#i need the cartharsis so bad

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

(MAJOR S-CLASS HEROINE SPOILERS)

haunted by how memorably cute this scene is. the manhwa rly masterfully misled me and made me forget that it's an infinite regression story

[theskywaslookingback]

tma fic recs please ? 🤲🏽

Oooooo yes! I never get asks like this, thank you!

[my tumblr fic recs tag is here for browsing]

I had to put it under a cut because it got...entirely too long barely half an hour into making it, sorry.

Under 5k

means of cartharsis by orphan_account [G] [965]

“You’d think – you’d that at this point nightmares would be second nature for me, hm?” Martin says, forcing a smile even as he tugs the blanket tighter around his trembling shoulders.

It’s meant to be a bit funny. Instead of laughing, though, Jon frowns.

“No,” he says simply, and matter-of-factly wipes the moisture from Martin’s cheeks with a tissue like he’s a crying child.

A Proper Sleepover by Goodluckdetective (scorpiantales) [T] [1.4k]

In a different world, one where Elias is not waiting for them outside the Lonely, everyone has a chance to savor a moment of respite. As much as they can get these days. If only to talk about things that long need to be spoken.

“Basira says we should all sleep in the same room tonight,” Jon says without looking up. “Safer. So we can keep an eye out for intruders and also each other.”

“So we’re having a proper sleepover then?”

Jon scoffs. “Technically we’ve been having a proper one for months.”

where i go, when i go there by rainny_days [T] [1.7k]

Martin wants Jon to hold his hand. Martin doesn't want Jon to hold his hand.

It's complicated.

all the other ways by AptlyNamed [G] [2.2k]

Jon loses his first soul mark when he is eight years old.

a palace from ruin by bibliocratic [G] [2.2k]

"What're you sorry for?” Martin asks.

“I should have asked,” Jon says finally. “I'd never.... you were always so private about him, so I mean, at first I wasn't sure he was even yours, but then – when you, when you went with Peter, and I – he was so small, and I thought he was h-half-dead. S-so I picked him up and I carried him. And I'm sorry.”

interiors by doomcountry [T] [2.7k]

In the doorway, he fumbles with his keys. Their sound is loud in the silent stairwell. You don’t remember getting here.

searching for a light (for a right) by Kalgalen [T] [2.7k]

Some people make the mistake of assuming he's naive about sex, for the simple reason he hasn't dated in a while. Tim has called him a prude, at one point, and implied that he was somehow afraid of the intimacy required by the act; he wasn’t entirely wrong, but this definitely isn’t the reason for Jon's disinterest and general bafflement toward what most people seemed to consider as "what makes them human".

Jon simply hasn't found the right person. That is all it is: high standards, and a reticence to let people in.

(In which Jon finds out society is wrong about what a romantic relationship should be.)

how to plant a garden in rocky soil by treeprince [T] [2.9k]

Sometimes you just need a good pair of hands to work out all the kinks in your life.

Good thing Martin has two.

A Weather In The Flesh by cuttooth [G] [3k]

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

*

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

I'll bring the motion by callmearctus [T] [3.1k]

A long series of kidnappings and international flights leaves its own special mark on someone. Before the Unknowing, Jon is a mess.

Martin helps.

A Bread Made In Heaven by Againstme [G] [3.3k]

Martin moves over and watches how his boyfriend handles the dough. He's awkward with it, tentative and gentle, as if he's scared of hurting it somehow.

"Is this, uh, am I doing this right?" Jon asks, still slowly stretching out the dough and folding it onto itself.

"Well," he says shifting closer to Jon again, "you could be applying more pressure. Here, let me help you out, dear."

Martin moves fully behind Jon, and reaches around him, putting his hands on top of his boyfriend's. Jon inhales sharply, but doesn't say anything else, just lets Martin's hand rest on top of his.

