#no worries kal <3

[hyunrun]

I HATEEE bibliographies like wdym i finished my research paper but i need to sit here and mind numbingly click through easybib to Actually Finish T-T

[the-kingshound]

Hej hej! Please dont worry about updating!! Honestly, reading your blog is already super fulfilling! I get really excited whenever I see youve posted on here <3 Like, tiny lore drops or RO asks or drabbles or literally anything, Im squealing like a cartoon teenage girl "Kal posted!.!.!" <33 Really, really love your story (stories, ig i love from the ashes we rise so much as well), and any smidge of info or content you give us of it :D Im obv excited and pumped for whenever the update might come out but its 0 rush! Please take whatever time you need for whatever reason! <3

I love you anon please accept this realistic picture of me while reading:

[mamawasatesttube]

the courage of stars

7.5k | kon-el centric post-resurrection character study | 1/3

Kon stares down into his tea. Lois’s hand is warm on his shoulder. “Kal,” he says, hollow. “…Do you ever… Do you ever wish you didn’t come back?” He can feel Lois stiffen, can hear both of their heart rates increase. They exchange looks over his head, but he doesn’t care enough to look up, shame sitting heavy in his gut. “What do you mean, Kon?” Kal asks. His voice is gentle, but Kon knows him well enough to hear the fierce worry, the protective steel beneath it. After so long being held in, the words all but pour out. Kon swallows a too-hot sip of tea that doesn’t scald going down. “I was made to be like you,” he says. “You died saving the world. I was—don’t you get it? Kal, I was made to die saving the world. I was made to die. And I did. So—” His voice cracks. “So why am I back?”

Sometimes, Kon-El dreams of dying.

The details vary. Sometimes, he relives the exact memory—falling amid all the rubble, bloody and battered and broken. Other times, it just happens again. Somewhere else, somehow else, but it ends the same: he’s trapped in the dark, coughing wetly in the dust, his body heavy with the knowledge that as the agony fades to numbness, death follows.

The darkness and the crushing weight and the excruciating pain are all constant, though, every single time. He’s weak, weaker than he’s ever felt, his left leg wrenched and broken so badly it may as well have been completely torn off for all he can feel it; he can’t lift his arms. A metal rod skewers through the lower right side of his rib cage, grinding against his bones with every agonized breath that rattles through him. He’s too weak to cough. He’ll soon choke on his own blood.

It takes a lot of force to impale a Kryptonian. Even a weakened one.

{ read on ao3! }

[deandoesthingstome]

Hall Pass - Chapter 3

Paring: Henry Cavill x Reader (RPF)

Series Summary: You run into Henry Cavill at the start of a two-week house-sitting vacation. You had some previous plans. Some were ruined by your now ex-boyfriend. Some were made better. Guess by whom?

Series Warning and A/Ns: Check out the Masterlist

Playlist: I will add to Spotify with each chapter.

Word Count: 4K

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

You almost squealed with glee but somehow managed to keep composure while you finished drying off as Henry emerged from the water with one giant step up to the ledge. You did not miss a glance at his sculpted thighs and well-rounded ass. You and your friends called him thicc. 

With the towel still wrapped around you, you slipped your suit off before pulling on your comfy sweater. The ride back would suck if you put your clothes on over the damp suit, so while Henry made for the pine tree dressing room again, you stepped into your leggings. You would just suffer with no bra or underwear, not a big deal. And you’d have time for a quick rinse when you arrived back at the house after untacking the horses. 

Henry returned and helped you finish packing the saddlebags before giving you a boost up to Butterscotch. His firm, large hand gripped just a tad tighter around your ass than you thought strictly necessary to help you into the saddle but you were not going to argue about it.

Once he was settled in his saddle, you turned the horses home. Henry gave a whistle and Kal came bounding out from the trees. 

“Oh my God, I feel terrible! I completely forgot Kal was with us. Is it okay he was gone on his own for so long?” you asked with what you assumed was a look of horror on your face.

“Well, let’s see. Kal?” Henry called down. “Everything alright?” Kal gave a sharp, happy bark and ran around, leaping and bounding with abandon. Henry turned to you and offered a laugh to lighten your concern. “He seems perfectly fine.”

After arriving back at the house, you and Henry untacked the horses and headed inside for quick showers. For a brief moment, it seemed Henry was contemplating asking you to just join him in his shower.

“I think we’d end up missing the appointment after all,” you mused, to which Henry groaned just a little but acquiesced and headed into his guest room without you.

For maybe the first time in your life, you made it out of the room, showered and dressed before anyone else. And by anyone else, you meant Henry at this moment, who was clearly still behind a closed door and you did not want to knock, afraid to intrude so you set about stoking the morning's fire so it would be ready and roaring for the massages. 

When the team arrived, you asked David and Alexa to set up in front of the fireplace. You were about to go get Henry when your phone chimed.

ready?

Yup! You?

on my way

Henry strode into the room with such confidence you were almost blown away. He introduced himself and chatted with the massage therapists for a moment, putting them at ease with the obviously unexpected circumstances. He asked if they could understand why he’d like to ask for their complete discretion about the service and that for their trouble he was willing to triple their fee. 

When both David and Alexa were done picking their jaws off the floor, he asked for their full name and cell numbers and sent them on in a text, which he explained was to his assistant who would be sending standard NDAs in just a few moments if they could agree to spare a bit more time to organize everything before they got started.

He turned to you with a small apologetic smile and you mouthed a quiet “No worries. Me?” to which he gave a slow shake of his head. With the forms e-signed and the curtains drawn to darken the room as much as possible, you and Henry took turns disrobing and climbing onto the massage tables and under the modesty sheets.

When Alexa smoothed her hands down your back over the sheet, warming you up and preparing you for her actual touch, you couldn’t help but think there were probably three people in the room right now just barely containing themselves over the fact that Henry Cavill was mostly naked on a table next to them.

You took some deep breaths to try to push that thought out of your head and just focus on focusing on nothing except the way the strong hands swept down your back again once the sheet had been folded down. With just a few more deep, long strokes you were fully and completely in your head enjoying the massage and you stayed that way, almost oblivious to the movement beside you, until you heard a low moan.

You were snapped back to the reality that you were barely covered and getting a massage next to Henry Cavill. It took a few more moments to let that sound sink away and out of your consciousness as you returned once again to luxuriating in the relaxing motions. A little over halfway through, Alexa invited you to turn onto your back, holding the sheet in a way to shield you from both her eyes and those of anyone at the table next to you. As you settled back into a relaxed, prone state, you noticed David bent down in a hushed conversation with Henry, but again, you worked hard to remove any concern from your thoughts and just enjoy the moment.

With the short delay at the beginning, your 90-minute massage had reduced to about 80, but you were still just this side of sleep when Alexa pressed her hands gently into your collarbones with a deep exhale and thanked you quietly for the time.

You blinked your eyes open and thanked her as well, taking your own deep inhale and letting go of the last of any stress you had been feeling about the day and the situation. As you sat up, holding the sheet around you, you noticed Henry was still face down and David was just offering him a closing press on his shoulders and gracious thanks as well.

“I’m just gonna go get dressed,” you whispered to Alexa, who nodded and began packing her supplies. When you returned, Henry was gone and Alexa and David were just zipping the bags around their folding tables, giggling and chatting quietly. David noticed you and cleared his throat.

“I just have to ask. I know this wasn’t the name of the person originally booked for this appointment. I would have remembered that. How is Henry Cavill in your home right now?”

You gave a gentle laugh as you handed the now folded sheet to Alexa. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, you are one lucky lady. This may be the best thing that has ever happened to me in my dull, short life,” he beamed.

“But you’re keeping it quiet, right? I would hate for something to get out about this and ruin anything for him,” you asked with a subtle hint of concern.

“Who’s ruining what for whom?” Henry’s voice reverberated through your chest as he reentered the room, now clothed in sweatpants and a comfy looking sweater.

“Mum’s the word,” David replied, motioning as if to lock his mouth and throw away the key.

“Well, may I help you out with your equipment?” Henry asked.

“Oh, lord, no. And have you ruin any progress we made easing those back muscles? Absolutely not.”

“Well, then, here.” Henry held out his hand and small stack of folded bills. “For all your trouble.”

“Thank you very much.” David took a sheepish peek at the amount before he let out a small gasp. “This is really too…”

“Exactly what we agreed to and you two deserve,” Henry interrupted. “I sincerely appreciate it.”

Alexa and David loaded their equipment and left with the rather large sum of money Henry just randomly had available on his person. You were amazed.

“Alright then, what say you let me make you a sandwich tonight,” Henry offered. “I’m sure not the anniversary dinner you had planned, but there is no reason for you to slave over a stove for me again tonight, and I think something light sounds perfect. Okay?”

You didn’t argue. You were so relaxed, and besides, you’d already used the sauce meant for tonight on dinner the night before. So there was no longer a planned anniversary meal available anyway.

If Henry’s mind was already back on the connection made in the hot spring, he didn’t show it. He was friendly and cheery as he crafted two tremendous looking sandwiches and grabbed some cut veggies for a side. He popped the cork on a nice bottle of white he found chilling in the fridge and poured two glasses before dishing a bowl of kibble for Kal.

You took your plates and drinks to the great room and Henry stoked the fire again before sitting down to eat. You made more pleasant conversation, completely avoiding the elephant in the room: that Henry Cavill had made serious passes at you earlier in the day and that he was likely going to continue his efforts once dinner was done and dishes were put away.

You were not wrong. As you closed the cabinet where you stashed the newly dried plates, you felt his presence as Henry stepped behind you. You turned to face him and leaned back against the counter with a smile.

“May I kiss you again? Now?” he asked and you just nodded, still at a loss for the words to explain how this was happening to you at the moment.

Henry took a step closer, caging you in his arms as he placed his hands on the counter to either side of your waist and bent to place his lips against yours. This kiss was more insistent than that at the hot spring, as if he had been holding back and now decidedly wasn’t. Neither were you.

You closed your eyes and let him taste you, relishing the feel of his tongue along yours. The soft moan only spurred him on and it wasn’t long before you felt him place his hands on your hips and lift you to sit on the counter. You opened your eyes to watch him step inside your thighs, spreading your legs so he could ease his way closer to your core, where you now felt the length and firmness of his obviously hard cock.

