#I guess this could be considered spoilers if it comes out true

[nburkhardt]

Was talking with a friend about the avengers doomsday cast list and I’m saying it now and having low expectations ✌️

(I’m the purple)

[thekinslayed]

I Come To You A Sinner

summary | Aemond's wife has been made aware of his whereabouts by Aegon.

pairing | aemond targaryen x wife!reader

tags | spoilers to s2e3 ahead! miscommunication, angst, infidelity, aemond can't open up, aegon is the worst, thoughts of fratricide

wordcount | 2.3k

note | sorry to rub salt into the already gaping wound that is ep3 aemond 💔 but that whole scene was unbelievable omfg it is over for aegond i fear

likes, comments, reblogs are much appreciated!

“Where have you been?”

She was staring into the hearth when he returned. It was evident she had already been asleep, but had awoken by a disturbance of some kind. It was unlike her to be awake so late, though Aemond could guess what brought her out of bed to fasten on her robe, to wait for him.

He could still hear his cackle, Aegon’s, as the curtain that shielded him from prying eyes was swatted away unceremoniously, revealing his whereabouts. He remembered how his little entourage stared at him, how their stunned gazes brought about prickles of humiliation in the back of Aemond’s spine. They threatened to laugh. He saw it in the twinkle of their eyes, in the subtle lift in the corners of their lips. 

“It is late, dear wife, why have you not rested?” he said. His steps towards her were small, careful. Perhaps she doesn’t know. That would be preferable. He had already been found out once tonight, and if he could save her from the knowledge of his shame, there was naught he would not do. 

“Aegon was here,” she responded, and it was then she finally turned to him. Her eyes were bloodshot, the skin around them was puffed from the tears she had evidently shed. The prickle in Aemond’s spine returned, only now it was coupled by a hammering pang in his chest. He had done this to her.

“At least he had the decency to tell me where you were, after many nights of being left in the dark by mine own husband. Though his delivery of the message was a bit cruel, I’ll admit.” 

The dark chuckle that left her lips held no sort of amusement, but a clear sputter of disbelief and betrayal. Aemond was stuck in his place, unsure of how to speak to her, unknowing of what would happen to them now that his sin was laid out in the open.

“It is not what it seemed–”

“What is it, then? When your brother catches you in a brothel with a whore, what else am I to think, Aemond?” she burst, rising to her feet to look at him. Her chest heaved as she regarded him with a look so different than what he was used to. There used to be such warmth in her gaze, reserved only for him, not the fracturing hurt she bestowed on him now. He couldn’t look at her, and so he settled his eye elsewhere. A futile attempt to escape what had already caught up to him.

“You’ve told me of what had happened to you there, what she made you do, and yet you’ve crawled back to her? After everything that’s happened?” she questioned, desperate. He could hear the break in her voice, and he could only imagine the quivering of her lips into a frown. A scoff left her lips, and Aemond could see her desperate attempt to wrap her around this, but her despair had gotten the best of her. 

“W-why… Why would you even want to go back there? What is it in her that you can’t find in me?”

Aemond couldn’t say it. His mind refused to let him say it. In truth, he couldn’t recall how his feet had led him back there, all he knew was it brought a temporary soothing to an ache that had sprouted in the days after Lucerys’ death. He wouldn’t dare speak his sin into words, to solidify his betrayal of the love for his wife. How ever could he tell her the truth of it? How ever could he admit that the only way for him to find a sense of order in his life, however misconstrued, was to return to the woman who had been a figure of his torment? 

“Do you want me to lie to you?” he asked. 

A fool’s answer. A true coward, he is. Many people would consider him otherwise, but in front of his wife, he was no warrior. Utter shame coupled with his ego prevented him from coming clean. How could he? He had gone too far. He expressed no remorse when he had come home to her, drenched, after Storm’s End, no, he even acted proud. In his heart of hearts, Aemond knew that the one person who could see him as he was was his wife, yet he refused to let it be. He had gone through his whole life a rigid soldier, a scholar, the image of the fearsome dragon of Valyria. He didn’t know how to dismantle the shackles that held him upright.

Yet he had seen his fault now in the face of his wife, his love, who visibly crumbled before him.

“Was I not good enough?” she asked, quietly, as a lone tear streaked down her cheek. He couldn’t bear to see her like this, to have him so far from his grasp as the ever-growing space between them turned the air cold. Aemond approached her, arms lifted open to take her into his grasp, but she flinched away. A shatter in his chest brought about a thick lump in his throat, one he couldn’t swallow. 

“My love,” he whispered, a solemn plea for her to see him. She hugged her arms to her chest, looking away as she blinked away the fat, traitorous tears that beaded down her cheeks. Aemond took hold of her elbow, his grip desperate as she fought to wiggle her way out of his grasp. He couldn’t let her, he cannot. This hellish war, this irreconcilable damage would all be futile if he lost her, he couldn’t let that happen. But she wouldn’t even spare a glance at him. 

“Can’t you even look at me?” he beseeched in despair. 

A sob was her only response. She had slapped a hand to muffle her cries, but it had broken through the barriers that kept him away from her. Aemond descended to his knees, hugging her legs to his chest. His good eye stung with something hot, something wet. He clung to her skirts like a beggar, a sinner praying for retribution.

“Please… please…” he grieved. Her robe was growing spotted with his tears, and her grip on his shoulder was punishing as she pushed and pushed to get him away from her. She slapped him, had pulled on his hair to get him to release his hold, but he never relented. “You have to understand,” he muttered. 

“I cannot even try to begin to do so, Aemond! How can I?” she wept. “How could you even think we could recover from this?”

“My love… my light… I beg of you.” It was pathetic to whoever would witness him like this. The Kinslayer, on his knees, pleading for forgiveness to the wife he had wronged. There was much he had done that was far worse, far more cruel, but to have hurt her was his greatest crime of all.

A shrill cry had pierced through the night air. Her head snapped to her babe. Their babe. With a firmer push on his shoulder, his wife freed himself from his grasp to where their son wailed for his mother. She took him into her arms, soothing the child with her gentle caress and shushes. Aemond could only watch. He watched the babe nestled into the crook of her neck, how she wiped his tears away while hers continued to fall. She pressed her nose into his scalp, the milky scent of his flesh a welcome comfort to her otherwise crumbling sanity. 

Aemond waited in agony, keeping his space lest he aggravated her any further. Every cry of their babe was another sword pierced through his heart, leaving him to bleed out while his family floated away from his grasp.

He had settled after a few minutes, descending back into slumber as his mother returned him to his cradle with a kiss on his forehead. The silence was deafening. The dying hearth was unable to break the cold that sent shivers under Aemond’s skin. He called out to her once more. Another full beat of silence passed through the room before she spoke.

“What did I do wrong, Aemond?” she whispered, turning to him. Her eyes were a painful red from how much she had been crying, but she wanted to know. “Tell me, you owe me that much.”

“I owe you everything, darling,” he responded, moving closer to her. Aemond closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her back into his chest. He pressed kisses onto her shoulder, reverent… repentant. “You have done nothing wrong,” he said into her skin, his voice low. “It is my fault and my fault alone. You have done nothing wrong.”

He turned her around to face him, and she allowed him to do so. Albeit, unwillingly, but his wife was tired. It was evident in the way her eyes had run out of tears to weep, yet she remained broken all the same.

“I have wronged you. Allow me to pay for my sin. Let me make things right. I promise you, I will make it all right,” he pleaded. Perhaps he could make her see, convince her to forgive him. It was a fool’s wish, but the prince could hardly consider himself a wise man now. A flicker of hope thumped excitingly in his chest when her fingertips caressed his jaw, but the furrowing of her brows dampened whatever fire he thought he had stoked.

“I can’t,” she responded, shaking her head. She pulled herself away from his grasp once more, leaving them both cold and alone. Aemond hung his head low in shame. He felt sick to his stomach. The full weight of his doing had dragged him straight into the mud, while the love he could only ever carry for his wife throbbed painfully in his chest. “I can’t stay here. I can’t live with this.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. You are my wife, you cannot leave me.”

She was starting to step away from his grip, but he couldn’t let her. Aemond tried to cage her in his arms, but she fought back with strong pushes against his chest. There was a desperation in the one-eyed prince no one had ever known, until now. His pleas echoed through their apartments, cut off by a resounding slap on his cheek. The sting on his flesh was warm, keeping him awake in this reality. He could’ve prevented this, had cut off the poison from its roots if only he had the will to do so, but he had not. The stubbornness in his dragonblood and his refusal to acknowledge the rot in him had let it happen. He had let it grow and fester, spoiling everything he had until it took away the one most precious to him.

She regarded him with coldness, detached like a stranger. His wife looked away, sniffling.

“You are no husband of mine.”

Aegon slept like a boar when he was drunk.

The fucker had gotten back before he did, slithering his way back to the Keep with what Aemond was sure was a maniacal look on his face to tattle to his wife what he had found out.

The king’s chambers almost resembled a pigsty. Cups scattered about, along with some phallic wooden figurines that Aemond’s mind refused to imagine what he even used them for. Their father’s model was gone. At least the twat did one thing right.

But the smell. It was almost like Viserys’ rotting stench remained, haunting them all forever. It was enough to have Aemond scrunch his nose in disgust, but it didn’t repel him completely. No, he had come for something.

His brother laid out like a starfish on his bed, pasty flesh bright against the shadows of his apartments. His snores echoed through the vast chamber. Aemond’s presence did not alert the king at all, his sense of danger dampened by liquor. 