Martin's hands are bigger, but not big enough to entirely envelop the other's hands, and Jon's hands are much, much warmer than his own are. To see what they're doing, Martin moves his head to look over Jon's shoulder. Though he can't see his boyfriend's face from this angle, he can see how it is slowly growing red at the edge of his vision. He decides not to tease him on it, instead content with letting a smile spread across his face and slowly guiding their joined hands in the proper motion.

Or, Martin teaches Jon how to make bread.

stumbling and spinning by lady_mab [G] [3.3k]

“Things happened,” Jon says demurely, trying to untangle Gerry’s fingers, but it only results in him getting pulled in so Gerry can kiss him properly. “It’s not all that bad.”

“I suppose not,” Gerry says with a sigh, sitting back upright. “You somehow managed to snag an incredible boyfriend out of it.”

It takes a solid few seconds before realization clicks in Martin’s brain. “You mean me?” [...]

“You have to admit, Jon has great tastes,” Gerry teases.

nothing sweeter than local honey by beeclaws [T] [3.4k]

So Tim is content, one arm leaned into the spray, waiting for the water to warm, enjoying the feeling of homecoming underneath the gentle fuzz of jetlag, when he hears gasping, panicked breaths coming from the other room.

Tim and Jon, in the aftermath, relearning how to be okay.

When Words are Inadequate by Mugatu [T] [3.8k]

Meals and the preparation of are, for want of a better word, informative. Fact gathering. A place where they can fill in the gaps of their knowledge of the other.

Jon cooks for Martin, and they learn more about each other.

go softly by doomcountry [T] [4k]

And there is nothing else besides this.

Imago by cuttooth [T] [4k]

“Jon?” he asks tentatively, tightening his grip around the poker as it slips against his sweaty palm. The antennae twitch, and suddenly Martin knows that it’s Jon, the knowledge sliding into his mind in a surge of desperate affection, the same profound love he felt that first time he truly saw Jon in the fog of the Lonely.

“Oh,” he whispers. “It really is you.”

*

Jon changes, but he’s still the same to Martin.

shoreline by bibliocratic [G] [4.1k]

“Martin," Tim says kindly, tipsily, only mildly slurring. "Dearest, dearest Martin. You're wankered, babe. Last train to Stockwell fucked off hours ago because it is now piss off o'clock in the morning, and there's a sofa with your exact name on it at my place. Thought you said you wanted some handsome fellow to take you back to his tonight?”

Or: The OG Archive crew go drinking, Martin comes out, and gets some well deserved TLC. In that order.

get your epitaph right by bibliocratic [G] [4.2k]

Martin's daemon has tried on the shape of dogs and lizards and snakes and horses, and even – once, when he was younger and Mum took him to the seaside, a fish.

Martin's never seen his soul in the dressing of a spider before.

i've known the warmth of your doorways by beeclaws [T] [4.2k]

'I’m always in pain, Jon wants to say, even as he dismisses the thought as melodramatic. Between his growing collection of old wounds and scar tissue, the supernatural hunger for statements that hasn’t been truly satiated in months, and the unpredictable aches and strains his body threw off day by day long before he ever set foot in the Institute, some level of pain and discomfort follows Jon wherever he goes now. He is used to being in pain. He’s not used to someone holding his hand as he suffers through it.'

Jon catalogs the comforts he receives, and wonders how long he will be allowed to keep them.

lay down your weary head by Zykaben [T] [4.6k]

Jon has been running himself ragged, searching for every scrap of information he can possibly find about the Unknowing. He's exhausted and sleep-deprived but he can't bring himself to take a break, not now.

Luckily, Tim and Martin are there to make sure that their boyfriend gets the care and rest he needs.

only the sweetest words remain by bluejayblueskies [T] [4.6k]

This isn't how things are supposed to go, right? Jon remembers those ratty paperbacks from the charity shops, dime-a-dozen romance novels with broken bindings and yellowing pages and words that spoke of love and passion and sexuality in prose that was more than a bit too mature for someone whose age hadn’t yet reached double digits. Stolen glances turn into dinner dates turn into passionate kisses turn into…

Well, he’d never actually read those parts of the books, because it had all seemed so deeply uncomfortable and gross. But he got the picture.