Henry pulled away, leaving your lips longing for him. The way he tilted his head left and bent ever closer to lick and nibble at your neck made up for the loss. When he found the spot he was looking for, you felt him smile against your skin as you let out another moan, louder and filled with want.

“The things I’d like to do to you,” Henry whispered into your ear with a low growl.

“I'm pretty sure I’ll let you,” you responded, then gasped as he moved your legs around his hips and stepped back from the counter. You wrapped your arms around his neck and shoulders, hanging on while he made his way out of the kitchen and into the bedroom hallway, where he paused for a brief moment.

“Yours,” you suggested, with a chuckle. “I’m not sure the twin in mine will sustain you.”

“You’ve slept in a twin bed because of me?” he asked, with a hint of mortification.

“It’s fine, please do not start apologizing again. Could we just…?” you nodded your head toward his room and pleaded with your eyes for him to keep moving you in the direction of assured bliss.

Henry laughed, then dipped his head to kiss you again, pressing you back into the wall behind you. He finally made his way into his room, stepping to the bed and depositing you at the edge before reaching for the hem of his sweater and lifting it over his head. You reached for him as he dropped it to the floor, almost touching his chest before drawing your hand back. Henry grabbed your wrist and flattened your palm to his torso.

“If I didn’t want your touch, I don’t think we’d be here.”

“It felt a little like I was treating you like an animal at a petting zoo. I thought I ought to ask first,” you admitted.

“Appreciated. You don’t need to ask anymore. I think we’re a little past that now, don’t you?”

“Maybe. I’ll still probably ask a few things,” you smirked, dragging your hand down his impossibly firm chest and over his belly. “Like, can I take these down?” You gripped the waistband of his sweats, fingers tucked against his skin and thumb pressing on the fabric. At his nod, you began to pull, using your other hand to nudge the pants down his thighs while you tried to avoid catching them on his engorged member. 

You did this all by feel, your eyes still locked onto his, watching as they darkened with lust. When you could finally tear your gaze away, it fell to his waist where you couldn’t suppress an audible gasp. You had an inkling, seeing him in those tight swim trunks and feeling him against you, but you were not prepared for the specimen before you. 

Henry settled a hand under your jaw and tilted your head back toward his.

“We’ll take it slow. Don’t worry.” 

Hidden behind those words was the obvious fact that Henry was larger than any man you’d ever been with and he knew it. Also unspoken was the truth that he had likely been with many women who were unaccustomed to a man of his size and therefore he’d developed a skill for easing into it.

He started by making a motion to lift off your sweater. You hesitated to lift your arms, suddenly realizing that as much as you would never forgive yourself if you let this opportunity pass you by, you were maybe not as prepared as you thought you were.

“Still okay?”

You furrowed your brow and sought the words to help him understand you were absolutely not rejecting his advances in any way at the moment.

“It’s just…”

“Intimidating?” he asked, with no judgment in his tone.

“I mean, yes, but not in the way you might be thinking. I’m aware of my initial reaction, but, no…it’s…” How could you say this without falling back into a pit of despair about your recent relationship?

“Would it help if I pulled these up for now?” Henry asked, bending as if to grab his pants.

“No!” You cleared your throat and laughed a little. “I mean, no, please. I realize things are a little lopsided at the moment, but…”

“Why don’t you scoot back up on the bed?” he interrupted you, stepping all the way out of his pants as he watched you shift and crawl backwards at his urging. You could feel your heart beat faster as he kneeled onto the bed and made his way to your side. You did not hide the way your eyes watched all of him. 

“You know, I did see you in that swimsuit. And I do have quite the imagination, especially with the right inspiration in front of me. But we have time. If you’d rather wait a bit…”

“That’s just it, Henry. I don’t want to wait. I haven’t wanted to wait from the moment you got into your car and followed me back here yesterday. It’s just, well, you’re you and I’m me and, well it’s been a while, okay? Not like ‘years' a while, but certainly months…” God, this was bordering on humiliating again. You remembered that even when Jeremy had made it home from work trips, he’d ignored that aspect of your relationship. But you didn’t want to say his name again or even mention it in the current situation. What a fucking mood killer.

“How about I first tell you that how hard I am for you right now is exactly how hard I was thinking about you naked on that table next to me? It’s why I convinced David that all I cared about was a shoulder and back massage. I think I disappointed him a little.”

Your eyes went wide at the admission and you smiled affectionately. “You most certainly did not disappoint him.”

“Still nervous?” he asked, and you gave a small nod in return. “Then how about I just kiss you again for a bit?” Henry offered, propped on one elbow and the other hand on your hip. You nodded again as he leaned in and proceeded to kiss you with a skill you’d only experienced once before in your life and that was a few hours ago in a natural hot spring. 

The man was adept, there was no denying it. He nibbled softly at each lip, eased his tongue inside to open your mouth wider, slid his hand up your side to caress your neck and hold you in place while he launched into the sweetest assault possible.

His touch lit you on fire and his kiss had you moaning for more. More of his kiss. More of his caress. More of him. Minutes passed with his mouth on yours and you almost forgot for the time that Henry Cavill was naked in your bed while you were decidedly not. When he pulled away, dragging your bottom lip with him for a brief moment, your whimper made him chuckle.

“Feeling better?”

“Not now that you've stopped kissing me again, no” you answered with a small pout.

“Oh, I’m definitely going to keep kissing you, but what do you say we even the field here a bit? Up for it?”

You nodded with a lingering shyness, but vowed to just breathe deep and let him undress you. He sat you up and pulled your sweater over your head, dropping it to the floor behind him. He pressed you gently to your back again, dragging his palm down from your shoulder to your chest. Braless after the massage, you relished the way his fingertips glided over the swell of your breast and onto the nipple, palm molding to the shape and squeezing gently. You expected his mouth to return to yours, longed even for the talent of his tongue. But instead he dipped his head to capture your other breast in his lips, tongue circling the pebble and teeth teasing a bite.

You had enough will to watch his eyes flick to yours when he heard the hiss, but once you were sure he was sure you didn’t mind, you closed your lids slowly and let him kiss you this way instead. So taken with the feeling of heaven you were floating toward, you barely noticed the way his body moved over yours as he settled himself between your legs, kisses moving along your sternum and across your belly from side to side.

No, it wasn’t until you felt his grip on the waistband of your leggings, fingers brushing against your hips, that you realized he wasn’t coming back to kiss you like before. He apparently had another kind of kiss in mind and your eyes flew open to beg him to … what? Stop? No, you didn’t want him to stop. Not one bit.

And he knew it, too. This smirk felt different, cockier, less cautious.

“Alright if I take these off too?”

“Yes. God yes, please.”

There was something about the way he knew what he was doing that made your apprehension disappear completely. He had no trouble removing your leggings and replacing them with his arms as he wrapped your legs around his neck and lowered himself between your wide open legs, stretched to accommodate the breadth of his shoulders.

When he put his mouth against you, it was an explosion of sensation. Warm, wet, strong, searching, specific. He held you open so he could drag the tip of his tongue slowly all the way across from one side to the other and halfway back again before dipping it low to tease its way just inside you. And you heard him groan, felt him take another taste before pulling himself away to focus as much attention as he could on your clit. But he groaned again and now this was all you could hear. 

His sound reverberated through your pussy and you clenched around nothing but the ache you felt for him. 

“Henry,” you moaned. “God…”

“You taste amazing,” he managed before returning all his attention to licking and sucking every millimeter of your nether lips. When he finished, he went back to running his tongue along your slit seeking any juice that managed to escape before finally wrapping his lips tightly around your clit, sucking lightly then flicking his tongue against it. 

He continued each and every one of these motions for what seemed like a million years, moaning against you every now and then. Every prickle from his beard and mustache against the tender flesh of your thighs only served to heighten the sensations. When you were done screaming his name he gently held your bucking hips in place with a large palm as he shifted and crawled his way up and along your side. The pleasant burn left between your legs didn’t bother you one bit.

You turned breathless to meet his gaze and leaned forward to capture his lips with yours, tasting yourself on him and reigniting the moans you had just tamped down.

“That good, eh?” he teased and you tapped his chest in fake protest.

“Please. Like you don't know by now how good you are at that.” You gave him another kiss before pressing your palm against his shoulder, nudging him to lay back so you could climb a leg over his waist and haul yourself up to straddle him, careful to set yourself away from his rock hard cock.

“I suppose that’s true. No use in pretending, clearly,” he winked at you and you laughed at how ridiculous the whole thing really was. 

“Do you want to show me what else you’re good at?” you asked in a suddenly low and provocative voice. Henry took note of the change and you saw his eyes darken again just before he grabbed your waist and moved to flip you over to cover you once again.

“Yes. I absolutely do. Will you wait right here?” He began to edge off the bed. “Don’t go anywhere. I mean it now, leave those legs exactly where they are.”

You were mesmerized at his insistence and offered no resistance, leaving your legs spread wide for him. You saw him bend over to reach for something in his bag and set to admiring the naked backside of Henry Cavill, here to fuck you already.

When he turned back to crawl onto the bed again, a handful of condoms spilling over next to you, you noticed the way he also smirked again, pleased to find you exactly where he’d asked you to stay. As if you could say not to this man.

Somehow he also produced a small tube of lube, which he also dropped next to the condoms as he moved to slide up next to you again, his chest pressed up against your side. He kissed you once hard as his fingers inched over your thigh and onto your awaiting pussy. He pulled away from your mouth so he could watch your face as he began to press a finger into your already soaking core.

Since he could see how good that felt for you, he went ahead and slipped a second finger inside so he could tease and twist and stretch you open, making way for him. He knew you were wet enough. There wasn’t any question about how much he’d made you come and how much wetter he was making you as he moved his fingers in some sort of magical dance inside you.

When you felt the third finger enter you cried out in a pleasure you hadn’t ever known before.

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s really good. See how well you're taking that?” Henry growled in your ear. “You’ll feel that and a whole lot more in just a few more moments. You think you’re ready for me?”

“Yes, please. Yes. I’m ready, Henry.”

“What is it you are ready for? Will you tell me?”

“I’m ready for you to fuck me,” you told him.

“Yeah you are.”

Chapter 4

Tags: Please let me know if you want on or off or moved.

@littlegreenplasticsoldier- you opened this floodgate. Sorry.

