#but does not do it because he wants meera to think he's cool

[orangeispice]

This is such a perfect PavitrMeera song, I take no criticism, this is absolutely gorgeous for them.

[loveislandthegamefan79]

Day 5: " Like A House On Fire" Part 25

The day went by as usual everyone doing their own thing and off talking to who they want to. You feel like having a wonder to see what everyone is up to and see how they are feeling about someone possibly being dumped. You head over to the gym first where you're sexy Irish man is and damn fine ex is.

Ariellea: Hey boys! Over here breaking a sweat 💦?

Finn: Hey Beour! You know me gotta get my daily routine in.

Suresh: Yeah, I figured I needed to a little lifting today myself.

Ariellea: Suresh, I figured you would be doing some grafting?

Suresh: Well, day isn't over yet.

Finn: You do you Suresh. Me, I'm not grafting no one I already maid my mind up who I'm picking.

Suresh: Well, Finny boy! Congrats to you.

Suresh is not showing it but he's annoyed that you and Finn choose to stay together. But you're not supposed to be annoyed at him. He literally be ignoring you and flirting with Valentina right in front of you. All because he's butt hurt about me not telling him about wanting to get married. You think to yourself { He says he's changing but at the moment he showing you he hasn't he thinks it doesn't hurt you to see him do this right in front of. You know it must hurt him to see you be doing it with Finn. What I am supposed to do, wait around to figure out he Suresh is ready to get his shit together? I really like Finn I do he is such a great guy. Suresh just don't know that he's the that has my heart not Finn} You sometimes wish Suresh would wake up and stop acting reckless just 'cos things aren't the way he wants them to be.

Ariella: Sooo! Are you two ok with being around each other after the choices that have been made?

Finn: Yeah, Suresh and I talked about it and we're cool 😎.

Suresh: Ariellea, I just want to see you happy. And if Finn make you happy, then I'm happy for you. For both of you.

Ariellea: You really mean that, Suresh?

Suresh: Yeah, I... I do. And me I'm going to be getting to know Valentina more, So! Yeah.

He sounds unsure but he choose to push you away and crack on with Valentina. Maybe he will come to his senses one day and figure out You're the only girl for him and stop playing these mind games with himself and you.

Ariellea: I'm proud of you Suresh.

Suresh: You are?

Ariellea: Yeah, for being the bigger man and not kickin' off about it. Maybe you are changing in some ways.

Suresh: Thank you, Ariellea. For the kind words.

Ariellea: No problem. Well boys I'm going to go see what everyone else is up to. Finn, catch up later yeah?

Finn: Of course babe.

You give him a little peck on the lips nothing to major you don't want to totally disrespect Suresh or rub it in his face. You head to the pool are where Alfie and Meera are they are having a blast with each other You are so happy that Alfie has someone he clicks with so well.

Ariellea: Hey guys! Looks like you two are having a blast over here?!

Meera: Oh my days, Ariellea! Alfie is so much fun to be around. He keeps me laughing so much. He's such a goofball.

Finn: Meera, is such a ball of fun. Not to mention very very pretty.

Meera: Oh, Alfie stop. You're gonna make me blush. So what are you up to today, Ariellea?

Ariellea: Oh just seeing what everyone is up to. And seeing how they feel about the recoupling.

Meera: It is so sad that someone could be going home tonight. I hope it's not me. I just got here and I'm really liking Alfie. He's the only boy I'm interested in.

Alfie: Don't worry that pretty little head of yours. You're not gonna go home tonight.

Ariellea: Does that mean you will be coupling up with Meera?

Alfie: You betcha. From the moment I saw her and she spoke to me I felt that spark that special connection I've been looking and waiting for.

Ariellea: I'm so happy for you both. I really am. Alfie you're such a sweet heart and so are you Meera. You two look so good together.

Meera: What about you Ariellea? Do you have the recoupling on you're in handled?

Ariellea: I believe so. But you never know in this place right?!

Alfie: Very true. Do you think Suresh will pick you?

Ariellea: I doubt it. We actually had a conversation about maybe taking a step back from each other just explore our options.

Alfie: Where does that leave you then? 'Cos I'm pretty sure Kat has Finn on lock.

Ariellea: I wouldn't be so sure about that.

Meera: Oooh, this is juicy. So what you saying? Finn is going to choose you over Kat?

Ariellea: Yeah, we had a deep conversation about it last night. And he basically said screw it and he wants to give things a proper chance with us.

Alfie: That means Kat most likely will be going home.

Kat: Yeap, Unless someone else chooses her. But I don't see that happening.

Alfie: WOW, this is mind blowing. They way they were with each other the past day or so and Finn told me kinds friend zoned you. It's just a shock. So he really changed his mind?

Ariellea: Yeah, we talked about for a while and made absolutely sure he wanted this. Then we did some bits some big big bits. If you know what I'm saying.

Meera: Oh my gosh, already?

Ariellea: Oh sweetie. It wasn't our first time. We've actually don't two other times.

Alfie: Damn, You got him whipped girl.

Ariellea: It's not just about the sex though with him, as amazing as it is. I genuinely like him a lot. And the feelings seems to be mutual.

Meera: Well, that's great. At least you're happy.

Ariellea: I am. I'm so over the drama at the moment with my ex. I came here to have fun and maybe find a new love. I just hope Suresh can respect that.

Alfie: Well, he's going to have to. Hell he seems to be crackin'on him self so he really has no room to talk, right?

Ariellea: Right, Well guys I'm going to let you get back to you're fun. I'm going to chat to some of the others.

Meera: Okay girls chat to ya later.

Alfie: Catch ya later Ariellea.

You walk away from Alfie and Meera you see Valentina sitting by herself you decide to go and talk to her. You want to let her know about the Suresh situation and that there will be no interference on you're end.

Ariellea: Hey, Valentina! Do you mind if we chat for a few?

Valentina: Sure, what's up? Everything alright?

Ariellea: Yeah, yeah everything good. I don't know if you know yet. But Suresh and I did have a little chat earlier.

Valentina: Yeah, seen you guys chatting earlier. Was it anything serious.

Ariellea: Not to serious. I just told him that I really liked Finn a lot and Finn and I want to give things a proper go. And maybe we should just explore our options. I know you know we have a lot of history and baggage. Suresh was a big part of my life for almost 2 years. But what he did hurt me really bad and I mean bad. I went through depression for a long time. And when I seen him here on day 1 I was in total shock. Cause we haven't seen or talked in many months. But anyway. My point is, you don't have to worry about me stepping on you're toes. If you two want to get to know each other that's great.

Valentina: I'm really sorry you went through that. Has he apologized for what he did?

Ariellea: Yeah, many times. I believe he honestly is sorry and does regret what he did. And I want to trust and believe what he tells me. But after the Excess Baggage Challenge and the way he acted afterwards and the stuff he said to. Hurt even more.

Valentina: What did he say? And what do you mean acted?

Ariellea: Well, he acted all shocked and butt hurt that I never told him about the ring. I mean it was supposed to be a surprise.

Valentina: Did you guys ever talk about marriage?

Ariellea: Not really. I think we both was scared to bring it up to be honest. I don't know. But one day I thought to myself I love this man with my whole heart and soul. Why not spend the rest of our lives together as husband and wife. So I started checking out rings. The night I picked up the ring I came home like usual. I don't know what started the fight we had. It was usual about me going to university. For some reason it bothered him. But I was going to plane out a special night, that night for us and ask him. Then we had a fight we left out to his favorite bar came home really late. But I didn't know he cheated until a few days later. I had to use his phone for some reason and I seen a picture message of him and a girl come through. And he was laying next to her practically naked I seen that she had a turtle tattoo. I left that day with out a word. Came back when I knew he was at work packed all my belongings and didn't look back.

Valentina: Did he ever try to reach out and explain what happened?

Ariellea: Yeah, he did one day. And I let him explain. But then after Ihe was done I was like ok cool, then left. Then when he gets here we have a game the night Finn had to choose who to couple with. And it comes out he had been flirting with her for months, months and didn't even bother mentioning me once. He said he wanted to many times but then he couldn't.

Valentina: WOW!, I'm sorry. What else he tell you.

Ariellea: He questioned if me and him we're even compatible at all. I was what are you for real? He said it maybe just the shock of it all. I said well welcome to my world. Then he said. It just feels like we are worlds apart then walked off. I was left standing there in aww. Think like WOW really he just questioned our whole relationship like that.

Valentina: Yeah, that is crazy.

Ariellea: I'm sorry I don't mean to put you off him or anything. I just wanted to let you know. That there won't be any interference from me or me giving you two the stink eye or anything.

Valentina: It hasn't put me off him. People do change. I'm just going to be a little cautious. You know what I'm saying. I can sense on both ends you two probably still have proper feelings for each. I mean you guys we're together for a long time. And you was thinking about marriage. But thanks for coming to talk to about it. I really appreciate it.

Ariellea: Yeah, you're right about the feelings part, But like I said you have no worries. Finn even nows about my feelings about Suresh. But he also knows I want to give him and me a chance to really get to know him and see where things lead us.

Valentina: Well, that's good. At least you we're honest with him about it. And don't worry I'm not going to be that girl that is going to be jealous if he still wants to pull you for chats. 'Cos you to probably still have a lot of stuff to sort out. Just be respectful about it ya know what I mean.

Ariellea: Oh, yeah totally. You don't have to worry about any flirting on my end if we have chat's.

Valentina: I know this situation isn't idea for you. It must be weird having your ex here. But I'll be respectful too I won't rub or throw things in your face with us. I wouldn't want anyone doing that to me. I'm not that type of person.

Ariellea: That's cool, but also don't hold back on my account either crack on girl.

Valentina: Cool, I do hope we can be friends though too. You seem like a cool chick and also could use better friends other than Kat and Dana. Ohhh, speaking of Kat. How she take it when she found out Finn wants to give it a go with you?

Ariellea: I haven't personally talked her yet. She seems to be avoiding me. But the conversation between her and Finn didn't go to well. He said she laid into him big time. Don't get me wrong I let him know he was wrong about leading me on then wanting Kat. He said he was just scared of falling for me and I break his heart if I choose to be with my ex.

Valentina: I guess that's a little understandable. But still not cool.

Ariellea: Right, Well thanks for hearing me out and everything. I do wish you and Suresh the best. And yeah I could use better friends 😂.

You two stand up up and hug.

Valentina: I'm around if you ever need to talk. Please don't hesitate.

Ariellea: Ok will do. Well I'm going go chat to a few more people. I'll catch you later.

She tells ok and you walk towards the kitchen to fill your water bottle and run into Eddie and Kelly who are just chatting away they look so cute together.

Ariellea: Hey, you two! What's crackin'?

Kelly: Oh just enjoying spending time with this handsome man here.

Eddie: Kelly your going to make me blush.

Kelly: That's my plan to. You would look even more cuter with some redness on them cheeks.

Ariellea: You both are too adorable. You guys seem to be getting on well?

Kelly: Oh, Ariellea. We are. Eddie was telling me about his modeling and his hometown. And was telling him about my bakery I run with my grandparents.

Ariellea: It's good to see you happy Eddie.

Eddie: Thank you Ariellea. What about you? How your relationship prospects?

Ariellea: Well, Suresh and I came to a mutual agreement on some things and Finn and I are going to give things a proper go.

Eddie: That's great. But wait. I thought him and Kat was moving forward?

Ariellea: He changed his mind. We had a long chat last night in bed I reassured him about some things and we both agreed to give it a proper chance between us.

Eddie: Oh ok. How does Kat feel about all this?.

Ariellea: I'm guessing not to happy. We haven't really spoke all that much today.

Kelly: Are you going to?

Ariellea: We can if she wants too. I'm not going to force it. I know I wouldn't want to talk to the person that the guy I liked choose her over me. It'd be a little awks.

Kelly: True, but maybe it might clear the air between you two a little.

Ariellea: Maybe, I don't know. Just have to wait and see. Well I'm going go finish my rounds I'll talk to you both later.

Eddie: Ok, see you around. Ariellea.

Kelly: See ya girl.

You walk away from the kitchen and see Dana sitting by herself you decide to go over and see what she up to she kinda seems lost in thought. You know she hasn't been a great friend to you. But you want to make sure she ok.

Ariellea: Hey there, Dana. You ok? You look lost in thought?!

Dana: Hey, yeah I'm ok. Just been thinking about the recoupling and and possible dumping. I'm loving it here . What if I'm the one to possibly go home?

Ariellea: Aren't you and Arlo getting on? You two seem to really hit it off.

Dana: Yeah, she is great I like her energy and drive she's obviously gorgeous. But you never know in this place. Right?

Ariellea: Yeah I guess you're right. But if she really likes you, you have nothing to worry about. Just make sure one of you choose each other first before the boys go.

Dana: Do you think that will be possible?.

Ariella:I don't see why not.

Dana: I guess I'm just overthinking things. I really like her and just want a proper chance to get to know her.

Ariellea: You're not feeling my ex anymore?

Dana: No, He really don't pay me much attention besides in the challenges and then that's only just kisses. He hasn't even pulled me for a chat since the last one we had.

Ariellea: It's looks like him and Valentina are hitting it off.

Dana: Right, and I say good for him. 'Cos I'm all about Arlo.

Ariellea: Well, I happy for you. But I'm going to let you be for now. I have a chat or two left. I'm just trying see how everyone is doing today.

Dana: Well, okay. Chat to later.

You see Arlo all by her lonesome you head of to check in with here.

Ariellea: Hey, Arlo! How you doing?

Arlo: I'm doing ok. Just enjoying the sun.

Ariellea: I'm surprised you're not grafting Dana at the moment.

Arlo: Oh we already had some chat's today. She is really a great girl. So so funny and awkward at the same time. It cute?

Ariellea: So none of the boys catching you're eye?

Arlo: Don't get me wrong, their all very handsome. But none are really my type at the moment. I'm you're ex is a little bit but, I don't want that drama. Plus him and Valentina seem to be getting on.

Ariellea: Yeah, they are aren't they?!

Arlo: Is it weird for you? Him being here and seeing him crack on with someone else.

Ariellea: Yeah, it is. Finn knows I still have some kind of feelings for Suresh. And he understands. Does it sting seeing Suresh flirting and kissing other girls? Yes. There was never any proper closer for us and still a lot of unanswered questions. But we both decided to take a step back from each other in here. I told him how I was liking Finn. I know he didn't like hearing that even though he didn't express it. The way he acted after Excess Baggage, totally blew my mind. Like it was all my fault cause I didn't tell him about the ring. So,. I'm just letting him do him and I'm going to be doing me.

Arlo: Do you think there is a chance you might take him back?

Ariellea: At this point I don't know. All I do now is I'm having fun and enjoying Finn.

Arlo: Well good for you.

Before anything else is said a phone pings.

Arlo: I GOT A TEXT!

All the Islanders gather around to hear what the text says

Arlo, Merra, Kelly and Valentina,

Welcome to your first full day in the villa. You must now pick one boy or girl each to go on a date with. #FinneDineSunshine #PartnerUp

All four girls are excited everyone eagerly awaits to see who they pick.

Meera: Alfie, would you like to go on a date with me?

Alfie: Heck Yeah! I'm totally pumped for this.

Arlo: Dana, will you do me the pleasure of joining me on a date?

Dana: Oh my days, Yes!

Kelly: Hey, Eddie you handsome devil. Wanna be my date?

Eddie: You know it, Baby.

Valentina: Suresh, Would you care to be my date this evening?

Suresh: I would be more than happy to.

He looks over at you for a brief moment to see if you will give some sort of reaction. But you don't give him the satisfaction. You just stand there in Finn's arms while he holds you.

Kat: Have fun guys. Don't do nothing I wouldn't do.

Everyone rushes of to get ready for their dates.

[sarahjkl82-blog]

Artistic Instinct Chapter 7

Header thanks to the lovely @yespolkadotkitty

Summary: Marcus Pike and OC Anushka Pierce have been selected to work on a 5 eyes (Australia, Canada, NZ, the UK and US) intelligence team to track down art forgeries as a part of taking down an international white terrorism cell. Marcus is trying to escape his broken heart, Anushka is just trying to escape what the world expects of her.

Word count: 7,150 (being succinct is for wimps)

Warnings: Language, SMUT - this is your warning, no under 18s please.

Pairing: Marcus Pike x reader (OC)

This comes with a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the lovely @yespolkadotkitty , who read, re-read, pointed out the constant flipping between tenses and gave me the confidence to try to write something!This is the first thing I have written since angsty poetry as a teenager. Apologies if it is shit!

What the artist owes the world is his work, not a model for living.

Harry Crews

Chapter 7

Waking up comes to you slowly and languidly,as if the day was kind enough to filter softly into your eyes through a vaseline focussed lens, not unlike the ones shone onto Ingrid Bergman’s face and projected through Marcus’ iPad last night. Unlike your usual routine of falling out of bed and drifting with eyes still shut tight, in the direction of the kettle to make that all important cup of tea as your alarm sounds, you have instead woken as the first light of day paints the room in soft Degas pastels. Your sleep is normally quite fitful and filled with dreams that you wish didn’t cycle through your head for the rest of the day - but today feels different. Maybe it’s because your pillow is breathing.

Hang on, your pillow is breathing.

Shit, you fell asleep on Marcus.

How fucking professional, you absolute numpty!

Somehow during the night it was no longer just a case of you leaning into his shoulder but rather that your limbs had become confusingly entangled. From what you can work out, you must have both slid down the length of the sofa as whilst your head is still nestled on his shoulder, your forehead has now edged closer to the constellation of freckles on his neck. The steady percussion of his heart cradled within the gentle rise and fall of his chest is directly pressed against yours. Not crowding you despite the precariously narrow ledge you’re both huddled on, just fitting together like the most exquisitely cut puzzle.

For fuck’s sake, woman, what have you gotten yourself into this time?

You have one of the brightest minds in art history and are renowned for solving criminal activity but right now, you have zero idea as to how you will disentangle your limbs without both you and your boss showing willing.

But do you really want to?

There’s also a part of you that just wishes you could stay here- warm, safe and snuggled deeply in his chest. Jasper had always been so bony- all sharp edges and lean whereas Marcus offers a softer and more solid warmth as his body curls languidly around yours. His sleepy strokes and unconscious squeezes send little tingles throughout your body and whilst you’re utterly certain that nothing has happened other than the sheer exhaustion of two adults completely wiping out, you don’t feel ready to shatter the illusion of there being something more.

With the freest limb that’s slung over Marcus’ back, you try to wriggle some feeling into your fingers- psyching your body up to move. In an exchange of roles from the previous day, you stroke his cheek, tucking a curl of hair behind his ear before murmuring gently in his ear,

“Hey.”

Thick eyelashes start twitching before you notice an eye opening, darting around the room before coming in to focus upon your face, “Hey,” a shy grin slowly grows on his face, “I guess I didn’t get to put the comforter on you last night.”

“What?” In utter confusion, you push the back of your head into the cushion of the sofa so that you can angle your head to look more into Marcus’ face.

“I heard your breathing getting heavier last night n’ I thought of how you covered me the night before. Kept thinking I’d manage to do the same for you but you were so soft and warm, that I must’ve drifted off soon after,” his chuckling morning voice still painted with a sleepy rasp.

Giggling and grinning broadly at Marcus’ almost sweet gesture, you gently tease, “Well look, the quilt you nearly put on me, stayed on all night! Didn’t kick it off once.”

“Listen, thanks for not making this as awkward as it should be. No, no, no, I mean it,” Marcus emphasizes emphatically, his forehead wrinkling as his eyes implore you to believe him, “Not sure there are many people, who can wake up next to their new boss after less than 48 hours together and still crack jokes at their expense.”

Finally, working out a way to partially wriggle yourself free, you manage to push yourself into an almost seated position. A small groan and a flush runs through Marcus’ cheeks. And just before he flings his arm across his face to try to obscure his expression, you catch a look of embarrassment in his eyes.

In a low, gentle voice, you try to comfort him, “Come on, you have nothing to be embarrassed about- it’s a normal reaction. I’m going to shuffle across you, if that’s ok? I think it’s the only way we can get out of this tangle without both of us ending up on our arses on the floor.”

You take the small nod from Marcus as confirmation for the manoeuvre and start to crawl over him. Aiming to lift your hips up and away from the source of his embarrassment as possible, you end up overbalancing and tumbling to the floor in a heap of awkward limbs and laughter.

“Hey, you ok?” Marcus’ sleep creased face peers over the edge of the sofa down at you.

It’s now your turn for embarrassment to flush through your very being as you lie there staring at the ceiling rose and cornicing, “Ah I can’t ever pass up an opportunity to demonstrate just how clumsy I am,” you admit thickly through your eyelashes. Perhaps your limbs hadn’t been quite as ready as you’d hoped to carry your weight as you slowly shuffle yourself into a seated position on the deliciously deep pile rug that had cushioned your fall to the floor.

“Although, I may need to ensure that these rugs are kept around me at all times as at least there are no bruises this time. I swear my body is a map of mystery bruises,” you admit as you inspect the skin under your pyjama legs, pointing out inexplicable yellowing bruises.

