#wesley’s like mom (¬_¬) what is your Problem

[recareels]

okay grandpa almond the forest elder is so flippin CUTE i am squealing into my blankie

[stitching-in-time]

Finished Star Trek: Prodigy season 2! Overall, I loved it, it was everything I hoped for, and then some. I love time travel paradoxes and alternate universes and that kind of stuff, so this season's story arc was right up my alley, and I think they did it just right. From story, to visuals, to character development, this whole season was just mindblowing the whole way through. The very ending leaves me trepidatious for the future, unfortunately, but I still very much want another season, and I want to celebrate what a monumental achievement season 2 is, both as thing unto itself, and as an epic expansion of what Star Trek can be.

Thoughts and analysis (with major spoilers!) below!

The biggest things for me this season were how Dal and Gwyn grew as characters, Janeway and Chakotay's relationship becoming even more of a central thing, and my boy Wesley Crusher returning as basically a Time Lord to help the Protostar kids save the timeline. As a Next Gen fan, I can't begin to describe how much it means to see Wesley again, and know that he's still out there, doing good in the universe, like I always knew he would. Beverly Crusher raised a good kid! As fans, we always joked about how Wesley Crusher is a Time Lord now, and now Prodigy said, yeah, he really is! That's what the Travellers do! They're literally like the Time Lords in Doctor Who, but with more hands on helping and fixing things, and I'm like yes, perfect!! I couldn't have asked for better, honestly, and Wil Wheaton does a terrific job as manic pixie Time Lord Wesley (there's no other way to describe him lol) without losing the essence of the Wesley we knew. After the horrible, hurtful disappointment of what they did with Picard and the rest of the Next Gen crew in the Picard series, seeing at least one of my first Trek crew getting the respectful treatment their character deserves means, so, so much to me, I can't even begin. My boy Wes! I love him!! (But dude- call your Mom ffs! Janeway is such a space mom herself for calling him on that. The scene at the end where Wes and Beverly hug was EVERYTHING to me. I cried. 30 years I have waited for that!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!)

Gwyn and Dal's character arcs this year were great too. Gwyn always had the commanding presence that said 'captain' to me, from the beginning. Much as I like Dal, I felt like it didn't make sense for him to be the captain, given his personality and experience, and it kind of seemed like they gave him that because the lead character always has to be a boy, by default, in any children's media that isn't explicitly aimed primarily at girls. But seeing how it shifted this season was really wonderful. How Gwyn stepped up to be a leader, and how Dal realized that being the right hand of someone you trust and respect is just as important a role as being the one in charge, was lovely, and paralleled the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay. Gwyn and Dal are kind of coming from opposite ends of the childhood trauma spectrum; Gwyn being forced to ignore her own judgement, and obey her father's commands without question; and Dal, being undervalued by his surrogate mother, being told and shown by her that he's unimportant and uneeded. The positions that they came to here, as a Captain and her Number One, and are the direct opposite of the roles their parents forced on them, and the exact places they need to be to overcome those negative beliefs and let their true natures shine through. It's so good!! And they actually talked to each other about their relationship! (or at least tried before they got interrupted.) That's honestly way more emotionally mature of them than almost any other romantic pairing in Trek! The kids are all right!! And I love that Gwyn is taller than Dal, and nobody cares. I can't think of the last time I saw a show where a girl being tall wasn't presented as a problem for her boyfriend to be insecure and crappy about it. Not making girls feel bad for being tall, and not making boys insecure about being short, is so important, especially in a show aimed at kids. Way to break down those gendered stereotypes!!

Janeway and Chakotay got so much to do this season, and I loved every minute of it. I love that Prodigy is basically a Voyager sequel. Janeway in the Captain's chair on a new Voyager is like, a dream come true, and seeing Voyager characters again is a special thrill for those of us who grew up with them and love them. (Ngl I was thrilled that my boy Tom Paris got namedropped twice! And so much yes to having him design the Nova Flyers!!! I've always headcanoned that Tom and B'Elanna stayed on Earth after Voyager and designed ships and warp engines and stuff at Starfleet HQ so they could give their kids a more stable childhood, and I'm beyond thrilled and thankful to have that somewhat canonized!!) I kinda wish it had been Tuvok rather than the Doctor along for this voyage, since he's Janeway's best friend, but the Andorian guy (Tysis? Why can't I remember his name??) does remind me of Tuvok a lot, so it might have been an odd vibe to have two similar characters. And anyway having the Doctor along did prove useful to the mission later on. (Though I don't know what it is, but the voice Robert Picardo uses for the Doctor on Prodigy is off, somehow- it's higher pitched, and the cadence is different. If I didn't know it was him, I'd think it was a different actor, and it's pretty distracting. But luckily the Doctor was mostly just there to be comic relief, and didn't have a ton of scenes.)

The character who surprised me the most here, though, was Chakotay. I like him a lot better on Prodigy than I ever did on Voyager. It's not even that I disliked him before, so much as that I feel the writing wasn't always there for him, and that they didn't really care to fully flesh him out and make his characterization consistent. His love for Janeway was one of the only things about him that was consistent, and they really highlighted that aspect here. I've never been much of a Janeway/Chakotay shipper, but I'm shipping it now. I know the die hard J/C shippers are probably livid that we didn't get a kiss or a direct acknowlegement of their feelings this season, and from the way it was going, I don't blame them, I expected it too. But I feel like Prodigy's writers aren't dumb enough to tease it so heavily without paying it off- I'd wager they're playing the long game and saving it for later, what with all the insanely shippy stuff going on between them here. The pda! The longing! That reunion scene! Heck, even Starfleet command knows they have a thing going on, and that Janeway can't be normal about Chakotay! Even the kids give them looks like they know there's something going on between them! The parallels between them and Dal and Gwyn, who already are a romantic couple, make it pretty obvious that Janeway and Chakotay are like a template for them to emulate. I didn't care one way or another about whether Janeway/Chakotay became a thing when this season started, but now I'm invested. They're in love, just admit it!

I love that they added Ma'jel to the Protostar gang, it's nice to have another girl to balance things more. And the fact that they named her after Majel Barrett hits me straight in the heart. So much love for the OG queen of Star Trek!!

I really appreciated Gwyn getting the chance to meet the younger version of her father, and get the chance to recieve some kindness and care from him, at last. I hope now that the timeline is different, she'll be able to have a better relationship with him at last. (I'm still not entirely sure how Gwyn can exist now that he's not going back to become the Diviner in the new timeline, but I think maybe it's some sort of alternate timeline/parallel universe stuff?? That's the one part of the timey wimey plot I was a little fuzzy on, but honestly the rest of it is so awesome that I don't even care that much.)

One of the few things that I disliked this season was Voyager A having a 'cetacean ops' tank on board. It was fine on Lower Decks because it's a comedy, so I don't take anything that happens there too seriously. (I just thought it was a SeaQuest joke, tbh.) But for a drama series, it really bothers me that Starfleet would take wild animals from their homes and plunk them on a starship. Even though they can communicate with the whales now, so we infer that the whale consented to be there, it seems incredibly unlikely that any wild creature would chose to live in a tiny tank away from their ecosystem and others of their kind. Animal captivity is not a cool thing to be promoting in this day and age, so I hope that will go away, and we won't have to see any more of that.

The biggest problem I had with this season though, was all of the references to stuff from Picard at the very end. Worse still than animal captivity was Picard's horrible storyline about using slaves to build Starfleet ships. It's like the writers on that show had never seen an episode of Star Trek in their lives, and had no idea what it's even about. They literally referenced the Next Gen episode 'The Measure of a Man', so they must have seen it, and yet they totally ignored it's message that androids aren't property, and it's assertion that creating an army of android slaves would abominable, and against everything the Federation stands for. The whole point of that episode was that they established the legal precedent to prevent that. To turn around and have that happen is a huge betrayal of the optimistic spirit of the show, and a shows a deep misunderstanding of all of the characters. You cannot sit there and tell me that any of the characters we know would sit idly by and let the Federation institute slavery. You can't convince me that they would just go on with their lives like everything was fine while that was happening around them. You can't tell me Starfleet wouldn't have a wave of resignations in mass protest, that there wouldn't have been protests all over Earth to stop it. Just casually dropping something as horrific as 'oh, our android slaves rebelled and blew up the fleet we forced them to build for us' in the middle of a show aimed at children is deeply disturbing, and deeply wrong- allowing slavery in the Federation negates everything it is, and demolishes Star Trek as a beacon of hope for the future.

I'm very worried for Prodigy's future if it's going to take place in that awful reality, for which there is absolutely no excuse or explanation that can be had to justify it. I'm absolutely horrified to think that it might become the status quo that we're just supposed to accept, but conversely, if they don't gloss over it, if they look at it head on, in all it's horror, there's no way to deny that everything that Starfleet and the Federation stand for is a lie. There's just no good way forward with it, I fear. If the Protostar gang were to find out that someone was messing with the timeline to create that reality in the first place, and that they had to go back to stop it from happening, and erase that timeline from existence, then I could be okay with it, but I doubt they'd do another time paradox plot so soon. I'm just afraid that I won't be able to love Prodigy anymore either, because it will have let me down, just like Picard did.

I desperately hope this season wasn't Prodigy's pinnacle, and that it will continue to believe in hope and kindness and the possibility of a better future, and to fight against the cruelty and cynicism that Picard's writers poisoned the Star Trek universe with. I care about these characters, and this world, and I want to see more of them. I would love a third season, but only if it lives up to Star Trek's ideals of love and equality and compassion. Prodigy has been such a bright spot for me, I've come to love this new crew, and being able to see my beloved Voyager crew members still out there being heroic, and being happy. I hope it can continue to be that bright spot. Based on what wonderful things I've seen overall in these first two seasons, I'm going to choose to have faith that it will.

Here's hoping we get a season 3 that's just as amazing!

[mamadoc]

The next chapter of my fanfic is posted.

If you were waiting for the happy, angst-free, fluffy village without roller coaster part of the story to arrive to start reading, it’s here! Only minor angst remains.

Angela, Tamara, and Genny conspire to bring Tim and Lucy back together.

Here’s a snippet to pique your interest.

“Bradford,” Tim said as a call interrupted the audiobook he was listening to on his commute home. He couldn’t see his phone to see the caller ID, so he just pressed the button on his steering wheel to answer the call blindly.

“Hey, stranger. It’s been too long,” came the voice over the car speakers.

“Lopez?” Tim confirmed, immediately recognizing his best friend’s voice, but a little bit confused as to why she was calling. “What’s going on? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

“You know. Same old shit. Just kicking ass, raising two kids, and trying not to kill my husband,” she rattled off.

Tim chuckled. Some things never change, he thought to himself as he shook his head. “What has Wesley done this time?”

“Well, he swears that he talked to me about this months ago, but I swear that I would have remembered this conversation if we had had it. So a couple nights ago, we were chatting about our plans for next month, and he asked me if I had taken the last two weeks of June off for our trip. I told him that we weren’t going anywhere for the last two weeks of June because that’s when Jack and Amelia are at their favorite summer camp. Then he told me that we had already signed them up for some international camp that Patrice paid for them to attend in Italy. After arguing about it for over an hour, apparently Wes and Patrice are taking the kids to Italy.”

“Wow. That sounds like quite the argument. Are you going to be able to join them at all?” he said with a low chuckle, envisioning the solid hour of yelling that would have shaken the walls of the Lopez-Evers house.

“I was able to swap shifts around to join them a little bit late. And, when Wesley explained the situation to his mom, she offered to buy me a first-class ticket if I would still join them. How could I saw no to that? I’ll be traveling to Italy by myself in first-class and can drink as much as I want without dealing with charging the kids iPads or settling arguments about who gets to sit by the window or lugging around two weeks’ worth of their crap. There’s no way I would say no to that. Plus, she rented this villa for us to stay at right next to a vineyard, and she won’t even be there most of the time because she’s meeting a friend to travel around Italy together. It’ll actually be a real vacation.”

“That sounds great, Ang. You deserve to have a break.” He wasn’t sure if she was just calling to vent or to share her luck at having a really nice vacation paid for by Patrice or if she had some other purpose in calling, so he just waited to see what she was going to say next.

“So now I only have a little problem left to resolve that I think you could help me with,” she said.

“How am I going to fix your vacation problems? I can’t exactly take your shifts or work overtime for you,” he said with an annoyed but curious tone to his voice.

Keep reading here.

I’d love to hear back from you.

[tangled-wires-and-a-dead-heart]

3,4,10,11,12 (sorry if that’s a lot)

It's not a problem at all!

3. Who is/are your favorite main character(s)?

Avery Belle <3 they're my all time favorite character in the game so far!

I also like Stella, Kaneeka, and Tabitha!

4. Who is/are your least favorite main character(s)?

My least favorite characters are Sybil and Dr. Kelly.

10. Who do you plan on romancing?

The characters that I'm currently/planning on romancing in my playthroughs are Stella (Eleanor), kaneeka (Raymond), Avery (Andy), and I still haven't decided if I want Wesley to romance anyone but if he was going to it'd be Oscar.

11. What's your favorite ship(s)? What's your least favorite ship(s)?

I love stabby and raneeka (Reese/kaneeka)! And I like Avery/mc!

Also I think that the idea of avery/wayne and/or Avery/mc/wayne has been growing on me-

I think that the only ships that I've seen that I really don't like are the ones that involve incest (like Tabitha/mc)

12. What's your favorite non romantic relationship in the game? (Friendship, family, ect)

I like Stella, Reese, and kaneeka's friendship/trio, Tabitha's relationship with the MC in worldstates where they're friends, and Dustin and his mom!

[thegeminisage]

tng update time!! its been so long. sunday we did "reunion" and last night we did "future imperfect" and "final mission."

reunion: WORF HAS A BABY???

ok. tbh. this episode was wack. i guess i just don't get the point of k'ehleyr...she hates klingons. so she's like, "my son, who is 3/4 klingons, will not be raised with any of the klingon ways! fuck klingons! i hate them! however i do want worf who LOVES the klingon ways to claim him, and then also raise him after i have died. and i'm gonna get really mad at him and call him a dumb klingon if he doesn't do it"

AND THEN WORF IS LIKE. "my son...he should be raised with the klingon ways...but i can't claim him cuz i'm excommunicated and if people know he's my kid he won't be able to live among klingons ever again. the only solution is to send him to live with my HUMAN PARENTS who 1. can't teach him the klingon ways 2. will definitely alert anyone with half a brain that he's my kid"

like? is this not the worst of both worlds? if worf is gonna claim him (which he kinda does by sending him to live with his grandparents) and he can't live among klingons the least worf could do is raise him on the starship with himself, a klingon, and the other kids. who admittedly should not be on the starship bc no child should be on a starship. but like how many klingons are there on ma and pa kent's farm. zero. how many are there on the enterprise. one. could be two but ???

like whats the point of giving him a son if we don't see this kid once or twice a season...i just don't get it. like is he the cutest little klingon that ever lived? yes, OBVIOUSLY. would worf's parents do just as good of a job with him as they did with worf? of COURSE. but the rest of it is a huge mess of logical problems. rip

future imperfect: RIKER HAS A BABY???

no look this one was so fun. old riker. amnesiac riker. riker trying to get out of the lab rat maze. so fun AND i called the plot twist (that the romulans were fucking with him) early.

thrilling that they predicted captain picard would be captain for 7 years when tng was 7 seasons. ik there are movies after but what a lucky guess. also picard looks weird with facial hair. his chin should stay bald too to uphold his priceless cueball image

i'll admit the ending to this episode was weird as hell and also a bit abrupt but like. who cares. a good time is a good time

final mission: AW. BABY BOY...he's really leaving...i'm gonna miss him so much :(

the b plot of this one was so stupid. i could figure out about 6000 different ways to make their duties easier. it took them so long just to get to the asteroid belt and then they were in it for 5 seconds. poor beverly.

the a plot of this was only a little less stupid, to be fair. mr grumpy miner made such a big deal about that alcohol and then he never got the DTs. picard told wesley to stand up to him and then wesley never got to do it. also, wesley's last episode should have had him have more time with his MOM? cmon

my favorite bit was when picard laid down the arrow to warn the search party of the direction they were going and then they all walked in a completely different direction. and at the end beverly is like we found your arrow! girl. come on now

anyway, tonight we do "the loss" and "data's day"

[tomdiddlyumptious]

Heyyy ok but what about dad!tom finding porn on his 15yo boy’s phone and having "the talk" with him 😭😭 I live for this😌

Trying writing again, seriously guys idk whats going on with me. And im terrible at doing “the talks” so take it as it is-

warnings: ya know..porn and praying children<3...and a hint of bisexual!tom👀

Its normal, Porn. The dirty sight for anyone to see. Tom did it once, only once though. He found it pretty creepy and stalkerish that hes watching people have sex. When he was 15 and thought about sex it caused insecurity because he noticed that you HAVE to get naked. It just shivered his veins. well of course until he met you. 