Anything: @mayloma @fvckinghenrycavill @geralts-yenn @sillyrabbit81 @kittenofdoomage @liveoncoffeeandflowersss @aireraume @kebabgirl67 @marantha @sweetdreamsofgelato @beck07990 @itsrubberbisquit @dedicated-to-mr-cavill @alexakeyloveloki @feelmyroarrrr @raccoon-eyed-rebel @angelmather1 @lizzystuffsthings @kingliam2019 @enchantedbytomandhenry @omgkatinka

Hall Pass: (askers and likers, though if you liked the teaser post and you aren’t here, Tumblr won’t let me tag you)  @crymeariversworld @tess-lecter-blog @codykosuckmytoe @casadutti @fefa-la-printcessa @kaylamontaniz @kemillyfreitas​ @urmom3sposts​ @alicasalime​ @florxdexcerezo​ @lothbrokcore​ @straightforwardly @fuzzyugly-blog @livesinfantasyland @thereisa8ella @coldmooninthedark @12dilucswife @ms-angiealsina @7eamfan7asy @band-of-brothers-memes @ms-betsy-fangirl @cavillsslut @ryuuhana91 @henryownsme @hawklin @yoongskook

[sradlightstab1]

ok so i did give carroll siblings cus ya that's kind normal for then time he has two an older brothers and a little sister so heres his brother kal he's like 14 years old and carroll was like 3 to 4 years old and this is before anything bad happened to Carroll don't worry its going to happen soon also kal is a lot like Rodrick from diary of a wimpy kid why cus i wanted to

also going to rip this off now kal dies

[devine-fem]

WHY JON KENT IS AGED UP.

I realized that people don’t actually know why Jon Kent was aged up so for the people that don’t know I’m going to explain why he was aged up; the real life reason and the story reason.

The real life reason is DC was trying to get ready with 5G Future State and Infinite Frontier and they were trying to do something new. So their idea was to try and take Superman (Clark) off the table. They also wanted a fresh Superboy/Superman to be apart of new teams they could form and fight in new stories in the potential future. (I forget what team and etc because this is from my memory, sorry) Brian Micheal Bendis than had come from Marvel to DC, I know he’s done the same thing in Marvel where he’s written for characters that are more on the side and made them more interesting which worked out but when he came to DC they made the mistake of letting him touch their most well known Superhero: Superman.

Brian Micheal Bendis had decided to make a story completely focused on Clark Kent and Jon was a casualty to this.

To remove him from the story they made it so Mr. Oz (a DC villain) was revealed to be Jor-El (Jon’s grandfather) who had survived the explosion on Krypton by being taken out of Krypton the very moment it blew up by an omnipotent. being called Dr. Manhattan then he appeared suddenly in his house and asked to take Jon and Lois on a space mission to learn the inner workings of the universe. You may be wondering: “Why would Clark and Lois allow this to happen?!” they wouldn’t. it’s very mischaracterized, Clark Kent loses himself in only being Superman and Lois Lane becomes a mother who doesn’t care about her family but only cares about headlines.

Jon in all this time got stuck in a wormhole where he was warped into Earth-3 (a universe where the Justice League is evil) and he gets imprisoned in a Volcano where he’s tortured and abused by Ultraman (that worlds Superman) along with that world’s Lois Lane who is like that worlds Superman.

Then they decide on keeping this in continuity, Tom Taylor/Bendis allow Jon to keep his tortured past and they let Jon explore his sexuality but it is not authentic… its just for headlines and sales but it doesn’t matter since the comic “Superman: Son of Kal-El” flopped.

Jon now doesn’t even act like Jon and he doesn’t have any chemistry with the characters he once did like Damian etc, his personality seems flat… This also takes away Super Sons and removes the option of us being able to watch Jon find his way as a hero and take up after his father. They wanted Jon to become the new Superman which won’t last because there's no way Clark Kent is not coming back.

I'm sure his age-up will not last long though and people will rightfully be mad because “Jay Nakamura” his boyfriend will cease to exist if he becomes young again which would be extremely problematic.

He will most likely be aged down because there's no one who likes this change so Im not too worried.

Over all its just a simple case of a writer writing for a character he doesn’t understand at all.

[techs-goggles9902]

Two Souls Entwined

part 3 eventual Captain Rex x oc

A/N: sorry for the wait! life's been... life. Open to criticism, as always! LMK if you wanna join/be taken off the tag list. And sorry if it feels rushed 😭

The second to last paragraph of italics is directly from Triple Zero by Karen Traviss and I don’t take credit for it I just thought it would be a cool addition and help set the mood

word count: 812 (apparently? I thought I wrote more)

The Mandalorian Medics helped Niva the best they could, physically. Nothing could help her recover from what happened; watching her father, her buir, die right in front of her, and she could do nothing. 

Kal shifted his weight from his right foot onto his left, his shattered ankle screaming at him. His sand colored beskar’gam reflects the sun just right that there appears to be a halo encircling his body, the light at the end of the tunnel for Niva. He waited outside the medical tent for a while with his arms crossed, pacing back and forth every once in a while. 

Poor girl…

The medic - Gale? - pushes aside the tent flap and walks out onto the firm ground of Central Mandalore’s terrain. Gale looks at Kal, giving him a small reassuring smile and nod. “Did my best, Skirata. She’ll make it.” 

“That…That’s great. Any permanent damage?” Kal asks, his brow furrowing. 

“None that I can see… You know, she has a lot of Cabur in her. Just like her buir, eh?” Gale grins, patting Kal’s shoulder, and walks over to the center of the camp, talking with his vode.  

Kal’s footfalls are nearly silent as he slips through the tent flaps. The tent is dim, a small lantern illuminates a small area by Niva’s bedside. A thin, portable, wooden floor is all that separates Niva’s little sleeping bag from the dense clay soil. 

Thick gauze is wrapped around her sternum, cords and wires hang from tabs on her wrists and chest. The heavy, cloying scent of bacta fills the tent. Kal glances at Niva’s half open duffel bag, which she insisted Kal take with them. 

“Why is it so cold?” Niva’s quiet voice fills the tent. Kal laughs, coming over to sit on the floor beside her. 

“We’re in Central Mandalore. Up north, ad’ika,” Kal says, the nickname flowing off his tongue so naturally. He fixes the blanket lazily draped over Niva. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Of course.”

“How did Buir die? He always gets into fights… Why did this one kill him?”

Kal sighs, “Gale, the medic, told me that his rib punctured his heart. You know, ad’ika, even if you’re in the safest, toughest box in the entire galaxy and you’re hit tons of times, that doesn’t mean being rattled up in that box can’t hurt you.” 

Niva looks away, blinking back tears; her long lashes clumping together from the wetness. 

“And why am I alive?” She asks. 

“That little necklace, made of pure beskar. The blast hit you between the collarbones, but that little scrap of iron saved your life, ad’ika.” That does it for Niva. Her eyes brim with tears, her throat begins to tighten. The heavy feeling of grief, loneliness, survivors guilt, all coming back to her. 

“Buir g-gave me that…” 

“I… I’m sorry, ad’ika. You know… I lost my dad, too. Before becoming a mando, that is,” Kal whispers, carefully adjusting one of Niva’s many curls. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” The two quietly talk together, Kal telling Niva about the origin of his three sided knife in exchange for Niva telling him about her necklace, the metal tree now bent at an awkward angle. 

“Do you have any other family?” Kal asks after a while. 

Niva doesn’t respond right away, only looking to a corner of the tent instead. She says softly, “No.” That’s the biggest lie she’s ever told, but she can’t go back to that village. An already unstable woman, now grieving the loss of her husband… Not a good mix. 

“Alright… You can stay with me, if you-”

“Please, can I, Kal?” Niva cuts him off, her wide green eyes staring intensely into Kal’s.

“‘Course, ad’ika. Anything,” 

Two years later. 

Kamino was damp. No, it was more than damp: it was nothing but storm-whipped sea from pole to pole. The air smelled more like a hospital than a military base. 

Niva, now 16, steps close to the window separating the corridor she and Kal’buir are currently waiting in and the vast chamber of what looked to be large toroids stacked on wide pillars. 

In the past two years, Kal became Niva’s surrogate father, showing his love by telling her to call him Kal’buir - Papa Kal. He could never replace Cabur as her father, they both knew that. Yet the empty, painful hole left in Niva’s heart was slowly filled in by the presence of her Papa Kal. 

This was a mistake. Taking Niva, of all people, here. We might not leave for… For years! Jango’s gonna owe me s-

“Kal’buir… Look at the towers,” Niva says, interrupting Kal’s thoughts. 

“I don’t see anything, ad’ika.”  

“No, k’olar. Closer.” 

Kal sighs and steps beside Niva, who’s nearly as tall as him, although that isn’t saying much since he’s shorter than the average man. 

“There’s… There’s babies in those tubes, Kal…” 

Glossary & Pronunciation

Beskar'gam - Mandalorian armor [bes-car-gum] (I think). Buir - dad/mom [boo-ear] Vode - brothers/sisters/comrades [vod-ay]. (I think) Ad'ika - little one, son, daughter of any age [ah-dee-kah] Beskar - Mandalorian iron [bes-car] Kal'buir - Papa Kal [Kal-boo-ear] K'olar - come here [ko-lar]

Taglist: @fionajames @sevdidntdie @will-is-silly @hellhound5925 @skellymom @dangraccoon @the-rain-on-kamino(<- maybe you're interested?)

dividers by @saradika

[bluenightcomedies]

uuuugh i keep procrastinating cuz i wanna make new refs n' arts n' all for us all but art slow so fuggit placeholder pinned abt the system better pinned with comm details, other accs, etc later :3 will reopen for commissions once arty verifies me! as a whole we're legally deaf and disabled! we can all draw but have diff styles/preferences :3 body is 30 (eugh i don't like admitting that) so am adult BUT we don't wanna be involved in nsfw art so pls respect that⭐ We can't get a formal diagnosis due to various real life issues, so we're not going to claim any particular diagnosis, but we can't exactly ignore the symptoms and stay masked forever. We're going to stay out of syscourse as much as possible, of course. 🌙 each alter has an assigned emoji so ppl can tell us apart easier if needed, use em as our tags too (when we remember) note- using they/them for any of us fine too!⭐

(doesn't include alters that rarely or never front) ⭐star emoji = Blue! she/her pls~ guess i'm the honorary host cuz i front most. uhhh... nothing rly too fancy i can say abt myself, i'm p affectionate and love y2k art and hanging out, i try to be as nice as i can >w< my art's usually sketchbooky, with thin lines and soft colors/shading!

