#besides it’s like around the same Maddie arc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lovestrucklyuniverse · 2 years

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Remember that a good portion of my favorites is not on here. Bunny/Faybelle, Alistair/Maddie, Chase/Lizzie, etc., were omitted. It does surprise me how many ships I’ve come around to over the years, and even a lot of them that I’ve started to ship now, like Lizzie/Duchess or Cerise/Cedar.

And just for funsies (plus I’m bored), I’ll go through each ranking and each individual ship in them. It’ll take a while, but let’s have some fun!

OTP Status

Daring/Rosabella

Hey, in my defense: I really liked their chemistry and the potential that these two are a big reason I love them so much. Plus, you can’t deny how great their kiss in the dream was. Also, their dynamic gives strong Mondler (Monica x Chandler) vibes, and I’m here for it!

Apple/Darling

My lesbians! While I always liked them, I’ve grown to love them more as I’ve gotten older. I love the red/blue of their color scheme; it’s always so pleasing to me personally. I do wish we could’ve gotten to see more of them. (Side note: Little Miss Perfect is perfect for them, and we love to see it)

Raven/Dexter

While my shipping heart doesn’t love them as much as I did when I was younger, I think they are lovely together. Their first date is so realistic, and their chemistry is so natural. Would have loved to see them finally be together after the Blue Moon Forest Fest arc.

It’s grown on me/I ship it

Briar/Ashlynn

“they were roommates” “*gasp* they were roommates!” I love the two of them together; it just feels so heartfelt. One of these days, I’ll do something for ‘em.

Cupid/Blondie

Such a pure ship that quickly slipped under my radar as a kid, at least until this video. Their color schemes work together quite nicely. Would have loved to see more interactions between them that weren’t as subtle.

Lizzie/Duchess

I’m biased right now, as I recently got ‘Next Top Villain,’ and that,r friendship is adorable. She even saves Lizzie’s life! And the way Lizzie constantly ignores Daring for Duchess is just, ugh! They are goals! And it actually made me like Duchess, which I didn’t before.

Farrah/Ashlynn

My personal favorite Ashlynn ship. Farrah’s design is a bit weird, but I love how supportive they are of one another. Once their fairytale is over, I can see them coming together to be fashion co-designers. (Assuming Farrah doesn’t poof, that is)

Apple/Briar

I adore their friendship, but I can’t help but also see it in a romantic sense. They probably experimented with each other secretly to figure out their sexualities but never told anyone. They eventually drift away, but the Royal Trio (Apple, Briar, Ashlynn) has become one of my favorite EAH friend groups.

Cedar/Cerise

They’re cute roommates, the only Cerise or Cedar ship I like. We stan a strong asexual couple!

Daring/Sparrow

They’re just so competitive, and it’s really amusing. Hunter/Sparrow is also one I like; I’m surprised it wasn’t on this.

Duchess/Justine

Rivals/Lovers. Duchess needed a challenger, and her girlfriend was that challenger!

Holly/Cedar

It’s kinda grown on me in the last couple of months, especially since their dolls are almost in the same doll line. Besides, they’re both artistic, so it’s pretty cute.

Hunter/Ashlynn

I didn’t care/like them for the longest time. I always thought they sometimes tried too hard to make them the Cleo/Deuce of the show, and I didn’t care much for them either. But now? They’re such a sweet and healthy couple; I feel bad for being so hard on them for so long.

Raven/Cupid

Irony that they’re voiced by the same person, for one. I think they’d be cute for two, plus their aesthetics are so different that it just works. If this was the end result of the love triangle, it would give Korrasami vibes, and I’m here for it.

Kitty/Lizzie

They still aren’t my favorite, but their moments are cute, and I adore their close friendship. Clearly, the two of them understand each other better than anyone other of the Wonderlandians.

Apple/Maddie

Them being co-presidents is entertaining; when you really think about it, Apple, Maddie, and Raven become a trio in marketing. I don't know; there’s just something about their energy that’s super entertaining.

Justine/Ramona

Not much to say here; I just think it’s cute and what we see of them reminds me a bit of my beloved Bunnell.

Cute!!! Not my personal preference though

Ashlynn/Cupid

A bit of a random one, if I’m being sincere. A friendship between them would be cute, as they’re two romantics. Also, Cupid being scared of the woods? GIRL, you were from the monster world!

Ginger/Darling

We just don’t see enough of the two of them for me to really ship it. It did make me think, “...Is Darling a lesbian?” however. It does suck that Ginger never actually finds out that the White Knight is Darling, as far as we know.

Dexter/Cupid

This is one of my friend’s favorite ships, which is fine. They’re cute, but Cupid being so Dexter-obsessed was really annoying. I really like their friendship, though.

Daring/Lizzie

The episode is cute, but I think they’re a bit overrated. It’s interesting, but how Kitty’s diary and Next Top Villain portray them has ruined the possibility of me shipping it again.

Ramona/Rosabella

This and Cerise/Rosabella are basically the same ships, so I don’t see it. Ramona isn’t a character I care much for, so that doesn’t help.

Cedar/Ginger

A bit random to me, but that’s just me.

Duchess/Poppy

Cute potential, especially since it’s confirmed in “Truth or Hair” that Duchess goes to Poppy to get her hair trimmed. Plus, I did ship it briefly after Fairest on Ice came out. Fanart of ‘em is cute.

Holly/Ginger

I love a good crack ship as much as anyone, but this is still very random. I love both characters, and I see them as a cute couple, but not really for me.

platonic besties

Apple & Ashlynn

True Hearts Day is one of my favorite specials, and everything between these two is precisely why. Their friendship is admirable and realistic. As I said with Briar/Apple, the Royal Trio is one of my favorite friend groups for good reasons.

Cedar & Raven

I love their friendship in the books. Raven, Maddie, and Cedar are the Rebel Trio there, essentially. They’re so supportive of each other, and I love that.

Apple & Daring

The ultimate lesbian/himbo friendship. That’s all I have to say.

Cerise & Daring

They’ve just never been my cup of tea. I’ve always seen them as a badass set of co-captains of the Bookball team. Daring inviting her to dance with him seemed like more of a thank you and a friendship forming rather than romantic.

Daring & Hopper

They’re roommates, which is pretty cool. But I don’t really care much for Hopper, so eh.

Darling & Chase

They argued more like siblings or competitive friends. I love rival dynamics, but I think they would better give each other tips on fighting. Basically, they and Darise have the same vibes.

Darling & Cerise

A duo we deserved to see more of! I can see them having fun in Grimmnastics but entrusting one another with their secrets. Plus, they just look great together.

Dexter & Hopper

They were only in the intro together, so there is not much to say. But I can see them bonding over their crushes on Raven and Briar (later Ginger, in Hopper’s case).

Dexter & Humphrey

A good pair of nerds, and I love their friendship in the books. They both rap, and that is just so funny to me!

Kitty & Duchess

Another unlikely friendship with Duchess and a Wonderlandian, but they both cause a lot of chaos (in their own ways). Plus, they have the whole thing of upholding the family expectations in common, which I wonder if anyone has ever thought of.

Raven & Apple

Alright, the big one. I’ll start by saying that there’s no doubt in my mind that Apple absolutely had a crush on Raven, she’s far too touchy, and it’s very suspicious. Although, their friendship is great, with many difficulties between the two girls. They’re both right and wrong regarding the Royal/Rebel situation. (I needed to get that piece off my chest.) There are sometimes moments that I would say that they aren’t the healthiest friendship, but regardless I like them.

Raven & Maddie

Friendship goals!!! I adore them, even if I’m not a Raven fan. They’re incredible in the books, but cartoon them is great too.

Sparrow & Poppy

They’re on here, but Holly/Daring isn’t? Interesting. Anyways, Sparrow and Poppy could be cute, but I love their friendship in Truth or Hair. They just get each other and it isn’t romantic in the slightest.

Sparrow & Duchess

Same goes for these two, honestly. These two are partners in crime, definitely. But they’re not romantic. Plus he’s one of Duchess’ only friends, which makes their dynamic so great.

Maddie & Kitty

A great chaotic friendship and I appreciate that Maddie is so encouraging when they’re facing off with Kitty’s mom. She was probably the least angry with Kitty in Spring Unsprung, at least as far as I could see. I love them.

Raven & Cerise

Easily one of my favorite friendships. Their connection is admirable and Cerise reveals herself to her village to protect Raven from getting drowned in the books! They’re such a good friendship and I’m glad it was added to the show.

Hunter & Hopper

Don’t care, but maybe it could be a good friendship.

Briar/Faybelle

Yes, I’m aware of how popular this ship has become. They’re both tied for being my third favorite character and I love them both very deeply. But eh, I have never gotten the appeal. They’re frenemies and I love that about them. Although, the look that Faybelle gives Briar in the dream is one of my best pieces of proof of her being a lesbian.

Daring/Alistair

They’re both blonde himbos, not much else to say.

Raven/Darling

Darling can do a lot better if I’m being perfectly blunt here. There’s a good friendship that could be interesting, but I just don’t see the appeal.

Jillian/Humphrey

Nothing against this one, I just don’t care about them. Jillian’s design is so busy and ugly to me, and her voice is too annoying. Humphrey can do better.

Nina/Jillian

Adventuring girlfriends could be cute. They are roommates as well, but eh they both showed up too late for me to care.

Ginger/Maddie

It would be cool if Ginger worked at the Tea Shoppe, I can’t deny that. Give Maddie some help! Good friendship potential, just a bit indifferent to it.

Melody/Cupid

More power to you if you ship it, but I do not. It’s a bit too random.

yeah i don’t think so

Bunny/Alistair

Easily the most annoying ship to me. Reading Bunny’s diary didn’t help with my perception either, it only made it worse. Bunny (or Harley, as I headcanon to what her name actually is) has one of the cutest designs in all of EAH and she reduced to being a love interest to a very annoying will they-won’t they. They have no chemistry, they’re focused on way too much, and they remind me so much of the situation with Adrien/Marinette. Just ask one another out already and put an end to my suffering, for Pete’s sake!!!

Briar/Hopper

I do think they look nice together, but Hopper really should have moved on. Briar only liked how he complimented her and came to her every aid, which makes one of my favorite characters come off as a very shallow person for that alone. The way it’s implied in Bunny’s diary that Briar likes him too just doesn’t fly with me, because she’s never shown any actual interest in him. Bunnistair and Bropper are probably the ships I dislike the most.

Crystal/Farrah

This is mostly my Crystal hatred talking. But they also look way too similar, which makes my head hurt.

Cerise/Kitty

I know it’s the dog/cat dynamic that drives people in. But Kitty purposely tried to expose Cerise’s secret, despite knowing what it could do to her and her family. This and Clawdeen/Toralei just do not fly with me.

Cerise/Maddie

They’re both too different that I just can’t see it working out. I do appreciate that her dad is the one that married her parents and Maddie does keep Cerise’s secret a secret, so they have that going for them.

If any of y’all are interested in seeing me ramble on about my personal favorite ships (where a good majority are crack ships), ask me in my asks!

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m0tel6mxzzy · 2 years

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tw ed/sh mention: sam levinson does a shitty job at writing (some) mental illnesses (tldr - barbie was right)

ngl sam levinson shouldn’t be allowed to write any mental illness besides addiction or depression which i feel he handled well until he gets a writers room. i’m not bipolar like rue so i cannot determine the “accuracy” of her mania, but i do have mdd and i felt the depiction of depression was very relatable to me. i wouldn’t say realistic, becuase a show with neon lights and spinning camera shots in every room is never meant to be hyperrealistic.

however—barbie made the right move disagreeing on sam’s insistence w the bed storyline for kat. (we need to consider not every skinny person has a restrictive ed, and not every fat person has bed. literally it can be vice versa but sam was going to feed into that stereotype, which barbie rightfully called out.) he already has every skinny character have some form of disordered eating which is never properly addressed (rue as a result of her addiction, and maddy/cassie/nate from being in athletics where they’re often pressured or compelled to be a certain size.) cassie was gonna let nate control her entire diet bc he did the same to maddy, and also this very troubling issue when cassie already has so many other ed risk factors is also,,,never addressed besides anything other than shock value???? how deeply low her mental state has to be to desire that???? told but not shown, and thus never actually addressed in a way where she can process it.

or the fact that maddy probably has trauma related to food bc of nate controlling her diet too???? but yeah let’s just focus on how “crazy” interesting cassie is for trying to imitate maddy.

(cassie also lacks self awareness on how nate racially profiles maddy and that being called “crazy” for not taking someone’s shit is not a compliment, which as a woc i find makes her so so so unlikeable in that regard.)

i feel in s2, maddy didn’t really have much of an arc either. we get “maddy gets a job and wants to leave east highland, she’s also mad at cassie” but she is also recovering from nate. but we aren’t actually seeing it very much outside of her crying to him on her bday because the story is so centered on the rue/elliot/jules and cassie/nate/maddy and maddy/kat bubbles, and maddy and kat are very small components in both of those compared to everyone else arc wise. and maddy and jules having that friend moment at the bowling alley.

i don’t even think it needs to be graphic if ever addressed. maddy could’ve brought her food trauma up w samantha and samantha suggest she seek help or something. not like, only finding it out bc of the implication maddy went thru the same thing only bc cassie knew nate was also controlling her diet, which maddy might’ve made offhand comments about. (and as an anon told me earlier, which i 100% agree-the show should’ve been set in college. many colleges have free mental health resources which would’ve been great for maddy to seek out! a lot of the characters problems lie in the fact that they have mental issues but the help is too expensive. also, many IP treatments geared toward specific mental illnesses might not carry ur insurance. gotta love the us healthcare system!)

hell, it could’ve been maddy or cassie or rue or even nate w the bed storyline. nate’s not an interesting character at this point-all he does is abuse maddy/cassie/jules and get away with it. he’s only there to be a conflict and have it justified bc of his trauma. any storyline showing him struggling will just be used to have the other women in the show pretend to be his mother when he needs therapy and cannot be redeemed at this point. and the show is starting to justify it because he’s never given consequences for his actions and the girls carry his burden and have to prance around his sensitivities when he’d never do the same for them.

although i’d give it to elliot bc men w ed’s are seldom addressed and drug addiction is a risk factor for developing an ed. and he’s already been given the consequences of fucking w rue and jules by his relationships w them being…torn to shambles basically. really elliot AND nate need storylines outside of the women in their lives for both theirs and the sake of every other girl on the show. and it doesn’t even need to be his entire storyline! just a significant one that’s fleshed out and addressed.

and i feel if kat went thru w such a storyline like the one sam wanted, it would contradict her development in s1 so far. (and he’s no stranger to contradicting character dev—he had a confirmed lesbian who point blank period said she’s not into men kiss a man who’s done nothing but berate her for questioning her gender identity and does not at all respect her or her gf.)

obviously kat won’t be confident 24/7, she’s human, but she loves herself enough to not get back into previous bad habits that only make her feel worse.

and then we have jules, who deals w sh. mind you, this has been indicated since s1 from the first episode, and has yet to be properly addressed outside rue and elliot like,,, touching her scars and “loving” her regardless of them. as someone in sh recovery it’s just very odd to me bc no amount of love could convince me to stop. i had to convince myself to stop. it does not work like that.

sh addiction is so complex that when u try to stay clean, you can get mild withdrawal symptoms. her scars imho are used in the end of s2ep4 as this “device” for her to be vulnerable w elliot and personally i find it really gross. any sort of internal battle she’s having is never addressed, it’s purely there for shock value. i’d go as far as to say jules’ sh is glamorized in euphoria.

tl;dr: barbie was right. rip kat sorry u were underwritten and thx for sticking to ur guns

#sam levinson #barbie ferreira #kat hernandez #maddy perez #euphoria hbo

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fandomsandfears · 10 months

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💖🤮❤️💜🃏?

💖 favourite character?

obligatory Chase Redford answer. Does he deserve this placement? based on canon probably not but I was obsessed and I have a lot of fun with my own fanon of him. Same idea with Alistair tbf.

More legitimate though out answer? Probably Cerise or Maddie? They get the screen time deserving of favoured spot. Cerise has a good arc and had a lot of potential. Maddie screen time just never misses lol.

🤮 least favourite character?

Easy pick on Headmaster Grimm. Both because he's a dickhead but also in canon I just don't think he even lives up to his full potential? Like he's decently intimidating and pretty bad, but then they just let him off? Hate that man should have lost his job. As character his arc would have benefited from some fuckin consequences

of the students I'm saying Crystal. The hate defo rubbed off from gummy lol but also wtf was her character she didn't even go well with her story origins what happened.

❤️ top 3 royals?

Hard because yknow, most of them end up rebel by the end there. ANYWAYS if Briar counts which she doesn't I pick her. She's technically royal but I like her for all the reasons that make her a rebel. her arc with the book, rejecting her future, snapping at Apple. God Briar had so much potential and even besides that she's just a genuinely fun character <33

Faybelle pissed me the hell off sometimes but by god I respect her commitment to being a bad bitch. I love a character who is unapologetically mean, knows they're mean, and revels in it. I think having an evil destined character like Raven but who really was into it was such a good narrative choice.

