#i don't think i've mentioned i love elle but i would die for her and tao

[blackbird-brewster]

CM Unpopular Opinions

Just a couple of weeks out from the new season, the new trailer just dropped, and people are getting hyped. For last season, I made a CME predictions post (which mostly came to pass, bc this show is so predictable) -- but this season, I'm going to post some unpopular opinions going into S17. Don't like, don't read.

WILL. Since we know Will won't be in this season, there have been speculations that JJ/Will will be getting a divorce, or that Will is going to die. I do NOT want Will to die. I hate that guy, I've never liked his character, but you know who I do love? JJ. She has already been through SO much, I do NOT want Hotch 2.0 in S17. I don't want Will to die, because that would be like ripping half of JJ's soul out of her chest and she deserves better. What I actually think will happen -- is just that Will is going back to being an off-screen partner like he was for most of the series.

JEMILY. I've already written my thoughts on Paget's Jemily hints on social media and why I think that's simply queerbaiting. There's no way Jemily is going to be canon, and I am HAPPY about that. I don't want Jemily to be canon!! Look at how this show treats canon relationships!! How many female romantic interests have been tortured and killed???? Why would I ever want Jemily in that crossfire? Also, as a fanfic author who has been writing Jemily for the past decade -- I don't want them to become canon, because that will squander so much creative potential. Fic authors fill in the gaps and subtext of canon, that's our job, when a relationship becomes canon it really loses it's appeal. That being said, I would love to actually see Emily and JJ interacting again. S16 really ignored their decade-long friendship altogether. Shit, I would love to just see them in the same fricking scene again.

REBECCA. All I want is for Rebecca to survive this season. As mentioned above, the way this show treats romantic interests of main characters is HORRIBLE. I'm forever furious with how the show handled Tara/Rebecca's relationship last season. I know fans hated Rebecca for getting pissed at Tara, but I still don't agree. What I do hate is how as soon as Tara's queerness served it's plot point (getting the inmate to admit he's gay too) -- the show nuked Tara's relationship altogether. I seriously love Rebecca, I think she adds a lot to the show. And since we already know Rebecca is in S17, I would LOVE to see Tara/Rebecca sit down and actually talk through their issues (like real adults!). I would LOVE for them to get the happy ending they deserve.

GARCIA'S ROMANCE. For real, I do not care about any of this love triangle bullshit with Garcia between Tyler and Luke or whatever tf is happening. I seriously hated what they did to Garcia's character in S16, it felt like they completely erased the prior 15 years from her character and replaced it with the most basic hetnormative romance plot. I don't ship Garvez (nor her and Tyler), so I don't really care about that side of things. But I would LOVE to get our Garcia back. I miss her so much.

RETURNING CHARACTER RUMORS. If one of the past cast members comes back in S17 I do not want it to be MGG. CME already focused an entire season on Rossi's man-pain (literally the only reason they killed Krystal was for him to be angry 🙃). I do NOT want another season of white-male centric plot lines (even though that's clearly what's gonna happen with Voight) If anyone actually comes back to guest, I want it to either be Matt or Derek. Alternatively, I do have a crack theory that the unsub/Gold Star is actually Elle Greenaway. A trained government assassin, she became a vigilante after leaving the BAU and she's been operating for all these years without detection. Now THAT would be a good twist.

Listen, overall, I'm not looking forward to another season of Evolution. I think they're trying way too hard to turn CM into some edgy, gritty, Norwegian-type crime drama and in doing so, they've ruined some of my favourite characters irrevocably. I don't have high hopes for S17.

