#rnm 4x02

[bisexualalienss]

this was a real thing. this really happened and i had to put my own two eyes on it

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, wishing you a Happy New Year 🎉🎆🍾!! Hope things are going well so far and you're not too drenched in ice or snow or cold (my brother is in NM and he's freezing his ass off apparently). For reasons that definitely include the upcoming season's proximity, I'm going to try to get more into 911 LS this year. I've decided that while we've got excellent taste in ships, we've done poorly in focusing on shows where those ships can thrive, meaning they have a showrunner who can

tell a compelling story, writers who can bring that story to life, and a promo team that can get the audience excited. Let's take just promo for example. LS just came out with its 2nd or 3rd trailer and it's still 3 week's away!! Even if they are also doing smaller emergencies, the frog storm looked a hell of a lot of more exciting than the blimp "emergency". And from what I've seen of the stills, it will feature a lot of Tarlos, and I haven't seen much in the way of guest stars. Contrast that with RNM. We all remember the seasonal promo posters that looked like an elementary school project and the 5 sec episode previews they abandoned during S4 (this isn't even considering the episode synopsis where if a particular character was mentioned my excitement level flatlined). Then there's the Malex if it all, remember we got so excited when a still of them was promoted on Twitter for 4x02 since it had literally never been done before?? Sad days. And as for OG lately we've gotten confusing/inaccurate episode synopsis, previews of scenes that were made to look intense and turned out to be "meh", stills released right before the episode and then 50 scenes released the day it premieres. Its a mess. And I guess I can't complain that those things didn't feature Buddie since there wasn't anything in the season for them to feature.  I don't think we have to rehash the baffling and horrible writing choices of both RNM and OG's showrunners those are well documented. So that leaves the individual writing of each show, where RNM abandoned logic and 911 abandoned emotion in order to force scenes that did no one any favors. Anyway this got longer than intended and ultimately saltier, I was trying to say Happy New Year and it turned into this. So again happy New year!! Maybe with time and GA input KR will come up with a plotline that doesn't make me hear nails on a chalkboard when it's mentioned.

Hi my friend and Happy New Year to you as well, even though this is now a few days late. (I wanted to finish the book I started yesterday, a sequel to a romcom I very much enjoyed and one of the only actual books I’ve managed to read recently, but it ended up being kind of awful and torpedoed my whole day and sucked the serotonin right out of me instead of giving me MORE like it was supposed to 😒😒😒 hate this for me. So I put this off a little longer so I didn’t end up being TOO salty or going off on a fully unrelated tangent). Luckily I’m back home where it’s chilly (for me) but nothing too wet or miserable and I got to enjoy some sweatpants for a few days before I have to go back to my cold office and uncomfortable work clothes.

You’re so right, we DO have excellent taste in ships but whooo boy WHAT is the deal with being shafted by shows? (And now books too apparently because my life is a joke, hell bent on not allowing me to thrive with the things I find joy in.) I have been soooo jealous of not just the promo coming out so early, but also official stills coming from set during filming! OG couldn’t even get stills for for some episodes until a few hours before airing! To say nothing of the incorrect synopsis/previews, and 700 clips released on episode day messes. Plus LS got new cast photos this year while OG has still been using stuff from s1-2!  I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t been paying much if any attention to news about LS so all I know is the Tarlos stuff sounds really exciting and the only guest stars I remember is for some FBI/DEA something or other operation that (of course) Owen is for some reason involved in helping with. Color me unsurprised. But knowing that’s how LS has been pretty much from the jump, it’s easier to just grit my teeth through the Owen centricity and sometimes it’s at least entertaining 🤷🏻‍♀️ The frog thing sounds interesting but definitely feels like a “hook” that’s going to end up being almost nothing and quickly resolved but if we’re lucky we’ll at least get some jokes out of it about TK taking one home and Carlos getting a panicked look about it. Also, the LS emergencies have never had quite the resonance or the tie in with the main plots that OG had so them cutting back after the ice storm (which really was excessive at 4 episodes and by cutting down on the weird Owen centricity could have been done in 2 *maybe* 2.5 or 3 episodes tops, revolving around the group as a whole more) isn’t probably going to change the format of regular episodes much from previous seasons. But with the wedding coming up, the possibility of Carlos getting injured, and Ronan being a tease and really excited for multiple episodes, I feel like the Tarlos stuff is going to be really good!

