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mosswillow · 3 years

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Useless Dark!Steve Roger x Reader (part three)

Warnings: 18+ Adult content!, Werewolves, A/B/O, Possessive behavior, Dark, Non con/dub con, Forced marriage, power imbalance, general misogyny, Punishments, smut, spanking, branding.

Summary: “Trying to fight this is useless doll, we’ll always end up right back here.” You’re the bottom of the pack, an Omega, and Steve has chosen you for his mate.

A/N: The last chapter had a happier ending. Stop there is that’s what you want.

---

“You feel so good”

“Shut up and just fuck me already.” you claw at the strangers shirt and he pulls it over his head.

The alcohol you consumed earlier in the evening is still pulsing through your veins and giving you a pleasant buzz. The wolf you’re with now is nothing more than a hookup. You don’t even know his name and frankly don’t care to. It’s easier when you don’t.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a mouthy Omega before.” He quips.

The stranger climbs on top of you and holds you down.

“I kinda like it,” he says.

He slaps you in the face before devouring your lips and you wrap your legs around him. You make long scratches down his back that draw blood and the pain prompts him to work harder and faster. It’s a quick, meaningless fuck, one that only serves to distract you from the ever present anxiety that consumes your life. You lose yourself and for a few mindless minutes you forget about everything. It all comes crashing back though, just like it always does. You get up and gather your clothes.

“Fuck.” He breathes, still lying on the bed.

You roll your eyes and start lacing up your shoes but before you’re able to stand He grabs your arm, pulling you roughly towards him. You look down and realize your mistake. The bandage that usually covers your brand is missing and the mark that tethers you to your pack is visible.

“That’s the Avengers brand.” You watch the recognozation wash across his face.

You try to pull your arm back but he grips you tighter.

“You said your Alpha was dead.”

“Just let me go.” You say shaking your head.

“You know I can’t.”

He pulls you roughly to the bed and pins you're down by the throat, getting close to your face.

“Don’t move Omega.”

You sputter when he lets you go and scoot to the headboard, bringing you knees up to your chest.

He finds his phone and hits speed dial, pacing back and forth in the room as he waits for who you assume is his pack Alpha to answer.

“Uh, hey I have a bit of a problem...”

“...yeah, you know that Omega that went missing from the Avenger pack? Yeah like three

years ago... I found her....”

He sits on the bed briefly before standing and pacing again.

“Well I kinda fucked her.” He grasps his hair in his hand, shaking his head. You can hear the yelling from your place on the bed and almost feel bad for the trouble you’ve gotten him in.

“I swear I didn’t know until after!”

He listens for a few minutes while eyeing you. You look at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes, making yourself look as small as possible. He finally hangs up and shoves his phone in his pocket.

“You need to get in the shower before your Alpha shows up. I don’t want you smelling like me.”

You nod and hang your head.

“I’m hungry.”

He sighs. “Ok, I’ll get you something from the vending machine.”

“Thank you so much Alpha,” You say.

You smile and walk to the bathroom, turn on the shower, and count to twenty. You peak out finding the room empty ad sprint out to your car, not stopping for even a second.

“What an idiot.” you say as you drive away.

---

Three years. It’s been almost three wonderfully horrible years. You look at yourself in the mirror of your dirty motel room. Your mind returns to Steve again like it does every all day, every day. You pull your shirt off and turn around looking at your mark. You miss the guy. You miss your parents. You miss Tony and Carol, Sam and Thor. You miss playing with the pups and going to pack nights, roasting smores and running in the woods with your pack mates. You want that again, to feel part of something. They were all right, it’s not in your nature to be rogue. You’re tired of running. You’re constantly on edge, worried about the next time you have to pick up without a word and move to the next town. It’s a struggle every single day not to pick the phone up and call them. Still, you fear going back. You’ll lose all of the freedom you’ve carefully crafted for yourself.

You get dressed, walk to the closest coffee shop, and pull your laptop out. You’re a freelance writer, getting just enough work to support your lifestyle.

The door opens and you know it’s them, the local pack. This always goes the same way. Three Alphas make their way over to you and sit at your table. It’s always the same arrogant group, you refer to them as Jack, Ass, and Don.

“I thought she was joking, an Omega, really?” Jack says.

You look up feigning surprise.

“What are you doing here sweetheart?” Ass asks.

“Just passing through,” You smile.

“You smell taken. Where’s your Alpha?” Don says

“He’s dead, it’s just me now.”

“We can help you out little one, why don’t you join our pack?” Jack says.

“Thank you but no.”

Jack taps his fingers on the table. This part is important. You’ll either be running immediately or will have a few weeks until they try to kidnap you.

“I really think you should join us.” Jack says again.

This in your cue. It’s not safe here. You look down and pout.

“You’re really ok with taking care of an Omega like me?” You look up at the Alpha.

“We would be proud to take in a sweet little thing like you.” Ass says, running his hand over your cheek.

“Thank you Alpha.” You say, nuzzling into his hand.

“I’ll be right back.” you stand smiling and grab your laptop.

You keep the smile until you’re out of the shop and at your car. You get in and drive away, not looking back.

After driving for an hour you pull over and look at the map, picking a new spot. You run your hand over the area on the map where your old territory was. It’s not far from where you’re going.

As you get closer to the town you start recognizing things. You pull over your car into a scenic overlook as sudden panic grips you. You cry and tell yourself over and over that it’s ok, you’re ok. You look out at the trees which were once vibrant oranges and reds at the beginning of the season but have slowly lost their leaves.

You were full of hope when you first left. You traveled and saw so many things. You’ve swam in lakes and hiked countless trails. You’ve met wolves from everywhere. It’s starting to feel empty now. You’ve never found anything that’s satisfied you for more than a few minutes. Your mind craves adventure and freedom but your soul craves something more. It craves your family. It craves Steve.

You pull yourself together and keep driving until you reach your destination. The host asks your name for the room and you make a mistake, a purposeful mistake. You tell them your real name.

You arrive at your room and don’t bother unpacking. You’ll wait the night and leave tomorrow if he doesn’t come. You can’t quite bring yourself to go back to him but you can do this. A little breadcrumb. You don’t know if you actually want him to come or not. You know he’ll hurt you just like he used to. You know you’ll be forced to submit, that this life you’ve created will become a distant memory. There won’t ever be another chance to escape. But at least you won’t have the anxiety anymore. At least you won’t live looking over your shoulder. You can’t do that anymore and giving your real name was part of that. You won’t hide. You’ve always known you would have to face your past eventually and you feel as ready now as you’ll ever be. He’ll come, you’re sure he will, and he’ll be mad. You prepare yourself mentally for a fight.

You don’t sleep.

You lie in bed and look at the ceiling for hours before it happens.

A loud knock.

You stand and take weak steps to the door, stalling for a few moments with your hand on the knob before opening it.

Steve doesn’t say anything. He pushes his way into the room and slams you down to the floor. You kick and struggle as he fits a tracker to your ankle. He exhales after placing it and grabs your head, planting a violent kiss on your lips. You pull away.

“Steve.”

“You don’t speak.”

He tears your shirt in half and deposits it on the floor.

“I can smell other wolves on you,” He growls

You bite your lip.

His mouth finds your mark and he bites down, marking you again.

He backs away and you glare at him. Every bit of resentment comes back. You’re not going to roll over for him so quickly. You pull your arm back and punch him in the face. He stumbles and brings his hand up to his bloody nose.

He grabs hold of you and throws you across the room. You hit the wall and drop to the ground, the breath knocked out of you. You cough and hold your stomach before standing slowly.

“We’ve done this before, you know I’ll go until I can’t anymore.”

“And you know I won’t stop until you’re a bloody mess.”

You run at him again and he tackles you, flipping you over and holding you down with one arm. With the other he tears off your underwear before pulling out his cock out and driving into you.

“You. Left. Me.” he says, thrusting deep into you.

“You pushed me away!” you cry out.

Steve slaps you hard on the ass as he continues to pound you. You feel like your body is in a bubble, only you and Steve exist right now. The feeling of him in you, aggressively claiming you is everything. You cry in relief and frustration. It’s not long before you feel the warmth of his cum fill you. He pulls out and sits back on his knees, panting from the exertion. You crawl away and sit with your back against the wall.

“I’m so tired,” you whisper.

Steve pulls his shirt off and walks over to you. He hands the shirt to you and you put it on, letting the warmth and woodsy smell calm your shaking body. He pulls you into his lap.

“I am too.”

You cry in his arms until your tears eventually disappear and Steve’s heart rate goes down.

“Why keep fighting?” Steve asks

You look up at Steve.

“Why force me?”

Steve thinks for a beat before answering.

“I want you.”

“I want me too.”

You cuddle into Steve and close your eyes. This is the first time your anxiety has calmed in almost three years. He picks you up and carries you to his car, strapping you in before getting your things. You look out the window at the woods and reach down to your ankle, feeling the tracker.

You drive in uncomfortable silence for the entire ride. Steve reaches his home and turns the car off.

“What are you going to do to me?”

Steve ignores you. He gets out and goes around the car, opening your door. You tentatively get out and start walking with Steve to his house. The pack Alphas are waiting on the porch.

One by one each Alpha runs to you and pulls you into a big hug.

You all go inside and Steve makes a pot of coffee, handing you a mug. Thor sits beside you on the couch and puts his arm around you. Everyone is quiet and your anxiety starts building.

Tony sits in front of you and holds your hand.

“We’re happy you’re back.”

“You’re not angry?”

“Oh no, don’t think we’re not also pissed.”

You sink into the couch.

“This.” he points to the tracker on your ankle. “Will never come off.”

your mind starts whirling with ideas to remove it.

“Hey.” He snaps in front of your face.

“It can’t come off, trust me.”

You nod.

“Is the… is the tracker it or is there another punishment?” you ask.

The Alphas give you a sad look and Tony shakes his head.

