#you’re telling me max should not be centre?

[f0point5]

I figured out why I hate this.

The muted colours of the background remind me of the Squid Game stair palace.

Bring back the class photo on the track with the big board. This is weird and the colouring is not it and I’m sorry but the way there is no order to where they placed the drivers is deeply unsettling.

#f1 #formula 1 #you’re telling me max should not be centre? #I’m not even scared of cult lh that man’s last win was 2 years ago why is he in the middle #and I love you Yuki but why are you flanked by a WDC and Il Predestinato like they’re your concubines #they didn’t even put people near their friends #so what is the logic? #max verstappen #lando norris #charles leclerc #daniel ricciardo #Carlos sainz

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Great update, thank you for feeding us we love Temptation Danny 😩 I was thinking of a request following up with it. Daniel loves providing and taking care of the reader, especially post injury, but one day she overhears one of his friends called her a gold digger and she’s hurt by it but doesn’t tell Daniel because his friends are important to him and she doesn’t want to cause problems. So when she needs to buy or get something essential, perhaps she asks Lando to get it for her and she’ll pay it back. Lando refuses and tells her there’s no need to and gets it for her but when Daniel finds out, since there was no bank statement, he loses it because he’s the only man that should take care and provide for you. He gets furious at his friend for making you think you’re not worth it :(

The Taste of Temptation || DR3 {5}

Warnings: 18+ only, nsfw, angst, soft Danny, sexual themes WC: 2.6k F1 Masterlist Story: One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six Snapshots One || Two || Three || Four || Five

The weather was terrible for the start of summer and you were finally reminded of why you needed to replace your car that broke down months ago and was towed to the wreckers. Walking was usually your preferred way to move around the small city but with the rain outside growing heavier you would have to borrow Daniel’s Porsche, since you still had some shopping to do for his birthday. Thankfully he was more than happy to have you drive his car and already had the keys hanging from his fingers when you finished putting your makeup on in the bathroom. 

“I’ve been meaning to take you to the dealership, kitten,” he apologised with a kiss. “We’ll go tomorrow and you can choose whatever car you want.”

His smile grew at the excitement on your face and you threw your arms around his neck. “Thank you,” you grinned between kisses.

“Of course, anything for my girl.” He unwrapped your arms before he was tempted to pull you back into the bathroom for a quickie but with his friends waiting for him in the living room he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of hearing your sweet cries. “Don’t get anything heavy, I don’t need you hurting yourself just when you are healed.”

“Yes, sir,” you saluted, smirking when you saw the look in his eyes before you escaped the bedroom.

“-talk to him, she’s obviously using him-”

“-total gold digger-”

The conversation paused as you stepped into the room and you barely breathed as their condemnation settled over you. Determined to make sure they didn’t see the affect their words had, you plastered a smile on your face and asked if they needed anything while you were out.

Your handbag felt heavier than usual as you walked to the garage and climbed into the Porsche. The Hermes bag had been a gift from Daniel for your first anniversary and the LV wallet inside was another. You had never asked for them, but suddenly you felt guilty for having them. Even the key in your hand suddenly felt like a lump of hot coal, hurting the longer you held it.

Grabbing your phone, you climbed out of the car and started your journey on foot.

“Lando?” you choked as you stepped out in the rain, making your way to the city centre on foot. “Can I ask a huge favour?”

“You should just ignore them,” Lando said as he pulled his hoodie higher to fight the rain and followed you through the car park. 

“But they are his friends.”

Lando screwed up his face. “Are they? Because if Max spoke shit about the girl I love then I would have to reconsider that. It’s just not their place to comment. Plus, not to flex or anything, but we kind of get paid pretty well. It’s nice to have someone to spend it on since we are pretty much too busy for 10 months of the year.”

You had heard the argument before. The drivers loved to spoil their girlfriends and you had enjoyed it up until now. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Lando sighed and nodded reluctantly at your pitiful pout. “Of course I’ll help you, I just wish you didn’t feel the need to have to.”

“I’ve been meaning to get a new car anyway, I just don’t have all of the money on me at this moment.”

Your savings had swelled since Daniel covered all the bills and had given you cards linked to his bank accounts for anything else you might need, but it still wasn’t enough to buy a car outright and you didn’t want to have to go through the bank process to get a loan.

“I promise it won’t take long to pay you back” you said before hugging him. “Thank you.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to.” You started to argue and he gave up knowing you weren’t going to stop. “Fine. Just pay it back as you can, there’s no rush.”

The Mazda 3 was nothing fancy, and certainly nothing as pretty as the Porsche you had become used to driving, but the hatchback was only a couple of years old and had low mileage. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s…no comment.”

“It’s cute, and you drive a friggin Fiat!”

“That’s unique,” Lando corrected as you pulled the price sticker off the window. “This is something my grandma would drive, and it has a three star safety rating.”

“I only drive around the city so it’s not like I’ll be going more than 30 mph.”

“Well it beats your old piece of crap,” he conceded with a smile to soften the blow.

“Wow, that makes me feel much better.” You opened the driver's seat and grimaced at the overpowering smell of faux cherry fragrance. “Want a ride home?”

His nose twitched at the heavy scent and he shook his head. “I think I’d rather walk on this fine day. Put your windows down a bit before you get high on - whatever that is.”

You took his advice and leaned towards the fresh air from the window as you made your way to the shops before heading home. Daniel was already in the garage when you arrived, a look of confusion on his face as he stood at the hood of his car, leaning against it with crossed arms as he watched the unfamiliar car park in your reserved spot.

“What’s this?” he asked as he opened your door, his brows lifting at the cherry bomb that invaded his nostrils.

Biting your lip, you hadn’t been prepared to see him so soon - thinking you could have carried the shopping bags upstairs without him even noticing you hadn’t taken the Porsche. “My car.”

“Your…car?” he confirmed as he ran his thumb over his lip and circled the compact vehicle. Returning back to your door, he pulled his phone out and checked his bank account, scrolling through the transactions and failing to find the car’s purchase. “Tell me you didn’t waste your money on this, kitten?”

“Not exactly,” you murmured under your breath, knowing lying about it would only be worse. “I borrowed some money.”

“Why would you do that when I could literally buy you any car? Even a fucking Bugatti, if that’s what you wanted.” He kicked the front tire and it shook the whole car, the suspension creaking with it. “Is it even roadworthy? You know what, you’re not driving this.”

“It’s my car, Danny.”

“And you’re my fiancée,” he growled as he took your hand and looked at the diamond ring on your finger. “I’m not gonna have you driving around in a tin can. We’ll go to the bank tomorrow and sort out the loan. You’ll be paying high interest rates for no fucking reason.”

You looked down at your feet and a moment later he curled a finger under your chin until your head was back and he could look into your guilty eyes. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” His hand fell away to land on his hip and he pinched the bridge of his nose with the other as he exhaled heavily. “Where did you get the money, kitten?”

“Somewhere that doesn’t charge interest…”

You could see his chest rising with the deep breaths he was taking to stay calm before he asked through gritted teeth. “Lando? Fuck, I don’t know if I want to hug him or hit him.”

His arms fell slack at his side and his eyes turned down as his fingers itched to reach out and touch you but he held back and asked quietly, “Did I do something wrong?”

The sound you made was unintelligent as you were blindsided by the question. It was something between a ‘huh’ and ‘what’ yet somehow neither. Like a guppy fish, your mouth opened and closed silently before you could even fathom an answer.

“No, god no,” you stammered as you stepped into the wall of his body and wrapped your arms around his waist, wishing he would return the embrace. “Danny, you haven’t done anything wrong. You are the most amazing man I know and you always take care of me, more than I deserve.”

“What does that mean?” he asked as he frowned at the self-depreciation and his instincts went wild. He leaned back against the car and spread his legs as he pulled you between them so you were standing eye to eye. “Kitten, what did you mean by ‘more than you deserve?’ Has someone said something?”

You shook your head quickly but his arms tightened around you, pinning you to his chest so you couldn’t look away. You could feel a heart slamming against its cavity walls but it was impossible to tell whose it was as his eyes wildly searched yours for an answer.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered as you cracked under his stare. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, I swear, but I heard Leroy and Davis talking before I left and…you treat me so well, you absolutely spoil me, baby. I just don’t want you to think I’m ever using you for your money, or your car or anything.”

His hold on you relaxed enough that you could bury your face in his chest but you could feel his hands shaking where they splayed across your spine. “They said you were using me?” he asked quietly, the volume doing little to hide the seething tone.

“And…that I was…a gold digger.” You screwed your eyes shut waiting for the explosion to come but his face was blank. He cleared his throat and with a nod he stood up a little too calmly, slipping his fingers into yours and leading the way to the elevator. “But your presents,” you said as he took your keys and locked the car.

“Later, we have a dinner reservation.”

Daniel was calm, too calm, as he sat beside you in the waterfront restaurant with his hand resting on your thigh. He smiled at the jokes, chatted with his friends and kissed your cheek until the plates were cleared away. Rising with his flute of champagne, he called for a toast and the large table of family and friends fell silent.

For a few seconds all that could be heard was the muted sounds of the kitchen behind closed doors and the rain falling on the roof.

“I’d like to thank you all for coming and celebrating my latest lap around the sun. It’s been quite the year: I’ve made some new friends, started a few side ventures, and best of all, I was lucky enough to start calling this beautiful woman my fiancée.”

He smiled at you as he took a sip of his drink before he turned that smile on everyone seated around the room.

“I’d like to say I’m maturing with age, but I’m not so sure about that, but I am getting wiser. Something I have learned is who my true friends are, the ones there for me through thick and thin, always there with support when I need it. You’re the real MVP’s.”

He raised his glass to Scotty seated on his other side and they shared a chuckle before he looked further down the table to the two guys who had arrived early and spent the afternoon at your apartment.

“Unfortunately, I have also learned some harder lessons this year, like when I have outgrown the company I keep.” He was sedate as he ran his finger around the rim of his glass before putting it down. His fingers spread across the tablecloth as he leaned forward and pinned them with a glare. “I welcomed you into my house, but you can show yourselves out.”

The table was deathly quiet as everyone looked between Daniel and the men he was obviously staring at.

“The fuck, mate?” Leroy exclaimed. “We’ve been friends for years.”

“And they were good while they lasted, but you fuck with my future when you call my fiancée a gold digger. That’s where I draw the line.”

“Oh, shit,” Scotty muttered under his breath. “That’s fucked.”

You watched as all eyes turned to you and you sank lower in your chair at the attention laden with pity by most of them, certainly the F1 drivers and Daniel’s family.

“She’s using you, mate, you just can’t see it,” Davis said as he shifted under the cold glare. “Marry her and you might as well donate half your money to charity.”

You saw Lando kick someone under the table before grabbing Pierre as he bumped the table, ready to stand up.

“Just fuck off, cunt,” Daniel said with a short laugh before he took your hand and pulled you to your feet and into his arms. “And anyone else that thinks the same can leave now too.”

No one else rose when Leroy and Davis did, tossing their napkins down angrily. They shook their heads like they wanted to say more but wisely kept their mouths shut this time.

“Oh, and since you’re both so worried about how I spend my money,” Daniel called out. “I cancelled your plane tickets and hotel rooms that I paid for. Wouldn’t want anyone to think you were using me.”

The atmosphere had thankfully lightened after the strange toast and quick departure and soon the party moved to the club next door. There was already a house DJ there but Martin was going to be taking over for most of the night since his sets were unbeatable.

Taking a breather from dancing, you sat on Danny’s lap, his arms automatically circling your waist as he laughed at something Max said.

“Max had a really good idea,” he said in your ear after the other Red Bull driver left to dance with Kelly. “He’s gonna buy a shitbox too and we are going to get one of those giant blow up balls to play demolition car soccer.”

“But it’s my baby,” you pouted as his laugh warmed your cheeks.

“You’ve had it for six hours, kitten, I don’t think you are that attached,” he teased between the soft kisses he peppered across your neck. “I’ll get you a better baby, a bigger one that’s safer, maybe a tank.”

You giggled at his silliness and combed your fingers through his hair as you bared more of your neck to him and moaned, “I love you. Terrible toasts and all.”

“Love you too, but that was a great toast. I fucking nailed it.” He nipped your shoulder and the crowded club seemed to fall away as he stole all your attention, from his palms sliding up your thighs to his beard tickling your skin.

“I don’t think Scotty will be keen on letting you make one at his wedding now,” you said with a shiver of delight when his fingers reached the edge of your panties.

“As long as I can toast to my gorgeous bride at ours, that’s the one that really matters.”

He pulled back to grin as he saw how affected you were not just by his touch but his words. You always had the same dreamy smile on your face when he mentioned the wedding and he always found a reason to bring it up.

“I suppose you might be able to convince me,” you teased before standing up with your finger hooked between the buttons on his shirt. He downed the last of his drink and followed as you led him down the stairs of the mezzanine floor and into the dark corner beneath them.

Your back pressed to the wall as he hiked your dress up and hid your body with his. “You want me to convince you right here, kitten,” he chuckled as he fingers pushed your panties aside and found you already wet for him.

“No,” you moaned against his lips. “I just want you to fuck me.”

Click here for the next part.

#the taste of temptation #daniel ricciardo imagine #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo smut #daniel ricciardo fanfic #f1 smut #f1 x you #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #formula one imagine #formula one fanfiction

[williamsracinggf]

you don't go to parties * vrau

what would life be like if they'd never resolved their issues after their crash in montreal?

word count: 1.8k

notes: hi posting on here again bc the lack of applause is kinda driving me crazy idk sue me i guess

in case you're not aware, disneyprincemuke got shadowbanned and i reFUUUUUSE to not be the centre of attention when i poured my whole pussy into a fic so here i am using my main to post </3 (i live for the applause)

(series masterlist) | (📂 in every other life)

she looks around the bar, heart pounding in her head as she tries to sift out for a familiar face in the crowd of the club. her face and name are plastered on every single screen of the bar, as per max’s drunken request when he got here before she could. apparently, winning your first championship doesn’t grant you the immunity to escape media commitments; it actually gives you more. especially when you’re the first woman, and you’ve set the new record as the youngest driver to ever win it.

everyone she loves and wants to celebrate with is here in this club with her right now, except the one person she prayed and hoped would show up for her.

realistically, she should be happy. in fact, she should be ecstatic that she’s finally managed to prove all of the doubters wrong. but her heart is heavy and she’s got tears in her eyes as she continually looks around with hope that the person she wants to be here, changed his mind. but no.

she’s walked about 3 rounds in the club, went high and low searching for the familiarity that his company brought her. alas, he is nowhere to be found.

she didn’t want to believe sebastian at first when he told her that he saw logan leaving the paddocks shortly after the evening was over for him. and he knew that for a fact because the american had bid him a cheerful goodbye before leaving the paddocks with his girlfriend.

“why are you all alone here, world champ?” max hums, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. he pulls her into his side and presses a kiss on her temple as he guides her through the crowd around them. “you’re supposed to be with us celebrating — not hanging out here by yourself. everyone’s been waiting for you at the vip area.”

she looks up at him, lips turned down into a frown as she follows him willingly. she hesitates asking her question — they’ve been over this several times since it had blown up in her face — but she does, anyway. she takes a deep breath and cranes her neck back to look at logan. “have you seen logan anywhere?”

“oh.” max stops in the crowd, earning them a couple of curses from intoxicated clubgoers. “you’re looking for logan.”

max isn’t saying that he’s upset to hear the question. although, if anyone were to ask him, he’d prefer not to discuss this right now on one of the most important nights of her life. plus, they’ve talked about logan over and over.

