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jq37 · 3 years

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The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 1

The Case of the The Pernicious Party

Hello, hello, hello! It’s been a hot second but your resident D20 recapper is back to tackle the newest season: Mice and Murder! Y’all had to know I wasn’t gonna sit out the murder mystery, are you kidding me???

I might be playing around with the format a bit in the coming weeks to make sure I have the best possible system for keeping track of possible clues, suspects, and theories as we untangle whatever web Brennan weaves for us this season so don’t be surprised if things change a little.

Anyway, without further ado, onto our mystery!

Summary

In case you missed it, this season takes place in an alternate, Zootopia/Wind in the Willows-esque universe where all the characters are animals but history seems to have happened in more or less the same way--for example there was still a King Charles but he was a King Charles Spaniel (cute Brennan). Our story specifically takes place in the English village of Tufting Meadows.

We start with Katie’s character--Gangie Green (Weasel/Thief Rogue) in the graveyard of the Anglican Chapel (Our Lady of Prayerful Paws). Gangie, we learn, is an orphan who was kicked out of the orphanage at some point for thievery. Obviously, he’s not reformed of the habit because he is here to do some graverobbing. On a nat 20 (that Katie hilariously doesn’t notice even though her total is like a 29) Gangie can see through the window of the rectory that there is a weeping window inside--Catherine McCabbage who is being (dubiously) tended to by Raph’s character, Vicar Ian Prescott (Owl/Bard, College of Eloquence).

Ian comes from a line of men of the cloth but he’s not exactly the best speaker despite his subclass. He’s doing his best though! The widow’s husband (Conor McCabbage) died at the local mill in what has been declared an accident but she suspects foul play. She’s been hearing his voice on the wind and wants Ian’s professional opinion on whether this could be a sign from God or if her husband might be speaking to her from beyond the grave or something like that. Ian gives a very muddled and not very comforting answer but seems pretty sure that something sketchy did in fact happen. Then, he sees a crack of lightning outside which illuminates the graveyard where he gets a glimpse of Gangie.

He goes to check it out (and Gangie fully has an elderly goat he’s dug up slung over his shoulder) but “gravedigger” is his legit job so Ian decides to assume whatever’s going on is legit and not ask too many questions. He goes back to the widow (who, before she leaves, says that maybe sometimes people need to work on God’s behalf) while Gangie takes the body Loam Hall (a massive manor, built into a hill).

We cut to the next day and our next two characters!

At 22B Hamsted Street in a pretty well appointed home are Ally and Grant’s characters. First up, we have Lars Vandenchomp (Huge ass Doberman/Battlemaster Fighter) who is so tough looking but also so Swedish sounding--it’s A Lot (so, incredibly on brand for Ally). Lars is security for Grant’s character Sylvester Cross (Fox/Inquisitive Rogue) who is a kinda (to use Grant’s word) “foppish” Sherlock Holmes type. He was hired by Squire William Thornwall Brockhollow to figure out what happened with Conor McCabbage (and clear him of negligence in running the mill) but he couldn’t find any evidence of any funny business, making this the only case he’s never cracked. He’s not as young or popular as he once was so this is, understandably, bumming him out. He’s even more bummed out when he realizes that William has invited him to his 60th birthday party that’s happening that night (as kind of a prop to show that he did his part in trying to solve the mystery) and Lars has already RSVP’d yes. He grudgingly agrees to go as it’s one of those asks that’s really more of a veiled demand but decides to pull the money he was paid from the bank first so he can return it and really stick it to the guy.

Finally, we cut to our last set of PCs who are on their way to Tufting Meadows via a very luxurious train. Inside are Sam and Rekha’s characters! Sam is Buckster $ Boyd (Peccary which is like a small boar/Mastermind Rouge) a Texan Oil Tycoon who acts exactly how you’d expect a Texan Oil Pig to act. Yes, you pronounce the dollar sign as “dollar sign” (even though as we find out later his middle name is Cassius so it’s like Cash which I think is super cool). With him is Rekha’s character, Daisy D'umpstaire (Raccoon/Assassin (???) Rogue another American (from South Carolina) though it seems she’s My Fair Lady’d herself into an upper class socialite (her last name was previously Dumpster). They’re traveling with their accountant, an Armadillo named Armond who seems kinda skittish and concerned about their travel expenses but Buck tells him that to make money you gotta spend money and they’re gonna make a *ton* of money on this trip. They’re also so so mean to him for absolutely no reason.

When the train stops, they’re greeted by Templeton Padhop (a frog, natch) who is the chauffeur of Loan Hall, sent to fetch them. A wheel on his car is broken so he joins in on the Armond abuse immediately and has Armond roll into an Armadillo ball and replace it. Poor guy. When they show up they're greeted by a footman--a pug in a bowler hat named Milo Snout.

Meanwhile, Lars and Sly (Oh, Sly fox, I see what you did there Grant) are similarly greeted by another footman--a lizard named Basil Baskins. On a 23 perception check, Lars sees that Jeremy “Jez” Brockhollow is inside (the son of William who is a badger btw) and also clocks Gangie (who they know as a career criminal who disappeared like a year ago). Gangie doesn’t notice Lars though.

Ian, who is also invited, shows up at about the same time as Sly but very quickly, the conversation is taken over by Lucretia “Lucy” Brockhollow, William’s older, eccentric sister who immediately gets into it with Lars about astrology and the occult (she thinks bad stuff is happening because of a curse let loose when Sly’s old rival--a rabbit named Fletcher Cottonbottom who is the son of his former employer--opened an Egyptian tomb). They’re thick as thieves right away because Ally is a nonsense magnet. And not like a regular magnet, one of those big electromagnets.

Daisy and Buck spot William’s kids--the aforementioned Jez and his older sister Constance--along with their husbands Dr. Corbin Magpie (Constance’s and obv a magpie and a doctor) and Osmond Sheffield (Jez’s who is a Ram and a lawyer). Daisy is too stuck in her conversation with a truly unhinged squirrel (Lady Eugenia Bristlebrush who clearly does not know she’s in a murder mystery because she just keeps talking about how much she hates and wants to kill everyone) to hear what’s going on but she indicates the conversation to Buck who is able to eavesdrop and hear that they’re lamenting that Catherine--the widow--RSVP’d no which is gonna look really bad, like they didn’t invite her (bad PR).

Buck, introducing himself as a business partner of William, eases into a conversation with the husbands which their respective spouses also join into and we learn that Buck's dad was British and a friend of Willian’s. Buck bonds with Jez (who is a bit of a dilettante) really quickly since Buck is ready to go drinks-wise immediately (and there’s a stellar pun about the “American [Drinking] Constitution''). Through the window, Buck notices Gangie outside getting his attention.

At the same time, Ian is going from party guest to party guest, giving out the penances he forgot to earlier at church (as one does). We see him talking to the Lord and Lady Bramble (a cow and hedgehog, respectively) and while she wants to pray her way out of situations without doing any legwork, he wants to buy his way out and gives Ian 250 pounds. A frustrating but financially lucrative conversation.

Buck goes outside to talk to Gangie who has a list of names of the bodies he’s been collecting. We’re not told what Buck is doing but it seems that this list is extremely valuable to him in some way. Gangie (who Buck keeps calling Gangly, to his annoyance) pays him handsomely (like, with a 50% tip) for the list (and Gangie gives him the real list, despite Brennan saying he didn’t have to). We also learn that Gangie has allegedly been getting the orders from someone in Loa Hall and they flow from William himself.

Matilda Molesly (a mole and the head maid) invites Gangie to come in from the rain--she’s the only person who’s been consistently nice to him and he agrees to come in for tea and scones.

Everyone is ushered together by the butler (because of course there’s a butler--he’s quite literally a fancy rat named Thomas Gilfoyle) and William gives a speech where he wishes Conor well and kinda highlights that he did hire Sly to solve the case in a “Hey, I did my bit don’t blame me” kind of way. He also makes a 150k pound donation to the church (and Ian thought 250 was good) and tells his daughter not to read the praise he got for it from the cardinal when she mentions it (I wonder if that was choreographed). Sly interrupts the speech to “magnanimously” give his money back, to William’s annoyance. Buck notices that Lawrence Longfoot (a nouveau rich, rabbit photographer) takes a pic of the scene but with Sly in the foreground and William in the background.

Then, a few things happen at once (in a very cinematic way):

As the camera flashes, Mrs. Molesly drops her tray, eyes hurt by the light. Lady Calliope Fawnbrooke (Deer, Matron of the Arts) helps her up.

In the moment of dark, after the flash goes away, the butler disappears.

Buck thinks he sees a shape through the window, out in the rain.

A cheer goes up for Sly for returning the money but all Sly can focus on is one figure he recognizes in the back of the room. Daisy, who is downing her drink and not cheering for him. He downs his as well, and looks at her until she breaks the stare and leaves the room.

And this episode doesn’t end with a dead body like I thought, but with a flashback to a younger Sylvester, 12 years ago when he first met Daisy.

PC INTERPERSONAL DRAMA Y’ALL!!! Get HYPED!

Case Notes

Here is a compilation of all the characters (PCs and NPCs introduced in this episode).

Sly mentions that Ignatius Cottonbottom faked his own death as a part of some scheme which seems like a backstory point that might come back later--we now know that there exists a way to convincingly fake your own death in this world.

Sly walks with a walking stick because of some “mysterious accident” but we’re jumping into a flashback next week so it looks like we might find out about it pretty soon.

Sly also mentions he used to be the personal physician to the elder Cottonbottom so those are skills he has. I wonder if that’ll be useful to this healer-less party. I wonder if cleric was even an option in this world which seems to be low to no magic. It would explain by Ian is a bad and not a cleric.

Lars has a military background which I wanted to mention in case it becomes relevant later.

And Dr. Magpie grew up poor and still acts it a bit even though he married a very rich woman. Brennan uses the very good line, “He forces his body into the shape of an apology”

This might be a really deep cut reference but did anyone else here was the old Britcom “Keeping Up Appearances”? Cause I was getting serious Bouquet/Bucket energy from Daisy.

This is an all College Humor season and it shows. The energy of 6 (7 if you count Brennan) top notch comedians sparking off of each other, trying to one up each other is off the charts. Some of the best bits this episode:

“When God closes every door but one, you go through the door that is open.” followed by “I’m an owl by the way.”

“Time is money, here’s both” from Buck re his inscribed gold pocket watch--everyone at the table loved that so much and they’re right.

Armond going from being a third to a fourth wheel.

And the names--I already shouted out a ton on the main recap but also a rat butler (like Rhett Butler) and naming the mouse Cat(therine). Can’t forget Gangie Green/gangrene from Katie. Also points to Ally for the data stealing Eel Musk which broke Brennan a little.

I know we just went through this with Crown of Candy but what are these animals eating? Like, in Zootopia there were only mammals so we can assume the carnivores are eating like birds and fish but there are sentient birds here. I know this isn’t important. I’m not trying to do a CinemaSins gotcha. I just wonder, you know?

Y’all were waiting for all the lights to go out during that speech and then come back on and there’d be a body too, right?

If Brennan makes the bad guy a chicken or a duck or something so he can make a “fowl play” joke, he is cordially invited to catch these hands.

I have been waiting for Raph and Katie to do D20 forever. Their specific brand of nonsense on Rank Room was always amazing.

I love love love that Grant and Rekha are the PCs that have ~a past~ because they are so funny together. If you haven’t seen their episode of Game Changers, you absolutely must (it’s also a murder mystery actually!).

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #mice and murder #mice and murder spoilers #the case file #points and also glares to camwritery for pointing out that grant also went for the silver fox pun #i will be fighting both of you at my earliest convenience

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seyaryminamoto · 3 years

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my school works are piled up this past few weeks (graduating tingz) and i just started reading the deadlock novel it feels like i'm reading a sokkla fic every time Mcashe has a scene because they just give off the vibes skskskskksksks. BTW, what's your top5 fav scenes from the novel? PS: I'm smiling like an idiot while reading the novel ughh i hate myself

I KNOW, RIIIIIGHT?! *-* and don't hate yourself, my anon friend, I spent the whole novel smiling and laughing and losing my goddamn mind because I was having the time of my life xD enjoy this beautiful content as best you can!

I mean, frankly, Reunion already had all the Sokkla vibes I could've wanted/needed to ship these two like FedEx and I always knew I wasn't getting off this ride anytime soon. But gosh, this book... it gave me everything I wanted and MORE! Their dynamics are soooo similar to Sokkla team-up dynamics, two power couples kicking ass and taking names... oh, I just love it so much. I probably will end up reading the book a third time soon x'D

As for my favorite scenes, damn, this is tricky xD

KEYCHAIN! HE MADE HER KEYCHAIN!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! God, it's just amazing how the book explains the "vintage" look for Ashe's hoverbike the way it does, and that they literally built it together *screams!!!*, but then he gives her that keychain for her birthday present, and the implications!! THE IMPLICATIONS!!! He gave her a keychain she's held onto for TWENTY YEARS?!?!?! Ships in the OW fandom have sailed far and wide with less than breadcrumbs: we literally have been granted a boon from the GODS with all this extra context for the little things in Reunion xD

Ashe going to hell and back to save her kidnapped BFF-for-whom-she-totally-doesn't-have-feelings-yeah-yeah-sure-Jan. I love the fact that McCree is, in a way, Ashe's damsel in distress and not the other way around xD Of course, it's what you'd expect from an Ashe-centric story, but it's still an amazing sequence, all around. Gotta highlight how she loves the way he smiles like a madman when they have that shootout at the end, and how he worries so much over Ashe's injury when he took an even worse one than she did (the Sokkla vibes in that particular situation were SO STRONG! I SWEAR!).

