#corinne. i would die for you actually

[dirthavhenan]

i love having a trans and queer game director for dragon age. the little tangent that corinne went on about gender and pronouns being different things and assuring everyone that both will be fully customizable. her acknowledging and relating to asexuality representation. ough.

[papabearbobbynash]

Hi,

Do you think there should be more love shown to Bobby when he was in a coma? I mean when Buck was in a coma even May, Athena, and Chris was there. Everyone came to see Buck. But when Bobby was in a coma no one wait beside him only Athena? It would be great if May continue telling Bobby she loves him like when she told Bobby when Buck was in a coma. Maybe that would be the push for Bobby to wake up. His (step) daughter asking him to come back home to their family. What if there was an interaction between Buck and May beside his bed and them discussing that Bobby is basically their dad. Even Harry, remember when Michael was asking the family about proposing to David, Harry said that he now had 3 dads so Harry sees Bobby as his father too. Have the kids interact with each other would be great. Since Bobby's main guilt is about losing his kids. It would shown that in this life he has kids too though not his biologicaly. Maddie and Karen were not in the hospital. It seems like nobody cares about Bobby even though Bobby has always been the anchor to them. It's sad actually. Instead of the date with Tommy, Tommy could've supported Buck by showing up in the hospital.

Hi

there were many questionable decisions on this episode regarding Bobby and I definitely think the biggest problem was the lack of emotion of a dramatic situation they build up for three weeks.

They promoted the hell out of Bobby being in danger in this finale and when it reached the moment for them to gut wreck us, they cut most part of it (Athena in his bedside almost crying, Eddie praying on his bedside while Buck looks almost catatonic). Not to count the complete wtf decisions regarding it other decisions, such as May and Harry not being there for the painful part? When the actors are in the episode and we know it's hard for Corinne to be on the episodes due schedule with her college? Not a single solo scene with any of the 118 who lost their shit before for way lighter injuries Bobby had? Buck "almost lost my dad" thought turning into a sexual joke? Really??

The fact Athena was out hunting whoever done it, I get it, because i expected it end on that. People who expected Athena to do different don't know her character well tbh. The moment she heard from the doctors that Bobby's heart stopped for 14 minutes, she already lost hope, she thought he wasn't waking up from that, and she had lost him. With that? She wouldn't sit there and watch him die for nothing, because in her mind this wouldn't do anything good for Bobby. She already went through that with Emmet and she definitly wouldn't wait 30 years to catch the culprit. This time she had to do something even though it's completely a bad call from her part, because its mostly a coping mechanism to shield her from the pain she is feeling while trying to compensate for the guilt (into believing Amir was the culprit when she invited him in their house + her last words for her husband being on a argument) and to mask her pain. So this part i get it, even if her ways of doing it are definitely not the best to watch. From Athena's part i think we got enough emotion, even if misdirected, however it could have been better. (Forever mourning the promo scene not making to the final cut)

Overall I don't think they made Bobby unimportant (Considering the "goodbye montage" makes it clear he is that much important even if himself doesn't see it). The problem of the whole hospital moments is they writing ooc scenes that don't feel genuinely the character we've watched so far (except for Athena, personally she was totally in character) in the middle of a rushed episode that did not need to be rushed.

Heck they could have left Bobby's life hanging till the premiere. They had the perfect chance of a wrecking cliffhanger if that is what they wanted. They didn't need to worry about being cancelled with such an unfinished story line.

It would stress the hell out of me, but would have killed as a starting anchor to the next season, because it's literally an emotional disaster for the team. It would also allow certain breath in the finale for Athena's character, May and Harry presence could be more meaningful and not only after the turmoil and we could have scenes with the team and Bobby as well.

Instead we got that.. Anyway, it had some bathena moments, but this was underwhelming after all that build up. And i definitely think this episode should have been more emotional. Like allow the audience to feel the pain of the situation before rush to solve it?

Thank you for the ask, and sorry for the venting.

[sibylsleaves]

Hello defend in place/may day anon. Just finished 5b and wtfff it was soooooo goooood??!!!!! Literally if the wacky jonah plot wasnt there … okay okay general thoughts 1. Adding dumb luck and may day to my roster of favourite episodes this season dumb luck idk I just really liked it (lucy plot yay!! Also bobby of all people pointing out all the people lucy saved by saving one person) and may day of course episode of all time (more on that later) 2. Karen in fomo is giving buck and eddie in that back yard pool mystery so bad literally buddiekaren sleuth episode when. Or karen anyone sleuth episode pretty please 3. The eddie plot in hero complex is literally so out of place lmfao. Also well. Im usually not a diaz parents hater but rewatching this episode knowing current canon was making me so annoyed at them like let eddie live in peace. Please 4. I miss the music budget they used to have. Like they really paid to use longview by green day and holding out for a hero by bonnie tyler within the first 5 minutes of 5x17. For a jonah origin story. Lol. 5. Literally so interesting that they had taylor talk about what the 118 means to buck and then have her literally betray, in her words, bucks family in the very next episode. i need to analyze her brain 6. I love this hen chim plot so much. And its like I watch that, and theres so many good examples of how buck and eddie are written in parallel to the romantic pairings in the show, but here so so obvious to me how they are also not written like hen and chim’s relationship at all. Like buck and eddie neverrr have buddy / team up plots literally the only ones that come to mind are treasure hunt (buck was wooing taylor) and an episode we all refer to as poker date. Lol. Its like chim and hen are about having a ride or die. And buck and eddie are about sitting in each others mess and embracing it. Idk if that makes sense but it was stewing in my head the whole time I was watching 5x18 lol. 7. Continuity in this show is so bad sometimes, why did eddie say he had to leave to pick up chris and also chris had friends over and he had to help carla in the same eddie bobby 5x18 scene. Like was it supposed to show eddie making excuses to leave or was it just a mistake 😭😭

okay may day thoughts YAYYYYY!!!!! It was so good omgg I was already kinda annoyed about the jonah plot before watching the season as a whole but now Im even more annoyed because may day would have served as the perfect 2 part finale (like s2/s3/s4) okay I’ll go by each character. May oh my gosh… her character growth from when she started dispatch to this point is so incredibly good. The stuff with claudette was so good, and I actually wish they would have explored her and may more than just the 3 episodes they were really in together. And then the may bobby stuff :((( so good. “I have two dads and youre one of them” and after bobby accidentally said he was her dad that morning… so good (david Im so sorry she didnt mean it). Literally what a good psuedo send off for corinne. Okay eddie HES SO HOT THIS EPISODE YAY. Literally 90% of my context for this ep was hot eddie may day edits lmao and it did not disappoint. But more importantly “god has spoken” eddielinda forever <3 it was sush a good line and such a fun pay off for the eddie linda stuff in 5x11. Okay the chim albert stuff… circling back to your answer to my original ask it was very not spoilery and I probably would have been fine to read it lol BUT crucially the one thing I did not know in your answer was that there was chim plot in this episode so in the end Im glad I didnt read it. I literally thought it was only may/claudette/bobby/eddie with the weird bucktaylorlucy stuff at the end. And let me tell you my heart dropped when chim and albert walked on that roof. I literally started crying and 911 is not even a show I tear up at that often. And then the moment when chim told albert to quit :’) so so good. And now Im even more mad at albert for 6x10 like why tf would he do that. Anyways. Josh yay I hope hes still dating that man Im so serious. I dont even care about him that much but Im sorry the only romance adjacent plots he has cannot be a hate crime and a man he flirted with once and never talked to again. Okay and buck. Why was he literally way more upset about bobby here than he was at any point in the 7x10 finale LMAO. The difference between the buck/lucy talk in this ep and that buck/tommy talk is actually insane, and yeah Im starting to see why people were so upset tommy was acting that way in the s7 finale. Anyways I dont really want to talk about him… how did taylor kelly sus out bucklucy from a conversation she couldnt hear while she stared at the back of their heads. Like 😭 okay final little thought was the way parts of this episode were written made me giggle. There was so much going on which is probably what makes it work so well but terry (hi king long time no see!!) was literally like sue I was asphyxiating like 60 minutes ago but the paramedics said Im fine now where do you need me. And then linda was like josh I cant leave Im literally on a call. Only for the call to end like 10s later haha. Okay and overall the thing thats so interesting to me is that this ep was definitely a tier above most of s5 but also it was an episode that was majorly focused on minor characters. Eddie aside, this ep was mostly about may/claudette/albert/josh with chim and bobby tied in with albert and may respectively. And its so interesting to me how well it worked here when generally their focus on minor characters felt so off in 5a. Oh well

Tl;dr: Im soooo happy I went into may day mostly blind it was actually sooo good, lived up to the hype and probably will be added to my episode of all time/rewatch roster which is very exclusive (maybe 10 eps). And thank YOU for the very mild encouragement to actually sit down and watch s5 in its entirety finally. I have so many thoughts about it all lol this is barely scratching the surface (like how the whole finale was basically about love stories and they made a point to show everyone starting over together and buck helping eddie start over while also deciding not to start over with taylor ANYWAYS) (also just remembered they destroyed a whole fire truck in the s5 finale only for bobby to be angsty about it for like 2 seconds and never talk about it again lmao what was that about. No wonder fox is broke)

omg im not gonna comment on all this but i enjoyed hearing about your enjoyment of 5b immensely!!!!!!!!! and i had forgotten about all that weird continuity stuff in 5x18 HOW WAS THAT NOT CAUGHT???

and YAY MAY DAY!!!!! in my heart, josh and carson or whatever his name is are still an item 🫶 i literally wrote him into a fic once thats how serious i am about it. no but literally the way the lucy taylor stuff went down was all so odd. like. buck never told her it was lucy he kissed but she just. divined i guess???? from a single not even flirtatious conversation???? some of the writing choices in this show do baffle me. like they are taking short cuts they dont need to take.

and wow honestly now that you've pointed that out about the minor characters i can't not see it. kind of same thing with defend in place!!!!!! like michael/david are supporting characters, ravi too, and they got the main focus in the episode. dang. im gonna be thinking about this for a while.

thank you also for mentioning the patching the holes scene in 5x18 because that scene is so so so soooooo sos so important in the pantheon of like, minor buddie scenes. like that's a load-bearing scene TO ME.

also please share with me your exclusive list of rewatch episodes. the people are dying to know!!!

