#I didn't go super cheesy on the power of writing but this is such a beautiful form of art I like it a lot

[iamhereinthebg]

I was on the subway and I read a fic about Mystery Kids on Ao3 and suddenly I started crying?

Anyways, you said your shoulders/arm hurt, I hope you feel better now!

The cutest aaaaah

Anon I am on my knees asking if you know any mystery kids fic because I only know like

two (and I think one got deleted and I don't really vibe with the second one dhsjkds :'))

So glad you liked this one so much though :DD Fanfics are so cool

If anyone has any fics on the mysteries/mystery kids please tell meeee ToT (disclaimer: I read most of the fics on the tag of Akane, the three clock keepers, Shijima and Mei on ao3 already rip I don't read on any others websites for fics though :DD ) but even if I may have read it already idc I need to know I may have missed some dhskjds

And thank you I am doing better!! :DD still have a lot of appointements but I believe It will only go in the right direction u.u

[offtorivendell]

The possible significance of Azriel and Elain Archeron, the Embrace of Solas and Cthona, the paired blades Gwydion and Truth-Teller, and thin places; a theory

Disclaimer: this is a theory that came to me while reading HOFAS, and as usual it makes absolutely no claim of being canon. It builds on past theories that my friends and I have written about Elain, Azriel, the revival of certain lands, the blades Truth-Teller and Gwydion, and brings in some new info from the latest CC book. It also won't be my best effort, as time is currently lacking. I meant to get this out for @elriel-month but yeah, that didn't happen lol. As usual, rambles and overly long sentences ahead. Sorry!

Thanks as always go out to @wingedblooms and @silverlinedeyes for listening to me rant, and believing me when I say I'll actually get around to writing out my thoughts, even though it takes me ages. I love that so many of our theories tie in well together - please check out their theories, too!

Spoilers: Maasverse spoilers ahead, please proceed with caution if you haven't finished reading.

Gwydion (aka the Starsword) and Truth-Teller; the Made blades

In CC 1 we got a brief description of the stylised version of the Embrace of Solas and Cthona as a necklace, worn by Bryce's mother, Ember:

Five minutes after Bryce got there, Jesiba’s client—a raging asshole of a leopard shifter who believed he was entitled to put his paws all over her ass—prowled in and purchased a small statue of Solas and Cthona, portrayed as a sun with male features burying his face in a pair of mountain-shaped breasts. The holy image was known simply as the Embrace. Her mother even wore its simplified symbol—a circle nestled atop two triangles—as a silver pendant. But Bryce had always found the Embrace cheesy and cliché in every incarnation. - CC HOEAB, chapter 22

Firstly, could this be the (hypothetical) wyrdmark on the left shoulder of the figure on the HOFAS cover? The two mountains are there, but the mark between them isn't exactly a circle, so it's not blatantly obvious, but it's possible (I'd love it if the marks on her arms represented the different gods, or Urd in all of her forms). Perhaps light and dark light cancel each other out in some way? And how relevant will the spiral mark be? Does it represent a vortex/portal opening? Or is it the Cauldron's swirling eddies?

Secondly, I also think the two mountains/triangles and the circle/dot in between them look a little like a basic depiction of Gwydion/the Starsword and Truth-Teller (ie. the points of two blades) with a black dot/black hole/portal to nowhere. It's not exact, because the triangles aren't meeting at the tips, so I'm not super confident in it, but I don't think it's impossible, and it could tie back into the six pointed star, and three pairs of powers gathering in the space where they meet. I promise I'm not trying to claim every little thing for Elriel, and given Nesta has her own trio of Made blades, I suspect they could also be relevant here (if Narben is also found, then there would be six blades for the six siblings and six star points), but as Azriel and Elain were the first two to use Truth-Teller (in recent history), I think it's fair to consider their specific importance here.

Elain, Azriel and the Made blades

I've previously suggested that Elain may have powered Truth-Teller with her light, in order to pierce the fabric of the universe before shadow walking to save Nesta and Cassian in ACOWAR (here and here); this is a theory which is not unique to me, as quite a few of my friends think at least some version of it may be true. However, I believe that what we learnt in HOFAS about “thin places,” and the paired blades Gwydion (the Starsword) and Truth-Teller, could take this a step or three further.

To recap as briefly as possible, Elain previously used Truth-Teller to shadow walk in ACOWAR, and we have since had hints that she may use it again in the future. There are many questions left unanswered about Elain's successful use of what we now know is a Made blade, so we'll have to wait and see.

“You honestly think he’d ever give up Truth-Teller?” “He gave it to Elain,” Mor said, admiring a moonstone necklace in the counter’s glass case. “She gave it back,” I amended, failing to block out the image of the black blade piercing through the King of Hybern’s throat. But Elain had given it back—had pressed it into Azriel’s hands after the battle, just as he had pressed it into hers before. And then walked away without looking back. Mor hummed to herself. - ACOFAS, chapter 4

As a brief aside, there are also moments tying Elain to the shadows (whether or not it ends up being Azriel's shadows specifically, her own, or the Void in general remains to be seen), and I think we could find out that the middle Archeron sister, who is canonically observant and wise, may have learnt by watching.

Behind me, Mor took Nesta and Cassian by the hand, readying to winnow them to the camp, while shadows gathered around Azriel, Elain at his side, wide-eyed at the spymaster’s display. - ACOWAR, chapter 50

Does Elain hear Azriel's shadows singing, and can she and Azriel privately communicate this way?

Did she also hear his siphon singing beautifully in ACOWAR? Perhaps as kin?

The Truth-Teller scene in ACOWAR, below, was also important enough to be included in the ACOTAR Colouring Book.

She refused the knife Cassian handed her, though. Went white as death at the sight of it. Azriel, still limping, merely nudged aside Cassian and extended another option. “This is Truth-Teller,” he told her softly. “I won’t be using it today—so I want you to.” His wings had healed—though long, thin scars now raked down them. Still not strong enough, Madja had warned him, to fly today. The argument with Rhys this morning had been swift and brutal: Azriel insisted he could fly—fight with the legions, as they’d planned. Rhys refused. Cassian refused. Azriel threatened to slip into shadow and fight anyway. Rhys merely said that if he so much as tried, he’d chain Azriel to a tree. And Azriel … It was only when Mor had entered the tent and begged him—begged him with tears in her eyes—that he relented. Agreed to be eyes and ears and nothing else. And now, standing amongst the sighing meadow grasses in his Illyrian armor, all seven Siphons gleaming … Elain’s eyes widened at the obsidian-hilted blade in Azriel’s scarred hand. The runes on the dark scabbard. “It has never failed me once,” the shadowsinger said, the midday sun devoured by the dark blade. “Some people say it is magic and will always strike true.” He gently took her hand and pressed the hilt of the legendary blade into it. “It will serve you well.” “I—I don’t know how to use it—” “I’ll make sure you don’t have to,” I said, grass crunching as I stepped closer. Elain weighed my words … and slowly closed her fingers around the blade. Cassian gawked at Azriel, and I wondered how often Azriel had lent out that blade— Never, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife. Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. Paint that when we get home. Busybody. - ACOWAR, chapter 69

Firstly, @silverlinedeyes has a post that details how similar this passage is to the six pointed star scene from HOSAB, and the potential significance of it with regards to magical balance and the gathering of power(s). It's outlandish, but I think it could be important for any travels to Hel or beyond that the IC may undertake.

Secondly, I find it really interesting that Elain said to Feyre she didn't know how to "use" Truth-Teller; what if she meant she didn't know how to use it magically? I suspect it's possible that Elain didn't open a portal to nowhere (which appears to require both of the paired blades - perhaps their singing wavelengths cancel each other out?), but rather she created a portal to somewhere, and that's how she shadow walked across the battlefield in ACOWAR (aka she "slipped into shadow" and fought anyway). However, as we all heard her say that she didn't know how to use Truth-Teller, but then did, she obviously figured at least some of it out.

Alternatively, as @wingedblooms, @mrspettyferr, @cassianfanclub and myself have all wondered, did she possibly have some help?!

Was it Azriel, who told us in his ACOSF bonus chapter that he didn't need his shadows to read Elain?

Perhaps is was Nuala or Cerridwen, or maybe even Rhys?

Was it Koschei, the Mother, or a prince of Hel who gave Elain a helping hand?

Even then, how did Elain (hypothetically, of course) activate Truth-Teller? Just like Ruhn found Gwydion and Bryce accessed its magic, so I suspect Azriel found Truth-Teller, but it was Elain who first truly used its power (whereas Nesta, who was at the time full of the Cauldron's death magic, appeared to use it as a simple blade, hastening the king's death after Elain struck a fatal blow). Was it because her light stood in for Gwydion’s own magic and charged it? Is that why Azriel - who I have long thought may have Starborn heritage hidden underneath his shadows - has dark light, or shadows, instead of light? Is Truth-Teller actually devouring his light? Or - less likely - could the obsidian (wyrdstone?) blade be possessed by a Valg, or similar being? Though I'm less certain about that last point, as I wouldn't be surprised if the king of Hybern was possessed by a Valg (or similar) type creature, maybe a Daglan, and if that was the case then why would Truth-Teller decide to behave for Elain, unless the Valg* and Asteri/Daglan are enemies… anyway!

*What we learnt in HOFAS, about the blackest salt/obsidian drawing in the princes of Hel (while simultaneously repelling the Asteri/Daglan) makes me wonder about their possible ties to the Valg from TOG, who used obsidian wyrdstone rings and collars as a way to possess host bodies.

I'm not sure. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because I think Truth-Teller and Gwydion could be stand ins for Elain and Azriel (not necessarily in that order, though I do think a dagger suits Elain better than a sword does in terms of function); a bond needing to be reforged between them has always screamed “renewed shall be blade that was broken” to me (the Ballad of Strider), and the Truth-Teller scene could be suggesting that the grey - as in the blend of light and dark - could be a thin place between them. It would follow that this imagery, albeit very loosely, could be evoking The Embrace of Solas and Cthona, which Ember wears as a necklace, and that could possibly be a wyrdmark on the cover of HOFAS.

“Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two..." Just seems so relevant here.

Cthona and Solas represent dark and light.

Gwydion/the Starsword and Truth-Teller are (bright) light and dark light.

Azriel and Elain are dark and light... or perhaps light and dark?

Are Void and Chaos (the Mother?) involved?

Is the statue of the primal goddess that Nesta notices in ACOSF another hint here?

If being carranam ties into this, would it include Feysand and Nessian?

Light and dark have grey in between them, and the thin places are described as “gray.” Elain was even engaged to a man named "Graysen" for crying out loud; his family’s colour was even cobalt. I would be so surprised if all of this ends up meaning absolutely nothing in terms of her story.

How could Elain and Azriel stand in for Cthona and Solas when Elain is light and Azriel is darkness?

I could definitely be wrong, but instead of purely life, I (and @wingedblooms) prefer to think of Elain as rebirth, which inherently straddles the murky realm between life and death - the grey between light and dark (and grey) - and beautifully fits with her role as a gardener (relevant theories are here, here, here and here), the Book of Breathings rambling about "rot and bloom and bone," her position as the middle Archeron sister, her ability to blend quietly into the background, and definitely the grey of dawn and dusk. Azriel, though? The one Feyre described as the knife in the dark? Well, he has shadows that can brighten into sunlight, and I suspect that may have been what Elain was referring to in ACOWAR, when she said she needed sunshine.

So...

Azriel's shadows lightening into sunshine: Solas.

Elain and her many ties to the earth: Cthona.

I'm unsure if this is trying to tell us that Azriel will be the stand-in for Truth-Teller, because he is "dark light"/has shadowsinging abilities, while Elain is represented by Gwydion due to her prominent (so far) association with hope or brighter light, or whether it's the other way around, and we're actually being told that, while Elain appears to be light and warmth personified, in the future she will carry Truth-Teller, the blade that is her apparent opposite, as Azriel will wield Gwydion* (if they both end up having surprise powers, being able to swap between light and dark). It's all very murky, one might say a grey area. But I do think it likely that Elain and Azriel will each end up carrying either a blade that represents themself or their partner in some way.

* Yes, I know that Bryce gave Gwydion to Nesta, but she already has her own trio of Made blades. If I'm putting money on who will wield it, I think it will be Azriel, Elain or Feyre.

Thin places and Made blades

Before HOFAS was published @cassianfanclub and I had discussed the - we thought - insane possibility of the differently coloured mountain rock in Prythian being significant in terms of their possible salt content, and that it could be no coincidence that the black and grey rock of the Hewn City was in proximity to a known appearance of one “Lord Thanatos.”

Black salts were used for summoning demons directly—bypassing the Northern Rift entirely—or for various dark spellwork. A salt that went beyond black, a salt like the obsidian … It could summon something big. - CC HOEAB, chapter 18

Bryce stiffened at the moldy, rotten earth scent that crept from the bundle as he unfolded the fabric to reveal a handful of rust-colored salt. “What the fuck is that?” Ithan asked. “Bloodsalt,” Bryce breathed. Tharion looked to her in question, but she didn’t bother to explain more. Blood for life, blood for death—it was summoning salt infused with the blood from a laboring mother’s sex and blood from a dying male’s throat. The two great transitions of a soul in and out of this world. But to use it here … “You can’t mean to add that to their water,” Bryce said to the Astronomer. The old male hobbled back down the ramp. “Their tanks already contain white salts. The bloodsalt will merely pinpoint their search.” - CC HOSAB, chapter 38

Mor went right up to the obsidian dais, and I halted at the foot of the steps as she took up a place beside the throne and said to the crowd in a voice that was clear and cruel and cunning, “Your High Lord approaches. He is in a foul mood, so I suggest being on your best behavior—unless you wish to be the evening entertainment.” - ACOMAF, chapter 42

The mountain underneath the House of Wind - the one that houses the library in which I think a certain cat-like darkness could be a prince of Hel - contains both red stone and obsidian doors, with veins of silver running throughout (which reads like hope in the void, like the Velaris Weaver's tapestry, and I suspect may be important for Elain's journey, given she is frequently associated with hope).

Rhys stepped into a hall at the foot of the stairs, revealing a wide passageway of carved red stone and a sealed set of obsidian doors, veins of silver running throughout. Beautiful—terrifying. Like some great beast was kept behind them. - ACOWAR, chapter 20

If @silverlinedeyes, @wingedblooms, @ladynightcourt, @cassianfanclub, @psychologynerd and I are right that Clotho and some of her priestesses are involved in something massive, and have been contacting at least one of the princes of Hel, this would make sense! Black salt to summon something big, and red salt to pinpoint their search. And obsidian doors?!

