#honestly I was wondering who they were going to kill off to connect the next season

[fioletowa-krowa]

I ASSUMED IT WAS GONNA BE THE CHICK. HOW CAN IT BE FUCKING LESTER??????!!!!!???!??!!?!??!?!?!

[cressidagrey]

The Ties that Bind - Chapter 7

Summary: 

Shadowsingers were made, not born. Made out of trauma and loneliness and desperation.

So when Cilla and Azriel meet and their shadows entwine, they both meet the only other person that could understand these particular childhood scars.

The last thing Azriel had ever expected from his mate, however, was for her to have a surprising connection to his brother.

Warnings: 

Azriel has some realisations, and Cilla has a meltdown

(super pretty dividers by @tsunami-of-tears)

Azriel should have known that it was coming. He should have…he should have expected some kind of fallout. 

The fact that he didn’t make Azriel a fucking idiot. 

But it hadn’t even crossed his mind. He had been so…happy that it had gone…well enough, that Cassian hadn’t actually killed him, that Cilla was willing to go along with meeting Cassian, that Azriel hadn’t even thought about the price Cilla would need to pay for it. 

By the time he was ready for bed, she had already buried herself under the covers, curled into a little ball. She didn’t turn towards him as he laid down next to her…didn’t move when he shut off the faelights with a wave. 

Didn’t say anything. 

She always turned towards him. Even when she had been sick with a fever, his mate had turned towards him. But she hadn’t done so now. 

He watched the little ball under the covers, unmoving unless one counted her breath…shaking with something…

His brows furrowed. This wasn’t…This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. 

“Sweetheart?” he asked quietly, hand hovering over her form, unsure if she could stomach his touch at the moment. “Cilla, is something wrong?” he asked her carefully, wanting to gauge how she was feeling. 

“Wrong?” she repeated, her voice near tonelessly, wings trembling and then wrapping around her form like a cocoon…shadows coming to join them, swathing her in darkness. 

Azriel wondered absentmindedly how often he himself had laid like that, when sometimes everything around him just felt like too much, too much, too quickly. 

"Talk to me. What is going on in that Head of yours, sweetheart?” he asked her, hand settling on her shoulder, feeling her take another shuddery breath. 

She seemed to have some sort of mental fight with herself until she admitted what was really bothering her. 

He waited her out. He would always wait her out. 

“You didn’t talk to me,” Cilla finally whispered.  “You didn’t talk to me. You…You knew who my father was. And you didn’t tell me.” Her voice was broken, splintering around the edges. “Why.” It was as much a question as it was a demand and Azriel closed his eyes, mentally cursing himself out. 

“Because I needed to wrap my mind around it myself,” Azriel finally answered honestly. It was a weak reasoning, he knew that. But he had needed to… “Because I needed to know if he knew before I told you. Because if he knew what was happening to my mate for years and did nothing…then he wasn’t the male I knew. And he was nobody I wanted anywhere near you.”

He had needed to know if Cassian was somebody he needed to protect Cilla from or somebody that he could trust to act in her best interests. And it had been selfish as well. Putting Cilla in front of a fait accompli as he had…telling Cassian before he had told her…giving her no time to back out and refuse…that had been selfish. He recognised that. 

He had acted selfishly. And she had caught onto it, had felt hurt because of his actions.  

“Sweetheart,” he said with a sigh. “I thought it went well today?” he asked her and Cilla seemed to shudder.  

“I don’t know what he wants from me,” she whispered, the sound nearly heartbreaking. 

Of course, she didn’t. She never had anybody who wanted to spend time with her just because…didn’t know what friendship meant or what it felt like to be part of a family. It was all just…

The only steady companion she had ever known had been her shadows. Which at least had kept her from going completely feral but probably hadn’t helped with any of that. 

“You heard Cassian,” Azriel said quietly.  “He only wants to get to know you.” And probably take care of his daughter when he never had the opportunity for that before. Probably wanted to teach her how to wield a dagger to defend herself and get to know the girl he didn’t know. 

That’s what Cassian would want. But Cilla didn’t even seem to understand the concept of that. 

“And what do you want from me?” Cilla asked, her voice shaking. He could just stare at her back. 

What he wanted from her?

“I just want you to be happy, Sweetheart.” That was the truth. That was all Azriel wanted from her. If it involved him, that would make him happier than anything else…but if it didn’t…he still wanted Cilla to be happy. 

“What have I done wrong?” she asked him and he just…every question from her was like a stab with a knife straight into her heart.

“What?” he brought hoarsely. What did she mean?

“What have I done wrong?” Cilla repeated, still not turning towards him.  “You don’t touch me anymore.”

“Of course, I do,” he disagreed, the hand that laid over his shoulder gently squeezing, marking that particular statement. Of course, he touched her. 

“Not like that. Not since that first night,” Cilla said, her voice harsher than before. And then he realised what she meant, closing his eyes. “Was it that horrible?” she asked him, and he could nearly hear how Cilla held back her tears at that question. 

“What?  No,” he assured her immediately, blurting out the words. “Gods, Cilla. That’s not…” He didn’t have the right words for this, didn’t know how he should explain this to her, without hurting her even more…without… “Sweetheart,” he said helplessly. 

Cilla turned around, shaking off his hand, dark eyes mustering him in the dark room, the expression on her face shuttering. 

“Then what?” she demanded, sharper than she had ever talked to him before. “is it some kind of treat that I only get when I behave like you want me to?” she spat out and he swallowed. 

“Cilla,” he whispered, his voice breaking. 

“Do I need to earn your affection?” she asked him. “What do I need to do?” 

“No, Gods, no,” Azriel forced out, the words sticking in the back of his throat. 

He had managed to fuck that up spectacularly, hadn’t he? 

Yes, you have, his shadows agreed. 

“Then what do you want from me? What am I doing wrong?” Cilla demanded, her voice splintering. “What am I doing WRONG?!” The way her voice rose at the end, so loud in this quiet house, the way her chest heaved, the tears glinted in her eyes and then fell over her cheeks…

Somebody strangled him with his guilt. 

This would have never needed to happen. But he had been stupid. So fucking stupid. He should have known better. 

But he hadn’t. He had wanted to fix things for her and overcorrected so sharply, that she was the only one hurt and it had ended in a mess. 

“You have done nothing wrong, Sweetheart,” he said, doing his best to keep his voice gently, not to let her hear the chaos that he was currently feeling. He held out his hands for her but she stayed distant, just watching him…her eyes tearful, her lower lip wobbling. 

She was crying because of him. Having an ash bolt shot through his chest hurt less than this. 

Fix this, his shadows demanded sharply. We don’t like to see her crying. This is your fault. 

It was his fault. “Fuck, Sweetheart, I am so sorry,” he apologised fiercely. “I really fucked up. It’s not some kind of treat. I just…I didn’t…I was so wrapped up with finally meeting you, finally meeting my mate, that I didn't think about the consequences of my own actions, Cilla,” Azriel hurried to explain. “You are still so young…you have an excuse why you don’t think it through, but I don’t. I should have seen your shadows and I should have realised what they meant..and I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.” 

“Advantage,” she repeated like she wasn’t quite sure what the word even meant.  

“You didn’t really know what you agreed to the first time we had sex, sweetheart. You were…desperate and half ill and I should have treated you, my mate, better than that,” Azriel explained quietly. He should…They should have had an actual conversation, they should have gotten to know each other before he even laid a finger on her like that but instead, he had been…so overcome…so impulsive that he had just. 

 “I am not a child,” Cilla bit out sharply. “I have been on my own for 2 years, and I managed to survive. I can decide if I want to be with you or not!” 

“Of course, you can. Cilla,”  he agreed. She wasn’t a child. Even if she was painfully naive in some ways, she was very much not that in others. Treating her like a child when she had spent 2 years working herself to the bone to make sure that she could survive didn’t seem fair…not when she had also spent 18 years locked in that attic with only her shadows for company. 

“I…I thought that taking sex out of the equation until…until you had settled into the mating bond and…this life was the better choice,” he admitted with a grimace. Put it on ice until she was sure that she knew what she really agreed to. But clearly she…

“You thought,” Cilla repeated flatly, her voice icy. “YOU thought. Did you notice that it’s always YOU thought about something? It’s never something WE thought about. It’s not something that WE DECIDED! That we even TALKED about! YOU just decided and I…I am expected to go along with it because you are older and know BETTER?!” She lost her temper. 

Quite frankly…he deserved worse. 

Worse than Cilla ranting, and raising her voice at him, worse than her screaming, her hands turned into fists…worse than her dissolving into tears as she scrambled to the end of the mattress, the shadows coming to blanket her. 

Great job, Master, their voice dripped with contempt. You better fix it or we’ll take her somewhere else. 

He didn’t think for one moment that that threat was idle. 

They were serious about that. 

“Sweetheart,” he said gently, even as he could see her trembling. 

“You are alright. It’s alright,” he promised her softly. “I am sorry.”

She stared at him like she didn’t believe him…Like she expected him to get angry at her for shouting at him. 

He wasn’t. 

It had clearly all boiled all over for her. And even as he wished that she didn’t need to feel the need to shout to be heard…he understood it. 

He’d rather her shout and scream at him than to shut down and just accept if he mistreated her. 

“I am so sorry,” he apologised again. “Cilla, you are right. I should have talked to you. I should have given you more time. I should not have just put you in front of the choices that I made because I thought that it would be the easiest way. I should have told you that I knew who your father was when I figured it out. I should have given you more time to wrap your head around that idea and not expect you to be alright with meeting him the same day, the same evening,” he continued. “And I should have talked to you about my worries about sex as well and not just…not just pulled away from you intimately, making you think that you did something wrong or that I don’t want you.”

He should have done none of that. 

“I am so sorry, sweetheart.” 