“yeah. i haven’t see him at all since we stood on the podium tonight,” she says softly in a shakey voice. “have you seen him?”

she saw him very briefly as she was presented with the race trophy. she caught his gaze as he watched from the crowd below, hovering not too far away from the crowd that had formed, his jaw clenched and his arms folded over his chest. she tried to smile at him, but the older man simply turned and walked away before she could.

she tried searching for him in the paddocks, but she couldn’t catch up to him the one time she saw him. a reporter had stopped her before she could make a run after him.

max presses his lips together and looks down at her. should he just tell her the truth? but something tells him that she already knows that logan isn’t in attendance tonight. perhaps sebastian told her and she just needs another person to find reason with? “mate…”

she laughs dryly, immediately wiping the tear that’s fallen out of her eyes. “yeah. okay, let’s just go.”

she pushes max away slightly and starts walking back in the direction they were heading originally. she doesn’t know why she’s still so upset over it. the season has come and gone without logan’s friendship — that’s about 5 long months of attempting to get over their downfall.

“mate, come on,” max sighs, pulling her back into him. “you can’t keep dwelling over it, you know? you approached him and he simply didn’t want to be friends anymore. you did what you could.”

perhaps max is right. to an extent, she thinks. she will tell you that you are right to an extent when you bring up the fact to her — the fact that she did eventually tried reaching out to logan after she put her pride aside and apologised to him.

“i could have done more,” she says firmly, grabbing max’s arm to tear his grip from her. “i shouldn’t have been so stupid in canada. i wound up fucking winning the championship, anyway.”

max shakes his head. it seems that no one can get through to her. it’s been 5 months since the incident where they crashed out in montreal and when she fell out with logan. he never thought that there would be another falling out as bad as this in the sport.

when it first happened, sebastian had tried to talk the girl out of her anger. she was insistent, for a week after the crash, that she was right and logan’s wrong; that logan should be the one apologising to her. he desperately scraped at what he could to get her to talk to him, knowing how bad it’s gotten — she didn’t even bother heading back to their shared apartment after that weekend, she stayed in her parent’s home for the next week after the canadian grandprix.

mark had also tried stepping in to talk her out of it, but nothing the australian said to her ever stuck. oscar had finally stepped forward as well, eventually, to try and get his best friends to make up. even he wasn’t enough of a bargaining chip.

and then the most unexpected duo decided to come together, much to their own dismay, to try and talk to her. lewis and nico spoke to her together and snapped her out of her blind anger. she would wind up showing up to their apartment with an apology and 2 tubs of ice cream.

only to find out that logan had already moved out over the 2-week break without saying anything to anyone.

she tried reaching out and approaching logan in the paddocks thereafter, but the older man was simply not interested in rekindling the friendship. he would be civil with her when he had to, but overall, he would avoid her like they hadn’t spent the past half of their lives under the same household and growing up together.

as hard as it was for her, imagine how difficult it was for oscar to be in the middle of all that. it had gotten increasingly difficult to manage hanging out with either. when he had taken a step back to reflect and think about it, logan realistically needed him more than she did.

so when she thought she’d only lost one best friend, she’d unknowingly lost two at the time.

but she didn’t lose oscar the same way she lost logan. while oscar kept some distance from her, choosing logan’s plans over hers and talking to her less, his way of going about it hurt her more than logan’s disappearance from her life ever did.

it’s like he was there, but not there.

which is why it’s a shock that oscar stayed in the paddocks for her after she cleaned herself from the champagne showers with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

at that point, she hasn’t hung out with oscar since their weekend in barcelona for their race, so she didn’t ask any questions. she just left the paddocks with oscar and mick, trying to brush off the odd and uncomfortable feeling that would rise up whenever she remembered the state of their friendship. but what’s important was that oscar showed up for her again when she needed him.

she just wishes logan would come out and do the same.

she stumbles forward as a body hits her shoulder on accident. “oh!” oscar screams with a smile. he slings his arm around her shoulder. “we were looking for you, mate! we’re gonna order the house special for the world champion!”

it hurt oscar to distance himself from her — he didn’t only lose her when he did that, he also lost blythe, ciara and dalton in the process.

while the 3 younger siblings understood and kept their distance as well after the fight, he couldn’t help but feel empty at the way they were so good at doing that out of respect for their older sister.

he just wishes it hadn’t gotten to this point. he missed her, really, but he couldn’t just leave logan’s side. she had more people supporting her than logan did when they were in the paddocks.

he would only catch glimpses of her life on her instagram and sometimes when they would have a chat to catch up. if he’s lucky, lily would tell him what they discussed over their frequent hang outs. even then, it simply isn’t the same as hanging out with the girl he thought would be his best friend forever.

“i love that drink!” max screams. he pushes her forward with a small and apologetic smile. “come on. we’ll have fun with you tonight. the club is ours — yearly tradition of the world champs.”

“yeah, but–“

“hey, i’ve been looking for you all over the place.” as oscar steps away from her with a laugh, another arm slings itself around her shoulders. she turns her head, furrowing her eyebrows as she meets with blue eyes that shine through the dimness of the club. “you’re just right here all along.”

she laughs sheepishly, throwing her head back with a soft laugh. “yeah, um,” she shakes her head, “just scoping out the place. it’s different when you’re the one the night’s dedicated to, i guess.”

and when logan had pulled away from her, another person had stepped in and tried to be there for her. she doesn’t know where it came from — perhaps it’s her association with sebastian, or that they were in prema together — but mick came forward and started being there for her more.

which then, well, led to this.

“ah, i thought you’d escaped to the peacefulness of our hotel room,” mick laughs, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “ready to get drunk tonight, love? promise i won’t marry you this time around.”

oscar snorts, walking around the three of them. he pushes them all forward in the direction of where the rest of the grid — and her team — is waiting for them. “not until her dad stops fanboying over the fact that his eldest is on the path to being an actual schumacher.”

mick snorts, pulling her into his body. “i need to get over the fact that my girlfriend’s the youngest world champion in formula 1.”

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @cashtons-wife @nikfigueiredo @darleneslane @happy-nico @namgification @sadg3 @a10vely-yutazen @mellowarcadefun @glitterf1 @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @gentlyweeps-world @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @inejismywife @love4lando @trouble-sistar @localwhoore

#logan sargeant x reader #oscar piastri x reader #sebastian vettel x reader #mick schumacher x reader #fem!driver #female driver #f1 fem!driver #f1 female driver #vettel reincarnate #disneyprincemuke #disneyprincemuke imagine #disneyprincemuke imagines #disneyprincemuke f1 #disneyprincemuke vr #formula 1 x reader #f1 x reader #f1 grid x reader

[azrielgreen]

OMG, a light-hearted snippet from CH11!?!! Miracles do happen.

Will and Steve share a look.

It holds for a long time.

Will asks, very quietly, ‘How?’

Steve shakes his head. ‘I don’t know yet.’

‘I just wanna let everyone know,’ Lucas says, huffy and obnoxious. ‘That I am available for any telepathic connections, should someone desire to start one with me.’

‘They’re not—’

‘I’m just saying, it’d be nice not to be left out for once.’

‘Oh please, Will’s always left out,’ Max tells him sternly. ‘And you’re always the centre of attention, pretty boy.’

Lucas flutters his eyelashes. ‘Can’t help being beautiful.’

#i have cried so much and finally a little ray of Lucas Light #wondering how many brave souls will actually read this chapter #this story is so fucking challenging but my god I love it so so much #i feel confident for posting late Sunday night #she said #it's at 17k right now #i can totally write 10k in one day tomorrow #so she said

[blankinsidecards]

Steddie fic rec list

Absolutely nobody asked for this but here we go! These are my top 5 favorites, meaning they live in my brain 24/7 and I want them tattooed on my eyelids. Edit: this has been updated!

oh, happy dagger on sunshine bones by inallthingsgoodorbad

Rating: M • Edit: Complete!

Eddie Munson is stuck in the Upside Down. Barely alive. Steve Harrington is trying to sleep and failing at it, miserably. What a strange thing it is, to save the world alongside friends and come away from it with nightmares and loneliness.

A fix-it fic to a heart wrenching degree. Deals with the trauma and ptsd of each character in really careful detail, and plots out a bright future for them in the same breath. Lots of gorgeous, if messy, original poetry that fit with Eddie’s emotions throughout the fic in really beautiful ways. This fic is criminally underappreciated, but it’s an absolute masterpiece. Highlights include: the nickname of ‘Angel’, bedsharing, a fluffy lumax subplot that made me sob with joy, a wonderful appreciation for our dear Uncle Wayne Munson, and food as a love language. Slooowww burn with so much pining.

the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you by @greatunironic

Rating: E • Complete

Sixteen years after the world didn't end for the last time, Max Mayfield showed up on Steve’s doorstep and said, “You gonna walk me down the aisle in May or what?”

Or, it’s 2002 and Steve Harrington attends a wedding, a funeral, and a birth.

As the writer says in the notes of the first chapter, it’s a love letter to “Steve Harrington, father figures, + metalheads everywhere” which I think says more about the feel of it than I can convey here. The way that everyone is written, specifically Joyce and Hopper’s relationships with Steve, as so firmly family is something I didn’t know I needed so bad. I don’t reread fics very often, but I’ve read this one all the way through three times, and have listened to the podfic twice as well. (I’ve never been able to get into podfics but @itty-bitty-blondie did such a beautiful job with it) It will have you ugly crying through every chapter, I guarantee. And as fucking sad as it will make you, it also the softest, most comforting thing I’ve ever read in my life.

You’re Divine by OonionChiver

Rating: E • Edit: Complete!

‘Blood?’ Eddie says again.

Eyes black but for the slice of iridescent white in the centre. His teeth are sharp, his hands are weapons and Steve thinks maybe he’s made a mistake doing this without telling Eddie first. Eddie’s focus lowers, it moves to his left hand which is…

Oh fuck.

It’s dripping blood onto the floor.

‘Shit,’ Steve says, takes a single step back, swallows. ‘Eddie, I’m so sorry, fuck.’

Eddie can’t seem to look away, can’t bring his ethereal gaze back up where it belongs. Steve thinks he should run, he should flee. A tiny part of him knows Eddie will chase him. Eddie will catch him, outrun him easily.

It's more than a little fucked up how that thrills him.

So far, this is definitely my favorite Vampire!Eddie fic I’ve read so far. I’m going to come right out and say it: I’ve read my fair share of toe-curling smut in my time, and this is the only fic that while I was reading it, I felt like I got a ‘New Kink Discovered’ alert. If you like your ships to be co-dependent in the most fucked up ways possible, this is for you. I cannot stress enough how absolutely drunk on this fic I was at the end of the first chapter. Good lord, PLEASE check the tags yourself before reading, it is A Lot. Apart from how hot it is, the author has put a huge amount of detail into the technicalities of Eddie’s vampirism and, I’m not sure if this is accurate due to my own lack of knowledge, but it seems like a lot of it is directly drawn from D&D mechanics and Kas lore. I may be wrong here, but it’s impressive either way. Another big highlight is that they take a sledgehammer to the Mr. & Mrs. Harrington’s shit in a beautifully cathartic way. Don’t be put off by the fact that there’s so few chapters, each chapter is really long and covers several days. It took my two an half hours to read the latest chapter (and I only had to put my phone down to scream into my pillow like, six or seven times)

the lathe by @palmviolet

Rating: M • Complete

"This time, do it right. This time Eddie won’t bleed out in his arms, in anyone’s arms. This time, Steve will do it right."

— or, Steve relives the day they try to kill Vecna over and over, and Eddie just can't seem to stop dying. Steve finds this totally unacceptable.

It’s a time loop fic. It’s a Steve-centric time loop fic. It has more themes and symbolism than Chekhov could shoot a gun at. It peels Eddie’s character apart like an onion. It’s the ultimate put-your-blorbo-in-a-glass-jar-and-study-him-like-a-bug for EITHER of them. It had me waiting like a war widow for each update. I was more anxious over the ending of this fic than I was of the actual s4 vol2. Again, check the tags and individual chapter warnings for yourself because, as the author warns, it really does get so much worse before it gets better- but it gets better. I think this may be one of my favorite fanfics of all time, of any fandom, and that’s really saying something.

a bottle of rouge (just me and you) by @anniebibananie and @galmance

Rating: E • Edit: Complete! • AU

Eddie was sure 1988 was going to be his fucking year. Harringley had finally made it big enough for their first national tour, and, sure, they might all get sick of each other on the bus and kill their livers over the course of several months, but this was his fucking dream. None of that other shit could wreck it.

But Eddie Munson’s life has always been a dumpster fire of massive proportions, so really he should have expected it: Steve Harrington ruining his fucking life.

[Over the course of Harringley’s first national tour, band rules are made, broken, and might just cause feelings that leave them on the precipice of destroying everything they’ve built.]

Eddie-centric band fic where the Fruity Four is a band and everyone is too fucking hot for their own good. Classic friends-with-benefits setup with delightfully fast realizations of Actual Feelings. I’m talking a -‘no fucking bandmates’ rule at the beginning of chapter one, and a blowjob by the end of chapter one- kind of pace. I haven’t seen a lot of bi/pan Eddie fics yet, and this one does a good job describing how he feels attraction. (I’m NOT saying it’s ‘good bi/pan rep’. The man is a SLUT and it’s FUN) I also love how they’ve written Nancy as this hardcore drummer while somehow keeping her completely in character. Highlights include Jonathan Byers being Steve’s ex-boyfriend, Argyle being the band’s beloved bus driver, and several absolutely electric concert scenes. There’s also not a SHRED of ‘period-typical homophobia’ if that’s something you, like me, have a hard time reading.

Edit: the sequel come right inside (welcome to my new life) just began and it’s from Steve’s pov five years later. Where Side A was the epitome of Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll; Side B is already addressing the recovery the characters have needed from that destructive lifestyle, and I’m so down for it. Edit: also now complete and with a very sweet happy ending!

#stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things fic rec #steddie fanfiction #steddie fic rec #stranger things fanfiction #fic rec list #steve x eddie #steddie #fanfiction #top five favorites #top five Steddie fics #steve harrington/eddie munson #free to reblog

[deenoss]

Angel Of A Morning - Chapter Three: Sorrow’s Cross

An hour well through (Y/n)'s studying brought him a slight stiffness in his spine. Kate also felt stiff and tired from staring down at their books the whole time. He and Kate were quick to non-verbally agree to take a break from their homework, all the while Esteban laid on his bed in slumber from relaxation.

"Thanks for the help, Kate. I really appreciate it," said (Y/n), appreciatively.

"It's no problem. I'm gonna go now. I need to brush my teeth and go to bed." Kate replied with another weak smile.

"Hey, Kate?"

"Yeah?"

(Y/n) pursed his lips as the corners tugged downwards into a frown. "N-Nevermind. I'll see you tomorrow... second period?"

"Bye, (Y/n). Bye, Esteban."

Esteban shot his arm up and waved at Kate as she walked out the door. Fortunately, nobody saw her leave the room as she was well aware should anybody catch her she would be in serious trouble.

"Dude, you so blew your chance." Esteban droned.

(Y/n) sighed and bowed his head. "I know. I hope I can ask her later."

"Well, go and find out."

While there was still sunlight, (Y/n) decided to call it a night and brush his teeth early so that he could function properly in tomorrow's lessons. He collected his toothbrush and toothpaste and headed to the boy's bathroom. (Y/n) only just noticed a familiar face approaching him, where he and Kate crossed paths. He noticed that her eyes were puffy red as if she'd just started crying, which was something that she did not want anyone to see.

"Oh hey, Kate." (Y/n) called, stopping the dirty-haired blonde in her path. "Are you alright? What's the matter? Why have you been crying?"

"Don't bother worrying about me. Nobody cares anyway." Kate sobbed.

"That's not true."

"You don't know me. Don't act like you know me or what I'm going through right now."

"Then tell me. Don't shut yourself out to people who want to help you."

"Or ridicule me and call me names like 'slut' and 'whore'." Kate snapped.

"I'm not saying any of that. Kate, please. Let me help you."

