#pre punisher s1

[golden-forge]

Just going to bring up that Salo was taking some containers from the hexgates, probably hex gems?, to bring back to Viktor.

That’s why he can’t let Salo leave.

Also it’s interesting that Jayce can see his breath so it’s cold but I’m trying to recall if Salo’s breath showed when he talked?

Maybe Salo doesn’t feel the cold like Viktor too.

❝ I can't let you leave. ❞

ARCANE (2021—2024)

[misserabella]

brat

spencer reid x f! reader

summary; spencer decides it’s a good day to test your patience by being sassy with you. let’s see if he can keep the act up when you’re punishing him for being a fucking brat.

cw!!; +18 content, minors dni!, s1/s2 spence!, spencer being a brat, cursing, fighting, kind of enemies to lovers, secret relationship, handcuffing (bondage), handjob (s receiving), masturbation (r) (spencer watches), orgasm denial, edging, untouched orgasm, lots of begging, dirty talking, dom! reader and sub! spencer, multiple orgasms, brat taming, piv sex, unprotected sex (don’t do this guys), breeding kink?, hickeys, creampie…

spencer was having a really shitty day. firstly; he had tripped with the sheets of his bed and landed onto the floor with a grunt, secondly; the coffee shop he always stopped by had closed for the day for some electric problems, what left him without his favorite sugary order and with the really not that great tasting bau’s coffee, thirdly; he was stressed out from the constant load of work, specially this really hard case, and lastly; you hadn’t touched him in a week. a whole fucking week.

spencer and you had this… thing going on. it all started after a rough case in which the two of you had fallen into each other’s arms and ended up sleeping together, something that surprised the two of you, since your relationship wasn’t “the best” to be frank. you two argued and bickered a lot like two little kids with crushes, and had been dancing around each other for quite a long time. it was obvious that you liked each other, but nothing had happened until that night. and after that you two were hooked. of course, the team didn’t know. and you had decided that they wouldn’t yet.

“okay, what about those marks on their bodies, they’re not found exactly in the same place or have the same shape but maybe…”

“no offense, y/n, but you don’t really know what you’re talking about do you?” your mouth gaped slightly at the ring in his tone and the squinting of his eyes. you stalked him as he got up from his seat and went towards the board of evidence, taking a marker and starting to write. “we have no evidence, no apparent interaction between the unsub and the victims pre or post mortem and an indistinguishable mo…” he turned around to face the team once again. “should be simple.” he arched his brows with a mocking pout pulling from his pinky lips as sarcasm tinged his voice.

“you know…?” you looked at him as you crossed your arms over your chest. “instead of taking your fucking temper out on us because you’ve had a shitty day, you could take all that energy and use it to help us, reid.” you had to bite down an impressed chuckle by pushing your tongue against the inside of your cheek as his pretty hazel eyes rolled at your words.

“and you should save your comments concerning your hate towards me ‘cause it’s hard to give a fuck when you’re the smartest motherfucker in the fbi.”

“spencer.” hotch cut the two of you off before the situation could escalate. “take 5.” he ordered.

“but-“

“now.” he silently thew the marker on the table and walked out of the door, leaving the team astonished by his behavior.

derek whistled, shock written over his face. “what was that?”

you gritted your teeth. fucking brat.

“no fucking idea.” you hissed.

seems like you’d have to teach him a lesson.

“please…!” he’s whimpering, thrashing, his wrists becoming raw from the tugging against the handcuffs that restrained him to the head of your bed.

his cock was beautifully swollen and heavy on your palm, slicked with your spit and his dribbling precum, which can’t stop dripping from the red flushed head. you’re chuckling. his mind was dizzy with the need to cum, his hips sputtering up against the warmth of your hand in need of release. you’d been at this for a while now, bringing him to the edge of an orgasm just to stop all together, squeezing his base, edging him, driving him insane.

“please, i’m sorry…” he begged, gasping, his breathing was ragged, his back arching from the bed you had pinned him down to. you bit harshly down onto his neck, sucking a new bruise that made him whine.

“what did you do, hm?” you inquired him before starting to jerk him once again, humming when more pre cum stained your fingers and the back of your hand. he was making such a fucking mess. he was a fucking mess. and you loved it.

“i-i was a brat…” he whined and you chuckled again at his desperate and breathy answer.

“yeah?”

“yes, yes…” he sounded desperate. it was cute.

“what else?”

“i…” a moan left his lips at the movement of your hand on his cock, up and down, slowly. he was getting lost in that pretty little head of his again. so you stopped, making a pained sound leave his plushy lips. “no, please! please don’t stop!”

“answer me and i’ll keep going, pretty boy.” you thumbed his slit and his whole body shivered in a pretty whine.

“i talked bad at you…” he gulped. “i…i was disrespectful in front of the team.” he gasped, flinching and moaning when you squeezed him. “oh god. fuck. please, please…”

“atta boy. see? that wasn’t difficult.” his adam’s apple bobbed when you spat down on the head of his twitching pretty dick, slicking him up even if he didn’t need it and starting the process of bringing him to the edge once again. after the stress, pent up energy of a whole week and your touch and teasing, it was easy to drive him right to it in a record time. he was a mess of moans and whines, his hips bucking up in the heat and slick of your palm. “looks like you’re about to cum, baby. are you gonna cum?” you inquired him, going faster up and down his cock, and he nodded, whispering little ‘yes’s in between gasps. “i don’t think you deserve it, though, you’ve been such a fucking brat, spencer…” he whimpered. “and all of it for what, hm?” pretty tears started to swell in his eyes as you pushed away your touch from him.

“i just… i just wanted you to touch me.” he whispered, hurt, puppy eyes behind his glasses staring up at you.

“so you went ahead and acted like a fucking brat expecting to win it that way?” you chuckled, incredulous.

he crooked his head, his mouth gaping like a fish in search of words. “please…”

“some pretty pleases ain’t gonna cut it.” you got up and started to undress in front of his eyes, his beautiful cock was flushed and resting against his lower stomach, dribbling white pearls of precum onto his skin. you smirked when you saw it twitch at the sight of your body only on your lace bra and panties. spencer tugged on his restrains when you cupped your breasts obscenely once you had unclasped and thrown away your bra into the pile of clothes decorating the floor of the room. “you like the view, spence?”

his eyes squeezed shut. you were toying with him. he painfully whined, but he still —knowing better— nodded, licking his lips. you hummed, your hands coming down to your panties, your smirk growing when you watched as his eyes followed the trail down and tugged once again at the handcuffs. “you want me to take them off, hm?”

“yes…” he nodded eagerly, his cock twitching at the idea. “please.” he added.

“such good manners… this is what you needed isn’t it, baby? just a little lesson.” you purred, and pushed down the last piece of clothing on your body past your thighs until it fell pooling at your feet. spencer whined needily at the view. you crawled into the bed once again, seating yourself in front of him and spreading open your legs for his hungry eyes. he let out a shaky breath at the sight of your sticky folds and gaping entrance, begging to be filled by him. you hummed as one of your hands made its way down your stomach and in between your legs, your back slightly arching with a soft moan as your fingers bumped your clit. you were soaking wet. spencer moaned as well, fighting his restrains. “hmmm, spencer…” you sighed, touching yourself in front of his hungry eyes, he whined, in need to put his hands on you. “you see this baby? if only you’d been good… you could be fucking me right now…” he whimpered, his hips bucking up in the air in need of relieve.

