#he doesn't get the chance to lie that much in s2

[nenoname]

(probably) every time stan rolls his eyes and struggles to make eye contact when lying

[yarrystyleeza]

Happy birthday tomorrow Yuna! Hope you'll have an amazing day ❤️❤️

As for a request... When I saw you would write for Daryl, I knew I had to send you something. Season 1 and 2 Daryl lives rent free in my mind, so can I please request:

"when they tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear while you talk" and "brushing against each other, even if there is enough room"

Thank you in advance and again, Happy birthday 😁❤️🎉

Awww thank you my love, sorry for answering this late, hope you didn't mind it, it was stupid of me! 😅💖💖💖

I was stuck with the plot of the request for the last two months until last night, I literally wrote this in less than 10 hours lol 🤣🤣🤣 hope you enjoy it, though, and sorry for keeping you hanging! 💖💖💖 You're so welcome and thank you for dropping this request and for the birthday wishes! 🥰🥰🥰

Little Things (D.D)

Requested by @munsonownsmyass

Pairing and dynamic: Daryl Dixon x female! reader, idiots in love

Prompt: fluff, s1!s2!Daryl, tucking hair behind ear, brushing against each other even if there's enough room + petnames for the cherry on top!

Word count: 1.4k!

Writer's note: I loved writing this one so much! As you lily, season one and two Daryl is my favorite Daryl era (beside S8). Not 100% proofread but I hope you really enjoy it, have a great day! <3

"Hurt y'self, little thin'?" He teased, watching you lying on the forest bed after your foot faltered and slipped you into the bottom of the hill. Your brows knitted, you rolled your eyes, he chuckled at the face you made, "alright, I'm comin'."

He slides down, smoothly, and a little bit pompously—with a smirk on his face. You can't lie—he made you smile though you desperately wanted to punch him right in the face.

He offered his hand to you and you accepted his help. At first, he let you wrap your arm around his neck as he walked you towards the hill exit—but as it turns out, you sprained your ankle so bad it was impossible for you to take another step. He scooped you in his arms and carried you back to the quarry.

And that's how you met Daryl.

You can't admit he wasn't a pain in the ass most of the time—if not always, getting on your nerves and driving you up the wall, it was so constant you started thinking he was doing it on purpose.

It kinda was. Daryl had serious troubles with conveying his emotions, and that idiot had a sickening crush on you ever since he saw you at the camp with the girls. He wanted your attention and he only got it when he drove you mad, so he tooled it in his advantage.

You were his favorite. You're the only one he talks to—other than his brother, Merle—and you, too, are the only one who wants to talk to him.

You too had a crush on him. His silly fights and bickering became more amusing to you—sometimes you couldn't even contain the smile drawn across your face when he's mad about something so stupid and could be fixed in complete silence, and when you gave him your smug face—it always drove him insane. You learnt he's quick-tempered, but these ones were visibly made up just to get a chance to be with you.

Daryl reminded you of those little boys in the playground when they used to ruin the girls' sand castles or pull their braids and ribbons just to get their attention. Ever since you came up to this conclusion—life has never been easier!

But things changed a little bit after the attack on the quarry. Daryl turned from only being a hot-headed idiot to be completely protective of you, but that doesn't mean he stopped getting angry—God forbid he does! But he got more reasonable and collected—around you, at least.

As soon as you got to the CDC, he grew closer to you, more friendly, more worried, more caring. He barely slept the night you spent there, checking on you every thirty minutes to make sure you don't need anything—despite you being a wall apart. It was adorable, and it stirred something in you.

Same night at dinner, right before you went to bed, he sat beside you as you dined, he made sure your plate was full and that you'd eaten well because 'it's been a while since you got a decent meal', he says.

And in the middle of the chaos the following morning—he solely cared for you, and not a thing was going to stop him from smashing Dr. Jenner's head that morning if it wasn't for you calming him down.

The two of you escaped in his pickup truck. But despite the horror you had just fled, you couldn't stop stealing glances at each other, Daryl was focused on driving but you spotted him staring at you with soft eyes a couple of times. Both of you blushed, multiple times—vividly, but you couldn't stop. Something was so amusing and sweet about the way he was looking at you, and you were so tempting to him he couldn't stop staring at you even if he wanted to.

Now, staying at Hershel's farmhouse, Daryl turned out to be that sweet lovey dovey guy who'd absolutely melt under your touch—in complete opposite to the face he's been showing to everyone.

As you went out to search for Sophia, Daryl offered to accompany you. He kept brushing arms with you, pumping into your side, and gently holding your biceps to guide you as you walked. He kept putting himself between you and any threat, not letting you shed a drop of sweat—you were almost a passenger princess, but on foot.

But it was very obvious the night he got shot—your heart dropped when it happened, and when you learned it was your Daryl and not some misinformation. You couldn't watch as they took the bullet out, you couldn't watch him screaming in agony—yet you heard him from behind the door. It tore your heart into pieces.

The night fell as you sat on the chair next to his bed, your head dripping every couple minutes as you drifted in and out of sleep. Your head was heavy as a rock sinking in the ocean—yet you kept fighting Mr. Sandman back, shaking your head and rubbing your eyes and patting your face.

"Go to bed, pet," he softly demanded, "ye're tired from sittin' here all day," he extended an arm, gently placing it on your thigh and squeezing it chastely, "ya need some rest."

You shook your head, "I'm fine, Daryl," you shrugged, "it's not like it's the first time I stay up late."

Both of you stay silent, staring at each other with soft eyes. "Climb up in 'ere," Daryl says, his voice was tinted with plead "at least you won't have to keep droppin' yer head like a sippy chicken."

"No, Daryl," you shook your head in utter refusal, desperately trying to show him how awake you are despite craving a warm bed, "you need your own space. What if I accidentally hit your wound--"

"Come on, pet, you know you won't..." he softly smiles, shaking his head. You sigh and climb into the bed with him and he shares his blanket with you. He turns to face you, the moonlight is perfectly casted upon your faces, his blue eyes sparkled and reflected you like a looking glass. He grazes your cheek, tucking your stray hair back behind your ear and his fingertips linger on the skin of your neck.

"Get some sleep, love," he caresses your hair, "I won't need nothin' when ye're right next to me."

You woke up tangled up in his chest, it was warm and peaceful. You never wanted to slip out of his arms—if it wasn't for Hershel coming over to check on him and the men accompanying him.

Daryl got better as the days gone by. You started to see him in the kitchen fetching some biscuits or chips, he'd pump into you on his way out, brushing arms with you and glancing at you with his blueies and a smile. And if he's in the right mood, he'd take you off guard and peck your cheek, and you'd turn red and try to bite your smile. He caught it had quite the right effect on you, and he's been doing it ever since.

"Let it down, pumpkin," Daryl flirts as he snatches the scrunchie out of your hand as you tried to tie your hair, "love it when it's coverin' yer pretty face, gives me a reason to keep tuckin' it back."

"But we're going on a mission," you protest, "it would be dangerous for both of us!"

Daryl takes a run around the golden field and you chase him—but he overpowers you and you stop running, panting and clutching your chest as he giggles. He mischievously walks back closer to you, so you try to take it back, but he's taller than you, stretching his hand up with your scrunchie and shaking it to tease you. "Ya ain't tiein' it today, darlin'."

"Give it back!" you giggle as you jump to reach for your scrunchie, but he keeps stretching his arm above his head.

"Ye look so cute like that, pumpkin," he pulls a smug face as you lean forward against him, your chests compacting and you're an inch away from kissing.

"You could've told me you wanted to kiss me," you tease, not minding that he lowered his hand back down. He tucks your stray bangs behind your ear, ending up doing what he wanted to do all along.

"But it's more fun to watch ya tiptoe and lean on to me like that," he rounds you with his big arms, pulling you deeper into his chest with a Bastard smirk on his face, "it makes you even prettier, pet. These little things you do."

Likes and reblogs are appreciated, thank you for coming to my birthday sleepover celebration! 💞💞💞

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

I don't like complaining about S3 too much, it's kind of a bummer to focus on what I don't like when there's so much I love, but one thing that I can't help but feel disappointed by is how we never got to see the new Marcy.

We got to see the new Sasha all through S3, who is completely different from S1 and S2 Sasha, and she's such a wonderful and loveable person, you can't help but adore her. Peak girlfriend material. It makes her oddly homoerotic friendship with Anne so sweet! And Anne herself, as the literal star of the show, had her development front and center from day 1. All of S1 was about her growth, and while she still had some work to do in S2, by then she had already changed a lot. Much like Sasha, she goes from being a selfish little shit to becoming a noble, honorable young woman, driven by love and responsability, with the emotional intelligence necessary to face any challenges coming her way.

Marcy... doesn't get that chance. The content of her arc is fine - she realizes she was selfish and self-centered, she understands how that's wrong and she decides to be a better person. But when Sasha (and I'm comparing her to Sasha because Anne, as THE protagonist, is not a fair comparison) had like... all of season 2 to change and develop, and half of S3 to truly shine as her new, improved self, Marcy... well, she did get some development in S2, true - the First Temple and New Wartwood are important moments that come to mind, but...

Okay, so, we knew everything about Sasha's situation from the start. She's lying to the other characters but not to the audience, so everything she goes through in Toadcatches, Barrel's Warhammer, the Dinner, Battle of the Bands and True Colors is very visible to us. We see her going up and down and we always understand what's up with her. We get a very clear view into her mind. We know Sasha. Marcy, on the other hand, has been lying to the audience up until True Colors, so everything we knew about her prior to that has to be recontextualized given the new information, and what we inevitably conclude is that nothing she learned was enough to make her question her plan. She understood the concepts, but she didn't apply it to her particular situation. That's not a bad thing! She's just halfway through her arc - accepting the Truth without letting go of the Lie. But when so much of her arc is hidden from the audience and further recontextualized through more flashbacks near the finale, what we get is a very mysterious Marcy who tells us "everything you thought you knew is more complicated that it seemed", and given that this is the season finale, that set-up inevitably promises a deeper exploration of the REAL Marcy in S3. No more scheeming and lying and manipulating, just Marcy in real time, with no need for flashbacks to recontextualize things again.

But S3 gives us very few chances to see Marcy in Real Time. We see her in Olivia and Yunan, All In and The Hardest Thing. Three episodes. I'm not gonna complain about that because I think we all feel the same way. There's no need. But I will insist that a good solution would have been to have at least two or three episodes about Marcy inside the Core. The King and the Core should have been about Marcy uncovering that ancient information in Aldrich's memory without him noticing, for example. This would have been an improvement in several ways:

More Marcy screentime and development

More exploration on the nature of the Core

We have a present day character knowing all about the Box's lore, and it's not just Andrias randomly thinking about in with a vintage filter on.

