#also i know arthur doesn’t actually hate his dad i just thought it was funny

[realllism]

merlin incorrect quotes pt 1/?

tbh there are too many of these already existing for me to check whether these have been done before so like let me know if they have so i can switch them out or smthn

[softtdaisy]

DESCRIPTION I All your relationship with Charles was based on dares. How far can it go before it becomes too much?

PAIRING I Charles Leclerc × fem!reader

WORDS COUNT I 3,7k

A/N I I never thought I would go this far with this story but I'm so happy with the way it turned out. I really hope you will like it as much as I loved writing it 💜

Ever since the day you met, you and Charles had been playing the same silly game. In French, they called cap ou pas cap. The idea was to dare the other person to do something.

It all started during your parents’ wedding.

Being six years old at a wedding was the funniest thing to do. You were watching adults having fun, drinking and dancing together. You were sitting at a table, imagining your own life as an adult. How you would be singing out loud, dancing like tomorrow didn’t exist and finding a cute boy to love if you didn’t have someone already. You imagined all the cool clothes you would be wearing, clearly better than those they were wearing now.

You were so focused on the life you were dreaming for yourself that you didn’t see the cute boy walking to you. “You’re bored too?” he asked shyly.

There weren’t that many children in the room that night. Not many of your parents’ friends brought them. But some couples couldn’t accept to let their children home. Just like the Leclerc.

You knew Lorenzo because your dad had been tutoring him a few weeks ago.

You knew Arthur because his mom came to your place to introduce him to yours.

But you never met Charles. You knew you were the same age, your mothers kept saying you should hang out together one day. You knew he was doing karting which is why you never saw him before. You knew he looked adorable because you’ve seen pictures of him.

You knew that your parents quite hoped you too would fall in love. But you were also big enough to know it was a little too early to think about that.

“Yes, I’m quite done with dancing with adults that try to say something funny. They’re not funny.” You rolled your eyes and made Charles laugh. He sat next to you, taking your answer as a right to stay with you. And it wasn’t like you would ask him to walk away.

“They keep telling me I must be breaking every girls’ heart and I don’t have the courage to tell them I don’t even have a girlfriend.” He sighed and took your drink.

You were acting like little adults in your own world. Drinking like life was too difficult to deal with, when all you had to care about was homework and karting for him. You chatted about some people you knew, mostly your parents’ mutual friends and some of their children like two gossips. And when the photographer asked if he could take a picture of you, you posed like two old friends.

It wasn’t until it was almost midnight that Charles offered to play a game of dares. Taking a picture with Arthur’s comforter. Both sharing a dance with someone the other had picked. Stealing someone’s piece of cake.

It started nicely. You had no idea that this would be the start and the thing that ruled your whole friendship.

You and Charles started to hang out more, or as much as you could since you had to ask your families every time. You had a weekly snack on Wednesday, and you convinced your parents to bring you to as many of Charles’ races.

As the years went on, it became easier to be best friends. You were calling each other all the time, sending stupid texts and would take the bus to each other’s places without your parents being there.

But never did the dares stop. They evolved with you.

As little children, you were still daring each other stupid and innocent things. Telling your parents, a whole crazy story that had actually happened in a movie. Asking Charles to steal his brother’s clothes and wear them for as long as Lorenzo doesn’t notice. Stealing a glass of wine…well this one wasn’t too innocent, and you both developed a hate for wine.

From children you became teenagers. And the dares became more adult. Or you tried to make yourself look more adult. You never dared each other to do dangerous things or anything. Just…stupidest. Like kissing someone you barely admitted having a crush on, missing a karting appointment to go to the beach (to your defense, it was your birthday) or participating in the school theater play. You were still a little mad that this started as a little dare, and you ended up with the main role.

But worse than that, you became teenagers that were slowly developing feelings. And none of you hesitated to dare the other some things that would make them jealous. You did kiss Max Verstappen after a racing kart when, stupidly, Charles dared you to kiss the winner. He thought he would win. He thought he would finally be able to kiss you, even if it was through a game. Thinking it would be less weird for the two of you.

He didn’t expect you to maintain the dare and kiss his worst opponent.

“I can’t believe you kissed him.”

You were in his family car, driving home from the race. His dad was outside, ordering food so you could spend the rest of the evening together at home. Charles was at the front. You could see him with his arms crossed and his angry face through the rearview mirror. “Then you shouldn’t have dared me to kiss the winner.” It wasn’t that you didn’t understand why he was mad. It was obvious. But still, it was his dare. Not yours.

“I was supposed to win!” he yelled, turning around to face you.

“And how is that my problem Charles? I didn’t ruin your race.”

His dad came back right after your reply. So, you didn’t get to hear his own answer to this. But you had time to think about it. The problem wasn’t that you kissed Max, even if you were pretty sure that he wouldn’t be that mad if it was anybody else. It was that you didn’t kiss him.

You spend the whole trip silently thinking about that.

“Charles wait!” you screamed when you were finally at this place and leaving the car. At first, he kept walking like he didn’t hear you. It was Charles: ignoring the problem rather than facing it. Even if the problem was one of his favorite people in the world.

Since he didn’t want to listen to you, you took the fan you brought to the race and threw it at him. “Eh!” he yelled, finally turning around to face you.

“Good, now you’re listening.” You walked to him with a big smile. You noticed how close he was to just walk away again and avoid the confrontation. But you didn’t give him the time. You grabbed his wrist to make sure he won’t leave. “I dare you…”

“Oh god, can we please st…”

“To kiss me. Charles.”

He didn’t expect that. And you could tell from the way his eyes grew big and his mouth opened without a single word coming out. “That’s where the problem lies, right? You thought I would kiss you there. Then I dare you to kiss me now.”

And he did. Because you had promised to never break a dare. And because he had been dreaming about this moment for so long.

So, Charles broke the small distance between the two of you. He approached his face so close to yours that you could feel the air coming out of his mouth. Your eyes stopped blinking to not miss every single moment of this. How he licked his lips. How his eyes were going down and forth between your eyes and your lips. How he brought his hand to your face.

You closed your eyes only when his lips finally touched yours.

It was a simple kiss. One shared but two teenagers who still had a hard time dealing with their feelings. That couldn’t find the line between game and reality.

It would be lying to tell you both didn’t abuse the kissing dare. It was almost like you couldn’t do it otherwise. It would be wrong.

You did it when you were both jealous of someone else. Especially because when you were both 18, you were playing with fire and flirting with more people than you should. You wanted to see which one would break first. Which would stop the game and say it’s over.

As much as you believed in yourself, you were convinced you would be the one giving in. Charles’ kisses were phenomenal. But they weren’t healing your broken heart. The one that kept breaking each time you were seeing him with someone new.

But Charles was the one who changed the game.

You were lying in his hotel bedroom, after partying during the post-race celebration. You were drunk, you were tired, and you were cuddling like it wasn’t hot outside. But you couldn’t resist Charles’ arms, how no matter where you were it will always bring you home. To a safe place where nothing could happen.

You looked at him, lying shirtless, with his wet and messy hair all around the pillow, his hand caressing your back. He looked like a living dream. Your living dreams. The one you had since you were a child. You brought a finger to his face and started to trace his lips. “Kiss me” he mumbled. You weren’t sure you heard him right. You sat up slightly to look at him right when he turned his head to look at you.

“You didn’t ask properly.” You replied with amusement in your voice.

“I don’t want to ask properly anymore.” He said, bringing his hand from your back to your neck.

Before you knew, your face was just above his. One movement and you kissed. One movement and you admit that it was more than a game for you.

One movement that you did.

That night, you didn’t need to dare him to make love to you either. For once, the game was put apart and forgotten.

And during the first weeks of your new and official relationship, you completely forgot about dare. You were living your love naturally. Without the constant thought of asking each other to do crazy things. Then it came back one day. Out of nowhere. For a stupid dare that didn’t even mean something. Just Charles daring you to go skinny dipping in your pool since you were alone.

But hearing him dare you was like listening to a song you haven’t heard in years. Eating a meal you haven’t been eating in months. Seeing a movie you haven’t seen since childhood.

It felt wrong. It felt weird. Somehow a little relieving too. Like nothing had changed.

And so it’s started again. Childish dares like you used to do. More sensual ones now that you were a couple. Stupider ones because you wanted to play with the limits. And sadder ones when you were arguing.

When it was good, the dares were fun.

When it was bad, the dares were terrible.

“Stop blaming me for your bad performances Charles!”

The Monaco GP was over for hours now. And Charles didn’t win either of the two F2 races. Worse, he couldn’t even finish them. You could understand that he was mad, that he was angry at the team for losing his home race. Here. In front of everyone.

That didn’t mean he had to let it all go on you.

“Then what am I supposed to do, hm?” You hated when he talked like that. Like a pretentious brat who couldn't understand that not everybody agrees with him. Like you were too stupid to understand that he could be angry.

“I don’t know, control your anger? Or at least, not fuming against me.”

“You don’t have to come if you can’t accept my bad moments. Don’t inflict that on me that.”

He wasn’t even looking at you. Drinking a stupid beer on his friend’s balcony, because he didn’t even want to come home and face his parents. Watching the party happening outside like a poor boy that wasn’t invited. It was wrong. He was invited. He didn’t want to celebrate somebody else, selfishly.  

“You’re being mean, Charles.” You sighed, walking to him, hoping you could finally calm him down.

But then he hit. Harder. “You know what?” he asked, not even turning to you like you were important enough. “I dare you to not come to the next race. So, you won’t suffer from my terrible nature.”

He knew you wouldn’t say no. None of you ever said no to a dare. So, you waited a few seconds, expecting him to break it. But that never happened before either. When a dare was said, you had to respect it.

So many things happened in a month. So many things that made Charles regret even daring you this. He should have kept it to himself. Let the anger disappear before saying something so stupid.

He needed you in Baku. He needed you by his side after going through the worst event of his life.

But he dared you not to come.

And you respected it.

You watched your boyfriend doing a perfect race weekend from home. Winning the race for someone that wasn’t there. You should have been there. Hugging him. Kissing him. Telling him how proud you were instead of texting.

It made you realize how bad this situation was. How childish it was.

“This can’t go on.” You told him when he came back.

“What do you mean?” Charles asked without even needing an explanation. He knew.

It was obvious to the both of you that something had changed. That none of you had the heart to play those silly games anymore. But more than that. You both weren’t so sure you knew how to live with each other without them. Your whole relationship had been ruled by dares. Making decisions through them.

“Is this really the life you want for us? Not being able to talk to each other or ask anything without having to put dares between us?”

Selfilishy, you hoped Charles would reassure you. Take the bigger role and make sure you still believe in your relationship.

The truth was he was just as confused and scared as you were. Worse, he felt guilty and knew it was wrong. But he wasn’t sure he was mature enough to stop that.

“I don’t know.” He sighed and you looked at him silently, waiting for more. “I don’t know what I want, I don’t know what we can do. I know nothing ok? Life has been a mess and I know nothing anymore!” You could see in his eyes all the anger and frustration he was keeping for himself.

“I’ve spent most of my life with you. Look what we became.” There was something more in what Charles just said. More than just a fact you already knew.

He spent most of his life playing with you. But now, at 20, was it really the life he wanted? Was it how a sane relationship was supposed to be like? And if you don’t stop it now, how could you know how far you’ll go?

“Charles, I dare you…” you started with a broken voice.

“Wait, no, we can…” he tried to stop you. Because he perfectly knew where this was going. He knew the game. He knew the outcome.

“To stop seeing each other for five years.”

There it was. The ultimate dare. The one you both needed but refused to see. The one you had no other choice to say to finally find a way of getting better. Feeling better.

Being better lovers.

Charles didn’t even try to negotiate or change your mind. Because if you didn’t say it, he would have. For once, he was happy to not be the one taking the rough decision. “Can I get a last kiss?” He asked. No dare. No obligation. Just a request from a broken heart to another one.

And you were glad you accepted it. You kept the feeling of his lips on yours for weeks after that day. It made things a little easier.

At least it did until you started to forget how he tasted. Or how it felt to be in his arms. Or the smell of his perfume. Or how good you used to feel after he made love to you like you were the most important person in the entire world.

Five years was a lot. But you both understood after a while that you clearly need it to grow up and be a better person.

Not seeing him didn’t mean you couldn’t follow his career. You even cheated one day, during the first year, for the Monaco GP. You hide in the crowd to watch him race. A part of you thought that he didn’t win because the universe was waiting for the day you would be together again.

You watched Charles dating other people too. People that weren’t you. People that could touch him and love him like you were supposed to. Like you used to.

That was what made you start a relationship on your own. At first you secretly claimed it was to learn how to be a better girlfriend for Charles. But as the years went on and you noticed he was still with the same girl, you convinced yourself you had the right to be happy with someone else too.

Five years went faster than you thought. When the new year started, your only thought was that you were getting him back. But you couldn’t be sure you would. Maybe Charles loved his new life like it was. Maybe he didn’t even remember the dare or the date you could finally reconcile.

Maybe he didn’t love you anymore.

When Charles received the invitation, he knew it wasn’t a coincidence. As much as it broke his heart to see your name linked with your fiancé, he knew.

Your wedding was happening right on the date the last dare was supposed to end. You were getting married on the day Charles could finally see you again.

Charles didn’t forget about you either. You were always on his mind. When he started a race, he wanted to make sure you would hear about him winning. When he posted pictures with one of his girlfriends, he wanted to make you jealous. When he was alone, he was dreaming about you being by his side. For good.

None of his relationships lasted because he could never love them like he loved you. It wasn’t a surprise that he accepted to come to your wedding alone. Not like he would have brought anyone else, anyway.

“You look…stunning.”

Charles found his way to your dressing room. He waited a little to make sure you were by yourself. He didn’t have the heart to face anybody. Worse, face your fiancé.

But you were alone. Sitting in front of the mirror. Knowing deep well that today would change your life. Either for better or for worse.

When you turned around and saw Charles standing there, you knew the answer.

“You came.” you got up immediately, taking a step toward before stopping. You needed a minute to appreciate it. He was here. The same young adult you left five years ago today was in front of you. Looking more beautiful than ever. Looking more adult, more confident. Exactly like you always imagined Charles to look like in the future.

“You invited me.” He replied. Doing exactly the same thing. Appreciating the view of the woman he loved. Except he had to deal with something more. The sight of you in a wedding dress. Something he always dreamt to see. But for him. Not for any guy. “I would have traveled to the other side of the world to see you today.”

Facing each other, you realized why you decided to get married today. It would be the ultimate proof that your love was big enough to fight for.

“Do you love him?” His arms were crossed against his chest, like he was waiting impatiently for an answer. He looked like a professional negotiator here.

“Charles…”

“I said, do you love him?” The way he looked at you directly in the eyes was like the confirmation you needed. You both grew up. None of you need those stupids games anymore to be honest and say what you need to say or do what you need to do. Charles didn’t have to force you to speak the truth by daring you to do it. You were both honest and adults now.

Adults are still in love with each other.

“I don’t.” You started walking towards him like he was the light at the end of the tunnel. The one you’ve been chasing all these years and that you were finally seeing. You knew you could do no wrong by walking to him. “I love you, Charles.”

One second. It took him one second to grab your face between his hands and give you the passionate kiss you both needed. Again, you could feel the determination on the way he was holding you tight, making sure you wouldn’t leave again. Or the way he was kissing you so deeply almost like he needed to discover you again. Entirely. One of his hands got lost on your perfect styled hair.

Charles was here to destroy the engagement you made. So you could make a new one with him.

“Can I make one last dare?” He was breathless against your mouth. It reminded you of the countless times you let your excitement take the upper hand and have sex in the first intimate place you could find. You didn’t even have the strength to reply, too busy thinking about how bad you wanted his lips on yours again. So you simply nodded at his request.

You saw a smile growing on his face. “I dare you to run away with me.”

Eight words. Eight words that you never even wished to hear.

“You can never say no to a dare.” He told you the night you met.

You didn’t plan on saying no today. At least, not to him.

So you took Charles' hand. Or actually offered him yours.

Making a pact. Accepting a dare for the last time.

“I won’t let you go ever again.” He told you once you were sitting in his Ferrari, ready to ride together and forget about the mess your love created.

“Dare?”

“Dare.”

[nobutfredweasleytho]

YOU JUST DON’T LISTEN(F.W)

Summary: Fred’s ex girlfriend writes him a letter to explain the how him using her wrecked her emotionally.

Warnings: angst, like a lot of angst, depressed Y/N, mentions of self doubt, a little swearing, mentions of parents not loving correctly, used reader. Let me know if I missed anything.

A/N: Major thank you to Gabriella @onlyfreds for being an amazing person and encouraging me to write whatever this mess is. I am forever grateful to you

(The font is terrible Im sorry im just getting used to working on tumblr)

Fred Weasley checked the muggle clock on his nightstand. 10:30 AM. His mom will call him for breakfast anytime now. He has been awake for quite some time if he can even count the 30 minutes he tried to sleep but couldn’t, not when every time he tries to close his eyes his mind and eventually dreams are clouded by her. By the last time he looked at her, how devastated she looked, How her face was wet from her tears and her eyes bloodshot red, but the thing Fred will never be able to forget is her voice. How raw and vulnerable she sounded while saying the most horrible thing’s anyone has ever said to him, but he can’t blame her, he has no one to blame but himself because in the end it was he who caused all of this and now its come to bite him in the ass. He hears the door open and his twin brother George enters.

“Mom says breakfast is ready and she wants you downstairs. She says she’ll drag you herself if you don’t show up again today.”

“Tell her I’m not hungry and I’ll come grab a bite later.” I really don’t feel like being surrounded by other people right now. Not in this pathetic state I’m in. Besides it will take me willpower I don’t have to not hex Ron into oblivion.

“Well she will not take no for an answer and I wont either. What’s done is done now and you’ll have to face the world someday so start with your own family because everyone down there is worried sick about you and the least you can do is show your face once in a while so they know you haven’t died of starvation or sleep deprivation.” George has worry written all over him and I’m sure the rest of the family has it too. I feel even more like shit for worrying them.

“Fine. But I come back here if she is mentioned are we clear?”

“We weren’t gonna mention Y/N anyway now lets go moms worried sick for your dumbass.”

Breakfast was going smoothly with Ginny and Ron being exited for Quidditch season, Harry and Bill discussing the unfortunate events of the Triwizard tournament last year, dad asking Hermione about a rubber duck whatever that is, but the most shocking thing is mom asking me and George about the joke shop products. George is doing most of the talking but still the fact that shes even asking is awesome. I was finally feeling peaceful this whole winter break until I heard a hoot outside the window.

“I thought it was Tuesday but since mail is here does it mean its Friday already? Oh how fast time is going.

“No Arthur honey you are right it is Tuesday, Bill or George can one of you see if that owl has the owners name attached to it and bring whatever letter he has here to see who is it for.”

Bill got up from his seat and went to the window next to the countertop to look at the mystery owl. “Do we even know a Y/N Y/L/N?”

The room went quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the owls hoot asking for its treat. Bill seemed not to realise this as he took the letter from the owl, gave him a treat and sent it on its way.

“To Fred Weasley from Y/N Y/L/N… Who’s Y/N is she the girl you’ve been crying over this whole time huh Freddie?” Bill chuckled but I just grabbed the letter. I had no time to even be mad at him because once again my mind fogs up with only her. I couldn’t help but feel relieved and the happiest I felt in a long time. She has forgiven me. Y/N forgave me. That has to be it. Why else would she send me a letter?

“I had a great time with you guys but there’s important matters for me to attend so I have to go to now. Thanks mom the breakfast was amazing as always.” And with that I sprinted towards my room, locked the door and examined the letter in my hands. It was a bunch of them in here. I went to mine and George’s worktable threw some papers that were on top of it to make room for these letters and carefully opened the envelope.

The first thing that I grabbed was a photo. It was a polaroid of me and Y/N on the Gryffindor common room. Happiness filled my heart when I started remembering this night. I looked at the back of the polaroid and surely enough there was a writing on it.

Fred and Yn on the Gryffindor common room at 1 AM the night she turned 17. Listening to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. Picture taken by major 3rd wheel George Weasley.

Tears filled my eyes when I remember this night. It was the night I looked at her the way I always should have. Not as a replacement of someone who didn’t care about me.

The next one was also a polaroid photograph but this one I don’t remember being taken. It’s a picture of Y/N teaching me how to play the guitar. I can make up that we are in her dorm but not more as the picture is taken in black and white. I look at the back and surely this one also has a writing on it but the handwriting doesn’t look familiar at all.

A drunken Y/N accompanied by a even drunker Fred trying to play the guitar in the middle of the night. If I fail my charms exam tomorrow I’m killing you both but right now you two look adorable. Picture taken by Cho Chang.

The third one is an actual letter. I chuckle looking at the handwriting. Always so precise and not even one line out of place. I always thought Y/Ns handwriting always contradicts her hot headed persona but it’s actually really cute. I start reading the letter and my heart stops.

Dear Freddie,

I can only imagine the shock that receiving a letter from me would cause you right now especially after our last conversation.

But I have a lot to get off of my chest and I wont be able to move on if I haven’t said it all. Call me a coward but I was really scared to ask you to meet me so I can say it in person, but maybe that’s what I have always been. A coward. A coward because I get scared when someone wants to enter my life, a coward because I hate trying new things at the expense of failing, a coward because I should be able to confront people who brought darkness and sadness to my life.

But one thing I will admit Fred Weasley is that I wasn’t a coward when It came to loving you. It was the first time that I let someone come into my life and heart the way you did, and it will probably be the last. Throughout our “relationship” if you can even call it that as it was more of you customizing me to be her, to be someone I’m not. But that’s why you even talked to me is it, because I reminded you of her.

The signs were right in front of me and I feel stupid enough not to have seen them. But I guess people are right when they say love is blind. Love is such a funny thing to me as the first time I experienced the right kind of love was through you. But that was me creating stuff in my head. You didn’t love me no, you loved the idea of me. But I loved you. I loved you more than anything or anyone I have ever loved, I loved everything about you. But you just don’t listen. You don’t listen to anyone around you. Not George, not your other siblings, not Lee or any of your other friends for that matter, not your professors, but most importantly you don’t listen to me.

You didn’t listen when I told you that the love my parents gave me was only because I reminded them of my brother, the love my old friends back home gave me was one of interest. Everywhere I go no matter who I talk to no one will love me for me. I came to accept that until I met you.

You were funny and crazy and brave and oh so gorgeous. You were basically everything I looked for in… well everything. In a friend or in a partner it doesn’t matter. I thought you saw me for who I am. A broken teenager with issues but that at the end of the day was deserving of love. Oh how wrong I have been but no more wrong than you. You knew this but you just didn’t listen.

That makes us both horrible people now does it. Me who thought you were some kind of savior or some kind of saint and selfishly wrapped myself around your love and you who used me because I remind you of your ex girlfriend who broke your heart. But mine is excused I feel like and yours isn’t.

You would have kept me going for who knows how long just so you can live your imaginations you had for someone else.

Did you think about her the first time we slept together?

Was I not enough for you Freddie?

Was I too clingy too soon?

Is it my hot temper that gets the best of me?

So many questions will be left unanswered on my end because frankly, I never want to speak of you again. Sure I am deprived of love but I will not take it if its not directed directly at me.

I still care about you and will continue to support you and George on whatever you set your mind into. I was waking through Diagon Alley last week and saw this little store with a “for sale” sign. It’s right in the middle of Diagon Alley. I hate how my first thought went that you would have loved it but I seem to do that a lot recently.

I’ll get dressed and think would Fred love this skirt or this shirt.

I start applying lipstick and I’ll think will Fred love this color.

I start eating and I’ll think does this look good enough that Fred would’ve stolen a piece of it when I’m talking to Ginny.

I don’t even know why I am telling you this. How pathetic I’ve become clinging into someone that doesn’t want me.

Anyway I’ve probably bored you enough with my ranting but I wouldn’t have been able to move on unless I said everything that felt heavy on my heart. I also attached some photos I thought you’d like to keep seeing as now you can see yourself with Kayla without having the burden to be near me.

Say hi to your siblings and Harry for me.

Have a nice life,

Y/N

[davidmann95]

Sooo… Superman and the Authority?

magnus-king123 asked: Your thoughts on Superman & the authority Give it to me...lol

Anonymous asked: Seeing Bezos take his little trip into space the same day Morrison puts out a Superman comic that touches on how far we’ve fallen from the days when we dreamed of utopian futures where everyone explored the stars was a big gut punch. Not used to Superman being topical in that way.

Anonymous asked: What'd you think of Superman and the Authority#1?

This is far beyond what I can fit in the normal weekly reviews, so taking this as my notes on the first six pages, with this and this as my major lead-in thoughts:

* Janin's such a perfect fit for Morrison - the scale, the power, the facial expressions selling the character work, the screwing around with the panel formatting as necessary to sell the effect, the numinous sense of things going on larger than you can fully perceive amidst the beauty and chaos. It's a shame he wasn't around 25 years ago to draw JLA, but I'll take him going with Morrison onto other future projects.

* His intro action sequence is such a great demonstration of why Black actually does have something to offer, and also how he's such a dumbass desperately needing Superman to save him from himself.

* While Jordie Bellaire didn't legit go with an entirely monochromatic palate the way early previews suggested, it's still an effect frequently and excellently deployed here. And glad to see Steve Wands carry into this from Blackstars since there's such an obvious carryover from its work with Superman.

* "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others." Great both because of the obvious - hey, Superman's nodding at me! - and because it's a phrasing that reinforces that this take on him (and let's be real Morrison) is old as hell.

