#i have barely recovered from got season 8

[kvtnisseverdeen]

okay im seeing rumors that there was a significant change made in hotd season 2 episode 1 so now i'm not gonna be able to function until i get to see that episode

[randomfoggytiger]

do you have any good mulder hurt/comfort fic recs? Specifically scully comforting mulder? I feel like most fics on ao3 are mulder comforting scully

Collector's Edition: A Tormented Man, At Last, Is Comforted

Sorry this took so long, anon! These recs are nowhere near all.

If you want an entire catalog of fics in that genre, I'd highly suggest reading through @baronessblixen's work-- hurt/comfort and fluff are her specialties; and she writes incredible an Hurt!Mulder (or Mulder post-latest-shenanigans) and Caring!Scully. (I've rec-ed a lot of her fics in the past, so if you search up #BaronessBlixen on my page, they should all pop up.)

I also recommend the "Mulder, Scully, and Season 8 Healing" and Dad!Mulder rec lists on my pinned page; but Injured but In-Charge Scully is practically required reading for this topic (@sarie-fairy's Skamania County is the first that comes to mind.)

Loose chronological order below~

@thursdayinspace's

the ginger invasion

He just about manages to lift his head and there she is, Scully, in his bedroom doorway; she turns on the light and it hurts his eyes, but even as he squints against it the glow of her red hair in the sudden brightness is enough to make him let out a relieved breath. "Hi." He hates to admit when he needs help. But he needs help. And help just showed up.

Early partnership Scully helps Mulder recover from an illness.

travel in style (Tumblr)

She lifts her head and twists around trying to look at him, and when that doesn’t work, she sits up and rubs her eyes, yawning. “That doesn’t look comfortable.”

He sighs. “That’s probably because it isn’t.”

She looks at him for a long moment, obviously thinking.

Scully helps Mulder sleep in the car.

Beshter's Seasons: Second: Chapter 118

"No, come on. I want you to lie down." She tried directing him to her bedroom, but her steering threatened to tumble him over. "Whoa, come on I want you to lie down, let me take your coat off." She began to work off the long sleeve of the jacket he wore. It was summertime in DC, sticky and humid outside. What did he need with a coat in the first place?

Anasazi Scully cares for Mulder's fever after his father's death.

@bytethehand/homecomingserf's fragility

Scully can hear him pacing through the wall. Back and forth, back and forth on the creaky motel floors. He’s got a tendency to pace at night, of course, she knows this, but never this long and never this late and never this fast and loud and anxious-sounding. 

Post One Breath Mulder finally lets Scully in.

@welsharcher's The X-Files: The Field Where I Died 

With a sigh, Scully walked over and dropped the plastic evidence bag on his desk, savoring the resounding thud it made. Mulder casually looked up; his apathy undisturbed.

Another sigh escaped as she pulled out the book, “Sarah Kavanaugh’s journal was found hidden under a loose floorboard in Melissa’s room.”

Post TFWID Scully attempts to give Mulder comfort.

@officialmulder/specialagentpao's broken hearts, paper hearts

He buried his face in his hands. Scully sat in front of him on the coffee table. “We can talk about it if you want.” Her voice barely a whisper.

AU-- Paper Hearts Mulder finds Samantha's body.

@agent-troi/AgentTroi's Still Walking Into That Room

Mulder remained limp and passive throughout all of this, not reacting in any way except to follow numbly as Scully led him out of the house and back to her car. He sat down when she opened the passenger side door and gently nudged him inside, but he made no move to buckle his seat belt, so she did it for him.

Post Demons Scully needs to know that Mulder will be okay without her.

@seek-its-opposite/seek_its_opposite's

photosensitivity (Tumblr)

“You don’t have to stay in here,” he tells her, trying to sound casual. “If anything happens I’ll just scream in agony.” He doesn’t pull off the joke.

“I’m good,” she soothes.

He called her in the middle of the night with blood down his shirt and she came to find him. It’s been too late to leave for years.

Post Demons Scully and Mulder are confronted by his seizures and her mortality, his past and her present.

folie imposée (Tumblr)

He’s straining, struggling against his restraints to reach her. She unhooks the belt across his chest and he grasps for her, pulling at the straps around his wrists. When she takes his arm in her hands his skin burns hot and pink, rubbed raw by cheap canvas.

She could play his scrapes on a turntable and the vinyl would sing a slow tragedy, a myth reborn in jazz. Cassandra the cursed prophet, reincarnated as a boy who believes in aliens.

Folie a Deux Scully spirits Mulder away.

@amplifyme/wonderland/Lydia Bower's

Affinity/Affinity 01

"Scully. You really thought it was me that night. Right?"

We've covered this ground before. It's one of the few questions he's allowed himself to ask, and one of the queries he continues to make. It's like he's stuck on these few questions like a needle in the groove of an old record.

"Yes, Mulder." I wait for the question that will inevitably follow, the one that never directly addresses what he saw when he burst through the door. He can afford to be vague: we both know what almost happened, what he interrupted.

"And you… you were okay with that."

Second verse same as the first.

"Yeah, Mulder. I was okay with that."

He nods. I haven't changed the answer to that one, either. I think he finds that reassuring, in some odd Mulderish way.

AU-- Post Small Potatoes Scully and Mulder redo that night.

Burning in Heaven

No, not asleep. Her head swung around and he was greeted with a smile. "Mulder. You're still here."

He took another step into the room and stopped. A small part of his brain got busy trying to figure out what it was about Scully that calmed him. Simply walking into her room had settled and centered him. He could feel the threat of shattering begin to reverse itself, his pieces coming back together to make a whole. Scully was his glue.

Post Redux II Mulder and Scully process their raw emotions.

@settle-down-frohike/settledownfrohike's

Missing Scenes (1/3, 2/3, 3/3)

“Mulder…are you sure you shouldn’t have someone examine you?“ he waved her off, scanning the floor for her shoes, doing his best not to appear frantic.

Mulder's journey through the final days of the cancer arc. (Scully comforts him in Part 3.)

120 for the drabble prompt

When he returns Scully is ensconced in pale pink silk, drunkenly slurring at her mother that she’s fine. She attempts to reach for the stack of drenched journals, winces, and that is just about enough for Maggie Scully. She enters the bedroom, raises a hereditary eyebrow at the hulking figure trying to decipher a fitted sheet from flat. 

“Fox. Thank you. I think I can take it from here on out.” 

It’s not Maggie’s style to be brutish or cruel, but she’s tired, and her tone is a bit more clipped than usual. Mulder remains mute, and nods a yes m’am. He gathers the empty Macy’s bag and passes her as she resumes the preparation of the bed. When she exits, he’s sitting crosslegged on the floor, coffee table askew to make room, trying to peel apart pages from The Lancet mumbling, “just a second, I’ll find it...”. 

Her daughter’s hands are roving the top of his scalp, petting and combing through his hair like a beloved dog.

Post Tithonus Scully is not exasperated with Mulder's efforts.

Luctus

She looks over at his sleeping form, studies the exaggerated bow of his upper lip, and thinks what a nursing blister it must’ve made. She gazes back down at the somber toddler in the faded image clutching his mother’s leg and sucking his thumb, her with one hand on his scalp, the other cradling her belly. His humanity is real and disconcerting at this moment. All this time, it felt as though she were merely patching up this omnipotent, otherworldly force, acting as an aid to propel him toward an epic destiny. There’s proof before her now that somewhere, he had a beginning. 

Post Sein und Zeit Scully cares for Mulder in the aftermath.

5 Pt. AU Prompts

The words “small cell” are anything but small. They are Goliath, and David is no where to be found. She feels the words rather than hears them. Malignant, it feels like quicksand.

AU-- Mulder has cancer; and Scully is ready for war.

Headcanon (Tumblr)

It started after her first disappearance, on a flight to nowhere North Dakota. She was flipping through a dossier and he was dozing, as per usual. She heard a mumbled version of her name and threw a distracted “Hm?” his way without glancing up. “Scully.” Firmer, more forceful this time. She looked over, annoyed, and spat “What Mu-“ and realized he was still asleep, but fitfully so. His breathing was coming in pants, nostrils flared and his brow was beaded with perspiration. 

Mulder's name is a comfort to Scully.

@o6666666's (Ao3)

8, 52, or 89!! 

“I think you should go home.”

He shrugged, but in the way small boys do when they are lying, and his eyes were wet. 

“You need sleep.” 

She knew, and he knew, that he had not been sleeping. She pet his hair and he blinked like it hurt to be treated gently.

He shrugged again. 

“Don’t lie to me,” she admonished, and pinched his ear so he knew it was only that she cared for him tremendously. 

He laughed but it knocked loose some piece of the great thing inside him that hurt and hurt, and in a moment he was crying. 

Post Paper Hearts Scully tries to call in Tena Mulder for support.

AU where Mulder is the one who gets sick in season 4 instead of Scully and Is... is it cruel to request more of the Sick Mulder story?

She wipes his mouth with her sleeve.

“Open your eyes,” she whispers, and he blinks and blinks.

“It’s blurry,” he sniffs.

She wraps herself all around him and lays her cheek to his, adopting his vantage point.

“I don’t wanna wrestle,” he says.

“In a second you’ll see the cabinet,” she says. “Just the plain brown cabinet. And our feet, and my other shoes.”

He sniffles.

“Tell me when you see it.”

AU-- Post Terma Mulder has cancer.

I love you prompt 14?

If you asked Scully whether she crashed Mulder’s disciplinary hearing to be his hype man, she’d tell you no.

But she did.

Scully refuses to let Mulder feel chastised.

@mulder-fight-him's Spiderwebs and Butterflies

She doesn’t know what exactly woke her, but blue eyes snap open suddenly and quickly fill with confusion, suprise, and maybe a little hint of love.  

Less than two feet away her lanky partner is sprawled out on her bed. At least she thinks it’s her bed. That’s where she fell asleep last night. She gently lifts her head and takes a quick inventory.  Yes. Her bed.

S5 Scully lets Mulder stay after a nightmare.

Anne Haynes's (xf-redux) Irrevocable

I watch her walk away from me, and I try to comfort myself with the picture of how life would have been for her had she not been thrust into my world. I try to see myself, sitting on one of the benches outside the Hoover Building, maybe eating lunch on a sunny day, and looking up to see Dana Scully walking down the sidewalk, a beautiful little tow- head little girl clinging to her hand, laughing and whole. I want to see this. I need to see this.

But I can't.

Because in this future, I don't exist. In this future, I am dead a thousand times over because Dana Scully wasn't there to save me.

There is no comfort to be found.

Scully finds Mulder mourning Emily's death.

Chibiness87's Seeing is Believing

He blinks harshly, gaze trapped by her intense stare. Four points of sensation appear on his neck, and he suddenly realises she is digging her nails in, making him focus.

Chocking, he manages to gasp out, “I can’t stop.”

Scully nods, tightening her grip on the nape of his neck. “Can you keep your eyes open for me?”

He squeezes his eyes closed, feeling his chest tighten. “I can’t… I can’t calm down.”

Her voice is the only anchor he has, and he latches on to it. “I’m not asking you to calm down. I’m asking you to look at me.” Her grip changes, making his face tilt more towards her. Her voice is still gentle, but firm. “Look at me, Mulder. Come on.”

Post Kitsunegari Scully guides Mulder through a panic attack.

DanaScully77's Night Hags and Restless Sleep

“Scully, is it bad the pills didn’t work?”

“Yes.” Scully admits, not wanting to lie to him. Her palm strokes through his hair, a normal occurrence for her when she’s tending to him and worried about his health. Much like his hand on her back, his hair is her calming space. “If you don’t sleep within the next twenty-four hours, you’ll need to be admitted to the hospital.”

“ Scully .”

The whine in his voice is almost childish, but Scully doesn’t comment on it. With how little rest he’s gotten, it’s only natural to resort to young behaviors. “I know, Mulder. But your body can’t survive with no sleep.”

Post-case Mulder cannot fall asleep.

saltringangell's the time it would take (to fix my heart)

He doesn’t stop, doesn’t look back.

“Mulder, slow down.”

He swings open the front door to the FBI building, wind whipping his hair back and causing her to practically stumble across the threshold. She lets the cool air sting her face, a nice change from the smoke and fire that licked at her skin just moments prior. Mulder continues down the pathway to his car, a little slower now, but still just enough steps ahead so she can’t see his face.

“Mulder, please, just let me-”

“Just get in the car, Scully.”

Post The End Mulder falls apart.

Emeraldsoleil's Beginning to Thaw

His body rippled against hers as he attempted to put distance between then, but a gasp of pain arrested his progress and he relaxed back against her.  "I realize this is an awkward position we find ourselves in, partner, but I, uh...I can't move." 

