#....i wouldn't say i like martin's choices either actually

[nowiminexileseeingyouout]

kate martin x reader

contains: fingering(reader!reciving , confession)

a/n: i have like 10 requests but i decide to write something nobody asked for?? ok anyway req still open even if i never post :(

Watching movies is the ultimate pastime. It was your favourite thing to do mainly because it was one of the few things that got your busy brain to calm down. You could get completely absorbed in another world for just a moment.

It's even better with friends because you can talk about it afterwards or even during. You didn't have to stress about anything outside of what was playing in front of you. Your favourite person to watch movies with was Kate. Kate loved it just as much as you. You could talk about movies for hours with her if you wanted to, and you wanted to. It was something you bonded over and the reason you became friends in the first place. You liked Kate; you had known her for a while now.

You might like her a little too much.

You liked the way every time she touched you it felt electric. She could give you butterflies just by talking. One time when you both were watching something together, Kate started to slowly move closer to you. You were sitting up with your legs in front of you propped up on an ottoman, and Kate moved so her head was on your shoulder and your legs were intertwined.

She just stayed there.

For the rest of the movie.

You couldn't remember what you were watching that night if your life depended on it. All you could focus on was how Kate's arm was strung behind your back and how warm she felt against you. You could feel yourself grow embarrassingly wet at the slight contact with her and you had to kick her out early. You made up some excuse about how you had to get up early. This was the first movie night you'd had since that interaction. You were nervous about not being able to control yourself in front of Kate. It wasn't fair to her; she was your friend. It wasn't her problem that you were attracted to her. You felt guilty, and if she ever found out, she might think that was the only reason you were nice to her. You hear a knock at the door that snaps you out of your thoughts. You walk to the door to greet Kate, praying you can keep it together. You open the door, and she is, standing there in her usual T-shirt and flannel pyjama pants. You both agreed a while ago to just wear pyjamas for movie night. Why did she have to look so good in pyjamas?

You manage to blurt out a "hi!"

"Hey," she replies, smiling a little at your clear excitement.

"I've got the movie all ready to go," you say as you turn to let Kate in.

"Very exciting. What did you decide for tonight?" she asks while walking past you, taking off her shoes, and making a beeline to the couch. You close the door and follow her.

"Kick-ass," you say.

You had both already seen it, but it was one of your favourites. No thinking was required, plus it was kind of funny. You sit down on the opposite end of the couch from Kate.

"Ah, good choice. I could use a brainless type of movie right about now." She immediately moves so your thighs are touching, ignoring your effort to put space between you two.

"Actually, do you mind if we lie down to watch this? I'm so exhausted I can barely see straight." Kate suggests.

That would mean either you sit on the floor or she would have to spoon you. Oh god.

"Ok, but then where would I sit?" you ask. You have no idea what answer you're hoping for.

"Just lay down in front of me. We can cuddle up; there's plenty of room."

There was indeed not plenty of room. Plenty of room would mean that every part of you wouldn't be touching Kate. Plenty of room would not mean that Kate's arm would be draped around you.

"Alright,"

you reply with a small laugh, ignoring every thought in your head right now. You stand up to allow Kate to lie on her side, putting her head on a throw pillow resting on the arm of the couch.

You grab the remote and press play before lying down in front of her. Kate drapes her arm around you and places her hand comfortably on your stomach. Eventually, she starts gently scratching your stomach, moving her hand in circles. She would move her hand slowly up just below your breasts and back down right below your belly button. Just above and below where you really wanted them. She was teasing you, and it almost felt intentional. The way the way her hand would sometimes go too high and graze your underboob or too low and barely touch the hem of your shorts.

Your breathing unintentionally starts to get heavier, and Kate notices.

"Something wrong?" She whispers.

"No, no, I'm—" She touches the hem of your shorts again, and you sharply inhale.

"I'm fine."

"Ok, whatever you say."

She replies, and you can almost hear the smugness in her voice. You're starting to think she's doing this on purpose. A few more minutes go by, and it's agony. You can't focus on anything except for the feeling of Kate's nails softly scratching your stomach. She wasn't even touching you directly, and she was driving you insane. You're not sure how much more you can take. Just when you're about to get up to go to the bathroom to try and escape her touch, Kate breaks the silence.

"I need to tell you something."

"Yeah?" You have no idea where this is going, but at least her hand has stilled for the moment.

"I like you."

"Yeah, well, I like you too; that's why I invite you over."

You let out a nervous laugh. Hoping to deflect the conversation from going where you think it's going. Kate props herself up on her elbow so she's lying above you, lightly grabs your jaw, and turns your head to face her.

"No, I like you, like, a lot."

She says, and you can tell by the way she's looking at you exactly what she means. This has to be a dream.

"I like you too, like a lot."

Kate looks like she wants to devour you. Instead, she lays back down, keeping her head slightly above yours.

"I want to try something; if you want me to stop, just tell me."

You nod eagerly, hoping it has something to do with getting rid of the ache that's been growing between your legs for an hour now.

"Words: pretty girl." Oh god, that nickname.

"Yes, yes," you say breathlessly.

"Ok, and you have to promise to keep paying attention."

Kate slowly moves her hand from your stomach, down past your belly button, and to the waistband of your shorts. She looks at you questioningly, making sure you're okay with this. You nod your head, giving her permission to continue.

She slides her hand under the waistband of your shorts, her fingers gliding over your skin. She moves her hand lower and lower until she reaches the hem of your panties. Kate looks at you again, her blue eyes dark with desire.

"You're so wet."

She whispers, her fingers lightly grazing your clit through the fabric of your panties. You let out a soft moan, your hips involuntarily bucking up towards her hand.

"Do you want me to touch you?"

She asks, her voice low and husky.

"Yes, please."

You whimper, desperately wanting more of her touch. Kate slowly slides your panties to the side, exposing your wet folds to the cool air. She runs a finger along your slit, coating it in your juices. You're so wet that it's dripping down your thighs.Kate brings her finger to her mouth, tasting you.

"Mmm, you taste so good."

She says before diving back in, this time pressing her finger inside of you. You cry out at the sudden intrusion, your walls clenching around her finger. She starts to pump her finger in and out of you, slowly at first but gradually increasing her speed.

"Oh fuck, Kate."

You moan, your head falling back against the couch cushion. Kate adds a second finger, stretching you further. She curls her fingers inside of you, hitting that spot that makes you see stars.

"That's it, baby. Let me hear you."

Kate says, her breath hot against your ear. She starts to rub tight circles on your clit with her thumb while continuing to fuck you with her fingers. The dual stimulation is too much, and you feel your orgasm rapidly approaching.

"I'm going to cum."

You warn, your walls starting to flutter around Kate's fingers.

"Come for me, pretty girl. Come all over my hand."

Kate commands, her fingers and thumb moving even faster. With a few more thrusts, you're flying.Kate's fingers are relentless, pumping in and out of you at a rapid pace.

Her thumb rubs tight circles on your clit, the pressure just right to send you over the edge. Your walls clench around her fingers as your orgasm crashes over you. You cry out her name, your body shaking with the intensity of it. Kate doesn't stop, continuing to fuck you through your orgasm, drawing it out until you're a boneless, satisfied mess.

As you come down from your high, Kate slowly removes her fingers from inside you. She brings them to her mouth, licking your juices off of them.

"You taste even better than I imagined."

She says with a satisfied grin. You're still trying to catch your breath, your chest heaving.

"Wow, that was..."

You trail off, not quite sure how to put into words what you just experienced. Kate chuckles, pulling you closer to her.

"That was just the beginning, pretty girl."

She says, her lips brushing against your ear. You shudder at the promise in her voice.You turn your head to face her, your noses barely an inch apart.

"So, does this mean we're dating now?"

You ask, a coy smile on your face.

"Only if you want to."

Kate replies, her eyes searching yours.

"I definitely want to."

You say without hesitation. And it's true, you've wanted this for so long. To be with Kate, to feel her touch, to have her as yours. Kate closes the distance between you, pressing her lips against yours in a searing kiss. You melt into her, your hands coming up to tangle in her hair. She tastes like you, like sex and desire. The kiss is deep and passionate, conveying all the pent-up feelings you both have for each other. When you finally break apart, both of you are breathless.

"I love you."

Kate whispers, her forehead resting against yours.

"I love you too."

You reply, your heart so full it feels like it might burst.

[ilynpilled]

GRRM on morality, heroism, villainy, and parallax in ASOIAF:

Time magazine wrote of you, “What really distinguishes Martin and what marks him as a major force for evolution in fantasy is his refusal to embrace a vision of the world as a struggle between good and evil.” Do you agree?

I think the struggle between good and evil is central to fantasy and, indeed, in some ways, central to most fiction. It's certainly a worthy subject for fiction. But I regard the struggle between good and evil as being waged within the individual human heart. […] You know, the greatest monsters of history, as we look back on them, thought they were the heroes of the story. You know, the villain is the hero of the other side, as sometimes said. That doesn't mean that it's all morally relative. That doesn't mean that all things are equally good and evil. I think there is good and there is evil in the world. But you know, it's sometimes a struggle to tell one from the other and to make the right choices. I've always been attracted to great characters, maybe because that's what I see when I look around the real world, whether I read about it in history books or the news or just people I meet. I mean, all of us have it within ourselves to be heroes. All of us have it within ourselves to be villains. We've all done good things in our lives, and most of us have also done selfish things, cowardly things, things that we're ashamed of in later years. And to my mind, that's, I don't know, the glory of the human race. We're such wonderfully contradictory, mixed-up creatures that we're endlessly fascinating to write about and read about.

via

In your work, you have essentially captured Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of polyphonic fiction, where the characters are equal, and the reader can root for any of them. This has been impossible to convey on the TV series.