“What else are you going to do?” you say barely above a whisper.

Carol comes and hugs you, shushing you.

“It’s going to be ok, we just want what’s best for you.”

They stay for the day, talking and asking questions about the years you were gone. Your anxiety starts growing the longer they’re there and they can all tell. The sun starts to go down and they each give you a hug and say their goodbyes.

Steve pours himself a glass of whiskey and takes a sip.

“Go to bed doll.”

You walk to your room and pull out the top drawer where you kept pajamas. You pick up the dark green chemise and hold it in your hands, feeling the soft fabric. Steve comes in and takes it out of your hands, slipping it over your head.

“Did any of it actually make you happy?”

“In some ways.”

He sweeps you up and carries you to the bed, climbing in after you and placing his arm over your body protectively.

---

The first thing you notice when you wake up is the absence of Steve's warm body. Then you notice the handcuff. You look around and see Steve standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. You start shaking your head and pull your arm against the cuff.

“Steve.” you whimper.

He turns away and closes the door.

It takes a full twenty four hours for you to start breaking down. The panic comes and goes and your wrist becomes covered in blood and bruises. After two days you give up any hope. This is where you die. You close your eyes and wait.

Steve unlocks your hand and gently pulls you up to a sitting position. He holds a sports drink to your lips and helps you take small sips. You can’t stop shaking, your body weak from lack of nutrients. Steve takes the handcuffs to the closet and you hear beeping and the sound of a safe opening and closing. You take small sips of the drink while Steve fills a bath. He undresses you and carries you to the tub, getting in behind you and carefully cleaning you.

“It’s ok i’m here now doll, you’re ok.” He says, kissing your shoulder. You stare ahead, not able to respond.

After the bath he covers you with a towel and brings you out to the living room.

He leaves you on the couch and walks to the kitchen. You eye a small statue next to you and pick it up. You hold it in your hands, feeling the weight and eyeing a sharp point on one end. Steve comes back with a glass of water and a piece of toast. He crouches in front of you making eye contact and waiting. You grip the statue and close your eyes then slowly put it back where it goes. You drop your head to one side baring your neck. Steve pulls the towel down and runs his hand over your mark. He takes a seat next to you and guides you down so your head is in his lap.

“You were always going to end up here.”

He terrifies you. He forced you to mate with him, almost beat you to death. controlled everything about your life. He left you for who knows how long chained to a bed until you broke into a thousand pieces, forcing you to rely on him to glue you back together.

He smells like home though. He’s like a lighthouse, guiding you through a storm. Always there no matter what you do or where you run. You can’t escape him.

“I know.”

#dark!steve x reader #dark!steve rogers #dark!steve x you #dark!steve #Darkfic #alpha!steve rogers #Werewolf!Steve Rogers

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tomatograter · 3 years

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What would you say is the very core of dirkjake? I struggle to put it into words beyond dirk being afraid jake will get tired of him

Ok this is a fun one hang on, strap in,

Much like vrisrezi, and in fact a reoccurring theme throughout HS as a work in full -represented in varying levels of relevance to its cast of core characters- dirkjake is about the masks we willingly fashion ourselves after to starve off insecurity. Everything else is a permutation of that.

But also akin to vrisrezi, their interpersonal relationships and character arcs are heavily about how said performances can be turned into destructive weapons that hinder the development of one's growth and personal identity, rippling through friend groups and plot events. That's a lot of words. So let's break it down like this:

Vriska's Mindfang performance is a defense mechanism created to strengthen her resolve when dealing with isolation and an abysmal monster as a mother, and serves to advance the plot, but is highly harmful to vriska and those around her. (Of note - Vriska doesn't see herself as a villain, it is incredibly important that she's a HERO, just a highly polarizing and problematic one.)

Terezi's Legislacerator ((space cop)) performance is an elaborate persona created to make sense of an antagonistic and temperamental environment, and seemingly dole out punishments that would ensure things continue to function as they should, even to terezi's personal detriment. Vriska is far from the first troll or human terezi has killed, but it's the one that breaks the scale, because terezi knows she's just another victim of the system.

Neither of the above make up the entirety of vriska OR terezi as characters, simply the masks they've chosen to slot themselves into a narrative that will not stop for them, or anybody else for that matter, to have time to 'figure themselves out' before steamrolling them. Vriska and terezi's relationship relies in the bond they formed through the cracks on their masks, to a point in which hopefully they can help eachother to get rid of them.

When talking about dirkjake, instead of focusing on the alternian or human society we have the introduction of dystopic hyper isolated homescenarios that will define their viewpoints as Characters in this story. If vrisrezi is cops-and-robbers, dirkjake is princesses and dragons. Oh yeah, they're both simplistic morality plays.

It is precisely how set apart they are from everyone else but immediate danger (may it be rogue lusii naturae or imperial drones) that molds them into people who crave connection but are too cocooned inside their own walls to let anybody through, even those they care for. Taking the brunt of responsibility for a Legacy and attaining a greater future plays a key role for most of the alphas, but in dirk and jake's case this is demonstrated through the necessity for brash, masculine heroism and the suppression of fragility or sentimentality. Before the story has a chance to admonish them for stepping out of line, they'll do it to themselves out of habit.

The situation gets a little worse when the roles they've picked to enact (invariably, The Hero!) don't match with the roles the story wants them to play.

Jake is the archetypal swooning and good for nothing princess who's there to look pretty and provide motivation To others, modernized into the cool action girl trope we've known to find and despise in every other movie, those who often say 4 lines about how cool and smart they are or how they were raised by their older brothers with big guns and then spend the rest of their screentime in varying states of distress, undress, or concerning unconsciousness. Sometimes all three!!!!!

It is because of this lack of agency that jake stresses his role as a charming gallivanting and STUPID action hero, thereby providing a excuse for his lack of control over his own life, and makes stumbling into situations ass-first look charming. He wants his friends to be impressed with him, and he'll lie to achieve that effect, because he wants to be liked and to be taken seriously. The problem is that he's all too aware of how he's been set up, and he vehemently rejects it.

Dirk is the dragon. Yup. Function? To be slayed. Duty? To make your life a nightmare in just about every possible way, giving the eventual story payoff a grander climax. Inadvertently, accidentally, well-intentionally, and yet sometimes on purpose, dirk strider ends up in the antagonist role. His awareness of the fact and penance for its weight is such he'll preemptively take the blame for things that aren't even his fault, like a loser. While jake eventually has to deal with how he ends up breaking things on accident to provide a backdrop motivation for others, dirk is stuck in a self-fulfilling loop of having mostly negative input in everyone's lives, including (if not specially) his own.

Dirk's hyper-investment in playing the Knight, like his brother before him, and ensuring his input on everyone's stories remains constructive and ever-helpful even if he doesn't know what the FUCK he's talking about or what is happening 99,9% of the time is a byproduct of multiple timelines spent in less glorious ways.

The core of dirkjake, then, is how they're simultaneously the one person who's the closest to seeing the other for what they truly are, but ashamed of their own shortcomings, they do their best to advance the fantasy version instead. To know and value a loved one is to become aware of your own lies, and to acknowledge the performance panic that comes with it. Ye olde jingle of "Self-recognition through the eyes of the other" and "the pants-soiling fear that actually you're still a faker and you will never be enough", weaved up and remixed. Their problem is that Princesses don't marry Dragons, and in a realistic setting neither do Princes and Knights for that matter, they're too busy with- doing the other stuff!!!!! The stuff that should be done! Even if they wanted to!

Which actually goes right back to my claim that dirkjake is exactly like Shrek, The Movie, And This Is Why.

#meta #vrisrezi #dirkjake #dirk strider #jake english #shrek #again.

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onmykneesforhotdilfs · 3 years

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Tilt

Bloom smiled as a butler offered her a crystal glass filled with, what she assumed was, very expensive champagne. She nodded gratefully as she took a sip, and then promptly had to physically stop herself from spitting it right back out. Either the champagne wasn’t as good as she expected or officials of Isis simply decided to serve something from the supermarket, while hoping that no one would notice. Then again, Bloom mused, it might just be that my taste buds are so used to the $10 wine so everything fancier just tastes like crap.

She shook her head and crossed her arms underneath the bustier of her skintone, off the shoulder gown with baby blue flowers scattered across the top and sporadically across the skirt as well. The nude color made her appear more tan than she actually was and while the dress was indeed very beautiful, it was just as uncomfortable. Bloom winced as shifting weight from one stiletto clad foot to another sent white hot signal of pain when one of the wires supporting her bustier stabbed her in the ribs. She bit the inside of her cheek to in order to stop herself from simply burning the fabric.

A cheerful laugh of her best friend snapped her out of her trance. Stella emerged from the mass of bodies on the dancefloor, her asymmetrical off shoulder gown highlighting every curve on her body perfectly. Long purple sleeve blended with yellow in a way Bloom didn’t even deem possible considering how different two colors are. Her other arm, that was completely sleeveless, sported some golden jewelry and floor length gown swept the floor elegantly with Stella’s every step. She was holding the same glass, filled with same champagne as Bloom, with her well manicured fingers. As soon as Stella was within arm’s reach, she grabbed Bloom’s elbow and leaned close to her, smile completely disappeared from her face.

“This stuff is absolutely disgusting.” Stella spoke through gritted teeth.

“Oh really?” Bloom asked as smirk slowly rose on her lips. “And here I thought you preferred this,” she lifted a fancy glass into the air, “over my cheap wine.”

“Anything is better than this, for the lack of a better word, crap.” Stella scoffed. “This would’ve never happened on Solaria.” She tilted the glass once again to take a sip in hope it somehow started tasting better but ended up disappointed. Bloom almost laughed at Stella’s expression. “But then again, should I have expected anything more from a planet Diaspro came from?”