So when Tom and Wesley were cooking for your birthday, Tom forgot an Ingredient. “Hey- wes, can i borrow your phone?” tom struggled, his hands covered in flour as he looked at his sons phone. Wesley's eyes widened as his hands were also covered in flour, he turned, wiping his hands on the black apron before chuckling “y-yeah dad”. Tom laughed and also wiped his hands with a towel before grabbing his phone. Wes’s knees almost gave out as they shook and his body felt like it was going down a roller coaster, he jumped when his dad asked for his code. “Its my birthday” “oh- of course, it is” tom mumbled, leaning on the kitchen island as Wes got back to work, trying not to look weird as normally he would stand over his dads shoulder watching his fingers tap away in his phone, not that he did it before. 

Toms eyebrows furrowed as he bit his bottom lip, wondering if he should search through his phone while he already has it, only to shrug his head no saying thats not a good thing for a father to do. He clicked on the safari tab, Wes’s phone acting slow so he reached and grabbed his glass cup thats filled with water, only to choke and have his eyes widened. “Oh shit” wes mumbled to himself. Tom didnt even look further, he slammed the phone down but both of their ears turned red when a loud pornographic moan left the womans mouth “yeah fuck my cock”. “OH MY GOD” tom yelled in his british accent, grabbing the phone and screaming when he was met with liquids shooting at the camera, he shut off the phone and placed it back on the table, Wesley's hand slapped over his mouth as he cringed intensely by the word “cock” but then soon becoming more embarrassed that his dad knows he watches….well, that. “Im gonna use the bathroom” wesley said, not looking at his dad as his cheeks shot red. “Erm….im gonna set a 15 minute timer” “DAD” wes said storming off to the bathroom. “Im gonna die” wesley muttered to himself, cursing at the lord for letting this happen as he also begged for forgiveness and asking for this not to be a big problem, just on his knees infront of the toilet, apron still dirty as he shut his eyes tight. 

“God i swear if my dad leaves me alone i’ll pray EVERY night, i’ll sing- look i’ll sing this church song”

By the way, he only heard it from some where.

“Take me to the kinggg, i dont have much to bring” he didnt know anything past that so it didnt do anything in his favour, it only made tom furrow his eyebrows from the other side of the door before knocking making wes silently flinch at the holy ghost “just please- dont do this” he whispered. “I-i can hear you son” tom awkwardly smiled, “mind coming out now?” “ive only been in here for like 5 minutes” “can we just talk about it?” “i dont know if id be comfortable with that-” “or else it will be with me and your mom” “oh my god” wes stood up and did a “woo-sah” looking at himself in the mirror before turning around and hesitantly opening the door. Tom smiled and did an awkward wave “to the couch please”

“Dad i really dont wanna talk about this” wes said on the couch, touching knees with his father that was sitting right next to him. “No we have to- so be quiet and let me speak.” tom sent a look at wes making him grumble and hunch in his seat, but all ears. “Please dont watch porn, its terrible. Its addictive and its not how things work, trust me. When we made you it was pretty ugly in there-”

“DAD PLEASE” he groaned in his arms. “What! Im just letting you know! Im letting you know that when you- or you probably have but-” tom shrugged looking at him son. “Just make sure you use protection, uhm if you want me to buy you some i can- dont give me that look” “your literally talking to me about what goes around penises, what am i supposed to do, say i love you?” he groaned again. “Well its your fault! But anyway you need to make sure you get consent from her, make sure she- or HE is into it-” “oh my god” “what? I dont know your options?” “what are yours?” wes asked.

Tom smiled at his son, making wes’s mouth drop (i dont think its a secret that toms at least a LITTLE fruity) “anyways. Girls have three holes, ones for the pee and the others for the- pp. And the other one is for the other one. I dont think your ready for anal yet” tom gripped his sons knee. “Youve done-” “you ARENT ready for that talk” tom but him off. “But you need to make sure that the woman is lubricated enough because if she isnt it will be TOO tight and un-pleasurable for the both of you. If shes” he raised his fingers doing the quote on quote “loose, that means shes lubricated, dont listen to these assholes shaming girls for something they cannot control” he rolled his eyes, wes thinking about anything to drift off into space but very stuck. “Dont be nervous asking for help trying to find the hole, although it should be located right on top of her- ya know” tom too immature to say the word, something he cant say although he said only a few words ago. “But yes, make sure you wrap it! Im serious, i dont need more children” tom ordered. “Im the single child” “your also annoying” wes sarcastically smiled at his dad by his words. “Her clitoris is that- bean, yeah lets call it a bean” “you call a clitoris a bean?” “oh no, i give it a name more...boujee, but thats between me and your mom” “PLEASE STOP REMINDING ME THAT YOU AND MOM HAVE SEX” wes shouted while stuffing his head into a pillow. “What its normal! You were watching it!” wes grunted “my life is over” “oh it hasnt even began” “DAD” “im just sayin!-”

The boys heard the keys jiggle from the door before hearing a loud “hii!” “we are in the living room babe!” tom said, wes panicking more as he heard th door shut and lock before seeing his mom coming over. “What are you guys talking about?” tom looked at wes and wes silently pleaded for him not to say anything, but being the div he is “sex talk!” he threw his hands up. “Ohh! How fun, have you told him about the movements yet?” “PLEASE NO-”

[thenilofernoorulain]

A Day In Diagon Alley

"Ready to go"? The tall blonde man asked his son. "Yes! I can't wait." The boy said jumping up and down. He was 11 years old and looked a lot like his father. The mother joined them and they all held on to each other. "Let's go then" and they disapparated.

They apparated right outside Flourish and Blotts. "Take out your letter Scorp, we can start with the books". The boy nodded a little too hard in his excitement and the Malfoys laughed. Draco remembered his first school shopping. He didn't go into this store though. He went in to Madam Malkin's while his father bought his books. He was brought out of his reverie by Scorpius tugging on his arm. "Mom, Dad, can I have some extra books too?I finished the one Gramps gave me." Astoria smiled at her son "ofcourse Scorp darling. You can look around the shelves while the salesman gathers your schoolbooks. That's gonna give you enough time." Scorpius grinned. "Everyone says he's me but he's just like you". Draco laughed.

The salesman greeted them. "Mr. and Mrs.Malfoy! It's a pleasure! We just got some new books you'll want to try Scorpius". "We also need the first year schoolbooks" Astoria said. "You're starting Hogwarts? Oh how time flies!" The salesman went to get the books while Scorpius browsed around the store, his parents watching him. A little while later, the family came out of Flourish and Blotts.

"Where to, next"? Draco looked at his wife. "How about the Magical Menagerie"? Scorpius asked "I need a pet." "Alright then." They walked into the Magical Menagerie where they found a familiar red head next to a bushy brown head. They locked eyes. "Weasley." "Malfoy." The bushy haired woman turned. "Oh, hello." "Hello Minister. I see your daughter is starting Hogwarts as well."Astoria said. "Oh yeah, she is."Hermione replied. "See you around then" Draco said and they moved on.

"Alright Scorp, so what're you gonna get?" Draco asked his son. "I don't know. I think I'll get a Kneazle. They're cute. Look at the- WOW! MOM, DAD CAN I GET A FERRET? LOOK AT THE WHITE ONE! IT'S SO CUTE!"Scorpius shouted in his excitement. Draco froze while Astoria looked like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. She was failing. Across the store, the Granger-Wesleys were laughing while there kids just gaped at them unable to find the joke. "Honey? You alright?" Astoria asked. "I uh... Are you sure you want a ferret Scorp?" Draco asked, his usually pale face now tainted pink. "Umm.. you ok there Dad? I can get something else if-"

"No it's fine"

"-you got a problem with ferrets."

"No you can get a ferret. Did you say you wanted the white one? How much does it cost?" Draco rambled on, wanting to get out as fast as possible. "25 Galleons. Including the cage and food, sir" the saleswoman said. They paid for it and came out. They went on with their shopping.

Scorpius didn't mention anything about until they were having dinner. "Why did you react like that at the pet store, Dad?" Draco choked on his food and Astoria laughed. "I'm gonna tell him"

"NO"

"Why not? Draco, it happened 23 years ago"

"What happened 23 years ago? Did a ferret attack Dad?" Scorpius asked. "No Scorp, he got turned into one. A white one. It was a great sight."

"ASTORIA!"

"Dad got WHAT!? Why?"Scorpius looked eagerly at his parents. "I was being a prick. I don't want to go into the details." "Ok, then."Scorpius said. His usually pale face was now pink with laughter. The family finished their dinner.

Later that night, Draco walked into his son's room to see him reading on the bed. "Bedtime, Scorp." Scorpius tried to protest but in vain. As he watched Scorpius pulling on his blanket, Draco said "when you get to Hogwarts, don't attack anyone from behind." The odd specificity of the sentence made Scorpius stare at his father. "Uhh Ok. But umm....why?" "You'll get turned into a ferret, if you do so." Draco said smiling, as he turned off the light in Scorpius' room

[darling-i-read-it]

And the Woman Clothed With the Sun...

3x09

Hannibal Lecter x reader x Will Graham 

Hannibal Re-Write Series Masterlist

Word Count: 3.1k 

Warnings: spoilers for hannibal, murder, dead bodies, nightmares, talk of children and having them 

Author’s Note: I really really liked this episode. I love playing with dynamics SO MUCH. I hope you guys like this? 

I used some direct quotes from the script so some things may seem familiar 

Official Episode Summary: As the search for Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) continues, Will starts imagining himself in Dolarhyde's tormented psyche -- and asks Hannibal for help with the serial killer's profile; a new woman (Rutina Wesley) enters Dolarhyde's life.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

Tag List (is always open!) : @llperfectsymmetryll​ @ericacactus​ @vlightning95​ @sweetgoodangel​

(not my gif)

“That’s the same atrocious aftershave you wore in court,” Hannibal said. He turned around slowly, acting as though he were not surprised to see you and Will together. The thin line of glass between the two of you Hannibal seemed so thick.

The truth was, you had never truly gotten over Hannibal. You had pretended to, for the sake of Will, but you had never really stopped thinking about what he could be doing. There was a link that the three of you had with each other that was unexplainable. You had started a new life. But your old one still called your name. 

“Hello, Dr. Lecter,” Will said simply. He was contained. You fed off of his energy to keep yourself in check as well. 

“Hello, Will. Y/N.” He stepped closer to the two of you. “I believe congratulations are in order. I apologize I couldn’t make it to the wedding. Alana gave me some pictures, to taunt me presumably.” You smiled. You thought about Hannibal holding the pictures of you and Will laughing, beaming at each other. “Did you get my note?” You nodded. 

“We got it. Thank you,” you said simply. You and Will stood close together. He had his coat draped over his arm and you held the papers from the cases. 

“Did you read it before you destroyed it? Or did you simply toss it into the nearest fire?” Hannibal asked. You scoffed a bit.

“We read it. Then he burned it,” you promised. He nodded. 

“And you came anyway.” Hannibal eyed you. “I’m surprised you let that happen.” 

“We all falter in some ways,” you said simply. 

“I want you to help me, Dr. Lecter,” Will said to break the conversation. He still didn't trust Hannibal with you. Reminiscent of the days you used to work with Hannibal.

“Yes I thought so. Are we no longer on a first-name basis?” Hannibal asked. 

“I’m more comfortable the less personal we are,” Will said. Hannibal looked over at you, eyeing your entire body. He made note of the scent. The scent off of both of you. 

“Your hands are rough Will. I smell dogs and pine and oil beneath that shaving lotion.” He looked at you. “Did you steal that perfume from my home?” he questioned. You stiffened. You had gotten some perfume from his home as they cleaned it out. You ended up liking and buying another bottle over the years.

“I’m here about Chicago and Buffalo. You’ve read about it, I’m sure,” Will said. 

“I’ve read the papers. I can’t clip them. They won’t let me have scissors, of course. You want to know how he’s choosing them,” Hannibal commented. You held up the case file. 

“Thought you might have some ideas.” 

“You just came here to look at me. Came to get the old scent again. Why don't you just smell yourself Will? Or your wife?” Will let out a sigh. 

“I expected more of you, doctor. That routine is old hat.” Hannibal nodded stiffly.

“Whereas you are new people,” Hannibal said. “Let me have the file. An hour, and we can discuss it like old times.” You nodded happily at that, pleased he would help. You shoved the file through the document tray and into the cell. Hannibal came close to collect it. 

“Thank you,” Will muttered.

“Family values may have declined over the last century, but we still help our families when we can.” He took the papers. “You’re both family.” 

Will grabbed you around the waist, eager to leave. Your eyes lingered on Hannibal’s for a moment longer before you and Will left the room, swallowing his true words. 

-

You looked around Alana’s office. You hadn’t seen it since she had moved in. It looked better than when Chilton had run it. Perhaps that was just because you liked Alana more. The problems you once had with each other had mostly scabbed over. She was maid of honor at your wedding. Interesting, considering the fact you had once fought feverishly over Hannibal.

“It’s good to see you looking well. But I can’t help wishing you weren’t here,” Alana said. She sat on her couch. Her suit was pristine, her hair perfect. You admired her. 

“You aren’t the only one,” you commented. 

“I was surprised Jack came back in one piece,” she said. You nodded, running a hand over your pants before sitting down on the couch beside her. Will stood up, looking out the window. 

“You weren’t the only one,” Will said, turning to both of you. 

“How did it feel to see him again?” she questioned. You looked at the ground. Will sat down beside you, in between you and Alana. 

“Like Hannibal was looking through to the back of my skull. Felt like a fly flitting around in there. I had the absurd feeling that he walked out with me. Had to stop outside the doors and look around, make sure it was just Y/N,” Will commented. 

“I know that feeling. At least Jack Crawford’s pleased.” You pursed your lips but stayed quiet. 

“He showed me pictures of the families. I looked at Y/N and couldn’t say no,” he argued.

“Damn my presence,” you joked softly. Will slung his arm around the couch behind you, his fingered brushing your shoulder. 

“And Jack was counting on it.” 

“Are you still with Margot?” you asked, eager to change the subject. She took a deep breath and nodded, thinking fondly of her wife. 

“Yes. We have a baby. A Verger baby. A son,” she said. You smiled. You and Will had talked about kids. You wanted one. You were working for one when Jack spiked both yours and Will’s stress levels. 

“Good for Margot,” Will said.

“Good for me. I carried him. He’s my son. He’s the Verger heir.” You smiled. 

“Then what are you doing here? You’re set for life,” you pointed out. 