“please… please, let me touch you, please…” he begged. “i’ll be good, i promise…” you sank two of your fingers inside of your pussy, gasping at the stretch and letting out a moan at the feeling as you started to slowly thrust them in and out. “please baby, please… i need you, i need to touch you…” he pleaded but you ignored him, continuing to touch and pleasure yourself in between gasps and moans. he whined, swallowing harshly, the sound and sight of you was enough to make him about to blow his load. he grunted as he fought with the handcuffs, his cock throbbing in need to be deep inside your cunt.

your fingers curled and your back arched. “fuck, spence…!” he was sure you were moaning his name just to rile him up. and it was working. his wrists were bruised by now, the same color of the hickeys on his neck and chest that you had branded.

“please…” he was desperate now. “please baby, please…”

“spence, i’m gonna cum…!” you gasped, speeding up the curling of your fingers. he whined, it was as if you were touching him, his cock throbbing against his stomach, now with a pool of precum decorating it. he was so close to his own orgasm it scared him. he was not the most experienced, but he had never come untouched, and it was astonishing, ‘cause he was about to do it just by watching you. and it felt so good…

he groaned when he saw it, the way your back arched, the way your mouth hung in a scream and the way creamy white cum coated your fingers and dribbled down onto the mattress, staining the sheets.

he moaned out your name in heavy pants. “i can’t… i can’t.” he babbled. “i can’t hold it…!” he moaned, his hips grinding against the air once, twice, thrice before he was cumming all over himself. untouched. like a fucking teenager.

holy fuck. spencer had come untouched. the thought of it was enough to drive you inane.

“mmph!!!” he moaned once again at the feeling of your tongue on his dick, licking him and his skin clean of his cum. “f-fuck!!” his hips twitched up, and a broken whimper ripped his throat when you straddled him, your soaked cunt against his still sensitive —and hardening— dick. “what are you-oh my god…!” he babbled, his back arching when in a quick succession of movements, you took him, aligned him with your entrance and sat down on him down to the hilt.

“you wasted that pretty load, pretty boy…” you moaned as you started to dirtily ride him, hips and jumps on his cock desperate. you didn’t even wait for the burning of the stretch to subside. “but that’s okay, ‘cause you’re gonna give me another one, huh? gonna cum for me and fill my pussy up just like you wanted.” he whimpered, his body shaking in overstimulation, his hazel puppy eyes welling with tears. “isn’t this what you wanted, baby? what you were begging for?” you sped up and he moaned.

“i can’t, oh god, i can’t…” but he still somehow found himself thrusting up against you in need for more.

“your body doesn’t say the same thing, baby.” you chuckled, amazed by the beautiful reactions he was giving you. “you’re so hard already… and you just came.” you hummed as you bounced on his cock, the tip kissing your cervix with every jump. he moaned, his glasses slightly fogged and crooked, his hair messy and with some strands glued in sweat against his temple and his lips swollen from all the biting. “so pretty… god and you fuck me so good baby, fill me so good…” he whined, gone under the thought of you using him like some toy to get off. he wasn’t even fighting to get off the handcuffs anymore, he was just taking it, and letting you take anything you wanted from him. “being so good for me, spence…” he keened under the praise, his dick twitching in between your walls due to your speeding movements. he wasn’t gonna last. and you knew it.

“i’m-i’m gonna cum…” he moaned, panting, his eyes squeezing shut. “i need to cum… please, please can i cum?” “can i come inside? please let me cum inside, please…” he was begging, and you moaned, feeling your own high approaching, every thrust of his hips up against yours pressing against that perfect spot in between your gummy walls.

“yes, yes, cum inside me baby, fill me up.” you whimpered behind him, your mouth gaping when you felt it, his sticky warm load painting your walls as you kept bouncing on him. “oh my god…”

“fuck, ah, fuckfuckfuck!” he moaned and babbled as he felt you reaching your own high, squeezing and milking him dry.

you two moved against each other to ride out your orgasms, leaving a mess out of the sheets and his cock, now drenched in both your juices.

the two of you were panting as you stilled, his softening dick still inside you as you rested your hands on his chest.

“lesson learned?” you questioned and he gulped, nodding, out of air.

“lesson learned.” “…” “can you uncuff me now?”

bratty spencer💚

[nualaofthefaerie]

i know your melvik hc are gonna be insane. i'm begging

Melvik! - SFW/NSFW headcanons ( •ॢ◡-ॢ)-♡

A/N: I love those two so much, I have so many headcanons about them and so many thoughts. These current headcanons are based on Pre-S1 Melvik AU.

Skyce version

SFW Headcanons

Viktor and Mel met early in Viktor's career when he was still Heimerdinger's assistant.

Mel took notice of Viktor first. His wits, but even more so his pride made an impression on her. Viktor in turn is quite oblivious, but he finds her judgement to be respectable and her as a person very pretty.

Viktor catches the first notes of her attraction to him when it's quite obvious - she funds his first independent project (before Jayce and Hextech). She thinks she is very sleek with the way her funding forces conversation between them at all times.

He has definitely taken her out to dinner at a place he can absolutely not afford on an assistant salary, however, his pride again would not allow him to slack off in how he presents himself

Mel has never competed with Viktor and if she does is more focused on intellectual and social topics as opposed to flaunting her wealth in front of him. So Viktor's dinner was more of a score in her books than he would give himself credit for.

When she realises she actually really enjoys spending time with someone who challenges her, she offers to pay off his entire college debt if he helps her to construct a prototype for a clean water pump whose purpose is to lower the tensions between Piltover and Zaun. They spend a lot of time up in her apartment to a degree where they fall asleep on the floor sometimes. However, due to Viktor's chronic pain, he wakes up during the night and would always without fail put a blanket over her before leaving for his apartment. (would also always leave her a note. He's not barbaric)

They love playing chess. They get very competitive about it. Mel always plays white.

Mel is shit at cooking, Viktor is decent and the only thing he is exceptional at is Borscht. Mel learns that she loves Borscht.

They have a reading club and take turns choosing books. Mel has definitely made Viktor read "Crime and Punishment", in turn, he forced her to read "Essays by Michel de Montaigne". They often read and discuss together.

On weekends when he is not stuck in the lab she'd ask him out to a gala, which he is not super thrilled about but seeing a Zaunite with the richest woman in Piltover makes him an enigma and a curiosity for the high society (she is selling the concept of Viktor to make sure his projects attract attention and funding).

When Jayce tells Mel "he disappeared, he does that sometimes" she fights off the urge to say "I know". Their relationship is not something they've ever shown to Jayce, although their bond is undeniably almost telephatic.

Their arguments are not loud but are very fast-paced and very cutthroat. It's not about who is right sometimes, it's about winning.