We then learnt the following in CC HOFAS:

“The black salt, in such high quantity, keeps them away. They never realized that its presence drew us as much as it repelled them,” Apollion said with satisfaction. “It has the same properties that made us immune to the thrall of their black crowns.” - CC HOFAS, chapter

“The black salt only repels the Asteri; the mists repel everyone else. But certain people, with certain gifts, can access the power of thin places—on any world. World-walkers.” Aidas gestured gracefully to Bryce. “You are one of them. So were Helena and Theia. Their natural abilities lent themselves to moving through the mists.” - CC HOFAS, chapter

Elain is almost certainly a world walker - doe eyes searching across the world! - and Azriel may be one as well, but what if it is everyone who can winnow? Or just those like them, with a deeper affinity to the Void? And are they walking thin places themselves/as a partnership (remember the charged glance they shared last winter solstice), or do they just have a natural ability to make use of those which exist in the wild? Or is it some combination of the above?

Additionally, the obsidian hilts of Truth-Teller and Gwydion appear to be incredibly important here. In addition to the possibility that the Illyrian runes Truth-Teller carries on its scabbard may in reality be wyrdmarks, what if the obsidian hilts both summon the bearer in a way that allows them to access the void/murky realm and provides protection from any prying Asteri/Daglan eyes? Are the hilts made from wyrdstone? What about Koschei? Is Truth-Teller the reason his magic captured Cassian instead of Azriel in ACOSF?

There are so many possibilities beyond shipping, though given this is romantasy we know the relationships are more important to the story than your average romantic side plot, so we really can't separate the two while theorising. But either way, I'm so excited to see where this leads, and if we'll finally get detailed information about the gods in each or SJM's worlds, and how they may function throughout her extensive literary universe.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!

[blueclearcloud]

That ending...

God.

I technically have complicated feelings about it but it's basically only that it felt too compacted and didn't explicitly involve gay sex so i will have to deduct 1 point from my 10/10 what is my life going to be now without Bang Brave Bang Bravern anymore? Score.

I do have to admit i cringed a bit when Isami immediately gave up, went into deep deapair, and begged to surrender and become a a prisoner of war, but i basically get why.

That fight with Vera Vitum was so good, omg it was the most glorious and cheesy thing I've ever seen and i wish we got more. Robots turning gold, Everyone turned gold to give THE POWER OF BRAVERY to said robots, Isami punching Smith and yelling at him. Iconic.

I have no idea if we actually are getting an episode 13 (maybe as an OVA?) but i am willing to blow my expectations to astronomic proportions and we see Isami and Smith married and raising Super Future Soldier Lulu in a cute small house and a dog.

Also, am i the only one thinking the writing is very nostalgic of 90s super sentai and in general shows? It felt like it to me at least.

Finally i am so happy Smith came back to life. Idc if ppl call me a baby or say it makes no sense, this show does NOT run on logic or sense or takes itself anywhere serious enough for that. We are here for vibes and goofy robots.

It would have lowered my opinion of the show too honestly. Anyway, Happy Last Bang Brave Thursday everyone!

[soliddarrity]

Get to know your mutuals: tag game

Omg thanks for tagging me @vuesfluides & @thisonesatellite (TWO people tagging me in this?? I feel so special 🥺💖) BOTH of you said you love uninterrupted alone time btw, you are my kind of people for sure 🥹✨️

Answering questions is one of my favorite activities so let's go lesbians!!!!!!! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

What's the origin of your blog title: I used to have a bad habit of deleting my tumblr blog every few years and could also never settle on a name when I made a new account; 'solidarity' (plus a couple letters lol) is the best name I've landed on since then that doesn't make me feel unbearably antsy and like I want to change it (it's solid! It's right there in the name! 😂); it implies an ongoing commitment to myself and others and I really like that :) (vuesfluides did you notice we basically have opposite reasons for our blog names?? Yours about change and mine kind of about staying the same?? Because I did and omg I love it 😄)

OTPs + Shipname: Stuckyyyy 😫💓 (well. I say Stucky. But I am *very* open to the entire Polycule, aka Nat Bucky Sam Steve and maybe/sometimes Clint. And you could convince to include more. I'm listening!!! 👀)

Favorite Color: I am such a rainbow person idk if I can choose. All of the colors forever 😎❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩷

Favorite game: Can I say this one? 🙂

Song stuck in your head: TRUST! by Rebecca Black ("...Make me feel like I'm a man! [TRUST!] Ooh la la; got me goin' like Gaga Ga 🙄")

Weirdest habit/trait: Just one?? 😬😂😫🫠 uhhhhh well. I pop all the time. Like if the letter P was a word all by itself? The objective is generally to make it sound as loud as possible. If you met me in real life, within a week of knowing me you would probably start doing it back to me like we are having some kind of conversation via Weird Noises. Everyone I know eventually does it back and it Delights Me 😂

Hobbies: my #1 hobby is definitely reading fanfiction 😆. I'm a pole dancer as well, and I draw/paint. I would love to start doing more fanart. I'm currently trying to revive my writing via Stucky fanfic...it's going kinda rough atm but we'll get there!

Something you're good at: cleaning! I love to clean and organize things when I'm in the mood.

Something you're bad at: doing math in my head.

Something you love: Laughing 😂 and most things I post about here on tumblr really

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: Writing. Good writing, bad writing, what makes a story interesting to me, breakdowns of different stories I've watched or read and what I liked or didn't like or how they could have been slightly better...

Something you hate: Abuse of power 😡 But for something more lighthearted, I really, really REALLY don't like velvet. If you're wearing velvet, do not come near me 😫😭 and NEVER hand me a peach, it feels the same to me 😅

Something you collect: Crystals! 💎✨️

Something you forget: I used to have the world map memorized along with all the capital cities and uhhh what a power move I should really rememorize that, it was such a confidence boost

Favorite movie / show: The Lord of the Rings because I am so so basic 😄 but nah for real the message of it is so......there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.

Favorite food: much like colors, idk if I can pick one. You ever had homemade greek salad with freshly cracked black pepper and hand squeezed lemon juice?? Boba tea. Pad thai?? What about cheesy sourdough bread 😫�� I made a green smoothie last week that felt like it healed me from the inside out. How does one choose???

Favorite animal: ohhh I can't choose that either. They are all my babies 🥹💓 that bird out the window? My baby. Feral alleycat? I gave birth to that thing. The local racoon? My firstborn son!!

What were you like as a child? My best self tbh. I was super sweet and SUPER creative. I loved everybody like it was the easiest thing in the world. I was an annoying little shit though too; used to steal peoples glasses and watches and pinch people for sport 🤣

If you could change any detail about your life right now, what would it be: I desparately wish I had like...a group of wise elders I could go to for my problems. Not a therapist. A group of wise old people who Get Me and we Vibe and have Shared Interests to bridge the gap and give us an excuse to casually hang out and talk about life and get to know each other. I think also just more irl community in general would be awesome.

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet: Oh, I would go WAY back in time to some ancient civilization like Mesopotamia or something and just take it in, whoever I met. I'm certain it would be FASCINATING regardless of who I ran into there! (thisonesatellite I wrote that before reading yours btw....maybe we could go to Ancient Mesopotamia together & bring back some really cool rocks??? Hmu if you ever find a time machine 🙌)

@thisonesatellite I was gonna tag you in this but you got me first 😆 gonna taaag @rumade @thisstormbringsstrangeloyalties @pixelrewind @rogueemmy @frostedthoughts @wholenessblooming @sweetferns and @bellewhistle

If you don't want to do it, no pressure! But I'd love to hear your answers if you do! :)

[willel]

Some responses

Maybe it's a difference of opinion, but someone who attended the play clarified that by the time Henry got to the UD, he already had his powers because he was able to defend himself while he was there with said powers.

It's not a situation where someone can plop into the Upside Down for 5 minutes and get their powers. Nancy, Joyce, Hopper, Steve and Robin aren't about to become super powered because they were there for a few hours.

I'm not too bothered about Brenner's original interest in the UD. I already knew about the Philadelphia Experiment with the ship and it's relationship with the Montauk Project. It is never mentioned in the show even though the creators of the Montauk Project use it as one of the pinnacles of their "evidence" so seeing it finally tied into stuff here is kinda neat.

It doesn't change much with Brenner's story. I did write a post a while back I think saying I don't think Brenner was aware of other worlds until the incident in 1979, but I guess this disproves that.

He believed in what most people thought was a conspiracy and was finally proven right by what El did in 1979. Brenner's obsessed with El, Henry and the UD makes sense. He's a weirdo fanatic that probably would've written Montauk Project himself if he weren't one of the main people involved with it.

This is not what was stated by the person who saw the play.

Kali's involvement with this doesn't make a ton of sense right now. It's too coincidental that Brenner found a pregnant European woman in the US, had her injected, and then she went back home all chill? Just seems odd. Did he have agents all over the world randomly pricking pregnant woman with Henry's blood, possibly killing most of them, and then taking the children of the ones who showed promise when they were born?

Kali's story would make a lot more sense if there are just naturally gifted people out in the world rather than this blood transfusion story they're going with but whatever.

I have no choice but to believe a lot of women had no idea they were being experimented on in the first place and didn't willingly give up their children.

For example, Terry. She was involved in MKUltra yeah but she supposedly stopped participating when she found out she was pregnant.

Or if we go with the Suspicious Minds explanation, Brenner knew she was pregnant before she did because they took urine samples every visit and he continued to experiment on her anyway. So I suppose the blood transfusion could've happened then.

Then most of the rest of the women I guess were called in my their ogbyn one day like "Hey we need to do this super dangerous blood transfusion. For your health and the baby of course! NO other reason" and they either lived and then their baby got kidnapped or got sick and died.

Contrived...

As for Bob's involvement, doesn't feel like Bob needed to be involved. Nothing against Bob of course...but it is without a doubt a contradiction.

This play has a big issue that I take with many a prequel........ NOT EVERYONE HAS TO KNOW EACH OTHER IN A PREQUEL. I understand the temptation to be like "Hehe, they were connected all along!"

But if the sequel to the prequel makes it clear that that's not the case... then just don't do it. It ends up being cheesy.

This play is like.... a dream where some bits of relevant information are dropped but the rest is kinda like a fanfic reimagining of the story events by the creator themselves.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. While I can't think of any off the top of my head right now, the creators making an AU version of their story for shits and giggles is not new.

But them insisting this is canon and will be relevant to season 5..... why are you telling people this is 100% canon when it's contradicting your million dollar show?

In the end, I feel like the "THIS IS ALL CANON" stuff is just marketing to get people to come watch it. To me, this is about as canon as that first Will comic and Suspicious Minds.

It's canon.... save the contradicting parts.

[sapphire-weapon]

I think in general people expect too much from the movies. They aren't supposed to be box office sell outs that make it to the Oscars. In short, "hey, of you're a fan, here's some extra story to play around with" is the goal in my eyes and mostly always has been. I enjoyed DI because I went in expecting a trash fire. The fact thought went into the villain and each main character got their small moment was enough to make it really good. That's it, that's my review, it's fun to watch and that makes it my favourite CGI work.

Even the Rotten Tomatoes reviews for CGI works are a total mess (not that I treat RT as a quality bible, but my point still stands). I mean ffs, Degeneration rates higher than both Vendetta and ID. That's absurd. Even Damnation cane out at 100%. I mean... Damnation's fine but it isn't that good, lmao! If I wasn't a fan of the games, it would've been turned off in five minutes.

In short, RE has never been a meticulously written masterpiece. It's a horror game (... mostly) that often depends on cheesy outdated tropes to move the story along, that's just how the franchise is for the most part. Yes, it can be argued that they're now slowly trying to redo that aspect, but the OG timeline... isn't good. It's enjoyable and fun to analyse and make fun of, but it isn't GOOD. I think recognising that and not expecting a genre changing, award winning writing is a necessary part of allowing oneself to enjoy it.

I like Claire and Jill, I also have to accept that they don't have as much effort put into them as their male co-characters (?). I like Ashley and Ada, I have to accept that they depend on a LOT of really sexist stereotypes. I like Chris and Leon, I have to accept that both (OG at least) are a 90's male-power-fantasy cringefest. Leons clothing choices in Vendetta and Damnation are massive icks by themselves (lol).

DUDE LEON'S DAMNATION OUTFIT LMAO

damnation was the first time i looked at leon and was like "dude you really need a girlfriend, i can't even trust you to dress yourself anymore"

like

every part of it is bad

EVERY SINGLE PART OF IT

THERE'S NOT A SINGLE PART THAT'S EVEN SLIGHTLY OK

his DI look is pretty bad, too. he literally looks like he just rolled out of bed and didn't bother to change his shirt and threw on a pair of jeans

like can we PLEASE get this man a girlfriend he clearly can't take care of himself

sorry i know that wasn't the point of the ask but

LMAO

i think that people expect too much from the OG timeline in general. if you come into the series from remake, i have no idea how the fuck you start digging through OG and don't immediately go "wow fuck this canon i'll just wait for the next new one"

especially if you're a leon fan, like

OG leon and Remake leon are so different

like at their core they're not, but their outward personalities super are

and OG leon is kind of an obnoxious fuckboy

[andromedaesresolve]

The Bird is the Word | V x Reader

The second time this silly little goth man called you "sparrow", your eyebrows shot up incredulously, and you leaned over to give him a baffled look.

Fluff making fun of V's taste in pet names. I got a little lost in the sauce, so this is... not over. Pretty twink boy is distracting, what can I say?

Tags: Reader-insert / x reader, gender-neutral reader, fluff, drabble, reading poetry together, SFW but there is (gasp) KISSING, goofy ahh poetry man, this man thinks he's sooo composed but naahhhh (and this is a hill I will die on)

Word count: 779

I have an unreasonable aversion to writing things under 1k but I wrote this in one go and it's too well self-contained to taint. There will be at LEAST one more installment of this, though I suspect 2.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first time he had called you "sparrow", you had been a little preoccupied with looking dreamily into his eyes and at his lips as your faces neared one another. You love this stupid thespian dork too much. All this silly gushy bullshit. Half the time, you can't take him seriously with his cheesy-ass flowery nonsense, especially when it's particularly affectionate. But it nonetheless flusters you, and as much shit as you give him for it, it really is kinda touching and all that. He really is a cutie, huh?

The second time this silly little goth man called you "sparrow", your eyebrows shot up incredulously, and you leaned over to give him a baffled look. You blinked at him a couple of times, reeling at his choice of pet names. When his gaze waveringly met yours, his expression contorted just slightly, but you had to hold in a barking laugh. It seems your incredulous look flustered him a bit. His ears and cheeks dusted a faint pink after about 10 seconds of staring at him. He averted his gaze at 14 seconds, and his expression further contorted in embarrassment at 16 seconds. Your mouth wormed into a grin. You couldn't hold it any longer, you snickered at him.

"'Sparrow,' really??" You tease. You were still reeling at it, you'd honestly never heard anything like that before. It was kinda super cute and sweet in his typical silly, adorable way, but it was also the most ridiculous thing you'd ever heard.

