#THE FIRST EPISODE ALONE IS 100 MINUTES LONG

[malachitezmeyka]

You know... I tried to hold back, I really did. I tried to convince myself that I already have so much going on and genuinely do not have the mental capacity for something like this

I've managed to hold out for almost two whole weeks and my resolve was strong, but unfortunately the Ye Olde Hyperfixation was stronger

[calthinez]

Pie kinda guy

Pairing: Dean Winchester x reader

Summary: Dean loves all pies. He loves apple pie on festive holidays like thanksgiving, and cherry pie in the summer. But Deans all time favorite pie... is cream pie ;)

A/N: Have you guys watched 'The boys'? I think it's so weird watching Jensen play Soldier boy after watching him play Dean for so long. Also, I have no idea if somebody came up with this idea before me. If there has been a post like this before, let me know. I hope you guys enjoy this <3 This could also be summarized as "a collection of times Dean has nutted in you" but I think my wordplay is much more fun.

Warnings: smut (obvi) creampie, fingering, quickeys, unprotected sex,

The first of many times is when you and Dean are at the bunker alone. Neither of you felt like going out into town to shop for groceries, so you both volunteered Sam to go out.

After seeing Sam out, you and Dean ventured into the 'dean cave' to watch some stupid hospital drama show about sexy doctors. "What's your deal, huh? What did Dr. Sexy ever do to you?" Dean asked you, accusatively. You rolled your eyes at his childish behavior, the both of you walking to the two-seater lazy boy couches. This show was Deans ride-or-die, and Chuck forbid anybody had anything negative to say about it.

You sat down in the seat next to him with your blanket and curled your legs into your body while Dean pulled the lever to recline his seat back. "Nothing, I shouldn't have said anything." You knew Dean would die defending the honor of this show, and you really didn't want to go back and forth with him. "Mhm yeah." He's being smug now. Smug because he knows you'll stay and watch his doctor show, even though you think its stupid.

Not even ten minutes into the show you're bored out of your mind. If you were to make a list of 100 things you could do with Dean to occupy your time, this show would be at the bottom of the list. After a while of daydreaming of all your could-be activities, you come up with a devious plan.

"I'm cold." You whine to Dean, scootching and snuggling up close to him. He coos at you as he slings his arm around your back, his hand resting just above your ass. "Well, I'll warm you right up, sweetheart."

He was completely oblivious to your plans.

A few minutes later and you start resting your hand on his upper-thigh, dangerously close to his crotch. He doesn't say anything about it though, thinking maybe that's just where you hand coincidentally landed. Towards the halfway mark of the episode, you move your hand from his thigh to directly on his groin. He looks at you with a devious glint in his eyes. "Watcha doing there, Y/N." You smirk and don't respond, instead, you gently squeeze his cock through his jeans.

Dean is now completely ignoring the show playing on the TV. He's got you on his lap. your legs straddling his thighs. Both of your pants long discarded. He's kissing you so fast and forcefully you think your lips might bruise.

You slide your hand up and down his bare chest a few times before you finally reach down to his ignored cock. You wrap your hand around the head of his cock. Softly dragging your thumb to collect the precum you start to pump his shaft.

Dean has always been vocal when it comes to having sex with you. Anytime you fuck or you suck his sock he's always moaning like a whore. Hell, even when he eats you out its like its just as enjoyable for him as it is for you.

This time is no exception, he's moaning into your mouth through kisses. "I want- I want to be inside of you." He says in-between kisses.

You smile against his lips and nod your head. Dean pushes your panties to the side as you hoist yourself up with the help of his shoulders. After positioning his cock into the enterance of your pussy you sink down, letting out a high-pitched mewl into his open mouth.

"Thats it.. that's it, pretty" Dean encourages you as you're getting adjusted to the stretch of his large cock. You take him balls deep, the burn from the stretch is familiar and welcomed.

One of Deans hands rests on your hip, the other makes its way to your clit to rub fast tight circles. You moan into his mouth as the heat creeps its way into your belly. "You're drenching my cock, sweetheart." He mumbles into your ear, his gruff voice sending shivers down your spine.

You can feel your orgasm quickly approaching. "You close, Y/N? I'm close." Dean moans. You known neither of you are going to last much longer. You lay your head onto his shoulder, no longer holding in your moans. "I'm gonna cum- can I cum in you, sweetheart, please?" He begs as he erratically kisses your jaw and neck.

You nod your head and squeak out a few 'yes's. Deans movements quicken as he hums sweet praises into your ear. The tight coil in your belly abruptly snaps, you cum hard around Deans cock. He isn't long after you. He releases into you, the both of you now panting from your orgasm.

*

The next time is at one of the dingy motels during a hunt. It was definitely more risky than before. You Sam and Dean all decided to share one motel room. The three of you drawing straws to see who would have to sleep on the crusty couch.

In the middle of the night, while Sam is fast asleep, Dean comes to your bed. "Bathroom quicky?" He asks you in a hushed tone. Dean smirks when you nod your head and follow him to the bathroom.

He shuts the door and you hop up on the sink. Dean stands in-between your legs. "We cant be loud, Dean," you tell him. "What? I'm never loud." He lies to you. You shake your head and lightly laugh at him, "Mhm, yeah." You say to him just before he kisses you.

You've been hunting with the boys for maybe two and a half years, sleeping with Dean for a year. Never once have you guys had sex in the same "room" as Sam, you always thought it was too risky. Dean was definitely getting more needy for you. He even lets you sit up front in Baby with him.

You dont have the chance to think too much more about the nature of your relationship with him because soon enough Deans hands roughly grab at your boobs over your shirt. The kiss is messy, also. Tongues meeting together in a slobbery mess. The hand not occupied by groping you is wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his body. You can feel his hard-on through his pajama pants, staining against the fabric.

Dean abruptly stops kissing you for only a moment to pull both your pants and panties from your body, letting them fall to the floor. "You're so wet already." Dean praises to you as he feels you with his middle finger. "Do I make you like this?" He teases, his middle finger slowly circling over your clit. You eagerly nod your head.

"Just fuck me already, Dean." You're sick of his teasing and want to feel him already. He smirks and drops his pants. He sets one of his hands on your thigh and the other grips the base of his cock to pump it a few times. He lines himself up with the entrance of your pussy and teasingly slowly bottoms out. Dean grabs your jaw and brings your face to his to kiss you again.

Its an awkward position to be fucking in but you don't really care, with his cock inside of you and his thumb circling your clit you don't focus on the face that your ass is going slightly numb from sitting on the resin top. Trying to be as quiet and as quick as possible Dean starts pounding into you.

The only sound coming from the small bathroom was both of your held-in moans and exasperated breathing along with the wet sloppy sounds of skin meeting skin. You were sure that is Sam woke up he would her you, you hoped he was still passed out on the bed. Because that would be very awkward for all three of you.

Soon enough you feel the familiar tightness in your belly. You're sure Dean feels it too, with his stuttering hips and his jumpy breathing. "You wanna cum with me?" He asks in your ear. You nod and pull him back into a kiss. He rubs circles on your clit faster, bringing you closer to cumming.

It all suddenly snaps, the coil in your belly shatters and your legs shake around Deans waist. Dean cums not even a second after you, the squeeze from your orgasm brought him to his. He cums inside of you and he stays inside for a few moments. Collecting himself.

He kisses you on the mouth as he pulls out of you and pulls his pants back up. "I think I'm gonna shower." You say softly, breaking the silence. Dean smirks. "Without me?"

* Yet another time is in the back seat of Baby. You were honestly shocked when he brought it up to you. You never thought he'd ask you to get back seat freaky in Baby, that's his- well- baby.

He was on top of you, your legs were wrapped around his waist as he pumped into you in a slow speed. His mouth is on your tits, his tongue flicking over your nipples. The sensation was fueling the fire in your belly. The car windows actually started to fog from the released breaths of you too.

This time was much more drawn out. You guessed he was making up for the quicky that took place just a few days prior. He moves his head to your other breast to lick that one and massage the one he just had his mouth using his free hand.

Your moans are much louder than before, there isn't anything around where Dean parked the car. He kisses his way up to your lips from your chest, paying special attention to your collarbone to suck a light hickey onto your skin. Your nails scrape against the skin of his back.

Once he gets to your lips he speeds his pace up. Both of your mouths melting together. You whine into his mouth.

"There you go, sweetheart." he says as you grind your hips up to meet him mid thrust.

His hand reaches down in-between your bodies to rub circles on your clit. You feel the fire in your belly once again. Dean kisses you like he's a dying man, licking and nipping at your bottom lip.

The both of your bodies are slowly moving in sync. Your hand traces up his bicep to hold onto him. You squeeze his right bicep and he flexes his muscle against your hand. His scruffy cheeks tickle your face. All of these sensations are like a drug to you, you cannot get enough of Dean Winchester.

You cum first this time. It takes Dean a little while longer, desperate to make you finish first. He moans into your mouth when he finishes. Singing you quiet praises. He pulls out of you and he takes a moment to look as his cum seeps out of your pussy.

Dean pinches your cheek after he helps you clean up the mess between your legs. "You ready to head back?"

[maarigolds]

Since we all know how much of a shitshow umbrella academy s4 was, let's revisit the good old days. Here's my reaction to ep1 s1, which I haven't seen in like 5 years:

We're starting off strong with the sudden pregnancy scene: this is how you get the viewer's attention

Cunty shot of Reggie walking with the seven nannies and the seven baby carriers

Viktor playing the violin while all the other characters are introduced 10/10 stunning no notes

Rehab worker saying "We'll see you soon Klaus" and him immediatly overdosing and being reanimated in the ambulance. Now we know he probably just came back to life by himself!

