#elnor: not me though :)

[avoicefromthestars]

Star Trek: Picard Penance

[procrastinatorproject]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: La Sirena Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Laris/Zhaban (Star Trek), Agnes Jurati/Cristobal Rios (background), Laris & the Motley Crew Characters: Laris (Star Trek), Zhaban (Star Trek), Elnor (Star Trek), Soji Asha, Cristóbal Rios, Agnes Jurati, Raffi Musiker, Seven of Nine, Jean-Luc Picard, various villagers from La Barre Additional Tags: Slice of Life, Humor, Fluff, and fluffy snow, Post-Season/Series 01, Found Family, Breakfast at Château Picard, Laris is cold, Zhaban is amused, Rios is tired, and everybody else is just extremely excited about the snow

Laris doesn't like the cold. And it doesn't help that everybody seems determined to lose their minds over a bit of snow.

Happy Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange, @midgeonsmidgeon!

Thank you for your prompt! I had an absolute blast writing this! Laris and Zhaban are such brilliant characters, and Laris and Rios are absolutely hilarious together. I think I'll have to come back to Laris and Rios quite a bit in the future, their interactions were just so much fun to write!

I hope the Momulan vibes and wintery fun can make up for the delay in getting this finsihed 😅 Sorry about that, exam season has eaten my brain 🙈

But all the better to have a bit of time away with a romp through snowy Château Picard and all the found family vibes. I hope you’ll get some joy out of it as well ✨🖖⛄

And a big thank you to @startrekwintergiftexchange for organizing this fest and being so patient with all of the various delays 😅 Seriously, this event is amazing, and I really enjoyed participating! Thank you so much!

[synthville]

“Thank you, Number One.”

“You are so very welcome, Captain.”

RAFFI MUSIKER / SEVEN OF NINE - ST: PIC - S03E10

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 8.2 K Warnings: None Prompt: It's time to get back at Severus for being a constant ass... This IS a Wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it. Proofread by lovely: @aremuslupinsimp

Chapter 37: Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)

You had retired to one of the tables alongside Remus to explain your plan. It was simple enough to execute, and it wouldn’t cause any harm. Well, as long as Ackley’s prank treats didn’t cause any harm, since your entire plan depended on those. 

 “You think it’ll work?” you asked him. 

He bit his lip, a small frown adorning his handsome features as he thought about it, about 5 seconds later he nodded, a small smile spreading on his lips. “You’re a brilliant little witch, aren’t you?” 

You beamed at his praise, standing just a bit straighter  as he said it, and leaned in just a little closer to him, cheeks brushing against each other as you went over the plan by whispering into each other’s ear. 

“Mister Lupin, Miss (Y/LN), pleasure to see you here,” a voice said from behind. You turned to your teacher with a smile. 

“Professor Slughorn, we must thank you for the invitation.” 

He nodded, “Oh no, the gratitude is mine, such a lovely presence adorning the party,” he said. “I see you’ve made an interesting choice,” he said, now turning straight to you, “How did Mister Black take it?” 

Remus looked at you from the side, seeming weary at Slughorn’s question, you simply smiled at the teacher, “Sirius is more than okay with it,” you reassured. “In fact, he did mention he wasn’t a big fan of Christmas parties.”

Slughorn raised his eyebrows and nodded, you tightened your smile, then another wizard approached Slughorn. “Ah, Roan,” he said with a smile as he pulled the young man and placed a hand on his back, having him face the two of you, “These are some of my best students,” he said pointing at both you and Remus. “Exceptional Wizards,” he praised, “Remus is clever and strong, and this young lady here is brilliant at charms and hexes, I would know, she accidentally hexed one of my kids,” he said, hailing the way you had confringoed Evan. “Very advanced spells I tell you, they would both be brilliant additions to your department,” he said. 

The man smiled, he was slightly shorter than Remus, but held his head high with a smile and a rather prideful look, not in a bad way though, Roan, reminded you a lot of Nightshade actually, that same regal look, thought his hair was a lighter brown and his skin was a lot more tan in comparison to her. He extended his hand to Remus. “Roan Elnore,” he said, “pleasure to meet you both.” Once he shook Remus’ hand, he extended it towards you. His hand was rough and strong, on the smaller side compared to your boys’ thought. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Elnore,” you responded.

“Please, call me Roan,” he said with a laugh, “Mr. Elnore is my father.” 

“Roan,” you said with a smile, you didn’t miss the way Remus stepped closer to you after that, as if protectively, or perhaps, possessively. Roan didn’t miss it either and he took a short step back, that’s when you noticed a sharp claw mark that shone from behind his ear to almost the front of his neck, it was outside of Remus’ field of vision, and you weren’t sure if Roan had purposely moved his head in such a way that’d you’d have to notice or if you had just perceived it that way. 

But the scar almost made you lean closer, it was dreadfully similar to the ones that covered Remus’ body, and to the three –now healing– marks across your arm. You almost stepped closer to try and perceive it better but held back when you realised, again, that Remus’ shoulder was almost in front of yours, impeding you from walking any closer. 

“Your department?” Remus asked.

Slughorn smiled as if he had been waiting for one of you to ask. “Ah yes, Roan here, works for the ministry, why don’t you tell them all about it while I go greet some more guests?” Slughorn said as he patted Roan on the back and moved to talk to some other students. 

Roan laughed awkwardly, “Some things never change, do they?” he said with an awkward smile, “I work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures,” he said with a smile, Remus tensed and it was you who stepped closer to him this time around. 

“Oh, really?” you said, mustering a charming smile as you attempted to divert the attention from Remus, “And what do you do?” 

“I oversee the Registry of Dangerous Creatures,” he said simply. “We basically have to make sure all creatures like goblins, giants, trolls, dragons, werewolves, etc. are identified and–” 

You could feel Remus tense even further and you casually dragged your hand to his, taping your finger over his until he wrapped it around yours, you tightened it reassuringly. “Punished?” Remus offered. 

“Salazar No!” Roan answered as he shook his head, “I know some people who despise dangerous magical creatures, yes, but while they are dangerous because it’s in their nature, it doesn’t mean they’re not either provoked or without the capacity to control themselves,” he explained. “Werewolves, for example, can be extremely dangerous, but only a few times a year.”

You smiled at that, “Yeah, I agree,” you responded. “Most ‘dangerous’ magical creatures are only such a thing because we have invaded their natural habitat and provoked them.” 

“Exactly!” Roan said as he leaned onto you, clearly happy that you understood exactly what he meant. “It’s what I’ve been trying to convince the ministry of,” he explained, “It’s a tough battle, but I don’t plan on giving up.” 

“We’d both be pleased to help,” you said with a smile, now paying a closer look to his scar, it most definitely looked werewolf-infringed. 

“Roan, darling!” you heard a familiar voice approach and were slightly taken aback when you witnessed the way Seraphina wrapped her arms around the young man and pulled him into a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” 

“I wanted to surprise you,” he said with a smile, looking at her with adoration. You turned to Remus and he gave you an equally confused look. 

Roan pressed a short kiss to her lips and then turned back to you, “Do you also teach this young couple? Slughorn was giving me all sorts of praises for the two of them.” 

Remus pulled his hand away from you in an instant, feeling nervous after giving the man such an impression. 

Seraphina, who had her hands on Roan’s arm turned to you, a kind of shine in her eyes you saw only when you cast the right spell on a duel, or when you got the answer to a question correct, “They’re not a couple darling,” she explained simply. “And yes, I do teach them, in fact, I’ve talked to you about her,” she said pointing at you, “She’s my star duelist.” 

“It is her?” he asked with raised eyebrows and Seraphina smiled and nodded in return, you swallowed at that, “You’re Silas’ daughter?” he asked almost in disbelief. 

You nodded in return. “And that’s Remus Lupin,” she said, emphasising his last name. 

“Blimey, you’re the son of my boss,” he said with a gasp. Remus smiled awkwardly, he had never been the son of anyone’s boss before, and while he knew his father worked at the Ministry, he didn’t know of him having many people working directly for him at the department, but he had been working there for almost as many years his own age, so in a way, it made sense.  Regardless, Remus felt like Roan was placing him on the same level as you, as if your father’s exceptional political career was equal to his own father’s. He had never felt like that before. Always failing to understand the weight on James’ or Sirius’ shoulders after coming from pureblood families. 

“You’ve met Lyall?” you said curiously, “I’ve only ever heard from him. Hopefully, I’ll get to meet him soon.”

“He’ll be delighted by such a bright young witch, surely,” Roan replied. 

“Certainly,” agreed Seraphina. 

“You are married?” you asked, looking at the two of them with a charming smile, following along the conversation and changing the focus when you noticed Remus didn’t seem too comfortable with them speaking about his father or the registry. Remus, on the other hand, was absolutely impressed with how well you were handling the conversation. It’s not that he struggled to maintain conversations, but you managed to keep the talk flowing with a rather effortless approach. 

And it wasn’t because you were particularly outgoing, but you had been to several political events with your parents, so you had kept a lot of conversations with older people before, you were awfully used to the politics, and you had developed a way to use your charm to veer conversations in whichever way you needed them to go, in this case, away from Remus and his father’s work. 