💠this blue gem/flower emoji is Azure! she/her, she's kinda new to the system. looks n' acts a lot like me but uh... more childish i guess? very silly, very 'cringe culture is dead'. loves to rp, say silly things, n' cling to people. hyperfixates on Dot Hack (RIP) her art looks like mspaint x3 🌙 (Writing for myself since I'm available.) The name's Lune, hence moon emoji, and I use she/her pronouns as well. Formerly "Starry" but people kept confusing me with Blue due to her star symbolism. Used to be the designated mask, I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore... Sometimes I re-mask out of habit so if something sounds like me but wasn't marked as an alter, it probably is me. I have a flat tone and chronic paranoid anxiety so uh... Let me know if I come across as rude, I usually don't mean to. I enjoy doing research and organizing information, so I'm often the one to fact-check things or find guides and how-to's for the system. My art's very bold and colorful, and friends describe it as 'angular'. Clashes with my personality, huh? 🗝️key emoji = Sylverwynd! he uses he/him! he's super laid back and chill, i've never seen him upset or anything, but he's rly long-winded talks... kinda poet-y? he loves reading and talking abt lore and myths so he'll pop in if ur talking abt something he likes or if he has trivia 2 share! fave genres r horror n' fantasy he's still experimenting w/ style but likes drawing rly soft

❌cross emoji= Laceburner! it/its or they/them pronouns! tbh i'm not used to it/its pronouns but Lace wanted em; it's very uh... emotionally empty i guess? aroace, agender, can't socialize or empathize v well. it usually fronts when the rest of us are tired or in pain cuz it just ignores all that. likes 2000's scenemo aesthetics though which is surprising but ye idk how to describe its style, but it's trying to mimic emo art n' likes bright colored lines with dark bg/colors 🗡️the dagger is Kal! he/him pronouns, he gets angry and stressed abt things really easy but he gets too hostile abt it so he tries to not front too much; need to find him a way to de-stress n' chill out... when he's not mad at smth he's a good sympathetic listener imo, still swears and talks all rough tho hasn't drawn much yet but does rly harsh lines and fast/messy sketches when he does (and gets riled up by mistakes =w=;)

❤️heart is Weiss! genderfluid, goes by any pronouns, usually uses whatever they like at the time x3 has a hard time fronting but tries to. flirty, loves dumb jokes, overly confident... (we worry they'd get us in trouble sometimes cuz the shit they want to say) loves demon and monster-related stuff! still experimental style but uses bold colors and thick rough lines a lot, may get suggestive (forbidden from outright nsfw, don't ask >:c) btw ur always welcome to direct asks @ someone specific >w< we just might take a while to respond

[matchalattegreen]

hey kal!! are you okay? youve been inactive for about a week, did something happen? i hope you’re okay, im worried about you

hi. pls don't be worried abt me i'm alr

yes something did happen. i don't wanna get into too much detail right at this moment cuz i'm tired but if you want a story lmk and i can tell you guys abt it later

thanks for checking in, love ya <3/p

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Honorable Ones"

Kallus starts growing the nigglings of a conscience and also I never want to visit Bahryn ever.

Does this count as Friendship Fetch Quest episode? I mean... we do technically recruit an ally, albeit we make one out of a consistent former enemy, and he is important to things later...

Yeah, you know what, I'm counting it.

Geonosis looks gorgeous.

Oooooof SO many Death Star foreshadowings in this conversation. This is in fact where they started construction on the Mark I, as far back as the Clone Wars. Some time between now and then (Wookiepedia thinks it's between "Breaking Ranks" and now), the project was moved, the orbital stations scrapped, and the entire population of Geonosis genocided to conceal the project's existence.

Just, you know, your ordinary Tuesday for the Empire.

Hi Kallus!

Love Chopper getting to be an absolutely murderous psychopath again lolol.

Ohhhh hey, this cue is from back in "Droids In Distress" when they were about to blow up the ion disruptors. How fitting, lol.

Ezra is still Not Fond of leaving people behind.

He looks so worried. :(

Love how Kallus and Zeb stop fighting for a second when they realize they're about to crash. Matching Oh Crap expressions and everything.

Ngl, I felt that cry of agony deep in the recesses of my childhood.

(I fell off some parallel bars once in gym, didn't break anything, but my first scream? Sounded not too unlike that.)

Lol Ezra banging on Chopper. "Yes, we want him back! Don't be a sleemo!"

Jeez, how terrified Kallus must have been, stuck in the exact scenario that traumatized him so in the past. Lucky for our favorite asshole Zeb is the honorable type.

Yup, yeah, pissing his pants terrified. David does a really good job with Kallus this episode, it's one of the first times they let him show a bit more range and he does shrill and hysterical very nicely, if I may say so.

Kallus is so assured of the Empire's fairness and nobility, aww let's shatter that to pieces this episode. :D

Worried Ezra continues to be worried. <3

He is already shivering, nice little animation here. Also lol @ Zeb pettily pulling the heater closer towards him.

Ahhh the glowing rock of friendship. Love that Kallus keeps it after this.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" <3 See this mother hen behavior right here is why I stuck the Iron Squadron kids with him in my Mirrorverse series, Kallus being a fussy fretful Team Mom is hilarious.

Ah NOPE, nope, nah-uh. Nooooooo thank you.

The bonzami are actually really well-designed. They look like prehistoric dinosaurs of some kind. Definitely evocative of all my childhood nightmares about T-Rexes.

Kallus parroting the Might Makes Right and Social Darwinism of the Empire, leading to Zeb beginning to ask pointed questions.

Oh man there was a really good analysis on here someone did about Kallus's fighting style, how he's better at close quarters than distance/ranged, I wish I remembered who wrote it.

Subtle animation appreciation detail: That pinched guilt in Kallus's expression.

Oooh yeah, that's the good stuff.

Kallus launches into his tragic backstory, possibly to try and remind himself why he personally hates Lasats, rejustify in his head how it was okay for him not to question orders when told to use the ion disruptors--("They deserve it, they're bad people, they kill the injured!")--and the connection to Saw is not a coincidence I think, the writers expand heavily on the whole "It's how we fight that matters." and "The ends justify the means." conflict later on down the line. Numerous characters on this show like Saw and Thrawn and Kallus to an extent represent what happens when you go too far to fight those you consider monsters. I've always loved how firmly Rebels comes down on the side of "The means do matter."

Probably one of the reasons I'm still kind of relucant to watch Andor, I know fandom loves that "I burn myself for a sunrise I'll never see." quote but eehhhhhhhhh.

The exchange right after Kallus's story is a bit clunky, I get what the intent was--that there are people in the Empire who aren't cold and bloodthirsty and evil and the Rebels shouldn't write them all off like they're the same--but it's clumsily executed.

PPFFFFTTTTTT LOLOLOL. KALLUS CANNOT BELIEVE THE SHEER PETTINESS IN ZEB HURLING THE BO-RIFLE OUT OF THE CAVE RATHER THAN LET HIM HOLD IT.

Hey remember when I said I love David Oyelowo's hysterical Kallus voice? Yeah.

Zeb's prehensile feet put to good use again.

Ohhhhh yeah no that's absolutely a terrifying concept for me. Nope.

"Hey we didn't get eaten! Are we friends now?"

There's some debate in the fandom about the inconsistency of the stories Kallus tells from "Droids In Distress" to here. Some parts of fandom point to how he almost gleefully bragged about giving the order to use the ion disruptors and others point out that he couldn't possibly have been high enough in the ranks at that point to actually have the authority to do that.

I tend to fall more towards the latter camp, that he wasn't actually THE one to give the order but he didn't question it and passed it right along due to his prejudice against the Lasat, and only said what he said to Zeb to rile him up. As much as he hated Lasats though, there has been some guilt severely weighing on him since then, and I'm pretty sure it's partly due to his confusion over the Honor Guardsman giving him his bo-rifle. There was a note of aggravated self-defense in Kallus's voice when he explains to Zeb how it was given to him, like he's dispensing with an act and being all, "All right look here's how it really happened."

This conversation is slightly less clear but to me reads like Kallus is detailing his thoughts from the moment he'd been given the order. Like it's mid-battle and it's going harder than they anticipated and the weapons are handed out and he's told to use them and he realizes, "Oh. The Empire is not playing around are they?" and he shoves down his own potential qualms about it and just passes on the order.

Zeb, having had his character development, is dismissive of Kallus's attempt to explain the massacre, saying that it doesn't affect him anymore, basically.

They're so happy to see him. <3

Awwwwwww.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: Zeb's little elbow bump to Ezra's arm as they climb up the ramp.

Ohhhhhh man the behind the scenes had a little plot bit that they should have kept, basically it was not the Empire that retrieved Kallus from Bahryn, it was a scavenger ship, the Empire spent a paltry two rotations looking for him and then wrote him off, he had to make his way back to them on his own.

Konstantine doesn't even look at him.

:((((((

Kallus's redemption is a bit of a polarizing topic in fandom. Personally I'm very fond of it, I like Kallus as an antagonist-turned-Rebel, I think he's a lot of fun post Heel Face Turn and the many myriad fanfics that bridge the gap between "Zero Hour" and Season 4 featuring Kallus slowly blending in to the Spectres are among some of my favorites.

But it's also one of my major nitpicks because it's a bit lacking in legwork. Show👏me👏the legwork!👏 Like 90% of all writing problems can be solved just by expending some effort. Don't just have Kallus as the new Fulcrum offscreen between seasons I need to SEE it.

That being said, this is a mostly tightly written Locked In A Room type episode, well-paced, decently animated. Fandom definitely loves it and I'll still give it fairly regular rewatches since it's another of the husband's favorites.

Next up, we return again to Lothal for Force Weirdness.

