#we've all been given strength

[ivebeensetonfire]

Strength. Why is it, that I am at my strongest when it is in service of another? Why, when alone, do I struggle to bring my tenacity, my will, and my power to bear? Why is it so easy, when I know another can benefit? When I am exhausted, beaten down, fatigued, and broken, I know I have nothing left. But a single request, a hint that my little brothers may need my help, and a well is tapped deep within me. In a wink, my weakness flees, like a faint mist before the blazing sun. A flood of power, of strength, of vitality surges through my veins. I come to aid, a thunderous presence, bringing all my strength to them. Whatever opposes them, be it small, nigh insignificant, or large, seeming indomitable, I am behind them, and will do all I can to see them succeed. When it is over, the strength retreats, like a dragon taking flight back to its hoard. The exhaustion returns once more, sweeping over me as I seek my rest. Why when I need that strength to care for myself, is it inaccessible? Where does it go? And why is it only awoken by the plaintive cry of another? No greater joy have I had than this: to bring my full might to bear in service of another. So may we all, one day.

[kitkatscabinet]

SNUGGLE BUG

Summary: The boys try to get out of bed, their partner has other plans.

Pairing(s): Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, x reader

A/N: unedited

DICK GRAYSON

Dick's always been a physically affectionate person, far more so than the rest of his family. It's why he'd been so ecstatic when he'd found you, a partner that was just as, if not more affectionate than him.

On more than one occasion his siblings had been given front-row seats to the snuggle show when they broke into his apartment, served them right really.

What Dick hadn't accounted for, was just how difficult it was to peel himself from your arms in the morning. Torture would hurt less he's sure.

"Ten more minutes," you whined childishly, burrowing your face into Dick's bare shoulder, tightening your arms around his torso.

"We've already said that three times." Your partner laughed, wriggling out of your hold but with far less strength than you knew he was capable of.

Both of you were fully aware just how quickly he could extracate himself from your arms should the neccessity rise. Technically speaking he did have to go to work, but surely it couldn't hurt to be a little late?

Though a quick glance at the hello kitty alarm clock on the bedside table confirmed he was already late.

"Dickie, can't you just call in? I wanna cuddle."

Fuck. How could he say no to that?

It wasn't like he really needed the money anyway.

His boss's ire is worth it to feel the way you smile into the skin of his neck, your warm breaths and little laughs as you lay tangled together.

So worth it.

JASON TODD

"You planning on letting me go anytime soon?" Jason grunted, though you know him well enough to hear the smile he's attempting to hide.

"Never," you mumble into the skin between his broad shoulder blades, the mattress slouching beneath the combined weight of you and your boyfriend.

Jason, undeterred by your attempts to drag him down, stands with a grunt. A cracking noise you know to be his knees rings out, and though you feel a little bad, you're unwilling to back down in your quest to get him back into bed.

Unfortunately for you, your boyfriend is built like a brick shithouse and is just as stubborn as you. Slowly, he manouevers around your small apartment all the while you hang off his back like a drunken Koala.

"Babyyyy," you whine petulantly into his ear, arms tightening around his neck in an attempt to only slightly choke him into submission.

Sighing, Jason starts to wander back into the bedroom. Just when you think you've won, he spins around, falling backwards onto the mattress and crushing you beneath his bulk.

In the minutes you spend winded, recovering, from being squished like an ant, Jason makes his escape. When you finally manage to come back to yourself you notice something incredibly distressing.

"Clothes! Why are you wearing clothes!" you wailed, sliding off the mattress and onto the floor in a pathetic slump.

Despite himself, Jason smiles at the sight, bundling you up in his arms before hopping back into bed with you. "Ok, you big dramatic baby."

Hey may have sounded put out, but the both of you knew he wanted to cuddle just as much. Besides, nothing was as important to him as you.

TIM DRAKE

He’d tried to be quiet. Truly, with years of training in the art of stealth Tim had intended to simply slip out of the bed and leave you to the sleep you needed.

He’d almost made it, both feet on the floor and the mattress no longer bearing most of his weight when all of a sudden a hand darted out, grasping his wrist.

Tim froze, slowly turning to look down at you with wide, guilty eyes. You're glaring up at him, sleep-addled face far more adorable than threatening, not that he'd ever tell you that, for fear of getting his ass beat.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" your voice is hoarse and gravelly from sleep but the threat is evident.

Mouth suddenly dry, Tim awkwardly chuckles, "Oh, babe, you're awake."

"Thanks to you," you grumbled sleepily, guilt and fear in equal measurements settling heavily in his chest.

"M'sorry, tried not to wake you but I gotta get to work on this case."

"No." You grunted, wrapping your arms around Tim's waist with freakish speed, nuzzling your face into his side.

He can't help the way his heart skips several beats at your casual affection. Tim's always been starved for touch, for the soft loving touch that you've always provided as if its as natural as breathing.

He should be used to it but despite the years worth of love and affection you've poured into Tim in the time you've spent together he still hasn't acclimated.

Tim knows, that you know, just how weak to your touch he is. It still doesn't prevent his resolve from crumbling when you refuse to let him budge, tugging him back down into your warm embrace.

"Good boy," you murmur against the skin of his neck, wrapping around his back like an octopus and trapping him against the expanse of your chest.

His skin runs hot at your words, mind numb to anything that's not your touch as he's eventually lulled back to sleep to the soothing sounds of your breathing.

[ozzgin]

What if the Yandere school has some sort of event where they interact with students of the darling school and just like how our reader is a darling in the Yandere school they find a student of the darling school is a Yandere

You're an oblivious Darling going to Yandere School, and now you're paired up with...a Yandere hiding among Darlings. The absurdity goes on. Content: gender neutral reader, yandere horde, parody

[Yandere School] | [Yandere School 2] | [More Yandere]

He could immediately tell. You were a sheep among the wolves, and he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He followed your movements with a predatory gaze, planning his approach.

He'd applied to Darling Academy out of sheer greed, hoping to find his soulmate. He searched, and stalked, and hounded, all in vain. Hell, he even had to repeat a year; it took him an ungodly amount of willpower to pass the damn kidnapping course.

"You're not surprised to discover your captor", the teacher had shouted, exasperated. "Unless you show me genuine shock, I cannot give you a passing grade"

"You can see her from a damn mile", he argued angrily, pointing at his darling classmate. She was supposed to simulate an attack, and he was to play the role of a clueless, helpless victim. Ridiculous.

Who would've thought his one and only was hiding in a Yandere School, of all places? So unforeseen, so unexpected, that he could not believe it to be anything but a fateful encounter. He glanced one final time at the enormous banner hanging against the school building:

"Annual Study Partnership Event: Yandere School x Darling Academy"

"You must be (Y/N). We've been paired together for the week. I'm in your care!", he beams cheerfully.

Despite his annoyance with Darling Academy, it proved to be somewhat useful in the end. Not only did it guide him to you, but it also polished his acting skills to near perfection. The teacher's office was guarded viciously given the previous attempts of the yandere students to cheat the system and have you on their team. Who would ever suspect a Darling? He simply waltzed in, scribbled his name on the event sheet, and left.

"I wouldn't be too excited", you confess, a little dejected. "I'm not...uh...the best yandere out there."

He pretends to sneeze, hiding the grin spreading across his face. Sweet, innocent thing that you are. Oh, don't worry your pretty head. He'll take care of everything.

The annual event consists of a week-long competition. A yandere student is paired with a darling counterpart, and the teams compete against each other for various activities. It's a learning experience for everyone involved, meant to hone the skills of a yandere and prepare the darlings for their future encounters.

First activity: tying up your darling.

Your eyes light up. For once, it's something you're good at. You hurry back to your partner, carrying the box filled with bondage rope, and nod towards the young man.

"Leave this to me", you state solemnly.

The timer starts, and you begin tying the knots. The yandere observes your process, completely infatuated. Your focused expression is downright adorable. Now, he could let you have your moment of victory. On the other hand...can he really waste this chance?

His fingers discreetly mess with some of the rope lying around. A little nudge here, another loop here. You're too absorbed in your work to notice anything.

You hear the bell and huff, exhausted. You wipe your forehead. This is it, the final touch. You hold onto the rope, and pull with all your strength. Suddenly you're dragged forward by an unseen force, and your face slams into your teammate's broad chest. You've tied the two of you together, somehow.

The other yanderes watch the display with a grimace.

(Y/N) is good with rope. This shouldn't have happened, they all think in unison. They glare at the darling pressed against you. Something isn't right. Is that man truly a darling? He feels more like a fellow rival.

"I'm so sorry", you sniff, humiliated.

He strokes your hair affectionately, reassuring you. It happens. The rope must've been faulty. You did your best.

He feels a cold shiver and tilts his head towards the bystanders, then smiles. It seems he isn't the only one who has fallen for you. Though he didn't expect it to be the whole school. Alas, what's life without a little competition?

"Come on, (Y/N). Let's get ready for the next part. I have a feeling we'll win this one", he says, winking at you playfully.

This must be the best week of his life.

[senanatheskenana]

Giyuu, Sanemi, and Rengoku With Baby Fever

TW: mentions of pregnancy, Sex, fem reader

Giyuu Tomioka

He hadn't put much thought into domestic life- after all, you were his first real relationship. However, when he lays eyes on your happy smile and the way you fussed over the three younger demon slayers, he can't help the feeling that pools in the pit of his stomach. A primal need for you, for a family. He's not particularly proud of the human weakness he currently experiences but each time he looks your way, his strength melts away, leaving only his desire to create life with you.

His smile is small but amused at how you motherly coddle Inosuke, attempting to wipe the mass of dirt off his face, despite his protests. Tanjirou seems almost as enamoured by your sweet behaviour as Giyuu is.

You can tell something is different with Giyuu- the way he holds your hand is just slightly tighter, the way he looks at you ever so slightly hungrier than you've seen. He stares off into space in contented silence, and you feel he is happiest in those moments. The idea made you curious as to what he was daydreaming about.

'Three children, maybe more' he thinks, pink tinging his cheeks at feeling so soft for you. He imagines what life outside of the corp- life with you- would be like. Blissful, peaceful, connecting but of course with moments of excitement and frustration that come from raising children. Maybe your children would have his hair and your eyes- or perhaps they will look the opposite, or exactly like you or him.

His cheeks once again flare up when another thought hits his head.

'And (y/n) would surely only become more beautiful over the years'

"Giyuu~." He is snapped out of his fantasy by your hand over his. "What are you thinking about?"

He gently squeezes your hand, looking deep into your eyes with humility as he thinks through the right words to say.

"We've been married for a year, and we haven't talked about it yet. I would completely understand if you object... but i have a request, that involves both of us." you listen eagerly to him.

"Sweetheart, i will always try my best to understand your wants, there's no reason to seem so nervous," you smile tenderly at him, hands coming up to cup his cheeks. The apples of his cheeks burst into flames at your touch, butterflies erupting underneath the skin of his shuddering chest.

"(Y/N) I love you. I will always love you... And if you will be so kind, I would like to start a family with you"

He sees your face break into a smile, which makes him smile. Before he knows it you're climbing into his lap and kissing him with a passion that fills him with a need he has never experienced.

Kyojurou Rengoku

Kyojurou was sure he wanted children at some point, and as your husband, he made you aware of this, in case it wasn't for you. For the most part, your husband had great self-control.

However, it always seems to slip away when his younger brother makes a comment, about how your baby would probably have bright hair like theirs. At first, it's just that thought, but soon he's thinking about baby names, daydreaming and kicking his legs behind him giggling. You easily notice your cheerful husband becoming even more giddy than usual- not to mention far more physically affectionate.

He finds every excuse under the sun to get you under him. He takes his time, forehead pressed against yours, enraptured in pleasure. Your legs are pressed to your chest; a new position for you. The sheer depth is enough to make you dizzy, even without moving.

Kyojurou looks deeply into your eyes before kissing you passionately, sensually, as if the world is ending.

"Honey, i think we should have a baby!" he huffs out in between languid thrusts. You thought he'd never ask.

"Me too, Kyo~"

Sanemi Shinazugawa

Sanemi doesn't not want kids. He just feels he would be a bad father given all of his hangups. He worries he won't be emotionally available for a child, or might accidentally scare them when he is angry.

So this feeling is conflicted within him. On one hand, he's utterly in love with you and the way you care for Genya is heartwarming to the point of actually convincing him he might be ok if you were by his side. On the other, he was terrified of being a bad parent.

Sanemi swears you look so pretty holding your friend's new baby. You hold it like you're accustomed to it like it was yours. And you just look so fucking happy like that. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if he- no, he couldn't just rush into these things. But you look so pretty he's having a hard time rationalising anything.

He sits beside you, peering down at the baby that tries to grasp at his fingers. It's actually sort of cute, he thinks. Then you look up at him, and he's caught off guard by a vision of you and your own baby. Your friend has to physically bite back giggles while she watches the motions of Sanemi's thoughts. She knows what's happening better than he does.

She sparks up a conversation with you to see how flustered she can make the hashira on this topic. "You know, past the halfway mark I gave up putting on my own pants- it got too annoying when I couldn't see over the bump and boobs. My husband had to help me instead!"

It seems to work like a charm. Sanemi almost zones out, thinking about how you would look pregnant. Without realising it he is salivating at the thought of your swollen chest and round tummy. 'fuck,' he thinks, 'that sounds good'

Half an hour later he's rushing to leave, hastily pulling your coat over your shoulders and waving goodbye to the baby. He didn't dislike being there in any way- he'd just rather be somewhere else with you. He tugs you down the road, looking at you with a strange new fervour, eyes darting to your lips and tummy.

Your friend closes the door behind you with a mischievous grin. "I'll give it a week before she's pregnant<3"

[crustyfloor]

A new pop-up store dropped for ALIEN STAGE's 2nd anniversary and wow. It's so sick.

It's Interesting what exactly these experiments are focusing on and monitoring.

Instrument practice

I found it interesting earlier that Till was so tame, more so than he usually is when he's going through experiments, but music, and making music is what he loves doing, So he was fully in his element here. This was probably the only thing he was made to do by the aliens that he at least tolerated.

(Additionally, judging by his collar (orange), he was at least calm. maybe he just isn't fazed anymore.)

//Side note, that head contraption looks familiar BUT this most likely isn't related at least i hope

(It puts me at ease, at least..)

Dance practice

This surprised me, but I suppose Mizi needed more skills.

She looks very startled here, and nervous(?) +It looks like she's doing this while singing. And with that face covering I assume this was a test monitoring her dance balance, precision, etc. At first, I did think it was odd, "Why would Shine put her through that" But alas I was reminded that even though Mizi is the flower of the group she was never untouchable, to Shine, this was the equivalent of teaching your dog to sit and stay.

(seeing this it reminded me of those scenes in movies where the people are dancing, and the music gets faster and faster until they fall. I wonder if she was doing through something similar to that)

Singing practice (?)

Similar to Till she also looks quite calm outwardly, if the machine around her neck is an iteration of the collars they have, then this process wasn't something she liked, or given how intense this experiment looks, this was a test of high-pressure to ensure she always stayed calm during performances (?). Then again this could also be a posture practice given all the structure focused on maintaining her position.

(What I believe was another form of this test was shown before so I think so)

(With her hands in a praying stance I wonder if she was praying to herself or singing a religious song (sweet dream?) It's also interesting that the machinery around her looks like a halo, and she looks so...angelic? holy?)

Image making practice

By image making, I think they made Ivan replicate expressions with his face. Whether this process was painful for him or not...I'm not sure. But it looked visibly uncomfortable, maybe that was the point. (His expression, even in this circumstance is so dubious..)

Ivan, among other things, needed to have a spotless appearance to be successful, his image was a priority given his skills were certainly guaranteed.

I assume the aliens eventually took note of his lack of expression, in the real world this can be a detriment to one's career, so the Aliens had to ensure quality was perfect. (To a more...dedicated level)

Superiority test

'Superiority test' Is very vague.

HyunA is very calm here too, likely sedated in that water with all the tablets on her. I guess this was a test to get an idea of a pet human's strengths and weaknesses, endurance, and temperament to compare and contrast them with others, testing who is more viable for Alien stage?

Another interesting, and sad part about this is that HyunWoo was there, watching his sister through her experiments.

(Also, it looks like both of her legs are normal, no alien leg yet.)

Heart rate variability

And finally, the most visceral of them all. The wording 'variability' makes this all the more sickening, the Aliens were testing his heart hours, testing it at different rates, speeds, and states. And he was in agony the entire time. Even the way he's clutching his chest, it gives me chills. This would've been a completely harmless test in a normal setting, as something quite similar to this can be performed efficiently in real life. But he's being tortured in the process.

This is one of the first times we've ever seen Luka's face so truly clear and unprotected, (understandably so.) He's even crying.

[zorosangell]

⛥ﾟ・。 jug

synopsis: after going out to search for luffy, you and zoro stumble upon a bottle of pink sake. zoro drinks it without question, but lives to regret it, as you have to deal with the consequences... physically

cw: nsfw (nothing too crazy), fluff, angst if you really squint, aphrodisiacs, reader is down bad for zoro, and vice versa, whiny-ish zoro (he's in pain give him a break)

a/n: thought of the song heart of a woman while writing this

"Luffyyy!" you called, hands raised to the sides of your mouth as you glanced around. "Luffyyy! Where are you?!"

The swordsman bristled, pinching the bridge of his nose with an annoyed look.

"C'mon, Luffy, it's freezing out here! Hurry up!" he groaned, breath disappearing into the cool air.

Of all the nights your captain chose to disappear, it had to be the coldest of the week...

"For all we know, he can't even hear us," you sighed, tucking your hands in your pockets. "We might have more luck tomorrow... y'know, when it's not twenty below freezing."

"We already came all this way, we might as well bring him back," he grumbled, sharply, pressing forward with a taut look. "Christ, why is it so fuckin' cold..."

His tone came as barely a shock, your eyes unable to stave off their eyes roll.

'Someone's cranky...'

The crew hat been docked on a fall island for a little under a week, waiting for the log pose to set, but it was clear that the crew was already starting to go a little stir crazy.

Some more than others...

But, after a day of exploring and forest shenanigans, Luffy had yet to come back, and both you and Zoro were sent as his search party—the swordsman having been woken up from his pre-night watch nap.

Which would explain why he was acting so grouchy.

Or... grouchier than usual.

"C'mon, Zoro, we've been searching for an hour... How about we give it a rest?" you suggested, sincerely. "From what I can tell, this place is inhabited by nothing but deer, rabbits, and squirrels. I'm sure Luffy can survive the night."

The swordsman kept his gaze forward, not slowing down at all.

"It's dark, and this island is full of frozen lakes," he stated, matter-of-factly. "If that idiot manages to find some way to fall into one, he's done for."

Slightly, you deflated, looking off to the side.

You hadn't thought of that...

Cheeks puffed, you hugged your arms a little closer to your body, attempting to close out the chill of embarrassment.

You knew Zoro didn't mean anything by it—seeing as he talked like that to everyone—but you couldn't help but suddenly feel annoying, your excuses probably the last thing he wanted to hear after being dragged out of bed.

'Dammit, (y/n)... always whining about something...'

This was an insecurity that plagued you constantly.

When you first joined the Strawhats, it was blindingly clear that you were nowhere near the strongest of the bunch.

You weren't fast like Brook.

Or powerful like Luffy

Or even smart like Robin.

You were just... (y/n).

Average, human (y/n).

The only thing particularly unique about you was your skill with a needle and thread.

You were the ship's seamstress, and the clothes you created for the crew were all exquisitely crafted and perfectly tailored to their needs.

It didn't matter how much thread you had, how much fabric you were given, or even how bad the damage was.

You could easily turn it into something both stylish and practical, your craftsmanship that of a seasoned pro, someone who had been honing their trade for decades upon decades.

But you were only twenty.

And while the rest of the crew saw this incredible talent, and often sang your praises for it, you couldn't help but feel useless.

How the hell was sewing supposed to help you win a fight?

You couldn't feather stitch an enemy into submission.

Day in and day out, you trained, hoping to build your strength enough to run with the big dogs.

Even during the crew's two year break, you hadn't laid a finger on your sewing machine, focusing solely on your fighting prowess.

But when you came back, utterly elated by your newfound brawn, you were quick to realize that the monsters had gotten stronger, too.

And you were right back where you started.

"SHI—!"

Your little, mental pity party was interrupted as you tripped over a tree root, feet stuck and body flying forward toward the ground.

Luckily, a pair of strong arms caught you with a death grip, forcing a gasp out your lips as your hands shot up to cling to his broad shoulders, your face smashing into his muscular chest.

'I think I'll go die now...'

Deathly embarrassed, you quickly pulled your head up, stomach lurching and heart stuttering as you caught sight of his face.

"I'm sorry..." you muttered, meekly, eyes slightly wide and completely entranced.

He had a hardened face, with dark eyes and a dark aura—not at all like the men that typically hit on you (not that you thought he was hitting on you now)—and surprisingly soft looking lips.

It was common knowledge that Zoro was anything but ugly, but just seeing his features up close...

He was such a pretty man.

"You good?" Zoro asked, raising a brow.

