#me for a moment i will literally become a very sad wolf just howling to the moon starting from now until tomorrow

[hyunpic]

he 😔 gifted 😔 us 😔 the 😔 supermoon… 😔

[chdarling]

For the Director’s Cut ask! “Then he slipped off his boots and his bathrobe and handed them to his dad. It was necessary, as anything he took with him into the cellar would be destroyed by the wolf, but Remus did not like standing there naked, so he turned quickly and descended the narrow stairs into the cellar, toes curling upon the cold, wet stone.” (your characters are so living and breathing and beautiful and sad and omg I love 🥺)

Along with this passage, I saw the ask you just answered about Lyall doing his best to help Remus with his post-transformation healings but not being a great Healer, and I wanted to ask: does Remus always have his dad help with his recovery after full moons? or does his mom help deliver/retrieve him from the cellar as well? Or did his mom used to help when Remus was little and his dad helps now? TLDR, I’m curious about the system the Lupins devised to help their baby boy with his time of the month

P.S. I love you and thank yoouuuu 🥰

ksajgklsdgjlsak I love this ask thank you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I have SO MANY Lupin family head canons, and we will definitely get more insight into Remus’s childhood and relationship with his parents as the series progresses.

Here is some background Lupin lore that answers your question and isn’t too spoilery:

(warning: feelings ahoy)

In the first few moons following the bite, his parents just locked Remus in his bedroom during the full moon. He was small enough that they could get away with it, although he did a lot of damage to the place. As he grew, it quickly became apparent that they needed a different system. Lyall was the one who eventually found the old farmhouse with the bomb shelter cellar that would become Remus’s monthly prison.

Hope didn’t like it. It took a lot of arguing to convince her to lock her son away in the cellar once a month. Lyall kept insisting that as a Muggle, she simply didn’t understand what werewolves were capable of; Hope countered that she didn’t care.

After one close call too many, she finally relented. However, she was determined to make it as homey as possible, so she painted the walls blue and spent a wonderful afternoon decorating them with her six year old son. The peeling paint of these walls in Chapter 5 of TLE2 is one of my favorite images because it’s sort of apocalyptic. It feels to me like something you’d find in a hospital scene from a zombie video game. And in a sense, Hope faced a tiny apocalypse every month.

When he was little, Remus’s mother used to sit down in the cellar with him in the hour leading up to the full moon, telling happy stories and singing songs. She insisted on staying until the very last moment, when Lyall would literally have to drag her away. Those weren’t good nights. More than once, Hope stayed outside the cellar the whole night long, listening to her baby scream and howl, helpless to do anything but cry. It made Lyall sick to see what the stress was doing to both his wife and his son, but there was nothing he could do.

Both Lyall and Hope would go to collect Remus the next morning — Hope for comfort, Lyall for Healing. He got better at it as the years went on, he had to, but Healing was never Lyall’s strength and he relied heavily on expensive potions and ointments bought from various apothecaries (alternating frequently, so no one would catch on). Not to mention a few experimental cures, which didn’t work and often had unpleasant side effects.

Eventually, as Remus got older and more aware of what was happening, he asked his mother not to come with him to the cellar anymore. He pretended like he was too grown up for his mother's comfort, but in truth he just couldn’t bear to see her cry the next morning. He didn’t want to keep hurting her.

Hope protested, but Remus held firm and Lyall backed him up. And so it became the routine that Lyall would walk Remus to the cellar every full moon and lock the doors, and Lyall would collect him the next morning and fix him up as best he could, and Hope would make his favorite breakfast and read him stories and play him songs on the guitar and do what she did best, which never, ever seemed to be enough: She loved him.

[hopeandharmonizing]

Day - Valentine’s, Night - Off

Briar + Qrow Branwen ( @dustyqrowofmisfortune )

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Briar squints confused golden eyes, leaning in and staring up, hands on her hips, “Qrow, I KNOW you are not trying to confess something serious to me in the middle of the street in the middle of the afternoon on Valentine's Day.”

He leans back for a moment when she gets in his space, then puts his hands in his pockets and recoils a bit, “Fine, you're right. It's fucking dumb anyway.”

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“It's a day for spreading L O V E! I don't care what kind! Where is everyone?” Time to get this city in the mood. Briar kicks open Harmonzier and sets up right in the street.

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Qrow takes up a seat on a wall nearby. “You're having way too much fun with this Big Bad,” he laughs.

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“If I want other people to have fun, I have to be twice the example!”

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“Does it always have to be overboard or nothing with you?”

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“What other way is there to live, baby?”

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He hops down off the wall and strides over to her, “You're gonna burn out if you're not careful...” was that genuine concern in his voice?

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“Awww, Qrow, you care? I'm touched. Don't worry,” she boops his nose. “I hit the beat hard but I know it means nothing without rest notes. All in good time, hmm?”

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“So what if I do?” He shrugs and wiggles his nose from the boop.

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“So what? Mmm... nope! Not my job to do that soul searching for you. Figure it out, then let me know.”

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A frustration fueled sigh... since he was actually trying to tell her he did, “Jeez Briar... I'm trying to tell ya I do...”

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She cants her head, “I know. I just sai... ohhhhh you want me to say I care in return, huh? Has that not been clear?” Her tail droops.

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He shakes his head, “No, I know... that wasn't what I was getting at.” A hand runs through his hair.

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She squints confused golden eyes, leaning in and staring up, hands on her hips, “Qrow, I KNOW you are not trying to confess something more serious to me in the middle of the street in the middle of the afternoon on Valentine's Day.”

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He leans back for a moment when she gets in his space, then puts his hands in his pockets and recoils a bit, “Fine, you're right. It's fucking dumb anyway.”

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Her eyes open, then even wider, not put off at all by his dourness, only taking it as confirmation, “Oh my gods you are, aren't you?”

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“Look, I'm no good at this shit okay? But why do you think I let ya hang around with my cursed ass all this time? Damn it Briar...” he sighs.

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She takes a deep breath and tries to keep her tail from fluffing “No good? Let me? Cursed?? Brothers there is so much to unpack here. Who are you and what have you done with Qrow Branwen, and...” 

Her face suddenly changes, lights up, “Are you free tomorrow? You know, when it's not one of my biggest love-spreading, harmony-promoting, money-making days??”

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He reaches for his flask. She's right. This isn't him but... “Forget it... you know where to find me, you always do.”

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And just as quickly the light dies, “No date, then? Not even staying for the show?” her eyes find and linger on the flask, not upset just... sad, “It seems we both have our own priorities, then. Yeah, I'll be around." 

Still no closer than the periphery, apparently.

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And yet again his self depreciating personality makes a shit show of things. Seeing the look though, he puts the flask away "That's not what I meant and you know it. And I didn't say anything about leaving did I?" why did this have to be so damn hard? "Unless ya want me to..."

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“No! No I don't know it! Quit being so obtuse! It doesn't have to be hard!” Briar doesn't know Qrow’s thoughts, but hard is exactly what he's making it. 

“Say what you mean and do whatever what you want. I've told you before I don't deal in half-hearted. Overboard or nothing, you said it yourself!” 

Why does he always make her so angry when all she wants to do is care?

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Anger rises in red eyes, not at her, but because she's right. She passes him off just as much as he does her... she pushes him. 

"I can't be anything but me Briar," a huff, fists clench, "I'm not being half-hearted, I just don't know how to deal with this shit... with people being close to me. You say do what I want... fine." 

Fists unfold and he grabs her and just kisses her... messy but real

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She should have known, should have smelled the shift, but didn't over the sense of her beating heart. Now here she is, Briar Rieka - superficially tangled all the way around the city with no one but herself at her center, yet being kissed by a world renowned huntsman in the middle of the street in the middle of the afternoon on Valentine's day. 

The day when she's supposed to spread love to the masses and go home alone, just like always, and so when she said overboard or nothing she expected nothing, and so squeaks and whimpers since Qrow left no more room for words.

Her tail shoots straight, and her eyes shoot open, until he keeps going, sloppily satisfying, and she relaxes, then throws herself into it - helplessly, recklessly, wholly; the bitter indulgence of whiskey and honesty on lips finer than any artificial sweetness from chocolate covered strawberries.

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Expectations... people should know better than to have them around him, especially her.  For a moment he had toyed with the nothing option but he couldn't,  no wouldn't,  walk away again.  

Qrow Branwen, Mr. Drunk Loser Hall of Fame inductee, Mr. Always Works Alone... didn't want that anymore. She GOT him, didn't give an inch but still gave him space. She could withstand his shitstorms... both inside and out. 

He could feel her surprise... feel her melt into it. In the middle of the afternoon, on some random street, on this dopes holiday... it was exactly the right time for this. It was HIM time to do this. 

Freaked as he was, he could taste her sweet, wild freedom and it was infectious... and also breathtaking. So much so, when he finally comes out of that blissful fog, his breathing quick, face bright red as his eyes as they focus on her...  "Briar... I..."

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He grows, and she can feel it. 

Feel it in the way he kisses her like she's never been kissed before.  Rough lips with gentle affection, deeper and yet softer than those who would slam her against a nightclub wall or dive into any old warm body in lust and desperation. It is expression, feeling, he is finally allowing himself to feel, enough to flush his face with heat that spills over for hers to match, and it is delicious to her whole body. 

 He has done it - managed to leave the speeding, howling she-wolf stalled out and speechless, nothing but the perpetual song in her heart to sound out as a hazy hum while she leans into his shoulder and gazes up with starry eyes, waiting to find out if there is more to that thought, "Hmmm?"

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Qrow feels like he's back at Beacon with the stupid school boy crush, but that's how he knows... knows this is persistent, real. He holds her there in the middle of the street not caring that the location sucks. 

It's so them. 

"That..." it's rare but the huntsman is oddly speechless. He thinks he should apologize for being a dick all this time but now doesn't feel right... He decides to just hold her tight. "So... still interested in that date?"

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Briar has done far worse in public, and if V-day isn't a time for PDA then when is?

She nuzzles in so deep she almost forgets about Harmonizer, and certainly forgets about everything that never needed an apology. Qrow can only be himself, as he said, and she has never held that against him, only held her own against anything that pushed too hard on her own standards. 

Besides, it's not like she isn't, well, literally a bitch to deal with too. He wraps his arms fearlessly around her thorns, somehow ensnaring her instead. Well, if he can put the flask away then she can let a little go too... 

