#plus apparently the book House of Leaves has a house that does this or something?

[andrevasims]

[traveler-at-heart]

The Doctor's In - Part 3

Summary: Wanda gets a little jealous and you're in trooouublee.

Wanda Maximoff x F!R, Carol Danvers x F!R.

A/N: Part 1 & 2 are recent, so you can find them on my blog. Sorry I'm tired and lazy to link them. Will do that later lol.

Coffee in an IV, that’s what you need. However, drinking it is the next best thing so you get one from the cafeteria and give the other cup to Darcy, who’s yawning in one of the stretchers that people leave in the hallway.

“Bless you”

You hum in acknowledgment, sitting next to her.

“Duty or booty?” she asks when your phone pings.

“Ha, good one. You should do stand up” you say, ignoring her.

“So, it is a booty call” Darcy insists when you begin typing, a smile on your face.

“It’s not. My neighbour was telling me something about her children. You remember them, the Maximoffs”

“The broken arm?” you nod, sipping from your cup. “Ok, so now you text her about her children? To get into her pants?”

“No! Not everything is about sex, Darcy”

“If you really think about it, it kinda is. And you still haven’t told me why she’s texting you”

“I took care of the twins the other day, when she went out on a blind date. With a man” you give her a pointed look. “And I showed them a videogame I loved when I was kid, and apparently helped to create a new obsession”

“Which one? Lara Croft?”

“Spyro”

“The purple dragon? You are such a dork” she says, scrunching up her face. You roll your eyes, ready to give her the middle finger when her pager goes off.

“Karma” you cough up and she glares.

“This conversation is not over!” she threatens, leaving you alone.

You look at the chat with Wanda.

Wanda: They both want to be Spyro for Halloween!

Y/N: Sounds cute! They could have a little Sparks floating around on their shoulder.

Wanda: It’s all they talk about every day, I swear I’m dreaming about dragons.

Y/N: Sorry?

Y/N: I do have a plan to make it up to you.

—

You’re done with the coffee, at least if you want to get some rest. Still, you pick up a latte and a scone for Wanda, and carry the new videogame as you knock on the woman’s door.

“Oh, hi!” she looks at you, confused.

“Hey. Sorry, I don’t know how you take your coffee. It’s a latte, dairy free” you hand over the cup and the scone. “And I have something for the twins”

“That’s so sweet, but they’re at school”

“Today’s not Saturday?” you say, confused. Wanda giggles at that, making you blush.

“Today is Tuesday. Come on in”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m sorry” you say, following her to the kitchen.

“I don’t have to be at work for another hour, so it’s fine” she assures you. “Plus you saved me a trip to the coffee shop”

“You know, I’ve never asked about what you do for a living” you say apologetically, only now realising that you’ve barely interacted with Wanda since you moved here.

“I’m an author and illustrator” she says.

“That’s so cool! Anything I’ve read?”

“Only if you like children’s books” the woman smiles.

“Can’t say that I have read any lately. But that’s awesome. I’m a little starstruck, I’ve never met a writer before”

Wanda laughs at that, and you blush a little.

“Oh, before I forget. Maybe this will distract them from dragons” you hand over the new videogame and Wanda arches an eyebrow.

“The solution to a videogame is another videogame?” she says with her mom voice.

“Uh… yes? It’s Crash. It’s really funny. Sorry, it was dumb, forget it” you begin to regret it, reaching for the box, but Wanda does the same thing, her hand landing on yours.

“I’m kidding. It’s very sweet of you, Y/N”

The way she says your name is almost hypnotic, and once again your eyes travel to her lips.

For the first time, you’re willing to admit that it wasn’t the alcohol that made you wanna kiss Wanda.

Still, your hands are touching and you want to lean forward.

Your phone interrupts the moment, and you apologize, thinking it might be from the hospital.

Carol: I’m outside your house :)

What?

“Work?” Wanda says when you frown.

“I’m not sure… I should get home. Sorry”

“I’ll walk you out. If you want to come by for dinner and show the boys the new game, you’re more than welcomed” she offers.

“Yeah, that sounds like fun. I’ll text you later” you promise, waving the woman goodbye.

Carol is leaning against her motorcycle, and she does a double take when you walk out of the house across the street.

“Did I get the wrong house?”

“No” you laugh. “I was at my neighbour’s, I got something for her kids”

“That’s very thoughtful” Carol holds your hand, and you try not to blush at the sudden contact.

“So, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to come to my place tonight. I’ll cook something nice, we’ll have a lot of sex and you won’t have to hold back those pretty moans of yours”

“Such a romantic, Danvers” you roll your eyes, but smile nonetheless. “I’m in”

“Alright. See you tonight” Carol says, kissing you. That’s another thing that takes you by surprise, and you don’t know what’s gotten into her.

Walking inside your home, you open the fridge and it doesn’t hit you until you see Billy’s drawing.

You told Wanda you’d be there for dinner.

Crap.

It feels cheap to cancel over what is esentially a -very tempting- booty call, but you’re also aware that you might be thinking too much of yourself. The truth is, Wanda probably doesn’t give a crap about whether or not her workaholic neighbour comes to dinner.

A few hours later, when you’re still thinking of a way to politely reschedule, you get a text from Wanda.

Wanda: I forgot we had a thing with friends from school. Maybe some other time?

Y/N: Yeah, no worries!

You try to ignore the disappointment you feel over not seeing Wanda again, focusing on the night ahead.

Here were the facts:

Wanda dated men, obviously.

Darcy would kick your ass if she even suspected you had a crush on your straight neighbour.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s what is happening.

—

“I hope you like parmesan chicken” Carol says, as you look around her apartment. The decoration is very modern and you admire the collection of books she has. You’re more of an online article person, but right now you’re reconsidering your stance.

“Smells great” you comment, opening the bottle of white wine you brought. You hop on her kitchen counter, watching as she finishes the food.

“So, what did your neighbours say about that thing you got them?”

“I don’t know, they were at school, but maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow”

Or maybe not, considering you’re developing a crush on their beautiful mother.

“I didn’t know you liked kids so much” she comments and you shrug your shoulders.

“I mean, I’m ok with kids, but these two are really sweet and nice. One of them was at the hospital recently, he broke his arm”

“Really? And how come I didn’t hear of it?” Carol raises her eyebrows, always on top of everything that happens at her department.

“Relax, Ortho Goddess. I drove them there and took care of everything, your intern just helped with the cast” you take a sip of your wine. “I don’t even know if you were at the hospital”

“So, no dad?”

You shrug your shoulders, a bit impatient. You were hoping to push Wanda out of your mind, and Carol kept on bringing her up.

“I’m not sure what happened, if there’s a father in the picture or not… but enough about this. How’s the grant application?”

“It’s hell. But I’m glad Kamala is so committed, I’d go nuts without her”

“Must be nice, to have an intern like that” you say, thinking about the rotation of doctors you get. They’re helpful, but none of them stay long enough to understand the logistics of an ER.

“No more chat about work” Carol proclaims and you laugh.

“Oh, what else can we talk about?“

“You’re right. Maybe we shouldn’t talk at all”  she pretends to think about it, standing between your legs. Your laugh is cut off by her lips on yours, moving impatiently until you let her explore your mouth with her tongue.

“Food’s gonna get cold”

“We’ll heat it up” Carol says, pulling your legs around her waist and carrying you across the apartment. “Let me show you the bedroom”

“We’re skipping the rest of the tour?”

“No, we’re definitely having sex in the shower” Carol says, making you laugh.

As her kissing becomes frantic, and you lose yourself in the feeling of skin against skin, for a brief moment, you forget those green eyes and auburn hair.

—

The rest of the week goes by in a blur. An accident in the highway keeps you locked in the hospital for 48 hours straight, and all you can manage is sleep and shower between surgeries.

You get to be for eight hours at home before returning for a day and a half shift. The only thing in your mind as you finally get in the car is working out, because you’ve seen horrible situations for the past four days and need to be so exhausted that you’ll pass out as soon as your head hits the pillow.

You go out in a sports bra and shorts, hoping the exercise helps with all the stress. After a good thirty minutes, you return home, sweating and panting.

You turn to the garden hose to pour some water on your face and neck, when you hear someone cursing and something falling.

“You ok?” you run to Wanda, trying to get her garbage can back up.

“Yeah, thanks” she says, looking anywhere but you. “Busy lately?”

“God, you have no idea” you sigh, crossing your arms. “Heard about that crash in the highway? We had like twelve people come in”

“That’s horrible” Wanda says, finally looking at you.

“It’s the job I guess. How are you? And the twins? Did they like the game?”

“Oh, they actually haven’t had…”

You hear a motorcycle pulling up and have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. What’s Carol’s game? The blonde eyes you, and you want to smack that smug grin off her face.

“Sorry, you were saying” you ignore her, turning back to Wanda.

“It’s not important, I have to get back and make dinner” she says, saying goodbye as fast as possible. You turn back home, feeling dejected.

“Was I interrupting?” Carol asks.

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

“I don’t think you notice the way she’s looking at you, Y/N” she insists as you both step inside your house.

“Wanda? Don’t be ridiculous, she’s just my neighbour”

Your perfect, funny, beautiful neighbour who has her life together and no time to entertain a workaholic like you.

“And last time I checked, we weren’t exclusive” you add.

“Why are you trying to pick a fight with me?” she smiles, cornering you against the wall.

“Because, I don’t know what’s up with you, having me over and then showing up out of the blue. It’s very… couple-y”

“Is that so?” she leans forward, her lips barely touching yours.

“Y-yes”

“Maybe I just had a bad week, and I know for a fact you did too. So we can take a bath together, have some pizza and then fuck each other’s brains out”

This time, her lips do actually meet yours and inspite of everything, you give into the kiss.

“Unless you wanna invite your neighbour over to join us, which I’m definitely not against”

“Ugh, you’re such an ass” you break apart, rolling your eyes and going upstairs, laughing with Carol as she follows you eagerly.

—

They’ll have to move. That’s the only way to escape.

Wanda closes the door, leaning against it, hoping that the image of you, walking in those sinful clothes disappears from her mind.

Of course she had to make a fool of herself, dropping the garbage and attracting your attention.

If only she had gone out earlier, Wanda could have saved herself the trouble of witnessing that mysterious woman, who was very obviously your girlfriend, looking at you like you were an entire meal.

What if she moves in with you? What if Wanda has to see you everyday, kissing the blonde goodbye or hanging around or…?

“Mom” Tommy calls for her, and she has to pull herself together.

“Yes, sweetheart” she forces a smile, looking at her son.

“What are we having for dinner?”

“Well, I was thinking some mac and cheese”

And then, she’ll drown her sorrows in a bottle of cheap wine. Hopefully she’ll dream of you, sweaty and having your way with Wanda.

—

There’s an unfamiliar weight as you wake up, and as you turn, you look at Carol’s disheveled state.

“Blanket thief” you accuse.

“Shhh”

“Gotta pee”

“No, five more minutes” she pleads, nuzzling against your neck.

“What? Too tired after last night?” you taunt, remembering how she seemed to be insatiable and only stopped when you were too sensitive.

“Well, yeah. I rocked your world. Where’s my reward?”

“I can offer you coffee and scrambled eggs”

“Your fridge was empty, remember?”

“Oh. In that case, coffee and breakfast somewhere nice”

“Deal” she kisses your shoulder, moving to get her clothes.

“I can’t believe we have to be back in three hours” you complain, stretching. The sheet falls, leaving your entire body in full display.

“Maybe we can have something else for breakfast” Carol says, pulling you back down.

After another hour, you finally go down the stairs. You’re arguing over taking her motorcycle or your car when you hear voices outside.

Billy and Tommy are looking curiously at the motorcycle, touching the handle.

“Hey, kiddos” you greet, and they turn around, scared at being caught.

“Wanna get on it?” Carol offers and they nod excitedly.

Carol is busy showing them how it works when the front door opens, Wanda calling for the twins.

“You know you can’t leave the house like that. I am so sorry” she turns to you, but Carol is the one who answers.

“It’s no problem, really”

Wanda gives the blonde a tight smile.

“Come on, let’s get back inside”

“Oh, how long has he had the cast?” Carol says.

“Like a year” Billy says and you laugh, ruffling his hair.

“3 weeks?” you turn to Wanda.

“It’s actually 4. I meant to ask you when is he supposed to get it off”

“Come by the hospital and we’ll take a look. Children’s bones heal faster” Carol says, and it’s very obvious now that she’s inserting herself in the conversation so Wanda acknowledges she’s with you.

“Sure. I’ll text Y/N later”

“Great. I’ll make time to personally check Billy, did I get it right?” Carol turns to the kid and he nods.

“Well, Y/N has been his doctor, so I don’t think that’s necessary” Wanda pushes back, crossing her arms. All you do is look between them.

“Oh, we can both check it out if it makes you more comfortable, after all I am the head of Orthopedic Surgery”

“I thought you didn’t date other surgeons” Wanda turns, and you can finally get a glimpse of how scary she must be when one of the twins disobbeys her. She’s smiling, but her eyes tell a different story.

“I… well…” you mumble like an idiot.

“Time to go, or we won’t eat breakfast. Come on, I’m starving after last night” Carol takes your hand, pulling you away from Wanda.

You’d rather be doing an enema on a patient than witnessing this weird tug-a-war they have going on.

“Come on, boys” Wanda takes them back home, and Carol waves innocently at her.

“Seriously?” you say, ripping out the extra helmet from her hands.

“What? I was just messing with her. Come on, princess. Hold on tight”

Carol revs the engine loudly, leaving your driveway with a smile on her face.

She has the better sense to drop the subject during breakfast, picking out a small diner close to the hospital.

On the other hand, you are unable to stop thinking about everything that happened and, against your better judgement, do something that you’ll clearly regret.

You tell Darcy.

“Wait, wait, wait!” she says, holding her sides. “Your situationship and the MILF next door were fighting over you?”

“It’s not funny” you say, resisting the urge to choke her with her stethoscope.

“It so is. Girl, you gotta pick a struggle”

“You’re useless” you complain.

“No, ok, hear me out” she takes a deep breath, wiping away the tears and looking at you. “So, on one hand, you have a thing with Danvers. Do you really think she got over Rambeau already?”

“Of course not! Which is why I was fine with it being just sex. She’s the one who started doing other weird, couple stuff”

You weren’t an idiot; Carol and Maria had been together for years, and engaged until Maria left to work with Doctors Without Borders. Thought you didn’t know why they split up, it was fairly obvious that they were too proud to talk it out, but they still loved each other.

“Exactly. So, let’s say you start seeing Danvers more seriously, and then Maria comes back. You’re…”

“Fucked” you nod along, starting to understand Darcy’s point.

“On the other hand, you have the hot mom. According to you, she dates men. We have no clue if the father of her children is dead, missing, crazy… Maybe he'll come back eventually”

“And I’m fucked again” you rub your eyes, frustrated. “All I wanted was a way to destress. This is the exact opposite”

“I guess you’re very charming” Darcy shrugs her shoulders, and you’re about to thank her when she adds. “Or stupid”

In spite of everything, her words hold some truth. As you see patients and take care of the ER, you think of a way to fix everything.

Then, your phone pings and dread invades you.

Wanda: We’re in the foyer.

Fuck it, you’ll make sure you get to them before Carol and send them home before they get into another weird ass argument.

You run to find the Maximoffs, taking Billy to get an X-Ray.

“It’s urgent” you tell the technician.

But Carol is three steps ahead of you, because she asked to be informed of any patients that came to get X-Rays over cast removals.

So, by the time you and Billy come back, Wanda and Tommy are in the room, while Carol confirms Billy’s arm is completely healed.

“Hey, thank you for getting that X-Ray” Carol says with a smile and you curse to yourself.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Come on, kiddo, let’s get your arm back” you bring him to the bed, where Kamala prepares to do the removal. Carol forgets her little feud with Wanda for a moment, reminding her resident how to do the procedure.

“Is that a saw?” Wanda says, pale.

“Yes, I know it looks scary but it’s perfectly safe, I promise” you say, holding on to her arm. She looks at you, nodding and you smile, letting your hand drop to her back, rubbing slowly to calm her down. Wanda leans into the touch, her shoulders relaxing.

It’s so easy, to reach out for her.

Carol doesn’t miss the contact, but keeps on observing as Kamala cuts the cast.

Billy moves his arm tentatively.

“It might be weird at first. Try to take it easy the first few days” you say and Billy nods, keeping the cast with all stickers and drawings from his friends.

“That’s pretty much it” Carol says, removing her gloves. “If you have any questions…”

“I’ll call Y/N. Thank you” Wanda cuts off.

“Mom, we should celebrate!” Billy says. “Can Y/N come over?”

“That would be fun…” you begin to say.

“Oh, sweetheart. Y/N is very busy” Wanda speaks over you. She’s not even looking your way and you hate to admit it, it kinda hurts.

“No more running down the stairs, buddy” you say, opening the door for them. The three walk out, Tommy and Billy waving goodbye.

Carol goes after you the minute you leave the room.

“What the hell was that?”

“Excuse me?”

“The touching and the love eyes” she insists.

“You’re the one that made it weird to begin with, Carol” you say, feeling a headache approaching.

“Well, yeah. We have this thing going on and you act like you’re in love with someone else”

“Now hold on” you stop in the middle of the hallway, pointing a finger to her chest. “You and I agreed it was just sex. We don’t talk about the massive elephant in the room because frankly, it’s none of my business. But be honest. If Maria came back right now, would you not to want to be with her?”

Carol takes a step back. This is the first time you’ve seen her speechless.

“I don’t know. Maybe. If she came back, I… she would come first. But that’s just hypothetical”

“No, it isn’t. Because she is right there, Carol”

You point behind her, watching as Maria Rambeau, former head of Pediatric Surgery is talking to Chief Fury.

Carol turns her head so fast you’re shocked she didn’t snap something.

The look of adoration, longing and sorrow in her eyes tells you everything you need to know.

“Go” you smile, squeezing her arm. “You should always go after what you want, Danvers”

She nods, still too shocked to move.

You’ll let them have their reunion in private and will use the rest of your shift to mope about Wanda.

“Go home” Fury says when you stick around long after your shift. “Sorry about Danvers”

“Sir, you knew?”

“I know everything” he shrugs his shoulders and you can’t help but smile.

Of course, Carol drove you here so you take a cab home, which is fine. You’re too tired and distracted to drive anyway.

Truth is, you’re not sad about Carol. The only thing you can think about is Wanda and how she left without so much as a look in your direction.

“This the place?” the driver says and you snap out of it, handing him the money and some extra. “Sweet, thanks. Have a good night”

“You too, man”

After a shower, and eating pizza leftovers, you’re still thinking about Wanda. As you sip from your beer, and look at the tv without paying attention, someone knocks at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Wanda”

You jump from the couch, spilling some of the beer on your pants.

“Sorry, if it’s a bad time I’ll come back later”

“No, wait” you run to the door, opening and looking ashamed. “I spilled beer on myself. I seem to do that a lot when you’re around”

“I should have texted, I’m sorry”

“No, you can come over whenever you want. Is everything ok, are you ok?”

“Well, no” she runs her hands through her hair, and starts ranting. “I came to apologize, I was so rude to you, and I have absolutely no right to be. You have been nothing but nice, helpful and kind and I… I was a total bitch”

“Hey, hey, stop it” you take her hand, pulling her inside. “Wanda, it’s fine, I get it. I’m not mad at you”

“You have every right to be” Wanda insists, and you can see she’s spiraling, so you pull her against you, hugging her.