The second son watched him, sneering, before turning around in search of something. It glinted like a beacon under the moonlight, beckoning him closer. The Conqueror’s catspaw dagger stood tall, its sharp tip pierced into the wood of Aegon’s side table. Aemond tested its weight in his hand, getting familiar with the feel of its handle. It was heavy, burdened with its importance to them and their legacy. An imbecile like Aegon had no right to wield it. It belonged to someone worthy of power, of glory. 

Putting his brother on the throne had cost Aemond too much, yet he had been rewarded so little. It cost him his control, his sanity. It cost him his wife. His own brother had played a major hand in his torment, and it was high time the second son was granted his retribution.

It was all too easy to kill him now. One plunge into his slumbering form, and this would all end. It would save everyone much trouble and with a better king on the throne. Save the realm from much horror and bloodshed, that was the power Aemond currently held. No, he wanted him to suffer. He wanted to gaze into the elder’s eyes as he pleaded for mercy. The younger longed to feel his brother’s flesh under his boot, just before he crushed him to pieces. There was no honor in killing a sleeping man, yet again, there was no honor in killing one’s own kin either. There was no honor in any of this, and the one-eyed prince found himself uncaring. The gods had already shunned him, right under the thunderous clouds of Storm’s End. Honor will not save him now, nor any of them. That is why they allowed him to lose his wife. 

Perhaps he was too harsh on the gods, they have to deal with this headache of a war as it is. This was no other’s fault but his after all.

But he is owed by his brother. For many, many things.

The second son set the dagger back in its place. He will be patient. He will have his chance soon enough. Aegon will pay for his sins; Aemond will make sure of it. 

[levshany]

about the Mindscape in Tandem AU

I really want to talk about Colibri, but I have to be careful because I can’t spoil too much. spoilers for Tandem are spoilers for "The Dawn". Therefore, I cannot yet explain some moments. But it's fine for the mindscape I guess. After all this is one of the most delicious parts of the story >:3

those of you who have read "At The Dawn Of The Light" know that Philip had the same dream for ten years in a row, where he is small and lives in his old house with Caleb. and Philip convinced himself that this was true reality, and the Boiling Islands were a nightmare

but then Philip, carelessly, without thinking it over, allowed Collie to come to him in his dreams. and at the same time he opened access to his mind, which later ended with Collie possessing Philips body in order to prevent him from “falling asleep forever”

In Mindscape, Collie set himself the following goals: to restore Philip's mind, make him stop considering his dream to be reality and make him want to return to the REAL reality

Both tasks turned out to be much more difficult than Collie thought. First, in Philip's mind he was completely powerless. he cannot in any way influence the surrounding space, and therefore he's not able to simply restore the forest of memories with a snap of his fingers. And secondly, Pip (surprisingly) doesn't want to be dissuaded of the falsity of his little world! No matter what cool logical arguments Collie puts forward, Philip just ignores or parries everything he says! The most offensive thing is that Pip actually understands perfectly well where the dream is and where the reality is, but for some reason he refuses to admit it. And and every time he runs away from answering, either disappearing into thin air in the middle of a conversation, or distracting Collie with something stupid. For example, he snatches his hat and starts a battle over it

Collie thought he could drag the surviving memories from the basement into the forest by hand, but Caleb wouldn’t let him. “How did Caleb end up here?”, those who have not read "The Dawn" will ask. and I will say that this is a part of Philip’s mind that performs a protective function and protects little Pip from unpleasant thoughts and gives advice on how to behave in situations. and the local Caleb regards Collie as a real threat, who with his mere presence breaks the “realness” of their little cozy reality, and even tries to make Pip remember some things that are unpleasant for both of them. each time Caleb caught Collie near the basement and drove him away. the only memory he allowed to return to the forest was Philip's first meeting with Collie

So it turns out that so far Collie can’t figure out how to help Philip. the only thing he can do now is get him out of the Boiling Isles. Replace this “nightmare” with some more pleasant dream, so that Philip is no longer afraid to at least wake up in this reality

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

Hii !! From the smut prompts (stop rolling your eyes, I know Im predicatable!) could I request "Accidentally Sending Nudes", "Sexting" and... a secret third thing (the choice is yours, go hogwild) for Jason x Fat Fem Reader? I'm leaning more towards sub!reader but shes def a little shit about it :3

Thank you in advance if you write it !! 🌼

See, this is why it pays to send in a request with me, because even if I don't answer it right away, I keep requests in my inbox for months and come back to them later!!! (This is from December 2023)

(Also this request is just plain fun) (because Star knows exactly what buttons to push to get me lmao)

DC Titans Requests - OPEN

How would Jason react to you accidentally sending him a nude?

(Jason Todd x Fem!Thick!Reader)

Warnings: set specifically in the Titans!verse - set during season 3/mentions of season 3 plot points; spoilers for major plot points of Titans (including character deaths on the show); this is kind of enemies to lovers? (enemies to fwb, I guess); the reader uses she/her pronouns and has a vagina; the reader is described as being fat/plus sized; passing mentions of Gar x reader (I couldn't help myself); dubious consent - because of the nature of the trope, Jason sees the reader naked without her explicit consent, and he decides to keep the picture without her consent - but it does spark a consensual sexual relationship between them; passing mention of using nudes for blackmail (that does not happen); this isn't really proofread; (generally, I consider this post to be a fucking mess because it was written in Tumblr but I was still trying to have fun with it lmao.)

...

Jason is minding his own business when it happens.

(For once in life, he is fully, completely, minding his own business.)

He's back in Gotham and he hasn't seen you in months - and if asked, he would say that he hasn't thought about you. He doesn't have time to think about you because he's been too busy with this therapy bullshit, training, trying to get back his title of Robin. Trying to get back in the cape. (And trying to get back in Bruce's good graces.)

But that's not exactly true. He's thought about you a lot.

(Most of those times have been with his hand around his cock, but again - he won't admit that.)

There is an occasional time that you cross his mind and it's because he's wondering genuinely how you're doing - wondering if you're well, how your training is going, wondering if you're doing okay under the Dickhead's reign. But he can't ever pluck up the courage to text you and simply ask. Because that would be admitting that he cares, and that would make him look like a weak little prick.

And that's why he's so damn surprised when you text him first.

He hasn't heard from you since he left the Tower (well, since he stormed away from Donna's funeral in what you called a 'toddler fit' - something that ended in a rather vicious text argument between the two of you). In fact, the last thing in the text history between the two of you is you calling him a 'giant, petty, whiny baby who can't deal with his own emotions'.

(You had no clue what had happened between him and Rose, so that did inform a lot of your opinion on the matter.) (And that was probably the reason why Rose still had all of her teeth after you had seen her at the funeral.)

But all of that was aside from the point.

The point being - Jason found himself smiling when your contact name popped up on his phone.

He has you in his phone as 'Pretty Girl' - along with a contact picture of you sticking your tongue out at him in response to having his phone shoved in your face with the knowledge that he was taking a picture of you. (That tongue always makes him think certain things, so even though you intended for it to be some rude thing to ruin the picture, it makes it so much better for him.)

(1) new photo

That instantly catches Jason's attention.

Perhaps you were sending him a picture just to flip him off, or sending him a picture of a dumpster to ask him if it reminded him of home - a common joke you used to make when he still lived at the Tower.

Jason grabbed his phone and opened the message, expecting another tired joke, and-

Holy fuck.

The last thing he was expecting - your naked body. Your gorgeous naked body.

(He likely would have expected a nuclear blast or for the Joker to clean up his act and actually become a decent, sane citizen before he expected this to happen.)

Jason brought his phone closer to his face, making the picture full screen in order to examine it better - he needed to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating, or that this wasn't some weird dream. But fuck, he definitely wouldn't be able to dream up this.

You were so perfect - so fucking perfect in a way that was so very real.

The picture was a fucking stunning side profile of your body - rolling curves, lacy underwear that could clearly barely contain your impressive hips with sweet little stretch marks jutting out from the fabric (jagged little marks across the softness of your skin that made Jason want to act up) - soft fat for him to grab onto, and the perfect teardrop shape of your breast, now bared to his eye in a way that he had only dreamt of before. Something that he had stared at through the oversized tee shirts you wore to bed without a bra, just wondering what you looked like underneath.

And fuck, this was so much better than anything he could have dreamt up.

Jason's cock began to harden almost instantly, and laying in bed, he reached over to his nightstand for some lube, ready to milk that picture for all it was worth, when-

His phone buzzed again.

Pretty Girl: 'Delete that.'

Jason hadn't even considered that you had sent it to him by mistake. He had been far too busy enjoying to even consider the intention or the psychology behind it.

So, he took his hand off the waistband of his sweats and texted back the first thing that came to mind.

'No.'

(He didn't hear your annoyed growl on the other end, frustrated at his downright typical Jason behaviour.)

'It's not my fault you made a dumbass mistake. Besides, it's the least I get after all the nagging from you.'

Then, something else came to mind as the bubbles popped up, meaning you were busy formulating a reply - an annoyed one, no doubt.

'Who did you mean to send it to anyway? Who are you fucking whose name starts with J that's not me?'

(You hesitated.)

Pretty Girl: 'I didn't type in J.'

'???'

Pretty Girl: 'I typed in G. And it turns out the first contact that popped up was Giant Baby. That's you.'

Jason felt annoyed and insulted on all levels. The fact that you were going to Tiger Boy for dick instead of him, and the fact that you had used such a mocking contact name for him. But when he realised that such a pathetic string of events had caused him to accidentally see you naked, he couldn't be too upset.

'I'm still keeping the picture 😈'

Pretty Girl: 'You're such an asshole' Pretty Girl: ... Pretty Girl: 'You owe me one'

'Fine, I'll owe you one'

Jason shrugged it off, thinking he had won, until -

Pretty Girl: 'No, you owe me a cock.'