[coavill]

Petrichor

pairing : Henry Cavill x Reader

summary : you forgot your umbrella on a rainy day, who saved you?

word count : 1.9k

warnings : fluff, kissing, usage of y/n, immediate plot change, gender neutral.

p.s : this is my first ever fic and english is not my first language so please bare with it </3

It all started when you accidentally met him on a rainy day, you forgot to bring an umbrella and there was no place to shelter so you were absolutely soaked. There was no way you could walk back home in this weather, without an umbrella or a raincoat. Until someone came to you, he was a broad, muscular man. You started to daydream of his thick arms engulfing your body but quickly gushed your thoughts away. But then you slowly felt him covering you both from the rain using his umbrella.

"Hello. Uh, do you need any help?"

You thought for a while before answering, "Thank you, uh can you hail me a cab?"

"Well I assume there's gonna be none since the weather is hazardous."

You spared him a look of disappointment and sighed.

"Well I'm about to go home, you can come over for a while if you want, to clean up and wait for the rain to stop, maybe? It's only a few blocks away." he continued

Your mom always told you not to trust any stranger, but this man.. you'd let him punch you in the face and thank him for it.

"Oh no don't worry, I'm not gonna kidnap you or something. You just look... terrible.." he continued, trying not to intimidate you.

"Damn right, sure then." as you wipe off the rain that wet your face

You followed him to his house and shockingly, it was a huuuuge one. A mansion.

He stopped for a while and said "Wait a second, I forgot to introduce myself, so unprofessional of me. I'm Henry" followed by a small chuckle.

"Y/N" you grinned and held out your hand to shake his, which looked massive compared to yours. He opens the door and signalled for you to come in.

A dog greeted both of you, it was an Akita.

"His name is Kal, I've had him since he was small. He's a good boy, don't worry"

You smiled and bent down to scratch Kal

"Hello, Kal, nice to meet you. I'm Y/N. Oh you're such a handsome boy, aren't you?" Kal licked your face as you laughed.

"He likes you" Henry said, smiling at the sight of Kal being that excited meeting you.

"Well um, settle in. You can clean up and borrow my clothes, I'll heat some soup" as he leads you to the bathroom and gave you a t-shirt and a jogger.

God this man is a pure angel. You felt your cheeks go red.

"You sure?"

"Sure."

You smiled wide at him and cleaned yourself up, put on his clothes, and then went downstairs to the kitchen he was doing stuff. You slowly approached him.

"Hey, Thank you. It really means a lot to me yknow"

"No biggie" his lips curved up to a beautiful smile.

He then set two bowls of warm mushroom soup for both of you.

"Oh please don't feel bad, I know you're starving"

"You're reading my mind, aren't you?" you chuckled.

You both ate together while getting to know each other.

"So, tell me more about yourself"

"Well, I moved here a while ago cuz I got a job as a professor at a university. I love to read books, write, and listen to music in my spare time" you explained

"Now your turn"

"Wait, so you truly do not know who I am?"

"No...?"

"I'm Henry Cavill"

"Oh my goodness gracious lord o mighty life"

"You're Henry Cavill????"

"Like, THE Henry Cavill???????" your mouth wide agape, trying to process what he just said.

"Yes, I am THE Henry Cavill..."

"I'm surprised, please don't treat me differently"

He loves it when someone sees him as a regular person, although it's only for a minute.

"Please don't treat me differently" you are awed at this man, the world doesn't deserve him.

"No worries, all good. I won't. I mean I don't know you well since I've only heard of you from movies" assuring him

"Thank you, so much. Um about me... where do I start? I'm taking a break from acting. I decided to stay here, to clear myself up, I love to play games, especially Warhammer" he chuckled, before continuing "Also do you know that I have heterochromia? I love that fact about me"

"YOU HAVE HETEROCHROMIA?????!;£!"

"Yes, I certainly do. Although it's not very visible, I have this brown spot in my left eye"

"That's so cute! I've always loved how heterochromia works and how it looks on people. I used to dream of having it when I was little" you giggled.

He chuckled and smiled as you both talked more and finished up the soup.

"Looks like the rain has stopped as well, I must go now"

You walked outside and waved to Henry and Kal. Kal barked at you, not wanting you to go

"Don't worry Kal, I'll visit you soon" you said while petting him

"Thank you for everything, Henry. I'll return these clothes soon"

"Don't worry about them. See you when I see you, Y/N"

You ordered coffee before going back home, smiling all the way home.

The rest of the day went just fine, but you only have Henry on your mind. His words replaying thoroughly.

The next day you washed his clothes and dried them up, after that you went to give them back to Henry.

You had just arrived in front of his house. You took a deep breath before knocking on his door. You waited for a brief moment before the door opened, revealing Henry with a gym t-shirt and shorts, his hair scruffy, skin sweaty. You gulped, stuttering.

"Y/N?"

"Oh Hi.. Haha, I just wanted to return these. Don't worry they're already washed up" handing him a bag with his clothes in it.

"Thank you for lending me them the other day"

"Oh, right. No problem, thank you for stopping by. Do you want to come in for some hot tea? It's pretty windy outside"

"Sure, why not" you felt like you answered too soon.

He moved aside to let you in before closing the door.

You sat on the couch, watching him boil some water using a glass kettle then brewed the tea. He looked so fine in that fit, you just wanna eat him up. You played with Kal while waiting for him.

He placed a cup for you, holding the other cup for him, before sitting next to you on the couch.

You both talked about your hobbies, food, and your interests.

"I live alone, so there's pretty much nothing to do" you tittered

"I see. If that's the case, how about we go to the amusement park someday? just us"

You gasped a little, maaaaybe a little too loud.

"You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

You nodded shyly and smiled

"Why not. Here's my number, text me about the time and location" handing him a piece of paper

He took it and added your number to his phone.

"Great, I'll inform you" as you both stood up and walked your way outside

"Thanks for the tea" you waved to him

"No biggie"

You were all effervescent over this dude, you went home and opened your phone.

While you were stalking all of his social medias, you suddenly got a text from an unknown number.

Unknown : Hey Y/N

You : Who's this?

Unknown : Henry, who else could it be?

You : Oh, right. Haha.

You almost forgot that you gave him your number. You covered your face of embarrassment and saved his contact immediately.

You : So, about the amusement park thing, does next Saturday work for you?

Henry : Ah, yes sure. 7 PM at xxx, I'll pick you up. Just send me your location

You : Okay, yk I can just go there myself. I don't wanna burden you.

Henry : You'd never burden me and shut up, I'll pick you up. 😌

You : Kay fine 😤

/sends location/

You chuckled at his texts, knowing he was trying to be a gentleman.

You spent the entire week texting & voice calling with him. Laughing, crying & comforting, or just some random talk.

The next Saturday, he did as he promised, he picked you up with his Aston Martin.

While on the way, he blasted some songs to go crazy together. Singing, screaming, little dancing, like you both have known each other for a long time, no uncomfy feeling filling the gap.

You arrived at the amusement park, Henry following you everywhere like a lost puppy. Until then you couldn't feel Henry anywhere by your side, you were confused and tried looking for him nearby. Suddenly, he came and startled you from behind.

"Henry! you scared me!"

He let out a giggle, grinning at me.

"Sorry! I bought us some cotton candies"

You smiled wide, jumping from happiness.

"Are you kidding me?! these are my favourite sweets!" you squealed before shoving a handful of the pink cotton candy in your mouth.

"Woah, easy there! didn't think you could be so eager!" his eyes wide.

"Don't eat too much, it's not salubrious"

"Okay Dad" you huffed

One of his eyebrows raised up at the new nickname you just called him.

"Did you just- call me Dad?"

"Yes, old man. Since you're telling me what to do" you giggled and jogs away. He chuckled before chasing after you.

You both then went on the ferris wheel, your hand holding tight onto his because you're scared of height.

Suddenly, there were loud sounds, fireworks sounds.

The sky lit up in colours, painting the darkness. You both watched the sky, still holding hands.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" you muttered

"Not as beautiful as you" he whispered, looking deep into your eyes which lit up with stars due to the firework's reflection.

You immediately looked at Henry. Your face heated up at the sight and words he gave you.

"You're red"

"No I'm not- oh shi" covering your face of embarrassment.

He laughed and pulled your head to lean it against his shoulder, while you were still covering your face.

You looked up at him, who was still smiling at you and then scruffed your hair.

"Can I say something?" his expression immediately looked serious.

"Of course"

"I know it's too soon. But,"

He paused for a while before saying

"I love you."

"I adore you, you make me the happiest man in the world. You're part of my life... and I'm so so grateful we met that day. I think about you day and night since then. I'm sorry."

You both went silent for one good minute after that.

"Oh Henry..." tears started to well in your eyes.

"Never be sorry." before pulling in to kiss his cheek.

"I love you too, Henry."

"I love you to the moon and back"

"I'm grateful I forgot my umbrella that day. I'm grateful I met you."

Henry's eyes lit up as he slightly smiled, and he cupped your cheeks, then leaned in to kiss you on the lips. You clung your arms around his neck as you both smiled against the kiss. The fireworks still being set off by people, the colours lighting your and Henry's faces. You both broke the kiss, desperate to catch your breath.

"God I love you so much." he said still cupping your cheeks. You both leaned in to rest your forehead against his.

"Oh yknow I love you more" you replied

"Wanna bet on that?" He smirked

"Certainly." you grinned, before resting your head against his shoulder, enjoying the fireworks.

[wizardofahz]

WIP game:

I am curious about "A Question of Identity" and "Monsters in the Mirror" if you please. Thank you!

Sure thing! You picked some angsty fics to ask about. 😈

A Question of Identity is a WIP in which tragedy makes the Danvers sisters do a lot of assessing and rebuilding of their senses of self. I suppose it's kind of an alternate ending to season 3. I've posted a couple of sneak peeks in the past (1, 2), and here comes another one.