Tough choice, gonna say maybe... Daring? If they hadn't ruined his character in epic winter he was honestly jus ta very fun character but also the moments of genuine care for the people around him. idk he has high himbo energy and I respect that. Is he self centered? yea but not nearly to the extent epic winter seemed to think. His date with Lizzie? his respect for Cerise? his concern and care for Apple? sibling moments with Daring and Darling? this man had fuckin layers and i think he's neat

💜 top 3 rebels?

Maddie my girliepop you never miss not in canon not in Gummys rewrite which should be canon, literally never a miss with Maddie I think she deserves top spot

Cerise I respect. She had a lot of potentially and what they did end up doing was very good fun. One of the characters who I think had the most interesting relationship with the rebels because she was almost kind of born to rebel. Her parents rebelled, she by product of them had one of the most interesting relationship with the conflict. She's also just a fun character.

Darling the wlw rep we fuckin needed. I'm counting her as a rebel because i think she is? She technically seems inline with her "true" destiny but she acts under the assumption she is going off book and is chill as hell with the other rebels. I'm counting her. Anyways, interesting character, wlw rep, fantastic for the plot whenever she's around. Also feeding my sibling dynamics quota because all fanon with her and her brothers in great (go read Gummy rewrite has some fantastic charming siblings stuff)

🃏 top 3 wonderlandians?

Chase Redford my beloved y'all know this. Does he deserve to be my favourite? probably not but the fixation disagrees lol

hmm everyone else is a bit hard. Lizzie is fuckin great love her to bits, especially love gumjesters interpretation of her in their rewrote (go read it go go go) so I'll let her be the fav #2

3rd place is probably Maddie. I like all the wonderlandians a lot, but ignoring Chase who gets favour hypocrisy, the others i don't really have any much for in canon. Love Alistair, but mostly my own characterization. Kitty is great and i appreciate her arc with her mom, but we get so much screen time with Maddie and she's such a good character you just can't help but love her! Maddie also has a hat-tastic characterization in gumjesters rewrite so yknow <33 doesn't hurt

#long post #fandomsandfears #ask #thanks! very fun for my brain #eah #i havent actually wattched the show in a while so this is digging up some OPINIONS lol #a lot of my canon eah interactions come from gummys rewrite rn so big opinions on that #everyone go read gummy rewrite its so fuckin good #i'm a bit all over the place here since i find merit in most characters and have trouble choosing favourites so yeah idk

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buckmyluv · 1 year

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random 911 6x11 qs...

so... maybe my mind was warped by Buffy (and specifically “Restless”)... but I can’t shake the feeling these bits the 911 writers put into “In Another Life” might have had more meaning than meets the eye. these stood out during my initial watch and i can’t stop thinking about them.

loud music playing throughout the scene(s) at Chim’s

it might have just been not-great sound-mixing, but the song was louder than I expected for a dialogue heavy scene. Need to rewatch to try to figure out the song and mine for clues

"My lungs just stopped working.”

idk idk on the face of it, it’s just a statement of fact. but there was something about the way that line was shot, it just didn’t feel like a throwaway line. could this have more meaning for Buck/his life?

“Can you help me find my dad?” “I can’t right now. [...] I’m always gonna feel guilty for that one.”

again idk but this gave me strong Restless vibes! Very “be back before Dawn”! Is “dad” in this sentence in fact Buck?? Will he always feel guilty because what he couldn’t do right now was realizing he already is a dad to Chris?? I can’t shake this one. But is the 911 writers’ room trying to do this... idk.

Coma dream Bobby with the pills

Caveats: Look, I do NOT want anything to go wrong for Bobby ever. also coming to this with addiction experiences. And finally, keeping in mind all of our speculation about things going worse for Bobby might come to fruition in 6x12 and beyond with what looks, from the promo, to be an arson setup with the rehab center.

But -- besides Buck’s parents and the obviously absent Eddie -- and despite what Buck said about only Hen being the same -- I feel like most of the qualities of the key people we saw in Buck’s coma dream were them amplified, or pre-growth versions of them. Maddie -- caring for others around her but suffering quietly. Chim -- reliable, trying to help, a bit cynical. Hen -- kind and honest, connecting the dots. Which brings me to Bobby. He seemed very different -- manic, a bit mean. But it was the drinking and taking of the pills that got me, particularly when Buck then says (lies) that Bobby was the same, just like Hen. Could it be foreshadowing, that Bobby will continue to be locked into this spiral around Wendell and Buck and such, and addiction will take a new form? there was so much speculation about him relapsing with alcohol, but idk... something about this. it could also just be a worst-possible-interpretation for coma dream buck but... it’s bugging me.

and some final thoughts:

- loved Oliver’s acting! and those moments of his pure joy, i was transported back to him opening the door to Maddie upon her return.

- Also Bobby broke my heart the whole episode. silently praying so hard with the rosary beads... “she brought two kids and you brought one”!!

- honestly pretty shocked at how little Eddie time there was... what we got was good but it was just... bizarre.

- I feel like Maddie was oddly excluded from convos with medical staff, whereas Margaret and Phillip got top billing there. It just seemed weird -- could have been scheduling?? or just to shove the parental reconciliation arc. but e.g. having her in the circle up with the doctor in the hall (latter half of the episode) would have made more sense to me than just Margaret and Phillip -- they’re not around! I’m imaging maddie or bobby (or eddie but he got shafted this episode) is his medical proxy so... what gives?

- On the (valid) critiques about the Buckley parents reconciliation arc: I definitely have qualms about it. They have been pretty egregious in their actions for decades. But I’m also coming at this from a similar context (though much less dramatic context with deep dark family secrets). Parents emotionally neglectful/emotionally abusive, just because they were swimming in their own emotional challenges. perpetual dismissal, personalizing your choices, etc. And I battled for years with wanting to be enough for them, trying to prove myself to them -- until I finally got therapy, realized how they had treated me, and began to call them out on it. And -- they started to change. I don’t think they’ll ever be 100% what I need them to be, and I’ll always have a wall up. But they’ve changed enough that I can accept the relationship somewhat more. And accepting what they do offer -- not literally a couch, but like a couch -- because it’s how they know to show their love.

anyway. that’s that on that.

#911 tv show #911 meta #buck #buck and bobby #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #restless #911 6x11 #coma buck

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silverwings22 · 2 years

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Caught in the Crosshairs: Chapter 35 Whispers in the Dark: Skillet

Series warnings: Smut, mind control, canon typical violence, childhood trauma, language, chronic illness

Chapter warnings: child endangerment, grief, attempted murder

Previous chapter:

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Ryloth was supposed to be peaceful now. The Empire was seeing up a doonium refinery, a supposed act of goodwill and partnership with the twi'leks. Crosshair didn't believe a word the Ryloth senator Orn Free Taa said, however. The inflated tail-head was a coward, he'd say anything to spare his own miserable hide. The people of this planet didn't respect him. They respected General Cham Syndulla… who was close friends with the Empire's biggest threat on Ryloth.

Gobi Glie.

He'd been doing reconnaissance through his scope, watching Gobi and his fighters as they watched Taa announce his cooperation with the Empire. The crowd wasn't having it, yelling for Syndulla.

His trigger finger twitched, eager to do what he did best and simply eliminate the threat before it became a problem. But he had his orders, to wait and observe.

Good soldiers follow orders.

Syndulla finally stepped out, lean and strong compared to Taa and his irritating weakness. Beside him was a beautiful green twi'lek woman… his wife, Eleni. Something about the way she stood at his side caught Crosshair in the gut. She looked… united. Brave and beautiful, unwavering at his side, they were in sync in a way he couldn't put in words but knew he'd felt before.

With Miria.

There had been a time he'd stood shoulder to shoulder with the Jedi, looking over worlds like this with that same united front. There had once been dreams in his head that they'd have this exact same moment. The strength to face trouble together and not back down, as husband and wife…

They have a daughter.

Crosshair had to take his face away from the scope a moment when a weight hit him like a charging reek. A daughter, a child born and living, proof of their bond and unbreakable evidence of love. He'd wanted that so much with Miria, and so had she. What was he doing right now?

"Status report, commander." Vice Admiral Rampart's voice scattered his treacherous thoughts.

"Glie and his fighters are in the crowd." He murmured back, forcing any hesitation from his voice. "They're leaving now."

"Let them go. With Syndulla supporting the clone army presence, he'll have little assistance. Come back while the citizens turn over their weapons, I have to meet with Taa."

"Yes sir." Crosshair took his helmet off to jam a toothpick in his mouth, watching still as Cham and Eleni walked back inside after he'd addressed the crowd.

He had his orders. He had to follow them… but what he wouldn't give to have had what they had.

I've tried to kill her twice. There's no way she still wants that, anyway. Even if she wasn't a traitor…

"Stay on the ship, Omega." Hunter murmured as he put his helmet on. They'd just landed on the moon of Ryloth with a shipment of weapons from Cid.

"Can't I come with you?" The girl pleaded. "You said no more staying behind!"

Miria chuckled, holding her own helmet in her hands. "You can watch from the hatch until we determine what we're dealing with. Bring your bow."

Omega made a delighted noise and hugged the Jedi around her middle before dashing off to grab her weapon.

Hunter looked at Miria. "You're spoiling her again."

"She learns nothing from inside the ship. You want her to be capable, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Then let her learn how." She patted his paldron. "I worry about her too. But padawans grow up, and become stronger than their masters if given the chance."

"Clones don't have padawans, Miri." Hunter sighed.

"Fine. Cadets become ARC troopers when you train them right. Look at Echo." She chuckled.

Echo saluted lazily. "Thank you, ma'am."

She put her helmet on. "Of course, dear."

Wrecker hefted the case of weapons and they headed out, Omega trailing after them. She stayed in the hatch doorway, eyes trained in a trio of twi'leks that approached. 'What you got for me?" The light blue male said.

Tech glanced at the inventory log on his data pad. "Three dozen cycler rifles and over a hundred thermal detonators."

"Let's have a look." He nodded.

Miria nodded to Wrecker to open the case as the little twi'lek, a light green female, crept curiously towards the Havoc Marauder. "What kind of ship is this?" She whispered, all wide eyes.

"A modified Omicron class attack shuttle." Omega smiled.

"Can I look inside?" The green girl whispered.

"Hunter, can I let her onboard?" Omega called. The sergeant turned his head and looked at her before giving a slow nod. The two girls vanished into the starship.

"She's quite young to be a rebel." Miria commented dryly, looking at Gobi Glie.

"She's a Syndulla. She'll be fine. " he chuckled.

"Syndulla… as in freedom fighter Cham Syndulla?" She cooked her weight on one hip curiously.

"Her father."

Echo looked at Miria. "You know him?"

"Not personally. Obi-Wan was on a mission to Ryloth and had much to say… Cham is a good man."

Gobi nodded. "You're a Jedi, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" She nodded. "Even in clone armor?"

"No clone talks in a female Coruscanti accent." Gobi closed the weapons case quietly.

"Amassing an arsenal attracts attention." Hunter murmured cautiously. "The Empire will catch on."

"I must do what's right for Ryloth. No matter the price." Gobi looked from Hunter to Miria. "I'm sure you understand."

"I do." Miria murmured as Omega led her new friend Hera out and came to stand between her and Hunter. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "May the Force be with you, Gobi Glie."

"Thank you." He hauled up the weapons case. "Tell Cid if she has more to sell, contact me. Come on, Hera. We're done here."

Omega waved goodbye as they vanished into their shuttle. "She's strange. I like her." She chuckled. "Did you know flying is about a feeling?"

Tech looked utterly confused. "What feeling?"

"Let's go." Miria laughed. "You can tell us all about your feelings on the way back to Ord Mantell."

"Can we try that new caramel Mantell mix this time? " Omega grinned.

"Alright. We can manage that. " Miria ushered her little family back to the ship. "So what did you two talk about?"

The ship was in view. Inside that ship was absolute proof that Crosshair was right, that Gobi Glie was an insurgent, and that he was completely capable of taking them out. After his failure with the Bad Batch on Bracca, Crosshair needed a win. The sooner he finished this, the sooner he could leave Ryloth. He was sick to death of seeing all the civilian families, embracing and laughing about how they'd survived the war together. He was tired of his arms aching because they were empty. He wanted to rip his brain out of his skull and run it under cold water, because every time he thought he might get a moment of peace, he kept hearing snippets of her voice.

Fuck, he was tired of being alone.

So he took the shot, striking an outboard engine and sending the shuttle into a tailspin. "Target down. Sending coordinates of the crash site." He muttered into his comm.

A feeling, huh?

Crosshair jumped, still not used to Mirias voice curling her vowels in his head. Since that first time on Kamino, he didn’t respond to her. He just listened, fighting conflicting urges to demand answers for why she was in his mind and beg her to tell him where she was so he could go find her. His eyes darted down to the crash site as Rampart and a few other clones opened the hatch and pulled out three twi’leks. Gobi Glie, some female he didn’t recognize… and the Syndulla girl.

A fucking kid.

Crosshair’s stomach twisted in a faint feeling of horror as the girl was cuffed. She was a child, really… there was really no way she knew what she was getting into, messing with insurgents. Miria would be horrified to see this kid involved with-

Why did he care what she thought? She was a traitor.

He moved into his next vantage point, following the plan. The Syndulla’s droid had seen the crash. He’d report to Cham and Eleni, the freedom fighters would mobilize, and every bit of resistance would be crushed out of this planet. The Syndulla’s would be branded as insurgents and traitors, and he could finally put a plasma bolt in Taa’s head.

What about the girl? What happens to her?

He couldn’t shake the thought. What happened to the kid? Where did she go when her parents were executed for insurgency? Was she to die alongside them…?

Why did he care?

And why did it sit in his chest like broken glass, the look on Miria’s face when he’d ordered his men to shoot at Omega on Bracca?

Miria sat comfortably in her red seat, watching Omega work on the power storage for their defective little gonkbot. "What are you doing, sweetheart?"

"Gonky doesn't charge fully. I'm fixing him."

Miria chuckled. "Tech has tried, you know."

Hunter walked by, patting Omegas' hair gently. "He's defective."

"We're defective too." The girl whispered to the droid as it drooped sadly. "Don't worry."

The Jedi watched her cuddle the big square droid. "You amaze me sometimes, Omega.'

"Huh? How?" The girl turned to look at her.

"How quickly you can befriend anyone or anything. I struggled to make friends growing up, but you're so incredibly open hearted…" Miria smiled fondly as Omega darted from hugging Gonky to wrapping her skinny arms around her instead.

"It's easier to love someone than to hate them." Omega smiled.

"Clever, aren't you? " Miria chuckled. "I think if there were more people like you, the galaxy would be a better place."

Omega beamed at the praise and cuddled to her side.

"Miri." Hunter called, redirecting her attention. "Techs not a recorded comm message from an unfamiliar source."

Miria sighed. "Duty calls." She got up with a sigh. She still had her leg armor and kama on, chest plate and pauldrons leaning on the wall behind her. Omega followed her up front. "Patch it through, Tech."

The bluish tinge of the holo discolored the little green face of young Hera Syndulla. “Omega, you must come back to Ryloth. I need your help.” Her thick accent pleaded. “The Empire has declared my parents traitors and captured them. They’re after me too. Please, I don’t have anyone else to call. I’m sending coordinates.”

Hunter looked at Omega. “You gave her our comm frequency?”

“Only for emergencies, and this seems urgent.” Omega looked up with pleading eyes.

“I’m sure the situation is not as dire as described. Children often exaggerate.” Tech murmured calmly.

“We do not! She needs our help!” Omega looked to Miria, who was leaning against the wall with a thoughtful expression.

Hunter followed the youngest team member’s eyes to the Jedi’s face. “Omega, it’s a big galaxy. We can’t go charging in every time someone is in trouble.”

“Isn’t that what soldiers do?” Omega demanded. “Isn’t that what Jedi do, Miri?”

Miria met Omega’s eyes. “Plot a course to Ryloth, based on those coordinates, Tech.”

Hunter blinked. “Miri…”

“She’s right, Hunter.” Miria murmured. “I know it’s dangerous, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“It could put her in danger, Miri.” Hunter murmured, half a growl in the back of his throat.

“I’ll die before I let anything happen to Omega.” She said firmly. “You know that.”

Hunter sighed. “Let’s just get through this without anyone dying. Please.”

Omega attached herself to her general’s hip, looking up at Miria as the woman inspected Hera’s holo. “You okay, Miri?”

