#we know that Rio is Nicky's other parent

[feal-the-grinch]

Agatha's quiet pleading here is killing me. Mouth agape, she shakes her head. Agatha knows why Rio (Death) is here, she feels it, yet, her disbelief is clear, and she still holds hope Rio won't do it.

But then, Rio takes a first step towards her, and then another. The next shot shows Agatha realising that Rio is going to take their/her child. The only person who has ever loved her is going to take away the little being Agatha already loves with her entire heart and soul...

It's no wonder Agatha's defences went up right after. In her eyes, from the moment Death took those steps towards her, Rio chose her job over Agatha and Nicky. From that moment on, something broke between them.

[hope-you-brought-kneepads-bitch]

Agatha: Okay Nicky what do we say when someone approaches you and you don’t know who they are?

Nicky: Stay back my mama will drain your life essence from your body

Rio: Andddd…

Nicky: My dad will drag you to hell

Agatha: Perfect! You’re ready to go on that school trip now

Rio: But don’t forget this baby *hands Nicky a smaller version of her own dagger/scythe*

Nicky: My teacher said we’re not allowed sharp objects that might hurt ourselves or others

Rio: That’s why it comes with a leather cover baby, only use it when there’s a stranger around

Nicky: Okay! *takes the dagger and puts it in his bag*

Billy watching from the side shocked: What the hell guys?!

Agatha: What?

Rio: Are you judging our parenting techniques?

Lilia: ladies you can’t send a young boy to an overnight school trip with a sharp dagger because you’re scared of strangers

Nicky: It’s okay aunt Lilia I promise to be safe

Agatha: See! He’s very mature for his age

Billy: You’re going to get an angry phone call from the school Agatha

Rio: jokes on you teenager we don’t answer the phone when they call since they do it so often

Agatha: And we put the letters in senior scratchy’s cage right where they belong

Nicky: I have some more in my bag for him too

Agatha: Perfect!

[velvet4510]

We all knew Rio was Nicky’s other parent but it’s glorious to see it firmly confirmed and so no hater is able to deny it anymore.

And now we can really bask in just how deep and unique the writing is for that final episode.

From conception, Nicky was half-life, half-death.

Death isn’t supposed to create life. It’s a total paradox that explains why Nicky was meant to be stillborn. How could the child of Death live? Agatha becoming pregnant must’ve turned Rio’s world upside down.

Also Rio doesn’t see death as a tragedy. How could she when it’s her job? When it’s the natural order of things? Before meeting Agatha, it never crossed her mind that death could be seen as bad.

But it’s when she fell for a living human, a mortal, that she finally saw what death means for humans. How much pain and fear and grief it brings.

And suddenly here’s Agatha pleading and pleading for her to NOT do her job, to NOT take their child with her. If she does this, she’ll break Agatha’s heart - the antithesis of her understanding of death. Rio suddenly comprehends that as long as Agatha lives on, there’s no way for the three of them to ever be together as a family. No wonder she chokes back tears.

As for Agatha, she only has the living person’s perspective. How could Rio want THEIR child to die? It’s the antithesis of parental instincts to want or allow your child to die. Death or no Death, surely Rio can see why this would be wrong?

Agatha and Rio are looking at the situation through totally different and incompatible lenses.

So out of love for Agatha alone, Rio lets Nicky’s “life” half take over not just for a few hours or days, but SIX WHOLE YEARS.

Then when Rio can’t stretch the rules any longer and she comes for him, Nicky knows her. He does not fear her, or where they are going. How can he, when she is his mother, when she needs him home?

Then Rio pays the price, as Agatha cuts ties with her and wants nothing to do with her anymore.

I also think this explains why Rio is so determined to kill Agatha herself or to let the Salem Seven do it, during the rest of the show. Again, as Death, she doesn’t see death as bad, or a harm, or a pain. If Agatha dies, then Rio can take her to Nicky and they can finally be a family. But Agatha doesn’t want them to be a family together. She still sees what happened as a loss and betrayal that Nicky would never forgive her for - the opposite of how Rio views it.

Ultimately, Agatha makes herself into a ghost who can’t cross over to where Nicky is, and Rio’s dream of her family being together is shattered.

Truly one of the greatest and most profound tragedies in television history, let alone MCU history.

[isagrimorie]

I was skeptical about Rio as Nicky's Other parent until the finale.

Until Agatha said this:

"I spoke no spell. I said no incantationn. You were made from scratch."

And then, Jen said:

"Green Craft is about the cycle of all living things. Growth and decay in constant flow."

Who else was Agatha hooking up with? Rio. I think Agatha spoke of wanting a child and we know how fast Rio folds whenever Agatha asks something of her.

I think unconsciously, Rio gave Agatha what she wanted.

And, when Rio realized what happened, she realized that no offspring born of her power should ever live or be known. So she came to take the baby from Agatha except Agatha begged. So Rio gave in again.

Gave her time with Nicky.

But also why Rio took Nicky in the dead of night when Agatha was asleep, so Agatha couldn't beg and bargain with Rio.

I do think Nicky also knew Rio because he was familiar with Rio when she took him. I think anytime Nicky was alone, and Agatha was away, Rio was around. But Agatha didn't know.

Agatha could have seen Nicky again in the after life, if she went on with Rio. Until Marvel disputes it, I think Nicky lives within Rio's domain. Just like Rio's brother, Eternity, has his own domain. I think Death has her own.

[howdeepthegrave]

Agathario AU where Agatha's friends drag her out to a bar for her birthday. She hasn't dated or even had a hookup since things ended with Wanda three years before, and she's not in much mood to get back into the dating scene, being far too busy running the family business and raising Nicky. Still, Lilia and Alice and Jen convince her to leave Nicky with a babysitter for one night and do something for herself.

At the bar, while the others get pleasantly soused, Agatha is just counting the minutes until she can reasonably call the whole evening done and head home. But then she takes note of the live band performing that night, particularly of the good-looking drummer who, between sets, comes over and eases past her to grab a round of drinks.

"Sorry," the drummer says, brushing past Agatha.

"Oh, no trouble," Agatha says, being polite.

"Oh no," the drummer says, "I assure you, I can be trouble."

And then this gorgeous, sexy drummer winks at her and Agatha feels quite suddenly overheated and a little faint. She chalks it up to a couple of drinks and the crowded conditions at the bar and begs off, telling everyone she has to head home because Nicky's sitter texted and said there's a problem.

The next day, Alice texts her an image of one thing: a napkin from the bar with a phone number and the name 'Rio' scrawled on it.

"That hot drummer wants you to call her."

Agatha brushes it off, that's so lame, so crazy, she would never...

That night, once Nicky is asleep, Agatha calls the number. It turns out Rio wanted to apologize, because she got the sense she came on too strong to Agatha and she hopes she didn't ruin her evening or anything.

"I tried to find you later to apologize in person, but your friends said you'd left in a hurry and that it was your birthday and... And I really hope I didn't screw up your birthday celebration."

"No, no way. I really didn't want to be out at a bar anyway. Really, I would have left soon anyway and... And anyway, no need to apologize."

They leave it at that, and Agatha goes to bed and of course that night is a torment of dreams about this person she's met once and spoken to twice. She talks to Lilia the next day and makes the mistake of bringing everything up.

"Sounds like what you need, my dear, is some release. A little one-on-one session with..."

"Oh my God, Lilia! Are you telling me to go have some random, nigh-anonymous hookup with someone I hardly know?"

"You said it, not me."

