#just trying out a different fancast

[featherxquill]

“Humanity is innocent; humanity is guilty, and both states are undeniably true.”

Fancast: Kristin Scott Thomas as Scythe Marie Curie, Arc of a Scythe

[aemondapologistfrfr]

What the Gods Gave Us

fancast!benji blackwood x targ!fem!reader

apocalypse asoiaf/f&b au 

Summary: The Gods chose their own side during the dance of the dragons and decided to cast the realm into winter and death. Only three dragons remain alive to see the fruition of Aegon the Conquers dream. 

Warnings: 18+ mentions of death, death, swearing, blood, fingering, p in v, heavy au, plot heavy

Authors Note: a request from @chainsawsangel that I absolutely got carried away with :) in reality I should’ve made this multiple parts but fuck that we gots to see it thru

Word Count: 9k just be chill about it 

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

When the dance began the Gods looked down upon us and frowned. They cast the world into winter and allowed death to come from above the wall. No one was spared from what broke down the barrier in the north and came flooding through. It didn’t happen slowly. In under a week the entire realm was cast in snow and bitter winds. Sicknesses wiped out entire houses. Noble and low born families alike were torn apart and scattered across the wastelands that used to once be the great seven kingdoms of Westeros. 

Winter took our entire family and most of our dragons. The only remaining Targaryens in this world are me and my two brothers. When the snow started sticking our mother sent us and our dragons to hide within the crumbling walls of Harrenhal. The only place that seems to be untouched from decay here is the weirwood. Its eyes follow us as we walk across the grounds as it pours buckets of blood from its eyes. There’s an old kind of magic about this fallen castle that deters the white walkers from entering. 

The only other living creature here is Alys Rivers who only speaks in riddles and hides herself away in her chambers with her potions and ramblings. We try to avoid her but we’ve made her an honorary member of our family. She cooks and cares for us and we offer her protection and go out and get supplies. Today’s supply run has us traveling to Ironmans bay. She’s seeking a specific plant that only grows on the coast of the Iron Islands. 

“Why must I stay here with her?” Luke whines pleading with me and Jace to come with.

“You are young and so is your dragon. We’re not risking it. Taking two dragons out is as big of a calling card that we can deal with.” Jaces voice does not falter as he orders Luke to stay. 

“Mother said we’re supposed to stick together.” Luke looks between the both of us with sad eyes. 

“We always come back.” I cup his cheek hoping to offer him comfort.

“Please come back.” Luke’s eyes water as he pulls us into a hug. 

It’s never my want to leave him behind but I would much rather have him here than out there with us. Jace and I cover ourselves with white fur and leave the main hall. Our dragons chuff to us as we mount and take to the skies. We always fly in the clouds if we’re able. We don’t want to announce our moves during these trying times. We fly over countless pyres. I’m thankful our word got out that the one way to kill these things is fire and we have the biggest weapon against them. 

The flight to the coast is quick and freezing. We land on the shores and pull out a rough drawing of the plant that Alys gave us. Jace curses under his breath and kicks the snow away. It took a lot of convincing on my end for him not to kill or kick Alys out of Harrenhal when we first arrived. He’s been so angry at the world and I get it. I’m living in this frozen hell with him and I’m slowly losing hope as the moons pass. 

“I don’t care about her stupid fucking plants. We could be using our time differently.” he crosses his arms standing next to Vermax. 

“Using our time to do what Jace? What else could we possibly be doing? If you want to go sulk around that crumbling castle then go.” my voice rises with my anger. 

His breath clouds in front of him as he sighs and begins to look for the plants we’re here for. I hear a groan of string and wood and fall to the ground as I hear the arrow coast through the breeze. I turn and see Jace rising from the ground unsheathing his sword. I turn and see a handful of men running towards us and another bursts out from the tree line and starts cutting them down one by one. Jace and I look to each other before we turn back to the man who was so ready to lay his life down for us. 

“That’s close enough.” Jace raises his blade to the man walking towards us who stops and falls to one knee. 

“I swore fealty to your mother and that extends to her children as well. My sword is yours.” he bows his head and I turn to Jace. 

“What do we need your fealty for? What do you think we’re ruling over? Death and decay?” the man’s head pulls up as he looks beyond as at our dragons. 

“If anyone could bring the realm back together it would be the dragons. It was word from your mouths that fire will kill them no?” he rises to his full height. 

“What is it that you want?” Jaces voice calls over to him. 

“Shelter and safety. These Bracken cunts slaughtered the last of my men. I’ve been hunting them down for days now.” he turns to them and lets sparks rain upon them as their bodies go up in flame.

“And what is your name?” I raise my chin looking him over. 

“Benjicot Blackwood.” he bows his head once more. 

“What is it that you can offer us if we take you with us?” I ask assessing him. 

“I have no dragon or dragon flame but I have a sword and flint and they offer the same results.” he holds his sword out with both hands offering it to us. 

“I say we burn him and leave.” Jace says from my side and my eyes bulge. 

“Why would we do that? He’s just one person. Surely we can use his hands and sword.” I try to reason with him. 

“I’m sure you would like to use his sword.” he sneers at me and it takes all my strength not to punch him in the face. 

“I will cut your tongue out if you speak to me like that again.” I hiss back to him. 

“If you want him then search him and see if your dragon will allow him to ride back with you. I’m not dealing with this.” he waves me off and walks back to his dragon. 

“Alright, let’s go.” I nod my head for Benjicot to come to me. “I will search your pack and person and then we will see if my dragon will allow you to ride him and then we’ll go back to where we stay.” I hold out my hand expectantly. 

“Where is it that you stay?” he hands me his pack and my hands stop searching as I see the plants Alys is looking for. 

“What are you doing with these plants?” I look to him with scrunched brows. 

“They help staunch the never ending hunger.” he tilts his head. 

“Very well, do you have anything on your person that I need to be concerned about?” I close the bag and toss it back to him. 

“You can come let your hands roam all over me and find out for yourself.” he smirks unabashed. “The only thing you might find concerning is how much you enjoy it.” I gasp at his words as a laugh falls from my lips. 

“You are very bold.” I offer him a smile of my own as I feel my body heat. “Let’s see if you get to come home with me or become a meal for my dragon.” I hum and he chuckles lowly walking to my side. 

My dragon looks over him licking his teeth. I don’t know if it’s boldness or lack of care for his life but he walks up to my dragon and holds his hands out. My dragon seems as taken aback as I am and looks to me and huffs. I shrug my shoulders and walk past Benjicot to his wing. 

“Well are you coming, Benjicot?” I turn raising my eyebrow to him. 

“You can call me Benji.” he smiles walking to my side with confidence in his step. 

Vermax and Jace shoot to the skies and we’re close behind them. Benji holds onto my sides tightly and I welcome in the extra warmth. The chill goes to the bone once the sun begins to set and I’m thankful for our quick flight back to our crumbling fortress. Benji slides down after me and Jace scoffs before strutting into the main doors. 

“You’ve found the plants.” she looks to Benji and I look to her confused but not surprised that she knew of Benji from all her self proclaimed premonitions that I’m starting to believe more of everyday.

“This is-“ 

“Benjicot.” Alys nods her head taking his pack and disappearing with it leaving us confused. 

“She’s an interesting woman.” Benji says chuckling. 

“Who is this?” Luke bounds down the stairs and looks to Benji.

“Benji Blackwood. We found him wandering.” I offer. 

“Jace isn’t happy.” Luke says looking to me. 

“I’m well aware.” I roll my eyes and turn to Benji. “Come let’s find you a room.” he trails after me as we walk deeper into the castle. 

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It has been just over a moon since we brought Benji back and Jace hasn’t gotten anymore welcoming. Luke on the other hand has taken a liking to him and it warms my heart to see Luke smile and laugh again. I want this for Jace but I don’t think he wants it for himself and that’s why he closes in on himself. I keep wanting to talk to Jace about Benjis words to us when we first met him. How us and our dragons could bring the realm back together. I talk about this a lot with Benji and he’s told me that there are survivors out there who believe this as well. I’ve been thinking about this nonstop and even have entertained the idea with Alys. 

“What do you propose?” Alys hums as I sit at the stone table while she’s crushing plants. 

“I don’t know. Something. We can’t possibly live like this forever. There has to be something we can do.” I try to search her eyes for any clue of to what she’s thinking. 

“The Gods are angry.” she offers me an unsettling smile. 

“They’ve taken it out on the realm what else is there left for them to take?” I ask exasperated. 

“They can take anything they please.” she hums moving around the table. 

“There has to be something we can do to change the tides. Are we not of the line that is supposed to end this war? Is the song of ice and fire truly just a tale?” I nibble on my bottom lip and she turns quickly to me. 

“So you know?” she raises an eyebrow. 

“Of the dream, yes, but what are we to do? There’s only three of us.” I sigh rubbing my forehead. 

“Return to Dragonstone and retrieve the glass.” her words ominous. 

“What glass?” I ask tilting my head. 

“Beneath the castle. You’ll know it when you find it.” she waves me off. “Bring both of your brothers and Benjicot.” she adds as I exit. 

As I walk up the stairs to find them my mind races with the confirmation Alys just gave me. I know Jace is going to scold me but I truly believe this with my being. I find Jace and Luke lounging in front of the great hearth. Benji is sat on the other side of the room near the window gazing out. I call Benji over near the fire and begin to tell them of my conversation with Alys and what we must do.

“You’re just as mad as her if you think I’m coming with you.” Jace scoffs at me.

“This is our chance to try and set things right. We’re the last dragons. Mother told us of the song of ice and fire and you want to ignore that? Winter is here. She chose you as her heir for a reason. Start acting like it.” I rise along with my temper. 

“You think a story will save us now?” he tosses his head back and laughs. 

“There’s no harm in trying, we either sit here and starve to death or try to do something. We can find the other survivors, unite the realm once more. We can kill these things, brother. We can set the realm back to how it was supposed to be, together, as a family.” I plead with him trying to show him reason. 

“Do you include your stray in our family now?” he shoots Benji a dirty look. 

“My stray has a name and he has been nothing but kind to you. Why do you despise him so much?” I shake my head at his ridiculousness. 

“Because he feeds your obsession about saving the realm when it’s already a frozen wasteland beyond repair.” Jace turns to Luke for support who avoids his eyes. “Oh you believe this too?” he chuckles to himself at a loss.

“What harm will it cause to go home for one day. Remember what used to be, what could be again.” Luke speaks softly. 

“One day.” Jace says looking to me. 

“Just one.” I nod my head. 

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

The stone walls have never felt more cold than they do now in this abandoned castle. The wind seems to whisper as we pass through the empty halls sharing the story of our downfall. This once great castle brimming with life and happiness now offers us a cold embrace. Our dragons rumble beneath the floors from the pits and I allow myself to remember how lively these halls once were. Our home taken by fate.

“I’m going to my chambers. Let me know when you’ve found what you’re looking for so we can get off this freezing rock.” Jace bounds up the stairs out of sight. 

“Go after him.” I nod to Luke not wanting Jace to feel so alone and unheard. I sigh pulling my furs around me. Benji walks over to me and rubs his hands on my arms trying to warm me up some.

“Do you think I sound crazy, Benji?” I look to him with furrowed brows.

“We walk alongside death, Princess. I don’t think there’s anything crazy about wanting for something better.” he offers me a reassuring smile. 

“Then we must go to the pits.” I turn walking to the stairs. 

I hear him a step behind me and smile. Benji stops to light a torch for us and we enter the dark cave. I get us quickly to the bottom and we start through the small tunnels. I plunge us deeper as the air gets cooler. The torch catches on an opening showing us something dark and glossy. A smile spreads across my face as I take in the shimmering rock. 

“Dragon glass.” I turn to Benji. 

“How much does she want?” he asks looking at the massive trove in front of us.

“I’m assuming as much as us our dragons can carry.” I crane my neck to see the extent of the obsidian walls. 

“Do you think Jace will carry some?” he asks my thoughts out loud.

“I will make him. I believe in this and him. He is King even if he doesn’t speak it.” my voice hushed. “Do you think if he calls the survivors will answer?” I look to him as he looks at me with admiration. 

“Who would be bold enough not to answer the dragons call?” he chuckles. “I believe in what you say. You are a good sister, a good person, to keep faith in him when he doesn’t even have it for himself.” his words have me thanking Alys  for sending me to find those plants. 

“Thank you, Benji.” my voice barely a whisper as I look to him. 

“You are strong and resilient and any smart man knows there’s always a woman holding the realm together.” his words cause a welcome warmth to my cheeks. 

“I fear the realm has fallen apart.” I look away.

“You didn’t set that in motion. You are helping reclaim and rebuild. You will never have to carry that weight alone as long as I breathe.” my eyes see the sincerity across his features. 

“Thank you, Benji.” I cup his cheek before leading us out of the caves once more to find my brothers. 

They both groan at diving into the pits with me and Benji but follow nonetheless. Their eyes alight with wonder as they look around the obsidian cave. Jace places a hand on one of the rocks jutting from the ground and a warm breeze comes from deep within the ground. Just as quick as the warmth spreads it is replaced with ice. 

“What is it you want me to do?” Jace turns to me. 

“We need to mine as much of this as we can and bring it back with us.” I search Jaces face to see his mood. 

“This seems as if it will take more than the day I was promised.” Jace sighs. 

“We can figure it out. We can get you and Vermax loaded up first and you can go back to Harrenhal tonight if you want.” my eyes pleading. 

“I can stay and help.” a smile starts to spread across my face. “Don’t get too excited.” he glares at me and I have to bite my lip from smiling even wider. 

“Let’s go find some tools and start moving this out of the caves.” I nod my head leading us to the armory. 

As I push the doors to the armory open the castle seems to let out a breath it was holding since before this never ending winter. We all walk in and look around to find tools and carts. On the center table I spot two swords and a dagger with a parchment containing our mother’s handwriting. I call Jace and Luke over as we read her last words to us. 

My sweet children- 

Should you find this letter and our family blades it means you know what must be done now. My father always believed the song of ice and fire to be true and now I see that it is. The realms fate is left to you three. Jacaerys, I leave you Catspaw, the blade passed down to heirs over the years. Luke, my sweet boy, I leave you Blackfyre, do not allow anyone to underestimate you. Y/n, I leave you Dark Sister, that has been wielded by the strongest of us. Get the dragon glass and call the realm together. I’m sorry I’ve left this burden on you three. I love you, you were always the best of me.

-Mother

We look to each other with tear filled eyes and hold on to one another tightly. We sniffle and settle our breathing before nodding to one another. As we all grab for the blades we feel another warm breeze kiss across our faces. We turn and see Benji staring at us in awe. He shakes his head at a loss and falls to his knee. 

“The remaining dragons shall save us and cast the winter out of the realm.” he bows his head to us. 

“Rise, Benji. We have work to do.” Jace nods his head and I try to hide my smile that he called Benji by his name for the first time. 

We begin to pick up axes and shovels and toss them into carts. We make our way back down to the caves with a new sense of purpose. The next couple of hours are filled with grunts and curses at the hard rock. We take turns carting it to our dragons who look at us curiously as they curl up together. The energy we’re exuding actually has us hot for once and we take a break to walk the grounds. We end up standing in front of the weirwood as it stares back at us. The blood tears seem to still be ever flowing but less than what we’ve seen at Harrenhal. 

We decide to rest for the night and go about sourcing wood for a fire. After splitting up the frozen soup Alys sent us with we heat it over a fire in the main hall. We eat silently and quickly ready to sleep and start tomorrow anew. We each grab some wood and part ways and head for our chambers. As I’m making my way to my chambers I notice Benji is still trailing after me. 

“Where are you going?” I turn and raise an eyebrow to him. 

“To your chambers?” he tilts his head as if it was obvious. 

“I don’t remember inviting you.” I chuckle shaking my head. 

“It’s cold. We should share a bed. It’s the smart thing to do.” the smile that spreads across his face is serpentine. 

“Where is this concern when we’re at Harrenhal?” I smile before continuing down the hall to my chambers. 

“Are you asking me to move into your chambers with you?” he purrs quickening his pace to walk at my side. 

“We’ll see how tonight goes.” I hum as I push my chamber doors open and sigh at the familiar sight. 

“If there’s anything you need or want of me don’t hesitate to ask.” he says lowly before going to the stone hearth and starting a fire.

“Let’s move the mattress next to the hearth.” I toss the wood on the floor along with my bags. 

“Mm, how romantic.” he rises from the hearth and looks down to me. 

“It’s so we can be warmer.” I glare up at him. 

“I’ll keep you warm, don’t worry.” he strokes the side of my cheek before stepping around me and walking to the bed. I turn to him with red cheeks and cross my arms. “Stop pouting and come help me.” he chuckles. 

I flare my nostrils and walk over to my bed. I push my blankets and furs to the center and grab the edge of the bed to lift it. Benji lifts his side and we drop it on the ground a couple feet back from the hearth. I turn and look around my chambers taking them in. I never thought I would see these walls again. I pull Dark Sister from its sheath and place it on the table and look upon it. 

“A powerful weapon for a powerful woman.” Benji comes from behind me and looks over my shoulder. 

“I hope I’m not sending us all to our doom.” I whisper turning to him. 

“If you are, I will gladly stand by your side.” his voice doesn’t carry its usual playful demeanor. 

“Do you think we can do it?” I search his eyes. 

“I do.” he nods his head. “It will be hard but we’ve endured this far.” we slowly begin to lean into each other’s body heat. 

“Thank you for believing in me and not thinking I’m crazy.” I look up to him as our chests are almost touching. 

“I never said I didn’t think you were crazy, I said your idea wasn’t crazy.” a smile splits across his face and I push him back. 

“You’re such an asshole, you can-“ 

He pulls me into a rough kiss and I completely forget why I was angry. He pushes his tongue into my mouth and my arms wrap around his back holding him to me. One of his hands tangles into my hair holding my lips against his. His other hand holds my lower back molding me to him. We stay tangled in each other until we both pull back panting. 

“What were you saying?” he says lowly with his smirk back on his face. 

“Now I’m saying you’re an arrogant asshole and you can find somewhere else to sleep.” I glare up to him before looking at his lips and he chuckles catching the movement. 

“Want to try again and sound like you mean it?” his words taunting me. 

“Benji,” I warn huffing. 

“Hm?” he licks his lips and I roll my eyes at him brushing past him to the mattress. 

His hand reaches out and grabs my arm. He turns me towards him. I look up to him expectantly waiting for him to say or do something. I relent and start to reach up to capture his lips once more, over his games and he tips his head up making me chase his lips out of my reach. 

“I didn’t take you as such a tease. Or maybe you can’t get it hard?” I try to pull my arm out of his grasp but he just tightens his fingers. 