"I'm not surprised.  Your muscles are tied in knots.  I'll try to get the nurse in her to give you a muscle relaxer.  Until then, don't try to move to much.  You might tear something." She tugged on his hair again.  "Doctor's orders."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered.  The silence grew heavy, curling around them in a cloud of frustration.

"What is it, Mulder?" she asked.  "What's wrong?"

Fight the Future Scully and Mulder have a conversation at the bottom of the world.

@ghostbustermelanieking/skuls’s 

mondays on an endless loop (Tumblr)

“Scu… ly,” says Mulder. He takes another breath, and he sounds horrible, inches away. His eyes are half-closed.

“Don't try to talk, Mulder,” she whispers. She moves her hand back to his face, brushing his sweaty hair away, touching his cheek, his forehead. She's forgotten everyone else in the bank; it's just the two of them. “Just… just keep breathing, Mulder,” she says. “Hang on, okay? Keep breathing, Mulder, please.”

He doesn't listen, because of course he doesn't. He rasps, “I'm… sorry,” and then his mouth shuts and he says no more. Heartbeats slowing, slowing.

Mulder, Scully, and the endless Mondays that could be (and were.)

Foxsong 's Ruego

The words were easier to say than she had expected, not shattering as she'd thought they'd be. They were sweet in her mouth. "I love you, Mulder," she said again, marveling at how freely it left her lips. "I love you, love you..." It became a chant, a prayer. She whispered it over and over into his ear and felt how it calmed him, how he steadied against her, how his trembling eased. "I love you." It seemed so important to tell him. Why had she waited so long?

He had finally stopped crying, and was still; and she became aware that he was praying with her, echoing her whispered words. "I love you, Scully... I love you. I love you..."

Post Milagro Scully and Mulder alternate their breakdowns and caregiving.

@baronessblixen/Baroness_Blixen's Lucky

I know what I’m doing, Scully,” he told her, amusement apparent in his voice – famous last words,

“I grew up around here, you know.” If only he hadn’t tried to look good while climbing down the steep trail from the cliffs to the beach. Scully told him to take the long, official way. Of course Mulder dismissed her idea as silly and unnecessary. He insisted on walking ahead, naturally, and Scully let him. He was telling her something about crabs when it happened. One moment she watched his head bob up and down while she tried to find the best, least dangerous path, and in the next instant he slipped.

S6 Scully nearly laughs over Mulder's tumble.

@slippinmickeys/SlippinMickeys/Slippin' Mickeys's

How about a super shippy MSR fic?

Amongst the pain and the fear and the sensory overload, hers is the mind that shines like a beacon in the night.

It is a revelation.

Biogenesis Mulder is comforted amidst the chaos.

@nowwhateinstein's (Ao3) things you said that made me feel real

He pauses, worrying his bottom lip, as if searching for the right words. “It’s what led me to start looking for her. The desire to find her was my coping mechanism, I suppose. Knowing that she’s out there, somewhere, keeps my fear at bay.”

Something - perhaps it’s intuition - urges me to glance at clock on the nightstand. Of course, I realize with a sinking feeling. 11:21pm, November 27, 1998. The anniversary of Samantha’s abduction. Twenty-five years later, and he’s still searching for her.

Scully realizes her partner is "off."

@greekowl87's (Ao3) No One Is Perfect (Tumblr)

She opened the door and saw the television had gone to a late night infomercial with playing in the background on mute. Mulder was wide awake, laying across his couch with legs crossed, staring at some unknown fixed point. She recognized that look. He was lost in his own thoughts, mulling something over, and he needed to be brought back to Earth. 

Post Orison Scully assuages Mulder's guilt.

aRcaDIaNFall$'s Longest Night

"I feel lost." It's the first he's spoken in almost forty minutes. I've been silent, too.

I don't speak, just wait for him to go on.

Sein und Zeit Mulder has a hard night.

@incidental-ao3/incidental's Verlust

She held his head against her chest, fingers stroking his hair, and rocked with him. It was instinct, an act buried deep within her, as she breathed in the smell of him and kissed the crown of his head. He hung onto her like a life raft, his weight bearing down on her as she crouched on the floor in front of his chair. When her shoulders and knees began to scream for relief, she gently extricated herself from him and took his hands in hers, encouraging him up out of his seat. He followed without words or hesitation, letting her lead him across his apartment and into the bedroom. 

He sat on the edge of the bed with a vacant expression on his face, his eyes a million miles elsewhere. It scared her, seeing him that way, so completely drawn into himself.

Sein und Zeit Scully opens up to help Mulder process.

@bohoartist/Bohoartist's The Healing Power of Touch

Mulder adjusts his body so he is facing ahead and she turns her face to look at him. She can see the shininess in his eyes and understands perfectly well how the grief of losing a loved one creeps up on you in the most random of times. She thinks of the days and weeks after losing Ahab and how her eyes would well up with tears for no discernible reason as the weight of her loss would crash down on her. She thinks of how he would notice her grief but knew better than to say a word in an attempt to comfort her, instead choosing to brush his hand across her back a little more than necessary, or to push a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

Sein und Zeit Scully keeps vigil.

@writingwell/RocketMan's (xffics) I'll Be Waiting for You

I creep slowly to the sound; I think it's coming from the bathroom.

The door is closed.

I hear . . . the shower running.

I scramble back to my window, the one overlooking the parking lot, and see with relief that Mulder's car is right next to mine.

I must have been too preoccupied to notice it.

Mulder distances himself when emotionally troubled.

@brenayla's (Ao3) 6. He has a nightmare

Scully’s voice says, “Mulder?” She’s groggy; there’s a small, warm hand against his flexed bicep.

He whips around. “Scully?” He echoes, frantically pressing the length of his finger into the divot under her nose.

Scully comforts her partner after his nightmare.

@sigritandtheelves/DarlaBlack's If She'd Known

 Is it a miracle from God or a gift from the devil? Some hellish combination of mad science and corporate greed conspire to rip his lungs to shreds and in doing so, strap him down to a North Carolina hospital bed. Scully is tracking down his other records, his brain scans, when they administer the nicotine or it never would have happened. She’s not there when he is poisoned back to life, but first to death. She never would have left him but… His heart stops for a moment. For a moment he is dead. A moment. Then a minute. A full minute. And then it beats again.

AU-- Scully works hard to save Mulder from his brain disease.

Lolabeegood's (mulderscreek) Five Months Lost (Ao3)

"Mulder," she said softly as she walked toward him and stopped his forward motion. She grabbed his wrists and made him look her in the eyes. "I have been, we all have been, looking for you for over five months."

"Five months?" he said disbelieving.

"You didn't go to the conference in Philadelphia, or spend time with the Gunmen, or feel the baby kick until you put your hand on my stomach this morning," she said softly.

AU-- Post Requiem Mulder is returned with false memories.

@monikafilefan/MonikaFileFan's

Pre-IWTB at the unremarkable house

“Doctor Dana Scully?” he asks, head bowed. “I’m here to see Dr. Scully.”

He knows Scully’s shift ends in twenty minutes so they can leave together after she pokes and prods him to her liking, but the waiting room is packed full with injured people. A man with a rag covering a bloody hand sits by a woman with a red welt on the side of her face where half her hair is singed off. Fireworks are as dangerous as lovesick men on ladders.

The intake nurse arches a bleached brow. “And you are?”

Mulder tugs the brim of his Knicks hat lower on his forehead, a niggle of paranoia creeping up his neck.

A familiar voice interrupts, “I’ll take it from here, Margo, thanks.”

Pre-IWTB Mulder's best laid plans go awry.

@greycoupon's (Ao3) Hello Teacher

“Mulder, if you don’t open up I’m calling 911!” That he knew she wouldn’t actually do...would she? THEY were still looking for him. They had been in the house for almost a year and Mulder had left it exactly twice. They weren’t running his profile on America’s Most Wanted anymore but he was still a wanted man. Scully would never risk exposing him like that unless she had to save his life.

Slowly, as his limbs felt like they weighed 200 pounds, he dragged himself to his feet.

“Mulder!” He could hear her sobbing through the door. Quickly he unlocked and opened it. She had been leaning against it and fell into the bathroom in her rush to get to him.

Scully grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

Pre-IWTB deeply depressed Mulder locks himself in the bathroom.

@msrafterdark's (Ao3)

Can you write a fic where Mulder finds some gray hairs

“I feel old,” He confesses, “I feel…like I’m less of what I used to be, like there’s even less to offer you.”

The teasing is gone; the spark of honesty that always frightened yet thrilled him when they were younger is now alight in her eyes. He can’t help but smile softly at her.

“I love your gray hairs, Mulder,” she murmurs, “I love your frown lines, I love your laugh lines, I even love your achy back.”

Scully catches her partner checking for gray hairs.

@oceanofthesky/noifsandsorbees's open door. (Tumblr)

she leaves the key, leaves a way for him to know that if he can ever do what she couldn’t, if he can pull himself out of his head, that she is still right there.

it’s three months before he uses it. she comes home from a long day of work in the height of summer to him in her bed, snoring lightly under the sheets. she thinks she should be annoyed, that she should tell him that she can’t handle the emotional toll that has become their relationship tonight, but instead she is just grateful to have his warmth to crawl in beside.

Breakup Scully leaves the door open for her partner.

@audriesfic/audries's battle scars

it’s a cry of pain and then her name, curving up at the end to become a near pitiful whine. she’s out of the bathroom and taking the stairs two at a time before he even gets past the the first syllable. she’s never been the creative one, in her family or her marriage, but her mind conjures impressive images of sniper bullets through windows and sudden cardiac arrest. she’s breathless by the time her feet hit the cool tile of the kitchen.

his name is on her lips as he turns to her, one hand covering half his face. he fixes her with one puppy dog eye and pouts, points an accusatory finger at the cabinet where she keeps the glasses. it’s eye level, (because who puts glasses on the top shelf, mulder. how do you expect me to reach?) and he looks as though he’s been terribly wronged.

Revival Scully "heals" Mulder's cabinet injury.

BONUS

The Emergency Room is a site compiling Mulder in distress and Scully taking care of him fics.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[johanna-swann]

You know, I get that Eddie was annoyed with Buck over going full passive-aggressive remarks / petty mode, I get that he was probably trying to convince himself the move to Texas is a good idea when he was talking to the potential renters, I get that even if Buck didn't scare off those renters on purpose it was still a serious problem for Eddie.

But. He also said a whole lot of bullshit, really hurtful bullshit about some of Buck's worst fears and insecurities. And while Buck did everything and I do mean everything by the end of the episode to make it up to Eddie - apologising, calling out his own bad behaviour, admitting the insecurities it all stemmed from, renting Eddie's house himself, telling him he was of course right to do whatever he can for Chris and organising a farewell team dinner as a gesture of goodwill to top it off - Eddie did fuck all. He barely admitted that he isn't in love with the idea of leaving LA and that was it.

I didn't expect him to grovel or get on his knees and thank Buck for his generosity (that's ridiculous), but he didn't acknowledge that he behaved badly at all? What he did was dig his grave deeper. Instead of saying "I didn't mean that thing you overheard" or "of course you matter too, but I don't feel like I have a choice here" he went the opposite direction and accused Buck of spying and trying to get Eddie to pick him over Christopher??? Eddie sweetheart, I know repression is your middle name and you can get tunnel vision because of that, but holy fuck. You're acting like an arsehole. Get some perspective man.

(Elaboration on that tunnel vision thing under the cut.)

On the one hand I'm tempted to blame this on the overall shit writing for season 8, but this kind of has precedent going back many seasons. When Eddie maneuvers himself into a tight spot, he represses his doubts, puts on his blinders and doubles down on the path he chose.

He did it when he started hanging out with Kim last season, never thinking about what the hell he was doing and only told Kim the truth / decided to stop seeing her after he was confronted by Buck. He didn't think about how insane that situation was, how it wasn't fair to Kim, how (even if he was only trying to be her friend, nothing more) he still lied to Marisol to sneak around with a woman he didn't want her to know about, how this could blow up in his face if Chris got wind of it. And then it did blow up in his face and he expected Buck to fix the tension with Christopher for him "like he always does". He did admit he fucked up and he is making something of an effort to repair his relationship with Chris, but he still isn't in therapy, still doesn't talk about Shannon and still does only what he thinks is right instead of asking literally anyone for advice.

During season 5 he distanced himself from the team, refused to talk to Buck about how he was doing because "he has moved on and so should Buck", quit his job basically over night, his mental health worsened and he only stopped charging ahead blindly when he had a major breakdown. I'm not blaming him for this per se, mental illness is a bitch, but it is another example for a well established pattern of behaviour.