Clearing your throat, you nodded, allowing him to stand you back upright, and allowing yourself the chance to reign yourself back in.

Your "little" crush on the swordsman was something that plagued you from the moment you joined the crew... and if we're being honest, who could blame you?

Not only was he incredibly attractive, but he had morals; honor; and most importantly, chivalry.

Which, in your private opinion, far surpassed Sanji's.

But, it was beyond obvious that the man was completely out of your league, and you preferred keeping your feelings bottled up and saving yourself the embarrassment rather than getting rejected by a crewmate.

You'd seen the caliber of women that had come onto him in the past.

Powerful, female enemies...

High ranking Navy officials...

A fucking princess...

How could you hold a candle to that?

Though, little did you know, he thought the exact opposite.

While Zoro was a man who prided himself of self-restraint and respect, he couldn't help but let his eyes rake over you as your arms came up to cross over your chest.

Smooth, tanned skin accentuated under the complementary white of your cropped parka, your jeans just loose enough to run, and just tight enough to make your ass look fantastic.

Your lipgloss made your plump lips look so soft and inviting, and your eyes were so warm he felt like they heated him from the inside out.

And don't get him started on your sexy-ass voice—

"What did you trip over?" he quickly blurted out, glancing down at the ground to fight off the impure thoughts.

"It looks like a handle," you remarked, squatting down to take a closer look. "And I think there's a square outline in the ground."

Slowly, you looped your manicured fingers around the tree root, getting ready to pull.

"Careful..." Zoro warned, swords at the ready.

You nodded, and with a harsh tug, the door lifted, revealing a small compartment with a large jug inside.

Grabbing it by the neck, you pulled it out, dusting off its label to see what it was.

"It's sake... from over twenty years ago."

Instantly, a grin stretched across Zoro's face, the man gratefully taking the bottle as you handed it to him.

"Now we're talkin'," he smirked, popping the cork with his teeth and swiping the bits of dirt off the mouth. "Just what I needed."

"Are you sure you wanna drink that?" you asked, warily, as you stared at the bottle's contents. "I've never seen pink sake before..."

The man shrugged, his good eye taking a quick glance at it before he tossed back a large gulp, licking the remnants off his lips when he was finished.

"Eh, it's probably native to this island or somethin'," he waved off, turning around to continue the search. "It's strong... tastes like strawberries."

With a sigh, you stood to follow him, brows flattening as you watched him pound back another huge swig.

'I'll have Chopper check him out when we get back...'

It wasn't long after that you guys found Luffy.

He had been napping in a tree the whole time, and after you and Zoro gave him a serious scolding for worrying everyone, you dragged him back to the ship, you practically slumping against your door once you made it back into your work room.

Your day had been a whirlwind, to say the least, and your body wanted absolutely nothing more than to sprawl out on bed and catch some Zs.

But, even with the late, or rather, early hour—two to be exact—you didn't allow it.

First, you changed into some more comfortable clothes—some pajama shorts and a flimsy tank top—before straightening up the mess you had made in an attempt to make everyone new winter coats.

Once all that was done, you finally sat down at your desk, opening up your sketchbook and pulling out a pen to draw with.

'Alright, Nami said she wanted a new party dress...'

But before you could even draw the first line, someone frantically knocked on your door.

"For fuck's sake..." you sighed, throwing your head back in anguish.

You had half the mind to ignore it.

And, honestly, you did, returning to your book and pretending to be asleep.

But it wasn't long before the frantic rap turned into a distressed bang, completely disrupting your flow.

"Fine! I'm coming!" you caved, roughly pushing your chair back and storming toward the door.

If Kaido himself wasn't burning down the ship, heads were going to roll.

"Usopp, I swear to God, if this is some kind of jo—"

Swinging the door open, you never in a million years would have expected to see Roronoa Zoro on the other side.

Especially not looking like that.

"Shit," he panted, breathless, as he clutched his stomach, leaning against the door frame for support.

Of course it led him to you...

"Can I... mph! ...Can I come in?"

In front of you stood the first mate of Luffy's crew, his most trusted companion, his most loyal friend.

And the hands-down hottest man you had ever seen.

He was in nothing but some black sweats, his muscular arms and abs on perfect display.

His face was flushed, cheeks puffed with his hair tousled, and chest heaving like he'd just run a marathon.

Without thinking, you stepped to the side, allowing him in, now incredibly thankful that you'd tidied up beforehand.

Can't have the place looking like a pig sty...

Feeling something burning into the side of your head, you shut the door, turning around to see that he was staring at you intensely.

His eyes, once a beautiful steel gray, mimicking that of the swords he cherished so dearly, now resembled that of storm clouds, dark with something you couldn't place your finger on.

Yet something that worried you nonetheless.

"Are you okay?" you asked, raising a brow, not daring to touch him as he leaned against the wall, his legs having a slight tremble.

"No," he replied, his voice a half-whine, half-growl, the sound sending shivers down your spine. "Something's... something's wrong... and... fuck! Everything hurts!"

"Hurts?" you parroted, now even more confused.

If he was in pain, why would he come to you?

You were just the seamstress, someone with little to no medical knowledge.

Why not go to Chopper?

Hell, why not go to Robin?

He let out another pained groan, sending a small, sharp pang to your heart.

'Questions are for later.'

Swiftly, you approached, only stopping when you were about a foot in front of him.

Leaning forward, your eyes scanned over his body, checking to see what you could deduce off looks alone.

"What hurts?"

Before he could answer, his eyes trailed down to your chest, the cut of your tank top and the angle you were leaning giving him a perfect view of your tits.

'Fuck me...'

Embarrassed, he avoided eye contact with you, his gaze flicking down to his crotch before zooming off to a far away window.

Still thoroughly confused, your eyes followed his path, only to find that he was hard, and it looked almost painfully so.

'Oh, shit...'

Your face burned, and you quickly snatched your eyes away from the sight.

"What happened?" you squeaked.

"I don't know," Zoro rasped, his entire body shuddering with arousal, heat pulsing through his body so intensely it hurt. "I woke up in my room an hour ago, and... well."

He gestured to his hard-on, the message clear.

"I tried to rub one off but... fuck... nothing worked. And then it got worse... and then—"

Red-faced, he glanced away from you, nostrils flaring.

Why couldn't shit like this happen to the damn cook?

"I...fuck...I smelled something...shit...something that just made it even worse, so I went to find it..." Zoro swallowed thickly, "and it lead me here."

Here?

HERE?

'HERE?!'

Why would, what was obviously some sort of lust sickness, lead him to you?

And why would your scent make it even worse?

Sure, you thought the man was stunningly handsome, and the mysterious, stone-cold air about him intrigued you to no end... but this was too much.

It had to be a dream.

Right?

Suddenly, Zoro crumpled to the floor, breathing heavily in short pants, eyes glassy and cheeks flushed.

"Zoro!" you gasped, worried, rushing over to him.

"Look... I don't know how or why this... whatever it is...led me to you by your fuckin' scent or somethin'," he shuddered, the room somehow filled with your damn smell.

The shampoo you used.

The body wash.

The perfume.

Hell, the goddamn candles.

Everything just set something off inside of him—something that wanted to ravish you until you couldn't speak, trapped under his body helpless and needy.

Just like he was for you.

God, you were his fucking crewmate.

"Look, I wouldn't ask this of you, (y/n), if there was any other choice..." he rasped, your name on his tongue sending another shiver down your spine.

'Get a hold of yourself...'

"But you're the only one that caught this thing's attention. I don't think think this'll go away normalLY!"

His word extended as pain thrummed through his body, starting at his pelvis and sparking up his back.

God, it hurt so fucking bad.

But as the body cramp passed, he looked up at you with glassy eyes.

"(y/n), please. I'll...fuck! ...I'll fuckin' get you something nice at the next island..." he shuddered again. "Just help me..."

You stared at him for a long moment, struggling to process what was happening.

This had to be some sort of freaky dream.

You'd probably passed out from exhaustion at your desk, and were now face first in your sketchbook.

But looking down at him, so helpless, trembling like an injured deer, it felt oddly real.

...

'Nahhh...'

With a heavy sigh, you moved closer, until you stood over him, his breathing becoming rapid and uneven.

You smelled so fucking good.

He just wanted to have you, to keep you.

To devour you.

You knelt in front of him, tilting your head and lifting him just enough, giving him a warm nod of approval.

That was all he needed.

In an instant, Zoro surged forward, his impossibly soft lips capturing yours in a breath-stealing kiss, granting him a faint pang of relief.

If this was a dream, then it was the most vivid one you'd ever hand.

His lips felt so real, pressing a searing kiss into yours, all the pain and arousal he had been feeling clear as day.

Smoothly, his nimble hand curled around your waist, the other cupping the back of your head.

"Fuck, you're so soft... You smell so good," he muttered into your mouth, his hands wandering all over your body.

You took in a shuddering breath when Zoro pulled away, giving you a small chance to regain your senses as his lips traveled down your jaw and to your neck, his teeth scraping your sensitive skin.

You sighed, the feeling alien.

Sure, you weren't a prude—you'd frenched a guy or two from your village in your teen years—but never had you done something so... intense.

"Zoro!" you gasped as he suddenly shoved you to the floor, his pupils dilated beyond relief.

"I'm givin' you an out right now," he warned, leaning down so close to you, you could count his eyelashes. "One word... and I'll leave.

God, his eyes were so pretty.

You could stare into them for hours, getting lost in their cloudy grey.

'Wait... what did he say?'

Zoro pressed his forehead against yours, his breath ghosting across your lips, "Last chance."

He almost sounded nervous.

He wasn't at all experienced in the world of sex.

And, yes, he was a pirate who often cared little about the feelings of others.

But he wasn't a monster.

Nothing further was going to happen without your say so.

With a shy smile, you leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss on his lips.

'Thank God.'

With that out the way, his hips pressed into yours, and you let out a shocked moan into his lips, feeling his hardened dick throb with each throb of his heart.

God, he felt big.

A small pit of nervousness settled in your stomach, but you pushed it away, following instinct by lifting your hips, helping Zoro get some relief from the pain as you carefully rubbed your pulsing core against him.

And it felt fantastic.

Zoro let out a shuddering sigh, pulling away from the kiss and looking down between you both, his hips already meeting yours in a rhythm.

"Fuck—" he groaned, almost flopping completely on top of you, his large arms enveloping your body as he ground against you.

"Fuck fuck fuck, dammit, you already feel too fuckin' good," he kissed your neck, scraping his teeth against your skin as he dry humped you. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou."

You let out mousy responses to his thanks, rutting back into his hips until it wasn't enough for him anymore.

He sat up abruptly, scooping you up as if you weighed nothing and standing up on wobbly legs, walking over to your bed and setting you down less than gently.

(Franky had installed a bed in your workshop after the fiftieth time you'd fallen asleep at your desk. Yes, he counted)

You bounced as you landed, almost squeaking as Zoro's rough hands explored your body once again, tugging off your sleep clothes in a fumbling, desperate manner.

You sat up to help him slide off your shirt, his eyes catching on the soft curves of your shoulders and waist, studying the way your stomach smoothed out into your hips and thighs, your skin so soft under his touch.

He leaned down, trailing his lips against your hips and stomach, his tongue licking up your waist until it reached your breast, his mouth latching onto your hardened nipple as you shivered at the pleasurable feeling.

He whispered your name against your skin like a prayer to the gods, and you took in a sudden, deep breath.

You'd never imagined your name sounding so sexy.

'This has to be a fucking dream, it has to be...'

Something like this would never actually happen to you—so you decided to just enjoy it.

Soon, your pants followed your shirt, landing on the floor behind Zoro.

He stood, staring down at you with dark eyes, his chest heaving, you almost matching him with how hard you were breathing.

Suddenly, he pulled your underwear off, exposing your soaked core to the freezing air of your workshop.

"Wait, Zoro, I've never—"

You couldn't even finish your sentence, his mouth already meeting your core, his tongue driving into you while his thumb circled your clit.

"Zoro!" you cried out, your hand reaching down to grab his soft hair, bucking your hips against his mouth.

It felt better than anything you could've ever imagined.

But just as quick as it came, his tongue left you, your whine not even making it halfway before your back was arching, all three of his fingers shoved into you.

The mix of pain and pleasure was delicious, and you almost instantly understood why some peple were addicted to it.

His mouth replaced his thumb on your clit, his diits unraveling you so easy.

You moaned his name like a broken record, the heat in your face reaching down your entire body, sighing as he pulled his fingers out.

You watched, intently, as Zoro tugged off his pants, his boxers going with his clothes, landing right next to yours.

He was gorgeous.

Years of hard, grueling training left him toned, every bit of him defined and carved by the gods.

He stroked his cock, and something churned in your stomah at the sight of it.

It as really big—if this was real, then you'd be sore beyond belief.

You swallowed, letting Zoro maneuver your body and legs as he lined himself up, rubbing the pink-tipped head of his dick against your folds.

He looked into your eyes, and smirked, before pushing in with one motion, his eyes snapping shut at the feeling of your hot, soft walls.

In an instant, his body cooled down, allowing a moment of relief before it came back twice as painful.

Meanwhile, you had breathed yourself through it quite well, the painful sting already beginning to disappear.

Suddenly, he let out a pained, lustful moan, slowly pulling out before thrusting back in.

It as simple at first, a novice pace, the sound of your wet cunt suctioning around him echoing throughout the room.

Your breath was suddenly stolen as Zoro pressed down into you, your legs wrapped tightly around his waist as his hands pinned your wrists to the bed.

"Fuck fuck fuck," he growled.

He sounded like an animal in heat, his hips hammering into yours, the sound of your cunt being abused growing louder.

"Ah...ah...aah!" you panted, drool leaking down the side of your mouth as Zoro fucked you hard, his hips slapping against your thighs and ass, the sound only turning you on even more.

And it seemed to be doing the same to Zoro.

He bit your shoulder, moaning so loud you were sure the entire ship would've had complaints.

If this wasn't a dream, of course—which you were positive it was.

Your first orgasm came fast and hard, fireworks exploding in your vision as the coil wound in your gut snapped.

Zoro let out a tutered groan, frantically pulling his dick out and coming all over your stomach, the amount a concerning one.

But he was still unsatisfied.

With a grunt, he clutched his side, another cramp rushing through his body and forcing him to flip you over, pulling up your hips.

Your face burned as he ignored your sputtering words, sliding back into you, his breath hitching as you clenched down on him yet again.

Using his strength, he practically overtook you with his body, arms wrapped around your waist and hips pistoning as he hammered you like there was no tomorrow.

You couldn't even breath, each thrust knocking the wind out of you.

Fixing his position, Zoro shifted his hips ever so slightly, sitting up on his knees, forcing you to see stars.

Ecstasy flooded through your body as your front half went completely limp, panting moans pushing from your chest with each slap of Zoro's hips against your ass.

It wasn't long before your second orgasm came crashing through you—not as intense as the first but ust as hard.

Feeling himself right on the edge, he quickly pulled away, letting out a brathy whisperof your name as he pumped himself, releasing all over your back.

It continued like this for a while, the pain only disappearing after two more rounds.

And once it did, he carefully let go of your hips, them dropping like dead weight as all of your strength was completely sapped away.

Zoro was utterly exhausted, panting and aching everywhere, but he could only imagine how you felt.

He himself had never made it past first base with a woman before—he'd never had time for relationships, sexual or romantic—but he wasn't stupid.

He'd heard many a tale about the soreness that exists after sex for women.

And you had done him a serious solid.

So he forced himself to stand up, pulling on some pants before walking to the bathroom on tired legs and grabbing a few wash rags.

He got you cleaned up with the warm, damp ones, before using a cold one to cool the rest of your body.

But once that was done, he had no energy to do anything else, allowing himself to fall back against the pillows, breathing heavily.

Though, he didn't waste any time in wrapping his arms around you, pulling your back flush against his chest.

He couldn't just leave you after what he did...and if he was being honest, he didn't want to.

Watching your sleeping form, snoring softly and snuggled under the sheets, brought a certain warmness to his heart he had never felt before.

He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but the least he could do was hold you in his arms while he had the chance.

Maybe, one day, this could be real.

BONUS !!

The shouts of your captain snatched you from your death-like sleep, waking you with a groan as your eyes fluttered open, only to be blinded by the golden rays of morning light seeping through the window.

You let out a tired whine, covering your head with your pillow.

'I knew I should've got those curtains...'

Sitting up, sluggishly, you almost immediately regretted it when a jolt of pain shot through your core, the following soreness and aching rippling throughout the rest of your body.

"The hell?" you winced at the pulse between your legs.

It practically hurt to breathe.

And you had no idea why.

Confused, you lifted the blanket to check what was wrong, only to find that you were completely naked.

'Oh, shit... oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!'

You whipped your head around, looking for any sign of the handsome pirate, only to find him snoring soundly right next to you, one of his arms haphazardly strewn around your waist.

Going off his positioning, it looked like you two were tangled in the sheets, his arms holding you protectively for most of the night.

"Last night was real..." you muttered, wincing again, your voice nearly gone.

A raspy tone only acquired after screaming nearly all night long

'Oh, shit! Fuck! The others! I was so loud!'

Frantic, you didn't realize how close you were to the edge, your lips letting a yelp slip as you fell over.

Instantly, you hit the floor with a harsh thud, letting out a string of curses as another jolt of pain coursed through your legs and hips.

"Fuck..." Zoro groaned as he patted the space next to him, attempting to feel for you as he stirred awake from the noise. "Where the hell did she—oh, shit, (y/n)!"

Realizing you were on the ground, his eye shot wide, and he quickly scrambled to the edge of the bed, wrapping his arm around your waist and effortlessly hoisting you into his lap.

"Crap, (y/n), are you alright?! Are you hurt?!" he asked, frazzled, and still trying to wake up. "Shit, (y/n), I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for all this to happen. I shoulda listened to you and left the damn sake alone."

To say he felt ashamed was an understatement.

He was absolutely mortified.

The events of last night began coming back to him in flashes, the pit of guilt in his stomach sinking deeper with each one.

Where he dragged his tongue against your skin...

Every hickey and bite mark he left behind...

The feeling of your gummy walls squeezing against him...

That's not how he wanted your first time together to be.

He wanted it to be something slow and special, something a woman like you deserved.

But instead it was fast and in the spur of the moment, all because he was stupid enough to guzzle some mystery drink and fall under the effects of a lust spell.

"I—"

Raising your finger to his lips, you silenced him, eyes suddenly lidded as you leaned forward, forcing the two of you to lay back down, much to his confusion.

"Talk later," you mumbled, sleepily, nuzzling into his side as you pulled up the covers. "Sleep now."

Allowing your eyes to flutter shut, you let out a smooth, content sigh, slowly drifting back into slumber.

Incredulous, Zoro let out a small chuckle, but complied anyway, his arms snaking around your waist once more, pulling you further into him with a slight smirk.

Maybe he had that jug to thank after all...

[witherking001]

Mojang is NOT villainizing piglins.

I'm just gonna rant about this here since I keep seeing this take. I feel like a lot of you guys are taking too much of this piglin stuff at face value. Like, if you think Mojang is actively "demonizing" piglins or something, I straight up don't think you've been paying attention or looking at this with a critical eye. Piglins live in a cruel world. A harsh landscape which would obviously shape their societies to value strength and anything of the sort which would keep them alive. The Nether lacks certain resources, some of which is actually the fault of their ancestors.

Like, this is something we've known since the Nether Update came out.

I say this because there's actually reason for piglin society to be the way it is. It makes sense. Even so, piglins aren't inherently evil, even in the various games. Vanilla Minecraft is obvious. You can barter with them and hang around them if you wear gold. The piglin merchant from Minecraft Dungeons makes this point even more evident with the fact that they journeyed to the Overworld simply to set up shop.

They're completely passive to the player. They're not here to invade and they don't care if you wear gold or not.

In Minecraft Legends, it's a legend. A story passed down from generations. It doesn't necessarily reflect a full truth.

Even so, a lot of the piglins don't even seem to care about invading the Overworld too much. Two out of the three main piglin generals don't even actively participate in the invasion.

The boss known as the "Devourer," leader of the Horde of the Spore, doesn't do much besides send out additional forces to help with the invasion. They mainly just want to keep eating mushrooms.

The boss known as the "Beast," leader of the Horde of the Hunt, especially doesn't care for invading the Overworld. Throughout the cutscenes they appear in, they just want to hunt hoglins.

It straight up takes another piglin leader to step in before they actually do anything to help with the invasion.

Hell, these piglins get abused by their bosses for not complying or failing to accomplish what they must.

Even the bosses get abused by their bosses!

To think that they are all a truly malicious force is a gross generalization for you to take from all this. The truth is that it's complicated. The ones in power dictate what happens and that doesn't necessarily reflect the average piglin and what they want.

Ultimately, they comply out of fear. For their own security. And that's just what happens in a lot of empires with powerful leaders. Perhaps they don't even know better. The Nether is a tough place to live in. So, what's one more fight to them if they might have a chance to one day survive somewhere in a place without lava and ghasts everywhere. Especially if succeeding will also keep their bosses off their backs.