"You got big, Luther! What's your secret, protein shakes?"

Pogo!!! I missed you, you ape butler!

Baby Viktor leaving sandwitches for Five 🥺🥺🥺

Klaus-Allison alliance going strong since the beginning I see

"Did you see Diego?" "Yeah, with that stupid outfit" "Do you think he wears that thing in the shower?" I love siblings being siblings

Ok I had forgotten about the Allison and Luther thing. Maybe it wasn't ALL great.

"Dad, could you just stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?"

"Ok, sorry, I'm just gonna go murder mom, I'll be right back"

Klaus is seriously the best

Bank robbery flashback!!!

"Guns are for sissies! Real men throw knives!"

"That's one badass StApLeR" god I miss five's voice cracks so much

*Ben covered in blood* "Can we go home now?"

Back to the present with Klaus spilling Reggie's ashes lmao

I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW AKA BEST DANCE SCENE IN TV SHOW HISTORY

No seriously Diego absolutely killing it, Luther doing the hand-krabs, Klaus dancing with the urne

And then boom! Five is back! Honestly iconic entrance

Also Klaus trying to stop a temporal anomaly with a fire extinguisher whyyyy lmao

Five interrupting his speech about the future to look Klaus up and down and 100% seriously say "nice dress"

Klaus responding with "ah, danke"

"That makes no sense" "well, it would if you were smarter"

Also unrelated but Viktor being such a shy wallflower in s1... he's come such a long way!!!

Luther throwing reggie's ashes on the ground "probably would have been better with some wind"

Luther and Diego beating the crap out each other. Viktor: "stop it!" Klaus: "hit him!"

Also Klaus trying to protect Five and him having none of it, too cute

"An entire square block, 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, and not one single drop of coffee" "dad hated caffeine" "well he hated children too, and he had plenty of us!"

"Alright, guess I'll see you guys in another ten years, when Pogo dies" Diego please 💀💀

"You know, every time I close my eyes I see a diarrheatic hyppo about to shit on my face" this was robert sheehan improvising and honestly what the fuck how does someone even come up with that

The Istanbul was constantinople fight was honestly art. This was really the moment I knew I would love this show with all of my heart. Also masterful way to show exactly who Five is in just a couple of minutes

BEN!!! I MISS OG BEN SO MUCH!!! He was baby

Five going to Viktor when he needed help. Honestly we should have gotten more of them being besties it was so good

"The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it" and that's how you end a first episode! I'm hooked! Except I'm not cause I know how it ends 🫠

Well this is it. This show was honestly so good in the beginning. I have no clue what happened. At least we'll always have season 1.

[drunknillawafer]

right down the line: zuko x firebender!reader

You grew up close to the Royal Family due to your father's position as a General, but you ran away from home after the agni kai against your best friend. Now, you're just trying to do your part in ending the 100-year war.

hellooo so this is my first official published fic that i will keep up! hopefully you guys like it, let me know! this is set in book 1 ep 10 in the Jet episode! i do not own Avatar or these characters! okayy enjoyyy >.<

Part 2

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

All I can see for miles is shades of crimson and orange. We’re so close to home, it almost feels like I’ve returned.

I’m standing in the trees near Jet and The Duke, peering down at twenty Fire Nation soldiers and their camp, waiting for the right moment to attack. The plan was to keep an eye out and alert Jet if anything could be of use to us. I hold onto my swords in anticipation.

“We’ve been here all morning, what if we don’t get a shot?” The Duke asked.

“Relax, we will.” Jet replied in his infamous cool manner. He was so sure we would score big this time and have one of the greatest victories thus far. I didn’t see the point, it seemed like your average solider platoon. But maybe he was right. He hasn’t let me down yet.

I met Jet when I was 13 and freshly ran away from home. I had left everything that could resemble Fire Nation in my room and took only my closest valuables. With one bag over my shoulder and a week of struggling to find food, the cool leader crossed my path in a forest not too far from where we’re standing now.

“Are you lost?” Jet questioned me.

“No, I’m hungry.” It was true. I hadn’t eaten for so long because I didn’t know how to find food. My family’s position in society meant I usually had servants dressing me, brushing my hair, and finding my food for me. It’s not something that crossed my mind when I left in a rageful fury.

“What’s your name?” He replied.

“Y/N.”

“You’re a kid. Don’t you have parents to feed you?”

“Don’t you?”

And that was that. I had passed Jet’s mysterious test and he invited me into his little world of lost children who were strong, brave, and alone. I was lucky to have found them when I did.

Three years later, the same cool leader has me standing in the trees like a predator waiting to catch its prey. That’s when I hear it. The voice of a teenage boy.

I crouch down to focus on the noise and see the rustling in the bushes near the Fire Nation camp we’re getting ready to bust. A boy in blue appears, looking backwards to his friends in an annoyed tone. Just as I spot him, he spots the soldiers in black and red.

“This is it.” I tell Jet. He nods and whistles his command to the Freedom Fighters, sending us off to our mission.

I come down from the trees and land on my feet, quickly inspecting my environment. Taking out two of my swords, I spot the boy in blue preparing an attack for a Fire Nation soldier who will surely beat him. His stance is all wrong, I can’t believe he’s actually attempting this.

I use both of my swords and dig them into the ground, launching my feet forward and off the dirt floor, kicking the soldier in the abdomen and out of balance. He falls over with the wind knocked out of him.

“Hey! He was mine!” The boy in blue exasperated.

“No, he wasn’t.” I snarked at him. This is the fun part of being with the Freedom Fighters, winning.

After a few minutes, the soldiers scurry off like rats when the lights turn on. They go in every direction, disappearing into the autumn-colored forest.

“We did it!” I celebrate. For a moment, I catch my breath and put my swords back into their sheaths.

The trio of strangers gather together and start walking toward us.

“Who are you guys?” The youngest with a blue arrow on his head spoke first.

“I’m Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters.” The leader introduces the members one by one, leaving me for last. “And this is Y/N. She’s my right-hand.” He graces.

I wave at the trio, taking them in as they process the new information they’ve just been handed. It’s a Water Tribe pair with another boy in orange. His clothes were strange, when was the last time someone wore Air Nomad clothes like his? I wondered. I had briefly seen the girl bend water, but it was impossible for the boy to be an air bender. The Fire Nation made sure of that.

“Let’s loot!” Jet interrupts my thoughts, and the rebels cheer in agreement. Looting time.

I focus on a tent to begin raiding the soldiers' bags and belongings. If we’re lucky, the group can score something to help us in our efforts—a map, a plan, a supply shipment—anything to take the empire down.

As I go through my first bag, the boy in blue enters the tent. I look up at his glare and stare him right in the eye.

He crosses his arms and gloats, “Just so you know, I could have handled that. But thanks for your help.”

“Didn’t look like that from where I was standing.” I shrugged and shifted my focus back onto the bag. I flip it upside down so the contents come spilling out.

“And where were you standing by the way? You guys came out of nowhere!” Clearly, he wasn’t going to let my swoop-in go.

“We were in the trees, been staking out all morning.” Nothing of importance in the first bag so I move onto the next one, opening the top and letting the soldier’s belongings fall on the floor for me to inspect. “Until you,” I point at his chest, “came along and made the perfect distraction. It should be me thanking you.”

A balled-up messenger hawk message comes out of the bag. I can tell from its design that it comes from the Admiral, lucky me. Ignoring the boy in front of me, I open the letter and read the writing.

The Avatar has returned. From now on, any information must be reported to Admiral Zhao. The Banished Prince is to be ignored.

The Banished Prince. My finger grazes the ink.

“One day she’s going to try and overthrow me, I swear.” Zuko confesses as he lunges forward with his sword. I dodge his attempt at an offense and strike back.

“Even if she does, you and I can take her.” I reply. My mind is focused on the sparring round, but Zuko seems to be somewhere else. He’s not taking any of my bait to back him into a corner.

“You’d help me fight?” His demeaner softens and I know this is the moment I can use to win. I use the gymnastics I was forced to learn to my advantage and gain the higher ground on a bench near the turtle duck pond. His sword falls out of his hand as I send my blade toward him, making sure to not seriously hurt him. Zuko holds his hands up in defeat. I win this round.

“Duh, it’s kind of my throne now too. I’ve grown fond of it.” I hold one hand to my heart, feigning admiration for the title.

The Prince and I grew up together. Learning fire-bending at the same academy, attending snobby important society gatherings, and now practicing sword-fighting at the Royal Palace’s turtle duck pond. We became halves of one whole. If the cosmic forces upon us gave me the mind, it gave Zuko the heart. And together, we felt complete.

“One day I’ll have to be Fire Lord.” He solemnly said.

“One day. But for now, just focus on beating me! Round 4?”

I take a deep breath in and push the memory away. Time makes it easy. The boy in blue waiting for my response to the messenger hawk letter makes it even easier.

“It’s nothing, just old information.” I crumble the paper into a ball once again and throw it with the rest of the useless items I’ve gone through so far. “Do you want to come to the hideout?” I change the subject.

“You guys have a hideout?” His eyes widen in amusement.

“Yes, but maybe I should know your name before I let you go up there.”

“It’s Sokka.” He answers. “And you?”

“Y/N.” I hold my hand out so he can shake it, and he does. When his hand touches mine, a pit forms in my gut. I got the feeling I’d be knowing him for a long time. “Well, Sokka, follow me.”

[blue-rose-soul]

For hazbin hotel au: what would happen she found out at first meeting with alastor and kept it a secret because she didn't know how to process it?

By 'she' I'm guessing you mean Charlie?

I don't think she'd end up keeping the secret for all that long, to be honest. We know how she feels about keeping secrets from loved ones, although she's not nearly as close with Alastor so it's somewhat excusable. I feel like Charlie would still believe she had an obligation to tell the truth though.

