ima-menace2

[thealogie]

Key lesson from ofmd season 2 is just like…don’t separate your leads for that long i beg of you.

[criminalmutantsins]

My Version of the Hamato Family

Hi everyone! Thank you for reading and liking part one. It made my day!

So, this is where I shine in writing. I love creating characters and their backstory; it’s so fun. I think it is more important to focus on characters than the plot since a character can create the storyline- well at least for me.

I’m excited to share! Hope you enjoy!

Comment your thoughts! It would be cool to read them! 😁

……………………..

 Leonardo:

We’re starting with the usual leader-in-blue!

Although I adore Leo, his “perfect” personality can get a little boring. His versions usually have flaws, though they are the kind that makes you sympathize with him rather than feeling indifferent like with Raph’s anger issues.

Season 1 Leo would be a toned-down Rise Leo. He can be cocky when he succeeds over his brothers and would jokingly comment how he is Splinter’s favorite. However, it doesn’t come without hard work. Leo trains the most out of his brothers and spends most of his time studying fighting techniques. He is not naturally talented in ninjitsu like the past incarnations. Also, Leo’s motivations for training very hard and wanting to be leader is more for himself than anything.

Compared to his brothers, Leo was relatively average. Donnie was extremely smart, Mikey had his kind and joyful soul, and Raph was naturally a great fighter. Leo felt left out and decided that training to be a hero would be his way of standing out. He also believed that being special like his brothers was the only way to get Splinter’s attention; and it kind of worked. With all the progress Leo made, Splinter praised him, and they had a way to connect.

Around the beginning of S1(maybe ep. 5), Leo became the leader though how was different. Instead of Splinter deciding, the brothers did; the explanation was the turtles were a team and should make a consensus as one. This news made Leo ecstatic; he was finally living his dreams. Even so, he didn’t realize the baggage and responsibility a leader had to shoulder. Over the course of the story Leo grows as a great leader and fighter.

The Karai/Leo subplot will follow the 2003 version. He is convinced that Karai is a good person and tries to have her switch sides. There will be romantic feelings but its not the main motivation for both of their actions. I can’t say too much since this plot revolves around Karai more.

   Donatello:

Donnie is a blend of 2003/12 versions. He is intelligent with an extremely high IQ and was a gifted child. However, his intelligence came with a cost; making connections with his brothers and father was really tough for him because of their different interests. This left him withdrawing from everyone and focusing on his inventions. His social skills evolve once the turtles visit the city and meet April. The increasing danger of the Kraang further builds his relationships since communication is important in teamwork, and Donnie’s talent in inventing grew more in the spotlight.

Because of her fascination with Donnie’s smarts and inventions, April and Donnie become good friends as the story continues. Donnie also gets close with April’s best friend, Irma since they are science lovers. At first, Casey irritates him as they have clearly different personality; Casey’s impulsive and extroverted attitude conflicting with Donnie’s plan-based mindset.

Donnie’s love for his family is showcased after witnessing a terrifying, apocalyptic future where his family suffers. Paranoia sets in. His work to calculate the cause of this terrible, and its solution leads Donnie to rarely take care of his needs. He has to learn to trust in others instead of doing things alone.

 Raphael:

Unlike Leo, Raph is instantly gifted in fighting. He has more physical strength than his brothers and would constantly beat them in practice. Since childhood, Raph was Splinter’s “favorite” in the dojo and that definitely got into the red-banded turtle’s head. He would brag to his brothers and jokingly poke fun at their techniques. It wouldn’t affect anyone. Except for Leo.

Raphael’s ego started taking hits once Leo caught up to him and beating him in practice once in a while. It turned into anger after noticing Master Splinter praising Leo more. The tension soured their brotherhood. Unlike most versions, Raph’s anger is fueled by insecurity. He believes that fighting is the only thing he is good at and will get territorial if his spotlight is threatened.

Throughout the story, he learns to move on from his demons and realize his worth.

Family is important to Raph. He can be hard on his brothers yet will do anything to keep them safe, especially Mikey- his positivity must be protected. Casey and Raph become best friends for their similarities and love for fighting- they are impulsive bros.

 Michelangelo:

Mikey’s role is to be the positive and glue of the team. He loves to make people happy and would always do something goofy or kind to do that. His family have nothing bad to say about their youngest member and are very protective of him. The youngest brother doesn’t take ninjitsu as seriously as skateboarding, dancing, or just general fun. Though, he will be serious when the situation calls for it, such as the fate of his family and the world.

Although being an open ear to anyone, Mikey is not open to expressing his negative emotions due to his fear of damaging the family dynamic. It is noticeable when he is upset because he jokes more often and not focus. A lesson he must learn is to accept the good and the bad. Mikey can be reckless, mostly when his brothers rarely let him participate in missions. He wants to prove to his family that he is strong enough to protect himself and others. Reading people is his best skill and takes great pride in it, usually taking on the role of a therapist.

 Splinter/Hamato Yoshi:

I really wanted to take Splinter’s role in the Shredder’s descent to evil in the grayer area. He is usually the victim/innocent party of the story, which can get boring after a while.

Hamato Yoshi was born as the heir to Hamato Clan and childhood best friend of Oroku Saki. The Hamato and Foot clan were allies for centuries and would usually fight by each other’s side. Matters changed when the Foot’s beliefs grew more sinister. This left the Hamato Clan to eradicate their former ally. Splinter saved Saki before he could be killed, though, it came with consequences. Oroku Saki vowed to exact revenge for his fallen home. Growing up, Splinter became one of the strongest martial artists in Japan and married a woman named Tang Shen, later becoming a father to a girl. His world ended once he saw his clan destroyed and his family killed by the renewed Foot Clan.

Yoshi decided to move to New York and forget his old life. Years later, the martial artist noticed strange people caging defenseless animals. He would fight them long enough to protect four humanoid turtles, deciding to keep them after a moment of compassion. Splinter would continuously fight the strange men until a strange liquid turned him into a rat. This turning point banished Splinter and the turtles to the sewers for protection.

Splinter equally loves his sons. He would always make sure to give them equal amounts of love to avoid lasting issues. Though, he has made some mistakes. Emotions were rarely discussed because of Splinter’s unintentionally withdrawn attitude. The rat master wouldn’t instantly notice problems between his sons, and usually didn’t know how to resolve them. No matter what, Splinter is proud of his children and would do anything to keep them safe; sometimes not realizing that it could hurt them.

Hamato Yoshi’s guilt and trauma over the terrible moments in his life would be the main focus of his development.

[supercorp-hosie]

My thoughts for Legacies 314:

1) Clarke!!! I like his air of cockiness when he do all this things, and especially when Hope break this air😂😂😂 I think since the show is constantly letting him show up like this, maybe at some point he will eventually turn up or be brought back by my Sowanby team? Oh my Holarke heart! I just love their dynamic like how I’m entertained by Lizdon dynamics🤣🤣

2) I still see that artifact that was broken because of Landon unnecessary move, why? I thought the arc was over? It’s just hilarious when Clark tried so hard to break it, even using explosives, but Landon just break it by throwing it to the monster😂 these brothers, I can’t 😂 (I know it’s because of the presence of Cleo, but still, funny!)

3) Okay, the way Hope just ended up with Wade, doing a drama about undying teenage love, I can’t imagine 🤣🤣 sorry Hope, but Wade can be a good teammate. And Wade has a last name - Rivers! Congrats! Poor Jed, another person that’s appear later than him and got a last name.

4) I just inevitably thought about the other witch Gaby, and relates back to Penelope😆. What if Penelope comes back and starts a war with Finch, that would be fun🤣 I can imagine they somehow would have to work together to protect Josie if something happens to her. They can look past that because they both care for Josie so much. Penelope/Josie/Finch anyone? (I’m secretly shipping Penelope and Finch too in my head, OMG can you imagine the volcano erupting? Enemies to lovers trope??)

5) Finally SBS has a teacher other than Alaric now.

6) I do think that the compelling works. Anyway, considering what’s going to happen, I’m certain that somehow Ethan is going to remember what happened with MG. If he’s going to be a supernatural, I’m rooting for vampire. We are really lacking vampires here.

7) I love Hope’s magical surges♥️ and how other students is taking that like it’s a normal thing around them. Unlike the school tour.

8) I love Hope needn’t to turn around to know that it’s Josie right away♥️ and Josie do catch up things around Hope when she’s not around after she returns.

9) Josie lied to Hope that Lizzie needs help(even though it turns out to be true doesn’t mean she didn’t lie), to help Hope with her mental state. Is this toxic or supportive?? Maybe I should just count it separately?

10) The twins clothes!! Contrast colours, love them!

11) I wonder who drove there....Hope didn’t have a dl in s1 (but two years has past now?) while in 307, Josie apparently walked to Mystic Grill to find Finch(but Lizzie did drive before in s2)....so? I bet it’s Hope...but how the hell did they even have time for driving education?

12) Hope, looking at Josie: like I said, trap. 😂😂but she just doesn’t even get mad at Josie?? Exactly how many times did she let Josie escape like that?? Poor Landon got grilled when he lied😂

13) We don’t worry about dick here🤣🤣🤣🤣

14) I love Finch just confidently stand up for herself, challenging Jed. But no, I don’t like Jed being thrown down by a new wolf again. But having female alpha is appealing too, I love to see that when Finch challenge the old system, then get to improve the abusive hierarchy towards the omega/new wolf in the pack. I was conflicted. I love how they resolved the issue in the end! It’s win-win situation and I love how Jed and Finch bond! Brotp/Sistp! And I love that from Finch perspective, we can see that the wolves let Jed win because they love Jed as much because they know Jed cares about them a lot and just willing to let him win. Not because Jed was oppressing them.

15) Btw, I can’t believe they are using pool/billiards/snooker to decide who becomes the alpha. Really I just don’t like how it works, like leading a pack is a game. But some wolves are born alpha. In real life, a pack’s alpha is always the one to lead hunting, be vigilant of any threat that can harm the pack, they really care for their packs, like Jed. Whilst there’s this beta position in the pack, they recognise the alpha’s leadership, help the alpha keeping others in line, help take care of other members too. Just like what I’d imagined, Finch can fit the beta position very well, for the time being, because of their dynamics. I’m not saying that Finch doesn’t fit as alpha, I think that beta always has the potential to be the alpha of a pack. I just love that now the dynamics in the pack somehow really resembles how the social hierarchy of a pack of wolves in real life.

16) appreciation to Finch being badass at pool/snooker/billiards

17) when Andy just called Hope’s name, why don’t the trio be surprised? It’s not like they even meet before?

18) when MG showed up, I just immediately believe in him. Love that Alaric defended him. I understand Dorian though, he’s always sensitive of rippers as his family was butchered by one. Please don’t blame him too much. MG living in a cave breaks my heart, I just recalled that Hope was homeless when she’s out of Malivore too! Double heart breaks.

19) MG diaries! I’m so proud of him, even Alaric validates his effort and his kind heart! I just rewatched 106 last night to do some fact checking for my hosie interactions 2.0 and twins relationships 1.0. MG has always wanted to be a superhero that saves lives. He has grown so much, from first fighting zombies, to super squad fighting monster, until now, saving normal people lives. I bet now Penelope can’t laugh at him when he first pitched his feelings to Penelope. Good job!

20) I’ve talked about the Finsie sitting together, so I only want to talk about how the relationship between Finsie is healthy for one another (for now, and at least they are not cringy for these two episode).They function independently and Finch doesn’t need to constantly worry about Josie all the time, like what Penelope fear of. Ofc it may also because that the twins have grown healthier.

21) even though Hosie were mind controlled, I just love how they have unspoken understanding between each other😂 Josie doesn’t need to tell Hope to make Lizzie stay with them to have Hope “as sonnum” Lizzie. Then only Josie said “stay with us”.

22) Hizzie hugs, and HOPE ANDREA MIKAELSON 🤣

23) I just love how Lizzie knows what to say to break Josie’s peace, while Josie knows how to break Hope’s peace. I see another spoken parallel from 308 about blindspot😂 Lizzie -> Josie -> Hope.

24) so if the drug sometimes doesn’t work on Lizzie, that means that there are times that Lizzie is really blue! Really at peace! I’m so proud and happy for her! Go Lizzie!

25) “ALL I WANTED FOR YOU IS YOUR HAPPINESS” this is so powerful! My Hosie heart! And really the last painful sentence, is fact. I’m sad for Hope because she’s so into that relationship until she can’t bring herself to do it and only leads to Landon leaving, but it’s also classic Mikaelsons(I feel), never giving up for their love ones. Appreciation to Landon, but still it’s strike three for leaving, please don’t let them be together again. It’s derogatory to Hope’s self-esteem.

26) I love badass Hope so much!! All the bodies she left! If I’m not already gay, she would have bent me into a mosquito coil by that scene, (so bent that I can’t be straight anymore). I love how Josie just let Hope outing her anger on these witches, freeze Andy, waited patiently for Lizzie and Hope to deal with Andy together.

27) I died laughing at these Pandemonium 🤣🤣🤣🤣 the badass trio in panda suit😂😂😂😂 I can’t! They’re so cute! And the height difference🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

28) How Hope tries to focus and dead serious in dealing with the upcoming monster but fails inevitably and miserably at Josie’s antics! All Josie does is laughing cutely at Hope and poking(?) her.

29) I love the trio so much!

30) haven’t watched any Star Wars, so I really thought that the one in the mask was Clarke until the Star Wars theme song started😫 too bad that Landon must have missed it.

31) Lizzie kissing Ethan is the last thing ever to have crossed my mind, so again, what the fuck?(sorry, language)

32) when I first thought about team building, I was thinking about finch + MG + Jed + Kaleb, but pack bonding, I’m satisfied too.

[vickyvicarious]

what do you make of Eliot's pre-show reputation for working alone? it makes sense for Parker and Hardison, who've always worked that way, but Eliot has a history of working as part of a team in various contexts

Yeah, it's definitely interesting! Really, Sophie never gets that label of 'always working alone' (and in fact later we see her bringing in Tara, which supports that she has friendly contacts still). It's just Parker, Hardison, and Eliot. And like you said, it makes complete sense for Parker, and even Hardison's hacking is just typically more suited to be done alone even if he is a social guy on a personal level. Eliot is different, given his history.

One thing I noticed a while ago, which is also interesting, is that Eliot's job by its very nature depends on other people. Sophie, Parker, and Hardison all steal what they want - as retrieval specialist, Eliot had to be hired. That's not to say he never just took something he wanted, necessarily, but his role majorly depended on people a) knowing of him in the first place, b) trusting his reputation enough to hire him, and c) being able to get in touch with him to hire him. I highly doubt he was handing out business cards left and right, so he had to have a network of contacts to at the very least pass his name along as an 'I know just the guy for the job' kind of thing. In fact, we see him bring in a friend on a con early in S1, and he is in contact with/does jobs for old military contacts throughout the show. (Once again, in the first episode Parker and Hardison were successfully recruited for someone else’s job, so it's not like that never happened for the others. But the general trend was that they picked their own heists; Eliot was hired on by other people.)

So we have a guy here who has a history of working on teams, a reputation as a loner, and yet still actively works for people who he has to keep on good enough terms to keep hiring him. How did that happen? In my opinion, it all comes back to Damien Moreau.

Eliot's timeline goes through some distinct phases:

Rural teen with a relatively poor family, I think they mention he played football; very all-American.

Joined the army with "a flag on his shoulder and God in his heart" or however that quote went.

Highly trained military operative involved in very classified operations.

Working for Damien Moreau.

Working solo as a retrieval specialist.

Leverage.

