#or hurt tatiana physically

[erigold13261]

Hello hello I'm in your asks once again lol-

Anyway I'm just curious on how you think Alyona (if she was alive of course) would initially react if she found out that Tatiana had kids of her own (aka Titanium, Sonya, and Rosie) and maybe other members of Tatiana's family finding out about the 3 daughters that are very important to Vinyl City via Titanium ruling in place of Tatiana once she retires, Sonya being the drummer version of Kul Fyra of her own band, and Rosie being the #1 Artist aka the Beloved Idol of Vinyl City.

Of course Matevy (I may have spelled his name wrong-) would not be allowed to be anywhere near the daughters, especially Rosie since she's the youngest and the most impressionable due to her innocent nature. If he even attempts (which I doubt he would) to go near Rosie then everyone would know and Titanium would have to restrain Sonya and her bandmates along with Rosie's boyfriend Azul (who can get pretty dangerous since he is a dragon hybrid-) from jumping Matevy while she has her security escort him out. Poor Rosie would be very confused though-

Also maybe Alyona also meets Olive and they chat and all that, and Olive would be pleased that her and Tatiana's daughters are getting along well with their grandmother. Rosie would always be happy to see her grandma when she comes to visit :3

(meant to answer this earlier woops)

Oh Alyona would be absolutely ecstatic to be a grandmother! Also, if Alyona stayed alive, Matvey have never laid a hand on Tatiana. He definitely would not have been a good father still, but he would not have been physically abusive at least. I would still see Tatiana keeping him away from her kids and family though.

But back to Alyona. She would absolutely be super happy to have grandkids and would spoil them so much! She'd even spoil Olive when her and Tatiana started dating. Maybe she might have been able to change Matvey's mind about some things, but I doubt that.

If your Tatiana is a transwoman like mine is, then Matvey would probably say things behind Alyona's back to Tatiana about having her stop pretending to be a girl since Olive would need a strong man/husband. If your Tatiana is a cis woman though, Matvey would make some lesbiphobic comments about a family not having a father is the worst thing that can happen to kids.

So yeah, no matter what, keep Matvey away from the grandkids. It's not like he would want to be near them anyway. He wouldn't say shit if Alyona was around so at least if the grandkids wanted to meet him for some reason then Alyona would stay by his side the entire time.

Alyona would be very proud of Rosie, Titanium, and Sonya. She probably wouldn't be able to provide them with much in terms of gifts, but you better believe she takes up the stereotype that grandmas never let family go hungry! She'd make all kinds of delicious foods and treats for the kids when she comes to visit of if they visit her! Maybe even making them some clothes or teaching them to control any possible fire powers.

Speaking of powers. I personally have it so the time powers only show up in biologically male individuals, but if one of the 3 daughters have time powers like Tatiana then I can see that being a very rare instance of the time powers going to a girl. This alone would probably make Matvey reconsider some of his world views as he would want to teach his grandkids how to properly manipulate time.

So if Alyona is alive and well, there is a possibility that Matvey actually becomes a better person. Or at the very least a decent/okay person. Still definitely not great, but LEAGUES better than the OG timeline where Alyona has died. I still wouldn't trust him alone with the grandkids as he can still be a huge misogynistic asshole who does not like kids, but at least he isn't beating (or trying to beat) the shit out of children anymore.

But yea! Alyona would be a very positive light in Tatiana's life and with her family!

[smytherines]

I love One Step Ahead for all the obvious reasons (gay angst), but also because it is so packed with little storytelling moments. Also it just seems exhausting. So much happens in that song:

1. Motorcycle chase (with office chairs)

2. Boat chase

3. Staff fight

4. Sword fight

5. Vigorous musket loading

6. Run up the staircase

7. Hang glider chase

8. Fistfight

9. Run halfway down the stairs again

And the entire time they are doing all of this, they're belting out a vocally demanding song. I mean, no wonder Curt Mega had to take a breath during that final note. That's a feat of endurance. I simply would've passed out and died.

One Step Ahead is one of my favorite setpieces of all time. In anything. Ever. It is so impressive, and it is even more impressive when you realize this was done by a tiny little independent company with the theatre budget equivalent of $1.50. Unreal. It should not be possible.

And the thing is, One Step Ahead is the perfect narrative counterweight to A1P1 (Spies Are Forever). The amount of thought they put into this is just stunning. Because here's the thing: A1P1 is also incredibly physical. For most of the song Curt and Owen are on the move, they're going up the ladder, they're fighting goons, they're going down the staircase, they're running.

But more importantly, Curt and Owen are touching a lot in A1P1. And yeah, that's fun in a swoony curtwen vibes way, but its also incredibly important to the narrative. They are touching a lot, and when they aren't touching they are standing just a little bit too close together. Its subtle enough that you initially dismiss it as a stylistic choice, but once you have the full context it is remarkably intimate.

Those are important details- like the way Owen has his arm around Curt and is literally holding his hand when they're talking to Cynthia. Its meant to tell us that they are together. In the romantic way, yes, but also they're just aligned, working together, on the same page. They are partners here. They literally have each other's backs.

And that's down to Curt Mega and Joey Richter selling the absolute shit out of these roles, and genius choreography by Lauren Lopez, and Corey Lubowich being the director of all time.

The digital download BTS has a part with Joey and Curt rehearsing the bit where they do the hug, and right after that they're trying to figure out what cool action poses to move into and Corey says that he wants to see something with them "connected," which is just... yeah, that's the perfect word to describe what is going on in A1P1. These two are connected.

So then we get to One Step Ahead. At the very beginning, Curt does the arm clasp with Tatiana. The first time they did this, Curt had a flashback of Owen. Owen was still his partner in his heart. But this time that bond is severed. Curt thinks of Tatiana as his partner now.

We get into the action of the song, and Curt and Owen do not touch. Even when they are very physically close together, there are weapons between them. In A1P1 they had lots of moments with their backs turned to each other, trusting each other, working perfectly in sync. In One Step Ahead they are facing each other head on. They are literally and figuratively fighting. They are breaking up.

The only moment during this sequence where they are actually touching each other is when Owen slaps Curt, Curt punches Owen twice, and they do that lock up move. They're only touching to hurt each other now.

And its so subtle and well executed that you don't really think about the parallels between these two scenes the first time you watch them. But you feel it on an emotional level. They had about ten minutes to establish the relationship between these two, and they used that ten minutes so effectively that the staircase scene ends up hitting like a ton of bricks.