I’m cackling because taking shots at the RNM promo department will never NOT be funny. I mean, honestly WTF was their deal with promo posters?! *insert “is this a promo poster for ANTS” gif here* At least they were somewhat more honest by always seaming to make Alex the smallest and furthest away and never near Michael which is....mostly what we got after s1 so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. Not that OG 911 is much better since there’s a fan that does massively impressive posters for episodes that completely outshine anything the official team does.

ANYWAY, I’m with you down in the salt mine and surrounded by wasted potential so lets hope this year we can finally get some more fulfilling stories/storylines, and that our beloved OG wee-woos can get back on track. The only good thing about them having a longer hiatus is they have the chance to take the reaction to the finale, especially Buck’s mess of a storyline, and 6a as a whole into consideration and maybe make some changes. Honestly if they completely dropped Buck’s storyline and it never came up ever again I wouldn’t even care and would actually prefer that at this point. Remember when he got meaty storylines that involved the other main characters and was the focus for a few episodes and then arcs finished and new ones started and we got several things going on for multiple characters at once? *cracked voice* yeah.... Well, here’s to hoping! 🍾🥂 *clink*

[gra-sonas]

T H I S S C E N E 🥺😭🥹

[0ut-of-my-head]

◦•●◉✿ 🅔🅒🅗🅞 ✿◉●•◦

4x02 «Fly»

[maycanady]

ISOBEL EVANS in 4.02 “Fly” ↳ for @maxortecho

[pastelwitchling]

My heart is pounding at the thought of last night’s episode. For certain people and scenes at least. I’ve given up hope that these posts will be short, so if you want to read my thoughts on 4x02, grab some tea and maybe a snack, because I have quiet a few opinions.

First thing’s first. I’m just going to say what we’re all thinking; Walt and Arturo are wonderful. Arturo’s whole, “Looks delicious, you’re hired” had me giggling for the first time since Alex’s, “And I’m eating Wheaties” last season. And Walt. Listen. Alex has been called many things throughout the show, but Walt calling him “pretty-lookin’ fella” is my absolute favorite. Anyone who acknowledges Alex’s good looks and beautiful heart is a freaking genius in my book. I’ve been calling Alex “pretty” in my fics since the dawn of time, and I can’t even begin to describe how satisfying it was to have Walt, of all people, be the one to bring it to life with such a casual tone, like of course he’s pretty, what’re you kidding me? This must be how authors feel when their books are adapted onto the big screen.

Anyway. That’s really where the laughs end for me. I’m probably going to get a lot of crap for this, but Anatsa’s so annoying. Okay, hear me out. On the one hand, I get that she’s a reporter and this is her job, the main character in my original novel The Wolf King is a journalist who wants the truth, so I get it. I really don’t dislike her at all, in fact if she was starring in her own show or something, I think she’d be a really fun and cool character. On the other, she’s an outsider to our little group, and she’s putting people I already know and love in difficult positions. I don’t want her to stay with Isobel, so I don’t want her to know the truth. I’m just waiting for this tedious, awkward relationship to end already.

I love that Isobel wanted to see Kyle and was crestfallen when she’d seen him on a date with someone else. I love kybel so I really can’t wait till we get to those two together. Kyle is awesome as always. I have to mention that.

Listen. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the guest stars, I’m sure they’re all very nice people and great actors, it’s just that there are always so damn many of them, and I am sick to death of the excess subplots. I really, really, really, really, really don’t care about Liz’s students. The one guest star who I legitimately am upset did not show up in season 2 (you know, when we were supposed to find out about the Awakening) was that doctor lady. I feel bad for having forgotten her name considering she’s the only one whose character is really unique and cool. I’m just so done with everyone else though. Respectfully.

Before I get to the Alex stuff that I always save till the end because I want to go off on a good note, I want to talk for just a second about that scene between Michael and Alex in front of the console. Admittedly, it really bugged me for a lot of the episode that Michael seemed willing to let Alex be away from home for a longer time so that he didn’t have to give up a piece of glass. I know the glass is important to him, but I wished he cared more about Alex leaving. Luckily though, they do address that at the end of the episode, and acknowledge it, and Michael makes up for it, which I was really grateful for.

There is a moment in the promo, however, for next week’s episode in which Michael basically implies that these aliens might not be the enemy, and I’m really, really hoping that that scene happens before he realizes that they took Alex. Because if these people kidnapped Alex, and Michael still considers that they might be good guys -- even if they didn’t know about the kidnapping and they are good guys -- but if Michael wonders, then I will be so, painfully disappointed. They took his Alex. They are the enemy in that instance, they can’t be anything else, not to him. So I hope for the best.