Seraphina smiled at your boldness, “Not yet darling, we decided to wait a little bit more until things were less complicated and we could make a big party with no looming danger,” she said. “Roan here has a lot of family members, and they sure would be offended if we made a party without inviting them.” 

“She says that, but it’s her family that would be really offended,” the man reproached. “And trust me, you do not want to cross the Nightshades,” he leaned a little closer. “They can be terrifying sometimes.” 

You smiled at that, giving a small look at Nightshade before nodding in agreement, yes, she was stunning, but that didn’t take away her presence, she was delightful in a rather icy way, like an ice queen that could freeze you if you did something that could upset her, and yet, you still liked her very much.  

Nightshade jokingly shoved Roan by the shoulder, it was rather interesting to see this side of her, a lot more playful and youthful in comparison to the much more stoic ballerina vibe she gave off as a teacher, it made you wonder how she might have been when she was just a student. 

You had taken the moment Roan leaned closer to pay a little more attention to his scar, and then when he was shoved by Nightshade, you noticed there was another one peeking from his long-sleeved shirt, barely a the tail of a scar, but you had seen similar ones, on Remus’ hands. 

“Are you planning anything tomorrow?” You asked the two of them. “I mean, I know it’s the last day of class and you must be rather busy with grading and such, but we were thinking of preparing a small dinner,” you said pointing at both you and Remus, “With the rest of our friends, of course. And if you’re still around, Roan, you’re more than welcome to come.” 

Remus, whose hand had at some point travelled to your arm by crossing his behind you, squeezed as if trying to remind you what day tomorrow would be, but you being so calm with stating you would have a dinner had thrown him off guard too, since obviously you had planned no such thing. You didn’t pay much mind to it, almost completely focused on Nightshade who gave you a sharp look, almost telling you she had understood exactly what you were doing while narrowing her eyes. You gave her a soft look in return, even throwing in a bit of a tight-lipped smile. 

Roan’s breath caught in his throat for only a second before he turned to you, “Oh, thank you for the invitation, but I must get back to London with Seraphina early in the morning, we still have some business in the ministry.” 

“Of course, do not worry, I’m sure we’ll get more than enough time to meet again on a different day,” you said. “Anyway, Rem and I were just about to walk over to the food table when Slughorn came over,” you explained, “would you like us to bring you something?” 

“No darling, we just ate,” Nightshade said as she sent a courteous nod to both you and Remus and started moving towards a different place. 

“It was nice to meet you guys, if you’re ever over at the ministry, I’d love to see you,” he said as he followed his girlfriend along. 

Both you and Remus walked over to the sweets table and then towards one of the corners of the room, “What was that about the party?” 

You turned to him, almost peering through your lashes before raising your head, a small smile on your lips, Remus thought he’d never seen such an angelic look on someone with a smirk before. “You didn’t see Roan’s scars, did you?” Remus tilted his head. “He had one on his neck,” you whispered, bringing your hand up to his and tracing your finger over the same area but on his skin. Remus almost shivered at your touch, your hand was cold from the drink you had grabbed at the table, and you assumed that had been the reason for the way his breath hitched on his throat and pulled your hand back. 

You then brought your hand up and traced your finger over it too, going first over the long sleeve of your dress near your upper arm and then just for a second touching your own skin. “He had another one there.” 

“Well, he works with magical creatures, dad also has a few of those,” Remus said, missing your point, and perhaps a little annoyed at the fact that you had been paying such close attention to Roan. 

“Yeah, but they didn’t look like just any scar, think of Alastor Moody, I’m sure you’ve seen at least a few pictures of him on the paper, his scars are different.” 

“How come?” 

You let your hand hover over your arm before deciding it would be a bad idea to remind Remus of the now-scarring tissue on your shoulder and decided to grab his hand instead. “They looked like this,” you said as you let your finger brush lightly over one of his scars. “The same depth, tones, tightness.” 

“Are you implying that–”

“I thought I was imagining things, but I’ve gotten pretty used to the way they look, Remus, I’ve seen them up close,” you took a deep breath, as you moved your shoulder just slightly, almost involuntarily but Remus noticed. “They were the same.” 

“So– whatever did it must have been–” 

“Like you,” you concluded. “Roan said they were only dangerous at certain points of the year. He even said he was trying to persuade the ministry. That's a pretty solid stance on werewolves compared to the rest of the people.” 

“He didn’t have as many of them,” Remus said, remembering some of the scars on his own face and the rest of his body, some you had seen, some you hadn’t. Even some already healing you had unwittingly caused the previous moon. It was silly really, how the two of you had scarred each other when you were the last people who would willingly hurt the other. 

You nodded, “Threw me off guard too,” you admitted. “But he’s older, Remus, and some time ago Nightshade admitted she knew what you were when she got hired, that she was close to Dumbledore even before she was a teacher here, and I just thought… What if he hired her because she already knew how to deal with, well you know.” 

“But the scars, it still doesn’t–” 

“That’s why I invited them to dinner.” 

“He said he had to work,” Remus said with a shrug. “He could have been telling the truth, although…” 

“You smelled his nervousness, didn’t you? I wasn’t paying attention to their answers, but rather, to their reactions. Nightshade threw me a look I know well, a warning. I think she knows I was close to figuring it out… and then there was the way Roan was holding his breath, I mean I cannot smell nervousness, not when I’m not Vixen, but I can see it. And you? Tonight especially.” 

Remus was frowning, looking at the floor and yet nowhere in particular as he bit his lip. He’s thinking, you realised. It was a look you had seen him make more than once when he was analysing situations, then he turned to you, his brown eyes could easily let you see how worried he was, “He smelled funny.” 

“You think he’d notice the same about you?” 

Remus sighed heavily, “I don’t know,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of people, I was paying close attention because-” he trailed off as if he didn’t know what exactly to say after that. 

You looked at him, now analysing the situation at hand. The way he had stepped over you protectively, and how he had been looking at Roan rather intently. Roan was handsome. Not your type of handsome but attractive nonetheless. What if Remus was attracted to him…? You almost felt your cheeks warm at the thought crossed over your head. You couldn’t have drawn a more faulty conclusion. For someone who had identified a werewolf after one simple talk, you had, so far, been terrible at realising your friend’s feelings for you. 

“You were curious,” you offered, giving Remus an easy way out, and he nodded. It was better for you to think that, than knowing that, in reality, he had actually been smelling the way you reacted to Roan. But most of all, he was trying to make sure that you still smelled like him. He almost couldn’t live without being able to feel his scent all over you and Sirius anymore. He sometimes wondered if that was the wolf, or if he was just possessive like that. More often than not it was hard for him to draw the line where Moony ended and Remus started. 

“Yeah,” he added. 

“He seems like a convenient friend to have,” you said. 

“What if he’s evil though? What if he’s with the other werewolves, like Forrester or… Greyback?” You knew what a delicate subject Greyback was to Remus, he had told you the story of how he’d ended up being a werewolf. He had told you about Lyall and his prejudice and how Greyback had escaped and then taken revenge on him by using his child. 

You placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “He wouldn’t be with Nightshade,” you said, “She’s too sharp and perceptive. You know she was offered to work with Moody but rejected being an auror in favour of coming here?”  

“Really?” 

You nodded, “Dumbledore asked her to do it, and she was thrilled to teach DADA,” you told him. “If Roan was dodgy, she would have already sent him to Azkaban.” 

“Maybe she’s blinded by love.” 

You smiled at that, “You really think someone could be blind enough not to see a deatheater?” 

Remus thought about it, if either you or Sirius were deatheaters, he for sure wouldn’t have noticed. “Would you ever suspect Sirius to be one?” 

“Of course not,” you said honestly. 

“You’re in love,” he said with a shrug. 

“You wouldn’t suspect him either, and it’s not because you’re in love with him.” If only you knew. “It’s because you know him, because he’s your friend.” 

“Maybe we’re blinded by the love we have for our friends too.” You looked at him with a smile and pushed with your shoulder just a little. “What?” 

“I think we’re passed Pissy Moony and we have Sad Moony instead.” 

He gasped, a smile playing on his lips regardless, “You think I’m saying that because of the moon?” You shrugged, mirroring his simile and raising one of your eyebrows as you did. “How would you feel if I said the same when you’re on your period?” 

You snickered at that. “Well I do get a little pissy sometimes,” you said with a shrug. 

“You’ll admit you get pissy on your period just to maintain your argument?” 

You pretended to think about it for a second and then nodded. “You know, it’s kind of nice.” 

“Getting pissy on your period?” he teased. 

You shoved him in response, “No silly, having a friend who understands,” you said. “A male friend that understands,” you clarified. He raised an eyebrow at that and you shrugged. “You’ve always been more understanding, it’s probably why Lily had a crush on you in 3rd year.” 

“She what?” Remus gaped. 

“You’re telling me she never told you? She said she did!” 

Remus thought back, and then remembered. Lily had said he liked him, in potions at some point when they were partners, but she had said it in such a casual way, Remus didn’t actually realise what she meant, he had been rather worried about other things he was discovering about himself back then, especially the kind of things that he couldn’t exactly talk about with other people. “I thought that was… I thought she meant it platonically.” 

