#also I love Rosa so much I need to draw her again—

[chibishortdeath]

Yo omg I just got to the part of the game with my wife and my husband ahskfkshajdksjwjwkda I am so excited to meet them in person—

#castlevania #castlevania games #akumajou dracula #image post #epic gaming moment #rosa castlevania #renon castlevania #Castlevania 64 #I love them #very platonically and aesthetically but asgflfjahskfja #silly blorbos from a silly obscure game #renon woulda been a tumblr sexyman if he was new lets be real #also I love Rosa so much I need to draw her again— #text post

[estinininininen]

FFIV: Arm in Arm, Hand in Hand, ao3 link, ~2400 words

Rydia has a simple request for Cecil.

He'd do anything for her. She doesn't want to make it weird.

(He makes it weird.)

warning: unbearable cuteness

Cecil and Rosa agreed at once when Rydia asked for a private moment.

"Thanks for seeing me," Rydia said. "I know you're busy all the time."

"It's no problem," Cecil said. "I'd make time for you. Are you hungry? Did you have a good trip?" Taciturn King Cecil only babbled around people he liked. "Surely you must know I'd make time. Surely you know that."

"I know. I believe you. And I'm fine," Rydia said, even as Rosa brought a tray of tea to their table and Cecil jumped up to help her. Rydia stood up on court etiquette but Rosa shooed her back into the chair. "Really, I won't need more than a moment with you, but I wanted to ask you something."

"To ask something in private," Cecil said. "Are you safe? Are you in danger? What do you need?"

"I'm sure she's fine," Rosa said. She had an idea what Rydia might say, but it was important and Rydia should be the one to ask.

"I'm fine," Rydia said. "I'm more than fine."

"Right, right," Cecil said. "You wouldn't let anyone get the drop on you."

Rydia wrinkled her nose like she always did when teasing. "You should know that by now. No one gets past me if I don't want them to."

"Dear, have a little faith in her otherwordly magical abilities," Rosa said.

Cecil held up his hands. "Don't need faith. Seen it myself." He laughed. The stress of being King melted from his face. "I just worry about you, when I'm not looking." His expression blanked, and history for a moment weighed over their little table. Rydia and Rosa understood this was a truth that popped out before Cecil meant it to.

"That's alright," Rydia said. "I worry about you two, too." Then she stopped. Whatever Rydia had to say, she might need a little prompting.

Rosa covered the pause in conversation with pouring the tea. "How is Edge?" she asked.

"Speaking of people I worry about," Cecil said.

Rydia smiled and tucked her head down a little, to hide her glee. It was such a typical movement for a young woman in love that Cecil had to hold his surprise.

"Well. Edge and I. Um. We just got back from visiting the Feymarch," she said.

The Feymarch was a home to Rydia, and to everyone else it was the long-forgotten alien world of sentient monsters of legend. Even though Cecil and Rosa had been, twice, they still felt a thrill of awe when it was mentioned.

"And?" Rosa said. "It . . . went well? Asura and Leviathan are well?" she asked, stumbling and falling back on neutral politeness.

"Oh yes. I wanted to introduce them to Edge again, and for him to spend enough time for them to get to know each other. He managed to spend two whole weeks out of Eblan, got everything prepared and signed off. He gets so much more done when he's motivated. It turned into six months in the Feymarch. I think he really appreciated a long time away from the throne."

"Between us? Can't say I blame him," Cecil said. "And this . . . went alright? Edge in the Feymarch?"

"For half a year?" Rosa said.

"Yeah," Rydia said. When Rydia had started looking dreamy-eyed when talking about Edge, Cecil couldn't say, but it made his heart clench a little at his responsibilities drawing him away from friends. "Yeah, he and I had a wonderful time. I miss them all already," she sighed. "But, it also really is like Asura tried to tell me. I miss the surface, too. I'm glad now she told me to get out of the Feymarch more." She took a sip of her tea. "I don't think I'll be going back for such long periods anymore."

"Oh?" Cecil said. "Not that I'm not afraid when the next time I see you you'll have grown old, but are you sure that's what you want?"

"Mist is also my home," Rydia said. "And Eblan is too, now-"

"Oh," Cecil said, and Rosa thought, Ah.

"-and I've done what I set out to do with the new order of Summoners," Rydia continued. "There's not many, but there are some. My distant cousins, or random chance. They're doing so great, they study everything I tell them, and practice all the time," she said.

"Wait, but do you not still intend to keep them hidden? You don't need to tell us about them," Cecil said. "I still think you shouldn't. For their sake."

"I won't," Rydia said. "And I'm not. But I get to be proud of them, right? Let me brag a little! They're doing all the hard work but I like to think it's because I'm a good teacher, too!"

They all laughed.

She continued. "My point is, Mist is my home but it's not going to be the home of Summoners any longer. We're going to move around, stay separated for a time."

"That's a hard life," Cecil said.

"Not like wanderers," Rydia said. "Just a hidden group, our people in different places around the world. Living ordinary lives, as black mages or white mages. I might even have a Sage on my hand, if they can hold on to the balance. But I will be the only one who knows where all of them are," she said.

Cecil assumed this was what she needed help with. "What do you need? Anything I can give, I will," he said.

"Oh, no," Rydia said. "It's already done. The ninja skills have been of great help. Edge taught them the basics."

Cecil and Rosa glanced at each other. "He did?" Rosa said.

"He knows them?" Cecil said.

"He's the one who suggested all the subterfuge," Rydia said.

"But, he is . . . " A king, Cecil wanted to say.

"Ah," Rydia said. She sighed. "It really is unavoidable, politics."

"No. No," he said. "Not for this. It's too important. Does he understand that no one else can know? If, all the gods forbid, one day Eblan does as Baron did, then a record Edge leaves behind, even accidentally-"

"I don't think that will be a problem," Rydia said. "He doesn't know their names, or where they are. Give us some credit, please."

"Of course, of course," Cecil said. "But-"

"I don't think Eblan and the Summoners are going to be in conflict for a long time, unless Edge is taken off the throne," Rydia said, and shifted in her seat.

Rosa shifted. "Rydia, I know you've spent a lot of time with him, but he will always be the leader of his people before a friend," she said.

"I know. I know that!" She threw up her hands. "Next thing you're going to tell me is he has to marry some day," Rydia said, and avoided looking them in the eye.

"I'm sure that's hard to think about, Rydia," Cecil said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Whatever happens, Rosa and I will be here for you." He looked to Rosa for assistance, who was now being quiet for some reason Cecil couldn't fathom. "It - it might not even change much between you and Edge," he said.

"Well I hope not," Rydia said, "because he's married to me."

Cecil stopped rubbing his thumb over Rydia's scapula.

"What?" he said.

"I married him," she said. Her eyes twinkled and her nose was, very slowly, wrinkling again. "Edge. We got married. We decided in the Feymarch."

Rosa broke into a huge smile.

"Arm Lady and Daddymonster were really patient with him," Rydia said, using her private family nicknames for Asura and Leviathan from when she was a girl. "Daddymonster especially, while Edge figured it out. He was right, he needed time away from court."

Cecil said, "What?"

"Time away from court. To figure out that I am much scarier than Eblan court politics," Rydia said.

"Much scarier," Rosa said.

"No," Cecil said. "I mean, you . . . got married? You married Edge?"

Rosa giggled and stood up to cover his ears, laughing at him. "He needs a moment," she said.

Rydia was giggling now, too. "Why - why is he like this whenever anyone surprises him?"

"It's good news, Cecil," Rosa said, drumming his skull. "Don't think too hard."

"Hey, hey now," he said, grabbing Rosa and pulling her into his lap. "Of course it's good news! Con - Congratulations!" he said.

"Why are you wheezing," Rydia said, now laughing in full.

"I just needed a moment," Cecil said. "Oh, oh. Oh. You're married." He stood up. Rosa squealed in indignation as she was forced to stand up too.

"Cecil, what-"

"You're the Queen of Eblan, now," Cecil said.

Rosa dashed around and grabbed Rydia in a huge hug.

"I feel like - like this is very good but maybe a little bit rushed," Cecil said.

Rosa glared at him from over Rydia's head.

"Are you sure about this?" he said.

Rosa huffed. Rydia said, "Well, I sure hope so, because it's done! Yes, Sir Cecil, I'm sure."

Cecil blushed. Rydia had only ever called him Sir Cecil when first reacquainted as adults and unsure of mortal habits.

"She spent six months with him in the Feymarch," Rosa said. "That's plenty long enough."

"The Eidolons all like him," Rydia said.

"I . . . " Cecil said. "I don't mean about the Eidolons. Eblan has assassins, Rydia. Eblan is assassins."

"That's a negative stereotype, but yes. It is. But I'm not worried about them," Rydia says. "Or the old judgy Judys at court."

"Who knows?" Rosa said. This was what Cecil really wanted to know but couldn't assemble the words for.

"The Lord and Lady of the Feymarch, Edge's personal guard, and his seneschal. And now you two. For now."

"Oh, so we are still important to you," Cecil said.

Rydia and Rosa stared at him.

Cecil clapped his hand over his mouth.

"I didn't mean that," he said. "I didn't mean that. Rydia, I'm sorry, I don't know why I think I have the right-"

"Cecil," Rosa said, and having known Rosa for most of his life and been married to her for five years now, he heard the danger. "Are you jealous?"

Damn women and their damn intuition understanding him before he understood himself.

"No!" he said. "I'm not jealous."

Rydia muttered something under her breath. Unless Cecil's ears were also as muddled as his thoughts were, it very much sounded like, "And there he goes again with the guilt spiral."

"Cecil." The Queen of Baron crossed her arms. "You're upset she didn't tell you they were getting married when they were in the Feymarch," Rosa said.

"No, that's ridiculous! I wouldn't be so petty," he said, and hoped, oh how he hoped, that the political skills he gained as King were going to one day give him the ability to lie.

But not to Rosa. Never Rosa. Just because he wanted to avoid the consequences of his own stupidity right now didn't mean he thought it was a good idea to lie to his wife. She looked in his eyes. "You are," she said.

"That's absurd," Cecil said. I thought I stopped digging my own holes a long time ago. "I - I really don't know where I get the idea I can keep doing this to you, Rydia, but I am so sorry-"

"Keep doing what?" Rydia said.

Rosa stared him down too and Cecil felt almost nauseous.

"Keep doing what, exactly?" Rydia said.

"I - I -"

Rosa saw what he meant, saw him floundering, and finally gave blessed, stinging mercy. She uncrossed her arms and spoke quietly. "We're not your family."

"No," Cecil said. "We're not. I'm sorry."

Rydia looked between both of them, and no matter how hard Cecil told himself she was an adult - she was more than an adult, she had often walked the road between the sands of time and come out closer to Edge's age than Cecil's own -

- he still just saw a little girl peeking out from beneath the covers in Kaipo while he wiped his blade clean of his countrymen's blood.

"You're not?" Rydia said.

Cecil grew even more confused.

"So do you not want to be?" Rydia said.

Cecil and Rosa shared glances. "Huh?" Rosa said.

Rydia said, "I don't know a lot of people personally on the surface still. People that can come to a royal wedding. The Eidolons and my summoner students can't. Isn't it important for someone to give the bride away?"

"I'm confused," Cecil said.

"I am too," Rosa said.

"Oh. We're going to have another wedding," Rydia said. "I got scared and skipped ahead. Sorry. Do you . . . Do you not want to walk me down the aisle?" She tilted her head at Cecil. "It's more of a surface thing, Lord Leviathan already gave his blessing anyway. I thought it wouldn't matter to me but in the Eblan weddings I've been to - oh, oh no, oh Cecil don't cry," Rydia said.

Cecil reared back and touched his face. He was crying? Why had he started crying?

He blinked and was hugging Rydia. He blinked again and was sitting down in the chair sagging like a bag of potatoes. The weird noises coming from his mouth and nose were indecorous for a king of a sovereign nation to make, but wasn't he already among company that didn't care?

"Oh," he heard Rosa saying. "Another wedding. Oh, that makes sense."

"For the benefit of Eblan and everyone else," Rydia said. "Because it really is always about politics, isn't it? He's marrying the Summoners and I'm marrying Eblan."

"Politics," Rosa said. "Sometimes I think Kain had the right idea . . . "

"Is - is he alright?" Rydia said, eyeing Cecil.

"I think he will be, yes," Rosa said, and she squeezed her hand. Cecil realized it was wrapped in his. He squeezed back. "I've . . . never seen him like this, though," Rosa said.

"Cecil, sometimes I can't tell what's going on in your head," Rydia said.

"Oh that's alright," he said, sounding like he had a head cold. "Makes two of us."

"So . . . can you do it?" Rydia said. "Walk me down the aisle?"

Cecil burst into tears again.

"That's happy crying," Rosa said. "Yes. Yes, he will, or I will throw him in the dungeon myself."

"I'm glad I have you to translate," Rydia said.

"Well I - I really don't know what's happening. Cecil, honey, breathe-"

Rydia started giggling. "Oh, no, I've broken him again."