“I’m here. Not going anywhere”, you say against her shoulder. You only let go when you feel Wanda’s breathing going back to normal. You take a step back, your hands dropping to her waist. “Want some pizza and beer?”

“Uh… that sounds good, yeah. Can we sit on your kitchen? That way I can look out the window, just in case the twins wake up”

“Yeah, come on” you take her hand, closing the door as she enters your place.

You stay silent as you warm a slice of pizza and get another beer for you, offering her a bottle.

“I don’t think I’ve drank beer since college” she says, smiling.

“Only fancy wine?” you joke, taking a seat next to her.

“Not even that these days. Listen… I really am sorry and though it may not seem like it, I’m happy for you and Doctor Danvers”

“Oh, that’s not a thing” you interrupt her.

“Was it something I did?” she says, looking mortified.

“No, it was just… uh, never serious. I think she might be fixing things with her ex so that’s the end” you explain, removing the label of your bottle.

“Are you ok?” Wanda reaches for your hand and you blush.

Yeah, I’m ok because you’re here now.

“I am, it wasn’t serious. Honestly, it was just sex”

“Oh” Wanda blushes, and removes her hand from yours, taking a large gulp of her beer.

“I mean, we all have needs, wouldn’t you agree?” you tease, leaning forward as if you’re telling her a secret.

“I suppose so, yeah” Wanda gets lost in your eyes, hoping you close the distance.

And you want to, you really do, but Wanda gave you a hard time and you might make her sweat a little before giving in.

So, you lean back on your chair, smiling mischeviously at the other woman.

“How’s Billy? Happy to be cast free?”

“Yeah, he’s excited about getting to play that dragon game you gave them from the start”

“I guess Crash wasn’t good enough to replace Spyro” you say, understanding the twins. You always had a soft spot for the latter.

“Actually… I didn’t give them the other game” Wanda admits, chewing her lip nervously.

“Why?”

“To be honest, I wanted you to give it to them so I could… I don’t know, have an excuse to see you again”

As Wanda admits her reasoning, red invades her cheeks. Your heart skips a beat at the sweet admission, and you stand up, walking to where she’s sitting.

“You don’t ever need an excuse to talk to me”

“No?” she says, fidgeting wih her bottle.

“You can text me, call me, fax me, page me. I’ll give you my email so you have that option as well” you say, making Wanda laugh.

“I just don’t know what to talk about sometimes, I get nervous”

“Well, we could talk about the weather, how inflation is crazy high… you could tell me about the Scarlet Witch”

“You looked up one of my books?” Wanda says, blushing.

“Yeah, I have it, ready to get an autograph from the author herself”

Wanda blushes even more at that, chewing on her bottom lip. You take another teeny, tiny step towards her, eyes going to her lips.

“Or, we could not talk. There’s plenty one can do without verbal communication. Like bird watching”

“Crossword puzzles” Wanda jokes, following along.

“Kissing” you say, leaning forward until you’re inches apart. You let her decide if she wants to close the distance, and Wanda does, her lips tentatively moving against yours.

She tastes like vanilla and you sigh against her mouth, pulling her close to you.

It’s everything you imagined and more, her pretty sighs spurring you on until your hands go down her sides, and to her waist.

At the movement, Wanda breaks the kiss, making you whine.

“Is this… do you want this to be just sex?”

“You deserve more than that”

Yes, the thought of Wanda naked, moaning your name make you weak in the knees, but you also want to bring her coffee and have lunch together.

“So, does that mean…?”

“Go out on a date with me” you blurt out, trying to catch your breath.

“Yes” she nods, pulling you in for another kiss. This time, you’re not so sure you’ll be able to resist the urge of worshipping her body right in the middle of your kitchen, for all the nighbourhood to watch. “I should go”

“You only just got here” you complain, kissing down her neck.

“And if I stay, you won’t get your beauty sleep”

“Sleep is overrated” you mumble, biting down her neck playfully.

“Ok!” she holds back a moan, jumping as if your touch burns her.

“Did I hurt you?” you say, worried.

“No, it wasn’t pain that I felt” Wanda admits, turning red.

“I’ll behave” you raise your hands and Wanda steps back, not sure that she believes you. “How about next Thursday?”

“That can work, yeah. Let me just check with the nanny”

She walks to the door, lips slightly swollen.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you before that, though”

“Right, because I live across the street”

“And I might need to borrow some sugar” you joke, leaning forward to open the door, trapping Wanda’s body. “Or other stuff”

“I should go”

“You sure?”

“Yes” the woman nods, biting down her lip. Still, she pecks your lips one last time, and takes advantage of how flustered you get to walk out the door.

“Text me when you’re home” you joke, making her giggle. Still, you don’t get inside until she opens her own door, waving at you one last time.

You take your phone, reading a lenghty text from Carol saying she was really sorry about everything. And then another one comes in.

Wanda: I’m home.

Y/N: Come back.

Wanda: I wish.

Wanda: Night, Y/N

Y/N: Night, Wands.

[fueioekjfisks]

Im so sorry im losing my absolute mind but please hear me out for a second.

Mild tw for implied SA - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED PEOPLE JUST THINK IT HAPPENED

You know the common misunderstanding au in the danny phandom rn about vlad being a creep and people thinking hes like a CREEPY CREEP and not just a supervillain creep?

Well imagine danny is going on break or something and his dad wants to bring the whole family up to vlads castle for whatever reason.

Danny, obviously, does not want to waste his ONE FREAKING CHANCE of getting some god damn sleep being tormented by vlad and his stupid birds. Plus, vlad will probably plan some big murder plot for his dad and danny CAN. NOT. HANDLE. THAT. RIGHT. NOW.

So danny decides to make a PowerPoint presentation about why he doesnt want to go.

Obviously he cant reveal vlad or his own halfa status so its mostly just really jumbled information about vlad being creepy.

He gets backup from sam, tucker, jazz, and even val. He also knows his mom already dislikes vlad and knows hes a total creep so all he really needs to do is convince his dad.

But??? As hes compiling evidence??? And rehearsing his presentation with hes friends??? He realizes that it sounds super fucked up???

And like, it’s mostly just bad without all the context. But he realizes that Vlad is actually kinda sick in the head. Danny knows he would never actually do something that terrible, but its supper concering how similar his actions are to like, actual bad people.

Danny isnt mad about it or anything, he’s actually just worried about it Vlad.

Danny is not perfect by any means. But Vlad is the only other member of his species besides, like, his fucking clone (which holy shit Vlad what the fuck) or maybe dan who is also fucked up.

Danny knew that Vlads death definitely messed him up, but he never really thought about Vlads actions beyond “obsessive fruitloop, at it again :/“ and is just now realizing that vlad might need psychological help. Which he feels pretty (REALLY) bad about.

Danny has no idea what to do, and no idea who to go to.

So he sneaks out, doesnt even go ghost as he takes the powerpoint to vlad who obviously freaks tf out because holy shit thats SO MUCH WORSE THAN ANYTHING HE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY IMAGINED. What if he had actually hurt daniel? What if he had hurt his precious Madeline?? He needs help like yesterday! How did he ever get so bad???!

So Vlad freaks, trashes his own house, apologizes to danny, and books it through the portal to find the far frozen or somewhere else he can get help.

Danny is somewhat shellshocked about the whole situation. It doesnt get better when people start investigating Vlads disappearance.

The state of the manor indicates foul play and the police look into it further. Find security tapes. They see danny, frazzled and paranoid, enter Vlads property, everything goes to static, and only danny leaves.

Hes arrested of course, and he and his friends/family are interrogated.

Everybody vehemently denies that Danny would ever do such a thing, but when they are asked if danny has potential motives everyone (except for jack) gets all squeamish.

Its practically common knowledge in Amity Park that the mayor and the weird Fenton child had beef. People just were unsure why.

I think it would be really cool to focus a story around the polices pov of the investigation/ random Amity Parkers interpretation of the events.

Danny being kinda creepy after the accident (because death) could totally make people assume he did it and that would be awesome.

We can also add in de-aged Dani/Ellie and or Dan for that extra spice.

Imagine the fentons finding out about Dannys supposed kids in the context that they are MOTIVES FOR THEIR SON TO MURDER THEIR COLLAGE FRIEND ( AND DANNYS OWN GODFATHER) WHO APPARENTLY GROOMED HIM???!? AND THEY DIDNT EVEN NOTICE??!?

This could totally be a crossover too. Lucifer tv show. Batman. Supernatural. All are good.

Anyway, thought this could be kinda interesting

Please continue if you want

[women-of-malevolent]

All references to women in Part 6 - The Hill

John and Arthur talk about the fact that in the vision, Amanda was putting something under her bed. Maybe a diary, probably not a normal book. Arthur wonders why she was killed - John says he can't fathom, Arthur guesses that it has something to do with that Adam Fry. Whatever the reason, Arthur wants to find out.

Arthur thinks that something happened in the cave (I think he's using 'the cave' synonymously with 'the basement'), she learned some information that killed her. He assumes this because she was the only one of the two girls who escaped that place. Everyone else was dead and hidden behind the wall. She told no one about the wall. (Editorial note: My short-term memory is generally not the greatest, it's part of why I'm compiling this blog, but this conversation is really throwing me for a loop. What cave?? What wall full of corpses???). She told her neighbor that she was moving, and if she was running away, she probably wouldn't have done that. Plus, the killer (Adam) had to learn her name to kill her, he didn't already know it.

John and Arthur order food from a waitress. John comments that the waitress is industrious.

More theorizing about who killed Amanda Cummings. She wasn't running, she wasn't afraid, she opened her door without fear. And yet he still killed her. Their questions may have shaken something lose.

John asks Arthur what he would have asked her. Arthur says, what she remembered about that night, what was her friend's name, and what about John's symbol? John is incensed by Arthur wanting to dig into his symbol.

The waitress wordlessly sets food down on the table.

We know Amanda was killed, we don't know why, it's important to theorize about why. Arthur says it's safe to assume she didn't realize she had dangerous information - or, John says, maybe she thought everyone could hurt her was dead. John says she seemed frightened of the man, but familiar with him.

John says that in his vision, the man was odd. His fingers seemed to sink into Amanda's skin, but it felt very different.

In any case, it seems like their next step is finding the man who the police have arrested for this.

Do we even know for sure who killed her? John says it was Adam, and Arthur says they don't know for certain.

They find a newspaper, it appears that the crime has been pinned on a local homeless man named Christopher Ryan Evans, who was apparently found standing over Amanda's body.

Should we seek out Amanda's home? Or Christopher Ryan Evans?

Arthur finds a random piano in a music shop they wander in to (next to the supply shop they want, which isn't open yet). John tells him, go on! Play a song! Even if it's not a happy song, play something! The shopkeeper tells Arthur it was lovely, what's it called? Arthur fumbles, maybe not having a name for it, and then says it's called Faroe's Song.

They get ID and gun from the supply shop. Where to now? Arthur wants to go to Amanda's, they've put it off long enough. He's nervous to find out what's happening to him, John assures him they'll just find more questions.

Arthur asks, if they've caught the murderer, what does that mean? John says it means they caught the wrong person, because Amanda was not killed by a man but a something else. Amanda's body didn't look like the killer's fingers had bent into her flesh; it looked like her neck was bruised, like she was choked. Arthur asks if the visions might have been tricks, John says no.

In the stairway of Amanda's house, John and Arthur bump into an elderly woman in a wheelchair. She stares at them intently. Arthur asks her if she's okay. John tells him to leave. She just laughs. Arthur leaves, pitying her. John tells him that he reminded him of the woman in the woods, the one who gave them the baby. They had the same dreary almost madness in her eyes. What does that mean? It means they shouldn't linger.

They break into Amanda's apartment, and John describes it. There's a radio, a bed, a hallway, a window with a curtain. It makes John feel cold. There is a kitchen, a table, a closet. Surely there's a bathroom somewhere.

Arthur asks, does John see anything important? No, this apartment tells the story of a simple, quiet life. Nothing about where she worked, or who she was. So, they boys go to find the location of her murder.

They go to the front hall and find the diary, which it turns out is actually a copy of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (unfathomable... I'll read it bc I enjoy Mann, might report back if there's anything relevant) (who am I kidding, I'm not reading Thomas Mann this terrible-ass year 😂). Neither character have read it. Why did she leave it? They don't know.

They think it over. The place was not tossed. But, opening up the book, they find a riddle! “I’ve seen the creature, its long hard body, straight as an arrow yet moves like a serpent. I’ve watched it drive into the dark holes in the stone. The lives it takes are none the wiser as it screeches into the night.’ And then she’s written three numbers. ‘31-55-78.” They deduce that this references a train. She must have been heading to the station. That's their next move.

Does it make sense to head there to learn more, instead of studying her home, which they are now in? Arthur thinks so. She knew something was following her, and she was hiding. She wanted them to see something, or find something, at the train station.

What's in the locker? Well, something she wanted us or someone like us to find. Answers. Whatever she saw in that house all those years ago, it must have stayed with her. Something precipitated all of this, and Amanda knew.

On their way out, they hear retching. It's the floor they bumped into the old woman. They go inside her apartment, the door is open. Arthur wants to make sure she's okay. Her apartment is described as filthy, packed with garbage, with a horrible smell. She has been pissing and shitting all over the floor.

Arthur has trouble navigating. There's flies, rotting food, stagnant air. He calls out to her, but there's no answer. She appears to sleep in a pile of dirty rags. Her wheelchair is there, but it's... empty 😱 They need to leave, now!!! They start leaving, and the woman crawls towards them on all fours, clawing at their feet! Arthur asks what the fuck is wrong with her, John doesn't know. They leave. (The way this is handled really bums me out!)

John says something is wrong, with everyone, all these people keep trying to kill them. Arthur still feels her stench on his tongue.

They hack into Amanda's locker and find a map of Lake Crawford. She's circled an island. Should we go there? May as well.

Amanda hid the map well. John wonders, why that island? What's there? They don't know. Arthur shudders to think what would have happened if whomever killed her had found this map first, before they killed her. That would have been REALLY bad!

They head to a dock and find that its map doesn't list the island. Amanda's map had drawn the island in by hand. Why would they omit the island? Is Amanda wrong? It'd be an hour boat ride... Arthur says that Amanda went through a lot of work to get the map to them - well, to whoever found it - so they should go. They can't question every step of this.

[horizon-verizon]

I know you've criticized the show portrayal of Alicent but what about Rhaenyra? They turned her into "not like the other girls" and just a good flawless mother and nothing else.

EDITED (8/16/23)

A.

Weird that people still complain that Rhaenyra was not a good mom for sending her sons out to assure alliances. This was at a time before the Dance when everyone [except Aegon II and Aemond] was actually trying to pretend that they weren't going to battle, so both sides expected their messenger-children to be safe. Plus you do not kill messengers. This is diplomacy basics 101, killing one itself and act of war, let alone then being children. If Rhaenyra expected any green negotiator (she didn't even know Aemond would be the one) to not risk the greens' image and possible upper hand in such a way, I cannot blame her. Plus, she expressly said to Luke not to be in any fights jic. Aemond is the one to start something.

It happens in canon, so people who did not like Rhaenyra for being a women pursuing power over men are going to find reasons to critique Rhaenyra's motherhood as a means to criticize her pursuing power over men, which being a Queen Regnant would give her.

In the original story, there is no hint of contention between Rhaenyra and her kids, bio or not. Same with Daemon. Her kids turned out self confident with stronger senses of responsibility and unity (Jace and war planning, trust in Daemon; Joffrey eager to participate and avenge his brother; Lucerys protecting his brother from Aemond; Aegon the Younger apparently worshipping his older siblings and Daemon, Baela wanting to fight and stay with Jace, Rhaena's grace, these twins doing all they could to help their younger brother, esp to oust Unwin Peake, etc.).

Why would Rhaenyra NOT be portrayed as a caring and responsible mother?! Those kids turned into great people, and it had to come from her and/or her parenting skills. Compare them to their book!green counterparts (Aegon, Aemond, Daeron) who have do not have have even a basic care for anyone aside from themselves, sacking a city of injured people, perform genocide, leave each other out to dry when need most, rape, etc...well apart from Aemond raping someone (yet) little has (or should) change in the show. So still applies.

In the show, again, no contention, bio or not. Meanwhile we have Helaena refuse to let her mother touch her several times since childhood, despite allowing Jace to dance with her. Alicent and Otto either slapping or dragging Aegon around as if he's a contraption that won't work the way they want him to. Aegon brought his 13 yr old younger brother to a brothel house before the kid could even prepare even with his too-young age. And Aemond, while seemingly close to Alicent, is obsessed with besting his "Strong" nephews while becoming some sort of co parent with Alicent.

B.

I actually have criticized the show!version of Rhaenyra. Here is one POST. And ANOTHER. In these two posts, I and mononijikayu express how the show takes Rhaenyra's canon aspects and actions and either gives them to Alicent or removes them entirely for the sake of the prophecy that Viserys uses against Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra's characterization quite literally takes a backseat to this prophecy that truly is so unnecessary the way that it is currently written that it flattens the narrative drama entirely.

And why does it flatten and dull it? Because the writers made Rhaenyra, similar to what they did to Alicent, a less self-drive and determined version of her canon self for the sake of the male gaze (post by xenonwitch). Rhaenyra, the protagonist, was flattened so the male audience and creators could feel comfy about a woman seeking power. Flattened into a woman who only wanted to do what her daddy said she should as a ruler (even though being a ruler wasn't as altruistic as the show tries to make us feel with all this "for the realm" stuff, either in the real world or in Westeros. Even if you are Aegon I. So why can't a woman be the same?).

They even constructed a storyline where they wanted people to compare her sleeping with a Kingsguard vs a prince sleeping with an ordinary noblewoman or servant girl into a debate of rape when I can't take that seriously. Besides the post I linked to you, Aegon II is the rapist of subordinates here, not Rhaenyra. Canon!Criston, like in the show more likely tried to get Rhaenyra to run away with him or sleep with him but in canon, it's unlikely she actually would have slept with him because she wanted Daemon.

C.

This is a real question I'd like you to answer since it has confused me since I first heard it. In what ways is even show!Rhaenyra "not-like-the-other-girls"?

Though I can't believe that I am defending this show, I can't see it. NLOG are either women/girls that feel all women are inherently lesser, but that themselves are the exception (and a few others who they grow intimate with). They are thought of as "non-girls" who don't care to "be a girl" at all because they are led to believe that being a girl and having feminine-perceived traits and behaviors is inherently inferior to anything construed as masculine.

However:

show!Rhaenyra never has shown a dislike toward other women for being women that she then thinks are inferior women to herself.

Rhaenyra in the show is not masculine just because she loves to ride her dragon, because she killed a boar, or because she wears pants. That's really just enjoyment of the dragon, dragonriding, and freedom. As all Targ women love their dragons: Alysanne, Alyssa, Visenya and Rhaenys the Conquerors, Rhaenys who would have been Queen, Saera who would have found freedom if she hadn't been stopped, Rhaena who was Queen Dowager and found self-confidence when she bonded with Dreamfyre, Baela & Rhaena the twins, and Dany way after. Including all those Valyrian dragonriders like Jaenaera Belaerys and the ones who were sent out, like the men, to control Valyrian outposts and established. It's really only in a Westerosi/Andal patriarchy that show!Rhaenyra could be seen as a "tomboy" (more accurate), or a woman "trying" to be more like a boy and not "herself". Visenya was a warrior but also was comfortable in dresses, as F&B explicitly states as if this were strange.