You responded to that with a simple incredulous look. 

“I said thanks!” he said afterwards, you busted out into a laugh, looking at him as you bit your lip, he was slightly red, and looked adorable all flustered. You were looking at him fondly when you felt someone pushing you as they walked, forcing you to crash against his chest. You were a little stunned by such an unexpected fast movement and had grabbed onto his arms to keep yourself from falling, Remus had done the same to you, holding you just tight enough for you not to fall. 

You stayed in Remus’ familiar embrace for just a couple of seconds before turning your head to look at the person who had pushed you, half expecting them to say they were sorry when you noticed who it had been. Fucking prick, you thought as you saw Severus walk towards Barty with his head held haughtily high. 

You looked up at Remus, a determined look on your face he instantly identified as your need for payback. Severus had been a total prick all night and no matter how upset Lily had been with you, you were going to retaliate, and not with poisonous words this time around. You leaned back onto Remus, “You already know the plan.” 

Remus only nodded with a smile, he wondered if that was what you did on your dates with Sirius too, be all over each other and plan sneaky pranks. Of course, he did it unconsciously, and almost felt bad for even thinking of it, but if that was how it was, he thought it would be splendid.

You walked over to Johnny Ackley as he kept an eye on the Slytherins. Once you reached the boy, you gave him your charming smile, to which he responded with a quirked eyebrow, “May I help you?” 

“Indeed you may,” you responded, grin growing ever wider. “I’ve heard you’re an entrepreneur, great businessman too.” 

He smiled at your use of words to describe him, “You’ve come for a bargain?” 

“Indeed,” you replied with a smile. “Now I don’t want any Rumpelstiltskin tricks to be pulled under your sleeves. Tell me your exact price after I’ve made my request. How many of those trick treats do you have left in your tray.”

“I have only one safe one left,” he replied honestly. “But I’d give it to you for free.” 

You let out a breathy laugh at his smile, he wasn’t half bad at this game, from what you’d heard you’d expected him to be a little less capable as a businessman, but he clearly knew that was not the reason you had approached. “Good, because I need that one out of the tray before we make a deal.” 

He raised an eyebrow at that, “You cannot kill anyone with these,” he joked. 

You scoffed playfully in response, “Why exactly would you think I– Actually, never mind,” you said, and then proceeded, “you said one of those gives bad breath?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, someone’s already taken that one,” he said with an apologetic look, “looking to get away from your date?” 

“What?! Not at all! Remus is great!” You weren’t sure why the thought of someone implying you’d want to get away from Remus had upset you so much, but you choked it up to the fact that he was your best friend and that you had to defend his honour because of it. “I’m looking to get back at someone who has been pushing people around since they got here.” 

“Ah, of course. Unfortunately, Severus didn’t want to have any of these,” he said as he pushed the tray up just a little, “I’ve offered a few times already.” 

You huffed a laugh. “Of course, but you haven’t tempted, not in a way that matters to him,” you said with a smirk, the kind of expression someone who had a plan would make, “what other things do they do?” 

Now it was his turn to smirk, and he pointed at one of the treats, “Makes your headache,” he turned his finger to a different one, “gives you the hiccups,” he hovered to another one, “makes you horny–”

“Wait, really?” you asked. 

“Want to give it a try?” he teased. 

You almost punched him. “That seemed like a terrible trick to play on someone. Could have some nasty uses. You sure you wouldn’t get expelled if they find you out?” 

“Not that horny, jeez,” he said. “Belby helped me develop some of these, they are safe and recreational.” He then hovered his pointed finger back on the tray. “Gives you a terrible stomach ache, you can only get rid of it by dancing or kissing someone. And this one–” he said pointing at one with what looked like grey scales on top, “twists all your words so you say the exact opposite of what you mean.” 

You smiled at that, instantly knowing which one would be useful for Severus and his nasty little mouth, “Green is the only one that’s good, right?” Ackley nodded in response. “And the price?” 

“A piece of your hair.” 

You frowned at that. You knew what people could do with hair, you did not want anyone going around with your face. “Hell no!” 

“Do you even know how precious it could be? I know people who would pay so much for it!” he tried to reason. “We could even split the profits.” 

“For my hair?” 

“Hey! A lot of people have a crush on the new quidditch player,” he stated. “I’m sure they’d have a kick with polyjuice and someone willing to help.”

“Ugh, gross!” You said, honestly horrified at that. 

“And people also like Sirius,” he said thoughtfully, “would you consider it cheating if someone had polyjuiced themselves onto you?” 

You looked positively scandalized by the idea, “Well of fucking course it would be!” 

Ackley shook his head as he tsked, “It’s a million-dollar idea, I’m telling you! You lack vision!” 

“You wouldn’t sell your hair if you knew they were gonna use it to satisfy some weird as fuck kink!” He gave you the kind of look that clearly said he would and you scoffed. 

“Okay, I assume Remus, Sirius and James’ hair is also off the question? What about Lily’s? Or Tom’s?” 

“Ackley, I’m not giving you the hair of any of my friends.” 

“Your loss,” he said with a shrug. In truth, Ackley did not expect you to agree to either of those requests, but he also knew he wouldn’t lose anything by trying, especially not when you had come to him for help, “If it’s not hair then… would you be willing to brew a potion for me?” 

“What potion?” 

“I overheard you talking with McGonagall after the game, I reckon she’ll give you the recipe for a contraceptive potion. Think you’ll be able to brew it?” 

Fucking hell, now it wasn’t only McGonagall who thought you and Sirius were nothing but horny teenagers. “Yeah, of course, I can brew a batch.” 

“Fantastic, they sell incredibly well,” he said with a smile. “But I lost my dealer last year.” 

“It will only be one batch though!” you added, a little more vocalised this time around, trying to make it clear. 

“Of course, of course. That’s fine though, the scarcity will make it more expensive. I’m terrible at brewing, but I’ll get you all the ingredients you need once you send me an owl with the list, does that sound fair?” 

You smiled, “Looks like you’ve got yourself a deal, Johnny.” 

He gave you a short wink and nodded at that, “And a good one indeed.” He then looked over your shoulder, at the Slytherin boys. “What’s the plan?” 

“Just show up near us and offer some treats in a few minutes, play along if necessary. Remus and I will do the heavy lifting.” 

“Easy enough,” he said with a nod and disappeared in the crowd. 

You smiled and walked back to Remus, he was a lot closer to the boys and you started a casual conversation with him, telling him about some of the homework you were supposed to do over the break and asking, subtly –according to you– what he’d like to get on Christmas. Now it’s not that Remus realised you were asking him for your own sake either, he was rather enthralled by your talking to pay much attention to your not-so-subtle questions. 

“What did you ask Father Christmas to bring over?” you asked him. He quirked an eyebrow giving you an incredulous look, “Aw come on! You cannot tell me you’re too old for presents.” 

He shrugged in response. “I’m not sure, back in the house my parents always got me rather practical things, well except for mom, she always got me muggle toys.” 

“Really? Were they fun?” 

“Some of them, for sure. I once got a small broom horse that my father enchanted so I could use it to fly! It only allowed me to go up a few feet, but it was incredible!”

You gasped at that. “Really?” 

He nodded, “And at some point, they even got me a muggle hamster, he was horrified of me though, had to give the poor thing away.” 

You gave him a pitiful look. “At least our children like us both equally,” you said, thinking of Pyro and Nummie. You and Remus had already developed a whole system that would keep them fed while you were out on vacation, they had already gotten wide enough to be dangerous when transporting them home. Remus chuckled at that, letting his mind wander just for a second, he could never have children, not with his condition. What if his child ended up like him? The fantasy was nice, though. You looked to the side, Ackley still wasn’t close. “But… what would you like to get now?”

He shrugged, “I’m not sure, to be honest. Maybe a jumper or something. You keep stealing those.” 

You gasped at that, swatting him playfully on the shoulder. “For the scent thing.” 

“Nah, you’ve been stealing them even before the scent thing,” he said, and it was true, not that he minded it much, he loved it when he got them back and they smelled like you and Sirius. You shook your head in response. 

“But what do you actually want, though?” and then you gave him a look. “Don’t think practical, be delusional about it if you need to.”  

Delusional? I’d like to have you and Sirius… at the same time, he thought. “Haven’t really thought about it, maybe something comforting? Or a cool band T, like the ones Sirius has…” alternatively one from him. “What about you? What do you want to get for Christmas?” 

It was your turn to shrug now, “Not sure either,” you answered sincerely. “I was thinking of getting a muggle gaming console, but I highly doubt it will work with the magical fields here in Hogwarts, so getting it on the summer break might be better.” Remus agreed with a simple humm. “If I do get something muggle it will be like Sirius’ cube.”

“He hates it,” he told you. “He’s been struggling to solve the puzzle since he got it. I think he’ll end up transfigurating it or something.” 