"Jesse McCree, are you trying to make me say you're handsome?" "Am I?" ... do I need to say more. That FLIRTING. These two were on fire already and they'd only known each other for like... weeks, at this point? x'D He has no sense of moderation, he's soooo into her and doesn't hide it at all. Ashe is so busy trying to plot all the crime and Jesse's practically like a shojo heroine, "oh I can feel it, this is how my love story begins!", basically xD

Finally I pick a not-McAshe scene... to bring up the one where Ashe picks up the Viper on her last moment in Lead Rose Manor. That moment was just... POWERFUL. The feeling of epicness in that scene just overwhelmed me when I was reading it xD

The ending of the book :'D the fully formed Deadlock Gang ready for business, down to the explanation for the Est. 1976 in the logo... *sobs* the fact that so much about the character design choices in these two characters is a shoutout to the past they share is just... *gross sobbing* oh, I just love it to pieces, I'm not even sorry.

Ashe's bike race to save B.O.B. x'D that whole situation was bonkers but I looooved how fierce she was about protecting her one and only buddy while growing up (AND THAT JESSE BLUSHED WHEN SHE TAUNTED HIM WAS JUST THE CHERRY ON TOP!). I appreciated learning more about the Omnic War and its consequences, how Ashe reflects on having escaped it practically untouched in virtue of her money and societal privilege while her new friends all faced many hardships to survive. But I can't help but also love that, however uneasy others could have been about the Best Omnic Butler, Ashe was so fiercely loyal to B.O.B. that she nearly broke Julian's nose herself over his ridiculousness x'D That's HER big omnic buddy and she's not about to lose him to anyone, not her shitty parents, not a bet in a race, NOTHING! (and it's so cute that B.O.B. is just as loyal to her, too *sobs*)

Ashe grabbing McCree's arm to explain things to him on their first heist and him being all "you gonna leave that there?" and only then does she realize her hand's still on him x'D what a McCree line, and he was absolutely enjoying the attention, he doesn't even pretend otherwise.

Everything poetic McCree says or does... meanwhile Ashe's like "um yeah I don't care about poetry I want money", right until his poet soul totally smashes her square in the heart with the KEYCHAIN!!! But damn, I swear I thought McCree would hold back a lot more, and yet there he was, saying things like Calamity was brilliant and mysterious... you could practically hear B.O.B., Julian and Frankie going "I can see what's happening..." in the background xD

The conversation about what they wanted to do once they were loaded with all the cash they could possibly want. That one was a real number on my heartstrings. It ties up to what I said earlier with Ashe finally being in touch with people who are completely removed from the ridiculous social circles of her parents and her school, people who really lost a lot in the war. But where Julian and Frankie seem to look at the past a lot, I loved that Jesse is basically just thinking about the future. The fact that he says he wants to chill out in a farm and that this is what he wants in life... many, MANY, shippy wheels have turned in my head since I read that <.< maaaany...

WHEN JESSE NEARLY FALLS AND ASHE CATCHES HIM!!! UNDERRRATED AS HECK!!! The fact that he's taunting her about fear of heights, then he nearly plummets to his death because ironies are beautiful xD and Ashe pulls him back to safety only to say that she's not afraid of heights but afraid of ~FALLING~??? I mean, okay, sure, maybe I'm reading too much into that line... or maybe I'm not <.< either way, the truth is I just love how absolutely broad of interpretation that scene and that DIALOGUE are :> ehehehe.

Oh, their first encounter. The fact that it's so cute and fun, and that it's this low in the list tells you how GOOD this book was x'D "You've got an awful lot of grit for a rich girl," first words he spoke to the love of his life xD then how they talked and laughed together about the crazy stories he shared (she was crying of laughter for the first time in her life! precious girl!), and then how she sat in the car thinking about the strange feeling she was left with after meeting him... they seriously had a meetcute in prison, how can a ship get any better? xD

WHEN HE COMES BACK TO HER WHEN THEIR FIRST HEIST GOES WRONG!!! That Ashe expects him to just leave after she falls off their getaway vehicle, but Jesse saves her and goes "pfft that's just not my style", basically... *sobs* without realizing it she ends up picking up that particular philosophy of his, saving her friends no matter the cost...! Honestly, though, the fact that every time something like this happens it hits Ashe like a truck racing downhill with no brakes because she's NEVER been cared about by anyone but B.O.B. and she's completely new to friendships and bonding with people... and in the mean time, Jesse immediately is "ride or die" with her because that's how he rolls... beautiful relationship dynamics between characters who influence each other for the better are just beautiful :')

A silly one here: Jesse enjoying the good life in Lead Rose. That description of him looking like a marshmallow in the CHAISE LOUNGEEEEE!!! (the one he references in their in-game interactions *CRYING SO MANY TEARS*), was just too cute to bear x'D Ashe just jumping back into work mode... while he was just thrilled to be a marshmallow in a towel xD

... So, um, I went overboard because I love this book a little too much for my own good :> what can I say? When things I love are good, I go wild xD There's probably more scenes I loved, but these... thirteen? XD are the ones that came to mind.

I think one of my favorite things now is reexamining Reunion with all this extra context in mind. The first time I watched that cinematic I, of course, fell in love with these two outlaws because how could I not? But while subsequent rewatches revealed a lot of things I didn't pay enough attention to the first time around, the book has done even more than I could imagine possible for a short that was already as shippy as could be xD

Ooookay so, shippy ramblings about Reunion, coming up! (simply because I have to put these down SOMEWHERE XD and your ask was a good idea for that, anon!)

First off, Jesse very much staged the whole rodeo in Reunion. He sent the tip to Ashe, he wanted Echo's crate specifically. He thought they could work together, basically, despite knowing it was entirely possible that those hopes wouldn't pay off. This train, according to the wikia, was a government train, so Jesse is very much telling Ashe to give a finger to the government for all he cares, all he wants is one (1) crate.

Ergo, Jesse, for all his "nice guy bountyhunter" deal, doesn't disapprove of Deadlock's actions. If anything, he counts on them to be exactly what he needs in order to get what he wants. He practically trusts Ashe to pull off the train heist disaster perfectly and only steps up when it's time to collect Echo.

Then the wacky shoot-out happens, it's veeeery charged (the UST is so thick, I swear...), and Jesse wins. He ties up Ashe, floats her off on the payload with the rest of the gang, and he sets Echo free. He's helping her out very nicely and everything, but the context in question is... he received the recall notification thingy XD Winston called him back to Overwatch, and Jesse...

... Jesse doesn't want to go back.

Jesse says "they want me", and the displeased tone of his voice, paired with the look on his face when he says that line, speak for themselves.

That, in my humble opinion, isn't the sequence of expressions you'd expect from someone who intends to return to the group where he thrived, had the time of his life and found his true calling. To me, he actually looks irritated about the recall (the sequence of expressions during that line is much better when you watch the full thing x'D), as though he REALLY doesn't want to return. He's not against Overwatch, I'm not quite saying that, otherwise he wouldn't have set Echo free and told her to go back at all... but this isn't remorse. It's not "Oh, I'm not good enough for Overwatch anymore". Nope... this is "My time with them is over and I don't plan on going back unless I have no choice", as far as I can tell.

If OW2 does bring him back into the fold and he's a perfectly chill and happy guy about it, I'll seriously be surprised. I mean, he could have set Echo free and, once his business is over, returned to Overwatch with her, he could have been in the Paris cinematic if he'd done that...

But he's not there.

Which outright says he didn't do that :> oops.

Basically, I think Jesse's reaction in Retribution (where he's markedly the most morally correct one of the bunch, and he's the former outlaw :'D) tells you his displeasure with Overwatch ran very, very deep. And someone can very easily say he felt the same way about Deadlock and that's why he left them for Overwatch... but that's conjecture. His displeasure with Blackwatch (and, in consequence, Overwatch), however, is FACT. And the previous conjecture falls flat pretty quickly considering he's perfectly fine with Ashe's train heist, even sets it up himself, from what the story suggests, so... how ~appalled~ was he over her choices and actions? Not appalled at all, if you ask me, and after you read Deadlock Rebels, you actually understand why: Jesse trusts Ashe.

From the first moment she enters the same prison block he's in, he's drawn to her. He wants to impress her, he absolutely enjoys her company and making her laugh (just as much as she enjoyed laughing at his wacky stories), and he's plain thrilled that she comes back for him when she does. Ashe manages the gang with inexperience but she's always willing to improve, and you see Jesse sticking with her through thick and thin, supporting her at the best and worst times alike, always putting his faith on her and constantly watching out for her (he protected and shielded her from attacks with his own body sooooo many times *sobs*). Ashe starts out intending to keep most profits for herself, and Jesse doesn't care much at first... but then she starts to share profit equally between their team. She works on her own bike herself, her own ride, and she plans and solves problems as best she can, to a point of even going overboard with planning too much. She's wild, reckless and takes insane risks... and this guy loves every second of it. The matter of morality regarding the actions of a criminal gang is, of course, something to think about... but as far as the book goes, Ashe mainly targets her own family, their specific brand of bullshit, and in the process she ends up helping lots of people and even saving lives that might not have been saved otherwise. I'm not going to put my hand on the fire here and say Deadlock never ever did anything absolutely wrong to people who didn't deserve it... but for a criminal gang? They're honestly the most wholesome one the OW team could have come up with, if you ask me.

So where you see Jesse is very much antagonistic with Reaper/Reyes, where he loses his temper with the guy's choices, he doesn't ever do that with Ashe. Overwatch ARE supposed to be the good guys... so how weird that Jesse McCree, reformed outlaw, ends up so disappointed with these guys when he was actually thrilled with Ashe's managing of their gang, as far as we saw. So much so that, when it came down to it, Jesse McCree, 20 years later, still counts on Ashe to give him a hand (without her full awareness) with a little operation to help out an old friend of his. Also worth pointing out: he doesn't want to fight at all, while Ashe, of course, does. Deadlock for life, is what Jesse said... and he's not Deadlock anymore, hasn't been for who knows how long. Worse yet... his tattooed arm is gone. It's like all his ties to Deadlock have been severed.

And even so, he came to Ashe and hoped she wouldn't want a shootout with him. Even when he knows she might be beyond unforgiving because of the betrayal (he has seen directly how outraged she was about a certain someone betraying her in the book...), Jesse goes back anyway and hopes it won't come to this.

THE IMPLICATIONS, MAN!!!

Carrying on: Echo is surprised that Jesse shows no intentions of going back to Overwatch. She asks him what he's going to do... and what does Jesse say?

He puts his cowboy hat back on (the symbolism in this short, I swear...), and when she asks him what he's going to do, he tells her "I've got some business to attend to."

THE MUSIC PICKS UP.

AND THEN HE CLIMBS ON THE BIKE HE BUILT WITH ASHE.

YOU GET A DELIBERATE CLOSE-UP TO THE KEYCHAIN.

THEN THE CAMERA PANS UP TO FOCUS ON THE PICTURE, TORN AND TAPED BACK TOGETHER, THAT ASHE CARRIES ON THIS BIKE, A BIKE WHICH, LET'S BE REAL, IS BASICALLY A MCASHE BABY CHOPPER/HOVERBIKE HYBRID, AND AS SHE PUTS IT LATER, IS...

HER

BIKE!!!

When Jesse says he has business to attend to, he could pick up any bike he wants (since it'd stand to reason that the other guys Ashe came in with would have bikes of their own). He could escape on horseback for all we know xD so there are lots of options... but no. He takes HERS. Right after saying he has "business to attend to".

Look, I could be wrong. I could be dead wrong. I can absolutely be digging around and going INSANE because nothing I ship EVER gets this much content.

But we literally get a guy saying he has "business" to take care of, and the cinematic focuses exclusively on elements that, even BEFORE Deadlock Rebels, all point towards Ashe?! You could easily say that taking her bike is just the final nail on the coffin, his last trolling idea to mess with his one true love... but that picture is right there. That picture, with them in their youth. The picture, btw, was bigger than just them: B.O.B.'s hand is there. The top of the picture is uneven, suggesting Ashe probably tore it to shreds in a fit of rage... and then specifically put together THEIR PART. And then she taped that to her bike's dashboard. Meaning, she carries the goddamn memory of Jesse with her EVERYWHERE SHE GOES. And she does it WILLINGLY.

Which, in turn, answers why Jesse expects MAYBE Ashe wouldn't go full-on hostile when they meet: this trolling cowboy knows exactly what he means to Ashe. He's not surprised when he sees that picture on the bike. He doesn't toss it away, which he could have, if he were saying "we are history now, forget it gurl" (and let's be honest, what a dick move that would have been @_@), he doesn't flinch after noticing and then goes "yeah, no, I'm picking another bike".

NOPE. The familiarity with which they talk, the way he hopes she'll just let him walk away, the fact that she DIDN'T change the keychain and bike in all those years and he's not even SURPRISED...

Jesse knows how much she loves him, point-blank. He's completely aware of it... and he's very much okay with it.

So much so... that I'm something of a 90% sure that the business he intends to deal with is ASHE HERSELF.