When he captures my lips this time it’s bruising and takes my breath away. His hands begin to pull off my clothes. When his rough hands meet my flesh I gasp into his mouth. I start to push off his clothes and he helps quicken the process. When our skin presses together I sigh at the warmth. We don’t separate as we fall to the mattress in a clash of tongues and teeth. He kisses down my jaw and I arch up into him gasping as I feel his hardened length slide against my wetness. 

“Benji,” I mewl as he rubs against my bud. 

“Hush,” he says before pushing into me. 

My breath catches at the stretch of him. He chuckles looking at my scrunched brows as I squirm beneath him. He slowly starts to rock into me until my moans become broken. His hips snap into mine and I feel my pleasure begin to coil. As he wraps my legs around his waist he starts a brutal pace. I throw my head back into the pillow as my hips meet his. I come undone around him and he grunts but keeps his pace. 

“Is my cock hard enough for you, Princess?” he dips down to whisper in my ear as he continues to rut into me. 

“Yes, Benji please,” I cry out feeling my high quickly approaching again. 

Our breaths come out in pants as we chase our highs. He rolls his hips into me and I whimper as he brushes against my sensitive bud. His trusts begin to falter as I start to pulse around him. He stills as I feel his warmth fill me. He brings his lips to mine as we still try to catch our breath. He rolls off of me placing one more kiss on my forehead. He pulls the furs over us and pulls me to his chest. 

“Do you still think I’m an asshole?” I roll my eyes and turn over putting my back to him. 

“I must’ve not fucked you hard enough if you’re still pouting.” he pulls me back to his chest. 

“I’m limited on options.” as the words leave my mouth his hand lands on my backside hard making me jolt into him. 

“Go to bed before I decide you don’t need any sleep.” his voice low as we hold each other tightly to ward off the cold.

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Over the past three days we’ve been able to collect as much dragon glass as our dragons can carry. I’m thankful to finally get back to Harrenhal because we’re low on food and supplies. As we make our way to our dragons my brother and I look back at our home. None of us are brave enough to say goodbye or even to express hope to return again someday. We know the path ahead now is victory or peril. 

The flight back to Harrenhal feels as if it takes forever. Once we land Alys sweeps out through the main gates and looks us all over. She assesses the dragon glass and nods in approval at the amount we got. She ushers us inside and pours us tea and hot soup. 

“I’ve begun sending word around the realm that their King calls for them.” she says this as if it’s just another daily task. 

“Alys,” Jace sighs. “What was the message? We should’ve planned this together.” he shakes his head. 

“This has been planned long before you were born, boy. I’ve been waiting for you to stop throwing your tantrums to start moving the plans into place.” Alys turns to him with a motherly tone. 

“And where are you calling these survivors to rally?” Jace sets his spoon down completely abandoning his soup. 

“Winterfell, of course.” Alys tosses over her shoulder before returning to her poultices.

“Are there any survivors that far north?” Luke asks shaking his head.

“The one who carries Ice still lives.” she doesn’t even deign to turn around.

“How is it that you know all this? The ravens don’t carry messages anymore.” I ask my eyes boring into her back.

“There’s another raven that still carries messages if you know how to listen. The trees whisper too, I’m surprised you haven’t heard them.” she hums absentmindedly. 

“I need proof that there is reason for us to pack up and go north. The winds are surely deadly that far up.” Jace takes a sip of tea.

“Then follow me.” Alys’ skirts swish out of the hall and we all get up and trail after her. She takes us out to the Godswood and we stand in front of the crying weirwood. “Do any other of you have a lack of faith in the song of ice and fire?” she turns and assesses us. 

I turn to look at Luke and Benji and they both seem contented that the song is absolute certainty. We all turn to Jace who has a pout back on his face still not convinced. Alys smiles and gestures for him to come closer. She reaches for his hand and he reluctantly gives it to her. When she places his hand on the tree it feels as if the sun is shining on us for the first time in moons. When I look up I still see the same overcast sky and sigh.

Jace has gone completely still as the blood flows over his hands. His eyes are watering as his features go blank. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain but I’m still concerned for him nonetheless. I go to rest my hand on him and Alys stops me. 

“Do not interrupt this. He’ll be fine.” she whispers and I step back to Benji and Luke. 

Luke clings to me as we wait for Jace to come back to the present. The minutes drag on for what feels like hours. Benji comes to my other side and rests his head on my shoulder and I drink in his warmth. We huddle together and our spines straighten as Jace inhales deeply.

“It’s true.” he turns to us with tears streaming down his face as he pulls us into a hug. 

“What happened?” I pull back so I can assess him.

“I saw.” his voice still far off. “I saw everything.” he pulls Catspaw from his belt and holds it between us. 

“To Winterfell?” I search his eyes.

“To Winterfell.” Jace nods and walks past us back into the crumbling castle with a new found sense of purpose.

“What of you, Alys?” I turn to her and she smiles. 

“I will be there should you need me.” she hums walking past us into the castle after Jace.

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

We stop every night on the way to Winterfell. Our dragons can only handle the chill for so long. We have them scorch the lands around us encircling us in a wall of flame. We are hoping to see some of the survivors Alys has talked about but the road has been silent. We curl up on the frozen ground clinging to one another for warmth. Sleep only offers us a reprieve for a couple of hours before we’re back in the wind. 

“How much longer?” Luke whines as he hugs onto Arrax. 

“If we push through we could make it a couple hours after moonrise.” Jace hums trying to see how we feel. 

“We can load up on furs. If Arrax can support him I’ll send Benji with you to help keep the chill off.” I nod trying to get us to Winterfell as soon as possible. I don’t know if we can survive another night outside in these temperatures, no matter how much fire our dragons supply. 

“You don’t have to baby me, Y/n.” Luke groans rolling his eyes at me. 

“You are a baby, Luke.” Jace laughs and I look to him with a smile of my own. I haven’t heard his genuine laugh in so long.

We decide on giving Luke as many of our furs that he could wear and still see. Arrax didn’t take too kindly to Benji and we didn’t want to stress anyone out. I give him more furs than Jace because I’ll have Benji behind me to help retain my heat. We mount the dragons and push forward to Winterfell. 

As the sun sets behind the clouds the temperature drops almost instantly. My muscles tense as I lean back into Benji. He opens his jacket and pulls me against his chest. He buries his head into my neck and I feel my body heat as his hair tickles me. He offers soft kisses to my neck that help distract me as the wind bites. 

As the hours drag by my body begins to shake trying to make its own heat. I look worriedly to my brothers who are probably in the same state and they don’t have someone to offer them extra warmth. I bury my head in my hands trying to regain feeling on my cheeks and nose. 

“We’re about an hour out. Once we’re in our chambers I’ll make sure you’re so hot you’ll be begging to go roll in the snow.” his words brush my ears and my entire body heats. I lean back appreciatively and excited about the warmth he’s offering. 

I fill my mind with thoughts of the man behind me and soon the blush on my face is heating my extremities. His arms wrap tighter around me as if he’s doing the same thing. Our bodies mend together pulling heat from one another. The walls of Winterfell finally come into view and I let out a choked sob. I see there are torches lit and it looks as if the integrity of this castle has still remained intact. Our dragons land inside the gates and burn the ground before us and I sigh in relief at the warmth as it licks at us.

“Welcome back, Your Grace.” a northern man with a large sword down his back approaches us.

“Lord Stark.” Jace nods his head before they laugh and hug each other.

“I’mglad that you guys are reunited but I would like to be reunited with warmth.” I say with a bite in my voice as Benji laughs next to me.

“Of course,” Cregan nods his head and we enter the warm halls quickly. 

“How is this the warmest place we’ve been in moons?” I sigh bringing my hands to the fire. 

“It was built to withstand the winter. After all, it’s always winter up here, Princess.” Cregan smiles to me. “We also have hot springs that should help you defrost and if that doesn’t help I’m sure we could find another way.” he chuckles as my red cheeks and Benji comes up to my side promptly. 

“We would love to try the hot springs.” Benji smiles to Cregan before wrapping his arm around me. Cregan brushes this off and walks back over to Jace and Luke. He leads us to the guest chambers. Benji tells him that he’s sharing with me and I roll my eyes at his dramatics. 

“Then I guess I won’t offer you a place in my chambers.” Cregan leans down and whispers into my ear. As he pulls back my cheeks are tinted and Benji is fuming next to me. “Someone will be up here shortly to bring you to the hot springs.” he smirks at me before shutting the door.

“Are you serious?” Benji turns me towards him.

“What?” I tilt my head still flushed from Cregans words.

“You’re lucky I didn’t take you in front of him.” he growls pulling me to him. 

“Benji,” I gasp as he starts pulling my furs off. “It was harmless.” he starts to pull off my shirt and I bite my lip as his hands find my skin.

“Harmless? He all but asked you to fuck in front of me.” he says through his teeth as he lifts my shirt off. 

“He did not.” I say hushed as his hands slide up my bare skin.

“What did he say that had you blushing?” he fingers brush against my nipples and a whimper falls from my mouth.

“He said,” I gasp as he pinches one of my nipples. “He said he was going to offer me a place in his chambers.” my hands rest on his arms as he continues to fondle across my chest.

“Is that what you want?” I shake my head at his words. “Tell me whose bed you want to be in.” his voice low as his hand dips beneath my waistband. 

“Benji,” I cling to him as his fingers spread my wetness. 

“Go find a robe.” I whine as he removes his hand. “Someone should be here to bring us to the hot springs soon.” he leaves me squeezing my thighs together. 

I huff and walk over to the wardrobe hoping there was something left. I sigh thankful that there are some robes left over. I slide my trousers down my legs and quickly wrap myself in the robe. I turn and toss Benji a robe and try not to let my eyes linger on his exposed torso. He starts to unlace his trousers and I look to him with low lids as he chuckles at me. He slides them off and I squeeze my thighs once more taking in the length of him. There’s a knock on the door and Benji is quickly slipping the robe on and walking to the door. 

“It seems as if I’m the only one left awake to take you both.” Cregan takes up our doorway and I internally groan. 

“Mm, of course.” Benji exhales grabbing my hand and pulling me to his side. 

The walk through the castle is silent and I can feel Benjis frustration pouring off of him. I squeeze his hand to try and get him to focus on anything else but he keeps his eyes focused on Cregans back. We start down a stone staircase and as we enter the cavern I sigh as the warm air kisses my face. I see that there’s more than enough space for the three of us to be here comfortably. I walk past them both and begin to dip into the water. Once my bottom half is in the water I slip off my robe and sink beneath and let out a breathy moan. 

I close my eyes as I let the hot water soothe my muscles. I sink lower into the water and I feel it ripple next to me. I peek an eye open and see that Benji has claimed a seat next to me. The water shifts again and I see that Cregan has also gotten in. I sit back up and feel the tension in the water and roll my eyes. Benjis hand falls to my thigh and my head snaps to him. 

“So are you guys together?” Cregans voice carries across the stone walls and I groan knowing this will set Benji off.

“Yes.” he says as his fingers grip on my thigh spreading them open. 

“Mm, how long?” Cregan looks to me as Benjis fingers slide to my core.

“Couple moons now.” I try to keep my voice steady as he swirls around my bud. 

“Where did you find her?” Cregan shifts to Benji and I’ve never been more thankful as he dips a finger into me. 

“Near the Iron Islands. I saved her and Jace from some Bracken beasts.” Benji narrows his eyes at Cregan as he pushes a second finger into me and a moan slips out. I try to cover it by clearing my throat but I can tell Cregan caught it. 

“Do you both need some privacy?” Cregan chuckles at my red cheeks and Benji keeps pushing his fingers into me. 

“If you wouldn’t mind.” Benji uses a patronizing tone. “She’s been begging for my cock since we started the journey here.” he chuckles and I snap my head to him ready to scold him until his thumb rubs against my bud and I’m hoping that Cregan will leave soon because I can’t contain the whimpers leaving my lips. 

“Treat her well. Or I will.” Cregan chuckles again before standing out of the water unabashed. Benji starts moving his fingers faster and I try to close my legs around his hand. 

“Benji.” I mewl as he continues with his motions.

“She’s content here.” Benji chuckles waving Cregan off. 

“Are you done now?” I pant at Benji.

“Not even close.” he growls as he flips me so my chest is against the cool stone. “Gunna fuck you here because I know he’s listening on the stairs.” he breathes into my neck as he lifts my hips.

“You sound paranoid.” I turn to look at his dark eyes as I spread my legs open for him. 

“I don’t care.” he pushes into me in one movement and I rest my cheek against the stone. 

Moans begin pouring from my lips as the water laps against us. His pace is quick and I have no hope of covering the curses and whines that fall from my mouth. The second his fingers brush against my bud my body goes taught. He continues to push into me as my high spreads through me. My hips push back into his as I continue to chase more pleasure.

“You like when I fuck you like a common whore?” he pulls me up against him and wraps his fingers around my neck.

“Fuck, Benji, please,” I whine as my chest heaves. 

The hand that he has supporting my waist goes to my bud and I contract around him as my pleasure washes through me. I feel his thrusts get sloppy as he begins to fill me. He slips out of me quickly pulling a moan from my lips. I brace my hands on the stone as I catch my breath. 

“When you’re ready we’re going back up to our chambers and I’m gunna fuck you until he knows you’re mine.” he sits back and I nod to him with flushed cheeks.

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

It’s been almost a moon since we’ve landed in Winterfell and the amount of survivors showing up is astonishing. We have a large camp circled around the walls that grow larger by the day. As more people arrive we give them dragon glass to shape into weapons of their choice. We’ve had confirmation dragon glass works on the white walkers and everyone seems relieved to have finally confirmed this theory. 

“When do we march north? Or are we staying here? What is the plan?” I look to Jace as I sprawl across his couch. Benji and Luke are sat at the table and look to Jace ready for his commands. 

“We fight here. He will come to us in the end.” Jace nods and goes to look out the window at the growing host around us. 

“Who will come?” Luke asks nibbling his lip.

“The night King. We kill him and this ends. We go home.” his voice seems far away and we look to each other with confused brows.

“You’re starting to sound like Alys, brother.” I chuckle and he turns to me with a smile. 

“Surprisingly, I don’t take offense.” he smiles sitting on a chair across from me. “I saw him beginning to march here. He has a large host of white walkers with him that he has no care if they live or die. We’re fighting for something. We have a reason and purpose. Fate is on our side. He will be here during the hour of the wolf.” he turns to look at Luke and Benji. 

“Tonight?” Benji asks taken aback.

“Yes, so get some rest. We either come out victorious or die.” Jace rises nodding to us. 

Benji, Luke, and I leave Jaces chambers to go and find a couple hours of sleep. We drop Luke off at his chambers and I hug him tightly and kiss his head. We make our way back to our chambers and collapse to the bed. We simply hold each other and curl up under the covers basking in each other’s warmth.

I sit up in bed as a loud horn is blown. Benji is looking out the window and I rise and go to his side. The castle seems to be surrounded by flame as I see a white mass headed for us. I turn back to the chambers trying to wake myself up quicker. I start to pull on my armor and sheath Dark Sister at my side. I turn back to Benji who is holding his hand out to me. 

“Are you ready?” I ask him slipping my hand into his. 

“I am. With the three dragons burning from above we will be able to be victorious on the ground.” he nods to me. We make our way to the main hall and see the remaining leaders gathered. On approach I see Alys coming out of a dark hall.

“What are you doing here?” I look to her confused.

“Making sure you both were awake for this war. They need you.” she nods us over to the conversation being held. 

“My siblings and I will be in the skies burning as many as we can without burning our own men. This is our last stand. We have all of the tools we need to succeed. It’s now or never. May the Gods choose our side.” Jaces voices carries throughout the hall and I tear up hearing him speak so confidently.

“A word sister?” Jace nods his head to the corner where Luke is waiting for us. “I wanted to tell you what I saw when I touched that tree. I saw us all here. Making the prophecy come true. Everything we have done has led us right here. We can reclaim this realm and break it free from the icy grasp of the Gods. It will be a new age for us. These men and women believe in us and will follow us even to their death.” his words cause my heart to tighten knowing no matter how much dragon flame and glass we use we will still suffer losses. 

“I will follow you even if it means my death, my King.” I lower my head and I see Luke do the same at my side.

“You both will live. I can’t do this without you. Together we will revive the Golden Age.” his words capture my breath. 

We all embrace and begin to walk out of the hall. Benji returns to my side and walks with us to our dragons. I make sure he’s armed with as many dragon glass weapons as his person can carry. I look up to him unable to help the worry written across my face. He smoothes my brow before placing his lips softly on mine. 

“If you die tonight, I won’t let them burn you. I’ll keep you as my white walker pet or something.” I pull back and look to him with furrowed brows and he barks out a laugh.

“I’ll try my best to stay alive.” he smiles down at me. “But it seems as if I’ll see you after regardless.” he kisses me once more and disappears into the sea of men and women. 

I sigh and turn to my dragon and see my brothers also talking to their dragons. I hug around my dragons neck and he lets out soft chuffs. Jace looks to Luke and nods and offers me the same motion. I begin to mount and once I’m settled and clipped into my saddle I turn back to my brothers once more. Jace and Vermax shoot into the sky and his dragon alights the sky with dragon flame. Luke and I fly up in unison our dragons spitting flame and washing the world in red for a couple moments. 

Our dragons cry out and we dip down aiming for the approaching white hoard. We all separate and bathe the undead in a fiery bath. A horn is heard from behind us and we hear the war cries from our host as they clash with the dead. A cool wind sweeps down from the north and I gasp as the world is cast in a blizzard. Our dragons cry out at being blinded and spit fire around the skies hoping to find a break. 

My heart beats wildly as my dragon and I try to find our way to the ground. He dives down spraying flame to clear our path and once we land we’re engulfed in flame as Luke lands next to me. White walkers approach us an instant later and our dragons call out as we’re surrounded. Luke and I dismount and pull our blades. There’s no time for hesitation as we begin swinging. Where our blade lands death follows and our dragons finish them with flame. I risk a glance into the skies for Jace and shake my head as I see nothing.

This has to work. It couldn’t have all been for nothing. All of the death and loss had to have meant something. My emotions pour into Dark Sister as I begin to court death. I hear Lukes grunts from a couple feet away as he’s engaged in a dance with two white walkers. I gape as he cuts them both down and doesn’t falter before he moves to the next. Pride surges in my chest as I focus on the walkers in front of me. As I swing my blade the blizzard begins to let up and I can finally see the host around us and see we’re not too far from the walls. 

The sun begins to rise washing the word in the normal gray as we continue to fight. I take small glances at the force around us and allow myself to smile as I see that a majority of us are still standing. I push off the walkers and run to Luke. 

“Mount Arrax and find Jace and then come and get me.” I take over the walkers he was dealing with as he shoots to the sky. I watch him fly north and turn my focus back in front of me. My dragon picks off the walkers that try to get to me when I’m further engaged. Arrax gives out a cry above me and I’m quickly mounting and flying after him. I follow him to the weirwood inside the walls and land running to the tree. There I spot Jace standing in front of a man made of ice. This clearly has to be the night King. 

