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transkingoryx · 4 years ago

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a calming presence

here’s my fic for the kotlc 2021 collab (@kotlc2021collab)!

pairing: marellinh

trigger warnings: alden being a bitch about marella’s pyrokinesis

wordcount: 2476

notes: many thanks to my beta reader, Vin @zoyas-kefta! without her excellent edits and advice, this fic would have been a complete disaster.

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Marella pulled the hood of her cloak up, moving swiftly but unobtrusively through Atlantis. She scanned the crowded streets for any sign of the Neverseen.

A black cloak flashed at the edge of her vision, and she whirled around. She recognized the pale skin and borderline ostentatious jewelry that matched her memory of Vespera. The Ancient elf strode with a confidence that didn’t match her frail frame, drawing stares and whispers from the other pedestrians.

At the sight of her, Marella’s fire blazed higher inside of her, the flames just begging to be unleashed on the elf who had given Biana her scars, kidnapped and tortured Sophie’s human parents, and created Nightfall. But Marella kept herself in check, promising herself that there’d be plenty of time for rage when Vespera was locked away in Nightfall or wherever the Black Swan’s prison facility was.

She trailed the black-cloaked figure for two city blocks, until an elf with messy blonde hair and sky blue eyes stepped out of the crowd to meet Vespera. Fintan. He’d escaped from his prison a few months prior, and he’d wasted no time returning to his wicked ways with the Neverseen.

She was so focused on Vespera, that she only noticed the fire when people started screaming.

The neon-yellow flames flared up around the two elves, and Marella broke into a sprint, discarding her red cape as she ran. She hurdled obstacles and shoved civilians out of the way as she sprinted full-tilt towards the flickering cylinder of Everblaze mixed with regular flame taking up the center of the square.

Without stopping, she flung herself right through the wall of fire just in time to catch Vespera handing Fintan a marble-sized crystal orb. A cache! Where did she get one?

Marella hurled a ball of fire at Vespera, then grabbed for the cache, sending Vespera’s cloak up in flames. Her hands ignited as she snatched the glass sphere from a shocked Fintan. He responded in kind with his own inferno, the heat of Everblaze meeting her own orange-red flames.

“Put out the Everblaze, Fintan!” she shouted, finding her voice. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will if I have to!”

Her former teacher simply laughed derisively. “As if you could ever get close enough. I am the most powerful Pyrokinetic the Lost Cities have ever seen, and you haven’t even been training for a year.” His blue eyes danced with a mad gleam.

Despite the heat surrounding them, Marella fought back a shiver. Fintan never failed to unnerve her, even when he was cooperating with the Black Swan. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. It was true that she was relatively untrained, but the Black Swan’s wrinkly leader had said she had the strongest Pyrokinesis he’d ever seen.

Hopefully she could utilize that power now.

She opened her mind to the fire around her, the familiar, normal fire, and pushed past it, wrapping her control around the Everblaze that was rapidly turning everything around it to cinders. She pulled hard on it, and the walls surrounding them vanished, seemingly sucked into the ball of Everblaze she now held aloft in her hand.

Huh. So that’s why it’s called the fire of the sun on earth. Marella felt like she was holding the entire sun in her hand, the energy from it surging through her body. The fire wanted nothing more than to turn the city to ashes, engulf the entire world inside its destructive power. But Marella wouldn’t let it. She focused as hard as she could, and the flames slowly shrunk smaller and smaller, glowing brighter and brighter. Finally, she closed her fist over the Everblaze, extinguishing it.

Fintan looked faintly disappointed, but shook his head, raising a crystal and a bottle of starlight. He glittered away through the light of whichever unmapped star he was using. Marella spun around to see Vespera step into her own path of light and vanish.

Marella let out a breath she didn’t quite realize she’d been holding, and reached out with her mind to the remaining fires. With barely a thought, they shrunk down to nothing.

She was suddenly very aware of the staring elves that had crowded around the battle, if it could be called that.

Whispers and mutters tore through the crowd.

“The Redek girl, a Pyrokinetic-”

“Unstable, like the rest of them-”

“Did the Council know about this?”

Shoot. The Council. Marella didn’t know the exact terms of the contract that allowed her to train in Pyrokinesis, but she was pretty sure that “publicly revealing her power in a showdown with the Neverseen” wasn’t part of it.

With shaking hands, she fumbled for her home crystal, until she remembered she couldn’t light leap in Atlantis. Marella shoved the cache deep into her tunic pocket, kept her head down, and practically ran as far from the site of the confrontation as she could.

She left the city as fast as possible, leaping back home as soon as she could and rushing immediately to her room. She gasped a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She felt light-headed. I can’t believe I just revealed my Pyrokinesis to all of Atlantis. Soon all of the Lost Cities will know and then any second now the Council will be knocking on my door and my mom’s going to panic and my dad’s going to have to deal with this, I have to calm down-

Unsurprisingly, the thought didn’t help her calm down at all.

Marella shut herself inside her closet and curled in on herself, trying to steady her breathing and blink back the tears prickling behind her eyelids. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that, but she had no intention of coming out.

Footsteps sounded through the hallway and into her room, too light to be her dad and too even to be her mom. Probably one of her friends, then. Marella held her breath as though playing hide and seek, hoping that whoever it was, they would go away soon. She soon realized that her plan wasn’t going to work as the twinge of oxygen deprivation set in.

Marella gave in, and gulped down greedy lungfuls of air. She heard an amused hum from outside of her closet.

“May I come in?” Her girlfriend’s soft voice asked. Marella nodded, then realized Linh couldn’t see her. Her cheeks reddened, and she muttered a quick “yes.”

Linh opened the door, and Marella buried her tearstained face in her arms.

“Hi,” she said, her voice muffled.

“Hi there,” Linh replied. “I heard about your ability reveal, and I brought ripplefluffs. I know they’re your favorite.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” Marella sighed, uncurling her arms and legs and standing up to squeeze the other girl’s hand. Linh smiled warmly, but the look did little to calm Marella’s nerves.

“Love you too,” she said, placing an arm around Marella’s shoulder and steering her to one of the many balconies that overlooked the courtyard.

The two settled into the soft chairs on the balcony and slowly worked their way through the large basket of ripplefluffs.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Linh asked, after about a half-hour spent in silence. Marella hesitated, then shook her head. “Do you want a distraction?” A nod this time. “Okay… Keefe and Sophie came over this morning, before the news went out, and they tried to bake desserts for Tam and Biana. It went about as well as you’d expect.” Marella giggled. “I swear, the kitchen was a disaster by the time I finally had enough and kicked them both out. I ended up having to walk them through the steps to make custard bursts, and only because they insisted on making the food themselves. You know how Keefe and Tam have their date tonight? Well, Biana dragged Tam out shopping to give him a makeover, and Sophie insisted on Keefe bringing baked goods. I think it’s revenge for how much unasked-for advice Tam and Keefe gave Sophie and Biana on their first date.”

Marella laughed. “Honestly, when will those four learn? At this point, it’s become a competition to see which couple can out-wingman the other!” The doorbell rang, and Linh put a hand out to stop Marella getting up.

“Here, I’ll get it.” She returned a few minutes later with a scroll. “It’s a summons for an assembly in… Tribunal Hall.” Marella clutched the armrests of her seat, her hands growing uncomfortably warm.

“They’re holding a Tribunal for me?” she asked, trying not to panic.

“They’re actually just trying to explain everything,” Linh clarified. “They’ll probably explain their reasoning for allowing you to have your ability without being banished, and for keeping it a secret as well.”

“Oh.” Marella relaxed a little bit, though she was still nervous. “When is it?”

Linh shifted a little bit. “In three hours.” Upon seeing Marella’s reaction, she backpedaled. “Don’t worry; I’m sure everything will be fine!”

“You don’t know that,” Marella groaned, hiding her face in her hands again.

“Yes, I do. I know that I won’t let them banish you, even if it means I get banished again,” Linh promised.

Marella looked up at her with an expression that probably looked pathetically smitten. “You really mean that?”

“Of course I do,” Linh answered with a confident grin. “We’re both going to come out of this absolutely fine.” She held Marella close in a hug.

“We’re going to be fine,” Marella echoed, but it felt like less of a promise to Linh than a promise to herself.

“Absolutely right. Now, let’s go get ready.”

Marella fidgeted with her ruby-red dress in the front row of Tribunal Hall. The seats behind her were packed with elves. It seemed like the entire population of the Lost Cities had come to watch, but maybe that was just her nerves.

Sophie sent her a reassuring smile from where she sat, looking elegant in a dark red tunic with black leggings and black blazer, arm in arm with Biana.

She tried to smile back, but it probably looked more like a grimace. Linh nudged her arm.

“We’re going to be fine,” she whispered. Marella nodded, entirely unconvinced, but Linh being there calmed her more than a thousand comforting words ever could.

The buzz of chatter in the room gradually died down as the Council took their seats, flanked by a dozen goblin bodyguards.

“We are here today to discuss the ability of Marella Adene Redek,” Emery stated. “To clarify for anyone who the news has not reached yet, Miss Redek recently manifested as a Pyrokinetic, an ability that, as I’m sure you all know, is banned due to several tragic incidents involving the notoriously volatile and unstable ability. We did not exile her, and allowed her to train in the power at the urging of the Black Swan and Sophie Foster.” That was news to Marella. She supposed it made sense that Sophie would stand up for Marella’s right to train in her ability, but she was still surprised that Sophie had found the time to do it, between all the assignments and missions and cryptic notes from the Black Swan.

“We kept this secret from the public because we wanted Miss Redek and her family to have privacy, and for the sake of her mother. I assume you all know about Caprise Redek’s injury?” The crowd murmured assent.

“However, in an incident earlier today that involved several members of the Neverseen, Marella was forced to reveal her Pyrokinesis to Atlantis. I am sure that many of you have opinions about this.”

Alden Vacker stood up. “I would like to make it known that I do not approve of allowing an unstable girl with an unstable ability to train in said ability. The rules banning Pyrokinesis were made for a reason, correct?”

“The rules banning Pyrokinesis were made and signed into effect during a more desperate time, with tragedies involving Pyrokinetics happening left and right,” Councillor Bronte called out.

“That does not change the fact that Marella has been left unchecked with this ability solely because a group of rebels wanted her to be,” Alden argued. Biana glared at him from across the room. If looks could kill…

“Marella is one of the most brilliant, kind, and powerful elves in the Lost Cities,” Linh said abruptly. “There is no reason to judge her based on her ability and not her compassion and bravery. Ask anyone in Atlantis, they all saw her running straight into that fire to stop Fintan today, without a thought for her own safety.”

“Yeah,” Biana stood up. “There’s no reason to worry, Dad.”

“Thank you, Miss Linh and Lady Biana,” Councillor Emery nodded.

“Miss Redek has not had any Pyrokinesis-related incidents since she manifested. We have been observing her closely, and she is neither unstable nor unreliable,” Bronte said firmly, cementing the decision.

Marella released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, and Linh squeezed her hand reassuringly. They weren’t out of the woods yet, though. The gathered elves were murmuring disapprovingly, and she heard someone call out.

“Maybe she hasn’t yet! But who knows what will happen?” Marella craned her neck to look for the speaker, but she couldn’t pick them out of the crowd.

“We will not be changing our decision on allowing Marella to train in her ability,” Councillor Oralie spoke up. “This is final. Remember, we did not call you here for you to question our choices, but to give you the facts.”

“And the facts have been given,” Emery said. “You are all dismissed. Do not harass Miss Redek because of her ability, and continue to treat her the same as you did before you knew she manifested.”

Linh stood up, Marella trailing behind her, and they filed out of the building surrounded by their friends, and the rest of the crowd.

“I can’t believe they defended me,” Marella said excitedly. “I mean, I was pretty sure, but you never know.” “I’m not surprised.” Sophie smiled. “The Council can make good decisions from time to time, you know.”

“By the way, thank you for what you said back there,” Marella addressed both Linh and Biana.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’ve been wanting to say that to my dad for ages!” Biana grinned.

Linh said nothing, but pulled Marella into a hug. “Of course, love.” Biana and Sophie leaped away, and suddenly it was just the two of them.

“Let’s go back,” Marella said suddenly. “We can steal some of those cupcakes Keefe was making.”

“I think that after today, no one is going to deny either of us cupcakes,” Linh laughed.

She held a crystal to the last rays of the sunset, and the two of them stepped into the light.

#marellinh #marella redek #kotlc marella #kotlc linh #linh song #kotlc marellinh #kotlc 2021 collab #2021 kotlc collab #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc fic #kotlc fanfiction #kotlc fanfic #arin writes #emotional hurt/comfort #fluff

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livia-dovehallow · 4 years ago

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Could you do for your celebration something with little Eugenia Lightwood maybe when Sophideon found out they were expecting, or something cute with her when she was a lil baby pleaseeee

This ended up being longer than I anticipated... but hopefully that’s not a bad thing! Please enjoy this Sophideon + their daughters fluff <3

Girl Dad - Sophideon (ft. Barbara & Eugenia)

Characters: Gideon Lightwood, Sophie Collins, Barbara Lightwood, Eugenia Lightwood, Gabriel Lightwood

Time: 1881-1882, London, England

“Barbara Margaret Lightwood!” Sophie barked from the doorway. Her one-year-old daughter froze in her bassinet, her fruit-filled fists leaking through her fingers. She stared back at her mother with wide brown eyes and an angry scowl. “Do not throw that peach.”

In defiance, Barbara launched the peach across the table where it landed in Sophie’s cup of tea. Barbara began to cry, then, when she went to put her fist in her mouth and found that her peach was no longer there. Sophie forced herself to calm down. She pinched the bridge of her nose and inhaled deeply.

“Whoa,” came a deep voice behind her. “What happened here?”

Gideon stepped forward and plated a sweet kiss on Sophie’s cheek before moving toward their daughter. Barbara raised her arms toward her father; her sticky fingers latched on to his shirt the moment he lifted her. Her small face was drenched in tears. “She is having a morning,” answered Sophie with an aggravated sigh. “I can’t possibly take it today. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Perhaps I need more sleep.”

Gideon bounced Barbara in his arms and cooed soothingly. The little girl hiccuped and sniffed all over his shirt, but she had begun to calm down with her father’s comfort. Gideon looked over at Sophie as he bounced her, his eyebrows furrowed. “Did you not sleep well last night, love?” he asked. “You snored like a sailor so I thought you’d slept quite well.”

Sophie scowled. “I do not snore.”

“As if,” Gideon laughed boisterously. This made Barbara giggle. “I love you Soph, but you snore horrendously on occasion. Especially when you were—“ he paused, a thought visibly occurring to him. “When you were pregnant.”

Sophie blinked at him in shock. “I’m certainly not pregnant,” she stated, though she was unsure. Was she? It was not out of the realm of possibility. They’d discussed having another child plenty—Barbara was certainly lonely. The only other children in the family besides her were Charles and Jesse, but Charles did not like to play with Barbara and Tatiana had adamantly refused to let her son around any of his cousins or uncles. “Right?” she added, with a questioning look at her husband.

Gideon recovered from his pondering at his daughter’s whimper. He gently patted her back while bouncing her as he looked at Sophie. “It’s possible,” he wondered aloud. “We haven’t exactly been avoiding another pregnancy as of late.”

“Oh dear,” Sophie breathed. She leaned against the frame of the doorway and buried her face in her hands. “I’ve been snapping at Barbara all morning and it isn’t her fault.”

Footsteps grew closer to her. Sophie glanced up through her fingers and found her daughter’s small face peering back. Gideon said nothing, but smiled gently. Sophie moved her hands to cup Barbara’s face and kissed her head. “Mummy’s very sorry for getting angry with you,” she told her. “Will you please forgive me?”