“Well, Andy can look into that for you around the office,” Marcus says playing along with a wink, surreptitiously enjoying the little flashes you were revealing of your body, “Shame we’ve gotta leave today. I’m beat - but it’s been fun.”

“I’m not sure I’d have ever returned if it wasn’t for your insistence,” you admit, surprised at how the pain in your throat has already lessened to a mild dull ache.

“Guess we’d better get packed up and head off to the airport then.”

You observe Marcus’ bottom lip drop into a small pout, that delicious crease in the middle jutting out as if he was a petulant child rather than a man in his mid forties.

Oh how you’d love to suck...STOP IT! HE IS YOUR FUCKING BOSS, ANUSHKA MEERA LEAH PIERCE!

With an awkward wave and a quick turn of pace to hide the heat coursing through your face, you hightail it out of his room, stubbing your toe as you yank the door open far too viciously,

“SHIT ON IT!” You loudly curse, hearing the sofa creak as Marcus’ weight lifts from it. Not wanting to stick around for his latest sweet gesture when you don’t bloody deserve it, you painfully hop into the cool anonymity of the corridor to nurse your swollen toe.

Fucking smooth, Nush. REALLY fucking smooth.

✪���✪✪✪

SLAM!

Marcus stands there, still slightly bleary eyed and dazed after experiencing some of the worst emotional whiplash he’s ever felt. How do you go from being genuinely sweet over feeling the morning glory of someone you barely know poking you in the belly to virtually running from the room and hurting yourself in the process to supposedly go pack your suitcase? Your words and actions seem so divergent- in total opposition to one another. Almost as if your brain and being are constantly at war with each other.

In one breath, you’ll tease him mercilessly, amaze him with the depth of your knowledge and the next you’ll shut off completely as if sharing even the time of day, would destroy you. You jump away from him as if it wasn’t the coffee that burns you but his touch and then, you lean into him, snoring sweetly with your face buried into his chest. He wants to shake you and scream WHAT DO YOU WANT in the same way that Ryan Gosling does in The Notebook, but life isn’t a romantic film. Something he’s never truly accepted.

Scrunching his eyes and scratching his head, rubbing the deep crevices that littered his brow, Marcus wonders what his next move will be. Should he run after you to check your foot? Wrap you in his arms and tell you that it will all be ok? Risk you running further from him? Unsure of whether your door would even open to him, Marcus sighs deeply before taking a few steps away from the sofa and tumbling face forward towards his as yet unslept upon bed.

Get it together, Pike.

How much of your constant pestering pushed Teresa away? It’s not a cute quirk, it’s fucking needy - and you need to stop before everyone runs from you.

Burying his face into the comforter, Marcus releases a deeply frustrated growl into its thick squishy noise-absorbing softness before using the springs of the bed to flip himself onto his back. Feeling his pulse throbbing a nervous beat in his neck, he shuts his eyes. All he can see is you. He can smell the tiniest imprints of your perfume and shampoo upon his t-shirt.

You’re fucking feral, Pike.

Feeling the blood rush to his groin as images of your face, bra strap and legs dance through his head, Marcus slides a hand under the waistband of his joggers to give himself a soothing stroke. He enjoys playing with himself as much as the next man- rubbing, stroking, cupping- but right now, all he can imagine is your hand being wrapped around it. Your hand gripping his cock - your skin so fucking soft - building up a rhythmic pleasure as you stare deep into his eyes.

Oh, fuck it.

With a quick arch of his hips, Marcus pulls down his pants in one smooth motion to allow himself full access to his dick. The immense pressure building and tightening as he works the shaft developing a pleasing rhythm whilst he is thinking of you. Filling in the gaps of the parts he hasn’t yet seen of you. How when you’d drifted off last night, he’d patted your hip and realised after feeling no ridge from where the elastic should have been that you had no panties on under your pyjama bottoms. The thought of your pillowy soft, warm, wet flesh so close to his fingers had made him grimace and groan last night when he couldn’t act upon it.

Now by himself, he gives into his basest wishes. Imagining licking, biting and stroking down your body, sucking on your nipples before lifting your hips to lower you onto his dick, sinking deeper and deeper inside you, feeling your warmth and wetness encase around him. Scraping his nails lightly across his balls, up the shaft and across the tip, he throws his head back as he thrusts harder into his fist. The first wave crashes over him pumping jet after jet of cum over his belly as his back arches up away from the soft mattress, his mouth crying out your name.

Dazed. Spent. Marcus lies there for a while, his hands and belly sticky from his release. Allowing the tiredness to wash back through him, his eyes close again- torturing his brain with images of you lying back with him. Being able to stroke your hair and press kisses into your sweetly almond scented skin. Hugging you tightly to him.

Never letting go.

Oh, you are utterly fucked, Pike.

✪✪✪✪✪

Lying upon your tummy, head resting on your arms, you rest upon your bed thinking over the events of the past two days. Burning yourself, burning others, coming back to France, panic attacks, confessions and oh, finding a piece of well faked art- nothing too taxing. The exhaustion is so exquisite as it courses through your veins. There is one thing you’ve tried to exclude from your list- the Voldemort of kindness- he who shall not be named.

Marcus Fucking Pike

When you’d seen his bank card, you’d noticed the F sitting between the M for Marcus and his surname of Pike. It had momentarily tickled you to think of what the F could stand for. You totally know that with his track record for openness, he’d have told you in a heartbeat but it was more fun to wonder. For now, it will stand for Fucking as from what he’d demonstrated of himself he can be really Fucking nice, a Fucking tease about your totally non-existent snoring and Fucking hot.

Stop it, Nush.

You’ve been there, seen that, done it and got the fucking t-shirt. You do not want to go down that road again.

Rolling yourself off the bed, landing with a little more grace than you had off the sofa previously, you set to grabbing everything- throwing it all into your rucksack haphazardly. You’d underpacked, not wanting to cart a wheelie suitcase with you, leaving you with fewer clothes than you actually needed for this trip. You don’t have a clean outfit for the office today. Shit. The dress, although pretty smart for work, wouldn’t be terribly comfy on the flight back and there are some small splatters decorating it from where your coffee shot out of your mouth from laughing hard. You’ll have to head home before travelling into the office today, meaning a later night to catch up with the work you’d not complete earlier. Cursing your inability to pack well and organise your life, you throw on your dress and hope that your cardigan covers the worst of the stains.

Dragging the Tangle Teezer through the motions of pretending to tame your mop before securing it in a high ponytail, you head towards the bathroom that is situated on the adjoining wall between Marcus’ and your bedroom. The old fashioned tap handle with its smooth enamel touches spins easily between your fingers with none of the guttering, spluttering and sudden gushes of cloudy water that yours does at home as you wet your toothbrush, ready to brush your morning breath away. Buzzing fills your bathroom as you set about starting your day, your eyes dancing around the room looking at the cool tiles, the elaborate cistern on the toilet- all very fitting of a Victorian era bathroom. Not your style in the slightest, but it suited the styling of the hotel well. You hated when buildings were stripped and gutted of their original features, fitted with cookie cutter IKEA furniture. Chairs should be a little creaky, floors uneven and tables a little rickety- no perfect lines. A bit like that gorgeous missing bit of beard from Marcus’ face- perfection in imperfection.

Stop it, woman.

Spitting the foamy bubbles into the porcelain of the sink, you turn on the tap to rinse it away. Spinning the handle to the off position, you grab the cleanser that Claire, your eldest brother’s wife, had convinced you to start using and to be honest, it certainly helped the hormonal breakouts when it was that time of the month.

Tearing the cotton pad packet open, you grab two of them, squeezing a blob between them, then squishing them together so that it makes a cleanser pad sandwich. It reminds you of those potions you used to make as a child out in the garden mixing any berries, leaves and soil, or in the bath where you used all your dad’s shaving foam and your mum’s stupidly expensive creams, oils and lotions, mixing wild concoctions that would stop your brothers from coming into your bedroom or your mum rolling her eyes at your grades.

Rubbing the cool ointment in soothing circles over your skin, a strange sound seems to come through the wall. From Marcus’ side. It’s muffled but did it sound like your name, or were you imagining it? Confusion creases your forehead- why wouldn’t he just call or text if he needed you, unless he’s hurt? Deciding that the only way to put your mind at rest is to ring and make sure that he’s ok, you scroll through the names on your phone until you hit Sir Agent Marcus Pike. Hitting facetime, you gaze around the room as you wait for him to pick up. A lopsided smile on a slightly flushed face arrives on your phone, “Hey! You ok?”

“Yeah, I was just ringing to check if you were- I thought I heard you say my name when I was in the bathroom,” you gently question, noticing Marcus’ face twitch awkwardly as his eyes widen, “I was just worried that you might be bleeding out in there. Can’t really have that happen twice or people will start to think it was me that did it!”

Covering his mouth, scratching his scruff with his fingers, Marcus tries to think quickly, “Urm, I was… just trying to um get packed up and I stubbed my toe. You probably heard a pained grunt- sorry,” Marcus shakes his head, flaming cheeks giving away his lie.

“Oh we’re a matching pair, now!” you giggle watching Marcus’ uncomfortable twitching and the way he keeps running his hand through his hair, not entirely convinced by his story but glad it isn’t anything more serious.

“Anyway,” you announce wanting to move the conversation along, “I’ve booked us a taxi to the airport- you’ve got about twenty minutes until it arrives.”

A genuine smile creeps across his face- his eyes creasing into half crescents, “Thanks Nush. Hadn’t actually considered how we’d get there. I promise I am capable of running this team.”

“No worries, Marcus. See you down in reception?” that delicious smile and a slight nod greets your question before a quick goodbye on both sides.

He bloody hadn’t stubbed his toe but what the fuck had he been doing? Eyes widening as a realisation crosses your mind.

He hadn’t, had he?

Giggling away to yourself at the very thought, you finish grabbing your things before flicking the switch on the kettle and opening those beautiful French doors so their gauzy curtains float like ribbons in the slight breeze. One more coffee on that glorious balcony before you head back to London. So that’s two major developments you have gained in regards to work- one faked picture and that Marcus Pike is a shit liar.

✪✪✪✪✪

The journey back to the UK had been pretty uneventful other than Marcus trying to take your bag from you whenever possible. A sweet gesture but entirely unnecessary when it is literally a rucksack with five light items inside and you are more than capable of carrying it unless he was secretly worried that you’d injure someone else by swinging around too quickly or something. In the end, it was just easier for him to hold it rather than bickering like an old married couple in the middle of Stansted airport.

“Just gimme it, Nush. You can concentrate on working out where on Earth I’ve parked my car- this is the info I’ve got from the email ticket,” Marcus pointedly says, passing you his phone screen.

“You don’t have to give me a lift. I have to go home first as I didn’t pack enough clothes to cover me for today too,” you own up, “You get yourself to work and I’ll meet you there in a couple of hours. I promise I’ll work late tonight to make up for it.”

Marcus shakes his head, “You hardly strike me as someone who does half a job. You’re in Blackheath too, aren’t you? To be honest, I could do with grabbing a few bits from home before going back into town, so it won’t be going out of my way.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to take any more of your time than necessary- I know that I’m not the easiest person to be around and you’ve had to pretty much live with me for the past twenty-four hours,” you check noticing Marcus’ wince when you mention your difficult personality, “Ooof that bad huh?”

“You should stop talking about yourself in that way, Nush,” he gently soothes, lifting your chin with his thumb so that he can pick your eyes up from where they have fallen to the floor, “From what I’ve learnt about you in the past couple of days, you are an incredibly intelligent, occasionally clumsy but warm human. It has been a pleasure to have this opportunity to get to know you better and get to see the level of your skills so early on.”

Shifting uncomfortably in your coffee stained clothes, a smile crossing his face as he adds, “Can’t take a compliment can you? Ah well, that’ll have to be in your performance management plan- something for you to work on.”

“Ah hah! I’ve worked it out- your car is in the third bay, second row in Green Zone,” you triumphantly cackle.

“Lead the way, Nush. Let’s head home.”

✪✪✪✪✪

Roughly forty-five minutes later, you are kicking the base plate of your door to get the damp to release its powerful grip. Realistically, you had no need for a lock as the fluid retention of the wood would stop the most committed burglar in their tracks and unless you angled the kick just right, ah that’s it- home. You lean over the edge of the walkway to wave at Marcus, who is waiting below for a signal that you were in. He flashes his lights in acknowledgement of your gesture before smoothly reversing from where he has pulled in, watching his car disappearing from your estate, there is a tiny ache but you try to push it away as realistically, it is utterly ridiculous. You’re going to be seeing him in an hour for a lift into work.

After a scorching shower, a squirt of perfume and donning a pretty wrap dress with brightly coloured tights and your trusty cherry red Docs, you’re ready. Lying upon the sofa with your head upon a cushion, your knees bent and feet up on the arm rest, you flick through the various emails and messages that have slowly trickled in over the course of the morning. A sharp rap at the door, shakes you out of work mode.

“Hang on,” you yell through the door giving it the special shake and wiggle before muttering a prayer to the door gods to open first time, “Sorry, it’s the damn damp!”

A very smart, besuited, booted and bespectacled Marcus has a look of total alarm, “I’d say to get that checked but I’m guessing you already have?”

“Oh multiple times of pestering my landlord- apparently it’s on a list. Has been for at least three years,” you answer irritatedly, “Anyway, it’s my best security feature- no one can get in or out.”

“I didn’t realise you wore glasses. They look good on you,” you admire the black frames enjoying the flush being brought to Marcus’ cheeks before teasingly adding, “Ohhh, now who can’t take a compliment!”

“Get down your ass down those stairs, Ms Pierce, I’m pulling rank,” Marcus winks, lopsidedly grinning at you, “We have to at least pretend to do some work today.”

✪✪✪✪✪

Marcus opens the door to the office for you- ever grateful to his wonderful manners, you slide into the office first and inwardly groan at the pile of files that have seemingly made themselves at home on your desk.

“Oh there’s my girl!” Andy’s arms wrap themselves around your shoulders, encasing you in a bone crushing hug, “Missed your face yesterday but I’m guessing you’ve had no time to think of us poor souls slaving away here whilst you’ve been gallivanting across the French countryside? How was the hotel room? Enjoy the view?”

Feeling a little ambushed by your friend’s questioning, you blink hard to steady your thoughts of the glorious view you awoke to this morning, “Yeah, it was lovely!”

And warm. And soft. Snored quite sweetly too.

“I know what a mardy bum you can be if you don’t have something nice to look at when you wake up,” Andy adds with a gentle shrug. He then turns his attention to Marcus, who’s shifting uncomfortably behind you, “Welcome back, Sir. Good to have you back here.”

“Thanks Andy. Um, I’m going to get set up,” Marcus says as he steps out around from behind you, placing a hand on the small of your back. The warmth exists there for a moment before he’s already passed your desk and opened the glass door to his office.

“Coffee’s already waiting for you on your desk,” Marcus swings back to look utterly amazed at his PA, so Andy qualifies this, “I get reception to let me know when all of you arrive so that you can focus on the important things.”

“By the way, Nush and Marcus, before you get swallowed by case files,” Andy addresses you both as you lower yourself onto your chair, “we’re all heading to the Model Market on Friday to find some food and drink before drunkenly throwing some moves to my cousin who’ll be behind the decks. It’s only Wednesday and it already feels like a week!”

Dian sneaks over to your desk with a pastel de nata, “I heard these are your favourites so here’s something sweet to start off your day right.”

Your lip trembles and tears start to form as she passes you this sweet treat, “Thank you. They are my favourites. You are a truly lovely human, Dian.” You reach across the table and squeeze her hand.

“Oh I’m alright, I guess,” she winks one of her anthracite eyes at you, beaming widely, “I am just looking forward to finally spending some time with you in a context that doesn’t involve work. It’s so hard leaving a place that you’ve got your people who you vibe with and then you upend yourself to live somewhere new, where you’re totally on your own and have a job where you work odd hours!”

A sudden hit of guilt pumps through your veins, “I am so sorry, Dian, I hadn’t thought of that. I am so lucky to be from the same city that I now work in- I should have taken you to Borough. I will, and I promise I will show you all the little nooks you won’t have seen around there.”

“I was very jealous of Marcus stealing you away. Ridiculous when it was just for a day but I’d really like to get to know you. I feel like we could be friends,” Dian squeezes back, “Harper has family and friends here already, and I swear I overheard Kiri talking about a rugby team he has joined and meeting up with some mates from uni.”

“Yup- that’s probably true- plenty of Aussies and Kiwis in London but sadly not so many Canadians! Right, we’ll do this old school- come over to mine at seven on Friday, I’ll put some wine in the fridge and we can pretend we’re teenagers getting ready for a night on the town,” you quickly scrawl your address on a piece of paper, pushing it across the table towards Dian.

The smile on Dian’s face is the prettiest thing you've seen for a while. It seems to extend from her eyes to the very depths of her soul. Her reaching out to you makes you think of Marcus. Perhaps he could do with a friend here too- maybe another pizza and classic film night? Even though it had only been two nights, you feel a pang of disappointment at the thought of him not being there with you this evening. Ridiculous. Get a grip before you risk curling up on a sofa with him again.

As Dian returns to her desk, you are faced with the mountain of paperwork from yesterday’s adventure. Shutting your eyes to try and focus your brain, you try to figure out where to start- the report? Logging the video feed? Filing the pictures? Writing up the notes from the meeting?

“Already napping on the job?”

You open one eye to be met with Marcus’ amused face.

With a slight shake of your head, you dismiss his teasing inquiry, “Trying to figure out where to start. I’m not sure quite how we managed to achieve so much in a day but it allllll nowwwww neeeeeeds to be loggggggged, bleurgh!”

“Let’s start at the very beginning,” Marcus says with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“A very good place to start,” you sing along, channeling your best Julie Andrews, highly amused by Marcus’ reference, “Actually- as my brain’s not quite in work mode yet, I should ask you before I forget. I was thinking- do you fancy making the pizzas and classic film night a thing? While London is always full of people, it’s easy to feel quite lonely until you find your group of friends.”

A genuine smile slowly crawls across Marcus’ face as he drinks in your offer, “I mean, it's just a thought. Of course you don’t have to and I’m not sure that my old sofa is anywhere near as comfy as the one in Lyon…”

“I’d love to,” Marcus grins at the fluster in your voice, was he happy to spend more time with you? “Let’s get something in place…”

“Nush- sorry to interrupt, Marcus- I have a highly animated woman called Élodie on the phone asking for you. Can I put her through?” Andy asks, “Seems like she has the lab results back for the possible Soutine.”

Lifting the receiver for your phone whilst whispering to Marcus that you’d catch him later, you lean into the backrest and spin yourself comfortingly from side to side, « Coucou chérie, ça va? Vérifie si mon numéro de téléphone fonctionne? » Hi my love! How are you? Already checking if my telephone number works?

«Coucou mon chouchou! Bien sûr- tu ne peux pas me quitter encore! Il a été complètement falsifié. Sur la toile, sous la peinture, se trouve une autre image qui me rappelle quelque chose qui a été peint par un ado troublé! » Hey my love! Of course- you can’t leave me again! It was completely faked. On the canvas under the paint, another image was found that reminds me of something a troubled teenager would paint! The words tumbling hurriedly from Élodie’s mouth into her phone.

You giggle remembering the angst-ridden art and poetry you’d created as a mopey teenager and are filled with amusement that someone might improve them by putting faked masterpieces on top.

« D’accord! Donc la radiologie l’a prouvé - mais qu’en est il des échantillons de peinture? Une joie avec ceux-ci? » Ok! So the X-ray proved it but what about the paint samples? Any joy there? Now spinning on your chair as far the cord would allow you, your mind wonders how on Earth it could ever have ever been thought to be real.

« Tous les échantillons montrent des peintures modernes telles que la phtalocyanine bleue et verte. Les résultats de la datation au carbone sont attendus plus tard dans la soirée, mais j'avais hâte de t’appeler! Je t’enverrai les résultats par e-mail dès qu'ils apparaissent» All of the samples show modern paints such as phthalocyanine blue and green. The carbon dating results are due later this evening but I couldn't wait to ring you. I’ll email you the results as soon as they appear. Élodie continues, « Comment s'est passé votre dernière nuit et le voyage de retour avec votre magnifique patron? » How did the last night and journey home go with that lovely boss of yours?

« Je raccroche le téléphone maintenant, femme ridicule, » I am hanging up the phone now, you ridiculous woman. You reproach your friend playfully.

Hanging up, after sending hugs and kisses to Jacques too, you see that your computer has now decided that no more updates need to be made. Perhaps it’s time to get started on that report…

When you read you begin with ay bee cee…

✪✪✪✪✪

The flurry of activity continues to hover around your desk and slowly your colleagues peter out in search of lives lived outside of the office space. In fact, you don’t notice the ageing of the day until Marcus goes to leave the office, “Hey, are you planning to sleep here tonight?”

“Had more sleep last night than I usually do so I am riding this high until I drop,” you snort without removing your eyes from your screen as you furiously type away, “You off home?”

“Gym first- gotta burn off the pancakes I’m going to have for breakfast tomorrow,” Marcus says as he fiddles with the strap on his laptop bag.