And Agatha goes on for weeks thinking about this random drummer, Rio Vidal, and she keeps having these dreams, and she can't handle it until one afternoon, she takes Nicky to the local library for toddler story time and who should be that day's reader but Rio Vidal! Of course, Rio looks a bit less rock band drummer that day, having traded in ripped jeans, tank top, and leather vest for a white button down and dark green slacks. Agatha tries not to stare as she stands at the back with the other parents, but something about Rio today is so warm, such a calming presence. The kids all seem to love her, and Agatha notes that Nicky keeps scooting closer to the reader's chair.

When story time is over, Agatha swoops in to collect Nicky, but he slips away and goes to hug Rio's leg.

"Hey, little guy," Rio says, and she leans down to pat Nicky's hair.

Agatha is flustered as hell, apologizing for Nicky, trying to coax him away. Rio finally crouches down and talks to Nicky a moment, then lifts him up and puts him in Agatha's arms.

"Three-year-olds, huh?" is all Rio says.

"I'm sorry if we're holding you up..."

"Not at all. This is my day off. Can I walk you to your car?"

"Oh, no, we... We walked here. We live close by."

"Ah. Well, can I walk you somewhere else close by? I know a place that makes great hot chocolate."

And Agatha, who has never made a truly impulsive decision in the three years since her ex left her two weeks before Nicky was born, decides to hell with it. She and Nicky will go and have hot chocolate with this person who is basically a stranger. What's the worst that could happen? Of course, then her brain is going through all the worst case scenarios, and she freezes up and only comes out of it when she feels Rio's hand on her arm.

"I... You don't have to go anywhere with me. Sorry."

And Rio starts to walk away, but Agatha realizes she does want to go somewhere with this person, just to talk, just to have some conversation with another adult who isn't a coworker or neighbor or friend she's known since college.

"Nicky does love hot chocolate," Agatha says, and Nicky absolutely agrees, almost squirming himself out of his mother's arms because WHERE IS THIS HOT CHOCOLATE YOU SPEAK OF AND DOES IT COME WITH WHIPPED CREAM?

So they go to this little café near the library, a place Agatha knows she's walked and driven past a thousand times but never stopped at. It's a really nice place, cozy, all dark wood interior and so. Many. Plants. Rio leads the way to the counter and offers advice on the best drink options, and Agatha notices a level of deference from the staff and figures Rio is probably a regular here, which means Rio is in the neighborhood a lot, which means Rio is near her house a lot, which means...

"So, I guess you come here often?" Agatha asks once they're seated.

"You could say that. I mean, I own the place."

"You... But I thought you were..."

"The drumming is an occasional gig, filling in with my old college roommate's band."

They sit there and talk about just everything, and Rio is charming, a touch self-effacing, and so very sweet and gentle toward Nicky. When they leave the café, Agatha asks if, since Rio's free, she'd like to walk them home. She agrees, and walks them to their door.

"I'd really like to see you again sometime, Agatha. Maybe just you and me? Dinner?"

"I'd like that."

They make a date for the following week, and Agatha is nervous as hell when the day arrives, but she gets Nicky settled with his sitter and then Rio turns up, gorgeous and kind, and they go out and have a marvelous time together. This in turn leads to months of dating, sometimes going out, sometimes hanging out at Agatha's place with Nicky. They spend Christmas Eve together, and then New Year's Eve. Rio kisses Agatha at the stroke of midnight and asks if they can make whatever they are a little more official. Agatha is terrified of the commitment, of what it will do to her and to Nicky if this ends, but Rio is so warm and kind and funny, and she seems to really care about Nicky, and Agatha wants this. She wants this even if somehow it might seem selfish.

In the new year, when they've made it official, things only seem better and brighter. There's a bit of a wobble in April when Wanda turns up back in town, seemingly wanting a second chance with Agatha and wanting to get to know Nicky. A part of Agatha almost wants to allow it; after all, she and Wanda were involved when Nicky was conceived. He was supposed to be their son, until Wanda bailed at almost literally the last moment. She discusses the matter with Rio, who instantly agrees to step back, if that's what's needed.

"But just know, Agatha, I'm here for you. For Nicky. If you need anything, want anything, I will always be here."

Agatha knows then that all she needs and wants is Rio and the life they've started to build together. Nicky is so attached to Rio, almost as attached as he's always been to Agatha, and Agatha can see it would break Rio's heart to not be as present in their lives. She talks things out with Wanda, who understands and agrees that she made a mistake and they're over with for good. When she gets back from meeting with Wanda, she finds Rio asleep on the couch, and Nicky asleep on Rio's chest, and she knows that this is the forever they all deserve.

[i-hold-deaths-hand-in-mine]

rio collects a soul; an excerpt from "and those we can't remember"

The room was so dark when Rio opened her eyes hours later to a familiar and unwanted tug. Beside her, Agatha snored, and it brought a small smile to her lips as she leaned over to kiss her temple. 

“I’ll be back,” she whispered. Agatha murmured her acknowledgement, then promptly went back to snoring. 

Rio closed her eyes and gave herself to the shadows, dissolving into them, letting them bring her to where her soul was being called. 

It was a bedroom, quiet and lifeless. 

She was in her Death form, but her face was human, soft and gentle and warm. This, she realized with a cold fist around her heart, was her least favorite form. It was the one that did not belong, halfway between Death and human, and for one purpose only –

When a soul needed gentleness. 

These moments were the ones that haunted her most, made her understand that she was not ever meant for much more than destruction and death. She took, and took, and took, and never left anything behind but a body. 

Just like with Nicky , she tried so hard not to think. 

The boy sat up in his bed, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. Rio stood in the doorway, smiling invitingly at him. She reached out a hand, beckoned him forth. 

He yawned. “I don’t want to get out of bed,” he told her. “It’s so warm and comfortable.”

Her heart was already breaking. How many times was it possible for a heart to break and mend and break and mend and break and mend before there was nothing left to put back together?

“I know a place that is warmer,” she told him, “and much more comfortable. I can take you there.” It was so hard for her to speak, even though for the first time that night, all of her words were true, true, true.

This enticed the boy to throw his blanket back and swing his legs over the side of the bed, but then he paused. “Will my mom and dad be there?” he asked. 

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. 

He got up and walked across the room to stand just in front of her, his eyes big and wondrous as he looked up at her. “You’re so pretty,” he said. 

She let out a noise that was half a cry and half a laugh. “Thank you,” she managed. 

His eyebrows furrowed as he thought for a moment. “Do you promise that my mom and dad will be there?”

Rio knelt down to look him in the eyes. One hand went to her waist, to touch the blade of her knife, and the other she lifted for the boy to take. “I promise,” she said, and it was true. Any reservations he had dropped away. He reached out, placing his little hand into hers –

And then he was gone, if only in one way; because in the morning, he would still be there, in the other way, in that heartbreaking way his parents had to learn. 

Rio walked over to the side of his bed, gently tucking the blanket around his cold body. Her hand touched his forehead, and then she collapsed to her knees, and she sobbed. She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed. 

But the house remained quiet, silent –

None heard when Death wept.

Still she did, every time she was called upon. Quiet, and alone, like a horrible birthright, an imprint on her very soul she was never meant to escape. She thought back to the last time she spoke to Charonides, the words she had proclaimed: I am Death. 

Death, Death, Death. 

Not a birthright. A curse. This was a curse, perhaps the oldest, the very first.

Because where, in all the world, could Death possibly escape itself? Where could Death have hidden, when none could hide from Death?

(And why did Rio feel like she was being swallowed whole by the overwhelming desire to do either?)

Then, a very small, very quiet, and very pleading voice, way at the back of her mind, whispered urgently her answer: Home . 