Barbara smiled and nodded, her tears dry on her face. Sophie wiped them off with a gentle brush of her thumb. “I love you so much, my precious girl,” she said gently. Barbara smiled bigger.

“How about I ring my brother and see if he’s willing to watch Barbara for a bit? We can see the Brothers and find out if you’re pregnant or ill.” Gideon turned his body so he could see them both, his wife and daughter. “I hardly think he would say no. Look at her little face.”

Barbara giggled and patted her still-sticky fingers on her father’s shirt. Sophie couldn’t help but smile back. “Are you sure?” she asked him, wary of making a fuss about something that may turn out to be nothing after all.

Gideon nodded. “I’m sure,” he stated confidently. “Gabriel adores Barbara. I truly don’t think he requires any reason to see her.”

Barbara’s eyes lit up. “Uncle Gabe!”

Sophie laughed at Gideon’s betrayed expression.

“Barbara!” Gabriel called from the top of the stairs the moment they walked through the doors of the Institute. Sophie watched with amusement as Gabriel launched himself down the steps and came to a screeching halt before his brother, who he ignored in favor of the small child in his arms.

Barbara squealed with glee and reached out for her uncle, who took her gladly. He squeezed her tight, a bright smile across his face. Sophie had to admit it was quite nice to see Gabriel genuinely happy these days. “I suppose this means you wouldn’t mind looking after her for a few hours?” Sophie questioned. Gabriel glanced up at her. “Gideon and I must drop into the Silent City for a bit and we’d prefer to keep Barbara here where she feels more comfortable.”

Gabriel’s expression fell a bit, his eyebrows furrowing just like his brother’s did. “The Silent City?” he repeated, ignoring Barbara’s grip on his hair. “Is something wrong?”

Gideon shook his head. “Not at all,” he said to his brother calmly. “Just some preemptive health check. We shouldn’t be too long.”

“All right,” Gabriel said with a suspicious look. He turned back to Barbara and his smile returned. “Of course I don’t mind looking after her.”

Sophie felt relieved. “Thank you,” she told him, and gripped his arm. “I know it’s short notice so I am thankful.”

Gabriel smiled. “We’re family.”

The Silent City always spooked Sophie. She had not grown up Nephilim so she’d never had a need to become used to Silent Brothers, let alone ever been permitted to visit the Silent City prior to her Ascension.

Come to think of it, Sophie had never been to the Silent City until she fell pregnant with Barbara. Gideon had insisted from the moment she woke up vomiting.

Now, she ventured into the city from its Highgate entrance hand in hand with Gideon. She still felt unnerved by the silence but was no longer afraid. Jem was here and she was not afraid of Jem.

Gideon and Sophia Lightwood, rang a monotonous voice in her mind. Sophie peered steadfastly into the hazy darkness. A cloaked figure approached them: Brother Enoch.

“Brother Enoch,” Gideon replied politely with a bow of his head. “We apologize for the sudden visit, but we had a matter of importance we seek assistance with.”

What is the matter of importance? Brother Enoch replied. Sophie lifted her chin.

“There is a possibility that I may be with child,” she explained evenly. Gideon squeezed her hand. “We are not certain, however. We’ve come to seek an answer.”

I see there is something, said Brother Enoch. A further examination is required to determine your answer.

Sophie swallowed a lump of anticipation and follow the Brother further into the Silent City. A gentle hum filled the otherwise soundless corridors—even their footsteps made no sound despite not bearing Soundless runes. Gideon’s hand on the small of her back reassured her, however, and calmed her nerves.

The group entered a small, dimly lit room. In the center was a single large stone, meant to serve as an observation seat. Sophie settled herself in and breathed slowly.

Have you experience any unusual ailments similar to those of your first pregnancy, Mrs. Lightwood?

“Irritability,” Sophie admitted mournfully.

“Snoring,” added Gideon thoughtfully. Sophie scowled at him.

“Other than that,” Sophie continued, “not a thing that has been too noticeable.”

Brother Enoch did not respond but continued his movements; slow and precise, in the air over Sophie. She closed her eyes and laid back. It wouldn’t take long for Enoch to come to a conclusion, but she was so tired.

I am impressed you were able to detect this so early, said Brother Enoch, removing his hands and returning them to his front. You are, in fact, with child, Mrs. Lightwood. I suspect you are only six to eight weeks into your pregnancy.

Gideon let out a sudden whoop of happiness and Sophie smiled brightly. “Truly?” she wondered aloud.

Yes, I am certain, answered Brother Enoch. Congratulations to you both. It is too early to tell if you are having a son or a daughter, however. If you’d like, you may come back in several weeks time to learn.

Sophie nodded. “It’s all right,” she said, happiness flooding her body. She turned to Gideon, who looked so happy he may cry. “Son or daughter, it doesn’t matter. Right?”

“Right,” Gideon confirmed, his voice strained from trying to remain calm. He looked up to Enoch. “Thank you, Brother Enoch. This is truly wonderful news.”

**Ten Months Later**

“Genia,” Gideon cooed desperately at the infant screaming in his arms. “Hush, darling, you’re all right.”

“Is Genie sad?” Barbara questioned. She stood at Gideon’s side, her head barely reaching the tops of his knees. She’d been glued to her sister’s side from the moment she met her, curious to see this new member of the family who cried so much.

Gideon smiled despite his growing fatigue. “Babies cry for many reasons,” he told his firstborn. “Right now, she is crying because she is tired.”

“So why does she not go to sleep then?”

Gideon chuckled, still bouncing his newborn daughter. Eugenia appeared to have been born with lungs of steel. “She needs to learn how to that, Babs. That’s why Mum and I take turns holding her at night; so she can feel safe and happy enough to sleep.”

Barbara nodded. She was in her own nightgown preparing to sleep when she heard her sister’s cries and followed Gideon into the nursery. Her dark hair was tied up to keep her cool in the summer heat and it made her look so much like Sophie. “Don’t cry Genie,” she said after a moment, her small face gentle and kind. “Papa says we are safe.”

Gideon knelt down beside her and kissed her head. “That is right,” he said to her. Barbara leaned closer to her baby sister and kissed her cheek, wet with tears. Eugenia began to calm, her screams settling into fading whimpers. Barbara smiled brightly.

“I did it, Papa!” she exclaimed quietly and with wide brown eyes.

“Yes, you did,” came Sophie’s voice. She strode into the nursery and smiled, tired. “You are a wonderful sister, my darling, but it is also time for you to go to sleep.”

Barbara nodded and skipped to her mother’s side. “Goodnight, Papa! Goodnight, Genie!”

Gideon blew her a kiss. “Sleep well, all right? Listen to your mum.”

Sophie lifted Barbara into her arms and hugged her close. Barbara rested her little head on her mother’s shoulder. “I love you,” Sophie said to Gideon.

Gideon stood, Eugenia beginning to finally fall asleep in his arms. He looked at all three of them, his girls, and felt more at peace than ever before in his life. This was his family; his to love, his to protect, and his to love him in return.

“I love you, too,” he whispered. “All of you.”

Thanks for your request! I had so many ideas that I had to force myself to pick small pieces of each to create flashes of memories. I might expand more on all these wonderful prompts!

Join the celebration! It’s my birthday!

#maggie answers #kind anons #sophie collins #gideon lightwood #barbara lightwood #eugenia lightwood #gabriel lightwood #the last hours #tsc #maggie's birthday celebration

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years ago

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TWDG: The Final Season | Character Discussion | 2/2

Part 1 | Part 2

[Brody and the basement scene]

“I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You're gonna be okay, I promise. Goddamn it, help! Why did you say that, Brody? I...I told you not to say it. Please be okay...”

Okay... here’s where the glass shatters, Marlon becomes the episode’s antagonist, and I wish there was an option to just stay in bed.

Up to this point, Marlon’s been sincerely kind, stubborn, sometimes a little agitated, but overall? A decent guy. There are flaws with his leadership and not everyone likes him, but that comes with the territory, yeah?

He wants to keep Ericson safe, he saved Clementine and AJ’s lives, he loves Rosie, he’s Louis’ best friend- what reason do I have not to trust him?

I was rooting for you, Marlon. The first time I played, I was team Marlon.... until we got back to the school after the incident with Abel at the train station.

Brody’s freaking out, and Marlon comes over... and the unsettling feelings starting creeping up when he grabs Brody’s arm and she shoves him down.

The first time I played, I had the gut feeling that she wasn’t overreacting like Marlon claimed she was and this is when I started to actually doubt him. I was still rooting for him, like maybe it’s just a misunderstanding and the game wants me to question Marlon, but he’s not the real issue. Y’know... a fake out.

Then I heard his voice in the pipes and... oh boy.

Marlon, my guy, you hurt me.

But not as bad as you hurt Brody.

Okay, let’s do this- Marlon and Brody. Start from the beginning with their relationship and how we got to the basement scene.

One thing you’ll notice back when I was talking about Aasim is how quick Brody is to snap “Be nice, Aasim” after he gets agitated with Marlon. Then, we see the two of them sitting together on the steps during the “HELP AJ MAKE FRIENDS” segment. There’s no conversation you can overhear or anything, but you get the impression that Brody is supportive of Marlon.

I mean... why else would she be so quick to tell Aasim to be nice... right?

Except no, we already know that these two are so close because of what happened with the twins. But if you don’t know that, then obviously this seems like nothing.

Though interesting to point out that people assumed Marlon and Brody were a thing based on this little tidbit, an idea that a lot of people theorize about. Hell, I believe even Kent said they might’ve had something going, albeit something unhealthy. There isn’t any evidence of a previous romantic relationship in the game, just a speculation amongst players that can add some even darker tones to their problematic relationship.

So, Brody and Marlon chat before dinner, AJ comes over and apologizes, Marlon is once again super chill and sweet to AJ and it’s great. I love the way he handles AJ.

Marlon and Brody even have a little moment where they look at each other, silent conversation and all, before he accepts the apology. Hmm.

We don’t get to chat with Brody again until after the office scene if you choose to go fishing, and here’s where I start theorizing about Brody’s true reasons for wanting to go on a road trip.

Obviously, the whole Brody and Violet thing is what’s at focus for this scene- do you help Violet forgive Brody or not, but the whole time outside of that, Brody is very focused on another idea- taking a road trip.

“I've lived here my entire life. Heck, I'd say I know every inch of these woods. I'd kind of like to un-know it. “

And while you can easily look at this as “Oh, Brody’s just a dreamer, she wants to go on a road trip with all her friends and explore somewhere new. So what?” allow me to put on my tinfoil hat and look too much into it.

Brody wants to escape Marlon, the situation they got themselves into, and leave the guilt behind. Hop in a truck, leave Ericson and the place she and Marlon traded away their friends at, leave Marlon behind, and start somewhere new where she can pretend everything’s okay. Escape the anxiety and trauma.

Just to clarify, I don’t think Brody would just up and abandon everyone to go on a road trip or anything, this is just something she fantasized and talks about wistfully. Which is fair- if it’s the apocalypse, I’m going to have fantasies like that to escape and help maintain my sanity, too. It’s a way of coping.

The reason I say she wants to get away from Marlon is that he appears to be the driving force behind her being quiet. Though I do think we tend to gloss over the fact that Brody was indeed there and she could’ve come clean about the twins prior to Clementine and AJ’s arrival due to her murder.

Sure, I don’t doubt Marlon told her to be quiet, that he’d figure something out... but when his decision was to keep it a secret and move on with their lives, Brody agreed. We don’t know what it took for her to agree, though. That’s the thing.

Maybe Marlon convinced her, maybe he threatened her, and maybe she agreed all by herself.

We don’t know. She never got to tell us.

But going off of what I’ve seen of Brody and her behavior towards Marlon in Done Running, I’m more inclined to believe that she was willing to agree because, just like Marlon, she had that guilt weighing on her shoulders. She couldn’t stop what happened, and she had no choice but to go along with it.

She was there with Marlon when the twins were taken away. She was the one who broke the news to Violet and that had to be so damn hard all by itself, y’know... having to lie to her face about it. She helped Tenn, the twins’ little brother, take down Sophie’s paintings and clean out their dorm.

She and Marlon stood side by side, kept quiet and watched everyone mourn the deaths of Sophie and Minerva, all while knowing what really happened. Neither of them came clean for their own reasons.

That kind of shit will destroy your insides and drive you mad, which is what we see down in the basement. These are two broken partners in crime who are seconds away from snapping. They’re stuck, they’re overwhelmed, they can’t agree on anything, they’re arguing and getting physically upset with one another. They’ve turned into worse versions of themselves because of this.

Marlon is no longer the chill, kind, genuine guy I praised in the beginning of this, and Brody isn’t the sweet, friendly dreamer who wanted to take a road trip with her friends.

Marlon is angry, scared, and lashing out. Brody is an anxious mess.

And they kind of hate each other.

It’s horrible. It breaks my heart.

And thinking about what happened the day they got themselves into this disaster... maybe Brody did protest in the beginning before Marlon convinced her that the best thing to do was be quiet and move on, that maybe they’ll never come back and this was the only thing they could do for the best interest of the group, and she agreed.

Maybe she went into a full blown panic attack that Marlon helped her work through all while dealing with his own emotions and that, in a twisted way, brought them closer.

We don’t know.

But you’d think that if she so easily spilled everything to Clementine, that she would’ve eventually broke down and told everyone else, too... yeah? That Marlon would’ve pushed her far enough that she slipped.

To that you can argue that it was the fact that Abel and his people were back that set her off, seeing that it was happening all over again and she refused to go through that. Then, when Marlon says he has a plan, that they’ll use Clementine and AJ, that was the final nail in the coffin that sets her mind to confessing. Clementine just happened to come down and Brody took the opportunity.

The thing is... Brody had to be feeling to same way Marlon was- ashamed, guilty, heartbroken, traumatized, terrified, and so many overwhelming emotions. I think she knew what would happen if they came clean and that scared her.

She wanted to be friends with Violet again, the way they used to be- “We all used to be friends. Guess I just kinda miss that.“ and if Violet’s distanced not knowing the truth now? Imagine what she would’ve been like if Brody came clean.

Same goes for the rest of the crew.

Marlon gets a lot of the blame for what happened, which is totally fair and justified, but like I said, we gloss over that Brody was there as well. I just wish we had more context as to how they handled it at the beginning as that would give such a great insight to Marlon and his growth [or decline] over the year prior to TFS.

And y’know... I think it was a blessing and a curse to have someone in on the secret. He has someone to talk about it to so he doesn’t feel as alone... but that comes with the constant worry of “what is she confesses?” and that’s where I think Marlon turned to intimidation out of his own fears and insecurities, which put a huge strain on his and Brody’s relationship, as well as their mental health.

It doesn’t help that it seems Brody has issues with anxiety and panic attacks going off what we saw in Done Running.

Moving on to the beginning of the red flags with Marlon... let’s look at their conversations after Clementine and crew get back after the deal with the train station.

Right as we enter, we hear them in the middle of this-

Brody: “You are not listening to me. Marlon, listen to me- I'm telling you, the place was ransacked!”

Marlon: “It's fine. We'll deal with it.”

Who knows how long this conversation has gone on... and once again, Marlon isn’t listening. Hell, Brody is flat out saying he’s not listening. If this wasn’t alarming enough, Brody goes off on Clementine upon learning Abel’s fate and Marlon rushes in... probably to make sure she doesn’t say anything he doesn’t want her to.

Brody: “I just can't... I won't... just not again... fuck!”

Marlon: “What the hell's going on here?”

Brody: “She took them outside the safe zone... They saw someone! You know what that means-!”

