#the ship should not come at the cost of either character's sanity or well being

[frazzledsoul]

I have not been terribly successful at finding (exact) details about this, but Milo's upgrade from a bit player on the WB to a de facto lead on a Big 3 network show with massive ratings and hype was not a casual or random decision. The pilot for Heroes likely would have been shot around or before Milo shot his last episode for Gilmore Girls (they retooled it quite a bit from what made it to air) so it was likely known by the time that his last OS episode of Gilmore Girls was written and filmed that Milo would not be available for the next season.

The (so far as I have been able to ascertain, entirely mythical) idea that Milo signed onto Heroes at the last minute after the writing team changed and a "secret ending" for season 6 was written or filmed where Rory shows up at Truncheon eager to cheat on Logan with Jess for the second time in a month (and he lets her instead of shutting the door in her face like she deserves) that was swapped out for Lorelai banging Christopher doesn't make any sense (especially given that the storyline was unfortunately leading to Lorelai dumping Luke for Christopher for months).

Jess's last OS appearance aired on April 11. It was announced a little over a week later (April 20) that the Palladinos would be leaving Gilmore Girls. Heroes was announced as part of NBC's lineup on May 15, with the pilot already having been filmed. It is highly, highly unlikely that Milo shot the pilot and signed onto a much more high profile show on another network instead of re-committing to Gilmore Girls in a three-week period after he heard of the writing team changing.

The new writers did not ruin a season 7 and 8 storyline where Jess agreed to be Rory's sidepiece and agreed to the affair that some fans wanted. Milo did not want to be part of the show. He could have signed a longer contract after season 3, but he chose not to. He wanted to explore Jess's life beyond Rory and when that didn't work out, he wanted to move on. Yes, he came back for guest appearances but if the choice is between being the star of a Big 3 show with massive hype and more money and hanging around his old TV show that's soon to be canceled making out with a girlfriend he recently broke up with in real life, he'd kind of be crazy to prefer the latter.

And then there's the other thing: did Milo, after he left the show, actually want to return for another shot at Literati? Every answer he's ever given to that question seems to be hell no. Yes, he came back for the revival (because everyone else did and he had another prominent network job waiting for him by that time, so why not) but he's not a fan of Literati. His view seems to be that their relationship didn't work out, Rory broke his heart multiple times, and he has a nice life of his own, so they need to move on. Oh, and stop asking him who the baby daddy is because it's not Jess and he doesn't care.

As for the actual Jess/Rory plotline in S6? Jess has every inclination to be wary of her after the way she treated him. They met on fresh terms and seemed to have forgiven each other, and yet she traveled out of her way supposedly to support him, misled him into believing she was single despite having multiple opportunities to clarify otherwise, waited until they were alone, made out with him, and then backed away and clarified she's still in love with her boyfriend and is not going to leave him. She took advantage of Jess's vulnerabilities and feelings for her, used them against him, and then declared her devotion for someone else on a night that was important for him professionally. She knows what she did was wrong and apologizes for abusing Jess's boundaries and fully acknowledges that she did mistreat him but....the door is closed. She chose to close it. She also has caused too much damage for Jess to trust her again.

And you know what? It SHOULD be closed. Unlike Logan, Jess is fully aware of Rory's history and that she has no right to the moral high ground. He knows she cheated on Dean with him and was angry when he chose to move on instead of being content to beg for scraps of affection. He knows that she was likely involved with Dean when he was married. Now she's tried to use him to cheat on yet another boyfriend she won't leave despite the fact that he's made it perfectly clear he doesn't want to be used for an affair. Why should he trust her again, if she keeps doing the same thing, and she doesn't respect him enough to keep him out of it?

Jess is not Christopher Hayden. He is not going to accept a fling with his high school girlfriend at any costs. He also does not want to be involved in a cheating situation and has made it clear on prior occasions that he doesn't want to be involved in an affair or be her sidepiece. Why would he willingly sacrifice his dignity, his self respect, the nice life he has built on his own for her when she's not willing to give anything back? He would not give up any of the other things he has worked for. Logan and Dean may be up for an affair at any time, but Jess isn't like them and he shouldn't have to be. After all, where did these affairs lead Dean and Logan? Dean's marriage ends up destroyed and the Rogan affair baby is likely going to torpedo Logan's engagement. It's definitely in Jess's best interest to stay away from all that noise.

And for Rory's part, maybe it's in her best interest to have a stable relationship for a year where she DOESN'T cheat. It's actual moral progress for her to apologize when she's hurt someone who trusted her and to honor her commitments for once. She doesn't HAVE to become her parents. Trying sanity for a change might be good for her, and if she and Jess are going to rebuild some actual trust, it's probably better for them to do that as friends first.

(Of course, this character development doesn't last because ASP hates that shit, but that's not the point here. If the story was allowed to exist outside of her, it could have).

That said, would I have liked to see Jess in season 7 and a possible season 8? Yes, but not as part of any more love triangle bullshit. He can spend time with Luke, with his mom, he can meet his little sister, we can see a little more of his life in Philly. We don't know what Jess and Liz's dynamic is actually like, we don't know how he would deal with a sibling that is a do-over baby, we don't know his opinion of the Luke and Lorelai soap opera or how he seems to have become Luke's confidante instead of Liz's by the AYITL era. Rory is not necessary for any of that and he has an identity and a relationship with his family outside of her. I would love to see that stuff as opposed to the "Rory jerks her two love interests around because she can't make up her mind" disaster so many other fans seem to have lamented they didn't get (again).

And if her relationship ends and she is stable, single, uninterested in cheating, and willing to focus only on Jess? Then a reconciliation would be fine. However, I do not want that to come at the cost of Jess's well being and sanity (or hers, were she able to achieve it). If Jess could only maintain his happy ending by being offscreen, then he should get to keep that. The alternative where ASP screws everything up again is not a better option.

[awriterpretendingtowrite]

TFATWS Spoilers

Don't keep reading if you haven't seen up to the latest ep of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Ep 5).

First, I love Sam and Bucky’s dynamic, and I used to not ship them at all.

However, this frickin show. Wow, where to start.

First, the queerbaiting in Ep 2 with the couples therapy was blinding.

Then, they just keep fighting like an old married couple. If we kept the same shots, the same music, same tones of voice, but changed one of them to be female, this would be a romance.

Now for Ep 5:

First off, I LOVED that Sam is finally taking on the Captain America mantle and proving that he doesn’t need the serum to do it!!! Even after Isaiah Bradley shared his horrifying experiences, after it looked like Sam was giving up, he still decided to pick up the shield and train!