Season 4 and 5, he's in a relationship with Ana and he doesn't love her, but she's a nice girl and a good girlfriend who gets along well with his son, this is what he is supposed to do, right? It is Buck who has to sit him down and tell him to maybe consider Ana's feelings, how shitty she must feel or will feel when she realises how invested she is in a relationship with a man who doesn't love her.

Season 3, the "divorce arc" / fight club era. Buck didn't sue Eddie personally. He sued the boss who unrightfully kept him from his job and the institution he worked for. He had lost his job, was probably hanging out 80% less with his entire social circle than before the bombing, had almost died twice and was still recovering. This had nothing to do with Eddie personally and yet Eddie got majorly pissed. Didn't even try to see Buck's perspective. And personally I don't think Buck should've sued. I think he should've gone to the union or tried talking to Bobby again or at least get one of their mutual friends in on this to get their advice (Hen or Chim maybe). But Eddie while in a rough spot himself went full tunnel vision again and put all of the blame for basically everything that sucked about the situation for him on Buck. Who later apologised unlike Eddie who only gratiously forgave Buck.

Season 2 Eddie had an affair with his wife who he was separated from at the time while refusing to let her see their child. He treated her like a dirty secret, had her sneak out the back door, only contacted her to begin with because he needed something from her. He eventually started being nicer to her and they started spending time as a family again, but Eddie did all of this with his "this is how it's supposed to be" goggles on. She was his wife, they had a kid together, this is the path they're supposed to take. No other options to be considered. Even 6 years later he still hasn't really accepted that Shannon didn't want to be his wife anymore and he ignored his Shannon complex for years.

This is a well established pattern. When Eddie has decided that he is in the right and that his plan is the best one then he sticks to it no matter what, he stops considering other opinions and will trample over other people's feelings in the process.

Not saying he isn't overall a kind person who wants to do right by other people, but he has this particular flaw and for someone who expects his best friend to always have his back no matter what he sure neglects reciprocating that sentiment a lot.

[saveyourblood]

Pretty Boy - Ch 13 (Buddie x Reader)

Summary: You can feel Buck staring. When your eyes meet his, you realize he’s staring at your hand, which is still on Eddie’s knee. You slowly retreat, which makes Buck turn his attention to your face. You smile softly. He just looks out the window. The one where you’re an advanced paramedic, Buck and Eddie are firefighters, and you think you might be in love with both of them.

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12

Chapter Summary: It's back to work for you and your boys, but it wouldn't be the 118 if there weren't a few bumps in the road — or prisoners in the ambulance.

Word Count: 3.4k Warnings: violence

You’re good at a lot of things, but keeping secrets isn’t one of them. When the Christmas season rolls around, you can’t buy gifts too far in advance because if you do, all you can think about is telling the person what you got them. If someone asks, “Can we keep this between us?” you start to sweat a little. If someone catches you in a lie, it doesn’t take much for them to get the information out of you.

This is the biggest secret of your life. It involves everyone you care about in at least some way. You really don’t want to fuck it up.

Everyone knows you and Buck are dating. They know you’re living together. What they don’t know is that you’ve spent the last three months living with Eddie. They don’t know that you and Buck are also dating Eddie and that he’s dating both of you.

They don’t care that you and Buck are dating. Would they care that the three of you are dating? You aren’t sure. But the thought of revealing it ties your intestines into knots and makes your heart beat a little faster.

You all decided that, for now, it would be best to act like nothing is going on. Eddie is just getting back to work after the shooting, and the last thing he needs is for the transition back to be even harder.

Eddie Diaz is a secret worth keeping; you just can’t help but wonder if he doesn’t want to be kept. It isn’t exactly fair that you and Buck get to go on like normal, leaving him in the shadows. Eddie’s assured you both many times that he doesn’t feel left out — that he gets it. It doesn’t untie any of the knots in your stomach, though.

And then there’s the Christopher thing.

He’s a smart kid, smart enough to know that something is going on. You and Buck visited at least once a week before the shooting, so it’s not like your recent presence tilted the world on its axis. You definitely never spent this much time, though. And the more comfortable you’re getting in the relationship, the less careful you’re getting.

More than once, Christopher has walked into the living room when your legs are in Eddie’s lap or his arm is around your shoulders. Eddie quickly corrects the positioning, gently moving your legs or lifting his arm. All of his focus shifts to his son in a matter of seconds, like you aren’t even sitting next to him. Chris always spares you a few extra glances, but he doesn’t say anything.

Overall, though, everything and everyone is comfortable. Or, at the bare minimum, you have no reason to believe otherwise.

The four of you are sitting around the kitchen table, silently enjoying dinner. Christopher decides to break the silence.

“Are you going to be my new mom?”

You nearly choke on your drink. You cough a few times, and Buck pats your back in silent reassurance. You can’t look away from Eddie, who’s sitting across from you and next to his son.

His mouth is slack open in surprise, but he recovers quickly. He angles his chair to Christopher, clearing his throat. “What makes you ask that, buddy?”

“You help me get ready like a mom. You make dinner like a mom. You’re here a lot, like a mom.”

It sounds so simple when he lays it out like that, so simple that it’s almost impossible to refute. But… you’re supposed to refute it, right?

“I’m… your dad’s friend,” you eventually say. “I care about you both a lot.”

Chris stares at you, considering this. Eddie does the same.

“Maybe that’s better than having a mom,” Chris says, then continues to eat.

You see the tension in Eddie’s shoulders evaporate. He lets out a breath he probably didn’t even realize he was holding.

Buck isn’t entirely satisfied with that answer, though.

“Chris, why would that be better?” Buck asks. His tone is a little hesitant, but even as a parallel line.

“My mom died, and I miss her,” Chris answers simply. “I don’t want her to die, too. I don’t want to miss anyone else.”

It’s been over a year since Shannon’s accident — a whole year of Christopher’s life without his mother. The worst part about it is it can’t be fixed. Eddie’s told you how Shannon left and how hard it was to let her back into their son’s life. He did, though, because he thought it would be best for everyone. She was gone, but Eddie brought her back. He can’t bring her back again, and it’s probably killing him.

You rub your lips together in contemplation. “You know, Chris, my mom died too.”

Chris looks at you with wide eyes. “Really?”

He sounds so hopeful about having this in common with you. It makes your chest ache.

“Yeah,” you say softly. “She died when I was a baby. I don’t remember her, but I still miss her. And it hurts, missing your mom, but it won’t hurt forever. One day, you’ll be able to think of her, and it won’t hurt. And until then, I’ll be here. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

The first call you work as a triad is a fucking doozy.

You’re called to Jamestown State Prison, where a riot is underway. That’s not why the 118 is there, though; the prisoners started some fires, and it’s your job to put them out. Both Buck and Eddie suggested you stay behind, that you probably wouldn’t be needed. You felt your face flush red and were greeted with suspicious looks from Bobby, Chimney, and especially Hen. You brushed them off, said that you can take care of yourself.

Now that you’re actually here, though, you kind of wish you listened to your boyfriends.

The team has to be ushered around the building by four men in total SWAT gear. You’re taken through automated doors and down long hallways, most of which have blood splatters on the wall and random debris scattered throughout. You finally make it to the HVAC corridor, where the primary fire is burning.

“Buck, Eddie, put up a water curtain,” Bobby instructs.

You survey the room and notice that the top of the walls are lined with fans. “Cap, they’re going to keep sucking smoke up into the system.”

He looks at the fans, then back at you. “Find the killswitch, let me know when you got it.”

You nod once and start walking along the wall. You’re up to date on your firefighting certification, but when you actually find yourself decked out in all the gear, it’s as if that part of your brain short-circuits. You never want to find yourself in an important role when it comes to firefighting. Finding a killswitch, though? You could do that in your sleep.

You quickly find a grey box with a red switch on it. With a little force, you pull it down, and you can hear the equipment shut down. “Got it!”

The boys put out the fire a few minutes later, and the team is ready to move out. Three of your four escorts had to take off and help control a different area, leaving you with one guard to walk you all out.

As you make your way back through a random room, you hear a strange sound. It stops you dead in your tracks.

“Did you guys hear that?” You ask, looking around. “Someone’s here.”

“No, this area is secure,” the guard says.

You disregard his response, instead following the sound. You turn the corner and see two men laying on the floor, side by side.

“Over here!” you shout, sliding your medi-bag off your shoulder as you approach the men.

They’re in blue and white clothes, similar to scrubs — prisoners. Due to their injuries, however, they’re hardly a threat. Both of their faces are bloodied and swollen. One has a decent laceration to the abdomen, while the other has a nasty upper airway sound.

“Airway is compromised,” you verbalize, gently palpating his neck. “I think his trachea is crushed.”

“Leave ‘em, they’re scumbags,” the guard retorts.

“We’re not leaving anyone,” Bobby protests. “ Let's get 'em up and out. No time for gurneys.”

Buck and Eddie help carry the airway patient while Bobby and Hen take care of the laceration patient. The guard leads you all out, and you’re hot on his heels. You hate to think what would happen if you got separated from the group.

You make it to the last hallway when Hen starts shouting.

“Stop, stop stop! He’s having a seizure,” she shouts, planting her feet in place.

The final gate opens, and you look back at Bobby, who’s helping lower the prisoner to the ground.

“You three go, we’ll be right behind you.”

You swallow. “Captain-”

“That’s an order!” He cuts you off. “Go!”

You make it to the last door. The guard keeps it propped open as Buck and Eddie walk out. You’re already rushing to the rig to get the gurney out.

“I gotta get back in there,” he explains. “Protocol says you need two guards with you. Don’t leave without an escort, all right?”

“Copy that,” you say as you pull the gurney out.

Moments after the three of you settle the patient, two officers in green jackets are at the back of the rig. You gesture for one to come in, while Buck hops out and leads the other to the front.

A few minutes into the ride, Buck turns off the sirens. You frown, looking towards the cab in confusion. When you turn back around, one of the ‘officers’ is pointing his gun at you.

“I can’t thank you three enough,” he says. “I’ve waited 18 years to get the hell out of that place.”

Buck pulls over, and the three of you are ushered out of the rig at gunpoint.

“Okay, so you broke out… what now?” Eddie asks.

The shorter prisoner says nothing as he rifles through Eddie’s pockets.

“The patient in there,” you continue, tilting your chin to the ambulance, “is that your handiwork?”

He moves on to you, a sick smile on his face as he digs through your pockets. He comes back with your phone and wallet. He walks back to the rig to talk to his co-conspirator.

“What do we do?” Buck asks in a low voice.

“Don’t know yet,” Eddie responds.

“Maybe they just want the ambulance?”

“Then why would they search us?” you counter. “There’s three of us, and two of them.”

“Cute kid,” one of the prisoners interrupts. He holds up a picture of Chris, the one Eddie keeps in his wallet. “Yours? I’m guessing he lives with you at 4995 South Bedford Street?”

Buck steps forward. “Hey, man, don’t even-”

The other prisoner pistol-whips him.

“Okay, so now that we're all on the same page, here's what's gonna happen next.”

With the boys’ help, the prisoners locate the GPS in the rig and remove it, leaving it on the side of the road. The three of you are forced into the back of the ambulance while one of them drives.

You keep staring at the prisoner. It probably isn’t the best idea, considering his gun is aimed at you. You can’t help it, though. He looks… familiar.

“I know you,” you say.

He frowns and scoffs out a laugh. “What?”

“I’ve seen you somewhere,” you continue, still observing his features.

The patient starts to sputter. Eddie turns his head to the side, and you reach for the suction without prompting.

“...Trent, something,” you say as you hand Eddie the suction catheter. You don’t look away from the prisoner. “Am I right?”

He breaks eye contact.

“You’re on death row,” you say, nodding as you get more confident. “Yeah, you were convicted of triple homicide.”

“He can’t protect his airway,” Eddie observes as he moves the suction catheter around. “We need to intubate.”

“Almost there, Mitch,” the man driving chimes in.

Buck looks out the window, his brow furrowing. “Wait, you guys are serious? We’re really going to a hospital?”

“I thought that’s what you wanted,” Mitch mocks. “You’re so concerned about the health of your friend here. Now you can walk him through the front door.”

“Initiating RSI,” you say, ignoring the arguing men around you. “Eddie, start bagging, I’ll get the meds.”

You and Eddie intubate smoothly, like you have countless times. You push the meds, Eddie waits about 45 seconds before moving the BVM and replacing it with a Mac blade. He advances the tube and pulls the guidewire, and as he attaches the bag valve to the tube, you hover your stethoscope over the patient’s lungs. Eddie administers a breath, and you can hear it. You move to the other side and listen before pulling the stethoscope from your ears.