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 12: the hen ichaer

i realize i've been mentioning the hen ichaer without really explaining it, and for that i apologize. but without further ado, let's go

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

general

the hen ichaer is basically a magical gene that originated with the elven sorceress, scholar, and princess, lara dorren aep shiadhal

it can lie dormant or inactive for generations, but when someone is an activated carrier of the gene, they are called a source

sources have an insane capability for magic, it's so intense that without instruction they are a huge danger to themselves and/or others. remember pavetta's betrothal feast? hurricanes should not happen indoors

same thing with ciri's sonic scream.

obviously, the hen ichaer is highly weaponize-able, but it's difficult to put this into theory since the magic is so strong that it can easily kill the person who carries it

most important is that the hen ichaer can open ard gaeth, the gates between worlds. you may remember that the witcher is a multiverse, and the continent is just one of countless worlds

aen elle

the aen elle, elves who live in another world called tir ná lia, controlled at least one gate that they used to get slaves from other worlds

however, this was before the hen ichaer was seriously studied. unicorns are also capable of opening ard gaeth, and were present in tir ná lia, so the aen elle would kidnap them to be used as their world-hopping-genocide key. yeah, the aen elle are seriously fucked

the king of the aen elle was named auberon muircetach, and he was very well known for his wars with the unicorns, who weren't too keen on being enslaved for the purpose of conquering other worlds

the hen ichaer came into play when auberon noticed that his daughter, lara dorren, had pretty intense magical abilities. like, ard gaeth opening abilities.

auberon, lara, and a few other elves began studying the gene and trying to figure out how it works and how to use it.

through this study is how we got the title aen saevherne, which is used to distinguish an elven mage with extensive knowledge of history, science, magic, and, most importantly, the elder blood.

both lara and auberon were aen saevherne, as was lara's husband-to-be, avallac'h, and avallac'h's foster son, caranthir ar-feiniel

ithlinne's prophecy

ithlinne aegli aep aevenien was an elven prophet known for her incredibly dark prophecies that she delivered at totally random times. how dark were they? ithlinne's prophecies were almost exclusively about the death of all humanity and/or the end of the world. she was fun at parties.

anyway, when we talk about ithlinne we really only mean one specific prophecy, aen ithlinnespeath. to be confusing it's usually referred to as ithlinne's prophecy

here's the prophecy itself:

Verily I say unto you, the era of the sword and axe is nigh, the era of the wolf's blizzard. The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh, the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt: Tedd Deireádh, the Time of End. The world will die amidst frost and be reborn with the new sun. It will be reborn of Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of the seed that has been sown. A seed which will not sprout but burst into flame. Ess'tuath esse! Thus it shall be! Watch for the signs! What signs these shall be, I say unto you: first the earth will flow with the blood of Aen Seidhe, the Blood of Elves...

what does that mean? well, the white chill (aka the white frost) is a massive ice age that has been approaching the continent for years. don't believe me? the white frost has destroyed countless worlds in the past, and it literally cannot be stopped. the only way to save the world is by the power of the hen ichaer.

here's a perfectly frightening visual of the white frost

ithlinne didn't elaborate on the how, but we now know that the only to survive the white frost is by finding a new world and massively evacuating the continent through ard gaeth, which can only be opened by the power of the hen ichaer.

genetics

clearly, the hen ichaer is important enough to literally save, or end, the world, but the aen elle did a famously terrible job of studying it. like, you'd think they'd be good at that, but no. to their credit, it is a bit complicated

first, there are multiple types of elder blood genes, the main gene, the latent gene, and the activator gene. to actually show the powers of the hen ichaer, someone would need to either have one latent and one activator, or the main gene.

let's go back to secondary school biology for a second, remember punnet squares? these fuckers

the letters in a punnet square represent a genotype, or the two alleles that are inherited from the parents. phenotypes, on the other hand, are what you see on the outside. for example, a genotype would be Aa but a phenotype would be brown eyes.

while the main gene is a simple dominant allele (shown by a capital letter on a punnet square), both the latent and activator genes are semi-dominant, meaning that when they meet they create a new phenotype: the innate magical ability that makes you a source.

it gets a little less scientific here so bear with me; this new phenotype is so powerful that it sometimes creates a whole new genotype. so instead of having one activator gene and one latent gene, the two would merge and you'd be left with only one (very powerful) main gene. this is the only single gene that actually has magic and it's a dominant gene, so you only need to have one to have the power.

but, the latent and activator genes don't always combine. you still have the full powers when they stay separate, but it is then less likely to pass the hen ichaer your children.