Where could Death run to? Where could Death hide?

Well…where can any of us?

Home, of course – whether a person, or a place, or a feeling - we can always run home. 

And so she did.

She buried herself beneath the blankets in their bed, smothered Agatha in a tight hug that briefly woke her only so she could then wrap her own arms around Rio. She inhaled deeply the scent of Agatha’s hair, of their laundry detergent on the pillowcases. 

She nestled herself within the feelings of safety and calm and warmth, within the arms of the woman she loved, within all these things she called home.

This was where Death hid; this is where we hide from Death.

more info | read here | masterlist

[tgft212]

Wanna Marry This Old Ass?

@agathaallalongweek

Day 2: Fake dating/marriage

Fandom: Agatha All Along (TV)

Relationships: Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal, Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal & Nicholas Scratch (Marvel) & Adria Vidal (OC), Agatha Harkness/Rio Vidal

Characters: Agatha Harkness, Rio Vidal, Nicholas Scratch (Marvel), Adria Vidal (OC)

Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Useless Lesbians, Fake Marriage, Their children ship them, AAA Week | Agatha All Along Week, Rio Vidal Loves Agatha Harkness, Agatha Harkness Loves Rio Vidal

Summary:

"We need to get married."

"Come again?" Agatha raised her eyes from whatever had lost her interest in her book. Messy hair, half up in an untidy bun and eyebrows well on their way into said hair.

"We need to get married." 

"Come again?" Agatha raised her eyes from whatever had lost her interest in her book. Messy hair, half up in an untidy bun and eyebrows well on their way into said hair. 

"They're tearing the building down in a few months, and people, translation men, prefer renting to 'one family', which, apparently, we aren't without that peace of paper, I've started looking into where we could move, cause you know, we'll have to." Rio willingly succumbed to gravity and fell on the sofa, having just put Nicky and Adri to bed, legs immediately flying over its back and back twisting in such a way that her head landed right by Agatha's thighs. 

"I knew that we were getting looks, we always are, but still," Agatha says. Then she gets a look in her eye, a dangerous one. Rio likes it; most people do not. 

"You know, there's still the part of my inheritance. The one that says I get access to it, once I get married." Agatha said not as nonchalantly as she was pretending to, but Rio actually got up into a mostly normal sitting position in under a second.

"What?" Her head was dizzy. Since when did Agatha have an inheritance?

"I found out like, yesterday. Apparently, grandparents put it in, the sperm donor's parents. The only way we know is because they somehow managed to go over the birther's head, wish I knew how to do that earlier. If I get married, I get everything of theirs and money that was intended for the sperm donor, but apparently he also kicked the bucket, a few years back, actually. It would have been split evenly between surviving grandkids, but I'm the only one alive and therefore eligible. There would have been one other, but he died two years ago. Maybe one other, I wasn't paying much attention at that point." She tried to sound unbothered, but Rio saw the twitching muscle in her cheek and decided to pretend to eat the bait. 

"Your mysterious meeting yesterday." She wasn't asking. There was no other time Agatha could have had such a meeting. Not in the past eight years. A side effect of living in the same room was a certain lack of privacy.

"Yep", she popped the p and continued staring at Rio's face.

"Wait, how'd you even find out? I don't suppose birther wanted you to know, and you said that they had to go over her head." Rio raised her eyebrows, reaching for the water on the coffee table.

"Birther finally kicked the bucket." Agatha's smile could not be wider, and it should have been concerning. It wasn't. 

"Wait, for real?" Rio's voice was light, lighter than she'd thought it could be. Oh, if Evanora were dead, they would have a family celebration, because that deserved every single party in the world.

"There is one thing I don't joke about, it's her." She knew that, obviously. But this had been a wish for so long it didn't feel real.

"Well congratu-fucking-lations." They raised the water glasses from the table in a sign of cheer. 

"We can celebrate later, now I need you to focus." Agatha jumped in before Rio's brain could go somewhere and start planning a celebration for such an occasion, and be a nuisance for the entire evening.

"Right, we need to get married for two reasons now." She didn't like how unsure that sounded. 

"Think Rio, it will set us up for life." Agatha reached out and held one of her hands in both hers. 

"Us?" Duh, married means two consenting adults. She did ask you to marry her, too, idiot. Stupid self-esteem issues.

"You, me, the kids. Sperm donors' parents weren't loaded rich, but they had a house in a good town and enough money to change our entire lives. We can pay off the remaining debts and start anew." College and medical. Not that they would ever say the second part out loud, not until all the lights were off and they drank a bit of alcohol. 

"So, you.." she doesn't dare finish that sentence. 

"Want you and Adri to come along? Duh, it's the four of us against the world, now literally." Agatha looked at her like it was the surest thing in the world.

"Right" Rio's brain short circuited, damn issues and childhood trauma.

"Rio, I'll say this only once, because we both know that unless it's the kids, I'm allergic to feelings. I'd be happy with Nicky, goddess knows I would. But, life without you, without Adri, would not be worth the same." Cue Rio's lesbian brain just, kicking the bucket, momentarily. 

"Right", she doesn't know what else she could say. Agatha went right in there and put a bandage on her metaphorical bleeding heart. Nope, there will be time for this later, when everyone has gone to sleep.

"Ditto, by the way. If we're doing this, we need to work out the logistics fast, and also, tell the kids." Rio refused the useless lesbian to take over. Time to work, brain. 

"Obviously, they're big enough to know about, well, technically the scheme," Agatha smirked in the way she did whenever she had a master plan slowly forming in her brain.

"Not all of it." Rio knew she didn't have to remind Agatha of that, but it was important for her to keep the communication clear. 

"Please, they'll never be old enough to know all of it, but they can know most of this ploy," she knew, Rio saw it in her eyes. But this was Agatha, emotional spoons were reserved for the kids, and then maybe after some wine and something that reminded her of whatever asshole helped mess up her life.

"They like being in on something, goddess knows we won't be bored with the two of them once they become teenagers."

"Nope, we do not think like that." Agatha got up and started to quietly pace, she needed to move to get some of the adrenaline induced energy out, "And that they hate the city, Westview will do them good." 

"That's the town?" obvously idiot, but it was getting late and she was fucking tired.

"Yeah, idilic, nice big houses, good schools and after-school programmes, not too far from NYC, should something go very wrong. And there is a community centre. And the town isn't more religious than your average American, so we should be okay enough."

"So New Jersey?"

"Yep."

"Okay. Worst case scenario we sell the house and find somewhere without dicks." Identical smirks settled on their faces as now Agatha fell back onto the sofa.

"Okay", Agatha sighs with relief. She wasn't too worried about Rio not agreeing, but when it comes to people, she never is certain, not even with Rio. It's the last part she hates the most. 

"Let's get scheming", Agatha cracks her knuckles, and Rio, after she stretches and twists her back in inhuman ways to get some of the knots out gets up and heads towards the kitchen. 

"I'll make us tea, there's a lot to cover."

They spend the rest of the night going over everything and planning. The kids don't remember living apart; they never really have. 

Rio's parents left her with a kid sister to raise, abusive assholes who died months after she was born and Rio took her in without a second thought. Right when she and Agatha moved in together and Agatha had Nicky. Her last attempt at a boyfriend left seconds after he found out about the pregnancy, and she had just managed to hunt him down to sign away all of his parental rights. 