“Breath sounds bilateral,” you say, slinging your stethoscope around your neck. “Nice work.”

“Very nice work,” Mitch agrees, though he doesn’t sound genuine. “Now you two,” he says, gesturing between you and Buck, “get him inside.”

“Hey, man, listen, I don't know what you want, but there is a hospital full of sick people…” Buck protests.

“Just go, or I’ll shoot you,” Mitch states. “Or her. Or him. And then I find his kid, and I shoot him too.”

“Buck,” Eddie says simply. His tone leaves no room for argument.

You lean over to make eye contact with Eddie. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

He looks up and down your face before nodding. “I’ll see you later.”

You and Buck get the patient inside. You’re escorted by Mitch’s co-conspirator, Dom. Once you get into the ER, it’s a ghost town; no one’s at the front desk, and the triage bay is empty of both staff and patients. A sense of dread pools into the base of your stomach. The dread is replaced with realization when you get tackled to the floor.

“I’m a paramedic!” you shout after saying your name. “I’m with the 118. That’s Evan Buckley, he’s a firefighter. Get the hell off of me!”

You hear Athena shout your name, then Buck’s. “Those two are good, let them up.”

The officers turn you around and offer you a hand, helping you to your feet as they apologize.

“Are you two okay?” Athena asks.

You look over Buck. He’s got a good injury to his left temple from where he was pistol-whipped; where the skin isn’t broken, it’s bruising red and purple. His head is probably pounding.

“We’re good,” Buck confirms. “How’d you know we were coming here?”

“We figured out why Mitchell broke out,” Athena explains. “Where is he?”

“Still in the ambulance,” you say, “with Eddie.”

After a while of radio static, you convince Buck to let you check him out. He’s sitting on an ER gurney, and you’re standing beside him, crossing a penlight through his vision.

“All he wants is to donate his heart,” Buck mumbles. “Why won’t they just let him?”

“You heard them, Buck: it’s against the law,” You respond, pocketing your pen. You hold out your index fingers. “Squeeze.”

He does as he’s told, and his strength is equal, just like his pupils. You can rule out a hemorrhage or hematoma of any kind, though you aren’t convinced he doesn’t have a concussion.

“Any nausea? Dizziness?” you ask, folding your arms across your chest.

“No, just a killer headache,” Buck says.

“Not surprising,” you chuckle.

You don some gloves and pick up a swab. You swipe the antiseptic over the cut on Buck’s face. He winces for a second, then goes back to wringing his hands together. You apply a bandaid, then use one hand to tilt his chin up so you can look him in the eye.

“Eddie will be okay,” you promise softly.

“How do you know that?”

“Because he’s always okay.”

You hear a single gunshot.

You find yourself running through the ER and out the front doors, Buck only a few paces behind you. You’re both screaming Eddie’s name, and you don’t stop until you can see him.

He’s at the back of the rig, crouching over Mitch as he does chest compressions.

Eddie makes eye contact with you. “Go get the crash cart.”

“What the hell happened?” You ask, panting.

“He shot himself. The bullet hit his brain. Go tell the hospital they need a crash team out here. They need to prep an OR.”

“Eddie, he’s dead,” Buck says.

“But his heart isn’t, and I need it to stay that way,” Eddie explains. “Go!”

Buck runs back into the hospital, shouting for help. You kneel opposite of Eddie, locking your hands together.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” you tell him.

“198, 199, 200,” Eddie says.

You quickly take over compressions, counting under your breath.

Athena and her boss find a loophole, and Mitch is able to donate his heart to his son, Nolan. They started surgery hours ago, and you wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few more hours to go.

You look over at Eddie, who’s sitting beside you. You nudge your knee against his. He looks up, and you smile.

“Are you okay?” you ask softly.

Eddie sighs and runs a hand down his face before nodding. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“He told you about his plan,” you say. It isn’t a question. If Eddie hadn’t known, he wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of trying to ‘save’ Mitch.

“Yeah, he did.”

“And you went along with it,” you continue. “Why?”

Eddie frowns. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because he threatened to kill you, and me, and Buck, and your son. I think that’s four good reasons right there.”

Eddie averts his gaze. “After he told me his plan… he stopped being a prisoner. Or, at least, I stopped seeing him as one. He was just a dad trying to save his kid. God knows I would do the same for Chris.”

“Well, I think you’d have some competition,” you say lightheartedly. You lean forward to see Buck in the chair nect to Eddie. His legs are extended and his shoulders scrunched to his neck as he dozes off.

“Yeah, I definitely would,” Eddie agrees with a smile. He rubs his hands over his legs before standing. “I’m getting coffee. Want some?”

“Coffee sounds great,” you say with a smile.

Eddie walks off. Hen quickly takes his seat.

“Hey,” she greets, settling into the chair.

“Hey,” you return. “How did things shake out at Jamestown?”

Hen grins. “I got to perfrom surgery.”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously,” she laughs joyfully. “End-to-end anastomosis of the splenic artery.”

“On the guard you and Cap rescued?”

She nods. “Sounds like he’ll be making a full recovery.”

You raise your hand for a high-five. “Way to go, Dr. Wilson.”

She grins and slaps your hand before holding and squeezing it. You both laugh and grin.

Hen continues holding your hand, running her thumb over the back of it. “Can I ask you something?”

You smile. “Of course.”

“Are you dating Eddie?”

You heart jumps into your throat. “I’m dating Buck.”

“Are you also dating Eddie?”

The way she phrases it makes it sound so… simple. God, you wish it were that simple.

The more that you think about it, though… why isn’t it that simple? All the random details are yours to work through with your partners behind closed doors. When it comes to your work and personal life, why can’t you simply be dating two guys who are also dating each other?

“We aren’t telling people yet,” you whisper. “But… yes. Buck and I are dating Eddie.”

Hen’s eyes widen and her eyebrows raise. “Both of you?”

Your heart goes from your throat up to your head and pounds mercilessly. Maybe she isn’t cool with it like you thought she’d be. The idea of that makes your stomach sick and your limbs numb.

“Well, it’s about damn time.”

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. “You sure you’re okay with it?”

“Are you happy? All three of you?”

You nod.

“I love you all, and if you make each other happy, then why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”

Your eyes well with tears; you didn’t realize how badly you needed to hear someone you love say that. Your secret is out, and it doesn’t matter. You couldn’t be happier.

You pull Hen into a hug. It’s a little awkward since you’re both sitting, but you don’t care, and neither does she.

[markantonys]

I know we've talked before about the unlikelihood of the show changing up any of the major endgame romances, specifically Mat/Tuon, but I'm wondering: at this point do you think Min's still in the polycule? Considering both the show's insistence on triads and the fact that she's barely interacted with Rand, Elayne, or Aviendha? Of course I don't understand a lot of the (lack of) relationship setup in the current season generally. At the very least they're acting like they're still planning for 8 seasons. Stretching Randgwene (and to a lesser extent Randfear) this long makes some sense if we're a little over a quarter of the way through, but not in the context of 5-6 seasons.

i agree that it's a bold choice for them to pace out the relationships as if they're fully confident of 8 seasons rather than being a little more practical/cautious about getting endgame stuff set up, and not a choice i personally would've made in their shoes! because yeah, if we get 8 seasons, then randgwene lasting for 3 of them is okay (even then still a bit excessive to me), but if we only get 5-6 (which is a very real possibility because 8 seasons is a HUGE ask in today's TV landscape), randgwene will have lasted the same amount of time or LONGER than their actual endgame relationships. of course rand & egwene is one of the most important dynamics in the series and will be particularly key in the final season, but spending THIS much time on it *as a romance* before shifting into the platonic narrative foils era just isn't the wisest move imo. i get rafe's point that if rand and egwene have to spend a whole season-long roadtrip together anyway they might as well use the time to make a proper story arc out of their breakup, but i think it would've worked just as well if not better to have them break up in 3x01 and then spend the season on a proper story arc of recovering from the breakup and working on finding a new platonic equilibrium with each other.

moving on to your main question! at this point, i do not think min is still in the polycule. i will make my lengthy case below!

LACK OF SETUP

while you're right to say they're not doing as much as they could or perhaps should with relationship setup this season, they did make sure to do some between rand-elayne-avi. each duo got at least one meaningful one-on-one scene in the first episode, and on top of that, there was an emotional thread tying all the relationships together by elayne going between rand and avi mediating their conflict with each other. avilayne have hooked up already, randlayne got a very romance-coded meetcute moment last season, and avirand are spending the season together with plenty of subtle (but clear if you know it's coming) hints that romance is in store. these three characters are clearly linked together and it won't be too difficult to build a romance upon these foundations next season.

contrast that to min. she has never met aviendha and won't anytime soon. she had one conversation with rand in s1, but that was 4 years ago for viewers and at least 1 year ago for the characters. she's just met elayne, and i'll keep my eye on their tanchico interactions, but at least as of the first meeting, there was no attention drawn to them as a duo and neither of them took particular notice of or interest in each other.

and the thing is, they easily could have brought min into greater contact with the other 3! they could've had her run into rand in cairhien in s2. they could've had her run into the gang in tar valon in 3x01 and have a chance to meet avi and share a scene with rand before they headed off to the waste. heck, they could've had her join the falme outing in s2 so that she would be included in the gang who spent a month bonding on a boat offscreen and then an episode bonding in tar valon onscreen - she WAS at falme in the books! they actively altered her book story to make her NOT be at falme with everybody! heck heck, if they were going to change her entire TSR storyline anyway for s3, they could've dropped her into the waste plotline instead of the tanchico plotline to have her spend time with rand & avi. even as is, they could've had her spend time with elayne at the tower in the first half of the season instead of solely mat. but none of this happened. they've had so many avenues for facilitating connections between min and the other polycule members but haven't taken any of them.

BLUEPRINT POLYCULES

as you mentioned, the show has exclusively portrayed polyamory as balanced triads. 3 people where every person is dating every other person, the love between all 3 sub-pairs is equal, and the 3 people are a closed committed unit together. basically, as close to a monogamous relationship as a poly relationship could be, just with 3 people instead of 2.

if they wanted to have main characters be involved in a 4-person polycule where not every sub-pair is dating each other, then surely they would've chosen at least one of the Blueprint Polycules to portray this more complicated type of poly shape (for example, alanna could've had 3 warders, or 2 warders and an aes sedai girlfriend) and get audiences ready for it. especially since this is a poly shape that's much more difficult for the mono-normative audience to wrap their heads around than a throuple is; they would need some practice on smaller characters to be able to accept it with bigger ones.

AUDIENCE RECEPTION

most audiences have a very very hard time understanding and accepting poly romances. for the rand polycule, even in the Enlightened Queer Spaces of the fandom, it's pretty much UNIVERSALLY claimed that the show needs to have min date at least one of elayne/avi in addition to rand or else it will feel like a harem. if min only has one partner and everyone else has multiple, that's not fair. it makes it look like she's an outsider. it makes it look like they don't love her as much as they love each other. it's misogynistic that she only has one partner while rand has 3. etc etc.

of course, none of this is true of actual polyamory. plenty of real-life poly situations involve people having "uneven" numbers of partners, and as long as everybody involved is happy with it, it's completely fine! but good fucking luck convincing the mono-normative audience of this. i 100% guarantee that most viewers would throw hissy fits over Unfairness if min only dates rand and not also elayne and/or avi and/or another person outside the three of them. ESPECIALLY with the gender makeup; even in Enlightened Queer Spaces, polyships with majority men are adored, but polyships with majority women are decried as misogynistic, as harems, as straight male power fantasies. i have a feeling that certain segments of the queer fandom are going to have a lot more criticisms for MFF rand/elayne/avi than they did for MMF alanna/maksim/ihvon, and their criticisms for MFFF would be exponentially worse.

TIME EFFICIENCY

the show could try to combat this by giving min more love interests than just rand. but that would be SO time-consuming, and for what gain? developing avirandlayne is relatively easy; it's only 3 different relationship dynamics. if you add a fourth person into that mix, that DOUBLES the amount of sub-duos that need attention - even if min is platonic with elayne & avi, the audience would still expect her to have meaningful relationships with them so that she feels like a true part of the polycule and not just an awkward hanger-on (again, min only dating rand and having minimal contact with his other partners would be 100% fine and normal for IRL polyamory, but audiences of a story wouldn't like it), so we now have a polycule with 6 sub-dynamics instead of just 3. that's a really tall order for a show with such a huge story to get through and such a huge cast of characters and array of relationship dynamics to give time to.

i believe rafe said something once about how cutting rand's polycule would feel like gutting the story. obviously, maintaining that poly core is important to him, and rightfully so. but he can do that successfully with avirandlayne; avirandlayne alone is enough to maintain the poly core and honor rand's book canonical poly nature. does tacking min onto it too add that much more value, either representation value or narrative value? maybe a little bit more, but not so much more that it's worth the amount of time and effort needed to make it work, since that 4-person polycule would require so much more work than a relatively straightforward throuple would.