Marlon: “Enough! It just means there's a hungry guy out there looking for food. It's happened before. You are overreacting.”

Brody: “You can't be serious!”

[Marlon grabs her arm]

Marlon: “Come on, let's go somewhere and talk about this.”

So... yikes.

It’s that arm grab, man. That set off some alarm bells. It happens super quick before it cuts back and Brody shoves him so hard, he falls to the ground. Which takes a lot of force. Then Brody turns the blame on Clementine, which is interesting.

None of that is great. But Marlon gets up and you can feel how exasperated and stressed he is that Brody made that scene and that Clementine took Louis and Violet outside the safe zone. He’s just learned that Abel is back, Brody is cracking, and it’s the calm before the storm.

It’s worth noting that even though he’s clearly upset, he’s still holding onto to this “I’m the leader, I know I asked you for help and you did, it’s fine, we’ll be eating for a while. It’s fine. I’ll go talk to Brody, go eat. Everything is fine.”

Giving off the appearance that everything’s okay. Nothing wrong, Brody’s just paranoid. It’s fine.

And if you’re like me, you said, “Hmmmmm... I have bad feelings.”

Though, I’d like to add that I also like that he admits that he always worries if Clementine tells him he doesn’t have to. A bit of vulnerability slipping through. So that’s it, right? He’s just worried.

Well... that’s not wrong, but...

Also, Marlon tells Brody she’s overreacting quite a bit and I bet that’s something he’s said to her plenty in the past. It’s just.. ugh.

Okay, time for the fun part.

As we all know, Clementine and AJ are woken up by voices in the pipes. They belong to Marlon and Brody as they’re having an argument down in the basement.

What’s really sad is that they’re the only ones who seemingly notice. Clementine’s the only one who bothered to get out of bed and see what the hell was going on. Which makes me think that this isn’t the first time they’ve fought like this, so the rest of the Ericson crew just ignore it.

Which is pretty fucked up. You’d think that someone would hear it and go down there to at least tell them to knock it off.

You could argue that maybe only Clementine and AJ could hear it because they’re closer to the basement door, which is fair. But there are other rooms in that hallway that are close enough, so unless those rooms are all empty... someone else had to of heard something.

Hell, they all hear Marlon and AJ yelling at each other in a thunderstorm outside... why not hear this?

In order for me to go over the entire basement conversation, we all gotta be up to speed. The conversation is below but if you want to hear the voice acting, you can watch this video here.

Marlon: “Why can't you just do what I ask you to do?”

Brody: “Because we caused all this, and now we have to deal with it!”

Marlon: “I am dealing with it!”

Brody: “By tradin' more of us away? That's not fixin' the problem, that's runnin' away from it! ...Let me go!”

Marlon: “Hey, calm down.”

Brody: “Don't tell me to calm down! You can't do this! You can't just-ahh!... Please...please! If we just tell everyone what's goin' on, maybe we can-”

Marlon: “I said shut up!”

[it’s implied Marlon does something here... grabs her, pushes her, hits her... there are no other sounds in the video but it’s not good. You can hear it in both their voices and “I said shut up!” is exactly what he says before he hits her with the flashlight later soo...]

Marlon: “Shit, shit. Brody, are you okay?”

Brody: “Fuck you. ...There's got to be some other way.”

Marlon: “There is no other way. Goddamn it, so few of us left... What else would you have me do?”

Brody: “Something! There's got to be something.”

Marlon: “No, no, no, there's nothing. Nothing, Brody!”

Brody: “That can't be true!”

Marlon: “You know, maybe...maybe it doesn't matter. It probably doesn't matter at all. It's just a couple of cigarettes. I mean... Just one fucking guy! This is an insurance policy.”

[insurance policy = Clementine and AJ. Nice, Marlon. Also his denial and inability to listen is super prominent here.]

Brody: “An insurance policy? These are fucking people, Marlon!”

Marlon: “I know that! Fuck, I know that. ...You are overreacting. I'm telling you!”

Brody: “What if I'm not?”

Marlon: “No, you are. So knock it the fuck off, Brody.”

Brody: “You knock it the fuck off! You are unbelievable! You fucking coward!”

Marlon: “Hey, HEY! We are in this together. You will not put this all on me! ...Damn it, Brody! We don't even know for sure it was them!”

Brody: “You know he's not alone. Those bastards are back and it's only a matter of time before they find us. You know that!”

Marlon: “I don't know shit, and neither do you! Goddamn it, Brody, keep it together!”

Brody: ‘There you go again, getting so mad.”.

Marlon: “Well, what do you want me to do? You're making me mad!”

Brody: “Oh, we have to tell the others! About what you did!”

It’s not a fun conversation. At all. I hate it, even if the voice acting is terrific.

So here’s the thing about this conversation... Marlon is stuck. He’s refusing to see any other way of handling the raiders return because what else is there to do? Fight them off? We know that’s something Marlon doesn’t want to do for a number of reasons- he’d have to come clean, he’d have to develop a plan of attack, he’d risk everyone at the school- so in his mind, being quiet and keeping Clementine and AJ as “insurance” is the best course of action to keep the others safe.

But then there’s Brody. She’s had enough and you can tell that it’s all become too much for her. She just wants to come clean and face the consequences, she wants Marlon to own up to what happened, and she’s willing to face his anger and call him out on it. It gets to the point where she starts to plead that they have to tell the others.

The more and more she goes on, the angrier Marlon gets. All his shame, grief, stress, and anger have became a dangerous cocktail that causes him to lash out.

And he fucking does. That part where he tells her to shut up then there’s this dead pause? Then his voice breaks as he apologizes and asks if she’s okay? Followed by Brody’s “fuck you.”?

Their fight has become physical now. It’s not just them yelling at each other, and while I want to give Marlon the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe he grabbed her like he did before which isn’t great either but fucking hell, that’s not what it sounds like. He hit or pushed her or something and... God damn it, Marlon. That’s inexcusable and it makes me question if he’s ever gotten physical with her before. Especially since Brody continues the conversation like it’s happened before....

God, I miss when Marlon was chill and sweet. Remember when he helped Clementine with Rosie? I do... Can we go back to that?

...Anyway, this whole conversation sucks and it gets worse. Marlon is a hair away from melt down and Brody is becoming desperate for him to listen to her.

So when Clementine comes down, everything comes to a head.

And at first, you think think that maybe Clementine can calm the situation, defuse it. But then Marlon goes into defensive “everything’s fine” mode, telling Clementine there’s nothing to worry about and to go back to bed.

Take note of his hard tone here, too. He’s doing that dominating tone, but elevated from when he used it before. He shines the light in Clementine’s face and says, “Brody and I were just talkin', go get some sleep. You deserve some shut-eye. You had a busy day.” In hopes that she’ll be intimidated and cooperate but... well, Clementine isn’t and doesn’t.

And Brody seizes the opportunity.

Brody: “The man you met at the station. We got history.”

Marlon: “Brody... Don't listen to her, Clem, she's acting crazy. She gets this way sometimes, you just gotta tune it out.”

The desperation in Marlon’s voice here is just... ugh. Trying so hard to discredit Brody and take control back of the situation.

That’s what it all comes back to, isn’t it? Marlon’s control. He knows Brody’s slipping and no matter what he does or says, he can’t regain his control over her and the situation. Clementine is threatening that and it’s spiking his anger.

We all know what happens next.

Brody: “Marlon let him take the twins. Him and his people.”

Marlon: “Damn it, Brody!”

Clementine: “Tenn's sisters? I thought they were killed by walkers.”

Brody: “That's the story we told everyone.’

Marlon: “Shut up.”

Brody: “'Cause Marlon was so ashamed of what-”

Marlon: “I said SHUT UP!”

Marlon loses control, hits Brody with his flashlight so hard that it kills her, and realization of how badly fucked up he’s become dawns on him.

Yeah, Marlon... Brody’s bleeding out on the floor because of you, because you were so desperate to keep control and hide your shame from everyone, and this is what it manifested into.

Yet, he tries to rationalize it like it’s not his fault. He’s in denial. He told her not to say it, and she did. But it’s okay, she’s going to be okay.

Which is fucked, but at this point, Marlon’s in a full blown panic - “Oh, shit, Brody. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You're gonna be okay, I promise. Goddamn it, help! Why did you say that, Brody? I...I told you not to say it. Please be okay.” He’s all over the place and doesn’t know what to do.

And it gets worse.

Because Marlon’s in such a panic, brain scattered with a shit ton of horrifying thoughts- “What do I tell everyone? Brody’s dead and I killed her. How will everyone look at me? I betrayed them. I betrayed all of them. The raiders are coming back. Clementine knows the truth. What do I do? I can’t let them know. I can’t tell the truth because they will see me for what I really am.” -when he hears Brody tell Clementine everything, he once again does something shitty to save himself. He runs and locks Clementine in the basement, knowing that Brody’s going to turn.

Clementine: “Marlon, you son of a bitch, don't do this!”

Marlon: “I'm sorry... I can't...I can't let you talk to the others.”

So... what does this entire scene tell us about Marlon?

Well, first off, I shouldn’t trust someone just because they love dogs. That’s on me.

This is where Marlon goes from friend to foe and it’s a lot to take in. This scene is the reason people question Marlon’s real motivations, question whether or not he was ever good if he had it in him to murder Brody in order to keep her quiet.

But that’s the thing, when you watch this scene, you can tell that Marlon didn’t mean to kill her. In a fit of anger, he didn’t know his own strength and lashed out and she died because of it. He should still be held accountable for it, even if it was an accident. But because he’s holding on to whatever he can, he refuses to take accountability, choosing to then leave Clementine for death and pin everything on her.

He has no plan after that, he just knows that he has to regain control over everything or else he’s done. He doesn’t have time to mourn Brody or come to terms with what he had done because he’s moving so fast to “fix” everything, y’know?

What Marlon did down here was inexcusable. I can do my best to explain what lead Marlon to this point and why he did what he did, but that doesn’t justify anything.

Now... before I move on to talk about the confrontation scene, there is one more important character in Marlon’s life to cover.

[Louis and a broken friendship]

“I hope you know Louis didn't mean any harm there. He's just the world's biggest dumbass. He's my best friend, so I can legally call him that.”

Where to even begin?

From the beginning, I guess.

Louis and Marlon have known each other for years, back before the walkers came and the world ended. We know this because of the photo in Marlon’s office and how everyone tells us that they’re best friends.

And it’s funny that they’re such best friends but the game doesn’t care much to show us that, or even go into details about their relationship. Which, in my opinion, was a bit of a failure on the writers part. I know you probably didn’t have time and all the usual reasons, but you’d think that this relationship would be important enough to cover just a tad bit more considering that Louis is a potential love interest and Marlon’s the antagonist.

Y’know?

The only times Marlon and Louis actually interact with one another for more than two seconds is during the card game and during the confrontation, and even that is slim if you choose to appeal to Violet.

But like, no guys, they’re super best friends. Trust us, we told you, like, twice.

I hate to get into the Louis vs Violet thing since this is about Marlon, but let me explain why this bothers me.

They didn’t have any issues letting Violet spill her guts about her past with the twins, specifically Minerva. Now, the twins are considered dead at this point, so it’s not like they could show them interacting, so they get a pass for the show rather than telling. Except they do show that Violet and Minerva were girlfriends when you go fishing and look at the initials on the wall.

I’m not saying that this isn’t important. It is. I explained why it’s important to Marlon’s character previously, too.

But this is when we run into a problem with what they decided to do with Louis- Louis doesn’t tell us jack shit about his relationship with Marlon in Done Running prior to appealing to him during the confrontation. All I ask is why not?

Look, to be frank, the picture is nice and all, but it’s not enough. Marlon saying “Oh yeah, muh best friend,” once isn’t enough. You barely scraped by with what you gave us.

Louis doesn’t tell us anything about his past, at least nothing important to the plot. When Aasim makes a comment about him being Marlon’s lap dog, Louis brushes it off with a joke, and never mentions Marlon again. The only time Louis actually lets us in is if you take care of the walker with him and he explains his way of thinking before realizing he let his guard down and puts the mask back on.

Louis isn’t willing to share anything about his friendship with Marlon but Violet’s over here super willing to open up about the twins and Brody? That’s hilarious because you’d think it’d be the other way around.

You’d think that they’d have Louis saying something about Marlon to show us that he has a blind faith in Marlon or trusts him to a fault. He can see that Aasim doesn’t get along with Marlon and questions his leadership, so why not have him say something in defense of Marlon?

And perhaps it’s on purpose. Maybe Louis’ trust in Marlon is so great that he doesn’t feel the need to defend him because he knows how Aasim gets. They have plenty of other stuff to argue about, why add another thing? Fine, that makes sense... but why not have him say something to Clementine? Hell, have Clementine ask him about Marlon and the safe zone and what he thinks about it?

Like when Clementine’s all “Hey, let’s go to the train station.”

Louis just stands there like “’kay,” without any indication of “Yeah Marlon wouldn’t like that.”

...Maybe he doesn’t care? Who knows.

I’m just saying, they would’ve benefited from adding a conversation with Louis about Marlon so that we could get his perspective of their relationship BEFORE the confrontation rather than waiting until ep2 for him to give us some details.

But, like, it’s fine... I’ll just work with what I got.

There isn’t too much to say about them during the card game. They’re chill, they’re buddies. Louis does this cute whistle that Marlon bobs his head to and that’s pretty neat.

After Louis asks Clementine if she ever had to kill someone she loved and the game ends, Marlon goes to make sure Clementine’s okay and let her know that Louis didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, he’s just a dumbass.

But it’s fine, they’re best friends so he can legally call him that. This is the first time we see Marlon say something like that about Louis, the second time being in the office. He’ll admit that he hopes Louis will actually show up to go hunting, which says a lot about the amount of faith he puts into Louis.

Which is interesting to think about how one-sided their friendship can seem when you start putting pieces together. Louis has complete faith in Marlon but Marlon doesn’t return that faith due to the fact that he knows Louis runs on his own time, y’know? Louis appears to be honest while Marlon is dishonest.

Knowing how Marlon is and his need for control, you’d think that he’d be more stern with Louis. He’s like that with everyone else... until you remember that Marlon has a soft spot for Louis. One that allows him to take control in a different way.

I can’t help but feel Marlon had this sense of entitlement to Louis as his best friend. Marlon’s been Louis’ friend the longest, Marlon is the only one who can call Louis an idiot, Marlon gives Louis special treatment in many ways that others notice, Marlon knows Louis better than anyone else does. Marlon loves Louis like he’s his own blood.

And if you know anything about Louis and his character, you know a big part of his arc is confidence and self-esteem. I mean, real self-esteem, not the persona he puts on. Looking back at everything we’ve covered, it’s not out of the question to think that Marlon could’ve used that part of Louis to his advantage. He’s Louis’ best friend, Louis can trust him because Marlon’s always had his back, always appeared to see beyond the jokes and piano because they’ve know each other longest. They’re practically brothers.

Having that control over Louis is important to Marlon, and while that seems like a slimy way to put it, it’s true. I don’t think Marlon ever saw Louis as a pawn or anything- I believe Marlon genuinely cared about and loved Louis- but when it came to the twins, he didn’t confide him. Marlon didn’t want to lose the closest connection he had, the one person who couldn’t see him for who he turned into, and he didn’t want Louis to tell everyone else.

There ya go- yet another layer of guilt and shame for Marlon.

Not only that, but Marlon didn’t have much confidence in him, found him irresponsible. He had to deal with the fact that he still loved Louis while acknowledging that he’s not reliable.

That brings us to when Clementine appeals to Louis.

Here’s where Marlon becomes a cocky bastard.

Clementine: “Louis, don't let him do this!”