And no, I don't mean he's going to go on another shootout with her... I mean, evidently, that Jesse wants to come home. That he's tried the life of Overwatch, and he's decided to leave it behind. He's turned bountyhunter now, vigilante, pretty much... but he comes back to Ashe all the same. He's come back for the first time in who knows how long (going by Ashe's expressions and sarcasm with the "you promised you'd write" line, it miiiiiiight be they haven't seen each other since he got recruited into Blackwatch), and he expected a peaceful encounter, no less.

A good question to ask here is... what did Jesse hope would happen, if the encounter HAD been peaceful? He would've released Echo, sent her away to her business, and stayed behind anyway because he had business to deal with. Which business? :'D why... the business that would've been standing right in front of him.

There's no other, logical reason why this cinematic would put Ashe and McCree's picture into focus right when McCree says what he does to Echo. There's no other reasonable choice why McCree would turn his back on Overwatch quite so firmly. We know he had two important ties in his life: Overwatch and Deadlock. And Overwatch stole him away from Deadlock for a VERY long time. Well over half the time Deadlock has been in operations, as far as I can tell. He picked Overwatch over Deadlock once before... and now, it seems he's picking Deadlock over Overwatch instead :')

The follow-up short, Roadtrip, doesn't do anything to change my mind. The trolling jerk, Jesse McCree, hovers past Ashe's payload, where she's just... complaining, as she hovers xD going by what I know of the game and that map, the payload may just be en route to the gang's hideout, so that, I'd say, could explain why she hasn't climbed off it or escaped in any way (which she reasonably would have, if Jesse was trying to, I don't know, send her and her people to the authorities).

My point here is, however, that Jesse is headed the same way the payload is. If his destination is the same one, he'll beat it there for sure. Maybe, yes, he'll go away and drive well past the hideout... but maybe that's exactly where he intended to go.

Maybe, in the end, Reunion is about a man who's finally coming home :D

In addition, goes without saying, Ashe's rant about how everyone falls to pieces over Jesse showing his "stupid mug" (uh-huh, stupid, ANGELIC mug, we know what you really think, girl xD) ends with her saying she should have "put a bullet in him the minute he showed up".

Which begs the question of why didn't she.

Then, of course, she says she hates McCree when he drives past her while listening to some really ridiculous honky-tonky-sounding music x'D I cannot even help but imagine him deliberately picking that radio station or whatever it was just to annoy Ashe when he drove beside her, and so that she can get extra pissed when she retrieves her beloved bike, turns on the music and it's just more honky-tonky stuff x'D but anyway, the thing is she shouts after him, tells him that's her bike and says she hates him. B.O.B. wordlessly speaks for us McAshe shippers by giving Ashe the most "sure, Jan" side-eye in the history of side-eyes, and Ashe notices and is outraged enough to knock B.O.B.'s little hat right off his head again.

Again... this is renowned outlaw Elizabeth Caledonia "Calamity" Ashe, sitting on a payload, groaning about the guy she once very much had feelings for (and that doesn't even begin to cut it, if you ask me x'D) and for whom she tooooootally doesn't anymore, that picture on her bike doesn't MEAN that, OBVIOUSLYYYY!!, and so, she sits up, complains and doesn't do much of anything to get out of her current situation, right? :>

So, summing up my current understanding of EVERYTHING, thanks to Deadlock Rebels and my obsessive rewatches of Reunion + Roadtrip:

Jesse deliberately sought out Ashe so she would indirectly, unknowingly, help him set Echo free from the government's clutches.

Jesse hoped for a peaceful encounter despite knowing he might not get one.

Jesse has no intentions of returning to Overwatch but was willing to perform one final act of service for them by releasing Echo so she'd go give Winston and co. a hand.

Jesse is NOT surprised to see that Ashe: 1. Didn't change bikes at some point in the twenty years since they built it. 2. Didn't swap the ignition key for a button, the way she says she thought to do it in the novel until he gives her the keychain. 3. KEPT THE POETIC AF KEYCHAIN, despite resenting Jesse for his betrayal. 4. KEEPS A PICTURE OF THEM IN THEIR YOUNGER YEARS PASTED ON HER BIKE'S DASHBOARD.

Jesse claims he has business to deal with: he doesn't clarify said business verbally, but every shot after he says those words focuses on elements related to Ashe... and then, along with the novel's context, it's elements related to their BOND. Everything in that shot, EVERYTHING, is connected to the two of them. Elements that weren't shown before or during their shootout, and that are only introduced in that final moment when McCree is off to deal with his "business".

Ashe doesn't climb off the payload or stops it (which, going by how McCree simply pressed a button, and Ashe isn't immobilized in the least, she easily could have done it too if she had wanted to). Suggesting that, wherever the payload is heading, it isn't anywhere dangerous for Ashe and her crew, ergo, she is 100% sure McCree isn't trying to screw her over by turning her in to the authorities or so (or, at worst, she's completely confident that, even if he is going to do this, she'll be able to get out of it easily).

Jesse drives in the same direction the payload is headed. Another hint that suggests he might intend to head to the Deadlock hideout and that, whatever business he has left to deal with, it involves them.

If his intent ISN'T to go to the hideout... Jesse is still guaranteeing that Ashe will come after him by stealing her bike, the 18th birthday gift he gave her, and the picture she keeps of them. That he takes that very bike practically serves as painting a target on his back for her to hunt down, and he KNOWS IT.

In short: Jesse will have plenty of business with the Deadlock Gang in his future, and going by how pleased he seems to be when riding the bike, he's perfectly happy to handle that business on his terms, whenever he wants to handle it.

Extra tidbit: there's nothing in Deadlock Rebels about Jesse's smoking habit, something he definitely did pick up at some point while in the gang because, hahaha, he IS smoking in the picture Ashe keeps of him :> Which makes me wonder why, of all pictures Ashe chooses to keep on her bike's dashboard, she picks one where he's smoking.

Then, it makes me wonder about the fact that Jesse deliberately starts smoking when he's standing right in front of her (and then he winks at her!). He tosses that cigar after things get kind of dangerous for him because B.O.B. does something, and then... then he goes back to smoking.

RIGHT WHEN HE'S CLIMBING ON THE BIKE.

Like... seriously...

*unintelligible fangirl screaming*

I could be looking too deeply into this. I know I could be. Maybe Blizzard just wants me to go CRAZY with little symbolism and hints charged with SO MUCH MEANING that maybe don't have as much meaning as I thought it did...

... But man, I've sailed into the depths of the shippiest oceans for many ships that have gotten actual breadcrumbs from canon. I've gone wild over ships that have zero opportunity to become a thing in canon continuity. I've written a nearly 3M words story based on a ship that is just UNEXPLORED AMAZING POTENTIAL and ngl, I love exploring it myself, so I don't even begrudge canon that much for not giving it to me anymore.

But the fact is, no ship in OW, as far as I've seen, has remotely as much content, hints and strong ties as McAshe does -- at least, no ships between heroes. We had a cinematic that was CHARGED with significance, with little gestures, with even the smallest facial expressions that carried soooo much more meaning than whole episodes or even seasons in TV shows. And then? We got a novel. A full novel depicting their origins and exploring their dynamics, how tight their friendship was, and how some strong feelings were certainly brewing there, even if neither one was ready to act on them yet (as far as we saw...).

Finally... I'll say I did start working on a Sokkla Western AU ages ago because the idea I had for one was pretty amusing. Then Reunion dropped, and I said "Why would I need to finish that story anymore when the Sokkla Western AU is RIGHT HERE?!"

And that's it, I will stop rambling now because this got insanely long x'D but thank you very very much for giving me this chance to go WILD on everything I can see, within all those canon hints, with these two *-*

#anon #mcashe #the fact that canon is treating me right for once #is blowing my mind and always will #look I can end up crying in a heap when OW2 drops and we find out that nothing I thought of was real #it's entirely possible #... but we already got so much #SOOOOO MUCH #that I can't even say I'd be mad x'D #I am one happy camper on this ship #and I love them to pieces #I wish I had the time/chance to make all the art I've been inspired to about them *cries ten rivers*#one day... one day

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melwritesstufff · 4 years

Text

Damian crush headcanon

Absolutely nobody asked for this but headcanons and stuff like this help me get a better Understanding of characters. I’ve never written for Dami before and it’s been a bit since i’ve written so this might be a bit bad. Please leave any advice or criticism for me!

You and Dami first met through him being forced to attend school by Bruce. (Bruce wants him to have somewhat of a normal childhood, even if it’s barely a sliver of normality)

He doesn’t even notice you until you are paired up to do a school project together

He absolutely hates it, and you, at first. He tries to bribe the teacher to let him work alone, but it’s a project that requires a partner. And apparently, you were the only one willing to work with him

So now he’s stuck with you. He decides to just get things over with as fast as he can, telling you he’ll do all the work and you can just piggy-back off of his work and take credit for half of the project

You have some dignity, though, and you weren’t about to let some snobby rich boy push you around like that. Especially after you offered to work with him when nobody else would

So you yell at him persuade Damian to let you work on at least some of the project, despite his whole “I work alone” speech that he seems to give everyone, including teachers.

Finally, he gives in and tells you he’ll work with you

Long story short, after the project, Damian learns that you’re actually a very driven, smart and good person. And for some reason, he finds himself drawn to you

So he ends up hanging around you and inviting you to the manor quite often, although he would never admit that he actually enjoys your presence. Only that you’re “the only person in this whole academy that I can tolerate” - his exact words, btw

While you visit the manor, Dami introduces you to his abundance of pets, and is quite surprised when they all seem to like you. Even Alfred the cat; and he doesn’t like anybody. I mean he’s a cat. But when Alfred rubs on your leg and purrs instantly upon meeting you? Dami can’t help but feel impressed. And he didn’t know it yet, but this was the exact moment he fell for you. And believe me when I say he fell hard.

It takes him quite a while for him to realize his feelings, and even longer to admit it out loud.

His upbringing was not an easy one, and he was taught that such feelings were bad, a sign of weakness. So that’s what he took it as. A weakness. He started pushing you away and only when Dick noticed this and gave him a huge scolding did he stop.

Dick sat him down and forced Dami to talk to him. After doing so, Dick told him that having feelings and emotions wasn’t a weakness, and is often seen as a strength. Bruce, Talia and them may be emotionally stunted, but that doesn’t mean their children have to be stuck in the same loop. Dick hopes you’ll be the one to bring Dami out of that loop.

So Dami starts hanging out with you again, after finally caving in to three straight days of Dicks advice and scoldings

It’s nice, and for a while, he can ignore his feelings. He can ignore how when you look at him his heart races. Or how you’re the most beautiful person he’s ever met. Or how when you talk about the things you're interested in, your eyes light up and your voice gets a bit higher. Or how you’re one of the few people who actually make him feel something. That last one is a big one for him, and it gets pretty hard to ignore sometimes.

So Damian finally admits he has a crush on you, not to you, but to himself. The only problem is he refuses to admit it to you. No matter how many lectures he gets from Dick.

That is, until you see him as Robin.

You had met Robin on a few other occasions, and every time he seemed weirdly familiar. The reason was one you could never put a finger on. Until you saw it.

One time, you had forgotten your backpack in his room. When you went to get it back, you walked into his room to find Damian in full Robin suit. All except for the iconic domino mask.

He completely froze when he saw you. Weren’t you supposed to be gone? On your way back home? Why are you still here? How did he not hear you? He was an ex assassin trained by the best how did he not notice you?

“Uh, I just forgot my backpack.” You broke the awkward silence, grabbed your stuff, then left.

The incident wasn’t brought up again until a few days later when the weekend was over and you were both back at school.

Damian almost bailed, scared on what you would say, what you would do. But, like he always does, Dick butted in and forced Dami to go. So he did, reluctantly though.

Throughout the entire school day, you and Damian ignored each other. Everyone hated it. You hated it because you just learned your best friend was out every night fighting crime and putting himself in danger. Damian hated it because he could lose you, both as a friend and a romantic interest, though he feared losing you as a friend more. He could deal with being rejected romantically but losing you as a friend might just push him over the edge of emotional instability. The rest of your classmates hated it because Damian was acting especially cold to everyone. The energy in every room the two of you were in was suffocating and quite awful. Nobody liked it.

You decide to put a stop to it though, and pull him aside during lunch. Finally deciding on something to say.

Damian thinks you’re going to stop being friends with him, or blackmail him, or something awfully similar. He hated himself for making such an easy slip up. For being so weak as to open up to you. For letting you into his heart.

Those worries and thoughts are put on pause though as, as soon as the two of you are in the privacy of the rich school's huge courtyard, you hug him. You throw your arms around his neck and almost knock him over.

His heart almost breaks as he hears your soft sniffles while you cry into his shoulder.

“Y/n I-“

You cut him off before he could say anything

“Thank god you’re safe! God, Dami, you have no idea how much I’ve worried about you the past few days. Knowing who you are, what you’re doing every night? It was terrifying. It is terrifying. I was so scared something was going to happen to you. I-i just, i..oh god Dami I’m just so glad you even showed up today.” you just burst into tears and this time his heart does break. He felt so guilty for what he did, or really for what he didn’t do. For what he didn’t tell you.

“I… I’m sorry, Habibti. I should have told you I know. I was, I’m just trying to keep you safe. If you knew, it would put you in danger. I just want you to be safe.”

This is the first time you’ve ever heard Damian apologize, and he was surprisingly good at it.

“Don’t you think i worry for your safety too? It’s just, Dami, I’m your best friend. Don’t you trust me?” You broke the hug to look into his eyes, almost trying to look for the truth.