#ffiv #rydia #cecil harvey #rosa joanna farrell #edge ffiv #ffiv fanfic #my ao3 crosspost #it's my fic and i'll crosspost if i want to

[ploompkin]

So I was bored and wrote something kind of based on @ginhaku125 ‘s headcanons… (Colress is a dad, Faba becomes a reluctant step dad who eventually grows to care for the kids) and I got a little too into it and now it’s like, a thousand words lol. I just picked random famous scientist names for the kids. Fic under the cut.

————————————————————————

Colress has kids. Faba isn’t exactly sure how that happened, and his partner seems reluctant to talk about it. All he knows is that one moment they were university students playing DnD, and the next… they’re meeting again in what feels almost like another life, unexpected feelings sparking and igniting into a roaring flame. …Shortly there following, Colress’ reveal. Children.

Faba had felt a little sick, at the time. It’s just— it’s something he had never thought of, nor wanted for himself. But Colress had been firm in his position. While not the most conventional parent, he was still attached to his offspring; he wasn’t about to leave them- not for anything. Their relationship had been tense for weeks because of it, Faba preferring to sulk alone, wallowing in self pity and fear. Ultimately, though… Colress won out.

How could he not? Faba’s utterly, completely in love with him. It’s been years since he’s been moved to consider someone else on the same level as himself, let alone place them above him. Colress was safe, open minded, accepting and comforting. He’s— as much as he feels embarrassed to admit it— he’s his everything. If the brats came part and parcel with that, then so be it. He’d find ways to tolerate them.

What he hadn’t been expecting, was for the little ones to take as much interest in him as they had.

“Faba?”

He glances up from his Gameboy at the sound of the quiet voice. Colress’ little girl stands in front of where he’s sat on the sofa, her blonde hair in low pigtails, looking at him with big round eyes.

“Rosalind.” He tries to smile, but can tell from her timid expression that it comes out as more of a grimace. “Is there something you needed?”

She twists and turns, her skirts bunches in her fists. “‘M bored.”

Bored. Fantastic. He takes a deep breath through his nose, looking up to the heavens. “Then…” he tries patiently, “why don’t you ask your daddy for something to do?”

“Daddy’s busy.” Rosa explains, and to Faba’s dismay, he sees her younger brother waddling towards them also.

“Edwin’s bored too.”

So much for the few hours he decided to take as a break from his research. What exactly do they even suppose he can do? With a long suffering sigh, Faba saves his game, and lowers his console.

“Have you tried drawing? Playing with your toys?” Their blank expressions infuriate him. “Running around— playing tag??” What else do kids do? “Children are supposed to be imaginative, aren’t they?”

Edwin whimpers, and his stomach plummets. He isn’t going to cry, is he? Yet, even as he hopes otherwise, he sees babyish tears flooding into those large blue eyes. Oh shit, shit, no. Colress can’t see his kids like this…! He’ll know Faba made them cry and—-! He huffs.

“Come here.” He says, before he has time to think himself out of it, and pats the cushion beside him.

The children obediently come to sit beside him, one on either side.

“Have you ever played video games before?” He asks, as patiently as he can.

Rosalind tilts her head, a gesture that strongly resembles her father’s, something that warms him to the core. Ugh. What is he— so sentimental…!

“Well…” he clears his throat, “this is what’s called a game console. You can play different games on it.”

She wriggles closer to inspect it, leaning over his lap, and he’s struck with what he can only admit is a strong rush of protectiveness. She’s so small, small and curious. Edwin nudges into his other arm, also crawling closer, but with less coordination on account of being younger. Faba hates their crowding. He hates their chubby, grabby hands, so eager to take his possessions. He tells himself so, over and over. And yet, his heart grows several sizes as they look upon his hobby with fascinated eyes. Sweet little things. They remind him of his child self. Clumsy, awkward, easily enraptured by things. Faba shakes himself, an uneasy feeling making his skin prickle. He can’t actually be feeling paternally towards them, can he?

“Well, now. This is a classic.” He brings up the oldest game on the console: snake. “Very basic, but one of the only games I had to play when I was your age. Still, there’s something to be said about the traditional games! There’s a reason why they were so successful.”

The kids watch as he plays through the levels, cuddling up to him, warm little presences boxing him in either side. They don’t whine, they don’t cry… they hardly even talk, but to ask questions about video games. Nothing like he had expected.

They just watch, listening to him, watching him, and as more time passes he feels more and more fond of the tiny humans.

“Here,” he eventually dares to say, gently passing the Gameboy into Rosa’s baby hands. “Why don’t you try?”

She makes a surprised noise, looking up at him apprehensively. “What if I mess up?”

Oh. Faba smiles, resting a hand on her shoulders. Before Colress came back into his life, he often used to fret about the same thing. “That’s alright. It’s as your father says. ‘Every failure teaches us something. When you consider that, how can any failiure be truly considered, a failiure?’”

Her bright eyes sparkle. “Okay!”

She’s so— she’s so cute. Faba can’t help but beam at her as she enthusiastically presses the buttons, mimicking his own technique. She’s doing well, in fact. Edwin seems to be excited at her progress, shuffling closer to Faba so he can lean across his lap and watch his sister play. Faba watches them both warmly, pleased the two seem to get along so well.

Maybe… there was something to this.

Hours later, Colress finally realises the time with a jolt of panic. Where were his kids? What were they doing? … Oh Arceus, it was already past five in the evening, he needed to start making their dinner! Where too, is Faba? He feels a stab of guilt; he hadn’t intended to leave him to supervise them. Oh Gods, what if he hadn’t even realised Colress wasn’t watching them and no one had been keeping an eye on them? The doctor strides out of the lab and down the hall urgently, glancing in every room until he reaches the kitchen. And stops.

There’s already a pot out on the hob, two chopping boards to the side of it, one with cuts of chicken on it, the other crowded with diced onions, garlic, and leek. Even uncooked, it makes for a pleasant aroma. That isn’t what catches his attention, though.

“…Now, what do we do after touching raw meat, hm?” Faba’s looking down at Rosalind and Edwin, stern but patient.

Patient. Faba. With children. To say Colress is shocked would be an understatement.

“Wash our hands?”

“Because?”

“Bacteria.”

Faba looks very pleased, and walks them over to the sink, even thinks to pull out their stool for them, so they can reach it. “Very good. Now, one at a time…” He glances round as Rosalind hops up on the stool first, and finally sees his partner. “There you are…”

Colress relaxes, opening up his arms and easily receiving Faba against his chest. They brush their lips together in a light kiss, lingering in an embrace for a moment.

“Honestly, dove. You should have told me before leaving the children under my care.” Faba pulls back and arches as eyebrow.

“I… I know. I apologise, I completely lost track of time.”

“Don’t you always?” But Faba says it in a coo, giving him another kiss- on his cheek. “You’ll be pleased to know your little ones are picking up the basics of cooking very quickly. A small miracle, given that they have half of your DNA.”

“Oh they are, are they?” Colress smiles, first down at his partner, then at his little ones.

“Yes. They were quite apt at video games too. At least, after some coaching.”

The doctor chuckles fondly, brushing his fingers against Faba’s cheek. “Darling… for someone who claims to be unable to stand children, you make quite a good Papa.”

Faba’s ears turn pink. “Humph! It was a necessity! Who else was there to look after them?” He trails off, resting the side of his face against Colress’ chest as the two of them watch Rosalind help Edwin to reach the sink to wash his hands. “…Besides. These two are… an exception.”

Colress hums happily, giving Faba a teasing nibble on his cheek. “Well, isn’t someone getting soft in their middle age…”

“Oh stop it.”

But, as he acknowledges with delight… Faba’s smiling as well.

#my fics #colress #faba pokemon #branch chief faba #researchethicshipping

[cosmicpunked]

Signfang anon, back!

Hope this isn’t weird but I love the little mini comic you made where Signless finally meets up with Mindfang in person after reading through her lost diary. I do love the idea of him forming a parasocial relationship with her through only reading her writings, lol.

I’ve been inspired enough to start considering an AU where Signless survives his execution, but instead of returning to the restless masses, turns to the sea instead and joins with Mindfang. Haven’t settled on why yet, but I’m leaning towards him knowing that returning to his family (if he ever found them again) would only endanger them further. The biggest snarl would be how Mindfang’s very dubious relationship with Dolorosa would transpire, if at all. Yet, if Mindfang really did start to secretly pine after the mutant she’s got stowed away on her ship, maybe she’d seek out his adoptive parent for more benign reasons.

I honestly really like that idea you suggested of them meeting once before, if only briefly after her ship starts skulking around a nearby shore. Maybe that’s why he turns to her after everyone believes him to be dead. After all, trying to carve out a new life on the ocean might not be too bad alongside the high blooded pirate captain who pretends she only pities you. Mindfang is not known much for altruism, after all.

hey! hope you're doing well anon, sorry tumblr did not notify me of having any asks :') Oh I remember that old drawing I made, wow it's like several years old haha

Also putting this under a read more because im about to get so self indulgent o_o

I would actually be so interested in seeing the AU take place!

An idea on how he could survive his execution:

Imagine if Rosa had been a daywalker from the start. Maybe she had initially died fleeing from the caverns with the Signless grub from a cave system full of hostile jadebloods and drones. But instead of fading away, she woke up under the blazing sun, her silken robes shielding the young Signless from harm.

With the world assuming her dead, she could raise him in peace, without being pursued as a 'runaway jade'.

However, to sustain herself, Rosa needed blood and often sought (with permission) from him, potentially leading the Signless to inherit her daywalker abilities, in death where he bleeds, in an irony it could have triggered something in him?

With the Dolorosa and Mindfang thing:

Regarding the Dolorosa and Mindfang situation, the timing of Signless reaching Mindfang would be crucial and depends on the outcome you want in the au.

It could take her ship several months or half a sweep to locate Dualscar's whereabouts, with him likely keeping a distance from Mindfang to avoid any association that might tarnish his title.

Afterall, if Mindfang was close to Darkleer, even potentially moirails (?) then the Signless' execution was one of the biggest betrayals in history, essentially the Empress' Executioner sparing the disciple of a false prophet would enrage the Grand Highblood and his church and every other Imperial on the planet.

So to avoid Dualscar's head being on the block, he could avoid meeting Mindfang for a while until things cool down, especially as Signless' mother is now on his ship as a slave.

In that time Signless could have established a close relationship with Mindfang and her pirate crew. Perhaps they even had a Rapunzel 'I've got a dream' moment where he realises that such brutes also have dreams, and some crew are ex-communicated clowns who didn't wear makeup and had they not come to a life of piracy they would have been slaughtered, or tealbloods fleeing from the corrupt justice system, or olives whose forests were burnt down carelessly or yellowbloods fleeing being turned into powering batteries e.g.

I know we see a common theme of Vriska and Aranea mind controlling their crews, but I really would imagine Mindfang as someone who doesn't rely on mind-control so often as it feels a bit like a 'easy win' and mindcontrolling her crew for centuries would be so impossible lol I really hope they were a rag and tag family who genuinely respected one another and voted her a Captain based on her expertise rather then conditioned because how would she go to sleep at night, surely they would mutiny while she slept and wasn't being influenced by her control?

Why he might go to Mindfang over his family ideas:

I think this could add an interesting conflict. Either Signless had a vision in the years before he would die where he would know where his family would be after death (even more reason why he doesn't want to face them) and wants to prevent Mindfang doing what she does.

Or he doesn't know but finds himself drawn to Mindfang like a lighthouse beacon (light player after all) perhaps the 'Sufferer's Rage' has changed him emotionally, and he doesn't want his family to see him become a replica of a man he once was, and perhaps he finds his new rage and short temper for the Imperials more better fitted in boarding a pirate ship.

Should he become a stowaway on her ship, perhaps she makes him go through some trials when he's brought to her quarters (e.g I'll make a man out of you >.> type trials where he has to climb the mast in stormy weather to prove he's one of them, or he ends up saving her life? Or maybe he's just a good cook who gains the crew and Captain's favour that way <.< as I doubt Mindfang can cook for shit)

Or Mindfang could give him a little fighting training montage where he can finally begin to use his scythe, kind of befitting it's the same weapon the grim reaper wields as he could take on a 'grim reaper' kind of moniker as his new pirate identity.

Maybe they both eventually become aware that his mother is on Mindfang's kismesis' ship, perhaps Signless talks about his family to her but Mindfang doesn't know who 'Rosa' is when she see's her on Dualscar's ship for the first time, she just thinks she's another slave but then she see's Signless' anger begin to reach boiling point again when he recognises his mother. (Dualscar vs an angered Sufferer, Mindfang Dolorosa ancestral showdown??????)

I suppose the outcome of such a showdown would end based on how well signless and mindfang end up getting along in the months or even sweeps before eventually running into Dualscar and his ship. Mindfang may know that if she doesn't do what her fate says, it could doom the entire timeline and their descendants will all be doomed - if Mindfang asked the oracle how her kismesistude would end, just like she asked who would kill her - then her fate could be locked and that she's meant to end the night angering Dualscar so that he'll die by the Grand Highblood as her fate describes.

They could both totally break the entire timeline with this, and at what cost? Could it summon an angry Demoness? Would it piss of Scratch if Mindfang puts Signless over her destiny? <.< This is the drama I live for.

