#sorry excuse me writing another mini character essay

[spaceyflowerswriting]

I'm probably definitely going to regret this in the morning but can I get a breakup letter from Taehun? He is still in love with the reader but has to break up and it's kind of a mess. Like 'I don't want to do it but I need to' situation.

There isn't enough viral hit angst in this world🙂

Thanks

🙇

a/n: no worries <33 i hope i can help with ur viral hit angst but im a fluff writer so im sorry if my writings are awkward 😭

[You receive your letter in the form of a folded piece of paper from Taehun himself, who has come to visit you. He's uncharacteristically awkward as he hugs you tightly and asks you to read and keep the letter before leaving without letting you reply. You open the paper and read...]

There's not an easy way around this.

We have to break up. I've already made my decision, and I don't want to hear you out because I don't want to risk you changing my mind. I swear this is for your own good.

You can be mad at me and all that. Just know I'm doing this because I love you and want you to be safe. I can't explain much other than that dumbass Hobin has gotten me dragged into some real bad shit and I don't want to give the people we're kicking the asses of a chance to figure out you're my lover and use that against me.

Originally I wasn't going to break up with you but do you remember when that insane guy Hobin tried to take down went after the people he cares about? I don't want that to happen to you. I can't risk anything, so a breakup is the only option. You can understand, right?

I wrote you this letter so you have something physical from me to hold on to until I do what needs to be done and can safely come back to you. I also wanted to see you one last time. I won't cut you out of my life entirely, but I can't interact with you much from now on.

I know this is a lot to ask... still, just wait for me. Don't you dare fall for anyone else in the meanwhile.

I'll miss you.

-Taehun

[blue-eyed-korra]

Lauren and Kieran’s Relationship: Action not Words

*Mini rant before the actual post:

So apparently someone shared my post about Kieran to the Purple Hyacinth group on Band (shoutout to @lanxyuu​​ for showing me this) and a bunch of people there liked it including Sophism herself which is crazy because this comic has become my life??? And the work she and Eph do is amazing??? And she said she liked my brain!?!?!? AHHHHHHH- sorry I’m still shook but I honestly can’t believe that she actually liked my work just... AHHHHHHHH!

*Mini rant ended here*

Anyways, seeing as how I’m currently a broke, unemployed, soon-to-be-grad student under quarantine, I have no coins to fastpass the last episodes of PH. Believe me it is the greatest tragedy of my life. But I still wanna write more about PH so what should I do? Well I decided to write about how we can learn more about Lauren and Kieran’s relationship through their non-verbal interactions. By looking at how they act around each other rather than just what they say, we can get a better sense for what their relationship was like before episode 43, and where it may go from there. Now I’m not gonna talk about every single time they interact with each other because some are irrelevant, it would take way too long to write and this post would become even more of a mess than it already is. 

Now you might be thinking this is just an excuse to discuss one of my favourite ships because their relationship in the comic isn’t the greatest rn and I don’t want to/can’t accept that they may not get together (in the foreseeable future), and you’d be right. Let me have this. 

Ok so the first scene I wanna talk about is the very first physical interaction they have where they’re not actively attacking/trying to kill each other. I’m talking of course about when they make the deal to work together in episode 11.

What I like about this is that it’s both impersonal and intimate, because they’re both doing this for their own reasons and they both see the other as a means to an end, but it’s also a blood pact. Kieran cuts his hand and offers it to her, and Lauren accepts in kind. They’re becoming bound to each other, but all in the common interest to take down the Leader.

The same can also be said for when they go dancing; it’s just an act. A way to blend in and find Anslow. They tango and banter and get all close and we all lived for it (hell I’m still living for it), because it’s hot and the sexual tension is insane but to them it’s just apart of the operation and doesn’t really mean anything. Like when she later seduces Anslow to get him alone. It’s all a part of the plan

I’d say the moment we see the biggest shift is after the whole Blakelsey situation. They’re back at the cave and Lauren is pretty shook because not only did Kieran save her life, but he showed her that he really does try to avoid killing when given the choice. So when she sees he’s injured and struggling with his bandages, she goes to help him.