No. Nothing’s been okay for so long, I can hardly think most of the time. There’s a child in danger. There’s a little girl, just like the little ones I left in the creche on Coruscant, in danger. They were murdered and she’ll be killed if the Empire catches her. You’ll be killed if Kamino catches you, little one. I’ll be killed if I’m caught, and the person who wants to kill me the most is the man I love more than anything. And even if he doesn’t manage it, it’s getting harder and harder to breathe… No, nothing is okay. Nothing will ever be okay again.

“Of course, sweet girl. I’m fine.” She said softly. “Everything will be fine.”

The Havoc Marauder landed in a hidden base in the cliff sides of Ryloth, near the capitol. Everyone was armored to the nines but Omega, and she clutched Miria and Hunter’s hands tightly in her own. “Breathe, padawan mine.” Miria murmured, the familiar syllables of her own Masters words tasting of longing and loss in her mouth.

They stepped down the ramp to find Hera and her droid, Chopper, waiting for them. Miria inclined her head quietly as Omega released her fingers to run to her. “Are you alright?” The little clone whispered.

Hera nodded. “Y-yes. But my parents are captured, and I don’t know what the Empire will do to them. The capitol is heavily guarded, I cannot do this on my own. But my parents can pay you if you free them!” She said the last nervously, looking at the gathered clones and Miria.

“I can’t promise anything.” Hunter murmured. “But we can take a look and see what we’re up against. No guarantees.”

Omega nodded, taking Hera by the hand. “Show us what we’re working with.”

Mira walked over and gently lay her hand on the little twi’lek’s arm. “Take a moment to collect yourself, Miss Syndulla. I know this is hard.”

Hera wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I don’t understand. The Empire said they wanted to help Ryloth… and my father is a hero to our people. Why is this happening?” She looked up at the Jedi with wide green eyes, looking so lost and frightened and small.

Miria cupped her cheeks in gloved hands, soft and gentle as she could. “Your father is respected by the people of Ryloth, and across the galaxy. He will not tolerate cruelty, and they know it. It makes him dangerous to the Empire.” She wiped a fresh tear from Hera’s cheek with her thumb. “Be brave, little one. You’re not alone here.”

Hera nodded, taking a couple deep breaths. “Alright… come with me and we’ll see what intel we can get…”

The guys nodded, Hunter and Tech watching Miria worriedly as she walked ahead with the girls. “She’s getting too close to this.” Hunter murmured.

“Because Hera is a child. She has an affinity for children.” Tech nodded. “It may cloud her judgement on the matter.”

“Just what we needed. To have to talk sense into both Omega and Miri on a planet crawling with Imperials.”

“That is… unfortunate.” Tech sighed.

The chatter trailed off as Hera led them to a rocky outcropping high enough and far enough from the capitol to make a decent lookout post. Binocs came up and out as everyone lay on their bellies or crouched to look. “This is no peaceful transition of power. This is a military operation. The Imperial presence here is similar to Raxus.” Tech murmured.

Echo frowned. “But Ryloth isn’t a Separatist planet…”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Miria didn’t look up from her binocs, fixed on something down in the city. “They corrupt everything they touch…”

It didn’t take Omega long to see where her attention fell. A tall, thin figure in black armor and carrying a sniper rifle. “Crosshair’s here.”

The clones all looked at Miria with various stages of concern and pity. She didn’t dare look at them yet.

Hunter was reaching for her arm when he stiffened. “Everyone stay low.” He growled, doubling back and out of sight. Miria finally pulled her binocs down from her face and took a deep breath, holding her hand out to keep everyone in pace now that they were on high alert.

When Hunter crashed down from a higher plateau and landed on a black probe droid, knife in its head, everyone flinched. The sergeant took out the droids eye and dragged it to the ground, wrenching his blade out as it made a pitiful beeping sound.

Miria shifted and held a hand up, tightening her fingers and crushing it like an empty ration can. “Probe droid.” Echo sighed.

Tech nodded. “The Empire will know we’re here.”

Miria’s voice was quiet. “And so will Crosshair.”

They ushered the girls back to the bunker, everyone quiet as they tried to figure out what their options were. Hera looked hopeful until Tech looked at Hunter and shook his head. “As I thought, we are all over the Imperial comms. The probe droid got a good look at Miri’s face.”

Hunter sighed and looked at Hera. “I’m sorry kid. We can’t help you, but we can get you somewhere safe.”

“No! I cannot leave without my parents!” She recoiled, looking desperately from Hunter to Omega. “I… I can double the price!”

“All the credits in the galaxy won’t do us any good if we’re dead, Miss Syndulla. I’m sorry.” Hunter sighed. “We’ve lost the element of surprise. We can’t help you.”

Hera’s eyes welled up with tears and she turned away. Omega’s brows knitted as she looked at Hunter. “You shouldn’t have said that. She’s trying to save her family, Hunter. I’d do the same for you!”

Hunter blinked, expression softening. “Omega…”

Mira sighed, straightening up from where she’d been leaning against the side of the Marauder. “Omega. Go check on Hera, I’ll be there in a minute. We’ll think of something.” She beckoned Hunter to come over to her.

Omega smiled. “Thanks, Miri.” She darted off after her twi’lek friend.

Hunter walked over to his General with a scowl. “It’s not fair to get their hopes up like that, Miri. We cannot do this.” He growled.

Her eyes burned right back at him. “We’ve done plenty of things we couldn’t do. Hera knows Ryloth better than any of us. If there’s a strategic advantage to be found, she’ll bring it to light.”

Hunter put a hand on her arm. “You’re too close to this, Miri. It’s because there’s a kid involved. And because Crosshair’s here.”

She shrugged out of his loose grip, shoulders stiff. “I couldn’t save the Jedi. I couldn’t save the creche. Depa died, and I couldn’t help Caleb. I can’t reach Crosshair. For the love of the Force, Hunter, let me help Hera.” Her voice cracked. “That’s all that’s left of the Jedi in me… the desire to help. The desire to do good. Just let me try.”

He blinked as her head dropped back against the durasteel of the ship, the column of her throat half exposed, and swallowed hard. She looked so fucking tired right now, the dark circles that ringed her eyes somehow deeper embedded and her face thinner. Even the bulk of her armor wasn’t disguising the reality, Miria was getting frailer every day even as the threats to them became more pronounced. “Miri… It’s hopeless.”

“It can’t be.” She shook her head. “We can’t lose hope, it’s all that keeps a Jedi tethered to the light in times like this.” She glanced over where Omega was comforting Hera and her eyes softened a little more. “And we have to teach her that there are things worth fighting for.”

Hunter groaned. “I’m not approving this goddamn plan until I hear something we can work with, Miri. We’ve got to both be on board or we don’t go in. Give me that much.”

“You have my word.” She murmured. “But we can’t give up.”

He sighed. “You’re bad for my blood pressure, you know.”

“What are sisters for?” She chuckled tiredly, rubbing her eyes. “I’ll go check on the girls.” She pushed off the wall and walked over to the two young ones and the sassy droid Chopper. “You two okay?”

“He wants to give up…” Hera whispered.

Miria sat down beside her and let both Hera and Omega snuggle under her arms. “He’s only trying to protect his family. Like you’re trying to protect yours. But we’ll find a way to do both.”

“How?” Hera looked up at her.

“Ryloth is your home.” Omega pointed out. “You know it best…”

Hera blinked. “I do…” She looked at Chopper and her green eyes sharpened into determination. “We can come up with a plan to change his mind.”

Miria chuckled. “Would you like to use the instruments in the ship to help form this plan?”

“Yes, ma’am… I’m sorry, Miss Jedi. I didn’t catch your name on the weapons drop, and everything has been so crazy. I don’t know any of your names but Omega’s.

Miria stood and offered her a hand up, tucking her arms around both girl’s shoulders affectionately. “Hunter is the one with long hair. Tech has glasses. Echo has the prosthetic hand, and Wrecker is the really big one. And my name is Miria Halcyon.”

“She’s a Jedi.” Omega grinned.

Hera nodded, eyes wide. If there was any team that could pull off rescuing her parents, it was this rag tag group of weirdos. She liked them, even if her heart was a little tender from Hunter’s words earlier.

Miria took them on board and sat them at the bridge, pulling up the planet's holo map as the men gathered around. “Now then, little freedom fighter. What can we use?”

Hera leaned in, flipping through the map and zooming in. “The refinery. If we create a diversion there, troops will be mobilized there and leave the capitol. Then we can move in to rescue my parents.”

Tech nodded. “Is the refinery armed?”

“Four cannons, but they are unmanned.” She nodded. “I’ve been watching them.”

“Auto-cannons are vulnerable.” Tech nodded smugly.

Miria pulled up the refinery further on the map, eyes tracking quickly. “Where’s the central control panel for the cannons, Hera?”

“Just inside the main gate. Chopper can go in with the other droids and disable them.”

Miria and Hunter exchanged looks. “We’ll need a big explosion if we want their attention.” He murmured.

She nodded. “Wrecker’s forte. We’ll need Tech’s flying.”

“Someone needs to accompany the droid…” He mused.

“But we need enough people to successfully get into the capitol.” She tapped her lip with her fingertip curiously. “A strike team with you, me, and Echo. The girls can escort Chopper.”

“By themselves?” Echo frowned.

“From a distance.” Hunter said firmly. “And stay in comm contact.”

Omega nodded. Mira smiled at Hera. “We’ll follow your direction, little freedom fighter.”

Hera nodded seriously. Omega ran over and hugged Miria tight around the middle. “You really trust us to do this alone?” She whispered.

Miria curled around her. “I have absolute trust in you, padawan mine.” She breathed. “Be careful.”

Crosshair had been searching for the Syndulla girl for days. He knew good and well she wouldn’t leave without her parents, but she was successfully evading him. And despite his initial rush of something akin to sympathy for her, he was starting to get pissed off. Rampart was breathing down his neck about his capabilities, making thinly veiled threats to replace him as commander.

And he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Sir, a probe droid picked up something in sector five.” One of his elite troopers walked up, holding a datapad. Crosshair took it carelessly. It was probably just another of Syndulla’s supporters to be rounded up by Ramparts other team. The regs, still just as irritating to him as they’d ever been before when he was with Clone Force 99… he hesitated to call that “his” unit anymore. The Elite Squad was his unit, because he was the commander. It belonged to him.

But he’d belonged to the Bad Batch, once upon a time.

He looked at the data pad and his eye twitched. Four mismatched clones in black and red armor, with two young girls and one woman in the middle of them. As Hunter walked away from the group, the woman lowered her binocs from where she was staring at the capitol. Even the grainy footage showed a furrow in her brow.

She was looking right at me.

The footage from the droid jolted when Hunter landed on it, and just before it cut to black the recording rapidly zoomed in and caught the resigned expression on Miria’s face.

Crosshair gritted his teeth, forcing down the immediate jolt in his heart rate. “I need to talk to Rampart.”

“Yes sir.” His trooper saluted, and Crosshair turned and stomped off.

They were here, haunting his footsteps. Trying to ruin him when he was trying to build a life of his own… He’d deal with them himself. If he ended this once and for all, maybe he could finally stop feeling like he’d broken some kind of creed. Maybe he could finally let go of whatever part of him was holding on so tight to what he’d used to have.

It would never be the same, and he had to make himself accept that...

Omega and Hera were with the droid. Tech and Wrecker were standing by to destroy the refinery at their signal. Which left Miria with Hunter and Echo moving towards the capitol. She could sense the buzzing in the air, the constant flutter of high tension and deep sorrow that constantly seemed to follow the Batch.

Especially on a planet with Crosshair there.

She tried to hope that throwing Hera’s planning into the mix would obfuscate her own. If she could predict his comm trick on Bracca, she was confident he could predict her planning style. He knew her better than anyone in the galaxy.

They were scaling the wall surrounding the capitol building, having to do without climbing gear or grappling hooks to reduce the chance they’d be spotted. She clung with the Force, using it to keep her men anchored to the stone face of the wall as well. When they were high enough, she launched up first and smashed the first trooper's white helmet that she saw into the ground. “Sorry dear.”

Hunter launched over too and covered her back as she gave Echo a hand up.”Nice one, General.” He chuckled.

“Thank you.” She nodded as they made for the building. Tech and Wrecker must have started their attack on the refinery by now, as Hunter could hear the bustling of troopers being mobilized and transports taking off.

“We have to hurry.” Echo murmured. “They can’t hold off that much firepower forever.”

“This way. I’ve got the schematics Tech provided.” Miria gently pushed forward, pulling up the Firepuncher and walking ahead of the flanking clones. The schematics rolled through her helmet as she guided them up to holding cells, guarded by a couple clones.

Echo and Hunter did what they did best and knocked the regs out, not wanting to use their blasters if they could avoid alerting the whole building.

“Who are you?” Cham Syndulla blinked.

Beside him, Gobi Glie gave them a look. “They’re mercenaries I bought weapons from, but I didn’t hire them for this.”

Miria put her rifle back on her back and started working the door panel’s ray shield open. “No. Miss Hera did.”

Eleni Syndulla gasped. “Hera? Is she alright? Where is she?”

“She’s quite alright, she’s with our sister.” The shield dropped. “Hurry now. We don’t have much time.”

Cham led the way for himself and his supporters who’d been rounded up. “This way then. We should be able to get out the front-”

“Cham, wait!” A voice behind them had Miria, Hunter, and Echo spinning around with their guns up.

The clone in front of them had standard reg armor, but painted in teal spots and with the shoulder armor marking him a captain. Hunter and Echo moved between him and Miria, guns trained on him.

He simply raised his hands and pulled his helmet off, revealing a car on his cheek and jawline, gray hair in a short undercut, and deep regret in his amber eyes. Cham eyed him. “Howzer…”

“The Empire’s wrong, Cham. You were right. Eleni was right.” He murmured. “But don’t go out that door. You’re walking into an ambush, there’s a squad outside waiting for you.” he murmured.

Miria felt her stomach twist uncomfortably. “Crosshair.” He’s right there. On the other side of the door. I could run out there, I could...

Howzer looked at her. “You know him.”

“I did.” She bit back the hurt, focusing on the mission. On survival. On bringing a mother and father back to a lost little girl… that was a small enough goal she could hold it in her hands and devote herself to it without becoming overwhelmed. The galaxy was too big to fix. The Empire was too huge an enemy to stand up against. But she could focus on the Syndulla family and Crosshair.

“He’ll kill you if you open that door.” Howzer murmured.

Eleni looked at Cham. “We could take Taa’s private shuttle from the tower hangar.”

He nodded. “Howzer, come with us. They’ll know you helped us.”

“I won’t leave my squad. They’re good men, I can get through to them.” He murmured.

Hunter nodded, putting a hand out to stop Miria from taking off her helmet. Howzer might have a conscience stronger than the chip, but there was no way of knowing how he’d react to a Jedi with it still in his head. She seemed to understand and her hands faltered back to her sides. “You’re a good man, captain.” she finally said quietly. “Take care of yourself.” They darted away, Miria wishing she could rescue him and his squad too. But she had her own squad to protect.

Most of it.

Looking down the barrel of his rifle was so familiar, Crosshair dreamed about the world through his scope. So as he waited for the front door of the capitol building to open and give him his clear line of sight to the end of his regrets, it felt almost like a dream.

Or… maybe a nightmare. He was going to kill them, he had to finish this, but… his imagination rejected the scenario when he tried to picture it. Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Echo lying face down, struck down by plasma where they’d stood in a tight grouping. They’d go down first, despite their impressive skills and cooperation they were still just men made of flesh and bone. So easily broken by a well placed shot.

The hardest shot would be the Jedi. Miria was acrobatic, with a blade that could deflect his shots. He’d have to catch her off guard, take her down, watch those lavender eyes go still and empty as she collapsed, her grip faltering on her lightsaber, blood soaking into the white streak in her hair…

He’d seen plenty of deaths. Why did this one make him feel sick? He’d been prepared to kill her on Kaller, and all of them on Bracca. He was still prepared to follow his orders. Good soldiers followed orders, good-

What if I can suggest another order? What if I can capture them all? Like I’d wanted before, all of us back together under the Empire…

The door opened and his finger hovered on the trigger, but the team didn’t walk out with the twi’lek prisoners. Instead, a single clone captain stepped out. Howzer… Rampart had threatened Crosshair with putting him in charge, since he was rounding up Syndulla’s supporters despite misgivings. But how, he was throwing his gun down at the other clone's feet.

“What are we doing? We swore to defend Ryloth, and now the Empire has us arresting peaceful members of the society we took an oath to protect. This isn’t right… I can’t, and I won’t do this. Who’s with me?”

One by one, white-armored regs dropped their blasters and riot shields. Crosshair froze, listening for a moment to murmurs in the coms of agreement and dissent. They were taking a stand, disobeying their orders, willing to-

“Arrest those traitors.” He hissed into his comm.

As his elite squad started slapping cuffs on the treacherous regs, a shuttle launched from the tower hanger. Too late, Crosshair realized he’d been distracted intentionally, and lifted his blaster.

It had to be Echo or Tech at the controls with how quickly and effectively the shuttle dodged the shots, and he snarled under his helmet.

