#I was in the woods so I kept thinking about that one episode

[ivyinforests]

”That’s why I— that’s why you’re you” and “You don’t know how much I love— that” is my favorite category of lines.

[flowerywoso]

the babysitter || irene paredes x reader

Summary: You've had a thing for Irene ever since you started babysitting for her. When she comes home after a night out with the team, you realize that your feelings might not be as one-sided as you thought they were. Pairing: Irene Paredes x Reader Words: 3,992 Warnings: 🔞, smut with plot Notes: I haven't written anything in quite awhile (I honestly wasn't planning on writing ever again but here we are), so this might be a little rough! Please don't hesitate to let me know (politely, please!) if you notice any horrible grammatical errors or notes to myself that I somehow forgot to take out. Do not post my works on Ao3. And I am horrible at titles.

You peek your head into the room once more, carefully easing the door open and, just as quickly, shut, once you determine that the toddler is definitely still asleep. It’s a habit you adopted after your friends began to have their own children, and one you’ve maintained for the kids you babysit. Tiptoeing back down the hallway, making sure to keep your footfalls as quiet as you can, you plop back down on the sofa, settling into the corner and taking a sip of your sparkling water, grabbing your novel and flipping it back open as you wait for the boy’s mother to return home.

It’s not that much later, only long enough for you to finish a single chapter of your book, before you hear the sound of the front door opening and closing, announcing Irene’s return from the Barcelona squad’s night out. You don’t get up from the couch, merely setting your novel aside and uncrossing your legs, letting one dangle off the cushions.

She enters the room quietly, the low heels she’d left the apartment in abandoned on the mat by the front door so they don’t click on the wood floors, and when you look up you can see the flush on her face. You're not sure if it's the result of the chilly evening air or of her night out, but either way it's enough to make you swallow around a lump in your throat. The top and pants she'd left the house in are just as enticing now as they were several hours ago, and you wonder as she walks further into the apartment how you manage to stay sane around her.

“Hola,” she says quietly, setting her purse down in the center of the coffee table and taking a seat beside you on the sofa, sighing in relief as she relaxes into the cushions after a long night out. Your heart, as it so often does in the presence of the older woman, skips a beat as she comes nearer to you.

“How was everything?”

“All good,” you reply, beginning to recount your evening with Mateo. As always, the toddler had been easy, listening to you as well as one could expect a two-year-old to, and had fallen asleep on the sofa halfway through an episode of Bluey, only stirring briefly when you carried him to bed.

“He ate most of his dinner,” you relay with a smile, shaking your head at the memory of how the toddler had wrinkled his nose at the "yucky green" you'd provided for him, far more enthusiastic about the special treat that was the chicken nuggets unearthed from the freezer. “We had a bit of a struggle with the veggies, but other than that he was a perfect angel, like always.”

Your words bring a smile to the older woman’s face, and you can’t help but stop in your tracks for a moment, transfixed by the way her lips perk upwards, faint lines around her eyes becoming visible. You’ve seen her take an extra minute in the bathroom more than once after you arrive in the evenings, trying to conceal the bags beneath her eyes or the smile lines beginning to form at the corners, but you think that each and every part of her face is a work of art. 

You had no idea, when you first started babysitting for her, just how quickly your feelings for the older woman would grow. In the stolen moments at the beginning and end of the nights, before one of you walks out the door, you've learned more and more about Irene Paredes the person, not just the footballer, and something about her kept drawing you further and further in. You couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but you knew that you wanted her.

“Did you have a good night?”

Irene shrugs, shaking her head with a fond smile as she tells you about the Barcelona squad’s night out. She had mostly stayed on the sidelines alongside the other older players, keeping an eye on the girls closer to your own age as they enjoyed themselves, but Pina and Cata had managed to coax her and Alexia into having a drink and dance before she had excused herself.

The thought of Irene on the dance floor makes your heart pound, imagination beginning to run wild.

You’ve never been to Manuela’s, but from the way you’ve heard Irene describe it, there's absolutely no shortage of beautiful women. You know from the bits of information she’s given you that the Barcelona girls normally stick with one another, even while they’re out, but you’ve never been able to help yourself from wondering if any of the beautiful girls who frequent the club have tempted her enough that she’s taken one of them to her bed.

It's that thought, the unpleasant idea of her tangled between the sheets with a nameless, faceless girl from the club that makes your chest hurt. Before you fully notice what you're doing, you open your mouth and begin to speak, some jumbled mixture of thoughts spilling from between your traitorous lips.

"I mean if... If you ever wanted to stay out later... If someone..."

You trail off, clamping your lips shut as you realize just how inappropriate what you're implying is. You cringe, cursing yourself as you watch for her reaction, wait for her to get up off the couch and hand you your bags, let you know that now might be a good time for you to go home.

But she doesn't. Instead, all the older woman does is fix you with a questioning gaze, seemingly losing herself in thought for a moment.

She’s seated closer to you than she normally would be, than she ever has been before, and for a moment you wonder if she can hear your heart as it pounds in your chest, speeding up as she enters your space. You aren’t sure if it’s your imagination, the way her eyes seem to have fixed on you, tracing the details of your flushing face, eyes following your bottom lip as you nervously run your teeth over it.

“No,” she says at last. “None of the girls there have ever been who I wanted.”

Something about the word there catches your attention as it leaves her mouth, and you're certain that you must be losing your mind. Because there's no way, no way in the world that she wants you the way you want her.

The older woman reaches out and brushes a stray strand of hair behind your ear, and you’re fairly certain that you’ve stopped breathing. Her hand pauses by your left cheek, which you're absolutely certain is flushing redder than the cap on her cherry flavored chapstick.

And suddenly, before you can even fully process the fact that her soft but strong hands are cupping your scarlet cheeks, the older woman is leaning forward and pressing her lips to yours.

You must have imagined this moment a thousand times, but never in your wildest dreams had you imagined it would actually come true. The older woman’s mouth is soft but insistent against your own, exploring your lips with hers, and every coherent thought you’ve ever had is a distant memory as you move with her, kissing her back.

Kissing Irene is even better than you imagined it would be - and you could fill a planner with the amount of times you’ve imagined this exact scenario. Her mouth is gentle, but there’s an edge to her kiss that contains a promise, the knowledge that she’s capable of being anything but.

When your lips finally part, after what feels like both an eternity and no time at all, you let out a little gasp, pupils blown wide as Irene stares into your eyes, both of you trying to process what has just happened. Even though she’s the one who kissed you first, Irene seems just as shocked as you are. But, behind her wide eyes is the same feeling you know she can easily spot in your own.

Desire.

“I… Fuck.”

You’re the one who leans forward this time, lips pressing against the older woman’s, the faint flavor of alcohol on her lips mixed with a hint of cherry from the chapstick you’ve seen her spread across her mouth more than once. The taste of her lips is intoxicating, and you can feel it going straight between your legs.

This kiss is deeper than the first, your arms wrapping around her strong shoulders to pull her closer, wanting to feel her body against your own. You part momentarily, gasping for air and only managing a brief breath before she’s kissing you again, every movement raising the stakes. You whine as her lips meet yours once more, hands coming to rest on your hips, pulling you closer. The older woman uses her own lips to pry yours open, her claiming tongue slipping into your mouth and beginning to explore further.

You let her take control of the kiss without protest, the arousal between your thighs intensifying exponentially with every second her body spends this close to your own. 

“Fuck,” she gasps, breaking away from your lips only long enough to grunt in your ear. “Fuck, I want you so badly.”

All you can do is nod, shaking your head up and down in agreement, because you don’t think you’ve ever wanted another person this badly in your entire life. 

“Irene,” you whine, pressing impossibly closer to her. “Please.” 

“Can I touch you?”

You’re nodding again before the question has even fully left her lips, and the older woman’s pupils go dark with how eager she is for you. She kisses you again, her football player’s strength showing as she pushes you backward onto the sofa, hands working their way up under your shirt. She doesn’t bother with the clasp of your bra, instead slipping her hands beneath the fabric to cup your breasts. Separating her lips from yours with a low groan, Irene immediately begins tracing a path over the sensitive skin of your neck, sending a further wave of shivers up and down your spine. You moan quietly, remembering that you two aren’t alone in the apartment, but tilt your head anyway, granting her better access to your throat.

Advantage is rapidly taken, the Barcelona player letting a hint of teeth scrape across the delicate flesh of your throat as she rolls one of your nipples between her fingers, moaning quietly at the way you arch, pressing your chest further into her touch. 

Your nipples aren’t normally this sensitive, but something about the way Irene rolls and tugs at them makes the two buds feel as if they’re direct links to your most sensitive spot. Her touch is magical, and all you want is more.

As if the older woman can read your mind, the hand not busy exploring your chest slides further down, slipping under your black leggings and making you gasp, bringing a hand up to muffle your own sounds as long fingers begin to rub at your pussy over your panties. 

There’s far too much fabric between the two of you, and every thread feels like a cage. You need it off, need the last bits of separation between your heat and her touch gone, now. 

“Off,” Irene commands and, needing the barrier gone just as badly as you do, she doesn’t wait for you to obey before she’s hooking her own fingers in the waistband of your leggings, yanking them down over your legs. Your panties are removed in the same motion, both pieces of fabric coming to rest at your ankles. You try to kick them fully off, but only manage to completely free one leg before the older woman is pushing her way between your thighs, eagerly beginning to explore your bare pussy.

Her experience is clear from the first touch of her slender fingers against your naked heat, and you can’t help but press closer, spreading your legs further to give her better access. The older woman draws in a sharp breath as she circles your clit gently with one finger, exploring, watching for your reactions, the others gathering the rapidly accumulating wetness at your entrance. Irene's touch is electric, and the older woman finds herself becoming rapidly obsessed with the way your clit seems to plead for her touch.

With two of her fingers, Irene traces the outline of your pussy, hyper aware of just how wet you are, how your hole is begging silently for her fingers inside as she continues to rub your clit.

You let your eyes fall shut, eagerly anticipating just how good it will feel when the fingers you can sense lingering just shy of your entrance finally slide home, burying themselves inside your welcoming cunt. You’re practically pulsing with it, with how badly you need her inside, need to know just how she’ll fill you, what previously unknown spots inside the tips of her long fingers will be able to brush.

“Where do you want my fingers, bebita?” 

You whine, shifting your hips in an attempt to get even closer to her, to get her to slide her fingers into your throbbing heat. The digits, wet from your own slick, only withdraw further away from your needy hole, and you nearly sob with how badly you need the older woman, need her touch. 

Obvious as it may be, this nonverbal expression of how desperate you are for her to take you isn’t enough to satisfy the older woman, and she rubs your inner thigh soothingly. 

“Use your words, baby,” she coaxes. “Tell me where you need my fingers.”

The idea of using your words seems borderline impossible at the moment, your brain simply too overwhelmed with the reality of just how close her fingers are to slipping inside, but you can tell that you won’t get what you need until you do.

“My pussy,” you manage to whine, trying to stay as quiet as possible while pulsing with the need for her. “Please, Irene, I need your fingers in my cunt.”

Your words, base and simple as they are, are enough to get you what you need, and when Irene finally slides her fingers home, you can’t conceal the moan that tears its way free from your throat. You’re wet enough that the stretch of going from zero to two fingers inside your cunt brings nothing but pleasure, and you have to bite down on your lip to stop yourself from moaning aloud when you feel the ridges of her fingers settle against your walls, the older woman pausing for a moment to let you adjust to the feeling of her digits inside.

Irene has to swallow a wrecked noise of her own as she finally slides her fingers inside your soaking pussy, the sensation of your silky walls against her skin sending her brain into overdrive. The sound of your voice, desperation tinging your whispers as you plead for her to move, to fuck you, is absolute music to her ears, and she doesn’t hesitate to comply with the enticing request. 

Her pace is slow at first as she starts to move, the older woman eagerly exploring every curve and contour of your cunt, leaking around her fingers. It’s so warm and inviting, and the older woman has no idea how she’s lasted this long without knowing what feel like inside.

Once she’s sure you’ve fully adjusted to the stretch of her digits inside of you, Irene speeds up her thrusts, curling her fingers in search of the most sensitive spots hidden inside your pretty cunt. 

It’s clear when she finds what she’s looking for, because your cunt clenches down around her fingers and you squeeze your pretty eyes shut as pleasure rocks your body. 

“Oh,” she says, voice a whisper that tickles your ear and makes you shudder happily. “Is that where you need me?”

You nod desperately, the entirety of your reality reduced to the sensation of her fingers against the sensitive tissue inside you, stroking it insistently as her thumb comes to brush against your swollen clit. As she fucks you with her fingers, the older woman tests out different motions on your bud with her thumb, searching for the pattern and pace to take what’s left of your breath away. 

You can’t help but let out a cry as she presses a little harder, circling your needy clit at just the right angle. Irene quickly presses her lips to yours again, reminding you that you’re not alone in the apartment.

“Shh,” the older woman says, swallowing your noises with her own tongue, collecting each one. “You’ve still gotta be quiet for me, bebita.”

You nod in understanding, kissing her back desperately, bringing a hand up to tangle in her hair. You can be quiet, no matter how good it feels, you can be quiet, just so long as she doesn’t stop what she’s doing between your legs. Irene chuckles against your lips, redoubling her efforts between your legs. Her talented fingers thrust in and out of your pussy, each time hitting the spot that makes you see stars.

“That’s it, baby,” she whispers, lips right beside your ear. “That’s it, take it for me. Take it, just like that.”

You toss your head back, more than willing to comply. Every cell of your body feels like it’s on fire, and you want nothing more than for the burning to consume you completely. 

Your orgasm arrives without warning, Irene’s thumb on your swollen clit combined with her talented fingers inside your cunt sending you crashing over the edge with a fury you haven’t felt in a long time. You have to bite down on your lip to keep in your sounds as your it overwhelms you, nails digging into Irene’s bare shoulders. You can feel the older woman’s smile as she kisses your neck, fingers still moving gently inside you, working you through your climax, helping you ride it for as long as you can.

You shudder, aftershocks still shaking your body as you begin to come down from your peak. She slides her fingers out and you bite down on your kiss-swollen lip to keep yourself from whining at the loss. It takes another minute before you're able to gather yourself, fully opening your eyes and taking in the sight of the gorgeous older woman above you.

Irene presses another kiss to your lips, this one gentle, and you can feel the smile on her face as you give a final shudder, sitting up and leaning into her.

"How was that, bebita?"

"Fucking perfect," you reply, unable to conceal a grin of your own as you note how flushed her face still is. Knowing that touching you has her seemingly almost as worked up as you are sends a thrill through your body and you reach for the button of her jeans, aiming to return the favor, only for the same pair of hands that had just brought you to such an incredible orgasm to push yours down, Irene’s lips brushing against your forehead.

“Don’t you worry about me, baby,” she says, and you feel your heart sink with sudden disappointment.

“Are you sure?”

Irene wraps an arm around you, pressing a kiss to the side of your head, clearly oblivious to the way your shoulders sink. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I promise. Don’t worry about me.”

You blush, wanting to protest that getting to touch her would be just about the furthest thing away from a worry- dream or fantasy come to life would be a more accurate description- but a sudden wave of shyness overcomes you, the whiplash of going from the high of your orgasm to the valley of being denied an opportunity to make Irene feel as good as she’s just made you feel making your throat close up.

“O-Oh,” you say quietly. “Okay. I just…”

You trail off, not sure what to say to that. It feels like, without meaning to or realizing what she’s done, the Barcelona defender has just tossed a bucket of ice water over you.

“I… I guess I should head home then,” you say quietly, trying not to let her hear the hurt in your voice, reaching down and pulling your leggings back up over your calves and thighs until they rest around your middle. Your panties aren’t quite soaked, for the pure fact that they had been around your ankles soon after her lips first met yours, but they’re still wet enough that putting them back on isn’t exactly comfortable. 