At that point it could be when people are starting to begin to forget about the Executioner's betrayal and the Signless' teachings as they both fade into obscurity. So Signless will also be faced with a similar crossroads, whether he wants to doom the timeline to resurrect his own name and teachings. If Mindfang, Signless and his mother manage to get away, what would happen? Would he begin preaching? Would Mindfang even want to associate with him then? Or would he be too different to go back to that life? That too could doom the entire timeline.

How he could find her?:

Chances are with the connection Mindfang has to Darkleer (His Executioner) perhaps he goes to seek Darkleer out first to try and find where the Disciple was (having his last memory be her running away traumatised) but is met with the realisation that perhaps he should hang back and not reveal the fact he's alive or retraumatise her more with the 'ghost' of him.

However he has nowhere to go, so while he's hovering around he instead finds Mindfang coming out of Darkleer's exiled house and tails her back to her ship? Just some ideas? I'm frothing at the mouth I haven't talked about signfang for so long with someone jwiasjd

Hopefully this gives you some ideas!! Feel free to ignore them all if they don't go with the vibe you're wanting.

#signfang #signless #mindfang #dolorosa #darkleer #homestuck

[shojo]

Wish Review/Thoughts/Stuff

Not a formal review, just some bullet points of my thoughts on Disney's Wish. Letsa go.

***SPOILERS BELOW SO, YA KNOW, BEWARE***

So. I liked it. It was sweet, gorgeous to look at, and a simple fairytale. But I think that's the movie's biggest weakness because

There are no consequences. Just like Frozen, Raya, Frozen II, etc. the heroes go on this big quest and the stakes are freaking high like oh shit are they actually gonna go there an- Oh. Wait. Nope. Everything and everyone is fine and there's a happy ending and the movie's order and nothing was lost and will never be lost the end. When Magnifico crushed Asha's mother's wish I thought for a second that he killed her. Straight up. But then no she's just... really sad. And that sucks but she's fine. And those other three citizens are fine. Their dreams are literally crushed but, yeah, they're fine. Simon betrays Asha. He says sorry. They're friends again. They're all fine. Magnifico body slams a 17 year old girl into the stone floor more than once. She's fine. Whatever evil that has taken hold of Magnifico is just.. defeated. That's fine. This is fine. Everything's fine. Which brings me to my next critique that there is

So much set up and little to no pay off. What was the deal with the burned ends of the tapestry? What terrible fate was Magnifico trying to avoid? What's the deal with the evil book? Why did it have it? Does it have something to do with the story in the tapestry? Why did they mention Asha's grandfather's age multiple times (did you know he's turning 100 years old and can still ride a horse and play the guitar) and then do nothing with that information? Were they hinting at grandpa not living to get to see his wish granted? Was Asha trying desperately to get his wish granted because she knew he wouldn't have too much longer to live? What's the typical life span of a citizen of Rosas? Is 100 the new 40? Why was Magnifico so suspicious of granting grandpa's gift of playing music? Does this have to do with the story of the tapestry?? Why does Dahlia have a cane? Is she injured or is it a disability? Why are we trying to represent a person with a disability and then never mentioning it throughout the entire run time of the movie? Does her wish have anything to do with why she has a cane? Does her wish involve making the best damn cookies this kingdom has ever seen because to hell with her disability because she's got kickass friends who love her for her and don't want/need her to change but will the movie ever address this? If Dahlia knows about the inner workings of the castle does she know about the story in the tapestry??? What happened to Asha's dad? Why don't we get to see him, not even in a flashback? Why couldn't he have been the stand-in for Walt himself? Was Asha's dad the one to inspire her to draw and create animation just as Walt inspires us/a new generation of dreamers to this day? (Are we just going to gloss over the fact that Asha created her own snippet of animation? And that she must love to draw because she has so many pictures in her notebook? Can we please have a Disney heroine that loves to not only draw but animate?) And if Asha is about to turn 18 and her grandpa is turning 100, how does that work?! How old is her mother? Did they not have kids until they were in their 40s? Is he Asha's great great grandpa instead? If he's turning 100, should he know more about the city's history? Should he be older than Magnifico? DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THE STORY IN THE TAPESTRY THAT MAGNIFICO IS TRYING SO DESPERATELY TO NOT HAVE HAPPEN TWICE? JENNIFER LEE, I HAVE QUESTIONS AND I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO HAVE, LIKE, FOUR OF THEM ANSWERED PLEASE.

*deep breaths*

Valentino is Olaf without the heart. Let me explain. Olaf is a comic relief sidekick. He's also the reason Elsa and Anna reconnected after years of isolation and is a core memory for the girls. He's their holiday tradition. He's their friend. Elsa made him. Olaf, whether you love him or like him, is an essential part of the story of Frozen. Valentino is a comic relief sidekick. He's Asha's three week old friend/pet/buddy/cute animal. Um. He talks now. He's super cute. Love his outfit. Says some funny lines. Alan Tudyk. .... That's about it.

Chris Pine knocked this out of the damn park. Excellent voice acting on his part, loved his inflections and growls and everything in between. Very nice. Handsome king is handsome. Yes.

Asha and her friends are a better retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs than that live action movie will ever hope to be (if it ever gets finished).

Like I said, I did like this movie. Being the Disney nerd that I am, I was a sucker for all the references to previous Disney films (heck, the freaking opening text got me) and I'm going to go through this movie with a fine tooth comb the second I get my hands on a pause button on Disney+ to find them all. This movie seems to be getting a lot of hate which I don't think is warranted but there's obvious flaws and holes a mile wide in the plot. I'm hovering between a 6 or a 7 out of 10 or a solid B rating at the moment of writing this.

Also Asha is a tour guide and I am a tour guide so we're practically twins.

#wish #disney wish #shojo movie reviews #movie review #wish movie #wish disney #wish spoilers #the joke about point number 8 is that I am a white girl #ha ha i'm hilarious

[construingseacats]

Umireread: Turn of the Golden Witch - Chapter 3: School Cultural Festival

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

Shannon actively suggesting that Jessica should pursue Kanon is extremely interesting - is Yasu giddy from her feelings with George that she’s pushing even further for the feeling of being loved? Does she want to explore that aspect of herself even more, or try and convince her cynical side that even they are worthy of love?

Yasu is really out of her shell here. It’s honestly really nice to see.

Even if this is Yasu using the Shannon persona as a way to fake this kind of personality, there’s a lot to be said about “fake it til you make it” being a legitimate way to combat and overcome trauma. I faced a significant challenge to my mental health during my university years, and the only thing which actively helped me recover from my depression was indulging in a faux confidence that I was the coolest person in the world. Even if I didn’t actually believe it, that faux confidence turned into actual confidence, and here I am living a better, happy life because of it. There’s a good friend of mine who has an almost identical story to that. Yasu experimenting with and exhibiting these traits through her personas is absolutely a boon for her - and hey, it’s yet another example of how Fantasy can have a positive effect on reality.

Highlighting this as another case where the story is reinforcing the idea that Shannon’s love bloomed out of her environment rather than her personal desires. I suppose we could peel back a layer here and see this as a broader commentary on nature versus nurture - that might be worth keeping in mind as we look at Maria and Rosa later on.

Truly, Umineko is a love story between Ryukishi and his anachronistic references. Or the When They Cry series as a whole, rather.

Very funny assist from Yasu here. It’s kind of cute seeing how much she wants to do this.

*mortal stampede starts playing*

Honestly? I love how this is set up as a joke, before becoming far more relevant later. I’m a sucker for foreshadowing that’s cleverly snuck past you at the start.

I’m a sucker for the Nico Nico Douga style text here. This is truly one of the places where the original version of Umineko is unmatched.

So, putting aside the anachronistic Marisa Cosplay and the censorship in more recent versions of Umineko (for what I presume are copyright reasons) - I really need to highlight the specific use of Tsurupettan here. Sure, it’s a cute reference since the song itself references Higurashi (Oyashiro-sama is stalking and all that) - but isn’t it apt?

Indulge me for a moment. Here is Yasu, dragged out of her comfort zone, trying to broaden the shell of one of her most cynical personas. Consider her insecurities - about how her sexual underdevelopment has caused her so much pain and suffering, how she’s resigned herself to the level of furniture. And here’s Jessica singing a song about a flat chested girl. There is no way that Yasu is oblivious to this; the song choice is too on the nose for the deeper notes at play here.

You would absolutely know better than anyone about having to kill your sense of self on Rokkenjima, Yasu.

This is a very telling line for Krauss’ philosophy. Having experience “Standing above people” - considering yourself as superior to them - is painted in a positive light. The Ushiromiya are superior by birthright, a fantasy masquerading as fact that is not to be questioned.

You know, like how a person might develop a persona of Beatrice inside of them that has no inhibitions. Although, to be frank, Yasu’s development of Shannon might be the more appropriate parallel to draw here. Regardless, I do enjoy how they’re exploring such a key facet of Yasu’s personality through other people doing this.

It’s also interesting to note that Jessica makes a point to say that she’s not escaping from reality just a few lines later - again, the point of fantasy wielded in this form is not to replace reality, but to make it more bearable.

Laying the irony on here quite thick - albeit not in a way you’d catch it on an initial read.

I suppose it’s much easier for Yasu to give out a real name as Shannon than it is as Kanon. I wonder if she’s thought about giving Kanon a “true name”, or whether this would have been a confession as Yasuda?

The Shannon-Kanon divide is really interesting; we have one persona who, knowing full well that it’ll end poorly, has opted for a “better to have loved and lost” scenario by entering a doomed romance; and another who refuses to let things progress that far and avoid future misery at the cost of missing out on temporary joy.

Notably, I think the existence of the Rokkenjima Massacre puts a very important spin on this idea. While the whole “love and lost” philosophy is interesting in a vacuum, considered over an entire lifespan - that’s not what we have here. Shannon and Kanon, alongside their would-be lovers, are all going to die before things ever progress to that fail state. So Kanon is trying to avoid a heartache that will never come - and Shannon has engaged in a love that is ended by untimely demise rather than incompatibility. That borrowed joy has lost the expected downside; from a game theory perspective, there’s no question that she made the right choice, right?

Said it before, I’ll say it again, Jessica’s suffering does a real number on my heart. I really feel her pain on this.

This one’s hilarious - an internal monologue of “hey if you’d been more extroverted like my other personalities then we could have had some polyamory going on here”

I’m also fairly ambivalent about the significance of the Golden Brooch here. Even with the knowledge of the whole story, I’m not sure I can see any meaning behind it beyond it just being a potential lucky charm that Yasu may have used; a wish upon one of her few nice possessions that she cherished upon seeing good fortune bestowed upon her afterwards. I’m not sure how many nice things Yasu would realistically have - I know they’ve mentioned that the servants are paid reasonably well, to the point that most move on after three years (yet she’s been here for ten), but I’m not sure how indulgent she is with her savings.

Of course, Kanon breaking the brooch is significant in the sense that one aspect of Yasu is acting destructively towards another of her aspects - trampling upon a possession that had otherwise brought her happiness. Of course, this pales in comparison to how destructive Beatrice has been to Yasu, but if nothing else it’s indicative of how much her different thoughts and beliefs are at odds with one another. Everything she desires cannot coexist in harmony. Outside of the Golden Land, at least.

Kumasawa does this a lot and I’m not entirely sure that it’s warranted. I like her “acting” persona but it’s weird when she shows up at the tail end of a serious scene to go “uwawawawa, how sad”. I think I’d prefer it if she had a serious heart to heart with one of the other servants rather than just monologue meaninglessly?

This is quite a big moment for Yasu, and honestly, I feel like it causes her to crumble even more than the Kanon-Beatrice moment we just had with Jessica. She’s built up this fantasy of a normal relationship, she’s enjoying her time with George, she smiles while thinking about the future of having a “normal” domestic life as a wife and mother. But, with the offer of engagement, it becomes real - she has to deal with the fact that she’s now barreling towards a future she envisioned in an idealised daydream, but one that is ultimately incompatible with the reality of the world. I think calling it a joke taken too far would be too mean towards the relationship with George, but I do think there’s an appropriate sentiment there where this is taking her beyond what she was comfortable with. The days of the Wonderful Utopia are over.

Opting to close us out on Life’s End for a grand total of like 5 lines is a WILD choice. It’s such an ominous song, and the start of it is just latin chanting before the music even kicks in. I legitimately don’t understand the creative decision here. Definitely should have used something else and saved Life’s End for a first appearance in something punchier.

#umireread #umineko #umineko spoilers

[creator-chan3000]

Hahaha haha bet you weren't counting on me using the ask box 😀🙃, how about 🚬 with all your ocs. Drink water and get some sleep gorl!!

Lmao nah I didn’t 🤣 wassuuuuup? And thank you! You do that as well!

🚬Bad habits

The Core Virus:

* has a terrible habit of creeping people out. The obsidian soul in them craves chaos and what’s better to draw it out through making people uncomfortable?

* And unfortunately it doesn’t matter WHO it is. So their team is not safe for it either.

* They also are very unpredictable. One moment they seem silly, then theatrical, then suddenly enraged. Never get near if they’re angry….as long as you’re able to catch onto their moods and deal with their dickery, you’ll be fine.