Before anyone brings up episode 3 and Rhaenys lighting up on that older woman, here is the dialogue:

Ceira Redwyne: My lord husband says that no king has even been able to tame the Stepstones for long. It's an inhospitable place suited only for savages. Perhaps the Princess...can give us some insight.

Rhaenyra: Oh, I'm not sure how I could. I've never been to the Stepstones.

Ceira Redwyne: Your dear uncle is the great mind behind this war. Is he not?

Rhaenyra: I wouldn't know. I've not spoken to Daemon in years.

Ceira Redwyne: Since you supplanted him as heir.

Alicent: Daemon made his choices, Lady Ceira. The Princess was more suited to the role.

Ceira Redwyne: He's made a mess and the King must put an end to it. Send fleets and men and clear out the Triarchy for good.

Rhaenyra: But the Crown is not at war.

Ceira Redwyne: The Crown is at war, Princess. Though your father refuses to admit it, we've been dragged into it by your uncle and the Sea Snake.

Rhaenyra: And how have you served the realm of late, Lady Redwyne, by eating cake?

1)

Ceria (and maybe the writers but were giving the the benefit of the doubt here for the sake of argument) doesn't seem to be aware that the pirates like the Crabfeeder have been endangering the commerce of merchant and traders in KL for a while (Fire and Blood). They had been extorting them with "tolls" and of course what happens when someone can't pay?

Daemon may be out in the Stepstones to keep himself distracted for. Viserys' rejection, busy from the nothingness he'd left be else since he hated Rhea Royce and the Vale, and to gain some glory/experience for himself. But he is also still the only other person doing anything about a real threat. Viserys had been ignoring Corlys for a time in the show, and as I said, the pirates and their tolls would have gotten worse for KL's economic well-being if not for the lives of traders. Now Ceira wants to complain about how it's taking too long, implying that she's losing out from it? Yeah, it'd annoy me even if I wasn't Daemon's relative or if I hadn't liked him.

2)

This is hardly Rhaenyra thinking the woman is inferior bc of her gender. It also isn't Rhaenyra equalizing Ceira's gender with an inherent inability to actively participate in militant activities, whether due to an idea of female weakness or the practice of disallowing women from such activities. (explained above about the accountability of Daemon for the war)

It's more about getting at her for criticizing someone she loves (romantically or not) and respects and has missed "for years". Even with Viserys, Viserys is her father whom she still wants trust and intimacy with.

Again, not because Daemon and Viserys are male and she's looking to impress them to validate her very existence or just naturally thinks she is a superior woman over the "typical" woman, but because they are quite literally the only family/companions she has left. Her mom died tragically and her last minutes were unnecessarily violent (it's unclear how much Rhaenyra knows about Viserys cutting her open). Rhaenyra had to burn her by Syrax's flame and by her own command! Daemon was the one to bring her confront when she was looking for that from Viserys.

We see her angry and lonely from the image of her at the tree, unable to really reconcile how Alicent married Viserys or go to her for comfort and destress as before. Remember that Viserys didn't speak to her before he brought her down to Balerion's skull to discuss his making her his heir, and afterwards we still see no evidence of them conversing easily, getting along, or talking about their loss. Viserys pushes through, doesn't try to see what's going on with Rhaenyra. To Rhaenyra, it's going to feel like her father abandoned her mother and her. Hence the frustration with him saying she has to marry despite her fears of childbirth (it's like Viserys isn't aware why she is afraid or reluctant...thus that feeling of abandoning her mother). She's also concerned that she'd be even more emotionally abandoned and used by her could-be husband (we find out in episode 4 and that her power will wilt under said hypothetical husband's lack of concern or real care, bc hed likely try to do as people say Daemon is doing and undermine her authority and steal power for himself. Make her a puppet queen/heir.

She and Alicent -- no matter what the writers have told us -- are no longer friends at this point because Alicent is now Rhaenyra's stepmother and it's a heavy conflict of interest with Alicent literally being pregnant & already having had a boy that make people feel free to question Rhaenyra's place more than they did before. At the very least, the court is less comfortable (understatement).

Thus she lashed out, and not even that harshly. We remember that lords and ladies typically talk to their monarchs, princes, and princesses well-manneredly, and while Rhaenyra doesn't seem to care for punctilious formalities -- unless she already dislikes you from a previous encounter of a person pushing boundaries (Jason Lannister) and wants to put distance and castigate for rudeness or insults (which she did here) -- again this was just not the right moment for Ceira to be telling the upset, depressed, lonely, and quietly raging Rhaenyra that her father and dear uncle are not doing things how she want them to, even if she could be argued as spitting facts.

Sometimes it just be like that. Ceira can take the L for talking too much. She seems strong enough to take a non-insult (or as some may say, a read) from a 17 year old, with all her criticisms. Aside from also being more than 40 years her senior, as I judged the actress's age to be late 50s to 60s.

[fatechica]

I think Mileven in season 1 is wonderful because we see them interact. I wonder why people liked season 2 Mileven when they have next to no interaction on screen? What's so powerful about heart eyes in particular? I wish I could be satisfied with season 2 Mileven and maybe I am missing something but pining seems less grounded and more grandiose I guess? What am I missing?

First of all, anon, I just want to say that it's ok not to be satisfied with season 2 Mileven! Everyone has different preferences for how stories/relationships/etc are portrayed in media. So if it didn't work for you, it didn't work for you! It's not that you're missing something, necessarily, and it's more than ok to prefer Mileven in season 1 (and, honestly, they were so flippin' cute, I don't blame you at all).

But, you asked a question about what it is about Mileven in season 2 that resonates with so many people and, hopefully, by the end of it, you'll at least be able to appreciate what it is people love about it so much.

Plus, it lets me write a love letter to S2 Mileven, which is always a good time in my book.

For me, and I'm assuming a lot of other people who love S2 Mileven, it's all about the yearning, the quiet devotion, the bittersweet tragedy of two people who have strong feelings for each other and can't be together, but end up reuniting in a way that feels earned.

It's Mike calling out to her every day for almost a year (353 days), a level of devotion near unheard of in a 13 year old boy. It's El visiting him in the void, just to be able to see him, but unable to actually be with him. It's how Mike holds on to hope with absolutely no proof, how he refuses to forget her or let her go even if he doesn't know if she's really still alive. It's El risking everything just to go see him because she can't bear to be away from him any longer.

It's the way your heart pounds in your chest when they nearly run into each other in Hawkins Middle school - you want them to reunite almost as much as they do. It's the initial joy on El's face when she sees Mike again, followed by the heartbreak when she notices him laughing with Max and thinking he's moved on from her. It's the painful hope on Mike's face when he realizes it must have been El who knocked Max off her skateboard and the disappointment on his face when he gets out to the hall and sees it empty.

And, yes, after this point, for a little while, Mike and El don't focus on each other. Things go from bad to worse with Will, which kicks Mike's "must fix everything" mode into overdrive. And El feels like she's lost the place she belongs (Mike seems like he's moved on, Hopper and her have an explosive fight), so when she sees the paperwork Hopper has about her mom, she leaves to find the place she can really belong.

But throughout it all, you get the feeling they're only going on these journeys because they don't feel like they can be together, that in some ways, it's just a distraction or side road they're taking. This becomes apparent when Mike talks to Max about El when they're in Will's house, how he starts using the past tense when he talks about her, that the carnage he saw in the lab makes him realize that maybe he's been holding onto false hope for the last year. Or how when El is feeling uncertain about this new gang she's fallen into, that she reaches out into the void and sees that Mike's in danger, she immediately finds her purpose again: Mike may have moved on, but she will always want to make sure he's safe.

So when they reunite, man, does it feel earned. It's a moment you've been waiting for the entire season: everyone's in danger and El's on her way to save them and you're just waiting for the final piece to slot into place.

And this moment - man, this moment, where Mike and El reunite for the first time since the end of S1 - the show wants you to linger in this moment. It's the slow camera pan up from where El's walking in through the Byers' front door. It's the literal slow motion of the next 30 seconds - time literally slows down so we can appreciate this moment, so we can see each and every emotion play across Mike's face. From shock to relief to sheer, unadulterated joy, the show wants you to experience each one of those emotions along with him and wants to make sure you don't miss it. It's the way you can literally see the worry and despair leave Mike, the breath he releases that you swear he's been holding in for the past year. It's the sweeping music that goes along with it that makes your heart swell and your breath catch in your chest...god there's so much in this one moment. It's honestly one of the finest moments in all of Stranger Things in my opinion - nothing has topped it yet.

From here, we get to experience Mike and El back together again, all the joy of reuniting, the fear Mike has for El when she goes off to close the gate, the sweet romanticism of them finally getting to go to the Snow Ball together....but we earned these moments. It makes their payoff all that much sweeter. And you feel hopeful for them - they're together and the future seems so bright as we leave them sharing a slow dance together (yes, it transitions into S3 and we know where that goes, but at the time, everything feels like it'll be alright).

This is why I love S2 Mileven, this is why I'm assuming a lot of people love them in S2 as well. And I hope, anon, that even if S2 Mileven doesn't really ever do anything for you, you can at least see why so many people do.

[these-conquered-woodlands]

do you have any headcanons for snape as a girl dad, or snily as parents?

hmm, bit of an interesting ask, but here's a little headcanon list I've got for a snily as parents au:

(small reference to childhood abuse below)

lily decides to go into healer school after hogwarts. severus' ambitious desires take him to achieving a small apprenticeship with a semi-famous potioneer.

at first they live out in an apartment, they have no intention of having kids, they don't think they ought to have any during a war, plus the healer job takes up quite a bit of lily's time.

severus' childhood trauma also affects him badly, and subsequently he feels awkward about being intimate with lily - they don't shag often.

eventually, lily ends up pregnant around 1984- neither of them can quite believe it. they decide in the end that it couldn't hurt to have someone else in the house.

as they read books surrounding witching parental responsibilities, severus starts to feel odd about his own childhood, he knew his own parents were awful but learning more about how parents were meant to act with their children makes him realize even more just how terribly he'd been treated.

when severus comes in to visit lily and the kid a couple days after the kid, while he waits for the visit he ends up making conversation with a psychologist who talks to him about dealing with newborn kids. he slips up and accidentally says something about his parents not being particularly good role models for him. he tries to divert the topic then, and the psychologist does so willingly, but not before she leaves her office address with him in case he'd like to talk. she tells him that psychologists aren't always for people with immense issues like depression - sometimes people just need to talk, even for brooding introverts like severus.

they were wracked with nerves about the kid, but they were also very protective of the kid too - one time they ran out of milk powder late at night, they ended up apparating all over the city to find a place that was open. the owner of the store almost didn't let them in because of how borderline deranged lily and Severus looked from their search (lily's hair was standing on end, severus had his coat half on and had lost a shoe, they were breathing heavily) but she'd let them take two bags of milk powder for free.

the kid was a girl, so she was named after a flower by lily's request, as it had been a running tradition in her family to name the girls after flowers. they named her poppy. severus feels that it's a bit corny at first, and she'll be made fun of for it, but he has no better ideas, so poppy it was.

poppy grew up surrounded by books. lily bought scores of muggle tales to read to poppy. eventually severus ended up enjoying reading the books too, finding them much more well-written and cheerful than wizarding books. reading books to or with poppy becomes one of his favorite pastimes.

they at first feel awkward about letting poppy interact with other kids. one time severus tries to take her to a park of muggle kids, but she's too frightened to leave his side and mostly sits next to him the whole time. he tries to convince her best he can, tells her that'll he'll keep an eye on her, that it's alright if she plays with the boys, they won't make fun of her - but she doesn't budge.

lily once expresses this worry about poppy to a colleague at work, and the colleague advises that maybe she ought to try sending poppy on a playdate with someone, and leave her alone for a bit with the kid. lily doesn't know who to ask, her and severus rarely talk to people outside of colleagues and the old neighbour who looks after poppy when they're out.

one time, lily and severus take poppy to a carnival near Ottery St Catchpole, there they meet the Weasleys. and they end up having an absolute blast. poppy hangs out with Ron and ginny mainly, playing with enchanted flying darts and gorging on jelly. lily and Severus end up bonding with Molly, glad to have someone new to talk to.

they agree to having poppy visit Ron and ginny again. before they leave Fred and George pull a prank and send all the carpets flying, Poppy, Ron and ginny basically re-enact the carpet flying scene of Aladdin without the singing.

poppy visits their house, she's bombarded with plates upon plates of molly's good cooking. they play a few games of exploding snap, and Ron tries to teach her chess too. she goes outside with Fred, George, Ron and ginny to help build a punching telescope in the garden (away from molly's eyes). Fred and George plan to use the telescope on a 'boastful git' at hogwarts. later, ginny promises to take her to the neighborhood park to make friends with all the other kids. she stays late, an hour after ginny had to go to bed. during that time she ends up chatting with Arthur about all the muggle books she's read. severus has to drag her away from the conversation, much to her sadness.

one time, lily tries to teach poppy to knit when she's around 13. poppy enjoys knitting at first. some time after, she becomes self-conscious after she realizes that she's never seen any boys knit, and because now most of her friends are boys. she stops knitting for a few weeks, and severus takes notice. one day he tells her he's bought an instruction book on how to make gloves with yarn. she scowls and tells him to send it back. he asks why, feeling slightly heated. she bursts out how it's a useless, tedious craft and how she much prefers quidditch and flying, the things that her friends like to do.

severus tries to tell her not to try to be like her friends - he recalls unpleasant memories of doing that with Avery and mulciber. he tries to tell her that knitting's an awfully good brain exercise and calms you down, trying to appeal to logic. she ends up bursting out how lily, Molly, ginny and her were the only ones who knit, but oh why doesn't Ron knit either, why do none of the boys on the quidditch team ever like to waste their time trying to tie pieces of string together?

severus is quiet because he's not too sure how to respond to that. he remembers his old days where he used to sew - before Avery and mulciber jibed at him how it was a practice they always left up to the 'females'. he then asks her if maybe she'll tell him how to knit then. if she'd rather not do it, then fine - he'd take her tools and do it himself. she sits stonily as he fumbles with the strings. he tries to knit, he manages a few knots. eventually he makes a mistake with a knot, and poppy decides to help him through it. she fixes the fumbled knot, and knits the rest of the line, much faster than even lily could. he copies her example then, using lily's needles.

some time later during winter, poppy's alone at hogwarts with just a quidditch friend staying back for the holidays. he's quite the pompous jock, Albert Rancourous - she's least fond of him out of all the team members. eventually on a rather snowy evening, she takes out her needles and tries to knit some gloves for lily. Albert's a little twitchy, it's too chilly to go out to have a little fly around the grounds, and he's stuck with nothing to do. poppy invites him to knit with her. he sneers at her, considering the idea inane. eventually, he gives in, the boredom becoming too much. they knit quietly by the fireside for hours. Albert only manages a few disjointed sets of knots but he's content at least. he scowls at poppy and informs her not to tell anyone of it. she happily obliges. later, she buys him a knitting set for Christmas, which becomes quite an excellent investment after she catches him with ten knitted hats by March.

hope these'll satisfy you, anon :)

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 5.1.10 “Dawn”

We move suddenly back to Cosette, who’s just waking up. She knows nothing of what’s going on--she was in her room when Toussaint said there was fighting, she assumes her father is in bed asleep, and Marius never mentioned anything about the barricade. Marius visited her in a dream as an angel, which may have something to do with how close to death he is. She believes it’s impossible that he won’t come, and soon.

She has the same instinct he does that it’s impossible that they should be apart, but he can only picture death and she can only picture life.

I used to get a lot more frustrated with this chapter--all Hugo’s saying “we dare not describe a maiden bedchamber” while describing a maiden bedchamber, and the disconcertingness of the very 19th century idealization of “modesty” that leaves teenage girls literally afraid of their own skin.

Along with the idealization of her ignorance.

Plus, it breaks my heart a bit that she’s beating herself up over not remembering what Marius said, when Marius was, in fact, being really manipulative, scary, and intentionally vague.

But reading her as having been in danger earlier changes a lot of what this all means for me. I’m still not clear on what form that danger might have taken; I agree with others Marius wasn’t planning to murder her--he was planning (or “planning”; there wasn’t much of a plan involved) a suicide, he was showing up at her house to meet her, he had two loaded pistols--I don’t know where things would have gone. And there’s something in this text about murder and Marius; there has been since Javert gave him the two pistols, in fact--because it was after that when he started hanging around the Field of the Lark, where the goatherd Aimée Millot was murdered in 1827 by a man apparently in love with her.

The fact that Cosette is hopeful and innocent, even now--especially now--feels important, and like a respite. It’s also amazing from a character perspective: as Pilf has been outlining lately, her life has been hell almost from the beginning, and most of the bright bits in it can be measured in weeks. The fact that her default in times of uncertainty is faith, hope, and life is incredible.

And Marius’s two pistols--I wonder how much it matters that they were a gift from Javert, or rather I wonder what that means--are discharged and discarded. Eponine stole the death that might have been meant for Cosette. Whatever has been foreshadowed, Cosette is safe from it now.

And that’s what we’re seeing here: her hopes for the future are unblemished. The dawn that the barricade is fighting for was only a time of day a few chapters ago, but here we see real dawn. Cosette, who seems to symbolize France, or else its future republic, still looks to the future, and is blinded by light. She’s just now awakening, and still very young.

This moment when Cosette awakens occurs, we’re told, at exactly the same moment that Lesgle says:

“It is immoral that a mattress should have so much power. Triumph of that which yields over that which thunders. But it is all the same; glory to the mattress which nullifies a cannon.”

I don’t know quite how to put them together--tonally they’re obviously very different, and the text doesn’t want to juxtapose her with sex jokes too directly--there’s a chapter break in between, anyway. But she’s certainly that which yields, versus the barricaders who are that which thunders.

DOES she triumph? Not at the moment, clearly. Are we supposed to think there’s a moment in this book that she triumphs? I deeply hope not, because the ending of this book is horrible for her.

I’m not putting together clearly what all this means.

[sunsents]

Empty - F.W (1/2)

Gah daym this was a JOURNEY to write. I swore to myself to never write angst because, well I suck at it. But here we are, I swear this has a good ending because my heart can't bear that. I could've written this much better, so I promise to bring my A GAME for chapter 2. Enjoy, also Lee in this is a hate crime. This is very story telling-esk so I hope it flows well.

I wouldn't have written this chapter without the help of my good friend @mochiixjimin she helped me edit and spice up this whole thing so thank you so much to her! She's an amazing writer, go check out her work and show her some big love right now or else!! her wattpad

Chapter 1 out of 2 (Backstory)

Summary —> Life has always been a cruel joke to you, yet you simply play along. Overshadowed by Eva Burke your whole life, watching from the sidelines while everyone flooded each other with love, it would always feel like a joke.

Pairing: fredweasley x fem!reader

Word count: 6.1k

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST (with a fluffy ending in the second part) / One mature scene (18+) and then it's angst again <3 / Some slander / Offensive language

Rating: 18+

DON’T REPOST MY WORK

You were a bright child.

Beaming bright enough to keep a tight lipped smile during flu-shots, and enough to put on a happy façade when your dad threw away the drawing you had done of your family dog, rather than hang it up on the fridge.

Children have foolish dreams, and that was yours. Your friends in preschool boasted about their pictures being hung like trophies on fridges, with decorative magnets and even bigger pink bow ties.