complicated? very much so. but in practice it's a lot easier.

for simplicity's sake i'll call the activator gene g/a, latent gene g/L, main gene g/m and a regular nonmutated gene g/r. to be a source, the genes you inherit would be g/a g/L, but they may combine to be just g/m. your average person would be g/r g/r and a carrier would be either g/a g/r or g/L g/r.

clearly, this makes tracking it pretty messy, since generations of people can be carriers without having a single source

tracking the hen ichaer

for now, let's do what those elven sages couldn't and track then hen ichaer, starting with lara dorren

eventually, lara met an exceptionally talented human mage, cregennan of lod, and they were lab partners (oh my god they were lab partners) in the study of the hen ichaer.

eventually, lara met an exceptionally talented human mage, cregennan of lod, and they were lab partners (oh my god they were lab partners) in the study of the hen ichaer.

for all the studying, lara and cregennan's own genes have always been something of a mystery. elven mages don't tend to have any issues with using themselves as lab rats, so it's entirely possible that lara and cregennan, knowingly or not, mutated their own genes in their research.

ultimately, it doesn't matter what lara and cregennan's genes originally were. by some happy little accident, the two eventually ended up with at least one activator gene and at least one latent gene between them.

later, when lara and cregennan made their own happy little accident, riannon, she inherited one of each gene (g/a g/L), making her a source. however, riannon's genes did not combine as the elves expected, which made her a little harder to study.

riannon eventually met king goidemar of temeria (g/r g/r), and they had two children named fiona and amavet. i'll start with fiona, who the aen elle managed to figure out had the latent gene, making her g/L r

fiona ended up having a baby with king coram II of cintra (g/r g/r), they named him corbett, and he inherited fiona's g/L and one of coram's g/r.

the aen elle lost track of the hen ichaer when they studied riannon's other kid amavet. see, amavet was kind of a whore. he had twins, muriel and crispin, with the married countess anna kameny. obviously, these children weren't legitimate, and when the angry count kameny murdered amavet a few months later, he was officially childless

the elves did, however, manage to figure out that amavet had riannon's g/a gene and goidemar's g/r gene. anna kameny was just g/r g/r, and crispin ended up being g/r g/r as well. destiny does favour the hen ichaer, but sometimes it's just not meant to be. muriel, on the other hand, did inherit her father's activator gene and was g/a g/r.

let's hop back to corbett, fiona and coram's g/L g/r son. he and princess elen of kaedwen (g/r g/r) had a son, dagorad, who got corbett's latent gene and one of elen's regular ones, meaning he was g/L g/r

muriel married robert of garramore (g/r g/r), and their daughter adalia, the dramatically posed lady right there, had the same genetic combination as her mother, g/a g/r

this is where it gets even weirder

the lovely adalia married dagorad. her second cousin. they shared riannon as their great grandmother. feel better in the fact that it was not intentional, adalia's mother, muriel, was not officially riannon's granddaughter. no one would have even known, but adalia's g/a met up with dagorad's g/L in their daughter, calanthe

for the first time since riannon, the hen ichaer was back, and calanthe's parents genes combined to give her g/m g/r

while it took generations of destiny and accidental incest to make the hen ichaer happen again, now that calanthe had the main gene there was a 50% chance she would pass it to her child, which, of course, she did

calanthe and her husband roegner (g/r g/r) had pavetta, who inherited the g/m from her mother. no one knew about this until pavetta literally created a source hurricane, and was already pregnant

pavetta and duny's (g/r g/r) daughter, ciri, inherited the main gene from her mother and was a source.

sources

it's important to note that a source is not necessarily an incredibly powerful sorcerer, merely a person who has the genetic predisposition required to channel very intense magic

sources, like anyone else, can be bad students, allergic to potions, or just generally averse to magic on all levels except heredity. there is also no way to guarantee that even the most willing source will be good at using magic, in fact it's far more common that they will be really really bad at it. sources are extra susceptible to the chaotic state of magic in the world, and many end up pretty seriously harmed by it.