“That’s not the way that food intake and exercise should work. Food is for nourishing your body and exercise is for making it strong. Don’t get sucked in by that bullshit, Marcus,” you wag your finger at your boss, still hammering the keyboard with your other hand, “You have nothing to worry about, the way you look.”

You finally look up to see Marcus shyly smile, rocking from heel to toe in his highly polished brogues, his eyes on the toe of his shoes. Drawing a deep breath, he looks back up at you, nodding towards the report on your screen, “D’ya think you’ll be able to present that to the team tomorrow?”

“Yeah, just had the results from the carbon dating come through so I should be ready to speak to everyone tomorrow morning at the briefing, if that works for you?” You answer just as tiredness starts to take a grip on your body.

“Perfect. Can I offer you a lift home or are you staying a bit longer?”

“Staying,” you confirm, glueing your eyes back to the screen.

“Well, goodnight Nush,” Marcus wishes you warmly, as he makes to walk away from your desk.

“G’night Marcus. Try to sleep in a bed tonight.”

A throaty chuckle fills the cool office air before disappearing as the door shuts behind him. Bathed in the blue light of your screen, you try to jog your memory of which point you were about to make in your report but sit there utterly stumped due to the distraction.

Marcus Fucking Pike.

✪✪✪✪✪

“So what’s the big deal about this colour exactly?” Harper cuts directly to the chase, “Explain it like I’m five because as you are well aware, this is not my area of expertise.”

You always wonder how far back people need to know of a colour’s history to explain it well enough. Do you take it back to cave paintings or perhaps start in the Renaissance? Perhaps somewhere between the two?

“There was a blue that was known as the colour of the heavens. It’s called ultramarine and is created by crushing lapis lazuli. Now, lapis is only found in one country- Afghanistan, but it’s been used since antiquity to create this beautifully, insanely intense blue. The blue that you see in Tutankhamen’s mask, that’s lapis. Having been used by the Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian empires, lapis then fell out of favour as the Romans associated it with the woad used by Barbarian hordes.”

Tapping his pen on the table, Kiritopa nods in agreement,”Like Braveheart?”

“That’s a wee bit later in European history but a similar idea. Think more Boudicca- the Iceni tribes uprising against the marauding Romans,” Dian points out kindly before nodding encouragingly at you to continue.

“The use of ultramarine then slowly diffused through Europe thanks to the Crusades in the 13th and 14th century but even then, it was still an incredibly precious commodity and solely available to the richest of the rich. That’s why you only ever see it in pictures of the Virgin Mary, emperors, popes and other dignitaries. When a patron requested Ultramarine to be used, the contract would have to be super tight specifying exactly where it would be used and how much.”

“So over the years, scientists have attempted to replicate this paint to create a substance that’s more commercially available but when we try to make paints, we’re dealing with chemistry. When manufacturing paint, you’ve got to make sure that it’s a stable, preferably non-toxic product because well, we all know what happened to the Radium Girls.”

“It took until the first half of the twentieth century for the scientific community to create CuPc. I think it was 1927 when they first created a reaction between copper, cyanide and 0-dibromobenzene, finding that one of the byproducts was an intensely blue powder. This blue powder ended up being first manufactured in 1935 but it still wasn’t readily available until the sixties because Yves Klein tried in the fifties to create the blue used by Giotto and still didn’t manage to produce anything nearly as stable or non-toxic.”

“How does this all link up to this forgery in France?” Harper questions bluntly, clearly desperate for you to get to the point.

Blinking hard, you take a moment to steady yourself as Marcus’ eyes flit between you and the Australian agent.

“Kind of wishing that I’d asked you to explain it like I’m twenty five, might have reached the point by Christmas,” she mutters under her breath.

“Stop packing a sad, Harper. Nush has heaps of skills in this area,” Kiritopa shoots a glare in the Australian’s direction, “Keep going Nush.”

You go to open your mouth but Harper just can’t help herself, “There’s a skill in being succinct.”

“There’s also a skill in not being rude but you’re not managing that are you?” The look on Kiritopa’s face announcing that he is pretty much ready to kill.

“Whoa - guys…” Marcus chooses now to join in?

“Look,” you acquiesce- your heart racing in your throat, raising your hands to try and calm the situation, “Harper’s right, I’m blathering. I should have gotten to the point far sooner. The crux of the situation is that the paint found on the canvas in Grenoble dates from the sixties whereas the artist died in the forties.”

“All of the evidence points to it being a fake- carbon dating, x-rays- the lot. This was an easy find but I think we should be prepared for harder to spot ones,” after throwing paper copies of the lab results in the centre of the table for everyone to grab, you sit back in your chair. Your posture screams for everyone to leave you alone, burying your face in the agenda. Multiple sets of eyes look upon you but you refuse to meet them, feeling furiously obstinate and wholly uncommunicative in the moment.

As the meeting grinds to a close, you finally lift your eyes to find that Marcus’ regard has barely left you- only looking away when you catch him. Urgh, he’s going to be nice about this too. But it isn’t Marcus, who reaches out to you. It’s Kiritopa. Kiritopa, who wordlessly reaches his bear-like arm across the table and squeezes your hand before getting up and leaving the room. The gesture fills you with a grateful warmth and you decide to scarper from the meeting room before Marcus says something and makes you cry.

Time to put on my big girl knickers and get back to work.

✪✪✪✪✪

Friday passes in a blur of calls about a new possible forgery meaning that you can only pull silly faces at Dian from across the room. Kiritopa seems hugely excited by the prospect of a night out, chattering about how he’s invited some of the guys from his rugby team to meet up with him there later. Harper is her usual distant self, head down, beavering away- not really paying much attention to anyone or anything around her.

Where’s Marcus?

You throw a scrunched ball of paper at the PA’s head to get his attention, but entirely miss him, “Andy is Marcus not coming in today?”

Picking up the paper and without even looking up, he throws it back, hitting you square in the forehead, “Car trouble. Any issues, message him.”

Eventually, you hear his confident gait walk into the room. Looking up, you send him a smile which soon fades when you see what a mess he’s in. Hair sticking up all over the place from a stressed hand constantly running through it, a slight gleam of sweat across his skin and an oily mark on one cheek, shirt untucked, jacket draped over one arm, tie askance and lowered due to the top two buttons of his shirt being undone. All of him, in fact, looks undone and defeated.

Without thinking, you jump up from your seat, walk over to him and hug him tightly. With this action the other agents look up and see the state their boss is in. Marcus, whilst initially surprised by your gesture, leans into the hug and lowly whispers, “Thanks. I needed that,” before giving you a tight squeeze, releasing you and slowly trudging towards his office.

“Shit start to a Friday, Sir,” Kiritopa offers, “I’ll get the first round in tonight- you look like you could do with a beer.”

“Fuck, yes, I need a beer but as your boss, that’s my job,” Marcus forcefully asserts, “You can get the second round in.”

You make to slink off back to your desk but Marcus catches your hand, rubbing the skin lightly with his thumb, “You ok?”

“Yeah- just wanted to check on you. You look a fucking state,” you declare through an amused grin.

Marcus chuckles at your observation. “Not the best start to a day,” he grimaces, “I miss anything major this morning?”

“Not apart from the boss arriving at midday looking like he pushed his car all the way here,” you gently tease, “You know we have something called public transport in London- you should try it some time!”

“Yeah, I’ll have Andy look into that for me,” Marcus nods in mock-contemplation, “Hey, um, are you coming out tonight? With everyone, I mean?”

“Uh huh,” you concede reluctantly, “I’m not really a fan of nights out with colleagues but I think we could all do with a glass of something and some good street food in our tummies. What time are you getting there?”

Marcus scrunches up his nose, “Around seven but you know this job- it might be then or some time in September!”

Giving you a wink as he buttons up his collar and straightens his tie, Marcus turns towards his office and you head back to your desk- both with a renewed wish to get finished up and out of the office tonight.

Taglist: @astroboots @silverwolf319 @yespolkadotkitty @agirllovespancakes @danniburgh @lunaserenade @leonieb @tardisfangurl @mouthymandalorian @disgruntledspacedad @zukoyonce @pedropascalito @absurdthirst @mrsparknuts @sirowsky @bison-writes @the-ginger-hedge-witch @green-socks @lv7867

[falconstarfall]

Sansa had remain prisoner for almost her story. People think she can't do anything without help so how can she cross vale yet forget she escaped KL with don't who was drunkard. Her journey isn't completed. She will escape vale too. Also her leadership skills will be seen in future. She is basically moving beyond a confirmed lady without loosing her feminine traits. Her arc is slow burn but people didn't have patience.

The thing is, Sansa doesn’t really have to be able to do that much without help.

It always annoys me when people rant at Sansa for not doing things by herself, while they refuse to acknowledge that none of Sansa’s siblings have been doing much all on their own either.

Robb leading an army? Yes, with the support of advisors that were loyal to him, and his father’s bannermen that then became his own. A support that he won by the help of his wolf.

Jon? Well Jon needed a lecture from Donal Noye just to get along with the other recruits. Sam had to explain to him why he had been assigned to the stewards; otherwise who knows when he would have stopped seing it as a slight. Qhorin Halfhand told him what to do with the wildlings. Mance would very likely have killed him if Ygritte hadn’t backed up his story. And then of course Sam rigged the election that made him Lord Commander.

“But Arya is cool, she escaped King’s Landing and survived by herself.” Did she now? It seems to me like people are always forgetting how Syrio probably died to allow Arya to escape. How she was stuck hiding in Flea Bottom and couldn’t get out of the city before Yoren found her (and probably also prevented her from being caught by drawing the attention of the guards at Ned’s execution). Then she had help on the road too; she survived with the help of the friends she made on the road, the help of the Brotherhood. Even the Hound saved her life. And Jaqen gave her the means of escaping to Bravos.

Bran and Rickon? Where would they be without the help of Maester Luwin? Without Osha and Hodor? Jojen and Meera? And their direwolves?

Look, I’m not saying that the other Stark kids are useless. But let’s face it; none of them would have been alive for very long without people who were willing to offer them advice and even stick their necks out for them.

Which brings me back to the thing you were actually talking about. Sansa’s major disadvantage here isn’t that she is unable to rise to the occasion and get things done - even though her experiences in AGoT have thought her to things things throughly over before she acts, which might be part of why some people perceive her as passive. Put her real problem is that there have been nobody who was willing to help her. Seriously, not one single person - except maybe Garlan - has ever even offered her as much as a piece of advice that wasn’t meant to trick or demean her.

But even in this trapped situation without the smallest amount of agency - and with her confidence in her own intelligence at a low point - she still doensn’t just sit around doing nothing.

She succesfully manipulates Joffrey on more than one occasion.

She shows the Hound enough kindness that his focus during the bread riots becomes not the prince he is assigned to protect, but rescuing Sansa.

She realises that she can’t trust her servants and acts accordingly.

She steps up on the evening of the Battle of the Blackwater; to help Lancel, to keep the ladies calm.

She tries to warn Margaery about Joffrey - an act of kindness even tough their marriage would benefit herself.

She tells Dontos about the Willas-plot - not a blunder, but because she does want him to do things to prepare her escape in vain.

She manages to hide her meetings with Dontos from everyone, including oh-so-clever Tyrion who takes a keen interest in her movements.

She gets herself away from the wedding to make her planned escape - she doesn’t need to be dragged along by Dontos.

She convincingly lies about Lysa’s death to protect herself.

She manages the household in the Vale.

She gets Robin down from the mountain; no small achievement.

She looks like she is doing fine with “bewitching” Harry too - notice how she went rogue and didn’t do it the way LF suggested at all?

No, Sansa most certainly hasn’t been doing nothing. I really do think people are just missing all the things she does because they don’t involve killing people and/or swinging a sword.

She hasn’t exactly needed people telling her what to do every step of the way either; it’s actually kind of a point in her arc that she’s had to make do completely without someone to trust.

But back to the point I was setting out to make, which was about her doing things without help:

The skills Sansa will need in the future isn’t things like being able to flee the Vale on her own, to survive on her own in the mountains, and make it back to WF, and then kill Ramsay all by herself. Sansa’s future rests on her finding allies to help her do these things; all along using her personal qualifications to convince people that she is worth supporting. Just like people have been helping and supporting her siblings.

If there is one thing I’m sure about, it is that GRRM isn’t writing a story about how the lone wolf survives while the one that relies on a pack dies.

[the-fiction-witch]

Catch The Mermaid

TV SHOW GAME OF THRONES

COUPLE JOJEN X READER X BRAN

RATING SMUT

I smiled as atlast we stopped for a moment throwing down my things and leaning against the tree, hodor doing much the same as me but laying on the ground proping brans cart by the tree, Meera came along close behind putting her things down and sitting on them jojen sighing sitting on the dirt catching his breath

"How much further?" Meera asks

"Where still at week out at best" I answered

"Make camp for tonight, where not going any further now" bran explained

Once we had all got some strength back we began setting up camp, bran helping as much as he could once we where all set up I took my things and headed down to a small stream close by having told Meera where I was going, once I arrived at the woodland stream I began to slip off my dress hanging all my clothes on a tree branch close by slowly stepping into the water it was cold but refreshing as I began to wash getting the caked dirt off my body and the mud and twigs from my hair once I was all clean I began to mostly just swim around in the sweet water, the cool crystal clear water flowing along downstream, around every inch and curve of my naked body, the trees high with a canopy of green to protect me from perverted eyes the sweet smell of earth and leaves in the air as I swam in the river and plaid around with my wet hair, until I thought I saw something just a little upstream but I thought little off it until I looked to the water and I could almost swear I saw a pair of brown eyes looking at me I looked away a little in fear until-

"Hello darling" I heard jojen smirk his hands already at my waist I quickly moved away covering myself with my hands

"Ohhh! Jojen! I'm sorry I didn't know-" I began

"Relax darling, you didn't do anything wrong" he laughs swimming over to me but I moved away trying my best to keep myself covered even if his bare chest and the amount of his pale skin under the water indicated to me he was less then dressed too

"Jojen stay away I'm not dressed" I giggled kicking his chest a little

"Aww I'm sorry darling, I didn't mean to sneak up on you, I just came to bathe myself I didn't know you where here"

"Didn't you?" I laughed "why do I think that's a lie master reed?"

"It's Not a lie I promise darling"

"I think you where being a little pervert"

"Well... When a beautiful busty girls batheing completly naked in the river, how can I not wanna look at her?" He smirked trying to chase after me as I swam away

"Jojen no!" I giggled often splashing him

"Aww come on darling... I just wanna look" he pleads "how about this?" He smirked coming close to me "how about we play a little game?"

"Oohh? What game?" I asked

"Why don't we play a little game where I'd I show you something you have to show me something?"

"Ohh? And what sort of things would we be showing each other?" I smirked back

"Well... That depends doesn't it darling" he smirked "for example maybe if I... Showed you my cock? You'd have to show me your tits?"

"You could always ask you know" I smirked

"Ohh could I now?" He smirked "So would you let me see you darling? Without those teasing little hands of yours in my way?"

"No jojen"

"Even if I showed you without my hands in the way?"-

I was about to answer him but we headed steps heading our way I quickly hid myself away and so did jojen as we headed footsteps aproch the river I looked and saw hodor just leaving as he has dropped bran odd by the river's edge close to my clothes jojen was looking at me clearly trying to peak while I was distracted so I moved a hand flashing him my tits for a second, he was in shock but I noticed under the water his cock get harder then it already was, I looked at bran as he went close to my clothes and smiling

"Ummm y/n" he groans nuzzling closer to my dress

"Brandon what are you doing here?" I asked coming out keeping myself as covered as I could as I now had two sets of eyes to keep away from my naked body at completly different angles

"Oooh y/n!" He says in shock "nothing much I just came to bathe... What about you?"

"I came to bathe too" I smiled

"So did I" jojen piped up revealing he was here too

"Ooh... What are you too doing bathing together?" He asked clearly jealous

"Not together, I was bathing and someone came around being a little perv"

"Oohh... I see" he says "I can go if-"

"No bran stay... I was rather hoping you could help me"

"H-help you?" He stuttered a little excited

"Well you see boys I know you both only came down here to get a look at me" I giggled "so we're going to play a game"

"What sort of game darling?" Jojen smirked

"Catch the mermaid" I giggled swimming away hiding myself behind a corner "the rules are simple... If you catch the mermaid you get a kiss"

"How do we catch her?" Bran asked as he finished slipping his clothes off and climbed I to the water having hold of a branch stuck into the shore as he had much less mobility against the stream of water then jojen did

"Swim, but you have to keep your eyes closed" I giggled

"This doesn't seem fair darling" jojen smirked

"I like it" bran smiled they both closed there eyes and I stood giggling a moment as they both tried swimming around looking for me

"Ha! Got you darling!" Jojen laughed

"This is me jojen" bran complained "jojen! Stop rubbing your dick on me I'm not y/n"

"Just because your not y/n doesn't mean I don't wanna rub my cock on you?"

"Oooh boys" I giggled swimming closer to then not covering my at all

"Yes darling?" Jojen smirked coming close to me, I let him get his hands on me and he blushed a little "umm darling... Your not covering yourself up anymore?" He smirked trying to peak but I kissed him wrapping my arms around his neck pressing my lips to his try tasted like grass and mud like a earthy tea I pulled away and swam away again "she's naked" jojen whispered to bran

"Is she?" He smirked "like not covering her hands?"

"Completely" he smirked I giggled moving close to bran and he blushed and held me close

"Hi y/n" he blushed

"Hi bran" I smiled Kissing him he was sweet not as eager as jojen but still very excited to kiss me he tasted almost like ice a unearthly chill to his lips as soon as I pulled away I swam away

"Wait no come back" he pleads

We plaid a few more rounds in the twilight the boys getting much more handsy as the game went on till I smirked and got out the water

"Oooh boys" I smirked and they both opened there eyes and sat in shock seeing me naked as I stood on the river bank I covered my breasts with my but let them see everything else I could see bran was lost on his own little world looking at me and jojen was clearly jerking off looking at me "see you back at camp" I smirked blowing each of them a kiss and taking my clothes finding somewhere secret to get dressed.

I smiled putting my stuff down in the little place we found it would be nice to have a roof to rest under for once, I smirked seeing bran sat on the floor watching me I blew him a kiss and he blew me one too just as he did I felt a familiar hand on the small of my back

"Hello darling" jojen smirked giving my cheek a kiss

"Hands off jojen" I laughed pushing him away going over and giving bran a kiss which made jojen instantly jealous I smiled and went off to sort my stuff for a while

"Darling?" Jojen asked as he came over

"What is it jojen?" I smiled

"Me and bran want a word" he smirked so I followed him avoiding Meera and hodor sleeping he lead me to a small room where bran was waiting, the room was empty but a candle the two had clearly lit and a huge bathtub

"Hi y/n" bran blushed

"What's going on boys?" I asked

"Well we never did get to finish our game of catch the mermaid the other day?" Jojen smirked

"And we thought it might be fun in here" bran smirked back as I noticed the tub was full of fresh water

"Well you boys get sorted" I smiled going towards the back of the room they both stripped off and climbed in bran needing a bit of help from jojen to get in they both sat in the clear water so I went over and began slipping off my dress they both watched me careful jojen biting on his bottom lip as he watched me remove parts of my dress bran sat wide eyed and desperate to touch either me or himself I'm not sure he cared which I climbed in as far away from the boys as I could be they both closed there eyes and we tried to play but they both got hold of me opening there eyes

"Get off stark I got her"

"No you get off I had hold off her first"

"You did not you just grabbed her once I had hold of her!"

"You liar you snatched her from me!"

"Boys" I giggled "there's no reason to fight over me... I'm sure theres time for you both"

"Ohh is there darling?" Jojen smirked pulling me onto his lap and kissing me deeply I kissed back happily lightly grinding myself on him "ummmm darling..." He smirked pulling me closer but before he could do much else bran pulled me away to sit on his lap I could tell he was even more desperate that jojen was as he kissed me hard and lustfully I happily grinded on him too making him moan into my mouth till I was pulled away but not completely to jojen "I have an idea"

"What sort of idea?" I asked

"As our little y/n keeps torchering us maybe we should torcher her" bran smirked

"I'll take her first" jojen growled pulling me into his lap so my back was pressed against his chest within seconds he slipped inside me and I almost screamed if it hadn't been for bran kissing me I probably would have I held onto bran tightly as he kissed me and felt my breasts squeezing them and groping them as he kissed me all while jojen guided my hips so he could rapidly fuck me "does it feel good darling? All that time teasing us? Does it feel good having us fuck your slutty little pussy?"