I wouldn't say all the characters are equal, but they have (hopefully) human traits, especially the viewpoint characters. I have seven viewpoint characters in the first book, and each book has a few more. So, by now, we're probably up to 12 or 13 viewpoint characters, and those are the ones where I go actually inside their skin, so you're seeing the world through their eyes. You're hearing their thoughts. You're feeling their emotions. And I try to paint over those viewpoint characters, and some of them are noble and just, and some of them are kind of selfish, and some of them are very intelligent, and some of them are less intelligent and even stupid. But they're all human, and I want to portray their humanity. […] I think the battle between good and evil is fought all over the world, every day, in the individual human heart, as we all struggle with the choices that define us and define our lives. And we have to choose what we are going to do, and sometimes the choice is not easy; it's not this absolute juxtaposition of the good guys and the bad guys. And I wanted to get to that with my characters, and show some of the difficulties that they face.

via

Another element I liked about the series was the moral relativism of many of the characters. Too many Fantasies rely on the shorthand of truly evil villains in the absolute moral sense, but your characters, while they might commit terrible acts, generally do so either from short-sighted self-interest or because they truly believe they are acting for the best. Was this a deliberate decision, or is it just more interesting to write this way?

Both. I have always found grey characters more interesting than those who are pure black and white. I have no qualms with the way that Tolkien handled Sauron, but in some ways The Lord of the Rings set an unfortunate example for the writers who were to follow. […] Before you can fight the war between good and evil, you need to determine which is which, and that's not always as easy as some Fantasists would have you believe.

via

Do you purposely start a character as bad so you can later kill them?

No. What is bad? Bad is a label. We are human beings with heroism and self-interest and avarice in us and any human is capable of great good or great wrong. In Poland a couple of weeks ago I was reading about the history of Auschwitz - there were startling interviews with the people there. The guards had done unthinkable atrocities, but these were ordinary people. What allowed them to do this kind of evil? Then you read accounts of acts of outrageous heroism, yet the people are criminals or swindlers, one crime or another, but when forced to make a choice they make a heroic choice. This is what fascinated me about the human animal.

via

Martin's realm is not one of unambiguous heroes and villains. His characters, from royals to peasants, tend to be ethically mutable. So-called good people, like the noblemen Ned Stark, his son Robb Stark or the indomitable Daenerys Targaryen ("the Mother of Dragons"), make terrible mistakes - out of weakness, pride or an overly rigid sense of right and wrong. And horrible people, like Jaime Lannister, known as "the Kingslayer," do terrible things and then, over the course of several books, reveal themselves to be capable of heroism and sacrifice.

As we're discussing this in the theater, Martin quotes Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" from memory: “The evil that men do lives after them ;/ The good is oft interred with their bones.” Then he adds his own version: “We shouldn't forget about the evil that good men do. But we shouldn't forget about the good either,” he says. “I do think a society needs heroes. They don't have to be flawless.”

via

Your books have a very strong storyline associated with the atonement of sins. For example, the way of Jaime Lannister, do you yourself believe in karma?

I don’t believe in karma per se, although sometimes I have my doubts because sometimes I think I see things that could be explained by karma. But no, I don’t really have any beliefs in the supernatural. I do believe in the possibility of redemption. And I believe that human beings, all human beings, are grey. And I try to remember that when I write my characters. We are all heroes, we are all villains, we all have the capacity for great good and we all have the capacity to do things that are selfish and evil and wrong. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. In your lifetime, you can be both. And it’s making choices that defines us as human beings. There’s this sensation of compartmentalism. This eagerness to judge everybody based on the worst thing they ever did, not the best thing they ever did. And you know, I think Shakespeare in "Julius Caesar" wrote “The evil that men do lives after them ;/ The good is oft interred with their bones.” And sadly that’s true. And I think it should be the reverse. We should remember the good things and the noble things that people did, and forgive them for their failures and moments of selfishness or wrongdoing because we all have them. When we forgive them, we are essentially forgiving ourselves. Redemption should be possible.

via

Are there any characters that you've kind of fallen out of love with, that you just don't, you know, get excited about any more?

I still love all the characters. Even some of them who aren't very lovable. At least the viewpoint characters. When I'm writing in the viewpoint of one of these characters, I'm really inside their skin. So, you trying to see the world through their eyes to understand why they do the things they do. And we all have, even characters who are thought of to be bad guys, who are bad guys, in some objective sense, don't think of themselves as bad guys. […] “What evil can I do today?” Real people don't think that way. We all think we're heroes, we all think we're good guys. We have our rationalizations when we do bad things. “Well, I had no choice,” or “It's the best of several bad alternatives,” or “No it was actually good because God told me so,” or “I had to do it for my family.” We all have rationalizations for why we do shitty things or selfish things or cruel things. So when I'm writing from the viewpoint of one of my characters who has done these things, I try to have that in my head. And I do, so there's an empathy there that makes me love even people like Victarion Greyjoy, who is basically a dullard and a brute. But, he feels aggrieved and sees the world a certain way. And Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy, they all have their own viewpoints. I love them all. Some I love more than others, I guess.

Who do you think to be the most important characters?

They're all important. I don't favor them, or I don't think of them in terms of importance. The viewpoint characters in the first book I have are Bran, Tyrion, Catelyn, Ned, Jon Snow, the two girls Arya and Sansa. There is the core of the Stark family plus Tyrion to represent the Lannister family. Then I have Dany on the other side of the sea, Daenerys Targaryen, whose story runs parallel and some ways doesn't connect to the others, but some day I'll eventually bring those two stories together. In each subsequent volume I drop some of my viewpoint characters and add new ones. Although the same core still dominates, the cast changes somewhat, and I like to do that. In the third volume which you haven't gotten to yet (he refers to me) I have a new viewpoint character. He's been a major character, but now you see things for the first time through his eyes. Which I think changes your perception of things somewhat. I like to play that kind of game, because we all have our own way of looking at the world. Something occurs and two people witness it. They might have very different versions of what happened, and very different explanations. I like to play with parallax in my fiction, and get different versions of the same thing.

via

A Song of Ice and Fire has much of the complex texture of authentic history, both generally and in its specific echoes of actual historical episodes. What laws and principles (if any) in your view govern human history, and how has your understanding of historical processes shaped the series?

Historical processes have never much interested me, but history is full of stories, full of triumph and tragedy and battles won and lost. It is the people who speak to me, the men and women who once lived and loved and dreamed and grieved, just as we do. Though some may have had crowns on their heads or blood on their hands, in the end they were not so different from you and me, and therein lies their fascination. I suppose I am still a believer in the now unfashionable "heroic" school, which says that history is shaped by individual men and women and the choices that they make, by deeds glorious and terrible. That is certainly the approach I have taken in A Song of Ice and Fire.

A Song of Ice and Fire undergoes a very interesting progression over its first three volumes, from a relatively clear scenario of Good (the Starks) fighting Evil (the Lannisters) to a much more ambiguous one, in which the Lannisters are much better understood, and moral certainties are less easily attainable. Are you deliberately defying the conventions and assumptions of neo-Tolkienian Fantasy here?

Guilty as charged. The battle between good and evil is a legitimate theme for a Fantasy (or for any work of fiction, for that matter), but in real life that battle is fought chiefly in the individual human heart. Too many contemporary Fantasies take the easy way out by externalizing the struggle, so the heroic protagonists need only smite the evil minions of the dark power to win the day. And you can tell the evil minions, because they're inevitably ugly and they all wear black. I wanted to stand much of that on its head. In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.

via

When you are writing the different conflicts in Westeros, do you personally pick a side? Or feel that one side fights for a more just cause than the other?

Yes, certainly. I mean, I’ve often said that I believe in grey characters, I don’t believe in black and white characters. But that’s not to say that all characters are equally grey. You know, some are very dark grey, and some are mostly white but they still have occasional flaws. I’ve always been fascinated by human beings and all of their complexity— even human beings that do appalling things, you know, the question is ‘Why?’ And it’s interesting to get inside their head and see why. Some of my viewpoint characters have done some incredibly reprehensible things: Theon, for example, or Victarion Greyjoy. Why? Were they born a monster? Weren’t they born like a cute little kid wanting to be loved and all that? We all start out that way, right? But things happen to us on the way that lead to junctures in our lives where we make decisions, and those decisions and the consequences of them color everything that comes after. You look at [historical figures] and what’s the verdict on these men? Are they heroes, are they villains? Are they great people, or people we should despise? I mean, they are fascinating characters because of their complexity.

via

“I don't concern myself over whether my characters are “likeable” or “sympathetic.” (I had my fill of that in television). My interest is in trying to make them real and human. If I can create a fully-fleshed three-dimensional character, some of my readers will like him/her, or some won't, and that's fine with me. That's the way real people react to real people in the real world, after all. Look at the range of opinions we get on politicans and movie stars. If EVERYONE likes a certain character, or hates him, that probably means he's made of cardboard. So I will let my readers decide who they like, admire, hate, pity, sympathize with, etc. The fact that characters like Sansa, Catelyn, Jaime, and Theon provoke such a wide range of reactions suggests to me that I have achieved my goal in making them human.”

via

“You want the reader to care about your characters — if they don’t, then there’s no emotional involvement. But at the same time, I want my characters to be nuanced, to be gray, to be human beings. I think human beings are all nuanced. There’s this tendency to want to make people into heroes and villains. And I think there are villains in real life and there are heroes in real life. But even the greatest heroes have flaws and do bad things, and even the greatest villains are capable of love and pain and occasionally have moments where you can feel sympathetic for them. As much as I love science fiction and fantasy and imaginative stuff, you always have to go back to real life as your touchstone and say, ‘What is the truth?’”

via

[anotherbummer]

Good Omens Season 3 Confirmed (trailer)

jk jk but could you imagine if any of this happened

I told myself I wouldn't go crazy working on this and then I ended up with 5 spreadsheets of dialogue trying to piece together this puzzle. Also I will need everyone to cut me some slack because I made this entire video on my phone while I was manic.