He only softly snorted in embarrassment as a response, crossing his arms and further averting his eyes. His blush was fading, though, what a shame.

"What's next, 'pigeon'?" You needled.

"Oh, hush, you," he huffed.

You had a way of tripping up this silly little smug bastard, causing him to completely lose his composure and reduce him to flustered complaints and whines. You've still not come down from this little power trip.

"You're so cute, chickadee." You teased, receiving only an eye roll.

The third time he called you "sparrow", you were more prepared.

This instance had seemed like more of a slip of the tongue on his part. He had rested his cheek on his hand, sneaking dreamy looks at you between the verses of his book. You had been relaxing on your stomach right next to him, also reading from the book. He typically reads out loud to you, but he seemed to have been in a more quiet mood when you crawled up next to him. You didn't mind, you had pecked him on the cheek and both silently read, enjoying each other's company. You wise-cracked a comment or two here and there, and he expressed his thoughts on a few particular lines, but you were both otherwise quiet.

He would diligently glance over at you to see when you had finished reading before turning the page. These glances began to last longer over the course of the evening, and the poetry collection had come to a much denser poem, requiring much more time between the turning of pages. When he didn't turn the page after you had clearly finished it, you looked to him and, upon catching him stealing a look, smiled sweetly in response. What a dork. Your dork. After the second occurrence of this, you smirked at him. Upon the third, you had merely side-eyed him and snickered.

The next page was a new poem, shorter and sweet. You ran your fingers along the page as you read it over, a warm, soft look on your face as you soaked in the tender verses. You gave a soft sigh when you had finished reading it, your eyes continuing to examine the entry.

The raven-haired man was completely entranced by the sight of you in this moment. He smiled gushily at you and mumbled gently, "I love you, sparrow..."

In the dumb cutesy headspace from reading the poem, you were thoroughly tickled, and murmured your own "I love you too, finch." You met his dreamy look with one of your own.

He stuttered and ducked his head, grin stretching as he stared down at the bedsheets. He shook his head in amusement, his hair sliding down and draping over the side of his face closest to you. You tucked his soft, dark hair back behind his ear and gazed at him with adoration, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He was so damn pretty. Before you knew it, your hand reached over to the other side of his face, turning his head to meet his lips with yours. His hand fell to the back of your neck as he melted into your touch.

[freindly-neighbourhood-anarchist]

☀︎︎-: 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 :-☀︎︎

Kimetsu no yaiba x reader

°•.《 characters 》.•°

Rengoku, Giyuu, Shinobu, Sanemi

Tw: Swearing because Sanemi is Sanemi

____________________________________________

I'm definitely gonna binge write this series after watching the movie, I literally cant stop thinking about it--

Send in as much requests as you want!! :))

I do fluff, different AU's, angst and NSFW(we'll see).

Keep in mind, I havent read the manga. I'm caught up to the train Arc and that's it, so try not to spoil anything by requesting characters that havent appeared yet lol

« `` •"𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞~"• ´´ »

☼︎ ☀︎︎ʀᴇɴɢᴏᴋᴜ ᴋʏᴏᴜᴊᴜʀᴏᴜ☀︎︎ ☼︎

Holding hands is sort of a need for him-

He's huge with PDA and holding your small hand within his reassures him quite a bit. He never needs to ask to hold your hand, he just grips it whenever and wherever.

I feel like he'll sense when your nervous and be really perceptive, so he'd hold your hand to ground you in a way

It's highly effectve.

"Delicious!" Your energetic boyfriend chirped, eating his takoyaki with fervour and a bright smile.

You ate your own food from across him, shaking your head a little with a slight smile slanting onto your lips.

It's definitely been a long day, so winding down and eating with your amazing boyfriend is definitely a preferable way to end it.

He sort of sensed your stress as you came back from training, sweat sleek across your forehead. And thus, he ran a bath for you and then took you out for dinner to take your mind off of whatever was bothering you.

He's always had a keen intuition and was brilliant at reading emotions on others. It was a weird super power at this point. But he noticed how relaxed you were now that you were with him, it melted his heart.

His eyes flickered over your expression, his eyes soft with adoration and affection." This is certainly calming after a long day!" He exclaimed happily.

At his jolly aura, you nodded in agreement," Honestly... It's like you have some weird superpower to make me forget about whatever was annoying me. Kinda freaky." You shivered.

Letting out a hearty laugh, the man reached out, interlacing his long fingers with yours suddenly. The warmth of his skin sending goosebumps over your arms.

"I just know you too well! Nothing wrong or freaky about that!" His grin was filled with light.

Your fingers tightened around his, his warm skin seemed to be heating up your own body as well. Thank God, you were beginning to get cold anyways.

"Have I ever told you about how cute your hands are!" It was more of a statement than a question, pulling his hand and your hand closer to him so he could get a better glimpse at your soft hands." So tiny... So soft. It's like I'm being touched by an angel!"

"Geez, you're cheesy."

"You love it~!"

"... Fair point."

•«☔︎ 𝙜𝙞𝙮𝙪𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙤𝙠𝙖 ☔︎»•

Bro I'm sorry, but I dont think he holds your hand much-

I feel like he thinks he doesnt need to show how much he loves you through actions, more so through blunt words.

But he will get the sudden urge to hold your hand every once in a while, so be prepared because he could get the jump on you at any point.

Doesnt like PDA that much, it makes him slightly uncomfortable because it's in public but I feel like he would get used to it later in your relationship.

Ocean-blue eyes stared at you hesitantly as you continued to speak about the new breathing technique you had learned.

Both you and Giyuu were walking peacefully through the garden you had grown over the years, the plants varying in different colours and sizes. They reminded him of you.

Your peaceful personality cued him to remember the petals of the flowers blowing gently in the breeze. Not to mention you smell very distinctly and sweet just like the flowers as well.

But as he walked with you in this haven, he felt pretty agitated and frustated. He hid it well with his usual deapan expressions, but he could feel the pit of the emotions growing bigger.

His hand twitched suddenly when the back of yours brushed against his, his cheeks tinting pink at the abrupt contact.

Gulping, he looked straight ahead with sharp eyes and a furrowed brow.

The atmosphere shifted.

And when you had stopped talking, he knew that you had noticed the harsh shift as well.

"Giyuu?... Are you feeling okay? You look like you're burning up." You questioned out of concern, a worried expression upon your face.

Shaking his head briefly, the ravenette continued to walk with his head staring straight ahead," I feel optimal. Why do you ask?" He was so obviously trying to change the subject.

You frowned a little at the stiff response and opened your mouth to respond but your boyfriend had beaten you to it.

"Let me h-... Hold your... Hand... Please." He uttered, looking down with red cheeks, an embarrassed scowl squirmed on his lips.

You were silent for a long while, making him wait nervously for your answer. What he wasn't expecting was the cute snort of laughter coming from you and grabbing his hand tightly within your own, your other hand wrapping around his forearm like it was a substitute teddy bear.

His cheeks heated up tenfold and he had to look away before you noticed.

"You're such a cutie. You don't need to ask to hold my hand you know?" You teased lightly, nudging him playfully by bumping your hip against his.

"I-it's embarrassing." He retorted.

"Whatever, cutie."

"No."

"Yes."

"Stop it."

꧁ꕥ 𝑲𝒐𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒖 ꕥ꧂

She would sooo tease you for wanting to hold her hand-

Like, she would hold it obvi, but she'd tease you about it for a good 5 minutes before finally giving up lol

Flustering you is one of her favourite pastimes, it was what your relationship was built on top of in the first place. Teasing eachother was always a thing you guys did.

But Kocho takes teasing to a MAXIMUM.

It's like you guys are challenging eachother to a tease off and she just refuses to loose. She'd rather die.

Dramatic but true

What a fucking queen-

"Ara, ara~ what was that? You want to hold my hand?" The raven haired woman pressed her hand against her lips, raising a suggestive eyebrow at you." Oh~ How scandalous! You're saying we should do pre-martial hand holding? why, that's practically a crime!"

You deadpanned at your girlfriend's words," Holding your hand is a crime?..."

"Mmhm!"

"But we literally made-out yester-"

She smiled at you passive-aggressively," I'm afraid we can't hold hands until we're married! Too bad!" She sighed, pretending to seem devastated ," How could you suggest we do such a lewd thing? In public, no less! You're quite the little scoundrel, hmm?~"

Your deadpan only deepened," Well then... I guess I'll just have to marry you then, hm? So I can hold your hand for the rest of my life." You chimed out, a slight twinkle in your eye. At the sight of Kocho's cheeks tinting a bright red, you smirked in triumph." Oya~? What's that I see? Is that blush?" You poked her warm cheek affectionately," I think it iiiis~!"

Biting her lip, Kocho scoffed and rolled her eyes," Just because you won doesn't mean you-... Shut up." She huffed out, losing her composure.

" Aha! So I won." You grinned out," I think I deserve a prize for winning for like... the first time." You said that last part quickly.

" You're not getting a kiss, if that's what you're referring to!" She smiled up at you passive aggressively.

Now the win didn't even feel like a win.

I guess, Kocho will always win in the end.

You pouted at her, eyebrows furrowed," You're so petty...." You groaned out, before a cheeky grin crossed over your lips," How about letting me hold your hand instead?"

Kocho stared at your grin with an unimpressed look, before her eyes softened and a gentle smile spread onto her perfect lips." Wipe that cheeky grin off of your face and I might consider it."

A bright smile instantly spread onto your lips and you held out your hand expectantly for her to take it. Her radiant smile only widened and her hand settled into yours, her warm fingers closing over your own as if she was keeping them safe in her hold.

" Now you have to marry me." She stated simply," I want to hold your hand in mine for the rest of my life as well."

᯾༄𖦹.𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕦𝕫𝕒𝕨𝕒 𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚 .𖦹༄᯾

BRUUUUH THIS FUCKING MAN-

Ok, so hear me out lol-

I have read up on his character a tiny bit and bro he's such a fucking SOFTY like-

If you were to ask him to hold your hand he'd highkey have to process what you said for like a minute or two before finally agreeing to it lol

He has such a tough-guy exterior when on the inside he's actually really caring to those who are important to him.

Definitely one of those characters who seem like pricks but they like something cute like cats or something-

"Uhm... Sanemi?" You spoke up suddenly, interrupting the peaceful silence.

Your boyfriend broke out of his daze of appreciating your beauty and hummed to let you know that he was listening, picking up some of his uneaten rice with his chopsticks.

"Can... Can I h-hold your hand?"

He choked on the rice he was eating, coughing into his fist and thumping his other hand against his chest to try and get the rice that shot down the back of his throat to go down.

You went to get out of your chair to help him, concern etched onto your face, but he held a hand up to stop you. Instead, you simply passed your water to him, as of which he chugged greatfully.

When he had finally gained his composure, he held out a slightly trembling hand, his cheeks tinted red as he let out a gruff," yeah... Of course you can, idiot. You don't have to ask..."

Adoration bloomed in your chest at his words and you grabbed his outstretched hand, instantly interlocking your fingers with his. Absentmindedly, you ran your thumb up and down his hand comfortingly as you smiled like an idiot to yourself.

Ba-dump.

Sanemi's heart thumped in his chest at the look of love on your face, feeling his whole body heating up. The wind pillar was known for being ruthless, intimidating and quite frankly... A bit of an asshole.

But around you? He's a completely different person.

Between you and his little brother, he's always going to have a huge soft spot for you both.

So he'll always treat you well.

Squeezing your hand lovingly, he let a slight smirk curl onto his lips," You look like a dumbass smiling like that.... You must really like me, huh?" He tried to tease.

"I don't like you."

Arrows shot through his heart, his smirk dropping in an instant," Oi-!"

You giggled at his response," I love you."

The frown on his lips wobbled a little, threatening to break out into an idiotic smile. Clearing his throat, he looked away from you and pressed the back of his unoccupied hand against his mouth to hide the smile that threatened to appear.

"Oh..." He could only respond with," y-yeah... Same here."

"You're so socially inept."

"I'm damn not!!" He grumbled, eyebrows furrowing," I fucking love you too!! Is that better?"

You grinned childishly, bringing his hand up to your mouth and placing a light kiss to it," much better."

It's safe to say that this was the day he vowed to marry you.

[zonezzone]

riri <33 here ya go 😉 take ur time bae^^

jaemin + dancing under the stars or kissing in the rain + fluff, established relationship!au

ohhh, this looks like a deja vu!! good prompt @aehyei!

but, how about mixing both options…

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔.

☾ pairing: surgeon!jaemin x (f) astronomist! reader.

☾ genre: fluff, a little bit of angst, established relationship!au,

☾ warnings: mentions of stress, inaccurate astronomic vocabulary (i did my research, i swear. but if you notice a mistake please feel free to correct me, but always with respect), super cliche, and cheesy (welcome to my love world o///o)

☾ word count: 1 k.

In a book you read when you were little, a very peculiar exchange was mentioned: a kiss on the cheek for the full cheese moon.

"A wonderful dream that I hope will come true when I grow up and my first love crosses my starry sky," you thought at that time.

Growing up, that love for the bright points in the sky, created by gases such as hydrogen and helium, plasma at high temperatures continued to grow and the fantasy that came out from that dream of youth past began to disappear. The reality in your life was more and more present.

You forgot how to imagine.

Now, your schedule consisted of endless visits to the observatory, lab analysis, project writing, innovative developments, and overnights because you and your team were working on building new mirrors with a more powerful viewing range for the Hubble telescope.

Yes, for NASA. That's how good your work was.

For the next several months, you continued with the same routine every day. The monotony in which you were sinking did not cause more than demotivation and overwhelming since you thought that the tasks you were doing made your day not worth it, searching new ways –that sometimes were more than what you could give– to fill that void in your chest. To shut up that voice trapped in your mind and exclaimed: "You are not doing enough."

Your black hole seemed to have no end - thank God they are only a finite part of space.

Until Na Jaemin appeared.

A dreamer surgeon, willing to help and fill every space in your home with love.

His arrival was like a Big Bang of new and indescribable emotions that appeared as new planets and celestial bodies ready to be investigated and discovered.

You realized that the universe can surprise you in many ways. But you were sure that this was the most wonderful of all.

"Thank you, my shooting star"; you told him.

2 years were spent full of happiness. It’s true that nothing is perfect, including your relationship because come on; we are people and our humanity is defined by our successes, failures, and mistakes. The point here is to know how to solve them by taking care of yourself and those you love the most.

Although, there was a significant detail that you noticed one morning when you woke up: you had not yet had your first kiss!

“Was that a problem?” You thought.

Silence.

"Not at all", you answered funny in your mind. "We are taking things slowly and we want to take the time necessary to strengthen the relationship."

Liar.

It was not so much a problem, but a discomfort that entered your chest at that moment and which you couldn’t stop thinking about all day.