Cross… The Jedi’s voice whispered inside his head, and he snatched his helmet off and crumpled behind the retaining wall he’d had his rifle up on, pressing his forehead to his knees.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up…”

It hurts.

He went quiet, still curled into a ball and trying desperately to process what he was doing here. Why this was all happening when, right at the end of the war, it had seemed like everything was coming together. “... I know.”

She’d ridden the whole way back to the bunker with her hand pressed against the rear transparisteel window, eyes still trained in the direction she’d seen the sniper shots come from. Crosshair had been hiding in the dark, and shot at her once again.

For the third time. It still felt as nightmarishly impossible as it had been on Kaller. Once they’d landed in the bunker, Hera and Omega turned up in a stolen Imperial shuttle right behind Tech and Echo in the Marauder.

At least the shock of seeing the girls pop out of the stolen shuttle dragged the loathsome feeling of having left Crosshair behind again away for a moment. “Omega! Why are you in that shuttle?”

“We stole it, Master Halcyon!” Hera giggled. “I told Omega I would be a pilot one day.”

Miria sighed and walked over, smiling a little. “Very brave, little freedom fighter. I’m glad you’re safe.” She held her arms up and Hera leapt out of the pilot's seat into her arms, hugging her tight. Miria set the twi’lek gently on the ground and patted her lekku. “Your parents should be very proud of you. I know I am.”

“Hera!” Eleni called, and Hera nodded before letting Miria go to dash to her parents and hug them tightly.

Miria smiled and straightened up, holding her arms up to Omega. “Come along then, padawan mine.” When Omega landed in her arms, Miria was slower to set her down and hugged her a little tighter. “I’m proud of you, Omega.” she said softly. “For choosing to do what’s right, even when it’s hard. Especially when Hunter doesn't approve, because I know how much you look up to him.” She kissed the little blonde head before setting Omega on her feet.

“Is he gonna be mad at me for helping Hera steal the ship?”

“I doubt it. He thinks you’re brave too.” Miria took Omega’s hand and they walked back to the batch. “Say your goodbyes, sweet girl. They have to go too.”

Omega nodded and ran over to Hera for goodbyes. Cham and Eleni waved Miria and Hunter over. “Here are the credits Hera promised.” Cham murmured.

Hunter shook his head. “Keep them. You’ll need them.” He murmured. “You’ve got to keep your family safe.”

Cham pulled Eleni a little closer. “I dreamed of peace for Ryloth… but I think with one war comes another. We must organize against the Empire. We could use your help.” he looked meaningfully at Miria, who glanced back at Omega.

“I dream of freedom from the Empire.” She murmured. “If I can help, I will. But I won’t make their lives a war zone. Not again.”

Hunter smiled a little. “It’s no place to raise a little girl.”

Eleni sighed. “It will be their fight as much as ours. Hera, it’s time to go.”

Omega looked at her new friend. “Do you really have to go?”

“My family needs me. But your brothers need you too… look out for them.” Hera said softly, hugging the smaller girl one last time. “Thanks for believing in me.”

Omega waved until the green twi’lek girl was inside the shuttle and it was taking off, before she trudged back to Hunter. He crouched in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “That was brave.” he finally murmured. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

Omega just hugged him around the neck.

“Let’s get out of here.” Echo sighed. “How much longer before the Empire figures out where we’re docked?”

“Let’s not test that.” Miria murmured, walking up to their ship and closing her eyes as the fluorescent lights blinded her temporarily. “Force, I’m so tired…”

“Let’s get your treatment going for the day. You worked hard.” Tech put an arm around her and ushered her off to the bunk room while Echo got them off Ryloth.

Once she was laid in her bunk with the box on her chest and a blanket over her shoulders, she let her mind wander. How many times would Crosshair be so close and yet out of her grip. How many times did she have to face the business end of his rifle before he finished her off.

Would he miss her? Would grief even occur to him past the influence of the chip? Or would, if the Batch managed to rescue him after she’d rejoined the Force, would his guilt destroy him atom by atom until he collapsed under his own suffering?

She closed her eyes and placed her hand on the empty pillow on his side of the bed, wishing the cool fabric was the warmth of Crosshair’s body. Slowly her daydream that she liked most took hold, where she could all but feel his shape beside her and the beat of his heart lulled her into sleep.

“Cross…” she mumbled softly, wishing she’d get an answer.

Permission to hunt them down?

That made her eyes snap open. His voice… “Cross?”

I’ll catch you, Jedi. If it’s the last thing I ever do.

#eventual smut #explict #original character #crosshair #crosshair smut #clone force 99 #caught in the crosshairs

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kitkatpancakestack · 3 years

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Good morning, friend. So that was weird, huh? I keep thinking about Breaking Point and how we didn't like it (to put it mildly) at the time, but how it ended up being important. How liking it was entirely beside the point. How maybe Breaking Point and Peer Pressure are...evil twins of sorts. Or maybe underappreciated work-horses? How they both had work to do, things to reveal, character development to set in motion, messy emotions to unpack and leave unresolved, wounds to lay bare...

I'm thinking about Breaking Point and the running themes of Buck and Eddie just missing each other, which continues apace in Season 5. How they are orbiting closer and closer, how their emotional intimacy is so fascinating right now — so very close and yet...How now instead of just missing each other — which they are absolutely still doing — there are the things they are actively (if subconsciously) avoiding. The big, terrifying things.

What's bouncing around your head this morning?

good (now evening) @yramesoruniverse, nice to see you in my inbox!

Honestly, I was surprised to log onto Tumblr and see so much dislike for the episode. I actually really enjoyed it. As far as this season is concerned, it seems to be a culmination of unresolved trauma being forced to the forefront of every character's mind. It's a messy, nonlinear, and complicated process dealing with that, and I don't know if it's intentional or not, but this season (and 5.05 especially) makes it feel that way. Everything is two steps to the left of the way it should be. Maddie is gone. Chimney is gone. Buck and Eddie are temporarily not partners. Hen lost her partner. Athena is in survival mode. Harry is on the verge of losing his fucking mind, I think.

And yes, I know 9-1-1 is not perfect and sometimes I give more credit than credit is due but for the most part, they can carry a plotline and appropriately revisit previous arcs and stories. For a primetime procedural show that has to cater to the casual viewer who is not nearly as invested as the galaxy brains on this site, I think they fair better than a lot of other shows on the same slate.

I am still of the firm belief that 4.08 laid the entire fucking roadmap for us. My buddie goggles are on but even if they weren't, I don't care what anyone says, Breaking Point was entirely about Buck and Eddie. Down to the individual emergencies. Buck and Eddie's scenes were spliced consecutively with the other. Transitions connected their scenes together. Their struggles and plotlines paralleled. in that episode like this one, there was a solid undercurrent of domesticity and understanding between the two that undermined the focused couple (eddieana in 4.08, BT in 5.05).

I have no hindsight to work with so I can't say what function 5.05 will serve in the long run, but in terms of where we are right now with the characters, a disjointed episode with them feeling like they're struggling to play a role, to fit into a skin that is not their own, and with Buck revealing how much he Has Not Coped with his abandonment issues, it is all very in line with the themes of this season.

In terms of Buck and Eddie . . . . I think hindsight will show this to be a doozy for them, just as 4.08 was. I am going to operate via giving the show the full benefit of the doubt on their direction/writing choices, and it is interesting that 1.) this ep with heavy BT focus follows the ep that had a heavy buddie scene, 2.) they were not subtle with the parallel between how Taylor and how Eddie handle Buck's insecurities, and 3.) the overall vibe of the episode was literally about asynchronous communication and feeling pressured to pursue things for some perceived benefit that actually ends up being a detriment.

Idk. Maybe I'm just a twentysomething with too much burnout for proper critical thinking, but I enjoyed the episode! I'm excited to see the uhinged plot threads that will spin out from the roots laid in these first 5 eps.

(Sorry this got so fucking long *throws back vodka shot*)

#yramesoruniverse #buddie #s5 #911onfox #ask #it's answering asks hours #meta #i suppose

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 3 years

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I have lots of thoughts right now due to my rewatch and I just have to throw this out into the void before Season 5 hits us later:

So this is just a theory but I'm in the middle of season 3 right now with the rewatch and I just have to say I think season 2, Buddie was not meant to be a thing romantically (just like Tim supposedly said, though he sure made it challenging with certain subtext moments for Eddie and Buck separately as characters and then of course the whole intro of Eddie in 2x01). But I do think there's something there with Eddie (not romantically but something else). Season 3 definitely changed things and their direction as characters and I think they were actively moving Buddie in the direction towards something more than a bromance, more specifically from Eddie's end, while also starting up the Buckley-Diaz family unit. By season 4, it's obvious that Eddie has feelings for Buck and the Buckley-Diaz family unit is cemented.

I'm thinking there were three major events that led to Eddie having feelings. I'm not saying there weren't small little things that added to it all (besides these big 3) but based on the story, these three are what I'm thinking:

1) The tsunami

2) The lawsuit arc (and Buck's apologies as well as promising to be there for Eddie and Christopher)

3) The skateboard incident and Buck's response to the issue at hand (Eddie not wanting to give Christopher "limitations")

This isn't to say that Eddie wasn't attracted to Buck before this:

Or that he didn't get heart eyes at times Buck pulled through for him or was a reliable emotional support without having to be asked:

But I think the 1st 2 events helped Eddie to realize just how much he had come to rely on Buck during this difficult time in his life (after Shannon's death). Plus there was a time lapse in between Season 2 and Season 3 where Buck obviously went through surgeries, physical therapy, and a breakup with Ali, which we can only assume Eddie and Hen were also there for Buck like Bobby and Chim (through Maddie) were. Because Buck and Eddie's dynamic has definitely changed from the previous season (and they showed that to us with Eddie being the first to hug Buck at the party and then the scene where the Buckley-Diazes are in their own bubble when Christopher gives Buck the card), where they were just partners and friends, and part of the 118 fam. Now, they're something more, and we get Buck and Christopher having more of an interaction (before the tsunami). By the end of the season, Eddie and Buck are something more, and Christopher and Buck have a more solidified emotional bond.

So here's why I think these three:

1) The tsunami - Buck never gave up looking for Christopher. Which of course Eddie says as much to Buck later on but we also see Eddie's disbelief, gratefulness, and just awe when he looks over at Buck after being reunited with Christopher. Buck's expression is mirroring the same emotions, disbelief being chief among until it makes way for the awe and gratefulness. Then Eddie confirms to Buck later that Christopher remembers Buck's role in the event as saving him.

This event absolutely changes Eddie's outlook when it comes to Buck. They were already hinting at a changed dynamic between them (and Christopher) but this makes it official. It opened up Eddie in a way that if you think about it, we haven't really seen Eddie be open like before. Yes, he did eventually let Shannon back in, he trusts Carla, he trusts Abuela, he trusts Bobby and Buck, and the 118, but we haven't seen him like this. Except for with Christopher. He did trust Buck enough to drop Christopher off with him in 3x01 but his and Buck's interaction are very different then compared to post-tsunami. Not only is Buck in disbelief that Eddie would trust him after what happened, but that he would trust him with his son again and this much. For Eddie, even though he plays it off in the end, that wasn't easy. And you see it in Ryan's performance when he does turn around at the door to thank Buck for not giving up.

I think he realized that he had someone that he could depend on 100% when it came to Christopher and since Eddie is always synonymous with Christopher...himself as well. This to me is where the beginning of the journey to Eddie's realization begins.

Which brings me to the 2nd event:

2) The lawsuit arc (and Buck's apologies as well as promising to be there for Eddie and Christopher) - all of this absolutely helps bring Eddie closer to the realization that he has feelings for Buck. The event where Buck basically pulls a Shannon (in Eddie's mind). Where Buck not only put a stop to all contact without a moment's hesitation but also told the lawyer deeply personal things about Eddie and the 118 which the lawyer ended up using to rake them over the coals, and to Eddie that's a huge no-no. First, (again, in Eddie's mind) Buck abandons them, and then this good loyal guy he's come to know is completely disloyal. And he abandoned Eddie and Christopher when they needed him most. That is what pisses him off. And it's also what led to his underground fighter!arc and his leaning on Lena, Buck's stand-in, emotionally that she later confirms Eddie does not return (like he did Buck in the beginning of season 3).

Which when we go back to the grocery store scene, that is exactly what Eddie talks about in his confrontation with Buck: the lawsuit, the divulging of their personal details, Eddie not being able to talk to him, and Christopher missing him. All in that order. And one important note here to make is that Eddie puts himself first instead of Christopher in the dialogue. "No, but he filed a stupid lawsuit and I can't even talk to you because of it. Do you have any idea how much Christopher misses you? How could you? You're not around." We've only seen that one other time and that was the scene where Shannon was dying. We know that Eddie consistently has Christopher as a shield for what he's really feeling and sometimes he'll tack himself on afterwards, and sometimes not (depending on the situation). So for him to do this in this situation, that's huge. And what's even bigger is when Buck is willing to resolve the issue with Christopher, this pisses Eddie off even more: "I didn't realize that. Maybe I can come and visit Christopher, you know, the lawsuit doesn't prevent that." "No, it prevents me from reaching out to you. I couldn't even call you to bail me out of jail." Because it was all about Eddie and how he was feeling (with a side of what Christopher was feeling as well). Which is why they show the parking lot argument behind Eddie, which is why Lena and Eddie were talking about the charges being dropped that then transitioned into Hen and Chim's conversation about Buck, which is why the guy Eddie beat up had knee surgery (Buck's lawsuit over his crush injury that led to the blood thinners issue) that was three (Eddie, Christopher, Buck, and how long ago was the tsunami? does anyone know the timeline? asking for a friend) years ago over a handicapped parking spot. The guy Eddie really wanted to take a swing at was Buck, he was right in 3x09, and they gave us all of these little subtle clues for confirmation outside of the confrontation between them.

Because Eddie was hurt and felt betrayed and felt as if this was Shannon all over again. Which is why he gives Buck the cold shoulder not once but twice, and attempts to a third time until Buck calls him out on it in 3x06. I think when Buck gave him a more intimate (that's exactly what it was) and heartfelt apology in 3x09 which he wasn't expecting, that made all the difference. It wasn't that Eddie didn't forgive Buck or trust him but any doubts he might have had I think were put to rest in that moment. And I think you can see that in Ryan's performance right here:

The little smile in this moment.

And sure enough, we see the Buckley-Diazes in the beginning of being a more solid unit through the video game scene which just spoke "family" so loudly for all to see.

Then that moves us to the #3 event:

3) The skateboard incident and Buck's response to the issue at hand (Eddie not wanting to give Christopher "limitations") - This of course had to be the final event to get Eddie into a place to realize his feelings for Buck. I honestly think at this point he already knows or at the very least has a strong inkling but he's not planning on doing anything with this knowledge. He and Buck are friends, partners, and family through the 118 (and still in the construction stages of the Buckley-Diaz family unit). We see him meet Ana who he is instantly attracted to and she's very obviously flirting with him but veiled in her professionalism. This is the one time a woman (outside of Shannon) is flirting with him or has hit on him that hasn't made him immediately uncomfortable or want to exit out of that scene stat. And she follows it up with talk of Christopher (which given the context of the scene makes absolute sense) and tells him what a great job he's doing at being a father and how it shows through Christopher. For Eddie, that's a direct path to the man's heart (though not completely as we soon find out) and we see that happiness and that pride in his response to her, but also to Carla at the beginning of the next scene where Carla calls him out on his attraction to her.

But then of course, the skateboard incident happens and he immediately is back in protective!Dad mode, which of course, how could you not be in this situation, right? Ana screwed up big time, regardless of whether it was Christopher taking the initiative to try the skateboard on his own or not. Even though Eddie ends up apologizing to her later on for his outburst once he finds out the truth, her answer is less than satisfactory and you can tell that not only from the dialogue and what happens after but also Ryan's performance in the scene (Eddie's expressions).

I think two mini-realizations happened here to lead up to the big one: Buck's response to the issue vs Ana's, and the "limitations" dialogue between Ana and Eddie. We see that Buck's response is the best possible one because it doesn't limit Christopher from experiencing some aspects of life, it still enables him to enjoy them just maybe in a safer, better way that works for him. While Ana is not limiting Christopher herself, her words do implicate that she thinks limitations are for the best and that it's okay to have them. Based on what Eddie said this episode, that's not what he wants for Christopher, at all. He didn't tell Ana in 4x14 that she'll fight for Christopher harder than anyone else and that is definitely on purpose. It's also purposeful that Buck is the one Eddie chooses as Christopher's would-be legal guardian after the well collapse which happens a few episodes after this one (but they show Ana at the end of the episode trying to engage Eddie and him being courteous but keeping Christopher as the focus, as he should). Buck's response in 3x12 was exactly what Eddie wanted and what was best for Christopher. And it's confirmed that this is the case through this scene:

So not only does this season confirm for Eddie time and time again that Buck has Christopher's best interests at heart, but it's also paving the way for a co-parent role that Eddie is most definitely looking to fill.

