#invisible thread

[musical-theatre-encyclopedia]

Watch "INVISIBLE THREAD Music Video" on YouTube

❤💛💚💙💜😍😘😻💖💕Valentine's Day Playlist😽💝🌹😙💋💌💓💞💘😚

[spocks-kaathyra]

experimenting w making little trek dolls for the STLV craft swap :))

[edenfenixblogs]

More of this

שלום

[little-pondhead]

I’m Not The Sun

—

Y'know, when Kon ‘died’, do you think a grieving Tim could have mistaken Danny for his best friend? Do you think that, in a moment of desperation and exhaustion, he might've kidnapped a floating Danny in an attempt to bring Kon home? And when he realized he kidnapped a random civilian, do you think he still kept Danny for a while as a replacement for Kon?

Do you think Danny got tired of being called 'Conner' after the first week but was too distressed himself to correct Tim? Trying to leave or tell the fellow teen his name was Danny was obviously sending the kid into a spiral. He seemed to think Danny was the dead spirit of his best friend. Maybe if he played along, this Conner guy would show back up?

Hopefully, before Tim completes his cloning research. Danny's been doing everything he can to sabotage the equipment, but even with ghost powers on his side, Tim is a smart person. Every time Danny sets him back one step, Tim takes two steps forward. And since he's well outside of his haunt, Danny is starting to feel weak and ill from lack of ectoplasm. He's running out of time.

Do you think Kon would feel upset that his best friend replaced him?

[amid-fandoms]

dnp will either hard launch on october 19th this year, or never

[haganez]

making a skirt. poorly

[slitheringghost]

“When Lily Cast Her Life As A Shield”: Analysis of the Shield Charm

Some busily burnished the aegis Athena wears in her angry moods—a fearsome thing with a surface of gold like scaly snake-skin, and the linked serpents and the Gorgon herself upon the goddess's breast—a severed head rolling its eyes (Virgil, Aeneid)

The recurring use of the word “shield”, the Shield Charm (Protego), and the Invisibility Cloak are all a reference to the Aegis, which Zeus god of lightning lent his daughter Athena in battle ("daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus"), in some variations of myth depicted as a shield or breastplate and in others a cloak; it's described as producing "a sound as from myriad roaring dragons" and often features Medusa's head whose gaze turns people to stone (like a basilisk, like Lily and Harry's killer green eyes).

JKR also predictably incorporates it in misogynistic ways to indicate "ideal" vs. "warped" motherhood - i.e. "Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley", "Umbridge gave a little scream and pushed him in front of her like a shield", Narcissa in DH "her lips were an inch from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers", the German family LV kills "She screamed. Two young children came running into the hall. She tried to shield them with her arms.", etc.

But much more interestingly, it shows up across the narrative in several dynamics.

I. Voldemort, Harry, and Lily

The word “shield” is repeatedly used for Lily’s sacrificial magic/deflection of the Killing Curse (for elaboration on how Priori Incantatem is related to Lily’s magic, see this meta):

Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so that he could kill Harry… how she had begged him to kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her son... and so Voldemort had murdered her too, before turning his wand on Harry (Ch 14, GoF) [...] the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died — but the shadowy figures of Voldemort’s victims did not disappear — they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his gaze (Ch 34, GoF) “Your mother’s sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you” (Ch 37, OoTP) The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glare like lightning rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut... He could hear her screaming from the upper floor, trapped, but as long as she was sensible, she, at least, had nothing to fear [...] [...] and there she stood, the child in her arms. At the sight of him, she dropped her son into the crib behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be chosen instead (Ch 17, DH) Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole (Ch 33, DH)

Note that in the last quote, Dumbledore doesn't say that Lily "died to save" Harry - he instead uses active phrasing, and very similar to the phrasing he uses for the death of Ariana ("It was the truth I feared. You see, I never knew which of us, in that last, horrific fight, had actually cast the curse that killed my sister.")

Despite it being James's Cloak, it's textually linked to Lily in DH, as Death's Invisibility Cloak (and Lily and Harry both implied as the “true owners”, as the conquerors of death - see my meta Unweaving Canon Lily: Master of Death) and also representative of the Aegis. Harry received Death’s Invisibility Cloak the same day he first found the Mirror of Erised - on Christmas Day - in which the text focuses on Lily (Harry’s true reflection - “his deepest nature is more like his mother’s”), and in front of which Lily’s blood magic saves Harry from death.