It's easy to track him through 1-3. He was recruited into the army with promises of heroism and glory, excelled at what he did, was eventually disillusioned. Getting from there to Moreau is a bit more of a jump, and likely didn't happen immediately. Given how protective Eliot gets over people he's working with, and how vigorously he hates betrayals of trust from his team, I think it's not unreasonable to assume that part of the reason he left the army had to do with whatever unit he was in getting very hurt. Likely in a way that made him feel he failed to protect them; maybe he was the only one who made it out of one specific situation. Maybe just a bunch of people he worked with got whittled down, or maybe it wasn't anything so deadly but he saw how little their lives mattered in the grand scheme of those in charge, saw how amoral the missions he was given were, and it was more of a gradual slide into illegality. There's also the detail that as he got into more and more classified work, he might be less and less likely to have a large group of people he could talk to/be a regular team with. Either way, I think Moreau didn't completely hire him straight out of the army, but there probably wasn't a tremendously long time between him leaving that group and joining up with Moreau.

*I originally thought Eliot didn't meet Toby until after he left Moreau, but a helpful anon corrected me on that! 'In the French Connection Job he says to Nate "I was out of the service and working for my 2nd PMC", doing wetwork.' He 'should've' killed Toby but instead stayed with him for months, 'learning how to cook and how to feel'. It certainly seems like he had gone some degree of numb after his experiences in the army and even since leaving it. His second private military contract/company... still implies he was working for organizations of some sort, though I get the impression he wasn't sticking around for terribly long times. Still, even if he then works solo retrieval type gigs for a while, I don't think he was nearly as insistent on working alone/had such a clear reputation about it, not yet.

Eliot no longer believed that he was doing good. He'd lost his naive patriotism and seems to have lost his religion for the most part as well. He didn't trust the system, but for the most part he still seemed to have faith in individuals. He still kept in touch with some old colleagues, he'd learned from Toby; he still wanted to be a part of something, even if that something couldn't be the US Army. He's a self-motivated criminal now but he still isn't averse to working with others.

Then comes Damien Moreau. Whether you read their relationship as romantic or not, it was undeniably important and personal. They knew one another well. Damien even still liked Eliot years after he'd left. There's good evidence for them having an emotionally abusive relationship where Moreau took advantage of Eliot's tendency to do things for those he cares about (I reblogged a great meta on this a little while ago). But essentially what we see here is that in all his time working for Moreau, no one else made such a strong impression on Eliot. Moreau definitely seems the type to play favorites and emotionally distance Eliot from other goons - Eliot isn't just another goon after all, he's the best. He's worthy of Damien's time and attention and specific assignments that only Eliot can be trusted to get done right. Whatever process of estrangement Eliot's superior skills may have begun, Moreau quickened until there was only one person who was the most important to him. Eliot didn't just work for him as a part of some vast criminal network by the end - no, he worked directly for and with Moreau himself. He was part of a team of two for all intents and purposes, regardless of how often he may have cooperated with others on specific jobs (though I suspect that got less frequent over time as well).

And when Eliot realized how deep he'd gotten, how terrible he'd become? He left, and left Damien Moreau specifically behind. Maybe he took a break for a while, went underground... it certainly doesn't seem like he had a conversation with Moreau and resigned so much as he just ran. And when he returned it was as a solo act. What this tells me is that not only did his time with Moreau break Eliot's trust in himself, it broke his ability to trust others. Not everyone necessarily, but in a working capacity. It probably was not the first time he'd experienced betrayal (in some form or another, his time in the army definitely qualified) but it was the most personal. Eliot trusted and liked Moreau - and he did the worst things in his entire life for him.

He couldn't repeat that. He couldn't leave himself open to getting sucked in like that again. And what's more, at this point he really didn't need to. His skills were such that he could get the job done himself (and had perhaps even honed those more solo skills while working for Moreau), and doing so meant that he never had to leave himself vulnerable to someone else like that again. He didn't have to be responsible for someone else getting hurt, and he didn't have to accept that he'd put someone else in charge of who he hurt. Eliot starts being more careful not to permanently injure or kill people, starts getting more selective with his jobs, and makes it a requirement that he works them alone. He still has to accept jobs from others, yeah, but he has ultimate control over what jobs he does accept, and if he operates purely on a freelance basis without getting too involved with any one client, then he can avoid the emotional entanglement that lead to such horrific loss of judgement in the past. It's hard, because he is naturally drawn to other people... but Eliot thinks that letting no one in is by far the safer option for everyone involved. He still builds relationships with others in order to get his name out, and may do repeat work for certain people, but no one is going to own him anymore. He is good enough that he can afford to set the terms like that; when he keeps getting the job done the word will spread that even alone he is worth the money. Eliot relies only on himself and any relationships he has are necessarily shallow. Professional, brief. This extends even to friendships (that seem to involve infrequent contact for the most part) and romantic relationships (he has plenty of sex but doesn't get emotionally close to anyone, does not fall in love). He is alone - in fact he is emphatically and outspokenly alone, because he doesn't want anyone to get their hooks in him like that ever again.

(*Doing jobs like this also limits the likelihood, especially in the beginning, that he's going to end up working for Moreau again in any real capacity. As time passes and Moreau doesn't attempt to bring him back too hard, that may become less of an issue in his mind, but it could certainly be a perk at least as the start.)

Then of course we eventually come to Leverage. It's been a while since Moreau. Eliot has built a solid reputation for himself - and he is being offered a LOT of money for a job that promises to be fairly quick. At this point, he probably feels like maybe he can trust himself as part of a team again without getting too sucked in - he will just keep it to one job and go his own way afterwards. It'll be fine.

...And then he immediately gets sucked in, bonds right away and wants so badly to stay. But even then, it's because of Nate. Eliot knows Nate, trusts him to be the 'honest man', is certain enough of Nate's moral compass that it's okay to get drawn in if Nate is the one making the plans. If it weren't for him, Eliot would have walked right away. Eliot was never going to allow himself to be ruled by others again... but Nate isn't like any of those people, he is a good man. Eliot can trust him not to lead him into anything too morally wrong, and in fact the work with Leverage is a way to bring some good back into the world. Not redeem himself, that won't ever happen, but under Nate's leadership Eliot can do something good for once. He doesn't want to stop.

By the time he moves past trusting Nate's judgement so much, he already trusts and loves the whole team. Parker and Hardison especially, so now he has to stay to keep them safe... even from Nate's plans sometimes, when he gets drunk and reckless. Eliot is secure in his role as part of a team again - and he probably was very lonely without one for all that time. It's not really in his nature to work alone long-term. And a key difference this time is that everyone else gets just as invested as he, and there's a good balance of power and respect unlike all of the more hierarchical teams he was in before (army, Moreau, they would have clear command structures - hell, even high-school football has a captain and a coach). Nate is nominally in charge but they talk back to him and lead where they have the most expertise. They dedicate themselves to him as much as he to them, they change together. And they change for the better, together.

[tanoraqui]

okay I have to do this today because even I wouldn’t do it after the godforsaken finale airs, and it’s basically my specialty and I did spend like an hour thinking about it last night while washing dishes. Definitely partly inspired by @words-writ-in-starlight​‘s insightful post on everything Supernatural did wrong, and apologies in advance to all the characters for dragging them into anything related to Christian mythology:

Wei Wuxian’s parents die in a house fire when he’s 6(? I refuse to look anything up) months old

Jiangs are a hunter family I guess? That whole disaster of a family dynamic, except WWX dips out at some point to be idk an environmental activist bc at the time, that seems like the larger threat to the whole world. “Mom and Dad went on a hunting trip and they haven’t come back”, “bitch” “jerk”, 2 brothers in a beat-up old car, you know the drill

Jins are also an old hunting family, but more Men of Letters energy - they have a fancy bunker and do research and avoid getting their actual hands dirty. Jiang Yanli ducked out of the active hunting life a few years ago to be happily married to her peacock and settled down with a baby and she’s fine. We’re not going to bother Yanli. She’s safe and happy and doesn’t need to involved in any of this

so, WWX is the demon blood child developing exciting new abilities like telekinesis, mind control, exorcising demons by sheer force of will...etc, and Jiang Cheng is the Righteous Man. Lucifer, Michael, etc.

s1-3 probably proceeds more or less as spn canon...which I more or less remember...by the time they find their parents at the end of s1, Jiang Fengmian is...ugh, we probably shouldn’t kill him offscreen, I mean, we should probably meet him before he dies. I guess. Madam Yu lasts longer because I’m way more interested in her. But we do know that both Jiang parents are totally inclined to fling the boys into a metaphorical or literal escape boat and go hold the line for as long as possible, so...that’s spn energy...

Xue Yang is the one who’s like “fuck yeah, demon powers” and opens the gates of Hell, because I want him to have nice* things

*nice for Xue Yang

from characterization rather than memory, I’m 90% sure that Dean tried to hide his crossroads deal from Sam, but Jiang Cheng does it...better. I think it does come out, though. Right before the hellhounds do.

here’s where it starts to go farther off from spn canon. Jiang Cheng crawls his way out of the grave, gets stalked by a menacing presence that explodes windows for an episode, incidentally can’t find WWX...*Lan Wangji voice* “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition” (a baller line then and a baller line now)...and then the next episode starts with them all awkwardly standing around, and JC is like, “ok well let’s go find my brother then”, and you think there’s going to be an mdzs-riffing JC+LWJ Roadtrip To Find WWX...and they’re immediately attacked by like a dozen demons

in fact, the first time we see WWX in s4 is here, wherein he goes toe to toe with an angel and...holds his own. that’s new and terrifying! also is leading a squad of demons??

because here’s the thing: for the last 3(?) months, there’s been war in hell

because unlike Some People Mooses, upon finding out that his brother’s soul was legally nearly-owned by a crossroads demon, heir-apparent-to-Satan!WWX went, “actually fuck that” and kicked open the door of Hell (metaphorically, not loosing any demons this time) and was like, “who do I have to beat the shit out of to get a specific crossroads contract around here”

this did not work, obv. He didn’t know until it was too late, Lilith had already snapped up the contract, etc. etc.

obviously he also tried to offer himself instead, and got rejected for some reason

Since Jiang Cheng died, however, there’s been a war for control of Hell. Leading one side, Lilith, the Original Babe, who wants to break all 666(?) seals keeping Lucifer bound and in the meantime, break the Righteous Man so Heaven won’t even have Michael’s destined host ready for the Final Battle. Leading the other side, Wei Wuxian, infamous upstart, who wants to rescue the Righteous Man and restore him to life, tear Lilith’s guts out through her nose, and also stop her from doing the Lucifer thing because Wen Qing explained that yes, that’s a Thing, and it’s Bad.

Wen Qing! I’ve decided to combine Bela and Ruby’s roles and let WQ be both the cool badass example of how demon deals can go Bad and the demon deliberately leading our heroes astray for most of s3-4. Wen Qing is a very new demon; she used to be some sort of herbalist/witch but then she sold her soul in a crossroads deal to cure her brother of some lingering illness. 10 years of happiness and then boom, hellhounds. WQ is so obviously competent, though, that they (Lilith, I guess?) immediately offers her a job, with the promise threat that gee, that’s a nice brother you’ve got there, even with his Designated Chronic Health Condition getting all relapse-y. It’d be such a shame if something were to...happen to him...

we find this out at some point in last s3 I guess? some Monster of the Week case involves WN as a witness or something, or possible next victim, and WQ shows up to be A Normal Amount Of Invested In This, while desperately trying to avoid actually interacting with her brother (who thinks she’s dead). YES, the truth comes out; YES there’s a tearful reunion

now in s4, Wen Ning is fine actually, health-wise, bc he maybe made a crossroads deal with Wei Wuxian personally, and Wen Qing may or may not have admitted that she’s supposed to be working for Lilith to get WWX ready to host Lucifer? Or potentially that comes out later, idk. Either way, she’s 100% his top lieutenant in this exciting Hell War they’re waging

[insert whatever the hell (ha) happened plot-wise in s4 of supernatural]

we obviously mix up the relationships, too, bc it’s like, *LWJ internal monologue* I’m too young to remember my brother Lucifer as he was before he Fell, but surely Wei Wuxian is his Heir and Destined Vessel in truth, for he is Charismatic and Charming and Makes Me Feel Things, with his Clearly Feigned Righteous Drive and Compassion for All God’s Creatures and - why does heat keep pooling in the lower abdomen of my vessel when I look at his lips, which I am definitely doing a Normal and Not-Weird Amount - I’m just keeping an eye out for the famed Silver Tongue, and not in any way wondering how it would feel in my own mouth -

it’s actually DEFINITELY plausible for Lucifer to still be released even if our designated Heir Apparent is using his demon powers to his full potential and no one’s lying to each other about their motives. You just need to let Lilith be more scary too, and especially bc by “no one” I mostly mean Wen Qing; the angels are still totally hiding the fact that they, too, want to jumpstart the shit out of this apocalypse.  LWJ decides at the last minute that that’s a bad idea actually, gets himself discorporated to send JC to intercept WWX because he accidentally releases Lucifer, etc. etc. Oh yeah, the boys were def fighting before this, bc JC has actually fairly reasonable concerns about the sort of things WWX is getting up to in his quest to become King of Hell...

SO

...I neither know nor care what happens in s5

it does end with both Lucifer and Michael locked in the cage probably, bc I rather liked that solution. Fuck both of ‘em, basically.

I was toying with the idea that WWX also found Madam Yu in whatever hellish torment she was suffering after making a deal so her idiot son(s) would survive, and she was leading forces for him in the war against Lilith as well. If she came back to life somehow, body and all, it’d probably be compelling if she offered her own body to Michael - bc it’s her lineage! - and we’re all led to believe that she’s, uh, being a bitch and actually wants to risk destroying the world in order to destroy all demons...but then she seizes back control and flings herself/Michael and Lucifer into the Pit, because she’s just That Hardcore?

which means we’d actually have had her around and having characterization for most of s4-5, too, which would be fun

More importantly, it ends with newly crowned King of Hell Wei Wuxian appointing Wen Qing as Queen-Regent and ditching to go on an indefinite honeymoon with his new angel boyfriend (they’re going to fuck for like three weeks straight, then roll up their sleeves and go conquer Heaven in the name of free will), and Jiang Cheng gets to live out his hitherto-unknown-to-himself life’s ambition to be the sugar baby of the Queen of Hell. It’s very Hades/Persephone, except he goes back down to the underworld at least once a month. He gets his own demon squad whom he trains up in all the hunting techniques and it’s gr9. Wen Qing is reforming the crossroads deal process to make it more fair to the humans.

the end

Addenda:

it should go without saying but Jiang Yanli is definitely a recurring character, like, at least once a season there’s a filler episode where they go to Jiang Yanli’s for dinner and have to get along as a family, and also do the much easier job of defeating some sort of terrible demon that gets loose in the bunker and turns the evening into a horror movie. She’s their main research/emotional check-in person, a la Bobby, more often appearing in later seasons when there’s, uhhh, more to emotionally check in about.

Jin Zixuan is actually a perfectly competent hunter; he’s just a priss and we don’t Like him

we like Mianmian, though. Oh, I guess the official Hunter’s Guild or w/e tries to declare WWX a public enemy on account of the whole “King of Hell” thing and she’s like “actually what if you’re morons and assholes?” and joins hte team in s4 or 5? Yeah.

idk how the 3zun disaster happens in this ‘verse but I do encourage it to be happening in slow motion as a recurring subplot for several seasons. NMJ is a hunter, LXC is obv an angel, and JGY is...I wanna say one of the more human monsters, like a vampire? Or, you know, something that could be born from JGS sleeping with someone/something he shouldn’t have

[ransomedrogue]

Tales of Woe - Scenes from S1 

kiss time! yesssss. well, except everything goes downhill from there

anyhow, this week’s scenes - aftermath of an eventful evening...

1.10 

Weller ushered his nephew up to his apartment, his physical body now inside the building but his mind still stuck out on the stoop. Images and emotions swirled together, with most of his consciousness locked on the memory of kissing Jane, while the rest of his brain did its best to fend off Sawyer's seemingly endless questions about what he'd seen.