Just. I love this show. I love how much TCB and Curt Mega and the rest of the cast care about this show. I'm so grateful they keep coming back to it. I cannot wait to see what they do with these scenes for Spy Another Day.

[stabbydragon]

*clears throat* Can we just talk about how unfair it was that Cordelia was the one who got to kill Tatiana? Like there were a million other people who were way more qualified.

I’m pretty sure most people, like me, were rooting for Grace. After all, she was the one that Tatiana hurt most by physically abusing her, making her into a weapon, forcing her to brainwash James which made everyone she cares about mad at her, etc. Not to mention that Christopher, one of her only friends, the only person who defended her, and the one who encouraged her to pursue her passion for science, had just been MURDERED by Tatiana! And like, Grace was RIGHT THERE with a knife to Tatiana’s throat! Then CORDELIA had to come and ruin everything by summoning Lillith! WTF!?

Jesse was another person who had been hurt by Tatiana. This bitch, who he thought cared about him despite her flaws, as a mother should, SOLD HIM TO BELIAL so he could be possessed and forced to murder people which he would never do under any circumstances of his own free will! The guilt the poor boy must have gone through because of this bitch! Although personally, I don’t think he would be capable of murder, but it would have been better than fucking CORDELIA.

Also, the idea of either Jesse or Grace doing it to avenge their sibling? 😭

My second choice after Grace would be Lucie, who would be furious both because of Jesse being possessed, and because she had just found out that Tatiana had been the one to ruin James and Cordelia’s marriage, causing both her brother and parabatai a lot of pain. It would have set the scene for a fascinating conversation between her and Jesse regarding how they both felt about Tatiana’s death (the same is true for Grace) because I need more Ghostwriter scenes. Also, if she killed her partially on Grace’s behalf, it would better showcase what could have been a beautiful dynamic that desperately needs to be explored further. I need these too to become besties immediately! Lucie, unlike her boyfriend, totally deserved to be a morally ambiguous character. She had so much potential for stabbiness, so where’s all the stabbiness? It’s so unfair that she never gets to stab someone ONCE because she’s a main character and therefore needs to be morally perfect even though people who grew as rich as she did are the ones most likely to be evil. Besides, she could have ordered a ghost to do it while Lucie herself was far away, giving her an alibi, and any witnesses would not have seen the ghost. Honestly my preference would be if Lucie and Grace teamed up to do it together in Jesse’s name.

EVEN FUCKING JAMES a would have been a better option, not that I would like it much. He was the one who was brainwashed since he was fourteen after all. He was the one who kept on accidentally breaking his wife’s heart because of the gracelet.

While Cordelia was still hurt by Tatiana’s actions, she was farther removed from the situation. But because sHe’S tHe PrOtAgOnIsT, she had to be the one to do it. Not even of her own volition, but because she was being manipulated by a greater demon. Imagine all of your protagonists being so heroic and morally sound that they can’t even neutralize someone as twisted and dangerous and inhumane and this bitch without being physically magically controlled by Lillith herself. Is there anything more boring?

And what really makes me angry is that she finally gave in due to the death of one Christopher Lightwood, a character with whom she had no established dynamic. If this was CC’s plan all along, she could have made it so they had at least one single fucking conversation alone??? If the main catalyst for Tatiana’s death was Kit’s murder, then practically ANY OTHER CHARACTER a would have been better. Cecily and Gabriel and the others were in Idris but, once again, there’s Grace, Lucie, James, Thomas, Anna, Matthew, etc. Hell, even Rosamund Wentworth, who arrives pretty soon after Kit’s death, knew him longer than Cordelia!

*Ahem* Thank you for listening to my PSA

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

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➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️➰️

57 for 🩸:

---

Like he can’t accept blaming Eddie. Eddie thinks over the course of their time knowing each other. Buck very rarely blames Eddie for anything. He’s frank with him when it was needed and deserved. Tells him when he’s wrong. But Buck has always, always believed only the best in Eddie. The physical counterpoint to Eddie’s self-loathing. 

Eddie can’t let him do that anymore. Not if this is going to work. 

He reaches to cup a hand over Buck’s cheek.

“You don’t need to fix this for me,” he tells Buck. “I… You’ve helped so much. Always. You’ve always been a miracle to me. But right now, I don’t need you to fix it.”

Buck’s bottom lip trembles. More tears run down his cheeks. Some land on the ridge of Eddie’s finger, slide down to occupy the space between face and palm. 

“I just need you to love me despite all of it, okay?” It almost sounds like a plea from Eddie’s mouth. “I know it’s not ideal, but please keep loving me, anyway.”

Buck’s eyes widen. He takes a sharp little breath. 

“Eddie,” he practically whimpers. “Oh, god. I’m so sorry. Of course… Of course I…”

He is cut off by a sort of choked sound. 

“Hey,” Eddie soothes. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” Buck insists. “I’m so sorry, Eddie. I love you so much. There is nothing that could ever change that. It-it’s not despite anything.” 

Eddie takes a deep inhale. See, he knew that. Really, he did. But for some reason, he also badly needed to hear it. 

“Then don’t die on me,” Eddie begs. “Or for me. Please, please let us try to be something more than a tragedy, Buck.”

“I want that,” Buck promises. “Eddie, I want that so badly. I want us."

“Then just stay with me, okay? Don’t go running off on sacrificial suicide missions.”

Buck nods. “I won’t. I’m here. I’m sorry.”

Eddie awkwardly crouches, leaning forward to kiss him. Soft and quick. 

“I love you so much,” Eddie tells him. “I don’t want to live without you ever again.”

---

51 for 🧟‍♂️:

---

 “That’s true. But you come with stellar references, and at least in my opinion, you’re nice to have around.”

Maddie smiles a little coyly. “Nice to have around, huh?”

Chim nods. “I think so.”

He feels a little foolish. Does he sound as dumb as he feels? Does he look as dumb as he feels?

“Well,” Maddie shrugs. “Hopefully you won’t get sick of me, then.”

Which he thinks is her way of saying she intends on sticking around. 

Chim can’t think of a smooth way to tell her that the idea of getting sick of her sounds more or less impossible. 

▪️▪️▪️

“It’s been three days,” Hen scolds him, later. 

They’re working in the gardens. Chim has dirt underneath his fingernails. His hair is sticking to the sweat on his forehead. 

