#butterfly watches wot

[butterflydm]

show changes to the One Power

So they've now officially made two changes to how the One Power works in the series and I like both of them.

1. last season, they made it clear that a circle doesn't prevent someone from burning out from using too much of the One Power. Fantastic change! Makes linking much more of an act of trust! Will make the idea of linking with a man who is potentially influenced by the corruption/madness of the Dark One's touch on saidin terrifying! Explains why Aes Sedai aren't in circles all the damn time in the latter parts of the series, once they know how much danger is around them. Creates drama and creates a reason for people to hesitate to link.

2. this season, they've shown that being able to sense a channeler (who is not currently embracing the source or using weaves) is a Talent with a capital T that only a few specific people have. Love this change as well and it has some fascinating potential knock-on effects.

a. This helps solve our numbers plotholes about why the Aes Sedai are having such a hard time getting new novices, but other cultures still have plenty of channelers -- if this is a relatively rare Talent, and there are currently no Aes Sedai who possess it (or maybe the only Aes Sedai who does is Black Ajah?), then that puts them at a significant disadvantage when trying to find new novices and waiting for women to spark on their own and come to the White Tower really is possibly the best they can do right now. And it can help explain why Egwene is able to find those women later on -- all she needs is one person with the Talent and she has an advantage there (they could even potentially make it Miri herself, if she is freed from the Seanchan this season).

b. It means that the Seanchan can be more effectively targeted in order to try to save women from them -- find out which damane have the Talent of sensing channelers and focusing on freeing (or killing) those specific damane. And it means that it makes more sense that no one has figured out the sul'dam secret, if this is a relatively rare Talent and the amount of intense 'training' that the damane undergo.

c. It explains how the Aiel can get every single potential channeler -- Wise Ones are explicitly allowed safe passage among all the clans, so you only need one Wise One with the Talent in order to spot every single potential candidate (similar with the Sea Folk, who also have big meet-ups).

d. It also shows us how much Moiraine was relying on wishful thinking in s1 -- when she separated Egwene out, it really was an act of hope/faith that the woman in the group would be able to channel and potentially be the Dragon Reborn.

e. It gives Logain a strong purpose for the Black Tower, so if Logain is our major Asha'man who has this Talent, then he's irreplaceable as a recruiter.

[jackoshadows]

I totally get where Brandon Sanderson is coming from in his criticism of the show and how it's playing hard and fast with the world building and magic system which will lead to larger changes down the line or the butterfly effect as George RR Martin keeps talking about with respect to GOT.

At the same time, people need to understand: I have a stake in this they do not. My name is LITERALLY on this product. And so, it being weak in areas that are important to me is something that I find a bigger worry in it than I might in another show. If you play loose and free with magic systems, then that reflects badly on me--as this is one of my specialties, and people will watch and be annoyed about things that I really, in a perfect world, should have been able to help the writers fix. I consider one of my other big strengths to be character arcs with powerful resolutions, and both seasons have really had troubles with this in the last episodes. That reflects on me, because having me involved should be able to help with this.

For example I came across a discussion on the WOT subreddit on whether Rand is a false dragon and that's when it struck me that yeah, Moiraine creating that huge fire dragon does end up making Rand a false dragon as per the worldbuilding of the books.

Think about it. Liandrin or any of the Black Ajah can choose a man who can channel, make a huge fire dragon for him and declare him the dragon reborn. And in the books, false dragons are said to be controlled by Aes Sedai and several major players often allege that Rand himself is false and controlled by the Aes Sedai.

Which is why 'Ta'veren' - which the show seems to have forgotten about - is an important aspect of the magical system of the world of WOT. It's the pattern that creates a set of conditions/events that leads to Rand fulfilling prophecies - which identifies him as the Dragon Reborn. Show Rand got none of that.

Which is why in the books, Siuan and Moiraine decide that Rand needs to exercise his free will and lets him go do his own thing. This is a big deal in the books and a decision that has major consequences for Siuan Sanche. The show, however, did a complete 180 on Siuan - changed her motivations, her actions, her reasoning. In effect that was a complete character assassination made worse by the fact that she's played by the amazing Sophie Okonedo.

And not just Moiraine creating that dragon, what's with her attacking the Seanchan ships using the One Power? Isn't that a violation of her three oaths? It's this magical system that gives us some of the best bits of the books - like that time where Mat keeps asking an Aes Sedai to use her one power to attack and she has to wait till she gets attacked to use it. This is what makes the world of the books so much more fun and interesting.

[edosianorchids901]

Hoofbeats

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt - "All the king's horses"

Aziraphale meandered down the road, his mind wandering as much as his steps. It was a lovely day, the sort of day that it seemed a shame to waste on work.

Not that time spent on his duties was wasted, of course! His assignments from Heaven were very important, even if lately they had all been rather focused on blessing the endeavors of prominent people with a predilection for cruelty. Heaven said that doing such missions were important, and therefore, they were.

Still, there was no harm in taking his time getting back to London. He was appreciating Creation, that was it. The butterflies and birds and flowers popping up alongside the road, for example. Very important too.

Aziraphale bent over a hedge with some sort of pretty purple flower and inhaled its scent. Then he investigated some darling little worms under the hedge. Then he cooed softly in reply to a bird.

Hoofbeats echoed down the road, and he looked up with interest. Perhaps he could appreciate a horse next. Riding them wasn’t particularly fun, but he did love to pat their velvety, squishy noses.

A shiny horse came around the bend, appearing from behind the trees. Its rider wore black too, tightly fitted clothes of the latest fashion along with the usual dark glasses. Sunlight glowed on the fiery red hair.

“Crowley!” Aziraphale said, delighted. And then he frowned, suddenly suspicious. “Why are you smiling?”

“Hiya, angel!” Crowley urged his horse up to a trot, wobbled in the saddle, and grabbed the mane to steady himself. “Wot, demons aren’t allowed to smile?”

“No, you’re certainly allowed to smile.” And he had the most beautiful smile too, when he chose to deploy it, but… “You don’t usually smile when you’re riding a horse. You hate horses.”

His horse snorted and tossed its head as if in response, and Crowley shrugged. “Nh. Maybe I’m, er. Turning over a new leaf.”

“I highly doubt that.” Narrowing his eyes, Aziraphale stepped closer and looked over the horse’s fine, gold-embellished tack. “What have you done, you fiend?”

“Nothing,” Crowley said innocently.

Another horse sauntered around the bend, this one a chestnut. Another chestnut followed. And then a bay.

“Crowley.”

“Mm?”

“Why are there so many horses?”

“Are there lots of horses?” Crowley asked, still with the same innocence. He turned around in the saddle, watching the next five horses as they ambled around the corner too. “Gosh, yeah.”

Aziraphale crossed his arms. “Crowley.”

“Nnnh, okay, so I mighta, er…” Crowley gave him a jaunty little grin, tried to give his signature side-to-side sway, and almost fell off his horse. “I mighta stolen the King’s horses.”

Two more horses came around the corner. “All the King’s horses?” Aziraphale asked.

“Dunno. Whichever ones would follow me. Turns out that horses are drawn to an open gate like…” Crowley trailed off, face scrunching up as he tried to think of a metaphor.

“Like a demon to chaos?” Aziraphale said dryly.

Crowley flashed another bright smile. “Yeah, if you like.”

“I’m not sure whether I like or not.” There were an awful lot of horses now, all over, and Aziraphale scurried off the road before he could get run over. “Why did you do this, precisely?”

“Eh, really needed to fill my monthly quota.” Crowley’s horse tried to take off to join the others, and Crowley reined it in. “I figure, I steal the horses, King flips out and takes it out on everyone else, they take it out on other people…”

“Lovely.” Aziraphale edged further off the road. “Well, I suppose I shan’t go to London. I did have a mission there, but if King Henry is separating people from their heads again, I can hardly justify blessing his endeavors.”

“Ooh, terrific. Hey.” Crowley swayed from side to side again, tempting. “You wanna go somewhere with me? We could get drinks and AAAIAAAUGH!”

Aziraphale sighed as the black horse bolted and Crowley immediately toppled off. He landed on the soft grasses at least rather than in the road to be trampled by the herd.

Shaking his head, Aziraphale approached and bent over him. “My dear fellow, whatever am I to do with you?”

“Ow.” Crowley just laid there for a moment, wincing, then held out a hand for help up. “Take me somewhere with good wine?”

“I suppose that’s one idea.” Aziraphale took his hand and arm, pulled him upright, and then tried to tug free. Crowley held onto his hand. “Crowley.”

Crowley smiled again, like a child who had just managed to do something deeply naughty without being caught. “Hm?”

Aziraphale glanced at their joined hands, Crowley’s slender fingers curled around his plump ones. It felt rather lovely, the touch oddly relaxing. And it seemed a shame to give that up.

“Oh, nothing.” Still hand-in-hand with Crowley, Aziraphale set off down the road away from London. The horses were vanishing into the distance up ahead, all encouraged to canter by Crowley’s black mount. “You know, I was planning to appreciate Creation today. I think that appreciating a good cup of wine qualifies.”

And not only that. He smiled at Crowley’s expression, appreciating how pleased with himself the silly old serpent looked. Taking time to enjoy these lovely days was important too, after all.

[kat-hawke]

✿ - DECAY - an old memory, from childhood perhaps

Monstrous Headcanons

Removing the glove from her hand, Kat pressed two fingers to the side of her skull, the fingertips illuminated with a deep violet glow. The once motionless shadows around her seat roused and swirled like a summer storm as the memory came to life in the mindless eye.

-Gilneas, Year 612-

"Why is the gate closed now?" A ten year old Kat inquired as steel-grey eyes scanned the massive stone wall in the far distance.

"Because," Thomas answered as he toted his daughter around on his shoulders. "The King thinks it 'ill save us. But he is too much of a knob t'know it'll make things 'arder for us in 'ere."

"Wot's a knob?" Kat asked.

Thomas cleared his throat as he pressed on up the hill.

"It means fool, Katanie. And don't go tellin' yer mother I told ye that..."

"Will she be mad?" The child shifted to the side to look at her father.

"No' with you she won't be..." Thomas grumbled under his breath as they reach the summit.

Over the western ocean, the sun was setting upon the horizon. The sky and sea were painted with an orange hue against the violet canvas of the young night sky.

"Is the reason ye don' sail on the ships anymore because the king is a knob?" Kat questioned as she watched the sun peak below the horizon line.

"Katanie don' repeat that!" Thomas exclaimed as he sighed. "But, yes. With th' wall closed th' trade ships have stopped."

"Does tha' mean ye ain't got a job anymore?"

"Just like yer mum, ya' know that? Always askin' more 'n more questions..." Thomas sighed, lifting Kat off his shoulders and putting on the ground as they took a seat beneath a tree. "We'll be fine, Butterfly. Jacob got us our ol' jobs in the mill again and there's rumor Crowley is gonna bring tha' gate down."

Kat's eyes lit up as she smiled wide.

"Can we explore th' world? Ye said we could go see th' massive city in the South!"

"Of course, Butterfly," Thomas chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I want ye t'see the world someday."

-Present Time-

Shadows broke into a dark mist, setting on the floor at the Director's feet once more. Fingers pulled away from her skull and rested in her lap. The stark amber gaze stared into the shadows without a word.

[wench-and-jezebel]

Red, White, and Royal Blue Reaction:

Jezebel (@typicalopposite) and Wench (@scripted-downfall) react

J: Whooooop whooooop!

W: And now we begin the film that has had my react partner cheating on me for a week I mean what

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ No, no, is true.  This has been my whole personality

W: Believe me, I'm aware

– – – 

J: Not Alex “yucking her yum” over this wedding

W: Translation: "I'm smitten, Nora, dear, and utterly annoyed about it"

J: Bea!!

J: Alex buddy just say you have a crush

W: To be fair, his criticisms aren't like they were in the book.  They're not ugh he's too perfect and gently chivalrous and I must poke anymore :(

J: Buddy #2 just say you have a crush

W: Bruh, what was that greeting, Alex?

J: Oh, boy.  Oh, this will go well!

W: I'm preemptively cringing over this cake and what is about to happen

J: Right?

J: Men and their obsession with height

W: Henry looks so shell-shocked

J: Yes Alex that’s helping.  Let’s just keep smearing it around 🤣🤣

W: Bruh, I hate Philip already

J: Right!?!

W: What would my family say if they knew I was watching this rn

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: That is also on the topic of bad reputations... as mine would be shot

J: Zahraaa

W: SARAH SHAHI, MY BELOVED

J: I have been trying to not think of it being connected to the book ☠️☠️ cause I know they’re gonna change stuff

W: lkasjdf not gallons of tea

J: I love Uma Thurman

W: White House pillow fights, hell yeah!

J: I LOVE ZAHRA

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ ZAHRA you’ll regret saying sending Alex over soon, ma’am

W: Alex is gonna change his mind about David the dog real fast

J: “He is super cute”  Ahh I love him

W: SHAAN! alksjdf;lkasjfd I love him

J: Oh god ☠️☠️ Henry: let me show him how cool I am!  Zoom zoom

W: Brings out the good ol' Aston Martin

J: That smirk when he says "your wearing lifts"

W: You know.  When I envisioned that scene, I assumed they were.  actually competent at faking affection

W: … Once again.  Once again.  I thought they were supposed to be good at this.

J: ☠️☠️☠️  Whaaaat? You can’t tell they are so totally frien-

W: This poor man dealing with Alex's b.s.

J: "White blonde and British"?? What?!

W: BARBARA STREISAND?  NOT BABS!!!

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: Henry looks so scandalized

J: Oooop!

W: THE CLOSET SCENE

W: Bruh, they're starting the complimenting already

J: Ahhh I keep typing then getting distracted

W: I adore Henry, just btw.  He's my chosen character in this

J: 😂😂😂

W: Despite the aesthetics, he's the burnt marshmallow, actually

J: Amyyyyy

W: It’s sad that they cut the Star Wars conversation

J: I knowww

W: "People kill to get into my New Year's party!"  "That's perfect: they can kill me so I don't have to go!"  I love it

J: Oooop!

J: Well he’s already gone for Alex

W: HEY, WAIT, I LOVE HIM!  Clifton Collins, Jr.

J: Ooop 👀👀

W: My dude is flirting

J: Ooooop x2

W: Is this Liam, you think?

J: He said Miguel

W: I know.  But there was no Miguel in the book.  I'm saying, do you think he's standing in for Liam

J: Oh you mean just like supposed to be- yeah seems like it

J: Buddy using emoticons

W: alskdjf;laskjdflaksjdflkajdsf Those aren't emoticons; they're like.  stickers, or whatever

J: Or no it’s Bitmojis! ☠️

W: I still love the "But we were ever so careful, dear" line. One of my favourites

J: I knowww lol

W: DORIAN GRAY IS SO GOOD

J: ☠️☠️☠️

W: NO, NOT HIM DISSOLVING INTO BUTTERFLIES!  I'm going to cry in Hua-Cheng-coding

J: You mean the scene changing?

W: The butterflies

J: Oh!!

W: You'll figure it out when you finish the books.

J: Soooooon!!

J: Not the Turkey ☠️

(begin flashback to Wench's Discord conversation/reaction to RWaRB, the book!)

– – – 

W: The turkeys ☠️ wtf are they being pardoned for??? I'm so confused

J: You didn’t know about this!?!?

W: No??

J: It’s a stupid af tradition the president pardons a Turkey on thanksgiving

W: ... wot. Why?

J: I have no idea

W: I'm looking this up *pulls up Wikipedia* *reads for five minutes* OH MY GOD THERE WAS A WHOLE RIVALRY

J: lol

W: This is actually really funny... not so much the pardoning bits, but what started it all. Basically, this dude Horace Vose started presenting dressed turkeys to the president , until some other dude decided that his turkey tasted better than Vose's and presented his own turkey instead. The prez then started receiving turkeys from literally EVERYONE, and this escalated to the point that Coolidge banned the practice... And then, the second he lifted it again, was flooded by turkeys, as well as an array of other animals, including a live racoon named Rebecca. Coolidge refused to eat her and named her a White House pet)

W: Okay, back to reading

Present-day W: (or, rather, watching!)

– – – 

J: This scene is cute

W: Hey look, it's our dynamic! "What's x"  "Look it up"

J: ☠️☠️☠️ ANYWAY.  THIS IS CUTEEE

W: Man is a liar

J: that was the yesest nope ever

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: “They wouldn’t [like him better] if they knew him”  Liar x2

J: Right?! 😂

W: Henry is about to gay panic for three hours straight

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ poor buddy!’

W: Fellas, is it gay to stare at your best-bro-pal-buddy's lips wrapped around a bottle?

J: I knowwwww

W: I love that the tie isn’t grey

J: PEZ

W: HELL YEAH

J: Ohhhhhhoooopp

W: Poor Henry looks so awkward when she sits on Alex

J: Oh god the flashbacks of school dances

W: I never went to any, so I am immune

J: OH GOD NOW THISSSS IS A FLASHBACK TO HS!  THIS DAMN SOMG

W: This poor man

J: ☠️☠️☠️ hennnryyyyy

W: Poor Henry

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: Henry is legit me idk what you mean. Pop culture? Never heard of her? Dancing? Does English country dancing suffice? Non-80s-era pop music? What's that?

J: Here, yes, that's true... I still maintain Alex reminds me of you, though! Not to a T.  Just qualities

W: You've still yet to point out... where. Or how. I still don't see it; you need to hurry up and explain

J: Like the over working himself

W: That's not exactly unique to him tho

J: I’ll explain after

W: Ugh, fineeee. Probably best; I’m getting behind on the transcript

J: Same!  My brains can only do so much at once lol

J: Oh god Henry’s little smileee and then oooop 🥺  (And by little I mean it WAS covering his whole damn face)

W: I knowwwww

J: OPPPOPPPOOOPP

W: wtf was that, Jezebel?

J: Shut up

J: 👀👀👀👀👀 Henryyy 🥺🥺

W: Alex -> “Who would you be, if you were an anonymous person in the world" Henry-> "Gay"

J: ☠️

W: Sorry, I had to

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ You should be sorry, I ficking almsot choked

J: ahhhhhhh

W: Man's boutta bolt so quickly

J: AGHHHHHH

W: Oof, or not, actually.  That was decidedly not bolting.  Alex had all the opportunity

J: 😂😂

W: And now Alex shall ghost him for a month while they're both gay panicking

W: OH THAT'S NOT FAIR!  HE DOESN'T GET TO TEXT "ARE YOU ALIVE?" AFTER I JUST SAID HE WASN'T ME 

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ Hahahahahaha! Thank you movie Alex

W: Shut up

J: 😂😂 oh shut up Nora you did not

W: She is exquisite

J: She is!!

W: What.  tf.  was that football vs. rugby thing

J: ☠️☠️☠️ Wot? Does that even mean??

