, which had not only always tried to kill her, but also always isolated her. And that’s why Emori was able to grow so much and so positively on the Ring.

Space also was full of threats, but they weren’t the immediate kind she had been used to on Earth. Sure, a breakdown of the Ring’s life support systems would kill them, but reacting rashly and without thinking things through was not only no longer useful, it was more dangerous. The way to stay alive in space was to learn as much as she could about the Ark systems and how to repair them and then maintain them through slow, continuous, monotonous repairs. And that likely forced Emori to change her tendency of reacting without thinking. It taught her to pause before acting and think things through. It taught her to plan and be strategic.

Space for Murphy, however, was hell. Not only was it a place that held trauma for him, but he was trapped with a bunch of people who he had complicated pasts with. Space couldn’t be a fresh start for him at all. And since I tend to believe that there’s a lot more trauma related to the lighthouse bunker than the show really dives into, being trapped in an enclosed space for such an extended length of time was likely the worst possible thing for Murphy.

Murphy tends to need distractions to handle uncomfortable situations, and when he doesn’t keep himself occupied, he struggles. I mean, we’ve all joked about his tendency to find toys everywhere he goes, but that little detail really does show us something about Murphy’s character - he needs to be distracted. He needs things to happen. Richard has talked about how Murphy struggles with peace time, and I think it’s because Murphy really doesn’t handle being bored well. Because being bored gives you time to think and be introspective - and in an environment brimming with trauma and unresolved issues, I’m sure that’s the absolutely last thing Murphy wanted.

The problem is that the Ring was pretty much unchanging for 6 years. Once you fall into a rhythm of the necessary tasks to survive, there isn’t much to do. And if Murphy in particular didn’t feel he had a useful and unique skill to contribute, then he really didn’t have much to do. Playing around with bouncy balls is only going to keep you occupied for so long.

So Murphy in s5 NEEDS SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. He’s bursting with anxious energy. He’s bored and trying to keep himself distracted. He’s feeling trapped. He needs to act. And so he backtracks. No longer does he stop to plan things through, he just acts, because at least SOMETHING will happen, even if it’s bad.

The Murphy of past seasons would have never suggested they contact the other ship before knowing if it was a threat or not. He would have been cautious and wary of putting themselves in danger. But the Murphy of s5 who is dying for some kind of change in the endless monotony of the Ring, who cares more about getting down to Earth than staying cautious, who picks fights just for SOMETHING to do, wants to contact that ship the minute they spot it because potential danger is better than the hellish, unending waiting.

The fact that Murphy reacts so rashly throughout so much of s5 isn’t meant to be an aspect of his character that’s overlooked. It ISN’T “just classic Murphy” - and that’s the point. It’s indicative of what’s happening inside of him - what’s been happening over the course of the time we missed and how it’s changed him.

And the fact that it ALWAYS BACKFIRES ON HIM is also incredibly important. Staying behind with Raven before knowing all the information leaves him stranded in the last place he wants to be. Throwing the rock and starting the riot ruins the truce that Bellamy/Clarke had secured.

Which is why I’m still a bit disappointed that this writing didn’t carry through to any kind of conclusion. We didn’t have a moment when Murphy was forced to recognize acting rashly was only going to get him killed. (I mean....acting rashly DID get him shot, but it’s also framed as a necessary and noble sacrifice to keep Bellamy and Echo safe.) Emori grew positively and that was celebrated by the narrative - but Murphy growing negatively wasn’t called out the way it NEEDED to be called out. Not in the end, at least.

Having Emori and Murphy switch roles in this dynamic was really important to show how they handled space and what it did to them and to easily reveal who they were now compared to 6 years ago, and I do really think that was masterfully done (5x04 aside) - but whatever message they were trying to deliver with Murphy was lost amongst everything happening in the finale. And that’s disappointing.

Still. At least I didn’t misunderstand their dynamic for two seasons. (Go me!) This change was absolutely intentional.

#guess who's back back again #memori #the 100 #john murphy #emori #emori kom spacekru #memori meta #the 100 meta #john murphy meta #emori meta #my meta #c: emori #c: john murphy #otp: who'd you steal the boat from

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incarnateirony · 6 years

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The reaper non-retcon(undrum)

Old meta/plothole issue has resurrected itself now with "Wait, if there's only X amount of angels, what about reapers? Reapers became angels in later seasons! Are they retconning that retcon?!"

There was never a retcon.

There was a lot of headcanons assumed into meta and canon understanding that were (understandably) read as canon that then got etched out and here's why.

STARTING POINT: The word “angel” simply means “messenger,” and while we’ve equated it to species, in 4x1 itself Castiel clarifies, “I’m an angel of the lord.” - an angel in service to and created by God. It seems like “of the lord” is an unusual qualifier if there’s no other kinds of angels out there or like he’s from The Master Angel Race with other subsets all just being beneath whatever he is. It enters casual usage as the most present, but these angels still identify Chuck as their father.

On the other hand, we have “angel of Death,” which do clearly operate under Death. And Death HIMSELF, before he ever popped up in the show, was called this in SEASON FIVE.

Supernatural 5.10 BOBBY Not this guy. This is—this is the angel of death. Big daddy reaper. They keep this guy chained in a box six hundred feet under. Last time they hauled him up, Noah was building a boat. That’s why the place is crawling with reapers. They’re waiting on the big boss to show. (…) BOBBY The angel of death must be brought into this world at midnight through a place of awful carnage.

Death was referred to as the Angel of Death even before (and for) his release, as far back as season 5. This is in no way a retcon.

Okay then, obviously season FIVE was where the retcon was, and we just... missed it? Cuz Kripke said no angels before S3!

No, actually.

1.12 Faith

Sam: You really think it's THE Grim Reaper? Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?

Even before Kripke said “no angels”, which I’ll address later on, and shows literally proves this point about the fandom conflating things based on their assumptions.

Also,

I know there was some confusion. I get WHY people read into the "angels are reapers and working for heaven," because April just further flummoxed everybody. However, April was hired, and rogue reapers are also canon.

9.03 CASTIEL Who hired you? I assumed with Naomi gone, things were in chaos. APRIL New sheriff in town, Cas. He hired a bunch of us. I got lucky.

Tessa’s gripe was the inability to cross souls over the threshold once the gates closed, which again has marginal relevance in comparison to serving God or being the same type of messenger. This has always been part of reaper duties, even before the word "angel" baffled everybody despite it being used in S5 as well.

In fact, what the angels did with April in 9.03 literally inspired how Castiel got his hands on converting Tessa to their forces in 9.22

TESSA When Castiel came to me and told me what I had to do, he said I was chosen because I was strong. Others...they couldn't handle this. They're too weak. [she looks at HANNAH] (...) DEAN No, forget Cas. Why are you doing this? What would make a person want to pop their top, huh? I mean, look, I've been in bad shape. I have. But I have never been that damn low. TESSA I guess I just can't take the screaming. DEAN Who's screaming? TESSA All of them. The lost souls. The ones that can't get into heaven now that it's been boarded up. I hear them. They are so confused. They're in so much pain. All I want to do is help them. It's what I do. It's my job. But I can't. So I suffered... Until death, nothingness. Suddenly, it didn't seem so bad. It seemed quiet. DEAN So, why don't you just jam an angel blade in your throat and call it a day? TESSA I thought about it. But I was too weak. Till Castiel gave me a reason to die.