Sidenote: This is completely unrelated to anything in this post but I just wanted to say that I never realised how attractive a back could be until I saw Kieran’s so thank you Soph for giving this to us🙏🏻

You can see this is part of her way of thanking him for saving her before she actually tells him. You can see that she’s beginning to reevaluate the idea of him that she has in her head, because his actions that night contradict everything she assumed about him. This is the moment she begins to see his humanity. And he’s pretty shocked too because he’s accustomed to doing everything alone and her of all people offering her help and thanks is wild to him, but more about how Kieran feels later.

Things change the most for Lauren after the whole Grim Goblin incident. She’s jumped out of a hotel window, into a tree and fell several storeys to the ground. Kieran finds her injured and trying to play it off as nothing because 1) She’s a strong, independent woman who don’t need no man, and 2) Because she’d rather not get the help of this man in particular. But he calls bullshit and scoops her up bridal style. Again, she’s shook because the Purple Hyacinth is carrying her bridal style, but it wears off quickly and she begins struggling out of his grip. The piggyback is clearly a compromise where he can still carry her but it’s less intimate and, dare I say, ‘damsel-like’ than before. I also think Lauren was ok with the piggyback because it made her taller than Kieran and therefore more in control lol.

Then they get to his apartment and she one again tries to brush off her injuries but the the turn tables and Kieran is the one helping patch her up. He picks her up, puts her on the table and rips her sleeve off to get a better look at her cut.

One thing I wanna point out is her reaction to him being so close.

She’s clenching her fist on the edge of the table because he is way into her personal space. You can practically feel his breath on her neck. He’s being very clinical about everything and probably can’t feel her discomfort, but we as readers can feel just how uncomfortable and anxious she is. This man just carried her to his home and is checking her wounds and is gonna patch her up and it’s breaking every preconceived notion she had of him in her head. He’s not some murderous monster *wink wink* whose sole purpose is to spread misery and pain. He’s just a man who lives in an apartment and likes to read and draw and eats and breaths just like any other person. Logically, she knows that he’s a human, but actually seeing it is another thing entirely. And her realizing this now only makes everything that goes down in episode 43 hurt that much more.

I realize that most of this word vomit essay is about how Lauren feels, but what about Kieran? What can we lean about how he feels about Lauren? Well, that’s gonna be a bit trickier. For one thing, Lauren is the main character, therefore we spend way more time in head than his by a long shot. We know less about his motivations and personality than we do about hers. All of this contributes to the mystery that is Kieran White. But there are moments we can learn things about him, especially when his true feelings shine through.

One thing that demonstrates this a lot is when Lauren surprises him. There are times when Lauren says or does something and for just a second, it throws Kieran off and has him really think about the mystery that is Lauren Sinclair.

We see this happen a few times: First when they’re preparing to go get Anslow and he sees her disguise and the gun strapped to her thigh, Next when she’s thanking him for saving her life and finally when he sees her the morning after she sleeps over.

With the first one he’s more pleasantly surprised than anything, seeing officer goodie-twoshoes being this resourceful and sneaky. He expected her to be more of a straight-lace killjoy, but now he’s seeing more of her ‘bad girl’ side and it’s interesting.

He’s more shocked than surprised when she thanks him for saving her. Like I said before, he’s an assassin. When do you think the last time he was thanked for saving a life rather than taking one? Probably never honestly. And now this woman, who he knows doesn’t like him very much, is helping him with his bandages and offering him gratitude and he’s kind of in awe of it all. Of course we see him try to brush it off by being a jackass (and we love him for it) but still, I see you Kieran👀.

I think the final scene is the most interesting tho. Because he comes back from getting her stuff at the cave and just sees her standing there. She doesn’t do anything or say anything out of the ordinary. She’s just standing there... in one of his shirts and basically nothing else... in his apartment... the morning after sleeping in his bed. 