“There are only five doors between Hannibal and the outside. And I have the keys to every one of them,” she said. A daily ‘gotcha’ to Hannibal. Will admired that. “Hannibal has never been great with boundaries. ‘He who sups with the Devil needs a long spoon’.” 

“I am not letting him in, Alana. Don’t worry about me,” Will said. She looked at you sympathetically. 

“Last time, it didn't’ end with you Will.” 

-

“I want you to stay here,” Will said, standing outside Hannibal’s cell door. He hadn’t stepped inside yet. Hannibal could not see him. You scoffed.

“We’ve been over this. I follow you, even if you say no.”

“This time, I mean it. I think I’ll get more out of him if he isn't’ distracted with you.” You raised an eyebrow.

“You sure you aren’t jealous?” He gave you a look. “Fine, fine. Please be quick.” 

Will stepped into the room, leaving you outside to wait. Hannibal looked up at him from his desk.

“This is a very shy boy, Will. I’d love to meet him,” Hannibal said. He looked around. “Just us?” 

Will nodded.

“Just us.” 

“Have you considered the possibility that he’s disfigured? Or that he may believe he’s disfigured?” Hannibal asked. 

“That’s interesting.”

“That’s not interesting. You thought of that before.” Will nodded. 

“He smashed all the mirrors in the houses, not just enough to get the pieces he wanted. The shards are set so he can see himself. In their eyes. Mrs. Jacobi and Mrs. Leeds. And their families,” Will said. Hannibal pulled out the picture of a dead Mrs. Jacobi. 

“Could you see yourself in their eyes, Will? Killing them all?” 

Will instantly regretted leaving you outside. 

The two boys imagined themselves in the crime scenes, looking across the dead bodies of the families. 

“The first small bond to the killer itches and stings like a leech,” Hanibal said. “Like you, Will, he needs a family to escape what’s inside him.” Wills head shot up but he did not look at Hannibal. “You know a fair amount about how these families died. How they lived is how he chooses them.”

“How is he choosing them?” Will asked.

“I was surprised to hear you actually married Y/N. Not because I thought you weren’t a match made in heaven but it made more sense for you to start a family from scratch. No one that had even an inkling of me in their eyes. Find a mom with a stepson or daughter, not having to breed. You know better than to pass the terrible traits that you fear the most,” Hannibal said. Will did not look at him. Hannibal continued. “But Y/N wants children with you. How will you stand to look at a child you may have ruined before they were even born?” 

Will desperately wished he hadn’t left you outside. 

“Why are there no descriptions of the grounds? I see floor plans, diagrams of the rooms where the deaths occured, no mention of the grounds. What were the yards like?” Hannibal continued, satisfied with how he had shaken Will’s personal life. 

“Big, fenced, with trees. Why?” 

“If this pilgrim feels a special relationship with the moon, he might like to go outside and look at it before he tidies himself up. If one were nude, say, it would be better to have outdoor privacy for that sort of thing. One must show some consideration for the neighbors, hmmm? Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will?” 

Will suddenly saw himself in place of the killer, naked, drenched in pitch black blood. 

Will snapped back and nodded quickly.

“Thank you Dr. Lecter,” he said before stumbling out of the door. You sat on the outside in one of the waiting chairs. Will looked over at you and seemed to relax but not completely. 

“Will?” 

He grabbed you and you stood up quickly, hugging him tightly. He buried his head in your neck and you let him, rubbing your back.

“This is why you don’t go without me places,” you muttered. He scoffed but his breathing was already evening again. “What did he say?” He moved back and shook his head softly.

“We’ll talk about it later. I want to see the backyards.” You raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, I suppose.” 

He walked out of the asylum, holding your hand tightly. Freddie snapped a couple pictures from the bushes.

-

“Have you come to wag your finger?” Hannibal asked as Alana entered the room behind him. 

“I love a good finger-wagging.”

“Yes, you do. How is Margot?” Alana ignored the remake as she gleaned down at the picture of her as Botticelli’s Fortitude.

“Your cogs are turning, Hannibal. I can hear them clicking.”

“Click, click, click, boom,” he whispered. 

“I don’t know what you’re planning with the Grahams. But you’re planning something. Why wouldn’t you be? You’ve already cracked the lid, can’t resist peeling it back.” 

Hannibal pursed at the name. Alana noticed this. 

“You can’t comment on her last name anymore you know. They’re married. She is, in the eyes of the law, a Graham now.” Hannibal stiffened.

“They came to me,” Hannibal said, ignoring her words.

“Yes, they did.” 

“I advised them against it.”

“I’m sure.” 

“Are you suggesting I don’t have Y/N and Will’s best interests in mind?” he asked. Alana scoffed.

“I’m stating it as a fact.”

-

You stepped into the room with Hannibal’s cage. He looked up, quite surprised to see you. You held your purse in both hands, stepping closer to the cage. 

“Hello love,” he said quietly. You let his words fall off of you like rain. They stayed for a moment, dripping down your arm before hitting the ground. “I don’t imagine you’re here to talk about the murder cases.” You shook your head softly. He walked up to the glass quietly. You stepped close to it, so you were really only a couple of inches apart. 

“I came to yell at you,” you said. He raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever for?” You smiled gently and shrugged.

“Lots of things. Firstly, you didn’t kill Jack when you got the chance. I’ll never forgive you for not feeding him to me in soup.” His eyes went wide.

“Careful Y/N. Alana watches these tapes.” 

“She would probably agree with me.” You took a deep breath. “Secondly, not coming to my wedding. I know you were otherwise indisposed but I thought it was rather rude.” 

“I thought it was rude of you to get married.” You shook your head playfully. The same banter. Joking with a cannibal serial killer. Just another Tuesday.

“Third, I told you to leave.” The air seemed to calm. 

“Does Will know you’re here?” 

“No. I didn’t tell him.” 

“Did he tell you he’s scared of his own children?” You raised a finger, shaking it gently. 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Will is no longer my boyfriend I dated a couple of months. He’s my husband. You can’t wedge yourself between us no matter how hard you try.” You wanted to put your hand against the glass but you didn’t. “But I miss you.”

“Where do you work nowadays?” You shrugged.

“I had to get another secretary job but I’ve mostly worked up enough to take this amount of leave. My last employer wasn’t exactly the best reference.” He laughed. 

“I suppose you’re right.” He paused. “Eating well?” 

“Better. No people in the diet these days.” 

“Pity.” 

-

“Will!” You broke Will out of his thoughts. You were standing in the back of the Jacobi house. Will had just found a small sign on one of the trees. He was about to get into it but you had broken him out of his mind. “It’s Freddie.” 

Will walked out from the trees and shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“Now are you just keeping America clean or is that evidence?” Freddie asked. 

“You’re trespassing, Freddie,” Will said sternly.

“I was trespassing before the blood dried.  When did they call you? Interesting to see The Bloody Valentines back at action. Beautiful ceremony by the way.”

“We aren’t talking to you,” Will said, grabbing your arm. You followed him.

“We’re co conspirators, Will. I did for you and your cause.”

“You didn’t die enough. You came into my hospital room while I was asleep. You flipped back the sheets and shot a picture of my temporary colostomy bag,” Will said, turning to her. 

  “Covered your junk with a black box. A big black box. You’re welcome,” she said.

“Justly so,” you argued carefully. 

“You culled us the ‘murder threesome’. Little crude, don't you think?” 

“You did run off to Europe together. Doesn’t help that the two of you ended up getting married. How does the Tooth Fairy compare to Hannibal Lecter? Haven’t seen anything like this since the Massacre at Muskrat Farm. Funny thing about that massacre. Not only did Dr. Bloom survived, she got rich. Lecter’s living in the lap under her care. What kind of arrangement you suppose they have?” Freddie asked. 

“A complicated one,” you said sternly. 

“Couldn’t be more complicated than your relationship with Hannibal. Both of you. You paid him a visit? Before you lie, know that I know that you did,” she said quickly.

“Good-bye Freddie.”

-

“I read your note before my office forwarded it to the Grahams,” Jack said, standing in front of Will. Hannibal swallowed, understanding. 

���To whet their appetite or yours? You’ve placed him back in the pot and you’re letting him cook.”

“We’re all in this stew together.” 

“Arguable considering how close Y/N is to drowning you.” 

-

You stepped into the hotel room where Will was already sitting on the bed. You ran a hand through your hair and let the chilly cold wash over you as you entered the warm room. 

“How are the dogs?” he asked.

“Good. The dog sitters said they were missing us but other than that, they’re okay,” you promised. You looked down at the dog that was laying on the ground beside the bed. “She’ll be right at home with them.” 

You sat on the bed and Will sat up, putting his arms around you from behind. You smiled about him, happy to see he was feeling better.

“I’m worried about the kids,” he whispered.

“The kids who don’t exist?” He laughed gently.

“Yeah. I don’t want them to end up like me.” You nodded slowly.

“So that’s what Hannibal said that got you worked up.” You took in the information. “If the kid isn’t like you I don’t think I’d be able to love them as much as I love you.” 

It was his turn to take in the information. 

“You’re just saying that.”

“Nope. I’m serious. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I’ve had the pleasure of loving you Mr. Graham.” He kissed your neck gently and smiled to himself. 

“I love you too Mrs. Graham.”

You let out a small sigh of relief. 

 -

Will screamed as he sat up quickly, sweating aggressively, blankets flying. You got up just as quickly, turning to him but he had already gotten up, rushing into the bathroom. You followed him, sleep that had just taken you over long gone. 

You practically ran up to him. He was looking at himself in the mirror, fear in his eyes at his reflection. You grabbed him quickly and he turned to you, wrapping his arms around you. You didn’t speak. You didn’t ask questions. You just held him as close as you could get him.

Nightmares had come back. Neither of you had had those in a while. You rubbed his back and let him breath. 

3x10

[keanureevesisbae]

Mister Cavill, your dog is kinda fat - Chapter 13

Summary: Veterinarian Olivia Tran has zero time for bullshit. After becoming a mom at age twenty three, the one thing she wants is a good life for her daughter Vanessa. Her ex didn’t want anything to do with her nor the baby and she decided that man are officially banned out of her life. But then she meets Henry Cavill at her clinic and her ban slowly starts to crumble apart. Henry on the other hand is looking for one thing: a family. And when he meets Olivia Tran, he finds just that.

Henry Cavill x Olivia Tran (ofc)

Warnings: Some smutty thoughts of Olivia, but that’s about it.

Wordcount: 5k 

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter 

I think I should thank the universe that my daughter is here, because otherwise I would’ve murdered Wesley right now, after throwing my hot chocolate in his face. After seven plus years of not seeing him and resisting the urge of not going online to check what he is up to nowadays, looking at him in real life sure brings back a whole lot of emotions. He is basically the same, only he lost a bit of weight, especially around his face.

I don’t think he looks necessarily good and maybe it’s his conscious eating him alive inside.

Just as he deserves. Motherfucker.

I see him looking at my daughter and Vanessa has no problem staring back at him. She has a frown between her brows and I know she is thinking about all the questions she can ask the man that left her before she was even born. The man that didn’t want her, before he even got to know her.

I stand up from the table and grab his arm, dragging him away from the table. Dragging him away from my family. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’

‘She looks an awful lot like you,’ he notes. ‘What’s her name?’

‘What the fuck is that suppose to mean?’ I ask him. He wants to look over his shoulder again, right at my daughter but my mom reflexes and mom voice are no joke. ‘Wesley, don’t you dare look at her. Look at me.’

He does what I ask him to do. ‘Who is that man?’

It’s beyond me where Wesley has got the nerves to answer my questions with his own questions, but after having Vanessa, I’m able to play along just fine. ‘What are you doing here?’ I ask him. ‘Why do you all of the sudden care about her? You certainly didn’t give a shit when I was pregnant with her.’

‘I’m a changed man, Livi.’

That nickname brings me back to a time where I was so in love with him. A time where I knew I would marry this man, but after spending a few months with Henry, I realized that it was a blessing that he broke up with me. He treated me okay, but never in the way Henry does.

‘It’s Olivia for you,’ I tell him, ‘and you honestly want me to believe that you are a changed man?’ I can’t help but laugh out of pity. ‘Well, you are quite something, Wesley, I have to give you that.’

‘I’m serious,’ he says and he actually looks like he means it. He gestures to his right, my left and when I follow where he is pointing towards, I see a woman sitting, who stares at me with daggers. She places her hand protectively on her pregnant belly and right next to her, I see a young boy sitting, who actually looks pretty cute. ‘That’s Ria,’ he says, ‘and our son Kevin.’

Our son Kevin? I don’t see Wesley for the type of saint that would adopt someone else’s kid (I mean, he is no Henry and no matter what kind of changed man he is, he’ll never reach that level of maturity), so I clear my throat, before I ask: ‘How old is Kevin?’

‘He is six.’

Wesley could’ve stabbed me in my stomach and that wouldn’t have hurt or shocked me, as I am now. ‘He is six?’ I ask him, trying so hard not to raise my voice. ‘You knocked someone up right after you left me?’

Wesley doesn’t say a word.

‘Oh my God,’ I say in utter disbelieve, running my fingers through my hair. ‘You are un-fucking-believable. You left me, let me figure this whole parenting thing out all on my own, while you start a family? Wesley, what the fuck is wrong with you? I can’t believe this. You leave me, my whole family leaves me, because I got pregnant. Have you any idea in what kind of fucking situation you put me through?’

‘I want to get to know her.’

It’s admirable that Wesley has some guts, I have to give him that. ‘No,’ I chuckle. ‘You fucking can’t. You walked out of both of our lives when I gave you the chance to be a dad. You can’t just barge in, because you saw us sitting there. You and your precious new family stay out of our lives and I’ll gladly stay out of yours.’

I want to walk past him, right back to my table, but he grabs my arm. ‘Wait,’ he says and for some weird reason I do wait. ‘Here is my number.’ He hands me a card and I can’t help but stare at this.

‘Since when are you the type of person that has a card?’ I ask, grabbing it out of his hand. ‘Oh look at that. You somehow finished college and you’re a real estate agent now. I’ll be damned.’ I almost want to rip the card apart, but I know that my daughter is looking at me, so I can’t act stupid now.

‘Please, if you change your mind, let me know. I want to make up for the years I wasn’t there for you two.’

I don’t even look at him, I can’t even look at him, so I walk back to my table. ‘We’re leaving,’ I say to Vanessa and Henry. Vanessa wants to look at Wesley, but I block her view. ‘Don’t look at him,’ I tell her and nearly drag her with me outside. Vanessa doesn’t say anything, nor does Henry.

I help her in her carseat and the first five minutes of our drive go by in complete silence. ‘Mommy,’ Vanessa finally says and I admire her for having the balls to open her mouth. ‘Was that my real dad?’

‘He is your biological dad, yes.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘When two people make a baby, you have a bit of both in you. So, Henry and all his brothers have a bit of both Marianne and Colin in them.’

Vanessa mhms. ‘Why were you mad at him?’

‘Because he wants to be part of your life.’

‘Oh.’

It’s quiet for a few seconds, before I finally snap again. ‘That idiot honestly thought that he could just barge right back into my life, after everything he didn’t do for me?’ I ask myself out loud. ‘That bastard had the guts, the guts, to hand me over his card, so I could call him if we change our minds about it. Did you know he has a new lady, who is pregnant and already gave birth to a kid of him? That kid is six. Six! While I’m struggling with my job, with my new baby all by myself, he is out there, impregnating this other woman…’

‘Mommy, what is impregnating?’