"Why were you kissing her?"

"Isn't kissing kind of gross?"

"Was that your friend from when you and mom were kids?"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Shit. He had to get that under control before they got back to the apartment and Sawyer outed him to Sarah.

But it was nearly impossible to get his thoughts in any sort of order at the moment, and Weller didn't want to outright lie to his nephew. Yet he also didn't want to face Sarah's scrutiny when he hadn't even had time to process what had just happened.

"Um, yeah, that was uh… Taylor. But she's not my girlfriend. So that was kind of a surprise," Weller finally replied, doing his best to focus his attention on the present.

"Oh. So she wants to be your girlfriend," Sawyer concluded.

His nephew was only nine but he'd pretty much nailed the question in the centre of Kurt's mind.

"Er. I don't know. We're going to have to talk about that," he said.

"You think we could not tell your mom about this until I figure that out?"

Sawyer gave him a blank look and for a moment Weller thought he was going to have to bribe the kid to keep him quiet. But then his nephew nodded sagely, and made a confession of his own.

"A girl in my class kissed me last year. I didn't tell mom either."

"She would have made a big deal about it."

Kurt grinned and ruffled Sawyer's hair. He figured that was a fairly normal thing for a boy that age to keep secret from his mom. And it certainly helped him out in the whole scheme of things.

"Yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking," Weller replied, with a breath of relief.

They entered the apartment and, true to his word, Sawyer ran off back to his favourite game without any mention of what he'd seen. Sarah was in the kitchen prepping things for dinner and barely looked up when they came in so Kurt started putting groceries away, hoping to hide the fact that he was in complete turmoil.

Weller was halfway through unloading the bag when he jolted, realizing suddenly that he'd just let Jane go off without her detail after giving her shit for sneaking out. For a full minute he stood there staring at a can of beans, stuck between running after her futilely and calling her right then, even though she most likely hadn't brought her phone on her illicit mission.

"Kurt?"

Shit. Busted.

He had no idea what Sarah had just asked him so Weller looked up blankly, trying to push the sudden panic out of his throat. His instinct was to sprint out the door and drive all her possible routes home but he had enough sense to resist immediately giving into his anxious impulses. Though mostly because he'd have to explain his behaviour to his sister, which could then easily lead to Sawyer spilling his secret.

"I asked if you wanted white rice or brown rice?"

"Oh. Brown please."

Weller finally put the can of beans down and tried to shake himself out of the moment. He forced back his emotions by repeatedly telling himself that Jane could take care of herself. Anyone that tried to attack her would regret their decision immediately. Also, he was already too late to catch up with her, so it would likely be a wild Jane chase that would require ditching dinner and lying about everything.

It took a lot of effort to turn his attention to cooking, but with Sarah insisting on helping him, Weller did his best to not let his mind drift. Yet still he constantly found himself lost in the memory of Jane's mouth coming up to meet his; how it felt, finally kissing her after desiring it for so long.

A huge part of him wanted to drive over to her safe house after dinner and experience that feeling again. Despite where that was likely to lead, including all the complications it would create. It had felt so right with Jane, more so than it ever had with anyone else. Which really wasn't surprising considering the way they'd fit together perfectly, right from the start.

Dinner was a complete blur but thankfully Sarah was questioning Sawyer about a school presentation due the next day so Kurt got away with fixating on what had happened and what he should do next. Jane had said she'd see him tomorrow and that was definitely the wisest course of action. Yet he absolutely could not stop thinking about her and waiting until the next day to see her again seemed torturous.

"Kurt?"

Dammit. Caught again.

He looked up blankly at Sarah, who was giving him a suspicious look. Sawyer, on the other hand, was grinning at him slyly.

"Sorry, I've been thinking about a case," he said, figuring it wasn't entirely a lie.

His sister was still eyeing him strangely but in the end she just shook her head at his inattention.

"Must be some case," she commented.

He couldn't quite tell if she suspected what was going on in his head but forced himself to swallow his instant defensiveness. He didn't need to give Sarah any more indication of where his mind had been during the meal.

"Yeah, sorry," Kurt repeated. "My head's not here right now. Why don't you guys go work on that project and I'll clean up dinner."

Again, Sarah flashed him a funny look but was, thankfully, more concerned about helping Sawyer practice his presentation than quizzing Kurt on his odd behaviour. He breathed a sigh of relief when they headed off and left him to deal with the dishes.

As soon as he was alone, Weller pulled out his phone and stared at it for a moment. He knew he should call first, before making any rash moves. Yet he didn't feel ready to address what had happened between them. Telling her the truth about his feelings seemed risky to the extreme. Even though she'd been the one on his doorstep initiating the kiss, it still didn't seem prudent to tell her that she had completely blown his mind.

He finally dialled her number, his heart pounding in his ears. And when the call went through to her voicemail, Weller felt more deflated than he should have been.

He'd really wanted to talk to her – partly to make sure she'd gotten home okay but mostly just to hear her voice. It was hard not to think that she was avoiding his call and didn't want to talk to him. Which was stupidly crushing despite everything that had happened between them that night.

Weller hung up after leaving a message and stared blankly out the window. Resisting the urge to dial again, he put the phone down and clenched his hands into fists. Going over to her safe house now would certainly get her detail gossiping about his late night visit.

Forcing back both his worry and his desire, Kurt decided the best course of action was to pour himself a drink. Sitting down at the couch, he sipped at his whiskey and tried to drown out all of his impulses.

He shouldn't drive over there, no matter how much he wanted to see her. So Weller forced himself to stay planted on his sofa, trying not to stare at his phone. Instead, he slugged back the rest of his shot and let his mind drift back to where it had been all night. At the memory of Jane's body, tight against his, and the taste of her mouth on his lips.

###

Jane crawled in the window of the safe house and immediately collapsed to the ground, shaking.

It was as if all the physical and mental shock hit her at once, as soon as she made it back inside. Her lungs still burned with the pain of aspirated water and she was unnaturally cold even though she'd run most of the way back and was finally almost dry.

Shivering on the floor, Jane curled up into herself like she had the first night of her new existence. It seemed absurd that she now wanted to return to that state of innocence, without a single memory or revelation about her past. After all that time and so much effort, it had turned out to be better not knowing anything at all.

Who the hell had she been? 

What kind of person would voluntarily choose to do this to herself?

While it was still possible that her former self had been forced to make that video and that none of it was true, Jane had an ominous sense that it was. Oscar's tattoo had gone a long way in making her believe his story and the video he'd shown her. They'd been engaged, presumably in love. She remembered feeling regretful when returning the ring, knowing that he would be upset with her decision.

Jane groaned, desperately wanting to believe that it was all a ruse. She'd already had so many doubts about her past, even before that night's mindblowing revelation. Now she hated the mere thought of who she had been. Especially as all the implications kept flooding through her.

She had done this, planned this all. Purposely involved Kurt in it for some reason, probably a nefarious one. Oscar had been short on details, yet had implied that her team was involved in something illegal. But the idea that Weller was anything but an honest FBI agent seemed completely insane.

God. Had it really only been hours since she'd kissed him?

It felt like a lifetime had passed, especially the time spent being waterboarded by Tom Carter. Jane shuddered again just at the memory of it; the terror of being unable to breathe, feeling like she was drowning. She noted again that she felt frozen despite finally being dry. Knowing that she needed to get warm, Jane tried to push her way off the floor. But it was as if all the trauma of being physically tortured then emotionally devastated had finally caught up to her and she was stuck in her position.

Images of the night kept flashing through her mind, like a frantic slideshow whirling out of control. Sitting on his doorstep, nervous but determined. Walking away from his place, lost in the memory of her lips against his. Being grabbed and thrown in a van before she even had a chance to react. Then the bag and the water and the drill. The gunshots. Oscar and the video.

Jane felt herself starting to hyperventilate as the cycle of images wouldn't stop; always culminating with that picture of herself, telling her that this was all her idea. Even the thought of betraying her team and being a mole was devastating. She owed them so much and trusted them completely. Especially Weller.

Weller.

A part of her still wanted to see him, even though the idea of telling him what had happened was unthinkable. Because, more than anything, Jane needed comfort at that moment and he was her only source for it. The thought of his warmth wrapped around her shaking body was almost inviting enough to push away the horror of the other thought, the one that had been plaguing her ever since she'd seen that video.

What if Weller found out that she was a terrible person, who'd plotted her way into his life? He would obviously despise her, even if she really was Taylor.

Jane moaned again, desperately wishing that it had all been a dream. There had certainly been an unreal quality to her night, yet her misery and self-hatred were entirely too real.

She was about to spin back into the same cycle of remorse and despair when a familiar noise finally broke through her consciousness. It was her cell phone, which she'd left at the safe house so her movements wouldn't be traceable.

A part of her registered that it was the middle of the night by now, so any call would likely be important. Yet still it seemed impossible to get up and answer the phone.

Eventually Jane waited long enough and the ringing stopped, but now that question was occupying a piece of her mind as well. Who was calling her so late? A part of her worried that it was Oscar, or someone else involved in the conspiracy she was tied to.

Trying to get her limbs back under control, Jane growled at her own weakness. The events of the evening had finally caught up to her, especially the stress her body had been put under. But she didn't have time to cry about it, or tremor alone on the floor. Especially if her phone was ringing at that hour.

As if in a trance, Jane found herself pushing herself onto her elbows first then onto her knees. After that, she somehow managed to get to her feet and stumbled towards the phone, feeling as if she wasn't inhabiting her own body. Everything seemed so unreal still; her entire world had collapsed to reveal something she'd never expected.

Jane finally got to her cell and saw that she had missed a number of calls from Weller. Just seeing his name on the screen made her heart clench with dismay. She couldn't talk to him; he would immediately know that something was wrong.

As she listened to her voicemails, Jane's roiling mind went into overdrive, trying to come up with a solution. If she didn't answer at all Weller was liable to show up at her door, despite the time - he certainly sounded concerned enough. Which would then lead to all sorts of complications she couldn't face at the moment.

It seemed to take forever before the obvious answer finally made its way through her anxiety. She could send him a text to let him know she was safe and put off talking to him until she'd had more time to recover.

Somehow Jane forced her fingers to operate the phone and managed to cobble together an excuse for not answering for so long. Even though she was still shaking, unable to get warm despite being dry and safe.

Sorry, out thinking, no phone. Home now. Talk to you tomorrow.

Goodnight. See you in the morning, Weller replied immediately.

Jane pictured him at home, up late worrying about her. The image, along with the text would normally have made her feel warm, though a little guilty too. Now, she could only think what he would say if he knew who she really was.

He'd hate me, she thought once more. 

As much as I hate myself.

Goodnight, Jane texted back, even though it was clear she wasn't going to be doing any sleeping. She could only hope that Weller would be able to get some rest, after keeping him up so late. As for herself, she had hours left to spend ruminating on what had happened and what she was going to do.

The images still wouldn't stop pouring through her mind, forcing her to relive her terror at being repeatedly drowned, then threatened with a drill, then shown that video. And yet there was that other memory too, that brought on a different sort of panic. Reaching up towards Kurt; seeking comfort in the warm sensation of his lips on her mouth, the feeling of his body right up against hers.

She wanted that, wanted him. But not if it was part of a plot. And definitely not if he was going to get hurt.

Jane realized that tears had started to slip down her cheeks and she didn't have the energy to push them back. Soon they were pouring out and and she didn't bother to try controlling them or even wiping them away. Curling up on the couch, Jane just kept sobbing until her lungs ached and daylight was peering through the blinds.

Opening her eyes and groaning at the light, Jane peeled herself off the sofa and stood in a burning hot shower, trying to wash the dirty feeling from her skin. Yet she didn't feel any more cleansed when she emerged from the water, nor had it lifted any of the heaviness in her soul.

Whatever had happened to her, it was obviously all her own fault. Now all she could do was protect everyone from the fallout of what she'd done. No matter what it took, she wasn't going to let any of them get hurt.

Whoever she'd been before the memory wipe, that wasn't who she was anymore. And this version of her wasn't going to let anyone hurt the people that she loved. Not even herself.

[bensonstablers]

author tag

tagged by @mego42​ to talk about my fic Why don’t we go to Venus? (thank you kindly, my dear 🥰)

Oh boy, this got long 😭😭💀 so I’ve put some of what I had to say plus who I’ve tagged and the rules below the cut!

Okay, so, the actual plot/storyline of Why don’t we go to Venus? came about because of The Expanse which I finally got around to watching s1-4 of back in August 2020. Basically, I was either lazing about or drifting off to sleep? I can’t remember for sure but regardless, I started thinking about the idea of Rio killing Beth but getting to reunite with her (in a way in which he doesn’t die to do so) and that was all thanks to the meeting/reunion scene between Miller and Julie in 2x05 (which refused to leave my mind because it’s so beautiful).

Now, at this point, I had already written another fic — Until Long After She Takes Her Final Breath — where I got to break the surface of exploring the ‘what if’ of Rio killing Beth towards the beginning of s3 and it definitely opened the floodgates. Flashforward a little and thanks to The Expanse, I suddenly had an opprortunity to properly explore Rio’s grief and the death of a favourite character in a way I hadn’t before. It also seems in the show (at least to me) that Rio knows what to do get himself through killing someone so I thought it’d be interesting to see him post killing someone like Beth especially when in Why don’t we go to Venus? (as well as in canon) he’s pretty in denial of how much she means to him lol.

So I had the core/main thing but the following bullet points were things I knew I wanted to include in the fic. Things that were pretty much on the table in the very early stages of planning/figuring out how I was going to write the story without it being a) bland and b) too much like the Miller/Julie story in The Expanse, haha. Anyway:

Removing the alien side of things was an instant decision. I’m very picky about AUs and it can take me a while to warm up to certain ones so explicitly bringing aliens into Good Girls was just not my jam at all. I didn’t want to step too far away from those vibes though which is why I had the superantural elements.

I definitely wanted Rhea and her friendship with Beth as well as her history with Rio and how that would kind of put her in the middle of being loyal to him but also greiving over Beth.

Marcus and his friendship with Jane which would be an added factor of the consequences of Rio’s actions.

(Also, Rhea’s thoughts on the Boland kids and what they’re up to since Beth’s death. This is why I had the funeral and also why I mention that Annie is in therapy and Ruby is using Stan’s contact to get info on the investigation in Beth’s death. All to show the full scope and complications of Rio’s decisions).

Outside of them, Mick and Gretchen were really the only characters I was pretty confident would make appearances (if they made any at all).

I wanted to use drinking as a coping method for Rio and increase it as the story went on, going from it being something he can’t help but gravitate towards to something he deliberately seeks out.

Nightmares (and dreams) were always going to be a way to showcase Rio’s greif and build up his guilt and were the first hint (I guess you could say) to the supernatural elements prior to deciding to have Rio see/hear Beth around his apartment.

For the actual writing of it... The nightmare of Rio following Beth down a corridor in chapter 3 and the stuff in her bedroom that follows was orginally going to be the fic in its entirity (a one-shot) but I kept having to put a lot of (terrible) exposistion in to explain how and why we were at that point so that’s when the idea blew up into nearly 40k words and 3 chapters so I could build up to those scenes instead, haha. I also think it works way better and allowed me to fully explore Rio’s emotions and actions in a way that makes those scenes in Beth’s bedroom more satisyfing.

After that, it became basically about keeping things balanced and focused.