* I'm mostly past caring about whether this is an alt-Earth Superman until it becomes indisputable one way or another, this and Action both rule so what does it really matter? But while there are still a couple signs in play suggesting some kind of division (the Action Comics #1036 cover, Midnighter up to time-travel shenanigans) the "lost in time" quote clearly thrown in after the fact to explain how he could have met Kennedy outside of 5G that wouldn't be necessary for an Elseworlds, the assorted gestures towards Superman's current status quo, the Kingdom Come symbol appearing in Action, and that Morrison would have had to completely rewrite the ending if this wasn't supposed to be 'the' version of Clark Kent going forward as was the intent when they first planned it all say to me that no, no fooling around, this is our guy going forward one way or another.

* Janin and Bellaire making the first version of the crystal Fortress ever that actually looks as cool as you want it to.

Anonymous asked: I like that Superman and The Authority is basically the anti-All-Star; instead of the laid back, immortal Superman who is supercharged, we have a stressed, ageing Superman whose tremendous powers are fading. The former will always be there to save us, but the latter is running out of time and needs to pull off a Hail Mary. Also, he mentions in his monologue to Black that he was "lost in time" when he met JFK, so maybe he is the main continuity Clark. Or he's the t-shirt Supes from Sideways.

* You're absolutely right - the power reversal is obvious and the ticking clock in play seemingly isn't for his own survival but everyone around him as he wakes up and realizes all the old icons grew complacent with the gains they'd made and he's not leaving behind the world he meant to. Both, however, are built on the idea of preparing the world to not need them anymore - it'll still have a Superman in his son, but that'll only work because of the others he empowers and inspires. The question is what happens to Clark if he's not going to live in the sun for 83000 years.

* Clark's 'exercise' here does more to sell me on the idea of Old Man Superman as a cool idea than however many decades of Earth 2 stuff.

* Intergang being noted alongside Darkseid and Doomsday speaks to how much Kirby informed Morrison's conception of Superman.

* This isn't exactly the most progressive in its disability politics but at least it makes clear Black's being a piece of shit about it.

* It's startling how much Clark can get away with saying stuff in here you'd never expect to come out of Superman's mouth. "I made an executive decision" "Privacy, really...?" "You have nowhere to go, Black. Nothing to live for." "There are few people in my life who I instinctively and viscerally dislike, and you've always been one of them." It only works because there's zero aggression behind it, he's just past the point of niceties and being totally frank while making clear none of these assessments preclude that he cares and is going to unconditionally do the right thing every time. He is absolutely, per Morrison, humanity's dad picking us up when we're too drunk to drive ourselves home.

* The story doesn't put a big flashing light over it, but it's not even a little bit subtle having the material threat of the issue be a ticking timebomb left by the carelessness and hubris of generations past.

* Manchester keeps trying to poke the bear and prove his hot takes about Superman and it's just not working. The front he put up under Kelley is gone after decades of defeats, and as Morrison understands what actually conceptually works about him as a rival to Superman underneath the aging nerd paranoia he's exposed as what he absolutely would be in 2021: a dude with a horrific terminal case of Twitter brainworms. I was PANICKED when I heard there was an 'offensive term' joke in this, I was braced for Morrison at their well-meaning worst, but it's such a goddamn perfect encapsulation of a very specific breed of Twitter leftist who uses their politics first and foremost as a cudgel and justification to label their abrasive, judgmental shittiness as self-righteousness (plus it's a killer payoff to a joke from way back in his original appearance). Cannot believe they pulled that off when they're so very, very open about basically not knowing how the internet works.

* @charlottefinn: Manchester Black using his telekinetic powers to force someone he hates to fave a problematic tweet so that he can screenshot it and start a dogpile

@intergalactic-zoo: “Once they cancel Bibbo, Superman won’t be *anyone’s* fav’rit anymore!”

* Friend noted this issue had to be fully the conversation because the whole premise stands on the house of cards of these two somehow working together, and with three 'silent' inset panels the creative team pulls off that turning point.

* So much of this feels on the surface like Morrison bringing back the All-Star vibes with Clark, but when he drops a "That's all you got?" in a brawl you realize what's underlining that bluntness and confidence in the face of failure is that deep down this is still the Action guy too. This dude ain't gonna get wrecked in his Fortress while the other guy chuckles about him being A SOFT WEE SCIENTIST'S SON!

* Bringing up Jor-El made me realize that Morrison already spelled out that this is the final threat to Superman, what he faces at the end of the road:

"Now it's your turn, Superman."

* A l'il Superman 2000/All-Star reference with the Phantom Zone map!

* There's so much intertextuality going on here even by Morrison standards - Change or Die with the old hero putting together a team of morally nebulous folks out to 'fix' everything, Flex Mentallo with the muscleman trying to redeem the punk, Doomsday Clock with the fate of the world hinging on whether Superman can get through to a meta stand-in for an idea of 'modern' comics cynicism, DKR and New Frontier and Kingdom Come and Multiversity and Seven Soldiers and What's So Funny and All-Star and Action and the last 5 years of monthly Superman comics and Authority and probably Jupiter's Legacy and Tom Strong - but none of that's needed. You could go in with the baseline pop cultural understanding of the character and not care about any of the inside baseball shit and get that this is a story about a leader of a generation that let down the people they made all their grand promises to as inertia and day-to-day demands and complacency let him be satisfied with the accomplishments they'd made long ago, looking at a new era and seeing the ways its own activists are dropping the ball. The only thing that fundamentally matters in a "you have to accept you're reading a superhero story" sense is that because he's Superman he's willing to own up to it and listen to people who might know better about some things and try to set things right while he and those who'll take his place still have a chance. And yes, the oldster looking back on their legacy with a skeptical eye and hoping for better from the next generation, hoping most of all that their little heir apparent can fulfill the promise inside of him instead of being a provocating little shitkicker, is obviously also autobiographical.

* The overlaying Kennedy reprisal is such a great visual of a sudden intrusive thought.

* The Kryptonite secret is the obvious "This is going to matter!" moment, but "He lied about his son" is a bit that doesn't connect to anything going on right now so maybe that's important here too? More significantly, the Justice League can't actually be the villains here but that Ultra-Humanite's crew are in an Earth-orbiting satellite makes pretty clear what's up.

* I've said before that between Superman, OMAC, and a New Gods-affiliated speedster this was going to use all of Morrison's favorite things. King Arthur playing a role isn't exactly dissuading me.

* Love the idea that all the antiheroes have their own community in the same way as the capes and tights crew. They definitely all privately think the rest are posers though and that they alone are Garth Ennis Punisher in a mob of Garth Ennis Wolverines.

* Manchester's fallen so far he's gone from trying to convince Superman to kill to convince him to dunk on people for their bad takes and Clark just doesn't get it. Official prediction of dialogue for upcoming issues:

"According to these bloody Fortress scans, the only thing that can restore your powers is an unfiltered hit of dopamine. Don't worry, Doctor Black has a few ideas."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll plant a nice tree?"

"...fuck you."

* Ok I already talked about how great the Fortress looks in here but LOVE this library.

* A pair of pages this seems like the right spot to discuss from Black's original appearance that underlines both his and Superman's inadequacies up to this point:

Responding to the problem of "the government and penal system are hopelessly corrupt" neither of them has any actual notion of what to do about it in spite of their respective posturing beyond how to handle individual outside actors - each is in their own way every bit as small-minded and reactionary as the other. Clark's coming around though, and he's holding out hope for the other guy.

* Superman: Have a lovely mineral water :) proper hydration is important :)

Manchester Black: *Is a dude who can get so mad he vomits and passes out. At water.*

* That last page is the one to beat for the year, and does more to put over the idea of this as an Authority book than that Midnighter and Apollo are literally going to show up. It also feels like Morrison tacitly acknowledging all the ways the premise could go or at least be received wrong - from Superman saying 'enough is enough' to who he's bringing into the fold to go about it - in the most beautifully on-the-nose fashion imaginable. Maybe they'll save us all! Or maybe they'll drown us in their vomit.

[signed-yours-truly-the-whale]

Thoughts/Observations on Joker, part 1

AKA I Spent 7 Hours on This, I Will Die if it Gets Less Than Three Notes

I could rave for hours about this movie’s cinematography. Literal hours.

Nobody talks enough about Arthur’s full-fledged dedication to his clown craft. Man is working 60+ hours a week and does not break a sweat. I also fucking love this clowny face he pulls here. The first shot we see of Arthur in full. Holy shit is it beautiful. God bless Joaquin Phoenix.

These two shots together are incredibly important to me. In a split-second we see Arthur’s disbelief that he cannot control the whirlwind of emotions inside of his own head, not even being able to produce a smile, and then his resignation because it’s just another day. Heartbreaking.

Awwww shiiiiit

Gotham City is such a dump but I’d be bullshitting myself if I said I didn’t love the grimy aesthetic of it. It’s technicolor trash.

Arthur loves his job so much. He genuinely enjoys being Carnival. That hurts a lot to think about in hindsight.

This man just got his ass handed to him and he is STILL SPRAYING THE FAKE FLOWER ON HIS VEST

YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DEDICATION

This opening card is so imposing. Not only does it take up the entire screen to the point of running off the edges, but it’s shielding Arthur from view. Arthur is invisible in light of Joker in Arthur’s own movie.

I screenshotted this by accident but I felt a need to put it here because he’s just so adorable. Even right before an episode.

E y e s s s s s

E Y E S S S S S

I desperately want to know what got Arthur sent to Arkham the first time. A suicide attempt? A public breakdown? I really want fanfics of it.

There’s a really, really good fanfiction on AO3 by Arthur_Fleck about Arthur slowly recovering and meeting a girl called In the Major and Minor Arcana

I highly, highly recommend it

Okay. Joaquin’s immersion into his characters -- all of them -- is absolutely incredible. But Arthur is just ... off the charts, man. No two of his characters are the same and he embeds himself so deeply in their skin, but Joaquin buried himself so deeply into Arthur’s brain that it is so hard for me to see any of Joaquin at all. God, he’s incredible and this shot makes me emotional because this just is Arthur.

ARTHUR WOULD BE A GREAT DAD AND I DO NOT ACCEPT ARGUMENTS

It really speaks to how shitty Gotham is that this man is having a full-fledged screaming/laughing breakdown on the bus and nobody is batting an eye

I adore how the cinematography paints Arthur as so small to his own environment. He’s a speck of dust. A fleck.

Babie is wincing :((((

I have been trying to figure out the layout of this apartment for months and my inability to, even with a floor plan, is driving me insane

I just found out that the Budweiser beer jingle Here Comes the King is on the soundtrack and plays when Arthur comes home and that made me go feral

I  A M  M U R R A Y , K I N G  O F  A S S H O L E S

It is second nature for me to do this stupid pose every time I watch this scene

Arthur blending into the crowd here makes me ... so happy. He looks so happy.

This is Arthur’s best laugh of the movie, fuck you. I am incredulous that I was the only person laughing when I saw this in the theater opening night.

This is one of the few moments I really see Joaquin shine through Arthur. I don’t know why, but this lighting and his voice and his intensity gives me visceral flashbacks to watching a little boy Joaquin in Parenthood. God, I love this man.

It really is a testament to Penny’s (lack of) parenting that Arthur is day dreaming about receiving affection and validation from a parent figure when his own mother is literally right there

GOD DAMN THIS MAN IS GORGEOUS

But also big bruise :(

Yes, I shall trust you, man named Randall smiling down at me in low angle light

Why was Hoyt not informed that Arthur got his ass beat on the job? As Arthur’s employer he should’ve literally been the first person to know so he could make a note of it. Either he wasn’t told or he gave so little of a fuck that his consciousness astral projected to another plane of existence while he shoved the white powder down his throat and forgot Arthur existed at all.

Literally fuck Hoyt. I hate him even more that his office is the coolest shit in the world

ARTHUR KNOWS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SMILE

Joaquin dislocated his knee in this scene, the poor boy

I could write a full damn essay about why the misleading advertising of Sophie as a prominent character was the greatest twist of the whole movie. Literally I am still speechless how the movie did that.

I am not kidding when I say my sister has this same color scheme in the bathroom of our house and realizing that made me werewolf

Also Arthur being the son Penny doesn’t deserve warms and breaks my heart

The complete lack of reaction to Penny’s “Don’t you have to be funny to be a comedian” makes me laugh and cry internally

This shot? Gorgeous. His face? Deadly. That jawline? Cutting diamonds. Hotel? Trivago.

I really, really want a Joker 2, but at the same time I do not want a Joker 2 because Joaquin Phoenix has a baby who needs him now and he cannot be pulling shit like losing 52 lbs for a role

Also I REALLY need to discuss how much this brass ballet reminds me so heavily of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Holy fuck, I got actually chills in the theater

Like holy fuck

And then this shot reminds me so heavily of the opening of Fedddy vs Jason with Freddy Krueger laughing over his newspaper collage of missing children. Holy fuck I love this cinematography.

Guys. G - Guys, his name tag says Dr. Carnival, can you hear me  s o b b i n g

This part is so Chaplinesque, the way he slides the gun into his coat again

These children look so afraid of him for dropping the gun and wowie, does that really hurt

Was this asshole supposed to be modeled after Eric Trump? Because I get really douchebaggy Eric Trump vibes (minus the jacked teeth) from this ringleader

I don’t have much to say here except I am in love with the way Artie’s hair sticks straight up in bottle curls when the clown wig slides off

Also if you decide it’s a good idea to mess with a man dressed as a clown laughing maniacally on the subway of one of the most dangerous cities in the world, you are asking him to shoot you and I will not feel sorry for you

I will never not be in love with this image. I fell in love with it in the teaser trailer and almost went feral in the middle of the mall when I saw this was the poster they used to advertise the movie with. My friend described this movie as “chaos, beautified,” and nothing sums it up as well as this picture.

JOAQUIN AND TODD MADE THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE UP AND I AM IN LOVE

Hello, handsome

[fanfics4all]

New Family Experience

Request: Yes / No  Hey! Can I get a Fred Weasley x Malfoy!sister reader where she’s a Gryffindor and she goes to the Burrow on holidays cause she doesn’t wanna be around her parents.. if your okay with that? Thanks 💜 @will-noble-owns-my-ass​

Please only send Harry Potter requests at the moment! <3 Have a nice day/night

Fred Weasley x Fem!Malfoy!Gryffindor!Reader

Word count: 1735

Warnings: Strict parents and that should be it 

Y/N: Your Name 

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK! 

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you! 

Masterlist 

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

Being a Malfoy means that my family had a status to uphold. We were one of the wealthy Pureblood families and my parents intended on keeping it that way. My younger brother was always the favorite, I tend to challenge my parents more than him. It only got worse when I was sorted into Gryffindor and my brother continued the line with getting into Slytherin. 

At first the people in Gryffindor were a little wary of me at first. I was pretty lonely the first few weeks, but the Weasley twins were the first to befriend me. My family hated them, they were blood traitors, but to me they were my friends. I didn’t care what my family said, they were wrong. I had become fond of Fred Weasley and his brother picked up on that. So as a joke he slipped me some love potion in a candy and left me alone with Fred. I was so mad at him at first, but then Fred admitted that he was quite fond of me as well. I remember it like it was yesterday. 

“I’m going to kill George!” I growled. 

“You have to admit it was pretty funny.” Fred said and I turned to him with a glare.

“Sorry, but something good came out of it.” He said with a smile. I looked at him confused. Fred got up and towered over me, I looked up and his smile turned into a smirk. 

“The girl I fancy, fancys me back.” He said and I blushed. 

“W-What?” I stuttered. 

“Are you nervous, Malfoy?” He asked, his smirk growing. 

“I don’t get nervous.” I said, my natural confidence returning. 

“Sure you don’t.” He chuckled. 

“So what’d say Malfoy? Care to go on a date?” He asked with a smile. 

“It’s a date Weasley.” I said with a smile. 

That was the start of it. My brother had found out when he saw us kissing at Hogsmeade. I tried to get him not to tell our parents, but in the end he told them. They were furious to say the least. I thought they were going to disown me, but it seems they weren’t going to. I didn’t want to go home to find out. 

When Christmas came around Fred had offered me to join him and his family. I was a little worried about meeting his family, I knew they weren’t the biggest fans of my family. 

“Are you sure they’ll be alright with me joining?” I asked, biting my lip. 

“I promise, everything will be fine. I know you don’t want to go home.” He said, pulling me close to him. 

“I really don't want to be a bother.” I said with a sigh. 

“You won’t be.” He said and kissed my head. I looked up at him and his smile was infectious. 

“There's that smile I love so much.” He said. 

“If you’re sure, then I would love to meet your family.” I said and his smile grew. He lifted me up and spun me around. 

“They’re gonna love you!” He said, causing me to giggle. 

We were getting on the train to go home and I saw Draco boarding as well. He pulled me close and looked at me with a raised brow. 

“I thought you told Mother and Father that you weren’t coming home?” He asked and I sighed. 

“I’m not.” I answered. 

“Then where the bloody hell are you going?” He asked confused. 

“The Weasley’s, they’ve offered me to join them for the holidays.” I answered and his eyes narrowed. 

“They're not your family.” He growled. 

“Draco, please don’t do this. That’s Mother and Father’s job.” I said with a sigh. 

“They’re right, you’re dating a blood traitor!” He growled and I narrowed my eyes. 

“Don’t you dare talk bad about Fred. This is the exact reason I don’t want to go home.” I said and his eyes widened slightly. 

“Now if you excuse me, I need to go meet up with Fred.” I said and turned on my heel. I found Fred sitting with George and I smiled at the two joking around. I walked into the compartment and the boys smiled at me. Fred took my bag and placed it up top next to theirs. 

“I thought you got lost.” He laughed as he pulled me to sit next to him. 

“No, sorry, I ran into my brother.” I said with a sigh. 

“Everything alright?” He asked and I nodded. 

“Yes, he was just being his usual self.” I answered. 

“You should try out our new product, Canary Creams.” George said with a smirk. 

“Sure, why not.” I shrugged. I took the biscuit and popped it in my mouth. It tasted delicious, but knowing the twins something was bound to happen. Suddenly I transfigured into a large canary. I was shocked when I heard the chirps come from my mouth. A minute later all the feathers I had fell off and I was back to normal. 

“Wicked.” They both said and I giggled. 

“That was quite an interesting experience.” I said and they smiled. 

“Told you it would work!” George said. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Fred laughed and placed his arm around me. 

The train ride went quickly thanks to the twins. I also wasn’t thinking of my family as much as I thought I would. Fred and George were really a great dIstraction. However, when the train stopped I felt my nerves hit me all at once. I couldn’t help but worry that his family might not like me as much as Fred would like. 

“You alright?” Fred asked when he noticed I didn’t move. 

“Oh, yes, sorry.” I said and grabbed my bag. 

“Hey, don’t worry so much.” He said, wrapping his arm around me. 

“I know, I just can’t help it. They don’t like my family after all.” I said and he kissed the side of my head. 

“Hush, everything will be fine.” He said and we met up with the rest of his family, Harry, and Hermione. We arrived at the Weasley residents and his parents greeted everyone with hugs and kisses. 

“Mum, Dad, this is Y/N.” Fred introduced me. I offered my hand to them. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both, Fred has told me so much about you.” I said. Mrs. Weasley ignored my hand and pulled me into a hug, which shocked me. 

“It’s lovely to meet you dear.” She said and pulled away with a smile. 

“Fred has told us all about you too.” Mr. Weasley said, also giving me a hug. I smiled at Fred and he returned it. 

“Your home is lovely Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.” I complimented. 

“Oh please, call me Molly.” Mrs. Weasley said. 

“And you can call me Arthur.” Mr. Weasley said. I was taught that it was rude to call your elders by their first names. 

“My apologies. I was taught that it was rude.” I said and they looked at me confused. 

“Don’t be silly.” Mrs. Weasley said with a warm smile. 

“Mum! Ron is trying to eat the pies!” Ginny called. 

“Ronald Weasley!” Mrs. Weasley shouted and walked off to the kitchen with her husband following. 

“Well that was a little awkward.” I giggled. 

“No it wasn’t, that went well!” Fred said and I looked at him shocked. 

“That was well?” I asked. 

“Of course, what’s well to you?” He asked confused. 

“Well I think I was a bit rude.” I said and he laughed. 

“You were very diplomatic.” He said and I blushed. 

“Sorry, my parents drilled that into us as children.” I said. 

“Well here you can let go of all that.” He said, pulling me to the stairs. 

“You’re gonna room with Ginny and Hermione.” He said and I nodded with a smile. 

“We’ll show you the way.” Fred and George said with a bow. I laughed at them and shook my head. The took me to Ginny’s room and showed me which bed I would be sleeping in. This house was very different to mine, it actually felt like a home. I was unpacking my bag when I heard Mrs. Weasley shouting at the twins. Even at home they’re getting into trouble. They ran into the room and were laughing their heads off. 

“What did you two do?” I asked, crossing my arms. 

“We got Ron to eat one of the Nosebleed Nougat and the blood went everywhere!” They laughed. I shook my head, but smiled. 

“Your Mother is going to kill you two.” I said and they smirked. 

“She’d never.” They said. 

“If you say so.” I giggled. 

A few hours went by and I got to experience something completely different to my home life. The apmasphere was a lot lighter than what I was used to, their family was a lot closer than mine was, and it just felt nice to be somewhere that didn’t have so much negative energy. Now we were sitting down for dinner and everyone was sitting close together. If I was home Mother and Father would be on opposite ends of a large table and my brother would be sitting across from me. The house elf would be serving us dinner and we would be eating in silance. But here, everyone was talking to each other and genuinely interested in what was going on in their lives. 

“So Y/N what do you Malfoys usually do for the holidays?” Ron asked. 

“Ronald!” Mrs. Weasley scolded and Fred smacked him in the head with a glare. 

“Ow!” Ron said, rubbing his head. 

“It’s alright. My family is quite the opposite to all this honestly. We’re usually quiet while eating together, maybe an occasional question about school or comments about parties we attended or upcoming parties, but other than that it’s just silence.” I said and they all looked confused. 

“That’s it?” Ron asked, again Fred jabbed him. 

“Ow!” He hissed. 

“Yes, but I think I much prefer a setting like this.” I said with a smile. Fred smiled and placed his hand over mind. 

“Well, you’re always welcome here.” Mrs. Weasley said with a kind smile. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.” I said. 

“Molly.” She corrected. 

“Thank you, Molly.” I said, felling a bit uncomfortable going against what I was taught. But I had a feeling that was just the start, especially if Fred was going to be in my life for a long time. 

Tag list: @les-bio-lie​ @tashy-bear​ @ashwarren32​ @hollie-blogs​ @schisbro87​ @lover-of-books-and-teas​ @nerdygaloresposts​ @teenwolfbitches2​ @genius2050​ @drw0301bieber​ @softgamerking​ @lady-of-lies​ @ravenmoore14​ @ravenempress101​ @cillianchamp​ @rowanthomasknapp​ 

[sircarolyn]

uskerty thoughts:

one of my all time favourites!! i could listen to this episode forever

ohhhh arthur’s accent <3 

ouchy it’s november 12th... she’s not happy....and understandably so imagine how intolerable gordon’s going to be after st p and so what she thinks is ‘hm. i’m going to buy herc a sheep because i’m hurting and maybe this will make him leave me like i deserve’ except it doesn’t... it just makes him want to marry her oh m y  gosadjiskkkdsdkosdkosdk

‘she said please??’ 

‘not the airports....’ 

i love gerry he’s so sweet, bless him for having to deal with mjn

‘only father christmas cares about what you want’

it’s so sad that this is one of the only episodes with proper martin & carolyn interaction like this 

‘is he very fond of sheep’ oh my. also the way she says ‘for a friend’... let’s overthink that one

‘it’s a bit like a game show’ yet another thing jf ruined for me forever, i can’t do xray gates without thinking about this 

she spent eighty five euros on this damn sheep

‘a man i know’ martin is so baffled by this whole thing bless him

carolyn’s just activated her force of nature mode in this one

ohhh martin’s accent is actually somehow worse than david boreanaz’s in angel and that’s impressive as hell... feeling the need to make a list of worse irish accents in media i like

i would love to know how arthur thinks these machines work

every time i am in an airport or hear the numbers 2 and 0 or see a gate number 2 or anything else that triggers this, i recite this scene. i do it a lot

let’s overthink why carolyn hates charming!! how many times has she been duped by people being charming... 

‘that is the opposite of what i want’ i say that a lot too

‘this is my fault is it?’ man she’s so on edge! she’s so damn defensive! carolyn this is horrible behaviour please stop being afraid to be vulnerable!!

‘peach schnapps is to arthur as water is to gremlins’ 

carolyn’s fear of being a little old lady... ouch

‘that’s my boy’ cries carolyn’s secretly attached to him and also OUCH martin and carolyn’s commitment to mjn like imagine them being this open with each other in series 1

‘quite a powerful throw’

‘lotta lotta lotta BEES’ this scene is so funny

oh the bar scene! the arthur douglas bonding is so cute and i love them douglas as arthur’s dad just hits y’know... i also have a lot of love for these bits because i used them as direct inspo for my drama a level final piece 

‘turns out i mind a lot’

carolyn pretending to be a little old lady is actually so funny, the little wobble in her voice, the way you know she’s hunched and trembling... the commitment and then the way martin has forgotten she’s old and is like ‘let’s toss?’ comedy gold

oUCH arthur not really knowing bar etiquette also him setting the scene is so cute and funny and relatable i love him so much <3

arthur accidentally going in for the kill with his conversation topic </3 and then the panicked apology </3

‘i don’t want a goose friend!!!!!’

arthur’s impression of douglas is so sweet and then the way arthur just refuses to indulge douglas’ self loathing... god these two 

carolyn’s guilt letting him take a goose on the plane :) 

i think i might like this episode because it’s hilarious but secretly it’s sad...

and yet again douglas saving the day, and everyone’s unlimited faith in him

there’s a lot of flight delays in this series actually, aren’t there. hmmm

[simply-ellas-stuff]

My thoughts on Zack Snyder's Justice League because I watched it

The opening sequence, bc even tho the repeated scream audio was stuipid this opening was better

The new meeting between batman and Aquaman - that drawing on the wall in the og was unnecessary

Diana's extra badassery

The design of Stephen Wolf, because now he actually looks scaryish

The Queens emotions about losing her sisters of Themyscira - QUEENS DON'T JUST SEND THEIR PEOPLE INTO BATTLE EMOTIONLESSLY THESE SCENES WERE NEEDED - FUCK

THE BIGGER WITH IN THEMYSCIRA WHY THE FUCK DID THEY CUT THAT OUT?! - oh right, its because the previous director is sexist as fuck,

Stephen Wolf's Daddy Issues because that's fucking hilarious

Bruce explaining his want to find everyone bc of his promise

The close up on the fly things because that actually made it scary

THE FUCKING LIGHTING CEREMONY IN THEMESCERIA HOLY MOTHER FUCKING SHIT

Diana's extra badassery after getting the Arrow because WHY THE FUCK WAS THAT CUT?! This explains SO MUCH about how Diana knows SO MUCH about a time she wasn't alive in and I have NO FUCKING CLUE why it was cut!?