Bloom almost winced at the mention of a woman that had the ability to mess up her relationship with Sky like no other. The latest stunt she pulled, thanks to Valtor, only made Bloom more angry at everybody that turned a blind eye to her actions simply because she is a princess. It was only then that the thought occurred to her, that Diaspro might be here and that she might ruin their mission. She glanced nervously around the hall, panicking more the longer she couldn’t find her.

Stella, recognizing Bloom’s ‘two breaths away from having a panic attack' look on her face, was quick to put a calming hand on her shoulder. Bloom recoiled slightly but Stella gripped the flesh lightly in order to ground her. She leaned closer to whisper in Bloom’s ear. “Relax, she’s not here. Apparently her parents don’t allow her to go to events where his highness, prince Sky of Eraklyon, might be present.”

Sarcasm was obvious in Stella’s voice but it served the purpose of calming Bloom to the point where she actually start thinking lucidly again.

Bloom took a deep breath as her shoulders slouched slightly forward. “Thank you.” She whispered to Stella. Then, the actual sentences Stella was saying caught up to her and her eyebrows touched her hairline in obvious amusement. “Still angry at Sky I see?”

Stella snorted and wrinkled her nose at the mention of Sky’s name. “If you were smarter, you’d be angry too.”

“Hey!” Bloom yelped angrily but settled down quickly as she looked away. “I am angry at him.”

“Apparently not enough.” Stella gripped the glass so hard her knuckles turned white. “I mean, what’s up with him suddenly becoming a poster boy and actually listening to what his daddy says?”

“Well, technically, Sky’s meeting with Diaspro or her parents might cause interplanetary scandal between Eraklyon and Isis.” Bloom spoke in Techna's voice.

Stella’s lip twitched. “Still, interplanetary scandal or a potential threat of one never actually stopped him from going against orders before. So my question still remains.”

“Any sign of Valtor?” Bloom asked, hoping to divert the route of conversation.

“I just spoke to Techna. He hasn’t been detected and Amplificarum is still safely locked in the vault.”

“He’ll show up eventually.” Bloom nodded absentmindedly. “He always does.”

“See this, this right here,” Stella pointed to the marble floor and Bloom lowered her gaze to the direction her finger was indicating but furrowed her brows when she found nothing. “This is why Sky should be here.” Bloom’s lips shaped into a thin line whe she realized what she was talking about as Stella continued to rant. “Isn’t he concerned that Valtor might attack and something might happen to you?”

Bloom gasped. “I’m not some… damsel in distress that needs saving Stella!” She scoffed. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

“C’mon Bloom, don’t give me that.”

“Well what do you want me to say Stell? That I’m angry? Disappointed? Fine. I’m disappointed that Sky chose to follow the order from his father when I wanted him to come with me. He most certainly could've found another solution but he did nothing. Instead he left me to face, potentially Diaspro and Valtor alone. There! Was that enough? Are you happy now?” Bloom’s cheeks were red by the time she finished her rant as her chest continued rising up and down in order to return much needed oxygen into her lungs, her exhaustion more due to stress than the actual rant.

Stella smiled and patted Bloom on the shoulder. “There you go. Now was that so hard to say?”

“What?”

“Nevermind that, anyway, be sure to tell him that next time, ok?”

Bloom rolled her eyes but a smile threatened to spread on her face. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Mhm, that’s why you love me so much.” Stella spoke with an obvious pride evident in her voice.

“Yeah, let’s just say you’re lucky I do.” Bloom shook her head and grabbed Stella’s elbow as she spotted a familiar short brown hair emerging from the crowd. “There’s Brandon.” She turned to Stella and pointed to where she saw him. “Go bother him for a while.”

Stella pouted and stuck her tongue out playfully at Bloom but strutted off towards her boyfriend, leaving Bloom alone.

With Stella gone, all of Bloom’s physical discomfort came rushing back and hitting her like a rogue train. Her feet ached, her head started hurting from the tight updo and she was pretty sure the wire that poked her in the ribs has punctured her skin. She felt the tender area with her opposite hand as much as she dared and exhaled short puff of air when she found nothing. She wanted to sit down or maybe even lay down and then not move for a few days.

She shook her head and took a sip of her disgusting drink in order to wake herself up. She looked around the dancefloor, automatically finding Stella and Brandon as they swayed to the rhythm. Techna and Timmy were huddled in the corner probably discussing something about technology. Musa and Riven were also in the corner, be it on the opposite side from Techna, which greatly surprised Bloom because Musa was more often than not first on the dancefloor alongside Layla (though club suited them more, but the two always found a way to fit in anywhere), but right now dancefloor seemed like the last place Musa wanted to be. Instead, fairy of music was busy glaring daggers at her boyfriend that seemed to pay little to no attention to them.

Bloom rolled her eyes at the two of them (not that her and Sky were any better) and focused on finding Layla that also, surprisingly, decided to go solo on this mission. She found her talking to some Isis official that she probably knew due to her status. With Layla’s position in mind, bloom turned to finding the last couple but Flora and Helia were nowhere to be found so Bloom assumed they were probably taking a stroll in the garden.

With those in mind, Bloom once again diverted her eyes from the dancefloor and looked at the champagne bubbling in her glass as her thoughts ran over the information she remembered about Amplificarum.

Apparently, the green stone, by physical appearance almost indistinguishable from emerald, had the power to magnify any spells or beams aimed at something. Or someone, Bloom thought. It was most commonly used for protection spells and it generally wasn’t meant for offensive spellwork. Bloom somehow had doubts Valtor will use it for protection spells. The sheer thought of chaos that could potentially happen if such artifact ever fell into Valtor’s, or anyone’s wrong hands, made Bloom shudder all over and grip her champagne glass bit tighter. That can never be allowed to happen. It’s why you’re here. There’s no way he will be able to slip in and out undetected with eleven pairs of eyes looking for him.

Bloom couldn’t deny that Valtor is the most powerful, and quite frankly the most cunning, villain they ever had the pleasure of meeting. What irked her to the point of madness, however, was the fact that Valtor always seemed to be one step ahead of them.

The battles are like chess game. Daphne’s voice sounded in her head. In order to defeat your opponent you have to figure out their strategy. You have to master the art of reading their moves and find a way to turn the odds in your favor.

It was not hard to guess who played certain roles in this game though. She was an amateur, an amateur that was loosing valuable chess pieces battle after battle whereas Valtor was a professional that suffered minor losses here and there but still had the most prized figurines in the game. It didn’t take a professional chess player to see that the odds were most definitely not in Bloom’s favor.

He’ll slip sooner or later. Bloom thought with a smile. Even Valtor can make a mistake. And it takes only a second, a slip of concentration, a lapse in judgment and the board will tilt in our direction. Even an amateur can get lucky and stometimes, the pawn can be the most powerful piece capable of settling the final score, so don’t sell yourself short.

Bloom was so distracted by her mental pep talk that she failed to notice one of the guests approach.

“This stuff they’re serving us,” Bloom jumped as a deep melodic voice rang out next to her. “it’s not something I expected from Isis royal court.”

The stranger came to stand almost arm to arm with her, but she also noticed she was almost two heads shorter than him.

“In a good, or a bad way?” Bloom asked with a frown. The stranger has short brown hair styled to a perfection, not even a hair out of place. From what she could see from the side without being too obvious, she noticed he had perfectly straight nose and an overall boyish appearance.

The stranger lifted one of his eyebrows curiously. “Have you tried that?” He pointed to her glass.

“Yes.”

“And how does it taste?”

“Like a hair conditioner.”

He nodded approvingly. “Interesting comparison. Not inaccurate though. Well Miss, I think you just answered your own question.”

Despite all odds, Bloom found herself smiling at stranger’s antics and clever quips. “I am sorry but I don’t think I got your name.”

“That’s because I didn’t give it to you.”

Okay, rude.

“Well,” she forced out, “would you be so kind to give me your name then?” Bloom really hoped her smile was more convincing than her words.

“There’s no need, Bloom. You already know my name.” Bloom’s smile vanished as the man finally turned to face her, the unique icy colored eyes she only saw on one particular individual looking straight into her wider-than-dinnerplates blue ones. She felt a bead of sweat roll down the thin column of her neck and disappear into her cleavage.

Bloom gulped.

Valtor smirked.

“You!” was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

He shook his head, his eyebrows set in a frown as he let out a disappointed huff. “That is not my name princess. You might wish to try again.”

“What are you doing here, Valtor?” Bloom managed through gritted teeth.

“Oh so you do remember.” Valtor smirked like the cat who got all the cream. “Good. Otherwise I would have to remind you and I really don’t want to spoil anyone’s evening.”

“As if you need me, or anyone, for that!” Bloom whisper-yelled as her eyes darted desperately across the room, trying to locate her team.

“Now now,” Valtor cooed, “it is not polite to look away from the person you’re having a conversation with, Bloom. Someone should’ve taught you proper manners.”

Bloom gasped as she felt the dragon fire raging in her chest, the effect much more intense than she’s ever experienced before. She swayed slightly on her feet and she raised her unoccupied arm to clutch lightly at her chest. The world was spinning in front of her eyes and just as she feared she might topple over, one of Valtor’s large hands grasped her bicep and the forest fire that burned in her turned into smoldering ashes.

Bloom leaned slightly on her side, Valtor’s arm acting like an anchor as she fought to regain her breath.

“What,” she rasped out, her voice hoarse like she just inhaled smoke, “was that?”

“Just a reminder that you should not antagonize me.” Valtor’s voice was cold and sharp and it made her swallow down a snarky response.

“Is that how you snuck past Techna and me?” The pain was gone but her legs still felt wobbly and she was forced to hold onto Valtor in order to remain standing. “A cloaking spell?”

“If the shoe fits…” he trailed off as Bloom stood up to her full height but despite the heels she wore, Valtor noted with a slight amusement, only managed to reach his shoulders. The glare princess of Domino sent him would make a lesser man run to his mom but it only made Valtor grin. Bloom ripped her arm from his grasp and he had to bite his lip to stifle a chuckle that threatened to escape as Bloom stumbled slightly when he willingly let her go.