Their first kiss is kind of a mistake that turns for the better. Mel is approached by the thousand suitor during a gala, assuming that Viktor is nothing but a plaything she keeps around. Their blatant disregard of his presence stings him, so he proves them wrong, leaning in very demonstratively to lend a kiss on shoulder, almost possessive. When they don't get the hint, Mel pulls him in for a kiss to prove the point.

She makes an attempt to apologise when they're in private, but he just kisses her again without saying much else.

Viktor sleeps on the right side of the bed.

Mel builds a special shelf structure for his braces and cane next to the bed.

NSFW Headcanons (now we're in it, team)

Aftercare: Both are very strict with aftercare. Since both of them feed off of arguing and sometimes being mean to one another, reassurance after sex is very important to maintain trust in one another.

Body part: Viktor's jawline, especially when he tilts his head in provocation could drive Mel crazy. She loves to bite and kiss and leave marks on it. On the other hand, Viktor has a thing for Mel's waist and back. He enjoys that they are more or less the same height so he can easily hold her and kiss along her shoulder blades between the golden details on her skin.

Cum: Both of them are hypothetically very clean (in practice it depends a lot on their mood). Still no matter what a condom is always present even though I'm absolutely sure Mel is on the pill.

Dirty secret: I didn't think they have any tbh.

Experience: Both of them are relatively experienced and think they know what they want from the relationship but as soon as they actually got together they clash and realise that their palletes are a lot wider than they thought they are. But they have experience.

Favorite position: If Viktor tops he likes to watch her back arch and be able to kiss her back so doggy would be his favourite. If his leg hurts or Mel tops too, she rides both cowgirl and reverse. If Mel pegs that man she likes to watch his face unravel so she folds him like a fucking pretzel until he cries.

Goofy: They are deadly serious during sex, both of them.

Hair: Mel is always meticulously waxed and clean, that woman doesn't have a shred of hair, but Viktor likes that because he can trace the golden lines that go from her pelvis to her core. Viktor keeps himself clean, not hairless, but well-groomed.

Intimacy: Even in their hatefucking era, it's extremely intimate. They always hold each other painfully close as if one of them lets go the other one will disappear.

Jack off: I don't see either of them needing to masturbate a lot since they are always three doors away from one another if they need each other, but sometimes it turns them on to watch the other do it to the thought of fucking. Viktor has shamelessly jacked off with her panties at least once.

Kink: Where do we start? Both of them have an ownership kink, they don't like sharing, they don't tolerate others making advances. As an extension to that marking kink, not necessarily visible, they're adults, but Mel knows ther marks of her nails are imprinted on Viktor's back and Viktor knows that there is a blooming mark on Mel's stomach and that gives them peace. Mild exhibitionism too. Both are big on the thrill of fucking in public.

Location: as I said, their bedrooms are fine, but the back of a gala or their offices simply is better.

Motivation: Competition. Winning. They love playing chess because trying to win and the smugness of outsmarting the other tuns them on painfully. The loser usually is a rather unwilling bottom that gets to be broken by the top (they're a mystery, you never know which one is going to explode first).

No: Nothing that physically harms the other. Under no circumstances and no roleplaying. They hate roleplaying. Both of them.

Oral: Viktor doesn't mind receiving, but he is a giver. A very skilled giver. He enjoys watching Mel unravel under his tongue. It makes him feel in control. He is also a very meticulous eater, and very purposeful. Mel doesn't like to give oral very much but understands its importance. She's just lucky Viktor is indifferent to receiving it. Although if the schedule is tight she'd gladly offer her assistance and as I said, he'd never hurt or pull on her, often the sight of her on her knees is enough for him.

Pace: Depends. If Viktor tops it's often a bit slower so he doesn't exert himself too much but it's also very clean and very good. If Mel tops things get much faster and much more rough.

Quickie: Big on quickies. They're very busy there's not often time for the whole package. She'd ride him in his office chair just to feel him close.

Risk: They take calculated risks. Fucking in public doesn't mean fucking in the bathroom where they could be caught. Although the rush of being caught does turn them on. Also having to conceal the nature of their relationship is thrilling.

Stamina: They like one round each, Mel perhaps could take more but in those cases, Viktor's mouth becomes a tool. He would gladly relieve any pressure and frustration even if he doesn't have the energy to actually fuck.

Toys: Big on straps and on small vibrators, one of those with the remote controls. (I'm not saying they only use those on Mel, I think they both enjoy it a fair amount).

Unfair: An open collar on Viktor, a high slit on Mel, a lingering touch, a lingering touch there, they love to tease one another. They would purposefully provoke jealousy to get to see possessiveness and ownership in the other.

Volume: Viktor is a loud grunter, Mel moans beautifully but quietly, usually in his ear.

Wild card: They have gone down to the pleasure house in the lanes and definitely tag-teamed on a sex worker.

X-ray: We've all seen it on screen, I don't think I need to say that Viktor is packing a big, slightly curved dick.

Yearning: Both of them have quite a high sex drive, since their drive is born out of frustration and intimacy, basically anything can set them off into a night to remember.

Zzz: They're both insomniacs. They lay in bed reading books for the next three hours or work.

A/N: My box is open to any Melvik and Skyce thoughts right now, because these four are driving me to the wall.

[minervas-hand]

Right to fear, wrong to believe

Just had a horrible realization and needed to meta it out.

How different they were before Edinburgh, when Crowley was sucked down into Hell.

Look at this flirty babygirl in the Bastille:

I mean could he climb that tree any faster?

(This is why I really like fics that place a more physical relationship here, pre-Bastille or just post-Bastille, because c'mon look at them. )

In S1 the next thing is 1862 and Crowley asking for insurance (with a cane ffs). And Aziraphale freaking out with his "fraternizing" BS. It's jarring, until we get 1827 filled in for us in S2.

@takeme-totheworld notes in this post:

Crowley sure went from "our respective head offices don't actually care how things get done" and "nobody ever has to know" to "walls have ears" FAST after Edinburgh. And Aziraphale went from looking at Crowley with hearts in his eyes to "I've been FrAtErNiZiNg" just as quickly. I'm more convinced than ever that Edinburgh was the first time Crowley ever actually got caught and punished for fucking around with Aziraphale/doing good deeds/whatever it was they yanked him back down to Hell for, and it scared the absolute shit out of both of them and changed the whole tone of their relationship after that.

Yes! - it's clear to me as well that the Edinburgh graveyard was a very bad turning point, where they both saw that Hell was listening and would intervene. And it did change their relationship drastically, for over a century and a half (really, until looming Armageddon loosened up the stakes for them).

But what about Heaven?

See the thing is, we know Azi's been worried about Heaven watching him for the past 6000 years.

But they haven't.

[GIFs posted by starrose17]

All this time, and Heaven had not seen them together. Hadn't noticed. Had not even LOOKED.

I want to mention what @starrose17 says about this here in this post:

What I love about this is her choice of words, “went back through the Earth Observation files.” This implies that these photos were already filed somewhere meaning somebody had to have been watching them which meant somewhere in the depths of the bureaucratic heaven there’s an underpaid angel clerk tasked with watching angels on Earth, and he’s been hording photos of his favourite Angel/Demon couple not reporting them to Michael because he wants to see what happens.