magical talent tends to make itself known in very emotional situations, like the death of a parent or a war. the same applies for sources, but they have an extra rule: their full powers are off limits until they lose their virginities

now, netflix has not mentioned that rule to be true or false, but i'm going to think of it as strictly book/game/etc canon, because ciri is 10 years old when netflix shows her using her source powers for the first time

the virginity rule makes things even more complicated, as customs about premarital sex are pretty strict in the witcher world (well, among nobility), and the dudes didn't seem to have fast reflexes. what i'm saying is that getting pregnant the first time you had sex was not uncommon. sources couldn't even use, and likely weren't aware of, their powers until they were already passing them on to another generation.

and even still, there is no guarantee that someone who is a source will ever actually show their powers. calanthe had the genetics, but she wasn't a mage. what happened? we don't really know. after calanthe married, cintra was pretty peaceful; there were no invasions or massive upheavals that could put enough stress on her to show her powers. plus, her parents didn't know she had any magical powers, so they didn't give her the training that would develop them, and she was a very level headed person who would likely be unaffected by many of the things that would make another source lose their shit.

[alittlefrenchtree]

Ok, guys. I have a CRAZY idea. What if... we start talking about the movies and the source materials they're based on? Wouldn't be mindblowing? To talk about art? On tumblr? Within the Timmy fandom? I wonder what it would feel like.

SPOILERS DUNE BOOK I - CHAPTERS 16-17

Chapter 16:

🙌🙌 THANK YOU LIFE SOMEBODY IS FINALLY TALKING ABOUT FOOD 🙌🙌 Honestly this is the main point of creating a whole universe, right? What the food look like? So now I’m happy to have some, I would like to have more, please? Details, meals, dishes, drinks, I want to know everything. Please.

Interesting chapter tho. The kind that probably makes way more sense once you know the whole story very well, I think.

The part I paid more attention to is obviously Paul’s taking the Duke’s seat after his departure. It’s very often a highly symbolic thing (HA, now that I've read the next chapters, talk about a highly symbolic thing indeed). I can’t wait to see it and be like Jessica and watch my son’s dignity and the mature sense of assurance explode on screen. It’s going to be glorious and beautiful.

I’m still not sure of what to think of this part of the scene. Jessica answering for Paul’s can be seen as an overprotective mother but don’t look good for a future Duke. But what about Kynes taking his side? Is it because he has decided to be loyal to the family and to Paul? Or is he trying to take the ascendant? I don’t know. Paul doesn’t like it and he doesn’t like not completely understanding the situation he finds himself in. I wonder what that means for the next time he’ll be placed in his father’s position or a similar one.

There is a quote I actually like but it sounds better in the french version than in its original version.

Here is the original:

My son displays a general garment and you claim it’s cut to your fit? Jessica asked. What a fascinating revelation.

Here is the French one:

Mon fils évoque une image et vous y voyez votre portrait? reprit-elle. Quelle fascinante révélation !

Which could literal translate to:

My son mentions an image and you see your own portrait in it?

it sounds awful like this but i like it a lot in French.

I also like this one:

In our society, people shouldn’t be quick to take offense. It’s frequently suicidal.

Can you believe like this one is more relevant in 2021 than it probably was in 1965? Humanity is really out there making progress 💫

Chapter 17:

This chapter is one of my favorite so far. Which could be surprising since Paul isn’t even there but damn Lady Jessica 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

So narratively speaking, Duncan is drunk so Jessica can learn that she’s being watched inside her own family and see that the Duke’s men are feeling rootless ever since they’ve been sent to Arrakis. I’ve asked myself if there could be more in this scene because it feels like it could have been but I have nothing. I don’t know. So let’s directly jump into the next scene because WHAT A SCENE.

First thing first, a unborn child? What??? Considering nobody has talked (to my knowledge) of ideas of cast to play this kid, I’m guessing the girl won’t be important before long, if not ever. I’m guessing she dies or never come to life if Jessica die before giving birth. That being said — even if I usually love siblings relationships in fiction (and non fiction) and relationships that look like siblings even when they aren’t — I’m not sure I’m enthusiast to Paul having a little sister (or brother or non-binary human). There is something special about legends like Paul being only child, one of a kind something, and kind of alone in his thing. We’ll see how it goes.