Virisity:

* Acts before thinking. This makes them seem dumb but really they really are careless about their actions.

* And sometimes that carelessness tends to make them seem like they don’t care for others. Their other habit is lack of communication contributes to this and their unreasonable anger.

* They really just need a hug….and someone to stop them from doing stupid shit-

Grey:

* Puts up a front to seem intimidating all the time. He doesn’t want to seem weak.

* Also overworks himself to the bone (Heh pun-) mainly because he wants to make up for his past actions. (No spoilers!)

* This man needs a break and some reassurance

Lisa (me):

* Is very hard on herself. Even if it was a minor mistake. So she picks up on her own bad habits and begins getting annoyed. Procrastinating? Stop wasting time! Daydreaming? Get your head in the game! Thinks lowly of herself. Lord even overworks herself. (Taking care of herself is obviously an issue. Rosa and Bunny help her though. And all their friends too! Funny though is that she’s just too lazy to do it….)

* Her anger is on another level. Sure she can get annoyed but getting REALLY angry is rare. And when it happens, it is HARD to calm her down. Especially if one of her friends are hurt. She hates her own anger as it feels terrible and makes her loose all her senses. Her stubbornness is crazy ridiculous too!

* She just needs support and….someone able to hold her back-

Rosa:

* Doesn’t have much confidence in herself and doesn’t think highly of herself. Which is surprising due to her sweet nature and fun loving personality.

* And this also applies to battles. She’s afraid of not helping enough.

* SOMEONE GIVE HER THE REASSURANCE SHE NEEDS

Bunny:

* Doesn’t necessarily have any.

* I mean is being too blunt count? And quick to kick someone count?

* ….actually yeah I’m pretty sure that counts.

* Girl low key got anger issues-

Sylvia:

* This girl is a bit eccentric and VERY confident. But man she needs to learn some boundaries. She has an amazing flirting game but yo chill-

* She has no chill in what she says either yo….”damn this cream bussing” “just like this pu-“ “SYLVIE-“

* Be sure to monitor her….

Bonus!

Angel:

* Her attitude certainly is a bad habit of hers….but it’s also her overworking herself and trying to do everything on her own.

* Keeping to herself is an issue as well. She wants to do her best!

* She really just needs to take it easy or at least open up more. She’s not alone!

Talia:

* Overworking AGAIN?! Man and this Lisa is a reckless one too!

* Takes WAY too many notes on new Pokémon or new people she meets. Think about Deku….you see the picture already don’t you?

* She just needs to chill….good luck convincing her though! All Lisas are stubborn….

#undertale au #unitytale #my original characters #my writing #self insert #my self inserts #oc asks #undertale au headcanons #virisity unitytale #the core virus unitytale #grey unitytale #bunny unitytale #rosa unitytale #Sylvia unitytale #answered

[thechaosmuses]

I just wanted to introduce a couple new misc muses really quick- Two of them were made specifically for @intothevxid, those being Rosalie & Rowena - they're kinda one muse in two though because Rowena is Rosalie reincarnated- and then the third and last muse is Ryker who is Rowena's little brother- (little introductions under the cut)

Rosalie Grace Anderson (left); She works at her parents diner in the small town she was born and raised in. She’s the oldest child of five so she was given more responsibility than a child should have had, making her mature way before she was an actual adult. Though she dreams to get out of the town she’s known all her life and become an actress. Ask anyone to describe her and they’ll say she’s a sweetheart, always putting everyone's needs before her own. But besides that she’s very passionate, loyal, adventurous, a bit of an introvert though she has her moments. She’s well-liked by everyone and has never had any trouble in the dating department besides the fact that she’s never really had a connection with anyone. Besides her love of acting she also likes to read, paint and plays the piano.

Rowena Greyson Andrews (right); She works as a bartender in her hometown at a bar owned by her and her younger brother and that was passed down to them from their Uncle. She’s the oldest of three kids and because their Father ran out on them when she was still a kid she’s had to help raise her little brother and sister. She’s an aspiring singer/actress. To the outside world, she’s not very friendly but to those she cares about she’s super sweet and caring. Like Rosa she’s very passionate, loyal and adventurous but she’s way more of an introvert at least when she’s not working and can be pretty sarcastic and a bit of a troublemaker. She’s not super liked by everyone just because of her general attitude though she’s never had any problem making friends or getting dates. Again like Rosa she just can’t seem to find anyone she connects with. Besides singing and acting she loves to read as well, but she prefers photography over painting and plays the guitar rather than the piano.

Ryker Grant Andrews; He works alongside his sister at the bar they co-own. He's the middle child so he often got overlooked by their parents though never by Rowena. The two of them have been close since they were little. He loves owning a bar though he'd love to be a performer of some sort too, whether that be in a band, an actor or theater he doesn't care, he loves it all (maybe because of the lack of attention he had growing up). He's definitely the more extroverted one and is very fun loving and easy going, like his sister he can be sarcastic though he usually leaves that to her, he does like to cause trouble also but he's also very sweet and cares too much about people sometimes. He often accidentally ignores other customers at the bar when he's letting someone vent to him about their problems. He has been in love before, but he got his heart broke so now he's definitely got his guard up when it comes to letting someone in like that. Besides his love of singing and acting like his sister he loves to draw and write either music or poems, he plays the piano, as well as the drums and Row is teaching him guitar.

#[the chaos muses; new muses] #[misc muse; rosalie anderson] #[misc muse; rowena andrews] #[misc muse; ryker andrews]

[peralta-guaranteed]

After that Jake-Mac-Rosa fic, you dropped this queen: 👑 Next time, a Jake-Mac-Holt piece?

Oh dang, THAT's where I left it. Thank you for that. 🤪

Grandpa Holt is always a pleasure to write, but let's try for some Dad Holt too...

"Is everything alright, Peralta?"

Jake has been sitting off to the side of the group for a while now, so Holt finds it necessary to inquire. He's not used to the eager detective being so closed off and quiet unless something is wrong, and nothing he can think of right now strikes him as 'wrong': they have been celebrating the end of a rather arduous case for Diaz and Boyle, and Peralta had been as helpful as he could be as a tertiary, which was not his preferred position at all. The first round at Shaw's had been paid by himself as Captain, obviously, and the next by Diaz, so Boyle has promised to shoulder the third, were it to happen. Ergo Peralta could not be thinking about his usual money problems, which have lessened anyway ever since Santiago took over his budgeting.

That means something else entirely must be 'wrong' in order for Jake to keep out of the conversation, only reply when he is mentioned by name, and drift off to a corner of the bar while the other congregate around the various game options of the room.

"I'm good, Captain, thanks." Jake answers with a smile and an obvious lie, so Holt doesn't even bother replying, just raises one of his eyebrows a quarter of an inch, which he knows usually gets him results with Peralta. The ensuing sigh shows that it is still working.

"It's just..." Jake shrugs and rubs the back of his neck, another tell of his discomfort. "This is my first night out alone since the baby."

"Indeed." Holt replies. "I remember your phone call to Amy to inform her you would be back late today."

"Yeah." His hand is still on his neck, the other one clutched around his half empty beer bottle. "She told me to have fun. But..uh... I still kinda feel like I shouldn't be here."

"Do you think having a child robs you of autonomity? I know I am not speaking from experience, here, but it does seem to me like you are allowed to enjoy time away from your family, especially if your spouse insists you do."

"Getting drunk at a bar while my kid might be crying at home doesn't feel like the responsible thing to do, is all."

"Ah, I see." Holt nods, and he does see - he actually sees a lot more than what Jake might be trying to imply in his statement. He remembers how he used to self-medicate with alcohol in the past, after ending his relationship with that defense attorney, or even before, while feeling heartbroken over Santiago. He also remembers anecdotes about his father's drinking, not from Peralta himself, obviously, but from the rest of the squad, whenever Jake would cancel on a promised night out after Roger Peralta's visits. As much as Holt hates idioms, one of his most despised is probably 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree', and Jake seems to fear it as well.

"Here is my solution, then, if you are willing to listen." Jake looks up at Holt as he's standing in front of him, and his hand drops from his neck. "You make the beer you are currently drinking your last for the night, and spend some quality time with your colleagues instead, enjoying a few parlour games, and then you head home at an agreeable time and still see your child before he falls asleep."

Jake grins and takes a sip of his beer.

"Sounds like a plan, Cap." He nods, and Holt doesn't ignore the fact that Jake has been using this shortened nickname for him a lot lately, and how eerily similar it sounds to 'Dad' in his voice.

(An hour later, he receives a picture on his cellphone from Peralta: The man himself, asleep on his couch, with his infant son equally asleep on his chest. Santiago must have commandeered his phone, and Holt is glad for it.)

-*-

"Grampa!"

The sound of that little voice echoes through the hallway as loudly as the ensuing footsteps, and Holt feels something warm and solid wrap around his legs.

"Hello, McClane." He smiles down at the little boy currently clutching his knees, and he smiles back before raising his arms in an obvious demand to be lifted up. Holt obeys it immediately.

He notices Mac looks surprisingly tired for an otherwise very energetic two year old, and Amy, who's now following him to Holt's side, looks equally exhausted.

"Good afternoon, Captain. I'm so sorry, I should've messaged you that I have to bring Mac in for an hour, the babysitter cancelled and the day care couldn't keep him longer than-"

"It is quite alright, Santiago. McClane knows how to behave himself at the precinct, right?" He gives the little boy in his arms a look, and receives a strong and eager nod in reply, the curls on his head bouncing back and forth. If anyone were ever to question Peralta's parentage, that alone would classify them as an imbecile. "I can watch him for the time being, if you have paperwork you need to get in order before leaving for the day."

"God, Captain Holt, would you- that would be so- I was going to ask Rosa, because I know she's at her desk-"

Amy seems far more frazzled than usual, and Holt realises that her regular schedule must be in quite a disarray, considering she has been a single parent for about a week now. Mac must not have been making it easy for her, either, nor must the baby currently growing in her stomach, which has started to show about a month ago, at which point they finally informed the squad about it (when everyone had already figured it out just like last time).

"RoRo!" Mac yells, happily, almost leaning out of Holt's arms, but he quickly hugs him tighter.

"Your aunt Rosa is working, McClane, and we should not interrupt her. We can spend the time in my office, and you can draw if you would like."

"Roro working." He echoes like a little parrot. "Like Daddy."

"That's right." Holt has learned from the parenting homepages he's visited that you are to encourage a child trying to talk and string together a coherent topic, no matter how long it might take.

"Daddy's working away." Mac continues, and out of the corner of his eye Holt sees Amy's forehead wrinkle in worry.

"Yes, your father is in New Jersey for the week to work on a special case." It's not a dangerous case at all, rather a boring standard task that happened to involve some out-of-state suspects, but Jake had still been trying to hand off that trip to anyone who might be willing to help him out. Seeing his son with bags under his eyes and his wife with stresslines around her mouth and her hand on her belly, Holt understands why.

"He comes back." Mac says next, and it is a statement, but the look in his eyes makes it a question, and Holt is quick to answer. He's glad that he has a definite answer to that, instead of the empty promises and assurances he sometimes has to make as the head of a police department.

"Yes, your father will be back soon. In two days, in fact."

Mac holds up two grubby little fingers, and Holt nods with so much fervor it surprises himself.

"Very good, that is two. Only two days and two nights until your father is back home." The worry in Mac's eyes seems to dimish a little at that as he stares at his own fingers. "If we go to my office, we can check on the calendar exactly how long that is." He barely waits for another nod before taking the diaper bag out of Santiago's hands, who whispers a quiet, but relieved "Thank you" to him. He understands again that it means far more than to thank him for taking care of the child for an hour so.

(If he uses that hour to assure Mac several times that no matter what, his father will always find a way back to him with far more emotion in his voice than he'd usually use, well, no one needs to know. Peralta certainly seems happy about the picture he sends him of Mac with his captain's hat behind his desk.)

-*-

"Congratulations." Holt's hand on his shoulder is heavy, but not uncomfortably so, and it gives a quick squeeze before dropping.

They've done the whole customary introduction to the newborn baby, the apparently necessary picture round, and now Kevin is having an amicable chat with Amy in her hospital bed. They've waited two days for their official visit, to give the new parents a chance to get at least a few of their bearings. (Holt was there merely an hour after the birth, of course, with the rest of the squad, but that was a moment of joyful chaos and many voices.) Now the room is filled with an almost serene quiet, Amy's and Kevin's voices low and comfortable in the background as Holt watches the man he truly considers a son hold up his new granddaughter.

"Do you want to hold her again? I know you already did for the photos but-"

Holt only nods and takes the infant out of his hands with perfect ease. He's more used to a wriggling toddler now, but he still clearly remembers the days when Mac was equally quiet and frail in his arms. The little one in them now is asleep amidst all that is happening, her tiny mouth open just a fraction, and he feels her arm bump against his chest while she seems to be having a dream.

"She is as perfect as her older brother, Jake."

"Yeah." Jake smiles, and there's nothing of that boisterous, loud, cocky detective grin left in it that he used to know. It is soft and kind and full of love, and it might be one of Holt's favourite expressions. "Amy did a superb job again."