Speaking of the training scene... let’s talk about the queerbaiting. Whether it was intentional or not, there was a TON of queerbaiting in this episode. Here’s what I saw, but feel free to add on:

1. The way they fight together in the beginning isn’t their best work, at least in my opinion, but it’s still amazing, and it at least shows that they trust each other with their lives. That scene was more focused on Walker, but there was still that element of partnership that we used to see with Bucky and Steve, who were/are also heavily queer-coded. When Bucky saved Sam from Walker’s killing blow, it solidified that these two men matter a lot to each other and that they are partners, even if they don’t want to admit it.

2. Speaking of, their bickering is hilarious, but also undeniably old married couple behavior. It can also be seen as the classic romantic trope of “fake-fighting because neither of you have processed your feelings yet and you don’t want to ruin your friendship.” Most importantly, in between that bickering, they have real conversations, and although they can be stubborn with each other, it shows us that again, they really care about each other and that they are partners in fighting for their cause.

3. Skip to Sam being home, calling in favors, etc, fixing up his family’s boat. “How do we get it off the truck?” Cut to Bucky casually showing off to all of Sam’s friends with his strength and fixing the gas leak. AKA the romantic trope of showing off in front of your romantic interest and their friends.

4. Speaking of Bucky fixing the gas leak, they were way closer than they needed to be at first, and Bucky grabbing Sam’s arm, and the return of their old married couple bickering. I can’t, please, my little queer heart can’t take another major company using us for money.

5. Bucky continually showing his strength to Sam and being super helpful (also, the jeans/t-shirt combo? Deadly to my little bi heart).

6. “Well, Nicole, what about Sarah and Bucky?” That’s a valid point, truly. What about them? Honestly, I was looking for any romance between them to make sure I wasn’t just blindly ignoring it because I want the gay romance to happen so badly, but I saw nothing except Bucky going, “hEy. I’m Bucky.” And then they made it worse by having Sam say, “But don’t flirt with my sister.” Yes, that is a big brother thing to do, but again, if either of them were female, that’s a Jealous Crush move! There’s no denying it! “Don’t flirt with them” *internally* because you should flirt with ME.

7. Skip to Sam fixing the boat and Bucky knowing that he’d be down their fixing it and just helping him. Who was the only person Bucky ever just helped and took orders from like that? Steve. That was it. Again, queer-coded. (And more old couple bickering)

And finally...

8. The training scene. Oh gosh, the training scene. Their flawless chemistry. The way they trade off the shield. The way they remember each other’s struggles and the way Bucky tries to understand Sam’s struggles, even though he’s from a completely different era.  The way they are vulnerable with each other. The way they look at each other my stars.

9. Sam asking Bucky if he still has his nightmares and Bucky, without hesitation, replying, “All the time.” It parallels the therapy that wasn’t doing Bucky any good at the beginning, but if you watch Bucky’s body language, the look in his eyes, it’s clear that Sam’s words help him more than anything else as so far. The way that Sam knows when to be tough with Bucky and when to be a caring friend who just listens. The way he looks at Bucky.

10. Bucky risking asking the Wakandans for another favor to replace Sam’s wings, because even though Sam walked away, Bucky knew that he would want them back eventually. He knows who Sam really, just like Sam really knows who Bucky is. He is so open with Sam, even more than he was with Steve. Again, the way he looks at Sam. Like he’s some sort of heaven-sent person, like Sam is his lifeline to his sanity. If Bucky were female, that would be immediately recognizable as a pining look. I have given my best friend that look and I was crushing on her, hard. That is not a look straight men give each other.

11. And at the end of their training, when they part ways, just as a little cherry on top, their “bro handshake” lasted wayyyy too long (and the way they look at each other... again). The awkward way they’re trying to put a label on their relationship and Sam automatically correcting partners to coworkers. That may seem like a straight guy thing to do, but as a queer woman, when I was first figuring out that I liked girls, and specifically my best friend at the time, I avoided and corrected, at all costs, any implications that she and I could possibly be involved, even in the sense that someone called us partners for something totally unrelated to romantic intentions.

12. Skip to Sarah and Sam talking and Sarah saying, “Who knew you were so sensitive?” Well, that’s a classic falling in love trope. “You’ve changed, for the better,” or pointing out something specific that has changed because of their partner, is so commonly said to people in romance stories, and if. Sam or Bucky. Were female. This. Would. Be. A. Romance.

My queer siblings, my rabid hellers, my tired LGBT folks who are desperate for scraps of representation--

Don’t settle for scraps, because if we settle for scraps, it’s all we’ll ever get. It was a start, sure, but we cannot continue to let big companies think it’s okay to queerbait us in increasingly obvious ways and make money off of us frantically grasping at straws. Look at Supernatural. They had a gay confession to draw the queers back in the for last two episodes, then never acknowledged it. In fact, they insulted us by killing any and all even slightly queer-coded characters.

It’s time to join together and let our voices be heard. Our sexualities, our gender identities, our struggles, will not be made into something that companies use to make money. If Marvel pulls the same BS that the C*W did, queerbaiting and then discarding, we need to let them know that that is no longer acceptable. It’s not okay; it never has been.

In the meantime, enjoy TFATWS, ship whoever you want, and be aware of what is happening and what Disney and Marvel are doing. 

We won’t stand this mistreatment any longer, and when it comes down to it, we will make our voices heard.

[agathaarts]

Spidersonas forever!!!!!! Though she’s become less of a Spidersona and more her own weird spiderspinoff at this point, complete with a name change.

Some more Itsy stuff outta basically nowhere! Her spider-human hybrid form is where she’s most “comfortable” and ultimately where she winds up resting most of the time, though she’s still a pretty competent were-spider-shapeshifter-sort. She has a number of different and modifiable outfits, perks of living with a seamstress, and....I also wanted to draw a bunch of her, uh, rogue’s gallery together, though admittedly the Black Cats could be considered friends before long. Or at least, associates.

This is far from all of them, but these are the guys I have concrete looks for at least! Maybe I’ll do one of her allies soon. As is, most of her issues stem from the monsterous OZCORP, the company that not only created her, but continues to create it’s own forces, meddling in the nature of reality to do so!

Tiny blurbs below the cut for each of them, and if you’d like to know more about any of ‘em...let me know! I have an unfortunate amount of ideas for this AU!

ITSY-BITSY AKA SPIDER-WOMAN aka Aggie Appleton. While working for the unscrupulous OzCorp, unlucky intern Aggie Appleton is caught in the backlash of an experiment that fuses her with unstable realmatter and the test subject- a hyper-adaptive spider created using the same unstable realmatter! Now, she fights to protect her city from OzCorp’s increasingly dangerous experiments and the beings created by their experiments as ITSY BITSY aka THE INCREDIBLE SPIDER-WOMAN!

THE GREEN GOBLIN aka Norma Osborne. The CEO and leader of OZcorp, Norma Osborne has sacrificed everything for her company and their work, being a gifted and brilliant scientist in her own right. It has cost her family ties, friends, her social life, and now- her sanity and stability of form. Able to transform into the corrosive GREEN GOBLIN, she becomes a destructive force of chemical reactions and decay, with no more limits standing in her way! At least, until that annoying spider shows up...