She trembled, staring at him, like…wide-eyed, terrified and…like she couldn’t quite believe it. 

“You aren’t angry?” she asked him, her voice shaking. 

“At you? No,” Azriel answered honestly. “At myself, very much so, Sweetheart. I’ll spend the next few months begging for your forgiveness, Cilla,” he promised her.

The last thing he had expected was for her to pounce at him, once again, clearly unused to physical comfort and still searching it out…still clinging onto him desperately. 

“I am sorry. For screaming,” Cilla apologised, her voice shaking, breathing the words against his chest, as he pressed a kiss against her hair, and he wiped away her tears with the sleeve of his shirt. 

“That’s okay. You were upset at me. You were right to be upset at me. And I want you to be able to tell me anything. I won’t ever hurt you in response,” he promised her. “I am sorry, sweetheart,” Azriel apologised once again. 

She didn’t say anything, just burrowed tighter to him, breathing in his scent, her heartbeat calming down slightly. 

Better. She was doing better. 

He would have deserved it if she kept being angry at him…if she wanted nothing to do with him after that outburst, but instead she seemed to search him out for comfort, clinging on to him, as he brushed kisses over her head and rubbed her back…still feeling every single vertebra of her spine. 

Too thin. Still too thin. So easily breakable, even when he knew that she had gone through things that would have driven a weaker person insane…even when he knew how strong she really was…so strong and so easily breakable by him. 

He couldn’t fuck up like this again. 

Not again. 

He couldn’t stand to see her tears, see the trembling off his body because of him…smell the bitter scent of tears and fear that was not slowly returned to the sweetness of fire and vanilla. 

He needed…They needed to figure out something else…a way forward that Cilla could be comfortable with…that wouldn’t be Azriel pushing her into something that she didn’t really want and only went along with to make him happy. 

“Did you…did you really want to get to know Cassian or did you only go along with it, because you didn’t want to upset me?” he asked her carefully, trying to keep any sort of judgement out of her voice. he wasn’t quite sure how he should tell Cassian it if she changed her mind, but he would deal with it if Cilla really wasn’t…interested. 

“He’s important to you,” she sidestepped his question, her voice hesitant. 

It was an answer in itself, wasn’t it? Azriel closed his eyes, cursing himself out. 

“He is, but so are you,” he assured her quietly. “Cilla…what if we…what if we take it slower?” he proposed quietly. “You can just…get to know him. And then you can still decide if you want to have…some sort of relationship with him?” he suggested. 

“I…I want more time,” she said, her voice shaking. 

“Alright.” Azriel could work with that. “You’ll get that,” he promised her. “We’ll take it slow…maybe invite Cassian and Nesta to lunch and I will be your buffer, how about that?” he suggested. Stop Cassian from coming on too strong…giving Cilla the option to get away if she needed it. 

She shrugged, her body still trembling. It wasn't a no, but it also wasn't an outright yes. 

“And we’ll try a flying lesson tomorrow maybe,” he suggested, hoping that maybe that would…that would cheer her up in a way...Give her a feeling of freedom of control. 

“Really?” Cilla asked him, hesitantly. 

“Really,” he promised her. “But now, sleep, Sweetheart,” he said softly, pressing another kiss against her hair and she hummed her agreement. 

Crisis averted. For the moment. 

[concreteangel92]

Thou Shalt Not Kill - Chapter 12

AU Noah Sebastian x detective female reader

18+

Summary: Reader is a detective and is assigned to a murder case which she soon connects with previous killings and figures out the religious affiliation, proving there is a new serial killer within the city. Reader soon becomes obsessed with the killers mind and methods and won’t rest until she figures out who the killer is. All while she gets used to working with her new partner on the case, detective Noah Davis.

Warnings: graphic writings of murder/killings, blood, gore, violence, serial killer, swearing, god complex, use of religion, stockholm syndrome, mentions of the death of a parent

Here we go, things are going to start heating up again now and I’m so excited!! Only 6 chapters left 🤭

Please let me know your thoughts, it honestly makes me so happy reading all your comments/reviews 🖤

Story Tags: @lacy1986 @hayleylatour @thatchickwiththecamera @calleyx13 @english-fucker @malerieee @ithoughtbynowidfeelbetter @softvgold @lilhobgobbler @glccmreid @badomensls @madomens @loeytuan98 @iluvmewwwww75 @rosebushjhj @livingdeceasedgirl @lilrubles @samanthasgone @blackveilomens @hellayeahsworld @lookwhatitcost @doomhands-jr @nojoyontheburn @poisongirl616 @bakanerd @sacredthefran @flowery-mess @fadingangelwisp @theanarchymuse95 @1toreyouapart @xxkatsatwatwafflexx @overmydeadbodysblog @concretejunglefm @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @sister-sebastian @alwaysfightforwhoyouare

Let me know if you wish to be added! This is separate to my permanent Noah taglist due to the content within the story!

Chapter Index Here

Masterlist

The next few days had gone by very uneventfully. Noah had been gone more than normal however, not coming in until much later in the evening and not saying what he’d been up to during that time.

The thought had you on edge, you knew he wasn’t finished with his work, had he been killing again?

Being so cut off from the rest of the world down here, you’d never know unless he told you….however you were certain he wouldn’t resist bragging about his latest kill to you if he had.

You wondered if people were looking for you yet, surely someone must have noticed you were missing? Then again, you were married to your job. Over the years you’d distanced yourself from most of your old friends due to the long hours at work, so focused on the cases on your desk that people stopped inviting you out to things, only so many times people will keep trying when you constantly say ‘no’ or ‘sorry I’m working’.

The last few months played heavy on your mind, everything that had happened since that day the first case was assigned to you.

Your feelings for Noah was something you couldn’t deny or ignore, you knew it was wrong, it was sick but you couldn’t stop thinking about him, as your partner and your friend. The only man in recent years who actually saw you, who believed in you.

Did you even want to be found?

That was something else that had been going through your mind. What did you really have waiting for you?

But what did you expect to happen if you stayed? You knew Noah wouldn’t keep you locked down here forever, you knew on some level that you couldn’t trust him…but that was the problem…in some ways, you trusted him more then the people you had around you at the station.

“I wonder what he truly intends to do with me…”

You suddenly heard the commotion of Noah coming down the stairs, so much louder than normal, like he was bringing something down with him.

The sound of the locks turning and the heavy door creaking open slightly reached your ears as you waited to see him appear, twiddling your fingers together as you stood on the spot.

Noah’s masked face came around the door, his breathing more laboured than usual. He brought his gloved hand up to his mask and pulled it off his head and tossing it carelessly to the side, his hair falling around his face which held a sinister but satisfied grin like he was extremely pleased with himself.

“Hello angel, I have a surprise for you”

Your brows frowned as a knot started to form within the pit of your stomach, feeling something was definitely wrong.

“Bring that chair over here”

It was an order, not a request.

Noah swung the door open wider and you gasped as you saw Noah dragging a body into the room, a dark sack type bag covering the face, but you could tell from the persons build that it was a man. A man who was very much alive as he struggled against Noah’s strong hold.

You stared in shock until he shot you a sharp look and you quickly turned and grabbed the chair by the desk and pulled it over to where he was standing, the man still struggling in his grasp.

“Shh, shh, shhh”

Watching Noah shushing the man so casually in his ear sent a chill down your spine.

Noah manhandled him until he was sat in the chair and he tied his arms tightly around the back of the seat, the man making muffled noises from under the sack.

You felt the knot grow as your voice was lost, a nauseous wave hitting you hard, what was about to happen?

“There we go, make yourself comfortable”

Noah turned back to you, that sickening smile still present.

“What’s the matter angel? You look nervous?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat before you found your voice again.

“Wha…what’s going on?”

Noah opened his arms wide and gestured to the man.

“I told you that I had something planned for you angel”

You had no idea what was happening, nothing was making sense.

“I don’t understand…”

Noah’s smile grew as he approached you and cupped your cheeks in his gloved hands as he stared down at you.

“Then how about I just show you…”

Noah smirked as he stepped back, he reached over and grabbed the sack and yanked it off his head, the identity of the man being revealed.

And your blood ran cold.

Tied up in front of you was a man called Ethan Collins. The man who killed your father.

FLASHBACK

You were sitting at your desk in your office doing some research for the case, sipping on your half cold coffee every so often.

Noah was sat next to you, typing away on his own laptop before he yawned and stretched his tall body out.

“Well I feel like I’m going cross eyed”

You giggled at his statement as you turned to him, giving your own eyes a rest, you had both been going over old cold cases for hours now to see if there was any connections but so far, nothing.

“Maybe 10 minutes away from the screens wouldn’t hurt”

Noah nodded and downed the rest of his cup, grimacing at the cold liquid.

“Perfect time to get more coffee as well”

You finished yours, not particularly bothered that it was basically cold.

You set the cup back down next to the photo on your desk, causing Noah to follow your movements.

“That you and your dad?”

You glanced at the photo, a heavy feeling settling instantly within your chest as you smiled softly as you saw your younger self, somewhere around the age of 8 on your dads back as he gave you a piggyback ride, your arms wrapped securely around his neck as you both beamed at the camera.

“Yeah. That’s one of my favourite photos of us together”

Noah smiled as he looked over the picture.

“He really would be so proud of you detective”

You shook your head softly.

“Maybe, but…I’ve always felt like I’ve let him down”

Noah frowned as he looked at you.

“Why’s that?”

You took a deep breath before you answered.

“Because his killer got away with it…I told you that he was killed on duty? My dad had been after this guy for a while, all petty crime shit you know? The night my dad caught him robbing someone red handed, he shot him down” you took another breath and steadied your voice before continuing. “I know who he is, everyone here at the station did…but there wasn’t enough evidence as he had a ‘watertight alibi’ from his cronies and so the jury let him off”

Noah’s hand came to rest on top of your own gently.