This made Jason's stomach jump. You couldn't possibly mean-?

Pretty Girl: ... Pretty Girl: 'You owe me a picture of your dick. You know - an eye for an eye type stuff.'

Jason wanted to ask questions - what did you plan to do with the picture? Should he shave his balls first? Did you want more than one?

But his cock got even harder at you asking for a picture, at you demanding to see his cock, and he couldn't properly think - he couldn't even reason that you might later blackmail him with the picture.

No, instead, he found himself ripping down his pants and turning on the bedside lamp for good lighting, pumping himself up to peak rigid hardness and grasping the base of his cock in hand. And then, without hesitation, he snapped a picture for you. He made sure to get his abs in the photo - a collection of his best assets, with his pants pulled down to mid-thigh, showing off his tight stomach, the deep V leading down to his dick, and his thick seven inch cock in hand surrounded by some well-kept dark pubic hair.

(He was proud of it - and that ego was one of the things that annoyed you most about him.)

He sent it without hesitation and then you began typing several times and stopped once again. Jason's stomach churned with nerves until -

Pretty Girl: 'Fuck you' Pretty Girl: 'I thought it would be smaller'

Jason had no clue how to respond to that, and he was busy racking his brain for some clever reply, when -

Oh. Oh fuck.

(1) new photo

You had sent him another picture. And this time it was definitely on purpose.

It was a view between the plump, beautiful thickness of your thighs - your hand was inside the pretty lace of those panties, and your fingers were visible working on your clit while your needy hole dripped wetness onto the fabric.

So you had liked what you had seen.

Pretty Girl: 'What would you do if you were here right now?'

Jason's brain short-circuited then. He thought of so many things - eating your pussy until you screamed, flipping you onto your stomach and fucking you until you begged him to stop, gripping onto those gorgeous thighs, pinning them to your chest and pounding into your cunt until you finally surrendered and said that you had liked him all along, fucking your smart little mouth to finally shut you up-

Pretty Girl: 'Come on, Jay. Don't disappoint me.'

Oh, he won't.

(Another thing Jason won't admit - he came back to the Tower just for you.)

...

DC Titans Masterlist

[grandline-fics]

I can’t get the idea of Killer having a crush on a Straw Hat out of my head. What do you think would actually make him act on it? Or I guess how would he? (Pretending he actually would) 💖🖤 thank you in advance

DESCRIPTION: You’re a member of the Strawhats and he has a crush on you

WARNINGS: some minor story spoilers but other than that, none

CHARACTERS: Killer

WORDS: 695

A/N: Thank you for the request. This was my first time writing for Killer and I don't know where I was going with this but hopefully you like what I came up with for this

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN*

MASTERLIST

———————

When the Kid pirates first started making a name for themselves, they became interested in the other rookie rivals that they would be sharing the spotlight with. Naturally the likes of Law, Luffy and Zoro stood out the most to Killer as the ones to keep an eye on. Then the stories of Strawhat Luffy and his ever growing crew of unique and interesting members kept circulating and then when you joined the crew, Killer took note of your introduction bounty. While you weren’t quite considered among the Supernova’s it was still enough to pique his interest. 

It made him want to know more. It wasn’t exactly hard for his wish to come true; given who your crew was there was a story about you all and your adventures in the papers practically every week. Kid found his vice-captain’s interest in you amusing and even would go so far as to tease Killer about his crush, which was always furiously denied. It was just being thorough about the strength of possible rivals that they could run into in the future. Then the opportunity to see you and your crew in the flesh presented itself when they landed on Sabaody and all hell broke loose in the auction-house. 

You hadn’t really known much about Kid, Killer or the crew until that incident. In the middle of an attack, you flipped in the air and sailed down towards the masked pirate. To avoid hurting him, you hooked your leg around his waist and turned, knocking him to the floor with you landing on top on him. The impact was enough to lift his mask slightly and reveal his face to you and you grinned down at him. “Sorry about that, handsome.” You apologised while pulling his mask down into place. 

While you didn’t get why he’d hide his features, you guessed he had a reason for it. Suddenly you heard a Marine rushing towards you for a followup attack and threw your weapon up to block it. Quickly you dealt with them and got to your feet to let Killer finally stand. From behind you, Nami called your name which meant it was time to go. As you ran you looked over your shoulder to throw a lazy wave to Killer. “Let’s do this again sometime!” 

As appealing as that offer sounded to Killer, who was finally beginning to admit to himself after that meeting that he just maybe did have a crush on you the chance didn’t get to come up again until two years later when your paths crossed in Wano. Under the glow of the lanterns and in the middle of the lively atmosphere of a land finally celebrating their freedom you stood and watched in amusement as the captain of the Kid Pirates was in the middle of a shouting match with your captain and Law of the Heart Pirates. When you saw Killer about to approach the group in the hopes of calming his captain you subtly took his attention by stepping beside him. “You’re better leaving them to it. Those three are like little kids, they’ll tire themselves out eventually. Enjoy the night off for once.” When Killer turned to face him you smiled and handed him a drink. “Here, to make up for our less than conventional introduction in Sabaody.”

“You remember that?” Killer asked, slightly stunned. It had been two years and it had been so brief, he doubted the encounter had left such an impression for you. He could only watch behind his mask as your grin widened, your eyes sparkling at the memory, effectively proving him wrong. 

“Course I remember, definitely wouldn’t forget a face like yours in a hurry.” Killer tensed slightly when you winked and took a sip of your own drink. Killer considered your earlier statement and glanced to see the three Captains had finally calmed their squabbling at least for the time being. He supposed enjoying himself with your company wouldn’t be such a bad thing. After all, it had been two years in the waiting and who knew how long it would be before your paths crossed again after tonight.

[pastafossa]

So now that we've got some episode titles for Daredevil: Born Again and I can already see a few intriguing titles and have my thoughts on those below.

Putting it below a spoiler for anyone who wants to keep themselves free from seeing it.

BEGONE SPOILERS

No confirmation on whether these are in order, but:

Heaven’s Half Hour

With Interest

The Hollow of His Hand

Straight to Hell

Sic Semper Systema

Isle of Joy

Excessive Force

Art For Art’s Sake

Optics

With Interest: My theory is this where we'll see Foggy 'die' (as I've shared before, I don't actually think he's going to die, some interesting theories have been put forward supporting this as well), as revenge on Matt for something he's done. Thus Matt's action has been repaid, 'with interest'. This could also be Matt getting revenge on the person who hurt Foggy, but the first is where I'm leaning.

The Hollow of His Hand: at first I thought this might be a bible verse. Isaiah 40:12: "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" But I don't think that makes as much sense as what I found with a little digging, which is... incredibly ominous and lonely in true Matt fashion. From the hymn 'In The Hollow of His Hand: In the hollow of His hand He will hide me When doubt and sin draw near, Though no earthly friend may walk beside me, I rest secure from fear. I know whate’er betide me, His hand will safely guide me, His love will ever hide me In the hollow of His hand. In the hollow of His hand He will hide me When the storm is on the deep, And I know whatever may betide me, His vigil He will keep. In the hollow of His hand He will hide me When the storms of life sweep by, To the harbor safe He will guide me, Where His blessèd islands lie.

Straight to Hell: spiraling, party of 1?

Sic Semper Systema: this is interesting, and I'm wondering if this is a Frank episode. Normally this would be, 'Sic Semper Tyranis', a famous Latin phrase meaning, roughly, 'Thus Always to Tyrants', or the idea that tyrants will always be overthrown. By replacing this with Systema, or System (or whole), this becomes, 'Thus Always to the System/the Whole'. Feels very Frank-ish but could also be Matt towards a system that allowed Fisk to become mayor. But I'm guessing Frank, especially considering some of his episode titles.

Isle of Joy: from what I could find, this is a phrase used once or twice to refer to Manhattan, and is also the title of a novel. If it's simply a song reference, then this could be an ironic poke at Matt's isle of joy (Hell's Kitchen) being a miserable place. IF I were to put on my, 'reads too much into this' hat, this might reference a mid-90s spy/thriller novel called Isle of Joy, set in 1950s Manhattan. In it, a retired spy is framed for murder by his old CIA handlers and needs to come out of retirement to take them and the FBI on, as best I can tell. An attack on Foggy (one that we/Matt may even think leads to death) could be what pulls Matt out of retirement and gets him back as Daredevil. But I might be reaching there.

Art for Art's Sake: this is likely going to be where we're introduced to Muse.

That's what I got so far.

[wn11ow]

Unstable UNI lore rant/spoilers HII!!! lets do a mini rant that willl probably be 90% wrong but whatevs!!! Remember how I said in my last rant that wemmbu has completely ad utterly caved in on himself as a defense mechanism to further lower the chances of him being betrayed or abandoned???? how I said he leaves places in fear of that?

I would like to reiterate after a certain epiphany just about a day or two ago that Wemmbu only leaves when Eggchan is not with him. A certain 'hero dependent on sidekick' trope taken a serious turn. He leave skyciv because he was searching for egg and could not settle until he had found him, he left because egg(infamously his moral compass) was not there.

As much as i depict him as a person with commitment and abandonment issues, he seems to completely flip the switch when it comes to egg.

He could have fought for skyciv. He did not. Why? Egg wasn't there. For all that's worth it, the only wars he has fought are the ones where egg was right there beside him.

Again, I mean *to* egg. Not to others, he doesnt flip the switch to others just because egg is around. Nope, only to egg. I'd like to think the two places he CONSIDERED staying were Manepear and Zam because Egg was there. Those places were almost home not because there was a sense of safety there(he has, always thrived in chaos) but because could thrive in safety with egg.