Marcy having more agency inside the Core in general would have allowed her to fight back in some way, which would be necessary for another change I'd like to suggest below.

Other episodes could be about her "bonding" with Aldrich and slowly realizing he's delulu, her learning about some old Olm lore, and unlocking a secret that will help them later with like, Anne's powers or the Moon or something, and just... her thinking and realizing she fucked up. If the Core knows her memories, it could recreate a more prolongued scenario with Anne and Sasha, maybe a sleepover? In general, I think Marcy would need someone in there to bounce off of, whether it is a bad guy like Aldrich or lifeless projections of Anne and Sasha, or even someone in there that's actually on her side, sick of living forever in this fantasy, maybe.

She needs time to define her new, changed self after learning her lesson, just like Sasha got to do. Because we barely see who Marcy has become after the events of Amphibia. We got like... TWO scenes to tell us ANYTHING about it.

"No! Only a coward would hide away in this place! Well, I reject this sick fantasy, and I reject you!"

"Even if your friends win, your parents will still tear the three of you apart."

"I started this whole mess because I wanted to escape that reality, but I won't run away from it anymore!"

And later near the end:

"I came to this world thinking only of myself. It was wrong of me, and I wish I'd gotten to know you both better"

These are like... the only indicator of the person Marcy became in Amphibia. They're not worthless - she learned to be more aware of the people around her, and to be stronger in the face of change. Her final scene with Aldrich is her most confrontational scene in the show, and certainly her most angry one. Before, she'd only been like... mildly annoyed one time because Anne was being too overprotective, and she glared at Andrias for like two seconds during O&Y but didn't actually say anything. Marcy is not an angry person, and she does seem to be scared of conflict, so to slap Aldrich's hand away, call him a coward, and proudly raise her fist and declare she's done running makes her look much stronger, and I appreciate that. And she does pretty much declare she refuses to be a coward. But this isn't nearly enough. If I want to write fanfic about Marcy post-Amphibia, I shouldn't have to sit down to analyze these two moments to extrapolate what her characterization would have been like. It should be like with Sasha. We know exactly who the new Sasha is, but we never get to see the new Marcy shine. I think that's why her arc feels so rushed in comparison to Sasha, whose beginning of her arc arguably took up one 11 minutes episode, and the rest happened mostly off-screen: the new Sasha was radiant in S3B, even if we didn't see much of the transition.

I know that, due to structural reasons, Marcy wasn't going to have much screentime so they had to rush her arc quite a bit, and while my suggestion to give her more time inside the Core stands, I think that's not enough either. I think she needs time to interact with Anne and Sasha, and also King Andrias, her Amphibia friend. It's hard to think of a solution to this problem given the way the finale is structured, but my first idea is to make it longer: The Beginning of the End stays the same, All In stays the same except for the way Marcy is released: instead of just, cutting a cable, Sasha needs to reach her with the Power of Friendship. Think something like the Running Up That Hill scene from Stranger Things, or the Toothless Found scene from HTTYD2

Because we can't miss a chance to develop Sasha and Marcy's relationship here. AND since they both share the roles of the Betrayer, the Liar, the Manipulator, of Anne's toxic friend in the path of redemption, it's poetic that Sasha, who has held Marcy under her thumb for years, is the one to help her break free, not through brute force like in canon, but by actually putting into practice what she's learned. Kinda like how, in AtLA S3, Zuko is playing the role of group therapist to the rest of the Gaang. Sasha figured things out first, now she wants to help Marcy find redemption too. Make it a callback to Anne's little speech from TBOTE

"It's not easy. Forgiveness is hard, and it can take time. But believe me: it's worth it. I mean, just look at what you and I have now."

Because redemption isn't easy. It's hard, and it can take time. But you still need to show up, even when you think they don't want you, even when you think you ruined everything. Getting up to so the right thing is always worth it.

Of course, if we want Sasha to save Marcy, a little bit of previous development wouldn't hurt. What if we add a little episode in S3A about the girls all thinking about each other? Anne finding a copy of War of the Warlocks that Marcy forgot in her house, Sasha being reminded of Marcy while helping Maddie with curses for the resistance, and Marcy just... thinking about them, in general, while in the Core. A simple 11 minutes segment, 3 minutes and a half of screentime for each of them. You don't need much, just a moment for them to explore their conflicting feelings for each other.

But then... then, we still need to see Marcy - the new Marcy - interact with her friends, so let's add one or two more episodes to the finale, between All In and The Hardest Thing. Maybe we can shift the Olms storyline here? Would that mess with the pacing too much? Tbh the writers did put themselves in a predicament with Marcy, so it's hard to find a perfect solution. I guess we can keep the tension if the moon is falling veeeeeery slowly, giving our girls just enough time for one more quick adventure together while not making it feel like they're taking their sweet time. So we have one or two extra episodes, and what do we do here?

We challenge Marcy. Just like how Sasha was challenged in Commander Anne, Marcy has to prove she's changed too. Tempt her with her past self-centeredness, her possessive instincts, the easy way in which she lies to herself, her impulse to plan around Anne and Sasha and not with them, hiding important information. Her fear of change. She knows what she needs to do, and she's ready to sit with the uncomfortable feeling of change instead of rejecting it immediately. Maybe she has to let Joe Sparrow go, for example, to be with other sparrows or something, idk. Whatever it is, it needs to be an opportunity to show her newfound emotional maturity. Show how, just like Anne and Sasha before her, she became a more noble person, one who, from now on, is honest, selfless and brave. One who embraces change, and who may even seek it out, because she understands this is how you grow.

Anyway. Yeah, that. I guess I'm just disappointed we never got to see the person Marcy became, but at least it's not hard to extrapolate it from what little the show gave us. We're not 100% in the dark. Though it's not nearly enough. If they ever give us more Amphibia, it would be awesome to see more of this new Marcy, but until then, we have a beautiful community here of galaxy brained people to put the pieces together 🥰

[claudiablogger]

i love your takes on armand,he gives the ick but it’s fascinating at the same time lol what is your take on loumand from armand side? do you think he genuinely liked louis at some point?! it was all about his obsession with lestat? why he wanted to keep him so bad,again,only bc of lestat(i hope not tbh)? did he love him? idk after the last two episodes i bounce so much with this!!

thank youuu everyone loves an evil man until they get one and suddenly he's their canceled wife. or a doe eyed twink. or an overgrown teenager. anything but the actually interesting version of himself presented in the source material. but i digress imo armand absolutely loves louis he's so. his hunger is bottomless and he pours all of it into louis and by god will he ensure louis takes it. without complaint too we wouldn't want to get hysterical now would we dear not in this already fragile state. anyway i do think the choices armand makes in no pain are incredible (scarily straightforward) foreshadowing for the latter half of s2. like base conditions and consequences 1. he wants a relationship with louis on his own terms (on coven terms he set) or not at all; 2. he expects louis to make the necessary unquestioning sacrifices for acceptance and for their romance--first his freedom, then claudia; 3. and in the absence of this sacrifice he kills him/possesses him completely when that fails--e3 ends with armand deciding not to kill him but instead have sex with him. and the trial's ordeal ends with their eternal companionship built on armand's lie . othello had to kill desdemona bc if she could betray her father to marry him she could betray him to sleep w someone else etc it's all about making sure the wife knows her place

in dubai he's definitely a hundred percent in love w louis + having been shown their bedroom i don't subscribe to the bed death theories. but imo louis doesn't have the breadth of choice to ever meaningfully reciprocate. his love is a small box....it's all carefully curated to ensure he appears louis' only option and his best chance at enduring vampirism + the sickness of living without claudia. in his mind he keeps louis because he loves louis. he keeps louis because he wants complete control over his own illusion of servitude. he keeps louis bc he's earned the right to louis + his companionship

i do genuinely think his obsession w lestat is different entirely; armand respects lestat too much to ever love him the way he loves louis. man to man lmao.....he knows lestat can't be possessed the way louis can and his envy is only amplified by louis' love for him. i also do think in his eyes he just vibes w louis better (while in her eyes well. armand voice your wife is counting down your thrusts) while his relationship with lestat 1. was primarily antagonistic 2. was edited to fit the narrative of his powerlessness + being wronged by him in order to appeal to louis' sympathies 3. eventually became about louis' love and louis' choices . yay

[gnomey22]

Failtopia Rarepairs

They're an odd thing to define. By raw statistics, literally every ship in this series is rare because none of them have a significant following - but that's not taking into account how popular they are within the fandom, relative to everything else.

Eribo, for an easy example, absolutely decimates everything else in terms of content, but if we compare it to every other ship in existence, its popularity doesn't stack up at all, despite it being the only possible ship that could theoretically stand a chance.

So, to determine what a Failtopia rarepair really is, let's establish three tiers of ship popularity, under the cut:

There are five primary ships in Failtopia, the big threes of both seasons in a Venn diagram. Failica and Roseyawn from S1, Eribo and Marion from S2, and Lanchi from both. Definitely not rarepairs, comparatively, because there is/was a large volume of people in the fandom on board with these.

Under every imaginable category are the proships I won't bother naming because obviously. Some of these weren't made with harmful intentions, a lot of character ages weren't confirmed back in the day, but they remain inconsiderable by every metric.

Everything in-between these two categories counts as a rarepair in my book. The fandom's too small to get much of any content out for these, and no, one person making a bunch of content for it doesn't count, most rare pairs originate from exactly that. It's an intensely respectable grind, but it doesn't change popularity statistics really.

Now, for the actual point of this post: Showing appreciation for some of them. There's too many to cover them all, so to avoid showing my personal biases, I put them all in a wheel and spun it five times, and below, are my thoughts on each of the five I got. That's a lie, I rerolled a few times because I got too many repeated characters, but still.

Friendboat (Failboat/Friend):

Never been a big fan of C!Fail ships, but as I've said before, this is the one I'd pick if I had to. There's definitely something here, Failboat being a wandering loser who keeps getting pushed into danger by forces he doesn't understand, with a Cleric behind him who knows those forces far better than him. Not to mention their dynamics with Hank, where he cast aside Friend and left them in disarray, while Failboat feels immense empathy for him even after his attempt on his life. Healing and light motifs all around, I like it.

