#<- both affectionally and in a derogatory way | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

msschemmenti · 8 months ago

Text

emily (derogatory) 🐮

jemily x reader

a/n: short and sweet lil drabble because i’ve got baby fever

“yeah?” y/n answered the phone distractedly.

jj and emily frowned in confusion as the younger woman’s voice filtered though the cell phone. her voice almost cartoony as she spoke. “baby? is that you?” jj asked.

“uh huh, what’s up?” y/n continued in the same voice.

“um, we just got back from the case and were about to head home.” emily supplied.

“yeah, do you need anything?” jj asked.

“oh yes! would you guys stop by the store and get me some baby wipes and a pack of pacifiers?” y/n asked sweetly.

“sure baby.” jj agreed, still very confused.

emily, forever direct piped in next, “is this some new kink youre exploring? we’ll get it but i’ll be honest i don’t know if i can get down with the whole little girl thing.”

the line went silent for a second before y/n scoffed in disbelief, “em honey, i mean this in the nicest way possible. shut up.” y/n heard the older woman huff and jj’s laugh. “it’s not for me, it’s for my niece who im watching this weekend.”

both women ‘oh’ in understanding and emily very sheepishly apologizes but y/n just shakes her head and bids them farewell. she looks down at the baby in her lap and grins before tickling her belly. “auntie’s girlfriend is a little crazy!” she cooed causing her niece to giggle.

when y/n swung the door open, both jj and emily’s hearts nearly melted at the sight of the baby resting on her hip. the littler girl was nestled into their girlfriends side, her tiny fingers wrapped around the necklace on her neck. the sight was absolutely adorable. “hi,” y/n smiled, turning to walk back into the house.

jj was the first to follow, itching to get her hands on that baby. “well hello there. who is this angel?”

emily closed the door and followed both women to the living room and fell into an arm chair across from the couch and watched.

“this is charlotte, but i call her lottie.” y/n grinned down at the baby, turning her to face both jj and emily. “isn’t she just the cutest?”

“oh she sure is, she’s got a head full of hair! gosh i bet your sister had crazy heart burn.” jj cooed reaching out to tickle charlotte’s stomach. the baby giggled and smiled at the blonde fondly. “she’s just about as cute as her auntie.” jj grinned allowing the baby to wrap her cubby hand around her index finger. it wasn’t long before charlotte was leaning her head toward jj and it was taking everything in her not to completely melt into a puddle.

y/n chuckled taking the hint, “lottie, i get it i get it i know she’s pretty.” y/n peaked around her niece’s head to check to see if jj was okay to take the baby and when she saw the way she was cooing and nodding at charlotte she extended her arms softly— passing charlotte over.

jj instantly melted against the back of the couch, attention fully capture by the baby. y/n watched, very familiar with the power little charlotte yielded. “oh charlotte! you are just so perfect.”

emily watched the scene fondly, she’d always loved watch jj with children and she wasn’t surprised that that had extended to y/n. jj so easily slipped into the high pitched baby talk and charlotte was in love. y/n rose from the couch and draped herself over emily’s lap with a soft kiss. “hi.”

emily tore her eyes from jj and the baby and squeezed y/n’s waist affectionately, “hi yourself.” y/n pressed a kiss to emily’s cheek before leaning into her side comfortably.

“hope you guys weren’t hoping for a wild and crazy weekend in the streets, my sister’s husband is having some sort of procedure and she’ll have to take care of him for the next couple days. and i’m obviously lottie’s favorite so im a mother for the weekend.” y/n explained.

“when do we ever have crazy weekends in the streets… now had you said sheets,” emily teased with a knowing smirk.

“god, if you weren’t so hot i’d wonder how you pulled any women being that dorky.” y/n teased causing emily to poke her side playfully.

“i am hot, aren’t i?” emily grinned.

“yeah and dorky as hell.”

emily pinched at the younger woman’s side and turned to reply but both women froze under jj and charlotte’s gaze, “look charlotte, your auntie and emily are being very naughty right now, aren’t they? i’m sure they don’t want me to separate them.” jj warned with a smile causing both y/n and emily to sink back into the chair sheepishly.

somehow, emily had been left to sit with charlotte while she finished her nap. jj had run home to collect appropriate clothes for the weekend and y/n was showering for bed. charlotte was laying on her back on the floor surrounded by pillows and blankets. and emily, well she’d started off lounging across the couch but charlotte had made a weird noise and somehow emily had ended up on the floor right next to her. watching her chest rise and fall attentively.

being that close and paying that much attention means when charlotte’s eyes suddenly twitched and her mouth twitch, emily’s eyes widened. the shower was still running and she knew jj wouldn’t be back soon enough. so when charlotte’s eyes locked on emily’s they both just stared a bit. emily had experience with children from the job but she hadn’t had to put anything she knew into practice in quite some time.

“hey.” she spoke staring down at the baby. no baby talk in sight. charlotte, as if she understood, groaned back her own greeting. “your auntie and jj are busy so it’s just us for right now.” charlotte huffed and emily too that as a response of course. “huh, you’re pretty smart. beauty and brains. definitely got that from your auntie.” emily brought her hand up to adjust the huge bow y/n had insisted on putting on the baby but charlotte caught her finger easily and pulled it toward her mouth. “nope, you can’t eat people. your auntie is really scared of cannibalism and i think she’d be really upset if she found out you tried to eat my finger. she really likes them.” emily monologued and tried to pull her fingers away from the baby.

charlotte didn’t like that. she didn’t like that one bit and when her face started to contort emily sighed and gave in to the big brown eyes staring back at her. “fine fine, no need to cry. you can have my pinky— we don’t get much use out of it anyway.”

after a while charlotte started losing interest in her fingers and reached for the necklace hanging from her neck. and then somehow emily had started making noises to entertain charlotte. she’d stumbled on animal sounds at some point and that turned out to be her biggest mistake.

“what does a cow say? you probably haven’t even seen a cow yet. just know they sound like this—“ emily leaned over and ‘moo’d’ quietly at charlotte. charlotte’s eyes widened and her tiny little lip trembled and before emily knew what was happening she was wailing. and of course like some sort of mothers intuition both y/n and jj suddenly appeared rushing to soothe the baby.