And that's exactly what this fic covers!: Spying Omens by @ednav

(Give this a read, it's fabulous.)

While I am here for this being exactly how that happens, the other scenario is colder and worse - there's no one watching, at all. It's just filing automatically and never seen until some Scrivener is called to pull a file.

From @fuckyeahisawthatat's comment here :

I found this scene to be quite chilling, actually. Not only is the idea of Heaven as a surveillance state brilliant (way to make “God is always watching” sound way more ominous) but this is exactly how modern surveillance states work. They don’t actively watch everybody all the time. That’s not physically possible for humans, and even if it is metaphysically possible for Heaven, it’s not a very efficient use of resources. Surveillance states watch people they deem “suspicious.” And once you’ve been put in the category of “suspicious,” they have massive amounts of data that they can comb through to collect a lot of information about you–to retroactively build a case justifying why you’re suspicious, to collect information about where you go and who you associate with, etc.

Yes.

So we either have secret collusion in the rank and file, or we have a surveillance state that is constantly reinforced to its subjects for fear's sake, for control.

(Well, it obviously could be both.)

BUT my point is… Up until Edinburgh, Hell has not been watching (or caring at least). And up until near the end of Armageddon't, neither has Heaven.

Oh, my poor Angel. Thousands of years, of denying yourself, of pushing Crowley away, of carrying around a tension that is it's own constellation.

After 1827 you might have reason, but for the 5000+ years before that?

Thousands of years and Heaven was not watching nor cared.

You were right to fear. And you were wrong to believe.

And that just breaks my heart.

[futuremrscameron]

many thoughts (positive)

so often i think about how when rafe gets fucked, he lets it happen like a burden. like it’s genuinely painful for someone to want to entangle themselves so intimately within him. like he isn’t all muscled limbs and sharp cheekbones and pink lips, something grotesque and gnarly instead. he has an inclination to hide his face: under a sinewy forearm, pushed into a sweaty pillow. mute his voice completely. he would erase his own existence if the pleasure he was feeling wasn’t so palpable, and his passive reception any less than tolerated— usually another hand coming to knock his own forearm away, or tugging at loose brown strands to pull his head up, oppress a reaction out of him even if it’ll make him cry afterwards.

[jasspurr]

just wondering.. could u rec some of ur fav jayvik fics? i love your writing!!1<3

AHHH thank you + oh my god absolutely. i do not read many jayvik fics but the ones that i have read are phenomenal, there's a few that really stood out to me though for sure so i'll rec these :]

i've been trying to make you special by fouroddapples (E) - this is like. THE situationship jayvik fic for me. i absolutely love the unspoken push and pull of their relationship and it really makes your heart ache and i just love it. i love it

disjunction by nanashi07 (M) - this one was written pre-s2 and imo is just a beautiful tie up of machine herald viktor and arcane viktor to me, it takes place some time after the end of s1 in arcane. very good divorce era jayvik reconciliation and it's fun to watch everything unravel over time

mother tongue by nightlilly (T) - there is a huge chance you've read this but i have have have to mention it because it's just everything for me. it's so cute i was kicking my feet smiling the entire time. such a comfort read

grey dawn/red dusk by thetrickyowl (both E) - this is two fics in one and you Have To Read It. it is written so beautifully and there are going to be so many parts that just kick you in the gut and it's amazing. absolutely incredible. it goes over the

here at the end of all things by queercatfan (M) - THIS FUCKING FIC!!!!!!!!!!! oh my god. it is a devastating and heavy read but it is so so beautiful and raw and ugh. i went through all five stages of grief twice while reading it, it's written from au/mage viktor's perspective as he tries to fix the damage he did in his timeline and it just fucking HURTSSSS but it hurts so good. i've read it like three times now first because i am a glutton for punishment and second because it is so god damn well written and SUCH a good viktor dissection i can't stop thinking about it.

anyway i know for a fact i missed like a hundred but these are the ones i've been rotating in my head like a microwave on repeat for the last few weeks so that's all i've got for now. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING i love geeking out about my fav jayvik fics. there are sooo many talented authors here and i am constantly inspired by them

[muninnhuginn]

One of the things really striking me thus far on my s1 rewatch is how much it's implied that Mark and Petey actively tested their boundaries at Lumon.

We have Mark listing off all the ways Helly could try to get out a message to explain why they wouldn't work along with the accompanying punishments (the "bad soap" and some horrific implications around laxatives if they try to swallow a message). His remark about how Milchick can't always be "nice".

Petey mentions that they'd tried resignation requests and had them rejected as part of his explanation that they'd tried all they could on the inside before trying something else. But it does carry the implication that they'd been discussing this stuff together. Especially given how they were "one of the best office friendships" according to Milchick and the whole peteymark -> markhelly parallels that the show itself asks us to consider.

Mark's reaction to Graner, diving in to take the punishment on Helly's behalf because he knew he could handle it. The fact Petey had a recording of Mark in the Breakroom and the mention that Mark had had the most Wellness sessions. Of course, the Wellness sessions likely have other factors behind them (hi Ms Casey) but the first time we see them used is because Lumon is "worried about Irving". Wellness sessions are used as a pre-punishment as a default, which again, implies some level of "acting out" to get there.

Innie Mark is often portrayed as more naïve than his outie. And, sure, he hasn't got the same grief, but he's still jaded in his own way. He comes off as a yes man in early season one, but a lot of that is because he's tried all the options available to him. And losing his main companion in these endeavours was the final straw. He's gone from having someone alongside him to having no one at all. Irving is a rules stickler and Dylan cares more for the perks than trying to escape. Not just that, but Mark now has someone to take under his own wing in the form of Helly.

So, he buckles down, tries to guide her and protect her from the worst of it all, and lets go of his own attempts to escape. Avoids even thinking too hard about them, because he's Mark and that's what he does. But he still lets it slip in his advice to Helly and his later actions in season one show that he hasn't forgotten. He's just buried his head in the sand until someone is there to tell him to stop being an asshole.

It's not that he discovered how to rebel during season one. It's that he learnt to have hope.

[buckybarnesss]

Would you say that Derek Hale haunts the narrative too?

so anon i've been sitting on this for a few days now and my answer is this: yes

let me elaborate.

derek hale is both haunted by and haunting the narrative of teen wolf.

we know the ways derek is haunted by the narrative. the deaths of paige and laura, his role in the fire and the death of his family and the legacy of his mother. all of these things follow derek but i would also say pre-fire derek haunts the narrative due to the close association with scott.

the narrative of the show repeatedly parallels young derek. it's derek's entire underlying purpose in s1 to prevent scott from becoming him. derek also alludes to it himself in code breaker to scott and peter even outright says it in visionary.

however there is another way he is looming in the narrative and that is his absence in s5.

we see this mainly in 5a with scott and stiles's arcs.

scott overcorrects with theo due how he treated derek in the beginning as well as trying to be a good alpha. he no longer has derek to rely and fall back on. it's important that he fails at this. i know popular belief in some circles is that scott doesn't receive any punishment but s5 is brutal on scott. his pack fractures and breaks, he literally dies because of his inability to see theo's manipulations.

with stiles it's different. he's clearly increasingly agitated and paranoid throughout s5 which is the fallout from the nogitsune possession. derek's absence is clearly affecting stiles because he received little closure from derek before he left and stiles feels very alone, trapped in his ptsd that only spirals more with the donovan incident. derek was a grounding force for stiles and stiles does not handle any top of loss well.

so yes in some ways even though derek didn't die in the show he still haunts the narrative.