‘… having kids with her and being a loyal loving family man. What the hell is wrong with him? Now I finally,  finally have the life that I wanted for both myself and Vanessa and he has the nerves to just walk into my life again? Thinking he can do that? Why are men such big fat pigs? Who has the audacity to look around in a restaurant, see his ex girlfriend with her daughter and obviously her new boyfriend and just walk up to them to ask: ‘Is this her?’. Like he knows Vanessa. Like he was there for her when she was just born!’

I let out a frustrated breath, as I cross my arms and stare out of the window. Henry gently places his hand on my thigh and lean my head back against the head rest of the seat.

‘Mommy, his new kid,’ Vanessa says, ‘does he have a part of that man in him?’

‘Yes, he does, so technically he is your half brother and the child inside the belly of the other woman is your half sister or another half brother.’ I look at Henry and say softly: ‘If that woman didn’t stray of course.’

Henry doesn’t say anything and the rest of the car ride continues in silence. This is crazy, I think to myself. That Wesley left my subconscious a long time ago and now he is all my entire family can think about.

When we’re back inside our house, I keep pacing around the living room, while Henry and Vanessa plop on the couch, carefully watching my moves.

‘Mom, can I meet him?’

I nearly collapse. ‘Excuse me, what?’ I ask, in a lot harsher tone than I usually talk to her, even when I’m angry with her. ‘Why on earth would you want to meet him?’

‘Olivia,’ Henry says, shaking his head, telling me non verbally that I need to tone it down a notch.

‘Because… I want to get to know him.’

I sigh deeply. ‘Sweetheart, he left you, before you were born. I think that is all you need to know about him. Besides, you have a great dad now.’

She nods. ‘I know, but I want to ask him something.’

‘What do you wanna ask him?’

‘Why he left.’

Oh my God, I’m going to cry and never stop. She wants to ask him that question, that is too pure and too sweet and it makes me want to kill Wesley even more. She looks so vulnerable.

‘Oh,’ I say. Who am I to stop her from doing this? Whether I like it or not, that man, that lousy piece of shit, is still her biological father. If she wants to see him, to get to know him, why should I stop her? Simply because I have personal vendetta against him, hate his guts and wouldn’t cry a single moment if he accidentally got under a bus? ‘On one condition,’ I tell her. ‘I am there every single second.’

Vanessa nods. ‘I want Henry there too.’ She looks up at him and says: ‘But only if you want to, of course.’

My daughter is so considerate and I love her for that. God, I did such a good job with raising her by myself. Where is the standing ovation I deserve?

‘I want to,’ Henry says. ‘For you I’d do anything. Maybe you should hug your mom. She looks like she needs it.’

Vanessa jumps off the couch and walks up to me. ‘I love you, mommy,’ she says.

‘Oh, sweetheart, I love you too. I’m sorry I was so hard on you.’

She shakes her head. ‘I get it, you are really angry. You really don’t like what he did, because you never got this mad at me.’

I chuckle. ‘No, that’s true. I’ll send him a text.’

≫≫≪≪

So tomorrow we are going to meet up with Wesley at a cafe. I chose a public place, because otherwise I’m tempted to kill him if we are somewhere more private. After I called Belle and vented for a good half an hour before I let her speak, she told me I was doing the right and mature thing. She also told me that after we met up, we should hang out, so we can talk about this, because it would probably be better for my blood pressure to immediately talk about the meeting.

And all of the sudden I’m in desperate need for some motherly advice, but counting on my own mother is out of the window. So with Vanessa and Henry we go to the Cavill residence and thankfully Charlie is there, so he and Colin can take Vanessa with them, to play some stupid games, walk around the house, while I can have a heart to heart talk with Marianne, Henry close by.

I haven’t spoken to him really since Vanessa asked me to see her biological father. The only thing he did was giving me tight hugs so I would stop pacing, give me a kiss every now and then and simply whisper that I was doing the right thing.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Henry right next to me and Marianne across from me, is weirdly calming. ‘You are doing the right thing,’ Marianne also says. ‘So, your friend Belle and Henry are right.’

I place my elbows on the hard surface, before I bury my face in my hands. ‘It was my grand idea to have some hot chocolate afterwards,’ I mumble. ‘Hadn’t I done that, we wouldn’t have run into him.’

‘Maybe we were suppose to run into him,’ Henry says, placing his arm around my shoulders. ‘Sweetheart, whether you like it or not, he is Vanessa’s real dad. She deserves to get to know him.’

‘But what if she likes him more?’ I ask and I realize that was my fear all along. ‘I tried so hard for her and what if she meets him and thinks: oh, that man, I like him a lot more than I like my mom and the entire family she gave me.’

‘No, no, no,’ Henry says, ‘you know that is not going to happen. Because of your honesty to her all these previous years, she is well aware of what he did to both you and her. It’s always her biggest fear that I’m leaving after she did something that she shouldn’t do. I think she just wants some answers, so she can think about it.’

‘You raised a smart and intelligent girl, Olivia,’ Marianne says. ‘So I have an idea. Tomorrow the three of you go straight to us, you bring your friend Belle along too and we can have a nice long talk, to process this. It’s scary, my dear, I know that, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. You are a whole lot tougher than you think you are.’

I let out a sigh. ‘Yeah, you are right.’

Marianne asks me if I want some more tea and I think I want to. While she walks off to the kitchen, Henry presses a kiss on my temple. ‘How are you, love?’ he asks.

‘When we’re home, I think I’m going to take a long hot shower. You mind?’

‘Of course not,’ he says. ‘Vanessa and I can start on dinner, how about that?’ Henry has a smile on his face when he sees me nod. ‘I am proud of you.’ He leans in and gives me a long kiss. ‘I’m so happy that I can get to call you my girlfriend.’

‘You’re not scared?’

He nods. ‘I am, very much so, but I also have a lot of faith in your daughter.’

‘Our daughter,’ I correct him.

Henry blushes a bit and I pull him into a hug. I bury my face in his neck and let out a content sigh, for the first time in a few hours. ‘I love you,’ he whispers.

‘I love you too, Henry,’ I say. ‘And I trust our daughter too. Just promise me that if I have to go to the clinic, or to the bathroom, you keep an eye on them. Don’t leave him with her for a single second, okay?’

‘I was going to ask you the same thing too,’ he chuckles. ‘We’ll be alright, darling. I guarantee.’

≫≫≪≪

I’m surprised Wesley is early. He was always late when we dated. Maybe he did change, a little bit. Before we walk into the cafe, I stop Vanessa in her tracks and I say: ‘You can ask him anything you want. If there is something he says that you don’t like, you can tell him that. If you want to leave, you can just ask me or Henry and we’ll leave right away. Remember, you don’t owe him anything.’

Vanessa nods. ‘I know, mommy, you told five times already this morning.’

‘Don’t be a smart ass now,’ I say to her.

Henry places his heavy hands on her shoulders and says: ‘You have to cut your mom some slack, she doesn’t mean it like that. She is just still a bit mad.’

Vanessa chuckles. ‘I know. Mommy, it will all be fine. You are here, daddy is here.’

‘I’m sorry, you’re right.’ I give her a big kiss and say: ‘You are a good kid.’

The three of us walk into the cafe and Wesley stands up from his spot. Vanessa walks over to him and holds out her hand. ‘Hello,’ she says, ‘my name is Vanessa.’

Wesley takes her hand in his, while he keeps standing up. I don’t want to compare (but I’m still gonna), but all the insanely tall Cavills crouch down when they talk to her. ‘Hi Vanessa, I’m Wesley.’

‘I know who you are, my mommy told me all about you.’

You go, girl. I’m so proud of her already and I can’t believe that my daughter is handling this situation a whole lot better than I am.

Wesley nods and looks at Henry. ‘Aren’t you the actor?’ he asks. ‘Henry Cavill?’

‘I certainly am,’ Henry says, shaking my ex boyfriends hand.

We all sit down, order something to drink. While I am in the desperate mood for some vodka, I decide to go with a cappuccino, just to be safe. I ordered Henry not to break the silence, because Wesley wanted to meet Vanessa so badly, so he should keep up the conversation.

Vanessa takes a sip of her apple juice and looks at Wesley. ‘Can I ask you a question?’

I think Wesley is grateful that she decided to break the silence, because he nods. ‘Of course.’

‘Why did you leave my mommy?’

‘Because I was scared,’ he says. ‘I thought I wasn’t ready to be a dad yet.’

There is so much I want to say to him. You think I was ready to become a mother? You think I wasn’t scared?

Vanessa sighs and I see her bottom lip tremble. God, this is too much for me to handle and I want to jump up, hoist her up in my arms and while I walk out of this cafe, punch Wesley right in the nose. ‘Why didn’t you want to love me?’

I look at Henry, who places a comforting hand on my leg. It might be uncomfortable now, but I know that this will be good for Vanessa and for me for that matter.

Wesley doesn’t know what to say.

‘Am I that unloveable?’ she continues to ask.

Now I can’t keep my mouth shut, because now she is doubting herself and as a mother I can’t let that happen. ‘No,’ I say to her. ‘You are not unloveable, don’t you ever think like that again.’

Vanessa frowns. ‘But he didn’t love me.’

‘He didn’t even want to love you. He didn’t even try,’ I say, not caring he is there and can totally hear this. ‘Remember sweetheart, he walked out on you and me, not the other way around.’

‘I was scared,’ Wesley tells me.

‘Don’t you think I was?’ I ask him, absolutely dumbfounded. I turn to Vanessa again and ask her: ‘Remember what I always tell you? About fear?’

She nods. ‘That you are allowed to be scared, but that it should never stop you in life.’

‘That’s right. But sweetheart, you were talking to Wesley, I’m sorry I interrupted.’

Vanessa shakes her head. ‘That’s okay, mommy. You can always interrupt me.’

Suck that up, Wesley, I think to myself. My daughter is fucking polite and I did that all by myself.

‘You know,’ Vanessa continues, ‘I always wondered why I didn’t have a dad. Kids in my class have one and I wanted one too.’

‘I understand,’ Wesley says, though he grows more uncomfortable with the second. I bet he underestimated my daughter and her communication skills and now he should deal with the consequences of that easy thinking of his.

‘And then my mommy met Henry,’ she says with a beaming smile. ‘He is a real daddy, you know. He bought me my first bike, my first Christmas tree and he took my out on a Valentines date two days ago.’

Yes, honey, please rub it in.

Wesley takes a sip of his coffee and he actually is trying to leave, I can totally see it in his body language. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Henry asks, picking up on those signs as well. ‘You sit down now. Vanessa is talking to you and you better listen to it.’

This isn’t the moment to think about hot and passionate sex with Henry, but tomorrow I’m off work a little bit earlier than usual and you bet your ass I’m going to spoil him in a whole lot of nasty ways before we have to pick Vanessa up.

‘Please, Vanessa, continue,’ Henry says to her with a loving smile.

Vanessa nods. ‘He is going to adopt me soon,’ she continues, eyes shining bright with excitement. ‘And then we are officially a family.’

‘Right.’

‘My mommy cried a lot because of you. She didn’t know I saw her, but usually at night she would cry on the couch. I heard her talking to my auntie Belle about you and that I don’t have a daddy. That’s your fault.’

Henry and I exchange glances and he seems to be impressed by our daughter.

‘Vanessa,’ Wesley says, ‘I don’t want to have this conversation with you.’

She seems a bit shocked. ‘Why not?’ she asks.

‘Yeah, Wesley, why not?’ I ask him, crossing my arms in front of my chest. ‘Tell her why not.’

‘This is a grown up conversation.’

‘No, it’s not,’ I retort. ‘It’s about her, so she should have a conversation with you and if you are intimidated by a seven year old, then you are really even less of a man than I figured you were.’

Henry clears his throat. ‘You keep your ass on that chair and if you don’t do that, I have no problems at all forcing you onto that seat. You listen to Vanessa and you have a conversation with her. Right here and right now.’

Wesley is getting more and more frustrated right now, but I’m not cutting him slack. No, he wanted this. He ruined my perfect day by forcing himself basically into our lives.

‘So, you have a son and almost a new baby, right?’ Vanessa asks.

‘Mhm.’

‘Do you love them?’

‘I do,’ Wesley says.

She thinks about her next move long and hard. ‘Cool.’ Vanessa simply stares at him and even tilts her head. ‘I don’t like you.’

My mouth falls open and I can’t help but feel so proud of her.

‘Excuse me, what?’ Wesley asks.

‘I don’t like you,’ she repeats, rolling her eyes and I can almost hear her thinking: Are you deaf? ‘You made me sad, because you walked out before I was born. You made my mommy sad and very angry yesterday and I don’t like it when that happens. I am happy that I saw you, because now I know that you… Mommy, can I say this?’

‘Go for it.’

‘Now I know that you really are an idiot.’ She looks at Henry. ‘Right, daddy?’

Henry nods. ‘You’re totally right, sunshine.’

‘You allow this?’ Wesley asks me. ‘You allow this kind of talk?’

‘I didn’t know you had the right to give an opinion about my parenting skills,’ I say to him.

‘I wanted a second chance, but with what you are telling her about me…’

‘Is the truth, buddy,’ Henry says. ‘What did you think would happen? That they waited seven years for you to come back? Of course not. You left them and Olivia made the brave choice of raising her daughter with the upmost honesty and respect, something that you obviously lack.’

‘And you think you can just barge into their lives and be the savior?’ Wesley retorts.

‘Excuse me?’ Henry asks. ‘I’ve been acting more like a dad to Vanessa in one day than you have been your entire life. I think you should be grateful that I swooped in and give her the dad she deserves to have.’

‘Wesley,’ Vanessa says and he looks at her. ‘I hope you love your new kids, because they deserve a dad.’

That’s more maturity than I could ever have. Did I raise this girl?

‘I have to go,’ Wesley says.

‘No, you’re not. I didn’t hear Vanessa was finished,’ Henry says, clearly getting more and more frustrated with Wesley. ‘Sunshine, you finished?’

‘Almost.’

‘Listen to the young lady,’ Henry says, his eyes not leaving Wesley once.

Vanessa clears her throat and says: ‘I don’t want to see you ever again.’

‘Well, make two of that, sweetheart,’ I say.

‘Three,’ Henry mumbles.

‘Now you can go. I finished my apple juice.’

Wesley looks at me, jaw clenched and ready to murder me. Honestly, I don’t even blame him. If I were a coward and in his shoes, I’d kill me too.

‘You know, sweetheart, we’ll go instead,’ I say to her. I get up from the chair and say to Wesley: ‘I bet you wished you didn’t walk up to us now, didn’t you?’

I grab Vanessa’s hand and with Henry we walk outside of the cafe. The second we are outside, I lift her up in my arms. ‘I am so proud of you, baby.’ I press tons of kisses on her faces, causing her to squeal. ‘You are the biggest bad ass I’ve ever met in my entire life!’

Vanessa hugs me tightly. ‘I’m happy he left you, mommy.’

‘That was the biggest blessing ever.’

Henry gives Vanessa a kiss on her cheek and says: ‘I’m so proud of you, sunshine. He is indeed a big idiot.’

The door of the cafe opens. ‘What the fuck was that?’ Wesley fumes.

‘Language,’ I tell him sternly, like it’s going to work. The word ‘fuck’ slipped my lips multiple times and thankfully Vanessa understands she can never repeat that word.

For now, at least. When she is a teenager, I sure hope she starts to use it then.

‘You totally set this kid up,’ he continues. ‘Talking bad about me behind my back.’

‘Well, I would’ve talked bad about you right in your face, but you walked out of my life, remember?’

I feel like Wesley is about to attack me, but Henry steps in between us. ‘I would suggest you leave. Vanessa told you she doesn’t want to see you anymore and I think you should respect that. We have your number and will call you if she changes her mind.’

‘And you,’ he spits, ‘you honestly think you can waltz into their lives?’