“emily what happened?” jj asked as she ran a hand over charlotte’s head while y/n bounced her against her chest.

“did you know if you moo at babies, they’ll cry?” emily shrugged sheepishly up at the women from the floor.

“emily…” both of her girlfriends groaned shaking their heads.

#criminal minds #emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds x reader #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau x reader #jennifer jareau #jemily #jemily x reader #msschemmenti

313 notes · View notes

crooked-wasteland · 27 days ago

Note

According to helluva fans…asking for sex then hesitating before being persuaded, is sexual assault because you showed a moment of hesitation? Wow they are morons.

Stolas a prince, was sober enough to dismiss guards then escort someone technically now in his custody, to his bedroom and lock the door until he got sex, then brag about it to his wife the next day and months after. These fans and even some criticals must have been closing their eyes during the entire hallway scene where stolas straight up tells blitz “follow me, imp” and tells him not to speak.

But in my opinion Medrano didn’t intend this scene to be as rapey as it was. To her it’s both hot and funny. I can’t help think how many pornos there are of scenes just like this, where someone traps someone else in a bedroom. And all the pornos where two guys go at it in secret while the wife is in the next room. It’s pure sleaze.

Just a warning, this one is a bit rambling, but this is why many of my drafts never end up finished because they touch on so many different things that I get stuck in my approach. I'm just throwing everything out as I write and so there are some tangents.

I apologize if that gets confusing.

I'm sure the intention was some kind of sexual thriller vibe. But I think the whole scene simply lacks coherence and so people grab what they can from the episode.

I didn't have a real place to put this in my 2-parter, but Stolas is just weird, in a derogatory way. Taking him as a whole, he's a gross, weird, ultra-powerful noble whose opening line is nothing if not wantonly sexual towards someone he literally doesn't know.

On the other hand, you see the consequences of why redundant scenes are such a problem. The sequence of Stolas flirting with Blitz is a terrible, uncomfortable, and insane first draft scene that someone forgot to delete. Everything from when they enter the room to when they sit down is why a lot of people see Stolas as being enthusiastically consenting the entire time.

No one provoked that characterization out of him. He both doesn't remember Blitz's name, but also believes it would be totally normal to conclude that the kid from his childhood he only met once showed up 25 years later just to have sex. This is Stolas just being Stolas without the thought of cheating up until this point being an option to him. But the moment he lays eyes on that guy he only vaguely remembers, Stolas is revving like a college sophomore tailgating in his raised pickup after a frat party.

This is just bizarre. There is no way to justify this sort of character other than perverse and debauched. That the second he was alone with some man of a much lower status, and thus powerless and harmless, he goes from trying to endure his loveless marriage to fantasizing about some rugged, long-lost childhood friend (who, once again, he doesn't know the name of) coming to (affectionately) steal him away from it all instantly.

That's insane. That's an insane person. That's a villain in their own right. That is season 1 Ice King from Adventure Time. There is no way to really forgive this kind of character without some heavy overhauling.

Which is a problem because they already set up their Ice King redemption arc in LooLoo Land. While The Circus is a prequel, it was also the show's last chance to get the main relationship's connection right.

For some reason they didn't just rewrite season 1 after realizing they wanted to go in a different direction by Ozzie's, but that would have been more money and more time. This is also why you should have a lot of pre-planning. I also get Murder Family being a soft relaunch pilot and the contents of that episode not being canon as the team got a clearer image of what they wanted from the story.

But Season 2 really was that last chance. Being Indie and generous to their limited experience, Spindlehorse had a rare opportunity to take 3 bites of the same apple. They whiffed every one. I think it's reasonable to be unforgiving of these sort of mistakes this late in the process.

There's only so many times you can claim to be learning and make these sort of rookie mistakes before people stop accepting your third and fourth drafts after the fact. And I think Medrano has hit her limit following Mastermind when I see comments on her Instagram asking who lied to her in reference to her writing being better.

Anyway, that is the same problem here, but much closer together. The momentum of the scene with Stolas initiating conversation with Blitz that is clearly implied to be expecting sex at some point in the interaction get reset as Stolas and Blitz sit down on the chaise.

We have a clear delineation of two alternate realities where in one Stolas is just happy to reconnect with someone he, for some reason, considers an old friend, and another where expecting sex in this situation is just "normal?".

Meanwhile Blitz makes two plans that are exactly the same in order to get the book. Yet both times are shown to be "the moment" his character decides how he is going to get what he wants.

And because both of them are here in the finished product, we as an audience have no choice but to try and make these coexist in one time and space.

For anyone to keep their sanity, they have to choose one or the other. And it seems to me that the fans see the original setup as being "Just a joke", which is a whole host of problems on its own.

You should not be stopping the story completely and making your own blooper reel inside the main portion of your narrative. Any joke that stops the momentum and actively needs to be unwritten to maintain the flow needs to be deleted.

Which, for simplicity sake, when I use words like "unwritten" I specifically mean the act of writing around something that has already been canonized in order to "undo" the impact of it.

Like when Stella suddenly calls Striker to call off the assassination because her brother had to redefine her own motivation because the writers felt they had written themselves into a corner.

Or when Stolas comes out of nowhere in Full Moon monologuing about how the book deal wasn't right and that he wanted to end it, out of nowhere really. No moment of the show is spent showing us how Stolas learns from his mistake to get to that point, it very obviously is a rushed and hand-fisted way of telling an audience to stop bringing it up, instead of actually having the characters work through the conflict.

That is what I mean by un-writing. Its the literary equivalent of a new coat of paint on a condemned building infested with black mold.

Retconning would be never addressing the change or shift at all and moving forward with that change. Which can be done well by professionals through the lens of recontexualizing. Creating distance where you can and having characters face consequences for their actions and actively grow when you can't just ignore it.

Ozzie's is an example of a retcon as Stolas never once made clear that he was infatuated with Blitz at all. It almost succeeded with just recontexualizing the characters and their relationship if they had insisted that this was something new for Stolas. Instead they then went and made The Circus. Which recontexualized Ozzie's as a hard, amateur, retcon.