[not-actually-human]

Oooh tell me abt jaymie!!!

yes yes yes i love him!! okay so jaymie was raised by a group of necromancers in the middle of the woods. they just kind of found him as an infant one day and were like. okay we are all parents now i guess. in this world magic doesnt manifest for awhile, and he was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to his magic, so all of his family just thought he didnt have any magic and were totally cool and good with that.

recently, though, hes been doing nature magic, and while all his family is very happy for him, none of them have any experience with that and want him to be able to actually learn from someone who knows the kind of magic he does. so the leader, beatrice, is sending him to live with her sister jeannemarie, who is the queen of the kingdom nearby (reina's wife and corinne's mom) since she has more experience in light and nature magic.

jaymie is very nervous and anxious around new people and doesnt really want to go to the kingdom, since he hasnt really traveled anywhere without his family ever. he is incredibly loyal to those he is close to, he would die for them without question.

as the only person 'without magic' in the group of necromancers he spent a lot of time by himself in the forest surrounding their base and loves being outside and gardening and all that jazz.

thank you so much for the ask!!!

[brooklynislandgirl]

@corinnebaileyrp {{xx}}

She might have been...in some other life. The scar that can be plainly seen beneath the pant leg ~one of the reasons why she prefers long and loose clothing like flowing skirts~ ended the dream of being a professional dancer before it could really take root and grow in her heart. At least something like ballet that requires body conditioning and muscle tone she doesn't have. And while Beth will never be able to prove it, some part of her will die on the hill that the Admiral had seen to that himself. That's also something she doesn't talk about. She doesn't want Cory to see what Andy calls rampant paranoia nor does she want to scare the other woman away from the family. The Admiral is perfectly pleasant to Cory, the same way he's fond and affectionate with Jay. The way he is with Andy. If she hadn't spent her childhood under his roof, she wouldn't believe anything she said about him, either.

She offers Cory a winsome smile, nodding with approval as her friend agrees with being blessed, and she can only be genuinely glad that Cory feels that way, all things considered. She's happy that America has done Cory good, that she's been able to heal and grow and find the kind of life that fills her with the joy she deserves.

Then Beth laughs and while it is a quiet sort of sound, it is genuine. "Is okay, I know I'm almost menahune size but mebbe...mebbe in my nex' life, yeah?" Whether or not she actually believes in reincarnation is up for debate but it's one of the many tactics Beth uses to deflect attention. Cory however rarely becomes the recipient of those methods, largely because she is a sensitive and rational person, she understands when to push a subject and when to allow conversation to lie fallow, for which Beth is truly grateful.

Beth clinks her water bottle with Cory's and though it lacks the crystalline ring she smiles a little brighter. "Mebbe but not as good as you do when you lighten. Honey blonde really bring out ya eyes an' your natural skin tones. In short, you're gorgeous."

Beth nearly snorts water into her nasal passages when Cory finally makes an offering. On one hand, she can see the words held back and knows the reasons behind them. What she wouldn't give to be able to change the circumstances for her friend who probably mourns Sarah's life as much as she embraces her own rebirth as Corinne. The snerking laugh is genuine though. "I t'ink his secret is...he really doesn't care, an' he's brutally honest. Mos' people see it as sarcasm. On da oddah hand, even out of eiddah of his uniforms, he's da kine...intimidating or at least...t'ought provokin' an' so people don' wanna get on his bad side." If it wouldn't pad her sibling's already healthy ego, she would admit to wishing she had that power herself, at least the part where she wouldn't feel guilty for ages if she thought she hurt someone's feelings.

Beth hides her face by getting to her feet and draping her towel around her neck before turning her back on Cory so she can roll up her yoga mat. "I'm gonna give ya a pass one of dese days, an' let you. Especially some of dem entitled customers of yours."

"I'd teach da Admiral how f' swim," she murmurs in answer. In shark-infested waters, with a bleeding gut wound. Maybe anchor chains around his legs, or concrete shoes on his feet.

[queerebrum]

Let’s talk about Peter Hale’s eyes

I’ve thought through (and discussed) this topic at length and I kind of want to collect my thoughts on it all in one place.

Firstly, We’re ignoring Peter’s age in this post. Sure, he can be young!Peter at the Paige situation and then normal!Peter a year(ish) later at the fire. We’re just ignoring that issue. Peter starts canon in my head at 34 (making him ~18 at Malia’s conception) and that is the only version of the truth I’m willing to accept. 

In the flashbacks with Derek (3x08 Visionary / the Paige tragedy), Peter has gold eyes. That is Michael Fjordbak who we saw as young!Peter in season 2 with Lydia, and in the flashbacks here in Visionary. This is (I’m reasonably sure) the only time he shows werewolf eyes in the whole damn episode, and they’re definitely gold. They shot this scene with a single lightbulb attached to a faulty outlet, it’s not my fault the gif is so dark.

We know a few events happen, canonically, after this point in time but before the next time we see Peter’s werewolf eyes: Paige’s death, the Hale Fire, the death of Laura, biting Scott, the beginning of Peter’s revenge killings. Y’all I have scoured the footage for any instance of Peter’s eyes being anything but red in season 1. I didn’t see it. If you have please message me a timestamp.

So, then we get this glorious moment.

Which, as I saw someone recently point out, is a sign that Peter is not in control of himself at this point. There’s a lot of “mad/ins*ne” Peter head canons. I’m not going into them, but it is interesting that he’s just chilling int he car/in traffic and showing fangs and eyes.  So, after this point we know the following things happen: the end of Peter’s revenge killings, the death of Kate Argent, Peter’s death.

And then, we know from, one again, Peter ‘Drama King’ Hale’s little scene in Visionary (though possibly earlier I just didn’t bother to dig for it since it seemed irrelevant), that Peter’s eyes are now blue.

Here’s what we know about the were“wolves” with blue eyes:

- Derek: got his blue eyes killing Paige. - Malia:  we don’t know exactly when she got blue eyes, but like, she killed her mother and sister so..... we can make some educated guesses. - Ethan/Aiden: Both did a fair share of killing (and were both directly involved in Boyd’s death, which I think they’d probably feel guilty about, which would reflect once they lost alpha status) - Corinne/The Desert Wolf: ...do I need to explain this one? Isn’t she like a criminal and assassin? honorable mention: Kate had Green Eyes???? weird nagual stuff I presume. There are probably others but those are the only ones I care to bring up right now because I don't want this meta to be a million years long. Let’s also discuss some of the wolves who did not have blue eyes who should have:

- Theo: Listen, It’s one of two things - either he’s straight up just incapable of feeling guilt (which I doubt), or his being a lab-grown/synthetic werewolf fucks this one up. I’d bet money that if Scott bit him, he’d have blue eyes. - Victoria Argent: I also have two explanations for Victoria - either Victoria felt no guilt for any killings she ever did, or the ‘counter’ starts after you’re changed. 

Either way, for a born wolf there is no ‘counter’ as they’ve never not been a wolf. So, let’s go back to those events that happened between the shot of Peter’s eyes as gold in the flashback and Peter’s eyes being blue. I’m gonna briefly go into why I do or do not think they caused Peter’s blue eyes.  - Paige’s Death - probably not. We know that Peter was involved in the death of Paige, but really, it was Derek who chose to mercy kill her. Otherwise, I think the ‘guilt’ of her death would have been on Ennis.  - the Hale Fire - possible.  Whether or not Peter felt guilty in any way for the fire is hard to say, but two scenarios here could give him blue eyes in my opinion: 1) survivors guilt. He’s (other than Laura and Derek, and later Cora) the only one who survived the fire out of his entire family. I could see some major guilt there. 2) mercy killing - burning to death is really painful. I can imagine that if they truly thought there was no hope of getting out, a lot of the adult wolves probably would have had blue eyes by the time they died.  - death of Laura - very possible. I don’t think Peter was fully aware of what he was doing until after he killed Laura. This isn’t necessarily common opinion, but it’s mine, and so I think it’s very possible that once he realized what he’d done, the guilt switch got flipped, and had his eyes not been red, they would have been blue. We see Peter get cagey talking about this topic in subsequent seasons, so this is my front runner on how he got his eyes.

- biting Scott - no. Scott didn't die, so I doubt that Peter would have felt at all guilty about this.

- the revenge killings. - unlikely.  I doubt that any of these, including the death of Kate Argent, who basically admitted her guilt right before her death, would have caused Peter to feel enough guilt. Now, if any of them were actually innocent (which I don’t think they were) maybe that would do it, but honestly I think Peter’s “guilt switch” had already been flipped by this point. So, my best guess is that either killing Laura, or possible (this one is very speculative) mercy killings during the fire caused Peter’s eyes to be blue. 