Kara hears the entrance of the Fortress of Solitude open. There’s only one other person who can open that door. For a moment she considers leaving. She doesn’t have the energy to interact with anyone. She doesn’t in the end. She also doesn’t have the energy to care if her lack of resolve worries Kal. “I thought I might find you here,” Kal says from behind her. Kara doesn’t bother turning around, just asks, “What do you want, Kal?”  “I wanted to see how you’re doing and to ask if there’s anything I can do,” he offers. Many people have offered Kara the abstract “anything.” It’s a nice sentiment, but Kara has found little solace in it thus far. “There’s nothing anyone can do.” “Kara,” Kal says as if there must be something he can do but quickly pauses when nothing comes to mind. The name elicits a laugh from her that surprises them both. Perhaps calling it a laugh is generous. It’s more of an escape of helpless emotion. Kara.  That’s her name.  But what does it mean? Is she Kara Zor-El? Is she Kara Danvers? Losing Krypton had been traumatic. In some ways though, the necessity of total reinvention had helped. Kara Danvers held little of the trauma of Kara Zor-El, no hints of alienness, invisible by design. It had only been in recent years between becoming Supergirl and a reporter that she had started to let the latter seep into the former. Who is Kara on Earth? Who is she without Alex?  Once upon a time, Kara thought about moving to Metropolis to be with Kal. Alex had protested being left behind. But Alex is gone now. Kara could move to Metropolis. But all she wants is Alex back, Alex who made this planet home. “There’s never been a Kara Danvers without Alex,” Kara says out loud.  The non sequitur has Kal looking confused. “There was only Kara Zor-El,” Kara continues and, without realizing it, switches to Kryptonian. “There is only Kara Zor-El, who has lost her family, her culture, her planet. Kara Zor-El, who does not exist on this Earth. Kara Zor-El never had an Alex Danvers. Except that’s not quite true, is it? Because Alex did know me. All of me.” Kara only realizes she’s switched to her native tongue when she looks at Kal El, looks at Clark Kent, who has only ever known this planet and looks apologetically lost. “Do you understand anything I am saying right now?” she asks. There’s no malice in her voice, only sadness. “I--” Clark begins sheepishly in English. “Only some of it. I’m sorry.”  “It’s not your fault,” Kara says tiredly because it isn’t.

Monsters in the Mirror is about guilt and facing the consequences of one's actions. It's set in season 2. I do have an old sneak peek, but to be honest, it could do with more editing. Here's a more updated sneak peek.

In her apartment, M'gann watches Alex pace back-and-forth, full of unsettled energy. In the end, it's no surprise when Alex changes course and heads for the door. “You know what? Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.” “Before you walk out that door--because if you really want to, I won’t stop you--I just want to say one thing," M'gann says. To her relief, Alex stops with her hand on the doorknob. She doesn't turn around, but M'gann senses hope that maybe her words of wisdom will make a difference. M'gann continues, “If you want to keep running, that’s your choice. But I don’t think you do. You came to me for a reason. You could have gone to Kara or J’onn. You know they would welcome you with open arms at any time"--at this, Alex's head dips in guilty acknowledgment--"but you came to me instead. Kara and J'onn know guilt, of course they do. But they know the guilt of surviving what has been done to them. You chose me because I know what it's like to live with the guilt of what I have done. So don’t tell me I won’t understand.” Alex slumps. She rests her head against the door. She stays like that for a while until she finally musters up the words. “I killed my dad,” Alex says quietly. M'gann wants to believe that she misheard. She knows enough about J'onn and the Danvers to know how important family is. No wonder Alex has been spiraling. M'gann waits for Alex to continue, knowing a break in momentum may mean the rest never comes at all. “I always knew that I would do anything to protect Kara. I just... I never thought that would mean killing other people that I love." Alex pauses to take a deep, shuddering breath. "And maybe the worst part"--She hesitates again. Clearly what's coming next is the part she really doesn't want to face--"is that I’d do it again. For Kara, I would. What does that say about me? If I’m capable of killing my dad, then what won’t I do? Who wouldn’t I hurt? J’onn? My mom?”

And thus ends our double dose of angst.

Thanks for the ask!

[sweetestlittledarling]

The human wizard who defied a goddess and the formerly lonely halfling bard get some use out of the boots of flying sent to them as a wedding present (saving Gale’s knees in the process).

Art by: @ghostly-kal (please go commission them, they are lovely to work with)

One of the reasons I originally got this commissioned because given all the cool epilogue kisses I saw for tall characters, I was worried there wouldn’t be one for my halfling. I half considered making Finley a taller race but it just didn’t feel right, they are a halfling and always will be. Thankfully the game makers came through and Finley got the kiss and the playful nose boop. I am so happy, for both the kiss and the art <3

[mamawasatesttube]

I know we're currently on hater time, but this has been on my mind for a while, and my dc friends aren't kon-el stans, so!! Last week, I finished revisiting the JLU series, and the way Clark feels about his family, and Krypton has been plaguing my thoughts ever since I need DC to grow some balls and make an Elseworld where Kal gets to have a little baby superboy trailing behind him (Batman and robin style). I just get so sad over the thought the only ever person Clark got to share his love for Krypton with is Kara, and she leaves (sorry if this is a spoiler) to be happier in the future, so Clark just ends up "alone" again :(!! Maybe my mind has been poisoned by Saki's Baby Kon au, but I just want Clark to be able to enjoy raising his kids. I just want him happy :(!! <🦎>

we are certainly not on exclusive hater time!!! i love to be a lover first and foremost worry not <3

i've never actually watched jlu (well i think i saw like 3 episodes) but yeaaaaa... YEAHh.... i don't think that happens in postcrisis (at least, kara and brainiac 5 only had an implied romance that via some time travel fuckery, to kara, hadn't happened yet but to him had already ended). and then new krypton gets mcfucked and all that jazz.

but overall YEAH... baby kon <3 :) clark bonding with him :) i am once again thinking about @loisinherlane's single dad clark au it means the world to me and if you haven't read it you shoulddd hehe

i also sometimes toy with the idea of the common "character gets magically de-aged to a child" trope but with kon specifically because he never got to be a little kid before. i think it could be fun. yeah he'd be cute (ma kent bouncing him on her knee while he explains that all the planets and stars stay in the sky because "they have tee-tee-kay so they can fly!") but also. he would have NO life experience. that would be so scary for him and yet soooo fun to explore if done right, yknow?? and clark getting to take care of a kon who was experiencing childhood for the first time could be sooo good. the endless curiosity. the confusion over the smallest things. the absolute terror of doctors and medical settings. the lil baby ttk he hasn't got his usual level of control over. and so on and so forth.

[cienie-isengardu]

Laseema: "… Etain can’t take care of her baby, Darman doesn’t know he has a kid and I kinda lie now on a daily basis about the whole babysitting Kal’s grandson to Atin too? I feel like I’m betraying his trust but I can’t tell him I know who Kad'ika's parents are, can I? And what if Atin will hate me for this once the truth will come to light? Because Etain and Kal will tell Darman about the baby one day, right. They will tell him, RIGHT? And there is this jerk at work that won’t stop bothering me and can you believe that asshole was yesterday waiting for me outside when my shift has ended? I wish I learned how to use the knife like Atin proposed but I guess it wouldn’t help me much against that bastard; he looked like he wouldn't mind breaking my arm and, you know, do worse stuff. I KNOW, I should tell Kal but he is so busy with… whatever he is doing anyway and Jusik is on Mandalore with Fi, Ordo is already freaked out about Fi and Besany’s safety and I don’t wanna be a burden. I can’t even comm Atin because he is on a mission on the other galaxy’s side, ya know, commando stuff and even if he could comm me, I can’t tell him because I don’t wanna him be upset and distracted over something he can’t do anything about anyway. I couldn’t forgive myself if he got killed because of my problems. Pathetic, right Mird? 

Oh, did I upset you? Sorry Mird, I just needed to rant a bit but don’t worry, I will figure something out. I know what will cheer you up! What is the word Walon is always saying? Oh, right. OYA! Whatever that means Wish I know whatcha thinking right now. Something nice, I bet.

Mird: [HUNT HUNT HUNT HUNT HUNT...]

[part 2] [part 3]

[butterflydm]

wot reread: the gathering storm (chapters 7-16)

spoilers for the gathering storm

1. So, the themes of the previous PoV chapters centered around duty, and what you need to be willing to sacrifice for your duty. I’m kinda curious if this theme continues!

2. Nynaeve is worried about the approaching storm and being reminded of Moiraine by the Aes Sedai who is currently with her (because the woman is wearing a kesiera). Ah-HA. We learn here that Cadsuane DID steal the male Choden Kal and is still keeping it herself. I wondered at the end of Winter’s Heart if she was planning on keeping it after she stole it from Rand, and am not surprised at the answer. Anyway, Nynaeve is practicing for the Aes Sedai test and she’s doing her best not to worry about Lan - she’s done everything that she can to help him on his self-imposed task, and there’s no good in dwelling.

3. Corele was the one who essentially talked Nynaeve into doing this (by arguing that it would be a favor for Daigan, the Aes Sedai teaching her, who is grieving over Eben dying during the cleansing) -- Corele has been doing ALL the heavy lifting in terms of actually being able to get through to Two Rivers’ people so far in this book. Literally has been SO much more useful than Cadsuane at this point (she’s one of Aes Sedai who Healed Rand after the Fain attack too) - at this point in the story, bringing Corele into Rand’s narrative is the most useful thing that Cadsuane has done.

4. Oh! Nynaeve is thinking about the wrongness of the Might Equals Right system of the White Tower hierarchy. Haha, I love her comparison here -- “She herself was so strong in the Power - one of the strongest alive - that she often took little thought for her ability. It was much as a very tall man rarely paid attention to other people’s heights; everyone else was shorter than he, and so their different heights didn’t matter” (lol, mildly shading her boy Rand). I love this because Nynaeve is, Power-wise, at the TOP of the hierarchy (or will be once she’s accepted as a full Sister by everyone) and she’s looking at Daigan and thinking, it’s not right that she has to show deference to everyone else simply because she’s so much weaker in the Power. So true! It’s a BAD system, Nynaeve. Okay, Nynaeve is feeling invested in Tower Reform. That’s good! I will tuck that information away.