“Jace,” I breathe out as I see the two Kings standing off. 

Jace lunges and their bodies are too close together to see what’s happening. Luke and I stand there frozen not knowing what to do. I hear a blade cut against flesh and I gasp. Jace staggers back hand still wrapped around Catspaw that is sticking out of the Kings chest. He twists and pulls it out swiftly and the King falls to the ground. Jace turns to us, blade in hand, and the sun begins to break through the clouds. It casts across Jaces face and the weirwood behind him. 

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

It’s been six moons since the sun shone upon our faces again. The losses the realm endured were too many to count. Rebuilding has taken time and will take longer than our own lives allow. Jacaerys was coronated in Winterfell before we flew to Kings Landing to see what remained. We all have been slowly healing and moving forward. Today in the peak of summer as the sun is its highest Jacaerys will be coronated again before the masses in Kings Landing. 

The remaining Lords and Ladies of the realm stand on the dais beside us as a crown is placed on his brow by the new High Septon. This crown has been forged with dragon glass and valyrian steel and named after him as the Reclaimer. Jace smiles and nods to us before he turns to the crowd and they erupt in cheers. 

“Jacaerys Targaryen, First of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, the Reclaimer.” the High Septons voice reverberates off of the walls of the dragon pit as the crowd continues to cheer.

“I told you that the dragons would be able to reclaim the realm. I always believed in this outcome.” Benji whispers in my ear and I turn to him with a wide smile. 

“Stay here with us.” I look up to him with pleading eyes. “With me.” my voice soft.

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving you.” he dips down and places o kiss on my forehead.

“I should hope not or I would have to marry Cregan.” I smile up to him.

“Do not start.” his voice low as he pulls me against him before he pulls us off of the dais and he’s leading us into a carriage back to the Keep.

⊹˚₊‧꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

masterlist 🔌

this literally took over my mind for the past couple of days fr

taglist ✍️

@clarityisnofun @callsignwidow @gabriella-aesthetic @llynx7 @violetiss3lfish @ka1afbr @akiko-oo @papichulo120627 @lizzylovebooks280501 @thatgirl101blog @ashovertheriver @p45510n4f4shi0n @anaviieiraaa @zanygot7straykidsbonk @hueanhdang

[messrsrarchives]

Hi Robyn. I appreciate you taking the time to always articulate your thoughts on Rowling and topics like that. I was wondering if you have thoughts on this or an answer to this question:

In a recent post you said things like "there's no ethical way to engage" and that you're trying to do "the least amount of harm possible." A few years ago, I believed these things very literally and believed it was completely immoral to engage in HP at all or engage in the fandom at all, and therefore I did not. Now obviously my beliefs have changed and I no longer believe it's so immoral I can't interact with it, and obviously neither do you or any of the rest of us. Are you able to articulate why? If there's no ethical way to engage, how do you justify being in the fandom? If you're trying to do the least amount of harm possible, do you believe you're still doing harm by being in the fandom and how do you justify that? If this is all inherently unethical and harmful, why are we doing it? How is it morally justifiable to be in the HP fandom at all, to post about it and therefore "promote" it? How do you justify to yourself being in the fandom?

I don't know the answer to that, and since you're someone who often has thoughts on this sort of subject I hope you are able to articulate this in some way that makes sense. I know it's a big question that may not even really have an answer, but I would like to know your thoughts or feelings about it if you'd like to answer.

Secondly, have you ever written up one single list along the lines of "things I believe we should not do"? Like listing it all out in one post: don't watch the hbo show even if you have a subscription, don't post about the show, don't comment on fancasts' posts, don't spend money on merch, don't post merch even if you didn't pay for it, and so on.

Thank you so much <3

HIII !!! always here to yap about these things <33 this is going to be so long i'm sorry !

i think one of my pinned videos on tiktok talks about guilt. there's so much guilt for engaging here and i know that i'm not the only one who, not only feels that, but feels as though it's a lot heavier recently. regardless of how you're engaging, we're promoting her universe and we are complicit, and there's so much guilt that comes with that.

but i think sometimes guilt is useful. i think there's a certain amount of guilt in this scenario that,,, i don't know? makes you better?? i think if you feel a bit guilty for being here, then you're aware and you're more likely to be conscious about your engagement. i think if you're not feeling at least the slightest bit guilty for being here, chances are you're unaware about the effects (whether direct or not) and you're too comfortable. we see a lot of people say "well i'm queer she hates me anyway" or "well i read stories she would hate" or "this fandom is everything she hates" etc etc as if our mere existence here is,,, an act of protest? but i don't see it as that. i don't see me engaging here as an act of protest, i see everything else as one.

and i guess that's why i came back to these spaces. i was told about ATYD by a friend and i already knew the basics about JKR, so my first action was to reread the books for the first time in years and try to see if anything read differently - a lot more stood out because i was more aware, and i spent a solid two weeks just doing research and thinking "okay, if i go into this, what do i need to do?"

at that point, all i thought i had to do was boycott and not put the same ideals into fanfiction, but it's a lot more intense than that. there's the risk of promoting a fic of someone who doesn't stand with us, or of commenting on something in a promoting way, or of showing off old merch and not specifying etc etc - there's a lottt of hidden ways we promote her without realising. that's also why i don't tend to talk About the books unless i'm recalling canon information for a plotline. or the movies unless i'm doing the same.

i think where you say "how do you justify being in the fandom" the most important word there for me is You.

there's the basics, of course: don't profit her, don't post things that profit her, don't perpetuate her ideals, don't promote harry potter in random comment sections, don't talk about the reboot even if you aren't watching it etc etc.

and then everything else is You. once you've got the basics of ethical (as much as possible) engagement, the justification part comes down to you personally. what do you need to do? what will make it feel safer for you? what will make you feel more comfortable? what balances it out for You?

for me, that's talking about it. and it comes off very lecture-like and like i'm scolding people and on one hand,, yes. it's a lecture, it's education, it's demonstrating what to do. but on the other, it's for me? it's for Me. and for Me to justify being in this space, it's to be loud and vocal. i've always said not everyone needs to be loud about it! i think forced activism is harmful but for Me personally? it's the talking about it that justifies it. for every negative comment that i get, i get 10 people that didn't realise the impact. for every person that says "this is such a non-issue" i get a DM from someone else asking more questions or thanking me for talking about it.

for every person in the fandom that doesn't value trans lives and lets me know that, i get 10 trans people who thank me for being loud about it.

and i think that's it for me. formulating a safe bubble for me and everyone else that has been harmed feels like justification. i won't ever be able to change her views or make a mass change, i'm just one guy without much to offer, but i can get one dm from a trans person who is glad to have found a space and,,, yeah. i can make A difference. i'm glad.

and then that all comes together when it comes to me posting. posting even fics is promoting her but i like to think (maybe potentially ignorantly, i'm not sure) that if someone new(er) to the fandom fics a video i've made on the fyp and they want to know more, they'd swipe across to my account, hypothetically. and then they'd find the jkr playlist, they'd find the pinned videos, they'd find the yap playlist and the jkr powerpoint etc etc, and i - definitely ignorantly - like to think that it balances out somewhere. maybe. hopefully. it definitely does more than just posting about the fandom/studios/merch on something like tiktok with an incrediblyyyy loose algorithm and not mentioning anything at all.

it's a hard balance. it's a hard balance of wanting to educate but not wanting to come off kind of,,, like superior? dictorial? placing myself above everyone? but also not wanting to sit back. and i don't think i've found that balance yet, but that's okay! it's all a curve.

for someone else it could be that they add the disclaimers to their fics and don't talk about it publicly often. like here on tumblr is very different to over on tiktok, and i'm sure justification works different on a systemic level here than there. or for someone else it could be that they simply read someone else's talks about it and try to adapt. it could be anything really, it's so individual!

you can justify it however you need to, as long as you have the basics down and you're not causing harm. as long as your justification isn't rooted in assauging your guilt (by that i mean for example, "im queer and jkr hates me anyway so i'll go the studios in protest" because that causes harm)

but at the end of the day i think it comes down to not letting TERFs win. at the end of the day i think we all justify it by not letting them take away another thing we love, even if it's something as silly as a magical universe. it means a lot to us, we aren't going to give it up for someone like her.

so we make a change. we don't separate art from artist, that causes harm. we don't call it reclaiming, you can't reclaim IP of someone still living and profiting.

but we can claim a bubble within it, and we can surround ourselves with people that get it and some of us will step out of the bubble and try to get more people to join us, others will be happy just staying in there and enjoying their time, and we all just get to Breathe.

i don't know. this is long and rambly and i don't think i'll ever justify it fully. i think i'll always feel guilty and i'll always talk about it and i think i'll always have moments where i wonder if maybe i am doing more harm, or times where i feel like i'm screaming myself hoarse and people don't seem to get it but,,, i also have 20,000 people that i didn't have before. and lifelong friends. and communication skills i didn't have, and a rekindled love for something that dominated my childhood.

and i feel good, i think. about the way i've gone about it. i think the version of me that bought crusty and dusty falling to pieces books off of etsy and sat there highlighting things would be proud that this is the way we take it, and i think the 15 year old version of me that realised he was trans and threw everything away would be proud too.

and i think that's how i justify it.

am i making myself proud with this? am i proud of how i went about this, and will i be proud when everything unfolds and we see the harm reach it's peak? will i be proud of what i did to Try?

and i think that's the big question to be asking ourselves.

(and in terms of one post, i have a PDF powerpoint here that explains a Bit, but - not to just promote myself lmao but who's reading all of this actually - i will be releasing three episodes of my podcast this week ALLL about jkr! (1) things in the books (2) twitter, political action, robert galbraith books and (3) fandom responsibility - and that third one will contain everything. for now at least. it's constantly changing but for now, it will include everything we need to do to keep this space safe and comfortable and as ethical as possible)

[wanderingmind867]

I promised I'd share my ideas for a hypothetical fourth season of batman 66. So here it is. All 60 episodes of my season four (although some episodes have more detail than others). I planned to write notes for a season five, six and seven. And I'd have each season introduce more and more characters. But I don't know if my attention span will last long enough for me to write all of that. Or if my fancasting website even works anymore. But at least I have all of this written down?

Season 4: Season Four would get 60-70 episodes, max. A full season of 60 episodes, split into part one and part two, or something like that.

Episodes 1 and 2: A two parter based on the events of the Batman '66 Comic, Issue #1. A story involving The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) and Catwoman (Julie Newmar).

Episodes 3 and 4: A story involving The Joker (as played by Cesar Romero). Not much else to say beyond that right now.

Episodes 5 and 6: A story featuring The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and Mister Freeze (either George Sanders or Eli Wallach). They team up, only to get busted by the dynamic duo!

Episodes 7 and 8: Introducing Signalman to the world of Batman '66! Signalman uses his gimmicks to try and trap Batman and Robin, while stealing as many symbols of good fortune as he possibly can.

Episode 9: A Batgirl solo episode, focusing on her and her new partner (who she meets in this episode): Jason Bard. Together, her and Jason end up investigating the appearance of a new catwoman on the scene (Eartha Kitt). Together, Batgirl and her private detective partner manage to learn that this new Catwoman is an old friend of the first Catwoman, and they're friendly rivals who compete for the thrill of the chase.

Episodes 10 and 11: Batman and Robin are preparing to leave for London on Vacation, but they're held up by The Bookworm and his criminal gang, who planned to rob Gotham City of a priceless manuscript stored deep within Gotham City Hall. Only the dynamic duo can stop this marvelous mastermind before it's too late!

Episodes 12, 13 and 14: Batman and Robin end up in London on vacation, and they end up needing to bust up two different capers in England; one involving The Mad Hatter (David Wayne) and the other involving The Clock King (Walter Slezak). It turns out these two villians have some negative history together, but it's unclear just what this history entails…

Episode 15: While Batman and Robin are off in Europe, Batgirl and Jason Bard run into Cluemaster, a strange new villian who seems to have an odd vendetta against The Riddler. Although The Riddler doesn't actually show up in this episode, we learn that Cluemaster is a minor villain who's always held a grudge. He wants to take the title of world's biggest riddle/clue/puzzle themed supervillian away from The Riddler! Only Batgirl can stop him now!

Episodes 16 and 17: Batman and Robin end up on a cruise heading back to Gotham, but the cruise ends up being held up by Penguin, who's decided to take to high seas felony after being constantly foiled on land. But he didn't count on finding Batman and Robin on one of his captive vessels…

Episodes 18 and 19: Batman and Robin return to Gotham, just in time for a late september scheme hatched by Egghead, that diabolical master of eggs-pert larceny! Batman and Robin need to enlist the end of Batgirl and Jason Bard just to get him to be defeated before he commits the greatest crime of our time and era!

Episodes 20 and 21: In the brisk early October air, False Face steals a new chemical designed to make a human being shapeshift. But one of his men steals it away from him! Matt Hagen (Rich Little), a greedy henchmen of the dastardly False Face, uses the machine and turns himself into a hideous being made of Clay! Remembering the case of an old villian Batman tangled with named Clayface, Matt Hagen decides to embrace his evil side and become Clayface the second!

Episodes 22 and 23: Batman, Robin and Batgirl all end up tangling with The Scarecrow (Anthony Perkins) on Halloween Night! A washed up former psychology teacher with a love for fear, Jonathan Crane has come to haunt Gotham as the one and only Scarecrow!

Episodes 24 and 25: Batman and Robin tangle with Blockbuster, a menace who's too mindless to actually mean any harm to anyone or anything. He's being used by his mad scientist brother Roland, but the dynamic duo don't figure that out until it's nearly too late…

Episodes 25 and 26: While hosting a Gotham City Beauty Contest to mark the beginning of November and the subsequent colder season, Batman and Robin tangle with Poison Ivy (Ann Margret), that powerful sorceress of seduction! Using her brilliant botanical wisdom, she snares Batman and Robin inside of a horrible death trap. But they escape, and successfully bring her to Justice.

Episodes 27 and 28: Batman and Robin deal with the Polka Dot Man, a bizarre new criminal capable of using polka dots as tools for committing new crimes to bedevil and beguile the people of Gotham City!

Episodes 29 and 30: Batman and Batgirl have to work together to fight off a mad team up of The Penguin and The Riddler. Robin is sick with the flu, so he's unable to help them. So it's up to Batman and Batgirl to save the day this time around!

Episodes 31 and 32: A Christmas Special, featuring a mall santa who gets victimized by The Joker and Clayface, a bizarre new duo of cookery! Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Jason Bard all have to team up to defeat the foe this time. And in the end, it's rather unclear if the mall santa was just a mall santa, or if they were the real santa all along…

Episodes 33, 34 and 35: Batman is challenged by his most dastardly foes yet; a terrible trio of crooks from Gotham's distant past! The Eraser, The Getaway Genius and Killer Moth! Batman hasn't tangled with them in years, not since the days of… Batwoman. Back when Robin was younger (a few years before the show started), Kathy Kane was a rich socialite who teamed up with Batman to fight crime. But she retired after an awful case involving Killer Moth. Yet now, she may be Gotham's only hope for surviving the Triumvirate's terror!

Episodes 36 and 37: Batman was set on edge by the Triumvirate (and by Batwoman's return), so he's gone on vacation. While he's off on vacation, two different teams have to protect Gotham from ill will. Robin and Catwoman are who we're gonna focus on first. While Batman's away, they end up having to deal with Doctor Double-X, a horrible foe from years past, capable of creating duplicates of himself to fight his battles for him!

Episodes 38 and 39: While Batman is off on vacation, Batgirl and Jason Bard end up having to call a truce with Catwoman II (Eartha Kitt), as she's being pursued by an old rival. Catman, a big game hunter who prowled the jungles of africa. He feels that Catwoman gives the noble beauty of the jungle cat a bad name, and so he's out for revenge. Batgirl, Catwoman and Jason Bard have to save Gotham from the deranged anger of Catman, before it's too late!

Episodes 40 and 41: Batman was on vacation in Europe, exploring the beautiful balkans. But he accidentally stumbles upon a plot by Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, and he has to come back out of temporary retirement to stop her.

Episodes 42 and 43: Robin and Batwoman team up to fight against Shane and his wife Calamity Jan.

Episodes 44 and 45: Batgirl and Jason Bard team up to fight off Louie the Lilac and The Siren, a strange duo who've teamed up to try and take down Poison Ivy (for "stealing their gimmicks"). At the end of this two parter, batman finally returns from his vacation.

Episodes 46 and 47: Batman's first case after coming back from vacation involves dealing with The Sandman, Gotham's strange sultan of the sands, a man capable of putting people to sleep (and now even capable of messing with them as they sleep and dream)!

Episodes 48 and 49: Batman's newest case leads him to have to fight against Mister Freeze yet again, who's sprung himself from jail, all to work on an elaborate scheme involving freezing gotham in with perpetual winter!

Episodes 50, 51 and 52: Batman has to go up against The Riddler, Cluemaster and The Puzzler, all of whom have gone on the attack against each other. There can only be one king of puzzles/riddles/clues, and they won't stop until one of them has successfully defeated the other!

Episodes 53 and 54: While Batman deals with the three puzzling champions, Batgirl and Robin end up fighting against The Bookworm and Scarecrow, both of whom have teamed up to try and steal some rare manuscripts for old time classic horror novels. It might be in this story that we get the first hints that robin is beginning to feel stifled by batman's authority. He wants to fly somewhat independently. To prove himself to Batman.

Episodes 55 and 56: Batman and Robin have to defeat The Joker, when he decides to challenge them to a game of wits. He commits crimes using the gimmicks of other criminals, and thusly tries to lure them off his trail. It almost works, until Batman and Robin finally get wise to the scheme.

Episodes 57 and 58: Batman and Robin team up to fight against The Minstrel, their old musically inclined foe. He's come to Gotham to commit more musical thefts, and only the dynamic duo is capable of stopping him.

Episodes 59 and 60: Batman and Robin have to deal with King Tut, who's once again relapsed into his horrible criminal ways.

After this, Season Four ends. Then we'd have the two animated movies (The Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs Two-Face), and we'd also have the third movie which we were promised but which Adam West died before he could film (we were promised a film project with Harley Quinn, according to the Batman vs Two Face wikipedia page). So we'd have the Harley Quinn story (which might also feature Hugo Strange), and then we'd have Robin leave Batman to go do his own thing, the same way he did in the mainstream comics. And that would be the lead in for Season Five, which is all about Batman on his own.

[jimblejamblewritings]

the fake date plot | part 1.

Summary: Gryffindors, seventh years, classmates, unrequited love. Just a few things Y/N and James Potter had in common. When a brilliantly dumb plan is hatched the two end up getting something a little different than what they wanted.