The fridge in the Y/L/N manor was empty. Always empty, just how Ms. Y/L/N liked it. Empty marble floors with empty rug designs, and empty rooms with even emptier people living in it. They were both empty people. Hollow and void of any emotion, at least towards you.

You were different though. You were filled to the brim with ambition and hope and so many positive emotions that your parents never seemed to reflect on you. You were like those Disney princesses. The princesses always had hope, and when you have hope good things happen.

Right?

Your dad never meant to give you false hope. He just wished you’d keep your mouth shut as he worked until late hours. Using big words and having big aspirations, you shouldn’t have.

Mr and Mrs Y/L/N weren't bad people per say, just busy. They didn't know how to raise a child, this was obvious, because the purpose of even having a child was to fix their marriage. But a temporary fix wouldn't do it, it never did. There was always that hole on the roof, leaking rain of despair into their falsely built home that no bucket big enough could hold back. Because it always found a way to overflow.

They didn't know how to show their love, so they did it with money, clothes, toys and crayons that you would later use to draw pictures of your family, only to have them end up in the dumpster once again.

They spoiled you rotten, bought you gifts you never even dreamed of asking. You just shut up and enjoyed it, what else could you do? Whine and demand attention? Risk losing their favor? There was no favor to lose.

You got yourself a fat A plus on your third grade math test. Star stickers on your chest, you entered through the glass double doors of your house with a crooked smile - two front teeth missing of course - making your joy all the more endearing. Your backpack strapped tightly over your narrow shoulders, hanging low with all the crammed books you pushed before leaving school because you were just so excited to show your parents.

You received a big sloppy kiss from your Nanny, who practically was like a second mom to you, and dashed right into your fathers office to show him your new accomplishment.

"Good job, I'm proud of you."

You froze. You found a way to actually get their attention. The attention you so craved, the recognition you would die for. This was revolutionary. Basically a new era for you.

Nanny made you a star shaped cake that night, and sat with you while gently stroking your hair and listening to you blabber about how easy the math questions were. It felt warm, motherly love. Even if it was false, it would never compare to the love of your own mother, a love you would never get.

You spent all your night studying, your eyes burning under the harsh light of your lamp in the early mornings and your pencil, ebbing away over sheets and sheets of blank paper. Writing away your little hands off until they ached, just to snatch another A and get a good job.

This was good, it worked out very well. You became that student who looked forward to class, just to get a good grade and have the validation of your parents. The sight of your father’s lips quirk up even in the slightest, and how your mother’s eyes shone briefly in appreciation of your hard work, even if it was for a quick second, it was worth it.

Until the new neighbors moved in.

Mr. Burke was a round, cheerful man with an even rounder belly, and a big fat pipe that always hung on his lips. Mrs Burke looked and acted like those fairy godmothers you adored. You couldn’t believe such people existed. Mr Y/L/N invited them over for dinner, for courtesy. He was not happy about said courtesy.

He ended up liking the couple, they had a little daughter called Eva, who was small and adorable with round red cheeks and big doe eyes. Not only Mr and Mrs Burke, but the Y/L/N’s adored Eva as well. She was happy, always smiling, and her teeth weren't nearly as crooked as yours, not to mention she had pretty long hair like a princess.

You liked her a lot, took her to pick flowers, showed her the drawings you had prepared for the empty fridge; in case Mr Y/L/N ever had a change of heart and hung them up, you had been trying for three years and weren't giving up any sooner.

Eva was nice, kind enough to share her M&M's and very used to compliments unlike you. She seemed to get a lot from her parents and yours. The adults were so kind to her, always smothering her with love and kisses. You were happy for Eva, happy that Eva somehow managed to gain the favor of your parents before you did.

Little girls tended to be jealous, you weren’t. You were just glad to have a friend so cool, she didn't blush and stutter under praise and apparently her drawings were pretty enough to go on a fridge.

It was a Thursday afternoon when your mom smiled at you for the first time since your last exam grade. "Look, Eva drew us a picture, isn't it pretty?"

The crayola stash under your bed was no longer needed, they appeared clumsily dumped in the neighborhood trash the next day, most of them stomped under the pressure of your little sneakers. And the bundle of drawings you hid under your pillow, wishing on fairy godmother that one day they would be hung up too, were ripped; clearly a struggle given. You had paper cuts on your hands, and your Nanny thankfully applied ointment before Ms and Mr Y/L/N noticed, or rather, stopped to care.

Though you knew that even if you paraded herself with bloody fingers dripping to your elbows, they wouldn't care.

Nanny did, she was there. There when you were haunted with nightmares when the moon was particularly dark, cooing at you and letting you sleep next to her in that small bed of hers. There when you tripped and fell, small scratch resulting in a screaming tantrum. She was gentle, sweet, paid well.

You decided to go and pick flowers with Eva, and make a pretty flower crown for yourself, months after your drawing incident. Of course, you didn't have such silly dreams anymore. You didn’t wish to have your pictures hung, to have your mother wear the flower crowns you made and frankly you didn’t care for the sight of the sparkle in your parents eyes. Nanny’s was enough.

Eva agreed, dressed in a pink tutu Mrs Y/L/N gifted. You didn't comment, though deep down you gazed at the skirt in sparkling envy. Your mother never bothered to get you such pretty things. The two of you gathered saturated petals and nice ribbons while giggling amongst yourselves. Until, you accidentally caused Eva’s flowers to levitate.

Eva ran home, crying and calling you a witch. Mr and Mrs Y/L/N’s dirty looks made her feel shameful, and even dirtier when a letter addressed to her was dropped by a pretty owl you insisted on petting. It was from a school called Hogwarts, in the faraway land of London, and it seemed, not only you but Eva got the same letter the next day.

Though the Y/L/N’s and Burke’s were proud of Eva’s letter. They weren’t with yours.

— — — —

The ride to Hogwarts was interesting to say the least. You had so many questions unanswered, were you a fairy godmother too? Was that your destiny? Was that the reason you never got any attention, because you were destined to give instead of receive?

Eva was cheerful as always, making fast friends in newly bought uniforms and holding a pretty, long and thin wand, with designs flowing across the premise. Your wand was...functional. You were sad you couldn't choose, and that the wand chose the owner. It didn't make sense, what if you didn't want this wand? What if you wanted something charming like Eva’s? It should have been mutual.

It was while trying to find your way to the bathroom that you met the Weasley twins. Quite handsome, a year older and absolute fucktards. A word you learned from the two. Though you always found yourself laughing more at Fred’s jokes, you liked them both equally.

“Hey George! Look.” Fred had exclaimed, clinging onto his brothers shoulder and dragging him across. “Who's that girl?”

You introduced yourself, happy façade on, gentle words slipping out of your mouth like nectar. They had to like you, you told yourself. Just this once, more than Eva.

When sorted into Gryffindor, Eva, you and the twins became inseparable. Your group grew in second year, when Katie, Lee and Alicia Spinnet joined the bunch. You would make fun of the ghastly Potions Professor Snape, and imitate Dumbledore in the hallways to mess with the older students.

You loved your time at Hogwarts, and the adventures that came every year. Especially when Harry Potter joined.

“Hey Fred.”

Fred, who was fiddling with his bracelet you had bought him hummed in response, not bothering to look up.

You sighed, “Do you think the flowers can feel it when we pluck them?”

Fred turned at that, his bracelet was now tightly secure after his struggles. “I hope not.” he smiled, a faraway look on his face whenever he gazed at you. “You know, some people like pain.” he winked.

You merely looked at him confused, clearly way too young for...whatever that is.

He started laughing loudly, slapping his knee and causing you to scoff and slap him on the shoulder.

Third year was when it bloomed. The slight girly attention you gave Fred grew. Fred was...Fred. A handsome ginger, beater for their house's Quidditch team, always charming and charismatic that somehow oozed out of him whenever he did anything really. It was not unusual, every girl in school had a crush on him. That wasn't the case, Fred was one of your best friends, and you refused to entertain the idea of a possible...relationship.

Yet sometimes, you'd find yourself thinking about hugging and kissing Fred like you’d seen couples in your favorite movies did and you’d fall asleep with reddened cheeks and a boy with even redder hair in your mind.

But feelings couldn’t be controlled, nor easily hidden. Eva found out in your fourth year after hearing you mumble his name in your dreams. Fred Weasley was getting more handsome as years passed, and you found it hard to contain your feelings. You were crushing, hard.

Eva was...Eva about it. Happy, but nothing changed. She didn't tease like George did when he found out, nor did she act any differently towards Fred.

“Hey ____!” Fred had sat next to you, shaking the entire couch because he grew that tall during summer. “Got a new girl after me.” he looked at you, almost expectantly, as if you wouldn’t react the way you always reacted.

“That’s great Fred.” you smiled, gulping whatever lump that was forming in your throat and struggling to come out as vulgar words you wished to yell.

“Yeah,” Fred sighed, “It’s...great.”

Fred Weasley was a ladies man, and he wasn't afraid to show it. It was okay, because you were happy enough to be one of his closest, and that was enough. He often boasted about getting girls, and how successful his jokes were, and you always loved snapping back to him cockily, even more cockily than him. Playful banter was easy, comforting between them and when he turned away you would love to shyly entertain the idea of being one of those girl’s Fred talked about.

Fifth year, you had a sudden growth spurt. That was also the year where you discovered Cosmopolitan, Vogue and of course Witch Weekly. Hair no longer in a ponytail, legs shaved and smooth, short skirts with no nylons, you were a new person. After getting your period in third year, your spurt came late, but sudden. Way too sudden in the time of three months. It was hard to handle the changes occurring to your body. It was all too much that you had to become a lady and the fact that you didn’t have your mother to help was a pain you hid deep within.

It was as if whichever god above decided to squeeze your entire life into a summer and call it a day, because it was simply too busy. How ironic. No one saw your growth except old Nanny Gladys. Not Eva, nor her parents considering they went on a getaway and the Burke's, who had gone to Brazil.

But you were over that, you discovered the great telephone, and the great Hermione Granger, package deal with Ginny Weasley. You guys would talk on the phone for hours upon hours, Ginny obscuring your personality and Hermione altering your view on your parents. And Hermione was right, they were assholes. You didn't give a flying fuck about empty praises anymore.

You had become almost too tall for your older clothes, and your breasts were way too big to fit in the training bra you bought not even a month ago. Your hips, now wide and swaying as you walk became graceful, were decorated with long gem bracelets.

You cursed like a sailor that summer, ran around fields with family - your family being your dog, Jambo - bare feet. You stomped on flowers you used to pick as a little girl, stomping on those silly fairytale dreams you used to nurse, and never felt freer. For the first time ever you felt that maybe being empty could be more freeing than having false hope weighing you down.

Returning to Hogwarts was a big deal to students. Who changed, who glowed up after what happened last year - nothing, it was all childish drama.

Before your parents could even see your new self, your escapade to the Granger household was successful. The Y/L/N's didn't care, nor did they write. You knew it should’ve hurt, but frankly, you didn’t think having the pain in your chest was worth it. Hermione was awestruck, of course, after laying her sights on you for the first time since May and insisted on walking into the Entrance Hall, arm in arm with her and Ginny to show you off like some sort of revelation.

It was a revelation all right, at least to the boys, and some girls. It seemed no one saw you as a girl before. George oogled, and Lee was so shocked to find out that you were actually a girl with a pretty figure and an even prettier smile that he stopped clapping you on the back like he always did. Not a girl, you have become a woman. It was far too sudden, new uniforms and a whole new wardrobe had to be bought.

"____? You were a girl?" Fred joked, ruffling your hair like nothing changed between you. And that's when you realized, no slutty skirt, how much pushup your bra, or no matter how pretty your hair looked, Fred would always see you as ____, the girl with crooked front teeth and who once ate a worm in second year. Your teeth weren't crooked at all anymore - thanks to a few years of braces - and finally clear of uncomfortable metals but you felt as if Fred would always see the ghost of them on your pearly whites when you smiled.

He had this view of you that blinded him, caused him to treat you as he treated Ginny while he flirted and played footsie with other girls, including Eva.

That did not stop Eva from giving you false hope, and you took the bait, naive like always. Hope, that's what ruined it all. "You're beautiful now, of course you have a chance!" she said, rubbing your shoulder reassuringly, as if she had warmth to begin with.

It was all false, yet you still believed. You always had. Like a fool.

Ginny didn't like Eva, and maybe that's why you gravitated towards her. She was the first person who had ever met Eva that wasn't charmed by her kind smile and attractive words. Eva was...displeased. She grew up having the attention of everyone around, so when Ginny Weasley told her straight to her face that she wasn't shit, Eva seethed. The attention of Ginny changed nothing though, because Eva was the main character. Everyone - except Ginny, and secretly Hermione (though she would never say it) - loved her, they followed her around like puppies and praised her on her wonky wand work.

The upcoming Yule Ball brought great upswing to Hogwarts.

You were far too busy with her classes to take interest in the tournament - even though the dragon race was the gnarliest sight you had ever seen. Your goal was set, become a badass Auror and move out as soon as possible, so you didn't have to face your parents (except Holidays, yuck.)

But the Yule Ball was your chance. A chance with Fred Weasley.

You could ask to go as friends and maybe, just maybe a little hope and the night would end much more romantic than you had anticipated.

Plucking up courage was the hardest part, you practiced with your bathroom mirror so long that Ginny had to blast through the door and drag you out of her dormitory.

Fred Weasley agreed, why wouldn't he? You, his closest friend, asking to go as a group and drink all night while gossiping? It was a win win. At least that's what you told herself.

That was a lie, it wasn't a win win.

You gave it your all getting ready, dress silk, makeup and expensive shoes. You took a long shower, scrubbing and shaving yourself to a smooth gliding porcelain, only for it all to be washed down with reddened eyes and a boy with even redder hair.

Fred greeted you the same, danced the same, and you chatted the same; you were reminded again, for the second time, that you stood no chance.

Fred told you that he was going to get drinks, a quick trip to the booth and mumbled I'll be back in a second. He was not back in a second. Several minutes passed, and your worries caused your feet to follow after Fred's footsteps.

You ran, trying to find him in the empty corridors of Hogwarts, tears welling in your eyes because he wouldn't. He wasn't that cruel, life wasn't that cruel.

But it was, and in a distant empty classroom you saw Fred Weasley, on his knees and between Eva's legs, groaning and praising her like a starved man. Worshipping her like everyone else had, burying himself in her and completely forgetting the drink he’d bring back in just a second. He’d left you thirsty and alone in the Great Hall and left you to drink from a cup he hadn’t known to be forbidden. Yet Eva did.

Eva's perfect dainty hands tangled in his ginger hair, thighs clamping shut while her high pitched moans flooded your mind and echoed around your head. They were so loud that she couldn’t even hear the loud echoes of your footsteps and the woeful cries that left your lips as you ran. It wouldn’t be the first time she had ignored your pain for her own selfish reasons.

Your heart shattered, and suddenly you were six again, watching your parents praise Eva, hang her drawing on the fridge. A soft breeze tickling your bare toes, dangling from the small cushioned seat you sat on while you watched Eva braid Mrs Y/L/N’s hair. Emotionless, silent, not asking for anything, knowing that you won't receive in return. Eva's small hands carefully placed the flower crown on Mrs Y/L/N’s pool of hair, and she smiled, heart warming and hopeful. Suddenly you remembered the feel of your own hands tangling in between your locks as you stood on your tiptoes, trying to imitate your mothers braid on yourself in the mirror you couldn't reach. You pretended, only for a moment before it twisted into knots.

What a cruel joke, you thought as you watched Eva receive the world from Fred, from your parents, from your friends and from every damn person you had met.

You cried on a big set of stairs that night, your wails echoing as you asked whoever, whatever what you had done. What you had done to deserve such treatment from the people around you. It was rather cliche - and maybe a bit too dramatic. It was an uncomfortable seat of course, and your body, as well as your heart, ached. Pain, misery, false hope and enough hair spray to melt the ozone.

The princesses always cried on big sets of stairs, uncomfortable stone floors causing them to shiver while they hid away their beautifully animated faces in their perfect hands. This was different, there was no fairy godmother to fix your makeup and clone a gentlemanly Fred Weasley, a perfect prince. You knew, because you cried, and prayed and cried and prayed until your throat was sore. There was no fairy godmother, it was all a lie. There was no happy ending. There would be none.

No one came to find you that night either, and you had to drag yourself back to the Gryffindor common room, feet bare, mascara, blush - anything else you put on in hopes of being able to become like Eva even only for one night - practically nonexistent from the way your tears washed them away.

You didn't sleep that night, and your head was unusually clear, pounding, but clear. You laid awake, eyes blood-shot and stinging while your dress shuffled uncomfortably between your sheets. You were too tired to change, and your dress was far too pretty to be worn so short.

Ginny's words replayed over and over again. "They're not worth it." her voice was so clear, and true. Mr and Mrs Burke weren't worth it. Your parents weren't worth it. Fred Weasley wasn't worth it. Eva wasn't worth it. The midnight chirping of bugs invited themselves in from your open window, and blue moonlight streaks beaming down in lines from the tulle curtain flowed with breeze, it was calming.

You felt calm, for the first time in sixteen years. You felt calm.

Fred and Eva started dating that week. Everyone acted like they expected it, and you realized just how blind you had been. Eva Burke and Fred Weasley, golden couple of Hogwarts.

You watched them, emotionless, as they embraced with love and so much passion that you felt embarrassed. Embarrassed at how you’d blushed and squeal over Fred in front of Eva and George and anyone who had found out because now you knew. Now you knew that their amused smiles were probably pitying grimaces because they knew that you two were never meant to be. It was always Fred and Eva.

Fred was an amazing boyfriend, making sure Eva was taken care of, lovingly staring at her whenever and wherever, arm looped around her waist at all times; you realized they were truly not worth it.

"You disgust me."

You didn't mean the words to escape so carelessly, but when you said them, you realized you didn't want to take them back. The growing pit in your stomach felt weightless. "Excuse me?" said Fred, stopping his nibbling on Eva's neck, who was just as shocked. You scoffed, Eva already had enough purple bruises to parade around so why did Fred have the need to add more?

"You heard me right," George, Lee, Ron, Harry, Katie and whoever sitting in their circle stared at you, wide-eyed, Ginny and Hermione, however, were grinning devilishly. Kind ____, wouldn't hurt a fly, quiet at times and didn't know how to stand up for herself. It was shocking, but you were done pretending. You didn't want to be like that anymore, you wanted to say whatever came to mind and not worry about the consequences. "You guys disgust me, I know I should be supportive but you don't match, at all."

You turned to George. "And you, no you can't talk about Katie like that." George went pink. "You're disgusting for sleeping around carelessly and telling girls you'd write, stop giving people false hope. Grow up. You’re nearly an adult and you can’t even treat a girl right."

"And you Lee," Lee went quiet. "What gives you the right to make fun of me like that. I'll wear whatever the fuck I want, just because you don't have the courage to wear a headband. If you can talk about my breasts, I'll talk about your shrimp."

"Ron, you take advantage of Hermione then lead her on. Open your eyes, asshole."

"Harry, you're not the main character. You're not always going to be the center of attention, nor do you have the right to yell at your friends."

"Alicia, god you're so stupid. I'm sorry, you're great but such an airhead. No, you can't ride a Thestral if you can't see them, and stop eating quill ink they're bad for you."