[locktobre]

Ooh, your Princess Power soft reboot has me intrigued! Could you possibly expand on it more? Like how Kara and Corrine lose their powers, get new ones, and how Wes becomes a villain? I myself don't him because he LITERALLY revealed Kara's identity for views and that's. fricked up.- That PCS Anon

Sure, I can do that. I debated how deep to go into it, bc my Princess Power headcanons (like everything else) depend so heavily on a million other things, but hopefully this ended up semi-coherent. It also ends up fairly dark, as my Princess Power/Spy Squad backstory are some of the darkest headcanons I have. So fair warning for that. I’m not solid on some of this (I always say, it’s not canon until I actually put it in a fic), but as of now, here’s how it’s gonna go down:

Kara, Corinne & their powers

Kara and Corinne lose their powers for two reasons: 1) It makes sense to me that they would, and 2) It gets rid of the pet powers, too, which I need to happen bc I just think it’s beyond ridiculous that they got them in the first place. (Not Bruce’s, but I might get rid of him another way. We’ll see.) The Baron, whom I’ve named Charles, drank a potion, which I can buy as producing a permanent change. But the girls got their powers from a mutated butterfly, and somehow... it’s supposed to be equivalent? I don’t think so! So I have their powers start to fade some time after the movie, as their powers are actually tied to the butterfly’s life force, and it’s dying. Butterflies don’t live for very long on average (less than a year), and also having the butterfly die keeps anyone else from getting powers that way, since that was already a whole fiasco. (It’s a magical butterfly, but it’s given out powers 4 times, so that’s sapped it more than anything.)

Kara and Corinne have opposite reactions to this: Kara is horrified, and wants to find some way to get her powers back, but Corinne is sort of relieved, since without powers, they can go back to being normal. I think the high of being a superhero would wear off pretty quickly for Corinne, especially since she’s not competing with Kara anymore.

Kara, in her desperation, goes to see Charles and see how he got his powers, bc she will do anything to keep hers, at this point. The novelization says that Kara connects the butterfly to Charles, but as I pointed out in my post about it, she has absolutely no reason to do that, bc it makes no sense whatsoever. So since she doesn’t know where the magic butterfly came from, she goes to the guy she knows also got powers out of nowhere. I’m not sure what he would tell her, but even if he doesn’t say anything, she could still search his lab and maybe have Madison and Makayla reverse-engineer the potion (which I think would go badly, as they’re engineers, not chemists). Whatever the case, she ends up drinking that potion, and that combined with the last of the butterfly magic, produces... a mutation. I go back and forth on whether I want that mutation to be permanent, or if she can shift between butterfly and human forms, but that’s how she ends up. I’m thinking there may be some sort of chrysalis stage she goes through, bc I need her to be sidelined for Corinne’s power reset, but like I said, I’m still working on this.

Corinne is in some kind of lab accident (possibly in Madison and Makayla’s lab, or maybe in Windemere’s I3 branch), and ends up with her new powers. However, she takes this opportunity to say that her powers actually wore off for good, and essentially retires, which she feels comfortable with bc there are two other heroes running around with Kara now. She’s technically the strongest of all of them, so she’ll step in if they really need her, but she leaves the day-to-day stuff to them. She might stay in hero support with Violet, or she might just go back to her life for the most part.

Wes’ descent into villainy

This one has gone through a few different stages, and I honestly don’t know where I’m going to land with him. I’ll most likely give him a redemption arc at some point, but I’m gonna put him through the wringer first bc he is a weasel who outed Kara for no reason and I’m spiteful like that. And I’ve said before that I don’t think Kara was as unaffected by that as the movie would have us believe.

Anyway, with all that, I think his motivation stems from a combination of rejection from Kara, and goading from others. The rejection from Kara is not romantic, bc I’ve always thought of him as too old for her--he tries to pass himself off as a serious journalist in the movie, which wouldn’t work if he was a teenager, would it? So I think he’s like, 20--but like, she doesn’t want to be his friend anymore. She’d be cordial but not all buddy-buddy like she was before, and he’d be able to feel the difference.

So, there’s that, putting a wedge between them, and at that point, he’s got ppl whispering in his ear and enabling him, for their own purposes. Originally, this was going to be Charles, but I think Charles is just a smidge too goofy. He seems interested in power, but also like he would have no idea what to do with it if he had it. Like, you want to be king... why, exactly? What are you gonna do once you have the throne? He’s not exactly stupid (altho, I mean, I’d call having Bruce around stupid), but not like, cunning enough to manipulate someone in that way.

We’re gonna take a detour for a second to talk about Charles’ family and some backstory, since that will make this make more sense (I think). Bear with me.

Basil was the Baron before Charles, and also the head of Windemere’s branch of I3 (WI3). He had a good public face, but behind the scenes, he was a real shady bastard. WI3 is almost entirely corrupt due to his influence. He’s the reason Charles ended up as a villain. The reason Philip and Anne didn’t is that they got away from his influence.

Philip went to work in the USA in the late 80s, at LA’s branch of I3 (obviously, as per Spy Squad). Anne was also in LA in the 90s, having her secret relationship with Finn, and while Philip was aware of what she doing, he didn’t rat her out, in part bc he had his own relationship that resulted in a child. (Patricia wasn’t given up for adoption like Sloane was, but she was raised primarily by her mother, as per Marguerite’s wishes, which worked out pretty well for Philip’s situation. They were a way more casual relationship than Finn and Anne.) Anne eventually did return to Windemere, but her charity work and Camp Royalty actually kept her away for the most part. So Philip and Anne had long periods away from their father and his tyranny. They did try to get Charles away too, but Basil had a much tighter hold on him (as the eldest son and heir), and also Charles actually ended believing in Basil’s vision for their future, which Philip and Anne never did. (I’ll point out now that I do feel bad for Charles, and he may get a redemption arc at some point, too.)

Anyway, so Basil does a lot of shady shit. He has Wendy Marvin (mother of Lazslo, Madison, and Makayla) killed in 2006; she was an engineer at WI3 and didn’t like how they wanted to use her research, as she joined to help ppl, not hurt them. And soon after that she died in a fire in her lab. Two years later, her husband Lysander, dies in a similar “accident”; he was actually Kara’s doctor, and trying to determine the cause her mysterious illness.

While Basil did know that Lysander suspected foul play, he did not know that Lysander had actually approached Eleanor about it, wondering if she had seen Basil doing anything suspicious. (Everything the man did was suspicious, but she knows what he means.) After Lysander’s death, Eleanor puts the pieces together and realizes that yeah, Basil was doing something to Kara (most likely slowly poisoning her, as that’s what Lysander had thought). Kara’s about 9 years old at the time--not that it would be any better if she was older, but she’s really just an innocent little kid. (Incidentally, this mysterious illness is why Kara’s parents are so overprotective of her. They never find out what was causing it, or figure out how she got better.)

At this point, Eleanor decides she’s had enough, she’s watched her husband corrupt their son and drive their other two children away and she’s not been able to do anything about it (who would believe her? He’s a perfect gentleman, in public), so she decides to end it. She kills Basil, and then her self. (She would have happily gone to jail for putting the world out of his misery, but she knows that with his contacts at WI3, she’s on borrowed time as soon as he’s dead. And she wants to go out on her own terms.)

This actually lines up with where I put the events of Spy Squad, in 2008. Philip was already about to transfer to WI3, as per Basil’s wishes, to be his #2. But then, with his father dead, Philip actually ends up in charge of WI3, and his #2 is his father’s former right-hand man, Creighton Weaver. (Basil was going to try to get Philip back under his thumb, before his death. He had mostly tolerated him being in LA bc he didn’t need him in Windemere, but once that was no longer true, time to come home, son.) Weaver’s every bit the bastard that Basil was, and Philip can tell, but he has no proof. So Philip is in WI3, with nobody he can trust except Patricia and Lazslo, who ended up transferring with him. (Lazslo so he can be there for his sisters, Patricia bc she wants to be there for Lazslo. And also her dad, kind of.) He basically starts collecting any evidence he can on anybody at WI3, but doesn’t make a move, bc technically nobody is getting hurt (none of the shady research is being applied), and he wants to flush everyone out in one go, if he can.

Fast forward to the summer of 2015, and the events of Princess Power happen. WI3 is contacted to try to make sure that Charles can’t escape his cell, so they end up being one of the few who actually know what happened to him, due to the actual events leading up to the volcano’s eruption being pretty well covered up. Now, Weaver’s known for 7 years that Philip is trying to take him and his cohorts down, but he’s played dumb bc it’s been convenient. However, with Charles going full supervillain, Weaver decides it’s time to jump ship, so he and a bunch of the other most corrupt agents at WI3 basically leave to go be Charles’ henchmen. I’ve tried to come up with a more poetic name for their organization, but so far I only have Dunbar Loyalists--their ultimate goal, of course, being to put Charles on the throne of Windemere, by any means necessary.

However, as I said before, Charles is... not exactly the valiant leader they were looking for. He’s not the man his father was, that’s for sure, so Weaver’s the one actually calling the shots, bc he knows Charles isn’t up to it. And Charles is pretty fine with that, as long as they’re helping him. Makes things easier. (Incidentally, I think this will end up being the set-up to Charles’ redemption arc. Bc teaming up with them, and especially Weaver, is going to get him in way over his head, and I think he might decide at some point it’s not worth it. Especially if Philip and Anne ever end up in danger, bc I think they still do care for each other, even with everything that happened.)