That’s it. Just a reaper that couldn’t do her job and was tormented by it to the point that Cas merc’ed her into cooperating in taking back heaven.

That’s it. That’s all that says.

Oh look, Metatron takes over and angels hire a reaper and Cas gets ganked, then learns from that, and turns around and recruits reapers to do things to get back at Metatron.

But they were RECRUITED.

GADREEL

Tessa, Constantine -- I recruited them, and you brainwashed them into blowing themselves up.

Also,

5.21 DEAN Well, I got to ask. How old are you? DEATH As old as God. Maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore. Life, death, chicken, egg. Regardless – at the end, I’ll reap him, too. DEAN God? You’ll reap God? DEATH Oh, yes. God will die, too, Dean.

Death is clearly independent, and at least equal to, if not above God in his presence. Chuck did not create Death. Roughly as old as god (probably even 'before time', though that is unconfirmed), chicken or the egg, unable to tell what came first; Death also has its own respective domain now seen in 13x5, much as God had Heaven. The origins of hell are curious, and vague, but only ruled by fall and things created after the fall. It isn’t part of the Light-Dark-Nature balance really, as much as “how to sort souls” and punishment. That’s a whole other topic-bag but Death has its own domain like God had Heaven. Reapers have NEVER been implied to be part of heaven's order, but Death's natural order.

Death, and God, are two very different important forces. God is Light, Amara is Darkness, Death is Natural Order, so to speak. Messenger of Divine Order vs Messenger of Natural Order. These are all three very canon elements. Reapers have always been assigned to death and "angels" as WE identify them (see: Angel of the Lord) to God, however, there is the qualifier of Angel of the Lord, Death HAS been called Angel of Death from go despite NOT being under Chuck's domain (clearly), and these are all existing since S4-5. And frankly, since S1.

While calling out plot holes has its points, one must make sure there are actual plot holes, and not assumptions of plotholes based on pre-existing headcanon (such as the exact limits or definitions of angels versus potential inconsistent or shorthand dialogue, versus what we've seen on record and in effect). Yes, it takes some viewer-end explaining and line-drawing, but that’s also a good deal of entertainment. Not everything gets ELI5′ed. But with regards to “why aren’t the reapers angels in heaven if they were in S9~” - that’s because even then, it was never implied they were. That was an assumption. There were a lot of fandom end assumptions off of partial lines, when pre-existing lines give solid corroboration. Death-Angels report to Death (and possibly the Thanatology area if at all, it's implied that their relationship with Death is much like angels with God, and few have seen God), Divine-Angels report to Chuck and Heaven.

So no. There’s no evidence to say it’s an oversight that Reapers aren’t being counted in angel headcount.

TLDR it’s extremely presumptuous of fandom to keep projecting this as a plot hole off of projected headcanon interpretations of what was there rather than original substantiating quotes, mechanics, and even earliest-form revelations (Kripke era.) There is no evidence there was ever a retcon, no evidence that reapers REPORTED to heaven (some go rogue and run back doors or take bunk jobs, but that is being a renegade), and no evidence whatsoever to make this actually look like a sequentially dropped ball on the parts of the author as much as a serial misconception from viewers. Is it somewhat unclear? Yes. But a gaping plothole or retcon? Or even now a retconned-retcon? Nah.

This is just a failure to differentiate “Angel of the Lord” which runs heaven and is the species we casually refer to as angels, and “Angel of Death”, starting as far as S1 in use, and never-once applied as working for heaven. Just assumed against bold dialogue choices.

There was never a retcon. They hired reapers. People are conflating the use of “angel”. That’s it.

Yes, Kripke said no angels before S3; no, that doesn’t mean Reapers were never called angels of death (1x12) (this ALONE differentiates the usage in dialogue, as Kripke already used Angel of Death for reapers, but said “no angels”, meaning Angel of the Lord as we casually call angels is SOMETHING DIFFERENT, although BOTH ARE CALLED ANGELS.); no, canon never said they were part of heaven’s function beyond the delivery of souls at any point; no, they have never, as a whole, reported to anywhere but Death, spare for those hired or merced onto other roles (rogue reapers, like fallen angels); no, reapers are not, and have never been, canonically tied to being the SPECIES we know as Angels (angel of the lord, distinct from angel of death, both of which are age old lines, and the angel of the lord being S4+ only.) Reapers were never adapted into angels of the Lord. Ever. That’s all in the fandom’s head.

Nothing ever had to be changed or tampered. Nothing had to even be underwritten. There was never a retcon, just a lack of understanding from the viewership turned widespread fanon.

This starts in S1 and continues through current. Insisting otherwise despite all of the various information above is more trying to demand erasure of multiple blatant elements under “interpretation”, in the interest of claiming they’re retconning the retcon, instead of having maintained a consistent continuity the fandom misinterpreted in the middle despite dialogue. They aren’t retconning a retcon, because there was never a retcon, and I’m honestly not sure how this was taken so widely into fandom circulation that there was with these sentiments already committed to screen.

Reapers have never been Angels of the Lord, as we identify Angels as a species. They have been another angel/messenger type dedicated to Big Daddy Reaper. Since. Season. 1. And never committed to heaven as much as were hired and/or recruited temporarily. They are not part of heaven’s works. Canon never implied this. That’s all headcanon.

#supernatural #spn #canon #retcon #angels #reapers #meta #mine #my meta

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kinetic-elaboration · 6 years

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August 9: The 100 2x01, The 48

Okay, settling down to rewatch 2x01, the start of my favorite season...

I love this Clarke so much. Badass Clarke, sneaky Clarke, a Clarke who will fearlessly do what she has to in order to escape and to get to her friends. A Clarke with convictions and guts.

How DO they know everyone’s names lol? Is that ever explained? (ETA: Monty was obviously the informant.)

Mount Weather is one of my favorite parts of this show, honestly. I love that their mission is in part to preserve the beautiful things humanity created, like art; they gave their prisoner Starry Night. The ORIGINAL Starry Night. I just find that very moving. All of these non-essential parts of being human... the show has abandoned them and that’s part of why it’s so hollow for me now, I think.

Level 5: where it all begins and it all ends.

The Clarke/Maya relationship could have been so much more, tbh. Like they had their good moments, like threatening to kill each other etc., but they could have gone deeper.

Surprise! Underground executive branch family dinner! This is the sort of twist I can get behind.

Haha remember when actual delinquents still existed? I joke but truly the later canon has ruined parts of this show for me.

I forgot Tristan survived into 2x01. Not for long. Such Grounder hypocrisy: “That’s one. I lost 300.” He makes it sound as if Finn marched into a village and killed 300 people--they were fucking soldiers on the attack you dum-dum.

