#there's a pretty clear reason why things happened in a certain way if you actually engage with it for longer than a minute

[itsjustdg]

Long post but I had to get my thoughts on Hudson & Rex (and certain fans) out.

This has been in the back of my mind for a while, and I think I've finally put my finger on what's been bothering me about the way a certain online contingent are reacting to the imagined idea that John Reardon has been forced out of Hudson & Rex.

TL;DR - We have nothing to go on that John's not returning and anyone who feels owed an answer by the studio/actors/dog handlers who have no say over the studio's decisions needs to take a good long look at everything. Use some critical thinking skills and just breathe for a second. And maybe some compassion for the fact that John nearly died half a year ago.

(And spamming every social media account related to the show demanding answers is not going to get anyone what they want. In fact, it's highly likely to do the opposite and I'm not surprised people's comments have been deleted. Especially for all the tangential people - but even for John! - they're probably pretty miserable to get yet another contact about this.)

More below the cut.

First off, let me say I'm a huge fan of the show. This is probably one of the first shows in a while that I got so into so fast. It has a lot of the things I love in media all rolled into one, I would be upset if they truly did kill off Charlie Hudson, and I've been anxiously awaiting any cast news. However...

None of us are owed a single thing by any studio, producer, or actor, especially not on our timelines. I know we live in a day and age of constant news and instant gratification, but we certainly aren't owed what might currently be tentative, confidential information regarding an actor's contract. If both parties haven't signed a final agreement, then they likely cannot publicly publish any related details. Maybe they're still negotiating. Maybe John is still trying to figure out how much he can commit to for a new season. Because lemme tell ya, acting might seem glamorous, but do you know how many hours they have to put in and how physically demanding even a Hallmark movie is? Let alone Hudson & Rex where Charlie is regularly jumping off of things and fighting people? More on why this is important in point 3.

We basically have never been told the regular stars were coming back. I looked but can't find where the show announced that any of their actors were coming back for seasons 2-7. They just said the show was returning. And... that's what's happened with season 8. The promo materials thus far have been on par with every other season's promo materials. (Because I love the show, but for some reason they never really put out much until the season premiere is nearly upon us.) Did we get an announcement that Luke joined the cast? Yes. Because he's a new addition (and it's often part of the contract that they'll promote it.) Did we get an announcement that Justin, Kevin, or Mayko are coming back? No. So... maybe hold up on assuming John's not returning just because nobody has mentioned that he is. We've never gotten much early promo content, just that the show was back… so why are all of these people suddenly so sure that John's been punished by the studio for having cancer? Speaking of which…

John practically just got the all-clear from his cancer diagnosis. In late December, he posted that it was his first night out since being diagnosed. (And my heart broke at the hospital picture he included because he looked so tired and sick. His "now" picture was drastically better, but you could tell he was still recovering.) Are these fans all forgetting that the man literally almost died not even 6 months ago? I don't know if their understanding of cancer is what they've seen on a couple of pieces of media or if the cavalier way most shows (including Hudson & Rex) handle injuries, poisonings, etc most of the time has warped any sense of what actually happens when a human being is deathly ill, but... illness wrecks your body. Chemo wipes out your immune system. Fighting cancer weakens your entire system. How are people demanding he turn around and come back to an extremely physically demanding role and spend 20+ hours a day on a set for weeks? They might still be figuring out just how much John can physically do. For that matter, John's doctors might not have even cleared him yet and the studio is waiting it out or John may have just recently decided if he was well enough to come back. (Also, he has a wife and three little kids. I'm pretty sure the seriousness of them losing him was a lot to deal with. Maybe he needed time to decide if he's able to fully commit to coming back?)

John's likely still dealing with a lot with having lost Diesel. They were incredibly close. All of the interviews I've seen talk about how much they bonded (they were co-stars for 6.5 seasons!). I remember one where they talked about how they had to keep Rex off-set when they filmed scenes where Charlie was in danger or got hurt because Diesel wanted to tear people apart for touching him. So then consider that John's fighting cancer, and then Diesel gets sick and passes away - and John probably couldn't even really see him much if at all because of him also being sick. (How hard must it be to have your co-star die of the same thing you're fighting? And not even be able to grieve properly because of the sheer amount of energy you're expending just trying to stay alive yourself?) Can we show some compassion toward the guy? And not just wail about how we're being cheated of... well, anything? Like, come on, cancer should put everything into perspective!

Luke joining the cast has 0 bearing on if John's staying. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Luke was added so the show could continue having a lead detective who can fall down a well for Rex to rescue while John comes back to regular episodes slowly. Maybe they'll be partners long-term. Who knows. NONE OF US DO. That's kinda my whole point here. (And yeah, the show is called Hudson & Rex, not just Inspector Rex, but I have a feeling these fans would've still lost their minds when the original show changed their human cast multiple times.) The only thing that the show starting to film season 8 means is they have a required schedule to stick to in order to meet legal requirements with the studio. Which could also have a lot to do with why Luke was added as a series regular.

Can we all just calm down and find our thinking caps? I'm aware that might be too much to ask from the internet at large, but I'm also really tired of all the panicking fans I've seen posts from lately.

At the end of the day, this is a television show that does not actually control any of our lives, and demanding they cancel it and end everyone's jobs in a very competitive industry just because you're upset about something that may not actually be happening just feels really self-centered and unfair to me.

Maybe John's leaving after all (and if he is, I'll be sad). Maybe he's coming back eventually. But also maybe don't harass every single person related to the show and contribute to making all of them miserable just because you feel like you're owed an answer and a specific outcome?

[snailmailmp3]

i feel like a lot of (but by no means all) criticism of homestuck's writing can be boiled down to attributing views expressed/actions taken by the characters as being endorsed by the comic.

and when i say "endorsed" i don't necessarily mean that these ppl think that the comic is saying that these positions are "good" bc most do not in my experience; i mean people thinking, for example, that the comic presents terezi's instructions for john's retcon as the only (or at least the most) correct way to fix everything that had gone wrong in the game over timeline. if you want to read it that way you can but imo it's more enjoyable and rewarding to think about what her motivations and feelings were in that specific moment than to just dismiss it out of hand

[cuthechicane]

Full paywalled version of Lando's interview with The Race

Lando Norris recently sat down with The Race's Scott Mitchell-Malm for an exclusive in-depth interview about his 2024 Formula 1 title bid, taking on Max Verstappen and how fans perceive him.

You can read Scott's take on how Lando presented himself on The Race website today, but here's their conversation in full:

The Race: How do you look back on the year so far? Purely from a numbers point of view, you'd surely have taken that at the start of the year. But in terms of how it's played out, is there any kind of sense that there was a bit more on the table, missed opportunities?

Lando Norris: Err…for sure. I think that's quite obvious. Not as many as people think. And I think people in general think it's been a lot worse than what it's been. I think a lot of people think we've been a lot quicker than we have been. So I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with it. But I think those times, it’s a compliment that people think that, because it shows how far we've come. And I'm proud that in those days, whether Singapore or Zandvoort, I've still been the one that's there and making the most of those opportunities when we have a car that's quick enough. 

But there's clearly ones that we've definitely let things go away, which is Silverstone, Canada-ish – I wouldn't say completely. Maybe one or two others. But I think the other ones are the ones that people want to believe were bad for different reasons. Whether it was my starts, and those days when the starts have been ‘bad’ that everyone says, I've generally still been in the top three, four, five of starts. Even on those days. If you look at Barcelona, when I had a 'bad' start everyone says, the best starter in that race was Max. And I think I was like the third or fourth third best starter on the grid. It's just I happened to be next to the guy who got the best start.

The Race: Who wasn't the guy who ended up leading into Turn 1 anyway...

LN: He was the guy who had the seventh or eighth best start! The other one I’d say was a bit more unlucky was Budapest, where my initial start was very good, a tiny, tiny bit too much wheelspin and a downgraded upshift, and that kind of cost me that. So I think it's been better than people have thought. There's definitely been some missed opportunities, that's a fact. But I'm very happy with my whole season. I still feel like I've got a lot out of it. Things have not just gone to plan. Even if you go back to Austria and things like that, a race that I could have been first or second, whichever way around you want to look at it, I ended up with zero points. There's been certain races which have gone away from us. 

The fact that we're still there fighting, I'm pretty happy with the whole season that I had, because it's clear when things do go right, how amazing that they can be.  It's been still a big learning year, even though it's my sixth year and all of this nonsense, I still have to learn how to drive the car in a better way, because I still don't understand it at times. How we have to drive our car has changed a good amount, and I still have to adapt to that. Some days it doesn't suit me, some days it does. So I think it's still been a very good year, and from the outside, I understand why people think it hasn't been. And I completely almost agree with it! But once you know reasons why, of different things, I'm still pretty proud of the season it's been so far.

The Race: There's a difference between how you imagine it being when you get a car that's quick enough to fight every weekend, and then obviously what it's really like. You've learned some things the hard way, so what's that actually been like?

LN: It's been good for me. Whether I'm racing the likes of Lewis a bit more, or Max is probably the best example of all of them...Charles, Carlos, George, to be honest, all the drivers who are up the front because they deserve to be. Thing is suddenly, when I'm racing them, I'm fighting them for a win. So not coming out and doing a perfect job against these drivers, mainly Max in this case, means I win a race or I don't win a race, and therefore it hurts a bit more and it feels like there's a bigger effect to it all. 

There's more criticism or praise, whichever way around. You win, suddenly you have a lot more praise. You do one mistake, you suddenly have a lot more criticism. But I think both are good things, because people either want you to do well or they want to stand out because they want to be someone that criticises you even more. Both are compliments in ways, and I've enjoyed both of them. 

But I've paid the price, more so in terms of a championship point of view, when I’ve not done things to the correct level. And I think there's so many things that have been great, and have been completely up to the standard that it needs to be. A couple of things have not been. And I paid the price for those situations, because I'm going up against, whether it's Red Bull or Mercedes or Ferrari, on top of being strong teams, great drivers. You get punished more at the top when things don't go right than you do when you're more midfield.

The Race: There's a quote from a few years ago about Lewis Hamilton only having to beat his team-mate, in the context of a dominant team. That's exactly not the situation that you've had this year. But in terms of execution, finding out how hard it is to make sure that every single qualifying session, every start, every judgment in the race with the team – what's that been like? Because I can imagine that idea that 'once I get a car that's quick enough, I'll do it'. 

LN: First of all, I would never think that! For anyone who knows me, that's definitely not how I think. But I would say it's as tough as I've imagined because so many things can still easily go against you, even when you have the best car. Make one mistake in a Q3 lap, you're not on pole when you should have been. You don't have a perfect start when the guy who starts P2 does a perfect start, you’re P2 when you shouldn't have been. 

There's been a couple when we were so dominant – like Zandvoort – it doesn't matter if you made the mistakes at the beginning. You can come back through and you can still dominate and easily win a race. But for the majority, when people think we've had the most dominant car ever, those positions [lost] have just been costly positions. I’ve been on pole by three thousandths or five thousandths or two hundredths, and those positions are positions that just stay for the rest of the race. 

But I've always known that – it’s always just the harsh reality of when you're there, and actually you're living that situation, it’s tough to then always be positive for the next race and things like that, and know when things are going to get better. It's been a learning point, still for me, but even for the whole team, whether it's mechanics, because they feel a bit more pressure when we're leading a race compared to when we compared to when we were 10th, or the engineers because the last pole was split by three thousandths, or one hundredth of a second. Everyone wants to play a part in that, but also feels the pressure of it, including me. I think everyone's dealt with it very well.

The Race: We've seen with various drivers, whenever there's a clash with a popular driver, someone ends up getting pelted on social media. But I don't think I've seen a driver with such a negative narrative against them as I’ve seen with you this year...

LN: Yeah, I don’t know why.

The Race: You’ve noticed it as well. How do you feel about that?

LN: I find it…I find it's a little bit weird, because I read all those things. I wouldn't say I'm affected by them, but I do think of them. Do I think it affects me negatively? No. Because I've actually been used to doing that for a while. I've learned how to read things and choose what I want to affect me and almost help me be better or choose what I just want to let slip away, and I just read it for the fact of reading. 

Certain things I’d say I don't understand how people have gotten that perception. And that's when I always just have to come back to the people who know me, know that this isn't the case. And I'm very happy just knowing that as a fact. There’s certain things when I'm like, people think my ego is too big or something, it couldn't be further from the truth - especially when I'm driving. Maybe sometimes I choose wrong words or something, and people somehow use that against me.

But I think there's more and more people in the world just either don't want to listen to the truth and sometimes I think when I say the truth or facts, people just don't want to agree with them, or they want to disagree and kind of prove me wrong. But I find it odd as I feel like I haven't changed. Maybe I have, in certain things. Definitely some things have changed. I definitely don't go around and joke and laugh as much as I used to, and I think people loved that and maybe don't like it as much now I don't do such a thing. But I’ve definitely noticed it, for whatever reason. 