Yawnbo (Pirahnyawn/Bo):

Okay, I know no-one ships this, but it theoretically exists, so it has to be on the list, and now I have to talk about it. Roseyawn was undoubtedly a thing in S1, that was never subtle, but they were also never a good relationship, with Yawn feeding into Rose's ego too much, and Rose never having the confidence to call Yawn out on his bullshit. Bo, on the other hand, has way less of an ego problem, but also has a lot more confidence. She could easily keep him in check, and who knows? Maybe he can learn a thing or two from her energy.

Chiko (Deko/Chi):

I think this is the most concentrated sunshine/grump dynamic you could possibly find in this fandom. Deko's whole character is being pummelled into the ground with trauma and depression, and folding as a result, while Chi transforms her just-as-tragic life into something magical, something enjoyable, with the flick of a wand, and a stupid grin on her face Deko would never match. But as we see in canon, they have a shared fondness for destruction inside them, and they would enable that side of each other so hard if they started dating. That's a fun dynamic.

Frose (Rose/Friend):

Therapy. This pairing would be one pure, concentrated therapy session. Both of them have been so fucked up by succumbing to divine forces, they've both had their personalities warped to places they never thought they were capable of, and neither of them fully hold up once their images are shattered - but at least they'd have someone else who went through much the same. Someone else who committed unimaginable sins in a simple attempt to please everyone, and who may be able to set them on a path to heal.

Boob (Simple Bob/Bo):

That is, in fact, the most logical combination of their names, nothing to see there. As for real talk, I think there's a demonic motif that could be played around with here. Bob dedicated his life to demon hunting, taking out genuine monsters who made the peaceful world of Miitopia dangerous for pretty much the first time, and Bo? She was literally an assassin, with access to sharp fans and hidden bombs. But not only was Mar her target, the man behind the demons Bob originally fought, but she's developed far past her dangerous state and embraced her demonhood as something to protect Miitopia with. Seeing each others' positions would bring about complicated feelings on either side, and that does pique my intrigue.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

I know this may sound crazy but remember how in No Way Out, Sonic told Nine that he still considered him to be a friend while getting down on one knee and Nine calmed down? Later in Nine’s Lives, Nine says “Typical” when seeing Sonic run to the others and accused Sonic of betraying him when Sonic called the others his friends.

Nine was sort of acting like Sonic proposed to him and then cheated on him by being friends with the others.

Okay so first of all, I don't think you're crazy. During S3 there's actually plenty of evidence that Nine is jealous, both of the Tails variants and Sonic considering everyone else his friends.

One example that presents his specific kind of jealousy is during Episode 2 of Season 3, when Nine first appears to Sonic in New Yoke.

"Everything is collapsing... This is terrible!"

"Is it? That seems odd coming from you. As far as I can tell you only care about your own home."

Essentially what I'm getting at is this. I do believe that pre betrayal, Nine admittedly considered Sonic to be the most important person to him, and thought Sonic may have felt the same way. And the "betrayal" at the end of S2 hurt Nine very deeply. He had this image of Sonic in his head that was shattered by the finale, so he sort of instinctively switches to thinking the worst about Sonic because he can't trust that anything he thought before wasn't a lie. This is one of the reasons that he can't fathom Sonic caring about shatterspaces other than his own home.

But it's not just that he can't fathom it, it's that due to this deep hurt, Nine cannot allow himself to believe it.

Because if Sonic genuinely cares about the shatterverse as a whole, if he genuinely cares about saving all of these people, then to Nine, what made him the exception?

Sure, we the audience can see Sonic’s journey in Prime. We can see that by the end of S2, Sonic wanted to keep the shatterverse safe just as much as he wanted to bring back Green Hill. He wanted everyone to be alive and happy. But from Nine's pov here, he's just learned that Sonic lied to him, spoke honeyed words and manipulated him just to get to the prism. None of that is true, but he doesn't feel like Sonic actually cares for him or wants him. So at this point, for Sonic to put saving all of these people over saving his own home or genuinely worrying about their home makes Nine feel like the exception or that his feelings about Sonic must be wrong. Either one of those ideas he'd understandably like to avoid (because one means that Sonic is genuine with everyone except for him, and the other would mean to him that his feeling of betrayal and hurt feelings post S2 finale are misplaced and not allowed to be had, though he feels justified feeling hurt)

And that scene in S3 E3 No Escape is actually another big exemplifier of Nine's brand of jealousy and just how hurt he is.

"Don't worry. Beneath the surface, my new friends are far simpler than the flawed creatures you knew and loved. And all the more loyal for it."

Starting out strong, Nine takes a not so subtle shot at Sonic's friends while taking subtler shot at Sonic's loyalty, since Sonic had been his first and only friend.

"Ever wonder where we'd be if things had gone differently between us?"

"...Not anymore."

"I do. All the time."

"Not anymore." Implying that post the S2 finale he really had dwelled (at least for a time) on thoughts of how things could have been different. How he wished things could have gone differently.

And Nine gets visibly angry/frustrated when Sonic confesses he's always thinking about how things could have been different. Perhaps because it feels like a slap to the face, or feels hard to believe.

"Tch. You had your chance."

"...Right back at ya, bud."

And then, despite his anger, despite how he's been trying to get Sonic all along so he can drain his energy and save his home, Nine ignores Sonic's "should we get this over with". He puts on another one of those faces, similar to earlier when Sonic arrived and Nine talked about his "new friends". Perhaps to cover up exactly the way he's feeling in this moment with a veneer of superiority (he always did something similar when talking up Sonic to the Chaos Council).

"You know...after all this time...I think I finally understand you, Sonic."

...

"You wanna save everyone. Friends. Foes. Total strangers! You say it's because you're a hero and that's what heroes do, but deep down... After what you did—destroying your own home—it's the only way you can ever live with yourself. Even if that means you won't live at all."

And while I think Nine isn't incorrect—that there is a part of Prime!Sonic who's been acting out of selfishness, caring more about feeling like a good person than actually being one—these are still words from someone who feels betrayed by Sonic. I think there's a level to which Nine is seeing a part of Sonic no one else did, and also to a level which Nine is trying to recontextualize Sonic's more heroic/selfless seeming actions so he can reconcile them with how he feels about Sonic and sees him at this moment. In other words, while he's seeing a facet of Sonic he didn't see before, this is not all encompassing of who Prime Sonic is. It's just that perhaps by believing that Sonic's every seemingly selfless action is disingenuine, that all those nice words and intent to save people is just so Sonic can feel good rather that actually caring about anyone, then Nine doesn’t have to feel like the exception. Then he can see Sonic as someone who is pretending to care about all of this, and Sonic's other friends as fools who don't see what he (Nine) has seen.

But as I said, it's more complicated than that. Perhaps Nine is seeing a facet of Sonic that other people don't see or don't want to see, but Prime!Sonic is multifaceted. Perhaps he does want to hurry up and sacrifice himself in this scene because then he can finally feel like he's atoned for what he's done and he's absolved of/paid for his crimes, but that also doesn't mean he doesn't genuinely care about the lives of people in the shatterverse.

"If I don't make it, and you do, how do I know you'll keep your promise."

"Don't worry. Your 'friends' are safe. Once I have your energy, I can restore everything. They can have their silly lives in their silly spaces, as long as they leave me alone."

"Fair enough."

...

"And for what it's worth...I wouldda done the same for you."

"Don't lie to me..."

"I'm not–"

"DON'T!"

"Think whatever you want, but it's true. Even after everything you've done, everything we've been through. Together. Against each other. You're still my friend, Nine."

I really couldn't express more just how hurt Nine feels. That he doesn't believe Sonic would give anything up for him, even if he were to accept that Sonic would do that for everyone else. When he tells Sonic not to lie to him, frustrated, angry, voice wavering, I think it's because he can't take this again. If Sonic is lying just to manipulate him, if this isn't genuine, if he's just using him again, he can't take it again.

This is an incredibly intimate scene. With Sonic, standing face to face to Nine, inside Nine's safe space, his home that no one else has been into, behind the physical representation of the walls surrounding Nine's heart post betrayal, this is his first time all season really being allowed to speak to Nine directly. Here there's no one to perform to aside from each other.

But you can see that despite everything, Sonic still reaches Nine in this scene. It's not easy, but he reaches Nine's heart, leading Nine to start to believe in him again.

And that's why it's a pity the other variants show up when they do, using Sonic to breach Nine's walls. With the way Nine reacts after this happens, Sonic may as well have made Nine believe in that image of him again. Sonic may as well have made Nine believe that Sonic does care about him, that he'd do anything for him (or, at least, would give his life for him like he would for the others if it meant they could live), only to be the trojan horse that allowed the enemy™ to breach his safe space. The pretty lie.

At the beginning of S3 E4 Nine's Lives, Nine says "Predictable" when Sonic runs over to his friends. And, as anon mentioned, Nine says that Sonic has betrayed him for the last time, calling the deal off.

I wouldn't necessarily say here that Nine feels as if Sonic had cheated on him so to speak, but I would say that even if Nine doesn't see Sonic as a willing "trojan horse" here, Nine still feels like a fool for "falling for it again", for believing in Sonic. I think it's enough betrayal to Nine that Sonic would convince him that he cares about him and wants him to have a future too, only to then side with a bunch of people who want to beat Nine down and who would not let Nine be happy if Nine surrendered to them (from Nine's pov at least).

So in short, anon, I think you are seeing Nine's jealousy here. Even if he also has to believe Sonic is secretly fooling the others, to him this is a scene where Sonic is not only choosing them over him, but another example of Sonic (from Nine's pov) proving that he's a liar who doesn't care for Nine or his future/safety at all.

[digitaldoeslmk]

What's Wukong's relationships with the Monkie Kid gang like? We've already briefly touched on him teasing Tang a little, but what about the others?

I don't expect they see much of him early on - even in the canon show, it took them until the s1 special to even SEE him, and until the end of s2 to meet him properly, and your version of him is even more difficult to get ahold of - but I could imagine him having a bit of a rocky start with some of them? Especially Pigsy. The guy probably blames Wukong for everything that happened to MK, doesn't he? Like, "if that guy had never made you his successor, none of this would've happened! And he can't even be bothered to train you personally most of the time!"

overall tentative, at least until S3!

indeed he's a busy busy guy, and when he visits it's only thanks to some skillful use of clones and time management, and tbh the Incident scare kind of puts everyone on edge when it comes to just how much Wukong truly cares about MK if he let smth like that happen at all.