As far as the whole horses and limitations dialogue scene goes, that very clearly isn't just about Christopher. The whole way Ryan plays it when going "Excuse me?", the way GW plays it when she says it, that whole part of that scene strongly implies that this goes deeper than Christopher. While it does appear to suggest that this is about Eddie being ready to date again, I think it also points to more appropriately on just who Eddie would be ready to take that step with when he wants to date again. And here's how:

We all know how this parallels to Madney in this episode and more specifically, in this scene, and this is Eddie asking Buck out. But you know what confirms it even more for me?

This right here:

Eddie is gauging Buck's reaction at the end of the ask. It's a split second, it's quick, and almost not noticeable but looking at the scene, it doesn't make sense for Eddie to "check in" with Buck in this moment. Eddie is slightly ahead of Buck so it makes sense for Buck to look over at him but not the other way around, not if it's just a casual ask. Like this one:

Even though the context of this scene proves it's more than a casual ask for two buddies hanging out, it makes sense for the scene for Eddie to turn around and look at Buck. Not the one above.

Plus, doesn't it remind you of something?

Though tbf, his eye contact here lasts a bit longer than the scene above, and he looks down as Buck turns back around. And he makes eye contact twice in this scene compared to the other one.

But still, it's there. So for me, 3x12 and that scene with Ana at the end I think confirmed for Eddie what he already knew but had been too afraid to act on. Because now Buck is his best friend, Buck is important to Christopher, Buck is his partner at work, they're in the 118 family together, and Buck is slowly becoming a part of his family. Now he would have so much more to lose than he did say in season 2 before Shannon came back.

We'll see as season 5 happens what other clues they'll give us regarding Eddie as a character and his obvious feelings for Buck, but for me, these three events definitely helped push him to the point where he needed to be to ask Buck out in 3x13, taking his own advice that he gave to Chimney about Maddie.

So that's my personal theory so far.

Bring on season 5!!!

#buddie #buck x eddie #911 fox #buddie meta #911posts

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thebigpalooka · 4 years

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you’re not my dad (redemption arc)

I was gonna tack this onto @humanityinahandbag‘s post but I’m not good with computers so I’m just posting this on its own, but to be clear, this is a follow-up to her amazing wonderful-awful half-drabble right here because I recognize my complicity in this crime. However, when I offered to ruin her day, I was VERY CLEAR that when I lay my hand on something, everything turns out okay in the end.

So, for my own personal little version, read on.

Funny how, in spite of it all, it never occurred to him to do anything but go up to his room. How after everything he’d shouted, he obeyed without a word because if he opened his mouth again now -

“I can’t believe you’re making such a big deal out of this, you’re always telling me what to do all the time!”

“Yeah, well, that’s my job, dude!”

“No it’s not!”

“Uh, it kind of *is*, and you better make it *your* job to start listening.”

“You’re not -”

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to remember that part. He’d never seen Tom look like that, didn’t know what it meant, exactly, only that it was bad. And Tom was an adult; he shouldn’t have been able to make him look that way, had wielded a power he didn’t even know he had, and it felt just as damaging as the last time he’d exploded.

He moved to sit on the bed, then on the floor, then finally ended up in the beanbag, curled almost into an actual ball. He couldn’t visualize, in that moment, all those trips it had taken to bring his things up here from the woods, couldn’t see Maddie smoothing out the comforter they’d picked out, couldn’t see Tom balanced on the ladder as he tacked up christmas lights. He only remembered that the bean bag was his, so he didn’t have to feel guilty there.

He felt guilty anyway; it oozed up from the inside and pooled in his gut when he heard footsteps on the attic stairs.

When both of them topped the steps, he knew it was real, real bad. He clenched his fists, and as they eased to sit down on the floor in front of him, he sat up straight, panic spilling his thoughts out into words as fast as they formed.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m really sorry. I don’t know why I said it, but it didn’t mean anything, so I’m sorry. And we can forget about it, right? I can follow the rules, and we don’t have to talk about it, okay?”

“Sonic….”

“I just don’t see why it has to be a big deal!” He darted a look up at them before focusing on picking at a piece of duct tape he’d stuck over a tear in the bean bag. “People say dumb things all the time, and I won’t do it again, so -”

“Bud, this is serious,” Tom interrupted again, a little more firmly.

He squeezed his eyes shut. “...I know, but - look, I’ll make it my job to start listening, just like you said, so - so -”

“Hey.” A warm hand landed on his shoulder and his eyes flashed open, bright electric blue. Terrified.

Tom looked scared too.

“Honey, calm down.” Maddie’s voice seemed close and distant all at once. “Take a breath. Slowly, okay?” She smiled faintly. “I know that’s kind of not your thing, but….” They waited until he snorted an awkward breath and huffed it out again. “There you go.”

“Sonic, I’m not talking about what you said when you were mad. I’m talking about what you said in the garage.”

His reeling thoughts locked up. The garage? The garage? What had he said in the garage? Then he remembered, and he felt hot and icy all over.

Are you gonna make…

Please just…

Don’t make me go, okay?

They waited a second before Tom spoke again. “Is that….” His voice was husky. He cleared his throat. “...is that something you’ve been thinking about? About us send - sending you away?” His voice cracked again and he winced. Maybe all three of them did, hearing it out loud.

“No,” Sonic lied. Didn’t know why. “...I mean, sometimes, maybe. I dunno.” A shrug, like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was, right?

Tom and Maddie exchanged a look. God, god, god, they’d thought about it too. He clenched his fists again, and they trembled with the strain of sitting still. He could’ve been up and out the skylight and into the woods in a second flat. Heck, he could grab a few things on the way out.

“How long have you been worrying about that?” Maddie asked. Her voice was so gentle that he had to swallow back the lump in his throat before he did something embarrassing, like cry. He shrugged.

“I’m - pft, I’m not worried about it.” Another lie. He smiled a smile that felt as tight as a strained rubber band. “I’m just… I’m….” He clunked his shoes together. The words came out like a fast train. “....I like it here and it’s really cool, and I’m really glad you guys let me live here, so I wanna be a good - you know.”

But he didn’t know.

Tom ran a hand over his hair, letting out a long breath. Maddie rubbed his arm and Sonic felt vaguely jealous.

“I’m sorry.” A muscle tightened in Tom’s jaw. “...I’m really sorry, buddy.”

Sonic stared. “...For what?” he almost whispered.

Here it comes.

“I sh….” He stopped. Maddie’s hand had paused on his arm; she moved it to stroke his shoulder. He cleared his throat again and for a second, Sonic had the sudden and bizarre sensation like Tom was gonna cry, himself. Until that moment, it had never occurred to him such a thing was even possible. When he spoke again, his voice sounded almost normal, but the awareness remained. “...I should’ve made sure you never had to worry about that. I messed up. And I hope you can forgive me.”

For once, he was speechless. Tom shifted forward, settling a hand on each shoulder. The touch made his chest tighten again. “Sonic. No matter what happens, no matter how mad somebody gets or what anybody says, nobody is ever - ever gonna send you away.”

“This is your home, sweetheart.” Maddie squinted, reading his gaze to make sure he was listening. “It’s our home. All of us.” She found one of his hands, resting limply against his knee, and squeezed it in her own.

“We may not understand all of it yet, exactly. But we’re a family.” Tom lifted his brows, paused to let the word fill up the silence. “Ozzie and me and Maddie and you.”

“Oh.”

He felt dizzy. Lightheaded. He felt like he was gonna puke. He felt too embarrassed to go on living. He felt like a stone statue and he felt like he was going to fly apart into a million pieces. It felt like a gazillion pounds of lead had just poured out of his shoes. Like his head was gonna pop off on a spring like a jack-in-the-box.

“...Y-yeah, I know that,” he lied once more, slowly this time. “I know that. We’re … we’re like a family.”

“We’re not like a family. This is our family.” Maddie swung his hand back and forth a little. “Sometimes a family is - you know - a pretzel lady, a donut lord and a blue blur. Right?”

“Makes sense to me.” Tom studied him. “...Make sense to you?”

The hand that wasn’t closed in Maddie’s was closed in Tom’s. He didn’t remember when that had happened, but he was clasping it so tight that he could feel his knuckles straining against his glove.

“Yeah. Of course. Sure.” It wasn’t a lie this time. He still felt like crying, though. He shifted away and they let him do it, releasing his hands. He tucked them around his legs again. “That’s cool. I’m - yeah. I mean that’s awesome. Of course we’re - we’re a family. That’s - you guys are - I mean, we’re the best family.”

“Good. We think so too. So that means we’re sticking together. Even if we have arguments or something crazy happens.”

“Crazy? In this family? Pfft. Not likely.” Tom grinned. Sonic knew it was his benefit, and smiled back, or came the closest he could when his stomach was still turning flip-flops. Maddie smiled too.

“We’re a team. No matter what.”

“Yeah. Okay. Cool.” He looked at his shoes. “...Thanks, you guys.”

There was an awkward pause.

Maddie understood before either of the boys did. She let out a breath. “Well. I better go check on Ozzie - I bet he’s gonna want outside. Then we can decide what we wanna make for dinner, okay?”

“Y-yeah, sure. Sounds great.” Sonic froze as she bent and kissed his forehead. Made him feel warm and squirmy all over, but he was glad. She brushed her fingers against his ear with a smile and then rose to retreat quickly down the stairs. Even then, Sonic didn’t quite know if she’d understood how hard it was to talk in front of just one person, let alone two, but as Tom rose, looking faintly confused, and began to follow her, Sonic managed to work up enough nerve. He jumped to his feet.

“H-hey, donut lord... about… about that other thing I said….”

Tom stopped. Sonic waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He swallowed. “...I really am sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

Tom nodded. “It’s okay. Everybody says things they don’t mean when they get mad,” he murmured.

Sonic squirmed. “Yeah, I know, but - I … I really...really didn’t mean it. Um.” He squeezed a pop out of one knuckle. “It’s just that, if it wasn’t for you, I’d be puking up mushrooms full time by now and … a-and besides that, you’re pretty much the coolest person I know, and I have an extremely developed instinct for coolness, it’s kind of like a sixth sense, really-”

Tom’s face twisted with amusement and emotion at odds with one another. “Sonic....”

Sonic shook his head, letting his hands talk in a bigger and bigger arc. “A-and it doesn’t really matter what it is, because we know what it is, don’t we? It’s just our thing, our cool guy thing, that’s all, but I just don’t wanna let you down. Okay? Look, all I’m saying is, you’re my favorite person. And not in a weird way, it’s totally, totally cool -”

“Sonic.” Tom dropped to one knee so that they were eye-to-eye. His smile was humiliating. And great. “...I feel the same way. I love you, bud.”

Strong arms drew him in and hugged him. For a second, he was scared he’d blow up the whole house. But that didn’t happen, and so instead, he shut his eyes tight and stretched his arms as far as they’d go and held on tight. And he mumbled it back, whispered it into Tom’s shirt because he couldn’t say it any louder, but they were so close, it was perfectly, perfectly clear.

#sonic 2020 #sonic the hedgehog #sonic wachowski #tom wachowski #maddie wachowski #fanfic #my fic #my writing #humanityinahandbag #lol instant intense dissatisfaction with my own writing upon post but it was ever thus

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oraclemilf · 4 years

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ok but i'm loving your takes on the female characters - like it's very disconcerting to watch this show with a lot of girls and then have almost none of them be actual friends, and when they interact they're either fighting or it's about a boy. a lot of them r reduced to stereotypes too like with sam and her "i'm not like other girls" spiel and paulina's... entire thing lol. i'd say at least valerie is well rounded but she never rly interacts with the other girls positively :/

“and like it's an older show where those kinds of messages were everywhere in kids media especially but it still sucks lol at least we can take what we like from fanon and totally change it into our own because butch really did them dirty” 2/2

Yeah exactly. Not to be feminist on main but holy fuck do the girls in DP have issues. Like I get the whole argument that “it's an early 2000s show what can you do” and “all of the characters were shittily written” but the reason most of the female characters are bad in DP is specifically because they were written through a misogynistic lens. Like the show presents itself as having strong female characters but really all they do to break the gender binary is being able to fight. (I will give them points for letting the girls get kicked and punched the same as the men but that is the ONLY praise they are getting out of me.)

To expand on the “takes” in my previous ask:

-Dora, Ember, Desiree, Kitty, and Spectra all had boy/appearance-based backstories. Like seriously, the only female ghost I can think of whose backstory wasn’t entirely based on a man was Pandora and she appears in literally one episode for literally half the episode. (Also if you look at the myth of Pandora it's literally about a woman created by the gods to be the downfall of man so she doesn’t get any feminism points either.) Like listen. I’m not arguing that all the female ghosts should be totally retconned so they never interact with men at all. In fact, I think Kitty,though she has a heteronormative ultimate power, Dora, and Desiree’s backstories work really well for their characters. But Ember and Spectra? Why should Ember die because “she was so sad she was stood up she slept through a house fire” wtf?That literally doesn’t really work with her musician motif at all? How would that even work? Bitch did you have no alarms? Nobody was screaming or anything? Like its so astronomically stupid. @grimgrinningghoul has some cool ideas for alternate Spectra motivations in this post so I really won’t get into that here but women being only motivated by their appearance is such a stale take.

-Maddie legit says "behind every genius woman is a genius man" This is self explanatory really. Like come on girl seriously. But yeah, to elaborate on Maddie they could have had a great strong mother figure. I mean she was a scientist and a black belt for crying out loud! Then they kind of back track because you can’t make women too self-sufficient and have her practice traditional housewife roles, always take a back seat to Jack (even though she’s usually in the right) and have her put up with Vlad’s creepy advances far too much. Not ALL of these things are bad mind you and I probably wouldn’t mind her character too much besides for this one line but looking at it from a broader perspective it doesn’t really come together to make the best picture you know? Also, her sister Alicia - who was probably the most gender-non-conforming character in the show, is treated like she’s a joke or trashy by the narrative. (Don’t even get me started on the constant body-shaming either)

Paulina, Sam, Valerie, Jazz and Dani’s arcs all center around another male character (Danny) Ok this one is a tad more controversial because like yes, I understand Danny is the main character. It makes sense that most character growth is facilitated through him. Hell, even really progressive shows like Steven Universe filter character growth through the main male character. However, there are a couple key distinctions I’d like to point out. For example, Steven Universe has a Third-person limited omniscient POV. meaning all actions in SU are filtered directly through Steven’s perspective. This isn’t the case Danny Phantom, which has a Third-person objective POV, meaning that the story can follow many characters separate from each other, not just Danny. Also the female characters in Steven Universe are already 3 dimensional fully established characters without Steven and it’s even touched on in universe that the characters learn and grow without Steven’s help. This isn’t the case in DP. Paulina's main narrative shift is from being crazy about boys in general to being a devoted fan of Phantom. Sam’s whole arc is about getting together with Danny. Jazz’s arc is about learning how to best support Danny in ghost hunting. Val and Dani were probably two of the better female characters - despite still having Danny-centric arcs. Unfortunately, not only were their plans for character development cut short but any girl-power lines they may have had (something about there being no weak girls idk I’m too lazy to find it) feels fake and pander-y because of all the previous bad examples.

TL;DR I know it's easy to be like “who cares we don’t even respect canon anyway” but I think when source material perpetrates bad messages it’s important to view the content you are working with through a critical lens so you don’t maintain harmful ideas within your own work.

((sorry I hijacked your ask to get on a soap box but I had THOUGHTS about this topic))

#Danny Phantom #egg rants #oh tea #crit

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fireladybuckley · 3 years

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911 Verse this or that

Indirectly tagged by @perfectlynervousbeard <3

Buck or TK. Look I adore TK, Ronen is seriously one of the cutest guys I’ve ever seen and TK is adorable and easily my favourite LS character. But it’s not even close when comparing him to Buck, Buck is my comfort character, my absolute favourite of just about anything, ever. I adore Oliver and there’s not a single person you could compare to Buck that I would pick over him, lol.

Eddie or Carlos.

Again, I really do like Carlos. I firmly believe Carlos (Rafa) doesn’t get enough screen time and his character development suffers because of it and I hate that. But again, I love Eddie just SO much. Comparing him and Carlos isn’t fair because they’re very different and Eddie’s storyline and character in general are SO much more developed, I feel like we’ve gotten to know him so much better and that just makes me love him more, I’m more attached. Plus Eddie’s relationship with Christopher alone is just so precious and I love it so much.

Bobby or Owen.

Easiest question ever. Bobby is amazing and the best dad and Owen sucks.