In the Circus, everyone is choosing a narrative between the two scenes on where to start. Does it start when they sit down or when they enter the room. From my understanding, all critics begin the scene when Stolas locks the door.

Meanwhile fans put that scene (and a lot of other ones like it) in a bubble and slap a label on as "JOKE" and then continue the story after Blitz and Stolas sit down. Meaning they see Blitz as the instigator.

Which is necessary, because the 8 month gap between season 1 and 2 was long enough for people to start questioning key plot points that definitely contradicted Medrano's direction in Ozzie's. By this point, Stolas was being eviscerated for how his offer to cuddle in the season finale was rightfully turned down and how Blitz had no reason to believe Stolas saw Blitz as more than a sexual object. Not just from their dinner in the episode, but as a retrospective. Looking back over the whole season as a singular entity made people less fond of Stolas.

Frankly, his whole change of heart on Ozzie's feels like he's trying to use Blitz emotionally like he does sexually, and Blitz's response is extremely valid.

They run into the same situation here. Can't give up the gross sexual humor because Medrano finds that hilarious. So let's awkwardly un-write around that very clear sexual predator scene by having Stolas say:

I'm not someone who believes you can lead someone on, but Stolas did way too much.

People accused of "leading on" guys don't apprehend those men, lead them through their private residence to their bedroom, lock themselves with the man inside, and explicitly state that they desire sex with a word that practically spells out a kink for consensual non-consent.

No one has ever put that much effort just to turn around and say "I was only teasing". Even if you swear you're only teasing, you are the asshole in that instance. Of course no one deserves to be sexually assaulted regardless what they do; but how can you try and defend yourself when you literally were asking for it?

It's one of those situations where black and white thinking cannot function and I know by how people respond to this part, whether or not they are mature enough to be on my page. Because no one deserves something bad happening to them, no matter how terrible they are. But this specific situation is so murky between the power dynamics (if Stolas didn't actually want it, he could kill Blitz consequences free. And we have also seen he will kill someone even if his life is not actually in jeopardy in Loo Loo Land) but also the actions the characters have taken to show enthusiastic consent.

And even still, prior to Blitz biting Stolas, he didn't actually do anything sexual. He is simply flirting and moving Stolas around the room as a literal means of control. What about any of Blitz's actions is sexual in this sequence?

But again, this is such a demented and bizarre setup that literally no one in real life will ever be in this exact situation, and the characters themselves are not real. So unreal people in an unreal situation that isn't even remotely plausible in reality, I'm coming down hard on the side of, Fuck off, Stolas consented and he's not really revoking consent either, and even still Blitz has no intention of having sex with him anyway. So no, Blitz is not doing anything wrong, sexually speaking.

If Blitz isn't just answering a direct question in a suggestive tone, he's repeating back Stolas' question in a suggestive tone. Mainly because you can't answer this:

With:

It isn't until Stolas is enthusiastically consenting that Blitz does have sex with him or does anything sexual towards him. No one can even guarantee that Blitz knew biting Stolas would turn him on, it was just something to distract Stolas. These are hypotheticals asking about the mindset of a person who doesn't have a mind. Any clues to motivation are limited to facts on screen. Blitz acted impulsively, it worked out for him and resulted in Stolas' enthusiastic consent.

Which, by the way, pity sex sits just over the border of dubious consent for me. Sure, it's a choice, but one by definition made under the duress of one's own emotions. No one enjoys pity sex. Everyone who has had pity sex has always written it off as a regrettable night.

And while regret is not non-consent, doing anything from pity is the cause of feeling pressured. Factors can be internal or external. External factors push it closer to non consent, internal ones keep it as dubious consent, but my understanding of how people experience pity (especially people who suffer from abandonment issues) keeps me from seeing pity as being cleanly consensual.

Pity as an emotion is an interesting one, as my own relationship with the emotion is one I have processed and worked through. With my own history of trauma, I was a lot more desperate in how I pitied other people. It was like, I felt so bad for them that I had to do something to make me not pity them anymore, because the feeling was too uncomfortable for me.

As an over 30-year-old adult and having gone through extensive work on my mental health, pity is something distant to me. It's not a motivator to me now, but it very much was when I was less mentally well. And I often see reflections of that in how people online behave. So I assume that most people who would latch onto this show would also experience Pity with an unusual intensity.

I'm very much open to hearing other's experiences in this regard.

But anyway, yes. Stolas claims to be "teasing", it holds no weight. Also, Stolas even just saying that he meant it all as some big joke is a certified "dick move". It's not funny, it's gross and weird. It just makes Stolas look more gross and more weird.

But the only reason he says this is because he said that weird crap by the door. So the fact that the scene by the door is being referenced after the tone shift removes the ability to just completely cut out chunks of the story and call it a joke. It was an attempt at minimizing Stolas' culpability after having him instigate the sexual direction the scene went in, trying to throw a hot potato so that the writers can claim that they are equally at fault.

Meanwhile, this is Blitz:

Looking like he licked the seat of a toilet bowl even as he's walking to the window to leave.

There is so much whiplash between him trying to get into it, only for Stolas to physically disgust him. And that amount of disgust somehow turning around completely is a hard one to tango with.

Emotions, at least in literature, run on Newton's Laws of Gravity. In order to change a character's emotions you need an bigger and opposite emotion.

So conceptualizing Blitz's disgust as a sphere the size of the moon, in order for that disgust to turn into pity, especially a level of pity that would make Blitz push past his disgust and have sex with the weird, gross guy out of pity, that's an emotional nuke the size of the sun.

So Blitz being Stolas' friend is more important to Blitz than his own repulsion to Stolas.

That's a lot of character development that makes the whole sequence viscerally uncomfortable, and that's just from Blitz's side. That's not even touching on Stolas and how repulsive we as an audience see him behave.

But that also relies on having your own experiences to really feel for the characters. Before ever considering having sex myself, this sort of story would have been edgy fun. I would have also been 13 and not an adult, but still. I would have found this whole setup stupid sexy fun. As an adult who has experienced sexual assault and consensual sex, as well as having a long-term partner, I feel Blitz's disgust as strongly as he does.