I'm also not sure what scenario would allow Charlie to know but not Alastor OR Lucifer. The reason I decided Lucifer was wasted when he hooked up with Nicaise is because Vivienne described Lucifer and Lilith as being deeply in love. Even if some things have changed, I don't think Lucifer would ever intentionally cheat on Lilith. Even if their relationship was an open one, I doubt Lucifer would have knowingly abandoned any kid of his.

So if Lucifer didn't know, I don't see how Charlie would.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut...

Let's say she does figure it out. Not right off the bat, but over time she pieces together some clues from things she's heard Alastor mention offhand and stories Lucifer told her when she was a bit younger, before they stopped talking regularly. She doesn't know what to say to Alastor, so she goes to Vaggie, who doesn't really know how to handle the situation either. But there's one guy who has to have answers, right?

Charlie ends up calling Lucifer earlier than in canon, inviting him to the hotel to talk about 'something important.' Sometime after episode 4 but before the months-long time skip between then and episode 5. Lucifer comes running over, eager to see Charlie for the first time in ages.

He meets Alastor... aaaaaand does NOT make a good first impression. You've seen Dad Beat Dad.

There's no Mimzy to break up the argument this time (she won't show up for another 4-5 months) so Charlie has to stop things before they escalate. Fortunately, reminding Lucifer that she had something important to talk to him about is enough to get him to drop his sniping match with Alastor.

Unfortunately, trying to extract the truth from Lucifer is like pulling a tooth. Charlie keeps trying to subtly poke and prod but Lucifer's only half-listening, distracted, or he gets wrapped up cooing over his 'little girl.' Vaggie's not around to provide backup, since Charlie wanted to speak with Lucifer alone.

Eventually Charlie gets fed up with Lucifer's rambling and snaps, "DAD! Did you cheat on Mom?"

It takes Lucifer a hot minute to process the question.

When he does he's shocked and hurt... and a little afraid.

"Why would you ask that?" he wonders, and Charlie walks him through her mental math. Once in a moment of drunken vulnerability, Alastor let slip that he was conceived at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, in the same year that Lucifer snuck to Earth. And that his father was never in the picture. Lucifer is embarrassed as he admits he doesn't remember the entirety of that night. But surely it's just a coincidence, right? Lots of kids were conceived that night, at that parade.

Charlie tells him that Alastor's mom apparently referred to his father as an 'angel' and suddenly Lucifer's not so sure.

They don't bring it up to Alastor yet. It's still not 100% certain, and Charlie doesn't want to drop that on Alastor's lap in case she turns out to be wrong. But she keeps wondering, picking out the little things she and Alastor and her father have in common. It's MADDENING. On top of which, now Charlie's daddy issues are exacerbated by the revelation that, whether or not Alastor actually is her brother, Lucifer might have strayed when he went up to Earth. She asks him to leave and Alastor's all too happy to sneer at Lucifer on the way out.

The next few months pass as they would have in canon, with Charlie mainly focusing on trying to redeem Angel Dust and Sir Pentious, BUT with one difference. She also spends her time trying to talk to Alastor more about his family and life on Earth. He's not entirely receptive to her questioning. Ultimately he'd rather just forget who he was as a human and embrace being the Radio Demon. But, from time to time, he feeds her tidbits of information that can't really be used against him. After all, if she feels like they're 'close' then he can use that to his advantage. Over time, though, Alastor starts doing his own math, and picks up some hints as to what Charlie's weird behavior is really about.

Lucifer, meanwhile, spends the time doing some digging and trying to figure out whatever became of Nicaise after Mardi Gras, 190x. His research pretty much confirms what he and Charlie had begun to suspect. One solace; it seems like Nicaise went up to Heaven. But Lucifer is devastated to learn that she left behind a 10-12 year old child when she did.

[bumblee27]

HI I AM ALREADY LOSING MY MIND OVER THE SIGN OF FOUR AND IT'S ONLY PART 1. I'VE. I'VE MADE AN A3 MINDMAP WOULD YOU CARE TO HEAR MY RAMBLINGS

Will contain spoilers!

Tagging @blujellyfish21 because I'm blaming you for my mindmap, you've rubbed off on me, and @justabit-silly because uh I just want to share my stupid observations and far fetched theories with you 👉👈

RIGHT OKAY HERE WE GO

Right, first off, a 40 minute episode hello??? Is every part going to be this long?? That'll make the whole case just under 7 HOURS.

The music box at the start is undoubtedly the one John and Sherlock have found.

I HEAR YOU, SHALLOWED BREATHING BETWEEN THE CHILDHOOD RECORDING AND THE VOICE NOTES

So the diamond had been 'stolen' from the Morstans even when Mary was a child.

(Small note that those clips before the theme tune messed me up. I was so scared, but so excited, I was shaking. Because, okay, I read the warning 'minor in distress', and then little Mary popped up, all big-eyed and giggly and I went SHIT NO LEAVE HER ALONE)

The magpie thing is 100% an analogy for the thieves. Oh, sorry, there weren't any thieves? Oh, they're not in it yet.

Note John's "4 for a boy" around the magpie superstition, and note his tone of voice. That is guaranteed going to be relevant. Perhaps it means Tonga (I'm very sorry, I can't remember his name and if I did I couldn't spell it).

John's having more leads! Massive ones too! Yippee!! But Sherlock's not happy. Is he jealous? Or...

OKAY LISTEN TO ME PLEASE. The dynamic between the main 3 has been thriving recently, they've taken their time to develop into a wonderful healthy relationship. Sherlock's sudden spite today was a surprise to me. His insult towards John and Mariana was uncalled for and deliberate. Why? Having a bad day? Or maybe he's doing it on purpose. Distancing himself. Maybe he knows something. Maybe he thinks losing him will hurt less if their memories of him are bitter. Must keep an eye on him.

How interesting that in the book, Mary goes directly to Sherlock for help, but in the podcast, she doesn't even know she's connected yet.

I was wondering when and where the birdsong after the voice notes and before the theme music was set. Yes, it could be irrelevant, but the creators would have had to put thought into it, wouldn't they? Then I went oh my god what if the birds are magpies? I'm not familiar with bird calls, but that would be an AMAZING detail.

I'll end this by pointing out how obviously upset John was in the intro. The whole show is literally about murder, but he always manages to find something to laugh about. So if he actually shows that he's upset, how bad must things be?

[emeryhiro]

My thoughts on TBOC 206 script & Caryl canon.

Before I get into my thought I want to clarify a few things, and this may come across as blunt, however, I feel that bluntness is nessary in this instance.

Firstly, I wasn't planning on adressing the leaked script pages, however, after reading some of the positive and negative posts about it, I feel like I should also share my thoughts and clarify some things that may be misunderstood about me as well.

Secondly, (and this may not sound relevant right now but bear with me for a second) I'm an engineer who works in the construction industry, I'm also a post grad architecture student, both of which are roles that require at the very least a competent level of critical thinking as a baseline skill. Why I'm sharing this information is becasue those skills are what I use to develop the thoughts and opinions that I share. I also want to say that I'm in no way familiar with the way things are run in the entertainment industry, whether that's production companies, directors, producers, or actors, I'm just a fan of the arts who loves delving deep into lore-rich stories and sharing my thoughts with others who also love the same things.

So now that you have my cridentials😅 you can come to your own decisions on how you approach and what you take away from the thoughts I share.

Where I stand on Carol and Daryl's relationship.

Over the past few months, I've had several messages saying that my opinion may be biased or that I'm just being overly optimistic because I'm a Caryl fan. So the first thing that i want to say is that this fandom is very dear to me. And even though I have only in the past year begun to be more vocal on these tags, I have been on this platform and a part of the fandom for a very long time.

As someone who had the opportunity to see episode one early, I feel that I have a responsibility to be honest with everyone who's relying on my opinion. I would never want to give false hope to those who (similar to me) love Caryl and are excited about canon, only for them to be even more disappointed in the end.

I respect and understand that everyone has their own reasons for watching/not watching and loving/hating a show. However, I myself will 100% still be watching season 2 and all the seasons to come, even if we never get canon. I love Carol and Daryl as individual characters, and I watched twd because I loved the show and it's premise. Daryl and Carol are a massive part of why I loved the show, they also happen to be my favourite characters in fiction, and Caryl canon is what I've always wanted for them, BUT I'm not, never have, and never will be watching for Caryl canon alone. Will I be disappointed if it never happens? Yes, definitely! But I'll still be watching because of everything else that I love about the show and the characters.

Even if the show was just about Daryl, or just about Carol I'd still be watching every single episode and loving it. So to summarise what I'm trying to say, the thoughts and opinions that I share publicly are not biased (at least not consciously) by my love for the idea of Caryl unless I specifically say that I'm "fangirling" which you may have notice me clarifiying in some of my posts.

SPOILER WARNING - Thoughts on the leaked ep 206 script below the line.

TBOC 206 Script

Implications on Caryl canon:

I don't see anything in these pages that implies whether or not canon has or hasn't happened, the whole scene that it describes can't be more than 5-10 minutes long, which is why there is no point assuming either way.