Arthur Curry is a Stripper - Confirmed!

Arthur and his trainer talking, but idfk why they kept the bubble thing Although I do like that they clarify that it's not just Mera who can do that bubble thingy

The scene between Stephen Wolf and the stone-wall dude person was cool and it explained why Stephen Wolf was so desperate

Zeus, Ares, and Artemis prepped for battle along with Poseidon in the flashback was FUCKING AWESOME!!! Diana's Aunt as well, the shows of the Green Lanterns, and the ring returning to the planet [Although they should've named Artemis, bc she can easily be mistaken for Athena - Also; Artemis' roman equivalent in the goddess Diana ]

Darkseid being in the flashback, which explains a lot

The Gods vs Darkseid was FUCKING AWESOME

Barry's awkward rambling after running into Iris

ALSO IRIS FUCKING WEST!!!

The Big Belly Burger Reference, nicely done

My dad says Iris' car is beautiful

BARRY SAVED IRIS BITCHES

The slow-mo crash gave me anxiety

My dad says, "I know you got all the time in the world but c'mon this is ridiculous" about that scene then "That beautiful car..."

THE SCENE WITH STEPHEN WOLF AND THE ALTLANTIAN MAKES EVERYTHING MAKE SO MUCH MORE SENSE BECAUSE HOW THE FUCK DID STEPHEN WOLF KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE MOTHER BOX IN ATLANTIS

Do. Not. Make. Diana. And. Bruce. Romantic. Don't. Fucking. Do. It.

The use of slow-mo is kind of redundant

Victor being fucking AMAZING even tho he's getting in trouble at school

Victor and Mama's discussion gives some life to the 2-Dlike Cyborg from the og movie, WHY THE FUCK WAS IT CUT?!

Victor's inner-world where he's still fully human

Barry being sarcastic as fuck towards his father lmfao

"Very attractive Jewish boy"

The reference to Grodd YAAAAAAAS

I still hate that Barry's lightning is blue and not red

The explanation of the Speedforce and Snacks

"What are your super powers again?" "I'm Rich" Still one of the best lines

I love Diana's shirt in the scene with Alfred

"Looks like you have a date, Ms. Prince" lmfao - Unless his name is Steve, I doubt it

I feel like Victor and Diana would be a good brother/sister duo, ngl

Burying the fucking box at your mothers grave was the stupidest shit I have ever fucking seen Victor.

COMMISIONER GORDON HELL YES

Barry's utter fail at being normal around Diana

The underwater click-like dolphin speak was cool, but still kinda dumb knowing that later Aquaman speaks underwater just fine - ngl

Nice Liquidkinetics, Mera. Amber you're still a cunt.

Also, Mera says her parents died - Wasn't her father alive in Aquaman??

Victor seeing the bat-signal explains how he knew how to find them, honest

The badass entry of Bruce, Diana, and Barry makes me laugh

Barry is far too close to Bruce

Victor scared Barry LMFAOOOO

If Victor's father is the head of STAR Labs where the fuck is Harrison Wells?????

THEY LEFT BARRY BEHIND, ASSHOLES

Diana's annoyance at Barry running ahead is such a Mom thing

Stephen using the bug thing makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE

Diana trying to make a plan and it getting ruined fits with the exasperated Mom theme she's got going on.

THE SONG HEN DIANA GOES AGAINST STEPHEN WOLF, THE FUCKING VOCALS ALONG MAKE ME HYPE AS SHIIIIIIIIT

"I Belong To No One" I FUCKING LOVE IT

HEEEEEEEEELL of a push Barry lmfaooo

"Thank you Alfred" "Don't mention it" Mans is bored of your shit

"Sword Lady" LMFAOOOOOOO

Diana's x-move thing against Stephen Wolf YAAAAAAAAS BITCH

Diana saving Barry's ass - Accurate!

Victor taking over the Crawler makes more sense this way, honest

OKAY YOU AN ACTUALLY SEE AQUAMAN IN THE WATER AND IT MAKES IT MAKE SO MUCH MORE SENSE

That jump onto the crawler was smooth as fuck Diana!

Stephen Wolf getting visions from the boxes also explains a lot about some shit

"I know the requirements, I wrote them" Suuuuuuubtle lmfaoo

Victor brining the box them also fits better

Why is this Stone looking mother fucker speaking Latin?

Hello Darkseid, you look particularly dramatic this evening

Victor's explaining how he knows about the box makes a lot of sense, why was this cut again??

Actually explaining the fucking Mother Box was Helpful

Mrs. Kent and Lois having a heart to heart holy shiiiit

Martha talking about how Clark's death was drowned out by Superman's - wooow

WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH MARTHA'S EYES IS THAT J'ONN J'ONZZ?! THATS THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER HOLY FUCK IT'S J'ONN J'ONZZ

Ironic that Ezra-Flash's hero is Superman while Grant Gustin's hero is superman lmfao

Diana and Arthur chatting was cute, the quote was awesome and the Atlantians totally copped that quote from the Amazonians

Alfred being a sarcastic fuck is my favorite

Alfred being the voice of reason, as always

Arthur helping Barry pick a hat is AMAZING

Diana telling the boys to change, mom or big sister?? lmfaoo

Barry's social awkwardness gives me second hand embarrassment

This little infiltration arc makes SO MUCH more fucking sense

Every one being suited up and triggering the alarm is amazing

Mr. Stone fucking trusting his son is my faaaaaavorite

THE SUITS ACTIVATED AND CAME OUT WHEN CLARK WAS MOVED PAST THEM DUDE WTF

IS LOIS PREGNANT?!?!?!

Barry looks like he's about to throw up

BARRY HAS ALREADY TIME TRAVELLED THAT LINE SHOULDVE BEEN KEPT IN

Arthur being antsy about not doing the resurrection makes so much sense

VICTOR SEEING A POSSIBLE FUTURE IS THE BEST SHIT

I love vision-Diana's Norse burial

EVIL VISION-SUPERMAN DUDE CMON

THE MISUNDERSTANDING MAKES THIS WORSE AND BETTER AT THE SAME TIME

HE REVERSED TIME WHEN HE RESURRECTED SUPERMAN WHAAAAAAAAT

The Military arriving was a sensible addition

The fancy ass dramatic ass arrival of Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Cyborg when Superman gets to the monument is hilarious

Victor loosing control is the woooooorst

The Lasso of Truth almost got through to him but he's a stubborn fuck

Superman functioning in Flashtime is something I will never understand

Yeah lets shoot at the guy whose indestructible, right

"you should probably move" LMFAOOOO

Batman v. Superman part 2 insert eye roll here

headbutts like children - and that's cheating on the playground Clark.

Heat vision makes so much more sense than "do you bleed?"

Lois coming in cluuuuutch

I like Lois' appearance better than Alfred bringing her, it fits Lois better

Arthur and Barry now have rivalry lmfaooo

Mr. Stone being obsessed with the mother box is annoying as fuck

Mr. Stone is an idiot and he should've fucking left the box alone

That was a horrible death why was that necessary?!

Arthur being a pessimist in this movie is honestly hilarious, tho why is he anti-love??

Barry being surprised at Batman's richness is never not funny

"I'll take that as a yes" okay Clark, don't show off

IS LOIS PREGNANT OR NOT?!

"Its really me Ma" Best scene of the whole fucking movie

Barry and Arthur heart-to -heart "I thought you didn't car" "I never said that" BUILD THIS FRIENDSHIP

BRUCE TELLS DIANA OF THE VISION

Bruce talking about faith never bodes well

THE QUEEN LOOKS BEAUTIFUL

"uh with the power of love" "Barry" LMFAOOOOOO

THE KRYPTONIAN SUITS LOOK AMAZING

Since when does Superman have Geokinesis??

I LOVE HOW BOTH OF HIS FATHERS ARE TALKING TO HIM I FUCKING LOVE IT

THE SUIT UP SCENE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME IT LOOKS AWESOME

"just have to knock a little louder" Well, that's one way to knock Bruce

Nice crash boy

Straight up sounded like "Loud and queer" lmfaoooo

Diana leading the teeeeeeeaaaam Hell Yes!

I do miss the "I think we're all gonna die" lasso-Arthur scene tho. it was stupid - but funny.

DIANA COMING IN FOR THAT SLICE AND DICE BAYBEEEEY

THE TEAM SHOOOOT YES totally taken from Marvel but fuck did it look good

"you really are out of your mind" says the idiot who talks to fish

"not done yet" vs "your welcome" I like the second one better

Glorious hair Arthur lmfaoo

Fucking chair eject

NICE SHISH-KA-BOB ARTHUR FUCK

Alfred doesn't even fucking blink when Clark arrives

ARTHURS TRIDENT DOES THE WAVY THING ON LAND TOO BROOOO

Oh yeah, step back for the demi-god princess

DONT PISS OFF DIANA AND DO NOT USE HER FAMILY TO FUCK WITH HER IT NEVER ENDS WELL

The familiar flash buildup power ring will never not make me happy

Daaaaaayum Diana!!

Nice catch Arthur

Diana knows her mother and sisters are alive bc they sent the arrow to her, so why is he even trying it??

NICE SAVE SUPERMAN!!

"Not impressed" Smooooooth

THAT FINAL BATTLE IS FUCKING AWESOME

TIME TRAVEL

BADASS DIANA WITH THAT DEPCAPITATION

You sent Today at 5:44 PM

Them all standing there was straight up "Fuck with us, I dare you"

The epilogue was great but that dream was confusing, are we doing Alt-universe shit??

MARTIAN MOTHER FUCKING MANHUNTER BITCHEEEEEEEEEEZZ

IS LOIS PREGNANT OR NOT?!

[im-a-meteorite]

i’ve been marathoning the harry potter movies since im in quarantine and i’ve been taking some notes. i’ll post them all bc why not 

sorcerer’s stone

harry knowing that there’s no post on sunday,, a genius

hedwig’s theme playing when harry looks out of the window and sees an owl flying by, very nice

hagrid doing magic at the house on the rock thing,, wouldnt the ministry be able to track that?? since there’s no wizard that lives there, they should be alerted?? or did they remove the trace from hagrid once he got expelled?? like does it work by the trace only or? bc if it doesn’t work by location then how would they know that a muggle witnessed the magic?? idk anymore

the kids staring at the nimbus 2000 and saying its the fastest model yet,, then the camera zooming on the handle w/ the background blurred -> the most straight forward foreshadowing

hagrid is actually the worst person to take harry on his tour situation,, like bro literally left him in the middle of a train station

the weasleys and harry going to the platform while theres a shit ton of ppl walking around,,, statute of secrecy where??

the great hall is on the first floor?? i thought it was on the ground floor

ew the hats

i wish the movies had dumbledore’s weird few words speeches

“theres not one witch or wizard that went bad that wasnt in slytherin” broooo

mcgonagall is so savage i love her

snape is an asshole

a crap ton of chessboards in the great hall study hall scene,, foreshadowing the challenges?

madam hooch really yeeted herself out of neville’s way

✨🥰 oliver wood 🥰✨✨

harry really wiped the troll buggers on his robe,, disgusting

snapes hair is lowkey on fleek tho,,

making most of the slytherins ugly bc they’re the “evil” house is just a disservice to all the inbreeding

hermione setting snape on fire is truly iconic and very extra tbh like sis why tf would u know a spell like that

seasonal transition wasnt that great tbh

overall the directing style is kinda basic

“not in the restricted section,,” rule breaking hermione is the best hermione

dumbledore’s handwriting is so extra and loopy like tf?? but it fits his character

the hedwig flying season transition was good

“immortal?” “it means you’ll never die.” “i know what it means!”

50 points each for being out of bed??? wtf is this point system

filtch saying there’s werewolves in the forbidden forest,,, thats illegal sir

hagrid calling the trio by their first names but draco by his last,, we love favoritism

harry’s thoughts r so ridiculous,, “snape doesnt want the stone for himself, he wants it for voldemort!” lmaoo wtf,, evidence pls sir,, u don’t even know he was a death eater. was it the bad vibes?? bc same

harry figuring out that the person who gave hagrid the dragon egg is voldy,, a genius

“kill us faster?? now i can relax!!” ron is so iconic i love him

“lucky we didnt panic!” ���lucky hermione pays attention in herbology”

how is it that harry’s hand burned quirrel but not the skin on harry’s neck?? that shit makes no sense

yeah i really cant imagine this dumbledore fighting voldy in movie 5

hermione’s headband in the reunion scene is so cute i love it

chamber of secrets:

how is dobby even allowed to just jump on the bed?? like is it bc harry isnt his master that he can do smth like that

“dobby has heard about harry potter’s kindness” or whatever,, bro u work for the malfoys either the elves gossip or draco is waxing poetry about harry

aunt petunia saying “we have ice-cream” after that whole affair is just ridiculous

DIAGONALLY

this seems like the extended version bc i dont remember the borgin and bruks scene to be that long

the close ups with lucius and ginny’s books r insane lmao like chris columbus made it so obvious

also mr weasley’s acting is so funny like its so exaggerated

lucius malfoy is so dramatic and extra we love it

also lucius knowing hermione’s name and “draco’s told me all about you”??? bro whats with draco?? lmaoo

snape really got mad with the whole car business

mandrakes r fucking weird bro how did jkr come up with that

PERCY WALKING WITH PENELOPE CLEARWATER??? HOW DID I MISS THAT??

omg colin had so many lines?? wow

omg erol with the fucking howler,, iconic

ron’s facial expressions?? pure comedy, rupret is so good

LOCKHEART REALLY SAID “GOOD GIRL” THEN WINKED AT HERMIONE

“pesky piksy pescinomy” this bitch dumb

“why is it always me?” poor neville

omfg ✨🥰 oliver wood 🥰✨

ahh using the seeker position for fighting

ew draco used the m-word

the shit the basilisk is saying is so lame lmaoo

how does harry not recognize that he’s hearing a different language?? or does parsaltongue act weird

HOW IS THE WHOLE SCHOOL IN THE SAME CORRIDOR???

“i know the counter-curse that could’ve spared her” bitch the dirty looks he got?? omfg

the movies would’ve been 500% better if they had lee jordan’s iconic quidditch commentary

“scarhead” “TRAINING FOR THE BALLET, POTTER?”

“what did you expect?? pumpkin juice??” madam pomfery is a queen

dobby is dumb dumb

“who am i, hedwig? what am i?”

“reading? i didnt know you could read?”

“look at my face” “look at your tail!”

“you can’t cancel quidditch!”

“oh harry, if you die down there, you’re welcome to share my toilet”

lockheart: do you live here? ron: no *smacks him in the head with a rock*

“voldemort is my past, present and future” are all slytherins this dramatic??

the tension between hermione and ron in the last feast was insane

justin filtch fletchy is so ugly im so sorry i cant

prisoner of azkaban:

im sorry but harry doing underage illegal magic pisses me off every time

aunt marge 🤢

“do they use a cane boy?” “oh yeah, i’ve been beaten loads of times”

that whole scene is so chaotic

“you cant do magic outside of school!” “oh yeah? try me”

sirius really dumb for barking at harry like it makes no sense

the knight bus is probably one of the best things in this movie

“whatcha doing down there??” “i fell over” “whacha fell over for?” “i didnt do it on purpose!” “well come on then, lets not wait for the grass to grow”

harry leans over and looks for the grim, stan: “whatcha looking at?”

“yeah take it away ernie,, its gonna be a bumpy ride”

this whole thing is written and directed so perfectly

i hate how they replaced tom bc it really made no sense

all the bits of magic in the leaky caldron is so genius

fudge reminds me of trump but like dumber

the blue lighting and coloring is just great, it fits the colder vibe of the story (not like HBP with the hazy/blurry effect)

ugh the glass and mirror transitions are one of my favorite things,, alfonso curon really did that 

i love the weasleys,, also everyone looks great in this movie

omg the scene with arthur talking to harry about sirius with the sirius poster always being in sight?? amazing

contrast of light and darkness just echos the whole dementor vs patronus situation

i dont even understand why remus took the train other than for the nostalgia

the lights slowly turning off in the different carriages?? amazing

the visual representation of the dementors’ effect is great

REMUS!!!

i wish there was more emotion from remus when he’s talking about sirius,, like that was one of his only friends

snape clapping literally twice for remus,, ajhshsh

ahh the placement of the slytherin and gryffindor tables right beside each other to increase the tension and further the plot

oh yea the new dumbledore, also cool hat he has

omg the new fat lady painting

omg the candy scene?? so cute i love lads being lads. that scene just echo’s dumbledore’s light in the dark quote bc its storming outside at night and they’re creating a happy environment within the dark especially with the dementors

ah yes the clock references + following the bird to show us important parts of hogwarts and putting the whomping willow in the forefront

ron’s reading of harry’s tea leaves,, still on point tho. ron really has a knack for divination

buckbeak! omg drapple

draco is so hot especially with that ring also the slytherin pins??

“oh yeah, terribly funny, really witty. god, this place has gone to the dogs”

the kids look so messy i love it + harry’s uneven tie

HERMIONE CLINGING TO RONS ARM!!

“its killed me! your gonna regret this, you and your bloody chicken”

omg the boggart lesson

“riddikulus!” “this class is ridiculous”

fuck snape!

draco really pushed someone with his bandaged arm

remus is such an amazing professor i love him and i just miss him so much

ugh harry in this hoodie?? amazing

remus and harry’s conversation with the music :(( lily :((

wtf is that eye painting??

percy screaming about being head boy,, bro stfu

sirius is such a dramatic little bitch i love it

seasonal changes marked by the wimping willow

“turn to page 394”

what a fucking rude ass bitch,, i hate snape

harry really be seeing the grim everywhere

i wish they had “wheres wood?” “trying to drown himself in the shower”

winter transition with hedwig! + clock tower

“come and join the big boys”

i just adore this scene of the twins giving harry the map (bro i really want a series about the marauders)

whos that skinny bitch with draco???

harry’s way too rash tbh

also mcgonagall being also too nonchalant about the whole marauder’s situation?? like those werent your students

remus is a soft boy dark academia icon

if only dumbledore wasnt a dumbass,, remus could have been uncle moony raising harry with sirius

ron’s nightmare scene?? iconic

“my dad didnt strut. nor do i” umm james potter was also a drama queen sooo probably strutting

“you, YOU FOUL LOATHSOME EVIL LITTLE COCKROACH” “hermione no, he’s not worth it”

sirius’ dog form really looks like a rabid dog omfg

the part where hermione grabs harry while she’s on the wimping willow omfg

“only one will die tonight” YOU DRAMATIC BITCH UR NOT MAKING THIS BETTER

“finally the flesh reflects the madness within” “well you’d know all about the madness within, wouldn’t you remus?”

why the fuck is the shreaking shack is swaying in the wind??

QUARRELING LIKE AN OLD MARRIED COUPLE

why the fuck didnt they knock peter out?? like tf?? they’re actually dumb dumb there were so many ways for this to go right

this man really sent 2 13-year-olds on this dumbass mission

buckbeak really beat up remus,, “professor lupin’s having a really tough night”

harry’s a fucking psycho with this patronus bullshit,, i cant

can they stop screaming while flying on buckbeak?? someone might hear them

im still mad sirius didnt get his name cleared,, so much would’ve changed

“we did it” “did what? goodnight” i fucking hate dumbledore and his mindlessness omfg sometimes i wanna punch him in the face

fuck snape for outing remus as a werewolf,,, but also he really didnt have to resign. like istg wheres the marauder energy when it comes to defying everyone??

i wish the movies had went into the marauders’ history :(( its one of my favorite aspects of the series

[lady-plantagenet]

What hasn’t already been said: The Spanish Princess 2

Episode 2: SOdden (or Sod ‘Em depending on your persuasion)

(Dont know how long I’ll be able to keep these puns up)

Catherine, like this woman, does not really fit into this era. But while this woman seems dropdead cool and at least looks the part, Catherine just...

To all those of you keen enough to have come back for another segment of ‘what hasn’t already been said: TSP’, as opposed to have just been scrolling when you see this - welcome back! (Scrollers you too <3)

To anyone who’s seeing this for the first time: what this is a list of observations, jokes, reactions and criticism which occur to me upon a rewatch. I wait every week until Saturday to do this so that I have had my fill of scrolling through the tag and aggregating what has already been said. I tried doing a whole spoof (here where I gave up 10% in) but tbh a) I don’t know the history well enough b) it’s more time consuming than I thought and c) this series is just not as funny or as crazy as TWQ, so it’s untenable. Having said that: This is not a hatepost. I’m not hatewatching this series and nitpicking on purpose but expressing my honest views and trying to find the good in it as well as the bad.

Without further ado...

First Scenes:

The baby cloth lifting into the ceiling of the chapel had nice ‘myth of the demon countess of Anjou (ancestress of the Plantagenets)’ vibes. I am 100% that was unintentional. I get this impression by the cringiness of the baby’s screams (what’s up with those sound effects? It sounded like a zipper).

Henry gives me such softboi vibes? It’s pleasing to me because it’s making me attracted to him as a viewer, but no good in convincing me this is Henry VIII.

I think Catherine’s exposition about how she feels is pretty ok actually, it’s fitting that she would feel anger.

CHARLES’ FATHER IS NOT MAXIMILIAN, IT’S PHILIP (or rather it was). ~~ A quick wiki search guyz, a quick wiki search. Ughh

Again with the whole everyone acting like Catherine is Queen. Can they cut it out? Also while we’re at it, what was Catherine’s attendance in councils even like?

The music was nice

Post Child announcement phase:

Oof I hate to say it but I lowkey wanted de la Pole back in this mother. Mainly because it would mean more Margaret Pole and by this point I am scared her storyline will fade in prominence now that there’s no longer a Yorkist subplot (showhorned as it was, it was the crowning glory of last season tied with Arthur x Catherine).

More x Maggie Pole and all of it over Seneca and learning :’). I already know this will be the best part of the episode.

‘We certainly know stoicism in our family’ ~ I guess she’s referring to Reggie? Because our boi Clarence was no poster boy for stoicism. Though could she be making an ironic reference to her father~?

Edmund de la Pole Debacle:

Well this convo at least passed the bechdel test.

Maggie and Edmund’s interactions here are touching. I know this plotline was rushed but I think it was just right to bring us back here for 5 min as a mournful throwback to the bygone era to which Maggie Pope belongs to and now continues to do so alone. It is emotionless and you can just feel how the York cause was hanging on by a tired old threat by that point.

Maggie Pole is becoming matronly now and I like this transition.

What bothers me about a lot of fans of Margaret Pole is that what they don’t realise is that she wasn’t all like ‘I want nothing to do with my family I’ll stay low and obscure’. While far more cautious than the likes of her ancestors, she did engage in land disputes with Henry VIII and was an outspoken supporter of Catherine and Catholic. Having her be a woman woth dubious loyalties towards the Tudors is accurate.

Scotland with Meg and Jammes:

LMFAO it’s like they read my mind when I spoke of how much I laughed when Meg was like ‘Alexander Steward you pig!1!!’ last episode.

Nice reference to Aulde Alliance

I like James.

Henry and Catherine on the balcony:

Was she commander of the forces? Was Howard appointed that? Regent she was, ok.

Charlotte Hope’s new hairstyles really suit her!

‘Will you please stop cursing’ agahsjdk ahah

No offence to women (of which I am one) but this comparison between childbirth and war is just... wrong. I know Starz think they are being smart but childbirth is far less impressive than winning or surviving a battle - comparing the two diminishes the bravery of soldiers. YET ,having said that, childbirth is necessary for our society whereas war is almost always futile and by comparing them, it wrongly represents violence as something inherently as natural to us as birth and continuing of civilisation. overall not a smart, respectful or accurate parrallel to make.

Meg and prep for invasion + Catherine in her weird armour:

So Margaret dreams that her husband is dead and bloody in her bed. Ughh show you neeed to get more creative. But I did like the whole ‘dreams are how our ancestors talk to us’ line from Angus Douglas.

Re: Meg in her beret... Why is Meg dressed like me going to the London shops in October? Digging the aesthetic but not sure about the accuracy.

Rich of Catherine to bring up Edmund.

Why is Ursula Pole crying??? What is all this to her really?

Did Howard just call the guard... sonny?? Is this some WW2 crossover?

Catherine - James and the tent parlay:

Did Catherine just insult Meg’s intelligence??

Also lmao I’m going to miss James.

Re: Howard saying ‘I’m not going to get insulted by a man wearing a dress’ .. UMMM Starz, you do know that just thirty years ago men were prancing about in dresses and leggings (essentially). From around the middle of the 14th century to the beggining of 16th century (if not earlier), Englishmen were also essentially prancing about in ‘skirts’.

Am I getting a weird cooperation-partnership vibe between Meg and James?

The Battle:

Charlotte Hope looks so good with the helmet, she’d really suit an english hood! Such a shame they won’t give her one!

Ewwww he’s eating mud, why?