"Yeah." she says dreamily, "Suddenly I feel too old to be working every holiday. ...Think I'll take that rest beat and save going hard for something else~"

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He can't help the smirk and light snicker that goes with her words. If she expected that little allusion to go unnoticed she was sorely mistaken. Not that the thought didn't have his face warming just a bit though. It's actually a little odd seeing her this way... dreamy and soft maybe? It makes him uncomfortable but in the best way. It was only because he was more used to her more no bullshit, tough love-esque typical demeanor. 

That's all it was... yeah. 

"Shut it Big Bad, you're not old, but yeah... take the night off. Just... just you and and me, you pick where. And..." breaking away for a moment, reaching into his shirt, he pulls the flask out and hands it to her, "You keep track of this so I'm not tempted to make an ass of myself when I inevitable manage to fuck something up tonight."

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Both, always both. Qrow, willing enough to concede some sticking points of Briar's briars may see the sweeping sweetness of the softest tail in Remnant.

...But even a kiss like that still isn't enough to make him drop the nickname. (...Is he still afraid?) Her eyes drop to the ground as she processes and ponders, and thinks about her answer, but they pull back up to the movement and sloshing sound of the flask. 

She takes it in nimble fingers, turns it over and recognizes once more his very emblem, very self, on the object. Her first thought is to pour the whole thing out. Dramatic, showy. Wouldn't even be a waste of the good stuff - it's not. 

But no, she glances up at him, with bittersweet understanding. This is not a spilling dry and starting over kind of statement. It's taking the night off, and it is trust. It is not Briar forcing her hand or will over Qrow's vices, but temptation remaining present so she might stand between Qrow and it, become a part of his own decision. 

"Alright." she says quietly, tucking it deep into a leather jacket pocket; then, with more verve and a raised brow "But I wouldn't expect much else from you anyway. But hey...  fucking it up is also a term used for having fun you know!"

She-wolf nuzzles into Qrow's neck, still soaking up the closeness, still sharing her warmth, "I go out with so many people... always a crowd. Always worried about thinning out my semblance... If I can pick where..." her hands curl into his shirt, less flirtatious, more desperate, starved, "can't we just stay in somewhere? I would pick..." gold gaze stays trained on him, pleading. 

"I want to be alone with you, Qrow"

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That was the thing, nicknames, persisting ones, were for people close to him, people he gave a shit about. The one given her was likely never something he'd give up, not unless she explicitly told him to. It was a term of endearment really. Given names were formalities and formalities were the last thing he wanted, especially with her. 

 As for the flask, she wasn't wrong. He wasn't ready to give it up entirely, not yet. Someday maybe... but he trusted her to keep the demons at bay, at least for the night. This was about them at last being honest with each other, him being honest with her more so than anything, or maybe himself. He sees where she puts his crutch though, knows where it is. Close but not readily at his command. He's relinquished control and that itself speaks volumes and by the way she's responding, it feels like there's a measure of that going on between them both.

Things could get interesting quickly and there's a certain thrill and anxiety that lurks in him for it, "Stay in... alone... just fucking up in each other's company huh?" There's a bit of a laugh as he accepts that desperate feeling cling to his shirt. 

"Well, unless you're up for some no name inn or hotel, it would have to be your place. We both know I can't keep a place of my own to save my life."

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Briar's tail flicks and her lip quirks at his quip. There's a sense of satisfaction that settles in her bones along with the weight in her pocket that she's done something right. He accepts so casually smooth with a laugh that's rough, and it balances all the shifts in her moods. So strangely opposite of his usual effect on her. 

"You're more than welcome in my home, but does that honestly mean you didn't even have something set up for yourself tonight? My you really are a drifter." And yet he smells so good mixed with the outside air, it makes sense, fits. She almost feels bad about asking to bringing him within four walls. But not bad enough to not still want some privacy. 

Her tail twitches again as she revels in the prospect, giving away her continued excited anticipation, “So be it.”

[dreamcity-rawr]

werewolf!nctdream (1)

   in which nct dream are werewolves

Mark Lee: 

the alpha in him shows even through his human form. he is an independent human but he strives as a leader wolf. he is this carefree and friendly persona as a human but sometimes, his alpha persona soaks through to his human self and he makes sure people know he’s an alpha. yet he’s not very aggressive. he’s calm and collected. the reason why no one’s ever suspected him to be a werewolf despite his aura as an alpha is because he has great self-control. and you didn’t think you’d ever find out either, even as his close friend. but you’ve seen him turn one time he was over-stressed. it almost gave you a heart-attack but thanks to how calm he was even when caught, you managed to stay calm as well. and after that revelation, you two got even closer than before. “I hate it when people don’t treat me with enough respect….but you can totally ruffle my hair and pat my back and call me fluffy, it feels good coming from you”

Huang Renjun: 

a lone wolf in both forms. no one ever notices him much because he stays very lowkey, straying away from any unwanted attention mainly because he doesn’t want to deal with the drama of being found out. he doesn’t trust anyone enough to tell them either, not even you, the class president. but one time during a field trip, he was about to turn and he knew you were the only person he could trust with his secret at that moment. so when he suddenly barges into your tent, seconds before turning into a wolf in front of your own eyes, words were stuck in your throat. you didn’t know what to make of it but you knew he was seeking your help, so you hide him from the rest of the camp throughout the whole day. from then on, you became the person he always hung around for he put his trust in you. “I can’t believe I trusted you enough and barged in like that….still, I’m thankful you also trusted me enough to not call the hunters on me. So I’ll forever trust you with my secret”

Lee Jeno: 

his great strength is really something else and he isn’t even trying to hide it, expecting people wouldn’t question how on earth he could kick a ball from one end of the field to the other without much effort. but with great strength came weak self-control. you found that out when you were walking home late at night. some men cornered you and pulled you by your wrist. he was there to witness it and was furious anyone dared to touch you. in the blink of an eye, he was hovering over the men in his wolf form. you were so surprised and terrified, you ran straight home. he approaches you the next morning, you think he came to threaten so without waiting, you say you’ll keep your mouth shut and not tell anyone he’s a werewolf. but that’s not what he came to you for, he couldn’t care less if you told anyone, “y/n are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Did they do anything to you? God, I was so worried and… I’m so sorry for scaring you…”

Lee Donghyuck:

is very proud to be a werewolf and uses his abilities to his advantage. lowkey even wants to brag to people about being a werewolf but he knows people won’t accept that and that he might be in danger by doing so, so he carefully chooses who to reveal it to, one of those people being you. he tells you quite early on and you didn’t believe him at first, but he literally turns right in front of your eyes just to prove it to you. you’d avoid him the next few days, still trembling but he rubs it in your face even more, eventually, at one point, you come to terms with it and accepted the random 4am visits from him in his wolf form, chewing on your soft toys and messing up your sheets. Sometimes, he asks you to comb his fur because he loves the feeling. “why did you lock all the windows yesterday night? I told you I’d come by for nightly tummy rubs!!!”

Na Jaemin: 

he hides his werewolf self very well. but one thing he can’t seem to take control over are his random heats. he’d be absent from school one a month and people’d think he’s just really prone to fevers. but when you come over to his house one day to give him his schoolwork, you walk straight in on a whole fluffy wolf, sleeping on the bed, breathing heavily and the room is too stuffy and hot. not knowing where jaemin is, you decided to wait and in the meantime, get some cool water for what you thought was his pet. the wolf kept whining and you sit there, running your hand through his fur in an attempt to ease his condition. somehow, you fell asleep and woke up an hour later, only this time instead of the wolf lied jaemin, with flushed skin covered in sweat, panting and whining every other minute. you knew then that he is the wolf and ignore your shock just to help him through his fever.   “It’s embarrassing to be seen in such a state….but if you ever feel cold on a winter night, feel free to come by and cuddle me, I’m a fluffy heat pack. I like it, you like it, it’s a win-win”

Zhong Chenle: 

soooo fragile! he was adopted into your family ever since he lost his pack. so he’d treat you in the same way he used to treat his pack. runs so fast during tag, expecting you to catch up. screams so loud expecting you to do that too as it is contagious for him. eats a lot and gives you a lot of food too, thinking you eat just as much. but later on, he realizes you’re not like him and truthfully, it makes him very sad and hurt. he’d go on, not interacting with you for some time but you always do your best to assure him you don’t mind this difference. so he becomes close to you again, mindful to treat you with more care. and he’s quite insecure of himself being a werewolf. but you always tell him you’ll be by his side no matter what and that you see him as everyone else, if not more dearly.   “I can’t believe you still howled through the night with me even though I must have looked like an idiot…you’re amazing”

Park Jisung: 

wolf form or human form, he’s always so curious and playful. being so young as he is, he has this great enjoyment in exploring new things, so he’d always be this happy-go-lucky person. It reflects the same when he’s turned, he’s a total little puppy, running a lot, jumping a lot, tumbling a lot. your families are very close. growing up, you just thought you were playing with this little puppy and a little boy at the same time, but eventually found out they were both one. so it is very natural for you to be around him now, still in his playful nature in both forms. sometimes he’d be so hyped he’d make you get on his back or to chase his tail with him. “y/n! is that a rabbit? Oh my god! let’s go let’s go let’s go! We gotta catch it!!!!”

  author’s note thank you for sending in the request and I hope it was to your liking~

[crqstalite]

SHADOW OF THE SITH, CH. 3

TRI'AMA_RISHI.

"If I hear one more person refer to me as a Howling Tempest gang leader, I will not hesitate to stab them through." Tri'ama deadpans, just loud enough so that anyone nearby could hear. Pierce stifles a chuckle as some of the pirates look away quickly from her gold tinged glare. The blonde sith was already tired of the pirate infested planet, and being considered one was infuriating. Being feared wasn't horrible, but if she was going to be feared, she was going to be feared for her status as a Sith lord, not some wayward gang leader.

Rishi was...interesting. Whatever vision she'd got to send her here was about to be shoved to the very back corners of her mind and she'd just wait to see what occurred because of it. After two years of being driven up the walls by the incompetent dark council (moreso by Darth Nox, but she digressed), she was ready to give up and hunt down the blonde Sith to get on with this Revanite business. She'd surprisingly had more fun then than wallowing in memories, alcohol and dealing with less than intelligent political leaders. The smell of salty water was settling into her bones and the near constant chatter of squatters and criminals alike nearly made her force choke one of those damned monkey lizards if their owners weren't holding onto them.

Damn those infuriating laughs of the tiny bastards.