THE ENDGAME

in the books, the endgames are these: elayne will spend her life in caemlyn ruling andor and raising her twins. avi's ending isn't explicit, but most readers assume she will spend her life with elayne and the kids in caemlyn. rand heads off to wander the world alone for a while, with the freedom to spend his life however he might choose; his long-term plans aren't specified. min is firmly entrenched with the seanchan as the top advisor to the empress.

one of these things is not like the other!

in the show, i will eat my hat if rand doesn't explicitly end up in the happy family caemlyn endgame along with elayne and avi. they have put in so so so much work to show that rand's greatest heart's desire is to live a quiet life with his family, to be a husband, to be a father. they have shown that he is responsible, that he is a natural caregiver, that his greatest calling in life is to protect and care for other people. they have shown that even if he tries to wander off alone and cut himself off from his old life, he is unsuccessful because he can't stop caring about the loved ones he left behind and wanting to help them when he learns they're in danger, and they've shown him learning a lesson that his loved ones get hurt if he tries to disappear from their lives. all of this feels like a pretty strong thesis statement to me about who the show thinks rand is and where they see him ending up post-canon.

so, we have happy avirandlayne family at the end of the series, and min off with the seanchan. if min is in a relationship with rand, it feels like a pretty cruel ending to ship her off to a dangerous continent all by herself while the other 3 get to kick back and enjoy their lives together.

the show could've avoided this by simply cutting min's seanchan involvement. in the books, it happens so last-minute and nothing about her story prior to AMOL sets up for it. the show would've been 100% justified in cutting min's seanchan involvement and sending her to join the happy family caemlyn endgame after the last battle.

but instead, they have been investing a TON of time in setting up min's connection to mat and therefore that seanchan endgame, and they have been doing this at the expense of setting up her connections to rand, elayne, and avi and their stories. it feels to me like they took a look at the two major areas where min could be involved and chose which one to prioritize - and it wasn't the polycule that they chose.

WORD OF RAFE

+ also, i don't have a screenshot offhand, but the first part of his famous "polyamory over polygamy" quote is that when somebody asked if rand's love life at the end of the series would look the same as it does in the books, rafe simply replied "no" (and then followed up with the quote about assuring people he didn't plan to gut the story and that he was more interested in exploring polyamory than polygamy). of course, he could have simply meant that it would look different because some of the women would be dating each other too, but it's also very possible he meant it would look different because it would only be avirandlayne and no min.

granted, screenshot #2 was in response to a question that specifically asked about rand-elayne-aviendha as a throuple, so it could be that he just didn't mention min because the interviewer didn't. still, screenshot #1 where he specifically calls them a throuple rather than a polycule definitely implies to me that the plan is for the relationship to only ever contain 3 people.

sure, they could be planning avirandlayne throuple + rand/min offshoot, but again, the mono-normative audience would struggle with that and find it weird, i think, and rafe & co are surely aware of that.

especially given the timing with elayne & avi already being together. back in the day, i'd figured they would do avirand & randlayne first circa s4 and have elayne & avi give signoff for the other to date rand, and then in s5, there would be dual storylines of elayne/avi and rand/min falling for each other (since geographically it would be likely for elayne & avi to be in the same place in s5 and rand & min to be in a different place together). but now that avilayne has already hooked up, it's much more likely that s4 will see all 3 sub-romances within avirandlayne coming together at the same time and reaching full throuple formation already at that early stage. so then if rand goes off to get a whole nother girlfriend in the following season, that feels less like the polycule is expanding on both sides at the same time and more like rand just got bored while separated from his GFs and wanted to find a new person to fuck. (on that note, even with just egwene and lanfear, plenty of viewers are grumbling about Rand Getting All The Women, so i think having him date THREE women all at the same time would push a lot of people over the edge, which circles back to my above points on audience reception and harem accusations.)

SO WHAT WILL BECOME OF MIN IF NO POLYCULE?

the entire time i was reading the books, i kept thinking that rand & min's stuff would've worked so much better for me if their relationship was platonic. perhaps rafe agrees! the idea of prophecy-obsessed & increasingly-paranoid rand having a personal seer by his side unintentionally stoking his paranoia further with her viewings during his downward spiral could be really interesting to play with, but imo there also being an intimate romantic relationship between them muddied that dynamic in the books and it would work better if it was kept platonic/professional.

plus, rand's downward spiral arc of pushing away his loved ones and moping around about how isolated and lonely he feels is just absolutely SILLY if he has a live-in girlfriend plastered to his side and cuddling in bed with him every single night, not to mention it makes no sense that rand takes an opposing attitude towards her vs. elayne & avi i.e. he's firm about keeping away from elayne & avi and keeping their relationships hidden to protect them, but flaunts min around as his public mistress and brings her into active warzones with him. however many partners rand has, he should give himself the same behavioral rules towards all of them during his downward spiral! so the only ways to fix all this are either to yeet min out of rand's storyline during this time, or to let her remain in the storyline but give their relationship a little more distance and have her be a platonic advisor-friend rather than a lover-partner he's deeply emotionally and physically intimate with and deeply afraid of his enemies uncovering his love for.

and the latter approach allows them to honor the heart of min's alleged book story (being rand's philosopher-seer and helping support him during his darkest days), so in terms of keeping the broad strokes of the books intact, i'd argue that having min as rand's platonic advisor during the downward spiral is closer to her book story than having her as his lover but being off in a different storyline during his downward spiral (because as i mentioned, being his lover AND being by his side throughout his downward spiral kind of have to be mutually exclusive, they just don't make sense together, so we have to choose only one, and the latter is a bigger part of what her character & story is supposed to be).

CONCLUSION

after s1 and the 3 beautiful women viewing, i thought the polycule members would be the same as in the books. after s2 when there was a romance-coded randlayne meetcute and yet no effort was made to connect min & rand in cairhien or to make reference to min knowing her own romantic fate, i thought they might be focusing on avirandlayne for now and saving min/rand as an optional addon if they were to get enough seasons. but now that s3 is over halfway done and min's storyline has once again been fully focused on mat (and therefore that seanchan endgame) with no attempts at all to connect her to rand's story, i'm feeling pretty sure that min/rand isn't in the cards at all.

at this point, all that's left to do is keep a careful eye on min & elayne in tanchico. if there's any type of moment that makes me feel like they actually ARE setting up for min to join the polycule, i will have to take back this entire post. but if there isn't, i will consider that the final nail in the coffin, because if they were planning to have her join, it would be insane to waste a whole shared min-elayne storyline and not do even a tiny lick of setup for min-in-the-polycule.

[azaharinflames]

Tommy's return being highly likely makes me really happy. However, because of the trolling from the press and Bvddie in 806 and the trauma from what happened afterward, I feel uneasy about enjoying this moment.That's why I want to consider the possible negative scenarios in the upcoming story

1. Tommy dies → If this happens, Tommy will become an unforgettable scar for Buck. I don’t think Buck would recover from this at least until next season. If this show were in its early seasons (like season 1-3), such a storyline might have been possible (like Shannon’s case). However, since we are in season 8, I don’t think they will push such an extreme plot. Besides, I think viewers watch this show because characters don’t die

2. Tommy and Buck have an awkward reunion, and after the events of 814/815, they meet one last time to sort out their feelings and acknowledge their breakup. Buck then starts dating someone new → Would this be the worst-case scenario? If they break up for a reasonable reason, I’d be disappointed but not as angry as I was in 806.

3. Tommy reveals that he is seeing someone else or is engaged, telling Buck to move on → Personally, I think this is the worst-case scenario. Making Tommy a male version of Abby and hurting Buck, only to leave him single forever, seems like something they might do, considering this show loves to recycle storylines. I believe Abby being Tommy’s ex-fiancé was one of the clearest examples of Tim’s poor storytelling😩

Lastly, here’s the "hopeful" version that Buddie fans are dreaming of:Tommy tells Buck, "The one you love isn’t me, it’s Eddie." → Funny, right? 0% chance of happening😅

What are some bad possibilities you can think of? Also, I’m really bad at English, so I used multiple translation tools. Please understand if there are any strange expressions.

One last thing! This is just my personal opinion, but if Tommy appears in 811 or is at least mentioned, I think it would be a positive signal for Buck and Tommy’s relationship.

Hi, Nonnie! Sorry for taking a bit, I was barely home this weekend and I wanted to take time to answer this. This is pre-leaks, but I still wanted to answer.

Also! Your English is great; do not sweat it.

I get feeling uneasy, mostly because I do relate. There are positive signs there for us in a way they weren't prior to 806, but back then we got burned so badly that it makes sense we are untrusting now. Personally, I chose to have fun, theorize, and clown with our fellow Bucktommies, but realistically expect nothing. I'd rather be surprised than disappointed. Now, to go over your points:

I've talked about it before, but yeah, 911 killing a character this big when it rarely kills anyone would be a bizarre and questionable choice. Furthermore, unless they make Buck get over it rather quickly (which would not make sense with how important and significant they've made Tommy for him), I genuinely don't think they have enough time to make him work through it. And to have another 'ghost' when Shannon is still present (yes, even after Season 7)... I just don't see it.

It wouldn't be the worst-case scenario, for sure. But I just don't see how they'd manage to find a LI that worked better than Tommy does. Or someone we care even a third about. Hell, someone we can trust will be there for the long run, and not thrown out randomly. This might be a hot take, but I think this is their chance to make or break the audience's trust when it comes to LIs.

This simply wouldn't make sense. Tommy screamed of unresolved issues in 806. We've had tiny hints of him not accepting/being comfortable with compliments, having a hard time getting close to people. Based on what we last saw with him, it wouldn't make sense to see him now engaged. With a rebound? Eh, perhaps. But not more than that.

There is a lot of spec right now that (spoiler) Tommy indeed tells Buck about his feelings for Eddie / they argue because of it. I think that the leak is false. I know a lot of people are very nervous about this, but I genuinely do not see it. Journalists would be annoying right now (well, more than usual) if that were to happen in the episode.

My worst-case scenario is 1, to be honest. What I disliked the most about 806 was the 'ending' they gave Tommy. Giving him a death as a second ending would be even worse IMO, and it would definitely send a whole other new wave of backlash their way.

As for 811 - I see it two ways.

Tommy is there, and the episode ends with things still unresolved. Not a bad thing to me, because we know Tommy comes back later. So it would basically be 811: start of conflict/arc, 815: resolution. If Tommy is there I will consider it positive, regardless of the outcome.

Tommy is not there, it isn't that big of a deal. We know he's there later. Personally I'd rather have him there, but I don't think it's a bad sign if he isn't.