"I don't trust you. I can't trust anybody - except Max. She's one of the few people who actually care about me."

"Then let me prove it." He pressed.

Kate looked at him in bewilderment while hiding said feeling underneath a cold, barren glare.

"How?" Kate asked sceptically.

"I'll stand up for you. If anybody messes with you, then I will show them I have your back. I'll show the whole school, even." (Y/n) said erratically yet with confidence.

Without their realising it, two pairs of eyes fell on them as two girls approached them, two of whom were infamous for harassing Kate over her alleged porn video that simply included Kate making out with multiple boys. Sinisterly, the two girls; Victoria and one of her minions approached them and immediately greeted Kate with unkindness.

"Trying to manipulate another poor, innocent soul to slobber your lips over, Marsh? I can't believe you. Not even a week after your controversial video and you're already at it again. And you call yourself a devoted Christian. You disgust me, Marsh. What would your parents think of you when they find out what kind of a sinner you've been?" Victoria scolded harshly.

"Hey, leave her alone." (Y/n) interrupted with strength in his tone.

Victoria looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't bother defending her, (Y/n). I wouldn't waste my time with a man-moocher like her."

"I said, leave her alone. What did she do to you, huh? Just stop harassing her already. Haven't you done enough?"

"Oh, I think I can do a bit more."

Victoria opened the cap to her toothpaste and squeezed in its centre which caused a small amount of toothpaste to shoot out and stain Kate's bed t-shirt. Kate said nothing in response but only created more tears in her eyes while (Y/n) gasped in outrage. Smugly, Victoria and her friend walked past them, bumping Kate's shoulder as she did all the while Kate cried at her suffering.

"Just ignore them, Kate. Don't let them get to you." (Y/n) said supportively.

Kate sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who got... wh-who made out with a bunch of guys at a stupid party!"

"But it wasn't your fault... was it?"

"I don't know! I barely took a sip of some red wine and the next... I black out. Next day, I wake up in the hospital and when I go back to school, everybody is going on about that stupid video I'm in. Social media gets around very well around Arcadia."

"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Kate. I truly am. Look, I know we can't undo the damage that's been done, but there's still a chance to prove your innocence."

"What? How? The whole school knows I'm a-a slut because of Nathan. I'm a worthless human being, (Y/n)." Kate questioned with a stammer.

"No you're not. You're special to me." (Y/n) cooed and reached his hand out to touch her arm.

Kate looked up at him in surprise of his dedication towards her. Not only that, but the fact that he daringly physically touched her caused her to tense. Without another word spoken, Kate slipped past (Y/n) and rushed back to her room while he stood in the empty hallway before resuming his task of brushing his teeth. Once he had returned to his room, nothing was said as he tucked himself in his bed and went to sleep.

Friday

Come morning, (Y/n) awoke to feel refreshed and keen for his next day at school. He found that it was only he who woke up first while his roommate still laid in bed, drool pooling on his pillow. (Y/n) got out of bed and dressed up decently before he made another trip to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He didn't stumble across someone like he did early yesterday evening so his trip to and fro was fast.

Even after spending three minutes going to the boy's bathroom to brush his teeth, when he returned he felt amused to find that Esteban was still in deep slumber. (Y/n) collected his belongings and quietly left the room before making his way out of the dormitory to wander around to pass the time. When (Y/n) discovered the library, he found it as a good place to settle for the morning before class.

With access to privacy and a wide range of novels and such, (Y/n) occupied a seat at a desk on the other side of the room, opposite the librarian's desk who had been busy stacking shelves and replacing books to their rightful places. (Y/n) used his book and laptop to indulge with the continuation of his homework and studies. It wasn't long until somebody did enter the library, and soon thereafter so did a few more.

While (Y/n) was so indulged with catching up, somebody took up a seat opposite him which interrupted his train of thought. To his company, seated Kate Marsh just across from him. She still had bags under her eyes but that didn't make up for the fact that she hadn't been getting enough sleep. It was coincidental that they crossed paths as Kate had the original intent to find a new book worth reading when she discovered (Y/n)'s early presence in the library.

"Good morning," greeted (Y/n).

"Hi, (Y/n). Sleep well?" Kate replied lazily.

"Slept like a baby. You?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders and produced her book from her bag as well as her pencil case.

"So, what are you up to now?" Kate inquired.

"I'm reading up on Page 48 of Still Life In Photography. Mr Jefferson is pretty adamant that I get this stuff done by the end of next week."

"Stuck on anything?"

(Y/n) stuck his bottom lip out and shook his head. "Nothing thus far."

Silence fell upon them, creating a slightly awkward atmosphere that Kate found unsettling. As much as she liked peace and quiet, she felt the urge to converse more with the brown-haired boy across from her.

"Hey, (Y/n)?"

(Y/n) perked his head up and sent a gentle smile her way as he gave her his full attention.

"Thank you for standing up for me yesterday. Against Victoria. She's just so... evil." Kate muttered as a blush crept up on her face.

"Of course. You don't deserve what you go through. I myself know that all too well."

Kate paused before saying, "When Victoria said she knew you from somewhere, did you meet her before or did you end up on social media for something crazy you did?"

(Y/n) frowned, knowing that what she was asking had revived trauma that he felt immense guilt for. Yet (Y/n) didn't shy away too much from it and told her a half truth.

"You could say that. Let's just say things are better left unsaid, and the past we shouldn't worry too much about." (Y/n) replied dismissively as he returned his focus to his book and scribbled.

Daringly, the dirty-haired blonde reached her hand across to touch (Y/n)'s motionless hand. (Y/n) tensed when he felt her hand touch his. He looked up in an instant when he felt the smoothness of her palm touch the roughness of his knuckles. Through the physical contact, the pair's faces turned as red as tomatoes.

"Umm, K-Kate? I-I-If you're not doing anything this afternoon, w-w-would you like to go out with me t-t-to the Two Wales Diner?" (Y/n) stammered shyly.

"Sure. I'd like to go with you."

Delight broke on (Y/n)'s face as the slim change that which Kate would accept his offer didn't prepare him for exchanging phone numbers or setting a time for their date. By returning their attention back to their work, the smiles that were plastered on their faces didn't leave as they worked in silence until the morning bell rang. At the call for students to attend first period, Kate and (Y/n) went their separate ways knowing that they would reunite in their second class.

The first lesson for the day started off slowly but after some time and getting into the work, time flew by rather quickly. (Y/n) felt so electrified for his date that afternoon that he hadn't realised the amount of hard work he was putting in. It wasn't until second period when (Y/n) got to be in the same class as Kate. Despite how terrible and miserable she appeared from recent daily bullying, Kate managed to smile through her pain whenever she caught (Y/n) staring at her.

Nobody took notice of the glares that (Y/n) and Kate exchanged. Nobody except Max. Due to her zoning out of her classes more often than usual, she had managed to catch her friend Kate transmitting smiles across to somebody that caught her eye. To Max's surprise, she interpreted that it was (Y/n) whom she was acting friendly to, and vice versa. For the time being, Max dismissed the thought but with the intent to ask Kate about her eyeing (Y/n).

#life is strange #kate marsh #kate marsh x reader #max caulfield

[amerrierworld]

California Girl

for the request: fem!reader always shows how much she loves her, doing good things to her, so Lou tries to reward her for being such a her good girl, with something cute and then smut.

Summary: Lou pampers the shit out of you.

Characters: Lou Miller x you

Word Count: 1,546

Warnings: Smut! b a t h s e x 

California was beautiful. There was a massive stretch of shoreline that you were driving alongside. You could smell the ocean, delighted that your senses were still working, and not dulled by the endless reek of New York City streets.

“Hold on,” Lou shouted over the noisy engine, revved the bike, and sped up even more. 

The hotel you were staying in this time was fancy to the max. The room itself was practically a whole apartment and then some, it was so luxurious. 

You bounced up the stairs to the elevator as Lou parked her bike- she didn’t trust anyone to park it for her. It was a long way up and you had the elevator to  yourself, so you checked your reflection in the shiny metal of the door, your hair a tangled mess from the coast winds.

Lou had driven basically the entire time you’d been in Cali, seemingly never tiring on the bike. But as you made your stops and settled in at various hotels,  you knew the sheer physical strain of it had to be exhausting. 

So when you came back to the room, you immediately ordered room service with both of your favourite meals for dinner and a bottle of champagne. Then you hopped in the shower. 

“Y/N?” Lou called out once she got back into the room. The lights were dimmed. There was a sound of rushing water coming from the bathroom.

Lou nudged open the door slowly, met with a wave of warm air, and then-

“Ta-daa!” you popped the cork off the champagne bottle, watching how it nearly broke one of the ceiling lights. 

You were in a thick hotel bathrobe, perched on the edge of the filled bathtub, giving off flowery aromas and a high pile of bubbles. The plates of food were sitting next to you on a low table you had dragged in, along with two glasses. 

Lou blinked, laughing incredulously, “baby, what’s all this?”

“Hush! No talking,” you got up, making cute grabby movements as you neared her and tugged off her jacket. 

You quickly stripped her to her underwear and paused just to admire her toned figure. She smirked as your fingertips danced along her waist and hips. 

You pressed your nose into the crook of her neck, nuzzling her as you undid her bra and rubbing at the faint red lines left behind from the wires. Her warm chuckle dissipated into something darker as your fingers pressed into her weary skin. 

Then you dropped to your knees and pressed a faint kiss just above her underwear by her belly button. Her hand made a clenching motion in your hair, wanting to grab you but resisting the urge. 

You slid off her panties and tugged her to the bath. The minute her sore legs got in she let out a delighted moan. 

“Sit, sit, sit,” you urged her, watching her submerge into the water.

“Fuck,” she breathed. “Hm, this is nice.”

“You’ve been bringing me to all these places for the entirety of the trip. You gotta relax for a second too, yknow.”

“Oh, baby,” she murmured, watching you with droopy eyes, before eyeing the plates next to you. “You got dinner too?”

You brought a plate to your lap and offered her the fork. 

“You’re such a good girl,” she sighed, “you didn’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I wanted to,” you replied giddily, leaning forward to kiss her. “Eat!”

You watched her eat, running your hand through her damp hair as she leaned against the edge of the bath, bubbles and water slightly spilling over the edge.

“I could get used to this,” she said. “You pampering me.”

“I’m not complaining either,” you smiled, sipping your own glass of champagne.  You knew your belt was slipping and your bathrobe was loosening just a little, and Lou’s eyes followed the exposed valley between your breasts with eager eyes. 

“You should get in with me,” she said huskily.

“I- but I already took a shower,” you replied.

“Oh, so that’s why you smell so nice,” Lou surged up out of the water. Her strong arms perched on the edge of the bathtub, her upper torso exposed and slick with water.

Her mouth nudged against yours, “it’s still warm. It’d be a shame to let all your hard work go to waste.”

Something hot rushed through your body, and it wasn’t because of the steaming water,

“No no, this is for you. This isn’t about me getting a fucking reward, ” you huffed, pulling away and setting the plate to the side. But as you did, Lou reached for the belt and undid the knot entirely, letting it fall open. You blushed,

“Lou!” 

Your girlfriend grinned in sheer delight, only tugging at the belt, showing more of your skin.

“If this is for me, shouldn’t I get the one thing I want most?”

You rolled your eyes, let yourself be moved forward, caught your hands on Lou’s shoulders as she gazed up at you, kneeling in the bath. 

“You’re insufferable,” you laughed.

“...I love you?”

You shook your head, leaned down and kissed her, “I love you too.”

You let Lou push the robe off your body entirely, and slowly helped you in the bath. But she beckoned you to sit on the widest edge of the bath, where you could rest your hands behind you without fear of falling off.

“What’re you doing?” 

“Rewarding you for being such a good girlfriend,” Lou kissed your knee and cupped your heel under the water, stroking up and down. “For coming all the way to Cali with me here.”

“I remember you not really leaving me much of a choice,” you gasped, because her warm lips were kissing along the inside of your thigh, “but I never would have said no. You know that.”

“I know you don’t need rewarding,” Lou continued, breath ghosting over your clit, “but I like giving it to you. Do you like it when I do that?”

“Yes,” you gasped, hips rocking on the slippery surface.

“Careful you don’t fall off, babe,” she said, sliding in closer. “Everything is so wet.”

You moaned and your head tipped back as she pressed the flat of her tongue against your cunt. 

She knew exactly what you liked, knew where to press and prod to have you sweating and begging for an orgasm, and she enjoyed every second of your quivering body giving into her.

“Fuck, L-Lou-”

“You like that, baby?” she swiped her tongue along your entrance and you mewled.

“I-I do,” her eyes were glimmering up at you and were struck with a devilish idea.

Mustering enough breath to speak amidst your moans, your hand tangled in her hair and tugged, just a little.

“J-just like that,” you lowered your voice a little, and watched her eyes blow up with sudden arousal. “You’re doing so good.”

Lou had never heard you talk like that; horny, desperate, but praising. Usually you’d be begging her to let you come, you would do anything for her. But now-

Her body surged with newfound lust, and she attacked your centre with a newfound vigour.

You let out a shout as she pushed a finger inside, slick and wet from the water and your arousal,

“Yes! Yes, yes, oh, Lou, baby, you’re doing so well. S-such a good- good girl,” you kept going. Lou’s moans against your cunt showed you how much she was enjoying your sudden dominance.

But as you neared your orgasm, your natural instincts took over and in the end you couldn’t hold it in anymore. Your hand released her hair and your arms dropped down to rest on your elbows, arching your back and begging, pleading for her to not stop, to please let you come, please, please, please-

Your body seized up, feet planted on the floor of the bath, your upper body cold from the exposure to the air, but shivering from the release that rocked your whole body. Lou’s fingers slipped out of you and kneaded your trembling legs with a final, soft kiss just at the crease of your thighs.

You trembled, sliding into the bath with her, the hot water immediately relaxing your tense muscles. Your head swam in a state of euphoria for few moments and Lou held you close, warm hands running up and down your sides. 

“My little Cali girl,” she said against your cheek, lips kissing you messily. You chuckled, bumping her, “that was wonderful.”

“Don’t get used to it, hey?”

“Maybe I should bring you out west more often. I think the ocean air here makes you a little.. bold.”

You turned around in her arms and snuggled into her hold, your back resting against her chest. 

“Whatever,” you grinned, shutting your eyes and soaking in the peace around you, “just be glad that I’m so hopelessly in love with you that I’ll go anywhere you want.”

“Anywhere?”

“Hm, within reason.”

“There it is.”

You rolled your eyes again, turned to look at her as she said,

“I’d do the same for you, you know. Next trip, you tell me where to go. And we’ll go there.”

“M’kay,” you brushed noses, held her close, “is that a promise, Miller?”

“You bet.”

A/N: We love lovey dove Lou! taglist: @the-obscurity​

#merry writes #lou miller #lou miller x reader #lou miller x you #cate blanchett #cate blanchett x you #cate blanchett x reader #wlw #fanfiction #oceans 8 #oceans8 #ocean's eight #ocean's 8 #oceans 8 fanfic

[noirineverysense]

Part 6 - My Arthur

Previous -> Masterlist -> Next

Isaac yelled out when Nasira, if that even was her name, had been taken away for more questioning. She wasn’t in a state to answer questions. Her head hung low as she whimpered and cried, nothing like the strong, angry threat she was when she came in.

That left him and Arthur in the room with her, this maniac who decided to take up that other man’s place. Who decided it was now her job to torture Max.

That poor kid. Isaac hoped that they could find him before it was too late. Max still hadn’t become an adult, after all these years of being experimented on, then escaping. Only to be brought back to the place of his nightmares.

It didn’t matter to them that he was a child. In fact, it probably excited those freaks more to be able to test on him.

Isaac seethed; it wasn’t just Max either. Arthur had walked straight back into the hands of those he feared most for his son. And now they were getting ready to experiment on him again too.