If canon has happened, I don't expect them to be mentioning it in a scene where they're seperated for the most of it, with one of them getting almost beat/shot to death, the other fighting several walkers and collapsing, and both of them most probably inhaling poisonous gas. Not exactly the type of scene where you can create the perfect romantic Caryl moments. And not so different from the TOWL finale scene between Rick and Michonne as they escape the walkers/gas.

~~~

The Parallel:

One thing I haven't seen anyone talk about is the parrallel of the scene between Daryl and his hallucination of Isabelle, and the scene between Carol and her hallucination of Alpha from S10 EP14.

Firstly, I don't think Isabelle is meant to represent an angel to Daryl in this moment, just like how Alpha didn't represent a demon to Carol. Neither actually represents the characters themselves, and both are just personification of the conflicts that's going on in each of their minds, and perhaps another similarity is that they're both personifications of people who they believe got them to the situation they're in.

Secondly, In both scenes Daryl and Carol seem completely overwhlmed by guilt and ready to let go and give up. The scene from S10EP14 didn't mean that Carol didn't love Daryl, on the contrary a reminder of him was what snapped her out of the physical and mental trap she was in and gave her the motivation and drive to fight again.

I think the same can be said about Daryl in the TBOC EP06 scene, he's "ready to let go" and this isn't becasue he doesn't love Carol but it's becasue he feels as though he's constantly failing everyone who relies on him, including Merle, Beth, Glenn, Isabelle and in his mind Carol could be next. But what gets him to fight again? Isabelle saying:

"Not like him."

refering to his grandfather. In season 1 we learnt exactly what Daryl didn't want to do and in what way's he didn't want to be like his grandfather. The main one being that his granfather left his family behind, which resulted in generational trauma that he couldn't protect his family from, only becasue he went to fight someone else's war.

What I've taken away from this is that in that moment he believes it's too late, he failed the ones he was supposed to protect from the Nest, and now by losing and dying the fight in that moment it would mean that he also failed his real family and won't be able to protect them. Like everything he did was in vain.

This is exactly what "Isabelle" reminds him of, that yes maybe he did fail to protect her and the people from his past, but unlike his grandfather who died "bloody and bullet riddled" Daryl is still breathing and as long as he's alive there's still the possibility and "hope" of protecting his family. He becomes determined and starts to fight back becasue he's reminded to "Bet on hope".

~~~

The fight scenes:

It appears that Carol and Daryl are in a tunnel with Cordon, and two new characters named Angus and Fiona. I want to point out that it looks like the fight between Codron and Daryl is once again becasue Codron blames Daryl for killing his brother, however, I find it hard to believe that we're in episode 206 and that issue hasn't been resolved yet, which leads me to believe that perhaps there's something paticular about the gas in the tunnel that's causing helusination and all at the same time making:

Codron see his dead brother and run after him like he's hipnotised

Carol seeing, speaking and interacting with Sofia

Daryl seeing and speaking with Isabelle

The pages also show that the fight between Angus, Fiona, and Daryl was about gas masks. It sounds to me like Angus and Fiona perhaps used Daryl to help them get the masks and when finding that there's only two masks, they try to knock him out and have to kill him so that they can take the masks for themselves, gas masks that Carol and him need to get through the tunnel to get home.

I can't wait to see how that fight scene plays on screen! I have a weakness for the way Daryl and Carol become so brutal when fighting to protect each other. Because Angus and Fiona don't sound like antagonists when they're speaking with Daryl, and saying:

"Sorry, friend, ain't enough masks for the lot of us." "Got people waiting back home."

They just sounds like two people who, like Carol and Daryl, are trying to get back to the people waiting for them.

This is more of a personal guess than a proper thought: after the fight as Daryl hands one of the masks to Carol he says "It was us or them." and what I think he really meant was "it was you or them" because he was ready to die moments earlier until he was reminded of her, emphasising my earlier points on how they fight for eachother and live for each other.

~~~

The Tunnel:

Lastly, and probably most importantly, these script pages don't tell us how Daryl and Carol ended up in that situation or which part of the episode this is in, without that context there's no way to know what anything really means.

Some of the questions that I think are important and thoughts that I have:

What events lead up to the fight?

We know that Carol is outside the "camp" as described in the script, and that Carol faught at least 3 walkers and collapsed on the ground, but did Daryl know where she was or if she was okay before he saw her after his fight?

Why would his first thought/guess be of Carol when he saw a "blurry figure approaching."

Would they really end the episode like this, leaving Codrons fate as a huge questions mark? (I don't think they would, seems harsh and like they're throwing away such an interesting character)

As seen in the trailer, the tunnel that they're in is the Channel Tunnel which connects France and England, BUT, we also know as it has been offically announced that season 3 is set in Spain not England, so logcially Carol and Daryl aren't gonna be going all the way through the tunnel only to turn all the way back, which leads me to believe that either they don't end up going through, the season ends as they're walking further into the tunnel, and season 3 will explain how/when they turned around, OR, this isn't actually the final scene 🤷‍♀️

LITTLE (hopefully interesting) HINT ABOUT THE OPENING CREDITS: There's a scene that's described in one of these script pages that's also included in the opening credits.

~~~

Some additional thoughts:

The fireflies that appear as Isabelle walks away. I have a few different ideas on what this could mean but it's impossible to tell without the visual context. Also Dary's "wtf?" reaction to the fireflies had me laughing out loud! That right there reads like some good comedic timing.

We're getting another "You okay?" moment!! Those moments are some of my favourite and most tender/affectionate moments between Carol and Daryl. I can't wait to see how they play this one 😭💖

Sorry but I can sense more tension between Codron and Daryl in their fight scene than all the Isabelle and Daryl scenes combined... 🤣

~~~

To Summarise:

These scripts don't cover enough for any level of resonable doubt or concern. How something reads on a script can turn out sooo different on screen, and what I know from all the other season of twd, is that Norman and Melissa can turn something that may come across as basic, misleading or confusing on script into something incredibly magical on screen which also often turns into some of our favourite scenes between the two of them.

I completely trust Norman and Melissa with the story, and if the story never goes to canon and we end up getting something different I know that it's still gonna be an incredible story.

Although, I do still stand by my thoughts that we're heading towards canon. If Carol and Daryl need season 2 to finally heal and then approach canon on more solid ground in season 3 than so be it, because that would make sense and it would be a fair way to begin a canon relationship between the two. However I can also see the beginnings of a conversation about canon, or even actual canon happening in season 2.

It all seems possible to me and it's now all up to how Norman and Melissa want to tell the story, which I'll be anxiously waiting for and respect no matter what.

~~~

Thank you @celtic-crossbow for giving me the push I needed to share my thoughts on these matters🩵🩵

And thank you to all of you who read through this extensive post. I appreciate all of you who read my thoughts, engage with it, share your thoughts in return, ask me questions. I'm sorry for my bluntness in some areas within this post, I think it was important for me to address and clarify some things in order to avoid further confusion.

I'm so excited that we are now only 8 weeks away from the offical premiere of season 2!!! After a long wait we're finally gonna have our favourite characters sharing a frame on our screen again, and if that in itself isn't a reason to celebrate than I don't know what is.

[thedepressedjuggalette]

Arcane theory: Skye IS the Inspiration Rune.

Okay, I know it's kinda worthless to have a theory when the rest of the show is going to be coming out soon, but I need to get this brainrot out of my head while I can. But he warned fuck ton of spoilers ahead especially if I am right. Also there is so much brainrot you are probably going to call the cops on me.

And the title itself outright shows what my theory is.

However, let me elaborate.

I play League of Legends and like every single summoner on the rift knows there are more than just four runes trees.

It has been pointed out countless times that Viktor's Hexcore is incomplete.

Looking here we have Precision, Domination, Sorcery, and Resolve but one is missing which is the very obvious Inspiration Rune.

To give you a basic understanding of how these Runes work in game:

The Precision tree grants you improved attacks and sustainable damage.

The Domination tree grants you burst damage and target access.

The Sorcery tree grants you empowered abilities and resources control.

The Resolve tree grants you durability and crowd control.

But the Inspiration tree grants you creative tools and rule bending.

This all should sound familiar now that we have the first three episodes of season two.

Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger had found that the arcane is upset from all the demands that Hextech had made and even started affecting the weaponry that Jayce had made.

Jayce and Victor's research and inventions are incomplete and thus are fairly unstable and volatile depending on what runes they had used for their inventions.

To give you an example as to what the Inspiration Rune does in comparison to the others let's look at the raw trees themselves.

The Inspiration tree is the most versatile of all the runes in League of Legends. When picking your runes you get the first "Keystone" rune tree and are able to pick from a variety of benefits before picking a supplementary rune set that doesn't offer as much of a drastic benefit as the first one but does offer a fair amount of goodies.

Here are the benefits you can pick from in the Inspiration tree.

From two simple images in this you can spot Hextech clearly -- one of them being outright called Hextech Flashtraption.

But to look at the analysis, the rule breaking in this tree is fucking insane with the keystone runes alone.

Glacial Augment:

Passive: Immobilizing an enemy champion will cause 3 glacial rays to emanate from them towards you and other nearby enemy champions, creating icy zones with a 700 unit radius that last for 3 (+ 100% of the immobilizing effect's duration) seconds.

Enemies within the icy zones, which have a width of 80 units, are slowed by 20% (+ 7% per 100 bonus AD) (+ 6% per 100 AP) (+ 9% per 10% heal and shield power) and have their damage reduced by 15% against your allies, excluding yourself.

Unsealed Spellbook:

Passive: While not channeling Teleport and being out-of-combat for 5 seconds, you can swap one of your equipped summoner spells to a new, single use summoner spell. You cannot select a summoner spell you have already equipped.

Your first swap becomes available after 6 minutes, with an initial 300 second cooldown. Selecting a unique summoner spell reduces the swap cooldown by 25 seconds. You must swap to 3 different summoner spells before returning to one you've already used.

Selecting a summoner spell puts it on a 5 second cooldown.

Using a selected summoner spell puts the summoner spell in the same slot on a 10 second cooldown.