When you got home, you went to sleep hoping that all those thoughts that haunted you could dissipate and start the next morning with a lot of concentration. You were especially distracted today and as a team leader that didn't help much to be honest.

10 minutes, 15 minutes, 1 hour, 1 hour and a half. “Ahhh, damn. Why I can't sleep?”, you screamed silently.

"My moon, are you still awake?" You heard your boyfriend's question; who arrived from his guard.

"Y-yes. I was waiting for you ”, you answered nervously.

"Little Pinocchio," he replied with a laugh. “Usually when I arrive you are peacefully asleep that you don't even feel the noise of my heavy backpack being hit on the table. Something is worrying you but I don't know what. Could you please, major in astronomy from Harvard University, Na y/n; explain and clarify the doubt with all the scientific terms if it’s necessary, please? "

You blushed when you heard your name with his last name. Not knowing what to answer and to forget the topic a little, you decided to joke: “So, since you are thinking of getting married… the ring for when? ".

The house you shared was filled with laughter, but Jaemin corrected you. And what he said was the same thing you were thinking: "Better said, the kiss for when?"

Oh no.

He hit the spot.

He was aware of that too. While you were sleeping, you unconsciously mentioned that childhood dream that your heart still held. He decided that he would make it happen... tonight.

"Come with me, y/n", he requested. You agreed without hesitation.

Step after step, you went up until you reached the terrace of your apartment. The moon in the sky looked so beautiful that your eyes filled with tears. The view was, everything.

Na asked you: “What do you want in exchange for a kiss?

You remembered your old wish: "The full little cheese moon."

So, he brought a metal bowl filled with water up to ¾ parts; he placed it on the ground and you could see the reflection of the Earth satellite.

Jaemin then said: “I know that I can’t build a giant ladder or tie a rope around the moon to bring it to you even though I would if necessary. But please accept this humble attempt to fulfill your prettiest fantasy”.

You were amazed at every word. How not accept the effort to make the impossible, possible?

You took a few steps forward and closed the distance between your faces, giving him a beautiful kiss to which he responded by passing his right arm around your waist and placing his hand on your cheek so delicately that he made you feel in the clouds. Thousands of meteorites and stars were running in your stomach debt to the nerves and happiness that caused you to give so much love to your lover. His lips were wonderful. Why didn't you try them before?

Well, now was not the time to question anything. Just enjoy the moment.

As you parted, you brought your foreheads together and lightly brushed your noses.

“I love you, my shooting star. Thanks for making me so happy".

"I love you my moon. Thank you for lighting up each of my nights”.

author’s note: man, this is so emotional. i just can’t stand my own writing, helppp (is one of the reasons i still single tho).

well hye, the love of my life; here it is. finally, i decided with my brain for this plot because i was toooo hesitant about in what way i should direct the story waaa TT

wow, we’re cheesy today.

jaemin lives in my mind rent-free ladies and gentlemen (but don’t worry. i’m still loyal to jaehyun).

thank you so much for reading, hope that you enjoyed this as much as me writing it.

don’t forget to like and reblog and i wish you a beautiful day/afternoon/night wherever you are <3

also, i’m open to your feedback and my mailbox is open for your requests too!

sincerely,

riri.

[sleepyowlwrites]

no longer canon tag

tagged ages ago by @quilloftheclouds and more recently by @vellichor-virgo thank you my loves

really the only wip that this tag works for is Youth story so that's what I'm going with. I didn't c/v the rules but it's basically to say a bunch of things you were going to include in your wip but not anymore!

the story was going to be set in an American high school. it was going to be hard enough to write that, since I've never attended one, but as I started creating more characters, it just didn't make as much sense to me that it be set in America. (also @magnoliaash moved the location of her main wip at the time and I was like "that would make so much sense for me to do, too!" so I did that.) we're in Paris now.

people having powers was going to be a feature of the world. not like, super broadly known, but like superhero comic adjacent, in that powers were a thing but most people didn't think about them on a daily basis.

after that they were going to still be a regular thing that people knew about if they experienced them, and if not then they could happen under their noses and just wouldn't notice. (as it is, the powers are definitely real, but nobody knows where they came from or why these ten kids have them, and the kids themselves don't question why they have them. it's just a thing that is.)

before Savannah and Irina, I had Dari, from Thailand. she had kinetic energy manipulation and zero arc to speak of. I didn't work on her much and then Savannah sort of stole her role in the group, so I set her aside and then set her all the way aside because I don't include characters that aren't people.

everybody had funny nicknames because they weren't just referenced as a gang as like, a collective noun, they kind of were a gang. Daniel was Ringmaster and Evie was Valentine. it was too cheesy and didn't mean anything so I took them out.

there was a whole subplot/B plot about this baby fight club the kids were a part of and it went towards explaining why R and Mark started fighting to begin with. the Black Rose Club was a lot more (referentially, mostly) violent and abrasive at the beginning. but it was a different story, then.

Mark was Columbian American at one point.

Bell was white when I first conceived of her and I couldn't get to know her. then I was just thinking about her one day and pictured her as black and it felt right? I dunno. she became more clear as a character.

Irina used to have a younger sister. but she just FEELS like an only child. so now she is one.

Evie used to be VERY expressive. but she was acting like a borrowed character from another wip, so I changed her to be her own self. it makes a lot more sense for her to be the way she is now.

Daniel used to be an only child but now he has several younger half-siblings. he loves them.

R and Cal had a subplot revolving around their older brother Leander. the older brother still exists but he's not present, at least not until much later in the story. and there's a significant age gap.

Jae used to not get along with his family but that wasn't making sense to me, so now they're much more close-knit and it's Jae's personality and communication struggles that distance him from others.

Nyks wasn't always going to be the oldest. his amnesia story is still one of the goofier things, but I'm too attached to it now. certain inexplicable things are part of what makes this story what it is. some things just ARE.

Savannah didn't have an English name in the beginning but once I gave her one she became much more familiar. she felt like someone I could've known in college rather than just another character.

OPEN TAG @the-finch-address do it bird friend

[tedturneriscrazy]

🎶Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door🎵

I wonder if anything will happen in this episode.🙂

(I say as if I didn't watch the episode twice before going to bed and writing this post)

I don't think I'll ever not be amused by the way Hooty just...does things with his face

Seems like he found a thesaurus at some point

Okay so it's canonically spelled "Hootsifer," good to know

Also, this is really all we get of Lilith, huh?

His little hoot/coo at Lilith's letter❤❤❤

To borrow a meme format: If I had a nickel for every time Alex Hirsch was involved in a show where one of the characters was experiencing pubescent voice cracks, I'd have two nickels, which isn't very much but it's weird that it happened twice

Eda's face🤣

As much as this bit is played for laughs, Eda's clearly still shaken by what happened last episode

Jeez, Luz, priorities /j

Pictured: Hooty

The way King talks about being pelleted implies this is something Hooty does on the regular

Hooty's plan to help King is literally a Buzzfeed quiz? Okay then

Betcha never expected lore from Hooty, eh?

"DO NOT INTERRUPT"

Officially a "type of worm"

The dance being a grievous insult wasn't exactly from nowhere, but still funny nonetheless

WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE FUCKING COCCOON

Tiny Nose playing Switch definitely seems to be drawing from Dana's real life experiences

Wait, Hooty and Tiny Nose are friends?

Well shit, turns out she could use magic this whole time. Guess her going Super Saiyan wasn't just the power glyph.

I am extremely skeptical of your medical credentials, TN

I have so many questions about the methodology they used for the blood test(s)

I think Hooty may have misinterpreted what King was looking for

I'm still amazed at how King has had, and continues to have, moments in the show with some of the greatest emotional weight

Ooh, sound powers!

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CRUMBLE!!!"

It just occurred to me that that segment consisted mostly of Alex Hirsch talking to himself

Hello not-at-all obvious setup

Today I learned that Hooty is the baker of the house. Maybe he'd critique Amity's fairy pie.

Aaaaand there's the sleep inducing

Oh shit

In hindsight the Owl Beast being part of a dream sequence is rather obvious

Wow, Eda, tell us how you really feel about the Owl Beast

Oh we're just gonna ride aboard the Trauma Express today, huh?

Oh, I guess Lilith did make an appearance, after all

Damn, Gwen, not even looking

Oh shit dad issues

Sandy Cohen?! (To anyone who gets that reference, hi. How are your 30s treating you?)

Well, I know who Peter Gallagher voices now, anyway

Oh dear...

(Also, bright flashing lights triggering the curse? There's an epilepsy allegory in here somwhere)

Blood and eye injury? Gotta stretch that Y7 rating

Now we have some context for that look on Eda's face when Lilith mentioned their dad: good old fashioned guilt!

I desparately want to make a "Dude, you're getting a Dell!" joke, but I'm better than that

New memory! Raine!

Oh no...

I get the feeling I'll hate this part, too

They were exes!😢 Guess the fandom called that one

The reasoning for them being exes is understandable, all too real, and goddamn heartbreaking

That said, the fact they never stopped loving each other🥺😢😭

I do hope we can see Raine again under less...traumatic circumstances. Maybe that wedding that was mentioned?

Oh shit, are we getting into the Owl Beast's memories?!?! What a tweest!

Bet nobody expected Cloaked Moonface to show up in the frickin Hooty episode

(Also, holy shit I briefly forgot this was the Hooty episode)

Who is this mysterious cloaked figure? And why are they so tall and long?

So the curse was a sealed beast this whole time. Damn.

And it was just picked up as beach junk to sell as a trinket. So much for it being connected to Belos. (Not that people will stop trying to do so)

Who had "experiencing sympathy for the Owl Beast" on their Bingo cards for this episode? Yeah, me neither.

And here we have the necessary Eda coming to terms with her curse segment. More accurately, Eda and the curse coming to terms with each other.

Goddamnit why does it have to be cute

"It's like sandpaper" IT'S LIKE A CAT I FUCKING CAN'T

Insert Steamed Hams reference here to kill the mood

New transformation!

Oh no she's hot!

No, Hooty, you made it surprisingly much, much better!

She might have a problem pushing people away and holding onto guilt, but Eda always knows that she looks damn good

Oh right, Luz having girl problems. Fuck, so much is happening in this episode!

"Cotton-candy-haired Goddess" LUZ! 🤣

Attuned to other people's emotions = being a fucking creeper

Oh Luz, what happened to you back home?

Also, 99.999% certain Amity would love your cheesiness

That's...rather morbid, Hooty

So much lore development, including the fact the Owl House has a basement

Classic inanimate object silhouette fakeout gag. Subversion in 3...2...1...

There it is!

I can't imagine being pelleted is a fun experience.

Honestly I have so many questions about how Hooty got Amity there in the first place, but I'm not so sure I actually want to know the answers to any of them...

Cue much panicking

Wow, I'm really getting some Into the Bunker flashbacks

Oh this is gonna be amazing isn't it

I commend Luz for not actually dropping dead of embarrassment

Seriously, how can Hooty set all this up so fast yet not hold a pen?!?!?!

Poor Luz, she thinks this is destroying her chances

Meanwhile Amity is just "Oh, Titan, is this actually happening?!"

The way she's fixing her hair!❤

Goddamnit Luz let this play out, she's so clearly into this!

"Again?!" Okay who do I have to kill?

Luz is luzing it

Nooooooo....

JUST TALK FOR FUCK'S SAKE (aka how like 95% of issues in literally any plot could be solved)

Noooo Amity's so heartbroken right now💔

This isn't what either of them wanted!

To be fair, Hooty, Luz had a part in this too. Not that she can be blamed entirely. Poor thing clearly had some awful experiences back home...

Now Hooty is McFucking losing it

Why did I think he was gonna say "Looks like I'm gonna have to JUMP!" I think I've watched too much Homestar Runner (jk there's no such thing)

Those pulsating organs are still gross

Eda swooping in to save her son (No, really, he actually is now)

I'll say things get weird when Hooty gets upset!

Yes, King! Save them with your voice powers!

Damn that is some romantic lighting, and Luz is enjoying the eye candy (cotton candy, if you will)

Luz's reaction to Harpy!Eda is the family-friendly summation of how the fandom has reacted.

Hooty really just tearing up the landscape in remorse

Mother-daughter moment about love life!

I appreciate not just Eda's encouragement but her actually asking Luz what she wanted

God, Eda is best mom

Also, OH FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING?!

OH SHIT

THESE ADORABLY AWKWARD NERDS❤💜💙

"I'm not as cool as you think" could be interpreted as self-deprecating, but here it seems...oddly reassuring?

The way Luz eloquently says how she wants Amity in her future...beautiful❤

Luz making some good faces

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

YOU CUTE DORKS I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

THERE IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

LOOK HOW HAPPY SHE IS

WE WERE LOSING OUR SHIT OVER A PECK ON THE CHEEK THREE WEEKS AGO AND NOW LOOK WHERE WE ARE HOLY FUCK

Awkwardness is still there, but that's to be expected

BET Y'ALL DIDN'T EXPECT THAT TRAILER SHOT TO BE IN THE HOOTY EPISODE HUH

THE WAY LUZ RUBS AMITY'S HAND😭😭😭😭😭

(And yeah, it's gonna still be scary, but only because it promises to be so wonderful)

Let's give it up for Hootsifer, goddamn!

Let'a also appreciate just how fucking funny it is that Lumity becomes official in the Hooty episode

Fus ro WEH!

Hooty actually saying "Luz's new GF" out loud...

In just about any other show the love interests getting together would be a climax/culmination of the entire plot. Here? It's actually used to advance the plot, and that is brilliant!

Dana Terrace and the crew really just knocking it out of the park again and again, huh

"They're adorable, and deserve all the happiness!" Well said, Hootsifer. Well said.

Probably for the best they had Hooty promise that. As much as what happened/progressed, there was a lot of property damage.

OH SHIT ONCE AGAIN

King's dad/relative! And he's voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson!

GODDAMNIT HOOTY

Wow. Just...wow. This episode.

King has voice powers! Harpy!Eda! Lumity are girlfriends for real!!!!

How do you pack so much into a single episode?! And so expertly?!

I had my suspicions before, but this confirms it: The Owl House is the greatest show of all time.

And we have two episodes left until the hiatus! And 11 episodes in the season after that! What are we in for?!?!?!

I, for one, can't wait to find out!

[adecila]

 20 Questions: Writer’s Edition

Tagged by @muttpeeta @nadja-antipaxos @rayondeneige @hot-auntie-dany & @jupiterix thank you 🤍

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

41 oop...

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

329727 not bad not bad

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

1 so far, which is jonerys obvi 😚

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

For the Cameras

Meet Me Halfway

My One

The Night Train to Winterfell

Two Days

5. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Absolutely. Because as a reader I get super giddy and excited when an author replies to me, so I can only hope I have the same effect on my readers 🥰 Plus they took actual time out of their day to leave me that comment. Replying is the least I can do!