You stood up, grinning proudly, heart loud in your chest you feared someone might hear. "Frankly, I don't wanna be friends anymore. I'm done with this façade, except you two, 'Gin, Hermione. The rest of you are just so fake." she gestured to them. "Boys," she nodded again. "Don't talk to me anymore, and Lee, give me back the money, think it's about time don't you think? I've been paying for you since third year."

And with that, you left. You left Three Broomsticks, grin wide and chest heaving. Hermione and Ginny ran behind, whooping and cheering you on as they laughed.

The news of your outburst spread fast like wildfire caught in wind. That week was bliss, you no longer had to watch Fred and Eva, nor did you have to act sweet to anyone. You didn't have to laugh along Lee's sexist jokes and look away to wince, it was pure bliss. You realized that the feeling of being free didn’t have to be momentary.

Pansy Parkinson was surprisingly a good friend, she didn't have the same fakeness to her, the one Eva had where her smile was too kind. She spoke her mind, though every Slytherin did, and you liked that. Ginny wasn't happy with your new found friends, but she couldn't separate you. You made your own decisions from now on. It was refreshing.

You told your new friends everything, eager to get it off your chest and breathe, and they listened. For the first time, someone listened. You didn't have to get good grades, nor did you have to act like a sweet angel.

You teared up the first time Pansy said; "It's not your fault,". You knew it wasn't your fault, but hearing someone else say it with such genuine eyes made you believe. Actually believe.

It started off with you watching from the sidelines as Draco and Blaise pranked, insulted and shamed whatever your old friend group did. It wasn't unusual for Draco to act this way, but he got especially irritated after hearing what you told them. Blaise, someone usually quiet, had stepped up and decided to somehow release the pent up anger he had for the Gryffindor students.

The year ended, and you had started to sneak in an insult or two towards Fred and Eva. It felt nice, like finally, step by step you were clearing your years of hidden jealousy. But, there was no one to tell you that this simply wasn't the right way.

That summer, you stayed at the Burrow. Ginny had invited you and you were quick to say yes; obviously a fact forgotten. Fred, George and whoever you had insulted last year stayed in the same house. You simply didn't want to go home, and if this meant seeing Fred Weasley then you had to endure it.

Molly Weasley was the sweetest person you could ever meet, and it was genuine. It felt genuine, you feared your teeth might rot if the woman got another word in. Molly greeted you as if you were her own daughter she hadn't seen in years. You felt valued, seen.

Until Eva was there, Fred invited her. You had to watch the only person you were able to love, introduce the only person he was able to love to his mother. It wasn't you. It would never be you.

And you realized, even after everything, Eva had once again found a way to be more loved than you.

The grin Molly broke out was nothing short of beautiful, and you couldn't help but smile as well. The smile wasn't directed towards you of course, and you sat on that small kitchen chair, celebrating a relationship that caused your ruin.

Eva didn't care that your friendship was over, nothing budged in her life. She still got the same attention, still received the same love from Fred. The same affection, the same attention and the same everything. Or so it seemed.

Though unlike Eva, Fred merely watched you with sad eyes.

You stayed clear of the couple and the rest. You hung out with Ginny and Hermione only, ignoring the dirty looks Ron and Harry gave you. The secret, whispered insults Eva threw your way. George didn't say anything, but he didn't object either. This was enough to show how he felt. At this point you really didn't care. Why would you, when they didn’t either?

You held your head high just like Ginny and Hermione told you to, and you spoke in a loud and clear tone whenever asked something. Eva didn't, she stuttered when you spoke to her directly. Her words scrambled against each other when she tried to voice her insults in louder statements than a whisper. For the first time, you felt relief. You felt intimidating, protected by the barriers you had built around yourself.

Longest day of summer hit, and it boiled. Tanning became a distant dream, you would bake in this weather, and you were thankful to the big AC box you had brought from home. You couldn't sleep that night, sweat beads falling down your forehead that was already covered in a thin sheen. You had decided to get a cold glass of water, not sure how you ended up face to face with Fred Weasley. His wand tip shone with blue light, and his freckles were much darker because of the sun. It seemed the sun decided to be cruel to Fred Weasley back and wash Fred over with it's deathly heat. He was sunburnt, this was an understatement. He was burnt.

You couldn't help but start laughing when you met, ignoring the proximity, ignoring the sleeping house, dead silent and a big leap from the lively Burrow, ignoring Fred's soft breaths he let out every other second. You couldn't live off on false hope anymore.

Suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore, and your face quickly fell. You took a big step back and inhaled, ready to ignore him like you had been doing for the past year. But Fred Weasley was a persistent man, and he gripped your arm and looked at you with determined, doe-like eyes. "Tell me what I did wrong." he said, adamant on fixing this, whatever this was. You both didn't know.

You stood silent.

"Please flower,"

"Don't call me that." you said, stern and gaze sharp. Fred didn't react, he kept on insisting.

"Please, tell me how to fix this. I can fix it," he pleaded, a plethora of empty promises fell out of his lips like nothing. He lied like it was nothing, he was oblivious to everything he and everyone around them had put you through. It was infuriating.

You didn't say anything. You knew he would not fix anything but maybe staying silent would give him the false hope that spinned mockingly in your head for the past eighteen years.

"I'm sorry, just please. I can fix this, I promise, don't be like that." empty tears fell down from his eyes. He looked empty, tired. They lacked the charm they usually shined with and you wondered if it was only you that caused such dullness. Eye bags prominent that you never noticed before. It all felt like a lie, a cruel joke.

Fred Weasley was simply a cruel joke. His presence could only be compared to a shot of whiskey, especially when you down it like how Hagrid nurses a Firewhiskey filled pint glass. You never know how it will hit you. But in the end, you'd always find yourself curled next to the toilet, crying your eyes out because your headache was simply too much.

He was sobbing now, hanging onto your waist like you would simply vanish and you let him. The grip he had on was like steel vice - almost concerning - but you didn't touch him, didn't say anything. You just let him be, like he did to you. Allowed him to hopelessly hang off you before you would eventually leave him alone, like he did to you. "Where did I go wrong? How could we end up like this? What went wrong?"

‘You’, but your voice couldn’t be found.

Questions were useless when the answer was already right in front of his eyes. You didn’t let a single tear fall, you wouldn't forgive yourself if you cried in front of him.

You blinked, and that night was over. Summer continued on like nothing happened, like it didn't leave you heart broken and in such shame yet again. You continued on ignoring Fred as he looked at you with sorrowful eyes. Looked at you more, with more than he did his own girlfriend.

You blinked and the school year started again with another terror looming around the corner. There was simply no need to keep up anymore, because school was easy. You attended classes, got good grades, a few scar here and there from Umbridge's torture chamber, a woman who stood at a whopping five foot three yet still teriffied an entire school.

You blinked and you had already become a proud member of Draco's insult the Gryffindor's club. You didn't even feel bad, being horrible to the people you hated for years felt like a breath of fresh air. You didn't go as far as physically hurting any of your old friends, but coming up with damaging insults was such fun. A lot more fun than sitting around with a fake smile.

You blinked, and you were already moving out from your childhood house. Mr and Mrs Y/L/N were unusually happy, this was a given. They would have a new empty room and make another office, like they didn't have enough already. You feared they would start getting rid of bathrooms once too into their work, and they would have to do their business in bushes or buckets. Scratch that, you didn't fear that, it would be fucking hilarious.

You blinked, and when had time passed too quickly? Where did all those empty childhood years had gone? You were already graduating, on your way to become an Auror. You had lost contact with all your old friends now, regretfully Ginny and Hermione too.

The war had hit too quickly, luckily you survived, so did your friends. Unluckily, it left you with a nasty scar right across your left brow. It looked sick, but the hit wasn't worth it. It hurt like a bitch. You could see, it was a close call but vision wasn't an issue. The trauma though, god did Bellatrix's breath smell bad.

When it was all over, you had seen Fred hugging his family tightly. It seemed the Weasley's all survived, and you gave them each tight lipped smiles while holding a bunched up rag to your head to stop the blood gushing out. This wasn't the reunion you wanted to have with Ginny, but hey, you take what you can get after a revolutionary Wizarding war you barely made out alive.

Before a franticly running Fred could reach you though, you apparated to your flat in Diagon Alley, ignoring the thrumming of your heart, and how you practiced in front of a mirror to congratulate their successful joke shop that morning.

[480pfootage]

Raileopiers hcs

and they are all neurodivergent in some way I don’t make the rules

PARALLEL PLAY, SO MUCH PARALLEL PLAY

All of them are pretty tired after work and they (especially Raihan) don’t really like speaking when tired. Usually they’ll just sit in the work room with Raihan either scrolling on his phone or reading a book he took from the vault, Piers writing music beside Raihan, and Leon sitting at the desk probably doing some left over paper work.

Raihan drowns in hair every time he goes to sleep

Raihan doesn’t sleep in the middle much as that spot is usually reserved for Piers (he gets cold extremely easily, so he needs the warmth of his boyfriends), but when he does. Too much hair, too much fluff. Someone save him.

Whenever Leon gets to sleep in the middle, they love piling on top of him

Leon always loved the feeling of pressure on him. Whether it be Hop sleeping on him as a kid or Charizard snuggling up to him when he was still living alone, Leon loved sleeping with something weighing down on him. Currently that something is usually Piers. Their usual sleeping arrangement would be Leon in the middle, Piers on his chest, and Raihan spooning both of them. Sometimes when that’s not doing it for Leon, a weighted blanket may be added. It’s very cozy.

Piers has written multiple songs with Leon and Raihan being his muses

Most of the songs written with Leon and Raihan as their muses would never get released. Piers would be too embarrassed to see people dissect the song and pick out every part that references Leon or Raihan in a way, finding out how much and every way he loves his partners. Plus he usually never does any love songs. He always (usually with a small blush) shows them to Leon and Raihan though, and they adore it. There’s a little teasing about Piers being sappy, but Piers gets multiple kisses for it so he’s able to deal with it.

Leon and Piers steal Raihan’s clothes a lot

It’s not their fault that Raihan’s clothes fit them perfectly (no they don’t)! Plus it smells just like Raihan and what’s better than being engulfed by your boyfriend even if he’s not there! Raihan’s closet get raided every morning for clothes, usually by Leon, and Raihan can see Leon scurrying to put hoodies into his work bag everyday out of the corner of his eye. Piers prefers to just steal something  Raihan had discarded on the floor, maybe a hoodie or a shirt. Usually it goes like:

Raihan, in only a towel after a shower: Hey have you guys seen any of my hoodies? .. or my clothes in general?

Leon, wearing boxer shorts with a very apparent goomy print: No, but have you tried checking the washer, Han? Maybe you left them there?

Raihan: Hm, maybe.. There’s somethin’ botherin’ me about this.. I dunno.. I came into this room and it just popped in my head, y’know?

Piers, wearing a hoodie three sizes bigger than him: Well you can talk ta us ‘bout it if ya want.

Raihan, leaving the room: Yeah, alright. Thanks guys.

They all remind each other to do things they forget

It could be Raihan coming to the battle tower with some lunch for Leon, fussing over how Leon shouldn’t feel bad about it because Raihan already wanted to come eat lunch with him in the first place or Piers calling Leon when it’s getting late and he’s not back home yet, guiding Leon back to their house safe and sound.

Or maybe Leon peppering kisses up Piers’s neck, beckoning him to come eat dinner with him because he wants some company and Raihan’s not there right now or Raihan hugging Piers from behind, practically engulfing him with his large hoodie when he notices Piers stressing over his music. Raihan reminds him that he first started music for fun and it to be an outlet for him, not something to stress over. Piers somehow always ends up snuggling with Raihan on the bed whenever that talk happens.

It could be Leon visiting the vault, already having its keys as Raihan had given it to him with the promise of not giving it to anyone else, snapping Raihan out of his hyperfocus on his studies to just spend some time relaxing together. Leon always remembers to buy some spicy poffins for Raihan from the bakery before he comes over and they have some snacks together (minding all the fragile historical things) on the couch. Or Piers beckoning Raihan to come back to bed with him early in the morning when he notices Raihan looking too long in the mirror.

Piers makes sure to get Leon’s and Raihan’s safe foods every time he goes out

Piers doesn’t go outside often. He doesn’t really have anything to do out in Hammerlocke if he weren’t invited by someone to hang out. But it does get boring sometimes if he doesn’t have any creative juices in his brain, so he just goes out. He goes gets some spicy poffins for Raihan at the usual bakery and also grabs some dumplings (specifically xiaolongbao/soup dumpling) for Leon as he knows that that’s what Leon would love to eat the most after a day at work (it reminds Leon of his mom’s cooking).

Raihan just loves his boyfriends’ hair textures

Raihan isn’t going to outright say that he wants to touch their hair, it’s too embarrassing for him. And so he schemed. He came up with the idea of asking one of them to braid their hair as practice for the other.

Raihan, slightly blushing: Hey.. Piers? Could I braid yer hair?

Piers: Don’t see why not. Why’d ya what to?

Raihan, panicking: I- Uh- To practice? I wanna make sure I braid Lee’s hair perfectly!

-

Raihan: Dandelion, could I perhaps braid yer hair?

Leon, beaming: Hm, yeah of course, mate!

Raihan appreciates how Leon doesn’t ask a lot of questions about why he’s asking to do so. 

Secretly, both Leon and Piers loves Raihan touching their hair too. Piers loves when Raihan is gently carding his fingers through his hair and Leon loves how delicate Raihan handles his hair, he knows how much Leon prides himself in it so he makes sure to be extra careful and it makes Leon’s heart swell.

[usercelestial]

In the early hours of the morning, while the golden sun streams through their apartment window, Mickey stirs at a knock on the door. 

He shakes Ian, whose limbs are wrapped tight around him, his drool pooling on his chest. Ian grumbles something but doesn’t move. 

“Someone’s at the door, shithead, go get it,” Mickey shakes him again. 

Ian yawns and stretches his arms, laying flat on his back now, “Who the fuck is here this early?” Ian turns back to Mickey, smiling, “You know what day it is?” 

Mickey scrunches his eyebrows, trying to remember, “Uh, shit, a Tuesday?” He searches his brain for the date but he doesn’t get very far before Ian jumps on him, pressing kisses to his face. 

“It’s your birthday!” Ian says, far too loudly in Mickey’s opinion, in between kisses. 

Oh. 

Mickey knew Ian would want to celebrate. He’s been getting better at the whole self-love thing. Instead of sulking in their room, remembering all the times he was punished for his excitement until he figured out his existence isn’t something to celebrate, they would go out and get dinner and come home drunk on both alcohol and love. Though he can’t help but feel an ache in his chest for his forlorn upbringing. 

“Christ. I forgot,” Mickey places his hands on Ian’s hips, “I’m getting old.” 

Ian scoffs, “Don’t say that. You’re still in your twenties, doofus.” 

Mickey rolls his eyes and pushes Ian off his lap, “Go get the door.” 

Ian complies, leaving one last kiss on his cheek. 

He overhears a soft conversation, hushed and excited. 

He barely makes out what sounds like a woman’s voice paired with Ian’s. Mickey rubs his eyes, trying to rack his brain for any neighbor they might have pissed off last night who would come over to complain. He quickly throws on clothes and walks out to the living room to see Ian standing in the kitchen with Tami. 

She makes eye contact with him, “Fucking finally.” 

“What the hell do you mean ‘finally.’ It’s nine in the fucking morning.” 

“For normal people with healthy sleep schedules, it’s late,” she cocks her hips out, “Came to drop off your present, asshole, say thank you.” 

He punches her shoulder lightly, “Thanks, dick.” 

She holds out a small box, wrapped neatly in green wrapping paper. He haphazardly rips it off and opens it.  

There's an assortment of gifts. The first thing he pulls out is a Mickey Mouse plushie with a card taped to the front. The writing is messy, scribbled crayon, it reads: 

“hapy birth day, uncle mickey

freddie.” 

“Cool,” Mickey’s voice breaks, Tami and Ian snicker. 

“Lip helped pick out the toy,” Tami adds. 

“Fucker,” Mickey gently places the gift on the countertop. 

He goes back in and grabs a package wrapped in plastic. He realizes it’s soap and shampoo, a certain kind he told Tami he wanted a while ago, “How the fuck did you remember this?” 

Tami shrugs, “You’re my friend, stupid. There’s also a cookbook, Lip got that for both of you since Ian’s getting into growing his own food.”  

Mickey grabs the book that’s sitting on the bottom of the box, glancing at it before tossing it to Ian, “Thank you,” he nods and before he realizes it, she’s hugging him and pulling away. 

“Happy birthday, Mick. Love you guys,” Tami kisses Ian’s cheek, “I gotta go, see ya.” 

“Bye, Tami,” Ian waves, turning back to Mickey, who’s still standing, staring at the gifts that Tami dropped off. 

“Hey,” Ian says softly, rubbing his shoulders, “You good, baby?” 

Mickey nods, “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just-you know-” 

Ian does know. Not only because Mickey told him how weird it is, how uncomfortable he gets when people do things like this for him-nice things-but also because Ian experiences it himself. Maybe not to the same degree as Mickey, but he’s seen the way Ian malfunctions when one of his friends gets him something nice. He knows he has the same sort of wary confusion when they get to have good things. 

Mickey leans into Ian’s touch, “Wanna go back to sleep.” 

Ian rests his chin in the crook of Mickey’s neck, turning his face to plant a kiss on his cheek, “We can do that, baby.” 

They go back to sleep until one, Ian wakes him again gently, whispering in his ear that they have to get up because Kev and Vee need help in the Alibi. 

“It’s my fucking birthday, they should helping me!” Mickey yelped as Ian poked his side. 

“Come on. The minute they’re done, we’ll come back here and sleep to your heart's content.” 

“So forever?” Mickey asked from underneath a pillow. 

Ian made an alarmed sound from the back of his throat, Mickey threw a pillow at his head, “Not like that, asswipe. Just tired today.” 

Ian nods, sympathetic despite Mickey’s attack, “I know, honey. I promised them we would both go. So get your birthday ass up.” 

Mickey does in fact get his ass up. After thirty more minutes of complaining, they’re off to the Alibi. 

Ian pulls up to the bar and parks right in front of the doors. Mickey’s about to get out when Ian grabs his arm, “Okay, cards on the table, we planned a surprise party for you.” 

Mickey tilts in his head, perplexed by Ian’s definition of surprise, “I don’t think you know how surprises work, lover.” 

Ian picks at the skin of his lip, his eyes narrowed at the hollow of Mickey’s throat, “I just know you don’t like surprises.” 

Mickey sits back in his seat, watching as Ian nervously gnaws at his chapped lips. They’ve had this talk before, mainly about Mickey’s sleeping. Ian’s learned from experience after sleeping in the same bed with him for five plus years that no one should ever shake Mickey awake. Or yell to wake him up. Or sneak up on him. Mickey’s always been hyper aware of his surroundings, it was never something he concerned himself with, ignoring the panic that reached up his throat with surprises. Though recently, Ian told him he has symptoms of PTSD rather than just being cautious. 

“Alright,” Mickey nods, “How many people?” 

“Just my family. I called Mandy but-” 

“She’s working, I know.” 

“She said happy birthday. Kev and Vee obviously. Tami,” Ian squirms in his seat like he’s nervous. 

“Right, well, can’t sit out here forever.” 

The minute they step into the bar, everyone screams surprise. 

Ian was right, that wouldn’t have been good for anyone had Mickey not known. 