My inbox is open for ranting, venting, giving your opinion (unpopular or popular, I'm happy to receive and discuss both), and even confessions! Though if you don't want yours posted, please make sure to say :)

Take care <3

[lola-canola]

my supernatural lgbtq thoughts :3 (only Cas, Sam and Dean for now)

don't be a hater to me I've only seen up to season 8 OKAY?! no one asked but receive anyways! these are both gender, and sexual orientation (as a nb-lesbian myself) and don't try with hating, I wont stand for it just leave me and my gay hunters ALONE! If you don't want to read my explanations, just scroll all the way down for summaries lol. !!REMINDER THESE ARE JUST HEADCANONS. YOU DONT HAVE TO FOLLOW THESE!! Castiel is very gender-fluid. They/It/He/She when it comes to gender. I said why in a previous post but to sum it up, gender mainly matters to angels when it comes to vessels. Otherwise I fear they don't give a fuck less. Cas definitely experimented and landed on they/it as their favorites. aka I'm using my pro-nouns on Cas because Cas is my favorite :C Meanwhile for sexuality I fear Cas is a gay man. They experimented with Meg with that one pizza man scene that they pinned + kissed Meg, but otherwise has stuck to men (aka Sam). Sammy my boy. I love trans FTM Sam because it holds a place in my heart. To me I love trans Sam, simply because it makes sense. John didn't want to raise a daughter (Sam) and a son (Dean), so he focused on his son. Pushed all the hunting stuff onto Dean while simply making sure Sam was still breathing. Dean of course took care and actually tended to Sam, and when Sam came out as trans, John was simply happy he didn't have to cater towards a daughter & a son, so he took the two sons and balled with it. But, since he had barely raised Sam either way, it didn't change a lot in their relationship. And he only got top surgery probably during college. He would study while recovering and before. So for me, Sam is Trans FTM, He/Him. And for sexuality I see Sam as a pansexual, we know he was with girlies in the past (Jess, he hooked up with Ruby for a bit, etc). And he absolutely experimented a bit in college with who he did and didn't enjoy in flavors of other genders before he got with Jess. Then, after Jess died and his grieving made him bury it even more until it picked back up probably around season 5-6 (ESPESCIALLY Soulless Sam being a "I don't give a fuck who, just fuck with me.") So to me, Sam is a Trans FTM, Pansexual man. Deano! I personally enjoy the idea of demi-boy Dean. He probably buried it all until Charlie came around for her to educate him on other genders. To which he leaned towards He/They. They didn't care for it a lot, only going so much to understanding Sam's gender change when the two were younger, and using different pro-nouns before he simply just shrugged off any other notice of gender. They knew what was important, which was not to use she on their little brother, and that's what mattered to him. Now for sexuality, Dean is bisexual. From all the scenes of him and Cas, to other scenes of Doc Mc Sexy (If I remember that name correctly) and others. They absolutely had a bit of a fling for a bit with Cas before the two had a mutual agreement that they weren't for each other and split, before Cas was with Sammy. Dean definitely has no preference and simply just goes both ways. They can be seen flirting with girls, buying them drinks and giving a specific eye look, but he can also be seen with guys, giving sharp grins, playing a game of 'Are you into me like I'm into you?' and not to mention leaving with them after he wins the game of 'Yes, you're into me like I'm into you'. Incase you don't want to read all that, my summary for you is Castiel : They/It/He/She (Gender-fluid), Gay. Sam : He/Him (Trans FTM), Pansexual Man. Dean : He/They (Demi-Boy), Bisexual Man. Thanks for coming to my ted-talk of what I think Team Free Will is lgbtq wise, and maybe I'll make more. :3

[batsyx]

OK some interesting things to note because there is so much to unpack here:

- 8:08 time mark, Deathstroke and Waller talk about metahumans and how the whole invasion was lucky for her because she’s got the supers in her pocket. He says something about how they say Wonder Woman was molded from clay by the gods and that she “might wanna keep an eye on that”. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Are the gods gunna come after Waller? Could the gods bring Diana back? Resculpt her from clay?

- 15:08 time mark, Freeze talks to Waller about the “clone theory” where she hypothesizes that the League we did battle with are actually clones of the originals, based on Lex’s notes from the “corrupted” Batman and the DNA from the recovered Flash and Green Lantern. WHOOP THERE IT IS. So it’s official then, they’re gunna bring back Superman and Batman in the last episode. While I am overjoyed to know Batman will return, it really makes everything that happened in the first game meaningless. Wonder Woman’s death? Pointless. All the emotional heft from the story is gone. The ridiculous Batman death scene seems laughable now. And then to bring them all back in the DLCs feels cheap as fuck. I can’t help but wonder if they really meant to keep them dead but then when the backlash hit, they quickly reworked some parts of the story and decided to bring the League back in the DLC. It all feels so rushed and if Batman comes back and we get like 1 min scene of him saying one line……Im gunna be upset. I think we’re owed more than that, Rocksteady! Waller tells Freeze to deliver the findings of her report to her and to keep it “my eyes only”. She’s keeping it a secret from the rest of the Squad for now but Freeze had got to spill the beans somehow! THIS IS HUGE NEWS!

- I think the Clone Theory 1-3 segments are all worth listening to. The implications of them actually saving the original members of the League made my ears perk up because Freeze was saying how restoring their memories could cause disastrous cognitive dissonance in the future. 👀

- Squad Conversation: Second Acts 1-5 we get to more Joker fun! Joker and Ivy are pals now. He gifted her a switchblade! I did a double take when Ivy said to Joker “You mean what we have in common is we used to be special frenemies with Harleen and the Batman.” SPECIAL FRENEMIES!?!? Ivy may be a literal child but I love that she still remembers that Joker was super “infatuated” with Batman.

AND THEN THIS LITTLE FUN BIT!

Barely hit it off with his Bats? That makes me sad! It also deviates from what I wrote in my fic but thats ok lol. This Joker talking in his sleep makes total sense. It’s certainly a useful nugget of information I may or may not use down the line. 🙃🙂 BTW HERES A SHAMELESS PLUG FOR MY SSKTJL FIC: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60083872/chapters/153308584

AND THEN THIS PART!

HE’S LONELY. OF COURSE HE IS. HE DOESN’T HAVE BATMAN! 😭

Freeze has a talk with Ivy about her new friend:

I’d like to think Joker is using this Brainiac apocalypse as a way of pursuing his own fulfilling journey to self discovery ala “Eat, Pray, Love”.

Next month is the last episode of the current season and then the game will be truly over, for the story mode at least. I can’t believe it took a WHOLE ASS YEAR for them to end this god awful thing. All the squandered potential of this game and for it to be Kevin Conroys last hurrah as Batman makes me weep.

[thisfairytalegonebad]

it takes a village, chapter 2

Title: it takes a village Fandom: House MD Ship: James Wilson/Gregory House Rating: T Chapters: 2/3 Word Count (chapter): 4.8k

Spoilers for Season 8/Post-Series!

Fic summary: 

“We go back to Princeton, then” House suggests. “You’ll be among friends. They’ll look after you until I get out.” [...] “Okay,” he hears himself say before he even consciously makes the decision. “Okay. We’ll go back to Princeton. I’ll get treatment there.” Wilson changes his mind about treatment. House goes back to prison. It all works out fine, in the end.

Read the new chapter on AO3 here, and the first few hundred words from it below the cut. And consider checking out my House sideblog: @drhedicalhalpractice

The treatment works. In fact, it works even better than Wilson would have predicted immediately after he was certain of his diagnosis.

He isn’t sure why, isn’t sure he even cares why, even as his first attempt at chemotherapy failed, but it’s not failing now and he might just live after all.

It’s also, without any doubt, the hardest thing he’s ever done, and he has half in mind to say fuck it, I quit, and go live out the rest of his days without puking out his guts and feeling like death warmed over the rest of the time. Brown has him on a combination of different chemo drugs to try and nuke the tumour until it's small enough to operate on. As a result, he feels pretty horrible most of the time, the different drugs wreaking havoc on his body, and he half wishes he didn't have an oncologist's understanding of all the ways it's destroying him from the inside.

Fuck House, fuck that he needs him – who fucking knows if he even did go and turn himself in. For all Wilson knows, House fled the country after dropping him off at the hospital, sipping colourful drinks somewhere on a beach.

And even if he did turn himself in, fuck him anyway for not being able to keep a grip on himself just once in his goddamn life, for violating his parole and having to go back to prison for something as stupid and juvenile as stuffing tickets down a toilet. Serves him right if he gets out and Wilson’s dead, fuck House for making him go through all of this alone.

He isn’t actually, truly alone, of course. Just like House said, their ex-coworkers picked up the task of Babysitting James Wilson without batting an eye, and they’re taking their job very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that Wilson sometimes has half in mind to kick them out of his apartment, if not for the fact that half the time he barely even has the strength to feed himself. He’s grateful for their help, he really is – it’s not their fault that for reasons that are beyond him, he’d rather have the misanthropic, miserable bastard of a man he calls his best friend beside him on the couch as he trembles with fever and pain.

The plan for his treatment is relatively simple, on paper anyway:

He’ll receive a round of chemotherapy, and ride out the worst of the immediate effects at the hospital where qualified nurses can make sure he doesn’t choke on his own vomit. Then, he’ll go home to recover until the next round, with Foreman and the others taking turns checking in on him and keeping him company. That part, Wilson protested heavily, but Foreman wouldn’t hear any of it, and neither did any of the others once they were briefed on the situation.

And so, he finds himself on his couch, watching Taub and Foreman playing a video game on his flatscreen TV after having forfeited his own controller due to a growing headache and the slight nausea that got worse as he tried to follow the movements on the screen.

After the match ends, Taub has to go pick up his kids, but Foreman sticks around a while longer.

“Got a call from House today,” he says casually, glancing at Wilson from the corner of his eyes.

Wilson’s stomach turns uncomfortably. “Yeah?”

“Yep. Didn’t even say hello, just wanted to know about you. Said he hasn’t heard anything from you, so he had to make sure you hadn’t croaked. His words, not mine. I think he was worried.”

At Wilson’s silence, he turns to face him.

“You should call him.”

To his credit, Foreman doesn’t ask why he hasn’t called. It’s something Wilson has always appreciated about the man.

Wilson swallows. “I know.”

Truth be told, he’s not entirely sure why he hasn’t called House yet. The first few days, it was because he sounded positively wrecked from the chemo’s aftereffects and could barely work up the energy to hold a conversation at all, and after that, he just… kept putting it off.

He thinks that maybe, some part of him is worried that he’ll crumble the moment he hears House’s voice. It’s easier, in a way, to not have him here at all than to get an incorporeal form of him but none of the comfort his actual presence would bring. Better to just go cold turkey, he reasons.

There’s also the guilt for never really understanding what it’s like to be in constant pain, how much it messes with the mind and makes you prickly and short-tempered. Now that he’s experiencing it first-hand, all he wants to do is beg House for his forgiveness for all those years of non-understanding.

He can’t really tell Foreman any of that, though, so he just sighs. “I’ll call him tomorrow.”

Satisfied with his answer, Foreman pats his shoulder twice and gets off the couch.

“Right, I’ll be heading out too. Need anything before I go? Otherwise, Chase’ll be by tomorrow.”

“No, thanks. Chase doesn’t have to come, I’ll be fine,” he tries, even though he knows he’s fighting a lost battle. Really, it’s been long enough since the chemotherapy that he feels mostly normal apart from the fatigue, he doesn’t need a babysitter.

“Nice try,” Foreman grins. “He’ll be here anyway. Night, Wilson.”

----

Read the entire fic on AO3 here.

[ladydbzelle]

You know, I never explain my origin of my crossover ship: Bayonetta x Doctor Strange. Why I suddenly drawing them now after “mysteriously” vanish from my brain after 3 years.

I'll tell you my crossover ship and how it all started:

It started from this art challenge called Inktober! Me being artists who wanted to participate but during my challenges I never finish or doing this late. It's mostly because I was attending community college and working that I never completed this challenge. I graduated during Covid. However, I did try again in 2021 for the last time but looking back from my old files on Clip Studio, I never bother to finish the challenge. I think I may have stop around day 7 and just stop.

This was during my Marvel phase after getting back from the saddle once more after going back and forth with Dragonball Z fandom. During that time, I had added Doctor Strange onto my husbando list after watching Marvel's What If. It was still on Season 1 when it first premier. I started to like Doctor Strange and wanted to draw him for a bit. It was also around that time, I was in a relationship and my (ex) partner who loved Bayonetta and at the time, I loved Doctor Strange. However when Sega announced Bayonetta 3 coming out for the switch, you know I had to pre-order it with the artbook itself. I still have the game, the box that came and artbook but the book was a bit damage on the hardcover after I poorly place it somewhere at my ex's house where the mice began to eat it the cover. It's still fairly good and clean it a bit. I was kind upset of myself for place it where but oh well. Anyway, I joked to my (ex) partner what if I shipped Doctor Strange and Bayonetta. She laugh but she loved the idea of a crossover ship. Since then I started to draw some ideas and inktober was about a month away, i was excited to draw them. October came along, I started to draw them on Day 4 for knot. I think the picture lingers somewhere in my profile. Since I shipped Strange Supreme from Marvel's What if with Bayonetta but her outfit was from the new design for the game. After that, I began drawing them for sometime until December 2021. Around November for our anniversary, I commission a friend of mine to draw our DBZ Ocs. it was a cute gift for my (ex) partner and she loved it. During that time, I was accepted to a university from out of state and got settled in as school began in January 2022. I was still in Doctor Strange phase that I wanted to do something for Valentine's day. I think stayed up all night to finish up my Doctor Strange x Bayonetta drawing for Valentine's Day 2022. I guess after that, I wrote down post of AU ideas of them being a cute couple and stuff but then, I just stop drawing as Multiverse of Madness came by and stop drawing my crossover ship as I was focus on drawing Doctor Strange. October came around with Bayonetta 3 coming out and I did made a post with all of Bayonetta variants and Doctor Strange Variants ships for them. Once our anniversary came around in November, I commissioned my friend again for ocs but this time as Doctor Strange and Bayonetta (I commissioned ahead of time during July 2022.) Soon after, I just completely just stop drawing them after a years and a half, I moved away from Doctor Strange after going to the Miguel O'Hara train. Around the beginning of 2024 (or last year as I would say,) I just ended our nearly 8 year relationship as things got a bit complicated. I won't go into too much detail, let just say we both made bad choices. I couldn't bare to draw my crossover ship after my breakup as it was too much for me and I couldn't bring myself to do it as I was trying to recovered from my break-up.