‘I do, actually and I did waltz into their lives. Turned out to be amazing. Honestly, Wesley, you don’t know what you’re missing. Vanessa is such a bright and intelligent and well spoken girl and Olivia is fascinating on her own and an amazing mother.’

Wesley doesn’t have any control over himself anymore, because he launches forward, planning on hitting Henry, who doesn’t seem impressed one single second. Henry grabs my lousy ex boyfriend by his collar and pushes him against the wall. ‘What was that?’ he asks unbothered.

God, he is sexy and this is totally doing things to my panties right now.

‘Let go of me.’

‘Only if you promise us you stay out of our lives and we never see you again, unless we had some sort of aneurism and weirdly enough want to see you.’

‘Fuck you.’

‘Language,’ Vanessa and I yell at the same time.

Henry chuckles. ‘It’s very simple. Just say you promise and I’ll let you go.’

Wesley clenches his jaw. ‘I promise.’

‘Easy, wasn’t it?’ I could’ve known that Henry wasn’t going to just let him go. He throws Wesley to the ground and says: ‘You big piece of shit.’

‘Mister Cavill,’ I say with a smile when he walks up to us again. ‘That was quite something.’

He gives me a long kiss and despite the desperation I can feel, he is holding himself in not to slip his tongue inside my mouth. ‘I love you, darling,’ he mumbles against my mouth. ‘And I sure hope that we never see this idiot ever again.’

‘I think you took care of that.’ I look at Wesley, who pushes himself up and walks away, without looking over his shoulder once.

‘You are truly Superman, daddy,’ Vanessa says with a smile. ‘We are really tough, aren’t we?’

‘We are, sunshine.’ He presses a kiss on her cheek. ‘We promised grandma Marianne we would go to her after meeting Wesley. How about we bring something sweet to her place?’

‘Like what?’ Vanessa asks.

‘I was thinking some cake, you agree?’

‘Yes, I agree!’

≫≫≪≪

The Cavill and Tran family groupchat

Piers: I already told you guys, but I am proud that you told that idiot off and please tell me what Vanessa wants. I want to buy her a present for being such a total bad ass.

Charlie: I swear, if I ever run into him, I’m going to throw him accidentally in front of the bus. What a fucking idiot.

Mom: Charlie!

Charlie: What? You said the exact same thing!

Mom: But with you, I never know if you mean it. I don’t want any of my kids in jail, even if I agree with your actions.

Dad: I’ll do it then. I’m old anyways. I have nothing to lose.

Mom: Colin!

Niki: Yeah, you go dad. You go throw that fucking moron in front of the bus.

Henry: I support you, dad.

Olivia: Not to be that kind of person, but I’d rather you spend time with Vanessa than in jail. Please leave the idiot alone.

Mom: Finally some common sense in this group chat. I’m glad we added you, Olivia, because it can be hard being a woman alone with these guys.

Dad: So I can’t throw him in front of the bus?

Olivia: No, I’m sorry. I can tell you this though: resisting the urge to kill him, will get easier over time.

Henry: I hope you are right, love.

Simon: Not to be that guy, but Olivia, can you give me Belle’s number?

[mccoymccoymccoy]

Wesley - Fair

A/N: ain’t it convenient that y’never have to wait in a line?? 

Word count: 2827

“What should we do first?”

The scenery around you was too incredible a sight to respond to your boyfriend’s question. While passing through, the Enterprise had been hailed and invited to come to relax for a bit- there was a fair happening this weekend, they said! The inhabitants were an incredibly peaceful people, but curious, and only wished in return to meet and learn from some of the senior officers. The captain was apprehensive at first, of course, but commander Riker and Wesley had been able to get through to him after organizing a few fully in-depth scans and reports of the planet that proved no ill-intent. 

Your mouth was slightly agape at all the colours and attractions surrounding you. There were countless rides- You weren’t sure what most of them were, but they looked absolutely thrilling. Twinkling lights in the evening light, music blaring, people milling around enjoying themselves, the smell of sweet treats drifting towards you… It was all so much to take in. And since the people wanted to speak with the senior officers for a bit before they got a chance to join, you and Wesley had a while to hang out on your own without worrying about his mom coming to check on you.

“Earth to Y/N, you there?” He tapped your shoulder. You turned to the side to face him, and as soon as his eyes met yours he mirrored your grin. It was infectious- there wasn’t anything like this to be excited about on the Enterprise! There was the holodeck, of course, but knowing it’s the real thing brought on a different feeling. “Yeah, I’m here! We’re here! We’re here!” The excitement was practically oozing out of you, it was hard to keep your eyes on Wesley. He giggled and took your hand, which you promptly used to lead him into the mess rather than the other way around. With Wesley being dragged in tow, you marched straight over to a chain of large booths decorated with plush toys to be won. A large Cardassian man stood behind the counter of the first one with an impossibly wide grin. 

    “Welcome! Know how to play?” He asked, gathering darts to give to you. There were balloons behind him, so you assumed the goal was to hit them, but you shook your head anyway. Wesley stood next to you and leaned on the counter while the man explained. “Red balloons are worth one point, yellow are worth three and blue are worth five. You get five darts,” he paused to hand the darts to you, “and the goal is to get fifteen points. Ready?” You nodded, smiling, then turned to Wesley. “Wanna split?” You held three darts out to him.

    “Hard to split an odd number. I’ll go after you, okay?” He curled your fingers over the darts and pushed your hand back. You nodded, then turned back and focused on the balloons. Three blue ones would be most efficient, but you weren’t entirely confident in your skills, and there was far fewer blue than yellow and red. Despite that, it was still the most logical choice to go with. Wesley stepped closer and set a hand on your shoulder as you took a deep breath and aimed for your first blue balloon. Like a rubber band snapping, you shot the dart forward, only to have it hit a yellow one that was nowhere near where you had aimed. “Aw, man!”

    “Hey, not bad!” The man offered. You wanted to win, not be patronised! Aiming again, Wesley squeezed your shoulder reassuringly. The next dart hit blue, at which both you and Wesley cheered. Your third and fourth hit yellow, which meant if your last dart hit blue, you’d have just enough points to pick one of the hundreds of plushies surrounding you. “You got this,” Wesley encouraged, by now having his other hand on your back and feeling just as excitedly anxious about your last shot as you. You lined up, aimed straight ahead for the blue balloon that taunted you at the start, and shot… and hit red. A large sigh shook through you, and it truly felt like the world was crumbling! “You did great, for what it’s worth!” Wesley cheered after pressing a sympathetic kiss to your cheek.

“Sorry, kid. Wanna try again?” You shook your head, wrapping an arm around Wesley’s waist for a moment before slipping away behind him. “Your turn,” you said, smiling again. You knew he could do it. And… he did, of course. Not only did he do it, but four of his darts hit blue, amassing a total of 21 points. Naturally. You had to try very hard not to feel insignificant next to him most of the time, but now wasn’t one. You were simply too excited to be here to worry about that. You both cheered at the last balloon, and the man behind the counter laughed before asking: “All right little man, what can I get ‘ya?”

As you giggled at ‘little man,’ a grinning Wesley turned to face you. “Which one do you want?” You smiled, but sighed. “Wes, if I recall correctly- and I’m sure I do because it was just ten seconds ago- you scored the points, not me. What do you want?” He thought for a moment before his eyes lit up like the stars, however, he continued as seriously as he could. “I want whatever you want.” You shook your head and sighed, but smiled a little bit as you vaguely gestured towards the one you had your eyes on. “The big orange tribble?” He prompted, knowing fully well that that wasn’t what you meant. Wesley Crusher? Teasing you? You shook your head exasperatedly. “The rabbit, please?” 

He grinned at you and nodded to the man behind the counter, who promptly grabbed the plush rabbit and set it down in front of you. It was a soft and velvety peach colour, with a big white bow around its neck and little white hearts on its paws. You took it, hugged it close, and waved goodbye to the man as Wesley took your hand and started to guide you away from the stall. 

“Thanks, Wes,” you said quietly, kissing his cheek quickly as you walked. He smiled at you in return and replied: “No problem. Are you gonna name it?” You hadn’t thought about that yet, and turned your head back to the view around you to consider before looking back at him. “Dunno. You got any suggestions?” He shook his head and looked out ahead. 

You walked in comfortable silence for a few moments before stopping in front of a large, colourful, and oddly shaped building. You leaned forward and read the sign on the gate out loud. “Funhouse?” The man standing next to it- this one seemingly human- grinned down at the two of you. “Y’never heard of a funhouse before?” Both of you shook your head this time, wondering what it could mean. Wesley looked at you. “Should we try it?” You nodded, beaming once again and adjusting your hold on the rabbit plush. The man opened the gate, after which the two of you walked through and into the strange structure. 

Upon entry, there was an even more colourful room with two hallways to choose between. You chose left, and through that found a room full of warped mirrors. “Y/N, look! You’re taller than me!” Side by side, you were both in front of two different mirrors- his squashed him down to a third of his height, and yours stretched you almost to the ceiling. He laughed, wrapping his arms around your waist and spinning you around- you looked so funny from all the different angles! Regretfully shoving him off, which earned an adorable whine, you prompted him to continue through the house. “C’mon, c’mon! We gotta go check out the other hall!” 

Through the other hall was a set of stairs that were each a different height, and on the floor above was a room filled with poles reaching from the floor to the ceiling. You had to weave your way through them to get through to the next room, where you found just a balcony that overlooked the attraction and a ladder not unlike the stairs. While you started to climb the ladder, which was quite difficult to do while holding on to the rabbit, Wesley walked over to the balcony and stood for a moment. “Coming, Wes?”

“Isn’t it pretty?” He looked completely lost in the view. Hopping off the ladder, you stepped over to join him. It was absolutely gorgeous- You could see everything the fair had to offer. You didn’t think you could get sick of it, but you did want to finish this little attraction. “Positively stunning,” you quipped, mocking him though you agreed. “I wish I could see it from higher,” he sighed. Your heart skipped a beat at the thought of going any higher than the next floor. “Higher? Are you crazy?” He smiled at you with furrowed brows and kissed your cheek quickly before slipping away to climb the ladder. 

You made your way up as well to find one long room with conveyor belts crossed along the floor and tubes hanging from the ceiling, once again having to navigate through them, only this time with a floor throwing you left and right with each step. Wesley took your hand, and you hopped along behind him, giggling when a tube he pushed out of the way hit you in return. 

At the end, there was a slide. Wesley stood aside and gestured for you to get in first, then sitting behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist. Yours were around the rabbit, but you shifted one to put a hand over his. “Guess it was more interesting on the outside, huh?” It was more of a statement than a question. “Yeah,” he responded in a small laugh. “Ready?” 

You hummed happily in response, and he pushed the two of you down. It seemed like a startlingly long slide- it curled around more times than you cared to count, which was probably why. When you got to the end and stood up, you promptly stumbled forward, and probably would have hit the ground had Wesley not grabbed you and pulled you into his chest. You smiled and enjoyed just being close for a moment before he turned you around and started dragging you forward again.

    “Aw, what’s the rush? No hugs for poor ol’ me?” He turned his head to offer a smile for your whining, and you couldn’t help but return it. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a good ride in mind for next, and we’ll be plenty close there.” What was he planning? You passed a food stall that put a little growl in your stomach. Hopefully, whatever it was, you could eat after…

    “Here!” You looked up ahead of you to see the one thing you had hoped not to encounter tonight: the Ferris wheel. Your stomach did a somersault, and suddenly, you weren’t quite so hungry. “Wesley, I’m sorry, I really don’t think that’s a great idea.” 

“Come on, it’ll be fun! We’ll be able to see everything from up there,” he insisted.

“Wes, please, I-” He pouted, and it was like he cast a spell, because you couldn’t continue saying no when you looked into his eyes. You sighed, pinching your forehead and looking down to your dearest ground. “Fine, fine. Don’t you dare let go of me though, or I swear when we get back down here I’ll just cry on you.”

“Of course!” He grinned and kissed your cheek before tugging you into the car at the bottom of the wheel. A ball of anxiety started growing in your stomach, and you tried your best to ignore it as the lady running the ride locked a bar over your laps. “It’s totally safe, see?” You nodded, tucking the rabbit into the space between your lap and the bar. You looked at him, and he had to try hard to hold back his laughter- your face had gone pale from the fear, and you looked like you would either throw up or punch him at any given moment. “Hand. Now.” Wesley picked up your hand immediately and you scooched closer to be right next to him. “It’ll be nice,” he whispered, wrapping his other arm around you. You had to admit, he did a good job of making sure you felt safe. 

The ride started to move and you breathed in sharply. Wesley giggled and rubbed his hand up and down your arm as the ground got further and further away from you. The wheel spun painfully slowly until it stopped about halfway, halting suddenly- the car swayed gently, not doing anything to ease your fears. You snuggled into Wesley’s side and heard him sigh gently. “Y’know how cute you are?”

“Shut up.” You never meant to snap at him, but this was truly pushing your buttons! He chuckled and kissed the top of your head. His next words were softer than you’d heard from him in a while, inviting you to look out at the ground instead of staying curled into his shoulder. You did so, turning your head and peeking with one eye at the sight in front of you. It wasn’t too much yet- you were only about twenty five feet above the ground, what you imagined the third floor of the funhouse must have been. You lifted your head entirely and looked around. 

It was fully dark out now, making the contrast between the lights and the sky even prettier than earlier, but otherwise the same. People were still running around, kids were on rides, it still smelled marvellous- just up high, which wasn't necessary to you to enjoy it. “See, if this was the top, this would be fine! Great, even!” As if your fearful words had prompted it, the wheel began to move again, causing you to withdraw into Wesley’s shoulder again.

The seconds seemed to last a lot longer while waiting for it to reach the dreaded top. But it did, and you did not move an inch. Wesley shook your shoulder gently, giggling at your clinginess. “How do you manage living in space, hanging in an infinite void, but you’re afraid of heights?” You looked up at him, blushing with frustration. He did have a point.

“It’s different! In space, you’re not stuck in an open seat fifty feet above the ground!” You gestured around you, and he smiled.

“I mean, there is always a small possibility of losing control and crashing into a planet.”

“Shut up, Wesley! Just hold me.”

“Could I do you one better?”

Before you could ask what he meant, he was kissing you. It wasn’t the first time you’d really kissed, instead of just little forehead or cheek pecks, but it sure felt different. He pulled away too quickly, though, at which you pouted. “Ah, was that- was that okay? I should’ve let you answer first, I’m sorry, I just thought it would be romantic to take you up here, and-”

You cut him off with a kiss of your own, squeezing his hand tightly and bringing your other one over to cup his cheek. He smiled against your lips and broke away for a moment. “See? Not so bad up here,” He cooed, moving his own free hand to mimic yours and brushing his thumb over your cheek. You blushed, knowing fully well you were still paralyzed by fear. “Not so bad no. I’d still rather kiss you on the ground, though.” Wesley smiled at you. “Is that a promise?” Cheeky boy! You leaned into his side again, taking his free hand into yours. “Sure,” you started, smiling at the thought. “It can be.” 

For as slowly as the seconds seemed to move before, they seemed to slip between your fingers now- the ride started moving backward, rolling you down to the last quarter mark. There was a comfortable, content silence. If you tried to categorize it, you’d call it light and fluffy, maybe. Wesley was absentmindedly brushing his thumb over your hand, and you started to match your breathing to his to ease the anxiety that was still sitting in your stomach. Before you knew it, though, it was moving down again, and when it stopped at the ground, a wave of relief rushed through you.

“See? We lived!” You giggled and punched him playfully in the chest, but thought for a moment. You swallowed hard, knowing what you were about to say was likely to make you feel even worse.

“Should we go up again? We didn’t really get to see the view like you wanted.”