[fairfowl]

As promised! Izzy-centric fic recs!

These are all gonna be pre S2 (and all Steddyhands because I was obsessed for like a year)

@crabgrave

Starting off strong with

1) Battle of the Boyfriends

This fic makes you laugh before it makes you cry. A steddyhands centric dramady mostly from Izzy's point of view, and I love this Izzy very much.

Isn't he precious? They absolutely hurt his feelings

2) Doldrums

This one is a two part series that starts with Izzy leaving the Revenge as Stede and Ed reunite post S1. He recruits Calico Jack and becomes captain of his own ship while he and Jack have a lot of sex (I actually enjoy Jack in this one lol) Ed and Izzy eventually partially work things out

The second part involves Izzy back on the ship in the beginning stages of steddyhands

I think the real strength of this series is Izzy's interactions with everyone, but especially Stede and Oluwande

3) The Nook is for Talking Shit

This is a Calico Jack hate!fic and I'm here for it. Also steddyhands because I've got a problem

In this fic Stede and Izzy bond offer a mutual enemy, and Izzy teaches Stede how to craft the perfect insult

I like that they laugh together, and I really like it when Stede stands up for Izzy ♡ (I also like that Izzy has a very good reason to hate Jack that involves him having been injured very badly)

4) Navigating By the Light of Your Stars

A delicious sandwich of a trilogy where the bread is BlackHands and Stizzy relationship studies, and the meat is steddyhands smut.

Featuring: GrayAce!Izzy, whump, Stede’s introduction to BDSM, and discussions of mortality ♡

5) A Pirate Triptych

Another steddyhands trilogy!

This is one I've seen on many recommendation lists and it is worth it. These men and their guilt I swear ♡

Post S1 Izzy schemes to get Stede back into Ed's good graces at his own expense.

If you like Izzy whump this is the fic for you

6) More Vivid than Sunsets, Brighter than Stars

On a shorter and sweeter note this little steddyhands bdsm fic explores Izzy running his mouth and Stede and Ed going a little too far in order to punish him. Everyone gets their feelings hurt ♡

Everyone is characterized well here but Ed is kind of the star of the show, he has to mediate this incident and he's hilarious

7) House of Mirrors

This one is pure Izzy whump with steddyhands caretaking. Izzy is sick, Ed spirals, Stede is Exhausted (tm)

I reread this one often

anyway I think this is what I have for now, I might post another list at some point because there are a couple of longfics that are very near and dear to my heart, plus S2 is not gonna stop me from reading new fic. I look forward to seeing more amputee!Izzy

[jakowskis]

have i talked about my headcanon that jack and owen hooked up a few times pre-s1. i think it makes a lot of sense considering they're both characters who default to the intimacy of sex as a coping mechanism. owen would've been hurting and seeking comfort after katie and jack likes to feel like he's helping people. i don't think it's a reach to say that at some point early on owen might've been trying to drink himself to death, jack showed up to take him home, and owen impulsively (and angrily) tried to kiss him, like that could 100% be canon to me. and they very possibly could've slept together, too, depending on how you think jack would handle that situation. i always felt there was a palpable sexual tension between them in the early eps of s1, and you can read that as torchwood's token flirtatiousness and the way every single combination of characters has a 'will they wont they' going on, but considering they're the two most likely to actually act on attraction, maybe they already had smth by the time we first meet them. and idc how this fandom views them, to me they're absolutely mutually physically attracted to each other. like, come on. it's torchwood.

more than anything though i think it'd explain owen's weird preoccupation with ianto + his relationship with jack, and the way he's, of all things, competitive with him in particular - in a way he's not with gwen, who also gets a lot of jack's attention. if jack and owen hooked up once or twice but it was very casual / probably even kind of combative, but then jack chose to have a romantic relationship with ianto, i could very easily imagine some part of owen, regardless of whether or not he actually wants jack in any capacity, feeling like "why would he want him over me? what the hell's the teaboy got that i don't??" we already know owen feels... insufficient, as far as his importance in jack's life (i think 'i found my doctor.' 'did he fix you?' says sooo much), i think he badly craves being important within torchwood, obviously, but just as equally, being important and useful to jack - and considering how sex kind of influences everything with owen, i could just very easily see that manifesting in a brief no-strings situation. again, very early on; jack acting on attraction to his angry new employee (his substitute doctor,) who's so very desperate to be saved and given new purpose by him (and isn't that good for jack's ego, too), who hates him and wants desperately to please him in equal measure, and owen acting on a desire to please his new boss, to try to ensure this job's a sure thing even though he's been acting out and not showing up at times, and what a fine way to self-destruct, to self-punish, too, sleeping with the man he blames for his fiancee's death and who's surely gonna lead him to his death.

i just. hrgh. i love how much fucked up shit you can do with jack/owen, like there's so many dark miserable things to play with there. i love it

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Okay but can we talk about how Diavolo treats Lucifer in Nightbringer! I'm obsessed with the clear difference and what it implies! Because it's so good!

In S1, Diavolo and Lucifer are clearly friends and Diavolo is very openly infatuated with Lucifer but Lucifer has trauma related hangups about it and so puts a wall between them and is deferential to Diavolo. Their relationship is not equal despite the fact that they're friends

In the present (s2 to post s4) Lucifer and Diavolo are much better friends. Lucifer has moved past those previous hangups and due to that Lucifer is more open with him. Their relationship is that of equals now that Lucifer no longer hesitates to give his honest opinion to Diavolo rather than just being a yes man. Lucifer even punishes Diavolo, the way he does to his brothers + MC & Solomon, & honestly nothing shows the change in Lucifer's mindset more than that

Pre Nightbringer, which we see in the Glory Days Devilgram & in parts of S3, Angel! Lucifer distrusts and even dislikes Diavolo. Diavolo is still extremely infatuated. Over the course of the day they spend together, Lucifer relaxes around Diavolo and is more receptive to him. They're again on equal ground here

In Nightbringer, Diavolo's been unexpectedly thrust into the role of the ruler of his entire realm and he's struggling due to the tension with the celestial realm, with his citizens, with the more conservative noble demons. It's a year after the Fall and Lucifer and his brothers are clearly at Diavolo's mercy. They're war criminals with nowhere else to go. Since this is after Glory Days he's probably still just as infatuated with Lucifer. But he never shows it. He's friendly but also cool and professional and strict. Willing to enforce his law because there are many who doubt his abilities as a ruler. He's also nowhere near as confident as S1-4 Diavolo

He has a completely different attitude towards Lucifer, despite his possibly still existing feelings towards Lucifer, because:

1.) His ability as a ruler matters more and he can't be swayed by personal feelings

2.) Lucifer and he are very much not on equal grounds at the moment

Despite all of Diavolo's best intentions (most of which he is right about within the context of the type of story obey me is about) he tends to be very oblivious about other people's feelings until they are spelt out for him (something that is addressed in S3) but seeing him being so aware of the very delicate situation he's found himself in is amazing

Related posts:

Diavolo & Lucifer's relationship development

Lucifer's current attitude with diavolo

Diavolo & Lucifer being v. gay because as amazing as it is to see what they were like before, I miss their married era part 1

part 2

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

Chapter 7

Summary: After being punished in Heaven for being in love as angels, Aziraphale and Crowley spend the next 6,000 years pretending their relationship never happened. Rating: E Chapters: 7/? Tags: Pre-Fall, Angel Crowley, Crowley has Trauma from the Fall, Aziraphale and Crowley Through The Ages, Post-Season/Series 02, Anxious Aziraphale, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, Guilt, 6000 Years of Repression, Arguing, Crying, Rejection, Getting Back Together, First Time, Angst with a Happy Ending

Chapter 7 goes through most of the events of s1, with twists on the wall slam scene, bandstand breakup, and more 👀

Please read!