Just standard battle scene. They are all the same to me no matter which movie.

Aftermath:

Jesus, I find the whole Meg crying over James IV so heartfelt ‘you arrogant bastard’ for some reason just came out so full of emotion. Can someone please explain why the hell I ship them more than Henry x Catherine?? Like how ??

Awwww Linna is sooooo adorable ughhh. Also this whole Catherine going into armour among all the women crooning over the children gives this adorable sense of Catherine boyish and bloodying herself out to protect their peace, idk. All I have to say is that these series is less eager to pitt women against each other than the previous. I think that’s a step forwards.

Also, good to see Catherine being modest about her victory so Henry can save face. Finally starting to seem like the real Catherine.

‘Go on you dog’ arghh ahah he sounds like some public school rugby lad egging his mate on.

Re: Wolsey cock-blocker; the real Catherine would know it was uncatholic to have sex when you were pregnant. Also Catherine is not technically speaking in confinement if she’s wandering about.

It’s nice to see Catherine sticking up for Howard, she at least learned to respect him during the battle.

I foresee Oviedo having enough of this Christian stuff and wanting to return to the berber domains (I suppose Spain is out of the question)

Knighting Ceremony:

Apparently Margaret Pole herself was made Countess of Salisbury during this same ceremony... right? @houseofclarence

Also Maggie Pole being like: “being a rebel is in my blood, or so they tell me”... gahhh what’s with these shows and the Clarence erasure? Can’t they make one bloody reference to her dad or grandad Warwick? Ugh. Especially with lines like this. Actually? You know what? Ignore my previous comment about the stoic remark and it being an ironic reference to Clarence. I put such subtlety above this show’s writers.

Catherine has a habit of going to the coldest places possible to lose her children...

Haha @ Henry asking Bessie Blount (of all people) where Catherine is.

Conclusion:

6/10

What I’m happiest about is that Flodden got dealt with in one episode because warrior xena Catherine is not what interests me most about this show. Having said that, it was a true shame that James IV died because his were some of the best scenes. This whole show is starting to feel so historical fantasy-ish because the aesthetics are so confused. Granted it’s still pretty (not eyesore like Reign) but it doesn’t penetrate.

I am as always invested in the Poles (and More) but am also starting to get attached to Princess Mary whose actress exudes plenty of charm. This show remains confused with its feminist message because while it shows women being proactive there is so much emphasis on babies that what remains with the mind after watching is this womanish birthdrama, as opposed to a show about struggles which affect both genders.

You might tut at me and say I’m being ridiculous and that it is historically accurate to put so much emphasis on women’s babies and I say that’s swell. I would happily watch a show where that element is strong (most pre 1995 historical dramas are like that with traditionally feminine characters and I gulp them up like sustenance), but if a show promises feminism and women-men being partners I want it to deliver that properly. As I said in my previous post, why do we keep trying to make women engage in acts like war as if such an abhorrent act is the only way to take them seriously? I await the day where cunning, rationality and cool-headedness will be the traits portrayed as feminist ones.

There is nothing else to really comment on... the only potentially deeper message in this is the gender discourse. I am unsure about the accuracy so I can’t speak of the historical value of the interpretation. But what I will say is that though I remain excited for each new episode... I’m just not as invested as I was in TWQ (rewatch every year dont @ me) or TWP despite their many flaws. Some characters pull me in eg Maggie Pole (Carmichael is a bae), Thomas More etc but not the whole cast like TWQ. Anyway... would be interesting to see if anything happens with Lina and Oviedo tommorow as their storyline is conspicuously slow.

[braveskyered]

Knights (Part 18)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

(Special Thanks once again to @nebulous-rain​ for providing one of the illustrations. Please check her out if you have the time!)

-

As much as one would hate for this to be repeated, please be aware that there may be some topics from here on out that you as a reader will find uncomfortable. Elaborating what they are in the beginning will be considered spoilers.

Do remember that this story is a work of fiction. Any similarities between characters or events to persons - living or dead - in our real world are purely coincidental.

Only those that have understood and thus agreed to the above have the privilege of continuing to read Knights to the very end with a clear head.

Do you understand what you are getting yourself into?

Yes ←

No

Your goal is to remain strong in the times you are weak, and to keep on fighting even when you are down.

Because if you don’t…

What exactly are you fighting for in the long run?

-

Part 18: And When You Least Expect It...

- - - - - - -

Arthur quietly tucked Vivian into bed for her mid-afternoon nap. So many thoughts, memories, and emotions flood through his mind that he doesn’t really know where to start processing it all.

He isn’t really sure what Elaine was thinking when she had him go ahead to the hotel with the children while she remained behind at a nearby café just a few blocks away to talk to Mr. Pepper. Elaine knew that Arthur didn’t want anyone to know which hotel he stayed in, even though it wouldn’t take a genius to figure that out with how few campers are actually in the town itself.

“Dad.”

Arthur turned away from Vivian to see Gwen and Percy looking concerned.

“Hah… I’m all right, Percy,” he sighed as he sat down on the opposite bed, “I’m just tired.”

“That man we met right before,” Gwen jabbed a thumb at the door, “Who is he?”

He let out a breath of resignation, knowing that his family will find sooner or later, “Joe Pepper. He and his wife are both owners and chefs of the Pepper Paradiso.”

“Pepper? Wait, are both Belle Pepper and her sister related to him?” Percy asked.

Arthur shrugged as he stated the obvious, “He’s their father, so yes.”

The twins looked at each other briefly before Gwen piped up, “Do you have any idea as to how he lost his arm?”

As much as Arthur knew that he doesn’t have any right to meddle in the Pepper family affairs, that is one question that puzzled him, “No, he still had both arms when I left, so whatever happened occurred sometime in the seventeen years I was gone.”

“What about his… breakdown earlier?” Percy asked uneasily, “First Belle, then Cayenne, and now their father… Just what the heck did they do to you that made them regret it so badly?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Arthur shook his head before smiling at his son and daughter, “But we shouldn’t be talking about this. I made it a point to not interact with them anymore if I can help it, not after everything that happened because of me.”

“Because of… you?”

He shouldn’t have said that. He knew that he shouldn’t have said that. He cursed at his slip of the tongue at telling his family everything about what happened so long ago. But at the same time, he knew that he couldn’t hide it from them forever.

So what is he to do?

He let out a brief laugh that sounded like a sob, but thankfully he did not shed tears.

“Hah… So many things went wrong that day, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it because I was so weak,” he disguised his distress by letting out a sad chuckle and tried to smile to his family, “Even now, even though I’m your father, I can’t do anything to help you all stay safe like your mother and nana had done yesterday.”

“That’s not your fault, Daddy!”

To Arthur’s surprise, Gwen grabbed his hand with both of hers.

“We all know you want us to be safe,” Gwen said, “Why do you think you’ve always been our navigator whenever we go on real jobs as a family? And for as long as we can remember, you’ve always been there for us. Whenever we were sad, or sick, or even just lonely, you were there. You did protect us, Daddy. You protected us just by being there for us. You even taught us so many things Mom wouldn’t have been able to teach us.”

“You gave us the brains,” Percy nodded with a bright grin as he pumped a fist, “Mom gave us the brawn. I’d say that’s a good combination.”

Arthur let out a brief laugh before standing up to embrace them.

“Thank you. Really.”

Gwen and Percy returned the favor as they wrapped their arms around him. For a brief moment, it was just a father holding his two oldest children--

“Daddy! No fair!”

--close. Arthur turned his head to chuckle at Vivian looking envious with a funny-looking scowl and pout. Shaking his head slightly in amusement, he brought one hand out to his youngest daughter to invite her in the circle, which she immediately took.

Gwen, Percy, and Vivian. The three children that became his only reasons for living, that he loved with all his heart, and the ones that he wanted to protect above all else.

He won’t let anyone hurt them.

…

“Hey, Daddy? Do you really not know what happened?”

Arthur tensed upon hearing Gwen ask that question before releasing the children from his hold. He looked out the window of their hotel room, suddenly finding interest in the few clouds that were floating in the sky.

What is he to tell them? Why is he holding back? He thinks he knows why, but he can’t comprehend it, he can’t understand it. It just doesn’t make any sense. It goes against everything he knows, against everything he learned.

“Daddy?”

Arthur sighed deeply. All he know is that everything that went wrong… was all my fault.

“Dad, we just told you that none of this is your fault.”

He gave his son a confused glance before realizing that he had said some of his thoughts out loud. With a furrowed brow, Arthur struggled to understand it all, he just couldn’t.

“Daddy?”

Arthur looked down at Vivian before pulling her into his lap. Right at that moment, he felt his phone vibrating continuously. After making sure Vivian is safe in his hold, he took his phone out from his pocket and looked at the screen to see who was calling. He quickly answered it, “Elaine?”

“Hey, Arthur. How are you holding up? Are you and the kids okay?”

“We’re fine,” he nodded, “We’re just waiting for you to come back when… you’re done.”

Elaine was silent for a moment, then spoke before Arthur could prompt her, “Actually, I was hoping if you could come down to where I am.”

He went stiff and barely registered Vivian clinging to him.

“I spoke with Mr. Pepper and...” Elaine sounded hesitant, “He told me about what happened before you left,” she then started to sound a little upset, “He said that he and his family want to apologize for what they had put you through. In person.”

“They don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“What? My knight, they said that during their youngest daughter’s birthday, you—”

“Elaine, they didn’t do anything wrong,” Arthur said firmly, “It was something I deserved since it was because of me their son died. Mr. Pepper knows as well as I do that everything that had happened back then was, and still is, my fault. I bet they were in a better state ever since I left their lives.”

The phone went silent for a moment before Elaine spoke again, “Are you sure that’s the case, Arthur? Because Mr. Pepper was telling me that ever since you left, things in this town had actually gotten worse. Way worse.”

“Everyone has a hard time every now and then, Elaine. We went through such, too.”

“Well, yes, that’s true. But I don’t think our hard times were caused by a curse.”

What?

Is this the excuse everyone in Tempo is using now? A feeling of dread and disgust started to bubble in his throat, and it took a few swallows to keep the feeling of bile threatening to rush down.

After everything went wrong so long ago, after Lewis was killed, after the Mystery Skulls found the wraith and took that home, all Arthur did after leaving Tempo was sending his uncle letters. All the letters contained were just simple messages such as “How are you,” “I’m doing okay,” some small talk, and would typically end with a “don’t try to look for me.”

The only thing Arthur ever cursed about is his own being, for being so weak, being so pathetic, and being a failure as a human being. If it hadn’t been for the love and kindness he had received from Elaine and her family, he didn’t doubt that he would’ve ended up in a worse place than where he was before, if not dead by the time Galahad had passed.

“A curse, Elaine?” Arthur couldn’t help but scoff at the remark, “The only curse I know of is the fact that I’m in this town. I shouldn’t have come back.”

“No, Arthur, I’m serious. This town has been afflicted with a strange curse not long after you left.”

Now this is just getting ridiculous. Arthur knows more than anyone to not doubt about curses, but this? …It’s just ridiculous, as redundant as that sounds, even to him.

“Even so, I think we really need to talk this over with the Pepper family,” Elaine said with determination, “I will be with you during the discussion while Nana Niniane keeps an eye on the kids. It’ll just be us, Mr. Pepper, and his wife. His daughters Belle and Cayenne won’t take part in the conversation. Belle’s still with your uncle at Kingsmen Mechanics where Aunt Morgan is keeping an eye on things, and Cayenne is still in the hospital on watch.”

“And Paprika?”

“Who?”

“The youngest daughter.”

There was a brief silence on the other line before Arthur got an answer, “He says that she’s recently taken over as the head chef of the Pepper Paradiso, so even though she’s also at the restaurant, she’ll probably be too busy to talk to us.”

A chill went through his spine.

“You’re at the Pepper Paradiso, aren’t you,” Arthur didn’t ask his question, he expected it.

“I am,” Elaine said, “My knight, I know that you’re at your limit, and I know that you never wanted to do this. I know you have suffered so much and gone through so much misery, so much more compared to what anyone would have gone through in their entire lifetime. I know you don’t want to talk to anyone from the Pepper family because you’ve said that you’re ‘not allowed to.’”

So she is aware of the rules, or some of them at least. Despite this, Arthur knew where this was going as he stared off into the distance. She’s going to try to convince him to talk to them anyway as to break the rules.

“But I think I have a solution to get around this.”

Without turning his head, Arthur slowly shifted his gaze to his phone.

“What is it?”

When Arthur heard Elaine’s suggestion, he decided to give it some thought, and finally smiled for the first time since the conversation started.

Even now, his beloved light has always been thoughtful for him.

- - - - - - -

A few more turns of the wrench were needed to finish the job. Satisfied that the nuts and bolts were in place and tightened enough, Arthur slid out from beneath the sedan and sat up.

It was a typical day with Arthur working in his uncle’s repair shop. The truck had its flex pipe snapped into two pieces, causing the engine to emit the original loud sounds that would be muffled so it wouldn’t be a nuisance for a typical owner. All Arthur needed to do now was to start the car’s engine to see if it’s back to its relatively quiet state. If it is, then the job is officially done.

The paperwork wasn’t too difficult. All Arthur had to do was record what he was doing, what parts he used, and what process he was using to get the work done. He had to remove the broken flex pipe, grab a suitable replacement from the junkyard behind the shop, cut the pipes to make sure the replacement would fit into the original, weld them together, then assemble the repaired flex pipe back in.

“Arthur, are you in here?”

Arthur smiled. He could recognize that voice anywhere in an instant.

“Lewis? Yeah, I’m here, just give me a sec.”

Within the next few minutes, Arthur came to a good stopping point and cleaned up the oil stains from his hands. Hearing the familiar footsteps, Arthur looked up and saw Lewis grinning.

“Hey,” he greeted before noticing something in Lewis’s possession, “What’s with the box?”

“Sorry, Arthur, I know this seems sudden since you’re still working, but I need you to help me with this,” Lewis held out the medium sized package out to him a bit. From the looks of it, it had arrived in the mail for him not too long ago.

“I can try. Is it something you need help assembling?”

“Oh, no no, not that,” Lewis chuckled, “I just need you to hold on to this until it’s closer to Christmas.”

“Until Christmas?” Arthur blinked in surprise, “But that’s not until the next three to four months. You went Christmas shopping already?”

“Sort of. It’s for Paprika,” Lewis said, “She happened to see an advertisement on TV about this toy rabbit she really wanted, and I saw her asking Mom and Dad about it. Problem is, the toy’s a limited edition and it was quite the hot seller, if you know what I’m saying. I somehow managed to get the last one before it was sold out.”

“Oh…” Arthur slowly made a nod, understanding where Lewis is getting at. Trying to get a toy for a child that’s high in demand but low in supply is never fun, especially if one considers some other people would try to buy them and then sell it online at a much higher price. If that’s the case, Lewis was indeed very, very lucky to get his hands on it.

“Normally, I would just hide it somewhere in my house, but lately the girls have been getting all over everything, even in my own closet whenever they play hide-and-seek,” Lewis gestured his head to the exit, “We haven’t officially started the Christmas shopping yet, but I wanted to make sure that this one is kept safe from their little misadventures.”

Arthur couldn’t help but smirk at that, “And you knew that the girls would never look in a dirty mechanic’s shop, huh?”

“Haha! Yep.”

Arthur couldn’t help but widen his smirk at Lewis’s “devious” plan of hiding things, especially since this isn’t the first time Lewis has done this.

“But yeah, sure, I’ll hold on to it for you. When do you need it back?”

- - - - - - -

“T-Thank you.”

Elaine had asked him to remain seated at a nearby table. With Arthur sitting in one booth with Elaine and Mr. Pepper sitting in the second behind it, Elaine had positioned herself so that she would be sitting right behind Arthur despite having their backs turned to each other in a sense. With the raised barriers between the booths, the Peppers can’t see him, and he can’t see them in turn. He isn’t sure about whether they know he’s here or not, but he’d like to think it was the former.

The solution Elaine had come up with as a workaround is that Arthur would “accidentally eavesdrop” on her conversation with Lewis’s parents, Joe and Lokia Pepper. During any questions that needed Arthur’s input or if he needed to ask something without the Peppers knowing, he would just text it to Elaine and let her handle the rest.

When Arthur briefly saw Mr. and Mrs. Pepper together while they were distracted by Elaine, he couldn’t believe just how… defeated they looked. Seeing Mr. Pepper lacking his right arm did raise some concern, but upon seeing Mrs. Pepper’s state…

…he isn’t sure who had it worse.

The burn scars around Mrs. Pepper’s face and part of her scalp were… Arthur wasn’t sure how to describe them. From the way the burns looked on her face, it’s highly likely that a good portion of her body had been burnt, too.

One thing’s for sure in Arthur’s mind. The burn scars he has pale in comparison to Mrs. Pepper’s.

“I-I know that we’re pushing against your boundaries, but we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for hearing us out.”

Arthur wanted to cover his ears and run but he couldn’t. Somehow, Elaine is able to tell whenever he does, and thus send him a text of a star icon next to a moon icon, as a way to tell him that she is there for him, or she would leave some encouraging words for him to cling onto.

“So… You’re Arthur’s wife?” Mr. Pepper asked, and after a moment of what seemed to be him seeing Elaine nod, he added, “How long have you two been married?”

“We’ve actually just reached the fifteen-year mark,” Elaine answered, “But we’re not here to talk about our love life. We’re here to talk about Arthur.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.

“I’m not sure if anyone told you of this recently, or if either of you hadn’t picked up on it now, but Arthur physically cannot be near you for very long, if at all. When you, and previously, your daughters, made the foolish move to approach him without caring about his boundaries like you had done earlier, he would try to run. He told me that whenever he was near any of you, he would get burned. Literally. He still has the scars to prove it.”

She’s not pulling any punches. Arthur notes as he leaned his head against the back of the booth. As he kept his phone on hand, he was tempted to look through the family album again just to look at photos of the kids. In the end, he held off. Elaine has asked him to listen in carefully, and he agreed to do so.

“I… I didn’t think that he’d be—"

“I cannot tell you just how often he said about how he’s not allowed to speak to any of you because it was ‘all his fault’ and that ‘sorry isn’t good enough.’”

“Well… we--"

“So I will make this very clear to you. Arthur has no intention of talking to you and your daughters whatsoever. When he ate the food that was made in this restaurant that one of your daughters had brought to Kingsmen Mechanics for lunch with us yesterday and realized it was from here, he thought he was being poisoned ‘again.’ You do realize that food tampering is a rather serious crime among you chefs. But alas, the statute of limitations exist for a reason.”

“What? What are you talking about? Poiso--?"

“Arthur made it clear to me that he only intended to just visit and reconnect with his only family here, and his uncle made the lovely choice of bringing two of your daughters to visit us yesterday without telling us. Not a smart move if you ask me.”

Another silence.

“When I had spoken to the Yukino family, I heard something very interesting from the old lady, Mr. Yukino’s mother, during her tirade. So let me ask you this. Seventeen years ago…”

The sound of a hand slamming somewhat against the table is heard. Elaine’s voice is slow, icy cold, and piercing to the ears.

“What. Did. You. Do? What was it that you did that drove him out of this town?”

Arthur huddled closer to himself. He can tell that Elaine is beginning to get the wrong idea, but he knew better than to correct her now.

The Peppers hadn’t done anything wrong and had every right to blame him for everything that went wrong that day. Their beloved son is dead, and as a consequence, their family has been torn apart. The three little girls from so long ago had lost their loving big brother, their mentor that had given them so much love and affection, and thus were never the same since upon learning his fate. Arthur knew that he deserved their hatred, even though it had hurt so much.

 “You won’t let us apologize until we tell you, is that right?” Mrs. Pepper is speaking now, her voice sounding raspy.

“Considering that I actually know Arthur’s boundaries unlike some people, then you are correct,” Elaine said with a sharp tone, “Tell me everything. Do not leave even a single detail behind.”

Arthur closed his eyes.

…No one will ever understand.

- - - - - - -

Days like these were precious. He has to be careful, though.

Whenever it was time to work at Kingsmen Mechanics, Arthur could only feel relief from the pain, even if only for a moment. He learned not to show it in front of anyone, though, because if the wraith were to catch wind of it, then the punishments he is to receive when returning would be worse. A murderer does not deserve to feel relief.

When floating around, it tends to cause power shortages and make various electronics go on the fritz beyond repair whenever it’s in a certain negative mood, which happens frequently when Vivi isn’t around. After it may or may not have accidentally destroyed the computer on one of the cars that was being repaired for a customer, Lance had forbidden the wraith from entering the repair shop ever since.

As a result, whenever Arthur had to work at Kingsmen Mechanics, Arthur was finally able to relax for the first time in days.

Lance is always happy to see his nephew, especially after Arthur no longer declined to eat meals with him. When Arthur ate a simple dinner of mashed potatoes, a thin steak, and some green beans with Lance, he didn’t have the heart to tell his uncle that he has not eaten a proper meal in over three days, and his meager supply of water that he kept hidden beneath his bed in the wraith’s mansion was running out.

His uncle would ask how things were going between him, Lewis, and Vivi, but Arthur couldn’t bring himself to talk about Lewis. The wraith hated it whenever he said something, and his uncle’s shotgun would make things worse more often than not. Regardless, having his uncle has been a blessing. Whenever he isn’t being punished, beaten, or belittled by the wraith, Arthur could work alongside his uncle and recover enough to take on the well-deserved punishments once again.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Arthur smiled at his uncle as they worked in the shop.

Beneath that smile is a young and vulnerable man, crying in pain. He wanted to scream, to be free of the suffering, he wanted to die.

But he couldn’t.

If he told his uncle what was really happening, the older man would just take a shotgun full of lead or purification salt and fire it on the wraith. If the wraith were to disappear, Vivi’s happiness would be shattered all over again. Vivi also wanted Arthur to be with her, and he had no choice but to comply when she cried that she couldn’t bear to lose either of her precious boys.

In a way, she has already--

“Oh…! Darn it…”

At the Kingsmen residence, while cleaning out the closet located in his bedroom, Arthur accidentally knocked over a somewhat large box and knelt down to pick it up. He felt confused upon noticing a label he didn’t recognize, but then he took the time to read it.

Lewis Pepper

108 Scoville Street

Tempo, TX 28185

Why is there a package for Lewis in his closet? Upon looking at who sent it, Arthur did a quick search of the name and found that it was sent from a well-known toy company— He checked his phone and cursed to himself that he had forgotten to keep his promise to Lewis.

Christmas had already passed; it’s now late April. Paprika never got the present Lewis had gotten her for Christmas, and Arthur knew that it was all his fault. He didn’t know how he would ever be able to make up for this until he soon realized… that Paprika was born at around this time, and it was then Arthur realized that her birthday is…

“It’s in three days,” Arthur muttered and looked down at the package again.

He knew that he had no right to approach the Pepper family. At the same time, he isn’t sure if handing the present to the wraith to deliver it to them will work out, either. For all he knows, the wraith would just destroy the special toy inside with hardly a glance, and Arthur knew that he couldn’t let that happen. Lewis wanted Paprika to have this, and Arthur swore to himself that he will see to it that she gets it.

It’s what Lewis would’ve wanted.

Wrapping it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, but Lance almost never kept any wrapping paper in his home. When it comes to gift wrapping, Arthur’s uncle usually preferred to leave his presents in gift bags. With that thought in mind, Arthur went to a storage closet down the hallway and did some digging. Miraculously, he was able to find a paper bag large enough to fit the package inside.

It’s only fitting that a used Pepper Paradiso takeout bag will do the job.

Smiling to himself, Arthur stuffed a few old newspapers into it before setting it aside. He’ll have to return to the wraith’s home tomorrow, but he knew how to hide things from the wraith for a little while. It’s risky, but it will be worth it. He didn’t doubt that this will make little Paprika happy. Or cheer her up a little at the very least.

It’s the least he could do to fulfill Lewis’s last request.

…

“Why did it have to be our son?!”

“…’m sorry.”

The force made his head snap to the right.

He expected this to happen, but he couldn’t admit at just how much this hurt.

He looked at Mrs. Pepper, her hand still raised even after slapping him. Mr. Pepper is seething with anger alongside her.

“What. Are you doing?” She glared at him with anger and disgust, a far cry from her usual expression of caring watchfulness.

“I…” Arthur looked down at the gift bag containing Lewis’s present at Mr. Pepper’s feet, “Lewis asked me to—”

“It was you that--!” Mrs. Pepper closed in on him, “You think you can try hurting us again?!”

Something cracked in his heart, “N-No, I-I was just—”

“Why couldn’t it have been you?!”

Arthur wondered that himself. All he could is apologize, even though it meant nothing to-- Something hard hit against the back of his head.

A soft thump is felt near his feet. Looking down, Arthur could see that it was a small stone.

He then looked in the direction it was thrown from and saw Belle glaring at him, holding another stone in her hand. Cayenne is behind her older sister, also glaring at him with a snarl shown with her teeth. She’s holding a box small enough to wrap her fingers around.

But the youngest sister is still missing.

Arthur knew that he has to hold his ground. Even if it’s against Mr. Pepper. Lewis wanted Paprika to have the toy sealed in the package. He didn’t survive long enough to give it to her, so he has to do it for him. If he could just show them the label containing Lewis’s name…

Arthur looked up upon noticing some movement leading upstairs. As feeling of relief entered his being, he started to kneel down to pick up the bag—

The feeling of his neck being strangled startled him before realizing that Mrs. Pepper had dragged him by the collar of his shirt before being thrown against the door. A loud sound went off right next to him, and he saw that it was the other rock Belle had upon hearing her mutter something about missing her target.

“You’re never to approach our children again,” Mr. Pepper said with fury, “You’re never to approach us.”

“I only—"

“Mama? Papa?”

The sound of Paprika’s voice. Without a moment to lose, Arthur grabbed the bag near Mr. Pepper’s feet and held it out to her.