Bloom mumbled something that even his heighten senses couldn’t pick up. “I apologize darling, I didn’t quite catch that. Would you mind repeating it?”

“I said that if you turn around and bend over, I’ll show you where my shoe fits.”

Valtor was in stupor for a minute, but then a surprised chuckle broke through his lips and his shoulders started shaking from the laughter he tried, and was slowly failing at, keeping contained. “Oh, and she bites.”

Valtor continued laughing sporadically, stopping for a few moments only to start up again. The lines around his eyes crinkled and Bloom found herself fascinated by how melodic and pleasant his laugh sounded. The thought only lasted for a few seconds before Bloom stomped on it with a part of her brain that was still capable of making rational thoughts. Get it together, Bloom.

“If you’re quite done,” Bloom spoke, her cheeks red from rather unorthodox behavior she exhibited few minutes ago, “how about you tell me what are you doing here, finally?”

“I think you know why I’m here.”

“Forget it, you’re not getting it!” She turned to face him fully, her eyes boring a hole into the side of his head.

Valtor lifted his eyebrows as if to say ‘Really?’, mockery clear in his eyes. “Are you going to stop me?”

Bloom nodded. “I am.”

Valtor shook his head, smile on his face, amused by her confident tone. She thinks she’s a match for me. Silly girl. He was just about to tell her as much when the music that played as more of a background noise, suddenly became louder, loud to the point it drowned out all the chatter in the room.

Bloom almost jumped out of her skin when the orchestra started playing, loudly. She flinched, however, when she once again felt Valtor’s huge hand on her body. This time his palm was not in a direct contact with her skin but the unusual placement of the said appendage caused her to panic. His hand landed on the small of her back and it was quite persistently pushing her forward, straight onto the dancefloor between other couples.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She hissed through clenched teeth, sparks flaring at her fingertips, beginnings of an offensive spell already forming on her vocal cords.

“We are dancing.” His calm voice only made her more angry and she started struggling against the force pushing her forward.

“I don’t want to dance. Let me go.”

He stopped just short of the line separating area designed for dancing and bowed down theatrically while offering his hand to her. “May I have this dance, Miss?”

Few people closest to them turned around at the sound of his voice and Bloom had to bite her tongue to resist the urge to claw his eyes out. “No, you can’t!” She huffed out quietly instead, her neck and cheeks turning red from anger. “I told you, I don’t want to dance and I most certainly do not want to dance with the likes of you!"

“You wound me princess, truly. I don’t bite… not unless you want me to, of course.”

Bloom’s nostrils flared and flames began to dance in her eyes. What insolence.

“Let’s make a deal, princess of Domino.” He interrupted her just as smoke was about to start coming out of her ears. “You let me have this dance, and I’ll tell you everything you wish to know and I promise to tell the truth.”

“Why should I trust you?” She raised her eyebrows but it was obvious she was interested.

“You shouldn’t.” He tilted his head to the side as smile stretched across his lips. “But that never stopped you before.”

Sea blue met the arctic ice. A spark erupted and the coldness of his gaze melted away. “I give you my word.” His hand was still hovering in the air, his palm opened in invitation as he tilted his head in the direction of the dancefloor.

Bloom weighed her options. For as far as she knew, this could be another one of Valtor’s tricks to gain the information from her instead of vice versa. But the burning questions only he had the answers to kept pressing on the part of her brain that was telling her how much of a madness this was. Bloom sighed. Her hand rose hesitantly and slowly took hold of Valtor’s.

“One dance. That’s all you get.”

“That’s all I’ll need.”

He gripped Bloom’s fingers bit tighter as he lead her into the classic pose with his unoccupied hand placed on her lower back, lower than socially accepted when dancing with someone you do not know, but still in the safe zone that didn’t ask for Bloom to knee him in the balls. His other hand loosened around her fingers and now gently supported her palm. Instead of placing her other arm on Valtor’s shoulder, Bloom gripped one side of her skirt so she could move freely and to minimize contact. He looked down , searching her face, but Bloom turned her head in the opposite direction.

Valtor was never the one to blatantly display his emotions but Bloom’s refusal to look him in the eyes was one thing that almost made him boil. He didn’t know why the daughter of those that defeated him had such effect on him and he didn’t like it. He hated not knowing what was running through her head, especially in the place where he was in an obvious disadvantage concerning numbers of the two opposing teams. During his careful observation, he counted eleven of them, and there was only one of him. Not like any of them actually pose any threat, he mused. The only one that is able to even remotely challenge me is the one I’m dancing with and from this proximity she can be easily taken care of. He studied her posture, how her eyes avoided his at all cost, how her back stood stiff like someone stuck a pole to her spine, how tightly she gripped her skirt as he moved with her elegantly. It was obvious she was not enjoying this. Well then, let’s make you even more uncomfortable.

Without warning, Valtor pulled Bloom closer to his body, upper body completely pressed against hers, one of his legs between both of hers as her head snapped up to look at his cheeky smile. Fire was blazing in her eyes but Valtor didn’t care. He thrived on her reactions. Bloom squeezed the hand that was holding hers in warning but Valtor only gripped the flesh of her hip in response. Devils were dancing in his eyes but to Bloom they looked alive for the first time. Gone was the icy look capable of making even the best trained soldier hesitate before rushing into the battle against him.

He’s genuinely amused by this. She thought. If only be wasn’t having fun at my expense, I might’ve let it slide. Valtor twirled her around other dancing couples, his graceful steps never flattering, and it occurred to Bloom for the first time that she actually didn’t step on his toes even once.

“How are you doing this?” She asked him as he swung her away from himself, only to bring her in again, her back to his front, both of his hands gripping her hips. In her peripheral vision, she saw him rise his eyebrow. “I’ve never been good at dancing.”

Valtor smirked. “Perhaps you’ve never had a good enough partner.”

Judging by the tone of his voice, he was mocking Sky openly so Bloom miscalculated and stepped with the heel of her foot onto his polished shoe. She heard him grunt as, what she assumed was a curse, left his mouth. She smiled. If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned.

“What happened to my parents?” Her next question made him quirk an eyebrow and she saw his eyes widen for a second before he regained his bearings.

“What did Faragonda tell you?” He answered her questions with one of his own and that made her irrationally angry for some reason.

“I asked you first.” She bit her tongue before insults started spewing out of her mouth. She realized long ago that snarky comments only made him more angry so she wasn’t willing to risk her one chance. “Answer me.”

“Do you think you are in position to demand anything, heiress of the lost kingdom?” Anger was starting to creep up in his voice as he dipped her low and snapped her back up harsher than necessary.

Bloom gasped as she suddenly found herself in an almost horizontal position. “You promised.”

Valtor assumed their previous position, except this time he lowered his head so his breath would graze her neck when he spoke. He sighed and goosebumps rose on Bloom’s skin as his hot breath washed over her collarbones and sternum.

“The truth is, I do not know what happened to your parents. I was imprisoned before the final battle. As far as I’m aware, ancient witches were the last to see them.”

Bloom swallowed. “That’s not Faragonda’s version.”

Valtor laughed, though his laugh was somehow bitter. “And you, as a good fairy, believe everything that your headmistress says don’t you?”

“And who am I supposed to trust? You?”

“Have you ever wondered why,” he repositioned her hand slightly as he side stepped to avoid the couple that was directly on a collision course with them. The sudden movement made the lock of Bloom’s hair wiggle out of her bun. “your headmistress send bunch of barely legal girls to suicide missions against the powerful enemies such as myself?”

“Because she trusts us?”

“Because she has an underlying motive.” He continued when Bloom scoffed. “Think about it. Can you honestly tell me your headmistress provides you with all the available information before she sends you off into battles?”

His question made her think of all the times Faragonda withheld the valuable information because she deemed it necessary and she bit her lip as realization hit her. “That doesn’t make her evil.”

“I never said it made her evil.” Smirk once again climbed on her face. “She’s cunning alright, but not cunning enough to be considered evil.”

“What’s her underlying motive according to your expertise?”

He shrugged carelessly. “Everybody needs someone to do their dirty work.”

“Like you have Trix?” Bloom raised her eyebrows in question.

“Don’t remind me.” He groaned. “Those three are as incompetent as they get.”

They danced in surprisingly comfortable silence for a few seconds, Valtor’s capable hands leading them. “You never answered my question.” Bloom said.

“What question?”

“How are you doing this?” She tilted her head slightly to their intertwined hands.

The edge of Valtor’s lips turned upwards. “You know how I’m doing it.”

Bloom frowned in confusion. “No, I actually really don’t.”

“Yes you do.” She was about to open her mouth to protest and to ask him what the hell he’s playing at, but he was faster than her. “You just have to let yourself feel it.”

Bloom’s shoulders tensed as the feeling of her native fire burning spread across her whole body. Okay, this is new.

“Pretty impressive, don’t you think?”

Bloom locked eyes with Valtor as he bent slightly in the knees, his hands gripped her hips tightly and her hands automatically came to rest on his broad shoulders, as he lifted her up and then, with care she didn’t know he was capable of, lowered her back to the ground. There was something hypnotic about his eyes and Bloom found herself unable to look away as she fought to regain her breath once her feet touched the ground again.

Whatever moment they shared was interrupted by a horrendous sound of alarm blaring and all the lights going off at the same time as explosion sounded somewhere above them. Valtor smirked as Bloom recoiled from him as if he burned her. Her hands lit on fire as people started screaming around her and moving away from them.

Valtor could hear Bloom’s friends calling her name as they pushed through the crowd of panicked guests.

“This was your plan all along, wasn’t it!?” Anger was obvious in her eyes and Valtor found himself fascinated as the fiery glow from her hands reflected in her irises. What he would do to have her on his side.