“Of course i trust you, i just-“ you cut him off

“What else have you been hiding from me? Please, just tell me. I need to know, especially if it puts you in danger”

At that moment, Damian knew exactly what he wanted to tell you. He wanted to tell you everything. From his terrible upbringing to his nightly adventures as Robin. So he did. He explained everything, and hearing all those terrible things he was forced to endure was incredibly saddening and it was difficult for you not to just tackle him in a hug. To tell him you were sorry he had to go through all that. To tell him you love him and you’re never going to let anyone else hurt him like that. But you didn’t. You just sat across from him and let him talk. Let him explain everything.

At the end of it all, you were both crying softly. There was a long silence after Damian finished explaining everything. But there was one more thing he needed to say. He already told you everything else, so he might as well tell you this as well.

“There’s one last thing, y/n.”

“I… I’m in love with you. At least, I think I am. I’m still not quite sure what love is but i think i feel it for you. I understand if you don't feel the same. I can just-”

You cut him off with a soft kiss on his lips

It was short, but you could still taste the salty tears that ran down to his lips

“You idiot, of course I feel the same way.”

“Really? But, being with me would put you through so much danger. It’s not safe to be around me, I’m not safe to be around. I’m an assassin, Habibti. You have to understand,”

“I do understand, Dami. And I don't care. You’re worth being in danger for. And I know you would never hurt me or let me get hurt. Assassin or not, you’d never let it happen.”

Then the bell rings and you two have to go back to class, but you make an agreement to meet up after school and go to the mansion.

When you two arrive, Dick is happy to see you both getting along again. And seeing that the two of you are holding hands as you walk in just makes him even more ecstatic.

When Bruce sees the two of you, he smiles. Like an actual genuine smile. He’s proud of his son for breaking the cycle and opening up to someone.

It’s like 4am rn and I’m too tired to wrap this up so i hope y'all enjoyed this. I’ve never written for Damian before so idk if i did him right. Please leave any criticism or advice for me y’all’s have. Thanks so much! Bye bye :)

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boombox-fuckboy · 3 years

Note

Hi !

Even with the enormous amont of podcasts you have listened to (i'm. honnestly amazed. That's a loooot), there are a few that i've listened to and enjoyed that i didn't see in your post, and that maybe you'll like (i have literally no idea if you will, sorry in advance) ;

- EOS 10 : (comedy, sci-fi) it's about space doctors and it's really absurd and funny ; they always get into messed up situations and the characters are extremely lovable.

There's no sex scene but there are two episodes (ep 04 and 05 season 1 if I'm not mistaking) which revolve around the main character taking some kind of.... Very strong alien viagra and having to get rid of an erection with medecine that he doesn't have (not the best episodes btw in my opinion). Also there are often jokes making reference to sex, nothing explicit though.

- Me and AU : (romcom) cute love story between two girls that meet on the internet (on a site a loooot like Tumblr) by being in the same fandom. It's really cute and really nice to listen to - what's more there's a story inside the story (the show they're obsessing about) which is fun.

- Inspector Virlo Morton Lee : (comedy and detective story) an absolutly crazy Inspector tries to solve a murder in a rich people's manor. Absolutly hilarious, you end up liking every characters, it's really a great and fun audio drama, with Cluedo vibes.

- The ordinary Epic : (Real life... ? And humor. And some kind of fantasy. Well i don't know which genre it belongs to) one of the first podcast i've listened to, about a team of five characters playing dungeons and dragons. It mixes their real lives and their characters lives, it's about friendship and all that stuff ; it's a short but fun to listen podcast, with nice characters - i liked it a lot.

- Live from averno : (horror/mysteries, i don't know exactly) In the town of Averno, people disappear without anyone noticing ; two students, Will and Quinn, decide to create a podcast to warn others and try to solve those disappearances. It's fun to listen to, the characters are really nice... I think there are also other audio drama set in Averno if you're curious

- 36 questions : (romance) a 3 parts musical about a man who learns that his 2-years wife/girlfriend (i don't remember if they're married) has been lying to him since the day they met, so they're trying to talk it out. A great audio drama with beautiful songs.

So i hope you'll find maybe something you'll like in those podcasts and if so i'd love to know what you thought !

Oh wow, thanks so much!!!

I have Eos 10 on my list, since I've both great things about the show, but it's near the bottom, as I've some less great things about the creator.

I've also heard love for Live From Averno and Me & AU before (though I am not big on fandom culture for the second admittedly), though knew virtually nothing about them before now. I'll be sure to bump them up on my list!! Especially Averno, might start that tonight, it sounds right up my alley.

The rest are all brand-new to me (I am all bouncy at the thought new content) and sound fantastic! Thank you ever so much, and I'll be sure let you know what I think of them.

#submitted recs #THANK YOUUUUUUUUU #you legend!!!

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sirius · 5 years

Text

Young gods Part 6

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Reader, Sirius Black x Reader, Regulus Black x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of anxiety

Word Count: 7361

A/N: Annnd we’re back baby! It feels soooo good to be able to publish this chapter after so long! A lot of things are explained in this chapter so yeah. Also, I was trying to find the original video for the gif above but i couldn’t for the life of me find it anywhere on the web! I was so annoyed! anyway, sorry about the format but this gif suited the chapter. Btw this chapter is dedicated to everyone who was trying to guess who Kaitlyn’s crush is and the couple of people who nearly figured it out: I got u.

Chapter six: Fix You or Show Me the Way

***

Snow.

You can hear it crunch around you, numbing your fingers as they curl around it, deceptively soft but still digging under your fingernails and shooting shivers through your entire body. Darkness surrounds you, but you suppose that makes sense given your eyes are still closed. A sweet, florally fragrance blooms in the air, resilient despite the cold. Distantly, you can hear the telltale echo of voices murmuring rapidly, so close but so far away, muffled like your ears are plugged up with cotton balls.

Focusing hard, you recognise a familiar baritone, spoken by someone nearby.

“It’s good that you found her when you did,” he says, and even in the darkness you can hear the relief leaking through his words, like colour bleeding into a blank canvas, “Otherwise I fear the worse could have happened.”

Professor Dumbledore, you realise, somewhat dimly. There’s no mistaking that rich, low rumble of your infamous Headmaster.

There’s a short pause, a delayed response.

“Will she be alright?”

A second voice asks one that seems to poke through the muddy presence in your mind like you’ve noted every single detail of his voice before in a million different ways. His voice is like smoke rising off the water, like the consistent and deliberate thud, thud, thud of rain.

It’s Sirius. He’s here. Your fingers twitch, body relaxing into the bed of snow almost automatically. It feels nice to sink into the icy cushioning of the bed of snow, knowing Sirius is right beside you. To let your body relax under his watch, knowing the silent promise of protection that his presence seems to elicit.

You are tired, after all. Your body seems to ache like you’ve been pulled apart and stitched back together, and theres a prickling ache that shoots up the back of your spine, settling at the back of your head like a snake. But there’s something more to the pain, something that feels a lot like anguish, guilt, regret. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it swells uncomfortably in your ribcage and presses up against your chest like an air bubble that’s close to bursting.

“Yes,” says Professor Dumbledore, “She’ll need time to recover, but she’ll be fine.”

Someone places a warm hand over your forehead, melting the flecks of snow that had settled there.

“She’s coming home with me,” says a woman’s voice, warm, calm and full of affection, “She’ll recover there for the rest of the holidays and then she can come back to school.”

She moves her hand from your forehead to your cheek, cupping it gently.

“As you wish, Thea,” Says Dumbledore, warmly, and a burst of excitement shoots through you.

“There’s something else,” Your sweet, strong and beautiful grandmother murmurs, “I must discuss something important with you, Albus. It’s about (Y/N)’s future.”

Time slips away again, like sand sliding down the narrow, slippery slope of an hourglass and your consciousness flickers, falters, fades, in and out of time like candlelight. You seem to float on the snow for hours, laying completely still, eyes not wanting to peel back just yet. The only thing anchoring you to time being the esoteric ache between your temples, throbbing painfully like someone had carved a six-inch valley down the middle of your skull. And, just when you think you may drown in all the shadows and pain, something - someone - breaks through the darkness like lightning arching across a starless, black sky.

“I came as fast as I could. Is she alright?”

The soft-spoken, masculine voice hits your consciousness suddenly, as though it had combed through thick branches to reach you.

“Yes, Remus,” says Professor Dumbledore, calmly, “She’s stable, still unconscious, but stable anyhow. It’s quite remarkable that she was able to endure the Cruciatus Curse for so long.”

There’s movement, and then a hand, large and warm, is melting the ice in the palm of your hand. It wraps around your smaller one like a blanket, warming you to your core. And, as much as you had liked the cold, the warmth of his hand is much more comforting in ways that you couldn’t possibly begin to describe.

“Well, she’s stronger than you think,” Remus murmurs. His voice warms you up like sunlight in your veins.

“She gets that from her father,” says your grandmother Thea, a small smile teasing her words.

Another beat of silence pulses between them.

“Oh - um - Mrs Ashton...I’m Remus Lupin. I’m a - ah - friend of your granddaughter’s...”

“Yes, my granddaughter has told me many things about you, Remus,” Thea says, fondly, “She’s quite fond of you, and I can see why. You’re a good friend to her...”

“I’m obviously not good enough,” Remus snarls, scathingly, “I-I won’t let him near her again.”

And then, the ice beneath you melts into cotton sheets and you recognise the subtle, honeyed sweetness in the air, realising that its not the forest's natural fragrance but the expensive perfume sitting on your dresser and it hits you like a bludger to the back of the head that you’re no longer lying in the snow but in your bedroom back at the Ashton manor. A part of you regrets coming to this revelation; it had been so peaceful in the snow, the cold almost like a comforting breath of fresh air filling your choking lungs. But then the hand around yours tightens, and a different kind of comfort fills you.

“I know we all have a lot of...strong feelings at the moment,” says Dumbledore, soothingly, “But that's nothing a nice, big mug of hot cocoa can’t fix. Besides, you should be resting, Remus. You are in frail condition yourself.”

“With all due respect, Professor, I’m not going anywhere,” Remus snips, determinedly, “I can't leave her again.“

“She’s at home now, darling,” says Thea’s calm, slightly accented voice, “She’s under my protection. No one would dare hurt her while I’m around.”

“I don’t mean to offend,” Remus begins, slowly, “And I’m absolutely sure that you’re more than capable but...still...I’d like to stay with her.”

“You might as well drop down on one knee and propose,” Sirius snickers, “Besides, Regulus isn’t going to come near her again. I made sure of that...”

Sirius’ words, spoken with a cold, venomous level of animosity you hadn’t heard before, triggers something deep inside of you and your eyes fly open. You lurch forward, gasping and spluttering, colour bursting in front of your eyes like a curtain being drawn quickly and deliberately.

Remus surges forward, cupping your cheek with one hand while the other squeezes your hand.

“It’s okay,” he murmurs, softly, his eyes never leaving yours, “It’s alright. You’re safe, you’re okay.”

“Not sure if she really is ‘okay’,” drawls Sirius, “but whatever you say Moony.”

Remus ignores him.

“You’re back home in your bedroom,” he continues in a low, soft murmur.

Your heart thuds violently in your chest as your eyes dart around the room, taking in everything you can.

Dumbledore and Sirius sit at the end of your bed, the curtains drawn for privacy. Remus sits beside you in a chair to your right while your grandmother, Althea Ashton, sits in the chair to your left, as beautiful and as strong as ever. Morning sunlight streams into the room, bouncing off rows of glass bottles.

Remus' thumb drifts across the apple of your cheek, smoothing over your skin and drawing your eyes to meet his own. He looks concerned but calm, relief stirred into the deep blue depths of his eyes.

“R-Remus,” you stammer, weakly.

“I’m here,” he reassures and you lean into his touch.

“Grandmama,” you smile at Thea, who beams back.

“Just like your father,” she smiles, squeezing your hand.

“Miss (Y/N),” says Professor Dumbledore’s rich, smooth voice, “It’s such a delight to finally have you back with us after three very long days.”

You drag your eyes away from Remus, meeting Dumbledores benevolent blue ones, and the memory of your failure floods you, dampening the comfort that had once given you peace. Remus drops his hand from your cheek, taking all his warmth with him and you shudder violently like an exposed nerve. You feel exhausted under his twinkling gaze, ashamed and sad all at once.

You want to apologise to Dumbledore, to Grandmother Thea, to James, to Sirius, to Remus, to all the people who expected you to succeed. You want to apologise to Regulus for failing him. But all that comes out is a trembling whimper, soft and weak in volume and caught in the back of your throat.

“You don’t need to apologise,” Dumbledore says, as though he had reached into your mind and read your thoughts. He moves to your side, eyes shimmering, “In fact, if anyone should be apologising, it should be me. I underestimated the situation and I put you in danger. And for that, I am deeply sorry.”

You bite your lip, blinking back tears. One escapes anyway, sticking to your lashes before rolling down your cheeks, pooling on your lips like sea water.

“I failed him,” you rasp, thinking of Regulus’ wide, terrified eyes as they stared at you.

“No,” growls Sirius, folding his arms over his chest, “He failed you.”

You release a trembling sigh.

“Sirius is right,” Remus spits, acidly, “If Regulus truly was your friend, he’d have chosen you over the Dark Lord. He betrayed you.”