THE KLYNTAR, represented by units VENOM and CARNAGE ~ Inter-dimensional beings, symbiotes (or, perhaps, parasites) who feed off of living beings, the KLYNTAR are horrors from beyond who’ve made a deal with Norma Osborne: a place to stop and feed in exchange for OzCorp to poke and prod and take samples to use their unstable realmatter forms to create new techniques and horrors! Of course, once mold gets in....it’s almost impossible to get it out, even if said mold is far more than anything native to Earth!

BLACK CAT is a mystery. A force of corporate espionage, a cat thief, a rumor, and mystery, a funny joke to poke fun at unsolved thefts and leaked information- of course, it’s very hard to find Black Cat. They slip in and out of secure warehouses, files, and companies with nary a trace, virtually impossible to spot. Especially unless you know they’re not one person, but three. At least, that Itsy-Bitsy comes to know of...

THE BUGS are a group of ne’er-do-wells who took up an offer to be bonded with biotech armor by OzCorp, all for their own various reasons, and now they’re beholden to OzCorp...and on an impressive payroll, that motivates being guards, bullies, and thieves as necessary.

SCORPION aka Mac Gargan. Once a private detective of disrespectful status, Mac Gargan was hardly in a place to turn down OzCorp’s offer after befalling tragedy and desperation. Unlike his fellow bugs, he tends to question a lot of his commands, and is well aware of the quote “hinky crap” going down behind the lab doors of OsCorp- but the pay grade is nice. And the benefits, well, the benefits are killer. Besides, he’s gotten to know the personality of his symbiotic armor well...and wouldn’t abandon him back to OzCorp’s nonexistent mercies by quitting.

BEETLE aka Abby Jenkins. Previously an engineer with white collar criminal aspirations, Abby Jenkins was hardly in a place to turn down OzCorp’s offer after befalling tragedy and desperation. Having bonded well with her symbiotic armor, she’s enjoying the steady work and respect she finds with OzCorp, and gets to spend her spare time tinkering with projects amongst brilliant inventors she’d have never had a chance to rub elbows with before!

FLY aka Richie Deacon. A career small-time criminal, Richie Deacon spent most of his life in and out of prison, halfway houses, and shelters, and was hardly in a place to turn down OzCorp’s offer after befalling a particular tragedy and desperation. Now they don’t care much about the work they do, happy to do whatever OzCorp asks in exchange for living a cushy life, even if it means having to wear the gross symbiotic armor. Still, small price to pay to fly!

SHR- i mean -SHOCKER aka Herman Schultz. Another career criminal, Herman Schultz worked as muscle for a few crime families in various cities, before getting bounced out of almost all of them and directly into OzCorp’s loving arms. No tragedy or desperation needed to convince him to get into a suit of powered armor (even if it’s more or less a giant lobster as far as he’s concerned) and start breaking things at a whim! Besides, everything at OzCorp is so damn weird, he’s never been more entertained anywhere in his life!

ELECTRO aka Max Voltage. Once one of OzCorp’s many test animals, an electric “eel” cobbled together out of various types of electric fish and a hodgepodge of other animals, Max taking on human traits was, well...an accident, but a happy one. Now settled into a form distinctly human, with intelligence to match (though some would argue otherwise) Max is capable of incredible feats of electrical manipulation and sensitivity beyond any creature in it’s creation!

DOCTOR OCTOPUS aka Octavia Otto. Respected young researcher and lead scientist of many OzCorp projects, Octavia Otto was caught in the backlash of an experiment that ultimately fused her with a number of test subjects, hyper-adaptive octopuses...except she’s continued to mutate and change, in ways nobody else can quite pin down (but it’s okay, she’s keeping rigorous, detailed notes on the process! For science!) and has assisted OzCorp’s goals since, happy to have a constant source of supplies and test subjects to work with. Her and Aggie Appleton had...history, before this all went down, too, so that’s not awkward at all!

RHINO aka Aleksei Sytsevich. Arriving in America as Anna Kravenoff’s bodyguard, Aleksei found himself out of work before long as Anna hastily shucked her father’s protections of her and kicked him unceremoniously out of her life. Once OzCorp decided he’d make a fine test subject, well, he’s been a professional mook for most of his life and didn’t have many complaints about the improved size, strength, and toughness. Aleksei may put on a blithe, dopey exterior, but he’s far too controlled to be an actual fool...which makes him quite dangerous, even if he only does as OzCorp asks.

THE SPOT aka Joon-Woo Ohnn. The Spot’s creation is a sort of mystery, even to himself and to OzCorp. An experiment, a failure, and...Dr. Ohnn is still certainly alive and aware, but some sort of bizarre 3D shadow cast by, well, wherever he is. While unable to speak, Ohnn is still fully capable of serving OzCorp, with his ability to function as a series of wormholes and perform strange acts of teleportation.

MYSTER.IO aka Mysterio aka thecrystalball aka The Mystery aka ??? aka aka aka aka aka..... Myster.io is a digital character- either a face for someone distant and anonymous, or many someones, or perhaps some sort of self-aware AI, Mysterio’s story changes every time he tells it and that’s just how it should be! This bizarre digital being pops up on people’s devices and is an information gatherer and peddler, always happy to tweak reality to better suite someone’s needs for a price.

KRAVEN the HUNTRESS aka Ana Kravenoff aka Kraven Jr. aka Lady Anastasia Kravenoff. Kraven the Hunter was a star, a legend- a man who battled beasts and travelled to impossible places and rose to reclaim an ancient family legacy, he was famous and infamous alike, and regardless of if you loved or hated him- he was a household name across the globe. Ana would like that. Ana might have been shipped off to America to live a carefully tailored “normal” life by her father and his estate, but Ana has aspirations that greatly outstrip those of her brothers and a goal to match her father’s infamy someday! But until she can secure a show, she hunts monsters for YouTube and enjoys her modest cult following- especially since she’s found a way to attend college in a sleepy Midwestern City that just happens to have a lot of monster-related issues. Her current target? Spider-Woman!

[graciebirdie]

If you’re feeling it, I’d love to see you do the prompt about getting hit by a motorcycle and refusing to go to the hospital because of a test, for Steter? Or stargent, or stetopher, or sterek, you know what, I love Stiles but there is just a lot of “St” happening here. You can pick any ship, whatever tickles you.

This didn’t end like I was expecting but I still like it. fluff, Pining!Peter andOblivious!Stiles AGAIN? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯hope you like it

(Thisis an alternate season 3A future fic as always)

---

“Stiles,if you don’t agree to go to the hospital with me I will pickyou up and carry you there.”Peter bit out, sounding angrier than Stiles had ever heard him.

“Youand what army?” Stiles asked, rather nonsensically considering thatPeter was a werewolf and more than capable of just picking Stiles upand carrying him off.