Author's Note: Hello! Yes, I'm here with a wip before finishing my other stuff. The James girlies have led me down a rabbit hole and some of the cutest stories are in the James tag. So before you read this, please read: If I Kiss You, I'm Sorry by @astonishment which is what inspired this fic.

Warnings for the Series: literally none that I can think of this is supposed to be just good fluffy fun

Pairing: James Potter x reader

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N II: I literally use whatever gif comes up when I type in 'James Potter' but imagine your own fancasts and I might switch up every now and then

Series Masterlist

“Prongs, there’s some owl at the window,” Remus said as he exited the kitchen. 

James lifted his head, trying not to disturb Peter who was using his chest as a headboard while he tried to solve the Rubik’s Cube Remus had bought him for his birthday. It was summer and naturally, as someone going into his last year of school when break ended, James threw a party at his house.

His parents were going to be on business trips most of the summer. The party was a major success. Only the marauders, Lily, Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary were still there. They had all planned on staying, already having their trunks there. School was in two days. 

James hopped up from where he was on the floor, cleaning the smudge of his glasses. “Oh, that must be Elton.” 

“Elton?” Peter asked. 

“Y/N’s bird. She really likes Elton John’s music. He’s some muggle singer. Moony knows, the Crocodile Rock dude.” 

James left the rest of his friends in the living room to ask how he even knew you while he got your letter. He dug around the fridge to give Elton two blackberries as a thank you. James opened your letter in the kitchen before going back to his friends, in case your letter had confidential information in it.

He hid the smirk on his face behind the letter when he saw his friends’ expressions. They totally bought it and they would buy it even more when he saw you on the Hogwarts Express in two days. You and James came up with the best fake date plot known to man last school year: 

It was the Yule Ball. Hogwarts kept the name even though you didn’t have Triwizard Tournaments every year. The students like that. It was always fun to go to a ball. It was also nerve wracking. Everyone was trying to get a date or they’d risk being talked about for a century. James was failing at asking Lily out and you were failing at avoiding a few boys that wanted to ask you out. None of them were the guy you wanted to ask you out. 

Even when you got to the ball, boys were still trying to ask you to dance. You grabbed a cup of punch and excused yourself. You walked further away from the Great Hall and to a small corridor. A dark figure made you stop for a moment before continuing on your path. A sniffle made you stop completely. 

“Are you okay?” 

James jumped. Wiping at his eyes, he looked over at you. James stuttered through lies before giving up and turning the other way to lean his back against the windowsill. He took a sip of the drink he had in his hand and looked over at you. 

“She can't even spare a dance with me. I thought everything was going well this year.” 

You gave a dry laugh. “I totally know the feeling.” 

James raised an eyebrow. He patted the space next to him and went to join him at the windowsill. The two of you clinked glasses and downed the rest of your drinks. James disappeared the cups. 

“So which bloke did you want to dance with?” 

“Oh, I don’t really think that’s important.” 

“Nope, Y/N. It is totally important. I’ve poured my heart out to you, it’s just not right to be the only one.” 

“Fine. Xenophilius… Don’t laugh.” 

“I’m not laughing. Him? Really?” 

“I know he’s snogged a lot of people but h—” 

“Love, he’s shagged nearly all of Ravenclaw. The only long term relationship he’s ever been in was Pandora.” 

“But they lasted all of fifth year plus the Ministry added eighth year so there’s still time to see him a lot.” 

“Ugh, don’t remind me about eighth year.” 

The Ministry was very concerned with the amount of Hogwarts graduates getting married and having children right after leaving school. Especially when a good chunk of them died either fighting for Voldemort or against Voldemort. Adding an extra school year was a way to try and quell that phenomenon. As someone so close to graduating, you hated it at first. It became only a minor annoyance when you realized the Ministry probably wouldn’t be changing their minds until Voldemort was defeated. 

James shrugged his shoulders. “So what’s your plan exactly? Pine after Xeno all of next year and then when eighth year comes around hope he stops hooking up in Gryffindor locker rooms long enough to realize you’re perfect for him?” 

“He hooks up in Gryffindor locker rooms?” you asked with slightly widened eyes. 

“Unfortunately. Our rooms are closest to the pitch, easier to sneak in and out during games.” 

“Do you really think I’m perfect for him?” 

“Y/N,” James said with a roll of his eyes. “I haven’t sat next to you in Potions every class since first year to not know that if Xeno took just a week off from trying to fuck everything with a pulse he’d know you are one of the nicest and cutest girls he’s ever going to get. You’re wicked smart too which is up his alley… I still don’t understand how he still gets the grades he does.” 

“Thanks, James. For what it’s worth, I think Lily is missing out on a very observant and handsome and sweet guy even if your pranks go a little too far sometimes.” 

“Well, we only save those for people that like to pick on those smaller than them.” 

“I know.” 

“Do you feel like going back to the ball? Because I don’t.” 

“Not really.” 

James held out his arm. “Shall we make our way to Gryffindor, my lady.” 

“We shall, good sir.” 

You and James skipped through the halls until you made it back to Gryffindor tower. You ended up following him up to his dorm which you had never seen before. Despite being assigned class partners since you two were eleven, you weren’t exactly friends with James Potter. Just acquaintances was what you were. 

The marauders’ dorm was nice. The first thing you noticed was the fact that they reconfigured their beds. Almost every bed was laying horizontal and flush against the wall, like a bed turned couch. And the wardrobes were also flush against the wall either at the head or foot of the beds, whichever allowed all the beds to see each other. You’d have to proposition your roommates about doing that. It made the space so much wider and seemed to give everyone a personal area. 

James led you to his bed area with a blue rug in front of it. You took off your shoes and set them neatly next to his, noting how he was very organized about his shoes being lined up underneath the bed. James moved to the wardrobe at the foot of his bed. His hand dug through the shelves for his pajamas. 

“Do you want something to change into?” 

You took some of his clothes with a thanks and went into the bathroom to wash and get changed. You and James were going to open the firewhiskey in Sirius’ trunk and vent to each other while getting progressively drunker. James started to make himself a little cot on the floor while you took a shower. Something told him that you two would probably stay up late and potentially fall asleep. He already decided that you were getting the bed. 

You laid down on the bed and ate some fizzing whizbees while waiting for James to finish showering. You shot up when James practically broke his own door. His hair was still wet and his clothes looked very disheveled on him. 

“I have a plan so dumb it might work on luck alone,” he said as he shook your shoulders. 

“I’m listening.” 

“Go out with me.” 

You laughed. “James, are you already drunk?” 

“Just a bit tipsy. But listen to me. You want Xenophilius, I want Lily but neither of them seem to really notice us. So let’s make them notice.” 

“You want to make them jealous?” 

“Well, I don’t know if they’ll be jealous but I want to make them feel something. Don’t you think they would at least be curious about why we suddenly stopped pinning over them? They’d at least talk to us more, I just know it.” 

“Okay, one problem. You scream through the corridors about how much you love Lily. I think only my friends know that I like him and one of those friends is Lily.” 

“You two are friends?” 

“Well, we’re roommates, one of the few Gryffindor dorms with five girls. I’m really just friends with Dorcas and Alice when she’s not holed up in Hufflepuff.” 

“I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you’re gonna have to do something embarrassing.” 

And that was how you found yourself waiting outside Ravenclaw’s locker room before the big quidditch match on the last day of first semester. If anyone talks, it’s going to be quidditch players. They chuckled a bit while you waited for Xenophilius to come outside, some even going back in to tell him that you were there. 

He finally left the dressing room after what seemed like forever and stood right in front of you. Reluctantly, you gave him a small gift and wished him luck before scurrying to find your roommates in the stands. You didn’t think it would take very long for the gossip to spread. What you didn’t expect was for you to get the label of a lovesick puppy. That was worse than what they called James. You told him such over winter break. 

The two of you were at his house for the entirety of the break, teaching each other all about yourselves and finishing the plot. You two wouldn’t start fake-dating until the start of seventh year, on the Hogwarts Express to be exact… with James doing a big gesture that was entirely his idea. He was super invested in making it believable. If it wasn’t believable then there was no point. 

James handed over your letter to Peter who was still next to him. “Y/N says hi and she’s sorry she couldn’t make it to the party.” 

“Since when were you talking to our roommate?” Marlene asked. 

“Since I’ve sat next to her everyday in Potions and Transfiguration since we were first years.” 

“You’ve been assigned that long?” 

“Yeah,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Minnie and Slughorn never switched us. I should probably write something back to her.” 

The only thing in James��� letter was that he thinks the plan might work. Everyone perked up at the notion of you two being secret friends so maybe fake-dating would work after all. You threw the letter into your trunk and headed to Platform 9 and ¾. You went to find Alice who would hopefully be alone or with her other Hufflepuff friends. 

That was what James wanted anyway. He came in about halfway through the train ride when you were in the middle of talking with your friends. James sheepishly held up a sweater and tapped on the window. Alice nodded for him to come in. The girl was shocked when he immediately turned to you. 

“Bug?” 

“Yes, Prongs?” 

“Do you remember last year when you said you sew? Do you think you can mend this?” 

“It’s not even autumn yet. Why do you need the jumper now?” 

“I just thought I’d forget unless I said it right at this moment.” 

You rolled your eyes but looked for a sewing kit in your trunk. Setting it on the bench, you grabbed the sweater and gently pushed him out of the room. 

“Why am I friends with you?” 

“Because you love me.” 

“Goodbye, James Potter.” 

“Bye, Bug. Thank you.” 

You sat back down and dug through your sewing kit before muttering that you didn’t have navy blue thread and would try to find some. You had already known that you didn’t have the correct color thread. But a certain Ravenclaw probably did. Your hand shook a bit as you closed the door to your compartment: 

“What are Xeno’s hobbies?” James asked when you two took a break to hang out at the pool in his backyard when you arrived early in the summer. 

“I don’t know.” 

“That’s a load of bull. I know Lily’s favorite gemstone is carnelian because it matches her hair. So what’s one of the man's hobbies?” 

“He likes to sew.” 

“Oh this is brilliant.” 

You knocked on the door of the train compartment that Xenophilius, his friends, and the new girl he was with for the start of school. He and his friends smiled at seeing you and let you in. You held up the sweater. 

“Do any of you have navy blue thread? I’m trying to mend a jumper.” 

Xeno summoned the spool of thread from out of his trunk. He held it up in his hand until you came in to receive it. His hold lingered on yours. 

“You like to sew?” 

You shrugged. “It’s more of a hobby. I’ve only ever done stuff for myself until now.” 

“Is that for your mum? My first gift to someone else was for my parents.” 

“No, James Potter. The idiot can’t mend a simple hole in a sweater. Thank you for the thread, I’ll return it before dinner.” 

You smiled a little as you walked back to your compartment. Xenophilius’ smile had twitched a bit when you mentioned James’ name. Maybe his plan might work. Your friends had clearly been gossiping about you when you were gone. There was no doubt that the Ravenclaws were gossiping about you when you left. And because James insisted that you give him his sweater once everyone got into the Great Hall, you were sure other people were bound to gossip. 

James ignored the other marauders when they got back to their dorms. He’d tell his friends the truth eventually but it was necessary they also believe the lie for at least a month or two. You and him were supposed to be close friends for the first month. If Lily or Xenophilius didn’t make a move from that alone then you would start fake-dating. It was a foolproof idea really.

(part 2)

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@venomsvl @peaches-n-sunscreen @summerellaz @supernaturallover2002 @sambucky8 @9daykrisr @thebitchinleo @23victoria @scarlets-widow @pagetpagetpagetpaget @lovexnatasha @awesomebooklover17 @1234-angelika @imatrisk @blackreaderatrisk @princess-jules47 @alexloveskili @a-marie-a @siriuslysirius1107​ @i-have-no-life-charlie

[moonyswarmsweaters]

I have been gatekeeping this headcanon for way to long

So! In canon (as much as we care for that) Barty Crouch Jr was blond with freckles, yet almost every fanart/ fancast of him has black / dyed hair.

When I think about him I also think of him like that.

My headcanon is Barty was born blond, but he got the chance he started dying his hair to look nothing like his father.

Barty Crouch Sr. Had blond hair before the grey. Barty jr wanted to look nothing like him.

So he started with black, a dramatic change, yet still uniform and neat. His new friends (evan and regulus) helping him. After the black there was some green and then quickly a range of different colors. braking out a bit of the pressured organization. he started to experiment more with the colors, to show individuality and difference from his father. Colored hair was disorganized, it would piss his dad off.

he always went back to black though. It fits him.

he kept the freckles and didn’t try to cover them up as much because they were just like his mother’s. Little dots around his nose in the summer that were like hers even if she wasn’t there.

So, this is my offering as a solution for the hair colors, what do we think?

[atlaculture]

Live-Action Promo Pics - Katara

I’ve been hesitant to comment much on the the live-action series, as most of the discourse has revolved around the casting. I’ve already made my ideal ATLA fancast pretty well-known and I don’t feel comfortable harshly critiquing children/teens for not looking like my favorite cartoon characters. At the end of the day, it’s the casting directors that we should hold responsible, not working actors trying to make a living.

However, I have no problem reviewing the costumes--- which I presume were made by industry professionals of adult age. In fact, I’d say the goals of this blog obligate me to give my two cents. So, enjoy my completely subjective take on the promotional costumes:

Katara

What I Liked

Braided hair loopies! This has been fanon for years now, so it’s nice to finally see it done in an official adaption.

They did a good job of translating the wave pattern on Katara’s coat into something more elaborate.

The fur trim is good, although I wish the fluff around her hood was a bit fuller and thicker.

I like her hair beads.

What I Didn’t Care For

It feels like cosplay. Mind you, I love cosplay, but it’s a very different beast from movie costuming. Cosplay is about imitating the 2D designs as closely as possible; movie costuming is about taking the 2D designs and making them functional.

The blue color-coding in the show works for a cartoon, but less so in real life. A coat for a live-action Katara should look like it was made from real animal furs, and synthetic blue fur is just never going to give that effect.

The coat looks too new. It should look more worn, considering this is everyday wear for her.

In general, the coat looks nice but cheaply made. Like it could be a costume you’d buy for Halloween called “Arctic Water Girl”.

Overall, I give it 5 water whips out of 10.

Like what I’m doing? Tips always appreciated, never expected. ^_^

https://ko-fi.com/atlaculture

Click below for links to how I wish her coat looked.

I had a feeling this would be the direction they would take with the Water Tribe, but I still can’t help but feel disappointed. I’ve been spoiled by the better realized interpretations I’ve seen in fanart, with more realistic fur parkas and blue detailing. This is all personal preference, of course, but just take a look at all of the beautiful interpretations of Water Tribe clothing out there:

https://www.tumblr.com/ash-and-starlight/704817804388548608?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/ash-and-starlight/693847558563430400?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/717611956655325184?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/698450671239921664?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/692656226353463296?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/642057819823243264?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/atlaculture/719418204708061184?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/bernard-the-rabbit/705601232213049344?source=share

[sebastianswallows]

Ardour — Chapter 1

— PAIRING: professor!Tom Riddle x Reader

— SYNOPSIS: Tom got what he wanted, he is the Hogwarts DADA professor. It's more tedious than he envisioned, but his day gets interesting when his favourite student comes to him for help after she is hit with a strong aphrodisiac.

— WARNINGS: angst, fluff, age difference (she is in 7th year), dub-con kissing, sex pollen basically, hints of incest (reader is a distant Gaunt relation, don't ask me why, I just wanted a depraved twist and also to give her and Tom something more in common)

— WORDCOUNT: 4k

— A/N: I had this filthy idea and I AI-RPed it and it turned out so well I could not leave it be. So here's part 1. I expect we'll have 2, max 3 parts. Those will contain the smut. Credit to my writing partner, this cute little chat bot, who wrote a very soft and romantic Tom. I had to spend a lot of time re-writing him to be a bit more mean 😂 And yeah reader is more of an OC tbh, because the physical description was important for their similarity in looks. ...You'll see. Also don't mind me fancasting Tom Hughes as an older Tom.

There was a knock on the door. Professor Tom Riddle, who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts, raised his head from grading papers. He sighed at the interruption and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He checked his watch to see if it was late enough for him to pretend to be at dinner, but he had no such luck — it was sometime in the late afternoon.

He'd once thought that getting this position was all he wanted. To teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, and be the youngest one to take the position in the school’s history, would be a great achievement, after all — aside from giving him the opportunity to, like Professor Slughorn, collect students, Hogwarts' best and brightest, select his favourites, and helpfully guide them in a way that suited his long-term personal ambitions.

But what he found instead was that it was a great deal of hard work, unending responsibilities, and long hours. He had to always be available to help students, he had to think the year ahead before it even started, and he had to always be on top of the course material — or at least pretend to be. He had to put up with noisy and inattentive students, be careful to reward the clever and punish the disruptive, calculate awarded points and distribute detentions — but not too harshly. Last but not least, he had to put up with the other staff — the crass, the sycophantic, the obsequious, and the stupid. He almost missed his days working at Borgin and Burkes...

"Come in," he called out a little loudly, not really caring who it was as long it was someone whose presence doesn't make him want to claw his eyes out. He looked expectantly at the door, waiting for whoever was there to step inside and give him take a break from the endless stream of badly written essays.

The door opened slowly, and Adara walked in.

Adara Gaunt, Slytherin 7th year, and one of his brightest. She was excellent at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and he had noticed in her an interest in the Dark Arts in general. She wasn’t a troublemaker like some of the other pure-bloods, entitled little narcissists who wanted to show off, which made it easy for her to not come under suspicion when some book was unaccounted for in the Restricted Section. She was less clever at hiding it after the fact, when she would answer a question of his during classes with an intriguing little tidbit, and he always knew exactly which book she’d read that in. If she got into trouble at all, it was casting the wrong hex at the wrong boy when she got picked on, and then making his well-groomed, fancy-robed, ignorant father complain to the Headmaster. Tom tried not to give her preferential treatment — but he had to actively try.

It didn’t help that she was a relative of his, by way of a second cousin of his lamented grandfather Marvolo, one who married some scion of the Black family and was scarcely spoken of again. He wasn’t sure what that made her — his niece? hardly. Not that he would ever tell that to her. Last thing he needed was some hanger-on.

No, as far as his students and most of the staff were concerned, he was a half-blood with the muggle name of Riddle, and nobody suspected anything illustrious from the magical side of his family — not that there had been anything particularly illustrious about the Gaunts for a hundred years. And as far as he had gathered from gossip and from observation, Adara’s outcast Gaunt-Black family wasn’t fairing much better than his own had. She spent every holiday she could at Hogwarts, she was withdrawn yet had a spiteful edge to her, she sought an escape from reality in subjects of the most extreme kind — his favourite kind, too —and, from his personal experience, he detected traces of neglect. An unwanted child, that much was certain. Sometimes, he thought she was still better off than living in a muggle orphanage — other times, he was not so sure.