The Race: It's stuff as a driver, not just you as a person. You mentioned the idea you’ve got a dominant car stuff but it’s also your championship credentials and stuff like that. Maybe some people just want to just stick the knife sometimes, in a way that I personally don’t understand.

LN: Neither do I, but it's why like I always say, it doesn't affect me. I see it still as if I know I said something or I've done something wrong, I accept it. I've always been honest with when I've done a good job and done a bad job. So when I know I've done something wrong, or someone tells me I've done something wrong, I'll always accept it and acknowledge that in the right way. But when I know for a fact I haven't, and people kind of make things of it or turn it into something where I have, there’s some kind of stuff I don't understand. Especially the amount of negative stuff I get nowadays, I almost want to say for no reason. 

It puzzles me a little bit. Doesn't affect me in a good way or a bad way. People can have their own opinions. And I'm all up for people having their own opinions and supporting different drivers and not supporting me – I'm very happy about that. But turning things that are not true into what they think are facts is probably stuff that I don't understand as much. And it's confused me a little bit, but I don't think it affects me in a bad way. I do think of it because I'm an overthinker, and I think of all of those things, so I'll question myself about all of it. But I wouldn't say it affects how I go out and drive the next day all of a sudden, or anything like that, which is the main thing. 

I think it's turned into being a bit of a part of… I don’t have to read any of it, you know? So I can also not have social media, but I enjoy it still. It'll still affect me on days, but it's not like it affects how I go racing or anything else, so I don't mind. I just don't like when people have the wrong opinion about me. Because I don't mind people having different opinions, but stating incorrect things is probably the thing that I don't understand, and probably the thing that gets to me the most. But it doesn't affect my day to day life at all. And I'm very happy with the people I have around me, my group.

They're the people who are being more honest with me about when I'm doing well or when I'm not, or whether I'm being a dick, and when I'm not. I prefer people to tell me that, than not to tell me that. The reason I really don't care about what people say so much is because I know the people who actually most know me best and are most truthful about everything are just the people I have around me, and I’ll listen to them more than I'll ever listen to people on the outside.

The Race: One final thing as we sort of got side-tracked there: 18 months or so ago I interviewed you in Australia which basically turned into an opportunity to justify your new contract, because the team was in a bad place and there was a lot of noise. You always stuck to your guns. How vindicated do you feel by this season, and how excited are you for next year, because both titles have got to be the aim?

LN: That's very clear. We all as a team know that next year is the year, probably the first one since I've been in Formula 1, where I can go next year ‘We are challenging for the title’.  And we can say that now already. We've never been able to do it in the past. I'm very happy that I've stuck with the team that I believed in even when a lot of people didn't. I'm very happy that I just had that belief in the team. But also just for all of that to actually come true even when it was hard to believe at times. When we could take kind of two steps forward and then step back, and then catch up and then drop back. 

There were times when I did question it for sure, on what's the best for my future and what do I want to do and those kinds of things. But for me to always return to the belief that the team around me, whether it was Andreas [Seidl] a few years ago when we took a step forward, for sure – but then Andrea [Stella], for me, has been the key to everything. And the fact we've been able to go from where we were to beating Red Bull, when not even 12 months ago they had the most dominant season...the fact that we're now beating them, we've been beating them almost since Miami-ish, and we've been on par with them since Miami, that’s an incredible achievement. 

I'm very happy that I've been part of it all. I'm happy that I stuck through the harder times when I easily could have picked an easier route out of it, could have gone to different teams and done all this other stuff. I feel like I've rewarded myself nicely for having the belief in the team, and I think the team understands that too - the journey that we've been on together - and I think they appreciate that, which probably makes me the happiest out of all of it.

[fireinmoonshot]

tyler owens with "shifting glances all around the room when they get caught staring at you"

It was very clear that Tyler Owens thought he was being sneaky, stealing looks at you from across the room. He’d been doing it for almost the entire night and you were pretty certain you’d noticed every time. 

Several storm chasing teams had come down to the local bar for some drinks and snacks after a long day of chasing. None of the storms had actually amounted to anything – a small EF1 had touched down but hadn’t lasted longer than twenty seconds – and apart from that, everyone had spent the day waiting around for weather that never came.

Naturally, everyone needed to let off a little steam after being cooped up in cars all day.

You took a sip of your drink from your spot in the far corner, standing with a few members of your team as well as a few stragglers from other teams. Everyone became fairly close in the storm chasing world, whether you were part of the same team or not.

Once again, you scanned the room, zoning out a little as one of your friends started talking to another chaser, and met Tyler’s eyes. He quickly blinked, turning his head away and looking anywhere but you, trying to play it off like he’d never actually been looking at you in the first place. You couldn’t help but laugh a little at the sight.

“I’ll be back in a sec,” you muttered to your friend beside you before excusing yourself from the group and the conversation and manoeuvring your way across the room until you were close to Tyler. If he was aware of how close you’d gotten, he didn’t show it.

It wasn’t until you were right beside him that he looked around and saw you, startling a little at the sudden appearance. 

“Shit, can you teleport or something? You were all the way over there two seconds ago.”

You smiled up at him, amused. “Were you watching me or something?”

His eyes widened and you knew you’d caught him. “No, I just spotted you over there when I was looking around. At everyone. It’s a very packed bar, lots of people to look at.”

“Uh huh,” you nodded, moving to lean against the bar beside him. “And yet I caught you looking directly at me at least five times in the last twenty minutes, Owens. Care to explain?”

Tyler stared at you for a moment and then promptly downed the rest of the beer he was holding. “No comment.”

His reaction only spurred you on more. “Is that right? No comment?” You stepped closer to him, your arm brushing against his, and watched the way he tensed at the contact. 

He nodded, risking a glance at you only to see you staring right back at him, a glint in your eyes and a beautiful smile on your face. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a long breath.  “Why would I not look at the most good looking person in this whole bar?” 

His words took you off guard. You had not expected him to be so blunt and open like that, but for some reason, his honesty was incredibly attractive to you. Tyler Owens had always been attractive to you and working around him was never a problem, but somehow, he managed to raise the bar yet again. 

“You think I’m good looking?”

“You think I’d lie about something like that?”

He met your eyes and you could tell by the look in them that he was being truthful. It felt like the world stopped in that moment. Like you weren’t in a busy, loud and crowded bar having this conversation. It was just the two of you. Then, someone to your left bumped into you, knocking you back into the real world. 

Tyler was quick to act, stepping in-between you and the man so he couldn’t bump into you again, acting as a barrier. You swallowed, unable to take your eyes off of him. 

“How about we go somewhere quieter and you can… further elaborate on the reason behind the staring?” You offered, knowing you were being a little bold but figuring it couldn’t hurt. The worst thing that could happen would be Tyler saying no, and while it’d be embarrassing, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

To your delight, though, a smile made its way onto Tyler’s face and he nodded before offering you one of his hands, which you took without hesitation. “I’ll lead the way.”

[directdogman]

Super stoked for the Roger DLC and WILL be playing it on release, but something that’s been bugging me ever since the first few teasers was Peter, his personality feels quite different to me and my Peter obsessed friend, is there a reason for his personality change or was it completely unintentional?

He feels a lot more hot headed now, not completely the same as but similar to Steven, which feels like a complete 180 for Peter, I always remember enjoying him more in DSaF 2 because he was the more relaxed Phoney who when he had geniunely serious moments, it was incredibly impactful and gut wrenching when Peter would yell at me. 😔

Also, will Steven ever be real in dialtown please sir I miss my wif-

The comparison just always bothered me slightly.

Different universes. I should note that while Peter IS chiller in DSaF 2, if the restaurant goes under, the main consequence is that the company will get mortally wounded and he might die. The other employees will (for the most part) be fine. Peter cares. He cares if you hurt employees, he cares if you fuck up but is also willing to look the other way a few times if the fuckup isn't bad enough (without letting it slide, because he still cares what you do at work too.) I'd say his attitude at work namely stems from that, rather than the other way around. Steven does NOT care. He is literally willing to throw you under the bus to save himself and his sole goal is keeping the place open specifically so he can save his own hide, and his hot-headedness comes from that.

In DT, Peter is at the end of his rope and has had to deal with a LOT up until this point, arguably even more than his DSaF counterpart in terms of his day to day job, as shocking as that may sound. There's also WAY more on the line this time. He isn't the one that's going to face the worst of what'll happen if things continue at their current trajectory (unlike Peter or Steven in their original games.) He explains this pretty early into the DLC, which may explain why he's testier than you remember him, namely what's on the line. He's trying his damndest to fix it but is failing. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place with Roger, recognizing his bad leadership is sinking the plant but caring too much about the guy to effectively deal with it until this point.

His guard is up because it has to be, but he does have a few nice moments where it's clear how much he cares and if you listen to Roger's dialogue carefully, you'll see just how much Peter has put up with that would've made any sane person walk away. He's also noticeably nicer to Gingi if you don't waste his time and seem to actually care about Roger, and he acts closer to how he does in the DSaF 2 screenshot you showed off, though perhaps with slightly less energy (since he is, like I said, at the end of his rope.) There's even a scene in the evil route where you can identify this and use it against him in a pretty sinister way.

To mention another thing that even Gingi sees as far back as his original scene in DT: He's a natural manager who's playing second-fiddle to someone who clearly doesn't know what he's doing.

I didn't just wanna do more of the same, so I played with the dynamics a lil. Peter is in a very different role here, one that he's not exactly suited to. He's out of his element. He's inundated with work and in this scene, is thinking about the lives of the employees who are going to be laid-off in a week or so time if things don't change FAST, and while this is happening, his boss is bantering with a weird cryptid on the street and talking about random garbage.

There are times in DSaF 2, like you said, where you do see him get like this. It's not as much that his character is different in my eyes, but that the context is. This is a version of Peter who is one bad day away from having to make a difficult decision. Literally. I'll gladly talk more about it when the DLC's out (namely I could compare + contrast certain decisions he makes!) For now, I don't wanna spoil anything that isn't explicitly stated in the first major scene he has.

[biichama]

Holy shit was The Tomb of Dragons a fucking ride. I read the entire book within twelve hours of it being deposited onto my e-reader app and the only reason it took that long was because I had to bathe and sleep in between. Like, it is going to be a massive disruption to the fandom and its shipping and it's jossed pretty much every fic written in the aftermath of Grief of Stones, but it is good and gripping and it manages to tie up loose ends that I hadn't really realized were loose. I really, really liked it.

I have additional spoilery thoughts on why I think certain things happened in the book, which I'll put after the read more.

So I ended up getting spoiled on a very certain plot point last week when I checked to see if there were any pre-release reviews from people who'd been given an ARC and like, while I definitely get how people are going to be upset that Cehelar and Pel-Thenhior did not, actually, get together, I was actually pleasantly surprised by their dynamic in the book? Like maybe it's just because I was already spoiled that the ship wasn't happening, so I had come to terms and was able to accept what Katherine Addison gave us, but it is exceedingly clear that just because they're not in romantic love doesn't mean they don't love each other because it is really fucking clear that they do. Iäna is Thara's truest goddamn friend in the world, even more than Anora, and their friendship burns clear and intense and bright. I really love all their scenes together. Forgive me for being Homestuck on main, but they're moirails, y'all.

Also, I really did enjoy Captain Olgarezh as a character and Thara's slow burn crush on him, culminating in the thee-ing, hand-holding, and given-naming in the last scene. I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next for them, both in fanfic and (hopefully!) in further books to come, which it does seem like Katherine Addison has laid the groundwork for. And honestly, given the direction that it looks like she's taking Thara and the way it ends with Thara on the road again, making Hanu the love interest instead of Iäna makes a world of sense. Because we all love Iäna but he's not leaving Amalo, not when he has his opera house and his community, and it would strain credulity for the archprelate to be able to endlessly find new short term jobs in Amalo for Thara to do now that Tomasaran has his old one.

(Like it says in the acknowledgments that Tomb of Dragons was a hard book to write and I get that. In some ways Katherine Addison wrote herself into a corner with Grief of Stones in terms of being able to continue telling the kind of stories she wanted to with Thara and Tomb of Dragons was her way of writing him out of that corner. Like the way Grief of Stones ends, you can see the character arc she probably initially intended for Thara, where he mentors Tomasaran through her first cases and eventually comes to fully accept the loss of his gift and ends up retiring to stay in Amalo with Pel-Thenhior—but I suspect she had trouble making that actually work with Thara in a way that felt true to his character, probably because he would rather die than retire. Hence her making sure that he can't stay in Amalo or even go back to visit for now and creating Hanu as someone who can go on the road with him. And hence him being able to get his gift back.)

Anyway, apart from all that, I was so fucking pleased to see Maia and Csevet show up again and get all those little glimpses of him coming into his own as an emperor after a year on the throne. I hope that we do get another book where Thara and Hanu reach the Untheileneise Court and we see even more Maia and also hopefully Csethiro too. And that eventually all Thara's friends from Amalo show back up again, because they're all great and he really does need to get better at accepting people care about him. Get loved, idiot.