Him changing his mind cannot be something unimportant. Just like there was too much work done to make Stolas a fucking creep, too much was done to show how revolting Blitz found Stolas. It is perfect for Blitz's character, but not for the narrative Medrano is trying to tell.

Blitz's character consistency is too on point for Medrano to cope, and she shows by how she Un-Writes her stories that she doesn't know how to tell a story. The second her characters are faced with a problem, that problem is resolved in the laziest and least impactful way.

Did any of this make sense? Not going to take my own advice and just throw up my first draft. Hopefully someone likes it.

#vivziepop critical #helluva boss critical #vivziepop criticism #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #spindlehorse critical #anon ask #vivienne medrano #helluva long post #helluva critical #stolas critical #the circus was foreshadowing #of all the ways the show was going to keep getting it wrong #you can actually see every mistake in season 2 in episode 1

57 notes · View notes

butterflydm · 2 months ago

Text

Wheel of Time 3x07 Deep Dive (show spoilers)

Spoilers through 3x07 of the show - show spoilers only.

This was very emotionally heavy and tied together a lot of threads for Perrin.

First, a minor correction for my 3x06 deep dive: I said that Egwene successfully pushed Bair & Melaine out of her dream before she was yanked into TAR to be taunted, but a rewatch of that bit clarifies that it was actually Lanfear who shunted away the Wise Ones and then locked them out so that she could snatch Egwene, which explains why Egwene decided to keep training instead of confronting Rand right away. Egwene looks triumphant after Bair & Melaine disappear, which is why I originally thought that she'd succeeded, but Bair & Melaine's words after Egwene wakes up make it clear that that was Lanfear's doing and not Egwene's. So the show does provide a reason why Egwene delays her conversation with Rand.

Okay, now for 3x07!

Much like I wonder how s2 might have played if they'd been able to get Thom's actor back (if we assume that he would have been in Rand's Cairhien storyline... though it's equally possible that he would have been in Mat's storyline instead, which might have meant a different storyline for Min), I wonder how this episode would have played if they'd been able to get Tam's actor this season. I feel like some of the beats that might have gone to Tam went to Maksim instead, since Tam's experience in the Illian army would have likely meant he was the primary person leading and training the Two Rivers' archers.

I do think Maksim works well in this role, but I do wonder how the plotline would have played with Tam around. That's one of the major downsides about the way that shows are renewed these days -- less likely to be able to get those actors for minor characters back in for their established roles (I'm glad we were able to get Aram and Ila back for their roles in this episode! It would not have been the same trying to play those beats with new actors/characters).

That's also why Maksim is here at all -- I believe it was confirmed in one of Rafe's interviews that Maksim was originally going to be the Warder to die in 3x01 but when they lost Ihvon's original actor to another show and had to recast him, it made sense to have Maksim survive instead, since he was the actor that audiences would be more familiar with. It's funny how all that behind-the-scenes stuff ends up affecting the show in big ways and small.

I really like that in the shot we get of Perrin looking around, we see Alanna training Bode & Eldrin but we can't see their weaves. The nature of how television works means that we can't always see that distinction because the show wants the audience to know that channeling is happening and to see the weaves, so it's nice to get these little moments like this one, where Perrin is unable to see channeling weaves.

Bode and Eldrin get a nice little arc in the few episodes that they got this season and it's really nice how we've gotten to see them grow into feeling like more distinct characters and not just "Mat's little sisters".

I also love the thread started here for the al'Seen boys teasingly (but affectionately) calling Perrin "Lord Perrin" and "Lord Goldeneyes" here, only for it to come back at the ending of the episode being said with true admiration, because Perrin has earned it, both through blood and through diplomacy.

The return of the Tuatha'an! I mentioned this above, but I'm so glad that the show was able to get Aram & Ila back for this. We needed them to really make those emotional beats him.

I will say, one thing that I've seen adhered to better on tumblr than any other place online that I've checked out about the show is remembering to call them "Tuatha'an" instead of "Tinkers" (which they explicitly say is used as a derogatory term, back when we first meet them). Perrin, who knows them and has some understanding of their ways and who respects them, always calls them Tuatha'an.

The thread of the Aiel & the Tuatha'an is done so well in this episode, with the audience now in on their secret shared past -- both Aiel and Tuatha'an are Oathbreakers in opposite directions. The Aiel forsook the Way of the Leaf and the Tuatha'an forsook their duty to the Aes Sedai. The world was in so much turmoil that it became impossible to hold to both oaths.

I really do love that we had Ila directly quoting Jonai/Adan in this episode as well -- "We bury our dead and we go on. What else is there?" -- because it shows us how the Tuatha'an held onto what helped them survive but let go of what didn't. That's why they've forgotten the song. They never settled anywhere, so their policy of constantly moving for their own safety was continually reinforced. But what use is a harvest song to people who don't harvest?

And we get the thread of Ila being disappointed at Perrin carrying a weapon -> being disappointed at Aram for picking up a weapon -> admiring Perrin for choosing to put his weapon down and peacefully surrender himself to Dain. Much like Adan, Ila is firm in her convictions, despite the heartbreak and loss that she has suffered in her life. When Adan lost all his family but his grandfather, he carried on, determined never to abandon his oaths. And when his own grandson took up violence, he was unable to look at him the same way ever again, which we see in Ila at the end of this episode. She has spent her entire life living by the Way of the Leaf, and she genuinely believes that it would have been better for Aram to let himself be killed by that Trolloc than pick up a weapon in his own defense or the defense of others.

Aram, on the other hand, has been shaken by his losses. He is not so committed to the Way of the Leaf that he is willing to die for it, or let innocent people die for it. For the Aiel, this choice of being willing to use violence was both a harsh one (being cast out from their people) but also the only way that any of them survived (and, indeed, thrived). But the Two Rivers has the ability to be kinder and softer than the Three-Fold Land was for the Aiel, and Aram is able to be accepted by Marin and the rest of the Two Rivers people, embraced as one of them, and given Perrin's old role as a blacksmith.