Wesley beamed at that. He nodded, tightening his arm around you and kissing your temple. The car started moving again, and this time, it didn’t seem so scary.

[ultraweirdgirl13]

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES LIVE-BLOG(?)

Season 1 Ep 2

- why are there diaries perfectly aligned with one another's? That's extremely weird

- look at Jeremy pining over that girl who's name I forgot Vicki, so cute

- so is that girl who's name I forgot Vicki going to become a vamp?

- that history teacher has a personal vendetta over Elena and Stefan for no reason whatsoever. I mean, look at his ugly, dumb ass grin. I hate this dude.

-Now, don't get me wrong, Paul Wesley is attractive. (Not my type, but still attractive) But something's off with his face, i just don't know what yet.

- So Bonnie IS a witch. What about Caroline though. Isn't she Lizzie and Josie's mom? Where are her witchy powers?

- hate this teacher. He really wants their aunt to give them up. Man, FUCK YOU AND YOUR MAMA.

- Elena, when someone doesn't answer the door, that is not your queue to walk in their house anyways.

- Not gonna lie, that crow and Damon scared me. Also, what is up with those fuckin crows?

- Damon, getting straight to business. How manipulative. I love him already

- Has Damon come to finish the job? the answer is yes,

- yeah that plot is confusing. Stefan came back because Elena looked like his former ex-gf??? Does he want to date her? Cause of so then that's extremely creepy And how did he know where she was going to school? Or what she even looked like prior to them meeting???

- Damon, this is the third time attacking Vicki. I think you've made your point.

- Damon, what the fuck do you want? Cause it seems that all you're trying to do is to piss Stefan off. What's your end goal here?

- YAY, Bonnie's witchy powers. I see her as being the voice of reason for majority of their future problems.

- And it looks like Damon's next victim is non-other than Caroline.

- i'm honestly indifferent about Elena and Stefan, but whatever. I'm glad they're trying to be happy together

- And, of course this is the last scene.

[skullhaver]

It's 2021, and I'm watching Buffy for the first time.

The Virgil on my Buffy journey is my long-distance girlfriend, who has loved the show for years. We just finished season 4, and I wanted to write about my favorite episodes so far. I suspect some of my faves are beloved by most fans, but others are weird, personal picks. Buffy fandom, please don't come for me.

I thought this post would be short but I was wrong.

Hono(u)rable Mentions: "Band Candy" S3E6 and "Halloween" S2E6

Both these episodes have fun premises where the Scoobies run around Sunnydale after it was upended by zany, chaotic dark forces. "Band Candy" is fun for devil-may-care teen Giles. "Halloween" is fun for 18th-century-ditz Buffy. These are both very good, and are the sorts of episode I can imagine happily rewatching in the future. I just have more to pontificate upon for the other episodes on this list.

10. "Ted" S2E11

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode, but it did take me for a wild ride. Probably nobody else has strong feelings about this weird story where Buffy's mom dates a stereotypical cheesy family man, who turns out to be a controlling abuser, who turns out to be a robot. I remember shouting at the screen, "Did Buffy just kill a human man?? Is it okay in the moral logic of this show for Buffy to kill a human if he's a direct physical threat to her??" I knew Buffy would have deeper stories than the monster of the week formula we'd seen so far, but this early in season 2, I had no idea when or how that would happen. This was the episode that finally taught me that Buffy is largely not interested in moral ambiguity, or in exploring what it means to be good or bad. Except for season-defining exceptions like Faith and Angel, evil characters are simplistically, essentially evil. But it was wild to believe for a moment that Buffy murdered her mom's abusive boyfriend and would have to live with the consequences.

9. "Helpless" S3E12

When Buffy tries to be genuinely scary, it succeeds with aplomb. The premise of this episode is dumb and contrived ("Giles has to remove Buffy's powers without her knowledge for a seeeecret test by the Watcher's Council") but the chase and fight in this episode are some of the most tense and spooky scenes of the whole series so far. Buffy's vulnerability makes the stakes feel real in a way few other episodes manage. And Buffy's victory is all the more satisfying because she can't punch her way out of this problem, she has to be smart and creative. The fridge horror, of course, is that Giles would endanger her like this in the first place, but that gets sorted out over the emotional arc of the next few episodes.

8. "I Only Have Eyes For You." S2E19

Another spooky episode, this one a classic ghost story of forbidden love ending in murder - but with the twist that the ghosts possess people's bodies to have them reenact their final moments. I love stories about breaking a doomed-to-repeat cycle. I love weird shit like the snakes manifesting in the cafeteria. And I really loved the choice to have Buffy and Angel come to understand their feelings about their own relationship by embodying these ghosts - especially how they embodied different genders than their own to better fit the "roles" of the haunting story, thus subverting the expected pattern. I found this episode clever, poignant, and effective.

7. "Who Are You?" S4E16

"Faith and Buffy switch bodies" is a wild premise, but the real joy of "Who Are You?" is watching Sarah Michelle Geller being an extremely talented actress for 45 minutes, portraying a totally different character. Watching Faith confronted by kindness and love from Buffy's mom, Riley, and her friends, then getting launched into an existential crisis over it is so great. Also, I just dig a good church fight.

6. "Hush" S4E10

As stated above, love an episode that reminds me that these people are talented actors! Featuring demons that render all of Sunnydale unable to talk, we get to watch great physical comedy right next to tense, silent fight scenes. The visual creepiness of the Gentleman and their straight-jacketed weird little helpers is hard to beat. "Hush" is such a clever episode that it ascends monster of the week status to become almost Twilight Zone-esque. Also, for the first time, Buffy sees Riley doing his Initiative thing, and Riley sees Buffy being the Slayer, but they can't talk about it?? That's good shit.

5. "The Wish" S3E9

Both "Something Blue" and "The Wish" feel like the writers decided to use fanfic premises on their own show... so obviously I like them a lot. But getting to watch a dark timeline AU with interesting world-building and attention to detail, a hilarious and horrifying Cordelia POV, AND a smirking kinky vampire Willow? Hello?? And the fact that the Wishverse comes up again in "Doppelgänger" (another truly fun episode) only improves my opinion. I imagine this is the kind of episode fans simply love coming back to.

4. "Restless" S4E22

This David Lynch-ass dream sequence was a weird choice for a season finale, but an extremely ambitious and cool episode. I should say up front that I love David Lynch-ass dream shit. There were creative and well-executed scene transitions as characters moved seamlessly from one dream room into another. Several memorably neat shots - Willow running between endless curtains as she tries to get onstage, Buffy alone in a vast desert with a weirdly high camera angle. And I got myself all excited thinking that the First Slayer would maybe become a different kind of antagonist - maybe not even fully revealed in this episode, or maybe an Id-like aspect of Buffy herself. But I forgot Whedon gonna Whedon, so the First Slayer had to be someone Buffy could punch in the end. And the First Slayer is sadly yet another primitive-themed, emotionally-stunted character of color for this show. Most of her lines in this episode are literally voiced by a white woman speaking for her, and of all the dumb quips to make, Buffy had a line about her hair being unprofessional? Also, I'm a lesbian, so the fact that the most explicit act of intimacy between Willow and Tara this show has allowed us to see occurs in Xander's horny dream sequence... it’s unforgivable, Joss. This episode was one of my favorites ever, deeply marred by some bad writing choices.

3. "Lovers Walk" S3E8

Spike, perhaps the best non-Willow character in this show, is back in Sunnydale, a hilariously heartbroken mess of a man, hell-bent on getting his former girlfriend Drusilla back. (Drusilla left him for a fungus demon.) So Spike breaks into a magic shop to get ingredients for a love spell, where he runs into Willow, who is getting ingredients for a de-lusting spell, because she is worried she and Xander will be too thirsty to behave appropriately in public with their actual partners, Oz and Cordelia. This is a hilarious moment just to exist. This is all the episode needed to do to satisfy me. But the fact that Spike then kidnaps Willow, and it ends with tragic stakes of everyone's relationships coming apart, not to mention me genuinely thinking Cordelia was dead for a minute there - wow. Chef’s kiss. The episode is balanced shockingly well between Spike being an ominous villain, and being the sort of lovable semi-evil (more gremlin-like) side character he'll become in season 4. What a wild ride.

2. "Graduation Day" S3E21-22

I'm counting this two part season finale as one because it's my list and I'll do what I want. "Graduation Day" feels like a quintessential Buffy episode executed to perfection. It has Buffy reaffirming her position as a moral heroine, sacrificing her own blood to save Angel's life even when she thought she had to kill Faith to save him. It has Buffy and Faith (or Buffy/Faith, as I prefer to think of them) getting to square off in a dramatic, tough fight. It has a lot of Mayor Wilkins, a character I truly adore for some reason. Nothing like a public administrator who plays mini golf in his office, wants you to chew with your mouth closed, and will kill a graduating class of high schoolers to gain immortality. The catharsis of the whole school getting to fight back against evil, instead of just Buffy against the world - a real joy. This episode misses the top spot for two reasons. "A special vampire poison and the only cure is the blood of a Slayer" is too contrived for me to let slide, and also I had to see Cordelia and Wesley kiss.

1. "Becoming" S2E21-22

Buffy’s season finales really do have good stories and satisfying payoff. First off, Buffy starts this episode by punching a cop and fleeing from the law. Later, Spike also punches a cop. A.k.a., Buffy said blue lives don't matter. Second - I haven't gotten a chance to comment on this yet, but all throughout season 2, evil Angel is such a joy to watch. As regular Angel, David Boreanaz makes exactly one face ("I am a kicked, angsty puppy") and bless his heart, it gets so tiresome. As evil Angel, he is so expressive, dynamic and terrifyingly creative in his badness. And I love his weird threesome energy with Spike and Drusilla. But also, it's so hard to watch Buffy suffer as she deals with her evil boyfriend doing evil things. Her ultimate choice in this episode, to kill Angel even as Willow's spell restores his soul, gave me some real big feels! Also, this episode marks the first moment of Willow doing big, plot-shifting magic on her own, solidifying her transformation from computer nerd to witch! 

Also, shout-out to the many good smaller moments in this episode: Spike making awkward small talk with Buffy's mom, Buffy constantly dunking on Principle Snyder, and Giles being tortured by visions of Miss Calendar (RIP Miss Calendar, I was your biggest fan.)

"Becoming" is an excellent season finale and the kind of Buffy episode I imagine I will want to re-watch in the future just for nostalgia's sake.

[lovelyirony]

made up fic title: icarus, icarus (you flew too high)

"There is a kind of tragic joke. You can’t really keep a man down -good but often otherwise- because history’s mechanics are built to keep him from climbing toward the top. Somehow, Icarus gets to be reborn as Iron Man.” -Wesley Morris

When Tony was young, he didn’t think that limitations really ever mattered to someone like him, and...he was right. They didn’t matter. 

The Starks were a family you never crossed because one overly-polite tone of disapproval from Maria Stark could send your social pedigree reeling. Just one scoff from Howard Stark sends your whole world plummeting. 

And Tony? 

Well...he learned both sides of the coin. There’s no telling what kind of damage he would do if he cared about others enough to. 

At least, that’s the picture he paints for all to see. The mediums he use are just fascinating. 

When Tony was little, he was the darling of American media. Whip-smart but in the “aw gee mister” Dennis the Menace nature that earned a ruffle of the hair, a disapproving-but-gentle-smile from his mother. 

Outside of the cameras, Tony was left alone. His mother would much rather dedicate her time to her socialite friends, trying to rejuvenate the feeling of youth that had fled so long ago, rushing in expectations of adulthood that she was loath to accept. 

His father wanted to focus on a man that was left on faded posters, advertising war bonds and a solution to a war that involved far more than anyone wanted to admit. Howard Stark much preferred to look through the world with amber-tinted glasses, and he didn’t much care if his son had a different tint. 

The thing about Tony as a child was this: he really was naive. Looking back on it, he should’ve seen his parents’ faults. 

But when you’re a kid, and when you watch TV shows and you read books for kids your age, all of the pictures and words depict parents as loving. 

So you think yours are too. 

Or, you think that maybe they’ll love you if you do the right thing. You don’t really know what the right thing is, so then you look towards one thing you should never look to: perfection. 

Maybe if you can get straight A’s, your mom will look at your report card and she’ll be proud. 

Maybe if you can perfect the robotics of one of the machines that your dad has been having trouble with, he’ll take an interest in what you have to say about the possibility of mirror technology for planes for the military. 

Neither of these work. 

So maybe if you look perfect. Maybe if you never have a hair out of place, maybe if you attain the everyone-wants-to-be-me status your parents will notice. 

And they won’t. 

They never do, and Tony? Well. 

Sometimes, people realize that it is not their fault that their parents are terrible people. Others don’t, and they internalize that. They think it’s their fault. 

Tony works hard. He studies everything, and he just wants someone to love him for himself. 

And then he goes to college. 

Thrown into a situation where there is no parent to impress but they’re still hoping that the heir of Stark Industries makes good decisions. 

And he does. 

He’s nice to everyone and any time any of the staff wants him to go for any publicity stunt, he does. He wears slacks and button-downs and drags himself out of bed and brings extra pens for giddy autographs and answers every single question comparing him to Howard with a glittering smile. 

Tony’s so fucking tired. He’s just...it’s all too much. 

He doesn’t do anything drastic, of course. No, too many eyes on him for that. Doesn’t want to become the next celebrity shut-in for a “delicate constitution” and “stress from work” or whatever bullshit his mom will sell to the papers to make sure that his legacy stays untainted from any malicious words. 

But he does sit outside at two in the morning. Doesn’t matter if it’s pouring rain or snowing or so bitterly cold that after about twenty minutes he doesn’t feel his fingers. 

There’s a person at the front desk who sees him every single time he goes outside. 

James Rhodes, who did not originally want the night-owl shift, but got guilt-tripped into it because Hope needed to help her mom at her house. 

So now, here he is. 

Staring at Tony Stark, who still wears the button-down shirts and slacks outside and doesn’t carry a fucking umbrella. 

Jesus, it’s fucking depressing. He’s pretty sure he’s not supposed to be sad at the front desk for someone else’s sake. 

The next time, it’s a torrential downpour. Thundering and lightning comes crashing, and the windows shake with the noise. 

And there he goes. 

Except before he steps out, comes back soaked, James does the only thing he can think to do: 

"Tony Stark, you get your ass back in here,” he says. 

He knows he shouldn’t have said that. 

You say one thing to a rich white kid and you’re down the drain. 

Tony Stark just looks at him. 

“What?” 

“Get inside. You don’t need to go outside for anything.” 

“I didn’t know you noticed.” 

“You’re really the only person who comes here at two in the morning.” 

“I am?” 

“Well, besides people at parties on Friday nights.” 

“Oh.” 

“Why do you go outside?” 

Tony freezes. It’s not a question he wants to answer. 

“Why do you work so late?” 

“No one else wanted to.” 

“Oh. Why did you decide to work on-campus?” 

“Flexible hours and I don’t have to drive anywhere.” 

“That sounds nice. Are you really going to stop me from going outside?” 

There’s another clap of thunder, white flashing all across the room from the windows, the windows themselves shaking. The rain pounds harder. 

“I think if you go outside you’ll come back looking like a drowned rat, and you really don’t wanna look like that.” 

“And what do I want to look like?” Tony asks. 

“I don’t know,” Rhodey says. “But drowned-rat-look was so two years ago.” 

Tony cracks a grin at that. 

“Can’t argue with that flawless logic. I’ll see you later.” 

And he walks off, as casual as can be. 

Thunder still shakes the building. 

But James is a little bit more at peace. 

- 

And then. 

Of course there’s an “And then” portion. 

Howard and Maria Stark die. 