Or, Jonathan Sims, on being loved

5k-20k

and they keep not letting go by Marianne_Dashwood [G] [5k]

It’s an electric feeling, something strange and new and familiar all at once, even though he has been holding Martin’s hand for most of the day. His stomach swoops, like he is standing on the edge of the precipice of realisation and staring into the void of unknowing. But at the same time, he does know. In this instant of contact between them, the last few years of cups of tea and small smiles and momentary glances, of panic and fear and only feeling safe with Martin’s solid presence in the room, despite his paranoia, rush into him, and oh, oh oh.

ready to call this love by yewgrove [G] [5.6k]

How is Martin supposed to tell Jon that he panicked, stupidly, when the lovely old lady down the village asked him what they were doing in this part of the world? Got the shopping! Oh, by the way, we're married now! Whole village thinks we're on our honeymoon, hope you don't mind!

Prenons-nous la main by luftballons99 [T] [6k]

They still haven't talked about it, any of it, not even to pass the time on the long train ride to Scotland. Instead, Martin fell asleep in the seat next to him, pressed into his side from shoulder to knee, and Jon thought about love confessions and verb tense and how the two fit together when you think you're dying.

or: Good cows, mediocre poetry, and other crucial topics of discussion.

This Must Be The Place by cuttooth [T] [6k]

“You said – you said we were going home,” Martin says softly.

“I did,” says Jon, and is grateful that Martin doesn’t comment on him calling the Archives home. “I – I don’t really know where to go. I, uh, I don’t have a flat anymore, I don’t think. We could find a hotel?”

“Let’s go to my place,” says Martin. His hand squeezes Jon’s, more gently than before. Most importantly, Jon notes, he doesn’t let go.

*

Jon and Martin go home for a little while.

Small Things, Simple Acts by ZaliaChimera [T] [6.6k]

Even after leaving London, Jon and Martin are not free, not really. Maybe they never will be.

But for now they can be themselves, and maybe in the end, that's enough.

house by tomatoes [G] [9k]

Martin can take care of himself.

roses, roses, roses by acetheticallyy (judesstfrancis) [T] [9.3k]

Rose scented laundry detergent. Running into Jon in the breakroom. Running into Jon on his way back to his desk. Rose scented detergent. Running into Jon. Roses. Jon. Roses, roses, roses.

a deeply annoying child by ajkal2 [G] [9.6k]

Jon is hiding under the desk.

----

There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.

Inseparable by voiceless_terror [T] [10.3k]

“You can stay.” The voice interrupts his internal panic, and he looks over to find Jon studiously avoiding his gaze, staring hard at a neighboring bush. Martin wonders what caused his sudden change of heart. “But you have to sit on the other side. And don’t talk to me.”

Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood meet as children. Some things change, others do not.

i'm almost me again, you're almost you by gruhukens [G] [12k]

After a second Jon steps in towards him, close enough that Martin flinches, but all Jon does is put two fingers under his chin with his free hand and raise it until Martin can’t duck away. Jon has never touched him so casually before – at least, not until today, and it raises a lot of thoughts and feelings that Martin is trying very hard not to process.

Much like a lot of other things that have happened, he thinks. Not that it’s horrible or terrifying or numbing like everything else has been: it’s just another thing on the list of things he doesn’t have the capacity to deal with.

---

In the wake of the Lonely, there's a lot that Martin doesn't really want to think about.

hello my old heart by firebirdsuite [T] [15.8k]

Peter’s wrong, of course. When it’s all over, Martin does still want to tell Jon everything. It’s just—well, there’s a few things they need to work through first before they can get there.

Martin and Jon find each other again in Scotland.