On that note, this trailer is largely based on 2 of my favorite Good Omens fics: Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by @mouseonamoose and Factory Settings by Anonymous. I love the idea of Crowley and Aziraphale having a therapist and it always reminded me of the character Dr. Linda Martin who plays the devil's therapist in the series Lucifer (Based on characters created by Neil Gaiman!) Also I tried really hard to hint at different parts of the Factory Setting story through clips, especially with clips of Crowley grabbing his glasses (which in this case would be Raphael wearing Crowley's glasses, which is a pretty big plot point in the story).

Lots of the audio clips and dialogue comes from the show itself (and a few clips from Lucifer), but I did comb through some clips of other shows that the actors were in, like Michael Sheen in Passengers, and David Tennant in Inside Man, etc. However the longer audio clips of "god" speaking are direct quotes from the Factory Setting fic (although I am almost certain that Raphael says them when he gets the Book of Life, So technically speaking, these lines are used out of context). I just ran the lines through a text to voice generator and then added a "godly/celestial" effect to it, which worked a lot better than I though it was going to. I had LOTS of potential dialogue I could have used but it didn't all fit super well together in the sense that it didn't either sound like the character speaking, or it didn't flow like a normal conversation. Believe me I tried, my phone can only do so much.

The music choice was obviously chosen on purpose, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Epic Mix) by Mark Petrie, for the purpose of pacing, I slowed it down slightly. I really liked the idea of using this song since the Factory Setting story partially revolves around "the second coming" baby and since we are nearing the Christmas season, it just seemed like sense to work on this now. The lyrics get pretty repetitive but I do wish I could have thrown in the "Fear not then, said the Angel. Let nothing you affright" verse somewhere in there.

Don't ask me to explain the actual plot of this I really just mashed two fanfics together and called it a day. I thinks that's all the notes I had.

[measuringbliss]

Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) 8-10

So the artist is definitely taunting us right

Because... I mean...

...Anyway. Peter's duplicated mind is definitely not dangerous in any way. It can speak and has an evil smile.

Perfectly reliable. (I need to write smut.)

Actually I don't even need to write anything because the selfcest writes itself. But it's time to celebrate the kids' birthday, so Peter has no time to challenge his conception of his own sexuality. His trysts with Harry are already quite charged.

Then we have a flashback to three weeks ago, because the comics's pacing makes it awkward that way. Wouldn't have to do that if you had more pages, honey! Or if it wasn't per month. Remember, Iron Man arrived just as Peter and Harry were beating each other and testing their AI. Peter's is very lovely (as we've seen), and Harry's daddy issues incarnated since it's his own father. What a stupid choice.

I don't like how this Tony looks, but I'm glad to see the bisexuality is still present. Tony says the Maker returns "in a little over a year" (so probably after two years all in all, I thought it would only be one year but okay). Why does he return, actually? To get beat up? Because that's what's gonna happen.

Anyway, turns out Harry wasn't on the list of heroes who HAD to be eradicated. Peter was, but not Harry, because of course he wasn't. Wow, I bet their relationship will have no trouble whatsoever.

Peter gives Tony a chance, but Harry's fixated on the fact that Tony totally broke his suit's security. Because weakness. Because daddy issues.

Back at the kids' party, Ben tries to make Peter subtly understand that he and Jameson are an item.

He mostly fails. Anyway, the paper launches the following month (September, then). It took its time. And they want Peter there. He's not sure about it.

The party looks nice. I was finally able to play one of these dance things in Japan a few months ago and let me tell you, it's really hard. But it's fun.

Funny, that's what Ben said about Jameson.

I love this kid. He's great. Hope nothing happens to him because so far he's completely exceeded my expectations.

It's clear that the kid feels very lonely too (pretty sure that's shown in the early issues as well), but Jameson gifting him his autobiography is priceless. What a fascinating relationship. He published it himself! Fits with his autoentrepreneur thing.

Meanwhile, Fisk contacts the other gang leaders.

Yeah, still hot.

The leaders are clearly the minibosses. So beside Martin Li, we get Black Cat (Felicia's father), Mysterio (<3), Kraven, and... Mole Man. Alright. In the cliffhanger, Fisk says he wants to make a game out of his enemies... is he going to make them fight each other? It's not gonna be difficult then, Harry's one joke away from choking Peter. And I do not only mean sexually, although yes, that too.

Ish 9!

Ben and Jameson are not satisfied about their articles; too much about Spidey, not enough about the dark side of the Big Apple.

About some SPECTACULAR content?

Anyway, MJ explains that actually, It's Good, because they're very successful right now.

In his lab, Otto gives Harry a firmware upgrade. For Spidey, his solution is a costume change.

Peter confers with his AI that's totally not swallowing him up in his sleep.

Bingo.

Unfortunately for Otto, Peter is already in a fully committed relationship with his current suit. So Peter suggests the suit stays at PETER'S HOME TO PROTECT IT. SURELY NOTHING WRONG WILL HAPPEN. I need more conversations between these two. Give me more than crumbs!

Anyway, it's all so Tony can't track them down, which I find... kind of strange but alright. Peter doesn't seem too attached to the idea either.

I expected a black suit, I wanted to hate it, but not gonna lie... IT's kind of cool. But yeah it's really giving Sonyverse!Venom movies. I'm here for it!

Peter's... not into it. It's too *complete*.

He opts for a spandex suit. Booooring.

God Harry's really trying to make them a thing. Peter's bisexuality is still buried.

Meanwhile, Ben and Jameson investigate Stark/Stanne Industries. Sure.

Anyway, Black Cat arrives and fights our heroes.

Not very heterosexual, mister.

Eventually, Harry acts on instinct, spurred by his dad, and yeets BC out of the building. BC is almost dead.

Peter's *not* happy about it.

Okay, yandere.

Just kiss already argh

I'm very impressed with how much the book accomplishes in its short amount of pages but goddamnit everything here also deserves 5 times more exploration.

Oh, what the hell. Let's read ish 10 as well!

It's focused on Ben and Jameson's investigation, which I do not really care about. They get closer to Stark/Stanne Industries's acquisition, which leads them to Oscorp, so to Gwen, who gave them the money in the first place.

Her reaction?

Very understandable.

Later, Richard (the son) checkmates Peter, and MJ informs Ben that Gwen called her.

Oh, those shadows on Peter's shirt were not necessary.

Anyway, Gwen has a week until the story comes out. Ouch.

And when Harry enters the Paper's office, Ben drops the bombshell: they think either Harry or his wife are in the green suit. (Which leaves the question of Spidey open... They must have an inkling, surely.)

Harry's reaction?

Well, well, well...

They just keep on giving each other money for bets they made. Kind of golden.

Harry quickly gets tired of these gay ass old men, but he tells them about Oscorp's secret intel about a lot of stuff, and says that Peter says he can trust them. So they must now know he's Spidey.

KISS.

Anyway, finally, they publish their story...

"Photo by Peter Parker" and then published by a "Ben"... HMM. THAT SURE IS DIFFICULT TO FIGURE OUT.

That's it for today! See you, like, in December or January for the next few issues <3

[cirrus-grey]

Hello! I'm the person who asked you about episode 169, thank you so much for replying! I especially loved hearing your opinion about Jon's paranoia, and how he's probably still recovering from it, because it never crossed my mind that it might still be relevant to this situation - but you're totally right!

He genuinely doesn’t realize that Martin might want to find another way to go until he asks (“You’re sure there isn’t another way?”) and then literally the first thing Jon says is “I’m sorry,” because it doesn’t hit him until that moment that he’s just assumed Martin’s willingness the entire way without asking him. - you said this and later part of the conversation was probably what people had the most divided opinions on, and I can see why.

Though I don't think I read Jon's "I'm sorry" as apology, but more as sympathising? Kind of like:

"Well, it’s the best I can do!" - Jon, still under the impression Martin will be glad to see Jude killed

"You’re sure there isn’t another way?" - Jon says nothing to this, so I thought this was the first moment when he thought something might be wrong and didn't know how to answer. But then Martin says, "Yeah, I know, the journey will be the journey, blah blah ominous blah."

Now, after your reply, I think Jon takes it as "burning building doesn't sound good, but obviously any other choice will be just as bad, so it's fine", but the first time I listened it sounded like Martin was saying "yeah, I know we have to go through certain places", and that's why I was so surprised Jon didn't correct that misconception. But looking at the next lines, I think he only understood that Martin was thinking they have to go through after Martin's next words. His "I'm sorry" now feels like sympathising that they have to do something unpleasant either way - I kind of can't imagine he'd be so cagey about there being another way if he understood how distressed Martin really was.

"It’s fine. I know you wouldn’t take me through if we didn’t actually need to go through, so…" - it seems like this is when Jon realises he and Martin have been having two different conversations, though he has not yet realised that Martin really doesn't want to go. It's clear from some of the next parts of the conversation he already sees that Martin is conflicted, and that knowing there is another way is making him reconsider things ("You said you were onboard." / "I was! I am. I just thought-" / "It wouldn't hurt?"), but he still doesn't understand just how much.

"John, is there another way?" / "I mean – sort of? Maybe?" - I wonder if this just residual caginess resulting from having to have a difficult conversation and knowing he'll have to admit some difficult things, or if he genuinely didn't look at other options before. Since he took a hard turn after the roots, I'm thinking the former, but. who knows?

Sorry if this is too much dissecting for you, I just had so many thoughts after you replied, but I don't want to overwhelm you so please let me know if you're not up to this! And thank you again for replying to my previous ask!

Previous post here.

I always appreciate extra analysis! I don’t have much to add though, because… yeah! You make a very good point, and I could definitely see this being the arc of Jon’s perception - slightly delayed from what I was saying before, taking just a bit longer to catch on to the fact that Martin thinks this is the only way through.