Louis: “Oh, no. I am not involved.”

Clementine: “What?”

Louis: “I like you, Clem, but I...”

[Louis looks to Marlon, who gives him an intimidating look back that shuts Louis down. There’s the control.]

Louis: “Not me. I'm sorry. You're, uh, on your own. Sorry.”

And Marlon’s face...? He’s so smug I could slap him. He looks at Clementine like “Oh, you thought Louis was gonna help you, huh? HA! My best friend, dingus.”

What’s funny is that in all my searching through reddit and youtube and what have you, a lot of people complain that Louis is “harder” to get to side with you. Which, technically, no he’s not. Both he and Violet require you to pick two dialogue choices before they help. Louis only appears harder because Marlon intimidates him into being quiet and that makes it seem like he won’t help you.

Though, to be fair, he does attempt to step in after Clementine pleads with him the first time.

“Shit. Marlon, come on, man. Drop the gun.”

And Marlon really doesn’t like that.

He snaps out Louis’ name and you see Louis visibly flinch at this. Either this is the first time Marlon’s risen his voice at him like this or it’s not, it’s hard to tell.

“She. Killed. Brody! We can't let her walk away.”

Funny how he says we there...

You can feel how conflicted Louis is here, just like how you can feel Marlon’s control and manipulation at play. Louis wants to believe Marlon, but he’s out here with blood all over his face and waving a gun around. He’s about to shoot Clementine, and that will make him a murderer no matter how you look at it and Louis knows this.

He’s looking at a version of his best friend that he doesn’t recognize, but because he’s scared, it makes Louis backtrack and curl into himself.

“Clem, I... I... I gotta trust Marlon. I just... I gotta. I always have.”

Here, you have two choices:

“He didn't trust you with the truth! He lied to you about the twins. He doesn't deserve your trust.”

“Brody trusted him. And now she's dead. And he killed her!”

Personally, I prefer the first one, but both of these strike a nerve within Louis. He knows she’s right.

Marlon yells at Clementine and gets ready to shoot her, which she accepts by the way she steps back and closes her eyes.

Louis, with both hands up, slowly steps between them, free of Marlon’s control and trying to save both him and Clementine.

Marlon, baffled that he’d ever do this, even moves the gun away as he stares at Louis in disbelief.

Marlon: “You don't know what you're doing, man!”

Louis: “C'mon, dude, just drop the gun. This is how adults do things. Not us.”

Can I just say that Marlon must feel so fucking powerless seeing Louis step up to him like this? Like, with Violet he’s not surprised and not even remotely intimidated by her little meat cleaver, but with Louis? He is not okay.

The others step forward and Marlon knows that he’s lost. Pointing a gun at his best friend? Knowing that if he so much as accidentally squeezed the trigger, Louis would be dead? Everyone has turned against him.

Not great.

You guys know me, you know that I much prefer appealing to Louis over Violet because of the power behind this and how much of an effect it has on Marlon. It’s perfectly executed.

A couple more things to talk about regarding this scene. If you call Marlon pathetic, he says something interesting to Louis.

Clementine: “You're pathetic.”

[Marlon drops his gun]

Marlon: “I know. Always was.”

Louis: “That isn't true.”

Marlon: “No, Louis, it is. You were just the only one who couldn't see it.”

When I say my heart hurts... muh heart hurts. Because this is what their friendship became, they both realize it, and Louis is devastated.

On the flip side, if you say-

Clementine: “We can still fix this, Marlon. It's going to be okay. We can make this right.”

Louis: “We'll help you. We're all family here. The only one any of us has left.”

Which shows that despite everything, Louis does have a little bit of faith left in Marlon and wants to help him, which Marlon feels he doesn’t deserve.

Then AJ shoots Marlon in the head.

And I really, really wish there was an option to just stay in bed to avoid all of this.

Okay.

Louis is a fucking mess after this.

The writers finally said, “Hey, remember when Luke had absolutely no reaction to his best friend’s death in s2? What if we don’t do that this time?”

I don’t want to get too into this because this isn’t a Louis analysis, but let me quickly summarize the affect Marlon’s death had on Louis.

Anyone who was around when Suffer the Children came out remembers all the discourse about Louis. Lot of people pissed at him for being upset. Which fine, you’re allowed to be upset with him because he’s mad at Clementine and AJ, but let me remind you that he just witnessed his best friend of 8+ years being murdered right before his eyes after no longer being a threat and he was powerless to do anything about it.

Marlon’s death hurt and traumatized Louis in so many ways and that’s something we see throughout the episode. Even though Marlon is dead, he continues to have an effect on Louis and everyone at Ericson because of what he did and how he died.

And to clarify, Louis never hated Clementine and AJ for what happened. He just didn’t know what to do. He was overwhelmed, hurt, pissed, and never had time to mourn before raiders came knocking on their doors. He dealt with the fact that his best friend wasn’t who he thought he was and how Marlon hurt everyone at this school, that Marlon was a murderer.

That’s a fucking lot.

And it continues to hurt him through the rest of the season.

Honestly, Louis says everything best:

“You sound like Marlon. I mean, not about fighting, but when he was trying to cheer us all up. For years, I sat around making stupid jokes, playing stupid games, while my best friend was left with all the responsibility. All the tough calls. All the sleepless nights. And eventually, a bullet in the head. And I didn't do a damn thing about it. And then, when you tried to tell us what he was really like, and AJ shot him, I blamed you. Both of you. If I could take it back, I would. I knew that the day you got back. I still do. ...He was my best friend. Almost like my brother, but the things he did? They were fucked up. I'll never be glad he died. But I understand why AJ thought it was the right thing to do.”

[The final confrontation and Marlon’s murder]

“I know I betrayed you... all of you. Just let me leave. You'll never have to see me again. Just let me become...a bad memory. Just give me that. Please.”

The final confrontation is my favorite Marlon moment from a storytelling standpoint.

Just... everything about it. The thunderstorm, the voice acting, Marlon’s complete turn to antagonist and break down, Clementine appealing to Louis/Violet, Rosie barking in the background... it’s just great. It hurts but I love it.

This is where we see Marlon’s manipulation at it’s peak. He knows he’s fucked, but is still so desperate to cling on that he throws everything he can at Clementine. He accuses her of murdering Brody, working with the raiders, takes low blows against everyone, especially Louis and Violet, and goes as far as to point a gun at Clementine with the intention of shooting her.

Because that’ll fix everything... I guess?

Marlon didn’t think this through.

Anyway...

“We saved their lives when anyone else would've kept walking! We fed them, we kept them warm! And this is how they thank us?! Guns being pulled and murder! Well, FUCK! THEM!”

Marlon is broken, his last resort it to try and salvage himself, to win the group’s favor.

“Aw, come the fuck on! They only met up with these ‘raiders’ because Clem insisted they go out there. Quite the coincidence, isn't it? Shame I don't believe in those. Think about how scared we all were when the adults left. I pulled us out of that fear. I gave us all courage again. Who are y'all gonna believe, huh? Johnny-come-lately and her little fucking lunatic? Or me? Your friend?”

He’s pulling out the big guns, reminding everyone that he was the one who pulled them out of their fear and gave them courage, that he’s their friend who they’ve known and trusted for 8+ years while they just met Clementine two days ago.

Who are you going to believe?

As well all know, Clementine takes a risk and appeals to Louis or Violet. I already covered them so we’ll skip ahead to everyone turning on him.

This is when Marlon realizes he’s losing and that anger bubbles up.

“You don't get it. You- you don't understand at all, do you? I'm trying to protect you! All of you! Every fucking one of you!”

And he lashes out, pointing the gun at everyone now, and finally... the truth comes out.

“...I made the right call. I saved the lives of everyone in this fucking school! If they came back... I'd do it again!”

...Yikes.

Now, I’ve talked about this scene in previous parts, said most of what I wanted to say, but there is one thing I haven’t covered, and that’s Tenn.

Tenn: “You told me they died!”

Marlon: “I had to save the rest of you, okay?”

Tenn: “You gave my sisters away. Why would you do something like that? I trusted you, Marlon! THEY trusted you! ....We all trusted you...”

Marlon: “I know... I know..”

Tenn was first introduced along side Marlon and you can tell that he cares about him and is protective. Not only that, but Tenn is comfortable enough to play in Marlon’s office, which is something I assume he does regularly.

It makes me think that Marlon took Tenn under his wing, if you will, after the twins died. Perhaps as some way to try and make himself better, maybe to try and make it up to the twins by swearing to protect him.

Tenn is what gets Marlon to take it down a bit, to explain that he didn’t want to hurt the twins, he just didn’t have any choice. He even admits to Tenn that he was too scared to develop a rescue plan.

You can hear it in his voice when he looks to Tenn and speaks, and Tenn is the one who gets him to confess that he was the one who killed Brody, not Clementine.

Marlon: “I wanted to get them. Stage some kind of rescue. Honest, Tenn. I just couldn't. I was...I was too afraid.”

Tenn: “You killed Brody because she knew?”

Marlon: “Mm-hmm... I didn't mean to. I didn't want this. I wanted to save all of you. Sophie, Minerva. I didn't want to hurt them.”

Which is huge. It wasn’t Clementine, it wasn’t Louis or Violet who got him to confess, it was Tenn. Hearing this boy on the verge of tears tell Marlon that they all trusted him, how could he do this to them... that got through to him.

And I believe Tenn is the one who solidified that Marlon wanted to leave. He didn’t want to stay and see everyone look and treat him differently, see everyone hate him- He couldn’t face Louis, his best friend. He couldn’t face Violet, the girl he betrayed. He couldn’t face Clementine and AJ, couldn’t face everyone he tried to protect.

And he couldn’t face Tenn.

But you know what says a lot about Tenn? If you choose to remain silent after Marlon says he didn’t want to hurt them, he says:

“I forgive you.”

[?] Marlon won’t forget that.

But even with that forgiveness? I don’t Marlon believes he deserves that, especially from Tenn. He grateful Tenn forgave him, but he still feels it’s best that he leaves.

“I know I betrayed you. All of you. Just let me leave. You'll never have to see me again. Just let me become...a bad memory. Just give me that. Please.”

And we all know what happens next.

So... this begs the question... after everything that Marlon did and didn’t do...

Did Marlon deserve his fate?

No.

Marlon didn’t deserve this. That’s the short answer.

In my opinion, AJ was far from justified in what he did.

This is a good time to compare Marlon and Lilly, since that comes up quite a bit. When Lilly surrenders at the end of Broken Toys, she does it to manipulate the situation in her favor and get the upper hand again.

The second you show any sort of kindness towards Lilly, she takes advantage of you because she never saw the error in her ways. She believed every cruel thing she ever did was for a good cause and only ever feels remorse when she loses everyone.

Marlon, on the other hand, genuinely surrendered. This was the first time he gave up his control and accepted what he had done, ready to face the consequences and be outcast from Ericson for his crimes. He dropped his weapon, he was no longer a threat. Marlon no longer had any malicious intent once everyone turned against him.

And the biggest difference between Marlon and Lilly is that Marlon felt that shame since the beginning. He did bad things for the sake of Ericson, but not once did he take pride in what he did to the twins or Brody. He felt nothing but remorse.

Brody’s dead, Sophie and Minerva are gone, and he realizes what he’s become.

The tragedy of Marlon is that his fate was decided by a child who was unable to read the situation for what it was, who took it upon themselves to take Marlon’s life despite the fact that everything was over. Marlon never gets a redemption arc, and maybe he didn’t deserve one. It depends on how you feel.

But for me, he definitely didn’t deserve to be shot in the back of the head like that.

[Final thoughts]

“...It's hard to survive too long these days without being a bit... ‘troubled.’”

Marlon is... complicated.

That’s a good word.

On one hand, he does have some genuine moments where he’s a chill dude looking out for his family and there’s a lot to like about him, but on the other hand... he did a lot of bad shit.

If I had to pick a “problematic fav” within TFS, Marlon would be it.

Like I mentioned previously, I wish we had more interactions with him and Louis, but we did get enough to get the point across.

As for Marlon’s backstory and why he was sent to Ericson, it’s never stated and none of the creators have come forward with information. My theory? That’s a great question.

Most are inclined to believe that he’s there due to anger and behavior problems, but for all we know, that stuff developed over time since I don’t know if someone like that would be put in a leader position. Or maybe it is and he forced himself in, I dunno.

My guess is that it’s something we’d never expect. I don’t know if I have a theory because, well, I don’t exactly feel qualified to diagnose Marlon with something I haven’t done a shit ton of research on, y’know?

Even after writing this and looking through everything... I couldn’t tell you.

I find Marlon to be a compelling character that I wish stuck around longer. He’s an example of a kid who grew up too fast with the lives of his whole community on his shoulders. He was faced with a no-win situation and suffered with every decision made. His desire to control everything around him, to ground him, led to his downfall.

In the end, Marlon expressed sincere guilt for what he did. Apologizing doesn’t magically make everything he did okay, far from it, but it was a step in the right direction. I wish he had the chance at some kind of redemption, but it’s The Walking Dead. Not everyone gets a redemption arc, most get theirs torn from their grasp. Marlon is one of those people.

He had a lot of good qualities that were severely overshadowed by his final moments. I believe he genuinely cared about Ericson and believed he was doing all the right things to protect him. He took things too far, manipulating those closest to him and causing them more pain than he ever thought.

All in all, an enjoyable, complex character.

Want to see more of these long character discussion posts? Let me know! Feel free to send suggestions for characters you’d like me to cover in the future! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this Marlon character discussion/analysis/rant thing! Let me know your thoughts on Marlon!

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extremelyblackandwhite · 5 years ago

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handmaid - 12

PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader

WARNINGS: age gap, anxiety

A/N: hope you enjoy this chapter xxx

NEXT CHAPTER

Y/N stood in her bedroom considering Daniel’s words. Clueless. God, the word itself stung coming from someone she had grown to see as a big brother. Clueless. Well, sure, she did not exactly know what happened behind closed doors with both the Stan family and Forrest family business but neither did Daniel, or at least as well as he bragged to know. She had heard both families were cruel but in all honesty, she just couldn’t imagine any of the heads of both families being those monsters people spoke of. She specially could not imagine Sebastian to be the monster Dan wanted to paint him, no. He had kind eyes, he didn’t have the type of darkness that she had seen in various other lesser associates, he had peaceful ones like the sea after a storm. Besides, Y/N liked to consider herself a good judge of character so maybe Dan was just being overprotective.

Annoyed, she huffed, turning on her side with her phone on her hand as she searched for the contact she wanted to call. She took her phone up to her ear, hearing the dialling tone for what felt for ages until the familiar operator voice came through. The number you have dialled is unavailable, please leave your message at the sound of the tone.

- Hi Sebastian, it’s Y/N. I just ... I just wanted to check on you, to see if you’re alright. Give me a call when you can. Okay ... bye.

She sighed, throwing her phone to the side table before getting under her duvet, her mind finally getting time to wrap around what had happened days prior. Why didn’t she feel guilty she had kissed a very engaged man? She always thought that cheating was a terrible thing to do to someone yet right now all she could think about was that maybe ... maybe she would be able to do it again. It wasn’t right but he was just so electric, magnetic even and his words echoed in her mind like a drum ... I’m here for you, no one can harm you.

Sure, she had protection at most times considering Elias and Christian, whenever not in Gwen’s bedroom, were constantly around ensuring that no one got in or out of the house without permission or reason to do. However, protection from Sebastian sounded ... sweeter, warmer even. No man had ever told her they were there for her, much less they would fight their own wife for her (this mostly due to her preference at avoiding married men). It was unfair, very unfair that the very first time she felt seen and protected ... maybe even fully appreciated was by someone she just couldn’t have.