You giggled, the image of Sirius struggling with the cube diverting you more than it should. Sirius was always very capable, so thinking that a muggle puzzle would frustrate him, was rather amusing. You could almost picture him throwing the cube to the wall in a very child-like tantrum after trying for very long and not achieving much with it. Perhaps that’s why he was already rather cranky back when you had worn Minho’s sweater. “I feel like Dromeda gave it to him on purpose.” 

“Oh, she must definitely did,” Remus agreed with a smile. “We should write her a letter, telling her that her gift was an absolute success.” 

“You think she wouldn’t mind? I mean, us writing her even though I don’t actually know her personally?”

“I’m sure she’s heard lots about you, bet she’d be more than thrilled to hear from her new cousin.”  

You pushed Remus lightly after that, he knew Andromeda had heard about you already, she had sent him a letter a little after Sirius sent her one mentioning you were now in Hogwarts too. She wanted to know every single thing about you. Of course, Remus, who already considered you wonderful, ended up sending her a rather short and concise story telling her just that, but that if she needed any more information she was to ask Sirius instead because he was not about to meddle in his best friend’s business anymore. 

“Treats?” Johnny said as he approached, offering them to some other students but moving rather fast before they even got to dig their hands inside the platter. He passed by you and moved towards the Slytherins. 

“Hold up, wait!” you said as he looked your way, the platter on display right in front of the Slytherins. You turned to Remus and called his attention by tapping the back of your hand softly on his chest, “I tried the pink one earlier,” you said. “It was delicious, you should try it,” you said then as you approached Johnny. 

Severus gave you a look, at both you and Remus approaching and then turned to the platter, there was one pink one left. So, naturally, and with the intention to piss you off, he took a hold of it and plopped it onto his mouth. 

Jonathan Ackley turned to him shocked, but managed to keep it together and hold the snigger threatening to leave his mouth. He had tried to get Severus to eat one of his trick treats so many times and it wasn’t until you and Remus intervened that he managed to do it. 

“Oh, you wanted that one?” he asked with a clearly fake concerned expression. “I’m very sorry, I’m sure there are many others you could take instead.” 

You looked at him with an annoyed expression, of course, he had just done exactly what you wanted him to do, but the way he had responded, the fact that he really thought he had taken the treat you wanted, it made your bIood boil. If there was anyone that could make the worst side of you flare up, it was Severus Snape. Exactly like it had happened earlier and with equally disastrous results –Lily was probably still angry at you.  

“Well, that’s all right, Severus,” you said with the most neutral tone you could have mustered, “I can still take the purple one, I heard Imogen say it was good,” you said simply. 

“Which one?” Barty said as he turned. “This one?” he asked as he plopped it into his mouth. 

“Okay, that’s enough,” Ackley said, pretending to move the tray to the side, but Evan intervened and grabbed him by the arm. Softly, but firmly. 

“What? Do you only give treats to the Gryffindors? I’m sure Slughorn wouldn’t be too happy you’re neglecting his own house,” he said as he grabbed onto one of the leftover treats and popped it into his mouth. 

“Reggie, would you like one?” he asked, Regulus, who was a few steps behind, and talking to someone else, turned around, slightly oblivious to the situation at hand and nodded. You gave him a warning look and sneezed when he hovered his hand over some of the treats. He gave you a pointed look and hovered his hand over a different one, you sneezed again. 

“Bless you,” Ackley said as he turned to you, eventually Regulus took hold of the one with the green mousse on top. 

You breathed out calmly and then turned to him, “Thank you, Johnny.” 

While Regulus savoured his treat, you realised Barty blinked a few times and left to the other side of the room. The headache treat he had taken, had been of fast action apparently. 

Then James approached, placed an arm over Ackley’s shoulder and leaned over the tray. The Slytherins could not know of the involvement of either you or Remus in the little prank, so it’s not like you could actually stop James from taking one of the treats, but he already had one on his hands. 

Fuck it’s that one, you thought as you looked, there was still one on the tray. It’s the stomach ache one, well getting a kiss will not be that hard for James, will it? Besides, it was a lot better than the alternative… You moved quickly, taking hold of the one that was left on the tray and turning to James. “Switch with me?” You asked politely. “I really want to try that one, yeah?” 

“I don’t know, Vix,” James teased, Did he have no idea? He probably didn’t. 

“James mate,” Remus intervened. “Be a gentleman, would you?” James gave him a look. “Follow the Marauder’s code.” 

James narrowed his eyes at Remus but nodded, you quickly switched with him and James left with the treat on his hand. 

You gave the small cookie one last look before plopping it in your mouth. Downing it all before Remus even got the idea of eating it instead of you, which you knew he would, but you also knew he’d be in a lot more trouble than you would be if he did take that particular treat. 

“Delicious,” you said honestly.

“Of course it would be, you sensible girl,” Severus said. 

You gave him an amused look, “I’m sorry, what?” 

“I said you, sensible girl! What the heaven?” Severus looked genuinely confused. “BIood loyalist! What in the Godric Gryffindor have you not done to me?” 

“Me?” you asked confused, “Whatever could I have done to you, Severus? I was just getting my own treat.” 

Evan started to hiccup on the back, he looked uncomfortable more than anything, so he left to search for Barty a little later. Regulus was still standing there, looking like he was just understanding what was happening. 

He gave you a complicit smile and turned to Severus with a rather confused stance, “I ate a treat too, and nothing’s happened to me.” He then proceeded to place his hand on Severus’ head, as if to check for temperature. Who would have thought Reggie could be so brazen?

Should have known, he’s Sirius’ little brother, after all. 

“Put your hands on me, Regulus,” Severus spat, desperately, although his words didn’t match his tone.

Regulus pulled back with a frown, instantly recoiling after hearing Severus’ words, not because his tone had been imperious –that was always the case–  but because of what he had demanded. 

“Sev–” he asked cautiously, but he was interrupted by the boy whose name was uttered. 

“It was that angel! She did not do this to me. Godric cherished heaves! This is exactly what I’m trying to say!” 

You broke into a giggle then, “Well, Sev, I never thought you’d be giving me so many compliments in one go, but thank you very much.” 

“You and you’re clever –cherished–”“ he looked genuinely frustrated, “–cherished heavens– your handsome fiend.”

“My handsome fiend?” you asked as if surprised. “I have no such thing,” you added with a devious smile. “You are my only fiend, Severus.”

Ackley had already bolted, but Remus and Regulus were still standing there, Remus looked like he was about to break into a laugh. Severus had turned red, “You stunning lady!” 

“Woah, Severus, I have a boyfriend,” you teased further, just to spite him. It was almost funny that he was saying such nice things now, it really put into perspective how nasty he was on a daily basis. 

“Sev, perhaps we should take you to the infirmary, you don’t look all right,” Regulus intervened again. 

“Yes! I mean YES! Godric bless it! Cherished heavens, this is exhilarating.” 

“Regulus is not wrong,” Remus said, in his always conciliating tone, “You should probably go to the infirmary.” 

“You WILL go unharmed after this,” Severus said as he turned to you with a threatening finger. 

You waved him a polite goodbye as Regulus took him away and got him to sit down at a nearby table while trying to calm him down. 

“Didn’t you mention there was only one good treat left?” Remus asked once the two of you managed to catch your breath. You nodded in response, “Who took it? James? Reggie?” 

“Could have been the one I ate…” you said defensively. 

“Yeah sure, like I didn’t see you sneezing so Reg didn’t take the one that James took and you ended up chowing down in the end.” 

“Reggie took the good one,” you admitted. “Saved James by giving one that wouldn’t affect him much.” Remus frowned when he saw James dancing next to Lily, he had been dancing before he went for the treats too, he probably wouldn’t even feel the effects of the potion. “Johnny said that one gave you a stomachache that could only be cured by dancing or kissing someone, I figured James would have obliged either one without giving it a second thought. Especially if he got yet another excuse to kiss Lily.

Remus gave you a long look and wondered what would have happened if you had taken that one. Would she have asked me to dance? To kiss her? Of course not, she has Sirius. 

But what if Sirius wasn’t around, what if I was the last resort… would she kiss me then? “And the one you saved him from?” 

You took a deep breath at that, thinking of the treat you had taken, red, the colour of lust, you thought, Ackley must have thought things through when he asked Kless for help. 

“Nothing to worry about,” you said with a shrug, you weren’t sure how exactly the red treat would affect you, but you knew it would 100% be a lot worse on a man. “Trust me, I’d be worried if I was a boy.” 

Remus frowned at that, “What do you mean you would be worried if– What on earth did you eat?!?!”

“Shhhhh,” you said, a little stressed. “It’s okay, Remus. Don’t stress about it, I won’t stress about it, and things will be alright,” you said as you turned to him, you hadn’t quite noticed how broad Remus’ shoulders were until they were right in front of your face. Actually, you might have noticed how broad they were before but you had never found them so attractive, had you? 

Fuck, it’s taking effect, you thought as you looked at your friend and bit your lip, fucking hell. At least you could use curse words without them getting all twisted. 

“You can’t just ignore feelings until they disappear,” he said, hypocrite, his own inner dialogue shouted back at him. 

“Remus,” you whined, dragging out “e” from his name. “Please, please, let’s not talk about the potion I took and do something else instead?” 

“Like what?” 