A long year of ignoring and neglecting my crossover ship, I thought it was good time to bring them again as I started to missed them. I even have nenderoid of both Bayonnetta and Doctor Strange back home but I never display them as it was too much for me to put them. However, it was good to see them again and drawing for fun. Funny enough, I never had a proper crossover ship for them as I called them now as Umbra Sorcerer Ship. I may change it or not but who knows.

Now you guys know the origins of the Umbra Sorcerer ship I created

[newgenog]

REVENGE

Notes: This is NOT part one of chapter seven. As a reminder, we've switched to weekly teasers for each chapter.

If you're just stumbling across this, and haven't already done so, please stop and start by reading chapter one. 

This #Batwoman AU is based on the ABC tv series #Revenge. Ryan Wilder had just about everything taken from her when we met her, and she was doing her best to get it back. In this version of the story, that means taking some people down along the way. And, she's definitely no hero.

Hopefully you're recovered from chapter 6, and ready for our season finale. I'll try to hold you over with out of sequence and context teasers while I wrap this up. See you next Friday for teaser 2 for chapter 7.

CHAPTER SEVEN SNEAK PEEK

TUESDAY, JULY 10TH, 8:00 PM, THE HOLD UP

Ryan made it through her second day back to work after the holiday that became a regressive spiral into feelings she thought she’d buried, after Angelique put a Crow in a coma, after Luke was attacked by another Crow and hospitalized, and of course after Sophie found out who she was and Ryan crushed her when she admitted she never intended to tell her the truth. In reality, going to work was probably Ryan’s best option, because being left to her own devices at a time like this could result in literal bombs being placed and set everywhere her enemies frequented. But that kind of quick ending wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as ensuring the plan she’d spent years devising came to fruition, nor would it be fitting enough justice for them. They didn’t deserve quick endings. They needed to experience complete loss and total destruction. They needed to see her thriving in spite of everything they took from her. The only way that would happen was if she got her house in order. 

Fortunately, Sophie did still help, as she'd promised, and at least a couple of Ryan’s obstacles were now less threatening. She hadn’t spoken to Angelique in almost two days, and figured she too was barely keeping it together, wondering when the next Crow would jump out and try to take her down. So, Ryan goes to The Hold Up to give Angelique the news that Sophie had shared with her earlier that morning. She can’t deny that knowing with confidence Sophie won’t be there, because she’s currently on her shift with Luke, has influenced her timing. 

She walks up to the bar and a very worried Jordan greets her. 

Jordan: “Hey, Robyn…how are you holding up?” 

Ryan: “I’ve definitely been a lot better than this, but I’ve also been worse. So…”

Jordan: “I hear that. Well, have you eaten anything?”

Ryan: “A little…earlier…haven’t been super hungry.” 

Jordan: “Not surprising, considering. Why don’t I at least put some of your favorite fries in front of you, and we can see what happens?” 

Ryan: “Look at you, taking care of me…”

Jordan: “I might be concerned about Luke, but you were there…I can’t even imagine what that was like. And, I’m going to guess you’re not leaning on my sister right now… So, yeah, anything I can do.” 

Ryan: “That obvious, huh?” 

Jordan: “Oh yeah…but I’m not worried about you two.”

Jordan winks at Ryan, and she smiles back gingerly, appreciating the hope.

Ryan: “Are you here alone?” 

Jordan: “My mom’s in the kitchen, even though she should probably be heading home soon. But, it’s our TikTok queen’s night off, and with Soph so occupied right now…I mean, it’s hella dead in here, anyway. So it's not like she’s working hard.” 

Ryan: “Wait, who’s your TikTok queen?”

Jordan: “Oh, you didn’t see…?”

Ryan: “I’m not really on socials like that…” 

Jordan grabs her phone, taps it a few times, and then slides it over.

Jordan: “I’m going to go put your order in. Enjoy the show!”

As Jordan walks away, Ryan watches Angelique and another woman feed each other shots, what looks like for the third time based on the empty glasses nearby them. Then she tongues the girl down. As she pulls away, she snatches a panda hat off of her lipstick lover's head, placing it atop her own, and dances away to loud hip-hop music playing throughout the bar. The clip, taken on a customer's phone, has over fifty thousand likes, which is a lot for Gotham. The Hold Up is tagged as the location.

Ryan puts the phone down on the bar, completely furious. What about that was laying low or sticking to her routine? 

Ryan: “Hey, Jordan! Can I get those fries to go? Think I’m just going to head to bed early.” 