“Uncle Mickey!” Franny screams and hugs his legs, “I made you a card!” She presents a card covered in glitter, depicting two stick figures holding guns and bags of money. 

For the second time today, Mickey has to stop himself from crying. Bending down to hug her, he pats her hair and tells her he loves it. 

“Uncle Ian helped!” 

“Did he now?” Mickey raises an eyebrow at his husband, who nods proudly at his niece. 

“Happy birthday, Mick!” Tami calls out, rocking Freddie in her arms. 

Mickey nods and immediately gravitates to the bar, sitting down next to Lip, who’s playing with Freddie’s fingers. 

Kev sets down a beer, “On the house for family, dude.” 

Mickey takes it, trying not to show his unease, he grumbles, “Thanks,” before turning his attention to Ian who’s bending down and talking to Franny and Liam. 

“Hey, Mickey,” Lip greets, distracted. 

“Yo,” Mickey’s about ready to comfortably sit in silence, just enjoying watching on the outskirts as his in-laws mingle. 

“Ian tell you about the party?” Lip asks nonchalantly. 

“Uh, yeah. Right before.” 

“Knew he would. While we were fucking putting it together, he-” 

“Wait, hold on,” Mickey interrupted him, “You helped plan this shit?” 

Lip deadpans, “Uh, yeah. Well, obviously Ian said he wanted to do something for your birthday but I figured we should have it here, you know. With family.” 

Family. 

He remembers the kitchen conversation, it feels like it happened so long ago. The sinking feeling in his stomach when Lip told him he wasn’t family. To a degree, he understood what he meant, but he still felt the words hit his chest like a bullet. 

“Thought I wasn’t family,” Mickey teases, watching as the realization dawns on Lip, recognition enveloping his eyes. 

“Shit, Mickey, that wasn’t-” Mickey cuts him off by waving a hand. 

“It’s alright, shithead. Don’t give a shit,” Mickey lies, he does give shit, many in fact, but he doesn’t need Lip knowing that. 

“Sure, but you are family, you know that, right?” Lip doesn’t make eye contact with him, just continues playing with his son's fingers.  

Mickey sits on the bar stool, trying to cope with the knowledge that all of these people-these stupid fucking Gallaghers and Balls and Tamiettis-care about him enough to throw him a surprise birthday party. 

His fucking family. 

Ian apparently takes notice of his discomfort and walks over to him, Franny on his hip, “Hey, you good?” With the hand that isn’t holding up a six year-old, he rubs his back, eventually resting his palm on the nape of his neck. 

Mickey nods, “It’s just a lot, man.” 

Ian nods, “I know. Do you wanna go?” 

Mickey shakes his head, staring at the sleepy Franny who buries her head into Ian’s shoulder, her cheek squished on his collarbone. 

“Nah, I’m good,” Mickey says as Franny stretches out her arms, opening and closing her fists. 

“You wanna go with Uncle Mickey instead?” Ian asks her. 

When she nods, he kisses the top of her head and passes her to Mickey. Ian giggles as Mickey’s eyes go wide then soften, his shoulders relaxing as Franny peacefully transitions from one Uncle to the next, blissfully unaware of Mickey’s internal panic. 

“Happy birthday, Mickey,” Ian kisses his cheek and leans into his side, sliding an arm around his torso. 

“I think it might be.”

[maleyanderecafe]

Hey there was a mobile game I wanted to recommend you check out! It’s called MazM: The Phantom of the Opera. Obviously the phantom himself is a well-known character and prime example of a yandere, and this version’s Raoul also takes on that trait a little (although it’s mostly because Christine is in a life or death situation and this he’s protective over her), he’s very sweet and doesn’t wait a moment to shower her with praise. Anyway it’s a pretty faithful retelling of the original book and was extra fun for me as a yandere-lover as you play as Christine caught in between the yandere and the actual boyfriend. I think it’s coming to the switch soon as well if you want to wait for that.

...Are you sure that Raoul just takes on this trait a bit...?

Joking aside, sorry it took me so long to answer this ask. I was originally going to watch a walkthrough on youtube, but then I realized that you said it would be on switch and since I just got my switch emulator, I ended up playing with a friend. I will say that there is a lot for me to say about this game, so this will be a long read.

First things first, I'll admit that I've never actually read or watched the Phantom of the Opera before, so I genuinely have no idea what happens in the story. This is where my friend who I was streaming for comes in because she has read the story so she helped fill me in on what happens (she's also making a yandere vn in the future which I will be spamming the heck out of because yandere vn). I think from what she told me, most of the story is relatively accurate, though some parts are changed for one reason or another (for instance, The Persian has a name in this game, but in the original, he doesn't), which has some pros and cons for some characters. Overall though, the story was pretty good for a first timer like me since it really let me experience what the Phantom of the Opera is truly about. I think the creator Mazm did a good job for historical detail, which makes sense considering their platform is about creating games that reinterpret famous stories (they've also done one for Wizard of Oz and Jekyll and Hyde which I sort of want to play), and there are a lot of different notes the player can collect in the game that give more historical insight into what is going on.

The story for the most part is pretty linear. There are some choices you can choose, but except for two, they don't really affect the story. For the most part, the game plays as a visual novel, though you do have to walk around to talk or interact with things to proceed the story. There are cats and notes that lie around the game too, with the notes giving more historical insight and the cats being used as hints in case you don't know where to go. The story is about a detective trying to find out the truth of the Phantom of the Opera at a request of a client whos husband was a victim of him, but most of the story is played through a flashback.

There are also small minigames as well that aren't too difficult, though I honestly felt like some of the minigames got to be tedious at times, specifically the one minigame where you have to press the order of the mirror combo which I found really annoying because besides the fact that I'm bad at those games, you had to do it every time you wanted to enter under the Opera house, which was just... ugh. The game itself seems much more optimized for mobile than it was for switch considering how slow the characters move (and its really slow walking to different places sometimes) as well as the fact that it takes forever to load between different scenes and there's no touch screen option for switch (that I know of). Plus the buttons for moving and pressing hints were annoying to deal with (though this could just be because I'm using an emulator). I also kept getting confused when I was playing, since sometimes I would walk around the entire opera house trying to figure out what to do next, only to learn that I was suppose to talk to someone that was literally five steps from where I spawned. The last thing I found annoying was the fact that there's no option to skip dialogue which is really annoying when I wanted to replay a specific part of the story to take some screenshots. If you play this game, it's probably better to play it on mobile than on switch.

In terms of artwork, Mazm's Phantom of the Opera is really gorgeous, from the overworld sprites to the dialogue sprites to the background and CGs. I love how cute the overworld sprites are (I think Jammes and Raoul's are my favorite, they're both so cute) and every background is really nice to walk through and gives a good atmosphere of what it's trying to show. The character sprites for each characters are nice and varied. I can always appreciate characters that have recognizable faces and shapes, since a lot of times I have face blindness when it comes to characters that look way too similar. The CGs of course are super well done and I love all of them. Overall, the artstyle of this game is very solid and I love the way it looks.

The main character of the story was Christine, who looks really good ( I really love her hair), was for the most part alright initially. While I found her to be a bit naive (because she believed that there was an actual Angel of Music when it was just... the Phantom), she was for the most part alright, and even ended up saving another character from the phantom. However, I found her actions annoying after she met the phantom, specifically the part where she agreed to stay underground with the phantom for two days and would be released as long as she didn't touch his mask, and guess what. Right as she was literally about to leave, SHE TAKES OFF HIS MASK, AND FOR WHAT? YOU WERE JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE?? The other thing that bothered me was the after being trapped with the Phantom for about a month, she is given free reign to go back above ground, under the conditions that she only goes to the opera house and at home. During this time, she's expected to break it off with Raoul, so she fakes a honeymoon with him before he leaves for the artic. However, during this time, she doesn't tell anyone, not even Raoul about what the Phantom is up to. She has an entire month, an ENTIRE MONTH to tell someone that the Phantom is likely to hurt people (as previously he had dropped a chandelier on top of the audience) and she just... didn't. Understandably, she might have been afraid that the Phantom might have heard her, but still, what is he going to do to the possible 100 people that Christine could have told about him. She could have saved people from death if something like that were to happen. Near the end, she does get proper character development and learns to choose things for her sake and not others, which was pretty nice and does stand up to the Phantom after all the trauma (and doesn't get stockholm sydrome, thank goodness), but I still think that a lot of her actions could have probably been written better to make her less naive (since apparently in the original she was about 16ish while in this remake she's about 20 so it's less awkward between her and the phantom).

Raoul is the next character I'll be talking about, because even though he is very adorable, he also has one braincell and talks about Christine way too much. My friend and I actually decided to make a counter on how many times Erik and Raoul say "Christine." Erik says Christines name 128 times and Raoul... says it 340 times. This isn't even counting his introduction and only starts up to when Erik is introduced as a formal character and also doesn't count any time he says it in the overworld. 340! My friend kept on joking around that because Raoul says Christine so much, his brother Phillipe became an alcoholic because he's so tired of Raoul talking about Christine. Raoul only really has like three things going for him: the fact that he was in the military, the fact that he's part of the Chagny household and Christine, and that's it. Throughout the story, his goals are pretty much always related to Christine, whether it be to give gifts to Christine, being worried about her or trying to protect Christine from the Phantom. When the chandelier drops on half the crowd during one of the performances, instead of being worried for them or trying to get out of the Opera House, he instead looks for Christine, who is on stage and quite literally in the safest location within the theater. I would consider him a redeemed/protective yandere though, considering his priority is always Christine (he even gives up his own family name to be with her) and he's always trying to protect her. There's a part of the story where Raoul becomes really unhinged when it comes to protecting Christine, lashing out her her friends and other members of the Opera house. He does some really dumb stuff because of the Phantom, specifically throwing away Christine's ring that she got from the Phantom (that she also literally told him before that as long as she's wearing the ring she wouldn't be harmed by the phantom and he just...?? okay??). When he's tortured in the mirror room, he hallucinates Christine blaming him for her capture, and he even cries while hallucinating that Christine friendzones him (which I though was actually really funny, even if it was a tad bit stupid). His redemption comes near the end of the story where he apologizes for being so emotional and realizing that he was a bit of an obsessive beast, and in one ending he lets Christine go to travel the world. To be honest, I don't know if Raoul would continue to be as protective and obsessed with her even after the Phantom's death, but I guess there's not really any way to know.

The Phantom, or Erik (which I know is his cannon name but it makes me laugh because he really doesn't look like an Erik) is the main villain of the story. Unfortunately, in this version, I don't think I can call him a yandere, for one simple character: Melek. Melek, as far as I know isn't in the original story, is a prisoner that Erik has after she refused to marry her. As a character, I do actually like Melek since she's the one of the more sensible characters in the story and she's the more rational one between her and Christine, but her role in the story basically deconfirms Erik as a yandere, at least in this version. For one, Melek is a blind maid of Erik that he did fall in love with and trap, similar to how Christine was, which kind of comes off as Erik being the kind of person who would trap any girl that he likes. Even if this is the case, I don't understand why Erik would keep her alive even after she fell for Christine. Supposedly the reason is that Erik wanted to make Christine feel despair and he did attempt to kill her, but Melek survives and he just... doesn't do anything with her. Honestly, if Melek were straight up not in the story, I would have put him as a yandere because pretty much all of his other actions point to a more possessive/worship type of yandere, but because of Melek it's just not possible in my eyes. Besides that Erik sort of reminds me of a chunni in this version (he's like this absolute darkness is my curse! Like people with 7th grade syndrom seem to have), it was kind of hard for me to take him seriously in certain times. He is very intimidating when he threatens Christine, but his overdramatic nature (which I know is something he's always known for, just this version is uh...) really makes him seem like a child. Erik is for sure suppose to be more antagonistic in this version, considering the addition of Melek and his general actions of possession towards Christine and his disdain for Raoul, but near the end we do see more of his story and we see just how devastating his life is from the moment of birth. I did feel really bad for him when Hatim/The Persian keeps on mentioning the prince he used to work with because its really obvious that he still has trauma from it (and he keeps begging him to not talk about his past and the Persian just... keeps traumatizing him I guess) and the fact that he was treated so badly because of his appearance, but this doesn't excuse his actions in the story. Christine does try to sympathize with him using her own tragic backstory, which Erik kind of pushes away (like bro, we're not trying to see whose parents are worse, she's just trying to sympathize with you, dang) as not being tragic. I think that Mazm did present him pretty well in this story, not showing just his antagonistic side but also his more tragic side. Sadly, like I said, I can't consider him a yandere because of the addition of Melek, at least not in this version.

In terms of other characters, I really like the trio of Meg Giry, Sorelli and Jammes- the friends of Christine. From what I can tell, they're all a bit more aged up in this version, with Sorelli being the oldest and Jammes being the youngest and I feel like they gave more character to them than in the original version. Sorelli is the head of the dancers and the dating partner of Phillip de Chagny, Raoul's older brother and she's the mature and strong willed one of the group, wielding a blade that she uses to protect her friends. I like the fact that they made her a bit more protective and in one of the overworld sprites its mentioned via rumor that Phillip fell in love with her after he saw Sorelli swing her dagger, which I thought was pretty cute. At the end though, after Phillips death, she realizes that she was struggling too hard to climb up the social ladder and decides to forge her own path. In the beginning she attempts to protect her and her friends from the Phantom, declaring that she'll stab him if she sees him. Next is Meg Giry, and from what my friend told me, she was very young in the original books and kind of scardy cat. In this version, she's a bit older but maintains the scardy cat position, and is very terrified of the Phantom. She does gain more character development during the story, standing up to her mother and the managers and overall being a more assertive and confident person, which I thought was a nice touch. Last but certainly not least is my best girl Jammes. In the original story, she barely makes an appearance, but in Mazm they made her quite literally the best character. For one, the canonical reason why there are so many cats hanging out in the opera house is that Jammes keeps on feeding them and letting them in and she has named all of them after the Opera House staff. Jammes loves to spin and has a cute animation and while she can be loud and a bit strange sometimes, she can be smart and assertive when she needs to. Jammes always pushes the other three into being better and protects them when needed (for instance, when Phillip lashes out at Sorelli, she steps in and demands that he apologize for his actions) and can be really smart at times (she's the only character that attempts to at least cover her mouth when the Phantom's fragrance, a hallucinogenic gas, starts to fill up the box seat, despite others who have been in there not even trying) and is the one who stands up for Christine's abuse as well as for the dancers at the opera house being treated unfairly by the manager as she organizes a strike against them. She also becomes part of the women's suffrage after the events of the story. I could go on and on about Jammes, but instead I'll leave a cute picture of her at the end of this entire analysis. Besides those three, I did like Carlotta, the original singing lead of the opera house. Originally, she became an antagonist towards Christine after she became the lead singer, however, she did apologize to her afterwards and befriended her once more before traveling the world. I love her interactions with Raoul because she basically said that Raoul only has Christine and military training and when he gets angry and lashes out, Carlotta glares and him, causing him to cower (this actually does happen multiple times), and I just found that really, really funny. Mifoid, though useless in the story is actually pretty cute as well, I love his bouncing animation. The last character I'll talk about is Phillip because he became meme material for me and my friend considering he probably is so tired of Raoul talking about Christine (we joked that the reason he was sent to military was so that he didn't have to hear her name again) and while he is mostly a decent but strict character in the story, his last appearance really makes him out as a jerk. I did think it was kind of weird that Phillip was so willing to let Raoul go to the Artic mission considering nobody that has gone there has ever returned, and he was rather elitest towards him, not letting him marry Christine because she's of lower

class but during his last chapter before he dies, he goes on a frenzy after he and Raoul have a fight, revealing to Sorelli that he only dated her for fun and not to actually settle down with her, which is just horrible. It's a bit sad though that Raoul only saw him as someone who tried to get rid of him considering that Phillip did raise Raoul and that his last actions were an attempt to save Phillip from the phantom, and yet Raoul barely has a reaction after seeing his body and doesn't even go to his funeral. It's really sad that Raoul didn't even really cry after seeing Phillip's body, considering that he was basically his father figure.

Overall, it's a good game to play and a good retelling of the Phantom of the Opera. I wouldn't consider the Phantom to be a yandere in this game, but I do think that Raoul is one. Thank you for this recommendation!

[retro-scorpio]

The Arcana Meets The Devildom (Part One)

Fictional Backstory: Julian, Lucio, and Asra were in the magic shop because (MC) was teaching Lucio how to perform a basic teleportation spell while Julian and Asra were in a side room having tea and talking things through. Lucio’s attempt of the spell goes horribly wrong, and he, along with Julian and Asra, get transported from their world to a world of demons that aren’t exactly like the ones back home. With no immediate way to get back home, they’re stuck in the Devildom indefinitely. 

Julian x The House of Lamentation

Lucifer: Julian recognizes nearly right away that Lucifer could be him in an alternate universe. Their fashion sense is essentially the same; they both struggle immensely with sleep due to work; they both like to kick back and relax with their favorite drink; and they both have a dramatic flair to them and a love of theatre. Obviously, there are some key differences as well, like how Lucifer is a sadist while Julian’s an masochist, plus the fact that Lucifer appears much more uptight than him. These things make Julian want to get to know Lucifer more and (perhaps) become friends with him. Lucifer, however, takes a while to warm up to Julian. Initially, he finds Julian to be too loud and reckless, especially when Julian’s around his brothers. He also refuses at first to accept the fact that he has anything in common with “that buffoon”, as Lucifer calls Julian during his first days in the Devildom (when his brothers are teasing him relentlessly about it). However, one late night conversation and a bottle of Demonus later (which Julian finds nearly as pleasurable as a Salty Bitters), the two men begin to grow close. Lucifer tries his best to help Julian get back to his own world, and in return Julian offers Lucifer his company during nights where they can’t fall asleep but are much too tired to work.

Mammon: Julian is very drawn to Mammon at first due to Mammon’s desire to party and let loose, but the longer he’s around the second-born, the more he sees that maybe Mammon isn’t the best influence (this opinion is partially influenced by the increased amount of time Julian spends with Lucifer). There’s nothing wrong with letting loose, but Mammon takes it a bit too far at times. However, Julian does see that Mammon does have a pretty big heart, even when he hides it under his sin of greed. So, instead of insulting him or punishing him for his wrongdoings, Julian takes the time to talk to Mammon and listen to him. Mammon finds this odd at first and isn’t the most open to sharing, but as Julian reveals parts of himself to him, he realizes that they each have insecurities about people not accepting them for who they are and feeling like they have to act a certain way in order to protect themselves from harm. Julian and Mammon essentially help each other work through and heal from past trauma.

Levi: Since video games (and gaming in general, unless you count drinking competitions) aren’t exactly commonplace in Vesuvia, Julian is fascinated by Levi’s collection. When he has a free moment, he will ask Levi all sorts of questions about technology and gaming. This throws Levi off guard at first, because he’s not used to people expressing interest in his hobbies. Once he gets used to Julian’s curiosity, though, he gets excited to talk to Julian and show him how to play some games. This becomes very apparent when Julian catches Levi rewatching The Tale Of The Seven Lords (TV series) and asks him if he can join him, because of course Levi couldn’t allow Julian to enter the series mid-season and mid-episode; they have to start from the very beginning so that Julian gets the entire picture. They also share a love of water, and they share their experiences with the liquid with each other (Julian focuses on his sea adventures and pirate days, and Levi talks more about creatures he’s come across and raised). Levi finds Julian’s love of leeches amusing.