What also makes me happy in this chapter is that we learn more about Mentats. From what I understand, a Mentat is entirely based on logic, which is why I love the concept so much. I’m probably closer to be a Mentat than a normal human being. That being said, what Jessica said is interesting to take in consideration even in an universe without Mentat.

I would make a terrible job trying to paraphrase or to explain how I understand it but please read it and read it again until it makes sense for you. And if it doesn't read it until it makes sense for something you witness in others then accept that it also makes sense for you. It's an important take on our differences as human beings and on human relationships and I love Jessica for saying it. I might end up bowing to her just as much as I'll bow to her son.

So let's talk about the Bene Gesserit Voice. One thing I wonder, if it's it wouldn't have been better to properly introduce to the power sooner. I don't really like when a mechanic required for a plot twist is given just one or two chapters before the said plot twist. It feels artificial somehow.

But It's funny how the voice of a Jedi is exactly the voice of a Bene Gesserit. In fact, a lot of this Bene Gesserit thing is similar to the Jedi thing. SW just... took it. I wish I had better knowledge of sci-fi so I'd more easily spot all the different ways Dune has influenced the genre I think I even saw something that made me thought of Harry Potter, even if we're talking about fantasy in this case. But I can't remember where it was. I find it interesting that this compelling voice is a feature exclusively owned by women. It could be an interesting conversation but the world isn't ready for this conversation (except for the part of the world that actually is but is also sexist and would misunderstand the talk just to serve their fucked-up ideas. And we don't want to do that). But it's also interesting to see that, a dozen years later, the feature is given to the Jedis, who are/were?, mostly represented by male characters. Anyway, I'm digressing without being that much pertinent so let's move on.

Damn I'm also so impatient to see this scene on screen. I hope it will make it to the cut because how could someone be more mentally and brain-ly yummy than Lady Jessica in this scene? (Paul in a future scene, I KNOW, I'M STILL PROCESSING). I love when she's ready to forgive anything to someone acting on the behalf of protecting the Duke. I love when someone like Thufir Hawat looked at her and think Who could stop a person with such power? I love when she explains how Bene Gesserit have access to almost unlimited power but choose not to use it because getting a power known by others is the best way to lose it. Please let her and the whole Bene Gesserit thing stay equally amazing, if not more, through the whole book. Thank you.

Ok, I'm still a few chapters behind but I'm still re-reading pages so I'm not moving froward in the story at the moment. I hope the 2.8 people reading this are having a excellent day and I'll see you in the next one 💛🌔

[stanbillyhargrove]

Ghosts chp 22

A/N: uhm I'm not sure what to warn for this, there's a mention of blood, Neil is...Neil

Katrina's POV

"Olivia," I smiled at her from across my room, "you're here."

She regarded me softly and crossed to sit beside me, "of course, I would never leave you, my girl. What's happened? Is it gone? Whatever possessed you?"

I shook my head, "no, he...he wants to see you."

"Me? Why would he want me?"

"Because...it's Neil."

--

"Olivia," Neil breathed.

She shone so brightly in his usually dark room, light seemed to radiate out from her. Her golden curls were down, loose around her shoulders. She turned from the fireplace to look at him, her eyes shining like jewels.

I could feel his breath hitch in his throat as he stepped closer to her, "you're here..."

"Neil," she whispered, her chin trembling.

He closed the space between them and reached out to cup her face in his hand. A gasp left her lips and a shaking hand came up to hold his wrist. Olivia fell into him then, wrapping her arms around his back as he tucked her under his chin.

"You're shaking," he murmured, "are you afraid?"

"No...you don't scare me, Neil. Not anymore."

He pressed his lips against the top of her head, mumbling, "no?"

I could see how tense he was, how the tight grip he held Olivia with made his arm tremble. Could feel his fear, his pain.

She shook her head, "no."

"Well you scare me," he admitted.