“I’m sorry”

You looked up at him and felt your eyes welling up.

“I just wanted my dad to have some justice, I wanted that bastard to pay for what he did…and yet still he walks free to this day…I failed him”

Noah shook his head.

“Now you listen to me, you never failed him, the system failed him, failed you. Your dad would be so proud of everything you have become and what you’ve accomplished at this station, you’ve carried on his legacy for him and made a name for yourself”

You smiled and wiped a tear away that had fallen down your cheek before you pulled away and tried to compose your emotions.

“I hope so”

You went to go back to your laptop when Noah spoke again.

“What was his name?”

“Huh?”

You turned to him confused.

“The man who killed your father, what was his name?”

You felt your blood boil at the mere thought of that man’s name.

“Ethan Collins”

END OF FLASHBACK

You felt your body shaking as you stared at your father’s killer tied up in front of you.

Ethan’s scared eyes looked up and met yours and he tried to speak through the gag in his mouth, clearly begging for help as he struggled against his restraints.

It was obvious he had no idea who you were.

Suddenly you felt like a little girl again. A little girl who was yearning for her dad. A wave of emotions flooded your body, not knowing which one you were feeling more.

Shock, sadness, fear, anger, the gut wrenching pain of the loss of your dad feeling as strong as the day you were told he was gone.

Noah stayed quiet as he allowed you to take it all in, his eyes never leaving your face.

You tried to gain some control over your thoughts as you finally turned to Noah.

“Wha…what the fuck is this?!”

Noah smiled.

“Your surprise angel. You’re ready”

“Ready for what?!”

Noah’s smile grew as he pulled one of his knifes out of his jacket pocket, flicking the blade open.

“To help me finish my work…you’re going to kill him”

[potionorchard]

Okay, maybe this is just cos Valentino is my favorite character (equally tied with the Vees in general, of course), but I honestly wonder about how he would die.

Mostly, it seems like he would die because the fandom demands it. He's terrible and abusive, and so, theoretically, he must die. But I dunno... something about all that doesn't fit well with me.

Okay, so let's talk about Valentino getting killed off. There's no way for him to be changed and redeemed and he's too horrid to be able to live, so he dies. Gets crushed and stamped out and we just move on to some arc where Angel has to reconcile that his abuser is dead (which is all cool) and what that means for him.

But the thing is, for some reason, I don't know if I see things happening that way given the way they've portrayed Valentino's relationship with the other Vees, especially Vox. There are actual brief shots where Valentino does seem to have an actual genuine affection for Vox without the same toxic abuse slipping in. The two are placed on this equal footing where they can both taunt each other, grab each other's cheeks and shake one another when they're angry and upset. Val merely flicks Vox's hand off when Vox grabs and roughly shakes him as opposed to a backhand that Angel gets for telling him to go fuck himself.

Then there's the question of both Val and Vox's antennas being broken in some way, how they seems to have a past together in this partnership. Valentino, as a character, seems to have more to do with other characters than simply being only Angel's abuser is all I'm saying from this. He is deeply connected with the big villain of S2 which is said to be Vox and the Vees as a whole.

So here's what I'm thinking.

I don't think Val can simply be killed off as "He's an abuser and therefore deserves it, and that's it."

For one thing, what about the porn industry Valentino controls? I don't think the awfulness of the sex abuse ends with simply Valentino, even if Angel were to be the righteous one to take over. Sure, it might be better, but there's still so many systemic issues there. That's just Hell in general.

Secondly, can Charlie and Angel kill him? Charlie stopped her father from killing Adam even after all he's done. Ever after Adam slaughtered so many of her people, she still stopped Lucifer and told him it was enough. Niffty just didn't get the memo. Could Angel face his abuser and kill him? I don't know. Their relationship is complicated and fucked up.

Thirdly, what about the whole thing of redemption? The thing about Hazbin Hotel is that part of it seeks to understand what redemption means. Who deserves it? Can anyone have it? Even the worst? The root of all evil? And the thing is, no, Val doesn't deserve redemption or the chance to change... But that's the thing... It's not about that. People can change if there is a chance offered. And of course, once that chance is offered and denied, it's fair game to kill Valentino off. But I still think it should be there.

Because that's what Hazbin Hotel is about. Redemption and what it means rather than who deserves. It's about changing a system for good.

And lastly, I'm not against Val dying. I just want it to be with purpose. If anything, if he dies (which he most likely will), I want it to not be entirely due to Angel, but Vox (and Velvette, though we haven't had as much interaction, he still clearly means something to her) too since those are the two character whose arcs he's most tied to.

I just think it's important to consider when we talk like "Yeah, lmao, Val is so gonna get killed off next season". Well... what if he doesn't? What is Val's purpose in the series?

[sidesteppostinghours]

1 for the fhr prompts? :3

prompts from here!

HI I STARTED WRITING THIS THE MINUTE I SAW THE PROMPT LIST SO. EXCELLENT TIMING HONESTLY. this was a fun little what-if scenario very much inspired by @firststrikerr nefferious incident fic, you all should go read it, it has incredibly fun argent and chen dynamics. BUT ANYWAY. herald and argent.. go!!!

(oh also, pspsps @dogueteeth-fhr since you requested it as well)

1. "Oh, the PR department isn't going to like this."

"Oh," Argent says, a slow grin creeping onto her face, teeth as sharp as her smile as she inspects the picture on the fridge. "Oh, the PR department is going to hate this."

Daniel wasn't listening to her, too busy being miserable with his face buried in his hands. He'd been stuck like this for ten minutes now, wordlessly coming to terms with the fact he was getting fired. By this point, he was beginning to make peace with the idea of retiring. He had a good career. Maybe he could come back as a vigilante some time in the future with a proper masked identity this time. It was a miracle he wasn't fired the minute he stepped foot inside Steel's office; then again, maybe it would've been a mercy. That was easily the single most awkward conversation of his life. There's not exactly a tactful way to tell your teammate to not kiss the villain that broke his leg.

"Where did he even find this? I haven't seen anything on the papers yet." Argent tugs it off the fridge, thank god, grabbing a donut before plopping herself on the table next to him.

"I don't know," he groans, the first words he's said since he found it hung up. "They were there when I got here. I haven't seen Ricardo at all today."

"I'm surprised he hasn't tore you a new one yet." She takes a bite of her snack, looking at the pictures like she was reading the morning newspaper. "Cyrus to Puppeteer is one hell of a rebound."

Daniel grimaces, which was an appropriate reaction, but not for the reasons she thinks. Right. He broke up with Cyrus. That was bad enough for Ortega, but now he's made out with Puppeteer. Who is also Cyrus. Except Ortega doesn't know that, because Daniel kept it a secret. For Cyrus. And Puppeteer.

Ricardo was going to kill him.

"How long do you think it'll take till the press gets a hold of this?"

"Maybe... maybe PR will catch it in time?" He pulls his head up, looking at her with impossible hope.

She pauses her eating, looking over the picture to him with a single raised eyebrow. He groans again, dropping his head on the table with a thunk. He can hear her resuming her chewing.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think this is the first time Puppeteer's ever run away from you."

"Please." His suffering is still audible despite his voice being muffled by the table. "Be quiet."

It wasn't fair– what was Daniel supposed to do? They were in an abandoned building, nowhere near to any place the press should've been. He drags a hand over his face. The answer was obviously fight, but Puppeteer was taunting him. Getting riled up would've played right into his hands. He had shambled towards Herald with a stutter in his step that's so easy to connect now that he knows who's behind the mask. He thought the suit was designed to move like that, to play up the inhumanity (a terrible word choice, and it makes Daniel's mouth taste bitter).

"What would it take," he'd hummed, the vocal distorters turning it into a dissonant tune, "to finally make you face the truth?" He took a step forward, and Herald had stared him down, feet steady on the ground. "It was so easy getting what I needed out of you," he whispered. "You were so willing to be fooled." They were close enough to touch, but Puppeteer still had his hands neatly behind his back, and Herald hadn't budged. He had wondered what Cyrus could see on his face, read in his mind.

"You're nothing, Herald– to me, and to the rest of the idiots calling you heroes. Do yourself a favour, and quit before you end up embarrassing yourself again."

He was provoking him. It was clear to anybody who had any idea of the way Puppeteer operates. Part of Herald was tempted to give in– to take the first punch, and finally air out the grief he's been hiding for weeks. Was that his own sense of betrayal, or mental manipulation to goad him into acting? There was no way to be sure. The rest of him had wanted to prove him wrong.

So he did.

He finally closed the gap, quickly enough that Puppeteer didn't have a chance to register what was happening, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him into a kiss. It wasn't good, his mask isn't exactly one inviting affection, but it wasn't for long. He'd pulled away, and he could imagine the emotions going through Cyrus' face even with the mask on, hands caught halfway between any sort of movement. It was the same look he had when Daniel said he liked hanging out with him the first time they had coffee together. The same look when he admitted he was attracted to him. The same one when Daniel said he loved him.

He hadn't realized his hand had migrated from over his face to settle onto his mouth, and when he finally looks up again, Argent is staring at him, brows furrowed together. Shit.

"Listen, I don't know what's going on between you two, but-"

"You don't need to say it." There's a slight squeak to his voice as he cuts her off. "Please. Whatever you need to say, Steel already told me. I promise."

She smiles again, amused, finishing the last of her snack.

"Whatever you say," she shrugs, swinging her legs off the table to stand back up. "Have fun with Ortega," she sing-songs, turning around before she could see his face.

She throws the picture in the trash as she leaves, leaving Daniel to wallow in peace.

[ajxrn-archive]

Obviously I know (some) of your thoughts on Childe, but what do you think of the other harbingers?