Stilesappreciated Peter’s concern for him, he really did, but he had toget to his test, hehad to.It was worth 10% of his grade. If he didn’t take the test - andpass it - he wouldn’t get an A in his Photography class, and he’dbeen working his ass off to get and keep high grades in all of hisclasses, electives or not. It would be ridiculous to lose a lettergrade just because Peter Hale wasn’t looking where he was drivinghis - frankly hideous - motorcycle. (Stiles was sure he’d onlygotten it to piss Scott off, not that he had to invent ways, his facewas usually enough.)

“Whatare you even doing here? Although I’ll be the first to admit youcreeping on college students is better than creeping on highschoolers. Sort of. But I’m all for this character development.”

Fromthe way Peter’s eyes were considerably more blue than usual Stilessuspected Peter was close to wolfing out in public, and he shouldprobably stop pushing his luck. (Stiles was not going to stop pushinghis luck. Because then life would be boring.)

“Iwas bringing Erica her laptop. What were youdoingwalking in the middle of the street?” He stepped closer to Stiles,leaving his ridiculous motorcycle lying forgotten in the middle ofthe road, and reached out to take hold of Stiles’ hands, lookingthem over with narrowed eyes.

“BringingErica her laptop? That sounds suspiciously nice of you. And I mostcertainlywasnotin the the middle of thestreet. I was in the middle of the crosswalk. A perfectly reasonableplace for a pedestrian to be.” Stiles said, rolling his eyes asPeter started to gently prob at his head, probably trying to feel ifthe back of Stiles’ skull had caved in or something. HonestlyStiles thought he was freaking out over nothing.

Andokay so Stiles hadn’t exactly been looking where he was going butit was a one

waystreet, he’d just kind of...been looking the wrong way. ButPeterhad swerved. Stiles had only fallen over out of surprise. And to stophimself from tripping over a fallen motorcycle which sounded like itwould be painful, and he might have scraped his palms when he’dcaught himself on the road, and he might have, maybe, bruised histailbone, but he definitely didn’t have a concussion even if he hadbumped his head against the pavement. He was a little dinged up, butit was barely anything. He’d had worse car accidents.

Stilesmight have felt - almost - fine but Peter looked genuinelydistressed, usually he didn’t even blink if Stiles’ tripped. Ofcourse, Peter had never been the one to hurt Stiles before. Most ofthe time he even went out of his way to step in if Stiles was aboutto be hurt, using his werewolf-ness for the greater good. (Petercalled it his preferred act of charity.)

Stileswas just glad to have a few less bruises even if he knew Peter was anopportunist and he only did it to reaffirm his place in Derek’spack. Stiles knew Peter needed the pack to keep a relatively evenlevel of sanity but most of the other members weren’t comfortablewith him getting too close to them, partially because of hisoccasional unpredictability but mostly because of his generalassholery. Stiles had been unofficially elected to be the ambassadorto Peter because he too was unpredictable and an asshole.

Ithad quickly turned into a mutually beneficial relationship; Peter gota solid and supportive pack member while Stiles got unlimited accessto Peter’s impressive library and Peter’s help with just aboutanything so long as Stiles was able to make it sound interestingenough.

Obviouslythis little almost run-in had shaken Peter. Stiles was almost,almost,tempted to let Peter take him to the hospital just to make him feelbetter about the whole thing. But he had a test. And he probablydidn’t have a concussion.

“Peter.”Stiles said in annoyance as he batted away the hands that werecreeping down his back, probably checking for cracks in his spine orsomething, which was something he most certainly did nothavetime for. “I’m absolutely fine and I have a test.I have to go, rightnow,or I’m going to be late.”

Petergot a furious glint in his eye that Stiles recognized from the timehe’d tried to walk around the preserve with a twisted ankle.

“No!”Stiles said firmly, backing away from Peter with his hands raised toward off the approaching werewolf.

“You’regoing to potentially compromise your health over a test?”Peter asked, his voice dangerously low as he slowly advanced onStiles.

Therewas a little crowd of bored college students gathering around themand Stiles would really rather not be subjected to the embarrassmentof having Peter resort to throwing Stiles over his shoulder, which hewould most definitely do. Plus someone might call the police. He’dabsolutely have to go to the hospital if a deputy showed up or, godforbid, his dad.

ButStiles was not going to go gently into that good night. He made onelast ditch effort to distract the other man. “But your stup-practicalmotorcycle!”He gestured frantically over Peter’s shoulder at the bike stilllaying, very illegally and dangerously, in the crosswalk. “If youleave it there it’s either going to get stolen or towed!If it gets towed you just knowthepaperwork for it will get tragically misplaced!”

Stiles’dad seemed to be under the impression that Peter was planningsomething nefarious (which was admittedly possible) and went out ofhis way to create annoyances for Peter to deal with. Stiles was incomplete support of his dad being a petty bitch to Peter, and he didhaveto admit it was kind of odd that his dad was one of the few peoplePeter went out of his way to be civil with. Especially when dealingwith some inconvenience his dad had made up. It drove Stiles’ dadcrazy and was fascinating to watch.

Peterdid not look at all interested in moving his bike, probably becausehe was well aware that if he took his eyes off of Stiles he wouldtake the opportunity to make a - literal - run for it.

“Lostpaperwork and a ticket is going to be the least of my worries whenyour father hears about this.” Peter said, quickly grabbing hold ofStiles’ flailing arm.

Usinghis tight, but not painful, grip on Stiles’ upper arm to hold himstill Peter wrapped his free arm around Stiles’ waist andpractically frogmarched him back to his car.

“Andhow, exactly,ismy father going to hear-” Stiles got cut off sentence by Peterabruptly sticking his hand into the front pocket of Stiles’ jeans.

Stiles squawked and slapped at Peter’s arm until he realized Peter was justgetting the car keys out of Stiles’ pocket. Stiles lunged for thembut Peter, asalways,was faster. He had Stiles pinned to the side of the car with one handon the center of his back while he unlocked the door and then bothhands pulled and prodded Stiles into the passenger seat of Stiles’own car.

Stileseyed the door and started to debate if he’d be able to open it andgetout before Peter noticed, but was distracted from his compilations byPeter as he (the fucking drama queen) slidacross the hood of Stiles’ car.

Stilesgroaned and buried his face in his hands. Howhadhis life come to this? It was one thing to have a minor collisionwith a werewolf on a motorcycle but it was something completelydifferent to watch said werewolf slid over the hood of a brightorange VW bug.

Stilesinstantly regretted putting pressure on his palms as they started toburn, reminding him that he had most certainly gotten road rash. Hewinced and glared at them, furious with the realization that it wouldprobably be painful to hold a pencil with them in the condition theywere in. Maybe it was a good idea to take the day off. Of course, hewasn’t about to tell Peter that, admitting that Peter was rightabout anything was never a good idea.