Tears stream down your cheeks and you wipe them away hastily. You take a deep breath in and exhale; your breath rattles on your lips.

“I’ll get the elves to make you something nice,” Thea smiles and gives you an encouraging wink before rising from her seat. Dumbledore tips an imaginary hat at her as she passes.

“So what happened after I...passed out?” You ask, not sure if you want to hear an answer.

“Sirius found you and attacked them,” Remus begins, “He promised to follow you while James and I were under the cloak. We got caught up in the crowd at The Three Broomsticks, you see. So by the time we got out, you were already at the Shrieking Shack.”

“How?” You ask, brows furrowed, “I mean, I didn’t see anyone in the forest? Usually, invisibility charms leave prints in the snow and usually, I can-I can sense when people are around me...”

Remus and Sirius exchange a look, edging around something they don’t want to discuss openly, or at least in front of Dumbledore. Sirius simply shrugs.

“He was in disguise,” Remus says, glancing at Dumbledore.

You frown a little harder. It still doesn’t explain why your sharp intuition hadn’t sensed anything. At the same time, you hadn’t realised you’d walked into a trap, either, so maybe your intuition was not as sharp as you originally thought.

“What about Regulus?” You ask, voice crumbling on your lips.

“What about him?” Sirius snips.

“Well, where is he?”

The three of them share a look.

“We don’t know,” Remus answers, earnestly, “He ran off after Sirius found you.”

“But he can’t escape punishment for long,” Sirius adds, bitterly, “Eventually, he and his gang will have to go back to School and face the consequences. And they’ll get one last look at Hogwarts before Dumbledore snaps their wands in half and I shove it up their stinking ars-”

“-Actually...” Dumbledore begins, slowly, “They won’t be getting expelled, Sirius.”

Sirius’ mouth drops open and Remus leaps from his seat.

“Wh-What do you mean?” Remus stammers, “Professor, they used an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow student. They nearly killed her!”

Dumbledore sighs, rubbing his forehead, “I’m quite aware of that, Remus, thank you. But if I expel them, we lose our intel on Voldemort.”

“Is intel really more important than a student’s life?” Sirius barks, “They can’t just get away with this!”

“Who said they were getting away with it?” Dumbledore says, calmly, “They will get detention and Slytherin will lose points, of course, but they can not leave this school. They leave and they come under Voldemort’s control and that will come at a price we simply cannot pay. Lives are at stake.”

“Including (Y/N)’s!” Remus snaps, incredulously.

“(Y/N) has her life,” Dumbledore continues, “I do not believe Regulus truly wanted her dead. But I cannot say the same for the innocent civilians - both muggles and wizards and witches alike - who will be in unspeakable danger if more of Voldemort’s Death Eaters are let loose into the world. If we can delay the future, we must.”

“But-”

“Professor Dumbledore is right,” you begin, cutting Remus off and taking his hand again, “If Professor Dumbledore expels them, they’ll go straight to Voldemort and Voldemort will win. They have to stay here.”

Dumbledore smiles softly at you, eyes glittering like pools of aqua crystal, “Once again, I admire your wisdom and bravery, Miss Ashton. But for now, you must rest,” Dumbledore turns to Remus and Sirius, speaking seriously, “Stay if you must, Remus, I’m sure Mrs Ashton won’t mind. I’ve heard from James and Lily and they’ll be coming to visit sometime tomorrow. As for you, Sirius, I will need your assistance. Follow me, please.”

With a final nod and a warm twitch of his lips, Dumbledore leaves your room with Sirius in tow. Remus drops into the seat beside you, still clutching your hand, just as your bedroom door swings open and a tall, familiar witch strides in.

“(Y/N),” Kaitlyn sighs, panting, “Thank fuck. You’re awake. I was so bloody worried about you.”

She races forward and drops to your side, pushing a ribbon of hair off your face.

“Um, Dumbledore said that (Y/N) needs rest so...”

Kaitlyn stares at Remus, “I’m her best friend and I’m staying.”

Remus opens his mouth to argue but thinks better of it. Instead, he sits back in his chair and pulls out a large thermos.

“I can’t believe him,” Kaitlyn snips darkly, “And I can't believe I...” she cuts herself off, biting her lip and adjusting her glasses, “...anyway, are you feeling a little better?”

You shake your head wearily, “I’m sore but I’m also just...exhausted.”

“Well, yeah,” Kaitlyn says, unsurprised, “You were under the Cruciatus Curse for almost ten minutes. Any longer and you...Just as well Sirius...”

Kaitlyn trails off into a knowing, heavy silence that seems to loom over the three of you hauntingly. Remus holds out a steaming mug of hot chocolate and you take it from him, wrapping your hands around the mug and feeling the warmth tickle and soothe your skin. Taking a small sip, you feel the tension in your body soften a little.

“It’s good to have you back,” Kaitlyn murmurs, ripping your hand away from the mug and gripping it tightly, “I was...we were all so worried. Even Sirius.”

“Sirius seems to have warmed up to you,” Remus mutters, staring into his mug of hot chocolate.

You turn to Remus, studying the way the light streams through the soft curls of his sandy brown hair. Smiling softly, you carefully place your mug of hot chocolate on the bedside table and take his hand in yours, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Who cares about Sirius?” You shrug, casually, and Remus looks up at you. He smiles, and it has such a profound effect on your body, like watching the sun sink beneath the horizon.

He’s so very beautiful...

Kaitlyn smacks her lips together and you reluctantly tear your eyes away from Remus. Kaitlyn raises a sharp brow at you. She looks as though she may laugh.

“Well, Remus,” Kaitlyn smirks, “I have two questions for you: One, does that hot chocolate have fire whiskey in it and, two, are you going to offer me some or what?”

***

A low whisper and a gentle brush of heat against your cheek wake you up in the middle of the night. You stare up at the delicate canopy draped over your bed and sigh in the darkness, wondering why your mind is playing games.

Remus is still sitting in the chair by your side, his head resting on your bed while he sleeps. You think about tangling your fingers in those soft, gentle curls but decide against it, not wanting to wake him up. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps like he’s resting on a bed of cloud.

Maybe he dreams of me, you think, hopefully, fingers twitching to touch him.

On the other side, Kaitlyn is curled up in your plush armchair, hugging her knees to her chest. She had managed to collect her thick, brown hair and throw it up in a tiny knot on top of her head to keep it from her face, but the bun is coming undone. She looks adorable, her glasses crooked on her face.

You release a soft sigh. With your two close friends on either side of you, the soft mattress beneath you feels even softer, like sinking into the soft clouds of a daydream. You smile to yourself, fingers reaching up to play with your necklace, eyes roaming across the room one last time before closing your eyes.

Your eyes slide shut.

Big inhale

Gentle exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhal-

Wait

Your eyes fly open and you lunge forward, scrambling out of bed and rushing toward your dresser. Shockwaves of pain shoot through you but you push the throbbing ache to the back of your skull as you clutch the sides of your dresser, staring wide-eyed and in shock.

Next to your collection of delicate perfumes and your ornamental hairbrush is a book. And not just any book, it’s your beloved copy of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.’

The same book you lent Regulus.

“Regulus was here,” you whisper, eyes wide as you raise a trembling hand to your cheek, still warm from where Regulus must have trailed his touch across your cheek, “Regulus brought it back to me!”

Behind you, both Remus and Kaitlyn jolt awake.

“What happened?” Remus murmurs, groggily as Kaitlyn runs to your side, “Are you alright? Do you need me to get Thea?”

“Regulus was here, Remus,” you gasp, turning to face him with a wince, “I gave him my personal copy of Alice in Wonderland and he brought it back. He-he was here!”

“How did he know you were here?” Kaitlyn asks, frowning.

“They must have gone back to Hogwarts first,” Remus murmurs, “But they couldn’t find you so Regulus....got your address...”

“We used to write to each other over the summer holidays,” you explain, “So he must have apparated here.”

Remus’ eyes flit between your eyes and the book in your hands, guilt, shame and concern bleeding into his eyes. He pulls himself out of the chair and strides toward you, prying the book out of your grasp and blinking down at it.

“I promised that I’d never let him near you...” his grip on the book tightens, knuckles white with fury,

“Well that was a bit stupid of you, wasn’t it?” Kaitlyn snips and Remus’ eyes snap back up to you, “Of course he’s going to come near her! We go to the same bloody school!”

“Well obviously,” Remus snaps, agitated, “What I meant was that I never want him to hurt her ever again!”

“Well I don’t want that, either, but that doesn’t mean I go around making promises I can’t keep.”

“Stop it, both of you,” you snap, sternly, and they both fall quiet. You sigh composedly, “Neither of you can stop people from hurting me. Only I can do that.”

You take the book out of Remus’ vice-like grip and hug it, holding it close to your chest and thinking of your father, “Now I can't say that Regulus won’t try to physically hurt me again. But I can say that he won’t be able to break my heart ever again. I won’t give him an opportunity to do so.”

Remus nods in understanding, “I’ll be here to support you. Always.”

You turn to Remus, meeting his shimmering blue eyes. His eyes could contain the mysteries of the galaxy and no one would be able to read them, no one except you. And maybe that’s what this unspoken...thing is that lingers between the two of you, this silent understanding of how you both work and how the world you’ve both built up around you functions. And the connection is profoundly beautiful; an ethereal sort of energy that you feel deep inside of you, spluttering like a dying star being reborn again.

You look at Remus and you smile.

“Same.”

You jump. You had been so taken by Remus, you’d completely forgotten Kaitlyn was standing right next to you. You smile weakly at her and she takes your hand, giving it a little squeeze.

“Let’s get you back to bed,” she smiles.

As Kaitlyn begins to lead you back to bed, you glance out of your window, spotting a shadowy figure gazing up at your window from the ground.

“Regulus?” You whisper, recognising the familiar shape of his silhouette. He hesitates, and you frown at him.

Before you can tell Remus or Kaitlyn, Regulus is gone, swallowed up by the darkness, a ghost of the night.

***

Thankfully, you don’t see Regulus for the rest of the week. You’re not sure what you’d do if you did see him. In fact, you’re not even sure what Remus would do if he saw him.

Probably something bad. Or Illegal. Or both.

Still, you can’t help thinking that Regulus took a huge risk by returning an ordinary book. You had leafed through the pages, wondering if he had left some secret message behind in the book but there was nothing. It was in the exact same condition as it was when you gave it to him.

You sigh, running your hand over the cover as you stare out the window from your window seat.

“(Y/N),” says a warm voice from behind you. You turn, finding Grandmother Thea approaching you.

“Hello Grandmama,” you smile.

Thea takes a spot beside you on the window seat, taking a moment to gaze out the window where the house elves are hard at work in the gardens.

“I must say, I’ve missed having you here,” she admits, “This house is so large and it only has me and the house elves in it.”

You cover her hand with your own, giving it a gentle squeeze, “Have you heard from Aunt Lie?”

“No,” she sighs, “She’s yet to reply to my owl. You know what your Aunt is like; she’ll sleep when she’s dead, that one.”

You hum in agreement, your lips twitching into a small smile. Your Aunt Delilah’s work ethic and determination have propelled her to the top of the mountain, or in her case, the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement in MACUSA. She was even awarded ‘Witch of the Year’ for three consecutive years by and she’s always been a subject of admiration, especially for you.

“What about Uncle Logan?” you ask, and a pained expression crosses your grandmother’s face.

“Still in St Mungos,” She sighs, “He tried to break out the other day. They had to restrain him...”

As though dragging herself out of her thoughts, Thea sweeps her gaze from the manicured lawns bellow to your face and smiles gently at you, that same, loving curve of her lips that she passed down to her son - your father. But her eyes look worried, forlorn almost like she’s carrying a burden that’s too heavy for her. In the late afternoon sun, she looks older than her fifty-four years, the creases on her usually smooth cheeks looking deeper and more defined. It’s worrying; you’ve never thought that there was a burden heavy enough to worry the Great Althea Ashton.

“What’s wrong?” You ask, turning to face her completely.

Thea heaves a heavy sigh, “There’s something I need to discuss with you...something important.”

“What is it?”

Thea hesitates, biting her lower lip. After stringing her words together, she opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by a knock on the door.

“(Y/N)?” James’ voice sounds from the other side of the door.

“Come in.”

Your bedroom door swings open and James emerges from the other side, beaming as he approaches. When he spots Thea, James stops. He shoots a hand through his hair and bows his head, smiling.

“Mrs Ashton,” he greets, “You look as radiant as ever.”

“You flatter me,” she smirks, “Of course, a young man like yourself knows exactly what to say.”

“I’ve been told I’m quite the conversationalist,” James flashes a million dollar smile, “Among other things.”

Thea raises a sharp brow, “Oh I’m sure.”

What the-?

James grins devilishly, eyes glittering, “I would be happy to show you a thing or two, Mrs Ashton.”

You cringe, nearly choking on air as James winks at you. You really can’t believe this is happening right now Obviously, you knew James was quite the flirt, and your grandmother is quite beautiful. Thea laughs, rising from her seat and approaches James, stopping just beside him as her lips curve into a wicked grin.

“You wouldn’t be able to handle me.”

A single laugh of surprise escapes your lips at Thea's witty reply. You slap a hand over your mouth to contain the rest of your giggles. James flushes as Thea sidles past.

“That sounds like a challenge,” James calls out to her and you hear her laughter echo through the house.

James turns back to you, grinning from ear to ear and jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, “She’s amazing.”