“Only our warriors speaking English.” Well that sounds like bullshit based on literally everything we see after this point.

The statue of Lincoln is “the place we go to settle disputes.” First, please don’t say they settle disputes to the death or some nonsense, and second, that’s his namesake... Significant? I mean, objectively, no, but can I make something out of it somehow?

I disliked Luna but she COULD have been so interesting and she and Lincoln COULD have had quite a dynamic. I headcanon them as exes. I want to know their whole backstory tbh. When they met. How. If he wanted to go with her to the sea. If he did perhaps and then came back.

Drink every time someone cauterizes a wound.

You know what else they should have done? Story line about the meeting of Grounder and Sky People medicine. Oh wait that would have taken away from the repetitive war story lines never mind.

That dropship is so fucking impressive. WHERE ARE THE AWARDS FOR THE SET PEOPLE?

And the costume people for those awesome masks.

Am I supposed to feel bad for this Grounder and his charred friend? I do not. Next time, don’t attack the children for no reason and you won’t get burned to a crisp. Easy.

The thing is I can never get behind the Raven + Murphy friendship 100% even though their S5 dynamic looked interesting because he literally fucking shot her and that’s just not a bygones are bygones thing. But they do have personalities that mesh well together so in that way it’s sort of a shame. Also he 10000000000000% had a crush on her don’t even try to argue.

She fired that gun at him. I forgot that. She fired but was out of bullets, that’s the only reason he didn’t die right there. “Yeah I would have shot me too.”

I’m p. sure that’s the real Mount Weather?

I know the Mount Weather people have no leg to stand on when it comes to the Grounders and that they’re...pretty obviously racist, but in their defense--the Grounders were written to be pretty savage, so “savages,” while unforgivably racially tinged, is a fair descriptor of them.

I know I’ve harped on this before but Mount Weather has a judicial system of some sort and it’s possible to press charges there. Somehow. The world building on this show sucks balls.

“They also said you were their leader” is like some retconning, okay. Because you will not convince me that for most of S1 BELLAMY wasn’t the leader in the eyes of the delinquents.

“Kiddo.”

Fucking love Dante. Where are my Dante + Clarke mentor/mentee or ex-mentor/mentee or different-gen-rivals fics?

“We prioritize safety over sentimentality.” As Maya takes blood she absolutely doesn’t need but is having just in case and that she knows comes from someone else’s tortured body because she’s accepted this as something they do, because she’s not sentimental. But she already feels guilty.

Clarke is already using the word “capture.” I had a discussion with someone once about Clarke’s vision of Mount Weather versus, say, Jasper’s, and why it was different and I said some poorly phrased stuff that didn’t really reflect my thoughts and opinions and it still haunts me but I feel like this is...relevant to that. How she immediately feels ‘captured,’ trapped.

Clarke’s devotion to her friends and her people was still so pure and right here.

Dante really does believe he “saved” them. I wonder what his thought process was... I really hate the “savages” so I must save these children? These children look interesting, let’s meet some new friends? She’s right of course that if they were really guests, they could leave.

Multiple crash sites over 100 square miles = I should go on google maps to confirm my Pennsylvania/Farm Station theory but I’m too lazy.

GOD THOSE CLOTHES. I love that Clarke picks the pants and the high heel shiv.

There’s no way there’s actually time for natural selection to work that fast in 97 years and also I’m pretty sure the Sky People are genetically modified because their original pool was way too small for the process Dante is describing but whatever this show is all la-di-da science.

Also: this is how you run an underground Bunker OCTAVIA.

Dante was the only rival/antagonist/whatever Clarke has ever had that rivals her instincts and intelligence yeah I said it; fight me. I know she needed to be on the outside for this season to work but he should have been her mentor. He basically set her up to be mentored and then she ran off and into L who basically destroyed her and she’s never recovered.

THAT REUNION. Heartwarming. Though hard to watch too because this show did both Jasper and Monty so dirty. (Yeah I said that too WHAT OF IT.)

“Dying. Same as you.” Murphy gets all the good lines. That’s why people like him, forget this “redemption arc.”

The Grounder Raven killed was Murphy’s guard and honestly--hilarious. He abandons his post, realizes all his friends are skeletons, pickpockets one, then is shot by what he must initially assume is a dead body. Better character than almost anyone introduced from S3 on.

This cake scene is the most iconic. Jonty were scene stealers stfu. They’re children--basically. They get to act their age. They get to be happy and silly and they loved each other so much.

“Pretend like you’re happy to see me.” / “We are happy to see you.” See? Adorable. I know he’s no cinnamon roll but gosh, adorable.

And then Clarke comes in like secret espionage time and they just look so Tired TM.

I feel like Monty knew, or suspected on some level, that Jasper wasn’t just ‘bummed out’ by Clarke’s suspicions, he was panicking a little.

I can’t believe Jasper and Maya have known each other for like 10 seconds and she’s already seen his O face.

“Clarke’s the only reason we survived.” Um ex-CUSE me but I know you didn’t forget Bellamy’s existence, Jasper.

Clarke’s so smart!

Maya brings out the big guns, literally.

“I’m the one who fired the rockets. Should I not have done that?” is so heartbreaking. Mostly because of the delivery. I love this entire scene. There are like 8 different scenes I love in this episode, like whole-heartedly and truly love.

Clarke’s suspicions really do look like paranoia. Like I see what she’s picking up on, saw it even the first time I watched this ep, but there’s a sense in which she does appear irrational.

There’s actually something kinda funny about Bellamy running out with a spear in one scene, looking around blankly, and then getting chained up as a prisoner in the next scene. At least he inspired his little protege Monroe. Scenes like this are the reason she joined Pike in S3.

Tristan’s like “Who are these fucking children running at me and screaming?” Then he gets shot in the head. Goodbye Tristan you won’t be missed.

“We’re here now. Everything’s going to be okay.” This sounds like Kane playing out a hero fantasy he’s had since he was a child. Except he’s talking to two mud-stained kids who are looking at him skeptically instead of, like, a captured heroine or something.

I feel like they set up this conflict where the adults/Sky People elite come in and, like Kane says explicitly, assume they’re in charge and everyone will fall in line, but then the delinquents don’t see it that way or want that: they have their own priorities (their friends) and their own relationships (Finn and Bell don’t even LIKE each other but they’re still communicating by look) and their own knowledge (the pipes that allow them to move through the dropship camp quickly and without permission). But then... it sort of plays into the rest of the season...but not that much?? Not as much as I would like.

“You are not animals. There are rules. Laws. You are not in control here anymore.”

This show sacrificed a lot of complex relationships to just either make people buddy-buddy who had no reason to be or just arbitrarily assign relationships to scenes or episodes without regard for continuity at all.

Raven took Jasper’s goggles.... never over this.

How was bringing Octavia to TonDC faster than collecting some beetles for her to eat?

“Loss, pain, regret. Time eases these things.” I’d say this is the sort of line the show should be repeating but God when it gets a line in its teeth it never lets the fuck go so I guess it’s better this one remains pristine.