[gamesetattach]

On the Record

Jannik Sinner x Reader A well liked personality in the tennis world, reader is one the favored sports commentators. Her interviews always make headlines for all the right reasons—the people love to watch her crack all their favorite players... especially Jannik Sinner because, I mean, the poor boy seems to just shatter. Honestly. Somewhere in time, this was an 800 word blurb... And now it's nearly 8,000. Not sure when that happened. This just became a tennis player personality study at some point, tbh

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You weren’t just another sports commentator—you’d quickly made a name for yourself in your short career in the tennis world. The networks and the fans loved you, and so did the players. Your approach was the kind where players actually liked talking, one that made post-match interviews feel less like an obligation and more like an easy conversation. You had built a reputation for striking the perfect balance—professional and sharp, but always with just the right amount of humor to put players at ease.

It wasn’t uncommon for your analyses and your interviews to be clipped and spread, tennis fans enjoyed your commentary and admired how effortlessly you got athletes to open up. You asked questions that felt fresh, steering clear of the usual clichés that players had answered a hundred times before. You could tease them just enough to get a smile, knew when to pull back, when to lean in. And many of the players responded more than favorably to that.

---

Ben Shelton was a natural entertainer—electric on the court, brimming with confidence, always ready with a quip. But post-match interviews? Reporters could easily get him ticked off—understandably so. Questions were too often repetitive, formulaic, and sometimes interviews could be straight up disrespectful.

But with you holding the mic, it was never that.

"Ben! Congratulations on the win—another five-setter. You really like giving the crowd a show, huh?" you teased once, microphone in hand as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

Shelton grinned, shaking his head. "Look, I’m just trying to keep ticket sales up. If I finish in straights, what’s the fun in that?"

You raised an eyebrow. "Tell us, do you hold back on that power serve of yours sometimes—just to keep the game going?"

"I don’t know about all that," he replied smoothly, "But I will say, the longer I’m out here, the more entertainment value there is. I’m doing everyone else a favor."

"Selfless. A true man of the people." The crowd laughed, and so did you. “I can see why they like you.”

Ben nodded at you, moving to dap you up as the cameraman dipped the lens for the interview to wrap up. "See, you get it."

The moment was well loved, fans loving the ease of your exchanges. And that was nothing unusual—your interviews often made waves.

---

Your position often called for a sensitive touch, and your intuition meant you navigated that aspect better than most. You were always sure to respect the players’ boundaries.

When Jack Draper won his first top-ten match of the season, it hadn’t been pretty. He had barely scraped through in three sets, visibly struggling throughout, even throwing up courtside between games. It was impressive tennis, but it had been the kind of match that took everything out of both players, winner or not.

Networks had a certain, set agenda, and the players all knew of that obligation. And so some commentators might’ve been waiting, mic in hand—ready to pounce with questions about endurance, fitness, and whether he should’ve retired—without being mindful of the condition he was in. You’d offered Draper’s circumstance more tact and understanding than others would have.

You caught sight of him near the bench, after barely celebrating and stumbling his way to the net to shake hands with his opponent. He was still catching his breath as he toweled off and gathered his things, the sideline cameras were on him as your own crew quickly assembled in the middle of the court. You’d gently approached, mic cast behind your back to prevent any sound from being picked up, crouching slightly so he wouldn’t have to stop his movements to answer you. 

The exhaustion was evident in his features to all who watched, his skin pale beneath the sweat, and you kept your voice soft, careful. "Jack, hey—no pressure. Are you feeling up for the interview? All good if not, I can cover for you."

Jack blinked up at you, sluggish, like it took effort to focus. For a split second, you’d even wondered if you should’ve asked at all—maybe it was better to deflect the crowd and let him slip away. But then recognition clicked in his eyes, and for a moment you thought he might wave you off, but he moved his head just a fraction down in a nod.

With a small, grateful smile at his lips, he said. "Nah, I’m good. Just… maybe we keep it short?"

You nodded immediately. "Of course. I got you."

So you’d kept the interview brief and simple, unprobing. Your voice stayed even, the questions light and general.

"Jack, congratulations. That was an impressive win against an impressive opponent. What are your thoughts coming out of it?" You asked, keeping the question away from his state.

 "Yeah, tough one today, but looking forward to tomorrow." Jack exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “Apologizes for the throw up, everyone.”

A soft chuckle rippled through the crowd.

You’d smiled, keeping it easy. "I won’t keep you long, but one thing’s for sure—you showed a lot of fight out there and we’re sure you will tomorrow as well. Anything more you’d like to say to the crowd, along with that?"

Jack turned toward the stands, where the crowd erupted into cheers just at the acknowledgment. "Yeah, just… thanks for sticking it out with me. You all carried me through."

You gave him a nod, and he backed out of the frame with a grateful look as he took your okay to head out. "Alright. Go get some rest, Jack. You’ve earned it."

---

Sometimes, you’d poke fun with the players—though you never crossed the line. And those interviews always showed the strength of your rapport with those on tour.

Carlos Alcaraz was truly sunshine personified. Always wearing that wide smile, he was friendly with everyone. And, with you, he was always outright charmed, knowing the interview would be memorable and fun.

After yet another dramatic comeback win, you stood across from him, shaking your head. "Carlos, you make my job so hard. I try to plan questions, but every time you pack the game with so many good shots I have a hard time choosing which one to talk about."

“Sorry.” He said, grinning and laughing up at the crowd. "You know, maybe I'll make it easy for you next time."

"Now, don’t do that. We love watching you fall into the splits and run all over the place." You both chuckled, and you continued with your questions. “Tell me, today was a spectacular match—now you're moving on to the finals—will you get a tattoo of the match date?”

“We’ll see,” Carlos’s smile had widened at that, if even possible. "If I win, maybe. Let’s see."

“What makes a day great enough to qualify for a tattoo of the date?”

“I always just try and play well, but if there’s something really special—then I like to remember that.” He shifted his weight back and forth between his feet, nodding up at the crowd as they cheered. “Especially with the great fan atmosphere, like here in the tournament.”

"Well Carlos, if you continue playing as well as you did today, I think you may run out of space pretty soon."

He’d grinned, pointing to the tiny text of his newest addition. "I get them small, still have lots of room. On the legs and all—"

You shook your head. "I say, skip the legs—go straight for the forehead."

He threw his head back at that, leaning up and away from the mic for a full-bellied laugh, and the crowd erupted with him. "We’ll see, we’ll see."

"Alright, Carlos! Thank you for your time. Great tennis tonight, we’ll see you again in two nights against Rune!" You easily finished, wrapping up the interview as he waved once more to the crowd.

---

The same often went with Andrey Rublev, a character loved by all. An intense firestorm on the court, but forever soft-spoken off it. He was one that could be reserved and bashful in interviews, even though he often couldn’t help his witty remarks—a large part of why he was so well liked. 

“Andrey, congratulations! You’re having a great year so far—making it to the finals again after just winning a title,” He nodded, taking off his headband as you began the interview. “I was wondering, do you have any new superstitions this season? Or any old ones that have evolved over time?"

“Superstitions… I don’t know...” Rublev exhaled, brushing a hand through his damp hair. His eyes landed on the headband he was spinning on a finger. "Maybe this one—the headband. When I was younger, in juniors or something, I didn't have this long hair, but now before the match I’m tying like this every time."

“Ah yes, I’ve had the privilege of seeing you primp and preen before a match.” You’d teased, laughing lightly. “It’s quite the routine.”

“Yes…” He smiled, looking down a little. “It’s not so easy.”

“I mean, yeah, with that head of hair—I believe it.” You grinned at him. “I know you always looked up to Rafa Nadal growing up, do you feel like it’s kind of an ode to him?”

“Yes, of course. He was always my favorite—I was… when I was little, I was always wearing the same kit as him. Same shorts and shirt, and headband—everything. But, yes, it takes some time in front of the mirror.”

“That it does—you diva.” You laughed, and those in the stands followed suit.

“No… Diva? What is this?” Rublev glanced off camera before looking back at you, perplexed but smiling still.

“Don’t worry about it… They know.” The crowd cheered again.

He shook his head at you, chuckling a little before he gestured to you in confusion at the crowd.

You continued on, still laughing to yourself. “Everyone, Andrey Rublev! Our finalist—thank you Andrey!”

With that, the sound of your mics cut out and the other commentators came back into the audio, but the camera stayed on you and Rublev—panning out a bit. The remainder of your teasing conversation could be seen, with you presumably explaining what you had meant by diva between laughs and him playfully swatting you away immediately after. 

It was a fan favorite moment, one that Rublev couldn’t seem to escape for the rest of the season. He was always sure to give you shit for it whenever he saw you around, but no one—including him—could deny that you always carried out the most entertaining interviews.

Though no interview was watched quite as closely as your ones with Jannik Sinner, however…

---

When it came to Jannik, the lens people would watch your interviews with became something else entirely.

The same reason people loved your interviews still held true—the way you got players to open up, the way you made even the most media-wary athletes feel at ease.

And Jannik wasn’t cold by any means, but he was careful. Composed. Someone who, in most press conferences and interviews, gave measured almost scripted answers, efficient and to the point. He was never rude—just reserved. He’d smile, be polite, but rarely let people in further than he had to.

And yet, every time it was you standing across from him, microphone in hand, his expression changed—softer, just barely perceptible. But people started to catch on… And when they did, they started to look for it as well.

A flicker of something lighter in his eyes, the way his usual, fidgety stance seemed to relax. If fans didn’t know him well, they might’ve missed it. But those who did could always tell that, even if he would never express it outright, he genuinely enjoyed talking to you.

---

One of the first times people noticed it was soon after your promotion, when you conducted one of your earlier on-court interviews.

It was after an iconic, comeback three-set win of Jannik’s. And something about the way he answered your questions—the way he looked at you—set the viewers abuzz. It was like the crowd had faded away for him. He still inserted his usual expressions of gratitude, but it seemed you and your questions were the center of his focus. 

"Jannik, long night for you. With quite an abrupt turnaround," you had started, a smile in your voice as he nodded at your words. "Was there ever a moment where you doubted that you could take back the match? You were down for the first half there."

“No—,” He blinked, a smile slowly growing on his face. "What do you think of me? I try not to doubt… Of course, it’s not so easy but…"

He grinned at you as he trailed off, and you jumped right back in. "Oh, so you always knew you could take the game back is what you’re saying?"

His eyes stayed on you, corners of his lips twitching up again. "No, but—it’s important to stay positive. You know… I just try and play well."

“You just try…” You scoffed and looked at the camera. “You know, I think on most people’s best and most positive days, they probably can't serve so many aces in a row…”

Jannik shrugged, smiling up at the crowd as the crowd laughed at his nonchalant reaction.

It wasn’t necessarily a funny answer, or even a funny question, but Jannik’s cheeky smile and your quiet laughs in response added another layer to the tone of the interview. The audience cheered at his demeanor, a rare display of tasteful gloating from one of the world's best players. 

That interview reemerged pretty consistently, you just brought out a different side of him. Not too many saw it then, but those who did were hooked.

---

The moment people most loved to replay went down after a late-afternoon match, the sun casting long shadows over the court as Jannik walked back on court for the interview, exhausted but victorious against his self-proclaimed rival. When he saw you waiting for him on the service, he didn’t just nod in acknowledgement and snap into his professional, media mode—his face visibly brightened, a slow smile tugging at his lips before he even reached you.

The smile stayed on his face, eyes fixed on you as you gave the cursory congratulations and eased the viewers into the interview while welcoming Jannik to the frame. "—and you had quite a few dives today, are you still in one piece?" You transitioned the introduction into the first question, microphone poised at his mouth after asking.

He nodded, eyes having never left you, but stayed quiet. His mouth opened as if starting to answer, but then he stopped and shook his head, hands on his hips. "... Sorry, can you repeat the question."

He pushed down protruding hairs under the brim of his cap with a sheepish smile as the audience laughed.

“Wow, zoning out already—that was only the first question Jannik.” You shook your head in teasing disapproval at the camera, and the corner of his mouth lifted to widen his smile at your reaction. “That might have been an answer to the question in and of itself—maybe you’re not in one piece… I asked about the dives you took during the match—any scrapes or scratches?”

“Ah, okay,” He nodded in understanding, catching up and smiling when people laughed once more. “No I—I’m okay. It is hard court, yes, but no scrapes so far.”

“Seems like Carlos has that effect on you, doesn’t he? You’re always diving after his balls—” You cut yourself off immediately, hand slapping to cover your mouth when you realized how that last sentence could have been interpreted.

You doubled over in laughter, unable to help yourself, and Jannik joined in when he pieced it together. It took you too long to recover, more time than was professional for sure, but the stadium was laughing along with you. Jannik watched as you tried again and again to compose yourself before you broke back into laughter each time, he chuckled at you while wagging a finger at the camera.

Then he set his palm on top of yours, taking your hand holding the mic to lift it to his mouth. “What kind of interview is this?”