Over 20k

The Kindness of Strangers by TheOestofOCs [M] [23k]

It was easier to treat Jon like a monster when he wasn’t shivering against his back, brokenly humming—wait, was that…

“Are you trying to do ‘Hey, Jude’?” Tim demanded.

Jon stopped, stiffening. “Mm hrmh mm mmh hm,” he said defensively.

“You really can’t hold a tune, can you, boss?”

*

It was just an ordinary walk to a restaurant. Tim had insisted that if they were going to talk, there would be no tape recorders or weird Archives ghosts listening in. A bit of fresh air wouldn’t kill him, Tim had said. What could go wrong?

By the time Jon spots the white delivery van, it’s much too late.

The Stranger kidnaps Jon. Tim comes along for the ride.

Misjudged by ShastaFirecracker [T] [36.5k]

Martin's been a longtime listener of What the Ghost, so when Georgie gives a shoutout to her flatmate's Twitch channel during a Q&A, he checks it out - only to discover that her flatmate is also his most terrifying coworker at his new job. The first time they crossed paths, Jon yelled at him for incompetence. But on the streams, Martin sees an entirely different person - someone fun and relaxed, engaging and unfairly attractive. Over time, Martin begins to find that Jon buried inside his dour, awkward coworker. He also learns to live with the fact that his crush is painfully one-sided... or is it?

if we make it through the night everyone is gonna hear us (Series) by skvadern [Ratings Vary] [42.4k]

In which Sasha survives the NotThem (with a little help from a certain Distortion) and she and Jon spend s2 working together to try and make sense of everything that's happening to them. It goes...interestingly

the garden of forking paths by bibliocratic [T] [49.7k]

Whatever he had predicted might happen, Jon wasn't expecting to survive upon demolishing the Panopticon. He certainly wasn't expecting to be rescued.

Instead, he wakes up in an alternative universe where he's never been the Archivist, and Martin Blackwood doesn't exist.

Martin Blackwood wakes up somewhere else entirely.

it's only forever by lady_mab [T] [50.9k]

“The castle at the center of the labyrinth,” Jon breathes, recalling again the words from one of the past conversations with Martin. “He’s there.”

“Turn back, Jonathan,” the Goblin King says, and Jon is surprised to hear a slight edge of desperation in the tone. “Turn back before it’s too late.”

“I can’t,” Jon answers with the same tone. “You know that I can’t.”

The Goblin King’s grin is gone completely, and he regards Jon with a degree of pity before that melts into resignation.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey [T] [53.3k]

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

A Home For What Loves You by TheWrongShop [T] [151k]

It was completely fine that Jon was following up on this very normal, non-supernatural statement at midnight on a Friday. He was going to find nothing at all, and then he was going to go home and sleep for fourteen straight hours and feel absolutely no qualms about moving case #0150409 directly into the filing cabinet marked "discredited".

Or; Jon and Martin end up investigating Carlos Vittery's basement and finding the entity formerly known as Jane Prentiss together.

RATED E *MINORS DNI*

A Look And A Voice by cuttooth [E] [6.9k]

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Jon asks bluntly, and for a second Martin can’t breathe.

“It - it doesn’t matter what I - ” he begins valiantly, before Jon interrupts him.

“Because I want to have sex with you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if you think it’s for the wrong reasons. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions. The only thing that matters is if you want to as well.”

*

Martin meets a guy in a bar and takes him home.

Warms The Coldest Night by cuttooth [E] [11k]

"Flame that warms the coldest night Bring to us the waxing Light, Be with us on Solstice Night." Gypsy - Bring Back The Light

There is mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the Archives when Jon gets in.

Curiosity by ShastaFirecracker [E] [11.6k]

“You know that conversation we had the other day about how one of the most important things for queer youth to learn is that it's okay to change their minds, because identity and self-discovery are always fluid?”