Satan: The amount of books that Satan has in his possession overwhelms Julian at first, but he’s also impressed by Satan’s collection (the first words to leave Julian’s mouth upon seeing Satan’s books are, “You could open up a library!”) Due to the amount and variety of literature Satan has, Julian often swings by his room for research purposes, because somewhere in Satan’s vast collection/messy room, there are some books on world-hopping. Julian gets a little too curious by Satan’s books, and Satan has to keep an eye on Julian to make sure he doesn’t grab a cursed book by accident. Satan initially acts like he’s too good for Julian’s theatrics, but the longer Julian stays with them at the House, the more it becomes apparent that Satan loves hearing all about Julian’s adventures in Vesuvia. Satan may or may not begin writing down all of Julian’s tales in order to remember them for future reference.

Asmo: The moment Asmo lays eyes on Julian, he develops a HUGE crush on him. To Asmo, everything about Julian is perfect, from his roguish looks to his dramatic flair. Whenever he gets the opportunity, Asmo will pull Julian away from his brothers to spend as much time with him as possible, although he’ll often deflect his brothers’ teasing with statements such as, “Julian needs to unwind!” and “I have to get rid of the bags under his eyes!” (Asmo’s a terrible liar.) The bad news for Asmo is that Julian is completely oblivious to how he feels about him, despite the fact that everyone can see that Asmo has the hots for Julian (even Beel, who isn’t always receptive to those types of things). It’s not like Julian’s obliviousness is intentional, though; between his own insecurities and the fact that, at the end of the day, his main focus is to be able to go back home to Vesuvia, he’s not exactly attentive to who he may have attracted in the process. After a while, Asmo cannot keep his emotions towards Julian bottled up anymore, and so one afternoon, when they’re alone in his room on one of his spa days, he blurts out to the red-head that he has a crush on him. Julian lets him down easy, saying that, while he is flattered by the Avatar of Lust’s confession, his heart belongs to (MC) back to Vesuvia. Surprisingly, instead of throwing a fit, Asmo accepts the truth of the situation fairly quickly and actually keeps some of his flirty nature in check when he’s around Julian from that point forward. He still tries to have Julian join him on his spa days whenever possible, mainly so that Julian has a chance to relax properly.

Beel: There’s an unspoken connection that forms between Beel and Julian almost immediately (Belphie believes it’s because they’re both red-heads). In his quiet way, Beel will tear Julian away from his research if he’s been at it non-stop and get him to eat something, sometimes by gently coaxing his sin out of Julian if he’s particularly sucked into whatever he’s looking at. While he’s used to doing this gesture for his brothers (especially Lucifer and Satan), Beel kind of forgets at first that humans are easier to sway than demons, and so he needs to use less of his power in order to force Julian to eat. During his early days in the Devildom, Julian became so gluttonous that he not only ate everything in the House, but he also slammed down several large burgers at Hell’s Kitchen (Julian apologized profusely for this incident and offered to cook meals for everyone for the following week to make up for his mistake). In addition to eating, Beel will pry Julian out of the House and have his fellow red-head work out with him. They’re pretty comparable in size, and so Beel doesn’t have to hold back as much of his physical strength as he normally does around other demons (but he still holds back a little because Julian is still human, after all). Even though they may not speak about their personal lives a lot with each other when it’s just the two of them, Julian and Beel feel at ease with each other.

Belphie: To put it simply, in Julian’s eyes, Belphie is a god-send (he fully sees the irony of using that phrase to describe the youngest demon brother). When Julian is barely holding his head up after 24, 48, and even 72 hours of not being able to sleep, all Belphie has to do is to grab a pillow and blanket, get Julian comfortable on the nearest surface, and use the powers his sin has given him to make Julian fall asleep. Unlike his twin, Belphie picks up right away that he doesn’t have to exert a lot of power in order to get Julian to engage with his inner sloth in a healthy way; Julian always wakes up well-rested and recharged after a Belphie-induced sleep. The two of them will occasionally look up at the night sky together and talk about the different stars and constellations of the Devildom and Vesuvia, and when that topic of conversation runs dry, they’ll talk about all sorts of things, ranging from the best ways to prank Lucifer that will get the best reaction out of him to the trauma of losing a sister.

[redjaybathood]

I always had been on the Jason Todd reads pulp fiction and that's why he's the way he is when he meets Batman. I mean, maybe not necessarily strictly pulp fiction, but rather a book salad, everything he gets his hands on. But he takes away and uses in the conversation what he thinks makes him look tough. He's a kid. He's not in school for six months and probably didn't have an opportunity to build a strong friendship - it's not that you can't have friends if you're poor, or a child from a criminal who's in jail and mother who's addict; but, it does limit you somewhat. It's rather hard to build a friend circle when you have to be a parent for your parent, and you're nowhere ready for it. I mean, he was probably as young as eight and as old as twelve.

At best it's casual classmate relationship, I think. And then he had to leave school and didn't have even that. And, if you're outgoing person by nature, or if you just lucky, I dunno, it might not even matter to you. But, for Jason, I think it did matter. It's not easy for him to build relationships, friendships. We got all sorts of flashback friends like Chris, Max, Dana, Gabbie (though she's more of an older teen helping out a child in need), Numbers. But I think it's fair to say that, as they never features heavily in his story, the friendship wasn't that deep. More like: I went through some shit together with them and I will remember their names and faces until my dying day, but as soon as circumstances that pulled us together, dissapeared (Dana - moved; Max - Jason went to Ma Gunn's; Numbers - Ma Gunn was arrested and Jason was adopted by Bruce Wayne), he never heard from them since, and didn't reach out - until something happened again (Max - his murder; Numbers - his attempted murder; Dana - I don't know what Martinbrough has in mind, because it's apparent they reconnected somewhen, before RHatO 51-52, but I sincerely doubt that even then they were anywhere near close after her move and before his comeback from the dead; at some point they're not only reconnected but Jason gave her keys to his house; there has to be a story there).

Point is, wherever you consider them or not to be a part of your preferred Jason Todd's life story, they couldn't be someone he had regular contact with.

Which leads me to: Jason Todd didn't really have friends, but he read a lot of books and that's kinda why he's the way he is. Especially his speech patterns when he talks to Batman for the first few times.

And for him,bit doesn't really get better from there, despite being adopted and living in luxury and relaxation. He still can't make friends - I assume it's because the kids his age who surround him now are very different from him, don't know where he's coming from, think he's a nerd. Plus, if before he couldn't really hang out with people because of shitty home life, now it's because of Robin. He couldn't even take extracurriculars he wanted! Sure, he got baseball, I think - but not theatre.

He, by sheer miracle and because Rena was new and Jason is cute, tries to make a friend with her. They get to hang out, I think, twice: one where Jason has to stop a robbery of, if I'm not mistaken, a pharmacy by their classmates. And the other time, he and Rena are in the movie theater and Jason has to run because of Bruce/Robin.

It's why Jason's friendship with Kid Devil works: no need to hide Robin; no time pressure with letters instead of real life meetings; and you don't need to actually talk. You can write.

I mean, when you read more than you talk to people, it's really easier to write than, well, talk to people.

And here we get Cass. She has it much much worse. It's not that she didn't have a lot of opportunities for friendships. SHE WASN'T TAUGHT TO TALK. She might understand speech somewhat, but, yeah, no. And up to eight yo she's isolated, it's only Cain, other trainers/punching bags, or her one and only victim. There's literally no one else. And then she's constantly on the run. Without speech or reading. I mean. Wow. You think Jason had it bad? You literally cannot imagine what it's like for Cass, because this level of abuse and trauma... Like. This is some The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog-level stuff.

And yet! And yet! Watch Cass just. Be herself. She became a courier/errand runner during No-Man's Land. It's social, in a way, and in distinctly positive way. I mean, she can fight, and don't you think a bone bruiser wouldn't be valued during No Man's Land? The only one who had firearms was Scarface and Cass, alone, could have wiped floor with him. But no, she chooses a job that is essentially helpful to people instead of destructive. And while she can't communicate - she does have to work with people. If not constantly, but at least at point A and at point B of her errand.

And then she becomes close to Oracle, becomes Batgirl, meta messes with her speech processing space in the brain, idk the technical term for that, sorry. But now she understands words and can talk too. She doesn't become a social butterfly or a chatterbox. But I think she does strive for connection, maybe thanks to her empathy it happens without her conscious thought, but it does happen. And sure, sometimes - most of the time - it's overwhelming. Because duh, trauma. And guilt. And trying to redeem herself in her own eyes by saving people. She literally puts her life on the line more than once. Starting with stepping in front of a bullet, or even running at them.

So yeah, she can't handle it all plus "normal life". She has her own Batcave eventually, where she does whatever she wants. Steph sometimes visits. She's friends with Tim, Barbara Stephanie, Conner, Connor... However briefly but she was on two teams.

It's fucking awesome, is what I mean, that she's not another brooding loner stereotype. She's... If hopepunk was a thing in 2000s, Batgirl is it, for the most part.

Why am I writing this post, if you disregard me trying to stave off the feeling of doom and anxiety, is actually simple and doesn't deserve to be that long as I made it. But basically: I reblogged a post about Cass watching TV to "learn to speak like normal people". And remembered my hc re: Jason (which is what above is). And it's like. Funny, a bit: Jason learning how to talk to people from books, and Cass learning to talk, period, from TV. The sheer comedic potential of their duo. Like. "I've been bamboozled!" vs "You bet your sweet patootie!", who would win?

In another, softer world, they're just.

They both experienced Twilight, and have, actually, zero opinions but understand the references and quote it when it's (not really) appropriate.

Or if not Twilight, but, Gossip Girl, Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars (all books/comic books with TV adaptations). I want one of them to quote it at and the other one to go all Spidermen pointing at each other meme. I want them trying to find common ground thanks to the media they consumed and fail spectacularly (gotta keep the conflict alive!). Just. Book nerd Jason Todd versus TV buff Cassandra Cain.

(bonus points for a gamer Stephanie Brown)

[fruitcoops]

Could you maybe write a “73 questions with Sirius Black” Vogue one? Or something like that.

Yes! I had never seen these videos before and it was a fun challenge to write. Hope you enjoy! Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

The house is large, two stories tall and painted a soft gray with white trim around the windows. Holiday lights have yet to be taken down and shine in all colors of the rainbow from the eaves as the camera crew walks up the front steps. The curtains in the window tremble for a moment, then a dog pokes her head through—she is all-black and curious, and looks quite large.

Dorcas Meadowes knocks on the front door; a moment later, it swings open and reveals Sirius Black. “Hey, guys, come on in! You can leave your shoes by the door inside.”

“Thanks, Sirius.” Dorcas kicks off her flats and follows him inside as he sets a dish towel on the end table and leans against it. “How are you today?”

“I’m doing pretty well. Morning practice was productive and I’m feeling good about our upcoming game.”

“We’re here today to ask you 73 rapid-fire questions while you lead us around. Sound good?”

“Sounds good. You can all come inside instead of freezing on the porch,” he laughs, waving them closer. The door shuts with a gentle click.

“First question: on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now?”

“Hmmm. A solid seven.”

“Do you have any pets?”

“I do!” Sirius leads them into the other room, where the dog is curled up on the couch below the window; he picks her up and gives her a kiss on the head. “This is Hattie and I love her very much.”

“Cute! If you could do a dramatic love scene in a movie with anyone, who would it be?”

Sirius sets the dog down and thinks for a second. “Aside from my fiancé, I’m going to say James Potter. We would kill it and I don’t think it would be that awkward.”

“What’s the origin of your name?”

“Pretty much my whole family has star-themed names. Sirius is the dog star from Canis Major.”

“Brightest star in the sky, too. What’s one thing people don’t know about you?”

“I’m an introvert. Lots of people assume that I’m super social because of my job, but I’m very quiet in real life.” He walks back out to the entrance and takes the towel off the table, then moves into the kitchen. It’s well-lit and painted a deep, warm red. The countertop is scattered with knickknacks and picture frames—clearly, this is a place people spend a lot of time. Hattie, who followed them in, lays down by the oven with a heavy sigh.

“What’s your wakeup ritual?”

Sirius reaches up and pulls two mugs out of the cupboard. “I wake up around seven am and make coffee while Re is in the shower, then rinse off and get dressed while he makes breakfast. It’s a good system. Want some tea?”

“Sure. What’s your bedtime ritual?”

“I don’t think I have one,” he says as he puts the kettle on and ignites a burner on the stove. “Usually we read or watch a movie, then go up to bed and talk for a while. There’s not a big routine or anything.”

“Sounds nice. What’s your favorite time of day?” Dorcas sits on the other side of the kitchen island while he takes a box of peppermint tea down.

“That’s a tough one. I like the in-between spots, like just after sunrise or dusk. Three in the afternoon is usually pretty chill as well. Does anyone else want a cup?”

There are a few murmurs behind the camera and he takes two more down. “What is one thing no one knows about you?” Dorcas asks.

He raises an eyebrow. “If I told you, everyone would know, and it wouldn’t count.”

“Fair enough. Dream country to visit?”

“Anywhere. I think I want to go to Ireland first, though.” Small wisps of steam begin curling out of the kettle, but it doesn’t whistle.

“Do you ever feel pressure to post things on social media?”

Sirius makes a face. “I used to. Eventually I just got tired of it, you know? The whole point of social media is sharing bits of your life with people and it makes me happy to show off my dog, or Re, or my friends. I post things just for fun now.”

The kettle begins to hiss and he reaches back to turn it off. “Sneakers or skates?”

“Skates.”

“Vintage or new?

“Vintage, especially for t-shirts and sweaters.”

“Who is your biggest role model?”

“Pascal Dumais.” Sirius stops pouring for a moment to look up at the camera. ���If you ever get a chance to meet him, listen to what he has to say. You’ll be better for it.”

“Wise words. How do you deal with negativity? Oh, thank you.” Dorcas wraps her hands around the mug and takes a small sip while Sirius passes the other ones to the crew.

“Honestly? I don’t give a shit. It used to really bother me, but I’m happy, I have a job I love, and my family cares about me. Why should I care what people I’ve never met think of me?” He sits on the counter and rests his elbows on his knees, blowing on the hot water.

“What are three things you can’t live without?”

“My dog, Remus, and my family.” There is no hesitation in his voice.

“Not hockey?”

“I’d be devastated if I couldn’t play, sure, but it’s not the central focus of my life anymore.”

“What’s one ingredient you put in everything?”

“Does salt count?” He winces as he takes a drink. “Ugh, burned my tongue. I put salt on a lot of things because I drink so much water that it throws my balance off.”

“What is something you’re completely bored of right now?”

Sirius rolls his eyes. “Gossip columns and tabloids in general.”

Dorcas hums in agreement. “What’s your biggest fear in life?”

“Losing my loved ones.”

“Window or aisle seat?”

“Window. Anyone walking by always steps on my foot or hits my elbow if I’m in the aisle. Plus, I get a good view and an easy nap spot.”

“What’s your current TV obsession?”

“Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I’m watching for the third time already.” He shakes his head. “It’s just so good.”

“Favorite app?”

He takes a second to think. “Spotify.”

“Secret talent?”

Sirius looks at her over the rim over his cup. “This is going to shock you. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Hockey.”

“You’re the worst.” Despite her words, Dorcas smiles. “What the most adventurous thing you’ve done in your life?”

“Uh, probably going to Europe with some of the guys last year. We had a lot of fun, but it was crazy.”

“I can imagine it was. How would you define yourself in three words?”

“Tall, dark, and handsome.”

“And apparently not humble,” Dorcas teases. “Favorite piece of clothing?”

“Hoodies.”

“Clothing item everyone should have?”

“Hoodies.”

A door opens behind them and the camera turns; Remus walks out of the basement, covered in sweat as he wipes his forehead with the hem of his shirt and holds his skates in his other hand. “Baby, have you seen…” he trails off when he sees the group of people in the kitchen. Hattie’s tail thumps on the floor. “Um. Hello.”

“Hey, Remus, how are you doing?” Dorcas asks mildly.

The camera pans out to catch both Sirius, who is laughing quietly, and Remus, who flushes pink. “I’m good. I thought you were coming at ten?”

“It’s ten-thirty, sweetheart,” Sirius says, hiding his smile in his tea.

Remus glances at the clock before giving an awkward nod and walking toward the stairs. “I guess I’ll take a shower, then. Sorry about that. Uh, carry on.”

“What’s a superpower you would want?” Dorcas asks as soon as he disappears.

Sirius shakes his head with a grin. “Uh, teleportation. That would be really cool.”

“What’s inspiring you in life right now?”

“Ah, une grande question.” He thinks, then tilts his head toward the staircase. “Moments like that. And the Stanley Cup, of course.” He reaches back and knocks on the wooden cupboard.

“What cause is closest to your heart?”

“LGBT+ rights, especially trans rights. I’m privileged enough to have a platform and I intend to be loud as hell about that.”

“Good.” Dorcas sets her almost-empty mug on the table. “What’s one thing you’d say to your teenage self?”

Sirius lets out a long breath and drums his hands on the light blue ceramic of his cup. “I would say…it gets better. It really, really does. You’re going to feel super shitty for just a little bit longer, but then I promise you will be so incredibly happy that you wake up every morning and it hits you all over again.”

Dorcas nods, and the kitchen is quiet for a moment. “What’s a book that everyone should read?”

“The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien.”

“What would you like to be remembered for?”

“This is going to sound so corny, but I want to be remembered for just being a good person.”

“That’s not corny. How do you define beauty?”

“Remus Lupin.”

“That’s corny,” she laughs, making him smile. “What do you love most about your body?”

“I’m a big guy, which can be a little bit intimidating, but it means I give really great hugs. I’m sure everyone saw the video that went around a while ago.”

“Cap Cuddles?”

He snorts. “Right. You’ve got Finn O’Hara to thank for that.”

“In your opinion, what’s the best way to take a rest or decompress?”

“Being alone,” Sirius says. “There is literally nothing better than getting home and sitting down with a book or something while I can hear Re doing his own thing and Hattie’s napping. It’s one of my favorite parts of the afternoon.”

“That’s the most introverted thing you’ve ever said.” Dorcas grins and finishes her tea just as a faint beeping noise begins in another room. “What’s your favorite way to experience art?”

“Through music, for sure.” He slides off the counter and walks down the hall, leading them toward the laundry room. He gives the camera crew a look as he pulls dry clothes out of the machine and heads back to the living room. “What? Did you think I didn’t do my own laundry?”

“You lost a sock,” Dorcas informs him, picking it off the ground and laying it on top of his head.

“Thanks, D.”

“What question do people ask that you wish they wouldn’t?”

“Lots of people have asked me when I decided to be gay, which is wrong on so many levels.”

“If you could master one instrument, what would it be?”

“Guitar or piano.” He dumps the load of laundry on the couch and opens the back door, holding it for the crew as they walk out into the sunshine. Hattie weaves through their legs and disappears into the bushes along the back.

“I might have to take your dog home with me. If you had a tattoo, where would it be?”

Sirius mock-glares at her. “Let me have my girl! Um, I would love to have a tattoo somewhere on my arm.”

“This might be a hard one. Dolphins or koalas?”

“Oh, that is hard. Probably dolphins. The ocean is terrifying but those little guys are just having a blast.”

“What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?” Dorcas asks as he picks up a tennis ball and throws it across the yard. Hattie emerges from the bushes and races after it in a blur of black fur.

“An engagement ring.”