And it's not onesided, Egg clearly thinks of Wemmbu as his 'day one' and is definitely attached to wemmbu as much as wemmbu is with him(maybe not as co-dependent, but still there in the attached spectrum)

Put that to the side. We know that Wemmbu thrives in chaos, he does! it's vehemently proven how he always picks fights, videos mostly pvp-centered. He loses himself in bloodlust, and thats not something he's ashamed of.

Shame only arrives in the picture, suitcase in hand, when someone dear to him is threatened(or useful.)

Specifically.... DingDingDing!!! You guessed it, Egg!

He started thinking with his head and not his inner desires when egg is IN the picture AND threatened. Referring to my previous words, he only seems to consider settling in peace and safety with Egg right beside him. Im referencing the ferre scene, when Zam held Egg captive, When Egg was coerced into joining the mafia and wemmbu was left all, all alone.

Not Wemmbu and Eggchan.

Wemmbu, Eggchan.

I say this SPECIFICALLY after the newest video uploaded. You SEE wemmbu wanting to settle, have a nice quiet life with Eggchan because He's FINALLY gotten it in that THICK NUMBSKULL of his that If he's in danger, so is Egg. So he decides that if he needs to diminish his need for chaos for egg to be safe, he will.

I do also think that fight with ClownPierce in the S1 finale was him laying down his sword and giving that voice in the back of his head chanting, 'chaos, blood, danger.' it's final win.

does NOT work out for him, as a sword is thrusted into his hand yet again and instead of adrenaline. He feels... annoyance.

Why can't he go out on his own terms? Why can't he finally put the sword down? Why can't he control his own life?

Why do the things and people he care about get put on the line because of HIS actions?

One hand of his holds a sword, the other holds a suitcase(ready to leave at anytime.)---Why can't one of his hands be free?

Oh wow. That took a fanfiction-y aspect, huh? I think I'm done. I'll probably rant more and contradict myself further the following days but this is it for now !!!!

And again, remember... 'I never actually expected you to finish anything. You were always leaving. I always pictured you with a suitcase in one hand.' Is UU!Wemmbu...(i mean i think so it rings pretty true with his character i mean not his pov but with how others view him not the meathead others i mean wato, probably after skyciv)

[glassautomaton]

What Is the First Magic, Anyways? (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love FGO Spoilers)

Out of the five instances of True Magic, the Second and Third are known about in some detail, the Fouth is a total unknown from what I can gather and simply hasn't been expanded upon in the lore quite yet, and the Fifth being shown, but not explained in detail, which is its own post. The First Magic falls somewhere in the middle here, where a few vague things are known about it and the person who attained it, but not much in the way of details.

What we do know for sure is that the Magician of the First Magic was Yumina, the First Witch, who founded the Meinster lineage and used the First to create Ploys, which were passed down to Alice Kuonji, considered to be the last pureblooded Meinster by 1989 following the 'death' of her mother. Based on some information about Witches and the Meinsters in particular from the FGO collab from back in April, I think I can hazard a strong guess as to what the First Magic actually is: authority over Mystics/Mysticism itself.

Some spoilers for FGO's Lostbelt 6, though nothing critical to the plot, as well as this translation of Alice Kuonji's FGO profile.

First off, some basic information about Witches and Yumina that was dropped a solid decade after Witch on the Moly Night first came out, because Nasu's a fucking comedian:

This establishes a few things, first and foremost that Alice is actually Yumina's descendant, that Witches aren't human and are instead closer to faeries (although I'm not sure if they can be considered true faeries as this is phrased like they were created by an individual rather than born from the land or the Inner Sea), and that the daughters of Witches are essentially the next vessel for a singular consciousness, such that lineages are more like a single individual with several reincarnations. Not all of this information is actually completely relevant to this point but how insane is it that Alice got a lore drop for the first time in a decade and it was buried in the ass-end of a six-year-old mobile game? I just needed to get that off my chest.

Alice's profile reinforces this by seeming to allude that Alice's mother and her ancestors were all the same person, as well as the third paragraph using similar wording to how True Magic is often explained.

Crucially, the final line also states that Meinsters stand in defense of Mystics from humanity's constant march towards order, which inevitably destroys Mystics by coming to understand them, as is one of the overarching themes in Type Moon in general. Yumina's lineage seems to be actively pushing back on this.

Knowing Nasu, I could stop right here. See, it's thematically cohesive with the Meinsters and Alice's character arc of growing past the reminders of her family's past and learning to appreciate the present, and thematic cohesion is really all you need in Type Moon, established lore and rules be damned.

However, I think that my point is supported by the Ploys, which are all products of the First Magic. We'll start off with the Three Great Ploys, which we know were created by Yumina proper and not any of her later descendants/incarnations.

Flat Snark, Oil of the Moon, is the Great Ploy that's featured most prominently in Mahoyo. This is pretty straightforward - the prose in the scenes that feature it describe it as Magic, and it functions by transforming the world inside of its domain into a landscape of fantastical insanity. It is, quite literally, draping the landscape in Mystics once again. Even the air becomes dense with mana, similar to the atmosphere in the Age of Gods (as shown in Absolute Demonic Front), when Mystics were at their most common and well-integrated, before humanity had begun to push it back as much as they had.

The Thames Troll is the second of the Great Three Ploys, and one that, at first glance, seems to be by far the most simple - it's a massive golem that can get stronger based on what it's built out of. Alice states she has poor compatibility with it, and therefore can only use its first two forms, that being wood and clay/brick/stone, with its final two forms being iron and steel, then silver and gold. Thames uses the environment to create its body, be it the woods the first time we see it or the brickwork in the park during Alice's fight with Touko, which would mean that further forms would likely do the same. As Alice says that the final form would overshadow even London, this would mean that Thames is capable of annihilating entire cities. However, considering it would need iron and steel nearby to do so, it could likely only become so powerful when being used within a more advanced human settlement, likely for the express purpose of destroying it. Therefore, Thames is the Ploy that most directly serves the Meinster's goals of opposing humanity and safeguarding Mystics.

The final of the Great Three Ploys, which isn't directly stated in Witch on the Holy Night but instead FGO, is Wandersnatch, which frankly could and probably should be its own post. There's a whole hell of a lot going on with that thing.

The long and short of it is that the Ploy consists of a dense fog, and numerous entities within it. Only by glimpsing Wandersnatch's true form in the fog can one escape, which makes the Ploy itself act as a microcosm for Mystics in general - it's an impossible, insurmountable obstacle that can only be weakened and overcome by observing it and learning more about it. It's little surprise, then, that Yumina herself choose Wandersnatch to inhabit while her current descendant doesn't yet harbor her consciousness - much of Wandersnatch’s presence has to do with Yumina attempting to exert more control on Alice in order to possess her and incarnate.

Ultimately, though, the smoking gun for me isn't one of the Three Great Ploys, but the most common one we see used: Diddle Diddle, Alice's favorite Ploy. This one has a simple function, that being that it strengthens Mystics in a certain area when dropped on the ground. Which is simple, yes, but also just absurd. You mean she can just crank out little Christmas tree ornaments that can singlehandedly counteract the one consistent force present in every single Type Moon property? She can just do that? Alice, and only Alice, can just say "nuh uh?" That's not attainable through normal magecraft, and has got to be an application of the First Magic through the Ploy. Considering how straightforward the effect is, it seems to pretty clearly point towards the First Magic being tied to Mystics.

As a final note, I also think this makes sense of Nasu's note that the First Magic was discovered after the Third but named as such for a special reason relating to its nature (although this is from an unofficial translation from the Fandom wiki so take this with a grain of salt). It would be very in keeping with what we know about mage society for them to say Mystics are more foundational and important than souls.

[delusionsofmid-daymoon]

Overblot Ace theory- what could happen if Ace used his unique magic on someone who is overbloting

[SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!!] after chapter 7 finale and now that Ace unique magic was finally revealed, i get a clearer and clearer picture of how Ace could Overblot, also, as a fun game take half a cup of water every time "overblot" is mentioned ^u^

as a smal recap, this theory originates from the game opening, from the fact that everyone that was show alone in a shot, overbloted, kalim being the only exception since the dorm leaders are all show alone in a sequence

guess who is the first to appear alone ?not sus at all

all the other heartslabyul guys where never show alone

now for my actual theory, i think Ace could overblot because of his unique magic

[ i'll take your best trumph/card- JOKER SNATCH] swaps Ace's magic with his target and allow him to use it as his own, there's actually many things we don't know about it, for example, we don't know if it swaps all of the target magic, or just their unique magic

(this is kinda unrelated) we also don't know if it works only with magic, after all from the spell incantation it takes a person trumph, their strongest "card", riddle trumph is obviously his UM but what about other cases? if someone's trumph was their phisical strenght or like, a knife, would Ace be able to get it ?

this is important to the theory, because here's a doubt of mine, what would happen if Ace used his magic in someone who is overblotting ? during an overblot is the magic itself be contaminated ? or would the blot just come along?

if any of that is true, it would mean ace would out of nowhere receive blot enought to maybe have a pseud / forced overblot himself

there was a line in heartslabyul battle map, where Ace asked himself what would happen if he used his magic on malleus, he never had a chance to do it, but considering chapter 8 will probably have overblot grim, this definetelly feels like foreshadowing

plus, lots of max level's lines hint at the character UM, ace is "this power is amazing, now i can help a certain magicless someone more easily"(so cute), Ace character arc had a lot of focus on yuu and how much he cares about them, and he also cares about grim

this is how i see it, Ace, in an attempt to protect yuu and save grim faster, uses his UM, and this causes his overblot, wouldn' that be tragic ?

you could also fit it in the timeloop theory, since ace is a freshmen with normal reserves and didn't overblot naturally, he runs out of magic much faster than all he others, and end up dying because of that, a tragic fate that never managed to be avoided in all those loops

PS: let us all have a moment of silence for the Ace betrayal theory after Ace's dream

[geekynichelle]

Slight spoilers...