Also, Rio hearing Beth’s voice and seeing her around his apartment and stuff was based on Miller seeing/hearing Julie leading up their meeting/reunion in 2x05. And the chapter titles are quotes/a conversation from The Expanse 2x05 that really stuck with me but it also made me decide that I didn’t want Beth and Rio’s version of the story to end with as much finality (or rather the same finality) but I still wanted it to feel like a conclusion to the story nonetheless. 😌

tagging: @xstrawmari​ to talk about ‘lets put on a show’ (or the ‘bucket list’ series as a whole), @medievalraven​ to talk about ‘in the dark’, @sdktrs12​ to talk about ‘Touch (without leaving a trace)’, and @blainesebastian​ to talk about the ‘plans wrapped in rubber bands’ series (or a particular installment if you have a fave!) — also if any of you have been tagged for these stories, feel free to use this as an excuse to talk about another fic you’ve written 👀

questions under the cut!

recently I have become really fascinated with fanfic authors and what exactly was rumbling around in their brain that inspired a fic?

Was it a line of dialogue you couldn’t get out of your head?

A scene you wrote WAY in advance and then crafted the whole story around?

An image in your mind?

Inspiration from another form of media?

Maybe someone suggested something to you and it just TOOK off from there?

What is the root of your fic? The cornerstone -what is it all built around? The idea that started it all?

Tag an author & their fic. Let’s hear about what sparked your story. What exactly got your booty movin’ shakin’ motivated and writin’

[wunderlass]

I’m feeling so deflated to be writing this post. S1 had its flaws but those could be placed at the feet of a freshman showrunner who could learn from her mistakes going into S2 and up her game. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and S2 was a mess.

S1 had a clear central plotline: the mystery of Rosa’s death, leading to justice in the form of Noah’s death and Rosa’s resurrection. S2’s central plotline was…um. The kidnappings? Leading into the plot to blow up Crashcon? I think? But there was so much other stuff gong on it’s hard to tell.

Carina – if you happen to come stumbling into the tags for reactions – you’ve already acknowledged that you struggle to edit your scripts down for length. And it does show in the finished product. But you also struggle to edit your ideas down to fit into the episode count you have. There were too many extraneous plot threads this season, too many guest characters, and the ideas you had were shoddily and sloppily executed.

There were shining moments scattered here and there and the occasional good episode, but for the most part this season lurched from badly paced episode to badly paced episode. Stuff was crammed into each episode and yet somehow the plot also treaded water until 2x11 when it all kicked off – and this was because so much of what happened in the earlier episodes didn’t feed into the main plot. Even Max’s death, the overarching motivation for many characters at the beginning, was shoved to the side for other ideas.

And the payoffs for each of these storylines was too often underwhelming. Max can’t come back because he’ll be full of dark energy and a destructive force! Resolved in 30 seconds by him blowing up a pile of stuff. Max can’t remember Liz! Fixed in the same episode. That pattern continued with the finale feeling like it was trying to wrap up all these storylines without really having a story of its own. The various cliffhangers from Crashcon were tied up before the title card and then let’s spend the next 40 minutes treading water again.

There were good moments in the finale. Max and Isobel’s discussion, the Maneforrest kiss, Rosa and Helena’s reunion. But as for the rest? Hear me whine:

-          Jesse’s death was anticlimactic. His line about “no more Manes men” makes no sense given as far as he knew Flint (and maybe Clay?) is still alive. His death should have been poetic because one of his son’s killed him but it didn’t hold the weight it should have, possibly because it came so early in the episode.

-          It would have been far better if Jesse had discovered that Harlan killed Tripp and buried him beneath the shed. How awful would it have been for his entire worldview to be shaken by that revelation? How perfect would it have been if he discovered that Tripp loved Nora? If he died after learning all of that, becoming desperate and sloppy in whatever scheme he was trying to pull off (self-immolation via the bomb?), it would have been a fitting ending.

-          So many characters this season were badly served. Alex, Michael, and to a lesser extent Max, had real arcs and progression. Alex especially you can see them setting up his growth for a payoff in the finale. 

-          Kyle was shafted, shoved to the side for the Steph storyline that didn’t feel like it was going anywhere, and I suspect we got a lot of that cut away to make room for other stories.

-          Rosa’s story started off strong and then mostly got tied into rehab or helping Isobel. Them having her out and about in public in Roswell is complete nonsense.

-          Max had a line for Isobel about her becoming her “entire self” this season, and that rang false to me. We’ve only seen Isobel develop her powers. Her personality has shifted each episode, fractured and inconsistent, dependant on what the writers needed her to do. She didn’t get much of a storyline of her own – the abortion was redundant, serving as a political soapbox for Carina rather than anything that served the character – and while she’s found out more about her heritage, that’s never been as important as Michael or Max finding out about theirs. She said she wanted to become more like her mother and that never went anywhere.

-          I was so hopeful that Carina had listened and understood the criticisms with Maria’s handling in S1 and worked to improve it. She certainly gave her increased screentime. Except, so much of that screentime was tied into Michael, and latterly Isobel. She lacked interactions with Liz or Rosa. She was in two whole scenes in the finale and after she broke up with Michael, she disappeared from the story, and if that doesn’t say it all…

-          And that break-up was contrived bullshit. I’m not saying this as a shipper. It felt like they’d planned to have them break-up in the finale and wrote it even though the motivations hadn’t been properly established. Seeds were sown but they were communicating well as a couple and resolving their issues as they went along. Suddenly those issues got un-resolved and were enough to break them up.

-          The most galling part is that so much of what follows comes from Tripp’s diary, and Maria is excluded. This is her story too! Louise was her great-grandmother! Rather than sitting around her in the hospital room reading this stuff, they do it in the Crashdown.

-          Which fits the pattern of what’s happened all season. Maria found out she was part alien and it was about her powers, rather than her legacy, rather than what happened to her great-grandparents.

-          And it became clear that it was done so they could do the Nora/Tripp and Malex parallel.

-          Which completely solidifies for me where Carina’s priorities lie. She’s been clear that Malex is her favourite ship on the show and Michael is her favourite character. But this season has shown that she’s incapable of ensuring her favouritism doesn’t screw over other characters.

-          The sad thing is this really does show up in marketing. Carina always pushes and praises Vlamis and barely ever mentions Jeanine on her SM. Media outlets write about Malex as the centre of the show and they aren’t supposed to be. We have a sci-fi show with a Latina leading lady and nobody cares – not the showrunner, not the media (outside of Latinx-centric publications), not the fandom. I’m not Latina and it frustrates me so I can’t imagine how actual Latinx people feel about that.

-          Maria was dragged into a love triangle that Carina never had any intention of doing justice to. Maria and Michael were always only ever meant to be a pit-stop on the way to a big Malex reunion. Sadly it’s clear the same goes for Maneforrest. Why write something if you’re only going to do it half-arsed? And it clearly was. That’s why the Maria and Michael break-up was so perfunctory and illogical.

-          While I’m on the subject of Maria – last season Mimi was clearly deteriorating and didn’t recognise adult Maria anyway. Now that seems to have shifted to Mimi’s mind moving through time. It’s still unclear if this is the alien DNA or what was done to Patricia Deluca in Caulfield. I don’t understand why they introduced both elements – apart from being able to give Maria a line about unethical science which OH BOY what a contrast with Liz.

-          Speaking of Liz.

-          Wow.

-          If the central storyline was the kidnappings and Crashcon shenanigans, she really had no involvement with that all season apart from the very end. All the investigation went to other characters. Her mother was involved, but not Liz.

-          Let me repeat that.

-          Our lead character was not involved the central storyline of the season.

-          Alternatively, if you think Max learning about his history, and all of the reveals about 1948, and Maria’s heritage etc etc were supposed to be the main storyline…

-          Doesn’t matter because Liz wasn’t involved in any of that either!

-          Liz was a subplot in her own show after they brought Max back. Hell, she was a subplot even when she was working on that.

-          The narrative focus really has centred on Michael, Alex, and later Max.

-          I wonder what they have in common with each other.

-          If you don’t believe me, check out the screentime figures for this season. Liz had the fourth largest amount of screentime in the finale, and she’s only had majority screentime in a handful of episodes all season (2x01, 2x07, 2x11).

-          And then realise that the plot kept moving after Liz left Roswell. She’s just not part of it anymore.

-          I watched the finale and kept asking myself where Liz was because she kept disappearing for whole chunks of time.

-          She was in her own subplot about science for the back half of this season, and honestly, I’m going to have to write an entirely separate post about Liz and ethics in science because NOPE.

-          Max was right. Liz deserved to follow her calling but she had options that didn’t involve risking the aliens.

-          As such the Echo break-up was stupid but whatever, based on this season I guess it needed to happen.

-          Did Max even care that Liz left? He loved her for twenty years and then when he had her, it didn’t matter anymore? What the fuck? Are we ever going to get answers as to why he fell so hard and loved her for so long, or is the “Malex is cosmic” story more important?

-          Also the whole thing about the Genericorp lady not being interested in Liz based on meeting her at the Crashdown was stupid. You hire scientists based on the previous work they’ve done and their credentials. Diego’s word should have been enough to convince her, and then maybe an actual proper job interview to make sure she was a good fit. Not “let’s sneak into her secret lab to look at what she’s working on”.

-          When Liz does leave, she only says goodbye to Rosa and Kyle. Arturo is mentioned but not seen. Which means the whole ICE sequence this season, which should have been a solid motivation for Liz to take the Genericorp job on its own, has been resolved without a proper payoff. All that stress – scenes that I know felt genuinely stressful to some viewers because of how close to home it hit – and we don’t even get to see Arturo seeing his “genius daughter” leave with his future secured.

-          It’s plausible that Liz said goodbye to other characters – Maria, Isobel, Michael – off screen BUT SHE’S YOUR LEAD CHARACTER AND HER LEAVING TOWN SHOULD CARRY SOME EMOTIONAL WEIGHT FFS

-          Compare Liz leaving and arriving at the ocean to Buffy Summers leaving Sunnydale in Becoming Part 2. There is no contest.

-          It’s clear to me that the audience Carina writes this show for is herself. And that’s fine. Plenty of writers do that. But that means she’s writing a show for the women in fandom who like epic mlm romances with lots of angst. And the problem with that is that this show has a Latina lead who is not being done justice.

-          This is not me railing against Malex. There is space in the show for both things. This is me expressing my frustration at a showrunner and creative team who are not taking care with all characters equally.

-          Carina uses her platform to throw in politics and use characters as mouthpieces without considering their impact. She thinks she’s educating the straight white people in the audience without thinking about how scenes of ICE intimidation, homophobic violence, and racism will affect the people who are impacted by those things in real life.

-          Am I done with the show? Probably not. I’ve got fics I want to write and while I’m not hubristic enough to think I can write better than a team of professional writers, I’m going to at least try and do some of these neglected elements of the show justice.

-          Hubris. Remember when I thought that was going to be a theme of this season? Apparently not. There was no theme, unless “no editing, we die like men” counts..

[resplendentgoldenwings]

Thoughts About Star Trek Discovery 3x06, Trust is a Two Way Street

After reading the synopsis and seeing reactions to the episode I must admit to having trepidation going into the episode. I was hoping as is of the case that fandom was overreacting and my concerns would be allayed when I watched.

They were not. 

First it must be acknowledged that the main plot of the episode feels extremely contrived. As a long time viewer of Star Trek similar conflicts have come up in previous shows without creating this type of contention and drama. In TNG Worf repeatedly left to pursue personal missions and other officers in Star Trek shows have done the same. 

Usually they just request leave if it conflicts with their duty and the captain grants it. In Disco though, as is often the case with Disco situation like blow up into unnecessary dramas. So I am first and foremost disappointed that the characters were put into this contrived ass situation in the first place.

That said I think what happened was interesting and the writing choices left me hoping that this is actually going some place good, time will tell I suppose.

That out of the way here are my thoughts on the episode. 

Saru Was Wrong

I want to start with Saru because he’s the captain, he’s the one with the rank and the power and therefore he is the one whose responsible. Saru was wrong Michael was wrong too but Saru’s error in some way is actually more important even though it seems smaller at first blush.

First let’s go back a moment to season 2. When Saru is on his death bed he asks Michael to attend him and cut off his ganglia. She’s hesitant and emotionally overwhelmed in the situation but he reassures her that it’s the right thing to do and even goes so far as to call her his sister.

So what happens when this sister goes to herself proclaimed brother with a problem? He shuts her down without a moment’s hesitation or consideration. Never mind that this man is important to her, never mind that he maybe got into trouble trying to help her with something that would benefit Starfleet and The Federation, nope fuck all that. Nope fuck all that, fuck everything we been through gotta impress this admiral. 

Now look I get it when you’re in the military you follow orders, but when you’re promoted to a leadership position you also have to think about the well being of your crew as well as cultivate the discernment to know what to know what is of value and what should be dismissed. The admiral himself pointed out that Saru should have brought it to him and chastised Saru for behaving like an automaton and blindly following orders. 

All that said two wrongs don’t make a right. 

As annoyed as I was with Saru I was also somewhat annoyed with Michael who also didn’t bother to exercise any other options or even trying to convince Saru otherwise. Honestly my irritation with this choice for her goes all the way back to s1. If you’re in an organization like this you don’t go outside the chain of command you work within it. She cares about Book and was obviously feeling a sense of urgency given that it took the ship three weeks to reach Discovery but she could have taken 30 minutes to try and exercise some other options, first trying to convince Saru, second she could have just gone over his head. 

I’m not going to go too far on this because most people can see where Michael was wrong.

With Friends Like These...

Tilly bothered me tremendously in this episode. I can’t help it, she just did. Someone pointed out in another discussion that Tilly’s thinking as community minded and it get that but it’s still not sitting well with me largely because of the focus on impressing this admiral --a new and unknown individual-- over someone you know and up until this point have trusted. It’s vaguely icky and puts me in mind of both Tilly and Saru’s behavior in season one. 

And one really has to question themselves when a Terran is a better friend than you..

 I’m not gonna go through the whole episode. I enjoyed the stuff with Book, especially when Michael and Book were gazing into each other’s eyes that was wonderful, the kiss, though. Sonequa really didn’t want to kiss that dude, dang. haha...

Facing the Music 

Once everything is settled Michael presents the black box to Saru and the two of them meet with Admiral Vance. The meeting is short and more or less as expected with Admiral Vance letting Michael chastise herself. However what jumps out at me in this scene is the way the admiral chastises Saru, questioning why he didn’t bring the mission to him and challenging Saru to be more than a mindless automaton.

Saru then proceeds to chastise Michael and temporarily relieve her of her command duties. The thing that stands out to me in Saru’s dialogue is that though he reflects that he erred in the situation he does not see that he erred in how he related to Michael instead he seems to question if he erred in asking her to serve as first officer in the first place. He dismisses the suggestion that perhaps he handled the situation poorly in the first place. 

This episode is in truth more telling about Saru as captain than it is about Michael as a person or a Starfleet officer. Michael as always choses the action that she deems to help the most people and harm the least. 

Saru and Michael together could be a great command team but Saru is either unwilling or unable to accept that he and Michael have complimentary strengths and weakness. For example Saru couldn’t figure out how to speak up to the admiral to keep the Disco crew together, it was Michael who challenged the admiral on that and rightfully so.  

This is why I said trust is a two way street. Michael was wrong but why should she trust Saru to have her back when so far hasn’t demonstrated that he does. When she needs something from him impressing the admiral is more important. 

It’s difficult to see where the narrative is going with this. In 3x03 we see a Michael who is questioning where she belongs, in 3x06 we come back to this question. In a reddit discussion someone questioned why Admiral Vance would even suggests that Saru erred in front of Michael since she’s his subordiante. 

It did make me wonder if that was poor writing or something else. One thing that occurs to me is that Vance is actually evaluating both of them as captain. For Starfleet in the 32nd century Discovery is a valuable asset, if a crew of randos from the 23rd century appeared from nowhere I’d certainly be doubting if I trusted them and if I wanted to leave something as valuable as that ship with its 23rd century crew tbh. 