Nervous energy flutters inside your stomach. You hate being left alone with boys, especially confident, handsome and intelligent boys like James. Unsure of what to say, you blurt the first thing that comes to mind, which is...

“Do you usually flirt with other people’s grandmothers?” You ask, grimacing.

James saunters toward you and sits in the seat Thea had previously been sitting in, “Only when they look like that. I wouldn’t even dare to flirt with Sirius’ grandmother, half the time, we’re not even sure what’s holding that woman together. Thea though...she’s a goddess. She’s young too, younger than my dad.”

“Yeah,” you sigh, “She was married by seventeen, pregnant with my dad at eighteen, raising three children by twenty-six and a grandmother by thirty-eight. She’s incredible.”

“Tell me about it,” James shakes his head, his hand taking through his thick hair, “Anyway, that’s not what I’m here for. I actually came to ask if you wanted to come out for a bit. We were thinking of taking you to a winter carnival we saw in muggle London...”

“We?” You ask, thinking of the crowds with a twinge of anxiety, “Who’s we?”

James shrugs, “Me, Peter, Sirius, Kaitlyn...Remus...” James gives you a knowing grin and a wink. You bite your lip, feeling a prickly heat swell in your cheeks.

“What about Lily?” you ask, recalling her visit the other day, “Is she coming? She’s a lot of fun...”

James looks away from you, his cheery demeanour suddenly fading.

“She’s not coming,” He murmurs, “Got her sisters engagement party or something.”

“That’s right,” you say in recollection, “Her sisters getting married, isn’t she?”

James scratches the back of his neck, “Yeah. Anyway, would you like to come with us? It’ll be fun...”

You stare at James, deliberating silently. Leaving the comfort of your bedroom seems scary when you think about it. Despite having recovered physically, you hadn’t really left your bedroom for long periods of time except for meals and bathroom visits. Since the attack, you hadn’t really had much mental energy to process anything, and staying in bed reading a good book sounded much more easier than having to venture into the cold, snowcapped world.

But this carnival sounds fun. And - if it turns out to just be noisy, crowded and cold - you’ll be able to return home and crawl back into bed. Your friends will understand.

“Okay,” you shrug, trying to appear nonchalant, “I’ll come.”

***

The winter carnival is bright and colourful against the shocking white of soft snow; a burst of light and colour splashed against a white canvas. It’s romantic and whimsical; the air smells of melted sugar and baked pastries and that crisp freshness that chills the wind in that delightful, wintery way. Kids are either screaming in delight, terror or dismay and parents are looking either exhausted, exasperated or both. Overall, the atmosphere is very warm, despite the December cold.

Rows and rows of stalls line the streets, with vendors offering exciting, winter-themed games and steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Of course, the hot chocolate paled in comparison to Remus’ but they filled the spot. Still, it was fun watching James and Sirius experience this side of the muggle world. Sirius even managed to win James a large, fluffy reindeer, which the Marauders found amusing for some unspoken reason, and Peter slipped into a cheese fondue tent, spilling melted cheese down his front. A quick, cleaning charm by Kaitlyn banished the cheese away but the memory remained, and the boys were laughing for the rest of the afternoon, much to Kaitlyn’s discomfort.

You’re very, very glad you came.

“Look at this place,” Kaitlyn nearly laughs, beaming, “The last time I went to a winter carnival, I was eight and I don’t remember it looking quite as magical as it does now.”

“Really?” Peter asks though he doesn’t seem to be listening to a word Kaitlyn is saying.

Beside her, Sirius takes a swig from his flask and pockets it in the inside pocket of his black aviator's jacket.

“Your sentimentality is nauseating,” Sirius grumbles, rolling his eyes. Kaitlyn glares at him through her glasses.

“Your entire existence is nauseating,” Kaitlyn snaps and Sirius barks a sardonic laugh.

“Real original, O’Hara. Did you figure that out all on your own?”

Kaitlyn opens her mouth to argue but Remus intervenes.

“Would you two shut it?” He snaps, irritated, “This isn’t about your little pissing contest, it’s about helping out a friend in need.”

Kaitlyn closes her mouth begrudgingly, shooting Sirius a nasty look. Sirius gives a sarcastic eye roll, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Ever the diplomat,” Sirius teases, shaking his head.

“Well someone’s got to be,” Remus snips, “With you and Kaitlyn always at each other’s throats...”

“Looks like a lot of unresolved sexual tension to me,” James murmurs into your ear, and you swallow a fit of giggles. Peter frowns, flushing furiously.

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you Prongs?” Sirius sniggers, having overhead his best friend, and James punches his shoulder, hard.

“He’s always punching me,” Sirius whines, “You see the way he treats me, (Y/N). He’s cruel.”

“You deserve better,” you joke, grinning teasingly. Sirius rubs his arm, pouting exaggeratedly.

“I do, don’t I?”

Beside you, Peter mumbles something that sounds a lot like “He deserved that.” You and Sirius glance at each other, and Sirius shoots him a side long glance but doesn’t comment.

“What in Merlin’s arse hair is that?” James gasps, gaping up at something just ahead of you.

Both you and Sirius turn, facing a large Ferris wheel, decorated in muggle fairy lights. From where you’re standing on the floor, you can spot couples cuddled up close together, kissing and laughing together.

You glance at Remus, only to find him already gazing at you and the two of you turn away, cheeks burning against the cold.

“It’s a Ferris Wheel,” Kaitlyn explains, tucking her hair behind her ear and flushing as James stares at her, “It works by combing gravity and centripetal acceleration, caused by rotation and angular velocity-”

“-Yeah, yeah some boring muggle science shit, let's try it out,” Sirius says, cutting Kaitlyn off, “Come on Wormy.”

Peter glances sheepishly back at Kaitlyn, opening his mouth as if to say something but the words get lost on his tongue as Sirius drags him toward the Ferris Wheel. James gives Kaitlyn a lopsided grin.

“Ignore him,” James says, flapping a dismissive hand at Sirius, “Let's give it a go while you tell me more about the - ah - ‘boring, muggle science shit’.”

Kaitlyn beams, cheeks rosy from more than just the cold. James listens, intrigued, as he pays for their ride and they climb into a gondola.

“So...” Remus begins, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, “Did you want to...”

He nods at the Ferris Wheel. You smile at him and nod, biting your bottom lip as Remus’ face lights up. You follow Remus toward the technician, who plasters a forced smile on his face.

After paying for your ticket, you and Remus settle into one of the gondolas. In the gondola in front of you, Sirius turns around to grin teasingly at you. Remus ignites him.

“So, how are you feeling?” Remus asks, casually draping an arm across the back of the seat.

You shrug, “Better. I feel a lot better, actually, but...”

“...You’re hurting,” Remus finishes and you sigh, rubbing the moon crescent on your necklace.

Remus leans forward and takes your hand in his, warmth suddenly flooding you. He smiles as he gazes into your eyes, and he doesn’t look away, not even when the Ferris Wheel awakens and slowly begins to rotate.

“Let me fix you, (Y/N),” he whispers, hand trailing up your arm and cupping your cheek affectionately. His thumb flicks over the smooth skin and you close your eyes, relaxing into his touch.

It kind of hits you; how natural it feels to be sitting here with Remus, his touch warming your entire body. Every doubt and every fear seems to slip through the cracks and out of sight, washed away by the certainty swelling in your heart.

All of it becomes a little more clearer now. Whenever you were upset or distressed, Remus was there, like he had listened to a call for help you don’t even realise you made. He’s always been there to pick up the shattered pieces of your heart, piece them together like a puzzle only he knows how to solve.

When he looks at you, he sees you. He sees every detail as though your were painted in screaming colours, vibrant and radiant and beautiful to his eyes. Never transparent. Never invisible. But real, very real. When he touches, he feels.

It’s no longer a choice between two, but a choice between confession or silence.

And if the past few weeks have taught you anything, it’s that there’s nothing wrong with taking a leap of faith.

Your lashes flutter as you open your eyes, the world coming back to you in dazzling colour. Remus seems closer now than he was before, his arm now wrapped around your shoulders. His eyes drink you in, keeping you bottled up somewhere inside his chest. The thought makes you smile.

“(Y/N)...” he begins in a whisper, “I-I really like you. I always have, since the day we met, I’ve liked you.”

Your smile broadens, a little laugh slipping from your lips as your gondola reaches its peak.

“I like you too,” you breathe, “I know it’s taken me a while to realise it but...I know. I like you too.”

Remus beams like he’s swallowed a star, the worry and fatigue washed away by the joy that lights up his eyes. Slowly, he leans in, and you realise what he’s doing, what he wants. Your heart hums like a hummingbird gone haywire, fluttering inside your chest, ready to take flight on imaginary wings as Remus closes the distance between the two of you, tentative lips meeting yours for a gentle kiss.

Soft. Warm. Unassuming. These are just a few words to describe what it is like sharing your first kiss with Remus Lupin. He smells of cinnamon and tastes like chocolate and moonlight and fresh, clean air and it’s magical, whimsical, romantic.

It feels like a black and white movie, where the music swells just as the lovers meet and they melt into each other in all the ways you had only dreamt of. Except now, it’s real, you’re really in Remus’ arms, tasting the slick sweetness of his lips and the hot desire that wells beneath them.

It makes you whimper when he breaks away hesitantly, shades of soft pink blossoming on his cheeks, that surreal, poetic dream fading away as you return to reality. He licks his lips as though he wants to memorise the taste of you, his eyes glued to the smile slowly crawling across your lips.

“Wow,” you whisper, suddenly giddy.

“Wow,” Remus repeats in a low murmur, “I’m still waiting for the part where Sirius shakes me awake.”You giggle as Remus presses his forehead to yours and sighs against your lips, “Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

(He's tired of dreaming and fantasising and cold showers)

“It’s definitely not a dream,” you smile, a part of you shocked at how liquid you suddenly feel in his arms.

Grinning, he leans in to kiss you.

You let him.

(Right now, you’d let Remus do just about anything)

***

Remus has his arms draped around your shoulders for the rest of the evening.

Everyone knows but no one bothers to comment on this very new chapter in your life. Kaitlyn looks estatic, she keeps glancing back at you and Remus and grinning goofily as you stroll down the city’s streets, soaking each other up. James flashes a knowing smirk, winking at Remus as though he’s proud of him. Peter watches the two of you almost enviously, though he appears more happy than jealous for Remus. Sirius, on the other hand...

Well. Sirius is a little harder to read.

You catch him grinning at the two of you as you turn a corner, walking back to the dark alley you apparated to from your home. But when you all stop off at a muggle liquor store,

Sirius pulls you aside, his expression is sterner and - well - serious.

“Listen, (Y/N),” Sirius says in a low murmur, “I’m going to make this quick. Remus has never really had a girlfriend and he-he really cares about you. I know, you’ve been through some shit recently but Remus needs someone who he can trust. There’s more to him than what you know.”

“Of course he can trust me,” you snip, frowning at Sirius, “We’ve been friends for years, Sirius.”

“Yes but...look. Just-just be careful with his heart, okay? He’s never given it to anyone before, and he doesn’t deserve to have it broken.”

“I have no intention of breaking his heart,” you mutter, glancing as a drunk muggle staggers past.

“That’s what they all say,” Sirius whispers, and for a moment, you see a flicker of regret in his eyes.

Before he can say any more, the door to the liquor door swings open. James, Kaitlyn and Remus step through, carting two bags of alcohol each.

“Fake ID worked like a charm,” James grins, winking at you.

“That’s because it is a charm,” Remus chortles, walking up to you and pecking you on the cheek.

“What did you get?” You ask him, peeking into the bag.

“Just some vodka and gin,” Remus smiles, “Once we get you back home, we were going to mix some drinks and take them...somewhere. Do you have any cool hiding places in that impossibly huge mansion of yours?”

You rest your head on his shoulder as you begin to follow the others, “There’s a treehouse that my grandmother doesn’t know about. It was my fathers. He used to say that he would bring all his ‘girlfriends’ up there but that was just him pretending to be cool.”

Remus laughs, “Secret, make-out treehouse, huh? Might come in handy later on...”

Your lips crack into a smile as Remus leans in to kiss you, his arm wrapping around your waist and holding you close. You break away grinning, certain that you could do this for all eternity and never tire of it.

Remus tugs you close to him as you round the corner, entering the dark alleyway. You follow your friends into the empty alley, passing garbage bins and feral cats, until you reach the end, where you take Remus’ hand into yours.

“Is everyone ready?” James asks, glancing at you and Remus.

“Yeah,” you and Remus both answer in unison. Remus squeezes your hand.

“On three,” James says, and you close your eyes.

“One...”

You think of the large, iron gates outside the mansion.

“Two...”

You think of the perfectly manicured lawns and beautiful, flourishing gardens.

“Three...”

You think of your grandmother and her face as she welcomes you home with open arms.

With a crack, you disappear from the alley and land just outside the manors doors with a pop.

You open your eyes.

Your hand is still in Remus, sitting snuggly inside his warm, welcoming palms. James and Kaitlyn are laughing and Peter and Sirius are having a whispered conversation, glancing furtively at James.

“You guys wait out here,” you say, grabbing everyone’s attention, “I’ll just tell my Grandmother that we’re home.”

“Can you give her a kiss for me?” James asks, grinning, “Actually...you’d better not do that...”

“I’ll come with you,” Remus insists, handing his bag to Kaitlyn.