"As did you."

"I'm sure I don't gotta explain this to you, Cap, but I didn't really do much." Jake jokes, and Holt can tell he's trying to divert the attention to a simpler topic, but sometimes things must be said.

"You do a lot, Jacob." He continues, then. "Far more than a lot of fathers do. Far more than many would expect of you. And you do it all perfectly right, with heart and determination."

Jake nods, swallowing down a lump in his throat, it seems, and it might be a step too far for his already emotional state, but Holt feels like it needs to accompany his accolades.

"I am very proud of you, son."

Jake is very obviously fighting back tears as he replies.

"Thanks, dad."

The little girl in Holt's arms stirs right at this moment, and Jake seems to want to interject immediately in fear that she'll start crying, but she simply stares up at Holt with impossibly big, brown eyes for the first time. And he realises, just as he did two years ago when Mac's little hand tightened around his finger for the first time, that there is a child in this world that he would literally do anything for. There are four of them now, even if two of them have not fallen under the category of a child for several decades.

"Hello, Maya." He says to the little face that seems to be inspecting him. "I'm Captain Raymond Holt. Your grandfather."

He looks up at Kevin and Amy, who've stopped their conversation while Amy is lifting her phone in their direction, and then at Jake, who's looking at Maya as well with shining eyes. Then he looks back down at Maya, stretching her arms out of her swaddle as if she's reaching for him.

"You are a very lucky little girl."

#b99 #brooklyn 99 #jake peralta #amy santiago #peraltiago #mac peralta #maya peralta #raymond holt #captain dad #my writing #ficlet

[ejzah]

A/N: A little post-ep for “Pandora’s Box”.

***

The Path Less Traveled

“Ok, so besides vampire movies, what do you like?” Kensi asks Pilar, scooting over so Deeks can take a seat on the bench. They’ve spent the last 20 minutes dissecting Stake Red Heart and the Twilight series, which both Pilar and Deeks agree have a suspicious number of similarities.

Although she’d initially regarded him a little tentatively, within a few minutes, she was laughing and providing a passionate defense of her favorite lead. Deeks can’t remember the last time he smiled this much, or genuinely if he’d being honest.

It’s almost too good to be true. He’s sure he’s dreaming or maybe in some kind of post-TBI, coma-driven hallucination. Because in there extremely cursed world, there’s no way that this is happening.

He glances at Kensi, but her attention is completely focused on Pilar.

“I love painting,” Pilar answers, giving a half shrug. Deeks has already noticed that she’s naturally soft spoken, but that diminishes when she’s excited. “Or any art. Drawing. Um, the thing with the-” she pauses and says something in Spanish, frowning in consternation.

“Arcilla. Oh, you mean sculpting?”

“Yes,” Pilar says, face lighting up with delight. He sees her regard for Kensi only grow with the realization that they share her first language. “And I love to read. But there are not many books kn Spanish here.”

“Well, maybe we can bring you some,” Deeks offers. “If you’d like us to.”

“I would. Thank you.” Her smile is grateful, no longer hesitant at all.

“No problem.” He smiles back, glad to provide anything that will make her happy. It’s followed by a tinge of sadness as a memory resurfaces. His mom didn’t have much money for books, or most extras, but he’d always had access to a library.

“What about you?” Pilar asks, nodding to both of them. “Rosa told me as much as she knew, but most was about the way you rescued her. Do you like art, Kensi.”

“Oh, she loves it,” Deeks teases and Kensi gives him a mildly exasperated look.

“I do like art, but I’m afraid I’m not a very good artist,” she explains. “I also enjoy running, uh admittedly bad TV, and I’m not a very good cook. Though I do love food.” Pilar giggles at that, dimples appearing on her cheeks. “And of course, spending time with Marty.”

“And you, Marty?”

“I guess my friends would tell you that I love to talk, which is pretty true,” Deeks starts off. “I’ll never say no to surfing, or tacos, sushi, and ice cream, and I’ve recently taken up gardening.”

“That sounds nice,” Pilar comments, longing entering her eyes.

Kensi glances at Deeks now, catching his eye, and she didn’t even need to speak before he was nodding his agreement. He knew where her mind was and he was one hundred percent on board.

“Pilar, would it be alright if we visited you again?” she asks carefully. “You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to,” Kensi adds quickly. “But if you do, we could bring those books and maybe some food?”

“I’ve never had sushi before,” Pilar says softly, twisting the little worry doll between her fingers. “I think that would be nice.”

“Then sushi it is,” Deeks agrees.

“Pilar, it’s time for dinner!” Ms. Reynolds calls out, appearing at the door again. Deeks and Kensi rise together as Pilar scrambles off the bench.

She hesitates, eyes darting between them, and then she darts towards Kensi and hugs her. Kensi’s eyes widen in surprise for the few seconds Pilar clings to her before moving on to Deeks.

“It was nice meeting you,” she whispers, eyes bright with a few tears and unmistakeable happiness. “Thank you Kensi and Marty.” As she walks away, hurrying towards Ms. Reynolds, Kensi blindly reaches for him.

“Am I crazy for thinking that this is it?” she asks. “That she’s the one.”

“Nope, cause I’m thinking exactly the same thing,” Deeks murmurs back hoarsely.

Deeks grips her hand, needing the strength as he’s flooded by hope and relief.

#ncis la fanfiction #densi #marty deeks #kensi blye #densi kids #post Pandora’s box #give Kensi and Deeks a happy ending #ejzah fanfiction

[variousqueerthings]

was reading this article about cobra kai having a problem with female characters (true) but the way it described sam and tory was very not-how-i-read-their-dynamic-at-all?

first mistake actually was describing jessica andrews under the header of "all girls in the OG karate kid franchise are love interests and/or damsels" which dilutes their point a bit, because someone can go in and "well akshully...!" While she is a good character to bring back and give depth, because there isn't that much to her in tkk3 (but there is a lot to potentially play with), she's refreshingly not a love interest or a damsel (due to ralph)

I also can't speak much to how the writer described the next karate kid, I still need to watch it (the time, I think, has come), but there is something weirdly... backhanded about it... yes, I know it was kind of a cashgrab and pat morita wanted it to end and it's not good, but the description of julie pierce makes me 🤔 your focus on her role within it feels sexist

with tory and sam it claims that they're not going anywhere/just rehashing the same fight over boys over and over without any depth at all in season 4 and I strongly disagree on that front too

I was so into the tory and sam narrative in season 4, precisely because I see it constantly moving away from boys and into more complicated spaces of class and trauma and "guess we're obsessed with each other forever" vibes a la the OG karate rivals daniel and johnny

I actually think their dynamic is the most direct successor to that (with the obvious stumbles) - the boys barely factor into their emotional narrative anymore (sam a bit more with miguel, but her intensity is reserved for tory lbr), the same way ali faded into the background of the rivalry in tkk1

also the article claimed that tory's background has grown boring, and again I'm... hmmmm, because that's what draws kreese to her, that's the core of her problems, that could be a hold that silver has over her, why she bonded with robby and miguel, why both sam and amanda have more work to do on themselves in how they interact with her, 95% of amanda's narrative in s4, and I'd argue not given enough depth in previous seasons? it's good that it's given more focus in s4!

the real problem is allowing other female characters the same depth (named in the background now we have amanda, carmen, rosa, devon, piper, moon, yasmin, (aisha kind of), lucille, shannon, EDIT: forgot lynn and vanessa in my earlier post - also laura, kumiko, yuna, ali in their own way -- it's not like the characters aren't there) + bringing back characters from the past with the same fervour as the writing for terry and kreese (and maybe chozen, we'll see in s5!!)

anyway, I feel like there's some sexism inherent in the writing of that article, because it refuses to see sam and tory (and julie and jessica) on the terms they were actually written, warts and all, and itself claims them to be simply either girls who are "too love interesty" or girls who are trying too hard to "take on boys stories" or both

the "girls can't win narratively" is strong here...

#sam larusso #tory nichols #jessica andrews #julie pierce #ck #cobra kai #the karate kid #i don't know how many of the og female character actors want to be back for a longer arc #maybe elisabeth and tamlyn weren't interested in more - but... all the guys want to do more... #doesn't sit right with me that none of those actresses want to? #anyway point is THIS is the problem - you're muddying the issue article! #tbh if sam and tory were gay for each other all these pitfalls would be entirely bypassed #doubly bypassed if johnny and daniel were ALSO gay - the true legacy #long post

[piccolina-mina]

Our girl is thriving this season, but what the fuck is this Wyatt plot? I need your thinks about this one. I just knew you'd be six posts in on this by now. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

*sighs* For fk's sake, nonny. I don't even like talking about it because I get ranty.

What do you want me to say? Honestly, everything you can imagine I would feel about this, you're probably right. Because you know, I'm that b*tch always getting ranty about racism and stuff.

In short, I hate it. I think it's unnecessary, tone-deaf, random, pointless, lowkey offensive, and illogical. I legitimately find it triggering AF. And it doesn't make sense.

It's Unnecessary. There is a fraction of a chance that it will connect to something more significant, but even if that's the case, I'm confident that end result or connection could've taken place without this random reform racist Wyatt storyline. This series has struggled enough as it is properly utilizing all of its primary characters as well as providing them with decent screentime and arcs. It literally makes no sense to spend any of that time that could be used elsewhere on primary characters on a recurring guest star.

This isn't actually about Rosa, it's about Wyatt. Following up on the previous point, this specific arc caters to Wyatt. Revolves around Wyatt. Rosa is just a passive participant and vessel for this Wyatt storyline. So again, the arc itself is about a recurring character. At least when they did something similarly bringing back Cam to siphon time and arcs away from its main cast they found ways to implement it better and tied her to multiple main characters, so it wasn't a total waste.

The intended Wyatt/Rosa parallel is illogical. I know what they're intending to do with this storyline, drawing parallels between Rosa's experience coming back from the dead after ten years and trying to make sense of that and atone for things before and having this second chance to make things right and go down the right path and so forth and Wyatt losing his memory and his racist ways and having to reconcile with who he was to who he can be and all of that. I understand the concept they're trying to sell. It just doesn't work. Rosa's addiction is not equivalent to Wyatt's racism and violence. Her mental illness isn't either. It's dangerous to invite the comparasions with this storyline.

It's not successful redemption. True redemption is Wyatt knowing and remembering his actions and then trying to atone for them. It's not the convenience of amnesia wiping out his memory only giving him distance from his actions rather than really facing up to them. Because of the amnesia, to Wyatt, it's like he's hearing about another person. It's a cop out. He doesn't Actually have to do the work to redeem himself or atone or learn or grow. IF we're supposed to compare it to Rosa, she knew what she did and remembers and knows how she hurt her loved ones or whatever and she's actively trying to make amends for that as part of her program... a program that Wyatt isn't working or anything BTW.

They've contradicted themselves too much and are rewriting their own work and thus twisting everything up just to make this storyline work and it still doesn't. The timeline is all fkd up... what they established already all of it..The Longs were racist before Kate's death. Kate was racist. To suggest that a 10+ amnesiac blackout clean slates and erases all of Wyatt's racism is just wrong. As in it literally doesn't even make any sense. That is not how the amnesia works but they keep playing both sides of it trying to make it work. To sell us what they're claiming, he would have to have ALL of his memories wiped and have forgotten who he was completely.

Wyatt is behaving like he's shocked by racism in this town but they're also trying to argue that he was born into it. Wyatt was surrounded by racists and his friends come from racist families but he's acting like the very concept of him ever being ingratiated in it is some huge surprise. Wyatt looks affronted by things like Confederate flags. Wyatt being steeped in and surrounded by racism predates his amnesia period.

Kyle mentioned that line about Wyatt putting Whites Only on water fountains, and it sounded like a school prank. It also sounded like something Kyle was reminding Rosa of as if she was alive when that incident happened. Therefore, Wyatt was doing racist stuff before she died. Kyle would've been out of school by then so how else would he know that or why would he bother retaining it?

IF Wyatt and Rosa really were friends before (which holy retcon), then it makes no real sense that he would get psychopathically angry about his "friend" who does drugs getting into a car accident with his sister who does drugs. He would've mourned them both not jumped to severe racism and violence. But both he and Jasmine's family (who are MIA for all of this) did that... jumped to racism. So was Wyatt indoctrinated by his family or indoctrinated by message boards and shit? And if Wyatt and Rosa were friends than why was Kate such a racist bitch to Rosa?

They're backdrafting history JUST to make this storyline that we don't need with a character who isn't even a main one to work.

By not actually addressing that Wyatt has to unlearn racism and giving him an out through amnesia, there is the very realistic issue of that latent racism to come out at any given time. What happens when he's drunk? What happens when he's really angry at a POC?

Tying Wyatt's redemption with his clear affection for Rosa is again dangerous and irresponsible. I know we would all like to think that love is the way and through love it can heal racism, but that puts the responsibility on the disenfranchised person to be "lovable." Because if Wyatt WAS friends with Rosa once then that means the second Rosa did something unlovable she was just another *insert racist slur of choosing* right? It means that there's a possibility that if his feelings for Rosa dwindle or things go sideways in some way there's a chance that he could revert back to those racist ways. Loving Rosa(linda) and pinning all of his wanting to be better on her because of her makes his actively learning to be anti-racist conditional. Right now he's not doing this for him. He's doing it because of Rosa.