Now for everything to do with Alex. I love the opening scene, the way Michael and Alex are together as Alex talks to Deep Sky, I love love love the fact that Alex and Max and Dallas had sat down together to discuss plans -- I’ve been waiting for something like this since season 1 -- and I absolutely love the amount of time we got Alex on screen. As always, I wish we had him for the entire episode, but I’m really glad I didn’t have to wait long to see him.

Now. About him leaving, I love the way they did it, it was such a relief, and here’s why. We knew Alex was going to be off-screen for a bit because Tyler was having back problems at the time of filming and ultimately needed back surgery, so we knew Alex was going to leave for a time. I only pleaded that it wouldn’t be because he and Michael had broken up for whatever reason. They might still do that, I’m praying they don’t, but I said I would be fine if they faced whatever came as a couple, and that seems to be the direction the writers are going in, so thank the gods.

It gets better though, because even as Alex drove out of Roswell, I was brokenhearted, but the way they did it, with him being taken in the end, keeps him involved in the story in a much bigger way.

So it’s not like, Oh Alex just texted, he said he found some interesting readings blah blah blah. Alex being taken could be, what I’m desperately hoping for, the reason that Michael goes undercover in the first place. What I’m hoping happens is that the group talks like we saw them do in the promo for next week’s episode, Michael gets word that Alex’s car was left behind, that he’d vanished, and that they found traces of alien so the aliens took him, and that prompts Michael to go undercover in order to find Alex.

I’m hoping for the whole season 2 thing done right this time. I want the entire group to worry about him the way they freaking obsessed over Maria, I want everyone to actually care about what happens to him, I want Michael to go ballistic and never leave his side again.

I want this season to be the writers’ attempt to right the wrongs of season 2, do it better. And without a certain showrunner around, I have hope that they just might.

[dayscrazed]

A continuation of my AU where Michael got adopted by the Evans’ instead of Max! 

Based on RNM 4x02. Everyone scrambles to find answers in the aftermath of the alien- rain and Max prepares to make a life-changing decision.

Differences from canon: - Liz shares science notes with her friend Max, the interim sheriff, not her bf. - Alex debriefs with the sheriff in his office (not the Pony which is an odd place regardless) and Dallas is already on a mission with Michael. It's there Liz asks about the locust. - Alex is in the lair so his lines from later are combined with canon Michael and Liz's. - Max is able to better communicate his fears with Alex and also trust him more, regarding the console. Malex lines from the end of 4x02 are echoed here. Max's lines are a combo of canon Max and Michael lines. - Michael is the one who brings Liz Crashdown lunch. Although he still offers advice, it's reflective of Michael's experiences like leaning on friends and family. - Max doesn't have the background with Anatsa that canon Max did, so he blows her off. - Clyde recognizes Max as Oasian but believes he's one of the rebels. - Liz goes to Kyle for advice rather than Shivani. Kyle mentions Liz always had this problem back when they were dating. - Michael's bothered by the usefulness of his powers, not anything to do with Jones. - BIG SCENE at the end...combines Malex canon from 4x02 with 4x11. Oh, and Michael has a mustache...

[bekkachaos]

Anyone else getting a burning urge to read/write a really angsty fic where they are just pulling away from this connection they have to be together but they just can't and everything is god I wish I could keep myself away from you but you are the worst kind of drug and every inch of my body and soul aches for you

Just me?

[malex-i-never-look-away]

Have I talked about how much I fucking love Sanders? That man has my whole goddamn heart

[maxortecho]

[bisexualalienss]

rnm 3x11 but michael and alex show up late to the big team alien meeting ™ and isobel notices a hickey on one of them just like stevie in 4x02 of schitt’s creek and makes fun of them for it 😌

[roswellnmsource]

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO | 4.02 “Fly”

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT – A visitor connected to Liz’s (Jeanine Mason) past comes bearing gifts. Anatsa (guest star Sibongile Mlambo) digs in on a story about the bank heists, angering Max (Nathan Dean) and putting Kyle (Michael Trevino) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) in a difficult position. The series also stars Michael Vlamis, Tyler Blackburn, Heather Hemmens, and Amber Midthunder. Lance Anderson directed the episode written by Christopher Hollier (#402). Original Airdate 6/13/2022.

[gra-sonas]

Their love is everything 🥹

[foramomentonly]

4.02 Ficlet

Spoilers for 4.02

Read on AO3

This is sort of a reaction ficlet, but not a coda. @haloud and I were just casually freaking out about Sanders calling Alex pretty, and Sanders as protective dad, and Sanders’ “Alex ain’t shit” phase, and this little Lost Decade scene popped into my head. @christchex and @lambourngb and @arielana are also, no doubt, to blame.