The piglins have a complicated past and that's fine and actually very realistic. If anything, I feel that Mojang has given the piglins the best kind of treatment, in this way. The most world building out of any Minecraft civilization. It just sucks to see when people don't realize that.

And with the movie, I feel it's largely the same as in Legends. Can you really tell me that piglins here are inherently an evil people? Look at this little guy.

Once again, it's the fault of their leadership and their cruel mentalities that have spawned and evolved long ago from living in a cruel world.

Yes, that piglin did just stab that child, btw.

Anyway, my point is that there's just so much more nuance to this than just taking away "piglins bad" from Minecraft media.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Precious Truths: Part 2

Fandom: Bridgerton

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x F!Reader

Summary: After your father finds out you’ve been writing under a male pseudonym, he threatens to marry you off to an atrocious man unless you find yourself a husband within a month’s time.

Warning: physical assault - reader gets slaped on the face

Series Masterlist

Your gaze reveals the precious truths

The beauty that you see within

The bravery that I once never possessed

Your love is strength

Your love is pure

Your love is everything

-Arthur Talbot

You set your quill back into the ink jar and lean back in your chair, letting the ink dry. It's well into the night. Your father and aunt now sound asleep in their respective bedrooms. You find that late nights like these are the best times to write. It's when the world is quiet and you can indulge in your guilty pleasure of writing poetry. You're sure that if your father were to ever find out about this, he'd cast you out.

So your secret remains. Some parts of you felt like you should at least tell Benedict, for he's your closest, and dearest friend. However, you thought best not to. If the ton were to find out, it would be the end of you and you could never be one to drag Benedict down with you.

You can never do that to the man you love.

____________________________

You're in the sitting room watching as stands at Benedict at his easel, Colin and Greggory play chess, and Daphne coos over Auggie. Benedict works on his still life as you sit close by.

He frowns, taking a step back from his painting, "This is wrong. It's-Something's missing."

You lean closer to get a glance at his work, "Benedict, it looks beautiful."

"Are you sure?" he asks with an unsure look on his face.

You stand up and take a better look at the canvas, "Don't you artists always say beauty is in the eye of the beholder?" you look at Benedict with a smirk and then back at the canvas, "What you may find as unattractive, Benedict, someone else might find alluring and lovely."

You pat his arm and then plop yourself back into the chair you previously occupied. You go back to your reading completely unaware that Benedict is looking at you with absolute love in his eyes.

He hears someone clear their throat and he looks away to see Anthony staring at him expectantly, "I'm sorry, brother. Did you say something?"

"We're all going for a promenade. I believe we've all been inside for long enough."

You stand up, "I shall take my leave then, Bridgertons."

"Or you can join us?" Benedict immediately asks with hopeful grin.

You softly shake your head, "I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense," Kate says as she enters the room, "We're always happy to have you, Y/N," she joins her husband's side.

"Well, I can't reject you, Viscountess Bridgerton," you give Kate a smile and Benedict is confused, "So you have no problem rejecting me?"

You laugh, "I'm only jesting, Benedict. I'd love to accompany you and your family for a promenade."

"Wonderful, let's get to it then," Anthony says, trying to gather his siblings together.

_________________________

You're following Benedict's younger siblings whilst said man was walking beside you. You're walking in silence, but it isn't awkward. Silence in Benedict's presence is never awkward, but rather comforting.

"I've realized something, Y/N."

"Yes?"

Benedict keeps his eyes on you as you two continue to follow his younger siblings, "You've always been very supportive of my artistic prospects, but I don't believe I've given the same curtesy to you and your poetic writings. I recall you enjoyed writing them when we were younger."

It warms your heart knowing that Benedict remembers of the times you'd write whilst he'd paint or draw. You let out long and deep sigh. Looking ahead, you reply, "Yes, well, I've given up those dreams, I'm afraid. You know how my father is about my indulgence with poetry. I have to be very careful. Even reading it and reciting it to the ton is risky. Luckily, my father is inebriated a majority of the time he's out and about."

"Well if you ever decide to return to writing poetry, you have my full support."

You nod, "Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate it."

"Y/N," you turn to your right to see Daphne now walking beside you, pushing Auggie in his pram.

"Yes, Your Grace?" you stop and answer her with a teasing smirk. You're older than Daphne by a few years, but just two years younger than Benedict. You've always seen Daphne as a younger sister, being that you are an only child. Occasionally the teasing will produce itself between you two.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?"

You can't help but laugh, "Of course, but I've been spending my entire day with you already. Won't you all get tired of me?"

"We'd never tire of you, Y/N," Benedict replies with earnest and it brings a warm smile to your place.

"Be that as it may, I believe the Viscount should have the final word?"

Anthony, Kate, and Violet catch up to you as you're all looking at Anthony. He looks at you all in confusion, "Something the matter?"

Daphne speaks up, "I invited Y/N to stay for dinner if that's alright, brother?"

He shoots you a grin, "Of course. Miss L/N is always welcome. You're practically family, yes?" he shoots Benedict a wink and you're not sure why.

"Well thank you for the invitation," you look down at your dress, "But perhaps, I should at least change. This dress isn't particularly dinner attire."

"What do you mean? You look beautiful as always," Benedict states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

The Bridgertons all give each other knowing looks. That's when the Dowager Viscountess speaks up, "Benedict, darling, Y/N is right. After the promenade, we should allow her to freshen up before dinner."

Kate removes herself from Anthony and loops arms with you, "Let us continue our promenade, Y/N."

"Of course!" you giggle with your friend as you continue on the trail.

Benedict moves to follow, but Anthony pats his brother on the shoulder, "You've spent hours with her, brother. Let her take a break from you clinging to her all the time."

Benedict looks at his older brother in offense, "I don't cling to her...do I?"

"A bit, darling," Violet says and Daphne nods in agreement.

He runs his hand through his hair and sighs, "I'm too obvious, aren't I?"

Daphne shakes her head, "No, I don't think so. If you were, she'd have said something, yes? Or maybe would have run for the hills?" she asks with a smirk to her elder brothers, before continuing to push Augie down the path.

_________________

When you arrive back home to change, you ask the housekeeper, Mrs. Burnett, if your aunt is home.

"No, Miss, she's gone to meet with Lady Danbury," the older woman replies.

You nod, "Thank you, Mrs. Burnett," you gather your dress and make your way to your room upstairs.

You freeze when you see the door ajar and you know for a fact you closed it before leaving earlier.

You slowly push the door open and your heart drops when you see your father surrounded by pages and pages of poems. Poems that are supposed to be written by a man.

You gulp and slowly approach him as he sits at your writing desk, "Papa?"

His eyes meet yours in a cold and intimidating stare, "Not only have you still been indulging in poetry, but you're writing it? Under a man's name?"

"What were you doing in my room?"

"THIS IS MY HOUSE! I CAN BE ANYWHERE I PLEASE!"

You take some cautionary steps towards him, "Papa, you've had too much to drink."

"No!" he abruptly stands at your desk, causing you to jump ack in surprise. His chest is heaving as he tightly grips pages of your work, "If anyone finds out about this-"

"They won't! I've hid this from everyone for months!"

"You need to marry," he says with definitive authority.

You look at him with a confused expression, "What do you mean?"

"I can't take your defiance any longer!"

"Defiance?"

Your father walks around your desk so it's no longer a wall between you and he. He points a warning finger at you, "If you don't find a husband within a month's time, I'm marrying you off to your cousin, Albert."

Your jaw drops, "Cousin Albert?! He's absolutely horrendous! He's a rake and a gambler-"

"And looking for a wife!" he exclaims as he cuts you off, "When you were younger, your Uncle Wallace tried to convince me to have you two promised to each other once you came out to society. I regret not taking the opportunity now seeing how you've grown up."

You clench your fists in anger, "Mama wouldn't stand for this! She-

THWACK!

Your words are stuck in your throat, your cheek stinging after your father slaps you. His eyes are red and wild as he spits out, "Mama is dead! She is not here anymore! This is my house! You are to find a husband in a month or you are to marry Albert. Be grateful I'm not sending you away right this moment."

You're holding your cheek now, trying to soothe the pain. Your heart hurts for yourself and your mama. You know she'd hate the man your papa has become.

Without another word, you're rushing out of your room and bounding down the stairs.

Your aunt had just arrived back and you rush past her without a glance. She follows you in concern, "Y/N? What happened?! What's wrong? Y/N!" she yells after you as you run down the street back towards the Bridgerton household.

[trash-sonamy]

Sonic and Amy's relationship through the years: why did it change?

From games to shows, comics to official publications, it's evident that the dynamics of Sonic and Amy's relationship have changed through the years, with Amy toning down her fangirling and Sonic often being the driving force of their ship with his flirting, teasing and subtle jealousy (as user @essycogany pointed out in this analysis). But why are we witnessing this change? Let's dive into some key moments and reasons.

Disclaimer: I'm going to disregard the "canon" factor because it's not relevant to the general public perception of their relationship.

Sonic X

Any good sonamy fan will remember the fateful episode 52 of Sonic X. I interpret this episode of the series as the key moment that shifted their dynamic.

From the beginning of the series, we see an Amy that is very vocal about her crush and chases Sonic around, with Sonic having a few not-so-nice moments of pushing her and trying to run away from her. Their relationship shifts through the series though, and we begin seeing more of Amy's side as a determined fighter (that scares even Eggman!).

I won't over analyse episode 52 as it has been done countless times before, but Sonic going back to his world and seeking Amy in the first place means she's a valuable friend (or something else) to him. This moment alone brought popularity to the ship and to Amy as a character, which brings us to the next point.

Character development

I'm gonna risk saying that Sonic and Amy are the characters that have suffered the most development throughout the years. There are other characters who had development and even met different versions of themselves, but Sonic and Amy stand out in my opinion for different reasons.

Let's analyse Sonic: from the beginning, Sonic was always supposed to be cool, a beacon of positivity and the embodiment of the hero that always saves the day. The first Sonic games are pretty straightforward about that. However, in more recent games and shows, we've been seeing different sides of him: he has made mistakes (and recognized it), he has been impulsive, he has felt grief, sadness and anger and he hasn't been shy about it. Sonic Prime showed us probably the most emotional version of Sonic we've seen, and guess what? That pleases the public because everyone enjoys a flawed hero.

Moving on to Amy. Amy has a somewhat controversial birth, given that she was (apparently) created to be "Sonic's girlfriend" / romantic interest. Her crush on Sonic was, for some time, her only personality trait. With new games and media, she gradually gained her space and we started seeing more of her. Her kindness, her strength, her empathy, her leadership skills — all of which exist despite her crush on Sonic. She became more appealing as we got to learn more about her, and solidified her position as a valuable member of Sonic's team.

The development of these two characters as explained above made it possible for the dynamic we have today to grow naturally: Sonic openly teasing and (very often) showing signs that Amy means a lot to him, which is a result of Amy being her own self and showing her strength and independency — traits that we know Sonic appreciates.

Progression of values in society

I don't want to make this sound more deep than it actually is, but it's true that certain dynamics wouldn't be acceptable today simply because we as a society have progressed. The trope of the fangirl chasing her idol everywhere might have been a fun gag in the 90s, but it's just not it for today's standards. It has been made very clear that Sega wants to stir away from that image since that, for Sonic Generations, they edited the scene from Sonic 06 where Sonic shoves his hand in Amy's face to push her away. This kind of behavior doesn't align with Sonic's current values either.

Teasing is just fun!

Honestly, teasing sonamy is just too much fun without the commitment. One of the writers for Sonic Boom once said it:

And isn't that true? It's refreshing seeing the cool, composed Sonic blushing or showing jealousy, as it is to see how Amy reacts to her crush behaving this way. As a longtime sonamy fan, I just love searching for all the small hints and teases and over analysing them (like I'm doing now). It's endless material for gags too — check this compilation of sonamy moments in Twitter takeovers.

In conclusion, Sonic and Amy's relationship changed as they progressed as characters and Sega aimed to please a wider audience, giving space for fans to interpret their relationship as they please.

I also want to state that the points are my personal opinions and obviously open to be discussed. If you think I missed any point, please do let me know. Hope you like this!

[justauthoring]

sincerity.

-> because gojo and geto have been in love with you since they first laid eyes on you, and marrying you was the least of their worries.

a/n -> i started this with no plan in mind so here ya go :) (i just wanted to write for my boys <3)

pairing -> satosugu x f!reader

tw. mention of (attempted) forced arranged marriage, implied physical abuse

"there you are."

eyes peeling open, you glance up at the two shadows with a dazed expression.

geto shakes his head at you. "we've been looking for you everywhere."

"you're a pain in the ass to find when you wanna be," gojo grumbles, looking decidely less amused than geto does as he crouches down, raising his head to lightly flick your forehead. "you know that?"

you let out a giggle, it light and airy as you roll your eyes at the both of them. gojo and geto glance at each other at that, raising a brow before their eyes fall back on you, laid back on the floor, head tilted back as you peer up at them through the top of your lashes.

there's a light flush across your cheeks, skin dusted with a pretty pink, and your gaze is unfocused.

oh, they realize, you're drunk.

geto's eyes flicker to the table your lower half was concealed by, only then noticing the many empty sake bottles thrown about half-hazardly.

gojo notices it at the same time and with a sigh, he presses his hand to his forehead.

"what happened?"

the smile on your face fades at that, falling with a twitch as the two of them stare down at you this time with concern clear in their gazes. an uncomfortable feeling twists deep in your chest and in your inebriated state, all you can focus on is that you really really don't want to talk about it.

any of it.

so, with a blink, you push yourself up, flipping yourself around so you're on your knees before them, grin back on your lips as you smile cheekily at them.

"nothing," you brush off, even though it's obvious it's not nothing. "let's do something fun."

gojo huffs and geto's face twists with hesitation; "y/n, i dunno if—"

geto is promptly cut off by the feeling of your weight falling against him, and he sputters for a second, confused, as he feels you crawl into his lap; something you certainly would not do if sober. your hands grab his shoulders, using them to steady yourself as you slip your legs around his waist, knocking him on his ass, instead of crouched like he'd been a second ago.

inhaling sharply the second you press your ass right against his nether regions, geto's hands are moving to your waist, hands tightening as he halts your wiggling.

"what are you—"

you just wink at him, head turning to rest on his shoulder as you turn your attention to gojo who watches on with barely concealed jealousy.

"satoru~" you call out, dragging his name out sweetly on your tongue as you stretch your hands out towards him, fingers wiggling. "come 'ere."

to his credit, gojo realizes he shouldn't given the fact that it was clear you were drunk and not in the right state of mind. but seeing you jump onto geto's lap like that had him burning with want and jealousy and he really isn't in the right state of mind himself as he submits himself to your call and crawls towards you.

you cup his cheek and gojo leans into the touch, mewling.

"pretty boy," you smile, blinking lazily.

gojo practically twinkles at the praise.

geto, still trying to ignore the feeling of you on him, maneuvers his hands, using his strength to push you back, albeit gently. you frown at his actions, attention turned away from gojo as you glare over at him, pouting.

"what's your problem?" you grumble.

geto just shakes his head, sharp eyes turning to gojo. "satoru," he calls, and gojo meets his gaze, ready to argue, before he sees the look being sent his way and is reminded of what's right (blegh) so he pulls his face out of your hand and grabs it instead to push it down, not letting it wander.

"y/n," geto calls again, and you turn to him, shoulders slumped, annoyed at your affections being ignored. "if this was any other time, we'd be all over you given that that's what we've been wanting for months and you know that. but you're drunk."

turning your face away, still perched on his lap, you cross your arms over your chest. "so?"

gojo coughs; "so... it wouldn't be right."

you snort. "as if the two of you care about right versus wrong."

"we do." geto pushes, thumbs stroking your hips. "when it comes to you."

you blink at that, eyes falling back on him with parted lips, before you turn to gojo; he wears a similar expression to geto. sincerity.

leaning forward, gojo brushes a strand of hair from your face, movements soft and gentle as he tucks it behind your ear. "what's the matter, baby? why'd you get drunk?"

feeling cornered and knowing they won't leave it until you answer, you lower your gaze. "it's stupid." you mumble, voice low, barely a whisper.

geto squeezes your hips, shaking his head. "nothing about you is stupid."

you hate them and their sweet, flattering words. you hate even more that it gives it's intended effect in the way that you're unable to resist either of them when they treat you like this.

"my father," you start, feeling that tight feeling your chest well all over again. the alcohol isn't much good for anything other than making you more emotional when forced to confront the emotions you'd desperately tried to forget in your drunken stupor.

"what'd your father do?" gojo sks.

"wants me to get married."

you feel geto tense underneath you and gojo's hand still against your cheek, there soothing movements on your skin stilling as your words hang in the air for a second.

"of course, it'll all be arranged according to him," you continue. now that the words were out, you found you couldn't stop yourself. you were angry and hurt and embarrassed and betrayed and it felt good to get all of your chest. "said i had no choice. i'm supposed to meet my fiance tomorrow... the wedding is supposedly next month."

you feel your eyes water, your emotions spilling over as your lips start to tremble. you can't look at their faces, ashamed even if you shouldn't be. it was your stupid father's fault and yet, you were the one being punished.

it was simply cruel.

your voice starts to tremble before you can stop it; "i haven't met the guy yet and when i tried to explain to my father that i wasn't ready, he... well..." you can't finish your words, the pain on your side that you'd been decidely ignoring, aching more than it had all night in that moment.

but geto and gojo aren't ready to let it go.

"he..." and geto's words are slow, calculated. "what?"

you just turn your head away.

"y/n," gojo calls, voice sharp, anger thinly veiled in his tone; but not at you. "what did your father do?"

"he..." still, the words won't come out. with a huff, you raise your shirt, showing off the bruise that had formed on your hip. your eyes fall shut when the both of them lean forward, geto's hand shifting to press above the bruise, holding his shirt up as gojo lets out a low, guttural growl.

"i'll kill him," gojo hisses, his voice the angriest you've ever heard it.

turning to geto, gojo emphasizes; "i'm going to kill him."

geto wants to agree but one glance at your red and teary-eyed face and he's nudging you to glance at them once again. you oblidge without much fight, turning to face them with wobbly lips and watery eyes, sniffling.

"y/n," geto calls, wanting your attention on him. "it'll be okay."

you just shake your head. "you guys don't get it. i don't have a choice—"

"marry us."

gojo's words cut in before you can finish and everything seems to freeze the second he says them. you pause, stilling in geto's grasp, eyes falling on the white-haired boy with disbelief, confused and bafflement all mixed into one.

for a second you think it's joking and you're about to curse him out for being so insenstive, but his face doesn't change and when you turn to geto, he seems just as serious.

"you're crazy," you breathe, mind spinning. "how... how would that—my father and..."

"the gojo clan is one of the big three clans, y/n. i have sway over these sort of things." gojo explains, face still serious, unwavering. "one word and anything your father says wouldn't matter a damn thing. and besides, i've been planning on asking you to marry me since the moment i layed eyes on you. suguru too."

lips parting, you turn to geto, only to see him smiling softly, nodding.

by the lack of geto's suprise to gojo's offer, you have the sneaking suspicion this is something they've talked about before.

"it can just be a formality," geto offers, sensing your apprehension. "nothing more than writing. i don't even have to be apart of it if you don't want. you just need the gojo name and then that would be that and you can continue on."

"or," gojo continues, "you can still continue on but... but it'd be real. not just a formality and not just in writing. we'd be your husbands and you'd be our wife. nothing would change other than our relationship to each other."

they stop at that, words left in the air as they both stare at you, waiting. your eyes flicker between the both of the, stunned, processing their words.

then, you speak up; "i could... i could still be a sorcerer?"

"of course," geto nods, not hesitating.

"either way," gojo agrees. "i would never take away your right to make a living for yourself."

"and... i'd be married to the both of you?" you whisper.

"if you want."

"only if you want."

you take the both of them in. seriously take them in. even with your mascara running and with a puffy red nose, they look at you like you're their whole world. this is how they always look at you, but it seems to really click in that moment.

their touches are gentle and reassuring and they don't pressure you. they wait for your answer and wait until you're ready to give it. gazes reassuring and smiles on their faces. there's apprehension and it's clear what they want, but they refuse to sway you either way.

they love you. they've told you before, many times but you'd always brushed it off.

you don't this time.

"okay."

the two of them glance at each other. "okay?"

"i'll marry the both of you," you whisper and the two of them straighten, eyes hopeful. "and not just a formality. but... but even if we're married in writing, i'd... i'd still like us to take things slow."

"of course," geto agrees instantly and you blink at how quick he is to oblidge.

"we don't have to have a wedding," gojo explains, then backpeddles. "not at first. it can just be in writing, to get your father off of you. then... in a couple months, maybe..."

"we can make a whole show of it," geto grins.

you snort at that, their excitement lightening your mood. "you're getting ahead of yourselves."

"can't help it," gojo breathes, leaning forward to press his face into the crook of your neck. "we've been dreaming of this."

the admission stuns you.