So it was them, the kids, against everyone else, through thick and thin. Adri and Nicky got along wonderfully, siblings in every sense of the word. Protective of the other in ways parents can only dream of. Rio is mami, Agatha is mama and while they tried explaining and laying out that technically they should call their non-biological parent by name, it never stuck, since they started talking. Adri never bothered asking for more, never asked for her biological parents after Rio told her that they died when she was a few months old, and that they weren't the best people to be around. The second part was only when she asked why Rio didn't look too sad about it, she didn't have it in her to lie and have Adri idolise people who would have probably tried to break her. 

Neither kid knew the full extent of what actually happened to their moms, and Rio and Agatha vowed to never let them find out everything about their lives, ever. Not when they were old and dying, not when the kids grew to be eighteen. Never.

"Do you think we can manage to do this before the summer ends? They have two weeks left of school, and then we can move once everything is settled." Rio was now lying on the floor, legs propped up on the sofa.

"I may have told the lawyer that due to the lack of family and friends, we were planning to get married in three weeks, a small wedding at the courthouse. He said that once the confirmation came through, about a week later, we should be able to move." Agatha was lying on her front, facing Rio on the floor. Their teas were long gone.

"You counted on me saying yes?" Rio shouldn't be surprised, this is Agatha after all.

"Technically, you asked first." There was a shit eating grin on her face.

"Yeah, well," Rio got up without another word and went to their room, fuck you city prices, and came back with a small purple box. 

"What? How do you even?" Agatha wanted to laugh, but the way her heart clenched had her shocked, speechless, unable to properly display her usually loud opinion. 

"Figured I should get you a ring in case you said yes," Rio shrugged and sat back down in her spot, opposite Agatha, who had straightened her spine into a sitting position, and opened the box. There was a ring, a simple, nice ring with four different stones set in a row. Nothing overly extravagant, but intimate.

"It's us and the kids. I was going to get all of us some for Christmas this year, but figured this was a good way to utilise it." Rio has had it for longer, not that she would ever admit it. She was waiting for when the kids were older to lessen the risk of them losing it.

Agatha did not have tears falling from her eyes, she did not. For all her and Rio always said that they were best friends and nothing more, it was moments like this that kept her patient. Because while this was yet another mess their makeshift family has gotten into, it's always felt like a lot more. Like everything. And Agatha has managed to keep her cool the entire time, but then Rio would do something like this and she would be left wondering exactly 'what the fuck were they'. 

"Oh my, Rio", it sounded a lot more broken than she wanted it to. 

"So what do you say, want to marry this old ass?" Rio joked, still scared shitless mind you, and took the ring out of the box, wordlessly asking for Agatha's hand. Hand that was freely given. 

They kept eye contact, and she could see Rio's searching gaze, looking for any signs of uncertainty, fear, 'no', anything that would tell her to immediately stop. But she counldn't find anything, because there wasn't anything to find. 

So she slipped the ring on. Agatha was still staring in awe. It was beautiful and clearly made to fit, because it did, like a glove. She wore rings all over her fingers all the time, so they could easily get lost, unless you knew where to look for it. 

"I'm glad it fits." There is undeniable smile to be heard in Rio's voice. Agatha wouldn't know; she couldn't stop staring at the ring. Her ring.

"Like it was made for me", it was, a stupid comment to let out of your mouth Agatha. 

"I mean, it was. I have Adri and Nicky's tucked away. Theirs are on necklaces, I wasn't sure I trusted them to both wear a ring and also not loose it."

"What about yours?" she laid her head on Rio's shoulder, and the other woman immediately started playing with her long hair. 

"Not done yet, or more like, left it to be the last, and it'll be at least a month before I can buy it."

"What?"

"Well, it's the actual stones, the band is more expensive, so it holds for a long time. And there is an engraving on the inside, too."

Agatha takes hers off and looks inside. 

Our Love is Unconditional and a symbol of a book.

Agatha didn't respond, not immediately, just, rested her head on Rio's shoulder and tried her damn hardest not to cry her heart out. 

"I never wanted them to wonder, I know that we've done our best so that they never do, and talked about it all at length, both between us and with them, but figured a reminder wouldn't hurt, especially considering our lack of childhoods." she ran her fingers through the part of Agatha's hair that wasn't still in the bun. "And everybody has a different symbol, of course."

"I want to make a joke, but this is too sweet to be made fun of, maybe later." After a small pause, she adds: "fiancée." 

Rio chuckles, "Yeah, I was pretty sure you'd end up saying something like this. Want me to take your hair down?" Agatha nods, and so Rio goes through with the offer. She takes the down, carefully, from the half bun Agatha produced after she came home from work, and starts running fingers through her hair, gently detangling along the way.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, until they heard the kids walking around, and glanced at the clock to look at the time, after midnight, that was not good. Technically, it was the weekend, but Nicky and Adri were a bit too young to be still up. The financièes exchanged a glance and without any other words get up and headed towards the kids' room. 

It's big, the biggest room in the flat. Each little one has a bunkbed, table underneath it and space that was theirs to decorate, as much as renting allowed (and some more because their ability to express themselves was important to their moms). 

Both eight-year-olds were out of their beds, their bestest plushie in hand, clearly getting ready to go and search for them. 

"What are you two.."

"Adri had a nightmare"

"Nicky had a nightmare"

The kids started talking over each other. Agatha and Rio didn't need to share a look or ask to know that one got up, started eavesdropping and then woke the other up to be complicit in getting information.

"Can we sleep with you?" they asked in sync, puppy eyes on, heads slightly tilted down.

There was no question to be asked. Agatha and Rio, without sharing a look, each reached out with their arms and bent down, waiting for an eight-year-old to fill the space. 

Usually, Nicky would run for Agatha and Andri for Rio, at least initially, before something like this turned into a cuddle pile. But the kids ran into their arms, head first, reaching for both adults. 

Only then did Agatha and Rio share a look, and each scooped up the kid closer to them. Rio took Nicky on her back, and Agatha held Adri on her hip. 

They were both in enough of a PJ clothes that they didn't bother thinking about changing. 

In the master bedroom, which was barely a bed and a shared closet, they let the kids down on the bed and were immediately pulled down by them. 

Their eight-year-olds, aren't usually that clingy. They like touch, and will just come and cuddle up during whatever time of day.

"Are we leaving?" Adri turned to face Rio, moving closer to her mami. 

"Why do you ask, mi amor?"

"Because we heard you, you and mama talked about leaving and getting married..." Adri clearly wasn't a fan of the idea of her and Rio leaving their two favourite people behind. 

"No, no. Well, we wanted to tell you in the morning, but Agatha and I will be getting married to each other. And we will be moving, but all of us together." Because their kids deserve to have their input heard, even if they do have to move somewhere else, either way, even if they were fairly sure there wouldn't be an issue with it. 

"We wanted to talk to you rascals in the morning, to properly explain everything, but I guess tonight is as good a night as any" she waits for Rio's nod before she lights the lamps up and sits against the headboard with the other three following her cues. Rio copying her position and Adri climbing into her lap while Nicky climbed into Agatha's. 

"Agatha found out that her sperm donor's parents left her some inheritance, but only if she gets married."

"And because everyone already mistakes us for a couple, you two treat each other like siblings anyway, we thought it best if we got married. There are a lot of benefits to this, adult ones neither of you needs to worry about."

The kids only object to one thing in the entire sentence. 

"But we are siblings!" they yelp out in a chorus, and then point at each other from their sitting places in the claimed adult's laps. 

"We know loves, but not to everyone else. Now you will be." Rio strokes Adri's back as she feels that the girl is about to jump off her lap.

"Does that mean that you and mama will finally start kissing?" Nicky looks up at Rio from Agatha's lap, and she is oh so glad for the dark and shadows and only a small illuminating light on. 