If I found out the captain of that ship was an acting captain, who’d assumed command after serving as first officer under a Terran and then a captain for all of two years idk if I’d be satisfied that this person was actually ready to be captain. I think Michael’s mutiny was struck from the record so if he doesn’t have that info I could easily see him evaluating her for the position just as well especially since she seems more confident, assertive, thoughtful and creative. 

It would be interesting if this ultimately somehow leads to Michael being made captain at the end of this season. I’m not convinced that is where this is going but this rift has to be healed for the show to move forward and I don’t think this contrived plot was created just to pile on Michael again, at least I hope not. That theme is old, tired and should be over with. 

Overall I’d put this as the weakest episode of the season and while I am annoyed with the contrived plot I’ll be reserving judgement until the full storyline unfolds.

@michaelburnhamfanclub

[kriffingstars]

Spitfire | Lee Scoresby x Reader (1/?)

A/N: Hola my lovelies, this is my first Lee Scoresby x Reader. I know this is all friendship based but I promise I’m going to make the next part more romantic.  I just want to get used to writing again, it been a while. When I first came up with this idea I did have an OC of mine that would have worked brilliantly so come the end of S1 I might rework the story on Wattpad possibly.  This is also set in the HBO/BBC version of HDM. I’m aiming for the next part to be posted on Wednesday :)

To be added to the taglist either click the link in my blog and add yourself or send me an ask <3

Summary: Reader meets a certain aeronaut cowboy for the first time

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1619

That day had been tiring, to say the least. Spending the whole time following Lyra’s lead wasn’t easy and something you weren’t used to. Normally you'd be marching to the beat of your own drum, so this new lifestyle was rather a shock to the system.

As night fell you found yourself alone and wishing no more than to get off the boat, being so cooped up had begun to drive you mad. It seemed like an ungodly amount of time since you'd been able to go off on your own.  Not that minding Lyra was a chore but it was certainly different from your old lifestyle. The pub near the docks seemed like a good place to unwind, over a nice warming glass of whatever half-decent liquor they stocked.

“Are you sure this is a good idea (Y/N)? What will Farder Coram say when he finds out you’ve left?” protested Zachariah as he trotted alongside you, his bushy tail brushing against your dark tan, woollen trousers which left a few strands of bright orange fur behind.

“It’s one drink, and I'm an adult Zach. Not like I'm the only one who can keep an eye on Lyra.”

The walk to the bar took all but five minutes, the chill of the air causing you to shove your hands deep inside the fleece-lined pockets of her coat.  The smell of the oil from the port caused your nose to tingle, which on second thought was probably not the best thing for your health, even if you happened to like the smell.

As you reached the building, the roar of the fires could be seen through the cloudy window, and whilst it wasn't busy, many regular customers lounged at their tables.  Pipes in their mouths and cards in their hand. Once inside the atmosphere seemed almost comforting, no one seemed out of place, one of the many reasons why the North was always somewhat of a destination when travelling.

"A whiskey please, with a shot of water. No ice thank you," you ordered.

Both glasses were placed wordlessly in front of you as you sat rubbing your temples in frustration and worry; thinking back to how disastrous today could have gone. Lyra was becoming more reckless, especially with the alethiometer. Only just that morning had she thought it was a good idea to take it out whilst at least six Magisterium were patrolling past.  If that was anything to go by it wouldn't be long before Lyra had sucked her into trouble which there would be no coming back from.

When Ma had asked you to look out for Lyra it was something you felt you couldn’t say no, not that you would have done. You saw much of yourself in her, but childcare wasn’t really in your nature. Being as wild and unruly as you were most would barely call you an adult, as trouble seemed to just follow you around by the trove. Fortunately, all that good practice of having to get yourself out of said trouble had landed you with a great deal of experience and a way with words that could get you out of nearly anything. Having a small family of your own and the constant travelling meant childcare was something of an alien to you. The only interaction you really had with children was when recounting tales of adventures to them, leaving out all the crimes which had been committed along the way.

Before the Gobblers came anyone who knew you would have described you as a wild spirited, quick-witted spitfire who yearned to travel all over the world, looking for something new to explore and earning money through odd jobs as you went. As far as you went you always did come back to the gyptians, but never for long, until the news of dear Billy Costa had reached you. That naturally lead to a quick return.

“Hot rum, make it a double.”

An American voice broke you from your thoughts as you turned to see the aeronaut who’d taken the seat beside yourself, his dæmon, a rather wonderful hare perched next to him. It was the same man who you'd briefly met that morning, the one looking for the bear, Iorek Byrinson. The bartender silently pouring the drink before moving away again, back to his conversation with one of the regulars.

“I don’t think I introduced myself this morning, Lee Scoresby and this," he gestured to the hare, "is Hester.” Holding his glass forward for you to meet with your own.

“(Y/N) Fletcher, but my friends call me Fletch,” she paused looking to the fox perched at your feet, “and this is my dear friend Zachariah.”

He smiled, "Are we friends?"

"Only if you want to be."

“Now Fletch," he paused, testing out the name on his tongue, "what are you doing in a place like this?” He smirked.

“Having a moment to think,” you smiled back at him. He’d cleaned himself up from that morning, there was no sign of any blood and he looked a lot more relaxed.

The conversation started off as small talk which quickly turned to their favourite destinations when travelling.

"I like the people here, it's like everyone fits in because they don't."

And once again the conversation shifted, you bringing up that morning's shenanigans, and laughing at the reason for the blood.

"If you did that in my bar you'd be swimming with the fishes, and hear the waters quite cold this time of year," laughing as you finished off the rest of the glass, signalling the bartender for another.

“Your daughter seemed like a bit of a spitfire, I can see where she gets it from,” he complimented, after hearing about how you'd managed to land yourself in a cell for the night and talked yourself out of numerous different charges the next morning.

“Hah, he thinks Lyra’s your daughter.” Zach’s head tilted back as he laughed at the thought.

“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?” A grin made its way onto your face as you laughed at the idea of you being a parent. Sure, Lyra was sweet, but you were there to oversee and attempt to steer Lyra away from trouble, which wasn’t exactly working too well.

“No, I’m just keeping an eye on her for the time being,”

“Good job she wasn’t offended Lee,” muttered Hester, as the cowboy cringed at his error.

Hester rolled her eyes as he began his apologies “I really didn’t mean any offence,”

“Mr Score-,”

“Lee,”

Smiling. “Lee, you really think that's the worse thing I've been called.  That's not even an insult.”

Soon enough the conversation flowed again, with Hester jumping down to carry on her conversation with Zach. Time flew by as Lee began to realise that both of them had much in common, and the foundations of a fast friendship were being made. Eventually, the topic of your visit to Trollesund came to light. Arguably the place wasn’t the nicest holiday destination and it wasn’t exactly teeming with adventure and excitement. Maybe a part of you hoped that Lee would accompany you on the journey but the rational side reasoned that as much as you got along with the man you didn’t actually know him too well and more importantly didn’t know whether you could actually trust him.

“So, you’re here on business? I wouldn't bet on you being here for the people,” he asked, bringing up your comment about the people of the North earlier.

“Children are being stolen; the Magisterium won’t do a thing. We’re coming to take them back,” you spoke with a conviction that he hadn't heard you speak with before that.  

Clearly, you were determined. He could tell you were fiercely loyal, and that a fight was the last of your worries. As he listened to your answer you could tell his curiosity peaked, as he leant forward, becoming a lot quieter as he spoke to you in a low voice.

“So that’s why you need Iorek. You’re starting a war.” It wasn’t a question, just the realisation of the plan in which you were trying to put in place, the one Lyra had convinced you of doing.

“Which I intend to win, some of those kids don’t have families to miss them. Least I can do is help them.”

After that, you both settled into silence as Lee mulled over what you were saying. By this time the bar had begun to empty, the lights were beginning to dim. The bartender's voice rippled through the room as the bell for the last call was rung, most did not order another, but simply left their empty glasses atop the side. It was late and you knew you should be getting back.

“I should back before I’m missed,” you sighed, scraping the stool as you stood. Your sudden movement alerting Zach that he should finish up his conversation with Hester. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, see you around.” He replied, gathering his things as well.

The walk back to the boat was relaxing, the cold air bit your cheeks as you meandered through the quiet town, but it was not as bothersome as it once was before. It was quiet, save for the patrolling Magisterium. Before you knew it, you’d carried yourself all the way back her room, pushing open the small door you flopped onto the bed, Zachariah leaping on after and settling in the red quilt.

He sunk his head underneath your hand as you subconsciously reached to scratch behind his ears before he looked back up at to you. 

“You should sleep, you know Lyra’s going to be up early,”.    

Taglist: @bisexuaivalkyrie @gemellath @urticadioica2  @mistoffeleez

[annoying-lucy]

Evan Evagora did an AMA involving the Star Trek Shitposting Facebook Group - the questions and answers below were copy/pasted direct from the collated master post. Evan is a member of the group, who participates under an unknown pseudonym.

———————————————

AMA Master Post!

Thanks so much to Evan Evagora for taking time out of his day for our AMA earlier. To make the questions and answers easier for ya'll to find, here they all are together below.

Q: How does my love of cats compare to Elnor?

A: Im actually more of a dog person, there was a scene that had Elnor and spot 2 unite briefly but unfortunately it didn’t leave the editing room

Q: How familiar was I with Star Trek before and did I have to do research?

A: I grew up with TNG, I’d have to say either worf, Guinan or Q are my favourite characters. And I was given episodes to watch that were to help with information before filming Picard

Q: How was I prepped to deal with the crazy fans?

A: I got told to join Star Trek shitposting 😉. Not but in all seriousness, it was Jonathan Frakes who gave me advice on entering the world of fandom from the other side and he said it’s been nothing short of a pleasure

Q: So if Hugh had survived would they have made out?

A: what happens on the cube stays on the cube

Q: My favourite moment of s1

A: getting to slice that romulans head off

Q: How did I hear about Star Trek shitposting?

A: most of the crew is either a part of the group or knows about, one of the amazing hair and make up ladies got me into I think my first or second day

Q: If I had to be Tuvixed with someone excluding elnor?

A: mirror verse Elnor, nah worf to be honest

Q: What is something I’d like to do in season 2

A: Id like to see Elnor and spot 2 together

Q: How am I passing my time woth quarantine?

A: ama for the gronp! Nah I’ve just been reading, writing and also the contact I’m having with the fans too has really helped a lot

Q: If I had to quarantine with any of my costars who would it be and why

A: I’d go with hardy treadaway he’s got the nicest place

Q: What am I hoping to see in Elnor’s future

A: Inner peace, contentment and possibly shorter hair?

Q: Am I intimidated by working on a show with such a big fan base?

A: no I grew up with Star Trek, you’re really in a bubble of filming when you’re making the show, it all didn’t really hit home until the first trailer at San Diego

Q: Would I consider playing Elnor as non binary

A: I’ve seen a lot of debate and discussion about not only my character but others in the series, if there is something that connects you with a character on this show and it resonates with you, even if it’s shown, not shown or hinted at I’m all for it. I am not for the constant belittlement, bullying and criticism of not only the characters on the show but also other fans. It really does break my heart reading comments where people aren’t welcoming of one another, because that is the whole reason why Trek has bought so many together and by spewing these disgusting cruel words out your not only showing the world you don’t understand the meaning behind the show, you also are destroying the thing that makes us all love it

Q: Is there Australia on romulas

A: yeah they have a down under I’m sure of it. No the accent can easily be explained with, Elnor left romulas at a young age, moved to a planet with different species and languages spoken so that influenced his accent

Q: Have I seen Elnor fan fiction and art?

A: yeah some of it has been really amazing! And some others have been...creative

Q: How excited am I to make home movies with my action figures?

A: my plan is to buy everyone’s, make them record audio and then film shit using the dolls and their voices

Q: Are you playing animal crossing?

A: I’ve preordered it because they’ve sold out here in aus, but in playing civ 6 to pass time and Mario party

Q: Did I get to try Romulan ale?

A: no I wish, I’m kind of hoping for a scene next year where Elnor gets drunk for the first time

Q: What character did I wish would appear in our show?

A: one word, one letter Q

Q: What’s my background have I been acting long?

A: Picard was my third acting gig, and the first project to release, so I have got some experience acting and I have previous work but it has either just aired or is going to next year

Q: Please my friend choose a charity you would like us to donate to

A: food bank

Q: Favourite ninja turtle

A: it’s always been Raph and always will be

Q: Do I know much about Elnors background

A: I know things that haven’t been mentioned yet, but also given his character is new and season 1 just finished, hopefully some of those things are explored

Q: How would o feel about the fan theory that Spock is my father

A: I mean, I’m not really sure, I can always shoot Ethan a message and ask him what he thinks too

Q: Which classic episode trope would I like to see?

A: mirror universe

Q: Can we look forward to more ninja representation?

A: is Elnor not enough? ☹️

Q: Were there any particular characters I drew inspiration from, any elves?

A: there’s a particular group of people I think Elnor might have been inspired from. Can I just say how cool it would be if Elnor is just cosplaying as an elf because Picard left him a copy of Lotr when he was young

Q: Would I be open to exploring Elnors sexuality in s2 and what would it be?

A: I am totally open for that, and as for Elnors sexuality, I’m not sure he’s only 17 he’s just left his planet and gone off on an adventure where he openly knew the success may lead in his death or others he hasn’t had time to figure himself out so seeing his sexuality explored would be amazing

Q: What stories did you hear about working on precious trek series from the OG actors?

A; So we found out Michael Dorn used to muddle his lines up because he was normally the last close up of the day. They used to put bets on to see how many takes he’d have to do. All I must add in very fun spirits nothing ever malicious or mean

Q: My long term career goals

A: id like to keep pursuing more roles I’m acting, I’m a big writer and have some projects I’m looking at getting created but right now I’d say I’m just here to learn and grow

Q: What do I write?

A: right now I’m working on three screenplays and two pilots most of the stuff I’ve written is just sitting on my hard drive just waiting to be used

Q: Ever fried an egg, buttered and vegemite'd some toast and eaten it like a sandwich?

A: what I just read, scared the crap out of me, I love vegemite but the most I’ll do is add cheese to it

Q: What is one of my favourite stories about s1

A: Jeri Ryan and I had a scene together in the borg cube (what a queen she made!) it was shooting at night and I think it was the final shot of the day, we couldn’t keep a straight face and just laughed through about fifteen takes

Q: Are you a big fan of fandom besides Trek?

A: Star Wars, lotr, the magician series Raymond e feist, a song of fire and ice series, avatar last air bender and legend of Korra (would love to play zuko) and of course Batman (fav Jason Todd as the hood)

Q: Could I see myself playing Elnor for six or seven years?

A: as long as there’s a good story that myself and fans will enjoy, but if it didn’t meet my expectations no. And also hopefully the writers and creators would want to

Q: My top TNG eps are in no particular order

I borg, all good things, tapestry, the measure of a man and all good things

I’ll also add I borg especially because it’s just cool seeing where Hugh began and how he ended up

Q: How did I land the role of Elnor?

A: I was on a break from filming Fantasy Island (a movie based off the old tv show) and I was home for pilot season which is when they cast for shows, I had two weeks of daily auditions before I was due to fly back and start filming again, two days before I was meant to leave I got an audition for Picard, the script had a code name and Elnors name was Kbar on it, but I was told it was Star Trek. I went into the room and thought I didn’t do a very good job, then I flew to film and two days later I was told I’ve made a list of people being considered, after a few more auditions and a couple of phone calls from producers and everything I found myself on a plane to LA five weeks later

Q: Have I made friends among the cast?

A: no, we tried really hard to become friends, but unfortunately we ended up becoming a family instead. Everything we say in interviews about us getting along is all true and not fake. I’m the newest to acting out of everyone so I was kind of of shocked to find out that how close we all are isn’t necessarily how it will be when I shoot other projects, so I think we just got lucky or they casted really well

Q: Have the Picard people seen your memes?