“I know!” He replies. “I’m pathetic!”

“You’re not pathetic,” Hen sighs. “You just… I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“What does that mean?” Chim demands. 

“I mean, you get really excited about beautiful, not-entirely-emotionally-available women, Chim.”

Wow. 

“Do you remember Tatiana?” Hen asks. 

“Of course I remember Tatiana,” Chim scowls. “Maddie is not Tatiana.”

“I don’t think she is,” Hen says. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“What are you saying?” Chim asks.

“I’m saying, think before you fall.” Hen practically pleads. “I know you. I know your big heart. Maddie seems lovely, but she’s seen some shit. I can tell. She might not be up for whatever picture-perfect romance you have in your head.”

Chim knows what Hen means by shit. Maddie… Well, from some of what he’s heard from Buck, she’s had a rough go of it. He doesn’t know any of the details. It’s not his business. But haven’t they all survived a lot, to be here right now?

“There is nothing picture perfect about my friend’s sister in the apocalypse, Hen.” 

“You know what I mean,” Hen sighs. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

---

48 for ➰️:

@steadfastsaturnsrings

---

Buck shakes his head. “Wasn’t yesterday October 6th?” 

Eddie frowns. “No.”

Buck doesn’t know if Eddie is lying to him or suspecting he’s lost his mind. 

“I swear… Eddie, we did yesterday already. I remember waking up and… And I felt panicky…”

“No,” Eddie says. “No, yesterday we woke up early to go to the state park. Remember?”

Yes. Yes, Buck remembers. But that feels… That feels so long ago. 

“Something is wrong,” Buck says. “Something weird is happening.”

“Maybe you had a nightmare?” Eddie suggests.

“No,” Buck shakes his head again. “That’s not it.”

“Well… I don’t know what to tell you, Buck. It’s October 6th. It’s the last day of our vacation.”

Eddie seems to believe what he’s saying. Buck grabs his phone off the nightstand. It confirms October 6th as today’s date. Okay, fine. Buck will accept it. But that doesn’t mean something weird isn’t happening. 

“I feel like I’ve lived this day before, Eddie,” Buck says quietly.

Eddie grabs his hand. “But you haven’t.”

Buck sighs. “Maybe you don’t remember. But I do.”

Eddie stares at him for a moment. 

“Do I need to be worried about you?” He asks finally. 

No? Yes? Maybe? Buck isn’t sure. But if this is happening to Buck, and Eddie doesn’t remember, there’s no point trying to get him on board. At least not until he has more information.

“I’ll figure it out,” Buck tells him. “Don’t worry about me.”

[loveisalwaystheanswer]

Hello!! how are you ?

I miss your post about Tommy and Grace.

I wanted to ask you about a scene from S2. Tommy has sex with May, and they seem to have a good time, especially May...well yeah..😏 But then we see that when Tommy arrives at the office, the first thing he does is call Grace, when before we see that he tries to forget her. I wonder what was going through his mind?. Two years thinking about her, every day, and he only slept with prostitutes. He knows May, and he likes her, but does being with her make him miss Grace more? Maybe he realize that no one is going to make him feel the way Grace makes him feel.

What do you think of that scene?

Hello, love! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to your ask. I'm just soo fucking devastated by Matthew Perry's death and so shattered to hear that.

Well, back to business. I think that Tommy really REALLY didn't want to let Grace go and forget about her (nothing has changed since then btw). And every step towards May is a step away from Grace. He still hopes the happy future with her, which he's dreamed of for so long, is not completely lost. It's like a beacon for him and he's not ready to give up this hope. He's very emotional attached to Grace and this is not something that happens to him often. Because she represents redemption and he still hopes that he can have a normal, quiet life if he is with her. And when Polly says "maybe it's time you forgot about her" it hurts, because deep down he knows he should move on and Polly is right, but he just doesn't want to. I think, he wants to escape the pain of the truth, so bending Lizzie over a desk seems a quite good solution to stop his racing thoughts by using physical activity as some sort of distraction. Sex has always been one of his main coping mechanisms. Lizzie, May, Tatiana, prostitutes... It never seemed to me like he was making love to them, the way that shows he actually wants to love and not just fuck them (especially considering his previous bad experience, when he allowed himself to let someone close to his heart and even dared to think that he could be loved. But it wasn't a mistake to do so, cos' Grace really loved him, he just didn't know it for sure yet). He always uses women and some of them don't mind though, but this is not a good thing at all.

p.s. I also think that if Grace hadn't showed up to tell him about her pregnancy, Tommy would've let her sail and tried to move on. But this thought crosses the path of my opinion about the writing, because since s2 Grace was never again a character with her own arc and used only as a plot tool (read: heir producer and the gangster's dead wife who should put the main male character through an endless circle of suffering).

[aphverse-confessions]

I honestly really liked Ein's character; he's probably one of my favourites. Obviously he's unwell (mentally and emotionally) and has a terrible personality, but that's how I like my characters lmfao

In PDH, Ein is a hugeee dick! From what I remember he treated Aphmau like an object for affection , validation and entitlement. He abused his position as "co-alpha" with Aphmau, and on-top of that, used her too. (Side-note: wolf packs don't have "alphas", "betas", or "omegas", that theory was disproven. Sorry to all of you Omega-verse enjoyers.) He obviously is a bully in PDH.

He's also like that in Emerald Secret but way more crazier and abusive, causing a lot of hurt mentally, emotionally and physically (maybe even spiritually??) for himself and for the other characters.

But what if he was under control in Emerald Secret? Of course, there is no way to prove this (other than when Aaron was having a PTSD episode in Starlight) but he did meet Michael, the Demon Warlock, before the events of Ein taking over Tatiana's wolfpack. Michael does have those sweet-sweet mind-controlling potions.

What if Michael used a potion on Ein and Ein's eyes changed back to silver, making him permanently under Michael's control?

Or maybe Ein's just a weird, psychopathic asshole, who can't get over the fact he was bested by the better version of him (Blaze) and got kicked by a human (Katelyn) in high school, who knows! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

.