“I think you just found yourself a new shadow,” Sirius teases, winking at you. Remus rolls his eyes, taking your hand as you push open the large, decorated doors and enter the foyer of your home.

Your footsteps echo on marble and gold, singing a familiar tune that you’ve heard since you were twelve-years-old. Remus follows beside you, your fingers laced together.

“Grandmama?” You call out, your voice bouncing off the walls. Unfamiliar voices echo back from the living room.

“You have guests?” Remus asks in mingled surprise and curiosity.

“I think we do...” you mutter, frowning, “Grandmama?”

“In here, darling,” Thea’s gentle, serene voice says, guiding you toward the living room.

You and Remus follow her voice until you enter the living room, excitement bubbling up inside of you as you prepare to tell your grandmother all about you and Remus.

“Grandmama, I-”

You stop, voice dying on the tip of your tongue, eyes widening in shock.

Two strangers are sitting in your living room, cast in vibrant shades of orange from the flickering fire. The first is a very tall man, strong and unyielding with all kinds of razor sharp edges. Raven haired and eyed, he looks strikingly handsome, his features familiar in a daunting way. You could slice your finger across his firm jawline or get sucked into the depths of his dark, glinting eyes. He holds himself with aristocratic dignity, spine steeled and demeanour cold and unforgiving.

The second stranger is a woman, young and very beautiful but cold to the touch. Her long, black hair is pulled into an elegant, French bun and her eyes are a violent shade of grey. Her painted, red lips flicker into a smile that holds no warmth, lighting eyes that have never known true love.

“Sweetheart,” Your grandmother begins, softly, “This is Orion and Walburga Black. They’re here to talk about your future.”

“What do you mean?” You murmur, frowning at Orion and Walburga. Walburga’s smile curls.

“You don’t know, do you?” Walburgas voice is like a breath of cold air, icier than any winter you’ve ever known. Behind Walburga, a shadow ripples, peeling back to reveal a third figure, though he’s no stranger.

Regulus steps forward into the amber light of the fire, and you feel Remus’ hold on your hand tighten. Bile turns in your stomach, threatening to surge up the length of your throat. Regulus doesn’t quite meet your eyes, instead, he chooses to stare at your necklace.

“What’s going on?” You whisper, turning to your grandmother.

Your grandmother sighs, and for the first time since you’ve known her, she looks as though she may cry, “Regulus is your...your...”

Regulus steels, squaring his shoulders and raising his chin, fixing himself to stare into your eyes. Without even a hint of hesitation, Regulus speaks firmly, a coldness to his voice that you’ve never heard before.

“I’m your betrothed,” Regulus states, apathetically, “This time next year, we are to be married.”

@whysoseriouspadfoot @ashkuuuu @sly-vixen-up2nogood @hervench @rageofcaliban @amelya5567 @hylianhighlander @lousimusician @littlewriter55 @jackie-houston @sirius-lysad @marauderskeeper @royalmaknae @yllwtaxi @trumpettay @lilaccoveredteapot @evyiione @swim-deep-or-die @pugsandcuddles @tamosbien @xrosegoldwolfx @clockworkherondale @dude-whatawave @avipshamitra @saturnaah @reimiwritrs @tchalland @mckjnnon @lucifersnipnips @reducto-bitch @bluskai @socialheartbreak @heliopvth @who-said @mhftrs @bwayorbust @whimsicalangels1234 @eleatheirin @bernadineisreborn @madeofstarsdust @siriuswitches @qrangr @mixedupsammy @gryffinclxw @steph-fowlie @funkycoldlatina @acciorinn @fallern618 @writingcroissant @cinnamonbees

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years

Text

2 big posts in one day? it’s more likely than you think!!!

Moze gameplay breakdown babey here we go

shit sorry i forgot my tl;dr the first time i posted this: the tablet is big important and might have eridian writing on it, it ties into the temple, the loot gun, the tablet in tannis’s infirmary on sanc-iii, and the planet holograms in Eleseer from TPS. also you get a special melee tool to break the purple crystals that i'm like 70% sure are Eridium and also, you’re never gonna believe this, but I talk about Atlas for a little bit because of it.

“lair of the harpy”

ah harpies. I’m shifting into Percy Jackson mode

just putting this out there

anyway as for what “Lair of the Harpy” means in bl3? Well we’ve seen in the We Are Mayhem trailer a bunch of flying Maliwan bots (i am assuming rn that those are Maliwan, anyway)

these green fucks

(u can tell that’s Jakobs Manor cause of the railing on the left) so i imagine that’s why it’s called the Lair of the Harpy. Could also be the lair of some evil woman character, idk lmao.

Far more interesting than the Harpy thing, to me anyway, is this:

i wonder if that’s gonna lead us to the psycho basement with tv heads being hanged where the Hammerlock siblings are standing in front of the fireplace

i wonder...

nah but for real. I would almost bet money that the Vault on Eden-6 is in that giant volcano/mountain area. It just feels right. we’ve seen it both dormant (the leaked footage) and active (the 3rd trailer) so I imagine opening the Vault would cause it to activate. Tho I’m still hoping onto the hope that it’s a moon pool. Just saying, Randy, if you’re reading this... just saying.

we also see this glowing sparkle icon again, which I think pretty much confirms from the We are Mayhem trailer that those will show us where the Moxxi crew quests are.

we see an enemy called “Shredder Fanatic”, personally I’m a fan of Splinter, but to each their own. Uhhh but for realsies they probably deal some blade damage or have a high RoF weapon.

a cool detail I noticed about the minimap is that elevated areas won’t get discovered until you reach that level. Thank god lol

part of this camp is made out of an old sailboat, which i think is pretty fuckin rad

makes me wonder if we’re ever going to see the areas of Pandora affected by the flash freeze again. How long do seasons last on Pandora again? I swear it was like 5 years or smth. oh well lol

i wanna know what this big thing is!! it looks cool. they mentioned that eden-6 was going to have a shitload of broken-down ships, so maybe this is related to it?

another look at what i'm assuming is Jakobs Manor. this is very hard because I keep getting distracted by the gameplay lol I’ve seen this video seven times! it shouldn’t be that enthralling!! and yet!

the combat music in this area is so fucking solid btw i am jamming the hell out

in awe at the size of this place. I’m digging the elevated hallway. i am very much getting a hogwarts vibe from here. the far right looks like an observatory, even.

“Big Donny’s Chop Shop - Open 7 Days” lmao

a gramophone and it looks like we can interact with it! i hope it plays classical music while we go on a murder spree

some sort of bridge? i assume that’s how you actually get up to Jakobs Manor. that may be why our quest is “go to Jakobs Manor”, we gotta fix the bridge before we can.

A Typhon journal!!!

No audio, though :(

From the radio: “catastrophe lead [???] to a lets play (flay?). Craving some meat in a bite sized package? then try festy flesh meats with a bandit on the go. hey, we know you want it, but do you have the time to hunt it down? ...”

-moxxi speaking about her crew challenge i can’t understand the radio here-

[different voice] “... for an exciting announcement from the CoV’s own ministers of murder: Pain and Terror! Those guys are cooking up one hell of a sh-” [player turns off radio] I gonna assume he was about to say “show” cause they’re a Penn and Teller reference. These are the guys from the arena with the giant skull thing, i think i have talked about them before?

Eden-6′s version of the shock cactus?

El Dragon Jr.

OwO are those the same purple rocks as Promethea?

They look like they are growing out of a stone tablet, i mean look at the green light. also they have that same star pattern inside them as Amara’s arms and Maya’s phaselock!!! Which makes me think it’s raw Eridium just... growing out of a stone tablet. which IS WILD!!!

AND WHAT IS MOZE HITTING IT WITH?!

FUCKING ENERGY BLADE

that is not her normal melee weapon, BY THE WAY

she normally uses her Stab! knife!!!

when u try to break the purple rocks on Promethea, iirc the player character can say something to the effect of “have to come back here later”, so it’s possible later in the story we get something (the glowing red/orange/yellow) energy sword to break the purple rocks (eridium???). and yes you KNOW i pointed out the colors because Atlas.

After meleeing it, Moze says “let’s open you up” so im wondering if maybe those stone tablets come into play later? the (eridium?) crystals explode into sparkly purple powder

glowing green!!!! It’s weird, I feel like these are eridian ruins/tablets growing eridium or some shit. we’ve seen the ruins have lines of color across them before, but never strictly on one side. and also never saw them grow eridium. i wonder if that is a reaction to us opening the second vault on pandora? eridium grew on pandora from the 1st one, now it’s spreading because of the second? I deffo think Eridium is from the second dimension (it started growing on pandora after the opening of the Vault) and it’s our key to getting there.

OwO

hey doesn’t that look familiar? I’ll give u like

10 seconds

...

yeah it’s the symbol from the gun

YEAH BABEY

AND GUESS WHAT

YOU KNOW HOW THE GUN WAS TIED TO THE TEMPLE

YOU KNOW HOW I WAS TALKING ABOUT TANNIS’S FLOOR TILE IN HER INFIRMARY ALSO BEING TIED TO THE TEMPLE AREA???

LET ME GO GRAB IT

THE TEMPLE

AND YOU KNOW I WAS REPLAYING TPS THE OTHER DAY FOR MY ANGEL ANALYSIS AND

FUCKING

ASGHDJUYKFDJTYHSRTAGR

THAT’S LABELING A PLANET IN THE HOLOGRAM

AAAAAAAAAAAAA THE ERIDIANS GAVE US A LOOT SPEWING GUN BUT THE GUN MAKES SENSE BECAUSE VAULTS VOMIT UP LOOT ALL THE TIME BUT IT’S NOT LIKE THE LOOT WE GOT WAS AROUND WHEN THE ERIDIANS CREATED THE VAULTS

ALSO I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT CORPSE IN THE TEMPLE IS TYPHON NOW AND THE BOOK IS HIS JOURNAL. WHY WOULD MAYA BE GIVING THE JOURNAL TO THE LITTLE GIRL? IS SHE ALSO RELATED TO TYPHON?

OKAY SORRY I GOT EXCITED but uh yeah idk if that writing/those symbols being the same was intentional or not but it exists and i'm losing my mind over it

i also just wanna know why the rocks are growing eridium and glowing green like what the fuck are your SECRETS

Aurelia shows up as you cross the checkpoint at the bridge, so it’s pretty much 100% confirmed the Hammerlocks are helping us with the jakobs thing. considering Aurelia is contacting us and not Alistar, im REALLY worried about the shot in the We Are Mayhem trailer where he has red eyes. please don’t hurt him. also i love how Aurelia calls herself a rich bitch. she makes that shit rhyme lol

another look at that big tower thing. May be a different one, actually. idk!

round the corner and see a little camp on the left. through that tunnel up ahead leads us here

we head to the right and Zer0 ECHOs us, asking us to kill someone to complete a crew challenge

The target’s name is Heckle (and his rage name is Hyde)

Interestingly he has a megaphone strapped to his mouth

wild.

Lots of stuff! Zer0 sends you mail for killing the target and you are informed that the Crew Challenge is completed. You also get a challenge completed for doing it. You ever notice the actual gameplay of borderlands is very tied to yellow and blue? the color of the title is yellow and the vault symbol for it is red (except for TPS). just odd to me idk

looks like a little envelope icon appears under your minimap when you have mail in your inbox!

we can see some cryo freezing the swamp water here! that’s my favorite thing. the electricity is cool, but ice is cooler.

i love the way this dude runs. also we now know that his pickaxe is to burrow his way into the ground

looks like it will create a huge pink cloud so you know when its about to happen, giving you time to stop it. nice.

getting closer. guess that wasn’t an observatory after all. Awww mannn

lootsplosion from the loot tink

bigger lootsplosion from his bag

i believe this is our first look at an ‘artifact’ which are replacing relics from bl2 and oz kits from tps. and like the interviews said, they’ll be effecting movement! this one turns your slide damage into cryo damage, lets you deal more radiation damage overall, and allows you to slide faster and further. i wonder how broken this can get on a downwards slope with a super high level slide relic. let’s break the sound barrier!

anyway, that’s all i saw that caught my eye. I still haven’t completed my Mask of Mayhem analysis, I was kinda hoping something during E3 would help me figure out who those mystery robed maliwan guys are on it, but alas we got nothing of real substance. oh, i also gotta finish that mural piece... aw fuck

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #moze #moze gameplay breakdown

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jq37 · 3 years

Text

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 2

The Case of the Dismal Dinner

Summary

Welcome back to our flashback/Tisch fight already in progress where we learn what Daisy and Sly’s shared look was about while Rekha and Grant go for the proverbial jugular emotionally. It’s 12 years ago and Sylvester is tracking down a stolen diadem, the very same diadem that he sees Daisy swipe off the thief who has it (a jackal named Roscoe McCoy in case that matters). Sly swipes it back from her and, when she notices, she sniffs it down to his train car where he is sitting in the dark, waiting for her. He doesn’t turn the lights on, opting instead to dramatically strike a match to light his pipe, illuminating himself sitting in a big chair, holding the stolen item.

Daisy tries to bluff like she’s Virginia Chase, the owner of the diadem, but Sly knows that’s not true because he was hired by the real Virginia to track it down. Daisy is usually a better liar than this but she is insta-smitten by this figurative and literal fox and it’s throwing her off her game. But before they can continue their little tete-a-tete, they hear a gunshot ring out from Daisy’s room and know Roscoe and his guys are coming after her. Sly stuffs Daisy in a trunk before the boys show up and they actually seem a little impressed to meet him, him being a famous detective and all, but a Nat 1 deception means they hear Daisy being huffy in the chest and a fight/escape scene that Brennan takes over narration for ensues.