"Come on my turn" bran smirked pulling me waist so jojen slipped out of me bran pulled me onto his lap slipping Inside me instantly he wasn't as long as jojen but much thicker I grabbed his neck as he bounced me over and over having to bite my neck as to not scream as jojen came behind me grinding his hard cock on my ass and kissing the other side of my neck

"Umm give her back, you've had enough time" jojen smirked pulling me back to him slipping inside me "humm darling? You like brans cock don't you? He made you so tight" he groans

"Or is it that our pretty girls gonna cum?" Bran smirked rubbing on my clit as he kissed me I almost squealed

"Ohh yeah she gonna cum, come on darling cum for us" jojen smirked getting faster until bran pulled me to sit on his lap my back against his chest this time as he was getting close his speed as much as jojens, bran felt up my ass as he fucked me and jojen kissed.me lustfully playing with my boobs and with my clit until I held jojen close kissing him as I peaked and almost screamed as I hit my orgasum bran held me tight as he felt me cum on his cock as soon as I caught my breath I was back in jojens lap,

This went on for what felt like forever I forgot how many orgasums I must have had I was beyond overwhelmed with pleasure in this lusty world where only jojen and bran existed I was there whore getting past between them like a fuck toy both of them just using anything they wanted of me I felt my insides where so strange as the boys seeds mixed Inside of me as well as my own juices as soon as one rode out an orgasum the other would be hard again passing me between them over and over making me cum over and over as they desperately fucked me

"Uuuhh you take her back, any more I'm gonna cum inside her pretty little pussy again" jojen moaned as he fucked me his thrusts slow and deep

"I can't, I'm still riding off the last one" bran groaned slowly jerking his cock

"Come on cum for me darling you know I can't cum till you do" jojen smirked rubbing on my clit so hard I shot into another uncontrollably and i felt him shot his seed Inside me he collapsed and bran did too all three of us colapsing in the now rather dirty water

"Fuck" bran smirked "we need to do that every night"

"We should..." Jojen smirked "we should play with our mermaid every night"

"Umm we should, maybe not tomorrow I think our little mermaid needs a rest" bran smirked

"And so do we" jojen laughed

[wishingupontheskyandstars]

Our Secret This Holiday ❄️ Chp. 3

Summary: As the Holidays approach, Arya and Gendry are a new couple spending a lot of time together before they reveal to everyone else that they are dating and what better day to reveal that than on Christmas...

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | AO3 Link Here | Rated M 

Chapter 3: Frosting

"Finals are done!" Meera cheerfully said, lifting her goblet filled with red wine.

"They are finally fucking over!" Arya said with a groan. She pours more wine into her holiday mug.

"No more studying and taking tests..." Meera starts to say.

"And no more writing essays and drinking a heavy amount of coffee—I'm still twitchy," Arya says as she massages her right temple. "Ugh, bad week!"

Daenerys wraps her arm around Arya with a concerned look, "Well, now it's time for some fun!" She lifts her martini glass and looks to Margaery with raised brows.

Margaery gives a slight grin as she raises her wine glass. "Cheers!" She says.

"Cheers!" The other three follow as glasses and the mug clink.

After a few seconds of silence, drinking, Daenerys places her glass on the coffee table and rests back comfortably on the couch. "So, Margaery and I will add just a bit more decorations—"

"How much more do we need? I think if anyone comes in here, they're going to think this is Santa's Condo or something," Meera says, looking around at the lights strung delicately along the room and kitchen with wreaths, mistletoe, and stockings placed all over.

"You even put lights in my bathroom, thank you," Arya says, sitting next to Daenerys and making an annoyed face at her.

Daenerys shrugs in response. "I admit, I thought I'd surprise you with that." She smiles.

"Ha. Ha. It scared the crap out of me; I jumped so fast and almost fell in the shower." Arya says in a serious tone as she bumps her shoulder against Daenerys.

The other three laugh until Margaery, sitting on the other side of Daenerys said, "Okay, maybe we're good with decorations," She rubs Daenerys' thigh lovingly as she sees her disappointed face. "I'll bring the drinks and ice."

"I'm almost done working on the music playlist," Meera says.

"Please, no traditional songs—I'm going to have to hear all that when I'm home," Arya said, shaking her head.

"I'm going to miss Winterfell this Christmas," Daenerys says with an almost pout.

Arya looks at her best friend and says, "I'm going to miss you," She leans her shoulder and head against Daenerys.

"I'm going to miss you too but maybe not the snow—It gets so cold up there!" She smiles against Arya's hair, near her ear, and gives her a quick kiss. "I'll be sure to send both you and Meera pictures from Highgarden." She gives Arya one last hug and then leans into Margaery. "Enjoying the holidays in sunny weather is going to be different, to say the least."

"Oh, you'll enjoy it," Margaery said with a big grin. She interlocks her fingers with Daenerys.

Arya sees them together, and she sighs, happy to finally see Daenerys in a loving relationship.

"Arya? We have catering doing most of the cooking, but Gendry can still make a couple of dishes, right?" Daenerys asks, then says, "Oh, Drogon, there you are." Her cat jumps on her lap and purrs instantly with her touch.

Arya smiles, knowing Daenerys loves her cats but has more of a connection with Drogon. "Uh—Yes, Gendry will whip up a few things tomorrow and will be at the party early on Sunday to warm them up"

"Whip up, huh?" Margaery asks with a sly grin.

Meera rolled her eyes, looking at her phone, as she sat in the comfy armchair.

Daenerys just shook her head as Arya sits back against the couch. "Shut it," she says and remembers how everyone there found out about her and Gendry, and at the time, she was just so surprised at being caught. Because finals week was ahead,  she didn't mention too much about their relationship—just that it started back at Thanksgiving. She didn't want anyone to know just yet, but she would have said something after the Holidays—most definitely--probably.

"I'm so happy for you two, Arya. You are perfect for each other," Daenerys says with a genuine grin. She squeezes Arya's hand. "I know he's your first real boyfriend..."

Besides talking about everything else in life, Arya never really brought up her love life to Daenerys, other than crushes, but in a way, this was new, talking about him. "I'm happy when we are together," Arya starts. She sees Rhaegal seeking permission to jump on her lap and nods before the tuxedo cat jumps and purrs on her lap. She pets his head and coat. "He was my friend before, but now there's kissing and touching involved--it's all just so new to me."

"Sounds wonderful—you're lucky, Arya," Meera says as she takes a sip of her drink and allows Viserion to lay on her lap.

Arya gives her a hopeful smile, hoping Meera will cheer up with her family this Christmas and get over her most recent heartbreak.

"Well, I hope Gendry knows how lucky he is being with you, Arya," Margaery says with a brilliant smile.

Arya smiles in return, "Thanks," she said. Margaery nods back as Daenerys squeezes Arya's hand again.

Arya then grabs the bowl filled with popcorn from the coffee table, eats one, and says, "Okay, so are we going to watch this movie or what?"

The next evening in Gendry's kitchen was a sublime experience for Arya. She had never smelled so many different foods at once; it was wonderfully intoxicating but disappointing as she couldn't eat any of it until the next day.

"Just a sample?" Arya asks as she places more yellow frosting on a sugar cookie, making a star.

"Nope."

"Come on! I have to make sure they taste good." She gives Gendry a wicked smile.

"Your confidence in me is so reassuring," he scoffed.

"Oh, please, you know I think you're cooking is...delicious," She gives him a satisfied smile. "I just need a taste...." She walks a couple of steps to stand in front of him. She leans forward, and light as a feather, kisses him on the lips. Against his lips, she whispers, "Please."

Gendry, at a loss of words, especially when it comes to Arya Stark, gives in as he grins and says, "I'll get the forks."

Minutes later, Arya put her fork down and said, "Mmm...that stuffed Portobello mushroom is excellent—but that garlic bread with pizza sauce is—" She takes a sip of water and eats another fried mash potato ball. "But these are just too much, they're just so good..." She takes her fork and finishes her portion of the four-cheese ravioli. "This ravioli though—I might be in love," She gives a half-smile to Gendry.

He chuckles. "So, all is good, is it?" He puts his fork down after finishing his half of the stuffed Portobello mushroom.

Arya nods and gives him two thumbs up. "Definitely."

"And how are the next batch of cookies coming along?"

Arya's eyes enlarge as she remembers. "Oh, fuck," she muttered. She quickly walks over to the oven, puts on her oven mitts, takes out the baking sheet pan, and luckily sees the cookies just right-not burnt. "Phew." She places the pan on top of the stove.

Gendry walked over to the stove and said, "Looks like they were saved just in time."

"Yup." Arya continues to place red and white-colored frosting on another cookie.

"Is that a candy cane?

Arya scoffed, continuing her work. "It's a starlight mint."

Gendry smiles as he says, "Right."

"You should know—you have these at your restaurant," she said with a brow raised.

"You're right...milady," he said with a smirk.

Arya takes a deep breath in but doesn't engage. She starts to draw out a present on another sugar cookie and suddenly feels a coolness on her cheek, making her put down the frosting as she touches her cheek and sees purple frosting. "Gendry, I—" She suddenly feels his hot breath on her cheek and his tongue swiping at the frosting.

She looks up at him and sees his mischievous smile as she takes a dab of green frosting with her finger and places it below his lips. She moves forward and sticks out her tongue, taking in the sweetness of the frosting, then kisses his lips. She wraps her arms around his shoulders as he lifts her on the counter, moving aside cartons of frosting, as they continue to kiss each other.

With his finger, he places frosting on her collar bone and moves his lips down to her chin, down her throat, and licks where he put the frosting, making Arya moan with pleasure. She's glad she wore a low cut blouse as Gendry placed a little bit of red frosting just in between her breasts. "Mmm—Gendry, feels so good," she whispered."

"Yeah?" He continued to lick and kiss the spot in between her breasts, his thumb slightly touching the edge of her breast, making her shiver with delight.

"You fucking know it does," she said as his lips touched hers, kissing her hard.

Gendry looks back at the oven clock. "We have a few moments before the next batch of cookies is done," he said. He lifts her again from the counter, and before they move towards the couch in the next room, Arya grabs a carton of frosting and places just a dab on his nose, her other hand on his shoulder.

She shrugs as she licks the frosting off his nose. "We have something to keep us busy until then."

[beautcous]

Let’s Get Away || Meera & Leela

Leela had taken the day off from work for some personal errands that needed to be done. She also may or may not be trying to avoid Zach due to various things that happened and others that didn't happen in his office the day before. Since that day in his office, Leela found herself rattled entirely, and since then all she could think about was showing up at his place and finishing what they started. However, it also left her confused, she believed Zach wasn't attracted to her but seeing as he nearly did fuck her, was she wrong then? Did he want her? She was startled out of her thoughts when the door bell rang, which she answered within a second and found a very distraught looking Meera. Growing concerned when she saw her tears, Leela gently moved her inside and hugged her, before leading her to the couch "Meera, are you okay? What happened?"

Meera knew that she shouldn’t have walked away from Max. She was upset however and after everything that had happened, she just needed to see someone that she knew would always be on her side. Max was out of the question, especially after she told him that everything was his fault. That wasn’t fair. She didn’t mean to hurt him by saying those things, but considering everything, she lost her cool and the words came out before she could stop herself. Despite how upset she was she still sent Max a message, informing him that she would be at Leela’s because no matter what, she knew that he would worry about her. When she got to Leela’s, tears were trickling down her cheeks and once she was inside, she hugged her cousin before going on to explain. “I’m pregnant and my dad wants me to stop seeing Max, and I told Max that everything was his fault.” She wasn’t making sense, but she didn’t care. Meera was too upset to care about anything at this moment.

The moment she saw Meera in distress, all her other thoughts were pushed aside and she quickly tugged her inside. Her worries growing as more tears fell from Meera's cheeks, and Leela hugged her wondering what in the world had her cousin crying so much. As she led her cousin inside and gently sat her down, Leela took her hands and covered them with her own, using one hand to wipe her tears. When Meera spoke everything at once, Leela was left stunning but angered at her father. "Shh, first of all, your dad can't make you do anything. If you let me, I'll give you dad a piece of my mind." She paused, "what happened with Max, Meera, what was his fault? Did he hurt you?"

Meera was inconsolable at this point. She didn’t know what she was going to do. Now that she was pregnant and in love with her soulmate, it wasn’t like she could just walk away from him. The least she could do was tell Max that she was carrying his child. She might not have planned on having a baby, but there was no way in hell that she would abort her pregnancy. It was a part of her and she could only hope that Max wouldn’t freak out at the prospect of being a father. “I wish it was that simple. He won’t listen to me. You telling him off won’t make things better.” She said with a frown, “Nothing. I told him that everything is his fault because I was hurt that Harper was having lunch with him again. I just wanted him to comfort me, but she’s always there. He’d never hurt me.”

It was shocking to see Meera so distraught over Max, the pair were so in love and she'd seen how Max looked at her cousin - like she was his entire world so to see her like this was extremely concerning. Still, if Max did something to hurt Meera this way, Leela wasn't about to let it slide. Ad for her father, god, she truly despised Meera's parents never had she seen such selfish people. "I'm sorry, you're right, it won't. Meera, your pregnant, do you not want the baby?" Things clicked when she mentioned Harper, "it's understandable, your frustration between your father and then this pregnancy but I can is Harper does come by but I can reassure you there's no funny business between them. You need to talk to Max, but if your not ready to then let's get out of here for the weekend. Just us two, you need to unwind and get your thoughts together. I know this perfect Spa place in Vegas. No buts, you need to get away for a little while." She cupped Meera's chin, "how does that sound?"

While Meera couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks, she was still listening to Leela. Her heart ached simply thinking about what her father expected of her. She’d done everything in her power to make her parents happy. There had never been a time where she would defy them, but this, this she could not bear. She would never leave her soulmate, but with the complication of a baby on the way, she wasn’t sure if Max would want to stay with her anymore. No, it was unfair of her to think that way. Her Max was a good man, he would not push her aside nor would he expect her to abort their unborn child. “I do. I want this baby. He or she is created out of love, I refuse to have an abortion.” Guilt encompassed her being once she spoke about Harper. The two had never done anything shady and she was being emotional for no reason. “I’ll go.” She nodded, “I really need to get away.”

Leela hated to see her cousin this way, since her arrival in Stonehill, she'd always seen Meera smiling and radiantly happy and now she was fully in tears. She wanted to ease her troubles and though she couldn't fully do that for her cousin, Leela at the very least could be there for her by her side. She was still a bit confused about this entire Harper thing, but Meera clarified she didn't think Max was cheating, so what exactly happened. Leela would guess the pregnancy wasn't helping her much emotionally and until Meera spoke to her soulmate she'd remain this upset. "Good, because I'm going to spoil your baby rotten, and thought I don't really know Max, I'm sure he'll be happy of this news, Meera." When Meera agreed to get away, Leela wiped her tears away gently, "yes you do, and you'll feel alot better after. Shall we?” Leela packed her bags and they made a pit stop at Meera's place to grab her things before they hit the road.

Meera might be upset over her confrontation with her dad, but she couldn’t be happier to hear the things that her cousin was telling her. At least she had one family member that would stand by her, even if her parents wouldn’t be. At this point, she needed everyone she loved have her back since she knew that she was going to lose her parents support when she chose Max over them. “My baby is going to be loved the both of us.” She placed a hand on her belly and smiled albeit watery as Leela wiped her tears away. “I hope I will. I hate feeling like this,” like her heart was shattered. Perhaps their time at the spa would help to soothe her worries. “Let’s go.” She agreed before they were leaving and making their way to Las Vegas after stopping by her place to grab herself an overnight bag.

Leela hoped that her cousin will put herself first, think about her happiness rather than trying to please her parents. Now that she was pregnant, what did her father expect her to do? Marry another man, over Leela's dead body. Still, she was happy for her cousin and a bit excited to be an aunt, and she knew Max would be equally delighted knowing he'd be a father. One thing Leela knew without a doubt was that the man loved her cousin, he'd stand by her no matter what. "Yes, he or she will, although I hope you have a cute little girl so I can put her pretty dresses." She said with a small smile as she wiped away Meera's tears and was rewarded with a smile. Once they picked up Meera's overnight bag, the two made the hour long journey to Vegas where Leela checked them in a relaxing spa, where Leela suggested they went first unwind at a suana while she diverted Meera's mind for a while. Leela used this chance to clear her own mind since what transpired between her and Zach.

COMPLETED

[danwhobrowses]

10 Things that would’ve Improved the Game of Thrones Final Season (For Me)

So it came to my attention that recently it was the First Anniversary of the Final Episode of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’. I was taken back to my memory of the BinGOT thing we had at work where we all made predictions of who lived, died and ‘won’ from the last ep (I was in 2nd or 3rd place). And since my mother has started binging it during quarantine I thought in the spirit of that environment I’d discuss a little what I would’ve changed in the final season.

Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 Below, if you haven’t watched it then you’re better off not reading this frankly, if you haven’t been spoiled already at least.

So for starters, the final episode is not the worst tv I’ve ever seen, it just was a sloppy final season in general that really didn’t satisfy the 2 years of hype waiting for it, it’s like with the How I Met Your Mother finale, but that annoyance being more than one episode. But without further ado here are 10 things I would’ve changed about the final season Note: Most will involve the finale. The first 2 episodes were great.

10 - Ten Episodes The Long Night was 1 episode, the LONG NIGHT. A Culmination of the army of living and dead confined into one episode. One of the main problems with the final season was that the pacing was a bit rushed, it made character progression seem unnatural and dropped long-built plot points like water through a sieve. With 10 episodes, which was not a big ask given that this was the usual number and the gravitas of it being the final season would easily allow it to be green lit. D&D immediately backed themselves into a corner by giving a limit they weren’t used to and too much content to put in.

9 - Bite of the Spider Varys’ death was an upsetting start of the penultimate episode, while I would’ve loved him to have survived start to end and potentially ended on top (because he’s never shown to be as cunning or dangerous as he is in the books) there was some sense in him dying. However, Varys was shown sending a letter before his arrest and that never came back up, the finale could’ve used this by revealing to the public Jon’s true heritage, which would’ve immediately undermined Dany’s claim and set up a better conflict. Also we never knew what the voice in the flames said to him...

8 - A More Fitting Long Night While everyone probably popped hard for Arya killing the Night King, myself included, the nature of it was rather abrupt. I don’t think anyone can buy that she sneaked past that entire army. I do feel like the Night King was just a MacGuffin for the Long Night, given that he did so little in the actual fight. This is where a multi-part Long Night would’ve been key as well, going from the Night King being immune to Dragonfire to dying a bit later was not a good pace, and we lacked any conflict with Jon like we teased twice, Arya probably wasn’t the most poetic person to kill him either but GoT seldom did poetic deaths (Joffrey, Cersei, Euron). While the Long Night had exemplary deaths like Theon, Lyanna, Jorah and Beric, the Night King fell among the ranks of Melisandre and Edd in terms of meh deaths. The Long Night should’ve been a bigger bloodbath than it was, half the Dothraki somehow survived remember, we didn’t get to see Ghost fight at all either, no giant spiders, a lot of the tension was lost with the way some fight scenes were filmed; it was too easy to read between the lines and not enough characters had any true ‘oh god this person could die’ scenes.

7 - Resolution for the Characters we didn’t See and Plots unresolved With so much funding and finality in the show, there felt like there could’ve been more stuff that could’ve been resolved; what was the Quaith’s prophecy about? What really happened with the Doom of Valyria? Why does Dragonglass and Valyrian steel kill White Walkers? What is Daario doing after Dany died? Were the Faceless Men really that okay with letting Arya wander around knowing their skillset? Nobody hired them to help in the war either. What happened to the remnants of that warlock dude who stole the baby dragons, they sent one scorpion and that’s it, what happens with the Little Birds now that they’re leaderless? Who was Azor Ahai? What were the spirals about? There are a lot of questions the show kinda just, ignored. 

6 - The Mad Queen So, Dany going from ‘I’ll stop if they surrender’ to ‘Burn them fucking all’ was abrupt for many, the majority of fans were not ready or willing to accept turning on their Kaleesi in just one episode. While I could see the conclusion coming from being jumped, losing another ‘child’ and her closest friend as well as her new boyfriend being her nephew and a legitimate threat to her legitimacy despite already pledging fealty, Dany’s descent could’ve used more time, and less naivety.  While the death of the dragon was a huge shock, the idiocy fell on Dany in thinking that Cersei would play fair and wouldn’t try to occupy Dragonstone while she abandoned it. There also fell inconsistency when the same fleet and rows of Scorpion crossbows suddenly got Stormtrooper aim during ‘The Bells’. Euron is a renowned sailor, he ruined a Dornish fleet in a previous season, he may be an annoying bastard but you have to treat his naval tactics with a bit more respect - and make Dany less stupid with Cersei doing Cersei things. A lot of people definitely needed more time in buying the idea that Dany had lost her cool and that she blamed all of Westeros to justify burning everyone unashamedly.

5 - Proper Redemption We all know who we’re talking about. Jaime, Jaime, Jaime. In the end he just proved Olenna’s point didn’t he? And his turn away from redemption was only to serve as an example point for Tyrion to use to convince Jon to kill Dany. Jaime didn’t have to live, but he didn’t have to die rushing to Cersei’s rescue, or even due to Euron stabbing him. If anything Jaime should’ve died with some Honour, to be the inverse of Ned as he was presented in Season 1.