MK and even Red Son reassure them as much as they can, but they are reasonably skeptical and slow to forgive. At the end of S1 though he does stick around for a bit for a proper introduction and Tang and Pigsy take him aside for a bit of a mentor version of a shovel talk xvx

thing is that during S2, Wukong becomes more present, not less! Macaque has already made his debut and needless to say, Wukong isn't pleased, and he's already on a protective streak. He doesn't need to chase after LBD clues or the Samadhi Fire map, what he does need is to keep a closer eye on things for the slightest shift or hint. Him and Red Son work fairly closely to track down what is going on, and what might be coming around the bend, and doing their best to guide and reassure the rest of the gang. They are all new to this celestial business after all.

Wukong may be a tease with Tang but only because he has older brother rights; he does his best to reassure Tang's poor nerves as much as possible. With Sandy, he gets along like butter and toast, and they often meditate together. Mei brings out the old trickster hellraiser in him for better or worse, and he's quite helpful when it comes to showing her some basics on her dragon powers; he was and still is pretty close with Ao Lie after all!

Pigsy however, is not very on board to giving him a second chance. He sees the others warming up to him and takes it upon himself to be the skeptical voice of reason in the group. It reminds Wukong all too much of old Bajie, much to his personal amusement, but he knows he has to get the pig to lower his guard or else things might get tricky when shit hits the fan.

It only happens at the S2 finale, with Wukong taking a huge hit for MK and ending up having some of his powers stolen instead of MK's. It's a huge power up that LBD wasn't expecting (she's a lackey but she's standing in for Macaque until the time is right) and it gives them the window to get away. Neither MK or Wukong are in fighting form but they aren't powerless either, and MK didn't lose the staff. He's just, terribly demoralized which is arguably worse xvx

Pigsy rails on him for not fighting back, not doing more, but in truth, Wukong CAN'T. He's not just a sage anymore, he's a bodhisattva; he's limited in how much he can affect the mortal world, and in truth he wasn't even permitted to be in Megapolis all the time that he was there. He bent the rules because MK needed him, and he could only step in front of MK to shield him because that hit would have been devastating. cus the rules are rules, but that's his successor; he'd never make him go through smth he wasn't 1100% sure he wouldn't pull through

that finally gets through to Pigsy, reluctantly but he can trust his own eyes and ears well enough. xvx

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep8 Musings - Loustat (Spoilers) Pt1: Breakup

Trust me, Lestat wasn't thinking about your stupid suit, Louis. Yes, Carol Cutshall said the gold symbolized Louis as the sun that drew Lestat to him; but the main thing was him pulling that sword-cane on Paul. THAT is what might've changed things: PAUL. Most importantly, the what-if about Paul not having died, and what that might've changed or not (IMO, not much--Lestat would've just kept "hunting" Louis longer, till he found his chance).

At 50? Would Lestat have WANTED Lou? Doubtful. Louis would've been married with kids by then, desperately holding on to what little money he'd've gotten as a failed farmer & pimp (cuz he wouldn't've had the Azalea or Lestat's money); probably in debt just to keep the DPDL estate; even as his mom resented him, and Grace probably wouldn't've been able to marry Levi without a dowry, so who knows how she'd've acted. What SPARK would old!Lou have that would've even made Les interested in him? These questions are MOOT.

"Doomed by the narrative."

I'm still confused about Claudia's diaries, and where they were in 1973--I'm assuming this was just a lie fed by Armand that they were scattered b/t Paris & NOLA.

SKILL ISSUE. Louis ALWAYS has a contingency plan!

I'm so bummed we didn't get the Tower Scene, or get to physically SEE Lestat being tortured by Armand. But oh well, at least we get to see Magnus' Tower, and hear what Magnus told Lestat b4 Les was Turned.

And this is a crazy accurate line, considering Armand said that ordering the humans to say "Banishment" took all of his strength which I KNEW was a freaking lie! XD

You should see them in Dubai when Danwrecks Armand's whole set!

Les calling himself a disappointment--YOU ARE. (Nordic blondes, dirty blondes, and the worst one: a FRENCH blonde.) Chile, no one knows why you do what you do.

That's right, don't let him up for effing oxygen!

EXACTLY.

Lestat was turned on the whole time (who said that!?).

No one cares.

TRUE! That's the most honest thing Armand said all season, wow.

AKASHA NAME DROP, STFU LFG

Marius never told Armand about TWMBK for a reason--hed've spilled the beans quicker than Louis about "Bruce" being Lestat. XD But Lestat's bragging a little too much though--even MARIUS burned with Akasha's blood in him, so.... 🙄 They won't DIE, but it WILL eff them up.

CRAZY important line--strong(er) vampires have to be WILLING to die in the fire for it to stick? Like Lestat said in QotD: he will ALWAYS "fight for life."

That doesn't actually count for much when you've been regularly starving yourself since 1910. 🙄

What a way to go, lbh, these vamps are effing gorgeous.

PETTY BOOTS THE HOUSE DOWN! 😂

Yeah, about that--but FLEX!

Ouch

GO AWF, KING LOUIS! FLEXXXXXXX!

Louis said REPLACEMENTS!!! ALL the Antoine(tte)s and Davids and Quinns and whoever TF that bum was in NOLA--PALE PROXIES! And yes I AM taking that racially, too! The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice! 😜

Water in a sieve; don't worry. It's the PRINCIPLE of the thing--go sit in the corner for 70+ years and keep having "a think!"

YOU would know better than anyone!

Imma save the big reveal and the reunion for Pt2; I think I'm gonna hit the image limit soon.

[butterflydm]

wot s2 trailer: detailed second look

Okay, that's a lie, I've watched it more than twice. But, yes.

Spoilers mostly for show stuff but also for relevant book stuff through around The Great Hunt.

I have sadly been persuaded that we will not get Rand In The White Tower. One of my earlier speculations (around a month ago), I did suggest the idea that Siuan might go to Cairhien, though it was in the context of "going with Mat" and Mat's plotline still seems so up in the air, so who knows where he'll be. But Siuan going with Logain does set up some interesting opportunities.

When I was thinking Siuan would go with Mat, I was thinking it would happen after the girls had been tricked to leave by Liandrin, but if she's going with Logain, I think it's more likely that her absence leaves an opportunity for Liandrin to pounce on the girls while she's gone. Especially if Siuan doesn't give them any information.

I am really excited by the idea of Rand and Logain having a conversation here, it sets up some interesting things for the future.

I feel like a lot of @markantonys's thoughts here are still pretty likely in light of what we saw in the trailer: https://markantonys.tumblr.com/post/720125468680060928/my-rough-guesses-2x01-a-taste-of-solitude

Maybe Siuan's trip to Cairhien is around episode 6-ish (making Siuan and Moiraine's reunion in ep 6 in both s1 & s2).

It really is hard to figure out where Mat's storyline is going because the covid change really did take him pretty far off-book (and since he's still in his Two Rivers clothes in Falme, that implies he's had no chance to get a change of clothes at any point).

I am also really wondering how action-packed the finale will be vs emotional beats -- will Rand reunite with his friends or will we be focused on the action?

So, we see wanderer Rand in one shot: with 'Selene'. I'm guessing that's right after she arranges for him to 'save' her from something dangerous. Then we have a few shots of him in plainer shirts or in no shirt. Then we have the blue robe-like overshirt. Then we have the fancy black emo coat that it looks like he wears for the rest of the season.

We have Moiraine in her traveler's clothes for a bit, including I think when she first sees Rand again. Then she takes a bath and changes her clothes, probably, and tries again with Rand.

We're probably going to see Egwene & Elayne in novice whites for pretty much the whole season after Egwene arrives at the White Tower. It looks like Nynaeve has a bit more variation but mostly in episode three (probably) when she has her Accepted Test. It does seem like we're going to have at least one flashback (Moiraine and Siuan New Spring'ing it up) so we may get more flashbacks for each of the characters -- Perrin's flash of happiness with that young girl might be a flashback.

So, attempting to place things in order --

Episode One: Perrin & co start on their Hunt for Horn and dagger; Rand wanders the countryside, Moiraine & Lan... maybe end up researching with Verin (and that's how we're introduced to her and how she works her way into the plotline?) or something else; Mat gets nabbed by Liandrin and taken prisoner; and Egwene & Nynaeve arrive at the White Tower (meet Elayne?). Nynaeve tells Alanna that she's not sure anyone should have as much power as they tell her that she has.

I suspect all the scenes of Moiraine & Lan at night with the Fade are episode one, since it vibes like Moiraine still looks like she did at the end of last season, so this is them leaving the Blight maybe, because Moiraine needs to process a lot of shit right now. The Perrin riding scene could happen here or in the next couple of episodes. This also might be when he encounters The Wolf Who Might Be Hopper that we see later in the trailer (or... etc).

Episode Two: Rand spends time with Selene (the cuddling shots). We may start with a cold open relating to either Ishy unearthing bloody Lanfear or something related to the Seanchan. I'm guessing this episode will cover basically the entire Rand and 'Selene' relationship, with them separating either at the end of this episode or the very beginning of episode three.

Episode Three: Nynaeve's Accepted test! All the shots of her in her shift and all bloody go here. Her surge of power near a house that looks like it's in the Two Rivers style goes here. I'm guessing that Lan on Mandarb in the woods also goes here. We will probably also get Egwene and Elayne building up their friendship in this episode. This is maybe the episode where we get shirtless Rand as he broods in Foregate.

Episode Four: Moiraine catches up to Rand (finds him in Foregate; he pins her; she and Lan have a conversation about Rand; I'm guessing she sends a message to Siuan that inspires Siuan to decided she needs to go to Cairhien with Logain, to help get Rand under control; has a Sad Bath; and dresses like a Cairhienin).

Episode Five: Perrin & co have their run-in with the Seanchan. This might be the episode where we meet Aviendha and have a run-in with the Whitecloaks as well? If Loial gets captured by the Seanchan at the start of the episode, then Perrin can run into the Whitecloaks later as he's trying to figure out how to help Loial. Has Fain given the Seanchan the Horn yet? I'm curious about how they'll pepper the Seanchan throughout the season. Siuan leaves the White Tower with Logain to travel to Cairhien.

Episode Six: Starts with Liandrin at the Darkfriend social and ends with her delivering the girls to the Seanchan (so all the damane capturing scenes & etc; "if our friends are in trouble, why would I ever stay here?" scene with Egwene and Elayne). Rand talks first to Logain (more casual blue robes) and then gets dressed in his fancy black emo coat that he'll wear the rest of the season and talks to Siuan. Might go off on his own at the end? This might be the episode where we get the New Spring flashback, see Moiraine & Siuan happy and young and then hear Gitara's Foretelling?