He lets out an audible growl that Arthur turns too. His eyes widen at the fear in Arthur’s eyes. Obviously, he hadn’t been paying attention to what the mad scientist had been saying.

He gets the gist of it when guards come over and put a blindfold over his shaking head. He fights the hands that unchain then manhandle him into the centre of the room.

He gets forced to his knees; he has no idea who he’s turned to, but he yells all the same.

“You keep trying to break him, but it won’t work – ”

He’s cut off by a punch to his abdomen, he bowls over and coughs.

“Isaac, please! Don’t make it worse!” he hears the tears in Arthur’s voice.

“Hey, Arthur, it’s okay – ” his head snaps to the side after a punch across his face.

“You can stop this, Arthur Reyes.” The low but feminine voice of the scientist starts. “Don’t you feel obliged to. Seeing as this is all your fault.”

“No- ” Isaac gets a punch to his jaw, knocking him off balance.

“Leave him alone!” Arthur screams.

“Don’t you wish you hadn’t bothered him with your problems. Hadn’t started that silly agency with him. Hadn’t ever met? Then he wouldn’t be here. He wouldn’t be hurt, he would be safer without you. Don’t you agree?”

Before Isaac can interrupt her, a guard pulls him up by his hair before slamming the butt of a gun into his temple. He groans, disorientated by the hit and the blindfold.

“No!” Arthur yells out, “I’m the one you want! This is my fault, leave him alone!”

He gets a laugh in response, “Of course it is your fault. You should have kept him away. You should have known, this team you put together would be nothing more than pieces for us to use to break you, once we got our hands on you again.

“No...”

“Did you honestly think you wouldn’t be back here? Did you actually think that there was something left of Arthur Reyes? You are a subject and you always will be. All you did with all these years of “freedom” was collect some new subjects for us to toy with.”

“No!”

“So why don’t you tell me where the third mutant of your collection is? You already doomed them the moment you met. Just like your dear boyfriend.”

Arthur’s eyes widen and tears spill. “Isaac, I’m sorry. I’m sorry we- ”

“Arthur if you finish that fucking sentence, I’ll punch you in the face.”

Arthur stops, stunned by the rage in Isaac's voice. The man, despite his position, had his back straight as he spoke through gritted teeth.

“I mourned for you for three years. Every single day of that I wondered if it was worth living without you. You coming back into my life saved me. And we found our family and got together and you’re going to tell me you regret all of that?"

“Isaac I- ”

“Say it all wasn’t worth it. Go on.”

“I-It, it was worth it. I’m sorry, I love you. It was worth it.”

Isaac smiles before he turns to where he heard the scientist’s voice.

“’He bothered me with his problems?’ I did nothing for him for three years while you freaks had your hands on him. I’d take all his pain now if I could. You don’t know shit about him. My Arthur doesn’t break. And you don’t know shit about me either if you think I’d want to be anywhere else other than by his side.”

He laughs into the emptiness. “So go fucking ahead. Punch me. You ain’t getting shit from it.”

There’s another punch to his jaw, the blackness seemed different as he passed out.

#febuwhump2022 #febuwhumpday15 #febuwhumpalt7 #blindfolded #forced to watch #beaten to unconsciousness #okay tag ramble time #isaac's so in love you guys #and yes this is cheesy #and self indulgent #and melodramatic #but do i care? #no #acp 3 #acp

[madswritingvoid]

Say You’re Sorry

Pairing: Max Phillips x f!reader

Words: 3k (oops haha)

Warnings: SMUT. 18+ only. Oral (f receiving), unprotected sex, p in v sex, fingering, swearing, slight choking, first time writing smut should probably be a warning itself, sexism, Max Phillips is a warning probably.

You knew it was a bad idea. Well, actually, no you didn’t. Not fully. The voice in your head was just screaming at you to stop - there were other ways to get his attention. Other ways to make Max feel bad for what he did during the Synersavers presentation that didn’t require you stooping this low. Fuck it, you figured, if he can go around and do whatever he wants to get his way then so can I.

Fixing your hair and outfit in the mirror one last time, you went back into the office looking for the desk you usually avoid like the plague. Max Phillips, fuck you.

Earlier That Day

“So you see, Mr. Jacobson, our third quarter projections have us coming in on top by two million dollars and the fourth quarter is looking even better. I mean really champ, if these numbers were anymore amazing they’d be as hot as your associate there in that fetching skirt,” Max winks at the woman taking meeting minutes for your potential new client, causing her skin to blotch, “fucking unreal. Pardon my French,” he finishes, earning a big laugh from the CEO of Synersavers, the new bullshit placebo pill that was supposed to alter the brain’s natural neural pathways to promote synergy. You weren’t sure what dreams synergy was helping pathetic humans to achieve, but it meant a bonus if they signed on so you made sure that PowerPoint presentation was the best slides of your career.

You scoff, worried that if you roll your eyes they’ll get stuck. You know Max Phillips was quite the charmer, you knew better than anyone in the office. This past year saw him go from being just your hot vampire boss you had a crush on, to your hot vampire boss that was now your boyfriend. 

While you never made an official statement to your coworkers, you quietly signed the papers Amanda in HR needed signed and let the sound of you screaming Max’s name in his office while he was balls deep inside you let the rest of your coworkers know of your relationship. Overall, Max was a great boyfriend. Better than expected even - attentive, caring, protective to a fault, all while still being that loveable (?) piece of shit frat boy extraordinaire he had been at the beginning. 

You knew he still had to lay on the charm to close sales from time to time, never actually violating your relationship in any way, but after the fight you had this morning you didn’t think flirting with the only person in the meeting who did not actually control whether or not this partnership was going to happen right in front of you was the best move.

“Mr. Phillips,” Jacobson says, once again only acknowledging Max and completely ignoring you as he had been for the entire presentation, “you got quite the silver tongue. But I like that about ya, I think you get what our product is all about and I wanna make this partnership work. I’m surprised your presentation is as good as it was, because if you’ll pardon my French, if my secretary looked as delicious as yours does I’d be too busy fucking her left, right, and centre to even think about the fourth quarter anything!” He laughs and claps Max on the shoulder and you tense up, sure that Max is going to say something. Not even because he’s your boyfriend, but because he landed the sale and doesn’t have to be as sleazy as this dickhead is. 

“See that’s where you’re wrong Jacobson, it’s almost like I’m working double to avoid her. Just doesn’t get the mojo flowing, y’know? Maybe we should switch, what do you think sweetheart?” He looks over at the still flustered secretary, “Come on and work for me and we’ll work on some new ways of making synergy happen,” he wags his eyebrows and you’re surprised this poor woman hasn’t slid right off her seat. You’re stunned. Even as Mr. Jacobson laughs and brings a laughing Max into some sort of capitalist bro hug, you can’t bring yourself to move. It isn’t until you hear the squeak of the wheels from the chair Mr. Jacobson’s secretary was sitting against the shitty meeting room carpet that you snap back to the present and shut everything down. By the time you finish everyone is long gone, leaving you to stew in your rage.

A hesitant knock on the meeting room door makes you jump as you’re met with a sheepish looking Evan in the doorway. You were never a big fan of Evan when you started, kind of thought he was a wimp but he was nice enough. After getting with Max and learning their shared history, you couldn’t stand Evan, but were able to be far more professional when needed until Max.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was still in here after Max and the Synersavers people left,” he shrugged. “What the fuck do you mean Max left with them?” You asked through clenched teeth. Scratching the back of his neck nervously, Evan took a deep breath before telling you, “yeah, um. They left for a late liquid lunch from what it sounded like, Max said you would be too busy learning how to make a paper clip bracelet to join them… Sorry, he’s such an asshole. You don’t deserve that, especially not from that bastard,” He couldn’t meet your eyes. Even though he still tried to tell you to leave Max every single day, you appreciate him being there this time.

There were many things you could be mean to Evan for, but deep down you knew he didn’t deserve the wrath of your anger this time. 

Later That Afternoon

After taking the elevator up to the office to mentally cleanse his mind from that mindless lunch with that absolute creep Jacobson, Max was trying to come up with the best apology for you. He knew he didn’t have to be so forward flirting with that secretary, what the fuck was her name anyways, in order to win the sexist CEO over. But he was feeling petty after your fight while you were getting ready for work he figured it wouldn’t hurt to remind you that many other women find him quite the catch.

“You’re lying! You have to be lying!! There’s no way that happened oh my god,” Max stops dead in his tracks as he hears your giggles from inside the office. “It is! I totally saw Tim practising the dance moves the day after that Kelly Clarkson concert in the men’s washroom. I didn’t even know she had dancers, but from what I saw it really must have been a hell of a show,” Evan says as you throw your head back and let out another over-the-top cackle. You’re sitting on top of Evan’s desk, resting your hand on his shoulder as he sits in between your open legs, clearly enjoying the attention. 

You’re hamming it up, he knows that, he knows that’s not what your real laugh sounds like - the laugh he gets to hear when he really does something that you like. He knows you don’t mean it but he’s immediately flooded with anger and guilt. He obviously didn’t realize how much the day had taken a toll on you and now you must be really mad if you’re going to Evan to get back at him.

“Oh my god Evan that’s too funny,” you giggle and place a hand on his shoulder, “you just made my day! I won’t tell Tim anything, it’ll be our little secret,” you wink. Evan’s blush deepens at the touch, maybe you weren’t so bad after all and if Max (and Amanda at this point) didn’t look out he would maybe ask you out for a drink sometime soon. Bring you back to the land of the living.

Deciding he’s absolutely had enough, Max quietly comes up behind Evan and slaps both hands on his shoulders after seeing you move yours back to your lap, causing him to freeze and let out a little squeak. “Slugger, I’m sure whatever’s going on here is just too funny, but didn’t I ask you to finish up that presentation for tomorrow’s meeting with NuevaWeight?” he pouts, “I really thought you were taking this job seriously buddy, but maybe I should just get Andrew to take over…”

“N-no Max, sorry. Yeah the presentation is almost done, it’ll be ready before the end of the day,” Evan stammers. Max finally meets your eyes and smirks, “and you can meet me in my office. Apparently you think you can stop doing your job and distracting my employees.”

You can’t even speak, your jaw set and eyes burning from the absolute rage you feel right now. Yeah you’ll meet him in his office, but it won’t be so he can lecture you about whatever bullshit he’s already thought of. “Of course Mr. Phillips, meet you there,” you manage to snap back, calmly making your way to his office. Anyone walking by you immediately gets out of your way, your anger coming off in waves making your undead coworkers shiver.

Clapping Evan on the shoulder one more time, Max saunters over to his office, ready to make you beg for his forgiveness after that little stunt. As soon as he opens his office door he realizes that won’t be happening.

You’re sitting in his chair, legs propped up on his desk in a way that makes your skirt ride up and expose more thigh than what HR might deem office appropriate. “Ah, Mr. Phillips, so nice of you to make it,” you smirk. “Sweets, I think there must be some sort of misunderstandi-'' you cut him off with a dark look and stand up. Walking up to him you close his office door and push him against it, “No champ,” you sneer, “I think you’re confused here. I’m not the one who decided to be a very, very bad boy by flirting with someone else and insulting me in front of new clients.” Chest to chest, your hand slithers up to grab Max’s throat. Even though he is a vampire who could toss you around like a ragdoll, you know he’s letting you be in control. He likes it.

“While you were out entertaining I’ve been thinking about what I could do to make you really sorry, baby. You were already on thin ice from this morning, but now you’re drowning,” you squeeze a little harder on his throat making his eyes roll back. “What are you gonna do? I’m so sorry,” he whispers. You take a moment, just looking into those eyes you love so much, before answering.

“Maybe I’ll sit on your cock. Let you fill my pussy up but not let you cum, because only good boys get to come, you know that Maxie. Maybe I’ll just use you like my own walking, talking dildo. If I’m so replaceable you won’t mind not getting to fill me up? Right?” You smirk again as he whines, his hands clenching because all he wants to do is make you feel good now. 

“You wanna run that mouth, Phillips? You wanna make everything think you’re so fucking special when I know you’re really just a scared little vamp, huh?” You say with a pout. Grabbing his hair, you force his head up so you can look right into his eyes that are now almost completely black from lust. “Come on big shot, if you wanna be a big boy then you gotta show me that mouth can do something other than just spew bullshit, slugger.” 

That’s all the permission he needs. He hoists you up in his arms and thanks to vampire speed you’re now sat on his leather couch, skirt up around your waist, underwear ripped clean off, fully exposed to his hungry eyes. “Baby, I’m so sorry,” he pouts, “let me make you feel good. I just want you-” You’ve heard enough, pushing him down so his mouth finally reaches your core. Moaning at finally tasting you, Max wastes no time taking your clit and sucking hard, already teasing your entrance with one of his long fingers. 

“Y-Yes Max, fuck! Be a good boy and make me cum just like this,” you moan and clench around the finger inside of you, knowing you’re absolutely dripping onto the couch underneath you. He adds a second, then a third, making you arch your back until you’re almost sitting up from how good he’s fucking you with his hands. His mouth doesn’t stop, sucking and licking, spelling out his apologies against your body. Knowing you’re close, he starts focusing on that spot inside of you that drives you wild. 

“Oh! Oh, Maxie yes. Such a g-good boy,” you pant, meeting his hand thrust for thrust trying to reach your high, “make me feel so good please please please baby I’m right there, I-” you can’t finish that sentence as your vision goes white and all you can do is let out a strangled moan that sounds like his name.

Once your legs start shaking you pull both of you up, undoing his belt and pushing him onto the couch so you can straddle his waist. You wrap a hand around his neck and start nipping at the area, rocking your soaked pussy along his aching cock that was now free from the confines of his dress pants a few times before sinking down on him. A wicked grin stretches across your face as his moans get louder. He chokes when he feels you gush around him, not expecting you to come again so soon but you were still sensitive from his mouth, the hair above his cock rubbing deliciously against your clit, but you wanted more still. 

Picking up the pace, you squeeze around his throat again and start taunting him, “You gonna replace me baby? Yeah? You gonna find a pussy that takes you this good? Be my guest. Go right now and find something better, or show me how goddamn sorry you are.”

Granting him permission to take over, Max flips you on your back, making sure your head is supported by one of the couch cushions. He immediately wraps your legs around his waist, angling one leg to let him sink even deep inside of you, your moans mixing together as you both revel in the feeling of him finally being inside of you. Wanting to prove himself he wastes no time pulling out just to start slamming back into you. 

You moan and clench around him, making him hiss and he doesn’t let up. Watching him disappear inside of you over and over again, he starts babbling his apologies. “N-Never baby. Could never replace you. Never gonna find a pu-pussy this fucking good. Look at you, so perfect, so so perfect taking my cock like that. I’m sorry. You’re so good. I don’t deserve it, it’s- fuck it’s so fucking good. Best pussy of all time,” he moans as you clamp down on him, your third orgasm ripping through you. 

“Yes - yes Max, that’s fucking r-right. I’m the best pussy you’ll ever have,” you moan again from being so full. You know he’s sorry so you decide to let him finish after all. Taking your hands off his shoulders, you start tangling your fingers in his hair and bring his face close to your so your lips are almost touching, “you did so good Maxie,” you coo, “you cock made me feel so fucking good I know you’re sorry now.” He shudders at your words but keeps his steady pace, trying to make you cum again, still holding back his own impending orgasm. “Thank you baby, ‘m so so sorry, I love you and I just wanna be good for you-” “shhh shhh Maxie, I know I know. You did good baby, now show me how good you are and cum inside of me.” 

That’s all he needs. 

Something between a groan and growl comes deep from within Max as he finally lets go, pushing himself as far as he can inside of you as he starts painting your walls. Coming down from his high, he nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck as you start peppering him with kisses wherever you can reach, carding your fingers through his hair.