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I really thought about this and nothing comes to mind. I think that somehow I've managed to not have angsty endings? Don't get me wrong, I love angst, and I'll bury you in it. But I usually resolve it in the ending so that you still get a sort of HEA. I think season 8 of GoT left me so jaded, I wouldn't want my fics to have that kind of painful ending. At most I'll do an open ending. It might also stem from the fact that this year I accidentally read some fics with very angsty endings and honestly one of them was so sad it left me pretty much a mess and I didn't trust that author again 😂 so as much as I love angst...I try to not write angsty endings.

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

It has to be ...you'll find the real thing instead —it was a pretty cheesy ending 🤭

8. Do you write crossovers? If yes, what’s the craziest thing you’ve written?

I adore them...but they have to be done right, you know. The craziest one I did has to be Scorching Bloodlust because I don't think anyone wanted A World of Warcraft Jonerys AU yet I decided it needed to exist anyway 😂

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Unfortunately it has become a rite of passage in this fandom... If I remember correctly it was on two fics. The fic that attracted a lot of incels and mean comments was Suburban Thrills. Apparently some people were mad at me for writing Dany as being married to Dr*go in this modern AU. I even got called a "r*pe apologist* for it... when in reality they were mostly mad that Jon was just a pool boy, while Dany was the rich and powerful one. The other thing they were mad about was that the fic contains a Dany/Dr*go smut scene, which apparently was hotter than the jonerys one 🤣. Allegedly. There was this comment that legit sounded more like "how dare you make me find them hot???" Seems like some people don't understand the concept of voyeurism 😃...

The other fic that got me hate was Inevitable. Again this fic has Dany being with someone else before Jon, and obviously this is wrong since how dare she even look at a man who's not Jon Snow 🙄🙄.

You can clealry see a theme with the hate comments I was getting on both fics.

10. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Do I? DO I??? *looks at the numerous pwp fics I've written* all kinds tbh. I have a short list of squicks. The rest is fair game. Check out the tags on my fics, I like trying new things in fics all the time 🤭

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope not. Not that I know of, in any case. I have friends in other fandoms who had entire fics posted on other websites and it is the most horrible thing to experience as a writer. There was however a situation maybe a little over a year ago, but it turned out to be an entirely different thing on top of low key stealing my fic lmao. Such a wild story, the proof is somewhere on my blog... I still can't believe that happened 🥴 seems like a lifetime ago.

Now, if we're talking about fic concepts and certain elements... yep 🙃🙃🙃🙃 (and no, I don't mean tropes). Lately t's become an entire thing across the board and unfortunately not much can be done about it. Which is sad in such a small fandom, especially when I see how things are in bigger ones. Guess some people think that just because it's fanfic, everything is fair game, yet they forget we all have our grain of originality we put into our fics. Just because we're all writing fics doesn't mean you're less of a dick if you take something you know someone else came up with in that fandom and pass it off as your own. The concept of giving credit as a courtesy seems to have been lost, along with so many other things that we all thought were common sense and fandom etiquette. As always, fanfic writing is shunned to the side and considered as the least original thing in fandoms, when it's not the case at all. But that's a bigger debate, too long and complicated for this post. At the end of the day, it is what it is, I guess 🙃 but it has definitely turned me off some of the very things I used to love

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, I don't think our fandom does this, it's too small for it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yep, quite a few 🤭:

For the Cameras with @muttpeeta

The Wrong Impression of the Right One with @tomakeitbeautifultolive & @thescarletgarden1990

Moonlight with @tomakeitbeautifultolive

If its the last thing I do with @thescarletgarden1990

Blood Runs Cold with @tomakeitbeautifultolive

The girl in my story has always been you with @thescarletgarden1990

The Perks of Being a Good Boy with @thescarletgarden1990

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

It's too hard to pick, but jonerys is pretty much my obsession and they consume most of my thoughts

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Oof I really wanna try to finish them all!

16. What’s your writing strengths?

Aesthetics. Setting up a certain mood or vibe. I'm pretty good at descriptions in general tbh. Oh and I've been told I'm good at transition scenes.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue 😭. I always feel like I can never be as good as others, so when it comes to scenes that are important to me, dialogue intimidates me. I always work 4x as much on dialogue than I do on anything else.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?

Love it. I'd do it more often tbh if I knew others liked it too!

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Jonerys 😌

20. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I cheated and picked 2 absolute faves:

Paint My Soul Anew —maybe because I'm very happy with how the prompt turned out. I think I managed to pack so much plot in such a short fic.

And, of course, our souls, intertwined —there are just so many things I love about this fic I'll never stop loving it tbh 🤭

Tagging @tomakeitbeautifultolive @thescarletgarden1990 @zavocado @dany-belongs-in-the-good-place @the-last-targaryens @valancyjane @ashleyfanfic @esteriivy @eleanorr05 @esteriivy @stilesssolo @thesuperjane @benjaminbarnes

Do feel free to ignore if you already did it or just don't want to x

[mlbpotter]

Sole Crusher and why I hated it.

Ahh, one of the most prodigious episode for Zoe-fans.

You see, we see Zoe in a car touring Paris as she came from New York. She entered a bakery to get something for her family (A.K.A Audrey) Marinette entered, and slipped on the floor, but Zoe being who she is, clever perfectionist, nimble, quick blah blah blah, whatever the directors want to show us, caught Marinette in a blink of an eye.

In irl, I think if somebody did slip, in front of me, I’d be too shocked to react in seconds. I’d be gaping, mouth open, too shocked to catch anyone.

Ahh, well, Marinette then talked to her a little, learnt how she only had one friend, made some of us feel pity for her (eh, Thomas). So, NOW THE NEXT PART REALLY GETS ME! Marinette didn’t know who this unknown Zoe girl was (could be a thief, murderer, kidnapper idk) yet she gave away her phone number, free pastries, and invited her to HER FRIEND’S CONCERT! OMG you dumass, you don’t just give away these things to unknown people!

Well, still, moving on, zoe went back to the car, and to the bourgeois hotel. She gave away the pastries to the driver saying her family preferred sour from sweet, meaning they were not exactly caring. Just showing what a bad mother Audrey is, Zoe, like Chloe tried to act all snobbish and mean to get her mother’s attention.

To keep it short, Zoe met Chloe and they had a very meaningful conversation. But the thing that bugged me the most was that what Chloe said. 'Your father exists only to do whatever you want, whenever you want.'

Huh? Forgot this, in origins pt.2? This shows that chloe actually loves her father.

Also, Chloe was shown locking Sabrina in a locker, and forcing her to do her homework.

......

So how do u explain this?☝️

Chloe cares about Sabrina. Thomas really ruined Chloe's character her smh, in sole crusher.

Anyways, Chloe took Zoe to the school in a limousine, with Sabrina running behind them!

BrUh, thomas? R u serious? This is a kids show, no? You are supposed to show how to be considerate, not treating ur friend as slaves!

After some more uneccessary chloe-being-cruel moment, Chloe introduces everyone to Zoe.

She says, that Zoe needs a guy to pamper, who is preferably rich....wow, Thomas you already destroyed Adrien's friendship with Chloe, what more do u want?

When Zoe pretended to hate Marinette's macaroons, Sabrina started idiolizing her immediately. SABRINA ALSO NEEDS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!!

Obviously, Chloe 'tried' to teach Zoe some mean habits, and Marinette was confused about the way she acted so differently at school.

Being Marinette, she texted Zoe about the the confusion, and obviously blamed Chloe. When Chloe found out that her sister was texting her arch-enemy Marinette, she became furious.

Zoe lied and said that she was planning to humiliate Marinette. One of the worst things about Zoe is that she tries to change her nature just to meet up the needs for others. Chloe only does that to impress her mother.

Zoe went up the blacony, and was met by Andre, Chloe's father, who tried to console her, by telling her his own dream. Ok, listen up, how come Andre is only nice to his step-daughter, in a fatherly way??? And treats Chloe like a spoilt queen?? What kind of a father u r, even though u know that's wrong? Ugh

Anyways, the part where Andre wanted to be a film director was pretty cool. Again, we get some background history about the character. And yes, he listened to Audrey, about being rich, not a film director, blah blah blah, showing again how bad of a wife Audrey is.

Then, we discovered that Zoe wanted to be an actress for no good reason, and yest, admittedly she is pretty good a hiding her emotions and 'acting'.

This is how Andre tried to cheer up Zoe, but obviously made the situation worse, as she only thought about the way Chloe, treated her, and not her mother. So yeah, She only has a grudge against Chloe, again showing how horrible and cruel Chloe could be, right?

Just because Chloe said, 'You either step on other people, or I step on you!' This is so out-of-character for, Chloe. She would never say that, I reckon this much.

And there we go, Zoe reluctantly wears the diamond shoes, and becomes akumatized by shadow moth.

So, her power was touching other people with her shoes, and she became bigger.

Sole crusher, found Chloe in her room taking selfies of herself, to shoe how vain she was and how much she admired herself. Ummm..when did Chloe have an obsession with taking her photos? Except maybe in the episode where Marc was akumatized.

Chloe caught a glimpse of Sole Crusher, on her mobile's photo.

She said, 'How come you are using my image without my authorization?' Old Chloe loved to be idolized, so out-of-character.

So, when Chole discovered that it was Zoe, she began running like she was in a marathon, which was again out of character, as she wouldn't run, it'd be too much of work for her.

I think the running was just to show how bad of a character Chloe was, as she pushed Marinette's parents and Marinette herself towards Zoe, to show how cruel, evil and selfish she really is.

Another thing, I think that the kwamis shouldn't be allowed outside the box very long, as someone might catch them, like Chloe almost did.

So, the reason Sole crusher didn't step on Marinette, was because Marinette is the main character of the show, and she just can't be in a dangerous situation (Thomas logic). It'd made a great plot if Marinette was crushed by sole crusher. It would keep the viewers on their toes.

Eh, well, To make look Chloe worse, they made her run further, and order Zoe to literally step on the 'losers'. AKA rest of Marinette's classmates. (Do students really meet each other like this irl?)

So Marinette discovered that Zoe was Sole crusher, and gave some advice.

Marinette: That's not true, you don't need to crush on anyone. The 'winner' and 'loser' thing doesn't exist. It's just people, each one with your differences and unique features. (after Chat Noir interrupted) Zoe, no one will judge you here. You can be yourself! You can trip, you can fall, there's always going to be someone to help you stand up. I will always support you!

Shadow moth manipulated Zoe again, So Chat Noir tripped sole crusher giving Marinette the chance to run away and transform in a place that no one can see (totally). Since Tikki followed Marinette, and Kaalki alerted Adrien about the akuma, they both were able to transform.

Since I am no good at writing battle scenes, I'll tell the main points. Ladybug used her lucky charm, and got a shoe horn. So basically, Chat Noir and ladybug both destroyed the heels of Zoe's shoes, but the akuma didn't come out. Chloe insulted sole crusher, and got crushed.

Chloe : Look at how you're treating ur very expensive shoes! Go back to wearing you hideous and plain sneakers.

So ladybug figured out that the Akuma must be in those sneakers Chloe mentioned.

So the team tried to find out those sneakers in Chloe's house. Ladybug saw Sabrina in the closet, yet asked her about the sneakers, and ignored her. Wow, shoe some empathy ladybug, or even Chat Noir!

They saw Andre, and he told them where the Akuma went. So basically Andre showed them the box, and was so scared of Audrey, that her had hid those directories a secret from her. Since that box was not opening, ladybug used her shoehorn to open that box thingy. Long story short, ladybug repaired everything, and gave Zoe the lucky charm, and left.

Skip to the noon, where Zoe went to the concert she was invited in, and Chloe still believed Zoe's lame story about humiliating Marinette, and was super pissed off when Zoe ate the macaroons.

So yeah, Zoe apologized about her akumatizatidon, and told her 'tragic' backstory. She didn't want to disappoint her family's expectation, so she pretended to be mean.

In her boarding school, she was being bullied, and pretended to be someone she was not.

And since er...the miraculous fandom characters are so 'different' and tried to be nice to her, which was pretty cool of them....

Chloe demanded that Zoe leave for New York, but Andre was pretty cool about it, and made a lame yet nice excuse for her, to be enrolled in anther boarding school. So she had a different room. Obviously, the creators showed how err..awesome Zoe is as she said to Andre, 'Promise me that you are not going to give up on your dreams for too long.' But Andre's dream was very irrelevant, as nothing of that sort was mentioned after that.

Zoe's new found friends helped her become a better person, and there were some ending pics of her.

Zoe's message to Marinette was pretty cheesy ngl. But if only Zoe was introduced as a character who didn't out smart her sister, I would honestly love her so much!

(If my dumb shit post doesn't get famous, I will quit. I literally worked so hard for this post, and also had to rewrite it multiple times)

[masterwords]

Things I Might Regret

Notes: I don't know WHY, but I thought it would be amusing to write a super trope-filled/mutual pining/only one bed Hotch & Morgan one shot. It's SO cheesy and captured all of the vibes of a silly predictable romantic comedy and I never really intended to post it but there is so little Mortch/Hotchgan content that I decided why not. Go in expecting lighthearted mega cheeseball vibes. Not every story can be an exploration of pain, even if I do hurt Hotch in the process because that's what I do and that's what I like. I listened to a LOT of Peter Cetera and Peter Gabriel to get here and it shows.

Warnings: Nothing really, it's very lighthearted and tame. There is some swearing and some implied foreplay/sexy stuff though. Definitely does not cross into NSFW but avoid if you don't want to see anything even remotely kissy/sexual in nature.

Words: ~7000 WHAT I KNOW I'M SORRY OK :)

Read on A03, if you prefer.

Through the lacework of evergreens, Reid gazed intently up at the sky, whispering the names of every star, every constellation he could see and some he couldn't but knew were there. Hotch had told him to do it once, when the traveling got to him, when he needed to feel grounded. “Go outside and look at the stars, name them, they might look a little different sometimes but they're the same stars, the same constellations.” He'd said it was something he used to do as a child when he was scared or worried, and Reid didn't try to get him to elaborate, he had plenty of ideas and none of them were exactly pleasant. There was snow drifting through the air but he stood there with no jacket, sweat freezing to ice along his spine. At his feet sat his bag, and he watched as his breath became visible in the winter chill of the Alaskan twilight while he waited for Morgan to show up.

“Hey prettyboy,” Morgan said, his boots crunching through the icy snow settling on the ground. “Where's the fire?” Reid turned to look at Morgan and pursed his lips, wondering how to approach the topic at hand. It had seemed so easy until he was faced with action. Morgan regarded him suspiciously, and the longer they stood listening to the snow flutter around them through the boughs of the trees, the more on edge he felt. “Reid?”

“I can't stay with Hotch,” he blurted out, deciding not to beat around the bush. “I just can't, I'm sorry. He's got the thermostat up as high as it'll go and he's still wearing his suit, Morgan. I had to get out, I couldn't breathe in there and I'm from Vegas...do you know how hard it is to make me uncomfortable in heat?”