Episode Seven: Focus on Egwene in captivity, which I expect to be really brutal. We'll probably get a lot of Seanchan-related info in this episode. How long she is in captivity probably depends on how Rand is traveling to Falme (because I think this will be his traveling episode). Mat is also approaching Falme at this same time maybe? We have so little info to go on regarding Mat, lol. Perrin is already in the area. It's possible that this is when Perrin meets Aviendha, depending on how many episodes we have her for this season.

Episode Eight: Rand faces off against Turak. Whatever that explosion at that gate is happens. Mat stabs someone with a spear (that potentially has raven detailing). Probably lots of other (Horn-related and breaking-Egwene-out related) stuff happens too! I really hope we get some emotional moments of people realizing that Rand isn't dead, though (unless they find out earlier -- Liandrin might tell Egwene & Nynaeve that Rand is alive).

I am hardcore mourning that I can't see any place in this structure for my Randlayne meet-cute. Rand really isn't in an emotional place for meet-cutes. :-(

I am really curious to see how Moiraine and Lan's relationship evolves in this season. It looks like they run into some friction between each other and so I wonder if we'll get Lan offering Rand suggestions on how to face the Amrylin Seat and Moiraine disapproving (like happens in TGH), maybe because now that Rand is a person and not an idea, Lan wants him to have control of his own destiny?

There was no sign of Moiraine or Lan in the Falme-related shots, but we did get those still of them walking on a beach, with Moiraine in her Cairhienin dress. If she were traveling on her own with just Lan, I'd expect her to be back in her traveling clothes.

We're going to be getting Perrin losing himself in the wolf and getting scared of it, when he kills that Whitecloak. Pretty sure that the wolf we saw in the trailer is going to be Hopper. We didn't get any shots of Elyas but I think he's been confirmed for the season? We also didn't get any shots of Loial and we know that he's there because of that earlier still that was released. We know that he's the first of the group to end up in Seanchan territory, because Loial has been captured by the Seanchan as of episode five. I do still suspect that Verin will be in Perrin's plotline mostly, but there's a chance that we first get introduced to her via Moiraine searching for answers.

I think we won't get confirmation that Liandrin is a Darkfriend until maybe episode six, when she tricks the girls into going into the Ways. Maybe the cold open for that episode is the Darkfriend social? Either that or it's the cold open for episode five and the audience learns about Liandrin the episode before her betrayal of the girls (maybe this is when we see her up by the Flame of Tar Valon and the place where the rings are melted).

I'm guessing that Min will pop up in two or three episodes, maybe? She's not listed as a regular, I don't think, so she won't be in all eight. She's likely in Tar Valon and will likely go along with the Wondergirls to Falme, like she does in the books, so we may get her meeting Aviendha in Falme. It really depends on the pacing of the final episode and how much post-battle time we get.

I do feel like Rafe is invested in showing the realistic emotions of our characters, so I'm hoping we get some downtime where all the polycule all gets to meet each other and we get some reunions between the characters.

It looks like we'll be getting a lot of Egwene & Nynaeve's emotional beats from the show. We'll be meeting Elayne and getting introduced to her brothers and potentially Elaida. They'll probably spend five episodes in the White Tower and then head to Falme for the last three.

Mat remains our biggest question mark. We know he starts in Tar Valon, spends some time captured by Liandrin, and then somehow ends up free in Falme, wielding a spear. And that's pretty much it.

Here is all the detail I wrote out about each of the shots (so where I'm getting some of my guesses from):

Shot 1: Moiraine in Foregate. We know this is episode four because of the photos we got earlier of this scene. I'm assuming that this is her working on locating Rand at the moment. She's dressed up Cairhienin style, high and modest neckline and keisera.

Shot 2: White Tower from above, craning down to get a better look at the sides, where we see a bright blue dress. This might be part of what is likely a flashback that we'll get to later. I am guessing the Moiraine does not go back to Tar Valon this season at all, at this point. It also just might be another Blue Ajah Sister in a wide shot!

Shot 3/4: Moiraine is sad in her bathtub. I'm guessing this is in one of the first three episodes, but it might be episode four. I'm guessing this is the Bath of Sadness that will lead into her dressing up in her Cairhienin outfit.

Shot 5/6: Rand stands on a floodplain-ish area that I'm guessing is him approaching Falme (...I don't know geology). He appears to be alone in this shot but he also might be out of camera view of whoever he's traveling with. We see here that his fancy new emo black coat has a rising sun motif. I feel like we saw something in the promos about Aviendha having a rising sun thing somewhere? Is my brain making that up or is it real? Plus it also would connect to both Elayne & Moiraine for obvious reasons. And it's the opposite of Lanfear's moon motif. We do see Rand both from behind and from the front and he looks alone in both shots. Probably episode seven or eight.

Shot 7/8: These appear to be connected. Moiraine facing a Fade. This might be Moiraine and Lan leaving the Blight? Or just them traveling at night? But I think Moiraine is wearing her traveling clothes from last season in this shot, though the lighting is pretty dim, so it's hard to say. And she has the knife from last season too. So my guess is that this is from episode one.

Shot 9: Ishy looking kinda business-casual, just in a shirt, though it looks like he may have a tie-holder. Darkly-lit scene. He bamfs away, using... well, if you know, then you know. It goes beyond the spoilers I listed at the top. I think this is the same outfit he's wearing later when he's hanging with Suroth (which is different from the outfit he's wearing in the scene with Loial that we only saw a photo of).

Shot 10: Egwene... maybe in the Testing Chamber?

Shot 11: Liandrin staring forward. Might be the same place? She looks a bit like she's dressed for travel, though, so this could be the prepping to leave for the Ways.

Shot 12: Super quick glance at the Darkfriend social.

Shot 13: Nynaeve telling Alanna, I think, that "no one should have that much power". So instead of Alanna trying to be a busybody because she's interested in Rand and she's honing in on the girls by proxy, I think she'll be interested in talking to Nynaeve because she's so strong in the One Power. This is from one of the first three episodes, I would guess. Before Nynaeve does her Accepted Testing.

Shot 14: Ishy is in a different outfit than he was in Shot 9. He's got a jacket on and no tie-clip thing. This might be what he was wearing last season? He's doing something with the Power and the way it's shining is reminding me of the constrained look of the damane's flows that we see later.

Shot 15/16/17: We cut to bloody Lanfear (I'm guessing but I feel like this is probably Lanfear), with the implication that maybe this is Ishy waking her up?

Shot 18/19/20/21: Two damane are launching an attack on a village at nighttime. In the second to last of the shots, I think that I see Uno & his eyepatch, and I'm pretty sure that Perrin is in the last of the shots, so this may be when Perrin & co encounter the Seanchan and Loial gets captured.

Shot 22/23/24/25: Opening the door to the Accepted Testing chamber -- probably episode 3. We see Nynaeve revealed by the opening of the door and then switch to behind her and see the archways for the testing. There are three Sisters with her. Actually, it looks like Liandrin might be wearing the outfit from Shot 11 so that might actually be her reacting to Nynaeve's Test. I think the lady on the left is Sheriam but I'm not sure who the woman just behind Nynaeve is.

Shot 26/27/28: Perrin & co riding down a hilly area. Guessing that this is early on, searching out the Horn & dagger? This is Perrin in his new S2 outfit.

Shot 29: 'Selene' cuddles Rand, who is still in his wanderer outfit, so this would be early season. I really am fascinated by her choice to cosplay Moiraine here (someone mentioned Selene being in her 'Moiraine cosplay era' in the tag, and the thought definitely stuck). Unless that's just a blue cloak that she threw on and her actual outfit isn't blue. Lanfear looks way more into the touching than Rand does -- he's basically just standing there while she plasters herself against him (her hand is even around his back). At least it looks that way from this angle. She does fit pretty neatly under his chin.

Shot 30/31: Rand walks down a hall with arches. He's wearing the same outfit here that we'll later see in his conversation with Logain, so I'll place this around episode 5 or 6.

Shot 32: Tar Valon (?) at night, with lightning flashing.

Shot 33: Moiraine races away on a horse, during the night. A dark horse, so this is not Aldieb (who is a white mare).

Shot 34/35: Lan listens as Moiraine passionately explains that guiding Rand is the only thing that matters. Moiraine is dressed in her Cairhienin clothes here, so maybe episode four.

Shot 36: Siuan on her fancy throne that was probably just set up now, because this is likely all in Cairhien, tells Moiraine, maybe, "You can't control him" possibly talking about Rand. This might be after the conversation that Siuan and Moiraine have that we see later in the trailer, because Siuan has An Opinion about Rand. She's in her super-fancy Amyrlin clothes.

Shot 37/38: Rand is in a dark room, shutters drawn, and we can see him surrounded by yellow-red flows. He's wearing a plain shirt but it looks nice.

Shot 39/40/41: Perrin looks at a wolf. A wolf looks back. Hopper? Perrin's eyes shift to gold.

Shot 42: Rand pins Moiraine up against the wall of a room. By her throat. He looks very intense and I'm pretty sure I can see the black tendrils of the taint in the flows as they pass over his neck. It looks like Moiraine is in her traveling clothes here, so it could be that she doesn't change into her Cairhienin duds until after she's encountered Rand again for the first time. The subtitles says "Kill them all" here and you can kinda hear it if you concentrate. The first glimmers of you-know-who?

Shot 43: Egwene is in the collar and she looks WRECKED. Blood-shot eyes. Bloody cheek. Hair damp (with sweat probably). Either episode seven or eight is my guess for this one.

Shot 44: Nynaeve in her shift in the Testing room, covered in blood. She also looks pretty emotionally wrecked.

Shot 45/46: Panning shot of the dagger on a fancy table as Mat sits in a chair, with some great conflict on his face. This is interesting because it implies that Fain is in Tar Valon? I like all the emphasis on how all five of the ta'veren are going through these intense emotional journeys. It's not just Rand who is struggling with himself.

Shot 47: This shot is fascinating. Rand is standing in front of 'Selene' while the Power is flowing all around him. Very creepy vibes.

Shot 48: Rand tells Logain that he wants to learn how to control it. And he's wearing the same kind of robe-ish overshirt that he was wearing when he was walking down the hall in Shots 30/31 but which is very different than the formal clothes that we see him wearing when he talks to Siuan at the end of the trailer. Rand and Logain both in blue here.