She tipped her head up, a mere breath away to look into his face. He slowly closed the space between them to kiss her gently; there were tears in his eyes when he pulled away.

"Neil," Olivia whispered, "you need to let go, give Katrina back her life."

He looked down, "I can't."

"Can't? Or won't?"

"I can't. We are one now, her and I. When I interrupted that spell, it connected us."

"Why?" She asked, "why would you do that?"

"Because of you," he murmured, "when I started following Katrina, she was just another person to haunt. But you, you made it different. I wanted to know why you liked her so much so I stuck around but...I wasn't myself. I was full of rage and pain, I lost myself. When she found the boy, everything got worse for me. Then when they did the spell that let you into her body, I took the opportunity to do the same."

Olivia shook her head, "that wasn't the same, Neil. Our boy, our Billy...he needed me, he was so hurt, so angry and scared. Katrina wanted to bring him peace, she wanted to bring me peace and you took that away."

"Liv," he breathed.

"Why did you want me here, Neil?"

He glanced away, his jaw working. I could feel our heart pounding, beating hard and fast against ribs.

"I'm different, Olivia. Being tied to Katrina has brought me back. I'm me again," he looked up at her, a hopeful smile on his face, "we can be together again, my love."

"What?"

"We can be together like this, Olivia. We can be together here, tie yourself to the girl and be with me."

She hesitated and I could feel hope bloom in his chest.

"We can be happy again."

She looked over at me quickly before answering.

"No," she whispered, looking away.

"No?"

I felt the pang of hurt, the confusion backhanding him. I felt it all before his face fell.

"Look at me, Olivia. Look at me and tell me you don't love me."

"Of course I do," she murmured, looking back at him, "you know I love you."

"Then we can be together. I love you, Olivia," he held her face gently.

She stepped back from him, her voice wavering, "what is left in you to love?"

Neil stared at her, shocked and hurt.

"Being yourself now doesn't erase the years of hurt you caused. It doesn't erase the years of abuse to our son. It doesn't take away the bruises you left on our skin, the scars in our minds. I died because of you, Neil. You're a monster...Katrina doesn't want this."

"She does. I can't do this without her acceptance."

"You've manipulated her, like you manipulated me. Like you manipulated Susan."

I saw the heartbreak on his face, felt it in my own chest, mixing with a cloud of rage. I wasn't sure where his heartbreak ended and mine started, it was all one, a jagged edged chasm splitting open to drag us down.

"You make women believe you love them so you can get what you want, Neil. But you don't know how to love," Olivia's eyes flicked over to me, concerned, "Katrina, you can't. Elle-"

With a flick of Neil's hand she was gone. Cast from my mind.

"You knew," he growled, spinning to face me in the corner, "you knew it would end this way."

"N-no, I didn't-"

He was in front of me in a blink, his fingers tight on my jaw, "did you really think I was so weak that she could break my heart and I'd just leave?"

"No," I whimpered, "I wanted-"

His grip tightened, strong fingers digging into my face, "don't forget, pet. We are one, you and I. This is my body now."

"Neil," I cried, tears pouring down my cheeks and rolling through his fingers, "please, you're hurting me."

He scoffed and the room was cast into darkness. I felt him let go and I was instantly lost in the never ending black. Like I had been cast into nothingness.

"Neil?" I cried.

It echoed around me and I started to panic, screaming and pleading for him to come back, to save me from the nothing.

I was curled into myself, sobbing, when Neil and the room came back. I couldn't help myself, I threw myself into him and sobbed into his chest. Clutched at him like he was my savior, a beacon of light to save me from the nothing.

Neil stood there for a moment, letting me hold on to him before he pushed me away. Looked at me with cold eyes and turned away. I tried to follow but I was trapped, sealed in a glass coffin. He had trapped me inside my own mind.

"This is my body now," he repeated.

I screamed and sobbed, slammed my fists against the glass and thrashed but he was gone. I was alone in this now empty room, the flickering fireplace the only source of light.

He wasn't coming back, not as long as he could help it.

--

I don't know how long I was trapped in the coffin. Don't know how many days I spent screaming myself hoarse and bruising my hands against the glass before I gave up.