J: Buddy you really ARE as thick as it gets

W: Yeahhhhh

J: Oooop

W: Okay, guess Liam and Miguel are different

W: lasdjflksajdf I love you, Nora

J: ☠️☠️☠️

J: Oh.  Boy.  👀  Guess we will see how spicy these two are gonna get

W: Shush shush

J: Cause I ain’t heard a single f bomb yet ☠️

W: alksjdflkajsf that's very true

J: Buddy is zoned out Miguel you’re talking to a wall

W: I love Amy

J: 😂😂😂 Amy!

W: Buddy.  Calm tf down.  aksdjflkasjdflksajf You posing is not that significant

J: “I don’t know what to do with my hand”

W: "How can I look most James Bond?"

J: 👀

W: THE GENTLENESS OF HIS ARM GESTURE TO BREAK ALEX'S HOLD!!!  DID YOU SEE THAT

J: I ddddidddd

W: Poor Amy

W: HENRY WHAT ARE YOU DOING

J: HENRY WHAT ARE YOU DOINF

W: alskdjf;lkasdjf

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: Poor Henry

J: Actually, they may be on the floor again… eventually

W: alksjdflkajfds

J: Oh god ☠️☠️☠️

W: Poor Henry aldskjflaksjfd

W: I wish they hadn't cut out the God Save the Queen thing

J: I knowww

W: Oop, hello Henry

J: I feel like I being a damn peeping Tom rn

W: Henry heard "love at first sight" and went BET

J: 👀👀👀

W: That.  was not that explicit

J: Fair

W: That was addressing the rating thing, not you 🙄

J: Im starting to lose my optimism

J: “I’m bisexual” Oh.  Oh really?  You are?  You don’t say ☠️

W: I love Henry.  And his maypole comment

J: Henry should have been like well I’m straight and sat back while Alex imploded

W: alksjdflkasjf yeahhhh!  "Best bro besties do this all the time"

J: Mhmmm yep for sure

W: Which, tbf, Alex full-on thought, so

J: ☠️☠️

J: THAT LOOK ☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: I'm finally caught up on the transcript 😭

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ Oh noooo

W: See, I told you they'd be montages!

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ "How many names do you have?"

W: Oh, not many... Just five

W: I take it back… Make that six

W: SIR

J: ☠️☠️☠️

W: HENRY!  THAT!  LAKSJDF;LKASJDF

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️ And the smug smirk after

W: Damn, homophobic grandfather instead of homophobic grandmother

W: Ooh, Alex, buddy, dealing with having a family like Henry's ain't that easy ngl

J: Yeahhhhh, that was very you-coded (Henry I mean)

W: Haha, let's go, expert-chameleons-in-a-homophobic-family squad

J: Budd- Ooop

J: Back to what I was saying... buddies that windows open

W: This is as bad as those spy/assassination movies where the target stands in front of the window

J: Right!? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

W: Also, in the book, we did know they got a fuzzy photo at some point.  With a long-range camera.  Maybe that's this

J: Trueee

W: Okay, ig this is the true measure of the rating

J: Welp

W: The key 😭

J: With the key on!?

W: Oi, shush shush

J: 👀

J: 👀👀👀👀👀

J: 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

W: You good?

J: *no answer*

W: NOW!?!?!  YOU'RE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION NOW?!!?!?

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: Y'all this.  This ain't that explicit. Definitely not worth an R-rating

J: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Tis true!

W: Cas-coded

J: ☠️☠️ Spn can be found anywhere

W: I'm getting cereal, but don't pause; I'm bringing it with me

J: Ok lol

W: You and your fucking lols

J: L

J: I

W: lkj;lkja;lskfj;lsakdfjasdf THAT'S SO FUCKING FUNNY

J: I quit

W: You really thought you were doing something

J: My phone is just against me

W: alskdjfalksdjf

J: ☠️☠️☠️

W: Does June not exist?  I'm starting to think she doesn't.  She wasn't in the photo session earlier either

J: I knowwww

W: Luna's not shown up either. Unless that's who Miguel's supposed to be

J: And his parents are together

W: They're also not div- yeah

W: He will love it... until he gets fired ☠️

J: Eww rude

W: Ugh, I cannot believe I'm saying this about a Jane Austen story*, but that — “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” —  is a good quote

(*For those not Jezebel, despite being grudgingly somewhat fond of Jane Austen, I also was made to read her stories too many times and now also have a quiet grudge against her/her stories. And I loathe the 2005 Pride & Prejudice story, just on its own merit. Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle miniseries forever <3)

J: 🤣🤣🤣

W: This poor dude

W: OOP 

J: Uh oh.  I think Miguel IS gonna BE Luna or be the leak

W: Skullduggery ❤️ (Kinda gives vibes of the Doctor Who conversation about, what was it... "With a little bit of jiggery-pokery." "Is that a technical term, jiggery-pokery?" "Yeah, I came first in jiggery-pokery. What about you?" "No, I failed hullabaloo.")

J: This’ll be interesting

J: Oh poor buddy 😂 “once, unsuccessfully”

W: Was that about the cooking comment or the Grindr comment?

J: Yes. Also, call me uncultured I haven’t seen that film either

J: 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

W: Oh no

J: Uh oh 🤣🤣🤣

W: NO!  NO ONE IN THIS HERE HOTEL ROOM AT ALL

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: Zahra!  Don't make assumptions!  Tsk tsk! The "she" is a he, and also hiding in the closet! (I meant that literally, as they do have a habit of that happening, but it also turns out to be figurative too)

J: "It’s all chill"

W: Technically.  They each already had an NDA

J: And now Zahra shall pass the fuck away ☠️

W: laskdf;lkajsdf Henry did not fucking pose ☠️

J: Poor thing!  Does not get paid enough

W: alksdjflaksdjflaksdjf

J: “Oh god”

W: I love them 😭  Mid-tense-conversation and they're gabbing! "And I told my sister!"  "Oh?!  I didn't know that!" "Yeah, she was really happy for us!"

J: IT WAS SO ADORABLE

W: "Technically, I'm the spare"  😭 😭

W: ZAHRA MA'AM

J: WHAT!? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Not "fuckleroy"

J: I said the same Zahra! 🤣🤣

J: Nooooo 🤣🤣

W: This poor woman did not know what she was getting into when she had this kid

J: I love herrr ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️

W: WHERE'S THE POWERPOINT :(

W: NEVER MIND AT LEAST SHE MENTIONED IT

J: Oh god.  Oh no.  OH NO ☠️☠️☠️

W: MA'AM PLEASE STOP GOING INTO THAT MUCH DETAIL

J: As a mom I get the concern but still ☠️☠️☠️

W: That's fair

J: I love his dad!

W: Yesss

W: Oh no

W: Is Henry wearing Alex's hat?

J: Yes

W: alsdkfja;lkdsfja;lksfdj

J: Oh my 😂😂😂😂😂

W: HEY, THAT'S NOT THAT BAD SINGING?!?!

J: Right?

W: I thought they said he butchered the karaoke

J: Right!?!

J: Oooop that was the damn I’ve done caught the feelings look

W: Yes it was

W: His dad again alsdkjfalksdjf

W: Ooh, supportive father moments!  Couldn’t be me

J: 🥺🥺🥺

W: You know what's coming btw right

J: Yeah.  Yeah I do.  Shut up

J: And oh no that was cute

W: I KNOW

J: AND OH NO THAT WAS CUTE TOO

W: asldkfjalskfdj

J: Oh my gif he’s a vampire

J: *God

W: Gifs are your gods, to be fair

J: That is- Lol

J: That’s true tho

J: Anyway, he’s sparkling ☠️☠️☠️

W: That's called water

J: I know 😂 but he looked like twilight

W: I know, dumbass, 'twas a joke

J: And that’s Henry’s oh no he’s caught the feelings look

W: Yeppp, poor buddy

J: Oh nooooo!  Buddy

J: Welp imma just go drown myself now

W: Oof, not even a pretense of it being bugs

J: 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

W: hahahha- I'm fine

J: He’s not

W: Nor am I, really

J: 😭😭😭😭😭 Same

W: DAVID

J: Davidddd

J: 😭😭😭😭😭

W: This poor man

J: Pooor budddyyy

J: Nora ☠️☠️☠️  I’m sorry but that look, I died

W: Alex really is fucking thick, I'm sorry

J: ☠️☠️☠️

W: I say this affectionately, but dumbo… wtf

J: Oooo!  OH THE FEELINGNIN THAY

W: What

J: OH THE FEELING IN THAT

W: Oh alskdjf

J: The acting I mean. But also oooop an f bomb!  One more and there’s the R rating ☠️☠️☠️

W: Neither of us commented during that scene because all we'd say is: ouch

J: ! :) That.  Was.  Anyway

J: Hey! You know what

W: ?

J: You know what song would fit this?  Or them?

W: If you say.  That fucking song again.

J: 😂😂😂 And good omens honestly

W: Wait, was it the one I meant?

J: 🙂

W: "Unchained Melody"?

J: Unchained Melody

W: Yeha

W: *yeah

W: No, actually, embrace the cowboy.  Yeehaw

J: I was about to say that (but oh my god my phone is pissssssing me offfff)

J: Oh mah god! I love this song

W: alskdjf I don't like this version tho

J: Sameee

J: What’s that statue doing in the background

W: About what Crowley's does, probably.

J: This is so soft thooooo ☠️☠️☠️

J: AWWWWWWWW

W: aksdjflsakfdj His history would include him and be like "this man was Henry's best friend and they lived together and snogged at times and weren't they such good friends!?!?!"

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

J: Buddy has a death grip on him

W: Okay, not to bring in GOmens but the signet ring is giving me Azi vibes

J: LOL!  BUT THAAAAA RING

W: WHAT?!!?  THE KEY IS JUST-  WHAT

J: Ngl I like the exchange better than just him adding the ring

W: I don’t!!!  I liked the "two homes, side-by-side" thing 😭

J: Yeah that’s true!

W: Uh oh

J: Oh no

W: The emails went out on fucking REDDIT!?!?  Awkward

J: Ack!  But also the slow panic on his face

J: Oooop buddy got angry

W: OOF

J: His "CONTACTS"

W: 'snort'  Sure.  Is that what we're calling fiancées these days

J: 😂😂😂😂

W: BRUH, MIGUEL YOU ASSHOLE

J: LE GASP!  ugh and his little smug look

W: Miguel can fuck off

J: Right!?

J: Buddyyyyyy 🥺🥺🥺🥺

W: Wait, they didn't even get to talk before the speech?! That sucks

W: Ooh, fuck yeah!  ALEX USED HENRY'S PROPER TITLE AND FULL NAME AND SHIT

J: 😭😭😭😭😭

W: I love Zahra btw  

J: ZAHGGHHTAAAA

W: Wtf was that?! Also, this is basically her character in Person of Interest and Life, btw

J: 😂😂😂 

J: Her face 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

W: Poor woman

J: 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Im dying

W: Having to sit here like Black Water and listen to rants about Xie Lian, but RWRB universe

J: OOP!  

W: She just spilled so much

J: The wheels are turning for Alex

W: Holy shit, he's so thick

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ BABBYYYYY

W: OH SHIT THE LOOK

J: AHHH

J: OOOOP HES WEARING THE RING

W: On the fucking stairs alkdsfj

J: that looook!  We haven’t got enough time with them.  We’ve been robbed

J: Ah yes.  This is something I guess you do when you are in an American/British relationship

W: asldkfjalskdjfasdflkj What's the this?

J: I swear I thought he was playing heart and soul but I meant playing together in general

W: … no.  The subtitles even outright said "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"

J: I don’t have subtitles on ☠️

W: That sounds like a you problem

J: Ack! Fuck offf Philip

W: Can I slap him?

J: Please do

W: I miss Bea's rebellion tho

J: SAMEEEE

W: Oof

J: SHUT UP PHILIP

W: I KNOW!  I think he might have a heart attack if he read them though

J: ☠️☠️☠️☠️

W: OOF

J: Oh sir ewwww you read them??? he's your grandsonnnnn

J: Ew x2

W: OOF x2

J: Bbabandbecause!  I said so

W: Man can't even make a complete sentence

J: I have given up trying to type on this phone

W: To be fair, that was basically how he said it

W: WHAT WAS THAT PRONUNCIATION

J: "TAKE THE AMERICAN WITH YOU"

W: alsdkjf

J: Bby you are supported 😭😭😭

W: Oop, damn

J: Suck on that Philip

W: Hey, grandfather dude, you lost the right to call him "my boy" a while ago, btw

J: Ahhhhh 🙂 😁 

W: "Crikey, that's a lot of red"  I love him

J: 😂😂😂😂

W: Henry's kidnapping him

J: 😂😂😂

W: Henry!??! This mannnnn!  I love him

J: AHHH! Love him!!

W: Henry looks so awkward on stage🙄  I love him, but like.  He did

J: 😂😂😂 Poor budddy

W: Are you going to say anything other than cry-laugh emojis in the next half of the react?

J: Probably not 😂😂😂😂😂

W: Bruh, Alex didn't even have to ask… I guarantee Henry has been wearing that key religiously

J: 😂😂😂😂😂

W: Not speaking from experience or anything but-

J: Mhhmmm 🙂 so you-coded!

W: ... That's still me-as-Henry???  I'm missing the Alex parallels

J: I know!

W: You're infuriating

W: HENRY

J: YOU HAVE TO READ HENRYS CHAPTERRRRR! It’s like a what happens next

W: I liked Luna better than Miguel, tbh.  I know they probably couldn't fit it, but still

J: Yeah!  Im so easy to please I just loved it sm idec about what was changed! BUT I do wish it had been a mini series

W: Weirdo.  Imagine being easy to please

W: There's an end-credit scene… Fast-forward to it

J: “Do you think anyone noticed” ☠️☠️☠️

J: I hadn’t reread the book yet but I’m going to now ☠️☠️☠️

[ohtobeascruntycat]

GINASUSA 8 GINASUSA 8 FOR THE ASK GAME

Prompt 8: In Secrecy

Minor DGS2 spoilers

Gina Lestrade was a professional. 

She was a proud member of Scotland Yard, a position she’s worked hard to achieve, and she did her work to the best of her capabilities. She investigated crime scenes and examined evidence and interrogated witnesses just like the Boss taught her to! And with no underhanded dealings either! She was straight and true, she was.

But one thing the Boss hadn’t taught her very well was how to deal with the defense. Especially when one-half of the defense was Ryuutarou Naruhodou, her boyfriend.

Gina was a professional who was good at her job, just not when Taro was around.

“Um, Gina?”

She jumped a little when she realized Oddo was talking to her. She had been too busy watching Taro examine the blood stains on the floor and the cute little crease between his eyebrows that showed whenever he was focused on something. It wasn’t her fault that he looked so good in that black uniform.

“Huh? Wot?”

Oddo slumped over and shot her an exasperated look as he said, “I asked you what the murder weapon was. For the third time.”

“Didn’t I already tell ya? It was one o’ them fire pokers; weren’t you listenin’?”

“...I think you’re the one who’s not listening.”

Before she could respond to that, someone else called her name.

“Inspector Lestrade,” Taro called as he got up from where he had been crouching before, “might I ask you a few questions about the scene?”

“‘Course! Anyfin you need, ‘Taro!”

“I noticed that there seems to be a small trail of blood drops leading away from the large puddle. Do you have any insight on that?”

Gina tilted her hat up with a finger as she thought, “Oh, uh, I fink that’s ‘cause the victim was stabbed in another room an’ then ran in ‘ere.”

“Could you show me where the trail leads?”

“Sure.”

She started to lead the way for both of them, but then Taro stopped and said, “I think it would be more efficient if you continued to investigate in here, Ryuunosuke-sama. I’ll tell you what we find later.”

“Oh… Okay.”

Taro looked at Gina with a smile that made her heart flutter and prompted, “After you, Inspector.”

She shoved down the butterflies and moved into the room where the blood trail had started. She was a professional, after all.

All the other officers were in the other room, so Gina had started to point out the larger blood stain near the fireplace when she was tugged downward into a kiss. She knew they were alone so she easily melted into Taro’s soft lips and brought a hand up to cup his cheek.

When he eventually pulled back, she whispered, “So, uh, wot about the blood?”

“The evidence isn’t going anywhere. It can wait. You, however, have a busy schedule, Gina.”

“Well, can't argue wiv a lawyer.” She grinned and leaned in for another kiss, happy to oblige.

Ryuutarou Naruhodou was a professional except, it seemed, when Gina was around.

[rationalnerd62]

Survival predictions of WoT s1 characters

"I wanted people to be a little on their toes, because real deaths are coming for characters that don't die in the books. We have to, because we can't hold 2,000 series regulars through multiple seasons" - Rafe Judkins, EW

When Rafe confirmed that Loial was, in fact, not dead, he also warned viewers to be ready for real (and shocking) deaths, as a TV show is limited in cast size, an issue books do not have.

Since then, many (especially on Twitter) have made guesses on who are the most susceptible characters to get snapped in the show. Some of those guesses (cough cough Siuan and/or Moiraine cough cough) annoyed me quite a bit. As a result, I've been trying to put those death sentences in perspective by giving a "Risk Level" to the characters we have encountered so far in season 1.

Non-book readers, please run away. This post will be full of spoilers regarding the fate of some characters, and this will definitely spoil your fun of watching the show without some preconceived idea of what should happen.

For others, feel free to read below.

I've defined six different levels:

Safe: this character will make it to The Last Battle, and there is absolutely no doubt about it.

Risk Level 1: this character is significant to the plot up to The Last Battle. Something could still happen to them, but probably not during the first few seasons of the show, to limit butterfly/trickle-down effects.

Risk Level 2: this character is still significant, but tends to disappear for a while in the books, or has storylines that could be done by others. While I still think they will make it to the end, their risk level is higher than the previous one.

Risk Level 3: this character is alive for a long time in the books, but mostly not significant to the plot. Cutting them early or earlier would make sense. This can either mean death or being forgotten/not encountered anymore at some point.

Risk Level 4: this character isn't dead yet, but considering their fate in the books, they probably won't make it to The Last Battle.

Dead: this character has already been killed in the show.

The following characters are then ordered by their total screentime during season 1. In parenthesis, I have added their rank in terms of the number of times this character is mentioned in the book series. This rank was directly taken from the WoT Top 250 Quiz. For characters that did not make this list, a N/A is given to this rank.

Here we go.

Moiraine Damodred (#7): RL1. Her book storyline corresponds more to RL2, as Moiraine pretty much disappears for half of the books. However, the show has put this character as the lead of the first season (she’s the number one on the call sheet), and Rosamund Pike is invested in the Wheel of Time and involved in the production of the show. The show is already adding stories to Moiraine (who doesn’t do much in Book 2), with Rafe commenting that “we're not going to put Rosamund Pike on the bench”. IMO, as long as Rosamund Pike wants to be involved, she will be, which could result in an earlier rescue from the Tower of Ghenjei.

Rand al'Thor (#1): Safe. TDR/EF5 shield.