And more than that, you don’t want to leave. Your body is still purring with the aftermath of your orgasm, the last thing you want to do right now is leave her apartment and walk the few blocks home to your own. The route between your apartment and Irene’s is one you know well, lit with plenty of streetlamps and well-frequented on a Saturday night, so any anxiety you might feel can be connected purely to leaving her after what’s just happened, without being certain where you stand. 

Irene opens her mouth and you pause with your hand on the knob, waiting, hoping that she’ll say something, offer her bed to share for the night. 

“Let me know when you get home safe,” she says quietly, and you can’t help the way your chest clenches with a strange sort of pain. You hadn’t really expected her to offer for you to stay, not with the amount of eyes that could be watching someone like her at any given moment, but you still can’t help but wish she had.

You nod in response to her question, clutching your bag close to your side as you shut the door behind yourself, beginning the short walk home.

...

“Fuck.”

The second the door shuts behind you, the defender wishes she could throw it open again and call you back in.

She had wanted to, especially after watching you come apart under her touch, seeing how pretty you looked as your orgasm overwhelmed you. The words had been on the tip of her tongue, but you had beaten her to it, reaching for the door handle and exiling yourself before she could even offer, and she hadn’t offered any protests. 

Peeking in the door, ensuring that Mateo is still safe and sound in his bed, the Barcelona player tiptoes quietly down the hall, two doors down, and pushes her own door open and shut behind her.

As she pulls off her top, letting it fall to the floor, quickly followed by her pants and bra, Irene curses herself, pulling back the covers and slipping into the too-big bed on her own. It feels cold compared to the contrast of your warm body against her own, and her chest pangs with the regret of not asking you to stay the night. 

Back in your own apartment, you slide beneath your own covers, mind racing at a million miles an hour.

No matter how your chest might ache at the fact that you’re here, alone in your own bed, the memory of the older woman’s lips on yours, of her talented fingers bringing you to orgasm right there on the sofa, of muffling your moans in her shoulder, still sends a familiar jolt of electricity between your thighs. With a soft whine, you reach for your the bedside drawer where you keep your vibrator, turning it up before pressing it against your still-swollen clit.

Blocks away, Irene is doing the same, quietly gasping out a much-needed orgasm with your name on her lips, the memory of your mouth on hers and your silken flesh beneath her fingertips sending her over the edge.

As the older woman drifts off into an uneasy slumber, the space beside her conspicuously empty, she knows that, now she's had you once, she won't ever be able to get enough.

[asneakyfox]

so let's talk about david jenkins saying the idea was that the crew would dump ed overboard in the mutiny before the writers changed their minds and had him kept in the hold.

he says they changed this for pacing reasons, so that the reunion could happen in 2x03 instead of being delayed longer, and i cannot argue with that, waiting any longer sounds excruciating. so i'm not complaining about this as, like, villainous interference from the WBD suits or anything, although it might be a decision forced by cutting the number of episodes. probably still the right call under the circumstances. BUT i'm interested in it because this explains a couple things that are weird about the plot structure of the whole season as it stands.

so first of all the crew throwing the body overboard just immediately makes a lot more sense because it doesn't actually require them to have failed to notice he wasn't dead. it would be pretty tough to carry the body into the hold and lay him out and cover his face with a lil washcloth and everything and not notice at any point during this that he's still breathing or that he has a pulse. and if they did notice you'd think they'd either finish the job quickly or try to treat him if they'd had a change of heart, not leave him to die slow. however the idea that they would beat him till he stopped moving then immediately chuck the body overboard, that totally makes sense, you wouldn't stop to check if he was already dead or not because one way or another he will be pretty shortly after you dump him in the ocean.

second the line from stede to izzy about "you were the one who kept his body onboard" always bugged me because it feels like it's meant to establish something about izzy but it's really unclear WHAT it tells us about him, in a way that doesn't seem like intentional ambiguity: i've seen people interpret it as a sign of his devotion and i've seen others assume it was a practical decision that the crew should keep ed's body around to claim the bounty on blackbeard. (and i've seen both interpretations from people both in and out of the canyon, so it's not even a normal izcourse divide.) i actually wondered at one point if the purpose was to foreshadow where izzy's arc is going to end by establishing that he thinks it's more respectful to bury a pirate on land than at sea, although if that was the idea it sure didn't work on the people who'd care most.

however this new info from djenks explains it pretty neatly, which is that the reason for the line isn't to establish character stuff about izzy at all it's just there to awkwardly patch a plothole. it's that someone in the writers' room was like "but it doesn't make any sense, why WOULDN'T they dump his body overboard once they'd killed him" and somebody else was like "idk uh maybe we can put in a line about how izzy stopped them or something."

now more interestingly! this also would change something bigger about 2x04. because i'm guessing the idea here would be that ed would have actually for real washed up on an island that looks just like the one in the gravy basket and just never actually gotten up off the beach, and stede would find him there, mermaid scene, and ed would wake up mad and storm off into the woods with where he meets mary read with stede already trying to follow him and the rest of the episode proceeds as normal from there. (and probably buttons would be just, like, hanging around following stede, or maybe he was already acting as a psychopomp and led stede to ed's body, idk, lots of possible ways to play that.)

this means you completely lose the beat of the crew voting ed off the ship. you wouldn't lose the idea of the crew being pissed at him; you could still have the kitty collar onesie probation stuff after he got back. but this is a BIG change.

first of all it solves a big obvious problem LOTS of people pointed out immediately when the episode aired which is that it makes no sense that stede would just stay on the ship after letting ed be exiled. reuniting with ed has been his driving goal for months and it's not even like ed has definitively told him to fuck off, he's just stomping off angry and incoherent and not even clearly in his right mind. but they couldn't let stede actually follow ed on his own initiative immediately, because it would undermine the later fisherman breakup if stede has already established that he's willing to leave his pirate career behind if that's what it takes to be with ed. so you end up with this awkward beat where he's just kind of passively standing there until buttons tells him what to do.

i think there's something even more important it does though! one criticism a LOT of people had about s2 was feeling like the crew all hated ed now and there was no clear sign they'd forgiven him by the end, and also some people had the impression that stede had just overriden the crew's decision (even though he does say he's going to ask their permission; it DOES feel weird we don't see that). now i've said before that i think there was probably going to be a reconciliation between ed & lucius, and by extension the crew as a whole, in the lupete wedding verision of 2x06, and i still think that. but regardless of whether i'm right or wrong about that. even without a reconciliation, this would seem like WAY less of a problem if the crew hadn't voted ed of the ship.

as it is, we have THREE scenes devoted to the idea that the crew as a whole (not just lucius & izzy, who both have more complicated individual relationships with ed) are uncomfortable with ed's presence on the ship - there's the initial one where stede's holding the meat on his face where they're all yelling at him, and then there's the actual walk of shame where they've just voted him off, and THEN there's the youtube apology scene where they're heckling him and stuff. and having three separate scenes like that makes it feel like the narrative is really hammering in this idea of a big dramatic rupture in the whole crew's relationship with ed. but only the last of those scenes was originally supposed to be there! the first two were just thrown into the plot to justify why ed ends up wandering around an island to run into anne & mary! if you only had the youtube apology scene, it would be much more clear that most of the crew weren't really all that mad - as it is, roach and jim explicitly saying they aren't mad feels like it's overshadowed by the weight of the earlier scenes.

(also a minor issue, but i've mentioned before that surprisingly often people think the vote was unanimous. this doesn't actually make sense in terms of the episode, because we know it was deadlocked and izzy cast the tiebreaker. but it is sort of weird, if the idea is that the crew is split on this, that we never get any sign of who voted which way; there's nobody but stede who is clearly presented as specifically not wanting ed to be exiled. which DOES end up making it feel like it's the crew as a unanimous block that wants him off the ship. but that makes sense if the whole concept of the crew wanting him exiled was sort of hastily written to patch a plot hole instead of being a fully developed idea.)

anyway. like i said i can't really complain about this as a pacing decision. but it is really interesting to me how many knock-on problems with the whole arc of the season were created by the change, and how much cleaner the original idea sounds like it would have been.

[vervainandspritz]

could you do a smut where it takes place after season 4, episode one when Tommy murders that butcher, so right after that he’s extremely pissed off and frustrated so he goes to the bedroom where reader is sleeping in the dark and he wants to let out his stress so he fucks reader roughly while still covered in all that blood it turns reader on a lot and Tommy’s very degrading with his words:)?

WHAT YOU'RE MADE FOR

Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: death, angst, violence, angry sex, degradation, smut

A/N: Y'all better start sending requests istg

~~

It felt almost deranged, as Thomas stared in the almost dead man's eyes. Life leaving his irises, lungs choking on blood while trying to take a breath. One so desperately needed. His mouth wide open, pathetically attempting to inhale some oxygen which was already impossible. Last blinks, last moves before he fell to the floor, dirtying everything around and... Leaving the meat raw on the table.

Thomas looked around, only now noticing the state he was in. Covered in blood, almost head to toe. His expensive vest and suit pants absolutely drenched, not to mention the shirt. Letting out a sharp breath, he dropped the sharp tool to the floor, making his way out of the kitchen.

He had so much to do before Christmas. Since the cook died, he needed a new one. Tommy had to call around, find someone last minute and pay extra for cleaning and keeping silent about whereabouts in the Arrow house. So much to do, yet he could barely think with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, making his heart thump and his hands shake.

Normally he would take opium to make it better, but Thomas was well too aware of his wife's reaction to the drug. She hated when he was under influence.

Huffing angrily under his nose he thought of an alternative, and frustration grew as he thought about how difficult Y/N has to make it by arguing. Always arguing. Forcing him to eat better, to take care of himself. So damn loud and opinionated. Throwing back a glass of whiskey, his eyes landed on the staircase and the idea suddenly appeared in his head.

Without missing a beat he made his way up the stairs, leaving bloody marks on the handrail and expensive wood. Quickly walking through the corridor he barged through the door, his precious wife laying on the bed, beautiful as ever. Her white gown hunched up slightly higher than usual, revealing her creamy thighs and reminding him of the lack of underwear.

Standing there, simply staring Thomas felt his pants becoming tighter, all blood going south, exactly where he needed it. Quickly unbuckling his belt and pants he walked over, leaning forward he cooed quietly seeing her peaceful face.

His hand traced her cheek lightly, leaving a bloody mark that made his teeth clench. Deep, crimson red colour in such a stark contrast with the innocent face and white gown of hers. Without waking her up, he quickly pulled her to the edge of the bed by her legs, startling her awake.

"T–Tommy?" She mumbled, eyes barely open as he flipped her on her stomach with a growl. Adrenaline buzzed in his ears as he pawed on her skin, leaving mark after mark from the blood he had on. After a moment she lifted her head, looking back and seeing him completely red, which caused her to squeak in fear. "Thomas, wh–" but he cut her off, pulling his cock out and shoving her legs apart, spitting on her pussy to use as a lube.

"Shut up!" He hissed, climbing onto the bed and straddling her thighs. "I kept you safe. I've fulfilled my duty, and kept you safe!" He hissed into her ear, grabbing a handful of hair, nudging her entrance with the tip of his cock.

A loud moan caused by the sudden stretch and pain filled the air as he slammed himself to the hilt, not able to wait any longer. His hand immediately covered her mouth, two fingers shoved into her mouth to keep her quiet. "The least you can do is fucking take it" He growled into her ear, thrusting impatiently into her tight heat, feeling the wetness pooling from her entrance at his rough manhandling. "That's what you're fucking made for!" She moaned loudly, feeling the bitter metallic taste on his fingers, filling her mouth and making it hard to breathe which made her keep squirming.

Thomas laid himself over her, fucking her from the back, putting his complete weight on top of her.

"You feel it? The fucking taste?" He growled, pulling her hair with another hand. "It's a taste of your safety." His voice was different, clearly because of the chaotic situation he's been through just a couple minutes earlier. Y/N had no idea what was turning her on so much, whether it was the danger to this whole situation, or maybe him fucking her so roughly. "Answer me!" He roared, plunging even deeper than before, his tip kissing her cervix really hard, causing her to nod frantically. "Some cock and you're already too fucking dumb to speak, eh? Good thing your cunt 's always wet then" He added, cruelly almost, knowing how much she loved being degraded. "Nothing more needed to be my precious little fuckhole" He purred, picking up his pace, fucking her faster and harder. Whimper after whimper leaving her lips before he pulled his fingers out of her mouth and wrapped them around her throat.

"Shhhh" He cooed, "You don't want to wake up the kids, do you?" He emphasized the last two words with painful deep thrusts, making her feel like he was already in her belly.

"Tommy" She managed to stutter out, holding onto his hand which was squeezing her pretty hard, cutting off the blood flow and causing her eyesight to go blurry.

"I feel you squeezing my fucking cock. You like that, eh? Being fucked, covered in blood and treated like a cheap whore." He groaned by her ear, the free hand reaching underneath to pinch her clit and rub brutal circles, causing her to cry out weakly. "Nasty fucking cunt" He purred as she came around him so hard, before completely going limp on top of her. Pressing her into the mattress as his thrusts grew frantic, deeper and slower while her cunt milked him for all he had.

Only then did he let go of her throat, slowly threading his fingers through her hair, as they both tried to catch their breaths.

Tommy lifted his head up, seeing her so beautifully fucked out and smiled. Kissing the side of her face, he murmured.

"We need a cleaning service in the kitchen... and a new cook."

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Beach Episode (Part 19)

Previous | Masterpost | Next

Danny and Jason talked out their issues and dealt with it. Jason didn’t think he’d fuck up again, he’d felt so fucking bad, but Danny didn’t trust that. Which was fair, even if it hurt, he was going to have to prove that he meant it and could hold to it even when he was angry. He needed to get into therapy too, he’d been putting it off because he was scared, and protective of his identity, so much of the shit he’d seen and done was so hard to explain in a civilian situation.

But now that he was on slightly better terms with the JL he could prevail himself of one of their therapists. That ended up being the favour that Danny demanded from them was providing Jason with a therapist, one that wouldn’t be too judgmental of his… ‘methods’. They asked for Wonder Woman’s advice on that, which she was very happy to provide, relieved that Jason was facing up to his bad behaviour and taking steps to make it right. She’d been worried she was going to have to physically knock some sense into him.

The other favour that Danny asked for, not of the JL but from Jason, was not to complain about the family vacation that was being planned between Dick, Tim, Danny, and Alfred. Jason still didn’t love the idea but Danny gave him puppy dog eyes and insisted that it was needed to make him forgive Jason for his slip up. Necessary to make things right with his family and moving on, so he accepted it.

It took a lot of arranging and planning to get the family on vacation. They had to find a time everyone was available, find people they trusted to cover their patrols or cities, and of course agree on a destination. That was harder than you would expect, especially when Bruce got involved and tried to insist it should be in the deep woods somewhere and be a training exercise more than anything.

In the end he was shouted down and it was decided that they were going to go to a beach somewhere warm and sunny. Far enough away from any of their usual haunts that they wouldn’t feel the urge to work as long as there weren’t any natural disasters and Tim was kept off his ipad. Since it was a family vacation Danny invited Ellie and Dan too, though he wasn’t sure that Dan would come. Half of him hoped he wouldn’t because having Dan there was bound to be complicated, but they had decided to be family so Danny was going to put his money where his mouth was. 

Dan had been doing well anyway, he hadn’t missed any check ins and hadn’t caused any chaos in space. So he at least deserved an invite, whether he wanted to come or not. They had a check in two weeks before the trip so Danny brought it up with him then.

“A family vacation huh?” Dan asked, they were ‘sitting’ on a broken satellite which was still orbiting earth through inertia.

“Ya, God knows the Wayne's need it. And honestly so do I. Ellie will be coming too, and you're welcome too if you want to,” Danny said with a little shrug.

“And draw more attention from the GIW onto both of you?” Dan asked skeptically.

“Ya, but they already know Phantom is back and working with the Justice League now. I really don't think they're brave enough to touch us now. And if they try to, with all three of us together with the bats? Frankly I'd like to see them try. Maybe it would give the Justice League the push they need to really give them the smack down.” 