He shook himself out of his stupor as he snapped his fingers, letting his disguise slip off. Short brown hair and boyish look was replaced by long strawberry blond hair and his face morphed back into high cheekbones and sharp jaw. “I would love to continue our conversation,” he raised his arm and shot blindly towards the ceiling, blowing a huge hole into it. “however, I believe that my time has run out.”

Distant flashes lit up and Winx finally emerged from the crowd, sparkly outfits and huge wings on point. Bloom was the only one that remained in her normal attire, her hands showing no sign of burning out anytime soon, as she kept shooting daggers at Valtor with her eyes.

“It’s a shame I wasn’t able to answer more of your questions, Bloom. But I don’t think this is our last meeting.” Valtor grinned, thirty two pearly white teeth on display. “Besides,” he drawled as Icy flew from the direction of the vault Amplificarum was locked in, green gem standing out against the pale skin of her hand. “you know where to find me.”

“Solar energy!” Stella’s arm shot up, spell hurtling straight towards Valtor, but he didn’t even bat an eyelash as his hand rose to absorb the spell.

“Stop in the name of the law!” Armed soldiers and specialists started breaking through, their weapons and swords drawn and ready for a fight.

Valtor’s laugh echoed in the room as he shot off towards the hole in the ceiling, his mouth reciting the spell Bloom was quite familiar with. “Have the taste of your own medicine, princess of Solaria.”

Bloom barely had time to put up a shield as Stella’s own amplified spell was hurled back to them, painting the whole room in white hot glow, forcing everyone to close their eyes so they don’t go blind.

When Bloom finally gathered enough strength to open her eyes, Valtor was nowhere to be seen and people, specialists, guards and her team were slowly climbing back on their feet. Remnants of Stella’s spell still lingered in the air, making the room uncomfortably bright and forcing Bloom to squint.

“He did it again.” Stella spoke next to her and Bloom nodded absentmindedly as Stella continued looking around. “He used a heightened version of my spell… it’s a miracle no one’s been hurt.”

Bloom shook her head. “I don’t think he meant to hurt anyone Stell. He obviously needed a distraction to get away.”

“He doesn’t want unnecessary pain and destruction… you told me that’s what he said to you on Andros.”

Bloom nodded. “I think he managed to fulfill his promise, for once.”

Bloom looked up where Valtor made his exit and couldn’t help but to think that the chessboard once again tilted in his favor.

#sparxshipping #bloom x valtor #bloom x baltor #baltor x bloom #valtor x bloom #bloom #valtor #winx #winx club #winx bloom #winx valtor

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longitudinalwaveme · 3 years

Text

Worst Flash Storylines and Plot Ideas of All Time

As you’ve probably ascertained from the general contents of this blog, the Flash is my favorite comic book series. I love the characters and most of the stories. However, just like any series that’s been around for eighty years (counting the Jay Garrick stuff), the Flash does, unfortunately, have some truly terrible stories and plot ideas.

In terms of terrible plot ideas that didn’t completely ruin the surrounding stories:

1. Barry Allen uses the Mirror Master’s mirrors to manipulate Iris into agreeing to start dating him again (Flash #109). Creepy, Barry. Just creepy. The story is great Silver Age fun otherwise.

2. Iris West: meanest woman alive. Iris was, by and large, incredibly awful to Barry up until maybe about a year before their 1966 marriage. Almost every time she shows up in an early Silver Age issue, you will admire her daring and independence (this is good) and be bewildered as to why on Earth Barry would want to spend time with a woman who is constantly calling him slow, lazy, and ambition-less (this is not good). It doesn’t really affect any one issue too much, but when read in a conglomerate, she starts looking really awful. Although as bad as Early Silver Age Iris seems as a romantic interest, she’s got nothing on Silver Age Superman and Lois Lane, the most dysfunctional couple in the DCU.

3. Wally West’s zero-effort code name and costume (Flash #110). It really could not be more obvious how little effort the writers were putting into creating this character. The duplicate origin is also pretty cheesy, but there are enough differences from Barry’s origin for it not to frustrate me. But the name “Kid Flash” and the fact that his first costume was literally identical to Barry’s just feel incredibly lazy. Barry and Wally do have an adorable dynamic in the issue, though, so it’s by no means all bad.

4. Barry Allen waiting an entire year after his marriage to tell his wife that he’s really the Flash. Frustrating and unnecessary; especially since Joan Garrick had been in on her husband’s secret since the 1940s.

5. Iris Allen is FROM THE FUTURE. I both love and hate this idea. It’s so perfectly comic-booky, but at the same time, it opened the floodgates for the Allen family being a confusing, time-displaced mess.

6. The Trial of Barry Allen. This one’s weird. I like many of the individual issues in this arc, and I actually think the last two issues are really great as an ending for Barry Allen’s original run, but this storyline dragged on for waaaaaay too long. There’s a reason I call it the Arc that Never Ends. Also, the titular trial is actually the least interesting part of the entire storyline. His battles with the Rogues and Kadabra are far more interesting.

7. Wally West’s borderline creepy, chauvinistic attitude towards women under Mike Baron (and, to a much lesser extent, William Messner-Loebs). There’s being a hormonal twenty-something, and then there’s going through girlfriends at the rate other people change their socks. Messner-Loebs mostly avoided this issue by making it clear that Wally was under intense psychological stress that was negatively impacting his behavior, but under Baron and in some of his JLE appearances, he comes across as a real creep around women.

8. Kadabra overkill under Mark Waid: I like Kadabra, but when he’s the main villain in like four distinct arcs, it gets to be a bit much. It’s like modern Eobard. He is legitimately written well, though, so he doesn’t drag down any of the stories too much.

9. Pointlessly Dead Rogues: Killing off the Rogues in Underworld Unleashed for no good reason (the rest of the story is great, especially the Trickster).

10. Pointlessly Dead Rogues 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Golden Glider’s pointless death to build up a character who was himself killed two issues later. (The rest of the story is decent.) Also, the treatment of Lisa in general post-Crisis is frustrating, since she becomes considerably more unhinged than she was before.

11. Any time Waid tried to write McCulloch, with the exception of Flash vol. 2 #105 (and even there, he seemed off). It’s like he forgot Evan wasn’t Sam.

12. Apparently, the Top trying to blow up both Central City and half the world makes him a loser? Also, he suddenly hates Piper for no readily apparent reason. (At least the story had some good Piper and Wally bits.)

13. BARRY ALLEN HAS A SECRET EVIL TWIN! DUN DUN DUN! (The rest of the story, where we get to meet a whole whack of interesting future Flashes, is actually pretty good, but whoo boy, the Malcolm reveal feels like it came straight out of a soap opera.)

14. In order for Captain Cold to ANGST, the Golden Glider’s pointless death remained in place for over ten years. It did give us a really, really good Capt. Cold story, at least...but it’s still fridging.

15. Rainbow Raider’s mean-spirited murder by Blacksmith. Poor Roy.

16. Albert Desmond becomes Hannibal Lecter, only twenty times as rude, for a Gotham Central arc that would’ve been terrific without him as the main villain.

17. Owen Mercer is an idiotic child murderer and gets killed by the Rogues. Why was this necessary? (The rest of Blackest Night: The Flash is pretty good.)

18. Josh Jackam-Mardon’s murder. The murder of small children for shock value is pretty gross. Especially since nothing was ever really done with it.

19. Barry’s PARENTS ARE DEEEEAAAAD! (Okay, it’s really just his mom, but still. This is a very frustrating retcon, since originally his parents were alive and well until after his own death.)

20. Albert Desmond was Barry’s jerk coworker; which never impacted the plot or led to anything. As a result, it’s just another frustrating retcon.

21. Sam Scudder murdered someone before becoming the Mirror Master. Yet another Johns retcon that never went anywhere and only serves to darken the Silver and Bronze Age stories after the fact.

22. Flashpoint (a decent story) wiped out a whole bunch of characters I really liked from existence for several years. Evan McCulloch’s still not back.

23. Giving the Rogues metahuman powers doesn’t suit them, on the whole. They work better without them.

24. Roy’s second pointless, brutal death in (I think) Forever Evil.

25. IT WAS MEEEEE, BARRY! After serving as the main villain for like six arcs in eight years, I’m glad that Eobard finally seems to be getting a rest. The level of bad things he was responsible for was getting ridiculous.

26. Sam/Lisa. WHY? (The only time it even kind of worked was in Forever Evil.)

In terms of entire storylines I didn’t like:

1. The Flash: The Most Terribly Written Man Alive. Poor Bart is aged up with no adequate explanation, loses all the traits that made him a likeable character, fights some awful villains, and then is murdered by the badly OOC Rogues. Meanwhile, Inertia goes from an at least somewhat sympathetic villain to a complete psychopath with little explanation, a murder is retconned into one of Captain Cold’s reformed periods, the Pied Piper and the Trickster completely forget that they’re supposed to be reformed, Abra Kadabra inexplicably teams up with the Rogues despite generally being a solo operative, and all of the Rogues act like total morons, willingly following a teenage speedster for no adequately explained reason. UGH.

2. Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Even though Piper and Trickster were probably the best part of Countdown, that isn’t saying much. Both of them are uncharacteristically stupid (especially James), and James is a grade-A jerk to Piper for no reason. Also, both of them continue to forget that they reformed, and then James gets brutally murdered and Piper almost loses his mind. Also, the other Rogues cameo, and continue to act like idiots. Countdown: it really does ruin everything it touches.

Superboy Prime will kill you! He’ll kill you to DEATH! And after you read Countdown, you’ll wish he had killed you to death.