Kissing in a broom closet, your brain shouted at you, you shoved the thought to the back of your head, “Dance?” you offered. 

“Do the effects also go away with dancing?” 

You looked to the side and thought about it. You guessed, in a way, they could. “Yes.”

The rest of the night went in an instant, between dancing and trying to focus on anything other than the fact that Remus looked damn good that day. From the moment he took off his suit coat and kept only his navy shirt, that was just the right amount of tight on him. Or the way the pants were also a little too tight and let you see his toned legs. 

Warmth crept up your cheeks each time your gaze lingered a second too long on Remus, the guilt gnawing at you whenever your head started objectifying him, and the potion wasn’t half as bad as it could be, you weren’t needy or anything like that, but fucking hell did it make you insanely aware of how attractive your best friend was. It wasn’t torturous, except for the fact that you kept thinking that: that night, you’d be sleeping with him and Sirius. 

That sounds terrible, you thought as you winced. Vixen and Padfoot would be sleeping with Remus because of the moon– yeah, that’s better. 

“You all right?” Remus asked concerned as he saw the expressions you weren’t quite managing to hide appear on your face, winces, smiles, frowns, whatever was going on in your head, including a rather large inner monologue. Perhaps the potions were making you overthink stuff? 

And boy were you most definitely overthinking stuff, way too much stuff, and all at the same time. If anything, you’d say the potion had made your mind work 10,000 kilometres an hour –you were doing that on your own– rather than making you exceptionally sensitive to teenage hormones –that was the actual potion’s work. 

In fact, the potion wasn’t some frivolous “horny” concoction, like Ackley had described. Kless had tried to describe it to Ackley, to narrow down exactly what would be going on –chemically– on the person that took the potion, but Johnny had given up about halfway through and decided to call it a horny potion. That was nothing close to what the potion actually was. If anything, it was meant to reveal truths obscured by your own defences, a lot closer to what love potions did than it was to aphrodisiacs. In Kless’ own words, it was more “akin to a mirror for the soul rather than an instigator of base desires.”

The potion was a carefully elaborated brew that Kless had designed with slightly selfish purposes, he wanted to use it on himself. Now that sounds terrible when you think of it as a horny potion, but it was never that. In fact, Kless’ intention was just to make himself a little more sensible to his very own feelings. You see, what we know of love, is actually a series of rather complex chemical processes that happen in our brain, things involving neurotransmitters: dopamine –involves pleasure, rewards and motivation–, serotonin –which regulates the mood–, oxytocin –also known as the love hormone–, Norepinephrine –yeah, the same one that’s related to adrenaline–, endorphins and a myriad of other chemicals that would take much more dedication to explore, but Kless did it anyway. 

Now his investigation had a reason –no he did not want to make a love potion– he wanted to know if he really liked someone in particular, and he knew that, while there were probably easier ways to tell if you liked someone (like those quizzes on Witch Weekly, and doing a bit of introspection) he also knew that a potion that allowed you see your own true feelings for someone could be really useful. So he gathered some interesting ingredients, that according to his research would help: Moonlit Petals (to enhance receptivity), Tears of a Siren (to increase the sensibility to pheromones), Crystalized Honeydew and a few other things that he thought would make an effective potion. He was about ready to present it to Slughron when he discovered his werewolf obsession and forgot about it altogether. That was until Johny had gone to him and revised his notes. 

On the top page, he had written “HARNi” (Heightened Awareness Recreational Brew –Ni was a stand-in for things he didn’t have a proper name for yet), but Kless didn’t have the best handwriting and Johny read horny instead. And we already know how the story goes, Kless tried to explain and Johnny decided to keep the other name instead, he thought the results were similar enough to the meaning of the word anyway. So no, you had never taken a horny potion, what the potion was doing was only letting you see some things you had never been quite aware of before –or not as aware as you were in that particular moment, at least–. Not that you knew any of it, the potion had been presented to you as a “horny” potion and you had eaten the treat as if it had been just that. And whatever it was you were feeling for Remus at that moment, you had –as anyone would– set it down to the potion.

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A/N: Well, did Sev get what he deserved? Honestly, he brought it onto himself... Upon some requests, we have a DISCORD server now and you can all join in and chat about marauders and/or GC with other lovely people. If you wanna discuss a new oneshot or even the new chapters of GC this is your place to go. Lastly, you guys were asking for a new Q&A so I'm working on it at the moment, send all the questions you may want to be added here, or directly on asks. Love, Lils xx

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[ovenproofowl]

a lot of people have said it, but I’m throwing in my two cents just to get it off my chest.

Picard season 3 was . Bad . For a LOT of reasons . It felt like - as many before me have expressed - a self-insert fanfic with the dullest self-insert in history.

Jack Crusher wasn’t much of a character but he could have had some promise if they hadn’t spent an aggravating amount of time having him decree how different he always felt, you guys. Did you get that part? He’d always felt different. That sort of dialogue might have flown if we were dealing with Picard’s adolescent son, but instead we’re dealing with a 24 year old played by a 35 year old who looks every bit his age. (It was a hard 24 years, we must assume.)

The reason that Jack Crusher didn’t work for me personally, though, wasn’t because of how cliché his character was. I would have let that pass much easier if it wasn’t for the big ol’ elephant in the room. And that is simply that :

JACK CRUSHER WAS NEVER NECESSARY

Jack may have served a purpose to the storyline that was presented if only because he was the sole reason there was a Big Bad to be defeated in the first place. Everyone wanted to kidnap him, he brought the old gang back together just to protect him and then later save him from said Big Bad which was also actually .. him. Everything Was About Jack. But I’m not talking about the main plot. I Really Don’t Want to Talk About the Main Plot. Ever. What I want to talk about is what Jack represented that made him so unnecessary:

He was intended to represent Jean-Luc Picard’s only reason to start living.

Personally, that really, really offended me. Picard didn’t need to have a biological kid to have a purpose. In fact, it’s been established time and time again that he wasn’t ever really dad material. More of a... weirdly intense uncle. For a while, he wasn’t a fan of kids at all. Eventually, though, Picard is seen to warm to the idea of letting children within his general vicinity. This starts in TNG and continues on in season 1 of Picard. The Only Categorically Good Season of this whole. show.

In season 1, we see flashbacks of Jean-Luc’s relationship with a young Elnor, how he would read him stories and have sword fights with him. He was an absent father to an adopted child he hadn’t even realised he’d adopted and yet Elnor still fought for his hopeless cause. In much the same way, Picard meets Dahj and then later, Soji. He feels a kinship with these androids because of their connection to Data. He wants to protect Soji becase he couldn’t protect Dahj and Soji even canonically questions whether she should allow Picard to act as her father figure before she begins to remember where she came from. Both of these dynamics were infinitely more interesting and a lot deeper rooted. Soji and Elnor were both young twenty-somethings without parental guidance but found that guidance through Picard. Soji had her connection to Jurati, too, and Elnor had his with Seven and Raffi and that’s what made the whole group so intriguing to follow. They all had interesting connections to each other that had so many avenues to explore.

Unfortunately, the show decided to more or less write Soji and Elnor out of the story come season 2. Elnor was killed off for the majority of the season and only brought back by Q intervention in the last episode. Soji wasn’t even a part of the story at all. And do you know what’s sad about that? What’s really sad? Season 2 was trying to sell us the exact same message as season 3. That Picard needed a reason to live. But, like, not that reason. Not the reasons he’d already been given in the form of his found family with his Romulan and android adopted children, or even the rest of the La Sirena crew. No no no, we can’t have that, better get rid of them. This time, Laris is the focal point. Picard had been avoiding a romantic relationship with her because of a never before mentioned dark history surrounding his mother’s suicide. Because, sure, at this point, why not? While we’re at it, let’s also kill off Rios in the most slap-in-the-face out of character way possible and fling Jurati at the Borg for good measure just so she won’t be around for season 3. Her character development into the Borg Queen was pretty intriguing, but we’ll totally ignore that they even exist post her departure, just for funsies. Oh, and Soji and Elnor? Best not mention them at all come that third and final season. Otherwise, people might get the crazy notion that Picard already had a reason not to hunker down and die at the vinyard at the tender age of 104.

Season 3 picks up where season 2 leaves off in that Picard is now in that aforementioned romantic relationship with Laris. Except, no he isn’t because he immediately gets an emergency call from his ex and literally never sees or talks to Laris ever again. There wasn’t even a throw-away line or implied reference to her, but by now I’m sure you know the reason for that.

That’s right, folks. Because if we were allowed to remember Laris and what she meant to Picard, then we might just remember that other thing. Say it with me now!!

JACK CRUSHER WAS NEVER NECESSARY!!

In summary, there were so many brilliant options to give Picard for signficant found family dynamics, but the show just wasn’t interested in any of them. Season 3 wanted a Picard who had given it all up, who was ready to die because he’d never had a family to pass on his legacy. They wanted him at his lowest so that we’d all rejoice to see him return to the TNG crew. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive TNG fan and I could rave about the fan service and nostalgia porn for hours on end. If season 3 had stood alone as a singular unconnected event, it might even have been passable as a warm hug from old and beloved characters with some fun new spins to their stories along the way, juust so long as you didn’t squint too hard at the actual attempt at plot writing going on in the background.