4 - My Lady does not have to mean M’Lady This is probably the most selfish ones of my 10 but as a shipper at my very heart and soul I wanted one, at least one, ship to survive this entire turmoil and Gendry and Arya were that couple. We almost had it as well, but then for some mad reason D&D decided that Gendry, despite literally saying that “none of it will be worthwhile if you’re not with me”, stayed in Storm’s End. Arya’s character endgame was right in her venturing off not being bound by the fact that she’s a noble, but Gendry spent a lot of time not caring that he was of Kingsblood to basically being his Father’s son. He’ll rule Storm’s End, marry some woman to have kids, but he’ll still have fallen into the same pit as King Robert did. It would’ve been much more satisfying and hopeful if Gendry abandoned the titles and land he never wanted or needed to accompany someone he loves and who loves him back on an adventure into the unknown. She’s not a ‘lady’ if she’s only marrying a blacksmith and love is the death of duty.

3 - Sansa is NOT Smart (and gets what she actually deserves) Right. So I really, really didn’t like Sansa. Like, I get it, she got held hostage by the Lannisters, watched her father get beheaded, got accused of murder, learned that her brother and mother died, watched the guy who fancied her mother and kissed her kill her aunt and then got effectively sold to an abuser in an arranged marriage. But Sansa is not the smartest player in the game, it was annoying that they tried to portray her as one, she had one idea that anyone could’ve told you ‘don’t be stupid against Ramsay Bolton’. She spent all of Season 8 mainly giving side eye like a petty bitch, completely trying to undermine Dany despite the two being very very similar (remember Dany was raped, sold off in an arranged marriage and watched family members get killed too) to the point where she was conspiring for Jon to usurp her. And in reality she took her ball and left, she was so pissy that the leaders didn’t pick her to be Queen of Westeros that she literally pointed out her own brother’s infertility, claimed that the North wouldn’t bow to a monarch, then declared herself Queen.  Hide the ‘Yas Queen’ goggles for a sec, this wasn’t empowering she was throwing her own brother under the bus because she wanted to be queen, and she learned far too much from Littlefinger and Cersei’s playbook to actually be a just one. The North is allowed to be an independent nation, but Sansa’s ‘victory’ was more earned by virtue of a lot of shit happened to her than her actually demonstrating qualities to be queen.

2 - Bran Stark can’t come to the Phone right now... While we’re on the subject of Stark children not being fit rulers, Bran. What a cockamamie decision that was. I was 100% behind the destruction of the Iron Throne, but the chorus of laughter with a democratic rule was a bit of a slap in the face. Of all the choices though, Bran had to be near the bottom, it felt completely unearned that he spent literal seasons disconnecting from the world even to the point where he told Meera and Sam that Bran Stark is no longer here anymore only for Bran Stark to magically resurface when a crown is in waiting. I think it defeats the whole Three Eyed Raven thing too, the guy isn’t really one for the people, which is the problem every other ruler before him failed at. If you can’t pick a just person to lead, then why not a council instead? Just using Bran was a poor and messy decision.

1 - THE MOTHERFUCKING VALONQUAR One of the few expectations across all of Game of Thrones was the wondering over whether Cersei was gonna get what’s coming to her, the Maggy the Frog prophecy was going along quite well up until the Valonquar bit, where the younger sibling that was going to choke the life out of her was: bricks. BRICKS! Of all the long-winded prophecy foreshadowings to drop this one was the worst, Cersei (and Jaime) died in underwhelming, thoughtless fashion, the lack of fanfare on killing off one of the best and most ‘love to hate’ villains in the show only cemented the fact that the finale was not able to live up to the hype. True, most of these are small changes, but it’s worth remembering that there was some good coming out of the final season and it was the lack of those little things and attention to detail that led to the season ending on an underwhelming note.

We did however get a good ton of memes out of it, and at work a long-winded discussion on who should get the ‘winner’ 5-points (compared to the 1 correct points) since we had technically agreed that the 5 points goes to “whoever correctly guesses who sits on the Iron Throne” XD I still can’t believe I was right in Drogon melting the throne though that was one in a million

[7deadlycinderellas]

If the summer of our lives could just come again, ch 7

AO3 Link

 Arya

“It must be the two rangers that died by the wall.”

Sansa looks up from her plate of honeyed chicken at her sister. They hadn’t talked much after leaving the archery range. Arya had been oddly silent, and from her words, Sansa guesses she was trying to puzzle out Jojen’s vision.

Jojen had been tired and confused, so Meera had walked him back to the guest quarters to rest. The rest of the group had made their way to the hall for supper.

“The ones that attacked Lord Commander Mormont?” Sansa asks her, wrinkling her brow and trying to remember.

“The one that shed its feathers and became the wight...and the one that was just injured…that must have been Uncle Benjen.” Bran muses.

“I thought Jon had been at the wall a while when that happened?” Sansa had vague memories of Jon’s story, and was certain that it had happened close to when Father had been executed.

“Jojen’s visions sometimes come before things happen. And he used to go on and on about how they couldn’t be changed.” Bran explains. “It drove me mad.”

“So there’s nothing we can do?” Arya asks, feeling quite small and helpless, “Those two rangers still die, and Uncle Benjen still gets trapped over the wall?”

“I guess of all the things that could become set, at least this means Jon should still be able to save Lord Mormont and get Longclaw. That’s important in the grand scheme of things.”

“I hate this!” Arya snarls, her anger beginning to bubble over “I hate knowing that so many awful things will happen or are happening, and there isn’t anything we can do! Why were we even sent back here.”

She knows it’s not rational, and she knows she’s probably upsetting the others, who she knows aren’t any happier about the situation than her, but Arya can’t stop herself. She grabs a chunk of bread and a chicken leg and walks outside.

It’s chilly outside, like there’s a summer snow coming, and Arya pulls her cloak more tightly around her. With a bite of bread, she angrily walks to one of the only spots in Winterfell where people might let her alone, the Godswood.

She’s taken a seat on the ground below the weirwood when she hears a shifting above her and is startled.

“Oh!” Meera says, from her perch upon one of the trees lower branches, “I didn’t think anyone else would come out here.”

Arya twists her neck to look up at her.

“Neither did I,” she admits, taking a bite of her chicken. After a long moment she tells the other girl,

“If you stay out here, you’ll miss supper.”

“That’s fine,” she replies, “lost my appetite. It’s been a long day.”

Arya leaves her be, and sits at the base of the tree eating the remains of her supper. After a few minutes, Meera slinks down the trunk and sits beside her. Arya offers her the remains of her bread, which she takes and chews slowly.

“So what chased you out here?” she asks when she finishes, brushing the crumbs from her hands.

Arya takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly through her nose.

“More mealtime rumination of everything we can’t ever change.”

Meera’s face looks like Arya imagines her own must.

“It’s always like this whenever Jojen has one of his greendreams. He’s always been so completely defeated about them. I used to push back against him, try and convince him we could do something about it, and he would always shake his head. Used to always tell me ‘this is not the day I die,’” she spits out a bit of ash that’s stuck to the outside of the bread crust, “Until it was the day he did.”

“Why the fuck does he even have them then?” Arya wonders, gritting her teeth. “Why the fuck did we all even end up back here again?”

Meera kicks at the ground with one foot. “I don’t have any more patience in me for grand destinies. I lost that before. The last time I left home following some vision, all I got was everyone around me but Bran dying...and I think he might as well have died too.”

“Been surrounding myself with death as long as I can remember, and I’m sick of it” Arya muses, “The Faceless Men worship death as a god. I wanted to join them, I was so consumed by the desire for revenge, that I thought I could be like them. If I hadn’t left, hadn’t gotten away...I would have ended up like Bran did, a complete shell of my former self.”

“How did you stop it?”

“I was stabbed, bleeding and alone, and I got reminded of who I really was. I ran, all the way back to Winterfell, and to whatever remained of my family. Sometimes. It all tried to drag me back. I think it might have, if it weren’t for-”

Arya swallows roughly. She hadn’t really admitted this part, even to herself.

“You met Gendry, when we all came down into the Neck, didn’t you?”

Meera furrows her brow, thinking.

“Big man, dark hair, doesn’t say much?”

Arya smiles fondly,

“I think someone told him if you stay silent, you might be thought a fool, but if you open your mouth, they’ll be certain you are.”

She closes her eyes for a moment.

“When I met him we were both children. Once he knew who I was, he wouldn’t let me forget who I was, always tripped himself up around me because I was a highborn lady. I had just seen my father executed, had my hair hacked off and was being forced to march leagues and sleep in the mud. Being reminded of who I was drove me absolutely batty, especially since I was never anyone’s idea of a proper lady.”

A deep slow sigh escapes from Arya.

“When I returned to Winterfell, so very much had changed. So many people I knew were gone. I felt so out of place, even seeing Jon and Sansa again. And you can probably imagine what it was like seeing Bran again after what had happened to him.”

Meera manages a bitter laugh at that.

“With all of that, it would have been so easy to let myself be eaten by the darkness I had spent too long courting. But then I found Gendry again, and we’d become...different. And again, he wouldn’t let me forget that I was Arya Stark.”

She fixes Meera with a solid gaze. Her words are finally forming neatly in her mind.

“So much of the death I saw has now been undone. Regardless of destiny or whatever, we have a second chance here. Even when things are out of our hands, we shouldn’t waste it.”

That really is the meat of what Arya had come to the Godswood to remind herself of. It got away from her there for a minute. She changes the subject.

“Besides, that whole journey did make me appreciate a few things.”

“What sort of things?” Meera asks her with a raised eyebrow.

“Patience, education…” a long pause, “Baths.”

“Not having to wash everything in melted snow,” Meera adds.

“Not wanting to burn your socks when you take them off.”

“Food that doesn’t grow creeping on the bark of trees.”

Food you don't have to kill yourself, or steal and shovel down"

They both laugh.

Meera’s looking at her out of the corner of her eye, considering her.

“Bran did mention a few times that I reminded him a lot of you.”

Arya laughs gently.

“Back in the old days, I wouldn’t have been sure that was a compliment.”

 Ned

Ned finds himself waking quite early now. It’s been like this for a while. It seems like a nice enough day, so he decides not to fight the pull. He carefully stands from his bed, dresses is silence, and with a glance to the still sleeping Catelyn, exits to begin his day.

He’s always enjoyed the cool air and rising light of Winterfell at dawn. The servants are scurrying about, beginning their duties, but hardly anyone else is awake, and it’s pleasantly quiet.

At least until he hears the soft sounds of movement coming from the training yard.

He finds his youngest daughter has clearly risen even before him. She’s dressed already, though she’s left her shoes off.

She’s holding a small, light sword that he’s never seen, and moving in a clearly practiced, though a bit clumsy manner.

The movements aren’t especially traditional, but he feels like he recognizes them all the same.

She spots him at one point, and walks over, smiling. It’s another jarring change. A few moons ago, she might have skittered away like a rabbit, frightened of being caught.

“Where’d you get your hands on this?” He asks her, reaching out and touching the hilt of the little sword.

“Jon had Mikken make it for me before he left for the Wall,” she admits, unusually openly.

“It’s a fine little blade,” he lets the words breathe a bit, “I would also ask who taught you to wield it.”

Arya hoists herself up on a barrel to sit before telling him. He leans against the wooden railing beside her.

“His name was Syrio Forel. He was once the First Sword of Braavos. You hired him to teach me when you caught me with Needle,”

Ned laughs to himself. That name is very Arya.

“Back in King’s Landing. I think you thought I might lose it and poke Sansa full of holes otherwise.”

“I wouldn’t think I’d need to worry about that anymore, but your brother and sister seemed upset last night and there was no sign of you.”

Arya shakes her head.

“That was something that upset all of us.”

There’s a lull, and Ned decides to take the topic back to Arya’s old teacher.

“So he’s the one who taught you to fight.”

Arya smiles a sort of pained half-smile.

“He taught me the Water Dance, life kicking me while I was down taught me to fight.”

Ned winces internally. She’s not wrong, you can only learn so much from formal lessons, of any kind. It’s the difference between a green soldier and one who’s spent years on the battlefield. But she shouldn’t have had to take those lessons.

“I still remember all the movements he taught me. My mind anyway, I have to practice so my muscles will remember too.”

Good, Ned thinks. She’s clearly become more patient and disciplined than she was as a child, though in recent days Catelyn had shaken her head at what had become of the girl.

“Well don’t practice too much. It’s not good to strain yourself on an empty stomach,” he says, bidding her farewell, and leaving to break his fast in the Great Hall.

When he reaches the hall, Sansa and Bran are already up, and whispering conspiratorially over their sausage and eggs. They look up quickly when Ned enters, though their faces then soften.

“Is there something I need to be in on?” He asks them suspiciously.

“It’s nothing like that,” Sansa assures him.

“Davos and Gendry both should be arriving today,” Bran admits.

Ned blinks.

“I’ll tell the guards to keep an eye open, why were you trying to hide that?”

“I didn’t tell her when I saw them make camp less than a league from us last night,” Bran explains.

“We were all pretty down last night, and we thought Arya could use a happy surprise for once,” Sansa adds.

Ned smiles. If there has been one great, wonderful consequence of this whole mad experience, it was seeing his children truly united.

 Bran

After finishing his eggs, Bran takes off in search of Maester Luwin. When he finds him outside the rookery he calls out to him.

Luwin shakes his head when she sees him stumble closer on his crutches.

“I thought I told you to stay off your leg, it could make the break worse, or even make it break all over again.”

Bran brushes him off. It’s not to say he’s not worried about his words, but the possibility of rebreaking his leg seems such a trivial thing in the grand scheme. And he’s not staying in bed the entire time, that’s just not happening if he has any say in it.

“Do you still want to meet them?” Luwin asks. Bran nods.

‘Them’ is the newest mated pair of Luwin’s ravens. They are both tending their clutch of seven eggs when Luwin leads him into the rookery. Bran offers one an acorn, and so he is allowed to gently scratch each of them on their heads.

As Luwin tells him all of the little quirks of raising and training them, Bran simply watches them. Watches each of their movements. The female likes to hop, and watches his hand closely to see if there might be anymore acorns coming her way. The male is friendlier, more prepared to sit on Bran’s hand.

Warging is much easier with a bonded animal.

Once their done, it’s mid-morning. He bumps into Arya outside, and takes the opportunity.

“Have you seen Meera?”

“I think she was heading to the Godswood. If you find her, remind her she said she’d show me how to use her spear.”

Like Arya really needs another weapon, Bran thinks to himself. He makes a side stop on his way at the kitchen. It’s not yet time for the midday meal, so it’s easy enough to slip in amongst everyone working and steal two tarts.

The godswood is really lovely in late summer. The summer snows have kept everything green, and the sunlight brings color to the plants and flowers that grow. Even the black pond looks inviting in the summer.

Meera’s sitting beneath one of the trees when Bran finds her. He tries not to be hurt that when she sees him, she stands and pulls herself up onto the branch above her.

“That was mean,” is all he says to her, sitting carefully at the base of the tree. He sets the other tart he’d brought next to him on a cloth. “It’s blackberry.”

The only response is silence, save for a soft rustling of leaves. Bran takes a bite of his own tart, brushing the crumbs off onto the grass.

After a few minutes, he hears Meera softly ask.

“Did Arya come looking for me?”

Bran nods, “No rush, she’ll end up distracted pretty soon.”

There’s another long bit of silence.

“How long will you have to have the cast?”

“At least two more moons,” Bran admits, “and Maester Luwin says it will be longer if I don’t start staying off it more. But I can’t really resist.”

After a bit, and far more quietly, she asks.

“Does it hurt?”

Bran takes a deep breath.

“Not really, not anymore,” he touches his side gingerly, “My hip’s another story. No one really asked about it after Luwin popped it back, but it feels like...like it’s attached by a cord that got stretched so far it won’t snap back.”

There’s a long pause, and then the sound of Meera sliding down the trunk, silently. She sits far enough from him that he can’t look at her without craning his neck. She picks up the tart and takes a bite.

“I did that to my shoulder once. Pulled it straight out. Father popped it back in easily enough, but it took nearly half a year before it stopped feeling strange.”

Oh fun, he has that to look forward to.

They sit in a nearly companionable silence for a while, though Bran still feels pulled tight, as though he’s walking an invisible tightrope.

“Father’s leaving in a few days,” Meera says abruptly.

Bran is surprised. Howland has spent most of his days with Ned and Catelyn, trying to give them aid in ways the children cannot.

“He says he doesn’t want to leave Mother by herself for too long. He asked Jojen and I if we wished to return with him.”

“Do you?” Bran asks, trying not to sound desperate, and likely failing.

Meera bites her lip.

“I don’t know. Am I really needed here?”

“Needed and wanted aren’t the same thing,” Bran blurts out. Meera’s quiet in response, and though he can’t see her face, he can feel her go still.

“I’m sorry, so sorry for what happened before. I know I hurt you, I know that…” he tries to wrap his tongue around his words.

“I know it wasn’t you, it was the raven.”

Bran shakes his head, almost violently.

“I don’t want to do that, some of the blame at least sits on me. I wanted him to show me his powers, I wanted to fly. Though I really wouldn’t call that flying. Coming back myself after everything- I can’t believe no one else went off on me for it.”

He still can’t believe Sansa didn’t slap him for that comment he made about her wedding night.

“All I know is, seeing you again, when we’ve got this second chance...I never want to be anyone but Brandon Stark again.”

He hears her make a sound, deep in her throat, almost like a chuckle.

“Wouldn’t let me forget who I was.”

“What?” he says, suddenly not understanding.

“Nothing,” she says.

Bran glances up at the sky.

“We should go, the others should get here by mid-day.”

“Alright.”

He struggles a bit to stand, and she reaches out to steady his good hand while gets his grip on the left-sided crutch. It’s the first time she’s touched him since before, and he quickly feels his face burn.

Meera laughs. It’s the best thing he’s ever heard. The raven was wrong, this was what flying really felt like.

“You’re blushing.”

“Give me a break, my voice hasn’t even dropped yet.”

 Catelyn

They had all eaten the mid-day meal of stewed rabbit together for once. After they finish, Sansa asks Catelyn if she would come and watch all of them practice their archery.

She agrees, happy to see them all together. Ned had commented on it several times, it was very nice to see her younger children working as one. Robb’s absence is the only thing missing. Bran can’t practice yet, with his wrist still splinted, but he sits on the side, seemingly content. He’s seemed in good spirits while eating earlier, which pleases her.

It’s still so incredibly strange, seeing Sansa with a bow in her hand. It’s not unheard of for a woman to shoot a bow, but it’s not common. Of all the martial activities Sansa could have expressed interest in, it’s possibly the only that could be viewed as at all ladylike. But there’s a darkness in her eyes when she talks about wanting to defend herself that Catelyn hates violently.

The Reed girl assures Sansa that she’s improving, and she glows with pride when she finally manages to bury an arrow in the target.

Catelyn’s interactions with all three of the Reeds has challenged her childhood old prejudices against the crannogmen. All three of them had been nothing but polite and courteous in their time at Winterfell.

She had been off-put by Jojen’s discussions of his visions, but watching him with the other children made him feel less unnerving. He was somehow worse with the bow than Sansa, but seemed entirely unperturbed by it.

The old Catelyn might have fretted over Meera’s influence on Arya. The older girl was as boyish and rough as her daughter had always been. Lord Reed had spoken so proudly of his daughter’s skill though, and Cat had begun to wonder if maybe Arya would thrived somewhere where the things she enjoyed were valued. The new Catelyn could recognize Meera’s better temper and ease when teaching the others.

She bites back the words in her throat watching both her daughters shoot. She bites back ‘unladylike’ and ‘unbecoming’. And most of all, she bites back ‘dangerous’. Her girls have clearly known enough of dangerous.

It’s not been too long when Ned enters behind her.

“We’ve got visitors to greet, everyone.

The others nod, and put away their equipment. They all seem to understand, only Arya seeming a bit confused. Sansa had told Arya of their intent to let the others arrival be a surprise to her.

When they arrive in the courtyard outside the north gate, both of the men, well, man and boy, have dismounted and are handing the horses off to one of the stable boys.

One of them is an older man with a beard, whom Ned steps forward to shake the hand of. He introduces himself as Ser Davos, of house Seaworth. The other is younger, maybe sixteen with thick black hair and a strong build.

The others file in behind her, murmuring, then Sansa steps to one side, so Arya can get a clear look. She does, and she freezes.

It’s so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Then Arya takes off at a run. The dark haired boy had time enough to drop to a knee and reach out just as she flings herself at him and wraps her arms around his neck.

Gendry, Catelyn thought, reaching into her memory. Arya had said his name was Gendry. She would be lying if she claimed she had not spent any time wondering what type of man would willingly marry Arya, and would be accepted by her in turn. It had caused a murmur of amusement among most of the others.

When Gendry scoops her up with one arm and touches her face, runs a hand through her hair, there is no laughter.

He kisses her once, on the lips. It’s innocent, chaste even.

But then Arya squeaks, turns a color resembling a very ripe rutabaga, hops down from Gendry’s arms and runs off. The stables are close to the courtyard where they are, and Arya scampers to the closest one, stops suddenly, and plunks her face into one of the horse troughs.

Catelyn can only hope it was recently filled.

When she returns to the group, soaking wet, there is a smarting of soft giggles coming from most of them. Except Gendry.

He’s doubled over laughing hysterically.

Arya makes a face, and kicks him softly before taking his hand, her face and neck now only a tiny bit pink.

And suddenly Catelyn smiles, feeling like she understands.