So, to bring this all the way back around to Wes, since Charles isn’t really the type to be manipulative... Weaver certainly is. So I think he’s going to be the one to do it. He can push Wes’ buttons, tell him that no, Kara isn’t right to be mad at you for outing her. You were just doing what you had to do, for yourself, and that’s good. She thinks she’s so great just bc she has powers, you should get back at her, you should show her that you can be special, too. And I just happen to have the technology to make that happen. (Remember, the Loyalists are made up of at least some shady engineers.) So he gives Wes some kind of experimental super suit and sets him loose in the city to wreak havoc against Kara and her crew, mostly to keep everyone’s eyes on that while he does other stuff. Weaver is basically a puppet master for crime in Windemere lol.

And that’s about as much as have so far, which feels like a lot and also a little. I’m not sure how the whole thing will end, who will be redeemed, who might end up dying... Not sure. It could go a lot of different ways, but that’s for future me to decide. I hope that was at least somewhat interesting, even if it was also... very dark. I didn’t try to make it that way, but when dealing with superheroes and spies, it just kind of happens.

[pxndmonium]

Numinous — Bucky Barnes

Summary: "Numinous (adj): describing an experience which makes you fearful, yet fascinated. Awed yet attracted. The powerful personal feeling of being overwhelmed and inspired."

Maybe love is like rain. Sometimes gentle, sometimes torrential, steady, joyous, filling the earth, collecting in underground springs. Sometimes unwanted, unexpected. When it rains, when we love, life grows.

James is lost in himself, torned between the unknown, divided into two. When Corinne comes into his life, he feels right, weightless.

Yes, maybe love is like rain. And if love is like rain, James's love for her is a whole storm.

Warnings: descriptions of violence, mental illnesses, abuse.

Pairing: James "Bucky" Barnes/OC.

Words: about 1K.

A/N: Finally I had the courage to post something I really love writing. I have pre-written chapters and I'll decide when to post the next one once I finish another, that way I'll always have chapters to post and motivation to keep writing. The thingy I used was downloaded on Google so if it belongs to you, just text me and I'll work it out. @sophieisinlove and @just-call-me-mr-snoopy-pants are always supporting me when it comes to writing so my full love for both of you, my babies. Also, love and feedbacks are always welcomed! Have fun 🍑✨

Chapter I

It was a very quiet night in Budapest streets. Until he passed in front of that alley.

Keep walking, the rude voice inside his head says. It has nothing to do with you.

Yet, there he is, still like a statue, heavy breathing and fists clenched while the cry goes on and on, the rustling of fabrics and fists meeting flesh, the woman's whimpers echoing painfully in his ears. He tries to move his feet foraward, to keep walking because it has nothing to do with him. But he stays, he's paralyzed.

The sounds come to a stop, there's only the deadly silence and a faint choir of cicadas.

You can't save everyone, another voice reasons, totally different from the first one, softer. But you can try.

And he does, marching back to said alley he tried so bad to ignore, he's not sneaky, he wants them to know he's coming. He wants them to fear his arrival, all heavy boots and stoic stance.

But there's no one other than the woman curled up in fetal position, trembling incessantly.

He approaches her, crawling to make himself look smaller. He then notices her beautiful beige coat all ruined by crimson, her skirt clustered up her waist and stockings with wholes all around, knees scrapped and bleeding just as bad as her nose and lips. Dark stains bloom all over her fragile frame and he hisses when she still tries to get on her feet, fails and falls back facing the concrete with an agonizing mewl.

His hand touch her shoulder first and, although strange and cold, she doesn't flinch, not anymore, she can barely breathe, internally surprised that what she expected to be the final punch that would blow her out actually came out very much delicate.

Registering the friendly grip, her eyelids flutter open and she stares dead into his bloody image, pupils blown wide thanks to the seringe with probably some drug that would keep her meek like a puppy.

"You need a doctor", he warns. To her, it sounds like he's under water, she could feel the thin line of red hot blood running down her ears and into her hairline.

"No... No hospitals...", she managed to mouth it silently. It ache too much, her jaw and throat, she felt like her teeth would just fall off her mouth if she tried to speak again.

Before she could process, the agonizing pain in her stomach remembered her of those men's words. They said you would come, they did, she thinks to herself. This was definately the soldat they were talking about while breaking trough her. Yes, they did said he was coming and although there was zero description of his features, she knew it was the man whose gentle hands were scooping her up now, tightly pressing her against his firm chest.

Everything twinged, burning muscles as she writted under him, trying to make him let her fall back to the ground. She couldn't scream at him to run away before they came back, she couldn't even stand alone. She didn't want them to hurt him like they did to her, her broken ribs were enough for the night. Her body was dying from exhaustion, she could feel the numbness beginning to take over her every cell, slowly, dreadfully seeping into her brain. She was tired, so tired of fighting with this man's warmth, so she gave in.

When her eyes darted open back to consciousness, she felt dizzy and heavy on that worned out matress. Her favorite trench-coat had been discarded to the floor next to the door, so had her pair of oxfords. The room was poor in decoration and furniture, lacking that hint of a homey place, walls with huge such stains of infiltration she could feel the humidity in her cheeks, but the thick blankets covering her lower half had a faint flowery scent and she caught herself smiling to it.

Steps could be heard outside the bedroom she was in, careful, almost as if the person on the other side was tiptoeing not to bother her slumber. She kicked the blankets over, the best way possible without yaking her own leg off, and drank in the sight of her ragged form. Besides looking, smeling and feeling disgusting, the person had ripped off the rest of the thin fabric that covered her sore legs, where once was only open wounds and dirt, now rested pure white, clean bandages. Purple bruises tinted over her muscles like galaxies but there was nothing sexy or poetic about them resting there, nor in her fractured collarbones or her tired members.

In her head lingered only fear and pain, flashes of the bad things those men did to her, the touches and the violent hunger, their vile laughter after abusing her and leaving her there to die in the street. She felt the same panic, the same terror that coursed trough her veins like lava when they pushed her into that alley by the hair — her hand rose from her lap and ventured on her scalp, where the ghosts of harsh male fingers had gripped, she quivered intensely —, their rough russian words spat at her with every single hit would haunt her for weeks.

Russian words... Her brain snapped again and she remembered clearly why she shouldn't be there, wherever she was, and that someone was in danger.

Rolling out of the bed, she crumbled over trying to reach the door with still so sheaky steps and knocked everything out of her way with loud thumps in the process. The gentle-handed as she so called him was there in no time, bursting the door open to find her supporting herself on the fragile shelves with little to no books, his wide eyes on her trying to walk after loosing so much blood are shocked and he gulps, rushing over. The plate of eggs long forgotten, crashed on the cheap carpet. She motions him to stop.

"You need to go", she forces out, voice coming out awfully hoarse. Her dramatic self hating how weak and not at all romantic it sounded.

"I can't."

"You must!" She then collapses on the floor, stitches she didn't knew that were under her shirt ripping over from the sudden movements and blood gushing out from it, running down her bare legs.

[bigskydreaming]

Speaking of Riley and other friends who are excellent, allow me to take a moment to pimp some of their books if anyone’s got some spare coin and is looking for good reads while on lockdown.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate

It’s the start of Jordan Sun’s junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she’s an Alto 2, which—in the musical theatre world—is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody’s falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it’s no surprise when she gets shut out of the fall musical for the third year straight. But then the school gets a mass email: A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshiped . . . revered . . . all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

Rio’s got two other books you should also check out, I just grabbed this one at random because they’re all great (though its actually ‘7 Ways We Lie’ that’s my personal fave because Reasons).

Forest of Souls by Lori M Lee

Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.

And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.

Unveiled as the first soulguide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood—an ancient forest possessed by souls—to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a soulguide can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.

This one is the start of a new duology and doesn’t actually come out until June 23rd, but Lori’s got a couple other books out already that are also worth the read. Her Infinite series starts with Gates of Thread and Stone and has the first two books out, there will be a concluding third volume still to come. But I’m lucky enough to have gotten to read Forest of Souls in advance cuz Nyah nyah (I’m so mature, phear my age and wisdom) and its by faaaaar my favorite of hers to date, including more than just the other two books she’s had published so far, and just look at that cover. Ugh. I love it so much. 

(It wasn’t her original cover, actually, they originally wanted to go with this cover of Suck that made me go umm how do you say “Eww” in polite, and authors have little to no feedback they can give on the cover, but Lori took a shot and sent in some examples of other cover artists she really liked and thought had styles fitting her image of the book better, and they picked one of the ones she sent and commissioned a whole new cover, and voila, ended up going with the above cover in all its spooky, thematically ominous glory.) 

On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

A thrilling, thought-provoking novel from one of young-adult literature’s boldest new talents. January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time. A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter—a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister? When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?

Cory is actually one of my oldest friends lmao, like, I first met her through another writing friend when we both roleplayed on this messageboard X-Men: Evolution RPG over fifteen years ago, and just....somehow never lost track of each other through all our various hyper-fixations and divergent fandoms and even with years-long ‘vanishing from the internet’ periods by yours truly (I am was mysterious and enigmatic, hear me roar). This is actually her third published novel? Or maybe second, I forget the order....her first, Otherbound, is great too, she’s written a Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in novel for Marvel, and she’s got her next book, “The Art of Saving the World” coming out this September, and its soooo good and head-trippy and the premise is so mindfucky that I have no idea how she pulled it off as well as she did and its great and you will love it or you will answer to me (lol no you won’t, I am all talk, I bruise like a peach, don’t doxx me yo). But On The Edge of Gone remains my personal fave of hers, Denise is an in-text disabled autistic black girl and suuuuuuch a fantastic main character, and her love for her family against the backdrop of an apocalypse actually in its on-going stage, no post about it, is like.....unfortunately a little too prophetic in various ways, lolol, but like, timely as hell and resonates. 