Behind him, Martin slipped oven mitts over his hands and pulled open the oven door. The scent of garlic and rosemary flooded the kitchen. “Yeah?” he said.

“I, um... I'd like to revisit the topic of sex.”

At the Interim (Series) by Rend_Herring [E] [41k]

A Measure Outside the Lines and The Residuum

triptych (Series) by Stacicity [E] [44.9k]

A collection of Jon/Tim/Martin fics

a steady hand, a delicate man by callmearctus [E] [52.8k]

Martin is the proprietor and manager of a very discrete and fairly exclusive brothel situated between Belgravia and Chelsea. Blackwood House excels at special requests and pleasing any client.

Except for Jon, who probably has never been pleased a day in his entire life.

Despite that, he still comes back. It eventually begs the question: how do you solve a problem like Jon Sims?

[darlington-v]

not to be vulnerable on the internet, but i saw that post detailing about how wilbur's growth, not just in viewers but in terms of his albums and how miwb and ycgma were dark and heavy and like the feelings they speak on are numbing and like... getting sad to the point of just exhaustion i would say. however,the lovejoy are you alright EP, which is music he's made with other people, is exhilirating and it makes you want to get up and scream and dance and it makes you feel alive.

and like... YEAH!! yeah. like, from my own personal experience, yes to the fifth degree. there's songs on ycgma and are you alright that i literally i turn the car up and i like ABANDON all hope of singing and just SCREAM to. like it's NOT singing dude i am just fucking SCREAMING. i turn my volume ALL the way up and i just SCREAM. and theyre both under different contexts, but both like... ring true and so appropriate for both albums. ycgma and miwb are albums that i just let out this cathartic set of emotions to, and are you alright is music i play when i have hope for the future and i want to get out and i want to go see people.

like, two weeks ago, i drove myself (for the first time!!! :]) to visit some extended family at their lake house an hour and a half away because it'd been like 3 years since i seen them and i remember enjoying time around them and feeling like i was able to be myself around them.

however nostalgia is a powerful thing because i got there and i felt really trapped by like... weird perceptions of me and these weird internalized rules i had of not making any mistakes or dropping things or being clumsy or being weird or being quiet. i felt like i couldnt actually be myself and i felt like a child and i had no where to go to cry so i just had this accumulation of stress over the weekend.

and so when i got ready to leave, and i got into my car, i felt a weird sense of like... agency come back to me and i was going to listen to the magnus archives, because thats what i listened to on the way there, but i knew it i needed this like. giant release. SO I PUT ON YCGMA. AND I SCREAMED.

i literally just screamed the entire fucking album going back to the interstate. like i pulled out of the driveway, turned my volume all the way up, and screamed. i needed something to be angry to and scream WITH, and tma was... not that. like i just wanted to be sad and pissed off and let myself get all this built up energy OUT. eventually, by im sorry boris i was really just crying and frustrated but it was a good amount of release by then and it was nice. (unfortunately i got lost and stressed out more, but my point still stands: good source of catharsis)

HOWEVER??? ONCE I GOT BACK TO MY HOME COUNTY? I PLAYED ARE YOU ALRIGHT. BECAUSE I FELT A LOT BETTER, A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE, AND I WANTED TO COME HOME AND TALK TO MY FRIENDS!!

and i turned it up and i screamed that too!!! except i was excited!!! and i had hope and i wanted to talk to my friends!!! i literally like... was super fucking happy and i was like GOD... THE RELIEF I FELT ONCE I GOT BACK HOME AND PLAYED LOVEJOY. MAN. LIKE TOTAL 180. like i felt confident and not bad and definitely not like a child BC I FELT REALLY INFANTILIZED OVER THE WEEKEND AND ARE YOU ALRIGHT MADE ME FEEL VERY SMUG AND CONFIDENT AND IT WAS NICE!!!!!!!

it's nice and op was right!!! like not only through just the contents and tone of the music itself, it's just like. YEAH. LIKE YEAH YCGMA AND MIWB R THE CARTHARSIS ALBUMS TO AND ARE YOU ALRIGHT IS THE OH MY GOD NOT EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE THINGS DO GET BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[songofdefiance]

Thinky thoughts on yesterday’s episode, while it’s still fresh in my brain:

Okay, so here’s the thing: I didn’t like the episode.