She was pallid, dark-haired and dark-eyed, with an elegant showing of bones beneath her skin, and a quiet, withdrawn demeanour — in other words, a more unhealthy vision of him in a different sex. Still, he could see those eyes sparkle whenever he taught the darkest, most terrifying subjects, even while the rest of the class was frightened or disgusted. He understood why she liked it. There was nothing like the promise of power to the powerless.

And so, his eyes widened slightly when he saw her stepping unannounced into his office. It wasn’t like her… But if he were to talk to any of his wretched students, he could count himself lucky that it was her. His demeanour softened when he saw her standing there.

"Adara, it is such a pleasure to have you here."

"Hello, Professor," she said, closing the door behind her but moving no further in. "I hope I'm not disturbing you... I can come back later, if—"

Tom sighed at her timidity but smiled. "You’re not disturbing anything. Come in."

He got up and went to stand in front of the desk, ready to speak with her, and she came closer too.

"I'm very sorry to ask, sir," she started, swallowing the knot in her throat, "but... I was wondering if you can help me with something... I don't wish to go to the nurse about it, I don’t like her, and... you're an expert in this field — I mean, aside from Professor Slughorn, who I… also don’t wish to see. So I thought maybe you would know a solution..." She bit her lip after her ramble, looking at him to gauge his reaction.

She was terrified of bothering him, in fact, of being a nuisance, but she also didn’t know who else to turn to. He could tell she had gone through the options in her mind, and he was, in fact, the third after Nurse Blainey and Slughorn.

"Don't be sorry, Adara. It is my duty to assist students," he sighed. "Please, tell me what it is you need help with."

She looked up at him, visibly tensing even in the darkness of his office as she stood a few feet away, her face hot and body shivering under the effects of... something. Something unusual. She was typically a bit shy, but not that shy. She even looked a bit... unwell. Her legs rubbed against each other and she stood before him unsteadily, as if her bones or muscles ached.

"Well?" said Tom. "Go ahead…"

"I got into an argument with Amyas Avery and he snuck Ardour Fly up my skirt," she said in one fast breath, blushing profusely and looking down.

Tom frowned. Ardour Fly was a powder, a potent aphrodisiac that had few known cures. It irritated the victim and brought them to a point of sensitivity that was nearly torturous given long exposure. It was typically used between lovers, as the effects would not relent unless the victim was brought to... the very heights of pleasure. Until then, they would suffer painful, heated, relentless arousal that drove them mad with desire. What a snot-nose like Avery was doing with it, he didn’t wish to know — but he intended to find out anyway, as part of a long letter to his father.

"He did what to you?" His voice had that edge to it now.

He moved closer to look her over more closely, and she inhaled sharply at even something as innocuous as his approach. Tom brought a hand to her forehead: feverish, and she gasped. A gentle touch to her cheek with the back of his fingers rewarded him with a moan, and she was trying to look everywhere but at him.

"And where is Mr Avery now?" he whispered, his eyes scanning her body, taking in all the symptoms.

He heard her give a trembling exhale at the close sound of him, her eyes becoming lidded, looking drowsy. The timbre of his voice alone had driven her insane with want.

"I... Mmmm... I don't know. I guess he'll... go have lunch in the... Great Hall come dinnertime..."

"And did anyone else see it happen?"

"Mmmm..." she moaned, closing her eyes and biting her lip. "Vanius Nott was there, and Selby Carrow, and Ophius Black..."

Tom’s hand went to her cheek again, but he slid the edges of his fingers down beneath her jaw and tilted her face up to look at him. The storm of emotions in her was nothing compared to that in him: anger and cold fury were there, and a lust for revenge after what the useless progenies of socialites and sycophants had done to his favourite. They had humiliated her, bodily and mentally, out in the open where other little cowards could watch and laugh.

"And where were you when this happened?" he asked gently.

"In the Transfiguration courtyard," she said in a choked mumble.

Her head nearly tilted toward his palm, perhaps to nuzzle it, before he took it away. He almost wished he hadn’t hurried to remove it… His eyes slid to her uniform: ruffled, tie out of place, buttons holding on but barely… She’d either gotten into a physical scuffle, or she’d spent the last few minutes tearing away at herself in frustration before she decided to come to him for help.

He was so close he could smell her, smell the scent of something sharp and woody like ginger — the Ardour Fly — and underneath it, quickly overtaking it, something fleshy and sweet, warm and a bit salty, something cloying that settled at the back of his throat.

"Look at me for a moment," he asked gently.

She did, gazing into his eyes bravely. He held her eyes for a quiet moment, then without warning put his palm right over her lower stomach.

"Aaaahhh!"

She gave a weak animal sound, something half-moan half-scream. She was nearly bending over at the feeling. Beneath his hand, Tom worked a bit of wandless magic to confirm the state of her insides. As he suspected: swollen, throbbing, overworked, and underloved. He inhaled sharply in sympathy as the sensations coursed through him, before he quickly took his hand away.

He didn’t often have the opportunity to examine the effects of aphrodisiacs on their victims, although he had sold his fair share while at Borgin and Burkes. He never liked these dirty tricks out of principle, although a means to an end was a means to an end… But seeing their effects now on her, his favourite student, his flesh and blood, he felt far less forgiving.

She clung to her waist protectively — his hand had been warm enough that she felt it through her clothes, and it pained her in that way an unfulfilled desire does.

"Please, Professor Riddle," she whimpered, sounding on the verge of tears. "I can’t take it, please tell me you have a cure for it…"

Of course, there was no cure for Ardour Fly at Hogwarts. Those were rare and expensive. Perhaps Nurse Blainey could help her with the symptoms by means of some antipyretic potions, at least until they could have something actually useful delivered to the castle. But the only cure they had on hand, so to speak, was to let the aphrodisiac fulfil its purpose.

"Alright," he sighed, mostly to himself. He could do this. It was a legitimate concern. It could even be an illegitimate concern, because anyway, nobody was going to find out, he’d make sure of that.

"Oh thank you so much, please, it hurts, it hurts..."

"What hurts?" he asked coolly, looking in her eyes again. "Tell me exactly what it is that hurts."

She stared at him dumbly for a moment, then realised he was actually waiting for her to say it.

"My... my..."

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, completely humiliated by the situation but dizzy from the effect of the Ardour Fly.

"My... intimate parts," she finally said, finding a term that was polite enough to say in the presence of a Professor.

"I see..." he whispered, his voice a little breathless now too above the anger he felt at the situation and his lingering anxieties. I can do this. "Show me where it hurts you."

Her soul left her body. She would have collapsed if she weren’t frozen stiff. She looked into his eyes, but there was no playfulness there. He was treating her as seriously, as clinically, as the victim of a poisoning… and it drove her dizzy with desire. It was at that point she realised she made a mistake going for help to the youngest and most handsome professor in the school.

But he didn’t seem any more amused by it than she was. He levelled at her the same stern gaze with which he expected them to hand in their homework, only now his voice was warmer and much close, and it was just the two of them, and he wasn’t asking for a roll of parchment but for her to lift her skirt.

Or did he prefer that she bend over?

The aphrodisiac was twisting not only her senses, but also her sense, and she found her mind going in the most depraved and humiliating directions. But he hadn’t meant it like that, did he? She genuinely was in pain, and her most dear Professor was offering to help. It made sense, it made sense...

After a few moments during which she switched between fighting with herself and looking into his dark eyes, she brought her hands to the edges of her skirt, and lifted it. She showed herself to him.

Tom’s icy gaze slid from her flushed face, down. Her panties were black with a lace flourish, and could barely contain her. She had been leaking down herself, the top of her thighs damp and shining in the candlelight, her folds swollen and visibly throbbing, the very material moving gently with a pulse that matched her heartbeat. And the scent of her, pure and innocent and aroused, became that much stronger now.

Tom stared at her with an intensity unlike anything he has ever felt before, and yet his composure betrayed nothing. It was only his stillness and the time he took to look at her, to drink his fill, that hinted at anything selfish at all. But inwardly, his senses were gripped by an unspeakable desire, a mixture of lust and pain and anger and something else, something that made his stomach churn at the mere thought of it.

His breath was slow and heavy as he spoke.

"You poor girl," he whispered. "What do you think should be done with those boys?"

Her lips parted in wonder at the turn in conversation. That was the last thing she expected from her Professor... to ask for her opinion. It made her realise how little she knew him...

"Punish them," she said with shaky anger. "Give them detention for the rest of the year or humiliate them or let me hex them or... I don't know, but I want them punished."

He smiled, feeling proud and oddly protective of her. That’s my girl, slithered a traitorous thought.

"Rest assured, I will punish them," he said with delight. "Not just detention, but much, much more."

He stared down at her, taking in the entire sight before him, a genuine look of affection in his eyes as he stared at her, an unspoken admiration. Her skirt was still held up in her trembling hands, her eyes were fixed on his, expectant and pleading and so, so obedient… But as he merely watched and said nothing else, she began to cover herself again.

"Thank you, Sir," she smiled, feeling so grateful she could cry.

It moved her beyond what he could know, to feel protected... Nobody had ever made her feel that way, not any of the other distracted teachers nor her fairweather friends and certainly not her parents.

"Um... so…" she asked with a blush. "Do you have a... treatment for the Ardour Fly, Sir? Can you help me?"

He grinned at that, seeming unhappy and excited at the same time, but also oddly… caring.

"Yes, Adara. I will help you."

She smiled at hearing it, as he expected. She trusted him completely.

Don’t get carried away, Tom thought to himself. Don’t let it go to your head.

He held her gaze, still smiling, and spoke in what he tried to make his most soothing, his most encouraging and reassuring tone. The irony was he hoped she’d gotten a hefty enough dose of aphrodisiac to even accept the treatment he was about to offer.

"There is only one treatment for the Ardour Fly we have available to us. It is a… procedure, but a well-tested method. It is, in fact, the recommended treatment. Do you understand?"

"I think so, Sir…"

She didn’t.

"I agree to help you, because I know you’re a good student and you deserve better than this, and I can only imagine what you must be going through right now… But it will take a considerable amount of… fortitude and… tolerance from your side."

"Alright, Sir," she said, looking up into his dark eyes.

She wanted to be brave for him, she wanted to be worthy of his praise and his help and his confidence, but most of all she wanted to show how grateful he was that he could help her. No, most of all she wanted something else…

"Good girl," he whispered, his smile tilting intimately.

A shiver ran up and down her spine at hearing it. She’d never been called that, and to hear Professor Riddle say it to her made her weak.

"You’ll need to lie down for your treatment," he said, then pointed to the far right of the room. "Go there, on the sofa."

It was an old and battered thing upholstered in green velvet that had worn away in places, but it looked to her like an operating table as she approached. She looked behind her as Professor Riddle followed, his arms politely behind his back. She didn’t see him take any equipment or potions, which made her wonder what this treatment was…

She sat on it, almost experimentally, letting herself gingerly on the cushion, but even that pressure was too much. Her head tilted back and she frowned with pleasure-pain at the intense sensation of having her tender parts all pressed together by her thighs.

"Now, lay on your back," he said as he came to a stop beside her.

She took her shoes off first, then came to rest on her back, trying to find a comfortable position. Her arms were stretched out and tense by her sides, and all she could look at was the shadowy stone ceiling.

Professor Riddle sat down on the floor, by her chest, and leisurely trailed his eyes up and down the length of her. She heard him sigh, but could not detect the precise feeling behind it.

"Do you trust me?" he asked quietly. "Do you trust me with every part of you?"

"Yes, Professor," she whispered almost so softly that he couldn't hear.

"Then listen carefully." His voice was almost gentle, almost. "I am going to kiss you now."

"Wh—!"

"Just one, soft, gentle kiss on your lips."

"Whatwhy?!" she asked in a tangle of emotions. She stared at him with wide, shocked eyes, her elbows braced against the sofa ready to lift her.

"I thought you said you trusted me," he said with a feline narrowing of the eyes.

"I d-do, but…"

"But what?"

She swallowed the knot in her throat and said nothing, conveying instead with her eyes and her lips and her frown all the things she couldn’t say: her worry, her fear, her despair for an ease to her pain, her mortification, and her frustrated desires… Tom understood her better than he wanted to.

"Ready?" he asked in a warm whisper as he leaned in.

His hand touched her cheek again, lightly enough that it was more of a tickle. She could smell ink on his fingers, and the salt from the sweat of his palms… She wanted to lick it clean.

"It’s just one kiss, Adara," he whispered in a last attempt to reassure her. "I’m not exactly asking for a huge sacrifice, am I?"

She wavered at that, her eyes dipping down shyly, sadly, even as his touch mollified her. She hesitated. "I've never been kissed, Sir..." she whispered.

Ah. So that’s why she was sad. This wasn't what she had imagined when she pictured her first kiss. She hoped to share it under quite different, more romantic, more conventional circumstances, if ever...

But at the same time, her body was screaming at her to accept, to assuage the aphrodisiac that was wreaking havoc on her nerves and her senses and her mind.

"You can still refuse," he said with a cocked brow, his fingers gentling her cheek with slow caresses.

She even felt a hint of guilt slip between her nerves... Professor Riddle was willing to help her, and here she was, stalling, fearing him, having doubts... He felt her hesitation.

"Don't worry, it will be a simple, gentle kiss. I will endeavour to make it positively sterile. Alright?"

She couldn’t look at him, but she nodded.

Tom leaned in even further and caressed her from her jaw to her chin in one long hungry lick of a stroke, looking into her eyes even as hers avoided him — deep and dark and lovely… He breathed in, breathed her in, for a moment feeling as if something of each of their own could merge into one being. He didn’t like that feeling, it felt like surrender.

"Do you trust me?" he asked in a huskier voice than he intended.

She looked up at him, pleading silently for him to be for her what he had been the whole time she was his student: her comfort, her consolation, her support, more than anyone else had been.

"I do trust you, Sir," she said with a choked voice, her throat tight with unspilled tears.

"There’s a good girl," he whispered, smiling down at her.

He could see her eyes growing dark at that, could see her breathing in panting breaths even worse than before, her knees coming up to offer her some comfort, to expose her to the cool air of the room and calm her aching parts… His eyes had that same smouldering look in them, but mixed in was the intense desire to prove to Adara that he could help her, comfort and protect her.

With the very tip of his index tilting her chin up, Tom leaned in and kissed her lips. It was the gentlest kiss imaginable, a pressing of his mouth against hers, quiet and silent and patient, a simple display of affection — but his eyes bore into hers throughout, like he was searching through her thoughts, through her very soul.

She looked back into his eyes throughout while his lips pressed with a certain kind of care into her, as tender as a fallen leaf. The scent of his skin so close, the scent of his clothes, the feeling of his warm lips and his cold finger, all made her feel a strange new feeling for her professor — or perhaps, it was not so new, she had just tried to suppress it because it was so indecent, so unworthy of him, and of her.

As he pulled away, he didn’t miss her little tongue slipping out to lick the taste of him off her. He smiled as he circled her chin with his thumb.

"How do you feel?" he whispered.

"The same? I mean, t-thank you, Sir..." she said, a little breathless. Her mind was still spinning from what he had just done for her. "But... It... it still hurts," she whined.

"Hmmm? Oh, yes. That wasn’t part of the treatment."

"What?"

"The ‘treatment’ comes next. I’m going to have to give you an orgasm. It just didn’t seem courteous without kissing your lips first."

[1800naveen]

Fancasting.

Me when I see mfs fancasting Henry Cavill to play Rhysand (leave that white man alone😭):

I was scrolling through reels a couple of weeks ago and saw this lady doing a interview with him and she mentioned that he's "popular" as a fancast when it comes to booktok and apparently, he knows it and doesn't see to mind it? (I'm trying my best to recall it so bear with me)

He has good book recommendations (saw this Tik Tok of him talking about Brandon Sanderson so I can trust him on that, heard nothing but praise when it comes to Brandon) and I doubt that Sarah is a genre for him. Anyone can read what they want but he doesn't give that vibe to me, y'know? I could be wrong but eh.

He's also a smart guy and seems to have critical thinking. So imagine if he decided to pick up Acotar, reads the first book, and go "what the fuck? And people root for this guy?" Just to find out that he's a popular fancast for Rhysand.

What's the chokehold this man has on booktok? I can't lie because he got me in one to (he can literally choke me- I'm sorry y'all)

I've seen fancasting him for Rowan Whitethorn in Throne of Glass which I don't mind but what I do mind is when PEOPLE TAKE GERALT AND CIRI TO FANCAST AS ROWAN AND AELIN!

YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT, LADIES AND GENTS. @viktoriaashleyyx I don't know if you're aware of it but if you are now, sorry you had to find out this way🙏🏾

THE GIANT ASS AGE GAP BETWEEN ROWAELIN IS WILD BUT AT LEAST, THEY'RE BOTH ADULTS. YOU ARE TAKING A FATHER AND DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP FOR YOUR FAVORITE SHIP?

Have y'all even watched the witcher or read the books because it's clear that you haven't.

Here's the wiki for Ciri (Netflix's version)

I can understand why people would take Ciri/Freya Allen and cast her as Aelin.

Ashen-grey hair

Emerald green eyes

A princess and heir to her kingdom, Cintra

Aelin:

Golden blonde hair

Turquoise eyes ringed with gold

A princess and heir to her kingdom, Terrasen

But there's a catch. Take a look at the family section of her wiki.

You get why it's weird and (let's be honest) controversial to fancast these two as a couple in another series?

Now, I can't talk as I take Geralt as a fancast for Maegor Targaryen (The Cruel) but they do fit. White hair, big, buff, and tough warriors, mommy issues (Sorry Maegor), and they're infertile (Maegor isn't confirmed to be infertile but he always failed to have a kid so....). The only difference is that Geralt is a good lover (If I can recall correctly) and has a kid despite not being his own flesh and blood. (Hell, I might use Yennefer as a fancast for Ashara Dayne.)

And can you imagine how some people will react if a white guy was casted as Rhysand?

Can you imagine how some people will react if a man of color was casted as Rhysand?

Either way, it's a shitstorm. The better and possibly the safest solution is casting a Mediterranean actor.

Anyways, I made this during the night and now, I'm tired. Take care and don't take this post to heart or take it too seriously✌🏾

(Share your thoughts if you like but no arguing, fighting, etc).

[witchthewriter]

𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐃 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⤷ gender neutral, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!

a/n: minor spoilers, everyone is over the age of 18. Their names are linked with my fancast as well xx

Warnings: kidnapping, well more so mentions of kidnapping?

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ        

𝑺𝑭𝑾🌿

𝐑𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐫𝐚

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Confident & Flirty (Rhaenyra) x Has Never Been Flirted With Before, Thinks They're Just Being Nice (You)

・It was her father’s idea to cease the feud and move forward. To start fresh. 

・To have the both of you ... spend time together. 