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee

Welcome to Andover, where superpowers are common, but internships are complicated. Just ask high school nobody, Jessica Tran. Despite her heroic lineage, Jess is resigned to a life without superpowers and is merely looking to beef up her college applications when she stumbles upon the perfect (paid!) internship--only it turns out to be for the towns most heinous supervillain. On the upside, she gets to work with her longtime secret crush, Abby, whom Jess thinks may have a secret of her own. Then theres the budding attraction to her fellow intern, the mysterious “M,” who never seems to be in the same place as Abby. But what starts as a fun way to spite her superhero parents takes a sudden and dangerous turn when she uncovers a plot larger than heroes and villains altogether.

I actually met C.B. on tumblr here, via this account, thanks to a mutual mutual, which just goes to show you never know who you might end up meeting on tumblr dot hellsite dot org, and only after that fact did we find out that we had various other mutual friends from our writing/publishing circles of friends, including Cory, lolol, so y’know....small world. But this series has three books out, with a fourth to come, and its such awesome fun, with superpower hijinks galore, an Asian protag and tons of LGBTQ+ supporting characters, trans superheroes, and compelling plots. She’s also writing Ben 10 comics for Boom! Studios, a comic book company that does original content but also publishes a ton of licensed properties like various other cartoons like Ben 10, the Power Rangers, etc, etc. And this reminds me there’s a certain story she was working on the last time we met up for coffee like, lololol probably three years ago now, which means I am way overdue to bug her about it and ask “Is it done yet is it done yet can I read it yet is it done yet” because I am a paragon of patience and a bastion of self-control, obvsly.

Anyway, here endeth the pimping of my friends, go forth and buy ye their novels, verily and such. Or y’know. Don’t. If you don’t want to be cool, I guess. Nerds. (LOL no but if you like my content and posts and topics I think you stand a better than average likelihood of enjoying at least one of the books by the aforementioned ladies, and you’d be supporting LGBTQ+ authors as there’s nary a straight among them. LOL, like I would ever have straight friends, hahahaha could you imagine, what would we even do).  

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Celebrating 4 years of The Reading Challenge Challenge! 

July 17th marks the anniversary of this book blog’s existence 😄 I honestly never thought this blog would last so long but I’m so proud of how I’ve maintained and improved it over the years. I’ve met some wonderful people and found so many wonderful books and I thought I’d share some of my favourite booklr discoveries with you all to celebrate 😊

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard - The first book of Sara Barnard’s that I read and has led me to all her other wonderful novels. This was a beautiful story about two teenagers who use British Sign Language to communicate and how they find romance and independence together. 

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater - I can safely say I never would’ve discovered my love for Maggie’s work without booklr. This series was the first I read of hers and I absolutely loved it. I’ve adored everything I’ve read of hers since and I can’t wait to revisit this world in Call Down the Hawk.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - This was the first big, anticipated release I experienced on booklr and I can’t wait to do it all again with Wayward Son in a few months. Rainbow Rowell’s books are so much fun and I loved falling in love with Simon and Baz’s love. Fun fact: theirs is the only relationship that I’ve given an OTP tag to on this blog - otp: golden and flammable.

Amelia Westlake Was Never Here by Erin Gough - My favourite Australia YA book from my favourite Australian YA author. If it hadn’t been for @storytime-reviews this book might have languished on my TBR shelves for years. But reading this book kindled my passion for #LoveOzYA and for promoting more Australia YA stories on booklr.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram - A wonderful novel all about friendship and family that I first came across through @bacchusvines‘s blog. I loved learning about Iranian culture and Darius was just such a sweet character. Highly recommend this gorgeous book to anyone and everyone. 

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland - A #LoveOzYA book that I discovered through a British booklr - @boneseasonofglass. This book was weird and wonderful and right up my alley and I can’t wait for Krystal Sutherland to release another book so I can recommend it within an inch of its life too!

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera - Adam Silvera was one of those authors that floated around tumblr for ages and ages and I always said I’d one day read his books. That day came last month and I absolutely devoured his books but this one was my favourite. It’s so raw and emotional and thrilling and I’m so grateful to everyone who gushed over it so I could find it too. 

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia - Another hyped-up book that I bought after booklr gushed over it. I was lucky enough to find a copy of it quickly and enjoy it alongside everyone. But something no one else seems to know is that the books within the book - Monstrous Sea and the Children of Hypnos - are both available to read online! I haven’t got to them yet but I’m sure they’ll be wonderful.

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan - I don’t know that I actually heard about this one on booklr but I definitely heard lots about Nina and David’s other books that encouraged me to read more of them. And now they’re two of my favourite LGBT+ authors who deserve all the love in the world. 

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom - Still one of the best representations of disability in YA fiction that I’ve seen. I think about Parker Grant and her empowering story all the time and I would love to see more people read Eric’s books. He hasn’t published anything for a couple of years now but fingers crossed he cooks something up for us soon. 

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens - My favourite YA anthology, edited by one of my favourite booklr author finds, Marieke Nijkamp. Finding #OwnVoices representations of disability has become a real passion of mine and this was an excellent find. It led me to so many wonderful, disabled authors who I can’t wait to read more from. Fun fact: Corinne Duyvis, one of the authors featured in this anthology, is the person who originated the #OwnVoices hashtag on twitter in 2015. 

Solitaire by Alice Oseman - This wouldn’t be a TRCC book selection without an apperance from Alice Oseman. Despite owning her first two books since 2015, I first properly discovered her work through @heartstoppercomic, reblogged regularly by @plantpages. I read the entire comic in one night and devoured her other books within the week. I love all of her novels but Solitaire remains my favourite. I identify with Tori Spring on such a deep level and I love her story so much. Alice Oseman’s books have definitely been my greatest find on booklr and I’m so thankful for that. 

And some honourable blog mentions: @flamingmirrorbookish @alwaysbringabookwithyou  @myownlittlebookcorner @anassarhenisch @readaroundtherosie @northernreads @remusreads @lizziethereader @lornaslibrary  @coffeebooksorme @kat-from-minasmorgul @magic-in-every-book @outlandishreads @aliteraryprincess @backlogbooks @bookcub @thelivebookproject 

I love this community so much and your company means so much to me. I spend so much time cooped up at home but I never feel lonely with all of you a click away. Being a booklr has shown me so many wonderful perspectives of the world and I’m a better person for it. Here’s to more books, more friends, and more days spent reading together 💕📚🎉

[prokopetz]

do you have any RPG maker game recommendations? I've gotten into them from 7th Stand User and I've played a few horror ones and Legion Saga, and I'm looking for recs for more, either for good gameplay or good story, or both at once. Not a big fan of Space Funeral tho, that was too whack.

Depends – do you mean games that were made in RPG Maker specifically, or do games using similar frameworks (e.g., WOLF RPG Editor) count?

As to the former (i.e., made in RPGMaker specifically), you might have a look at any of the following:

Amber Throne - A PSOne-era retroclone, this one’s clearly aiming to be the spiritual heir to games like Breath of Fire 4, and it succeeds with flying colours, aided in no small part by Jasmine Cooper’s amazing acoustic soundtrack. It’s just a shame it’s so buggy; don’t trust the autosave, and be prepared to reload if the UI goes off the rails.

Ara Fell - A Super Nintendo style retro RPG about fighting vampires in a fantasy world of floating islands. Some conspicuous UI issues – the creator clearly isn’t super-familiar with a lot of RPG Maker’s coding conventions – but wonderful sprite work and music, and the story takes a few twists you might not expect. Free demo available.

Corinne Cross’s Dead and Breakfast - A visual novel/RPG hybrid about a young woman house-sitting a small bed and breakfast establishment during the off-season and ending up playing life coach to a bunch of ghosts. Totally doesn’t look like an RPG Maker game at first glance – the author’s done some interesting things with the format.

Helen’s Mysterious Castle - I know what you’re thinking, and give this one a chance. It may look like standard RPG Maker shovelware for the first couple of hours, but – at the risk of spoilers – it’s something of a bait and switch. It does interesting things with combat, too, adding puzzle elements to what would otherwise be one-one-one thumping matches.

Hylics - This is not, conventionally speaking, a recommendation; Hylics is basically the poster child for the so-high-concept-it’s-essentially-unplayable genre of indie RPGs. I’m mostly just putting it here because the trailer has to be seen to be believed; if you decide to actually play it, that’s on you!

Last Word - A bottle-episode RPG set entirely within the confines of a small mansion, where the protagonist and her companions have been trapped by a nefarious inventor. The game takes place in a world where winning arguments gives you literal power over others, with verbal sparring represented as JRPG-style combat.

OneShot - A zero-combat puzzle RPG where the player character is aware that the player exists. This one goes for the deep meta in its puzzle design; some of the later puzzles involve finding and modifying hidden text files, manipulating the game window, and – at one point – even running multiple copies of the game simultaneously.

Stray Cat Crossing - This one might be a bit much for you if you didn’t care for Space Funeral, but I’m throwing it in for general interest’s sake. Imagine what you’d get if you took one of those high concept indie brainfuck JRPGs and took out the combat, leaving the dialogue and puzzles, and you’ll have a fair idea of what this is. Free demo available.