Egwene al'Vere (#2): Safe. EF5 shield.

Lan Mandragoran (#11): Safe. EF5’s husband shield.

Perrin Aybara (#4): Safe. EF5 shield.

Nynaeve al'Meara (#6): Safe. EF5 shield.

Mat Cauthon (#3): Safe. EF5 shield.

Liandrin Guirale (#62): RL4, with nuances. If I recall correctly (IIRC), Liandrin is an interesting antagonist up to Book 5, so her character could disappear when the show arrives around that time. However, some characters will be merged together in the show, so this will also depend on whether this is the case for Liandrin. There have been several hypotheses on which characters she could be merged with: Elaida (#14), Galina (#66), Alviarin (#70)… IMO, Elaida will be her own character (she’s too important as her own), but Galina or Alviarin would make sense, as their plot happens mostly in later books and they have a rank similar to Liandrin. If that’s the case, Liandrin could last a few more seasons, but it would still be a surprise for her to reach the Last Battle.

Siuan Sanche (#12): RL1. While not being a main character, she’s a primary protagonist in the books, with interesting stories up to the Last Battle. People have been guessing she will be killed off early, either in s1e6 or during the White Tower schism, but the butterfly effects of that change would be quite significant, considering the mentorship and help she gives Egwene in Salidar. Moiraine being shielded in s1e8 does not change the importance and relevance of Siuan’s future storylines. Moreover, the show decided to increase her importance with respect to the books, by having a cold-open about her childhood, by canonizing the romantic relationship between her and Moiraine (and giving it the time and attention they deserved), and by making Siuan the top secondary character of the first season in term of speaking time and second in term of screentime. Last but not least, Oscar-nominated actress Sophie Okonedo plays the part and was hand-picked by both Rafe Judkins and Rosamund Pike, the last one sending Sophie a passionate letter to ensure she would take the role. IMO, the only concern is whether the actress is okay with such a long-term project. If she is, and the show has the budget, I have no doubt she’ll stick around up to the Last Battle.

Alanna Mosvani (#56): RL2. She’s an important character who makes it to the last book, but she’s not as significant as Moiraine or Siuan, thus the different risk levels. She’s suspected to have been merged with Myrelle (#73), which makes me think she’ll stick around for a while.

Loial (#17): RL2. Look, I love our boy, but I actually don’t remember much of what he does in the books. I know he disappears a few times, which makes me lean toward RL2, but he’s still there by the end of it and he’s a great character. We need more of him, really.

Stepin (N/A): Dead.

Logain Ablar (#33): RL1. He’s absent for quite some time, but we’re talking about Alvaro Morte here. The show is already expanding on Logain’s story, and there’s the whole Black Tower plot during the last few books and we need it. Plus, he’s traveling with Siuan after the schism, and I need them to interact.

Maigan (N/A): RL4. Yo, she mentioned going to see what’s going on with the ships disappearing West, and then we got the ep8 ending. She won’t last long.

Dana (N/A): Dead.

Leane Sharif (#34): RL3. She’s around Siuan a lot but doesn’t really do as much, except for some nice cuendillar skills. If someone has to die during the schism, that would be her. It would be sad, though, as I like the chaotic energy of Siuan and Leane making everyone in Salidar believe they are enemies. If that ain’t a recurrent theme for Siuan, really!

Tam al'Thor (#25): RL1. The relationship between Rand and Tam is really sweet in the books. Moreover, WoT breaks this trope of the orphan hero, and I don’t really see the show falling back into it by killing Tam.

Kerene Nagashi (N/A): Dead.

Thom Merrilin (#13): RL2. Very important character during the books, however, his storyline in the last few books may significantly change if the show sticks to Moiraine x Siuan. Will he still save Moiraine from the Tower of Ghenjei? If not, what will he do instead? That last question is why I’m leaning toward RL2, but in any case, he should be safe for quite a few seasons.

Ihvon (N/A): RL3. It’ll depend a lot on Alanna’s storyline, but I’m not optimistic.

Maksim (N/A): RL4. Idem, but slightly worse as we know Alanna loses a warder in the books and it affects her a lot.

Eamon Valda (#130): RL4. Even if he’s indeed merged with Child Byar… menacing smile.

Lady Amalisa (N/A): Dead.

Ila (#204): RL3. She doesn’t die in the book, but she doesn’t stay around either.

Aram (#77): RL4. A bit more tragic than his grandparents, and I’m looking forward to his evolution.

Marin al'Vere (#141): RL3. She may not die, but we won’t see her anymore after a few seasons.

Bran al'Vere (#148): RL3. Similar to Marin.

Raen (#202): RL3. Similar to Ila.

Ishamael / The Man (#40): RL1. Do I need to say anything else?

Lord Agelmar (#81): Presumed dead. Overall, RL3. We may see him again at the Last Battle, but if the actor isn’t available when that happens I guess we’ll survive.

Lord Yakota (N/A): Dead. This is actually our first “dead before their time” from the show.

Uno Nomesta (#71): RL3. Either he dies in s2, or he’ll randomly show up in Salidar and/or at the Last Battle. In any case, this won’t affect the general plot too much.

Min Farshaw (#8): Safe. cough. EF5’s girlfriend shield.

Tigraine Mantear (N/A): Dead.

Laila Dearn (N/A): Dead.

Daise Congar (N/A): RL3. She won’t leave the Two Rivers anyway.

Berden Sanche (N/A): RL3. For all we know, he’s already dead.

Danya (N/A): RL3. May show up again when we’ll come back to the Two Rivers, but that’s it.

Padan Fain (#46): RL2. Fain has this tendency to disappear for several books and then show up. His last appearance at the Last Battle was very random. Either the show develops him more, or they’ll kill him off earlier.

King of Ghaeldan (N/A): Dead.

Master Hightower (N/A): Dead.

Geofram Bornhald (#201): RL4. I’m kinda excited to see him again, though.

Bode Cauthon (#229): RL3. She’s too young to become a novice in this turning of the Wheel. May not leave the Two Rivers.

Eldrin Cauthon (N/A): RL3. Same as Bode.

Natti Cauthon (N/A): RL3. Won’t leave the Two Rivers.

Lews Therin Telamon (#27): Dead (but still around). Corruption time hehehe.

Latra Posae Decume (N/A): Dead.

Mr. Grinwell (N/A): Dead.

Zahir (N/A): RL3. Rip his wife, will we ever see him again? Not sure.

Helga Grinwell (N/A): Dead.

Abell Cauthon (#187): RL3. He may or may not hang around Tam. While I’m sure many would love for him to do so, it won’t change the plot much if he doesn’t.

Mrs. Grinwell (N/A): Dead.

Grinwell Son (N/A): Dead.

Tom Thane (N/A): Dead.

Basel Gill (#109): RL3. I would love to see him again, but overall he’s a supportive character.

To summarize:

Safe: Rand, Egwene, Lan, Perrin, Nynaeve, Mat, Min

RL1: Moiraine, Siuan, Logain, Tam, Ishamael

RL2: Alanna, Loial, Thom, Fain

RL3: Leanne, Ihvon, Ila, Marin, Bran, Raen, Agelmar, Uno, Daise, Berden, Danya, Bode, Eldrin, Natti, Zahir, Abell, Basel Gill.

RL4: Liandrin, Maigan, Maksim, Valda, Aram, Bornhald

Dead: Stepin, Dana, Kerene, Amalisa, Yakota, Tigraine, Laila, King of Ghaeldan, Master Hightower, Lews Therin, Latra Posae, Mr Grinwell, Helga Grinwell, Mrs Grinwell, Grinwell Son, Tom Thane

When only keeping characters from the top 250:

Safe: Rand, Egwene, Lan, Perrin, Nynaeve, Mat, Min

RL1: Moiraine, Siuan, Logain, Tam, Ishamael

RL2: Alanna, Loial, Thom, Fain

RL3: Leanne, Ihvon, Ila, Marin, Bran, Raen, Agelmar, Uno, Bode, Abell, Basel Gill.

RL4: Liandrin, Valda, Aram, Bornhald

Dead: Lews Therin

Do you agree with those risk levels? For which characters would you change the risk level, and why?

In any case, I fully intend to link that post whenever someone leaves a comment on a tweet of mine about Siuan or Moiraine dying. The audacity.

Just kidding, you can think whatever you want, but stop saying that to queer folks loving Moiraine and Siuan, this is depressing, we want some nice happy ending too.

Side note: I actually have a sheet with those top 250 characters. Maybe someday I'll make more predictions on who will live, who will be merged, who will be skipped, who will die, etc.

[xxiamtiebrousxx]

Chapter 3 "First Day" (Head-Shots| Sniper x Reader)

I nervously gripped my melee weapon of choice in my hand. Well, it really wasn’t my choice. Scout gave me a frying pan as my melee weapon.  I was to protect any area of the base that was off limits for the BLUs, which was the upper rooms where we lived. Sweat beads rolled down my head. Mundy and the rest had gone out into the battlefield, ready to steal the enemy intelligence, as the Announcer put it. Explosions, gunfire, and screams were in the atmosphere. A beep from a sentry followed by a scream scared me. It was all muffled, but it was still loud. “Bonjour.” I yelped, turning around. I was face to face with a decloaked Spy. The smoke of his cigarette rolled down my neck. I panted nervously. I was warned to watch my back around this man.  “Hello,” I calmly said. “You shouldn’t be up here.” The enemy spy chuckled. “My dear, I just had to see for myself,” he replied. “Pauling said that there’s going to be a new mercenary, oui?” I gripped the pan tightly. “Yeah,” I answered. “What’d she say?” Spy snuck around and rested his chin on my shoulder. “She said zhat our new member was an android,” he said. “So was the enemy.” I gasped. They kept me a secret. Of course they would! Girls don’t belong on the battlefield! Miss Pauling didn’t count because she was just an assistant.  Spy chuckled. “I should get going, see you later.” He cloaked and disappeared.  When I was certain he was gone I yelled, “MUNDY!!!!” I rushed down the stairs and ran through the door. I was near the resupply that was next to the battlements and across the intelligence room. I ran across the room, to the battlements, and ran into Mundy. “Sniper!” I exclaimed, hugging him.  “Wot happened?!?!” he asked. He pulled me to the side, so that we wouldn’t get hurt. The enemy sniper completely missed us. “Wot’s wrong?” Mundy placed his hands on my shoulder. “The blue spy got in our sleeping quarters,” I replied. “I don’t know how he got in or how he knew which wooden door led upstairs, but he talked to me.” “Dang it,” Mundy whispered. “Did he hurt ya?” I shook my head. “He did invade my personal space,” I added. Mundy growled. “I’m gonna get that spy,” he said.  Too late. I felt a sharp pain in my leg. The enemy sniper was able to hit me. I never saw him. “Roo!” Mundy picked me up and dragged my limp body into the resupply. The medical cabinet opened up and I was healed by the medikits inside.  “Thanks Mundy,” I said.  “I don’t wanna see ya get hurt,” he replied. He patted my back. Ooh! Shut it brain! I’m just saying. I bet you Mundy has a crush on you. I looked up at Mundy. His blue eyes shined from behind his orange tinted aviators.  The way his hair would be messy whenever he took off his hat, it was cute. His sideburns made him look… STOP IT Y/N! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!! “Oi, Shelia, ya good?” Mundy asked. “Hm?” I replied. “Oh,” I said, sheepishly, “I’m fine. I’ll go back upstairs.” “Ya sure ya don’t want me to accompany you?” he asked. I scratched my head while walking out the resupply. “No, I’m good,” I answered, smiling big. Mundy just shrugged.  “Alright then,” he said. I waved and poofed from sight. I ran back upstairs and slammed the door behind me. “Zhat was pathetic.” I groaned. “Get out of here,” I said. Spy decloaked once again. He puffed a gray ring of smoke. “‘Ou know, I was going to stab Bushman,” he said. I held up the pan. “You wanna say that again?” I asked. Spy laughed. “Mon cherie, ‘ou know ‘ou can’t hurt moi,” he said. “Pauling said that if ‘ou were to hurt anyone, you’d be kicked out.” I growled, grabbing his cigarette and stepping on it. “Zhat was a jerk move.” “Suits you well,” I answered. “If I can’t harm you, I might as well tick you off.” Spy chuckled and smirked. “Oi! Spy, get out here!” Mundy broke down the door and threw his kukri at Spy, missing altogether. Spy pulled out his butterfly knife and gave Mundy a small cut on his face. He winced. “Don’t touch him!” I yelled. I was about to pull Spy down when Mundy put his hands up. “Ya know the deal Y/n,” he said. “Ya can’t touch this bloody ghost.”

Spy twirled his knife around. “I’ll see ‘ou on ze battlefield, bushman,” he said, cloaking. The damaged door fixed itself and closed. “Oi will kill that man, one of these days,” Mundy growled. I turned his face and looked at his cut. “You okay?” I asked, tracing the cut. He winced again and I pulled back. “I’m sorry,” I said. “No worries, Sheila,” Mundy replied. “I’ve been through worse.” “I’m going to clean it for you,” I said. “No, really ya don’t need to,” he said. I shook my head and grabbed a medikit from the cabinet Medic had next to the entrance. I pulled out the alcoholic wipes and band aid.  “Come here.” Reluctantly, the sniper bent down and I began to clean his cut, blowing on it so that it wouldn’t sting. I pulled open the band aid wrapper. Carefully, I stuck it on Mundy’s face. “Finished,” I said, smoothing out the air pockets. “Thanks roo,” Mundy answered. “Appreciate it.” I smiled. “No problems, you needed it,” I said. He smiled and ruffled my hair. “I’ll see ya later, promise,” he said, opening the door. “Stay safe, roo.” “You too,” I replied. “And don’t get into fights with that Spy, he’s a bad influence.” “Will do ma.” I laughed, shaking my head. A/n: So short compared to the other books. Oh well.

[wafflesetc]

All I want for Christmas is You (previously) Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you to @kkruml​ and @missclairebelle​ for always fixing what needs the most work. I love you both.

Claire December 18th

“It’s been two days, Geillis.” I shook my head as I shoved the burger into my mouth. “He hasn’t called or said a damn thing.”

My favorite nurse sat across from me and laughed. “Dinna be speakin’ wi’ yer mouth full!”

“Mmphmm.” I mumbled continuing to chew on my lunch.

“It’s nearing the end of the year, ye’ve been on call almost nonstop-” She started, but I narrowed my eyes at her. “And there’s the new quarter comin’ up, ye both are in a busy season. Tis also the holidays…”

Swallowing and taking a sip of my water, I relished in my drunken choices from the night.

“Ye regret it then?” I could see the raise of her brow.

“No.” The words escaped my mouth faster than I could realize and my stomach dropped. I had yet to willingly admit to myself, let alone another human.

“Ye really like him, then?” I could see the devilish grin appear on her face.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair. “He’s not so bad, if you can see past the ego, the hair, and his overly melodramatic approach to marketing.”

“So, if he were to ask ye on a date, say today sometime, what would ye say?”

“I think I’d say yes…..” I nearly whispered. “I think.”

“Well, if anyone can warm that cold heart of yers, Dr. Beauchamp, I think it would be Jamie Fraser.”  She stood and strut off into the distance.

“Me too…” I could feel my cheeks rising as I spoke to no one but myself, “Truth is he already has.”

Jamie December 18th

The best perk to being the marketing department’s heartthrob? Knowing people in the right places. He had never intended to become the heartthrob- but selling the hospital to donors and politicians, the wining and dining, the galas, the meetings- it just sort of happened.

He quickly smiled at Mrs. Fitzgibbons and thanked her for checking the on-call list for the next three days, making a mental note to order her a bouquet of flowers as thank you.

“I’m rooting for ye, laddie.” She winked at him, “I’m rooting for ye! She’s the best doctor in this hospital, and my favorite. Dinna be spreading that rumor around, ye ken?”

“I ken.” His Scottish accent thick on the words, “But I am rooting for me too.”

“Also James, dinna break her heart. Ye break her heart and she surely will break yers.”

Jamie nodded and buttoned his suit jacket. “I heed yer warning, Mrs. Fitzgibbons.”

“Now, if ye’ll excuse me, I have to finish the instrument orders for next month.”

“And I have a doctor to track down.”

Claire December 19th

“A large hematoma…” I spoke into the dictation machine after I had finished rounding on my last patient for the night- then I was homeward bound. I was standing outside of the patient’s room and could feel the ache in my feet.

“Sassenach,” I could feel his breath on my neck and my mind registered the voice instantly, “Do ye have a minute?”

“Yes, Mr. Fraser…” I started in my professional voice as I did a quick scan of the hallway. Our eyes met and I knew my cheeks would flare up at any second, that damn delicate English skin. His eyes were warm and welcoming, the smile on his face wide and filled with nothing but dare I say hope. He had come a man on a mission- and I had a feeling I knew just what he wanted.

“Tis no one here, but you and me. And the patients, but Mr. Jones seems rather sedated.” He poked his head into the small crack of the door and I laughed. He smiled at my response and closed the door.

“What can I do for you, Jamie?” I felt my doctor facade fall away and leaned against the wall. I stashed my dictation machine in my pocket.

“I was wonderin’...” I could see the tips of his ears go red.I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, my heartbeat in my ears and my palms starting to sweat.  “I ken ye’re not on-call for the next two nights….”

“You stalked my schedule?” All of my nerves were right, he had come here to ask me exactly what I thought.

“No.” His cheeks flushed hot pink. “I inquired with a resource because every time I triedta find ye, ye were either in the A&E or the OR….”

“I’m a busy woman.”

“Exactly, but I was wondering..” He stopped and squinted his eyes, narrowing his cat like brow at me, making me weak in the knees with nerves. One of us had to be brave here, and I had a feeling it was going to be me.

“You were wondering if I might want to spend one of my off nights with you? Presumably a dinner date?” I raised my own brow at him and smiled, cocking my head to the side.

“Your presumption is correct. Say, tomorrow night? Eight o’clock?”

I took my pen out of my pocket and reached for his hand. I wrote my address on his palm. Somehow I thought my hands would have been shaking, my handwriting illegible, yet my surgeon’s hands remained at bay- steady and firm, writing in the neatest text I had ever had since grade school. What was making me so brave I didn’t know- this wasn’t something I usually did- but the small feeling of whatever it was between us bubbled in the atmosphere. Whatever it was, I never wanted it go away,

“See you then,” I flashed a warm smile and sauntered down the hallway, wondering who in the hell I was becoming.

Jamie December 20th

He had butterflies in his stomach the entire way to the restaurant.

Somehow she had known- she had seen through the bravado, the rumors, the facade he put up at work. Somehow she knew without even knowing him outside the confines of the hospital- somehow she knew just who he was.  She had known that first night- the way her hands had caressed his back, the way she had moved with him- it hadn’t been just a one night stand. It had been the meshing of two souls, and they had both felt the earth tilt on its axis that night.