“I’m really sorry baby,” you hear him mumble into your neck, “I love you.” He kisses along your throat and you hum, moving your head to give him more access. “I know Max, I love you too. I forgive you. But try that again and I’ll cut your dick off in front of the whole office,” you laugh.

He chuckles too, continuing to shower you with love. “As much as I want to stay right here forever baby, let’s go home and I can keep showing you how sorry I am,” he suggests, wiggling his eyebrows to earn a giggle from you, “sounds good Maxie, you’re lucky I’m just sooooo forgiving.”

Untangling from each other and making yourselves as presentable as you care to be, you leave the office hand-in-hand, ready to see what the rest of the night has in store.

#max phillips #max phillips x reader #max phillips x y/n #max phillips x you #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal imagines #bloodsucking bastards

[medusinestories]

Aaa Miranda is in this ep and so of course this got Long!

Black Sails, III (S1 ep03)

- I just LOVE the domestic scenes of Flint waking up at home, surrounded by white crisp linen, wearing an oversized shirt, and going straight to a pot of something that smells good (I'm guessing it's tea or a spice he intends to use afterwards). And also how, outside of the rough life at sea, he's actually delicate, wincing when Miranda tends to him a bit roughly.

- I think a reason why I didn't really understand Miranda on my first watch is because she's sulking in a very cool/restrained way in these scenes. She's relieved that Flint's back, but finds small ways to put him down (commenting on the blood on her floor, chiding him for not telling her about the wound, stinging him with disinfectant) that express that she's not altogether happy with him/his behaviour.

- In the meanwhile, Flint's back to being Captain Oblivious. In spite of Miranda's little digs he's so smug about having found the schedule that he doesn't notice that she's unhappy. It's only when she doesn't jump for joy when he gives her the Middleton book that he cottons on that she’s not in a great mood.

- Also, I'll die on the "Flint is bi" hill, and to me the way Flint looks at Miranda when she's fixing his bandages is not only smug but also seductive - she’s the one who’s not receptive in this moment. But the fact that Miranda talks of "having you all to myself" in the same conversation also suggests that their relationship is (still) romantic/sexual. (and while I’m on my unpopular opinion spree, I don’t want to hear anything about “straightbaiting”: reducing Flint and Miranda’s relationship to a trick used by the creators to make the audience think Flint is straight is deeply disrespectful of whatever these two characters share)

- We get to see a lot of Silver writing out the contents of the stolen page, and boy is he proficient with a quill and ink. Where/how/why did a little thief he learn to read and write? This definitely isn't the typical education of a London orphan.

- "Don't torture me, my pain threshold is very low, and I'd say anything to make it stop"... so Silver is threatening to be incoherent and/or inaccurate under torture? A pretty weak argument when faced with someone who wants to torture you for information. And this reminds me that Gates (and Flint, and Billy though he looked very ill at ease) was ready to torture Max in the previous episode to get information, though he presented it as a last resort. And yet here Flint snorts and walks away when Billy suggests torture decides to take Silver along with their crew. So how is Silver different from Max, here? Could it possibly be related to the fact that he and Flint eyesex stare at each other all through the conversation, hmm?

- Back to Breaking Billy: Billy wants to do everything in his power to prevent the crew from finding out that Silver is the actual thief, imo mostly because he doesn't want the crew to find out that he lied to them about Singleton. Billy is shown to be a terrible liar: when he brings Silver to Randall, saying Silver lost a bet to him, Randall immediately tells him that there's no betting onboard, catching him out and putting him in an awkward situation. Gates also warned Billy off canvassing to find out if the crew is still angry with Flint, and was quite right: Morley and Turk immediately figure out what he's doing. However, by the end of the episode, he also uses his reputation of being honest to convince Morley that Singleton was, indeed, a thief. I wonder how he feels about using his reputation of honesty to cover up a lie.

- In the meantime Silver actually does what Billy was trying to do very badly: he finds out who's still against Flint. Unlike Captain Oblivious, Silver has somehow intuited that Billy needed to find the dissenters, possibly because he's figured out that Billy hates keeping up the lie. In any case, he plays double agent in order to gain Billy’s trust (perhaps a bad strategy to gain an honest man’s trust... just saying).

- Hornigold, after an incredibly pompous tirade about the noble origins of the chair he’s sitting on, has the gall to call Flint arrogant and presumptuous. Apparently, arrogant and presumptuous is the kind of people who Gates is friends with/drawn to. I also can't help but wonder why Gates believes that Hornigold's crew knows and trusts him and that it'll be easy for him to captain them. I wonder if Hornigold used to have Gates as a Quartermaster, pre-Flint. The fact that Hornigold tells Gates that he's starting to speak like Flint, in a reproachful tone, could also  be a clue.

- Gates' advancing age is a major subject in this episode, with Hornigold saying that Gates is one of the rare people who's actually getting dumber with age, and Rackham playing on Gates' doubts about his physical condition and mental alertness to convince him to enrol Vane in their capture of the Urca. Gates himself mentioned previously that he doesn’t plan on pirating all his life. Interestingly, Flint doesn't once suggest that he has any doubt about Gates’ ability to captain a ship, and I really don’t think he has (both a sign of great trust, but also a Captain Oblivious trait, as he’s seemingly blind to Gates’ anxiety and possibly the reality of Rackham’s comment about Gates’ physical condition).

- In this episode, Miranda hands her copy of Meditations to Richard Guthrie. Some people have asked why she'd hand something so revealing about Flint to someone like Guthrie. At the point where she gives the book to him, he: 1) doesn't know who she is (she refuses to answer when asked) 2) is supposedly bedridden and being guarded by an armed man, and therefore 3) wouldn't be able to guess who "T.H." is with the information that he currently has. She didn't expect Richard Guthrie that would be a sneaky bastard who was less wounded than he appeared to be and who’d go snooping around her house at the first occasion (btw, snooping parallel: Guthrie in Flint’s house finds out personal information and Silver in Flint’s cabin finds out strategic information). I think that what Miranda wanted was to have someone she could talk to about Meditations, a book that she, her husband, and Flint had all enjoyed, and that she likely couldn’t share with Flint anymore because it’s too painful a subject for him.

- Which brings me to Miranda's situation: her loneliness and the precariousness of her life is already framed quite clearly in this episode. The pastor sends spies to watch her house when Flint is around, and openly asks her to join his congregation so that he can save her from Flint and the impending arrival of the Navy. In the meantime, the crew believe she's at the centre of Flint's "evil": some believe that she's a witch who controls Flint, and Morley tells Billy that she's the reason why Flint treats the crew like pawns.

- The whole Flint/Gates workplace comedy scenes never fail to crack me up. Flint laughing at the suggestion Vane should captain the second ship, followed by "you're serious", and Gates doing damage control in a very restrained tone at first, then the second time screaming insults at Flint... just... *chef's kiss*

- Rackham is shown to be incredibly devious and persuasive in this episode. He manages to convince Gates to convince Flint to take on his worst enemy as a work partner (in a moment when he's getting into Gates' head, he goes as far as to imitate his Yorkshire accent!). He's also extremely aware that Vane isn't all that interested in money, but definitely interested in what Eleanor will think of him. I’d also note that if someone is callous about Max in this episode, it’s him: he sends Vane to “deal with her”, expecting him to kill her off.

- As much as we know that Flint's "tough captain" behaviour is partly an act, we tend to forget that Vane is also shown to be keeping up appearances in order to remain a leader of an extremely difficult/unruly crew. I didn't address the punch in the face he gives Eleanor in ep 1, but he explicitly says this was to avoid losing face in front of his men after she punched him. The same goes for the capture/beating/rape of Max: "what you did required an answer", he tells her. But then chooses to secretly set her free rather than rape/kill her as he’s expected to do. He's obviously smitten with Eleanor, and is the one who initiates tender moments after sex. This is why I can never really dislike this ship, because it's between two very damaged people who are at odds mostly because they’re in a power struggle where they each have to look strong/powerful.

- I hate hate hate the whole Max-rape plot, as I'm sure most of the fandom also does. I do get that Max is furious with Eleanor, and possibly extra-furious because Eleanor instantly turns saving Max from Vane's crew into a strategic move where she punishes Vane (ironically, the one who wanted to let Max go) by forcing Vane’s crew into joining Flint, rather than focusing on, say, Max’s wellbeing. But "Max wants to hurt Eleanor/is hurting from the breakup so badly that she willingly submits to being raped/beaten by the crew, AGAIN"... hrm. I have trouble connecting this self-destructive side of Max's personality with the character we see after her ordeal. Again, opinions welcome because I may be missing/misunderstanding something, but I feel like the writers didn’t really know what they were doing with her character at this point.

#black sails #flint #miranda #flintmiranda #silver #silverflint #billy #gates #max #maxanor #vane #eleanor #vane x eleanor #rackham #anne #maxanne #hornigold #rape mention #meta #black sails rewatch

[fallenfurther]

Homecoming - A social call

Chapter 3 - Jeff and Colonel Casey

Continuing with Jeff's recovery and relationships with the main characters in TAG. Sorry this one is a little later out than I planned. A flat move and no internet means I had to wait until I had time to sit in a coffee shop.

Chapters 1 and 2.

Enjoy!

***********

Colonel Casey signed herself into the rehabilitation centre for her first personal visit. She'd seen Jeff for official business, the GDF helping to re-establish the astronaut's living status as well as for the obligatory debriefs. The interviews had happened in one of the rehabilitation rooms here. The debrief of his eight years in space had taken a couple of days to complete as they had been required to work around his routine and energy levels. It had been a shock to see the astronaut so tired and struggling, but it was to be expected. She knew Jeff was on a strict routine and diet plan to help him with his nutritional deficiencies and regain lost muscle, though what it entailed she wasn't privy to. She'd wanted to visit earlier, but her position in the GDF meant she had been tied down with paperwork. Now she could finally sit down with her old friend and catch up properly. Heading down the corridor, she found his room and knocked. A short sharp military rap.

"Come in."

The voice was faint, but oh so familiar. She opened the door and peered in, excitement building inside her chest.

"I thought it was about time I paid the great space survivalist a visit."

A grin spread across Jeff's face as he pushed himself out of his chair. She crossed the room in a few strides and hugged the man. He embraced her back, though she didn't fail to notice how weak his arms were compared to the bear hugs she remembered. Her own arms had been reserved so as not to crush his delicate body. The positive was that he seemed stronger than he was when they'd first met which was pleasing, and she hadn't missed how her friend was much steadier on his feet. The need to pinch herself was still present. Seeing that footage and message had been hard, having already accepted the man's fate and moved on. The world would just have to adjust to having Jeff Tracy back.

"It's been too long." The man whispered in her ear, his deep baritones warming her soul in a way only a long lost friend could.

"It's only been two months."

"That was official business. Your lack of uniform tells me this is the social visit I've been waiting for."

Jeff was right and the smile on his face said he knew it. He'd always been this way, so sure of himself. It was what had gotten him so far, and probably why he was still here now. The confident stubborn man. Memories of days gone by, from when Jeff had first started putting International Rescue into motion, flooded her mind. She'd been present at that first meeting when Jeff had asked for clearance for his new venture. Valerie had been a newly appointed Captain, and it was one of her first major meetings. That was the day she'd heard about International Rescue and it had been incredible to see the legendary astronaut stand up and ask for permission to start the organisation. She'd hid her unease and suspicions and had viewed the plans he'd presented in the meeting. The secrecy aspect of the organisation had worried her most, not knowing exactly what was going to be flying around, not knowing who was involved or the training they would be put through. The committee had debated it thoroughly. Five weeks of research, consultations and consideration and International Rescue was given a three month trial, to be extended upon review.

"You won't regret this."

Jeff had promised Colonel Henson when he had been told the news. She'd been present to see the historic moment. The firm handshake that had happened at the end of the meeting as if to solidify and seal the deal. He'd been right. International Rescue had not disappointed and had gone beyond anyone's expectations. They were granted permission to operate. There were still some in the GDF that disagreed with the amount of secrecy surrounding International Rescue and the lack of regulation and control the GDF had over the organisation. Some of that had eased slightly now the location of Tracy Island was now known to the higher-ups, but there were still those that were suspicious. Rumours still passed around, claiming the GDF had a dummy location, that it was all a ruse to make everyone feel comfortable with the situation and they were keeping the Thunderbirds and their secrets elsewhere. There were just some things she couldn't stop. She had been put in charge of monitoring International Rescue. Once introduced, Jeff had maintained contact with her allowing them to develop a strong working relationship, which ultimately led to a close friendship. Though he had always visited her, she'd gotten to know some of the boys before the accident, though now she knew them all extremely well. The boys had allowed more information about International Rescue to be made public, and shared further information still with the GDF, allowing for better communication between the organisations. It felt much better knowing exactly where they were, even if she had no idea what secrets they hid on the island. Scott had blessed her with a tour, allowing her to see what they were happy to share. Seeing it all in-situ had been a sight to behold and something she'd never forget.

"Sorry it's been that way, but you know how it is at the top. There is always a new situation that needs your urgent attention."

Jeff chuckled, a sound that Valerie had forgotten and almost brought a tear to her eye. It pained her how small things about a person could slip from your mind over the years. The man before her really was legendary. He was an astronaut people would talk about for years to come. He was also a great friend, who had always supported her journey through the GDF ranks.

"I used to know. I'm a little rusty and many things have changed. I've got a lot of catching up to do. I thought some of the technology Brains used to think up was way out there, but some of the new gadgets I'm seeing and hearing about are beyond that. I'm feeling old. Old and left behind."

Valerie noticed the change in his face and the slight dimming of the shine in those blue eyes. Jeff was old, but there was more to this than that. Placing a hand on the man's shoulder she guided him back into his chair and knelt beside him.

"I'm feeling old at the moment." Jeff continued with a sigh. "I'm all creaky, tired and struggling to keep up. They say I should get better, that my body has adjusted to the Oort cloud and that it'll take a while to shift back."

"You were never the most patient man."

That brought a smile to his face, but his head fell into his hand.

"I've spent so much time alone that I can't stand being cooped up in here anymore! The boys and Mum visit but I have less freedom than I did out there. I want to go home. Even if it means subjecting myself to both my mother's constant doctoring, and her terrible cooking."

"Maybe the staff are trying to make sure you're strong enough to stomach your mother's food?"

"Ha! I wish! Nothing on Earth could prepare me for Mum's cooking. I am handling food well though and if I'm honest, Mum won't mess up my diet plan. She knows how much it could set me back."

Valerie moved her hand in slow steady motions over Jeff's back. There was nothing she could do to change the situation, but she knew Jeff needed to let it out. She knew he was putting on a brave face for his family, that only the staff and therapists would know of the real internal struggle happening in the man. Jeff had told her enough about his life and the boys to know he'd do anything to protect his family. Maybe, eventually, he let them be the ones to protect him.

"You'll get there, Jeff. You just need time."

The man sighed, his whole body deflating. He'd had plenty of time in the Oort cloud, far away from everything he cared about. Now he was home, he was still being kept away. She knew the boys were visiting Jeff but it wasn't the same as being home with them. Especially with International Rescue taking them away so frequently. Valerie still got a weekly update on International Rescue’s activity, and although she doesn't read the full reports anymore, she still understood the operation enough to know the toll that it takes on the operatives.

"How has it been, the last eight years, for International Rescue? What's it been like from an outside perspective? Has it worked? Have there been problems? Have you any suggestions?"

Valerie sat back and surveyed her friend. Talk about going straight for the tough topics. She knew he'd ask about her later, but right now his boys were at the front of his mind. She also knew she had to be honest. There was so much Valerie wanted to tell the man, yet today wasn't the right day. Today would just lead the man to worry unnecessarily about his boys. When he was stronger and could enforce change himself, she might raise the latest annual International Rescue report with him. The GDF were concerned, but now was not the time to go down the official route.