"We're still just friends, mijo, that doesn't change. But you can tell people that we do." She smiles at him, trying very hard to project all of her feelings about the entire situation.

And the kids, to their utter surprise, cheer and then high five. Because of course they do. 

"And what about the moving?"

"Well, my biological grandparents had a house in a town, and once we get married and the lawyers review everything, we can move there."

"Out of the city?" Once again, they ask in unison.

"Yes."

The kids, despite it being about half past midnight, get out of their laps and start jumping on the bed in excitement, holding hands and jumping in a circle. "We're getting out, we're getting out!" They chant over and over again. 

Agatha and Rio exchange looks. They really won't be getting much sleep next night. There is too much that still needs to be discussed, things they will not have the time to talk about during the day with two very active eight-year-olds on their hands. 

"Okay, okay, you two need to sleep. And we will talk more tomorrow, after breakfast." Rio raises her eyebrows at them, a universal sign of 'listen or the consequences will not be to your liking'.

They visibly don't want to, but the yawns betray them and soon their little bodies give in to the lull of sleep and dreams, and the safety of their moms. They either hold onto their plushie, curled up into their adult. Safe, protected.

Rio and Agatha keep a small light on and stroke the children's hair. They whisper, theorising what and why the kids said while actively soothing them, not to disturb their sleep. They do end up turning the light off soon enough, not wanting to face two very active eight-year-olds exhausted, especially when there have been no previous plans for the weekend. 

In the morning, when they wake up, Rio is spooning Agatha, and the kids are nowhere to be seen. 

Author's note:

The author doesn't know much about either rental prices in the US (except from the things I've seen online) nor the family law nor the prices of rings, and as I am unfortunately in the middle of my exams, this will have to do for now.. 

This whole chapter was a writing experiment, the style is new to me and absolutely goes against my writing instincts, but oh well, challenging myself and whatnot.

This is the first chapter to something I would like to continue once school is over for me, but who knows what'll happen then. 

(Final note: Adria is named after Adria Arjona, because I haven't been able to stop thinking about her performance in Andor.)

[holyblanchett]

Not a Agathario thing but simply an Agatha thing I'm mad about.

Billy knows more magic and engages with more magic than Agatha. It fucking pissed me off and I have let it simmer for too long. We got more scenes of Billy talking technical magic than Agatha which is utter bullshit, Agatha as established in Wandavision is someone who loves the analysis, she loves picking apart what makes a spell work, why it works and more, she's the type of witch to have a grading system for all the other witches like she's Ash Ketchum who's going to be the Pokemon master and defeat all the other trainers.

Comics Agatha yaps so much about magic it gets annoying, in an endearing way but like yeah this woman knows what she's talking about and she sure as hell isn't stupid enough to not be able to survive without her 'purple' (it's adorable okay I love that Nicky calls it that). In the finale we have Agatha do like three spells, three? Motherfucker that lady forced the scarlet witch down the trauma central memory lane and had enough audacity to comment about her dead parents after she watched them die, she's got guts, she's got balls. She's not gonna mess around when it comes to a battle unless she's playing her opponent, she's fucking ruthless. like the whole scene with her having a noose around the twins' necks? You think that lady will whip out three spells and just not do anything else????

It is simply not realistic. Especially when it's against Rio, because let's be for real these two probably go hard in their fights as shown in the first episode. To have that condensed down to a little play fight of a thing so Billy can come in made me flip the fucking table.

It's stupid af, for a comics comparison it's like having Magik aka Illyana put down her sword forgo her wards and spells to karate chop someone or bringing a nerf gun when your opponent has an ak-47.

Agatha has two fight modes, fucking go for the kill or, slowly manipulate everybody give and give Doofenschmirtz monologues while she does it then bite heads off. Both end the same way. Agatha uses wit and charm alongside her magic.

If Jac really wanted high stakes she wouldn't have nerfed Agatha or have her go out without a proper verbal battle and one weird Billy thought invasion. So yes I'm beyond fucking mad.

Can I just say I shouldn't have laughed so hard at this (affectionate). I'm telling you if Jac had saved her coins for the final battle the show would have been so much better. I was craving a Agatha/Rio showdown. Mama had her magic for not even two minutes and even then she was struggling?? Rio knocked her on her ass one time and she was laying there like wtf??? I think another Anon referred to it as a light show and they werent wrong. It's so crazy to me. Hell, Comic, even What if...? Agatha is goated and so powerful. I get she had the darkhold in Wandavision but she's always been gifted she does not need it. She was done so dirty in her own show i will never forgive them 😭😭

[fuckyeah-dragrace]

HEY IF YOU WANNA READ ME BEING AN ABSOLUTE NERD AND OVER ANALYZE SOME MARVEL LESBIANS YOH SHOULD READ MORE

no but what no one’s talking abt (to my knowledge) is the difference in how agatha and rio view nicky and it makes their pain so so sooooo much more tragic

In Agatha’s mind, SHE made him. just herself and her alone which is why we get the lines of “I spoke no spell, no incantation, I made you from scratch” Nicky is solely hers and hers alone which further compounds on the pain of Nicky’s passing as she is going through one of the worst pains a mother could know, losing a child, but a child that is hers, a creation that was solely hers and therefore no one else can share in the grief of losing him because Nicky was only hers. That’s why also when Agatha and Rio talk about Nicky and how Rio believes she did her a service of giving her more time, Agatha is enraged and says essentially, “all you did was take from me” Yes Rio was her lover and I believe she still has these feelings for her, but to have such a horrible wrong in her eyes from the person she loved the most is unforgivable to know that they couldn’t bend the rules further to keep Nicky alive.

But then you throw Rio into the mix. A lot of this is just theory as nothings been confirmed but I think there’s substantial proof that Rio is the other parent of Nicky. Coming from Rio and Agatha’s past which was VERY heated, Nicky’s general resemblance to Rio in casting and with the line from Nicky of “my Mother wants me home” Nicky only ever refers to Agatha as ‘Mama’ so who is he talking about? Rio.

What’s also being glossed over is that Rio is a green witch along with being Death. Green witch’s control the cycle of life, from birth to death so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Rio COULD create life and perhaps it was done while she was with Agatha and led to Nicky. The show is centered around Agatha so we can’t see or read into Rios mind but there is obvious care shown between Rio and Nicky in his final scenes.

Rio comes to take him, not in her skeletal form mind you, and he isn’t afraid to go with her and excitedly gets up. Sure he’s a child and could not know who she was but he’s been on countless journeys with his mother killing witches so he’s seen Rio AT LEAST a few times but there’s a further level of intimacy where Nicky would willingly want to go to her and not be scared. The scene is very much reminiscent of a mother with her child, as Rio gently scolds/corrects Nicky for not giving Agatha a kiss before they walk away together.

Nicky is their child, something made from both Agatha and herself and so when she had to do her job and real his soul, she of course is heartbroken and devastes along with Agatha. That’s what makes their confrontation so charged and emotional on both ends. When Agatha accuses her of not giving her special treatment, Rio looks devastated.

Imagine if you created a child with the woman you loved for centuries at this point, but you know you have to reap their soul because while being a green witch, you are still death. And when you come to do your job which you stated you “didn’t want to do” in reference to Rios scar, the person you love most in the world says they will hate you forever and even when you give more time, going against the very natural order you represent you are still cursed at and despised. There is no telling the emotional torment Rio went through and it makes all of this so so sad and horrible.

But there is some hope and I view this as the mending at least on Agatha’s end when she’s having the conversation with Teen and she says “sometimes boys die”. The look of grief and acceptance on her face is what is key as in her mind she’s finally absolving the blame of Nicky’s passing on Rio. It was inevitable, Nicky was going to die and that couldn’t have been changed and there’s no reason to continue to let your hate fester and rot within you.