(a summoner spell is a spell that you the player has that works outside of the champions themselves' skillset, from Flash -- a small blink that is used to bypass walls and dodge enemy attacks but is put on a rather long cool down, Ignite -- a spell used to set the enemy on fire for a short duration of time, and more.)

And finally First Strike:

Passive: Dealing damage or applying a crowd control effect to an enemy champion within the first 0.25 seconds of champion combat, grants 10 Gold 10 and First Strike for 3 seconds, causing all of your post-mitigation damage dealt against champions to deal 7% bonus true damage. Afterwards, you are granted gold equal to ( Melee role 50% / Ranged role 35%) of all bonus damage dealt within the duration.

First Strike will be placed on full cooldown after being struck by an enemy champion before you strike them.

These are completely different and outright insane in comparison to the other runes, which I will give one example from each tree.

From the Precision tree let's look at the most famous of them, Press the Attack:

Passive: Basic attacks on-hit against enemy champions apply a stack for 4 seconds, refreshing on subsequent applications, expiring upon attacking a new champion, and stacking up to 3 times. The third stack consumes all stacks to deal 40 − 160 (based on level) bonus Attack damage Magic damage adaptive damage and grant you 8% increased damage (except Hybrid penetration true damage) against champions until you are no longer in combat with them.

Adaptive Damage: This effect deals either physical or magic damage depending on the damage contribution from your attack damage and ability power to the effect's damage formula. Greater bonus damage from the AD (Attack Damage) ratio → Physical damage. Greater bonus damage from the AP (Ability Power) ratio → Magic damage.

If the damage contribution of AD and AP are zero or otherwise equal, the damage type depends on the effect's particular default.

From the Domination tree we have Dark Harvest:

Passive: Damaging basic attacks and ability damage against enemy champions below 50% of their maximum health deal 20 (+ 9 per Soul) (+ 10% bonus AD) (+ 5% AP) bonus Attack damage Magic damage adaptive damage and, after a 1.75-second delay, reap 1 Soul. This cannot occur again for 35 seconds, resetting to 1 second upon scoring a Damage rating takedown against an enemy champion.

While not on cooldown, also reap 1 Soul from receiving the kill credit of a champion killed by a minion, monster, or turret.

Adaptive Damage: This effect deals either physical or magic damage depending on the damage contribution from your attack damage and ability power to the effect's damage formula.

Greater bonus damage from the AD ratio → Physical damage. Greater bonus damage from the AP ratio → Magic damage. If the damage contribution of AD and AP are zero or otherwise equal, the damage type depends on the effect's particular default.

In Sorcery we have Arcane Comet:

Passive: Dealing ability damage to an enemy champion hurls an Arcane Comet at their current location that lands after 0.825 seconds, dealing 30 − 130 (based on level) (+ 10% bonus AD) (+ 5% AP) physical or magic damage to enemies within a 140 radius upon impact. Dealing forms of ability damage reduces the remaining cooldown. Spell damage: 20% Area damage: 10% per enemy hit Persistent damage: 5% If「 10% bonus AD ≥ 5% AP, 」「 bonus AD ≥ 50% AP, 」deals physical damage. If otherwise, deals magic damage.

And finally in Resolve we have Grasp of the Undying:

Passive: Entering combat generates 1 stack every second for the next 3 seconds, refreshing the duration with each instance of combat and stacking the effect up to 4 times. At maximum stacks, your next basic attack on-hit within 5 seconds against an enemy champion consumes all stacks to deal bonus magic damage equal to ( Melee role 3.5% / Ranged role 2.1%) of your maximum health, heal you for ( Melee role 1.3% / Ranged role 0.78%) of your maximum health), and permanently grant ( Melee role 5 / Ranged role 3) bonus health.

These are basic as hell where Inspiration's tree grants you so much versatility.

Now that we have this all established let's look at the entire point of Hextech as established by Viktor and Jayce.

They invented Hextech to IMPROVE LIVES.

For instance Jayce outright states that he made the Atlas Gauntlets to help the people mining in the Fissures to work faster and without fatigue. Hence improving efficiency.

If I were to assign runes to the gauntlets it would be the Resolve Tree.

However we have to look at something specific when it comes to Arcane and Hextech in general.

In Arcane and League of Legends Lore, you have to be BORN WITH MAGIC in order to use magic. Even in the second episode one of the Council members outright said you have to be "Born with Arcane talents, you can't just make them".

This outright shows that Jayce and Viktor are rule breaking.

To stabilize this that means a new Rune has to be made or found. So here is where my theory comes full circle.

Skye actively wanted to help Viktor because he inspired her. She was in love with him, and it was very clear to anyone with half a braincell that she loved him with all her heart.

I imagine that finding out his prognosis made her want to save him no matter what. And she unknowingly sacrificed her life for him when the Hexcore was going out of control. And it took her. After all to quote Fullmetal Alchemist "Human kind can not gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange."

So upon being taken by the Hexcore her sentience has possessed the Hexcore and is now trapped inside it. She is now leading Viktor to his dream of helping those in need in Zaun after saving him from the brink of death. Once something goes wrong however, she will stabilize Magic itself and become the rune of Inspiration, to ensure the safety of not only Viktor but all of Piltover, Zaun and even Runeterra as a whole.

I am probably super far off, but fuck you my brain is rotting and melting out of my ears to such a point I'm probably gonna go insane. Someone send help. I need an ambulance.

[grifff17]

Audio Drama Sunday 8/18/2024

There was so much new stuff this week. Midnight Burger, Worlds Beyond Number, World Gone Wrong, and Wanderer's Journal all release an episode every other Tuesday, and this Tuesday was that day. Then on Wednesday 3 actual play released new episodes. I didn't actually get through everything new this week, the rest will come next week.

NEW SHOW ALERT Starwhal: Odyssey, a spelljammer-inspired actual play from the cast of Skyjacks Couriers Call, is no longer Patreon exclusive! I really liked the first 2 episodes of this show, I love the way these people do collaborative storytelling. The little things like the rent collections robot and the streaming rat were so good. At the end of the episode, the mental vision of Saach teleporting into the gamer chair was so vivid. Also, I've never heard more revulsion in a credits sequence than them crediting Wizards of the Coast for the Spelljammer setting. I'm curious about the system they're going to move to for the later episodes.

In @midnightburgr I love the new set of characters, I bet the next spinoff series going to be the Paradise. However, they can’t keep ending episodes like this. I’ve never been happier to hear the sound of the diner jumping, but Ava and the Mucklewains are gone. At least this time Ava isn't totally alone in a jerry rigged space suit. And David is joining the main cast, at least for the rest of the season!

So much happens in every @worldsbeyondpod episode, and this one had even more than most. The audio design for the opening scene goes so hard, Taylor does such an incredible job. When listening to other APs, I can't help but compare them to WBN. The King of Night loredrop was insane, Orima is apparently sworn to him? I like how the core conflict - Witches and Spirits vs Wizards - is designed to create tension and strife between the PCs. I love the intrigue of this arc so much, but Ame lying to the coven was such a massive misstep. I still think my favorite part of the show might be whenever Suvi uses identify on something plot relevant. The smell of soap from Ursulon was so mean by Brennan, callbacks to the Children's Adventure like that always break me.

I didn’t realize the new season of @storiesfromylelmore was starting already, when I saw it pop up in my feed I went to bed early to go listen to it. Despite what Keryth says, her moms are super cool. Can't wait to learn more about them. Keryth’s parents giving her a magic item to make her quiet reminds me of a lot of my childhood. What my mom wouldn't have given for a silence bubble spell. There was so much worldbuilding in this episode, the quote “I don’t know what they do with them, but I think it’s better if they don’t have pieces of you” was terrifying. The final scene of the episode created such a vivid mental image, I could see the three of them in the backseat.

I also listened to ItMe's other show besides Ylelmore and InCo, Of Gods and Lanterns. It was short but sweet, with a total runtime of less than 30 minutes runtime. I really like the world, I would listen to 100 more episodes of this show.

I listened to parts 3 and 4 of the Spout Lore Critshow crossover. The Spout Lore cast on earth is so funny. The two shows really mesh so well together, this has to be the most "natural" crossover I've ever listened to.

The new season of Second Fiddles also started this week and woah the ending. I'm guessing that everyone forgot about Tammie, but Linus’s mom was unaffected because she was in the book. IIRC we've only met one character who can erase people memories, and she could only do it to one person at a time, not everyone, so I suspect 4th Wall/Macguffin shenanigans.

I also started The Cryptonaturalist this week. The tone of this show is so unique. I love the narrator. I also very quickly found that this is a perfect podcast to fall asleep to.

This post ended up really long this week. No judgement if people don't want to read the whole thing. Next week will be a lot shorter I think.