The new armor helped with the heat of the planet itself though. The heavy armor that she typically donned on adventures proved to be too much within even an hour of being on planet, and she'd immediatly switched it out for a hooded half shirt, sleeveless, with a thinner pair of armored pants and clunky but breathable boots. Anyone one this planet with half a brain would steer clear of her anyways, so her midriff would be fine.

Had it been three years ago, she was sure she probably would've gotten at least a wolf whistle from Pierce, but the man had been surprisingly silent on her new look. Protective, even. Her haircut would have to wait until much later, as the blonde strands were beginning to inch down the nape of her neck and stick there. Tied back with a silk band, she'd had to lower her hood once she'd found some inch of shade and remove her respirator just to relieve herself of the pent up heat in her body. Zykken's information to find whoever did have said information on her was going to take a lot more than just her willpower to get done. She'd sent it to Vette to look it over, then extending it to Pierce, but the three of them couldn't make heads or tails of the intel. Her mind kept wandering to the person who was supposed to be good at these things, good with the insane amount of aurebesh that needed to be decoded, and it was hard to keep those thoughts at bay. The datapad, well, that was another story entirely.

And the Red Hulls. Some cannibalistic gang that apparently had also recently arrived on Rishi. Only days prior before she had landed, something about them had flared up and they were the literal talk of the small town. Some were beginning to gossip that the two new gangs would eventually fight each other, and at this point, she wouldn't exactly stand down if it meant they'd accept she wasn't a gang leader. Hell, those in the cantina when she killed Gorro still didn't believe her, even after she'd killed him by throwing him against and a wall and then progressing to snap his neck with just a twist of her fingers. People here were either stupid, or blind. Or both, if she was being honest. Gutter trash didn't always have brain cells rattling around in those skulls of theirs.

Guzzling down another unidentifiable drink (assured at force choking range that it wouldn't kill her and-please let me down-replenshing electrolytes and hydrating-yes please let me down ), she swiped at her forehead to keep the sweat from dripping into her eyes again. Looking over, she jabbed an elbow at her companion, "Aren't you dying in that pack of armor, Pierce?"

He didn't immediatly answer (a bad sign, Vette had been rather unresponsive while they were on Tatooine and though she'd reassured her, the blue twi'lek had passed out a half an hour later. The same with...him), and she forced a bottle of the blue liquid into his hands, "I'll be fine, m'lord." He finally responded after chugging down the contents and looking visibly relieved. Most would assume she was ruthless and vile with everyone, but even the literal hulk of muscle had carved out a place in her heart. She'd rather not have him collapse on her because of heat exhaustion.

"We can always head back to the Fury. It's been a long day, and there's no reason to force ourselves to stay out here when there's nothing to be found." She admits, the sun beginning to set over the shanty town as she disposes of the bottle and stands from her perch on the barrel. "Whatever's out here can be hunted down tomorrow if it truly is that much of an issue."

He chuckles darkly, "You were the one who forced us out here. Sure it'll cool down once the bloody sun is out of the way," he pauses, most likely because she's reclipped her respirator on and raises an eyebrow, "that's if you want to, m'lord."

She rolls her eyes at the formality. At one point, she saw it as a sign of power, having people respect her and be so absolutely fearful they always added her title, but there wasn't really a need for someone like Pierce to continue grovelling at her feet in such a manner. Well, maybe not grovelling (he pressed her buttons as often as Vette did, but those two were the only in the galaxy allowed to do so), but something closer to begrudging respect that she didn't enjoy. It was just, too close to the things he used to say. "If that's how you want to do it, then we'll stay out tonight, Ash."

The corners of his mouth quirk up into a bit of smile, one of the few times she's ever referred to him by even an inkling of his first name. They continue walking along for a bit, one hand always on one of her sabers before she can hear a crier droid clanking around the boardwalk. Stopping Pierce abruptly, she can just barely make out the droid's buzzing speech, "The Red Hulls have issued a challenge to the Howling Tempest gang! In an alleyway tonight, you may even find the two duking it out over Raider's Cove! Who will come out on top and really rule the Cove?"

"You were challenged?" He asks and she gives him a half shrug before turning to him, clearly even unsure of what he was talking about, and then her eyes were looking skywards at a building before smirking at the lieutenant. He sighs, "Leg up, eh?"

He does so, crouching down so she can climb over him to find a handhold to climb up the building, much like the small beats that stole every shiny thing they came across. Among the dizzying array of streets they could get lost in, it'd be easier just to scout the streets and find a general area of where the thing was clankering around. It was harder than expected, but easier than it had been once on Dromound Kaas when she'd attempted to scale a building to find a newly-appointed lord who thought it smart to disrespect Vette. Holding a hand over her eyes, she dangled precariously off the building with one hand and scouted the cove. While none stood out immediatly to her, something glinted harshly against the sun, and she had found her target. "Three klicks north, we can catch up if we hurry."

"Three? How can you hear that bloody thing then?" Pierce questions gruffly, just barely catching her as she slides down the building, air knocked out of him. "Sure there isn't one closer trying to blast our ears off?"

"There are so many alleys in this damn town, I'd rather go get the one I saw and pray it's still there." She says, nodding towards her sleek silver speeder bike. He climbs on first, and then her behind him as he revvs the engine.

He chuckles, throwing a look over his shoulder as she hooked one leg over the seat, "You gonna hold on this time?"

"If I must." She says, rolling her eyes. She wonders if he can tell how comfortable she's gotten around the soldier, willing to put her arms around his waist and lean into him. This, this isn't love. She knows that, though the struggling had only gotten worse after he had left. He was willing to let her sleep with him, but never pushed her any further than necessary. Let her cry, let her even take advantage of him at one point in some drunken fit she's forced out of her mind. She wasn't quick to say it didn't mean anything, it did, it meant she trusted him enough not to throw him out the air lock, but did admit she didn't have feelings for him. A small part of his mind had always been closed off to her, but at that moment she couldn't sense any repressed part of him. No regret, no sadness. Just...raw relief. Relieved because this meant she was regaining sense and was becoming herself again.

Not defined by someone.

Not defined by a hyphenated last name.

Just, her.

It left them much closer than they once had been, and less likely for him to get thrown through a bulkhead at every scathing remark he made. And every Watcher like position she made him take in retaliation. If the man hated one thing, it was being stuck on the ship and watching the action from above. To imagine the things that would've transpired if she'd given her heart to the lieutenant instead of the captain, how things probably still would've ended badly, just much more violent.

A thought for another night.

-

NAJI_RISHI.

"I didn't ever challenge anyone to gang war..." Naji mused, pulling her robes tighter around herself, as if that would help hide her in shadows of the dark town more than the force stealth would. Nadia shifted at her side, growing bored with the hiding technique. "If I didn't, who did?"

"I'm not sure, master. I don't think there's a signal force signature out here that would give them away either." Nadia remarks. It's a tad spooky speaking to a literal shadow, considering she couldn't even see her, or see her facial expressions. The darkness of Raider's Cove wasn't helping either, and it was a tad difficult to even know where anyone was. A dark furred Cathar had managed to sneak up behind her on the way to the alley way, and he was lucky he was just out of pole saber range. "You're really still keeping up this pirate thing though? It'd be easier to just abandon it all together."

"At this moment, we don't have anything to go on. It is easier to simply wait for the Howling Tempest's to show up and we can question them." Naji whispers, standing from her sitting position. It was still hot, but thankfully much cooler than it had been days before when they'd landed. She and Nadia had to hide in the cantinas to keep them from passing out. Jedi robes were, unsurprisingly, heavy and didn't leave much room for air. The two, keeping from garnering any unwanted attention, ended up in overcoats and looser tan clothing. Hiding the sabers had been harder, but the darkness of any room compared to the sun outside was enough to hide them. They ran into less questions than expected, other than the occasional 'so who are you running from?' from the occasional spacer.

"Be careful, please?" Felix had asked her once she was halfway off the Polaris, still a tad frustrated that he wouldn't take her with him to Rishi. Well, he acted as if he were unaffected, but he was pouting on the inside. "Dunno what I'd do if you died when I was away."

"I won't die, Felix. But if it makes you feel better, I promise to be careful." She says, rubbing the back of his hands with her thumbs. Calloused, roughened by years of war. But something about his eyes softened her insides to jelly. Dark, chocolate brown skin in comparison to her own sun-kissed pale hues, hazel orbs in comparison to her own azul irises. They were different, force blind, force sensitive, but she enjoyed their differences, and to think she'd let a pirate take her away from her soldier. "I love you." She whispers, pressing a kiss to his lips before Nadia appears at the top of the stairs.

"I love you too, Naj." Nadia passes by him, and he ruffles her white mop of hair, "Same goes for you Nadia. Be careful."

"Alright, alright." She says, trying to brush his hand away from her hair. While Nadia wouldn't say it, and still had a place in her heart for the memory of her father, she and Felix had a hard time not regarding the girl as their daughter. "Whatever you say, Felix." Nadia deadpans.

She nearly laughs herself, as dad was just on the tip of her tongue as Felix waved a final goodbye to the two women.

Still spooked her that someone had framed her as the leader of a cannibalistic gang even before she'd arrived. Sent a shiver down her core just listening to the rumors that quickly spread about her. Eating people? She wasn't anywhere near a picky eater, but the wide berth that had been given by most of the pirates and terrified looks behind their stoic appearances made her rethink going vegan.

Whoever really did go around eating people, she'd hunt down another day.

She heard the engine of speeder getting louder and louder, then abruptly stopping in front of the alley that she and Nadia had been hiding in. Pressing what she thought was the girl flatter against the wall, she was able to catch a larger man, decked out in black armor, making his way into the alley, rifle drawn. Others, the drunk night crowd she'd learned over the last few days, were slower to move away than the mostly sober ones who darted into shops or ran further into the alleys.

The woman who trailed after him, a woman on a mission with a lightsaber drawn and a red kyber crystal igniting it, made her blood run cold. No, no it couldn't be. It had to be some other Sith who just happened to be on Rishi at the same time as her. But one wavering gaze to where she and Nadia were hiding in plain sight, was enough to confirm that the Wrath had less than benevolent intentions of being here.

She pretended not to see her. Reaching out in the force, Naji could only feel a wall. Something between the force and her emotions, something she couldn't reach through. But it was ill-timed, because while attempting to do so, she had taken her mind off the Wrath long enough for the woman to pick up the roof of a stall and hurl it towards their current position.