She had worn jeans and a simple black v-neck, accompanied with a grey cardigan. He had worn something very similar and let out a small laugh when she joked at him, “We’re already looking like an old married couple.”

Her joke had minutely eased his nerves, but still, Jamie Fraser was on a date with the Dr. Beauchamp.

The small Italian place he had taken her to was perfect. The food was delicious. The company, beyond compare.

He watched her take the last bite of lasagna and chuckled.

“Wot?” Her voice was clipped and properly, utterly British.

“Ye eat with gusto,” He said softly, “I like watchin’ ye eat.”

“Food has been one of the only constants in my life. There when everyone else has left me.” He heard the double meaning in that sentence and felt a pang in his stomach. She’s a lonely lass.

“I ken how ye feel, after my Mam and brother died… It was just my sister and my Da… Then my Da died…”

He saw her wipe a tear from her eye.

“I had no idea,” the meek English voice admitted..

“I was but a lad, dinna fash. It made me who I was today, ye ken?” He tried to cover the heartache over with a bit of strength and bravado in his tone.

“I get it.” She nearly whispered, and by the sad look in her eyes, he knew in his gut she knew exactly what he was talking bout.

“My parents died when I was five. I was raised by my Uncle Lambert until he passed away while I was in medical school…” She swirled the wine in her glass and he saw her take a breath. The hesitation radiating from her made his heart tear into two.“Then Frank… But he cheated on me with his student. It’s been me through medical school and residency…”

Frank, he thought to himself. What a bastard. So she had definitely had her heart broken, more than once. He knew her even being willing to come to dinner was a large feat. Deep down, he too, knew the hurt of being alone. “My sister lives at the family home, in Lallybroch, near Inverness. I moved here to get away from all the memories. I couldna be in the place where all the hurt seemed to be.”

“We’re quite alike, aren’t we?” She looked up with whisky eyes to meet his blue.

“More so than either one of us cared to admit, before.”

He felt her hand under the table as she placed it on his thigh.

“I never believed what I heard. The rumors from the nurses… They are nurses, they like to talk.” She let out a small laugh and shook her head. “You’re not that kind of guy…” She took a breath and rested her head on her other hand that was on the table, “Appearances for marketing. Look a certain way, act a certain way, you have to sell a product. It doesn’t mean it’s who you are.”

“Ye saw right through it.”

“I did. I might not like the fact you chose to put up a show for the sake of business- but it’s not who you are at your core, Jamie Fraser.” His stomach dropped at the words that she admitted to him. He didn’t even have to try and fight to change his reputation in her eyes- he was just Jamie.

“Who am I then?” He asked.

“I’m figuring it out as I go.” She squeezed his thigh one more time- he could feel the warmth in his stomach well at the depth of emotions he was starting to feel for the woman in front of him.

“What it is between us, is it normal?” He placed his hand on hers.

“No… It isn’t usual.”  She answered as he intertwined their fingers, hoping to God he’d never have to let go.

[intergalacticstarlight]

[ CLOSED with @sclfmastery - Cont. From Here. ]

         The Doctor lets out a 'whoop' and a subsequent outburst of laughter as the Master lifts her, as though weightless, over his shoulder. She can't complain about the view, not in the least, and her arms, left dangling, move about so that her hands can grab hold of his bum.

         "Oiii. M'not a sack'a'potatoes, loov- why're you-" she starts, but is interrupted by the sound of the Master’s voice, and she stops speaking to smile like an idiot. She loves that voice, it’s a good voice. His words, however, filter through her ears as though she were underwater and it takes her a few moments to realize what he’s said. When she does she lets out a gasp and lifts her head, not that it makes much difference- he can't see her face.

         "Ginger!" she exclaims, "Tha's wot tha' taste wos- I knew it tasted f'miliar, joos' couldn't sort out why. We’ve gotta get more’a tha’ wine, Kos, it’s brilliant- oi, wotcha..." she finishes with quite a different tone once he's patted her on the bum, and again he can't see the way her eyebrows waggle but she's pretty sure he could imagine it if need be. Both of her hands return the favor, patting him on the bum, probably a bit harder than she’d meant to.

         "Bu' I don't wanna sleep, I wanna explore! I want adventure, I want danger an' mystery an' I want- I want-" she's cut off by a yawn, her entire body shuddering just a little from the force of it. After it's done she blinks a few times and smiles, watching his bum as he walks and poking at it a few times before gasping and lifting her head again, attempting and failing to look at him as their position won’t allow it. “We should go t’the Butterfly Room!”

[butterflydm]

wot deeper dive 2x8: what was meant to be

So excited to take a scene-by-scene look at this epic episode. This post will be dealing only with show spoilers and there will be another post later on that includes spoilers from the books.

I really loved season one, but season two has been richer, deeper, and so emotionally powerful. Have loved it so much. Posts that I'm planning to do in the next few weeks: I want to do a post covering each main character's s2 journey, I'm gonna do some speculation for s3, and I've got some posts planned on the imprisonment/control themes and the 'alone-vulnerable; together-shieldwall' theme that was so beautifully realized in the finale, and more.

But that's for the future.

For now, let's get into the show-only deep dive!

I don't think I really talked about the opening scene in my previous posts about the episode, but I really enjoyed it! I hope that future seasons continue the theme of having the final cold-open of the season be something from the Age of Legends.

2. What they did with showing the close relationship with Lews Therin and Ishamael really plays well with how Ishamael feels a kinship with Mat and thus believes that Mat is vulnerable to the same kind of philosophy and influences that Ishamael fell victim to -- he sees that Rand and Mat are close in the ways that he was close with Lews Therin, and thus believes that Mat being Rand's downfall is what is most likely to tip Rand over to the dark (alongside Egwene, who is our modern-age Lanfear counterpart imo). I really love what they've done with this relationship and with how Ishamael essentially tricked himself into believing that he understood Mat when he was really projecting himself onto Mat, just as he's been projecting Lews Therin onto Rand.

And we get the symmetry of Ishamael asking for death here and being denied, and then Rand killing him at the end of the episode, like he wanted.

3. We get confirmation here that LTT sealed the rest of the Forsaken first and Ishamael is last. This is where we get another name drop: Sammael. So the names that we have for sure are: Moghedien, Graendal, and Sammael (plus Ishamael and Lanfear, of course).

4. It looks like the other Aes Sedai here are all men, which ties us into the discussion/argument that Lews and Latra were having in the 1x8 cold open.

5. "They say this seal is so strong, not even I could break it." And while the seals do appear to be weakened by this modern point in time, we saw the effort that Ishamael went to in 2x4 to break out Lanfear. He did that six more times in this episode before he went to confront Rand. He was worn out, y'all.

I do think it's interesting the ways that Ishamael's nihilism interacts with his behavior with Rand. Once he realizes that Rand is here, he knows that his plan for turning Rand to the Shadow has essentially failed. Because Rand's friends have come to help him, and because of Lanfear's betrayal, Ishamael knows that it's over. And part of him is grateful when Rand kills him, and relieved. He doesn't really believe that he's going to reach Rand on that tower and turn him to the Dark -- that's why he sets two back-up plans into motion: a) releasing the Forsaken and b) trying to get Rand gentled.

6. Lews Therin's resigned apologies to Ishamael here for trapping him into a Fate Worse Than Death vs Mat's frantic apologies to Rand after he accidentally stabs him with the dagger from Shadar Logoth -- Lews Therin has been forced into this because of Ishamael's choices, while Mat was tricked into hurting Rand (both here and back in 2x6, when he 'abandons' Rand).

And I love the pan-up and the reveal that the "Eye of the World" was the place where Rand and Moiraine were tricked to go in 1x8 to free Ishamael from his seal.

7. I missed the credits! Though I absolutely understand the team prioritizing getting a little more screen time in each episode, since they were forced to choose. The golden threads bursting out when Josha's name appears always give me chills.

8. Our episode proper starts with the Whitecloaks planning their attack on Falme. The way that the Whitecloaks get introduced with that fade-in from light is very intriguing. I'm not a military expert but Bornhald's strategy sounds pretty solid to me: non-military expert, lol. We can see that they're hiding in the jungle for now, and they plan to make the assault as quick as possible because they have to take out the 'witches' first or any assault is doomed.

The Whitecloaks estimate there are 28 damane with the Seanchan at this time.

I really like how we see the Whitecloaks' ranks shown by how their armor is designed. The costume design on this show has been so striking, this season even more than s1. There's an almost stained-glass quality to the bands on the armor, which helps enhance that 'church/inquisition' vibe that we are going to also get with the children swinging incense.

9. "But we have something they don't."

haha, you don't know how long it took me to realize that Bornhald was implying "we have the Light on our side". Which, funnily enough, the Seanchan ALSO believe! Both sides believe that they are the ones fighting in the name of the Light, not suspecting that here comes Rand al'Thor with the steel chair (of the Light).

But I really love how drenched this episode is in light, after a season that has been very dark (emotionally and frequently literally).

10. "The Watchers on the Waves called for help, letters to every queen, every king in the world, to the Amyrlin Seat herself, begging, but no one came."

This 100% explains the reaction of the people of Falme at the end of the episode, imo. They have been begging for help and no one has come, so they gave up hope and are just doing their best to survive each day. And then the Seanchan are driven out in a matter of hours and they see that huge-ass dragon on the tower (and this version of the story does have people knowing what a dragon looks like -- the book that Rand looks at in season one with the Karaethon Cycle has a dragon sketch in the pages (at 17:38 in episode 1x5 -- there is SO MUCH subtle lore in 1x5, y'all) -- so they know what it means when they see the dragon on the tower). They know exactly who saved them from their recent oppression.

It also ties into a theme from the books, where the different nations are so wrapped up in their own problems that they don't see the big looming apocalypse that is coming for everyone. Everyone was so busy with their own problems that they ignored the messages from Falme.

11. "These strangers are slavers and murderers. We fight them because we must."

Where's that "Heartbreaking: the worse person you know just made a great point" meme? lol. honestly, that's something that the show has been doing really well! Even people who are doing terrible things are not 100% terrible and are capable of making genuinely good arguments. And they believe in themselves and their cause. The Whitecloaks and the Seanchan are both scarier when we are seeing the True Believers in the cause.

12. And Dain brings up the prophecy here that "in Falme's greatest moment of need, the Dragon will return to us" which really gives me "King Arthur" vibes (which is fitting! one of the cool themes in the book is heroic archetypes and how the wheel turns myth into legend, and we also see the Heroes of the Horn bringing that theme into the show in the major way in this episode). So, once again, the people of Falme are going to know exactly who to credit for their big rescue and seem pretty primed to become strong supporters of the Dragon Reborn, given the information that we've gotten about the city.

Bornhald dismisses prophecy in general as "the lies of long-dead witches" and we intercut into Lanfear leading Rand & co through the Ways, which is a beautiful transition. That was excellent.

13. A lot of characters have mentioned the Falme prophecy but I don't think anyone has mentioned it to Rand, specifically. He's not coming to Falme to fulfill prophecy -- he's coming to try to save Egwene. Much like Mat's reaction to Rand was very much colored by how he abandoned Rand at the Waygate, Rand's reactions with Egwene are colored by how he abandoned her at the end of s1. We know why Rand made that choice, of course, but now he's seeing the unintended consequences of that choice.

14. Lanfear's full plan gets revealed over the course of this episode, not in a super in-your-face way, but clear enough to put all the pieces together of exactly how long she's been planning to screw over Ishamael and the rest of the Forsaken (... since the moment she woke up and learned that LTT's new incarnation was around). Some of the details of this plan go into spoilers, so I'll put it in the later post but, in brief: she's manipulated various pieces on the board to use Ishamael's own plans against him -- trapping Egwene and Nynaeve in Falme was an Ishy plan, but Lanfear was able to use Egwene's presence in Falme as a way to get Rand motivated to want to go there to rescue her and, incidentally, fulfill a teeny-tiny prophecy. After Rand killed Ishamael and was proclaimed the Dragon, she was planning to have Doman dump the rest of the Forsaken in the ocean and then she would have plenty of time to manipulate seduce her dearest Lews Therin Rand into loving her again.

And it almost worked! Well, I don't think seducing Rand a second time would have gone as well as she was hoping, but most of the plan really worked out for her.

15. It looks like the show just revealed here that Lanfear also has the Talent of being able to see fellow channelers even when they aren't embracing the Source. ("I can see it in you.")

I love Lan protectively trying to step in front of Moiraine even though he has zero chance against Lanfear. It's giving real "bless him, he tries" vibes.

Lanfear just yeeting them out onto the beach cracks me up.

It also was really great in terms of how it set Moiraine up not as one of the main players fighting in the battle, but as support from the side, smoothing the way. When Rand and the rest of them come down from the tower and are greeted by the grateful people of Falme, none of those people will know that Moiraine and Lan had anything to do with Rand's success. It feels like such a natural progression of her role -- in s1, she was the driving force that led them all to the Eye of the World... and that ended up being a massive screw-up. This time, they all find their own ways to Falme, and none of our main six young heroes are there because they're planning on fulfilling prophecy or fighting the Last Battle. They're there to save one of their own (first Egwene, and then Rand). "Think not of glory but of salvation". They didn't quote it, but the thought is there in the action of what happened in the episode.

16. "How can you think I'd ever trust you again?"

"I'm the only one who actually cares about you, Rand. Everyone else -- Ishamael, Moiraine -- they just care about what you can do."

Lanfear attempting to use her manipulating wiles on Rand. Of course, at the end of the episode, he's going to get a big reminder that she's incredibly wrong and there are a bunch of people who care about him for who he is, but even in this moment, he doesn't look like he's falling for it. And Rand didn't walk away from his friends at the end of s1 because he believed that they didn't care about him. He walked away from them because he believed that he was dangerous to them.

(and she tried to use this tactic on Rand in 2x6 as well, but she failed there too, though she may believe that she succeeded, because Rand does still extend trust to Moiraine in 2x7 when she asks him why he was leaving Cairhien and he tells her everything that he knows/believes, including very much implying that he thinks Lanfear wants to kill him after he's been proclaimed Dragon)

Lanfear lost Rand's trust when he found out who she really was and that she had been manipulating him for months. And I think she's massively underestimating what she would need to do in order to earn any of that trust back.

17. After the Maidens warn Perrin that they are getting Bad Vibes and are pretty sure that today is going to be filled with people getting killed, Perrin asks Hopper to stay behind, trying to keep him safe. Oh, Perrin, that never works. And Hopper has just as much right to be in the fight as you do.

18. Lanfear accidentally screws over her own plan because she can't bring herself not to gloat before her future husband Rand kills Ishamael. This is the big moment when we see how much Ishamael and Lanfear's plans are diverging from each other (and Ishamael sees it too). Ishamael had been planning to play the long game with Rand, keep him away from Falme until he was ready to be turned to the Shadow. Now Lanfear has jumped the gun and brought Rand at a time when Ishamael only has two of Rand's friends in hand (Egwene and Mat) and even those two have not been broken yet. He's not ready for Rand to be here! There's still so much work to be done!

19. After this conversation, Ishamael is aware that he's potentially fighting a losing battle. But he doesn't give up -- he sends in Fain to try to accelerate Mat's corruption; he prepares Suroth for the possibility of gentling Rand. He won't give up without a fight.

Ishamael does sound so intense when he talks about how Rand isn't going to "choose us".

20. ...is Lanfear wearing a dragon earcuff? I think she might be wearing a dragon earcuff/earring. That is not subtle.

I like that it seems like Lanfear believes that she's tricked Ishamael, at least in part, just like she believed that she'd tricked Rand a lot more successfully than she had (since he was very much still lumping her together with Ishamael when talking to Mat and Moiraine).

21. ...I don't ever really have much to say about the fighty-fight part of battles. The image of the Whitecloaks galloping out of the incense/fog was pretty cool.

22. Nynaeve really does have a very rough go of it in this episode. While she does manage to help, that help is in the realm of "get Elayne to the tower so that Elayne can do something". And while I understand the frustration from her fans... her block needs to actually be a problem for us to understand why she wants to get rid of it. This episode made her block a problem, one that she wasn't able to overcome at the last second when it was desperately needed. Much like Mat's low ebb this season was intentional so that we could get the amazing high of the Horn scene, Nynaeve is entering a low ebb. At the beginning of the season, she was showered in praise and special attention that she didn't want. Now she wants the power that had earned her all that praise and she can't reach it (this is similar to how Rand's lack of training needs to actually be a problem so that we understand why he needs to get some training).

23. Oof, it's hard to watch Renna with Egwene. We do get clarification that the dark facepaint is for going into battle.

Renna cutting off Egwene's braid... much like the tree she forced Egwene to burn down, she's trying to attack something that she knows brings Egwene comfort.

Egwene's eyes when she's feeling at her shorn braid. Baby!

24. I've been finding it interesting to think about What's Up with Padan Fain. So far this season, he's stayed within Ishamael's orders (to our knowledge) but when Ishamael orders him to give the dagger to Mat, we hear the whispers of it calling to him. Once Ishamael is dead, does that free Fain to follow the call of the dagger? Because when Mat was under the influence of the dagger, he still was not a fan of the Shadow. Different kinds of evil. The evil of Shadar Logoth scared the Trollocs enough that they weren't willing to chase our people into the city. I will keep an eye on future developments!

25. Poor Mat has been having a Fucking Time of it. First, he has to watch Rand leave, knowing that he's apparently fated to kill his best friend with an evil dagger. Then he gets hit on the head and wakes up across the continent? With a scary lady who insults him? Then ol' flame-eyes is here and his eyes aren't flame anymore and Mat is just so exhausted and tired and he takes this tea that gets REAL trippy and depressing and tells him that he's destined to be awful forever. And then he's locked up alone in a room. And then... Padan Fain shows up???? With the dagger from Shadar Logoth?????

The one Mat is destined to kill Rand with?

Like... he has been having a time of it.

26. Oof, hard to watch Nynaeve torturing Seta. I understand why Elayne needs to keep looking away. Nynaeve wants so badly to find Egwene and save her. We actually get a lot of ruthlessness from the ladies in this episode -- Nynaeve with Seta; Egwene and Renna; and Moiraine's willingness to "kill a thousand innocents if there's even a chance [Rand] will live". But I think the show did a good job of showing you why each of these characters is driven to be so ruthless at this moment in time.

27. Rand confirms with his own eyes that Egwene is here in Falme, as he sees her and the other damane being led out of the kennels. And he sees the gag in her mouth -- I wonder if part of the reason for that part of the costuming was to make it easy for Rand to see from far away part of the indignities that are being forced on Egwene (obviously, he also saw what horrible conditions she was enduring in her cell back when Lanfear showed him Egwene, but now he knows for certain that what Lanfear was showing him was true).