It was a car crash, an accident. James avoids seeing the papers that don’t seem to care how graphic the pictures are, they’ll show it. 

He doesn’t know how to approach Tony Stark about this predicament, but everyone else, it seems, is just dying to, so-

Oh god. Yeah. Bad timing. 

Tony Stark does not come down the stairs at two a.m. for a week. For more than half of that week he is back home. But on the last day, he is there. 

He looks tired. Which of course he looks tired. He’s had people shove cameras in his face and he probably had to go over wills and estate hearings or whatever it is he needed to do. 

“I’m not coming back,” he tells Jim. 

“For the year, or for a long time?” he asks, because that kind of thing is something he’d like to know. 

“Ever. They don’t want me to start running the company.” 

“Why not?” 

“They say I’m too young. But that’s not the real reason.” 

“Okay.” 

And James leaves it at that. Because he is very much so not looking for any drama, it’s already drama enough that Tony’s parents died and there are already conspiracy gossip magazines just running with it. 

Tony is CEO, or at least co-CEO. He graces the covers of Forbes and Vogue and any other magazine that has any sort of interest in him. 

Another “and then” moment: 

He goes missing. 

He said he was ready for more responsibility, according to an article from Forbes. 

(What? James can keep up with news.) 

Tony Stark was ready for more responsibility, to prove that he could do what everyone said he couldn’t, to prove that he could further a legacy he didn’t want in the first place. 

So there was the Jericho missile. The demonstration went fine, all things considered by the US military report. 

The problem was that the cars got hijacked and Tony Stark was presumed dead. 

Ah. 

Another American society family gone to history books, and James Rhodes knew one of them at least on a somewhat personal level. 

He wasn’t going to tell anyone. 

At least not until he needed to pay off a loan or something. He’s not even sure what people would do with the fact that Tony Stark was a night owl who liked spending time outdoors. 

Maybe it’s because James Rhodes is gearing up for the military (at least, he thinks?) or maybe it’s because when he can’t go to bed he spends his time watching conspiracy videos and he shouldn’t do that, especially with all of the misinformation out there. 

People don’t think that Tony disappearing was a coincidence. It makes sense. 

Months after his parents death, and he assumes the role of CEO a year earlier than anticipated? 

Obadiah Stane has been working at that company for Tony’s entire lifetime and then some. It had to sting knowing someone without the “proper” years of education and familiarity would take over and maybe ruin whatever it was you had planned. 

So James Rhodes is kind of Concerned. 

- 

“You’re doing what?” His mama says over the phone. 

“I’m not gonna join Air Force,” Jim says to his mother. 

She’s been trying to convince him not to for about a solid year now. The reason she gives him is that he’s a damned fool who would probably get sent home with a broken foot or something anyways. He rolls his eyes at this. 

(The real reason is that she doesn’t want to see an American flag draped across a coffin she shouldn’t have had to consider.) 

“So what made you change your mind?” Dad asks. 

“Career opportunity. I’m going to work at Stark Industries.” 

“Doing what?” 

“Research and Development, plus a little bit of testing. I’ve been talking with a couple of friends.” 

“Which friends?” 

“You don’t know them, Ma.” 

“Why not?” 

James lets out a frustrated breath. 

“Because they’re from college.” 

“Doesn’t mean I don’t know them.” Mama scoffs, and he can hear her moving around the kitchen.

“You-I’m not gonna argue. You don’t know them, I do, and I’m going to see if I can get hired at Stark Industries or not. I’ll call you as soon as I get news.” 

- 

Stark Industries is hiring him as soon as he walks in for the department. With Tony gone, they need all the help they can get, even from someone with almost no experience. 

He learns. 

He learns a hell of a lot. 

He learns that Howard Stark was a fucking asshole who had no idea how anything worked, and everyone loves Tony because he’s fun and hardworking and he knows what the company needs. 

James hasn’t forgotten the message. 

They say I’m too young to be CEO. But that’s not the real reason. 

He doesn’t know what Tony means by that. 

Until Obadiah Stane starts talking. He’s always had a loose tongue, it’s part of why many SI employees can jump ahead of the curve on decisions and pick up loose ends. 

“The boy was always a jokester,” Obadiah says to his old colleagues, the ones who reek of cigar smoke and outrageously expensive alcohol. “Never wanted to play it seriously, and that’s how it was with the Jericho, you know? Just like his old man, Anthony was.” 

He gets a bad taste in his mouth. 

Tony was never someone to joke, at least not all the time. He had quips for the cameras, but he never once spoke out of turn. He was almost impossible to get a negative reaction out of, had never really had any press scandals that James knew of. No one spoke about anything if it had happened.

James decides to do something that is most definitely illegal, and will most likely make him homeless: 

He accesses files that he’s not supposed to. Files on Stane’s computer, files that no one else has access to besides a remote access somewhere in Afghanistan. 

Tony Stark. 

Sitting in a ripped up tank top, blood all over him. He’s looking to the camera with a sort of determination. 

Obadiah should be turning this into the FBI or CIA or whatever underground organization there is. 

But he isn’t. 

Which means that he probably paid for this to happen, and now there’s something to be done. 

-

“What are you doing in this office?” 

James’ head snaps up to see the PA of Tony, Pepper Potts. Said to have the fury of all the dragons in the world, impeccable fashion sense, and a competency that would scare off God. 

James is terrified. 

“Um. I kind of got evidence against Stane.” 

“You found the files too?” 

“Yeah? Wait, you know? Please tell me you’re not on his side.” 

“He wouldn’t ever be my choice of an ally,” Pepper says, wrinkling her nose. She whips out a flash drive, tapping some things into the computer before shutting it down. “No, you’ll be helping me get my old boss back. I refuse to quit, I hate job hunting.” 

James is pretty sure that this is not the only reason, but job-hunting does suck. 

There are voices coming down the hallway. Pepper freezes. 

“What should we do? I’m not getting fired, oh my god-” 

Obadiah walks into the hallway with the higher-up offices, and there’s Rhodes and Miss Potts discussing some sort of thing that the R&D department probably needs marketing help on. 

He doesn’t notice Pepper slip a USB into her purse, thinking it’s lipstick. 

Obadiah always jumps to conclusions far too quickly, Howard used to tell him that that was what was going to do him in. 

- 

The US military takes care of it. Or someone like it. 

Pepper knows someone named Phillip Coulson, which sounds honestly like a name that shouldn’t be the name of an American man. 

“We’ll get him back as soon as possible,” says Mr. Coulson, who has a bland smile that betrays nothing and makes James feel uneasy. 

- 

Tony comes back in one piece. He comes back with bonus material. 

Rhodes shouldn’t have thought that. But now he has, and that is that. 

Pepper Potts made him come onto the tarmac with her. 

Tony stills. 

“What the absolute hell are you doing here?” 

There’s no heat to the statement, can’t be when he’s as exhausted as he is. 

“Moral support,” Pepper says. “He also works for you, I thought that’s how you knew each other.” 

Tony gives Rhodes a hard look. 

“Sure.” 

They’ll have a discussion later. 

- 

He shuts down weapons-manufacturing. Rhodes can see Stane’s eyes glint with anger from where he’s standing. 

“We’re all just tired,” he says, chortling as if Tony coming back after being captured for three months is all one gigantic joke that’s just waiting for the punchline. 

“No,” Tony says. 

For the first time in his life, he says no for himself. 

“I’m not tired,” he states plainly. “Well, I’m tired of sand in my hair.” 

Cue uneasy laughs. 

Tony continues on. “I have been complacent for too long. And I want my legacy to not be a continuation of my father’s, but a better legacy. Which is why, effective immediately, weapons manufacturing is being shut down.” 

Flash go the cameras, and Rhodes doesn’t know how he’s swung it, but he’s helping stuff Tony into a car, and that can��t be- 

It’s a burger. 

“You want fries or something?” Tony asks. “You can have fries. I don’t really like the fries they serve, not my deal.” 

Rhodey eats a cold fry that honestly sucks, but it’s better than no food at all. 

“You’re back and you’re already causing a Mount-Everest-level of work,” Pepper says. “I’ve missed that.” 

“What, they’ve been boring you to death?” 

“Nearly,” she says. “Let’s get you home.” 

James is not sure what to do in this situation. Because he probably shouldn’t be going to his technically-boss’s-place-of-residence, but he’s kind of gotten caught up in the drama of this whole situation, and he’s not sure if he remembered to get his apartment key from his office. 

Tony Stark keeps looking at him. 

“Why did you...? I thought you were going to fight for the Air Force or whatever. I didn’t think you wanted a job with us.” 

“I didn’t,” he says simply. “But you said that they didn’t want you to be CEO, and it wasn’t just because you were on the young side. I figured that you needed someone to at least find out.” 

“Did you think I was dead?” 

“I was about seventy-five percent sure you weren’t,” James says. 

“And why is that? Because I’m an inventor?” 

“No. It’s because you would go out in freezing temperatures for an hour in nothing but slacks and a white button-down in college, which was weird. What were you doing, anyways?” 

“Not important,” Tony says. “Pepper, can you order more food? I’ve dearly missed American cuisine and all the sodium.” 

“You need to go to a hospital.” 

“Yeah, not happening.” 

“And why is that?” 

“I’ll...” Tony sends a look to James. 

“I’ll tell you when we get home,” he says quietly. 

“Do you have a phone I can use for a taxi ride?” James asks. 

“You can take one of my cars.” 

James has seen the various articles on Tony Stark’s ever-growing car collection. All of them are worth more than his entire life, and he is petrified of them. 

“I can call a taxi.” 

“What, scared you’ll screw up the paint job?” 

“Scared I’ll crash.” 

Tony laughs, and then winces. It seems that something’s weighing on him. 

“That’s the least of my worries. I’ll set you up with a Ferrari, then.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” 

“It should! It’s my least favorite.” 

“And you still have one anyways?” 

"They tend to be for appearances only, although occasionally they can get the job done. I wouldn’t take one for a road trip.” 

- 

So James is driving a Ferrari and trying not to die, even though his boss told him he wouldn’t. 

He makes it home and leans against the wall of his apartment. 

His neighbor had stared at him. 

“You get a pay bonus or something?” 

“Or something, Clint. Or something.” 

“Okay, okay, I get it. No questions asked.” 

- 

Returning to work is...an ordeal. 

“You bought a Ferrari?” Wesley asks, looking over the car. “How? I thought you hated them!” 

“I do, and that doesn’t change anything,” James says. “Now hands off the car unless you want Tony Stark himself to smite you down.” 

“He wouldn’t smite me down,” they scoff. “At the most, he’ll give me a strong talking-to that in no way rivals my mother’s reactions to anything I do.” 

James grins, laughing. 

“I’d hate to meet your mother.” 

“Believe me, so did I.” 

The conversation is cut short by Pepper entering the offices. 

“Rhodes, with me please?” 

“Of course,” he responds. 

For a few moments, there’s nothing but the click of Pepper’s heels and the steady thump of Rhodes’ work boots. 

“So. What’s going on, Ms. Potts?” 

“I need you to sign some NDAs.” 

“For?” 

“...you’ll find out.” 

- 

James is led to Tony’s personal work workshop, which is something incredibly fun to say twice as fast as you normally would. 

There is also something protruding from his chest, and Rhodes just stares. 

“So, is this like. A new thing?” 

“Relatively,” Tony says dryly. “I didn’t have it in college, safe to assume.” 

“I would’ve felt a bit like an idiot if you had had it and I failed to notice.” 

“Well, now you know. Pep, the paperwork?” 

Rhodes is slipped quite the stack of sheets, and is handed a pen that probably costs more than his pair of shoes. 

“So, what’s the reason for this?” 

"Well, you’re getting an NDA for this thing, and for a couple of other things,” Tony starts out. “I’m going to be letting you in on a secret that no one can find out about. And if they do find out, you are not going to like what I do to you.” 

“Noted.” 

“Meet me for dinner at seven,” Tony says. “Bring the car back, won’t you?” 

“Gladly, so long as you don’t call me Jamie.” 

“Not a nickname kinda guy?” 

“Not that nickname kinda guy,” he says with a wince. 

Tony smiles. 

“And Rhodey?” 

“I suppose I can’t petition for Jim?” 

“I know far too many ‘Jims’ in my lifetime, darling.” 

He doesn’t know how to feel about this, any of this. He doesn’t think his life is in danger, or else Pepper might have a sharper smile on her face like when she’s about to tear apart someone she doesn’t like. 

His boots make a steady rhythm on the floor as he exits, and he wonders if he should fill up the gas tank all the way as a courtesy. (When a man is richer than God, maybe, you ask a lot of questions.) 

-

James Rhodes, for once in his life, does not know what to wear. 

Usually, the nicest outfit he ever wore was a suit to his grandparents’ funerals, and then for church or any other event it was a polo shirt or a button-down and black pants with reasonably nice loafers. 

Tony Stark probably has on a suit that is more than a very nice, reasonably priced used car. Which is quite a lot, in Rhodey’s opinion. 

Oh god. He’s started thinking about himself with the nickname. 

He settles on a dark green button-down with no tie, and he drives the Ferrari about five miles under the speed limit and causes quite a bit of trouble for traffic. People honk. Someone in a lifted truck calls him a name that was really quite creative and unexpected. 

He arrives in one piece, which is a great deal. 

Tony is lounging in jeans and an old t-shirt, and Rhodey feels a bit guilty about his own outfit choice. 

“Sorry for the...shirt. Here are your keys.” 

“What’s wrong with your shirt? Looks great from where I’m laying,” Tony says, a hint of a grin on his face. 

“You want some pizza?” 

He relaxes slightly. 

Tony Stark is a very guarded man. His shoulders are tense even though he’s reclining as if he’s relaxing, and he’s looking at Rhodey with a look of curiosity. 

“So, why am I here?” Rhodey asks. “Besides pizza and returning car keys.” 

“We can get to that soon. For now, pizza. And talk with Pepper.” 

Pepper comes in, holding a wine bottle and balancing three wine glasses expertly in the other hand. 

She has to be a magician or a goddess or something. There’s no way someone can be that grateful. She also looks like a model in simple red shorts and an over-sized t-shirt advertising some old running event. 

“I see you forgot to tell him the dress code,” Pepper says. “You want a different shirt, Rhodes? It’ll be easier for later.” 

“If I could,” he says, slowly. “What’s it for?”

“Green not your color?” Tony asks, eyebrows raised.

“No, but button-downs aren’t my favorite.” 

He eats a piece of pizza and makes small-talk about pizza toppings. Tony loves pepperoni and absolutely hates Canadian bacon. 

“It is ham, call it what it is, and then never put it on pizza again,” he whines. 

Rhodey smiles. 

“I still stand by green bell peppers being the worst.” 

“Have you ever had good pizza?” Tony asks. “I don’t think you have, otherwise you wouldn’t be saying those things.” 

Pepper chucks a t-shirt at Rhodey. 

“It might fit a bit tight, but it should be fine.” 

“What exactly is this for?” 

Tony turns away as Rhodey changes into the shirt. He looks again when it’s all on, and Rhodey’s shifting a bit. It is a bit tight, but not bad. 

Tony is staring. 

Rhodey does not notice this, because sometimes Rhodey is very bad at observations. 

“Come with me,” Tony says. “I’m about to show you what will be, I think, the world-changing thing.” 

“A thing?” 

“A thing,” Tony says with a smile. “My legacy.” 

Inside is a treasure trove of toys and machines and Rhodey can see Dum-E, the robot that had been submitted to a robotics contest at MIT. He didn’t know he was still around. 

And then, the opus magnum of it all: 

(At least, Rhodey thinks.) 

“This is a flyable suit of armor,” Tony says. “And I need to make an offer to you.” 