Nadia just barely yanked her out of the way as the wooden roof crashed against the side of a building, and for a moment her ears were ringing as wood rained down on her and her padawan. "If you challenged me, show your face!" The Sith called out, all too close to where she and Nadia had just escaped near death. "I know you're here."

Hide your thoughts, hide your thoughts, she tried to reassure herself. The other girl couldn't see her, but reaching out to her in the force, they were quick regain their footing. Chunks of the roof came again, but Nadia forced up a barrier just in time, and Naji was quick to wrestle with the chunks from the Wrath. No longer invisible to the Sith and her companion, shots were fired off by the soldier as Naji managed to multi-task a bit and force a basket from a stand in his direction. With the Sith distracted, the chunks were in her control and she threw them back in their direction.

The two were quick, she'd admit. Too fast. Too soon, the Wrath had retaken the situation, and the soldier ducked out of the way, firing off a couple shots before his companion threw a chunk at the shield. Nadia was beginning to struggle, and as much as she tried to keep the woman distracted, she was beginning to fixate on the girl, growing closer and closer to the two before Naji could do anything. The wood was beginning to pound on their little safety bubble, and the gold light it was giving off was beginning to waver as Nadia's willpower did as well.

They had both gotten rusty over the last few years of being off the front lines. Now, they were paying for it.

"You wanted a challenge?" The wrath nearly purrs, before throwing one large panel of something from behind her. "Have one!"

Nadia ducks out of the way, rolling on her side as Naji puts up her own force shield, before something most literally pierces her shoulder, and she crumples in pain. Blood is beginning to gush from the wound, and her hand comes away sticky as she tries to figure what's happened. Eyes trained to the ground as she readjusts herself to be on her knees, her eyes trail upwards to the scantily dressed Sith Lord, and a quick reach with the force finds the rifle toting man now behind her that she hadn't seen before.

She's about to say something scathing before a fruit of some sort gets thrown -more like force thrown- at the Sith, and it clocks her in the head, a grunt escaping her as she can almost feel Nadia's giddy thoughts. Something she hadn't taught the girl, but it nearly made her laugh as anger flashed through the woman's eyes.

She raises one arm, and her heart stops when she hears struggling from her padawan, from her Nadia. Coughs, ragged breaths, as she holds her shoulder, hissing through her teeth from the pain. "Let her go!" Naji coughs out, red staining her pale fingertips.

The Wrath quirks an eyebrow, before Naji hears a slam and sees the woman throw her arm out to the side. Nadia hits the wall with a sickening snap, and Naji is about to have string of explatives leave her mouth before she hears more footsteps coming from the opposite direction. "That is enough!" With an Imperial accent.

Just barely turning her head, she can see green and black clad figure along with a red flash before she manages to stand herself. First, she rushes to Nadia, who groans first as her blue eyes crack open. Nothing seems to be immediatly broken, which fills her with undeniable anger. Fury, nearly, at the Wrath for hurting the girl.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There will be chaos if she hurts Nadia again, she thinks to herself.

"This wasn't the most conventional way to get them here, but I didn't think it'd lead to a fight!" Theron's voice, raspier than when they'd first met, but turning from Nadia's rising form, it's most definitely the SIS agent and his Sith companion. Her outfit had changed, but her blonde hair was still present. "Maybe you should've rethought this whole Sith and Jedi thing, Lana."

"I believed that the Barsen'thor would calm the situation first, though it seems the Wrath didn't give her the chance." Lana rubs her temples before turning to her, "Naji, it's been a while."

"It has." She grimaces, as the Wrath doesn't make eye contact with her. "You couldn't have sent a holo?"

"Discreet methods, I apologize for not making our intentions clear." Lana turns back to the Wrath, "You attacked the Barsen'thor?"

"In my defense, I was challenged by the leader of the Red Hulls at these coordinates. I didn't recognize them, fought them because of it. I wanted answers for why I was here and why someone pretended I was a gang leader." She responds, crossing her arms as her soldier reholsters his rifle. "You would have answers for me, wouldn't you?"

"We had to lure you here under false pretenses, but Lana thought it'd be smart to bring you both. Something about Revan being too dangerous to deal with, especially with only one of you, that we needed both." Theron responds, "This...wasn't supposed to happen."

"We're not the most predictable people either, Shan. That excited to see me?" And there it was, the same old Wrath with her flirtatous nature. That, hadn't changed even though her companion had. The burly man didn't seem to react at all, possibly they were weren't involved as she'd previously assumed.

"I..look, Naji will she be alright?" Theron asks, as Lana continues conversing with the Wrath. He hisses through his teeth once he gets a good look at her. "Will you be okay?"

"Nothing some kolto and meditation can't fix, Theron." She shakes her head and allows herself to smile, "It's good to see you too."

[thadwyl-archive]

The Monsters Within.

(( NSFW for blood, language and mentioned violence))

A month gone by and only to continue for whatever higher power watched over them to not know themselves. It had been that exact amount of time that he had thought they would be here on this gods-forsaken planet. The Knight was just sadly mistaken, and damning everything above and below him that kept him here still on this world. He stood just before the opening of the ridge that covered their camp, simply watching the dust fly all around them without any path of going to its destination. The air was just thick with it, like the thoughts that clouded his mind at the very moment.

He could hear the screams much louder now, turning his eyes all around as if it were his very soldiers that were the ones that were hurt, injured, and bleeding. His forsaken mind continued to play tricks on him, thinking of those around him were dying. It was the voices that cried out for help in his head, the ones of those long past and beyond the grave at this point. Every single moment, every second, he could hear those crying out for help, and see them within his mind. Blood spraying everywhere, bones crushing beneath the strength of his blade and with the sharpness of his teeth and claws. He stood as still as stone, feeling as if he was floating in an abyss of nothing but darkness, and watching those very scenes play out all around him, one by one. He remembered every single one, and he couldn’t shake that feeling.

The sound of a woman screaming tore him out of that dark trance, causing him to turn his body to face the camp that they had resided in for the past month. Everything seemed... normal. Before his eyes lowered to something that caught out of the bottom of his vision- a woman laying crumpled, broken and wounded beneath him in a pool of her own crimson life force. He stopped where he stood, simply staring at her before she disappeared in a fading of a dust cloud that whipped up over the earth. A mirage. His hand rose up to cover the front of his mouth, feeling as if he had lost the breath that he could ever pass in his life of undeath.

His thoughts continued to lay siege on him, finding it much harder to focus on tasks or a battle at hand. And it was only for a split second that he had gained some focus when he heard the howl of a wolf in the distance. No animal would survive on this very planet for long... it was not some simple animal. It was that of his Wolf Brother, Aldreus, howling in pain for missing his fiancé that he had left behind on Azeroth, at their home. It was just when he moved to take a step forward, someone reached out to grab a light hold of his arm, causing him to whirl around, reaching to the great sword that kept upon his back- only to let go after a moment when he saw a man standing behind him, one of the soldiers that moved between the camp and the Vindicaar when needed. The color seemed to drain of his face when he saw the Knight turn on him and look at him as if he were the enemy. He stuttered slightly while immediately reaching into the satchel he carried to pull out not one, but two letters addressed to him. “F-for you, Ser Longclaw! We’ve just received this letter from someone that shares your name... but, both having your house seal...” He said rather quickly, having recognized the seal of his family for him with the letters sent between worlds.

The Knight stopped dead in his tracks, gently reaching to press plate covered fingers to grab both parchments from the man. He gave a look of apology, despite the man not being able to read such a thing within the glowing eyes of Thadwyl. “Thank you... I will be sure t’ read these right away.” The man went running off once finished with the task and left Thadwyl to his own devices, moving into the main tent where maps and plans were spread out over the large table in the center. He sat off at a desk in the corner like he normally had and tore open the first letter that lay on top... he recognized the handwriting almost immediately- of his wife’s. He lowered carefully into the seat, eyes reading over every single word with a careful look, slowly taking in every single part of that letter and feeling his core freeze with the pure sadness he was emitting. He missed her. Words could not even begin to explain how much he missed her. And to begin to think what she was feeling at this very time… it only pained him even more.

His head lowered, forehead pressing to the parchment he held within his hands and took in a quiet sniff… he could smell her. Her hands had touched this paper, her perfume having rubbed off slightly on it. It caused him to become choked up in his throat, and if tears could form in his eyes now… They would be doing that, especially with how he saw a stain upon the paper from the ones he knew came from his beloved wife. It had taken him a moment to gather himself to at least read the second letter that had come for him. He wasn’t expecting anyone else to write to him now, and with great surprise wrought over his face when he cut it open… it was from none other than his own brother, Mace Longclaw. And here it read, no bit of formality even within the letter for his own brother.

“Thad,

Things have gotten just way out of hand back here at home. And I’m not writing to you about any of my problems, not when you got your own going on now up on that shit hole. The times I have gone over to see your wife… things have not been good whatsoever. She’s lost too much weight, not eating enough, not sleeping enough; even with the baby in her, she’s light as a feather.

It’s truly fucking heartbreaking to see that, and know that you’re not there to comfort her. I know it’s what you do, and I can see how you guys are with each other. I’ve been trying to help as much as possible, but with all the work on my plate, it’s becoming near impossible to do so. I’m sorry you have to read this now, and worry even more about her- because I know you already are. I know I did when Sable was sent to Argus.

I’m going to do whatever I can to help still, and I know she’s gotten help from Beth Davis. But, promise me this… finish that shit as quick as you can, and get the fuck home. She needs you, and I know it’s going to be hard in the time to come. Just promise me this, because I’ll know if you will, and I know you will.

Your asshole brother,

Mace.”

The parchment was soon set down onto the stack of papers, eyes blinking a few slow times before they widened still with the news that he was given, as well as the letter his own wife had sent him. It was… such a surprise that he had come to hear this news. The love of his life, while pregnant with a daughter that wasn’t his… was soon to be on the verge of losing that child, and possibly her own life. He began to force in air through his lungs and then out once more as he tried to take all of this in at once, sounding as if he were breathing at a very accelerated rate. The sounds of swords clashing, men and women screaming sounded even louder now inside of his head. A literal war on his own body, nothing compared to the very war they were fighting in right now. He lowered so that his body loomed over the desk, a deep growl rumbling low within his chest as he was on the near verge of snapping, and destroying everything that lay in his path, keeping him from his wife back home. And he was beyond thankful all at once that he was alone in the tent… for now, at least.