28. Mat and Fain's conversation with Fain here is interesting because I think Mat is figuring it out -- so many people keep telling him over and over that he's destined to do the stupid thing; that he's worthless; that he's going to be like his dad; that he abandons his friends. Padan Fain is saying the exact same thing that Liandrin was saying (you abandoned your friends for the dagger). Having his old peddler from back home showing up to say the same things that the Aes Sedai who had kept him captive for months had said... that's kinda suspicious, bro. That kinda seems like someone else is supplying the script, bro. Because Mat is not in the same kind of despair here when he's listening to Fain as he was when he was listening to Liandrin. He's paying attention to who the messenger is (and who sent the messenger), not just the message itself.

The first time through watching this scene, it can feel like Mat is trying to convince himself when he smiles at Fain and tells him that he's not going to touch the dagger. But... he doesn't touch it. Instead, he inspects the room and comes up with a plan to escape that doesn't involve touching the dagger. It wasn't just bravado, when he was talking to Fain. He meant it. All these people, they keep telling Mat that they know him better than he knows himself. That they are the ones who really know his inner darkness. That they can guess what he's going to do next.

And Mat... he decides right here, I think, that he is going to prove them wrong. Maybe he WAS always terrible in his past lives? Well, then he'll fucking do better in this one. He makes the decision to do better BEFORE he learns that his past lives weren't rotten, and I think that's so important.

29. Moiraine and Lan's scene here is very sweet. I think this was a really sweet capstone to Lan's journey through the season and an affirmation of Moiraine trusting and allowing Lan and Rand to help her at the end of the last episode. Though the main culmination of the "alone we are vulnerable, together we are a shieldwall" comes in the fight against Ishamael, Moiraine has been very much a parallel with Rand this season in how she's been pushing people away so that she can face the danger alone, so her literally allowing Lan to share in her burden is a lovely little illustration of that same point. Plus the weaves and music here are just gorgeous. I really do love the intimacy here, between a man and woman who are fundamentally connected but not in a sexual or romantic way.

Meanwhile, Lan's journey goes back to a similar point as Mat's, I think, in that he accepts the idea that Moiraine views him as inferior and says he wants to help her anyway, before he gets rewarded with learning that she sees him not as an equal but as better than her. "Okay, what if this horrible thing, this thing that I don't want to believe could be true... what if it IS true and then I keep on doing the right thing anyway?"

Though I've never had the issue with Lan's storyline that I feel like I've seen some other book readers have. The only time his story felt 'slow' to me was through my first watch of 2x4 and even that changed when I did my rewatch and saw how much we were getting told about Alanna & her Warders and how it was leading up to Alanna getting folded into all the big plans. But, yeah, my main interest in Lan was never how many enemies he could kill per minute and the show has made him a much more interesting character to me than the books did.

30. I suspect all this 'getting the Horn' stuff might have been expanded on if we'd gotten ten episodes but there's enough information there to make it clear that Lanfear (as 'Selene') gave them the Horn so that her future devoted husband Rand would get his special toy before he fought Ishamael. Heists can be fun but we did get the info a couple of episodes ago that the Horn was barely being guarded, so that also tracks with it being easy for a 'slave' and a 'guard' to be able to sneak in and grab it.

...the Seanchan uniform actually looks really hot on Ingtar.

31. Perrin finds out here that Egwene is in Falme, and he instantly pivots to that information -- Egwene has been captured by the Seanchan; we have to help Egwene. We know that Perrin has been worried that all of them being isolated away from each other makes them vulnerable and here is proof! Obviously, if Egwene is here, then she has to be the priority over the Horn.

"The Horn of Valere summons the dead heroes of the past. It's the key to the Dragon winning the Last Battle."

Yeah, the show was very clear about what the Horn does. Even if you miss Ingtar's line on an initial watch, a rewatch would instantly clear it up (especially with the knowledge of what it does when Mat uses it). The fascinating thing is that Ingtar NEVER SAYS that the Dragon needs to use it, but that's clearly what Perrin assumes (and a lot of show-only reactors assumed it too, and were surprised by Mat being able to use it).

I like Loial's little speech. He shames Ingtar right out of his determination to leave the city with the Horn.

32. The way that Renna and Egwene's power struggle comes to a head in this episode was really effective I think.

We see Egwene not being able to bring herself to attack until she sees the Whitecloaks, and she takes care to place her fireball where it will only hit Whitecloaks and not any cilivians.

33. I have to admit, the view that certain book fans have that Rand did nothing in this episode are baffling (Nynaeve didn't do 'nothing' either, but both she and Rand ARE going to, I'm sure, seek ways in the new season to do more because they were both clearly frustrated by being 'blocked' from what they wanted to do). Rand did less than he wanted to do, because he got shielded -- motivation for him to want to search out some training next season, because there were several moments this season when his lack of training has been pointed out! -- but in both the Turak scene and the Ishamael scene, Rand ends the fight almost effortlessly (once he's free to do so, in the Ishy scene).

Turak and his guards stood literally no chance against Rand -- he raised his chin and looked, and over a dozen people died (but only the ones with weapons, not the Voice who wasn't a threat). I'm sorry, that is power. The idea that Rand indulging in a sword fight would have shown more power than what he actually did is ridiculous. He would have been a cat playing with a mouse instead of just killing it (and every show-only reactor that I've watched so far has had a BIG reaction to Rand doing this).

We've been shown throughout this season with the Forsaken that the less effort channeling takes and the more casual that you are with it, the more powerful you are. And that's exactly what Rand shows in this scene. Not only does he create and send the projectiles, they are precisely aimed to only target combatants.

Which means that Rand gets to see another aspect of Seanchan culture here -- the main slaves of a High Lord kills themselves when their lord dies. It really does show how deeply the brainwashing goes in Seanchan culture. And you can see that Rand is disturbed by the violence that he just did, but he has to move on, so he does.

34. I really do love how Josha embodies the physicality of Rand's channeling. He does move to channel but it feels very natural, like an extension of himself. It was that way in s1 as well. Rand channeling just... idk it hits different for me than any of the other channelers we've seen, as beautiful as the weaves can be.

35. "The Forsaken fought amongst themselves as much as they fought the Dragon," feels like a very important note for s3 -- the six Forsaken that Ishamael released are not going to be going after Rand together. Just as Lanfear ended up undermining Ishamael's plans, with the goal of killing him, getting rid of the other Forsaken, and living happily ever after with Lews Therin Rand, the other Forsaken will each have their own agenda too. So it's not complete doom and despair that they've all been released.

36. So even as Lanfear is making plans to dump the rest of the 'Chosen' in the ocean, Ishamael is busy at work releasing each of them, one by one. We learn here that Lanfear has been manipulating events in Moiraine's storyline from the very beginning of the season.

Ishamael brushing the dust of the remaining seals from his hands as he talks to Suroth: a+, lol. But to make matters even worse for him, he learns here that Turak is dead and the Horn has been stolen. And everything was looking so rosy for him before Lanfear showed up!

Ishamael's "shit, Lanfear betrayed us" back-up plans:

step 1: free the rest of the Chosen

step 2: get Rand shielded ASAP

step 3: Maybe seeing Mat and Egwene in dire straits will be enough to turn Rand to the Shadow? (it's confirmed here that Ishamael made sure to have Egwene ordered to the tower where "the whole city can see her")

*fails*

step 4: okay, we'll gentle him and then work on breaking him once he's less dangerous

*fails*

step 5: maybe I just kill him?

*fails*

step 6: well, guess I'll die. At least I screwed over Lanfear on my way out. The rest of the Forsaken will have to handle things from now on.

37. I love Mat working out a way to use the dagger without touching it. Also it kinda cracks me up that he ties the dangerous thing to a bedpost because... um... Lanfear tied Rand to a... I think that's maybe only funny to me. lol

We see here that Mat understands how the dagger works, probably a lot better than Ishamael did or Fain does. It nearly killed him last season! He's aware of how dangerous it is... but also how useful it can potentially be at the moment.

And I love that Rand's stubborn 'ACTUALLY, Mat is amazing and one of the best people who has ever lived, so jot that down' attitude from 1x7 gets proven correct here. Rand knew Mat better than anyone else, from what we saw at various points in s1, and now his certainty that Mat Is Good, Actually gets to be proven (including, very importantly, Mat himself... until the Accidental Stabbening gives Mat a brand-new guilt complex).

38. We can see here that the fireballs coming down from the damane in the tower are hitting ordinary citizens as well as the Whitecloaks -- not everyone is being as careful as Egwene.

She sees it too -- that's what makes her spit out her gag and refuse to help anymore. And this moment (among some others) really sells why this addition to the costuming works because Egwene actively and literally reclaims her voice here.

And the Whitecloaks attack on the tower work, killing many of the damane and sul'dam at the top of the tower.

39. While earlier, we saw that some of the Whitecloaks were helping pull civilians out of the way, once again, not everyone on their side is being that careful -- the Whitecloak archers shoot Seta, dressed as a damane, but they also shoot Elayne, dressed as an ordinary citizen. Both the Seanchan and the Whitecloaks are causing innocent people to get caught in between them and die.

And I do think it's clear here that Nynaeve is overwhelmed and scared, not angry. That's why she isn't able to reach the power. Her block is now officially a problem for her, one that she has a very good reason to try to get it fixed next season. This is a similar lesson to what they've been showing us in Rand's storyline: raw power isn't enough. You also need control, or other people will be able to control you.

40. And that ties into what Egwene does too -- both Mat and Egwene think outside the box in order to find clever solutions to their problems in this episode and not be limited to what their captors thinks they're capable of. They both choose an unlisted option.

She seizes control over herself and her situation, because she understands her power now. Egwene, Mat, and Moiraine all reclaim themselves after having gone through a long, rough period of being put in a situation where they feel inadequate and broken down.

And Egwene figured it out by being clever and putting together the information. We also get more confirmation here that only channelers can see weaves.

41. Reunions! Mat and Perrin's reunion here is very sweet. It's also much more straightforward than the more complex and fraught (though just as sweet) relationship between Mat and Rand. Perrin and Mat share a good long hug! Mat holds his shoulder for a moment! But when the hugging is gone, they pull away from each other and don't constantly stay all over each other like Rand and Mat were in their initial reunion scene in 2x6 (or like Rand and Mat will do in their upcoming scene, post-stabbening). So I love that we see that Mat and Perrin are very good friends and they love each other and... and it's not quite the same as Mat's friendship with Rand.

42. Poor Egwene really is so burnt out, emotionally, by her experiences and so traumatized, and we can really see how exhausted she is by everything that happened. She needs some real processing time.

I'm glad that we got Rand's apology to Egwene here, even if I think she's maybe only half-processing it at the moment.

43. I love how quickly Mat gives out the info of "Rand is alive, he's here, he's headed to help Egwene" to Perrin here. And that he takes another dig at Rand's hair, lol. When Rand regrows his hair, Mat gets the credit for it, lol. I also miss Rand's curls, Mat! You are not alone!

44. Ishamael is talking here like he's knows that it's over. He does not expect his appeal to Rand here to work -- like he told Lanfear, it's too soon. Egwene isn't broken. Mat isn't broken. He doesn't even HAVE Nynaeve or Perrin in hand. "Maybe next time it'll be different," Ishamael says, because he already knows that his primary goal of turning the Dragon to the Dark has failed.

I love the echoes of this scene to the one from the cold-open.

45. "You're his only hope" vs "betrayer of hope". I talked about this in one of my earlier posts I think, but the contrast still hits me hard.

Here we have Ishamael, blaming Lews Therin for his fall to the dark (and the stories say that it was LTT's 'fault' that Lanfear turned to), but it wasn't LTT's fault. It was Ishamael's choice. And it's Mat's choices that make him different from Ishamael.

But, yeah, this is another of those things that just gets extra weight to Mat and Rand's friendship vs Mat and Perrin's or Rand and Perrin's.

46. Dain and Perrin meet on the battlefield and get to fight back-to-back for a moment. I think everything with Perrin & the Whitecloaks & Hopper is well-done, but it's tough to talk about. Hopper does get a lovely send-off, as he see him leaping the way that he did when he told Perrin his name. Also, the tension between Dain and Perrin the next time they see each other (narratively, they have to see each other again, with all this set-up) is going to be fantastic.

Hopper's last sending to Perrin is so beautiful. And it's so easy to understand Perrin's rage here, just as it was easy to understand Egwene's need to kill Renna.

47. I like how Elayne (in agony!) is doing her best to help Nynaeve get to a place where she can help Elayne. She really takes charge of the situation and is able to bring a level of calm to it, even when she's under significant distress herself.

Nynaeve is trying so hard to channel here and she can't even embrace the Source. I do think that her 'block' probably got some reinforcement when her most recent use of the Power directly led to Ryma's capture.

(speaking of Ryma, since we don't see her in the tower or on the ships, it's entirely possible that, as a brand-new damane, she was still in the kennels and can get freed after the battle here is done; I would like that for her very much and - if they do decide to have the Wondergirls go back to the White Tower, Ryma could be the one to take them there, as she delivers the news about the Seanchan. That's one of the few reasons that I can see for the Wondergirls to think it will be safe for them to go back to Tar Valon, after they hear Moiraine's news, tbh)

But, yeah, I'm glad that Nynaeve can't just Bruce Banner "I'm always angry" at her problems. That her block is now something that is causing her distress in times when she desperately needs to be able to channel.

48. Mat blowing the Horn is such a beautiful moment. Time slowing and the music changing and the effects of how the Heroes appear. This is a moment of intense despair for everyone and Mat blowing the Horn here turns everything around. I think they did a really good job in making this the turning point of the episode. Mat blowing the Horn did bring back the hope of winning. It didn't win the battle, but it gave back hope. Instead of Mat being ~just like~ Ishamael, he is instead Ishamael's opposite. Instead of betraying hope, he creates it.

And it's such a joyous moment. Mat gets to have his self-worth affirmed by an outside source, gets to feel connected to something bigger than himself, after feeling alone for most of the season. It's really beautiful.

Just... gorgeous. And when Mat remembers and is able to get that validation that he is not destined to be a 'damn prick', just like his father, that he isn't rotten to his core... witnessing him going through that moment is so lovely. Cannot say enough good things about it, A+ television.

49. We also see that, after Mat says that he 'remembers', that he's handling his weapon differently, more familiarly, and he can now speak the Old Tongue. So we can see the impact that remembering his past lives has on him.

And, of course, we see here that Uno is one of the Heroes of the Horn! It's a nice hint to viewers who maybe weren't listening to Ingtar earlier that the Horn brings back the dead. Because we definitely all saw Uno die.

50. And, of course, being magically-fast ghost warriors, the Heroes absolutely can make sure that they only target active combatants and that no civilians get caught in the cross-fire.

Uno saving Perrin. <3 And then lending him a magic shield! Useful! I'm guessing it probably also fades away after the Heroes do.

And once the arrow is out of Elayne's leg, everyone is on their way to the tower.

51. Rand is able to push himself to his feet, despite the effects of the shield on him, and tell Ishamael, point-blank, "I will never serve him. In a thousand lives, I never have. I'm sure of it."

Ishamael knows that his main plan is a bust. It's only back-up plans and failsafes from here on out.

52. Mat's throw is a really good throw! Unfortunately, Ishamael is a trickster too, and it goes right through the illusion of him. This moment is incredibly traumatizing for Mat who only literally just now regained his sense of self-worth -- while we are going to end up with our heroes triumphing over Ishamael and the Seanchan and saving Falme... they all end up damaged and traumatized by it.

Mat just clutching onto Rand here in the wake of accidentally stabbing him. Oh, wow, it really gets to me. And Rand's anger is 100% (and very appropriately and accurately) focused on Ishamael.

And Ishamael is so distracted by this moment that he doesn't realize that Egwene has gotten up from where he threw her.

53. I love how delicate Elayne's healing weave is. And the wound left behind looks very nasty. And Rand getting healed by Elayne and then seeing the sun shining in her hair. What a way to be introduced to someone for the first time! They save your life like that and are literally wreathed in sunlight.

54. Moiraine and Lan getting on the same (ruthless) page when it comes to supporting Rand/the Dragon. And we get to really see Lan let loose with his fighting as Moiraine lets loose with her channeling.

55. I was honestly a little nervous about the idea of them actually doing a sky battle because I could not possibly picture how that would not be cheesy. I trusted the show's team but... I was nervous. What the show did was not at all cheesy. It was heartfelt and epic, but not cheesy.

I love how everyone works together to make it work. The team did such a good job of playing out this theme of having the characters be isolated and showing how that made them vulnerable, and then rewarding us with this beautiful coming together. They can be there for each other and protect each other.

And I'm confused about anyone feeling like this takes away from Rand because... they all contribute so that Rand can strike the final blow -- because Rand is the only one who could have done that part. Moiraine freed Rand from his shield and Elayne healed him, Egwene and Perrin were able to block Ishamael's attacks, but Rand absorbed Ishamael's attacks into his own weave to strengthen it, and then he wove the One Power directly into his sword and we can see the results -- instead of getting back up again, Ishamael crumbled to dust.

Ishamael himself was aware that he had lost as soon as Rand was unshielded, imo. He makes another attack after that, but it's clear that he knows that he lost. There's a reason that Ishamael's first big move in the scene with Rand is to get him shielded by the damane. That's the only way he even has a chance in this fight and he knows it. Egwene isn't able to go on the offense against, Ishamael in any way and we can see what a toll it's taking on her to hold up her shield against him - holes develop in her shield before Perrin shows up.

Minor Cauthor note: I love how after Rand gets rocked by being unshielded and he realizes that Mat got pulled away from Mat, he grabs Mat's hand again. Cute, even in the middle of a pitched battle.

56. Our poor traumatized babies! Let's count up the trauma:

a. Rand felt shielded and helpless for much of the fight and now has a wound in his side that Elayne wasn't quite able to heal. He's also very aware that his lack of training is causing big problems. And he's got a heron brand on his hand now.

b. Egwene is deeply traumatized from her time as a slave.

c. Nynaeve spent this entire battle feeling helpless and her only contribution was bringing Elayne here so that Elayne could heal Rand. Nynaeve may even blame herself for the state Rand's wound has been left in, wondering if she could have healed him fully if she'd had access to the Power.

d. Perrin just lost his new wolf BFF in a traumatic way.

e. Mat stabbed his best friend with an evil dagger (after spending months being psychologically tortured).

f. Elayne has a pretty nasty leg injury. Also, she has to be the most confused person here, by a mile. She likely knows about the prophecies and the Dragon Reborn as general concepts but had absolutely no clue that she was accidentally stumbling into the middle of them. She's gonna have so many questions.

57. But this whole section really is beautiful. Just... I love the fire-illusion dragon so much. Moiraine is always So Extra, all the time.

58. This is the first time any of them have seen Rand channel! Even though they can't see the weaves, they can see Rand walking through Ishamael's attacks without flinching, they can see his sword glowing red, and Ishamael turning to dust. And they heard Ishamael call him "Lews", probably.

It's also another incredibly intimate stabbing, though in a different way than Mat 'stabbing' Rand was. He looks directly into Ishamael's eyes the entire time and, afterwards, he stays focused on Ishamael until he's turned to dust.