"don't look so shocked, baby," geto coos, squeezing you so you fall against him. "we've been in love with you for months."

you lean into their touch, basking in it. basking in how... full of love it is.

letting your head fall against geto's shoulders, you close your eyes. "thank you," you whisper into the silence. "both of you. for everything."

geto's grip around you tightens and gojo presses a kiss at the crook of your neck.

"anything for you."

[moons-and-mobility-aids]

The Christmas Holidays

Pairings: Poly!marauders x disabled!reader Summary: James wants you to come to his for the christmas holiday, and you have to explain why that's not possible Warnings: Themes of Christmas Series Masterlist

James leans back against the wood paneling at the foot of your bed, his expression unreadable. Your room is a comfortable sanctuary tucked away from the bustling common area of Gryffindor tower, the walls lined with books and personal trinkets that tell a story of your time at Hogwarts. The fire burns low in the hearth, casting dancing shadows across the floor.

"So," he draws out the word, raising an eyebrow as if to invite you into some secret plot. "I've been thinking—how about spending Christmas at my parents' house this year?"

The suggestion hangs in the air, disrupting the stillness of the winter day outside. Snowflakes fall gently against the windowpane, their delicate dance a sharp contrast to the racing thoughts inside your head. You've spent previous holidays within the castle's stone walls, the silence of empty corridors both a comfort and a reminder of the solitude that often accompanies the festive season.

"Sirius usually comes along too," James adds, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, watching you for a reaction. His hazel eyes are bright with anticipation, the mischievous grin never far from his lips. "Mum and Dad would love to meet you properly." He says it casually, as though the idea isn't monumental, but to you, it feels like an earthquake shifting the very ground beneath you.

A small smile touches your lips, not of joy, but in recognition of the well-trodden path this conversation always seems to take. "That sounds lovely, James," you respond, your voice barely a whisper as you reach out to squeeze his hand. "But... you know I can't."

His grin falters, confusion knitting his brows together. "What? Why not? It's Christmas! The house will be full of cheer—Mum's been asking about you for months."

Remus lowers his book, the pages rustling softly as he sets it aside. He moves to sit next to you on the bed, his presence a silent reassurance. You shift slightly, gathering the strength to continue, your tone light despite the heavy words.

"It's the journey, James." You lift your hand, fingers brushing against the charm bracelet encircling your wrist—the one with charms for each of the boys that grows warm when they think of you. Right now, it feels like a gentle hearth fire. "I can't handle the Hogwarts Express and all the travelling. It takes at least three days for me to recover from a trip like that. And that's just the train, not considering everything else—five seizures minimum on a travel day really does a number on me."

James's expression tightens, a frown marring his forehead as he leans in, his gaze steady, searching yours for understanding. He knows—has seen—how your body rebels against you in ways that are cruel and unpredictable. But this...

"But... we've got two whole weeks, love," he says, the words slow and heavy, like stones sinking into deep water.

You offer him a smile, one that doesn't quite reach your eyes but carries with it a quiet patience born of years navigating the treacherous currents of your condition. "It's not that simple. It's a day of travel, at least three days of recovery, and then we have to hope my body cooperates, and given it’s winter, that’s unlikely. That’s not how I want to meet your parents. Not when I’ll barely be able to stay awake for a proper conversation - it was bad enough that that’s kind of how I met Remus’s mum, and we weren’t even together then. And honestly, my parents would be upset because I never see them for Christmas either.”

"Except in second year," Remus interjects, "but that's because you were in St. Mungo's over the holidays."

"Exactly." You glance at Remus, grateful for his understanding.

James starts to say something, then hesitates. His gaze softens as he grasps the reality of your situation. He squeezes your hand, his thumb tracing small circles against your skin. "I... I hadn't thought about it that way before."

"I know you didn't." You reach up, fingers ghosting over his cheek. "And I do want to meet them, but I want to be at my best when I do. A short holiday doesn't give me enough time to recover. I promise, I'll come during the summer. Two months—that should be plenty for both travel and recovery. I'll be able to spend quality time with them then."

His eyes search yours, wrestling with the truth of your words. "Summer, huh?"

"Summer," you confirm, the word hanging between you like a promise. "You, me, Remus, Sirius. I'll finally meet your parents, and we won't be rushed."

Remus chuckles, the sound low and comforting as he leans back against the headboard. "Summer sounds just about perfect. You won't be able to get rid of us once we're there, Prongs."

James cracks a grin, the first genuine one you've seen since the conversation began, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes—those remain clouded with worry. He exhales slowly, running his fingers through his messy hair, a gesture you've come to associate with deep thought—or deep frustration. "I just wish... I wish we could all be together for Christmas."

You shake your head gently, the warmth from your bracelet seeping into your skin as you squeeze his hand once more. "I want you to go, James. Have a wonderful Christmas with your parents. They'll miss you if you don't. And...you can tell them all about me." You manage a small smile, your heart fluttering at the thought. "By the time summer comes around, they'll feel like they already know me."

But James is already shaking his head, his decision etched in the stubborn set of his jaw. "No, I've made up my mind." His gaze holds yours, unyielding. "I'm staying here at Hogwarts."

"James—" you begin, your protest lodged in your throat, but he cuts you off, his hands now cradling both of yours.

"No, listen. I need to be with you. And with Remus and Sirius. I love spending Christmas with my parents, but it wouldn't be right knowing you're here alone. We should be together." His smile softens, the corners of his eyes crinkling with sincerity. "I can always bring you home with me in the summer. It'll be worth the wait."

You blink, taken aback by the swiftness of his decision. Your gaze shifts to Remus, whose smile flickers like a secret shared in the depths of the night. "Are you sure?" you ask, your voice barely more than a whisper against the thickening silence.

"Without a doubt," James affirms, and there's a warmth that starts to build within you—not just from the charm bracelet, but from the strength of his loyalty, the depth of his love.

"Thank you," you murmur, the words brushed with the softness of unshed tears.

James leans over, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. "Anything for you, love."

Remus chuckles beside you, a low rumble of affectionate amusement. He reaches over, ruffling James' hair with a teasing grin. "You're too good for us, Prongs."

"Nah." James' reply is laced with a nonchalance that belies the intensity of his conviction. "I just know what matters."

The door swings open abruptly, and Sirius strides in, a dusting of snow still clinging to his hair and shoulders. He shakes it off, sending small flurries across the wooden floor. Without missing a beat, he sprawls onto the floor, stretching out like a contented dog.

"So," he says, looking up at the others, "what'd I miss?"

Remus chuckles, a low rumble that resonates in the otherwise quiet room. "James has decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas."

Sirius's eyebrows shoot up, and his lips pull into a sly grin that mirrors James's own. "Is that so?" he drawls, rolling onto his side to face them better. "Well then, I suppose we'll just have to make this the best bloody Christmas Hogwarts has ever seen, won't we?"

James laughs, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. "That's the plan, mate."

And just like that, the heaviness of before seems to lift, replaced by the warmth of the fire, the sound of shared laughter, and the knowledge that this Christmas will be spent together.

[muddyorbsblr]

forever & always

See my full list of works here!

Part of the 500 Follower Celebration Requested by: @silverfire475 | View request here

Summary: On the way home after his shift at the hotel, Jonathan stumbles upon a coffee shop that might have just given your lives a turn for the better

Pairing: Jonathan Pine x Reader

Word Count: 4.4k

Warning/s: 18+ | smut (minors & pearl clutchers, do not try me); unprotected p in v; shower sex; implied oral sex (f receiving); scenes mentioning terminal illness; scenes implying consideration of assisted death; potentially inaccurate depiction of mythical drinks; language [let me know if i missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: magical coffee shop au

Dick-tionary: » smut scene starts at "What are you up to, sweetheart?" and ends at "I love you so much." » fade to black oral smut scene starts at "You grasped the collar" and ends at next story divider

The lack of your presence in bed when Jonathan woke this morning was no cause for concern. In fact, hope bloomed in his heart that today would be the start of events taking a turn for the better.

It had been far too long since the two of you had one of those days.

He made quick work to pull a shirt over his head and run a hand through his hair, excited to fix you a decadent breakfast before he left for his shift at the hotel.

What was a cause for concern, however, was how he found you in the living room the moment he stepped out of your shared bedroom. Your mouth pressed into a grim line as you hung up the phone, a notepad and a pamphlet on the coffee table in front of you. The logo and the name on the front had his heart pounding away in his ears.

Dignitas

"Sweetheart." His throat closed up, almost unable to form any words. "We still have time. And there's no need to make a reservation, I don't think they stay occupied for long."

You gave him a somber smile at his dry attempt of a joke. "I…I know, babe. I know. I just…I wanna make sure of all the details so you don't have to worry as much after--"

"Y/N, stop." He crouched in front of you, tears welling in his eyes. It pained him beyond belief that you even had to think of details like this considering what you were already dealing with. The only thing that should be occupying your mind was building your strength. Hoping that whatever medication the doctors try out will finally start turning things around for the better.

But he also knew you were both steadily running out of time. And your words from around nine months ago began to echo in his mind, his heart feeling hollow at the memory.

We'll give it a year of our best effort. But if things don't look great at the end of it, I don't want to let this thing get the satisfaction of withering me into a shell of myself. I wanna go out on my own terms, while I'm still strong enough to make those choices.

"We still have time," he said again desperately. Three more months. You promised me at least that. "Maybe this round will have better results."

Your tearful expression nearly mirrored his perfectly, reaching over to frame his face in your comparatively smaller hands before pressing a kiss to his lips. "Jonathan, we have to come to terms with the possibility that things won't get better. That…there might be no beating this."

"Please no," he was barely able to choke out., fighting back the sobs that wracked his chest. "We've only just found each other, we haven't had enough time."

"I know, I know, sweetie. And it's not fair that we don't get to have more time." Hot tears began to stream down your face as your thumbs traced his features, and it broke his heart realizing what you were doing. You were memorizing his face. "But this is the hand we were dealt. And it's a shitty hand but there's no changing it."

He placed his hands over yours, pressing a kiss to the inside of your wrist. "All I ask is that we don't make any plans to go to Switzerland before the year's up," he murmured against your skin. "I want all the time I can get with you. I don't want to lose you a moment sooner than I absolutely have to."

When you nodded, keeping your eyes glued to the floor, he pulled you into his arms, laying your head on his shoulders as your body began to shake with your suppressed sobs. "I'm sorry," you told him, your words muffled by his shirt. "I love you."

"And I love you." He gently lifted you back onto the couch, making sure to take the pamphlet far away from you. "We'll revisit this together if the time comes. Until then I'm keeping this far away from you." He placed the offensive piece of paper into his back pocket before grabbing his phone and his keys before crouching down in front of you again. "Now…what would my beautiful fiance want for me to bring her home tonight?"

You gave him a smile that couldn't reach those somber eyes, and that cracked away at his heart even more. Those eyes that used to be so full of life, so excited to face the day ahead and go on new adventures hand in hand with him…now that light barely flickered, just enough to show that there was still someone in there. But whether they were fighting or simply waiting was anyone's guess. "Surprise me," was all you said.

The first thing he did when he got to the hotel was make a beeline for the back office facilities and put the Dignitas pamphlet through the shredder. He didn't even want to know that it was still in one piece, let alone within your reach, for at least the next three months.

He'd gone through the next nine hours essentially on autopilot, coordinating anything that the hotel guests may need, delegating where needed, and brushing off any advances from those that were far too forward by flashing a prop wedding band around his left ring finger and informing them that he was "a happily married man". It was a half-truth, but one he had every intention of turning into your reality before you decided that your time together had reached its end.

Jonathan would marry you. He'd marry you tomorrow in the chapel down the block if you were up to it.

He only began to perk up once he'd changed out of his hotel suit and was on his way back to you, stopping by at the new coffeeshop that had just opened a few doors down. Maybe he could bring you home a nice little pastry. Or a sweet drink.

The barista gave him a bright smile as he walked in, the establishment only housing two other patrons, one that was sketching away on a pad, and the other that had their nose buried in a giant tome of a book. "Hi there! I'm Eva, what can I get started for you?"

"Oh erm…I'm not really all that adept when it comes to ordering these kinds of drinks, that's usually my partner. What would you recommend?"

"I see…how about this, then, Mister…?"

"Pine."

"Right then. Mr Pine…why don't you tell me about your partner and I'll make something that I think would suit both her and you?"

A pressure seemed to lift from his shoulders. This…this I can do. "For one, she loves books. Completely loses herself in a good story. She used to love spending the day outdoors just happily flipping away at the pages of her latest paperback or breezing through her Kindle."

"Used to?" the girl caught on quick. "What happened?"

His shoulders slumped again, the weight on them returning. "She got sick. And it spread faster than we could get a handle on it." His heart constricted in his chest as he found the words tumbling out without much difficulty. "She has three months."

Eva became misty eyed over his story, and seeing how it was tearing him apart to even talk about what was in your tragically near future. "I'm so sorry," she said softly before turning to face the bar, fixing together two drinks that seemed to have a generous helping of a milk and honey mixture. Then after she placed the drinks on the counter, she placed a rather delectable looking slice of apple pie in a box. "Best with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream," she said while she rung up his bill. "She'll get much better after a really good dessert."

Jonathan gave her a sad smile as he paid his bill, brushing off her comment about getting better. The sentiment was sweet, but sadly he knew better.

The chances that there would be a light at the end of this tunnel…were slim to none.

He found you sitting at the exact same spot where he left you when he walked through the doors of your home. You perked up a touch when you looked up at him, seeing the drinks and the bags in his hands. And then you sniffed the air. "Apple pie?"

He couldn't help but chuckle, placing a kiss to the tip of your nose before placing the box down, as well as a pint of vanilla ice cream next to it. "That nose of yours is truly a marvel."

You took your drink from him with both hands, taking another sniff. "Smells like honey. Expensive honey."

He nodded. "It looked like honey, but I didn't ask what it was." You tapped your cup to his before you both took a sip, the rich and creamy sweetness coating your tongues upon contact.

It had to have been a trick of the light, but he could have sworn you became a touch less pale after a few sips. Even more so when you took a bite of the apple pie with the ice cream, letting out a soft moan at the taste of the decadent buttery crust and the perfectly thick apple filling. "You really know how to spoil a girl, Mr Pine."

He reached over, swiping his thumb at the corner of your mouth as he gave you a bittersweet smile. "Anything for the future Mrs Pine."

You woke the next morning with a strange newfound strength. A kind that you hadn't felt since getting that curse of a diagnosis. Maybe even before then.

You tentatively stood up from the bed, shocked to your core to find that no part of you felt weak or straining. Rather your muscles simply just felt the way they did when you had spent far too long being sedentary, and they itched to be used again, wanting more than anything to go on a jog. Or perhaps show up to a dance class.

What had you even more shocked was discovering you could stretch without your insides threatening to make you double over in pain. You didn't just not feel weak, you felt strong. Brimming with energy that begged to be expended.

The sound of the shower had you deciding in no time just how you wanted to spend this newfound strength. You made quick, fumbling work to divest yourself of your sweats before joining your fiance in the shower.

"What are you up to, sweetheart?" You could practically hear how he smirked as he asked you.

Instead of answering him, you stepped closer behind him, taking a prolonged moment to appreciate how the hot water droplets traveled down his perfectly sculpted back muscles. You wrapped your arms around his midsection, your hands roaming the well-cut defined lines of his abdomen before traveling up to roam his chest.

"You're playing quite the dangerous game, my love," he rasped, placing his hands over yours. His muscles shivered, a shaky breath escaping him at your touch. When you pressed your lips to his back, softly humming against his skin, that seemed to break him, your fiance letting out a guttural groan before turning to face you. "My sweet Y/N, if you keep this up I may not be able to control myself."

You threw your arms around his neck, his hand instinctively splaying over your back as you rose to your tiptoes to pull him into an impassioned kiss. "I woke up today feeling good. Really good. Best I've felt in a while," you told him, moaning into his mouth when he pulled you even closer before kissing you again, his hand moving lower to grasp your thigh before hooking your leg over his hip. "And all I can think of right now is how to feel…even better."

Your hand moved down, softly caressing his chest and abdominal muscles again before moving even lower, your fingers tentatively wrapping around his hardening length. There was a thrill that shot through you, seeing how your touch affected him, his eyes fluttering closed as pleasure washed over him. He moaned your name, moving to press you against the wall. "Hold on to me, sweetheart."

You bit your lip as you followed his instructions, holding on to his water-slickened shoulders while he adjusted his hold on you. He lined your hips together before reaching between you and positioned the tip of his length at your entrance, his shuddering exhale warming your face as he moved it up and down your slick folds.

"If you start feeling faint, you need to tell me right away, am I clear, Y/N?" You managed to nod before you threw your head back, arching into him when he started to enter you in shallow thrusts, each taking him in deeper and deeper. Once he bottomed out he buried his face in the crook of your neck, letting out an obscene moan. "Fuck, sweetheart you feel divine." He kissed along your collarbone, nipping and sucking a bruise onto the base of your throat. "It's been too long, my love, I don't think--"

You knew exactly what he meant. "I know, I know--Oh f-fuck!" Your joint moans filled the bathroom as his fingers found your clit and started rubbing in tight circles. It was like your entire body came alive like a live wire as your orgasm washed over you, your walls clenching and milking his cock as he filled you with his release.

His thrusts slowed, and he pressed his forehead to your temple, kissing your cheek. "I love you so much."

It warmed your heart how gently he handled you afterwards, finishing up your now joint shower and wrapping a towel around you before stepping out of the bathroom hand in hand.

Once he was dressed for work he pulled you into his arms one more time, kissing your temple before whispering in your ear, "That was an incredible start to the day, sweetheart. I'll see you tonight."

Jonathan couldn't seem to wipe off the smile that spread across his face through the first hours of his shift, his mind constantly drifting back to his time in the shower with you. To say that it caught him by surprise would be an understatement, but the surprise was more than welcome. The last few months, you could barely stand up and walk to the other side of the apartment without getting winded. And as far as he was concerned, the newfound strength was the best sign he could ask for that maybe things were finally taking a turn for the better.

Even the sight of the hotel guests that were starkly different from what he had grown accustomed to didn't seem to faze him. He gave the creatures with the near translucent wings, the vibrantly colored skin, and pointed ears the same bright smile, looking them in the eye which seemed to brighten their days as well.

Most humans still couldn't seem to adjust to the new reality of living with creatures they'd only read about in books, but ever since a battle took place someplace in Northern Europe, certain barriers between worlds had been taken down and hoards of mystical creatures now roamed the Earth freely. Some had even begun to put up establishments of their own, the last time he checked the news on their acclimation.

So when a woman with lilac skin and pink freckles approached his desk, he initially thought nothing of it and proceeded with his usual script of welcoming them to the hotel. "I'm not here for a room, Mr. Pine. I'm here to speak with you," she spoke with a frantic tone. "My name is Astraea, I own the coffee shop you went to last night. I believe my employee Eva worked on your order?"

"Ah yes, I remember. I was going to drop by after my shift to thank you all, it seems whatever drink Eva made for us put my fiance in a much better state this morning." Once again he couldn't fight back the smile; it didn't take much for his mind to wander back to the shower.

"That's actually what I came to speak with you about," the coffeeshop owner told him in a near apologetic tone. "You see, Eva thinks herself something of a problem solver, so when someone walks into the cafe with teary eyes talking about how he's about to lose the love of his life, she just…can't help herself."

"I'm sorry I'm not quite sure I follow--"

"Your drinks, yours and your fiance's, contained ambrosia, Mr. Pine. And while its short term effects will very much work to your favor, it's your life in the long term that I came here to discuss with you. The drink not only cured your wife of her illness, but it granted both her and yourself a prolonged lifespan."

Jonathan couldn't find it in him to focus on most of what she was saying. All he heard was cured. "She's not sick anymore?" Just saying the words nearly brought him to his knees, he had to hold on to the hard surface of the front desk to keep himself upright.

"Well, yes. Both you and her are now immune to any earthly sickness, but it's the other part that I've come here to discuss with and apologize for. The drink has prolonged your lifespan by an…indefinite amount. Possibly centuries…at the least. We don't know yet how this drink is to affect someone with a mortal composition. Mr. Pine I sincerely apologize for my employee's rashness--"

"There's no need," he cut her off, raising his hand in front of him. "You've done nothing but give me the best possible news I could ever ask for. The woman I love is healed, and I get to quite possibly spend centuries with her." He held his hand out to shake, and he cafe owner seemed relieved with his reaction. "Thank you. Please send my regards to Eva as well."

It wasn't long after Astraea left the hotel that a new worry began to take root within Jonathan. How would you react to this turn of events? Of course, he was certain that you would be ecstatic over the news that the days of hospital visits and experimental treatments were over, but it was the latter half of this new reality that he was unsure of your reaction to.

The vision that greeted him when he opened the doors to your home had his heart soaring. Soft music was playing and you'd just emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream in hand. You were wearing a cotton dress instead of the sweats that had become a bit of a staple over the last few months.

And God you were radiant, the spark in your eyes that once lit up the entire room had returned full force. You looked over to him standing at the door, a wide grin stretching across your face and reaching your eyes as you put the bowl down on the coffee table and walked over to him. "Welcome home."

He wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you to him so he could capture your lips in a tender kiss. You sighed contentedly, pressing your body against him as his lips moved with yours, a muffled squeal escaping you when he lifted you with a single arm and carried you across the living room, sitting you down on the couch. "I need to talk to you about something, Y/N."

"Uh-oh," you blurted out. "No good conversation ever started with that." You turned your attention to the flowers in his hand. "Jonathan, what's wrong?"

He took your hand in his, kissing your knuckles before pressing a much longer kiss on your engagement ring. "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. Well…hopefully after this conversation that will still be the case but if it isn't then I'm sure we'll find a way--"

"What happened?" Your question cut him off. "Did my doctor go to see you? Ohh God it's bad, isn't it? That explains the flowers and the--"

"Y/N, slow down." He placed the small bouquet down so he could frame your face, the rest of your words muffled by his kiss. "It's nothing bad, I promise you that much. It's just…" He let out a sigh, resigning himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to explain this without looking like he grew a second head. "You know those reports we've been seeing on TV? With the barriers between worlds coming down and all these new kinds of people settling down and setting up shop around us?"

You nodded your answer and listened as he recounted his conversation with the coffeeshop owner Astraea. About how the drink he brought home last night might have just brought about the miracle you'd been hoping for for the last year of your life.

"Are…are you telling me I'm not sick anymore?" the words came out of you in a heavy exhale, as if they tasted foreign on your tongue. "No more doctors, no more needles, no more ingesting God knows what in the name of an experimental drug for a trial headed by a doctor with a dream?"

This time all he could do was nod, tears in his eyes as he pulled you into his arms and lifted you up, your feet dangling inches off the floor. "No more, sweetheart. It's over, the nightmare's over."

"What did she put in that drink anyway?"

He took another breath before answering you. "Ambrosia."

Jonathan could practically see the wheels turning in your head, recalling the countless books you've read and your knowledge of mythology pieced together from both textbooks and novels. "The Olympians consumed that for immortality…" You looked up at him with panicked, and yet curious, eyes. "What happens to us?"

"I don't have the answer to that, my love," he said truthfully. "Astraea's best guess is that it prolonged our lifespans by a few centuries…at the least. I'm so sorry if I knew--"

"Hang on." You placed a finger over his lips, putting a stop to the rest of his apology. "What're you sorry for? I told you way before this nightmare began that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Jonathan Pine. And last night, I thought that that was just three months." Tears welled in your eyes as a face-splitting grin lit up your face. "Now you're telling me that that's…more. So much more. You have nothing to apologize for."

You grasped the collar of his shirt and pulled him to you for a kiss that he more than happily returned, his hands grabbing the backs of your thighs to lift you up again and back you up against the nearest wall. When he pulled away all the worry had gone from his face, replaced by a darkened, lustful gaze. He shifted his hold on you, a sinful groan slipping from his lips when your hips aligned and your core brushed against his hardening length over your layers of clothing.

"Ohh…" you sighed, your eyes fluttering closed as he rolled his hips again. And again. "Oh fuck, sweetie, what are you doing to me?"

"We get to spend the rest of our lives together," he said simply, carrying you into the bedroom and setting you down on the bed. "And I know exactly what we should do first." He rid you of your panties, throwing the little scrap of fabric haphazardly behind him somewhere, before running his hands up your thighs, inching the skirt of your dress upwards as he sank to his knees. "It's been too long since I've tasted you, my love."

Three months later

You walked through the doors of the Langham, taking a moment to pause in the opulence of the lobby before making your way further into the hotel to seek out the front desk. There was an extravagant bouquet on display right as you entered with vibrant colors. The lighting made them look almost like jewels.

It took you a minute, but you eventually found the front desk through the throng of people, mortal and mystical alike, that filled the lobby. The manager seemed to be fending off the attentions of one of the guests, her tits practically spilling out of her two sizes too small bathing suit.

"It seems you've had a bit too much to drink, Mrs Davies. Perhaps it would be best for security to bring you up to your room."

The woman pouted as a six-foot-seven security personnel began to escort her towards the elevator. Meanwhile the manager locked eyes with you, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, making him even more devilishly handsome if that was even possible, as his eyes greedily roamed your figure. Suddenly you were even more appreciative of the way you'd begun to fill your clothes again the last few months.

"May I help you, madam?"

You flashed him your brightest smile, fighting back a blush as he held your gaze. "Yes, I'd like a room for the night."

He didn't type anything down into the system. Instead he just grabbed a keycard from inside a drawer and made his way around the front desk, jerking his head towards the elevator. "Very well, then. Follow me." He led you to a private elevator to the top floor before walking down a long hall that only contained a handful of doors. "I hope this…will be to your liking," he said, his voice taking on a huskier tone as his breath hitched when you brushed past him as you walked through the doors.

Everything about the suite exuded luxury…with a touch of sensuality. There was a large heart-shaped box of truffles situated on the coffee table, a soft piano melody filled the space, and a trail of rose petals led to the open door of the bedroom, where even more rose petals laid atop the sheets in the shape of a heart.

"A honeymoon suite…" you said slowly, your breath hitching when you felt Jonathan's hands on your waist, his breath warming your neck. "You really know how to spoil a girl, Mr. Pine."

You let out a squeal as he turned you to face him, your faces now mere inches apart. "Only the best for you, Mrs. Pine."

A/N: Okay, so I stitched together two requests back when I was planning out the stories for the 500 follower celebration, but I can't for the life of me find the first request that covered the bit about Reader being sick 🙃 Anyways, I'm so happy to finish this one and cross out another request! Now I'm off to jump straight into the next, which is a fluffy lil comfort piece with our favorite god 🥹👀

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[butterflydm]

Wheel of Time 3x06 Deep Dive (show spoilers)

Spoilers through 3x06 of the show -- show spoilers only.

Liandrin's cold open; 95 years ago, so now we know how old Aludran was when he died. He did look pretty old.

I am torn. I honestly do feel like (given how limited our time is during a season) that some of this Liandrin backstory expansion could have been cut to give time to other characters and plotlines. I like that we got some of this but I'm not sure we needed all of it.

Of the various Liandrin backstory expansions, this cold open does seem like one of the most useful, as it shows us Ishamael's recruiting process and we get to see young Liandrin being so vulnerable, and reminding us of how dangerous deals in dreams can be, and showing us the statue of the Shackled Man.

And it is telling to see how young she was when Ishamael found her, especially since we've had some conversations about how unbreakable the Dark Oaths are -- so Ishy gets them young and then traps them in it for life.

Moghedien (3x01): "You know what happens if we break our Dark Oaths, right?" ... "We lose our souls. A true death."

Now... is it true that a darkfriend who breaks their oaths loses their soul? We don't actually know. It might be a lie, told either by the Forsaken to the more minor darkfriends, or told by the Dark One to the Forsaken.

Lanfear implies that it would take the destruction of the Dark One in order for her to be able to break her own Dark Oaths, but I am relatively sure that entire conversation with Rand was her manipulating him, so I don't trust anything she was saying there.

Ishy is so comforting in this scene with Liandrin. Ishamael coming across as thoughtful and gentle is exactly what makes him so dangerous and what made him so good at recruiting for the Dark One -- he sympathizes with your troubles and offers you a hand out of "the dirt you were born in", as Dana put it. And the price-tag doesn't show up until later, after he's had a chance to walk with you into the darkness. And so Ishamael takes Liandrin's very understandable pain and rage and he channels it into a weapon that he can use.

Another benefit of this cold open is us seeing Liandrin spontaneously channel, and fairly powerfully, because it backs up us seeing the strength of Mat's sisters and their instinctive ability to heal Alanna later in this episode. We have seen that when people are originally sparking, they will sometimes have these spurts of strong bits of channeling that doesn't need to be carefully trained into a weave but comes out more instinctively -- Rand breaking down the door to escape Dana, Rand protecting Egwene & Co in the Ways, Nynaeve's story about Egwene 'getting better' from the fever that should have killed her (after Nynaeve sat with her all night) seems like another example (and is confirmed as one in the books).

Strong channelers often have these early instinctive bursts of the ability, and how it comes out is based on what they need. Liandrin needed to escape a dangerous situation, so she gave herself a weapon, without needing to think about the details of creating the weapon.

So this cold open in particular is doing a lot of work in a relatively short amount of time, so this isn't what I would have cut from Liandrin's screentime (if I were the one making the choices). It probably would have been something in 3x03, because I think that Egwene needed something more in that episode. I'll talk about it when we get to Egwene.

It also leads directly into Liandrin's scene with Lanfear, where we learn a lot about both of them and where they're at -- Liandrin misses the White Tower (I mean, she did go back to the place she probably hates the most in the world) and her ambitions in the Tower.

We learn that Lanfear has lost control of Liandrin and her cabal. Maybe because she's been too focused on Rand & Egwene. She doesn't know why Liandrin is in Tanchico -- now, before we got all this Shackled Man backstory and etc. in Tanchico, I did assume that Lanfear was behind the plan with Rand. It makes Liandrin more interesting that it's something that she came up with on her own, and it shows us that Lanfear's manipulation has failed already when it comes to Liandrin -- in retrospect, Lanfear did kill the only man that Liandrin ever cared about and then expected Liandrin's loyalty afterwards.

Miscalculations due to her 'casual cruelty' slipping out and ruining her plans -- Lanfear's mistakes with Liandrin echo the mistake that she's been making with Egwene and Rand.

"I stayed in the Tower as long as I could," is a very interesting line from Liandrin, because it puts a different on her "I tried" from 3x01. It was Lanfear who wanted Liandrin to stay put in the White Tower, and the cold open was actually Lanfear's plan failing as Team Light made a move that made it impossible for the Black Ajah to stay as hidden as they'd always been when Ishy was in charge.

So what 3x06 is revealing to us are all the ways that Lanfear has ruined her own plans -- first, by believing that she'd successfully snagged Liandrin from Ishamael by 'mercy-killing' Aludran in s2. Ishamael, presumably, protected Liandrin and her son until they could get to a place of safety in Tar Valon, so that Liandrin could become an Aes Sedai. I'm assuming he did this via getting other darkfriends to help her along the way, through talking to them in their dreams. He invested in Liandrin because he could tell she was powerful and that she was vulnerable to his pitch.

Liandrin could have tried harder not to blow her own cover in the White Tower. She wanted that fight. She wanted to leave (so that she could do the appropriate funeral rites for her son). She was not content to obey Lanfear. After working for Ishamael for 95 years, it takes her roughly a month to break free from Lanfear's orders.

(this also implies to me that Liandrin was probably acting outside of Lanfear's orders when she tried to have Moiraine killed in s2, as Lanfear has found Moiraine to be a very useful ally/tool, and probably saw her as more valuable as leverage against Rand than if she were dead)

Lanfear says to Liandrin - "[You] miss feeling like you're important?"

We learn later in the episode that Liandrin's plans here are about making herself one of the new Chosen (again, I have to wonder if this is a bug that Ishy planted in her ear, because Dana also talked up the idea that being the one to deliver the Dragon to the Dark One would lead to her being raised up above everyone else), so she definitely does want to feel important, though Lanfear doesn't catch on to how Liandrin plans to do that.

"Are you working for him? ... Rahvin?"

Lanfear leaps to the assumption that Liandrin must be working for another one of the Chosen now that Ishamael is dead. We see a lot of Lanfear guessing incorrectly about people's plans and motivations in this episode.

"All of us were loyal to Ishamael. But he's dead now, I hear." Because Ishy invested the time into building up relationships with each one of the BA sisters, I bet. From what we saw, Ishy didn't issue threats -- he solved problems and he made promises. And now Ishamael is dead, and while Lanfear might assume that loyalty should automatically transfer over either to herself or another one of the Chosen, Liandrin makes it clear during her actions over the rest of the episode that her loyalty is now only to herself (just like the Forsaken are all only loyal to themselves!). It was Ishamael who was holding everyone tightly together and, without Ishy, everyone has fallen into selfishness and chaos. Instead of one vision of how to be a darkfriend, we have a fractured multitude of visions.

(I'm thinking of how Jaichaim protested to Moghedien in 3x01 that he had been loyal and hadn't broken his oaths -- I suspect that's the truth; it's just that he was still trying to follow Ishamael's game plan, which is not Moghedien's)

So all this scene does is give Liandrin suspicions that some of her colleagues might not be loyal to her, which leads directly to Nyomi's death. "My cabal is loyal to me, and I am loyal to you," except that Liandrin is not loyal to Lanfear, and Lanfear's threats don't scare her the way that Lanfear believes that they do. They do motivate her and give her a deadline on rooting out her potential spy.

We get a quick glimpse of servant!Moggy, spitting into the cabal's food before she delivers it.

When Liandrin is awake, we can see that the first person she casts a suspicious glance at is Nyomi, and then towards Jeaine. She reveals to them all that she knows more about what they're searching for -- that she's connected the dots of the old Tanchico folktale about the Shackled Man with the way that the Seanchan a'dam works, and that the rest of the pieces that they need to capture the Dragon are almost certainly somewhere here in Tanchico. And she couches it as "something the Chosen would prefer you didn't see".

I'm also guessing that Moghedien placed a subtle Compulsion on the group so that they wouldn't note that a servant is being awfully nosy about listening in on their conversation.

So... one part of three: one bracer in Liandrin & co's possession (but Moghedien could claim it whenever), one bracer found via Mat (but now in Moghedien's possession), and the collar (which we discover later in the episode is in the Panarch's Palace).

"I need the collar and the second bracelet tomorrow, or our master will be displeased." So... has Liandrin not told any of the rest of the Black Ajah that Ishamael is dead? Or is she alluding to the Dark One here? If she is talking about Ishy, then this might have been bait to see if any of the other sisters gave away that they know he's dead and that they're talking to another one of the Chosen.

And, once again, it's Nyomi that she looks over to after she says this. Liandrin has already decided who she thinks the spy is.

As Nynaeve and Elayne get dressed for their investigations, we learn that Elayne knows who all the Black Ajah Sisters are, but Nynaeve doesn't think any of them are important except Liandrin. Another bit of emphasis on the relationship between Liandrin and Nynaeve, which I definitely feel like will be coming into play in 3x08.

Elayne has prepped so hard for her undercover investigation, I'm so proud of her. <3

It is hilarious how Mat snags the "I'm highly-priced" veil away from Nynaeve so that he can wear it himself. Oh, Mat. We actually see the process of him taking it away, then playing with it throughout the rest of the scene, before emerging wearing it.

It is a very fun scene, especially since it sets up some neat reversals -- Mat does talk to people, Min does use her visions, but Elayne and Nynaeve are anything but subtle.

For the record -- Mat's veil is the biggest, then Elayne's, then Min's, and finally Nynaeve's.

We shift over to Egwene's situation now -- instead of going to Rand and talking to him about what she saw in the dream and telling him that she's being stalked by one of the Forsaken, she went to the Wise Ones for more lessons. This was the first point in the episode where I got frustrated, because the way the promo was cut made me expect/hope that we would be getting the Randgwene confrontation right off the bat, so that we could move forward past their break-up, but instead the show edged me with it until the end of the episode, which was very frustrating for me. I just... I honestly think that choosing to drag out the Randgwene break-up only damaged Rand's character in viewers' eyes and we didn't get much of value out of it, so I wish they'd just cut the cord early on in the season. Maybe we'll get something in 3x08 that will make the prolonged Randgwene feel like the only choice they could have made but right now... I wish they'd broken up in 3x01.

In technical terms, Egwene only holds back from talking to Rand for a single day, but in narrative terms, it felt like forever (plus it meant that she heard Lanfear's side of the story before she heard Rand's, which did not help matters).

The Wise Ones seem... frustrated by Egwene, but agree that her situation is dangerous enough that they will continue to teach her, despite her revealing that she's been lying to them, and they tell her that though she likely can't defeat Lanfear in TAR proper, she is the one who has the power in her own dreams.

From one dream to another -- after checking in on Liandrin, Lanfear goes to check in on Moiraine (who is curled up like a little spoon missing her big spoon, so I can guess how her dream with Siuan potentially ended).

Given that the rest of Lanfear's plans are failing in this episode due to her own missteps, I feel like Moiraine's apparent submission to her must be a plan-within-a-plan, some narrow way that she is trying to walk due to what she saw in her visions in the rings. I can't figure out precisely what it might be.

I suppose Moiraine's plan will come to light in 3x08. It definitely involves the sa'angreal but, yeah... idk. Sneaky sucker-punch of some kind, because Lanfear won't expect it of her?

I do wish that Moiraine's time in Rhuidean had led to her being honest with Rand about her deal with Lanfear, but maybe she saw that revealing it would be a disaster. Still, it makes me sad that the one thing that Rand most wishes he could get from Moiraine is the one thing that it feels like she's unwilling or unable to give. He wants to trust her so much and she's hiding so much from him!

But Moiraine's behavior is firmly rooted in what we know about her as a person, and the places she grew up, and the twenty years she spent on the road. Moiraine keeps secrets and keeps her own council. It's what she does.

Half-truths and lies of omission... Moiraine has used them her whole life. She spent twenty years only able to trust two people, and even those two people she cut out of the information loop in s2 when she was worried that her non-channeling state might make them try to take her mission away from her. Not telling people things is Moiraine's default way of life.

Given that we learn later this episode how wildly Lanfear was misreading Liandrin, I will take that same approach to her scene with Moiraine -- is she reading Moiraine correctly?

Because, on rewatch (and I noticed this in a gifset that I saw last night), Moiraine doesn't look scared to me, like Lanfear says. She looks angry (and yeah, there's some fear in there, but I think there's more anger, a fury that is being tightly suppressed so that Lanfear doesn't catch on).

"You've been hiding from me. You're afraid of me now." This is Lanfear's deduction of Moiraine's emotional state but... yeah, look at Moiraine's face. Girlfriend is angry. Lanfear is making an assumption based on Moiraine's behavior. It also sounds like Moiraine may have been keeping herself awake with the One Power since Rhuidean, until she went to Egwene last episode and asked for a dreamwalking session.

Much like Rand keeps not answering Lanfear's questions, Moiraine avoids answering them as well. Lanfear demands to know what Moiraine saw in Rhuidean and Moiraine responds with a question.

It sounds like Lanfear has been harassing Moiraine in her dreams, much like she's been harassing Rand & Egwene -- Moiraine was 'supposed' to keep Egwene away from Rand, but Moiraine says that trying to force Egwene away will only make her cling more tightly out of stubbornness (we had so much this season of other people saying what Egwene was doing while Egwene maintained that she was doing something else, and I don't think we got enough hints that the other people were the correct ones and Egwene was in denial all season -- I think she came across as being sincere for the most part, which is going to influence people when it comes to the big Randgwene blow-out later this episode).

So Lanfear gives her warning to Moiraine about a "surprise" for Rand, and Moiraine does not warn Rand about it, as requested by Lanfear. Moiraine looks very frustrated at the end of this scene.

"I was looking for Egwene" - something else that I feel like was potentially easily missed is that Rand tries to find and talk to Egwene this episode but they are kept separated because Egwene is spending time with the Wise Ones instead. Rand knows that he needs to talk to Egwene after what happened last night, even without knowing that Egwene already found out about Lanfear, and then he's kept from doing it by other people.

But we do get this adorable scene with Rand and Alsera, where we see Rand genuinely engaging with Aiel culture and the Aiel people, and we see that Aviendha is continuing to warm up to him, despite her own desire to keep being annoyed at him. Her assumptions about Rand -- that he doesn't care about the Aiel people or culture -- keep being upended by his behavior.

Obviously, it's building up to Alsera's death at the end of the episode, but it does so much more as well, in terms of embedding Rand more deeply with the Aiel, and giving Aviendha more reason to soften towards him.

"She's studying with the Wise Ones, learning about our people, as you should be," is something of a fascinating assumption from Aviendha, because that has absolutely not been the actual content of the Egwene & Wise Ones scenes. But Aviendha is definitely NOT a neutral observer and there's no sign that she knows what the Wise Ones are teaching Egwene, so she's just going off her assumptions about why the Wise Ones would have taken Egwene under their wings. But this also ties into Rand's assumptions about what Egwene has been doing when we get to the end of the episode -- for Rand, Egwene's time with the Wise Ones is being framed as a learning experience that Egwene is choosing to undertake, not as something that she's doing specifically to fight off someone real and alive in her dreams who is hurting her. If Egwene had mentioned that to Rand, then he might have been able to deduce that she was being hunted by one of the Forsaken aka Lanfear.

So, yeah, it's lack of communication that killed Randgwene, but I feel like the way it was contextualized in the season really put the weight/blame of that lack of communication on Rand, as opposed to on both of them, because the viewers know that Egwene is doing this for life and death reasons, not just because she wants to learn from the Wise Ones.

Rand incurs toh to Alsera here, and is not able to meet it before he accidentally causes her death at the end of the episode. Will we see Rand trying to meet his toh to Alsera in 3x08?

We also see Rand taking Alsera's upset at him seriously in this scene (when he accidentally does something that dishonors her in the eyes of Aiel culture), which is something that impresses Aviendha. He doesn't brush Alsera off or make any excuses, he just tells her that he has toh towards her and agrees to meet it the way that she requests.