But Paprika only cried.

When Mr. Pepper snatched the bag out of Arthur’s hands and stomped on it, the rest of it was just a blur. He could barely register Mrs. Pepper forcing him out of the Pepper home and onto the concrete entrance, throwing his shoes at him, before only looking up in numbness upon seeing the door slam to his face.

It took a moment for the realization to reach him. All Arthur could do is try his hardest not to cry.

He didn’t know if there was a better way for it to play out.

With a heavy heart full of despair, Arthur slowly got up to put on his shoes and hissed in pain upon feeling something stab his feet. Confused at the sight of some blood on his foot that dripped down onto the concrete, he shook one of his shoes and saw a few shiny little things fall out. He shook out the other shoe and saw the exact same thing.

Flat head tacks.

…Cayenne never went that far.

Knowing that he had failed to fulfill Lewis’s final request. Arthur put on his now tack-free shoes, hoping his socks would stop the bleeding. He slowly gathered the tacks and placed them in a fine pile on a spot on the ground where people are least likely to step on them, before finally leaving the Pepper home.

He knew he wasn’t allowed to see them, but it was to protect that present Lewis had asked him to hold on to, but he couldn’t have ever predicted that his parents would have sought to destroy it like the wraith would.

He won’t disobey the rules for any reason anymore. Not even for Lewis.

Later that night, Arthur returned to the ghostly mansion, the one he had been forced to stay in ever since Vivi fell for it. He knew that he couldn’t do anything else after this before the wraith returned.

Sure enough, the wraith wasn’t happy upon learning what Arthur tried to do. He could tell upon feeling the wraith’s large and strong fingers wrap painfully around his shoulders.

No matter what he did to atone, it just wasn’t enough.

You just don’t know your place, do you?

Arthur doesn't know why he’s even trying to plead with the wraith anymore. It’s useless, yet he still begged the wraith to not burn him in front of them. But who are they? They’re not nearby.

Do I need to remind you of your place… again?

He already knew. He didn’t need a reminder.

You are never to approach my family again.

It hurts… The wraith wouldn’t let go of his right forearm. It always knew that it hurts when roughly grabbed there.

For all I know, you could be biding your time to kill them, too.

“No, I would never do that!”

You think I believe you?

This time, it hurt even more upon feeling something crack.

He isn’t sure which is more painful, the possible fracture in his arm or the realization that he couldn’t convince anyone of anything anymore.

…

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

And Arthur knew he deserved it.

It was his arm that did the killing, after all.

- - - - - - -

Elaine is angry. She shouldn’t be.

“I’m well aware that it was a demon that killed your son and that it had used Arthur to do it.”

“Well, yes, but back then, we—”

“But because the demon had disappeared, you needed to blame something, or someone.”

A long silence.

“Frankly, you disgust me. Knowing Arthur, he wouldn’t ever wish for harm to befall on any of you, let alone on his greatest enemy. If you really were as close to him as you said you were back then, then you never would’ve done that,” a huff of anger, “But you know the phrase, ‘You reap what you sow.’

“After everything he did for you, you thought the best way of paying him back for his kindness was to spit at his face and stomp it down,” Elaine scoffed, “If I was around when that happened, I would’ve immediately had you both charged with assault. Knowing Arthur, though, he would’ve just begged me to let it go, if not for the sake of your daughters.”

She’s right. Arthur would’ve done exactly that if she was with him when that happened. As far as he knew, the girls didn’t have any other family members that were nearby. Even if there were, he doubted that they would be able to remain together if the Peppers ever lost custody of them.

The Knights family can be scary even without the monster hunting business.

All Arthur contributes to the Knights family is repairing cars and raising the children. Everything else was left to Elaine and the rest of her family, and he would rather keep it that way.

“But I can tell that you’ve already suffered the consequences from that little stunt and then some,” Elaine coldly said, and Arthur knew she wasn’t being genuine with that statement, “So what happened after that?”

“After that, Arthur just suddenly left without a word,” Mr. Pepper sighed, “At first, we thought it was good riddance…”

“But I guess you never knew how important something, or someone, is to you until they are permanently gone. You took Arthur for granted more than you had thought.”

Arthur isn’t sure how to feel about this. He knew that there are people who impulsively make decisions while deep in emotions, but he also knew that the Peppers never regret their actions. They never regretted opening the restaurant operating in the family name, or having three daughters, or taking in an older child with an unknown background as their son. Throwing him away was no exception.

“You’re right. We did take him for granted.”

What?

“After Arthur left, things just went straight to hell.”

Now Arthur is getting more confused. Didn’t Grandma Yukino say something similar? He never really thought too deeply about what happened in Tempo after he had left seventeen years ago. Mr. Yukino also said something about things not being the same ever since Arthur left, but that’s typical of anyone leaving. …Right?

It’s going against everything Arthur has convinced himself of knowing.

“You’re not the first person that has said something very similar. I can’t imagine just how upset Mr. Kingsmen was when he found out that you essentially exiled his nephew out of this town,” Elaine said, “I bet it was even more inconvenient for you, Mr. Pepper, since Arthur is the one to go to for prosthetic limbs. I’m going to bet that your arm was lost as a consequence of this whole fiasco.”

Arthur winced. A sigh is heard.

“You’re absolutely right, Mrs. Knights.”

…

Did Arthur hear Mr. Pepper right?

“Really,” Elaine didn’t sound convinced, and quickly changed the subject, “Before we delve further into that, there is one more matter that needs to be discussed. Your daughter, Cayenne.”

“What,” Mrs. Pepper sounds nervous, “What about her?”

“I fail to see what the loss of her son last month has anything to do with Arthur. After all, you know as well as I do that we were nowhere near you at that time. While I’m sorry that it happened, I am not going to let you blame my husband for your grandson’s passing, nor your daughter’s mental illness that most likely came as a result of it.”

“No! No! You’re misunderstanding, Mrs. Knights!” Mr. Pepper sounded like he was pleading, “We know it was just unfortunate and that there’s no one to blame. It just… happened. We just…” A hitching sigh, “We just want to apologize. To apologize and hope that we can end all this. It’s our fault that we drove him away. It’s our fault that everything has gone so wrong.”

…

Is that what they really think? Arthur narrowed his eyes.

He texted Elaine.

They’re wrong.

The buzz of Elaine’s phone reached Arthur’s ears. He saw on his phone that Elaine had read it.

“What…?”

If it was just that, I would grin and bear it. It’s what I deserved. There is nothing to end.

There was a brief silence. Instead of hearing Elaine ask or text back, he heard the familiar ringtone of her phone.

“Yes? Nana Niniane?” A brief silence, “Yes, we are. I’m with Mr. and Mrs. Pepper. …What? Nana Niniane, you know Arthur isn’t going to like this.”

Another silence.

“…Yeah. Okay. Okay, we’ll do that. I’ll let him know. Just make sure there aren’t any fights by the time we get there.”

Elaine sighed as she hung up.

“All right. I just got a call from my family, and it’s been decided that we’re going to properly discuss this with all the involved parties. No more miscommunications, and no more… funny little stunts.”

“Stunts?”

“We’re heading to Kingsmen Mechanics. You are to meet us there in one hour and we will not take no for an answer.”

Arthur shivered. He wants to run away, but he has no way to take the kids with him. Vivian will follow him without question, but Gwen and Percy are old enough to know something is up. A part of him is wondering why he is even trying to even consider doing such an unthinkable thing.

What is Niniane up to? What did she do? What did she learn?

What does she know?

Something is close to snapping in Arthur’s mind, and he knows it. Gritting his teeth, Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose harder and harder.

Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it—

A hand brushed against his.

“My knight.”

Arthur looked up to Elaine standing next to the booth he is in. He held onto her hand like a lifeline.

It seems Elaine had waited for Mr. and Mrs. Pepper to leave first in order to either prevent them from seeing Arthur, or to keep them from trying to apologize without context on her end. It was then that he knew that Elaine is starting to realize the misunderstanding.

And from what he had gathered, it looks like those he knew in Tempo have also reached a misunderstanding of their own.

Later, they both got inside Lance’s spare car with Elaine in the driver’s seat.

“Arthur.”

He huddled closer to himself. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Elaine.

“I need you to talk to me.”

He opened his mouth, but a heavy weight in his throat kept him from speaking. He couldn’t do anything but tremble.

“In that case, I just need you to nod or shake your head.”

Nod or shake. He could do that. He can try.

“Yukino-san said that it was her son and the Pepper family that drove you away from here. Is that true?”

It’s easy to see how they could be a contributing factor. Regardless, Arthur shook his head without looking at Elaine. He didn’t know what to do if he saw her look disappointed.

“Did you run away from here because you couldn’t handle your abuser anymore?”

Arthur remained still, for he didn’t know what to tell her. If he answered one way, it would be a lie; but if he answered the other way, Elaine would think that he is lying. In the end, he had to be truthful and slowly shook his head.

When Elaine didn’t respond, Arthur risked looking over to her, and saw something that broke his heart.

Why are there tears on Elaine’s face? Why is she crying?

He didn’t know why Elaine decided to embrace him, he just couldn’t understand it. He never lied to her, but he never told her everything that had happened to him in Tempo, either. To him, it didn’t matter why he left. He couldn’t control what the people he knew in Tempo had thought. They wanted him gone, and his reason for leaving just happened to fit into their desires.

“Arthur. I need you to tell me. Please.”

He nuzzled further into her shoulder.

“What was it that had hurt you so much more than the abuse you had gone through?”

Arthur didn’t want to say it. It may seem insignificant, but he knew Elaine would disagree.

“Elaine, I… I couldn’t,” he finally muttered.

She waited for him to continue.

He slowly pulled himself out of her hold and held her hands, “I just couldn’t.”

“You couldn’t what?” Elaine asked.

“I couldn’t stay,” Arthur finally looked her in the eye, “I knew that I would have to tell you eventually, but... The real reason I left Tempo is because I... I couldn't let them have it. I couldn’t let them have the only thing I had left,” he looked down at Elaine’s hands and held them tighter, “I just couldn’t.”

“Have what?”

He placed a hand over the moon pin on his vest and looked away. He couldn't tell her in front of the kids, or anyone really. His heart and soul could only take so much pain.

How does he put this in a way that won't make him break down?

Taking a shaky breath, he reached out to her and touched the old and worn star pin on her jacket, the one that he had given her so long ago.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Elaine said, “What do you mean?”

How else can he get her to understand? He didn’t want to say it out loud. It would break his heart even more if he did.

“I love you,” Arthur’s breath hitched as tears began to shed, “You know that, right?”

Please. Please, understand.

Despite everything going on in the madness and despair, the love of his light and family are all he has now. As long as he has that…

Elaine smiled sadly, slowly wiping away Arthur’s tears with her thumbs until he could calm down.

“It will be okay, my star. It will be okay. I promise.”

For all he knows, this might be the last time he’ll be able to feel her warmth.

- - - - - - -

Arthur really didn’t want to be here. He didn’t like the looks he was getting, especially since he has Vivian in his arms while sitting down on a chair with Elaine and the twins beside him remaining on guard.

Lance had closed down Kingsmen Mechanics for the evening. To Arthur, this meant that he had no opportunities to escape. In the lobby of the repair shop with him were three separate parties. Parties he’d rather not be a part of because of the rules.

Lance and Belle are behind the desk exchanging nervous glances between each other under Morgan’s watchful eye. Whatever Elaine’s aunt had done to scold them, Arthur knew not to question it. Mr. and Mrs. Pepper are sitting on some chairs used by customers that wait for their cars to be repaired.

Arthur took a moment to properly look at Mr. and Mrs. Pepper. Although he had seen it earlier today, he can confirm that Mr. Pepper is indeed missing his right arm. He couldn’t tell if it had been severed just below the shoulder or right at the socket, but in the end it’s irrelevant. He briefly wondered how such an injury could happen, but again, it’s not important for him to know.

The injuries Mrs. Pepper has on the other hand, Arthur isn’t sure if she has it just as bad if not worse compared to her husband’s. Instead of missing any major limbs, Mrs. Pepper has severe burn scars around her face and down her neck. Her right eye looks like it had been melted shut, so it stands to reason that she’s blind in that eye, too. More disturbingly, she also has some burn scars over her hands as well. Was she thrown into a fire or something?

Upon seeing Mr. Pepper make eye contact with him, Arthur quickly turns away, giving Vivian some attention before looking over at his uncle and Belle. Belle looks as healthy as a typical person in their twenties would be, and while Lance has started to show some signs of old age here and there, nothing about him has really changed much.

“We’re waiting for Nana Niniane to arrive,” Morgan broke the silence, “Before anyone says anything, I’m going to make this clear.”

She glared at Lance and the Peppers.

“I don’t know what you did and frankly, I don’t really care. But when Nana Niniane wants answers, she will get answers. So all of you better answer honestly, because trust me, she’s much worse than I am.”

They all nervously glanced at each other. Arthur isn’t really sure how to feel about their reaction. At the same time, though, he knew about Morgan’s talent in using her words instead of physical violence to get the results she wants. Hopefully, her presence will make the Pepper family a little more cooperative. The last thing he wants is for a rock to be thrown at him right now, because he didn’t want any of the stones to hurt Vivian.

Vivian tugged at the collar of Arthur’s vest, and he nuzzled his cheek against her head in response.

“Um…”

Arthur immediately turned to the Peppers and grimaced in disgust. He didn’t like the way they were looking at him or his children. Vivian didn’t seem to care as she just remained focused on him.

“Is,” Mr. Pepper started to speak, then quickly turned to Elaine, “Is she also your daughter? She’s really cute.”

An attempted save. Arthur thought. He isn’t sure whether to commend Mr. Pepper for that or not.

Gwen and Percy looked at each other with uncertainty in their eyes.

“Her name is Vivian. And yes, she is our youngest daughter,” Elaine said as she placed a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “In case you’re curious, she’s three. And the twins, Gwen and Percy, are fourteen. But we’re not here to talk about that, are we?”

Arthur looked down to see Vivian staring at Elaine strangely. He figured it was probably because she isn’t used to seeing her mother look or talk so strictly and decided to distract her by whispering to her ear that he loves her. Vivian giggled and hugged him.

“Love you, too, Daddy,” she whispered back, only audible enough for him to hear.

Right as Elaine knelt down to give Vivian some affection, the sound of a bell alerting employees of customers made everyone look to see who came.

Arthur felt chills run down into his spine.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur could see Vivian’s hair bristle at the sight of Vivi and Mystery coming in, with Gwen and Percy at the ready. He couldn’t blame them, especially once he knew that the Mystery Skulls had in fact tried to kill his children as “monsters.” What’s also worrying is that the section of Vivian’s hair that had been cut off by Vivi hasn’t even grown back yet.

The reaction upon seeing Arthur with the children is instantaneous. Vivi looked upset while Mystery’s fur bristled like a scared animal would. Arthur followed their gaze to see that it’s Percy they’re staring a--

“Wait, Vivian!”

At and Percy’s shouts, Vivi and Mystery barely had time to react before dodging Vivian’s hair spearing at their feet with a loud crack. Growling, Mystery started to move forward before suddenly being yanked back by the collar as a light blue aura surrounded Vivi and most of Vivian’s hair, which then got uprooted from the floor.

“Don’t even think about it, mutt.”

Arthur, as he held Vivian closer to himself with Elaine holding an arm in front of them protectively, could only feel relieved upon seeing Niniane with one hand surrounded by magic, then felt confusion when he noticed her holding up a colored rope of some sort with her other hand. Tracing the rope led him to seeing that it’s roped around Mystery’s neck like a leash, which led to a rather unnerving sight of the kitsune turned dog being strangled with little breathing room.

“I thought I told you that you are not to attack my family. Let alone approach them without our explicit permission,” Niniane said in a calm tone, but everyone could tell that she is furious.

“But she started it!” Mystery protested, which turned out to be a mistake as Niniane lifted the rope to bring him closer to her face, causing him to gag.

Is she trying to hang him on purpose? Arthur quietly turned Vivian’s head away from the scene while feeling very unnerved. If not for the fact that he knew what Mystery actually is, he would have immediately considered Niniane’s actions to be animal abuse. Vivi looked like she wanted to help, but judging from her fearful look at Niniane, she had to reconsider.

“And I have told you that I will handle my family and that you and Yukino are not to lay a single finger, or paw, on them,” Niniane then roughly let Mystery back down on the floor, giving him some much needed breath, “I will let this slide just this once, but do it again and I will not hesitate to stay true to my word,” she tapped her foot once to emphasize, “I’m sure the both of you know very well on what I mean.”

The two cracks left on the floor from Vivian’s hair spearing it could very well make whatever potential consequences Niniane has planned for them be sunshine and daisies in comparison.

Niniane then approached Arthur and smiled affectionately at Vivian, “Sorry about that, my sweet moppet. I can see that you were just being a good little girl wanting to protect her daddy. I ask that you do not do anything to them unless your mommy says so, for I will make sure that the bad girl and her mutt behave,” she gently tapped Vivian on the nose, “Could you do that for me? Pretty please?”

Vivian looked up at Arthur, as if wanting to ask if she really has to. “Bad girl,” she said in a voice that showed how scared she really is, pointing at Vivi, who briefly looked offended before switching to a neutral expression in response to Niniane and Elaine’s glare.

Although he has his doubts, Arthur nodded and stroked at her hair, “It’s okay, Vivian. Nana is here, Auntie Morgan is here, Mama is here, and Daddy is here. It’s okay. They won’t hurt you anymore.”

Fortunately, it was enough to convince Vivian as she let her hair return to its normal state. Arthur could hear the twins sign in relief.

“I do apologize for the damage on your floor, Mr. Kingsmen,” Niniane said as she released her magic, “But worry not. I will repair it once we adjourn this meeting. I believe you have seen enough ‘paranormal activity’ for today, have you not?”

“Right…”

Arthur is thankful that Lance and the Peppers wisely decided to keep quiet during the whole ordeal. Come to think of it, do the Peppers know what the Knights family can do? They probably do since they didn’t react as loudly as Lance did. He figured his uncle had filled them in somewhat.

“But before we do that, there’s one more thing that needs to be addressed,” Niniane gave Vivi a nod.

Vivi shifted her gaze to Arthur and Vivian briefly before turning to the exit and opened the door. She made a gesture as if inviting someone, then stepped back to allow a young boy in blue to enter the shop. Arthur recognized him immediately.

“This is my son, Jason,” Vivi has her hands on the boy’s shoulders, “My parents had to take grandma for a doctor’s appointment, so I had to bring him with me.”

“Arthur, with your permission, will it be all right if we leave the boy with Gwen and Percy?” Niniane asked, “I found that Nobuhiro Yukino wasn’t lying about his grandson’s interest in robotics. I have no issues with this since this situation surrounds your generation and not the children’s, but if you do, then I will send him and his mother away for another time. We probably don’t need her for this discussion, after all, just the mutt. It’s your choice.”

Jason kept his gaze down to his feet, not looking at anyone in the eye.

Arthur didn’t know what to do. If it were any other circumstance, he would have allowed it in a heartbeat, since Gwen and Percy would occasionally talk about trying to find like-minded people with an interest in robotics. But because Jason is Vivi’s son, he is a part of the Yukino family, and Arthur isn’t allowed to be near them according to the rules. If the wraith were to find out about the children…

But his whole family is here. Niniane is here, and she has demonstrated very well in that she could keep the Mystery Skulls from trying anything funny. Jason’s just a kid, and if by some chance that he has that strange ice magic like his mother does, then Gwen and Percy can handle him with no issue.

“That… would be fine,” he relented before turning to the twins, “I think you left one of your projects in Lance’s living room. Just stay in there until this is over.”

“What about Vivian?” Gwen asked.

“She’ll stay with us until she calms down a little more,” Elaine said, “And then we’ll bring her to you.”

Seeing Gwen and Percy nod in agreement is a relief. They took a moment to introduce themselves to Jason, which made the boy perk up a little. They seemed to be getting along, but Arthur didn’t get a chance to see any more after they left the lobby through the door leading to Lance’s home.

A minute passed in total silence.

“Now then, I think it’s time we finally have a proper conversation,” Niniane is the first to cut to the chase, her eyes narrowed down at Mystery briefly before showing a look of disgusted disappointment, “I believe we know why we’re here?”

“To apologize,” Mr. Pepper said, “We wanted—”

“Wrong. We’re here for answers, for there seems to be a major…” Niniane gave the leash a quick tug, making Mystery briefly struggle for breath, “Misunderstanding.”

Why does it matter? Regardless of the reason, Arthur knew he had to leave. It’s what they wanted. Still, it was wise for the Gwen and Percy to be out of sight and out of hearing range. He isn’t sure about having Vivian with him still, but if he just left her with her siblings, she would just teleport or run her way back to him whenever she felt like it.

So he just has to stay calm. Stay calm… for Vivian’s sake.

“Seeing that Arthur is in no condition to actually tell us why he left this drab town, I think it would be most adequate if we simply discuss what we have learned,” Niniane said as she twirled the rope that is Mystery’s leash around her fingers, “I shall start since my investigation has given me some rather… inconsistent answers.”

Stay calm… for her sake.

Niniane spoke about how it all started seventeen years ago. Where Arthur was maimed and traumatized, where Lewis died, and Vivi lost her memory of the former. How Arthur searched and searched for Lewis, not knowing he was dead. How Vivi and Mystery had followed him to help with the search, how they soon came across a haunted mansion.

Stay calm… for her sake…!

How the wraith had attacked them to how the Mystery Skulls barely escaped with their lives, to being attacked by the wraith and run off the road. So many events that Arthur did not want to recall among the loud sounds of a shotgun, Vivi’s screams, and Mystery’s growls. He didn’t want to deal with that part of the past. It had hurt so much.

“…even when it was spelled out to you that Arthur was unwillingly possessed by a demon, you never forgave him for his unwilling role in your son’s death,” Niniane said as she looked at Mr. and Mrs. Pepper with a mix of disappointment and disgust, “Did you?”

Mr. and Mrs. Pepper look guilty, and Arthur couldn’t understand why. No matter how many apologies he made, they have every right to not forgive him.

“I hope you realize that you’re not very knowledgeable if you seriously think that just anyone could resist a possession of that caliber,” Niniane sighed, “After all, if Arthur had, your son would probably still be alive. Keyword being ‘probably,’ because that demon could have easily taken control of either your son or Yukino, and there’s no telling whether either of them would have fared any better, if not worse.”

“I know that now. More than anyone here,” Mr. Pepper said as he used his only hand to grip at his right shoulder, “I lost this arm pretty much the same way, after all.”

Arthur felt cold, his face turned white as he took in Mr. Pepper’s words. If he lost his arm the same way he has, then… He narrowed his gaze at Mystery in disgust, who took a step back with his tail between his legs.

“That must have been dreadful,” Niniane said, her tone showing that she has no sympathy for Mr. Pepper’s condition, “Moving on, I have also found that this town has been cursed roughly a week or so after Arthur left, and that it has affected the entire population of Tempo,” she turned to Vivi, “Perhaps you would be willing to elaborate on what this curse does in detail?”

Vivi looked down at her feet and fiddled with her skirt, “It… It’s a nightmare.”

“Meaning?” Morgan furrowed her brow.

Arthur didn’t like where this was going.

Vivi gave them a wry smile, “I’m sure you’ve read about this town’s unusually high suicide rate?”

“That we did,” Morgan piped up as she looked at something on her phone, “Although it doesn’t explain why, it says here that for approximately the past sixteen years, there has been an increase in suicides by eightfold. It’s says on average that there would be a death toll of around forty every year, which is rather high for a town of less than two thousand people.”

“That’s an understatement, Aunt Morgan,” Elaine said with unease, “If we take simple math into account, then that means over six hundred people have ended their own lives from back then to now. But what does all that have to do with Arthur? He wasn’t here when all those people died.”

“That’s true, but the nightmares never cease to remind us.”

When everyone looked at Mystery, the kitsune disguised as a dog continued.

“Almost every night, we have nightmares of the… punishments Arthur went through.”

“Through his eyes,” Vivi continued, shivering “As if we were the ones receiving it. I-I never thought that it would hurt so much…”

“At first, we didn’t think much of it, since we thought we were the only ones that were cursed, but then we were confronted by some of the townspeople,” Mystery turned away in shame, “They lost some of their loved ones by the time they came to us.”

“So the curse that is plaguing Tempo are supernaturally-induced nightmares, which not only affect you but the townspeople as well,” Niniane hummed, “Unless Arthur is the one that deliberately left such a curse, I’d imagine it came from a separate source.”

“I know for a fact that it wasn’t me,” Arthur spoke, upset that Niniane would even suggest such a conclusion, even though he knows she doesn’t believe it, “All I cared about was leaving this place. Anyone here could do whatever they wanted for all I care so long as I wasn’t a part of it.”

He felt a tug on his vest and looked down at Vivian. He held her closer to himself to assure both her (and himself) that it’s okay.

He hopes so.

The thought of being responsible for more than Lewis’s death would be too much to bear.

“I suppose you have an idea on what caused this curse in the first place,” Niniane said, “Especially since some of you have mentioned at least once that Arthur is needed to end the nightmare.”

“We believe he’s the key to breaking it,” Mystery said, “Since it was the demon that ruined everything that caused it.”

There was a long silence.

“You mean to tell me that the demon that took your arm was never exorcised?” Elaine asked in disbelief before looking at Arthur, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I… I never knew,” Arthur muttered as he looked down, “All I knew was that it was gone. I actually thought that they took care of it after I left.”

“It escaped before we could properly destroy it,” Vivi sighed, “That’s also the reason why we’ve been going around exterminating monsters. We were trying to find the demon that caused all this and hopefully break the curse, but we never could.”

“And nearly killed our children in the process,” Elaine grumbled to herself, which Arthur is pretty sure everyone could hear.