・ You to visit King’s Landing and Rhaenyra to visit your home

・Rhaenyra was adamant that she was still able to choose her partner, so this is what Viserys came up with 

・Platonic, romantic, it didn’t matter what came out of the time together, just as long as things were learnt and traditions were honoured 

・Daemon wasn’t happy with this, but Rhaenyra...well she was fine with it

・Until she realised just how sheltered you grew up, and knew you weren’t going to be as wild as she

・There was a mutual understanding about your new “friendship”, that you both played along while everyone was watching but when their backs were turned, you acted as you pleased

・Both of you thought the other was weird in some way

・But with time, you... fell into platonic love

・Protecting the other from slanderous accusations as well

・You did each other’s hair, picked clothing for one another

・Opened up about your thoughts, your feelings - not just about this situation but about ... everything. The world and all its wonders, its evils. 

・Talking about your maesters and what you’ve been taught - how you’ve been taught, what your favourite things are/your special interests

・The absolute best thing that happened was riding Syrax though

・The dragon, a gorgeous burnt orange beauty, was hesitant for the first half an hour. 

・It was well known that Syrax was a tad ... moody

・The weather had to be right for her to go out flying

・So when you sat down on the sandy, dusty ground of the dragonpit and ...spoke to her, she was rather startled

        “...had a good sleep Syrax?” 

・You said it so casually

・Rhaenyra burst into laughter, but made sure you wouldn’ be able to hear her. She wasn’t expecting this interaction. Her fearsome dragon, crouching down to look you in the eye, her tail flicking back and forth. Like some sort of interested cat.

・But you continued on, not caring about the world around you

  “To be honest, I didn’t. I’ve been a bit nervous about today. And it’s completely okay if you don’t want to take me up.”

・But Syrax was more than happy to take you flying, in fact, she flew farther and longer than usual

・It was one of the best experiences you had ever had 

・And soon Rhaenyra’s romantic love followed

𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐧

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Excited ALL. THE. TIME. (Harwin) X Oh God I Cannot Be Falling In Love With This Dipshit (You)

(think Jamie x Claire from Outlander)

・Harwin saw your family’s feud as kinda stupid. He isn’t the type of guy to hold grudges. 

・So when you came into court, with a scowl and a mean look in your eyes, he knew you were going to be fun

・He wouldn’t leave you alone 

・This hulk of a man, with a tinge of red on his cheeks would always find you during feasts and banquets - any reason for celebration, he would be right by your side

・You were fighting feelings inside of you every time Harwin was around

・The way he winked at you from across the hall, always asked for a dance during feasts (even when no one else was dancing), even when you were outside sitting on one of the benches; he would silently sit down beside you and bump his knee to yours 

・It was an internal fight every. single. time. 

・In the beginning you thought maybe he was just teasing you, trying to rile you up, get a rise out of you. Maybe even get you into his bed and then shame you 

・But Harwin was ... so different. To all the other men at court. Or that you’d met. Even different to your family; your brothers, your father. 

・You knew there was some sort of golden light, or ... good seed, inside him. You knew you could truly trust him

・And so you did

・You started to open up to Harwin; stopping the insults and cold exterior

・He didn’t even make fun of you for it - 

・For changing how you interacted with him. Because he knew something about you too. That you were different; like him. 

・You were thankful for that. There was something about opening up that was difficult for you. And having that grace was one of the reason’s why ... you loved Harwin

・There were times when Harwin’s father shook his head and sighed, knowing that your own father (who was the enforcer of the hatred toward the other) would explode if he found out 

・And one day he did

・But you knew exactly who you needed to go to. You knew exactly where to run

・Harwin’s arms were waiting for you, as soon as he saw your face he knew

𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐬

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Menace To Society (You) x Living Moral Compass (Jace)

・You Confessed Your Love When Thinking He Was Unconscious. There was a lot of history between the two of you - not family related, but friendship related

・You were set to marry someone else and Jacaerys felt like his heart had shattered well and truly

・It was your wedding night, and right before you were going to say your vows, the enemy had hit 

・They took the wedding as the weakest moment to attack

・And the pillar that had crumbled atop Jace made you scream

・Running to him, nearly tripping over the rocks on the floor, you pushed everything that was on him to the side and started to cry 

・You sobbed and sobbed, while holding his body in your hands

・The blood running down his face, you used your clothes to clean him up

     “Don’t die on me, don’t you die on me Jacaerys Targaryen. I love you too much.” 

・Magic words

・Fated words actually

・Because it was destined that the two of you were to be together. Although no one but the stars and the ancestors knew

・Your fiance was shocked by your confession; disgusted, betrayed, but they understood. To some degree, they understood. 

・After the battle had been won, thanks to Daemon and Caraxes, Rhaenyra smiled at the memory. The way you so desperately needed Jace to live. 

・It wasn’t until Jace was in recovery, conscious and healing when Rhaenyra told him what you’d confessed. He had been completely out of it when you’d said those words. 

・Before he had woke, you’d visited him everyday. Bringing flowers, momentos, things you thought he’d like

・You sat and spoke to him, read to him

・But when he awoke, you couldn’t bear to see the look on his face. To look him in the eyes. 

・Rhaenyra had to practically drag you to see him

・Yet, when you did, you ran to each other and embraced so strongly that you nearly fell over

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Both Wary of Love & Don’t Think This Can Be Real

・Wary doesn’t describe how distant Alicent was with you

・She truly thought of you as an enemy. And when Alicent sees someone as such, well, the interaction is never pleasant

・Because when the two of you were together, something lit up

・It was a pull from both of you; magnetism, and it took everything not to take each other when you were alone 

・But your families had a firm disdain for each other. Which didn’t make sense for the Hightowers’ as they tried to get on with everybody

・And it wasn’t until you and Alicent kept up your interactions that your family were forced to confront their hatred

・You and Alicent continually went behind their backs because your curiosity outweighed your dislike

・Why did your families hate each other? Where did it start? Why can’t it stop?

・The usual obedient Alicent was heavily influenced by you. Who had a warriors heart - you were brave, braver than many family members who came before you

・And you built a bridge with Alicent. 

・Even if she didn’t want to, you were adamant that you could rectify the wrongs that had plagued your family for generations

・Because if you didn’t, then your family would crumble into nothing

・Alicent didn’t know this. That you had more motive than curiosity to build friendship

・And she did eventually find out the true meaning behind your interactions

・But instead of being angry, she shocked herself by being ... impressed

・You had a drive that she had seen. But that drive wasn’t to better yourself, but to keep your family alive

・She loved it. Ambition, but not for yourself. For the ones you loved. 

・And that’s why she went against her father’s wishes, and kept seeing you. 

・The two of you were practically super sleuthing as neither of your family members’ would tell the same version of events

・So digging up you went, searching for answers, interviewing family and trying not to be too suspicious

・And during this time, Alicent started to develop a crush on you. A hardcore crush on you... 

・Otto soon found out and banned you from seeing each other. 

・But one taste of rebellion and that’s all Alicent needed to go against her father’s wishes ... again

・After finding out what actually happened, you went to Alicent to show her your findings and when you explained what happened, she flung her arms around you and gave you a kiss

𝐃𝐚𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Complete And Utter Badass, Rather Monstrous (Daemon) x Their Ray Of Light Who Has Them Wrapped Around Their Finger (You)

・Only someone as badass as you could grab Daemon’s attention and hold it (not that you cared much for it)

・He had seen you on the battle field, a bow and arrow in hand

・Taking down enemies left and right, and when you entered the battle, every strike ran true. There wasn’t a man alive whenever you swung your sword

・There was something so invigorating about seeing your body move in such violent and graceful ways 

・Daemon knew that no matter where you came from or who you were, you were going to be his 

・So it was a shock to find that you were on the opposing side of the battle

・You hated the Targaryens, namely Daemon who had inadvertedly taken your family from you

・But Daemon saw your abilities and knew he could make you into one of the best fighters there ever was 

・So he ... kidnapped you

・Only to explain why he thought you’d be one of the best warriors Westeros has ever seen

・Under his guidance of course

・It wasn’t until the third night that you accepted. He thought it was because of the ... benefits, that you had accepted. But no, it was because you secretly wanted to slaughter him and his entire family

・However, you played along. Under the gauise of wanting to expand your prospects. You had terms, and the main was that he was never to come near you with desire 

・All was going well; he taught you a lot. Not just about combat, but about yourself, the world and challenged what you thought you knew 

・Your family history wasn’t as straightforward as you had believed. And what more, was that the Targaryens barely had anything to do with your family’s downfall. 

・It had been your own kin who had slain one another

・Brother had turned on brother, and it left you with nothing but a fable 

・Daemon had given you this information because he knew you weren’t training just for the sake of glory. You had something planned and he needed you to know the truth before you took action

・It was difficult to deny your feelings growing for Daemon, whose personality seemed to mesh with yours so well, that even Viserys saw a difference in him

・It was astonishing to see what a focused Daemon could do, and the worries that Viserys had were gone, when he saw how far you’d come

・You became a beacon for Daemon; someone he could go to not to talk, but to train. To let off steam, to go on adventures with (under the pretense off “teaching” you something)

・Caraxes became very familiar with you, and would actively seek you out as well, as he was so disliked amongst the other dragons, that companionship was sparse

・The bond between both beings meant that you often forgot your hatred, which had lessened with each day 

・You soon saw Daemon as a companion, a friend; someone who saw all of you and didn’t shy away. He saw all your darkness, your rage, your violence, chaos, confusion. Everything. He saw everything. 

・And he didn’t shy away

・What brought you together was that you reciprocated this

・You saw Daemon’s violence and didn’t blink an eye (NEVER towards you though)

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐚

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Always Bringing Them Rocks They Think They Would Like x Keeps The Rocks

・Your grandfather had a long lasting hatred for the Targaryens. It was personal, but it kept your family at a distance 

・But your fascination with the Targaryens was always prevalent throughout your childhood

・And whenever you brought them up, your family would shush you. Telling you that you aren’t supposed to ask anything about them

・But it wasn’t until after your grandfather’s death that your family was invited to court by Viserys

・As it turns out, Viserys had been sending invitations for years but your grandfather was declining every single one

・And when your family finally accepted, Viserys ordered there to be a huge feast awaiting for your arrival

・You weren’t expecting this, but your eager eyes were looking for something in particular. 

・But you didn’t expect that certain thing to be kept chained in a pit 

・When you were in the throne room, being introduced to Viserys’ children, the news about the dragons was disappointing

・And a young Targaryen woman shared that same disappointment 

・Around the same age as you, the two of you would have quickly been pushed together. To get to know each other, but both your families knew how ... peculiar you both were, and were adamant that the two of you should be left apart. Since they were scared their offspring would say or do the wrong thing 

・But somehow you bumped into each other in the castle halls, and in the garden, and somehow ... in the dragonpit 

・Soon you came to know Heleana. Both her physical and emotional quirks

・ And gods, Heleana was one of the sweetest people you have ever met. She wasn’t like the rest of the people you had come across. 

・She understood how your brain worked and you understood hers

・The white-haired woman’s love for you came about because you actually listened to her. You always wanted to know what she thought, what she felt. 

・You actively asked her about her visions, and you believed her. 

𝐀𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝

(𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒘)

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Tough on the Outside, Soft on the Inside (Aemond) x The Top (You)

・Aemond was never the type of person to go against his family’s wishes - especially his mother’s. 

・So when he found you underneath his bed, waiting to attack, he found it quite amusing. 

    “Your name, what is it?” He had snarled, still in his night clothes. 

“My name is of no importance to a dead man.”

   “I see no dead men here.”

・And then somehow he had you pinned on the floor, knife at your throat and white hair like a curtain. All you could see was Aemond’s face; pink tight-lips, pale face, his one good blue eye and his other eye socket was empty, his sapphire orb lay on his bedside table. 

・Your body reacted in a way you did not wish it to 

・You blushed

    “Big bad assassin,” Aemond whispered, the cold blade still pressed against your throat. You could feel his weight and as you started to whisper back, you used it to your advantage. 

・Moving your legs so they were around his waist, you stunned him with a kiss and in one fluid moment, you flipped him over and pinned his arms above his head

    “Remember,” you panted, “I’m always on top.” 

・It was then that Aemond realised he was in trouble

・Because your blade didn’t slice, nor did it cut. It clattered to the side as you got up and left 

・The next day your House was introduced to court and Aemond did everything he could not to react

・You were the direct heir to your House, and when you spotted Aemond in the Throne room, all you could do was smirk. He had no idea. No idea that you were now going to live in King’s Landing - in the castle itself

・Those months were excruciating for Aemond, not just because he thought you were going to kill him at any moment, but because you acted as if he was nothing at all. Nothing more than a Prince. 

・You bowed when you walked passed him, stood when he entered a room

・It became a common occurence for Aemond to look under the bed. To see if his little nightmare was real

・And all the while, you watched from afar, a delighted smile on your face

・It took 6 months of Aemond to make his move. It had to be well thought out of course

・He couldn’t just try anything. No. It needed to be the perfect plan, one that would both out and villainise you

・But again, unbeknownst to the One Eyed Prince, you were three steps ahead

・He hated you; he loved this game even though he tried to hide it and in turn ... he ... loved ... you

・It was a horrible realisation. One that Aegon, of all people, pointed out to him

・And Aemond avoided you (yes, like the plague)

・It took two weeks, that’s all he could bare - of not looking at you, not hearing your voice, your laugh 

・And when he went to leave his chambers to seek you out, you were already at his door...

𝐃𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Arranged Marriage

・He had been sent to Oldtown and had no idea that you would be there too

・Otto had arranged your marriage; your father agreeing to it only under the circumstances of equal opportunity

・You were emblazed with anger

・And on your wedding day, you had screamed and cried and fought until it was time to walk down the aisle 

・Your father explained how important this marriage was. This alliance would bring safety to your House, and it was in that moment that you knew what you had to do

・You had never seen Daeron before, but heard of the story of how he got his name, “The Daring.”

・And the fact that it was nationally know that he was the most likeable out of the Targaryen brothers... 

・You knew your father had bargained for him rather than Aemond, who was harsh and unforgiving 

・Daeron stood at the end of the aisle, a charming smile on his boyish face. 

・ I can do this, you thought triumphantly, I can, I will. 

・When the ceremony was over and the reception was done, you were escorted to your marriage bed with Daeron, who had made every effort to make you feel comfortable 

・While alone together, in your shared room, with the fire blazing, Daeron’s kind smile did not change. There was no flip of personality or loss of kindness. 

・You soon realised that what you saw in Daeron is what is truly there 

・And you felt safe with him

・Which made it even harder to hate him. 

・With each insult you slung his way, he seemed to side step it

・And when you realised that the Prince wasn’t going to hurt you, or take you away from your family or traditions...things started to change for you. You saw him as he is. Golden hearted. 

・Life with Daeron is full of sunshine, blue skies and love

・Meeting Tessarion was a big experience and one that you will never forget. 

・Through the bond she knew your relationship with Daeron, and was apprehensive about you but allowed you to clamber onto her anyway. 

・Considering she was one of the younger dragons, she had incredible speed and stamina. 

・That ride bonded all three of you. Making you feel closer to Daeron, wanting him...the seed of desire had started to grow

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Helloooo i have a lot of thoughts on Furiosa and i liked your "alternate ending" a lot a lot. But here's some thoughts on Pretorian Jack I wanted to share.

Thing is: he's Discount Max and that's bothering me.

First, his role as a 'mentor' to Furiosa: ok, we know she turns out a brooding, badass and stoic adult, but that's because she mimics her brooding, badass and stoic mentor Jack, right? Copies his style, like she does his clothing. Except she is ALREADY badass and stoic at the start of the movie! So there's no progression there, he didn't influence her personality, they are just in sync from the start because they are pretty much the same type of character. And it feels copy-pasted from Fury Road because, again, he's Discount Max, down to the actor's age and general look!

Instead, we could have had a much more unique and different type of character, both in looks and personality. A gangly chatterbox, or a squat fat guy who permanently sings to himself. Maybe finally a POC in these very white movies. And he's still a ruthless badass, just ... not a stoic one. I know Miller hates dialogue, but I enjoy the idea of a guy who is always a source of noise, be it expressive, meaningless chatter or singing, and his mute, fierce teen sidekick. They could have bonded about him getting her to smile or laugh, instead of them bonding by giving each other brooding looks. She could finally have answered his knock-knock joke in their last interaction or something! Sang along to his annoying ditzy at long last. Just, something unique and most of all distinct from the type of relationship she has with Max in Fury Road.

Also, he could have been the one to name her! It felt so weird to me that Furiosa is her given name when her mother is called, of all things, "Mary". 'Ok i'll name my cute babygirl uhhh... Furiosa'. That could have been a part of her story - she refuses to give anyone she encounters her name, she's "the girl", "the pet", until she meets Jack and he gives her a nickname she enjoys and she finally reclaims it when she is brought back to the Citadel. A war name which makes her a part of wasteland culture, not her given one from the Green Place that she keeps as secret as the peach stone.

Ah well. Gonna do some Pretorian Jack fancasts in my head

Okay I probably won't hit every point you brought up but YES, I absolutely feel you on Jack being Discount Max. But I don't think it's because they copy-pasted from Fury Road. I think it's because they tried to do that but failed.

The Max Max movies have a lot of repeated motifs and images, so I wouldn't necessarily have minded young Furiosa having a Max-like figure in her past, even someone similar enough that he's a visual and emotional echo to Fury Road Max Rockatansky. The series does stuff like that a lot.

The problem is that Jack as a character, and her relationship to him, both aren't developed enough for us to really care about them. I really needed to see some intermediate steps in their relationship, in between him offering her a place on his crew and the point where they're willing to risk their lives for one another. It wasn't so much that I needed a training montage that shows her becoming more competent at road war as I needed a teamwork montage that shows them coming to trust each other and work well together. Or something equivalent.

In Fury Road, Max and Furiosa go from trying to kill each other to being willing to die for each other SO seamlessly that it seems sudden, but actually if you break it down, every beat of them cautiously extending more trust to one another is carefully laid out. (There's a fantastic breakdown here about how Furiosa gets Max on her side over the span of just a single sequence of the movie.) And each time the trust is reciprocated and not betrayed, they get a little closer to each other. This is all done with hardly any dialogue. It's done in the language they're both fluent in, which is action. And it takes the entire movie for this relationship to develop to the point where Max is giving Furiosa his blood at the end.

I really needed that from Furiosa and Jack. And I needed it even more in their case because...Max and Furiosa are equals from the word go. Furiosa is in the more powerful position at the beginning, but once they're both fugitives in the Wasteland they are very much in the same boat war rig. And they are shown consistently to be equals in strength and skill at violence. They are also in the Wasteland, where the only thing that counts as power is your ability to survive and physically defend yourself, your resources, and those you care about.

But Jack and Furiosa's story happens within the power structure of the Citadel, a hierarchical society built on violent misogyny and full of interpersonal power dynamics that are ripe for abuse. And while Jack turns out to be a Good Dude, he is a man and he's her superior in rank. In that environment I really really really need to see not just Furiosa earning Jack's respect as a road warrior, but why the hell Furiosa would trust Jack.