5. Nynaeve thinks of Mat as “Matrim” here but I will allow it, because it’s in the context of remembering him as a youthful prankster. This “Matrim” is in character. Haha, though, Nynaeve remembering Mat and Rand pulling pranks together. Sorry, Third Friend Perrin, lol. But Nynaeve thinking here about how SHE will always think of Rand as the village boy that she once knew and not of the fearsome Dragon Reborn is very sweet (though this thought is heavily tested during the upcoming conversation). That said, worry about Mat! You left him behind in Ebou Dar, Nynaeve, and then NEVER TOLD RAND ABOUT IT. grumble, grumble. Technically, I think Rand vaguely implied last book in a big group of people that included Nynaeve that HE knew Mat was alive and well, but I’m still annoyed that NO ONE EVER actually TOLD Rand that Mat got abandoned at the end of A Crown of Swords. Communicate using words, people! (hilariously, not thinking of communicating with people using words is explicitly one of the things that Nynaeve is annoyed with Rand about in this section; Healer, heal thyself)

6. Anyway, the Aiel have officially arrived at the manor. lol, “Min was in the tent [with Rand], of course” yes, god forbid the umbilical cord be stretched too far, lol. Honestly, it was such a relief to get Rand without Min glommed onto him in his last chapter, but I guess it couldn’t last forever. Though, as is tradition, she is just here to be Rand’s therapy plushie and doesn’t actually contribute to the discussion. It’s so weird here that Nynaeve thinks about how Rand is being silly for refusing to marry Min and yet DOESN’T think about the love confession that she literally witnessed between Elayne, Aviendha, and Min towards Rand back in Winter’s Heart. ??? (tongue-in-cheek theory: Nynaeve used SO MUCH of the Power during the cleansing that it impacted her memory and she no longer remembers that Mat was left behind in Ebou Dar, that Aviendha, Elayne, & Min confessed their love to Rand in front of her, and has lost all knowledge of the sul’dam secret)

7. Nynaeve thinks that Semirhage should have been stilled as soon as she was captured. YES. Great way around Rand’s stupid “we don’t kill women even when they are among the most dangerous people in the world and we would have absolutely have killed a man if he’d done the same things that she’s done” policy and would have been a good way to try to create some HARM REDUCTION. And they can even heal stilling... if they want to... so it wouldn’t even be as permanent as Rand losing his hand, if they didn’t want it to be.

8. Rand is trying to figure out how to bring peace to Arad Doman. That is exactly the thing that Moridin has tasked Graendal with preventing him from doing. Ironically, this is actually the thing she was ALREADY doing before Moridin pulled her away to tell her that he’s her boss now. She was already creating chaos in Arad Doman.

9. *resigned sigh* honestly, so sad that Rand is approaching this situation in terms of “how can I STOP Ituralde from defending his homeland so that I can make nice with the invaders?”. Depressing! Ituralde is literally working WITH Dragonsworn right now! I wish that Rand had been able to approach him from a “let me help you defeat the Seanchan so that you can help me in the Last Battle” stance. And Rand is just so... idk, weirdly certain that the Daughter of the Nine Moons is a person that is open to compromise, given that his latest intel on the Seanchan is that his OFFICIAL ENVOY to their ‘capitol’ to request an official meeting ending up being answered by one of the Forsaken. Why would he assume that the Daughter of the Nine Moons is even still alive at this point?

10. Ah, Siuan. I do have complicated feelings about Siuan. Or, I guess they aren’t that complicated -- I dislike the romance with Gareth Bryne, and wish I could have the rest of Siuan’s storyline but have the romance snipped out. I am hoping that the show will grant my wish. *fingers crossed*

11. Siuan is very proud & pleased of Egwene’s progress as Amrylin (even as she worries over Egwene in captivity), particularly of all the novices that Egwene has brought into the Tower with her policy changes. Over a thousand! Another thing that will inevitably have an impact on the shape of the White Tower to come, no matter what. All that fresh blood, all those new ideas. Siuan thinks here about how the world & the White Tower needs Egwene to be Amrylin. Also: important world-building note here, I think, is that though many Aes Sedai WORRY that the ability to use the One Power is being culled out of the species, we can see that this is straight-up untrue as the series progressed. It was never that fewer people can channel; it’s that fewer channelers are ending up at the White Tower as Aes Sedai. As soon as Egwene relaxes the parameters of recruiting, the numbers step WAY up even just in this swatch of space in-between Salidar and Murandy before they Traveled to Tar Valon (the same with Taim being able to locate men with the potential).

12. Anyway, though I don’t like the Siuan and Gareth relationship overall, I appreciate this conversation here where they actually talk to each other like grownups. That’s something of a breath of fresh air. Sanderson often approaches romances as... things that sensible people work out in conversation, lol, which is also not always to my personal tastes (...I like messiness), but it’s much less frustrating than Jordan’s Women And Men Just Can’t Understand Each Other approach (I don’t like stubborn miscommunication and silence). Which tends to mean, overall, that I feel less passionately about Sanderson’s romances that I do like, but I also have a much lower amount of annoyed frustration with his romances. NEITHER of them are what I’d call romance writers though. (my favorite fictional romance in a non-romance book for me is probably... ah, I am fond of Aral and Cordelia’s romance from the Vorkosigan Saga.)

13. Hmm. Perrin. When last we spent time with Perrin, he’d decided that slavers were okay as long as they helped him get what he wanted. I wonder if he’ll decide he has time for morals again now that Faile is back in his life. Ah, Perrin is trying to focus on simple, straight-forward work not to think about ~unreliable men~ like himself. Okay, let’s see where this train of thought goes. The question I have now is what, exactly, Perrin is blaming himself for. Is it what I would be blaming him for or will be it something out of left field? Hmm. Perrin thinks about how he should be thrilled to have Faile back, since she’s literally EVERYTHING to him, but something still feels wrong.

14. Did I know before now that Berelain’s main commander was named Bertain? It’s almost the exact same name, this is so distracting. Is there a law in Mayene that everyone must be name Ber_ain? Apparently he was first mentioned back in A Crown of Swords, per the wiki.

15. Balwer tries to point out to Perrin his flaws in selling the Shaido Wise Ones into slavery, a decision that pissed off all the Aiel traveling with him. He points out that even in this brief time, he’s already learned that the Wise Ones had been at odds with each other in the Shaido camp and that they’d been in contact with a mysterious figure who’d offered them objects of Power from the Age of Legends, which might be information useful to people, such as, idk, the Dragon Reborn. Perrin... does not care. He thinks of the Wise Ones as “given over to the Seanchan while unconscious, to do with as they pleased”. Yikes, Perrin. Yikes. Sadly, in character per Knife of Dreams, but big yikes. Yeah, so Perrin has completely written off the, you know, two hundred women that he sold into slavery. So... that’s a ‘no’ on getting his morals back.

16. “He wasn’t stupid, he just liked to think about things.” Perrin Aybara, you have spent this entire chapter doing makework to AVOID thinking about things. “liked to think about things”. HA!

17. Anyway, Faile has returned from murdering Masema scouting. Perrin just kinda watches her from afar for a moment. Then Tam arrives to talk to him. Perrin was kinda a total asshole to him last book so, uh, let’s see how this conversation goes. lol, wow, Perrin is still a complete ASS to Tam when talking to him about his son. “[Rand] seems to like scooping up kingdoms. Like a child playing a game of wobbles”. wtf, Perrin. That’s his DAD. First he doesn’t ever bother to tell Tam that his son is the Dragon Reborn and then once Tam finds out from someone else, Perrin just uses him as a dumping ground to whine about Rand.

18. Ah, Perrin has finally figured out that he’s a bad leader (not in the “oh no please don’t call me lord” way but in the “abandoning everything else and throwing away his people to chase after a selfish goal” way). ...and immediately tries to distract himself from the thought by throwing himself into more carpentry work. lol.

19. ...Perrin is under the belief that his wolf nose can sniff out ~noble heritage~. lol, okay, bro. If I recall correctly, you didn’t pick up on Faile being noble until she flat-out told you, but okay. You still haven’t figured out that Morgase is a former queen, but, sure. You can sniff out nobility. That’s definitely something that you can smell. Anyway, he figures that it’s finally time to head to Rand. He doesn’t think about Masema, his actual reason for coming out here, a single time (except to note that Aram’s ~heart~ was poisoned by him, but he doesn’t think about him in the context of Masema being the WHOLE REASON that he’s in this country to begin with). He managed to distract himself so much from his purpose that he has completely forgotten it. Amazing. Good thing Faile was there to actually do something useful, I guess.

20. Rand makes Ituralde give up his noble fight against the slavers invading his homeland. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Honestly, Ituralde was one of the very few high points for me during CoT & KoD, so this is extremely upsetting. Yes, Ituralde is working with very few resources and is stretched way too thin and every battle had the chance to be his last, but it just PAINS me to think of what he could have accomplished against the Seanchan if Rand were coming here to help him instead of divert him. Even now, he’s being clever by hiding in a stedding to blunt the possible attacks of damane against him. “The young Ituralde had often dreams of wars, of glory in battle. The old Ituralde knew there was no such thing as glory to be found in battle. But there was honor.” I’m feeling an emotion. Feeling kinda choked up tbh. I don’t blame Ituralde for taking Rand’s deal, but I wish that Rand were offering him a different one. Ituralde DOES get Rand’s guarantee that he won’t let the Seanchan have Arad Doman.

21. Oh, no, it’s so cute that Aviendha decides that complaining MUST actually be honorable among wetlanders because Elayne does it too, that’s adorable. This whole ‘doing make work for the Wise Ones and not having enough honor to even talk to the guy that she literally is mind-bonded to’ remains such a silly silly thing though. It makes Aviendha being in Arad Doman feel as pointless as the ‘useless’ work that she’s doing for the Wise Ones. Literally they have a one-sentence exchange here and then separate again. This is the first time Aviendha has so much as said ‘boo’ to Rand since she arrived, so I also find it very out of character that he just walks off (she was literally JUST IN DANGER from the literal Dark One’s touch turning someone into a lump of tar that radiates unnatural heat so “I have to stay away from her to protect her” seems like a very stupid excuse right now, especially if he’s stalking off to go have sex with Min, who he constantly puts in danger despite her actually being much more helpless than either Aviendha or Elayne). Just... I am enjoying Aviendha’s narrative voice here but am so frustrated at Aviendha and Rand being kept separate for literally zero reason or point. But Aviendha calling him “Rand” and not “Rand al’Thor” does affect my heart.

22. Merise flirts with Aviendha. Or hits her up for the Aes Sedai. I’m going go with ‘flirts with’, because that’s more fun. She eyes Aviendha ~appreciatively~ and admires how Aviendha ~handles~ her ~weaves~. I actually do really like Melaine and Aviendha’s conversation afterwards, where Melaine is trying to get Aviendha to realize that she IS thinking like a Wise One and needs to be able to admit this to herself, but I think the Aiel’s teaching methods here are somewhat counterproductive. But honestly, I’m annoyed at this random roadblock of “Aviendha has decided she can’t sleep with Rand again Honor Reasons”. It just feels arbitrary.