I find Dante very sympathetic but also so creepy.

They weren’t really patrolling for other people, were they? Because like...surely they would have found them. They’re at the dropship and close by. He was just bullshitting here. But why don’t they want to make even more new friends?

Dante’s stationery is presidential themed lol. Glad we stocked up the bunkers properly with the important stuff.

The crashed Alpha Station is beautiful. I believe this was the first time it was shown on the show? Ugh, this whole sequence with the music, it’s perfect and so touching.

Jaha is the most tragic and heartbreaking figure on this show. He also doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. Just...the image of a man alone in space, talking to his loved ones, hoping they can hear them, not knowing if they can... I almost can’t handle it. I used to be very unsure if I liked where his story line went after this (seeing it in its entirety, I defend it) but surely he could not have died this way.

....I really gotta sleep now.

#the year 2018 #2018: fandom thoughts #2018: the 100 s2

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undercovermcdfan · 7 years

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lagom | travlyn

title: lagom

summary: he asked. she agreed. Travlyn. MCD s3.

a/n: SO. This is highkey born out of the need to write a fic about travlyn??? And this came to mind! I always always yell about the Guard academy hosting Balls (like to fund the academy? Because there’s no central government, so they must generate money somehow without hindering the alliance’s economy), so what if this fic might be a two-parter; I wanted to write them dancing but gotten side tracked lol.Also yes, Travis and Katelyn live together as roommates /eyes emoji I mean the dude been living on a mountain and she could use a roomie lmfao

warning(s): eye emojis they flirt, sweet talk

Lagom (n.) not too little, not too much. Just right.

She bit her tongue, averting her eyes as a laugh wanted to bubble up. But alas, even the futile attempt to save feelings and covering her mouth, Travis caught her smile.

Which was fair, because he must know how ridiculous he look.

“I can explain,” he cracked out, the sharp pitch being the last thing to break down the dam.

The house filled with her laughter, a laugh she hadn’t in a long time; it took up the space around them, aching and deep, broken by a snort as she tried to rein it in.

Honestly, life taken quite a turn the past month— and of course it would. Travis did, in fact, always had that effect in her life. Whether she admit enjoying this little fact.

Putting aside the broom, his face warmed as he wringed his hands nervously; the home was spotless, as it always was since he taken up in her spare bedroom. She slid off her bag, the heavy thud of books and reports dropping to the ground as she shook her head. “Well, I’d love to hear it,” she said, dragging her feet to the couch and plopping down it rather ungracefully. Sure, she was the headmistress of the Academy and certain amount of grace was expected from her station as well as status of a Lady. But she also was running on so few hours of rest.

Beside Travis was the last person she had to worry about holding her governmental persona in front of.

Especially, especially, while he tried desperately to explain the scene she just witnessed.

And explain he did, flustered and fidgeting, the shame of being caught battled out the embarrassment of being caught on his face, twisting grimace twinkled as he showed too much of his sharpen teeth—a nervous habit that would normally intimidated some other than her. She found the habit rather cute.

In the matte of being truthful, she must say how strange it was, letting the affectionate thoughts flow rather than stopping and berating herself all together. It was a subtle change—she can’t pin when the switch actually happened; all she knew was her weariness of calling herself out whenever words like sweet or cute supplied as adjectives of the things Travis does.

“Dancing,” she echoed back, “You don’t know how to dance? Hmm… well I’m surprised, I seen you fight.” He squinted at her. She grinned, patting the space beside her and despite his annoyed expression, he took up seat beside her. “Don’t give me that—you fight with strength but even to this day, there’s not much grace to it because your lack of formal training.” Lowblow.

He clicked his tongue. “How bad were the meetings today?”

“Terrible. That obvious?”

“You’re always overly critical when cranky—hard to miss it.”

She hummed, leaning her head against his shoulder—feeling him tensed up, patted his arm in comfort, a well understood sign of Shh, don’t question, I’m tired. Maybe a little affection to it too. “Sorry,” she said, the last of her energy sapped by that laugh, “Juggling between debating scenarios and strategies meetings on top of fussy benefactors who badgering me for a when on the Academy’s yearly Ball—I don’t mean take that out on you. You don’t deserve that.”

“I don’t but you are forgiven, Lady Firefist,” he smirked at her slight wince; after hearing the title lady all but yelled at her today, she rather good on not being called anything besides Katelyn. But she’d let it slide, rolling her eyes. “Actually, funny that you bring up that Ball. Being a source of entertainment in your life, I do request a proper apology.”

“Oh?” She sat up slight, leaning away with furrowed brows. His tone, while playful and even a little… hopeful, she could already foresee where this was going. She pursed her lips, gesturing him to continue.

“I would like to go to this Ball.”

She shrugged, “I was going to invite you soon, naturally. But it’s not for another month—”

“You didn’t let me finish,” he said, leaning back as he kicked up his feet onto the coffee table. She nudged them off with her leg and look of warning, but her expression still open. “I want to go with you. As your date.”

“As my…” she blinked. And blinked again, her cheeks pinkening—well she shouldn’t be so surprised. It was naturally to think he would ask that and even though it wasn’t a sudden shift, the mood felt… different.

“I mean. Unless some frumpity benefactor taken you up, I just… thought it was worth asking?”

“What brought this on, though?”

Now it was his turn to blink in surprise.

She narrowed her eyes. “Did you go through my things?”

“No— well, not going through, more like you left the letter there and that disaster of an office space need a good dusting. Really unhealthy not to, Katelyn,” he rambled, looking away. “By the way—that Lord Augustine or whatever, he sounds so pretentious. I would like to do you the honor, isn’t you who’s honoring that dude?”

“Travis.”

“I mean, and that handwriting? I give points for sincerity of writing it—that or he should fire whoever writing his letters.”

“Travis.” She touched his arm.

He continued to rant, “And, Irene, who asks for a date through letters? Sounds more of a business arrangement.”

She snorted. They always are. But she should stop him before he continued to drag on, she touched him again, cupping his face with beamused smile. “Don’t do that again.”

“I won’t,” he immediately deflated, flustered and sheepishness coming back, “Now I’m sorry.”

“It’s accepted,” she smiled wider, getting up off the couch, “And yes.”

There’s a pause, as she started to walk towards the kitchen—followed by the sound of him nearly tripping over himself. “W-wait, really. Just like that? You know, before I saw that damning letter, I actually was thinking of asking you and properly,” he called out, following after her, “Irene, I said that so lamely.”

“Nonetheless, I said yes. Much rather you than some Lord who want better position on the Alliance or Academy board,” she said, throwing him a smile over the shoulder and a glint in her eye, “Consider me won over by your directness, Sir Valkrum.”

“Sir…”

“Also get use to that,” she opened up the cupboard, “And people nitpicking your every move. The Academy and the village may be use to your presence but we’re talking about almost all the lords within the alliance and their families appearing; one wrong rumor would stick more than any impressive battle victory.”

Another pause. And then a softer “Oh.”

“Oh indeed,” she shut the cupboard, pulling out two tea cups and kettle, “I appreciate you asking me out—ease my journey into social hell.”