Chimney or Judd Not that I hate Chimney or anything (he gets on my nerves sometimes but overall he’s fine) but Judd is just wonderful. I love his whole southern gentleman vibe while also being a bit of a mischievous little shit which makes me laugh. And the way he loves and respects his wife is just so refreshing to see. <3

Hen or Marjan I wonder if this is kind of like how I feel about Carlos; I really like both Carlos and Marjan, but I feel like I barely know them. Marjan is badass and awesome and everything but aside from her arranged marriage stuff, I feel like we barely know anything about her. Whereas with Hen, I feel like we know her so well she could just be my best friend and it would be amazing. She’s smart, compassionate, hilarious and just awesome and I adore her. I also love her relationship with Karen and Denny and now Nia. If they take Nia away I’m going to riot

Maddie or Grace. This one was tougher, and REALLY close. I really love Grace, she’s amazing and badass and I love her and Judd’s relationship. I just like Maddie slightly more. I love how much Maddie has overcome and how strong she is, how she took care of Buck their whole lives (which was NOT fair to her), and I love their sibling dynamic. I love her relationships with the other 9-1-1 operators.

I will say though that they are both BADASS 9-1-1 operators and they are both queens.

Athena or Tommy Tommy’s fine but she’s very new and I feel like I don’t know her at all (though I love Gina Torres). Not that that matters, however; Athena is QUEEN and no matter how awesome Tommy could be, she would never surpass Athena. Athena is just so amazing and I love her so much. She is compassionate, badass, hard working, hilarious, terrifying when mad but at the same time so gentle and kind. Her and Bobby are amazing together (especially earlier in their relationship), she’s such a good mom to Harry and May (and by extension Buck, and maybe even Eddie). She’s just amazing, ok.

Albert or Mateo I’ll be honest, I was going to choose Albert because I find him adorable and funny and I wish we knew more about him. But this time it’s the opposite problem of the others... I feel like we barely know Albert, even though he’s been around for a while now. The 9-1-1 writers have done a terrible job giving him meaningful backstory imo. Like he’s been in LA for how long now? Does he even have a job? Is he still speaking to his parents? We know barely anything about him besides that he’s Buck’s roommate and he has been on some dates.

Mateo on the other hand is much more flushed out. I loved the story arc where he is just SO dedicated and driven to become a firefighter despite his dyslexia and I’m so glad it was made possible for him to have allowances for the test. I love that his crew doesn’t mock him for it or treat him like he’s stupid, they ALL help him as much as they can, and I LOVE when Marjan goes and gives the tattoo parlour who intentionally fucked up his tattoo a reaming. He’s an earnest, eager younger brother who just wants to help and prove himself and I think he’s adorable.

Michael or Paul. I like Michael, but I like Paul a bit more. I just wish they would give him more screen time and a storyline that doesn’t involve people being transphobic. I’m sorry (not sorry) but the sister storyline thing still pisses me off

118 or 126. The 118, no question. They feel far more cohesive as a team and I love their relationships more, both with each other and with other people. The 118 feels so much more real than the 126, and I’ve no doubt it’s because of LS’s continued sidelining of its characters that are not Owen (and, I’ll admit, TK. I love that he gets a lot of screen time, but not if it comes at the expense of Marjan/Paul/Mateo being shunted to the side).

Maybe the 126 will get better with time. I’m certainly hoping that with TK in his new role, maybe they’ll bring in another firefighter to replace him (hopefully a woman! Both shows definitely lack women in the fire-fighting department imo - but the OG is definitely worse; only Hen in 9-1-1, and only Marjan in 9-1-1 LS but at least LS has Tommy and Nancy as medics. the 118 needs another featured woman firefighter!!)

California or Texas. I don’t know if it’s the filming choices or if Texas is just like that (having never been there, I have no idea), but Texas doesn’t seem nearly as nice as California. That could just be my personal preference; I love lush greenery far more than the more desert-y types of things, and I love the ocean so much. I feel like LA has prettier settings, and LS is more gritty. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, I just prefer pretty haha.

Buddie or Tarlos I feel like this is a bit of an unfair question, since it’s still up in the air whether Buddie even exists in canon, and Tarlos is unquestionably real.

But of course, if I’m forced to choose, it’s Buddie. And that’s not to say Tarlos isn’t amazing, because it is... I adore BOTH ships so much. I’m just too drawn into Buddie, and how their personalities compliment each other, and Buck’s special relationship with Chris that places him firmly into the Diaz family unit, Buddie or not. I really do feel like they’ve set them up 100% as a potential romance and as far as slow burns go, it’s amazing so far. Plus, even if they don’t become a couple, I am still so invested in them as best friends.

That being said, Tarlos is fucking adorable and I live for their scenes on LS <3

Tsunami episode(s) or Tornado episode. There was just SO MUCH going on with the tsunami. Of course the entire plot arc with Buck and Christopher is amazing and easily one of my favourites in the entire series, but I also loved that the tsunami episodes showed EVERYONE in their element, doing everything they could to help people. I love that it brought Lena into the mix (I know the fandom is divided on her but I love her unashamedly). The amazing scenes with Athena and May, the scenes with Maddie and that girl with the drone... it was just SUCH A GOOD ARC and I love it. The fact that I can remember SO much about it and I barely remember what happened with the tornado tells me just how much more I enjoyed it, as well.

911 or 911 Lone Star. Unquestionably 9-1-1. I feel like the firefam has become part of my own extended family and I just don’t feel that with LS. Maybe after a couple more seasons it’ll be more like that, but for now, 9-1-1 is EASILY my favourite. I do love LS too, though. I just wish there was less of Owen and more of everyone else. AND I WANT MORE CROSSOVERS!!!

I have no idea who has been tagged so I’m just going to pick a few random people. If you’re reading this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged by me! (And tag me back so I can read yours! <3) @firemedicdiaz @that-firehouse @bicepsie @tulipsfrom-medusa @evaneddie @kittycat-cas @bvckleydiaz @ashavahishta @matan4il And anyone else!!

#911 #9-1-1 lone star #this or that #make me choose #this was fun #and it's become very obvious that Lone Star criminally under uses most of its characters #FIX THAT LS #lksjdflkjsd

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Why Evil is the Only TV Procedural Worth Watching

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This Evil article contains spoilers. You can read a spoiler-free review of the show here.

Who knows what evils lie at the heart of CBS’s Evil? Shadows know. We consulted a book of shadows (not the one Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) skims, too many spoilers there) to cut into the left ventricle of the darkness feeding the network’s supernatural series, now in production for season 2. The blood of the police procedural pumps through the veins of the paranormal investigation show, but Evil transcends the statutes of those limitations. Occasionally by papal decree. The series is intelligent, filled with symbolism, and its main character, who is training to be a priest, drops acid on a semi-regular basis. And he’s not microdosing. Look at those baggies.

Evil doesn’t debunk demonic possession, which is the main thrust of the team’s investigations. It never treats it as campy. The series believes demons are real, even giving the audience a breakdown of the six different forms possession take. But it deliciously stops short of giving full commitment. The show also explores how to parse out personal responsibility when there’s a supernatural being to blame. In episode 7, “Vatican 3,” we learn “the court does not acknowledge demonic possession” in determining guilt or innocence. The series further muddies the waters when the crew has to take a hard look at a murder committed by someone who wasn’t possessed, such as when the parents of what they believed is a demonically possessed child kill him. The series further turns the screw because the kid they killed to save their other children was born evil. It was literally in his genes.

Evil shares DNA with The X-Files, and David Acosta, played with charisma and empathy by Mike Colter (Luke Cage), is the new show’s Fox “Spooky” Mulder. He is looking for answers beyond the veil, which has the same letters as evil, and he is putting the pieces together like a hidden map of old Manhattan. There’s a truth out there and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to understand it. He’s not in it to solve any crimes against venal sins. He is looking for deeper meaning, and this alone puts the series above most procedurals. David’s got a bit of the scientist Dodge from original The Planet of the Apes film in his cinematic character. One of the first astronauts to delve so deep into the outer reaches of space, “He’d walk naked into a live volcano if he thought he could learn something no other man knew.” David is the same. He was a foreign correspondent in war-ravaged Afghanistan who got to know the soldiers whose stories he reported. Truth and knowledge are the most noble of callings, and ultimately come before his religious calling.

While the basic premise of a spiritual believer teamed with a dissenting psychologist is procedural trope, Evil is out to debunk the law of its diminishing returns. First, the show teams David with not just one skeptical voice, but two. Katja Herbers’ Dr. Kristen Bouchard plays the same role Agent Dana Scully played to Mulder, and with a similar arsenal. She comes from a different perspective, though. Bouchard does indeed believe in miracles, but thinks they all have scientific explanations. She is confident the only reason something might defy natural principles is because science hasn’t been applied properly yet. Scully, who wore a cross and took her faith seriously, accepted miracles on faith. David and Kristen rarely come to the same conclusion.

Ben Shakir, played by Aasif Mandvi, brings common knowledge, and shades his skepticism with cynicism. The former Daily Show correspondent takes on the weight of all three Lone Gunmen but with more constructive skills. Before joining the paranormal team, he was a carpenter, just like Jesus. Ben knows how things work, and when everyday mechanisms like sinks or faulty wiring are the root cause of supernatural phenomena, he can turn the screws, and spot the mold. Ben, “the Magnificent,” as Kristen’s children call him, is also tech savvy, and quite capable of hacking hackers.

Evil also throws things at Ben which he can’t easily spackle over with even the best of tests. Try as he may, and he tries, he can’t explain the light of an angel in the frame of a surveillance video. There is no evidence of doctoring, even at the most expert levels. “The world is weird,” David passes off as dating advice when Ben asks about potential girlfriend Vanessa (Nicole Shalhoub), who wants to know she if she should detach from her dead sister before committing to a new relationship. Vanessa thinks she is “tethered” to her phantom sister by the right arm.

Supernatural science is bizarre, creators Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife, Braindead) believe. They push the show to diagnose causes the external evidence of exorcisms and stigmata, the bleeding wounds which correspond to the wounds on Christ’s hands when he was nailed to the cross. Because stigmatics display their wounds as they are portrayed artistically, rather than how the Romans historically would have done the crucifixion, it proves it comes from a psychological source. Internal belief causes the phenomena, not external spiritual forces. Evil explains that, allowing ample room for skepticism, belief, and even poetic reasons for spiritual incursions. David quotes Shakespeare to enunciate his faith. The concept of free will doesn’t come up in most procedurals. Neither does the way sociopolitical issues are turned into supernatural questions and tied to the origins of evil.

Evil is almost a character in Evil, and has relatable entry points. Real demons first get to Kristen’s four young daughters through an augmented reality videogame. A little girl who never takes off her Halloween mask almost gets the sisters to bury one alive. We don’t know how much of the characters’ perceptions is the result of a demon character’s influence on them. Each character is slowly being tempted by the dark side.

Kristen joined the team as a rational thinker but has had to accommodate uncomfortable ideas and adjust her comfort zone accordingly. In her usual line of work, she’s analyzed the criminally insane, but the show has pushed her into close contact with people who are evil in the Biblical sense. She is being pushed incrementally by forces in and out of her control. Her own mother Sheryl (Christine Lahti) sides with a manipulative competitor, Leland, over her daughter, and he’s made direct threats. The first season can be seen as Kristen’s slow corruption. The second season may see Kirsten apply her skills to her own situation, which will delve further into the dichotomy between the spiritual and pragmatic.

This is because Kristen may have already fallen. The final episode includes a telltale blood stain, which she wills Ben to unsee. On any procedural this is considered a clue, but here on Evil, the evidence actually points further than a mere homicide. It is the first sign that a main character has gone to the dark side. It is confirmed when the touch of a crucifix blisters her hand. There’s no such thing as an original sin and Kristen has been flirting with temptation long before this.

Kristen is a married nonpracticing Catholic who lost her faith. She’s sexually attracted to David, a man on his way to becoming a priest. When this subject was broached on the classic 1970s cop comedy Barney Miller, a prostitute who was supposed to be a young priest’s last fling before he entered a monastery said “I break laws, not commandments.” It feels like Kristen reminds herself of this every time the two of them are on screen alone together. Their sexual chemistry is that palpable. Yes, this is very similar to the long-gesticulating romance between Mulder and Scully, but he was no priest and she wasn’t married. Not only is Kristen married, but she’s got half a brood of daughters. Annoying things, really, but at least one of them has an excuse. Another reason Evil is the only procedural worth watching is because everyone on it just might be cursed. That’s not found in the manuals.

Evil towers over contemporary procedurals in how it’s going dark. Most procedurals chase a morally compromised arc, but Evil treats it like an encroaching corruption. Kristen, who is sworn to uphold the law, may have gone more than rogue vigilante. Besides the crucifix-burning season closing, David has visions of a goat demon waiting for Kristen with a scythe. She’d been tormented by her own personal demon throughout the season but when the George, the demon-like creature who visits Kristen during sleep paralysis, falls on the knife, it changes nothing. He is just one of many demons. One of them set up practice and is taking office hours with Leland.

The Demon Therapist is an all-male Goat of Mendes, or Baphomet. The show gets into how different biblical angels look from how they’re perceived artistically and by the contemporary faithful, but won’t present a faithful representation of Baphomet. It’s as patriarchal as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Evil keeps it vague whether the goat demon is real or in Leland’s head. The Demon therapist appears in Kristen’s dreams as well. Lexis (Maddy Crocco) disabled the house alarm for the visiting devil therapist when he invites her to “the next level,” making it seem she is at least susceptible to underworldly influence. The kids are irritating, but they are a bargaining chip and their father, Adam, put them up for grabs when they chanted together offering an exchange of souls. Kristen was co-opted into evil through protective motherly instinct. She doesn’t see the mark of the devil as a badge of honor. When Kristen puts the cross in her palm, she doesn’t look like she expected it as much as feared it.

While the network show will never have the freedoms afforded cable series, the acting is top notch all around. Series like HBO’s Perry Mason or even Showtime’s reimagined second incarnation of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, provide a wider range of emotion and carnality. But Evil gives us muted, for the most part believable performances, very often underplayed. As are the special effects and use of technology as a narrative device. Too many procedurals treat high tech surveillance and other investigative tools like they are all-seeing eyes which can count nostril hairs. It has become normalized. Evil doesn’t waste intellectual space with unreasonable gadgets. The tools Ben or Leland use to their computerized ends are believable. At one point, Kristen asks Ben to record a cell phone conversation which is already halfway over. She is surprised he can’t with all his special skills.

The series incorporates real world horrors into mundane life. Even some of the most normal looking settings carry a sense of unease, to underscore the show’s thesis that the supernatural is natural but never quite normalized. Many of the scenes are shot vertically, drawing the viewers’ eyes upward and inferring something is always going on above. The series’ many wide-angle shots put a distance between characters even in close-ups.

The show isn’t afraid to wear its influences on its sleeves, and on several occasions has a lot of fun with it. For Dr. Kurt Boggs’ (Kurt Fuller) arrival at an exorcism, they recreated Father Merrin’s introductory scene in the horror classic The Exorcist, shot for shot, even getting an exact replica of the light post and the same make car, though different year, from the film. They gave nods to Rosemary’s Baby, Misery, Cabin in the Woods, and Children of the Corn. The climbing ax which Kirsten grabs on her way out to do damage on the serial killer Orson looks like it has teeth. As did the walking stick Lon Chaney’s Larry Talbot carried in The Wolfman. The demon George looks like Freddy Krueger’s good-looking cousin. The tonality of the show is reminiscent of Charles Laughton’s immeasurably influential Night of the Hunter.

The main reason Evil shines above most procedurals is because it is scary, and those scares have been building slowly and deliberately. Commonplace settings feel off, and the world around is filled with conspiracies and coverup. The Vatican asks the team to determine whether a woman who knows the hidden history of the church is a false prophet. The fertility clinic Kristen and her husband Andy used when conceiving Lexis corrupts fetuses with satanic insemination. A witty but innocuous internet meme, Puddy’s Christmas song, is a hummably foreboding earworm. Anything can go evil on Evil.

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Evil season 2 is currently in production. Read more about that here.

The post Why Evil is the Only TV Procedural Worth Watching appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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thecorteztwins · 4 years

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I love how you care so much about obscure characters. Who is your favorite underrated female X-men character

Awww thank you! I love bringing them love, so it makes me really happy for you to say that! My absolute fave is Haven, but I read “faves” as plural so I wrote down a bunch...my faves can bounce around a bit but here’s a list of some of them! It’s under a cut because it’s long, I really like to explain who these gals are and why I like them so much! Warning, there is some description of pretty horrendous sexism and racism for some of these, since nothing makes me latch on to a woman harder than wanting to defend her from the SHITTY THINGS WRITERS DID TO HER! I kinda wrote novels for Haven and Madelyne, then I did links to previous things I’ve written about others. This is a LOT, I’m so sorry, I just love sharing!! Thank you for asking!!