Stilesglared at Peter as he settled into the driver’s seat and glaredright back at Stiles. “Seat belt.” he said as he pulled his ownon.

Stilesignored the pain in his hands as he pulled his seat belt on. Once hewas safely buckled in he carefully crossed his arms over his chestand turned his head to pointedly look out the passenger window. Hecould probably ignore Peter the whole 15 minute drive to theemergency room.

Peterdrove Stiles’ ‘67 Volkswagen bug with more ease than Stiles did.Not that that was any sort of surprise, Peter had been the one whodrove it up from San Francisco when Stiles’ jeep finally gave upthe ghost and refused to start again. Three different mechanics alltold Stiles he would have to replace basically all of it and it wouldend up costing thousand and thousands of dollars that Stiles simplydid not have.

Stileshad spent a miserable two months riding his bike everywhere orbegging rides off of his friends. (Beacon Hills was technically toosmall to warrant its own public transportation.) Until Peter foundout and told Stiles he had a friend who sold used cars. It wasactually pretty impressive how Peter had spun it.

Hehad graciously taken the five hundred dollars Stiles have savedspecifically for jeep repairs and disappeared. (It was a good thingStiles knew where Peter kept his ‘emergency running-from-the-lawmoney’, otherwise Stiles might have been worried.)

Threedays later he pulled up to Stiles’ apartment in a ridiculouslylovely orange bug. Stiles, of course, fell instantly in love with thelittle car, there was just one small problem.

“Thatcar did not cost five hundred dollars.” Stiles said flatly, armscrossed stubbornly over his chest.

“Ofcourse it did.” Peter said, obviously amused by Stiles’ reaction.

Stileseyes narrowed. “The only reason it would cost five hundred was ifit didn’t run. And also didn’t have seats. Or an engine. Ortiers.”

“Iassure you, it runs like a dream. It was worth every penny.” Petersaid, his amusement growing in the face of Stiles’ annoyance.

Stileswhipped out his phone and one google search later found a vintage carshow in San Francisco that had been held that weekend. He flippedthrough the listings until he found the car Peter had bought - or atleast an identical one - and saw that it had sold for over fifteenthousand dollars.

Hewaved his phone at Peter and yelled “Peter I don’t have fifteenthousand dollars!”

Petersighed and pushed Stiles’ hand away. “Yes Stiles, I know. You canconsider it a rental, if that makes you feel better about it.”

Thatdid make Stiles feel better. He relaxed and nodded in agreement.“Just until I can pay to get my jeep overhauled?” He asked,wanting to be sure they were both on the same page.

Peterstarted smirking again, no doubt well aware that it would take quitesome time for Stiles to save up the money. “Yes Stiles. For howeverlong it takes you to fix your jeep.”

Stilesshould have been suspicious over how easily Peter had agreed but hewasn’t. Right up until the title came in the mail and Stiles sawthat it was is his name, hisreal name,without any co-owners.

Stileshad been furious and didn’t believe Peter for a moment when heclaimed that there must have been some mix up at the DMV.

Stileshad threatened to drag Peter’s unconscious body to the DMV to getthe title placed back in his name only for Peter to get genuinelyannoyed with him.

“Stiles,I know you’re mad I bought you a car, but that’s what pack doesfor each other. They help each other. I knew you won’t accept itbut it’s a nice car, it’s a good car, andIknow you like it, don’t even try to deny it. And if you feel youhave to repay me, whichyou do not,you can save me some of those chocolate peanut butter cookies you’realways making.”

Stilesdidn’t just save Peter some of his super special secret recipecookies every time he made them he also became Peter’s designatedafter-fight driver. That was one of the surprise upsides to having asmaller car, no more obligation to carpool with bleeding and whinywerewolves, just one bloody and snarky wolf.

Stilessupposed it made sense that Peter would want to take Stiles to thehospital after all the times Stiles had taken Peter home and patchedhim up after a fight. (Not that Peter usually needed patching up,more often than not Peter was the one patching Stiles up.)

Heglanced at Peter out of the corner of his eyes, only to see the wolffrowning very intently out the front windshield.

Stileschewed his lip for a moment before deciding that, actually, hecouldn’t stay quiet the whole 15 minutes to the hospital. He wasalready in the car, his class had already started, there wasn’treally much point in staying mad anymore. Not that that was going tostop him, he was still pissed. “I’m fine, a doctor is just goingto confirm it.”

Stileswatched Peter’s grip on the steering wheel tighten and a muscle inhis jaw jumped. “We’ll see.” he said.

Stilesturned to glare out the window. He jumped in surprise when Peter’shand curled over the back of Stiles’ hand, where it was restinglightly on Stiles’ bicep.

Stilesstared at Peter’s hand, watching the black veins appear for amoment before they disappeared as Peter moved his hand back to thegear shift. Tension went out of Peter’s shoulders and he sighedsoftly.

“Toldyou so.” Stiles grumbled. “You can just take me home, no doctoractually needed.”

Petergave him a quick flat look before humming softly.

Stilesrolled his eyes and jumped out of the car as Peter parked in theemergency room parking lot. The faster he got this over with thefaster he could get out of the hospital.

Stilesmade his way inside with the easy of too many visits, Peter only astep behind him.

Hechecked in with the bored looking nurse at the front counter, gladthat at this time of the morning - before noon - the emergency roomwas relatively quiet. Stiles settled into one of the uncomfortablewaiting room chairs, sure that the wait would still be long despitethe lack of visible emergencies happening at the moment.

Hewiggled around in his chair, trying to get as comfortable as possibleas Peter sat down next to him. He finally settled down with his legsstretched out in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest, hoodup and head leaning back against the wall behind him.

Roughlyfive seconds after he was as comfortable as he was going to get Peterwrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulders and pulled him againstPeter’s side.

Stileshuffed in annoyance but dutifully rearranged himself, he knew Peterwasn’t about to let Stiles out of his sight and if that meantliterally holding onto Stiles to keep him from taking off than that’swhat Peter was going to do. (The asshole.)

Stilesshould probably be annoyed by this. Actually he should be furiousover this but it was oddly...nice to have to have someone sittingwith him. Stiles had spent a lot of time in the hospital (too much,too much to be really mentally healthy) and a good half of that timehe’d had to spend it waiting alone. And even when with someonehospital waits are always too long and whoever Stiles was with, be ithis dad, Scott or Ms. McCall they were there physically but they werealwaysdistractedby something. Usually work or their phone. Stiles understood, he usedhis phone a lot while waiting too.

Butthe smell of the place. God the smell brought back too vivid sensememories. After...well, afterwhenhe couldn’t distract himself long enough on his phone he tended tochatter at whoever was waiting with him. Before (before the stupidsupernatural shit show that his life had become but after…)Scott always listened, or at least he nodded along like he waslistening, but his dad and Ms. McCall could only stand it for so longbefore they told him to calm down or started making excuses to leavethe waiting room/exam room. Stiles eventually learned to just let hisphone take all of his attention.