It gave him a moment to rise back up and nearly stumble over to the table at the center of the room, looking over the maps that laid out the lands they had been scouring for that past month. He came to push himself up, finding these times of weakness the most when it came to be without his wife. It had been too long, and he needed her now more than ever, as she needed him the most. He knew, that without him, she would die… He couldn’t abandon his troops still. He couldn’t leave, causing him to feel a tear in himself now and still. But… once more, his thoughts were interrupted by someone entering the tent. When his eyes finally settled on the much larger figure, it came to be that of his wolf brother and another of the command of Ludlow troops… Aldreus. He set down the map he had realized he had grabbed and nearly torn in his transgression of pain. He eyed up the pale Baron with a curious stare, sights immediately catching to remnants of blood that lay on his maw and person that was unseen to the simple eye. He could smell all that on him as well, eyes widening as he watched him. “Th’ fock ‘ave you done…” was all he could even begin to mutter, in pure disbelief of what… or who he had gotten a hold of in his own time of pain.

He watched on as his closest friend and comrade fall to his knees and the sounds of wolfish whines permeated into his auditory, hearing the crying that he was doing now. He was just as broken as he, and time could only tell for the two of them… and their wives, of what was to happen. Thadwyl leaned down so that he was kneeling in front of Aldreus, reaching out to try and get him up to stand. However, a sound was heard all around, and between them especially with their sensitive hearing. “You cannot hide…” The sound of pure malice, in it’s very words, came from that rasping voice that spoke to the pair. “I see you…” And when either of them were to look up, the sickly fel eye of an Inquisitor could be seen watching them in the tent. “Zera’tesh… remembers… We shall meet again soon…” And once those evil words finished, the eye disappeared in a puff of smoke. Gone, as soon as it came.

Thadwyl immediately stood to his feet and hastily moved outside to the center of the camp. His thunderous voice shouted out over the large groups that were spread out in every corner of the camp. “Rally th’ guards! Double th’ focking watch! A threat by th’ Legion was made and we are not t’ take it lightly! Get moving!” He watched as men and women alike began to sprint from ends of the camp to the other, especially out of fear with how the Knight had been acting. He never seemed himself in times of war, sometimes going back to his ways in the early times within the Ebon Blade, only at a young lad of nineteen to twenty. Once he made his statement, he turned on his heel back toward the tent and closed the flaps behind it. When his eyes settled upon Aldreus, he moved around to the other side and came to his with a blanket in hand. He set it over his wolf brothers back before moving to sit in front of him, and do his best to comfort his friend in his time of need, no berating for what he had done and truly understanding of the primal side that took over. All he could do now… was fear for the cold future ahead of them.

(( Mentions:  @aldreusreinhold @lumenwolf @sarahskyfall @araethius @adisor-dragonblade @ludlowvineyards ))

[digressfromreality]

Sometimes, We Survive By Forgetting

Synopsis: "You can erase someone from your mind. Getting them out of your heart is another story," Deidra whispered to her newest friend. A stray black dog she found, that had hurt himself outside of her home. What Deidra didn't know that the stray dog, was her brother-in-law, Sirius Black, who was very surprised to find his brother's wife very much alive after all these years.

Warning: SMUT, abuse/torture                        Part 1 of ....

(Current timeline: January 1996)

"Pity, pity. I thought you would have weathered better after all this time Lady Black." The Dark Lord, tutted, as he kicked her crumpled body over onto her back again. She moaned, trying to open both eyes. Her right eye must have swelled shut, making it difficult for her to make out the dark lord's menacing form. "You thought you could hide from me, from my Deatheaters?"

"No," she croaked. "I've never wanted to hide from you." She wheezed as the Dark Lord stomped on her wand holding hand.

"I didn't catch all that Janelle. What didn't you do?"

"I was forced. I, uh," she wheezed again, was her lung collapsing, "Regulus did this to me. Please believe me."

"Regulus Black, betray me? Unlikely." Voldemort swooped down, scaring Janelle with the sudden closeness. His face was more snakelike that she had remembered all those years ago. "But you," he jabbed with his wand, "you, the impressible Janelle Fawley, you on the other hand, were always the wildcard in the deck."

"But sir-" He grabbed her jaw with a sudden fierceness, forcing her silent.

"No matter, the truth has a way of coming out, one way or another."

-------------------------------------------

(Past: Summer 1995)

Again she dabbled between the vials on the hidden shelf. Her only companions over the last decade, were the memories of a life she had forgotten. Deidra pushed back the vials, looking for the memory labelled For When you're Lonely.

"Regulus I know it will hurt for a while," the blonde pulled the raven haired, lanky boy flush against her, "remember I'm always here for you." He nuzzled further into her embrace, he needed the comfort, he needed the guidance. He wanted to be strong, but for once he could not do it. She played with his hair which usually slicked back had become unruly from the tussle with... Sirius. He tried to steady his haggard breathing with her lulling humming. 

Finally, his anger subsided and a new emotion risen, gratitude and a sense of intimacy? She had quietly and without question, had tended to him in his darkest hour. Without her familiar quips or haughty laughter, she refreshed him with a kind embrace during his moment of weakness. He took in a long breath, smelling vanilla verbena. 

Yes, yes this was comforting, this was right. He could feel her stroking halt as his stormy eyes met hers. Her eyes smiled, and as genuine as her flashy grin. "As long as you ever need." He offered a small grin in return. Surprisingly, swiping a stray lock from her eyesight. He wanted to look at her entire, welcoming face.

"Your appreciation will never be forgotten." He whispered, flicking his wand at the door.

"Regulus!" She squealed as her hauled her into air with his grip around her derriere. He sat her onto a desktop, her legs spread apart with him strategically situated between them. "What, what are you..." She paused, listening to the plop of her cloak as he shoved it off her shoulders. "Ah.." She screeched as her fingers dug into his shoulders. The creeping of his fingers under her blouse tickled.

"Just relax Janelle, let me return the favor." She shivered, of all the teenage fantasies a girl could have, this was the hottest to come true. She licked her lips in anticipation, feeling his fingers ghost over her breasts. Regulus took her flushed appearance, and lack of disapproval was encouragement to continue his advancements. He brought his eager mouth to hers, it was sweet and warm. His heart began to shudder as she reciprocated his intensity.

Maybe she wanted this as well? No time for trivial thoughts, she was allowing it for now. 

She moaned as he rolled her nipple back and forth between his digits. Perky and eager as he had hoped. In the few minutes of passionate snogging, a fury of hands had relieve her of her constricting jumper and lined undershirt, leaving the top half of her bare. Her chest was full and heaving as he had always imagined. While Regulus had his tie unfastened and his button up shirt wide open. 

She couldn't help but admire his lean physique, Quidditch kept him in jealousy inducing greatness. He couldn't take it any longer, his hand finally wandered up her skirt, brushing against the laced line entrance, he smirked feeling the wetness beneath had surpassed the thin fabric. "You want this to happen don't you?" He smacked his lips, as he applied some needed pressure. Her body quivered beneath his.

"Yes, Reg..ah, Regulus. Please." She wheezed out in breathy moans. "Please, please." His fingers pushed the fabric over, slowly sliding his fingers down her slit. She shivered, her body literally lurched forward in desire. He wrapped his free hand around her while pulling her lust filled face close to his. He pressed a finger into her while the pad of his thumb rubbed rigid circles. Oh, did he relish her reaction, a bit too much. He was a bit selfish, and pressed another digit in while his thumb spread her lips farther open, teasing her clit as he slammed and curled his fingers inside her.

"Please, I..." She really moaned, loud and proud this time. He was delighted to see how wet she was after she came. They were both panting as he pulled away from her. He licked his moistened fingers as she looked away embarrassed.

"Just as sweet as the rest of you."

"Oh shut up." She muttered, as she slid her undershirt back over her head. She quickly squealed, and pushed his chest. "Ew don't kiss me now. That's disgusting." He laughed.

"It wouldn't be any different if you kissed me after pleasing me." She pulled her jumper over now, it was a sad sight for him.

"Still gross." She fastened her cloak on looking expectantly at him.

"What?" He asked as he fixed his tie. She pointed between the two of them.

"What would you call this, Black?" He smirked approaching her until she backed in a desk again.

"Well Fawley, since we're defining terms." He pulled her close again, he could feel her heart hammering against her chest. "This is my claim on you. Just as it should have been in the beginning. It's time to tell my cousin to bugger off."

And every night, she relived these forgotten memories. A life she lived prior to her accident, which from what was left in this house, wasn't as accidentally as it seemed. She longed for a chance to meet this boy she dreamt of, this Regulus.

-----------------------------------------------------

His senses were keen, he knew that in this animagus form they were almost as strong as a wolf, but he had to be imagining this? He could see her long brunette hair tumbling down her shoulders, bouncing back and forth as she walked with her arms full. She reminded him of her, when he was in his youth. 

Before she colored her hair like the sun, where her hazel eyes were complimented with the chestnut waves. Even her scent was familiar, a calming smell, like the vanilla verbena soaps she used daily. She religiously wore the same scent over and over again, like she never could bare the thought of smelling different. But he had to be wrong, him, with the entire wizarding world thought her and him to be dead. And here she was gardening like a muggle, with no cares in the world. 

He had been watching her for a while now, trying to make sense of his observations and his reoccurring thoughts. First and foremost, she was a witch. She had been putting on a good show, maybe so the surrounding muggles never caught on, but she would cast spells all the time. To make things bloom bright, or make her basket loads lighter. She always had her wand in the sleeves of her clothing, which made him very wary. 

When she was gardening she would converse and lament to herself, if anyone else would have hear her, they would think she had gone mad. But Sirius understood, even sympathize with her. Twelve years in Azkaban had left him with little communication with others, talking to one's self was a way he spent many days trying to occupy himself. To hold onto some form of normalcy as the others around him went mad from torture. She looked up in his direction, Sirius panicked, had he been panting? He slowly tried to back away from line of sight, only to get his leg caught. He howled in pain, why had he done that?

She saw the creature, her direct stare must have startled it. She was going to continue her gardening until she heard a cry. She approached the beast, slowly, the black dog was growling, showing his teeth at her. She assessed the situation. The poor thing had gotten its leg caught, it was bent at a weird angle.

------------------------------------------

"Albus you have to believe me. It was her!" Sirius was pacing around the room, while Dumbledore stayed transfixed near the fire place.