Dan snorted a little at Danny, he still didn't expect that ferocity from his younger self. “Ya I guess so,” he agreed with a crooked little smile.

“But if that was an excuse and you just don't want to come, that's fine. I don't want to push you, I just don't want you to feel left out since we decided we're family now,” Danny explained.

“Nah, I want to come. I want to meet my future brother in law,” Dan said with an absolutely feral smile.

“Oh dear,” Danny said faintly. “That doesn't sound good. Is it too late to uninvite you?” 

“Oh absolutely,” Dan cackled wickedly. “If you're going to be my little brother I should get to vet your boyfriend,” he teased, reaching over to ruffle Danny's hair and laughing when Danny smacked his hand away.

“Fine, you'll be a better judge than some people since I'm assuming we have the same opinions about violence?” He asked, glancing at Dan.

“I think I'm probably even more down for it then you are, but ya. Why?”

“Batman tried to stage an intervention about Jason hitting me. Trying to explain to them that I was totally fine with it and kinda liked it suuucked,” Danny groaned, flopping back dramatically as Dan laughed at him.

“Poor you,” Dan said, entirely unsympathetic. Danny flipped him off. “I'll probably give him shit about it.”

“Just don't scare him off. I really like this guy. If you pull anything I swear I'll spend the rest of our eternity making sure you never get a date!” 

“Sheesh, that's a serious threat kid! As long as he's not a wimp I won't scare him off. If I do scare him off he wasn’t a good fit for you in the first place,” Dan pointed out reasonably.

“Fine, I'll be keeping an eye on you though,” Danny warned.

“Of course you will, I'd expect nothing less after everything I've done,” Dan agreed dryly. “I'm surprised you're letting me be around your new found family at all.”

“Ya, well, you're one of my new found family as well.”

“Shit.”

“If you didn't want to be part of my found family you should have killed me when you had the chance!” 

“IS THAT A FUCKING MEME?!”

------------

All the Wayne’s could have asked their respective flying friends to give them a lift to the resort, but it had been decided no kryptonians were invited. They were trying to keep things to their family, though Dick was bringing Kori, that was fine they had been together off and on for years and were well settled together this time. She might as well be an in-law already. So she would be flying Dick in from Bludhaven, and everyone else was going to fly out from Gotham in the Waynes’ private jet. Well, the Waynes and Babs and Steph, who had taken a little more convincing to come, getting past their insistence they weren’t actually family being the trick. Thankfully the fact that the phantom siblings were coming too helped them see it wasn’t only a trip for the Waynes, and with different heroes and allies found to cover protecting Gotham they were bundled onto the private jet as well. 

 Which Danny and Ellie teased Bruce and Tim relentlessly about owning, Jason snickering in the background and egging on the two ghostly siblings in their teasing. They deserved it, no matter how much Bruce tried to defend that it was expected of him to have a private jet and he needed it for business! 

Teasing didn’t stop them from enjoying it though, Ellie chasing Tim around the isles, with Alfred chiding but not actually trying to stop them from having their fun and being kids for once.  Danny spent half the time exploring and stealing any snacks he found, and half the time murmuring in Jason’s ear about how they should steal the jet to join the mile high club. It was sweet torture and Jason did not want it to stop even as he shifted awkwardly and tried desperately to think unsexy thoughts so he wouldn’t get a boner surrounded by his family! Thank fuck Dick wasn’t here, the knowing smirks he’d be shooting the two of them would be too much.

It was a 16 hour flight, and once Ellie and Tim tired themselves out and fell asleep Bruce pulled out a sleep mask and settled in. Danny gave them this, it was much more comfortable to sleep in, and Jason and Danny slept soundly, at least until Ellie got bored and pounced on Danny. They phased out through the wall of the plane to go for a fly, racing the jet and flying loops around it until Ellie got tired and Danny had to help her back into the jet when she started to fall behind. 

Everyone else had started to wake up while they were gone, so by the time they got back it was just in time to have a family breakfast, and talk about what they were going to do once they landed. They had booked the entire top floor of the resort for privacy, which Danny thought was kind of overkill, but these were The Bats, they were incredibly security minded people, so he didn’t argue about it. Danny was mostly excited about swimming, this was a beach vacation after all!

Finally they landed, and grabbed as much of their stuff as they could from the plane before the bellhops could get them, as if all the staff hadn’t already been vetted by Babs. They were only staying for a week so they didn’t have so much they couldn’t reasonably carry it, and Danny suspected at least Tim had some stuff in his bags he would not want anyone else to see. He was going to keep an eye on the younger man to make sure that he hadn’t smuggled any work with him on vacation. 

They piled out of the plane, chattering excitedly about the vacation, Dick coming onto the plane to help Babs on the slightly too steep ramp from the plane. Kori was waiting for them on the tarmac with a warm smile, taking a couple of the heavier bag.

“We already picked out her room on the left side. I suspect Jason and Danny will want to be on the right, and the… single, and younger members of the family should be in the middle so we all have some place,” Kori suggested. 

“Kori!” Dick chided, though he clearly wasn’t actually shocked. Actually those who’d known the two of them for a while knew that was far more delicately put then she might have said it a couple years ago.

“What?” She said, blinking her bright green eyes innocently at Dick. “This is a romantic destination, and we love each other, we are only doing what is surely expected of a loving romantic union. I doubt your father wants to hear-”

“YES thank you Kori you’re right. We’ll make sure you and Dick, and Jason and Danny have your privacy,” Bruce promised.

Before the conversation could continue Ellie shrieked and dropped her bags, taking off running away from the group. It startled everyone, but hackles smoothed immediately when they spotted Dan, strolling across the lot to meet her at a more casual pace. He rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his face as he bent down to scoop Ellie up before she could headbutt him in the gut at full sprint. He was wearing regular clothes, a black shirt and pants with white stripes down the side, and his fiery hair had been gathered into a low ponytail. He still looked obviously inhuman with his grey-green skin and red eyes, but there were all sorts of meta-humans around and he didn’t look like a supervillain at least. 

Ellie scrambled from in his arms to onto his shoulders as he grumbled at her without any real heat behind it. He shrugged his shoulders, making her squeak and hold on tight as he strolled over to the rest of the group.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Danny said, approaching Dan and patting his arm.

“Hey I told you I would,” Dan said ruffling Danny’s hair and ignoring the way the humans around them shifted nervously. Danny was either ignoring it as well or hadn’t noticed the nerves.

“I don’t believe we’ve met!” Kori said cheerfully, holding out her hand to shake. 

“Hey, I’m Dan. I’m these two’s big brother, by technicality,” Dan joked, gesturing to Danny and Ellie with his free hand, shaking her hand and squeezing too hard. He looked impressed when her smile only brightened and she squeezed back just as hard. “And who might you be?”

“I’m Kori, I’m Dick’s partner,” She said brightly. “You seem strong, we should spar some time soon.”

“I’d like that,” Dan agreed with a shark's grin. Grunting and dropping the smile when Danny elbowed him in the side. 

“Behave,” Danny grumbled at him, getting a growl and an eye roll in return, before his gaze landed on Jason. 

“And you must be Danny’s boyfriend huh?” He asked, letting go of Kori’s hand and offering it to Jason.

“Ya, I am. It’s nice to meet you. He warned me about you,” Jason said, standing up straight and shaking Dan’s hand firmly, trying not to wince when he squeezed it far too tightly. 

“I’m sure he did. I warned me about messing with you too,” Dan cackled, letting go of Jason’s hand before it could crack and shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“Right, well now that everyone’s met each other let’s head inside hm?” Bruce interrupted trying to shoo them all towards the door. They were starting to attract attention standing out in the open like this. “We should pick out our rooms and get comfortable.”

“Ellie, how do you feel about sharing a room with Dan?” Danny asked, glancing up at his young clone, still perched on Dan’s broad shoulders. 

“I don’t need a babysitter!” Both Dan, and Ellie said at the same time before looking at each other, startled as Danny laughed.

“You’d both be absolutely terrible babysitters,” He said fondly. He expected them to get into a good deal of chaos together, but he did think that Ellie would keep Dan from killing anyone, or get Danny if things got completely out of control. 

“Fine, we’ll share,” Dan sighed, and Ellie nodded. 

“Thanks guys,” Danny said, smiling at his siblings before grabbing Jason’s hand and tugging him towards the door. “Come on, let’s go find the most extravagant room we can!”

--------------

There was a bit of a scramble for rooms, not that there weren’t plenty of rooms, but Step, Dick, and Tim were petty and silly and argued over the ‘best’ rooms. And of course once they started Ellie had to get in on the action. Danny and Jason left the younger ones (and Dick) to their squabbling and went to pick out their own room as far away from the rest as they could manage. They found a lovely one with an airy, beachy theme and a window seat looking out onto the ocean.

“It’s beautiful here,” Danny said, sitting down on the padded bench in front of the window and making grabby hands at Jason.

“Is it,” Jason chuckled, going to sit with Danny, who practically dived into Jason’s arms. “I wouldn’t want to live in a place like this, but it is very nice to visit.”

“Of course you wouldn’t, you're a Gothemite and a bat! If it’s not a little close, dark, or gloomy you stand out like a sore thumb,” Danny teased, nuzzling against the underside of Jason’s jaw, who laughed along. “I like our home and our nest though, it’s cozy,” Danny added before Jason could get insecure about it.

“Me too, do you want to unpack first or go exploring?” Jason asked softly.

“As much as I want to go exploring, I think we had better unpack before anyone tries to kick us out of our room by throwing out our bags,” Danny said with a put upon sigh, going nearly boneless against Jason’s chest. 

“You know you’re going to have to get up for us to unpack, right?”

“Noooo!”

-----------

The resort really was beautiful, and since they’d rented an entire floor it wasn’t as crowded as they were sure it usually was. Danny had never been to a place like this and he intended to make the most of it, all of it! The beach, the spa, and the incredibly fucking fancy restaurant and bar where he and Jason could actually drink since the Maldieves actually had a reasonable drinking age! 

Over the course of the week they got couples messages, got so drunk they had to lean on each other to get back to their room, and ordered far too much room service. But undoubtedly the beach was absolutely the main attraction. They spent a lot of time there, to the point Danny got a tan, and Jason was very glad he didn’t burn like Bruce did, who spent most of the second day laying on his stomach in bed with Alfred scolding him about not refreshing his sunscreen after swimming. On the second day Danny remembered he didn’t strictly have to breathe! And Jason spent the rest of the day sitting on the beach while Danny (and Ellie or Dan in turns) disappeared into the water for hours and came back to tell him about everything they saw.

On the third day Jason rented some scuba equipment so he could go down with his boyfriend and see all the wonders he’d been so excited about. At least the ones in shallower waters, he couldn’t follow Danny deeper where the pressure got too much, when Danny realized that he stuck to the shallower areas. By the time they got back to shore Jason was exhausted and very ready for supper, which was a family affair every night of the trip. It was really nice, since Alfred didn’t have to cook he could actually join them and he kept it from being too rowdy. 

They had to push tables together to accommodate the whole family, but the Waynes had more than enough money to get away with it and establish an extra long table for themselves for the entire week of their stay. They tended to eat late, which worked too because there were fewer people for them to disturb with their chatter and chaos, and the eleven of them were usually more than enough for the kitchen to contend with since most of them were big eaters. The dinners were really nice, it didn’t have the baggage of being at the manor, and though they’d met up in smaller groups all of them (minus Kate who had opted out) had never been in the same place. 

It was the perfect opportunity for… something, something that Dick unfortunately beat Jason too on the third night, during dessert when he got up from the table, and got down on one knee in front of Kori. Silence fell over the entire restaurant as Jason bit back a groan and quickly readjusted his expectations to be happy for his brother. 

“Koriand'r, you and I have been together for a long time, and we’ve been through a lot of shit. But never have I not been happy you were there with me for it. You’ve made all of it easier by letting me be by your side, and I hope you’ll let me stick by you for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?” 

“Yes!” Kori yelped, holding out her hand and letting him put the ring on her finger before she grabbed his wrist and his collar and hauled him in for a passionate kiss as the family cheered and everyone around clapped politely. “You’ll have to come with me to pick out a ring for you as well My Love,” Kori told him warmly while Dick grinned like an idiot. 

“Congratulations!” Steph cheered, practically leaping over the table to tackle both of them as Bruce ordered a few bottles of the best champagne the resort could offer and everyone else lined up to congratulate them as well. Besides Dan, who was being ignored as he grumbled in the corner about how ostentatious and cliche the whole thing was. 

Hey, maybe if Danny secretly shared some of those thoughts Jason had dodged a bullet not being able to propose on this trip. He’d come up with a new plan, one Danny might even like better.

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 8.3 K Warnings: Angst (like pretty much every chapter now lol). Prompt: Another night with the pack. This IS a Wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it

Friday, January 7th, 1977 - Full Moon

The next few hours had gone by faster than you expected. James got a letter from Lily stating that she’d make it to his party on Sunday and he was absolutely thrilled about it. The rest of the Gryffindor gang has also been invited, of course. But James, as per usual, just wouldn’t shut up about it from the moment the owl knocked at the window.

You were all lounging on a small kiosk near the woods that the Potters had charmed to always be warm and that you and Sirius had lathered with pillows and blankets to make Remus’ transformation more comfortable. The sun was setting and the moon was about an hour away. Sirius was drawing on his old notepad, but he was playing around with the watercolours you had given him. You noticed he kept looking at Remus who was reading a book, and you assumed he was drawing him again. 

James snapped his fingers, bringing you back onto the game of exploding snap you had been playing with him. He took the cards and you looked at him with a frown. 

“Not my fault you’re ogling your boyfriend,” he said with a shrug. You quickly eyed Remus, who seemed to have no reaction to James’ words, he was engrossed in his book. It was one of the books you’d given him for Christmas: Frankenstein. 

He placed a card on the floor, and you placed another one, you snapped your fingers and took both of them. “Not my fault you can’t stop thinking about Lils,” you sassed back. He shook his head, diverted and fixed his eyes on the deck at the centre, taking one from the top and placing it on the table. Then the two of you started placing your cards so fast on the table that both of you missed the mark and all the cards exploded before any of you managed to snap their fingers. 

“Look what you’ve done,” He complained. 

“You started!” you retorted with a scoff. 

“Hey Pads, what does this mean?” Remus asked aloud, leaning closer to Sirius who lazily looked up from his sketchbook and to the book. 

“Jeune fils, apprends-moi toujours à être just?” Sirius asked in french as he read. 

“Jeune fils is young son, right?” Remus had his hand over the line and was biting his lip with a small frown etched on his features as he turned to Sirius. 

“Oui, bien sûr!” Sirius responded with a thumbs up and looked at the book again. “Apprends-moi toujours à être just is like ‘always teach me to be’, uhh– Étoile, what’s just in English?“

You turned to him, only now noticing how close they were to each other, “It’s, um… like fair?” 

“Yeah! That’s it. Merci, Étoile.” 

You were still looking at how close they were to each other when James snapped his fingers and took all the cards on the table. You threw him a dirty look for doing it while you were distracted, he just shrugged in return. 

You sighed and turned back to the boys, Sirius was translating something else to Remus from the book, alternating between English and French as seamlessly as he often did. And you saw his gaze linger on Remus as he explained, Remus focused almost solely on the book. You gulped, as you stared, and then James snapped his fingers right in front of your face. “He’s not going to steal your boyfriend, you know that?” 

“What?” you faltered as you turned to James.

“You’ve been looking at the two of them with such attention. I mean I get Sirius is pretty to you, but you have barely focused on the game.” 

“Right,” you staggered. “Right, sorry. Maybe it’s the potion you gave in the morning.” 

The potion he gave you in the morning had no such effects, he had taken it plenty of times, but just like earlier, James didn’t want to bring about what’d happened on Christmas so he just nodded and played along with you. He turned to his watch. 