It’s awful and horrible but god is it so good and marvel did amazing with serious thank god we have this piece of media. This show has been fucking amazing and I’m crying everyday that it’s gone and over now.

[malfiora]

Motherhood in WandaVision, Doctor Strange 2, & Agatha All Along

Many, many spoilers ahead

Summary

Starting with the obvious: Wanda creates her and Vision's twins, Billy and Tommy, entirely from her own imagination. After losing them when she takes the hex down, she embarks on a quest to bring them back to life, even if it means tapping into dark forces and killing anyone who stands in her way, as we see in Doctor Strange

During the events of WandaVision, Monica attempts to connect to Wanda, empathizing with her grief over Vision through her own loss of her mother Maria.

As an inverse of Wanda, America Chavez's mothers sacrificed themselves to save her, now making her an orphan as she dimension hops. Wanda initially tries to abduct America to use her powers, and America stops her by bringing her to an alternate universe in which the twins are afraid of her and call out to their timeline's version of Wanda.

Around this time, Billy's soul takes over William Kaplan's body, and while he doesn't remember anything else before that moment, he knows he needs to save his twin Tommy, whose soul is lost. He seeks Agatha to access The Road, which is rumored to grant any who completes it whatever they want. Along the way, Agatha learns who he is.

Billy rejects the idea that Wanda is his mother, claiming he already has a mom (implying William's mother), and Agatha plays along. Still, Billy's reality manipulation and Wiccan costume match Wanda's.

Not long before this, Alice Wu-Gulliver is able to break her family's curse and learns along the way that her rockstar mother's rendition of The Witch's Road ballad was actually a spell to keep Alice safe since her mother couldn't protect her from the curse.

At the end of Agatha All Along, we see that Agatha conceived of her son Nicholas Scratch by herself ("from scratch") but he was doomed to die young. She kills witches to feed him for as long as she can but Rio (Death) inevitably comes to him. It is Nicky's song that sparks the rumor of the Witch's Road, which Agatha uses to trick other witches to steal their power.

Agatha admits to Billy that she is afraid to face Nicky in the afterlife, and that he reminds her of Nicky. They walk off together to "go find Tommy."

Analysis

Grief (defined here as the response to the loss of a loved one characterized by sadness and/or anger and similar emotions) acts as a unifier and motivation. The mishandling of grief leads characters (Wanda, Agatha) to cause suffering to others and steal resources to protect or bring to life their loved ones. Both characters are redeemed by the empathy of another grieving character, usually a grieving child (Monica, Billy, America).

This manifests in grieving parent/grieving child relationships that then lend to a found family dynamic: Monica and Wanda, America and Wanda, Billy and Agatha. Despite Billy claiming that he doesn't see Wanda as his mother (most likely indicating that he sees William Kaplan's mother as his true parent), he still falls into this dynamic, first by default and then willingly.

Motherhood is also tied to sacrifice. On one hand, we have mother figures who sacrifice themselves to save or protect their children: Lorna dedicated her life to protecting Alice, America's mothers helped her escape their dying world, and even Maria can be seen as having sacrificed herself since she built up SWORD while dying thus enabling Monica's career path. On the other, we also have mothers forced to sacrifice their children: Wanda must release the twins as she lets down the hex, and Agatha eventually loses Nicky. This divide evenly splits the mothers who are seen as heroes and the mothers who are deemed villains.

And finally we have rejection. For some characters, this means rejection of their self; for others, it's a rejection of their mothers. For Billy, these are almost the same thing: he denies Wanda as his mother while also questioning his identity. This might be because Wanda has hurt many people and Billy didn't want to identify with that.

Alice initially rejects her mother's career and belief in The Road, believing that the obsession drove her mad. Upon learning the truth, she accepts everything, which empowers her to break her family's curse.

On the alternate Earth in Doctor Strange 2, Wanda's rampage is only stopped by her fear of rejection from her children.

And of course, Evanora rejected Agatha centuries ago, claiming that Agatha was born evil. This is most likely why Agatha acts like a villain: she was told from the beginning that that's all she is. We can see in her repeated pleas to her mother that she "can be good" that Agatha longed for her mother's acceptance, or at least to be spared her wrath, but she never got it. Interestingly, Agatha's parenting of Nicky is exactly the opposite. She cherishes her son, dotes on him, even refuses to get upset and comforts him when Nicky disobeys her.

In a nutshell, the MCU places motherhood along the continuum of heroism and villainy that is defined by what a character must sacrifice and how they handle their grief. While the depth of emotions surrounding this trope is a shortcut for creating accessibly deep characters, this still feels like a narrow view of femininity. This of course harkens back to Natasha Romanov's abominable character moment in which she claims to be a monster because she can't have children. If the definition of womanhood is the ability to have babies, and then the definition of motherhood is to die or lose, then the MCU is basically arguing that its women are disposable props. Based on how compelling the femme characters since WandaVision have been, this doesn't seem intentional, and in fairness non maternal femme characters (e.g. Rio, Lilia Calderu, Jen) are still given emotional depth and range and interesting arcs. So hopefully Marvel will continue to show motherhood as an aspect of life that can add depth to a character, and not an inevitability fraught with death for all women.

[medusas-daughter]

Can Nicky actually forgive Agatha in the afterlife ?

Billy is a bit of a proxy for him in the last scene and his answer is yes. But also Billy doesn't seem to want to forgive Wanda at the moment so if we are following the parallels between the two boys, the answer for Nicky is probably a little bit more nuanced.

Sidenote: the parallels in this show are so fun ! Because you can absolutely parallel Wanda and Agatha and Billy and Nicky but also Billy and Agatha are similar as well and both Wanda and Nicky are the ghosts over their shoulders.

This show is just so good.

ooh thank you anon that is a fascinating question!

Wanda and Nicky are definitely both ghosts haunting the entire narrative of Agatha All Along, and Billy and Agatha parallel each other in that both are trying very hard to ignore/avoid their ghosts.

I want to say that Nicky doesn't have anything to forgive Agatha for but that would be too optimistic of me. I think a six year old Nicky doesn't resent Agatha, he loved her very much, and she loved him very much, and then he got too sick and tired of fighting for his life, and then he joined his other mother peacefully, end of story. Agatha didn't wrong him in any way, she tried her best to keep him alive but it was not in her hands. But a Nicky who has been on the other side for centuries, who has watched Agatha use his song, their song, their wholesome little game, to continue killing witches for her own gain, the one thing he didn't want to do anymore on his very last day with her? Who has watched Agatha avoid Rio at all cost? Who is watching Agatha avoid him at all costs? I think there might need to be more nuance there. But I still don't believe he needs to "forgive" her necessarily. I think he would just need to adjust to a full vision of his mother, the way all children must at some point in their lives adjust and acknowledge that their parents are flawed human beings and not these heroes we want them to be. But Agatha needs to forgive herself first, for being human and not being able to keep adeath away from her child forever. Only when she forgives herself can she face him again, and only then will she know just what kind of relationship she can have with Nicky and how he truly feels about her.

Billy was picking up on Agatha's guilt and went out on a limb when he said Nicky would forgive her. But I also think he's projecting his own resentment of Wanda. He's hearing about all these different versions of her, the Avenger who helped save the world, the wicked witch who ruined the lives of an entire town, the broken woman who created a family out of grief and then chose to sacrifice said family for the sake of the people she hurt, and he doesn't see where he fits in all these versions, he doesn't see what he thinks a mother should be, this perfect human with infinite love and wisdom, and he resents her even if he doesn't consciously realize that resentment yet. And his relationship with Agatha here is so important. That line "neither are you" that he tells Agatha has so many layers. It's him accepting that he's not bad himself, that mistakes don't define him as a person. It's also him accepting deep down that Wanda isn't bad she's just human. And maybe that puts him on the path of eventually forgiving her as well just how he believes Nicky would forgive Agatha.