YIPEE I love the harbingers ‼️ I’ll rant under the cut.. I had a huge obsession with the harbingers a few months back and I still do (in fact my brainrot is coming back so this is a perfect time for you to ask this)

Starting off with Pierro. I find him so interesting as a character because when I was diving into the lore of the harbingers I originally thought that he was number one?? Apparently he’s the director because capitano is no. 1.. I think that’s interesting. So what mainly intrigues me about him is the fact that he’s khaenri’ahn. The Tsaritsa has got to be different from the other Archons because of the fact she literally has a Khaenri’ahn man help run her military. I wonder what their relationship is with each other. Is it anything like dainslumi? I can picture it being that way but more cold, you know? The fact he’s based off the commedia dell’arte stock character Pierro (the fool/jester) is really interesting to me too.. they all have their connections to the characters in one way or another so I wonder what exactly his is.

Now onto Capitano. So far I think he is SO fucking cool he might be one of my favorite harbingers atp. Design wise it’s definitely a favorite but also the fact that he has so many similarities to Kaeya? If hyv were to make him related in some way to kaeya that would be so funny to me.. a lot of people do the pierro is kaeya’s dad thing but honesty I think Capitano would be a cooler connection lowkey? Also generally the ragbros situation would be 10x worse if kaeya was related to the fatui in some way, no matter which one it is. Anyways back on capitano, I’m mostly interested to see how his motives lay out and what his relationship with Mavuika is. The fight seen with him and her was so neat like the way they laid it out was so.. idk. I have a thing for fire/ice character relationships (not in a romantic way.) also what interests me even more about him is that The Captain in the commedia dell’arte is described as a ‘braggart’ type of person, so I’m wondering if he would use his ability to “convince people who knew nothing about him beforehand” to try and manipulate people in Natlan to revolt against Mavuika for the current issues and whatnot.

like I wonder how this'll play into his character in game/story wise. I hope he'll be playable sniff sniff.. Anyways, now onto this fucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dottore is one of my favorite harbingers. I am an avid Dottore enjoyer. He’s cunning and genuinely awful and there’s no redeeming his ass he’s going straight to hell 🙏 and that’s what makes him such a GOOD character. He genuinely has zero redeeming qualities about him. He literally uses people and children for his experiments without second thought. He has clones of himself. He possibly killed his girlfriend in his school days. (If the zandik lore is right.) He was literally expelled from the Akademiya because of how awful he was.

I cannot fathom how amazing of a character he is. I think in games we need to have more characters who are just genuinely fucking evil and we don’t just “hate” them for it. I honestly dislike how people hate him JUST because he did bad shit, like have a better reason than that tbh? "He hurt collei/He's the reason crepus died/he gave scara so much trauma" I LOVE ALL THREE OF THOSE GUYS AND DOTTORE</3 Don't hate one character only to love the next. anyways dottore supremacy..

Anywho, onto Columbina. Honestly she intrigues me so much. She's so powerful that not even childe wants to fight her, what is up with that??? I think its also interesting how in the commedia dell'arte her title is technically Little Dove but it’s Damselette in the game. we like,, do not know much about her at all to be honest?? The harbingers voice lines about her interest me so much, especially arle's. It's very. vague??

Arlecchino: "She is a very special Harbinger. Pose her a question, and the answer you receive will be entirely unpredictable, if she sees fit to give a proper answer at all. Regardless, any answer you do receive is sure to be an interesting one."

Childe: "The Fatui Harbingers are ranked by strength, and I have no idea why that girl is No. 3. I'd test my skills with every Harbinger who ranks above me if I had the chance, but when it comes to her... something just doesn't feel right. Anyway, you should be careful around her."

Scara/Wanderer: "Let me ask: what should you do if you were to encounter a "damsel" who is oblivious and innocent at any given time, and unconcerned and unfeeling in any given situation? If it were me, I could at least challenge her to a fight. But if it were you... with your conscience, I would stay away from her."

Judging by voice lines alone, columbina is very, very powerful. she seems to beat around the bush with questions (arles voiceline) and is very mysterious even with the other harbingers. (childe saying something doesn't feel right) I've seen theories that she belongs to the seele race which is honestly pretty cool, but I think i'd need to see her in game or hear more about her first. I'd assume that Arlecchino has a rather close/interesting relationship with columbina. Not purely because of the fact they do in the commedia dell'arte, but because she was the only one out of the three to not tell the traveler to be careful around/stay away from columbina.

Arlecchino herself is a really well written character to me and I notice that a lot of the fandom don't understand her entirely (myself included.) Something i notice the most is how people tend to dumb her down to the Father of the house of the hearth, either portraying her as a wonderful parent (incorrect) or as an awful one (also incorrect.) She's definitely a highly flawed person who does put her children in danger, although she absolutely cares about the children of the hearth. I wouldn't say she's a child abuser/groomer/any other stupid shit the fandom says about her. Her wiki quite literally says that she's flawed but not as awful as Crucabena:

Her (possibly?) being khaenri'ahn is also so interesting because WHY does the tsaritsa keep having connections with khaenri'ah in her military of all things. I have so many questions.

We do not know much about pulcinella at all but I do find it SO intruiging/interesting (can someone give me another word for this HELP) that he's close to childe. he visits childes family for him, iirc, which is suspicious when you read the commedia dell'arte lore.

I do think he's doing this for self gain to be honest. He's a manipulative person, so he could be manipulating childe into relaxing around him to the point of letting pulcinella get near his family, which could end really badly to be honest.

Next up is scaramouche. I feel like the scara stans themselves don't even understand his character that much, because they're too busy yelling at people about raiden/dottore instead of focusing on his character itself. I think he's a LOT more than mommy issues short boy and actually his character is really deep. His name in the commedia dell'arte is also Little Skirmisher (instead of balladeer, though I'm not too sure what that means) and what's most interesting to me about his commedia dell'arte connection is how (IIRC, this could be wrong but i found this out last time i was talking about the harbingers and the commedia dell'arte) scaramouche's "mask" was later removed, which him being removed from irminsul could be a nod to that.

What's also a neat nod to the commedia is how scara "influences the audience to do his bidding." I think in game they referenced this by him influencing/controlling that one woman in sumeru (i forget her name) to be his first follower and do as he says.

Okay so truthfully i don't have many thoughts on sandrone but something that makes me curious about her backstory is the fact that in the commedia she is known as "Peasant.” what else is neat with this is that she looks like that one girl from Fontaine (Mary-Ann) I don’t really know/remember the the lore of her but hm.

What’s even weirder abt the similarities is that Marionette (her title) means Little Mary IIRC? I don’t think she IS Mary Ann since she’s dead but she could have connections to her. Anyway I don’t have many thoughts on her ngl.. </3 genshin give us sandrone lore PLEASEEEE

Next up is my fucking WIFE ‼️‼️ (la signora)

everyone who hates her sucks lowkey she’s such an overlooked character like her lore is so fucking?? sad?? Everyone reduces her to “haha ashes” and it annoys me tbh. Her boss fight was a pain in the fucking ass though ROSALYNE WHY.. it took me 20+ tries

I genuinely love her backstory it makes me so sad honestly. Through her grief and rage she became feared and hated. Idk I wish people would talk about her a little more?? Because she’s so interesting?? She has ties to ancient mondstadt isn’t that sick.

something that interests me the most about her character is how they made her somewhat different from La Signora in commedia dell’arte? She’s continually described as a woman who often cheats on her husband in the commedia, but when you read genshin Signora’s backstory it’s interesting to see how it’s mostly focused around how her loss of her lover threw her into a grief induced rage (basically, it’s centered around her grief and love)

as for her similarities, these two images explain it well:

Honestly I wish we had got to explore her character more than the information we have now. Genshin is so evil for killing her off tbh.

Pantalone I know like NOTHING about. I think he’s a really neat character. A lot of people dumb him down to “evil baizhu” but I do think he has a lot of potential to be a really good character

Basically he’s a capitalist ‼️ kidding but for him, he seems so far to be REALLY similar to Pantalone in the Commedia. I dont have too many thoughts on him either because we don’t know much about him yet </3 pantalone lore when….

and you already know most of my thoughts on Childe so I will save the rant for another day because that would get me fired up (I am losing words this rant sucked the life out of me HELP)

oh wait another thing that is neat about the harbingers entirely is how the trailer for them was called a Winter Night’s Lazzo (I think) but that’s another reference to the commedia dell’arte :)

[solarfyn]

author's note

i honestly don't even know how to get into this... lskdflskdfl alright

hiii i'm sol and this is my favorite fic i wrote in 2024, so i wanted to talk a little bit about my writing process! we'll see if this becomes a series...

hotel california is a really short one at 2.3k words. it's definitely the furthest i've stepped from my comfort zone. major character death, heavy angst, and hyuninho were all tags that seemed extremely daunting as i never venture into them as a reader, so i was surprised (and proud!) with myself when i was able to crank this fic out in a day.

it was a gift for my dear mila (disturbedreams on ao3) (hyuninho Pioneer)

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

it started with me spamming both a google doc lovingly named "dump" and also my Very Secret discord server where i am the Sole member.

at first (not shown), i wanted to let minho and jeongin arrive at "hotel california". it was going to be a horror-ish, magical realism-ish fic where hotel california is Actually a place that exists. the original outline looked something like this:

minhyang go to hotel california, turns out it's just as they imagined, but the hotel is slightly different for each of them. minho brushes it off as sleep deprivation, but jeongin (who was napping the whole car ride) convinces him to start exploring the hotel. it's strangely empty, and minho can't shake the nagging feeling in his head that something's not quite right. as the night goes on, the hotel feels more sinister, like it's trying to trap them, like it's Sentient. when the sun comes up, it kills them.

but then i thought. wait. it wasn't Their dream to go to hotel california, it was hyunjin's. so the Vision shifted once again. i realized i wasn't equipped enough to write a horror fic, so instead of making the fic scary and Strange, i wanted to make it hurt.

from the beginning of the writing process, i knew that everyone was going to die. even though hyunjin isn't in the fic at all (only in flashbacks), i wanted to find a way to write the fic so that it was surrounding him and his death. if i let the hotel kill minhyang, then it would make the Hotel the focus of the fic, not hyunjin.

and so i reworked it. it was up to the reader's interpretation as to what hotel california Really Was, but for me, it wasn't a real place, it was Death.

when hotel california plays on the radio towards the end of the fic, it's an omen of death, and the only connection minhyang have left of hyunjin.