59. Yeah, Falme looks pretty all-in on the Dragon Reborn. He saved them from the Seanchan and (given what the dude in Atuan's Mill said) he also saved them from the Whitecloaks. At their greatest hour of need, the Dragon really did come to save them. We also get the confirmation here that these Aiel Maidens, at least, believe that Rand is the Car'a'carn that they've been searching for.

60. At this point in time, Lanfear is feeling pretty damn happy with herself. Step one of her plan was a complete success! Ishamael has been taken care of. Lews Therin Rand has been publicly proclaimed the Dragon! Her happy ending is within her grasp!

Then, as Lanfear is basking in her victory... she discovers that Ishamael took action when he realized she was betraying him. We meet "softly, softly from the shadows" Moghedien and see her stand toe-to-toe with Lanfear. All of the Forsaken are now loose.

Love the vibe they've given to Moghedien.

We can see here that those conflicts that Moiraine talked about between the Forsaken are clear and present. Lanfear and Moghedien are definitely not on the same page when it comes with how to deal with the Dragon.

Moghedien says that "him" and "all five of them" are now the other Forsaken's business and that Lanfear is to stay away from Rand in particular.

And she vanishes before Lanfear is set free and our last words of the season are Lanfear saying, "Light help you, Rand al'Thor."

Interesting in two ways! Acknowledgement of him as Rand, not Lews Therin, and calling upon the Light to aid him. I feel like it does a good job of setting up some very clear issues for the next season.

Hope we have a shorter wait this time!

[vivalaegghead]

For the 22 days of prompts (I want to say happy birthday,but it’s a bit too early isn’t it?) Can I request a Solavellan morning routine? (perhaps when camping e.g at the Hissing Wastes with other companions - they possibly share a tent, but don’t have to). You can take the original prompt however you like I thought little details might help inspire. Also, are you only taking one prompt per person?

Day 4 of my birthday prompts, and it’s officially 1 week until my birthday!

Ahh I’m so excited to finally be posting this! I took the morning routine with a small escape-from-reality twist. I hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for the request, friend!

“Vhenan.” The voice wassoft, warm like a summer breeze, but distant. Aijah existed between the cushionof dreams and the land of reality, swinging between them like a pendulum,unsure of which reality she would end up in. She tried to swing back to the realmof slumber, the aches that fizzled throughout her body begged her to return. Thegroup had been travelling through the deserts of the Hissing Wastes for thelast week with little to show for it. Food and water supplies had begun to runlow while frustration bubbled under the skin of everyone in the party. AllAijah wanted to do was sleep, recover, and avoid the remarks that Sera lashedout, her tongue like a whip to the back of the Inquisitor.

“Vhenan. Wake up.” Thevoice was sharp, here, above her. Pale eyelashes fluttered and an instinctivehand rose to banish the sleep from her eyes. The tent where she slept was stilldark, the slumbering moon had filtered through the fabric of her shelter,allowing her to make out the form of her lover. The rest of his features wereshrouded by the night, but the sharp curve of his jaw was hard to miss. Atiresome hand reached out to cup his face, which remained smooth despite theweek that he had forgone the razor, she placed soft kisses along his jawlineuntil he returned her praises with his own offering. Gentle, yet eager, hislips roamed to the fleshy parts of her neck, fluttering over her skin like atimid butterfly.

           She remembered to stifle her sighs of contentment. Thetwo had yet to affirm any relation between them, although many whisperedobservations to eager ears. After the fire had burned low, Solas would make hisway to her tent to share the night with the Inquisitor. She knew her companionshad witnessed the caressing of hands, the lingering of eyes, soft smiles stolenacross the campfire. Aijah always hesitated, she was sure of what her heartwanted but she was unwilling to admit it. Perhaps this was all by circumstance,perhaps when this storm was over their love would evaporate with the mists. Solasseemed in no rush to confirm their relationship, either, which gnawed at herinsides, kept her up at night with cloudy thoughts. Was he ashamed? Was she notwhat he truly wanted? But he was here, waking her, praising her with kisses,and that would suffice for now.

“Why did you wake soearly?” Her question came out as a mumbled mess. Solas pressed his lips to thecorner of her mouth and she could feel that a soft smile had formed across his face.Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and she could now make out the curve ofhis nose, his eyes that reflected in the dim moonlight. He was magnificent.

“Come watch the sunrisewith me.” A gentle hand swept her moon colored hair from the bare of her neck,and he welcomed the warmth of her skin with lips pressed to her shoulder, herneck, her spine. Her body was a fault line, and he knew how to send tremorsthrough her which would fade into aftershocks, which left her wanting more. Wasshe crazy? The Inquisitor should not be putting themselves in a compromisingposition, especially since she was under constant scrutiny due to the point ofher ears.

“Hurry Vhenan, we’relosing moonlight.”

          He explained that it was the lack of sleep that pulled him out of the tent,and with the prayer of slumber still on his lips he had stumbled upon thespring just a few meters from the campsite. Solas carefully guided her to thebubbling water source, his fingertips dancing eagerly under hers. The moon castan ethereal glow over the spring, transforming the pool into a portal to thesacred world. It had been days since Aijah had laid eyes on the moving waters oflife, and she took in the sight with eyes brimming in wonderment. The sound ofsplashing water tore her gaze from the steady surface, pale eyes took in thesight that was a bare Solas, his untouched flesh illuminated under the goddessthat hung heavy above them. A smirk, an outreached, trembling hand, an offeringlaid out to her.

           He was here, bare, pleading. His offering caused theearth to hold its breath, the wind had stifled around them, the stars pausedtheir eternal wavering in an effort to watch the Inquisitor’s every move. Shepaused, unsure of his intentions, unsure of why he brought her out here, buthis outstretched hand tempted her more than she wanted to admit. She tossed herclothes to the shore, moving without fully understanding why, but she reachedout to him. Her hand fit in the curve of his, almost too perfectly, and he ledher to the deepest part of the waters. He moved smoothly through the waters, asif he were floating through air, leaving behind barely a ripple in his wake. Oncehe decided the depth sufficed, he seated himself on a rocky surface beneath thewater which now lapped at his chest.

“Sit.” The command cameas a whispered plea as he took her in, the lean curves of her body, the milky colored hairthat trailed past her tailbone. Aijah could feel the heat rise across hercheeks, and once again her body moved without acknowledging the will of hermind, and she straddled him under the waters. The spring was cool, a welcomerelief to the heat of the endless desert, small reeds had found themselves ahome among the shoreline and rocks, and Aijah made a mental note to harvestsome so she could attempt to make fish baskets. Surely there were fish presentin this water source, or frogs nearby that she could-

“Vhenan.” His voicerang roughly in her ears, and she noticed how his eyes had narrowed infrustration at her. “You never stop thinking, do you?” He leaned back againstthe rocks, the moon cast a shadow across his defined shoulders. What did heexpect her to do? She was thrust into this position of making sure that thosewho joined her survived, but Haven proved that even her best intentionscouldn’t save everyone. A ripple in the water, his dripping hand on her face,his other gripped her just above her hip bone. His eyes met hers. There wassomething behind his orbs that Aijah could never make sense of, as if they heldthe weight of the world, as if they had been hidden in the dark for too long.

“Be here, with me.” Hisplea settled between them just as the oranges and reds of dawn began to breakthrough the moons moody coloring. Aijah was still unsure, of him, of themtogether, of the weight that his words held. But she didn’t think of that whenshe leaned in to kiss him, she didn’t think of that when he planted kissesalong her neck. All she could think of was him, and her, and their etherealbodies welcoming a sunrise that was painted by colors of the words they leftunsaid.

           They arrived at camp just as the sun peaked over themountains in the distance, strings of fish between them, Aijah’s hair stilldripping from her time intertwined with Solas. Bull was tending to the firethat begun to spew smoke into the multicolored sky, a final farewell to thegoddess of the night. Sera noticed the two approaching camp and appraised theoffering of fish with a raised eyebrow. A soft chuckled fell from Solas’ lips,and Aijah knew what he was thinking without uttering a word.

“Wot’s with you two? Alittle chipper this morning?” Her fists settled above her hips, eyes dartedbetween the pair as she waited for an answer that wouldn’t come. Solas passedthe fish to an eager Iron Bull, then shot a longing glace at Aijah from acrossthe fire. Perhaps her question was answered after all.

[paraclete0407]

Feel like Du Fu dreaming of the distant capital Chang’an; ‘liang-zi’ in rain or so.  Money burns, houses burn - diamonds burn.  ‘Do not harm the wine and oil.’  People don’t even think about An Lushan Civil War and IDK if I read fake history but f-cking Hail Satan / Moloch (’Eat, Lord!’ - Salammbo) from what I read; this world; these men; ‘A Dish of Peaches in Russia.’  Can’t wait to get tortured by K-mafia in all the pornographic violation-vectors pleasures of which I investigated over the years dept. of Purgatory(?).  Sing infernal muse of orgasm-hunting and desperately personal inward contractionist odysseys; I rem. thinking ‘220K Belgian breast-implants,’ it looked like my piano-teacher’s house; Knausgaard is like ‘Time for Everything.’  I wrote ‘Success Kid Soup’ where SAmchon / Sammo is writing his Salterian gratitude-journals teaching Hyomin abt. James Salter, then, ‘final eloquence(?) of Jane Austen scholarship.  

I rem. once sleeping at Lake Park in car thinking PCH slept in cars to keep from being degen. but ppl thought I was battering old men at Children’s Grand Park or smashing up one of my favorite girls with a flashlight(!?) - it’s not even true.  

‘Do you know The Death of Ivan Ilyich,’  midnight gardens, but at this time in my life I felt I had no real program.  My only ‘take’ was if you want to talk about DoII let’s sincerely talk about it but then IDK what women ‘intend.’  Plasma-cannons, alien antennae; a while back I thought about ‘Holdings’ only there appears to be a baptism of fire in some sense or other.  I rem. psychoticization of Barry Hannah, GnR prophecies, is he burying or disinterring the AK-74.  The song from the untranslatable SF global HumDev drama where they married IRL then divorced, some Frenchman,... sexually awaken this! - that song is like... I went on Wikipedia reading about kamikaze, ‘liberty,’ bomb-interception w/ Type-0, fact that some Japanese really weren’t lip-lick daddy-daughter fake paternal colonialists (i believe) b/c a few JP probably detected Perry’s lip-lick, ShiShi, knock knock wakizahi Heaven’s Judgment to mental Cho Kuks(?) - Koreans understand Iwo Jima Lt. Gen b/c these are sacred bloodlines 

I rem. ‘when Black girls love them some white boys’ - great!  I just regret ever saying anything like TW-1 French tips it’s retarded, now abideth the face, the brows, the destiny of Woman, 

XJP probably knows all this; extend question, how to show / teach world..

‘I appreciated’... ‘Expectation’... Smoothie Kng FroYo Bella...

IDK why I feel like saying all this now; I bought a watch-head for like 50 ollars that later got humidified, the watch-repairman’s grip was excellent, but these peple are just not my constituents because at bottom they’re AmKor AAPI Twitter ‘PS always hated you’ reactionary tribalists so rape me my friend!  Leave me alone!  I liked ‘Beautiful Goodbye’ but as for the ‘Taeyeon suicide countdown types’ if you really wanted ‘My way your way anything goes tonight’ stimulation can I rip out your fingernails upside down hang baseball bat - it cost less than Six Flags and make more ‘individual special’ story.  It’s not wrong to torture, ‘better to marry than to burn’ and better to hydroelectrocute, waterboard, shortchain, airplane, than spew infernal lies.  Confucius ‘If you love your son beat him’ - I wanna beat myself, IDK if I was right or wrong but smashed ‘Ryan’ with softcover workbook 2011, different time, also turned out he was set up / falsely accused by James so I became one of those ‘ppl that made ppl hate all teachers / system / Caucasians’ - legal, other ppl were toe-kicking to back of knee and stuff.  My colleague asked the English for ‘corporal punishment’ I said ‘physical punishment’ b/c ‘corporal’ is mil. rank and ‘corporeal’ is Catholic oceanic concept.  Other ppl at that hagwon were like ‘cartoons, puns, I am “woke” and exprienced instructor, circumspect, every so often hurl lethal objects at children’ - later he said stuff like ‘pimping Incheon,’ real estate license, Canada.  ‘Korea’s got some growing up to do, libertarianism, a million year patrimony of Canadian nationhood.’  Pornhub, Hushmail, greed-immigration-laws.  I said ‘You’re the butler from Kazuo Ishiguro’ but why say anything these ppl are nail-paring... David’s harlotry, how to cancel you, fake dream, no depth of instructional design or whole school architecture, not even dream, not even waiting... Sad!  I remember Jordan Peterson calling Tinkerbell ‘the porn fairy’ I like Soshi’s ‘Tinkerbell’ from the press-motif and its echo of Emerson’s notion of the ‘scholar of one candle’ I’m not pro-pornography I just have Catholicistic aesthetics

Now I remember ‘David’ who wanted a card and considered the ‘Fnal Word’ summative statement possibilities of a mechanical pencil.  But in the future everyone already understands everything.  I remember later filing away what I had taken to be perfunctory observations based on students’ testimony such as ES = parents; MS =friends HS = [TD Jakes sermon + purposes + future spouse etc.]... My friend said sth, I get super-sick of sharing anything with anyone + fret that all my ‘good deeds’ are being rewarded in this world.  Sica’s ‘Gravity’ cover.  I just no longer understand Korean; Brooks Brothers as white supremacist(?).  LJH is like ‘walking straight up to Heaven.’  Condescending-Canada-1 on my 26th birthday was talking about ‘meting you again’ story-ideas; I had a ‘hen could fly’-esque story idea about deer or ‘hart’ and ducks but in retrospect symbolic thinking, who cares.  ‘that has expelled us and our images (Stevens’...

*

Picture of A.S. Lizzie particolor sweater Cheonggyeoncheon; New Order ‘Regret,’ Thatcher era, all these English ‘God wot Warhammer 40K’ retreat in to expressive Imperium that seems condition of fiction but is actually ‘potential prophecy’ or future certainty-world.  It was ‘Regret,’ Singapore, but the 40K people were satisfied w/ their lives and Thatcher that I know wasn’t executing them or corralling in to work-camps just saying [make do with less?]...

*

I wanted to Western fencing and ended up w/ saber/re, in the late 1990s WJC dispatched cops with MP-5′s in order to extradite or return Cuban refugee-boy to his communist homeland; coach is saying ‘Nazi.’  Did Castro threaten terror or was it just child-sacrifice.  Later my HS achieved prominence in female saber but honestly, games, toys, fake progress, fake hope, IDC don’t touch me.  I later took interest in epee, San-E ‘Feminist,’ my dad said a smart comment about ‘dissonance’ but it is still ‘representations.’  It’s Madonna ‘Holiday.’  

‘Seulgi didn’t touch flowers b/c harm them’ - Pearl Buck ‘Living Reed.’ ~ ‘harm not the Earth.’ Gym avoid, just run or work or sth.  Insane veterinarian bodybuilder ‘meat digestion enzyme - eat many animals as possible.’  ‘Isolation exercise’ - ev1 wants to believe this brililant then they spent like 3000000 dollars on gov’t money on SF training then they are ‘vastus medialis.’  I like ‘Say something nice about Seulgi’ - it’s like ES.  

Feel like what should I confess, my very fav. student, ‘the one who could be anything, whose parents maybe gave her ‘open class.’  What is someone like that to do?  

I used to drive down Capitol seeing Black people thinking ‘God’s chosen’ or so but didn’t feel compelled to add or contribute anything to them as they had a special destiny.  ‘Where do I take this love?’  Everyone wants to adopt everyone, I believe it monstrous, oppose, veto.  ‘Teach me the way’ - it’s grooming, pederasty.  I rem. ‘This Is Love’ and two words that mean ‘already.’  My old poem about S’hai-1 and ‘South of the Border West of the Sun.’  Even more now channeling ‘Evr’y Hour,’ seeing Genghis Khan books at BN,’ Beolsseo arasseo.’  I admire out-of-time rubato things, Spengler characterizing the Greco-Roman culture-soul as ‘andante.’  HUFS-1 is ‘Andante Spianato,’ ‘planing.’  I knew her hometown but she’s not my girl so.  I know no other piece with a ‘spianato’ direction.  No one plays this piece to my satisfaction it’s more Chopin monster-magic.  I liked ‘Forgefuness’ by Hart Crane in a way but weird dreams with Crane like a gelatinous turkey b/c hat is so great abt being homosexual and brilliant(?).  Power without responsibility, conceit.  There were these word-jump-around-page poems from Strand books that I wrote with great joy-generation in HS but after that decided it was madness, mental illness.  Square poem, piano reduction of insanity-pop-music, cancel manic depression.  Later tried sonnet, tangci, sijo.  I like ‘sobriety, staidness.’  ‘Letters to Auratus’ more of my writing tutoring / literary agency abt. what are you trying to convey with ASLS, surrogacy, Heideggerian being-towards-death, dying life.  I get it - for a time I always said ‘I see what you’re saying.’  Purity, remembrance.  But IDK if Auratus knows or doesn’t know b/c ‘Can’t I lie?’  Maybe it is other people’s pathos.  Surrogacy, chaebol, AI knows I like HK3 a lot but in retrospect... I had the phrase ‘autumn settlings.’  Old man waiting for his son, mitigation, train to Cheonan with this grief-blind woman or sth, are you looking at me?  My nose is not Jung Woosung’s nose.  I forgot the zeitgeists from past dramas; I ban them anyway.  ‘The Charm of Department Stores.’

‘Roads Not Taken’ or so is a book about the Vietnam War; who wrote the last word on the Vietnam War?  I felt it strange that they make monthly magazines about the past; this transport with American soldiers very washed.  Vietnam has huge butterflies.  ‘Soldier’s Wives’ ~ ‘This is her taste,’ Chris Kyle’s wife but it’s still like LBSDBS.  I remember reading the Mutual Assured Destruction guy’s theory f ‘Faustian peoples’ or so (not Spengler’s idea of all the West as Faustian-outward-historiographical+ ut sth different), my fav. K-film has always been AMFL; I started remembering ‘Insa,’ feeling autumn golden leaves thrown up by the passing SUV fall through my body.  These words mean many things and in past I took words in mouth I should keep to myself and wish to hear rather than say or wish to mull rather than flaunt... (once Grahame Greene squalor-lord met the Pope who said ‘But I’m already Catholic’ - dept. of apologetics v. present prophecy, discernment, reality-betterment).  I want to tell my most demonic sex-trafficking hallucinations like hole-in-heart zombies racism pineapple pizza, paint the apartment - this was ‘nesting.’  ‘Reflections.’  Auratus was talking of the F-22 which I wanted to tell him that’s not the fastest plane by a longshot, today too I think evth is Satan electric fields and drones thrust-vectoring is a huge toy but IDK what IDK.  I wished to send all F-22′s to Kor, I used to nickname this girl XB-70; I thought I was once the little escort just there to film the test or sth.  KJAD rapidly improved, the shrimp whale dolphin thing vanished. Creatures.  There were scramjets and that reverse dive-bombing where you climb, thrust-weight ratio, ‘arabesque.’  I used to deliberately mar my English and say ‘I think it’s good idea’ and ‘good form.’  