"Hasn't Alastor warned you about daily excursions?" Sirius rubbed his temple, trying to ignore the subject change. "Yes, Albus but this was her. This was Janelle Fawley." He paused, "I couldn't be surer in my life."

"Ms. Fawley disappeared right before your brother Regulus. It was assumed that they disappeared together. Even her father, Hector, never heard from his daughter again. If this truly was Janelle, I would believe she would have made some attempt to see her father when his health began to decline."

"That's it though, isn't it?" Ranting his inner thoughts out loud. He began his maddening pace around the room again.

"I don't follow you." Albus admitted.

"She would have, if she had remembered to do so." Albus smiled at the idea.

"You believe someone erased her memory."

"Not someone, my brother did."

"How could you be sure? I was under the impression that they were happily married." Sirius stopped, then quickly turned and kicked a chair.

"I don't know. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. All I know is my brother's wife is alive with no seeming recollection of who she was. Or where he is. She's been living alone all these years."

"And did you come by this information?" Sirius cursed, he hadn't meant to let that slip.

"Well she has a soft spot for strays. I've been there plenty of times this last couple weeks. I've needed to know everything about her."

"Why is this?" Albus asked humbly, not trying to provoke him any further.

"To know if she was real, or if she was all in my head. Sometimes in Azkaban, I would dream of my family, and, and," Sirius choked up, "I just wanted to believe that this time it wasn't a hallucination."

"What is it that you would like me to do?"

"Excuse me?" Sirius was slightly taken back by Dumbledore's brash comment. He offered him a smile in return.

"You wouldn't be relaying all your suspicions to me without wanting me to pursue it. Am I wrong to assume?" Sirius shook his head, he still sometimes forgot how his old professor was always so perceptive.

"Is there any way you could pay her a visit. See if I missed something. I want to know why no one has found her before."

-----------------------------------------

"How may I help you?" The brunette stood behind the door, gazing at the strange man. His blue eyes twinkling, and his long white beard slightly raising as he smiled at her. She seemed to calm at his demeanor, no matter how strange his dressing robes were.

"Good morning, Miss. My name is Albus Dumbledore, I was wondering if you had a moment to talk?" He saw the brief recognition pass her hazel eyes.

"I'm, um, sure. Come on in. Would you like some tea, sir?"

"Ah yes if you don't mind." She gestured for the man to take a seat at the table, while she busied herself preparing the water. She sat out the china, while he sat. She pulled another chair to the table as the water boiled.

"So, um, Mr. Dumbledore how may I help you sir?"

"Well first I would like to know if you remember me?" Her brow furrowed in confusion, he hadn't tripped anything in her recollection. After about a minute she gave up. Maybe he had confused her pleasant stare for a knowing one.

"I'm sorry sir. I was in an accident a decade or so back. I'm not so good with names or memories."

"Not even your own?" He asked quietly. She shook her head.

"No. The identification I had on me at the hospital said my name was Deidra Noir. But it's never felt truly right. It sounds more like something I would name a daughter than myself." She coughed, she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"If I understand correctly, Noir means Black?" Again Albus could swear he could see the clogs turning her head. She blushed, embarrassed.

"I thought it sounded more like a perfume more than anything. I guess I never thought to look it up."

"If you don't mind me asking Deidra, how did you sustain your trauma?"

"They said a car accident, but they said they found me lying outside a hospital. No car in sight. Probable hit and run. But I sustain head injuries and nearly had the skin and muscle tore off my arm. They almost had to use skin grafts." The kettle began to whistle she quickly stood up, trying anything to hide her flushed skin again. Albus had waved for her to sit.

"Let me get it."

"No, no you are my guest."

"No, no trouble at all." He waved his wand, bringing the drink-ware, and boiling kettle over to the table through the air. She sat there with her mouth agape. He offered to pour hers as well, but she shook her head.

"You're a wizard as well." So she knew about magic, despite the 'memory' loss. Albus had expected as much.

"So you know that you're a witch Deidra?"

"Yes." She shyly admitted. She was baffled by meeting another wizard. All these years she had been surrounded by non-magical folks.

"Do you remember going to Hogwarts?" Her eyes widened, she had studied at the best wizarding school in area.

"I went there?" She happily exclaimed. "What house was I in?"

"Slytherin." He said less enthused. She was put off by his dejected tone.

"Oh. Was I a bad student?"

"No, no. You were an exemplary student while attending there." She smiled. "You had an aptitude for charms and transfiguration."

"I had a feeling." Trying to hide a wry smile, she had more than just a feeling about that subject.

"But the crowd you fell in, well that's a different story altogether."

"Am I wanted? Did I break the law?" She began to panic. He could see her worries surface.

"That answer is a little more complex. Are you wanted by the Ministry, short answer no. Are you wanted by others? That is a more likely possibility." She took a long sip of her tea, not sure of how to react.

"Am I in danger?"

"At the present moment, no. But..."

"But what?"

"If we were able to find you, the others might be able to find you."

"Who is we?"

"The Order."

"Of the Phoenix?" He smiled.

"And you came by this information, how?"

"I have my sources."

"Very well." They discussed a few disjointed items that she had wondered about the wizarding world. Finally she asked the question that had been vexing her since he first began to explain himself.

"Sir?"

"What was my name?"

"Formerly Janelle Fawley." Albus saw that this name was not foreign to her. But he wasn't able to tell how or why that was. She gave a sigh of relief before quickly thinking, "Formerly?"

"You had recently gotten married before you disappeared."

"And...And my husband?"

"Regulus Black." She let out a breath of surprise. The young man preserved in the vials near her bed. The man who in memories had kept her company, kept her safe from the unknown threats all these years. "Presumed missing or dead along with you, but I have the suspicion of the latter." She looked crestfallen, he patted her hand. "I'm sorry my dear."

"Do, do I have any other family?"

"Your father died not too long after you had gone missing. Dragon pox is harder on older wizards."

"Oh, um, what was his name?"

"Hector Fawley."

"An ex Minister of Magic. He, he resigned after Gridenwald was defeated." She stared at him in disbelief. "After, after you defeated Gridenwald. Mr. Fawley, my father, hadn't taken the threat seriously, or at least that is was the history books say."

"Yes. He did resigned after that. He also was busy finding a suitable wife. He end up marrying a few different times then having children, you and your brother later in life."

"Brother?"

"Yes, yes older brother Sean."

"Sean Fawley." His name made her lips tingle. She wasn't alone. "How much older?"

"About 5 years. He had a child, Sullivan, he is enrolled at Hogwarts currently."

"What house?"

"Hufflepuff."

"Pureblood or half-blood?" His eyes darken and she covered her mouth. It was almost like a reflex that she couldn't help. "That was rude, never mind."

"I'm really not sure. Blood purity is not Hogwarts agenda or criteria for new students." He scolded her, she didn't really know why that question had come out. She couldn't really remember meeting another magical being before this point. She was basically as capable as a muggleborn. God, why did that thought churn her stomach? "It may be wise to have you return to the wizarding world."

"To see my brother?" He patted her hand.

"All in due time."

-------------------------------------------

Later while reviewing her letters, she found the names that perpetually running through her mind the last few hours. She had knew that she had seen some of these names before, and suddenly these entries in elegant script held much more meaning than previously.

1980:

Albus Dumbledore –

Titles: Headmaster at Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot

Allegiance: Hogwarts, International Confederation of Wizards, Ministry of Magic and Order of the Phoenix

Opinion: Trustworthy

The Fawley Family –

Titles: Purebloods, ex affiliation of Ministry of Magic due to resignation of Hector Fawley

Allegiance: Mixed. Haughty purebloods, but stood indifferent to the rise of The Dark lord, except for Janelle Fawley.

Opinion: Questionable

The Black Family-

Titles: Purebloods, Noble House of Black, Dark wizards

Allegiance: Mixed. A majority are Deatheaters and pureblood extremists, except Sirius Black. The only one not afraid to stand up for what was right.

Opinion: Hopefully redeemable

No question that, she gulped, Regulus had composed these various lists. But now, this one really did make an impact. The wrong crowd, the very one her and her apparent husband had fell in: Deatheaters.

-----------------------------------------------

(Current timeline: January 1996)

She shivered as the Dark Lord released her from her mind. He stood up and smiled down at her beaten body.

"You might be of some value yet." He gestured for Narcissa and Bellatrix to come closer. "Feed her and make sure she stays breathing. We will continue this get together at another time." He disappeared with a crack and Bellatrix let out of eerie laugh. Janelle twitched slightly hearing the familiar laugh. Her laughter had always led to something horrible.

"Cissy, let's get cleaned up and eat something. I'm absolutely ravished after today's events." Bellatrix cackled again before trouncing up the stone steps. Narcissa waited for her sister's silhouette to disappear before she waved her wand.

"Episkey." Narcissa whispered. Janelle moaned as her bones cracked, resetting themselves. What Janelle would kill for a glass of water, her lips were beyond chapped. But she was wheezed again, trying to chuckle. Who was she kidding? She was bound to die here. Narcissa kneed down next to Janelle's still bruised body, her brow furrowed. The poor girl was going to be tortured again and again until the Dark Lord was satisfied. A fate worse than death. If Narcissa had the courage she would put her cousin's poor wife out of her misery, but she did not. She had a family to think of, while Janelle did not. "I hadn't meant for our reunion to end with your demise. I am sorry Janelle."

"Cissy, leave the traitor be. We can feed her later." Bellatrix called from the floor above.

"Coming Bella." And like that Narcissa Malfoy was gone. Janelle was alone once again.

[atamascolily]

Episode Review - Sinbad 2x03 - “Heart and Soul”

Let me begin with this one-sentence plot summary courtesty of Far Far Away: "In order to save Bryn, Firouz and Doubar from a woman who must feed on human souls to survive, Sinbad and Rongar race against time to steal back her heart from her vampire husband, Baron Orlock, so she can perish."

... Yeah. So I already knew that this was highly unlikely to be good.

That said, I'm starting to get my stride with the second season. The TV spots help, because they are a 30 second recap of all of the episode highlights, so I can brace myself for impact. Once you give up expecting it to be good in that kinda-cheesy-but-still-awesome-fun-to-watch way of Season One, and just let your inner MST3K critic loose, it starts to be fun again. You just have to take your joy where you can get it. 

I mean, in this episode, we have a random string quartet, the decidely unexpected appearance of a Hand of Glory, a redshirt actually surviving the episode, and Sinbad swinging from a chandelier. And we learn that if Sinbad has to choose any of the crew to get him out of a pinch, it's totally going to be Rongar. Because Rongar is awesome like that.