This entire storyline has placed the burden of forgiveness on Rosa, his victim. Without him ever having to actually make amends. It's this turn the other cheek BS that means there's nothing too big or harmful that can't result in forgiveness. It relies on Rosa and all that she represents to extend an inhumane level of mercy and grace to their tormentor and oppressor that was never once extended to them. It's such a consistent and problematic thing projected on disenfranchised parties that ONLY benefits the majority and makes them feel good. It's a narrative of meeting someone halfway when the playing field was uneven and the minorities are in actuality doing more work and making a longer trek. Halfway and meeting in the middle only works if both sides were even. They are not. It's the reaching across the aisle both sidesms when one side was clearly and actively more harmful than the other and than calling that peace and equity. It is not.

This storyline was meant to scintillate some viewers with this "what if" notion and teach others a meaningful lesson or be this poorly thought out gateway to exploring a complex storyline but it came at the expense of other demographics who actively have to deal with racist crap. And because of their problematic approach what is simply "just entertainment" to some who has the luxury of not having to think about it beyond that, is just gross and insanely triggering and uncomfortable to others. The others who deal with the reality of the subject at hand.

They wrote themselves into a corner with Wyatt so trying to dig him out of that no matter the cost or logic is absurd. This storyline could've worked better if Wyatt's racism didn't also include conscious, constant, extreme violence. But they spent all of this time making Wyatt the face of violent racism and now are trying to redeem him with no real effort. He wasn't just using slurs or making microaggressions. He wasn't some insensitive or aloof white person. He is a murderer. He has killed people. He technically murdered Liz in cold-blood. He knew she was in the crashdown when he shot up the place. The lights were still on. He beat up Arturo so badly he nearly killed him well after his friends even stopped. He attacked and intended to kill Rosa. And his handiwork was a constant thing, enough for Jenna to comment on it. And now we're supposed to ignore all of that because he has amnesia and has puppy dog eyes?

The fact that we can entertain (and for some succeed) Wyatt in all of his hot white dudeness' redemption after everything he has done slips into the inherent racism of society in the first place and is enraging. Because systemically and culturally and inherently society will bend over backwards to find a way to absolve a hot white guy no matter his actions. Flint and Noah couldn't get this type of redemption... So their intended storyline about evolving from racism STILL plays into the racist structures set up in society.

And because some people like it, there's this slippery territory of NO everyone who genuinely enjoys this aren't racist for enjoying it. But yes, this entire storyline and how it is playing out is at the very least racially insensitive.

In order for this storyline to work they would actually have to show Wyatt doing the work. They don't have enough time to dedicate to such a delicate storyline. It's been a C and D filler storyline with 45 second to a minute scenes. That's not enough time to explore this properly. We would've needed to see Wyatt returning home from the hospital. We would've needed to see Wyatt with his friends and it not feeling right and his discomfort. We would've needed to see Wyatt going through his yearbook and googling himself and the horror and disgust he felt. We would need to see this through his eyes. But we didn't have the time for that and we wouldn't have anyway because he's not a main character. We only get Wyatt through Rosa's eyes and they haven't even dedicated enough time to that for it to work. Rosa isn't conflicted at all. She didn't struggle to forgive him. She was reduced to a school girl with a crush and an insane level of grace and they just threw that at us with no buildup whatsoever. I don't know where Rosa's head is and how she got to this to place. Not really. And the only thing working about this is the chemistry between two actors who are allegedly dating so of course there's chemistry.

It literally feels like another instance of a favorite actor being shoehorned into a storyline just for the hell of it. Just because they didn't want to let Dylan go or something. Just to give him something else to do.

#anti wyatt long #rnm salt #roswell new mexico #rnm ask

[cheri-translates]

Hello cheri! How is your day? Im a fellow gavin stan but recently there is a guy stealing my attention and its shaw hahaha bt i still love gavin my 1st love on game. anyway on your opinion how did mc fell for shaw? And when shaw finds out he likes mc? Thank you ❤

(´･ᴗ･ ` ) Hello Anon! My day is great after receiving this interesting yet challenging question~ The development of a relationship requires the involvement of both parties, so I ended up discussing both questions simultaneously!

Here are the short answers to your questions, but do note that these are just my personal opinions:

1. She uncovered and accepted his complexities

2. Exciting Moment Date

A summary of the Shaw x MC dynamics can be found in these lines from Exciting Moment Date: 

Let’s dive deeper into each line.

-

1. “Emboldened by the straightforward response, I couldn’t help but move closer to him.”

For this, we have to chart the development of MC’s impression of Shaw across the dates.

Shaw’s first event (i.e. Night Fire) took place one week after MC entered the Winter World. In a world where nobody else recognised her, it was perfectly natural for MC to gravitate towards Shaw despite not knowing him well:

At the same time, her instincts cautioned her to stay away from him. After all, how good could a person be if he seemed to dye his hair in a flamboyant colour, wore a riveted jacket, and handed out fake identities like it’s nothing?

Her instincts also warned her that he was the one who attempted to strike Victor in Ch 10 of the main storyline:

At this point, she was likely experiencing two conflicting emotions. On one hand, she was very dependent on him and filled with gratitude for the emotional and practical help he gave her. 

In a world where she had no idea how to proceed, Shaw’s straightforwardness and self-assured nature likely provided her a huge sense of comfort.

At the same time, her instincts sounded the alarm bells in her head.

But being the kind and good-natured MC she is, she continued sticking around with Shaw and was even concerned for his well-being. 

Within the span of one day in One-Day Date, she didn’t just move closer to him physically, but also learnt that he’s actually a graduate student in Loveland University who takes his exams seriously. She also learnt that he’s a talented bass player, and also talented in graffiti. 

She learnt that perhaps there’s greater substance to this young man than she originally thought. And this led to her curiosity being aroused - what more could she uncover about this mysterious man?

One glaring commonality in Shaw’s early dates is that MC asks A LOT of questions. Just as Shaw was intrigued by MC, MC was equally intrigued by him, and actually expressed it even more clearly.

There are too many questions to list down, so here are Shaw’s reactions to them instead:

In the Rosa Rubus event:

In the Genuine or Fake Call from Seeking Date:

In Exciting Moment Date:

MC can’t help but draw nearer to him.

-

2. “The music was being played at a low volume. But because Shaw was wearing only one earphone and the room was quiet, I could still hear the sound of music coming from the other earphone.”

As mentioned at the start, both parties needed to take a step for the relationship to develop successfully. Hence, it didn’t matter if MC barraged Shaw with questions if he wasn’t receptive to them. 

He needed to take the initiative to “wear only one earphone” so that MC was able to understand him through the other. At the same time, MC needed to listen carefully to the “low volume” of Shaw’s genuine feelings.

To elaborate on the above paragraph, we have to understand the way Shaw operates.

In a recent Ask where someone asked about his personality, I mentioned that he’s straightforward like Gavin yet mysterious like Lucien. This might come across strange because how could such a contradiction exist?

But that’s exactly how Shaw is. The reason why Shaw behaves like this is due to a mix of nature and nurture. 

He’s naturally impetuous (e.g. drawn to adrenaline-stirring activities such as skateboarding, performing rock, sneaking into places he shouldn’t be sneaking into). But he was taught by experience and in the study of archaeology to be patient.

Basically, this mixture of nature and nurture results in push-pull dynamics when it comes to Shaw, and a beautifully crafted slow burn where Shaw has to grapple with his feelings for MC. I’ve done a post on his early feelings for MC which you can check out here!

[PUSH] In One-Day Date, he asked her out yet left her to dry:

[PULL] Afterwards, he invited her to indulge in his hobby, and even asked her keep her art on the wall even though he insulted it 5 seconds ago:

[PULL] In Exciting Moment Date, he wanted to spend time alone with MC:

[PUSH] But he didn’t have a concrete plan on what they’d do:

[PUSH] He made it seem like holding hands wasn’t a big deal:

[PULL] But he vehemently refused to let go:

[PUSH] In Exciting Date, he closed himself off:

[PULL] But relented soon afterwards:

Remember how I mentioned before that MC tended to barrage Shaw with a ton of questions in his earlier dates? Interestingly, Shaw didn’t actually mind them.

We see this in his Genuine or Fake Call from Seeking Date:

And also in his Future Bass Call from Exciting Date:

Deep down, Shaw wants to be understood. He wants to be heard. But he needs someone who’s thick-skinned enough to handle his sharp tongue, and to care enough to understand the hidden meaning behind his words, whether said or unsaid. I’ll return to this point at the end.

And at the same time, MC listens. Aside from asking questions about his present motivations, she also wanted to know about his past, and about him as a person:

Anger reveals a lot about a person’s true concerns, so let’s break down this particular line when MC went off on a little rant about Shaw:

In other words, “You’re a contradiction and I can’t comprehend how your mind works. I’m feeling frustrated because I can’t seem to understand your thought process. I wish you would stop disagreeing with me because I want to be on the same wavelength as you are. I really want to understand you."

-

3. “To my surprise, it was an instrumental - slow, deep, soft, mixed with the sound of rain.”

While Shaw engages in this this pull-push tango with MC while she tries to understand him, she is surprised when she sees that there’s more to Shaw than his bravado.

In One-Day Date, she notices his vulnerability:

In Seeking Date, she gets a glimpse of -

His seriousness:

His quietness:

His kindness in the way he kicked the stone away to prevent others from tripping over it:

His meticulousness, albeit slightly delayed:

In Exciting Date (including the prologue), she guesses that there’s more depth to Shaw that she realised:

She is also a recipient of his kindness:

Again and again:

-

4. “Gingerly, I moved another step toward him for a clearer listen.”

These traits drew her closer to him. She started trusting him without even realising it.

In Seeking Date:

In the prologue of Exciting Date:

She also picked up the way he speaks in the Rosa Rubus event and Exciting Date (and even more so in future CN content):

How did Shaw respond to MC’s incessant drive to know him more? He imbibed the words of his mentor:

He was very patient.

He tested her tenacity in running errands as his informant. He tested how well she kept to her promises. He tested how much she cared about the Dragonfly Eye bead he gave her. He tested how much she cared about not making a fool of Isolated on stage.

He also took his sweet time grappling with why he was inexplicably drawn to her, which manifested in the form of the push-pull dynamics mentioned earlier in Point 2. 

Was he simply an observer toying with MC? Was he simply deriving amusement from MC’s reactions?

And after all that testing and waiting, he finally knew for sure:

Shaw not only offered to let MC into his world. 

He also carved out a space in his world for her.

And that’s when the Shaw x MC ship sailed.

#teatime with cheri #THIS TOOK ME SO LONG #I have 5 days to climb out of the Shaw pit hnhgnhgn

[mariustears]

2.5k words of Marius angst + mild Marius x Rosa. The fic is inspired by this post.

Forever

A word so full of lies, that even the best liar couldn't make it believable.

Marius stands in a room. It's dark and empty, at least he assumed it to be. He couldn't remember how he got there. It didn't seem like there were any windows in the room considering that he would probably be seeing some sort of lighting coming from the outside if there were any, even if it was night outside. Was he in a basement perhaps?

He took a few steps forward, then a few more. He couldn't tell where exactly in the room he was, or how big it might be. It was even hard to see the silhouette of his own hand in front of his face.

"-rius!" A voice? It sounded familiar, it sounded like the voice of someone he could only vaguely remember and yet it sounded like he knew it as well as he knew his own voice, a part of him, long forgotten.

"Marius! There you are!" Marius turned around, even if there was someone in the room with him, he couldn't tell. The voice came from all sides but it was as quiet as a whisper.

"I was wondering where you went. Don't just go running off like that, I'll get worried!" The voice got louder but it was still so far that Marius feared he would miss the words if he dared to answer. But even if it was louder, Marius didn't know who it was, it could be his kidnapper for all he knew. How big exactly could this room be if the voice was this quiet, and what did they even mean?

"Look, I found a chrysanthemum in the garden. They're pretty, right? Someday I'd like to own my own flower garden and plant the prettiest flowers!"

Marius remembered. Giann. When he and Giann were children they liked to play in the garden together. Giann loved flowers and liked showing Marius the ones he found especially pretty, sometimes even hoping that Marius could draw them for him. But how did he hear them now? Giann was gone… but then how could he hear his voice so clearly now…?

"Who are you! Don't play tricks on me, show yourself!"

The lights in the room went on but due to Marius' eyes having adjusted to the darkness that previously engulfed the whole room, he was now blinded by the sudden brightness. It took him a few seconds until he could fully open his eyes again but he couldn't believe what he saw after opening them.

Marius was no longer standing in the odd room, he was now standing in the middle of a beautiful garden. It was his parents' garden. He looked around a few times, repeatedly opening and closing his eyes in confusion. This wasn't possible. How-

"Hey, Marius…" Marius turned around towards the voice. It came from a boy sitting on a white bench nearby a giant fountain. It was Giann. He was looking towards the fountain, or more specifically towards the boy who was sitting on the fountain with his feet dangling in the water, Marius. "... remember when I told you that I'd like to own a flower garden in the future and plant all the epiphyllum in the world for mom?"