“We’ve got like 20 minutes left,” he said. “How are you feeling, Moons?” 

“Still good,” he replied. Sirius was no longer translating anything, but he hadn’t leaned back and Remus didn’t seem to mind the closeness at all. They were both resting their backs on the little kiosk’s railing, surrounded by pillows. Their shoulders were comfortably crashing against each other.

You threw yourself backwards, allowing your head to fall onto one of the pillows as you looked up at the vaulted ceiling. It was really pretty, with some shining orbs of light that danced around like a baby’s mobile. You took a deep breath, trying to focus on the bright lights and leaving your disturbing thoughts as far as physically possible. It didn’t matter much though, they kept coming back, they always did. 

You wanted to walk over to Sirius and peer over his shoulder and see what he was drawing, you knew he wouldn’t mind, but you also didn’t want to overdo the PDA, not after the balcony scene you’d made, and Moony had witnessed. The small, almost imperceptible falter of his features, the heartache before the fake smile was so hard to forget, it kept playing over and over in your head. And then his words. Take all myself, he’d…

“What do you think, Étoile, do you like it?” Sirius asked as he passed his notebook over to you. He could easily tell you were troubled, but just like James, he assumed it had to do with Christmas. Nobody knew what you’d seen last night, and nobody would know. You couldn’t tell James without outing Remus and of-bIoody-course, you could not tell Sirius you’d seen Moony moaning his name. 

You took the notebook from his hands, his fingers lingered over yours as if he too was craving the contact. But he let it go and you checked. On one side there was a sketch of you and James playing exploding snap. You had a small frown and James was grinning like a fool, one of his hands was over the bunch of cards he had just won. It was slightly cartoonish, but the way he had added more sketches with different expressions on your face, made it adorable. 

On the other page though, there was a more detailed drawing. It was Remus reading, similar to the first drawing he’d shown you, but this time, he’d added colour. He’d carefully traced Remus’s scars and the golden brown of his eyes. As golden as they looked then, with the moon being so close. Sirius had also drawn his jumper and the details of the cover of the book. The background had been left colourless, but the pillows surrounding Remus made him look like a careless prince, looking at his book with nothing but the plot troubling his mind. 

Beautiful, Remus looked beyond beautiful. But that’s when you started to pay closer attention, Sirius’ sketches of James and Peter (you had seen them before) were more on the rougher side like he wanted to practise the lines on their faces and get them just right. Yours and Remus’, however? They were always more detailed, more intricate. There were softer strokes behind the ones he’d added in the end, like he wanted to have both of your features not only simulated but also photocopied from reality. 

There wasn’t a single drawing of Remus you’d seen that wasn’t like that. Where he didn’t look stunning, where it wasn’t a perfect mirror of the Remus only a few people seemed to be able to witness. Perhaps that only the few who knew why he had all those scars had seen. The same scars that you thought added to his beauty rather than took away from it. 

All of that, always present in the way Sirius drew him. “It’s stunning, Pups,” you said honestly. “Rem would love it.” 

“Me, why?” The boy asked as he looked up from his book.

“It’s you,” you said as you passed the notebook over to him, James tried to lean over to see the drawing but got only a glimpse before Remus took it from your hands. Once he’d taken it away you turned over and used your elbows to prompt yourself up and be able to see his reaction. 

He stared at the drawing, the light blush tinting his neck and ears was so obvious now that you knew about his crush, that you wondered how you hadn’t seen it before. How you hadn’t seen the nervous glance Sirius was throwing at him, as if he craved his approval. The way he looked at Remus’ lips, and how they pursed, even if it was just slightly. 

“You’ve gotten used to the watercolours,” Remus said. “It’s incredible, Pads.” 

The smile on Sirius’ lips when he said that, so big and unabashed. Like he couldn’t help but be thrilled by it. You loved seeing it, you loved seeing how happy they were both, how happy they would make each other, but that didn’t stop the slight pang in your heart. 

Were you in the middle? Was it possible that Sirius was as in love with Remus as Remus was with him? 

“You really captured the way his eyes look today. Just the right shade, more gold than brown with how close the moon is.” 

Remus, who was aware of the fact that his eyes changed often, but didn’t pay much attention to it since he was barely a witness of it, looked at you with interest. 

“Oh right, that happens to Moony,” James said almost as an afterthought as he took the notebook from his hands and placed it next to Remus’ face. “Vix is right, the colouring is on point, mate.” 

It’s not that James hadn’t seen Moony’s eyes change, he’d pissed him off enough to know how they would turn almost golden when he was furious, but unlike you and Sirius, he wasn’t always paying attention to his eyes.

But Sirius does, you thought. Sirius knows what the subtle changes in Moony’s eyes mean, he’s paid enough attention. Or perhaps too much of it.

“I was reading about colouring eyes in the book you got me for Christmas earlier. I thought I could practise with Moony’s since they’re always interesting.” 

You wondered if Sirius also considered your eyes interesting, and then felt silly for being jealous over it, you also thought Remus’ eyes were extremely interesting, not to mention soothing and warm. Eyes that said 'You're safe’, even when it was Moony’s eyes, the ones you were looking at. Perhaps it was all part of the wolf, giving him soothing eyes so he could catch the foolish, impressionable prey. You had almost been bitten because of them, you would know. 

“Won’t you try with my eyes,” James said with a pout. “My eyes are interesting too!” 

“Nah,” Sirius said with a small smirk, knowing it would get a rise out of James.

 He scoffed and leaned close to Remus, “Moony don’t you think my eyes are interesting too? At least as pretty as Vixen’s!” 

They were not as pretty as Vixen’s. Only Sirius’ eyes were. At least to Remus. “Well, I suppose…”

“They’re not,” Sirius said, just to piss James further.

“You’re such an ass!” James complained as he pushed Sirius lightly, causing him to dramatically fall on Remus’ lap. 

“I’ve been hurt for being honest, Pauvre de moi!”

“Is that poor me?” Remus asked, a lace of scepticism in his tone as he leaned his head over Sirius who looked at him smirked and then winked as an answer. 

You took pity on James’ little pout, “I believe Lily thinks you have the prettiest eyes,” you said casually. James turned to you with unparalleled excitement, completely contrasting with his previous stance.

“Really? She does?” 

“She said she likes the specks of brown mixed with the honey tones,” you added with a shrug. Both Sirius and Remus eyed you after that, as if you were not allowed to think of James’ eyes as pretty.

“Vixen, you’re becoming my favourite marauder,” James declared as he placed his hand over your shoulder. 

“I know,” you said with a sly smile. You were about to say something else when Remus grunted.

The three of you turned to him, his eyes were even more golden than before, and he was clenching his jaw so hard you could see the muscles flexing. You were quick to rise from your laying stance and into a sitting position, dragging yourself closer to Remus with a concerned gaze.

“He’s coming,” Remus said, voice strained. 

From the large arches of the kiosk, you could see the moon appearing through the clouds. It was already quite dark, and the air became chiller, even with the warming spells of the kiosk, it was as if the cold air slipped through the cracks of whatever disturbance the powerful lycanthropy course was causing.

Sirius had risen from Moony’s lap but was as close to him as you, James, or rather, Prongs, was already outside and looking at the three of you while he made sure –by smelling– that there was nobody around. Sirius and you had somehow travelled to either side of Remus, your scents overwhelming his senses and making his stomach churn, he wasn’t sure if that was him or the wolf. 

Remus shut his eyes and dug his head in between his legs, he handed you the book he was reading, “On the chest,” he said. “I don’t want Moony to break it!” 

Moony had, on previous occasions already broken things Remus liked, as if he found joy in making Remus suffer, and Remus was sure he had done it on purpose so he didn’t take risks anymore. If there was anything Moony would want to destroy, then he made sure to keep it as far away from his claws and jaws as possible. 

“Take my wand too,” he said. You were quick to dig through his coat pockets to try and find it and then decided to pull the whole thing entirely. Sirius was next to help him with his shirt and threw it your way. You caught it with ease and placed it on the chest, still searching for the wand while Remus pulled the rest of his clothes off. Sirius threw them your way once he managed to pry them off Remus’ legs. 

Remus really tried not to think of the fact that both you and Sirius had just undressed him completely, but he had been thinking of such lewd things in the past few hours that he couldn’t help but flush. “Cold?” Sirius asked when he noticed.

“Mhm,” Remus said as he tried to hide his head on his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Sirius said and leaned closer, embracing him and rubbing his hands all over Remus’ arms and back. Then he pulled to look at his best friend again. “Better?” 

That’s when you found the wand and shut the chest along with Remus’ clothes, book, the cards you’d been playing with James and Sirius’s sketchbook. You made sure to use a powerful locking spell, courtesy of Remus’ wand and then turned. You saw skin breaking, and his eyes locked on Sirius while your boyfriend held him in the most reassuring manner possible. 

Just like he had held you after that November Moon, his eyes looked on Remus’. The blush, which Remus had attributed to cold, was still there, and you knew it wasn’t because of the chilly atmosphere. But there was something else, the way Sirius looked at Remus? He had never looked at James like that. 

You were so lost in your thoughts, that you didn’t react to everything that was going on until Remus shrieked your name. You flinched, your eyes focusing back on the situation. Remus was pretty much leaning onto Sirius, hiding most of his body in the other boy as he looked at you with a horrified expression. He didn’t have to say it, you instantly knew what he meant with that. In a matter of seconds, you turned into Vixen.

“Si–Siri.” 

“Shut it Moony, I know when to turn,” the other boy responded casually. Remus groaned in response. You could see the skin of his back ripping and giving way to fur. You walked closer to him and Sirius, and leaned your head to his bare leg, rubbing it much like a cat would. 

Not you too, Remus thought as he saw how close you were to him now. He didn’t speak though, he was trying to hold back his sobs. He hated being weak in front of the two of you. He hated you having to see him so raw and vulnerable, but he also loved having you there. He loved the way Vixen wouldn’t leave his side and how Sirius held him as close as physically possible. 

How he was completely enraptured by the two of you, and how both refused to move no matter how much he screamed for you to do it. He hated being vulnerable, but he loved what that vulnerability brought along with it. If he hadn’t been a werewolf, perhaps he would have never gotten an excuse to be as close to you as he was now. And even if he considered it a curse, even if he wished he was normal most of the time, it was on days like that one that he didn’t wish for any of it. Instead, he embraced it. 

Seconds later, Remus was gone, his eyes had grown bigger, his scarred skin had turned into fur and his nails had grown and sharpened into claws. Sirius had turned almost at the same time, one second he hugged Remus and on the next he was Padfoot. Moony jumped on top of him playfully when he realised he was free. 

Padfoot complained with a bark, although he was just being his dramatic self. Moony knew him well enough to bark in return. You watched the two of them being playful with each other for a while. If Moony knew you were there, he didn’t care to let you know. Prongs clashed his hooves against the ground as if telling the two boys to let him join the fun, but neither of them seemed to listen as they barked and jumped all over each other. 

You watched the exchange with curiosity for a while. It was as if Remus and Sirius could be as close to each other as they wanted while they were animals. The more you thought about it, the more you realised how blind you’d been. Prongs clashed his hooves again, digging them deep enough to let the wet soil smell waft through the air as they dug past the snow and into it. You turned to look at him, skipped through one of the balusters and landed on the snow, your paws sinking deep enough for you to get stuck. 

You had to move around for a bit until you managed to roll out of the snowy trap you had ended up on, and by the time you managed Prongs was gently pushing you to the side. You barked an «I can do it by myself» that James obviously didn’t understand, but was enough to get the two other dogs to turn and look at you. 

You peeked through the balusters of the railing when you noticed they had stopped barking at each other. They were both looking at you, wolf and dog, eyes locked on your much smaller frame, you instantly knew what game they were playing, you waved your tail behind you, looking at the way their eyes chased your every movement.

A deerhound and a wolf, both hunters by nature, both known to hunt foxes, and both ready to chase you to the ends of the earth, quite literally. You tilted your head to the side just a little, clearly teasing them both, Padfoot barked something about not being too cocky. You rolled over your back and took off running. 

You sped through the thinnest and softest snow as fast as you could. Since you were less heavy, you could walk over it without sinking too much, but Prongs’ hooves, and Moony and Padfoot’s paws fell deep, which made them lag, even if it was just seconds as they tried to follow behind you. Prongs, being the tallest, and somehow most able to skip through the snow, was trailing behind you while Moony and Pads kept trying to get past the deep snow. 

You kept running, pleased that you had managed to outrun them long enough when you heard a wail, and then the cries of a wolf. You turned around concerned, Moony was wailing behind. Sirius barked at you, but you didn’t pay attention to what he said and walked straight to Moony. He wailed again, howling lowly like a scared dog and you ran faster. 

When you reached the area, you figured one of his paws had dug into the snow and started digging to try and find the root of the problem, too busy with that to pay attention to the way his wails had stopped or to see the way he looked at his small friend fox before he jumped out of the snow and trapped you between his paws.

 «Treacherous Wolf,» you barked.

 «Gullible little fox,» he retorted, then he leaned closer. «I won!»

 «You cheated!»

«I still won,» he barked, this time slower, as if he wanted you to understand him. 

If that’s how we’re going to play, you thought and leaned your head to the side, enough to sharply bite onto one of his paws. He wailed at that, and you took off running, the coppery taste of bIood remained on your tongue as you darted to the side, perhaps you had bitten too sharply. 

«You bit me?» Moony barked, he sounded impressed as he inspected his wound, giving it a lick and confirming you’d drawn bIood. It hurt, but not enough to have him stagger. 

«Well, since cheating is allowed,» you replied as you kept running. Prongs eyed Moony carefully, they had seen him when he was on edge, there was nothing of the gentle wolf from the last full moon, and absolutely everything from the angry one from November. But Moony didn’t look mad, if anything he looked entertained, amused. Prongs jumped towards him, leaning his head down in some sort of salute Moony had already learned to understand, but he skipped past him and went straight behind you. 

You had already been caught by Padfoot, though. He was rolling all around you, blocking your path to continue running, and leaning closer to push you around with his snout when Moony reached the two of you. 

«Stop!» he barked loudly. 

Neither you nor Sirius listened, you were too caught up in trying to escape his grasp, and he was too entertained with teasing his little fox girlfriend to bother with whatever Moony was trying to say.

«I said stop!» Moony barked again, and for a second time, was completely ignored. He didn’t like being ignored. And while Remus had enough forbearance to tolerate the two of you being all over each other, Moony did not. Moony was possessive, his Vixen and his Padfoot had no business being all over each other from his perspective. 

He tried one more time, but all he got in return was some soft, cooing-like barks from Sirius and something akin to a laugh from you. He’d had enough, he waited, and when he had the chance, he bit the fluffy end of Vixen’s tail and pulled you back a couple of steps. 

«Moony?» you barked confused, and then saw him step past you and between you and Padfoot.  

«Moony?» Pads asked as well. 

«Don’t play with her?» Moony said sternly.  

You instantly figured out what’d happened and cursed yourself for being such an idiot. Moony cocked his head to the side and you stepped further back and then took off running. Sirius barked, but you ignored it entirely and when Padfoot tried to step behind you, Moony got in the way. 

«Are you upset because she bit you?» Padfoot asked, trying to see past Moony’s larger frame, you were already near the edge of the forest. 

«No.»

«You’ve upset her.»

«She bit me.»

«So you don’t care?»

Moony growled at that. Of course, he fucking cared, there was something very deep inside of him clawing out and telling him to go after you, telling him he had to comfort you, telling him it was his duty to take care of the fox, but the other side the wild side of him, the jealous beast, it said that you shouldn’t have been playing with one another. That for some reason it had upset him, and Moony was only around for a little while, he did not like feeling down. 

«She was upset before you came, you know?»

Before I came? Moony wondered. They were together before I came? That was maddening. He hated the idea of you existing together outside of the little to no time he had with you. Remus’ feelings were buried deep down, and only Moony, a terribly jealous Moony remained.