But the fact of the matter is, Picard season 3 came far too late into the game. Season 1 held the building blocks to something new and interesting. By the end of season 2, it was becoming clear we were never going to see those blocks stand. By season 3, those blocks were just scattered headstones in a graveyard.

They teased us with the potential new show of Captain Seven and her Number One Raffi Musiker and that might have just been okay. . .

. . .If the La Sirena Crew had been allowed to be a part of that future.

In closing: Picard season 3? Too little, too late, mate. 👎🏻

[stellarred]

HAUNTED

"And tomorrow we can go to that small marketplace you like, Jean-Luc," said Laris pulling the covers over herself.

"For what?"

"You know, that herb bread you like so much, of course."

Picard pulled down the covers on his side of the bed and crawled in next to her.

"I'm sure Harvey can get the recipe and make it for us."

Laris shifted to prop herself up on an elbow.

"What's wrong?" she asked, placing a hand on Picard's shoulder.

"Nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?" Picard replied.

Laris shrugged.

"Well, you've seemed...distracted lately."

Picard furrowed his brow and sighed.

"Have I?"

"Yes."

"I don't know what to tell you. I'm fine."

Picard reached over and turned off the bedside table lamp. With a sigh, he lay his head down on the pillow. Laris lay her head down next to his, and turned her face to just faintly make out in the darkness, Picard staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

Picard grimaced in irritation.

"Nothing. That's the third time you've asked me that since dinner."

"I just...feel as though we're on different wave lengths, you and I. As if...there's something between us."

Picard rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I hardly see you anymore. You're so quiet at dinner. We haven't made love in months."

"Let it go, Laris," he thought.

"If you ever need to talk--"

"I will certainly let you know."

Without a word, Laris rolled over on her side away from him and yanked the covers over her.

Picard shook his head and rolled away from her to face towards the large bedroom window. He could see through the dark grey clouds inking across the night sky, stars twinkling overhead. He could hear the sound of branches rustling outside in the blustery night wind.

Picard loved nights such as these. The chilled air and howling winds usually soothed him into deep sleep, but tonight, they did not.

Tonight felt different. He'd been feeling sensations in his chest lately, almost like an anxiety. An unnamed sense of a need to find something. There was another sensation, too. Something almost anticipatory.

Picard clenched his eyes shut and exhaled sharply upon suddenly realizing that he had first felt this sensation a few days after Q had died.

He missed him. It was all so crazy to even contemplate for Picard.

After all, it was Q.

But, during the five seconds while Q cradled his face and gazed into his eyes, he saw himself lying down in the entity's arms feeling indescribable passion and pure love. For that brief moment as he saw Q penetrating deeply into both his body and mind, Picard saw endless possibilities of existence with him. He saw a glimpse of eternity bound as one with Q. A marriage.

For that fraction of a second, Q bared his very essence and his soul, for lack of a better word, to him.

"I have one more surprise in store," Q said.

What surprise could possibly match what Q had just shared with him?

While Picard felt tremendous gratitude to Q for Elnor, he realized that he also longed for more from Q.

Picard's eyes filled with tears.

"I was...I wanted him to know, to...give him more," he thought.

But even then, he held back. At that moment, a hug was all that he felt brave enough to give Q.

He still wasn't ready then.

He settled...

***A few hours later, Picard stirred awake. He knew that at most he'd dozed, but hadn't fully fallen asleep.

"I don't need this," he grumbled. Picard lifted his head to glance at the computer clock on his bedside table. It read as 3:10.

Rubbing his eyes, Picard rolled onto his back. He lay there staring at the ceiling.

He felt a sensation coursing through his body. It was a sense of needing to go somewhere.

Picard lifted his head and gazed at the closed bedroom door across from the foot of the bed. He suddenly thought, "I must go downstairs."

The feeling of needing to get out of bed and go downstairs tugged in his heart. It was a need to find something.

"Yes," Picard thought. "There's something I need to find. I must go--"

He caught his breath.

"Someone. Someone is watching."

Picard got up and threw on a robe. He opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

Picard held his breath. Apart from a ticking grandfather clock in an alcove and the howling wind outside, there was only silence.

Picard shivered and walked downstairs into his study.

His heart beginning to beat faster, he entered the room half expecting to find Q there.

Instead he was greeted only by shadows, moonlight peeking through long drapes, and a ticking clock on the mantle.

Picard closed his eyes and exhaled sharply.

"Why did I think he'd be here?" Picard thought.

A wave of melancholy washed over him as he sat down on the sofa.

His heart ached.

Picard turned and looked out the large window at the night sky.

Again, a strange feeling of being watched churned in his insides.

Picard suddenly realized that this was what he'd been feeling over the past two months that was distracting him.

Every time he dined with Laris, every time he strolled around the estate, every time he did anything, Picard felt this persistent sense of not being alone.

"Q," he whispered in the dark, "is it you?"

[starlight-edith]

Welcome to my blog!

About:

• Edith / Esther / אֶסְתֵּר

• 20 (10/04)

• Abrosexual & Abrogender but functionally cishet lol

• Physically disabled - cerebral palsy (prof dx)

• LDS but still also Jewish (it’s complicated)

• “Evil Zionist” but avoiding the war as much as possible for my own sanity

• Fandoms: Star Trek but only the ones up to Enterprise, the new ones can die (except Elnor my beloved), Stargate but not universe (need to rewatch that one I don’t remember anything about it), Redwall, The Wheel of Time

-

Boundaries:

• Hugs - Ask

• Flirting - Not unless you’re like super serious about it

• Petnames - No

• DMs - Be nice you heathens!! But sure

• Asks - Yes

• Tags - Yes (though I may not reply if it’s a tag game and I’m low on spoons.)

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Discord - starlight_edith

On the War:

My family lives in Israel. I love my family. They do not deserve to die. Most Israelis do not support Netanyahu unequivocally. I support a two state solution. I do not support the protests on college campuses as they are actively endangering not only Jewish students but everyone else too (at UNM they destroyed property, threatened and harassed innocent people, and committed public indecency. On other campuses they did all this AND were physically violent.) You do any of this stuff and the cause goes out the window. These protests are actively harming Palestinians by supporting Hamas and preventing peace.

[deepspacedukat]

Coitarche

I wish to issue a very sincere apology. I know that I had Elnor (ST:PIC) listed for this prompt, but I have been trying for several days, and I just can't seem to capture his voice. (Usually my fics are late because I'm rly bad at time management, but today, it's because he is Incredibly Difficult™ for me to write.) I know there are often small typos in my works despite my attempts to edit them out, but typos are one thing. Low-quality, shitty work is another beast entirely. I always go back and re-edit my works for typos/quick fixes, but I cannot in good conscience allow myself to put out work that makes me cringe as much as my attempts at writing Elnor have. I want to do right by you all, and as it stands currently, I refuse to curse your eyes with my horrendous failed attempts.

That being said: today's fic will feature my Romulan OC, Major Denak (mentioned in "Praetor's Pride" chapter 3). This fic is a side commentary to "Praetor's Pride," but you don't need to have read that first to understand this little drabble. I will, once I have had more time to find Elnor's voice in my writing, release a sort of "make-up fic" about him. I don't like not being able to deliver on something when I've given my word that I will. It probably won't come out until after the SoC challenge is over, but Elnor fans, I will learn your man's voice if I have to listen to clips of him for hours on end!

For anyone who is curious, "coitarche" is defined here. Anyway, enjoy!

Day 29: Loss Of Virginity

SoC prompt list here. SoC Masterlist here. Cross-posted to AO3 here.

~*~

Denak (OC) x Unnamed Romulan OFC, mention of Hiren (ST:Nemesis) x Reader (from "Praetor's Pride")

[A/N: This is smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Mild angst, lost love, arranged marriages, sexual memories, sexual dreams, loss of virginity, mention of masturbation, woman on top, biting.

(Picrew used to make ^this^ can be found here.)

~*~

"Why are you alone after all this time, Major Denak?" The calm, curious voice of Praetor Hiren called out from the balcony railing, and the man in question lifted an eyebrow.

"Sir?" Denak was far from the only guard on duty tonight, but when the Praetor took his nightly walk around the grounds, he preferred that he only have one guard with him. The palace was safe enough, he claimed, and he didn't enjoy feeling as though he was a child who required a large escort even in his own home.

"I have seen many of my guards with their partners, or I've at minimum heard them discussing their various conquests, but you..." Hiren trailed off, pausing as he turned to face the youngest member of his Rei’karansu. "Have you no romantic prospects?"

Denak knew precisely why Hiren was so curious. The pretty Federation Ambassador whom the Praetor had been chatting with tonight had put him in a good mood - a better one than he'd been in since his official appointment.

"None at present, my lord Praetor." The older man seemed disappointed, so, not wishing to sour his mood, Denak allowed a memory to tug at him. "However, there was someone several years ago."

The guard noted a small smile upon the other man's lips, and he continued.