As her mind raced through various excuses as to why she kissed the mob boss, the sleepless nights caught up to her and soon she found herself surrounded by the familiar darkness of slumber. She woke up once again with the sun beams cutting through her window and decided that maybe right now what she needed was a good amount of food.

Going down the stairs, the familiar sight of Amelia in the kitchen preparing a fresh brew of coffee made her sleepily smile. This was the normality and home life she needed after all of Paris’ events.

- Good morning, Miss Y/N. How was Paris? - she turned on the kettle at the sight of the handmaid to prepare her favourite infusion.

- Paris was lovely. - she smiled softly, not pulling too much at the skin of her cheeks as she sat on the high chairs. - Do you think I could have some grilled cheese this morning?

- You can have whatever you want, Miss Y/N. It is always a pleasure to cook for you. - Y/N couldn’t help but smile wider at that statement. It felt nice to have someone to talk to who wasn’t about to married to a mob boss, a mob boss, associates or bodyguards. - You look different.

- How so? - she raised an eyebrow at the statement. Oh god, had Gwen discovered she kissed her husband to be and cut her hair in disdain?

- I don’t know ... there’s a spring in your step, you look very happy. Might there be someone in Paris? - yeah, sure, he is in Paris, he’s just not her someone, he’s Gwen’s. - Maybe it’s the European air.

- Maybe ... You wouldn’t know when Mr. Stan is coming back, would you?

- I don’t know, Miss. Mr. Stan shows up when he wants, never leaves a message, he’s just like his father in that sense.

- Did you know his father? - Y/N had never actually known his father but from what she heard from Gwen he was a tall, stern man who managed to put fear and respect in everyone’s hearts without giving it much of a try.

- Just between us both Miss Y/N, I am very glad he only resembles his father in that sense. No man should be that comfortable with death and power and not fear it all the time. - she shrugged, flipping the sandwich on the skillet. - If I must say, I think Mr. Stan is much more like his mother. I’ve always said this house needed another kind woman after she left.

- I just can’t picture it. - Y/N didn’t exactly knew who Sebastian’s mother was. In all honesty, not a lot of people knew and Sebastian wasn’t one for big speeches about his family. However, she had always pictured him as being much more like his father, a powerful man. - He doesn’t really talk about his family.

- What about you, Miss Y/N? What about your parents?

- Oh ... - she toyed with the chain of her necklace, slightly bitting her lip. - I don’t really know. Mr. Forrest told me my father was one of his workers, never told me much about my mother either. They died shortly after I was born.

- I’m very sorry, Miss Y/N. - Amelia slid her the grilled cheese on a nice porcelain plate. - I’m sure that they would be very proud of creating such a nice, beautiful lady.

- Thank you, Amelia.

- Oh ... good morning, Mr. Daniel. - she pipped up and Y/N rolled her eyes, not in the mood to speak with Daniel after last night’s events. He, however, had other plans as he sat right next to her.

- Good morning, Y/N.

- Good morning, Daniel. - she slid away from him.

- Oh c’mon, you’re not gonna sulk at me are you? - he poked her arm with one of the forks that had been laid out to him. - You know I’m sorry.

- You’re always sorry but you never actually say it. - Y/N huffed, grabbing her plate from the table and walking up to the sink. Dan sighed, knowing that, despite her being generally a kind and forgiving woman, whenever she was upset, she just remained upset for a while before forgetting it. However, this could take ages.

Y/N decided she was still not ready to deal with Daniel or any of his opinions towards her view of the people she surrounded herself with. In all honesty, she had no time to worry about him or what he thought of her as her mind was filled with worry towards Sebastian. She knew he was notoriously hard to harm or even shot at however she hadn’t gotten a reply to her call and knew nothing of when he was about to return.

The days passed by and Daniel had managed to somehow get Y/N to get less mad at him by taking her to see his daughter. Sophie had been born while he was at university and Y/N had grown very attached to the little girl as she had been at home with Gwen when she was born. However, not even young Sophie could take her mind away from Sebastian. Her brain had quit making her feel guilty about the fact she had kissed the man who was to marry the only friend she ever knew and had instead turned all its efforts into making her picture all the horrific things that could happen to him. She knew it was reckless and pointless to worry about him, he clearly seemed to be invisible at what he did and part of her pitied the poor unfortunate souls who had dared to shot at him.

Those days turned into weeks and as the third week hit mark, she was absolutely unconsolable. Gwen was not much help. In actuality, the heiress was rather happy that her fiancé wasn’t around as this gave her plenty of free time to do what she wanted with her newly found interest in her private bodyguard, Christian. Meanwhile, Y/N had taken to spending her days in the kitchen with Amelia and in the library, but not even that could take her mind off if he was alright despite Amelia and Elias constantly telling her it was normal of Sebastian to disappear and then suddenly return.

Nevertheless, Y/N was anxious about his fate, spending most of the night sat by the window, listening as the rain fell down on the bright city that never slept. This was one of those nights where her fingers lingered on the fogged rainy windows, lightly doodling. This quickly grew tired-some and, wrapped around in one of the very expensive white cashmere blankets Sebastian had placed around the house, she went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mindlessly, like a movement so familiar it didn’t need her attention, Y/N put some almond milk, cinnamon and honey in a pot and brought it up to the heat before taking to slowly mix it with a wooden spoon.

The sound of the bubbling milk and rain was enough to make her feel like every corner of the world was home and as she poured the mixture into a mug, she softly smiled at the overview of New York from the countless amount of ceiling length windows. It almost made her forget her worries. Almost. The heart warming atmosphere was interrupted by the ring of the lift that gave way into the entrance of the penthouse. Y/N turned around abruptly, the sight bringing a sparkle to her eyes. Placing the mug on the first surface she came in contact with, she rushed to the entrance, wrapping her arms around the mob boss as if they had been separated for over 10 years.

- Night, angel. - Sebastian was tired and that was noticeable by the dark bags under his eyes and his dishevelled appearance. However, he could surely get used to having Y/N wrap her arms around him every time he came home. Y/N, on the other hand, came to her senses and stepped back, feeling the heat coming to her cheeks.

- We were worried about you. - she shifted her weight from feet to feet.

- Who’s we, angel? I’d gather we would mean you. - his hand traced down her forearm to her hand, softly holding it on his. - I’m sorry I didn’t answer your message, I didn’t want to lie to you as to when I’d be back. Besides, I assumed Gwen would enjoy a holiday from me.

- You could’ve said something. - she rubbed the side of her neck, eyes fixated on the ground. - I was worried.

- Ah ... - he smirked, taking a step forward. - You were worried. That was what I wanted to hear.

- Well, I ... I just wanted to know so I could warn Gwen. I shouldn’t bother you anymore, you must want to rest. I can fix you something to eat if you want.

- You’re not the housemaid, Y/N. Although something smells really good in here.

- Oh ... - Y/N rushed into the kitchen, turning off the hob and bringing the pot back to one of the metal bases in the kitchen. - It’s just something me, Gwen, and Dan used to have when we were little and couldn’t sleep.

- What’s wrong? - Sebastian noticed the shift in her tone.

- Do you think I’m clueless? - she leaned onto the kitchen’s wall.

- Why do you ask?

- Dan seems to think I’m clueless.

- Daniel Forrest? - he asked and Y/N nodded. - What does he know of the world to make assumptions?

- He’s sort of right. - Y/N took a place on the chair next to his. - I don’t exactly know what Mr. Forrest or you do, specifically. I don’t even know what you were up to these past weeks.

- It’s entirely way too boring besides I’d rather be surrounded by clueless people than the ones I’m surrounded by. You really shouldn’t worry about what he thinks of you.

- Do you worry what others think of you?

- I’ve lived long enough to have certain names hauled at me. Some deserving, some undeserving but I tend not to stress about it. My mother used to say people like to talk about those they can’t be.

- Well, if it’s any worth .. I don’t think half the names I’ve heard given to you do actually have any truth to them.

tag list: @lilya-petrichor @xoxohannahlee @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @nikkipea @madisonpillstrom @cevans98 @thelostallycat @sideeffectsofyou @anxiousdreamersworld @sarge-barnes-sir @captainchrisstan

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan/you #sebastian stan/reader #sebastian stan x y/n #sebastian stan/y/n #mob boss!sebastian stan #mob!sebastian stan #mobster!sebastian stan #mafia!sebastian stan

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lame-adventures · 4 years ago

Text

Authors Note: So I know this is more than a week late but I got really busy and haven’t had a chance to publish it until now. I considered abandoning this, but I want to make it apart of holiday themed series. Enjoy!

A perfect Halloween

October 31st, 2020 - A Muggle Quarantine AU

“Oh bloody hell.” Lily murmured to herself, taking in the messy sight of her bathroom. “James! Harry! Get your butts in here.” She stuck her head out the bathroom door and hollered down the hallway.

“Yes love?” James Potter said, clambering down the hallway, holding his two year old daughter at his waist.

“What is it Mum?” Harry asked politely, hoping to avoid an overly-dramatic scolding from a nine-month pregnant Lily Potter.

“Someone care to explain?” Lily said, gesturing to the mess scattered throughout their bathroom.

Wet towels sat in piles on the floor, a whole roll of toilet paper was wrapped across the sink and shaving cream had been sprayed into the toilet itself.

“What the-?”James began, stopping himself from cussing in front of his children.

“Mum you’re a nutter. I would never.” Harry began lamely, rolling his eyes.

Lily eyed him suspiciously, her thirteen year old boy had been known to stir up quite a bit of mischief. And being quarantined inside for the past eight months, had spurred a new level of prankster in the boy.

(Of course it didn’t help that her husband egged on their child every chance he got.)

“Harry James.” James began sternly, his daughter shyly nuzzling her head deep into his shoulder. “This is too far.”

“I didn’t do that.” Harry whined, “I’m not a bloody child.”

“Oi. Language!” Lily snapped at him, she crossed her arms delicately on top of her protruding belly, and tapped her foot anxiously.

“Well? Who did this then?” James asked, setting down the two year old Sophie.

“Why doesn’t Hannah ever get this sort of inquisition?” Harry asked, referring to his eleven year old sister.

“Why are you using words like inquisition?” Lily asked while James bellowed down the stairs for Hannah to join them upstairs.

The Potter’s were, of course, a very rambunctious bunch. Constantly bugging each other and playing childish pranks. But Hannah took after her Mother, the same brightly colored ginger hair and vivid green eyes. Childish pranks were not Hannah’s forte, and her eyes went wide at the mess of the bathroom once she finally met the rest of her family upstairs.

“Oh,” She said, somewhat sheepishly, eyes turned downwards. “That was Sophie.”

“Soph?” James asked incredulously, the two year old in question cowered behind her Mother’s legs.

“Yup it was all Sophie. I saw her a little while ago, before you guys got up.” Hannah tattled.

“And why? In Gods name,” Lily began lowly, “did you not stop her?”

“Or get us?”

“Not my responsibility,” Hannah said firmly placing her hands on her hips.

“Han.” Harry said lowly. “You know this isn’t fair to Mum and Dad.”

“Well Dad kept yelling at me for being a tattletale.” She replied, a knowing smirk growing on her face. It was true in fact, that James had scolded her several times over the past few months for consistent need to tell her Mum and Dad whenever Harry did something slightly wrong.

“Welp. I’m going to put Soph in time out.” Lily said, bending down slightly to pick up the two year old who now sat innocently on the floor, sucking contently on her pacifier and purposely ignoring the conflict in front of her.

“You got this?” Lily asked James, before walking down the long hallway to their shared bedroom.

Lily heard yelling and groaning behind her as she shut the bedroom door, eyeing the armchair that sat in the corner of her bedroom. It had a pile of clothes on it, and with her free arm, Lily pushed the clothes on to the floor and set the squirmy toddler down.

She squatted as best as she could, with her large tummy in the way, and met Sophie’s eye level.

“You do not play in the bathroom.” Lily spoke sternly. “You do not make messes.”

The toddler stared at her mother, suppressing a smile as she sucked on her pacifier.

“This is not funny Sophie Lynn Potter.”

Sophie squealed in response, and Lily groaned loudly in frustration, standing up and pulling the pacifier out of Sophie’s mouth. This prompted the girl to begin screaming, and Lily walked towards her dressing table in agitation.

Her baby sat low inside her, kicking a sore spot near her ribs all morning, and Lily was in no mood to put up with screaming a two year old and bickering children.

It was the morning Halloween; normally her kids would be bouncing with excitement at the thought of classroom Halloween parties, and a night of trick or treating. Unfortunately this year, their new normal involved isolation inside their home while the world raged on outside in a mix of political chaos and a health crisis.

Lily still shudders thinking back to March earlier that year, in the same week the world had shut down and Lily had found out she was pregnant with her fourth child.

For the safety of both her and her unborn baby it was decided Lily would not leave their home at all, lest she come into contact with the virus. And Therefore, Lily has not left her home in eight months.

She looked sadly into her mirror, and took in her worn down appearance. At 33, Lily was at the typical age in which one would have babies. She was always attending some sort of baby shower event for her work colleagues, so getting pregnant at this age was completely normal. Of course she and James had done things a bit out of the normal when they started their family. James was at university, working on being scouted by some of the national football teams, while Lily was working towards a degree in journalism. They had only been dating for eight months when Lily fell pregnant for the first time. They were terrified of course, having a child so young, with so many unknowns of their future hanging in front of them. But once Lily gave birth to Harry, and she held him in her arms for the first time, they fell in love with the baby boy.

James earned a spot on Manchester United’s team, as a second string forward, and Lily got a job as a political commentator for BuzzFeed England. They bought a three story townhouse in the bustling downtown area of Manchester and got married on a chilly Halloween night, soon after they learned that Lily was once again pregnant.

Hannah was born, and for eight years the young family of four lived boisterously and happily. Her friends fawned over her children, and her co-workers cooed in delight when she announced once again she was pregnant when she was 30.

Sophie joined the Potter family in May, albeit her addition was unexpected, and Lily’s children were thrown for a loop with the shock of having to share their parents. Sophie was welcomed with so much overwhelming love that the youngest Potter quickly became spoiled with attention.

When the world locked down, and the five Potter’s learned that they would become six, Lily had been shaken with anxiety this time around. Frustrated with her government, growing bored with being home bound and irritated with her kids constantly yelling, Lily felt like crying.

She buried her face in her hands, and felt her baby kick her gently on the inside. She smiled softly, with as shitty as 2020 had been, there would definitely be a good ending for the Potter family.

James walked into the room, and pointedly ignored the screaming two year old. James and Lily quickly learned that the best way to deal with Sophie’s tantrums was to not give her the attention she was acting out for.

He walked around the side of the bed and wrapped his arms around Lily.

“Happy Anniversary love.” He said, kissing her cheek. “I’m sorry our kids had to start the day out like this.”

“Eh,” she shrugged, sinking into his arms. “I’d be bored without the chaos.”

She moved away from him, peeling off the large tee-shirt she had stolen from him years earlier and threw on a bright orange sweater. A big pumpkin displayed proudly across her belly.

“I made Hannah clean up, Harry is supervising.”

“That’ll end well I’m sure.” She laughed, throwing her hair up into a sloppy ponytail.

“You still up for our plans tonight?” He asked, scooping up Sophie in his arms once she finally stopped crying, and sitting down in the arm chair. He picked up the remote and flicked on the Telly to the morning news.

“Yes, It’ll have to get done soon anyways.” She said, patting her tummy, and smiling when she felt a small kick near her hand. The baby was due in two weeks, and they had yet to put the nursery together.