[avoicebehindthestars]

Why so negative? Not just the fandom but Rhianna and Rob pushed hard for any continuation; I feel Amazon is more to blame for ‘ruining s3’ than the fandom or whatever, no? /gen

I never cared about the second coming, other than maybe being curious about whether Greasy Johnson would be it. All my hopes for season 3 were to get as much Aziracrow content as possible. Flashbacks, minisodes, slow reconcilliation, heartfelt healing. 6 episodes never felt enough. And now we're not getting any of that - just another cliche avert-the-apocalypse fantasy. Lousy 90 minutes. That's nothing!! Not to even mention the rushed rewrites to shorten the scripts (they have 2 months not only for that but the whole pre-production!) - that alone is a recipe for disaster. And then add to that the producer is the guy who ruined GoT and made s1 of RoP.

I blame everyone who let sjw cow them. I blame myself for shutting up when I should've been more vocal - for letting all the cyberbullying I'd received get to me, for failing to find the strength to keep fighting against those sickos, for hiding when I should've faught. And I blame every single fucker who ever used the "fire Neil Gaiman" tag.

Since when is ban on creative work a valid punishment?? What, a millionaire allegedly committed SA and as a punishment we're going to make him sad over a missed job opportunity? You call that justice? That's just sucking up to sjw and their ridiculous sense of entitlement.

[tonydaddingham]

so here's what we're told about the bet with satan:

god will allow whatever happens to job and his family to happen without intervention

heaven is following these orders, the terms of the permit, and will not interfere at all; whatever happens to job is in fact up to satan and hell's own actions

aziraphale considers the possibility that god does not necessarily want job and his family to suffer - or more specifically, that crowley is wrong

crowley is steadfast to the contrary, and asserts that god's will must be that the children die, and to question god is essentially to follow the same kind of fate (or as close as).

all of this is stating the fairly-obvious, i know. but i think we're possibly, once again, reading this scene and taking crowley's word for it - understandable, given that the minisode starts, and continues to be for a lot of scenes, from crowley's perspective. but there is nothing to indicate that god actively wants suffering brought on job and his family, nothing to show that that was her intent; satan seemed to initiate the bet, going by muriel's whole account, and god is letting whatever happens, happen.

because that's the thing: standing by and watching whilst hell does so is not, arguably, the right thing to do, but it is the right thing for god to do; to let her creation do what it wants. if hell chooses to go ahead with putting job and his family through hardship, then she will not - and should not - stop it. even when job is beseeching to her for answers, she does not give them; she cannot and will not get involved.

crowley and aziraphale do the right thing by putting a stop to it all, and i think that was the plan, particularly of the ineffable variety - not that crowley and aziraphale were pre-destined to stop it per se, but that all the players of her game would act on their own, and make their own choices. they would exercise their free will as they see fit, whether to cause suffering, or to prevent it. free will is not necessarily a good thing, but it is the right thing. this is the game of her own devising.

i also want to consider that this very situation may turn out to be, in part, a parallel of the fall. in the minisode, it seems that the reason why aziraphale didn't fall is because he did exactly as god intended - to act of his own free will, according to what he thought was right - but equally he would not have fallen if he had done the opposite (regardless of how he would essentially punish himself if he had told gabriel the truth). i don't think that god is in the business of punishing anyone, regardless of their motivations or moral alignment, if they are acting out of free will.

and further from this, i don't think god had a hand in the fall at all, not beyond it being - essentially - cool with her if some of her angels didn't agree with her plans for the universe. i don't think she cast them out in the way we're all imagining it to have happened. i think some of her creations acted with cruelty out of free will, and others did not. crowley obviously, more than likely anyway, belongs in the latter category. but she cannot interfere, she cannot and will not take free will away from them.

what crowley thought were her orders were unlikely to have ever been that at all. if anything - wherever crowley is or isn't placed in the narrative of the fall - i think she likely excused herself from deciding the fate of the fallen altogether, and left it to 'her people' to decide. her inaction, to allow the fall to happen, may not have been the right thing, but it ultimately the right thing for her to do. (frankly, i think we can take pontius pilate's handling of jesus' trial in Matthew as some further kind of parallel here)

then take into account aziraphale's constant rhetoric throughout s1 and s2 that humanity has a choice, that everyone has choices; i think he potentially understands god a little more than he's given credit for. and when he says that he's on god's side, specifically doesn't say heaven's, i think that's more literal than even he knows.

[horizon-verizon]

How do you feel about the portrayal of motherhood for Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Helaena in the show versus in the books?

Answer: It didn't make sense for either Rhaenyra or Alicent to try to find some peace when they have given neither any sort of room to believe that the other wants such, esp Alicent not believing it of Rhaenyra that. Mothers in HotD should expect to sacrifice or devalue their kids in the event of wanting to demonstrate good/tolerable personhood more so so an audience can love them than to create real people. Perhaps the writers are even confused on how to portray the possible conflicts of motherhood vs good personhood, but the way they've gone about it tends to:

maintain and uphold the very patriarchal principle of the materiality of one's offspring -- Alicent-the-character in the HotD canon tends to use her kids more as indications of her own obedience and value more than her children

deny them their humanity for the sake of a type of "heroism" or goodness they try ascribe to their central female characters for them to have any appeal.

Context: The writers are trying to define feminine heroism by their willingness to consider any and all avenues towards nonviolence (not necessarily real peace, though) despite the reality of the situation and the building preparations against both women. And I guess, in short that these writers don't seem to understand or care about parents and try to make as if a parent putting their kids first always is automatically an amoral actor. Especially considering this sort of weird anti-children-in-public-spaces or in general thing I've noticed online amongst the same people who say that celebs lose their humanity the moment they become celebs (mostly the female ones) and submit being stalked, harassed, yelled at for photos, etc. bec they so badly want the chance to express their frustrations out on celebs (a class that they have mentally deemed are the ones who are most appropriate set of people to get to experience this sort of crazy bc they are socially and economically removed from "ordinaries" like them)...like bad acting children.