Stileswiggled a little against Peter’s side and the arm around hisshoulders squeezed gently before Peter slid his hand down to wiggleinto the cuff of Stiles’ oversized hoodie. He felt Peter’sfingers curled around his wrist and tell-tale warm-fuzzy-sleepyfeeling of having his pain drained, what little sting he was actuallyfeeling anyway.

Stileshuffed deeply and burrowed into Peter’s side. If the werewolf wasgoing to insist on snuggling with Stiles he was going to take fulladvantage of being able to lean against his own living breathingheater. But only because the emergency room was always too cold, notbecause it felt nice to cuddle someone (Peter).

Besides,this was hardly the first time Peter had played snugglewolf. Stileshad fallen asleep in his shoulder a hand full of times when they weresupposed to be researching or just spending ‘quality pack time’together. This was just the first time it had happened in public...

Hesighed and pressed his head under Peter’s chin, because he could,and muttered “If you don’t stop I’m not going to be able toaccurately explain to the doctor why I’m even here.”

Peterjust hummed softly and this time Stiles could actually feel itvibrating through Peter’s throat. Stiles thought about how odd thefeel of it was against his cheek until the adrenaline rush of his andPeter’s near miss was finally fading, helped along by theextra-strength werewolf aspirin.

~~~

Stilesdidn’t wake with a start like he normally would when waking up in astrange place. Maybe it was because the emergency room wasn’tactually strange to him, or maybe it was because the voice saying hisname was familiar. Maybe it was both, he wasn’t sure. Either way hesat up and pointedly elbowed Peter in the stomach when the wolf heldonto his wrist.

Oncehe was up he followed the mildly annoyed looking nurse to a examroom, hyper aware that Peter was following him. He stepped into theroom past the nurse holding the door open and turned to slid onto theexam table. He paused when he saw the nurse start to close the doorin Peter’s face.

Stiles’eyebrows rose in question and said, without really thinking about it,“He can come in.”

Thenurse pursed her lips but didn’t didn’t try to stop Peter when hepushed the door open. He walked past her and sat down in the visitorschair in the corner, freezing glare aimed at the nurse.

Sheclosed the door and proceeded to ask the standard the intakequestions. He answered them easily and honestly, it wasn’t likethere was anything he had to lie about, the last few months have beenso boringly normal.School, work at the occult shop, more school, dinner with his dad,hanging out with Peter, Saturday dinner with the pack. Being almosthit by a motorcycle was the most exciting thing that had happened inalmost three months.

Finallythe nurse left to get the doctor and Peter oh so casually asked howschool was going. Stiles shot him a glare before launching into avery long-winded explanation of why he was still mad, includingpointing out that he was completely fine.

Peter,the bastard, just nodded along in agreement while looking mildlyamused (like usual) until the doctor came in.

Sevenminutes later Stiles had his hands slathered with topical anestheticointment, wrapped in bandages, and it was confirmed that he did not,in fact, have a concussion or a broken tailbone.

Thedoctor had also oh-so-kindly written Stiles a doctor’s note to giveto the admin office Tuesday. (Because Monday was a faculty day, gofigure.)

Peter,asshole that he was, literally dangled Stiles’ keys in front of hisface and in Stiles’ pleasure over having them back in hispossession forgot his couldn’t drive safely with both hands fullybandaged. He was glaring between his hands and his car when Peterstrolled out of the hospital, smug self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Stilesleveled his best death-glare at him and asked, low and dangers “Whatdid you do fucker?”

Petergave him his best (worst) innocent expression and said “Asked themto send me the bill, why do you ask?”

Stilesdidn’t even try to hide his fury. “Why are you always pullingthis bullshit on me?” he asked, and he knew his voice was shakingbut Peter could be so goddamn confusion sometimes it drove Stilescrazy.

“Stiles.”Peter said softly. He reached out and gently touched Stiles’ cheek.“It’s because I love you.”

Stilesopened and closed his mouth in shock before whispering “Like..pack?”

Peternodded and smiled gently before slowly leaning in to brush a kissagainst Stiles’ lips.

Stilesblinked as Peter leaned back enough they could see eye to eye. “Doyou kiss all your pack members?” he asked quietly.

Petersmirked at him. “No, not all of them.”

Thiswas not at all how he was expecting his day to go. “Oh.” he saiddumbly.

“Comeon.” Peter said slipping the keys out of Stiles’ hand. “I’llmake you lunch. I’m sure you’ve only had those tasteless granolabars for breakfast.”

“Hey!”Stiles said defensibly. “You have to admit granola bars are waybetter than pop tarts!”

Petersighed deeply and opened the passenger door for him. “I applaudyour adult decision making.”

“Asyou should.” Stiles said primly as he slipped back into thepassenger seat.

Thistime he was perfectly fine with Peter driving his car and inretrospect having Peter looking out from him when Stiles was being anidiot wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Heglanced at Peter and thought about his confession. It felt...nice.Not earth-shattering like he would have thought Peter telling him heloved should have felt, wouldhavefelt years before.

Nowhe just felt oddly satisfied. Like it some foregone conclusion thatStiles should have seen coming a thousand miles off.

Petercaught him looking and raised an eyebrow. Stiles just smiled a littleand said teasingly singsong. “You’re a lovewolfnow!A hugwolf, a soft-”

Petercut him off with a low growl. “You’reinsufferable.”

Stilesjust laughed, not fazed in the least at Peter’s posturing. “Don’tfront, you loveme.”

Petergroaned. “I’m never going to live this down.”

“Nope.”Stiles agreed, popping the p like the obnoxious brat he was. “You’restuck with me snugglewolf.”

Stilesdidn’t even hesitate to glare at the overly satisfied smiled Petersent him. Stiles huffed and pointedly looked out the passengerwindow. Peter Hale: biggest ass in Beacon Hills. Why did Stiles likehim so much again?

Hefelt a soft touch against his hand before Peter was putting Stiles’hand on the gearshift and lacing their fingers together. Stilessmiled and figured that was probably way he liked him.

(Spoileralert, Stiles was totally in love with Peter right back, he was justa bigger idiot than Peter was, which Peter, ofcourse,never let him live down.)

[theperfectstormrp]

“She was the kind of girl who was a chaos of contradictions from one second to the next. “

Alice Longbottom

Age: Twenty Six

Affiliation: Order Member

Blood Status: Pureblood

Career: Auror

RUMOR HAS IT… This storm of a girl is always looking for trouble. She claims that everything she does is for justice and to keep everyone safe, but don’t we all know the real truth? What she’s really fighting for is honor and glory, no matter what the cost is, even toppling over her doting husband’s career along the way. Can she prove that women deserve to be part of the Auror department? Or will she just prove all those men right? 