With four children, their house would quickly become crowded and James had taken to several quarantine projects in effort to make more room for his family. He began with converting the upstairs attack into a room for Harry, complete with his own Telly, a new gaming system and a mini fridge. James then began the task of converting Harry’s old bedroom into a nursery for the new baby.

They had decided to wait on the sex of their child, and opted to paint the bedroom yellow. Marlene had come by a week prior and painted a mural of characters from Lily’s favorite book to read to her kids, Winnie the Pooh.

Harry and Hannah would be spending the evening at the Weasley’s and James’ Mother would be stopping by this afternoon to pick up Sophie for an evening of spoiling, giving James and Lily some much needed alone time. They had incredibly exciting plans, of eating take-away and preparing the nursery.

Soon enough, James had declared he was taking Harry and Hannah to the market to do a little bit of shopping, and Lily sat at home with Sophie. She planted the child in front of the Telly in her bedroom, whilst Lily sat on her bed, editing her latest article for Buzzfeed. This was the last article she had to write before starting maternity leave, and she was hellbent in making it one of her best ones yet.

Her back ached, and she sighed as she noticed Sophie beginning to get restless. Quarantine had been rough for everyone, and being locked up with a whiny toddler began to take a toll only Lily’s nerves.

She slammed her laptop shut and sighed out in frustration, taking in the sight of her daughter. The girl mimicked her Mother, with curly red hair and freckles skin. But she took James' playful smile, and his aptitude for mischief. It wasn’t Sophie’s fault that she misbehaved so often of course, she was bored. Two year olds needed to be out exploring the world, and Sophie was locked inside with her anxious parents.

When the shut downs began, Lily was still required to work. Most days, she was shut away, writing articles and having conferences over zoom. James hasn’t worked since March, and he was tasked with entertaining the kids most days.

Thankfully Harry and Hannah could occupy themselves with school, and once summer came around they got to see their friends again.

But poor Sophie rarely got the sole attention from her Mother anymore, and so Lily took this as an opportunity to spend some much needed one on one time with her youngest daughter.

They made sugar cookies, and the rest of her family came home to find Lily and Sophie sitting in a mess of orange icing, surrounded by dozens of pumpkin shaped cookies.

James presented Lily with a bouquet of sunflowers and she squealed in delight when Harry gave her a box of chocolates and a card.

“It’s from all of us.” He said nonchalantly. “Happy Anniversary.”

James grinned, rustling Harry’s hair and pointed towards a framed photo on the wall next to the stove. It was of James, Lily and Harry as a baby. The day they got married.

“It’s a shame you don’t remember it. You were throwing up from all the cake Uncle Sirius let you eat.”

“It was a beautiful day.” Lily said, shoving a cookie towards Harry. “Let’s not dwell on when Harry threw up all over me.”

At three that afternoon, Mia Potter entered their home, with bags of Halloween treats for Harry and Hannah. She came with her digital camera, demanding the kids get dressed in their costumes for an impromptu Halloween photo op. James had struggled to get Sophie into her Peppa Pig costume, and Harry and Hannah had squeezed into their wizard costumes from the previous year.

Lily begrudgingly got through the picture part of the afternoon, and sat patiently in the living room while James served the tea.

“Any signs of arrival?” Mia asked, the elder Mrs Potter was nearing eighty now. She waited nearly fifty years for her only son, and was more than thrilled when her grandchildren had been born.

“Not yet,” Lily said. “Unfortunately. I’m starting to feel like I’ll be pregnant forever. But I’m trying to enjoy it, because this is definitely the last one.”

“You said that after Hannah.” Mia reminded her.

“We mean it this time.” James said, sitting next to Lily and handing her a mug of tea. “We are stopping at four.”

“Yeah we are out of room here.” Harry said assuredly. “And you don’t want to turn into the Weasley’s.”

James laughed at that, he couldn’t even fathom seven children. The thought of having four was already quelling lots of new anxieties.

“Oh well. I’ve already got four perfect grandchildren.” Mia said, standing up and patting Hannah on the head.

“We best be getting off though, I have quite the evening planned for this sweet girl.” She said, picking up Sophie and kissed her cheek.

Lily kissed her goodbye, and made her way to the kitchen while James accompanied his Mother outside.

“Harry go help Mum clean up.” She heard Hannah whine.

“Well why don’t you?”

“You two better not bring this bickering over to the Weasley’s.” Lily interrupted the brewing fight.

“Sorry Mum.” Hannah said sheepishly, taking the kettle of her Mother’s hands. “We’ll behave.” She said pointedly, staring at Harry.

“Yes. I promise.” Harry said, kissing his mother’s cheek. “Enjoy your night with Dad.”

“What time are they expecting you lot?” Lily asked, leading the way to the kitchen.

“Dad said he’ll drive us over there at seven.” Harry said, moving to load the dishwasher.

“Make sure you take some of those cookies over there with you.” Lily said, it broke her heart slightly. That her kids were at the age where they would rather spend Halloween with their friends rather than their parents.

Halloween had always been a bit of a weird holiday for the Potter’s. It began in their first year of University, when James and Lily met at a party that James and his friends were throwing. Remus had practically begged Lily to join him at their party, insisting she would get along greatly with his friends. Lily’s roommate Marlene had excitedly encouraged Lily to “get drinks and get laid.” Lily did get laid that night, after immediately hitting it off with James. They spent hours talking together, laughing and drinking and dancing. They ended up in bed, in a drunken tangle of limbs, and Lily fell in love. (James had been in love the moment he laid eyes on her.)

The second Halloween spent together was presumed to be when Harry was conceived, again at a party that James had been throwing. Sirius had given Lily a brownie with a little “surprise ingredient,” and she had failed to make sure that James was using a condom that night.

They would never forget their fourth Halloween together. It left a number of scars, and an emotional strain on the young couple for years to come. It had begun with a disasterly dreadful dinner with her sister and her oaf of a husband. They had met at a posh restaurant near Lily’s hometown and the night had ended with Lily in tears after Petunia’s verbal attack. It was the same old conversation; that Lily was a disappointment to her Mother, that Lily was a freak, a failure. A slut for having a baby at such a young age.

She was silent as she walked to the car, hand in hand with James while he struggled to carry their crying infant son at his hip. She insisted on driving, that driving was calming, and James didn’t want to upset her further. He strapped his son into his car seat and climbed into the front seat, plugging in his phone and scrolling through his playlist to find Lily’s favorite artist.

He didn’t notice the red light, the rain was coming down too hard and he was focused on trying to calm the screaming baby in the back. A truck had barreled into them, flipping their car and nearly killing the young family.

Harry was left with a terrible scar on his forehead. The baby had a concussion and slept for days after the accident. James too had a concussion, and shattered his arm. Lily had been in a coma for nearly a month.

They nearly died that Halloween, James and Lily shudder at the thought of everything they could have lost. And they are thankful everyday for the family that they have.

The following year they decided to make Halloween into a happy memory. That morning Lily had taken a pregnancy test and a pink plus sign glared back at her. She cried for most of the morning, frustrated with her inability to use contraception. James was quick to ease Lily’s frustrations, reminding her that they wanted more kids in the future anyways, and that Harry was unplanned and ‘look at how good we are at making babies’. They took Harry Trick or Treating for the first time, dressed in a dog costume and laughed at Uncle Sirius’ tricks.

Afterwards they eloped, James had declared that they waited long enough, and they found a twenty four hour chapel. Halloween was the anniversary of when they met, and when they became a family. It was the day their family lived, and the day that their family was growing. It was the perfect day to get married.

Halloween in 2020 would be different of course. Harry and Hannah hadn’t bought costumes that year, and Sophie would miss out on her first chance to go trick or treating. Lily sat at her kitchen table and thought about this sadly, she had a few hours left before Harry and Hannah left and she wanted to make the most of it.

“Would you like to watch a movie?” She asked, smiling at her kids as they finished cleaning up from their afternoon tea.

“Erm.” Harry said, anxious to get upstairs on his Xbox before he left tonight.

“Han? C’mon guys. We never get time like this. We can watch something scary.”

Hannah agreed, and after Lily said she would make cheesy popcorn, Harry agreed too.

James joined them, and excitedly picked out The Conjuring declaring that Hannah was old enough to watch it.

Lily sat contently, as her daughter curled up next to her and they shared a bowl of popcorn. She observed James as he sat cross legged on the floor, leaning up against the couch, throwing popcorn at Harry.

Lily dozed off after a while, and her family dared not to wake her. Once the credits rolled, Lily stirred and found Harry and Hannah at the front door with their overnight bags.

“Behave.” She told Harry sternly, “I don’t want any calls from Mrs.Weasley tonight. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him Mum.”

“Please don’t.” James interjected, “that will just cause a fight. Don’t embarrass yourselves.”

Hannah rolled her eyes, and Lily laughed as she planted one last kiss on her daughter’s forehead.

“Any requests for dinner love?” James asked her before leaving to drive the kids to the Weasley's.

“Something fried.” Lily said, shutting the door behind him.

By the end of the night Lily was ready to sleep for a century. Once James had returned with bags of take-away, she had eaten her weight in fish and chips and spent the rest organizing the nursery. James had mastered putting cribs together by now, and had easily built this new one within an hour. He had put together the dresser, and was now working on the changing table while Lily began to organize the drawers of the dresser.

“You know this is probably going to be the last time we are alone for a long time.” James said, sitting down on the floor and throwing his tools back into the tool box.

“Yeah.” She bit her lip sadly, things were about to get chaotic. They both knew that when they decided to have a fourth baby. “I just wish this was happening at a different time. I mean I won’t even be able to give birth in a hospital. It’s really scary.”

“It’ll be alright.” He said, she moved to sit down next to him. It was awkward of course, she moved slowly, and James reached his arm around her waist to help steady her to the ground. She sat with her legs stretched out infront of her, and her hands resting carelessly on top of her belly.

“Just a few more weeks.” James mused, setting his hand on top of hers. “Are you nervous?”

“Very.” She nodded.

“Me too. But it’ll be fine.” He willed himself to believe it. He had hoped that the pandemic would have been controlled enough by now that Lily would be able to go to the hospital to deliver their baby. But her doctor had advised against it, saying that Lily was healthy enough to deliver on her own and to do so in a hospital would be an unnecessary risk.

“We have a plan for the moment labor starts. Mum, Sirius, and Marlene are ready to spring into action the second we call them.” James spoke simply, the best way to calm down a spiraling Lily was to talk her through it.

He turned his head to kiss her on the temple, and he softly whispered into her hair. “You’ve done this three times already Lil. You’re great at it. Everything will be okay.”

“I guess it will be kinda nice being at home this time. And in my own bed.” She said lowly.

“See? Look on the bright side. And just think love, in a few weeks she’ll be here and things will be better. I promise you.”

Lily looked at him incredulously, “she?”

“Yea. She. It’s a girl, I know it.”

“It’s a boy James. We’ve talked about this.”

“Blah blah. ‘Mothers intuition’ and all that.” He rolled his eyes, “you have been wrong about our other two girls. I don’t trust your intuition.”

“I want Harry to have a brother. It’s not fair he’s going to be outnumbered.”

“You and Hannah were outnumbered for years.” James laughed, reminding her of the years spent with Sirius and Remus as part of her family.

“Exactly! I don’t want Harry to feel like that.”

“Whatever, I’m happy with whatever we get. Even if it means you're wrong.”

She was wrong of course. Her baby came later that night, weeks before her due date, and after hours of screaming at James for putting her in this spot; she gave birth to a tiny, precious girl.

They called her Phoebe, she was small, and wrinkly and very pink. She had a mess of thick black hair and her tiny fingers curled around Lily’s finger while she held her daughter in adoration.

Labor came suddenly, and Lily couldn’t remember her other children hurting this badly. She laid in her bed and cried for her Mother, while James panicked. He called Marlene over, she was a nurse and Lily had insisted that she would only feel comfortable giving birth at home if Marlene was there to act as a midwife.

By midnight Lily was crying into James' chest as she pushed her daughter out into the world.

James held Lily tight, as Lily held her daughter to her chest and began to feed her. He took a quick picture of the newborn, and sent it to Harry and his mother. And whispered to Lily, “you did amazing. Again.”

She looked up at him, smiling wildly. “Shes lovely James, we did this.”

“Well obviously. But you did the hard part.”

“It’s okay.” She sighed, labor had been a bitch. She was horribly sore, and exhausted. She smiled down at the baby in her arms, “it was worth it.”

“Happy anniversary love.” He said.

“Happy Halloween.” She beamed at him.

Halloween was good for the Potter family. They had another happy Halloween story to add to their collection, the day Phoebe was born.

This year may have been shit, but it was ending happily within the chaos of the Potter home.

“Happy Birthday.” James leaned down and kissed his daughter's tiny head.

#jily #harry potter #james potter #lily potter #jily fanfiction #marlene mckinnon #remus lupin #sirius black #Marauders #jily fic #pregnant Lily #muggle au #Lily Evans #aaron taylor johnson #Sophie Skelton #jily fandom #hp marauders #hp fanfic #jily fanfic

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afaimsarrowverse · 4 years ago

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Arrowverse Update 2021:

I am doing one more of those before the new Seasons are rolling in, because we got major news about one project and some more bits about everything else, so… let’s start with the bad news and then continue with the rest:

Green Arrow and the Canaries

Is officially dead. It is currently unknown if and how we are going to get a resolution of the cliffhangar from the Backdoor-Pilot and its other open plot-threads. Yes, we were promised that all of this would get resolved somwhere else, if the show would not get picked up, however that was one year ago. Since then a lot has changed.

The main problem is that the project was just buried a couple of days ago, meaning that there is no chance for anything of this to be resolved in this TV-Season, which is already completly planned through for all the Arrowverse-Shows (and even half filmed already in some cases). The other problem is that a good portion of the people responsible for „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ is not a part of the current Arrwoverse anylonger. Yes, Marc Guggenheim could come back just to do a Crossover that resolves all that is still open, but why would The CW want its next Crossover Event to revolve around a never picked up show? There would have to be something else in that Crossover Event, provided one of those could even happen any time soon. As for doing just a singular episode the problem is where. The shows with ties to „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ might not be around any more or be in their final season by the time such an episode could be made, and all of the shows might again get shortened seasons, so the producers are going to have other priorties for their own shows in the next year.

So we might not get a resolution to „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ at all. On Televison that is. There is the alternate route though: A Comic Continuation.

As of now however it’s way to early to know anything for sure though. They are looking into it, but as I said, things are a lot more complicated right now, then they were a year ago.

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Batwoman

Season two is rolling around in a few days, therefor they released a new accurate synopsis and The CW has been and is still putting out a lot of promo material. You can watch most of it on Youtube.

A couple of days after I wrote my last one of these, it was reported that Christina Wolfe will be part of the main cast this season. In other news, we also were told that we will get yet another version of Victor Zsasz. The Arrowverse-Version will be played by Alex Morf.

Also David Ramsey will guest star as John Diggle and also direct an episode (but probably not the same one). And yes, this might be the Crossover Episode. However is has to be said that is has become awfully quite around that illusive „Batwoman“/“Superman&Lois“-Crossover. Given the news about David Ramsey being in all shows, it might have been replaced by a Diggle-Storyline that goes through all the shows including „Batwoman“. We will have to wait and see.

The Season opener will go into Kate Kane’s fate (without her being in it though) and Gotham will have to confront the False Face Society and new drug called Snakebite in the opening episodes. The tone of the new Season might be drastically different from before, there are hints for that, and I am not speaking about BLM instead of LGBT-issues. The words „goofy“ and „fun“ are kind of present, if you know what I mean, however this could just be promotion.