"Promise me you'll take care of it when I someday won't be able to anymore, okay?"

The boy at the fountain turned his head towards Giann, seemingly not believing what he just heard. "Don't say something like that! You'll take care of it forever! You can't just leave it all in my hands… I don't even know how to take care of flowers..."

Forever. Oh how he wished that their forever would have been just a bit longer…

"Well, maybe you should listen more to what I tell you then! I've explained it to you so many times already!"

Giann stood up and walked towards the fountain, he stopped next to the boy in the fountain with a grin on his face. "Giann…? What are you doing?"

"You just have to water most flowers every once in a while, just like…"

Giann put his hand into the water and…

*splash*

...splashed a generous amount of the water into the boy's face. "...that!" and after finishing his sentence he ran off, deeper into the garden, in hopes that Marius wouldn't be able to catch him, as he knew that the consequences of his actions would be bad if he did end up being caught.

"COME BACK HERE!"

The lights went back off, and once again, Marius was left in complete darkness. What was that? How could he see such a distant memory so vividly even after all those years?

Minutes went by, minutes that felt like hours, minutes that were spent thinking about what he saw. "Forever." It wouldn't leave Marius' mind. It was such a simple thing said by children who did not know that there was no forever for anyone.

Marius had always promised to protect Giann, while Giann had always promised to protect Marius. Forever.

But there was no forever for them. Marius had failed his part of the promise. Marius had failed to protect the one he spent his whole childhood with. The one who always believed in Marius' dream of being an artist. The one who had been there for Marius until the very last moment. And he failed to do something as simple as protecting him.

Marius' legs gave in and he now found himself kneeling on the ground, tears slowly but surely making their way onto his cheeks.

He lost track of time eventually. How long did he spend on the ground? He didn't know.

Marius stood up, his legs had fallen asleep at some point and with no wall being nearly to support him he was struggling to stay up.

Suddenly, the little vision he had was gone again and he could feel something being held in front of his eyes.

"Buh!" The object in front of his eyes was gone again and he was suddenly standing on a busy market street with many vendors having small tables set up with their wares. Someone took his hand to spin him around and the contact made him realise that the object in front of his face must have been two hands holding his eyes closed.

"Have you been waiting for a long time? I'm sorry… I was stuck in traffic for a while…"

He turned around with the hand guiding him and...

...Rosa? But how-

"Hey, is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

You were back? But this couldn't be, both you and Giann were-

"Where have you been? I was worried for you! I… I thought that you were…" Marius finally managed to say something, but his fear and worry had made his words come out louder than he wanted them to be.

Rosa looked back at him, unsure how to respond. "Marius I was just stuck in traffic, I'm sorry that I worried you. I should have messaged you when I had the ability to..."

"No it's fine, I'm sorry I was just a bit lost in my mind and didn't expect you to arrive so quickly, don't worry about it."

It didn't seem like Rosa fully believed what he said, but he couldn't come up with anything better to say.

"Hmm alright... should we check out the market then? Don't tell me you also forgot about the reason we wanted to meet up here!" Rosa laughed, it was that beautiful laugh that Marius had almost forgotten the sound of.

"Of course not! How could I forget!" He took her hand in his, the comfortable warmth of her hand spread over his whole body, until it reached his heart. He missed this, he missed seeing that smile, hearing that laugh and most importantly, he missed her. But why did he miss someone who was only gone from his sight for maybe a day?

Marius and Rosa walked through the Market until they arrived at a specific vendor. They sold jewellery and small handmade trinkets. Their wares weren't of the cheap sort but the quality looked to be quite high too. He saw Rosa stare at a special necklace, it was a golden chain with a golden rose attached to it. The gem in the middle of the rose seemed to be a ruby.

"Oh, Miss! Would you be interested in the necklace? It's quite pretty, don't you think? I made this necklace with the idea of young love in mind. The ruby represents the new found love, while the rose surrounding it represents the strong bond that will hold the love together for as long as you take good care of it."

"Ah, it looks very pretty but I'm sure it's not cheap… especially considering the hard work that you must have put into it!"

As much as she tried to keep her eyes off of the beautiful necklace to look at the vendor, Marius could see that she liked it.

"I'll buy it."

"Marius no, it's fine! You don't have to-"

"It's an apology for earlier. Make sure to take care of it well so our love doesn't wither, okay?"

Rosa turned away from him but it was too late, Marius had already seen the slight pink hint on her cheeks.

"What a wonderful choice! And because you two are so lovely, I'll even give you a discount." The vendor was an elderly man, so it didn't feel fair for Marius to take a discount, especially not considering that he had handmade all of his jewelry.

"There is no need for a discount, I don't mind paying the full price. Your jewelry is high class compared to the necklaces you can buy in stores nowadays, I admire your work." The vendor looked happy to hear the compliments, Marius felt bad that he had to sell his works so low but he knew that it was hard to sell jewelry that didn't have a name associated with it.

Once Marius had paid for the necklace, they both made their way through the rest of the market. They had bought a few things like clothes, vases and other handmade things.

"Stand still for a moment." They were now on a less busy street, the perfect moment for Marius to finally put the necklace on her. He let go of her hand and checked through their bags to check where it was.

"Hm? Is there something wrong?" Rosa stood still with a confused look on her face while Marius grabbed the small box with the necklace from one of the bags.

"Nope, just wait and see." Marius stepped behind her, opened the small box, and gently put it around her neck.

"How does it feel?"

Rosa held the rose shaped piece in her hand before answering, "It's beautiful… thank you."

Marius walked in front of her to see for himself, she was right. It was beautiful. But not as beautiful as the person wearing it.

"Almost as beautiful as you."

"Marius von Hagen!"

"What? Can't I tell the truth?"

Marius loved moments like these with her. Moments where they could laugh together and where he could see her face slowly getting that nice hint of pink that he found so pretty on her. He wished they would never end, perhaps even that they would last forever.

They continued walking down the street until they could hear a voice screaming for a thief, a man dressed in dark clothes ran past them while an elderly woman tried to follow. "Please help me! He stole my purse!" She screamed towards the two.

"Wait here, I'll catch him!" Marius put his bags down and ran after the man without looking back. The man was quick but he didn't seem to know the area very well. They ended up at a dead end eventually, the man managed to jump over the wall thanks to a dumpster in front of it but he seemed to be tired of their cat and mouse game and dropped the purse before disappearing.

Marius went back to the street where he left Rosa and the woman. He felt bad for just running off without saying goodbye but every second counted and he would see her again once he was back anyway, right?

He was almost back, just one more block before he would be back. But then he stopped in his tracks. Marius could hear sirens and they sounded like they were coming from… no…

Time stood still. Marius felt sick, as if he knew something was wrong. This was for something else right? A lost cat in a tree, or maybe the woman called the police because he took so long? That had to be it. Yes, he was just overreacting.

Marius ran around the block, there were two police cars standing at the street he had left them at. He could see the elderly woman but… where was Rosa? She was surely just behind one of the cars, right?

"Ma'am, so you went to the store on the other side of the street to call the police and then she..." Marius could hear people talking once he came closer but he couldn't make out much of what was said.

"Sir, we can't let you through here." A police officer stopped him. Marius felt dizzy. He could see their bags laying on the ground. Where was she?

"Where… where is Rosa?"

"Rosa?"

"The young woman with brown hair who was waiting here for me with an elderly woman! Where…" Marius could see the elderly woman talking to an officer until she noticed him. She pointed towards Marius and then walked towards him with the officer.

"He is the man who chased the thief for me! He was walking down the street with the nice lady!"

"Where is she-"

"Sir, please calm down. I'll explain everything to you."

Marius was let through by one of the officers and told to follow the officer who was talking to the elderly woman.

"So Ma'am, you've stated that he had followed a thief who had stolen your purse, correct?"

"Yes, he…"

Marius couldn't concentrate. He kept looking towards the bags, towards where she should be standing, waiting. He had gone through this exact scene before. He had lost her once before. This was another memory.

He walked towards the bags, ignoring the officer telling him to wait. There was an alleyway nearby that he hadn't noticed when they walked on the street together.

He took a few steps towards the alleyway. There was something shimmering in the small sun rays that had found their way into the dark alleyway. He walked towards it.

It was the necklace. A golden chain with a rose attached to it and a ruby in the middle. It was ripped apart, possibly broken in a fight.

Forever. He had once again wished for a forever. And once again it was taken from him.

Marius kneeled down to pick up the necklace and when he looked up, he was back in the darkness.

Once again, he couldn't protect the person he promised it to.

Once again, he had failed.

Once again, he had lost someone he loved.

Once again, he was sitting on the ground, the tears now slowly falling onto the rose.

Marius opened his eyes after a few moments, or was it hours? He didn't know.

He was now in his bed, looking at the ceiling. It was a dream, all of it.

A dream that will forever haunt him. A dream that will forever remind him of his failures.

Forever. A promise that will eventually break into tiny pieces, no matter how hard you lie to yourself.

#tears of themis #marius von hagen #tears of themis marius #tears of themis fanfic #tears of themis angst #tears of themis rosa #Tears_fics

[omegatheunknown]

AEW ALL OUT 2021

In which, not to get ahead of myself here, AEW puts on one of the best major wrestling shows in several years*, following the simple yet effective principle of giving the people what they want and sending everyone home happy and hungry for more.

- The incredibly 'Nitro' ending of the go-home Dynamite, which ran a little long on the 'heels beat everyone up and strut around like assholes almost too in desperate need of comeuppance' bit, short of garbage raining into the ring, did actually increase the heat for both promoted matches. Again, not rocket science, but executed perfectly. Catharsis was on the card, and catharsis went over several times Sunday. - Again, it's time to move on from the Casino theme, shuffling the deck and drawing suits really only detracted from the Battle Royale and seemingly always throws the production crew a curve. If they haven't hammered it by now, it's not going to happen. - Bit unhappy about the PAC/Andrade situation, but still over the moon with Andrade's promo style and Chavito being unhelpful at best.

*Pre-Card

Best Friends and Jurassic Express v The Hardy Family Office and The Hybrid 2 (**) - Not usually much to say about a loaded-up multiteam boondoggle, particularly when the show has yet to begin, but there were some moments worth sitting up to take notice -- there's a lot of talent in the ring, even if Jack Evans/Angelico aren't going to be more than mid-level mooks, little matchups with guys like Luchasaurus and Chuck Taylor are opportunities for innovative/weird spots. - Really this match exists to show-off Jungle Boy, play his theme song twice, and work him in to the aforementioned spots. I don't rightly know what Jungle Jack's ceiling is, but it sort of feels like he's plateauing, at least this version of himself. - Dan Lambert thing is interesting in that it doesn't seem to easily lead to something obvious... I mean who are Scorp and Ethan Page feuding with by proxy here, the concept of contemporary professional wrestling? Orange Cassidy and Kenny Omega?

*Main Card

Miro (C) v Eddie Kingston for the TNT Championship (***1/2) - 'Redeem Deez Nuts' T-shirts now available -- and made immediately redundant now that Miro has graciously redeemed Eddie's nuts. - Imagine looking at Miro, listening to Miro talk, and not really being able to figure out this guy is money. Also imagine panicking when he took a little while to find his groove in AEW. 'The Redeemer' is both entertaining and terrifying, and this match delivered heavily on the promise of two big fellas smacking together repeatedly. - Not only does Eddie's arsenal of power moves target Miro's neck, he may also be quite difficult to put in the full reclined camel clutch. Or he'd quite literally snap in half. It didn't come to that. - Weird heel turn by Bryce's attention span and the overall weirdness of the finish is all that kept this from being an excellent match, otherwise this was a tremendous curtain jerker and started off a dangerously fun run of pure adrenaline.

Jon Moxley v Satoshi Kojima (****) - The stakes were nebulous, the build was abrupt, yet this was a fantastic match and tremendous showcase for an underappreciated great who has been more or less just toiling for a bunch of years as a NJPW Dad. Same deal for Nagata, and I assume Tenzan is the same, Taka Michinoku even -- let's see it. - I have to assume the Cozy Lariat might have put Mox down, but Kojima otherwise played the hits (Koji Cutter, Piledriver, Brainbustaaaa) in a big way and Moxley once again proved he's become a very well-rounded wrestler who can match the intensity of just about any former IWGP champion. - More to the point-- KAZE NI NARE -- out of nowhere, too. Or out of nowhere to those not paying attention to the whereabouts of Minoru Suzuki (Right, he's just over here to fight Daniel Garcia and not Mox?), which I guess is to my own peril. Wow, though. Surprise Number 1- a complete surprise, and a welcome one. Let's have it.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD (C) v Kris Statlander for the AEW Women's Championship (****) - I love Kris and her best friends but she didn't have a prayer of dethroning Britt. She got one promo, several weeks ago, and though she did make a meal of Hayter and Rebel, the chase has been abrupt and not given much discussion, other than Mark Henry and whomever else acknowledging what is extremely evident -- Statlander is stronger than she looks, and she looks really strong. They've got her doing Cesaro-level 'modify your grip while holding your opponent's entire weight' nonsense, and it's amazing and scary. - Even with the reign of the good doctor not being credibly threatened, this was an excellent match that demonstrated the continued growth of the competitors in the women's division, even as it underlined that their storylines remain undercooked and perfunctory: Orange Cassidy whipping off his shades to urge Stat to get up was a beautiful moment. Britt's Panama Sunrise, also, too sweet. Statlander eating shit on her 451 and her pendulum moonsault was properly brutal, as were Britt's curb stomps. Really great match between these two. - Again, if they had bothered to write anything into this story, such as Kris' alien physiology making her immune to the lockjaw or something... actually, maybe that's a terrible idea. it's an idea. Undefeated challenger is defeated, on to the next for Dr Britt. Statlander and OC should tag against some of the boys.