A: yes I’ve shown them the memes from the page, I’ve shown everyone including Patrick we find most of them funny (some shocking)

Not shocking in a bad way

Unexpected I should say

Q: How do I feel about the ears?

A: I wore them so much they came up in my dreams, but they were the easiest thing to apply onto me

Q: Which non tng character would I like to see return?

A: I wouldn’t mind seeing the doctor

Q: The most relatable Star Trek character?

A: Look for me growing up it was Wesley, i just picked anyone who was the young one. And I grew up with my sisters and was always being told I’m either wrong, an idiot or just to shut up

Q: Did I have previous martial arts experience before the show?

A: I have a background in boxing which helps when it comes to movement, reflexes and just all around fitness for stunts. I didn’t have any sword fighting experience before we began training for the show however

Q: How do you think being raised by an order of women affected Elnor?

A: I think it gave him a healthy understanding of not only the strength and resilience of women but I think he understands not only gender equality but just equality in general and I think that’s directly to do with growing up in a sect of all female warrior nuns

Q: What is a type of meme you would like to see more of in the group?

A: I love all the memes in the group, I hardly like any of them now incase someone figures out who I am though ahahah

Q: Favorite recent memes?

A: See my comment below

[bobbiamorse]

the troublesome timeline

For basically the entire time I’ve been in the Agents of SHIELD fandom I’ve been trying to figure out the timeline of Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter, which is... difficult, to say the least.

Here’s what we know:

Hunter was in the SAS from at least 2008-2011 (Talbot references both an operation in Sierra Leone “three years ago” in 2014, as well as one in Basra, Iraq in 2008). 

Hunter claims to have left the SAS for a woman (who the audience assumes to be Bobbi, but I think it’s worth noting it’s never explicitly stated to be her). The actual year Hunter leaves the SAS is also never explicitly stated.

One thing that’s important to note: SAS recruitment only happens twice a year (summer and winter), and like many people, they have employment contracts in intervals of years. Therefore, Hunter would likely leave the SAS in either the summer or winter as well, whenever his contract expired.

Hunter and Bobbi met in the spring (Hunter mentions it was a spring night when he saw her on the pier), so it’s possible they met in spring 2011 while he was in the SAS, and he then left later that year. I would say his leaving time is no later than summer 2012 to make the rest of the timeline make sense.

At some point, Hunter, Bobbi, and Mack all go on a mission together to Dubai. It’s unclear whether Hunter was still with the SAS when this happened, but based on his complaint that he wasn’t given all the details about the mission, I’m assuming he was a mercenary - both because it’s easier to hide information from him when he’s a free agent, but also because I can’t think of a plausible excuse for why Hunter would be working with SHIELD as an SAS soldier without the rest of his squad. 

According to the wiki, this is when Hunter, Bobbi, and Mack grow close. I’m doubting the wiki’s assertion on this. From what I recall, the mission in Dubai is mentioned and Hunter’s dislike for being kept in the dark is established, but considering my assumption Hunter is already a mercenary at this point, he and Bobbi would have to be considerably close.

Hunter and Mack knew each other and were friends for at least a year (Hunter’s comment about Mack eating quinoa for a year because of his ex), though likely longer. This fits in with the timeline if the mission in Dubai happens immediately after Hunter leaves the SAS (or even if it’s delayed by a few months), since it would put them as friends from 2011/2012 onwards - plenty of time for them to have known each other for over a year as of the s2, which takes place in 2014-2015.

Bobbi and Hunter are divorced by the time the HYDRA uprising occurs and Bobbi and co. make their stand on the Iliad. Izzy and Hunter are in contact at this point - Bobbi knows Izzy will be able to get the Franny’s Saloon keychain to Hunter. 

The MCU wiki claims the HYDRA uprising took place in winter of 2014, but CA:TWS and the last episodes of s1 of AOS were both released in spring of 2014, so... I think the wiki is wrong there.

Izzy tells Bobbi Hunter is going to be pissed, insinuating he still has romantic feelings for her. That, coupled with the fact Bobbi was still carrying around a romantic token of hers and Hunters, leads me to believe the divorce was rather recent at this point - possibly even that taking a position on the Iliad was Bobbi’s rebound from Hunter.

Altogether, this means Hunter and Bobbi’s romantic relationship likely took place from spring 2011 - winter of 2013 or spring of 2014. In that time they met, fell in love, married, and were divorced. 

I’m willing to entertain arguments that Bobbi and Hunter met in spring 2010 and Hunter didn’t leave the SAS until 2011 because he was waiting for their relationship to be more “serious”... but I honestly can’t see a feasible way for a special forces officer and a SHIELD agent to build a relationship while both on active duty, so I think it’s more likely Hunter and Bobbi met and Hunter decided to leave the SAS to make it easier for him to pursue his relationship with Bobbi (though I don’t buy that was his sole reason for leaving).

This still leaves many questions unanswered, including, but not limited to:

When did Mack and Bobbi meet - was it at Dubai, or before?

How long did Bobbi and Hunter date before they got married? How long then was their marriage? They only had 2.5-3 years by my timeline to meet, fall in love, date, marry, and divorce, so that’s a tight squeeze (especially when you consider Bobbi’s trust issues).

How does Izzy fit into this timeline? When did she meet Bobbi, and when did Bobbi introduce her to Hunter?

Can we even trust the goddamn MCU wiki?

[kuronekonerochan]

Cdramas I enjoyed and ranty rambles... (spoilers)

Apparently I have a new favorite cdrama ML type, and it's genius mastermind bastard on a scheming backstabbing world that is likely created by the same novel or scriptwriter. Ning Que (Ever Night), Fang Xian (Joy of Life) and Zhong Xin (Young Blood) are a joy to watch and I loved these dramas on the same "spirit" and their characters. 

All these dramas had stronger and weaker points, if I could pick and choose, I liked the world and ruthlessness of NQ from EN S1, the OTP that is NQ and SS and the Us against the World vibe, plus the incredible soundtrack and the breathtaking panoramic shots, but S2 was such a production mess...it’s a pity bc I loved the theological turn of the novel and it doesn’t seem likely that after that trainwreck of s2 we’ll get a s3 to end the story (although yes, I admit it would always be difficult to translate to screen from where s1 ends in the book onward bc it’s such a drastic change).  Having read the novel, it was funny to see people reacting to the events of s2. 

The shift in the focus of the drama from the traditional wuxia, young martial arts lead and his wifey traveling the world, encountering new allies and foes and getting powered up, to religious and spiritual journey about the meaning of life, god, the world and different ideologies clashing in both literal fights and discussions as well as physical manifestations of divinity, mixed in with human subversion of values for petty personal goals...well although people seem understandably confused and not very happy about this 180º thematic turn, it’s not what they hated about the new season. From the comments I saw, what most ppl couldn’t stand were the same things ppl who read and liked the novel also hated: the horrible pacing, some of the cast changes that failed to convey the feeling that they were the same characters, and even though the budget was evidently lower than s1, the choices made where 80% of the scenes were pointless carriage shots, meeting shots, and most pointless of all Long Qing riding horses. Endless set ups of people talking boringly and then when the event that all that talk was leading up to happened, it was off screen and the result was told by some character in a conversation. You couldn’t care less about Tang and the war because all the characters that lived there and could die, like SS’s friends from the brothel, the gang, and even the generic ppl on the streets, none of this was shown...only 2 or 3 ppl talking alone somewhere at a time, talking about events that the viewer would never see. And it was confusing. I read the novel and even so I could barely follow what was happening (they did change a bunch of stuff). Enemies from 2 episodes ago were now allies and they were asking favors without any explanation and key plot points of main story arcs like Ye Hong Yu’s were just thrown out so casually it didn’t even register for me that THAT was happening.  The whole Haitian part was also a mess. It was one of those concepts that is indeed hard to translate to screen, but as they did the whole SangSang being present but powerless thing well, the casting of Haitian was a fail. She was supposed to be an uncaring, poker faced goddess, but she also had to have a presence that made her feel powerful and frightening. This lifeless doll couldn't scare a fly, so the whole thing just felt pathetic and weird(er). (Also in the novel there’s this intense mental fight thing going on between her and NQ where she hardcore tortures him and slashes his d*ck off and he in turn keeps torturing her with erotic dreams and all this bc the natal bond means they can read each others minds and can’t keep each other out even if they wanted so it’s a constant exhausting mindgame between them. The drama tried to include some of that in like 2 eps near the end, but toning it down bc of rating and taking the mindreading concept out of it made it very disappointing to watch).

I love the witty sarcastic humor of Joy of Life, I’m not into tragic period cdramas but after so much cheesy lazy slapstick  wuxia/xanxia dramas, one with the intelligent, non-stop sarcastic humorous dialogue and an ensemble of god damn talented actors, especially the older cast, headed by an absolutely brilliant performance by the main lead and a script and plot that is compelling, fast paced and never misses a beat...well this is a true gem and one of the best executed cdramas, on every aspect from technical aspects to directing to acting, that I have ever seen. I usually don’t like palace dramas, and this is not one of those, it is adventure and family and transmigration and a lot more, but it retains the core elements of those palace dramas, which is the scheming politics, the intrigue and the constant tension of being surrounded by enemies by all sides and having to mind every word and action because a single faux pas will get him killed. It’s in line with the kind of cnovels I love and would like to see drama adaptations for like Husband Be a Gentleman or Golden Stage, which isn’t much of a surprise since this is also a novel adaptation.

 It is nearly perfect imo, but the harem aspect (even if tuned down from the novel) still drags it down and the (main) FL is a bore and honestly the least interesting of all the females in the drama (it doesn’t help that ZRY has better chemistry with one of the other actresses, which in the novel, since his character hits ALL of them, it would be fine, here, meh). This is also one of the rare situations where I like the drama better than the book (even with the issues regarding the lack of chemistry with the FL), bc Fang Xian in the novel is scarily ruthless...it’s the same author as Nightfall (aka Ever Night), but NQ is likable because of his bond to SangSang, the irrationality of the persecution they face from the zealots,  and also the world, despite being harsh, features loyalty and unconditional love in the members of the Academy, for example, that make all the anti-hero/antagonist traits more bearable. FX in Joy of Life it’s a much more cynical and cunning character, scary even, and the environment is a pit of backstabbing snakes. He is the hero bc he’s the main character, but from any other perspective he can easily be the villain. Add to that my distaste of harem and him getting it on with like 6 or so ladies (to give them credit some of them are pretty awesome characters), the novel just wasn’t for me. But ZRY as FX? He’s just so cheeky and likable, and this drama has an amazing supporting cast. I enjoy watching them all interact with each other.  I’m glad it’s getting a season 2 and so looking forward to it.

Young Blood I didn't even like that much in the beginning, it started out interesting but confusing and some of the cast (both acting and characters) were kind of weak, but it got better and it had a power couple as leads who were both smart and a joy to watch, plus the bromance dynamic between the smartass bastard and the righteous straight-faced dudes that Handsome Siblings wishes it had (that’s a whole other story, why HS didn’t work for me, but trust me, no offense to the actors in that, I found them charming in other things, but perhaps bc this script was just better, the boys here just did it better, it just flowed...I watched both dramas at the same time and it was weird thinking that those two should be what Handsome Siblings was trying to do). What annoyed me until the end was that out of the ensemble cast, only 3 of the characters (the smart ones) were given enough material to shine. Eventually the other 2 guys got their piece as well, but the girl from the second couple is unfortunately a waste of a character. They eventually tried to give her an arc, but she’s still mainly “the cute doll” and a foil for the 2nd male lead to have a romantic interest. She is given less screen time and she has no presence. I didn’t need her to be a “strong” woman. They do state that her strong suit is that she is so charming that ppl easily trust her, but I wanted to see her evolve, become smarter (the other two dumb-asses eventually get better from the beginning and grow as characters, but she seems stuck in her shallow one trait personality of “cute/kind”). This has nothing to do with the actress, she was perfectly fine, my issues are with the character and how she was utilized.

Unrelated, there is a weird thing in the last episode where a character just disappears, but not like, on purpose, it seems like the drama just forgot about him, or they forgot to shoot the actor near the other ones where he was supposed to be, lol.

Honestly, story wise and even in terms of production Young Blood is inferior to Ever night S1 and especially Joy of life, which was a tight drama, but since it ended up so much better than it started I really wanted to see what they could do with a 2nd season.

P.S: You know what is also my cdrama type? Genius himbo chaotic mess cutie pies, with “rage issue” but deep down caring relatives... and their “straight” faced besotted partners, I mean...

[silyabeeodess]

Tangled: The Series Analysis, Cassandra's Betrayal

Before I begin, I feel like I have to set this announcement, as it’ll be a big part over both why I’m making this analysis and why it’s necessary for those of us watching the show. I don’t often say much regarding this kind of stuff, but I’ve noticed there’s starting to become a repeating problem in cartoons (especially recent Disney ones, a lot of which are trying to mimic the Gravity Falls formula and can’t quite hit the mark).  That problem is when a show creates a “big reveal” and then caters to that point so much that it deteriorates other aspects of the show or the characters that reveal involves.  Sometimes, it’s on the fault of the fandoms for banking too much on them, but the shows themselves can be in the wrong too by sweeping other things under the rug in the name of those reveals.  When Cass took the Moonstone and announced herself as Mother Gothel’s daughter--as much as it was expected by a lot of people--this very thing happened.  Furthermore, this isn’t to make up excuses for Cass’ actions, just to give some logic that seems to be disregarded in the overview. Expect this post not to agree with a lot of mainstream thoughts and feelings among the fanbase, or at least the ones more-often vocally expressed. I’m calling out the elephant in the room, but I’m just not invested enough to join in a long debate either.  

For this analysis, I’ll largely be covering S2 for references.  While we do see Cass and Rapunzel’s friendship with its problems as early as S1 (like in Challenge of the Brave), S2 focuses more on the gradual decline of their friendship.  More than that though, it’s also important because both of those two were at high points of their lives at the start of the season.  Rapunzel was finally leaving to go out and discover a world beyond Corona, along with searching for answers to the mystery of the black rocks, while Cass had garnered enough respect from both her father and the rest of the guard at the end of S1 to be entrusted to lead the battle against Varian and rescue the queen.  She can’t called a simple lady-in-waiting anymore.  For all the talk lately of Cass playing “second fiddle” and being jealous of Rapunzel because of it, this meant that Cass had an opportunity to stay in Corona and continue to focus on her own goals.  Except she didn't.  She followed Rapunzel along on her journey because she was her friend and she felt it was her duty.  We can tell how much more respect she’s gained because, above the others in the group, it was Cass that Rapunzel’s father entrusted her safety to: 

“Not that I don't think you can handle yourself,  but I promised your dad I'd keep you safe, and I'd hate to lose you less than a week on the road.” -Cassandra, in Beyond the Corona Walls

There’s also already some tension with Cass and Rapunzel right from the start:

“Not that you shouldn’t trust the endorsement of three lifetime criminals, Raps, but maybe you should trust me too.  I just wanna make sure that we’re not losing sight of what we’re doing out here.” 

Cass had a goal and was on-route to fulfilling it, but placed a greater value in Rapunzel’s safety and mission over that. This idea would later fall in line with the following verse from “Waiting in the Wings,” which indicates that it’s not just people or circumstances holding Cass back, but some of the personal choices she’s made that have set her own wants on the sidelines.

“I hear my cue and yet I’m kept there waiting,  Know what to do, and still I stand there waiting.”

Even Rapunzel would confirm later in Season Three that Cassandra stayed with her for her by choice. 