3. The Identity Crisis Tie-In Retcon: So, you know all that awesome character development the Rogues have had over the years? Well, forget all that, because it was all just Roscoe brainwashing them! Which was something he could definitely do before this story! And why did he do this? Why, because Barry Allen, one of the most upstanding men in the DCU, brainwashed him! Also, apparently, the Top had a huge bodycount that we never heard about back in the Bronze Age, because we need even MORE grimdark retcons for our cheerful Silver/Bronze Age history! I like Geoff Johns’ work, I really do....but BOY HOWDY does he need to lay off on the retcons sometimes.

4. Identity Crisis: With the exception of Owen’s introduction and the establishment of the relationship between him and Digger, this story was pretty awful all around. More specifically, as far as the Flash was concerned, it was responsible for Digger’s second pointless death. It also killed off poor Jack Drake and poor, mistreated Sue Dibney, who deserved MUCH better. And the Justice League, including Barry, are A-OK with brainwashing, apparently. Comics are fun!

These last two stories are pretty recent, and they did have some parts I liked, but on the whole I felt they also belonged on the list.

5. The Trickster finally returns! Hurrah! Except it turns out that he’s way more like the Joker now than he ever was before, and he mind-controls the city in a super-creepy way. A very disappointing return for the character, especially since it was set up really well.

6. Forever Evil: Captain Cold becomes a murderous dictator with a stupid Santa Beard, all of the Rogues get horrible costumes, and Sam completes his mutation into Evan-in-all-but-name. There are some good characters bits in the story (even for Cold), but on the whole, I found the story to just be unlikeable and depressing and thought Cold was pretty out-of-character. Poor Commander Cold....

So, what are your least favorite Flash storylines and plot ideas?

#flash comics #flash rogues #dc comics

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orionares · 3 years

Text

BTHB: Comatose- Part 2

A/N: Don’t have a title yet. Here’s part 2. =] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She dreams of possibilities.

These possibilities had been buried in the back of her mind a decade ago into the category of ‘broken dreams’ when her partner had disappeared. The particular possibility crossing her mind is a new one, spurred by the day she had jogged away from him with her son in tow on a snowy afternoon.

Noah’s fifteen, tall and lanky with his reddish brown curls, standing with a group of teenagers in matching shirts, black pants and tap shoes. He grins ear to ear with his troop as parents in the audience cheer for an encore.

In this possibility, she’s standing in the second row, clapping and letting tears of pride run down her cheek. Her not-so-little boy has fought like hell for this moment. An arm wraps around her waist and pulls her close to the only person outside her son who has a piece of her heart.

"You did good."

She laughs at the compliment from her once again partner and rests her hand against his cheek. "We did good!”

Her once again partner’s blue eyes sparkle with admiration and love that she’d gone ten years without seeing. In this possibility, they move fluidly as they had before as partners but with a new level of intimacy.

“This isn’t real,” she whispers, barely audible over the cheering and his attention turned towards her son. She knows she shouldn’t lose herself in this possibility.

But this possibility is free of saving the world from predators, abandonment issues, lingering fears of the pandemic and pain. And she’s emotionally exhausted.

So maybe she can stay a while.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elliot’s woken by a kick to his chair leg.

Expecting Bell and a well needed cup of coffee, Elliot opens his eyes to a blonde haired, blue eyed woman looking extremely unimpressed at the sight of him. The woman had been in Olivia's office, leaving her likely to be one of her detectives.

"Get up," the blonde commands with a southern drawl. Rollins or Rowan, he guesses as her last name from a foggy memory, turns away from his makeshift cot and gives a lingering sad look towards the unconscious Olivia. She huffs out a breath and returns her attention back to Elliot, saying, “Let’s go for a walk.”

"Do I get a choice-" Elliot stops mid question at the I freaking dare you glare very similar to Olivia’s. Ignoring the sudden urge to smile in reminiscence, he coughs and swings his legs off the chair serving as the foot of his 'bed' and tweaks his question," What can I do for you, Detective…"

"Rollins, Amanda Rollins," she finishes. "First off, I don’t like you, Stabler. I don’t like how you up and disappeared without a word for a decade,” Amanda continues as she ignores Elliot’s pained expression. She notices Elliot's flinch at the mention of his disappearance. "Come on. I don't have a lot of time."

Elliot takes a beat to read Amanda- she holds onto a coffee tightly as its a lifeline, wears a grey sweater and black slacks with a small stain likely to be from a marker near her knee.

"Are you a parent?" Elliot probes. Standing elicits a yawn and a useless stretch to fight his tight, aching muscles.

Amanda's expression lightens briefly for the briefest moment. "Two girls. Captain's the godmother for both my girls. Let's head to the garden and chat. Come on.”

------------------------------------------------------

Manhattan is grey and unusually cool for a summer day in July. The hospital's garden has only a handful of visitors that scatter throughout the stone garden. Elliot instinctively scans every face he sees for any ties to Wheatley, even with Richard Wheatley sitting in a jail cell. Amanda leads the way to black steel bench and sits, giving him ample space to sit.

"So why’d you leave her?" Amanda asks as Elliot lowers himself onto the bench. She avoids his anxious look by eyeing the lukewarm coffee in her hands.

"It's complicated-"

Amanda scoffs before taking a sip of her coffee. She fidgets in her seat briefly before leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. "That's bullshit."

Elliot runs a hand over the back of his neck and sighs. He replays bits and pieces of his conversation with Noah in his head whispers he fishes for the most diplomatic answer to say. Amanda narrows her eyes at the silence before snapping, "You broke her trust, you know that? My old partner, Nick Amaro, had to double our efforts to gain Olivia’s trust because of you!"

"I know, " he answers weakly. The weeks after landing in Rome are a blur, thanks to alcohol and sleepless nights. "I can't imagine. "

"No, you can't."

The silence that follows is thick between them. The blonde haired detective stares straight ahead with a small white dove statue surrounded by colorful peonies. She takes a long sip of her coffee and mutters, “She’s been through a lot in the last ten years- things that…”

Elliot flinches. Among the suspicious glances of the infamous rogue detective, he’s heard whispers and vague references of “with all she’s been through” whenever he’s been within arm’s reach of Olivia.

“Did something-” the question that’s been buried between his grief for Kathy and hatred for Richard Wheatley spills out, “-did- what happened?”

Amanda finally turns her head to meet Elliot’s eyes. He can read hesitancy in her eyes to trust the man that abandoned Olivia. He also reads a desire to either punch him in the face or shoot him that he’s seen from Fin, the young dark haired officer he met briefly in Olivia’s office, the ADA and oddly, Chief Garland.

“It isn’t my story to tell,” Amanda replies carefully. “There’s actually multiple stories but the big one is something you need to hear from her. Look, Stabler- I’ve only heard bits and pieces about you and Liv and I want to say that I trust her judgement.”

Elliot pushes past his mind already fervently making a plan to scour his ex-partner’s file once he’s back upstairs. A lone raindrops hits his cheek, warning a need to go inside and an end of their conversation. “I’m not going anywhere. I-I’m not- I can’t lose her again.”

Amanda rises to her feet and tosses her empty coffee cup into the black garbage bin next to the bench. With a quick glance to her cellphone screen, she sighs, “Stabler, don’t screw this up, ok?”

He unconsciously fidgets with his wedding ring and only nods in response. There's a never ending list of screw up he carries in the back of his mind where Olivia and Kathy sit.

Two women, lives affected by his indecision.

"Stabler?"

Elliot glances up to Amanda who hasn't moved from where she stands. She sighs before stating ,"William Lewis. He's the big one."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You got a good group of detectives," are the first words Elliot stammers fifteen minutes later once he's back alone with Olivia. "I met Amanda Rollins and she's tough. I like her."

He can imagine her nodding in acknowledgement at the comment with pride. Instead, the heart monitor continues to beep steadily. "She mentioned that things happened while I was gone, "he pauses as his guilt once more bubbles up," Bad Things."

Elliot lowers his head into his hand. "Liv, if I'm being honest, there's a selfish part of me that doesn't want to know. I want to live in a world where- I'm terrified of what I'll find."

Although he had never told her, the near rape at Seaview Corrections Facility had forever seared a permanent place in his mind. He's eternally great full for Fin's save but the could have's sitting in his mind, flaring up with every glance or comment by a suspect-

"I don't…." Elliot pulls his cellphone out of his jacket pocket and notices how much heavier the object feels. "William Lewis- did he try to kill you? Did he ra-"

He cant even finish the sentence before he chokes back a sob. "If he...I shouldn't have left!"

The image of her shifting in her seat, her brown eyes shifting from item to item in her surrounding in a tact to prepare herself comes to mind. Elliot reaches out to brush his hand against her right hand resting on her stomach in an unconscious attempt to comfort her.

And if he's honest- himself.

With two quick inhales, Elliot opens the NYPD database on his cellphone and maneuvers to case search. He sneaks another glass to her before typing William Lewis in the search bar. When a dark haired, empty-eyed man appears, Elliot flinches.

September 25, 2013

January 8, 2014

April 30th, 2014

"Christ," Elliot mutters.

Three different dates.

Three separate incidents.

Less than one year.

The detective readies himself to open the file before his guilt, now running rampant in his mind, flashes a memory of what he had been doing in September 2013.

Camogli.

He had finally slipped into some form of normalcy with his family and had gone to the quaint fishing town on the coast of Italy.

Elliot takes one more glance at his unconscious partner- ex-partner - and opens the file on William Lewis.

And cries.

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She now dreams of Elliot in a jail cell.

He's sitting on a silver bench, leaning forward with an elbow on a bouncing knee. She can see his knuckles to be bloodied and torn and follows the trail of dried blood running up his arms to the bloodied dress blue shirt.

"El," she calls out. Her eyes droop even as she stands on four days of food and sleep deprivation. "You didn't-" the words spill out, "You didn't have to kill him."

There's an emptiness in his eyes that shares space with the lack of regret. "I had to. Lewis hurt you."

Wait- realization comes in dread. Elliot's never been arrested, she's never found him bloodied and bruised in this state and overall, when it comes to William, Lewis- he wasn't there.