Shot 49/50/51: Wide shot of Suroth & Co being domineering over a village, then going to a closer shot of Suroth sitting on the throne while her Voice and Ishy are on either side of her. I think Ishy is wearing the same outfit here that he was wearing in Shot 9. Oh, I think there are people actually carrying that palanquin! Yikes, that has to be so heavy. So maybe a ~procession~ of the conquered territory?

Shot 52/53: Turok opens the box for the Horn. It's interesting that he doesn't have the mask that Suroth has. His nails also appear to be more functional than hers, or less likely to get in his way. His costuming is actually pretty different from hers. I wonder if we're going to keep seeing different variations between the Bloods. Because she has that metal theme while his theme feels more... bone-like?

Shot 54/55/56/57: I believe all this is the capture of Egwene. Looks very intense. It looks like Egwene goes on the attack while Elayne runs. I can't see Nynaeve at all in any of the shots.

Shot 58/59: But we do transition from the burst of power over Egwene into one over Nynaeve, probably during her Accepted Test, because both her clothes and the house behind her look like the Two Rivers. So this is likely episode three.

Shot 60: I think this is the Whitecloaks riding towards Falme.

Shot 61: Liandrin stands at the Flame of Tar Valon and stares down at the big forge-bowl-ring where the old rings get melted and new ones made.

Shot 62/63: A child and Perrin playing together. Might be a flashback? He isn't wearing what we've seen him wearing in most of the S2-related material.

Shot 64: If it is a flashback, then it would pair well with this shot of Moiraine and Siuan kissing, because I feel like this is most likely a flashback as well, because Siuan is in blue.

Shot 65/66: Egwene (in her kitchen outfit) hugs Nynaeve (in her Two Rivers outfit). Are Egwene and Nynave going to arrive at the Tower separately (why would they do that? Hmm).

Shot 67: Nynaeve's Accepted Test beginning, as the Aes Sedai channel into the archways.

Shot 68/69: Egwene talks to Elayne - "If our friends are in trouble, why would I ever stay here?" So this is probably the conversation that leads to Elayne coming along with Egwene. Hmm, given that Elayne doesn't know literally any of the other potential players involved, I wonder if they're going to lean on the "friendship" angle or the "adventure" angle with why Elayne leaves with Egwene. In the books, Elayne already had a level of investment going on.

Shot 70: Moiraine walks out of a door at night. Maybe the same scene as Rand pinning her against the wall?

Shot 71: Moiraine from much earlier in the season, judging by her vibes.

Shot 72: Lan on Mandarb. I'm still guessing that this is from Nynaeve's Accepted Test in episode three, because Moiraine and Lan don't appear to be near any nice woodlands in their current travels.

Shot 73: Lan tells Moiraine: "You can't do this by yourself." Guessing it's part of the conversation about guiding Rand, because I can make out the pointed collar on Moiraine's outfit.

Shot 74/75/76/77: Aviendha veils up at nighttime, with Perrin in the background. Then she fights some Whitecloaks. Aviendha has a head injury here, some blood near her temple.

Shot 78: Nynaeve spars with the Warders -- we saw this back in the earlier teaser as well.

Shot 79/80: Lan fights a Fade. Guessing this is the same scene as Moiraine & the Fade from Shots 7/8.

Shot 81: Nighttime overlooking shot of Tar Valon. Maybe the same night as the one with the lightning flashing earlier. Maybe the night when Liandrin & the girls leave? /wild speculation

Shot 82: Liandrin with her red all covered up with a black cloak, walking through the streets at night. I saw someone speculate that she's on her way to the Darkfriend social and that would be a pretty great way to bring us into it.

Shot 83: Shirtless Rand stares out the window at maybe the morning light. This is another shot that we've seen before. Guessing Foregate because those shutters look like the ones we saw earlier in the trailer.

Shot 84: Nynaeve exits one of the archways in a burst of light, and we can see blood on her shift. More of her Testing.

Shot 85: Perrin kills a Whitecloak. It does not look like the same location as where we saw Aviendha fighting the Whitecloaks.

Shot 86: Egwene screams in the collar.

Shot 87: Rand is bound shirtless on a huge wheel in the desert (almost certainly in the dream world).

Shot 88: I think Liandrin is talking to Egwene here, though we can only really see her hair. "It's not always the most powerful who write history. It's the ones who survive." Same outfit that we saw on her before.

Shot 89/90/91/92/93: Rand in a plaza at Falme, in his fancy emo black coat (now covered with a brown cloak), about to fight Turak. Rand talks about being tired of being "a spoke in the wheel".

Shot 94: We go back to the shot of Rand bound on the wheel and then pull way back. It does look like there's something directly in front of him, but I can't tell if it's a person or if it's just... set up to look like a person, if that makes sense.

Shot 95: Someone kills a Fade with a flaming sword at night. On reflection... not Rand, I think? (which would make sense -- Rand still has his dad's sword). It might belong to the same scene as Moiraine and Lan facing the Fades?

Shot 96: Mat stabs someone with a spear. He's still wearing his Two Rivers clothes. Given the earlier photo we got of Mat, I'm guessing this is Falme.

Shot 97/98: Hard cut to that explosion. It's actually a top-down view at first and it looks like someone is exploding the door to a gate. Maybe fireworks but maybe channeling? It looks like Falme, though, either way.

Shot 99/100/101: Siuan tells Rand that he's the water that turns the wheel of time. He's in his fancy black emo coat here.

[th3archivisst]

thinking about good omens swap au,,,,,

with my personal headcanons implemented and keeping it as in character for both as possible

headcanons mentioned are: crowley as lucifer and the metatron was the decision maker about his fall

this is just a rough overview of the au, i'll try and write a fic about it soon but yeahh

GO2 SPOILERS AHEAD

How Azi became a demon

In the beginning, when Aziraphale introduces himself to Lucifer (i'll be calling Crowley that cuz he never gets his demon name in this au), Luci tells him his name too. So Aziraphale knows this is literally God's favorite angel and Oh Shit That's Important. So, when the Metatron finds out about Lucifer's questioning and decides to cast him out, Aziraphale steps up. He takes the blame on himself, says he was the one who talked to Lucifer about it and he was actually the one asking questions. Why he does this? Because he can't imagine how heaven would live on without one of its most important angels, so he's willing to sacrifice himself for that. The Metatron believes the lie and Aziraphale falls in Lucifer's stead, taking on the name of Zerael.

Garden of Eden meeting

After Zerael's fall, Lucifer tries to argue with the Metatron a bit. He gives up pretty quickly because he doesn't want Zerael's fall to go to waste, but he still gets demoted as a result. So he's now on apple tree duty. Meanwhile, Zerael gets appointed to be the original tempter, taking the form of a black swallow (cuz yk swallows are symbols of good luck but black isn't eh whatever you'll see). Lucifer gets the flaming sword as a sort of cruel joke from heaven, Gods former favorite now needs a sword for protection. He (of course) gives it to Eve, he doesn't actually need it and she definitely does. When the two meet on the wall, it's a bit awkward. Lucifer is immediately happy and greets Zerael by his angelic name, causing Zee to have a bit of a shut down. He tries to act all demonic and mean, but ends up asking how Lucifer is doing in heaven. Luci kind of skirts around the topic. "Oh, you know, the usual celestial harmonies and whatnot". Zee isn't an idiot, he asks why Luci's on apple tree duty if everything's fine. Luci tells him he's been demoted but it's nothing to worry about. "Really, it's more interesting now! I get to see more than just white walls all the time". Wing shelter thingy but Zee tries to do it first, getting burned by holy rain in the process because bird brain so Luci shelters him instead.

General stuff now that the backstory is over with

(I'll get into the flashback scenes in a different post, my fingers are starting to hurt lmao)

Zerael changes his name Zirael, which literally means 'swallow' (according to wikipedia)

Zee still opens a bookshop, he loves books and food just as much and explains it to the Dark Council as getting to know human pleasures to tempt them better

Luci still has the Bentley. Just this time it's white. He bought it black but heaven didn't like it so he miracled it white. It still plays Queen automatically because it's the only way Luci can show off his chaos.

Luci still has houseplants, but he treats them well. Why? Because he can't keep them up to heaven's standards, not after Zee fell to save him. Instead of torturing the plants, he treats them like how he thinks Zee should've been treated. Leaf spots are fine, imperfections are okay. The plants are the most beautiful in London, and also the happiest.

The Arrangement is still the same, only Zee proposed it because he's still in denial about falling and wants any excuse to do something good. Luci agrees, because he wants a chance to rebel without anyone noticing.

Nicknames!!! Zee calls Lucifer 'Luci' (Lucy) and ,of course, Angel, while Lucifer calls Zirael 'Zee' and 'birdbrain' when telling him he's an idiot.

Features! So I know we get the Angel!Crowley eyes in s2, but i like to think he still has to wear sunglasses cuz when the sun catches his eyes they turn molten gold :]

Zee's eyes go from blue to black, easy enough to pass off as very dark brown. His hair stays the same though, it just never turned darker. He says the sulfur bleached it. Is that true? Probably not.

Zee is very very jumpy, his eyes are always flicking around and he's barely ever relaxed. Luci on the other hand is mostly calm, except when something goes wrong. Then he uses every swear word known to mankind that doesn't involve blasphemy because he doesn't wanna get scolded by head office.

Dynamic

Zee is a lot more flirty than Aziraphale. His time as a demon has taught him some Things™️. He still very persistently believes in the system, though it's easier to pick apart his resolve when you point out that he fell because he thought the system was unfair to Lucifer. Luci is the opposite, not sure how to respond to the flirting and getting very tongue tied (ngk.). He is however very willing to finally cut ties with heaven, which means Paradox. Zee keeps trying to convince Luci to stay in heaven, Luci keeps trying to convince Zee to Go Off Together. Zee terrified of consequences, Luci bored out of his skull with heaven's monotony. The only reason he stays is because he remembers Zee's sacrifice. He knows that Zirael didn't want to fall. He did it so Lucifer wouldn't have to.

This makes the season two finale oh so interesting HEHEHEHHEHGEHGEGEH

Lucifer gets the proposition to return to his position as Supreme Archangel, for things to go back to how they were before he was demoted. He, naturally, tells the Metatron exactly where he could stick it. Zee gets mad about this because Lucifer could make heaven better! He could make the system better, prevent anyone from falling without reason ever again. Luci gets pissed because he's been complaining about heaven to Zee for thousands of years and now that just means nothing??? he should go back?????? because of a broken system? But he doesn't mention that the Metatron told him he could restore Zirael. When he finally yells it out at the end of their arguement, right before the kiss, Zee freezes and stares at him. Lucifer realized. Oh shit. This is the one thing he's wanted more than life on earth for all this time. And i'm refusing him it, although it's my fault he lost it in the first place.