He was confused as to why he brought her there the night before and he’s never brought anyone to his home before, so I think seeing her like this, all casual in his space despite everything, is really driving home just how close they’ve become and how he hasn’t had anything remotely close to a friend or companion or whatever they are in years.

But once again, this was all before episode 43, which still hurts my soul. I know things are gonna be different after everything, but I hope that Lauren and Kieran are able to express themselves more with each other as the story continues.

So yeah, this is a mess. If you’ve made it this far, congrats! Now this post was more of a labour of love than I initially thought because it took literally a whole day to write and then got deleted the next day! So this is the rewrite. Lowkey happy it got deleted because this is far less rambling than before. Take a moment to let that sink in. As I’m writing this episode 48 is only a couple hours from being made free for everyone. Watch me come back on here and post another essay about it lol. Looking forward to doing more of these though! Thanks for all the feedback and remember to send the creators some love!

[ticklikeabomb]

Fauve Mini Series 1/3 - Tom Hiddleston : Rub a Dub

Pairing : Tom Hiddleston x POC Plus Size Reader

Word Count : 2k

A/N : Fic based on the song “Rub a Dub” by the French band Fauve. The lyrics are partly translated in Tom’s dialogue. I hope you’ll like it, it’s kinda out of my comfort zone to write something so fluffy.

Hey! Excuse-moi Est-ce qu’on peut parler deux minutes? Ce sera pas long je te promets Après je disparais Il fallait juste que je te parle de quelque chose Et je me connais Si je le fais pas maintenant je vais encore me défiler et m’en vouloir Voila, j’arrive pas à te sortir de mes pensées Je peux pas te le dire autrement En même temps c’est pas très compliqué Je pense que tu comprends Je suis désolé si c’est un peu direct mais je me dis qu’on n’a qu’une vie Qu’elle est trop courte, trop fragile Et puis vaut mieux avoir des remords que des regrets

Je sais pas d’où ça sort Je sais pas d’où ça vient Je pourrais pas te l’expliquer Et je comprendrais que tu me prennes pour un dingue Je t’en voudrais pas C’est juste que quand je te vois Il y a des flashs dans ma tête Il y a des images qui se répètent en boucle Et j’ai besoin d’en avoir le cœur net Je nous vois danser au ralenti sur du rub a dub Et toi tu me déposes des mots précieux au creux de l’oreille On se regarde droit dans les yeux On veille jusqu'au lever du soleil Je nous vois sortir marcher boire et partir sans payer Tirer des plans sur la comète Et faire l’amour les fenêtres ouvertes Je vais pas te mentir sur le marché je suis pas forcément ce qu’il y a de meilleur Parce que je suis bancal menteur pas fiable jamais à l’heure Mais si tu veux je peux me faire boxeur, voleur, chauffeur, docteur, serviteur, dresseur de lions

You looked at the crowd, a slight frown crossing your features, looking for your boyfriend. You saw one of his friends pass by you and asked for him, "Have you seen Tom?". But before he could answer, Tom's melodic voice was heard across the room. You turned your head towards the source and saw him standing in the middle of the stage, a mic in front of him. Soon after, the first notes of one of your favorite songs resonated across the room.

"Hey, excuse me. Can I take two minutes to talk with you?", he began and you gasped once realizing that he translated the lyrics from the French song in English. "It won't take long, I promise. After that, I'm done", he smiled. Your best friend indicated you the front seat and you shyly sat down, mouth agape. ‘What are you doing?’, you mouthed to him to which he smiled brightly. "I needed to tell you something and I know myself, if I don't do it now, I'll chicken out and would regret it", he stated like the original lyrics.

"Here it is : I can't stop getting you out of my thoughts. I don't know how to say it otherwise but at the same time, you know what I'm talking about. I'm sorry that it's so straightforward but we only have one life and it's a short and fragile one. Besides I rather have remorses than regrets.” He took a small break, his eyes locked with yours, nothing and no one else important anymore. "I don't know where this comes from, I can't tell you and you will probably think I'm crazy but I have those flashes in my head. Images going over and over and I need to have to know. I see ourselves slowly dancing on a rub a dub. You dropping sweet nothings on the crock of my neck, our eyes piercing at one another. I see us watching the sunrise together, walking side by side to a pub, have a drink and flee the scene without paying. I see us shot pictures of the comets and make love with wide open windows", he chanted with a wide grin. You heard the audience laugh and holler at the last part of the phrase and you couldn't help yourself into joining them.