"It was tough at first, not everyone liked Scott taking over everything at once, especially as he took on Tracy Industries too. But they rose to the challenge and got the job done, they've made improvements and they communicate more with the GDF now. We still don't know everything about your technology but that was always the arrangement from the get go."

Jeff sighed. "I never expected them to be needed as much as they are. Have you noticed how exhausted they are? Do you know when they last went on holiday? I think it's too much for them."

Valerie steeled herself, knowing exactly how she felt and how much the Tracy brothers would disagree. Everyone knew those boys worked too hard, but they were smart and never broke the flight hour rules, often maxing it out but never going over. The GDF couldn't ground them, even if it was for their own good, especially as there was often no-one else to do the job. Lives were at stake and no-one wanted to be the one to make that call.

"I have noticed the dark circles under Scott's eyes and the way he seems to carry the world on his shoulders. I don't often see the rest of them but the past few years have been pretty intense. I would say they were due a break, if only the world would give them one."

The small smile on Jeff's face showed her she had said the right thing. The concern was still there but the steel in his eyes said he had a plan formulating. She wouldn't pry. Not yet. She was sure she would find out in due course.

"So, you're a Colonel now, and Commander of the GDF. Can't say I didn't see that coming, but there must be a story behind it."

Valerie grinned at her friend, finally on a safer topic. This was what she'd come here for.

"Well, there is, but it's not quite as interesting as yours."

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #jeff tracy #colonel casey #homecoming #gdf #social visit #post debrief catch up

[marvel-and-mischief]

His Saving Grace - Part III

Title: His Saving Grace - Maxwell Lord x F!Reader  Words: 2700 Warnings: Swearing, a conversation about a domestic abuse case but nothing graphic Synopsis: Maxwell finds out what you’ve been hiding and confronts you about it

Part I  -  Part II

It was like the floor had been wiped out from under Maxwell’s feet, the wind knocked from his lungs. Had he seriously made a mistake again? Was his judgement really that skewed that once more he had done what he thought was right and it was turning out to be wrong? You had been so unassuming, the first to be truly kind to Maxwell when you could have been like everybody else. There had to be more to the story, surely?

It hadn’t taken Maxwell long to find your old place of work in the telephone directory. He had spent the morning finding law firms specialising in family law, and rang them one by one asking whether they had previously employed you and had hit the correct one on the sixth try.

Myles and Cooper were a family law firm in the centre of Washington D.C. The secretary who spoke to Maxwell had given him the spiel on when it had been established and what they could offer potential clients but he hadn’t really been listening. And as soon as he had mentioned your name the sickly sweet old woman had quickly turned sour. 

“Look, we’ve put out all the press statements we have, you’re not getting any more on the story.”

Maxwell frowned. Press statements? He knew there had been more to the story you were refusing to tell him, but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and the feeling of being left in the dark was beginning to frustrate him. 

“I’m no journalist. I have recently employed your former colleague-“

“Oh you haven’t, have you? Dear me, do you not read the local newspapers?”

Maxwell bit his tongue at being interrupted, tapping impatiently on the arm of the couch he sat on. 

“I’ve been a little busy lately, would you mind telling me what happened?”

The woman on the other end gave an exasperated sigh.

“Will you be requiring any services from Myles and Cooper?” 

“What? No-“

“Then go to your local library and you’ll find out.” And with that the connection was cut off.

Maxwell took a second to stare at the handset before slamming down the phone and making a mental note to never employ that particular law firm in the future.

But that was how he came to be hidden in the shadowy back corner of his local library, a table to himself with various newspapers dating from 25th April, all the way up to the last article he could find with your name in it on 10th July. 

Maxwell knew how the media worked, the sensationalist headlines, the hyperbolic language, even the pictures they used of you, it was all contrived to make you into someone you weren’t. Usually someone worse, and he was ashamed to say it was working.

Shameful Lawyer Wins Case in Favor of Unfit Mother

Maxwell re-read the headline on the front of the earliest newspaper. It was tame compared to some of the later articles that unnecessarily picked apart your personal life and painted you as a heartless witch who hated children. In the short time he had met you Maxwell couldn’t believe any of that was true. 

Or maybe that was exactly who you were and Maxwell had been fooled. He had been desperate when he called you up, was practically begging for anyone to help him. Was this just an elaborate way of making him pay for all he’d done? Get close enough to him to give him false hope then tear him down even further? And he had fallen hook, line and sinker.

“I’m being paranoid, you can’t be as bad as this,” Maxwell mumbled to himself, eyes flicking over the pictures of you shielding from the flashing lights of the cameras, hiding behind your purse, head in your hands in coffee shops and even one picture of you sticking up a pixelated middle finger to the press. 

Maxwell had been scared before, anxious at times especially in recent weeks, but he wasn’t going to add ‘paranoid’ to his growing list of problems. Pulling up the hood of his coat, Maxwell knew he had to get your side of the story.

-

You hadn’t expected to meet Maxwell again so soon, but he had been insistent on the phone, demanding to see you that evening over an ‘urgent matter’ that he had to talk to you about in person. You had left his apartment the day before on such good terms that you weren’t worried. 

That was until you reached his door. He hadn’t been waiting for you like the first time so you had to knock and wait. When he opened the door he did so slowly, features emotionless, eyes not able to meet yours as he indicated to you to follow him inside. 

He didn’t say a word when you entered the apartment and headed towards the couch. 

“Has something happened?” You enquired, matching Maxwell’s stance when he stayed standing in the middle of the living room. His arms were crossed, hair slightly out of place as though he didn’t take the time to do much more than comb through it this morning. Something was on his mind and you hoped it wasn’t what you feared.

“I want to hear you say it. I want to know what your truth is.” Maxwell’s voice was stern but not unfair, you imagined it was his ‘dad’ voice whenever Alistair had done something naughty. It made you feel so small, pathetic even, that of all the people to be talking down to you it was Public Enemy Number One. 

You knew then that he had found out. And he saw that recognition in your eyes when you guiltily slumped down onto the arm of the couch, making yourself physically smaller under his intense scrutiny. Maxwell chuckled humorlessly and that made you sit up, a look of defiance taking over. Who was this man to judge you? When he didn’t know the full story, when he knew perfectly well what it was like to have the world against you? 

“It’s not what the papers say,” you stressed, swallowing down the lump in your throat before continuing, “I took on a case that had been passed on and on and that should have been the first indication that it wasn’t what it seemed.”

You couldn’t bare to look into Maxwell’s penetrating stare, but you saw his shoulders relax as you started to talk, encouraging you to keep going. 

“The case was a woman with three children, she’d already divorced her husband and wanted full custody of them. She claimed her ex was abusive, an alcoholic, that she was terrified of what he would do to the children if he was left alone with them. It was all lies. I didn’t realise this until it was too late.”

Maxwell quietly sat on the other end of the couch whilst you spoke, listening intently as you tried to keep your emotions under control and the shake out of your voice. 

“I only saw the ex-husband for the first time on day one of court. But I knew immediately she had been lying. Whilst she spent most of the time applying her make-up to look good for the judge, he was a complete mess. He couldn’t look away from his children. I felt terrible in that courtroom. But I had a job to do. I couldn’t have backed out of it if I tried.”

You shook your head, reliving the memories of that case like it was happening all over again. You dared to look up, to see disgust in Maxwell’s face but all you saw was understanding. 

“But you won the case?” Maxwell asked. You nodded.

“I had good evidence. Pictures of bruises on her arms, property damage in their shared home. Even character witnesses that painted her as the perfect wife. She was very good at playing a character. It was all lies to get her own way. I mean, who wasn’t going to believe her?”

“The press.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, moving to sit beside Maxwell when the arm became too uncomfortable, “there were a couple of journalists in particular, I can’t remember their names. They had tried to get in touch with me during the case but I ignored them, which made it look like I knew the truth and didn’t care what they had to say. As soon as the case was won, they were out for my head. They had evidence of their own, you see, that showed exactly what she was like. Paparazzi shots, secret recordings, stuff like that.”

“But you didn’t know, how was any of that your fault?”

“I won the case, everyone said I must have known. And honestly? I just didn’t bother to correct them. I felt like such a fucking idiot, Max. I should have known! So I hid myself away afterwards. My life was invaded, my career was in ruins so I hid.”

It wasn’t lost on either of you that this was the exact reaction Maxwell had to his own life being turned upside down. You shared a knowing glance, to which Maxwell reached over to place his warm hand on top of yours in comfort.

“I am sorry that happened to you,” Maxwell whispered, patting your hand before removing it, “but…” You watched as Maxwell bit his lip.

“What is it?” You frowned, not liking where this was going.Maxwell turned and offered you a sympathetic smile.

“I am sorry for what you’ve been through, truly, but how will it look if it gets out of all the people helping me… it’s you?”

You immediately felt your walls go back up, involuntarily shifting away from Maxwell on the couch.

“No one else is going to help you, are they?” It was more of a statement than a question, defensive in the face of Maxwell’s question. You felt anger rising as Maxwell continued to bite his lip and ponder what to do about the situation. You weren’t going to beg him to keep employing you, your pride wouldn’t allow that, but you weren’t going to leave without a fight either.

“You understand my predicament-“

“I understand you asked me here to listen to my side of the story, what more do you want?”

“I need somebody on my side that I can trust.”

“You can trust me!”

“I need somebody reliable, somebody who is good at their job.”

“I was brilliant at my job, it was one mistake-“

“That cost you everything!” 

Maxwell’s outburst made you leap from the couch away from him in frustration. You didn’t need to hear what you’d already told yourself hundreds of times. You knew you’d messed up, and you were here to put things right, to move on with your life. You took Maxwell’s case to help him as well as yourself, and here he was throwing it back in your face. 

“We are both in the same situation,” you replied calmly, hoping to quell the heated atmosphere, “we both need each other to pick the other up from where we’ve put ourselves. Nobody else will help you Maxwell because nobody else understands what you’re going through better than me.”

Maxwell, still seated on the far side of the couch, leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes to the floor as he listened to your reasoning. He couldn’t disagree, but he was also scared. All he saw when he closed his eyes was the face of his boy looking up to him, he was so scared of letting him down. 

It was so long before either of you made a noise that you decided leaving would be the best thing to do. Let Maxwell calm down and come to you when he was ready. You didn’t want to push your luck too much with him. 

As you turned to leave you passed a pile of unopened letters on a table near the front door. You hadn’t meant to look, it was a quick glance whilst you took your time to leave his apartment (a small part of you hoped he would call out your name to stop you before you reached the door). You recognised the solicitors mark on the front of the envelope and the name above it, Spencer and Brown, a family law firm that were close rivals to Myles and Cooper. 

There was only one reason a family law firm would be in contact with Maxwell, his son.

You could have left it, Maxwell didn’t trust you and you doubted he wanted you poking into his personal business, especially when it came to Alistair. But you wanted to help him. Not out of pity, or even to prove that you could, it definitely wasn’t out of desperation for employment anymore either. 

You liked Maxwell. 

It really hit you as you stood in his entryway, heart heavy with disappointment at Maxwell’s shunning of you, head aching from your argument and the prospect of going home sad and alone. It wasn’t as shocking as you thought it should be, after all what was there to like about the man who nearly destroyed the world? 

It wasn’t that Maxwell that you liked though. It was this version of him, who had been kind to you when he hadn’t known your secret. The man who loved his son and wanted to be a better role model for him. The Maxwell who could be charming but not ashamed to be vulnerable in front of you. And because it was that man you were stupidly falling for, you knew you had to at least try to persuade him to let you help him.

“Maxwell,” you called, picking up the letter and walking back to the living room where Maxwell was pouring himself a glass out of a decanter. 

“You need to go,” he didn’t sound convincing though so you held up the letter to get his attention. He raised an eyebrow, curious as to what you thought you were doing with his mail.

“I can help you,” you urged, head held high and ready to stand your ground, “I might be a terrible person but I was really brilliant at my job.”

“You’re not-“ Maxwell began, before sighing in defeat before the battle had even begun. Maxwell swallowed his drink in one go and took the letter out of your hand. You watched as he opened it and read through it half-heartedly, though you saw a spark of sadness in his eyes.

“Is it Alistair’s mother?” You asked impatiently.

“Yes. She wants full custody.”

“Okay, well considering this is very special circumstances,” Maxwell frowned, silently asking what you meant, “I don’t think anyone has fought a case on the basis of ‘my ex-husband failed on his quest for world domination’, so you can use that to your advantage.”

“Listen, I know you’re trying to help me but you can’t win this for me.” 

You ignored him and asked, “When was the last time you spoke to her?”

Maxwell paused, mulling it over before shaking his head, already knowing what you were going to suggest.

“Weeks ago, she won’t talk to me unless it’s through her lawyer.”

“Then we need to arrange a meeting. We need to show her that you’re serious about turning over a new leaf for Alistair. We can’t do that without sitting down with her.”

Maxwell didn’t look convinced, his frown creating creases on his face that made you want to smooth them away. Clearing your throat you stepped away from Maxwell, feigning deep thought. You needed to keep this professional, you reminded yourself. Otherwise you would only get your heart broken. 

“You’ll help me?” You almost didn’t hear him he spoke so quietly. You nodded, a meek smile on your lips and offered him your hand to shake, just as you had the first time you met. Maxwell huffed in amusement and took your hand, allowing his to linger in yours a little longer than necessary.

Permanent tag list: @autumnleaves1991-blog @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @galactic-rhi @phoenixhalliwell @thewayofthemandalorian @computeringturtle 

#His Saving Grace #Maxwell Lord #Maxwell Lord x Reader #Pedro Pascal #Maxwell Lord fanfic #WW1984 #Wonder Woman 1984

[be-not-afeared]

Black Sails fic recs

Working titles: 12 fics for christmas? 12 days of ficmas? 12 fics none of which actually have anything to do with christmas?

OKAY, so I love nothing more than a fic rec post, and I’ve seen a few Black Sails rec posts floating around but they mostly seem to be a couple of years old and they all recommend a similar bunch of fics (and deservedly so! they are all amazing!). But I thought I would make one to highlight some newer or less shouted-about fics, because I may have only been here for a couple of months but jfc there is so much talent in this fandom and more of it deserves to be hyped. 

So, here are 12 of my favourite fics for the 12 days of christmas! (i.e. an excuse to put an arbitrary number cap on the list or we’d be here all day)

The majority of these are Silver/Flint and the ones that aren’t still all feature Silver prominently because that boy owns my soul, sorry for who I am as a person.

we should rip it straight out by minormendings

45K (Silver/Madi, Silver/Flint, Flint/Thomas)

Madi has always wondered if Silver understands what is between him and Flint as well as she. To her, it has always been obvious, from the way the two of them had fit together, had worried about each other, had acted as one. She had tried to bring it up with Silver back when they were together. But Silver had shaken her off, too enmired in the idea that he or Flint would prove each other’s downfall. Or perhaps just unwilling to open his eyes to the fact that he had loved Flint.

It was, unfortunately for the both of them, even more obvious after the thing between them had broken. Just as Silver had thrown away the war out of love for her, Flint had let Silver take away the war rather than kill him.

God. What a group the three of them were, showing love by betrayal.

Post-canon. Madi and Flint find their way back to Silver.

This fic diverges from canon right at the end of the 4x10; Silver has Flint held in a cell in Port Royal and Thomas delivered to him rather than taking him straight to the plantation. It is a BEAUTIFUL character study of how Flint and Madi could both come to forgive Silver, and has a great FlintMadi dynamic too. It also centres Madi’s struggle between wanting to provide for her people and wanting to experience the freedom of piracy, and fleshes out Julius’ character in a way the show never did. 

we can lose and call it living by I_wouldnt_be_one_of_them

31K (Silver/Flint/Thomas, Silver/Flint, Flint/Thomas)

It's been twelve years since everything fell apart, and John Silver is settled in New England. He has a nice house and a job he likes, and he's gotten used to the loneliness. It's a good life, he thinks, but of course that's cast into doubt when James Flint and Thomas Hamilton show up to find closure and, apparently, to see whether he's happy.