ALICENT

Alicent sacrifices her children toward a "higher power" and authority she hopes will reward her, and the show tries to pass it off as her being noble. She is mostly compelled to serve an insubstantial sense of righteousness, but the show also wants us to think that pursuing such a thing is in of itself a "noble" and positively ethical pursuit.

The writing wants to say two things at once about Alicent's motherhood:

she wants to do the objectively "right thing"--to her, that is both complying with the patriarchal order she was raised in/to obey male authority which includes preparing her kids for a pre-emptive strike bc she values their lives above her own AND her kids are part of how she expresses and performs her "duties" to her father, the crown, etc. so she can affirm her own value but the moment where she has to see how she can't use said kids to affirm herself, she bounces

she succeeds at doing morally good & noble deeds...AND one of them is giving up her kids to die when she had a heavy hand in training them that way

It undermines how we're supposed to think Alicent primarily fights for her kid Aemond for his eye/"justice" and this whole time all her sons' lives ("You are the challenge, simply by living and breathing!"). In S1, it appears she wants a very strong something other than protecting her kids...validation in her role as woman. And by S2, we have evidence to say that she values this validation above her very children's lives....again after episodes of her flagrantly (and seemingly but I simply was never convinced) defending her kids or keeping them from possibly getting any sort of punishments.

S2 Alicent:

uses every opportunity to make things about herself

sleeps with a guardsmen meant for her family instead of leaving him be for said protection

wants to approach a grieving daughter and talk about how it's her fault or whatever and the show has Helaena "forgive her" (apparently Jaehaerys didn't mean that much, no, Alicent's feelings & the confidence of her lack of obligation towards her kids/grandkids did)

S1 Alicent has the eggs of S2 Alicent in:

her attacking Rhaenyra over duty and sacrifice

her sudden change of heart only after Rhaenyra applauded her taking care of Viserys and apologizing for not respecting her position as the queen consort in epi 8

However, these were at least (insubstantially but at least) accompanied by:

her choices to protect Aegon from punishments

Aemond not getting recompensed or justified for his eye

her verbal accusations of Rhaenyra having to kill her sons

So in S1 she at least seemed like she cared about her sons, or we're left with a better impression of that through a better portrayal. I say it was still pretty "insubstantial" bc she only turns against Rhaenyra because Rhaenyra lied about her sexual activities.

It is too huge an assumption for anyone to make about Rhaenyra's lying---even on her dead mother--about private sexual impurity/disobedience leading to her willing to commit OPEN kinslaying in front of all her supporters and the realm she hopes to rule someday in relative and with as much peace as possible. Basically do something against her own interests even if she didn't genuinely valued her siblings lives for that particular connection (which doesn't have to mean she loves them; plenty of people don't love their family but would anything to not kill them even as a last resort...she should have realized this when Larys showed himself to be a freak [not talking about the feet] but the point that maybe the show might be trying to solidify is that she is deluding herself and is just jealous....this is before we get to the confirmation in S2). Especially when Alicent seemed to genuinely believe that Rhaenyra would make a "good queen" (Episode 3, talking to Viserys in chambers) and not to kill her kids (early Episode 5).

We have never seen Alicent ever ponder, try to investigate whether or not Rhaenyra has "plans" against her or her kids. To explain her train of thoughts towards her episode 5 dress reveal and unsubtle declaration of "war", we were shown just Otto's dismissal and his words to her just before he left, not her pondering on her own or observing Rhaenyra to carry her train of thoughts. And he already tried to say to her Rhaenyra would do stuff before that moment, so why now? Because Rhaenyra flagrantly "gets to do what she wants", not because Alicent wants to do the "right thing"! Thus the only, primary reason the show has shown us as to why she turned against Rhaenyra was pure jealousy the ability to disobey and "refusal" to do so so the "playing field" is level and Alicent doesn't have to feel lower than she already has and does.

And you know this was all fine and whatever, but the writers stay writing to also convince us that this woman is a good actor of morality with all her scenes of reflection and her last "misunderstood" noble decision.

There's a way to write a jealous/conservative woman who genuinely also wants to keep her kids alive under the impression that they'd be executed if their eldest sister were to come to power without compromising her "realness" or substance as a person who happens to be a mother. But the writers' shoot themselves in the foot when they also try to make her seem as if she's a not a bad actor by portraying her her "sacrificing" her sons for peace as the deepest personal sacrifice. And at the same time, having devalued the worth of said sacrifice all this time!

It's the refusal of accountability for her sons' turnout/behavior and for how she interpreted Rhaenyra's personhood/possible actions...they want their cake and eat it, too, and so does Alicent. Alicent really is the true backbone AND expression of their writing's shifting, disingenuous ethical core. In contrast to the book, Alicent wanted her cake and eat it too under more understandable and logically consistent circumstances that didn't undermine her (twisted) humanity--she thought it was her sons' gods-given right as male heirs to inherit over their older sister and believed that they would be executed or assassinated if she were to ever ascend. Seemingly simple, but it doesn't stray away from how wrong morally because we can see how she'd want the trappings of being the mother of a king.

RHAENYRA

While show!Rhaenyra doesn't outright "sacrifice" her kids the way show!Alicent does for some grand, higher power, she does seem more willing to deny the reality of her relationship with Alicent and what she's capable of. It's for the sake of complying with her deluded father's nonconfrontational approach to fulfilling a prophecy that had no business being the ethical center of this particular set of characters.

Yes, this is fantasy fiction and Aegon's prophecy or the Azor Ahai prophecy is the purpose of the action in ASoIaF. But It wasn't for the characters of the Dance and despite the bullcrap of "both sides bad", this was part of the point BUT the Dance was a culmination of how a particular flavor of feudal misogyny (Andal-Faith) the Targs assimilated into for their maintenance of power--possibly to fulfil that prophecy and thus perhaps is a story of intentions backfiring through not using one's power towards good or positive systemic change--that lead the Targs/the world into the current events with Dany, Jon, the others and the Others.

Rhaenyra seeks out to negotiate after Alicent's son kills hers? After years of fearing for herself and her sons from Alicent's abuse? Nah.

Her children were more exposed to potential harm in the wake of a war and one was even a fighter. The thing is, in the book, the situation kinda went out of her hands when Aegon refused to surrender after her counterarguments to his terms. Yes, the calling of supporters to show strength might have made the greens back off, but also:

Aemond killed Luke

even before that, Aegon dramatically denied any sort of terms from Rhaenyra when she insisted on being queen and pardoning him and his siblings (but not Alicent or Otto), and Alicent was certainly not going to let Aegon accept such terms even if she and Otto hadn't been listed as those Rhaenyra would kill (she called the council in the 1st place, she was fully oust-Rhaenyra-now, no one had to push her)

and even so, how well could Alicent and Helaena continue to successfully convince Aegon to not attack Rhaenyra (did Rhaenyra even know they would do this, we don't know), we saw through his decision to go to Rook's Rest and what happened there. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[S1] I won't get into Aegon's prophecy as I've done that at least 2x already--how this is just a tool to reinforce Rhaenyra's obligations to fulfill her fathers' flaccid, self contradictory desires about nonviolent non confrontation.