She staggers back into the wall.

This isn't right- he wasn't this isn't a memory or a blissful possibility now that he's home.

No, this is 2013 and he's killed William Lewis.

No. This isn't right at all.

#bensler #olivia benson #elliot stabler #law and order svu #bad things bingo #bad things happen bingo

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ultrahpfan5blog · 3 years

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Reflecting on Superman and Lois season 1

Now that the season is over, its interesting to look back at a very stop start season. Its very difficult for a show to hold your interest with the type of scheduling problems this show had, and in its very first season. When the show was announced, I wasn't terribly surprised but I was also not overly excited. There has been a lot of Superman and Superman adjacent material that has come out before and after the announcement so I did wonder about what they could do new. In addition, while I certainly liked Tyler in his guest appearances in Supergirl, in Elseworlds, and in Crisis, he did feel like the inferior Superman in Crisis when he was opposite Brandon Routh's Superman who really looked and felt like Superman, even better than he did in Superman Returns. However, once the trailer dropped, I was sold. It was clear that the show was going for something a lot more cinematic and a lot more grounded than the previous Arrowverse shows. I did have some apprehensiveness over the teenage boys angle because teenagers can become very stereotypically irritating in shows and given that a good chunk of time was going to be dedicated to them, it was going to be vital for them not be so.

Having finished the season, I have to say that the execs and the writers have pulled off an excellent first season. I don't think I would call it the best season 1 in the Arrowverse. I still love The Flash season 1 over any other Arrowverse season and while I haven't seen it in a while, I love Arrow season 1 as well. This may come at 2nd or 3rd place based on further reflection. I do think its has some issues when it comes to the villain storyline and with the big action set pieces, but the film's heart is set at the right place and the characters are all very likable and you want to see conversations between the characters. That's when you know that the writers are doing a good job when you almost feel that the show should go back to the character moments.

Firstly, the idea of a matured Superman is what works wonderfully well. There is something wonderful about seeing Clark and Lois as a couple who have known and loved each other for over a decade. Closer to two decades I guess. Characters don't quite look their age tbh. Lois would have to be in her early 40's at least. But I can honestly overlook that. Bitsie and Tyler were already a very likable couple in Elseworlds and the show has just used that natural chemistry to brilliant effect. But the big relief was that Jordan Elsass and Alex Garfin are excellent as Jonathan and Jordan. I was initially a little worried that Jordan could be a little much, but both of them were excellent and one of the highlights of the season was the bond between the two brothers. Jordan and Jonathan have conflicts but they are brothers and they love and support each other unconditionally.

Jonathan could have so easily been the douchey, jealous brother but Elsass is honestly one of the mvp's of the season. You really care for Jonathan, even though he arguably has a slightly less meaty role in the story. I think Bitsie Tulloch is outstanding all season. She has shot up very high among all my favorite Lois Lanes. She's very different from the other versions and that makes her stand out. One of my favorite episodes was episode 8, which deals with Lois dealing with memories of her miscarriage along with almost losing Jonathan. She is excellent in that episode as is Elsass. Tyler is wonderful throughout. He's a strong Superman but his Clark is even more endearing. Little things like him being so psyched for the Harvest Festival, how he plays young Clark in flashbacks as someone distinctly different, him meeting Lois and working with her for the first time, the adorable "my mom made it" moment when Superman first saves a kid etc... He just embodies everything you know and love from the character. Wole Parks is another terrific addition. Initially you think he's an alternate version of Lex Luthor but it was genius idea to have him actually be John Henry Irons. There was something innately likable about him even when he was fighting Superman and we thought he was Lex. I loved how they handled the dynamic of being Lois' husband in another world and having a daughter. It makes for an interesting dynamic but it never gets into problematic territory because he is mature enough to know that this Lois isn't his Lois, but they also show his difficulty in dealing with that. I liked the bond he seemed to be forming with Jonathan. And I liked how he came along to be an ally with Superman.

The Cushings are ok. They play an important part in the season with Sarah Cushing being Jordan's love interest and Kyle being a big part of the how the villain story begins, with Lana also being a major character in the story. All three actors are excellent but Kyle does have the stereotypical doucheyness which was a little annoying for the first 10 episodes, however he does redeem himself in the final arc. I hope Lana gets to be a bit more active in the show because she does feel like a bit passive as a character. However, I did find that Sarah and Jordan romance actually pretty cute. Both actors did a nice job making them feel like awkward teenagers, dancing around their feelings for each other. Sam Lane is another character who starts out pretty unlikable but I warmed up to him by the end.

Where I think the show doesn't really work at full strength is the superheroic aspect of the show. The character drama in the show is great. I think it works gangbusters. The superhero plot of it all is a little meh. While Adam Rayner is perfectly fine as Edge/Tal-Rho, as a character he's just not that interesting. There is an interesting perspective there that he's sort of a mirror image to Clark where he got mistreated by people when he landed on Earth and that is how his worldview shaped that way, and he longed for family, but there isn't enough done on a character level with him. As a result, the last third of the season was a little iffy. The whole, build Krypton on Earth felt like a variation of Zod's plot in Man of Steel. The method is different but the eventual outcome is the same. I also don't know why all Kryptonians, apart from Lara, are homicidal maniacs, when they are said to be a peaceful race. The arc also becomes repetitive because there are like three climaxes. And I feel the finale was the weakest climax of the lot. Episode 10 or 12 would have served as better finales with a little tweaking. If I remember correctly, the original order was for 13 episodes and it got extended to 15, so this might be an explanation to why it feels this way. The action is fairly by the numbers. While it looks like there is clearly more money on display here than say for Supergirl or The Flash, the action scenes aren't particularly exciting or inventive.

While I am not super high on the finale, I am mostly happy with how things wrapped up. I think they should have had Tal-Rho die tragically because I really don't think he's interesting enough to be brought back again. The arrival of Natalie Irons will surely be a source of some emotionally charged scenes. i hope there is some character bonding between the her and the brothers. Jonathan seemed pretty interested in meeting her when he saw videos of her. I do wonder how the show will continue to incorporate Smallville as a setting. Season 1 obviously had a very specific plot based reason to be in Smallville, given Edge's plot was based in Smallville. But I can't imagine every big bad will have Smallville based plot. But the characters are all settled in Smallville, with the Cushings and Lois buy half the Gazette and running it with Christy. So that's going to be an interesting balancing act that they have to do. I hope they can bring in some traditional superheroics as well because Superman rogues gallery is rich enough. Out of the episodes, I think 6-8 were my favorites, and the flashbacks in episode 11 were incredibly charming. While the season is not flawless I don't think it completely nailed the superheroic heights that it was aiming for, it was a really entertaining season of tv. An 8/10 for me.

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night-unfurls-its-splendour · 3 years

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The Critique of Manners Part IV

~Or~

A Very Amused Review of Emma (1972)

One doesn’t really know where to begin with this one. I’ve watched a few of these 70’s/80’s period drama adaptations, but I’ve never written a review for one. I think the tricky thing is it doesn’t feel fair to judge them against more recent adaptations because the approach and quality are so very different to modern television making.

But people do. I’m sure it’s different for people who grew up watching these, who are just used to them and their objectively terrible, stagey quality and can look past that particular weakness on the sheer power of nostalgia.

So I’m going to try and find a middle-ground here where I ignore the stagey and obviously dated aspects and judge it primarily on its value as an adaptation – is it faithful to the book?

Let’s dive in.

Cast & Characterization

Normally I would start with Emma and Knightley but this time I’m gonna switch it up a bit and do them last because… well we’ll get there in a bit.

Let’s start instead with Mr. Woodhouse. I have to say, I kind of like this take. The 1996-7 and 2009 adaptations all kind of went for the same type of older man: a bit stout, or in Michael Gambon’s case… however you would describe Michael Gambon. With Donald Eccles, however, this version goes for a rather more frail looking Mr. Woodhouse; in fact to compare him to any recent Mr. Woodhouse, I suppose he comes closest to Bill Nighy (although the general characterization is of course very different.) He’s a ridiculous but lovable soul who seems always, of course, worried about his own health and comfort, but in his own selfish way, concerned for his friends and family as well. My only complaint is that maybe they over-utilized him.

I thought the casting of a plump Mrs. Weston (Ellen Dryden) was an interesting choice, and definitely different from other versions. Her acting was actually really good too.

I wasn’t quite so pleased with the characterization of Mr. Weston, on the other hand. I have huge issues with this script vis-à-vis the men, but Mr. Weston and Knightley in particular. The problem with Mr. Weston is how he’s written as just verging on uncouth at some points. There are way too many rustic contractions here: “Ain’t I looking well too, Miss Emma?!’ “’Ark at that eh? The sly young rogue!” “Oh I think it looks tolerably gay and festive, don’t it?” and then just throwing himself back on the grass and chortling when Emma makes her fateful Box Hill faux pas? Like, what the hell? I’m not saying he shouldn’t use a few casual contractions (“How d’you do?” for example) but he seems almost like a positive country bumpkin and I don’t think it’s appropriate; he doesn’t talk like that in the book and I’m just all-around not here for it.

Constance Chapman, a well-respected character actress of the time was cast as Miss Bates, while Molly Sugden, of Are You Being Served? fame was WASTED in the bit-part of Mrs. Goddard. If you ask me, they should have swapped this casting, since I think Sugden, an outstanding comedienne, could have done so much more with the Miss Bates role than the usual wittery-old-lady style chattering Chapman delivered.

Mr. Elton was played by Timothy Peters (Right) and was, eh, adequate. They did slime him up a bit by having him over-eagerly offer to fix Emma’s bootlace, which she points out isn’t entirely appropriate for a man to do, especially the vicar and it’s pretty funny; but other than that, he has all the appearance of being a pleasant young man, as Mr. Elton should – becoming less pleasant as the story progresses.