A storm raged upon the shores of England the day Alice Fortescue was born and that storm rages inside of her now. Powerful potential lingered, chaotic energy surrounding her. Her mother used to say she screamed out a battle cry the moment she took a breath, the room stood still, and everyone wondered who she would become. She was an only child who thrived on her parents’ affection. While they rarely scolded her(mostly because they knew she wouldn’t listen), she always wanted to make them proud.  An adventurous child she hardly ever sat still, like a storm she rushed about, constantly exploring her family’s estate. She was a sight to behold, unruly brown curls in bows and wearing frilly dresses she somehow always found herself in a mess. Small hands used to pick up twigs, acting as a wand until she got her own. She was curious to a fault and got herself in a few strange situations more often than not; to which her parents left her to figure her way out of it, instilling independence in her.  Her mother was patient, accepting of her daughter, while most pureblood mothers were primping and preening their daughters for marriage Alice’s mother had a different agenda. She tried all the usual activities, gave Alice piano lessons, sent to her ballet training, taught her etiquette but when she realized her daughter had a voice as loud as thunder, she gave up and simply encouraged her small daughter to take the world by storm. Nights were filled with the sound of her mother’s voice reading books about great adventures, heroines who would fall down and get back up and morals of never letting anyone tell her that she had a defined role as a girl. Her father agreed with this sentiment filling his daughter’s head with tales of Aurors and their extraordinary feats, the great things they did. Though his family-owned Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour his younger brother was the one to actually took on the family business. Alice’s father worked in the Magical Law Enforcement Department and used to take Alice into work with him. The small girl would run off to where the Aurors trained and with large green eyes, she watches as the men trained knowing day she too would be there. It was when she was younger she decided she had to be an Auror, she’d never be anything else.

Alice knew she’d go to Hogwarts, she had been anticipating the day since she was small and listened to her father’s stories about the castle. She hopped on that train with confidence exuding from her being, a bright smile on her face, she wasn’t nervous. Hogwarts would be the place where she could hone in on her skills to be an Auror, where she would make friends, where adventure was waiting and she was ready to take it and run. She, however, was a hat stall, her small legs swung back and forth as the hat deliberated where to put her, she was plenty smart that was true, loyal to a fault, but there was an ambition about her. She was never one to give up easily, she would take what she deserved and do what she had to do to get it. And yet….While ambitious she’d never push others to get what she wanted, determined, reckless and brave the hat finally placed her in Gryffindor, in the end, it was a balancing move, a girl with as an ambitious heart as hers would only thrive in Gryffindor and push others to thrive along with her. Alice was small but fierce, she cemented that reputation on the first day.  She would stand up to those twice her size, an avenger, a defender of Hogwarts.

It was then she started hearing whispers of another one, a boy as calm as the sea after a storm, Frank Longbottom, also Gryffindor but not in her year. She was determined they should never meet though, it was the rules of fat she decided. They were to be shipping passing in the night, rumors and stories would be their connection. But they crashed. He grabbed her hand pulled her away from trouble and she protested, profanities leaving her mouth. He was the opposite of herself, calm, soft, sweet. And she resisted at first, vowing to not let him in, trying to keep her distance, but he cracked down her wall. And when he did it was the start of something no one could really anticipate. A perfect balancing act. Controlled chaos.

 The hat was right. Alice is calculating when she needs to be but she’s more impulsive than anything. The school could hardly contain her, she got bored too easily, but she never wanted that boredom to mess with her classes. She excelled at Hogwarts, if only because she had the one-track mind of being an Auror.  Her best class was Defense Against the Dark Arts but to a lot of people’s surprise Herbology came in a close second. Plants were calming to her, she could spend hours in the Greenhouses, taking care of all the strange and whimsical plants that grew there. If there was one fear she had to name it would be flying, Alice was not one to play Quidditch, and she hated flying lessons. Despite how much trouble she would get in Alice still was a great and well-liked student. She was charming with a vocabulary like a sailor and her fights were usually with someone who was picking on someone with no defense. She was head of the Dueling Club, Member of the Slugclub and part of the Wizard’s Chess club. Her goal remained the same throughout her entire Hogwarts career though. Become an Auror.  And she did it.

Becoming an Auror was the only acceptable choice for Alice. She had no doubts about it. Alice has this need to protect others, so much so she’d rather put herself in harm’s way.  Her mother used to always say she had a hero’s complex and her mother was completely right. However Frank was there to balance her out. She married him, after turning him down once. She was just out of Hogwarts and she needed to start Auror training before she could think of anything else. However, she looked at him one day and out of the blue asked him to ask again. This time she accepted. In the office, she is still Auror Fortescue, which tends to make rumors swell around her marriage. Most of the time she responds by snogging Frank right in the middle of the office. Being married and working with her husband only makes her a better Auror. The two work in tandem better than any other team. It’s a perfect match.  However, a  little after Alice was married her parents were murdered by a rogue Death Eater.  It was the most helpless Alice ever felt in her life. She couldn’t protect them, the one thing she set out to do and she failed. It was one of Alice’s biggest setbacks, lost in translation unsure of what to do, Alice felt as if she lost everything that made her who she was. At first, Alice thought she would tackle this case but when she realized her emotions would get in the way, she stepped back.

The war is brewing and Alice had to do something. The Order was where she was called. It was the right thing to do, and she had to protect those around her. Years of fighting bullies, years of standing up for others, years of just defending all led up to this. She saw darkness, and she couldn’t stand for it.  Alice will let nothing stop her in this war.  She refuses to be defeated.

FRANK LONGBOTTOM – Frank was another Gryffindor who fought for others and she believed that meant they should never meet, but fate had something else in store. Although she wouldn’t say it out loud to many, the day their hands met changed her life for the better. Frank is her rock and the person she can’t live without. He’s her sanity, the reason she hadn’t completely gone off the deep end. 

BELLATRIX LESTRANGE – Ever met someone who was like you, but totally different at the same time? While Bellatrix is probably a little crazier than Alice, they both will do anything to protect what they believe in. Word to the wise, don’t cross either of them, and run if they are in the same room. 

MOLLY WEASLEY –  Molly was a friend that Alice didn’t see coming, but enjoys completely. She loves the chance to spend time with the Weasley family, and to give Molly a little break from everything. 

OTHER CONNECTIONS – BIOS ALICE LONGBOTTOM IS MENTIONED IN.

Alice Longbottom is currently a TAKEN character with a FC of Felicity Jones.

[stilljumpingback]

(via Black Sails Episode 403 - XXXI)

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

I love this show for refusing to allow viewers to make monsters out of any of our characters, despite HOW MUCH I want to villainize Berringer.  First we get him looking at pictures of his wife and child, and honestly, that doesn’t move me.  He could be reunited with them if he wanted.  He’s only stayed in Nassau to pursue a course of revenge, committing treason even to do so.