Though, on a slight tangent, I’ve never really been certain that they can go around? Jon’s “Sort of, maybe” combined with the fact that they bring up Arthur Nolan has always had me suspecting that the “other way” is still through fire, just… not Jude Perry’s section of the fire. They have to pass through the Desolation at some point, and I’d imagine there aren’t too many sections of it that aren’t burning.

Anyway, that doesn’t really effect any of the analysis here, but it could be another level of Jon’s hesitance - he really doesn’t want to have to tell Martin “yes, there is another way, but it’s also on fire.”

[roscoehamiltons]

Silly Season 2024 Predictions

aka predicting how the grid will look for 2025:

red bull: max verstappen, daniel ricciardo

mercedes: george russell, fernando alonso (or alex albon, if fernando remains at aston martin)

ferrari: lewis hamilton(!!!), charles leclerc

mclaren: lando norris, oscar piastri

aston martin: lance stroll, yuki tsunoda (or fernando alonso, if he doesn't go to mercedes)

alpine: esteban ocon, pierre gasly

williams: kimi antonelli, alex albon (or valtteri bottas, if alex goes to mercedes)

visa cash grab rb: liam lawson, sergio perez (or yuki tsunoda, if he doesn't go to aston martin)

sauber: carlos sainz jr, nico hulkenberg

haas: ollie bearman, kevin magnussen (or zhou guanyu, if kevin retires)

thoughts, explanations (and a lot of babbling) under the cut:

red bull: maybe i'm delulu for thinking daniel to red bull will still happen lol but it makes perfect sense on paper-- daniel's already familiar with the team and works well with them, he has support from the higher ups, he's a marketing dream, he has a similar driving style and preference to max...

also i know there have been rumours about alex going to red bull again but i don't think he'll do it in the end.

mercedes: i want it to be fernando that replaces lewis bc it would bring the most chaos and drama lol, but it's also a decision that actually makes sense? swapping a world champion with another world champion, and one that isn't likely to want to stay long term (5-10 years)? i guess this is dependent on how both mercedes and aston do this year but 🙏 pls make it happen lol

alex is my second choice for the seat if fernando doesn’t take it. i started making my predictions before james confirmed that alex was signed to williams for 2025, but even with that news, i still think it's a possibility he could go to mercedes. there's been so many whispers in the press about alex wanting to either leave williams or getting offers from top teams, that i can't help but think that alex is trying to gun for a top seat.. and mercedes is his best choice for a top seat imo. not to mention that james did say that he wouldn't stop alex from leaving if he wanted to, and of course the ties with mercedes that james and williams have... it would be easy for them to do some negotiations and make it happen. also i'm sure that george would put in a good word for alex, if alex was interested.

also some honourable mentions, because there's a lot of possibilities to consider: everyone is talking about kimi antonelli and mercedes and i do think that they're going to try and push him into f1 as soon as they can.. i just don't know if they'll take the risk of putting him in the merc seat right away. i'm really interested to see how he does in f2 either way-- if he's as good as everyone says then the results will speak for themselves. i think esteban is a good option too; he's a solid driver (and underrated imo), and more importantly he has ties to merc and toto. if merc wants a more short term option then carlos is a good choice, though it's more likely he would go to sauber. as for mick, i don't think that he's merc's first (or even second or third) choice for the seat, unfortunately for him and the mick girlies. lastly, this one is a bit random but nico hulkenberg also came to mind as a solid short term option (plus, he's german).

ferrari: still can’t believe lewis is going to be driving for them.

mclaren: no notes, very solid pairing.

aston martin: i think the lineup will stay the same if fernando doesn’t want to move to mercedes. i suppose there’s a chance that the rumours about lance going to wec could be true but we will see.

if fernando does go to mercedes then yuki is probably the most obvious choice as his replacement. i also think it’s in yuki's best interest in the long term to leave the red bull family, and this would probably be the best opportunity to do so.

i was actually initially considering checo as the driver to replace fernando — they have history after all, and checo seems to love the team. however, thinking about it, 2023 really took a hit to his reputation as a driver and I don’t know if aston would want him back anyways? i think checo would absolutely reach out to them though if the seat opens up, i think he’s going to try and stay on the grid if it's possible.

alpine: i think both will stay, but if one was to leave it would probably be este (to mercedes?) rather than pierre. if he were to go then jack doohan would be the likely replacement, maybe victor martins if his results in f2 are good.

williams: like i said earlier, i think mercedes is going to try and get kimi into f1 asap, even if he doesn't win f2, and aside from merc itself, williams is the most likely option for that to happen. alex will stay if he doesn’t get the mercedes seat—the supposed red bull offer doesn't start until 2026 and i don’t think he would break his contract to go to aston or alpine.

as for who would replace alex if he does go to mercedes, i would love for it to be valtteri. i stole this idea from @velvetsainz actually, but the more i think about it, the more i like it... the idea of valtteri and james on the same team again tickles me and valtteri is a fantastic mentor (as evidenced by his relationship with guanyu). also i'm fairly certain that toto is back on valtteri's management team again so i can see toto mentioning valtteri as an option for williams in their negotations for the hypothetical alex to mercedes move. is this likely this is to happen, idk, because valtteri did pick sauber over williams in 2021 for a reason but a girl can dream lol

visa cash grab rb: this one was the one i probably struggled with the most ngl.. i think liam is definitely going to be in f1 in 2025 (and deservedly so) but the question of who's going to be in the other seat.. the three main options would be yuki, checo and daniel (if daniel remains at visa instead of moving up, either checo stays at red bull or yuki is the one getting promoted). i originally had the lineup as yuki and liam (and checo at aston martin) but ended up switching yuki and checo around in the end. if checo does end up retiring at the end of this year and yuki goes off to aston then i'm not sure who would replace him..maybe ayumu iwasa? i looked at their list of juniors and am not really familiar with anyone besides him tbh

sauber: this one pains me because i'm a huge fan of both valtteri and guanyu, and they're actually my favorite pairing, in terms of overall vibes and personality... but i would be (very pleasantly) surprised if they both manage to stay at sauber next year. i think it's a given that carlos is going to go to sauber now that he isn't with ferrari, especially with his ties his dad has to audi. i also think sauber/audi would want to start preparing for 2026 and they would also want a german driver to drive for them, hence nico hulkenberg (plus the rumours that they were interested in hulkenberg last year, but ended up renewing guanyu instead).

there's a chance that one of the current drivers could stay, which in that case it would likely be valtteri (with carlos as his teammate, rather than nico). they could also promote theo pourchaire to f1, but i think it's likely they would stick to established drivers, especially during the first couple of years that audi settle in.

haas: the new haas tp has spoken very highly of ollie and with the amount of free practice sessions they have scheduled for ollie this year, it wouldn't surprise me if they're trying to get him on the grid. i know some people think that kevin might retire after this year, but i think they would like to keep one of the current drivers since the last time they had two new drivers didn't go well 😬. on the chance that kevin does end up retiring, i think guanyu is a good shout for a replacement. it might seem a bit random but he's a consistent driver who rarely crashes and more importantly, brings a lot of money and sponsorship, which haas needs.

[bebx]

Honestly, I don't get how people can think that Sylki won't be endgame. Are they forgetting that it's Disney? Or that the writer is a Sylki shipper? Let's be realistic. I agree that it would make zero sense, but this argument is lame, because we know Marvel doesn't care and they're capable of doing that. I wouldn't be surprised if they rushed it and pulled "actually Sylvie has been in love with him the entire time, but she's been hiding it, trying to push him away, because she thinks she doesn't deserve love. But she got over it now." Not to be rude, but I feel like everyone who believes that Sylki won't happen is delusional. I really want Lokius to happen, not Sylki, but even the idea of Sylki not happening is too good to be true. I feel like those leaks are true.

the leaks, which came from several people who claimed to have seen the entire season (and they all said the same thing), were correct about Marvel’s revealing that Mobius has 2 sons in episode five. I know it’s just a “rumor” and there’s no way to know if they really did see the entire season, but tbh I expect Marvel to pull the Sylki endgame in the finale (like how those leaks also said they would do that, getting Loki and Sylvie back together in the last episode).

if I had to guess, I’d say it’d go exactly the way you said, that Sylvie was always in love with Loki all along, but didn’t think she deserved to be loved, hence why she tried to push him away.

I would love to be wrong, but I guess we’re all finding out soon.

also I wouldn’t call anybody delusional for thinking Sylki won’t be endgame or that Lokius will be canon, unless it’s in a joking manner where I’m also making fun of myself. but in all seriousness, I don’t think anybody is ever “delusional” for having opinions about which direction the show will go based on what was actually showed so far in the series. because if this weren’t Disney, I’d say Lokius would absolutely go canon, after all those hints and everything they gave us so far. Sylki parting ways as friends and Lokius going canon as a couple are very highly unlikely, but it’s not entirely impossible either.

as for the writer, if you mean Eric Martin, dude’s a troll (and I say this with respect lol nothing against him, I’m sure he’s a good person with good sense of humor), he’s always liked both Sylki and Lokius posts because he knows fans monitor his likes and I fully believe he’s doing it on purpose just to (playfully) mess with the audience. so I wouldn’t take whatever he liked on social media as a “confirmation” of anything, not even his personal opinion about which ship he thinks is “better”.

*and even if he does personally ship Sylki, it’d still be unfair imo to assume he only made Sylki endgame solely because he personally liked the ship. if he’s a professional writer, I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that he had other reasons behind his writing choices that had nothing to do with his personal feelings, since after all, the characters belong to Marvel, not him. so his personal preferences shouldn’t be the only factor in deciding which direction things should go. (to be clear, what I mean is: it’s perfectly okay — and it is a good thing — to write a story based on how you, the writer, personally prefer, but I don’t think he’d make Sylki endgame just because he liked it without any other reasons involved when it’s still Marvel’s show and he was hired by Marvel, not his show, if that makes sense.)

[princessbellecerise]

are you aware that by lying about the bastard status of her children Rhaenyra committed treason? You know what the punishment for treason is yes? Aegon is the heir wheither you want it or not. If Rhaenyra had legitimized her children we wouldn't have this problem. She was being stupid.