I get why other people did - it was fun!  It was funny!  It had some fantastic surface moments, like Daisy and Jemma crying and telling each other that they loved each other while they were high, and Enoch was easily the star of the show.  Daisy’s fight scene near the end was incredible.  Piper wins the title of real MVP for putting up with her high crew members. 

So it all sounds great, right?  And it should be.  My problem with it is that it doesn’t feel earned.

(Warning for some negativity under the cut.  Negativity is up until it says “negativity ends here” in bold, and then I’ll start getting into my theories.)

It would’ve made sense if this episode happened back in... maybe season three?  Or even season four.  At that point, Daisy and Jemma’s friendship was still... well, believable.  If anything, this feels like a callback to Jemma telling Daisy that she wants to be a part of her “bad girl shenanigans” in season four.  But this episode isn’t part of season four.  This episode is after season five.

And season five made an absolute mess of the Skimmons/Fitzskimmons friendship.

I don’t think I need to summarize everything that happened, but suffice to say?  Neither Fitz nor Jemma treated Daisy like a friend.  Fitz did something horrible to her.  Jemma condoned it.  Neither of them ever apologized, and Fitz back then implied that he would never apologize.  I dunno about you, but as someone who treasures my friendships above all else (including any possible romantic relationships), that seems extremely fucked up.

But what’s more fucked up is that the show has never truly addressed it since then.  Fitz died without saying another word about it.  Simmons’ own culpability has never been mentioned at all.  And now, even if it is a year later, we’re supposed to act like everything’s fine, that the friendship between Daisy and Jemma is still somehow the same as it was, when it really, really shouldn’t be?

I mean, sure, it’s possible that they had a serious talk about it during the time skip.  Maybe at some point Daisy and Jemma sat down and hashed it out, properly addressing Daisy’s feelings on the matter, and Jemma apologized and comforted Daisy (who has just lost her father figure, let’s not forget).  But we didn’t see that scene, if it even happened.  Instead, Daisy seems to be the one who’s providing emotional support for Jemma.  And that leads me to the real problem of this season: Jemma herself.

Here’s the thing I did not expect: I like what they’re doing with Fitz this season!  I really do!  He’s finding a way to be his own person again.  He’s reestablishing himself as someone outside of Jemma!  It’s actually really great, and I’m enjoying seeing his storyline play out.  It’s actually given me some hope that there’ll be some kind of resolution between Daisy and Fitz that will feel like closure on both sides.  But Jemma?

Jemma’s regressed.  I’ve said this before.  Jemma is laser-focused on Fitz, to the point where no one else matters - not even her own crew.  The only time she wasn’t was... well, when she was high.  And the fact that it took an alien drug to get her to not think about him for a bit is... well, it’s not great.  On the whole, though, I’ve mostly seen her behave selfishly, and the fact that this episode treats the Skimmons friendship like everything’s hunky-dory when there was so much shit in season five makes it feel unearned.  Especially since Jemma is repeatedly shown to be selfish in these few episodes. 

So yeah.  I wanted to like the episode.  I really did.  But I really, really need some kind of emotional cartharsis for Jemma’s actions.  Because they’re wrong.  She’s not in her right mind.  It’s been said in interviews that at some point Jemma will be confronted on this.  I really hope she is.  I don’t know how I’m going to feel if she isn’t. 

(Maybe if that happens, I’ll be able to rewatch this episode and enjoy it more.  But for now?  Nah.)

Negativity ends here.