After that, Sly and Daisy become close really quickly and partners in both senses of the word. Daisy tells him she’s an American PI and they work together on cases, travel the world, and become engaged within the year. But, the day before the wedding, when Sly is alone, he discovers all the documentation proving that Daisy lied about who she is, is actually a criminal, and has been using their partnership to sell information to other criminals.

She shows up and tries to pretend like she’s being set up but he replies, “You being duped is the only lie you’ve told I can’t believe.” He says that being with her changed him. He didn’t think he had it in him to actually love another person. He forgives her. He still wants to get married. Daisy is thrown by this reaction. She tells him she’s not gonna change for him and he might as well leave her. She’s being all unapologetic femme fatale about it but he gets the sense that under her bravado she’s low key pleading with him to give up on her. He doesn’t want to. He can’t. He still shows up the next day in his wedding tux. Daisy is nowhere to be seen. When he goes home, there’s a deerstalker cap on his porch and a note that just reads “-D”.

And we snap back to the present where Daisy is trying to figure out if she can take advantage of Lucretia’s fascination with the occult and all the rich vulnerable people present to make some money. Meanwhile, Sly has been totally rocked by seeing Daisy and is drowning his sorrows at the bar with Ollie, the otter bartender. Squire Badger (which is what I’ll be calling William) shows up and, in not so many words, threatens Sly for having not solved the case and making a fool of him. He says, “You’re not gonna rub my nose in this.” Move your nose then bitch, says Sly on a dirty 20 intimidation check. He’s sad about girl problems, not you! Squire Badger is scared off, but he looks like he knows something that Sly doesn’t. That someone is coming for him.

Buckster (and Ian too btw) clocked the above conversation and sidles up to Sly at the bar. See, not only does Buckster know about Sly and Daisy’s history, he knew it was happening *while* it was happening. Sly used up all his cool swagger on the Squire so by the time Buckster shows up he’s a whole mess over Daisy. Buckster starts implying that maybe they can help each other out since they both dislike the Squire and with Sly’s Nat 20 Insight, they can totally clock each other’s double meanings perfectly. It’s a very cool game thing where Sly and Buckster are having an innocuous conversation about the weather or whatever but Grant and Sam are just saying what they mean. It’s like they’re having a telepathic conversation. Sly agrees that the enemy of his enemy is his friend and he’ll go along with Buck’s plans as long as he can keep his hands clean, even if he doesn’t really care for Buck himself.

At the same time Gangie is in the kitchens getting fed (see the notes for a full list of kitchen staffers and other NPCs) and after the staff leaves, Gangie is told by Ambrose Harding (the Squire’s turtle valet) that there’s is business for him to attend to after dinner.

Buckster talks to Lawrence Longfoot--the rabbit photographer from last ep who we learn runs a trash newspaper. He and Buck bond over being trash and he gets a pic of Sly and Buck together.

Vicar Ian goes to talk to the Squire and basically tries to (openly) suss out whether the money was a bribe or a setup or what? Like, people are fully there (including the Lady Fawnbrook and her gossipy cat wife Tabitha). They snipe at each other a bit and then the Squire reveals that he’s talked him up to the Cardinal and the Cardinal agreed that he’s such a good vicar, he should be moved to Siberia. The decision has already been made and Ian doesn’t have the pull in the church to do anything about it. Yikes.

Before dinner, the rat butler catches Buck and asks if he has time to talk to Squire Badger. Buck agrees to go with him and he’s taken to the billiards room where the Squire is along with Harding and James Hawkins, Squire’s Hawk war buddy (a literal war hawk). Buck immediately puts his foot in his mouth by messing up the Squire’s title with his American ignorance of British peerage rules which annoys him, the elitism of it all. The Squire’s friends leave and then Buck starts talking about PR and how this whole situation has been bad PR for the Squire and it would be a shame if his PR got even worse. The suggestion of blackmail sends the Squire into a full honey badger don’t care style rage and he knocks TF out of Buck, flips the pool table, and then catches himself and scurries off. Daisy, Sly, and Gangie all hear this conversation from their positions in the house via the pipes running through the manor. Buck picks himself up and, on a 25, realizes that two of the mouse maids were hiding behind a curtain, hearing the whole thing (specifically, Edwina Thimble and Carolyn Dickory--oh like hickory dickory doc, BRENNAN) . They were playing hooky so he flips them a coin each and they all agree that no one saw or heard anything. “Two blind mice, see how they run,” he quips as they leave (sidenote, what a morbid nursery rhyme to exist in that world--to be fair, it’s pretty morbid as is).

Lucretia decides to turn the séance into a post dinner séance but still brings Daisy and Lars to see her occult room which is full of crap from, as Rekha said, “1800s Party City”. Lucretia does a hilariously vague read on Daisy and says that there’s something happening with her involving a man she knew or maybe still knows but she’s in her feelings about Sly so it kinda shakes her up. She tries to get Lucretia to charge for her “””incredible gift””” (so she can skim off the top of course) but Lucretia thinks it would be a misuse of her ~talents~. She does give Daisy an incredibly broad as to be useless even if magic exists blessing before she leaves.

Once she does, Daisy scopes out the room (which she realizes must have been retrofitted for Lucretia and wasn’t previously a séance room) and sees that the one thing in the room that doesn’t really match the aesthetic is a giant portrait of one of the previous squire badgers. On a 24 she notices two things: (1) the painting has recently been restored with new paint and (2) the frame is bolted to the wall. She wants to check it out but Lars is right there so she makes a note to check it out later and leaves.

Lars, being a very ride or die friend for Sly, bounds after her and basically calls her trash and tries to tempt her with garbage so she’ll lose composure and start chowing down. She drools at the sight but keeps it together and leaves. Lars runs off to tell Sly that they were a good good dog and gives him a full play by play.

Gangie meanwhile is watching a small argument between the butler and Harding in the servant’s quarters hallway and he realizes that he’s being talked about in veiled language. The butler is questioning Gangie’s employment and Harding says that, as servants, they shouldn’t question their master and that Gangie is employed for reasons that Squire Badger is aware of and reasons he is not. Hmm. Gangie realizes that Harding knows about his past which is weird because Gangie’s criminal record doesn’t follow him. There’s no internet. So what reason would this guy have to know about him?

Gangie doesn’t like this and decides to dip and steal some silverware on the way out. Mrs. Molesley (who I’ll be calling Mrs. M from now on) helps him (lol I’m not entirely sure if she didn’t know what he was doing or if she’s just down with stealing) and says that she’s been working there since Squire Badger was in diapers (she was his nanny) and if anyone bullies Gangie, she’ll take care of them. She also offers to make him a sweater so he doesn’t get cold and she’s just so nice that Gangie has to say yes. He looks to make sure no one is around and gives her a dandelion he picked. Cute!!!

And now it’s time for dinner and our very first box of doom roll for the most terrifying encounter of all: how close you have to sit next to your bitter ex! This is of course for Sly and Daisy with higher than a 15 meaning they don’t have to sit next to each other and anything lower meaning they have to sit pretty close. It is the first BOD roll I’ve ever wanted them to fail (mmm, except maybe Adaine’s werewolf roll but that’s a different conversation).

It’s in the 6-10 bracket which means they’re sitting across from each other (below that would have been them next to each other). Everyone is seated based on how on Squire Badger’s shitlist they are. So you have Ian at the absolute back. Sly to his right and Daisy on his left. The Buckster and Lars to the right and left after that. Then Armond (armadillo lawyer guy) and a snail guy because Brennan is a madman who cannot be stopped. Constance (Squire’s daughter) makes a toast to her dad wishing him well even though they haven’t always seen eye to eye (hmmm).

Buckster fills in Daisy on his confrontation with the Squire quietly enough that no one else hears. Daisy then turns to Sly and says she hopes they can be civil. Sly is like, “Sure Ms. DUMPSTER.” They’re the kind of exes who know exactly how to hurt each other but are also super open to being hurt. Emotional glass cannons is how Brennan describes it.

Buckster is given a note by Harding from Squire Badger and, once dinner is over, he takes Daisy off to the side to read it. Gangie follows, unseen. Ian, who recently prayed to God and got not super clear results goes to talk to Luecretia to see if maybe ghosts can help him instead. She is, as usual, not super helpful but does rush out to get her very necessary ritual dagger and declares to everyone that if anyone sees a ghost they have to tell her. As she says this, there is a flash of lightning and, through the window, Sylvester sees just for a moment the form of his nemesis, Fletcher Cottonbotton (who is by the docks).

Anyway, Buckster reads the note. It’s a document from the Squire selling his interest in BB Industries (Buck’s oil company) to Hazel Hogswallop who is another small shareholder in BB Industries. But, in doing so, it names Josiah Jackrabbit (one of his competitors) her proxy which means he’ll be able to vote on things (and with a lot of power with all that stock). The contract was written in fresh ink which means (1) it was probably written after their fight and (2) hasn’t been mailed yet (I smell a heist attempt). Buck rolls insight on the writing (mastermind rogue ability) and with a 27 senses that the Squire has gone off his rocker. This isn’t going to make him any money. Josiah doesn’t have enough liquid cash to pay him what this is worth. And the thing with Hazel would have taken time to set up. This has been in the works for a while and he’s been sitting on it until the time was right. And he senses, like Sly and Gangie did earlier, that someone besides the Squire is pulling the strings.

Then Gangie suddenly hears Constance’s distressed voice through the pipes from upstairs: “Father you’re possessed! You’re a mad man! This will never work. Speak of this to me never again.” And she slams the door (Buck, Daisy, and Gangie all hear). Constance comes downstairs and Squire Badger follows, looking upset. Mrs. M checks in on him too see if he’s eaten and he kind of gruffly has her follow him (along with Mr. Harding) into the drawing room.

There is a scream. Something drops. Silence. Footsteps. A door opens. Then a voice, “My God!”

Everyone rolls initiative. Ian moves first and, upon hearing all the commotion, gathers everyone together to go towards the sound (interesting choice but sure). Daisy recognizes that the scream heard was Mrs. M but barely knows who she is. She goes towards the commotion anyway. Gangie also goes towards the scream. Buckster grabs his gun (well he says “weapon”, but it’s gotta be a gun, right?) and makes like he’s following her but actually hides. Lars and Sylvester go towards the scream.

With everyone gathered, Ambrose opens the door. Inside they see Mrs. M, her hands covered in blood (my guess? From trying to stop the bleeding), kneeling on the ground over the dead body of the Squire. The room is a mess and stuff is scattered everywhere. There is a bloody knife in the Squire’s hand and a stab wound over his heart. Ms. M, who is distressed as hell, says there was something wrong with him. There was a flash, and she looked down and he was stabbing himself. Everyone thinks this is suspicious as hell. She was the only one in the room. Everyone looks to Sly, the famous detective who is not in the presence of a murder case in progress. What does Sly say? “Lady Lucretia. I’ve seen a ghost.”

Case Notes

I have to acknowledge how ON FIRE Grant was this episode. Like everyone was. Buck was great with the Squire. Daisy and Lars sniping at each other was fun. But man Grant had so many good lines. The “move your nose”. The heartbreak with Daisy (ugh, so sad!) And that blackout line!!! I am biased towards foxes as you can see from my avatar so I am very here for this great fox rep.

Based on the way their staredown went last ep I kinda thought Daisy was the wronged party but ugh. Slyyyyyyy. He forgave herrrrrrr. And he still went to the alter. Daisy how you could youuuuuuu?

Also, sigh, Fox and the Hound. I keep getting hit with these after the fact.

I loved Rekha’s “Of the Chase Sapphire’s?” improv.

That racoon/mink line was so sleazy. Weird compliment but Brennan is good at being animal-racist. Sidenote, Daisy makes a comment about being careful being a fox in England which I presume is a ref to fox hunting and like the implication of that are como se dice troubling.

Here are all the new NPCs for this ep and here’s a full NPC guide that also includes the list of names Gangie gave Buck which Buck shares with Daisy this ep.

And on that topic I can’t get over the concept of a married couple named Millie Molton and Mollie Milton. Like, did they get married solely for the bit???

The best Ian-ism of the ep was him talking about getting rejected from Siberia. Poor guy.

Fave OOC moment was everyone at the table getting aggressively patriotic in response to the Squire being dismissive to Buck. There is nothing funnier than someone singing a purposefully overwrought version of I’m Proud to Be An American.

“It’s 2020 for us bitch!”

The moment Mrs. M said she was gonna make Gangie a sweater I was scared for her. Sweaters take a long time to get made. I was like oh no. The plot is gonna stop you from making that sweater isn’t it. I’m willing to be proven wrong (Brennan loves his maids with secrets, see: Cathilda) but she seems super sweet and if anything happens to her I’m going to be upset.

What’s behind the painting Brennan. I know there’s a door. I know this house is full of secret tunnels and revolving bookshelves and all that. Let me see it!

One great little moment was when there was a flash of lightning and the minis for Sly and Lars like stop motion moved to look at it. Just great attention to detail. The work that gets put into this show is incredible.

Edit: A note I forgot to mention. There’s gotta be a secret door in the room where it happened, right? Like, creep in, flash of light to mess up her vision, do some shenanigans, peace out.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #mice and murder #mice and murder spoilers #the case file #(just under the wire! I had a busy week guys.)

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