Are you aware that both the King, Corlys and Laenor recognized these boys as legitimate and treated them as such? Are you aware that they KNEW, DIDN'T CARE, and STILL named them as heirs?

Any bastard recognized by the King or the Lord they are inheriting from as legitimate are thereby treated as such. But let's not even get into that, and get into the fact that despite it being obvious in the show, in the book Jace, Luke and Joffery are NEVER proved to illegimate as no one knows what Laenor or Harwin looks like. These are simply just misogynistic rumors spread by, yes, you guessed it, the Greens as just another excuse to justify usurping Rhaenyra.

Truth be told they have no proof and they don't actually care. They only say this weaken her claim.

But no matter which way you spin it, Aegon is not and never will be the rightful heir. First of all, there is no such thing as a 'rightful heir.' You do not earn that status by simply being born as the first male as there is no set law in Westros that establishes this. The next ruler is chosen by the current King on a case by case situation and Viserys named RHENYRA was heir, not Aegon. If you want proof, check out this 1999 article where GRRM himself says himself that there are not succession laws in Westros:

Here is the snipit: "There are no clear cut answers, either in Westeros or in real medieval history. Things were often decided on a case by case basis. A case might set a precedent for later cases... but as often as not, the precedents conflicted as much as the claims."

Second of all, Aegon is a rapist. Rape believe it or not is ILLEGAL in Westros. Men who were rapers got sent to the wall or castrated or executed, as seen when Daemon literally cuts someone's dick off during his rampage. Any crime committed is crime against the King, which is treason. Therefor your logic is invalid because technically, your boy committed treason as well. Multiple times.

Third of all, you cannot call Rhaenyra stupid for making a choice to save her life and her claim.

Having bastard children is not illegal or treason but trying to put them on the throne IS. If Rhaenyra had announced that her children were bastards then she would be put to death along with Jace, Luke, And Joffery (who, mind you, is an innocent little kid). Viserys would probably have no choice but to execute Daemon as well seeing as he probably knew, and anyone else like Harwin, Lord Lynol (his hand at one point), Rhaena, Baela, Laenor if he was still alive (which would greatly weaken the crown because there is no World in which Corlys would support him after that).

You really expect this woman to put herself, her entire family and others in danger for what - rumors started by Alicent? Because once again I reiterate - just because the show makes it oblivious, does not mean it was ever actually proven.

Rhaenyra giving into those stupid rumors would cost not only her, but the realm so much. And I find it funny how you are so eager to put her children in danger when you probably think Blood and Cheese is wrong.

Well, news flash, advocating for Rhaenyra to admit to treason would mean little kids die anyways. Luke, Rhaena, Baela, and Joffery who is around the same age as Heleana's children would be put to the death but I find it funny how you have no sympathy for them.

But back to the point - Westros is an absolute monarchy. The King's word is law and there are no if, ands, or buts. What Viserys says, goes, and even if you threw everything I just said out of the window, THE KING, and I repeat, THE KING OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS NAMED HER AS HEIR. HIS WORD IS LAW. THERE IS NO ARGIUNG WITH THAT.

If you think Rhaenya is still not the rightful heir even after the King has said she was and never relented to his death, then it is because you have a problem with a woman on the throne. It was always supposed to be her and not Aegon, and the Greens usurped her not because Aegon was the rightful heir, but because they hated the idea of a woman on the throne.

I leave you with all this and if you disagree that's your problem. But remember, even Aegon himself once said:

"What kind of a brother steals his own sister's birthright?"

[miscreantahead]

Tbh I've seen a LOT of people saying they don't think Chester and Norris are Jon and Martin in any way but the way I see it the other possibilities just don't make sense with what we have. (Not talking to people who just don't want it to be them because I see your point there but... well anyway.) Possibilities I've considered are as follows, let me know if there's some other thing I didn't think of:

They're completely unrelated to Jon or Martin and Alex and Jonny are just using their voices for new "characters". The reason I don't believe this at all is simple: is because it feels cheap and like a bad storytelling decision, and that may be a matter of opinion but I've listened to enough Q&A's between the two of them to feel like they wouldn't go that route. I could absolutely accept this if they were on a constrained budget and short on VA's, but the kickstarter suggests otherwise. I'm not saying they couldn't have cameos were Jon and Martin not in this, but large cryptic parts after the ambiguity of what happens to these two at the end of TMA would be a tasteless bait and switch that I feel like I trust them not to do. I'm using my Reasonable Typing Voice but I honestly think this take is borderline impossible and it would blow me away if this was the case.

2 is under the cut.

2. Something else simply pulled their voices from all of the statements they read that the web collected and is imitating them while reading new material. This one is *possible* but still feels entirely unlikely but the why is more complicated so I'm going to break down why this doesn't add up to me:

• The cases are being read by something sentient enough to understand and apply strong emotional tone to the human "speech" in each case. The contrast of the introductions and headers/filing information makes this even more apparent which suggests it was a conscious decision (blatantly, IMO, and after an explanation was provided for all the statements sounding like the same writing style in TMA, I'd be extremely surprised if this had no bearing on the narrative and is just a choice of execution.). So there's no way this is just a computer program, even if it's influenced by beholding, we know from TMA that beholding doesn't have that kind of understanding of human emotion either. Something with a deeper understanding of language and humanity than a computer program could have is reading these. Unless they're actually taking us down a sentient AI route, but that seems unlikely. So it has to be something in some way human.

• We consider it could just be Freddy (I forget how it's actually spelled, FR3-DI?) using their voices and that Freddy is the individual in question with human level sentience, but I have no explanation for why it would use their voices separately, why it wouldn't include others who read statements like Melanie, Basira, Tim, Daisy, etc. Yes, there's still Augustus, but that can only cover one of the other characters who read statements, and only Jon and Martin read a significant enough amount of them to set themselves aside from the others who read. The ONLY thing that would make this theory work for me is if Augustus turned out to be Gertrude, and honestly I wouldn't put it past Alice, trans legend, to call a quite seemingly older woman's voice by a masculine sounding name just for the hell of it. But, again, seems unlikely.

• We could consider that they are to only some small degree themselves, but they've lost a significant enough portion that they aren't truly, and are simply extensions of this universe's "Eye" (saying eye because I think the motivation would still have to be voyeuristic to bother?), to the point where who they used to be won't even be a concern. But this one is still challenged by the first bullet to some degree, I think. This one is possible, albeit a little boring in my opinion.

I'm willing to accept that none of the characters we know and love will truly be present in this new narrative. I actually went into it with that expectation and was jump-scared by AJN's voice 10 minutes into the first episode. But with everything in episodes 1 and 2, I don't think it's far-fetched at all to hope we're going to get some jmart again (I think the other direction is more far-fetched). I do think it's perfectly likely it's going to be miserable and painful the whole fucking time, though.

[kardia-library-official]

I haven't played RF2 in forever, but...

...I'm just spitballin' here. :P

Anyway, I know a lot of us wish there would have been updated character designs after the timeskip in RF2, and we all have our headcanons about what that would look like, but my spicy take is...

...Let gen 2 Max be FAT, you COWARDS! I'm not saying he would be the same size as his dad at that phase of his life, or that he should be drawn the same way (characters should probably remain recognizable as themselves at a glance), but I think even just rounding him out a little would have been a really interesting creative choice.

Like, consider:

-Body diversity is cool! For a lot of reasons, but also just because I write fic and have to describe these people. More body types means less using the same adjectives until my eyeballs fall out.

-It would just be a fun little detail for him to mature into a closer resemblance to some of his other family members? Because it's normal for people to, well, look like people they're related to. (Incidentally, this is also why I interpret Martin as shorter and less bulky than a lot of people seem to. Him and Cecil were dealt slightly different cards, but from the same genetic deck!)

-There's potential for Julia to have some positive character growth? It's either a) Max doesn't give much of a fuck either way and sets a good example by still talking about himself like he's hot shit constantly, or b) (my preference, I need angst to live) he actually struggles with it a lot, and she has this moment of "oh, shit, how I talk about this stuff is really affecting him, and he's already feeling down on himself, I'd better handle my situation." But either way, the end result is Julia being like "okay, he's still a smokeshow, maybe I don't need to put myself through this," and Max at least being on the road back to being way too into himself by the gen 2 era. (Maybe even a little more sincerely so, with less underlying insecurity.)

...Ha, only it wouldn't go like that, because this series has been historically and notoriously weird about this stuff. It would probably just have her being awful to him, which would be a massive bummer and proof that we cannot have nice things.

Forget I said anything! D:

[away-ward]

How would the couples react to a teenage pregnancy?

Will & Emory

This boy would be surprised and ecstatic. For him, it's never too early to start his life with Emory, since he “knew” it was always meant to be them. Is he ready to be a dad? No chance. But he’s ready for any adventure with Emmy. Even better, she has no excuses now. They’ll be forever tied together. He can afford a baby (with mommy and daddy’s money). They can still go to school and do all the normal stuff; they’ll just do it together and with a little one. Jokingly tells people he was born to be Emmy's baby daddy? Since he’s his parent’s favorite, they’ll be disappointed in him for not being careful, but not for too long. Especially not after they see how cute the little one is. They fall in love instantly.

Emory would probably be devastated; would seriously consider abortion, or never telling Will and leaving Thunder Bay. Her fears of trapping him in her hellscape all coming true. If Will did find out despite her efforts, he would play the “I’m a part of this too” card, and try to convince her to stay and rely on him, which she would struggle with.

Most surprising would be Martin. Because Emory’s fears would be that Martin would be angry to find out about her and Will, and that would lead to him hurting her or the both of them. However, Martin said he would have loved it because it would be a access point for him. Whether that’s true or not, or if he would have snapped on impulse in the moment, isn’t really known. I’ll be honest, this is the part I’ve thought about the most, since nothing that Martin says can be trusted. If Martin was being truthful and that would have been his natural reaction, I think it would have actually given Emory more of a reason to run. It would be one thing to bring Martin’s physical abuse to light. It would be an something else entirely to give him a way to manipulate the Grayson’s through their grandchild.