“She could've had everything she wanted.  She had the chance to become a warrior,  but she chose our friendship instead.” -Rapunzel, in Beginnings

Here comes the glaring issue though, and some of you are not gonna like me for saying it.  Rapunzel’s not that great a friend to Cass or--at times--even in general.  Before you come at me with torches and pitchforks, let’s go over some points in the show that indicate this:

Despite all of her attempts at hosting a festival in Vardaros falling flat because her personal interests/tastes don’t fall in line with the people while clearly Cass’ tastes do, she gets petty over it.  Rapunzel may have thought she was being delicate, but she dismissed all of Cass’ ideas even though other people like Vex had already shown approval toward Cass’ ways of doing things. On top of that, Rapunzel was the one to suggest they split up instead of trying to work things out together. Yes, Cass stayed angry until the end of the episode, but she sure didn’t start it. 

Rapunzel’s always running off to do her own thing despite how many warnings Cass tries to give her in order to keep her safe, such as in Freebird, where she trusts two total strangers over her best friend because “it’ll be fun!” 

She often trusts people over Cass, who she’s known longer than many and was loyal to her. This issue of trust goes especially for Adira who--while being a good person in the end--does attack them during their initial meeting and for all they know could’ve been leading them to use as human sacrifices or toward any other dangers because she refused to be honest with them.  She doesn’t really start listening to Cass until after it’s already too late because she’d already shown she doesn’t have faith in her decisions several times over.

In Rapunzel and the Dark Tree, Raps uses a dark magic spell she knows she can’t control to defeat Hector despite the fact that she could’ve ended up killing her friends and herself as a result because she nearly did earlier. Cass warned her against this too, but remained by her side to protect her still when she didn’t listen. Sure enough, she burns Cass’ arm.

The point above is made worse in the episode, Rapunzel: Day One, because then Raps decides to blame Cass for getting injured and draws her looking like a monster as if she herself has a right to be angry.  (In contrast, Raps is shown to feel some--at least buried--guilt based on the events in Rapunzeltopia, but she never acts on it in a positive or healthy way.)  She also gets mad at Cass for not talking about what happened despite the fact that sometimes people need space before they can, constantly pushing what she wants and thinks Cass needs over Cass’ own choices until she loses her memory later in the episode.  Cass didn’t talk because she was ready: Cass talked to Raps because she felt guilty.  And why would she feel like she can talk to Raps anyway if Raps practically ignores everything she says? 

“But if she had just listened to me and stayed out of it,  this all could have been avoided!  And I feel like we could work things out,  but she refuses to talk about it!  Wow. Ugh, I didn't mean to make her look that angry.”

Last point that connects to the one above as well, Rapunzel is then made a total hypocrite for trying to force Cass to talk when she also needs time to sort out her feelings over Cass’ betrayal at the start of Season Three and does her own thing despite Eugene trying to be there for her--listening to no one, getting herself in trouble, and forcing people to come to her rescue as always.  

One point that I want to make clear is that I’m not saying these are bad character choices for Rapunzel: She’s been locked in a tower all her life, so it’s not reasonable to expect her to have the best social skills.  She hasn’t had friends until this series beyond Pascal and Eugene, so she doesn’t know how to handle a lot of situations. However, it should also be recognized that her behavior is often selfish and reactionary, and she hardly gets anything more than a slap on the wrist whenever she has to face the consequences of her actions--rarely growing from them and repeating the same mistakes time and time again. (Granted, this can also be pinned on bad writing.) She often pushes her values onto the people around her as well--with good intentions, sure, but good intentions aren’t synonymous with good choices.  By doing this, she’d taken advantage of Cass’ friendship and dismissed all of the sacrifices Cass has made for her sake.

“But I’m not that naïve girl in the tower anymore.” “I can take care of myself.”

Yes you are and no you can’t, you dimwit. You’ve still got a lot to learn, so get off your high horse and actually listen to someone instead of running off to dance over a cliff and picking up dark magic you were already warned about several times over. 

All of this can also sum up a great deal of why Cass feels the way she does.  She absolutely has a reason to be angry, but she still tries to do right by Rapunzel by staying at her side and continuing to warn her no matter how often she’s dismissed.  At that point though, even if she wanted go, she can’t because of her duty. Because of the promise she made to the king to protect Raps and because that’ll be her job still as a member of the guard. She can’t let her feelings get in the way or everything she’s done to be a part of the guard would crumble--not to mention she’d be working for Raps after she took the crown, so she’s effectively stuck.

I want you to imagine this in a smaller, slice-of-life scenario: You’re in your group of friends, but they never listen to you.  Whatever you want to do is set aside and whatever you say is ignored.  When they need help you go to them, but they rarely, if ever, return the favor.  You’re expected to give things up for them, but not the other way around.  You’re trying to push them forward while their dismissal of your thoughts and feelings only seems to hold you back.

You can’t constantly treat someone so poorly without them eventually getting sick of it.  Cass had Rapunzel’s largely one-sided “friendship,” a scarred beyond repair limb, people mocking her, and a future that seemed to repeat more of the same with no one ever taking her side.  The issue with Gothel being Cass’ mother and leaving her wasn’t strictly the cause of Cass’ betrayal: It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  

Now, Cass taking the Moonstone isn’t justified. Just because she’s been wronged doesn’t mean it’s ok for her to do the same and act reckless.  However, we can tell so far in Season Three that Cass and her emotions--pain, rage, and insecurity--are being manipulated.  She’s not outright malicious or evil as she doesn’t want to follow the “destiny” she’s been told to face by destroying Rapunzel, but now she thinks she’s got someone putting her first and giving her a chance to shine through the Enchanted Girl.  Maybe she even thinks that there’s no going back--the Moonstone does look like it’s now physically a part of her, again she’s being manipulated, and it would follow an arc similar to what Varian experienced.  

I’m not gonna make any guesses on if or how Cass could be redeemed: I just hope that, if she is, she’s not the only one apologizing like in Rapunzel: Day One. Cass’ actions are wrong, but there was a lot leading up to them.

[snailythefan]

a few days ago i found really old sketches that i did back in 2016/17 of my take on the ageswap au, and i wanted to redraw them! So, here they are- new and revamped~

my hcs about it under the read

for me, this au is “so what if Mob hadn’t had Reigen while growing up?” and also playing around with character dynamics. So that said! I imagine the setting being more or less this (beware, this is more.... fanfic-like ramblings than anything):

Mob wasn’t able to come to terms with his powers and how to deal with them, even less how to properly connect with others, so he just grows up into an awkward adult trying his best. He still doesn’t want to hurt others, but he has failed to do that in the past, so he has sort of isolated himself to prevent more... Accidents from happening. He works exorcising spirits, he believes it’s the only thing he’s good for and it allows him to keep a low profile. 

Reigen is pretty much a bratty teen that loves the supernatural and getting into trouble all the time. He does this to get attention, since he notices that everyone around him is special in some way or another but he... is not. He feels conflicted as to what to do about it, but one day he decides he’s going to become special by awaking his own ESPer powers and becoming the greatest psychic to ever live. He tries to awaken them by doing stuff like going to haunted places and trying to communicate with the dead. It’s on one of those occasions that he meets Mob by chance after being saved from a Real evil spirit, and then insists on becoming his student.

Serizawa is Reigen’s best (and only) friend in middle school. He’s a shy, anxious boy that goes along with anything Reigen says. He hasn’t awoken his psychic powers yet, in fact he doesn’t believe he will, but when he does he’s distraught by not being able to control them and starts isolating himself from everyone. [I like to think this development would mirror Ritsu’s arc in s1 as in, he starts without powers, then he gets powers, and that causes conflict between him and (in this case) Reigen until they can solve their issues]. 

Mogami has made a name for himself by exorcising evil spirits for a local ghosthunting tv show in which he appears to be a charismatic psychic kid. In reality he’s cold and bitter behind cameras, mostly because he’s dealing with his mother’s recent death in all the wrong ways. He has started to believe the world is an unfair place and slipping into a really dark mindset. Reigen is a fan of his show and really admires him, so when they meet he tries to befriend him, but it goes wrong, and of course Mogami makes fun of him for thinking he’ll ever be a psychic like him saying something like “the world isn’t a fairytale in which you get the things you want just because you wish for them with all your heart” [then rada rada, shit happens, he gets a haircut and actually ends up befriending Reigen. I still haven’t worked out that part lol]

Toichiro is a cold and pretentious kid with only one goal in mind: becoming more powerful than his father by any means. For this, he founded the ESPer club [a mirror to the Telepathy club] and started recruiting members, but only those he deemed worthy to join his cause. Reigen learns of the existence of the club and tries to join them, only to be rejected since he doesn’t have powers at all. After Serizawa awakens his powers, Toichiro feels impressed and personally goes to recruit him, doing the whole umbrella scene etc. He also tells him he doesn’t have to be “Reigen’s lackey” anymore since he’s a “powerless wimp“, and with that he makes Serizawa join him. Serizawa calls him “Sempai”.

okay since Shou’s and Toichiro’s roles are reversed in this, let’s say that against all logic, Shou still has the motivation of “I have to be powerful in order to protect myself”. And so Shou grew up wanting to be become a powerful man --> Bam! now he’s a really, really powerful yakuza that practically controls all of Japan (people don’t know this, but he rose to the top thanks to his psychic powers). He still has that confident and optimistic attitude, but he’s intimidating as hell when he wants to. His choices in life lead him to grow apart from his son (this is where Toichiro’s grudge comes from) and to consider himself the most powerful man alive. He’s in the process of trying to grow his influence outside of Japan. [Also I like to think his version of the “ultimate 5″ are the kids from the awakening lab but with their powers up to 11 lmao]

Oh Ritsu, dear Ritsu. He grew up scared of Mob and never really let go of his grudge against him. It also took him a while to naturally wake up his powers without help from Dimple, so his fear of Mob only grew more and more. Anyway, by chance he met Shou around his highschool years and since they both shared a mentality of  “I have to be powerful in order to protect myself” they just. became inseparable. It’s just after they meet that Ritsu’s powers awaken and he decides it’s time he stood up to Mob. So he fights Mob, all that bitterness towards him finally going off, and it all goes wrong because he causes one of Mob’s explosions and gets injured just like when he was a kid, except this time Mob leaves a scar on his face. After that, he just runs away from home and never comes back. He joins Shou’s mafia as his right hand man/bodyguard, all the while training to become more powerful than his brother in the hopes of one day finally defeating him. He doesn’t want to be scared of Mob anymore.

Teruki and Mob met in exactly the same way, however this time Mob did try to fight back, especially since Teruki was trying to asphyxiate him. It didn’t end well, at all. He was the one that got asphyxiated instead. Teruki ended up becoming an evil spirit, his uncontrollable ego unable to accept his death. After all, he was supposed to be the protagonist of the world. As the years passed, his spiritual powers grew, and so did his grudge against Mob. Mob, on his side, has never forgiven himself over the incident. [I like to imagine they meet again in this au’s version of a mogami arc, but the whole time Teruki shows up in an adult form, and only until his soul is put at peace he shows up in his real form: just a kid that used to be afraid of not being special]

Anyway, there’s many points of my take on the ageswap au that i haven’t “solidified” yet, but i feel like Reigen learning that he doesn’t have to be special to matter would be the focus of the story. 

God this was super long but i still wanted to write it down before forgetting my ideas again, hoping that in the future i can have more time to do small comics/straight up write a whole fanfic about this. I mean, hopefully lmao. If you read all of this then jfc congrats man, this was A Lot, and maybe hit me up if you have any comments about this?

[twdeadfanfic]

Life at the end of the world Pt37

Summary: Your life as a zombie apocalypse survivor. It starts with the Reader settling into the camp at the quarry, before s1 and then follows the show events and storyline, more or less, but with the Reader in it.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Warnings: Slow burn, violence, language.

Author’s note:  I’ve been itching to write a fic like this for a long while and I write it for fun, I don’t claim to be a writer so if you find you dislike this fic, please be kind and just stop reading. English’s not my first language so maybe there’re some mistakes, I apologize in advance. For the same reason, I can’t write character’s accents and things like that. At any rate, I hope you enjoy it. There’d be several parts to this.

Masterlist

___

There was a quarry full of the biggest her of walkers ever near Alexandria, some trucks blocking them, but they were dangerously close to getting loose, and they would head right to you whenever that happened, tearing the town apart.

Not to mention their sounds were attracting more and more walkers.

Or at least, that’s what Rick explained to you after he came back from the outside with Morgan, making Deanna hold an urgent meeting with all the Alexandria people.

As if the events of the day before hadn’t been bad enough.

As soon as everyone arrived, Rick began to explain his plan. John was there too, glaring from Rick to you. You were sat down under the windowsill where Daryl had perched up. He followed your gaze and he glared at your stepfather.

“It’s fine.” You whispered to him.

Daryl nodded but placed a hand on your shoulder and you couldn’t deny it reassured you. You lifted your hand to lace your fingers with his on your shoulder, your eyes trained on John until he retreated to the back of the room.

Rick’s plan was ambitious and sounded dangerous, you could understand why some people were doubtful about it or directly disagreed, but it had to be done nonetheless. Deanna agreed too, she seemed to be leaning more and more on Rick.

The idea was to herd the walkers away from Alexandria. Daryl would lead them away and there would be two teams making sure the walkers followed him in case some began to scatter around, which would attract more and ruin the plan.

As soon as you heard Daryl’s role, you knew you wanted to go with him. It sounded damn dangerous, the idea of him riding in front of a massive herd of walkers made you shiver.

Rick had other plans for you though, and he laid it out before you could say anything. He still wanted you on the lookout and he wanted a team working there all the time. You were experienced and were good at it, so he wanted you, along with Rosita, keeping the other people from the lookout team on track, telling them what to do and making sure they did a good job.

You nodded your agreement in silence. You didn’t want to argue with Rick now, when Deanna was giving him more power while some Alexandria people still seemed to distrust him and disagree with him. You didn’t want to mine his authority, knowing it was beneficial for your family.

“You know I wanted to go with you, right?”

You whispered softly to Daryl, and he gave you a nod and a small, tight smile.

The rest of the day went on more planning and for the next few of days, all of you worked hard on getting everything ready.

***

Whenever you weren’t on guard duty, you helped the others out there, digging ditches, pulling up metal planks, doing anything needed for the plan to work. You wanted to help and wanted to be close to Daryl, even if you didn’t have much time to talk with him while you both worked hard, it seemed that lately, that was the only way you had of seeing each other.

You were at it now, digging under the sun, and you were truly exhausted, so you flopped down onto the ground for a small break, massaging your sore shoulders.

“Hey.”

Daryl had come closer to pass you a bottle of water that you took with a grateful smile.

“Thanks.”

You took a sip and then made to pass it back to Daryl, but he didn’t take it.  Instead, he knelt down behind you and began rubbing your shoulders, his thumbs digging into your knotted muscles and you hummed half in pain half in delight.

“You’re overworking yourself.”

“Look who’s talking.”

You had barely seen him during the last couple of days, besides when you worked next to him. He spent as much time as possible helping Rick around and working on his plan.

“You’re at that lookout for hours and hours and then you come here to keep working.”

His fingers were moving now from your shoulder up to the back of your neck and you tilted your head down with a quiet moan.

“I don’t do anything in that lookout beside sitting on my ass looking from here to there, shooting at some random walkers from time to time, while you all are out here working your asses off.”

A thought suddenly occurred to you, making you snort.

“What’s funny?”

You turned around so you could look at him.

“My first times up in the lookout, I thought Alexandria’s placement was fortunate since there were barely any walkers around.” You explained. “Turns out probably it was because they were all going to that damn quarry.”

Daryl shared your humorless chuckle and pulled you close with a hand on your neck, pecking your lips. You smiled against his lips, capturing them for another kiss before pulling away. You hadn’t had much time together since he came back from his run, with all the bad things that had happened almost at the same time.

“I can’t wait for all of this to be over. I’m worried about you, leading those monsters...”

You admitted, biting your lip. You had seen how many walkers were trapped in that quarry and it might be the scariest thing you’d ever seen. The idea of Daryl on his bike in front of them, making them follow him, clenched your stomach with fear.