I am once again struck by how the show chooses to be kind in so many little ways. There is just an inherent kindness in so many of the choices that the show has made, like how Tam found Rand's mother before she died, and gave her comfort as she was giving birth. Such a lovely grace note of compassion.

And, in particular, making the Two Rivers the source of this unexpected kindness a second time feels like it's going to continue to be an importance note for the future -- Two Rivers people are stubborn but they are also kind. And both of those are things that they would reinforce in their children (even those not of their blood, like Rand).

Once again, I am thanking the show for being much freer with letting men hug each other than the books are.

Faile, Bain, & Chiad come in together after the Tuatha'an -- doing some more scouting, like they were doing in the previous episode. Those three do have a lot in common in their general outlook on life, which makes sense. Faile talks about being from a military family and Saldaea is one of the Borderlands country, near the Blight, and so likely has faced Trollocs before. Much like Bain & Chiad grew up with violence and adversity, so did Faile. Plus, Faile doesn't use swords, which probably earns her some bonus points.

We get another (minor) example of how Aram is not feeling as committed to the Way of the Leaf as Ila, as Aram is clearly tempted to eat the food that Marin offers him (with the meat "picked out" but cooked in) while Ila thanks Marin but clearly has no intention of eating it (and looks over at Aram when it seems like he might, and he also puts his own bowl down).

Interesting note is that... we don't actually get any indication in the Rhuidean episode that the "Way of the Leaf" meant not eating meat, not that I can recall.

In fact, Lewin justifies being able to use a spear by saying that it can put food into the pots (a justification still used by Aviendha in 3x02). The Way of the Leaf, as used by the Aiel in 3x04, appears to be about violence against other people, while over the centuries, the Tuatha'an have adopted it into every aspect of their lives. I really like that implication of cultural drift there. Both the Aiel and the Tuatha'an have drifted away from the original Aiel and how they behaved and believed, each of them drifting into deeper extremes away from each other and with each side pitying the other.

The way that we can see Aram questioning Ila, questioning his entire way of life. I really really like that we were given time for all of this.

I also like that Faile observes all this without feeling the need to push back against the inter-group discussion that Aram and Ila are having with Perrin. And Perrin trying to ease the conversation by speaking in the same kind of poetical language that Ila often uses re: leaves and whatnot. Perrin just... show!Perrin just really has a lot of respect for other people and cultures and sees value in them, and I really love that about him. He comes across as very perceptive and thoughtful about other people, and able to consider their perspective and speak their language to them.

And then we shift to Bain & Chiad, who think that Aram is cute but would never touch him because they see him as a "tinker boy. coward. lost one." High amounts of dramatic irony now that we've seen their history in 3x04, but tracks with what Aviendha said about the Tuatha'an back in 3x03 -- "the only thing less honorable than refusing to defend yourself is attacking those who refuse to defend themselves". This is, basically, cope on a cultural level. The surviving Aiel, over time, had to justify their choice to abandon the Way of the Leaf and came to the conclusion that choosing to follow the Way of the Leaf was the coward's choice. And now that belief is baked into their culture at its very foundation.

Also, this might be the first time that we've seen Bain express an attraction for someone before Chiad did, so that's interesting. Usually we've seen Bain following Chiad's lead, but that gets flipped a couple of times in this episode.

Poor Alanna is getting flashbacks to trying to teach the other Two Rivers girls here, when Bode and Eldrin want to rush ahead to learn battle weaves, lol. Now that they are less traumatized, they are getting to show more of their personalities. And now we bring in Daise as someone who can channel but was never trained -- also a Wisdom, like Nynaeve. Given what we saw of the women's circle ceremony and how 'listening to the wind' was explained to us, it seems likely that the majority of the Wisdoms over the years have been self-taught channelers, never quite realizing what it was that they were doing, only knowing that it worked to help their people. The last remnants of lost Manetheren, like the song that they no longer remember the depth of history behind.

I really liked what we got in Maksim and Alanna's relationship here, and throughout most of the season. We've watched the way that losing a Warder can affect both the Aes Sedai and a fellow Warder, and we've gotten to see a poly throuple navigate through the loss of one third of their relationship, and figure out how to communicate again.

The unfurling of the wolf banner! This works so well in the show. I love how it looks homemade and fairly simple. It's lovely and the light shining through the material really makes the wolf stand out. And Faile talking Perrin into leaving it up also works really well for me. Pointing out to him that his people are drawing strength from him because he is one of them, and that they don't want outside leadership -- they want it from one of their own. It's a good conversation.

"What if I'm not ready?" "Of course you're not."

feels like a good companion to the Moiraine & Rand exchange from 3x04:

"Ready?" "No." (goes forward anyway)

In some ways, this episode is about Perrin learning the lesson that Rand has already learned about duty -- you might never be 'ready' but the job has to get done anyway, so you need to go ahead and do it, even if you don't feel prepared for it. Because the world (village) is depending on you, and time is short.

Perrin offers an apology for killing Dain's father, but also points out that Dain has allowed people to die over his own grief as well (Natti Cauthon). He points out that if Dain really does believe in the tenants of the Children of the Light, then he should help the villagers fight off the Trollocs.

We don't see the actual decision-making process for the Whitecloaks, but I'm guessing that Valda was arguing against helping while Fain was arguing in favor (but with his ulterior motives).

From what Dain says later on in the episode, the deciding factor for him was what Perrin says here near at the end of the discussion:

"Why should we fight for you?" "Because it's the right thing to do."

Once again, in this conversation with Dain, we see Perrin applying empathy and respect for the other person involved, as he makes this deal with Dain -- if the Whitecloaks help out, then I'll turn myself over to your justice. And he means it, as we see at the end of the episode. When Perrin makes a deal, he abides by the terms.

Another great relationship thread through this episode was Loial and the Maidens -- we saw them first show interest in playing Maiden's Kiss with Loial back in 3x01 and Loial saving Chiad's life and her owing toh towards him -- we've seen them be genuinely interested in his lessons about history (which continues here) and, when he's reminded of Rand here (their "Car'a'carn"), he acts to do what he can to try to send them back home to safety, using ji'e'toh as the means to try to do so. Everything about this trio in the episode was golden.