[the-boiling-bisles]

I haven't really had the chance to organize my thoughts and predictions on the finale yet, so I guess I'll just dump them here lmao

I'm still holding out for Eda to use Bat Queen's whistle in the finale, don't know what she would do, but I do think that it would most likely lead to a sacrifice of some sort (or maybe belos eats her and grows to full power again wouldn't that be wild)

I feel like I'm in the minority of people who don't think Luz will permanently move to the demon realm, I feel like it would be easier on Camila (and Vee too let's be honest), if there was just an open portal she could go through at any time. At the very least it's pretty obvious that the portal between the worlds will close forever afterwards, evidently from how much Luz has grown there compared to Earth

Huntlow is definitely of importance to the Belos plotline, they would've just cut it for time if it wasn't. Hunter and Willow are 100% foils to Caleb and Evelyn, and my guess when the gang is confronted by him, he'll see the two protecting each other and have flashbacks to when he killed his brother. My biggest hope for this would be a fully animated flashback, but I guess we'll just have to see

It's pretty evident that Hunter will continue the line of palismen carving, and with the seed Dell gave to Eda, I would almost say that that alludes to a future with Willow where she grows the trees and he carves the wood (definitely reading too much into it lol)

Something I don't think a lot of people have talked about is who will run the isles when Belos is dealt with? Or rather how it will be run. It would make the most sense for one of the CATS to do it (Eda, Raine, and Darius all come to mind first). Oddly specific, but in that context I could see a scene where upon everybody finding out he's a titan, they say that he should be the leader of the BI, but he insists that he isn't fit for the job or something of the likes

I think with the build up to Stringbean, there will be a big fight against Belos in the next episode, considering how well he fought in Hunter's body, who had no natural magic at the time, I think as Raine he'll be even harder to beat. A fight like that alone has me curious as to whether they'll survive or not, but considering the amount of angst between them and Eda I don't think it'll get worse (I am definitely wrong about that). There will definitely be a scene where Eda thinks they're dead though, she'll hold them in their arms and cry or whatever and then they'll have some funny quip, then they'll finally kiss

Part of me feels that Luz will have a last minute moment of doubt when deciding whether or not she'll return to the demon realm at all, which will lead to Camila mentioning the videos that Luz sent her back in S2, I still think they're going to be plot relevant, and will probably be in the last 5 or so minutes of the episode

And that brings me to something mentioned by in a post hoot on Cissy's instagram a little while ago. One of the people there asked someone if they had seen the last four minutes of the episode, and when they said no the other had a clear reaction. The last four minutes will most likely be a time skip, wedding, or maybe some sort of memorial thing for a character who died. I would be willing to bet that those last four minutes were what Sarah was talking about when she said it was the hardest she ever cried.

Sorry this was so long lmao I just wanted to get my thoughts out

[parachutingkitten]

Okay, this has been bothering me, and I'm gonna go into it, cuz I feel like being mad that the fandom didn't get better is friggin valid, so imma get negative here at some serious missed potential, if that's not your jam, 100% get it, please scroll past.

We have a season with 20 episodes, each of which are 20 minutes long. That is an unprecedented amount of time for a ninjago season- I would argue maybe too much time, but that's not what we're getting into here. Even just the first half is the length of your standard ninjago season back in the day. There is no excuse for not taking your time with ideas that deserve time. You've got time. You've got too much time.

If you're gonna do a mystical mind prison that traps you in your worst fears, you gotta do it! You can't do this wimpy half commit thing you're doing here. What is this cop out that's like three minutes long? This is a top tier trope! Loads of stories do this- for a good reason, it's a great way to get lots of new insight into your characters, not to mention have fun with environments, hypotheticals, bend logic, and do some creative filmmaking. And here you are, inventing a whole weird fictional animal to facilitate your nightmare state, and it legitimately takes up so little screen time that it hurts! What? Did you not have enough to say about your characters to fill out a full subplot? You thinking that surface level about things? Or was the basketball tournament fake out with the dragons so important to the story that you couldn't cut it out for some character introspection?

It's so short and pointless, it doesn't functionally do anything except tell us very directly "Here's what this character fears, and will have to get past this season!" No looking into why or making some progress/losing progress on the issue in the dream state. We don't even get to see everyone's visions, let alone see any interconnectivity between them. It's just such a waste of a classically exciting set up. And why on earth would you place this concept at the beginning of the season? Put it at the turning point man! That's what this scenario is made for! Literalizing characters overcoming mental challenges so that it's interesting to watch! Using the nightmare dream sphere for exposition in the most boring possible version of the trope is just dumbfounding.

I mean seriously? The black void? That's all you've got? You gonna go the Cars 2 route and set our supposedly deep nightmare sequence in a black void? No symbolism to the void even? No distorting of visuals within the void? Nothing? Can you get any more basic? Did you really put that little creativity into this? Like, the whole point of the nightmare dreamscape is to get creative! So much symbolism and messaging that you can easily tie into things! the possibilities are literally endless! But yeah, I guess Arin running in place is pretty meaningful too, I'm sure it took you a while to come up with something so profound.

There's a reason this story beat usually makes up at least half the plot of any given episode it's in! There's so much room to explore. The potential for crosscutting between nightmares is so high, drawing parallels between characters. Maybe they're all interconnected, and the mentally strongest of the team breaks free to help the others in their nightmares. Maybe it's a revelation point for the rest of the team as they see a dark past of another character they didn't know about. Or maybe it's just the audience who gets new insight into a sheltered corner of a character's mind, or a way to reveal to them a dark secret someone is hiding. You can also have fun subverting expectations, maybe one of the nightmares is just objectively pretty funny. And, the best thing about any dream environment you're creating, you can have the characters get involved in insanely creative fights and action scenes where they literally beat up their mental roadblocks with cool looking and symbolically important powers or tools.

Like, I know the fandom is losing their mind over this scene because 'omg Nya's gonna be so sad cuz of the memory loss(that hasn't even been revealed in narrative yet, so the irony doesn't even really work)' but I just need you to understand that the full fledged angst, character growth, and introspection y'all are speculating could have theoretically happened in Kai's plot is what we could have had for everyone. For a full episode. Like it deserved to be. And it would have been really cool, and really satisfying, and beautifully and symbolically stunning, because countless other people have done it, it's honestly not too difficult. Stop freaking out like they did a good job with this- they didn't do a good job with this. They couldn't even bother to give everyone a vision, they just gave up on the concept halfway through.

Not to mention how accessible and valuable this type of storytelling is to kids! Literalizing some of the big abstract issues these characters are supposedly battling this season would be a great way to get kids to grasp these ideas, but instead it's literally like two and a half minutes of slightly ominous stuff to bate us before we move on.

Stop teasing us with interesting stuff and then not actually following through! This is not how you do storytelling!

[808airsoftbros]

A Simple Game of Chess (Han So Hee)

Author: This story is 100% AI written but the plot is written by me. Hope you all enjoy it and if you want do check out my Masterlist

It had been a long day at school, filled with lectures, tests, and the mundane routine of adolescence. As I trudged home, my mind appeared to be a million miles away, consumed by thoughts of homework and the latest episode of my favorite TV show.

Little did I know, lurking in the shadows, was someone with a rather unusual interest in me.

Han So Hee, famed for her enigmatic beauty and rumored to have an insatiable hunger for mind games, had been secretly stalking me for weeks. Why she had set her sights on me, I couldn't fathom.

Unbeknownst to me, she followed closely, fascinated by my every move. She watched as I unlocked the front door of my house and stepped inside.

With an empty house welcoming me, the solitude echoing through the hallways, I couldn't shake off the lingering sense of loneliness that infected the air.

It was a feeling I had grown accustomed to since my ex-girlfriend had left me for the school's infamous bad boy, Chad. I sighed and trudged up the stairs, my mind craving something to occupy it. Homework seemed like a good distraction, so I settled at my desk and started to rummage through the pile of assignments.

Lost in the sea of algebraic equations and historical dates, I barely registered the sound of my closet creaking open. But my heart skipped a beat when I turned around and found Han So Hee sauntering into my room, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" I stammered, bewildered by her sudden appearance.

Han So Hee merely shrugged, her lips parting into a sly smile. "Names aren't important, my dear. What matters is what I want from you."

My eyebrows furrowed with confusion as I regarded her suspiciously. "And what could that possibly be?"

Her gaze darted towards the chessboard I had been engrossed with earlier. "A game of chess. Winner takes all. If you succeed in defeating me, I promise to leave you be. But if I emerge victorious…" She let the sentence hang in the air, a suggestive glint in her eyes.

I tilted my head, skepticism painting my expression. "Belong to you? What does that even mean?"

Han So Hee laughed, her voice a musical composition that sent shivers down my spine. "Nothing that worrisome, my dear. Just a little favor, a favor only you can grant me."

Suddenly, my curiosity sparked. The prospect of outsmarting this mysterious vampiric beauty intrigued me. "Alright, I'll play your little game. But let's clarify the terms first. If I win, you leave me alone. If you win, I'll hear out your favor. Deal?" She nodded, her eyes alight with a mix of excitement and hunger. "Deal."

We sat down opposite each other, the chessboard awaiting our moves. We began to play, each move filled with strategic calculations and subtle maneuvers. It was as if the chess pieces had come to life, dancing across the board in an elegant symphony.

As the game progressed, we exchanged glances filled with a mix of challenge, rivalry, and something else I couldn't quite decipher. Perhaps it was a hint of admiration.

"You're quite skilled," Han So Hee admitted after a particularly cunning move on my part. "But so am I."

I smirked, feeling a surge of confidence. "We'll see about that." The game intensified, our minds battling it out on the wooden battlefield. Move after move, we studied the board, silently plotting our next step.

Twenty minutes turned into an hour, an hour into two. The room was filled with the sound of intense concentration and the occasional gasp of surprise. It was a mental duel of wits, with each move bringing us closer to victory or defeat.

Finally, I found myself staring at the board, my king cornered and inescapable. I tilted my head, realizing that there was no way out. Han So Hee leaned forward, a triumphant smile on her lips. "Checkmate, my dear."

Defeat washed over me, but I couldn't help but feel a certain admiration for her skills. "You win," I admitted reluctantly. "Now, tell me, what is this favor you desire?"

Han So Hee leaned back, regarding me with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat. "I have a proposition, my dear. Join me in my world, become a part of the royal Vampire sisterhood."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "You're... a vampire?"

She nodded, her gaze unflinching. "Indeed. And with your brilliant mind, you would make a formidable ally. I hunger for minds that match my own."

Part of me was terrified at the idea of joining a supernatural world I only thought existed in fairy tales and novels. But another part of me, the part that craved adventure and excitement, was intrigued.