«I don’t care!» he barked. 

Padfoot seemed upset by that, which only made him angrier. 

«She bit me, yet you defend her!»

«She was playing.»

«You defend her!»

You approached the two of them fast enough to step in between Moony’s legs and barked «Catch me if you can!»

«Vixen…» Padfoot warned he knew Moony was in a mood. 

«Don’t meddle,» you barked back and looked at Moony defiantly, you’d bitten him, he was mad at you, not at Padfoot, not at Sirius. You were the one who had taken his crush away, if anyone deserved the wolf’s wrath, then it was you. 

You taunted the wolf one more time and then took off running. Moony was behind you in a split second and when Padfoot tried to run too, he was stopped by a warning growl from Moony. He peeled his lips at the black dog, showing his sharp-as-knife claws and continued running behind you. 

Pads was ready to ignore the warning and follow the two of you but Prongs stepped right in front of him, and with all his regalness shook his head. Whatever it was, it was a Moony and Vixen issue, not a Padfoot and Moony issue, so he should let you solve them. Moony was often volatile, and he’d had similar quarrels with Pads in the past, he’d just never seen one because he was always immersed in them. 

Prongs didn’t quite understand what it was all about, but he assumed it was a canine thing and decided not to dwell on it too much. In the end, Moony never did anything to actually hurt Pads, and he was certain he wouldn’t dare to hurt Vix either. Especially not after seeing the two of you play on the previous moon. It had taken minutes for Moony to warm up to you, for Pads, Prongs and Wormy, it hadn’t been nearly as fast.

You ran straight into the forest, outrunning Moony on the snow was not going to be a successful endeavour for too long, especially not when you passed the soft snow area and reached one that wouldn’t cause him to lag, but inside the forest, where you could use your reflexes to skip through branches and through run roots, it would be much easier. 

You could hear his loud puffing behind you, the thump of his paws against the snow, making a rather hollow sound. Your running was somehow still controlled, even if slightly frantic. You were playing, and you knew there was no way Moony would hurt you, but the adrenaline was still there, and it helped you run through James’ forest as if it was a maze you knew by memory, even if you ran nowhere in particular. 

You were about to jump through a small creak when a pair of strong jaws sized you by the neck. Moony huffed as he stopped and dropped you not so gently into the floor. He huffed again as he stared at you rolling around and standing your ground. 

«Don’t play with him like that!» he barked.

You wanted to tell him you could play with him however you wanted, but you understood that you were hurting Moony as much as you were hurting Remus whenever you were so close to him, so against your very nature, kept your mouth shut. 

«You can only play with me like that,» he barked next. 

What?!? You wondered as you stared at him, surprised at his words. 

«Understood?»

You narrowed your eyes at Moony, he seemed very determined over what he said, over you only being able to play with him like that. Sometimes when you thought you understood the wolf, he did something like that and scrambled your mind altogether. You would have sworn he was jealous of you playing with Pads, not of Pads playing with you. You would have never imagined what actually went through the wolf’s head –he was jealous of both. 

The wolf huffed again, clearly expecting an answer. «Fine,» you barked.

You would have sworn you saw the wolf smile. He leaned down and pushed you with his snout lightly. You barked at him as a reply, and he pushed you again, this time to the other side. He wants to play, you realised. The next time he leaned to push you, you dodged and walked through his paws until you were on the other side. 

He barked and turned around, in an instant, looking for you again as you dodged and jumped around the much larger dog. You had to be a lot faster to try and beat his reflexes that were for some reason much sharper than Padfoot’s.

Eventually, you took off running again. You suspected Moony gave you some advantage, since you lost him in the woods at some point, even if you could still hear his howlings all around. You skipped and jumped around branches until you tried to find your way back into the snowy fields from the beginning. That’s when he appeared, stepping right in your path and howling in triumph. 

«Found you» 

«You always do,» you retorted. It was true, both Moony and Remus were exceptionally good at finding you. 

«I do?» he asked as he walked by your side, slowing down his steps to match yours. 

«Must be your sixth sense or something»

He huffed in return, still trying to make sense of the situation. By the time the two of you made it out of the forest, the sky was starting to brighten. He looked up with a mix of tiredness and melancholy. 

«You’ll come again, right?» he asked. 

You howled, Padfoot ran towards the two of you the minute he spotted you on the edge of the woods, although he stayed on Moony’s side instead of yours. 

«Always!» 

«Always!» Pads barked right after you. «We’re a team, Moony» 

«Team?» Moony asked as if he didn’t understand the meaning.

«A pack,» you corrected. «We’re a pack»

«A pack,» Moony agreed, and then he yawned, shaking his head to try and fight the sleep away. 

«Let’s sleep» Pads barked.

«We must play»

«You’re falling asleep,» Pads said as he pushed Moony lightly, but he was leaning on the leg you’d bitten and he ended up toppling over to the other side and pushing you into the snow. You wailed in surprise and Moony stumbled up quickly. 

You shook some snow off your head as you peeked from the hole you’d ended up in, you narrowed your eyes at the two dogs. Moony leaned closer and licked some of the snow off your head, and then, just to tease you, gave a small bite to your ear. You complained with a bark. 

«It’s payback for my leg,» he said simply. You shook your head again and he pulled back as you scrambled your way outside of the small hole. It had comically gotten the shape of a fox, and it made you think of some of those muggle cartoons you sometimes saw playing on the TVs they had in cafés and supermarkets. 

Eventually, you all went back to the kiosk, you found your way on one side of Moony and Pads on the other. Prongs tried to get in too, but he was too tall, and his antlers kept crashing onto the top of the kiosk, so he had to accommodate himself just outside. 

Moony fell asleep before the moon disappeared, and this time you were awake as you saw him shrink into Remus. The process didn’t look as painful for him, but when Remus was back, his body was still covered by the opened wounds where the fox had ripped through his skin to come out. He was hugging Padfoot by the time you scurried towards the side and peeked your head through the balusters to bark at Prongs, so he too noticed Moony was gone. He turned back and walked inside with a yawn. 

“You haven’t slept?” he said after he saw you turn. 

“Are my eyebags that big?” you joked in a quiet tone as you pulled Remus’ wand from your pocket and opened the chest to take his coat, you didn’t want to wake them. You tried not to think of what’d happened with the coat when you placed it over him and threw a cover on top for good measure since it was rather cold.

“A little,” James said as he let himself down and accommodated some of the pillows to lay on them, “you should sleep,” he added just after yawning. 

“Just want to leave his clothes ready,” you said as you dug through the chest, trying to find the rest of the bunched-up clothes you’d thrown in there.

“We slept” –he yawned again– “we slept while he was playing with you,” he explained. 

“Sounds nice,” you said as you pulled out the clothes and leaned closer to Remus, pulling the covers from him just enough to expose about half of his back, and performing a simple numbing spell all over his gashes. You knew magic didn’t play well with Werewolf-caused injuries, and while you wouldn’t be able to heal them, at least you could help him feel at ease. 

You saw the way his small frown dissolved about at the same time his jaw muscles untensed. It worked, you thought with a simple smile. James, half asleep, was looking at you taking care of Remus and he also smiled. He loved the fact that he could entrust his two best friends to you and drift asleep without having to worry too much about either of them. 

“Sleep,” he said again. “Play nurse later.” 

“Not playing nurse,” you said as you made sure Remus’ coat was covering him from the cold. Rem had been there for you at your worst, you wanted to be able to do the same for him. You wanted to be the reassuring presence in his life; especially since it was because of you that he was partially miserable. 

You threw yourself close to the railing and fell asleep shortly after. Effie and Monty came home and helped transport a still-sleepy Remus back to James’ room. Monty gave him some potions, and Effie lathered him with a royal blue paste that would help the wound close faster, prevent infections, and a bunch of other stuff that you barely heard from how sleepy you were.  

You were still sleeping in the kiosk when you felt something tickle your ear. “Étoile,” Sirius said. “Aren’t you planning to wake up today?” 

You groaned in response and placed one of the pillows on top of your head to block the light, but Sirius took it off and leaned closer to you, his hair was tickling your face as you tentatively opened one eye. “How’s Rem?” 

“Still asleep. The Potters are waiting for you to have breakfast.” 

“For me?”

“Effie and Monty both brought their favourite bread and they want us to choose who made the best. James and I picked the opposite so you’ll be the tiebreaker.” 

“Couldn’t I be the tiebreaker in a few hours?” 

“’M afraid not Starshine, the bread will get cold and it won’t taste the same. Come,” he said as he pulled you into a sitting position, your head landed on his shoulder and you groaned because of the sudden movement.  “Want me to carry you?” 

“Want you to sleep with me,” you retorted, your lips brushing against Sirius’ bare neck and making him blush from the memory of the fae pond. 

“We can definitely arrange that later,” he teased. You weren’t so sleepy that you didn’t notice the double meaning of his words.

“I meant to sleep, as in close your eyes and dream, you perv,” you laughed, finally getting some of that sleepiness to shrug off. You pulled back to look at him, he was so pretty as he looked at you. The softness of his gaze, the small smile that was almost a smirk but still wasn’t the one he’d pull for teachers or people he’d prank. But rather, an honest sort of smirk, one that he paired with those loving eyes of his. Loving eyes that you had only ever seen him use on you.

And then, almost as a whisper from the back of your mind came a voice, And Remus.  

Breakfast with the Potters was like it had been the previous days, except with higher stakes in the competition. Effie’s bread was the clear winner for you, and Sirius completely agreed while both James and Monty gave you a dumbfounded, betrayed sort of look that was so genuine you almost felt bad for picking Effie. But then you saw her big smile and the way she did a small successful dance that the feeling disappeared. 

Effie and Monty both cut up their bread into slices and the elves helped by bringing over some toppings, from jam, butter, cream cheese and hazelnut spread, to more exotic things like manticore cheese, mermaid jam (actually just sweet seaweed jam) –that was apparently James’ favourite–, and even pixie dust cream that made people float if they had too much.

You had already tried the jam and cheese, but the pixie dust cream was completely new to you, your father had always steered away from anything fae-related, just in case. Hadn’t been worth much in the end, had it? 

Effie stood up after everyone had eaten, “Isn’t it time for Remus’ potion?” She asked as she looked at the clock, and then at Monty. 

“Seems like it is,” he replied after adjusting his glasses and checking on the clock himself.

“Did he eat?”  

“Said he didn’t want to,” James said as he gave another bite of his bread with mermaid jam.

“I’ll bring him some,” you said. “Can take the potion too.” 

“Such a darling,” Monty said, and stood up, grabbing a potion from the cupboard and serving a bit in a small shot glass as you prepared buttered some bread and added some of the spreads, a different one to each slice.

“Want me to come?” Sirius asked as you took the plate in one hand and the potion in the other. 

You shrugged in response, “I’m gonna find some clothes to change afterwards, so it might take a while.” 

Sirius wanted to say that maybe he really should come along then, but decided to shut his mouth when he remembered both Effie and Monty were still in the room. “See you in a bit then,” he said as he pressed a kiss to your cheek. Then he took a few pieces of cheese and placed them on the plate with Remus’ food. “It’s his favourite,” he said, and then pulled a chocolate from his pockets and placed it there too. 

You gave him a small smile and walked upstairs, it didn’t escape your mind how thoughtful Sirius was with Rem after the moon. Of course, you had always encouraged it, since you knew Remus needed it, but the uneasy feeling that was still gnawing at the back of your mind became more present. Was it so obvious, and had you just been too blind to see it before? 

“Hey, Rem,” you said as you opened the door. He was on the bed, still shirtless and with bandages all over his torso. Monty had wrapped him earlier when they brought him up. He was looking at the window and turned to look at you as he heard the door. Your hair was loose, you had his jumper on, and he thought there wouldn’t be a more comforting thing than that. 

“Hey, Little Witch.”

You walked towards him and sat on the bed, placing the plate on the table before leaning in a bit closer with the potion glass Monty had given you in your hand. 

“Open up,” you said with a smile.

“I can move my hands,” he replied.

“I didn’t ask if you could,” you retorted and leaned closer, sneaking your hand to the nape of his neck and pushing his head forward. He raised one of his eyebrows at you but opened his mouth as you leaned your hand with the potion towards his mouth. He drank the potion and tried not to laugh at your satisfied smile. “How are you feeling?” 

“I should be asking you that, wasn’t Moony too rough last night?” 

You shrugged, “We’re still getting used to each other. It’s a bit hard letting him win.” 

“Oh,” he said with a teasing smile, “So you let him win?” 

“He likes to think he’s got the power,” you responded and handed over the plate.

“Godric forbid little Vixen surrenders any of her power to him,” he retorted. And you pulled your tongue out in reproach, which caused him to laugh. “All this for me?” 

“Mhm,” you responded. “Sirius said you really like this one,” you added as you pointed towards the cheese. “I didn’t know.” 

“They don’t serve it at Hogwarts,” he said and took a piece. It was when he dragged his hand to his mouth that you realised the sharp bite mark he had on his wrist. Two holes on one side and two on the other, a slight purplish tone surrounding them both. You swallowed, that’s exactly what your arm looked like after you bit it at the Christmas party. 

“Vixen did that?” you said taking his hand and dragging it towards you. “Shit, Rem, I’m sorry,” you said as you stared at his wrist, carefully sliding your fingers over the marks your fangs had created and wincing at how his soft skin was now marked. 

“I heal fast,” he said with a shrug. “I really don’t mind it, Sweetheart. I mean if anything, it’s nothing compared to what Moony–” 

“I didn’t bite you because of that!” you said. “I mean she didn’t– you know what I mean.” 

“I know,” he said with a smile. “Moony was being a prick.” 

You smiled, “Have you tried a healing spell?” 

“Monty gave me some ointment for it,” he said as he pointed to the table. “Said Vix has a mean bite.” 

You pouted at that and pulled the ointment from the table and picked some up before carefully placing it on top of his wounds. “Now it looks like a vampire bit you.” 

“It’ll go away in a couple of days,” he said with a shrug, looking at the way your fingers carefully danced over his wrist. Remus would have allowed Vixen to bite him all the time as long as he got this treatment from you afterwards. Heck, he was even considering cornering her into it just for the aftercare. Of course, he couldn’t exactly get Moony to do any of those things, but that didn’t mean he didn’t think about it. 

“Thank you,” he muttered when you finished. 

“‘Least I can do,” you said as you turned to him. He missed the apprehensive look you gave him, thinking of how much pain you were causing him, and not just the physical one. 

 “Eat,” you said as you pointed at the food, taking a piece of cheese and plopping it in your mouth before standing from the bed and walking towards your suitcase. 

He took a piece of bread and gave it a bite to it. He’d picked the one with hazelnut spread, “Did you combine this with cream cheese?” he asked, mouth slightly full.

“I’ve seen you do it a couple of times,” you said with a shrug. “You think we’ll be out much today?” 

“I certainly won’t,” he said as he nodded towards his bandaged self. “Monty said if I rest all day, tomorrow I’ll be able to at least, have fun at the party. He prepared a really potent painkiller potion for it.” 

“Maybe I can convince the boys to just come back here and we can play Monopoly or something.” 

“Without me? Is that so you win?” 

“I could win even if you were playing,” you retorted, still digging through your suitcase. You took a pair of denim overalls out –you’d bought them with Tom and Beth– and then a band shirt (that was actually yours and not stolen from Sirius). It was an extremely muggle outfit, but you didn’t really care. 

Remus saw you sitting in the corner, rummaging through your clothes and he couldn’t help but be reminded of that one scene on Peter Pan. He wondered if you would play along with him like you had with Sirius on the balcony.

“Girl, why are you crying?”  

You frowned, jumping to him with your clothes still in your hands. Remus might have been perceptive as hell, and he would have probably figured out if you were actually crying, but you weren’t. Not at that time. “I’m not–” 

“Remus John Lupin, What’s yours?” he pressed on. 

You frowned and tilted your head to the side. “Vixen?” 

“Is that all?” 