Christmas is also when we finally see the full memory of Lily’s murder/vanquishment of LV in DH (“he screamed with rage, a scream that mingled with the girl’s, that echoed across the dark gardens over the church bells ringing in Christmas Day”) and the Invisibility Cloak is mentioned in Lily’s letter, part of what leads Harry on the trail of the Hallows.

“Both of us could conceal ourselves well enough without the Cloak, the true magic of which, of course, is that it can be used to protect and shield others as well as its owner. I thought that, if we ever found it, it might be useful in hiding Ariana [...] (Ch 35, DH) “But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.’” (Ch 21, DH)

Lily is aegis-bearing Zeus (and the third brother, and Death himself), passing down her shield and her cloak - Death’s cloak - to her son.

Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry cast a Shield Charm between Neville and Voldemort before the latter could raise his wand. Still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry was buffeted into the entrance hall: He was searching for Voldemort and saw him across the room [...] still screaming instructions to his followers as he sent curses flying [...] Harry cast more Shield Charms, and Voldemort’s would-be victims, Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott, darted past him he saw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as Voldemort’s fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb. Voldemort raised his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley. “Protego!” roared Harry, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Hall, and Voldemort stared around for the source as Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak at last. “Potter doesn’t mean that,” he said, his red eyes wide. “That isn’t how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?” “I’ve done what my mother did. They’re protected from you. Haven’t you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can’t torture them. You can’t touch them.” (Ch 36, DH)

Another allusion is when Harry finds Tom Riddle's name on the Award for Special Services shield, this quote right after the passage when Harry thinks of Riddle as "a friend he'd had when he was very small", establishing the dynamic as familial (and the shield first mentioned by Ron, right after which Harry points out T.M. Riddle must've been Muggleborn - like Lily):

Riddle's burnished gold shield was tucked away in a corner cabinet. (CoS)

Note how "burnished gold" matches the description of the Aegis in the first Aeneid quote. Shields are mentioned in relation to the founders, as LV's replacement parental figures, by Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, and LV mentioning Slytherin's shield:

Harry’s wandlight passed over shields and goblin-made helmets [...] higher and higher he raised the beam, until suddenly it found an object that made his heart skip and his hand tremble. “It’s there, it’s up there!” Ron and Hermione pointed their wands at it too, so that the little golden cup sparkled in a three-way spotlight: the cup that had belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, which had passed into the possession of Hepzibah Smith, from whom it had been stolen by Tom Riddle. (Ch 26, DH) all around them the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a sparkling necklace, and an old, discolored tiara — (Ch 31, DH) “There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won’t they, Neville Longbottom?” (Ch 36, DH)

Then there’s Voldemort in the DoM battle - which is likely meant to indicate LV having a weak shield game; realistically though, he can do an excellent Shield Charm, but his conjured Shield is weak, because, well, Dumbledore was his Transfiguration teacher:

Dumbledore flicked his own wand. The force of the spell that emanated from it was such that Harry, though shielded by his stone guard, felt his hair stand on end as it passed, and this time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gonglike note reverberated from it, an oddly chilling sound... “You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?” called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. “Above such brutality, are you?” “We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,” Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world [...] “Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit —” “There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!” snarled Voldemort. (Ch 36, OoTP)

This conversation between Dumbledore and LV happening in tandem with the shield mention is significant, because Lily deflecting the Killing Curse landed LV in a state of suffering that the series intends us to read as "worse than death": the despair caused by the dementors (grief, trauma, abuse, isolation, imprisonment, helplessness, etc.), and LV was trapped alone in Albania in that state, in his own personal "Azkaban" - which is also the state LV inflicts on his victims, the "other way of destroying someone" (of course, a result of the horcruxes and not Lily's intent - unlike Dumbledore, merely killing LV would've satisfied her).

II. The Golden Trio

In PoA, Ron gets his willow wand - the same wand wood as Lily - and embodies Lily in the Shrieking Shack by physically shielding Harry and echoes her last words disobeying Voldemort's orders to stand aside ("Take me, kill me instead"):

Ron, however, spoke to Black. “If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us too!” he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more color, and he swayed slightly as he spoke. Something flickered in Black’s shadowed eyes. “Lie down,” he said quietly to Ron. “You will damage that leg even more.” “Did you hear me?” Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. “You’ll have to kill all three of us!” (PoA)