The crowd went wild, pleased to see Jannik play into the humor of the situation. You wiped tears from your eyes and covered your face in embarrassment, his hand still over yours for longer than it needed to be. 

When he returned the mic, and your hand, you gave an exaggerated look of regret towards the camera, breaking the fourth wall in more ways than one. “So sorry if I violated any network guidelines with that one… Did not mean for the interview to take this turn…”

And then the production assistant behind the camera, also in tears from laughter, signaled that time was almost up. Jannik teasingly threw his hands in the air when he saw the count down, poking fun at the fact that you’d derailed the interview and eaten up the screen time.

You lifted the mic and continued, shaking your head at yourself once more while smiling. “Looks like we need to wrap this up… Jannik any final words?”

“Well this is also some of my first words…” He laughed as you mouthed something in response. Don’t remind me, you’d mimed. “But I want to thank everyone here for the good energy and Carlos for another great game… And, of course, thank you for finishing off this day with such a… interesting interview.”

He said the last bit towards you, not missing the opportunity to tease you further—and nobody missed that.

The interview had understandably blown up. It had all the makings of a viral moment. An accidental, suggestive line implicating both Carlos and Jannik was bound to spread like a wildfire. Adding Jannik’s funny reaction on top of that only fueled the fire. People enjoyed seeing the facade of his usual composure break, fans were quick to interact with those rare moments where he revealed more of his charm and humor. 

Though somehow, with all the traction the clip received, the discourse always seemed to land on you. Or rather, how he was with you. After getting past the comedic banter in the video, people started commenting on his behavior. On how he looked at you, how he seemed to miss the first question because he was admiring you. How he took your hand with no hesitation, and how you seemed unfazed by the touch. He was clearly comfortable with you—and you with him, judging by how naturally you took his teasing.

And so, anyone who wasn't already watching the two of you closely certainly started to after that.

---

It wasn’t just post-match interviews people watched. It was media days, press conferences, those brief moments of footage where your paths crossed in hallways.

Fans really started to notice the way his eyes would stay on you, taking just a second longer than necessary before answering the question. The way he always seemed to open up when it was you on the other side of the mic. 

Jannik wasn’t the type to talk much during an interview, he kept his answers concise, but with you, there was always something—an easy joke, a quick remark, sometimes he’d even ramble on in an answer. 

"Try to behave this one," he had joked when you were up to interview him after another game against Carlos, referencing that one, fateful slipup of yours a few months after its debut. You gave him a look, that line was sure to spread everywhere whether or not the rest of the interview was entertaining, and you both knew it. The people present in the stands were already whooping.

"I’ll try my best,” You smirked anyways. “I’ll try my best not to mention how Carlos gets you to fall for him.”

The crowd roared, and he shifted his jaw as he laughed with you. “That’s not how you said this the last time.”

“Well, I made many promises to many important people that I wouldn’t say anything like last time. Ever again.” You winked at the camera. “—Not on TV, at least.”

He inhaled a laugh, “Good. It’s for the best.”

"Okay… Let’s leave that behind us." You raised your brows at him as you offered a hand to shake in truce.

“Okay. Promise.” He took your hand, trying to look serious while fighting back a smile.

“Okay.” You nodded up at him, matching his expression even though your lips pursed with an incoming laugh, hands intertwined.

You both just stood like that for a beat, looking at each other with your hands clasped in a stilled handshake, laughter clearly threatening to take over. He was the first to break the silence.

“Are you going to ask a question, or what?” A smile ripped onto his face, and then your laugh just had to come out. Everyone in the stands had been in pieces since the interview’s start, but the laughter doubled at that.

“Yeah, yeah,” You shook your head. “What am I going to do with you—I’m going to be out of a job.”

“Ah, no. You’re too good for that.” His own laugh had faded into an amused smile. An affectionate one, even.

“Hear that?” You address the camera, deadpanning. “Glad we got that on tape.”

That interview continued on without any inappropriate hitches, though it stayed just as entertaining throughout. 

And it wasn’t just a one-off thing. The more you interviewed him, the more obvious it became—it was a pattern. And the common denominator was you.

Fans were relentless. They clipped every smirk, every subtle glance. Every moment where Jannik let himself react.

He’s always laughing when its her She’s the only one who gets him to act like this. i love how he forgets all his media training when he’s with her Jannik, blink twice if you’re in love There’s no way they’re not a thing. If theyre not, they should be. Like now.

---

The best part? The most implicating part? You never even tried to make those moments with him. It just… happened. It always happened.

Like the time you’d been interviewing another player on court—someone else entirely, an opponent he’d lost to. Jannik could be seen in the back of the frame, still packing up at his bench. You hadn’t given any sign of noticing him, there was no moment of acknowledgement, you were faced away from Jannik as you interviewed the winning player with your usual, unique questions and comfortable professionalism—but the viewers’ eyes were on Jannik in the distance more than the interview itself, because the camera had caught everything. 

It seemed the moment Jannik realized it was you speaking, that it was you on court, his head snapped to your direction. He was slower in gathering his things, looking back at you often. Even when signing things for fans on the sidelines, he’d turn his face to you every time you laughed. When he did finally walk out, his eyes stayed trained on you, turning his neck towards you until you simply had to leave line of sight. 

And, even after the loss, it seemed he had a slight smile playing on his lips when he left. The soft kind, the same one he always seemed to wear when you were around. 

Fans had slowed it down frame by frame, zooming in—and they saw it all.

---

The phenomenon quickly took on a life of its own. People had moved past just noticing, fan just straight up speculated after a while. Even other players and commentators were aware of the trope—it was everywhere online and it was hard to ignore the dynamic between you and him even in person.

It started small. A few viral clips, some curious tweets, the occasional comment under a post-match interview: He never laughs like that with anyone else. But that phase passed quickly. Then the compilation videos came in swarms soon after. The frame-by-frame breakdowns of every interview, every shared glance, every moment where Jannik seemed just a little too engaged, a little too interested.

"It’s the way he looks at her," Coco Guaff even said in a WTA YouTube video, the content being a montage of players’ talking about associations and relationships with umpires and broadcasters. You and Coco had an easy friendship, despite your role usually landing on the ATP side, so it only made sense that she dropped your name… 

But it just so happened that her mention of you very quickly devolved into propaganda supporting those fan speculations of Jannik’s relationship to you.

"I mean, that’s not normal." She continued, shrugging at the camera as she giggled to herself. “The proof is in the footage, I don’t know what to tell you.” 

And that wasn’t the only instance—Coco herself being notorious for backing the allegations.

Once, a post on a tennis podcast’s Instagram had gone doubly viral after she liked it. It was a screenshot of Jannik in mid-interview with you, visibly engaged, stars in his eyes. The text above the image read: Mans has never been happier in his life.

And the comments were rampant.

Need someone to look at me like that Guys, Coco liked?? You’d never know he just won a title, looks like the highlight of his day is just her Si vede che è cotto! Uh, heyy Coco

Another, a comparison of images—A photo of Jannik immediately after a match, visibly drained, side-by-side with another of him only minutes after, beaming down at you. Find someone who looks at you the way Jannik Sinner looks at his favorite commentator.

Forget clostebol, bros drug is just love Si vede che è cotto a puntino if they have no fans, im dead 

Even official tennis accounts and sports networks got in on it, subtly referencing it in posts and during match breakdowns and things of that sort. 

The ATP social team once posted a story of you two laughing behind the scenes on media day. And people immediately jumped on it, the screenshot spreading all over twitter.

Tennis Channel’s table of commentators once referenced you after discussing the tennis rankings and Jannik’s consistent performance.

“How does he do it?” One asked, after running through Jannik’s match statistics and win streak.

“I’m not sure, but I doubt he’d say.”

“We gotta get [Your Name] to ask, then I’m sure he’ll tell all.” Another chimed in.

Everyone at the table laughed, very obviously understanding the context. “It’s true, it’s true.”

And, of course, that clip was everywhere within minutes of it airing, as well.

...But the kick of it all was that neither of you ever seemed to deny the rumors—no matter how many times they were thrown at your face…

It wasn’t like anyone was subtle about it.

---

Once, Frances Tiafoe, never one to pass up the chance for a joke, had been sitting in the player locker lounge when Jannik walked in after a win. 

“The match was tough,” He said as he briefly looked up from his phone to clap Jannik’s hand in congratulations. Then Frances smiled to himself before tacking on a cheeky line for the room to hear. “I’m sure the extra motivation helped… Knowing you’d get your favorite interviewer after, and all that."

Frances immediately seized with laughter, cracking himself up, and others around chuckled with equal enjoyment.

Jannik only shook his head as he made his way to the stationary bikes, smiling at Tiafoe’s antics, but he was mostly unfazed. He didn’t bother to give a response—no denial, not even much overt amusement—just that calm, neutral reaction. Masterfully deflecting without a single word.

It was the response he always gave when people brought it up, behind closed doors or otherwise.

Like when John McEnroe playfully called Jannik out on camera during a post-match interview after a Grand Slams quarterfinals. When Jannik approached the court again after winning, waving at the stands, it was McEnroe waiting to ask questions, mic in hand. 

The crowd still listened and cheered throughout the interview, hanging on to all of Jannik’s words, but it was nothing compared to the reactions your interviews always prompted.

McEnroe decided to bring you up towards the end of his questions, dramatically sighing and shaking his head. "Alright, thanks for humoring me Jannik—Sorry it’s me today and not your favorite commentator."

The audience roared at your mention, but Jannik only exhaled a laugh, catching one of his ankles in his hands to stretch as he simply shook his head. 

And McEnroe took Jannik’s lack of response as an answer. "Won’t even deny it, huh?"

Jannik just smiled, eyes drifting off to his box, and McEnroe took the action as reason to continue. Looking towards the camera in exaggerated belief, he threw his hands up, “And now he’s looking away from me—Wow, I can’t even keep his attention.”

Jannik laughed at that, placing a friendly hand on McEnroe’s shoulder. “No, I just—I saw my team say something so I looked over.”

“Right, right.” McEnroe kept on with his lamenting, teasing at the point further. “I was only the World Number One for a bit, won 70 titles…”

“I think—I think we go back to the questions, maybe.” Jannik said jokingly and McEnroe let out one more incredulous laugh. 

“Okay, I’ll try… but I’m starting to doubt if I’m any good at that now…”

“I have no favorite.” Jannik finally offered, his voice faint as the mic was still pointed away from him.

“Too late, Jannik, it’s too late.” 

The moment was all in jest, and John was sure to relay the interaction back to you later that day, as if you hadn't already watched it unfold live. You only laughed in response, teasingly placating him but never touching on what he’d suggested in the interview. McEnroe was just one of many peers in the sports broadcasting world that would make little comments to you, and you never gave them much of anything.

It was harder when players called you out though—especially when they did it live, in front of thousands of people.

Fresh off a hard-fought win, Matteo was still slightly out of breath when you grinned at him for the interview. "Matteo, great tennis out there today! We’ve been seeing you play at the net a lot more since your return—more confident, more aggressive with those volleys—tell us about that."

"No, no, I think I've always felt comfortable at the net.” He shook his head immediately, ducking his head down to really look at you, teasing glint in his eyes. “Maybe you’re too young to know my earlier game… or maybe you’re getting me confused with someone else."

The crowd already latched on to the reference, a collective ooh passing through the stands, you tried your best to play dumb despite that. You went the first reason he offered,  "I mean I remember watching your games before I got on the job, but if I blocked out memories of volleys like today’s, then no one’s more sorry than I am."

Matteo smirked, looking out toward the crowd, not letting you change the subject or take the easy way out. "I know we’re both Italian, but come on."

You allowed a laugh, but were quick to move on, not lingering on Matteo’s implication very long.

The exchange had made the highlight reels, fans eating up both Matteo’s teasing and your barely-there reaction, and the way you had to abruptly ask the next question to avoid it from dragging on too long.

But the teasing, the compilations, the endless speculation—it was all fun, all harmless. Because as far as anyone knew, it was just a fan theory. Just playful banter and an easy chemistry that everyone got to bear witness to. And, if yours and Jannik’s response to all the teasing was anything to go by, it really was just baseless guess work—after all, neither of you had ever given concrete proof on any of it.

But most continued to entertain it anyways, because if it was true: it was only a matter of time before it came out…

---

The long-awaited proof came after an especially grueling match of Jannik’s.

The game had been absolutely brutal.

It was one of those that felt less like a tennis match and more like a battle of sheer will. Three and a half hours in the sweltering heat, the air thick and unmoving, turning every rally into a war of attrition. Jannik had fought through service games that stretched over ten minutes, through back-to-back tie-breaks where every point had felt like a match in itself. He had been pushed to his limits, his legs leaden, his body aching from the relentless pace. Every time it seemed like he had finally broken free, his opponent clawed back, forcing another hold, another deuce, another impossibly long rally. 

By the final set, even his renowned movements had lost their usual crispness, his footwork a fraction slower, his serves just a little less sharp. But he refused to let up.