We also do get that blatant reminder of Rand here -- there are only two points in the episode when he gets mentioned, and both times it's used to tie him to the 'bigger picture' of the world. Here, it's as the Car'a'carn and because the name of his adopted family is similar to that of the last king of Manetheren. Later, Fain will mention that the purpose of bringing the Trolloc army here was to teach "the Dragon Reborn" a lesson by wiping his hometown off the map.

Last moments before potential death -- we had that in 1x07 too, and saw how it can bring people together or have people to try to protect others: Alanna and Maksim finding their own balance in the absence of Maksim, the last of Alanna's ashes wiped off of her face. Perrin trying to send Faile away for her own protection, and their prickly cultural clash that ends up in honesty and emotional vulnerability (confessing that his biggest fear isn't death, but failing his people and getting them killed). Loial trying to send away Bain and Chiad for their survival, and the way both sides play with ji'e'toh to try to get the result that they want (Bain & Chiad are the ji'e'toh experts, so they win).

We also get it confirmed here that Maiden's Kiss can be a deadly game, which is another example of how far the Aiel and the Tuatha'an have drifted apart. Even Aiel games can be fatal (though given Bain & Chiad's actions here, they probably would have found an excuse not to kill Mat if things had gone against him). And we get our other flip of the Bain & Chiad dynamic, where Bain is now the one who owes Loial toh, and Chiad is the one who will follow her.

Though Natti did die to save her girls, we see that the damage of her and Abell's parenting still affect the twins too, even though Mat tried to protect them from it -- they've internalized the idea that "Cauthons aren't worth much". Perrin pushes back against that narrative, and tells them that Mat is a hero now, who blew the Horn of Valere. Again, we get some cuteness here as the twins relax enough to show a personality that's a bit more like Mat's, and they playfully mock the idea of Mat as the Hornblower. Very sweet moment that Faile also gets to share in.

Not sure how much I'm going to have to say about the actual battle, but once again I love how we see Perrin respecting other cultures -- for the Tuatha'an, he asks that they take the children away to safety if needed; and he trusts those willing and able to fight to protect everyone else. And you can see how much it means to Ila that Perrin is willing to trust her people with the children of the village.

Loial is the one who volunteers the idea of going to seal off the Waygate -- I'm guessing he'd already thought about it earlier and that's part of why he tried to send Bain & Chiad away. Sealing off the Waygate, even if he managed it before the Trolloc reinforcements arrived, leaves him with a very slim chance of survival, as he would need to make it to a new Waygate before any potential reinforcements arrived. He volunteers for this already knowing that he's likely going to die.

It really does make me think of the speech that he gave to the others in 2x08. "We are all the heroes of another Age's legends. It's time we act like it." He lives up to that speech. And he really gets such a heroic exit. I love Loial but this was a good death, narratively-speaking. He did something that no other character could do, using his own personal knowledge and abilities. He saved the entire village and thwarted the Dark One's plans. It's a good death.

It does make me cry when it happens, though. I'm actually tearing up a bit just writing about it and we're still in the "talking in the inn" section of the episode. It's a really lovely goodbye between Perrin and Loial. "Make sure we're remembered" but it's going to be Perrin making sure that Loial is remembered. And we get another example of Perrin noticing and respecting other people's customs when Perrin says, "Your name sings in my ears" to Loial as they say farewell.

Having "Weep for Manetheren" be here instead of a big speech is so perfect. I love how that comes back around from s1 and it is used so beautifully here. This bit of history/folklore that ties them together as a community, even half-forgotten, it serves as a rallying cry.

"Fucking wetlanders. Even their shadowrunners are soft."

Bain and Chiad are so funny. I love them. I'm glad that they survived and I know Loial would be grateful and relieved about it too.

The show continues to be good about following characters that we know in the middle of battles (they talked about this in one of the extras after 2x02, I think) and it really helps make it so that the battles aren't confusing.

I like the difference we see here between a true Aes Sedai linking with inexperienced channelers vs Amalisa messing up in 1x08 because she didn't know what she was doing and burned herself out because she didn't know how to let go of that much of the One Power once she was holding it. The art of letting go is probably one of the most important things to know before doing any kind of linking. And we get a reminder of how good channeling can feel when experiencing the link makes Daise Conger willing to give up drinking. Moonshine can't compare to the One Power!

And then Daise sacrifices herself to protect Alanna when she gets hit. Poor Alanna, she's so powerful and so good at what she does that she keeps needing to get hurt so that she can't OP her way through every situation. But it's also a good reminder that power doesn't make them invulnerable. She can still get taken out of a fight by a well-placed arrow.

We've seen now a few times that instinctive shields seem to have a similar look to them -- Egwene's in 2x08, Rand's in 3x06, and now Daise in 3x07 -- and that look differs from the Tower-trained shields. Or maybe Two Rivers' folk are all thinking about it in a particular way that leads their shields looking similar.

The Whitecloaks coming to help... but also Trojan Horsing the enemies inside the gates as well, which Perrin realizes when he hears that the pass was abandoned and then spots Padan Fain.

I do think that the Perrin and Dain have the potential for a very interesting dynamic next season (assuming for the moment that the ending of this episode was set-up for next season and crossing my fingers that we get renewed). Because Dain does not occupy the moral high ground here, and I do think he has the capability of realizing that as time passes.

The Women's Circle as the last line of defense before the Inn is breached. I really like that.

I believe we actually can hear threads of Mat's theme/Horn of Valere theme as soon as we enter the Ways with Loial when he's trying to break the Waygate (it cuts off when his strikes fail). And getting to hear the Aiel theme when Bain & Chiad get ready to fuck shit up. <3

One of the Trollocs was able to breach the line of the Women's Circle and get into the Inn, chasing after the Tuatha'an and the children. Aram gets to experience the Original Sin of the Aiel all over again, picking up a weapon in defense of his own life and the lives of others, and seeing his family distances themselves from him because of that impulsive choice. Because, when the rubber hit the road, Aram is not willing to die or allow innocent people to die because of his personal moral beliefs, and now he has to reforge new beliefs to replace the old ones.