Rhaenyra could have been shown to worry over some specific possibilities and think her children, stepdaughters, included, were at some or great risk:

three were suspected bastards, by the same party who stands to gain the most from such a "reveal"; what will the greens do with them either now or in the future?

her other sons are told they'd be held hostage...in an environment that will likely not care for them and see them as enemies bc they are so "clearly" trueborn?

Rhaena/Baela are more assured by having Corlys as their grandfather...but if they somehow try to force Corlys to make Baela or Rhaena become Lady of Driftmark against Corlys' wishes, the greens'd make enemies of him and Rhaenys. If they seek to lower the chances of Corlys biting back, they could sic the Triarchy against Corls' lands and ships--obviously not good for him and his house. If they marry Rhaena to one of their own, again, enemies and I doubt Daemon would take that lying down anyway, esp when under this constraint where Rhaena basically becomes a hostage. What about if either twin is prevented from accessing dragon eggs for her own hypothetical kids (that could be a move but maybe they'd use some sort of pretext behind another reason as to why they camp out their troops around Dragonstone) and all that plus other stuff shows the greens clearly wish to depower the Velaryons/Corlys....At one point does Rhaenys feel pressured to use her dragon at some point? Baela, too, against Vhagar, Sunfyre, and maybe Tessarion? Another Dance?

Maybe I'm just doomspiraling and talking nonsense just like my version of Rhaenyra could be accused of as if I'm in her shoes. But my point is that the show writers didn't allow Rhaenyra to at least run through those thoughts and scenarios in all its likelihood to generate the tension and provide reason on her side towards either a desire for peace and then suspicion for a "necessary" war.

To allow the greens so much, or really, intend on either giving up the throne or your "birthright" AND complying even with a few of the terms Otto gave out in epi 10 and trying to negotiate with the non-negotiable? Seems like a dumb "plan", not because peace is stupid, but because the people you're dealing with--while they want to make a good image for themselves in their usurpation--they also will never feel secure with you walking around after they've performed the usurpation. Unlike the reverse if they had sat pretty while you come into power

[S2] Rhaenyra points out that she wouldn't have had to kill Aegon, but the usurpation made it a definite thing...this was always the case, that she wouldn't have done it before (sibling relationship, the taboo against kinslaying, image)...

The show here makes it as if that is the only or primary reason why she wouldn't have AT THE CURRENT [S2] POINT. After her brother killed her son, all bets were off, both emotionally AND in the culture they live in. Aemond should have been forever tainted with that kinslayer label, accident or not, the need for time under strikes or not.

So now we have a mother not even list the death of her own son for why she would have to put down her brothers; no, it's only because so her "righteous" rule can prevail.

Ironically, the show's refusal to think of motherhood as compulsory moral duty in of itself that is not weighed by an higher social demonstration towards others in society out of "good will" sets up the claim of juvenility behind the idea of "but my daddy said so". Which was and is itself a claim that Viserys choosing Rhaenyra to rule is insufficient reason for her to pursue the throne and that any questions about how she or how important it was to have a female monarch at least provide that precedent for this particular society was important. Because it points out that the reason of "the last king, my father, named me as heir for going on 20 years and if I were male, this would be good enough...why is this not so now, when I have a younger brother....especially with how incompetent he is?"

Like I mentioned, because Rhaenyra doesn't fight for her kids' lives and is not shown to express why she feels she has to fight for them through an expression like this--as well as her own desire to claim a thing not accredited to a woman--it makes it seem like her remaining motivation has to be petty "this is mine, my daddy said so!" And that protecting her kids is also a "petty" thing.

Thus, their refusal to take sexism all that seriously as the PRIMARY impetus behind the Dance has also affected Alicent & Rhaenyra's sense and how the audience could really validate her desire for the throne or any woman's ambition as well as such a person's right to fear for their kids' lives. the idea that Rhaenyra's kids are even in any sort of danger at all if she doesn't step up is not even considered! Such a sort of Rhaenyra's implied and treated as if she's this absolute self indulgent seeker of power. No, she had her fears for her family.

And where do all these things I think of come from? From the eroded, then ABSENT trust (that really was shown to be there anyway) between the factions for over 20 or so years. There was a point of no return long before Viserys' death, and in the show it was actually episode 5, not 7, when Alicent chose her color green dress. Even so, the show tries multiple times to set up moments where it really feels like they can come back from this (episode 8 feast).

All this would have also added at least that much texture to the gaps of information we have canonically for bk!Rhaenyra, who isn't recorded to be that participatory in the wartime stuff like strategy and logistics and whatever while not erasing her grief over her kids. No, instead, they could have used this concern and priority to push her towards making principal decisions herself, like the Sowing or part of Daemon's stuff at Harrenhal or at least work with him there. There are several councils in the book where it's not noted who says what for some of the plans Rhaenyra's council makes--not that her saying any or yeah to some plans wasn't an important task in of itself, but there is a gap she could have filled between Luke's death and the capture of KL/the Red Keep.

HELAENA

Short and easy: They seem to be working Helaena as a device toward quickly emphasizing this "righteousness above kids" thing. Alicent--embodying it herself and thus a representation more than person--is let off an ethics hook and not confronted to take accountability through her daughter's anger and rejection because poor Alicent needed Cole in her bed...ironically a show of more sexism towards Alicent but a digression.

Show!Helanea clearly loved her kids any sort of distance one might have felt is not due to contradictory writing but the circumstantial effect of noble women's relationships with their kids where nannies take care of them AND the show being constrained by the industry's hatred for anything more than 10 episodes each season.

But:

they used her non-bk-compliant-neurodivergence as the carrier for her inability to do as her bk self did and stay to fight more for her kid's life, thus it was a weaker plotline

the moment they had her "forgive" Alicent for whatever Alicent was going to confess to her whan she again made it about her, I knew that this show was devoted towards their weird Alicent-centeredness

Why in the hell is Helaena so forgiving without also showing the depth of her own limits living with such a family that might have lead her into such complacency or feeling of helplessness? It should have also been Helaena just saying that because she knows Alicent likely won't leave her be, because that is one of the very few things that could ever explain why Helaena "forgave" Alicent sexing the man in charge of protecting her and her children and one's head getting brutally sawed off his shoulders.

[princess-of-the-corner]

It's just like, even at first when the show was more joking in the first two seasons I was squinting at the fact that Marinette had like 3 love rivals and she was already awful to Lila in the s1 finale (which was an abuse of power) but then her willingly working with her bully to bully someone else just because Kagami was actually capable of forming a relationship with Adrien and then all that other stuff later with Chloé. Like, four girls being the worse to each other over a guy? Obviously that's Girl Power (/sarcasm)

Yeah no like.

Marinette being jealous is still a problem. Her doing questionable shit like stalking Lila or humiliating and sabotaging Kagami is bad(doubly so with Kagami because there is no justification like having proof she's of questionable morality). But pre-Season 5 I'd brush it off as fictional sitcom bad. Where yeah that shit's bad but the severity of it is cut by the tone of the show like many fictional series do.

Then Derision is like 'This thing was super fucking traumatizing to Marinette and she tried to do it to Kagami' but Marinette is still a 100% Good Person™ who doesn't get punished for this at all while Chloé is an irredeemable monster?