This is an inverse of the ‘silver arrives on flint and thomas’ doorstep’ trope and has Flint and Thomas instead being the ones to interrupt Silver, who is living a sad and lonely existence post-series. I love the ThomasSilver dynamic here. And this Silver feels so true to canon he makes me want to WEEP.

Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more by Craftnarok

21K (Silver/Flint)

In the year 1725, or thereabouts, John Silver finds himself driven by a storm into an inconsequential little port town, barely a speck on any civilised map. Returned to the life of a drifter, tired and rough around the edges, he is resigned to waiting for the weather to pass before he can sail on again to the next town, and the next, and the next. That is until he overhears a conversation in the inn about a local fisherman, one Captain Barlow, and his tall tales of tempests and becalmings, devils and sharks, and Silver finds a new future opening up to him, haunted by the spectres of his past.

All of Craftnarok’s fics are amazing but I am particularly drawn to this one; it’s set 10 years post-series and is a delightfully angsty exploration of how Flint and Silver could find their way back to each other in a scenario in which Thomas wasn’t at the plantation. It doesn’t let Silver off easy and I love that.

armed with the past and the will by whimsicalimages

3K (Silver/Madi, Madi & Julius)

The language of winning and losing, this language that men favor – Madi can speak this language, though she disagrees with its precepts. Success takes different forms, and failing once does not mean failing forever. It does not even mean failing the next time.

Post-series, Julius teaches Madi how to fight. This fic is BEAUTIFUL - give me anything that centres Madi post-canon - and it explores Madi’s relationship with both Julius and Silver so well in so few words. 

Always In Season by mycapeisplaid

60K (Silver/Flint, past Flint/Thomas, past Silver/Madi)

Towering sand dunes, crystal-clear water, miles of forest, vineyards, orchards, and very spotty cellular service -- John Silver finds himself in a part of the state he's never been before and decides to take on seasonal work. Meanwhile, back from his yearly wintering in Florida, James Flint thinks that perhaps he'll take on a new business venture, even though it means he might have to interact with people other than his two close friends. Their summer employment fosters a friendship that could become something more. Like construction season in Michigan, the two must navigate through their own obstacles in order to seek an alternative route toward happiness.

This is an AU and so much fun!! Silver finds himself in Michigan and takes on some seasonal work at Guthrie Dunes. The whole cast features and the setting just WORKS SO WELL. And this Flint feels brilliantly in character despite the difference in setting.

to make a life by gone_girl

53K (Max/Anne, Max & Silver)

“What am I going to do with your name?” Max asks, a little incredulous.

“Whatever you want,” the salesman says. “Didn’t you want something real?”

Max heard a story once about the importance of answering questions like that carefully. If something emerges from the forest and asks for your name, don’t give it up, the story went. Offer only what you know you can live without. She’s never heard a story that tells her what to do when something emerges from the forest and offers its name to you.

I literally only finished this this morning but holy shit this fic is amazing, it’s a Max-centric AU set in Missouri the early 00s and it’s all about found family and building community and platonic love and it has a brilliant SilverMadi dynamic. And there just aren’t enough fics out there that focus on Max & Silver!! 

the straight walk home by vowelinthug

73K (Silver/Flint)

Let me tell you a story, about a vaquero named Vasquez…

Obviously vowelinthug’s fics are recc’d all the time and rightly so as they are AMAZING, but one that I don’t see featured as often as the more prominent ones is this incredible Western!AU. It’s 73K guys!! It adapts the canon narrative into the Western setting SO well!! It has background Vane/Billy which I was not at all sure about going in but just WORKS!! Go read it.

The Truth about Eros by Aisalynn

21K (Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi, Flint/Thomas)

Silver understood one thing very well.

Being Fated did not mean you were safe.

It did not mean you were loved.

This one is hot off the press! I am not normally a fan of soulmate AUs but this is such an interesting take on the trope, and the world building fits around the polyamory theme of the show really effectively! And it is SO well written.

With Nothing on My Tongue by RosieTwiggs

13K (Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi)

"Silver thinks: Maybe God likes it when I fight with him.

He wonders now, whether he’s been playing into God’s plan all along. Because no matter how angry he gets, how defensive, how many “fuck you”s he flings to the heaven, isn’t it all just proof that he still believes God is there, despite it all?

Silver doesn’t know how to counter that.

Maybe he doesn’t want to anymore."

An incredibly well written (and angsty! read the tags!) Jewish!Silver character study. This one has really stayed with me.

Maybe in Another Life by samedifference61

31K (Silver/Flint/Madi, Flint/Madi, Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi)

At the rail of a ship James doesn’t command, they stand shoulder to shoulder.

“John still thinks you’re dead,” James states, because it’s something that needs to be said aloud before they continue.

With eyes unblinking toward the rolling sea, Madi says, “And he still thinks you should be dead.”

James’ lip curls in anger. The wounds of betrayal are too fresh for either to say anymore.

Canon-divergent from 4x09, this is a brilliant MadiFlint centric fic exploring their relationship post Silver’s betrayal, and how he could find his way back to them both whilst acknowledging the weight of his actions.

in a vault of starlight by whimsicalimages

7K (Silver/Madi/Flint/Thomas)

The distance between Nassau and Savannah can be measured as: six hundred and thirteen nautical miles, five thousand pounds’ worth of pearls, or four extraordinary lifetimes.

Alternatively: in the aftermath, Madi writes her own story.

There aren’t enough Madi centric fics out there! This one is a lovely extension of canon with a great MadiSilver dynamic in particular.

the aftershocks remain by pdameron

31K (Silver & Miranda, Silver/Flint)

For as long as he can remember, John Silver has been able to see ghosts. He has no trouble keeping this secret from Flint - until Charlestown. Until Miranda.

Again all of pdameron’s fics are brilliant but I loooove this SilverMiranda centric one, plus who doesn’t love a ghost!au.

#Black Sails #black sails fanfic #black sails fic recs #silverflint #silvermadi #john silver #james flint #12 days of ficmas #obviously this only scratches the surface of the many amazing fics in this fandom #i might do another one of these after christmas i just love making lists #enjoy!

[charleskenny]

Earwig and the Witch Review

Controversy, confusion, bemusement. Which word describes the latest film from Studio Ghilbi? Earwig and the Witch marks a bold departure for the Japanese studio that’s ruffled a few feathers but is actually quite a sweet film.

NOTE: This is a review for the forthcoming Blu-Ray/DVD combo release from GKIDS and Shout! Factory and not the film as shown on HBO Max.

Necessary Context

Before we begin, I have to state that I actually like Goro Miyazaki’s previous films including Tales from Earthsea. I find he’s a perfectly competent director who’s suffered from a series of unfortunate circumstances least of which is being the son of perhaps one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

Earwig is the first real attempt to depart from Ghibli’s hand-drawn style and it’s essential to approach it as such. Plenty of reviews bemoan that it fails to live up to Ghibli’s best, but that is an improper viewpoint to take because the film purposefully avoids such comparisons.

Goro (and his producers) are not oblivious to the economics of animated filmmaking and are well aware that CGI presents numerous advantages over traditional animation. Earwig is the studio’s first full-length CGI feature and they should be given some slack for at least trying.

Earwig and the Witch

Earwig and the Witch is based on the Diana Wynne Jones novella of the same name and is a natural fit for a studio that has both a feature with a young witch protagonist, and an adaptation of another of Wynne Jone’s novels under its belt. The film centres on an orphan called Earwig but endowed with the name ‘Erica’ by the orphanage matron.

Growing up in an orphanage in the British countryside, Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. As the headstrong young girl sets out to uncover the secrets of her new guardians, she discovers a world of spells and potions, and a mysterious song that may be the key to finding the family she has always wanted.

As I said above, you have to approach this film as a clean slate or you will be disappointed. The crew strike out on a different path from previous Ghibli films and tell a pretty straightforward story in a straightforward manner. There aren’t many higher themes or deeper meanings but that isn’t to say that there aren’t any takeaways either.

The Animation

The animation has come in for a lot of criticism that is, in my opinion, unwarranted and unfair. It is not Pixar quality, but then this isn’t a Pixar film and it wasn’t made with Pixar’s crews who have hundreds of years of experience between them, or Pixar’s hundreds of millions of dollars either. Indeed, the ‘Making of’ featurette shows a rather young but dedicated crew working with off the shelf software. When you see past the rough edges, the animation is actually quite well done. If you like silly faces you’re in for a treat. It’s perhaps a conscious decision to make the characters less detailed lest some uncanny valley creep in. Adults may notice this, but kids won’t bat an eye. If you can focus on what the characters are doing as opposed to how they’re doing it, you’ll be rewarded.

Backgrounds and props show a true attention to detail. The English countryside is rendered with an incredible accuracy that does match Pixar. The house itself (and the Mandrake’s rooms in particular) showcase a real flair befitting (spoiler) his musical tastes.

The Unusual Music

The music is, for want of a better word, perfect. Far from a classical film score, this is much more upbeat and contemporary. The original progressive rock songs (another departure for Ghibli) also add an ethereal feel to the film and are used at just the right points and add a layer of depth in conjunction with some character development.

The Quirky Characters

The characters themselves are an interesting bunch. Earwig is perhaps the most clear cut as a young, precocious girl who’s used to getting her way and is thrust into a situation where she does not. The Mandrake and Bella on the other hand, are far murkier and it is with the former that we see a lot of development over the course of the film. Thomas the cat is frustratingly plain. His role isn’t major and he serves as catalyst but not much else.

While the lack of development on Earwig’s part doesn’t jive with contemporary western thinking, both the director and Ghibli producer Suzuki Toshio state that they wanted to make her a character that kids could relate to. Indeed, the tagline for the Japanese poster above states that she "will not be put under anyone’s thumb". With this in mind, Earwig’s character makes a bit more sense and seeing her twist the adults around her little finger has to be satisfying for kids who, generally, have to abide by grown-up’s wishes.

The Story

The story is straightforward but, and it’s a big but, the final act is incredibly rushed. In the course of watching the film, I sensed the final act approaching and paused to see exactly how much time was left only to discover it was less than five minutes. So shocked was I that I had to double check to make sure my stream wasn’t broken but no, that’s all that was left. This exceedingly rushed climax and the loose ends left unresolved would be more frustrating if it also weren’t the case with the book the film is based on. Reading reviews for it reveal identical confusion with a rushed ending and loose ends that suggest another half of the story that doesn’t exist.

In this sense, the filmmakers were a bit too faithful to the source material and another half hour could have filled in a lot of gaps; especially since the big reveal is very exciting altogether. Except it doesn’t and any adult members of the audience will be left with questions answered but answers questioned. Kids on the other hand, should love that everything appears to work out for Earwig in the end.

Extras

The Blu-Ray/DVD release comes with a few extras such as the aforementioned ‘Making of’ featurette, full-length storyboards, and an interview with the Japanese voice cast. I found the ‘Making of’ in particular helped fill in a lot of hitherto unknown details about the film which really helped me see the film in the same light as the filmmakers.

Conclusion

Overall, I liked Earwig and The Witch. There’s a simplistic honesty to it of the kind that you don’t see in western films anymore for better or worse. It’s genuinely made for the kids in the audience which some may see as a detriment but is, in fact, a Studio Ghibli hallmark that Hayao Miyazaki has stated time and time again.

The film is a brave step into the unknown and what happens next is very much up for debate, but Earwig is a film that is worth seeking out and watching more than once.

The Blu-Ray/DVD combo (and regular DVD) is released by GKIDS and Shout! Factory and comes out this April 6th.

Originally published at https://animationanomaly.com/2021/02/24/earwig-and-the-witch-review/

#Diana Wynne Jones #Earwig and the Witch #GKids #Goro Miyazaki #Review #Shout Factory #Studio Ghibli #Tales From Earthsea #Toshio Suzuki

[thebrownssociety]

what’s the sibling dynamic between buster and elmyra? since elmer and bugs are married in and the looney tunes cast adopted the tiny toons cast

Thanks for the ask! Sorry it's taken so long, I was trying to tie all the threads together.

So, I'm going to include Babs in this as well, as I headcanon Bugs and Elmer adopted Buster, Babs and Elmyra together.

So to understand this we've got to go back to after Tiny Toons had finished filming in early 1992. By that point the kids were all 5 years old and had basically formed a tight-knit group. They were also at the stage in there development when they were starting to expand a little bit beyond what their official characterisation was.

So, take Montanna Max, for example, although he was still hot-headed, obsessed with money and greedy [and those traits would never go away] he was now learning that his friends [and particularly the adults] weren't going to put up with his screaming at them all day and not sharing anything and that if he wanted to remain friends with them he was going to have to change his behaviour at least a little. The rest of the toons would accept what he was created as, but they wouldn't accept him using that as an excuse to act completely out of order.

Buster and Babs upon finishing filming were both enrolled in a two-year long course which was basically going to help them adjust to not being a protagonist anymore. It's a course that every protagonist of a TV show, or a film, does after the completion of there first show, and it basically helps them come to terms with the fact they are not the centre of the universe. The reason for this is because it's been accepted and realised that it's very hard for a toon who's had there entire show revolve around them to suddenly not have that anymore and be sent out into the world of Toons where most Toons don't care.

As a genreral rule in Toontown, unless you've achieved the fame levels of Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse, or are associated with them, no one really cares what film you were in. So Anna and Elsa are treated like goddesses in Toontown because, there film was really successful and they're seen as really good characters, contrast that with Princess Aurora [who's film was a box-office bomb at time of release, I believe] who is more respected and liked because she's royalty and she's really nice than because her film was successful.

In short, unless your film is massively successful at time of release, you're just another toon and the two-year course helps protagonists come to terms with that. There are positives as well, it's not all 'you're nothing now'. The toons work on their individual skills and how they may be transferred to other things. [Babs's impression are so good, for instance, that even if Tiny Toons never got rebooted, she'd still have a really good shot at becoming a Toon Impressionist, if she wanted to. Buster's flexibility and ability to 'read' other people means he'd potentially be good as a nurse/doctor/police officer or just a role that's with the public.]

While Buster and Babs were doing that Elmyra spent time with Bugs and Elmer and practiced her toon powers while benefiting from the individual attention being given by her dads. [Just a note, there is a two-year course for villains as well that was introduced in the 60's that helps them to...not be so villainous, but you have to meet a certain level of 'badness' like Maleficent OR Evil Queen to get in there and - obviously - Elmyra doesn't meet that requirement.]

So, back to the actual ask, Buster, Babs and Elmyra moved into Bugs and Elmer's 5-bedroom mansion shortly after filming ended. It was decided they would each have there own room, which they decorated to there own preferences [Elmyra's is very VERY pink]. So this relieved some tension, because Babs HATED the idea of sharing a room with Elmyra. [Elmyra, for her part, was happy about the idea and cried buckets when she was told it wouldn't be happening.]

At first Buster didn't really get on well with Elmyra at all. Over filming he'd kind of managed to build her up into the 'oh, help me, it's Elmyra' figure, and although he knew she was largely harmless, he still didn't like her. Her 'baby-act' and need to be constantly supervised also grated. This was the same for Babs.

Elmyra, at first, adored the idea of living with Babs and Buster and had visions of dressing them up all day in 'cutesey-wutesey outfits'. It may surprise you to know, that Buster and Babs did not WANT to be dressed up in outfits, cute or otherwise, and had no issue anvilling her to get the point across. This led to tears on Elmyra's part and frustration on Babs and Buster's.