“….it can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Travis, you been living on a mountain most of your life—and this whole game been mines since… Irene, I don’t know how long. Only person who would have more experience is Garroth. So this is your chance to back out and save yourself.”

“I…” he shook his head, opening up a cabinet and handing her the baggie containing the dried tea leaves after watching her search after she set the kettle. “Thanks.” “No problem, rearranged the contents again—but, I think… I won’t be scared off. After all,” he smirked, leaning against the wall as she turned to face him, “a night with you is too good to pass up.”

“Is that so?” she mused, raising a brow, “Even if it means you taking dancing lessons—don’t give me that look.” She chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll share dancing with not just me—people are always curious about fresh faces, after all. I rather not hear complaints of stepped toes or awkward situations. Not another Liochant incident.”

“I’ll ask about that later.”

“Mm, better another time when he’s here to defend himself.”

They both laughed, she poured the tea into the cups and slide one closer to him. “But I jest, thank you for offering. Now I have something to say rather than procrastinating my choices and making replies.”

“No prob…lem. So… choices. How many letters?”

“How many single lords looking for a gain in status?”

He frowned at his cup of tea. It’s funny how jealousy showed and the small urge to tease him even more; taking a sip of much needed comforting warmth, she hummed. “Don’t look glum. I’m rather excited now—never was before.”

Like a switch, another suave grin appeared, ego starting to visibly inflate. She snorted at his “is that so?” and cocked brow, and nodded.

“Hmm… so much to do,” she murmured, but smiling, she could already feel the stress of her day melting away. “Anyways, I didn’t get a chance to ask—how was your day?”

#aphmau #minecraft diaries #travlyn #travis valkrum #katelyn firefist #katelyn (mcd)#my writing #this might be a two parter

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waveridden · 7 years

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fic: you taste blood and call it wine (laurel/nyssa)

Arrow, s3, canon-compliant. Laurel/Nyssa, referenced Sara/Nyssa. 3.5k. (cw: canon-typical violence, canonical character death, referenced alcoholism)

Four times Nyssa saved Laurel, and one time Laurel saved Nyssa.

[read on ao3 || title lyric]

Laurel doesn’t get stabbed - and not just stabbed, but stabbed in the way that makes her wonder about updating her will and maybe writing goodbye letters to her family just in case - until the sixth mugging she stops. It’s stupid, she’s being careless, and she berates herself before anyone else gets the chance to. She doesn’t have much else to do when she’s bleeding out, with nobody coming for her. She didn’t notice that the guy had a knife until it was in her side, and it didn’t start hurting until she punched him straight in the face and he ran off. But now it definitely hurts.

She has a hand clasped over the wound and the cold comfort that she definitely broke the asshole’s nose when she hears someone land in front of her. She has a brief moment to be grateful that someone in Team Arrow got her calls before there are hands on her stomach, pressing hard.

Laurel shouts out before she can help it, and her savior scoffs, and Laurel realizes it’s not Diggle or Roy after all.

“You need to learn to field-dress wounds,” Nyssa says, voice more clipped than usual. “Or at the very least how to fight while wounded.”

“Hey, it’s my first time, cut me a break,” Laurel says. Or, well, slurs, because it’s been a few minutes and she’s more than a little lightheaded. “What are you doing here?”

“I never left Starling, you know that.” Nyssa grabs Laurel’s elbow. “Sit up straight.”

Laurel doesn’t think she can, but she knows Nyssa wouldn’t accept that, so she lets Nyssa pull her upright, both of their hands pressed to her side. “You said it’s a flesh wound?”

“It looks like one, and besides, you’re still alive.”

Laurel snorts before she can help herself. “Is that your metric? Wounds that’ll kill you versus wounds that don’t?”

Nyssa doesn’t look amused. “It’s the most important distinction.”

Laurel mulls that over for a second and decides that there’s something to that, so she lets it go. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I told you why I’m here.”

“Not in Starling, in this alleyway. Are you following me?”

Nyssa looks taken aback. “Of course not.”

“Then you have some good timing,” Laurel says. She can hear footsteps on the rooftop, loud and getting closer, and Nyssa must too, because she looks up. “That’s probably Diggle.”

“Is he following you?”

“I called him. Help me stand.”

Nyssa does, leveraging Laurel to her feet with a look that Laurel can’t parse, isn’t sure she could if she weren’t bleeding out. “You need to learn to check your attackers for weapons,” she says, and that clipped edge is back, something sharper than normal. Laurel’s only been training with her a couple days, not long enough to learn Nyssa in depth, but long enough to know something is different here.

“You could always patrol with me and watch my back,” Laurel offers, leaning back against the wall.

Nyssa scoffs. “I said I would train you, and I believe I’ve learned what to teach you next.”

Laurel manages a smile. “You’re going to leave,” she says, because the footsteps are at the roof above them.

“Your friends have made it clear that I’m not welcome,” Nyssa says. She’s already slipping back into the shadows, slipping away. “Keep pressure on the wound.”

“I’m trying,” Laurel says, but she can feel the absence of Nyssa’s hand on her, almost as strongly as the hand itself.

“I expect to see you tomorrow,” Nyssa says, and that edge is gone to her voice, and Laurel is grateful for it. “The flesh wound isn’t an excuse.”

Laurel waves it off and lurches forward as someone lands in front of her. “Of course it’s not.”

“Of course what’s not what?” Diggle says, and she can almost feel him do a double take. “Laurel, what the hell-”

“Can we do the yelling when I’m not bleeding?” Laurel says, because the vigilantism lectures got old twenty seconds into the first one, and she’s not exactly up for another one now of all times.

Diggle blessedly drops it and goes to pick her up. “We need to get you a panic button or a comm or something,” he mutters, probably more to himself than Laurel.

“You still came when I needed you,” Laurel answers, and decides not to add that Nyssa got there first.

It takes two weeks to convince Nyssa to go out for coffee with her, after asking every time they finished training. Laurel isn’t sure what changes, but she says “Coffee?” and Nyssa pauses in her stretching and sighs, and Laurel knows that she’s won.

They go to a local hole in the wall, one that she hasn’t been to before. Nyssa looks guarded the whole time but she orders something iced with almost as much caffeine as Laurel does, and they sit down at a table near the back.

“Nanda Parbat isn’t close to civilization,” Laurel says - guesses, really - to make conversation.

Nyssa’s eyes narrow. “You’re asking if I’ve had coffee?”

“If you’ve been in a coffee shop,” Laurel amends. “It doesn’t seem like the Himalayas are a Starbucks hotspot.”

“You would be surprised how far Starbucks reaches,” Nyssa murmurs.

Laurel feels her jaw drop. “You’re kidding.”

“I am.” Nyssa takes a sip of her drink. Laurel gets the distinct impression that she’s being laughed at.

“It’s a reasonable question,” Laurel protests on principle. “Does the League send its agents to cities often? Do you ever get to, you know, hang out?”

“We don’t have that luxury often,” Nyssa says. There’s a blankness to it that Laurel has only heard a couple times before. It means it’s time to back off.