Also just to get this out of the way, I don't mean anything I'm going to say in a "woe is me/reverse colorism is real" kind of way, I just want to be matter of fact. That, and both my parents are Black so my ancestry isn't the same as Hailee Steinfeld, but I am somewhat ambiguous looking.

Right before I saw the movie a video was recommended to me about the character of Mary in Sinners, and obviously I didn't watch it in case there were spoilers, but the title implied that the person felt like she was a character that didn't work. Based on what happens in the movie though, I kinda disagree because without her a few things do change and she does move the plot forward.

"What are you?" is a question Mary gets asked by Sammie, and it's one I've gotten often growing up. I sorta wish I'd answered "human" sarcastically since I never really had a problem with being dry witted with other topics. It got me in the habit of constantly feeling the need to explain myself to others, although to be clear I did get that question more from white people. Operating in that weird area of privilege and marginalization can be rather alienating at times, and from experience it is a bit dehumanizing especially if no one else can really relate and you don't want to come across as acting like you have it the hardest of all. I feel comfortable when I'm around Black people, and I've never tried to pass for white, but I don't like to pretend I experience Blackness the way the vast majority of Black people in America (or even in my own family) do. I've worked through any lingering identity issues I've had in the past, but when I'm out with my mom's side of the family especially, I do feel like I look like Mary, a pale face that stands out. Mary's attempt to use her privilege to get the 411 on the white vampires backfiring is sorta what it feels like to be around white people that portray themselves as safe and cool. If you lower your guard you will get eaten, and passing won't help you then.

I don't know what could have worked for her in the 1930s, because I can't imagine not being able to be around my family for their safety and mine. I do know that considering the themes of Sinners, her identity issues directly relate to the idea of true community and acceptance. The asian couple weren't Black at all, but they contributed and clearly felt comfortable being around Blackness (not just Black people) and that was why they were able to be at the function. In spite of everything Mary was welcome and her mother was with the people, but doubt crept in, and that feeling of being othered, and that is why she was the first of the main group to turn.

Ultimately I guess it was nice to see a character that looked like her that actually didn't want to hide or run away from her Blackness, while still acknowledging the privileges that come with passing.

[not-feeling-the-aster]

Ok so I finished Sunrise on the Reaping and I have not very positive thoughts. I get other people really liked it and that’s fine, this is just my opinion. I guess I'll reread it and see if I change my mind (or not), but for now I can say that it was my least favorite of the series, by far.

Spoilers ahead

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Honestly I was a little skeptical when they announced the movie along with the book, although I wanted to stay optimistic :(

One of the things that threw me off was the way it tells you things so directly, when the other books are more subtle. I would say it’s as if the older books gave you the puzzle pieces but you still had to make the effort to put them together, whereas this time it just gives you the solved puzzle at once.

Then there’s the narration, which at times feels underwhelming, since it doesn’t match the emotional depth some scenes require. While reading I was thinking everything felt numb, like the tension wasn’t really there. Haymitch’s reactions feel plain to me most of the time, and I get that one could argue he bottles up his feelings because it’s a traumatizing situation, that’s fair. But we’re supposed to read his thoughts, his internal turmoil, and I feel like we almost never really go past the surface. With Katniss (and even Snow) I could see more clearly their deepest thoughts, doubts and vulnerability.

Back to Haymitch, there’s also the thing with his family. They are supposed to be the most important people in his life, but there is little to no development on their relationship. Don’t tell me he loves them, show me how he cares for them, how was his upbringing, show me some memory of his childhood, how was his life when his dad was alive, how did his death affect him till nos, how does him being the older brother shapes his character. Show me how much they care for each other before the tragedy happens. Because the point is he looses them, we know it. Their bond matters, make it strong enough to linger after they’re gone.

We also have to talk about Lenore Dove. Again, we know a few things about her and how they met. We know Haymitch loves her and thinks about her a lot (maybe too much) but does she love him as much? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think she is pretending or anything, but it does seem like they are on different pages at times. My thing is, we are presented with this couple from the get go, and we are expected to root for them because they are soulmates for life and can’t live without each other, but what is their dynamic like? How do they work together? not just as Haymitch admiring her all the time. What does she like about him so much? Does she actually want to run away? Alone or with him? Does she know he fantasizes about having a family with her? Would she be okay with that?

I feel like their relationship could have worked better if they had just recently got together, they would still care for each other and missed one another, but it wouldn’t be this super serious, never-ending, magical love that’s larger than life itself. Just real, meaningful, hopeful love. Doomed, but true. That’s enough.

Regarding the theme of propaganda, I also feel like it wasn’t handled that well. I mean yeah the capitol shows and edits the games to their liking, ok. I guess what I was expecting was how propaganda was received by the people, specially in different places of Panem.

The careers were completely dumbed down this time, there was no nuance or complexity there, maybe for a tiny moment with the chocolates but that was on Haymitch so I guess it doesn’t count either.

I liked the idea of the alliance and I personally don’t mind the cameos but everyone speaking so freely of the rebellion plan was a little unserious. Plutarch for me is still the same character, I don’t consider him fundamentally rebellious, he just wants to be on the winning side and come out as unscathed as possible. Him lecturing Haymitch did annoy me a bit though, and I don't think it helped to explore the themes like it was intended.

I'm sure there's more but this are my main problems with it. I was really excited about it but well, I still love the other books so the story didn't change for me, but I'm a little worried for a possible future book now. We'll see how it goes.

Also I wanted to point out that just because you like a certain author it's okay to not like and be critical of some of their work. Like, it shouldn't be that serious, but I know some people get defensive. Each book is different, and authors are people, and they can make cool things and not so cool things, calm down with the pedestals please.

[rei-ismyname]

Is Magneto mistaken or am I taking this too literally?

Ambassador Magneto has a lot to say in House of X, especially to humans on the subject of violence.

All his dreams are coming true and he's not shy about expressing his feelings on the matter. At the Jerusalem habitat the other ambassadors (who are all intelligence plants) claim to be wary of military advantage Krakoa and the gates provide.

Let's fact check Magneto there. 'There has never been a mutant war.'

What's this then? It doesn't sound very good at first glance but can it be considered a mutant war? It's basically Magneto himself unleashing an EMP and making demands of the UN. A mutant sanctuary - one they gave him too - Genosha. Terrorist act? Yeah defs. War? I'd say no.

What else? Oh yeah, that time Magneto conquered Santo Marco, a fictional South American country. Spoilers for a comic from 1963.

Okay so shelling is bad, definitely a warlike action, though it's later said there were no casualties at all, mainly thanks to Mastermind's illusions. Still, really bad optics there dude. The fake soldiers are straight up goose-stepping. This is drawn by Jack Kirby too, who definitely had strong feelings about that kind of thing - not something he'd portray unintentionally.

You'll note Mags having pseudo telepathy at this point, mainly bc Stan Lee had no idea how magnetism works.

Let's be honest, there's a big Nazi vibe to this occupation. This is in X-Men #4 in 1963, over a decade before Mags was retconned into a Jewish holocaust survivor. I'm honestly not a big fan of the original X-Men run and I can see why it got cancelled. Magneto was their greatest foe, but he was a pretty one dimension Doctor DOOM expy with none of the pathos, willpower or consistent ideology Claremont would reinvigorate him with. Anyway, sensing defeat, Magneto arms a nuke to blow the whole country up. Yikes.

It's actually Quicksilver who solves that problem, deciding he's not okay with nuking a few million people. It's the start of his face turn proper, with only Wanda's 'debt' to Mags keeping her there, and therefore Quicksilver as well.

See? Not cool, Mags. Not cool. When it's all said and done though, his occupation of Santo Marco is very brief and news doesn't get out. I assume Chuck had something to do with that. Though the country refuses to accept Krakoa for 'ideological reasons' nearly 60 years later, so maybe not. I'm going to say it definitely counts as 'conquering their land and making slaves of their people ' though.

Honestly, Magneto has died a lot since then, had amnesia and barely aged in 70 years so maybe he doesn't remember. One could argue that the spirit of what he's saying is correct - Magneto the individual did a lot of supervillain shit but there hasn't been a unification of mutants who then warred upon humans. Indeed, the opposite is true. Most mutant conflicts that could be called a war were defensive after these events.

None of the 'ambassadors' took issue with past events or his record, instead focusing on future hypotheticals. Someone should tell them that if mutants united in world conquest they'd likely be very successful and humans wouldn't know until it was too late. Technically Magneto has been tried for his acts before an international court, and acquitted because he'd been turned into a baby and was considered a different person. Yes, really.

The conversation pivots to the emissaries being there in bad faith, with slick concealing a gun. (Not that it would be very useful.)

Magneto demonstrates why that's the case and doesn't budge on his position. I guess we could say Magneto was (technically) right, in this specific circumstance. A show of force is certainly needed to make them take Krakoa seriously. It's only fitting then that Mags acts as the stick to make the carrot more palatable. I've still got room for one more pic so here's the X-Men enjoying post-training birthday cake, cut by Cyclops and his POWER BEAM. The X-Men's first birthday as a group.

Note the contrast in vibes around the Brotherhood of EEEVIL Mutants' dinner table, with petty bickering, Mastermind being a creep (the X-Men have that too tho NGL,) and a very impressive tower of mashed potato. Good to know Toad has poor table manners and that Pietro is willing to punch on over it. Not to be mean, but Wanda's headgear looks super silly. Oh well, it was the sixties!