Onward to the theories!  Even though practically nothing in this episode took place on Earth, I think that there were some clues as to what Sarge and his crew are up to.  I don’t think that the chronicoms hunting Fitz and Enoch are directly related to Sarge, but I do think that there’s some kind of correlation there.  Most likely something that the chronicoms are doing will be key to either Sarge’s plan or SHIELD’s plan to defeat Sarge.

The most obvious clue is one that we got for the preview for next episode: Sarge and his team appear to be hunting time travelers.  And not just people who have traveled in time: people who are not in their original time.  Why else would he go after Deke, but not May, Mack or Yo-Yo? 

As to why Sarge is going after time travelers, if I had to guess... I don’t think that’s his actual purpose here.  I think he needs them for something.  Maybe, because they’re displaced in time, they give off a certain energy that other people don’t (isn’t there one brief shot of him doing something bad to one of the people he’s hunting?), and he needs that energy for something.  That’s about as far as I got for figuring out his overall plan - I still have very little idea what it is.

As to how this ties into the chronicom stuff - well, they seem to be hunting time travelers too.  I don’t know why they would be after Fitz, though, since he hasn’t actually traveled in time.  Or at least, this version of him hasn’t.  Maybe they’re really after the one from season five, and they caught this one by mistake?  That would presumably fit the criteria that Sarge has when looking for Deke - s5!Fitz is displaced from his original time, like Deke was.

This could be leading into Fitz finding out that there was another version of him out there, but from the chronicoms instead of Jemma or the rest of the SHIELD crew. 

Lastly, I still don’t think Sarge is actually out to destroy the world.  I mean, there’s plenty of evidence that he is - his crew members’ comments about how there won’t be much left soon, for instance - but I’d even go so far as to say he might be trying to save it.  I do have some evidence to support this:

1. As I’ve said before, AoS has given us red herrings before, even all the way back in season one when we were lead to believe Victoria Hand was Hydra.  Or when we were lead to believe that Jiaying was a good guy, or when we were lead to believe that Rosalind was a bad guy. 

2. There are a couple of moments in the season six trailer that make me suspicious.  The part where the lady with the red hair said “he won’t stop until he destroys... the whole planet” - there’s a tiny little cut in that line, like they pieced together her saying “he won’t stop until he destroys” and “the whole planet” from two separate pieces of dialogue.  She could be saying something completely different, and we wouldn’t know.

3. Sarge is very cynical, and kinda the opposite of Coulson in that he discourages people from being heroes.  He doesn’t get any personal joy out of killing people.  He seems to avoid it when he can, as does his crew (except for Snowflake).  That’s not exactly standard villain behavior.  The only thing that is is him talking about replacing Pax, because people get tired of what they do.  Pax is probably the biggest indicator that Sarge is, in fact, a villain looking to destroy the Earth, but I still don’t 100% buy it yet. 

Lastly... this has nothing to do with theories, but I’ll be honest: it’s taking all my self control not to write a Sarge/Melinda fic.  Because I’m a hoe who’s a big fan of enemies-to-lovers and I See Potential.

[captusmomentum]