Hermione’s the one to teach Harry the Shield Charm while training him for the Triwizard Tournament, which Harry then teaches the whole DA (Neville, the other Chosen One, mastering the Charm faster than anyone other than Hermione), which permeates throughout the wizarding world via the Weasley twins’ Shield line (the narrative significance of this and how Hermione starts performing the part of Lily elaborated further in my meta Hermione As Teacher and Connections To Lily). Then we have the trio in DH:

“It’s all right for you two, isn’t it, with your parents safely out of the way —” “My parents are dead!” Harry bellowed. “And mine could be going the same way!” yelled Ron. “Then GO!” roared Harry. “Go back to them, pretend you’ve got over your spattergroit and Mummy’ll be able to feed you up and —” Ron made a sudden movement: Harry reacted, but before either wand was clear of its owner’s pocket, Hermione had raised her own. “Protego!” she cried, and an invisible shield expanded between her and Harry on the one side and Ron on the other; all of them were forced backward a few steps by the strength of the spell, and Harry and Ron glared from either side of the transparent barrier as though they were seeing each other clearly for the first time. Harry felt a corrosive hatred toward Ron: Something had broken between them. (DH)

We see the memory of Lily's death in the center of these two instances of the Shield Charm - and Lily echoes Hermione, throwing herself as a shield in between the two "brothers" Voldemort and Harry, with the fight between Harry and Ron echoing that dynamic, while Harry then follows in both Hermione and Lily's footsteps when it's Ron and Hermione fighting:

“You — complete — arse — Ronald — Weasley!” She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced. “You — crawl — back — here — after — weeks — and — weeks — oh, where’s my wand?” She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of Harry’s hands and he reacted instinctively. “Protego!” The invisible shield erupted between Ron and Hermione: The force of it knocked her backward onto the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she leapt up again. “Hermione!” said Harry. “Calm —” (DH)

There's also Harry throwing himself between Sirius and Snape like Lily does in SWM, and between Ron and Ginny fighting and drawing wands on each other in HBP, and Percy "shielding Fred's body from further harm" in DH.

III. Snape, Harry, and Lily

Chapters before this, Snape saw Lily in the Mirror of Erised through Harry's memories ("His father and mother were waving at him out of an enchanted mirror"), and when Harry performs the Shield Charm, he then glimpses Lily in Snape’s memory for the first time:

He raised his wand. “One — two — three — Legilimens!” A hundred dementors were swooping toward Harry across the lake in the grounds... He screwed up his face in concentration... They were coming closer... He could see the dark holes beneath their hoods... yet he could also see Snape standing in front of him, his eyes fixed upon Harry’s face, muttering under his breath... And somehow, Snape was growing clearer, and the dementors were growing fainter... Harry raised his own wand. “Protego!” Snape staggered; his wand flew upward, away from Harry — and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming with memories that were not his — a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner... A greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies... A girl was laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick — (OoTP)

The wording here evokes the idea that Snape is like a patronus, driving the dementors away from Harry (a patronus described as “a kind of anti-dementor - a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor”), foreshadowing the appearance of the doe patronus in DH.

(Later in OoTP, similar wording is used for Snape as for Lily - lilies called the "white-robed apostles of hope" - "A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope" when Harry first finds the Mirror of the Erised // "He closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving Harry in a state of worse turmoil than before: Snape had been his very last hope." // “'while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort’s one last hope for himself.'”)

“Well, Potter... that was certainly an improvement...” Panting slightly, Snape straightened the Pensieve in which he had again stored some of his thoughts before starting the lesson, almost as though checking that they were still there. “I don’t remember telling you to use a Shield Charm... but there is no doubt that it was effective...” (OoTP)

Then a paranoid Snape checks the Pensieve, where he's stored his memories of Lily, because of Harry managing to glimpse her in Snape's head.

He turned his wand on Harry so fast that Harry reacted instinctively; all thought of nonverbal spells forgotten, he yelled, “Protego!” His Shield Charm was so strong Snape was knocked off-balance and hit a desk. [...] “There’s no need to call me ‘sir,’ Professor.” The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying [...] “Detention, Saturday night, my office,” said Snape. “I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter... not even ‘the Chosen One.’” (HBP)

Chapters earlier in HBP, we were told that Lily gave "cheeky answers" to another Head of Slytherin house, and it’s right after Harry uses the Shield Charm that Harry mirrors Lily in his sarcastic answer to Snape - and right after that, Hermione points out how Harry mirrors Snape ("I thought he sounded a bit like you"). Then, Snape in the final battle:

Snape looked into her eyes. “Have you seen Harry Potter, Minerva? Because if you have, I must insist —” Professor McGonagall moved faster than Harry could have believed: Her wand slashed through the air and for a split second Harry thought that Snape must crumple, unconscious, but the swiftness of his Shield Charm was such that McGonagall was thrown off balance. (Ch 30, DH)

This is also the scene Snape uses the suit of armor implied to be the one by the door where Harry first found the Mirror of Erised, and then flies unsupported, like Lily:

[…] Harry spotted the suit of armor. "It's here - just here - yes!" They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the Cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror. There they were. His mother and father beamed at the sight of him. (PS) From behind a suit of armor stepped Severus Snape. [...] Snape avoided them only by forcing the suit of armor in front of him, and with echoing clangs the daggers sank, one after another, into its breast — [...] Flitwick’s spell hit the suit of armor behind which Snape had taken shelter: With a clatter it came to life. Snape struggled free of the crushing arms and sent it flying back toward his attackers: Harry and Luna had to dive sideways to avoid it as it smashed into the wall and shattered. When Harry looked up again, Snape was in full flight (DH)

IV. Sirius, Bellatrix, and Harry

In the DoM battle, these three mirror each other (and Harry and Bellatrix also mirror LV):

The words were hardly out of his mouth when the female Death Eater shrieked, “Accio Proph —” Harry was just ready for her. He shouted “Protego!” before she had finished her spell, and though the glass sphere slipped to the tips of his fingers he managed to cling on to it. “Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter,” she said, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood. (OoTP)

He made the same slashing movement with his wand that he had used on Hermione just as Harry yelled, “Protego!” Harry felt something streak across his face like a blunt knife but the force of it knocked him sideways, and he fell over Neville’s jerking legs, but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the spell. Dolohov raised his wand again. “Accio Proph —” Sirius hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder, and sent him flying out of the way. The prophecy had again flown to the tips of Harry’s fingers but he had managed to cling to it. Now Sirius and Dolohov were dueling, their wands flashing like swords [...] (OoTP)

“Potter, you cannot win against me!” she cried [...] He backed around the statue away from her, crouching behind the centaur’s legs, his head level with the house-elf’s. “I was and am the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant, I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete —” “Stupefy!” yelled Harry. He had edged right around to where the goblin stood beaming up at the now headless wizard and taken aim at her back as she peered around the fountain for him. She reacted so fast he barely had time to duck. “Protego!” The jet of red light, his own Stunning Spell, bounced back at him. (OoTP)

Sirius reflects Harry at the same moment Harry next performs the Shield Charm, "shielding" Harry physically with his body. Bellatrix echoes this after Sirius's death, when right after gloating about her Dark Arts lessons from Voldemort, Bellatrix doesn’t use a powerful Dark curse - she uses the Shield Charm, the spell she witnessed Harry using earlier. This mirroring also occurs in the “mad laughter”:

“Laughed,” said Stan. “Jus’ stood there an’ laughed. An’ when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, ’e went wiv ’em quiet as anyfink, still laughing ’is ’ead off. ’Cos ’e’s mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?” (PoA) “Get it himself?” shrieked Bellatrix on a cackle of mad laughter. “The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?” (OoTP) Only one couple were still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix’s jet of red light: He was laughing at her. “Come on, you can do better than that!” he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room. The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock. (OoTP) “Potter, I am going to give you one chance!” shouted Bellatrix. “Give me the prophecy — roll it out toward me now — and I may spare your life!” “Well, you’re going to have to kill me, because it’s gone!” Harry roared — and as he shouted it, pain seared across his forehead [...]And he knows!” said Harry with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix’s own. “Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it’s gone! He’s not going to be happy with you, is he?” (OoTP)

And the other instance Harry laughing madly in OoTP is when he's feeling LV's happiness at Bellatrix escaping Azkaban (and Bellatrix's scream when Sirius dies is echoed by her scream when Voldemort momentarily disappears):

Maniacal laughter was ringing in his ears... He was happier than he had been in a very long time... Jubilant, ecstatic, triumphant... A wonderful, wonderful thing had happened... “Harry? HARRY!” Someone had hit him around the face. The insane laughter was punctuated with a cry of pain. The happiness was draining out of him, but the laughter continued... He opened his eyes and as he did so, he became aware that the wild laughter was coming out of his own mouth [...] [...] “He’s really happy... really happy [...] Something good’s happened [...] Something he’s been hoping for.” (OoTP)

[clockworkbee]

I've loved so many books by V. E. Schwab (adsom, tftop, villains, monsters of verity) that sometimes, I have this strong urge to re-read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (because it was my first book by the author and I hated it despite loving the writing, premise, and vibes/aesthetic), thinking I might love it now, but then my brain goes ‘what if you despise it even more?’ and of course, all urges go *poof* 💀

[antaripirate]

i will not apologise for the person i will become when we get these. i will be going FERAL for every.single.one.