“When did this demon escape?” Niniane asked before her face shifted into an expression Arthur couldn’t identify, “Or more accurately, when and how did you first encounter it after Arthur left?”

The look of guilt that spread across Vivi and the Peppers is… telling. Lance also looked angry, as if recalling an unpleasant memory, which he probably is. Arthur didn’t know how to feel about that fact.

“It all started when I got a phone call from Lance,” Vivi rubbed her arm, as if to distract herself, “He asked me if I heard from Arthur and when he would be back from his solo vacation. Back then, I had no idea what he was talking about. That’s when we realized that Arthur went missing. Lance called the police to see if they could find him, and while they were on their search, Lance visited our home to see if we could find any clues in Arthur’s room.”

“That’s how I found the medical supplies and some used bandages,” Lance grumbled, “And when I realized that Arthur ran off to escape from domestic abuse.”

“I didn’t know he was being abused by Lewis! I swear to it!” Vivi insisted despite Niniane’s glare, “As soon as I learned of it, I immediately tried to fix things!”

Arthur gritted his teeth. Even now, Vivi still clings to her delusions.

“And what about you, mutt?” Niniane gave a tug on the leash, “I would imagine that through your role as a family pet of sorts, you would have a whiff of what was going on.”

“Arthur is very good at hiding his problems,” Mystery said, “And even then, I was more focused on caring for Vivi, for I am bound to her family. I know this does not excuse myself for my ignorance, and I doubt you will accept any apologies from me now, if ever.”

Arthur knew very well that the Knights family won’t accept it. For some reason, neither will he. Unlike everyone else in the room, Arthur has no intention to delve further into it. What’s in the past should stay in the past.

“Mmh…”

Arthur looked down at Vivian and saw that she is nodding off. He figures that’s a good thing, since he is beginning to think that it may be for the best that she isn’t around for this conversation.

He didn’t want to be here. He has to get away.

“I need to put her to bed,” he said as he stood up, all eyes trained on him, “I’ll… be back shortly.”

“I’ll go with you,” Elaine gave him an understanding smile.

Niniane and Morgan nodded, and Arthur left with Elaine behind him.

…

“It’s hard for you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Arthur nodded as he tucked Vivian into the bed that is in his old bedroom, “I-I know I haven’t told you and your family everything, and I’m sorry. But I just couldn’t, I couldn’t say anything. Even I don’t understand why anymore. All I wanted was just to let go and move on.”

“Arthur…”

“I-I don’t even know what’s wrong with me anymore,” he shook his head, “All this time, I’ve accepted that the Peppers had every right to be angry at me, that I deserved their hatred. I even accepted the blame from Vivi’s parents for being the cause of her amnesia. I mean, as far as I know, her memory is already back, but—I just don’t understand. Just… Why? Why are they always apologizing ever since we came here?”

The two left the bedroom.

“My knight,” Elaine cupped a hand around Arthur’s cheek, “Let me ask you this, then. After their apologies, can you tell me that you still blame yourself even now?”

“It doesn’t matter about who apologizes, Elaine,” he said as he held Elaine’s hand, “It doesn’t change the fact that, in a sense, I still killed Lewis. The Peppers had their family torn apart because of me. I even tried to turn myself in to the police, but I’d get held back every time. And just now we’ve learned that my leaving may have caused so many people unrelated to me, to everyone I knew here, to die from a curse that demon made. How can I not blame myself?”

Elaine smiled sadly, “Did you want Lewis dead at any point? Or any of this to happen?”

“No!” Arthur forced himself to keep his volume to a minimum in order to not wake Vivian, “I never wanted any of this to happen! All I wanted was to leave. They… they were already happy even without me.”

“You should tell the others that when we get back to them. Remember, I’m here for you, and Aunt Morgan and Nana Niniane are here for you. The kids are here for you, too. Know that you’re not alone. Not anymore ever since the day we got married, ever since you became a part of my family.”

Arthur gave a breath that mixed from a single laugh and a sob, “I know.”

“Whether or not you may have caused this town’s curse is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you left this place for one reason or another, it was something someone here did, and you had to get away from the pain,” Elaine pulled him closer, “No matter what anyone says, none of this is your fault. I know it.”

She kissed him in the lips and held him close. The two stayed like that for a moment before Arthur broke away from the contact.

“We should check on the kids before we go back,” Arthur said, “I don’t think Vivi’s son will do anything, but I… I just want to make sure they’re safe.”

“Of course.”

Soon, Arthur and Elaine were about to approach the living room, but something seems strange. Why does it feel oddly cold yet hot? It feels familiar, but it can’t be. The last time Arthur ever felt this is when-- Arthur made the sudden decision to rush for the twins. If Vivi’s son did something that could harm them—

“We never knew Dad like that. Sure, he does get scared sometimes, but he was never scared of us, even after that time back when I was seven.”

Arthur stopped. Is Percy talking to Jason? Back when Percy was seven? It took a moment before realizing that his son is talking about the time his power first awakened before losing control, and how Arthur himself nearly died because of it.

“I’m sure it’s because the three of you are his children,” a good-natured chuckle rumbled, “And from what you told me, your father is still a forgiving person even now. I just don’t think…”

It’s strange… that voice is familiar. The somewhat soft-spoken and low baritone voice that’s enough to put anyone at ease when someone new speaks to him for the first time…!

“Is someone else here?” Elaine whispered, “It feels like a ghost, but it’s not malicious. At least, I don’t think it is.”

Elaine can sense ghosts.

…No.

“Arthur?!”

His heart pounding, Arthur immediately went into the living room as Elaine called out to him. The three children were startled upon seeing him, and Arthur immediately spotted Gwen reading what looks like a comic book of sorts with Jason, the boy hiding behind her. Immediately after he sees Percy.

Something cracked.

“Daddy…?” Gwen looked scared. She should be.

Something snapped.

“Dad?” Percy is slow to speak, “W-What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Percy is holding something in his hands. Blue. Heart-shaped.

Pulsing.

The three children didn’t concern him. It’s what’s behind them.

Arthur opened his mouth.

A gurgle.

Something broke.

“Arthur…?!”

The wraith is among them.

The wraith has its hand on Percy…!

The wraith moved.

His left arm raised.

Before he could take a step, Arthur’s mind went blank as red spilled.

- - - - - - -

...Told ya.

I’m worried about the future, future!

Ain’t fucking with that past shit, baby!

I’m worried about the future, future, future, future…!

Part 19: Thought I Told Ya...!

[flying-elliska]

S5 Review pt 2 : the Bad

So in my last meta I listed a lot of reasons to like this season...but then why did it not (at least to me) all add up together ?  Looking back, I can think of so many clips that I thought were incredible. But looking back at the season in general, I just feel a big ‘meh’ and it’s sort of puzzling - why exactly ?  Here is where I thought the season could have been a lot better :

I loathe love triangles : I hate the trope in itself. Is S5 the worst example of it ever ? No, it served somewhat of a thematic purpose and the resolution was interesting. But I can’t help it, when I feel a love triangle coming on, I generally disconnect emotionally because I have been annoyed to hell and back by it before - one big offender being Skam France s4, in which the love triangle/quadrangle marked the beginning of the season going down in flames, with it overshadowing everything else and making the characters behave in completely obnoxious and puzzling ways. S5 isn’t quite as bad, it feels more respectful of the characters, but I find it weird that the writers chose a love triangle again on the heels of the reception of s4. 

The problem with this trope is not ‘oh we don’t want drama ever’ it’s just so bloody annoying, so trite and overused. It rests on centuries of sexist tropes : either a wishy washy girl in the middle who doesn’t know what’s good for her/her own heart ; or two girls competing for a man’s attentions. It often ends in the fandom villifying the women involved no matter the shape of the triangle, comparing them against each other, which definitely happened this time (Twitter was just so annoying this season), and this whole ‘team x’ thing gives me hives, as the assumption that this is what young women viewers care most about. 

Also it generally involves the characters showing that they have very little self respect, letting themselves be walked over, bad communication, implications about what the ‘better woman/man’ should be like, cheating, etc...it’s very rarely fun or interesting to watch because we’ve seen it a thousand times before in teenage soap operas. Again, the s5 ending avoided the total trainwreck but this is a show you watch in real time, and for weeks I was afraid it was going to be absolutely terrible, and it ruined a big part of my experience of the season. When they introduced Noée I started being scared, and when it became clear Arthur was developing feelings for her, I basically noped out emotionally. I started following it in a much more detached manner, I wasn’t looking forward to the clips anymore, I stopped writing meta so much. And it sucks. I wanted to love the season. But this was just not a ride I really wanted to be on. 

Alexia (and Noee) deserved better : I love Alexia and developing her character is one of the best things Skam France ever did. In OG, the character of Chris, if interesting, is just continually reduced to the ‘funny fat friend’ persona and it really sucks. So giving Alexia a real personality, making her bisexual, giving her more of a role in s3, making her a dancer and a singer was really cool. I’m bi myself and I spent most of my high school struggling with my weight and if I’d had a character like her, who radiates self-acceptance, it would have meant so much to me. I was really stoked for her to have more of a role in s5 - only to spend most of the season feeling really sad for her. It was just...not fun. I so wish she could have had her own season and her own story that didn’t revolve around a dude she was so supportive of and still ended up treating her like shit. 

Also, real talk : when is a curvy girl actually a love interest without it being shown as funny or not good enough ? Especially of the main character ? Almost never. Coline might have lost some weight, but she’s still written as a curvy girl this season and it’s an important part of the character. So for her to have this particular role this season - the girl that isn’t romanticized, that doesn’t get to have the cute and thrilling moments, that is just sort of there and patient and understanding as if she couldn’t get anything better, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Sure the end of the season did her more justice but god it took so long and in the meantime, it just felt...very ill considered and careless. 

In the same way, I wanted to love Noée, I thought she was amazing, but because of her role in the plot I just felt this instinctive defiance towards her character. It would have been so cool to have her in a friend role, or even a love interest outside of the triangle or I don’t know like...have someone else fall in love with her. Also, I just did not understand why she loved Arthur ? Like she just met the dude a few times, and he’s mostly been a total asshole to her, who makes very little efforts to communicate with her...I get she could get attracted to him but love ??? The moment where she tells him ‘I love you’ felt demeaning to her, like the moment in OG where Noora falls after running after William. It’s like, Arthur has just been an enormous asshole to her, and she pushes herself to do something she’s never been comfortable with in the first place ? Why ? This show romanticizes teenage boys being assholes and girls being desperate way too much. 

The Skam dilemma, love vs politics and “Let’s all just be nice.” : There is a reoccuring problem accross all Skams, starting with the OG : they bring up very political topics, usually in the beginning of the season, and then they...don’t really do anything with them. In the OG, Noora’s feminism is really just window-dressing and we see her bend over backwards to accomodate this super toxic asshole into her life. And we see Sana’s struggles as a Muslim in Norwegian society, but then love drama takes over, and it’s waved away with an insulting ‘everyone should just communicate more’ ending. Skamfr s4 made it even worse, by making the girl squad a lot more overtly racist, never having them make a big gesture for Imane, putting her in a position to apologize, and never showing that the girl squad had an idea of where they messed up or real growth. It was insanely frustrating, especially since the beginning of the season was so good at showing all the little micro-agressions. In the end it felt like all the racism was just there to motivate Imane’s breakdown for plot reasons and not to actually say something. S5 never stoops quite that low, but there was a bit of a similar dynamic at hand here. Instead of the boys actually have a real conversation after their fight, most of the denouement of the show was consecrated to talking about the love drama. It was, again, as if the focus of the show was on the wrong things, and it robs you of the catharsis you’re expecting. As if they used the love drama for a metaphor for the actual issues, have it do all the emotional heavy lifting, and in so doing bypass having to adress the actual problem. There is this weird ideas that the audience of the show - teenagers and young women, mostly, in the end care the most about the love stuff and that everything else has to take a backseat and...this feels neither a good message to send, nor realistic to me. I like it when shows about teenagers decenter love and show the real complexity of their characters’ lives without making them paragons of virtue or wokeness - Derry Girls is a brilliant example of that. Skam, and Skam France in particular, feel a bit immature still compared to those, punching below their weight for shows that pride themselves on their social impact. 

Hit with the idiot stick : Speaking of underwhelming resolutions - yes, the boy squad messing up with Arthur, I found relevant and realistic. But...did they really even adress it ? I was really hoping for the boys to have more of a conversation, for Arthur to open up to them about what he went through, about his father, to tell them that they should have asked him/listened to him more, etc...and I know ‘teenage boys’ or whatever but ...aren’t they trying to change those stereotypes too ? Like when Arthur went to see Basile, they must have had a conversation, why the fuck did we not see it ? That’s the emotional bond I cared most about ! And we just had a hug ...underwhelming tbh. Same Arthur talking with Lucas but then it was just about their love lives ? Or when they came to the hospital, again, it was just about the love drama ? God it really sucked out the oxygen out of the season. The resolutions of those things just being hugs or speeches or handholding at the end felt hollow, and a lot less powerful than they could have been. And again, there has to be a tolerance for messiness, but I found the boys so incredibly dumb at several points in the season. Especially them being like ‘oh cheating isn’t so bad’ after they found out that Arthur’s dad was cheating on his wife ? Like why the fuck did they take Patrick’s side ? What kind of lack of empathy ? It would feel a lot more coherent for teenage boys to be furious at the destruction of a friend’s family, not talk like cynical 50 yr olds who just divorced for the fifth time. It felt so unrealistic and stupid and just meant for Arthur to finally clue in to the idea that cheating and lying is bad maybe, himself first without external clues from characters that really should have known better by now. Especially Yann and Lucas advising Arthur to keep his mouth shut after what happened in s1 like...did whoever write this read the previous seasons of the show ? There were just too many times where the boy squad felt out of character and mandated to be idiots just for plot reasons, and it felt...very crudely drawn. Disappointing, because the beginning of the season was awesome. But again, Skam France failed in delivering real growth for their friend group. At times, it even felt like character regression. Them holding hands at the end of the season made me emo but damn it could have been so much more.

Also some plot twists - the car crash in particular, just felt dumb and unnecessary, seriously. 

A too distant main : In the end, like I said before, my main issue is that I didn’t feel as connected to Arthur as I wanted to. I mean, the cheating bit was just very unrelatable to me, after how they showed how supportive Alexia was and how she supposedly made him happy like...why. But maybe that’s just me. Regardless - in the first few episodes he felt distant in an interesting way, because it made sense for his character to be so walled off. But...I felt like his self discovery was way too blurred with the ‘oh I like Noee’ part to the point where it ended up being obscured. I would have loved more clips on his own, maybe something more about him questioning his path in life, whether he truly wants to do medecine. And like apparently he liked fine arts ? Then, why didn’t we see anything about that ? Did he paint the x-men painting ??? That feels so relevant, why the fuck didn’t we see that ? Also why didn’t we see him take those LSF classes with Camille and actually make an effort this time ? Having almost all of his realization moments tied to Noee was just...the manic pixie dream girl trope. That’s what it’s called, when you use a quirky female character as a device for the emotional development of the male one. It’s...not flattering tbh. And then that farm episode - it was funny but for a week I felt like I completely lost touch with Arthur’s POV ? I’m really not sure that was the right choice. All in all, there were just not enough introspective, small, intimate clips for it to really feel like Skam, and that’s a shame tbh. I recognize a lot of myself in Arthur, and Robin acted his heart out to make him relatable, but because of the writing, there were way too many times where I was reluctant and puzzled instead of in it. I saw several people saying it was too much tell and not enough show and I think that’s very on point. I feel like a lot of Arthur’s actual character development happened behind the scenes in moments where we didn’t see it.  

Yeah...I think as a conclusion most of my issues are tied back to the preponderance of the love triangle. The season wasn’t bad but god it could have been so excellent if they hadn’t gone that route, and this swerve from greatness is just sooooooo frustrating. I don’t think it’s enough to condemn the whole season but...

Next up : some things I’m just very ??? about and a general conclusion. 

Bonus bitching round, fandom edition : oh my god, I don’t get into this often but...the fandom was so bloody annoying this season. Starting with the people sending death threats over a tv show (like...what the fuck) or thinking them being nasty assholes is somehow for the greater good (???), from people that don’t want anyone to use even 1 analysis capacity (especially on Twitter) and go beyond praising everything on the show, or the people either villifying Alexia and Noee and indulging in that ‘team’ crap, to the people that shoot down every single detail of the show without discernment or accuse the creators of being ableist sexist garbage or maltreating their actors ... And then you have the other remake stans coming to pollute the tags talking about how we were all stupid for liking the show in the first place. Like...seriously, what is up with you people. I really loved the block button this season, damn. 

[inbarfink]

Alright, I'm just gonna say it. I don’t think the confrontation against Satan in the show version of Good Omens works all that well. 

I don't hate it and I don’t dislike it cause it's like, different from the book. I think the idea of actually seeing Satan was a good change, because we're in a visual medium now and it makes for a more intersting-looking scene (and we should keep God as the only unseen character). And I understand why they wanted Aziraphale and Crowley to play a bigger part in the climax and have, like, positive interactions with Adam, since the show is more actually about them, rather than them just being the two most memorable pieces of an ensemble. 

My issue is simply... Adam's confrontation with Satan is so focused on, like, "your bio-dad doesn't have to matter if he didn't raise you, your real parents are the one who took care of you!". And that's not a bad message, it's a very good message, but like... absentee parenthood isn't really a theme of Good Omens otherwise.

(unless you count God, but I think if you count God it makes the whole moment thematically inconsistent. Cause God's absence is depicted as frustrating, but it’s not like ‘Humanity should reject God because Her absence is our life makes Her worthless as our creator! We should discard God and choose... each other?? Aziraphale and Crowley???’. It’s more like ‘God probably has a good reason for being so mysterious and Her trickstery nature is ultimately for the good of humanity probably.’ I think that if we start reading Good Omens’ God as a parent it comes off VERY iffy and we probably shouldn’t do it)

And there's no real emotional catharsis in it because Adam literally JUST NOW learned that Satan is his dad, it doesn't feel like he really had time to process it or develop feelings of justified resentment over it and it didn’t really effect his character arc and all of this means that this moment doesn’t feel emotionally satisfying.

(Adam's character arc is about him being supernatural and having powers and being destined to end the world and all of these things are *because* he's Satan's bioson but none of those things mean that his arc are about BEING Satan's son)

I guess you can connect the whole 'you're not my real dad' angle to the 'Make Your Own Side' angle, like it's a Found Family thing and a family is kind of like a side. But again, the spesific 'absentee father' angle is so emphasized - if Adam's dialogue was more in general about choosing the people that care about him over a supernatural side that never did anything good for him, it'll be more relevant as a parallel to Crowley and Aziraphale choosing each other over Heaven and Hell 

(Crowley and Aziraphale have a lot of issues with Heaven and Hell and being absent is not one of them! Why did they pick, like, the ONE issue that couldn't be relevant as a thematic parallel if this was meant as a continuation of the 'choosing sides' theme?)

And if Adam's dialogue was more about rejecting the predestined path Satan created him for because it sucks and he doesn't want to do it, it'll be more relevant to his plot and the themes of his arc and it kinda works with 'disobedience' being one of the fundamental traits Good Omens ascribes to humanity and part of God's plan and stuff. 

Like, if they just made it shorter, I think it would have worked really well, if it was just Satan being "Where is my rebellious son?" and than Adam just looked at him straight-on and said "You're not my REAL dad" and than POOF! Satan's gone, here's Arthur Young instead, it would have worked. It's Adam rejecting Satan by saying some super-mundane regular human phrase thereby showing that he's choosing his human side and human life. 

That's kinda how it worked in the book? All the adults around Adam in this scene were thinking about him as just 'the Antichrist' and for them it was obvious that therefore his father = Satan, and by warping reality so that his REAL dad was there insted it was kinda making a statement to all of them, like, 'screw you, I'm Adam Young, I'm just an 11-year old boy, I choose to not be the Antichrist (but stilll to have cool magic powers cause they’re cool)'. Because being forced into being the Antichrist while being a normal 11 year old boy and all the supernatural-affiliated grownups just thinking about him as the AntichristTM are actual things Adam has to deal with in his plot and not, like, societal expectations to feel an emotional connection toward a biofather who has never done anything good for you. 

It's just that when you draw it out as a big emotional moment and you have Adam talk about how real dads don't abandon their kids for 11 years when it's something he literally just learned about and didn't really seem like he had the time to process what it means and what he feels about it that it just becomes really confusing emotionally? I feel like Adam would feel more mad at Satan’s expectations that he should end the world rather than abandoning him or calling himself his ‘father’. 

I actually REALLY like how that scene was done in the Radio Drama? They had the Them be the ones who give Adam a pep-talk kinda equivelent to the one Crowley and Aziraphale give him in the show and they make that scene really to be about the importance of 'Choice' and the power to choose who you are. And Pepper compares it to how she chose the name 'Pepper' over 'Pippin Galadriel Moonchild' and because she chose that name this is her name and it doesn't matter what her mom thinks. 

'Choice' as a general theme feels a lot more relevent to Adam's story than 'your real parents are the one who take care of you!', espacially as like... Humans have Free Will, that's a theme in Good Omens. And they support him with, like, a funny and very ordinary shared memory and I thought that was very sweet. 

The show could have had something similar-yet-different. Again, I understand that in the show Crowley and Aziraphale are more 'protagonists' and less 'glorified peanut gallery' so they got a scene of giving Adam a pep-talk before the final confrontation - but it could have emphasized similar themes to the Radio version of that scene. The show versions of Crowley and Aziraphale have made a lot of hard choices that day, and hell! Crowley has also chose to change his name once!

There are other small details I have an issue with. That whole beat where Crowley says, like, "your father is coming!" and Adam is thinking about his real dad and is like "My dad won't hurt anyone" and then Crowley has to clarify that he means Satan, which it's just... Adam's dad who is coming and is angry actually being Arthur Young works well as a suprising punchline after building up the idea of Adam’s satanic father coming. Like, the suprise and dawning understanding of what Adam did helps deliver the point in a stronger way. What's the point in explaining the punchline you're gonna do, espacially as Adam explains to Satan AS he's doing it and AFTER it happens, Crowley then explains it AGAIN to Aziraphale? 

I do appreciate how all the different Good Omens adaptations are kinda different and they try and do different things that all still feel like 'Good Omens' but are kinda their own unique Good Omens. I just don't really think that this one scene works in the show version. If we're really gonna make this big climactic scene about rejecting a shitty absantee father in favor of the dad who was there for him... they had to work harder to interwine this rejection into Adam's story.

Maybe Scary Demonic Floating Adam talks about his 'Father' and maybe even rejects Arthur Young along with all of humanity? So we know he received that information earlier and him realizing the Scary Demonic Floating version of himself was wrong would be a character-arc moment? Maybe the Horsepeople of the Apocalypse try and talk Adam into joining them by assmuing he would like his 'Father' to win and so Adam could have time to grow more resentful of the idea that he must be on the side of this random asshat he never met? Just some random suggestions I've been thinking of idk

[a-merman-not-a-guppy]

BDRP Questionnaire

Your Name: Lena Characters: Arthur, Ashley, Clarion, Dot, Finn, Louie, Sora/Roxas, Tad, Wilbur

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you!): To be honest I’m most proud of Finn and how the progression of his story and being bullied has been, as well as the slow but steady regaining of confidence. I think that’s been especially gratifying for me. It’s great to have that story build and see the way in which it played out. I didn’t know exactly how his confidence would grow, but it’s still beautiful to see how he’s starting to try new things in choir, and he doesn’t cower in fear of people the same way that he did in the beginning. There are still set backs of course but it’s honestly so refershing to have these little moments that show how he’s grown. Even an interaction with someone like Pip might have made him cower a lot more in the past. These days he thinks Pip is kind of funny and intense but he can handle it. I just think that’s neat. 

I’d also like to honorable mention Celia and Anthony. Celia in particular because she was my first muse back. I got her in September of 2018 and she left town in July of 2020, and it’s honestly such a thrill to have been able to properly close a character like I did with her. She was one of the ones that I thought would be more timid like Finn but actually ended up a lot more confident and sure of herself as time went on too. I loved that about her, and how she was quiet but she was very aware of herself and others and so so so smart. Her breaking the curse and being able to leave is my joy. It’s awesome to have a character end happy like that.

And Anthony also I’m proud of for sticking the evil route to the end, finding a chaotic method to destroy and going for it. I’m really glad I got to accomplish a good villain arc.

Pick another character (or the same character if you only have one) and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them going into the new year? So I’ll go with my new babe Tad since he’s still fresh and exciting. But I want to see him get more in the drug scene and explore that a little more. I wanted to do that with one of my other characters before but it just didn’t work as well story wise. With Tad I’m really looking forward to seeing where he goes with that and what kind of trouble he can stir up. We do love chaotic idiots. Also with Ashley my plan is to have her figure out the motherhood thing but also have her try to start college by september of the following year. I think it’d be cool to see if/when she could figure all that out. I want to explore more of Dot’s trauma. I haven’t really touched on it that much because she’s been burying it so I’m looking forward to bringing that to light a little bit more.

Pick a thread or a plot that you’re proud of and talk about why you loved it: So I know I’ve said this somewhere before, but one of my favorites was Nemo nearly drowning in the lake and finding out that Finn was a merman. It was just such an important moment in both of their stories, and I feel like that was some of my best writing because it was so pivotal. It was a really powerful time for them both, and they shared who they were with each other. I loved it.