Ryan's night is actually about to get a lot longer.

~~~~~

To be continued…

We finish season one and chapter seven in August. Let's do this!

Follow #SaveBatwoman on all socials please! Support the Writer and Actor strikes.

#wgastrike #sagaftrastrike #StopCancellingDiverseShows

[middleagerunblog]

XLIV.

Yesterday was the second of three prep races, a 10K this time, the Viking 5K, 10K & Half Marathon in DeBary, FL.

It was a small race, only 28 participants, I was one of 8 doing the 10K, only 2 were doing the half, the rest were doing the 5K. I don't see the results posted yet, but based on what I could tell, I likely finished 1st or 2nd place of the 10K participants. This isn't saying much as of the other 7 doing the 10K, only 4 were men, 2 of whom were older than me, 1 my age, 1 younger.

But I wasn't going for time per se, that is, if I can do an 8 min/mi pace 5K and am shooting for a 9 min/mi half marathon, I probably ought to be able to do an 8:30 min/mi 10K.

Instead, I wanted to practice my pacing strategy, or at least practice my build up to pacing strategy. So I was aiming for mile 1 at 10 min/mi, 2 at 9:30, 3 at 9, 4 at 8:30, 5 at 8, and if I could muster it, 6 and the final 0.2 at 7:30. That'd put me at exactly 54 min, or 8:43 pace, as opposed to the 52:42 total of an 8:30 pace.

It was cold, and the race start was a little disorganized and a little late. I opted to wear a long sleeve shirt over my favorite running shirt, which was great before the race started but a decision I regretted about a half a mile in. The race start was a quiet corner of some Volusia county park. I could have easily worn a hoodie and a beanie waiting for the race to start then left them on a picnic table, and they probably would have been fine. I ought to keep this in mind for future small races in cold weather.

The course was out and back for 5K, out and back twice for 10K (slightly further out and back four times for the 2 lonely souls doing the half). I was surrounded by 5Kers and that likely caused me to go out faster than my plan. I tried to slow down to 10 min/mi pace, but it just felt too slow. I ended up doing mile 1 at 9:29.

Rather than just chalk this up as a 30 sec win on mile 1 and continue with my planned splits, I felt it more important to practice the strategy of slightly increasing each mile. I overshot mile 2 and did it in 8:48.

Did mile 3 in 8:28, so another overshot. Mile 4 was 8:12, only 18 sec faster than the original plan. But I thought this was great, I was still increasing every mile.

Mile 5 and mile 6 were slower than my plan though.

Miile 5 was 8:11, so just barely keeping negative splits through 5, and still way ahead of the total planned place, but 11 sec behind the plan for mile 5 itself.

Mile 6 was 8:28, not for lack of trying but I just couldn't muster one more negative split. So I did this mile nearly a full min behind the plan, but I was far enough ahead of the original plan that I could afford the 58 sec.

My running playlist didn't sync correctly to my Apple Watch, this happens for time to time, I ought to make sure to plan far enough ahead on this for future races. I was fiddling with music on mile 6, trying to get faster BPM songs to keep me motivated, that this likely cost me more time (messing up my stride) than it was worth.

I rallied for the final 0.2, doing it in 1:29, which pretty much on the 7:30 pace, so I did finish strong. Final time was 53:08, 8:37 pace, not that far away from an 52:42, 8:30 pace. Maybe I should have kept better track of the math and pushed for that time over that tough last mile, but I'm sort of OK with my result.

I crossed the finish line to little fanfare. Someone took my picture, someone else handing me a Viking medal which I gave to my daughter when I got home.

I came home, started another pot of coffee, heated up olive oil on a large pan, threw in a handful of spinach, sliced 2 Adiells chicken sausages and added that to the pan and covered it, sprayed Pam on a smaller pan, cracked 2 eggs into it, broke their yokes with a spatula, sprinkled on some bagel season with jalapeno, took of the lid to the other pan and sprinkled some on there to, mixed and recovered, toasted 2 slices of Dave's Killer Bread, spread chunky guacamole on the toast when it was done, plated the toast, the chicken sausage with spinach next to the toast, put the eggs on top of the chicken sausage, shook on some shredded cheese, poured myself a large mug of coffee, then devoured everything.

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum. I’m gonna vomit on the Duffer Brothers, I swear to God.

1.) I forgot that Russian recovered from a head wound that knocked him out super fast.

2.) I also forgot how close they got to the gate during their escape.

3.) Robin and Steve hold the doors so Dustin and Erica can escape. Also there’s no conversation before it happens, Steve just kind of does it and Dustin is like ‘I won’t forget you’ and leaves.

4.) This chase would be more impressive if it wasn’t relying on gross CGI. Like, the demogorgon is objectively a less scary design but because there was a dude in a suit for a lot of it, it’s still more impressive than the mind flayer at the end of the day.

5.) The mind flayer is connecting all of the victims, right? So could Heather see what her father was doing? Could she see his last moments before he was killed? Could she feel it?

7.) Mayor Kline presents Fun Fair.

8.) The carnival ride that the Russian holds the mayor in goes wicked fast. Does that ride normally go that fast or is this like the elevator?

9.) Strawberry and cherry slurpees taste different, Hopper. You absolute animal.

10.) I’m glad he likes strawberry too. And glad Hopper finally wasn’t stupid.

11.) Lucas Charles Sinclair.

12.) Erica is such a little sister to be like “Everything else tracks, but my brother is a little bitch so that part doesn’t.”

13.) Dustin knowing that much about My Little Pony is actually a little weird from what I know of the franchise. Bronies are more modern.

14.) My poor boy Steve. This part I remember a lot because it’s put in so many fucking Steddie fics. Steve is actually a very good liar. I forgot he offers them ice cream though.

15.) The Russians illicit the most terrified laughter out of Steve by laughing.

16.) Robin is so worried about Steveeeee.

17.) Robin spits in his face. I forgot she did that. My queen.

18.) Mike is being a ridiculous white knight.

19.) Hopper is having an absolute panic attack after learning about the upside down.

20.) “Breaking in is impossible.” Cuts to the literal children who managed it.

21.) lmaooooo Erica casually saying, “Deadly weapon, could be useful” is one of the best lines of this season.

22.) Steve was unconscious for IDK how long. Also I think he’s got a broken rib.

23.) I love Robin and Steve so much.

24.) I just realized I don’t know why Steve and Robin were in the same sophomore English class if they’re not in the same grade. Did Steve have to repeat sophomore English or did the Duffers not realize they were in different graduating classes yet?

25.) Could the props department not make that needle retract? It’s like barely against his skin.

26.) I forgot the kids don’t check on Steve or Dustin like at all.

27.) We got a flashback to El’s bio mom.

28.) I believe this episode takes place July 4th, 1985, which makes it exactly 4 years before I was born. That’s not relevant to anything, it’s just interesting.

29.) I feel bad for baby Billy, but not adult Billy. Adult Billy still wanted to kill Lucas and did nearly kill Steve. And neither of those things happened because of the Mindflayer. And his dad being shit isn’t an excuse either. I was abused all throughout my childhood and I never beat someone into a concussion.

30.) “Thank you, and good day!” Joyce screams into a phone.

31.) i forgot how funny Robin and Steve are when they’re high.

32.) Oh I forgot a fingernail almost gets ripped out before Robin announces they cracked it in a day.

33.) I forgot that somehow Dustin ended up with the deadly weapon and probably killed the torturer.

34.) Okay so Billy’s speech makes more sense now in hindsight considering what I know about season 4 (although I did not watch season 4 yet like at all).

35.) I forgot Billy’s the only Flayed person that doesn’t turn into bad CGI goo. RIP disposable people.

[xsilverberryx]

Oh you wouldnt believe how much grief (affectionate) this caused me after getting back into TAG recently after falling away right before season 3- What do you mean it was 8 years?? How long does the actual main series goes for then-? I got so obsessed with it that I made multiple calendars to try and visualize this-

(ignore that the last one says long haul, i mix up the names for long haul and the long reach a lot) (also yes alot of these birthdays are HC, it took me too long to notice Alan's and Virgil's birthdays are just their ones from TOS and by the time i did, i got attached to the HC birthdays me and my partner came up with for the others- Scott just barely missing a January birthday was too funny to me.)

SOS and Signals happens about July-August of 2061, giving plenty of time for Gordon to recover and the Zero-XL to be built...

... It also means the anniversary of Jeff's "death" was recent (No, long reach being in June as well was not intentional and if it was, i evidentially forgot that i put it like that)

How i imagine a timeline going is:

2048:

- Lucille dies. For my Headcanons, they were going out skiing/snowboarding in January and it was for early birthday celebrations for Scott's 17th. This gets cut off before it can even start by the avalanche.

- Jeff starts his planning for what becomes International Rescue around halfway through the year.

Late 2051-Early 2052:

- International Rescue starts up, Lead by Jeff, with Scott, Virgil, John, Lee Taylor and Kryano as the main operatives.

- Thunderbird 5 is currently a (mostly) unmanned satellite for now. Maybe no space elevator yet? Isn't as needed since when there is someone manning it, if a call that needs Thunderbird 3 cones in, whoever is there (most commonly Lee or Jeff taking John up for training) can just launch from there. N/A for the Scott, John, Virgil age order.

- As a whole, IR is run more like in TOS, except Jeff is taking active part in them. They're more selective to what missions they take and Mobile control is needed when no one is on TB5.

Mid 2053:

- The Zero-X Incident happens. IR shuts down for about a year or two, so family can recover.

- Kyrano retires and Kayo decides to stay behind with the Tracy's.

2054/2055:

- IR starts operations again. Lee Taylor stays with them for a bit but eventually leaves for the Moon base.

- Scott is trying his best to command like Jeff did. Mobile Control is still needed whenever John isn't in TB5.

2056/2057:

- If you want the Hyrdofoil incident, now is the time, when Gordon is 16 and starting his own training. I don't think time as apart of the WASP can fit in, but he could have been trying to decide between joining IR and the WASP before the incident.

2058:

- Gordon joins IR, John is spending more and more time on TB5 and the Mobile Control Station is rendered obsolete. IR is also starting to slowly take on more and more missions.

2059:

- Kayo joins IR and development of what becomes Thunderbird Shadow starts.

- Alan manages to little brother his way into starting training early (As if various brothers weren't secretly convinced individually to let him have turns in the training simulations before that.)

This is very reliant on me and my partner's headcanons I think, especially the birthdays. But even then, with those 8 years of Jeff being gone, there's so little time for the boys to have much outside of IR... Which sucks for multiple reasons!! Give these bitches boys a break!!!

TAG timelines are so confusing, because I want the boys to have time to have done all the things in their usual fanon backstories (NASA, USAF, Olympics, hydrofoil crash) plus (all but Alan) having had some experience running IR with their Father, but their ages are out of whack with the fact Jeff disappeared 8 years ago by the time of the show.

That (roughly) puts Alan at 18-8 = 9 (at the oldest: no wonder he barely remembers Jeff), Gordon 22-8 = 14, Virg 25-8 = 17 John 27-8 = 19, Scott 30-8 = 22 when Jeff vanished, which are all pretty young so... does that mean the boys made International Rescue on their own? Maybe in his memory, not their Mother's. Only, there was clearly some sort of IR was running at the time, as Jeff is in uniform for eight years straight and he knows about the Thunderbirds and isn't surprised by his boys piloting them??

Maybe it was the older three with Gordon in training, but still, unless they're older (and there's a bigger gap until Alan which doesn't really sit right as an idea), that's pretty young.

If any of y'all have thoughts on this I'd love to hear them.

[impostoradult]

I finally figured out why it feels like Supernatural murdered a unicorn (AKA why you need to STOP telling me to watch Black Sails)

I’ll start by saying, everything everyone else has been saying CERTAINLY bothers me: 

- the queer-baiting - the bury your queers - the undermining of Dean’s character arc  - the wasted opportunity for a certain kind of overall narrative closure - the flat out disrespect to Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles

 All of that bothers me tremendously. 

But there has been something else rather ineffable about this that has left a horrible taste in my mouth that I couldn’t quite pin down until last night. Bear with me, if you will, because this will require some set-up. 

*** This is not the first show to ever disappoint me in a spectacular fashion, nor will it be the last, I suspect. And one of the ways I’ve always coped with that disappointment was to remind myself that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right. (”It” being any number of things from just pure narrative emotional coherence to not burying your queers to not stringing along your queer audience and then yelling fuck you to them on the way out) 

But somehow that assurance -- that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right -- has rung particularly hollow in this instance, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why until yesterday. 

I kept asking myself, why do I still have this feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach, like something was lost here that can never be recovered? 

Because something was lost here that I am doubtful can ever be recovered, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else talking about this aspect of it at all. 

***

A few months ago, TV critic Maureen Ryan did a great interview piece with Mike Schur (of Parks & Rec/The Good Place) discussing the death of long-form TV in the streaming era. They explore how the longer seasons and longer runs of traditional broadcast/cable TV provided an opportunity to tell particular kinds of stories that you simply can’t when seasons are 8-10 episodes and series typically run 2-4 seasons (thanks Netflix).

One key thing we’ve all lost in this new era of highly condensed TV storytelling (and of prestige TV narrative styles)? The traditional (several season’s long) slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance. Not only is there simply no longer the time or space to write such romances, it has also come to be seen as hacky, manipulative, cheap, artistically impoverished, low-brow, a embarrassing vestige of the era before TV became art™. 

Everybody is trying to be Fleabag now. No one wants to be Frasier. (”It’s really more like a 10 hour movie” they all like to brag)

Obviously TV still has romances, even ‘drawn out’ romances. But ‘drawn out’ in 2020 is like 2-3 seasons, maybe. More commonly it’s like half a season. Take Schitt’s Creek. The number of episodes between when David and Patrick first meet and when they first kiss? Seven. Seven episodes. Half a season. If you watched it live, it took less than 2 months for them to move from introducing that dynamic to consummating it. And I’m not bagging on Schitt’s Creek; I think the David/Patrick’s story is very lovely and well-written. 

But Niles & Daphne (Fraiser) had to wait 7 years and over 150 episodes before they finally got there. Josh & Donna (The West Wing) had to wait 6+ years, and 145 episodes. Mulder & Scully (The X-Files) had to wait 7 seasons and 143 episodes. Booth & Bones had to wait...you see where I am going with this. 

And my point is (and I can’t believe I never realized this explicitly until now): there has NEVER been a queer slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance of that type on TV ever. EVER. 

I’m going to say that again, because I think it bares repeating:

There has never been a queer, slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance that fits the 100-150 episode paradigm of delayed gratification on TV. 

Not ever.  

I can’t think of ONE example  Not a single, solitary one. And I know queer TV pretty well. Arguably the closest we’ve ever come is Legend of Korra, and that ran 50 episodes, a THIRD of the length of old school will-they-won’t-theys like Booth & Bones or Josh & Donna. 

Queer people have had a fair number of canonical romances on TV by now, even fairly long running ones. But we never got a primary/front-and-center romance that you had to root for for 100+ episodes before you got any kind of canonical consummation.

That is a particular kind of TV experience that queer people and queer characters were just 100% shut out of until it was too late. And because of how the TV landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I don’t know that that opportunity will ever come back around in our lifetimes. 

***

Dean and Castiel are/were a legacy of an earlier era of TV, an era that still contained the possibility for a will-they-won’t-they of that particular mold. There were other shows that could have also filled this gap at one time - Rizzoli & Isles, OUAT, House MD, etc. But one by one all of them were killed off, their queer romances unrequited, until Supernatural was the only one of its’ generation left standing. 

And they should have acknowledged that they were a species about to become extinct. 

There are plenty of other valid and compelling reasons Supernatural should have gone full Destiel, don’t get me wrong.

A) It would have been the most emotionally satisfying ending to the series and to those characters (and that would have been reason enough). 

B) It would have stopped the manipulative queer-baiting of the (disproportionately queer) fanbase (and that would have been reason enough). 

C) It would have been queer representation of middle-aged men, of bi men, of queers who came to their queerness later in life (and any/all of those would have been reason enough). 

D) It could have been a glorious subversion of the bury your queers trope, considering how often they’ve died and been resurrected (and that would have been reason enough). 

But point E) on this list is the reason this one hurts in a singular way that no one even appears to be acknowledging. 

Almost all of the other wrongs and missed opportunities contained in this Supernatural debacle have the possibility of being rectified (at least to a degree) elsewhere. I can and I likely will get more bi male characters from TV as time goes on. I can and likely will get more middle-aged queer characters. I can and likely will get more queer characters coming to their queerness later in life, and starting queer romances later in life. I can and likely will get more queer characters who aren’t killed cheaply and prematurely. I can and likely will get more genre TV shows with sprawling myth arc plots that are resolved in a coherent, satisfying way. I can and likely will get Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles involved in other projects that value their work and their talents. 

All of those other things are at the very least POSSIBLE, and many are even likely. 

But a queer 100-150 episode slow-burn romance a la Mulder & Scully or Niles & Daphne or Booth & Bones? That is the one baton Supernatural dropped spectacularly that no one else even has the possibility of picking up again for the foreseeable future. (They don’t even write those types of romances for heterosexuals anymore!) 

Seriously. It was a TV unicorn. And rather than letting it run wild and free, they stabbed it with a rusty nail. 

***

Given the monumental shifts in the TV landscape that have occurred in the last decade, I don’t know that TV will ever go back to the slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance spanning 100-150 episodes. Today it is a miracle if you can get ANY show to last longer than 50 episodes in the first place. 

And that is the piece of this that makes it feel (to me) like they murdered a unicorn.  

Because queer people have gotten a lot of things from TV, and they will get a lot more as time goes on. But that one? That one could very well be a totally extinct species.

That is the larger missed opportunity here that has left this feeling especially hollow and destructive. That is the thing that makes me balk when people tell me to go watch Black Sails or Pose or whatever other prestige TV show is doing this representation ‘better.’ Because that’s not really the loss I am mourning here. I KNOW there is ‘better’ representation elsewhere.  

But the will-they-won’t-they/slow-burn romance is a qualitatively unique thing that queer people literally just never got. Ever. There is no substitute, no alternate, no other show I can turn to with that kind of build-up and pay-off for a queer couple, and there probably won’t be in my lifetime. Not unless the TV industry undergoes another monumental evolution similar to the streaming revolution that shifts the incentives back to telling those types of stories again. 

All those shows you want me to displace Supernatural with? None of them can give me the one thing I uniquely wanted (and could have gotten) from Supernatural. THAT ALTERNATE SHOW DOESN’T EXIST. It doesn’t exist. And I have no reason to hope it will ever exist in my lifetime. 

So stop telling me to look somewhere else; you don’t understand what made this one a unicorn. 

***

Addendum: The only other possible show that could perhaps fill this gap is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (re: Mac/Dennis). But I’m hesitant to say it exactly meets that criteria, for a number of reasons:

1 - It’s far less serialized relative to Supernatural and (except for a handful of stand-alone episodes) very little of the story is grounded specifically in Dennis/Mac’s romantic dynamic (unlike SPN, where it is absolutely central to much of the narrative)

2 - IASIP is fundamentally satirically in nature/tone which makes it much harder to have genuine romantic pathos (not impossible, but harder) 

3 - All the characters on IASIP are fundamentally crummy people who you aren’t exactly supposed to root for. Which doesn’t mean a romance between two of them can’t have its value/charm/worth but it’s not the same as when it is between characters who unequivocally deserve nice things/happy endings

[nancydrewwouldnever]

So, in a space of four days in which she attended Paris Fashion Week and got articles about it she only had a net gain of 891. Or, about 225 a day. It's obvious they're not buying, but they're not getting any real interest either!

It’s funny when you look at her numbers from 11/15-12/01 she started at 15k+ and ended with just under 3k lol. The interest went way down and it’s not recovering, I don’t think they got the response they wanted from the fashion show and return to ig. I’m expecting they’ll either start buying followers for her or another big stunt is coming and soon. It’s like they’re trying to sell just her now but doing the bare minimum, or something less than that because this is embarrassing for her.

Okay, I'm honestly waning in any interest whatsoever in talking about Alba in any context, but I do have these older number charts, so want to post them.

So here you can see numbers starting two days after the NYC papwalk. That time period was the high water mark of her daily adds, possibly from a combo of natural curiosity follows and buys (remember, her account has something like 18% bot follows). Then, you can see as following interest tapers, even with the PR push of the relationship and the release of WN season 2.

By the time of her shutdown after the shower video, you can see how far following interest had reduced, and that's only one month after the pap walk.

And now there's no real sustained interest after her IG reactivation, if you average out the daily gains to adjust for that missing 3/8 date.

So it does look like her team's push was all centered around November, and it wasn't continued. At least, that's how I read it.