This did eventually mellow out though, due to a couple of things, firstly - Bugs and Elmer's determination to teach Elmyra how to handle her new brother and sister properly [and vice versa for the bunny's]. Secondly - because Elmyra did have regular session with Doctor Scratchensniff every week during which they worked on 'how not to strangle animals when you hug them.' among other things and thirdly because Buster and Babs realised things where not all sunny for Elmyra.

That sounds really ominous, but what I may is that a few of you may have remembered that Elmyra actually had a family when she was on the show. A physical one, not just 'mentioned' parents like Buster. [Babs had a mother who was shown, but Babs's mother is a sufficiently flat characters, that if she doesn't have Babs in the house she assumes she's at school. It doesn't matter whether it's snowing, the middle of the school holidays or the middle of the night, as far as 'Mrs Bunny' is concerned, Babs is at school.]

It was decided after Tiny Toons ended that Elmyra should continue to see her 'designed' family [the family she was designed to have] at the weekends. Friday afternoon she walked home/would be dropped off by someone at her designed parents house and she would stay there until Sunday night until she was returned just after dinner. [So Elmyra would miss dinner with Bugs and co]

This worked for a little while until it got to when Elmyra was going into Grade 1 and Elmer realised she was always doing her homework when she got home. Her parents weren't helping her. In a rather tense conversation he asked Elmyra's designed parents if they would help her do her homework. They promptly replied that the homework was to difficult for 'there little baby' and she should be given something age-appropriate. It was during that discussion that Elmer discovered her 'parents' thought she was 4 years old.

Even by Toon standards, this was a warning flag and Elmer promptly excused himself and ran the conversation by Doctor Scratchensniff because the fact Elmyra's parents didn't seem to recognise the fact that A} her designed age was 12 and B} she was actually 6, not 4 - was concerning to say the least.

Now. Normally D.S. doesn't get involved with this kind of thing because otherwise he'd never do anything else, but as Elmyra was already a patient of his and he decided it wouldn't do Elmer/Bugs any good if they challenged Elmyra's parents themselves, he decided he better have a word with them herself.

He had his word. And they seemed to understand. Scratchy went back to Bugs and Elmer and told them they didn't have to worry, that Elmyra's parents understood her designed age was 12 and that she would get older and mature above that [hopefully]. Bugs and Elmer [particularly Elmer] were suspicious about this at first, but Elmyra came back from her parents having had her homework done and with tales of having done exciting things during the weekend. She was also - they noticed - being given age-appropriate things to play with and this lasted...until she moved up to middle school.

Elmyra moved up to middle school a year after Buster and Babs did, which meant they weren't in the same class. However they were in the same house and it became noticeable that Elmyra didn't seem very happy. Specifically she didn't seem very happy with the idea of going to her parents house at the weekend and was somehow even less happy when she came back.

Bugs and Elmer had noticed this and tried to ask her what was wrong, but she refused to tell them. Buster didn't really want to get involved - he felt it would open a long, emotional conversation he didn't really want to have - but when Elmyra came home one day in tears and he was the only one in the house it fell to him to deal with it.

Turns out Elmyra's parents did not like the fact she was in middle school. They thought the schoolwork she was doing was to advanced for her [it was perfectly acceptable work for her grade and she was doing well with it] and her mother in particular was concerned because Elmyra had started Noticing Boys. This did not fit with the notion they had that she was still a little girl who spoke in a babyish voice and called everything 'cuddly-wuddly' despite the fact that Elmyra herself was doing her best to drop the 'cuddly-wudddly's' [unfortunately she still had to keep the babyish voice] and asking that her parents maybe not buy her games and stuff that were clearly designed for a child under 10.

By this point all this had been going on for a few months. Buster - after calming Elmyra down and running the situation by Hampton - told there dads what was going on with Elmyra and they took matters out of his hands.

Doctor Scratchensniff paid another visit to Elmyra's parents with the intention of explaining to them, gently and tactfully, why they needed to change the way they were treating Elmyra because it was risking damaging her and no one has a clue what was actually said in that meeting, but the end shot was that Elmyra no longer saw her parents on the weekend. She could contact them again at 16 if she wanted to, but until then it was in her best interests to stay away from them.

You all may be wondering why I'm going into so much detail about Elmyra's circumstances, and that's because I feel it's necessary to understand the siblings dynamic. Buster, Babs and Elmyra - up until they were about 11 - only spent Mon-Thurs as a proper group. During that time they anvilled each other, teased each other and tried to actively avoid each other [or rather Buster and Babs tried to actively avoid Elmyra when she was at her most annoying] They also played games together, struggled through school-work together and dealt with there annoying parents together. They became a pretty effective sibling team.

Buster and Babs - despite being created to have a crush on each other - came to view each other as adopted siblings and remained close. They laughed together, joke together and messed with people together.

Babs and Elmyra go shopping together, they talk about stuff together - 'stuff' being the subjects of romances and Life in general that perhaps Buster wouldn't want to be a part off - they get on pretty well actually, mainly because they have a good few things in common and on Elmyra's sensible non-complete-moron days they can even have deep conversations about politics and the world in general as well as analysing TV shows and fangirling over there favourite characters.

Buster and Elmyra are a bit of an odd paring. On Elmyra's smart days the two of them can be quite devious and can throw adults for a loop easily. On her less smart days Buster just tries to stay out her way. The things with Buster and Elmyra is that he basically thought of her as an annoyance for the first 5 years off his life. When he was adopted by Bugs and Elmer and found himself now living with her he was essentially banned from insulting her to harshly. ["No anvilling at the dinner table, Buster!"] But part the issue was that Buster was jealous because Elmyra had another family she got too see and he didn't. He knew that Bugs and Elmer were his official family and it was great to be adopted by his mentor but he couldn't help a pang of envy every time Elmyra got in the car to go to her parents house.

And then the breakdown happened with Elmyra when she was 11 [Buster and Babs knew her parents had had a few problems with her before, but didn't know the exact details, To be fair not even Elmyra herself knew the exact details. Elmer had the conversation away from her and then the rest of it was kept away from her. The only thing she was told was that her parents would now be helping her with homework when she went to them at the weekend.] and Buster realised that Elmyra's home life was not a bed of roses and he made a conscious effort to not be so short with her and to be more patient in the way that Babs seems to be able to do effortlessly. [Babs's realised pretty quickly after they all started living together that Elmyra wasn't going to change and decided that rather than fight it she was just going to embrace it. She was hoping that Elmyra would go away after Babs played 'dress-up' with her, but it just made Elmyra like her more. After a couple of months - and a conversation with Bugs - Babs realised that Elmyra literally just wanted someone to spend time with and dress up. But it was more the spending time than the dressing up that Elmyra liked. They managed to work out a system where Babs would let Elmyra dress her up and do her ears, if Elmyra would give feedback on Babs's impressions and watch comedy tapes with her.]

Going back to Buster, it took a while and, while he and Elmyra are never going to be 'best friends', Buster eventually realised she wasn't that bad and started to enjoy spending time with her.

Elmyra, for her part, has made a conscious effort over the years to not hug her siblings [or any other cute, fluffy creatures for that matter] to tightly, dress them up against their will, or chase them round the earth till they just give up. She still hugs and does like going shopping [or 'grown-up dress up' as Babs calls it] and will chase them to give them a hug if she's having a particularly stupid day or thinks they look upset, but the main thing is that Elmyra is trying.

Very very trying.

#Looney Tunes Headcanons #Looney Tunes #Headcanons #Looney Tunes Ask #Tiny Toons #Elmyra Duff #buster bunny #babs bunny #Sibling relationships #Babs Buster and Elmyra #It was an interesting time for Elmyra really

[ransomedrogue]

Tales of Woe - Scenes from S1

1.2

When he had time to stop and think about it afterwards, Weller couldn't believe what he'd done.

It was a small thing, but only because everything had ultimately turned out okay. Still, it went against all his training as an agent, and was something he never would have done had he been thinking clearly.

But when he'd seen her vehicle flipped on its side, panic had instantly obliterated protocol and Weller had rushed to Jane right away, without even considering securing the perp first. It was only after he'd found her relatively fine and helped her out of the vehicle that he'd finally remembered to check on their target, breathing a sigh of relief when Gibson was still in his car.

Then there'd been the next rush of relief after Weller had found the little girl, scared but physically unharmed, and returned her to her father. He'd been stressed to the max since they found out she'd been taken, with all sorts of worst case scenarios running dangerously through his head.

Mayfair was right, of course. He didn't do well with cases involving little girls. Especially right now, with Taylor so forefront in his mind.

He looked at Jane, trying his best to keep his emotions from spilling out. She was so goddamned fearless; risking her life to chase down a criminal, even though it wasn't at all her responsibility. Everything about her reminded him of Taylor, the missing girl at the centre of his heart.

Was it possible that his own search was finally over?

"We got her back," Jane said, as if echoing his very thoughts.

Weller didn't want to overwhelm her with his feelings and fought to reel them in. But when he was around her, his emotions kept getting the better of him. Which was something he'd never really had to contend with before. And which really confirmed his outlandish belief that Jane was Taylor, all grown up.

He'd been drawn to her from the first day, and not just because of the mystery of his name on her back. Her touch had been nervous, but electric on his skin. Then, ever since then, he'd been unable to keep his hands off of her, acting not at all like himself.

It was only then that Weller reflected on his actions upon arriving at the crash scene, how he'd instinctively checked on Jane first before making sure Gibson wasn't going to get away. Even now, he felt his heart race at the memory of seeing Jane's vehicle flipped over; vividly remembering the panicked fear that he'd lost her again, so soon after just finding her.

"Yeah we did," he replied, trying not to choke on his words.

He wanted to pull her into his arms, confirm that she was still there. Double check that she wasn't hurt from the car wreck and tell her not to risk herself like that ever again.

But he was full to the brim with emotions and couldn't risk speaking, for fear of letting everything out and scaring her away. And, anyways, just like with Taylor, it didn't seem that telling Jane what to do was going to be successful at all.

So Weller swallowed back his rampant feelings and settled for gazing at her for an unreasonable amount of time. Considering everything she'd gone through, Jane really did seem to by mostly uninjured. Though he could see a bruise emerging around her eye and he was concerned about a concussion. Thankfully though, Jane did not even seem shaken from her experience.

But of course she was tough; Taylor had been stubborn and fearless, even at the age of five. Whatever else had happened in the twenty-five years since, her fundamental personality hadn't changed.

Now, after all that time, he'd finally gotten her back. And standing there, staring at her, Weller swore to himself that he was never going to lose her again.

###

She was filled with a mixture of relief and dread as Agent Weller emerged from the construction site with the little girl and handed her off to her father.

The thought of a child being hurt because one of her tattoos led them to Gibson had helped fuel her dogged chase of the airman. There had been no way she was going to let him get away, no matter what it took.

Thankfully flipping the car hadn't led to any real injuries, just sore ribs and a headache from a hard impact into the steering wheel and windshield. More importantly, the crash had let her retrieve more of the memory that had been haunting her all day. But finding out that the person she'd murdered was masquerading as a nun hadn't resolved any of her worries about her past self.

Jane was sure that shooting someone in the back of the head couldn't be a moral action, no matter the circumstances. And, regardless of what Weller had said about her instincts, it was clearly not something that a good person would do.

Looking at him now, she could see how much it had meant for him to find that girl. He'd been so tense from the moment they found out a child had been kidnapped. Even now, he still looked too serious, like he had a lot going on in his mind.

"We got her back," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah we did," he answered, giving her a long unreadable look before letting his eyes drift down to the ground.

Jane, however, found that she couldn't break her gaze, even though she knew she was staring. Weller seemed to be caught up in some emotion she didn't understand and probably didn't need to know about. Even though she wanted to ask if there was something else going on, it seemed like too invasive a question for a man she hardly knew.

She had to remember that he had a life full of other people and she was a stranger to him, one that had been forced upon him. Even though she already felt attached to him, she figured it was because he had been so kind to her so far and she had no one else to rely on.

But then again, every word he said to her seemed dense with feeling, in a way that she was yet to figure out.

Eventually Weller looked back up at her and Jane had to pull her eyes away, trying to act as if she hadn't been fixated on him for far too long. But this time it was Weller who studied her closely, wearing a small furrow on his brow.

"Nice work stopping Gibson," he said. "But that was an extremely dangerous thing to do. This isn't your job, Jane. You shouldn't be risking your life."

Jane frowned a bit, realizing that she hadn't thought about that at all before engaging in the car chase. She also noticed that her initial reaction wasn't concern at what she'd done but annoyance at Weller for trying to limit her. Even though it didn't make any sense, she felt responsible for anything the tattoos led them to and morally driven to help save lives, even if it put her in danger.

She was about to argue with his statement, insist that it had been a necessary risk but then she saw the depth of emotion in his expression and completely clammed up. His blue eyes were wistful and heavy with concern as he raised his hand to her face and gently ran his thumb over her eyebrow.

"That looks like it hurts," Weller muttered. "It's already starting to bruise. You should get checked out by the doctor when we get back."

Jane automatically shook her head, tensing at the thought of yet another physical examination, especially so soon after being shot in the arm and having to see the doctor for that wound. Even without a reference point, she was sure that the throbbing in her skull would die down shortly and none of her aches warranted a medical professional.

"No, it's okay," she said softly.

"Jane, you could have a concussion," Weller argued. "Did you black out? How does your head feel?"

"Weller, I'm fine," Jane replied. But she didn't move away from his examining touch, feeling completely mesmerized by the intensity his focus. Which then reminded her that she had been staring at him in a mental daze just moments ago.

She didn't think that had anything to do with hitting her head though.

"You'd probably say that even if your head was pounding," he grumbled. "I still think you need to get checked out."

Jane sighed as his hand drifted over her eye again, like he couldn't help but worry it over her bruise. His touch made her spine tingle, but she also felt the heavy weight of his concern.

"I'm fine," she repeated, doing her best to sound confident in her self-assessment. "You don't need to worry about me."

Weller seemed taken aback by her statement, something hardening in his eyes as he pulled away from her and his hand dropped from her face.

"Yes I do," he stated firmly. "As long as you're in protective custody, it's my job to keep you safe."

"And in two cases you've already been shot and in a car crash. So I'm obviously not doing a very good job."

Again, Jane's instinct was to argue that she could take care of herself – he had even said it himself that very day. But again she was silenced as soon as she saw the guilt pouring out of his eyes and the defeat in his shoulders. Obviously he took his duty seriously, considering the emotional toll it took on him.

Maybe it wasn't so bad to have such a dedicated man looking out for her, Jane mused. Though it grated on her to be sheltered from danger, Weller's protective streak did make her feel warm inside. Like she wasn't just a case to him, but a real person that he cared about.

"Or maybe you're doing a great job with someone that doesn't like to be told no. You told me to stay behind both times," she said.

"You tried, Weller. It's not your fault I didn't listen."

Weller opened his mouth, seemed ready to argue further. But Jane was done with it.

"Please don't feel bad about this," she said, rubbing at her swollen eye socket.

"I know you're doing your best."

Weller gave her another long soulful look, as if he were thinking a million thoughts at once.

"I'll try," he replied seriously, fixing her in his gaze.

Jane stared back, taking in the mix of sternness and softness in her agent and thinking that she was glad it was his name on her back. She hadn't known him long but he seemed to be a good man. And he definitely cared.

"But when we get back to the NYO, you're going to see medical right?"

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes at him though she was now more amused than annoyed with his persistence. He sure was stubborn; especially when it came to her. That was something she'd learned right away.

"Yes, Weller," she huffed.

"But only if you stop blaming yourself for my decisions."

At first he gave her a quizzical look, as if he wasn't used to being given orders by the victims in his cases. But then his expression turned to appreciation and Weller flashed her a sheepish smile.

"Deal," he said.

"Now let's find a car you didn't flip and get out of here."

#blindspot fanfic #blindspot rewatch #s1fic #i wrote this