Another that I’m really proud of is the whole knights plot. I have generally known what I’ve wanted to do with Arthur since I got him, and it’s taken a great deal of time to get him and other characters where they are today. It’s still ongoing obviously, but I really loved writing the search for Excalibur with Arthur and John and how Arthur came into his own and realized just who he was in truth. It’s a plot that I’m both proud I got to start, and excited to see how it develops in the future.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths.: boy do I hate these questions. I’m always very self-critical with myself and my writing. I will say that one of my strengths I think is really being able to express a character’s voice and sort of showcase the kind of energy they have with some dialogue or whatever. I think I’m good about making each of my muses very distinct. Another thing that was not my strength in the past but I think that I have made it one is being able to properly progress a story and have a focus for it. I used to have a hard time maintaining characters cause ideas would fizzle and I wouldn’t know where to take my muses. These days I’m happy to say I do know the general direction for all my characters and it’s allowed me to plot a lot better and tell more compelling stories I think.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 areas of improvement.: So I think this might be a similar weakness that I’ve said before but I’m bad about action. I think I need to do better about driving things forward. I think sometimes I still rely too much on the other person to do that and that’s not great. I try to keep in mind at least one action among the thoughts and words and I think I do that, but I still feel like I should improve on that. I don’t want to go too deep on weaknesses either cause it just makes me linger and fret over it.

Pick one of your plots, or even just a character, and come up with a list of 3-5 “mentor texts” where you can look for inspiration or research, then write a short (2-4 sentences) why you picked those texts. (They don’t have to be books, either!)

For Tad:

The Good Place (Character study of Jason): I like looking to shows and movies for inspo where I can, and there is a great deal about Jason that I can draw things from. Honestly the general sort of energy is kind of a helpful guiding point. It’s not necessarily every sort of way he speaks, but it does give suggestions, and helps me sort of develop my muse more.

For Dot:

Never Have I Ever: this was inspo for my muse from the beginning, when she was in development. It was why I got the brain blast on what I wanted to do with Dot’s wings. The whole psychosomatic thing in this show inspired me a great deal when it comes to Dot. So this is great. Also the show does a really good job addressing grief, and I want to go back and study it again so I can kind of see how to tell Dot’s story even better. For Ashley:

Gossip Girl/Mean Girls/Heathers: not gonna lie, Ashley has had a myriad of things that has helped inspire her and helped me get her character. I would say Heathers and Mean Girls are definitely more referenced to than Gossip Girl, but there’s still elements of that and the wealthy elite energy.  And now, a wishlist!: -a heroic rescue. be Sora’s damsel/guy in distress. I feel like I thought of this plot and things got hectic and I haven’t been able to do it. I want him to do some rescuing. -a simple little romance for Arthur. I want him to find something soft and cute and just vibe a bit. He’s always so into the work I wish for him to have a steady date. -exploring grief! i said it with Dot, I want to explore that more with her -more dates for my muses. I really like cute romantic things or even little flings so I want to get them out there and toy with those types of relationships. Doesn’t have to last, can most definitely be a hot mess. I just want more. teen romances are especially flimsy at points and i want to toy with that. -a fey’s gold plot with Tad. Someone get in trouble and stoned with him -more police things with Arthur. feel like i’ve dropped the ball a little, but if any of you want him involved in a thing, lmk. -revive the VFD. bring in more cops. I just want a cool buddy cop comedy -get in another fight. missing the fights some of my muses have gotten into. Let’s have some more -shenanigans. more pranks and stuff. where are all the teen prank wars and why aren’t they happening? i’m just saying. general pranking too is just not as present as it should be -someday again i’d like to tackle a adult parent. maybe a single dad energy is fun. idk switch it up from my last one. I also kind of want the married vibes though cause I do think that’d be a different kind of fun. like Baloo and Bagheera or idk maybe like Flora and Fauna as a promised fairy duo. i truly dunno. these are thoughts -chip and dale. ok but think about it two dumb RAS agents stirring up trouble. admittedly i got a lot of dumbass energy, but i wouldn’t be opposed to more -also that emotions as demons thing is a seriously sick idea and i kind of want to be in on that but also time -i think it’d be kind of fun if the uni and secondary did like a mentor mentee program like for kids who are thinking about college. buddy up. extra credits for the uni student or idk. could be a fun thing to do -own a business again. had it for a brief time but the character wasn’t quite right for me. would love to have a character do that. not sure if/when i could do that but i’d love to find a way. -get a villain again someday. not a soon goal cause i’m content with my last one, but one day =] -utilize the lake more for threads. i want it. i feel like certain locations are go tos and i want to switch things up more. - i feel like i have more things but i’m forgetting them. and often get inspired when i see other people’s wants.

OPTIONAL: Why do you RP? It makes me happy. I love the storytelling and the community we build together. It’s also like...I feel like I’ve been writing for half my life now which is kind of crazy, but it’s just one of those things I love doing. I love the friendships I’ve made with this, and the different things that I definitely wouldn’t have discovered if I was on my own. RP brings in a lot of other people’s perspectives and I think that’s so cool. It’s thanks to RP that my music interests changed and I got to find a very good place to find comfort and I am so so so grateful for that. Truly I am. So yeah, I RP because it’s fun and fulfilling and it brings all these opportunities.

[jebentnietalleen]

2,3 and 37 (sorry that’s a lot i for carried away jejekdkh). I love angst apparently

Lucas likes to think he is a pretty open and outgoing person, most of the time. He always jokes around with his friends, filming funny Instagram stories in the park, jumping on Eliott’s back for a piggy back ride, pregaming at Basile’s place, he liked those moments a lot. Moments in which he could just forget about any problems he had and give himself over to the joys of adolescence. It’s not like he actually ever forgot the problems, not 100%, but it helped. It helped more than he could explain to anybody.

The gang always had a good time, but ever since Eliott joined the group in January, the mood has somehow improved. He is such a great guy, whenever he’s around, it’s like the world stopped turning and the sun shined brighter and okay, maybe he liked him. More than good friends, best friends even, like each other. The thing is, though, he didn’t really know how Eliott felt about him, other than the fact that he clearly liked Lucas as a buddy. He made Eliott laugh a lot, and that was a good thing because he found himself wanting to make him laugh as much as possible. A lot of the times, they sat next to each other whenever they hung out with the whole group, even though they never talked about it.  

It’s weird to think that he’s only known Eliott for half a year now, because he could swear it feels like they’ve always known each other, he can’t imagine not knowing Eliott anymore. Funny how that happens, how life changes before your eyes and you are always, always too late to notice until everything that you thought you knew is different.

Like how he was sure that if he just waited for the right girl, he could make it work. But then he realized that it wasn’t going to work with any girl. He realized it at first when he started to have small butterflies when Yann was around. But he knew for sure when Eliott started at their school.

That’s actually one of the things he loves most about Eliott: how open he is about his sexuality, and how he talks about the fact that he is pan like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Lucas supposes it is. It makes him feel safe, makes him less scared to be honest about himself. About his feeling. The only problem is, that his feelings have led him to Eliott. And he can’t be honest about that. Not yet. Not until he knows how Eliott feels.

So yes, he is a pretty open person, but not about this. And not about his problems, either. Not to everybody, that is.

They’re sitting in Basile’s kitchen, drinking stale beer and eating some popcorn, talking trash about this and that while Eliott’s dubstep playlist provides some background noise. He’s grateful for that, something he never thought he’d say, because it makes the fact that he is relatively quiet a bit less obvious. He should have known, though, that Eliott would notice it. Because somehow, even though he has known Lucas the shortest out of all of his friends, Eliott always notices.

The kitchen is small, and the boys are all sitting pretty close around the table, but it still feels different to him: Arthur is on his left, with some space between them, while Eliott is on his right, and their thighs are touching underneath the table.

It is driving him insane and he doesn’t know if it’s in a good way or not. Maybe a little bit of both. He can feel Eliott glance at him every few minutes, the gaze hot on his skin, like he’s set on fire. He ignores it, or so he tries, looking at everybody but Eliott. It’s a game they’ve been playing a lot lately: how many times can you look at each other without getting caught by the other person? It can be thrilling, exciting, sometimes it is even better when their eyes actually meet. It lights up something inside Lucas that he can’t explain, and he thinks Eliott might feel it too.

But tonight, he can’t muster up the energy to play along. He is so, so fed up with everything. His dad texted him today, saying that contrary to what they talked about before, it’s no longer possible for Lucas to come up to him this summer. He actually had the audacity to say you know what it’s like, money is tight right now. Let’s see again in the fall. Don’t fucking think so, asshole. He is fuming, he knew this would happen, and yet. And yet he keeps on hoping that it doesn’t, that his dad is a genuine good person who just made some mistakes. Keeps on getting his heart broken all over again.

Lucas feels tears forming, his eyes start to burn and his cheeks are red from his self-restraint. He does not want to cry in front of his friends. Not because of this. His dad is not worth it. He blinks them away furiously, wiping his eyes as quickly as possible before standing up and saying: ‘I need some air, be right back’. Pretending to need a smoke can be convenient, sometimes.

He can feel Eliott’s eyes at the back of his head while he walks outside, and somehow, once he gets outside, his legs refuse to stop walking. They walk and they walk, on their own accord, until he’s at the coloc. It’s for the best, if he’s honest. A party is the last thing on his mind right now, and he doesn’t want to bring the mood down.

Lucas kicks off his shoes and lets himself fall down on the couch, grabbing his phone and contemplating what to send. He opens up the group chat and begins typing:

Lucas: sorry guys, I suddenly felt really nauseous and went home. I’m gonna sit this one out, have fun though. I’m sorry for bailing so suddenly

He hits send. After a couple of seconds, he sees that Eliott has begun to write something back, but then it stops. Why does he feel so nervous all of the sudden?

He gets a notification from Eliott, but it’s not in the group chat. Confused, he clicks it open.

Eliott: hey lulu, everything good? I noticed you’ve been a little quiet today. If there is something you want to get off your chest, you know you can always talk to me, right? Just wanted to say, I’m here for you if you want.

Eliott: and if you don’t want to talk but you just want to chill for a bit, that’s also good. Tbh, I’ve been wanting to skip this night out anyway. Just say the word and I’ll come over. We can just watch a movie or something.

Lucas stops, biting his nails in an attempt to calm himself down. What the hell should he do now? If he says no, Eliott will probably be disappointed and maybe he won’t reach out to him again, but if he says yes, there is a good possibility that Lucas will just full on have a breakdown in front of him. It’s clearly one of those nights.

The need to see Eliott wins out in the end. He texts back:

Lucas: thank you, I didn’t want anybody to worry but I should have guessed I could not fool you. You can come over if you really want, just do me a favor? Will you please not tell the rest?

Eliott responds right away, and it makes his heart quicken just a little bit, knowing that he was probably waiting for his message:

Eliott: no problem, my lips are sealed. I’m on my way.

He throws his phone next to him on the couch and starts cleaning up. It’s not like Eliott has never been there before, but when he has, it was with the gang. It feels different, knowing that Eliott is coming alone and that nobody else knows about it.

Of course, the universe wouldn’t be the universe if things didn’t go to hell right when it started to look like the night might be saved. Just when he was dumping some of Mika’s clothes in his bedroom, his phone went off again. It’s his dad.

Dad: Lucas, I know you are disappointed by the fact that you can’t come visit this summer but it would be really great if you could at least let me know you’ve read the message. I want to book a holiday with Marianne and the kids and I can’t do anything before I know for sure that you haven’t booked your ticket yet. Could you text me back please?

How dare he? How fucking dare he? Lucas gets up and starts pacing the place. A holiday with his new family isn’t too expensive, but letting Lucas stay over is? What a phony. He is so done with him. The tears come back, twice as hard. Try as he might, he can’t ignore them this time. They fall on his face, hot and heavy, and he let’s them.

The sound of the bell ringing brings him back to reality. He shakes his head and walks to the door. Shit. He almost forgot about Eliott dropping by. How is he going to make sure Eliott believes him when he says he is fine, because except for his dad being an asshole he is fine. It’s just that he hates the fact that he fell for it, yet again.

He lets out a deep breath, presses the buzz to let him in and opens up the front door. When he sees Eliott coming up the stairs he is bouncing on his feet, looking nervous, in a way. His eyes shoot up to meet his own when he sees that Lucas is waiting for him.

‘Hi, come on in’ Lucas rushes out and turns around, entering the coloc before Eliott can say anything. Eliott closes the door, but Lucas pretends to be busy with cleaning, still, picking up random stuff and replacing them.‘Uhm. Do you want anything? Something to drink? I don’t have much in the way of food, but we can always see what Lisa’s got.’Only when Eliott stays quiet does he look up and search for him. He doesn’t think he would be able to describe the look on Eliott’s face. It’s a bit sad, a bit frustrated. Resigned, maybe? ‘What?’ Lucas asks the question even though he doesn’t want to hear the answer.‘Nothing. Just. You look like you need a hug.’‘Why? Because I am cleaning?’ Lucas tries to joke it off, feeling his cheeks warm up even though he is denying it all.‘No, because I know you, Lucas, and I can see that you’ve been crying.’He was afraid this would happen, every time he has been emotional and somebody says something about it, it gets him going again. Why is he like this? He rubs his eyes aggressively, but it’s too late: ‘Oh hey, Lucas, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset. Please don’t cry. I can’t stand to see you cry. I mean, if you are sad, you can cry, of course. But I wish you weren’t. Sad, that is.’

Eliott is looking down now, biting his lip like he has said too much.‘No, it’s fine, really. I know what this looks like, but it’s frustration more than anything. My dad is a big asshole, but what else is new, right? Can we just. I don’t know, watch something? You can pick.’ Eliott looks up at that, a soft grin spreading over his face in such a beautiful way that he can feel his own mouth responding in kind, smiling right back at him. ‘We can do that.’

They spend the next two hours curled up on the couch, sharing a blanket and drinking some more beer. Eliott chose to watch some American sitcom, and he was very glad for that because it’s nice and easy and doesn’t require a lot of attention, which is something he would not be able to muster up at this moment. Because right now, he can feel more than just their thighs touching, their whole sides are touching. Lucas doesn’t even know how it happened, there was some distance between them when they started watching, yet somehow, over time, they gravitated to each other. It’s almost a metaphor for their friendship, Lucas thinks fleetingly.

What’s more, they’re back to their game. Their ‘who can look at the other person the most times’ game. The unspoken back and forth they have going on between them, during all social situations.

Maybe it’s the beer, maybe it’s the fact that they are touching from head to toe, or maybe it’s the comfort of the blanket. But Lucas is feeling brave. A small voice inside his head says brave is just another word for stupid but he pushes that thought far, far away while he keeps his eyes at Eliott, refusing to look away this time.

Eliott is watching the tv with a concentrated look on his face. If he didn’t know any better, Lucas would think they were watching a drama, because he’s frowning. But then his face smooths out, almost like he made a decision. Even though Lucas is the one who has been staring at him for God knows how long, he still startles when Eliott turns his face to look back at him.

‘Do I have something on my face?’ Eliott’s expression stays so serious that Lucas doesn’t know how to respond.‘Oh! No, uhm. I’m sorry –‘‘I’m kidding, Lucas. I actually don’t mind you looking at me’ Eliott’s smile can always light up a room, he knows, but right now? It looks like it could set the world on fire. Or maybe that’s just the fire he feels inside.Once again they seemed to have shifted without him noticing, facing each other more and more. ‘Oh yeah? Why’s that?’ he whispers, because it’s still so fragile. He doesn’t want to assume- ‘Because.’ Eliott lets out a deep breath, searches his face before he lets his eyes fall down to his lips. And oh. Oh. ‘I like the way you look at me. Like I’m someone worth looking at.’A scoff leaves his mouth before he can control the impulse.‘Are you kidding me, Eliott? Have you looked in a mirror lately? Besides, you are just. Amazing. I don’t know how I survived this hellhole before you got here, honestly. I’m glad we’re friends.’

Eliott, who has been smiling this entire time, looks down at his hands now. His smile falters. And no no, Lucas can’t have that. ‘Yeah. Me too, Lucas.’ He looks back up again with a small smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.‘Listen, it’s getting late. I’m going to go soon, get out of your hair.’Eliott makes a move to gather up his things and get of the couch, and Lucas panics. Grabs his wrist. ‘No, please- just. Stay with me. A little longer?’The look that Eliott gives him seems to convey a lot of things, things that Lucas doesn’t necessarily understand. But whatever he is searching for in Lucas’ face, he seems to find it, because he nods his head ever so slightly.

Just when he wants to let go of his wrist, Lucas feels Eliott’s thumb circling his hand. Almost on instinct, he squeezes, once, and Eliott is pulling him closer and closer until their heads are touching and their noses are grazing. ‘Is this okay?’ it’s not more than a whisper, but it’s enough for Lucas to nod feverishly.Eliott’s free hand comes up to caress his cheek, and Lucas can’t wait any longer. He moves forward, waiting for Eliott to stop him but he never does. Instead, Eliott’s breath seems to hitch and he stays impossibly still, waiting for what’s to follow. That first touch of their lips, feathery light and unsure, is enough for all his doubts to fall away. Surely, they were made to do this, nothing has ever felt this right. He grabs Eliott’s shirt to stable himself, feeling dizzy at the contact, deepening the kiss more and more until he feels like he is swimming and he never wants to stop.

[anxiouslynumbme]

Last Hope

Summary: It was hard for Ginny Weasley to find hope in the aftermath of the Battle Of Hogwarts. (Ginny and Harry never got together in HBP)

 Available on AO3 and FFN.

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                                                   Chapter 2

Two Months Later.

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The sun was shining brightly through the window of Ginny's bedroom at the Burrow and it was so. . .horrible.

She grumbled loudly, rolling on her back in annoyance. It was all just so irritating, because, sometimes she couldn't bring herself to sleep a wink, and other times, when she did manage to sleep, she'd be dead to the world for hours on end, reliving her worst memories in nightmare land until her lovely mother would barge in and tell her to get off her bum.

But she managed to wake up all by herself, because, the bloody sun decided to exist. She glared at her window childishly, sitting up slowly. It's been a little over two month and her body still ached from time to time. After Voldemort has been defeated, everyone that fought at Hogwarts spent about a week or two at St. Mungo's, some longer than others. She was lucky, her physical wounds were treated quickly, as for the emotional ones. . .well, she didn't really want to think about that.

After taking a shower and brushing her teeth, she threw on blue jeans and a simple white t-shirt, before stumping down the stairs to get something to eat. It was late in the afternoon and she knew her mother was going to give her grief about it. She's been missing breakfast with the family for a while now, she actually missed most meals, and her parents were not happy about it. She couldn't help it if she didn't feel like company, she just wanted to eat alone, there was nothing wrong with that, considering everything they've been through. She was coping.

I don't see anybody telling George off for being, Merlin knows where half the time, and then coming home completely plastered, she thought bitterly.

Why did he get a free pass just because Fred was his twin? She knew she was being irrational, and she instantly felt disgust at herself for her thoughts, George should get a free pass, she thought. Because as sad and lost as she felt, she knew, she couldn't even begin to understand the impact that losing Fred had on George. They were inseparable.

Her head was beginning to spin again, she put a hand on the wall to steady herself, she suddenly felt as if her lungs were collapsing. Her throat was about to close up. She had to stop thinking about Fred. And George. She just had to stop thinking all the time, she couldn't have another panic attack. She rested a hand on her chest and breathed slowly through her nose, trying to calm her racing heart. It was getting less frequent, but not less enough. She had managed to get through the first two alone, the first one was exactly a week after the War, she'd thought she was dying, she hasn't had a panic attack that vicious since the Chamber. She had managed to keep them at bay over the years and had thought she was getting pretty good at it, even if she couldn't really help the anxiety attacks that kept her up all night. But lately, it was all a little too much for her, they came on sudden and fast; she felt hopeless, frantic, and then numb.

She knew, that was why she didn't want to go back to Hogwarts. That was also why, she didn't want to help with repairing and rebuilding it, because, she couldn't be there without breaking down. She was there the first week or so, but then, she slowly started to go less and less. While a part of her had felt guilty, the other didn't really care and thought that, she had already done her job. How could she walk through all that rubble and not fall apart.

Ginny's relationship with Hogwarts has always been a little back and forth. At first, she had been beyond excited to go and finally start her first year and be there with her brothers. . .then the Chamber of Secrets happened. And she had never felt less safe anywhere. Once she had finally returned to the Burrow after her first year's horrifying events, she'd never wanted to go back, she was in the safety of her own bedroom and she had wanted things to stay that way. But then of course, she had realized, that it would have been weak to hide from the world, and that she had to be strong and push through it.

Her parents hadn't believed her, and she couldn't blame them. She had woken up crying out for them every night. She could still remember the conversation, when she had told them that she didn't need time away, that she was fine, even if she had been crying as she’d said it.

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There was a knock on twelve year old Ginny Weasley's bedroom.

"Hey, darling," her mother, Molly Weasley, whispered, cautiously walking in, in case Ginny was actually asleep. "Still can't sleep?"

Ginny sat up on the bed with a huff. "Yes, obviously, Mum."

Her mother only smiled softly at her, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. "No need to be grumpy about it, it will only keep you up longer, you know? Have you tried reading the new book I got for you?"

"Yes, and as boring as it was, it still couldn't get me to fall asleep,"

Her mother laughed lightly."It's always nice to see that sense of humor of yours is still intact,"

"I wasn't joking, it really was quite awful,"

"See, I told you she wouldn't like it," Ginny's father, Arthur Weasley, was standing in the doorway; smiling fondly at them.

"Oh, shut it, Arthur. At least, I didn't get her one of those useless Muggle toys 'how to build', manual things,"

Her father scoffed, as he grabbed her desk's chair and pulled it closer to her bed, before sitting on it. "It was about how to build a toy train! How could that not be exciting?!"

"Sorry, Dad, but it was just as boring," Ginny sighed. "I'm fine, I'll just take another sleeping potion, I guess."

Ginny was hugely disappointed, she really wanted to get herself to sleep without any help, but it seemed she wasn't there yet. It was enough that she needed a potion for her anxiety and panic attacks.

"I know you hate doing it," her mother started softly. "But you can always come sleep with us."

Ginny did hate having to go to her parent's bedroom when things got too hard. She didn't want to need them, she wanted to get through all of it on her own. The whole reason Tom Riddle managed to possess her, was because, she had been lonely and weak; and all she had wanted was a friend to talk to. She had thought her first year at Hogwarts, was going to be nothing but fun and learning magic. Then, she got there and it wasn't all she had dreamed it to be. It was too big and overwhelming.

And while she understood that, Ron had already found great friends in Harry and Hermione, she didn't really think he could forget about her so quickly. So, when she had seen how happy he was, she didn't really want to intrude in on his new life, he was her best friend and she had been happy for him. Plus, she had figured it was time for her to start new friendships, too.

Ginny had always thought, she was friendly and fun to spend time with, if what she had with her brothers was any indication. She was funny, smart, and could prank better than the best of them. But, when she had tried to make friends, it wasn't so easy, it wasn't as simple as joking around with her brothers. So, when she had found the Diary, she thought, she had found a place to vent about her growing anxieties, and then Tom had answered and she stupidly thought, it was even better than before, she had found a friend who already knew her better than anyone.

Ginny shuddered, thinking about everything that happened after, how he had slowly manipulated her emotions to his advantage, how disoriented and panicked she had felt when he had completely taken over; and she wasn't aware of what she was doing or where she was for most days, waking up somewhere suddenly, with no memory of how she got there, covered in blood.

So, no, Ginny wasn't going to be sad and pathetic anymore, she wasn't going to run to her parents every time she felt scared. She was okay and she could get through this.

"Mum, I'm not doing that," she replied, looking down, eyes brimming with tears. "I'll just take the potion, and one day, I won't need it anymore."

She felt her parents looking at each other. And she knew they were about to say something she wasn't going to like.

"Right, and until then," her mother paused. "Your father and I have been talking, and we think you should stay back with us this year, only for a while, your Healer agrees too. We talked to Albus and he's okay with you st-"

"No! You can't do that!" Ginny cried immediately.

"Ginny, it will be fun," her father tried gently. "We can travel somewhere, get away for a bit,"

"No no no," Ginny shook her head adamantly, they couldn't just take that choice away from her, she wanted to go back to Hogwarts. "I have to go back, it's the only way I'll get better, I can't just hide and be weak -"

"Ginny!" her mother interrupted, emotions shining in her voice. "you are not weak! Don't ever say that. Dear, you are the strongest, bravest girl, I. ."

Her mother broke off, not being able to control the sob that came out, she could see her dad putting a comforting arm around her.

"Ginny, taking time for yourself, especially after what happened, is not weak. If anything, it's necessary, sweetheart," her father said with a teary-eyed smile.

"It doesn't matter! I need to go back, please. . .please,"

"Ginny, it's not forever, maybe just a term, or maybe more, just until you get better," her mother said.

"I am better! I haven't had an attack in a while, I just...still have trouble with sleeping," little Ginny said, wiping at her face with her sleeve."I still have one month before I have to get back to Hogwarts, I can still get better. I promise,"

"Ginny,"

"I'm okay, I swear! We can go away now, right? We have a month to travel."

"Yes, Ginny. But that is not the only reason. I mean, are you really ready to go back, dear?" her mother took a deep breath before continuing. "it's okay to admit that you don't feel safe there anymore, it will pass,"

"But I do feel safe. . .well, maybe not as safe as before, but I know it wasn't Hogwarts, it was. . .Tom. I promise, going back to school is not going to make me worse. I don't want to take time away, please,"

Her parents stayed quiet for what felt like forever.

"Please." she repeated.

Finally, after contemplating and looking at each other in silent communication, they looked at her. "Fine,"

"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed in glee.

"BUT," her mother continued sternly. "we'll be visiting you frequently and you'll send us a letter everyday to tell - "

"Everyday?!"

"Yes."

"That's a bit much, Mum,"

"Ginny,"

"All right," she sighed in defeat.

"And you have to promise, that if you ever feel unsafe, or that you need to just leave at any time, you have to tell us,"

"Okay,"

"I'm serious, Ginny. If you feel like you're not completely fine, all you have to do is talk to us,"

"I know. I'll be fine, I promise."

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And she had been fine. She had been right, she'd needed to go back to Hogwarts; she'd needed to make new memories, and make friends. . .actual non-evil Dark Lord friends.