[xoverworkedandunderpaidx]

I hate the Vogikov thing, BUT it's also mad messed up that Rose kept going after the fight was called when Dimitri didn't want to fight AND she literally knew about his trauma regarding physical abuse. It's a lot more uncomfortable to me than the thing with Tatiana, because honestly as much as we have seen her suck, Dimitri hasn't been present for a lot of it and it's hard to say how much he knows about her involvement in these things. He's overcorrecting after Rose freaked him out last episode with the temptation of chucking in the towel and leaving everything he's ever known. I said it in a previous post, but she didn't just ask him to abandon his duty - she asked him to question his faith. And he does, for a little bit. But that's not an easy thing to do, and Tatiana offers an easier alternative.

Where Rose is rebellion and burn the system, Tatiana is a steadfast believer in tradition and faith - everything Dimitri has built his life and identity around. It's comforting, it's familiar, it's stable and risk free. A relationship with Rose would complicated and challenging because he would care so damn much that he just might have to burn the system down alongside her and face the unknown. A relationship with Tatiana, an elementalist Royal Moroi? Well, there's no grey area there.

Dimitri isn't making good choices, but they are understandable choices. He is afraid and confused, he's hurt and looking for ways to make sense of his world as everything becomes less black and white. He's trying to shake the one thing that made him feel like he had something to lose.

So yeah, it's horrible and icky and I hate it. But I get it. And when he does decide to burn it down? I will be living.

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 26: Not So Much as a Finger

The chapter title is nice because we assume it refers to Tatiana, but Andy, Fuuko, Chikara, and Tatiana are all looking out for each other, too.

Creed is overconfident. He's too quick to call things finished. So far, seems like he tries to shoot his way out of every situation, and if it doesn't work, he just uses stronger weapons, in this case gas.

Feng knew their attacks were useless as soon as she started to transform.

We see Tatiana's backstory, which explains why she believes having strong allies isn't enough-- they also need to be good people. After all, the bad guys who caught her were strong, right?

Even when Billy is kind to her, she's still cautious. She doesn't say, "Wow, thanks for the cake! I love cake!" She says, "Got any other flavors?"

It's similar to this line from the previous chapter:

It comes off as bratty, but it's a self-protective reaction from her. She pushes people away emotionally and physically, both for their own sake and to keep herself from being hurt.

Billy isn't afraid of her though. He's actually pretty prepared to meet her! He has snacks ready, knows her name, knows how her ability works, etc. It probably relieved some of her anxiety to see that he had already taken the time to learn about her and wanted to help.

We also get confirmation that Billy is blind, which has been hinted at but not outright stated.

Billy's character is the cool blind gunslinger. Replace his gun with a sword, and you'd have something close to the ex-gangster Zatoichi, who was also a friend of children. More about this later!

Tatiana explodes the cruise ship, and Andy, Fuuko, and Chikara meet Rip and Latla in midair. Are we getting another sky battle?

Masterpost

[zoyalannister]

Gracetopher week 2024

Day 6: Grief

@gracetopher-week

Read on Ao3

I interpreted it in a very wide sense, meaning another sport!AU where no one dies, but after an injury Grace must say goodbye to her tennis career. 1216 words

Her husband was with her when she left the hospital, but his presence didn’t reassure Grace like it normally would have done.

Grace still needed a crutch to walk, and Christopher offered his arm to help her, but what hurt her most wasn’t her knee when she accidentally put her foot down, or her pride for needing assistance at every step. 

It was what the doctors had told her, which still stung like a punch in the gut. 

You’re never going to play tennis anymore.

She was just twenty-five, but the last seven years had been wonderful for her career. She’d started taking part in minor tournaments, and a few months ago, she’d started qualifying for the semi-finals of the most important slams.

Last year, she’d won two of them.

Now, she would never go on a pitch anymore.

The thought always reduced her to a crying mess. 

Before her injury, she’d signed with sponsors for the next ten years; now, they had all abandoned her, since she could no longer meet their requirements. Thankfully, she’d married Christopher last year, or she would have never been able to afford the wedding without the sponsors’ money. 

“Do you want to talk?” Christopher asked her after he’d helped enter their car.

Grace ignored the pain shooting through her knee and up her leg and shook her head. “No.”

Christopher said nothing. He knew that pushing her to talk would only be counterproductive, so he just walked to the driver’s seat and turned on the engine. 

For the whole ride, Grace couldn’t stop thinking about her lost career and mulling over the things she’d lost.

Her sport, a good part of her identity, her glory, her promise to herself to finally win Wimbledon next year, money…

When they stopped in the driveway of their luxurious house, Grace felt a wave of panic and anxiety raising in her chest.

“Are you feeling sick?”

She met her husband’s worried expression. Despite all her negative feelings, she was grateful to have someone worrying over her.

Grace knew she could share her concerns with him, so she blurted out, “I’m thinking about how we are going to pay the mortgage now that my career is over.”

Christopher grabbed her face in his hands. The contact with her husband’s body and his violet eyes staring at her calmed her down, as they always did.

“Don’t worry about it right now, we have enough savings for a few months. The important thing is that you are getting better and will soon recover. We will think about money when it’s time to think about money.”

Grace nodded and let him kiss her, but it took all her willpower to stop herself from taking her phone and checking her bank account. She let her husband help her walk towards their house, where she knew Kit’s family was waiting for them.

She loved the Lightwoods and Ari more than she’d ever loved Tatiana and considered them her real family, but she was in no mood of meeting anyone. 

She didn’t want to see the pity look in their faces when she announced to them that she would never go back to playing tennis, that she’d lost everything she’d ever worked for. 

Grace wasn’t ready to tell herself that her career had been like a hay fire, bright but incredibly short, let alone saying it out loud.

“I want to go to the back garden,” she blurted out.

Christopher looked at her for a moment, but he understood. 

He always did.

“You will find something else,” he murmured as he guided her. 

Grace glared at him. She would like to say that it was just her physical pain making her act that way, but in truth, his words irked her. 

“Not now,” he said in reply to her expression. “But… I’m sure you’ll find another thing besides tennis and get back on your feet.”

“Is this a joke?”

Christopher blushed. “No, sorry for the bad wording. I just think this injury won’t be the end of you.”

Grace stayed silent, despite she was already regretting her snappy reply. 

He helped her walk towards the back garden, where there was a little tennis court where they played with the family on Sundays.

Grace sat on an armchair on the side of the pitch, while Christopher disappeared into their house. She felt a vague sense of guilt at the idea of leaving him the responsibility of explaining her condition to his family, but she knew that she would fall apart if she had to do it herself.

She took her phone from her handbag and texted Christopher to bring her a gin tonic.

Isn’t it going to interfere with your medicines?