Rhodey turns, looks at him. 

Tony breathes in, breathes out. 

“My father’s legacy was building weapons for the war, helping out wherever he could. He’s been hailed as a hero for years, and I was expected to fill his shoes. And I tried, I really did.” His face hardens as he looks down at the blue light emanating from his chest. 

“My attempt at becoming my father was perhaps the worst thing I’ve ever done, because it resulted in innocent lives being lost and my own ignorance to become someone I should never have been in the first place. This? This is the answer to it all.” 

“And what are you hoping to get out of me?” Rhodey asks. 

“Flying lessons.” 

“Flying lessons,” Rhodey deadpans. “You just built a knight-in-armor with jets or whatever, and you want me to give you flying lessons.” 

“Well, it’d be helpful,” Tony says. “You nearly went into the Air Force. You have to know more than most.” 

“Only sometimes.” 

“Better than never,” Tony says. 

“Why me?” Rhodey asks. “You could’ve asked anyone with military clearance or someone that knows you better.” 

“You never once questioned me in college,” Tony says simply. 

Rhodey stares. 

“That’s your reasoning?” 

“The reason why I’m his PA is because I didn’t bullshit on wrong answers, and Happy--his driver--got hired because he liked him more than other people,” Pepper says. “He has good intuition.” 

Rhodey takes another look at Tony. 

He looks determined. 

And he looks like he knows what he wants to do, and he’s going to make his own path. 

Rhodey can’t lie. He can’t say he doesn’t want to be there for that. He can’t lie and say he isn’t itching to get a look at the suit design, see where improvements can be made. 

He takes a deep breath. 

“So,” he starts, grinning, “When do I get my own suit? Can’t let you have all the fun.” 

Tony cracks a grin. 

“Let’s just try this one out first, pilot.” 

Rhodey grins, looking at the progress. Tony grins back, just as wide. 

“Well,” Rhodey says, nearly giddy. “Let’s start the future.” 

[ifeveristoday]

spoilers for #26 of Boom! verse Buffy

IN MEDIA RES!!! While I have done this in my own writing before and like using it, having #26 basically talking about the multiverse reveal in #25 while not showing any more of it is...incredibly annoying. I suspect Jeremy is holding it back for later issues, but ugh, I hate being Zeppoe-d like this, even though I ultimately enjoyed the issue.

things I liked without reservation:

Kendra and Faith becoming work friends and bonding over what a Slayer is supposed to do - ie, slay vampires, not get warm fuzzy feelings about them even though one of them is your former best friend. So the fallout of Faith staking Xander is still there, which is good.

Faith is trying not to let Buffy and Willow's weirdness about it get to her, but that's a stone that's just dying to be kicked over.

Kendra, Rose, and the little demon guy they've named Growly, watching TV (a ritual! with Giles!) at Giles's and Kendra's place. I love simple domestic quiet things, and the way the artist draws them - so literally soft. Patterned socks! Slayer and Normal (as far as we know) girlfriends. It can be done!

Giles being Giles and telling them he'll catch up on their show later.

And the quiet adult breakdown outside.

MOM AND DAD TIME - aka Anya messing/flirting with Giles, and him going no no no do not want, don't you understand I am VERY FRAGILE OVER THE END OF MY LAST RELATIONSHIP in a very restrained Giles manner and Anya just trolling him. Bliss. And aw, Anya saved him/them again.

Do I trust Anya? Hell no. I still think she is being the very omission of truth about what she's telling Morgan and the others.

Faith and Robin being propositioned for taking over for Giles and Buffy by the Mayor (I was expecting this but it's still a nice twist. Feels emotionally earned, you know?)

CORDELIA. WORKING FOR THE MAYOR AS A CLERK/ASSISTANT. FINALLY, a way to get her back into the narrative *and* she knows the potential trap Faith and Robin are walking into.

Ugh, Wesley really has learned nothing. This coup is not going to go his way.

things I'm kind of indifferent about:

Morgan being sequestered in one of Anya's pocket warehouses/universes biding her time. I like her as an original character a lot, but again - when you have too many characters, some are just going to be left out. Now we know her back story and why she killed those Watchers, it feels like Jeremy's phasing her out.

Only to bring in a new Vague Big No, We Promise, An EVEN BIGGER BADDEST BAD named Silas.

Like having the Mayor and Watcher Council team-up wasn't impressive enough?

Anyway, I don't care about Silas or his summoning of lurking demon dogs.

things I don't like:

Buffy and Willow breaking up, making up, and discovering they need each other. Again. I'm a bit frustrated - their relationship is a very important one from the OG Canon, but as later seasons proved, not one without enormous flaws due to characters growing up and lack of communication and biased writing - and I feel like Jeremy just doesn't know what to do with them besides having them fall out every other issue and then making up tearfully promising to be BFF.

Because the comics have established that Willow's platonic soulmate is Xander and that she's the love of his life, their relationship is going to be weighted differently than hers to Buffy. They've had a terrible loss, but because Xander is so formative to Willow's life (childhood besties!), his loss is going to hit her harder than it will with Buffy, understandably. So there's going to be a lot of trauma (you can't get away from it in any iteration of the Buffyverse) and I get the character beats Jordie and Jeremy laid down for Willow re: that. I loved the Willow miniseries as just some time to hang out with Willow without the Sunnydale drama.

But as the issues go on - there's a crack that started with his death that has created a schism with Buffy and Willow. I hesitate to call them best friends really, they're just close work colleagues to me - because all the high school stuff has faded into the background now.

But it feels like whenever they argue (both of them lashing out about the choices the other one made/didn't make) the reconciliation feels hollow afterward. Willow's blamed Buffy either indirectly/directly about Xander's death and bringing all this drama to her life more than once now, and Buffy just takes it.

And the story from Buffy's side is that she's suffering from PTSD from Hellmouth, seeing her other self die, and a will they won't they (firmly won't now) escapist relationship with Robin (the writers decided all the seesawing drama of Buffy's romantic relationships would be transplanted into her relationship with Willow I see), but she doesn't address what Willow (both regular and Darque flavor) says to her. She's just focused on slaying and trying to keep ahead of the council but I think I would have loved to see what she saw in Multiverse just so she could witness a better friendship with Willow.

I've been waiting for an issue where they really focus on Buffy and her problems not just solely tied into Slaying - a couple of panels in the last few issues were good, but for her eponymous line, Buffy is oddly missing from her own narrative. I like that the comics are giving underwritten/overshadowed characters their time in the sun and going more ensemble-like, but I miss Buffy. She's my emotional support character! She's my girl. I just think they could do more with her.

thing I'm cautiously embracing:

Embodied Ethan (from the OG timeline) getting stranded in the World WIthout Shrimp timeline and being possessed by his ghost. What even - how - it's going to be wild.

[wesreynolds]

NEW ACCOUNT WHO DIS? .. so it’s vee. did i just completly swap muses? again?? you BET I DID. i’m trash ok and what about it?? but anyways, you know the drill, drop a like and i’ll come to you

❛ ✶ ( JACK GILINSKY , CIS MALE , HE/HIM )  —  did you see WESLEY REYNOLDS walking around campus earlier ? i hear a lot of people talking about the TWENTY ONE year old JUNIOR . from what i know , they are studying BIOLOGY and are a part of PHI KAPPA DELTA . they come across as + LOYAL but also - COMPETITIVE , which makes sense because on their instagram ( @WESREYNOLDS ) it says they are a LEO when i see them , i think of WORN LETTERMAN JACKETS , A CLOSET FULL OF NIKES , HOISTING A BEER PONG TROPHY OVER YOUR HEAD , & THE SOUND OF A FULL STADIUM CHEERING YOUR NAME . the most interesting thing i’ve heard about them though , is the fact that REDACTED , but don’t tell anyone i told you that .

PINTEREST

Your typical golden boy

Star quarterback. He was basically recruited to play for beaumont with scouts banging down his door junior year in high school and got a full ride scholarship. made captain sophomore year which is hella impressive but he’s an impressive dude

The oldest of five with four sisters. He wasn’t always the best brother but he tries his best and is really protective of his sisters 

his parents are still sickening in love. when they first met they legit hated each other but hate and love.. such a fine line

Dad is a doctor and mom is a nurse and it’s all hella cute

Uber competitive. It can be a problem bc he honestly has no chill ok he wants to win

Natural leader typa guy

A really good cook 

Has a kick ass running shoe collection lol it’s actually a lil ridiculous 

Was a lil shit growing up tbh getting into trouble bc he had no outlet until he found football freshman year. Turns out he was really damn good at it

Loyal to his friends and his teammates and his family. Would go to war to protect them

smarter then he looks

Really charming and likeable it’s kinda annoying lol he’s that bitch that’s good at everything Chaotic good

Has dumbass tendencies. He’s impulsive and doesn’t always think before he acts !!

Hasn’t dated anyone since like high school probably because he’s only gon date someone he can be serious with u know? Someone he can bring back to his family He took the fall

connections?

all the usual bits ok i dont wanna write them all out again lol

thrill me fam!

[rileybraxton]

Name: Riley Braxton Nickname: Brax Age: 34 FC: Paul Wesley Occupation: Tattooist at Scorpion Studios Side: Wicked Wolves Length of stay in Charming: approx. 14 years Positive traits:  + loyal, + crafty, + brave  Negative traits: - damaged, - suspicious, - hotheaded

triggers: parental adultery. drug abuse. addiction. crime. needles. 

✚ middle child ✚ due to his mother having an affair ( for years ) he and his elder brother share different fathers. however, he and his younger brother share the same father ( the guy mamma cheated with )  ✚ he was always a reckless child. it only worsened when he hit his teens and fell in with bad crowds ✚ staying out, doing disappearing acts or coming home drunk, if not drugged up too ✚ to be honest, his entire attitude stunk. he showed little to no respect for his parents, or older brother who he considered a bit of an uptight snoot ✚ if he’s honest, the only person he wasn’t a total asshole to was his younger brother ✚ he was 16 when he came home and caught his mother in bed with another man. not just any man, but his fathers best friend. the truth was exposed, it turned out that the affair had been going on for years  ✚ his mother begged him not to tell and promised to end it and he agreed. asshole so he was, he didn’t want to be the reason his father crumbled and his brother ended up with a broken home ✚ his motive may have started out purely but over the months, his bitterness? it only festered. his behaviour worsened, the disrespect began to have an impact on his parents relationship. the father just couldn’t seem to understand why his wife was seemingly letting him get away with everything he was doing ✚ he’d ask her for money which he only went out and spend on drugs. small things at first, a pill here, a spliff there. somewhere along the way he managed to get hooked on heroin, though amazingly he did manage to hide his needle poked arms ✚ it was amidst a drugged up haze that he felt some kind of penny drop. he was sat on the rooftop, watching his parents, his brother and his fathers best friend when he noticed something he hadn’t before ✚ the similarities between his man and his brother, between this man and him. the more he sat and stared, the more he couldn’t see a trace of his “father” in his own features, nor his younger brothers ✚ all it took was one out-loud thought and his mother confirmed everything with the simple look on her face. it was a lot to process, too much in-fact. which is what lead to an explosive dinner that same evening ✚ his “father” was laying into him, which wasn’t unusual. shaming him for being such a fuck up. usually he’d sit silently and take it, but this time? the words came flying out his mouth before he could think to stop them “who the fuck are you to talk to me like that? you’re not even my father. ain’t that right, mom?”  ✚ the truth came out in a hateful splurge. everything from how the affair had been going on at least 17 years, straight to “oh, and the guy? sitting right next to you” aka, the best friend ✚ so, his not so biological father ended up focusing that betrayal back onto riley, which resulted in the pair of them going toe to toe, breaking everything in sight as they threw their punches ✚ being a little shit, he was fully egging him on, “come on. that’s right. hit me. your wife’s a whore and you’re laying into me? makes perfect fucking sense” ✚ it wasn’t until he managed to get him on the floor that he noticed his little brother on the staircase, pausing the punch he was about to land on his fathers face. a simple “shit” under his breath ✚ he got up instantly, all that rage on his face disappeared and replaced with a soft warmth that he reserved only for his brother. he left to take him back up to bed, leaving his parents and the not so decent best friend to fight it out between themselves ✚ in the end it turns out they decided to stay together and try and work through it, but it only served to create a toxic environment ( more so ) ✚ riley was 20 and fully hooked on drugs when he got himself arrested for grand theft auto and it was the icing on the cake for both parents ✚ they didn’t exactly kick him out, but they made it clear he wasn’t welcome unless he cleaned his act up  ✚ surprisingly, he did try, but only after he packed up and moved in with a friend. he went cold turkey and yes, that shit fucking sucked. it was basic agony for at least three weeks before he began to feel like he was getting better ✚ rather than return home, he did perhaps one of the shittiest things a person could do & he stole his mothers jewellery that were basically family air-looms, pawned them for a few grand, bought a car and hit the road ( not before saying goodbye to his little bro and promising him he would call and visit all the time. )  ✚ in truth, he wanted to take him, but he knew it was selfish, especially when he didn’t even have a secure home ✚ he ended up in charming, fresh faced and sober. he stayed in a motel for a few months, saving money from odd jobs and focusing his energy on building a life for himself ✚ he’d always been creative, drawing & sketching came so naturally to him that he decided to train up and become a qualified tattoo artist ✚ at 22, he finally got his own place to rent and things were looking up. he’d passed his courses with flying colours, made a couple friends and even met a girl who he fell head over heels for  ✚ the only trouble was, this girl was just as reckless as he was and their entire relationship was something like a beautiful tragedy. they’d party most nights and for the first few months, everything was fine. he managed to say no every time she’d offer him a pill, every time her friends offered something stronger. truth be told, he’s not sure exactly when he slipped up, or even why. but he did, and there he was once again sticking needles in his arms and wasting away. ✚ he ended up breaking up with his girlfriend and she hit the road with a couple pals not long after - he’s never seen her since ✚ he did a good job at hiding his problem, still managing to hold down his bar jobs to pay his rent, at least for a few months. everything changed when his 14 year old brother showed up on his doorstep with all his bags ✚ once again, he forced himself to go cold turkey. if his brother insisted on living with him, riley didn’t want him to watch him destroy himself. so really, he’s quite thankful that his brother showed up when he did, who knows, it probably saved his life ✚ back on track and finally in a good place, he fell in with the wolves and quickly realised that’s exactly where he needed to be ✚ some may say it’s tempting fate, running drugs considering he’s an addict, but he vowed the day they accepted him into their fold that he’d never make them regret it ✚ fyi, he hasn’t. whilst he has fell off the wagon twice since, he never did the wolves dirty. anything he took, he paid for, any job they gave him, he completed ✚ he probably drinks more than he should and he still enjoys a spliff, but he’s never touched any other drug in 3 years and to be honest, he’s very proud of himself ✚ he got a secure job at scorpion tattoo studios 2 years ago & he really enjoys it ✚ sooo, he’s clean, he has a job, a home, a family in the form of wicked wolves and a good set of friends. life is pretty sweet ✚ that’s not to say he’s not still very hot headed & impulsive. probably quite fuckin’ damaged too, but hey, all the best people are ✚ thanks for reading my novel 

wanted connections:

✚ younger brother - CLOSED ✚ oldest brother(who’s probably a cop or smth straight shooting) - OPEN ✚ friends - OPEN ✚ old/new enemies - OPEN ✚ friends with benefits - OPEN ✚ the original ex girlfriend mentioned above - OPEN ✚ maybe a repeat client who lets him tattoo him/her with his own designs? - OPEN ✚ someone who knows he’s a recovering addict maybe? since i imagine he doesn’t typically share that info, it could be someone who’s seen him attend a meeting, or is even a recovering addict themselves - OPEN ✚ literally anything!