Finally, you smiled, knowing exactly what Remus was doing, “Yes.” 

“Where do you live?” 

“Second star to the right and straight on till the morning.” 

“What a funny address,” he said with a bit of a mocking smile. 

You walked towards him and sat with him on the bed. “It is not.” 

“Why were you crying?” 

“I wasn’t crying,” you deflected again. “Come with me! To Neverland!” 

“To Neverland?” Remus asked, “sounds far away.”

“We could really use a werewolf,” you teased. 

Remus laughed, “I shall give you a kiss.” You extended your hand to him in the same way Peter Pan would have done. “Don’t you know what a kiss is?” 

“I shall know it when you give it to me.” 

Remus couldn’t stand up, and he really didn’t have anything even remotely close to a thimble around, so he took a piece of cheese and deposited it in your hand, you couldn’t help but break into a laugh, letting yourself fall over his legs as he looked at you bemused. 

“Why do you make fun of me so?” 

“I’m not, I’m not,” you added, “sorry”. And then sat back on the bed, trying to stifle your laughter. When you finally did, you bit your lip and tilted your head to the side, “Remus, you’re worth more than twenty boys.” 

Remus was almost taken aback by your words, not because he didn’t know they were on the play –which was by now a completely scrambled version of Peter Pan, but because of the sincerity you said it with. Remus was good at figuring it out when you were lying, playing or bluffing, and this time, he couldn’t see any of that, you were being sincere, and it was startling. Remus could almost see the love you held for him behind your eyes, he could tell how much you cared and it pained him, it pained him to know just how close you were and yet how–

“What are you up to, mischievous creatures?” Sirius asked as he burst the door open and took a diverted look at the two of you on the bed.

And yet how far… 

“Just playing,” you replied with a smile, the spell that had been cast over the two dissolving like the soap bubbles of oblivion that the two of you had created when you were alone at their parent’s cottage. “Take care of him, will you, I’ll change.” 

“Why not here?” Sirius teased with a smile, and Remus threw him a look. He would have so not been able to see that with a casual stance. And knowing you, if Sirius decided to make it some sort of dare, you might have done it. 

Thankfully, instead of indulging Sirius, you took off Moony’s jumper and launched it at his face, “Wouldn’t you like that? You perv,” you teased, and walked towards the bathroom with the clothes you’d change to in between your hands. 

“How are you feeling?” Sirius asked, turning to Remus with a kind and soft smile.

“Much better,” Remus admitted. “Vix seems to know how to lift my spirits.”

“Yeah,” Sirius agreed. And then took a deep breath. “She’s still avoiding the subject.” 

“I doubt she’ll stop anytime soon,” Remus said, quite aware of it himself.

“It worries me,” Sirius said. “What if she keeps it all in and then she blows up?” 

Remus sighed, he knew what Sirius meant, he too was worried about it. All the pressure in your shoulders was something that neither of them could control nor alleviate, and it was eating both of them up from the inside. “You just have to be there for her then.” 

Series Masterlist | Next Chapter

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A/N: Well now we know, but what shall we do with said knowledge? Suffer, of course.

Read more Marauders Fiction

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Are You Sure?! - Episode 1 Observations

Who said it during the Bon Vogaye S3 interviews? "We click". Was it Jimin or Jungkook? Either way, it's clearly mutual and and we've heard iterations of that throughout the years in other contexts, particularly in terms of work ethic.

The first night they spent in Connecticut at that cabin in the woods showed us a different facet, in a more domestic realm. The delegation of each role during cooking pointing out what the other one likes, knowing exactly how to prepare something based on a word. It was like a well-oiled machine that has been functioning for ages. It also gave us a taste of what was to come the next evening when Jungkook cooked pasta, an entire scene worthy to dissect.

But what stood out to me more was what happened next. I know we've all joked and talked about poor Jimin and his stomach bug. A very unexpected topic, but here we are. The level of candidness might have felt surprising (at least for me initially), but they are also guys and perhaps coming from a place socially and culturally in which it's not unusual.

But it did contribute to that element of authenticity I mentioned in my first post about the series. I want to digress a bit here because the entire situation reminded me of a conversation I had perhaps more than a decade ago. I was talking to an acquitance about elements that are usually kept out of films, part of the mundane. What is left out of the story due to its lack of relevancy. And he said that scenes of people urinating are common in films, but we don't see/hear people taking a shit, or even talking about it. Yes, the language was that crude. (And no, Salo doesn't count). Shortly after, Godard's Adieu au langage was released and if my memory serves right, it had that exact scene that my acquitance was talking about. I don't think it was a matter of authenticity, the film was a lot more complex than that in its experimentation, but it did go as far as to show somehow the hidden parts of human behavior on screen, now suddenly at a forefront.

What's the purpose of that in a travel show? What does it say about the choice to show it and about the people? In variety content including surviror type, travel or even food show, issues connected to the body are not something foreign or unusual. But in AYS, it's about the length and how it became a way to show the care a person has for the other and consequently becoming another example of that authenticity.

Both Jungkook and Jimin kept a light tone over Jimin's progressive state of sickness, but in no circumstances has Jungkook ever treated it like he needs to keep his distance. The man was sitting in bed, telling Jimin it's alright, while he was fighting for his life in the bathroom.

Despite keeping a light tone, in Jungkook's case it's often about his actions. His own way of showing that he cares more than what appears to. He might laugh and joke that Jimin is dying, all the while being the one to give him the medicine. He keeps on making jokes as he goes outside, only to immediately decide to build a stone temple so Jimin can get better.

I found it all very moving. I know it might also seem trivial, but I choose to see some gestures for what they appear to be a sign of: complete comfortability, with no uneasyness or shame or lack of aknowledgement. It's a result of seeing that person going through everything and knowing that person intimately, at whatever level any of us choose to interpret it.

To be continued...

[coffee-with-mint-syrup]

The case of live-action atla zutara.

First of all, the scarf scene. I won't be repeating myself, here are some main points - there was absolutely no reason for Zuko to act the way he did and for the scene to be shot this dramatically. Even if they did the shipbaiting in this scene - it means there's a ship which is much more than live-action kataang has at this point. Also I don't really think these guys are shipbaiting type but that's just the impression I got.

Then - the second obvious one - Oma and Shu's visuals. We have star-crossed lovers from two towns at war, basically the local equivalent of Romeo and Juliet (as in legendary lovers who are known above all for their love) wearing coincidentally colors that are primarily associated with two of our characters (who shared this dramatically shot scene in the previous episode).

And I know, it may seem so insignificant - but but but but! - you have to think about this. Of course there are creators, writers and showrunners that are unaware of some non-canon ships or don't care about them. But it's not the case for atla. No, creators of atla were so aware of zutara - they wrote a parody scene in a in-world trashy play to mock this fan pairing and it still proved absolutely nothing and just gave zutara more content. The creators and writers of this adaptation clearly had the discussion "what we should do with kataang" - because there is no trace of kataang in the 1st season. So it was a conscious decision to omit that - but where would the romantic subplot go? Well, I don't know, but they are showrunners, they most certainly discussed options. They are clearly very, very, very much aware of zutara. And they still do this? They still show us Oma and Shu wearing red and blue? All they had to do is to give at least one of them any different color. Any. But they didn't. (for fuck sake, it is the Earth Kingdom - yellow and green would do it)

There were zero, no, nada Kataang interactions, implications or those scenes that are filmed just a little bit too dramatically like the scarf one. I don't know, there's still a chance that they will wait for season 3 to make Aang's crush on Katara happen. I'm also not so sure what will happen to Aang failing to open seventh chakra, I mean - his love for Katara has a huge purpose in series, so it still doesn't look very good. But you can't even imagine how glad I am that they didn't do this secret tunnel thing. It was very uncomfortable.

So it was the more fact-based part of my case, let's get to the irrational, almost delusional part, tin foil hat probably needed.

Almost all the scenes Zuko and Katara shared in the first season kept reminding me of another famous enemies-to-lovers ship that actually became canon in the infamous final episode - Reylo, the way it was filmed in The Force Awakens. I mean - the first fight in the woods where she looses, the intensity of him staring at her, the final fight in snowy location where she kicks his ass and shows her mastering this superpower, him trying to talk to her during this fight and mentioning her learning/having to learn...Zuko calling Katara a peasant reminded me of this "Rey is no one" discourse. I don't know man, I haven't thought about The Force Awakens reylo for a very long time and it just kept popping in my head.

All of this - it's like a blueprint for enemies to lovers.

Also I actually think that the look they shared in the 2nd episode was also shot kinda weirdly and dramatically. It's not to the extent of the scarf scene but I do remember thinking that "why did they film it they way? it's too intense".

In the conclusion I'd like to say that as much as I like all the season 1 zutara stuff they left out in the adaptation - necklace subplot and implications, pirates and the famous "You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" - I think I actually prefer the scarf scene. Yes, it would be so great to see those things in adaptation but in the end of the day they would still be just the things they kept from the original and probably noting more. Like the cabbages or the secret tunnel song or anything else, just things from the source material that implicate nothing. While the scarf scene, the Oma and Shu's clothes - it means they made a conscious decision to make it that way. It means they put some thought into that and some meaning. And this gives me hope there's a chance for Zutara in this adaptation.

P.S. I told about this my sister who hasn't watch the series yet and she said "I think people who made this show are just shipping zutara in secret". I do not necessarily imply she might be right - but creators of animated series (the very same people that made kataang canon, not zutara) DID leave because of some creative differences and because they couldn't control creative decision. Might as well be THAT kind of decision.

[simp2537]

Once again, you wrote that request super quick! I was hoping for yandere again cause that’s kinda my forte, but I can honestly say that I did enjoy that fic and thought it was pretty good (as all your fics seem to be :) ). Your fics are really short but sweet, and I thoroughly enjoy them. Also, I have another request already, but obviously don’t feel like you need to do it or anything, and especially not right away— I’m just sending requests cause you said we could, and I keep getting ideas & whatnot; I just watched the most recent Percy Jackson episode from the show and saw young Percy asking his mom “why are you trying so hard to get rid of me? I would never do this to you,” and it made me imagine a scenario. Basically, the reader (once again, gender neutral or male, and preferably a child of Apollo, but whatever works) either tries to break up with Percy— and maybe Annabeth too if you find a way to fit her into it with the idea I have in mind— or tries to run away or fight him, just something that makes Percy feel hurt & upset— and probably angry & whatnot cause I’m imagining another yandere scenario with this— to where he says something similar to what young Percy said in the show.

It’s just a neat concept I think, and I’m really interested to see what your take would be on it; thanks again for taking the time out of your day to write my requests, and have a great day :)

-🪑

Runaway

a/n sorry this one took a me longer I finally caught up on all the episodes. Any none canon events are fic magic and enjoy.

Warnings : Yandere! Percy, stalking and stalker behaviors, possessive behaviors, blood, and gore mentions.

Anon - 🪑

All Characters are aged up to 18 plus

Percy Jackson x Gender Neutral! Reader

Percy glared at the forest ahead of him. His lovely Sunni had disappeared into the wood surrounding camp. Y/n was hysterical and was tense all over. Their eyes weld with tears as they kept on going on and on about how they couldn’t do this anymore.

As Percy ventured into the woods tracking Y/n’s footprints he thought in their words. How their words cut into his soul like a knife.

“Everything is temporary, this is me of those things.”

Y/n spoke as they held in the tears that threatened to spill. Percy tried to reason with her of course. He tried to explain that he was the only person for them. He cried telling, begging them not to leave. Y/n merely took a step back, took in a breathe and stared at him.

“You aren’t a good guy Percy, you tried to kill my friend because he gave me a hug.”

“He was staring at you with a love sick look! He was asking for me to beat him up.”

Y/n don’t say much after that, they just walked away. Now as Percy tracked them he heard their soft sniffling. His poor Sunni didn’t know what to do with themselves now that he was gone.

He stared at them from an opposite tree as they sat firmly in the ground. Their first clenched the grass and muddy under them. He slowly stalked to them, his movements silent.

He grasped into them wrapping his arms around them tightly. Before they could scream a hand was clasped against them. They thrashed in his grip but it was no use. Their nose was covered and they couldn’t breathe.

Panic set in as they tried fiercely to get away. The managed to grab a dagger and slice at Percy’s arm in a weak attempt. Percy winced as Y/n dropped the dagger and went limp.

“Don’t worry, you can’t leave me, I’m the only permanent thing for you. Just like you’re the only permanent thing for me.”

[gayofthefae]

The talk in the junkyard getting Mike on the right track but him still not having figured it out and his speech in the van not being that he thinks he figured it out or that he's committed to breaking up with her, but rather more matching in the speech's anxious energy in being

"What if I don't figure it out in time? What if I show up and I'm trying so hard and she says 'too slow' and leaves me?"

The fear not just that he's not enough, but that with all the effort he's pouring into solving this, his best isn't enough. The feeling of lost effort or unacknowledged effort. The feeling that unlike just a fact of being incapable of it and her being hurt by that, the fact that he still is trying.

"What if El gives up on us for me? What if I'm not giving up and she 'calls it'? She deserves better than someone who makes her wait like this. What if she realizes that in time?"

That's the line. That's nearly the line he says.

So let's break it down, actually.

"What if- what if she doesn't need me anymore? - I keep telling myself that [she'll always need me] but- I don't believe it. She's special. She was born special. Maybe I was one of the first people to realize that, but the truth is: when I stumbled on her in the woods, it wasn't fate. It wasn't destiny. It was just simple dumb luck, and one day she's gonna realize that I'm just some loser who got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep. [She's already beginning to understand she doesn't need me. I saw it- I saw it in her eyes that last time we talked.] I mean, at least Lois Lane is an ace reporter for the Daily Planet, right? But-" [I will also be referencing the cut line

Now subtextually.

"What if I can't figure it out in time, and she stops waiting around for me? I keep telling myself she'll be patient with me, but I don't know. She's amazing, she always has been. But I'm not the only one who knows that anymore, I just happened to be the first to tell her. Anyone who took her in could have told her that, I was just the first person who had the chance to know. It was coincidence that we met and one day she's gonna realize that. She's gonna realize that it wasn't some fantasy true love fate or destiny. She just needed someone - anyone. She could have been found by anybody that night and whoever that random person was would have told her she was amazing just like I did. I'm not special. I never brought anything to the table but making her feel lovable, which anyone who knew her could do. Then lots of other people loved her and she only kept me around because I didn't fall behind. Now, I'm falling behind. What reason does she have to keep me around, then? She's starting to realize that. I couldn't make her feel lovable like I used to. When we fought, I saw it in her eyes: she started to give up on me. She realized that the one thing I could give her, I couldn't anymore. She loved me because of what I had to offer and I don't have that to offer anymore. I haven't for months, in our letters, she just hadn't noticed yet. She's noticed now. What if next, she realizes not only am I of no use to her now, but she doesn't need to wait around for me until I am? At least Lois Lane has other value, I don't. All I can do for her is love her and I can't even do that. She knows I can't right now. What if she gives up for me - *on* me? I'm trying still, but what if she calls it? What if she decides she's done waiting for me and it doesn't matter when I get around to loving her because there are plenty of other people who already do and plenty of other people who could? What if I get around to it and she doesn't care because...I just took too long?"

It all comes back to that same idea: if he knows the problem and explicitly, word for word, how to solve it...why is he scared? He's not scared of the solution not working. And his confusion and fear he keeps repeating in episodes 4 and 5 too aren't about what that solution is. He's scared of the ACTUAL unknown: what happens if he fails.

Because he doesn't know. Maybe she doesn't leave him, but look what happened last time he failed. She could barely look at him then she left.

I don't think he knows yet. I think he's panicking because he still doesn't. He's on his way, but he still doesn't. He empathized with not wanting to admit he still can't because it would upset El like Will said, but he hasn't given up on trying yet. This isn't his reasoning for why he can't say, it's his panic around the fact that he can't.