Catching up on Perrin and Faile after what happened to them last episode! Perrin is hurt real bad and Faile is worried and concerned over him. Their relationship is a very sweet thread throughout this episode. We see that Bain & Chiad made it back safely, and learn that Alanna is also very hurt and we see Maksim fretting over her sickbed. I really liked them in this episode too.

"My father... he always said a leader can either take care of the living or weep for the dead. Not both."

And us getting into Faile's background and the way that she was raised was also very smooth and well-done by the show. It felt like her naturally wanting to share with Perrin, not like exposition.

We get the reveal here that Padan Fain is leading Trollocs and darkfriends into the Two Rivers, and we'll see him at the end in a bloody Whitecloak uniform, so I feel like the implication is that he and his followers killed off the Whitecloak reinforcements and stole their shit. And a whole army of Trollocs & darkfriends arrives at the end of the episode through the Ways. No sign of the dagger -- I do wonder if we'll get a single line at some point saying that it got punted off the side of the boat on the way to Tar Valon. We know the show still has the prop, because evil!Mat was wearing it during Moiraine's vision that all the kids had become the new Forsaken.

Undercover in Tanchico time! We can see how well Elayne's prep work has paid off! Technically, Elayne gets absolutely zero information out of all the chatting with men that she does here (it's Mat and his ta'veren pull on the threads of the Pattern -- which Thom mentions later when he shows up -- that ends up netting them the second bracelet) but I'm so proud of how into her undercover work that she is. <3

We don't see Mat playing any card games, but he is ~shopping~ and planting the seeds that he wants a pretty collar necklace for himself, and we see that one gentleman in particular is very taken with him, which pays off when that same fellow gives the second bracer to Mat later in the episode. Mat seems perfectly willing to do a little light flirtatious bargaining here, which is fun to see.

Then Mat hears Thom's voice and goes chasing after him! Again, I would call this a reflection of Mat being ta'veren -- he's pulling on Thom's thread, and Thom will probably end up being useful in some way in 3x08, I would expect.

I like how this kinda reflects the Cauthor reunion that we got back in 2x06 -- hearing the voice of someone that you'd thought you'd never see again. Haha, Thom's reaction isn't exactly as overwhelmed with tearful happiness as Mat and Rand were at seeing each other, but it's a fun reunion.

But from Thom's perspective, it must be so wild! He gets away from the Fade, and then basically goes as far away from where he met those boys as he possibly can, and runs into one of them again!

Aww, but I love how Thom is all "I don't want to be involved" but obviously still cares (that hand on Mat's neck) and ends up being very easily talked into coming back to the hall to hang out with Mat and hear the story.

We shift over to Min and Nynaeve, and those two had a fun little bonding session in this episode, with Min trying to get Nynaeve to trust her and to loosen up a bit, and succeeding in both. We also get Min lying about her visions as a way to get information out of someone, and later on Nynaeve accidentally using being ta'veren as a way to just happen to mention Liandrin in front of someone who recognizes the name.

I'm interested in where the show is going with the Min-Nynaeve bonding -- will it end up mostly being about the two of them potentially working together to help Mat in 3x08? Or does it have another purpose? I have some thoughts about it that I will expand on in my other post.

We get a closer look at Moghedien's behavior, which is definitely effective in filling out her characterization, as we learn that spitting into the cabal's food is the least of what she's been doing.

Egwene has spent all day with the Wise Ones, trying to teach herself how to force people out of her dreams. We saw her with the Wise Ones early in the morning (when Rand was looking for her), and now it's implied to be nighttime (Liandrin with the candles in the previous scene) and she's still with the Wise Ones.

After practicing all day, Egwene is finally able to push the Wise Ones out... only to get snagged by Lanfear (I'm guessing Lanfear just went to sleep for the night and noticed Egwene's dreams pop up in her alert window. Girl, please get a hobby that isn't centered around stalking your ex-boyfriend from three thousand years ago).

And it was at this point (Lanfear snatching Egwene into a nightmare), that I said out loud during my original viewing, "Wow, Egwene will do literally anything to avoid having a real conversation with Rand." Luckily, even Egwene, master avoider of uncomfortable conversations, realizes by the end of the episode that she needs to actually have a conversation with Rand. Probably would have gone better if she'd talked to him before letting Lanfear poison her mind with lies! But, you know, we take what we can get when it comes to Egwene and Rand and their terrible communication skills with each other.

Anyway, to the actual scene -- Lanfear fucks up so much in this scene. She does manage to plant seeds of poison into Egwene's mind about Rand potentially having already known about the nightly tortures but she really misjudged Egwene's character, because Egwene believing this about Rand means that she's willing to override her "cannot have awkward conversations with Rand" factory setting and instead leap into confrontation mode (because now she's worried that the corruption has taken him), which means that Lanfear's house of cards is able to tumble down (of course, Lanfear's real mistake was letting Egwene see her face in 3x05 -- we know that Lanfear can do fake faces in TAR. She could have made it so that Egwene thought Ishamael or Moghedien or anyone else was torturing her. But she wants to twist the knife, and so her own pettiness just lost her the campaign that she's been waging since Ishamael first released her in s2).

Lanfear confirms a bunch of things for Egwene -- firstly, that Lanfear is very aware of who she is. We get some signature Creepy Face Touching from one of the Forsaken. Lanfear mixes lies with the truth -- yes, Rand is aware that she's one of the Forsaken (though the implication that Lanfear gives is that he's been aware the entire time, which is definitely not true); yes, Rand is aware that Lanfear has been tormenting Egwene and doesn't care (this was a big mistake of a lie on Lanfear's part, because Egwene does know Rand well enough to know that he would never approve of that if he were in his right mind, so if he does know about Lanfear's torments of Egwene, it means he's gone mad and that she needs to confront him, so this lie may be what triggered Egwene to finally decide she needed to talk to Rand instead of trying to handle it all herself).

"Oh, he knows everything."

The funny thing is that... Lanfear should know better, you would think. Except she doesn't. Lews Therin saw the darkness that she'd been hiding from him and ran the fuck away and married someone else. But she has convinced herself that she can successfully get her do-over LTT to care about her so much that he doesn't care if she hurts the people he loves but, much like Ishamael said about Rand last season, "He's not ready. He won't choose us."

Lanfear has been able to do a lot to manipulate Rand this season but the final piece -- the thing that actually worked to get him to kiss her -- wasn't her manipulations at all (though they primed him for it) but him seeing Mierin in the columns of Rhuidean. Everything else, he could tell himself was a lie or a manipulation from Lanfear. But seeing Mierin made Rand hope that maybe Selene hadn't been a lie after all. Weeks of Lanfear working on him wasn't able to get him there. It was that moment of honesty that she had no control over that did it.

If she'd done things in a less petty way this season -- no torture of Egwene, for example, and no attack in 3x01 -- Lanfear might have gotten everything that she wanted. With Egwene's PTSD not being tripped every night, maybe she would have been more willing to talk to Rand about their relationship, and they would have broken things off naturally early in s3. Then, when Rand saw Mierin in Rhuidean, and kissed Lanfear in 3x05, there would be no big lie that she was hiding from him about how she was torturing Egwene in her sleep.

But that's not her. She's not that girl.

This is who Lanfear is -- petty and cruel.

That's why Lews Therin stopped loving her. We already know that from what Selene told Rand back in s2. It was because he caught a glimpse of who she really was and went, "um, no thanks, bye!"

And now Rand also has the chance to see who she really is, what's been hiding underneath the Soft Selene Illusion that she's been showing him all season. And it isn't pretty.

But even now, Egwene wants to get back to work on learning to consistently kick the Wise Ones out of her dreams before she goes to talk to Rand. I think I sighed in frustration here, in my original viewing, because all she's doing is letting her feelings and the lies that Lanfear told her stew in her brain.

Rand hasn't been able to talk to Egwene all day (they haven't talked since Rhuidean, Rand said in the last episode) and we learn here that Moiraine has also been avoiding him since Rhuidean (which we saw happening in the previous episode).

Moiraine and Rand's conversation... I wish she could be honest with him. It is so clear that Rand wants to connect with Moiraine here, and she is all vague one-word answers. They do manage to connect here to a certain extent, despite Moiraine being as transparent as a brick wall -- she tells Rand that she's been listening (instead of issuing orders), which makes him smile.

But whatever she saw in the rings, she doesn't want to share too much of it with anyone. Even Lan only got a small fraction of her fear and worry.

I do think Moiraine's "Sometimes" in response to Rand asking if he kills Egwene probably informs some of Rand's behavior in the break-up scene with Egwene later. Much as it frustrates me that I feel like the show set up Rand to look like "the bad guy" in the break-up, I don't think that Rand (the character) cares about being seen as "the bad guy" in the break-up and is much more invested in Egwene wanting to stop protecting him so that there's less of a chance that he'll kill her if he goes mad. If she hates him, that's fine. He can live with that more than if he killed her, or if she got killed because of her proximity to him.

Once again, it is Rand who reaches out to connect with Moiraine -- he tells her that he knows she has the Sakarnen (which I can only spell right because of the caption on the screen, lol). Which tells us several important things!

As much as he is coming to hope that Lanfear really does still have Selene | Mierin in her, he didn't tell her about Moiraine having the Sakarnen. He knew that Moiraine has this object that Lanfear desperately wants, but he didn't tell her about it.

He doesn't try to get the Sakarnen away from Moiraine. He doesn't want Moiraine to force his choices, but he's not going to try to force hers either. And he actually does know that it was placed into the tree for the Aes Sedai to reclaim later, so he might even feel that it's Moiraine's by rights, if she wants it. He may see her as Latra's rightful successor, much as his journey through the rings also transformed his view of Mierin | Lanfear.

Moiraine only asks Rand for help on using the Sakarnen after he's revealed that he already knows about it. She wasn't going to tell him.

She also doesn't tell him about the deals that she made with Lanfear. To stand aside while Lanfear allows him and the people that he cares about to be attacked. That she made that deal partly because she agreed with Lanfear's goals and motives -- isolate the Dragon Reborn from the people he cares about, and push him towards embracing his destiny and his power.

I really do worry about Rand finding out about that deal from Lanfear, and that potentially having a negative effect on events, but given how understanding Rand is about Moiraine's closed-mouthed nature here vs how he felt about it before Rhuidean... maybe it won't be so bad if he does find out from Lanfear. Is that one of the thousand-thousand futures that Moiraine saw?

We get a foreshadowing of Rand's power (and his lack of control over it) during this scene. Rand's issue isn't struggling to find the One Power or even in fearing it the way that Nynaeve fears hers, it's in resisting the urge to use it all the time and in trying to turn it off again once he's allowed it in.

But I do like that we do see Moiraine asking Rand's advice here, even if he basically had to set up the easiest goal in the world for her to be willing to go for it. And it's a good moment between them. But, yeah. I wish that Moiraine was more willing to be open with Rand. I will probably always feel that way.

I find Rand's perspective here really interesting -- that, in essence, the One Power has some base similarities and it doesn't matter if you're accessing saidin (the male half) or saidar (the female half).

"If the Aiel and the Forsaken have taught me anything, it's that the Aes Sedai don't know everything about it."

I am really curious if this is a change to how the One Power works on a fundamental level, or if Rand is mistaken here in what he believes. I saw some speculation that it may be a matter of power levels -- that once you reach a certain level of power, then you can't submit, regardless of if it's saidin or saidar, and that we may see that at play with Nynaeve in the future, which was a very interesting theory (was that @ace-and-ranty who said that? apologies if it was someone else!). That would be an interesting way to approach Nynaeve's block.

There are definitely whispers while Rand is getting lost in the Power, and if you close your eyes and listen hard... I do think you can hear a specific name that has not been said on the show before. I almost don't want to mention it here. I think I'll take my thoughts to the other post.

We get an interesting reveal at the end that Lan was listening in on all of that. How will that come into play in 3x08, I wonder.

Faile's backstory -- I like it! It makes her reasons for running away from Saldaea get a lot of pathos and depth. Let me try to get the exact timeline down:

Mom sits her down and confesses to being a Darkfriend and urges Faile to make her oaths too

Faile says something to buy herself some time

Tells her brother about it and then books it, signing up to be a Hunter for the Horn

Her brother confronts her mom and is killed

Faile finds out about it at some point

Did her dad find out the truth about his wife? We are not told that here.

As for the timing... I wonder if it was triggered by Ishamael trying to get all hands on deck while he was figuring out to reach Rand. She says it happened "last year". The timeline is a bit fuzzy in the show, I'm not certain where that would fall with the events of the previous seasons.

But overall, yeah, Faile having this background, one that goes this dark, helps Perrin to able to talk to her about what happened with Laila, which is incredibly important for the development of their relationship. Faile and Perrin, out here showing what can happen when you have honesty and connection in a relationship!

And Faile can bring Perrin a different way of thinking about Laila's death -- instead of focusing on her death, focus on her decision to stand up and fight against the Trollocs.

"There is so much darkness in this world, Faile, but when I look at you, all I see is light."

That's a great line. Very smooth and romantic. <3

Padan Fain and his fake reinforcements arrive in the Two Rivers. Dain is drunk and sitting near the body of the woman that he handed over to be tortured to death by Valda. I'm sure this will all go great.

Thom continues to protest that he doesn't want to get involved -- but he perks up when he hears Liandrin's name (a new member of the Liandrin Grudge Squad?) and when Elayne gets into trouble and needs back-up, he swings into action, giving her an alibi (he also recognizes her as the Daughter-Heir of Andor and mentions that he was once in Morgase's court).

And so we get the very delightful "Hills of Tanchico" scene, where Elayne realizes part of the way through the song that it's a bawdy tavern song about breasts, and not actually about the literal three hills of Tanchico City.

from wafflelovingbatgirl:

I wonder if the song is about the bracelet and collar actually. Ones not enough (to hold a man), three’s too many (he isnt an equal partner), two bring a man to his knees (and make him submit to their control)

I also think this makes a lot of sense as the origins of the song that then later became about breasts. I do think there's potentially another, meta-textual reason, but it has additional spoilers so I won't get into it here.

We didn't get any kind of personal chat between Mat and Elayne the way that we did between Min and Nynaeve, but it's really lovely to see the way that he reacts to her embracing doing this tavern song -- if he was thinking about her as a snobby princess who didn't want to get in the dirt with peasants (as he sniped last episode), this night out with her has shown him that he was wrong and Elayne is actually a lot of fun.

(I do think a lot of the sniping on the ship was meant to convey cabin fever more than actual dislike between Mat & Elayne, though, and I feel like that bears out in their interactions in this episode)

I don't have too much analysis for this scene -- it's a lot of fun and Ceara really throws herself into it, and I love how relieved and supportive Mat gets once he sees that Elayne can pull it off. And Thom's expressions first when Elayne offers up this song and then when he sees her realize what the song is actually about -- great fun. These three already have an enjoyable dynamic and I hope we get a bit more of it in 3x08.

Mat actually figures out what the song is about before Elayne does, and his reaction to that is also hilarious. I'm guessing that this song was in the guidebook that Elayne was pouring over on the boat. "Famous Tavern Song of Tanchico" or something like that, lol.

Meanwhile, Min and Nynaeve seem a bit drunk, so we can excuse how loudly Nynaeve mentions Liandrin's name. Though they do get information out of the man here, it looks this is also when Ispan spots them and then goes to inform Liandrin (and then Rahvin, presumably, who wants to find the girls so that he can discreetly kill Elayne).

Liandrin gets the information out of Nyomi that the collar is in the Panarch's Palace, and though Nyomi swears that she was planning to tell Liandrin, she gets a bullet-to-the-head weave. Was Nyomi going to tell Liandrin? Hard to say! But there were probably better ways of dealing with that than instant murder. Nyomi also says she has "powerful allies" and Liandrin assumes that it's the 'Chosen' but... that plural. None of the Forsaken are really working together, from what we've seen, so I'm not sure Nyomi was talking about them. There might be something more there.

This is also when we get the tidbit that Liandrin aspires to be one of the Chosen herself.

Back to Alanna and Maksim, and she must be feeling really bad, because she offers to either block or release the bond here, which Maksim refuses, and this whole scene made me very emotional, thank you! There have been a couple of times when it's felt like we've gotten maybe a tiny bit too much Alanna & co, but most of the time I feel like she's brought a lot of value to the show and she's basically been a combination of several different Aes Sedai concepts and she's shown us a lot.

I love all the little pieces that come together on an emotional level in this scene -- in the cold open, we saw young!Liandrin invent the bullet-to-the-head weave, but here we have the contrast of the Cauthor twins, who work together to heal Alanna (and who were able to push Dain away in the last episode without hurting him, not that he appreciated it). The girls being able to pay back Alanna for helping to save them, and then Alanna is able to pay it forward by healing Perrin. It's lovely. I'm worried that some of them may die next episode, but this is a lovely moment for all four characters. We get to see Alanna's patience as a teacher and her choice to come to the Two Rivers is rewarded on a grand scale when she is able to help talk them through healing her.

I also find it very interesting the way that Bode & Eldrin seem to channel together, without needing to do a formal link. A twin thing?

Perrin telling Faile about being a wolfbrother! And Faile's reaction is so darling and precious. Back during s2, 'Selene' gave some great advice about letting someone love all of you, and we're seeing that in action here between Perrin and Faile.

And then we have the charming note of Perrin telling Faile about Mat blowing the Horn! Lovely! <3 <3 <3 <3

Perrin being the first one to make a move and kiss Faile also feels really perfect. It really does feel like a breath of fresh air, romance-wise. Would I have liked a little more build-up? I mean, sure, but they went through a pretty intense experience. Much like Lan & Nynaeve hooking up in 1x07, it feels like it makes sense.

Then we get our little reunion of the two investigating pairs in Tanchico, with Mat helping Elayne off her table, very cute. I can definitely see them being drinking buddies in the future, as long as it isn't in a cabin in the middle of the ocean, lol. Nynaeve and Min meet Thom! They do not get the s1 lore on Thom, just the recent events of him helping out Elayne.

Something really nice here is that Mat introduced Thom as a friend and everyone is straight-up willing to trust him and let him hear their secret plans. Min is also in the group based on Mat saying "yeah, you can trust her", so this is a continuation of that, but it's neat! Nynaeve and Elayne value Mat's opinion about who can be trusted! <3

Oh, hey, I do hear the Seanchan score while Mat's admirer is handing over the second bracelet to Mat. That's neat! Thom also knows about the Shackled Man lore of Tanchico, so all of this group is very aware of how dangerous all of this is to Rand.

Ispan goes to report in to her Forsaken phone-a-friend, but Moghedien is already there. Moggy gives us a bit of foreshadowing about Sammael's upcoming move, calling him "impatient." We don't actually find out here exactly who Ispan was going to report to, but I feel like Rahvin is probably more invested in the Wondergirls plotline, so I think it's probably him.

Ah, Nyomi WAS also working for Rahvin or Sammael, so Liandrin did guess correctly there, so it sounds like Nyomi and Ispan were in it together. Ispan also tells Moghedien about Liandrin's aspirations to become one of Forsaken. Hmm, saying that word in front of one of them might not have been the best move, as Moghedien kills Ispan, and we've lost another member of the Black Ajah. She also spills the beans about "two of the five" that the Dark One wants being in Tanchico. So that's a lot of information that Moghedien just got!

Then we get a very effectively done rendition of one of the creepiest scenes in the books, when Moghedien does her Compulsion-based interrogation of Elayne and Nynaeve. I was so creeped out when I originally watched and it's still creepy on the rewatch. The fake giggly smiles that Elayne and Nynaeve have when they answer Moghedien's questions! And the delicate precision of Moghedien's weaves.

And the way that Moghedien takes a particular interest in Nynaeve, first when she senses her power, and then when Nynaeve is able to almost resist her Compulsion and try not to give her the bracelet.

We also get some insight on Nynaeve's feelings about her relationship with the Power -- it frightens her and she even hates it. And we get the very very creepy hug.

The note about "beating it out of you" is very interesting because Moiraine actually told a story about that back in 1x08 -- she was having troubles, and an Aes Sedai came and beat her with the Power until she was able to channel to fight her off.

Luckily, since Rand didn't announce his plans to go to the Aiel Waste until after he'd separated from the group, they can't tell her where Rand is.

But she does get the bracelet from them.

This is also where we learn that she's lent Rahvin two Gray Men to kill Elayne but they've failed both times. And it is also really clear in this scene that Moghedien finds Nynaeve more interesting than Elayne. But she found them both useful, and tells them that she might come back for another visit, and she touched Nynaeve's face, calls her a 'good girl' and scratches her cheek. Which, given that she wants them to remember nothing of the conversation, seems like her letting her impulses get the better of her.