"She was the first woman I ever truly loved. I dare not reveal her identity, though. She is a nobleman's wife, now, and I doubt she would appreciate her name being associated with that of a mere guard," he murmured taking a few steps closer to the Praetor's position and gazing out across the palace gardens. "She was sweet...just as inexperienced and nervous as I was."

Denak could recall every moment he'd spent with her in perfect detail. She'd been carved into his heart as deeply as only a first love ever could. They'd both been so overcome by their passions that despite the awkwardness that was invariably present in a first sexual encounter, both Denak and his lover had overcome their nerves and enjoyed themselves immensely.

"Ah, young love. There is nothing else quite like it in this universe," Hiren muttered as he leaned against the railing. "Were you together long?"

The Major let out a quiet, wistful sigh.

"Five years. Longer than I deserved, but...not nearly long enough," he stated, trying not to sound too much like he was pouting. "Her family arranged her betrothal, and she was forced to break off our relationship. From what I understand, her husband treats her well, but...I can't help but wonder what might have happened if...well..."

He couldn't put into words the thoughts he'd mulled over so often in the dark solitude of his empty bed over the years.

What if she'd chosen to ignore her family's wishes? What if she'd chosen him instead? What if Denak had been her husband instead of that stuffy dignitary?

He knew it was no use dwelling on hypothetical situations, but he still had moments where he couldn't control that nagging little voice in his head.

As the years passed, his feelings for her had dimmed, as was expected, but there were still lonely nights in which his dreams featured the ghost of her lips on his neck and awoke with the sensation of her fingers gripping his shoulders as she rode him. He'd take his length in hand and allow the memories to burn through him until he spilled over his stomach.

Denak still remembered the adoration in her eyes when he brought her to orgasm for the first time. She'd been his first in every respect, just as he had been hers. Elements, she was the reason he knew he enjoyed having his ears bitten!

"I have been with others since her, but none to whom I've formed a serious connection," the Major said, and Hiren nodded his head.

"I know what you mean. I've had a few encounters since my wife passed, but all of them were casual. We all need release, but...being open with someone...being truly committed after a love like that...it's difficult," the Praetor commiserated before turning to look at his guard. "I suppose we're both waiting for the one who will pick up the pieces, aren't we?"

"Yes, my lord Praetor," Denak replied dutifully, but given the sparkle in the older man's eyes, he suspected that one of them had already found what he was looking for.

~*~*~

Taglist:

@akamitrani @android-boyfriends @attention-bajoranworkers @bigblissandlove1 @darkmattervibes @emilie786 @horta-in-charge @live-logs-and-proper @slutty-slutty-vulcans @starrynightgardens @toebeans-mcgee

[ofsmokenandgold]

Star Trek and Families

I'm rewatching Picard again, and I noticed something that has always slightly disturbed me about all the incarnations of Star Trek. For a technologically advanced society, the Federation seems to have a very low life expectancy. What do I mean by that? Surprisingly few of our main characters have surviving family members that aren't on their respective ships/stations.

I understand that "found family" or "chosen family" has always been an important theme in Star Trek, but if you do that by regularly killing off parents/grandparents/siblings then you give a lie to the idea that this is a better society.

Take ST:Picard as an example:

Picard himself - for the vast majority of his Starfleet career he has minimal to no meaningful family relationships. They even kill off his brother and nephew, in a particularly horrible way, to emphasize that he is alone, with only his crew as family. His parents and grandparents are all dead. We know how his mother died - but his Dad? During TNG, if we assume Picard was in his mid-40s then his father would probably have been in his mid-80s to 90s at the most.

Raffi - no meaningful family connections, other than an ex husband and an estranged son - no parents, no grandparents, no siblings.

Seven - no siblings, dead parents, no mention of grandparents

Agnes - no siblings, no parents, no grandparents. At least none that seem to hold any tie for her.

Rios - absent father, dead mother, no siblings, no grandparents - he outright says in S1 that he has no family.

Elnor - fair enough, he was born into chaos in the Romulan evacuation.

Beverly Crusher - dead husband, dead parents, dead grandparents, no siblings, one estranged son and one son that she is close to

Riker - no siblings (no Tom doesn't count); mother dead when he was very young; father now also dead, no grandparents; only gets a wife and children of his own after the main series is over and even then, one child is dead.

Troi - father dies sometime during TNG, only sibling died before she was born; no mention of grandparents.

Strange New Worlds is doing the same thing, Uhura's immediate family all died in a shuttle crash, Pike's father is dead, even though he would have been barely older than middle aged by 24th century standards.

I could continue but you get the point.

Life expectancy is strongly hinted to be around 120 by the time of TNG; so there should be surviving parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, for all of these people; even if they are all only children.

Again, I know this ties into the idea of found family, but it bothers me because in some ways it seems like the writers are just writing 20th (and early 21st) century family relationships, where you wouldn't necessarily expect an adult to have living parents or grandparents and ignoring that life expectancy will have changed 200-300 years from now. And it will change, even if we have an upper limit to the human body - more people will be reaching that limit as we deal with things like cancer more effectively.

Anyway, just rambling...

[the-qalankhais-sweetheart]

CatBoyElim here! I’m really honestly curious about your opinions of Mátalas! I dont think I’ve really seen anything bad from him in the last Picard season, and the actors just absolutely go ga-ga talking about him (Gates had him on her podcast too), but of course I am so open to hear what everyone else sees! Anything can happen and change too, like with everyone spilling things about Berman after their shows were over.

So my biggest issues with Matalas stem from two major things:

1) his claims that they just didn't have the money to keep and pay "any other new characters" aside from Raffi in order to bring in the TNG actors for Season 3, yet somehow magically had the money to make new young crew members and Shaw and Jack and bring in those actors, and many of them (though admittedly not all) were generally of the white persuasion whereas aside from Allison Pill, the rest of the Motley Crew actors were either Latin or AAPI (not counting Michelle Hurd, who is Black but was included). It looks kind of fishy. Perhaps he just dreamed too big; perhaps he honestly overshot and had to cut back. But it seems hella fishy.

2) how he takes criticism from fans online, specifically femmes and/or LGBTQIA folks. He tends to respond with a snarky remark, if that, and then blocks them. No real dialogue, and tends to post memes saying "build up what you love instead of tearing down what you hate", while still rubbing elbows with more TrekBro/RLM types who shit on most NuTrek and criticize the newer characters and storylines as being "woke" . It's eyebrow-raising how easy it is to get blocked by him, according to many accounts I have followed and even friends of mine. Not to accuse, and perhaps he is indeed a fine dude who's just getting used to being in the spotlight, but it's kind of reminiscent of Joss Whedon and how he interacted with fans - and as a Browncoat who is well aware of what that looked like and what Whedon turned out to be....it is cause for concern.

I also just really don't like his storylines, his new characters, how he handled the concept of Picard having a child (to his credit, he did initially think of it being Vash and it was Sir Patrick Stewart who suggested it would be more likely for it to have been Beverly Crusher as the mother, but the storyline still seems so awkwardly shoehorned in and doesn't make a ton of sense to me), and his choice to yeet the characters of Rios, Elnor, Soji, and Agnes in favor of, well, having a TNG reunion + making a bigot like Shaw and, well, making Jack.

I have a bunch of reasons I don't like Jack, but that's another post.

I hope this helps! Thanks for the ask! 😁

[raffaelamusiker]

seven of nine

(send me a character)

First impression: I was so very confused by her character because I watched Picard before Voyager 😂 so I literally knew nothing about her beforehand. Got excited about the gay though.

Impression now: Sweet baby <3 Commander mom <3 Deserves to live a peaceful and untraumatic life. Deserves more than Starfleet. Literally just leave her alone omg.

Favourite moment: I’ll just stick with a Picard moment but when she connects with the cube and also her and Elnor’s hug.

Idea for a story: So many Voyager polycule ideas!!

Unpopular opinion: People need to stop infantilising her on Voyager.

Favourite relationship: Again does it need to be said? Platonically it would have to be with either Naomi or Elnor.

Favourite headcanon: That she has a Raffi file in her head where she stores all her information about her in one place.

[tuesdayisfordancing]

Watched about half of 3.4, here are my thoughts only on Jack Jr.:

I really liked the little silent exchange between Beverly and her son where she checks if he’s okay with her leaving him with Picard. The more mature iteration of last episode’s exchange when Picard wanted to talk to her privately. I’m wildly biased but I honestly think these two are playing REALLY well off each other! They’re very physically communicative and protective (reminiscent of some scenes with Wesley also). But let me see them work together more, stop sending one off to solve problems while the other has a Meaningful Talk with Picard. The little glimpse of her quietly analyzing stuff while he muses out loud was interesting! I want more!

Jack’s full body ‘ehhh’ when walking into the holodeck was also great but he is being way too cooperative. Thank god he is still being a little bitchy, but take it up by several notches please. That being said I liked the various awkward moments.

I guess explaining why the holodeck doesn’t cost them needed power is better than not explaining it, as has happened a number of times on other Trek shows, but like. You could simply have not had this scene take place in the holodeck!!! The thematic resonances you are trying to create by doing this are completely unnecessary and honestly the whole “fraught attempt at bonding/conciliation under the shadow of death” vibe would be way better served by being elsewhere. (I do like that Jack is a bit wigged by it though.)