This answer turned out more confusing than anything and that's because I don't have a definitive answer I'm treatign it more as an interesting thought experiment than anything else. Agatha and Nicky and Wanda and Billy are like this messy complicated rectangle of grief and love and they're each haunting each other and projecting shit on each other and leaning on each other in the most beautiful if sometimes unexpected ways and I hope we get to see more of them in the future 💜

[hope-you-brought-kneepads-bitch]

Agatha at school with Nicky waiting to go in

Some woman: Oh he’s so cute

Agatha: Thanks he definitely got some of his looks from me

Woman: And obviously some from his dad

Agatha: His what?

Woman: His dad? I assume you two are together by your wedding ring?

Agatha: Oh god no! I would never marry a man, I have a wonderful (if crazy) wife, the two of us are Nicky’s parents

Woman: Oh that’s wonderful! Using a donor then

Agatha leaning down to Nicky: Sweetheart why don’t you go and find your friends okay? I’ll take you inside in a minute *Nicky agrees and runs off*

Agatha: Okay listen you seem slightly less annoying than the other women so I won’t shout at you but my wife, Rio is the “dad” in this situation, she got me pregnant and there was absolutely no man involved, just some lingerie, a strap on and a knife

Woman:…a knife?

Agatha: Anyway hon it was lovely to meet you! *walks away to her arriving wife*

Rio: What did you say to that poor woman?

Agatha: She accused me of sleeping with a man to have Nicky, I had to set her straight, unlike me

Rio sighing: Baby you know the principal said you’ve gotta stop telling the parents about how we had Nicky, they’re very progressive but even the school has its limits

Agatha: I’ll stop when these people stop assuming the worst of me

Rio: it’s a good thing I love you so much

Agatha: I’m the only one you’ve ever loved

Rio: Don’t I know it

[velvet4510]

Rio referring to Nicholas as “Nicky” hits so much harder with the full confirmed knowledge that he is also her son. Everyone else calls him Nicholas; Agatha and Rio are the only ones to call him Nicky, even 250 years after his death. And as for him, he only ever calls Agatha “Mama,” but on his last day alive, he says “my mother needs me home” - meaning Rio is “Mother” to him.

It makes one wonder whether Rio, as Death, is able to visit and communicate with souls in the afterlife? Does her job restrict her to only transporting souls from here to the hereafter? Has she also been separated from Nicky for as long as Agatha has?

I think it’s far more likely that she can visit the afterlife, if she’s able to visit the living world for such extended periods of time. Which means that she’s been the only parent Nicky has known for a long time. Being the child of Death is probably what enabled him to briefly speak from the afterlife in the Ouija board scene, despite not being a ghost, and his status as a half-human soul prevents him from doing more than that and means he has to stay in that world like all the other souls.

It’s my firm belief that Rio’s determination to kill Agatha or let her die is because Nicky keeps asking her “Mother, where’s Mama? Is she coming too? Will we all be together soon?”

But she doesn’t tell Agatha that because she knows how bitter Agatha is, and Agatha would probably just accuse her of lying - also she might be forbidden from carrying messages between worlds, as per the ‘rules.’

[natasharswifey]

It almost worked

Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal

Summary:

Being a witch is difficult

Being alone is difficult

Being Agatha Harkness is difficult

(Some Agatha Angst as if we haven't already gotten enough)

○○○♡○○○

A/N: This is kinda OOC, please don't throw tomatoes 😔. It was also posted on my Ao3

○○○♡○○○

Tags: interrupted suicide attempt, grief, hurt/comfort

Agatha stares out over her balcony.

It was late, and cold, and she'd had enough wine to make her head clearer then usual. Being able to think about what was going on in her head didn't ever end well.

It was just another one of those nights. Those nights where her mind wandered. Sometimes it was hard to remember those moments where she held Nicky in her arms.

His cherub cheeks and deep brown eyes looking into her soul, a constant reminder she still had one, his small hand curling around hers.

How he had looked so happily at his mothers, content to simply be in their presence.

Had he looked so joyfully at her when she was taking him away? Had he even realised?

With every precious frame of memory that faded, another piece of herself felt lost to the vast sea of time.

Perhaps this was why witches seeked covens. She remembered sisterhood, a deep understanding and acceptance of one another. It had held the place where her mother's affection should have been.

It had felt good, until… everything.

Agatha knew what happened that night wasn't her own doing, she had tried to tell them, to warn them. Despite her mother's calloused approach to her execution, she didn't want to hurt her. To hurt any of them.

The digital clock on the dresser by her window read 2:00. Another hour and any of her efforts to weaken herself enough not to survive the drop from her balcony would be futile.

But she still found herself waiting. For something, anything to happen. Agatha didn't remember the last time she found herself doing this, waiting so patiently for a miracle.

Even in her youth she knew that nothing good was ever bound to come her way by sitting around expecting it to fall in her lap.

Tonight she couldn't help herself, like a tall child with her legs dangling over a rooftop, hoping to catch a glimpse of some mythical creature parents made up as an excuse to spoil children.

But tonight the universe took pity on Agatha Harkness, which was only fair considering. Unfortunately, that pity came in the form of a familiar face that wasn't so welcome.

“Well, this is a little awkward.”

Agatha’s head whips around and she finds her feet in an instant. “What are you doing here?”

“You practically called…” Rio cautions a step closer. “It's been a while.”

“I was hoping we could have kept it that way.”

“Oh, really? So that wasn't you that sunk the ‘unsinkable’ ship?”

Sinking the Titanic wasn't something she had actually planned on doing, but Rio always knew just how to get under her skin.

Everything felt like a game with her, and with them both being so competitive, their little ‘games’ would often get out of hand.

Rio reaping a few extra souls here, Agatha causing a few tragedies there. It had been going on for so long even with their level of pettiness it was hard to keep score.

“You have no proof.”

“Real mature, Aggie.”

Agatha scoffs, “Well if you came here to reap me then you wasted your gas money, you've completely killed the mood.”

“That sounds like one of your compliments.”

Fuck.

“Don't flatter yourself.” Agatha closes the door to her balcony and sits on a chair in the corner of her room.

“I've missed you.”

“Could've fooled me.” She mutters, although they both know she's lying to herself.

“I still think about us, you know”

“We were... fun.” Agatha replies reluctantly

“We still are.”

Rio is hesitant to leave, but she knows their paths will cross again.

They are eachother's constant, so entangled in the other their worlds are almost askew when they're apart.

One can only stay teetering on the edge for so long.

Notes

If any of this stuff hit too close to home there's a bunch of websites where you can talk to people, or maybe try talking to a loved one, stay safe <3

If projecting onto characters was a crime I would get the electric chair.

The titanic reference came from tumblr which I so desperately need to get off of but oh well.

Title was taken from 'It almost worked' by Tv girl. Hope u liked!!!

[howdeepthegrave]

You know what would be cool to see? Rio being Agatha's therapist at a mental hospital. Fuck it, AAA/Legion AU. Let's go

Think I've seen a few gif sets to that effect circulating lately. Good stuff.

CW: mentions of self-harm, substance use, and child abuse

°°°°

"So tell me again what led to the issue, in your opinion."