I placed my hand weakly on the glass in front of me and tipped my head against it, resigned in my containment. Then, out of the dark came the dark version of myself I'd seen before. Face smeared with dirt and blood, hair dripping where it hung around her face. Black eyes peered at me, head cocked like she was curious. She came in close to the glass, her eyes never leaving mine.

"You're going to die here," she whispered.

SMACK

Her hands hit the glass as she started to shriek. I pressed myself against the back of the coffin, screaming along with her. She didn't stop screaming and laughing, even when I stopped screaming and just curled into myself, crying. I wondered if Neil would ever come back, or if I would be stuck here forever. Forgotten and terrorized by this version of myself.

But he did come back. Walked up to the coffin and with a wave, it was gone, along with that version of myself. I fell into his arms, a fresh wave of tears streaming down my face.

"Hush, pet," he soothed, running a gentle hand down my back, "I'm here now."

"I, I thought I was trapped forever," I croaked, "with that...thing."

"I lost my temper, but it's okay now. Everything's okay, I've got you."

I tried to catch my breath but the relief I felt was overwhelming and had me gasping on air.

"Enough," Neil snapped.

I gasped, biting into my lip to try and stop my cries and looked up at him. His face softened as he gently pulled my lip from between my teeth and kissed my forehead.

"I have a surprise for you."

He led me away from the fireplace to another room that seemed to appear from nothing. Crisp white walls framed a huge baby pink bathtub. Every open space around it was filled with lush, green plants, climbing the walls and trailing from pots suspended in the air. It felt like home, where Olivia had encouraged me to turn my apartment into a jungle. I hope the boys are taking care of my plants.

A pang in my chest. The boys, would I ever see them again? Or Ally, Olivia and Elle? Pudge? Would I ever be myself again?

"I can hear you. Thinking of your life before."

I looked at Neil, surprised, "what?"

He tapped my temple, "there's no secrets between us here."

"Right," I nodded.

He smiled, moving his hand to my lower back to ease me forward, "don't be upset with me. I planned this just for you, don't you like it?"

I looked at the bath, at the steam rising from it and the heaping pile of bubbles. Citrus wafted through the air, filling my senses. Too perfect to not be a hallucination my brain had made to distract me from still being in the coffin.

"Is this real?" I asked.

That smile again, "as real as you or I. No tricks, I promise."

"Thank you," I murmured.

He nodded and moved his hands to the hem of my shirt, curling his fingers around it. Soft, gentle hands slid up my sides, pulling my shirt with them. He undressed me silently, his touch soft and careful when he caressed curves.

Neil took my hand and let me hold tight to him as I climbed into the tub, my body disappearing into bubbles. Then he kissed the back of my hand and turned to leave but I clung tight to his fingers.

"Please," I whispered, "don't leave me alone again."

He regarded me softly and came to sit on the edge of the tub. Sat quietly and combed sweet smelling shampoo and conditioner through my hair with gentle hands. When I was clean and relaxed, he grabbed my elbow, helped me out of the tub and wrapped me in a large fluffy towel.

We walked back to the room with the fireplace, which had now changed to a bedroom. I glanced behind us and realized the bathroom had disappeared into darkness.

"I want you to be comfortable here," he explained, "I'd like to avoid locking you up again."

At my request, I was given a pair of soft shorts and a large tshirt to lounge in. I crawled into the bed, a wave of exhaustion taking over me.

"Will you stay?" I asked.

He hesitated for a moment before sitting on the bed next to me, his back up against the headboard.

"I won't be here forever," he mumbled, "I have things I need to do."

"I know," I whispered, "but just for a while?"

"Of course, pet."

@alias-b @charmed-asylum @champagnesugamama

[nat111love]

Sansa KNOWS!!!!!

sansa was asked by littlefinger 

Why aren’t you happy? What do you want that you do not have?“

and she didn’t answer, that question was intentionally left unanswered because the writers  wanted us the audience to think about it  they wanted littlefinger to think about it and they mostly wanted sansa to think about it and figure out why she wans’t happy when she had everything she wanted ( she had her home back brienne and an entire army to protect her )  they wanted her to answer  that question because she was the right and the only person  that could answer  that question  !! 