So when he finally won—when the last point ended and his opponent’s shot sailed long—it took him a second to process it. It took a second for everyone watching, too.

He barely lifted his arms in victory, letting his head drop as he panted. The stadium erupted around him, the crowd on their feet, but it seemed that all he could think about was how his entire body felt like it had been wrung out. He made his way to the net, movements heavy but thoughtful in his handshake and hug as he offered a good game to the opponent that matched and elevated his level throughout the game. Then trudged toward his bench with a nod to the umpire, shoulders still rising and falling with every exhausted breath.

The play had tested endurance more than anything—nearly four hours under the blazing afternoon sun, and no easy points. He held his face into his towel for a long moment, and then flicked water from his bottle over his face and on the back of his neck, his usual expression one of raw exhaustion. 

He barely had enough left in him to toss a fist into the air when he made his way back onto the court, though the crowd had yet to cease their cheering. And then he all but stumbled his way over to you.

You. Waiting just off the service line, a steady presence in the chaos, a welcome face after the intense match.

And the familiarity of it, of you, cut through his exhaustion. Your expression was still pleasant, but it was different from the smile you usually had during interviews. There was something tight under your professional exterior—concern, maybe subtle, but unmistakable once anyone saw it. It was in the way your eyes flickered over him, assessing, before you even said a word.

And still, as he approached, his gaze softened—as it always did when his eyes landed on you. But his face was flushed from the heat, sweat dampening the curls at the nape of his neck, so as he stepped closer, you instinctively reached out, fingertips brushing against his arm before you pulled back.

Maybe people would pick up the small gesture later, but for now the stadium was still roaring, the energy crackling through the stands. You hadn’t moved to begin the interview yet, your crew still assembling beside you.

He gave you the slightest of nods, eyelids low and heavy. You held his eyes, raising a single brow, before giving the go-ahead to the production assistant. And then the mic was live, and you fell into interview mode.

Or you tried to, as best as you could.

"Jannik—what can I even say? That was a battle out there," you started. "I know you love tennis, but a part of you has to hate it at least a little right now. I mean, congratulations for sure, but are you regretting any life decisions?"

His head was down for most of your intro, chin tucked to his chest as he rolled out his ankles and looked at you through the brim of his cap. He smiled, despite himself—he could always count on you to keep the mood high.

“What do you mean? That was the most fun I’ve had in my life.” His voice was a little labored, but he managed to answer lightly.

“The scary part is, I believe you.” The crowd laughed. “I think we can all agree, watching that match was the most fun any tennis fan could have. Honestly.”

You had to raise your volume towards the end of your praise as the audience joined in to cheer in agreement. It really had been an incredible display of the sport.

The stands then erupted into a joint song, all chanting his name in unison. You dropped the mic as he stepped back to humbly receive the attention, and he looked up at the people while you looked up at him.

You held the mic back to him after the chants subsided, knowing his next move would be to thank the crowd. “Thank you everyone for supporting. It really is an incredible thing to play such tennis with this amazing crowd—it’s very special. Thank you!”

He waved up at everyone for a moment longer before returning his attention back to you. You were waiting patiently, watching him with a tender smile. 

“We should probably be grateful that even such a taxing match could only make you love tennis more.” You restarted, picking back up from your initial question. “I don’t know if the sport could take it if that wasn’t the case—”

“No, I will be honest—” Jannik interjected, and you tilted the mic to him so it could catch his voice properly. “I will be honest. Right now I feel good, tired, but good. But maybe tomorrow, when I wake up, my legs will be sore and this kind of things… and then I might hate tennis—just a little bit. I will still be happy, but…”

“Wow, thank you for the honesty.” You laughed at the confession. “But even then, you say hate but it’s probably just like a ‘minus one’, right?”

“That’s true, 'minus one' on a scale of ten.”

“So where do you usually rank tennis, when you're not terribly sore? On a scale of ten?”

“... At least 11, maybe higher.” He said grinning, proud of the answer.

“So, we’re right back where we started then.” You threw up your hands in fake exasperation. “I’m trying to make you look bad here, at least help me a little.”

He shrugged and continued to smile at you, and you shook your head before moving the interview along. “In two days, hopefully after recovering from any remaining soreness, you’ll face off with De Minaur. He’s been playing really well throughout the tournament, how do you plan to approach that?”

He nodded thoughtfully, as he shifted to stretch his legs. It seemed that his adrenaline had faded again, along with the banter and the peak of the crowd’s celebration. The tension of exhaustion furrowed his eyebrows once more as his smile lessened while he took a moment to deliberate an answer. 

“Alex and I are good friends, we practice together often and he’s a great player. I look forward to playing him in the finals. And hopefully, we can make a good match like today.”

You cast a glance at your production assistant, who signaled that you still had half the allotted session for the interview left, before nodding at Jannik’s answer. You decided to use up the bulk of the remaining time yourself, to help take the weight of Jannik a bit, and so you let your next question have a long and wordy lead up.

“You and Alex go way back. You kind of made your breakthrough a little after his, winning the ATP Next Gen tournament against him soon after he broached the top 20. You’ve kind of revolved near each other since then—you practice together often, like you mentioned—and it seems you and him often make big evolutions for your respective careers in and around the same tournaments.” You droned on, stalling an actual ask of any question, and you hoped no one took notice.

His face was strained, though his eyes were still on you—even though you hoped to cover your intent, it seemed Jannik had caught on to your attempt to alleviate the need for him to use any further brain power. You could tell he’d switched off from listening because of it, now focusing on his body. You continued to string together facts in the background, trying to catalog Jannik’s state as you did. 

Within the minute and half you spoke, it seemed he couldn’t help but fidget in all his fatigue. He flexed his right wrist once. And lifted one heel, and then the other. Rolling his shoulders back four times and then forward three times. He hit the heel of his palm against his quads, once, then once more. And his fingers twitched, rubbing absently at the sorest spots—digging into the tender muscle of his forearm, kneading at the base of his neck. 

Every shift in position came with the faintest grimace, something only you could catch in your proximity to him. In all your closeness to him.

Then Jannik parted his mouth every so slightly, a quiet exhale leaving him as he did. He shifted his jaw side to side in a slow, stiff motion, testing the tension held there before it clicked with a faint pop. And, words still on autopilot, you forgot yourself.

You kept speaking, though the spiel was probably well past erring on excessive, but you unconsciously reached a hand up. Your palm settled on the side of his face, index on the bone behind his ear, thumb on hinge of his jaw. Your fingers nestled under the hair at the nape of his neck as you gently rubbed your thumb back and forth. 

It was a simple, almost thoughtless action. An instinct. An undeniably intimate one. And then, before you could move to pull away, he caught your hand in his.

He lifted it ever so slightly, so your palm rested on his cheek, and he pressed his own hand into yours as he leaned his face into your touch. 

The gesture was effortless, organic, like he had done it a hundred times before. Like he needed it then.

He sighed and his eyes flickered closed. His thumb brushed against the back of your hand, and he didn’t let go immediately. And when he did open his eyes, his expression softened just slightly as he glanced at you, as if all his strain melted away with your warmth.  

The whole display happened within just a handful of seconds, but it was like the stadium fell still. And it might have just been the moment between you, but as you slipped your hand back to your side from underneath his, it really did feel like the entirety of the crowd was holding their breath.

You had trailed off somewhere in your monologue, and you couldn’t be sure of where, but you didn’t dare risk a look at the camera or towards your crew. The audience came alive again, murmurs rippling through the stands.

Jannik ran a hand over his face, taking only a beat to reset and set his attention back to the interview, looking as collected as ever. You tried to follow suit and compose yourself, finally asking the last question. "So, how do you plan to go into the match with Alex?"

You resisted smacking your hand to your face as soon as you said it. That might as well have been the exact question you’d asked earlier—it basically was—and it was far from the natural recovery you’d wanted. But Jannik, to his credit, took the redundant ask in stride and mixed up his response from his last one.

“Alex has kind of this defensive playing style that matches well with mine, and, of course, he’s fast and has the ability to return every ball. I’ve seen him grow and develop into an even better player in the past few years… so, it will be a very tough match—but, we’ll see.”

“Yes, we will!” You tried not to slump in relief when you caught the times-up signal in your periphery, and faked the best, most enthusiastic camera voice you could muster. “Thank you, Jannik, and good luck!”

You avoided his eyes, and the lens of the camera, and he smirked a little at that as he waved once more to the crowd before walking back to his bag. You allowed a single glance at him when he moved to the tunnel after signing some autographs, and he was already looking towards you. His smile was small and teasing, and you could see the mirth in his eyes even from your distance. You shook your head at his expression, just enough for him to see—he should’ve been more scared.

Because you both were in for it.

It was all out now.

---

The internet lost its mind.

For a year—two, even—everyone had speculated. The entirety of the tennis world.

They analyzed every glance, every subtle moment, every clipped interaction, convinced there was something there. And now? There was no denying it.

What you both pulled in that last interview couldn’t be faked, it couldn’t be rationalized. This wasn’t playful banter or a viral compilation of smirks and long-held eye contact. This was something neither of you could explain away. It was intrinsic. Reflexive intimacy, something was too practiced, too familiar.

It was proof.

Slow-motion replays were everywhere even before you ended the interview. The reception flooded all social media platforms.

Okay that wasn’t just chemistry. That was straight-up muscle memory. This whole time??? This WHOLE time?? I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. Guys we called it

Tennis journalists tried to stay professional, but even the most formal accounts posted some variation of "well, this is interesting… "

And the fan posts were endless. Someone strung together a complete timeline of your relationship, tracing back all the way to when you started your role. Another person edited a fake wedding invite. 

And the players—the players…

When Jannik walked into the gym to cool down, it was like stepping into an ambush. All eyes were on him.

Everyone behind the scenes has stopped in their tracks to watch the legendary game of his that had just gone down. And so, everyone behind the scenes also witnessed your accidental reveal. The confirmation.

Every congratulations he received was immediately followed up with some sort of reference to it.

“Great game,” Alex De Minuar said. “...And, mate… the whole time?

"That game was insane, man…" Ben Shelton patted Jannik on the back as he passed, turning as he added. "And I guess now's as good a time as any… to hard launch I mean."

“No words, no words.” Carlos Alcaraz, from where he was stretching, shook his head up at Jannik in disbelief. “For that match, and for the reveal.”

Jannik chuckled a little with Carlos, shaking his head to himself as he moved deeper into the facility.

“I knew it so—” Coco just watched from a distance, her and Madi Keys stopping mid conversation when Jannik entered. "Like literally the whole time, I believed it."

"Niente da dire?" Nothing to say? Matteo drawled, clapping Jannik on the back with a smirk. "Neanche una spiegazioncine?" Not even a little explanation? 

And, around then, you’d made your way back to the commentary box, bracing yourself. You heard John McEnroe's voice from behind the door before you even entered. You couldn't help but cringe at the volume.

“Where is she?” The sound of a headset being placed down, with significant force. Laughter came from around him. “Where is she at?”

“Here we go.” You whispered to yourself.

---

Okay so, tell me, like for real, were you surprised? Did you know they were together all along, or did I get you? Because, I meant to get you, I did. Tell me where you realized, please please. It's okay if it wasn't a surpise, dw

Okay anyways, this was so fun. Too fun. Got carried away, in a lot of places, but I hope it's a fun read. Did not in fact edit, don't care, too long, didn't read—jk I'll go back in at some point soon. But if you're one of the lucky early few, read with one eye closed, and with the other mostly squinted.

Got almost all my favs in here, not nearly enough of the ladies, but my near-goat Ms. Coco has a cameo and what else really matters. What else really matters? And maybe, while reading, you were wondering: when is Jannik coming in? Does he ever? Well, I was wondering the same, okay...