Hotel California eventually became a code word. An inside joke. Where are you going this winter? Jeongin asked right before break. And Hyunjin said, Hotel California. Where’s your next class? Hyunjin asked Minho a month later, who, of course, said Hotel California with a cheeky grin.

it's up to the reader to decide if hyunjin and minho were suicidal or not, i didn't make it explicitly told. i added this flasback as an introduction for the song, why they like it, etc. while also forming hyunjin as a character. it's difficult to humanize a character when they're dead as the fic starts, and i had a wonderful time trying to write who hyunjin was, even when he's not present.

jeongin is an interesting character. there isn't a moment in this fic where he interacts with hotel california without minho or hyunjin prompting him. exhibit b:

A week after the funeral, Minho knocked on Jeongin’s door. Pack a bag, he said simply, holding up a duffel of his own. Jeongin had stared at him for a couple seconds, eyes as dead as his, before his face morphed into something like confusion. Where— Hotel California. We’re going. Or, I’m going. Are you? Within fifteen minutes, they were on the road westwards. Jeongin didn’t even question it. Didn’t even have the energy to tell Minho that Hotel California didn’t exist.

hyunjin answers jeongin's question with hotel california in the flashback. minho does the same in the present, and at the end of the fic, accidentally (?) kills them both in the process.

so is hotel california a escape in paradise, or is it death? or perhaps both???

that's Really what i wanted the reader to think about. i'm not sure if i executed it correctly, but i tried to make minho and jeongin's death beautiful, as a contrast to hyunjin's. in the fic, we only get to see minho discovering hyunjin's already-cold body. it's been hours. it's clinical, it's a bit liminal and not quite right. i really wanted to emphasize how minho (alive) was hot and red and messy with tears, while hyunjin (dead) was cold and blue and clean.

anyway, back to minhyang's death.

When Minho was in high school, he learned about the stars. They burn by fusing hydrogen into helium. The bigger the star, the higher core temperature. Therefore, large stars use up the hydrogen faster, and die out faster. The biggest stars turn into supernovas and explode upon death—they affect everything around them. Minho doesn’t know when the red tail lights turned into the white headlights in front of him. It looks like there’s a supernova in front of him—shining and flooding his eyes as it gets bigger and bigger. How interesting. How strange. Jeongin’s breathing has leveled out once again, which means Minho’s alone, facing this star that burns so brilliantly. His grip on the wheel falters. The star spreads its wings, flooding the car and Minho’s vision with such luminosity. It hurts, but Minho can’t seem to close his eyes. The brightness—it reminds him of something. Of someone. It’s just like Hyunjin.

both the starting and ending paragraphs of the fic surround hyunjin. he's the reason for everything that happens in this fic.

at this point, minho is extremely tired from grieving and driving, and is literally falling asleep at the wheel, which causes his and jeongin's death. i wanted to make sure jeongin was asleep when he passes (he doesn't feel any pain), and minho's not quite mentally present, so he doesn't as well.

people always talk about the "light at the end of the tunnel" when they talk about death, so i wanted to take that cliche theme and make it a little it more abstract. a little bit more artistic, since hyunjin is an artist at heart in every universe, and of course it rubbed off on minho and jeongin.

the red tail lights turning into white headlights was the moment when minho veers into the opposite lane, and he ends up in a head-on collision with a truck (which is why the "star" was so bright and big, as opposed to a regular car's lights)

minho talks about the stars and supernovas he learned about in high school, and implicitly compares hyunjin to a supernova. he's not talking about himself when he's about to die, he's thinking about seeing hyunjin in everything beautiful.

okay PHEW!!!! i'm done hehehe as you can see i'm really proud of this fic--so much that i'm honestly not concerned about the statistics? which is a crazy statement coming from me because ya girl loves statistics and numbers. if you read this far, thank you!!! so much love and i may write more of these. we'll see. no promises <3

[byfulcrums]

Honestly the “JLU Wally is YJ Wally” HC/AU has so much wasted potential. Not only angst but also. Imagine how fucking funny the whole situation could be. Imagine

Wally, against his wishes, goes to an undercover mission with the League. When something inevitably blows up, he gets (reasonably) angry and starts muttering about how “It's a curse, I swear. I am not feeling the aster right now. So not whelmed, man”. Shayera looks at him confused, because what the fuck does aster mean?

He gets banned from going to undercover/recon/non-fighting missions

When he figures something that he feels should have been obvious up he says “Hello, Megan!” and facepalms. He does it a lot, and refuses to explain when someone asks him why or what it means

He's the youngest in the team but he's also one of the most experienced

People usually think that the reason why he tends to not tell the league about what his next move is going to be in battle or why he's so uncoordinated when working in a team is because he's arrogant and refuses to listen. It's actually because he's so used to having the mind link to communicate that now he finds it hard to talk out loud with his teammates sometimes. He's working on it

He'll ask someone something and then get frustrated when they don't answer him, only to remember that he never actually said anything out loud

Not having people in his mind all the time feels kind of lonely. Maybe that's why he was so much happier than usual when J'onn was forced to make a temporary mind link for a mission

He gets frustrated because he wants to watch a show he likes but then remembers that the show doesn't exist because it was created in like 2008. It's a pain

He talks to Shayera about his other red-headed sister, ‘Megan’, and gets uncharacteristically sad and quiet when she asks if she could meet her someday

The original JL members started to pick up on some of the stuff he says, so the phrases “Hello, Megan!”, “Get whelmed” or even the word ‘crash’ are commonly heard in the Watchtower

His relationship with Superman is complicated because he's used to holding some resentment for not being patient with Conner when he first met him so sometimes he's too salty with him, but then he remembers that that was another Superman and it gets awkward pretty quickly

If his relationship with Superman is complicated, then imagine how it is with Batman and Zatanna. One is his best friend's dad from another universe and the other is his friend he's known since he was 14 from another universe who is now older than him

And imagine how it'd be with Red Tornado. He's so used to having the guy as some kind of mentor that being his superior feels off. He tried to connect with him but it was just too awkward for him to handle

He. Misses. Barry. And. Iris.

He finds out that the Jason of this universe came back to life and wonders if his Jason came back too. Too bad he's never going to find out

Let him break down a little. Let him live with the knowledge that he's all alone now (pre-JL). Let him be depressed over the fact that his aunt doesn't even know him because both him and Barry are dead in this universe

He thinks about how he was going to propose to Artemis and doesn't show up to league meetings and missions for three weeks

“Why weren't you here?” “I had some stuff to do haha sorry” (he was laying in bed crying)

Certain things, like eating ice cream or going out to see movies, just aren't as appealing as they used to be. Everytime he sees teenagers hanging out, laughing with each other, he can't help but think about how that could (should) be him

He had to quit the team (more like was forced to quit) because his powers were killing him. Now he's back on the field and isn't dying anymore, but he can't help but think that maybe if he was then he wouldn't have cared much

Wally meets the Nightwing of this universe and immediately starts crying

Think about this: Dick doesn't know him, who know what's up with Roy, Artemis is a criminal, Kaldur probably doesn't even exist, Conner also doesn't exist (yet), Zatanna's way older than him and M'gann is dead. Just. Take a moment to think about it

He has to live with the knowledge that he's probably never going to see his friends, his family again. He has to live with the knowledge that he has no one to go to when he has speedster problems. He has to live with the knowledge that he'll never go home

Clark brings his Ma's pie to the Watchtower once and Wally gets so emotional because it smells sm like the pies he used to (try to) make with Iris and Barry (it was apple pie. They always failed so they bought one from a bakery, and Ma's smells sm like those he can't help but remember the good old days lmao. He cries)

I said this once and I'll say it again: he was going to propose to Artemis

He died knowing that he would never be able to make amends with his soulmate best friend

He has to go on a mission where he sees this universe's Artemis (a criminal) and no matter how much he tries to help her and turn her into at least a civilian, he still wasn't able to make her be even close to his Artemis

He has one of those scenes where the hero (Wally ofc) says “You could come with me. I'd help you. You could get away from the people that hurt you and, if you want to, I'd live you alone once you're safe. I can promise that”, and the villain (Arty) is like “Omg really...??” and acts all hopeful and shit but ends up being “Sike no, I'm never going with u wtf”

He finds out Hal exists in this universe too but is in another planet and looses his shit lmaoo

But like srs. The potential this shit has is amazing and ppl should acknowledge it more

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: To the Ends of the World (3x10)

Wow, okay, interesting!

Cons:

Do we think this is the most the show has ever deviated from the stream? I don't mean in the sense of anything particularly major happening that is just straight-up new for the show, but in the sense that this episode isn't... based on a cohesive set of incidents that played out on stream, it's really a lot that's totally new! I am putting this under "Cons" not because I think it's bad in and of itself, but I did want to mention that this season is making me realize, for better or for worse, that a fair percentage of my enjoyment of this show is the adaptation aspect, seeing how they chose to move things around and still hit all the important moments. Up until this season, even with all they did change, I never felt like a core morevment I really enjoyed from the stream got dropped entirely, even if it did move around. This episode makes me pretty trepidatious that the Ripley kill is going to the twins alone, and that will mark the first time a major moment I was looking forward to from the stream simply won't be in the show at all. But we shall see!