The Young Bucks (C) v The Lucha Bros for the AEW World Tag Team Championship(*****+) - Can't not mention the insane entrance lined up for Fenix and Penta. It was bewildering, it was enchanting, it was aggressive, it was hype. It also reminded everybody how very badly we all wanted the Lucha Bros to win. The crowd has been setting new peaks with their volume since Punk showed up, but things were absolutely thunderous and ecstatic at the end of this match. Absolutely valid response. I yelled on the couch. - Nick's facial hair was a bigger tell that it was time for the Bucks to lose than anything else about this build. There's literally nowhere to go from there -- they've done the hair, the bandanas, the kicks, the animal print, the dangly earrings -- peak visual heel for this time and place. - Sincerely thought this was going to be too much of a full sprint spot-fest (the PWG-esque circle of trading blows is not really 'my thing') but even so they kept finding gears, and ramping and ramping and adding blood and brutality along the way. Even a bit of levity, with the tacked up sneaker, followed by the sincerity of Penta throwing himself in harm's way to protect his brother. Immense match, I think you'd have to go back to the Bucks vs the Addiction and MCMGs Ladder War to find a more thrilling tag team gimmick match. - If there's a single flaw to be found it's in the production not really settling on wide angles for simultaneous action at the start of the match. They figured it out. - Rey Fenix is the best luchador in the world.

Women's Casino Battle Royale (**1/2) - If nothing else, this really shows off that they now have a surplus of women's wrestlers who deserve time to hang in the ring. Unsurprisingly, the match picked right up when Thunder Rosa and then Jamie Hayter got to the ring, with additional props to Tay Conti and Jade Cargill, who was dumped rather unceremoniously given her general booking... - Okay, there was something else. Welcome to the rechristened Ruby Soho, who I've not seen a lot of outside of her extremely limited showcase in WWE, but she has so many friends in the back and in the industry and that's never for nothing, not in wrestling, anyway. Intrigued to see where she fits, and if the women ever get more than a match per show. - Touched on this in the preamble but this was the roughest part of the night for the home viewer, just weird decisions on cutting away from various entrances to show... nothing in particular happening. Also while the commitment to not-kayfabing the countdown clock is... admirable? It makes the pacing hinky. - Almost everyone who got new gear for tonight was looking like the white ranger -- Nyla, Swole, Bunny, someone I'm missing. Except Anna Jay, whose stars and glitter gear looked great.

MJF v Chris Jericho for the fate of Jericho's in-ring career (***) - MJF's unauthorized homage to Y2J's entrance: good. Fozzy's guitarist going off tempo with the instrumental Judas: weak, and would've been sad if this were the end for Jericho. Especially as the build has felt... muted, somehow. - Props to the commentary for continuing to feed the red herring of 'in AEW,' as a caveat to stipulation, it did feel like... a remote possibility that MJF would win. - Credit to Aubrey for calling this one down the middle and not putting the fix in for her friend Jericho, and I guess the Dusty finish will give MJF plenty to gripe about. - MJF wrestles with a pure heel style, holds, chops, blocks, and Jericho is fifty years old, so the level of wrestling on exhibition in these matches is well beside the point. It was solid to good, and I was fighting burn out from the first half of the card's level of excitement.

CM Punk v Darby Allin (***1/2) - There are a couple benefits of Darby as a dance partner, and it's certainly better than having to watch Punk return against like, QT Marshall or Shawn Spears. Darby does make everyone look slow, but he can also be tossed around, and this raises his profile even in defeat, obviously. That said, the stakes here are... meta, at best, in that we want to see the man look good and justify the hype. It's a weird thing to root for. He certainly does look good. (Tights? Tights!) - It's fun to theorize about actually booking an angle where Punk is rusty and needs to regain his prowess, and maybe he'll stumble, but maybe the most we get out of that angle is hitting the GTS a little close to the ropes so Darby falls right out of the ring, in what was, for me, the spot that justified this whole match. - Sting's proud step-dad aura is still a hell of a thing, I really liked the end of the match kudos all around. - Match was good, hard to hang my emotions on. I wasn't watching WWE when Punk was in WWE. Definitely feeding off the excitement of others a bit here, and he sure can talk. I'd like to see him cultivate a stable, certainly.

Paul Wight v QT Marshall (n/r) - ...popcorn match? QT Marshall is like the anti-Daniel Garcia in that while his prominence and presence is just as inexplicable, I don't want it to continue, and he doesn't justify it in the process. - Match was two minutes longer than it needed to be.

Kenny Omega (c) v Christian Cage for the AEW World Championship (****1/2) - Crowd was both burnt out and more or less waiting for the post-match angle. Which I get. it's hard to cruise to the main event and having seen all the different things we've already seen on this card, even a singular performer like Kenny Omega and a legend with whom he (surprisingly? fittingly?) has superb chemistry with in Christian Cage were up against it to deliver something memorable. - Context dependent, I can definitely see rating this below their Rampage match, especially since... I mean Christian isn't winning the AEW title off Kenny at this or probably any other event. - But! It was really good! It was very good! They really do match-up well, and Kenny's v-trigger has rarely looked more devastating than when it knocks Christian flat. Christian got cut open in a novel and initially worrying way, and Kenny followed up a botched moonsault with a harder version of the same move off a rail, but it was a really great match and it deserved more energy than was available.

Post-Show - Calling back and inverting the end of Dynamite, The Elite strut about the ring, slightly less stoked than they were on Wednesday, but with the Bucks smiling through the pain, and Jungle Boy once again subjected to violence for his misguided heroism, Kenny 'not much a promo' Omega lays down a killer line about nobody being fit to challenge him who isn't unavailable, already tired or dead. - The Undertaker ADAM COLE, BAY BAY as Surprise #3 was a minor stroke of brilliance, and a fun swerve because while it's exciting to see him, his appearance at this point in the narrative does nothing to solve the problem of The Elite beating up Christian and Jungle Boy. Unless he's still sore about his unsolved murder, which he isn't. Storytime with Adam Cole is back and it's beautiful. Also Jungle Boy died for this. - Okay. But. Just. Okay. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are All Elite. They will hopefully tag together. Bryan will head to NJPW, almost definitely. Minoru Suzuki just walked in and started slugging on Mox. The Forbidden Door is wide open. Will Kenny Omega one day return to Wrestle Kingdom? There are so many possibilities and they are all very exciting. This was a phenomenal show and it didn't have Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, PAC, Andrade, Sammy Guevara, Team Taz, and the rest.

- Wrestling is good, actually. Imagine watching like five hours of wrestling and loving wrestling at the end of it.

*What competes- WK11, Dominion 2018, 2019, DoN 2019, 2021.. All-In, probably. Wrestlemania 30. A few Takeovers. Kris Wolf's retirement show...

#aew #aew all out #all out 2021 #cm punk #bryan danielson #kenny omega #christian cage #chris jericho #mjf #darby allin #the young bucks #penta el zero m #rey fenix #miro #eddie kingston #sting #jungle boy #kris statlander #dr britt baker dmd #orange cassidy #thunder rosa #ruby soho #adam cole #the elite #jon moxley #satoshi kojima #wrestling reviews

[facelessfrey]

Roswell New Mexico - Season 3, Episode 8

First off...yay! Now I have new things to draw I suppose. Haha. I’m very tired after podcasting and then watching this but there was definitely a lot of smiling at those Malex scenes. 

I said this after episode 3 and the burn the world down comment that I didn’t understand why they weren’t just together based on what we’d seen and I was kind of right because if they had just had a fucking real conversation several episodes ago, they could have just been together already. 

I don’t know, I’m kind of torn about it. Cause on the one hand, yes, I love it. It was lovely to see Alex actually open up a bit and have a real conversation with Michael...and call him Michael...swoon...and be honest about Deep Sky and everything he’s been doing. On the other hand, while it’s taken plenty of physical time to get here, I still don’t know that the show has bothered to really put in the emotional work to get here. I mean they only interacted twice before this episode this season. And both times they kind of had their patented “let me say some deep meaningful stuff and then walk away without really dealing with it”conversations and I feel like there needed to be more even while I felt like they were already kind of there at the end of last season. Especially because the Forrest thing went absolutely nowhere. I don’t know, I guess because it took all this time, I wish we’d really seen them learn and grow emotionally more. I guess I don’t quite understand what changed to have Alex actually tell Michael the truth this time about Deep Sky and all that? Was it just Ramos being like “I hired you because you fell in love with an alien” so Alex was all like “shit...I did, and he’s single now so I should go actually work on that.” I don’t know. 

I feel like this is one of those mid season episodes where I’m like “this is great, I love all of this and these dynamics and if I only watched this episode, I’d be like yes I believe all these things and it all feels fine!” but when I actually stack it up next to the rest of the season and series, I’m like...but is it? I was rereading my recaps from last season and I kind of said this about Michael and Maria’s relation ship in episode 7 or whatever that if I just saw that episode I would think they worked but building on the rest of it, it felt too fast and unearned. Now obviously Malex have all that history behind them and the show loves to make references to their cosmic connection and love so like...it works mostly, but I still wish we’d gotten more on screen build up to it. 

But anyway....those concerns aside, I did very much enjoy this episode. They worked as a team! Alex was actually involved with the group! Everyone got to be awesome! They did actually work in character stuff along side of the plot stuff, which was all I was asking for after last week. So good on them for that. 

I liked the progression in the Liz and Rosa relationship and and Liz learning to trust Rosa more as an equal and not having to always be the smartest in the room etc. I think that was good for them and a nice resolution to some of their sort of growing pains issues of Rosa coming back to life and now sort of being the little sister and Liz being very protective. Hopefully that will continue. 

Obviously the Malex stuff was lovely aside from my above concerns. I liked Alex being involved with the group in the beginning and Michael and Isobel in their military outfits very briefly there. I of course loved all of the dramatic moments with Michael reaching out and stroking Alex’s face and Alex taking his hand inside with Jones to protect him. It felt kind of absurd and overdramatic but sure. Haha. And I did like the fact that the story from Iraq was about his leg because it’s nice to know that information and it was a nice transition into his “you’re the piece I can’t lose in my life, Michael” speech and you know...the pieces want to be together and all that. Haha. Lots of good things. And of course they haven’t kissed on screen in the present day....I was going to say since episode 3 but then I remember the threesome which shall not be named but yeah....this was better. And the hat came off. Haha. Anyway....it’s all great. 

I also really liked Alex backing the car up into Jones to stop Michael from having to make that choice. Excellent. 

The mindscape stuff definitely got a little heavy handed with some of the “are these the people of color” moments. Again, it’s Roswell and they do love making a big deal about their social moments. I get it, but it’d be nice if they learned they didn’t have to call it out quite as much and people would still understand. 

I did like seeing Isobel get to be a badass and fight Jones in the mindscape. That was fun. 

I do like Maria getting to have a real role in things this season and have her past tie into everyone else’s alien history. It’s nice that she gets to actually be part of the group properly this season and not just based on who she’s dating or what she knows. I do still want to know if that coffin vision is still in play though. 

Alien brain usb drives are...a thing. Sure. 

It was nice to connect all of the past stuff with the Lockhart machine. That nicely ties together Deep Sky with the rest of it. 

I would still like for people to remember Kyle. 

As much as I liked Liz’s moments with Rosa and Isobel, I would have liked to see her with Maria once she was awake. But I did like Isobel and Maria’s post mindscape chat. And I liked her teasingly encouraging Maria about Gregory and telling her to take the call. That’s the kind of character interaction I want to see. 

I’m still a bit confused on when people are talking about clone Max and when people are talking about Michael when it comes to Nora and Jones. Hopefully that all gets sorted out. But congrats to the people who were right about Jones just taking over clone bodies to live forever. 

Of course we end on having to “save Max Evans” cause it is all they do on this show. Haha. I hope that in season 4 he’s just...good the whole time. 

All in all though, a really good episode and I hope we continue on that way. I do feel like the plot is pacing better than previous seasons. I just really want to not have a Caulfield or Alien/Manes DNA bomb level episode 12 again this season,, where they just pack an entire season’s worth of plot into one episode and then it just ends anticlimactically. So finger’s crossed they don’t do that again. 

I guess I’ll go rewatch the Malex scenes now. I’m gonna be so tired tomorrow. 

#roswell new mexico #roswell nm #roswell nm reviews #rnm s3e8