Je vais pas te la faire a l'envers, tu pourras forcément trouver mieux Parce que je suis maladroit, nerveux, égoïste et coléreux Mais si tu veux je peux être souriant et même heureux, poli, généreux Écrire des morceaux moins teigneux Ou même des chansons pour les amoureux C’est marrant parce que je me sens à la fois un peu ridicule de te balancer tout ça d’un coup Et en même temps tu sais ça me fait beaucoup de bien D'abord parce que je peux enfin être fixé sur ce qui se passe de ton côté Mais aussi parce que je réalise la chance que j’ai De pouvoir encore avoir des sentiments pour un être-human autre que moi Ça me change tellement la vie Tu te rends pas compte je crois J’ai l’impression de plus être la même personne C’est comme si d’un coup je me remettais d’une cuite qui avait duré genre deux ans C’est long deux ans Je me sens différent J’ai envie de me lever à l’heure De me remettre en mouvement De moins fumer De moins boire Et puis, de plus draguer n’importe qui par peur de la solitude

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm not the best looking out there because I'm unsound, liar, not reliable, never on time but if you'd want I can be a boxer, pilot, driver, doctor, maid or a lion tamer. I won't trick you, I know you can find better. I'm nervous, selfish, quick-tempered but for you I can be happy, polite, generous. Write songs less pessimist and even write love songs." He chuckled at the next part of his text, "It's funny because in one hand I feel ridiculous to tell you all of this and in the other I feel relived. I can't realize the luck I have right now, to have such powerful feelings for another being. It's life changing, I don't think you understand. I have the feeling I’m not the same person anymore, like I've been hangover for the past 2 years and I finally woke up. Two years hangover, that's a long time". You smiled widely, your eyed beginning to tear, all the love you felt for him creep up and vibrate in your soul.

Je sais pas d’où ça sort Je sais pas d’où ça vient Je pourrais pas te l’expliquer encore une fois Ça faisait tellement longtemps que ça m’était pas arrivé Et là ça me tombe dessus comme ça Moi jusque-là je faisais un peu n’importe quoi Je passais d’une personne à une autre sans réussir à m’attacher vraiment C’était assez glauque mais bon Je suis comme tout le monde, qu'est-ce que tu veux? Alors que là je nous vois carrément danser au ralenti sur du rub a dub au corps à corps On se regarde droit dans les yeux et puis on repart en tirant des bords Je nous vois courir nager nus rougir transpirer jusqu'à brûler Tirer des plans sur Jupiter et faire l’amour sous les éclairs Alors je vais pas te mentir sur le marché je suis pas forcément ce qu’il y a de meilleur Parce que je suis bancal menteur pas fiable jamais à l’heure Mais si tu veux je peux me faire boxeur, voleur, chauffeur, docteur, serviteur, dresseur de lions Je vais pas te mentir tu pourras forcément trouver mieux Parce que je suis maladroit, nerveux, égoïste et coléreux Mais si tu veux je peux être souriant et même heureux, poli, généreux Écrire des morceaux moins teigneux Ou même des chansons pour les amoureux

"Again, I don't know where this all come from, I can't explain it to you. It's been so long since it happened to me and then 'bam' it just hits me. I would always spend my time with someone and then move on. I know this sounds creepy but yeah, I'm like everyone else what can I say? But now I see us dancing in slow-motion to a rub a dub, our bodies close. We look deeply at each other's eyes and to end up running naked with flushed faces to the nearest river. Shooting pictures of Jupiter and making love under the thunder. I won't lie to you, I'm not the best in the market. I'm unsound, liar, not reliable and never on time but for you I can be a vampire, a spy or a king of Asgard." You laughed at his smart addition about some of the characters he played in the big screen.