Perrin experiences his greatest fear -- the Trollocs have breached into the Two Rivers and it looks like they're all going to die, this conversation between him and Faile, and the emotional tipping point that he comes to because of it, is so beautiful. And that great shot of the wolfhead banner. And Perrin using the hammer and the axe.

"What would you give for the Two Rivers?" "Everything." "Then show them."

And we get a beautifully-realized battle couple sequence with Perrin and Faile, where he knocks Trollocs & Darkfriends out, while trusting Faile to have his back and take care of anything that escapes him or slips behind him. They really balance each other, which is perfect in this sort of situation. He's the wrecking ball and she's the clean-up crew (with knives).

They also do a great job in this battle of showing the different people protecting the others in the battle.

This moment with Valda is fantastic -- we see him slipping away from the battle to try to hunt for 'witches' and Bode & Eldrin taking revenge for their mother's death, and Alanna's relief and joy over Valda's fiery death.

@markantonys mentioned this, but it's great how Perrin is able to pull together so many of the lessons he's learns over the season -- he asks Padan Fain why he's doing what he's doing, like Ingtar suggested that he should, and finds out that it's to try to hurt "the Dragon Reborn", which is useful information. It's useful to know that this is not a personal vendetta from Fain. And once the Waygate blows, he uses his wolf senses to tell that Fain is afraid, and he uses that as part of his bargain -- Fain being afraid to die means that Perrin has leverage, and he uses it.

And it shows that Perrin is able to control the battle-rage that terrified him so much after 1x01 and accidentally killing Laila.

Fain mentions the reinforcements, and it's time to return to Loial, as he realizes that he can't destroy the Waygate itself. He needs to destroy the bridge. Loial hums "Weep for Manetheren" to himself, steeling himself for his choice, and the Horn of Valere theme swells as Loial summons his strength for his final blows.

"They bought the land with their blood, long long ago."

(I cried again, of course. Very effective scene. Heartbreakingly heroic exit)

And Loial succeeds in cutting off the reinforcements, which means that Fain has lost his leverage. Perrin has the leverage now.

He's able to be practical and realize that Fain is more useful alive than dead, because if he's alive and afraid, then he might be willing to run away with the Trollocs, saving the lives of the people of the Two Rivers.

Perrin also now potentially has a reason to either try to get to Rand (once he's dealt with his Whitecloak plotline next season) or to send someone to Rand, because he has information -- the Dark One tried to send an army to destroy the Two Rivers in order to send Rand a message. So we've opened Perrin's plotline back up to the rest of the story.

The beard-pull kiss between Faile and Perrin is adorable. <3 And then the hugs commence between the Two Rivers people, and some forehead touching. Very nice triumphant moment for the village. <3

We pick up during repairs of the village, likely the morning after and now we're going to do their wrap-up for the season and set-up for s4 plots (at least that's how I'm interpreting a lot of this, since I assume that 3x08 will have very little of the Two Rivers plotline in it, as there was such a huge focus on it here).

Set-up for next season: where is Fain going with the remnants of his Trolloc army? What will he be up to next?

Set-up for next season: where does Alanna plan to take the girls, if not the White Tower? What are her plans? "The Pattern has bigger plans for us."

Wrap-up for this season: Aram has lost his previous home & family, but is offered a new home, to be the blacksmith of the Two Rivers, and it's clear that Marin will keep looking out for him. I wonder if he's realized that Marin is Egwene's mom. Did anyone say her last name in front of him? Well, he'll probably figure it out.

Wrap-up for this season: acknowledging Loial's sacrifice, and mourning his loss. "Life is a dream from which we all must wake before we can dream again. May your soul find water and shade, Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan. Your name sings in our ears." I really love Bain & Chiad merging one of Loial's customs with their own here, as they mourn him and bid him goodbye.

And Perrin reading the last lines of Loial's book. Very emotional.

Set-up for next season: Perrin gives himself up to the Whitecloaks, as per the bargain that he'd made before the battle. And we have Perrin asking Faile to respect his choice, just as he has respected hers. Very very good stuff. And Perrin quoting Ila to make his point -- he's decided that enough violence has happened here. He's not going to create more now, by fighting against this.

"Perrin Aybara, my friend."

"Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers."

Titles that Perrin has earned, through his actions and choices.

#wot #the wheel of time #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot s3 spoilers #wheel of time s3 spoilers #butterfly watches wot #wot meta #my wot meta #wot 3x07 spoilers

60 notes · View notes

bountycancelled · 1 year ago

Text

something more than friends

(lucy gray baird x reader)

tip me on kofi if you feel so inclined

requested: yep, I hope you like it anon♡

content: a little bit of angst but mainly fluff, men (derogatory), kinda lovesick!lucy gray, jealous lucy gray (we love to see it), pretty intense description of kissing but no smut.

warnings: a very brief mention of drinking, internalised homophobia but it doesn't last long, gay stuff (duh), lowercase intended I know boo I'm annoying.

a/n: I haven't read the book yet so idk much about the covey so their appearance may ooc but that's solely due to my lack of knowledge on them

lucy gray baird never faltered when she sang.

there were very few things that could get under her skin when she was on that stage, strumming her guitar and twirling in her skirt as the district folk stomped along to the beat.

sure, sometimes drunkards and the occasional hung up ex would try to cause a scene, attempting to gain her attention from below, but she would simply roll her eyes, waiting for someone to take care of them so that she could go back to doing what she did best. performing.

so what exactly had happened to make the lucy gray baird, forget a line in a song?

she was quick to remedy her mistake, carrying the tune in such a way that most patrons didn't even notice her mess up. but ironically enough, the very cause of her brain fog noticed. you.

you gave her a worried look, but she brushed it off, willing herself to continue playing as if nothing was wrong. and technically, nothing was wrong. you were there, in the far back of the crowd, wearing a white dress with a drink in your hand. and Lucy Gray didn't mean to be cliché, but you really did look like an angel, something divine that she had the honour of setting her eyes on.