[carigm]

Theory: the Ratliffs’ Apparent Fate and Poison Imagery

Buckle up cause this is a long one. Also, I'm sure this has been discussed before but I wanted to share my two cents on the Ratliff family's possible ending.

I already made a post before about how it’s possible all the kids come out alive (based on a spoiler-y bts pic posted by Jason Isaacs), so if you want to read about that, here’s the link:

Now let’s get into more detail about why it’s possible they survive, but also why, if they do, they’re still going to go through it in the finale. This entire season has been constructed in such a way that it poses the Ratliffs as the central emotional narrative of the story. All these storylines are messy, but we have spent 7 episodes seeing Timothy unravel and become actively suicidal, with Mike White beating us over the head with murder fantasies regarding this family, leading us to believe he plans on at least taking out half of them. Then there’s the synopsis for episode 8.

This basically implies that he might want to take ALL of them out, including his fave Piper and I guess Lochlan too, just to cover all his bases lol. I mean, Piper and Lochlan are coming back from that monastery, so it’s not like he can avoid their presence while actively planning to murder the other two.

Then if this wasn’t enough, in the preview for episode 8 we are shown Tim talking to Pam about the poisonous pong-pong fruit. We know he doesn’t have the gun anymore, so he has to find a new method. Then we see Chekhov’s blender, well, blending a smoothie. I have no idea how Timothy plans to get his entire family to drink that shit, or if he just wants to make it for himself. Perhaps he’s reached such a delusional state that he will genuinely try to talk his family into committing a murder suicide.

That’s not the point, though. The point is that all of this feels very heavy handed. We knew that fruit and that blender were coming back, they’ve basically had neon signs pointed at them the entire season. I’ve sort of been on board with the theories that someone, or some, from the Ratliff family could die from ingesting it, but the constant promo around it, to the point where it seems like they want you to know it’s happening, it’s leading me to believe none of them will actually die. The snippets/scenes they include in these previews tend to be misleading (the Piper and Lochlan snippet from the monastery had people thinking they were going to hook up in episode 7).

HOWEVER, while all of this is true, I cannot ignore the incest-shaped elephant in the room, because for better or worse, it’s sort of been the highlight of the season.

And oh boy, is there poison imagery all over those two.

Lochlan and Saxon are 100% going to be at the center of some type of incident regarding the poisoned smoothie.

In episode 1, Saxon is the one to first pay attention/pick up the poison fruit. He says, "what am I supposed to do, eat fruit all week?", followed by the immediate reveal from Pam that the fruit he had picked up was poisonous and could kill him.

He’s constantly seen drinking protein shakes, and making Lochy drink them. In fact, there’s so much imagery of Lochlan drinking. Drinks the protein shakes Saxon makes and complains about the taste, Saxon assures him that it’s normal that they taste bad. He’s constantly shown drinking from bottles. There’s the scene of him and Piper at the monastery where she signals for him to eat, and he does, and basically chokes on the food.

There’s the shot of Saxon throwing up on the yacht the morning after what happened with Lochlan, and then it immediately cuts to a dead puffer fish washed up on shore. Puffer fish are poisonous.

Like you truly cannot make this up. I'm pretty sure this whole symbolism is also tied to the concept of "forbidden fruit", considering their incestuous tendencies.

The "forbidden fruit" refers to the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, which God forbade Adam and Eve from eating, and is a common metaphor for anything tempting but potentially dangerous or immoral.

“Today, the phrase "forbidden fruit" is used to describe anything that is tempting but considered wrong or undesirable to pursue.

Examples:

Unethical or illegal actions

Unsuitable relationships

Desires or pleasures that are considered immoral.”

Well, well, well…

The wonderful @samsayswhatever , whose post inspired this one, did some investigative work on the matter, and tried to figure out (by process of elimination and comparing all the Ratliff family actors’ necks lol) who is the person shown swallowing in the preview, and they've come to the conclusion that it's Lochlan, because of the shape of the chin, the super smooth skin and a beauty mark on the neck (These are her captures but I’m attaching them here for demonstration).

I think it’s fair to say this is Lochlan. Now is he swallowing a poisoned smoothie in this particular shot? Maybe, maybe not. For the sake of my theory, let’s go with “yes”.

I think it's possible Lochlan takes a sip/drinks some of it but is prevented from finishing it because someone stops him (or something…the shootout?), or that he drinks it and becomes quite ill but doesn’t actually die.

Yes, when the fruit ripens it turns from green to red, resembling an apple. Again, you cannot make this up lol.

The most interesting part here though, is the fact that it’s the huge large seed in the middle that’s highly toxic. Ingesting the actual seed can kill you in 3-6 hours. Eating the rest of the fruit will probably make you quite sick, but I don’t think it can kill you. I wonder if Timothy will blend the fruit, but not the seed. I doubt he’s very knowledgeable on the matter. In any case, it doesn’t kill you instantly and you can be treated and survive if taken to a hospital.

I think whoever drinks the smoothie (Lochlan imo) will ultimately be treated, and will be fine. If you can call being almost poisoned to death by your own father “fine”.

Also, Saxon will play a significant role in all of this because like I said, he’s also fully tied to the poison imagery.

I don’t know if the Ratliff family will lose all their money, or they’ll magically be fine, or if they’ll end up moving to some non-extradite country (Taiwan anyone?), but I think their ending won’t be the “sweet relief” of death, but rather the permanent reminder of all the fucked up shit they’ve done to each other.

Can you image them leaving the hotel with the notion that the father tried to kill everyone, their entire wealth was based on corruption and lies, and some of the bonds between them are purely transactional, highlighting how toxic and dysfunctional their family dynamic is.

The icing on top is Lochlan and Saxon being unable to evade the guilt of their little incest game, and just like Adam and Eve, (gotta love this normal, wholesome Christian family) having to deal with the ramifications and suffering brought on by their actions.

I think death would almost be kinder lol…

but this is just a theory, perhaps Mike White is going for a more literal interpretation and he’s planning to actually kill Lochlan, or Saxon, or both (very Romeo and Juliet I guess).

[michaelmilligan]

The Jonmartin manifesto no one asked for but needed to get out

So, I've not been in the tma fandom for long yet, having only listened to it for the first time a few months ago. But from browsing the Jonmartin (and teaholding and jmart) tag regularly, it seems to me like most jonmartin shippers fall into one of these two categories:

They would find each other in every universe; or

It's a miracle they even got together in this universe

(Obviously, that's an oversimplification, and people who express one view in one post can easily hold a different view at another time - these are fictional characters we're talking about after all, and headcanons don't need to be consistent and can even contradict each other. This is just the general vibe I got so far.)

Anyway, I wanted to add my own two cents on the topic, because while I understand where both of these views are coming from, I think neither of them is ultimately correct.

(Putting the rest under a read more - be warned that this is NOT a spoiler-free post, so if you haven't finished listening to TMA yet and you want a spoiler-free experience, you probably shouldn't read this.)

So, before we get to my own opinion, let's first look at where the two options I mentioned above come from, shall we?

"They would find each other in every universe"

Obviously, this view is highly romantic - star-crossed lovers, finding each other again and again. It is both a good foundational basis for AUs, and a ray of hope in the face of the tragedy that is the tma finale.

Of course, concerning the finale, this is a rather different take than concerning AUs (since it would mean the very same characters finding each other again in a different world, not fundamentally different characters, shaped by said other world, also finding each other). And maybe when people express this view, they mean more the finale fix-its than AUs, though I suspect that plenty of people mean both.

It's a nice, comforting thought. And don't we all need some comfort after the finale? Yes, we certainly do. (Except for the people who read only hurt without comfort and angst, I guess. You do you, and I'm glad you're having fun, but personally I do desperately need some comfort, lmao.)

Is this view supported by canon though?

Cynical minds would say no, and personally I'm more inclined to agree with them, though as I've said, for me the truth lies outside of those two rigid stances (somewhere in between, I suppose).

I don't see much in canon which points to Jon and Martin falling in love under any circumstances/in any universe, especially considering their... let's say difficult relationships at the start of the show. But of course we must also take into account the specific circumstances in canon (more on that below) and interpretations vary, and I do very much enjoy AUs, so I'm certainly not trying to throw shade if you're on this side of the 'divide'.

Mostly, I think there CAN be other circumstances in which those two get together, outside the canon ones. (I'm writing a canon-divergent jonmartin fic myself, lol.) Let's get into that while we look at the other view, shall we.

"It's a miracle they even got together in this one"

Ah, the Martin-approved stance. One could say 'well, they literally said it in canon' and be done with it. However, that would require us to believe that the opinions of the characters are always true and correct, which. Lmao. We only have to listen to season 2 of tma to know that this is very much not the case.

And even if S5 Martin is not S2 Jon at the height of his paranoia, he's still very much a man shaped by his own life and experiences. I'm sure he would call himself a realist, but he honestly seems more like a pessimist to me. Which is understandable, given his life, and his association with the Lonely, which has often been (in my opinion accurately) compared to depression.

The thing is, Jon did treat Martin horribly in S1, and then he admittedly treated everyone horribly in S2. It was only in the course of S3 that their relationship got more, let's say, equal, with Jon no longer thinking Martin would be 'contributing nothing but delays'. (And then of course we have S4, which I LOVE even though it hurts me deeply. Then again, that's the whole show. And, obviously, S5 my beloved.)

So. Jon seemed to hate Martin in S1, while Martin was arguably already in love with the man. (Arguably. We do know that he acted catty to Basira in S2, so it's reasonable to assume that he started liking him at some point in S1, or even before the show started.) Then a lot of traumatic things happened, and they got together.