“Then League life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Laurel says. “You had to miss out on good old-fashioned American chain restaurants, and nobody wants that.”

“I think everyone,” Nyssa starts, and then her shoulders go taut. “Laur-”

There are gunshots before she can finish, three of them. Laurel jumps up and spins around to see someone standing, shaking, gun pointed at the floor near her feet. “Laurel Lance,” he says, with the kind of vitriol that most people reserve for mass murderers and lawyers. “You bitch.”

“Put the gun down,” Laurel says, surprised by her own steel. “I don’t know you, but-”

“You don’t know me?” the guy practically shrieks. The gun is wavering so much that it’s almost pointed at Nyssa, not that Nyssa would be fazed by it. “You ruined my life by prosecuting my brother, you stupid-”

“She said put the gun down,” Nyssa says, voice soft.

“You’re gonna stop me?” the guy says. There are, by Laurel’s count, four employees and half a dozen other customers. All civilians. All innocent. “You don’t know her, you don’t know what she did!”

There’s the sound of plastic rubbing against plastic. When Laurel turns, Nyssa is holding the straw to her drink, idly twirling it. “I could kill you with this,” she says, “half a dozen ways.”

“I’d listen to her,” Laurel says. “She’s not bluffing.”

The guy points the gun back at her. “All the coffee shops you could’ve gone to, you came to this one, it’s- it’s a sign, that you were here, that I’m supposed to kill you-”

Nyssa is on her feet in one smooth motion. The guy swings the gun towards her and Nyssa swats it away, sending it to Laurel’s feet. “You’ve made a mistake,” she says, and hits him, twice, three times. He yells out. There are sirens in the distance.

“Nyssa,” Laurel says. “Police.”

“I can speak with the police,” Nyssa says, from where she has the guy pinned against the counter.

“No, I mean save him for the police.”

Nyssa glances at the guy and back at Laurel. “You really don’t recognize him?”

“Being a lawyer means a lot of people want to kill you,” Laurel says, with all the dryness she can manage. “Most of them just don’t have the balls to try in broad daylight.”

“You bitch,” the guy spits out, “you absolute bitch-”

Nyssa slams his head into the counter. “We should train for longer tomorrow,” she says. “Your reaction time isn’t what it should be.”

“What should it be?”

“Better,” Nyssa says, as the door swings open. Laurel doesn’t recognize the officer that runs in, but she recognizes the way Nyssa grimaces. “Speaking of a better response time, this one is better than most.”

Laurel barks out a laugh at the look on the officer’s face. “He just happened to be in the neighborhood,” she guesses, and judging by the look on his face she’s right. “Nyssa, don’t worry, it’s fine.”

Nyssa steels her jaw. “We’re working on your reaction time tomorrow,” she says again, more clipped now, and all Laurel can do is nod.

There’s a bottle of wine on Laurel’s kitchen counter.

She’s never been one for the slippery slope argument, but she knows that’s how this works. All it takes is one drink. She fell once, she can fall again, she should’ve thrown it out because it’s there, waiting for her. It’s Riesling, not her favorite, but it’s wine, and it’s been a year since she had a drink. And that’s dangerous.

She cleans her apartment twice, steering clear of the kitchen. She runs three miles. She calls her damn mom just for something to do. The wine is still there.

She’s approaching hour seven of staring at the damn bottle when there’s a knock on her door. “It’s open,” she calls, almost absently.

“That’s foolish,” Nyssa says. “In this city?”

“I got distracted and forgot to lock it,” Laurel admits. “I’ve got a couple things on my mind.”

“Anything you’d care to-” Nyssa stops short, a few paces behind her. “Laurel.”

“It was a gift,” Laurel says, not looking away. “Old college friend. There was a card, something about it being my dead sister’s birthday. Apparently she never got the memo that Sara wasn’t dead.”

“Or that you don’t drink,” Nyssa says, voice clipped in a way that Laurel has figured out means she’s worried.

“I’m not going to drink it,” Laurel says. “But it’s still here.”

“You could throw it away.”

“It seems thoughtless.”

“You could give it away.”

“But then it would be gone.” Laurel sighs and turns to Nyssa who’s looking her inscrutably, head tilted in something like sympathy. “I know, it’s stupid, I’m not going to drink it and I should get rid of it-”

“-but getting rid of it means closing a door,” Nyssa says. “And closing the door is more difficult than simply refusing to enter an open doorway.”

Laurel blinks. “Yeah,” she says, winded. “That’s it.”

“Then I’ll stand in the doorway and stop you,” Nyssa says. Laurel watches her go to the counter and pluck the bottle of wine, examining the label. “I prefer red, but I could use a gift.”

“It’s yours,” Laurel says, and a knot eases in her chest. “Thank you.”

“I came because it’s Sara’s birthday,” Nyssa says. “And I didn’t want to be alone. Although I understand if you do.”

Laurel thinks about it. She already called her mother, and she knows her dad wouldn’t pick up the phone. The odds that anyone on Team Arrow takes the night off are pretty low, and as much as she loves Lyla she doesn’t know that she could stomach seeing a baby named after her sister. And she has no reason to be alone tonight.

“Did you want to go out?” She gets to her feet. “Or stay in? Have you gotten to enjoy the time-honored tradition of getting takeout and watching shitty reruns yet?”

Nyssa smiles, barely, genuinely. “I haven’t,” she says. “Should I take the bottle away?”

Laurel closes her eyes. “Yeah,” she says. “Do you want Chinese, pizza, Italian…”

Nyssa pauses before she says, timidly, “Did Sara have a favorite?”

Laurel forgets, sometimes, about Nyssa and Sara. Or, no, not quite forgets, but doesn’t think about what exactly it means. But she knows that her Sara and Nyssa’s Sara aren’t quite the same. Laurel’s Sara isn’t a murderer. She supposes Nyssa’s Sara doesn’t eat much takeout.

“She liked Indian food,” Laurel says after a minute, looking back at Nyssa. She looks more uncertain than Laurel has ever seen her. “Especially curry.”

“Then we should order curry,” Nyssa says. “And- cake? A birthday cake?”

“We can get a birthday cake,” Laurel agrees. “Chocolate, but with white frosting.”

“Because she thought chocolate on chocolate was too much,” Nyssa murmurs, and Laurel’s chest clenches. They had the same Sara after all.

“I’ll see if I can call someone for a cake,” Laurel says.

“And I’ll take the bottle outside,” Nyssa says. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Thank you,” Laurel says. It feels like it’s being punched out of her. She doesn’t know why.

Nyssa’s smile widens. Her eyes are softer than Laurel has ever seen. “Of course,” she says, and leaves, and Laurel goes into her kitchen for the first time all day. There are takeout menus in a cupboard, somewhere that she was afraid to go earlier, but she can get them now. With Nyssa, there’s no reason to be afraid.

Laurel avoids getting stabbed and shot for a while longer, because that’s what people are supposed to do. Nyssa trains her and doesn’t come with her when she patrols, and Laurel gets better at fighting. And that should be it.