Sansa loves being in jon’s presence, she loves the fact that she feels safe enough to express her emotions without fear of being ridiculed or shamed she loves the fact that he can put a smile on her face she loves the fact that  even if he doesn’t agree with her he still listens to what she has to say,his presence brought her that physical and emotional safety she never had with the men in her life except for her father and brothers.

 Even though jon is everything sansa wishes her husband were(brave,protective, loving, caring,supportive … ) before her conversation with littlefinger she didn’t want to think about jon as anything else than her brother since she couldn’t have him but her exchange with littlefinger made her think about it /her life and made her realized that she wasn’t really satisfied with her life and she wanted more than what she had and that  “the more “ was her brother  .

 Then we had the departure scene...a scene that is everything but brotherly [ jon who doesn’t know if he’s ever going to see  his beautifull sister again  turned around to look at her for what could be the last time and he gave her that l don't want to go and leave you look ,that goodbye scene lasted 9 seconds 9 seconds of them looking longingly at each other that’s a lot in movies/shows universe that’s Fucking long that scene was so Shakespearean  so angsty and the first thing that comes to my mind when l look at jon is a french slang expression that says “il peut dead pour elle” meaning he would die for her !! man l’m crying that’s literally my boy sorry l couldn’t help it l had to point that out ] anyway..let’s get back to sansa!! 

with her sadness sitting heavy in her chest sansa stared back at jon  with that l don’t want you to go don’t leave me face on she couldn’t say it out loud but everything in her screamed l need you stay with me  

 that face this look... this is not how a sister looks at her brother but how

 a woman who is secretly in love  looks at the object of her desire leaving her;

 And then whe have littlefinger who was  a few minutes before this scene threathened and almost strangled to death by jon because he mentioned his love for sansa witnessing an unusual  scene between two brothers ( jon and sansa in their world staring silently into each other's eyes for a long moment and acting as if the world around them stopped for a moment and she/he was the only person he/she could see  ).

[ The writers decided to make this the last shot of that scene for a reason littlefinger had a question and an unanswered one and judging by the reaction he had that scene almost answered that question !! ]

All littlefinger could think about when he looked at Sansa who was still standing on the balcony several minutes after jon departure was this  "When boys and girls live in the same home, awkward situations can arise. Sometimes, I've heard, even brothers and sisters develop certain affections..." .This scene right here is the reason he used dany and jon possible marriage to tease sansa and confirm the suspicion he had !!

[  also why was sansa still standing there a few minutes after jon departure looking like a woman who’s expecting to see the man she loves have a last minute change of heart or a woman who regrets not saying something to her secret lover if she wasn’t aware of her feelings ] Sansa had  men other than jon in her life her father, robb, bran, theon, joffrey, littlefinger, tyrion, crushes... so l’m pretty sure  

she knows what brotherly love is and what being  in love/attracted  to someone  feels like !!  

l personnally think that love feels like a high that demands a fix you find yourself doing things you never thought you would( in this case commit incest ) because you’re addicted to that person( drug).

You can try to keep yourself occupied or busy but when you’re in love nothing could suffice but seeing “the person you love”  talking , thinking, or listening to other people talking about that person can help and that’s exactly what sansa did the entire season 7 “ l wish jon were here” “ "I know how happy he was to see me( really!!!!) When he sees you, his heart will probably stop”  the way she smiles and the light in her eyes every time jon is around or when she talks about him speak volume SHE KNOWS!!!

Jon departure changed everything the fear/possibilty of not seeing him ever again or losing him to another woman  made it impossible for her to keep lying  to herself and forced her to admit to herself that what she needs, what she  secretly wants more than anything else and do not have is that man... the one that always puts her first, the man who’s always trying to please her the only man who made a promise to her and kept it , the man she does not want to lose,the man she wants to protect , the man she wants by her side, the man she loves….and  that man is jon her brother .