[beargyufairy]

Invisible String Theory - NaLu

“All along there was some invisible string tying you to me” - Invisible String (Taylor Swift)

“One single thread of gold tied me to you” - Invisible String (Taylor Swift)

Part 2: Natsu’s Beloved Scarf

Every Fairy Tail knows how much Natsu cherishes the scarf given to him by Igneel. It is his last physical connection to his beloved father. He is rarely seen without it. He was very upset when Zeref’s attacked caused the scarf to become black after protecting him. He loves the scarf beyond measure.

The scarf is made from Igneel’s fallen dragon scales (turning from red to white). While Natsu never gave much thought to how the scarf was made, it is obvious that Igneel can’t make a scarf for a human (being a huge dragon and all). Anna Heartfilia - celestial mage, teacher to the dragon slayers, and ancestor of Lucy - knit the scarf for Natsu.

The invisible string connects Natsu and Lucy beyond their own interactions. A part of Natsu past is connected to Lucy’s family 400 years ago. The scarf remains with him through thick and thin.

Additionally, Lucy knows how important it is to Natsu. She is often seen keeping the scarf safe and is the only one who Natus allows to use to the scarf (especially in the 100 year quest). Essentially, this demonstrates how a simple scarf connects Natsu and Lucy.

[treefish]

doesn’t even really look like sims 4, huh? i was majorly inspired by @awingedllama‘s recent save file/world tweaking project and decided to try and edit strangerville to my liking. i removed all the excess bloat of EA’s weird, low-poly, set dressing houses and look at how many lots we could have had! this map looks like something from one of the earlier installments, i’m so dang bummed we can’t build on any of these spaces. oof, anyway, low quality houses, fuzzy trees, strange rocks and clutter that don’t match aside, i finally have a decent world base to work with. now i’m recoloring and replacing all of the remaining world objects to my liking. also wrapped up the strangerville storyline so this map is just a normal area like everywhere else! i haven’t been this excited to build and play in forever, i’m obsessed with this overhaul.

[spandexinspace]

I heard we were posting QuerlLyle fluff.

______________________

Lyle lets his fingers trail down the back of Querl’s neck, lightly brushing against his skin as they travel down the curve of his spine. With the way their bodies are entwined—pressed together, one set of hands clasped between them—it’s impossible to not feel the way it makes him shudder

"Stop that," Querl says, voice devoid of any real edge and tinged with stifled laughter.

"What, this?" Lyle repeats the motion, this time letting his fingers travel up his spine, feeling the soft, uneven hairs against his fingers. Despite his squirming, Querl can't help but laugh. It’s soft and quiet, hanging in the air between them like mist on an early summer morning. It's everything.

As if seeking sanctuary Querl presses his face into Lyle's neck, allowing himself to flee scant centimetres away from the touch of his fingers. "Exactly that." His breath feels warm against Lyle's prickling skin.

"It's not my fault you're so ticklish." Turning his head just enough to reach, Lyle presses a quick kiss to the top of his head. His nostrils fill with the faint scent of artificial pine. There'd been times, times before all this, when he'd wondered what Querl smelled like, if someone like him would waste time on frivolous things like cologne and aftershave. He did, sometimes, but he mostly smelled of that sharp pine, the product of a shampoo Lyle had long since given up on convincing him not to use. Sometimes it surprised him how familiar it had become. How safe.

"Yet you're using it against me." Querl shifts, momentarily squeezing down with a hand that’s been resting on Lyle's hip for leverage. They're so closely pressed together, a mess of limbs and skin, that it's almost hard to tell where either of them ends and the other begins, legs coiled together like vines and hands entwined as branches of ancient trees. He can feel Querl's chest moving with every breath, can almost convince himself he can feel his heart beating in pace with his own. It's a foolish thought, but he’s never been one to discredit those. So he lets it remain, for a moment feeling more like one than two.