Et même si je sais Que je suis loin d’être parfait Si tu veux qu’on se lance Qu’on essaie Moi je pense que ça peut donner quelque chose de beau Parce qu’après tout on sait jamais Et même si tu vois Que je suis pas quelqu'un pour toi Si le soir quand ça va pas Que t’es triste Qu’il y a quoique ce soit Fais-moi signe Je serai là Je te promets Je bouge pas

"Even if I know that I'm far from being perfect, I want us to try cause something beautiful could come out of it. Even if you see that I'm not the one for you, whenever you're sad at night, anything, call me. I will always be there for you, I promise. I'm not going away." He slowly marched towards you and asked for your hand, to which you gladly took. You crushed your bodies together, slowly dancing along the final notes of the song. Your silent tears rolling down your face, while he continued to mouther the rest of the lyrics and while you followed along by citing them in French.

Et même si je sais Que je suis loin d’être parfait Si tu veux qu’on se lance Qu’on essaie Moi je pense que ça peut donner quelque chose de beau Parce qu’après tout on sait jamais Et même si tu vois Que je suis pas quelqu'un pour toi Si le soir quand ça va pas Que t’es triste Qu’il y a quoique ce soit Fais-moi signe Je serai là Je te promets

"I love you", you whispered in his ear and felt him smiling next to your neck. "I don't want you to mislead all of this, I'm not gonna ask you to marry me and of course, I don't want to force you into being together. But I want you to believe me when I tell you that what I feel is not a one night thing. I'm not another asshole that wants just to sleep with you, the only thing I ask you is not to put me in the same box as them. I leaving you at peace now. I'm sorry I talk to much and you don't have to answer just yet but in the meantime I won't move out of your life. I will always be here for you. Good night ", he finished the song. The room erupted in cheers and Tom took your cheeks in his hands, "Hey love", while he cleaned the leaking tears of your face. You crashed your lips with his in a needy and passionate kiss, pouring all your love for him.

Je voudrais pas que tu te fasses de fausses idées non plus J’ai pas l’intention de te demander en mariage Et même si évidemment je peux pas te forcer à me fréquenter Par contre je peux te demander de me croire quand je te dis tout ce que je te dis ce soir Je suis pas un énième connard qui veut juste coucher avec toi Me mets pas dans le même sac C’est tout ce que je te demande, c’est tout ce que je te demande Allez, je vais te laisser tranquille maintenant Je parle beaucoup, je sais, je suis désolé Mais t'es pas obliger de me répondre tout suite tu sais Puis en attendant, comme je te disais je bouge pas, je bouge pas Bonne soirée

"I guess that's a little to late for the wedding proposal. Ladies and Gentlemen, make a huge applause for Mr and Mrs Hiddleston.  And now let's rock this wedding." You and Tom chuckled at the Dj's words and soon the guests reached the dancefloor and let their bodies express for themselves along the music's rhythm. "I love you so much and you're perfect", you told him. He captured your lips again in a breathtaking kiss and hummed in content. "And I love you Y/N Hiddleston."

PERMANENT TAG LIST : @arrowswithwifi @poetic-pixie @theshortegg @kyber-hearts-and-stardust-souls @prettybubblesintheair @yafriendlyfangirl @marshmallow-witch @ms-cellanies @the-feckless-wonder @cfisher290 @thefangirltheycallviolet @river-fics @lilulo-12 @fanfictionrecommendations-com @spetzerfehn @angieptt @wayward-timetravel-collecter @ashley17jacobs @lokithedancingqueen @wildsoul1221 @introvertedsin @robertconradjr @francezka10

[leonstamatis]

unreliable narration in Greater Boston

WARNING: Greater Boston Episode 25 Spoilers Ahead

Hi, hello, I have a lot of thoughts about this show and its narrators, I’m so sorry to anyone on mobile and I hope this isn’t just. Fucking nonsensical. Here, have an essay!