“Woah, woah kid, calm down,” Morgan muttered, hazarding a nervous glance around, as if they were going to be heard. As if it mattered. “Why are you telling me this? You want me to trade you?”

“Please? I wouldn't ask except I know how you feel about - “

“Heyyyyyy now, I told you that in confidence,” Morgan hissed, stepping closer to Reid. “You can't just go around sayin' shit like that outloud.” Seeing that he'd gotten under Morgan's skin, Reid got a wicked little idea, a way to drive the final nail into the coffin.

“The room is a single...you know what that means...” He spoke in a hushed tone, leaning close to Morgan as if he'd told him a grand secret, one worth all the gold and jewels in the world. He waggled his eyebrows a few times for dramatic effect and jumped out of the way when Morgan swung playfully at him. He hoped it was playful, anyway. In the distance twigs snapped, night creatures chattered and echoed in the snowflakes.

“So you and Hotch are sharing a bed?” Morgan asked, hardly in the mood to be baited. He would do it, he would trade rooms but he didn't like this version of Reid that had come out in the meantime, this side of him that felt he had some kind of power because he held a secret in his hands.

“No,” Reid replied, grinning as he watched his secret weapon approach. “You and Hotch are sharing a bed. I'm going to bunk with Garcia tonight.”

“Wait, wait, wait kid...” but the deal was done, Garcia was standing there beside him now trading room keys with Reid and inviting him to join her up in their room for a movie night. She handed Morgan his bag and his new room key with a sweet smile and a kiss on the cheek.

“You told her?” Morgan asked, pulling Reid aside for a moment, but she heard and she approached shaking her head.

“You told me, silly. Last year.” The way she said it sent a shiver down his spine and he wondered who else he'd told without remembering. He needed to take it easy on the vodka when he was out with his colleagues, that much was apparent. “Remember? It was right after the the bomber in New York...”

“Okay okay, shhhhhh...” he whined, hoping no one else was planning to come out of the woodwork to let him know he was garbage at keeping things to himself. Things like feelings for his grouchy boss. “Go. It's fine. I can handle the thermostat.”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll manage...” Garcia sang, looping her arm around Reid's waist as they walked through the snow, back to the little hotel. Morgan glanced down at his bag, neatly packed at his feet and sighed. On his way back in, he considered sleeping in the lobby, the couches weren't terrible but it was busy. A local hangout, popular between the cafe closing and the bar ramping up. There was always Rossi, the man had somehow managed to be the only one to get a room to himself and Morgan thought he'd seen two beds in there. I'm very particular, he'd said, and Hotch had just smirked from behind him as he collected room keys from the front desk. He'd shared rooms with Rossi enough times to know he had no interest in doing it on this trip if he could help it. Particular didn't begin to cover it.

“What are you doing here?” Hotch asked, eyeing Morgan and his bag coming through the door to his room, uninvited but somehow with a key. Morgan paused, considered trying to come up with some clever response, but ultimately just decided on the truth. He would lace it with just enough humor to try and break the ice, feel Hotch and his mood out before he settled in, he may still decide to opt for the couch in the lobby. Or the hallway, there were plenty of dark corners.

“Reid said you were trying to give him a heat stroke so he got Garcia to boot me out of our room. It's you and me now.”

“He could have just told me it was too warm,” Hotch muttered, not a hint of a smile in sight. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he stared at a case file, hardly even glancing up at Morgan as he spoke, a clear sign that he was deeply troubled by their case. Morgan scoffed.

“Hotch, we're in Alaska. There's no way in hell you're turning that heat down without a fight and we all know it. Anyway, I'm good, you know I'll just sleep naked if you keep it this hot in here. Consider that your fair warning.”

At that, Hotch glanced up from the file in his hand, narrowed his eyes and shrugged. “Your call, but there's only one bed.” Your move, he thought and he smirked to himself, hiding it just out of Morgan's view. Not only was there only one bed, but it was currently covered in bloody photos. Hotch wasn't exactly a slob, Morgan knew, but he treated his hotel rooms like his office, he would spread himself out over every surface, brew coffee well into the night, and getting him to go to sleep was worse than trying to give a cat a bath. There were times that the team would argue, draw straws, rock paper scissors, anything to decide who had to bunk with him depending on the case. It wasn't that they didn't love him but he was bad for all of their health. Generally, it was Rossi who ended up sharing, dying of heatstroke and irritating Hotch until he retreated to a dimly lit corner so that the older man could sleep. How they remained such good friends after they shared a hotel room was anyone's guess.

“Bed time is 11pm, no exceptions,” Morgan announced, setting his bag down and eyeing the pictures on the bed, trying to sort out what it was he was looking at, trying to figure out. It looked like chaos but he knew it was carefully controlled chaos, there was something there, a puzzle he was putting together.

“You're welcome to sleep anytime you like, I'll move the files when you need me to.”

Sharing a bed with Hotch the first night turned out to be uneventful, primarily because as near as Morgan could tell, the man never got into it. He'd been sitting at the desk wide awake with a cup of coffee when Morgan fell asleep, looking through maps of the surrounding forest, marking places on the trails where bodies had been found thinking they were animal attacks, where they would need to try and canvass during daylight hours, and when Morgan awoke in the morning he found Hotch already dressed for a day in the woods and sipping his second cup of coffee. He didn't question it, just accepted it as typical Hotch behavior and busied himself with getting ready to head out into the snow.

“How was your first night? Get any sleep?” Garcia asked, slipping up beside Morgan as he grabbed a muffin from the lobby breakfast. He narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

“I got plenty of sleep. He never went to bed.” He wouldn't elaborate further and she scrunched up her nose in disgust, it wasn't the juicy gossip she'd been hoping to hear. She wasn't sure why she'd thought something would happen, maybe she was just hopeful but ultimately she knew it was silly to have imagined Hotch actually used a bed. Reid had once floated the idea that he hung upside down in the closet like a bat, Prentiss said he was probably just really handsome AI and therefore didn't require sleep only a brief reboot every so often, and JJ had mentioned she thought he just had several clones that slept in shifts. Morgan finished his muffin and coffee quickly and set out with Hotch and the State Troopers, ready to canvass some of the surrounding trails while Rossi and Prentiss went the opposite direction. Reid, JJ and Garcia stayed at the hotel and worked from the comfort of a heated room with comfortable couches, glad they'd managed to avoid going out into the frozen woods.

“Over here!” one of the troopers called, and Hotch and Morgan hoofed it up a small mound of snow to where the man stood overlooking a valley lined with game trails and one spot that looked like a hunting camp. They were already four miserably difficult miles up the side of a mountain by the time they stumbled on the clearing. Morgan hated every second of it, climbing over fallen trees and between boulders, sidestepping scat everywhere he looked. Hotch, with a devilish twinkle in his eye, told Morgan which animal each pile belonged to, impressing the troopers with his knowledge. More than once they commented on how a city boy like him knew so much and he shrugged it off. Morgan wasn't impressed, he was repulsed. “You think that might be where he's hiding out?”

“It's worth a look,” Hotch muttered, looking around for a safe trail to follow down into the valley. Everything was rocky, covered in a thin layer of icy snow and the sky was darkening from a cheerful blue to an ominous gray above their heads like it might dump more on them if they weren't careful. “Is there a better way down?”

“Not from this side of the valley, your friends would do better from where they're at.”

Hotch nodded and attempted to contact Rossi and Prentiss to no avail, his comm was nothing but static. He asked the trooper to get in touch with his colleagues, let them know they should make for the encampment if they could get there. Morgan and Hotch glanced around from atop the mound and spotted one of the dumpsites not far off, they would go have a look there before moving on. It wasn't a long walk but it was treacherous, rocky terrain and as they approached the site they heard both troopers almost in unison hiss something and stop dead in their tracks. Hotch glanced around first, noticing the fresh pile of droppings at his feet and grabbed Morgan's jacket, tugging him until he came to a full stop. Just off the trail, dead ahead, was an enormous bull moose who had ceased munching the foliage before him in order to watch the intruders. Slowly, the troopers backed up, one foot and then the other, eyes trained on the animal.

“Don't move,” one said, coming up beside Hotch. “He'll charge us all if we give him a reason.”

Morgan pulled a face, pressing his back against Hotch protectively, pushing him backward slowly on the trail. The troopers fell in line with them, speaking in hushed whispers, never taking their eyes off of the animal in front of them. It lowered its ears, the hair on the back of his neck bristling and Hotch felt Morgan press harder into him, a human shield between he and the animal ahead. He maintained his grip on Morgan's coat and slipped his other hand to his waist, let it rest against his gun and watched the troopers do the same.

“He's bristling. We need to run, find the nearest tree and get behind it. Now!” one of the troopers hissed as he watched the bull take off, huge hooves clamoring over the frozen earth toward them. Morgan stepped backward, his heart leaping into his throat and he grabbed Hotch's jacket to tug him along. The troopers went to the right, Hotch and Morgan to the left, scattering to try and confuse the animal and find enough places to hide until it was convinced they meant it no harm. Hotch broke away from Morgan and, in his fervor to find a place to hide, stumbled on a rock, rolling his ankle hard. He cried out at the popping sensation that sent a blast of pain all the way up to his knee; it didn't pull him down, he wouldn't let it so he planted his injured foot hard and pushed off with gritted teeth. The trees swam around him, every heavy footstep agony. He ran harder, found a tree and fell to the ground breathing heavily, pulling his legs to his chest to keep himself hidden. It had taken only seconds but felt like an eternity. He'd passed Morgan, knew he was safe, and the troopers he could see had found their own spots. The moose ambled up the path, snorting and slowing its pace, no longer concerned by the intruders. He was satisfied with himself. They stayed silent and hidden until the animal had passed them by, on his way to another place to eat to his heart's content. Hotch heaved a sigh of relief, leaning back against the tree as everyone else came out of their hiding places.

“Fuckin' hate this wilderness shit,” Morgan muttered, making his way toward Hotch. He held his hand out to help his friend up, and with some hesitation Hotch took it, trying to keep his weight off of his injured foot. He'd had hopes of keeping it quiet, moving on without detection, but the injury was bad enough that he couldn't keep a straight face even when he moved his leg. “You okay Hotch?” Morgan asked, eyeing his friend suspiciously. Hotch considered his response carefully, knowing they were miles of extremely rough terrain away from the hotel and he may not want to lie himself into a situation he couldn't get out of. It wouldn't be the first time if he did.

“Twisted my ankle on a rock,” he offered, leaning his back against the tree to help ease the weight off of his injury. “I can walk. Just need a minute. Take the troopers and check out the dumpsite, I'll be right over.”

“We should get you back into town to see the doctor,” Morgan said, his tone softened, but Hotch shook his head adamantly. His pride was legendary. Hubris is the ruin of cities, and man. The troopers closed in on them, listened to the conversation without chiming in.

“We came all the way out here to see this site,” he replied, shaking his head. “We need to check it out.” Morgan regarded him for a moment, glanced at the path that would lead them to the site, and then back at Hotch standing before him, so adamant that he was okay and so clearly not. He shook his head.

“We're losing daylight fast. We gotta get you back into town, I'll bring Reid out here with me – it won't take us as long now that we know where we're going. Come on Hotch, you know you can't be out here, what if that moose comes back? Or a bear?”

Morgan was right, Hotch knew he was, but he hated every bit of it. He'd come all this way to see the site, it was a short hike away, and he had to turn and hobble his way back to the hotel with his tail between his legs. He protested once more, but even the troopers told him it would be risky to stay out there with an injury, even if they were so close to where they wanted to be. Reluctantly, Hotch relented and allowed them to lead the way back to the hotel, trying to find the path of least resistance for the sake of their humiliated injured party. Morgan slipped back behind Hotch as they made their way back down the winding game trails, keeping a close eye on the other man's uneven steps, the way he had to pause and hesitate before picking his way through boulders and over logs blocking their way. More than once Morgan went first, extending his hand and helping his friend through the harder patches, and by the time the hotel was in sight the sun had crested the treetops and Hotch knew they'd made the right call, even if he'd be loathe to admit it. Any longer up in the woods and he wouldn't have been able to see the rough spots at all. More than once Morgan had offered to carry him on his back, an indignity he wasn't willing to suffer even if the pain was increasing by the minute, instead he just bent down and tightened the laces on his hiking boot to give him better support before trudging forward. The troopers laughed at the way the two of them bickered endlessly, said they sounded like an old married couple.

At the hotel, Morgan made a fuss over calling the doctor to them, getting Hotch up to their room and wasn't satisfied until the other man was lying on their bed with his foot propped up beneath an ice pack and bandaged. Hotch allowed it begrudgingly if only to get Morgan out of there faster. The doctor called him lucky, it didn't look like a bad sprain but he should stay off of it and Morgan knew there was a fat chance of that actually happening. He glared at Hotch the entire time the doctor spoke, pulled faces, nodded, and watched as Hotch tried to remain expressionless. It was the most fun he'd had in weeks, actually witnessing the look of distress when he was told he shouldn't be up walking if he could help it. In any case, he knew Hotch wasn't going to listen. The best he could hope for, he figured, was simply that Hotch would stay in the hotel, or by some miracle, in the room.

“Evans says we've got another good hour or two of daylight, and with the right equipment he thinks we'll be okay if we make it back by dusk. Reid and I are gonna head out with them. Rossi and Prentiss are on their way back, JJ and Garcia are downstairs. Stay here, Hotch. Please.”

Hotch just hummed his response, hardly giving it much thought. He had no intention of getting right up, he wasn't a complete fool and it did hurt, but he also had no intention of staying sedentary for the remainder of the day – they had work to do and the last thing he wanted was to be out of commission if another body showed up. His ankle was the least of his concerns.

He was up and hobbling around the room in no time, frustrated by his own frailty. Spreading the pictures out again, he created a mosaic of crimson, a museum of gore out of the bed and the desk. Lost in the mix, looking at maps, wounds, dead eyes, he didn't break out until he heard a soft rapping at his door. Opening it reluctantly, he found Garcia standing on the other side, a bag of ice in her hand and a smile on her face.

“Shouldn't you be resting?” she asked, pushing into the room, trying to avoid seeing the horrors he'd decorated with. He groaned and limped toward the desk, shuffling the pictures into a pile so she wouldn't have to see it everywhere she looked. He could provide her one safe place to avert her eyes at least. Ignoring her question, he invited her to have a seat if she wanted while he piled up more of the photos, hiding them in safe places, careful to keep them in the order he'd displayed them to be pulled back out once his visitor had gone.

“I know it's not any of my business, sir, but you should be nicer to him...”

“To whom?” He cleared his throat, folding his arms over his chest. It was hot in the room but he felt chilled, shifting uncomfortably in place.