Elayne and Nynaeve's fogginess after the Compulsion is released is also very well-done and creepy. And they immediately go to check on the bracelet and find it missing.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the Randgwene breakup scene.

a. I'm so relieved that it finally happened, after being needlessly dragged out all season. We can move on with our lives! And hopefully get a s4 and fun new dynamics for the characters! Fingers crossed for renewal!

b. I feel like the tone of the break-up was... not what the show actually wanted to deliver, based on the interview that Rafe & co give on the "inside the episode" extra on prime, where they barely even mention the Lanfear issue.

c. the actual break-up argument itself doesn't paint Rand as 'the bad guy', I don't think, but all of the context around the break-up does, which is unfortunate, because it sounds like that was not the intention. But the scene isn't by itself in a bubble, and the outside context colors how people read the scene.

d. I think a big key to this is that I don't feel like Egwene's season-long emotional conflict successfully came across on screen -- Maddy talked in a couple of interviews released after 3x05 about how Egwene is torn between wanting to protect Rand vs worrying that she'll have to stop him and that is... that is just not on the screen in the actual episodes. All we got in the actual episodes was Protective Egwene. Which means that when Rand 'calls Egwene out' on leaving him behind, it can come across as disingenuous and him trying to deflect the argument away from his own bad behavior rather than him accurately stating something that Egwene has been in denial about (which is what it seems like we were supposed to take from his part of the argument, based on what I've seen Rafe, Maddy, & Josha say in a couple of interviews). So I don't think that landed the way it was meant to.

So, overall, I'm still feeling like Randgwene should have officially broken up in 3x01, and this fight should have been purely about Lanfear, and Egwene worrying that Rand has fallen under Lanfear's sway. The two issues being separated from each other would have made each of them land better, imo.

At the very latest, I think they should have officially ended things before the show had Rand give in and kiss Lanfear. If their goal was to have a mutual breakup with "no bad guys".

Because the Randgwene relationship has been incredibly fragmented and lacking in emotional intimacy, but it was still lingering and the contrast between Egwene being fiercely protective about Rand while Rand is drifting away from her is going to contribute to the feeling that Rand is Doing Her Wrong, because Egwene is Doing The Work of the relationship and he's not. Rand mentions in 3x01 that he and Egwene haven't talked about their relationship, but they both act like they're in a relationship and that's how viewers will see them, and so Rand's statement about how they haven't talked is likely to just get dismissed. People will believe what they see over what they've been told.

We -- in the Faile & Perrin love story -- have also gotten such a striking contrast to Egwene & Rand, and I do believe it's intentional. In an episode where Egwene avoids Rand for most of the episode and then when they finally do talk, they talk past each other for most of the conversation... we contrast it against the sincerity and honesty of the Faile & Perrin conversations, and how it leads into them wanting physical intimacy after they've just shared so much emotional intimacy.

Even just the contrast between Faile insisting on being by Perrin's side going into the camp in the last episode vs Egwene wanting to handle everything on her own in this episode, only involving Rand when it becomes impossible to avoid the conversation.

And there's nothing wrong with Egwene wanting to handle things on her own, it simply illustrates that she doesn't think of herself and Rand as a team. Faile wants to be partners with Perrin -- not only lovers (she definitely wants that too) but equal partners.

Egwene wants to be strong to protect Rand, but not so that she can act as his partner. Instead, she seems to see herself as something more like his watchdog. She leapt to "he's gone mad" really quickly in this argument -- too quickly for it not to be something that's been on her mind for a while.

That is a place where I feel like we suffered by Egwene not having anyone to confide in emotionally, because it meant that she was basically locking all of this inside her own mind until it came out in 3x06. On the surface, Egwene was 100% Protective Girlfriend 24/7, but according to an interview of Maddy's that I saw, she's been thinking about the dangers of Rand going mad in the back of her mind during this period and... yeah, I don't feel like that came across on-screen. I think we needed a specific scene about it, somewhere around 3x03. The worry was introduced on-screen in 3x01 (the Accepted Test) but Egwene never reflects on it. She never talks to anyone about it, and then we don't get any kind of reinforcing scene in-between 3x01 and 3x06.

I was talking this over with @markantonys and she pointed out the perfect example of the kind of moment that I'm talking about -- when Mat tells Min that he's not worried about the drawing of him being hanged, but then the audience follows him to the hammock and we see the weight of it on his face and in his body language. We desperately needed a moment like that for Egwene before 3x06, imo. A moment where we see her lose her mask of being the Protective Girlfriend.

I've gone into the details of why I think Rand hasn't talked to Egwene about Lanfear in a previous deep dive -- essentially, he hasn't told her about Lanfear because he didn't know how to tell her about Selene. Caring about Selene was one of the things that helped Rand genuinely move on from his relationship with Egwene, and then he found out that she was a lie. And then he found out that while he was with Selene, Egwene was being kidnapped and was put into a horrible situation.

Now, between Lanfear's nightly manipulations and Rand seeing Mierin in the visions of Rhuidean, Rand has finally come to a place where he believed that it's possible that Selene had really existed -- that Selene was Lanfear showing him the Mierin side of herself, as opposed to Selene being an act.

And, like, I love the drama of that. I think it's great, because of how painful it is and how much it makes sense based on how Lanfear has been manipulating him. But I also think it would have played better if Rand and Egwene were already broken up when it happened. So much of the genuine tragedy of Rand coming to believe that Selene could have been a real person and not a lie that Lanfear made up, right before the rug gets pulled out from under him... I think that a lot of that tragedy gets lost because it gets lumped under Rand "being a cheater".

Young men being preyed on by older women is not taken anywhere near as seriously by general viewers as it should be, imo, and we also see the effects of that in some of the responses I've seen to the argument -- I think that Egwene "reads" as having been traumatized more easily than Rand does, because viewers easily understand that what happened to her in s2 was traumatizing, while a lot of Rand's trauma is dismissed by people going "oh, wow, a hot woman wanted to have sex with him? poor boy lol!" without her lies and manipulation being taken into account. And given that this is also an issue that comes up in the books (I won't go into the details here), I'm sad that it feels like Rafe & co didn't realize they would need to compensate more for the audience's potential lack of understanding on the issue.

I think the show is aware of how Rand has been manipulated by Lanfear and traumatized by her, but didn't fully take into account potential audience disconnect, and how doing this story while the audience still sees Randgwene as "together" also harms the Randfear storyline and makes people dismiss how traumatizing it's been to Rand, because Egwene's trauma is so much more 'in your face', especially with Lanfear spending most of the season triggering Egwene's PTSD over and over.

Because in a lot of ways, Rand is finally having the conversation with Egwene that he desperately needed to have directly after his emotional realization in 1x08 that allowed him to let go of his dream with Egwene and embrace reality (a lot of his arguments here tie directly back to s1 and his epiphany in 1x08).

But then he thought he'd succeeded against the Dark One and he left Egwene & all his friends behind to protect them from himself. And once he and Egwene did finally reunite, his guilt over abandoning everyone (but especially Egwene) meant that he felt like he couldn't have this conversation with Egwene, despite how much it is clearly the very first thing on the tip of his tongue.

If Rand has been both wanting and yet avoiding the "I know you don't actually want me as your partner" conversation with Egwene (because he doesn't think he has the right to be the one to start it), she's apparently been avoiding the "I think you're going mad and I'm worried I'll have to kill you to stop you from doing horrible things" conversation with Rand. But Egwene has had zero people to confide in, so she's basically been a closed box on this subject.

Which has been... unfortunate, imo. I think we needed insight into Egwene's emotional conflict. We caught a tiny glimpse of that conflict back in 3x01, but then she spends the entire season claiming that her only intentions are to Protect Rand and pushing back hard against any suggestion that she might fear him or the madness. And we haven't gotten any breaks in her mask to suggest that her emotional conflict is still going on underneath her brave front.

So, yeah, I really wish that the show had done more to bring out Egwene's emotional conflict this season, rather than the entirety of that weight being on Rand's shoulders, because I do think that Rand is the one who paid the price for it (in the eyes of viewers).

I'm thinking the show could have some minor incident around 3x03 or 3x04 that brings up a hint of fear/worry from Egwene that another character calls her out on? (Aviendha, maybe? You don't have to make them besties to give them a brief convo where Aviendha tries to figure out why Egwene has issues with the "destruction" part of the savior/destroyer figure that is Rand, or notes that Egwene is clearly afraid of Rand but trying to hide her fear and Egwene can brashly deny it but then we get a moment where she turns away from Aviendha and her face drops and it's clear to the audience that Aviendha was correct).

The most important part is that it's something that's directly shown in the episodes and not merely subtext that's meant to be gleaned from the acting. It doesn't need to be said, per se -- Mat didn't need to tell us he was more worried about the drawing than he was letting on -- but it needed to be focused on either via dialogue or camera work. I think the show maybe tried to do this via Egwene's incredibly firm denials and push-backs against Moiraine & Siuan early in the season (that she's protesting because she's in denial), but we didn't get the 'mask-dropping' moment and so she just comes across as being sincere in telling them that she has no interest in helping them 'control' Rand.

Even Lan has gotten more chances to be open about his emotional state and to be vulnerable than Egwene has in s3 (due to the presence of Melindhra and his moments with Nynaeve, Moiraine, & Rand).

I kinda feel like the show could have taken some of the backstory expansion time that we've spent on Liandrin this season and given it to letting Egwene have a moment where she lets the audience into her emotional conflict that is haunting her this entire season but that we only barely catch a glimpse of in 3x01.

I could look at this as the show reversing and foiling Rand's emotional conflict from s1 -- Rand spends all of season 1 dealing with a conflict that the audience doesn't learn about until 1x07, when we find out about his father's confession to him that he was a baby found in the snow during a battle. Now it's Egwene who has spent all season dealing with a conflict that the audience isn't let into until the last couple of episodes. And maybe when I go back and rewatch the season as a whole, I will see the moments where it feels like Egwene's mask is breaking and we're seeing her worry about Rand going mad.

The difference between the two for me, I guess, is that (as a book reader), I had already assumed, as I was watching s1, that Rand had gone through that conversation with Tam, and so getting that scene in 1x07 wasn't a surprise to me. I was glad to get it, but I wasn't surprised that the conflict existed for Rand, and I felt like I could see it in how Josha played Rand in the previous episodes. While with s3, I wasn't already in on Egwene's secret emotional conflict.

And, counterintuitively, I think the fact that we were let into Rand's emotional conflict this season but not into Egwene's led to the break-up feeling much more like it was 'about' Lanfear than it was supposed to be for either of the characters*, because after initially showing us Egwene's secret fears about Rand's madness in her Accepted Test in 3x01, we have had nothing from Egwene except the constant refrain of wanting to Protect Rand, with her not showing a hint of the "or stop him" that Siuan and Moiraine have both openly worried over - we only got strident push-back from her when Siuan and Moiraine brought it up as a possibility and... maybe it'll feel different on rewatch but, at the time, I didn't see any hint in Maddy's acting that some part of Egwene agreed with Siuan or Moiraine but was trying not to let it show (and I don't think I saw anyone else speculating on that idea either). We needed an actual Event somewhere in mid-season to bring that out of her.

(*basing this on the roundtable "inside episode six" extra that's on Prime, where the talk about the break-up wasn't really about Lanfear at all, but about nostalgia and clinging to your old life even though you know you can't really go back)

Egwene's emotional struggle this season (in retrospect) seems like it's supposed to mirror Moiraine's, but we've gotten Moiraine's struggle highlighted while Egwene's was hidden and all the on-screen focus was on her ptsd and on Lanfear torturing her.

So, that's my critique about the argument scene -- I feel like we needed more set-up on it from Egwene's side, to make it feel more naturally coming from Rand & Egwene's differing paths and less like it was about Lanfear. We couldn't just have other characters telling Egwene about herself -- it needed to be a moment that actually came from Egwene.

So, the emotional states of the characters going into the break-up talk:

Egwene -- already upset by what she saw in Rand's dream; has been primed by Lanfear to view Rand with even more suspicion, as Lanfear planted the thought in her that Rand may have known all about the nightly torture and was chill with it.

Rand -- has been putting on a brave face during the day but letting his exhaustion show when he's alone. Has been trying to find time to talk to Egwene but keeps being told she's off with the Wise Ones.

So, Egwene's opening remark is - "She's a Forsaken, Rand."

I'm guessing she was hoping for a response like "What are you talking about? Who is a Forsaken?"

Instead, she gets Rand nodded in acknowledgement and saying, "I should've told you." He apologizes, and she gets more upset, asking if he's apologizing for lying to her or for betraying her trust.

And then things get ugly. Egwene calls Rand a fool for "sleeping with a Forsaken", which seems like the quickest way to put someone on the defensive. But from Egwene's perspective, Rand has just validated one of the things that Lanfear told her, which is going to make her worry that the other thing Lanfear told her (that Rand knew about the torture) was also true.

But Rand was pretty apologetic and quiet up to this point, and it's only after Egwene calls him a fool for sleeping with Lanfear (which, yeah, I'm sure Rand has called his s2 self a fool in his head so many times for not seeing the truth about Selene) that Rand pulls away from being apologetic and leans a bit on the excuses that Lanfear keeps giving him (Egwene will never understand you, only I will understand you).

Rand doesn't ask her how she knows about Lanfear. At this point, I think he's decided that it doesn't matter how she knows -- this is an end-of-the-relationship conversation, and that's what he's forging ahead with.

Egwene throws another claim at Rand that he could dispute -- "this whole time, every night, you're with her" -- Lanfear enters his dreams without needing his permission. He did not tell Lanfear about his plans to go to the Waste.

He does not try to tell Egwene this and I think it's because he's decided to take the hits so that he can end this between them and if it ends with Egwene hating him, then that's fine. At least he won't kill her when/if he goes mad. Rand doesn't defend himself against any of Egwene's accusations against him here -- because he doesn't want to sound like he's making excuses, or because he doesn't want to open the door up to a potential reconciliation?

The first thing that Rand actually disputes is when Egwene says, "I came here for you." And I think that's because it hits on his s1 insecurities about his relationship with Egwene.

He knows that she doesn't want him like that, so why does she keep pretending that she does? But much like how Egwene had incorrect information from Lanfear, Rand has incorrect information from Aviendha. But it's really kinda unfair to Rand that the show did this, I think. Because the audience knows better. The audience knows that Aviendha was talking out of her ass when she said that Egwene was hanging out with the Wise Ones to learn Aiel culture, and that it was actually about protecting her dreams from Lanfear.

Both Rand and Egwene have some true information and some false information, but 'true information' about Rand (that he kissed Lanfear knowing that she was a Forsaken) is much more recent than the 'true information' about Egwene (that she doesn't want Rand if she has an option that she views as superior). That's season one information, and it's unfair to expect a casual viewer to remember it off the top of their heads. But for Rand, it feels much more present because it feels like she's doing the same thing with the Wise Ones.

But, yeah, when the audience has been watching Protective Girlfriend Egwene all season, it can be difficult for them to believe Rand when he says that Egwene doesn't actually want him. So it feels like the show weighted the deck against Rand in this break-up, and that's somewhat frustrating.

But notice that Egwene doesn't argue this point. She doesn't try to say that's not what she does. She just transitions to asking Rand if he loves Lanfear.

Rand doesn't answer, which Egwene assumes is a 'yes'. I... do not. Because Rand also didn't answer when 'Selene' back in s2 asked him to confirm that she loved him. Because Rand didn't say it back when Lanfear said it to him only last episode.

But Egwene does assume that silence means 'yes', because she assumes if the answer were 'no', then Rand would just tell her that.

But I also think this is Rand trying to retreat back to stoicly taking the hits and letting Egwene break up with him the way that she wants -- he only lashed out with that one line because it hit on his specific insecurities, I think.

And then we get Egwene assuming that Rand has gone mad already and Rand is... I mean, I think he's given up on the conversation at this point, honestly? He basically just tells her to believe whatever she wants to believe, and tells her that he knows he isn't enough for her, and that he respects for that, and I think that was the end of it for him, and it's okay with him if Egwene hates him for it.

"We both know the truth, Egwene. You don't want me. Even back in the Two Rivers, there was always something you wanted more."

And this is where I really think we needed some earlier hints that Egwene was in denial in the season. Because this isn't an attack (and Egwene doesn't take it that way). It's supposed to actually be the truth about their relationship this season, but I think it does not play that way to a lot of people because Egwene's Protective Girlfriend Mask never falters thoroughout s3. We got that tiny glimpse of her fears in 3x01 and then nothing but Protect Rand afterwards.

"I'm not enough for you. And I'll always respect that about you."

Because, again, Egwene doesn't deny what Rand says here. But because she has been so fiercely protective of Rand over the course of the season, I think it makes it harder for people to believe that Rand is calling her out on a truth here, as opposed to him making up excuses so that he can hook up with another girl.

Egwene honestly seems genuinely touched at this part of Rand's speech to her, tbh, until she remembers the other thing that Lanfear told her, and she hits Rand with that now, to find out whether or not he knew that Lanfear was the person hurting her.

And Rand gets to have his 2x04 realization all over again but he's learned since last time -- note that he doesn't ever deny what Egwene tells him about Lanfear.

"I didn't know" is what he says. Not "She wouldn't do that." Not "I don't believe you." Back in 2x04, he denies what Moiraine tries to tell him about 'Selene', until Moiraine reminds him that she can't lie.

Rand does believe Egwene, which is part of what makes this so devastating for him, because he had only (the night before) begun to believe that maybe he could reach Lanfear. Maybe he could save her. Maybe he could make something good happen. Maybe he isn't only destruction.

So, overall, I do think this conversation itself is fairly nuanced and honest to the characters, but I feel like the context around the conversation weights it against Rand really heavily, and that part sucks.

And the ground starts to shake as Rand tries to process this information from Egwene, even before Sammael & co show up.

But then we get a Sammael interruption! He's been itching to attack Rand - he's found out where Rand is, and he's going in for the kill.

From what we see here, it looks like Sammael is working with the Shaido (and I have to admit that I assumed that the reason no one else has rushed to help Rand is here is because more Shaido also had attacked, outside the building, and so the rest of the Taardad were busy. and probably some budget constraints).

It seems likely that this is the "surprise" that Lanfear told Moiraine about.

Egwene uses weaves that she learned during her time as a damane to fend off the Shaido, while Aviendha bursts in and creates spears of fire and attacks Sammael when he's going in for a hammer blow on Rand, probably saving his life.

Rand yells at everyone to get out of the building as the attack continues and then, when Sammael comes for him again, we get Rand blocking with an effortless, enormous shield, and then taking Sammael down with lightning strikes (I have to admit, I assumed during my original viewing that Sammael wasn't 'for real' dead and I'm a bit surprised that some people assumed that he was, though I guess we'll find out for sure in 3x08).

We do get to see a really nice taste of how overwhelming Rand's potential power can be, and then we see the tragedy that using that kind of power without fine control can be afterwards, when we learn that Alsera didn't make it out of the building, and got crushed by the crumbling stone.

This scene is pretty powerful, and we see Rand's strength as well as his desperation, and his grief over Alsera, and... and how helpless he can be sometimes. Being the Dragon Reborn isn't always enough.

I like what Aviendha tells Rand here -- sharing the Aiel philosophy about death, "Life is a dream from which we all must wake". Though Rand is not ready to hear it.

Moiraine shows up after the fight but before Rand tries reviving Alsera and she reaches out to Rand to get him to stop trying to bring her back.

Another nice moment that would be nicer if I didn't have to worry about Rand's potential reaction to learning that Moiraine knew something would happen this night, and she let it happen without warning him. Same as she did in 3x01. But she does reach out to stop him and bring him back to himself, which perhaps Lanfear would not have wanted her to do. I'm torn.

I definitely continue to have my issues about the decision to drag out the Randgwene relationship for so long -- I feel like it's a choice that made Rand look worse while not bringing any great advantages to the table, but I do feel like the conversation that they had has nuance (some of which is likely to be lost on anyone who didn't rewatch s1 before they started watching s3, unfortunately), and the scene afterwards with Rand defeating Sammael and trying to bring back Alsera is very powerful.

One of the themes of this episode is how Team Shadow is screwing up their own and each other's plans because of their character flaws and lack of trust. Team Light is also having issues because of their character flaws and lack of trust but... not as bad as Team Shadow.

Let's break down the Known Plans, starting with Moghedien, who got a pretty big win this episode:

Moghedien -- she snuck off to try to figure out what Lanfear's plans were. Discovered Liandrin's cabal (likely through TAR), discovered the Wondergirls, got one of the bracers that can be used to control Rand. So presumably her next plan is to get the second bracer and the collar. Out of all of the Forsaken & darkfriends, she's probably making out the best currently, and we will likely see her making a move for the second bracer (with Liandrin) and the collar (in the Panarch's Palace) in 3x08. otoh, we've seen that Moghedien has some impulse-control issues, and she left evidence behind when she scratched Nynaeve's face, so that may come back to bite her. And Elayne & Nynaeve did realize right away that the bracer was missing.

Sammael -- wanted to make a strike against Lews Therin and was impatient by Lanfear's affection for 'Rand al'Thor'. It looks like he may have gone in with some Shaido warriors, so there are darkfriends among the Shaido that he's working with. We saw that Rand was able to fight against him pretty easily, and he is currently unconscious or 'dead' (in the same way that Lanfear was briefly dead at the end of 2x04). He was brash and rushed in, and paid the price.