"If by 'the issue' you mean my entirely unnecessary incarceration in this place..."

"Agatha," Dr. Vidal said, "this isn't a prison. This is a place where you can get the help you need to recover and return to life."

"Yeah, well, it feels like prison. And I'm in here for nothing. I didn't..."

"You caused a serious disturbance in a public place. You harmed yourself..."

"Yeah, myself. I harmed me. Not anyone else."

Sighing, Dr. Vidal set her notepad aside and stood, moving behind her desk to shuffle papers.

"Agatha, you have to be willing to acknowledge your problems. You have to be willing to let us help you."

"The kind of help I need you can't give."

"Can't we? Let's go over the events that brought you here. You were at a supermarket with your son. You had an outburst, claiming that your mother, your long dead mother, tried to harm your son."

"She did! She... She hurt me, and now she wants to hurt Nicky."

"Agatha, the records all indicate that your mother died when you were fifteen. They do acknowledge that you were a badly abused child, and that is profoundly awful. You never should have had to go through that."

"I mean, some of it I deserved. I was... I'm not a great person."

Now Dr. Vidal left the desk. Agatha thought she was going back to the chair she had been sitting in, but instead she moved to sit on the other end of the low sofa. After a moment, she reached out and touched Agatha's arm.

"I think you're a person who was badly hurt when you were young. I think you've held on to a lot of pain and grief, and now all of that has built up and..."

"Do you know what it's like, doctor, for the person in life who should love you unconditionally to hate you? To tell you from infancy that you're evil and wrong and deserve to go to Hell?"

"Can't say that I do," Dr. Vidal shrugged.

"Then you got lucky and had great parents."

"Actually, I was born an orphan, but..."

"What? How are you born an orphan?"

"Car accident. My father was killed instantly. My mother passed in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I was cut out of her."

Agatha stared at the therapist for a long moment.

"Holy shit."

Dr. Vidal shrugged again.

"It is what it is. Now, about your delusion regarding your mother..."

"It's not a delusion! She... She died, but she never wanted to stop tormenting me. She left a piece of herself, her soul or something, in me. It's been in there since I was 15, trying to..."

"I think what's far more likely is that the abuse you suffered has left you deeply marked. You feel as though a part of your mother, of her abuse, lives on in you. You're also clearly worried that will lead you to harm your son..."

"I would never hurt Nicky! But that... That bitch..."

"Okay. All right. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that some fragment, some portion of your mother, is in your self. Has she caused you to lash out before? To harm yourself or others?"

"Sometimes. She... It used to help if I drank and took stuff. I spent a lot of my 20s wasted."

"Have you continued with substance use?"

"No, I... I woke up one morning after... After some kind of wild party. I was in some apartment on the east side, in bed with someone. I got up, grabbed my stuff, and I left. Haven't touched anything but wine since, and that only socially."

"So, you would say waking up that morning was something like a rock bottom?"

"I... I dunno. I just know I didn't feel really like drinking or taking stuff after that. Good thing too, since I found out a month later I was pregnant with Nicky."

"Do you know who his father is?"

Agatha shook her head.

"I never... I'm gay. I've never knowingly slept with a man, but I guess I must have at some point."

"Was the person you woke up in bed with..."

"No. That was a woman. She was all covered up so I didn't see much of her, but she was definitely a woman."

"Interesting," Dr. Vidal said, and went to retrieve her notepad and settle in her chair again.

For a while the office was silent but for the scratching of pen on paper. Agatha studied Dr. Vidal. She had never really been that attentive to the good doctor's appearance before, probably because until last week they had kept her doped out of her mind.

Dr. Vidal was, to put it mildly, hot.

"Returning again to the incident that brought you to us..."

Agatha startled as Dr. Vidal's gaze met her own. Something in the eyes...

Shaking her head, she looked down at her hands as they fidgeted together in her lap.

"I just... I know it sounds absolutely insane, but she's in my head! She... That day at the market... She... She was trying to get control. Trying to make me hurt Nicky. I had to... To do what I did to stop her."

There was pressure in her head, near the back. The same pressure that always came in when Mother was trying to make her presence known. The pressure of a hand on the back of Agatha's head, trying to push it down. Trying to hold it under the bathwater.

"Please, can I go to my room? I... I don't feel very well."

"Can I get you anything? Water?"

"Please, I just... I need to... Go to my room."

She was shaking, fighting so hard to keep Mother from bursting out. Dr. Vidal came and stood in front of her.

"Please," Agatha said, "I need to go."

"Okay. You'll be allowed to go. Do you need me to go with you?"

The air smelled funny. Ozone and charred horn.

"Please, don't... Please..."

Now Dr. Vidal knelt, taking Agatha's hands.

"Look at me, Agatha. Look into my eyes."

Agatha did as she was told, seeing a flash of something—Fear? Recognition?—in the doctor's eyes.

"You can't have her," Dr. Vidal said, voice low and rumbling.

The pressure in Agatha's head got worse.

"You can't have her," Dr. Vidal repeated, and something in her gaze... Flickered.

Agatha felt tired...

[grainsofexcellence]

MAGIC STRAP - FOR THE WIN!

Congratulations Rio Vidal! I knew you could do it!

IN honor of Magic Strap Wins here is Thirst (Trap) Chapter 31!

Paley was awesome here's my little rant.

Paley Fest was Amazing! Also, in Honor of Rio confirmed as Nickys other parents AGAIN, here's a new chapter ;) Agatha Harknesss will always be a lesbian <3 If you really don't get it it's a magic strap or magic fingers.

This chapter is about Agatha talking Rio down from something important. :) enjoy. They're growing I'm so proud. The sext-its continue.

Highlights of paley: Debra Jo stole the show. My wife crutched in between the actors and i was behind her with my walker lol. Thank you to the people who cheered for my wife that was so funny and too sweet "Go crutches girl you got this!" I love you you made her night ha ha. Because we had to use the elevator we walked by Sasheer and girl is SO PRETTY UP CLOSE. We made eye contact then were like awkwardly pretending to not be distracted walking throughlol. Ali talking about mommy issues was great. Kathryn making a face understanding that. Sasheer being a BOSS and maybe a plant for dropping Nicky's parents. Jac confirming Nickys other mom is rio and Kathryn saying they DIDNT NEED DADS -- i swear i need this clip for all my socials it healed my daddy trauma lol. more at bottom.

COntinued. uh, Kathryn dressed in rio green and in Agnes hair! The weirdness of Dolby theater being in a mall and parking 5 levels underground and getting a migraine. Watching an episode on such a big screan with the dolby surround sound was nuts. Omg the queer and gay energy in that room and on stage was magic. THe room was so narrow but so tall! tried so hard to watch the people and not the big screen . took just a few photos that i'm posting on my socials. Pinkpillow19 on twitter, grainsofexcellence on tumblr, realkelpy IG, maybe some tiktok under realkelpy. If anyone finds a video of my wife crutching through please let me know i know she would die to see it lol. oh the grand starecase in the dolby theater was cool. i took a few photos of the theater itself im posting too. Its where the oscars are at every year so that was wild it didnt look like enough space. Loved that they brought up AUbrey multiple times and gave her props loved that Kathryn was so giving to the other actors always letting them answer first and sharing the spotlight. The way she was petting the chair and her leg was very distracting in the beginning tho lol. Went home after and our friends we were staying with continued watching Agatha for the first time so we got more Agatha after paley! The red carpet inside in a basement was sureal. shoutout to the worker who helped our accomodations with the kick ass colorful "attention" glasses! I'll add more if I think of things :) Thanks for reading my little story and showing it love as well!