Christopher’s carefulness always made her feel cherished, but right now, she only felt a bolt of annoyance. He was right, of course, but she hated hearing it when she just needed to forget all her sorrows for a few hours.

Get me a coke then.

Grace regretted her own brisk tone as soon as she’d sent the message and immediately added, Please.

Christopher didn’t reply, but arrived ten minutes later with a glass of coke and a beer for himself. 

“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting since we left the hospital,” she said when he sat next to her. “This is a bad situation, and I shouldn’t lash my frustrations out at you.”

He took her hand and kissed it. “I forgive you. I understand that you’re having a terrible time, but we’ll get through it together.”

Grace wondered, not for the first time, what she had possibly done in her life to deserve such a wonderful husband.

“I wish I shared your same optimism,” she breathed out. 

Whatever Christopher was going to reply, he was stopped by the arrival of Alex, his thirteen years old brother, in t-shirt, shorts and holding a racquet.

Christopher glanced at her before addressing his brother. “Alex, it’s not the time—”

“No, let him play,” Grace interrupted him. “Looking at him playing will distract me.”

“Are you sure?”

The fact he was worried about her being hurt even more by watching tennis reminded her why she loved him. 

“Yes,” she reassured him, then warned Alex, “If you send the ball to the neighbors’ garden, you’ll go talk to her yourself.”

“Yes. Thanks, Grace,” Alex said, and launched himself into a solo match.

Curiously, watching him didn’t turn off Grace’s brain. On the contrary: it set it on fire. 

She was so focused watching Alex’s moves that she barely noticed Christopher going back inside to get some snacks. Grace took a mental note of everything she saw, and after ten minutes, she yelled to attract Alex’s attention. When he looked at her, she told him, “Your posture is all over the place, you have to keep your back straighter and bend your knees more. Your swing should be more natural.”

Alex stared at her for a second, then did what she’d told him, and she could see the results immediately.

“Wow, thanks Grace! That was very helpful!”

Grace smiled, and not only for Alex’s progress. 

Christopher was right: her life wasn’t over just because she couldn’t play anymore. She could still go back to the court, but not as a player.

As a coach.

[erigold13261]

Yinu in the FRAU throwing quiet “I hate you”s to everyone she is upset by.

“DJ I hate you for being a lazy jerk.”

”Eve I hate your art.”

“Green! I hate you for not going to the garden with me! I’ll get mama!”

“Neon I hate you. You smell horrible. Drink bleach.”

“Mama I still hate you. Leave me alone. I hate that you met papa. I hate papa for teaching me the piano.”

Mama yells at her to stop, but Yinu just ignores her and leaves.

I’m sorry this is OOC.

I can actually see Yinu saying she hates the people around her, and even saying she hates them to their faces. However, I don't see her telling people to hurt themselves (like you have it with Neon).

She would be brutally honest and point out people's flaws way too often. Like Neon being an alcoholic, Green not having a spine, Mama for letting Papa die, Eve for being a stuck up bitch. I can see her still saying the same thing to DJ.

She'd probably call the Sayu Crew babies, cowards, or being too sensitive for how afraid of their families they are, not knowing truly how bad their families are to them. This one would mostly be a coping method with how much she hates Mama but also how afraid she is of letting her down or upsetting her to the point Mama might hurt Yinu like she does with 1010 (though Mama would never hurt Yinu, she doesn't know that herself as all she see's Mama do is hurt others both verbally and physically).

So yeah! Not too OOC! Just a few tweaks and you do have a very hateful Yinu who would absolutely tell that to people's faces. She probably has said it once to Tatiana, but never again with how mad Tatiana got after that.

[fimproda]

Night-blooming Jasmine

@gracetopher-week

Day 3, Fic Day

Rated R, still unfinished, set in the The Last Flowers universe after Chrisanthemum

The point is, Grace doesn’t actually know how to have sex.

Giving her history, she should. She really should. But she’s never been an active participant: in the past, with her... clients―she has to stop calling them that―she just... lay there, closed her eyes, and thought of England. Occasionally, which meant nine times out of ten, she also suffered like a dog.

Nothing more.

By now, though, she’s come to understand that her firsthand knowledge of sex has nothing to do with how sex is usually experienced; even less, with how sex should be experienced. She was too young, for starters, which is something Cecily, and Cordelia, and Anna, and everyone worth their salt never seem to stop blabbering about; moreover, she’s been sold, trafficked, stripped of her every right. She’s never had a choice.

And, maybe most importantly, she’s never truly wanted it.

Well, not until this moment, at least.

She wants it. She does, she really does, she’s ready to swear it on the Angel if need be.

She’s just not sure what she wants, exactly.

Which is why they’ve ended up here. She and Kit, that is. Sprawled on the bed in her room at the Institute, laying on their sides, kissing.

The kissing is... good. Nice. They’ve done it before, of course; as a matter of fact, they’ve never done more than that. It’s been a couple of months since Kit kissed her for the first time, and that was a good ten days after her trial, when she’d been cleared of all involvement with the whole Belial-and-Tatiana-related mess and could finally start making her peace with it―start making her amends to those she’d hurt, either willingly or not.

Kit liking her, kissing her, opening his heart up to her, hasn’t been much of a surprise.

Everything that’s happened since...

Yeah.

She should stop overthinking it. She should just do what Kit told her to, last week, and get this over with already.

Problem is, that’s a thing she has no idea how to do. To tell the truth, it’s the very reason why they’re on this bed and Kit’s hand is slowly, so slowly, making its way between her legs.

Listen...

She tried, alright?

If anything, she knows what it’s supposed to feel like. It isn’t as though she’s never come before: statistically speaking, it just had to happen, sooner or later. Mere physical stimulation can, and sometimes will, be enough. And some of her cl―abusers prided themselves on being able to bring their women to orgasm, and had a penchant for rubbing her like they were hacking at a particularly persistent stain on their fancy church clothes.

So, she has experienced climax.

And she’s never failed to hate herself for it.

She’s perfectly aware that that’s the problem. And, as she’s told Kit half an hour ago, the only solution is for him to―quite literally, as it turns out―take the matter into his own hands.

She knows he’s an overthinker, just like her. She knows there’s a fat chance neither of them is going to get anything out of this. But she’s used to yielding control, she’s done it all her life, and she isn’t―yet―able to function in any other way.