Ginny didn't know why she felt different about going back. She loved Hogwarts with all her heart. Maybe, it was because she was older, or because she knew in her heart, that last year was just too much, and going back wouldn't change anything.

All Ginny knew was that she needed to get out, go somewhere else. She wanted to move away and find a flat, maybe with Luna and Neville, like they've talked about. It could even be in some Muggle city, she could find a job - any job, she could wait on tables in some shop, for money. The only thing was, that something in Ginny has shifted, most of the time, she didn't really care which way her life went, but what she cared about in that moment, was that, she was seriously considering not going back to Hogwarts; and she didn't know how to go about the idea with her parents.

"Ginny!" her mother's voice bellowed.

She took one final long deep breath, finally managing to gather a little control, before leaving the wall she was leaning on, and walking into the kitchen.

"Afternoon, Mum,"

"Ginevra Weasley! Do you know what time it is?!"

"No, I still can't tell time,"

Her mother shot her a glare.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Mum! It's not that late!"

She only sighed in response. "Ginny, this has to stop, darling. You haven't been. . .yourself,"

Yeah, no shit.

"And I know, believe me, I know, it's difficult right now, and that we're all doing the best we can to just. . .move past this," her mother continued, eyes full of tears. "but the only way to get through this, is together. Pushing us away is unlike you, I just want to talk to you, you know, like before,"

Ginny knew she had to say something to get out of the conversation, she couldn't stand there and watch her mother cry. That was precisely why she avoided her, avoided everyone. She couldn't deal with her own shit, how could she help others?

She had been there for her family in the beginning, she realized they needed her to be strong for them. And she was; for the first month, maybe, but then it all got to be unbearable. The crying, the pretending, that everything was going to be the same, and of course, the constant reminiscing; 'remember when Fred did that', 'remember when he said this'. Ginny had to pull back, or she would have lost her damn mind. She understood that was their way of handling the trauma, but it wasn't hers. The only way Ginny could move on was, to actually move on.

"Mum, I'm not pushing you or anyone away, I promise. Just because I like to be alone sometimes, doesn't mean you're losing me," trying to lighten the mood just a bit, she looked at her mother seriously. "I mean, you have to understand, I'm a woman now, Molly."

"Oh, please!" her mother said, a smile cracking lips.

"I'm serious! I need my space!"

All of a sudden, Ginny could feel tension back in the air. "Well, I suppose you'll have a lot of it soon enough. I mean, you want to move house as soon as possible, right?"

Fucking Ron, she thought angrily. She couldn't believe he told her about that, she had told him that in passing, she wasn't even sure he'd heard her.

"I'm going to murder him!"

"Now, Ginny, calm down. I practically made him tell me and well, he was worried about you, It's -"

"Worried about me?! That tosser! He's leaving soon too, you know?"

"Oh, I know! Obviously. I'm not angry, love," she paused, looking down at the table, and Ginny knew she was trying to keep from crying. She looked back up, raising her hand To Ginny's cheek and stroking it gently."it's normal, I don't expect you to stay here forever. You're right, you have become, quite the lovely young woman,"

"Mum,"

"It's all right, sweetheart. We still have one year until you graduate, and I assume, the summer after?" She finished hopefully.

Oh, shit. She wasn't ready to talk about not returning to Hogwarts. She would tell her later, she hasn't even really, totally decided yet, she still had time. It was fine.

"Right, yeah, of course. Let's not think about it, though, like you said, we have time,"

"All right, then," her mother smiled, moving around the kitchen, preparing the food. "everyone's coming back here for Lunch from Hogwarts, by the way. You should've been there this morning, Ginny. It's almost all the way done,"

"Mum, stop trying to get me to help, I told you, I'm just not up for it. Besides, I'm sure you've got more than enough hands helping you. You don't need me,"

Also, I'm all good on the panic attacks, thanks. She thought to herself.

"I have stopped trying to get you to do anything a long time ago, Ginevra. Will Neville and Luna be joining us? They weren't at Hogwarts this morning,"

Another thing she didn't want to chat about with her mother. She hasn't been in touch with her best friends as much as she would have liked to, not that they weren't persistently trying. Non-stop letters and surprise visits to the Burrow, but for the past two weeks, they've quieted down a bit. She missed them terribly, she missed being around them all the time. But sadly, that didn't change the fact that things were just easier when she were by herself.

"I haven't heard from them lately. Maybe, they just took the day off or something,"

"Perhaps,"

There were loud noises by the front door of the Burrow and Ginny knew that everyone's arrived. Even though, they were all talking over each other, she could single out his voice. Harry was here, and it was going to be another day of her avoiding being alone with him, which wasn't as easy as she thought it would be, since he's been staying with them. She's been avoiding having any kind of real conversation with him, just the casual obligatory, 'Hi, how are you today?' Or 'Hey, Mum says she needs you in the kitchen'. It was getting to Harry and she could feel his frustration, rising more and more every day. There hasn't been a day that's passed that he hadn't asked if they could go for a walk or go somewhere 'private' where they could talk. And she'd found an excuse to get out of it every time.

She'd thought he was dead. She had believed he was dead. And even though, she could see him alive and well, that feeling hasn't left her. She didn't think it would ever go away.

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Harry was alive. Voldemort was gone.

It's been three days since the Battle has ended, and Ginny was still repeating the mantra in her head. Harry is alive. Voldemort is gone.

She hasn't talked to him yet, whenever he walked into a room, she walked out. It felt like, she didn't know how to communicate with him anymore. As though, he was nothing but a figment, that she needed to create, to keep her head above water.

They were all still at Hogwarts, students were still being accounted for. They were still counting the dead. People being transported to the Hospital Wing or St. Mungo's, depending on the severity of their injury, she has just come back from her second check up, and she immediately went back to her dorm to take a shower.

Not long after, she decided to visit the Quidditch pitch, but instead of flying, she found herself standing there in the middle of the pitch, broomstick in hand, staring at the sky. It's been so long, she wanted to fly so badly, but something was holding her back. She knew from the knots in her stomach, it was anxiety, she was scared and worried. What if she got up there and they pronounced another one of her friends, dead. They've already lost Colin, Paravti, Alice, Cormac, Lavender, Carla, Hannah. . .the list just didn't seem to stop.

She couldn't fly, it wasn't the time for such luxury.

Exhaling, she quickly banished her broom back to the shed and turned around, speeding up, eager to get back inside. As she was exiting the pitch, she took a sharp left and collided with a hard body.

"Shit!"

"Ow!"

Taking a step back to steady herself, she looked up to meet Harry potter's wide green eyes.

Ginny inhaled sharply at the sensation rushing through her. His eyes. His face. His proximity. It was too much all at once. Her eyes finally ran over him, he was wearing dark jeans and his old grey jumper. His entire body looked as if it were preparing to run before she got there, his face looked flushed, eyes still wide, as if he got caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. He was embarrassed. Confused, Ginny squinted her eyes at him, and that was when her eyes found the map that had fallen on the ground during their collision. The Marauder's Map. He already knew where she was.

She didn't know what to say. What could she say to someone who just saved the Wizarding world? What could she say to a dear friend she hasn't seen in over a year?

"Were you following me, Harry?"

That was good a start as any, she supposed.

Harry's eyes closed suddenly, she could see his chest moving up and down visibly. When he still hasn't answered, she started to get a little worried.

"Uh...Harry?"

His eyes opened quickly."Oh, sorry, it's just your voice, y'know? I haven't really h- " he stopped, taking a deep breath. "no..I wasn't following you - I mean, I was looking for you. . . Yeah."

Ginny simply looked at him, she understood what he meant, she had missed his voice too. She wasn't ready to talk, and she honestly didn't think he was either. Ginny suddenly realized that, they've been staring at each other for quite some time, with all the anxiety that was rising up in her, telling her to get the fuck out of there. She couldn't stop looking at him, she didn't want to stop.

They were alone. It was quiet. And he was taking her in, his eyes were intensely running over every inch of her body. His eyes held so much longing, it was almost painful staring into them, they were showing so much emotion, and Ginny felt trapped in their storm.

He abruptly stepped towards her with a loud exhale. And then she found herself wrapped up in his arms.

Her whole body went rigid, her heart constricting painfully at his familiar touch. Although, she wasn't hugging him back, he didn't let go, he only hugged her closer, afraid that she might pull away, it was as if he was silently begging her, to please hug him back, she could hear his harsh breathing against her neck, puffing though her hair.

With one deep breath, Ginny felt all her worries, fears, and exhaustion leave her body as she breathed out. She let go of it all and sagged against him in relief. Her eyes were stinging with tears, as she raised her arms with urgency and wrapped it around him tightly, pulling him even closer.

"Ginny. . .Ginny," he breathed, his face burrowed in her neck. "I - I can't believe. . . " his voice was muffled against her, she couldn't hear much, but she felt him saying her name over and over again.

"Shhh. . .it's okay, Harry, it's okay."

Ginny didn't care about how long they stayed in their embrace, and neither did Harry. They stood there, hugging each other so tightly as if it were their last day on earth, which was kind of sad, since technically, their lives has just begun.

Lost in their hug, Ginny felt as though, they were sharing burdens, it usually felt like that with Harry, their friendship was based on understanding, honesty, and the ability to lean on each other. And as they were embracing, she could feel both of them letting go of the pain, even if just momentarily, because, they trust that they can hold each other up.

After a long while, Ginny started to slowly move away. When she pulled back enough to see Harry's face up close, she noticed the dark bags under his teary eyes, as he softly smiled at her. His arms were still around her, refusing to let go. So, Ginny had no choice but to rest her hands on his chest, falling into a state of tranquility, as they both just stood in each other's arms comfortably.

"Ginny. . . I'm so sorry about Fred,"

And tranquility broken. Ginny gently pushed at his chest, so she could move back a step. He reluctantly let his arms fall back to his side.

"Sorry, I didn't mean- "

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Ginny quickly cut in. "but I don't really want to talk about it. . .not right now,"

"Yeah, of course, I get it. We'll talk later,"

She could hear the determination and promise in his voice and she didn't know how to feel about it.

"Right."

It was starting to get awkward and silent again and she hated it. It was sad, because it wasn't supposed to be difficult. They were too good of friends to let it get to that. She reckoned that was the result of having too much to say and not really knowing where to start, or if you even want to start at all, really. She looked up at the sky, wondering, if she could just leave and go back to the Great Hall. She could feel Harry's eyes firmly on her, she didn't think they've left her since they caught sigh of her. Just as she was about to tell him that she was heading back, he spoke up.

"You didn't fly," it wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I was going to . . . But I changed my mind," she answered, directing her gaze to him, before moving it back up again.

"Why?"

It was blunt. That was what always made their friendship so special. They were honest, they called each other out. They didn't bullshit or beat around the bush. That was how they were. Harry asking her a simple question of 'why' was different then. Because in that moment, she had a strange urge to tell him it was none of his business, or just any cliched, standoffish response. She pushed that urge down, though. It was Harry. And they had promised to always be truthful with one another, no matter how big or small the issue was. Besides, she was pretty sure he already knew her answer anyway.

"It didn't feel right,"

"You felt guilty," again, he wasn't asking.

"Yeah, I mean, people are dead, people are fighting to stay alive, there's just too much going on,"

He was quiet for bit. "I understand, but, we both know why you want to fly right now,"

"Harry,"

"It's the same reason I want to fly right now, it's obviously not out of disrespect or because we don't care. We fly, so we can breathe."

She smiled sadly at him in recognition, as she remembered all of the conversations they have had about flying and what it meant to them. They used to fly whenever the mood struck, but they always used to fly when something bad happened. From death and the looming danger of Voldemort, to anxiety about exams, or simply just having a bad day. She recalled, that one time when he had asked her why they loved flying so much, and she had answered; because it was like breathing. We fly to breathe, she'd said.

"Come on, Ginny," he started with a smile. "Let's Just fly, I promise nothing's gonna happen in the next hour,"

He could clearly see, she was still hesitant. He quietly took a step forward and extended his hand.

"Breathe with me."

And if it were any other day, she would have mercilessly made fun of him for that cheesy line.

"Idiot." she couldn't help telling him.

His smile widened brightly, eyes lighting up at her familiar comment. "Guilty."

Maybe it was because of his smile, or because that feeling of safety, she has always felt around him. All of a sudden, she wanted to fly again, having Harry there, made her feel less anxious, even if she didn't believe that everything was going to be okay, for a moment, she wanted to forget and be able to relax, just for a second.

She took harry's hand, before summoning broomsticks from the broomshed, once they straddled them, ready to take off, they looked at each other, grinning widely. Ginny thought it was crazy, how in that moment it felt like, they were never separated, like a year hasn't gone by. As though, none of those tragedies happened, and nothing has changed. It was just Ginny and Harry, and the world has stopped for them. So they could breathe.

When they were in the air, there were silent moments, they just flew alongside one another, and then stopping, hovering in comfortable silence. But then, they were racing each other, flying as high as they could and diving right back down, laughing and smiling, just like old times.

It was only when they landed on their feet, and quietly started making their way back inside, that Ginny was lost again.

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"There is no way that's true!"

Ron's voice snapped her out of her reverie.

"I'm telling you, it's been there for years, Ronald!" said Hermione. Ginny didn't know what they were talking about and she didn't care. Honestly, it was kind of annoying that the bickering hasn't lessened, since they've finally got together.

The moment he walked in, Harry's eyes zeroed in on her. And while she didn't meet them, she could still feel them on her skin, her body tingling with his attention. Everybody was chatting and gathering around the table, Ginny was putting sandwiches on a plate, planning to go back up to her room, so she can eat in peace. But then, both her parents glared at her, knowing what she was about to do. She rolled her eyes, raising her arms in surrender, before slumping down a chair, that was purposely the farthest from Harry. Ron was taking a seat next to her, which was fine, but what wasn't fine, was how close he was to her. He kept moving his chair closer and closer.

"Ron. . .what are you doing?"

"You know, Ginny? For someone who lives in the same house as me, you're pretty hard to find,"

"I'll take that as compliment, Ronnie,"

"It wasn't," he replied, then added the usual retort. "Don't call me that, Ginevra,"

"Sure thing, Ronnie,"

"I need to talk to you about something," he was suddenly whispering, his tone serious.

Ginny could still sense those green eyes on her, and she slightly panicked, what if Ron wanted to talk to her about Harry. She didn't think Harry would tell Ron to talk to her, but still.

"Relax, it's not about why you're avoiding Harry," he said. She looked at him in surprise.

"You're not subtle, Gin," he smirked.

"There's nothing to be subtle about,"

"Right, sure."

"Ugh, what do you want to talk about, then?"

"Well, it is about Harry, actually. . . and me,"

"Oh, Ron," she sighed. "you're leaving Hermione to be with him, aren't you?"

"You should be a comedian," he deadpanned.

"Well, that would make me a lot of money,"

He rolled his eyes, but she could see a small grin on his lips. "Listen, I need your opinion on something, let's talk after dinner tonight or whatever, so. . . just be around."

She got a bit worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said quickly. "Everything is good, just need to go over something with you,"

"Okay."

After she finished her meal, she waited a few minutes, listening to the chatter around the table, before naturally making her escape upstairs to her room, knowing Harry's eyes were following her, until she was out of his sight.

Not five minutes later, there was a knock on her door, and she instantly knew who it was. She tried to do her usual routine, and pretended not to hear the door. He usually gave up after about ten minutes, they all did. But there was more persistence this time, he stopped for a while, and then came right back, knocking again.

"I'm not leaving this time, Ginny. Open the door."

She sighed to herself, before finally deciding to open the door, what was the worse that could happen? it wasn't like he could force her to talk. Ginny waved her wand to unlock the door, and a second later, Harry was inside her room. He gently closed the door behind him, and then proceeded to lean on it, crossing his arms behind his back. She till couldn't believe how much of a change the past year had on him, especially physically. Harry was always attractive, but he was a lot more grown up, in every way. She's never really minded or found it weird, when she thought about how handsome he was. It was natural, and she's never really given it much thought, she found lot of blokes attractive.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Hey,"

"Hogwarts is almost ready,"

"I heard," she replied.

He turned his head up to the ceiling."You shouldn't just hear about it, though, I mean, you should see it for yourself,"

"I know what Hogwarts look like, Harry,"

His eyes snapped to hers. "You know what I mean, Ginny,"

"Yeah. . .I know,"

Ginny realized that a part of her, really wanted to tell him about her struggles with going there, her attacks and everything, she knew he would understand, he had known about them before, he'd even experienced it himself. She finally felt this familiar wave of comfort from him being there, and she wanted to confide in her friend. But that part, that was telling her to open up, was really small. She didn't want to unfold everything else.

"Why are you avoiding me?" his voice was soft and vulnerable.

Fucking hell. That was why. She was, in many ways trying to stay away from everyone, but Harry, in particular, was the person she tried to dodge the most. Because there was way too much to unpack with Harry. They were apart for a year. That year had majorly changed both of them, in ways, that were going to take a long time to grasp. She just wanted things to remain static, and not face them for a while, and that might've been unhealthy, but that was where she was at. And for some reason, in a truly unHarry-like manner, he wanted to talk. He should have known that she wasn't ready, they have always given one another enough time and space to process things first, before confronting and calling each other out.

"Harry, I'm not av - "

"Don't," he gritted, voice hard. "Don't make a fool out of both of us, just talk to me,"

"That's the whole fucking point, I don't want to talk!"

"Tough shit," he left his position on the door and walked over to the middle of the room, and stopped for a second, seemingly making a decision to either join her on the bed, or go for the desk chair. He looked at her with unreadable eyes, and she frowned slightly, why was he even taking the time to think about it? He opted for the chair, moving it closer to where she sat on the bed before sitting down.

"Ginny," he said softly. "are you angry with me?"

Even though, it was posed as a question, it really wasn't one. Because he knew she was. They both knew, she was a little more than angry with him, and they both knew why. But, she didn't want to open that can of flobberworms just yet, because her emotions were always bubbling up around him, and that was without any kind of talking. If they started down that path of topics, it would be a never-ending cycle of gut-wrenching, heartbreaking conversations, and fighting. And Ginny was exhausted. All the time.

"I can't, Harry," for a second she wasn't sure she had said that. Her voice sounded broken; and she couldn't meet his eyes.

"Can't what?" he whispered.

"All of it. . . I just can't."

He seemed to understand as he reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing tightly. Warmth spread through her at the gesture, and she found the strength to continue.

"I am angry. With you, the world . . .myself," she took a long breath. "And it feels like if I open that gate, it will just be this. . .perpetual flood, you know? I'm overwhelmed and I just wanna leave it behind,"

"Gin, I don't - "

"And I know, holding it in is not the answer. . .sharing feelings and all that," she caught his eyes then. "But. . .I can't."

He was silent for a moment as his eyes broke away from hers. "You know that I'm not eager to talk about it either, Gin. It's too difficult to explain, and all too painful. Honestly, I would be happy if I never mention any of it again," he said.

"Not when it comes to you, however," he continued, green eyes back on hers steadily. "the only person I want to talk to, is you."

While Harry had said similar things to her in the past, Ginny still felt his words seep into her, all the way to her heart, where they wrapped themselves around it firmly.

"Well, whenever I'm ready to talk, you're the only person I want to annoy, too," she smiled.

Harry closed his eyes, shaking his head for a second at her reply, before letting out a quiet laugh.

"I can't wait," he said through his light chuckles. Ginny wanted to soak up the soft sound. The moment they were having, was much better than keeping away from him, she didn't want to do it anymore. They didn't speak for some time, more than comfortable to just be in each other's presence. And as Ginny marveled one more time, over how easy it felt to be in touch with him again after so long, she noted, that they were still holding hands.

"So. . . how do you want to do this?"

She knew what he was asking, he wanted to know how she wanted to proceed. She let go of his hand to give herself a minute, chewing on her lips in thought.

"I - there's no one way, really. Let's just ignore it, I guess,"

"Ignore it how?"

"You know," she tried to hand gesture her point.

"Not really, no,"

"For fuck's sake, Harry, you're intentionally making this harder!"

"I am not," he defended in frustration, "I'm just trying to do this exactly on your terms, so you don't run out of every room I walk into,"

She gaped at him, before conceding. "Harsh. . . but fair,"

"Okay, we'll just be as we were before. . .just going through life, not paying attention to the multiple erumpents in the room," she shrugged. Harry smiled at her response, but she could plainly see the sadness that flashed in his eyes at her words. He let out a breath, staring down.

"We'll talk eventually, right? About. . . everything, because, there's so much I need to tell you, Gin," his voice almost sounded scared, as though, he feared she was going to back out. But Ginny wasn't stupid, she knew, all of it had to come crashing down in the end.

"Of course, Harry, let's just give ourselves some time first,"

He still looked unsure and disappointed, but nodded nonetheless. "Okay,"

"Okay."

It was a moment before Harry spoke again, "Hermione wants Ron and I to go help her, buy a few things for her parents, wanna come?"

While he couldn't help the hopeful note in his voice, Ginny could see that his face was a little guarded, ready for her to say no. And sadly, she was going to prove him right.

"Erm. . .I'm not really in the mood to go out,"

He sighed, looking at her with defeat and longing. "Promise me, that we'll hang out tonight, then, or soon, at least,"

Ginny's heart broke a little at his words, she tried to smile."Absolutely, I mean, there's obviously no question about it, Potter,"

"Promise me, Ginny." he remained serious, staring at her intensely.

"I promise, Harry."

There was a quick knock on her door, and they both jumped at the sound.

"Come in," Ginny called out. The door was gently pushed open to reveal Neville, as he took a step inside her room.

"Oh! Hey, Harry," he smiled in greeting, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Hey, Neville," Harry smiled back.

Neville looked at them for a minute, before settling his eyes on Ginny. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No." Harry and Ginny answered at the same time, and Ginny couldn't help but give Neville a weird look. Why the hell would he think he is interrupting something? she thought to herself.

"Actually," Harry started, standing up. "I was about to leave, have to help Hermione with something," he walked to the door, passing Neville and slapping him on the shoulder. "I'll see you later, mate,"

"See ya, Harry," replied Neville.

Once he stepped outside, Harry wheeled around to look at Ginny with a wide grin, his eyes reminding her of her promise. "I'll see you, Weasley."

"I'll see you, Potter." she grinned back.

After Harry closed the door behind him, she turned around to face a beaming Neville.

"Finally! I'm so happy you're talking to him again, it was getting ridiculous," he said, taking the empty chair and moving it back to her desk, before sitting down. He was very obviously going through the stuff on her desk, not even trying to be discreet.

"What are you doing, Nev?"

Holding up a bunch of letters in his palm, he glared at her. "Oh, I'm just making sure your letters are actually being delivered to you. . . Well, look at that, they're all here!"

"I'm sorry, Neville, but in my defense, we do see each other often,"

"That is such a feeble excuse, and not even true," he complained, still looking through her stuff. "there are a few letters here from Eli,"

"Yeah,"

"Have you responded?"

"No," she didn't really want to talk about Eli, especially knowing how big of a fan Neville was of him.

"Come on, Gin! You should write him back,"

"No, I don't want to,"

"Why not? You guys were great together,"

"For the last time, Neville, we were never together, it was merely physical," he was just trying to get a rise out of her at that point.

"Trust me, I know how physical it was," he shuddered.

"And now you know, you always have to knock," she smirked.

"It was a Broom-cupboard! And you should have used proper locking spells - " he shook his head. "I'm not getting into this again!"

"Well, I mean, we weren't thinking clearly that day, we were practically tearin - "

"Ugh, Ginny!"

"You brought it up, mate," Ginny laughed.

"My apologies," he replied sarcastically, still snooping around her letters. "ooh, there's one from McGonagall,"

"I'm like a minute away from hexing you, Nev, stop going through my stuff!"

"Bloody hell, Gin! She says she wants to make you Head Girl and Captain of the Quidditch team, once the school reopens! Why didn't you say anything?!"

Ginny had entirely forgotten about that letter, because in all honesty, the news didn't excite her. Ginny didn't know if she should tell him, that she had little desire to go back. On the one hand, he would be more than understanding, on the other, he was going to freak out. But if she were honest with herself, she wanted someone's opinion on it.

"Because, I'm kind of, sort of, considering. . .not going back," she said nervously.

Silence. And then he was laughing for a good minute, before he noticed that her face hasn't changed.

"What? No! Why?!"

"I think you know why, Nev,"

He paused at this, taking a moment to ponder, before catching her eyes. "Ginny, I know it's hard, but you can't do this alone, You, Luna, and I are a team. The school needs you, Hogwarts is not the same without you,"

"Neville,"

"Ginny, you love Hogwarts!"

"I know I do! I consider it a second home, but that's not the point!"

"No, no, wait, you said you were considering it, so, you haven't made a decision yet!" he grabbed a quill from her desk and started writing.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm writing Luna, of course, telling her to get here, as soon as possible, so we can talk you out of this insanity!"

"Hey! I'm not insane!"

"Before I write her," he put the quill down and met her eyes." I want to tell you something. . .I was scared to die all of last year, we all were. . .but all I've kept thinking was 'I can't believe my last memory of Hogwarts, would be this'. Merlin, I was so happy when we somehow managed to find a few, rare moments of peace. . .and normality,"

"And then, the War was over, and I was still scared," he said, eyes shining with tears."Because my last memory of it, was still the same, but then, McGonagall said, that I could come back to repeat my seventh year . . . any seventh year student is welcome to try again, if they want to. . .Ginny, we all have a second chance. . .to actually go to class and not be afraid, to study. . .to have fun, to do anything that doesn't involve fighting for our lives every day. And because I have that chance. . .I'm not scared anymore."

It was such a nice way of looking at things. Ginny wished, she had the same positive take on it. She didn't want the past year to be her last memory of Hogwarts, either. But she knew, things were not so simple for her.