"Let me think about it," I replied cautiously. "This isn't a decision I can make lightly."

Han So Hee smiled, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. "I understand. Take your time, Y/N. But remember, if you decide to join us, a world full of wonder awaits."

With those enigmatic words, she disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I pondered the possibilities, the pros, and cons of entering a world I had never even dreamed of.

Days turned into weeks, and my fascination with the chess game and Han So Hee's offer consumed my every waking thought. I couldn't shake the sensation that my life was missing something, a touch of the extraordinary.

Finally, I made up my mind. I called upon Han So Hee and agreed to her proposition. The thought of unraveling the secrets of the vampire world and embracing the challenges that awaited me filled me with a newfound excitement.

As I stepped into her world, my heart fluttered with a mix of anticipation and nervousness. The vampire castle loomed before me, its grandeur matching the legends that surrounded it.

Han So Hee led me through ornate hallways adorned with ancient tapestries and candelabras. We arrived at the grand chamber, where a gathering of vampires awaited my arrival.

As I entered, all eyes turned towards me. Some welcomed me with open arms, while others regarded me with skepticism. But one person stood out among them all, a tall and regal figure adorned in luxurious velvet.

"Welcome, Y/N," the figure spoke with a voice that exuded authority. "I am the Vampire Queen."

I bowed respectfully, feeling a mix of humility and awe. "Your Majesty."

She smiled, her eyes twinkling with mystery. "You have made the right choice, young one. Together, we shall reshape the world."

And so, my life took an unexpected turn. I embraced the vampiric world, diving headfirst into battles of wit, enchanting encounters, and a forbidden love that bloomed amidst the shadows.

I became known as the cunning strategist, unmatched in my ability to outmaneuver opponents. Together with Han So Hee, we orchestrated victories that reverberated through the vampire realm, earning the respect and admiration of our peers.

But amidst the turmoil and triumphs, my heart yearned for something more. It yearned for a connection deeper than alliances and battles. And it seemed that fate, in all its whimsicality, had something in store for me.

One fateful night, as the moon bathed the castle in its ethereal light, I found myself face to face with a figure from my past. It was none other than my ex-girlfriend, the one who had shattered my heart and sent me down this unexpected path.

As our eyes met, a whirlwind of emotions swirled within me. Love, resentment, and a newfound understanding mingled together. And in that moment, I knew that my journey had only just begun.

And so, the tale of Y/N, the accidental matchmaker - both in chess and matters of the heart - unfolded in the mystical realm of vampires and love.

[dangermousie]

I really loved the first six episodes of AJTL. It feels adult in a way too few cdramas do nowadays. The protagonists are (sometimes sociopathic, weird) adults and the narrative is adult and the humor and darkness are both adult. Now, I don't mean this is some sort of meditation on the human condition like Royal Nirvana or NiF or Three Kingdoms, but the situations and characters are of a nature you wouldn't usually see in youth-oriented stuff nowadays - whether it's the fact that our FL just wants to ML for stud so she can have a baby with good genetics and no family ties or the fact that literally every politician in this is a complete scumbag.

I actually love that our FL isn't just the most terrifying mofo in the narrative full of killers but that she is a bona fide borderline sociopath who has no understanding of boundaries or proper behavior or consent or even any sort of flirtation let alone a deeper feeling. She's been a killer since childhood; what normal does she have? The fact that she's managed to have any sort of emotions left is a miracle.

So her deciding she needs a child because her benefactor told her she should as a dying wish and picking a sperm donor in our ML because he's suitable, all with about as much understanding of relationships as an alien - she doesn't want ML because she fancies him, she doesn't want a child to love. It's basically a weird duty thing. It all makes sense.

It's a wonderful gender reversal, with FL the goal-oriented, robotic psycho and ML going "but wait a minute, feelings, also no way, no how." His realization as to how crazy she is, is something else.

Look how she explains it, as if it's the most logical business transaction - your genetic material is great, you are not married so nobody will be hurt, if you die on this mission you will have someone to carry on your lineage, you are scheming so if a kid takes after you and is scheming, it's good. None of it will seduce a man in the least, let alone anything further. But I think in a way it's a weird mark of respect where she's not trying to lie but put all her cards on the table. But also - it shows how far from normal she is that she doesn't even realize how insane it sounds to anyone. He may be a spy but his life has been pretty different than hers; he's got friends and he had family - he is a fairly functional dude. She doesn't have any relationship, and the closest she had was weird stubs...

Like - she is acting like an alien...

Yeah, I don't think psychotic rose through the ranks assassins are big on consent.

She's bona fide nuts and I love that for once we have an unhinged FL. But one of the things I love so is that you slowly see her melt a little around the edges, if barely, because he keeps treating her as a proper lady however murdery and crazy she gets - she was an assassin and then she was a spy-whore, she's basically never been treated as a proper person instead of a tool, except possibly by the dowager and that was a long time ago. No wonder she gets drawn in - like she did by his decency in that rooftop speech scene. It's such a great reversal!

Like she genuinely doesn't get why he doesn't jump at the offer.

I really do love the ML who'd be the unhinged one in any other drama but here he's the sane one. And also his angry decency is mmmm.

I don't usually have fantasy casts for characters; there are very few exceptions - CFY and LYX for the mains of 2ha, Chen Kun for the ML of Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir, SZE for Prisoner of Beauty (alas), but LYN is on that short list - he's 100% my fan cast for Yuwu's Mo Xi and stuff like this gives me mad MX vibes:

I mean...

Anyway, this drama is awesome!

PS also the way secrets don't get dragged out. ML knows her true identity and we are long moving on to other stuff, hooray!

[mind-less-boy]

Hi I’m here to present to you why this song,

Is a really good song for Angel Dust.

So first off, the first couple lyrics sound like he’s talking/venting about Valentino like he was with Husk in episode 4

Hey you lil' piss baby, you think you're so fucking cool? Huh? You think you're so fucking tough? You talk a lotta big game for someone with such a small truck!

Like tell me this isn’t exactly (almost) like when Angel said “It took him like 30 minutes to count, and he only had three bills!” He’s clearly roasting Valentino and this is like he’s talking to Val or has had enough of him and finally saying something about it.

Aw, look at those arms Your arms look so fucking cute They look like lil' cigarettes I bet I could smoke you I could roast you And then you'd love it and you'd text me "I love you" and then I'd fucking ghost you!

This is giving when Angel wasn’t responding to any of Valentino’s texts. And also, even though Valentino is an overlord, Angel could do a decent amount of damage if he used his demon form to its full extent, maybe had someone waiting as back up, he could make a dent in Val.

With the big boys coming with the big stuff I feel so clean like a money machine, oh yeah Big boys coming with the big trucks Feel so clean like a money machine, oh yeah

Literally just about his like of work. The money part is kinda indicative of how he’s being paid to expose himself and I’m sure the rest can be out together.

Tell me what's the deal, I've been trying to go to bed I've been up for days, I've been tryna get ahead Said it all before, and I'll say it once again I'm better off alone

And this. The deal part especially, he made a deal with Valentino and the trying to go to bed part is just saying he’s so goddamn tired of everything he has to put up with. He barely sleeps, he’s hiding his pain behind this facade of arrogance and cockiness. I feel as though it’s implied that he’s tried time and time again to lighten his load of the deal, but it’s just met with Valentino making it worse and worse to the point that Angel doesn’t try anymore. He just gets fucked up when he doesn’t have work and forgets about it. The “I’m better off alone” part to me says that he feels like he can’t fall in love anymore. Hell, he doesn’t know what love feels like anymore because he’s been used for probably as long as he can remember. That is, until he meets Husk, probably one of the first people besides Cherri to not want him for his work, but as a genuine friend and in Husk’s case, romantic partner in the future.

THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED-TALK

[utilitycaster]

You commented on not being a fan of non-pc pov scenes in ap, something that Aabria used in the first go of exu (which was one of the main things that put me off of it, tbh). Do you have any thoughts on how this is applied in EXU compared to WBN?

So for EXU there's some parts that are better, and some that are worse. The good thing is that they're very brief snapshots vs. the one in WBN that was like, an extended several-minute scene. I also actually kind of like the ones for Ted, since that makes sense; we know it's impossible to really get Ted's perspective otherwise and you can kind of handwave it as being related to Opal and floating about in her unconscious.

The ones for My'ratta and Poska on the other hand, while again, brief, sort of underscore their lack of development. We did not know what Myr'atta wanted until episode 93 of Campaign 3, and as I've said before I literally could not tell you what the goal of the Nameless Ones or Poska is. They serve no purpose narratively except as a ticking clock and shadowy threat to get the Crown Keepers to leave a place quickly.

I mentioned Otohan in my original post on this topic as an example of an underdeveloped antagonist, something Brennan mentioned as something he hoped to avoid, and Myr'atta, Poska, and Otohan are all ultimately cut from the same cloth: cool aesthetic, cool abilities, and a severe lack of in-game development. I don't know what motivates them (or in Myr'atta's case, didn't while they were an ongoing part of the story) and so they all bore me. They are flat, dull villains who say threatening shit that means nothing because I don't know what drives them. I don't want to keep getting into it because it kind of derailed my original point anyway but what frustrates me the most is how people keep saying "oh but I'm sure they have a motivation." Like yeah bitch. I'm sure they do. The GM has a responsibility to convey that in-game. And they can do so subtly! Believe me, I am glad to do the work of unpicking motivation from allusions or what is carefully unsaid; this is what makes Ludinus and Liliana (and Lolth in EXU) interesting! But it's telling that whenever I'm like "what the fuck does this character do other than serve the purpose of a Plot Device to either threaten or move the characters", no one ever like, explains their motivation to me; it's always "give it time! I'm sure the GM has something in mind." Well, both Myr'atta and Otohan died before we got that (we still don't have it for Otohan) so I think we can safely say the waiting game is for suckers. Like, if you like characters based on aesthetic alone that's valid as a choice, but I'm not taking your meta or arguments seriously because that's a superficial judgment.