The silver lining is that Kit has already had her remove her undergarments, which is a step further than where she’s taken this when she made her failed attempt. She’s still got her dress on: he doesn’t want her to be naked in front of him, not when it could be uncomfortable for her. Besides, with the fire having wilted down to embers hours ago, the room is chilly.

The goosebumps starting to show on her skin have nothing to do with the chill.

Kit’s lips are a kiss away from hers. His eyes are half-closed, as though he’s squinting to be able to look at her. (He doesn’t have his glasses on; she removed them as soon as he came into her room. But he’s near-sighted, so his vision should be good).

He’s staring at his hand on her inner thigh, she realizes. She’s willing to bet he’s as tense as she is over what they are about to do. What he is about to do.

“Kit,” she whispers, not even knowing why she spoke in the first place. Maybe it’s because she wants to reassure him. Or maybe it’s because she wants to reassure herself.

“Grace,” Kit echoes, the tips of his fingers drawing circles on her skin, his free arm sliding underneath the pillow on which both their heads are resting. “What do you want me to do to you?”

She lets out another, “Kit,” and it’s halfway between a scoff and a plea. “If I knew that, I would have succeeded in doing this myself.”

They make eye contact. Kit’s pupils are dilated, the violet of his irises reduced to little more than a ring around ever-growing black. He wets his lips, opens his mouth, inhales... and stays silent.

He’s at a loss for words.

Her third, “Kit,” is barely a breath. Soft. Acknowledging his worry, his unease, his feeling of being inadequate. “Whatever you do, I’m going to like it.”

She wants to eat her words the very second they leave her mouth. It was the wrong thing to say.

And indeed, a shadow falling on his handsome, boyish face, Kit replies, “How can you be so sure?”

“Kit.” She can’t get enough of saying his name, tonight. It grounds her, reminds her of who she’s with. “I chose this. I chose you.”

The title, Night-blooming Jasmine, refers to a work of the same name by Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli, which you can find here in the original Italian and a pretty good English translation. Pascoli wrote it for the wedding of a good friend of his, and it's obvious from the text that the poet thinks of sex as something violent, not gentle, something that crushes the petals of the flower ("si chiudono i petali un poco gualciti").

My co-author @zoyalannister learned to hate this poem in school (it's taught, at the very least, during the last year of high school), but I think it's a perfect metaphor for Grace's past and her journey in The Last Flowers.

Come check out the series if you hate yourself and want to suffer!

[purplebass]

This refers to my earlier parallel post over here. I didn't want to make a long caption, so here it is.

Jesse and Grace meta, Jesse and the Herondales meta.

Jesse is torn because he loves Grace, but at the same time: 1) he doesn't like what she did and hasn't processed it bc he's just learned about it! -- we know, later on, that he forgives Grace even though we don't get to see them talk about it, which also means that probably Jesse doesn't need to talk about it, he just decides to forgive Grace and as a reader, it is shown to us when Grace runs to the Institute all wet and scared and Jesse doesn't hesitate to go to her and after that, we see how they're back to their sibling dynamic. Even ghost!Kit tells Grace that Jesse believes in her;

2) he feels like he failed as her brother because he couldn't protect her, and since he only appeared as a ghost at night, he couldn't stop all of this from developing how it did - he physically wasn't there, and since he was the one to insist on getting the runes who killed him, in a way he's blaming himself. From the things he says, it's evident that Jesse, despite looking confident, blames himself for having failed Grace;

3) he also feels loyal to the Herondales, by this point. It isn't just because he loves Lucie and because she gave him his life back, which, even if he didn't love Lucie, he'd be forever grateful for. He could have loved Lucie but at the same time, not liking her family or not being liked by her family. Think about Romeo and Juliet. Lucie and Jesse are often compared to them in CoG/CoI. When Will and James first met Jesse, they're wary of him, but then they come to trust him, and welcome him in their family, in their group, and at the London Institute, and he eases himself into their family dynamics as if he had always been there. Jesse feels grateful to the Herondales: they gave him a roof over his head, clothes, food, and their trust in him, something he never expected considering it was his mother conspiring to hurt them all these years. They could've well kicked him to the curb and opposed to his relationship to Lucie. I'm sure Jesse would've managed anyway, but he didn't have to, because the Herondales are like that. Will said that Lucie likes to save abandoned sparrows, but Will is like that too, and so is Tessa (the woman still hoped that Tatiana could be saved). And knowing that Jesse sacrificed his last breath to give it to James is enough for Will to trust Jesse, who "gave up his life" to save James, a stranger.

Between past and future And to go back to the Grace point, even James wouldn't hold it against Jesse, if he forgave Grace. I think that, by that point, Jesse already forgave Grace but his loyalty and gratefulness towards the Herondales made him unable to pick a side --- Jesse doesn't want to pick a side. He wants both: Grace, aka his connection to his old life before dying and during his time as a ghost, and Lucie and the Herondales + his extended family, which represent his new life after he was revived. A life he hadn't had the chance of living, in which he can finally have control over what he wants to say or do, and become the person he wanted to be and couldn't be, because of the circumstances (being a ghost). Jesse wants to forgive and protect Grace, whom he cares for, but at the same time, he doesn't want that his choice pits him against Lucie and her family, whom he also loves. It's a tough choice, if you think about it, and that's why, in a way, he wants to talk to James first. He wanted to be sure that James was okay if he forgave Grace, that things won't change if he did that, bc Jesse liked how things were progressing between them. Heck, by the end of that chapter 16, James acknowledges that he and Jesse can be friends and he and Jesse both didn't expect that. Like I said, even if Jesse will marry Lucie in the future, James isn't expected to be the best bro with him. Just look at him and Alastair. James doesn't hate Alastair, but he doesn't love him either. They tolerate each other because Alastair is his brother-in-law, but at the moment, there is no indication that he and Alastair will be more than cordial with each other and become superb friends. On the other hand, James and Jesse experienced the same trauma: they were manipulated like a puppet and stripped of their freewill. Many relationships are born on shared experiences, because we feel like the other person understands us, what we went through. And Jesse understands James, and what drove Jesse mad is not just what his mother had done to James, but that it had been Grace, the sister he loves, that had been her mother's instrument to do that to James. And it sort of reflects on Jesse and his own experience. Jesse is a logician character, he ponders the things he says and does, he seems very confident of what he says or does, sometimes even arrogant, and he doesn't seem to like when things don't go as planned, or he couldn't make them go the way he liked them to be. It was easy for him as a ghost, he could just disappear. But this is real life, and he didn't expect Grace to act like she did. He didn't expect Tatiana to use Grace that way. He knew that Tatiana was problematic, but he was shaken when he discovered the extent of her revenge. Jesse was afraid to lose the Herondales and their friends and Grace too, since she was locked in a prison and he might've become lonely as when he was a ghost, if he had. And he didn't want that. That's why he probably went for the "easier" way and initially didn't openly forgive Grace in the prison and in front of James. Because Jesse ponders a lot, and he is also very caring and forgiving, in the end, he always knew that his sister was already forgiven in his heart, and that he wouldn't lose the Herondales in the process.