(This is connected to my whole complaint about how after hiding her gender for YEARS, Furiosa being the only woman, surrounded by men, in a society literally built on sexual violence, just becomes...not an issue at all once she's part of Jack's crew. Like I didn't need to see anything bad happen to her, but not acknowledging it as a potential risk or fear the characters have in this specific environment feels weird.)

Because look. If a guy with power in a violent system finds out you have been hiding the fact that you're a woman in an all-male environment, and the next thing he does is offer to ~ take you under his wing ~...well, I would be extremely fucking suspicious of that!!! I would not trust that guy at all!!! Because I think the default assumption both by Furiosa and by anyone else at the Citadel would be that there is going to be some quid pro quo expected for this mentorship, and the protection that being Jack's protege provides. So Jack would have to prove that he is Not That Guy before Furiosa would even begin to trust him as a mentor and ally, let alone a close friend or possible romantic/sexual partner.

If you don't have those pieces of their story, then their trust and emotional intimacy (and romantic intimacy, if you read it that way) doesn't feel earned. It seems like they wanted the feeling of the battle-couple, drift-compatible, could-be-platonic-or-romantic-but-it's-definitely-some-kind-of-love Max & Furiosa relationship, but they didn't provide enough space in the narrative for all the character/relationship beats that would sell it.

I wanna address one other thing you brought up in passing, which is racial diversity in the Mad Max movies. The lead actors have not been entirely white (put some respect on Auntie Entity's name) but they've certainly followed the pattern in the Anglophone film world of being disproportionately white. That's not surprising at all, given that every Mad Max movies past the first one has been financed by an American movie studio. A big-budget action film like a Mad Max installment has to have what Hollywood considers "marketable" lead actors attached to it to get financed, and those people are overwhelmingly white.

But I also think there is more racial diversity in the Mad Max universe than some people think; it's just not as immediately readable by a North American or European audience. I remember there being discussion of this when Fury Road came out, in which it was clear that people were reading Megan Gale (who plays Valkyrie and is Māori) and Courtney Eaton (who plays Cheedo and is of mixed English, Chinese and Māori descent) as white women when they are not. (There's a really interesting discussion about that here.) And while it's not immediately obvious with the war boys in Fury Road because, y'know, they literally paint themselves white, if you look closely it's clear they are not all white guys.

I remember discussions about "wouldn't it have been amazing if Furiosa was played by an Indigenous actress" when Fury Road came out. And yes, that would have been incredible! (Although very unlikely for the Hollywood reasons I mentioned above.) But in FMMS, Furiosa's mother is played by an Indigenous actress, Charlee Fraser. And yeah, Furiosa is still played by Anya Taylor-Joy, which I think it's perfectly valid to have a critique of, but that doesn't erase the significance of Charlee Fraser in that role. And my impression is that with FMMS being shot in Australia, they did make an effort to cast more Indigenous actors in supporting and background roles. I think sometimes this racial landscape is just...not as easily parsed by an international audience (I owe a lot of thanks to my antipodean friends for pointing out things that weren't always obvious to me!) but it's still significant within the context of racism and colonialism in Australia and Polynesia. Even Furiosa's mom's name being "Mary," theeee absolutely most generic Christianized name, is something I think you could argue is significant.

Also, FWIW, I love "Furiosa" being Furiosa's birth name. That feels like a significant part of her identity from the Green Place. Because the Green Place is part of the Wasteland. One of the things I love about the Vuvalini we meet in Fury Road is that they are a bunch of grandmas who are just as ruthless and willing to defend their community with violence as anyone else we meet. That is a really crucial worldbuilding detail imo, that even in the idealized Green Place Furiosa remembers from her childhood, you still had to be ready to snap someone in the medulla. So yeah I think if that's the world you live in you would absolutely be naming your kids things like Valkyrie and Furiosa.

[andreal831]

Hello I have a new fic coming (wish I could finish them instead of making new one but what can i do.) where Elijah, Klaus and Kol were all born girls and I love your metas, so was wondering how you think it would change their childhoods? With Finn and Henrik being the only boys, and the differences in how Mikael and Esther would treat them given they would have different expectations for different genders?

my fancasts for them

Hi!

First, I love your fancast. I think each actress fits the characters so well.

This is such a fascinating idea. I think it would change the dynamic a lot. I've said before, they would remain largely the same character as gender doesn't fundamentally change who they are, but how they are treated due to their gender would.

Elijah would get even more hate from his parents than he did as a boy. He would remind Esther of Dahlia, the sister who had just stolen their golden child. Esther would have trouble giving Elijah love and attention as the mere sight of her reminded Esther of Dahlia. While Mikael would resent her because she was a reminder of the daughter they lost simply for being a daughter. He would also have looked forward to a warrior since at this point Finn has proven he was not one, likely due to the trauma of watching his sister get stolen. Elijah would largely be ignored by both parents, much like he was in cannon.

Klaus would be largely ignored by Mikael. Mikael took interest in Klaus simply because he saw him as a little warrior. But here, by the time Klaus was born, Mikael wouldn't resent Klaus just for being a girl, but wouldn't care for him as he would have a boy. This would likely save Klaus a lot of pain and allowed her to grow up a very different person. While Esther would adore Klaus. She would be a reminder of Ansel and also be protected from Mikael as Mikael would have had less say in raising a girl. There would be less fear of her triggering her curse and the necklace that weakens her wouldn't cause so much havoc. Klaus would be the daughter she lost and would be so precious to Esther. Klaus would likely become the mama's girl that Finn always was, spending much of her time with her mother.

By the time Kol was born, Mikael would be annoyed each time Esther got pregnant. Convinced that he wouldn't get a son. He would be even harder on Finn as he is the only chance at a warrior son. Poor Finn would likely suffer much of the abuse that Klaus missed out on. Kol would be loved by Esther as the only witch, but never as loved as Klaus. But Kol wouldn't care. She was always wild and independent. She would get into all kinds of trouble behaving in ways women weren't supposed to. She and Rebekah would be close and would drive Elijah mad as she attempted to cover for them and all of their adventures.

Rebekah would largely remain the same. She would love having so many sisters. I think she would be less petty and, for lack of a better term, "pick me." She wouldn't feel the need to tear down women to impress her brothers. She would be much more comfortable just being herself with so many sisters to learn from. But I think she would still be a bit of a brat as the youngest sister. Her sisters would still baby her. Esther would love her as the last daughter, especially because there is such a gap between her and Henrik. Mikael wouldn't pay much attention to her. But he didn't really in cannon either.

There would be so much pressure on Henrik to be the perfect warrior. Mikael would neglect all of the children once Henrik was born, devoting all of his time to make sure Henrik was the best possible warrior he could be. Henrik would likely not be the happy, carefree boy we saw in flashbacks. He would be much more like Klaus. He would try to find happiness in his siblings, but would suffer abuse and feel resentful that he was the only one being treated that way. He likely would have a lot of resentment towards Finn for not taking any of the heat off of him from Mikael.

I hope this helps! Let me know when you post, I can't wait to read!

[orchideous-nox]

Talk more about Peter please!!!!

Okay I've let this sit here for a hot minute while I think.

I think Peter is not only underutilised by the fandom, but also a victim of his own future. So many headcanons about Peter come from what he does years down the lines as if his past is a consequence of his later betrayal. I hate this because it means he's never truly made his own character.

I'm going to try my best to yap about him in my own way and not just whatever I ingest from conversations with @futurequibblerjournalist about him.

Yes, Peter is fat. I don't want to talk about that though, but we're getting it out of the way because I won't stand for an Dane DeHaan fancasts when I feel like we're better than making fat characters skinny.

I love that idea that Peter and Marlene were friends before Hogwarts, his limited muggle knowledge comes from her family. They know each other through their parents and Marlene is just glad to have someone her age to play with and Peter is used to being around girls because of his older sisters.

When they got to Hogwarts and found other friends, they weren't necessarily as close anymore. Peter shared a dorm with the boys and they all became friends. With Sirius and James being so loud and energetic, Peter felt drawn to the quieter Remus and they became friends, and he ultimately was the reason Peter became part of the Marauders.

Peter is an observer, he notices so much because people either ignore him or don't think much of him. He sits in corners and listens and this is his contributing factor to the pranks. While they're planning them, he'll notice weak spots like "well this won't work because X said that they were going to the library at that time so won't be in the dorm". When they realise how good he is at spying for them, they start sending him off to scout information in the lead up to pranks.

I think there's so much emphasis on the other Marauders and music, but I like to think Pete was really into music too. He would have loved Madness, Ralph McTell and he gained a love of Fairport Convention from his dad who had discovered muggle music, they were hiting up Cropredy Festival every year. I think he would deny his love of folk music to his friends though, that was something he kept to himself.

Okay and now for the fun part that's been brewing for a little bit. Peter and Sybill were an unexpected couple, I think the Marauders noticed that he was sneaking off sometimes and would go missing in Hogsmeade and started placing bets on who it was but none of them had said Sybill Trelawney. They hadn't crossed paths very much, she's a Ravenclaw and he's a Gryffindor, but she'd noticed him in the library struggling to find a charms book. Sybill was known to have been able to produce a non-corporeal Patronus at some point so was gifted in charms and helped Peter to become more confident in his own capability.

I think there was a gentle quietness to their relationship, they weren't loud like Rosekiller or as affectionate as Wolfstar or as tragic as Jegulus. They would sit together at meals or in the library, they'd talk walks by the lake. Peter would love sitting with Sybill while she yaps enthusiastically about divination and prophecies because he loved seeing her light up. He shows a lot of interest when she talks about Cassandra Trelawney who she is proud to be a descended of, which is new for her.

We know that Sybill ends up (briefly) married to another man after Hogwarts but I don't see these two having a big eventful break up, they have different priorities for their futures and decide that after school ends they will go their seperate ways fairly amicably. I think Sybill doesn't particularly like the Marauders and thinks they make Peter reckless, and Peter doesn't like her cat (for obvious reasons) but she won't part with it. There's no drama, they still love each other but they don't want to sacrifice a part of themself for their relationship to work. We know Sybill ends up divorced in canon because she won't change her surname, she knows what she wants, she's stubborn and I love that for her.

After Hogwarts, Peter dates but never really settles down and does feel a bit of regret about Sybill, especially all those years later returning to the school and seeing her there.

[pascaloverx]

To Begin Again

FIFTEEN

Summary: You're a new teacher at a large and influential school. It's a risky step for you, as you've been running from your ex for almost two years. But when Dumbledore asks you to take on a class at the renowned Hogwarts, you can't refuse. However, your life as a newly arrived teacher won't be easy. Especially when the other teachers don't seem eager to make friends. Or rather, two teachers in particular: Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Author's Note: Welcome, dear readers. Please leave your comments if you enjoy fanfiction. This fanfic takes place almost in the real world (with the addition of werewolves) and is not a wizarding fanfic. There will be some differences and changes in things from the Harry Potter story or other fanfics in the HP universe, but I promise to do my best writing this fanfic. There will be a love triangle coming in this fanfic. So, dear readers, just as in this fanfic it's meant to imagine Remus Lupin as being Andrew Garfield and Sirius Black as being Ben Barnes, now I present to you the fancast of Severus Snape as being actor Enzo Vogrincic. Imagine him as Snape if you can.

FOURTEEN. SIXTEEN

And in the darkness, you find despair. With no idea where you are, you feel a deep, agonizing pain in your head. When you touch your forehead, particularly near the spot where it hurts, you look at your hand and see blood. Before you can panic, you hear a faint murmur, immediately remembering the children who were with you in the car. The car that flipped over, magically, after dinner. The dinner that was a gathering of you and other Hogwarts professors.

"Professor Y/L/N, I'm scared. What happened to us?" Draco asks as soon as he notices you have opened your eyes. The poor boy is terrified, with Harry's head resting on his shoulder. Harry's eyes are closed, which sends you into a panic. You crawl over to them, across what appears to be an improvised cell. You are trapped in a small space with iron bars.

"Draco, my dear, stay calm. Let's see if Harry can wake up first. Then we'll figure out what's happening. I know it's hard, but try not to be afraid. I will protect the three of us; I promise you that." You say, watching Draco's small but frightened face soften. Even though you don't know what is happening, you know you will protect your students, no matter the cost. You then move closer to Harry to see if he is breathing normally. Fortunately, he seems to be just asleep. Perhaps it was the shock of the whole situation. He has a small cut on his lower lip, while Draco, who recently recovered from the incident with the horse, has a bruise on his eyebrow.

"We are not just the three of us. Professor Black is here. I tried calling him, but he won't wake up. I…" Draco hesitates, trying to hold back his tears, but you can see he is about to burst into sobs. You look Draco in the eyes, even before trying to see where Sirius is, and gently run your hand over his face. As if to comfort him, you lightly caress his cheek. He looks at you, understanding that this gesture is meant to calm him. He takes two deep breaths. "I'm scared for us, Professor. I don't want to die like this," Draco says with a tone of fear, tears streaming down his face.

You want to tell him that he won’t die, but the truth is you don’t know what’s happening. Just hours ago, the four of you were in Sirius’ car, heading to the village restaurant where you were to meet some professors, your father, Dumbledore, and Narcissa. That's why you and Sirius are taking Potter and Malfoy with you. Potter’s parents requested that he be at the dinner because they had a very important announcement to make, while Narcissa wanted to say goodbye to Draco as she would be away from her son for a while.

— A FEW HOURS BEFORE YOU WERE CAPTURED —

Draco is touching everything. Literally. He has been bothering Harry for at least twenty minutes. Sometimes he pokes Potter's scar on his forehead, and at other times, he simply tugs gently at Potter's hair. Harry, in turn, elbows Draco each time he gets on his nerves. Sirius is more focused on the road than on the boys, so it’s up to you to intervene. Using your hand to separate them, you give them a stern look while turning slightly to keep an eye on them.

"If you poke your finger into my cheek one more time, I’ll bite it off and spit it out on the street," Harry threatens, staring directly at Draco. It’s amusing to see them arguing while wearing their little suits. Harry and Sirius are wearing matching suits and are constantly fiddling with their collars. Draco, who asked for your help with his tie, is dressed in his fancy, tailored suit.

"Scarface, I’d love to care about your empty threats, but unfortunately, I don’t. Maybe if you started being more dangerous, I’d take you seriously," Draco says, acting like the bravest boy in the world. Harry doesn’t think twice and slaps Draco in the face. Both of them look surprised that Potter actually hit Draco. You widen your eyes and then gently tap Sirius on the arm, as if seeking support.

"Potter, put your hand down immediately. Both of you need to behave better, otherwise, I will fail both of you. No matter how unfair it may seem. And guess what, you’ll both have to attend remedial classes. And I’m sure Professor Black here will do the same." You use your authoritative tone, looking at Sirius, who seems to be suppressing a laugh but nods in agreement with what you’ve said. He pulls up in front of the restaurant where everyone must be waiting for you. Lupin arrives shortly behind you on his motorcycle, a gift Sirius gave him a few years ago for his birthday. For obvious reasons, Lupin didn’t want to join you in the car. Who would want to be stuck between Potter and Malfoy for almost an hour?

"You look like a dysfunctional family," Lupin says as he removes his helmet and watches you, Sirius, and the boys get out of Sirius' car. Sirius smiles, finding it amusing, while you and the boys give Lupin a judgmental look at his comment.

"No unnecessary comments, Remus. We are here to enjoy a good meal in peace." You say, lightly hitting Lupin's arm, who laughs. He and Sirius really complement each other.

"I would never be part of Potter’s family," Draco says as he moves closer to you, looking at Lupin with a certain petulance. Harry, however, is too excited to be about to see his parents and be with his godfather to care about the comment. Moments later, you find yourselves standing in front of a table at the restaurant, already occupied by Harry’s parents, James and Lily; your father, Dumbledore; Narcissa, Bellatrix, Peter, and Snape. You are very surprised by Snape’s presence, considering he is supposed to be in the United States trying to recover his memory.

"What is that damn son of a bitch doing here?" Sirius questions as soon as he lays eyes on Snape, who looks back almost without reaction. You turn to look at Sirius, who is right behind you, holding Harry’s hand. Without saying anything, you hope Sirius understands the silent plea for him to calm down in your eyes.

"In reality, I wish to apologize for any inconvenience my previous actions may have caused. I hope we can start afresh now that we will be working together." Snape says, standing up from the end of the table as if formally apologizing. You, Sirius, and Lupin exchange confused glances, only stopping when you see Harry and Draco running towards their mothers.

"Harry, my love. Your father and I have missed you so much. We want to introduce you to someone. Meet Harriet Potter, your little sister. We were eager to tell you about her, but since my health was fragile during the pregnancy, your father and I decided to wait until she was born to show her to you." Lily Potter then picks up a small baby girl from a stroller near where she is sitting. The child is sleeping peacefully, being watched by everyone, especially her older brother.

"I missed you so much, Mom. And you too, Dad," Harry says, kissing his mother's cheek and then running into his father's arms. James picks up his son and hugs him tenderly. You, Lupin, and Sirius stand still for a few more minutes, watching everything. Draco is whispering something in his mother's ear while she embraces him. Everyone seems to be reconnecting with their loved ones.

"I hope you'll excuse me for leaving this dinner in such a hurry, but my flight to London is soon, so I must go. Thank you for the invitation, Dumbledore," Narcissa says as she stands up and heads towards the exit of the restaurant. Before she leaves, she pulls you aside.

"Take care of him for me. He'll need you more than you can imagine." Narcisa says as she prepares to leave the restaurant. You tense up at the way she speaks.

"I will take care of him, but why does this feel like a farewell?" you ask, watching a saddened Draco adjust himself in his chair, waiting for someone to sit beside him. Narcissa takes one last look at her son, then turns back to face you.

"There are things in motion that I can't explain right now," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. "And one more thing, if you need a quick fix, remember to look in your coat pocket." Narcisa speaks all mysteriously and without further ado, she leaves.

"Professor, sit next to me. I don’t want to be between Professor Lupin and Professor Black," Draco almost shouts, waving his hand towards the chair beside him. You let out a small laugh as you watch Sirius and Lupin give Draco disapproving looks, which Draco responds to with a false smile.

"Since everyone is here, I know my beloved has news to share with everyone. Especially my dearly beloved daughter," Grindelwald says, gently touching Dumbledore's hand as he stands up while you sit next to Draco and Lupin. Sirius is on the other side of Draco, next to Snape, who looks uncomfortable under Sirius' hateful glare.

"Dear guests, I hope you enjoy the evening and the delicious food served here. But first, I want you to know that we are here to announce the return of James and Lily to Hogwarts as head professors. This does not mean that you, Y/N, are being dismissed. In fact, despite the incidents, your equestrian class has left many students enthusiastic. So we will be officially transferring you to that class," Dumbledore says with a tone that seems overly optimistic for your taste. Surely there was a better way to convey this, perhaps even something more personal.