This means it must be the traumatic things that made them compatible, right? Just like Martin says in S5?

Well, one could see it that way. Jon certainly changed over the seasons, coming off his high horse and such. (In S5, he arguably gets back on it quite a bit, but then he IS the Eye's specialest little princess in a world that's literally ruled by it. And also he is slowly losing his grip on his own humanity. But I digress.)

And I do think that the trauma channeled a lot of those changes - the first time we see Jon being actually emotionally open (something he still struggles with over all seasons, because people don't just change fundamentally that quickly) is during Prentiss' attack on the Institute. They're in a situation where they might reasonably die (they even expect it, because they don't know that Elias is just rubbing his greedy little paws as he waits for things to get worse before he saves them with the gas).

I do think that moment could have been a big turning point for Jon and Martin, if it hadn't been immediately followed with the discovery of Gertrude's body, and Jon's subsequent descent into paranoia. Jon opened up, and also saw that Martin was rather competent during the attack, which could have led to them becoming closer, respectively having at least something like a normal work relationship.

But then Jon got paranoid and interpreted everything he saw negatively, including Martin's competence, which was twisted in his mind to 'What if he's just been pretending to be incompetent and is actually an evil agent out to kill the archivist'.

(Big sigh.)

Anyway, before I lose myself in the red string as well: Yes, Jon seems to 'mellow' over the seasons, especially with regard to Martin, at the same time that he's going through terribly traumatic events.

But does that mean that it's actually the trauma that's changing him and his relationships? Partly, certainly, but I would argue that trauma doesn't make you nicer or kinder. It might make you realise some things, but that doesn't mean that you can't realise those things in other ways.

And does it means that they couldn't have come together if they had met under different circumstances? Also not necessarily! I would even argue that the specific circumstances they met under were detrimental to Jon's first impression of Martin. And yes, this goes beyond the dog story.

So let's try and dissect their relationship from the start.

A theory of... something like nuance, or whatever

The starting situation

(Yes, I did have to use a Supernatural gif, thank you for asking. No, I will not apologise. <3)

Alright. So let's start with what we actually know about Jon and Martin's first meeting. Obviously, there's the dog story, though as far as I know that's not 'canon' because it wasn't actually in the podcast. I still like it, and think it adds another reason to Jon's behaviour, though I don't necessarily think it's necessary, because Jon already had lots of other reasons to tell himself that Martin wasn't worth his time.

1.1. Jon has issues. More at 11.

First of all, we learn throughout the podcast that Jon doesn't actually have any qualifications to lead an archive. He's probably 29 when the show starts (in 2016, going by the fandom wiki stating that he was born in 1987, which is reasonable given everything we learn about his age).

So, he's 29 and suddenly appointed, after four years of working in one department, to become the head of a completely different department. He does not have a degree that would give him credentials for leading an archive, nor are we told that he has ever even worked in an archive. For all we know, and that he knows, he is woefully underqualified. (This is also, I think, highlighted in S2 when Jon threatens to resign, only to then be baffled by Elias saying that he would be difficult to replace. Elias means something completely different than his skill set as an archivist with a lower case 'a', presumably, but then Jon doesn't know that.)

This means that Jon is in a highly stressful position, because he's trying to do a job he doesn't actually know how to do, while also trying not to let on that he doesn't know how to do it!

It doesn't help that Jon is also terribly scared of what all might be lurking in the shadows (or even in the light), as he himself admits during the Prentiss attack. He is extremely high-strung from day one, basically a wet chihuahua shaking in a slight breeze, while trying to seem like a strong bulldog.

We also know that Jon asked for two people to be his assistants: Tim and Sasha. They both worked in research, and Sasha also briefly worked in artefact storage, making them both qualified to help Jon with following up on statements. But I think more than their qualifications, Jon probably requested them because he knew and got along with them.

Imagine: Your boss tells you that he's promoting you into a position you're not qualified for and which you have no real clue how to do. Wouldn't you rather have people around you who you're already friendly with, and who are likely to cut you some slack if you're not perfect on day one? I know I would!

1.2. Elias is a little shit and I want to kill him with hammers (affectionately)

And then Elias transfers Martin.

I'm going off the dog story again, because again, I like it, and I think it does fit neatly into canon. If this story is to be believed, Elias neither asked nor did he tell Jon that he was giving him another assistant. He apparently simply told Martin 'you work at the archives now, congratulations' and then went back to his office to smile smugly to himself.

This is a VERY bad start for a working relationship, because not only does Martin come in unannounced, this also comes off as Elias not respecting Jon, or potentially even sending someone to report back to Elias (because Martin is the only one who doesn't have an established rapport with Jon).

Jon never verbalises this suspicion, so maybe this is too much interpretation on my part, but in any case it's cause for a lot of resentment on Jon's part, and since he can't exactly let it out on Elias (who is rarely there, anyway), he simply lets it out on Martin.

He finds reasons to do so, of course, insulting his work and all that. It's probably easy, especially in the beginning, because not unlike Jon, Martin doesn't have any qualifications to work in an archive! He worked at the library before, and we know that his degree is made up (which we can only assume Elias knows, considering he can know almost anything).

(I actually find the question on why Elias transferred Martin in the first place extremely interesting, and might get into that in another post. But this one is already too long, lmao.)

1.3. Martin is too nice, aka Jon has even more issues

This is mostly my personal headcanon, though I do feel it fits Jon's character - which is that he doesn't know how to deal with nice people.

Not kind people. Not friendly people. But nice people.

People who do things seemingly out of the mere goodness of their heart. Like bringing their mean boss tea when he never asked them to do that. Like being friendly even in the face of insults. Someone who constantly takes himself back in favour of other people and their opinions.

People like Martin is appearing to be. Appearing, because Martin isn't actually like that. He does have his opinions, and he could probably grumble up a storm in S1 about Jon, but Jon is his BOSS, and so he plays.

Martin also IS genuinely a nice person most of the time (when he's not on a revenge rampage, making his boyfriend murder people). He doesn't have to do nice things for Jon like bring him tea in S2. But he does. Because that's Martin's way of trying to reach out, to show other people that he means no harm (and that he can be useful).

(I also think that Jon's snappish behaviour, where Martin never quite knows what will set the man off, might remind him off his mum, but again I digress. :))

But I think Jon doesn't know how to deal with that, because even when he's not in the height of paranoia, he still suspects that people who are THAT nice (especially when they have no reason to be nice because he's being an arsehole to them) have a secret agenda. This is playing into what I said under 2 (the part that might be too much interpretation on my side lol), because if Jon suspects that Martin is reporting back to Elias, or is at least someone who would not be friendly if he found out that Jon doesn't know what he's doing, then he can't allow himself to relax around him, and he certainly can't allow himself to be lulled into false security (as Jon would think) around him.

Tl;dr on this point: I think Jon is wary of Martin's niceness because he thinks he might be fishing for gossip/anything he can use against Jon. And even if he isn't, Jon thinks he would be likely to use anything he learns against Jon, because they weren't friends to begin with, and Jon's behaviour has made them anything but that.

(We have to remember that this is the guy who says in S2 that he knows what it's like to 'lack the respect of one's peers', aka the kid who got bullied by at least one older kid, and likely had no or very few friends - plus he believes in the supernatural, which doesn't exactly lend itself well to getting academic respect.)

1.4. They were fucked from the start, your honour

Basically what the meme says, but yeah. The they were put in practically guaranteed that Jon would be wary of Martin, and that Martin would be trying extra hard to make friends with him, which in turn would make Jon even more wary/hostile.

And Elias made it worse, either knowingly or by negligence (not telling Jon about transferring Martin).

If we add the whole dog story to it... they were fucked. I do actually wonder if, assuming we take the dog story as canon, Elias actually somehow managed to set that up. Or whether he was at least cackling (sorry, smiling ever so silently, but smugly) in his office as it happened, or whenever he ended up knowing that it happened.

2. Yes, we've had one starting point, but what about second starting point?

As we have established above, the starting situation for Jon and Martin was... not ideal. So, would they have gotten together easily given a different starting point, like in a cute coffee shop AU?

Eh.

It's true that the specific situation they were in made it a lot harder for them to actually communicate and see each other as they are than it had to be. That doesn't mean that a different situation would have made it easy, though.

Their personalities still make it hard, though, as even without the added stress of a new job, Jon is still a little chihuahua shaking in the corner, who tries to make up for it by barking at everyone, and Martin is still the guy trying to approach him with treats and getting his hand bitten.

There are certainly specific situation that could make it easier, especially if Jon isn't scared as hell, and has maybe already learned that not everyone who does something nice for him wants to just pull on his strings. (Yes, I do think that the thing that makes Martin, according to Annabelle, suited for the Web, is the thing that put Jon on edge at the beginning. I don't know if this was intended at all, but it makes me cackle.)

The beauty of fanfic is that we can do whatever the hell we want. But I think the most fun thing an AU author can do is think 'What would have to happen, in this specific scenario, for these two to get over themselves and get together?'

Excursion: Martin, my beloved depressed blorbo who I am certainly not projecting on, haha

Because it IS both of them who need to get over themselves. Of course Jon's issues are the most obvious, and I've certainly expanded on them enough. But Martin also has a problem, and it's that he's constantly hiding his true feelings and opinions, especially anger and fear.

That makes sense, perhaps, in a workplace, though considering he's dealing with a walking, talking worm hive and a stalker boss... Let's just say it probably would have helped Tim, too, if Martin hadn't been so desperate to make everyone be friends again.

Because Martin is always TRYING to make everything better for everyone, but he's actually not helping anyone. Being nice to Jon and bringing him tea doesn't help battle his paranoia. And trying to tell Tim not to be so angry at Jon, and can't they all be friends, doesn't actually help Tim with his anger.