I would love to think that the Grayson’s would have saved Emory. And knowing A.P., I doubt it would be any skin of his back to make Martin disappear from Emory’s life. It would be a matter of getting Emory to let them do it.

Damon & Winter

We know from the alternative scene, Damon wants to get Winter pregnant as away to keep her and control her, which is his particular brand of “love” in high school. If he found out that she was pregnant…well, the image that comes to mind is like a cat that ate the canary.

Winter would be furious, I think in either of the timelines but especially in canon. She's too young, she doesn't like Damon extending his control over her like that; she wanted a choice, not to be forever tied to him by accident. Still, if she did keep it, she'd love that baby with everything she had. She'd keep it and protect it from Damon.

The baby would definitely be a source of fighting for them.

If it was a boy (which, looking at Damon's track record...) Gabriel would be interested. Good chance he'll pull a Christiane 2.0 and take him away. If it's a girl, it's the Ashby's problem.

The Ashby's would seriously consider sending Winter away again. I just know her mom would ask if there were still those boarding schools for "girls like her," that took pregnant girls so they didn't disgrace the family. Her father would promptly walI her over to the town doc that performs all the abortions unwanted/accidentally pregnancies for Thunder Bay (but shhhh, that's a secret). If Winter wouldn't go through with an abortion (she'd have to really fight and scream to get her father to relent), she would consider closed adoption. Considering how angry she was, there's a chance she would have gone through with it. But I'm also thinking her love for Damon despite everything would keep her from being a 100% committed, and that small room for doubt would be enough.

Michael & Rika

This wouldn't happen to Michael. He wouldn't even touch Rika until she was 18 or close to it. If she did somehow, despite all this plans, become pregnant with his child, that's it. They're getting married and raising that thing together side by side, as faraway from his family as he could get. Her mom too, if she doesn't get sober real quick. No way is that going to be let around his kid.

For Rika, this is not how she planned it, but she always wanted Michael so maybe this was how it was meant to be. It's just like them to skip past all the nonsense of dating and getting to know each other. They already know they're made for each other, anyway. But she hates the idea that Michael thinks she tricked him or "planned" this. She wasn't poking holes in condoms or sabotaging her birth control, and she resents him for implying it.

They'd fight, they'd bicker, they'd annoy each other, but overall they'd be content and happy, approaching this new stage of their life with purpose and assurance that the other is going to try and be the best parent they could.

Kai & Banks

This also wouldn't happen to Kai, but it's way more likely to happen to him than to Michael. Especially with Banks involved. His brain shut down whenever she appeared in front of him. Honor bound, he would do whatever he could to make it right. He wouldn't love the idea of abortion (hard to tell if he's the type of Catholic that's completely against the idea, or if he's more along the lines of it's not my body though it's my baby, or if he's more like it's not okay for anyone else but this is my emergency so I'll ask for forgiveness (that he doesn't thinks he'll get... kai's weird)). Overall, if the baby is born and he has to tell his parents, he's going to have one giant shadow over his head. Of course he loves the baby. But this is just another way he's disappointed his father. But then Kai will go to college, and get his degree, get the job, get the salary that will provide the very best for his family. No more screwing up for him.

Basically, this would be something he beats himself up over but would not take him down.

There's a really good chance Banks never tells anyone and takes her self to the abortion clinic. Her fear that Gabriel would kick her out because she can't bring another mouth into his house - that was not the deal. Or ended up anything like her mom, chasing after to rich man to take care of a baby neither of them wanted. Not that she would chase after him. It's just the whole situation she'd want to avoid; it hits too close to home. And don't even bring up Damon finding out. I think she'd also be scared to mess the kid up. At seventeen, she doesn't think she's anywhere close to being mother material. Best to save this kid some pain before it understands. The only thing that might stop her is if Kai somehow found out and talked her out of it. But that would have to be one hell of a speech.

Based on these two asks: DamonWinter-MichaelRika-KaiBanks original post Willemmy Original Post

[buckybarnesss]

Heather~~~

What is your opinion on Lydia's mom?

Especially in s4 and s5

I feel like there's a lot to think about when you think about how Lydia got the banshee gene from her Dad's mom - and Lydia's parents are divorced since s2? Maybe?

Feels like a lot of strange emotional issues there for sure!

all the parents in teen wolf kind of suck tbh. it's something we should acknowledge more i think. teen wolf deals so much with growing up and part of that is realizing that your parents are humans which makes them flawed and fallible.

natalie martin unfortunately didn't get much characterization until later in the series which makes her hilariously sort of neglectful and checked out in the early days of the show. like girlie pop let stiles into her daughter's bedroom while lydia was in a negligee and drugged up.

but susan walters is delightful and an icon so she became a more and more frequent guest start but lbr she's also married to linden ashby which is part of the equation there.

it's always been an interesting choice to me that they never recast lydia's father. he was present when she was in the hospital in season 2 and than he disappears but yet lydia's banshee powers come from his side of the family.

that alone puts his comments about lydia's behavior in the tell in a different perspective. still shitty but interesting with hindsight.

ms. ramsey: let me tell you, there's plenty to say about lydia. mr martin: did I not predict this? natalie: here we go! total nuclear meltdown, as usual. mr martin: what is it? her grades? concentration issues? erratic behavior? natamlie martin: i'm not the one who told her she had to choose who she wants to live with! as if that wouldn't warp a sixteen-year-old girl. mr. martin: just tell us what the problem is.

i also find the comment elias stilinski made during his lucid moment in sundowning about natalie to be, well, mean but also accurate about her and also about lydia.

elias stilinski: you're natalie martin's daughter. am i right? you look like her. she was pretty once too. she also liked to talk like she was the smartest person in her room.

it's their worst traits. lydia in season 1 is all about this. in the beginning lydia is vain and condescending. natalie can be as well as it's of course where lydia learned it from.

natalie martin is someone who is characterized by her fears in a lot of ways which makes her so very frustrating. especially in the later seasons and her fear pertaining to lydia comes directly from what happened to lorraine.

she's both afraid for lydia and afraid of lydia's abilities. natalie does love her daughter and we see her attempt to support her frequently but it often falls just short of what lydia actually needs. natalie's fear prevents her from fully understanding lydia.

she never quite overcomes this either even though by the end of the show she knows the big secret. she's aware of the supernatural but she refuses to acknowledge it properly even with her own daughter.

forgive this reference, but it's kind of dursley-ish. she wants everything to be very normal thank you very much. she fears how other perceive her and her daughter.

i do give her a few points for not running from beacon hills though. she does try to help the kids out in school. it's not always with the greatest understanding but she did cover up the beast incident and tried to get scott, liam and malia to the end of their high school careers.

so i find natalie martin a frustrating character but i think she contrasts really nicely with the other parents like melissa mccall, the sheriff and the argents.

i also find it hilarious that peter kept trying to date her and melissa to fuck with lydia and scott. it's fucked up and manipulative as scott and lydia are his two favorite chew toys that aren't derek but like it's also really funny.

[mllemaenad]

Having now listened to all of The Magnus Archives ... hm, yeah, I think they made it out all right in the end. And I don't just mean that in a soppy I-can-only-stand-happy-endings sort of way (although, it's been a crappy few months, and to be honest I wouldn't mind a happy ending), but because I think there's a really satisfying conclusion to John's character arc if he finally figures out how it all works.

Er. John? Jon? I have seen it spelled both ways, and now I am confused. And the character seems to be named after his creator, which is not making me less confused. But the transcript uses "John", so I will go with that.

John's core problem is that he is constantly trying to take control of his life and his choices, but is never able to do so because the narrative won't let him. He undoubtedly makes several rash decisions that the audience can guess won't end well, but even in cases where he sits down and attempts to make the best choice possible he ends up playing into the hands of his enemies, because they are able to tightly control the information to which he has access. Things that seem rational based on what he knows end up being terrible choices, because of how well curated "what he knows" happens to be.

There's a thing a lot of the characters do, where they describe the logic of their world as akin to dreams or nightmares:

SIMON No, no, no, you’re right, of course. The thing you have to remember is that no one actually knows how these things work – not really. There’s always been plenty of theories, of course, and over a century or two you do start to get an intuitive feel for it, but… there’s really no hard-and-fast rules. The powers, or entities, or fears, or whatever you want to call them, are bound up in emotion. In feeling. How they exist, what they can do, how they interact with the world… it all makes about as much logical sense as a nightmare. [MARTIN INHALES] Which is to say, there is a certain sort of emotional logic to it all: things feel like they flow together in a way that makes sense, but if you try to stop and do the maths, then it all comes apart. At least, in my experience. – Simon Fairchild, doing the exposition for characters and audience alike. Big Picture

But, as Simon points out, the trouble is that none of them really understand what they're talking about. Few people in this world seem to dedicate actual time to understanding it – most are either seduced or destroyed (or some weird combination of the two) by the power that comes with worship and terror.

So they get close, but they miss the point: it's not dream logic, it's story logic. There's a reasonable amount of crossover, of course: both deal in emotion and theme and imagery. We'll forgive a plot hole or continuity error in a story if the narrative feels right, and nobody is surprised if their dreams don't have coherent worldbuilding in them. But stories have purpose in them in a way that dreams do not. They're trying to say something that you need to think about. You can't really tell somebody about a dream without imposing narrative logic on it that wasn't necessarily there when you dreamt it, and most dreams simply fade away into nothingness once you've had them. But a narrative is shaped, and if it's good it can live virtually forever. You can't control a dream, but you can and should control a narrative.

That's the thing John finally works out.