TLDR; Bottom line is that I don't find Jesse's reaction OOC, for the things I have explained. We have to remember that the Jesse we "knew" before CoT is the Jesse we saw interacting with Lucie and fewer times (I think just once or twice, at max), with Grace. Even so, we knew the Jesse through Grace's eyes. We didn't know the "real" Jesse, the living Jesse, the Jesse who interacts with living people like him, and we got to know him as he interacted with the rest of the characters. Even so, his personality shone through, to me. Like I said, Jesse is a very rational character. He sees the facts, and tries to find the best way to solve problems in a realistic approach, but he also has a little hard time giving up his control (that's why he's super mad when Lucie commanded him as a ghost). That's why, in my opinion, his dynamic with Lucie works. She's his opposite, and gives him the thrill of the irrational, the unexpected, the illogical - you name it, that he finds so hard to give up. While at the same time being reliable and confident and steady, someone who thinks a lot and is very loyal if he loves you. And it is clear, as it was stated several times, that Jesse loves Lucie, but he also cares for Grace and he wants Grace in his life.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Just for fun, imagine this as the cast/contestants of an American adaptation of “Physical 100”:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actor/former pro wrestler

Martin Sensmeier, actor/model

Jason Momoa, actor

Adam Driver, actor/former U.S. Marine

Brie Larson, actress

Brandon Curry, bodybuilder

Christian Guzman, bodybuilder/YouTuber

Bradley Martin, bodybuilder/YouTuber

Kali Muscle, bodybuilder/actor/YouTuber

Nonito Donaire, boxer

Deontay Wilder, boxer

Mary McGee, boxer

Andre Ward, boxer (retired)

Lauren Taylor, CrossFit

Jocko Willink, former Navy SEAL

Cydney Gillon, IFBB professional figure and fitness competitor

Renee Enos, influencer/bodybuilder

Massy Arias, influencer/health and fitness coach

Jen Selter, influencer/fitness model

Lauren Drain, influencer/fitness model

Logan Paul, influencer/WWE wrestler

Jake Paul, influencer/boxer

Mike Trout, MLB

Bryce Harper, MLB

Mark Kolozsvary, MLB

Jesus Ferreira, MLS

Zach LaVine, NBA

Steph Curry, NBA

Seth Curry, NBA

Jimmy Butler, NBA

Jordan Clarkson, NBA

Jeremy Lin, NBA/PLG

Shaquille O’Neal, NBA (retired)

Brock Purdy, NFL

Patrick Mahomes, NFL

Jimmy Garoppolo (“Jimmy G”), NFL

Jalen Hurts, NFL

Joe Burrow, NFL

Josh Allen, NFL

Tyreek Hill, NFL

Phil Kessel, NHL

Becky Sauerbrunn, NWSL

Ariel Torres, Olympic bronze medalist in karate

Nevin Harrison, Olympic gold medalist in canoeing

Jennifer Valente, Olympic gold medalist in cycling

Andrew Capobianco, Olympic gold medalist in diving

Nathan Chen, Olympic gold medalist in figure skating

Alex Hall, Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing

Simone Biles, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Aly Raisman, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Gabby Douglas, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Sunisa “Suni” Lee, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Lindsey Vonn, Olympic gold medalist in skiing

Chloe Kim, Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding

Nick Baumgartner, Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding

Katie Ledecky, Olympic gold medalist in swimming

Nathan Adrian, Olympic gold medalist in swimming

Michael Cherry, Olympic gold medalist in track and field

Rai Benjamin, Olympic gold medalist in track and field

Athing Mu, Olympic gold medalist in track and field

Katie Moon, Olympic gold medalist in track and field (pole vault)

David Taylor, Olympic gold medalist in wrestling

Nyjah Huston, professional skateboarder

Matt Ladley, professional snowboarder

Mia Fishel, professional soccer player (Tigres UANL Femenil)

Brian Shaw, professional strongman

Jerry Pritchett, professional strongman

Dom Gabriel (“Dom Cruise”), reality TV star (The Mole/Perfect Match)

Joey Sasso, reality TV star (The Circle/Perfect Match)

Kolohe Andino, surfer

Gemma Nguyen, stunt performer/martial artist (see: Gamology)

Noah Fleder, stunt performer (see: Gamology)

Vincent Bouillon, stunt performer (see: John Wick Chapter 4)

Chris Brewster, stunt performer (see: Daredevil)

Lateef Crowder dos Santos, stunt performer (see: The Mandalorian)

Danica Goodheart, U.S. Army veterinarian and NPC Figure competitor

Colby Covington, UFC

Julianna Peña, UFC

Stipe Miocic, UFC

Dustin Jacoby, UFC

Kelvin Gastelum, UFC

Beneil Dariush, UFC

Max Holloway, UFC

Cub Swanson, UFC

Matt Schnell, UFC

Tatiana Suarez, UFC

Rose Namajunas, UFC

Holly Holm, UFC

Breanna Stewart, WNBA

Candace Parker, WNBA

Roman Reigns, WWE

Dolph Ziggler, WWE

Alexa Bliss, WWE

Cody Rhodes, WWE

Ronda Rousey, WWE/former MMA fighter

Brock Lesnar, WWE/former MMA fighter

Mikhail Varshavski (“Dr. Mike”), YouTuber and amateur boxer

Cassey Ho (“Blogilates”), YouTuber

Adrienne Mishler (“Yoga with Adrienne”), YouTuber

Jeff Cavaliere (“ATHLEAN-X”), YouTuber/bodybuilder

[livia-dovehallow]

I ship so so much gracetopher tbh I thinj there is a lot of foreshadowing; the runes in private, walking down the aile… but I dont see Grace as Kit cousin as they never met and don’t share blood, Jesse and Lucie are second cousins and for me its more weird and their age gap but I guess luciejesse will be endgame although I liked the og idealf mattlucie

We’ll see how chot surprises us :)

hey, everyone has their thoughts and i respect them!! especially when presented as politely and pleasantly as you did here :D

i personally was never a fan of mattlucie, but i understand why people would be. i never thought anything wrong with it or anything, just didn't feel the chemistry there

and i too used to be wary of the age gap of jesse and lucie and the fact that they have mutual cousins and share an aunt and uncle but i guess i've evolved my opinion in a way. sure, chronologically, jesse should be 24, but he died at 17 and has never matured or grown (mentally and physically) beyond the age of 17 and has only ever woken at night.