“It’ll be fine. Plan’s gonna work, we’ve thought it through.” Daryl tried to reassure you.

“I should have said something when Rick said I wasn’t in the team...maybe I’m still on time...” You wanted to be with him.

Daryl shook his head.

“I don’t want you out here when all those geeks break lose.”

“Neither I want you, but you’ll be.” You retorted. “And you just said plan will work out, didn’t you? So I’d be safe...”

“Y/N...”

“Yeah, I’ll stay in Alexandria...” You let out a sigh. “Just...be careful, please...”

***

You all had come back to Alexandria when the sun began to go down, it wasn’t safe to be out there at night, especially with people who didn’t really know how to protect themselves yet.

You didn’t have to go to the lookout until the morning and you’d hoped that would mean Daryl and you would finally have the night for yourselves, but as soon as you had stepped into Alexandria he’d gone to talk with Rick and to keep working in whatever he needed.

You were still sitting down on the stairs of the porch of the house when he finally came back, hours later. When he saw you out there, he reached you with two long strides.

“Hey...what’re you doing here? I thought you’d have gone to sleep.”

“I was waiting for you...I just...I’ve been missing you...”

“I know. I’ve been missing you too...I’m sorry...” Daryl said as he sat down next to you.

“It’s okay...”

You longed for the day you’d have time to be with him without having to worry about the future, knowing you were safe. You wondered if that day would ever come. You hadn’t felt like that since the prison, and look how that had turned out.

Daryl rested his head on your shoulder, letting out a tired sigh, and you kissed the top of his head before resting your cheek on it.

“You’re working too much.”

“Nah...”

His fingers were drumming over your thigh and you knew him enough to know something was bothering him.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah...”

You stayed silent, waiting for him to tell you what was in his mind.

“Rick doesn’t want Aaron and me going out to recruit people anymore...said it’s dangerous to bring people in, they could be a threat...”

It was kind of hypocritical, considering Alexandria had rescued you and welcomed you in, and your group had ended up almost taking over the town...which probably just proved Rick’s point.

Still, you knew that bringing people in need was important to Daryl, and no matter that the pass of time had made you harder and distrustful of strangers, you still agreed with him, it was the right thing to do. No matter you’d hate seeing him going out to recruit people again, risking his life.

At any rate, being a recruiter with Aaron had made him happy and no matter what, you wanted Daryl to be happy.

“Well...it’s Deanna who should be deciding that, she’s the one in charge.” You said.

“Is she?”

You couldn’t really be sure. In theory, she was, but Rick seemed to be the one giving orders lately and Deanna allowed him to do so. If Rick said you wouldn’t let any more people in, you weren’t sure Deanna would disagree.

“Rick listens to you...you’ll talk him around.”

Daryl just hummed before kissing your shoulder and getting up, taking your hand to help you onto your feet.

“Come on, Y/N, you’ve to sleep.”

***

Next morning Daryl got up early, he had to go to the quarry with everyone to review the plan one last time, tomorrow was the big day. You got up too, you had an early shift at the lookout.

You found your brother standing next to the stairs that led to the lookout. You were surprised not only to see him out and about so early but also to see him there.

“Y/N? Can I talk to you for a second?”

You froze, surprised and a bit in shock. You hadn’t expected him to initiate a conversation. You still weren’t sure how to talk to him.

“Yes...yes, sure, of course...” You babbled, nervous.

“Okay...so...” He seemed almost as awkward as you. “I don’t think you are actually bad, alright?”

You just nodded, dumbfounded. You’d been worried, wondering why your brother had decided to talk to you, and relief washed over you at his words. You knew Carl had been talking about you with him, and you guessed his words had been flattering enough. You owed it to the kid, he’d made your brother talk to you and that was something you couldn’t repay.

“Whatever my father said you did... the past is in the past, can’t even remember it.”

You didn’t bother to try to explain yourself, to tell him how John was twisting everything. Speaking against Chris’ father was probably not a good idea, not now when he seemed to be accepting you, and your words wouldn’t win against his, you knew, no matter Carl’s words.

You just nodded, swallowing hard, trying to stop your emotions from overcoming you.

“But...you can’t just come here and expect me to be your brother. I don’t know you, Y/N. I’m sorry.”

You nodded, looking down so he wouldn’t see the tears that threatened to fill your eyes. You understood him, you were a stranger in his life who said she was his sister, who he didn’t remember and hadn’t seen in years.

He couldn’t turn into your brother all of a sudden.

“Just...know that I don’t hold any grudge against you just because my father does.”

You nodded again but this time looked up at him, managing to give him a smile. He didn’t hate you, didn’t think you were evil no matter what his father said, and that was enough.

“Okay...okay...I understand...” Your voice shook ever so slightly. “Thank you...maybe...maybe we could have a fresh start, get to know each other...” It was taking all your courage to speak and your nerves were almost closing your throat. “Maybe we could be friends...”

“Yeah, maybe...”

Your brother shrugged awkwardly, looking down, and you hoped you hadn’t overdone it. You didn’t want to pressure him. He didn’t really seem that enthusiastic about a potential friendship with you and you had to remember he had just met you a few days ago and not in the best way.

But he didn’t hate you and was willingly talking to you, and for now, that would have to be enough.

“Just...I just wanted you to know I don’t have anything against you...” He gave you a soft smile that had you smiling like an idiot. “See you around, Y/N.”

You walked up the stairs to the lookout with a big grin on your face, feeling like in a dream. Your brother was alive, in your same town, you’d found him after the damn apocalypse...and there was a chance of you sorting things out with him...he didn’t blame you for not having seeing him in years...he didn’t hate you...even if he never felt like your brother, you felt you had got incredibly lucky.

You couldn’t wait to tell Daryl.

***

You hadn’t been up there for long when you heard someone coming up the stairs.

“Hi, Y/N.” Richard greeted.

“Hey.” You raised your eyebrows at him, confused by his visit, his shift wasn’t until the evening.

“I was wondering...” He began, looking a bit unsure and flustered. “If we could change shifts...I might have a date with Helen this evening...”

He looked very shy and you couldn’t help your chuckle. You weren’t Richard’s friend, you didn’t even know him much, but you knew him enough to know he was a good one.

“Yeah, sure.”

It wasn’t like you could expect to spend your evening with Daryl, he’d probably be talking with Rick about tomorrow’s plan until late at night. You couldn’t wait for all this to be over so you’ll have more time together...until he inevitably left on a run or to recruit people again.

You felt you barely saw him since settling in Alexandria.

“Thank you, Y/N.” Richard beamed at you.

“Enjoy your date.”

On your way back home you found Deanna and Maggie making their way to the front door, carrying some shovels and talking about their plans for a farm.

“Do you need help with it?”

“We got it, Y/N,” Maggie patted your shoulder, giving you a small but kind smile. “Go home, I know you’re not sleeping much.”

“None is.”

“Then go and get some rest,” Deanna commanded you.

“Okay...”

Back home you found Carol cooking something in the oven. You couldn’t deny the sight was still strange, not only electricity and an oven but also so many kinds of food, you were eating better than ever and all the neighbours wanted to get Carol’s recipes.

She was getting quite the reputation as a chef.

“Smelling good! I’m happy finally I’m going to be at home for lunch.”

“Then you’ll do the dishes.” Carol retorted with a smirk.

“Okay, fair.”

You chuckled and sat down in one of the couches of the living-room, intending just to rest for a bit without really sleeping.

“Y/N!” Carol’s hushed but urgent voice startled you from your slumber and you jumped to your feet.

“What?!”

“Be quiet!” Carol warned you. “There’re men in Alexandria, I saw them through the window...they’re armed, they’re killing people.”

“Shit...”

How could that have happened? Alexandria had walls, people keeping watch.

“Come on, we have to do something.” Carol tossed you a gun.

“I’ll help.” Carl rushed to join you.

“No, you have to stay here, protect Judith,” Carol instructed.

“Okay...”

You followed Carol outside, ducking and hiding from view. You could see several men armed with machetes and guns running around, and the bodies of some of your people.

“Shit, no...” You spotted one of them walking up the street that led to your brother’s house. “I have to go.”

Carol nodded, there was no point trying to argue with you about it.

You took the backstreet, trying to stay hidden but moving faster than the man, and you reached the back garden of your brother’s house. Carefully, making sure there were no men around, you made your way to the back door, knocking on it quietly but insistently.

“Y/N?” Your brother seemed confused as he opened the door. “What’s going on?”

“It’s your father in here?”

“No, he’s working.”

“Damn...”

No matter how you hated John, you’d hoped he could protect your brother.

“Okay, come on, we gotta go.” There was no way you were going to leave your brother alone there while those men raided Alexandria.

“What?” He was still looking at you in shock.

“Come on, Chris!” You didn’t want to be harsh but there was no time. “A group of men got into Alexandria, they’re killing people.”

As in clue, one of them turned around the corner, probably alerted by your voices, and he spotted you. He raised his blood-stained machete but lost time smiling wildly to you and you aimed at his head and shot him dead.

“Come on!”

You tugged at your brother’s arm. He was petrified, looking at the scene wide-eyed, but he recovered quick. You both rushed back to your house, staying out of sight, finding a man in your way that didn’t see you until it was too late and you’d already shot him.

“Carl! Open the door!”

When he did, you found Enid was there too and you pushed your brother inside.

“Stay there,” you instructed. “Take care of each other.”

You didn’t wait for their answer, already running towards some screams. There was a man stabbing one of your neighbours, seemingly having the time of his life and he didn’t have time to get up before you shot him.

Those men were crazy...

You couldn’t do anything for your neighbour but to aim at his head and close your eyes as you shot, your stomach clenching, and you forced yourself to swallow the lump in your throat.

You kept going and when you turned a corner your heart jumped out of your throat as you found yourself right in front of one of them.

“Y/N, it’s me.”

Carol uncovered her face when she saw you aiming your gun.

“Shit, Carol, you scared me to death...”

“They won’t see me coming.” She didn’t even stop walking. “You check the streets at the back.”

You nodded and kept going with your mission.

***

The attack didn’t last for that long, but it felt eternal. Several of your people had died, you didn’t know how many yet.

“Hey.” You found Carol smoking on a porch. “You alright?”

“Yeah...” She shrugged.

“That was a clever idea.” You pointed at her appearance. “Besides, you look kind of hot like that.” You teased weakly.

She snorted but gave you a small smile.

“I’m going to check on the kids.”

On your way there you found Aaron sat down on the ground of an empty street, surrounded by bodies and looking devastated.

“You okay?” You asked worriedly. “Where’s Eric?”

“At home, locked and safe,” Aaron said without looking up. “Look.”

He handed you what you recognized as the Alexandria pictures.

“That’s how they knew about this place. They found my backpack.”

“Hey,” You stopped in front of him. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was.”

You let out a sigh, knowing there was no point in trying to argue with him. It was one of the things he had in common with Daryl.

“Come on,” you reached out your hand. “I have to check on the kids and then we should find Deanna...”

“Get going.”

“Alright...”

With another sigh, you left Aaron alone.

Before you reached your house, you found your brother walking down the street and you rushed to him.

“Everything okay? Where’re you going?”

“Yeah...I’m going to look for my father...”

“Oh, sure...alright...everything okay at the house?”

“Yeah...Enid left though...”

You frowned, wondering where the girl might have gone, but you were too busy to give it much thought. If all the kids were safe, then it was fine.

“Okay then...I’m going to try to find Deanna.”

Your brother nodded and turned to leave, but he looked back at you.

“Thank you, Y/N.”

You found Deanna and Maggie back inside the walls, close to the gates, surveying the situation.

“Y/N, you alright?” Maggie ran to you.

“Yeah...there’re many dead, though...”

Maggie nodded, face strained, and glanced at Deanna who looked half horrified half dumbfounded.

“It’s that...” You pointed at a burnt body on the ground.

“Richard.”

“God...” You shivered at how close you’d been to end like that.

“How we didn’t see them coming?”

“Place’s big, too many dead angles...we should have more lookouts...”

You felt beyond guilty, you should have been on watch, maybe you should have been able to see the men and give the alarm...or maybe you’d have ended up dead too.

“We should start burying the bodies...”

You nodded and turned around. Your eyes opened wide in surprise when you saw Michonne making her way to you, and Maggie and you rushed to her.

She explained what had happened at the quarry, how the walkers had gotten loose before time and everyone had been forced to spring into action and carry on with the plan, but the herd had divided, some of them coming to Alexandria following the sound of a honk. In return, you told her what had happened in Alexandria, the brutal attack of the men.

Anxiety clenched your stomach as you wondered where might Daryl be now and if he was okay. Michonne didn’t know, the last time she saw him he had left to lead the walkers away with Sasha and Abraham. You felt Maggie was right there with you, Michonne had gotten separated from Glenn too, though he had said he’d signal his position as soon as he could.

Before any of you could do anything, you heard Rick’s voice from outside the walls.

“Open the gates!”

The sight was horrifying. Rick was running in front of a massive herd of walkers, the biggest you had ever seen outside that quarry. He made it inside on time and the walkers dispersed around, pushing at the walls and doors.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re okay.” You gave Rick a quick hug. “Carl and Judith are fine, don’t worry. Have...have you seen Daryl?”

“Not after he left to lead the walkers away...but don’t worry, they’ll take a detour and come back.” Rick patted your shoulder, trying to reassure you. “We have to keep this place safe in the meantime.”

“Okay...”

You were still worried sick, thinking about everything that could have gone wrong but you forced yourself to not panic and help around, reinforcing the walls. That wasn’t enough, you had to think a way to draw the walkers away, and when the others came back they’d need a clear path to the door. But for now, it would be enough to keep them out of the town.

You were still working around Alexandria, trying to keep your mind occupied so you wouldn’t worry that much about Daryl that you’d break down, when you caught sight of Maggie and Aaron sneaking to the back side of Alexandria, carrying a big bag.

“Hey, where are you going?” You asked when you caught up to them.

“To find Glenn,” Maggie answered without even stopping.

You knew it was dangerous and a bad idea, you should stop them, but you didn’t. You wanted to find Daryl too.

“I’m going too, I have to find Daryl.”

Aaron led you to what seemed the entrance to the sewers and you all got inside.

Maggie believed Glenn had to be trapped, hurt, or worse, dead, since he had told Michonne he’d signal you where he was. Her words made you almost cry. On his side, Aaron kept blaming himself, even though it wasn’t his fault, but you couldn’t find any words of comfort, not at that moment.

When trying to open a ladder you were suddenly attacked by a couple of walkers, and what should have been an easy kill turned almost deadly as the walker’s flesh kept tearing apart in your hands, preventing you from holding them away, their jaws snapping way too close to your faces.

You managed to finally put them down, though you were all more than a bit startled.

All your efforts proved to be for nothing, when you reached the end of the sewer you were in the middle of the massive herd of walkers that surrounded Alexandria. You could try to clear your way through them and then ran, but there was a big chance you’d end up devoured.

Aaron seemed to want to try your luck and you couldn’t make your head about it, you couldn’t decide...you wanted to find Daryl though maybe Rick was right and he was on his way back right now, and going out there was potentially a suicide.

Maggie surprised you with his negative to go, seeming to give up, also asking you and Aaron not to go too.

“I’m pregnant...” She finally announced shakily.

“Maggie...”

You knew that was what she had wanted, a family with Glenn...but now Glenn was maybe gone and Maggie blamed herself for not having been with him.

There was nothing you could say, no comfort to offer and you couldn’t do anything but hug her, Aaron joining your hug too until you three made your way back up to Alexandria.

That night you stayed up at the lookout with Aaron and Maggie, neither of you talking much, just hoping to see your friends coming back.

Eventually, Aaron left when Eric came looking for him but Maggie and you stayed there, there was no way you were going to be able to sleep that night.

___

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