I mean - of course it's got story logic, right? It's a story. It's a piece of fiction, so it's got themes and tropes and character foils and recurring imagery and all that jazz. But beyond that, it is a story made up of a patchwork of other stories: most of the episodes contain a little self-contained supernatural story with its own protagonist and its own ending; over the top of that lie a series of recurring characters who pop up across multiple episodes, and whose personal stories you can learn, and who will intersect with each other to build a historical narrative that explains how we got here; and on top of that are the characters who live closest to the present – John and whichever assistants are still alive at any given moment – and their struggle to deal with all this.

It's that patchwork that makes up the net in which John is caught for most of the series: because he is only able to follow the narrative, he is not able to control it. Yes, he is directly manipulated by actual characters in the story – most prominently by Jonah Magnus and Annabelle Cane – but it is mostly the story itself that keeps him locked in place.

In most cases, there is nothing whatsoever he can do about the various events that take place in the story. He's almost always reading about something that happened anywhere between years and centuries prior. Even when he's acquired enough information to understand what's happening in these stories he can't do a single damn thing for the characters. They either made it out on their own or they didn't.

Occasionally the story moves closer to the present, usually at season end but in a few other places as well, but even then he is still following behind the narrative. The story isn't about him, but his predecessor: "Why was Gertrude Robinson murdered? What did she know?" He is following the story of a dead woman. Her story is well and truly over, but he cannot catch up to the end of it.

Because the thing about the Archivist is that – well, it’s a bit of a misnomer. It might, perhaps, be better named: The Archive. Because you do not administer and preserve the records of fear, John. You are a record of fear, both in mind as you walk the shuddering record of each statement, and in body as the Powers each leave their mark upon you. You are a living chronicle of terror. – Technically John speaking, but in practice Jonah Magnus monologuing about his evil plan. The Eye Opens

His whole purpose in the story is to read (or on a few notable occasions hear) something bizarre, express a general "What the actual fuck was that?" and move on, without any ability to act on what he has learned.

But there is logic to their world. Season five – well, technically the finale of season four – turns the implicit into the explicit.

It does tickle me, that in this world of would-be occult dynasties and ageless monsters, the Chosen One is simply that – someone I chose. It’s not in your blood, or your soul, or your destiny. It’s just in your own, rotten luck. – More of Jonah Magnus being smug. He does go on a bit. The Eye Opens

The thing is, though: you aren't a Chosen One unless you're in a story. That's a narrative archetype. Even if you attempt to impose the idea on a historical event, you're only doing so retroactively by slotting a person into a particular narrative framework that probably does not match reality. It's unsurprising that Magnus had to build his horrifying fantasy world out of the trappings of a quest narrative: his whole power base is built out of collected stories. But if that's the world you make, you end up with a very specific set of rules.

Consequently, John spends much of the season explaining why they have to follow the rules of a quest narrative in order to actually go anywhere.

ARCHIVIST (heh) You see that tower, way off in the distance? MARTIN (don’t like where this is going) Yeah. (beat, sigh) It’s watching us, isn’t it? ARCHIVIST The Panopticon and the Institute. Merged into something entirely new. MARTIN (splutter-scoff) Wai– what? No, there’s, there’s no way we can see it from here. We – We must still be a hundred miles from the border, never mind London! ARCHIVIST You could see that tower from anywhere on Earth. And it can see you. And if you walk towards it, eventually you’ll get there. But you have to go through everything in between. [Pause.] MARTIN (bright) You’re being ominous again. ARCHIVIST (ah!) Sorry. Sorry. MARTIN What do you mean ‘everything?’ What’s out here? [The Archivist inhales. As he does so, there’s a sort of creaking – and then we hear the weakest strains of bagpipes beginning to fade through.] ARCHIVIST Nightmares. Come on, that trench is our first. – John, taking a turn at the exposition. In the Trenches

Dreams don't work that way – or at least they don't have to. Dreams can drop you into any situation and pull you out of it again with neither logic nor explanation. But if you are heading to a dark tower to confront an evil wizard ... well, then, everybody knows that you have a lot of walking to do. That you must meet friends and foes along the way and fight smaller battles before you fight the big one. It's how it goes.

It's even more explicit – almost painfully so – when dealing directly with character development.

ARCHIVIST Alright. [MORE WALKING] Next one’s through here. BASIRA Next one? ARCHIVIST Her latest victim. [DOOR IS WRENCHED OPEN WITH A METALLIC CREAK] [MARTIN REELS, SOUNDS OF FLIES BUZZING] Recognise her. BASIRA … No… I don’t think I do. ARCHIVIST That wasn’t a question. It was an instruction. We can’t move on until you do. MARTIN John, what are you getting at? ARCHIVIST This isn’t just a journey through spaces. – Basira preferring not to do introspection in a literal hellscape, but John has worked out the narrative rules so it's confront-your-past day in the apocalypse. The Processing Line

John is not wildly unusual in being a specific person's Chosen One: you can make the word "destiny" do a lot of work, and the poor bastard in the role is as often as not the favourite of a god, or the only child of a king, or the last of something bearing the duty of a larger group.

He is somewhat more unusual in being two people's Chosen One, and somewhat moreso again by being broadly opposed to the thing he was chosen to do. But the core thing is that this is a known role; it's a structure you can work with. Eventually. When you're in a position to do so.

Martin figured it out a season earlier.

MARTIN It’s not him! It’s not anybody. It’s just me. Always has been. I… When I first came to you, I thought I had lost everything. John was dead, my mother was dead, the job I had put everything into trapped me into spreading evil and I… I really didn’t care what happened to me. I told myself I was trying to protect the others, but… honestly we didn’t even like each other. Maybe I just thought joining up with you would be a good way to get killed. And then… John came back, and… and suddenly I had a reason I had to keep your attention on me. Make you feel in control so you didn’t take it out on him. And if that meant drifting further away, so what? I’d already grieved for him. And if it meant now saving him, it was worth it. When you started talking about the Extinction, though… you had me actually, then, for a while. But then – (laughs sardonically) then, you tried to make me the hero. Tried to sell me on the idea that I was the only one who could stop it. And that I’ve never sat right with me. I mean, I mean, look – look at me, I’m not exactly a – a chosen one. But by then I was in too deep. So I played along. Waited to see what your end game was, and here we are. Funny. Looks like I was right the first time. It’s probably still a good way to get killed? – Martin explaining that he was just stringing the villains along. Panopticon

The thing is, he is Peter Lukas's Chosen One. The reasoning behind it is cruel, but I can think of a few stories about gods making bets on what humans will do. But he works out what kind of story they're trying to tell him, and turns it to his advantage.

This is a good one. Everybody knows this one: one of the characters is betraying the others and working with the villains. It isn't because he wants to; it's because his hand has been forced. But it's a trap. It will get him killed. It will get his friends killed. The villains are lying to him about what they mean to do and how far they mean to make him go. The audience knows this, but the characters just keep digging their holes deeper and deeper ... until the sudden reveal that it was a con all along. The "traitor" never intended to turn on his friends. It was part of the plan. It's a classic. It's basically the plot of The Sting. Who wouldn't want a turn at being Robert Redford?

And it works. Martin gets everything he wants out of that ploy: Lukas is destroyed, "Elias" is unmasked as Jonah Magnus, John makes good on his earlier commitment to run away with him, and he skips the eye gouging. You can't fault his results. The problem is, Martin is a secondary character. He doesn't quite have the narrative weight to resolve the primary conflict. That plot revolves around him but the plot does not, so in the longer term, things continue to get worse.

But he does prove it can be done. If you recognise what kind of story you are in, and the different ways that kind of story can go, you can grab on a narrative thread and steer it in a direction that works for you.

ANNABELLE We found the one we believed most likely to bring about their manifestation. We marked him young, guided his path as best we could. And then, we took his voice. ARCHIVIST No… ANNABELLE His, and those he walked with. We inscribed them on shining strands of word and meaning, and used them to weave a web which cast itself out through the gate and beyond our universe. So that when the Fears heard that voice, and came in their terrible glory, they might then travel out along it. Or be dragged. BASIRA Is she talking about the tapes? ARCHIVIST Yes. – In which Annabelle explains why there are tape recorders everywhere. Connected

You can say voice or tapes, but that's missing the point: it's stories that will carry these beings out of the world. Two hundred odd narratives about godlike beings with insatiable hunger and Lovecraftian pretensions who can travel to other worlds when the denizens of those places hear the tales. That has its own uncomfortable implications, sure, but if you've been paying attention you know something else about those stories:

ARCHIVIST Statement ends. (sigh) One thing that always strikes me when I read statements like this is… the bias of survivorship. With one or two notable exceptions, the only statements the Institute receives are those where the witness has successfully escaped whatever terrible place or being has marked them for a victim. I wonder how many don’t make it out. How many of those shapes in the water were once just like Mr. Shakya. – John is being gloomy, but he has hit upon an important point. Submerged

They are largely stories in which humans beat the monsters. They are stories about how to survive. You can do a horror story with a catastrophic ending, of course. It can have a great impact. But probably not two hundred of them in a row. That would be hard going on the listener: another week, another corpse. So these are largely hopeful stories – with those noted exceptions, of course.

I've seen the memes: I know Joshua Gillespie, who beat a coffin that wanted to consume him with a bowl of ice, is a favourite. Of course he is: that's genius. Or Dylan Anderson, who just ... covered a homicidal pig in concrete. Characters like Gerard Keay and Adelard Dekker are attractive because when they arrive on the scene, the supernatural becomes no more than another problem to be solved with just the right application of human ingenuity (and Dekker, notably, is probably the source for the concrete trick – you cannot fault results).

There are two possible threads to pull on here: you can pull on the thread of supernatural horror, or the thread of human resourcefulness in the face of adversity.