It's also frustrating because it's like...the GMs and the fans who keep insisting to be PATIENT long after a boring antagonist has worn out their welcome for me are simultaneously like "the audience will not remember this guy if I don't shove them in their face in a stilted cutscene" and also "clearly, the audience will infer that this boring-ass antagonist MUST have something deeper going on and therefore they will extend credit indefinitely." It's the absolute opposite of what they should be prioritizing. Instead of trying to jingle the antagonist in front of me like keys while still doing nothing to develop their personality, maybe have the party...idk, have a vision. find a letter. learn something secondhand from someone talking in a bar that sheds light on their motivation.

In WBN it's actually a totally different problem. The scene is 100% unnecessary. We know what the Man in Black wants. We know what's going on with him. We know his goals and his allies. We saw him only a couple episodes ago and he's been a topic of discussion throughout a good chunk of the arc. Hell, we even know how dope-ass his aesthetic is. This is just showing something the party doesn't know and can't act on, for several minutes of Brennan talking to himself, and I think it actually destroys what would be a gut-punch of undead Sir Curran showing up on the opposite side of Eursulon, whose entire deal is being inspired by him.

So: The EXU scenes are less intrusive for their brevity, the fact that the Ted ones are pretty good, and that at least they don't spoil a moment, but at the same time they still don't solve the problem of an underdeveloped antagonist for Myr'atta and Poska. The WBN scene meanwhile drags on, and actually does too much by taking what could be an unbelievably devastating reveal and having it happen when Eursulon isn't even there to respond. I couldn't tell if this actually spoiled it for Lou, since they record well in advance, but if it did that's such a missed opportunity.

Anyway I think my point is that (with the exception of the very first scene of a campaign that is setting the stage, before the PCs are introduced) these cutscenes only work if they are extremely short and purely for vague flavor. I think if you want to have a scene with no PCs present, you should perhaps write a book or a screenplay instead of playing D&D.

[only-in-december]

I just rewatched the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow". And oh by golly do I have a ton of headcanons and ideas regarding what happened in the Other-Jim's timeline, as well as how that affects La'an when she gets back to her own timeline. And since you obviously want to know about all of my thoughts on this, I will share them.🙂

This is gonna be a long one, lads and lasses. So buckle your seatbelts.

Also, Spoilers for season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds below the cut.

All ideas I'm about to talk about stem from the fact that I am convinced that the first thing to convince Jim to help La'an get her timeline back, was the fact that in her timeline, Sam was still alive. He would risk his entire universe, just to know that his brother was still there. (Just to be 100% clear, I do have eyes and can see that he and La'an developed feelings for each other. Obviously. I'm just talking about before that happened. The look on his face when she said that she knew Sam. Getting his brother back was a first priority, I think.)

There are two main ideas that I have. I'll start with the first one I came up with:

George Samuel Kirk, and James Tiberius Kirk were both born on the SS Iowa. Three years apart.

Growing up during an intergalactic war wasn't easy, and at some point, they made a pact to keep each other safe. No matter what.

Sam learned at a young age how to do whatever it took to keep himself and his brother safe. Even if that meant killing someone.

Sam joined the fight first. He was a soldier and a protecter. And that's what Jim thinks of first when he thinks of his brother.

Sam dies in some sort of suicide mission in order to save the Enterprise. To save his brother.

When La'an and Jim first meet, it's been a minimum of five years since that day. Maybe more.

At some point, Jim asks La'an about what his brother is like in her timeline, which leads to them comparing and contrasting about Sam Kirk, and learning that the two were very VERY different.

The Sam that Jim knew would never shave his face because "The Romulans aren't going to leave us alone for a minute because we need a shave." And he barely if ever would even trim the hair on his face. (La'an laughs at the thought of her timeline's Sam with a shaggy beard.)

Jim's Sam knew how to shoot to kill. He would run first into the fight, just to make sure that everyone made it out alive. And La'an almost wishes she could've met that Sam.

When Jim mentions that he always thought of his brother as a peacemaker and a pacifist that never had the chance to learn what peace was, La'an is glad to be able to tell him that in her timeline, Sam isn't a fighter. He doesn't know how to aim to kill, and would rather run than fight. And Jim smiles at hearing that.

When they think that maybe Jim can come to La'an's timeline, he stops to himself and thinks about seeing Sam again.

It wouldn't be his Sam.

It wouldn't be the same Sam that taught him how to play chess so that he wouldn't hear the sounds of war outside the window.

It wouldn't be the same Sam that would smack him on the back of the head when he ran into a firefight, only to do the same thing almost immediately after.

It wouldn't be the same Sam who wished for a time where he didn't have to fight to keep them safe.

It wouldn't be the same Sam that he watched die.

But for all their differences, the two Sams were very much alike.

Both enjoyed studying biological sciences. (That was one thing that made Jim's Sam so deadly.)

Both Sams had the same Kirk stubbornness, which meant they would never back down.

They both had an annoying habit of saying the wrong things at the worst possible times.

Most importantly, both Sams loved their "idiot" younger brothers.

La'an found all of the differences amusing, and I think she probably wondered just how different the Jim in her own timeline was, from the man that was sitting next to her. The man that she was starting to fall for.

And when things went wrong, his last words were, "Tell Sam I said 'hi'." Even at the end, he thought about his brother.

And La'an went home, alone.

She was told that she wasn't allowed to discuss what happened with anybody. Ever.

She probably avoided Sam for a while. Because even though she never met the Other Sam, she didn't have to.

Sam and Jim look just enough alike for it to be painful. They have the same look in their eyes. Even though Sam's are dark and Jim's are hazel, the light in them is the same.

They also talk in the same way. La'an didn't know that until she got back, but Sam and Jim both use their hands in the same way when they talk. And the way that they shrug with one shoulder, the way they move their mouths when they're thinking. The little things add up.

So La'an just avoids Sam like the plague.

Until eventually, when she's had time to properly process everything that happened. (Sometime post "Subspace Rhapsody" I think would be best.)

She finally catches Sam alone in a turbolift.

She doesn't look at him, and he thinks that he must have done something wrong.

And she just says three words. "Jim says 'hi'."

She fulfills her friend's dying wish. And then she doesn't say anything else, and just gets off as soon as the doors open back up.

Sam knows that something else is going on for two reasons:

One, he just spoke to Jim less than five minutes before.

And two, his Big Brother Instincts were blaring red alert. She was a little sister that needed help.

I don't know if he acted on the Big Brother Instincts or not, but that can be left open to interpretation.

The other concept that I have, follows the same as the first one for the first few bullet points, with one major big change: Other Timeline Sam was closer in additude to Main Timeline Sam.

Instead of being a fighter, Sam was always the one that would hide from the fight. This is partly what prompted Jim to be the one to fight in the war.

Despite his own self-proclaimed cowardice, Sam worked hard to try and protect his brother. Which is what led to his untimely demise.

Instead of dying in a suicide mission to protect the Enterprise, it was something more like a Romulan got on board and was trying to get to Jim

So Sam did what any big brother would in that moment. He kept his baby brother safe.

Claiming to be Jim (or something. Details aren't specific right now.) Sam ends up dying. He managed to kill the intruder too.

Jim doesn't get to his brother in time. By the time he gets there, Sam's dead. And that moment shapes him.

It's still around five years after that, that La'an and Jim meet.

They still end up comparing Sams, but this time, they're surprised by how much alike the two are.

The biggest difference that the two can find is that Jim's Sam was clean shaven.

Jim this time is more hopeful about seeing his brother again. He's sure that there are tons of differences between the two that they don't know about. (La'an and Sam aren't exactly close.)

But what matters to him is that the two Sams are similar enough.

When Jim dies, this time, La'an avoids Sam even harder. She can't bear to look at the man that Other Timeline Jim wanted to see so badly.

The similarities between the brothers are too much. It makes her angry, just as much as it makes her sad. So she avoids Sam.

She walks out of the room as soon as he walks in.

She doesn't even look at the turbolift if she can hear him talking.

Sam's starting to think that he's done something to make her mad at him. It's not like they ever talked much before, but now? Something definitely happened.

In this version of events, she avoids talking to Sam for way longer than she did in the other one. Even after she sorta comes to terms with everything that happened.

It takes some sort of outside intervention to get them talking. (Idk what though. An away mission or something like that maybe? It's not like anyone is shoving them in a room together or anything like that. Aside from the two of them, I don't think anyone else really notices or cares all that much.)

When she does finally say her three words to him, it's a little more angry. They got into a fight because Sam made a comment that his brother doesn't care that much about him. (Don't ask me why that would even come up. It just does. Go with it.)

She yells at him, telling him what Jim's last words were.

She doesn't want to even look at him. Because looking at the Sam that Other Timeline Jim would have been so excited to see hurts, especially when that same Sam is claiming that his brother wouldn't care if anything happens to him.

Maybe it all spills out. Well, not all of it. But some of the big parts. The part where a different version of Sam's brother died in her arms.

The part where the last thing he said was to tell Sam he said hi.

The part where Other Timeline Jim missed his big brother so much that he was willing to destroy the entire life that he knew just to see him again.

By the end of that, she's sobbing. And so is he, really.

Sam apologizes for saying what he did. He didn't know how it would hurt her. (He still doesn't quite believe everything she said. But he really didn't mean to upset her.)

La'an doesn't respond to him, and just walks away.

She doesn't avoid him as much after that.