Greater Boston presents us with a series of narrative styles. Just looking at the first episode, you hear three very different methods of storytelling. Dimitri Stamatis tells his brother Leon all about his own adventures through written letters. Nica delivers a monologue of her history to a fictional audience. And  a narrator describes to us, the non-fictional listeners, Leon’s trip on a roller coaster, with only the occasional input from Leon himself. (See: “Nope.”)

That’s all fine and dandy, and over the course of Season 1, we see some of these variations on narration develop and change. Nica’s monologues disappear, Dimitri’s letters become infrequent or confined to mini-episodes, and The Narrator becomes the primary bridge between the listeners and the happenings in Greater Boston.

But that changes in Season 2. We get a lot more dialogue, more of characters telling their own stories, a few voicemail messages and even more letter-writing. The narration isn’t solely up to The Narrator, although he still plays a part. The characters have a little more freedom to show us what’s happening.

Enter, Episode 25: But Perhaps There Is A Key.

There’s this concept in literature known as the “unreliable narrator.” Chances are, you’ve heard of it; it’s the idea that the narrator of a given story doesn’t give you all the facts of the story. Maybe it’s intentional, or maybe it’s because they don’t know all the facts. Either way, they leave the audience in the dark.

(Some great examples: The two Sasquatch hunters tell their campmates that they’ve spotted their favorite cryptid. If they were the ones telling this story, we might believe them. But we have Dimitri, who saw them both, and knows that the Sasquatch each one thought they saw was the other person hunting for proof. Dimitri is reliable, or at least we think he is, because he knows all the information. The hunters? Not so much.)

Why the fuck am I talking about this? Because The Narrator in Greater Boston is unreliable as hell. And given that he has effectively handed off the reins of storytelling to my boy Leon, it’s now time to address his own ability to deliver us with the facts.

For the first season, we’ve got The Narrator. He’s great. Essentially, he provides us with everything that is not dialogue or letters. For example:

“More than anything else, Charlotte was glad to be drawing again. She should have been drawing all along. Just because she was out of work was no reason to leave behind the one occupation that meant more to her than anything else. But after the studio closed, she had been hit so strongly by the conviction that she would never work again, that she couldn’t even pick up a pencil without crumpling in despair.” (Episode 6: Sage Council)

That’s the kind of thing we wouldn’t get, normally, if the show operated just through dialogue. Unless Charlotte sits another character down and lays out all her thoughts and feelings, we won’t know about them. So The Narrator serves an important purpose, in making sure we know each character’s motivations and plans.

It’s kind of like all the text in a book that isn’t dialogue. And it works, for a whole season, until Episode 13: Mayor Linzer-Coolidge And The Lottery, Tree Of Tales: Part 2.

Narrator: And so, long after Charlotte moved away, the tree of tales continued to bloom with fresh stories an —

LEON — Braden Lamb: No.

Narrator: Ex — excuse me?

Leon: The tree never sprouted with stories. Charlotte’s imagination may have blossomed with possibility, but her stories failed to serve as seeds. In fact, exactly one year and seven months following Charlotte’s move, the tree in her backyard began to die. It withered slowly, the branches turning brittle and neon white. Few of Charlotte’s stories managed to stay lodged inside the hollowed trunk, and none managed to merge with their red oak host. While some were stuck deep inside the dying bark, others blew away until their words and images were ruined by mud, rain or other such natural censors.

Leon rolls in, thirteen episodes late with Starbucks in his metaphysical hand. He upends our whole understanding of the role of The Narrator and the information we’ve been given thus far. And he maintains a remarkably monotone delivery.

In that one moment, something is made clear to us: The Narrator isn’t dealing in actualities. He’s telling us everything from the perspective and mind of whichever character is at the forefront of a scene. He’s not telling us about the big picture; he’s telling us everything from the standpoint of dozens of characters, all of whom are unreliable.

Given that he’s only telling us what the character of the moment knows, we are responsible for piecing together those narrations and figuring out what’s really going on. That method is made clear in the line following Leon’s interruption:

Narrator: But in Charlotte’s mind? The tree grew. Its leaves budded and blossomed with her words and fiction. And no story grew greater than the one she told herself.