SASHA Why record it? ARCHIVIST What? SASHA Before, in the office. It, it was stupid going for the tape recorder like that, and then when you dropped it out there – ARCHIVIST I said I was sorry. If I’d known Martin had another one stashed in here, I never would have… SASHA No, it’s, it’s fine, just… I just don’t understand. I thought you hated the damn thing. You’re always going on about it. ARCHIVIST I do! I did. I just… I don’t want to become a mystery. I refuse to become another goddamn mystery. SASHA What? ARCHIVIST Look, even if you ignore the walking soil-sack out there, and the fact that we are probably minutes from death, there is still so much more happening here. MARTIN I’m not sure we can really ignore the – ARCHIVIST Every real statement just leads… deeper into something I don’t even know the shape of yet. And to top it all, I still don’t know what happened to Gertrude. Officially she’s still missing, but Elias is no help and the police were pretty clear that the wait to call her dead is just a formality. If I die, wormfood or… something else, whatever, I’m going to make damn sure the same doesn’t happen to me. Whoever takes over from me is going to know exactly what happened. – John, making bad tape-recorder related decisions. Infestation

And there is mystery. That is another thread you can pull on. Because in the end, Gertrude wasn't a mystery at all. Her activities, her personality, her associates, her strengths and her weaknesses are all pretty well documented. She's dead on the floor with three bullets in her. She's the reason they're in this mess, because she did the thinking Jonah Magnus could not and set him on his path. She would hate that with every fibre of her being – but it is known. What you know about her is that she failed, and she died.

John is wrong, in the above, because of course he is. He doesn't know anything yet, except that his workplace is probably evil and currently full of worms. He hasn't worked out the story logic, yet, and he doesn't yet see the difference between knowing and understanding.

Mystery. What if? That's a powerful plot thread you can pull on, if you're in the right place and you are desperate enough.

There's what he can't do, in the end. He can't trap the weird fear entities in the world and starve them to death. Annabelle knew exactly what buttons to push to get him heading in that direction, sure, but it was never going to work. I don't even mean the business with the lighter, although that's the practical way this was set up. I mean this is a five-season series in which the temples of these dark gods are repeatedly destroyed by fire, book burning is a recurring motif, and "What if we made it explode?" is always a solid cross-generation Team Archives plan. For heaven's sake – The Magnus Institute has basically the same fatal flaw as The Death Star. We're blowing it up in the finale. We just are. It's that kind of story. It doesn't matter what he wants. There was never anything there for John to pull on.

But this?

ARCHIVIST Do it! The knife’s just there. Let them go. MARTIN [Tearful] I’m not going to kill you! ARCHIVIST Cut the tether. Send them away. Maybe we both die. Probably. But maybe not. Maybe, maybe everything works out, and we end up somewhere else. MARTIN Together? ARCHIVIST One way or another. Together. – Absolute last-minute planning, because that's how they do things. Last Words

It can seem to come out of nowhere, unless you've been watching him put it together. His world runs on narrative logic. He is the Chosen One atop a burning tower, on a terrible quest. He's faltered a bit, at the last minute, because if you don't shake hands with Frodo Baggins on the way past you are not respecting your ancestors. He's aware of most of this because he's spent most of the season tiredly explaining to his travelling companions that, yes, the journey is a damn metaphor. He is backed by dozens of stories where people escaped at the last by determination, or connecting with their loved ones, or just ... not being all that interested in worshipping dark gods.

Magnus is dead. The entities are packing their bags and running for the exit. There is no one left to care what he does next – except Martin, who would also like a way out of this mess. He has spent years struggling to understand what kind of story he's in and what his role is supposed to be, but now he gets it and is finally, finally the person in the room with a bit of power.

He does not say "Maybe the girls will dig us out of the rubble and we can go home and pretend this never happened". That would be the best possible result for them, of course, but it wouldn't work. No one would believe it. But what he can do is follow the example of all the people that came before because, crucially, "Fuck it, I am not dying today because I don't want to" and "Look, this is the power of love and I am holding on to it in the face of the worst crap I have ever seen" really are the strategies that work. And now he's in the one moment of the story where there is no one else's story left to precede him. This is the only moment in the whole series where the story is really his, and he can decide what happens next.

And what happens next is a question. The question is "What happens next?" It is a thing that is ongoing, rather than a thing that has ended.

I've no doubt he created more problems for himself, and for Martin. You grab that narrative thread and you are literally asking for them: even the kindest of stories won't give you a "happily ever after" until you have solved The Problems. You would only pull that one if you were desperate, but under the circumstances it was probably warranted.

But maybe, this time, they can run ahead of the narrative instead of behind. That makes all the difference.

[ollieofthebeholder]

sasha/melanie with 20! (i know their relationship is more complicated but. im love them)

20. things you said that i wasn’t meant to hear

"I just don't think it'll work."

Sasha froze in the act of reaching for the door. She was not, by and large, a believer in the sunk cost fallacy and indeed rather felt that there was no point too late to make better choices, so even though she'd been closer to the cafe than the Institute - admittedly not by much - when she'd spotted the dark clouds on the horizon, she'd still opted to turn around and go back for her umbrella, on the basis that possibly getting a little wet if it caught her before she was able to retrieve it was better than getting a little wet if it caught her before she got to the cafe and then having to walk all the way back in a deluge. She meant to just slip in, grab it, and head out, but the sound of Melanie's voice, and more importantly the faint note of despair in it, pulled her up short.

"Why not?" Tim's voice, not Martin's. That was...worrying. Sasha gnawed at her lip. The Unknowing was close - they would be leaving the next day, while she and Tim stayed behind - and they'd been laying plans for a while. Melanie - and Gerry and Martin - were their litmus tests for how well a plan would work, since they'd been doing this so long, and they'd signed off on this one, but if Melanie thought it wouldn't work...

"Well, she's...you know. And I'm...me." Melanie sounded unusually vulnerable. Sasha wanted to go in and give her a hug, reassure her that she was stronger than Nikola Orsinov and that everything would be fine. But, guiltily, treacherously, she hovered outside the door and eavesdropped shamelessly. She wanted all the facts before she swept in to save the day.

Tim's sigh sounded less resigned Archival Assistant and more exasperated older brother. "Neens. I know you've had a shitty time of it with people you've dated before, but trust me, okay? Sasha's not going to force you into anything you don't want to do, and she's sure as hell not going to make sex a condition of being in a relationship with her." There was a brief pause, enough time to pat Melanie on the shoulder. "She likes you. You like her. The rest will take care of itself."

It was several seconds before Melanie replied, and Sasha could hear the smile in it that she hadn't heard in a while. "You think she likes me, huh?"

"Well, she sure doesn't cuddle me in my sleep."

Melanie laughed - actually laughed - and Sasha heard footsteps heading away from the door. She paused and counted to ten before opening the door for her umbrella.

She wasn't meant to hear that. She probably shouldn't act on it. She certainly shouldn't say anything tonight; she'd already done enough "just in case" and didn't want to tempt fate further. But...maybe when Melanie got back, she would tell her what she'd said on the tape. About how she needed her to be safe.

After all, Melanie hadn't been meant to hear that either.

Send me a ship and one of these and I'll write you a mini-fic

[shoggoth-the-bitch]

Ignorance

I'm filled with soup and sickness. Let's watch this episode and then go to bed!

This is weird... the fact they didn't kill them is curious...

I don't trust Salesa. This feels dangerous.

Wait, things can't manifest here so the tape recorders showing up shouldn't be able to happen? Something must have brought it there then, right? Because I doubt it's actually the one from Martin's bag.

Nah, fair, I don't trust anything given by Annabelle but I also don't think you should trust anything from Salesa either.

"And sometimes she cooks." Interesting? What exactly is this chick's play here?

So none of his powers work here at all.

This is weird. He's so flippant and jovial. It's hard to tell if he's actually happy to have them as guests or if he's putting on a show for some unknown purpose.

And Jon seems to be struggling to answer? Like he's forgotten how to function without the all knowing powers.

So this place really is warded against the end of the world. Interesting.

No! Don't stay here! This is such a dangerous situation. Getting comfortable here would absolutely be the worst choice they could make at this point. Imagine how much harder it will be to go back out their once they've gotten comfy.

Sakesa backstory, fun. Of course he worked with Lietner. We already knew that but still... He's way too happy about all of this...

Okay, we know what the camera does now. That's at least good to know.

Grim and a tad tragic but alright.

Ah, good, they do have the good sense to leave. I figured Jon wouldn't be able to live very comfortably in this place, makes sense that he would get weaker here.

You know, I won't expect Martin to be so mad about Annabelle avoiding them all week. I wouldn't want her around either...

Rude, lady!

No, Martin, I don't think you could fight her. I don- Oh, Jon, don't say that! That's such a creepy thing to say. But you do sound like you're losing yourself, so you better get gone.

It's so weird that Jon is perfectly adapted to the outside but it also makes sense... and Jon basically immediately forgot what happened in there? So if the Eye doesn't see it he simply isn't able to remember it? Or is it more correct to say that he is so very much part of the Eye that the camera probably would have killed him if he was there long enough?

Weird. Feels bad.

[monstersqueen]

CAiL to TMA, episode 169 (s05e09) - Fire Escape

...you know, if ‘she burned jon’s hand’ is a valid enough reason to make a detour to go smite jude specifically, i don’t see why ‘martin’s jealous’ wouldn’t be enough to kill oliver when they happen upon his domain. martin might wonder about that actually. also, it is also close as a reasoning to ‘you were annoying and i didn’t like you so i hurt you’ and i’d like everyone to take two minutes to remember the last time someone hurt them because you were annoying. i mean i’m sure we’ve all internalized since then the ‘well i WAS annoying and TOO STUPID to get it so of course they HAD TO hurt me to make me stop. if they got some satisfaction out of it well!! it was well deserved to have to PUT UP with me‘ - jon certainly has. anyway

....i am so not okay with that statement but you know what. i’m more okay with it than with the asides development so. maybe i should try not to think about tma for one week. or two maybe/ might do me some good to wait a little before coming back.