Then Will comes in. Lovely, comforting Will...with a painting. And for those first couple seconds...it's from Will. And I think that's what ruined everything. That's where the feelings came crashing down. That's the thing he can't unknow. It broke his illusion. It answered his questioned.

He was terrified El wouldn't stay with him if he couldn't love her because he thought he was generally unlovable if he wasn't of use. Will showed him that he wasn't. Then said it was from El. And he was disappointed. And then he knew why.

Because for everything I've just written, he knew too...his face shouldn't have fallen Will said it was from El.

[melrosing]

MBO Robert's Rebellion: Season 2 Episode 2

what the fuck is this: it's me drafting a fake robert's rebellion tv show through a series of bullet points. there will be two seasons of ten episodes each

i figured actually this one is basically done so im posting it. the rest should come prettyyyy quickly now, it's just a couple story strains where i'm making the last few edits to get everything in across the ten eps. anyway this 'season' is probably a wholeass exercise for me in trying to make sense of Rhaegar Targaryen so welcome, pls come along for the ride.

SEASON ONE: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10

SEASON TWO: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3

title for this one: rhaegar breaks everything

Lyanna wakes in her tent to the sound a baby’s desperate screams. Perplexed, she dresses hurriedly and saddles her horse, riding off at pace to where she thinks they seem to come from. She grows more frustrated the further she rides, never seeming to get any closer. Suddenly, she hears a voice scream her name - it’s Ned’s. She sends her horse to a gallop, and reaches a familiar clearing: she met Rhaegar here a year ago, during the tourney of Harrenhal. Distracted, Lyanna regards the place a moment in silence, then reaches inside her cloak to find the flower crown Rhaegar gave her back then. It’s dried out now. A voice whispers ‘Lyanna’ more quietly, and Lyanna, alarmed, turns to see Rhaegar, leading a horse of his own. She asks if he heard a child; Rhaegar says he didn’t. Lyanna says she’d thought she’d heard Ned too, but he’s in the Vale. She supposes she must’ve been dreaming. Rhaegar asks if she dreams often, Lyanna says she dreams sometimes. Rhaegar asks of what, Lyanna says of this place, of blue roses, and of - she looks at him, stops. But Rhaegar knows already. He says, ‘I dream, too.’

Opening creds

Brandon riding for the Stark camp with Edmure, who chatters beside him about how he’s never ridden this far before. They meet Benjen at the outpost, who looks anxious; Brandon asks what the matter is, Benjen tells him it’s Lyanna. Together, they ride hard for camp

Ned and Robert at the Eyrie. Robert is bouncing a toddler in his lap, whilst Ned looks miserable. Robert makes reference to Brandon’s wedding, says Ned might have gone; Ned replies that he doubts Brandon will miss him. Rickard neither for that matter - Ned suspects he had always favoured his brothers. Robert laughs at that, assuring Ned that he’s the best of them - but for a man unbetrothed he could afford to have a little more fun. Ned says sceptically that betrothal has never kept Robert from fun, and Robert laughs, making the toddler (Mya) in his lap laugh too. Robert laughs the harder

Brandon and Edmure meet Rickard in the woods, searching for Lyanna. Rickard tells them that he and Lyanna had fought, and he suspects Lyanna may be sulking somewhere - but these woods are too dangerous for that, and she must be found. The rumours are already abound, too, that she is wild and loose, and he fears for their betrothal if Robert were to find out about this. He rides off, vexed 

Benjen asks Brandon if everything will be alright; Brandon isn’t sure, says he suspects Rickard is more worried than he’s letting on  

Jaime guarding Rhaella in the godswood; he has seen little of her since he took up his post, and notices bruises about her neck - the only part of her uncovered. Rhaella tells Jaime she remembers his mother, talks fondly about her as though talking to herself. She was such a child: giggled a lot, had plenty of daydreams, a sweet girl in her way, before she became lofty Lady Lannister. Jaime isn’t really listening, distracted by her injuries - he asks if she’s alright. Rhaella’s face clouds over; she tells Jaime it’s nothing, and speaks no more

Cut to Aerys in the throne room. Where is his goddamn son??? Rhaegar has not been seen for several nights. Aerys airs the suspicion that Rhaegar rides for Casterly Rock to plot against him with Tywin Lannister. Varys says he shudders to think… but it is said that Rhaegar did not take the Goldroad. Aerys wonders if Jaime Lannister knows something. Gerold Hightower says he’s sure the boy knows nothing. Varys says they can’t know that. Either way - Hightower changing the subject - for all his strength, Rhaegar is vulnerable when riding alone, and should be found. He says he will send two of his own men to find the Prince. Arthur Dayne knows him well, and will doubtless find him in good time 

Elia alone in her rooms, with her children playing at her feet. Rhaenys asks where father is; Elia, feeling too tired to comfort her daughter, simply tells her she doesn’t know. Rhaenys, weepy now, asks if he’s coming back. Elia says she doesn’t know that either. Rhaenys starts to cry, and Elia, looking dead inside, does nothing for several moments before reaching down to pick her up and comfort her. She tells Rhaenys about Dorne, says if father can run away then so can they. They’ll go to the Water Gardens, and Rhaenys can play with her cousin Arianne. Rhaenys asks if father will be sad if they go. Elia says no, she doesn’t think he’d be sad at all

Arthur Dayne in the WST, packing bags. Jaime watches on, asks where he is going. Arthur says to find the Prince. Jaime says he’ll go with him, Arthur says no. Jaime tries to argue, Arthur remains steadfast. Upset, Jaime says that he knows Arthur regrets knighting him, thinks it was a mistake to ever place him in the KG to begin with. Arthur says that isn’t so, it is simply that the King needs him here. For what?? Jaime says the King hates him. Arthur does not deny it, but states simply that there will come a time when the King will have great need of him. Jaime stares at him, perplexed. Ser Gerold Hightower walks in, and says he has an errand for Arthur, yet is startled to see Arthur is packing already. Jaime even more perplexed 

Ned running errands for Jon Arryn in a small town in the Vale. In a tavern, he attracts the notice of a black-haired girl, who flirts with him. Ned is uncomfortable, buts feels some attraction himself. She says she’s noticed him before with his friend, but she’s always liked Ned better. Ned feels himself being drawn in, doesn’t altogether like it - but likes it a little. The girl suggests they go somewhere quieter, and Ned tentatively agrees. As he follows her to the back rooms, she kisses him. Ned is shocked despite himself, and just as they reach the door he declines after all and turns back, embarrassed

Searching the woods for Lyanna. Benjen finds her dried flower crown on the forest floor where she had been the night previous, and runs to deliver it to his father and brother. Rickard and Brandon look at it horrified, till a local arrives with guards to tell them what he saw: Rhaegar rode past their village last night, and he had a girl with him. Rickard in crisis mode: he orders Benjen to return North to hold Winterfell. Benjen tells his father he doesn’t want to leave; he wants to find his sister. Brandon tells him there must always be a Stark in Winterfell (doesn’t explain why there wasn’t one this whole time but I digress), and Rickard tells him that they will return in good time - but not without Lyanna

Cat and Lysa waiting on the parapets for Brandon. Cat wonders why Lysa seems in such a good mood today, and asks her - but Lysa won’t reveal, hums smugly to herself

Suddenly they see Edmure on the horizon, but there’s no sign of Brandon??? The sisters race to the gates and find their father is there already. Edmure, both panicked and confused, tells their father that Brandon has ridden for KL - wtf???

Ned returns to the Eyrie, is told Jon Arryn wants him urgently. Ned bizarrely feels like he’s in trouble, enters Jon Arryn’s solar nervously - finds Robert pacing in rage, and Jon looking sorrowful. There’s been raven etc

Rhaegar and Lyanna riding together. Rhaegar is very quiet, and Lyanna doesn’t quite know where she’s following him to - but follows nonetheless. She asks lots of questions, doesn’t get many clear answers, till Rhaegar reveals he believes they were meant to meet that day at Harrenhal. Had she felt it, too? Lyanna frowns, intrigued, but a little frightened, too. Perhaps she had felt that, too. Rhaegar looks at her, knowingly

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

I visited the WGA library to read Yellowjackets scripts and wanted to share some of my findings! (Pt. 2)

Here are my notes for 1x03! Quotation marks indicate direct lines from the script, whereas everything else is me paraphrasing.

1x03 “The Dollhouse”

•The script starts with a scene of a panicked adult Travis bursting out of his secluded house (shack?) with a “wild glint in his eyes” “as if desperate to find the source of something and also terrfied he will find it.”

•Then it flashes back to the 1996 teen timeline and Travis hears a whisper late at night in the woods. He is “inexplicably drawn” to the plane wreckage. “The breeze rustles the tree branches, and again he hears a soft, hushed sound, as if the wilderness is calling his name.”

Travis is interrupted by Javi, who approaches him saying he had a bad dream.

As Travis is walking back to their camp with Javi, “The breeze picks back up. We hear a low and sinister exhalation, as if the woods are whispering for Travis to stay and preparing to make him stay.”

Both of these scenes were obviously cut, but I do think it’s really interesting that Travis was originally made out to be, arguably, just as connected to the Wilderness entity as Lottie is. Travis is one of the first people to be “contacted” by the Wilderness and it seems to take a particular interest in him. Also that line about making him stay is eery as hell.

•When the group is voting on whether to go to the lake or stay at the plane wreckage, the script makes sure to point out how hesitant some of the girls are to go against Jackie. Some of them even vote to stay at the wreckage just to avoid pissing her off. This shows her influence over the girls at the time, even though it eventually fades as they become more adapted to their new way of life.

•While the group is hiking to the lake, Taissa sees the man with no eyes for the first time, crouching in the bushes staring at her blankly. It understandably freaks her the fuck out and she’s shaken by it for the rest of the episode.

In the final product Tai doesn’t see the man with no eyes until later on, but this scene sounds creepy as fuck in the script.

•When Nat is looking through Travis’s house and finds the photo of the two of them together on his dresser, we get this line:

“We realize Natalie’s not only seen Travis recently, but they were close. Intimate. Natalie glances up from the photo, and suddenly sees adult Travis in the mirror. He’s standing behind Natalie, and his eyes seem to be judging her.”

Just thought it was interesting, particularly the “judging her” line. Judging her for what? Maybe judging her for looking for him? For not keeping herself safely away from all this?

•When the girls are swimming at the lake and Jackie is sitting with Mari trying to make Shauna jealous, there’s a line about Jackie being “clearly tired of Mari’s yapping” but trying to hide it, which I found funny. Mari is a canonical yapper.

•The girls also play chicken at the lake, with Nat on Van’s shoulders and Laura Lee on Shauna’s shoulders. This is so cute and I’ll take whatever scraps of VanNat friendship I can get. I wish they kept it in the episode.

•And another deleted part from the lake scene, Lottie is standing on top of a rock above the lake preparing to jump in and she does the cabbage patch dance on top of it while everyone cheers her on (if you don’t know what the cabbage patch dance is you should definitely look it up). Then she sees the cabin in the distance and stops.

But I love a little hint at silly goofy Lottie! Before all of the visions, just a silly goose.

•While Nat and Misty are in the jail cell and Nat asks Misty about her messing with her Porsche, Nat and Misty stare each other down and the script then says this:

“So much history between these two.”

A little sneak peek at a lot more happening between these two in the Wilderness that we don’t know about yet.

•While Nat is on the phone with Tai trying to get her to bail her out of jail, this line:

“We realize these two are closer than we thought.”

Tainat friendship acknowledged!🙏

•Also on that phone call with Tai, the script says that “Natalie is struggling to even speak his name,” referring to Travis. This again shows just how painful and complicated Nat’s feelings are towards Travis.

•When Nat and Misty are bailed out, there’s a cut scene of Misty going through a plastic bag full of all of the things that were in her purse at the time of her arrest. Here are the items in Misty’s purse: peanut butter, condoms, Travis’s notebook that she stole, and a small plastic toy cat.

God, I love that woman.

•After Jackie spills the nasty canned food all over the floor and complains that they should have stayed at the wreckage, Van snaps at her “How is this helping?”, and the rest of the girls roll their eyes at Jackie. Jackie storms outside and we get this line:

“Suddenly, she stops, overwhelmed by her emotions—how scared she is, how alone she feels, how much she hates the wilderness, and the shame she feels for showing it.”

A great look into Jackie’s mental state and very representative of Jackie’s gradual loss of influence and power in this new environment. She’s used to being sure of herself and having this magnetism that everyone naturally follows. In society, Jackie is influential and powerful. But here in the wilderness, she cannot adapt and cannot lead the group like she once did. And the other girls can see that, hence the rolling eyes and snapping at her.

•After Nat and Misty find Travis’s body and they are driving away, there is a line that was cut from the final product in which Nat admits to Misty:

“We were together, on and off. We started up again about ten years ago.”

So this would mean that Nat and Travis started up their relationship again around 2011 and have been on and off for ten years. Does this mean they were not together after they got rescued but rekindled things about 12 years later? Or did they stay together for a little while after the rescue, broke up for years, and then got back together and that’s what Nat is referring to? I don’t know, maybe this line was cut for a reason and it’s definitely not canon yet so we’ll see. But the timeline of Nat and Travis’s relationship is confusing to me and I want to know more.

My theory is that Nat and Travis have broken up after Javi’s death and don’t get back together in a romantic capacity until 2011.

[anukkuna]

Day 25: Unspoken

There are quite a few things I associate with Unspoken and Spatort.

One of the most obvious is Leo and Adam’s inability to express what they mean to each other and what they want from one another. (I have my very own personal Roman Empire when it comes to that... I've missed that boat, the ship has sailed away, she has a girlfriend now, but damn, it hunts me to this day.)

So much between them remains unsaid. It feels like there’s a well of things to explore and write about - so many gaps in their story that beg to be filled.

Has Leo ever asked Adam what he did during all those years away, traveling the world? It takes courage to ask a question when you might not be able to bear the answer - that Adam lived and roamed the world freely while Leo stayed behind, hurting and missing him. Did Adam ever tell himself? I doubt it. Adam seems focused on the present and what lies ahead. But can it really be so easy for Leo to set all of that aside? Is it even possible for either of them to just move forward without addressing the past?

However, instead of writing about one of these questions, I decided to focus on a scene that struck me as particularly interesting the first time I watched it. It’s from Episode 3: Das Herz der Schlange - the moment when Esther questions Leo about how long he’s known Adam and what really happened fifteen years ago.

„Wie lange kennst du Adam schon, hm?!“

- Esther, Das Herz der Schlange

When Esther asks what was going on between Adam and Leo, it reveals something significant: Leo had kept this unspoken the entire time. Since Adam’s return, Leo never mentioned to his colleagues that they knew each other from school - and neither did Adam. Neither Esther nor Pia had any idea.

What I find even more intriguing is considering how Leo’s explanation - what exactly he tells them - must sound from his colleagues’ perspective, and also how it sound to the audience (just as @leo-woods did for the Caro-Scene from Ep. 01).

Here's Leo's answer:

„Ich hatte ein Baumhaus damals. Von da konnte ich mit dem Fernglas bei denen reinsehen. Und an diesem einen Tag da... da hat sein Vater uns im Wald gefunden... er war so wütend... er war immer so wütend. Und diesmal wusste ich einfach, der... der schlägt ihn tot – und Adam wusste es auch. Also bin ich denen hinterher. In die Garage. Adam lag auf dem Boden, er hat sich nicht gewehrt. Und sein Vater hat wie besessen auf ihn eingedroschen.“

- Leo, Das Herz der Schlange

There’s a moment where Esther and Pia exchange glances at the line "da hat sein Vater uns im Wald gefunden" - and honestly, it doesn’t surprise me. You can’t help but wonder: your father found you in the forest... doing what? Was Adam simply hanging out at the treehouse with another kid from school enough to make Roland beat him half to death? You’d assume he must have seen something that upset him deeply, something that enraged him so much that he wanted to punish it out of his son. Because it couldn’t just be, 'boys don’t play with treehouses,' right?