“Morgan,” she replied, and she felt her cheeks flush. “He's trying to help.”

“I know,” he relented, and he knew he was coming off too rough, especially with her, but he was grumpy and in pain, trapped in his hotel room barely able to walk when he should be out with his team searching for a killer wreaking havoc on this poor town. As the team's leader he had a responsibility and by his own reckoning, he was failing miserably. “He's done more than enough.”

“Sir,” she said after a brief silence, and she kept her voice quiet as she waited to have his attention. She looked so serious that he decided he might want to sit down, this conversation was troubling her and he doubted whether it would be resolved quickly. He began busying himself with the rest of the case files, trying to clear a spot on the bed for himself. “He likes you.”

“I li-” he began, almost stupidly, but she shushed him, shaking her head. She was looking him right in the eye now, an intensely serious look on her face. Strange for her, always smiling, even through discomfort she could find joy. Her features were suddenly sharp, brows knitted together with concern. Out of the frying pan, into the fire she thought.

“He likes you. Thinks you're the bees knees, the cat's whiskers, the snake's hips, the kipper's knickers...”

“Garcia,” Hotch muttered, pressing his hand to his forehead in clear distress, but she continued, she was on a roll and very proud of herself. His discomfort didn't deter her, she was used to it. It was easy to ruffle his feathers if you knew where to find his soft spots, the breaks in his armor.

“The canary's tusks, the monkey's eyebrows...”

“Okay. Okay, Garcia, please.” He had nothing to say, nothing to add, he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the absurdity of her many statements.

“Do you...?” Her question never quite finished, but she waited there expectantly as if it had. He sat heavily on his bed, right on top of the remaining case files, and sighed. His ankle throbbed painfully the minute he took his weight off of it. It was a useful and brief distraction from the turmoil she was putting him through.

“I don't,” he started, closing his mouth before more words came out as jumbled as they sounded in his mind. “I'm not,” he tried again, and she smiled, nodding. Check.

“I know. You're both just so stupid, you know that?”

“I beg your pardon?” he asked, lifting his leg and crossing his injured ankle over his knee, rubbing at the sore places. Maybe he was stupid, but he figured he was allowed a pass, he'd been married for a long time, he didn't really know how to do any of this and Haley had just died – he wasn't sure what he should have been doing, he didn't have time to date people anyway, especially his colleagues who were just as busy as he was. She backtracked just a little, softened her tone, eased up on him. He was a pillar of strength but he wasn't unbreakable and she had just entered a minefield.

“It's just that if you like him and he likes you, it shouldn't be so difficult. He's a good man, he buys flowers and remembers birthdays and he opens doors and he's so kind and thoughtful and romantic and...”

“I know, Garcia,” he said softly, releasing his scowl. He knew all of the reasons he loved Morgan, all of the things that had tipped the scales inexplicably from friendship to love, knew the exact moment of his revelation, and he knew all of the reasons he couldn't pursue it. “It's complicated,” was what he finally settled on and she nodded, handing him the ice pack she'd been absentmindedly holding in her hands long enough that her fingertips were frozen and it was half melted. He accepted the gift gratefully anyway, draping it over his foot.

“Just because a thing is complicated doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile...” Checkmate. She left after that, knowing that she'd said just enough to make him sit and think for a few hours. Maybe nothing would come of it, but she'd tried. Morgan might kill her anyway. It was worth it, she had already convinced herself of that simple fact.

“WOMAN! You said WHAT?!” Morgan snapped, his voice raising more than a few octaves. He stood outside the hotel with Garcia, she'd managed to catch him before coming inside to get ready for dinner. They were all planning to eat together at the cafe down the road but Morgan was covered in mud after being in the woods all day and needed a change of pants and shoes before he would go out.

“I just wanted to make sure he knew, it's been so long...”

“Garcia, his wife just died,” Morgan said through clenched teeth. She flinched at the harshness of the words. She didn't need the reminder, she'd been on the call, she'd heard it, she'd felt her own heart burst wide open. There were still nights she woke to the sound of that gunshot ringing in her ears.

“Ex-wife, and I know,” she whispered. The wind had been taken from her sails. “But they've been divorced for like two years...how long is he supposed to be single before it's okay to date again? He's just alone all the time...”

“That's up to him, not you,” he was fuming but he was trying to keep it civil. His trust had been violated by the people he loved most, first Reid forcing him to change rooms and now Garcia just blurting out his affections as if he couldn't have just as easily done that on his own. “How am I supposed to go up there now?”

“You use your room key and open the door, dummy,” she said, and she tried to make light of the situation, tried to sound like she wasn't getting choked up over what she'd done. He wasn't having it. Without another word he made his way into the hotel and up to the top floor through the dark hallway. Before entering, he took a deep breath to settle his nerves, shoved one hand into his pocket to hide the way it trembled.

The room was dark, just a lamp in the corner near the bathroom lighting anything and it was clean. Case files were neatly stacked on the desk, the coffee pot was washed and drying, all of he and Hotch's clothes were hanging neatly in the closet, it was a vastly different room from the one he'd left just hours ago. Hotch was reclined against the headboard of the bed, his laptop open but dark on his lap, foot propped up on a pillow with a soggy warm ice pack draped over it. His head had fallen to the side and he was out cold so Morgan silently removed his boots and pants just inside the doorway, not wanting to get mud all over their carpet and crept over to where the clothes were neatly folded in the closet beneath the hanging suits and jackets. If he could manage it, he'd be able to change and slip back out undetected, let everyone know Hotch was sleeping and would miss dinner.

“What time is it?” Hotch whispered, cracking one eye open as Morgan pulled on his pants in the dark. Morgan smiled, he couldn't help it. His timing was impeccable.

“Seven,” he replied, zipping up. “We're heading to dinner. You coming?” Hotch considered it for a moment, he really had no desire to walk up and down any stairs on his sore leg but he was hungry and he'd been cooped up in that room all day – even he had his limits on solitude occasionally.

“Yeah,” he said finally, closing his laptop and sliding it off of his legs. He groaned as he bent his knees, preparing himself for the pain as soon as he stood. It wasn't as bad as he'd imagined, glad for small mercies, and he felt Morgan's eyes on him as he slipped on his socks and shoes and grabbed for his biggest coat. He was freezing, he'd turned the heat down to an acceptable level to try and find a middle ground but he hated every second of the way it crept into his bones. He and Morgan left the room together, one after the other, Hotch locking up on the way out. Morgan wanted to thank him for cleaning up the room, tell him he'd noticed and he really should have been resting but he appreciated it but it didn't seem like the right time so they walked down the stairs in silence. Together yet worlds apart, Hotch lost in his head just trying to manage the stairs without stumbling and looking a fool. Morgan went slower, he didn't turn around to watch Hotch limp down but he kept his own descent slow enough that he was close by just in case. It was a short, awkward walk to the cafe where everyone else was waiting, and they took the seats saved for them – two seats, side by side, between Rossi and Garcia. Suspicion was aroused in both of them and they made every effort not to look at one another, just making things worse for everyone. Rossi stood to pull out Hotch's chair, asked him how he was feeling, and Hotch brushed it off – I'm fine, he said, and everyone could see that was where he wanted the inquisition to stop so they veered off and asked Morgan what had happened and what they found.

“That moose was fuckin' HUGE,” he exclaimed, hazarding a glance or two in Hotch's direction to make sure he wasn't overstepping any boundaries in the story telling. “Evans looked like he was gonna shit himself when that thing ran at us. I'm really looking forward to being back in the city. Pigeons I can handle, this moose shit...”

“Speaking of moose shit,” Reid chimed in, raising his hand. “Did you know that it's commonly used as a fire starter because of their diets? I was told today that there are people who actually go out into the woods to find it, and then they dip it in wax and sell it. Mostly to tourists in hotel gift shops and corner stores, locals wouldn't ever buy it when they could just walk out their doors and find it.”

Morgan narrowed his eyes at Reid for a moment and shuddered. “Like I said...looking forward to getting back to the city.”

Rossi invited Hotch to his room for a drink after they'd finished at the cafe and he agreed, not wanting to rouse any suspicion by saying he'd like to go back to his single bed room with Morgan, which was exactly all that he wanted to do. The entire team seemed to be eyeing them throughout the night and Hotch felt about as under the microscope as he ever had been. He wound up sitting in Rossi's room with a glass of scotch warming him from the inside out, discussing the case first, how close they were and then Rossi blindsided him by bringing up Morgan, asking him what was going on there. It wasn't a lie when he said he didn't know but somehow Rossi saw through his purposeful nonchalance anyway.

“That kid's got eyes for you, Aaron,” Rossi remarked and Hotch smiled in spite of himself. It was all in the delivery, and sometimes the way Rossi put things to him just broke through all of his defenses in one fell swoop. Sometimes it startled him how well Rossi knew him, how one carefully constructed statement could wreck him, make him give up the ghost.

“He's not a kid,” he pointed out, noting that Morgan wasn't that much younger than he was, and at their age what did it really matter anyway? “Come on, Dave.”

“Come on what?” Rossi asked, feigning innocence as he poured more scotch into Hotch's glass. He considered protesting, he really wasn't supposed to be drinking, not while they were on a case and certainly not considering the cocktail of medications he was taking these days but the warmth and the airy feeling helped him forget the throbbing in his foot and that was about as much convincing as he needed in order to continue.

“Nothing is going to happen.” He sounded so sure of himself that it almost broke Rossi's heart, he knew where that kind of statement came from. Fueled by his grief at losing Haley and the crushing knowledge of what he'd done to Foyet, it was easy for him to cut himself off, decide that everyone would be better off if they just didn't get too close. He was a wrecking ball, good intentions be damned. But that wasn't the case, Rossi knew, especially not for Morgan – he'd seen that look in Morgan's eyes. This wasn't Donny Osmond's Puppy Love, this was years of utter devotion and crushing defeat and willful persistence. There were times that he felt Morgan's eyes on him, when he'd first joined the team, sensed a sort of anger or jealousy at the ease Hotch found with him, the way Hotch almost clung to him and pushed everyone else aside for a time. Rossi had intended to try and talk Hotch out of a mistake, that was his goal, and now he was suddenly not sure whether the mistake was pursuing this thing with Morgan or avoiding it. Another glass of scotch would help him decide.

“You like him,” Rossi accused, finally deciding that the mistake would be encouraging Hotch to continue hiding under his rock.

“I love him,” Hotch corrected, his voice somber as he stared into the depths of his drink. “Always have.” He didn't elaborate, and Rossi knew that he might be the only person who could take a statement like that for what it really was – it didn't mean he'd been in love with Morgan from the time they'd met, it didn't even necessarily mean that he was in love with Morgan now. It simply meant that Morgan owned real estate in Hotch's heart and he didn't know what to do with it. How to dissect it, what it was, what it wasn't, he rarely paid any mind to his own feelings.

“I know,” Rossi said finally, leaning forward. “Maybe you just need to be honest with him. Stop playing games and ignoring the signs. Get it out in the open...but hey, what do I know? I've been married three times, I'm no expert on anything except good scotch these days.”

As Hotch limped back up to his room, wishing the dizzy feeling in his head had translated better to pain management, he planned his speech. What he would say, how he would respond to everything he thought Morgan might say, how he could fix whatever this situation was that he suddenly found himself in. When would he learn? Suddenly he was a boy again, incapable of comprehending the situation at hand, how he'd landed right in the middle of something so complicated when he spent the majority of his waking hours just trying to slink through the shadows undetected. He worked best in the background, under the cover of secrecy where he could do big things and take care of people all without ever needing to shout HERE I AM COME AND THANK ME. He never wanted to be found. There was only a shred of him that was clinging to some joy, some gladness that, for a few hours at least, his mind hadn't been consumed by death. There were no new bodies, they had no leads, and one night of quiet didn't sound so bad.

He had some peace of mind in the interval between rooms, and he had the distinct feeling that things were finally going to be ironed out, they could clear the air and everyone would be the better for it. And it would have been a good speech, he knew, except that Morgan's muddy boot was in his path from the doorway to the bathroom, hidden in the shadows and existing only to ruin a perfectly decent night. He cursed it as he caught it with the toe of his own boot, as he dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks, groaning in pain. He'd been so careful all day of his foot, and in one slightly inebriated moment it all came crashing down, his swollen ankle ending up beneath him and he just sat in stunned silence suddenly very sober. He pressed his hands to the throbbing injury, sucking in his breath, seeing stars.

“Hotch?”

“I'm fine,” he hissed, and then the light was on and he was sitting on the floor grasping his injured foot in his hands staring at Morgan lying in bed without a shirt on. He noticed, in that brief moment of stunned pain, that the room was warm – not just warm, but Hotch warm. Morgan had turned the heat back up. He briefly considered what that meant, ignoring the pain in his foot. It meant the same thing as he had when he cleaned up the mess he'd made, when he'd turned the thermostat down. They were playing an endless game of mousetrap, just baiting the other with kindness, with acts of service instead of using their words. Maybe Garcia was right, they were being stupid. When he came back to the moment, he felt Morgan's hands sliding under his arms, helping him to his feet. His hands found Morgan's forearms, gripping tight, holding on for dear life.

“You had a few drinks huh?” Morgan asked and Hotch nodded, smiling.

“Two,” he said, as if it helped. He wasn't drunk, not by a long shot but his edges were softened, his muscles no longer coiled and tight. He hung there against Morgan, gathering his bearings, breathing one two three as he adjusted to the heightened throbbing from his foot to his knee, painful but somehow inconsequential. “Morgan...”

“No, please not now. Not while I'm holding you like this,” he begged, because he couldn't take it. He couldn't take the letdown. He'd been anticipating it all night, for Hotch to tell him he was flattered but there couldn't be anything between them, he'd heard that speech before a million times when he searched for love, real connections. He sought out meaningless fun to protect his heart, collecting phone numbers in an effort to soothe the ache of loneliness. And when he was holding Hotch so close, feeling the weight and warmth of the other man against him, he didn't think he could take it. “In the morning okay? We'll talk in the morning.”

Hotch smiled and Morgan thought it was cruel the way his desperation was being mocked. He was in nothing but boxer shorts, temptation or salvation Hotch wasn't sure but he let his fingers dance against Morgan's stomach, just taking in the warmth of his tawny skin. He existed there in the small moments with ease, quiet places and shadows breathing life into him.

“Now,” Hotch whispered, feeling his inhibitions melt away on a sea of dusty hotel heater warmth. It was a dangerous combination mingling with the scotch, releasing him from his shackles. Words floated through his mind, perfect words, terrible words, but none made it so far as his mouth, he locked them up tight. Instead, he leaned forward and used his mouth for something he much preferred to talking. Endless words, carefully prepared and rehearsed meant less than the warmth of skin on skin, the rush of blood and the thundering of a heart still miraculously beating no matter how many times it was broken. Morgan's muscles tensed at the intrusion yet it took him almost no time to adapt, to pull Hotch closer to him, flush against his exposed skin.