THE BIG ONES Basically my consistent mega-faves I’m always ready to talk about! RADHA “HAVEN” DASTOOR - This lady has been at the top of my list for over five years and counting! She just really resonated with me on a deep level. She’s this mysterious woman who turns up in X-Factor for seven issues, and though she’s very benevolent towards them (even when they attack her) she is technically a villain, as she’s trying to destroy 3/4 of the world to bring about the Mahapralaya, a sort of Hindu apocalypse that will bring about an age of peace and end to suffering. So, her motives are very compassionate, and as it turns out, the horrible things she’s trying to do aren’t actually her fault. She’s being posessed by the Adversary, a demon of the highest order and an entity of cosmic evil. Or more specifically, her unborn child is. See, Haven was a really, really good woman. She was not a mutant, but she was sensitive to the pain and suffering of others from an early age, and she devoted her life to helping the poor and needy. She’s incredibly rich, so she could have helped just from afar, but instead she not only used her wealth to help others, she herself went out in the streets to attend to the poor and sick with her own hands. She bathed lepers, cradled dying babies, everything. She actually GOT the name “Haven” from a children’s hospital that she renovated, the kids started calling HER that instead. What a villain, huh? It all goes super wrong when she fell in love with a guy. After he took her virginity, he took off, leaving her pregnant. This was in 1970s India, and she was a very a religious woman, she felt INTENSE shame and horrible guilt and sunk into a deep depression, now living on the streets herself she was so broken. And then...then her fetus started talking to her. Yeah, see, technically she wasn’t posessed by the Adversary, her unborn child was. It incubated in her for twenty years, corrupting her mind, making her its pawn, all basically for its own amusement til it could be reborn into the world, killing her. And the guy who knocked her up? Got off scott-free. Basically she had sex ONE time and she had to be punished for it by being stripped of her agency, forced to betray everything she loved and believed, and then finally killed in the mud while a Marvel deity stood over and told her how she brought this on herself. It’s a slut-shaming Victorian morality tale of how no matter how good a person you are, you’re tainted forever if you violate purity culture just once, and we’re expected to AGREE with this narrative as readers. It’s sick. It gets even worse in how X-Factor treats her. She first appears RESCUING Polaris from government agents who are trying to kill her, because despite WORKING for the government at this time (X-Factor was a government team during this period) Polaris’s energy signature matched Magneto’s. Haven is the one who saved Polaris by teleporting her away. Polaris was distrustful and threatened Haven. Haven tried to talk her down, but also opened her arms and said that if Polaris truly did not believe her, then she would not resist. Polaris decided to “give trust a try” but I also truly believe that if Lorna had attacked her, Haven indeed would have let her. Haven is a human but the Adversary gave her INCREDIBLE power, she could WIPE PEOPLE FROM EXISTENCE by THINKING ABOUT IT, but she was a pacifist every step of the way, even as a villain. X-Factor would REPEATEDLY attack her later...she NEVER retaliated. The worst thing she did was, once they kept on attacking her, she just kinda put them in her pocket dimension as a time-out, but didn’t hurt them any. I really don’t think she COULD, possessed or not. Anyway, after meeting Lorna, she ‘ports Lorna back to safety and leaves her be. She is interested in recruiting Lorna and the rest of X-Factor to her cause, but she’s very moral about it, and never uses situations like these as leverage; for instance, when she heals Rahne of the Genoshan bonding process and gives her back her free will and her ability to resume her fully human form, Rahne is ECSTATIC and ready to do ANYTHING for her. And rather than exploit this, Haven just hugs her and tells her that her joy is thanks enough. Again, what a villain! Anyway, it turns out this Haven lady is also an activist! She’s big on promoting peace between warring groups (which I think makes it very significant that she’s an Indian character from Mumbai, then Bombay, who was created in 1992, the same year when Hindu/Muslim tensions in India resulted in the Bombay Bombings and subsequent riots, and she indeed mentions Hindu/Muslim tensions in her pro-peace speeches) and she emphasizes accepting MUTANTS in particular. It is very rare we see humans who are pro-mutant, though they had happened before, but this is the first time we see a human who is pro-mutant WITHOUT any affiliation or friendship with the X-men, and who is a public figure who seems to have some real social power---she’s a best-selling author, lecturer, and apparently her being a very wealthy woman has made some very wealthy people listen to her. She is basically the perfect ally for mutants if you take out the demon-possessed part, and I always found this super interesting and wish more had been done with it. So, she’s speaking at Brahma Hall (Brahma, notably, is the Hindu creator god) and...THIS happens. It’s...it’s really distressing. I’m sure it’s bad enough in its own time, but reading it NOW, in a post-9/11 world, a world where POC are routinely slaughtered by law enforcement (they always were but social media has made us more aware) it’s chilling. And we, the reader, are supposed to see X-Factor as JUSTIFIED in how they treat this unarmed, non-threatening, apparently-human-for-all-they-know woman who is promoting peace. Because no matter how nice she is, the US government says she’s an evil terrorist, and the US government turns out to be right! Yay, America! This might be a good time to mention Haven was the first Hindu character in X-Men comics, and the philosophy that the Adversary is manipulating her with comes directly from Hindu cosmology, and that is WAY IFFY to say THE LEAST. Holy xenophobia, Batman! And in an X-MEN comic of ALL PLACES! Oh yeah, and our good guys also describe her beliefs as “New Age psychobabble” and make fun of her temple decor as "very 60s" when BOTH ARE FROM HINDUISM, WHITE USA HIPPIES DID NOT INVENT IT, YOU IGNORANT SHITS So anyway, Haven’s very interesting to me as someone who is so deeply pacifistic and compassionate, that even when she’s being steered by a literal demon that has been talking in her womb for 20 years, she’s still someone who is perpetually polite, who won’t hurt the HEROES even when they want to hurt her, who SURRENDERS during a FIGHT in order to HEAL ONE OF THEM, and...who ends up with an abruptly aborted arc where she’s killed by her own “child” and victim-blamed in her last moments by Roma, the Omniversal Guardian Goddess and foe/counterpart of the Adversary. It’s made all the more tragic by the fact that Haven’s last pleas to Roma weren’t for herself, but for Roma to stop the Adversary, as she had realized now what her “child” really was. Even in her final moments, Haven was thinking of others, of the world. It’s just....awful to me that a character as interesting and unique as she was was thrown away like that, and that she was treated in such a sexist, racist, xenophobic way by both the HEROES and the story itself. I stan Haven 4 life. MADELYNE PRYOR- She’s maybe not “obscure” per se, I think most X-Men readers have a basic understanding of who she is, but the problem is that “basic” is not enough. What most people know is ”she’s Jean Grey’s evil clone” and some might know that “she was married to Scott Summers and went evil when he ditched her for Jean”. But that’s so far from the whole story, and it really does Madelyne a disservice, and canon has done her ENOUGH disservice already. Madelyne was originally created by Chris Claremont to truly be just a human woman who looked just like the dead Jean, with whom Scott would settle down and have a kid, and leave the X-Men. It’s a pretty nonsensical notion, the idea that this woman just happens to look exactly like Jean and meet Scott and fall in love, but this was his plan, he has confirmed it. And like...that’s pretty sexist from the start, in that she’s very literally created as a replacement for Jean on a narrative level, there’s NO REASON that she should have to look exactly like Scott’s dead ex besides as a way for Scott to still “get” Jean in a way. But Maddie rises above that swiftly by being a super strong, super cool character in her own right. She’s a pilot, she’s fearless, she’s adventurous, she’s got a mean right hook, and she’s got a tragic backstory when she crashed her plane and cost the lives of over three hundred passengers. She gets involved with Scott and by extension the X-Men, and she holds her own despite having no powers. Weird fact, this means that some of the X-Men, like Rogue, met Madelyne before they ever met Jean. She also gets a cool story where she gained healing powers, and the reason her powers specifically took the form of healing is because they were what she wanted them to be. She’s a good person, and also a total badass. Then, Jean came back, and the Powers That Be wanted her back together with Scott. But Scott was married to Madelyne. Rather than have them get a divorce or something, it was decided Madelyne had to be very literally demonized and then murdered, because we can’t just have two women co-exist, no, they must be divided into a “good” woman and a “bad” woman and fight over a man. Actual quote from Chris Claremont: “ Then, unfortunately, Jean was resurrected, Scott dumps his wife and kid and goes back to the old girlfriend. So it not only destroys Scott's character as a hero and as a decent human being it creates an untenable structural situation: what do we do with Madelyne and the kid? ... So ultimately the resolution was: turn her into the Goblin Queen and kill her off.” So, after something like EIGHT YEARS of being a character unto herself, Madelyne gets retconned as actually having been Jean’s clone all along! Which, okay, does make sense, certainly more sense than ‘this woman just happens to look EXACTLY like Jean and hook up with Jean’s ex” but then the REASON that Sinister cloned her...is nothing to do with Maddie or Jean themselves. Madelyne’s creation isn’t ABOUT her the way so many other clone/created-in-a-lab type stories are, like Laura Kinney. She wasn’t important. She was made literally just to have a baby with Scott, the BABY is what’s important. She is REPEATEDLY called a “brood mare” in fact (a female horse used specifically for breeding) So basically, her only value, her only REASON for existing, is her reproductive capacity. A lot of people think that Madelyne either found out she was a clone and went crazy-evil, or she went crazy-evil when Scott went back to Jean. That’s not what happened. Madelyne goes through a long, long series of arduous tragedies that piece by piece dehumanize and violate and traumatize her, and even then she doesn’t become evil until she’s TRICKED into being infected with demonic energy. Being “evil” was NEVER her choice, and everyone forgets that. See, first Scott walked out on her and the baby. Then, the Marauders attacked her, nearly killed her, and stole her baby and left her for dead in a coma for months. When she woke up, her baby was still missing, and she rejoined the X-Men to help them while they also helped search for her son. She sacrificed her LIFE alongside them to defeat the Adversary (yes, the same one Haven was pregnant with!) and then was resurrected with them too by Roma (yes, same Roma). She continued to work with the X-Men, despite the fact Scott had left her, and used her tech expertise to be the X-Men’s computer gal in Australia. When she saw X-Factor on one of the news monitors, including Scott with Jean, she realized why he’d abandoned her. She punched the screen and the explosion knocked her unconscious. While she was knocked out and dreaming, the demon Sym invaded her mind showed her a few different reflections of things she could be, one of which was a demonic reflection of herself. She chose that one, saying “What the heck, it’s only a dream.” And then Sym infected her with demonic energy. So she literally JUST found out her husband left her and their now-missing son for another woman, and she thinks she’s dreaming so yeah she picks the idea of being a demon IN THE CONTEXT OF A DREAM, A FUCKING FANTASY, WHEN SHE’S GOT EVERY RIGHT TO BE PISSED and oh well now you’re gonna be evil for real honey you don’t get a choice. Serves you right for being angry even for a moment, woman! But even then, she didn’t instantly turn evil. Horrible shit had already happened to her, but she still held out…so of course, more shit happened to her. While she and the X-Men were trying to help an escapee from Genosha (which was still enslaving mutants at that point) she ended up captured herself, and since their readings indicated she was not quite human (though what exactly she was, they didn’t know) they tried to put her through the “mutate bonding process” that would enslave her too. As a result, her latent psychic powers finally manifest, and she telekinetically explodes the place. From there, we start seeing big hints that something is going really wrong with Maddie, she seduces Havok and she’s entered into a secret bargain with the demon N’astrih, who promised to help her find her still-missing son (whom she still wanted to find and save at that point because she was still mostly herself) and of course, that bargain transformed her into the Goblyn Queen. After this transformation, though, she STILL had not gone past the point of no return. That didn’t happen until she met Sinister and she found out the truth of her origins—-not only was she a clone of Jean Grey physically, the few memories that she had also came from Jean, and her emotions from Scott had been PROGRAMMED into her (meaning she never had a choice at all in the man she loved) and it was all to be a brood mare, to produce a child with him. Only then did she go off the deep end completely, and agreed to N’astrih’s plan to sacrifice her own son (who he now found and gave to her, as this was his plan all along) because it was the absolute BIGGEST fuck you she could give to Sinister and to Cyclops. And like, yes, that’s evil, but given at that point she was not only magically infected/corrupted with demon energy AND insane with trauma that had been building up for months if not YEARS of development…she basically had a better excuse than ANYONE in all this who was also corrupted by Inferno. Yet she’s the one who doesn’t get a break. The unfairness is just…staggering, really. Even her death isn’t without indignity, violation, and depersonalization---she tries to commit a murder suicide, linking her mind with Jean’s and killing herself so that Jean will be dragged down into death with her. Jean, who really is the kindest to Maddie, urges Maddie to live instead, but Maddie’s last words are “not in the same world as you”. Jean survives. Maddie does not. And then...Jean takes Maddie’s memories and psyche into herself. It’s meant as beautiful, but to me it’s a heinous violation. Maddie wanted nothing more than be APART from Jean, so much so she KILLED HERSELF, and now Jean has made her a part of her forever, and we’re meant to applaud this? It’s DISGUSTING. Madelyne gets resurrected in the 1990s by Nate Grey, but it turns out that was an accident on his part, his mind was subconsciously seeking...Jean Grey, of course. And we he finds out he’s the one who brought her back to life, HE TRIES TO KILL HER. Jean stops him, but it’s no wonder to me that poor Maddie runs to the arms of Sebastian Shaw...who, of all people, actually treats her as an individual from the get-go and ends up being a pretty good boyfriend to her. Never even tries to use her in any evil schemes, it’s crazy. Madelyne has come back and died again and come back a few times since then, but she’s never really been “Maddie” again, whether it was brave adventurous Badass Normal pilot Maddie who just wanted to help people, or the bitter, conflicted, morally grey Maddie of the 90s. No, she’s just....she’s not even Goblyn Queen anymore, she lacks the pathos, she’s just this sexy evil misogynist caricature of herself and I hate it. I really love Madelyne Pryor. She came into this crazy world as a normal human, and when she got pulled into superhero shenanigans she held her own. She was a badass, she was a spitfire, she had a huge heart. She deserves a lot better than just being a gross Sexy Evil Lady with no personality, especially since she no longer has the whole “demonically possessed” issue going on. It’s just stupid and sexist at this point. I personally love original 80s Maddie, and also 90s Maddie where like...this shit has happened to her and she’s darker for it now, and understandably so, but she’s also still HER. Like, she leaves Sebastian Shaw not because he ever treated her badly, which he did not, but because he was doing things that could hurt OTHER PEOPLE, and that was where she drew the line. She was an enemy to the X-Men now or at least really hated them, she killed Threnody for bringing up her past as being “bred to breed”, but she also wasn’t about to be with a man who would risk the lives of millions of innocent people with his schemes, no matter how well he treated her, no matter if he was the one man who ever saw her for HER. Real Maddie is INTERESTING and Real Maddie is GOOD and I want Real Maddie back so she can call everyone on their shit and then go off and live her best life instead of being eternally dragged back into pointless villainy by authors who can’t think of anything better! MEGGAN PUCEANU - As with Madelyne, she’s maybe not UNKNOWN per se, I mean she’s one of the lead characters of Excalibur, but I also don’t think she’s an A-lister at all either. I’ve written about her HERE and HERE and her relationship dynamics with Brian Braddock/Captain Britain HERE so I feel like those links will probably be better than another novel like I did for Haven and Maddie! CATSEYE AKA SHARON SMITH - The deaths of all the Hellions were a tragedy, but Catseye is the one I found most interesting and with the most potential! I’ve written about her HERE and the Hellions in general HERE with a segment on her. She’s just so cute and innocent and INTERESTING, I want to know so much more about how she behaves, how she perceives the world and interact with others, how she gets on with her teammates, how she reacts this and that, I just love her! MINDMELD - Appears for only one issue, is arguably the first transgender mutant in Marvel, and also a total badass who I think is really sexy. I write more about her HERE and HERE. HONORABLE MENTIONS I’m not freaking out over these girls AS MUCH or AS CONSISTENTLY but they all have a place in my heart!! Really all it takes is someone MENTIONING them to get me revved up all over again!