This is what the story sounds like to someone hearing it for the first time. So, it’s very interesting to think about how people would naturally fill the gaps in Leo’s story - what assumptions they’d make.

What also strikes me is that Leo doesn’t tell them about how Adam defended him from bullies as a kid. That could have easily changed how they saw Adam, showing him in a different light. Was Leo too ashamed to mention it? Ashamed of being bullied in school?

I can’t help but feel there’s more to it. The flashback doesn’t explain why Leo was bullied, but from a queer person's perspective, it’s easy to imagine it was because Leo was seen as queer, weird, or ‘a sissy.’ We know he liked reading - and I think some people around here can relate to being picked on for being the queer, weird bookworm.

But maybe it went even deeper. Maybe Leo was bullied because people suspected he had a crush on Adam. Maybe that’s why they beat him up. In my headcanon, the bullies’ attack on Leo had a homophobic background.

But then, Adam came to his rescue.

Maybe, all of this happened on the same day. They’re wearing the same clothes, after all. They already were best friends - but then Adam heard the bullies taunting Leo, ridiculing him for being gay, for having a crush on Adam. Of course, Adam stepped in. Later, Leo led Adam to the treehouse, his safe space where he could show him that he cared, that he knew because he saw what was going on, and that he was there for him, even if he didn’t know how to handle it. Leo was watching over Adam. Showing rather than telling him, that he would never abandon Adam, because he meant so much to him.

It was at the treehouse that they kissed for the first time.

And then, Roland showed up.

Maybe Roland didn’t see the whole picture. But he saw enough to piece it together. And you know he’s the kind of toxic father who’d go like, ‘no son of mine is going to grow up to be a—’

...but all of that is left unsaid. Words unspoken.

Both - so far - by the series itself and by Leo in that scene.

Just listening to what Leo says in the scene, though... it’s hard not to feel that he and Adam were on the verge of something more when they were teenagers. It’s something that feels strongly implied, something - at least I, as the queer kid in school with a crush on my best friend - can’t help but read into his words.

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

My byler headcanons

Both are HUGE lotr fans (hehe). Will more, but mike would fight you on it.

Both are pretty good at maths and are science nerds

Will has cowritten a dnd campaign with mike at least once. They argued over plot holes and minor details. Maybe to make it funnier they didn't tell dustin and lucas that will actually knew all the plot (cause he helped create it), just revealed towards the end that will the wise had been secretly a spy to the big bad all along (since the beginning, will had been leaving little clues. "Guys we shouldn't do that", *knows things it doesn't really make sense for him to know*, *some of his decisions ended up harming them, oops*). The gasps and feelings of betrayal were genuine.

More of the party than byler, but they all definitely went into the woods behind will's house with plastic swords and pretended to fight. Cmon they 100% did. Bonus if while wearing costumes. Maybe they even recorded themselves if they got ahold of a camera (if Jonathan had one at that point). I keep imagining the party as babies recording themselves. Will is the one carrying the camera (he's the most careful), you have mike saying "today is tuesday, third of June of 1980, and we are going on an adventure" or smth to the camera (which is pretty wobbly), etc. Mike is the one that kept the recordings in his basement. He doesn't watch them, but he can't bring himself to throw them out.

About lotr, again. Will likes Aragorn but he isn't like, obsessed, meanwhile Mike doesn't know if he wants to BE Aragorn or be WITH him.

Mike loves star wars. Will doesn't particularly care about it (he doesn't dislike it, it's more, he enjoys it, he finds it entertaining, but he also thinks it's forgettable).

Will is a film snob, Mike is a book snob.

"Smalltown boy when Mike gets vecna'd" "should I stay or should I go when Mike gets vecna'd" wrong. Sweet Child O' Mine as mike's song when he gets vecnad. It's so byler from mike's pov.

"Gawain is the best knight out of the round table" "I have never in my life heard such an incorrect opinion".

Eachother's moms absolutely love them.

They hung out at castle byers, a lot. Also mike’s basement.

Mike never apologized for the "it's not my fault you don't like girls", mostly cause 1) he didn't mean it like that, and didn't think will took it that way and 2) when his parents get mad (at each other or at his sisters and him) they never apologize afterwards, just ignore it. That's what mike's used to. Will kinda wishes he did apologise, but he also doesn't want to bring it up again. At least before they started dating. That doesn’t take away from the fact that he hurt him, but he know fully understands he didn’t mean it like that.

Mike is also a star trek fan, will has watched some episodes out of pure love, cause he finds it SO boring.

Mike has read SO many epic poems and medieval fantasy novels it's insane.

So many sleepovers as kids, specially when Lonnie was still around. Will slept at the wheeler's once a week at LEAST.

Notice how will barely rides his bike after s1? Mike rides, and will sits behind.

Will is so intrigued about mike's relationship with nancy, and so is mike about will's with jonathan. "You guys don't even act like brothers but like friends!!" "What do you mean you don't know what books Nancy reads? She doesn't give you recommendations and talks with you about them?"

Jonathan babysat mike, 100%. When his family had to go and he was younger, they called Jonathan to babysit and paid him like 10 dollars (they called Jonathan cause they knew he was a responsible kid, and he was also Joyce's son so way better than a stranger). Will has also 100% babysat holly. Same reasons as Jonathan, responsible and familiar,

Nancy is like, intimidated by Will, a little. Listen, he's her boyfriend's beloved brother so she really wants him to like her + she just can't figure him out. Between will's quiet nature and all that happened regarding the upside down and him that they still have no idea about (how did will survive so long? What happened to him there (he never talks about it)? How did he communicate with the lights? Why him?) he's just an enigma to her. Will on the other hand is pretty comfortable around her, he has known her most of his life and thinks she's pretty cool. When Nancy saw will knew how to use a gun she thought she found an opportunity to bond with him and began talking to him a little. Will was wobbly out of lack of practice, "keep your aim straighter and firmer" “...okay". Nancy's nervousness around Will was taken from this fic Imao.

Jonathan and Mike have a pretty stable relationship. No, Jonathan doesn't hate mike, he just looks at him and sees a little kid trying to act older that his age and hopes he stops soon. Mike trusts Jonathan so much, like, they could be in a life or death situation but as long as Jonathan is there he feels safer, Jonathan will handle it, there's nothing to worry about. Mike also hates Steve. When he found out Jonathan beat him up once (and won!) his respect for him multiplied four times.

Will learnt morse code after s1, because he was afraid he would get kidnapped again. If that was the case, his mom wouldn't need to write the alphabet on the wall, he would be able to properly communicate through the lights with morse code. Mike doesn't know this.

Will was NOT thrilled about living with el after s3 at first Imao. He grew to like her but the first weeks were rough. He didn't hate her, not at all, he just didn't really know her much and was jealous of her (and her relationship with Mike).

"What if they are talking about me right now?" Mike, about Will and El, after they moved to cali. They are not talking about him.

Max hangs out with Will in his room, Mike really doesn't get it.

Will likes cuddles, and Mike is super clingy.

Robin enjoys annoying Mike so much she finds it so funny. Mike reminds her a lot of Nancy, and he has got such a judgy stare, she loves to provoke him. She thinks he's a nice kid, a little nervous, with eyes she can sometimes recognize (since she wore them too). She asks Nancy about him, Nancy finds herself unable to answer specific questions due to lack of knowledge, and frowns and presses her lips together. Robin notices similar gestures between both siblings, and the same nail biting habit. He seems a bit sad, and Robin doesn't know what to do with that.

With Will she vibes, she feels a bit bad for him after learning about all that happened (Will can tell, he hates it) and he also reminds her a bit of herself, she was quieter in high school, more drawn to herself. Sure, she wasn't fighting monsters neither did she have more than 1 friend but still, something felt familiar (eventually she learnt another similitude they had, she began talking about girls and such around Will without fear. Will didn't know how to react at first, robin did it on purpose, to show him "see, l'm talking normally, you can aswell, I'm not saying anything wrong". Will likes her. She was energetic and funny and a bit strange, it felt weird to find someone else, and he could see something closed in her eves every once in a while, a secret, a locked door. Will decided they were more alike that he thought). They bonded over cinema and shared movie and music recs. She puts her arm around his shoulders a lot.

Horrible runners, both of them. They can run in life or death situations, but don't ask them to run in a race cause they'Il die after 3 steps.

All the party falls asleep on each other since forever, including mike and will.

No pet names, unless you include "dude"

They were each other's first kiss, and I really do believe that.

Will definitely makes fun of Mike for not smiling in photos.

Mike never calls Will William, but Will does call him Michael sometimes (he's the only out out of the party allowed to because Mike hates it, however Will told him years ago that he like the way Michael sounded like, so Mike relented)

As kids, their tables were next to the other's in class, if they weren't allowed to be in pairs, it slowly became a game of "how closer we can slowly get our tables to be before the teacher notices".

(Baby byler) I think that as far as mike's friends go, Will might be Ted's favorite. Sure, he makes subtle homophobic comments (you see Michael, see what happens) but like, Will is a quiet, clean kid who can take his cue to leave (unlike Dustin) and who, instead of making mike more agitated (he was definitely a kid with lots of energy), manages to somehow calm him down. Hell, he barely even notices he's home anymore, and that's if he is, sometimes they're out in the woods or god knows where. Finally some quiet.

[thelovetheystole]

Thought I would list some of the things (clues) the show has revealed about John so far, as he is supposed to have plenty of secrets...

Quotes are not verbatim.

• He was born in 1988, making him two years younger than Robert and Andy and six years older than Victoria. (The actor however was born in 1982.)

• He likes the saying 'Never forgive, never forget' as revealed in his very first episode

• 'Barbara and I go way back' (quote from Eric about John's mum with a bit of innuendo?)

• He grew up locally, and is a capable farmhand

• He always assumed he had siblings 'out there', but just didn't care (again, he grew up locally and was right between Robert/Andy and Vic in age, his mum used to be a teacher in Hotten)

• He did mention that he thinks he might have heard of Robert, specifically

• He claims to not be interested in the Sugden family, and was seemingly especially un-interested in Sarah, as her dad was adopted, even though he did say sorry to her later

• But he did look intently (when Vic wasn't there) at the Sugden family photo, which had Jack, Sarah and all three kids in it

• He had a stepdad growing up, who apparently did care about him, so no reason to 'feel sorry for him'

• Barbara Ann's (his mum) married name looks like it started with a C or a G, like Conne(o)r, Chase, Cro(a)ft, Grant or Gray?

• He said his mum wrote Jack a letter about him once when he was young, but Jack never replied

• Called Robert some random/stranger 'that I happen to share dna with'

• Kept army tags that say 'Aidan Moore' in a box he doesn't want people to see

• 'I know more than you think' (to Aaron when he denied John knowing anything about him or something to that effect)

• Wears a St. Christopher necklace

• According to an interview with Oliver, John has spent 12 years in the army, It's unclear which 12 years

• Having been in the village for six month, he has asked zero questions about anything Sugden related

• He was a medic in the army

• He was the last person to see Nate before he supposedly left the village

• He looked like he might have had something in his van after the fire that he didn't want anyone to see

• Refused to be checked at the hospital, even though he was coughing his lungs up after the fire

• Has two medals, which appear to be the Operational Service Medal For Afghanistan and the Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022), but there is apparently supposed to be a third one in this set?

• Aidan Moore was not only his best friend, as he lied to Victoria, but a man he loved and was secretly involved with. John apparently couldn't save him in Afghanistan...

• In an interview Mike P (Ross) did around the time they filmed the aftermath of Christmas, he said John has a 'sinister military background', whatever that means...

• He's not the brightest, as he apparently failed to realize that Aaron and the man he married twice shared a deep connection and, you know, a life 🤷‍♀️

• Seemed very hateful about Robert, saying he had only himself to blame for 'losing his temper' and now can't be in Vic or Aaron's life - but John can

• Was however happy to 'hold Aaron's jacket' if he felt like beating up Tom King

• He very much did not like being called an 'informant' by the PC, even though he did call the police and tell them about the illegal fight in Moira's barn

• He likes telling other people to be honest and thruthful, but has yet to tell Aaron he was the one who called the police that day

• Said four walls and a roof are like a 'prison' to him, and said about Aidan in Afghanistan; 'he only wanted to serve his time'

• He always goes camping in December on Aidan's birthday

• Seemed rather desperate for Aaron to say 'I love you' in the woods after making a show of throwing his dead ex's army tags in the woods... (Army tags that in reality would go to next of kin I believe?)

• Knows how to clean up a murder scene and dispose of a body, and claims that's what love looks like...

[humanelemental]

Different anon, but yes to everything you've said! I'm still so disappointed we got absolutely nothing in the flashback. Like not confirming Rio as the other parent and not getting to at least see the happier times between them (this could have easily been a quick montage). I think this is where 95% of my issues with the Agathario storyline fall. Without Kathryn and Aubrey's incredible chemistry, this pairing would have fallen completely flat. And no comment on Billy lol Such a bland character.

This got away from me so I’m tucking it under the cut.

Yes! That’s why Jac saying all of this post show high key pisses me off! Because from where were we supposed to draw these conclusions that she supposedly wanted to be very obvious. Surely it wasn’t the script. Surely it wasn’t the cut content. Surely it wasn’t how the character’s are written with each other.

For God’s sake, Agatha says Rio’s name one time and it’s not even to her. I was starting to wonder if she even knew her by that name. There’s no terms of endearment, not even angry name calling. She never addresses her at all. And to me that’s such a frustrating detail! Like this is your ex wife? Agatha has a pet name for everyone, good or ill. But nothing for Rio?

Like we had that scene in episode four, which to this day will go down as the most longing I’ve ever scene. And not even a whisper of baby? Sweetheart? Honey? Like Agatha was locked in and fucking cradling the mother of her child and nothing? Same with episode 8. Rio pushes Agatha to the point that after their meeting she crashes out on the road and we don’t even get a “thats enough Rio!” They’re talking about Rio taking their dead son’s soul and we get no reference to this not just being an ex or a former friend but her fucking wife??? Not even a, “you killed our SON!!!” Which wouldn’t have been accurate but it would have fit with what is clearly Agatha’s narrative.

Also also, if we’re crashing out anyway and I’m telling the love of my very long life that she only brings me pain and I never want to see her again? I’m absolutely throwing it in her face that she left me with our son’s cold dead corpse to bury alone with my bare hands in the fucking woods. And, I hate to say it, I think Agatha might be pettier than me. So there’s no way she’s letting that shit go. You cannot convince me that this show wasn’t just being written off the cuff. There are too many moments that just fall flat in really weird ways for this to have been the vision from the beginning.

Also^3 what the fuck was with them giving us no information about the Darkhold, how Agatha got it for real, when she got it, why ect. I mean we can assume, God I’m tired of that, that she was trying to bring Nicky back based on how she acted with Wanda. But beyond that, we have no information on this very pivotal part of her history. And it kept getting brought up, so I hoped we would see something on it.

I completely agree that Kathryn and Aubrey, and the other talented actors and actresses, carried this show in spite of the script. So much of both of their characters come from their physical acting it’s insane. Like can you imagine how bland Rio would be if it wasn’t Aubrey’s adorably unhinged self playing her? Girl said she was eating flowers on set. Like ma’am that’s in zero shots of the final show. She was just out there literally chewing on the scenery. And Kathryn can say more with an expression than most soliloquies. Plus she so consistent with how she physically plays Agatha it’s nuts. Like yes on set for AAA is understandable, but she brought the same mannerisms from WV. Like the finger thing she always does. It’s so crazy impressive.

As a final note, I really liked teen when he was a kind of goofy/sarcastic sidekick that kind of gave off the same vaguely unhinged vibes that Agatha and Rio give. Like the parts where he’s helping blackmail Jen only to turn around an hour later and offer her stale party favors? Peak Teen for me. Also I want to clarify I mean no hate whatsoever to Joe Locke. He’s brilliant and has a wonderful future as an actor ahead of him. I just hated that we lost half the show to him.