This episode did feel structurally a little weaker to me for another reason - it feels like the momentum coming off of the Thordak kill is just sort of ground to a halt as the group separates off into their little mini quests. Now instead of the group racing to find Raishan and figure out next moves, it seems that Keyleth is the only one who even cares about doing that? I get that Ripley needs to be dealt with and that they need to find a way to wake up Scanlan, but it felt like the urgency just fell out from under me as a viewer when Raishan vanished and the gang didn't immediately set to chasing her.

I understand Keyleth's anger and I don't blame her for it, but her plot thread in this episode was honestly pretty dissatisfying to me. There was a mismatch with the stakes and what we were seeing her go through. This trial to learn the Earth Ashari ritual wasn't really... grounded in a strengthening moment for who she is as a person, if that makes sense? I kind of wish the stakes had been "find a way to defeat Raishan" instead of just "find out where Raishan is." Scrying is some pretty basic D&D shit, and turning it into part of Keyleth's big growth arc felt a little... I don't know, uninspired, I guess? Seeing her struggle to connect with this new form of magic didn't really hit as hard for me as it did with the Fire Ashari, and I think a big part of that is that the whole gang wasn't there with her.

There's this overall tension in my brain, here, where I understand that part of the gift of adaptation is that the whole gang doesn't have to be together for the whole story - unlike a D&D campaign, where splitting the party rarely happens and for good reason. It didn't really bother me in season two when Grog, Scanlan, and Pike started off the Westrunn arc while Percy, Keyleth, and the twins were in the fey realm. But here it's hitting a little differently for me, and I think it's because of that lack of motivation/momentum thing I was talking about before. Vex and Vax sneaking off to deal with Ripley without even checking in with Grog and Pike... nobody worrying about where Keyleth has gone or even mentioning going to find her... I'm fine with a story about how the group is fractured right now and going through a tough moment, but it felt like they all just kind of shrugged their shoulders and wandered off, which felt slightly off as a vibe.

Pros:

That's more negative than I usually get with this show, but I think part of what I'm noticing is that this is an episode with a lot of setup and not a lot of payoff, and that's just part of creating a serialized viewing experience! So I can't knock it too hard for being a bit of a transitional episode.

While I might be a little iffy about Keyleth's story, I did like the way she verbalized her quest towards leadership here. She's wondering how she's ever going to lead her people if she couldn't even get Vox Machina in line. And then later when the council rejects her proposal, she comes back and stands firm, expressing that being a leader isn't about just following in other people's footsteps. Her mother's journey is not her own. I loved her standing up for herself and getting through to them in that moment!

Then we've got the Scanlan plot, where Grog and Pike are distressed to find that he's not waking up, but then Pike has a thought: maybe Kaylie is the way to get him back to the land of the living! Comedy points for Allura's very brief appearance in this episode as Pike's ride to go find her, that really made me chuckle. Much like with Keyleth's story, this is mostly setup: Pike goes and finds Kaylie and is going to bring her back to talk to Scanlan. We'll have to see how that plays out in episode eleven!

And then the twins - despite my fear about how the Ripley fight is going to go down, I really did love seeing them two of them as a dynamic duo again. This has been a very romance-focused arc of the show, which I love, but I did feel like some of the other relationships were lacking. The two of them work really well together, but Vex's grief for Percy is getting slightly in their way, as she's rushing ahead without Vax's help, nearly getting herself killed. I like them slipping into familiar rhythms but with added context that makes some things harder for them. Vax is pretty hot as a super sneaky rogue character. I feel like most of the time on this show we get to see him zip around and be sneaky, but he doesn't get to be like... cool and suave and in disguise. So I liked that aspect too!

I'm excited to watch episode eleven because I think it'll play out what we've started to see set up in this episode - will Keyleth find Raishan? Will Scanlan wake up? Will the twins win out over Ripley? And I think knowing the other half of these plot beats will help to solidify how I feel about this episode. In isolation, it's a bit of a dip in terms of my personal enjoyment, but that doesn't mean I'm not still thoroughly enjoying the season!

7.5/10

[kayla-marie-writes]

We are HALFWAY through My Demon! Time for Episode 8! (Again, I'm not sure if Song Kang's career is taking off like crazy, or if it's me being new to his work, but I've added a few more of his dramas to my watchlist).

Also. The thing is dramas where blatant crimes happen in public and it's never noticed is INSANE! YES, GET HIM! THE MASK CAME OFF! WHY ARE THEY TAKING PHOTOS, WHAT THE HELL?!

I know Seok-hoon is upset, but he wouldn't wish death on Jeong...oh. The tattoo isn't working?! Oh SHIT. What's going on with that? Oh-tears? Second male lead pain. My heart.💔 Okay, seriously WHO IS THAT LADY?!

Sigh. Still. I do not care for Star Jin. I don't. If you cared about him so much, you wouldn't be acting like a brat. I've never understood that fandom/crush trope. They can only be happy if they're yours? I understand that him falling for someone else hurts. I've had it happen. My issue is the whiny behavior. I can't relate to it.

Oh. Spontaneous combustion must be slow and awful. He is a baby when he's hurt. Why is it cute?! Awww, he keeps asking for Do-hee!😭😭😭😭🥹. Honestly, I'd use the Wild Dogs to track tbe killer down. They're funny and loyal. I think they'd be useful, too. Why. Are. They. Adorable?!

The leap out of bed was so-what's with the cutesness in this episode? I hope we get more of the office in the series. Or maybe I need a good workplace comedy to watch.

Oh, people are connecting the dots. I KNEW THEY WERE WORKING TOGETHER!! OMG!! They just wanna cuddle, but you know...he's gotta charge.😉 Awwww, OMG, I CANNOT!! 🥹😍 Cuddly demon...

I LOVE Do-hee's assistant, and I think she lowkey ships them. What's that?? I think the butler is handsome, honestly. He is sunshine. And funny. Jeong is so (again) cute when it comes to sweets.

Right, so the truth about Madam Ju and Do-hee's parents hasn't been revealed yet. We still don't know who killed her, as that's the one death we haven't seen signs of Creepy Bastard being involved...WHY IS HE KEEPING HIS PAIN FROM HER?!

Do-hee, I'm pretty sure he knows about demons and we KNOW HE KNOWS the killer. I was just about to comment that it was nice to not see her family this episode...the bitch got what she wanted, and she's STILL annoying.😒

Okay, WAIT WHAT?! Why is she telling him this?!💔💔💔 I am so sick of them. *eye roll*...okay, so I missed when Needy Jin said something to Doo-hee.🙄 He's not in love with you, you aren't doing this for his sake. You know Do-hee has the tattoo.

Oh. Both male leads face off. Seok-hoon has been going through it. AAAHHHH!!!!!!! CONFESSION??! Maybe? Kinda?! (Not the dramatic sprinkler🤣😭😍). Ok, so now, I wonder if the powers will work better, or become stronger now? OOH THE PREVIEWS FOR THE NEXT EPISODE! I can't wait until tomorrow!

[lycorogue]

One Piece NoPixel

Ever since the 4.0 launch of NoPixel (a private GTA Online roleplay server), my husband and I have become OBSESSED with the Yuno Sykk storyline going on.

Considering Sykkuno has been streaming NoPixel for roughly 8hrs every day, there's no way I can fully keep up, so my insomniac husband tends to give me recaps the following day. As he's telling me the story and is trying to get me to understand the relationship ties between characters I had an epiphany: Yuno is just Luffy from One Piece.

People already joke that Sykkuno has "plot armor" and is the "main character", so his GTA character Yuno being Luffy already kind of fits. Plus, both Yuno and Luffy are ADHD/Autistic balls of chaos that are also unintentionally beams of charisma that attracts just about everyone to their side. It doesn't matter how insane the plan is, if Luffy/Yuno says it people will follow through. You also have the fun of wondering if Luffy/Yuno is just insane with godly amounts of luck that allows their plan to work out, or if they are secretly geniuses that had already calculated everything in the background and the plan worked because of that discrete planning (or if it's a happy combo of the two). Luffy and Yuno are both almost impossibly optimistic and goofy, and people INSTANTLY know to take these boys seriously the second they become serious. If Luffy/Yuno stop smiling, you KNOW shit is about to go down! Also, Luffy/Yuno is INSANELY loyal and protective of his found family. On multiple occasions, Yuno has been informed that if he were to betray the speaker that would kill their last bit of faith in humanity, because if they know ANYTHING it's that Yuno doesn't lie and doesn't betray. Much like Luffy.

OK, so Yuno Sykk is Monkey D. Luffy (If Yuno's name wasn't just Sykkuno's I wouldn't be surprised if he had included the D. initial).

I then thought about those around Yuno. While the personalities don't work one-to-one, my husband and I were able to map a lot of Yuno's friends onto Luffy's simply based on relationship ties.

First is obvious. Yuno, through the 3.0 adoption chaos, ended up the adopted grandson of cop (and eventual Police Commissioner) Sam Baas. So, Baas is Garp. The fish-name connection is just a bonus.

Next up is the inspiration to both start an illegal lifestyle and to become the best possible at it. A pseudo-father-figure and mentor. The man whose blessings and pride in Luffy/Yuno is just about everything to the boy: Lang Buddha as Yuno's Shanks.