I have VERY mixed feelings about Jack’s “I’m a Cool Brooding Loner” speech like. Okay FIRST the framing of it as “I’ve been alone - except my mom” with her as like an afterthought does NOT fit the relationship as it’s been presented up til now, and like given everything else about how motherhood, fatherhood, the Family Unit, has been treated in this show it adds to a SUPER icky normative family-values THING that I was not expecting to be this bad in Star Trek. It would fit much better with what’s been presented so far for Jack to say WE’VE only ever needed the two of us, WE’VE always been on the outside that’s how I grew up and how I’m content to be… you could have him switch a little awkwardly to speaking just of himself bc he’s not sure his mother wouldn’t be happier on the inside like she used to be, that would be cool. (Or aggressively continue to speak of them both out of defensiveness against that suspicion!) I HATE that part, I really hate it. I would be much more generous if all this ICK weren’t already present, but it is, so I’m not.

But I do at least love the implication that Jack’s daddy issues aren’t really directed at Picard so much as at All Of Starfleet, thank you that’s one of the things I was strongly hoping for, and it makes a lot of sense where he’s grown up under all these mysterious shadows that his mother doesn’t talk about, from Wesley to the Enterprise crew to his namesake.

…when Picard said perhaps he needed the moment, like a complete fool I had the thought that he might talk about Elnor. I knew he wouldn’t, of course I knew he wouldn’t, but I had the thought anyway. SIGHHHHH.

I am paused to do other things just as they’re about to talk about Jack Crusher (Sr), and I am both excited and trepidatious.

[supernovaa-remnant]

SO I FINISHED THE SECOND SEASON OF STAR TREK PICARD YESTERDAY AND I ACTUALLY REALLY ENJOYED IT

(gonna ramble abt it under the cut)

FIRST AND FOREMOST: ELNOR!!! HE CAME BACK!!! I don't even care if some people think it's bad writing or not because I'm just happy he's alive again <3

Putting the pieces of the puzzle together was really really fun for me. The way everything had to happen because the catalyst was a direct consequence of the changes they made in the 21st century was sooooo fun oughhhh I love time travel I really really do.

There were a few continuity errors in the season that peeved me a bit, but I was able to look past them.

The Dr Jurati/Borg Queen entity is really really cool to me because it was already established that something was different about the Borg Queen from the first episode season 2, and then we got to actually see how and why that Borg Queen was like that.

Q—I will not pretend to ever understand his reasons for doing anything, but he did really fascinate me as a character.

All of Picard's backstory?? I think they did that in a really really cool way—from the start, the flashes almost seem like something out of a horror movie. Then we get the fantastical retelling. And slowly, over the course of the season, we see what really happens. It was a good way to show how children (and people in general tbh) cope and reason with traumatic events and how the brain forgets information to protect, and I think the psychology behind it is all super interesting.

Seven and Raffi? I really appreciate how messy they are. I love how both Raffi and Seven had things they had to work through with themselves and their own fears, and even though it may not have been always easy, they still wanted to try. I just think it's really important that Queer representation also includes messy relationships and isn't always something clean and palatable.

Idk anything about how the wider community feels about this series, but I, for one, have been having a blast.

[ssaalexblake]

there isn’t a power in the world that’d get me to rewatch s3 of stp but i Swear I do in fact remember Jack being shoved in the brig bc he did a murder. Like, i mean, he was not convicted or anything but he was implicated and was going to be put on trial for this among other, smaller, crimes. I’m sure I didn’t make that up. He got out of the brig by trickery (though, he did do so to save the crew of the titan which is honourable, i’ll give him that). 

And while the show Has had more than one member of the cast commit murder, so that isn’t exactly a moral judgement against him narratively even if he did kill somebody, the show has Also generally made a vague effort to portray a justice system. Agnes was cleared of murder charges because of that mind meld, proving that Yes, some kind of justice system is in action here. 

Seven committed murder. Two, in fact. On screen. But the only person she told was Rios and he’s evidently not a snitch. Seven has not been put on trial because, frankly, she’s apparently just better at murder. 

Elnor also had that head lopping off thing going on. I doubt Starfleet has record of this considering where it happened. Also arguments of self-defence may apply. I don’t remember exactly though, I didn’t like that episode (the exposition eps in serials Usually suck and that did not break trend imo). 

So like... Did starfleet just decide to ignore that murder when all this chaos blew over? Was the murder a non issue? I mean it’s not like we can Add contextually to this him controlling crew members against their will to Knowingly cart his ass off to the borg queen which resulted in All That Death and Destruction and Trauma as well, which you’d think would result in Some consequences. Even if the consequences were a psych eval to determine his culpability. Even if they decided he was Not culpable, it would still have been a consequence of all this. 

What i’m saying basically is that it canonically took Agnes a year to get off a murder charge due to somebody messing with her brain in Significantly less complicated circumstances than Mr. Borg Jr who Also had a murder charge against him. 

Yet in a year He’s apparently been fast tracked through the academy that Should take years, only to be assigned to the flag ship, and be sat on a chair on the bridge as a Special Councillor. 

I’ve not been this mad at white man bullshit in scifi since that fuckawful ad astra film where the protag commits muder in space bc he’s such a sad sad man and poor Him and goes back home scott free and then Gets The Girl as a reward. 

I’m not even saying that Jack necessarily Would have been found culpable, it’s canon that people screwing with your brain Is a legal defence in this time bc we saw it with Agnes, and he quite obviously had weird things going on inside his head far out of his control making him act in ways he wouldn’t have done had it not happened, but it’s also canon that the system takes time in Far less complicated situations. 

It also adds insult to injury that even if all the above wasn’t an issue, what happened at the end would Still be a travesty of nepotism and white man self insert characters. But it makes it So So So much worse in context. 

[twilighttrekkie]

Hi All!!

Hey guys, I'm Twilight Trekkie! (Thought I'd go with an old YT username for nostalgia's sake) Though you can just call me Dri! As is probably obvious, I am a huge fan of all things Star Trek! My favorite series from the franchise are TOS, TNG, and Picard; my favorite characters are Spock, Data, Elnor, and Captain Shaw; I am also a proud TNG Mark Twain hater. Some of my other favorite shows are Gravity Falls, The Owl House, Teen Titans (2003), and TMNT (1987)! Some of my favorite games are LOZ: The Minish Cap, Splatoon 2&3, Undertale, Deltarune, Shredder's Revenge, SA2, HM: Animal Parade, and Animal Crossing (GCN)! Oh yeah I'm also an artist/animator working an amateur cartoon (animating solo) but my tablet's currently broken so I may not post much new art for a while. (I will probably post some old stuff that I still like though)

[marymoss1971]

Random thoughts Picard 3.9 "Vox"

One more ep left--we're almost there, people!!

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Wow. That was a lot. At least we have Discovery in the 32nd century to assure us that Starfleet survived!

No! Shaw! I'd been mentally preparing myself since I had a feeling he was going to die. I mean, if we get Star Trek: Legacy, I think people would  want to see it with Seven in command. But I’m going to miss Shaw so much. Him, in his dying breath, giving the conn to Seven and actually using her name. That was so beautiful.

(BTW, I've written a fic for May that's going to have to be AU now. Being AU actually gave me a stronger ending, but I still wish Shaw was still with us)

The red door revelation--I kept seeing the Borg theory but discounted it as unlikely. But I was wrong. While the secrecy reveal was totally scary, I'm still confused. So, the Borg planted something in Locutus's DNA so that he'd essentially sire a child who'd become a Borg mouthpiece? That's an awful long con--plus what if Picard never procreated? But let's set that aside since maybe that wasn't intended. However, I'm confused about the transporter contamination. It seems like the transporter system automatically logged Picard contaminated DNA. Somehow the evolved Changelings discovered this and used it to destroy Starfleet? That seems like a stretch but I guess we'll go with it.

Speaking of which, I hope all the young Starfleet officers who were assimilated end up okay. (BTW, if anyone's wondering about Elnor, Terry Matalas told us that he wasn't on the Excelesor. So, that's some good news. Doesn't completely mean his safe. Me, I was worried about Miral Paris but someone theorized on Twitter that since Klingons mature quicker than humans, Miral's parietal lobe may be fully formed already)

Shelby! FLEET ADMIRAL SHELBY! I knew we were getting a cameo and had theories. But I never guessed it be her, since at this point, I thought it'd be a larger character. It was awesome seeing her even though she was taken away so soon.

It was nice seeing the Enterprise D again. I don't get as nostalgic about stuff like that the way other viewers do, but it was nice moment and it did resonate with me a lot more after my second viewing.

It was a good episode, though I'd say the weakest of the season. It's not becauses of the fan service because I absolutely LOVE fan service. However, I also want the plot to make sense. Unfortunately, this plot did not come together coherently. It wasn't nearly as bad as Season 2 but it wasn't as strong as I'd hoped.

PS--I'm normally a "what happens in canon stays in canon" type of person. But I would not be opposed to someone doing a "fix it" fic that has Shaw somehow surviving and retiring on Risa.