To the Moon - The first in a planned three-game series about a pair of doctors who help terminally ill people live our their failed ambitions by re-writing their memories, allowing them to die without regrets. Play this one for the writing – the gameplay mechanics clearly aren’t the focus, and are frequently awkward in practice.

If you’re okay with games developed in other frameworks similar to RPG Maker, you might also have a look at LiEat, a series of three episodic games about a wandering grifter and his young ward, a dragon who eats lies. There’s occasional combat, but it’s largely a formality, so don’t expect anything tactical – it’s basically just gating whether you explored each town enough to find some healing items.

[lockewrites]

His Fault in Her Scars

A follow up to “Sparring Match.”

Trevelyan x Hawke || SFW || 1634 words AO3 & FF

Garrett learns about the extensive scarring Corinne has from her initial run-in with Corypheus. (I totally stole the title from a movie/book I've never read.)

“Shit,” Hawke breathed in sympathetic astonishment as he stood holding the pavilion’s flap open.

The glow of the setting sun mixed with the pale hue emitting from the healer’s hands and the lanterns set out on the various tables, one of which held Corinne’s sitting figure. Her back was to him, completely bare save for her breast band; the faint freckles splattered across her back and shoulders were interrupted by a few bruises from their earlier sparring, as well as a vast amount of pink and white scars, varying in size and depth. His eyes followed every welt, every divot, every mar, completely fixated on the image before him; that is, until the view was twisted and the owner’s voice spoke.

“Hawke?”

Corinne waved away the healer and swung her legs over to the opposite side of the table to face him. Her eyes ran down the length of him, looking for any indication that he was injured; she furrowed her brow when she found none

“What are you doing here?”

He closed his mouth, not realizing it had been partially agape, and after moving to allow the healer to leave, he took a few steps forward until he was just a short distance in front of her. The sunlight disappeared as the flap fluttered shut, leaving the two in the flickering light of the lanterns which reflected off her hazel eyes, illuminating the yellow undertones.

“I was looking for you actually,” he replied, forcing his tone to be lighthearted despite the pity he held for her. His signature smirk spread across his face with his words. “I figured you owed me a drink for nearly blowing me up today.”

A soft scoff vibrated in her throat as she pushed herself down from the table. “I nearly blew you up? You did just as much damage to me as I did to you.” She grabbed her shirt and began pulling one sleeve up her right arm. “Tell you what. I’ll buy you a drink if you buy me a drink,” she offered, matching his grin with one of her own. Her movements slowed as her right arm dressed the other; the smile fell and an involuntarily groan escaped from her.

Hawke reached out, but stopped, unsure of what to do or what was wrong. “And here I thought I only left you with a bruise or two,” he said, deflecting his worry with humor. “Do you need any help?”

“Ha, you don’t get credit for this,” she remarked, pointing to her right shoulder. “And no, I’ve got it. I just… I can do it.”

Her fingers rolled the hem of the shirt up to the collar and slowly lifted it up; a wince replaced her smile and in a poor attempt to hide her reaction from Hawke, she turned back around toward the table.

Even if he hadn’t noticed her pained expression, her struggled movements were obvious enough. He gently gripped her right elbow and held it in place while his free hand took hold of the wad of fabric between her hands. 

“I said I can do it,” she insisted but put forth no further effort to deny his help.

He chuckled and shook his head even though she couldn’t see it. 

“Why is it that all the women I know are so stubborn?”

After tugging the shirt a few times, she released her grip and allowed him to pull it down the length of her back, hiding the disfigured skin. His knuckles brushed against her spine, sending a shiver through her body and raising small bumps against his hand.

“Maybe you just bring out their very best.” Her left arm fell to her side, but the other remained in his grasp; carefully, he lowered it until it too was perpendicular to the ground. “Thanks,” she muttered grudgingly. 

“Now, was that so hard?” he teased, prodding her with his elbow.

With a harsh shove, she warned, “Keep being an ass and you’re not getting that drink.”

Hawke let out a laugh and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “Alright, alright. I’ll keep on my best behavior just for you.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet."

She allowed him to lead her out of the healing tent and through the courtyard; a few lingering glances followed the pair into the tavern, whispering among themselves. The residents of Skyhold always seemed to cling onto the tiniest bit of gossip-worthy information they could, and if there was none to be found, they’d create it. Numerous rumors about her supposed interest shared between her and her companions and advisers had already run rampant through Cullen’s forces. Soon, she’d be hearing about the imagined romantic exploits she and Hawke shared after such a sexually-fueled sparring match. She scoffed inwardly and rolled her eyes before swinging the tavern door shut behind them.

They settled in at the bar and ordered ale for each other. The bard’s lute and voice carried over the conversations in the tavern; Corinne listened and tapped her fingers against the wooden counter in time with the music. She’d never understand why so many complained about Maryden; her songs were entertaining and her voice was captivating. 

“Here you go,” the dwarf behind the counter announced, dropping two mugs in front of them.

Corinne waved a quick thanks to the barkeep before taking a drawn out swig of her drink. She finished with a satisfied sigh and placed it back down, “I needed that.”

Hawke smiled into his mug before putting it next to hers, “So, Inquisitor-”

“No.”

“You have no idea what I was going to say!” he laughed.

She shook her head, “Don’t call me ‘Inquisitor.’ Call me ‘Corinne,’ and try again.”

“Right. Sorry. So, Corinne,” he began, fixing his previous error, “You’ve done quite a number on your back and shoulder. Can I ask how?” Normally, he would’ve kept his curiosity quiet, but she hadn’t seemed embarrassed or concerned about covering up when he entered the healer’s tent. He regretted his words, however, when he noticed her tense up at the question. “You don’t have to-”

“No, it’s fine,” she assured. “It’s just… I don’t know. I try not to think about the injuries; I wasn’t exactly having that great of a time when it happened.” She had pushed them so far out of her mind, she never thought about them any longer; she didn’t even know what they looked like. Her healer offered a looking glass, but Corinne didn’t want to see; ignorance was bliss, right? “I’m guessing they look awful, otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked.”

He wished he could take back the question. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, but wonder won over his sense of judgement; it always did. “Really, Corinne, I’m not going to die of curiosity if you don’t tell me.”

She raised a brow and looked over at him, “Are you sure? You’d end up asking Varric anyway.”

Her eyes remained on him, searching for the extent of his curiosity. A melancholic chuckle broke up her words before she continued. “After we closed the Breach, Haven was attacked by Corypheus, but I’m sure you already know that part."

Hawke nodded.

"Corypheus’s dragon threw me around a bit and tore through my armor," she explained, her tone nonchalant. "And, as if that wasn’t enough, I had to jump through the wooden base where a trebuchet had been and, with my armor being useless at this point, the wood added on to the damage already done by the dragon."

Taking a pause, Corinne downed another long swig of her drink, and Hawke simply blinked at her.

"And the shoulder’s gone to shit from landing on it over and over again during that fight.”

Her eyes remained fixated on the grain of the wood, and though her tone was light, the pain of every laceration, every fractured bone, every impact to her body pounded through her with each heartbeat. 

Throughout the story, Hawke watched her. The guilt he felt for the pain she endured was overwhelming; if he had truly defeated Corypheus, none of this would’ve happened. The temple wouldn’t have been destroyed, the Divine wouldn’t have been murdered, and Corinne wouldn’t have been thrust into the center of it all. He may have been the Champion of Kirkwall, but he never solved any of the city’s problems, he made them worse, just as he had for his siblings. Even now, his actions were causing issues.

“I’m… I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling her attention to him.

Her expression was one of confusion, and as much as he wanted to explain to her how it was all his fault, he didn’t want to put the thoughts in her mind. She already knew that he had faced and killed Corypheus, but she didn’t seem to blame him… not yet, at least.

“You didn’t deserve anything that’s happened to you.” In fact, if Cassandra had her way, he would’ve been Inquisitor and he would have the burden and responsibility of this war, not her. Just one more regret to add on to that list. “Fuck,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

“What?” She was completely lost; whatever thoughts he’d been sifting through he kept to himself.

He held her eyes with his, fighting the urge to reach out and wrap his arms around her and apologize, over and over until the words repeated themselves. Maybe if he said them enough, they’d make her forget everything that’s turned her life to shit. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, pushing himself off the bar stool. “I… I have to go. Here.” He tossed a few coins on the counter before turning for the door. Only Varric could handle him prattling on about his guilt, and right now, that’s what he needed. He needed his best friend.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Les Huguenots obv, Don Carlo, Trovatore, Eugene Onegin, Simon Boccanegra, Cav/Pag?

Alright, here we go: 

Les Huguenots: 

Setting-wise, I’m thinking either full-on period drama or modern present-day. (I mean, have you seen social media? People nowadays are often straight-up vicious.) 

Also, little to no cuts, and I would play it straight (as in “no overarching external concept” straight, not “heterosexual” straight because there are definitely some characters who are not straight in the slightest) but I think there’s more than enough in the libretto to keep any director busy. 

Lots of action, lots of spectacle, but at the same time going for an intimate focus on the principals, their relationships with each other, and where they stand in terms of society. No wonder this one’s so hard to pull off.

 Another thing that’s hard is pulling off the “this massacre is pretty much inevitable” thing in the early acts, because there are little signs everywhere hidden within the ostensibly happy stuff that serious trouble is brewing. It’s necessary, though. 

Finally, for Pete’s sake, Nevers will die onstage. 