Zee won't ask him to go to heaven if he so clearly doesn't want to, definitely not now. Luci kisses him as an attempt to apologize, it's gentle and Zee doesn't push back but he also doesn't respond. At all. He just turns away and starts organizing his books. Just as Lucifer is about to leave, tears in his eyes, Zee says, very quietly; "If you won't do your job, I'd better start doing mine."

The next day, Lucifer comes back with a whole apology script written. He doesn't find Zee there. Instead he finds a random guy from a bookshop that closed a couple months ago.

[shimmeringweeds]

(Written between s2 episodes 9 and 10)

"The foundation of the game is mutual trust, fairness, and equality."

Part 3 of my "this game and its rules" theory: Part 1. Part 2.

This theory will be much less put together, as I feel I am not seeing the whole picture here, but maybe another set of eyes can spot what I've missed. I want to put this out there before episode 10 destroys everything.

Li Tianchen is a complicated character. He is a someone we inherently cannot trust. I'm sure I'm not the only one who found it comedic how quickly Li Tianchen took total control over the interrogation (CXS never stood a chance, the Coca-Cola tactic was brilliant.)

Why come in disguise as his sister? To gain sympathies, I suppose.

So then, did Li Tianchen know about the photograph?

Let's break the scene down:

-Li Tianchen introduces himself as LiTianxi. Cheng Xiaoshi is visibly taken aback. 1pt to LTC.

-Li Tianchen gives Cheng Xiaoshi a choice. Turn over all listening devices. Cheng Xiaoshi lies = feeling of unease. "The foundation of cooperation is mutual trust" says LTC. Minus 1pt to CXS. He's already in the negatives.

-Interrogation begins. Cheng Xiaoshi asks, "Why did you come and what do you know?" -

-Li Tianchen repeats, "The foundation of the game is mutual trust, fairness and equality. Did you forget this so soon?"

A connection is made in Cheng Xiaoshi's mind, this is Red Eyes! He then says:

"Why did you turn out like this?"

The conversation went directly from "The foundation of the game..." to "Why did you turn out like this." YEAH. That's one way to be suspicious CXS! -1pt

Cheng Xiaoshi knows about LTX's past and recognized her name. Li Tianchen doesn't know that Cheng Xiaoshi knows this. He is guessing based on Cheng Xiaoshi's reactions. (CXS wears his heart on his sleeve and I love him for it.)

Li Tianchen calls him on it, "How did you know?" The ball is back in LTC's court. + 1pt.

Cheng Xiaoshi tries to take the ball back. But the revelation that this is red eyes is too much. He cannot lie. So he speaks the truth and the ball stays firmly in LTC's court for the rest of the match.

The following Coca-Cola chugging relaxes the mood (+1pt LTC) and the sympathy building begins.

This plan of Li Tianchen's really hinges on building sympathy. He can't just grab CXS and go. He has to make him go "willingly" in order to not draw attention. This game is of mutual trust.

Li Tianchen needs (or at least wants) Cheng Xiaoshi to trust him.

Cheng Xiaoshi reaches out in a moment of sympathy... and gets possessed. Match won.

There is no evidence that Li Tianchen knew about the photograph before Cheng Xiaoshi willingly confirms it. But if Cheng Xiaoshi hasn't seen the photograph, then isn't this plan way more risky? Did LiTianchen really take that risk?

I know a lot of people are thinking that Li Tianxi is the one who delivers the photograph. That's very difficult to refute. But I cannot think of a reality where Li Tianchen doesn't know that the photograph was given. That was played.

Food for thought: the twin that delivered the photograph, and the twin that took the phone. (please note: the yellow on the jacket in relation to color of the hoodie. Thin as ice, this one. But I can't stop thinking on it.) EDIT: lmao I went a took color samples in procreate. Both hoodies are purple/red. Color theory can you believe.

I really, really believe that Li Tianchen is crying out for help as much as Li Tianxi is seems to be. Everything he does is to protect his sister. He's a hunter yes, but--

"Some (predators) are born as bloodthirsty beasts. But some are special and learn to evolve. They evolve, and they grow. Until one day in this jungle of men, they become...a hunter. So which one of those do you want to be in the future?"

vs. the English dub which chooses to take things a little farther....

"Someone to kill and eat everything. Not everyone stays the same as they were born. Some people will evolve, become something new. They're the ones who hunt predators. They learn to fight and protect. What kind of person do you want to be when you grow up?"

Li Tianchen is a hunter, a provider, a protector.

So who is Li Tianxi?

[mischas]

What would've happened if season 2 started differently if DJ never existed? Let's face it the guy was a snooze.

Oh yes, the DJ storyline sucks. And for many reasons. The actors don't have chemistry, he looks so much older than even Ben (which he was!), the borderline racist tone, the extremely classist tone, and the character switch they do on Marissa to make her reduce him to "the yard guy" which we know s1 Marissa would never dream of doing. She dated Ryan for a year without giving a toss about what his upbringing means to be enmeshed with hers. So that's all so frustrating.

Something this show did was resolve their storylines very poorly. They move at breakneck speed and it caught up with them in s2 when they had to scramble. And I understand to a degree, this is network tv in the 2000s, but we know now that JS and co needed to be reigned the fuck in even in s1 so they wouldn't exhaust every decent storyline in two episodes.

So anyway, in order for RM to ever have a chance of a real reunion, I'd have Marissa and Ryan really get into what tore them apart pre-Theresa. Which was Oliver. And the show demonized Marissa for it entirely which was insane (and led to character backlash online which JS was voraciously paying attention to). Marissa plays catch-up to Ryan's moral superiority from then on and it's infuriating. So I'd fix that shit. Remind the audience that Ryan broke her trust first with breaking into her locker and stealing her letter. Something that other teen shows, particular supernatural ones, do is ponder the idea of your beloved's agency vs their safety. The show says that Ryan is in the right for breaking into her locker because he's right that Oliver is evil/crazy/in love with Marissa/possibly putting her in danger. And it's an interesting moral dilemma if done well, but they don't do shit with it in the aftermath. Marissa has to painfully grovel at Ryan's feet all because she didn't believe him when he had zero evidence. Ridiculous.

And because this is tv let's distill this into a scene at the end of 202 when Ryan gets to go home feeling morally superior about breaking things off with Marissa before they've even started again because he's so concerned with her white lie. Like whatever dude. Like he hasn't been sleeping in Theresa's bed all summer. I imagine Marissa coming to him after the carnival and pushing him about these things. Also, it drives me crazy that 127 even has Ryan not fully gleeful about Theresa possibly getting an abortion. Sandy is the only one making sense there. Ryan is 17 years old yet they want him to have the countenance of someone who's 35. That's a problem throughout the show, really. I'm not saying he'd be skipping around Newport joyful but it is so insane to play it out like this is a wanted pregnancy for anyone involved. And for it to happen to the one Latinx character they've semi-centered (in southern California!) is... something. As well as the DV storyline and the original Eddie storyline they really wanted to go with. God, a mess. Anyway. When Ryan is informed of the supposed miscarriage in 201, we're supposed to believe Ryan doesn't even see Theresa for... months? She tells him not to come back but come on this is Ryan! Ryan who we're told is noble and good. He wouldn't go back to Chino to even hug her??? It's so crystal clear that the show wants to quickly move past this bomb they created in s1. Anyway, I'd want Ryan and Marissa to have a real conversation about how that summer impacted their lives and that'd inevitably bring up how he slept with Theresa two whole seconds after the Oliver melodrama blew up. Which could bring about a frank discussion about how they both use sex as a distraction rather than an act of love.

And let's say they talk about these things and still decide they shouldn't be together, I think that'd bring with it a good tension. Keep them in one another's lives because they're in the same circles. Maybe even do similar storylines with other love interests, but sprinkle in some pining and close encounters that give audiences what they really want. It's partly what SS get in s2, though the show drops the ball on why they're not together since they don't flesh out Seth's reasons for leaving beyond 201 and they don't come close to touching Summer's abandonment issues like they should.

If it's clear that I've thought about this before, you'd be right. Lol. I think s2 has an ok framework but could've been tweaked even a little bit to be really, really good.

[my-mt-heart]

Hi MT

Im not gonna lie. I dont care if Carol comes back by saving Daryl,i just want her back with him. It is not such a used trope i think in media, the man saving his girl is still the overused one for me, even if its getting better. And yes, its a repetition of whats gonna happen in Summit, but its good, because it means that they (amc, the writers, gimple, whatever...) know, even if uncounsciously/unwillingly, that Carol is for Daryl the equivalent of Michonne for Rick. Unlike you, i dont consider their stories to be that different. The only difference is canon. Apart from that, for example, as soon as they arrived in Alexandria, Richonne lived together with Carl and Judith. And guess what? Caryl did the same. Until, for God knows why, they had her kind of move in with Tobin. But i disgress. And its ok to disagree.

But it never crossed Amc etc... minds, unlike some shippers would have wanted, to have a carzekiel spin off, or a donnie one. There ks a reason for that. Can u imagine a spin off centered on Rick and anyone else than Michonne? Same for Daryl. Its not Connie or whoever who is gonna save Daryl or whatever. Its Carol.

Caryl might stay forever platonic and never go canon, but i think its safe to assume that at the end of it all (either end of s2 or in another show once everybody reunited with Rick), they re gonna leave together. New Mexico on a bike could still happen.

As for CP character, i think its also safe to assume that they didnt kiss in s1 wich is done filming. If they had, we would have heard abt it by now (there have been a few spoiling photos for other spin offs.... without spoiling too much myself for u or ur readers, even if i think you dont care since you dont plan to watch).

I dont think we have to worry abt Isabel or Isobel or whatever. Yes, he's going to question his loyalty blablabla, but its not gonna last.Have a lot of other things to say, but its too long already. Will wait for another time!

Hi back. Just a heads up, you brought up a few points that I feel strongly about, so if it sounds like I'm yelling at you, I'm not. Like you said, we can disagree, and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.