As for the episodes:

2.01 „Whatever happend to Kate Kane?“ (Directed by: Holly Dale, Written by: Caroline Dries, Airdate: January 17 2021)

2.02 „Prior Criminal History“ (Written by: James Stoteraux & Chad Fiveash)

2.03 „Bat Girl Magic“

2.04 „Fair Skin, Blue Eyes“ (Directed by: Menhaj Huda, Written by: Ebony Gilbert)

2.05 „Gore on Canvas“

Black Lightning

Everyone is still very tighlipped about the final Season of „Black Lightning“. So I have nothing new, apart from titles (which are in line with the previous seasons and therefore not telling us anything, if we are honest):

4.01 „The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One“ (Airdate: February 8 2021)

4.02 „The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Two“

4.03. „The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Three“

4.04 „The Book of Reconstrucion: Chapter Four“

4.05 „The Book of Ruin: Chapter One“

4.06.

4.07 „Painkiller“-Backdoorpilot

The Flash

So, yes, someone on the Production Team was tested posivite, and they had to shut down the production for a short period of time because of this, but it remained a pretty isolated case (or so it seems) and the production did resume. To make up for the lost time the Christmas Break was shortend, and they are back to filming already, so no need to worry, everthing is on schedule.

This season will see the return of John Diggle to Central City. David Ramsey will also direct an episode (but probably not the same one). We will also see the return of the Meta-Human Task Force, which will clash with Frost. This storyline will also involve Joe. Eric Wallace has hinted before that there will be a storyline involving the police and abuse of power with Joe in it, and I did assume it would be BLM-storyline, however this is „The Flash“, so this storyline might be what he talked about instead, and we might get a Meta-Human are being hunted and abused-Storyline as a substiute.

As for the first couple of episodes:

7.01 „All’s Wells that Ends Wells“ (Airdate: Feburary 23 2021)

7.02. „The Speed of Thought“ (Airdate: March 2 2021)

7.03 „Mother“ (Airdate: March 9 2021)

7.04 „Central City Strong“( Airdate: March 16 2021)

7.05 „Fear Me“ (Airdate: March 23 2021)

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Superman & Lois

The new Morgan Edge is in and it will be Adam Rayner, who will inherit the role from Adrian Pasdar. We also learned that Joselyn Picard will play the other Cushing-Lang-Daughter Sophie. Reporters we will get to meet on the show not only include Ron Troupe but also Chrissy Beppp played by Sofia Hasmik, while Leslie Larr played by Stacey Farber will be a cold former idealist, probably tied to Morgan Edge, and presumable an antagonist.

David Ramsey will guest star as John Diggle somewhen this season and will direct an episode as well. He will make his way through most of the shows (as Diggle) and might be the Crossover-Factor of this season. Even though the „Batwoman“/“Superman & Lois“-Crossover is not officially of the table, we haven’t heard anything about it in a while, so maybe this actually is it.

We got a proper look at the new suit and also the first real trailer, which is … unusal. More artsy then revealing, but is around one and a half months until the season starts, so there will be another trailer coming out soon.

The first couple of episodes:

1.01 Pilot (Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger, Written by: Greg Berlanti, Todd Helbing, Airdate: February 23 2021)

1.02 „Heritage“ (Airdate: March 2 2021)

1.03 „The Perks of Not Being a Wallflower“ (Airdate: March 9 2021)

1.04. „Haywire“ (Directed by: James Bamford, Airdate: March 16 2021)

1.05 „The Beacon“ (Airdate: March 23 2021)

Legends of Tomorrow

Aliyah O’Brien will guest star as Kayla a fearsome deadly alien warrior in this season, who won’t be to happy about the Legends, because she is a pro, and they are …. well … the Legends. David Ramsey will also guest star this season, however he won’t be playing John Diggle, but another role instead. Who or what this other role will be remains a mystery. He could play Diggles ancenstor or descendant, if time travel is still an element in Season 6, or a shape shifting alien or an illusion, however they could also go full prosthetics and have him playing a character with no connection to Diggle at all.

David Ramsey will also direct an episode this season. Caity Lotz did already direct an episode, Episode 5, and given that she tweeted about the strain of directing and acting at the same time, we will see more of Sara in this episode than in last year‘s „Mortal Khanbat“. However still expect less Sara in Episode 4 and 5 than usual.

There was an early air-date floating around for „Legends“, which proofed to be a mix-up. Don‘t expect Season 6 (or any mid-season replacement for that matter) before the end of May, and even that would be early.

As for the episodes:

6.01 „ Ground Control to Sara Lance“ (Directed by: Kevin Mock, Written by: James Eagan & Mark Bruner)

6.02 „Meat: The Legends“ (Directed by: Rachel Talalay, Written by: Matthew Maala & Morgan Faust)

6.03 „The Ex-Factor“ (Directed by: David Geddes, Written by: Grainne Godfree & Tyron Carter)

6.04 „Bay of Squids“ (Directed by: Sudz Sutherland, Written by: Phil Klemmer)

6.05 „The Satanist’s Apprentice“ (Directed by. Caity Lotz, Written by: Keto Shimizu, & Ray Utarnachitt)

6.06 „Bishop’s Gambit“ (Directed by: Kevin Mock, Written by: James Eagan & Emily Cheever)

Supergirl

Here we are again, with crumbs only. I still can’t tell you anything with value that happens this season. A couple of casting tapes leaked, one involving a prison break plot, however there is no telling if this isn’t just a single scene that leads to something totally different or the beginning of an actual sub-plot. We do know however that Young Alex and Young Kara will make their return this season.

We also know, that „Supergirl“ is about the only show on this list that does not have a finished Episode 1 as of now. They might have one or two finished episodes around Episode 5 or 6, but that’s it.

The reason we know this is that even though they are up to Episode 6 with filming, just like the other Vancouver-based shows, they did start a lot later, meaning they did not film whole episodes. The other reason we know that is that Melissa is just returning to the show this months. And there is no way she won’t be in Episode 1. She might sit out a couple of episodes that star Young Kara and Young Alex instead, but there is no way she won’t be in the first six episodes at all.

We will also get less Alex this year, or tob e more accurate less Chyler. She is having her directorial debute this season. Episode 6 is her episode, and this is the one with Young Alex und Young Kara in it. However present day Brainy und Nia are also in it, so it won’t be a total Flashback Episode. However, expect Chyler Light Episodes 5-6. Episode 7 will be directed by David Harewood. David Ramsey will also direct an episode this season and will guest star as John Diggle, however probably not in the same episode.

Also Odette Annable is back for the final season in some capacity. Wether as Sam or as Reign or both and for how much is unknown at this point.

And yes, „Supergirl“ is also the only show on this, where I can’t give you an episode list, because this is all we know.

Yes, it is the final season and they are extra-tight-lipped because of that, and also as I said they don’t really have finished episodes at this stage, but still it would be nice, if someone up there in Vancouver or someone from the Writer’s Room would give us anything. But it seems like they are holding back with any kind of promotion at least until Melissa starts filming if not longer.

#Arrowverse #green arrow and the canaries #Batwoman #Batwoman Season 2 #Black Lightning #Black Lighting Season 4 #The Flash #The Flash Season 7 #superman & lois #legends of tomorrow #Legends of Tomorrow Season 6 #Supergirl #Supergirl Season 6

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kattestrophe · 4 years ago

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Other highlights from "Katte - Ein Schauspiel in fünf Akten" in the order that I think of them

That time when "joyful marching band music" can be heard outside during Katte's questioning and he starts sobbing because "I want to be in the army agaaaaaaain". The same dude who tried to just not return from his vacation just a year prior.

This is the same situatuion where he calls for a duel between him and Mylius and forgets he doesn't have a sword anymore btw

He's also just... constantly sassing Mylius. "Did you give your signet to the Princess so she could change the letters and reseal the box?" "Find out yourself, that's your job?" "Where's your signet?" "Where's last year's snow!?" / "... if we had the Princess and Katte meet." "Herr von Katte, if you please, you paper-noble!"

The part where he's in love with Wilhelmine. Again.

Which results in the conversation "No, I can't leave Berlin, all of the King's wrath would come down onto the Crown Prince and you! However! If you fled WITH me, I would go!" because fuck Fritz, I guess :'D

The part where he reminisces about how he really is a pretty cool dude and nobody else could be a better friend to Fritz and when Mine calls him vain he says "What? No, I'm ugly as sin! Still pretty cool though."

The part where he's crying to Wilhelmine that the fact that Fritz and FW hate each other is tearing his heart apart because he loves them both so much and they're both so right

Fritz is not in this too often (less than anyone else, honestly), but when he is, he is... pretty dumb. Like... Katte and Mine beg him to please not flee before they reach Wesel because it won't be safe and he's like "You want to imprison me now like my father did before?? I won't promise you shit??" I mean... Fritz did some stupid shit during the actual escape but that scene just felt awfully dumb.

FW: "Katte!" Katte: "Your Majesty!" FW: "You are the son of my high ranking officer von Katte and the grandson of my other high ranking official von Wartensleben!?" Katte: "Yes!" Jana, confused: "Why are you asking him this like you don't know who he is while also obviously knowing who he is!?"

Fritz is also very suprised and hurt that Katte won't be his page on the journey to the Rhine. It's not like Katte has a different job entirely.

All of the dialogues read like a comedy (which is not ideal for a tragedy), honestly, I am waiting for the laugh tracks

Fr. v. Kamecke: "The phantom noises that we heard align perfectly with the time the Crown Prince was arrested! He visited us as a ghost at that point!" Wilhelmine: "Seems awfully rude of my brother to disturb us at such a late hour. It is not like him to make noise."

For my german followers: Katte telling the siblings about the newest developments in the English marriage disaster reads a lot like "Nein!" "Doch!" "Oooh!"

Sophie Dorothea is, for some reason, super into Katte. Like, talking to FW about how great he is levels of into him.

Honestly, everyone is super into Katte

Even Katte

Wilhelmine kisses Fr. v. Sonsfeld at some point and she reacts by saying "Oh no, Princess, not out in public, what if anyone saw" which really made them sound like secret lesbians and it is never adressed again

Just like Katte's "You know of my relationship with the Crown Prince"-bit that Wilhelmine reacted to with "a pained movement"

Sophie Dorothea is all for Mine marrying Fritz of Bayreuth in order to help Fritz the Crown Prince and is only worried for her happiness. Lol, sure.

Katte's friend Holtzendorff appears. He is probably the only speaking role with less stage time than Fritz.

I have not read the final act yet, i'll keep you updated

#adventures in katte the stage play #hans hermann von katte #wilhelmine of prussia #frederick the great #this play is a wild ride

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tvandenneagram · 4 years ago

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Joker (2019): Arthur Fleck - Type 9w1

Note: We just watched Joker and we really liked the movie and felt like it was a bit of a character study of Arthur and wanted to do this post, despite doing tv shows mostly. Spoilers ahead.

Arthur is reserved, mild-mannered and passive before his transformation into the Joker. He is seen to be silently suffering with his mental illnesses and with the state of society.

At his best, Arthur is a kind and gentle soul. He is well-mannered and is generally quite friendly to people he meets. Arthur generally tried to maintain an optimistic attitude towards his life, despite the many pitfalls that befell him.

At his worst, Arthur falls into a deep depression and dissociates himself from reality. He has a mental break and cannot distinguish what is real or fake (as seen with his imagined relationship with Sophie).

Arthur was always very repressed and tried not to express his negative emotions or feelings. As a child, his mother called him ‘Happy’ and reinforced with Arthur that he should always try to put on a happy face. We see this quite often in the film. A prominent example is the smile Arthur puts on as he is being scolded at work. He is clearly very upset and angry but tries to hide this from the outside world.

Arthur always felt like he was insignificant and that nobody noticed or cared about him. He had an extremely bleak childhood and life that he felt nobody cared about. Furthermore, Arthur was failed by the system he was in. We see that Arthur was never really heard by his therapist. He would try to tell her his problems, but she was always just going through the motions and didn’t care to really listen to him.

Arthur also had no clear identity, which is a hallmark of a deeply unhealthy 9. We see that he never really knew who he was and was often trying to mimic the other people in his life to fit in. For example, we see that he has a forced laugh that he uses when others are laughing but he doesn’t find anything funny. Additionally, Arthur’s fragile sense of identity is further cracked when he finds out that he was lied to by his mother Penny.

Arthur believes in human decency and kindness at his core. While he became murderous, I believe his true nature was quite gentle. One of the main reasons for his descent into madness is the lack of kindness and civility in his society. Most people Arthur met were generally quite cruel to him and inconsiderate of his mental health issues. Additionally, people were uncaring of him because he was poor and had no societal power. I believe that we can see that Arthur’s true nature was gentle in the fact that he let Gary go because he was the only person he was ever nice to him.

We see Arthur’s transformation into someone who put up with all the awful things that were thrown at him into someone more assertive. At the beginning of the film, we see Arthur being beaten for a sign he was holding and relentlessly made fun of by his coworkers. The first time we see Arthur stand up for himself is when he kills the men on a subway (which is obviously taking things too far). When he begins to kill, he has a sense of excitement brought on by the feeling that people are finally taking notice of him. This is highlighted by his final speech before killing Murray. Arthur believes that he was always a good boy who sat there and took all the horrible things that were thrown at him. He feels as though he was never himself and never expressed his real emotions until becoming the Joker. When he becomes the Joker, Arthur feels a sense of freedom as he is no longer letting the horrible world walk all over him.

I deliberated quite a bit on Arthur’s wings, but settled on a wing 1 because I believe he was a very repressed individual and prior to his mental break had very little aggressive tendencies. I also think that he tried to be a ‘good’ member of society, which is why he put up with so much abuse.

Tri-type: 9w1 - 4w3 - 6w7

Some quotes to describe Arthur’s traits and motivations:

“For my whole life, I didn't know if I even really existed. But I do, and people are starting to notice.”

“You don't listen, do you? I don't think you ever really hear me. You just ask the same questions every week. "How's your job?" "Are you having any negative thoughts?" All I have are negative thoughts.”

“I killed those guys because they were awful. Everybody is awful these days. It's enough to make anyone crazy.”

“Ugh, why is everybody so upset about these guys? If it was me dying on the sidewalk you'd walk right over me! I pass you everyday and you don't notice me! But these guys? Well because Thomas Wayne would cry about them on TV?”

“Have you seen what it's like out there, Murray? Do you ever actually leave the studio? Everybody just yells and screams at each other. Nobody's civil anymore. Nobody thinks what it's like to be the other guy. You think men like Thomas Wayne ever think what it's like to be someone like me? To be somebody but themselves? They don't. They think that we'll just sit there and take it, like good little boys! That we won't werewolf and go wild!”

“I've got nothing left to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore. My life is nothing but comedy.”

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wonderofwillows2 · 3 years ago

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The Training 2

Anna Priya and the other women led Victor from the small room and down the hall to a small door marked “staff only”. The woman who led the group opened it revealing a set of stairs leading up. Once more Victor felt a tinge of nervousness and began to slow but Priya and Anna held his arms reassuringly and led him forward. The group ascended the stairs and before long turned into another hallway identical to the one below. Two separate small rooms lined the hall each with a heavy door. They were led to the one at the far end of the hall and made to enter. A row of seats sat along one wall exactly five. The woman leading the procession took the center and her two escorts on either side. She motioned for Priya and Anna to take the farthest two. The woman at the center then pulled out a small remote and clicked a button. There was a slight noise in the back of the room and then silence again. Victor was once again racked with nerves as the only one left standing.

“Victor, I’m sure you’re anxious to know what’s going on. I just want you to know this was all the idea of your sister and Priya. My name is Jen and I want you to feel comfortable. On my right is Nadine and on my left is Sophi.” The woman in the center said with the most perfectly regulated voice Victor had ever heard. She held a neutral expression on top of it.