(Addendum that’s not super-related: apparently there was a production somewhere in Germany a few years back where Nevers was an artist and everyone else were either characters in his paintings or people commissioning his work. IIRC [I only read reviews, I couldn’t find any video] instead of dying, Nevers was just kinda there the whole last act and towards the end he started dumping red paint everywhere and the result was a painting of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.) 

Okay, after I wrote all that, I found out that apparently people are doing their modern-day cast picks, so mine are: John Osborn or Yosep Kang as Raoul, Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Valentine, Lisette Oropesa or Erin Morley as Marguerite, Nicolas Testé or Michele Pertusi as Marcel, Artur Rucinski as Nevers, Ying Fang or Karine Deshayes as Urbain, and Christian van Horn as Saint-Bris. 

Don Carlo: 

First things first: I couldn’t care less about whether it’s in French or Italian (both work fine IMO), but including the whole Fontainebleau act and the Lacrimosa is a must. (I’d also include the Eboli/Elisabetta mask switchoff scene.) 

I would absolutely go period drama with it, but for sets and costumes, I’d take a little simpler and less elaborate/more abstract approach. Also definitely dark and moody (except for the first part of the courtyard at San Yuste scene). 

EXTREMELY GAY IN ALL THE WAYS. That is all. 

The more people in the chorus, the better, not just because grand opéra, but also because then it feels more overwhelming. The production should be overwhelming in just about every way, like getting-hit-by-a-wind-tunnel overwhelming. 

The ending: just leave the ending alone. As much as I understand wanting it to be a more closed-off ending, I actually really like how cliffhanger-y the ending is. (I’d be willing to play the Fontainebleau act as a flashback Carlo’s having before Act II.) 

Cast: Fabiano or Kaufmann, Harteros or Yoncheva, Furlanetto or Abdrazakov, Tezier or Keenlyside, Garanca or A-Rach, and Halfvarson because he’s the classic Grand Inquisitor. 

Il trovatore: 

Ooh, I really liked the McVicar idea of setting it during the Peninsular War, although I’d also love to hightail the plot to Italy and set it during the Risorgimento. 

Manrico is the least interesting lead in the entire thing IMO, but I would find a way to make him interesting, not just the “oh he’s the tenor and the title role so we have to focus on him” deal. 

I’d put a lot more focus onto both di Luna and Azucena, especially Azucena (there’s a reason why Verdi wanted her to be the title character). Maybe the production should progressively get more bizarre as it’s clear she’s more and more traumatized/insane by everything that’s happened. 

I’d have Manrico die onstage, too. 

Cast: not completely sure, maybe Lee, Radvanovsky, A-Rach, and Tezier or Rucinski (considering my first choice is no longer here...) 

Simon Boccanegra: 

Setting: Either keep it in very over-the-top period or (for a slightly more original idea) start the opera at the end of the Risorgimento movement and end it 25 years later. 

Go big or go home on the sets and costumes with this one. 

I’d like to stage the Prologue as Simon’s flashback, but otherwise play it completely straight. Also, cranking up the energy on the Simon/Amelia dynamic is a must. 

(A very interesting not-playing-it-straight concept I’ve toyed with that could potentially go with the end-of-the-Risorgimento setting: make Simon Boccanegra a parallel to Verdi. That would also be incredibly sad, given that Verdi’s two kids died very young.) 

Cast: Tezier (really my go-to current Verdi baritone), Rebeka or Yoncheva, Fabiano, Belosselskiy 

Eugene Onegin: 

Setting can be summed up as “Pushkin or Chekhov, take your pick.”  

I’m envisioning a set that’s half “looks like a charcoal drawing or muted oil painting” and half minimalist, and really beautiful period costumes. Also, snow everywhere in Acts II and III (the current Met production setting the final scene in a snowstorm? Genius. However, I’d probably have the snow raging outside and the two leads raging inside. Related: huge windows for the final scene to see said snowstorm.) 

Eugene Onegin is definitely bi and horribly regrets the duel. 

I would make this production have a huge emphasis on writing: Onegin is the brooding author/hero, Tatyana is a writer of course, Lensky’s a poet... maybe they’re all writing their own part of the story? 

Also, it’s cruel but I think it would make sense for Onegin to commit suicide at the end. 

Cast: Kweicken, Mattei, or Rucinski; Corinne Winters; Michael Fabiano; Alexander Vinogradov 

Cav/Pag: 

I know one’s technically set in Sicily and one in Calabria, but because I tend to like multiple-bills more if there’s a dramatic throughline, I’d set both in the same place and try to connect the two operas’ characters somehow. 

To me, both operas are about the personas people project versus who they really are- and God forbid that women don’t fit the perfect public persona and are instead genuine. As a result, I’d try to add a little theater to Cav and for the reverse effect (since Pag does take place on the Feast of the  Assumption), a little bit of Catholic ritual (and guilt) to Pag. 

I don’t think the aesthetic for the two operas should be so different: we’re talking the course of one day for both operas, except Pag both starts and ends later in the day (IIRC Cav starts at sunrise). 

Cast: not really sure tbh, although I heard the Dutch National Opera apparently had a really nice cast for it recently (A-Rach and Ailyn Perez!) 

To end: this is probably a good time to share my hot take that I like Cav more than Pag.

[sign-from-god-complex]

The Side’s Music Playlists

Okay, I was initially going to post this as a reblog but I wanted to take a second to talk about this stuff cause headcanons are fun, so @residentanchor these are my song recommendations and although they're not specific to ALiP hopefully some of them might still be okay?

Alright, so what you prioritise in your music choice I think is very indicative of your general character--not always! But often. And when you're discussing it in relation to fictional characters it certainly can be. So here's my take on the side's music tastes, based entirely on my own personal feelings and also obviously on my own music tastes.

Patton likes emotional music. It’s easy to say that’s obvious, but at the same time, some people don’t really care about that.

Patton likes music that has a vibe, stuff with good imagery. Something you can picture listening to as you drive home in the dark, returning home after a long time away, or you something could imagine listening to in an absolute moment of peace, lying on your bed and you can hear the sounds of other’s moving around but only distantly.

Patton likes songs to have a place. There are sad-emotional songs and there are happy-emotional songs, but they all have a place. He does listen to upbeat songs too, he just prefers if they have something more to them than that.

Patton recommendations:

Let The Rain - Sara Bareilles

Tell Her You Love Her - Echosmith

New Year - Regina Spektor

Life’s For The Living - Passenger

Bring Me Down - Lenka

Sad - Maroon 5

Walking On Sunshine - Katrina and The Waves (a song Roman and Patton have in common, actually)

Trouble Sleeping - Corinne Bailey Rae

Wake Me Up - Ed Sheeran

Think Good Thoughts - Colbie Caillat (or quite honestly, anything by Colbie Caillat)

Roman likes music he can enjoy. Like, sure, emotional music is good sometimes, but if he wanted to sit around feeling sad he’d sit around feeling sad. (Roman actually has an entirely separate playlist for when he’s pitying himself and he wants to be an emotional mess, but that’s not what we’re talking about here).

A fair amount of music Roman listens to is chosen almost entirely based on the vocals and how fun/impressive it is to sing. If the song has a note that last an inordinate amount of time and Roman knows he can sing it and have everyone around him tell him how cool it was, then Roman is going to listen to that song.

On top of that, Roman likes music that would be described by some as “a bop” and is described by Logan as “trashy pop music”, usually from past decades though. There’s definitely a place for the occasional emotional song, especially if it’s fun to sing, but it’s not the staple of his music collection like Patton.

Roman recommendations:

Cheap Thrills - Sia

Lovefool - The Cardigans

Make Them Gold - CHVRCHES

Telephone - Lady Gaga, Beyonce

Dancing’s Not A Crime - Panic! At The Disco (but god forbid Virgil find out he doesn’t hate his “angsty” bands as much as he pretends to)

Drops of Jupiter - Train

OctaHate - Ryn Weaver

Shout Out To My Ex - Little Mix

Heartbreak Dream - Betty Who

I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

Virgil’s songs are exactly as you would expect for the most part. He likes “emo” music because he feels like it gets where he’s coming from and it’s just enjoyable to feel righteous every once in a while. But not all of his music has to be “edgy” or whatever, mostly it’s anything that goes hard, but with some substance behind it. Of course, as far as the others know, MCR is the only band he’s Ever listened to and he will die before he lets them find out he actually doesn’t mind pop music.

If he can silently scream the lyrics of a song to himself at 3 in the morning and feel like he’s on top of the world, then that’s exactly the song he wants to listen to. Of course, on the reverse side of that, if he can silently scream the lyrics to himself at 3 am and then cry about it, it’s also good.

Virgil recommendations (skipping the obvious - MCR, Panic!, FOB, etc.):

The Haunting - Set It Off

U + Ur Hand - P!nk

Freak Like Me - Halestorm

Second Chance - Shinedown

It’s My Life - Bon Jovi

Running With The Wild Things - Against The Current

Two Hearts - The Birthday Massacre

Rock N Roll - Avril Lavigne

Mr Brightside - The Killers

Monster - Starset

Logan likes his music to serve a purpose. He doesn’t frequently listen to music recreationally, so if he’s listening to music he’s usually trying to block out unpleasant sounds, keep his mind occupied or something else to that extent.

As a result, he usually doesn’t want to be listening to music that’s very upbeat and loud, because he doesn’t find that enjoyable, he wants his music to be calming. However, a large majority of classical pieces are extremely emotional. Logan pretends not to notice this, but sometimes if he’s particularly stressed or overworked, he doesn’t quite hit the mark and ends up crying in his room. He definitely appreciates them from a purely technical standpoint as well though.