What DOES bother me is his speech about dark men doing dark deeds, and how easily I can imagine the same words coming from Flint’s mouth.

“You’ve given me good men to lead.  I’ll do my best by them.” “There isn’t a good man among them.  Not anymore.  Some of them may have been, before all this.  Some of them may be again on the other side of it.  But right now, good men are not what the moment requires.  Right now, the time calls for dark men to do dark things.  Do not be afraid to lead them to it.”

When Flint uses theater and leads his men into horrific atrocities, I support him because I support his end goal – overturning a corrupt empire and establishing a free world.  But when Berringer uses theater and leads HIS men into horrific atrocities, I am livid.  Granted, this is because he’s supporting that corrupt empire.  And in some ways, the ends definitely do justify the means.  But if we look beneath their political worldviews, in actuality they keep fighting because the world keeps fighting them.  It’s the cycle of vengeance I’ve been talking about.  The truth is, I support Flint because I like him, because I’m invested in his story.  If we’d had three seasons of Berringer’s story, would I emotionally support him in this moment?  Probably.

I do think the show wants us to support Flint, and I do think that Flint’s motivations are deepening beyond revenge to a more genuine desire to create something new.  BUT it is unquestionable that the showrunners want us to remember the power of narrative in shaping our allegiances, and to question why we see some people as good and others as bad, when really, they might not be so different.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

Berringer basically tells Woodes Rogers that darkness is inevitable, and we shouldn’t be afraid to use it.  It is SO hard not to think Flint would agree with him.

Mrs. Hudson asks to go home after they’re done in Philadelphia.  Eleanor says yes and they’re both super happy before IMMEDIATELY finding out they aren’t going to Philadelphia.  This is about how everyone’s happiness goes in this show, huh?

Max is losing her power, exemplified by how men can burst into her room while she’s lounging naked in bed.

Maroon:  Whatever slaves are still alive on this island will never fight alongside a pirate again.  Not after last night. Madi:  Last night, there were also pirates who fought alongside us, against terrible odds and at great cost.  Billy and his men are our enemies now, but these men are not.

#TriumverateWatch:  Madi defends Flint!!  And as if the show doesn’t realize that my heart has already burst, the two proceed to have an inspiring conversation as equals and I loooooove them!!!

Madi:  You truly believe it is possible?  That as disadvantaged and disabled as we are, that anything we do here is going to make the least bit of difference to the men in London? Flint:  Well, that’s the trick, isn’t it?  If no one remembers a time before there was an England, then no one can imagine a time after it.  The empire survives in part because we believe its survival to be inevitable.  But it isn’t, and they know that.  That’s why they’re so terrified of you and I.  If we are able to take Nassau, if we are able to expose the illusion that England is not inevitable, if we are able to incite a revolt that spreads across the New World then, yeah, I imagine people are gonna notice. Madi:  “Too much sanity may be madness, and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”

Madi just used Don Quixote to describe Flint, AND THAT IS THE BOOK MIRANDA USED TO DESCRIBE THOMAS, byyyyyyye.

It is impossible to be reminded of the amazing partnership between James and Thomas and not see Flint and Madi having equally amazing potential.

Poor Anne.  She just wants to get away from all of this and have a boring life, but she’s chosen to partner herself to a man who can’t stop following giants in hopes of influencing them and thus feeling meaningful.

I love Idelle being the level-headed one to Featherstone’s panic.  She trusts in Max’s loyalty and stubbornness before saying they have to help her from the outside.  Eleanor then bursts in to help Max – are we to assume that Idelle told Eleanor what was going on?

THAT REUNION THOUGH.  Silver is about to die, but Flint comes to the rescue!!  There is so much contained emotion going on in these two men, and I can’t even.

Jack has to watch Teach and Anne lead the vanguard onto a spookily “empty” ship.  Why did no one notice that everyone hid themselves?  I’m so upset about everything here, I hate it, stop please.

Max:  You think you can control him.  And by the time you realize he has been controlling you, it is going to be too late.

Max is talking to Eleanor about Berringer, but it’s hard not to imagine she’s also talking about Woodes Rogers.

We know Eleanor is cultured now, because she says, “I beg your pardon, but what the fuck have you got to lose?”

THAT OTHER REUNION THOUGH.  Silver and Madi running to each other, kissing, staring into each other’s eyes!!

Flint is happy for them, but there’s a definite flicker of sadness in his expression.  Whether he’s sad because he loves Silver or because he wishes he had someone like they have each other, I honestly don’t care.  It’s compelling either way!

Eleanor now agrees with Max that the theater of power only exacerbates problems.  I like this questioning whether power exists to uphold order or to boost someone’s ego.

Berringer’s power play of reading the black spot aloud is actually VERY good, and I love how he becomes an interesting villain just before dying.  Because he’s too obvious.  The REAL villain is revealed in this episode to be:  Nice Guy Rogers.

Reader, I HATE HIM.

In flashback, he reveals his dark side to Berringer, telling the story he didn’t share in his book because he didn’t want the world to know what he is capable of.

The real evil here is not what he did in the past, because as despicable as it is, I can forgive a lot that is done in grief (see: my enduring love of James Flint).  What is horrible is that he is committed, rationally, a day before it happens, to doing the exact same thing to Teach and his crew, simply to prove a point.  I HATE HIM.

An admission:  I’ve never actually watched the keelhauling.  The first time I saw this episode, Rogers’ creepy voiceover and the music cued me in that something truly horrible was about to go down, so I Googled what happened to Teach and promptly skipped ahead.  Having listened to other people’s reactions to the scene, I’m super glad I did, and so I did the same again.  I’m so glad Teach stuck it to Rogers by refusing to die, but I do not need to let those images exist in my brain, thanks ever so much.

Berringer refuses to use Eleanor as an ally.  He ignores her suggestion to ambush Silver, thus ensuring his own death!!  What an idiot!

But also thank God.

BECAUSE HERE COME SILVER AND FLINT.  I love the look Flint gives Silver when the guns come out.  This is Silver’s first time fighting on the front line, and as a target, and Flint is concerned.

They seem alone in a small group, but suddenly slaves and maroons and pirates join them!  And there’s a fight!  And soldiers appear on the roofs but they are killed by Billy’s men!  I temporarily forgive Billy, but I’m glad Flint gives him a look during the battle because this isn’t over yet!!

Israel Hands takes out Berringer, which is fitting because he doesn’t deserve a death by one of our heroes.  What purpose does Hands’ long look at Silver/Flint serve?  Is it like, look at me, see my value?

Our last shot is of Berringer’s wife and child, and while I don’t have empathy for HIM, I do for those two.  It’s a good reminder that in all the passion and righteous anger that creates and perpetuates violence, the real victims are civilians.  But…I don’t want the fighting to stop until Flint and Madi’s vision of a free Nassau is realized.