K , kisses xx

[angel-fruitcake]

SPN S16 DESTIEL THEORY 🏳️‍🌈

ok please here me out- IF the spn revival is in the works, i believe it will include fully canon, romantically requited destiel. here's why:

the supernatural finale was fucked up, for many reasons. they know that. Misha knows it, Jensen knows it. everyone knows it. if they get the chance to redo the ending and fix things--a real shot at redemption--they won't make the same mistakes again.

yes, i'm fully aware that destiel is not the only thing that spn is about, not even the main storyline. but the moment they decided to let Cas confess his romantic love for Dean, they made it clear that that was a huge piece of the whole story. so if they write a revival that either doesn't acknowledge Cas' feelings (like with the finale), or worse, has Dean reject Cas' confession under the guise of being straight or only viewing Cas as family, they would be officially crowning themselves as The Most Homophobic and Most Hated Series To Ever Exist.

knowing Misha, if he's involved in the revival at all, he will make damn sure Cas gets justice. he wasn't satisfied with the way things ended either, and there is zero possibility that he will allow a revival to include Cas without going all the way with destiel this time. Castiel's love for Dean is apart of his story now, full stop. if they can't give him the ending he deserves, then there is absolutely no point in him even being in the revival.

and if for some godforsaken reason we learn that Cas isn't apart of it, it'll be obvious that Misha couldn't get destiel to happen, so he stepped back (at that point they will likely lose so much fandom interest in it that it'll be questionable if it's even worth making).

but i have a very hard time believing that Jensen would allow a rebirth to happen without Castiel/Misha being in it. he just wouldn't do that, it's too important for the story.

lastly, they won't be restricted by any network that's too cowardly or bigoted to allow the lead characters to be in a queer-presenting relationship. Jensen (or whoever buys/bought the rights to supernatural from WB) has the freedom to choose the company that picks up this project, because there is no actual pressure to make it. they don't have to do a revival; the show is over. if they give spn a rebirth, it will be a labor of love, created with the sole purpose of doing right by the fanbase and by the series itself. so if certain networks shoot down their ideas, they can find one that will be on board.

this is ofc just a theory and i know i shouldn't get my hopes up, but in my mind this is pretty solid.

if you read all that, thank you and i love you 💙💚💙💚

[rocksibblingsau]

In the Parasite AU, if the Memory Parasites caretaker sees their true form, what woild happen next? Because I’m curious about how Barb (If I’m correct on Branch being her parasite-brother) and Trollex would react?

Would they still take care of them without the need of another brain rewiring and the parasites just accept that these people are safe and lets them keep the conscious that they are Parasites? Or would the caretakers obviously be terrified that their relatives that they were so fond in taking care of was actually just a parasite looking to attach itself to a home for survival and just up and avoid the parasite for a long time.

That's a major part of the AU!

So Memory Parasites can hold their disguises for the entire lives without needing to drop it. A fun fact is that every memory parasite has one skill that they struggle with, Branch's being that any disguise he makes is grey. The only thing short of willingly shedding that will cause them to drop their disguise is something similar to an EMP/electric shock. In the Parasite AU there exists Trolls who hunt these parasites that have gear similar to cattle prods. Harmless to real Trolls, VERY painful to memory parasites and it disables their ability to disguise for up to 72 hours.

Viewing their true bodies will jog your memory. You'll still have the false memories, but your mind will view them the same way it views a vivid dream. You'll have the automatic understanding that the memories are fabricated.

Spoilers below for the reactions of some of the main affected Trolls!

So a big theme of the AU is that family is what you make it, people as a whole can feel love and empathy for even "parasites", and manipulation can be a tool of survival rather than malice.

Memory Parasites all grow up believing that they must manipulate the people around them in order to stay alive or be cared for. They believe that even within their own species, love is impossible for them once you know the truth, which is why their parents cast them out. Synth, who knows his dad loves "him", is fully under the belief that this love is circumstantial and would end if Trollex knew what he was. Synth constantly is working to endear himself to Trollex and the community so that he will be loved.

Synth ends up in an encounter with some of these hunters previously mentioned, revealing him to Trollex. Trollex, at first, is in shock by the revelation and makes no move to help Synth. After snapping out of it, Trollex makes it clear that even if Synth is not biologically his, he raised Synth, which makes him Synth's father.

Synth doesn't use his powers on Trollex again, accepting that his dad loves him and he's safe with him.

Branch's story is a bit more complicated, as he's probably one of the only parasites to have been abandoned by his host family.

Parasites can really only make one disguise, as they're not supposed to NEED other disguises, so Branch was very lucky to run into Rock Trolls. Memory rewrites are NOT miracle workers and it would have been very difficult to convince a Country Troll or Funk Troll he was their biological son. The more a person questions things, the more the façade starts to break and the more at risk you are.

Branch approached Barb as if he needed help, then struck and rewrote her memories, along with all the other Trolls on the trip. When Branch got to Volcano Rock City, he had to rewrite everyone else's memories, which took a huge toll on his body and he was very ill for a long time. Memories parasites typically only need to rewrite a few people's memories to fake a pregnancy, but Branch had to convince an entire city he lived there for 10ish years.

As far as parasites go, Branch is considered to be a "dangerous" one for this reason by certain hunters.

Barb's initial reaction was that she was completely fine with it, because she was going to adopt Branch either way, but after certain plot things wrapped up, she processes things and is pretty pissed, especially since Branch was going to do it again. She loves Branch, but she still feels manipulated because she would have adopted him either way. After talking with Branch, she realizes that Branch couldn't comprehend someone wanting him without memory manipulation, or with it, in some cases.

John Dory... he didn't react so well, having encountered some hunters in his travels who warned him about these parasites.

[crustyfloor]

brainvomit I can go on and on about the apparent hints we're getting in merch and subtext that allude to a Till revival but it grates on my nerves that it could easily be disproven in several ways, so I can never be certain, but honestly.. I'm quite confident in a Till revival. And I'm coming to expect it to some degree (In part because it's been months since there's been a proper update on him, otherwise his post-mortem comic would've been uploaded ages ago and that would be that,, but since it's seemingly being held off it leads me to think that it's an intentional decision because there is more content with him and his perspective to come, probably in later episodes)

from a writer's perspective, it feels like the logical next step. On the other hand, he might be really dead. It can happen, hell, it probably will happen because it's already clear that the chances of him living or staying dead are so situational, depending on where this story is going it might be right for him to just stay dead, (and that much in regards to the plot I can't really guess with much confidence either). I'm already so unsure how Vivinos plans to juggle all this worldbuilding and development within one or possibly two new episodes, I trust her ability, and so far she hasn't disappointed me, even when she's left me confused and upset for some time- and Vivinos is always introducing surprise plot twists to the story when I least expect it so now I'm not surprised that Till was shot anymore (aside from the agony and dread of actually seeing it) losing to Luka served it's own purpose, and I wouldn't be surprised if she brought him back

Even if revival is a very bold decision for a character, I wouldn't say it's as completely out of the realm of possibility as some may think, and it wouldn't be "impossible" to do. Alnst still has sci-fi themes. If aliens can exist, then many other things are on the table. That's why I like the robot/alive Sua theories so much. (and even though I wouldn't lean too much on realistic facts that would apply to our world to a fictional setting where plot armor exists, they're also still within the reasonable time frame to resuscitate Till, time isn't moving that slowly between the episodes Blink gone and Wiege so it's not too ridiculous if they're fast enough they can save him)

Sometimes I feel like I'm riding too close to the sun with the absurdity of insisting that Till could revive while his dead body is right there but I don't feel like we would be exploring the full scope of his character if his development ended here, yeah it's already been made somewhat cleared up that he wasn't as indifferent to Ivan's presence as we would have assumed given Ivan's view of him, but that's still pretty up in the air, we have a lot of assumptions about his character and his perspective but ultimately a lot of questions about him are still unanswered and up in the air, and personally, I'd deeply hate leaving this series not knowing as much about him as I could've, sure you could say that's simply his narrative, sure you could say death naturally comes when you least expect it to, that's just the way life is and I would accept that narrative if it came to it and Vivinos executed it in a way that made sense but ehg, it's just cliche to me and I believe there are better ways to handle his character

Whats irks me the most is that if this is where it ends for him, he's dead and there's no elaboration that kind of storytelling would only validate Ivan's narrative, the most we know about Till in regards to his perspective is through Ivan's eyes, to accept that Till's character and his relationship with Ivan is simply built on unrequited feelings and indifference to Ivan is just assuming that what Ivan says is the truth and not his skewed perspective like we know it is. But if there's no way to make that obvious this narrative would only do everything wrong... 1) validate Ivan's perspective 2) It leaves everything about Till's perspective majorly up to interpretation without some solid ground, aside from the fandoms already here and there takes that just wouldn't be good writing (?) there's really a difference in leaving mystery and interpretations to the hand of the viewer and just not answering valid questions, and not leaving any solid content to work with and interpret in the first place, whether this direction is meant to be either or I wouldn't be fully satisfied with it anyway . We see Ivan's impact on Till in Blink gone in the emotional turmoil Till goes through, it shows enough that, as opposed to what Ivan thinks, Till cared about him, but really, what do we know?

That's my biggest gripe; I don't want Till's story to end on such an abrupt and sour note that doesn't truly serve him as a character. I believe this could all be resolved in comics and side content, too. But the reason why I bring this up here is that one of the most reuccuring themes of Alnst is exploring the perspective of the ones who must live on after their loved ones die impactful, painful, unforgettable deaths, it's a present theme to show how the characters (Mizi, Luka) progress after it, it's about showcasing endurance and the human spirit. Characters shouldn't just die for the sake of it, without contributing to this and showing it, and Till hasn't yet shown it (It'd make sense if they wanted to show this in his death too, but I'd question what groundwork we were really meant to be laying here.. and I'd hope it'd done right at least)

In the case that the story shifts in a way that supports this to it's full potential (ie. not killing off everyone and blowing up the stage), reviving Till and allowing him the means to process his thoughts on Ivan and his death and what he did and what that means to him enough to put it into words would be great for his character, it's probably overgenerous for how little time we might have but I'm realllyyyy hanging onto hope here that the story will even shift to open up for this chance in the first place. If Vivinos doesn't plan to do either of these things to further Till's growth as a character visibly, then his death is rendered pointless and dismissive, and I'm not serious about that wording

because his death isn't inherently useless, none of the deaths are, and his death serves a purpose regardless. It's most likely being used to bring about Mizi's new turning point in her character development, yes blink gone is one of the many sequences of events in furthering Mizi's story first and foremost, Till's downfall signifies a new turning point in the story, still it doesn't mean he has to remain in that role to move the story along (unless vivinos would like to express that all hope is lost now and she's going to blow up the remaining characters, given Till was practically standing as a hope that things would change), if Vivinos has any interest in not making him look like a sacrifice and tool as a character for the sake of Mizi's growth after experiencing more loss, and not making his character completely reliant on Ivan's unreliable perspective (Because Cure is mostly Ivan-centric and that's the most we get of their dynamic together), She can bring him back, it can still have emotional relevance without being forced or random. And if done right, it wouldn't even erase the impact his death left on Mizi

(And I do worry about that, because revival in alien stage ideally shouldn't take back any of the tension or attention from the current events because otherwise that would be poor writing too, while I'm writing this I realize this story is really put in a tough spot because everything could go all sorts of bad ways) but it's not like if Till were to come back it'd erase the irreversible mental scar his death reopened within Mizi and be one of the driving forces on her mind come whatever she may do next (But what about the moment of hope in Blink Gone that represented Till's naive feelings for Mizi that overrid all sense of rationality and made him run to grab her hand? reviving him wouldn't rewrite that dread either... if anything, the impact of a near-death experience would also be fascinating to write on a character like himself with all the developments he's had so far)

On another note, I'm sure there are characters that may have better reasons to come back to the story, namely HyunA, but I believe what distinguishes Till from her is the possibility that bringing her back would be redundant, the possibility that it would actually remove the impact she intended her death to have on Luka. Her words would be for nothing if Luka doesn't realize this is for real, and he'll have to live with that truth and these new realizations. Everything contributes to that one message. HyunA serves us the "Live through the pain, forgive yourself, you live on" narrative right there.. So naturally, the best way I can see this being formatted is allowing us to continue to explore the perspective of Post round-1 Mizi, Luka, and Till after losing Sua, HyunA, and Ivan perhaps even going HyunA's route and finding a home within the rebellion to allow them to grow and grieve and introspect... #hopefulstage

HyunA is the catalyst for Luka's development, and it turns around to benefit both of their characters. Ivan is the catalyst for Till's development, and in turn, growth from Till would also contribute to Ivan's character . Allowing Till to live on would be a satisfying way to execute this narrative (But of course, this all goes out the window if like I said before Vivinos plans for this story to take a different direction, all I'm saying is that if the plot allows it I don't want Vivinos to miss the opportunity to expand on Till's character this way, if not in other forms that confirm he's dead). Till is my favorite character, so I'm aware I have bias and I'm indulging my delusions, but the way I see it, there's nobody who can resolve this better than Till can, there's nobody who can elaborate on his and Ivan's story better than he can, because Mizi was their friend, but nowhere near as emotionally close to them as they were to each other, she loves them but she only knows so much about them as people and just "her friends" so it's a tough spot, and Luka doesn't know them at all. Till is resilient, always coming back from the brink, and has always been fighting for agency and freedom. In that way, he parallels HyunA a lot. And I have a soft spot for both of them that wants to see them flourish and grow, and heal. If it's allowed, I want him to have that, I want him to have the space to grow with as much time as we have left, and I want him to have a fair and well-written wrap-up otherwise, I don't know I'll probably change this opinion a little bit later down the line and I still have too many questions on what the helllll is about to go on with this story to write anything sensical but if he's alive awesome if he's dead okay i'd just strongly prefer the former if it suits the overall narrative and I want it to make sense and not feel like he's been written off (and worse, I don't want his character to be perceived as shallow because of wherever vivinos chooses to direct his arc next)

all this to say I really want his perspective or any indication of anything about his current status hepl

[bluiela]

Some of the most shocking and honestly infuriating things that Elriel accounts have publicly said in the past few days:

1) “Gwynriels blocking us is a guilt of admission.”