Sometimes one of Patton’s songs find it’s way into Logan’s playlist and he’ll pretend he doesn’t know how.

Logan recommendations:

Salvation - Gabrielle Aplin 

Theme From Schindler’s List - John Williams, Itzhak Perlman & The Boston Symphony Orchestra

Notos - Jean-Michel Blais

High Hopes - Kodaline

To The Sky (Moderate) - Dirk Maassen

Nuvole Bianche - Ludovico Einaudi (if you’ve never heard this I highly recommend it; it’s my favourite piano piece ever)

Début - Mélanie Laurent

The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

Ambre - Nils Frahm

Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi - Yann Tiersen

Home - Daughter 

And that’s my take on it! I would love to hear if you think differently though and I’m always open to new music recommendations if you wanted to throw some songs at me that you think one of them would listen to or something!!!

[fletchlingfletcher]

The Fall

"She..." Corinne had started to speak again, relay yet another message when she stopped, pausing to..actually consider what was being said. Not that it offered her any more clarity. 

All of this, all of this was just confusing- if she was supposed to be the messenger, shouldn't she at least understand the message being conveyed.

"She says..you're...afraid?? Afraid of...something that's going to happen." She frowned, squeezing his hand hard. "What's going to happen, Miah?"

"You..do you know something and you're..you're not telling me?" Her mind raced back to his more..cryptic and concerning words the night before, but if anything, it made her grip on his hand tighten even further, yet more determination not to let go. She could feel a gaze of not-quite-normal eyes on her, doing her best to ignore it and keep her own fixed upon the man beside her. Scared. 

"We...she..says we've disobeyed her will, and while she's...not..calling the Greenwrath she..." Corinne turned the rest of her body to face him properly, chin up, bottom lip shaking. "What's going on? Tell me. Tell me what you were thinking last night. Tell me...please!"

A voice in her mind answered her before Miah did. 

“Tell him not to worry child… you have a gift… your soul will always bear it… but not now… you two will find each other again wherever next your souls are reborn… may it be under less cruel circumstance… for now… the only way to ensure the safety of the balance… is to be rid of him…This is my mercy… your soul burns bright with the will to help… but it cannot be… I am giving you a chance to begin again…” 

The Elemental exploded into a blizzard that shook the entire ledge they were standing on. A fierce wind threatened to blow them all off balance. Juan, who had been practically asleep as they spoke cursed loudly, attempting to run and reach them but was blown back easily into the rock face. 

Miahtoux caught Corinne in one arm preemptively, ducking down and raising a domed shield high above their heads, shouting at the elemental. 

“She has done NOTHING to harm you! Why would you-” He trailed off, his shouting in vain… after all he couldn’t hear her answer. 

Clear and loud in Corinne’s mind so as to rise above the din of the storm. 

“I do not seek your end child… but I know you will try to stop this… I am sorry.”

Corinne shook her head, both in refusal to translate and refusal to accept whatever this Elemental was planning. She closed her eyes, still shaking her head adamantly. 

"No.." she whispered, more than likely inaudible in the storm, but hopefully audible enough for one Elemental to hear. "That's not..." 

Whatever else she'd been thinking or wanting to say was cut off as she was sent stumbling forward against Miahtoux, clinging desperately to him as the winds whipped around them. She pressed her face against him, shaking her head once more as insistence he at least not bother to arguing. "Don't...Miah, don't..worry about me," she spoke to him, of course having to raise her voice and her head from against him. One more shake of her head. 

"Don't worry about me. I said...we promised everything would be alright, so just...don't worry, we...we should just..go, s-somehow. Please. Can we?"

Miahtoux looked down at her in his arms, smiling, but he was crying as well. 

“I will… I will always worry…” The melody in his voice somehow managed to carry above the storm winds. “I’m sorry Corinne… I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you… everything will be alright… I’ll make sure of it…” 

The blizzard increased in ferocity, the shielded dome starting to crack every so slightly. One doesn’t fight an Elemental. Off to the side Juan was shouting something from the mouth of the cave. It wasn’t audible from where they were standing. 

“I thought… I thought we’d have more time…” His red eye flickered slightly as he raised a second hand to keep the shield up around them. Knees digging into the snow with the force pushing down on it. “She doesn’t… she’s only after me… but you… you’re going to take the fall for me… if I don’t stop this…” The tears from that blue eye didn’t seem to want to stop… they didn’t need light to glisten off them, they had a light all their own. 

Corinne reached to cup his cheeks, thumb trying to brush away those tears even as her own started to pour forth. 

 “I know… I saw what was going to happen… I saw… and I’m sorry… I’m sorry for that future that could have happened… because I led you into it…”

"Tell me things, tell me everything, I won't care, I won't judge you. I just want you to tell me, talk to me, trust me." She shook her head. "Not now, not for this, but...but for everything else from here on out, ok? Because...because it'll be alright, I promise, I promise you." 

She did her absolute best to smile, try to push out every ounce of warmth and love that she had into it...even if it looked a little force. She was trying, trying so hard. For him. 

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm...I'm not leaving you here. I'm not..giving up or making you deal with any of this alone. I don't care. What happens, what would have happened, what will. I'm not..." 

She closed her eyes and tilted her head forward. "Let me help. I'll help. Whatever I can do."

Miahtoux shook his head. “You can’t help… if you do… you’ll die… and I won’t let that happen.” 

The shield cracked further, it was going to give way any moment. 

“Thank you… for all of this… for… making my last words to you… so easy to say…” The shields splintered further. “I wanted to save them… so… so when you look back… there will be something… something with the sadness…because no matter what way I looked at this… there was only one answer that saved you…” 

He lowered his arms as the shield exploded, taking her in his arms in an embrace that was so strong, so desperate… but at the same time… as tender as it could possibly be… his lips up to her ear so she would hear him. 

“I love you Corinne… with everything that I have…” 

Then he pushed her away, aether infused grip forcing her back far further than she would have gone otherwise, all the way into Juan’s waiting hands as he pulled her into the cave and held on. 

The blizzard grew and howled. The very stone of the mountain plateau cracking and starting to crumble into that sheer abyss below as Miahtoux tried to make it over to them as well. Except… he didn’t. Juan screamed something. It wasn’t heard by anyone over the wind… 

By the time the whiteout cleared… Miahtoux was gone.

[kiss-my-freckle]

Foreshadowing

Love wins. 

Red’s, Liz’s, and Ressler’s. 

Faith. 

6x20 -

Cooper: In spite of everything, he’s committed to you, he loves you, and he has faith in you. And I think you have the same for him.

4x8 -

Red: I just wanted to thank you for trusting me, trusting the plan. I understand what a - a leap of faith it must have been. Liz: Not really. Considering what was at stake.

5x8 -

Tom: This whole father-in-law hates his son-in-law thing, it’s a cliché. Could we just put a stake in it?

Agnes back at stake. 

Diappointment.

6x20 -

Brimley: Nothing hurts so bad as when a child disappoints. Like being impaled by a unicorn. 

Liz already disappointed Red. This is about Agnes disappointing Liz. Taken back to the S3 wedding, and something Liz asked Red in 1x19.

1x19 -

Liz: How is this all gonna end? Red: This is an end. And then something new will begin.

3x17 -

Cooper: You’re trusting Tom. Taking a leap of faith. One you know could end in disappointment. But it’s because you love him.

Red: You were wrong about him once. What makes you so sure you’re not wrong this time? Do you really want your child to pay the price for the rest of his or her life?

Agnes will disappoint because Tom will. The opposite reverse. From Liz to Samar, being placed in a coma. From Samar back to Liz, being impaled. 

Ressler: I mean, that was after she was somehow impaled. Cooper: How’s he doing? Ressler: How would any of us be doing if we were him?

Because Agnes will be Ressler’s daughter. 

Liz: Before we had Agnes, I thought Tom and I were gonna adopt. That family had nothing to do with biology. Ressler: I’m not saying it’s easy, but I’d never give up my kid for adoption.

♪ How long do you want to be loved? Is forever enough? ‘Cause I’m never, never giving you up. ♪

Before “we” had Agnes ... Back to Drexel. 

Liz: We’ve decided to keep the baby. Red: We? Liz: I’ve accepted Tom’s proposal. We’re gonna get married. Red: Right.

“We” being Ressler and Liz leaves Tom adopting. Back to Kirk’s arc. 

And Red with Dr. Stark. Now the second time they’ve taken us back to Kirk’s arc with their gene-editing storylines. It’s  not curative for Red. It’s about increasing. Because he plans to donate to Agnes. 

From Guillermo Rizal -

People will die of thirst. Unless their kidneys become more powerful, capable of processing the higher salt content. The genetic changes I made to Corinne’s DNA increased her tolerance to both by 12%.

Back to Stark -

Uh, Gruber’s still trying to edit his own DNA, increase his muscle tone. It’s a work in progress. 

And Stark back to Shaw -

An average person has between 150 to 400,000 platelets per microliter of blood. Mr. Kirk’s is under 10,000. I’d expect to see intracranial bleeding within hours.

Family has nothing to do with biology. Until it actually does. 

If the girl is a genetic match, and there’s no guarantee that she is, extracting stem cells from such a young child is extremely dangerous and could prove fatal.

Conception hidden in a second memory manipulation through Krilov.  Agnes will be coming home to her real father.