(Photos from Far Far Away.)

We open with one of those hilarious big picture settings that I love, with the boat lovingly pasted in the corner for scale.

The usual suspects, plus two redshirts, are shepherding a cart and horse through the forest (did you see any forests in that above picture? 'Cause I sure didn't). Doubar is grumpy because he's literally pushing the cart and his boots are falling apart. Sinbad is grim and unsympathetic because he's an asshole this season and money is money, damn it. I have no idea how much fifty gold pieces is in the world of this show, because the writers don't give us worldbuilding details like that, but it sounds like a lot.

Bryn is freaked out. Firouz starts to correct her...and admits yes, those trees are damn creepy, actually.

They pass through a village, only to have random villagers warn them from traveling at night and offering safe lodging. Sinbad declines, having a package to deliver, a reputation to uphold, and a tide to catch.

The villagers are upset because a young couple hasn't come back and nightfall is coming... You already know those kids are so doomed.

Sinbad and Bryn spot the young couple making out in the woods. Bryn thinks it's charming and cute. Sinbad is grumpy. "Wait 'til they get married," he humphs like a grinch. GEE SINBAD, ARE YOU BITTER ABOUT SOMETHING? DOES HER NAME START WITH M? I WONDER.

Night falls, and the kids aren't back yet. A flock of bats turns into... this guy.

He sucks their souls out with some bad special effects.

Bryn feels a disturbance in the Force, but not enough detail to be useful, because plot.

The crew camps in the woods because Sinbad finally admits they're not going to make it to the castle in the darkness. Look at him brood in the darkness, while everyone sleeps. What's he brooding about? I'm guessing Maeve, for reasons. 

He hears a wolf howl... and decides that THE best plan is to walk quietly off into the woods, by himself, to investigate, without waking anybody else up. Which is a terrible idea and defeats the whole purpose of having a night watch in the first place.

Luckily, Bryn sees him do it... and decides the best solution is to quietly follow him. Because... that's a terrible idea, too.

I was kinda hoping Sinbad and Bryn would ambush each other in the dark, but apparently Sinbad is not at all surprised when she randomly shows up behind him. Anyway, they find wolves, but nothing happens, so they retreat back to camp....

... only to discover everyone awake, angry and wondering where the hell Sinbad is so he can make official decisions.  Oh, and heir employer, Baron Orlock, and his busty henchwoman.

Orlock has "other business," so he orders his henchwoman, Marisa, to take the crew and cargo to the castle, and have his wife take care of everything. Marisa obeys, but is a jerk about it, though. 

Things aren't at all ominous inside.

Hello, random background musicians in the corner!

(If I were to talk about authentic period instruments, or how we're suddenly in Europe for no apparent reason, I'd be here all day, so let's just say that there are anachronisms aplenty and leave it at that.... a running theme through this episode.)

Marisa walks in with some guards and the cargo crate macguffin thingy. It breaks on the ground. Everybody's freaked out, having no idea what the hell this is. 

Marisa threatens the guard for clumsiness,  Sinbad intervenes, everybody fights. Marisa's not very good.

But hey, who cares about that when you can swing from a chandelier?

Hey, this is a real body! Firouz exclaims once things have calmed down a bit. Everybody is even more freaked out.

Perfect time for Orlock's wife, Kalilah, to make a dramatic entrance and clear everything up.

Kalilah orders Marisa to take the wounded guardsmen and throw their bodies to the dogs. Firouz attempts to intervene, but is overruled. Kalilah reveals that the thing in the crate is a fossilized body from the ruins of Pompeii, which is a) actually a legitimate thing and b) even more creepy.

Firouz, despite himself, is intrigued by the phenomenon. "Real lava?"

"Fast lava, slow citizen," quips Kalilah casually and then gets back to business. Turns out Marisa and her guards are mercenaries and not very well-behaved ones at that. Kalilah and Orlock have a lot of armed guards... to protect themselves from the locals.

Sinbad just wants to know where the money is. It's on the table. Doubar collects it. So, get out fast, right?

Nope. Kalilah wants them to sit at the table and tell her about the world. When Sinbad calls her out on not eating, she mocks him for being overly suspicious and offers to hire him for another job.

No, there's too much weird shit, Sinbad says. We're leaving on the next tide.

Right, says Kalilah, and then appears to change the subject, asking if Sinbad finds her attractive. This is where Doubar, Rongar and Firouz probably roll their eyes. Here we go again. One of the redshirts, however, pipes up, HELL YES! The other agrees heartily.

Kalilah offers to kiss one of the redshirts. Doubar tries to hold him back, but he pushes his superior away (!!) and kisses her.

Of course, this ends badly.

Sinbad is super-pissed off, but it turns out Baron Orlock literally took Kalilah's heart and hid it away, making her functionally immortal. She wants Sinbad to get it back for her so she can end her miserable existence. Oh and Orlock's a vampire, sleeping in an entirely different stronghold during the day.

The crew gets locked in their chairs during all this exposition. Notably, Kalilah refers to Bryn as "sister witch," which is interesting and Bryn is confused but intrigued.

Kalilah says one crew member gets to go with Sinbad on the heart mission, everybody else has to stay behind and will get eaten if Sinbad doesn't return in 24 hours.

Sinbad looks the crew over. He chooses Rongar.

"Excellent choice," agrees Firouz instantly. At least one of us gets to survive this mess.

I agree. If I were going to assault a vampire stronghold, I'd definitely want Rongar on my side. Fighting isn't Firouz's strength, Sinbad still doesn't know Bryn very well, and Doubar, although big and strong, is not good at stealth or running. Plus Doubar has to hold down the fort while Sinbad is gone. Remember when Rongar and Sinbad teamed up to defeat the wind warriors back in Season One? Yeah. That was awesome. I'm sure that's what Sinbad was thinking about too.

Aw, man, Firouz looks so sad here as he gazes at Rongar.

The surviving red shirt (literally wearing a red shirt!) freaks out and shouts at Sinbad for not choosing him instead. Bad form, dude, seriously bad form. Doubar berates him, and he shuts up.

Bryn asks Kalilah if she can get a good-bye kiss from Sinbad, but of course, it's a ploy so she can whisper in his ear that Orlock has returned and knows exactly what is going on. I'm not sure why she can't just say that out loud, though. 

“GODSPEED, MY BROTHERS!” yells Doubar as they Sinbad and Rongar leave, because Doubar is confident they'll succeed in the nick of time. This happens all the time.

Meanwhile, Orlock and Marisa are having a moment. They know Kalilah has chosen "a new champion" (implying this has happened before) and Orlock says it’s Marisa's job to kill him. Marisa asks why she just can't let Sinbad succeed and become the new Baroness - a reasonable question under the circumstances.

Orlock's casual answer is literally that Marisa is good enough to sleep with, but not good enough to be an eternal life companion, and despite their differences, Orlock really likes Kalilah, and they've been together longer than any of his other wives... so Marisa should treat Kalilah with respect. Ouch.

If you don't kill Sinbad and Rongar and my wife dies, Orlock threatens, I'll kill you. Got it? If you succeed, we'll have some celebratory adultery. Great choices for Marisa, right?

Meanwhile, the wolves chase them, but Sinbad and Rongar pull the old "breathe through a bamboo tube" trick and the dogs can't find them underwater for some reason. 

Marisa traps them in a snare, but of course doesn't kill them when they're at her mercy, because she's an idiot. Instead, she gloats and pulls all of their weapons off. It takes her a long time to pull all of Rongar's dirks off. 

After making some vaguely ominous threats, she departs. Apparently, the wolves are coming to eat them. I'm not sure HOW the wolves are going to eat them when they're suspended several feet in the air, but as you may have noticed, Marisa isn't the brightest bulb in the box.

I was kinda hoping that Sinbad and Rongar would literally pull themselves up the rope onto the tree branch and untie themselves, because that would be awesome, but Sinbad has a hidden knife in his clothes so he just cuts himself free. I TOLD you Marisa was an idiot.

By the time the wolves arrive, Sinbad and Rongar have climbed the tree just out of reach. Dermott shows up and starts making weird chirping sounds. Back in the castle, Bryn's eyes start glowing so we know magic is supposed to be happening. Dawn breaks and the wolves hit by the shafts of sunlight instantly vanish. The others flee. I'm honestly not sure if this is just a coincidence or if Bryn and Dermott are supposed to be directing it somehow, or how Bryn is able to work with Dermott like that. None of these are things the show is interested in, which makes me grumpy.

Back at the castle, the crew is now chained up in the dungeon with a bunch of other random people in a cage. Firouz and Doubar are resigned (not their first dungeon rodeo) but the redshirt is whining about how they're all doomed, until Doubar yells at him to shut up. Bryn's uncomfortable with how much evil is around. Guards show up with an unpleasant surprise for Bryn - the fresh hand of a hanged man, aka a Hand of Glory.

In this universe, a lit Hand of Glory prevents magic in the vicinity and apparently also hurts/sedates practitioners. Kalilah promised the crew they wouldn't be hurt, but she's asleep upstairs and her guards are sadists.

Marisa finds out that Sinbad and Rongar escaped and come after them with her guards. Watching ground fighters tackle mounted warriors is always fun. Here, Rongar is bait while Sinbad channels his inner Tarzan. 

Sinbad and Rongar “borrow” some of her guards' horses and ride off. Marisa is furious.

... but of course they lose the horses again and go on foot up to the castle via that distinctive rock formation from the "Trickster" episode in season one (only with random dead sticks, so it's different). Because for some reason, we can't have Sinbad STAY on a a horse once he gets one. Sigh.

Suddenly, Marisa attacks, wounding Rongar's arm. I'm just going to assume that's his throwing arm and he's not ambidextrous, because Rongar sits out the rest of this fight, and I can't imagine him not taking Marisa out with a dagger to the back if he could throw.

Anyway, there's some dark flirting and banter and the usual round of backhanded compliments and Marisa falls to her death in the convenient abyss nearby.

Sinbad and Rongar make it to Orlock's stronghold without further incident. They find the heart in a jeweled box, but Orlock interrupts them. Turns out, he never sleeps, he just hides from the sun during the day! Surprise!

Rongar gets some good dirk throws in (I guess his arm is better or the writers remembered his skill set or something) but Orlock is immune, because they're not MADE OF WOOD! Hint: telling your enemies exactly how to kill you is NOT a good plan, even if you think you're invincible. Especially not when you have wooden furniture in the room. 