Luffy/Yuno couldn't get as far as he does without his true ride-or-die. The man who is loyal to a fault. Who will gladly give his life to not only save his best friend and brother, but also to simply lift him higher, if that's what's requested of him. A man who will smile as he participates in mass murder, and whose homicidal tendencies are surprisingly calmed when around Luffy/Yuno: Raymond Romanov as Yuno's Roronoa Zoro

The personalities don't really match, and YMMV when it comes to this ship, but 4.0 brought about Yuno's "relationship arc". This introduced us to a woman that Yuno loves spending time with, is very protective of, and joys in making her smile. She is there to comfort Yuno, but understands that he needs to do things his way and on his own sometimes. Yuno keeps saying that they're only best friends, and that may be true. He may honestly have no romantic interest in her, despite her obvious romantic interest in him. Even so, she's His Person and he wants to be with her and protect her as much as possible. If there's one person that Luffy/Yuno cares about that you DO NOT mess with, it's her. Ladies and gents, meet Yuno's Nami: Lottie Mae

On the flipside, we have a woman who started off as an enemy, but was instantly charmed by the lengths Yuno would go to in order to help someone that had threatened him. Someone who has family who viciously protects her. Someone who is completely smitten despite Yuno not really giving as many "I want to be in a romantic relationship" vibes as he does with Lottie. Someone who clearly has a jealous streak to her. The main person people seem to ship with Luffy/Yuno behind Nami/Lottie. Our own Tsundere Queen: Gigi Costello as Yuno's Boa Hancock

Next up is a man who is a more serious leader who doesn't approve of Luffy/Yuno's shenanigans, but he also can't deny the results, so he begrudgingly gives Luffy/Yuno free rein. He still tries to talk some sense into Luffy/Yuno and his friends, and they do listen to him on occasion, but those moments are few and far between. He also can't ignore Luffy/Yuno's charisma, and, in spite of himself, he's equally drawn in to the King of Chaos. Congratulations, Tommy T. You are Yuno's Trafalgar Law.

We then have someone who is older. Someone who is a bit of a mentor, but also would gladly follow Luffy/Yuno. Someone who was once a leader himself, but has since disbanded his own crew (or, at least, left them). Someone who is incredibly protective of Luffy/Yuno, but also understands that the kid can hold his own (for the most part). Someone who can't fathom Luffy/Yuno ever betraying anyone. Someone who is a master a steering??? This one is a little bit of a stretch, but my husband believes that Tony Corleone is Yuno's Jimbe.

Finally, we have someone who is a pseudo-ally to Luffy/Yuno, almost begrudgingly. Someone whose goals differ from Luffy/Yuno's and those differing goals caused tension for a bit before the two decided to break off from each other. Someone who has a sort of 1920s gangsta vibe with his underground gambling and mob-like connections. A man whose main goal deep down is to find a family of his own. Marty Banks as Yuno's Capone Bege

My husband also thinks that Benji Ramos would be Yuno's Sanji, mostly due to the incessant flirting with little-to-no success. Also, Mickey Sinclaire as Usopp due to Mickey being a cowardly schemer and master liar. I'm still on the fence for both of those. This list was largely mapping parallels on how these characters relate to Luffy vs how they relate to Yuno. The Benji and Mickey parallels are more about their personalities pairing with One Piece characters.

I think that will have to be a different list, though.

So, NoPixel/One Piece fans, what do you think? Does this work? Would you have picked other character parallels? Are there others we didn't think of?

[shadowmonkstone]

Fuck. Fuck fuckety fuck fuck fuck.

It’s all kicked off. Or, it’s about to. If this is my last one, tell Prim that Jayce is a massive bellend, she’s better off without him and she was right. I should never have taken that gig.

So why am I saying all that? Well, because the four of us are about to go an take on an entire bloody goblin camp.

It all started when we found our way to this Drow commander, Minthara. I swear she’s got the same lust for lopping off heads as Lae’zel but with this extra cruel streak that sends a fucking chill down my spine. While she was talking about glory to the Absolute and finding a weapon our minds connected, tadpole to tadpole. This Drow has one of the Absolute’s three top brass whispering directly in her ear so no matter how things pan out from here, we’re fucked.

But you know how I said the artefact Shadowheart had was protecting us? Mate, this time I could feel it was afraid. In a way that says ‘keep me the bloody fuck away from the Absolute’s hands’.

The Drow asked me to join her, to obey. I played the game and said I’d think about it before buggering off. The four of us needed to find somewhere to work out our next move.

Problem was, after we’d walked over a death pit full of spiders (because of course there’s a death pit full of fucking spiders) we stumbled straight into a big fuck-off hobgoblin trying to cast a speak to the dead spell on a Mindflayer corpse.

And he fucking pulled it off!

Which then threw another spanner in our plans because the stupid fucking squid recognised my stupid fucking face!

Thankfully, the hobgoblin had used up all his brainpower on casting the spell so I was able to convince him I was a True Soul and the dead squid was a lying toerag.

After that he was a bit more friendly and sent us to speak to Minthara. We took that as a good opportunity to fuck off somewhere else to work out what we had to do next.

“Where was that somewhere else?” I hear you ask. Well, it was the prison, where the goblin bastards were keeping a bear. A bear we freed and a bear that just happened to be the fucking Druid chief!

I swear this all happened and I’m not making it up.

Anyway Halsin, Druid chief who is built like a fucking oak trunk by the way, when he wasn’t talking about how wonderful it is to hug trees told us that he doesn’t know a cure. What he did know is that we have to go to a place called Moonrise Towers to find the answers, because people go in and tadpoled worshippers come out. He thinks there’s magic at work here and those towers have the answer.

Lae’zel was so fucking smug about all this. She took great delight in telling us (and Halsin) that her crèche would cure us all and Githyanki were the best blah blah blah… honestly, Kay looked like she was about to tear Lae’zel in two and I probably wouldn’t have stopped her.

Anyway, Halsin can help us but only if we help him. And we help him by killing the priestess, the Drow and the Hobgoblin. Which means the four of us taking on the whole Goblin camp together.

Lae’zel and Kay are well fucking up for this.

Wyll has his reservations.

And me? Fuck it, I’m in.

Let’s go!

[romana-after-dark]

This is Lorenzo once he's recovered waiting for me Zack

lil blurb for The Wrong Way below the cut, spoilers for The Wrong Way chapter 10 and WARNINGS FOR MENTIONS OF ALL HORRIBLE THINGS

**************

"You should be in bed" Zach said to Lorenzo as he came back in their room.

"I am in bed, see?" patting the bed, Lorenzo wiggles his eyebrows at his... boyfriend, yeah, he could safely say they were boyfriends now, right? They lived together in Jackson, Zach was nursing him back to health, that boyfriend stuff, right? Lorenzo didn't know how it worked between men, honestly. Sure, he was married before, but a brief marriage to the first girl he dated in high school who initiated the worlds most peaceful divorce because she figured out what he was before he did didn't make for the most experienced of dating life. Lorenzo only had a few years as a single adult before the outbreak, and none of those years were spent admitting he was gay. He always wondered if he ex-wife lived, but the chances were low.

"I meant laying down, jackass." But there was a soft smile on his face. Zach had been taking his sisters death surprisingly well. Maybe it was the fact he knew her life of suffering was over, because it had been her entire life. Their dads abuse, their dad pimping her out to men for blowjobs and allowing them to beat her for extra, their dad selling her virginity to Joel the litany of horrors Joel put her through, it was over. Lorenzo thought Tommy should've been the one to do it, he thought Tommy shouldn't have let Joel have her life too... but Tommy was weak, and Lorenzo was starting to feel like all scenarios ended with Joel killing her, and this, funny enough, seemed to be the least painful.

Zach took the tea out of his hands and helped Lorenzo lay down. The pistol whip had mostly healed, leaving a nasty scar on his face, but the bullet wound was taking some time. Luckily, the people of Jackson had given them a home right next to Tommy and Ellie, as long as Zach put his share of labor in and Lorenzo promised to once recovered. Lorenzo never saw himself as a settle down type, he liked to stay on the move. Even him and his ex-wife moved around a lot in their short marriage... the people here were nice, sure, it was safe here and well ran, fair. Lorenzo found himself looking forward to a nice life with Zach.... but Lorenzo knew the real reason they were staying in town.

Zach had tried to take Ellie, citing that it was his niece. Tommy reminded Zach that it was his niece too, to which Zach had no problem reminding Tommy of the circumstances of Ellie's conception and birth, and that his connection to Joel was not helping his case... but it was clear Tommy was not letting the girl go, and Lorenzo had never seen Tommy so... strong willed. He finally grew a pair of balls. So the deal was made Tommy would raise Ellie, and Zach and Lorenzo would help. Lorenzo loved Ellie's mom, he really did, and he loved that little baby just like he did his sisters kids. None of them made it past the first few years of the outbreak, but now he had Ellie to protect and care for. Zach and Tommy's relationship was strained, Zach had a lot of understandable anger towards Tommy... but they were making it work for the baby. Lorenzo hadn't seen her yet, unable to leave the bed for much for than the toilet, and Tommy unwilling to take her outside in the cold just yet. He was protective, wanting to keep Ellie safe the way he couldn't her mom.

Zach laid with him in the bed, holding his hand as they drifted off to a nap, only waking up to a loud knock on the door. Zach groaned 'I'll get it' as if Lorenzo had much of a choice, and went downstairs. When he returned, Tommy was behind him with a little wrapped up bundle in his arms.

"Lorenzo?" Tommy spoke with his soft, deep voice. "Wanna meet your niece?"

Lorenzo's face lite up, still laying on the bed. He turned to Zach. "Hey nurse Ratchett, you gonna let me sit up?"

Zach gently bonked Lorenzo's head, but helped him sit up before Tommy guided the tiny little baby into his arms.

"Wow... she's so small..."

"She was 5.9 pounds and 17.6 inches when I got her here." Tommy explained. "A month premature she doesn't appear to have any health problems, just small."

Zach grumbled "There might be a few other factors that contributed to her being so small." He alluded to the traumatic months of the pregnancy. "We're lucky she even made it."

Tommy let that slide. "Face seems to have healed up, Lorenzo. Nice to see you're doing better."

Lorenzo didn't doubt he was genuine. Tommy was a good person, if weak. "Gonna have to make a cool story about how I got this scar, one that doesn't make me look pathetic."

Jumping in, Zach wouldn't let him talk about himself like that. "You're not pathetic, Renzo. You almost died trying to save her. But, we are gonna have to agree on a story."