F-22, I feel like USA trashed their whole continent and now can’t even give good motor-vehicle?  

 Memories of KJY, ‘Black is beautiful?’  Wilberforce.  ‘Confucianism is all about the phallus(?!).’  YOU help them dept. of Maoist time-bomb.  I’ll g to Somalia, Eritrea, one day.  I know these kids have special promise; I too would take measures to make them cute and loveable.  ‘Social form.’  I love Paul Washer - ‘porn = unloving heart’ - kneel before father... but they need good police; I don’t own firearms; I don’t like to exaggerate.  Like in 2012 Doomsday in the end Africa becomes the center o human civilization... I read King Leopold’s Ghost; there was a Georgian Southerner at Beauty School so I got mad at started talking about Gen. Sherman burning down his home turf.  Believe in severity; I wanted to help them but they’re so sure they know sth but they’ve been exploding-heart-ing me since like MS; it’s part of why I just wanted to live in Redlands and write in the office ‘cause I know what they think; my name is like a Confederate general, IDK my own past, supposedly teetotaling Union officer who burned his uniform.  Tory anti-belief-niks... Let’s talk about Myeongnyang, sacrifice, simplicity, the other thing if adult job-opportunities I guess b/c I know all about being educated but underemployed but I’m not Biden; what job can I create?  Just tell them I’ve lived less than I say I’ve lived; ‘creative writing.’  I never made it to Busan, what’s in Busan?  Shanghai never made it.  Let’s talk about ‘10,000 Sorrows,’ abandonment, slavery, honor-killing, church abuses.  Jazz is neither here nor there that I can tell; body-image.  Who’s the most important person in the world today?  What’s God’s will or me?  Just delete my family name?  Of course I like ‘Deep River’ - ‘ugly and destructive’ slavery.  ‘My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.’  They think I‘m the mark / easy money / sue for punitive damages but I think they’re the marks, ‘maybe so.’  Korea’s not inlating min.-wage; wanna talk about Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin.  I know a bit about Baldwinian sin-eating like ‘I tell you all my dirty secrets then pretend I didn’t’ - it’s called US mental healthcare system.  I like that poem about the pimp but this poet also shout his mouth off talkig about firing in to crowds of protesters.  ‘Fire Next Time.’  With Covid it could well be; I was telling ex-friend about how there would just be tanks on the street again but I have come to believe I was reading the future by past.  I used to bodybuild in college and eat fish oil every 2 hours so this girl who loves Taeyang saw my fish oils and started crying since she thought they were steroids; ultra-beautiful,Bo probably / hopefully flourishing, modified spelling of the name that means ‘revelation of God.’  But Snoop?  Cardi?  Does their ethos or way of war ever ever ever prevail?  Bonhoeffer learned from the Black church; I loved his poem about feeling strangled in prison.  I wanna raze Milwaukee and build them reasonable apartments with study-desks and stuff; their neighborhoods have a soothing energy.  Someone a deacde back was eating with African-African national leaders who confided, ‘Our whole continent doesn’t have enough wisdom.’  Koreans were buying up farmland in Africa.  I was sad b/c I felt I had a chance; I checked some vaccine-info. now it’s just like in Uieongbu DJJ is some kind of bio-terrorist.  I was fond of DC Sua’s ‘Copycat’ although I backed from all that because it’s infinitely misinterpretable; I thought about ‘Love Only Me,’ now I am like ‘Love Someone Else.’  I felt as if this ought to be a lenten penitent ‘reduced circumstances’ era in remembrance of numerous mistakes, going humbly.  I liked ‘Don’t Waste Your Life Sentence,’ spring nights.  I sometimes feel as if the current POTUS will say all the right things but the drug-laws in past were merciless and what was the point?  But that’s Rome and I’ve no portfolio.  ‘Henry Fish’ my YAL from 2012 - endless sorries- with his 30-dollar military jackets, taped glasses.  ‘Glad and proud to call Obama my president.’  I’ve never voted and don’t intend to except in ‘12 I voted for Obama partly because the psychiatrist and I had a good exchange; now feel that leaving the town hall that ‘pride’ was literal pride, evil, like all these women say, ‘Why would you do that?’  ‘ObaMao.’  I PRC they called him ‘heiren.’  Syria red line ciaccona, Obergefell, strat-patience.  End Iraq then suddenly super-massive investment in modernization of nuclear forces, telling EU to pay more for defense - there’s just not gonna be Heaven on Earth & I am never gonna make it to Venus and I really walk round thinking about camping in ex-NK and I do’t mean like the drama  But he’s a great man too.  ‘Cocaine and cohabitation’ - maybe he really was pace Dreamcatcher beginning of the end, from Hawai’i, ‘From Here to Eternity,’ end of AmCent.  His ‘Amazing Grace.’  I said something really obtuse about Bloomberg, Pete Mayor, Biden; a while ago skimmed ‘Lost Victories’ about the Nazi general who drove tanks through forests and stuff, when is going to fall the sword?  I liked ‘Beethoven was Black,’ Waldstein-III, and 111 is like ‘massive slave rebellion followed by less-tn-expected final affirmation. IZ*ONE ‘Human Love’ (in respect-mode I call it Ahn Yujin and Jo Yuri ‘Human Love’ b/c they were already breaking up the GG) - I thought it was a great moment; a signature.’  Then the ILY3K, marriage bad, uneducated, omni-prostitution unrestricted war CCP-revanchism exceedingly woke but for all I know I’m just a fake cultural Christian. 

[chuckaliclous]

Awkward//Reddie

Hey guys! Here’s my first multi chap fic I hope you like it!

Ch. 1

Chapter One: Caught

“So, wots the plan for tonight, Big Bill?” Richie obnoxiously bellowed in an accent Bev called an “English wanna be”.

The Losers stood in the parking lot of the high school, Bev and Richie sharing a cigarette. Bill, Stan, Mike, Ben, and Bev would eventually all pile into Bill’s mini van after Bev decided the cigarette was cashed and threw it to the ground, stomping the last bits of life out of it while Richie protested all the while in his Poncho Vanilla voice. “Thaaaaat’s a no-no, senorita!” He’d yell and try to stop her, but her foot would already be crushing the butt before he could finish.

Eddie opened the passenger side door to Richie’s car, rolling his eyes. “C’mon Rich, I’m getting chilly and I do NOT want to catch a cold-” Richie cut him off by throwing his leather jacket over the top of Eddie with a thwunk, Eddie’s cries about his mother killing him muffled.

“There, shweetheart, all cozied up now?” He asked in his Humphrey Bogart voice that Eddie especially hated… but didn’t actually.

Eddie tore the jacket off his head aggressively and reluctantly put it on. “Suck my dick, Trashmouth!” He stuck his middle fingers proudly in Richie’s direction.

“That’s for later!” Richie snorted, reaching to Stan for a high five and getting rejected as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Beep beep asshole!” Eddie shouted from inside the car.

Bev smirked at Richie with one eyebrow raised. He pretended not to notice her and turned back to Bill. “Anyway. What are we doing tonight?”

“Well, it’s Friday. So m-ma-movie night at my house?” Bill offered.

The Losers unanimously nodded their heads in agreement. Bev flicked the cig onto the ground despite Richie’s dismay and slid into the passenger seat of Bill’s car, followed by the others. Richie slunk down into the driver’s seat and turned on the heater for Eddie, feeling if the vents were warm enough and pointed at Eddie correctly.

“See you at 7, Losers!” Bev sneered from her rolled down window as Bill peeled out of the parking lot.

“Richie, will you just pick a goddamn outfit so we can go?” Eddie asked impatiently, pretty much stamping his foot in the most adorably irritating way.

“Yeah, yeah, give me a sec.” He muttered, glancing in the mirror one last time before turning back to Eddie with the shit eating grin he almost always wore. “Let’s get jiggy with it, Eds!” He exclaimed, throwing his arm around Eddie, making his freckled face hot and red.

He led Eddie out of his house and into his car, opening the passenger side door for him. “In you go, dearest!” Richie helped him into the car jokingly, pinching his cheek tenderly and Eddie crinkled his nose in disgust. But it wasn’t really disgust. It never was with Richie; but he would never give Trashmouth Tozier the satisfaction of knowing that.

The short car ride to Bill’s house had Eddie fearing for his life, as he always did when Richie drove. He wondered why he even let Richie drive him anywhere.

Richie’s car lurched to a stop in front of Bill’s house, behind his van, and Eddie clutched his stomach dramatically. “I’m gonna puke, Rich!”

“Oh shut up, Kaspbrak.” Richie rolled his eyes and walked over to the other side of the car, the side closest to the sidewalk, and opened the door for Eddie, which had become a habit at this point.

Eddie sat still as a stone in his seat, arms crossed and staring straight ahead through the slightly cracked windshield.

Richie sighed dejectedly. “C’mon, Eds.” He murmured, lightly pulling at his arm.

“Give me a minute so I don’t throw up!”

Richie chuckled and Eddie saw a glint of mischief in his eye, a look Eddie knew all too well. He quickly pinned Eddie to the seat by straddling him before Eddie could squirm away. “Oh, sorry. Does this make it worse?” Richie grinned down maniacally at Eddie struggling to get up from under him.

“Richie! It’s not funny! Stop it!” He screamed, wiggling under Richie’s weight. Although he was pretty skinny, Richie was taller than him and his lanky arms had a little fiery fight in them.

“Take a joke, Eddie spaghetti!” He laughed hysterically, beginning to tickle him mercilessly.

He screamed. “Stoooop!” He yelled through hearty shrieking giggles.

Richie finally stopped, stretching his arms out onto the seat behind Eddie, trapping him still.

They paused. Their noses were almost touching and for a moment, Eddie saw something different in his eyes. He couldn’t place it. All he knew was that he felt butterflies more than he’s ever felt in his life.

Richie’s eyes bore into his as their breathing shallowed. It felt like for a second, time stopped. Everything around them suddenly didn’t matter. It never mattered; not right now.

“R-Richie…” Eddie trailed off quietly, not even knowing what he was going to say; he just felt like he should say something. His hand twitched. He wanted to reach for his aspirator, he wanted to push Richie off of him and run for the hills, he wanted to be anywhere but here…, but did he really?

The roar of his own blood pulsing in his ears gave Richie the splash of courage that he had been waiting for for years. Richie took a deep gulp of air, like he was about to go underwater, then collided his lips into Eddie’s.

Eddie’s eyes widened in surprise as his best friend kissed him, before eventually shutting as he leaned into the kiss.

Soon, the forceful kiss became hundreds --if not millions!-- of other kisses. Eddie didn’t know what was happening exactly, and Richie didn’t really know either, but he did know that he’d been dreaming about that moment since he was 13.

“G-Guys?” Bill’s voice called out in shock from across the road.

They quickly tore away from each other and Richie shot up and out of the car, adjusting his glasses wearily.

The other Losers trailed behind Bill on the front porch of his house, eyes wide and mouths shut as if they had krazy glued them that way.

Eddie stood up, slamming the car door behind him, making him do a tiny jump when he heard the impact. “What movie are we watching tonight?” He asked casually, his face redder than a ripe tomato, trying as hard as he could to pretend that his friends didn’t just witness their little encounter.

Bev tried to stifle a laugh and didn’t succeed. “The Exorcist,” She choked out, trying not to crack up out of pure shock.

“Alright then, my good chaps! Wot are we all standing ‘round for?” Richie put on his half-hearted british guy voice. “Pip pip and tally ho, friends!” He swung his arm around Eddie, not helping make Eddie’s red face any less red, and skipped inside along with the other Losers. Richie had a knack for making awkward moments into eye-rolling moments, forcing the Losers to forget about everything for maybe just a few seconds, but the few seconds were enough.

But that moment… Eddie would never forget. Richie either. Just thinking about Richie made Eddie’s insides toss and turn, but in a good way. A way Eddie Kaspbrak has never felt before; not about a person.

Well, when he cried in 6th grade because his mother screamed at his P.E. coach that Eddie was just too “fragile” for it, in front of the entire class, he was mortified. And Richie had held him in his arms while he cried into his chest, running his fingers through his hair gently. He had felt it then. Or when Richie spit in Henry Bowers’ face, which resulted in a black eye and broken glasses, when he called Eddie a fag. He had felt it then too. Or when Richie wrote out Eddie’s notes for him everyday when he broke his arm, making sure they were nice and neat like Richie’s were. Stan would have been proud, even if he’d never admit it.

So, he guessed he had always felt it. But only for Richie. Which made him feel… uneasy? He didn’t know. Maybe he liked Richie; you know, in that way.

Are you fucking crazy, Eddie? He thought. No, of course he could never have a crush on Richie. His best friend, of all people. How cliche could he get?

Eddie snuck a quick glance at Richie, who was contently watching the girl on screen writhe about and speak in tongues. Maybe he did like Richie. And maybe he’d have to learn to live with that, or at least try. Eddie was okay with trying, he supposed.

Richie turned to Eddie unexpectedly, making Eddie draw in a sharp breath. “What are you staring at, asswipe?” Richie snickered to himself while the other Losers ignored him.

“Nothing.” He shot back quickly.

But it really wasn’t nothing. It was never nothing.

[visionssofgideon]

In-depth Reflection on Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Spoilers)

FUCKING SPECTACULAR, EH!

After so much waiting, watching new promos and trailers everyday, I watched Kingsman: The Golden Circle today! The sequel to my favorite movie of all time! And BOY, I have so many thoughts. I am going to try to go as in-depth as I can, and as much in order as I can but BEWARE this is nearly a shit post with me pouring all of my feelings into it and will have random points all over the place, but mainly is me trying to process everything, this is A LOT (it’s 3k) and basically a summary of the movie 

SPOILER ALERT!!! OBVIOUSLY LOL okAY LET’S GO

They started off the fucking MOVIE with Take me Home, Country Roads on a bagpipe FUCK

FUCK YEAH EGGSY UNWIN! GARY UNWIN! MY MAN! MY DUDE! MY SON! YOU LOOK SO FINE IN THAT SUIT, YOU LOOK JUST LIKE YOUR DECEASED HUSBAND shit too soon

IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN A MINUTE CHARLIE GET THE FUCK OUT IDC HOW YOU SURVIVED GO AWAY also ALL THESE CARS OH FUCK IS THIS ALL POPPY! Anyways Yes yes yes EPIC drifting cab scene! Eggsy has grown so much yeah boy you kick his ass! I love this drifting cab scene, they built a custom cab that could drift how amazing is that! But oh nooo, ugh Charlie’s stupid arm made the poisonous blade kill the driver :(

Eggsy can hold his breath because he was training for the marines but also throwback to his training when he was the only one that was smart enough to see the two-way mirror! The police were like yOu wOt m8 @ Eggsy but iT’S OKAY there’s a secret Kingsman entrance under the lake! By the way HI MERLIN I LOVE YOU YOU SCOTTISH MAN but Eggsy you are a BRAVE man for jumping into shit! On a side not, the hand just hacked into Kingsman holy shite

HI TILDE agh prefer Eggsy with the love of his life, Harry Hart, but you DAMN brave for wanting to kiss a shit-covered Eggsy! Also HI JB YOU’VE GROWN SO MUCH! But wait, EGGSY MOVED INTO HARRY’S HOUSE! Just like the fanfics said! That makes me so happy

Cool transition from a bag of pot to Cambodia! Poppy is FUCKING CRAZY, actual psychopath, I mean cannibalistic burgers, delicious! Those dogs are cool, more realistic than other movies, but rip people who are put through the shredder! Ngl that burger looks pretty good

AW TILDE TRYING TO TEACH EGGSY MANNERS BUT FUCK HERE IS THE DELETED HARTWIN BREAKFAST SCENE FROM TSS! THE MYTHICAL BREAKFAST SCENE IS REAL! Eggsy paying close attention to his lover Harry Hart is

The fact that Eggsy has to hold back tears when simply thinking of Harry is so :( And he even asks Mr. Pickles, because he remembers Harry’s love for him. Eggsy Unwin was in love with Harry Hart, okay.

“Galahad, late again” HAHA just like Harry used to be! Hi off-brand Michael Caine-looking Arthur! ROXY MORTON IS MY GIRLFRIEND HI I LOVE YOU OKAY I KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN BUT I LOVE YOU! She looks so fly, so does Eggsy and Merlin! Also bye @Charlie I can’t believe he survived armless and now works for the craziest person ever!

Honestly rip this guy who just got the golden circle tat and is eating his friend in the form of a burger which btw looks pretty good! Welcome to hell!

Oh nice, the dinner scene! Eggsy is such a gentleman but he actually loves Tilde? He’s actually doing this wow and it’s all because Roxy Morton aka my gf is helping him out! Of course he doesn’t know about spanish painter Frida Kahlo! Roxy ugh ur da best from galahad, and roxy asking best friend or best agent? Both ;) AGH also NICE Eggsy started his own wall like Harry’s of the menial news! UGH Eggsy’s friend is so dumb what is he DOING! AHHHH HAND GRENADE and Eggsy cursing 100x in front of Tilde’s parents

NO NO NO BOMBING EGGSY’S PLACE! Everything is gone ALL OF HARRY’S STUFF! NO JB NONO EGGSY’S FRIEND! WHAT THE WHERE DID THESE MISSILES COME FROM oh fucking POPPY

Roxy knew, she knew, she even tried to escape but… Roxy Morton! MATTHEW VAUGHN I am utterly disgusted and disheartened! Roxy had so much potential, and remaining in a platonic relationship with Eggsy, their friendship was amazing! She was a brilliant agent, not to mention um the only female!? DENIAL! DENIAL! Roxy survived, she tried escaping, so she survived! WE WILL SEE ROXY MORTON IN THE THIRD KINGSMAN MOVIE OKAY

Arthur is dead, all the Kingsman including Percival are dead… Poppy is absolutely crazy, and is giving Charlie a new arm! God, from the trailer, the crazy slingshot arm! Agh no no no this won’t be good…

Eggsy, all alone, in despair. And here go Merlin and Eggsy blaming each other, for possible betrayal! And god Eggsy, Eggsy telling it like it is, everybody is dead, JB, Roxy, his friend, everybody… but Merlin told him to not shed a tear, to hold in emotion, as if he has done this before.