"I hope you don’t mind, Y/N," Lily says, holding her daughter in her arms and keeping Harry’s hand clasped, as if wanting him close as much as possible.

"Dear, surely Y/N knew that at some point you would return to teaching in her place. But know that it will be a pleasure to have you on the Hogwarts teaching staff, Y/N. I know Lupin and Sirius must be driving you more insane than the students," James Potter says for the first time, being somewhat blunt but also kind. Perhaps Harry took after his father’s temperament, after all.

"You have no idea how much they are driving her crazy," Bellatrix, who had been silent until now, comments while sipping from her wine glass. You give her a slightly uncomfortable look, as her remark seems to carry a hint of malice.

"If you know your students, you know that nothing could be more maddening than they are. But at least I'm having fun. And it will be an honor to be officially part of the Hogwarts teaching staff," you say, trying to brush off Bellatrix's comment. Moments later, however, she stands up and extends her glass, as if preparing to make a toast.

"To our dear new head professor, I wish you much wisdom in your future endeavors. Something tells me that many surprises await you," Bellatrix says, somewhat intoxicated. Despite her state, everyone toasts to her words, even those without anything in their glass.

The next moments are filled with new interactions. Draco chats with you, Lupin, and Sirius, giving Harry some time to enjoy with his parents. The Potters seem to be in a happy family bubble, occasionally talking with you. Malfoy appears to have discovered that provoking Black is almost as invigorating as bothering Potter. You eat while intentionally avoiding interaction with your father and Dumbledore. You don’t understand why your father would bring Snape to this dinner or why Dumbledore would announce Lily’s return so abruptly without even talking to you. Your life seems to be a loop of people making decisions about your future without consulting you. By the end of the night, you and the Potters leave the restaurant together.

"Harry, my boy; behave on the way back. Obey your teacher, your godfather, and your almost-uncle. I trust you." James bends down to kiss his son's forehead as they say goodbye. Lily and James won’t be going to Hogwarts yet because they need to go to London for a personal matter. Lily is rocking Harriet in the stroller, so she gives her son’s hand, which is holding onto her dress, a kiss.

"We love you, Harry," Lily says, looking at her son. He smiles with such happiness, it feels like a fairy tale. Draco appears sad watching this moment. Perhaps he envies how Harry's family shows love and seems so in sync. You then gently hold Draco’s hand, looking at him with kindness.

"It was a wonderful dinner, but we need to head out soon. I look forward to having the perfect family at Hogwarts soon," Sirius says, giving little Harriet a kiss on the forehead and holding Harry’s hand to lead him to the car. Lupin heads towards his motorcycle as he says his goodbyes, and then you’re on the road. James and Lily’s car is just ahead of yours when suddenly, there’s an explosion. Harry's parents' car is on fire, right in front of you.

"Sirius, we have to go help." You say as you watch the flames grow. Sirius lets out a desperate scream.

"I can't stop the car. The brakes aren't fucking working." Sirius says while looking terrified at you. Draco and Harry begin to despair, especially Harry.

"We're going to die." Draco says as the four of you see that you're going to crash into Harry's parents' car.

"Get out of the car. Quickly." You say it, not really sure if it's the right thing to do, but it's what comes to your mind. Draco and Harry look at each other and then take off their seat belts. Sirius slows the car down as much as possible and in the next minute, the four of you jump out of the car.

— PRESENT TIME —

You manage to crawl to where Draco said he saw Sirius. He is unconscious and visibly more seriously injured. You place your head on his chest and feel his breathing is very weak. You want to panic, but you try to stay strong, at least while Draco is looking to you for hope.

"My brother has always been a fan of dramatic scenes. Here’s a first aid kit and some food. I recommend you don’t try any funny business." A male voice says in the darkness. You see a first aid kit and a tray of food being dragged towards you by a young man, who is likely Sirius’ brother. The young man leaves the cell right after, leaving you to care for Sirius, Malfoy, and Potter.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[moseslikellamas]

♱𖣂 Redfork Menace ♱𖣂 pt.16

Benjicot Blackwood x Bracken!OC

Summary - Martyn and Shanda share their account.

Warnings - fem!reader, suspense, adult language, period typical misogyny, condescension, adult language, feelings of shame, feelings of guilt, manipulation, benjicot brainrot, Kieran Burton fancast.

Word count - 2.5k

Hi, its me the eepiest soldier. Only 1 small note and thats that the feud is stupid. Both sides are not speaking fairly about the other and neither should be counted as a wholly credible source. They are the same people in different fonts who get together to be angry about who’s better at spelling. And spoiler alert, its neither.

Shanda had fallen asleep in Benjicot’s arms. Once the tears had started falling she was powerless to stop them, so she didn’t try. She just let him hold her until she was all cried out. He’d held her so softly the entire time and eventually she had fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted. She had woken alone in her bed sometime before the sun came up. Not bothering to wallow in bed, she quickly dressed after waking and asked a guard to escort her outside. She wanted a moment to herself before the trial began again.

The Tully castle had a wonderful view of the land around them. Hills stretched as far as the eye could see and it was misty, a heavy fog settled over everything. The early morning chill was still in the air but she was appreciative. Staring out over the horizon Shanda considered her options. Today she would testify with Martyn about what really happened in the Borderlands. In it she hoped to slander the heirs' name twice as bad as he had hers. She had to make it clear in no uncertain terms that they were incompatible. Martyn would be a phenomenal back up in this case as he worked guard duty. Granted he hadn’t spent that much time in the borderlands but he had encountered the heir enough to be a reliable source of information.

It was one thing to enjoy being held or to steal a sordid kiss behind closed doors. But she did not want to marry the Blackwood. She loved her family and Stone Hedge, despite their flaws. They worshiped different gods, they held different values. He doesn’t respect women, she reminded herself when the image of her wrapped in his arms cropped up in her mind. It didn’t matter if he made her head rush or that she wanted desperately to read every book in the Blackwood library. The fact of the matter was, she had to tank this marriage idea and quickly.

***

Martyn walked along the halls hoping to find his sister. Yesterday had been a disaster for him. The altercation at breakfast had started with a Blackwood making loud jokes about the price of honor and dignity. Which in turn had riled Royce up and then he had riled Gerolt up. Martyn hadn’t bothered to interfere. He knew he couldn’t afford to get tossed away before the trial ended. That had obviously been the Blackwoods intentions, to get as many Brackens as they could ejected from the court. But Martyn had twelve brothers and unlike his idiot brother, he knew how to take a jab. Royce was constantly hotheaded, which made Martyn have to counteract his anger. It was very hard to rile him up because of it. So he’d watched as Gerolt was dragged off, despondent. It had only been the beginning of a very bad day for him. He could only imagine what his sister must be feeling. It was to his great fortune then that he turned down a hall and spotted Shanda walking opposite him.

“Shanda!” He called, simply not wanting there to be any chance she missed him. Then he quickly walked over to join her.

“How are you feeling? Do you want to talk-“

Martyn was cut off by his sister grabbing his hand and essentially sprinting with him down the hall to lose the guard. To be honest it was probably overkill as he doubted the guard was going to pursue them. It's not like they could go anywhere without a boat. The lord Tully had seen to that. But it did make him feel a bit more whimsical running down the halls and hiding in storerooms to plot how to win a trial. As dangerous as it was, the trial was the most interesting thing they’d lived through so far. Better than the usual fighting and bloodied men in his opinion.

“Martyn, here's the deal.” Shanda was pacing in the small room. “Royce has lost it. I say we blame our mothers death on him losing his mind. First to say I set the fire and then to suggest… well you know what! It’s insidious stuff brother. And we cannot let them listen to the Blackwood heir, that man is truly deranged.”

Martyn did not think mentioning their dead mother who died under suspicious circumstances at a trial concerning their mortal enemy was a good idea. But he decided to let her finish first.

“He means to suggest we get married as a means to end this whole conflict. Like that would solve anything. It’s just horrible.”

Martyn froze at that. While he did not think it was a good solution, as he loved his sister dearly, he knew a great many of them would like that as a proposed solution. He started to sweat a bit at the prospect, surely her father would never agree to something like this. He wouldn’t. In his gut Martyn was not sure.

“Don’t bring up mother, you’ll only get Royce in a worse state than he already is. And I’m sorry to say that lot will likely think marriage is a good deal and an easy one.”

His sister huffed at him, eyes blazing in anger. He held his hands up in surrender.

“I don’t agree with them! Do you think I’ve been having a grand old time without you? No, I want you to come home just as much as you do. But we gotta plan this right.”

She sighed and relaxed her tense shoulders, nodding.

“Let’s be clear on a couple of details…”

***

“I hope you’re all ready to end the testimonies, because after this we start the questioning and then maybe we can bloody sentence them. Then you can all be on your way!”

Lord Elmo Tully looked as fed up as Shanda felt. It had only been three days but it felt like a lifetime to her. Martyn took the floor and then very subtly motioned for her. She quickly darted over to him before anyone could stop her. They’d agreed they would do the testimony together, as they had lived the events together. Besides she was a Bracken too, her account should go here.

“My sister is smart beyond her years and failed by everyone because of it.”

Martyn’s voice wavered and she took his hand. It was hidden by the folds of her dress, so she felt no fear in interlacing their fingers. No one would think them weak because of it.

“The Blackwoods invade where they please, take what they want. They leave broken bones and trails of blood wherever they go. But my sister knew they had a weakness. Guards who liked to talk the night away. She was tired of being ignored, all of her ideas were pushed to the side. So, she came up with a plan to capitalize on that weakness. My father would never agree to let her out into the borderlands, but I knew she was the fastest among us.”

They had decided against fabricating her clumsiness now, it wouldn’t help their case with so many witnesses saying the opposite.

“When she asked me to help her sneak out again, I said yes. I trust my sister with my life and I knew she would find out something valuable. And in the end she did. The infamous Bloody Ben, heir to Raventree curiously on guard duty in the disputed lands. I’d ask you all to ponder as to why he was there in the first place.”

Shanda stepped in here, giving her own testimony.

“I first want to say, I didn’t want to come here. This entire ordeal is over nothing. But to the point, Lord Elmo told us all the conditions of patrolling the Borderlands. I was following those conditions, either side of the river was free to me. And I was never in danger of crossing the Blackwood boundary line at any point during my visits. Now, spying is wrong but so too is it wrong to see the broken people left behind by the Blackwood savages and do nothing. I took only what the wind relayed to me.”

She paused for a moment collecting her thoughts before continuing. “The Blackwood heir knew I was spying on him and let it go on for some time. I was unaware that I had been spotted or I would not have returned. But if he knew I was there, why not put a stop to the matter there? A question I was asking myself until recently. It’s become clear to me that the heir planned this entire ordeal, orchestrating an entire conflict for one singular purpose. A bride. What better way to mend fences between old rivals than a babe between them?”

Mutters rose up at that but Lord Elmo shushed them, listening intently to her.

“How many marriages have we tried? How many have become kin slayers in the name of this feud? It never works. We have different gods and morality, it will always be destined to fail. And as far as any virtue goes, my dear brother Royce failed to mention his ongoing vendetta against me. The day I was captured by the Blackwoods, he pushed me into the river. He tried to cut my head off before that but he’s not very good at swinging swords, thank the mother. When I managed to pull myself out of the rushing river, I was tired and disoriented. I thought I was walking home, the borderlands all look the same. Unfortunately for me I was headed in the wrong direction and was captured by our enemy. Never once did I engage in an inappropriate act with the Blackwood heir and all statements levied against me are slanderous acts of a hateful little boy. What’s more, never once did I endanger the heir’s life, I only ever tried to peacefully leave him and return home. But Blackwoods have no honor and no respect, so I was forced to free myself from his grasp before fleeing.”

She sounded much more confident than she felt, squeezing her brother's hand for support.

“If it is a crime to love your house and honor your lord's edicts, then I am guilty. I’ve sat here and listened to strangers demean my name, spewing lies about me. Then I turn around to have my own family stoke the flames of betrayal. This is an unholy act against me.”

Martyn picked back up from where she left off. “My sister never came home looking inappropriately. When she did return it was always looking as if someone had tried to kill her and I wager he did try. My brother speaks falsely against my sister in this regard. I also had first hand knowledge on the fire taking place at Stone Hedge as I conducted the evacuation, alone. Any guard can corroborate that story. I do not intend to levy accusations against who set the fire, but I do not believe it was her.”

Shanda continued, “The night of the fire I did not sneak out of Raventree hall. If any of you have been there, you will know how impossible a feat that would have been for me. The halls wind impossibly long and I did try, believe me, but I never found a way out of there. But Lord Blackwood’s heir escorted me outside and proposed a deal. If I made it over the river before he caught me, I was free to go. I was trying to cross the Red Fork when my brother saw me. I’d slipped, nearly crashing into the water below. So I was pulling myself back up when he saw me and assumed I was going the opposite way.”

Then she took a very deep breath, feeling relieved to have said it all. She let go of Martyn’s hand and they parted to their own respective side of the courtroom.

“Alright. That’s all of the facts, weigh them in your minds as we move ahead. Tomorrow we’ll start the questioning, beginning with the Brackens questioning the Blackwoods. Form your questions tonight and be ready to start bright and early.” Lord Elmo dismissed them from the hall.

Shanda didn’t really know what to do in the aftermath of her confession. She shuffled out with the crowd of people, heading down the hall towards her room. She never made it there. A pair of hands grabbed her from behind as she walked down the hall, dragging her backwards into a room. She was too shocked to scream, only a surprised squeak escaping her.

The room she was pulled into was small and dark, she couldn’t see anything as her back slammed into the wall behind her. She knew it was Benjicot, likely angry at what she’d said about him.

“You know it's not going to work, right?” Were the first words out of his mouth.

Her own mouth was dry and felt as if it were full of sand as she tried in vain to make his figure out in the darkness.

“You shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here, let me out.”

In a trial about virtue, it's best not to be found in a closet with the man accused of taking it.

“It doesn’t matter.” He spat, holding her firmly against the wall by her shoulders.

So he could get irritated after all

“When I question you, what will you say?” He pressed close against her, stealing all of the air out of the room.

“The truth.” She replied, turning her head away from him.

“The truth, hm. Okay, like that you suffocated under the pressure of expectation at home? Is that the truth you mean? Or maybe the truth like my tongue in your mouth, pretty little moans in mine? Or how about the truth that you never really tried to escape? I never posted guards, let you wander the halls. And you never once even tried to make a break for it. You would find the one guard stationed inside and find a way right back to your room. So you could wait for me to come by and pay attention to you. Is that the truth you want to share with the riverlands?”

She stood there at a loss for words. Had he really intentionally not posted any guards? Just how deeply had this man been plotting? She was a bit unnerved by the intensity in which he pursued her.

“There’s something wrong with you.” She said, her hands resting lightly against his chest.

“Worse then, whatever’s wrong with you for liking me.”

She definitely had to agree there.

“Don’t do this. Please, don’t question me. Haven’t I endured enough suffering at this trial?”

His finger lightly traced the outline of her lips.

“It’s too late for that.”

She had been wrong to pray to the mother, that magnanimous god had blessed her alright. Right into the hands of a man at the altar.

“We won’t be happy.”

His lips were on hers and she could feel his heartbeat through his chest. She kissed him back before pushing him away.

“Keep telling yourself that. I am going to love proving you wrong, everyday.”

[horizon-verizon]

"...we just hate the way Emma talk about this character feels like a mockery" Isn’t that just most of the cast, though? Most of them don’t bother to read the source material. Then they show up to interviews without a real understanding of their character arcs or endings and just throw out headcanons. Annoying? Yes. But it happens. It was annoying when Tom said Aegon was an empath (and his fans went wild, claiming he’s the only one who "gets him"). Emma, for the most part, provides a fairly neutral take on Rhaenyra. Sure, they’ve had moments where they veer into headcanon territory, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen. Then again, who wouldn’t start slipping after being asked the same question a thousand times: “What do you think your character felt when…?” 🙄 Out of the whole cast, Matthew Needham is one of the few who actually seems to understand his character. He doesn’t mock the role, try to justify actions, or force “good” qualities over the bad ones; he just presents his character as it is.

Anon talks about this post.

I haven't watched any interviews after the puppy one, that one with the black backdrop where Fabien and Matt were uncontrollably laughing, and one group one where Matt said he'd protect Emma in a different time period. And I haven't gone back for S1 interviews, so I wouldn't know about Emma's patterns there too well. But I have had the impression from clips on TikTok that it is as you describe, to the point that some people thought that they were a little wishy-washy to please the actor of Alicent (forgot her name) bc they were in their begiining of their friendship and we were all still in the midst of the show's pushing antiDaemonism/pro-Alicentism for Rhaenyra's popularity, which...never made any sense.

Important to note some things that other anon said:

A)

[...] we just hate the way Emma talk about this character feels like a mockery If Emma hates girlie stuff and thinking wore a skirt is their highest achivement? Its fine. But their fans had use the book to justifying that they are right while this character were nothing like in the book, it's better for them to throw fire and blood and embraced that their character love their stepmother.

B)

there's a lot of queer/minority actors in hollywood did all of them act like Emma? Emma didnt look like how George describe the character and didnt acting and behave like her, this one is older than her stepmom, the question is is this really the character? It is so understandable that Ryan and Miguel chose Emma through audition in Zoom meeting at the pandemic and it shows.

I forgot about the [bold] line above in the first quote or my eyes skipped it, but this presents as approaching transphobia/enbyphobia bc I'm not sure how Emma's supposed hatred feminine socially-coded feminine clothing impacted how the costumers created the clothes or how the writers decided to write a lot of show!Rhaenyra's subpar approaches to the war preparations. And Emma not looking like how GRRM describes Rhaenyra should really only refer to her (Rhaenyra's) clothing, bc acting is a priority over looks when considering fancasting. The person can be the "perfect" mirror of the official small-mouthed, plump Rhaenyra but if they can't act or portray Rhaenyra's character it's been a complete waste, esp when it's the MC. Makes the whole thing far less enjoyable or plain intolerable. And in general, fancasting/casting is not going to be perfect in terms of looks fitting those either detailed to T in the original text OR imagined so by one set of the audience from some deatils of the text anyway. It's not ever going to fit everyone's perfect idea of what the character looks like OR, again, fit the exact truely detailed accout from the text itself. No one looks like a "canon" Targ except maybe an albino, and even then we know Targs typically had "gold" (yellow/blonde) AND "silver" (white, NOT gray!) hair tendrils or has purple eyes (not dark blue that could pass as such, true purple).

So again, what we should consider is how the actor acts, what is written for them to base such acting on, and finally how the costumers/producers decided how this character dresses.

So there appears to be just some more possible transphobia here.