Then she turns slightly, to look at Ned.

Who’s staring at them as though he’s seen a ghost.

[dancinginthecenteroftheworld]

Nov 23: Thankful (Stark Family)

There’s nothing quiet about a Stark family Thanksgiving. 

Sansa has been working since Tuesday, helping get everything ready. Between extended family, significant others, and friends (or strays) they’re over twenty this year. 

Which is fine, it just means Sansa has been spending the better part of the past week at her parent’s house working on prep. At least Robb and Bran are helping, and Jon if he’s not working. 

If Sansa never sees another cranberry again in her life, it will be too soon.

(She says this every year.)

Still, Sansa feels a swell of warmth when she looks around the dining room. Her dad has put several of the leaves in the table, and it fits all of them comfortably, even if the chairs don’t all match. (Aunt Lysa definitely has something to say about that, but thankfully Uncle Jon is good at re-directing her. Usually.)

The table is decorated with leaves and gourds, and it actually looks nice this year, now that the duty has passed from Rickon to Robin, as the youngest child. Rickon’s tables tended to look like a disaster hit, but nobody was going to let him get out of it. 

Robin has issues, but Sansa’s cousin at least has some degree of thoughtfulness. Even if it had taken him two hours to get the job done, because he’d had to count every leaf and evenly distribute them. 

Sansa’s honestly surprised that the table doesn’t sag under the weight of all the food. Two golden brown turkeys, giant pans of stuffing, huge bowls of cranberry sauce and gravy, an actual vat of mashed potatoes, two varieties of sweet potatoes (thank god they’re no longer having the annual marshmallow vs. pecan crust debate) are just a start. 

Maybe it’s silly, but there’s something so special about only getting the dishes once a year. Sansa knows she could make green bean casserole or creamed onions any time, but there’s something better about them for only being once a year.

She’s also looking forward to trying the savory mashed squash Mr. Reed brought this year (Sansa still can’t call him Howland, even though he’s asked her too, it feels too weird) and the Moroccan carrot dish her mom has added. Sansa thinks the regular carrots are great, but her mom says she’ll go insane if she keeps making the same exact thing for another 40-some years, so whatever makes her happy.

Sansa can’t imagine having Thanksgiving in a smaller crowd, not having to elbow Robb and Arya to get to the last bit of corn pudding or almost shouting to be heard. Or waiting impatiently for everyone to go around saying what they’re thankful for, which takes forever, or watching Rickon and Arya make faces at each other with food in their mouths. Which, honestly, Rickon is 22, they should have grown out of that. 

Sansa wishes her new boss at the animal shelter had agreed to come. Brienne is so nice and so smart and so strong, Sansa looks up to her. And Brienne said it’s just her and her father! How do you even cook a turkey for two people? It makes Sansa want to cry.

It’s not like there aren’t other people here. Arya always brings her boss, because his family is all back in Braavos and they don’t do Thanksgiving there anyway. And Bran’s boss is here this year too, since Alys’ father died last year. 

Alys looks a little shell-shocked, actually. Sansa should probably check on her before dessert. The Starks, en masse, can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not used to it. And Bran is too busy making eyes at Meera to notice anything else. 

What’s most interesting this year is saying thanks. Rickon says thanks for teaching people new things, which is the most un-Rickon like thing Sansa has ever heard, so something is up there. Robb mumbled something about kindness and forgiveness, which makes Sansa think he’s got someone he’s trying to date and failing (as usual). Then Jon says coffee and Jon barely even drinks coffee, what is going on?

Then again, Sansa says yarn and tea, which has a few of her siblings raising their eyebrows. So she’s not entirely blameless. 

Luckily, she’s seated between Alys – whose baked mushrooms with parmesan are amazing, they are definitely inviting her back next year with a request for them – and Grandfather Tully, who is talking about his interesting cases so far this year. Sansa hums politely and pretends to care about the town’s new loitering laws and how it’s clogging up the court and taking up all Grandfather’s time, while trying desperately to turn the conversation back to Alys and new ideas for ice cream flavors at the shop.

Sansa is practically bursting by the time the guests leave (but not before she gets Syrio’s pumpkin gnocchi recipe) and the Uncles go to clean up and they all head to the den for the traditional sibling time.

Or, interrogate and beat each other until everyone spills their secrets time. 

“Coffee?” Sansa demands, looking at Jon. Then turns to Rickon. “And teaching people?”

“What the fuck,” Bran agrees. He’s still got a plate of pie, and that’s where the last slice of apple cider cream pie went, the little jerk. Sansa wanted that piece. 

Jon breaks first, of course, and has an epic crush on the coffee girl at Wildlings. Sansa has met her a few times – Jon is going to get eaten alive. Probably before he even gets laid. 

Robb turns about seven shades of red talking about Talisa at the pharmacy, and Sansa makes a note to go pick up some vitamins and do recon. 

Sansa obligingly spills about Margaery, because she’s totally been waiting for this chance, until Arya starts fake gagging. It’s not Sansa’s fault Margaery is so wonderful and easy to talk about, honestly.

Rickon is the last to cave. It takes Arya jumping on his neck like a monkey and holding him still while Sansa and Robb tickle him until he caves. It’s worked like a charm since he was four, although he’s become significantly more difficult to hold down, hence Arya. 

Sansa politely refrains from asking where her sister learned the spots to use to effectively immobilize someone much bigger than herself. 

“I just filled in for Uncle Brynden with some stuff,” Rickon says. 

Arya twists his ear. 

“There was a girl who’s kinda cool,” Rickon allows. He looks over. “She reminds me of you, kinda.”

Sansa stops tickling him in shock. 

Look, she loves all her brothers (and Arya) but Sansa and Rickon are about as polar opposite as it’s possible to be.  

“Me?” Sansa repeats, in case he’s actually talking to Arya. 

“Yeah, she’s like some kind of a Disney princess or something,” Rickon goes on. His cheeks are actually turning pink. “She’s really sweet, it’s like you expect birds to fly out and sing songs while flying around her or something.”

Arya falls off Rickon’s back in shock. 

Sansa didn’t realize Rickon had paid such close attention to the Disney movies she’d make him watch when they were kid, but clearly Cinderella sunk in at least a little. 

Robb waves his hand in front of Rickon’s face. “Are you drunk?”

“What?” 

It’s a hilariously defensive yelp coming from someone who’s six foot tall, with full sleeve tattoos and what is probably a very handsome beard. Or something. He’s very proud of it, Sansa doesn’t pretend to know or care about the attractiveness of facial hair. 

“Opposites can attract,” Jon offers, but he’s smirking. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Rickon argues. 

It’s more words than Sansa has heard her youngest brother say about anyone ever, let alone a girl. Woman, she supposes, now they’re all adults. As weird as that is. 

“Have you slept with her?” Bran is always the bluntest one. 

“It’s not a thing,” Rickon says again. “I’ve just seen her around a couple of times.”

A woman Rickon has seen around and wants to talk to and hasn’t slept with already? This just gets more interesting by the minute. 

It takes a while but they eventually weasel a name out of him, Shireen Baratheon, although he refuses to say what she does. Which means it’s embarrassing. Considering Rickon’s last hookups have included a stripper, a drummer in a failed rock band, a woman with facial tattoos, and a woman Sansa is pretty sure was a drug dealer, she’s not sure what qualifies as embarrassing for him.

It’s so nice to hear though. Maybe he’ll find someone that cares about him. Sansa thinks her brother wants that a lot more than he’ll admit. It’s fills her with joy to see most of her siblings closer to finding their person, and hopefully Sansa is too.

Now she just has to figure someone out for Arya, and it will be just perfect. 

Thanksgiving next year might be even bigger.

[dingoes8myrp]

Mom and I React to Game of Thrones 6x05

Before the show

Me: "I think Jon and Sansa are also gonna get Yara now that Theon's there. Neither of them wants to be king or queen, so if she wants to hold the North I think they'll go 'Fine, but we keep Winterfell. By the way, white walkers, so it's no picnic 'cause we're literally right there.'"

Me: "This one's just called 'The Door.'"

Mom: "The Door?"

Me: "The moon door, maybe? They gonna toss Petyr out of the moon door?"

-

Recap

Me: "Bran. Yesss."

Hodor flashback

Mom: "What happened to him?!"

Me: "Okay, so Jon and Sansa are gonna meet Petyr and she's gonna go 'you kill my asshole husband and help me take Winterfell.' I mean, she can't marry him obviously, so they'll have to deal with that later."

-

The Wall

Sansa gets a letter, looks at the seal

Mom: *looks at the sigil* "What the hell is that?"

Me: "It's a mockingbird. Littlefinger."

Sansa: "Would you like to hear about our wedding night?"

Me: "Oof."

Sansa tells off Petyr

Me: "Or they don't have the Vale..."

Sansa: "Go back to Moat Cailin."

Me: "Fucking A, Sansa. You're terrible at strategy."

Mom: "She definitely needed that army..."

-

Braavos

Creepy girl cocks her head kind of weird

Me: "That's not a person. That's not how a person moves."

Mom: "... Oh..."

Me: "Maybe the're demons."

Mom: "I don't know."

Jaqen explains the backstory of the faceless men

Me: "Or it's less interesting."

Mom: "Soul catchers?"

Me: "What?"

Mom: "Maybe they take souls along with faces."

Arya backstage

Mom: "Oh! It's Mrs. Fisher!"

Jaquen: "Does death only come for the wicked and leave the decent behind?"

Mom: "Oh, maybe he's Death!"

-

The Tree

Me: "Did he get taller since the last episode he was in?!"

Mom: "God, a growing spurt."

The Children have some dude tied to a tree

Me: "Who the fuck is that?"

They shove something into his heart

Me: "White walker!"

Mom: "OH!"

-

Pyke

They ask who makes a claim for the throne

Theon says nothing

Me: "Let's see if he meant that shit."

Me: "He's gotta say something."

Mom: "There he goes."

Me: "But what's he gonna do? Give it to her or take it?"

Mom: "Oh, he is so broken."

Uncle comes up to make a claim

Mom: "Fuck."

Me: "Did the guy that just argued a woman can't be queen say he's going to go to Daenerys, who will be queen?"

Theon and Yara hop in some boats

Mom: "They're taking off?"

Mom: "They're kinging him?!"

Me: "... Drowning him?"

Me: "Wow, they don't fuck around with their coronations."

Yulon: "Where are my niece and nephew? Let's go murder them."

Me: "That's why they left."

Mom: "They took all the boats! Hah!"

Me: "But where are they going? Winterfell?"

Mom: "Or to Daenerys."

-

Vaes Dothrak

Jorah: "I love you."

Mom: "Awww."

Daenerys commands Jorah to find a cure

Me: "He's going to end up at the citadel with Sam."

Jorah watches Daenerys ride

Me: "Those are cool statues too. They don't do that shit anyore. It's all stupid ugly buildings."

-

Meereen

Tyrion talks to a red priestess

Mom: "Oh, another one."

Me: "Varys calls bullshit."

Priestess recounts Varys's childhood

Me: "How the hell did she know that shit? Demons! Fucking demons."

Me: "Generally that's a demon thing, knowing things you have no way of knowing. The Lord of Light and the God of Death and the Faceless God are the same thing. Maybe when you become no one, you sell your soul and consort with demons."

Mom: "Or get possessed by demons."

You can tell we watch Supernatural

-

The Tree

Bran crawls along the floor

Mom: "What's he doing?"

Me: "Touching the tree."

Bran sees a vast wight army

Mom: "Oh shit."

Bran strolls right up to Papa White Walker

Me: "Oh, shit. He sees him. Legit sees him."

Mom: "Oh, shit."

-

The Wall

Sansa casually mentions the Tullys are back in the game

Me: "Hah!"

Brienne asks Sansa why she lied to Jon about how she knew about Riverrun

Me: "Wait, how DID she learn about Riverrun?"

Mom: "I don't know."

Tormund checks out Brienne

Mom: "God, he is like in love with her."

Me: "Well, he's a wildling."

Mom: "He likes a good, sturdy woman with armor."

Someone calls Edd the Lord Commander and he has a moment

Me: "'Oh, shit, that's me.'"

-

The Tree

Me: "Meera can't wait to get the fuck out of there."

The air turns icy and Meera runs out

Me: "Oh no."

The Night King stands in front of the tree

Me: "Well, that backfired."

Mom: "What?"

Me: "The tree children making him into a white walker."

Meera spears a white walker

Me: "Ooh her spear worked. What was that made of?"

Summer dies horribly

Me: "AHH!"

I genuinely screamed

Mom: "OH NO!!"

Fairy chick goes out like a badass

Me: "Oh no!"

Hold the door

And now we're crying hysterically, both of us. Inconsolable.

Seriously, my dad came downstairs to check on us because between the screaming and the crying he thought we were being murdered or something

[tellywoodtrash]

Hey! Hope you're having a good day! I had a question, if that's okayy. I was re-watching Tanhaiyaan! I loved that series - Barun and Surbhi had amazing chemistry and I loved the soundtrack. I was just wondering what your thoughts on it were. I did search your tumblr to find reviews or something of the sort for the series, but it kinda came up empty. So I thought I'd ask you. Thanks! :)

Hi friend!

I’m well thanks! Hope you’re having a good day too!

I did do some spoilery mini-lbs for the series. Also lol, I wrote a really detailed review when I watched it (Feb 2017), that I didn’t publish then for some reason. It’s not a show I am inclined to revisit, so here are my thoughts from then, with some mild editing.

what works

the chemistry: barun and surbhi have good chemistry, and their scenes together are enjoyable. they sell all the facets, from the flirting to the attraction to the nice comfortable intimacy they settle into eventually.

the progressiveness: i dunno if the sponsorship deal from tinder mandated it, but the show is refreshingly sex positive (… for something coming out of a mainstream tellywood production house.)

the screenplay: the dialogue, especially in the scenes where meera and haider banter and flirt, is fun. 4 lions shows have always had some brilliant dialogue (esp. in the shiny starting days - the honeymoon period.) if you’re into shayaari and the like, you’ll enjoy that stuff in sobti’s soulful husky voice. i’m not, so i found it pretty corny.

what  doesn’t work

the pacing: where tanhaiyan suffers the most, is pacing. i mean, call me cynical, but i found it really hard to buy that two people, who met like what… 4 days ago? could be THIS deeply in love. for godssake, how MUCH can you love, or even KNOW a person with whom your only conversations have been sexy banter? the only deep thing they know about each other is that they’ve both lost important people in their lives. as much as i love sobti and jyoti (who are good actors for the most part and engage me emotionally), i was constantly rolling my eyes that within less than a week of meeting each other, these two had gone through lust-love-a breakup-ENGAGEMENT-second breakup. MAN, THERE’S A LOAF OF BREAD ON MY KITCHEN COUNTER THAT I’VE HAD A LONGER AND MORE STABLE RELATIONSHIP WITH.

the writing: the writing is the second biggest issue i have with this show, almost equal to the pacing. the thing is, the show feels like a fanfic that’s been brought to life. not even GOOD fanfic, but a mediocre fanfiction riddled with plot holes and crack AUs. look, haider and meera have emotional issues. all fine and good. by episode 9, they’ve opened up to each other (trust me when i say i’m using the phrase “opened up” in the loosest manner possible.) and seem to have made a decision to be together. but then lo and behold, in the last 5 minutes of the second last episode, there’s a WHOLE NEW PROBLEM.  like… why? so unnecessary. just to round it out to 10 episodes?

the slap: misandrist that i am, i am usually rooting for the asshole male lead to get slapped, especially on a 4 lions show, where he most probably deserves it. but in this show even *i* was like, oh come on, that was unwarranted. yes, he’s being a jerk, but the slap was just… ??????? and lol, that one slap and a lecture from meera seems to thikaane lagaofy all of haider’s emotional issues instantly. lmao if only it were that easy; kisi ko duniya mein therapy ki zaroorat hi nahi hoti. (which we know that all 4 lions men need. extensively.)

the pandering: sometimes, the progressiveness of the show seems to be be bordering on pandering, with no real motivation behind it other than to SEEM progressive. like tanya, meera’s friend, who talks about wanting “no-strings-attached sex” with an italian guy and in the very next minute, wistfully saying she could have had a half-italian baby by now. um, that doesn’t sound very “no-strings-attached” to me. or the fact that avantika and sid’s whole big issue is solved by ONE sentence from haider “sabka past hai, tera hai, mera hai; ladkiyon ka past kyun nahi ho sakta?” (to which all the ladies appreciatively nod @ haider, seeing him as the new paragon of feminism) … okaaaaay then.

haider’s character suffers from classic 4 lions male lead bipolarity. one second, he’s lovingly asking her how she is the way she is (so “cool and non-judgmental!”), and when the answer includes guilt over death of her family, he freaks the fuck out and shuts down. what, did he think he’s the only person on the planet who’s ever had to deal with death and regret? what does her answer have anything to do with HIM? he gets slapped for talking flippantly about her parents’ death and grief, and within the matter of 2 scenes, he’s telling meera that she “saw his soul”, when he’s revealed absolutely NOTHING personal about himself, including the reason of his grief. he proposes marriage, and when meera (very rightfully!) says it’s moving a little quickly, he explodes to accuse her of loving her career more than him. um, she’s known you for like 72 hours, buddy. calm the fuck down. don’t even get me started on the fact that he just abandoned her with no explanations given on their engagement day, based on some assumptions he made by sherlocking some clues together (that too wrongly.) classic fucking 4 lions male lead move.

meera’s character is a pushover when it comes to haider’s above bad behaviour. i know every 4 lions female lead can be accused of this, but there’s a difference between them and meera; which is that the former have at least known their male leads for months, before getting tied down into matrimony with them. to an extent, they’ve somewhat made their peace and accepted that side of their partners and “love” them despite that, due to other redeeming qualities/the emotional journey they’ve been on with them over an extended period of time. if a dude you’ve known for all of 4 days starts acting like this, why would you put up with it, let alone fall in love with him? i find the ending especially ridiculous, that she takes him back after he ran away on their engagement day, with zero explanations or conversations, telling her friend that she “understands why haider acted like that” and doesn’t blame him at all. sis, sit the fuck down.

all the friends are highly highly annoying. sid and tanya are pushy and passive aggressive when haider and meera don’t want to talk about emotionally draining topics. sid actually YELLS at haider for not being able to process his grief in the manner thatHE demands. then there’s avantika and her nonsense. from her problems with the saas (what was the point of that, really???), to her guilt issues. she goes and confesses her tryst with sameer to haider instead of sid (HOW EVEN? THE TWO MEN HAVE SUCH DIFFERENT BODY STRUCTURES. ANYONE WITH THE GIFT OF EYESIGHT CAN TELL IT’S HAIDER), and when he gently tries to help her out, she attacks him for being responsible for raza’s death. like… why? he’s been nothing but an absolute sweetheart to her, being supportive and accommodating her every whim. in the end, she doesn’t even apologize for what she says to him! and don’t even get me started on the worst one of all - raashi, who keeps harping on about PAAP over and over, and even goes so far to say that the avantika and sid broke up because the avantika ate egg when she wasn’t supposed to. i really don’t know why anyone else in that group put up with her and her garbage. the least offensive of them all was that one guy who was more like the wedding organizer than an actual friend, always obsessing about everyone not eating enough.

overall opinion

tbh,  quite a middling series for me. i don’t regret watching it, but ehhhhhhh…. i didn’t enjoy it as much considering the people involved in the project (and the amount of time i’d spent waiting for it - i was following its production quite closely all throughout 2016.) the writing just overall was a washout for me (eta: esp. now that i have seen that ‘unscripted’ interview with jyoti/sobti… the way they were gushing about it, and gul saying she cried writing it and stuff…. and i’m just like… OVER THIS???? REALLY? i mean, there have been episodes of ipk and ib where i have genuinely gotten emotional… this series did not have a single episode that pulled me in with the feelings like that.) i really think it could have used tighter scripting to make it more concise and snappy.i would have ended the show once haider and meera made up after their first big fight.my ideal arc for this show would have been the two characters’ relationship growing from a mere sexual attraction, to a genuine emotional kinship that helps them to start healing from their grief, and left it at that, without cramming in all the heavy love and marriage stuff.

[summerseachild]

Summersea’s GoT Season 6 Tumblr Spoiled First Time Watch 2019: Part 1

So I was going to rename this a “hatewatch” now that I’ve gotten to a whole season I hadn’t seen before, but let’s be honest. If you’ve seen me reblogging things from later seasons, it was never going to be that. There are things that I knew I was going to enjoy VERY MUCH, and I wasn’t wrong. There were also things that, if I let them, would have had me frothing a the mouth in rage. 

But then I reminded myself that I’m vacationing in Castle Not Giving a Shit while I watch the back half of the show, and things were much better after that. I’ve mostly left my in the moment reaction except where I’d had too much wine to be coherent.