"A story?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, she can't know the reality of her parents. I want her to think... to think they loved each other, that it was happy... and she needs to think Joel is dead. We can't have her trying to find her dad."

"I don't wanna lie to her" Lorenzo countered, but Tommy was already on board.

"We'll just... stretch the truth a bit."

As Lorenzo held Ellie, Tommy and Zach concocted a story, how her parents met and fell in love, why they died... all lies that Lorenzo didn't think was fair to Ellie. But Tommy and Zach essentially lost their sister and brother in this, Ellie was their blood... it was there choice.

But Lorenzo made a promise that day that day that he wouldn't lie to Ellie. He wouldn't tell her the truth, but he wouldn't lie. He'd tell her stories of her mom, all the fun they had together... but he would lie. He wouldn't say her dad was a good man, he wouldn't say they were in love.

Ellie deserved the truth.

But for now, as Lorenzo recovered, he enjoyed his time with Zach, getting to sleep in the same bed, kiss, hold hands, cuddle... he was happy, he was in love, and he was gonna make the best possible life for his niece and his boyfriend, despite the odds.

***************

Not tagging anyone bc the series is technically over.

Im still working on the alt ending and the first chapter of ellies story but i spent so much time speed writing this series that i negelected other series on my main so im trying to work on the series and one shots i wanted to write, primarily the Benny Miller x frankie morales fic for pride.

[extrahorribledynne]

mmkay, so, digesting the latest episode batch of earthspark. a question i had within the first 10 episodes was ‘HOW antagonistic will GHOST be’ and the answer turned out to be: VERY!

lots of thoughts and theories floating around, i’m gonna add to the pile. putting on my wild mass guessing hat. this is gonna be disorganized.

i feel pretty confident in saying optimus is definitely aware of, on some level, what GHOST is doing. mandroid calls grimlock ‘your’ dinosaur problem when croft confronts him. bee says grimlock was on a mission and they lost contact with him for months. i’m inclined to think he was smuggling energon and/or decepticons out of bot brawl, providing them an out, until he was discovered or perhaps got a little too close to the truth. after all, GHOST turns out to have been aware bumblebee was likely not dead at all. who’s to say they’re not keeping tabs on mechs like wheeljack, arcee, and the other ‘bots we saw who were on earth during the g1 flashback? optimus is clearly trying to keep cards in his deck and appease GHOST to the best of his ability. i’m definitely concerned for his safety ngl. my guess is he’s likely the target for mandroid’s next mind control project honestly.

related, i believe while megatron is definitely aware of the stockades, i think either he doesn’t LIKE going down there, or GHOST won’t let him specifically be there without supervision. after all, even though starscream dislikes him, i’ve got no doubt in my mind he’d happily air the dirty laundry of GHOST’s activities involving the incarcerated cons as soon as he laid optics on megatron.

another thing i think earthspark has been demonstrating through repetition is the idea that the cybertronians are pretty difficult to actually kill. being drained of energon seems to merely put them in torpor until they’re refueled. brawl shows a few signs of life when bee is examining him. hardtop gets a limb removed while awake and is no worse for wear. starscream has clearly survived a major explosion at point blank range and is completely fine. i have no doubt in my mind that GHOST is likely trying to engineer a weapon that can pierce sentio metallica. honestly thought thats what croft’s gun during bee and breakdown’s escape was going to be; and maybe i’m not too far off as breakdown was actually taking some pretty significant damage from it. we’ll definitely see a cybertronian die by GHOST’s hands. i just feel that in my jellies.

one last disjointed thought, it was very interesting that mo found the emberstone’s power in episode 18 ‘scary’. robbie agrees. since the emberstone and quintus prime has connections to quintessons by association, i’ve got to wonder if it’s related.

[alaffy]

Riverdale 7x3 - Sex Education (Spoilers)

Well, unlike the last episode, this one was not enjoyable...unless the goal was some sort of meta shit to show how awkward sex is between teenagers by having the episode seem to be written by someone with no basic knowledge of sex.  And honestly?  If I was forced to watch this or they key party episode again, it's key party no question. 

 So everybody's on a sex kick and it's just cringe.  Betty has urges and Kevin doesn't (not towards her).  Clay comes out to Kevin. Veronica is still after Archie.  Julien is still after Veronica (and I have a feeling that his part might have been created because Reggie isn't here.  His lines towards Veronica really sound like Reggie).  Julien convinces Archie to date Cheryl to get him out of the way and because Penelope asked him to (Penelope is starting to realize Cheryl's urges).  Toni is playing the long game when it comes to Cheryl.  Jughead is comic Jughead, who ends up at the party in order to make the system think he's less strange.  Oh, and Archie and Cheryl may have ended up having sex (I question if they really went that far).

But let's talk about a few of the interesting parts.  Ethel says her parents were killed by someone dressed as a milkman; which happens to be similar to a story that was written in the comics that she and Jughead read.  Also, Ethel (who is staying at the Coopers) asks Jughead to break into her home and steal some drawings that she made.  Like the one of a girl that looks like her feeding two bodies that look like her parents into a meat grinder (are we sure she didn't kill them?).  Jughead gets the drawing, but someone sees him and tells Keller.  Keller questions Jughead as he's strange, like Ethel (this is why Jughead ends up at the party).  I am curious about how the comics are going to connect and really hope they focus on this soon.  

There are a couple of things that happen at the party that are interesting.  The first thing happens when they're playing a kissing game.  Jughead has to kiss Betty and it seems to be implied that they don't really know each other well outside of school.  And there's a joke made that "this will go well."  But when they kiss,  there's a music que and Jughead has a visible reaction.  Perhaps this jarred something in the subconscious?

But then a few moments later, when everyone pairs off, Veronica calls Jughead Holden Caulfield; which again he reacts too.  Mostly, he wonders why she called him that but...it is interesting to see the callbacks and the reaction.  Also, this is a good scene between Jughead and Veronica and it's too bad we didn't see more like this throughout the series.

Anyway, at the end of the episode, Ethel and Jughead are called into the principal's office.  Keller is there.  He tells Jughead that he searched Jughead's place and found the drawings.  And that's were the episode ends.I'm hoping next week for more mystery and less teen drama but...oh, look Archie and Cheryl are engaged.  Sigh.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Chains of Heart ep 4

Oh I remember this feeling - getting so fixated on something I end up staying up till 2 in the morning then dreaming about it all night and waking up early singing the theme music eager to continue fixating even though I am so so tired. Right, only way to get over this is to just get these next 5 eps done!

A reminder: I think Din is green, Ken is blue, and Din in his new form as Lue is red. These colours are also used to add dramatic or emotional effect...but on to the ep.

This ep once again starts off where we left ep 3 - with Ken being strangled by Fin/Gun in the woods and Lue rescuing him. Note the GREEN CORD WITH RED FLECKS which was used to choke Ken. His love and connection to Din is literally killing him...but so is his new connection with Lue.

I hadn't noticed in the flashbacks in previous eps but Ken and Din's trousers were also in each other's colour on the day they almost died. And I love the blues and greens around Ken as he waits for Din to come back.

I've noticed that the use of red has diminished as the eps have progressed... It was used A LOT in the lighting in ep 1, a bit less in ep 2, and less again in ep 3. I wonder if that has something to do with the location - that red is used more in Taiwan rather than in Thailand and maybe why this colour is associated with Lue, because of his supposed Taiwanese roots (but also the revenge thing). Anyway, it was interesting to see the red turn up on the not-a-date date, during which Ken resolutely wears his and Din's colours but Lue imposes the red under and on top of Ken.

It's also interesting that Lue often wears a neutral colour palette of creams and beiges (apart from the burgundy in ep 2 and the black and blue in ep 3). Maybe this is a link to the old Din and his earthy tones, or maybe Lue is trying to present a clean/blank slate for Ken to eventually imbue with colour once they (as Lue hopes) fall in love.

Anyway, these frames below are just brilliant. Of all the colours in that shop, both Ken and Lue are captured through the pompoms in their colours.

And then on to the not-a-date dinner, where Ken tactfully turns down Lue's advances despite all the blue and red pairings flanking them (the banners and the lanterns - which have swapped sides). Lue is being so obvious this ep with the hints that's he's Din, not least the talk of Ken's lover's favourite food. But it's poignant to see the purple flowers when they're talking about Ken's love for Din (remember the purple lighting during the first time they slept together). And I wonder if the drinks are supposed to be red and white wine but I love that they look purple and green - Ken's still in love with Din and Lue is indicating that he is Din.

We're going to see more of the below outfits in the next ep but I love that Hin is in Ken and Din's colours (perhaps ignorant to the fact that Din is alive) whilst Payu's shirt has red and blue stripes (indicating that he knows Lue is in fact Din?). I also love the one red drink between them all...and I've noticed that Boon wears a lot of earthy and green tones too - so indicative of his efforts to bring justice for Din?

I can't do these wardrobe posts without mentioning The Gloves (and honestly I went feral when Lue wore the burgundy ones in a later ep...but I'm getting ahead of myself)... I just wanted to re-iterate what most people have already said and that is JUST HOW RIDICULOUS THESE GLOVES ARE. When Lue's wearing a jacket, or when he's dressed up as the MiB, they can sort of pass as ok, but with just a top on, like below, they really stand out. Who thought these chunky, loose, flared-wristed, heavy gloves were the way to go? smh. They could have at least found some tighter-fitting, elegant, more flexible gloves. Is it because it's a hot country and they just don't have many gloves to choose from and this was the best they could do?! Or did they really want us to collectively lose our shit over them and be distracted from all the confusing plot elements? The mystery continues...

[ep 1] [ep 2] [ep 3] [ep 4] [ep 5] [ep 6] [ep 7] [ep 8] [ep 9] [ep 10]