23. A month has now passed, as we go back to Egwene’s PoV. A WHOLE MONTH? That seems like... way too much time. I feel like it’s about logistics, maybe? Anyway. A Whole Month Later. One minor thing that is interesting to me is that Egwene shows here that she has learned how to channel THROUGH having mild doses of forkroot, so it’s not something that can be used to permanently incapacitate channelers even if they keep being forced to drink it. Did we already know that?

24. Fast-forwarding a month does mean that we can see that the seeds of Egwene’s planting have taken root, and more and more of the Sisters are treating her as an authority instead of a prisoner. Meidani (after having been taught Traveling) is able to lead Egwene to the room where the Black Ajah Hunters meet (since her Oath to them prevents her from telling Egwene what happened), and Egwene has a frank conversation with them which leads to a tentative alliance of sorts (once she gets them to admit that since Siuan was deposed by the bare minimum of Sitters and they know for a fact that at least one of them was Black Ajah, then Siuan was unlawfully deposed).

25. Hmm, the way Gawyn talks about the world ‘compressing’ during fights reminds me of Galad in the KoD prologue & reminds me of Rand... reminds me of men who are in a pre-channeling state, basically. Gawyn as a potential channeler? I also like this conversation between Gawyn and Sleete, getting a different perspective on the split in the Tower, from the Warder of an Aes Sedai who isn’t one of the big dogs. “Nobody made any good decisions that day. There weren’t any good decisions to be made.” Oh! We also learn here that Hattori (his Warder) is the one who reported back to the Greens about Elaida’s secret true orders about Rand (so that’s likely how the rumors got into the Tower), because she disapproved.

26. Gawyn giving me Trakand family feels: “Gawyn’s mother had always taught that the workers were the spine of a kingdom; break them, and you’d soon find that you could no longer move. This city’s people might not be his sister’s subjects, but he would not see them taken advantage of by his troops”. Gawyn continues to question where his loyalty lies -- he’d never actually CHOSEN to follow Elaida, he just hadn’t trusted Siuan or the way she’d treated Elayne or Egwene. And Gawyn finally finds out here that a. Egwene is the rebels’ Amrylin; b. she’s currently a captive in the White Tower; c. she’s being tortured daily; and d. the rebel Aes Sedai have Traveling. This is what finally breaks him from wanting to try to stand on both sides -- the knowledge that Egwene is potentially going to be executed (he has no way of knowing that this isn’t in Elaida’s plan) -- and he packs up and abandons the Younglings on the hour, heading off to find the rebel army and Gareth Bryne.

27. Genuinely still do not care even in the slightest about Semirhage’s interrogation. Gonna skim to see if there are any mentions of Merise and Narishma’s relationship tho. ...nah, no mention of them at all this time. It does sound like Team Jordan genuinely forgot about all the copies of the black a’dam that were mentioned at the end of Knife of Dreams tho, because there’s only one here in Cadsuane’s box of Shit She Stole From Rand.

28. I can’t believe that Rand seriously just passively allowed a whole month to pass where Aviendha was avoiding him while they were living in the same place and he was just... sleeping with Min every night when one of the other women he loves was sleeping outside and that he never actively sought her out.

29. Anyway, he’s in a dreamshard and has a conversation with Moridin/Ishamael. Knowing that Ishamael has been brought back to life as Moridin makes Rand wonder if any of the other Forsaken that have been killed were brought back as well. Moridin mentions (a deliberate slip?) that only those killed by balefire are beyond the Dark One’s ability to revive in a new body. So if Rand wants to ensure that a Forsaken STAYS dead, he needs to use balefire.

30. Rand notices that he feels more emotionally stable here in this dreamshard than he has in the waking world recently -- he talks of Lews Therin as “I” without getting the intrusive screaming and memories. “The pieces of himself fit together better”. This conversation between old friends who are also old enemies... I am liking this a lot as well. Moridin-Ishamael-Elan is just so TIRED during this talk. He is EXHAUSTED and just wants everything to stop. And that makes so much sense -- he’s the Forsaken who was closer to the surface of the world than the others. The other Forsaken are ‘technically’ thousands of years old but he’s the only one who actually LIVED for a significant portion of that time period. I am imagining this conversation happening with Rand in the show and just... if we get there, this conversation would just have so much great old friend-enemies vibes, kinda similar to Charles & Erik from X-Men.

31. Rand is having his nightmare and Min just holds her breath and watches from a chair. Man, the thing that gets to me the most about Min being Rand’s emotional support plushie is that she isn’t even good at it. But she doesn’t do anything else! She sucks at the one job that she has assigned herself! She then thinks about how she -- the person who has been selfishly hoarding Rand’s time for MONTHS -- is uncomfortable with sharing. Then don’t get involved with a man that you KNOW is also in love with other people. YOU are the one who chased after Rand, even knowing that he already loved Elayne and Aviendha! YOU are the one who seduced him when he was vulnerable. That was you! Making a choice and blaming it on prophecy! Mat and Min, with that hands shaking meme, and the agreement they’re shaking on is “creating their own romantic misery while blaming it on prophecy and constantly whining about the inevitable consequences of their own actions”.

32. “She wasn’t Aes Sedai -- Thank the Light.” Um. WTF, Min. Literally ALL THREE of the people that you are in a sorta relationship with can all channel. Yikes, girl. “somehow she had bonded him”. Min has edited Elayne’s SELFLESS ACT OF ROMANTIC GENEROSITY entirely out of her memory and is pretending that her bond with Rand ~appeared from the ether~. SOMEHOW. It was ELAYNE, you selfish and jealous child. It was ELAYNE who bonded you to Rand, you ungrateful pain in my ass. I note that Min is happy to reap the rewards of ‘sharing’ Rand, despite her ‘discomfort’ with the idea. Min is the oldest of Rand’s girlfriends, but ~somehow~ also the least mature.

33. SOMEHOW. 😠😠😠😠😠

34. “She’d never thought that she, of all people, would become a fool for some man.” Literally your entire plotline in this book series has been about being a fool for a man. That’s your entire plotline. That’s your entire character. lol, she ‘of all people’. omg, I think that @markantonys mentioned this line when she got to it in her first read of the books, but I literally did just double over laughing - “that didn’t mean she was his pet, regardless of what some of the people in the camp said”. I was wondering last book or so what Rand’s other allies (who know about his and Elayne’s romance) thought about Min and, um, I guess that’s our answer. lol, Min thinks again about how she will ~suffer~ sharing him with others because she just loves him oh! so much! Comedy hours with Min, the ~long-suffering martyr~ who has caused all of her own problems.  At least the sex is good, I guess.

35. The contrast between Aviendha firmly thinking that it was HER choice to love Rand, not Min’s viewing, and Min’s thought here that it WASN’T her choice to love him, that was it literally anything BUT her choice (her ‘heart’, the Creator, the Pattern, etc).

36. Anyway, Rand wakes up and he and Min talk, and Min shares the ~news~ that Rand needs to break the seals on the Dark One’s prison. She’s figured out that’s what Herid Fel’s note meant! It’s also... literally what Rand himself said at the start of Lord of Chaos, before Min ever returned to his life. lol. I feel like this is an artifact of the series getting stretched out so long -- that we have to re-introduce this idea that Rand had back in book six.

37. I can’t believe that we cut from ever-jealous Min snuggling Rand in bed, like she’s gotten to do for MONTHS, to Aviendha standing outside the manor alone, and yet MIN is the one whining about her ~constant suffering~ over how she has to share Rand. The contrast is so glaring! Aviendha has to mute the bond so that she can avoid feeling Rand have sex with Min while she feels honor-bound to avoid him, but MIN is the one whining.

38. Man, I feel so much sympathy with Corana here: “These Seanchan have given [Rand] reason to declare a blood feud, but he simpers and panders to them. I feel like a trained dog, sent to lick the feet of a stranger.” That has been the EXACT mood I’ve had since the start of Crossroads of Twilight. She tells them that the Seanchan have leashed Wise Ones in their camp as damane. Aviendha and Amys agree that, for now, peace must be sought in order to fight the greater enemy, but that their spears should be turned on the Seanchan after the Last Battle.

39. Egwene has a conversation with three White Ajah Sisters over the issue of Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, and lays out what she would have done differently -- mostly pointing out Elaida and the Tower’s mistakes:

Trying to force someone who is both powerful and stubborn instead of trying to persuade him (aka the abduction)

Raising a Red Sister as their replacement Amyrlin, even though that seems very likely to come across as a threat to a man who can channel

Attempting to pretend that they had any high ground to tell him that they knew best when they were dealing with a divided White Tower themselves. “Can a cracked stone be a good foundation for a building?”

40. After Egwene gets assigned to permanent work detail (no more lessons with Sisters) to try to break her spirit, Laras tries to help her escape the White Tower but Egwene refuses to go, saying that her fight is inside the Tower.

41. Egwene is ordered to serve Elaida at dinner again, but this time there are several Sisters of various Ajahs there, including Sitters, and during the dinner, it feels to Egwene as if Elaida is deliberately insulting them and attempting to bully them to her will. “Prying the Ajahs even further apart”. When the subject of the Seanchan comes up, Elaida tells Egwene to tell the Sisters there that she has been spreading lies about them and that the Seanchan are working for “al’Thor”. Instead, after considering her options, Egwene tells the truth. She tells them that she has Dreamed that the Seanchan will attack the White Tower and that they are incredibly dangerous and their threat should not be ignored. Elaida really does set up an impossible situation for Egwene here -- back down, and she loses the respect that she’s built. Stand up, and she may get locked in a cell (or even executed) unable to continue her fight.

But, of course, pushed to the limit, Egwene does stand up for herself and for the White Tower against Elaida’s demands. “I dare the truth, Elaida.” Oh, I actually love this confrontation, exposing what Elaida has become in such full detail that none of the Sisters witnessing it can deny it (though I feel a pang of sorrow for who Elaida once was, before she was corrupted by Fain & the paranoia of Aridhol, which is on full display here as well). 100% want to see Madeleine give this speech.

Okay, that’s a good place to end. Very satisfying chapter!