Since Rand potentially knows how to create a shield (in 2x07, he saw the one that Ishamael put on Moiraine but he didn't see it being made), Sammael may end up shielded by Rand in 3x08. We will see! Given Lanfear's 'warning' to Moiraine (which I think was mostly a test to see if Moiraine would still obey her post-Rhuidean, to which the answer appears to be 'yes'), Lanfear likely helped set up this attack, trusting that Rand had enough instinctive control to protect himself, and fine with any collateral damage that might happen as a result (in fact, she probably figured any collateral damage would create yet more guilt in Rand that she could ~soothe~).

Rahvin -- apparently has been borrowing Moghedien's Gray Man to try to kill Elayne (I thought it looked like Elayne was the target of that Gray Man in the White Tower!) and they keep whiffing on him, which Moghedien mostly seems to find amusing. Mostly set-up for future plotlines, I expect (which I very much hope we will get to see). So, Moghedien says that Elayne was the target of "two" of her Gray Men. We've seen three. Obviously the one in the middle was sent after Elayne, but I wonder if Jaichaim was also supposed to kill Elayne but got foiled because of her disappearance from the Tower, and then hung around to kill the Black Ajah Sisters, or if the Gray Man from 3x01 was meant to try to go for Elayne but got the wrong woman because Elayne was up on the roof with Aviendha?

Lanfear -- looks ascendant right now, but her pettiness has screwed her over when it comes to her actual goal ("forever isolated happiness with do-over LTT"). Her pettiness has, perhaps, been screwing her over the entire season - it seems possible that part of what has been making Egwene cling so hard to Rand was finding his familiarity comforting in the wake of her Lanfear-induced nightmares. Is it possible that Egwene would have been willing to break up with Rand sooner if Lanfear hadn't been constantly tripping her PTSD?

And then we have Lanfear needing to have Egwene see her face and see that Lanfear has 'won' Rand. Petty, petty. And that all leads to Egwene being able to tell Rand about the situation, and now Rand gets to re-live the moment of realization that Lanfear implied Lews Therin also had back in the day. That he looked too long and saw the darkness that she was carefully hiding away from him (2x04).

Lanfear was banking on being able to hide all her cruelty away from Rand and that worked for most of the season (since Moiraine was willing to conspire with her), but she let the mask slip just far enough with Egwene that it led to Egwene revealing the truth to Rand.

(I have to admit, it kinda feels like the continued Randgwene relationship was serving Lanfear's story more than it served either Rand's or Egwene's but I will try to stop rehashing all that at some point!)

Lanfear's fallibility comes across in another place too -- we learn that she's lost control of Liandrin & her cabal and doesn't know why they're in Tanchico.

I also suspect that Moiraine will turn the tables on Lanfear in 3x08, because she looked more angry than afraid in that scene early on in the episode.

Semirhage & Graendal -- they exist. Theoretically, they have an alliance with Rahvin but given what we've seen so far, I'm sure that they are making their own plans behind his back.

Eighth Forsaken -- ????

Ishamael -- okay, yes, he's dead, but I want to point out that he had his plans on lock-down. Even our brief glimpse of him here in the cold open shows that he was an expert at finding vulnerable and powerful people to recruit to his cause, and he's likely the reason that the Black Ajah are organized into hearts for secrecy, and the reason they remained undiscovered for so long because, wow, the second he's dead, everyone starts falling into chaos and in-fighting. You understand why the Dark One might still be moping over his death (as Lanfear implies in 3x03) and doesn't want to talk to any of the rest of his Chosen. Ishamael was the organized and thoughtful one.

Back in s2, Ishamael was the one who had the long-game plan (that got ruined when Lanfear fast-traveled Rand to Falme), and tbh his only mistake was waking up Lanfear. Likely out of loneliness, from what we saw in 2x08. I suspect that it was talking to Rand at the end of s1 that made Ishamael crack enough that he wanted to wake up Lanfear, because LTT was the thing that he and Lanfear had in common and he wanted to share the emotional weight.

Liandrin -- oh, Liandrin. Wanting to be one of the Chosen. I... do you have the power to back that up, Liandrin? She might be assuming that the Dark One can boost her power (or assumes she'll get access to the power that let Lanfear resurrect herself after Moiraine slit her throat and stabbed her in 2x04). It does seem like Ishy made some pretty big promises to the darkfriends working under him -- Dana also thought that she would be richly rewarded for capturing the Dragon for Ishamael back in s1. In fact, now that we know that Lanfear isn't involved in Liandrin's plan, I wonder if Ishamael is where Liandrin got her inspiration from -- though, of course, hailing from Tanchico is definitely part of it (the story about the Shackled Man is a show-only thing, I believe, so we couldn't really know that Liandrin had ways to know about the collar and bracers on her own until that was revealed in this episode).

So there were 12 total Black Ajah Sisters that were working together in 3x01 (per what Verin, Siuan, & Leane have figured out). One of them is unknown and suspected to still be in the Tower and, as of this episode, three of them are alive in Falme (Liandrin, Chesmal, and Jeaine). Over half of them have managed to get killed in less than a season (and three of them were killed by their own side).

Will any of them make it out of the season alive?

[stardust-moth]

In order to fully understand why it was so hard for Mike to express how deeply he loves El, and why his speech at the end of season 4 was one of the biggest, most important moments for his entire character, we need to look at not just who Mike is as a person, but also everything that has happened since he met her.

Every single time he opens up his heart to her, something horrible happens to her or she's taken away from him almost immediately afterwards.

1x08; he's an awkward little ball of feelings that are way too big for a boy so young. He makes a nervous attempt at confessing and asking her out on a date; when he can't find words that she'll understand, swoops in for a kiss instead. She lights up immediately and smiles. It's a brief moment of hope and pure happiness. Maybe they can have some semblance of a normal life and be normal kids after this is all over.

Minutes later, all hell breaks loose-- they're almost shot, El pushes herself too far until she can barely move, she's almost taken away by the Bad Men, the Demogorgon appears, and she uses the very last of her strength to sacrifice herself to save him and their friends.

He has to watch helplessly as she disappears.

He spends a year caught between believing she's dead and hoping she's still out there somewhere (but if she is alive then why won't she talk to him anymore...?). Kept silent under threat by the lab, he can't confide in anyone or even acknowledge her existence, not with anyone except those involved... but everyone else is keen on moving on and pretending it never happened. He can find some solidarity in Will, at least, who is in a similar kind of emotional turmoil... but it's not the same and it's not enough.

2x9; he is finally reunited with El, and she runs into his arms like she missed him too. She tells him that all those nights he called out to her, she heard him; she was there reciprocating his feelings the whole time.

In a burst of emotions that he's been forced to suppress for an entire year, he lashes out at the reason they've been kept apart (Hopper), screaming and sobbing. It's a massive catharsis for him, and for once an adult is understanding enough to hold him and not punish him for it.

Minutes later, she is going to go headfirst into a pit of monsters, the place where Mike had just firsthand witnessed dozens of people (if not more) get ripped to shreds only hours earlier, and she is going to attempt to close the Gate-- a feat that he knows may take every ounce of her power, just like last time. He cries. He can't lose her again. She promises he won't, and before she can seal that promise with a kiss, they're pulled apart again.

He has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

3x1; all seems to be okay now. He and El are happily together, and he feels comfortable enough to be playful, romantic, and intimate with her. It's the most emotionally open we've ever seen Mike thus far.

For reasons he can't understand (bc there's no way Hopper explained himself beyond "I'm in charge so do as I say or else"), Hopper is angry about it and threatens to never allow him to see her again: the one thing he fears most.

He panics big time and fucks it up in the process by lying to her. During a frantic attempt to apologize while also abiding by Hopper's rules, he runs into her at the mall. He panics again-- if anyone finds her here, and knows that he was here too, it's all over, and Hopper surely won't hear reason. El dumps him cold on the spot, spurred on by Max and her rebellious attitude (and without any context of course). He isn't given much opportunity to respond. He knows he's in the wrong for lying to her, so what could he even say...?

He has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

It's a hard blow, and he retreats back into himself, unable to get any joy out of playing D&D (which he clearly hasn't lost interest in), back to the deadpan sarcasm and accidentally snapping a little too harshly at anyone whom he feels would take El's place.

3x6; no one seems to understand the danger El is putting herself in. Everyone is berating him for worrying about her safety. He's seen firsthand what these monsters do to people, he's seen firsthand how El pushes her abilities too far. No one is listening.

The words "I love her and I can't lose her again" burst out in his desperation, perhaps before he's even had a chance to realize how deep those feelings run, despite whatever protective walls he's tried to build around his heart to keep it from getting broken again.

Soon after, all hell breaks loose. El is nearly killed several times over, her leg is ripped open, she pushes herself so hard that she breaks herself and loses her powers completely. Her father is taken from her. She's shattered by all of this, and there's absolutely nothing he could do or say to make it better.

She tells him that when he admitted he loves her, she heard him, and indeed she loves him, too... But now she's leaving.

He has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

4x1; they've been apart for a few months, and write letters back and forth to each other. El's letters paint a picture of an ideal new life: she and the Byers family are doing well; she's starting school and it's going well; she's made new friends, she likes her new home, everything is going well. She seems to be thriving. She sounds happy, maybe even happier than she had been living in Hawkins. Maybe Max was right, maybe she's better off being her own person without him, and maybe the respectful thing to do is step back... It's a small insecurity that creeps up subconsciously. In his replies he holds back, afraid of clinging too hard.

Though there's little logic in it, he's afraid that if he tells her he loves her again, another disaster might strike and this lovely happy life she's finally found might get taken from her. After all, that's what always seems to happen when he does.

4x2; after months of waiting, they can finally see each other again. He wears her favorite colors, picks a handful of flowers for her, and falls happily back into step with how they used to be. Soon that same day, however, reality becomes clear and the facade crumbles. People he was told were her friends show up to torment and publicly humiliate her. She had been lying. She isn't happy here, she hasn't healed, she is right at the edge of a breaking point that he doesn't see coming at all. He can't believe she would lie to him, she's not the kind of person to lie... especially not about something like bullying, something that she was always so understanding about with him.

On that logicless subconscious level, he wonders if it's all his fault-- he should have known somehow, he should have been there for her. She protected him from his bullies, he should have protected her from hers. He tries to come to her rescue. She runs away from him.

He's helpless to save her, again.

4x3; after a night to process everything that happened-- and deciding that the betrayal he feels from her lying to him is nothing compared to the turmoil she must be going through right now-- Mike approaches her in the gentlest way possible, wanting to listen and trying to understand. El, however, isn't receptive at all to his attempts at reassurance. She is at an all-time low, she's given up. She believes she is unlovable, irredeemable, a monster, just a thing that doesn't even have those superhuman abilities to compensate anymore. Mike can't believe what he's hearing-- doesn't she know that she's always been so much more than her powers? She's always been so much more than what she lacks in quote-unquote "normalcy"... None of those things matter, they have absolutely no bearing on whether she's worthy of being loved, because he loves her, completely regardless of any of these things. He always has...

El starts flinging his restrained words back at him, the products of his insecurity and trauma-induced fear. That fear takes hold yet again, and he stumbles, afraid of saying too much or not enough, because surely both could result in pushing her away-- she's retreating, hearing none of it; nothing he tries to say consoles her.

Moments later, local police come knocking. She's taken away in cuffs, and she's so broken inside that she won't even look at him when he chases the police car down the street and promises he'll get her out somehow...

Once again, he has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

4x8/4x9; after days of driving through the heat and dryness of southwest desert, having narrowly escaped being shot at with military-grade assault rifles, witnessing the death of and burying a man whose last words were that El is in danger... After watching dozens of people get mowed down by a sniper in a helicopter, and watching that same helicopter be smashed into the ground in a ball of flames...

There she is. Just as powerful and beautiful and alive as she's ever been. When he runs to her and embraces her, she looks at him like she can't believe he's real. She's beaming a smile right from her soul and it's like all the insecurity and self-doubt that have plagued them both just vanish from existence now that they're in each other's arms again.

Like always, however, the universe comes crashing down soon after. Max is marked for a gruesome death and all of Hawkins is in danger. They're miles away and helpless, and the only possible way for El to save everyone is if she goes in alone. She's stronger than ever, but so is her foe. Once again, she descends to face all the demons of hell on her own, and Mike can't do anything.

She's losing. She's choking. She's dying. He's helpless.

He must be cursed. He must be. Being with her, loving her, allowing himself to admit he loves her, it always brings only pain and suffering and loss. His heart is so full that it's aching, it's bursting out of his chest, and he can't contain it any longer.

She's going to die and it's going to be all his fault, because he fell in love, and it's cursed her.

Just before it all crumbles into utter despair, the earnest support from his oldest and dearest friend-- one who's always shared and understood his feelings of helplessness-- sparks a light of hope in him: "You're the Heart." You're not helpless. You can save her.

The words that come spilling out of Mike's mouth are truer than any he's ever dared to speak before, and it's the most terrified he's ever been, but he has enough courage for this moment. Despite all of the fears that have been building, stifling, choking him to death for years-- fears that the light of his life will inevitably disappear again, and there's nothing he can do to stop it-- despite it all, he pours out his heart to her.

He loves her. He's always loved her. He loves everything she ever was, is, and could be. He can't imagine a world without her in it. She saved him, in every way a person can be saved. And he needs her to live. He believes in her.

And it works. It's music to her ears.

[linda-with-an-i]

Now that it's been some time since the end of season 2 of the rings of power and we've had some time to digest the good and the bad stuff, I wanted to spend my two cents on what has been hands down the highlight of the show, which is the Annatar/Celebrimbor storyline, but especially Celebrimbor's. The two Charlies have been consistently acting their hearts out, but Charles Edwards performance in particular took me by surprise and totally blew me away (give the man all the awards goddamnit!).

Celebrimbor has always been one of my favourite characters from the books, and one I thought had a lot of potential given how little we know about him, so I was really curious to see what they wanted to do with the finer details of his story and character, and I think that they delivered on every front and then some. Some people say he should have been a warrior (totally valid interpretation) but his characterization was done flawlessly and went even beyond my expectations, and in my humble opinion Charles Edwards casting was perfect for the story they told.

His performance as celebrimbor moved me as few others managed to do, his portrayal deeply resonated with me. I became so attached to this character that I knew I would have grieved his character death when the moment came (which in fact I did), but something else happened that I didn't expect: to watch someone as broken and tortured as he was slowly but surely reclaim his strength and freedom of spirit, to watch him fully take responsibility and embrace his mistakes even in the face of certain death, because the point was to choose light instead of power/strength, and finally to watch him challenge and rise above his abuser was nothing short of inspiring and one on the most powerful, beautiful and tolkenian moments I've seen. Thank you Mr. Edwards for all the work and passion you put in every scene, your performance will go down as one of the best of 2024, and arguably one of the best of Tolkien's world. Namárië.

[thebroccolination]

THAMEPO'S RELATIONSHIP (AS OF EPISODE 4)

Back when the teaser (made as an appeal to sponsors) aired in part two of GMMTV's 2024 showcase, and especially after the trailer (cut from the actual series) aired, I thought ThamePo looked like it would become one of the strongest series GMMTV has ever made.

So far, even though we're only four episodes in, it's well surpassing my expectations. Apparently, it's a passion project that the director had in the making for five years, waiting for the right casting to come along, so based on that alone, it's a series made with love. And I have a soft spot for passion projects. <3

Still, the top criterion I judge all series by is the quality of the writing, and since ThamePo's director is also a seasoned screenwriter who developed the script, this is one of the strongest aspects of the series so far.

Over the past four episodes, we've seen our protagonist's flaws (people-pleasing, projecting, temper) and strengths (resourcefulness, observational skill, cleverness), what he wanted (to return to the creative working world) and how it's changing (to reunite MARS). We've met the public version of Thame, the shallow version of Thame that Po misread, and the private version of Thame trying to make amends with his friends. We've met three of those friends (Jun, Dylan, and Pepper) and have hints about the fourth (Nano), and each friend we've met has given us more insight into the kind of person Thame is and what he's done to try and protect his group as the leader.

Since the main conflict of the story appears to be Thame being forced to choose between his band or his new boyfriend—

—Thame's relationship with Po has to move at quite a quick clip so he's emotionally invested enough in their relationship that it's a difficult choice. He's already extremely attached to his friends, so I'd argue one of the biggest challenges in the writing was having him fall in love with Po convincingly fast without it feeling forced by the hand of the screenwriter.

And daaamn has that been well-accomplished, in my opinion.

First, Po gets his Y/N moment.

It's established in the first episode that Thame saw Po at a fanmeeting once and remembered him because Po did something kind for someone when he didn't have to. Presumably because Thame's in a fairly cutthroat industry where people are constantly vying for his attention, maneuvering him like a chess piece, or flat-out ignoring him, that small act of kindness was probably one of the bright points of his day, week, or even month. Especially as things started falling apart with the other members.

In that same episode, we see Po projecting the heartbreak from his previous relationship onto Thame.

And in return, Thame—who spends most of the next episode docilely doing whatever he's told to do by the company—allows some of what he's hidden to show out of frustration presumably brought on by being so thoroughly misunderstood and chastised by a stranger he used to think well of and now suspects of being a sasaeng.

Because both characters are in such vulnerable places emotionally, it translates well to the narrative when they start to depend on one another.

On Po's end, his recent breakup has left him feeling foolish and exposed, taken advantage of by a man who refused to acknowledge Po's sacrifices or show any true appreciation for all the work Po did to see him succeed.

Meanwhile, Thame is alone in every way that matters.

His parents are neglectful,

his friends abandoned him,

and his boss is manipulating him.

At the start, Po is quite literally the only ally he has.

It's because Po kept at him to be honest, to be sincere, that Thame woke up and decided to fight for himself.

And because Thame is doing something for himself for a change, that's what wins back his closest friend Jun.

What I love about this whole narrative is that it's already established from Po's previous relationship that he's the kind of person to give himself entirely to a cause for someone else's benefit. He helped Earn to his own detriment, he picked up a small child so she could see, and he's risking his job to help Thame find happiness and peace.

So it's entirely in-character for him to, say, go through a whole room filled with boxes of rejected song lyrics trying to find one piece of paper that he had to tape back together. Only for it not to matter, because Thame mended fences with Dylan on his own.

I'd argue this is what makes Po think, Maybe I'm too emotionally involved in this. Especially after Jun has point-blank told him that Thame would never be interested in him that way.

We see the moment Po doubts his enthusiastic support of this whole project.

And it's clear that this could have been where it ended for Po.

Until Thame, observant and kind and the polar opposite of Earn, says exactly the right thing to him.

Because that was the major breaking point for Po in his relationship with Earn. He was made to feel disposable. Extraneous. Unnecessary. But Thame recognizes the work he's done, the effort he's put in. He may be reuniting the group for his own satisfaction, but he's not so selfish that he can let Po's contributions go unobserved and unappreciated.

Then, y'know. Thame talks to Po until he falls asleep—

—and serenades him in the morning.

And the thing is! Knowing all we know about Thame—that his parents don't seem to care about him, that he's been isolated from his friends, that he's been made helpless in his own career for so long after being manipulated into signing contracts that restrict his freedom—it makes sense for him to be the one pursuing Po this hard. Just as much as it makes sense for recently heartbroken Po to be interested and yet hesitant.

Setting all of this up in four episodes while covering the entire backstory of MARS and their gradual reunion is a feat of excellent writing. We have a reason to care about Thame and Po's relationship, because it's been clearly shown to us that they bring out the best in each other and that they're willing, even at this early stage, to take risks for each other. We've also got reason to care about MARS, because they seem to be more family to Thame than his own, and they're his current priority.

I'm genuinely thrilled to see such solid writing come from a GMMTV series because as I've said before, they seem more and more recently to chuck first drafts on an assembly line and just assume the fandom will watch anything regardless of the quality as long as certain khuujin are cast as the leads (which, y'know, isn't untrue).

While I enjoy some GMMTV QL series as mindless fluff to watch with friends, there are very few I'd say are written well. Apart from ThamePo, only five other series I've seen have what I'd consider well-executed scripts: Pluto (2024), Be My Favorite (2023), Dark Blue Kiss (2019), SOTUS S (2017), and SOTUS (2016). Sadly, I think Not Me (2022) was on track to be one of the best with its first half, but the production was infamously neglected with episodes cut by GMMTV at the last minute and the script deprived of major edits that left the second half almost shallow by comparison. (Of course, Not Me had a host of censorship issues as well, so we may never know how much that interfered with the quality. It's still an incredible series for its ambition and for Nuchy's directing, and I'll be mad every day of my reincarnation cycle that it didn't get the writing support it deserved.)

Otherwise, nearly every GMMTV series I've seen has at least one major basic storytelling flaw (no character arc, a sloppy resolution, unconvincing setup, weak characterization, excess filler, etc.), and they seem to be first drafts with very little depth. With that in mind, I hope to see ThamePo do well enough that it sends a message to GMMTV that they should focus more on the writing of their series. I think based on what we've seen in the first four episodes and in the trailer, the script quality is reliable, and ThamePo's relationship may be one of the best-written we've seen yet. <3