Seriously? Since when is someone protecting their personal space and intellectual property considered an admission of guilt? Blocking is a basic boundary-setting tool. No one owes you access to their space, especially when your presence brings negativity and hostility.

This all blew up after an event host accused Gwynriel shippers of mass reporting them and allegedly getting them shadowbanned. Let’s be clear: shadowbanning on Instagram is typically caused by things like spammy behavior, repeated tagging, or content violations—not mass reporting alone. And since none of their posts were removed, that’s a pretty strong indicator that mass reporting wasn’t the reason.

But of course, instead of accepting that, certain Elriel accounts took that moment as a green light (or more accurately, an excuse) to go on the offensive.

They openly talked about harassing Gwynriel artists, even saying they’d make new accounts just to continue their attacks. Later, when called out, they tried to play it off as “just a joke”—as if we’re stupid enough to believe that.

Honestly, I don’t even think they believe it.

Now that Gwynriels are setting boundaries and choosing to block accounts to protect themselves from this documented harassment, they’re being attacked for that too. The irony is wild. That side is truly showing how sad and toxic some of them are.

At this point, the only way forward is to completely ignore their hateful antics.

"Why did they wait until now to call out the reports if it’s been happening for months?”

Maybe because it’s escalated beyond belief now? Because your side has a terrifying victim complex and any time something is called out, you twist it into you being the ones hurt—so Gwynriel shippers tried handling it privately.

But clearly, that isn’t working anymore. You’ve become bold enough to say vile things publicly, so they’ve finally had enough and are doing what they should’ve done long ago: blocking.

Also, I saw someone say Gwynriel Week is "ship-neutral"? No. Gwynriel Week is for Gwynriel shippers. If you can’t understand something that basic, no wonder you completely misinterpret the books and cling to Elriel.

There is proof of what’s been happening. If people are still choosing to be willfully blind and see themselves as victims—that’s on them. That’s a reflection of who they are, not of what’s actually happening.

I'm honestly just here to appreciate all the Gwynriels who have handled this with grace and maturity—unlike the other side, whose default mode seems to be attack and deflect.

[blacknedsoul-blog]

My bet on what Annabel wanted to do and why

So I'm reading the mansion arc again because the hiatus is over and that scene is coming back to me.

Now I have a whole theory as to why Annabel did what she did and for what. One of those "all or nothing" ones, but I thought it was interesting to share anyway.

The Background

The first thing to keep in mind is Annabel's role within her group: she's there to get information and to see herself as someone competent and worth following, but also as an agent of chaos in the shadows, actively trying to get them to fight each other (put a pin in that, because it's going to be important).

The whole scene where Montresor makes Ada bark introduces us to this guy, not as just any bully, but as someone extremely sadistic. While Annabel manages to get him to back down in the end, this makes it clear to her that he's a problem she needs to solve by yesterday, because, as if his sadism weren't enough, he's uncomfortably interested in Lenore.

The Amontillado

So she decides to take the first step to satisfy Montresor's thirst for blood by throwing someone under the bus, and unfortunately Duke is the most logical choice: Berenice and Eulalie share a room, Morella can manifest, and although Prospero is not Pluto's friend, he won't get involved in this kind of shady business. Duke, on the other hand, is an easy prey: he cannot manifest and shares a room with Montresor. It's all advantages.

But Annabel can't allow Montresor to commit murder outright. Not that she gives a shit about Duke's life, but if this guy finds out he can murder people in school, it's pretty certain that it will be impossible to push him back. Next it will be her, or worse, Lenore.

It's hard to tell if she suggested putting him behind a wall or just told Montresor, "Why get your hands dirty? I know you can be more creative." Either way, she's doing it to buy time: again, there's no upside to Duke dying, but maybe she can twist this in her favor somehow. And she needs to do it fast.

The Pendulum

The answer comes to her as if it fell from the sky with the pendulum, which is on the table as an object to be chosen during the test, and the stroke of luck is that it is Lenore who chooses it. So she keeps it: this was the piece she needed to turn the situation around.

Annabel knows where Duke is. And maybe our friend isn't far away either (there were five people moving through guarded corridors, one of them unconscious), so it's enough to get to where he is, break through the wall, and leave the pendulum aside so Duke can find his way back to school or join his friends more easily. After all, he'll have Pluto looking for him like crazy, and it would be absurd for him not to use his spectre for that. And if these people don't manage to hit the right spot, she has already discovered the pendulum's range during the test, she could do it herself without arousing suspicion.

The test is over. The Misfits get more and more desperate, Lenore is taken to Dreamland and Ada manifests only to fall into Montresor's arms. All of this actually suits her quite well, for one specific reason: Annabel wants to put a target on Montresor's back and make him doubt his "trusted" people.

Will's spectre can copy people's appearance, while Ada shared a team with Lenore during the test. Both could have stolen it. At the very moment Montresor discovers that the pendulum was used to save this guy, there will be doubt as to which of these two (whom he thinks he has in the palm of his hand) betrayed him. After all, they both seemed pretty uncomfortable with the situation.

Suspicious of Annabel? That was the look on her face as Duke desperately begged her to stop them.

Speaking of Duke, after he tells the rest of his friends what happened, Montresor would be an immediate target to confront…just like Annabel. But hey, "protect me from your allies and I'll protect you from mine," Lenore will avoid getting her guts ripped out (right?).

Maybe she found out she couldn't manifest after the test, so she left it until the next day. In this image, we are told that Annabel gets up ridiculously early, which is quite possible without anyone seeing her.

And while Pluto mentions that he still can't manifest again, let's remember that Annabel has a little more control over her spectre than he does.

Parenthesis: on the Widow Watch

The question here is: if this idiot had it all figured out and swears her wife is okay with all this crap, why not tell Lenore?

My answer is summarized in this picture:

Annabel is a long-term player, this girl doesn't care about Duke's safety, and his life only seems relevant to her because his death doesn't benefit her. She doesn't care about saving him, she cares about how saving him will distract Montresor from Lenore and allow her to take the first steps to get rid of him.

If Lenore runs off to save Duke (something Annabel thinks she will do out of guilt), the only thing she will accomplish is to make Montresor even more fixated on her and possibly blow Annabel's cover: it would be strange if they could suddenly find him easily without anyone telling them.

Another thing to consider is that Lenore arrives at the Widow's Watch in this state:

She may not have been able to see what happened to Montresor from up there because of how surprised she is, but Lenore's clothes are burned, and it doesn't take a genius to know who inflicted at least some of those wounds on her. All the more reason to try to keep Lenore out of this situation until the time is right.

House of Cards

One thing I really love about Annabel is that while many of the things she plans make sense, and indeed several of her predictions come true (such as the students not being able to manifest themselves by approaching Lenore), to quote her, she is not a mind reader. And watching her machinations unravel because of things she can't control is not only plausible, it's really interesting.

Especially when Lenore is the cause. Immovable object meets unstoppable force, and until they get their act together, this is doomed.

And disaster has arrived at that very moment.

The first thing that disarmed Annabel at this point, in my opinion, is that Lenore knew what she had done to Duke before she should have: without knowing her intentions, this looks like a completely deliberate and cold-bloodedly planned simple murder attempt. Annabel was confident that Lenore would understand as soon as she saw the pendulum, either as "I got our enemy off your back for now, but he won't stop" or, if I'm wrong and this woman has some self-awareness, as "I found no other way to get our enemy off your back, but I did everything I could to keep this man safe".

While the jokes about Annabel being a masochist are hilarious, on a serious note, I think it's appropriate to note that his complete failure to see how angry Lenore is is because she's never seen her this angry. Or worse, she's never seen her so angry at her. And she knows what Lenore is capable of in that state.

As if that weren't bad enough, her predictions were that Lenore would run to find Duke, but instead this woman picked up a revolver and walked right into the lion's den.

In other words, Annabel has not only failed catastrophically to keep Lenore away from Montresor, she has prompted her into a direct confrontation.

Everything she thinks she knows about her has just gone to hell.

The fallen queen

One last thing I think is interesting about the situation Annabel is in right now is that there is a threat she has no idea about. Annabel was counting on Lenore to protect her from her allies, but…

If Montresor has eyes, he knows. That means he only has to add 2+2 to see through Annabel's little games.

And the one person who could have protected her right now has no interest in what happens to her.

Hiatus over, people. I hope you're as anxious as I am.

[sapphiresaphics]

To anyone who complains “they did a 180 on the characters from season 1 to season 2” or “the writers forgot who these characters are” or similar variations..

Let’s do a little test.

Write out each scene following a character. Describe what happens in that scene and how you think it made the character feel.

Don’t embellish it much or inject your personal gripes, just focus on what ACTUALLY happens and what we are shown. Try to be as objective as possible.

Because I think if you try to do this experiment you’ll find that the characters actually behave pretty rationally and consistently with their characters between both seasons, and that a big part of the reason why they “change” is because season 1’s ending hurt everyone in different ways.

Let’s do Caitlyn for example. We will start at the end of Season 1 and do the first episode of season 2.

—————

Caitlyn was kidnapped from her bathroom by Jinx.

At some point between then and now, she was dressed up in her enforcer uniform, tied to a wheel chair, gagged, and drawn on.

She is kept hidden in a dark room, and cannot see what’s going to happen, and likely doesn’t even know what happened to her just that she’s tied up and terrified.

Then Jinx wheels her to a dinner table where both Vi and Silco are tied up too.

Jinx makes a plea with Vi and asks Vi to kill her so she can have Powder back. Caitlyn’s eyes tear up.

When Vi says she can’t, Jinx scoffs and points a gun at Caitlyn’s head. Caitlyn closes her eyes and recoils as best she can in her binds. She is terrified. She thinks she’s about to die.

Vi pleads for her life again and stops Jinx from pulling the trigger. She looks panicked and afraid, tears still coming down her face.

At a certain point, Silco enters the debate and distracts Jinx who breaks a glass in front of Caitlyn.

Seeing an opportunity, Caitlyn manages to use the broken shard to break her bonds and she quickly grabs Jinx’s weapon.

Angrily, she tells Jinx to drop the gun. When Jinx doesn’t, Caitlyn fires a warning shot. Vi pleads with her to stop, and Caitlyn says Jinx is too far gone. She fires a second warning shot that proves to Jinx that she is not playing around.

Caitlyn has Jinx in her sights. The person she’s been hunting down all season. The person who killed her comrades, and blown up a building, and stole stuff from her best friend, and killed her commander, and attacked her on the bridge.

Jinx puts down the gun, raises her hands, and pretends to be a defenseless child.

At the last second she laughs, bridges the gap between her and Caitlyn with the power of her Shimmer Ability, and knocks her out.

The next thing Caitlyn knows is that Vi is helping her get up. Silco is dead. Vi is alone with her. Off in the distance, Jinx fires a rocket at the council.

Caitlyn screams, knowing that the rocket is headed directly where her mother is.

The next time we see Caitlyn she is standing in her house as her mother is being carried out in a coffin. She attends a funeral for her mother, but it’s clear that she is all alone and the world around her is black and white. She tries to look at her mother one last time as the lid of the coffin closes.

Still in a stunned state, Caitlyn is called into the damaged counsel chambers. Sitting in the seat her mother once sat in. The weight of responsibility crushing down on her.

She confirms that the attack on the council was not the act of Zaun, but that of a single deranged individual: Jinx.

When Sallow proposes flooding Zaun with enforcers armed with Hextech weaponry, she balks at that idea. She warns “innocents will be hit in the crossfire!”

But it’s no use. The council has decided. They are going to invade.

Back at home, still in an emotionless stupor, Caitlyn is reading condolence messages when her father shows up. He is very clearly broken at the fact that he lost his wife. Caitlyn tries to offer him tea, but he doesn’t take it. Feeling guilty, she tells him “I had the shot.” Caitlyn puts the blame of her mother’s death on her shoulders to try and spare her father’s feelings.

Her father hands her the Kiramman Key, a device used to unlock knowledge for the head of the house… which Caitlyn is now.

Then he sees Vi lurking in the shadows and complains that she’s still hanging around.

Caitlyn goes to see Vi, and she breaks down. Vi is the only person she feels comfortable showing her emotions to and she collapses in her arms.

After crying, she tells Vi that the enforcers are going to invade Zaun. And she’s going to go with them.

Vi is horrified and tries to find a different solution. She suggests she can find and take care of Jinx if Jayce can only fix the gauntlets. Vi thinks it’s better to go alone.

But Caitlyn does not believe this. She just lost her mother. She is scared she will lose Vi too. And so the only way to ensure both of them are well protected is to keep Vi close to her. She recommends that Vi become an enforcer and springs the badge on her.

Vi is naturally horrified. Caitlyn and Vi have been growing close, but this is a step too far for Vi. Caitlyn tries to empathize with Vi by comparing the loss of her mother to Jinx to the loss of VI’s parents to enforcers, but she fails. Obviously. It was a bad comparison and done entirely out of her desire to keep Vi close and did not consider VI’s feelings at all.