And then Laurel wakes up in the basement of Verdant with a splitting headache and no real idea how she got there.

“What,” she says, a little groggily, and Thea leaps to her feet. Just watching her hurts Laurel’s head, so she closes her eyes.

“Nonono, Laurel, hey-” there’s a hand on her shoulder, breath just close enough to her face that she can feel it. “You have to keep your eyes open, okay?”

Laurel takes a deep breath and drags her eyes open. Thea’s hovering over her, looking scared. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Thea admits. “Nyssa brought you here and then left, and Dig went after her, but he said if you wake up I can’t let you fall back asleep.”

“Concussion,” Laurel guesses. Her head is pounding.

“Probably,” Thea agrees. “Do you remember anything?”

Laurel thinks back. “Drug dealers,” she says slowly. “More than I expected, but I was holding my own, and one of them-” she blinks a few times. “I think he took a swing at my head.”

“Was Nyssa with you?”

“No,” Laurel says. “She doesn’t come out with me.”

“You’re sure?” Thea frowns. “She seemed pretty worried.”

Laurel forces herself to focus. She remembers the pavement, shouting, people running, Nyssa’s voice begging her to open her eyes. “She might’ve followed me.”

“Is that a thing she does?”

“Sometimes,” Laurel admits. Nyssa’s voice, trying to get her to stay awake. Nyssa’s lips, hot and dry against her forehead, against her own lips-- “Where did you say Nyssa went?”

“I’m not sure. I think she said she was going back.” Thea frowns. “I know she’ll be okay, but are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Laurel says. Her head hurts, and she has to be remembering wrong, and Nyssa couldn’t have kissed her. “Can you dim the lights? It’s too bright in here.”

“Of course.” Thea grabs Laurel’s hand and squeezes before going to change the lights, and Laurel stares up at the ceiling.

(Nyssa doesn’t come back, and the next time Laurel sees her she’s so smooth, so unaffected that Laurel is sure she wasn’t imagining the kiss. It’s too polished for Nyssa, the Nyssa she knows. But she doesn’t say anything, and neither does Nyssa, and that means the matter is closed.)

+1.

Nyssa al Ghul is the only person Laurel has ever met who likes strawberry ice cream - actually likes it, the way most people like chocolate or mint chocolate chip. It’s the most confounding thing Laurel has encountered about her, somehow more baffling than the whole “international assassin” thing. At least Laurel has seen other international assassins.

“I don’t know why this is such a surprise,” Nyssa says, and Laurel is sure that she’s being laughed at. “Surely some people like strawberry ice cream.”

“But it’s not their favorite! People get strawberry milkshakes, not ice cream.”

“I don’t see why that’s a significant difference.”

“You don’t drink ice cream,” Laurel says. They’re sitting by the window of an ice cream shop - one that Tommy used to take Laurel to, not that she’s going to mention that. Nyssa looks more like a regular person than Laurel is used to, and it’s a nice change. Laurel likes this Nyssa.

“But that hardly makes a difference,” Nyssa argues.

“It makes all the difference in the world.”

Nyssa shakes her head, a tiny smile at the edge of her lips. “You are utterly baffling,” she says, and a building down the block explodes. Nyssa jerks back, and Laurel whirls around. There’s smoke in the distance.

“I don’t think we have time to finish our ice cream,” Laurel says.

Nyssa lifts an eyebrow. “We?”

“You follow me on patrol,” Laurel says. “I’ve got you figured out. You might as well come openly.”

“We don’t need to patrol,” Nyssa points out. “We can be… two concerned citizens. With ice cream.”

“You really don’t want to let your ice cream go,” Laurel mutters, but she gets to her feet. “Let’s see what it is now.”

Nyssa actually takes her ice cream with her as they go down the block, still dressed in civvies. Laurel feels a little naked without Sara’s jacket, and she’d wonder if Nyssa does too, but she knows better. Nyssa has at least two knives on her right now. She’s good to go.

“I can’t imagine explosions are the most common around here,” Nyssa says between bites of ice cream.

“Not in the financial district,” Laurel says. The building is smoldering, but there don’t seem to be people streaming out of it. That’s either a very good sign or a very bad one. “Should we check for survivors?”

“It looks abandoned,” Nyssa says, and Laurel glances at her. “We shouldn’t need to-”

It’s dumb luck, total dumb luck, that Laurel sees the red light on the wall of the building beside Nyssa. She doesn’t have the chance to think about it before she jumps on top of Nyssa, pushing her to the ground. Nyssa doesn’t make a sound, not even when the bullet hits where her head just was.

“Why would there be a sniper?” Laurel gasps, rolling off Nyssa. There are people running away now, and screaming, and she knows that Team Arrow will be a part of the situation in a matter of minutes.

“A sniper would cause chaos, incite a panic.” Nyssa looks at Laurel incredulously. “You just saved my life.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Laurel mutters, looking over at Nyssa. They’re still on the ground, and they should get up, run either towards the danger or away, but she can’t look away from Nyssa. “I had a good teacher.”

“I didn’t think it possible for you to notice what I couldn’t.” Nyssa shakes her head, and she’s smiling, the most openly that Laurel has seen her smile. It’s breathtaking. “You continue to defy what I expect of you, Laurel.”

And there are a thousand things Laurel could say to that, smart and sweet and clever things, but what she says instead is, “I’m not Sara.”

Nyssa pulls back, face shuttering off. “I’m well aware-”

“No, wait, I need to try that again.” Laurel takes a deep breath. “I’m not my sister, but I know you kissed me last week after the concussion, and I want to make sure that’s not why.”

“Of course you’re not Sara,” Nyssa says, voice tight. “You’re not replacing her, either. Is it so hard to believe-”

“No,” Laurel says, because it’s not. “I just wanted to be sure before I did this.” She pushes herself up onto one side, just enough that she can lean over Nyssa. “Tell me to stop if you want me to.”

“As if I couldn’t stop you,” Nyssa breathes, and she doesn’t flinch as Laurel kisses her. One of her hands twines in Laurel’s hair, pulls her down further, and Laurel leans into it, settling one hand on Nyssa’s hip.

Nyssa pulls away moments later. “We’re lying on the street,” she says, “and you owe me new ice cream.”

“I owe you new ice cream?” Laurel repeats in disbelief. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save your life and your ice cream, and besides, don’t you think dinner would be a better first date?”

Nyssa pauses. “Would you like to go on a date?”

“Would you like to go on a date?”

“I would like to kiss you somewhere that isn’t lying on the street in front of a burning building,” Nyssa says, with a tone of finality.

Laurel grins. “I think we can manage that.”

#lauryssa #laurel x nyssa #arrow #arrow fic #waveridden.fic #i wrote this on a plane in one sitting i am powerful goddammit

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stillinaincrad · 7 years

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You can kiss my turkey eatin’ ass, Tumblr - I wrote it out again just for spite.