(also i'm almost 24 and i just cannot for the life of me say that jesse exhibits any characteristics of a 24 year old man. charles does but that's because he's basically an arrogant ass and that is definitely a 24 year old man)

he's a bit more mature than lucie in the way that he was parentified and was forced to grow up a little faster to make sure grace was taken care of. but that has more to do with the different ways jesse and lucie were raised. lucie is more naiive (i hate that word but it's the most fitting) because she grew up much more sheltered and protected than jesse ever did

i do still think the fact that they share an aunt and uncle and some cousins is weird. idk how cc will work her way out of that one for me. i just can't not think of it from gabrily's POV... their niece and their nephew together but from opposite sides of the family. hm

i'm still indifferent to gracetopher i think-- i have a theory that grace takes back the name cartwright after jesse convinces her that it's okay and he wouldn't be hurt by that and tatiana is no longer her guardian. though of course she would still see jesse as her brother and jesse would see her as his sister

[ao3feed-anastasia]

I'd Find You Again

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Y2flvLm by Theworldsyererster Being in a socialite family had its ups and downs. On one hand, you always had a roof over your head, a party to go to, and the newest iPhone if you behaved well enough, however, on the other hand, it was an extremely pressure-filled environment. People dictate everything you do, who you can date, what you can read, what classes you take, you name it, they have a say in it. Of course, being family, they only want the best, and for their family name to stay untarnished. They didn’t expect this to happen, they never knew that he had a side of him that could leave you shaking and crying. Words: 2191, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/M Characters: Anya | Anastasia Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Dimitri | Dmitry (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Gleb Vaganov, Gleb Vaganov's Mother, Gleb Vaganov's Father, Nicholas II (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Alexei Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Tsarina Alexandra (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Maria Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Olga Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Tatiana Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Sophie Stanislovskievna Somorkov-Smirnoff, Marfa (Anastasia Broadway), Vlad Popov, Lily Malevsky-Malevitch, Paulina (Anastasia Broadway) Relationships: Dimitri | Dmitry/Anya | Anastasia Romanov (Anastasia 1997 & Broadway), Anya | Anastasia Romanov/Gleb Vaganov Additional Tags: Teenage Drama, Alternate Universe - High School, Physical Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Emotional Manipulation, Gaslighting, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Not for gleb fans, None of these are dmitry/Anya dw read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Y2flvLm

[mrbensonmum]

TV Shows - 3 Body Problem IX

Episode seven, and we can already see the finish line, yet the pace picks up once more.

The cryogenic facility is an interesting detail, as it's introduced mainly in the context of being used for the probe. However, it's so large that a full human can’t be sent, only something much smaller, like a brain. By this point, we understand that it will be Will.

But there’s another detail that may have been overlooked in the conversation between Wade and Jin. Wade plans to use the cryogenic facility for himself—he wants to freeze his body and be woken up every few years to continue overseeing the facility and essentially the survival of humanity.

This establishes a kind of time machine, because that's exactly how the cryogenic facility and the concept of "going into cold sleep" is handled. It’s an interesting aspect, since cold sleep is often just treated as freezing and that's it. But if you take a step back from the narrative and view it from a broader, chronological context, it can actually be seen as a form of time travel. The book presents and even calls it that way several times. I’d be thrilled if this idea is introduced in season two, as it’s crucial for Jin and Saul’s future development!

Will is now preparing for his self-induced suicide, and the dialogue between him and Saul is brilliantly written. Even Auggie’s farewell is well done—without getting too sentimental, they simply show the bottle, which works so well. And Saul and Will—Saul not wanting to let Will go until the very end—is handled in a way that feels refreshing, unlike what is typical in other shows. While Saul sheds tears, it’s not overly emotional, and I think that makes it even more powerful and impactful.

This is reinforced when Jin misses the chance to say goodbye after learning that the star belongs to Will. She arrives too late and can only watch as the cryotank, containing Will’s brain, is sealed.

We also briefly revisit Ye Wenjie after Tatiana, who wasn’t forgotten by the San-Ti, is sent to kill her. But before this happens, we see Ye Wenjie meeting with Saul and telling him a strange joke:

"So Einstein dies. He finds himself in heaven, and he has his violin. He’s thrilled. He loves his violin more than physics. Even more than women. He’s excited to see how well he can play in heaven. He thinks he’ll be amazing. So he starts tuning up, and the angels rush over.

'What are you doing?' they ask.

'I’m getting ready to play.'

'Don’t do that. God won’t like it. He’s a saxophonist.'

So Einstein stops. He doesn’t play. But it’s hard for him. He loves music. And there’s actually not much to do in heaven. Sure enough, from high above, he hears a saxophone playing. It’s playing 'Take the A Train,' do you know that one? Einstein knows it too. He thinks, I’m going to do it. I’m going to play along. We’ll sound amazing together. So he starts playing 'Take the A Train.' The saxophone stops, and God appears. He walks over to Einstein and kicks him in the groin, which hurts, even in heaven. Then he smashes Einstein’s beloved violin to bits. Eternity without music. Heaven becomes hell for Einstein. And as he’s lying on the ground in pain, an angel comes over and says: 'We warned you: Never play with God.'"

I find this line "Never play with God" very interesting, as it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Is Ye Wenjie implying that the San-Ti, with their methods and the Sophons, are like gods and therefore should not be challenged? Or is it more about how humanity shouldn’t develop too far? Like the joke suggests, one shouldn’t try to play at God's level, or believe they can match him. When I watched this scene for the first time, I found it a fascinating detail, and I watched it several times in a row because of how Ye Wenjie delivered the joke—it was so gripping.

We have one more episode, and the final episode always reminds me a bit of the third season of Dark. Why that is, I’ll explain in the last post!