Carol saving Daryl means she'll be active and she'll have a strong emotional drive, so I support that as well. There are still ways to distinguish Caryl's and Richonne's arcs, but I ultimately don't care if it turns out both shows have the women saving the men's asses which then lead to beautiful reunions. If that concerns AMC, then they probably should've stuck to the original premise for the Caryl spinoff. If there's a chance to circle back to the idea of Caryl going on a road trip together like fans wanted in the first place, that would be exciting. I'm all for it.

But just because we can draw parallels between the two couples, even though we can acknowledge that Daryl is in love with Carol just like Rick is in love with Michonne and vice versa, that doesn't mean their stories are the same. They're not. They don't share the same histories or the same experiences or the same traumas. They came together in different ways and they've grown together in different ways. Apples and oranges.

You're right that I won't watch S1 of le spinoff, and that's for a few reasons. One, because I don't condone how it came to exist in the first place. Two, because I want to close the significant pay gap between Norman and Melissa. Three, because it's obvious it won't respect Caryl's relationship or Daryl's character. It doesn't matter that he and CP's character won't actually get together or kiss, etc. What matters is the fact that AMC will tease the shit out of it like they did with Daryl's three other younger non love interests, which subjects Melissa to more ageism even if she's not involved in the story and subjects Caryl fans to more misery even if they don't watch. Melissa's/Carol's absence is going to hang over the show no matter what.

It's infuriating that AMC does so much for their male stars/EP's, more than most of them deserve, but they have no problem throwing the women to the wolves. It's infuriating if they still assume they can take advantage of Caryl/Carol fans' loyalty by playing the same manipulative games they have been for years without delivering on their promises, one of those promises being (unambiguous!) canon. Caryl were written to be romantic, whether their haters want to see that or not. It's important for story integrity, for Daryl's and Carol's character growth, and for onscreen representation. I can't give AMC my viewership/subscription if nothing changes.

[charlottenewtons]

The bar scene from Love's a game (wanna play?)!

My favourite scene to write in my Donna/Ben thesis!!

One night, unexpectedly, they end up squeezed together knees touching on a leather couch in a bar. The restaurant they were supposed to be eating at had been unexpectedly booked out by a Swedish crime writer convention. This is a key scene in the fic and I wanted to start it off by unexpectedly changing the setting for the characters. I love all the random conventions that always seemed to be happening in the Great Northern so I included this as a reason for the restaurant being fully booked. No idea as to why I picked Swedish crime writers.

She’s often curious about what people think when they see her and Ben together. I wrote this fic on the assumption that the paternity stuff wasn't known outside of the Hayward/Horne families so it gave their relationship this ambiguous quality that was fun to play with. Do people think they're family? Or man and his younger wife/mistress? How do they both feel about that?

He wants to buy her love she realizes as she stirs her drink. That’s what all this is about – the job, the dinners, the apartment. It’s all he knows how to do. At this point Ben has a huge amount of financial control over Donna - he's responsible for her job, her living arrangements and later on some of her clothes. In canon Ben is someone who uses money to get what he wants and this is no different here. He starts off wanting to be a father to Donna but he doesn't know how so he resorts to using money to get what he wants and Donna accepts this because she feels he owes her for basically destroying her family. Of course it leads her to becoming entangled with him in a way that is very difficult for her to get out of

“Did you try to buy her as well?” She leans over to whisper in his ear and watches as his cheeks flush ever so slightly. “Laura.” He doesn’t say anything. Up until this point they had both avoided talking about Laura so I wanted to get them into a situation where their inhibitions were lowered to finally bring her up. The second half of s2 has many weaknesses however the worst in my mind is the way it ignores Laura, especially as it would have added some depth to this plot.

“I mean it’s a little creepy right? You knowing her when she was a little girl and then…Her, my mother, is there any woman in Twin Peaks you haven’t slept with?” Drag him Donna!! I so wanted something like this to happen in canon and of course it never did. I wrote Donna as always having this low-key contempt for Ben. She knows exactly what kind of person he is and the tragedy of it is she still gets suckered in.

“I don’t think any of us could have helped her.” Ben Horne is a lying liar who lies to everyone including himself. Which leads to him telling another lie later on in the fic when he says that there's a good chance he isn't Donna's father, which again, is to himself as much as it is to Donna.

Besides any potential shared blood, Laura is really the only thread that connects them. I just really like this line. Laura is the one, after all.

[will80sbyers]

The why do I hate him seeing me with her post tho… like even post speech if we use the theory that Mike new what Will was saying, then he realized how this reunion could look and not having the chance to talk with Will and worrying Will is going to misunderstand. Or even the reminder that he has to have a serious conversation with El and to him, she is romantically in love with him and he ‘knows’ that ain’t gonna be a fun conversation… idk just my brainrot things

If you interpret it that way you can certainly interpret that like that, yeah!

Personally I don't think Mike knows exactly about his feelings for Will yet, he's starting to very slowly realize it in the end of s4 but it's all super confused because Will told him that El feels like that for him and he wants that from someone and so it's like he starts to believe that she must be the right person for him even if it doesn't feel right anymore between them but he thinks he must be in love with her when he remembers the speech because he still likes her and he doesn't want to lose her most of all... He doesn't want to break up yet!

At the same time he feels really weird towards Will and is trying to sort of repress that and tell himself it's just friendship

but there are things that are not "just friends" things happening to Mike...

he missed Will so much that he called every day (like for El in s2) but Will almost never called back or picked up the phone...

He felt super jealous about the painting and this new girl Will liked

he felt awkward hugging him and he was also keeping a bit of distance from him because he thought Will didn't want to be his best friend anymore...

He then, after their fight where Will told him they were supposed to be best friends, wants to reconnect with him because he just feels awful when they are not friends.

then he starts to notice himself "being weird" with him because he wants to look at him for comfort when the other one is not looking and gets caught...

Then Mike at the same time is questioning his relationship with El asking himself if it even makes sense that they are together because he's such a loser and she's amazing and he thinks he doesn't deserve her and she shouldn't value him...

Then the speech happens and he just believes Will because "Will wouldn't lie to me" ( reason why he will be a bit pissed & confused when he finds out )

then he finds El again but he feels bad that Will is watching them in that moment ( When Will actually wasn't thinking about it at all, he is used to it and gave up in the van and also was so happy that his sister was alive that he was just thinking about her )

then they go to the pizza place and mike still thinks Will said the truth so he tries to tell the ily to El in the booth but he finds it difficult because it doesn't feel right and natural to say it in that moment there is still something blocking him...

Until El is about to die and his fear of losing her gets triggered and Will tells him to say something and so he does confess what he thinks he feels for her, responding to the feelings Will put in his speech, telling her he needs her more than she "supposedly" does because that is how he feels for her in reality - it's more codependency than real romantic love for them even if he doesn't realize it yet

And then in the finale he doesn't know yet that his feelings for Will are romantic but he's very close and he will get it 100% next season!

That is how I interpreted stuff more or less, but you can have different interpretations for sure, I think this is simply what makes most sense to me with what I saw on the screen for now and for how I interpret Mike's character!

[maddywillow]

Tech and Crosshair are my two favorite bois in the galaxy and I have something lighthearted to say about Crosshair's character arc.

Clone Wars

In Clone Wars he shows no affection to any of the clones. Not even his brothers, making sure to tease Wrecker whenever he can, and makes sure everyone knows how much he doesn't like Regs. He even gets into a fight with Rex about it.

TBB S1

Throughout the 1st Season of TBB Crosshair only really shows that he's a valuable member to The Batch, but has other desires because of the IChip. He then goes out of his way to try and hunt down his Squad for the empire and nearly killed Wrecker. Then has his chip removed in episode 3 and still wishes to serve the empire because he's commited to work in an orderly fashion and not as a mercenary barely scraping by. By the end of Season 1 of the Bad Batch Crosshair kills his troopers to give The Batch a chance to join his side. This shows that he means well and cares about his squad and doesn't want to see them dead, but if they don't want to follow him he is their enemy by proxy. He also feels abandoned by the Batch because they don't leave anyone behind and therefore seeks to destroy them throughout the first season. Also at the end of S1 Crosshair knew that working together would be the only way out of Tipoca City so he worked with the Batch to escape for his own benefit. He was hesitant to capture the batch after S1 because Omega is trying to show Crosshair that she cares about him and wants him to come back with the batch. Crosshair admires Omega because she saved him therefore not leaving him behind like he claims the rest of the batch did. It shows her commitment to keeping her squad safe even if they don't agree with eachother. Crosshair then saves her in exchange showing that he still cares about his squad too, especially Omega because of her affection towards him.

TBB S2

Next we see that he is very determined to commit himself to the Empire. This is where h starts to experience change within the empire that doesn't benefit him. He was left on Kamino for 32 rotations and still came back to serve the Empire. This starts to show how little the empire cares for the clones and would rather have regular people as soldiers because of the unhinged nature of clones. Throughout this season there are many trials thrown at Crosshair making him question his loyalty. He continues to lie to himself and clones by saying that they are just following orders. This makes a lot of clones around Crosshair start to question "the order", as Rampart puts it. They are mistreated and have started being replaced. Crosshair thinks that he's too important for the Empire to get rid of but soon learns that everyone can and will be replaced. Soon Crosshair starts to question his loyalty to the empire rather than where his old squad is hiding. Crosshair talkes to Howzer on Ryloth and he ends up turning away from the order. He talks to commander Cody and ends up going AWOL the next day. He talks to Mayday who is already questioning the order, because of his situation on the Outpost planet. Mayday loses several of his men because the empire was unwilling to give them more supplies and troops. Crosshair agrees that something should have been done about the situation which has started his respect for other clones besides Omega. He then gets sent on a mission on a planet with harsh weather with limited supplies and all he has is Mayday to look out for him. The two bond over their past and how the Empire has screwed over the Clones lately and this is where Crosshair really questions his loyalty to the empire. Realizing that their mission was to retrea armor for their replacements they both try to return empty-handed. Then after being tossed by an avalanche Crosshair digs through the snow to help Mayday. This is only the second time we really see him save anyone in this show. Crosshair, the guy who started off not giving a shit about anyone other than himself is now risking his life to save a Reg clone that he only met a few hours ago. It's so cute how they cuddled to stay warm but heartbreaking that Mayday ended up dying in the end. This breaks Crosshair so much that he kills his lieutenant finally cutting his ties with the Empire. He continues to show his loyalty to others by willing to undergo a tremendous amount of pain (im guessing) to not tell Dr Hemlock where his Squad or Omega is. He is now fully commited to them even if he's not with the batch at this time.

I know this was kind of a ramble but its crazy to see how much Crosshair has gained affection for people he previously hated and how much he has changed!