All Martin is essentially doing is making himself small and saying 'let's get along, pretty please' every now and then. I don't know if it would have helped if he had expressed his own fears and anger, and maybe Jon would have misconstrued that as well, too deep in his paranoia already. But at least Tim might have realised that he was not alone in all this. (His biggest problem, as he says in S2, is that he feels that no one has his back, which I think at least partly results from no one expressing the same anger, aka no one validating his feelings.)

Anyway! (Jon voice) Excursion ends.

3. (To the melody of 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor') What shall we do with these total idiots?

So, how ARE these two going to get together, if they're so woefully unequipped to deal with each other?

Well, first we need to give Martin a good helping of self-confidence. Then we need to kind of give Jon the same, since his problem ALSO is that he's unsure of himself, he just tries to make other people small to cover it up, instead of making himself small. (And isn't that a funny thing to do for someone who we know was bullied. To become a bully himself. Oh, the snake, biting its own tail...)

The easy answer is, of course: You can come up with your own version, get creative. <3

The more complex answer is: A lot of stuff, probably. Jon and Martin will certainly need time to get to know each other, and of course it depends on what situation you put them in to start. But there will be misunderstandings, and there will be hurt feelings, and I am going to soak it up all like a particularly slowburn-greedy sponge.

I feel like there are probably five million ways to get them together, and some might be cute and fluffy (if they go to therapy first, I guess, lol) and many will be full of tears. <3 (Jon voice) And I want to see them all on my desk by Friday! So get to it!

In all seriousness though, yeah, I think there's not one right way for them to get together (though canon did it well imo). But it's also a little more complex than we might give it credit to (very much including me).

4. So what now?

I don't know. I'm not your dad. Write a fic. Draw a picture. Put down your own thoughts on the matter. Or take a shower and clean up your room, young Padawan!

(Though actually, if you've read this post from start to finish in one session, what you should probably do is get up and stretch and get some water.)

And above all! And this is imperative.

Have a good day. <3

[nigelights]

"the line" by twenty one pilots will play during viktors transformation, a breakdown of lyrics.

THE LINE SPOILERS BY TWENTY ONE PILOTS - PLOT SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW WHAT VIKTOR IS IN THE LEAUGE OF LEGENDS GAMES, SEASON TWO OF ARCANE EPS 1-3 SPOILERS.

when we see viktor emerge from his magic filled shell, he's changed completely. and in the later episodes we see him take on a symbolic and guided path of light and healing, at the cost of himself and his health. in the very first few lyrics of the line, it already states things that are suspiciously close to what viktor is experiencing and will begin to experience in the later episodes.

we also see in the few trailers released, and now confirmed by the new episodes, that viktor is able to heal those with ailments, and there are people gathered in white while someone rises from the floor, becoming healed, but what does it do to viktor? we've seen his stance change on his closest friend and ally, jayce, but at his core he cannot deny that this magic has done irreparable damage to not only himself but his surroundings. he is already being worshiped, and the trailer only proves that it goes further beyond healing those injured by use of shimmer and battles.

"my body's on the line now, i cant fight this time now, i can feel the light shine on my face. did i disappoint you? will they still let me over, if i cross the line?"

we can see in his first instance of healing someone, it takes not only things from the surrounding area (bolts, screws, scraps of metal), but also takes something out of viktor, relating the first words sung in this, directly to him. this "light" that now surrounds viktor and the expectations with it, is also mentioned many many times.

"take a seat. but i'd rather you not be here for, what could be my final form. stay your pretty eyes on course. keep the memories of who i was before, so stay with me but--"

viktors "final form", in the LOL games, is a robotic machine herald of the new age of tech. this is such a switch up from the viktor we see in arcane, but i feel that this song is the 'push and pull' between both possibilities of another outcome of a kinder and caring viktor who sticks to his true core values, only changed by what the hexcore longs for him to do, and his original goal of helping people of zuan being so much closer now that he has this newfound power. the former, where he is enemies with jayce, becoming obsessive with the fact that mechanical error vs human error may save more people, pushing him to change himself into something unrecognisable. -- "id rather you not be here for, what Could be my final form. keep the memories of who i was before."

moving on, one of the first things we see when viktor comes out of his hexcore-made transformation pod thing, is that his eyes shift colors. one of the first hints that hes changed beyond being completely purple. -- "stay your pretty eyes on course"

"honestly, i thought i was fully prepared for the threshold in store, stay your pretty eyes on course. i guess i never really faced my fears before. so stay with me because. my body's on the line now, pull the blanket tight now. i can feel the light shine on my face."

vitkor has bitten off more than he can chew. hes changed dramatically, irreversibility, and the hexcore/sky guided him towards the path of light, at the cost of himself and others. hes gathered a following that could be considered cult-like, hes become a beacon in the thick smoke for those who need to see. what happens when viktors body gives out, prior to the mechanical modifications, and those who rely on him for healing, dont get healed? with viktors death, comes more death. pushing him to become something else entirely. -- "i thought i was fully prepared for the threshold in store"

we are all familiar with viktor and his multiple interactions with death. and at his side he's always had jayce, his support system. even with his suicide attempt, had jayce not been there viktor would've died, and the same thing goes for the start of s2 ep1. so viktor hasn't truly shaken hands with death, hasn't had it knocking so close, so what happens when he faces that fear alone? when his support system has changed from his best friend-- to a large group of people looking towards him, seeking his help with their injuries, worshiping him. this song is a letter to death, a letter seeking help and a letter to himself. -- "ive never really faced my fears before"

"please don't let them see me, show there's nothing left to try, i can feel the light shine on my face."

once hes crossed the line, theres no going back. and his followers may not perceive that as something good, their healer has become hurt, broken, and unlike himself. this last repeated line only reminds me of the intro where viktor is looking into the mask, and its glowing.

that in itself is such a confirmation that this song was written for him, but i felt that an explanation post like this was a cool thing to do plus i love twenty one pilots and i love arcane sooo this was an opportunity to yap away anyways i hope you enjoyed!!!

[acourtofthought]

Why Elain's POV is important

Spoilers for the White Hot Kiss series though names are not mentioned.

Without a POV / Inner Monologue :

He dipped his chin again, looking terribly innocent. “You’ve never been kissed before, have you?”

“That’s so not your business.” I folded my arms as (redacted) waited for an answer. “I think it’s obvious. I can’t kiss anyone. You know, the whole soul-sucking thing makes it difficult.”

“Not if you’re kissing someone who doesn’t have a soul.” I made a face. “And why would I kiss someone who doesn’t—”

“See,” he murmured in a thick voice, and he let go, his fingers trailing over my cheeks. “Your life isn’t about all you can’t do. It’s about what you can do.”

“Your tongue is pierced,” I said dumbly.

(Redacted) cocked his head to the side. “Now you’ve been kissed. One thing off the bucket list.”

I hit him.

Cocked back my arm and punched him in the stomach like I was a heavyweight boxer.

He grunted out a choked laugh. “Ouch. That kind of hurt.”

“Don’t ever do that again!”

Even after I hit him, he still looked pleased with himself.

“You know what they say about first kisses.”

“You regret them?”

The FMC did not want to discuss her experience, did not consent to the kiss and afterwards she hit him then told him not to do it again. Without her inner thoughts we have no idea whether she likes the MMC, whether she liked the kiss. Based off her words and actions one wouldn't say so.

With POV / Inner Monologue:

The FMC is struggling with warring emotions. Anger that he kissed her, yes, as we see above. But anger at herself for liking it and like it she did. In her thoughts the kiss was "sublime". Everything she ever imagined it could be and then some. She had a yearning so deep it caused her fear as a result.

Even after this moment in the book, the FMC is still struggling with the feelings she has for someone else, someone she's wanted for a long time. Even as she's developing feelings in the story for the MMC above, a guy she had told herself she didn't like, she still wants the other guy, still wants to fit into the other guys world.

This is what I mean when I say it is important that Elain has a pov. That her words and actions alone when it comes to Lucien are not telling of the full story, her true emotions. That even if she has feelings for Lucien that she's trying to bury it does not mean she can't still fixate on someone who maybe reminds her of her past (Az) since Az has rounded ears and looks human without his shadows. Az who acts "human-like" around Elain with his proper manners as he hides his rage / darker things he's done from her versus Lucien who she shares a super intense, primal fae mating bond with. For all we know, Az is like a safety blanket to her because he's part of Feyre's inner circle and Elain is clinging to the security that Feyre's group provides to her since they're really the only people she knows since being turned fae. Elain made friends with Feyre and Rhys's servants / spies. She latched on to the only single male in their friend group. It's giving "I'm afraid to branch out of my own so I'll just make do with whatever is in my immediate vicinity that is pre-approved by my sister who I'm worried about disappointing".

We have no idea all the thoughts Elain could be having, all the things she's feeling. Acting like "because she said so!" and "because she clearly doesn't want him based on her actions / nearly kissing Az!" is all you need when it comes to what she feels for Lucien is kind of a silly argument when you consider any other book. A FMCs true emotions are never as simple as all that and my guess is her willingness to hook up with Az is also not as simple as "she can't wait to move in with him and spend her life with him".

The complexity of a characters thoughts are what makes them compelling and Sarah writing Elain's character as "she has no interest in Lucien and wants Az" as the full story is pretty one dimensional especially when it comes to the intensity of a fae mating bond.

If someone doesn't think we need Elain's POV to fully understand her actions, then I think they're fine with a shallow FMC.

If they continue arguing how we already know everything we need to know when it comes to Elain with Lucien, her mate, than I think they're afraid of what her thoughts will actually reveal.