Wow, it feels good to write to completion again lol.

As dawn burns a garish pink slash across the horizon, Walt sits in his office portable with a stack of receipts and watches the Manes boy sneak out of Michael's trailer, shaking his head. Manes is down the rickety steps of the Airstream and halfway across the dirt to his waiting Jeep before he pauses, eyes dark and gleaming even at a distance as he turns back towards the silver bullet.

"Come on, son," Walt mutters into his coffee cup. "You know you wanna stay."

The boy stands frozen for a long minute, one foot twisted behind him in flight, the other planted firmly forward. But then, like pieces of a Rubik’s Cube, his body turns away from the trailer in segments; hips, then shoulders, and finally his head, gaze lingering to the last moment on the dark interior visible through the small, papered window. He climbs into his car and drives away.

Walt sighs, dropping the papers in his hand back onto the clutter of his desk.

The kid'll be hell in cowboy boots today, that's for damn sure. Always is, after a visit from Alex Manes.

They're few and far between now Jesse Manes has his way and all four of his sons serve Uncle Sam. But no matter if the boy's in town a month or 24 hours, he finds his way to Michael's door like there's a magnet melted into the metal. And it always ends the same. Alex leaves, Michael stays, and the kid's heart breaks all over again.

Sometimes, Manes is gone while Michael’s still dead to the world, slipping away into the dark night or the brisk, early morning. Other times, they spill out of the trailer like dominoes, one after the other, angry, pleading voices carrying across the desert. Few years back, Michael all but chased Alex out the door, shirtless and barefoot, his sneakers gripped tight in one hand and his shirt draped over his shoulder. That memory's always a little too vivid for Walt's taste.

The glow of the Airstream's low light flickers on through the little window and Walt stands slowly as Michael's dark figure begins to shuffle around inside. He crosses the small office to the ancient coffee maker, pouring a new cup without bothering to refresh his own.

Walt used to wonder why Michael didn't kick Manes's ass to the curb. Sure, he's a good-looking kid. His features are pretty in a way his daddy no doubt hates; Jesse Manes mistakes beauty for weakness, even after his wife showed him the steel of her spine. Walt sees her most in Alex Manes, in the curve of his cheekbones and the dark depth of his eyes. And they damn well have chemistry, sounds like Walt has never heard before, he's sorry to admit, echoing through the thin walls of the trailer.

But Michael's got his own charm; sandy hair darker than Ms. Nora's, but his curls catch in the light same as hers, and his young body is lean and strong thanks to years of ranch work. He does more than all right with the women of Roswell when Alex isn't around.

He’s around eventually, though. He comes back. He always comes back. Manes inevitably stands at Michael's door and shifts his weight, flexing his muscles like he could even make his legs carry him away if he wanted them to. And Michael hems and haws, squints his golden eyes like he could look through Alex if he glared hard enough, like he could look away. And then he pushes the door wide open and Manes steps inside, and when it shuts behind them it stays that way for hours, all day, a weekend. 

The kids want to be together. Nothing's stopped them so far, and Walt's come to realize nothing probably ever will. Not even some damn self-preservation.

Michael bursts out of the trailer dripping wet and stormy-eyed, and Walt steps out to meet him, holding out the steaming mug of fresh coffee like an offering.

"We're backed up today, kid," he says instead of a greeting. "Drink fast."

Michael looks surprised, tries to cover it with a roll of his eyes.

"How long you been here, old man?" he asks, slurping the coffee greedily.

Up close, his eyes are shaded by dark circles.

"You get any shut eye?" Walt asks pointedly in lieu of a straight answer, raising a knowing brow, and Michael huffs, head rolling back in exasperation.

"Relax," Walt grunts, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm not gonna tell you something you already know and don't wanna hear."

Michael tilts his head forward, nodding slowly and looking anywhere but Walt's face. He fights the urge to cup Michael's chin between his fingers, the ghost of a gesture Ms. Nora once used to still Walt's restless energy. But the kid's a grown man, and Walt's not his father, not for lack of trying. Instead, he squeezes Michael's shoulder.

"He'll be back," he says, and Michael's eyes fly to his, wide and shining with hope.

"That so?" Michael asks, and Walt nods, turning back towards the office as a classic truck rattles into the lot, the first of the day.

"If he knows what's good for you," Walt calls over his shoulder. "And I think he does."

[maycanady]

LIZ ORTECHO and MAX EVANS ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO | 4.02 “Fly”

[metaphoric-aliens]

what if Michael has to destroy his console to release Alex 🥺