Season 6

Hot on the heels of season 5 i still have a third of a bottle of Chardonnay left let’s DO THIS

6x01

1. Lol it’s still in the credits so they continue to pretend like they care about Dorne????

2. Ghost howling 😢😢😢

3. So Davos went straight from staning one dour person to another... he has a type.

4. Some dude in the night’s watch re Melisandre: who’s she? Davos: oh just some lady Who spat a shadow out of her vag once LETS TRUST HER

5. Wow Olly aged a lot over the past five minutes since he killed Jon!

6. Edd please don’t die here. I don’t remember how you go but don’t let it be here

7. Boo hoo poor little psychopath lost his gf. No one cares, Ramsay. Myranda deserved what she got AND SO WILL YOU

8. My soul left my body like three times during that chase scene where Theon and Sansa are running from the Bolton men. POOR COLD BBS

9. That hug where they’re just CLINGING TO EACH OTHER THIS SHOULD NOT MAKE ME SHIP IT BUT HERE WE ARE

10. THEON SHOWING HIMSELF TO TRY TO KEEP HER SAFE I CANNOT HE KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS IF THEY CATCH HIM AND HE DOES IT ANYWAY SO SHE MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE 

11. IT’S BRIENNE OF MF-ING TARTH OMG YAY

12. Also go Theon killing that dude

13. UGH THE SWEARING FEALTY SCENE WITH SANSA AND BRIENNE AND ALL OF THEIR FACES AND SANSA LOOKING TO THEON BEFORE ACCEPTING AND POD REMINDING HER OF THE WORDS IT IS PERFECT 

14. Give me the AU where Theon lives and stays at Winterfell because he wants to be near her and they understand each other and Brienne is in her Queensgiard I AM NOT ASKING MUCH

15. Meanwhile in other trauma hi Cersei

16. UGH LOOK HOW SHE RUNS ACROSS THE COURTYARD TO SEE HER DAUGHTER

17. So... that scene with Jaime and Cersei where they talked about seeing Joanna’s dead body and she... Doesn’t blame him??? For Myrcella? Like I thought she would??? And she tells him about the prophecy??? And they hug??? Yeah that’s in contention for my fav Lannister twin scene ever? Top five at the very least. (And another member of the “Jaime writes his siblings’ dialogue” club.)

18. For all of his false kindness and gentleness the High Sparrow is just as bad as any of them, and When I’m not seething with anger I can appreciate how nuanced Jonathan Pryce’s performance is.

19. Wtf Ellaria and Tyene murdering Doran.

20. OMG TRYSTANE and I call Sand Snake Character Assassination here they are just SO BITCHY and without honor and the Dorneish are SO HONOR OBSESSED ugh why I hate it Also was that Myrcellas ship? Are there two bitchy Sand snakes just chilling in king’s landing now?? 

21. Tyrion and Varys among the people is kind of fascinating. Also what’s up with that Red Priest? Another who thinks the lord of light chose Dany?

22. Oh no the ships... Varys and Tyrion running TOWARD trouble says a lot about them.

23. Did the showrunners... forget Jorah would know the word Khalasar? Why would he say horde?

24. At least the Khals believe Dany is Drogo’s widow?

25. Ok so the waif is fascinating and her movements are just so... Succinct. A++ physical acting or whatever the word is.

26. Whoa that’s Melisandre without the necklace?? Cool story bro but why did she choose then to take it off? What does that tell us about her as a character or her powers? Just wanted to show some crone boobs? IDEK that was a weird ending.

6x02

1. The trailer reminds us that BRAN IS IN THIS SHOW

2. Remember this kid? He’s a Stark! He’s VERY IMPORTANT! He’s GONNA BE KING, but he wasn’t in all of season 5. He matters WE PROMISE.

3. The older generation of Starklings!!! I would be lying if I didn’t say seeing Lyanna and Brandon and Ned and Benejen And Nan and bb Hodor didn’t give me a LOT of feelings. (Also Bloodraven is the Worst Ghost of Christmas Past Ever.)

4. Cross fandom wish: I want to see Hodor, Groot, and Rocket have a conversation where everyone understands every word.

5. So... Meera and Summer have been hunting so that they all stay alive, right?? Otherwise WHAT ARE THEY EATING

6. Ok I take back what I said about them only having the Children once, but that was WEAK. “Help Bran, Meera. Because I said so and I’m a creepy magical person whose motivations are unclear”

7. YEAAAAAH WUN WUN SMASH THOSE TRAITORS. Good on you too Edd for taking charge.

8. Ugh every bar has one like that asshole talking about Cersei. And I don’t think he’s long for this world

9. I LOVE BEING RIGHT HI GREGOR

10. Why would Tommen keep Cersei away from Myrcella’s funeral. OH GODS HE WAS TRYING TO PROTECT HER.

11. Ugh Jaime is tired of keeping vigil over his dead family members GIVE HIM A BREAK

12. Also Jaime promising never to let Cersei be in a cell again while he’s there AAAAHHH YES 🦁 ❤️

13. There’s nothing more dangerous than a fanatic who fears nothing, Jaime. But him threatening the High Sparrow was made of sex.

14. SEVEN HELLS did Tommen just give Cersei the idea to blow up the sept

15. Dany’s council meeting in absentia is kind of neat. I was wondering how those crazy kids were doing. 

16. Lol I drink and I know things is ABOUT TYRION KNOWING ABOUT DRAGONS 🐉 I DID NOT KNOW THAT AND I LOVE IT

17. Tyrion being like “please DO NOT EAT THE ALLIES (me)” to Viserion and Rhaegal is amazing

18. Viserion is all ME TOO LET ME GO HERE’S THE CHAIN SMALL HUMAN when he shows Tyrion his neck.

19. That was a rough test Jaqen

20. Yes Ramsay please march North I dare you

21. Roose KNOWS what Ramsay is and tries to steer him out of it but I don’t think he truly understands how deep the crazy goes

22. HOLY SHIT RAMSAY JUST STABBED HIS DAD and everyone either is too scared of Ramsay to do anything about it or was in on it. LOOKING AT YOU KARSTARK ASSHOLE

23. Oh Walda you sweet trusting soul he is going to feed you and your baby to those dogs isn’t he. I DON’T like being right. Have I mentioned that?

24. Brienne recognizing Sansa’s choices were hard ❤️❤️

25. Ugh Theon talking about all the things he’s done and Sansa hugging him anyway aaaaah my soul

26. It’s hard to hear someone else say they forgive you you when you don’t think you deserve forgiveness, and he’s definitely not ready to hear it from Jon. (But he’s ready to hear it from Sansa because of what they’ve been through together? I like that explanation and I’m sticking to it.)

27. Oh right Pyke exists the show doesn’t remember that unless it’s convenient.

28. HOW DARE YOU REFERENCE THAT PINECONES LINE SHOW YOU HAVE NOT EARNED THAT

29. Ok at least Yara cares about her people and we get to see it.

30. OMG Euron? He’s the one who kills Balon?

31. ...and he’s kind of got delusions of Grandeur? “I am the drowned god” wtf sir.

32. Gotta admit Iron Islands burial customs are kinda neat

33. We get the Kingsmoot? I’m listening, show... you’re on notice but I’m listening.

34. Depressed Melisandre is depressed. Wait... has she never done the raising from the dead thing? SEVEN HELLS SHE HASN’T.

35. A pep talk from Davos might snap me out of my crisis of faith too.

36. Thoros can do this in the language of Westeros, but I guess if Valyrian works for you...

37. I love Tormund peacing out of the room with Mostly Dead Jon like “I have had enough of this south of the wall bullshit”

38. Did Melisandre reach the lord of lights answering machine and it took him a while to get back? “If you would like to leave a resurrection request for R’hllor, please press one...”

39. Ghost’s eyes open AND SO DO JON’S hey bro

6x03 this episode is called Oathbreaker ARE WE ABOUT TO GET TO SEE THE FLASHBACK TO JAIME KILLING AERYS PLZ TELL ME

1. He liiiives! Poor Jon... what did you see while you were gone I wonder?

2. Oh jeez it was nothing. At least he has the most comforting sensible person in this series to help him through.

3. I like that Jon gets to come downstairs and HUG TWO OF HIS FRIENDS and none of the nights watch or the wildlings bat an eye or seem to think less of him for it. LET MEN HUG. 

4. Oh jeez Sam’s taking Gilly and the baby to Horn Hill? Do we get to meet his mom? (No one cares about Randylll but I think we might get to meet him too?)

5. BB Sam is SO CUTE HE HAS HAIR NOW.

6. Wait is Gilly pregnant again?

7. That is the Tower of Joy and I AM NOT READY

8. HOLY SHIT HOWLAND REED KILLED ARTHUR DAYNE?

9. Sword of the morning indeed WHAT A BADASS (somewhere in my soul Jaime is waving an “Arthur Dayne Rocks” banner) there’s no way Ned could have won that fight without help and now Bran knows that??? I don’t really have anything interesting to say here I just love the idea of a kid getting to see the truth of a family story that’s radically different from what he thought he knew.

10. Past Ned HEARD BRAN? FASCINATING?

11. Oh right Dany is about to meet all of the other widows of the Khals this could be cool but knowing d and d it won’t be because it would involve treating WoC with nuance.

12. Not impressed so far.

13. So this girl Varys is meeting with is in league with the Sons of the Harpy? Good my memory is intact.

14. all this with Varys actually TRYING to take care of Meereen is fun...

15. Tyrion being like OMG I AM BORED PLZ TALK ABOUT SOMETHING to Grey Worm and Missandei is the most him thing ever. I feel you Bro. He’s a people person deep down and just wants to be friends so badly.

16. Qyburn with all of Varys’ little birds and making kids’ abusive parents disappear is PRECIOUS.

17. Don’t poke the Mountain, Jaime

18. LANNISTER MUSICAL CHAIRS PART 2 also Jaime is ON THE SMALL COUNCIL NOW??? Who gave book!Cersei three wishes??? Him actually being in her corner and working with her as a team must be like a wish come true...

19. “Grand Maester Pycelle would you sanction that starement?” 😂 Lena’s delivery of that line made me laugh so hard we had to rewind to hear the dialogue.

20. No no don’t leave the three of them together they’ll plan murder. Well, Cersei and Jaime will. Gregor will nod.

21. Tommen confronting the high sparrow fascinated me. He has some of the I WILL KILL YOU family traits on display here but it’s understandable given what his family has gone through at the high sparrows hand. I’d be threatening murder too if I were him.

22. What are you playing at mr high Sparrow? Because I don’t trust you farther than I can throw you, and I don’t even have a good arm.

23. The Hound was not on her list any more 😢 that whole scene with Arya recounting her life and learning to fight blind is NEAT.

24. Wait faceless men are immune to the poison in the water?? Cool.

25. Is that supposed to be Greatjon Umber’s son who refuses Jon? What an ass.

26. My wife adds, “THESE LOSERS are the people Sansa is supposed to be queen of?”

27. OH SHIT OSHA AND RICKON AND SHAGGYDOG HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN? (Please let Sansa Find out who did that and who helped and give them what they deserve... there’s no way anyone took down that wolf alone.) I HATE THAT WE ARE NEVER GOING TO GET CLOSURE ON THAT PROBABLY.

28. Oh shit Jon has to hang the traitors that’s gonna be hard on him.

29. At least Alliser is consistent.

30. Jon did what he had to do... just like Ned in the first ep.

31. Wait WHAT did you just hang those men and then LEAVE? Isn’t leaving just as damaging to the order as killing the lord commander? That seemed overly quick and weird but ok????

32. Guess Jon was the Oathbreaker.

6x04

1. If anyone deserved an I JUST DIED crisis, it’s Jon. Also, the vows say, “it will not end until my death...” so technically...

2. Brienne got them up to the Wall QUICK. She is nothing if not efficient.

3. Sansa and Jon are like, “so... how cool are we going to play this? NOT COOL AT ALL LETS HUG” so sweet.

4. “Where will WE go?” Yes stay together Starklings because family is important certainly don’t scatter to the four winds or anything 🙄

5. I kind of love that Sansa’s the one who insists on taking back Winterfell and is all “help me or not I’m doing it”

6. I’m Brienne of Tarth and I HAVE A LONG FUCKING MEMORY. Wait... wrong show. (She DOES, though...) 

7. Wow Petyr lying about Sansa being forced to Marry Ramsay... he’s playing the lords of the Vale like a fiddle.

8. That’s a lovely bird he got Robin. What a pretty boy.

9. Missandei staring daggers at Tyrion is Excellent Content. The “Tyrion tries to be a little more diplomatic but this involves dealing with slavers” problem is... a bit oversimplified, but at least they’re addressing it? Still not great. 

10. Jorah and Daario are off on a secret mission and I cant stop hearing the Galavant song.

11. The older widow of the Dosh Khaleen is more interesting than the show will let her be.

12. Is that Lazareen widow Dutch from Killjoys? IT IS!!!!

13. Guess what high Sparrow NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR SELF RIGHTEOUS CONVERSION STORY LEAST OF ALL ME (guess who has some issues with organized religion it’s meeeee)

14. Way to act your heart out, though, Jonathan Pryce.

15. So idk if I’ve made a big deal about this but I’m SUPER QUEER and seeing Loras broken like that made my heart stop for a second.

16. “Not setting off” fanatics, huh Pycelle? I think Cersei has other ideas 😈 🔥

17. Tommen is TALLER THAN CERSEI NOW

18. Cersei and Jaime trying to get Olenna and Kevan on their side against the High Sparrow is... smarter than I thought it was going to be when they walked into that room. They had a united front, they were clearly working together... WHAT IS THIS I LIKE IT

19. Theon looks like a ghost of himself. :( And Pyke looks all creepy.

20. Jeez Yarra go easy on your little brother his psyche still has cracks in it. I guess it’s understandable that she’s pissed given the failed rescue and the timing of his arrival. I kept just waiting for him to say “I want to be home,” when she yelled WHAT DO YOU WANT but he didn’t and that makes me sad. (Home should have been Winterfell or wherever Sansa was just saying.)

21. Oh Osha don’t try it... shit. Well, you tried

22. And Tormund’s epic crush on Brienne begiiiiiins

23. SHIT RAMSAY TELLS JON HE HAS RICKON

24. Sansa insisting on reading the rest of the letter from Ramsay is... made of steel. I’m here for her being the driving force behind this attempted rescue.

25. I didn’t realize that so many Dothraki knew about how Dany lost the baby and Drogo.

26. DID DANY JUST KILL ALL OF THE KHALS? Girl knows how to make an entrance? The optics here are sooooo problematic but she looks DAMNED impressive the plan in and of itself is sound - gets rid of the men who don’t respect her and shows herself to be indestructible in one power move...

6x05 OH NO THIS IS CALLED THE DOOR I THINK I KNOW WHAT IS COMING

1. Is it just me or are d and d writing more and more episodes themselves?

2. Sansa has had enough of Littlefinger’s bullshit. Making him face up to what HE LEFT HER TO WHEN HE MARRIED HER TO RAMSAY AND ABANDONED HER YES GOOD.

3. When he says “did he cut you” and Sansa talking about Ramsay not caring as long as she could give him an heir... does that mean what I think it does? FGM? I hate that I even wonder. (Still not sure about this, but I don’t put it past them to imply something horrific like that and then not come back to it.)

4. The more I see the waif fight, the cooler she gets.

5. Faceless men founded Braavos? Right I KNEW that.

6. Ok the play is fun... complete with sound effects. So interesting to see what people in Braavos think of everything that happened.

7. So... I would Lady Crane’s voice anywhere. Hi Phryne!

8. Oh wow look at all the CotF

9. THEY MADE THE WHITE WALKERS I did not know that and for YEARS before this season came out we had an au idea where that was true and I AM SCREAMING

10. AND THEY DID IT TO DEFEND AGAINST THE ANDALS AND WHAT THEY WERE DOING TO THE TREES

11. Yara’s speech was lovely, Theon supporting her was sweet, but Yara shouldn’t have needed a dude’s support to get that reaction from the crowd. She’s been on Pyke and being badass ALL HER LIFE. That being said, I like to think Yara would have been Queen in this version of things if Euron hadn’t showed up. What a Dick.

12. How does Euron go from wanting to marry Dany to allying with Cersei? I guess I’m about to find out.

13. Damphair knows cpr, idiot showrunners. don’t just let Euron lie there.

14. YES GET AWAY YARA AND THEON AND... a lot of the fleet? Good on them.

15. Jorah trying to leave Dany and her not letting him and commanding him to find a cure aaaahhhhh my feelings 😢

16. In the real world Tyrion would have been a great campaign manager.

17. If they wanted someone local... why get a red priestess from Volantis? Is this supposed to be the same woman? Do any of the people of Meereen even follow the faith of R’Hollor?

18. Varys having no time for the red faith’s bullshit is SO GOOD. It’s ok Varys you’re probably the most famous eunuch in the world right now. And whoop de doo a sorceress knows a story about a sorcerer it’s a small magical world don’t let her cow you.

19. ...whatcha doing, Bran???

20. Well that’s not creepy at all. Soooo many wights. Were there only... four white walkers including the night king? I’m so confused.

21. “The Umbers gave Rickon to Ramsay they can hang” YES SANSA

22. Why did she lie about getting info from Petyr? (And GOOD ON BRIENNE calling her on it)

23. Brienne calling Jon “a bit brooding” is the most hilarious thing ever. Somewhere Jaime Lannister is laughing his ass off. 

24. Yes wolfy clothes for everyone.

25. Awww Edd forgetting he’s acting lord commander is hilarious.

26. SO MANY WIGHTS DON’T DIE MIRA

27. Why are the children and the white walkers on opposite sides? Are these just about rogue CotF? EXPLAIN SHOW EXPLAIN

28. Cool visuals though... the night king walking through that fire was AWESOME.

29. Rickard LOOKS like a stark in that flashback.

30. RIP Bloodraven... glad you didn’t have to see how pointless all of this was.

31. Wait wait plain old wights can KILL THE CHILDREN? Dumb.

32. SUMMER NO I AM NOT OK WITH ANY OF THIS not Leaf either she’s a nice little tree person even if her motivations are unclear.

33. So Bran warging into Hodor in the present and in the past at the same time is what messed him up? Or something about the time folding and Bran BEING THERE?

34. That was upsetting as fuck about Hodor and I AM SAD EVEN THOUGH I KNEW IT WAS COMING

And... tumblr won’t let me post the whole thing. I had A LOT to say about some later episodes. Remember when I was going to keep this to three bullet points for each episode? Yeah me neither. 

[voidfishaquarium]

Lup claims she can remember their parents, but Taako is convinced she’s making it up.

She makes this claim the first time when they are barely old enough to read, and still living with their grandparents. Lup takes to the reading a little quicker than Taako does, and makes a habit of reading aloud to him from the books they find in their grandfather’s study. One evening she finds one with a name scrawled on the inside cover, stares at it for too long. She’s cross-legged on the rug, the open book taking up the whole of her small lap.

“That’s mom’s name,” she says, pointing at it.

Taako, lying on his back by her feet as he waits for a story, sits up and looks at the name with mild interest.

“Huh. Yeah,” he says, and lays back down.

“She had pretty eyes,” Lup continues, still staring. “And long hair.”

“How’d you know that?” Taako asks. He’s curious now, because it’s rare for any of the grown-ups in the family to talk about Lup and Taako’s parents.

“I just remember it,” Lup says.

Taako frowns, skeptical. “No you don’t. We were too little.”

“Yes I do,” she replies, and gets back to reading.

The arrangement with their grandparents does not last long. After some shuffling around to various homes, they end up with an aunt and uncle and two older cousins. Lup is excited about sharing the house with other kids, for a day or two, until it becomes apparent that the cousins do not feel the same way. The older one, Kaba, complains constantly that the twins are too loud, that they take up too much space; the younger one, Meera, is fond of snatching books out of Lup’s hands whenever she’s reading. Taako starts strategically stealing things from both of them - pens, buttons, shoelaces, single socks - and hiding them under the floorboards.

After a couple of years, they are handed off to a great-uncle with a farm; they’re a bit older now, just big enough to help out with the chores. Neither of them are particularly pleased to discover that this is the main reason they’re here, but it’s a roof, and at least some of the animals are charming. Taako particularly likes the horses.

“Dad liked horses, too,” Lup says, nonchalant, leaning against the barn door and watching as he brushes a white mare. He looks up and frowns - it’s been a while since the last time she dropped a random parent fact.

“That another memory?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

“You sure you didn’t dream it?”

Lup snorts. “I didn’t dream it, dingus. I remember.”

Taako doesn’t argue, but he also doesn’t make up his mind about whether he believes her or not. She’s only a minute older than he is - whatever she remembers, he should remember, too. He wonders if there’s something wrong with him, or if she’s somehow cheating.

The next year, after a good crop allows their great-uncle the money to hire older, sturdier hands to help out with chores, they spend a few months shuffling between relatives again. An older cousin with a closet full of shiny dresses that they run their hands over, giggling, when she isn’t looking. A distant uncle who works as a traveling salesman and constantly forgets to feed them, but they can fend for themselves well enough. Taako likes the traveling, seeing different towns, and he likes the way the uncle talks, casually confident.

“The secret to sales,” he says one evening, half-drunk and jolly, touseling Taako’s hair, “is to remember you’re really selling yourself. It’s all about charm.” Taako is a bit disappointed, at first, when the man drops them off with his mother. A distant great-aunt, half-human, grey-haired, living alone in a cottage, seems like a downgrade. But Lup takes to Auntie immediately, and it’s hard not to love someone his sister loves.