“Why me?” Hotch asked, letting his head fall heavily against Morgan's shoulder when they came up for air, lifting the weight off of his painful ankle. “You can do better.”

“I know,” Morgan replied with a sly grin, pulling him toward the bed. “But maybe I don't wanna. No more talking tonight. Just shut your pretty mouth and come to bed.”

The bed was so small, their bodies took up so much space. It was the first time they'd tried to occupy it together and in spite of the heater somehow he still found himself feeling chilled so he lay as close to Morgan as he could. He was a thief, siphoning Morgan's sunlight into himself, pressing in close to take as much as he could into his icy dark places. Morgan pulled Hotch against him, wrapped his arms around his midsection and gave freely of his warmth and comfort all night. It was the first time in a very long time that Hotch had been held, had felt the closeness of another heart and breath on his skin. If it served no other purpose beyond that night, if in the morning it came to pass that he'd somehow only been dreaming, he was at least due for a new memory, a new thing to cling to when he felt too unbearably alone. Morgan pressed his face into the back of Hotch's neck, kissed the precious places softly and breathed in deep.

“I love you,” he mouthed, no sound came out but Hotch knew what he'd meant, could read the way his skin erupted in goosebumps beneath Morgan's warm breath, and without giving it a second thought, he whispered it back.

When they came down for breakfast in the morning, Morgan walking beside Hotch now, steadying him as he limped down the stairs, the first thing Garcia saw was their hands intertwined. She thought for a moment it could have been utilitarian, Morgan was just helping Hotch get down, but when they hit the bottom and didn't separate right away, when they approached the couches full of their friends and colleagues with hands still clasped together, and when they sat side by side without breaking apart, she knew. Which was good, because if either of them were being honest, they had no idea what it was they were doing but they were going to do it anyway and they would need all the help they could get.

"Pay up, suckers," Rossi announced, waving his open hand before all of them. Garcia scowled.

"It was me," she said. "I did that."

"You wish, kid," he replied, and Spencer stood, pushing himself into the mix. JJ and Prentiss sat back and watched the scene unfold before them, both knowing no one really had to do anything, those two idiots would eventually have just figured it out on their own anyway and besides, they weren't exactly looking forward to the arguments that were going to increase tenfold now that they were going to be sharing both professional and personal spaces. Things were about to get interesting.

"Hey, I'm the one who made them share a room," Spencer added indignantly when a quiet moment allowed. Morgan glanced at Hotch and nodded toward the front door, pulling him away from their arguing colleagues and out into the crisp morning air.

For once, it wasn't them doing the bickering.

[tricewithaz]

THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.

[omegangrins]

Chibnall, Children, Choice and Consequence

Allow me to introduce a companion piece to A Treatise on the Doctor:

It's pretty simple:

Chibnall knows what he's doing and is playing a long game to show how the Doctor needs to take more responsibility.

Let me start off with my favorite examples. That's right, plural.

Every single villain 13 faces is never defeated, merely pushed away from causing them any immediate problems. Tim Shaw being the prime example.

1&10. Seriously, Tim Shaw. Her plan was to use his own bombs on him and then teleport him off the planet. Even without Ranskoor Av Kolos, the Doctor should have thought to check in on him. Especially after The Ghost Monument showed the Stenza were a greater threat than she knew. She still hasn't even checked up on WHAT THE HELL THE STENZA ARE! They sound worse than Daleks but naw, let's go rain-bathing in the upper tropics of Canstano instead.

2. Ghost Monument. We saw the END of an interuniversal race. What the fuck is the beginning that got them there? Who is Illyn and how and why did he orchestrate a super race?

3. Krasko. Sent back in time. Really, Doc? Not gonna take a look at the device and see where Ryan sent the prick so you can double check that he's not gonna cause anymore damage?

4. President Trump analog. Ooooo, you looked at him menacingly, Doc, that'll show him!! Not like he's gonna KEEP DOING ILLEGAL SHIT LIKE THIS.

5. The Pting. She literally shunted it off ship to be dealt with by someone else BUT DOESN'T GO BACK TO BE THAT SOMEONE ELSE ONCE SHE HAS HER TARDIS. That's like leaving a living nuke floating around after sweeping it under the rug while you fly off to Paris.

6. The Pakistani-Indian conflict still happens and millions still die. Not her fault but still....

7. Kerblam. Sure, Charlie's terrorism was solved but not the underlying problem that led to it. Humans still can't work because corporations like profits over people.

8. Similar to the Punjab, how you gonna solve sexism, classism and all the -isms?

9. WHY WAS THE SOLITRACT THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE??!! It's been around since before the universe. Why'd it decide to come back now? It's a whole universe trying to hug our universe to death. Maaaaaaybe we should check out why.

11. She's gets a pass on the Dalek. Fucking impossible to eradicate them.

12. The Master!!! Finally she checks up on something after the adventures... and it's horrible. With everything gone to shit in her absence. Seeing a pattern yet?

And Barton? And the Cassaven? They didn't disappear into smoke.

13. Multiple Earths being multiply fucked. Remember when I said the Doctor couldn't solve racism, classism, sexism, or any of the other -isms? Starting to look like she needs to TRY.

14. The Skithra FLY OFF after getting hit by a laser beam. That kind of thing tends to piss people off. Even if they're idiots using other's technology.

15. Jack. The Judoon. The Ruth Doctor. All things I'd start checking out if I had a time machine BUT

16. WE CAN'T cause the TARDIS emergency alert is going off and we need to hurry up and run and solve this problem before we run out of time in our TIME AND SPACE MACHINE. Leading to another problem the Doctor could help solve but won't. Plastic and over-consumption.

17. Oh yeah, let's trap two Eternals from another universe in the same place. There's NO WAY that could ever turn out bad.

18,19,20. And again. Cyberium. Pushed off Shelley onto herself and onto Ashad and onto The Master.

That's almost 20 "enemies" the Doctor still needs to deal with.

Oh, not to mention that they let UNIT go defunct because they didn't have the forethought to ask if they needed any money in their alien fighting budget. After asking for an office, a desk, and a job. Kinda funny that way, aren't they?

I hope by now you've gotten the idea that this is VERY deliberate. This is Chibnall laying down some very heavy pipe to smack the Doctor like a clothesline. There isn't a one of these situations that can't come around to bite her in the ass.

Barton, Roberts, Skithra. These are all very loose strands for a time traveller like the Doctor to get tripped up on. Chibnall's past episodes prove it. They're all about the Doctor learning how to take responsibility.

42: The Doctor almost gets Martha killed and almost gets himself killed trying to fix it.

The Hungry Earth: The Doctor (a thousand year old "adult") tells Elliot (a 10 year old kid) that "Sure it's totally fine to go get your headphones while we prepare for an approaching unknown alien force." And 11 rightfully gets his ass chewed for it by the child's mother when the kid goes missing because OF COURSE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS, JACKASS!

Cold Blood: I could write an entire essay about the Doctor's guilt over the Silurian/Human conflicts they've witnessed, but I don't need to. Because every single Silurian centered episode written in the new era is from Chris Chibnall. And you can feel the sad knowledge of Classic Who spill through. He KNOWS how many times the Doctor has fucked up with the Silurians (about 8 times in television format. And it's rough everytime. Rough.) and he writes those episodes like an apology on behalf of the whole human race. And the Doctor. You know why people are put off by Warriors of the Deep? 5 releases a gas that melts the Silurians. And though it's cheesy, the idea and execution is still horrible.

Add to that if the Doctor hadn't stopped to check the crack, then Rory wouldn't have waited and been around to be shot then absorbed by the time crack.

Power of Three: An entire episode about how the Doctor has a problem slowing down and really taking account of the lives of their companions.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: The Doctor actually tries to be responsible and pick the right people for a job. For once. But gets angry when they realize it's too late and there's another bunch of Silurians they failed to save. Classic!

Like I said, if you can't see the pattern, you're not paying enough attention to your responsibilites.

Which leads me to the why.

When you fly around time and space for thousands of years, you develop a few duties of care along the way. In every situation, you're the oldest. Technically the only adult in terms of experience. You have a responsibility to act a little less rude and be a bit more aware than needing cue cards to tell you that you should be sad about things around you. And that's the purpose of 13. She's unlucky but learning. Like 12 telling himself something with his face he couldn't say out loud, 13's instincts are leading her to a new place for the Doctor: being a caring, responsible person. Not so much laughing hard or running fast, but being kind. It's the one thing they recognized as a problem in themselves when seeing 1. Being a Doctor is about being kinder than that. Just because you HAVE to saw someone's leg off, that doesn't mean you can't wait a little and comfort them before you do it.

You wanna know what gave me every faith in Chibnall showrunning Doctor Who? 13 staying for Grace's funeral.

Do you understand how unprecedented that is? This is the same person who never said Goodbye to Jo Grant as she got married and fucked off into the night. The same Doctor who said, "I don't do domestic.", did it with Rose a regeneration later, and then closed himself off to everyone but a married couple he felt guilty about who ended up birthing his wife. Have you any idea the number of funerals the Doctor should have the common decency to sit through? This many.

So for 13 to stay around for the death of a woman she has only just met and not only that, BUT call out Ryan's father for not doing the same, it shows tremendous character growth. It's taken millennia but they're still changing.

Something similar happens with Rosa and The Witchfinders. Realizing that there a lot of companions who have been in situations that are sometimes worse than aliens, but they still manage to make it through. So she needs to buck it up and persevere for everyone else.

That's where her anger comes from, and really it's one of my favorite traits on her. It reminds me of 7. Someone impossibly old and impossibly kind saying to hell with it and at least having some fun with the evils who drag us through the universe. And just like Cartmel planned for 7, 13's past will come to haunt her.

That's where children come in. Most of us are crying babies to the Doctor.

There's this thing you notice most in British shows about answering the question directly as asked. Someone says "Are you sure?", you answer "Sure". That's a direct acknowledgement that you heard the question, understood it, and processed it enough to respond in a manner directly correlating to the question asked. Yas and Graham got it and said "Sure" but Ryan missed it and said "Deffo". This is like Elliot with the headphones. The Doctor should have immediately been like, "Okay, Ryan, it's obvious that you're still dealing with the trauma of your grandmother's death and probably not processing things on a logical level. I said "Are you sure?" Not "Are you deffo?" Because we are most definitely not deffo, Ryan. Graham, you wanna help here?"

I'm being sarcastic for points sake but you understand the idea. The Doctor knows better and has a responsibility as such. She should've really sat down with Ryan and Graham and seen if there was a better way to process their grief.

Because I'm fairly certain that "Deffo" is gonna lead to Ryan's death and Graham's cancer resurging as time cancer (I don't know what time cancer is. I just know it's bad.)

And that is gonna piss Yas off. Which will give you all that character you think she's missing (she isn't. Her character is in her subtleties and silences.). That's WHY her character is a police officer (like how does no else see that the man who wrote Broadchurch wrote an inspector character companion?) Imagine you're Yaz and you see the Doctor flying around in a big, magic box that says POLICE. As a fellow officer, you're gonna expect some basic safety protocols.

Like do a background check on everyone flying in the TARDIS to know whether they're stable enough (mentally, physically, emotionally) for time and space travel. It's no picnic. These people are going to go through hell. A little vetting and planning like Time Heist or Dinosaurs on a Spaceship goes a long way.

Secondly, full fucking disclosure.

"Oh. I can't die because I change my body. Oh. I have arch enemies that will try to kill and torture us any chance they get. Oh. My home planet is full of the biggest assholes in the universe and I'm including my arch enemies."

Third, police like to do this thing called "check-ups" where they go back to the scene of the crime in order to see if there is any more information that can be gleaned which you might not notice when you are busy running around trying not to be killed... Like, the Doctor has the perfect machine to do this with, but nope. Adventure done, run to the next place!!

These are all things you'd expect any reasonable person to do and say when taking others flying off into time and space and "helping". Even if they are an idiot passing through and learning. Especially when you consider the Doctor is vastly older and more experienced than everyone they encounter. They SHOULD know better. And they've got the lifespan to slow down. It's not like they need to be in a hurry because they're going to die at any moment like humans. The Doctor could easily stay for tea and it would be less than a drop in their lifespan.

Now, as usually is the case when I make these theories, I have a parts 1,2,3,4 and 6. There's allways this 5th piece I miss but I manage to get at the end.

But the 6th piece is the Timeless Child. The Doctor isn't a Time Lord anymore. They're not beholden to those people and ideas anymore. Even moreso, those people basically raped her childhood for their own gain so it's not like you'd really listen to them and their "policy of non-intervention".

I'm sensing a coming Trial of a Time Lord season (even believing these two seasons are the opening statement and preliminary evidence of the trial itself) wherein the Doctor finally gets the turnaround 6 deserved. A Trial of the Time Lords, if you will.

"In all my travels through time and space I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here! The oldest civilization: decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core! Power mad conspirators? Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen — they're still in the nursery compared to us! Ten million years of absolute power: that's what it takes to be really corrupt!"

This is what it's all coming down to. Chibnall's takedown of the Time Lords. And The Master is going to play the most crucial role of all.

They're going to be revealed as an Ux alongside the Doctor and show how the only constants they have in this universe are each other and it's about damn time they work together and tell these high collars to eat Schitt while they explore every star and planet they can find.

Come on, the episode is called The Timeless "Children". If it was just the Doctor it'd be called "The Timeless Child". The Master says as much with the misdirect line, "built on the lie of the Timeless Child." since we see two kids playing in that flashback.

"Since always. Since the Cloister Wars, since the night he stole the moon and the president's wife, since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie, can you guess which one?"

Now we know which one was a lie, we know the Master HAS known the Doctor since they were a little girl. THAT little girl...

But this is all just speculation. It's not like Chris Chibnall could have been thinking about this for the past 40 years and was given a blank slate to do whatever he wanted for five years on his favorite TV show. If y'all want to think he took those reigns and is choosing to make things worse...

Well then you don't know much about responsibility.

I'll let the man himself tell you about it.

"Very early in my career,” says Chibnall, “someone told me that you learn more from a failure than you do from a success. And then I lived out that phrase for a year in Los Angeles. I learned that I would not work that way again or be put in that situation again.” The essential lesson was: “You either have to be in total control of a show or working with people who share your vision and will work with you to achieve it. Also, never work with 13 executive producers.

“Camelot was the classic case of too many cooks. It wasn’t a harmonious set-up and I think that does manifest itself on screen.

“I had a fantastic cast but you have to be free to tell the story you want to tell in the way that you want to tell it. What ended up on screen was not what I wanted and so it is a blemish on my CV.”

Credit to @thirteenthdoc

“You immortals - so entitled, so spoiled. You never clear up after yourselves and you always leave stuff lying around.” - Thirteenth Doctor in Can You Hear Me?