Thus, the doomsday protocol ensues- shopping, drinking. Statesman whiskey! Drinking to everybody! Drink to Scottland! Haha, nice try @ drunk!Merlin! But drunk Eggsy slurring his words and Merlin being an absolute mess and crying is just…. Somebody please get Merlin Kentucky fried chicken, please

HAHA that part of Merlin breaking in, opening the barrel! Hello CHANNING TATUM! Agent Teqila HAHA okay! That fighting was great, wow like being an American for once! WOW please don’t set their balls on fire, that would not be good! HAHA Yeah Tequila, go fuck yourself! 

WAIT BUT, HARRY HART IS ALIVE! HARRY HART, SHAVING, BEAUTIFUL MALE SPECIMAN, HARRY HART! HARRY FUCKING HART! EGGSY UNWIN’S SOULMATE! He is alive, and beautiful as ever! Yes Eggsy, we understand, “Fuck me” as in you love Harry Hart we get it! Eggsy and Merlin yelling, but alas, a two-way mirror! YAY GINGER ALE TO THE RESCUE LOVE YOU HALLE BERRY MY QUEEN

Harry looks all smiley! All happy! But he doesn’t know… I predicted this, his amnesia :( Please remember bby! Eggsy is all frustrated, but look at Harry focusing on his butterflies! YES YES THE STATESMAN IN KENTUCKY SAVED HARRY wow cool technology for being American, I would like to thank Ginger! Unfortunately, Harry reverted to his old self. Before kingsman or army, he was a lover of butterflies. Wow. Before being in the army, a kingsman agent, he was a lepidopterist

ELTON JOHN, THE BEST PART OF THIS MOVIE POSSIBLY! Telling it to Poppy as it should be!

HAHA hello champ! Yay jeff bridges! What a man, he seems so chill, I want to have a conversation with him! Champ>>>>>Arthur. Will never get over the fact that the Kingsman are knights of the round table, galahad, lancelot, percival… the statesman are fckuing alcoholic beverages how American sigh,,,,, also Whiskey, hi pedro pascal!

Harry Hart reading his dear book about butterflies! No, they’re putting him through training again to jog his memory! But poor Harry is struggling no no my bby please stop! Btw Colin Firth is the best actor ever okay thanks! Agh this scene is breaking my heart :(((( Harry’s trying to hard to remember, Merlin is trying so much, but Harry’s just here soaking wet :(((

AW JB 2.0 thanks @tilde aw okay people get people they love dogs to help them…. Keep that in mind for later for what I KNOW is coming up!

Lol mini condom and penis joke bc haha America sucks! Look Charlie’s gf who Eggsy will have to get to for their mucus membrane because the trackers needs to be… Haha Whiskey “tinder-what?” me!

BLUE VEIN shit… tequila come on mate! So sugar is 10000x worse than any drug rip :( Elton John is great I love him! Poppy is crazy pt. 2, those dogs are scary, please no! Hey, Elton is friend hell yeah!

Ahhh, can I just say, even though I don’t want Eggsy with Tilde, he is such a decent man to tell her what he is going to do! Despite knowing she’s going to be mad! NO PROPOSAL PLEASE but still, Eggsy Unwin is a good man that is all I have to say! Started from the bottom (literally) now we’re here! Lol @Tilde he actually loves Harry Hart! Anyways, time to travel through the vagina! Matthew Sexist Vaughn everybody! LOL @Merlin being uncomfortable and Ginger being total 100% chill, they are perfect for each other! i ship

HI HARRY! Oh god is this the maggot butterfly scene? YES IT IS! oh fuck fuck fuck. Okay can I say, Harry Hart is so smiley, he loves talking about butterflies. THIS SCENE GOD yes Harry pin Eggsy against the wall! Btw my FAVORITE thing is when Harry says “Perhaps you mean larvae” and smiles. Such a sweet smile! And the smiles are sad at the same time, because he doesn’t know who Eggsy is! And now Eggsy is sad drinking, trying not to think about the old Harry, trying to deal with the whole Tilde situation. God, the scenes between Harry and Eggsy are making me so elated with both joy and sorrow, because Hartwin. BUT THE PUPPY! Eggsy looked up pet store and

OH MY GOD MR. PICKLES 2.0! FAVORITE SCENE EVER! Ahhh Harry smiling, or rather Colin smiling at the pupper, the most precious thing! Young, non-agent Harry Hart is innocent and will love and cherish a puppy. BUT EGGSY, stop torturing him! Eggsy is trying so hard to jog Harry’s memory, but it’s so sad! Also, Colin Firth’s acting in this scene, is just fantastic! Absolutely amazing, to see the contrast! Young Harry Hart or CGId Colin Firth is the sweetest thing, to see his love Mr. Pickles. Because truly, Mr. Pickles was Harry Hart’s pressure point. Saying that Harry would never hurt a puppy, it was a blank, and HARRY IS BACK! Harry Hart, the agent, the man who knew he was an agent, but also a man. A man with feelings, with love, with innocence! No more Eggy, hello Eggsy, your husband! GOSH, THE HUG! Eggsy Unwin on his tippy toes hugging his soulmate Harry Hart and the puppy he got him! YES, remember how Tilde got Eggsy a puppy to help him because she loved him. If you love somebody and get them a puppy, then you know that Eggsy Unwin is deeply in love with Harry Hart. I truly think this is it. Hartwin confirmed #nice

BAR NICE yay Harry is back! Still can’t believe! OH GOD Eggsy holding back tears seeing his eye, but Harry completely and undoubtedly ROCKING those eyepatch-glasses like he was meant to! Okay, who is this redneck guy calling Harry the f-word. Please, Harry Hart may be the gayest man alive (in TSS with Dean’s guy saying that there’s “another rent boy around the corner” triggering Harry just like the f-word did, as well as his smirk in TSS when saying “my black jewish boyfriend” HAHA) but this is just rude. And Harry can’t aim because his depth perception is 100x worse than before now :( Stop punching Harry my bby! #StopHurtingHarryHart2k17! Manners DO Maketh Man, but Harry still needs to relearn! Well Whiskey going to whip them into shape, Diana Prince 2.0? That’s a REALLY GOOD FIGHT SCENE! Wow Southerners are not like what I expected! I hope Harry gets better soon

UGH Poppy is crazy pt. 3! This disease is crazy, but there is Elton John to save the day! ELTON YOU DA MAN! Anyways, yikes! DANCING HHAHA, Tequila could bust some dank moves! Anyways the world is going crazy, but what else is new? OH the US president is a dick… Trump, is that you? Low-key about Trump even though this finished filming before he became president! See, the president here is what I think of when I think of Southerners.

Okay so they’re going to Italy! And Eggsy is not going without Harry! Aw, look at my sons who are so in love with each other! Nice outfits boy! Aw, Harry can’t do too much field work because he’s still recuperating :( He couldn’t aim his watch thing, but a bang will do! BTW Colin actually knows Italian, so this is perfect! HAHA River! Lol I hate @Charlie but SHIT his gf got caught hahahah yikes… Oh no Harry is hallucinating again! And here come a crazy ride, which Pedro and Taron actually felt because Matthew Vaughn wants to make everything as realistic as possible! Because Matthew Vaughn is the devil!! Okay this is hella intense for not being a fight scene but also funny because of them yelling! Lol they stopped because of Eggsy pulling the parachute (tb to TSS) but it’s an American flag wow how American! And the old man said that was the best shit he’s had in a while, so I guessed it all worked out!

Okay cabin scene, Eggsy greets his bf again yay but THERE ARE SHOOTERS SHIT also nice @whiskey really cool fight scene and DIANA PRINCE 2.0! Okay Harry just shot Whiskey and oh no Eggsy don’t blame yourself! It’s not your fault, really it’s not! But don’t yell at Harry, he just saved your life with that cologne lmao… Okay I don’t like Eggsy being mad at Harry :( OH SHIT WUDDUP CHARLIE JUST BLEW UP HIS GF yikes sucks. Btw Merlin and Ginger working together is amazing, they are a new ship!

The president sucks pt. 2 (again, Trump?) Wow this human in cage thing is crazy, dystopian shit, actual yikes! Not to mention everybody has the “dancing disease” lmao! Look, merlehad! Haha so apparently Harry should know Merlin’s favorite singer but he doesn”t rip

Thought the lawyer was Merlin ngl

Ugh Eggsy is sad, Harry make him feel better! MARTINIS! Oh shit, this is going to be emotional. Eggsy talking about Tilde to Harry, but Harry loves him. And god, talking about when he was shot by Valentine. Not thinking of anything, anybody, because he never loved anybody… Brings me back to when he wanted to go back to his mother while he still had amnesia, who most likely passed away :( Please Harry Hart, I know you love Eggsy. Somebody love him. He says love is “worth living for”, and he lived for Eggsy.. WHAT IF HE thought of Eggsy when he was dying, but he didn’t say anything here because Eggsy had just told him that he has a gf SHIT SHIT SHIT no no please hartwin no 

Aw sorry Whiskey :( He lost his gf, but now he is vengeful… wow okay this is a lot

MERLIN IN A KINGSMAN SUIT! YES MERLIN, I LOVE YOU, YES YES YOU LOOK SO FINE!  And the machete is his haha! Wow a baseball and bat, so American.

And so we are here, Cambodia, and SHIT LAND MINE. No no no no, this is where it happens. WHY DOESN’T THE FROZEN THING HAVE MORE THAN 1 USE what kind of faulty fucking kingsman/statesman shit is that if it only has 1 use WHY DIDN’T YOU CARRY MORE MERLIN WHY YOU’RE SO STUPID NO SORRY YOU’RE NOT STUPID ILY BUT WHY   :(((( Merlin sacrificing himself for Harry and Eggsy, because he is fully devoted to Kingsman. Eggsy trying to hold back emotion, but Harry and Merlin fully knowing what being a Kingsman is. “No time for emotion” FUCK

OH GOD.TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS! Merlin singing in his scottish accent, yelling out like he was meant to. God, why. Merlin, such a brilliant man, WHY. And he’s distracting Poppy’s men to save Eggsy and Harry! Okay, DENIAL! NO. Did you HEAR that last note?! Merlin braced himself and closed his eyes, but he might’ve not died! Merlin, Hamish, survived! His legs may have been blown off, but we will see him in the third movie, legless or not! I refuse to believe Merlin is dead.

Elton John as low-key performer/drag queen is my FAVORITE! It’s Wednesday FUCK YEAH! Oh, Eggsy and Harry look so vengeful, and they are perfect fighting together! Absolutely amazing! Eggsy taking Harry’s blind side is amazing, and their fighting impeccable. THE BITCH IS BACK ON THE MOVIE THEATER, YES INDEED! ELTON JOHN JUST HIT A MAN I LOVE HIM! Harry Hart, Eggsy Unwin, spy husbands fighting side by side!

Okay, bye @ dogs! ! WOW ELTON JOHN IS A FRIEND YES HAHA, okay low-key thought Elton John was going to say “If you save the world, we can do it in the asshole” to be Harry’s Tilde but he said “you can get backstage passes” which is the same thing OKAY GOD ELTON JOHN X HARRY HART NEW SHIP?? YES YAY wow he blew a kiss to him I’m dead this is so gay I love it harry hart fucked elton john 

Charlie can go die okay thanks bye. Okay the one arm thing is dumb, Eggsy you have an advantage use both arms lol, anyways YES FOR MERLIN, REMEMBER MERLIN EGGSY!

Okay last fights. Poppy is crazy pt. final!  Julianne Moore’s acting is AMAZING, really great! But um, viva las vegans? That’s dumb. Okay anyways OH SHIT BOI WHISKEY Harry Hart knew it! FINAL FIGHT SCENE and this is amazing! Absolutely amazing fight scene of spy husbands vs. Wonder Woman 2.0! Whiskey lost somebody because of drug addicts, man wow Kingsman really focuses on real issues, like the environment and drug addiction, but the villains are some crazy people! 

Okay, Harry Hart is absolutely amazing, and he can fight amazingly now! Also, Colin Firth doing most of his stunts is AMAZING! Still can’t get the fact that Eggsy fit through the lasso! This is like the church scene in TSS and I love it! Epic fighting scenes with gore x rock music is A+!

YAY WORLD SAVED! Everybody is back! And the president sucks, so YAY FEMALE PRESIDENT! I think this is @ the American govt. and Trump LOL wow I love this movie.

SCOTLAND WINE BY KINGSMAN FUCK… Rest in peace Merlin :(

YES, GINGER IS FIELD AGENT! Okay besides the Roxy thing and tracker going inside vagine thing, this is a feminist movie! Female president, female statesman agent! FUCK YEAH!

Harry Hart and Eggsy Unwin, once again together… but Eggsy is getting married which, let’s not think about. MIRROR SCENE PARALLEL TO TSS AHH I want Harry Hart and Eggsy Unwin to love each other, to cherish each other, even if Eggsy doesn’t know “what the fuck is going on.” Alas, denial is key. 

FINALLLY WE SEE EGGSY’S MUM WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WHOLE “come live with me” fiasco from TSS HMM ALSO WHERE IS DAISY @ Matthew Vaughn you owe us

Colin Firth’s monologue as Harry Hart made me realize, that I love Kingsman and will never get over it. It is only the beginning, and I can’t wait for more. This had so much emotion, despite it being so intense. RIP Kingsman agents, JB, Roxy, Merlin. Harry Hart, I love you. Hartwin, I will NEVER give up on you.

Oh boi Tequila is kingsman???? damn okay nice hat boi

FUCK

I’m going to cry at 2 am while singing Take Me Home, Country Roads (update: I DID CRY AT 2 AM)

F U C K !

If you read until the end, you are a TRUE Kingsman fan and true mutual/reader. Nice to know there are others out there who are just as crazy as me, but what can you do when you have such an amazing movie! 

[prongsno]

Okay but once Mary's being super cute (she's just sitting on the grass) and Sirius is watching while he's with James and he just mumbles "marry me" cos she's so cute, help???? And James is like wot and Sirius just "MARY. MARY AND ME. WE'RE FRIENDS YKNOW IM GONNA GO TALK TO HER" and power walks away

He was not staring. He really wasn’t. Just, she was in his peripheral line of sight so it really was kind of hard not to look at her. 

Everyone was outside today (it was a pleasantly warm but not hot kind of day in mid April) soaking up the unexpected but most welcomed sunlight before it hid behind its usual clouds of dark grey. 

He may have overheard Lily mention something about needing to do homework, to which she had replied with ‘it’s a beautiful day, shall we study near the lake?’. Of course, the girls had thought this a wondrous and splendid idea and had exited the common room just as Sirius had sought up enough strength to belt out a morning greeting… fifteen seconds too late so a poor and unexpected first year almost died of fright when Sirius just released a rather panicked ‘HELLO’. 

Then, during a very late breakfast, Remus had muttered about how behind he was in his essays and needed to spend at least two hours in the library. 

James rolled his eyes. “Nerd.” He said with a cough. 

“Prongs, the essay is due in tomorrow. We spent so much time working on that last prank we’ve missed a whole weeks worth of bloody school work.”

That caused James’ eyes to bulge open a little as he whispered out his favourite swear word. 

“How about we go outside?” Was that his own voice he heard?

The rest of the marauders turned to look at him, probably because the words had jumbled out and as he had opened his mouth some of his porridge dribbled down his face (nice). 

So that’s how they had somehow (wow, what a coincidence) ended up near the lake. James hadn’t even noticed his favourite red-head sitting near by; he was so absorbed in wanting to get a good grade that as soon as his bottom had plopped onto the grass he opened his study book and dived in. 

The conversation had gone something like this:

“An A is not Acceptable, Wormtail, I am getting an O or I swear, I’m going to eat a sock.”

“You literally just called Remus a nerd for wanting to study-”

“Did I? I would never call Moony such a thing, wow how could you even think that I would stoop so low?”

Sirius, however, was… well, rather distracted. 

Did she do something new with her hair? Perhaps it was because the sun was shining on it and so it sparkled and shone in a completely new and awe-striking way. He shivered and dropped his eyes onto his parchment.

He had written his name. 

That was all he had done in the last twenty minutes because from here he could hear the soft trickles of sweet laughter and could see the way she would tuck her hair behind her ears, only for the strands to fall back over her face a few seconds later. 

She wasn’t even doing anything. She was just sat on the grass, like everyone else, her eyes shining as she flicked through her book and jotted a few things down on her parchment now and then.

You know when your spine just tingles and you get butterflies that swirl around in every crevice of your body? And you’re at a loss for words because what you want to say just can’t really be spoken out like a normal sentence with words just stringed together with nouns and verbs. 

It’s something far more… intimate and personal and the only thing that makes sense is soppy words and phrases that could account to sodding poetry.

He looked down at his parchment again, his ears burning as he tried to tone down everyone’s voice but hers. 

He had got it bad. Damn. 

“Oi, James,” Peter’s voice rang out, making his ears tingle. “What’s your answer for question five? I have no i-deer.”

James made a hum as he flicked through his notes. “I missed that one. Moony, can you help out the brodent.”

“Only because I’m feline generous. It’s actually kinda easy right-”

As soon as Remus mentioned something to do with a bezoar Sirius’ mind was off again and he couldn’t help it- his eyes fluttered once more to Mary. 

How had he not noticed this before? 

He was just pinpointing out all her beautiful, delicate facial features out in an intricate detailed painting in his mind when he heard his name. She was so cute and he couldn’t help but just feel like he was floating on clouds.

“Sirius, howl is your essay coming along?”

He tried to open his mouth to speak but no words came. He licked his lips, his mouth all dry and scratchy as he tried again.

The words were only a slight mumble, rolling out from his tongue like honey. Marry me. Marry me. 

Three heads snapped up and stared at him.

“What?”

He coughed and straightened his back. “What?” He gasped.

James squinted at him and poked him with the feather end of his quill. “You just said something didn’t you?”

“No.” Perhaps forcing out a little laugh wasn’t the best thing for him to do. Nor was shoving James a little too hard so that some of his ink spilled out onto his parchment. 

“Look, Padfoot,” Peter fluttered his eyes and grabbed onto his friend’s hand. Sirius squirmed, his face reddening by the second. “You know I love you but I really don’t think we’re that sirius yet-”

“I said Mary!” His voice was a lot louder than he anticipated, a few students turned to them in astonishment (luckily Mary was still focused on her book). 

“Mary?”

“Yes!” Sirius belted out. “I said mary me. Mary and me… are uh, we are friends! And I was just thinking I could um ask her about the err question we’re on. Bezoars right?”

“Yeah, ten minutes ago. We’re on Transfiguration now.” James quipped and nudged him with his quill again. “Are you-”

Sirius stood up in an instant, his book almost hitting James on the head. “Um. Yeah I’m just going to go and um ask Mary about bezoars.” 

Three startled boys stared in amazement as Sirius grabbed hold of his books and parchments in the quickest flourish they had ever witnessed. Then their faces grew even more confused as Sirius, with his hands still full of all his things, power-walked away from them back to the castle- all the while muttering ‘I said Mary and me. Mary and me. Mary and me.’

“But…” Peter shook his head and looked at their fellow female Gryffindors sitting a little further away. “Mary’s right there.”