#not really the most romantic of getaways#they're both very glad Thenvunin isn't there bc honestly it's bad enough ANYONE had to be there#but Thenvunin is a particularly bright soul and this place of death and misery is Not Suitable for him#in any sense of the word like not only is it really just not acceptable in terms of livability#it's also just... such a godawful place the atmosphere is heavy and there's a constant feeling of being /watched/#even in places where there are no spirits or sentries (and the only spirits who've stuck around are not... friendly anyway)#and Uthvir is probably waaaaay more on edge and snappish than they'd like to be but at least their new spouse is... competent#and in the part of their mind that's not taken up with hypervigilence and Fear 's worst mutterings#(He's not really dead he's hiding he's here he'll find us it's a trap it's a trick Inan is in on it they're ALL in on it)#or focused on tearing down EVERYTHING with Falon'Dick's face on it with grim satisfaction#they do note their new spouse is... more interesting than they had previously thought#strong and strange and prone to worrying about odd things and not terribly good at concealing much of anything without covering their face#and while Uthvir may end up working themselves to near exhaustion out of a combination of paranoia and cartharsis#Inan does it bc they just kinda... forget to eat or got carried away unraveling particularly nasty spell traps and oops now its midnight#Uthvir is more likely to take care of themselves better if there's someone else to take care of too but both of them#get kind of lost in the work (and to be fair there is a LOT of it)#so a few months go by and Thenvunin hasn't seen either of them in like 2 weeks or gotten a letter or anything#and he's not WORRIED he just (misses them) thinks it's terribly inappropriate to not even send a LETTER that is basic etiquette#he is their HUSBAND (and that thought is strange and new but also quietly- secretly- thrilling) It's just Proper to keep in contact#and maybe a small but not inconsiderable voice that sounds vaguely like Sethtaren keeps whispering to him in the night#(what if they've decided to put you off? you're so fussy and so loud and so ungainly why would they want to keep you?)#(It's all a lie anyway a show to put on for Mythal and the empire and it's not like they CARE they're bound to you by duty)#and so he sets off to visit them bc thats just what's done and besides what's even taking them so long they're both incorrigible#and when he gets there hes Appalled by the state they're both in- they've torn down most of the main palace but they both Look Rough#obviously sleep deprived and not eating regularly enough to be healthy and what even are the two of you doing you can't stay awake#for 72 consecutive hours Inan that is Unhealthy and Dangerous you need to sleep right now and don't even give me that look Uthvir you do too#and he just sort of... cajoles and insists and makes such a ruckus Inan gives in with minimal protest#Uthvir requires more convincing and it takes Thenvunin kind of wilting a bit at the way they snap at him for them to concede @theladypirate

Yup. they barely get any time together before, i mean, relatively, since you know elvhenan went full ‘what the fuck is time? let’s have the wedding celebration go on for like months/a year at minimum’. So they did have time together before all this shit but i imagine not too much of that was good for getting closer as people. but they do get enough that uthvir can verify that Inan themself is Decent and not an Immediate Threat to their life, Thenvunin to warm up to Inan and for all of them to give a shit about each other past the levels of Basic Decency. 

Inan gets wrapped up in things but is also dealing with basically being a psychic living in a bad place infested with a real rogues gallery of negative entity. getting wrapped up in work is in someways a coping mechanism to distract them bc otherwise they’re seeing 100000000% more horrible shit than anyone else is. and even when they are trying not to focus on it it’s there and because they’re sleeping so poorly it’s harder and harder for them to block things out so it’s just a spiral. 

Inan though is hyper focused on trying to keep things ok with thenvunin since he’s not here for a lot of it but naturally that’s a real struggle since they’re in hell. 

When things shift to total demo and rebuilding thenvunin comes in had basically does the shit he already does like manage things, negotiate with or fend off people from other factions and overall being super competent, so it ends up being a project where inanallas is only nominally in charge, while uthvir is managing the ground work and thenvunin is dealing with the higher ups. Inan however is basically systematically moving through falon’din’s lands with some other psychic-y types trying to undo some of the metaphysical fucked upness.  

which essentially means a lot of OBEs and while doing that killing spirits/demons that are terrorizing/corrupting, reshaping the dreaming so it’s not stuck replaying every horrible scene, making deals or convincing spirits to not be assholes. just like, all the shit you’d expect a psychic to try and do when clearing out a location of Awful Shit. They generally don’t look super hot during all this, very haggard and occasionally banged up. also very prone to outbrusts that make them look fucking insane bc they saw a spirit moving in the fade out of the corner of their eye and they just got done dealing with a rat king of fear demons so they’re on edge to say the least. 

i imagine that’s deeply unpleasant for the other two to watch but even more so for thenvunin who’d be so upset seeing someone fucking themselves up that badly to fix someone else’s mistakes.