but obviously, she wasn't the only one who thought that.

you were speaking to some man. which was fine, you were always the most gorgeous girl in the room in her eyes and she knew that she wasn't the only one who appreciated your beauty, you were always needing to awkwardly laugh at men's advances and brush them off as best as you could, but you weren't doing that tonight.

you were laughing, a genuine laugh, leaning in to hear his voice over the music, over her singing. she wanted to jump off of the stage and break her guitar over that assholes face, and she couldn't explain why.

she had always known that one day, you'd settle down with a kind man who cared for you (not nearly as much as she did, but that was okay) and then she would see you less and less. but knowing didn't make the taste in her mouth any more bitter.

the first time you told her about a crush that you had, on a boy named Tom, she spent the whole night convincing you that he just wasn't right for you. you believed her of course, rejecting him swiftly the next week when he asked you to go on a walk with him, walking instead with lucy gray, hand in hand.

but then, she did it every time you spoke about a boy, and you started to believe her less and less. 'I think you're just jealous lucy gray, and you don't anybody taking my attention away from you.'

you were right, she was jealous, and the thought of you, with a man, it disgusted her to her core. which is why she took off as soon as her set ended, not even staying for the applause as she searched for you outside.

there you were, and thankfully, you were alone, no undeserving man in sight.

she ran up to you, her brown eyes seemingly sparkling even in the darkened night. "how'd you enjoy the show, darlin'?"

her heart jumped when you smiled at her, your eyes crinkling in joy as you took both of her hand in yours, squeezing them affectionately. "you have the voice of an angel, lucy gray. and I envy the lucky fella who's gonna marry you, and have to serenade them whenever they want."

lucy gray rolled her eyes in a good natured fashion, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach when you mentioned her getting married. "I already serenade you, sweet thing. and im not gonna let some wedding band stop me."

you laughed airily, leading her by the hand towards the lake, where you spent most nights together. you sat down at the edge, laying your head in her lap when she sat beside you. her hand went to your hair, and she fought the urge to by giddy at the sight of your head in her lap, you were just... perfect.

"who was that guy that you were talking to back then? when I was singing, I mean." she asked, her voice uncharacteristically quiet.

you thought back to about an hour prior, picturing every person that you had been with throughout the evening as you tried to recall who she was asking about in particular. "oh! that was matthew, his dad and my dad go way back, but the two of us never really shared their closeness for whatever reason. but after speaking to him tonight I'm a bit upset that I never tried to grow a friendship with him earlier."

she nodded, her cherry glossed lips pressing into a thin line. "he doesn't just wanna be friends with you though, I could see it." you scoffed playfully, raising a brow at her curiously. "you were all the way up on stage, in the middle of your favourite song to perform, and somehow, you could tell that much from so far away?"

she opened her mouth to defend herself, but after realising just how insane the notion sounded when you phrased it in that way, she quickly closed it again. "I'm not gonna let any man take me away from you, lucy gray, believe me when I say that I can't live without you."

your words sent a fury of butterflies in her stomach, and she swore that felt dizzy as you picked your head up, moving your face so close to hers that your noses were almost touching. she wanted to kiss you. god, what the hell was wrong with her? how could she be thinking of you in this way?

despite her inner conflict, she made no moves to create some distance between your faces, selfishly wanting to stay like this for as long as you'd let her. "I wish we could get married." she sighed, her eyes widening at her own words. "I meant- not like, I didn't mean- not in, like, a husband and wife typa way-"

you cut her off with trying to, with a tilt of your head making her suck in a sharp breath. "you don't wanna do husband and wife things with me?" you asked, and she could swear that your voice had a certain tone about it, one that made her cheeks feel blazing and her breaths shallow.

she shook her head, her usually fierce tone reduced to a meek almost whisper. "we can't do those stuff together."

you were too close for comfort. she could feel the tip of your nose against hers and if you leaned in any further, she was sure that she would combust. "who cares if we can't? the more important question is, do you want to?"

inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. she had forgotten how to breath. this wasn't right, she knew that, so why were her lips on yours in a flash, her hands in your hair, around your waist, holding your hands, touching any part of you that she could reach as the two of you kissed? in public, no less?

she couldn't find it in her mind to stop, not when your soft, sweet lips moved in tandem with hers as if you were molded to fit each other. when you pulled away, with lucy gray chasing your lips with an involuntary whine, you held her by the shoulders, a look of concern on your face.

that was when she felt it. the guilt knawing at her stomach, and the tears that flowed down her face. was she crying because of how overwhelming her feelings were for you? maybe it was because she knew that you would have to hide... whatever had just happened between the two of you.

you leaned your forehead against hers, you sweet voice easing her fear. "I love you." she nodded, not being able to say it back just yet, but she could only hope that you knew. she moved to kiss you again, being startled out of her mind by a girlish scream in the distance.

it was maude ivory, eyes wide and hand slapped over her mouth in shock, with an equally suprised tam amber standing next to her. lucy gray felt sick to her stomach.

"I knew it." tam Amber said with a shrug, moving to sit next to the two fo you as she stared out at the moonlit lake. "no one looks at their friend like how lucy gray looks at you."

"can I be the flower girl? and the maid of honour? and the priest?" maude ivory rambled, laying half in lucy grays lap and half in yours. you simply laughed, explaining that her dream wasn't exactly possible but flower girl was certainly doable as lucy gray watched, tears threatening to fall from her eyes once again. only this time, they were of relief.

the joy she felt in her chest, at the thought that you could be... together in front of the covey was the best gift she could possibly be given. you and her, together. not just as best friends. although it was hard to wrap her head around it, she knew that it was exactly what she wanted and she had it on good authority that you wanted it too.

#tbosas #the hunger games #lucy gray fluff #lucy gray x reader #lucy gray baird #lucy gray my beloved #lucy gray angst #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #the hunger games headcanon #tbosas x reader #tbosas x you #wlw #lucy gray baird x reader #lucy gray baird x you #coriolanus x reader

669 notes · View notes