Unlike her son, Auntie never forgets about food. She spends hours in the kitchen, filling the house with the smell of baking cookies or sizzling bacon. She notices Taako skulking in the doorway, watching, and waves him in to join her. He’s nervous, unused to the sensation of an adult beckoning him closer instead of shooing him away.

“Come on up,” she says, pulling over a stool for him to stand on so he can reach the counter. “You can help chop the vegetables.”

They stay with Auntie longer than they’ve stayed with anyone else, and it is a small heaven. It’s always warm, and there is always more than enough to eat. Auntie seems happy to have people around to feed, to teach, to talk to. The three of them together in the kitchen, chatting and laughing as they cook and bake and taste, these are sacred moments. Taako doesn’t trust the concept of home - his sister has always been home, it’s never been a place. But in these moments, it almost feels like it could be.

“When do you think we’ll move somewhere else?” he asks Lup one night, from the bottom bunk of their bed.

Her voice comes out of the darkness above him.

“I don’t know,” she says. “Maybe never?”

Taako hums softly and replies, in what he hopes is a casual voice: “That’d be cool.”

Auntie dies three years later, softly, in her sleep. Lup, taller now but still not quite a teen, finds her and can’t wake her, feels that she’s gone cold. Taako holds his sister for several hours while she cries; later, she helps him copy down all of Auntie’s recipes, before the adults arrive and start going through her things. The cleric who visits says there’s nothing anyone could have done. Auntie’s heart was shaped just slightly wrong, and she lived much longer with it than he would have expected. But at her funeral, Taako hears whispers that maybe “taking in those twins” was bad luck, and Lup reports that while hiding in the coat rack (where she stole absolutely everything out of cousin Kaba and Meera’s pockets) she overheard talk of orphanages.

“Little bro,” she says, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, “I think it’s about time to bounce.”

There are a lot of cold nights, at the start. In cities, they end up curled tightly together, huddled in doorways against the wind; on the road between towns, they collect firewood and Lup starts fires with stolen flint to keep warm. It always takes several tries, a lot of muttering and cursing, and she swears she’s going to find an easier way to do this eventually.

And this is when Taako starts asking her for more memories, for anything she knows about their parents. Their favorite foods, what they did for fun, what kinds of decorations they had hanging on their walls. It’s a distraction from the cold, and he’s not worried anymore about whether it’s real or not. He just wants to imagine it.

“What did they look like?” he asks one night, and she bites her lip.

“Tall,” she says.

“That’s obvious.”

“Mom had green eyes.”

“Like what kind of green?” he presses, while scooting closer against her. “Like grass, or limes, or…”

“Emeralds,” Lup replies, and Taako tries to think back to whether or not he’s ever seen an emerald before. He imagines eyes that sparkle, a face that won’t materialize fully in his mind’s eye, but he knows it’s smiling.

They stumble into a method of survival by accident. A travelling circus rolls into the town they’re in for the night, sets up camp, and the original plan is to steal a few bites from the food cart where they’re selling concessions. But they find the cart being run by a haggard old dwarf who has no idea that there’s a difference between macaroons and macarons - as evidenced by the angry customer in the window who’s allergic to coconuts - and Taako seizes an opportunity. He remembers the advice, “you’re really selling yourself,” and turns on the charm.

“My man, you are doing a fantastic job with the customer service,” he says, walking up to the window and trying on a confidence he doesn’t quite feel yet. “But it seems like this baking and cooking thing, it’s not quite your passion, am I right?”

The dwarf sighs and says he’s actually a juggler, a very good juggler, but their cook quit, and someone needs to feed the crowd, and he’s gotten stuck with it. Taako looks back at Lup over his shoulder and grins.

“You know, I really think you should be performing, my dude,” he says. “That crowd needs to see your skills, they are missing out on the best juggling spectacle of their lives. And my sister and I...we can definitely take care of the cooking.”

Everything unrolls from there. Taako’s sweet-talking finds the opportunities, his even sweeter recipes seal the deal, and Lup’s sharp savvy takes care of the details - makes sure they’re given fair compensation, helps procure all the necessary ingredients for the menus, scares off the people who want to take advantage of them. She helps with the cooking, too, but Taako is the one whose heart is in it. It’s not a luxurious life, constantly on the move, packing and unpacking, covered in the dust of the road, but it has its moments. Some of the acrobats let Taako try on their sequined garments, teach him a few simple tricks, and he falls in love; Lup sits enraptured watching the fire-dancers as they move between flames and whispers to Taako, “I’m gonna do that.”

The circus is seasonal, but they find other caravans: traders, mercenaries, explorers. Everyone needs to eat. Lup trades and borrows books in every town they pass through - books of recipes, books of spells - and resumes her old habit of reading them out loud to Taako as he preps meals and cleans dishes. They don’t have space to keep them, so they all have to be memorized. Lup learns how to start fires with the snap of her fingers, and Taako learns how to transmute parsley into saffron, apples into pomegranates. They save up money, slowly, because while Taako’s good with continuing the travelling cook lifestyle, Lup insists that eventually they should really go to school.

They get older, taller, smarter. They reach a point where people don’t call them kids anymore, even though they both know they still are - they just hide it well.

“Hey, Lulu?” Taako asks one night, interrupting her reading. She’s sitting cross-legged by the fire, book open in her lap, while he lies on a blanket by her feet, staring up at the stars.

“Yeah?”

“I was just thinking...I mean, we are kinda crushing it lately, natch, and the fritters I made yesterday were basically the best thing any of these lot have ever tasted, and all that, but like...it’s not exactly what people have in mind when they pop out a kid, probably...”

“What’re you trying to ask?” she presses, closing the book, and he sighs.

“Mom and dad,” he replies, propping himself up on one elbow. “You think they’d be okay with what we’re up to? I mean, I don’t know if you remember any...”

Lup bites her lip, doesn’t quite meet his eyes. He sits up fully now, knowing something’s wrong.

“What?” he asks.

“I just...I guess we’re older now, and I...Taako, I’m really sorry,” she says, fidgeting.

“Sorry for what?”

“I don’t...I don’t actually remember them,” she admits, finally. “I mean, I thought I did, when we were really young. But I realized I was just...I was imagining it. I had seen a picture of them, once, and I made it come to life in my mind, I think, and then you asked if I dreamed it and I just really wanted it to be real…and then later, I knew I was making it up, but you really liked it. It made you happy. It was real for you. And I was gonna tell you when you got older…”

Taako is silent for a moment, and then he laughs.

“I knew it,” he says. “I knew your memory wasn’t that much better than mine!”

Lup looks baffled and guilty, and Taako gets up, sits next to her and hugs her.

“I get it, you were lookin’ out,” he says. “That’s okay. I mean, I’m defo gonna rag you about it for like, several weeks at least, but it’s alright.”

“That’s fair,” she says, and smiles. “It’s better if we make it up, anyway, right? I mean, we can say they were legendary heroes or famous actors or anything we want, really. They could have been anything.”

“Listen, the famous and legendary ones are gonna be us,” he replies. “And I don’t need the made-up memories anymore, yeah? I got real ones.”

“Of what?”

“You, doofus,” he says, rolling his eyes and elbowing her in the ribs. “Not gonna forget that.”

“You better not,” she replies, and wraps an arm around him.

It’s warm, there by the fire, beneath the stars, the two of them together. They’re home.

[sleepingfancies]

Wait, what do the spoilers say? How does Dany die? Is it complete BS?

Oh, everything about it is bad. What terrifies me most about these leaks is that while some of it is absolute bullshit and doesn’t make any sense, other parts… actually seem plausible. Making them the most dangerous, potentially true leaks I’ve read so far. I’m putting the fates of other characters besides Dany under the cut so you may read at your discretion, or not, if you choose. And because I have no self-restraint and desperately need to vent.

Dany: Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, badass bitch of Westeros gets taken out by… drumroll… childbirth. Yep. You heard that right. Jon’s magic dick impregnates her and she winds up getting mutilated beyond repair in labor, because of course she does. So Varys takes pity on her and stabs her in the heart. Isn’t that just swell? Our wonderful Dany, our last Targaryen (let’s ignore Jon for a minute) dies via the biggest “gotcha” cliche women in medieval-based fantasy face. Oh, and post death? Her body is captured by Lannister soldiers and taken to King’s Landing to be strung up as crow fodder. And on top of that, Euron Greyjoy remarks on how she’s still fuckable even in death. A perfectly misogynistic way for the former figurehead of feminism in Game of Thrones to die. Because this is Douchebag&Dickhead, after all. Which concerns me, because this is absolutely something they’d do without book material to work off of.

NOTE!!!!: These spoilers have NOT, I repeat, NOT been proven true. They are simply the leaks I read most recently. Take these with a shot of vodka and pray they are proven fake.

Arya: This one is the most believable of all. In the very end, Arya finds Nymeria and swears off Westeros, and it is implied she returns to Braavos or another of the Free Cities, her last line being “Valar Morghulis.” It is also implied she survives and is out there being a Faceless Man, not Arya Stark of Winterfell. It’s a bit painful to imagine our little Arya has lost and seen so much she doesn’t want to be Arya anymore, but at least she finally has Nymeria.

Bran (RIP): Ah, everyone’s favorite Greenseer. Yeah, little ole’ Bran gets stabbed to death by White Walkers, Jojen style, after Meera sacrifices herself trying to save him. Fitting, right? Douchebag&Dickhead (admittedly, like the rest of us) couldn’t figure out what the hell Bran’s purpose was beyond telling Jon he’s Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son. So after that happens… well, just kill him, I guess. The kicker being that because this little shit dies and can’t warg into a dragon to save everyone else, they lose Winterfell! Again! So everyone has to retreat to the Vale or Dragonstone. Good job, Bran.

Sansa: Oh boy, this one. My homegirl Sansa eventually goes back to Winterfell and reigns as Queen in the North and Lady of the Vale (woot woot!)… beside Gendry. Record scratch, freeze frame – what? She marries Gendry? The only boy who made Arya go dewey-eyed?? Yep. According to these leaks, their “chemistry” begins in episode 4 of Season 8 (out of only 6 episodes in this season lmao) and results in them getting married, meaning they take over Storm’s End as well. Because naturally Sansa had to come full circle from marrying a supposed Baratheon who was actually a Lannister bastard, to marrying a supposed bastard who was actually a legitimate Baratheon. Apparently Douchebag&Dickhead may have totally forgotten characterization in favor of “cool twists” and “roundabout endings.”

Theon (RIP): After all that redemption arc, bonding with his sister, etc. Theon dies via axe in the chest by Euron Greyjoy. But not just randomly - he sacrifices himself so Asha Yara can escape and go to battle alongside Jon. Which… is another concerning plot, because it actually seems plausible. Theon’s arc is greatly centered on bravery - or lack thereof - and loyalty. It would be… fitting, to say the least, for him to allow Asha Yara time to escape by fighting Euron himself, even knowing he couldn’t possibly outfight him. RIP Theon, even if this is the case, you deserved better.

Brienne (RIP): Okay, so. Get a load of this bullshit. While defending the Vale (aka Sansa) from White Walkers, she gets stabbed and dies. I mean honestly how likely is it that Brienne of fucking Tarth is going to die getting stabbed by some bitch ass White Walker? You’re telling me Brienne of mother. fucking. Tarth dies the same way Bran-who-can’t-move-and-didn’t-see-it-coming does? Anyway, whatever. The leaks say she dies in Jaime’s arms, after telling him he’s a good man, a few scenes after they shared a very romantic sex scene (the only good thing about this being they might acknowledge they love each other).

Cersei (RIP): For some reason?? She doesn’t die?? By one of her little brothers as the prophecy foretold?? The prophecy that has insofar been completely correct (her children dying before her, being betrayed by a family member, etc.) Nah, instead Arya kills Qyburn and wears his face as a mask, a la Frey slaughter style, and poisons her. So Cersei is out here dying of poison when she commands the Mountain to kill Arya (sidenote: the Hound is with Arya pretty much all of this season, which is also possibly true), Cleganebowl ensues, the Mountain is killed, Cersei dies. Euron Greyjoy (who was married to her at this point or whatever bullshit that was) becomes King of the Seven Kingdoms. It worries me because Cleganebowl is almost a guarantee, and the fact that’s in this “script” which is so god fucking awful is extremely concerning but whatever. We’ll see I guess.

Jaime, Jorah, The Hound, Jon, Drogon (RIP x5): All these bitches die in the same scene, by the same fate. Lmao. Because of course they do. They fight Euron in the Dragonpit and mortally wound him, cool, and then Drogon like a little bitch spews a bunch of fire everywhere because he got fatally wounded too and the whole place starts to shake. So then Euron is like “oh by the way there’s about 2,000 pots of Wildfire under this arena so you’re fucked” and they all die in one massive explosion. I’m not joking. That’s the end. Jaime, Jorah, The Hound, Jon, and a fucking jet sized dragon die because Euron planted a bomb beneath a gladiator pit, somehow preemptively knowing the final battle would take place there. What the fuck? What the fuck.

Davos: Dude just goes home. Fuck it. He’s had enough. He’s like 70, what’s he got to lose? After Jon and co. die he’s like “you know what sounds good right now? Going home to my wife and thinking about my dead sons. Maybe throwing out these lucky finger bones” and he’s outtie. No questions asked.

Samwell: He marries Gilly, which everyone expected, so I’m sort of vibing that that’s a legitimate leak. Sam inherits the Reach, whatever, cool. Apparently when Gilly announces she’s pregnant with his child, he says if it’s a boy he wants to name it Jon. Actually a pretty sweet touch, it’s like the only part of this satan sperm of a script that has my stamp of approval.

Tyrion: Tyrion and Missandei hook up. I just… don’t ask me why. Somewhere along the line Grey Worm died and these two found a romantic spark off-screen I guess because I don’t know how the fuck they would end up together otherwise. Tyrion is the Regent and Missandei is the wet nurse (I don’t think D&D know how wet nurses work) to none other than… Lyanna Targaryen. Yep. Remember that magical Targcest baby? It’s here, it’s 3 years old, it’s a girl, and it’s on the Iron Throne. And no shade on the baby, but it reeks of bullshit. Anyway, Tyrion is given Casterly Rock to control as well as being the Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, and his last line is “if you play the Game of Thrones, little Lyanna, you win or you die.” Because that’s totally something Tyrion would say. I’m so fucking exhausted.

Bronn: The only other part of this script that has my approval? Bronn gets a little shout out at the end, when Lyanna asks who rules Dorne now. Tyrion says “one of Oberyn’s daughters, beside a man who always dreamed of owning a castle.” Way to go Bronn. You ducked the bullshit and got your goddamn castle. I applaud you, sir.

So yeah anyway if these leaks are true Season 8 is gonna be a damn mess lmao bye I’m angry

[beautcous]

Lost Soulmate || Zach & Max

It was about two hours later did Max head out of the office, after getting zero work done to find his soulmate. He felt like utter shit allowing her to leave in the state she was but he also knew if the tried to speak to her then, he would only upset her further. The hours were absolute hell as he thought about her words, and as he sat there trying to rack through his mind of anything he could have done for her to utter the words, 'everything is your fault' he still kept hearing those words over and over. Perhaps it was his fault, he'd promised to be always be attentive to her and he'd slipped up. it made him wonder was she going through something and he failed to notice? Or didn't give her the time or the chance to tell him what was bothering her? Worse, did she truly believe that he was ignoring her in favor of harper? When he arrived at Leela's, they both weren't there so he drove over to Zach, pounding on his door until he opened. "Do you know where Leela is? Meera is with her and I need to see her. I need to talk to Meera, do you know where they're at?"

Zach was bored as hell at home. Normally, he would be hanging out with Leela, but when she shot him a text telling him that she would be going out of town for the weekend, he felt his spirit deflating. Ever since the blowjob she gave him, he couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind. He wanted her. God, did he crave for her, but at the same time, he didn’t want to make things odd between them. Maybe this was for the best. Some time apart would give them both the opportunity to think. As he was lounging around in his living room an incessant knock came at his door. Frowning he went to open the door only to find a frantic looking Max. “Woah… Woah… Slow down. Why are you so frantic? Leela went out of town. I know where she is, but what does that have to do with Meera?”

The moment Zach opened the door, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. Meera had texted him saying she'd be with Leela, so one can imagine his panic when he showed up and they were no where to be seen. Max usually kept his cool in such situations but given how Meera had ran out looking distressed and so upset, he was on full panic mood. He just needed to know if she was okay, even if she chose to speak to him until she felt better. He realized he had confused the hell out of his friend, but if anyone would understand, it would be his friend. "Meera is angry with me, she left my office crying. She told me she was with Leela, I went there and she's not there. I need to know if she's okay, where are they, Zach?" Max didn't even hide his emotions, his panic and rather look of desperation.

Despite his efforts to make his friend calm down, it didn’t seem like Max was going to do that. He sounded so panicked which could only mean that he’d fucked up somewhere. Honestly, Zach was stunned that his friend had done something to upset his soulmate. Max was utterly devoted to Meera, it had him wondering what would cause Meera to be so angry and leave without telling Max she was going. Wanting to put his friend out of his misery, he answered him, “They went to Vegas. To a spa there. You’re in no state to drive. Let me take you there.” He said, grabbing for his keys. This also gave him a reason to see Leela again. He’d missed her so much that his teeth ached.

It felt like hours went by as silence fell and Zach finally told him where they were, but still Max's panic didn't seem to lessen because in all his time with Meera, it had never gotten this bad between them since they professed their feelings for one another. Honestly, he was disappointed in himself, he'd promised himself he'd never allow a day like this to come where he made her cry this way but he'd still managed  it somehow. And though, he was still a bit confused as to how he managed to be so blind to Meera's plight, he hoped she knew he only loved her. That just because he had gotten a bit side tracked, didn't mean she was no longer important to him, she was and always would be. He would do  better for her, now he had to apologize and reassure his soulmate of this. Zach being a good friend he was stated he'd drive them there and he didn't argue, "thank you." With that two men settled in his car and were on their way, "Dammit, I don't know how this happened." His frustration leaking through his voice.

Zach had never seen Max this way. He was normally so happy and put together. This was a strange look for Max and honestly, his heart went out to the other man. In the state that Max was in, Zach was not going to let him drive. It was best that he did the driving. Plus, he was sort of desperate to see Leela again. After that day in his office, his mind kept going back to her. Desperately wanting a repeat. Mostly though, he just wanted to be around her. So, this gave him a reason to go see her. She couldn’t get mad at him for telling Max where she was. The man was worried about Meera. “Don’t mention it.” He told his friend before they headed to his car and he drove off towards Las Vegas. Max’s frustration came out in his remark and it caused Zach to ask, “What happened between you two? I don’t get it. You both are so in love. Why would she just leave?”

Max never behaved out of sorts with any person, even Zach who'd known him well right after Meera, he'd still never lost his composure in front of him. But at this moment, the CEO didn't care because all he could think was his soulmate, still upset and hurt because of him and right now all he wanted and needed was to see her and explain himself. He trusted his friend with his life, and only Zach would come close to understanding what Max felt right now. He'd seen the look of compassion on the man's face as they stepped inside Zach's car and made their way to Vegas. Startling out of his thoughts when Zach inquired what was going on, "I don't fully either, man. Meera came into my office and the moment she saw Harper, she snapped. She thinks I've bene neglecting her in favor of Harper, and maybe I' have been, unintentionally. She knows nothing is going between us, you know that right? I don't know but I need to find out if she's okay, she was crying, Zach, she hasn't cried like that since we've been together."

As Zach drove, he listened to Max’s explanation. It had him wondering why the two were suddenly at odd. They were always so happy and whenever Meera would stop by, she would always have a smile on her face. Something must’ve gone wrong somewhere. Upon hearing Max’s words, it all made sense to him. She was jealous. It had to be it. “Maybe I’m wrong, but it just sounds like she feels left behind or jealous of your closeness with Harper. It happens, I guess. I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you, she’s upset now, but once you talk to her, you’ll make things right. I know that nothing is going on with you and Harper, you two were friends. I think Meera just needs to be reassured. Don’t worry too much, man.” Honestly, Zach had no doubt that the two loved each other. Meera didn’t seem like the type who wouldn’t listen to reason. She was sensible. With that thought settled, he continued driving towards the spa.

Max was sure his soulmate was aware he only had eyes for her, furthermore the only solace he gotten was the knowledge that Meera hadn't accused him of cheating. What still troubled him was her words of everything being his fault, but what did she mean by that? Was she talking about Harper or something else? Why did Max feel as if there was more he was missing form her words? Nonetheless, he'd clear things between them, he'd make her see he had no intention of hurting her or neglecting her, and that he'd never make this mistake again. So, he used Zach's words as reason, the man was thinking clearly and Max certainly wasn't.  "Maybe, or there's something else entirely that I'm missing. Whatever it is, I'll clear it up and make everything right." He looked over at the male, "thanks, I mean it. For everything. I hope your right about this." They arrived about an hour so later, where Max rushed inside the resort and demanded the front desk for Meera, once Max told them who he was they finally fessed up to the room she was staying in.

COMPLETED