THRENODY AKA MELODY JACOBS- Another Marvel gal who can’t catch a break, when she’s remembered by anyone at all. I wrote about her HERE prior to her most recent return in Deadpool, then HERE about said return. I just really, really want Threnody to be happy. She’s suffered enough. Admittedly, that could be said for most women on this list, maybe all of them. GOSAMYR- Wrote about her HERE! Most people who know of her at all typically hate her but I find her extremely interesting. She’s like everything people HATE about women, every stereotype of “toxic femininity”, but then this is explained as part of her culture and biology, and this is, to her, what is normal, and how is she to KNOW that everyone acts nuts around her when she has no basis for knowing how they act when she’s NOT around? She interests me in the questions and dilemmas she raises, and I just kinda have a thing for women we’re supposed to hate because of their feminine traits. KWANNON- The Japanese woman whose body Betsy Braddock had for years. I was very excited when she was brought back to life and given her own series, I wanted for her at last to be a CHARACTER with her own PERSONALITY and LIFE that wasn’t just an excuse to give a white woman a ninja makeover, and then I got...Fallen Angels. And she’s just...she’s literally just 90s Psylocke. I was very disappointed. But I still like Kwannon HERSELF in terms of potential, and now that she’s back maybe she’ll become a real person sooner or later. SATURNYNE AND SAT-YR-9: Wrote about them HERE! I really like Sat-Yr-9 as a villain (I especially enjoyed her short stint in the Hellfire Club as White Queen with Viper as her lieutenant and not-so-subtle girlfriend) and I like Saturnyne as a sort of celestial bureaucrat, someone who isn’t a force of good or evil but a force of ORDER, like the opposite of “embodiment of chaos” type characters. MURMUR AKA ARLETTE TRUFFEAU: I have not written about her before but HERE IS HER WIKI ARTICLE. As with Gossamyr, she seems like the “sexy shallow slut we’re supposed to dislike” type, so of course I like her. BIANCA LANEIGE- A Generation X villain who bore a grudge against Emma Frost from her days in the Hellfire Club, I wrote about her HERE. She’s pretty comedic as a bad guy, but that’s not a bad thing! I’d like to see her around again one day, either as silly as ever or made more serious. LIFEGUARD: Wrote about here HERE. She was in the first X-Men graphic novel that I bought and I’ve always had a soft spot for her since. I really liked that she didn’t give a shit when she found out who her bio-father was, it’s such a refreshing reaction compared to the usual “what if I’m just like my father/I can’t believe I’m adopted/etc” angst. Comparatively, she’s super upset about her Shi’ar lineage, because that actually altered her INTERNAL self when it manifested, she started seeing everyone around her as PREY and I reckon that’s pretty distressing for someone like her. Always wanted to see her come back; she’s in the background at a Krakoa party! SILHOUETTE CHORD: Wrote about her HERE and HERE. I just like her I guess! She’s maybe not obscure per se since she’s a main cast member of The New Warriors, but I’ve never really seen her get any attention. BLACK MAMBA AKA TANYA SEALY: Wrote about her HERE! THE ASP AKA CLEOPATRA NEFERTITI: Wrote about her HERE! SKEIN AKA SYBIL DVORAK: Wrote about her HERE and HERE! She was on the “Woman Warriors” team with Black Mamba and Asp, and I like the idea they just hang out as friends a lot!! ANACONDA AKA BLANCHE “BLONDIE” SITZINSKI: Wrote about her HERE! I just want her to hug me...really, really hard :) SHARADA DARTHRI: A minor villain that shows up during the “all female X-Men” team era in...2013, I think? Wrote about her HERE. DRAGONFLY AKA VERONICA DULTRY: Wrote about her HERE MANTIS : Despite the fact that she’s very well-known for her film version in Guardians of the Galaxy, most people don’t seem to know much at all about her comics version even though she’s been an Avengers member since the 70s. Wrote about her HERE and HERE and HERE, someone else writes about her HERE PENDING These are characters that I have not had the chance to personally read up on myself yet, but I want to! Their names link to their Marvel wiki articles! TOPAZ FIREBIRD SNOWBIRD SILVERCLAW There are honestly countless others I’m probably not remembering but this is a good handful I think! Oh, yeah, and also...COOTER. Because her name is COOTER oh my god.

#xmen #marvel #marvel women #x men women #women of marvel #x women #out of cortez

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deltabannermen · 4 years

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Story - Mutually Exclusive

The dowager took a single step back and swung her blade in a wide arc--she did not intend to hit, only to create distance, and Madeleine had no choice but to take several steps back herself.

The early morning light filtered through the sliding door, left ajar so the breeze would reach them. No one else, not even the servants, had ever set foot here (at least, not when Madeleine was watching).

“Your form is off today,” the dowager said.

It was. She’d lain awake all night, feeling heavy and restless. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t put a finger on exactly what.

The dowager watched her for a moment, then--after a slight bow--resheathed her blade and stepped off the bamboo mat, her bare feet tapping gently on the floor. Madeleine reseathed her blade as well.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m just not--”

She jerked away, violently, as the dowager reached out a hand towards her stomach.

“Hold still,” the dowager said--her silver hair, in its customary bun, seemed dull and dark this morning. Then she planted a palm against Madeleine’s stomach, feeling all over--her hips, her waist, from ribs to upper thighs.

“I know,” Madeleine said, her voice low and raw. “I was hoping...maybe not.”

The dowager withdrew her hand and eyed her. “Is that one of the men you wish to punish?”

Her jaw slackened. “No--no, Twelve, no! Not...it’s not like that.” But she must have looked ill, because the older woman slipped in beside her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and guided her towards the simple wooden bench at the back of the room.

“What is it like?”

Maddie tried to answer. But she found it hard to breathe, suddenly.

How will I learn. How will I train. What will I do. How can I tell him--

None of these, of course, was really a question. Because she knew her own mind on the matter; she always did. This was not a part of her plan...or his, for that matter.

She was trembling, she realize, and rubbed her hands together.

“Here.” Time was passing, but she kept missing chunks of it, like the part when the dowager must have left the bench and gone across the room to retrieve Maddie’s jacket and drape it over her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she said. “I...hate to ask, but...um. Is there someone who can, uh...take care of...this.”

“I can recommend a doctor, yes.” Nothing seemed to faze the woman, and there was no judgement in her eyes.

“I can’t train like this,” Maddie said. “It’ll throw me off. And I can’t take care of a child.”

“Understandable.”

“I’d be a terrible mother anyway,” she said. She’d meant to laugh, but she forgot how. “So...let’s just...continue, for now.”

“As you wish.” The dowager stood and stretched, flexing her wrists and rolling her shoulders. “Would you like me to accompany you to the doctor?”

Maddie stood and shrugged her jacket back off, taking slow deep breaths until the shaking passed.

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

It was their custom, if an activity barely a week old could be called custom, to have a light meal together before Madeleine left the estate for the evening and returned to her rooms in the warehouse.

“You still have your appetite, then,” the dowager observed over her plate of fish and vegetables.

“Oh...that.” She’d done her best to ignore it. “Well, I’ll take care of it tomorrow.” The dowager had given her an address. She had the utmost confidence in the man.

“May I ask...” The dowager hesitated. “...the father?”

“Oh...my boyfriend.”

“I see.” She was studying Maddie curiously. “I thought perhaps you were...alone.”

“I am,” she said. “I mean...at the moment. He’s back in Eorzea. An officer. In the Maelstrom.” The dowager was unnervingly silent, or maybe she was just unnerved. “I don’t think I’ll tell him.”

“Would he be upset?”

“He doesn’t want children any more than I do.” Which was true--they’d discussed it in fact. It was a done deal, over. Resolved.

Then why do I feel so...

“Do you want children, some day?”

“NO.” She was startled by the firmness of her own voice, the loudness, and she swallowed and lowered her volume before she continued. “I don’t. I don’t have time for children.”

“I’m sorry,” the dowager said. She had a sympathetic look, true sympathy--it had a different flavor than pity, and Maddie knew how to tell the difference. “I was curious, because you seem so disturbed. It is not an uncommon thing.” She paused. “I myself do not want children.”

Which explained, perhaps, why she knew such a doctor and had the utmost confidence in him.

“I don’t know what’s bothering me,” Maddie said. “It’s not like me. I know what I want, and what he wants, and...”

When the silence stretched out to an uncomfortable length, the dowager re-filled their glasses--it was warm and alcoholic, and that was all Maddie needed to know.

“Sometimes,” the dowager said, after a small sip, “I go into the garden and I think about the children I did not have.” She smiled, fleeting but sly. “It was not for lack of practice. Like you...I had a different path in life.” She sipped again, longer this time. “I do not mourn them--they did not exist. But I think about the life I might have had. The men I might have shared it with.” She studied Madeleine closely. “Perhaps it isn’t the same, but...”

“I...think it’s close,” Maddie said, subdued. “But it’s not my life I’m...”

Oh, no. I don’t want kids. Twelves’ sake, Mads, I’d be an awful father. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

He was clear on that, certain.

Then why can I see you holding her and rocking her to sleep. Why can I hear you reading him a bedtime story, why can I picture you making them sandwiches, why--

“I just wish,” she said, throat suddenly tight, voice suddenly thick, “that...that all the things we want weren’t...”

The dowager reached out and patted her hand where, lying on the table, unnoticed, she’d clenched it into a fist.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I know.”

#FFXIV writing

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kittykatknits · 7 years

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So I read a "post" saying Sansa running WF successfully is ooc. I disagree. Sansa's the defacto lady of the Vale and she's doing a good job. Besides innately being smart she's also getting training for being a lady,administrator, diplomat and in politics. She has natural acumen for organization,logistics,hardwork,knows how to run a household well She's learning to gauge others' motivation&how to maneuver them successfully. Also she'll have advisors to help her. I see her as a very successful 1/2

ruler/Lady of WF or when ruling the North/looking after its daily workings/governing/managing it; I dont think it’s ooc for Sansa to be a capable ruler/administrator/and dispatch the duties that come w/ being Lady of WF/looking after the North at all. That’s where her book arc&training montage is leading her. What do you think? 2/2

In short, I largely agree with you.

I’m loathe to think of fandom as a single identity but there has been a general trend with Sansa as a character over the years (at least based upon my unique experiences). Long ago, when only two books were available in the series, Sansa Stark was largely defined by two things: (1) the events on the Trident and subsequent deaths of Lady/Mycah and (2) the betrayal/execution of her father. Then, the third book was released in 2000 and fandom decided Sansa should also be defined by her feelings, or lack thereof, towards Tyrion Lannister. Oy, I am forever sick of those debates. Opinions changed, somewhat, after aFfC was released in 2005. Twelve years later and we are still waiting to see how fandom reacts to her in the next book.

It’s funny in a way. Seventeen years and, for the most part, the discussion around Sansa is almost exactly the same, “Starkness”, killed her wolf, cruel to her sister, cruel to Jon, snob, got her father killed, not truly north like, and so on. Well, no, it’s not funny, it’s frustrating because it seems like there is a growing trend of throwing power hungry into the mix although I think that’s fed largely by the show than by the book’s version of the character

For the most part, Sansa has never been a popular character, ever. The trend I’ve seen is not so much that she’s received less negativity over time, because she hasn’t, but that her actual fan base has grown. There was an explosion of Sansa fans after the first season of Game of Thrones aired and then again after the second.

So, anyways, to get to the point, the fact that you saw a post like that, isn’t particularly new or surprising. It’s shallow and inaccurate, but not a surprise. To be honest, I actually blame Martin for some of it. For the most part, he’s done a great job at world building and is fairly consistent when it comes to enforcing the rules. Cat mentions her Ladies once and…that’s it. Cersei is the queen and has no women at court. Martin doesn’t really show us the lives of women in ordinary circumstances, he’s pretty bad at it. We get Marg and her cousins in the third book some and Cersei finally gains a friend (who is also a spy…) in the fourth. There is a lot of work telling us how men are educated, think of the memories of both Jaime and Jon. We even see it with Bran as he functions as the Stark in WF. Heck, the first chapter is showing Ned raising his sons. But, the women, it doesn’t happen to nearly the same degree. Readers need to work at it so much more than they do with the male characters.

To me, I compare Sansa’s interactions with Measter Colemon in the Vale to those of Bran with Luwin. Colemon speaks with and takes guidance from Sansa in the same way Maester Luwin did with Ned/Cat, but much less so with Bran.

And let’s look at this:

Maddy and Gretchel were waiting outside with Maester Colemon. The maester had washed the night soil from his hair and changed his robe. Robert’s squires had turned up as well. Terrance and Gyles could always sniff out trouble.“Lord Robert is feeling stronger,” Alayne told the serving women. “Fetch hot water for his bath, but see you don’t scald him. And do not pull on his hair when you brush out the tangles, he hates that.” One of the squires sniggered, until she said, “Terrance, lay out his lordship’s riding clothes and his warmest cloak. Gyles, you may clean up that broken chamber pot.”

- Alayne II, aFfC

The household is taking orders from Sansa here too. And when her authority is questioned:

Gyles Grafton made a face. “I’m no scrubwoman.“Do as Lady Alayne commands, or Lothor Brune will hear of it,” said Maester Colemon. He followed her along the hallway and down the twisting stairs. “I am grateful for your intercession, my lady. You have a way with him.” He hesitated. “Did you observe any shaking while you were with him?”

- Alayne II, aFfC

This chapter shows Sansa shutting down the Eyrie and preparing for the entire household to take up residence in the gates of the moon. It’s exactly what would be expected of the Lady of the Vale.

And if there is any further doubt, the first Alayne chapter is one long bit of political theater:

“She did indeed. She saw to the mulling of the wine first, found a suitable wheel of sharp white cheese, and commanded the cook to bake bread enough for twenty, in case the Lords Declarant brought more men than expected. Once they eat our bread and salt they are our guests and cannot harm us. The Freys had broken all the laws of hospitality when they’d murdered her lady mother and her brother at the Twins, but she could not believe that a lord as noble as Yohn Royce would ever stoop to do the same.The solar next. Its floor was covered by a Myrish carpet, so there was no need to lay down rushes. Alayne asked two serving men to erect the trestle table and bring up eight of the heavy oak-and-leather chairs. For a feast she would have placed one at the head of the table, one at the foot, and three along each side, but this was no feast. She had the men arrange six chairs on one side of the table, two on the other. By now the Lords Declarant might have climbed as far as Snow. It took most of a day to make the climb, even on muleback. Afoot, most men took several days.It might be that the lords would talk late into the night. They would need fresh candles. After Maddy laid the fire, she sent her down to find the scented beeswax candles Lord Waxley had given Lady Lysa when he sought to win her hand. Then she visited the kitchens once again, to make certain of the wine and bread. All seemed well in hand, and there was still time enough for her to bathe and wash her hair and change.”

- Alayne I, aFfC

This isn’t GRRM being overly verbose here or falling in love with his food descriptions. It’s Sansa setting up a stage, thinking through everything from guest right to the type of table and chairs and their placement. Remember, these are not random guests, these are six individuals that are contesting LF’s hold on SR and the Vale. Everything matters.

It’s no different than the Lannisters in the throne room after the Battle of the BW. That’s one long bit of political theatre too, with the rehearsed scene between Joffrey and Loras or Tywin riding in atop his horse. It’s presentation and Sansa is doing a really good job here of setting everything up to their advantage.

After this, Sansa dresses herself:

“There was a gown of purple silk that gave her pause, and another of dark blue velvet slashed with silver that would have woken all the color in her eyes, but in the end she remembered that Alayne was after all a bastard, and must not presume to dress above her station. The dress she picked was lambswool, dark brown and simply cut, with leaves and vines embroidered around the bodice, sleeves, and hem in golden thread. It was modest and becoming, though scarce richer than something a serving girl might wear. Petyr had given her all of Lady Lysa’s jewels as well, and she tried on several necklaces, but they all seemed ostentatious. In the end she chose a simple velvet ribbon in autumn gold.”

- Alayne I, aFfC

Again, it’s more of the same. This isn’t Sansa obsessed with clothes (although what’s wrong with that if she is?) It’s the image she wants to present, it’s the same reasons the Tyrells drape themselves in gold and green.

Sansa’s chapters are swimming with this stuff and it tends to get dismissed. This stuff matters and it matters a lot. This theater and pageantry is present in every wedding and clothing choice. It’s present in the food (remember the poor fare offered at the RW?). It’s reflected in seat placement at both the WF feast and the PW. And Sansa is really good at it, like really damn good.

Heck, even Tyrion picks up on her skills:

“She is good at this, he thought, as he watched her tell Lord Gyles that his cough was sounding better, compliment Elinor Tyrell on her gown, and question Jalabhar Xho about wedding customs in the Summer Isles. His cousin Ser Lancel had been brought down by Ser Kevan, the first time he’d left his sickbed since the battle. He looks ghastly. Lancel’s hair had turned white and brittle, and he was thin as a stick. Without his father beside him holding him up, he would surely have collapsed. Yet when Sansa praised his valor and said how good it was to see him getting strong again, both Lancel and Ser Kevan beamed. She would have made Joffrey a good queen and a better wife if he’d had the sense to love her.”

- Tyrion VIII, Sos

But, as important as all of this is throughout the entire series, it has always tended to be overlooked and dismissed which is really disappointing. I don’t claim to know her ending, whether Hand, queen, Lady of WF, or something else. But, I guarantee all of the above is going somewhere and it isn’t just to take out LF or rebuild after. I suspect it will be incredibly important come the war for the dawn too.

This has gone on for a long time though, so I will stop now. But, hopefully, I answered your question…at least some.

Thank you anon for letting me talk about my girl!! I love Sansa so much. :)

#Sansa Stark #ASoIaF #asoiaf meta #house stark #anon ask #feel free to ask #feel free to ignore #sansa stark meta

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