So, the title of this article is “Top Ten Questions to Ask Anime Fans” (https://www.thetoptens.com/questions-ask-anime-fans/), which is ironic, because then they ask ten more. Anyhow…

1. What Got You Interested In Anime? - honestly, my older sister. She has been a science genius since we were little kids. I owe almost all of my sci-fi geekiness to her, because she always had something on and I’d get hooked - Star Trek, Doctor Who - and even an old 80′s anime called Robotech that I fell in love with. I liked it so much, in fact, I went looking for more.

2. What’s Your Favorite Anime Series? - Yeah, every list of anime questions has this one, and every time I say I don’t know because only naming one would leave out too many others that are just as good to me, often for different reasons.

3. Which Anime Series Would You Most Recommend? - as a blanket, sweeping generality I’d say Charlotte, just because I can’t remember being more surprised by how an anime went, but it really depends on the person. I think Neon Genesis Evangelion a must-watch to just about anyone who even wanted to dabble in anime, but it’s intense and deep and political and soul crushing, and that might not be the next person’s thing. So, it depends.

4. Who’s Your Favorite Anime Character? - again, no good answer, because would leave out too many.

5. What Was the First Anime You Ever Watched? - Oops, answered that in my answer to #1. Oddly enough, has not changed since.

6. Who’s Your Favorite Female Anime Character? - That one I can answer and is not a difficult decision to make at all, it’s Lucy. It’s always Lucy. Elfen Lied is ridiculously heavy and will slay your feels like they were a fire-breathing dragon, but somehow I always felt like I understood Lucy’s pain, and how necessary she felt that pain was. I’ll find a way to better put this into words later, but that’s a girl who hurt way more than anyone has ever deserved, and she somehow shouldered it all as if she did deserve it. I always felt like all she ever wanted was love, but had herself so programmed to never allow herself love or to be loved. If you’ve ever been there yourself, she’s such an incredible character.

7. Which Anime Would You Most Want to Be Turned Into a Movie? - I am not really a fan of movies made from anime, because there’s just not enough time and so much of it gets trimmed that I don’t care for it. If the movie has nothing to do with the anime save the characters (new plot, new story, etc) then ok, but I still like having the whole anime for character development, side stories, etc.

8. Which Anime Series Do You Favor the Least? - Geneshaft, no contest. I hated the awful characters, the sup-par animation, the obnoxious monotone soundtrack, the complete waste of design and uselessness of most of the mecha… I just hated everything about Geneshaft. I even tried to watch it a second time, thinking I had missed something, and no - it was still a steaming pile of excrement the second time, too.

9. Which Anime Character Is Your Least Favorite? - the kids from Eureka 7 annoy me to no end, Rossiu Adai was forged from 100% bitch, Makoto Itou was a slime and deserved death, Charles di Britannia for Father of the Year… there’s quite a pool to choose from there, too.

10. Why Do You Get Offended If Someone Doesn’t Like Anime? - that has no affect on me, to be honest. Only time I get offended is when someone wants to either judge anime based on our western ideals and mindset without taking into account that it comes from a foreign culture that has different belief systems and values and customs as us, or - if you REALLY want to piss me off - when someone wants to look all shifty-eyed at anime itself or anyone who likes anime because it’s “cartoon porn”. Anime is just another medium of entertainment and is no different from television, movies, theater, or books in that regard - there are all gradients of good and bad, right and wrong, and yes, there is pornographic anime, just as there are pornographic films, books, magazines, and television… does in no way mean that all films, books, magazines and television are pornographic in nature. I absolutely cannot stand it when someone is so narrow-minded as to affix a derogatory label to something they themselves are not a fan of and judge others through that overwhelming egotism. I will fist fight you if you try to project your smallness onto me with that bullshit.

11. What Can Be Found In Anime That You Can’t Get from Cartoons? - in almost a continuation of the last question, anime is not “cartoons”, at least not all the time. Anything is possible with anime, and quite a bit of it is not made for kids at all - just because it’s drawn and animated does not mean it’s a cartoon. Putting the two together is very wrong.

12. Why Don’t You Go Outside For A While? - why don’t you tell me again how great season two of Stranger Things is, hypocrite.

13. What is Your Favorite Anime Out of the Forbidden Four? Bleach is the only one of the Forbidden Four I could even tolerate. Even though there is an infuriating amount of filler from about S3-4 on, Bleach is still really good. Did not care for Naruto or One Piece, and I absolutely haaaated DBZ (to be fair, I did not know there was a subtitled version until later in life, and the English dub was obnoxious as balls).

14. What Anime Couple Do You Hate? - Hideki Nishimura and Ako Tamaki come to mind first. Hideki for being such a spineless little coward for not wanting to hurt the feelings of someone who is so disillusioned by her own inability to accept reality that she’s full-blown batshit crazy, and Ako for being that someone who is so disillusioned by her own inability to accept reality that she’ s full-blown batshit crazy. Seriously, bro - sack up and tell her ‘bye, Felicia’ like you know you want to. It was a video game, if she can’t deal with that then what happens when something that actually affects real people goes down?? RUN, fool.

15. Why Do You Think it is Better Than Western Animation? - I haven’t seen a whole lot of western animation that takes on the same roles, has the same depth of writing, and has the same quality of art as most Japanese anime. You’ll never hear me say that Absolute Duo is better than Tom & Jerry, and I’d expect anyone who does say that to get hit in the face with a scoop shovel, but seriously - comparing western animation to Japanese anime is like comparing apples to asbestos. The only thing most of them have in common is that they’re drawn and have voice actors. Aside from that, two completely different animals.

16. What Is Your Favorite Anime Crossover? - so I came up with the idea a long time ago that Decim lets someone go back up instead of down because he was confused by something he was feeling, but now has to come back to the “real world” to retrieve that person. The kicker is, he has no powers here. Imagine him walking around Hellsalem’s Lot, trying to process all the random emotions and make sense of all the bizarre wtfedness going on all the time. Dude… I would watch the hell out of that.

17. What do you think of Yaoi/Yuri anime? - I have a couple of favorite titles that are pretty steeped in it (Rinne no LaGrange?? lol), but as long as it doesn’t take away from the story or become the story, I probably won’t even notice, it’s just part of it. If the entire show is THESE TWO GUYS/GIRLS ARE SUPER DOOPER GAY AND THAT’S LITERALLY ALL THIS IS ABOUT then I’m probably not going to watch it. Doesn’t make me a homophobe, it makes me someone who likes content.

18. Did You Know That Justin Bieber Hates Anime? - lots of people hate anime. I have so many legit reasons to dislike that 23yr old prepubescent talentless Lake Mead of douche hack that his like or dislike of anime is irrelevant. Besides, we got Samuel L, bitchsnacks.

19. What Do You Think of People Saying Every Anime Is Always Gratifying Woman Sexually? - yeah, scroll up. Already ranted at length about this exact topic. By far my biggest pet peeve regarding anime.

20. If You are in an Anime What Power Do You Want to Get? - the power to not finish a list of questions on such a ridiculously lame one. Seriously, Top Ten - ultra-weaksauce finish.

#anime questions #20 questions #thetoptens.com #anime fans

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