“Yeah, it was.” Remus walks into the backyard and kisses Sirius’ cheek before bending down to catch Hattie in his arms. His hair is still damp from the shower. “Hello, sweet girl!”

“Who’s your favorite musician?”

“Queen.” Sirius laughs at her surprised look. “I’m gay, what did you expect?”

“True. What’s your favorite board game?”

“Monopoly.” Remus and Hattie disappear from the frame, but the bouncing sound of the tennis ball creates some background noise and Sirius watches them for a moment with pure affection.

“Favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“Least favorite color?”

“Orange.”

“Bowties or knot ties?”

He frowns. “Don’t they all have knots?”

“Smartass.”

“Yep! Uh, regular ties.”

“Bowties are superior!” Remus calls.

“Get your own questions!” Sirius laughs.

“Going off your music answers: records or CDs?”

“I don’t own a lot of records, so I’m going to have to go with CDs. I love the way vinyl sounds, though.” His eyes widen as he looks to the side. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Remus wheezes. “I didn’t need those ribs anyway.”

“For the viewers, the dog just football-tackled him into the grass,” Sirius says, and Dorcas snorts.

“Your hair is famously luscious. Blow-dry or air-dry?”

“Air dry.”

“Coffee or tea?”

“Coffee, but tea is nice in the evenings.”

“What’s the weirdest word in the English language?”

Sirius laughs. “There are so many. Uh, ‘jeez’ is the one that comes to mind first.”

“What about the French language?”

“Oiseaux,” he says in a crisp accent. “It means ‘birds’, and you pronounce about three of the actual letters.”

“Good to know. Do you prefer dark chocolate or milk chocolate?”

“Dark chocolate.”

“Stairs or elevators?”

“Elevators. I don’t want to walk up three floors after playing hockey for two and a half hours.”

“Summer or winter?”

Sirius bites his lip in thought as they walk around the yard, where small flowers line the fence in beds and colorful pots. “I love summer because I have actual free time to be with my friends, but winter is hockey season. I don’t know, next question.”

“What’s a dessert you don’t like?”

“I’m not a huge fan of caramel. It’s too sticky.”

“A skill you’re working on mastering?”

“Will you ban me from more interviews if I say hockey?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I’m working on keeping plants alive, as you can probably see.” He taps the nearest flowerpot gently with his foot; it has ‘Harry’ painted across it in sloppy blue letters. “My godson made that for my birthday.”

“What’s the best thing to happen to you today?”

“This, for sure,” he says with a smile. “I haven’t seen you and Marley in ages.”

“We missed you, too. What’s the worst thing that happened to you today?”

He pouts slightly. “Burning my tongue on tea.”

“Hugs or kisses?”

“Hugs! Though I’ll accept kisses from a few very specific people.”

“Do you have a favorite smell?”

He pauses and cranes his neck to look behind the cameras. “Re?”

“Yeah?”

“What shampoo do you use?”

“Uhhh…” There’s a moment of quiet. “It’s something with lavender, I think.”

Sirius turns back to Dorcas. “Something with lavender.”

“How specific,” she laughs. “What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?”

He smiles to himself. “There was a young woman, maybe sixteen or seventeen, that came to one of the games earlier this season. I saw her standing with a puck and went over, and while I was signing it she looks at me and says, ‘you are exactly what I wish my older brother was like’. Turns out, she was bisexual and her brother wasn’t super accepting of her. That was…” He shakes his head. “That meant the world to me. I’ll never forget it.”

“You’ve definitely made a big impact on the community,” Dorcas agrees. “What’s the last piece of content you consumed that made you cry?”

“I watched ‘Soul’ the other night and almost had to pause it at one point to pull myself together.”

“Do you prefer animated movies or live-action?”

“Animated, mostly because I wasn’t allowed to watch Disney movies as a kid, so I’ve been catching up as an adult and they rock.”

“What’s your nerdiest quality?

“I love watching documentaries.”

“Sweet or savory?” The back door creaks a bit as they walk back inside and the camera catches a few frames of Hattie and Remus running around the yard together.

“Sweet.”

“In ten years, you have a daughter. What age do you let her date?”

Sirius gives Dorcas a look. “Whenever she wants to. I’m going to impose curfews and stuff, but I’m the last person on the planet to police her love life.”

“Good answer. What’s a song you can listen to on repeat?”

“Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. Absolute banger.”

“If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be?”

“Arthur Weasley,” he says after a moment. “I would love to know what it feels like to get up in the morning and know you’re about to spend another day wrangling our team. It’s a miracle he hasn’t killed us all with his clipboard.”

“How do you know you’re in love?”

“Oh.” Sirius blinks at her in surprise at the sudden topic change. “Well, for me, I think it’s just…being comfortable around someone. Being able to spend time with them without saying anything and knowing you’re safe, no matter what. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

“What are you most excited about at this time in your life?”

A slight smile crinkles his eyes. “Getting married. That’s going to be awesome.”

“Who is your go-to for having a good laugh?”

“James Potter. He’s the best, and I love him.”

“Last question,” Dorcas says, sliding her list into her pocket. “Many LGBT+ people, especially teenagers, have spoken about how you’re an inspiration. Any words for them?”

Sirius hums in thought. “First of all, thank you for being so open and welcoming. I would never have expected the sheer force of people’s love to come through like that when so many people were saying horrible things. Second, to any kids out there who need to hear it: I’m proud of you. It takes a lot to be true to yourself and even if you’re still in the closet, you’re just as valid as the rest of us. Stay proud.”

“That’s a wrap.” Dorcas gives him a quick hug that he happily returns. “Thanks for letting us crash your morning, Cap.”

“Any time. Thanks for tuning in to Lion Pride, everyone!”

[mrsdeanwinchester19]

The Dinner-Sequel to The Interview

Pairing: Steve x reader

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Sequel to The Interview.  Steve takes his wife to meet his team after her interview

Warnings: None

“Steve, do you think this dress is ok?” I ask, coming out of our walk-in closet wearing my lace, off the shoulder red dress.  Steve is taking me to dinner with the team tonight, so I want to make a good first impression.  Most people would think I’ve met the team before, but Steve kept our relationship a secret in the beginning and then the team broke up because of the Accords and we got married when we were on the run, so we really couldn’t invite any of the team members.

We had our wedding in Norway, one of the few countries that hadn’t signed the Accords.  They claimed they didn’t sign because if a non-government owned unit made from people from different countries called the Alsos Unit hadn’t helped them in World War II, the Germans would have succeeded in creating an Atomic bomb in their country.  In Norway, there was one team member, Thor, who was visiting Earth; he vouched for us.

After our wedding, we went to Wakanda on our honeymoon and visited Bucky. We had been having dinner with Bucky, T’Challa, and Shuri when we told him we got married.  He was upset that he couldn’t be there, but he understood when he found out the wedding happened when he was asleep.  When he said Steve could make it up to him by naming his first son James; Steve started choking on his Umqombothi drink.  I know Steve wants kids, but he wasn’t willing to have them while being on the run. Now that we’re not hiding, we’re actively trying for a baby.  I wonder if tonight he’ll break the news that he has a wife AND is trying to get said wife pregnant.

As I walk out of the closet, I bend down to adjust the ankle strap on my right heel.  I stand back up, smooth my dress, and look up at Steve.  He’s staring at me with a dopey smile on his face, love evident in his eyes.  “The dress itself is fine, you make it look perfect.”

“Ugh, Steve, quit it with the cheesy lines,” I protest while blushing.  Men used to say these things to their wives and girlfriends back in their time, it’s why Steve and Bucky can be prince charming when they want to be. Bucky more often than Steve now that he’s more like his old self, or so Steve says.

“I’m just being honest,” he defends, shrugging his shoulders.  He comes over to me and wraps his arms around my waist.  “You nervous?”

“What do you think?” I ask rhetorically.   I haven’t been this nervous since I first met Steve. In 2014, during a career conference once for journalists, the resort we were at was seized by terrorists.  One of my coworkers and I were the only ones from The New York Sun attending, despite the fact that it was in New York. I suppose they only wanted to go if the convention was out of town so they could get out of work and go on vacation. We were held in the resort’s Grand Hall for hours until the Avengers were able to save us.  There was a pretty big fight between Steve, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the terrorists but luckily no one died.  I had been hurt in the kerfuffle, a broken finger, but after Steve wrapped my finger in a brace, he allowed me to interview him.  During the on-camera interview with him, Thor was teasing him in the background, doing silly faces and the “blah blah blah” hand motion.

Steve had asked for my name and number to “keep in touch and see if my finger heals correctly”.  When I gave it to him, he wrote it down in an old-fashioned address book. I hadn’t expected him to call me ever, but he did, asking for a date.  At first, he was weary of me being a journalist, in case things ended badly and I wrote a bad article about him.  However, a year later, he was thankful I was a journalist because I had access to all archived articles about the Winter Soldier.  After that happened, I knew he trusted me wholeheartedly and I felt the same. When the Accords started happening, I had access to the signing, to interview government people about it, and relayed that information to Steve about who he could trust.  That was how I found out about Norway not signing.

“They’ll love you,” he says.  “Bucky loves you, Tony will probably love you because he’ll think the interview prank you pulled on me was hilarious.  Nat and Wanda will be happy another girl is around.  Thor likes you, even Loki took a liking to you; he would love the interview prank. Clint will like you, Bruce will like you; no one has a reason to dislike you.

I turn around and take a good look at him. Royal blue dress shirt and black pants. His hair is up and I want nothing more than to run my fingers through it. He keeps me pressed to his body closely and I rub my hands along his chest. “If we didn’t have to go to dinner with your friends, I would be all over you right now.”

“Sorry, last night’s sex is just gonna have to hold you.” I give a little laugh.  “I’m just messing with you, I’ll be all over you tonight,” he growls, pulling my face up to his and kissing me deeply.  His kisses always leave me breathless, whether they’re passionate like this or small, chaste kisses when he’s leaving for work in the morning.  This however, is a whole new level and it’s making my heart go crazy.

Steve picks up the basket on the kitchen counter and we walk out the door. When we get to the car, he opens the door for me, ever the gentleman, before climbing in himself.  As he drives there, I fiddle with the hem of my dress.  I’m so worried I’ll talk too much or too little, or I’ll offend someone or embarrass Steve. What if I mention something about him that they don’t know?  Like that he bawled like a baby at Where the Red Fern Grows and Homeward Bound. Tony would probably love that but I don’t want to make Steve feel bad, I was crying too.

My biggest worry is what they’ll think of me after the interview.  Will they think it was funny or will they look at me as unprofessional for not telling them I had a conflict of interest with the Avengers?  I think Tony will like me, and maybe Nat, but I have no idea about the others.   I don’t think Bucky would come around as much as he does if he really didn’t like spending time with both Steve and me. Besides, sometimes when Steve is on a mission and he isn’t, he comes and keeps me company with old movies and our little two person book club we started.  His first choice of book was The Hobbit, which he told me he had read it when it first came out in 1937.  He was happy but not surprised to find out there were movies based on them.

When we drive up to the compound, Steve has a difficult time getting me through security.  They recognized my face and apparently Tony told them not to let me back. “Don’t alert Tony about her,” Steve said as he explained the situation to the guard.  He looked skeptical but agreed.

Steve led me upstairs, but not to the dining room where the team was waiting. He led me to his room.  “Well, well, well, Mr. Rogers, I thought we had to meet your friends in a little bit. Though I know you could probably get it done in ten minutes.”

“Ha ha ha, very funny,” he sarcastically replies.  “I just needed to grab…this,” he says, pulling his wallet out of his nightstand.  “Forgot it here yesterday.”

I simply hum in response to his explanation because I’m too busy looking around his room.  I’ve only seen it over FaceTime and in pictures.  It’s very different from our room at home. Our house, which we had just moved to from our apartment in preparation for a family, has a farmhouse theme.  Our master bedroom has a cream colored walls and one shiplap wall which our bed’s decorative headboard sits against, while our king sized bed is covered in a thick white comforter.  There’s a gray bench at the end of our bed and a blue and white rug.  There are nightstands on each side of the bed where we keep our small before bed items and our white, shared dresser is on the other side of the room, next to the door for our walk-in closet.  We have an attached bath with a clawfoot tub and a shower stall.  Our room lets in lots of natural light, which Steve loves because he likes to let the morning sun warm his back on his days off.

This room has a completely different feel to it. It’s much darker than our room at home. The walls are gray and his comforter is dark blue.  He has a black dresser across from his bed with a TV mounted to the wall above it. A plain bathroom with just a few essentials like shaving cream, a toothbrush, toothpaste, etc sit on the counter.  While our walls at home aren’t covered in pictures, we have more than the two he has here.  One is a picture of him and Bucky laughing and the other is of his parents before his father went to war; the war he never came back from.  Both pictures he has copies of hanging up at home. There’s a somewhat large window on the wall, but it’s covered with a blackout curtain.

I did most of the decorating at home, while this decorating was all him.   “Steve?” He looks at me.  “Do you not like our room at home?”

He furrows his eyebrows.  “No.  I love our place.  Why would you think that? Also, that’s very random to be bringing up now.”

“Well it’s just…this room is so different from ours at home.  I just didn’t know if you liked the darker colors better.  I want you to be comfortable in our room at home.  We can change it if you want it to look more like this one.”

He gives a little laugh and turns to face me.  “I didn’t decorate this room, Tony’s person did and he gave me this room because it’s the “most masculine”.  I prefer our room because it’s bright and spacious.  The fact that you decorated it is special to me because it’s like a present you gave to me.  Plus, I don’t have the best eye for interior design since everything I grew up with was either floral or had doilies.  But to be honest, this one feels a bit like a dungeon.  I just don’t bother to change it because I just sleep at home.  And I didn’t change it before I met you because even then I just used it to sleep, if I slept at all,” he looks into the distance, remembering all the nights he spent up in the gym, trying to beat the memories out of his mind.  He changes the subject, “Ok, so when we go down there I’m gonna have you wait around the corner and then you can come out when I tell you.”

He leads me downstairs and has me wait in a hallway. He walks around the corner and I hear Tony say, “Alright Capsicle, what’s the surprise you have for us?”

“Everybody just sit down and I’ll get to it in a minute,” he replies.  The sound of chairs scraping the floor is heard and Tony grumbles something about how he had been planning to have lasagna with Pepper tonight.  After a few seconds of silence, Steve comes back around the corner, grabs my hand, and leads me out. I nearly trip over my heels when we start moving and the pit in my stomach only grows.

At the sight of me, Tony and Natasha stand up startled. “What is she doing here?” Tony angrily asks.

“I thought you banned her,” Natasha adds on.

They all begin chattering, asking Steve why I’m here until Bucky calmly says, “Hey Y/N.”

Sam looks at Bucky confused, “You know her?”  Bucky nods his head and Sam looks at Steve, confused and a little hurt.  “Steve?”

“Everybody,” Steve starts, setting his hand on my lower back.  “This is Y/N, my wife.”

“WIFE?!” they all shout at different times.  Steve and I get bombarded with about a million questions at once.  When did we meet, why weren’t they invited to the wedding, when the wedding was, why I interviewed Steve the way I did, etc.

A loud thud on the balcony draws everyone’s attention. Thor is standing there in his armor and cape, holding his hammer.  “Sorry I’m late for team dinner,” he begins but stops when he sees me.  “Lady Y/N, I haven’t seen you since the wedding.  How has being married to the Captain been?”

“Oh you know, being married to a man-child is a struggle, but he’s hot enough for me to keep him around,” I joke.

“Thor, you know her too?” Tony asks.

“Yes I do.  Loki does too but I decided not to bring him tonight.  I think it would have been a bad idea.”

“Alright, Tony, sit down and I’ll explain everything,” Steve says.  Tony hesitantly sits down and everyone else follows.  Steve explained everything from why we met to why we couldn’t invite them to the wedding.

As he’s finishing telling the story and answering questions from the team, Tony’s bots bring in the pasta and Steve gets up and grabs something from the basket we brought.  He opens a bottle of wine and begins filling glasses.  When he gets to mine, I put my hand over my cup.  “Not tonight,” I say.

“But it’s your favorite,” he says.

“I can’t,” I say, not wanting to get in to it.

“C’mon, I won’t let you drink too much,” he says jovially.

“No, Steve…I can’t,” I say forcefully, looking up to make eye contact, hoping he understands without giving anything away.

He understands, but unfortunately his mouth works faster than his brain.  He looks down at my stomach and an excited smile spreads on his face.  “Are you…?”

I look around the table, seeing the Avengers all looking at us expectedly.  I look back at Steve and sheepishly nod.  He gasps and nearly drops the bottle, but luckily he realizes that when I reach out to catch it.

“A babe,” Thor says happily.  “Mazel tov.”

“They’re not Jewish,” Bucky says to Thor.  “Can’t wait to meet little James or Jamie.”  I give Bucky a look to let him know it’s not happening.  “Ok, Bucky works too.”

Tony puts his head in his hands looking like he’s about to pass out.  “Oh my god, we find out Steve is married to a woman I banned from the compound, and now that he’s going to be a father.”

I look at Steve to see him with tears in his eyes. Thankfully, Natasha saves us. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she says, standing up and holding her glass out.  “To Steve and Y/N, I hope you have a long, happy marriage and a healthy baby girl that you name Natasha.”

“That was the other thing we had planned to tell you tonight.  We’ve been trying for a baby.  I guess we were successful.”  Steve finishes pouring the drinks while everybody suggests baby names.  After a while, the conversation drifts to other things.  I enjoy listening to them, though they’re constantly quipping (mostly Tony).

Bucky, who’s sitting next to me, whispers to Steve, who’s on my other side, “Are we going to church this Sunday?”  The three of us go to church most Sundays. Steve and Bucky both grew up going to church, and it gives them some hope in a dark world.

Tony, who wasn’t involved in the conversation, cuts in. “Barnes, you could live at church and you still won’t go upstairs when you die.”

Bucky’s metal hand clenches so hard around his fork I’d be surprised if it isn’t bent.  He looks at Tony and gives him a very fake, overly sweet smile.  “Tony, I love how mean you are to me because it makes me feel less guilty about what I did to your parents.”

Tony stands up, slamming his hands on the table and Bucky mirrors him.  It looks like they’re about to attack but Steve intervenes.  “Tony, Bucky!  Tony, that was uncalled for and Bucky, that was unnecessary.  We know how you actually feel about your past and we’ve watched you try to change.”  Both men slowly sit back down.  “We have a guest.”  Bucky relaxes first, then Tony does.

“Y/N,” Tony addresses me.  “I need to apologize for my rudeness towards Bucky on my first night officially meeting you.  I was hoping not to fight with him tonight.”

“You call that a fight?  You should hear these two,” I say, gesturing to Steve and Bucky on either side of me.  “These guys can bicker with each other like an old married couple for hours about the smallest things.  Last week they had a 45 minute argument on how many times you can reuse a towel before it needs to be washed.”

“Wash it right away,” Steve mutters.

“Steve, we used to use towels so many times before we washed them in the 40s,” Bucky argues.

“Yeah but that was because if we needed to wash things, Mom had to heat up water and then hang-dry it on the balcony.  It’s easy to wash things now days.”

“Anyways,” Tony says, stopping their argument.  “I guess the interview you gave Cap makes sense now…somewhat.”

“Well I was pissed at him that day, so I think he deserved it.”

Tony smiles at Steve.  “You need to bring her around more often.”

Taglist: @imanuglywombat @infernal-fire @dottirose @carpediemm-18​