“What is going on here?” asked poor, nervous, Victor.

“I’ll allow Priya and Anna to explain that.” Said Jen.

Anna and Priya stared at each other for a minute before Anna motioned for Priya to continue. Priya looked hesitant and then began to talk.

“Victor, you are genuinely wonderful in my mind but these women are here to see if you might fit into their program. It’s to help guys like you who never had a lot of social skills and to teach them how to be better lovers.” Priya said.

“This is very surreal. Also, you mentioned the idea already, “a workshop for social skills” is what you said Anna.” Victor exclaimed.

The woman with the clipboard made two notes.

“We do prefer educated young men, you seem to at least have something of a vocabulary.” Jen noted still keeping her neutral tone and face.

“It’s also about the physical part though Victor, you have trouble picking up the ques so I thought this would help. Poor Deena threw herself at you for over a month last year.” Priya seemed so imploring that Victor could not help but feel his anxiety soften to a need to ameliorate things.

“She did? Why didn’t you say something to me?” Victor asked, now concerned.

“I did tell you but you were so incapable of getting it, I think this will help.” Priya added.

“Yes, please consider this. I know dad treats mom well in some ways but he does not get it sometimes either.” Anna added, once more imploring.

“Alright, what do I need to do then?” Victor asked, still racked with anxiety about the situation.

“The first thing would normally be a check of your social skills at a base level however you’ve shown sufficient interest in the concerns of others that I think we can dispense with that. We’ve also noted your SAT scores as provided by your sister so we can dispense with testing for intellect.” Jen said to the group.

“You gave them my SAT scores?” Victor glared angrily at Nadine.

“Just a copy we don’t have any vital information about you. Don’t be angry.” Jen said and victor did indeed calm a bit. To go a bit farther, he felt almost too calm. Yet here he was and so, he decided to try and make the best of it.

“So what is next?” Victor asked.

“Well that is the physical part. Let me ask do you exercise?” Jen asked him.

“I run three miles four or five times a week” Victor replied.

“Very good, now here is the thing. We will need to see the results this brings you. I will need you to take off your shirt.

“What do you mean?” Victor asked her. He was stunned but surprisingly calm.

“I mean I need you to take off your shirt.” Jen replied still the without emotion.

“It’s ok they are here to help” Priya added encouragingly.

Reluctantly victor began to take off his shirt. He did so slowly but without the feelings of embarrassment or apprehension that might normally influence him, in fact he felt almost comfortable. All of the women were looking at him including his sister and yet he did not feel embarrassed or out of place. All the women’s eyes were on him then including those of his sister and it still did not bother him. The odd calm remained and he wondered if it were the ritual aspect of this place, the space he was in or if there were something more to it. Priya’s eyes were on him too and this made him entirely more nervous than Anna’s or even those of the panel of women.

“Now your pants.” Intoned Jen.

Victor paused then and the nervousness sprung up once more but he decided instead to comply, the situation simply didn’t seem hostile to him and neither Priya nor his sister had even flinched at the suggestion. It was almost as if they had known. A thought that disconcerted him a bit but that he did not seem to mind. What harm would it be for them to see him in his boxers? It would have been so little to do. While thinking this he suddenly realized he had been slowly and unwittingly complying to the command and had kicked off his shoes and lowered his pants more than half way. He proceeded to take them off and then to slowly nudge them aside. Suddenly he was aware of a chill in the room and felt himself shiver a bit. His slim and mostly hairless body mostly on display. Priya and Anna looked on with slight smiles.

“Now the measurements. Nadine please.” Jen commanded her associate.

“The what?” Victor asked.

“Just like a tailor, please hold still.” Jen said.

With that Nadine stood and pulled a small tape measure from a pouch on her waist. Victor was shocked that he had not even noticed the small instrument on her before. With that she began the measurements. She took the length of each arm, the width of his chest, and his total height. She checked the width of his neck as well before measuring his waist. The affair was both intimate and invasive but victor allowed it quietly. Finally she move on to his lower sections and Victor started only briefly as she measured the circumference of his waist and then his buttocks and the length of each leg. He started only briefly when she measured his inseam and her hand lightly brushed against his penis. The whole process was not too long, no more than a few minute but it felt long and engaging.

“Now the last step. Your underwear too Victor.” Jen said, Nadine had not seated herself again. This time Victor really did feel uncertain. He looked to Priya and then to Anna but both looked at him with encouraging glances. Neither had any doubts about what was happening.

“Go ahead.” Anna implored.

“I don’t know if I want you watching.” Victor said with a slight tremor in his voice.

“It’s ok, I can turn away.” Anna said.

“No you may not, the sponsors must participate.” Said Jen coldly.

“It’s ok, I’ll be right here.” Priya said.

“Please do this, for us.” Anna gently coaxed.

Then he did, to his own surprise Victor dropped his underwear before these strange women, his good friend and his sister. More to his surprise none of them batted an eye this exchange. They all seemed pleased even Anna.

“Nadine if you please.” Jen intoned to her subordinate.

Nadine began to reach for Victor’s flaccid penis and immediately he jumped away.

“Victor, please. Let her.” Priya implored him again. Victor stood still.

With that Nadine wrapped her hand around his flaccid penis and victor gasped and fought the urge to pull away. Nadine got out her tape measure and began measure his penis base to tip before reporting the number to her seated compatriot with the clip board. They all seemed satisfied and even Anna watched.

“Now to see him aroused. Put your hands behind your back Victor.” said Jen. Victor was nervous but oblige the command.

Slowly Nadine began to manipulate him, she stroked up and down his shaft and drew the foreskin back and forwards over the glans of his still slightly shrunken penis. Victor was suddenly aware that all three of the strange women were quite fetching and that Nadine herself was a young woman of no more than twenty-five. She had wonderful curly red hair and a few freckles spotting her pale complexion. Victor was soon entranced and so were Priya and Anna at the rhythmic stroking of Victor’s penis. Before long he was past any social concerns and had grown to his full length. Once again Nadine measured his penis both the length and width and noted them. Victor’s head swam and he doubted this was even real, he came to the sound conclusion it must be a dream, but it persisted on and he let himself go.

“Now there is one last thing Victor. We need you to orgasm for us. How long has it been since your last orgasm?” Jen asked the shocked young man.

“Maybe three days?” Victor was shocked at the question despite having lost his right to be shocked some time prior.

“Well it should be easy to do so with your foreskin, you’ll need no assistance. Show us how you give yourself pleasure Victor.” Jen had managed to keep her tone entirely neutral once more and now Victor was becoming certain that this was a common happening here. Against his better judgment he fond himself complying and took his penis in his hand and began to stroke himself. Slowly at first and then more rapidly moving his foreskin across the glans. Anna and Priya watched transfixed while the other women took a more cold and professional stance.

“Go ahead, think of Deena. Think of her little red nipples. I don’t know if you have seen them but I certainly have. they’re lovely.” Priya added while victor continued his stroking. Victor could not help himself now, the fantasy had seized his mind and now he was incapable of stopping even as Anna looked on. He continued to stroke.

“She has a nice little landing strip too, she has dark pubic hair, darker than her normal hair but she doesn’t dye either.” Priya offered again.

With that Victor felt himself orgasm, a powerful orgasm and so intense his legs trembled. He could not contain himself and he felt the rush of semen form and flow up his urethra and then eject itself in small spurts and dribbles. Anna and Priya watched with smiles now enjoying the vicarious pleasure victor felt at that moment as his penis twitched and pulsed before his audience. He had not thought of it then but he was facing Jen and the other women. He had not managed to ejaculate with the force necessary to hit them however. They remained well dressed and immaculate. Finally as Victor’s breathing slowed to it’s normal pace and his clarity returned he realized with slight horror what he had just done and was filled with regret though oddly enough no anxiety. Jen’s formerly stone like expression broke and she smiled at him.

“That was very nice Victor, you gave us all a show. Didn’t you enjoy it Anna?” Jen asked and Anna nodded in agreement.

“I am glad you can orgasm so strongly.” Anna added smiling.

“You seem like good material for our program Victor, more than adequate in many ways. There is just one thing. You’ll have to be circumcised. The foreskin is a relic of times past and has no place in age of gender equality. you’ll have to be circumcised.”

Victor stared in horror, unsure of what he had just heard. He realized now this was an adventure that was only beginning.

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unspecified-trash · 4 years ago

Text

Reunion

This is my first time writing a fic, and I don’t plan on making it a regular occurrence; but I couldn’t get the idea of Jesse finally meeting his uncles out of my head so I wrote it.

Fandom: The Shadowhunter Chronicles / The Last Hours

Character: Jesse Blackthorn

Read it on AO3 if you want

Jesse had never felt this nervous before. Sure he had been frightened when he saw Lucie in the Thames that day and was terrified after discovering she intended to bring him back to life, but both those occasions he had been scared for her, not for himself. This was the first time Jesse had ever felt truly afraid for himself.

“What if they hate me, Grace?” Jesse whispered.

Grace had sent a message the previous day to his two uncles, Gideon and Gabriel Lightwood, that she had to meet with them and their families urgently, preferably at Gabriel’s home in London. In the letter, she explained a wish to make amends for both her their mother’s and Grace’s hateful actions towards the Lightwoods. However, they did not know that thanks to Grace and Lucie Herondale, Jesse had been revived after 6 years and intended to finally meet his family. Truthfully no one but the three of them knew he was alive, but tomorrow that would change.

“What if they turn me away and demand I never return? I wouldn’t blame them after all our family has put them through.” He confessed.

“Why would they hate you for any of that Jess?” she replied. “You haven’t done anything wrong. It is me who needs to worry about being turned away. They have no reason not to love you, and from what I was able to gather from Christopher regarding your death, it seems that they did. They mourned you and wished to meet you as well. I promise you, it will be alright big brother.”

Grace’s reassurance had allowed him to sleep relatively soundly through the night. How odd it was to sleep again. He was so used to roaming around at night and simply not existing during the day, that it felt strange and frankly a bit scary to lay down in a bed again and let sleep overcome him. Nonetheless, Jesse felt mostly rested when he awoke, but the terror inside him hadn’t settled. He had only a few bites of his breakfast and dressed in a hurry. He had spent hours the previous night deciding which of his new suits to wear. He opted for a black tailcoat, a dark green vest and pinstriped trousers. The vest had been a gift from Lucie which automatically made it his favourite.

Lucie had asked if Jesse wished for her to accompany him to meet this family, but he had refused, knowing he had to face them by himself. However, he did tell her that he would be happy for her to join in telling the story of his revival when they all went to the Institute for lunch; an event that Lucie was organising.

Once he was ready Jesse went outside and wait for the carriage. Since the Blackthorns didn’t have their own (yet), Uncle Gabriel had agreed to send his own to pick Grace up.

He couldn’t help but worry again about what the Lightwoods would think. He had a vague memory of meeting his uncle Gideon when he was ten and insisting he would become a shadowhunter. Uncle Gideon had told him that he wanted to meet Jesse, but that was fifteen years ago, and his uncle could have easily changed his mind. He never met his Uncle Gabriel, and therefore had no prior knowledge on what to expect from him.

He was shaken from his thoughts with the sound of the door closing behind him. Grace descended the front steps of Chiswick wearing a simple charcoal teagown and coat. By then the carriage had arrived outside the gates and was waiting for them. Jesse helped his sister board the carriage then climbed in himself. He sat across from sister but refused to look at her. Instead, he propped his elbow under his chin and gazed out the window, returning to his troubles. Grace seemed to understandthat no amount of reassurance could stop Jesse from worrying now, and simply reached her hand across and held his. Jesse gave her her hand a small squeeze but didn’t take his eyes off the changing scenery outside.

Winter was coming to a close now. The snow plaguing the roads was beginning to melt and people were ditching their winter coats for thinner jackets, but Jesse still shivered. It was incredible feeling the cold again. After not feeling much of anything for six years. Before he could bask any more the carriage came to a stop and the driver announced their arrival.

Jesse turned to Grace with fear in his eyes. ‘This is it’ he thought. He would finally know his family, for better or worse. The carriage door opened to reveal the steps of the Lightwood home and Jesse helped her exit. However, he could not muster up the strength to stand up himself and leave the carriage.

“I can’t do this” he croaked.

“Yes, you can Jesse,” Grace assured. “I will be right here with you, and they will love you. I promise.”

He gave her a small nod, but neither the fear in his eyes nor the sickly feeling in his stomach wavered.

Last night they had agreed that it should be Grace who knocks on the door, as it was her who requested the meeting. As Grace approached the door, Jesse stayed a few feet back and waited. All of his fears came back to him and swirled around his head. He remembered the awful stories Tatiana would tell to him when he was young, convincing him his family was evil, that they had murdered his father in cold blood. Although Jesse knew that his mother’s claims were false, he couldn’t help but fear for his life. He was terrified his uncles would want to kill him for all his mother had done to them. As he heard grace knock the door he considered making a run for it, but alas it was too late.

The door swung open to reveal a man with brown hair, an angular face and bright green eyes like his own. Gabriel Lightwood. Behind him stood a slightly shorter man. He had sandy hair and greyish-green eyes. Jesse recognised him as his Uncle Gideon and noticed he had not changed much despite not having seen him for the better part of fifteen years.

The two men had not had the chance to acknowledge him yet, as Grace immediately captured them in an earnest stare. However, after a moment, Grace stepped to the side to reveal Jesse to his Uncles.

For ten seconds all any of them could do was stare. Jesse could see feel their eyes boring into him as the emotions passed through his uncles’ expressions; recognition, sadness, confusion and fear. Finally, they both seemed to settle on disbelief.

Uncle Gideon’s eyes were wide as he whispered. “Jesse?”

His knees wobbled and Gideon steadied himself using the door frame as Gabriel continued to stare. Before anyone said anything else Jesse was suddenly enveloped in his uncle’s arms. He could something warm and wet dripping onto his shoulder. The hug became tighter as Jesse felt another set of arms wrap around him. In that moment, Jesse fully realized that he was alive again. His mother’s lies would never plague him and Grace again and he would never again have to wander the nights alone in the forest. He can finally know his family and start the life he never got the chance to live. Jesse wrapped his arms around his uncles and let the tears fall.

After a few minutes Aunt Cecily came to the door and insisted everyone come inside to escape the cold. Jesse and Grace were lead to the living room where the rest of the Lightwoods waited.

Aunt Sophie sat on a plush chair holding who Jesse presumed to be his youngest cousin, Alex. On the sofa, Thomas was sitting next to Christopher, who was wearing clean clothes with no scorch marks. Unbeknownst to them, Jesse had accompanied Lucie to many excursions with the Merry Thieves while he was still a ghost. Therefore Jesse knew that Christopher wearing fresh clothes was a rare occurrence, and wondered if it had anything to do with Grace’s presence. Hovering over Christopher was Anna, wearing a handsome blue suit and her red necklace was hanging from her throat.

All eyes in the room turned to look at the new arrivals, and Jesse began to feel nervous again. He looked to either side of him where his uncles were standing and they both smiled and nodded, eyes still watery, urging him to introduce himself. He took a deep breath and turned back to his family.

“Hello,” he started, feeling ridiculous. “My name is Jesse, and I am your cousin. I know this may all seem crazy, and it is, but I’ve been waiting to meet you all for twenty-five years, so here I am.”

There were many questions, most of which he refused to answer until they got to the Institute and could include Lucie in the conversation as well. There were even more hugs and tears, but for the first time in his life, Jesse Blackthorn felt like he was finally going to live the life he had always wanted.

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Let me know what you think!

#tsc #tlh #fanfic #jesse blackthorn #gabriel lightwood #gideon lightwood

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