Querl presses a kiss to his neck, letting his lips linger as if he has no reason not to. In response Lyle weaves his free hand in his hair, earning an approving hum that vibrates through his neck and makes his face blossom with heat. No matter how often they do this, how many late nights in the lab or even later returns from missions end with them wrapped up in each other like this, not moving apart even as the night slips into early morning, he'll never grow tired of it. It's in these tender moments he feels at peace, when it's too late and too safe to have to care about anything but soft laughter and warm skin against his own. When they don't have to be two people marooned by circumstances out of their control. 

"I adore you," he whispers. Adores him, adores his crooked little smile when he's right about something, his off-guard laughter when he's too distracted to remember to be sarcastic, the warmth of lying next to him. Adores him in ways that make his stomach flutter and body feverish, drawn to him like waves to the shore.

"As you should." Shifting again, Querl turns his head, pinning Lyle's hand and only narrowly avoiding bumping their noses together. His half-lidded eyes and tender smile only highlight how devastatingly, stunningly flushed he is. How simple it is for one little thing to drive Lyle's mind into overdrive.

It's Querl who closes the gap between them, capturing Lyle's lips and kissing him ever so gently. Though it’s like many kisses they've shared before, slow and deliberate and more chaste than one would imagine, Lyle would give anything to share them so many times more. When they break apart, after only a quick eternity, Lyle can't help but sigh. It sounds longing, even to his ears. Querl giggles again, his eyes crinkling and his nose scrunching up in a way that just makes Lyle want to keep kissing him. But before he can do so Querl squeezes his hand, the one that’s been entangled between them, and brings it up to his chest. Something flashes across Querl’s face and he tilts his head down, obscuring his face.

For a while they lie like that, the only sound between them their light, nearly in-sync breathing. “Few circumstances have made me feel like I do with you,” Querl eventually says, squeezing Lyle’s hand as if to emphasise his words. His voice still sounds so soft, even though it's tinged by the nameless thing that seems to press down on him whenever he speaks of his feelings, a shapeless mass Lyle is sure has borne far too many names and faces through the years. Using the hand at the back of Querl’s head he softly presses him closer, leaning into the movement. Querl follows, letting himself be pulled nearer and tighter until it almost feels constricting. The hand on Lyle’s hip slips to his back and presses firmly into it, bringing their hips together. He can feel Querl’s lean muscles against him, the hard edges and smooth skin of his body, the light tinge of pine and soap, the way his chest moves in time with his breathing. In and out, a steady rhythm.

“I’m glad,” Lyle hums, not unconvinced Querl can feel his words as much as hear them. It doesn’t matter if he can’t quite say what he wants to say, if words get stuck in his throat and never quite leave it. If he’s happy, if he’s pressing himself close to Lyle after long days and sometimes laughs his unguarded, adorable laugh, then that says more than any words ever really could. And maybe one day the words will follow too. 

“As am I.”

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

TBR update 🫶🏻

[pebblethief]

secret mushrooms :3

[hannahhook7744]

A Time To Gain, A Time To Lose. A Time To Rend, A Time To Sew.

Summary: Mirabel Madrigal teaches her younger prima, Rachel, how to sew. Trigger Warnings: small children with needles. Encantober 2024: Thread.

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Mirabel made sure to move slowly so that the little four year old blonde in her lap could see and easily follow what she was doing.

“After you get the tools you need for the project you're doing, you thread the needle—” she slowly pushed the thread through the hole in the needle and waited patiently for Rachel to copy her.

Once she did, Mirabel continued her instructions. “Now, you need to decide whether you want a single thread or a double thread—”

“How so you know which is which?”

“Because you choose it silly. Now, I find double threading easier personally but you might find the single thread easier for you. To single thread, you pull the thread through the eye—”

Rachel fought to stay still and did her best to follow along on the scrap of fabric Mirabel had given her to practice on. Sticking her tongue out in concentration as she did so. “Is sewing ands em–broid–dery da same thing?”

“No, ‘Chel. They're different things. But they can be similar in some areas, like for example, they both use needles and—”

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Sewing and embroidery would go on to be two of Rachel's favorite hobbies, and would go on to become part of her gift.

And, though Rachel wasn't one to admit to sappy things, she would admit that it was all because of the time she'd spent with Mirabel. Time that would go on to create some of her fondest memories.

Memories all held together by a thread that connected them.

The thread, being Mirabel.

Rachel's favorite older prima.

[schmweed]

Succession | S02E03