But Orlock is even dumber than you think, because for some reason his castle has WINDOWS with easily removable cloth CURTAINS on them, so all Sinbad has to do is tear them down and Orlock bursts into flames. Sadly, Sinbad does NOT say, "It's curtains for you, Orlock!" while he does this, but it's still somehow satisfying. Sinbad throws a wooden stake at Orlock for good measure, because Sinbad makes sure his enemies are thoroughly dead before he walks away. Because he's not as dumb as his opponents.

Sinbad and Rongar race back to the castle with Kalilah's heart, but you know they're going to arrive at the last minute, so there's hardly any suspense. Cut to the guards coming to release the prisoners for the feeding.

Bryn's up first, to Doubar's dismay. The redshirt whines a lot. A prison riot ensues. Firouz manages to hit people even with his hands tied, but the redshirt is totally useless.

Kalilah has to break things up, and since the guards injured the redshirt expressly against her orders, she eats their leader first. ... but apparently, she's still hungry enough to eat the crew, because drama. How many people does she need to eat per day in order to stay alive? How does this work? Nothing makes sense, honestly. 

I was actually kinda hoping the redshirt would get eaten, because a) he's a redshirt and more importantly, b) he's been a useless whiner this whole episode. But instead, Firouz lectures Kalilah about willpower and other psychological concepts. It doesn't work. But major props for trying, Firouz!

Good thing Sinbad and Rongar are here to save the day!

"Your heart, my lady," because Sinbad can never resist a dramatic gesture. And because it's literally true.

Why Sinbad couldn't just destroy the heart at Orlock's place and be done with it, I have no idea. Kalilah opens the box, and tosses it into the fire. She asks Sinbad for a good-bye kiss. Sinbad makes a point of pausing and looking over at Bryn. I'm not sure how to interpret the look that passes between them.

I think this is the, Don't worry, Bryn, I kiss everyone! Don't take it personally! face, but I am not sure.

But of course, Sinbad kisses her because a) he kisses everyone and b) even rugged grimdark Sinbad can't refuse the request of a dying woman even if she's EVIL.

Bryn is so uncomfortable with this.

Kalilah mutters to Sinbad how blessed he is because he has family, friends... and love, something she could never find in her long, dark, evil life. She then turns into old!Rumina somehow...

...but only for a moment.

Sinbad catches Bryn staring at him, and it's super-awkward...

Good thing there's that tide to catch!  

So, you see that cage in the background? That's the quartet of musicians that was playing the night before? They don't say ANYTHING the entire time... and the entire crew walks right past them and DOESN'T LET THEM OUT OF THE CAGE.

Bryn pauses to collect Dermott, who has been conveniently AWOL the whole time... She now has Maeve's gauntlet, which is practical since she's the hawk wrangler by default, but I was kinda hoping Sinbad would keep Maeve's gauntlet as a keepsake...

(As you can tell, I'm not keen on Sinbad/Bryn, but you know what would build character and the relationship? SHOW US SINBAD GIVING BRYN MAEVE'S GAUNTLET AND TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH SHE MEANT TO HIM. SHOW HIM GRIEVING AND MOVING ON. HOW ABOUT IT, HUH?)

But letting those guys out of the cage is just too much, apparently.

Yeah, so I'm really pissed off at this ending because I really can't imagine Sinbad being so preoccupied with the tide he won't stop to help people IMPRISONED BY A VAMPIRE AND HIS MARGINALLY LESS EVIL AND MALEVOLENT WIFE. Right.

So this was terrible. Totally and completely nonsensical. But I kinda want the redshirt to be a recurring background character and MAYBE grow and develop over the course of the season in small background ways. Or, heck, he might be eaten by the next sea monster. It's tough not being a main character on this show. He does get props for actually surviving this episode, though it's mostly luck rather than skill that saves him...

Next up: hell. I do mean that literally.

[carlyjyll]

Review! Hemlock Grove: Part 3 The Forever Howl

Time to dive back into that wacky Gothic adventure by Brian McGreevy called Hemlock Grove. There will be SPOILERS!

Review Time!

Guys, I’m upset. This is the last part of my four-part review for Hemlock Grove and I have to say that I’m really sad to say goodbye. Which is odd considering how God awful this ended for all of our characters.

So we start this final part with Peter and Roman making up! Also during this marvelous reunion, we have Peter confessing he loves Letha! Yay, the gangs all back together again! Well metaphorically speaking, Peter and Roman gotta go kick ass first. Sadly their attempt at stopping the vargulf is futile as Dr. Chasseur decides this is the right time to tranquilize Peter just after he transforms into his wolf self.

THANKS A LOT, CHASSEUR, YOU JUST GOT EVERYONE IN THE REST OF THIS BOOK KILLED INCLUDING YOURSELF! 

I digress, as Chasseur’s attempt to take Peter away and kill him is stopped by none other than the world’s greatest mother, Olivia Godfrey. This light of joy has Peter brought back to the Godfrey mansion as she proceeds to tie Chasseur up for two days before devouring her. Which I really liked Olivia’s story about her and her sisters game before killing Chasseur, it was sickly satisfying.

Before Chasseur dies, the vargulf kills Alexa and Alyssa Sworn. This causes Christina’s hair to become fully white and leaves her in a very bad place still believing that Peter is killing all the girls. This idea is shared by many others as the Rumancek’s trailer is burnt down. Olivia puts the Rumancek’s up in her house, where the next morning Peter and Letha are finally reunited!

 Unfortunately, this reunion is spoiled as Neck and Nose show up to arrest Peter. Nose is a complete racist but honestly are any of us surprised? As Peter is getting beat by the cops as they try to take him in he pretty much confirms his love for Roman. “And Roman. Help Roman become a man on the path of light and love. Not the other way. Tell Roman... all the things I couldn’t.” (page 247) UMMMM if that isn’t a confession I don’t know what is!  As is the theme of this book Roman shows up just in time to tell the police to 1) fuck off or 2) he’ll make them shoot their brains out. This works because Roman is Roman.

Peter hides out in the chapel where Dr. Godfrey helps Roman and him to do this. Roman then reveals to Norman that Peter is a werewolf as Roman and Letha get it on in the chapel. Where Christina, having escaped her room, watches them. Norman only finds out about Christina’s disappearance as he decides to leave his wife permanently for Olivia. Poor Marie :( but also yay Marie? 

The next day it becomes known that another girl was killed. Peter and Roman go to Destiny to find out what to do. Roman goes on his own and becomes a Disney princess in this chapter. I kid you not. He starts stepping up for all these animals only to be met with Peter having to kill his cat in order for the vargulf to be stopped. This part made me go and hug my cat for a good five minutes until she scratched.

We also learn that Nicolae didn’t actually cross the Atlantic by lily pad, though that would be very cool. He actually stole a car and then sold it for an airplane ticket. Go Nicolae for being stealthy!

Norman apologizes to Shelley at long fucking last for being, well, Norman. This is of course before Shelley takes off to the chapel (but we’ll get to that in a moment.) At the same time, we learn that Christina escaped and went to Letha’s place. 

Now, man oh man, this next part was so well written. I just loved getting to see the insight of  Christina and how she became the vargulf (Spoilers).  That she once kissed Peter (while he was sleeping. Like girl, no wonder you ended up kissing a corpse! Stop kissing people in their sleep!) Then she followed after him once he transformed and poured water into his paw print and drank from it, thus become a werewolf herself. The entirety of Chapter Black Run was fucking wonderfully written, I really enjoyed it.

Then comes the climax! Which is so fucking Shakespearean, I love it. We learn that Jenny was the latest girl to die, you remember the girl that was fired at the beginning of the book for being nice to Shelley. Inside the church, Peter ties Christina up before they both turn into their wolf forms and battle it out. Shelley comes bursting through at the last minute and kills Christina, which is rather unfortunate as Sheriff Sworn sees her holding a limp body of yet another dead girl and shoots her. Not just once or twice but several times, causing Shelley to flee and go missing.

Peter lives! And all is right with the world! The End!

If only.

We skip to six months after Christina dies and Shelley goes missing. Letha is going to give birth but dies while doing so. Which, fuck, I knew this was coming because I watched the show but damn it! It still hurts! Anyways we cut to Olivia telling us her past, where long story short she was ugly af, but somehow got laid and had a baby that was adopted by the Rumancek family! So technically this would mean Peter and Roman are related somehow, which seems to be the new in with the Godfreys. Mainly because we learn that Roman was the ‘angel’ that Letha said got her pregnant, and her baby is his. Roman slices his wrists, which does nothing but trigger his full transformation into an upir, much to Olivia’s delight.

Peter leaves Hemlock Grove.

*Tears Go By, by the Rolling Stones plays*

So that’s the end of my Part 4 of Hemlock Grove! 

Like I said at the beginning of the review I’m sad that this is over. :( This book was not afraid to be ugly and twisted and flesh all of its characters. I absolutely loved how fucked up this book was! 

Big kudos to McGreevy though, that man knows how to tell a story. He literally laid out all the pieces for us in plain sight and yet we still were questioning what the hell was going on. That’s a hell of a storyteller there.

McGreevy’s writing style is so intriguing to me. Like I said in Part 3 of my review, reading his book has made me reevaluate a lot of my own work (which is excellent! I always need to improve myself in that area). He also gave me courage to make fucked up characters and not be bothered if everybody loves them. It doesn’t really matter if they’re beloved characters it's more about if they’re interesting or not. At least to me. Like I don’t for the life of me ever want to be associated with someone like Roman, but I will read fucking ten more books about that boy because his decisions and him as a character is so fucked up and intriguing. 

So a salute to McGreevy for writing this really awesome book, it kicked ass and is gonna stay in my brain forever. Especially Olivia’s final letter and chapter Black Run.

BONUS! Favorite Quotes!

“Shee-it” x2 

“It’s beautiful” *two seconds later* “I’m not a homo,”- Roman to Peter about shifting back into his human form.

“The fucking cat.”- Roman about the fucking cat

“Fucking actresses.” Chasseur about Olivia.

“Well okay.” - Roman about his life. This is probably the most relatable thing Roman has done.

“The women of the audience may want to close their eyes now.”- narrator becoming self-aware.

Go check out all of Brian McGreevy’s links!

Check out Brian McGreevy’s website here !

Buy his book, Hemlock Grove here!

If you haven’t seen Hemlock Grove on Netflix go and give it a look!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3