Feeling rejected, Caitlyn says “I thought you were on our side.” Indicating that she felt that Vi and her had been on the same page up until now. She took that for granted and did not consider VI’s feelings. This is a trend that started in Season 1 when Caitlyn didn’t understand how no one knew Vi was in prison or that her parents didn’t check up on her in there. It’s a position of privilege and it was wrong of her and naturally Vi walks away.

The next time we see Caitlyn she’s in the garden. Watching the leaves of the tree fall. She hallucinates about killing Jinx. The laugh from when Jinx attacked her in the dinner party setting ringing in her ear. She is mentally trying to relive that moment and achieve a better outcome. But just then Jayce interrupts her.

Caitlyn then confides in Jayce that she has 3 people floating around her head. She sees her mother, dead on the floor after the attack. She sees Jinx, laughing, and she starts to get really dark about it to the point that Jayce looks concerned for her. The imagery in this scene focuses on the leaves flying through the air in swirls.

But then when she talks about Vi, those leaves settle down and relax. Vi is the calming factor in her life. Her love for Vi is more powerful than her hatred for Jinx.

And then she comments that she understands how easy it is to hate them (people in the undercity), all because of one violent act. Caitlyn has been profoundly affected and traumatized by this event, but she is putting on a good show at processing it.

She does not blame all of Zaun for what Jinx did, but she recognizes that it’s easy to do so.

The next time we see her it’s at the memorial. She is trying to let her feelings for her mother get closure. It is somber and sad. But then she sees Vi tailing someone and gets concerned.

Just then the attack on the memorial begins. Friends and colleagues are being hurt and injured. Several of her Enforcer coworkers are slaughtered.

Caitlyn is trapped by one of the large mech bots, and just as she’s about to be killed Vi leaps in and saves her. Together they are able to take down the mech bot, showing that their teamwork together is unparalleled.

Caitlyn tries to take out a giant mech bot but cannot. No matter how many times she shoots it, she can’t seem to pierce the armor shell enough to stop it.

But Ambessa’s forces can. Ambessa’s warriors swoop in, and just like that the attack is over.

Caitlyn is being taken care of by her fellow Enforcer comrades. When she sees Vi coming over she shoos away her comrades and tries to present herself to Vi.

Vi makes an attempt at humor, but clearly the attack has rattled her as well.

Caitlyn watches a child crying being comforted by an enforcer. Caitlyn, who has been holding in her emotions this entire episode, lets the anger that has been bubbling up inside her explode out. “A MEMORIAL! What kind of ANIMALS??!” And then she catches herself.

Vi says they wanted the spectacle to scare them.

Caitlyn responds that all it really did was piss her off MORE.

Vi is sensing where this is going. She carefully asks Caitlyn to find a way to call off the upcoming invasion.

Caitlyn is taken back by this. Zaun just attacked her mother’s memorial, and now the woman she loves and looks to for calmness and a grounded perspective is telling her she can’t take revenge on them.

Caitlyn then has another outburst and expresses how her mother passing away has left this giant gaping hole in her that she can’t seem to fill. The weight of her newfound title as a leader of house Kiramman is hanging heavy on her brow. What is she supposed to do?

And Vi opens up. Vi tells her that the hole gets smaller but it never goes away. This honesty and empathy from Vi is what brings her back down to reality.

Caitlyn then apologizes to Vi for springing the enforcer badge on her. She admits it was wrong to do so.

Caitlyn then opens up too. She shares her fears. She expresses worry that if she go after Jinx alone, either she or Jinx will die. Caitlyn doesn’t want to kill Jinx, she wants her to be held accountable for her actions. And she’s terrified that if she kills Jinx, she will lose Vi. If Jinx kills her, she loses Vi.

Her support structures are crumbling around her. She has no one left.

But then just as Caitlyn is on the verge of tears, Vi tells her that she still has her and sits down next to her.

We see Caitlyn using the Kiramman Key to access the “record system” and starts to learn about what her family did. She discovers that her family made the vents that lead the smog out of Zaun. And she gets an idea!.

The next time we see Caitlyn she is dressed up and sporting Hex Tech weapons she got Jayce to make. She storms into a council meeting and declares that she is going to take care of the situation.

She informs them that the attack on the memorial proves that a full scale attack on Zaun is a TERRIBLE idea that that people will die. So instead she proposes a much more strategic plan that will not cost the lives of innocent people, both topside and bottom.

Caitlyn will lead a small strike team into Zaun to dismantle shimmer, round up Silco’s goons, and capture Jinx. Her team is assembled not by the usual fellow enforcers, but by people she fought along side with at the memorial who she knows want to protect lives and keep people safe.

And as “Heavy is the Crown” plays, Vi rounds out her party, reluctantly putting on the badge and gear to ensure that Caitlyn is safe. Because when Vi and Caitlyn work together they can accomplish ANYTHING.

———

Now tell me..

Does that sound like Caitlyn’s character “is inconsistent” and “switches on a dime?” Or that the writers “forgot who the characters were?” Cuz I think when you write it out like this, you can see how each moment builds on the last and her character remains very consistent even when external factors force her to change.

[maxdibert]

No I meant that Lily wasn’t in the wrong for trying to change Snape in the sense of him not hanging out with bigots etc. It was futile because Severus had his own opinions about it and thought there wasn’t much wrong with it - prove of their misunderstandings and miscommunication which is essensially why they are incompatible. But in this case trying to change your friend's path who is claiming they love you and are your best friend but betray you by hanging out with people who want you dead and trying to make them see reason etc. I

is not wrong and Lily clearly wanted to keep the friendship going so if we are committed to that person and want them in our lifes then trying to change them like this isn’t wrong, because it would actually contribute to Sev's well being. I mean both Sev and Lily wanted to have each other in their lives. Idk I feel like it's okay to try to change people, if its not to the detriment of your sanity or health, its not comparable to regural interests like acting a certain way or doing certain things if they don’t harm others (in this case its wrong to try to change someone and people shouldn't be with each other if they cannot handle someone being themselves) But Severus's case was different tho so it doesn’t compare. But I see what you mean and I do appreciate your perspective.

Look, if you want your friend to stay away from awful people, the first thing you need to do is provide them with safe spaces—not gaslight them when they express their suspicions about their bullies or tell them they should be "grateful" to one of those bullies for "saving their life."

There are several moments in Severus’s memories where Lily comes across as quite lacking in empathy regarding his situation. It’s one thing to be too young to fully understand why Severus was drawn to certain people, but it’s another thing entirely to half-justify or even try to sugarcoat the actions of his abusers. That directly contradicts the idea that she truly cared for him, wanted the best for him, and was trying to steer him away from the "dark side." If she had genuinely wanted him in her life, she wouldn’t have conveniently overlooked certain things while focusing solely on what she didn’t like about him.

On another note, I also don’t think she would have ended up with the guy who made Severus’s life miserable for years. Like, I haven’t spoken to one of my childhood friends in over eleven years, but I can assure you I would never hook up with the guy who caused her to develop an eating disorder at sixteen—because there are certain unspoken rules that people with common sense should respect.

I still don’t think they could have had a relationship, and honestly, even without their dramatic "falling out," I believe their friendship would have naturally faded over time. It’s pretty clear that Lily’s interests and ambitions were headed in a different direction. And that’s fine—those things happen in life, especially with childhood friends who, as we grow up, no longer have anything in common with us. That’s just how I see it.

[splonk-fox]

Tobecky is one of those ships where it's like, at first glance, you ask why people even see it as a viable pairing. It's not like Becky and Tobey are exactly shown getting along often, it's not the healthiest ship out there, as a matter of fact there are... certain episodes that make the pairing downright toxic (Looking at you Go Gadget Go).

Yet at the same time, I think that's what I like about the ship. In real life, relationships are never a straight path, they require effort from both sides and nine times out of ten there will be road blocks, times when partners do objectively questionable things, that's just how relationships are, and in a weird roundabout way, I feel like Tobecky is a good example of that. Sure Becky and Tobey fight a lot, they disagree about a lot of things and do things that upset each other, but they also understand one another on a fundamental level.

Seriously the parallels between these two is actually sort of surreal. They've both been lumped into this box of being one thing, said thing being expected of them. Becky is expected to do hero work as WordGirl, and Tobey, while nothing is forcing him to be evil, episodes like "Tobey Goes Good" show that when it comes to his mentality, doing bad things is the only way to get people's attention, to make people care about him.

They're both child prodigies who, in a lot of ways, are locked out of a lot of the things that other kids have. Both have families who could never really understand them. Becky for obvious reasons, and Tobey because, as made pretty clear through episodes the center around him, his mother doesn't tolerate his behavior and as far as we can tell, has never tried to understand why he does what he does, instead giving him corporeal punishment via ear pulling (which by the way, she does that to him even when he, to her knowledge, hasn't misbehaved, kinda fucked up if you ask me, coming from someone who had parents who used physical punishment as a way to reprimand their kids).

Another thing to point out when it comes to these two, is that they are both pretty arrogant, Tobey more apparently so than Becky, but Becky clearly takes pride in being WordGirl, and even beyond that there are times where she views her own opinions as above others, whether she realizes it or not. Obviously Tobey is called out on it more, but there are clear signs that Becky's status as a superhero has lead her to gaining a bit of an ego.

Really though, the big thing that I think draws people to this pairing is the rare moments where they aren't fighting, and are instead sitting down, talking, and it's when that happens that the two of them are actually able to get along, that they're able to understand each other, because in a lot of ways, they are the same, just on two different sides of the moral spectrum. I think this is best shown in "The Robot Problem" where the two of them are shown to legitimately be able to work together, Becky even saying that they make a good team.

So to summarize, the thing that makes Tobecky good, at least for me, is not that it's the safest ship, or that it doesn't have moments of toxicity, but rather in how it feels more realistic, more complex than your average pairing, the fact that when it comes down to it, Tobey and Becky understand each other, loathe as they are to admit it.

Alright, that's all. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[mysadcorner]

Sam Monroe Dating Headcanons

Credit to the gifs owner - Please be specific about characters wanted in requests 

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- Sam would be very reserved when you first try to get to know him; he’d be very defensive and closed off as he doesn’t want anyone to truly see how vulnerable he is deep down. But over time he begins to notice how much you care for him and his trust for you will eventually develop into him craving your time.

- He starts to let his guard down once you’re in a relationship together, and this is when you really see how emotional he is. He gets distressed over the slight issues you may face and he feels guilty that he wasn’t there to fix it for you, especially when he’s the cause of your pain when he’s breaking down or being distant towards you for a while.

- You would have known after first meeting Sam that he used certain “substances” pretty often, but you wouldn’t realise how bad the problem was until you really started to see his behaviour every day. Sam probably didn’t notice how bad his problem actually was until you sat down with him and opened up to him about your concerns, and then it dawns on him that he needs to seriously cut down to be able to function properly (for your sake at least).

- Sam would be confused and distant from you when he tried to think about why you might actually like him or what your reasons for being with him are, and this is mainly due to his own self doubt causing a sort of paranoia and untrusting feeling towards his relationship with you. Despite this, he always comes back to you fairly quickly.

- When Sam’s having problems with his family or is feeling especially stressed out he’ll come to you instantly and lets out all of his emotions only for you to see. He’ll openly cry and even scream if he has anger he needs to get out, but even when he does this he holds himself back from smashing things or acting out so that he doesn’t scare you away.

- Just being with you will ease him into a better way of life. He gets used to finally being honest about certain things, opening up about his emotions and staying away from people who could badly influence you or get him into trouble as he doesn’t want to worry you. Because of this, his behaviour and attitude eventually starts to reflect his better decisions because of his relationship with you.

- Dealing with him pushing you away - When he does need some alone time, which isn’t very often but does happen when he’s too overwhelmed to open up to you about it and acts recklessly, he comes back to you after a while feeling very guilty. He always loves giving physical affection towards you as it provides him comfort

- If Sam does get himself into a bad situation you’re the first person he comes to for help, and depending on how old he is will dictate which parent he tells about the situation. He trusts you not to overreact and help him find the clarity he needs for the situation and find himself he best possible way to get out if he can without anyone else getting involved. 

- His mental health and emotional problems would be a big obstacle to overcome, but even just the simple time he spends with you would significantly help him, although your first time realising his struggles might come from his love bombing towards you. He becomes calmer and more self-aware about how his behaviour affects others, and will start apologising for when he acts out or becomes rude to people when they didn’t deserve it )even though the apology might come after a while of you convincing him to do it).

- Sam would actively try to get clean for you as he imagines spending his life with you and wants to be the best person he can for you, although he will struggle with this significantly due to how long he’s been using certain drugs for. However, due to his initiative it’s fairly easy for him to stay away from new substances. Over time you can see his mentality and health clearing up, while his happiness significantly increases with how he’s growing as a person for you and everyone else he’s close to.