The Narrator is only telling us the stories that the characters tell themselves. And that, as we’re learning, is not how Leon does things.

So Leon comes in whilst “Wrecking Ball” plays in the background, and he’s great. He spends all of Season 2 interrupting, adding his own additional asides, and generally holding the narrator accountable.

The Narrator and Leon clash so often because they focus on, or perhaps just have access to, different information. Where The Narrator tells us the emotions and the inner thoughts of the characters we know and love, Leon tells us what’s happening externally.

But how reliable is Leon?

We know Leon can “see” things. Oliver hires him, under duress, to spy on the mayoral candidates and provide information that can help carry off The Lottery (Episode 24: Quitters). But he can’t act on that information. And he can’t see the motivations and inner workings of a character’s mind.

Narrator: Oliver stepped into his secret elevator, the one only he and his nephew knew existed.

Leon: He’s the only person you open your door to, isn’t he?

Narrator: The one he only used long after hours, after all his publishing employees had gone home.

Leon: Yes, yes. It’s secret. We get it.

Narrator: The one that shuttled him down to the secret landing between the wet bar and the kombucha vending machine in the break room.

Leon: Yes, kombucha, break room, we get the picture. Enough with that. The elevator arrives, the doors open. (Episode 21: Liars and Legerdemain)

Leon is making the deduction that Oliver only trusts his nephew. He’s asking the question, however rhetorical, because he’s still figuring Oliver out. But he does know, for sure, that the elevator goes down and the doors open. He can see that happening.

He even helps Michael predict the future (Episode 7: Divinations). He uses I Ching to communicate that the referendum will pass, or at least helps Michael figure it out. He can see Tyrell robbing the squeezy stress balls, even as he plays chess with Oliver (Episode 20: Criminals).

But he doesn’t know that Michael will agree to go up to Oliver’s apartment. He doesn’t know the details of Tyrell’s heist until he watches it unfold. He admits to not knowing that spying for Oliver would cause any harm, be anything other than political – even as he says that Redline will eventually cave in on itself and fall apart. (Is that another prediction, Leon? Or is it just an opinion?)

So. Now we have Episode 25: The Narrator Gets Fed Up And Tells Leon To Do It His Damn Self.

(Tangent: How can Leon address The Narrator? Is The Narrator also a ghost? Is he Charlie on the MTA, watching this all unfold from his eternal home on the train? Or is he, too, stuck in the crystal ball? This is an essay for a different time.)

Leon knows… a lot. But he doesn’t know everything. In his current state, he can “see more,” but there’s a lot of information he does not seem to have access to.

We haven’t really seen Leon narrate, per se, before Episode 25. He exists in this sort of in-between. Unlike other characters, he can see the bigger picture. He knows where every character is and what they’re up to, or at least he could.

But unlike The Narrator, he interacts with the other characters. He tries, frequently, to communicate with Nica or Michael. Now, he’s doing the same with Dimitri. Through dreams, divinations, hallucinations, pneumatic tubes, and just. Talking at them from six feet to the left and beyond the mortal veil, despite their inability to hear him.

The Narrator was a narrator first, and a character second. Leon is the exact opposite. Because of that, he is less reliable, despite having an overall wider view of the world. He can see more, but he’s limited by his inability to understand the motivations of other characters and predict their behaviors. He’s limited by his own motivations, his own desires, and his own emotions.

Look at the final scene in Episode 25; he isn’t even telling us what’s happening. He’s not trying to narrate. He’s talking to his brother. We don’t get any concrete information from him; we get an apology.

Leon isn’t here to narrate. He’s here to reunite Nica and Dimitri and ensure Michael’s safety. And, all things considered, he won’t be particularly reliable as a narrator, given his tendency to ignore detailed descriptions we might find helpful and his lack of access to the characters themselves.

In other words: If you thought it was hard to figure out what was going to happen next in Seasons 1 and 2, it’s only going to get harder from here.