One John Alkin (left) played Mr. Robert Martin, and he, too, was adequate. There’s not much of him and, since Mr. Martin wasn’t one of those characters this version decided to approach more three-dimensionally, there’s not much to say about him.

Frank Churchill is… OMG IT’S PRINCE HARRY FROM BLACKADDER!

Ahem. Yes, Robert East (BETTER KNOWN AS PRINCE HARRY FROM BLACKADDER) plays a very agreeable (and smarmy, but not too smarmy) Frank. I think honestly this is as good as this part could get in the 70’s, although at 29 he was a little too old for the part.

John and Isabella, in an interesting (?) casting choice, were played by brother and sister duo, Yves and Belinda Tighe. I actually really liked Yves’s John Knightley (he’s actually one of the more handsome John’s, in a 70’s kind of way; for note-taking purposes I have nicknamed him “Not-Harrison-Ford”), but his sister as Isabella seemed kind of old and had just a really annoying voice. Also she doesn’t look at all like Doran Godwin, and Emma and Isabella are supposed to look somewhat alike.

The real casting stand out for me in this version is Fiona Walker as Mrs. Elton, although she too was a little old for her role, I’ve said before that there are no bad Mrs. Eltons (only bad accents) and she just absolutely nailed the insufferable chatter to a definitive standard (until the recent adaptations – 2009 onward).

I did however, get the feeling in this version that they kind of wrote in a through-line where Mrs. Elton is putting the moves on Mr. Knightley (to the point where they actually wrote out Mr. Elton from scenes he should be in) which was one of those unnecessary deviations which made me raise an eyebrow and also was just… weird.

Now my question is – why do all of the young women in this series kind of look like evil dolls?

Debbie Bowen, from a strictly book accuracy perspective is one of the most accurate Harriet Smiths I’ve seen – in fact we don’t get another this accurate (to my way of thinking) until Louise Dylan in 2009, who fits roughly the same model (fair and shapely). Its Bowen’s acting I don’t like, but I know that in the 70’s, this kind of simpering acting for this kind of character was just unavoidable. It was the style at the time, so I’m cutting her a break critically; but the performance just doesn’t cut it for me.

This Jane Fairfax (played by Ania Marson) is not my favorite interpretation of this character. At first I thought she was going to be alright, but in her first scene she bursts out and actually shouts in frustration at her chattering aunt (which she has some basis for, I’ll admit, since Miss Bates, in her muddle-headed way, could very well have unwittingly spilled the beans about Jane and Frank) but this is far more feeling than we should even have a hint of from Jane at this point. The whole reason Emma doesn’t like Jane (other than the fact that Emma is an attention whore and Jane steals her thunder by being so admired and accomplished) is because she’s timid and demure and reserved.

But the biggest problem I have with this Jane is that she can’t even fucking sing. I know they write it away as her having a sore throat (Which I think is a pull from a different part of the book?) but this was just egregiously bad to me. This is the only time in the series they show Jane singing so it’s never actually established that Jane really is more accomplished than Emma (although they don’t show Emma herself singing or even playing at all either.) Could the actresses just not sing well so they decided to write around it? You could have dubbed it; you had that technology in the 70’s!

OK. Now it’s time to talk about Doran Godwin. I’ve never seen her in anything else so I don’t know if it’s just that she can’t act, but I have no idea what she was going for with this portrayal of Emma, and this is something so consistent and unique to her that I, for once, can’t justify blaming it solely on the director because you can’t direct crazy-eyes. They just happen; and they happen A LOT in this series.

I’ve struggled to find the words to sufficiently describe my feeling about Doran Godwin’s facial expressions and her acting in this adaptation. In my ribbon rating notes I think I describe her as a “witchy automaton”? I stand by it. Every time she talks to someone her eyes go very wide and she sort of looks like she’s trying to hypnotize everyone in Highbury. The effect is just absolutely inhuman. I never thought I’d ever see anyone with more patently crazed Crazy-Eyes than Timothy “Crazy-Eyes” Dalton – but man, Doran “Hypno-Witch” Godwin just stole the prize. Perhaps she escaped from the set of a Doctor Who? telling of the story where Miss Woodhouse has been replaced by an android.

You have scenes such as this in episode 2 , where Harriet is trying to get Emma to acknowledge Mr. Elton calling after them as they walk past the vicarage, and Emma ignores her by mechanically continuing to talk, looking straight ahead with laser focus. Of course, Emma is intentionally ignoring Harriet because she wants Mr. Elton to follow them, but that wasn’t quite apparent to me until the end of her ramble – which I had assumed she was forced to complete due to some directive in her programming. I have more to say on her characterization, but we’ll get to that in a dedicated section of the review.

John Carson might actually be one of the better Knightley’s, but I’m sorry – at 45 he was just too old. This is something you can play around with in other characters (Mr. Weston and Miss Bates after all, have no stated ages in the book) but not only do we know how old Mr. Knightley is in the book, they state in the show that Emma is 21 (Doran Godwin was actually 28) and that Mr. Knightley is sixteen years older than her – 37 or 38 – and John Carson is CLEARLY no 38. This obviously-over-forty appearance does have an effect on how I view his banter with Emma, and it’s more avuncular than the older-brother feel that Mr. Knightley and Emma should have.

Whether by direction or actor’s choice, Carson’s Mr. Knightley speaks in a way that just doesn’t feel period to me. He has a very sort of 20th Century, stock British, hearty-good-fellow manner, that dates this adaptation pretty badly and feels old-fashioned (but not in a Regency/Georgian way) even in the 70’s.

Sets & Surroundings

Normally at this point in the review I would talk about the British manor houses and estates used and how they measure up to the book descriptions but the publicly funded BBC ran on a much tighter budget in the 70’s (apparent in the production values and number of obviously bad takes that they just decided to leave in, in everything they made) and as such they couldn’t afford to film in and rent out large estates quite as much, so this has the trademark 70’s/80’s BBC sound-stage quality of all of their other productions of the period. That said, this production actually has some of the better sets I’ve seen and that’s saying something, for being made in the 70’s. The walls didn’t actually shake when doors were closed, and it didn’t feel as stagey as some other Austen serials of the time. (This doesn’t improve the very “on-cue” acting in the series, but I have to give credit where it’s due.) I believe they may used a real manor house for the exterior of Hartfield (and not a landscape pastel) and maybe some of the interiors too? I can’t say for sure, and I would love to tell you what house and where it is but I can’t find any credits on it. I’ll just say that I think it’s very suitable and leave it at that.

Costumes

Much like today, the BBC almost exclusively used, re-used and rented costumes for their period productions. Almost every costume in this series was also used in the 70’s and 80’s BBC productions of Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Pride and Prejudice (P&P being the overwhelming common denominator – almost every one of Emma’s evening dresses and pelisses was seen, primarily on Caroline Bingley.) Some of the shawls have been picked out in BBC Austens as recently as 2008.

For being made in the 70’s the costumes in this production are really kind of nice. They don’t date themselves too badly. The ones that do feel 70’s retro, in fact, were mostly styles borrowed from period accurate fashions that just happened to coincide with contemporary 70’s tastes, and which aren’t often used in Regency costumes today because, well they don’t coincide with our modern tastes. For the most part, they look well-made (although some of them do have that stiff, dingy polyester look to them and there are definitely some plastic pearls here and there).

I’m quite pleased with the silhouettes which don’t suffer from Square Bust/Boob Droop syndrome the way the 1980 P&P does. All of the assets seem to be lifted and shifted in the right places.

Daywear

I like Emma’s blue day dress the best of all her day-wear looks. It’s a rich color and has pleated cups (Also on her white day dress) which is a style I really love.

Emma wears the gauzy… let’s be kind and say ivory instead of “Yellowish” ruff during the day A LOT (Emma Pic 2). It’s a popular look on Jane Fairfax too (Jane Pic 2) and I just… I don’t like it. Not that it’s not period appropriate (because it unfortunately is) it just makes them look like Dr. Seuss characters to me, especially worn with short sleeves which is something these dramas do a lot and I hate it. It just makes the person in question look very awkwardly disproportionate to me, especially because. if they had long sleeves to go with it (which would be more correct from a historical authenticity standpoint) it would even it out so much better. Compare Jane and Emma to see what I mean. The single layer ruffle (Emma Pic 1) is much more agreeable to me. (I wanna point out that Jane wears the same green dress without any partlet or undersleeves for strawberry picking at Donwell, which is blatant Eveningwear-For-Daywear™ and looked really out of place since everyone else was wearing day-appropriate attire).

Emma’s wider, cuffed, long sleeves and Mrs. Elton’s puffy segmented Renaissance sleeves are exactly what I mean about period accurate styles that suit the 70’s in a way that they just don’t jive today. Even Harriet gets some.

Mrs. Elton Orange ™ is another crayon color Crayola should consider I think.

Harriet gets stuck with a lot of brown outer wear but her day clothes are otherwise pretty nice. I especially like the ivory and blue number (Bottom right) and her white day dress with blue accents (Top right) which I think is the nicest thing she wears in this whole series.

Evening Wear

Emma’s evening wear confines itself pretty exclusively to cool purples and blues except for her white ball gown. I find this interesting because other versions tend to dress Emma in warmer colors and pinks (As I’m very partial to purples and blues, I love all of them). I can’t say it’s inconsistent with Emma’s cold characterization in this version. Mrs. Weston’s evening gowns are uniformly amazing. I especially love her blue party dress, which is my favorite in the series.

Both of Harriet’s party dresses are characteristically pretty and girlish. The pink is a bit fussy for me but I love the blue one (which has a lot more detail but I couldn’t get a full length shot of it.)

I’m pleased that Jane is given a bit of a break from the Jane Fairfax Blue ™ trope with her evening wear. She has one light blue evening gown and gets a few green numbers, most notable being her mint ball gown. Her beige party dress is absolutely tragic though.

Mrs. Elton’s evening color seems to be chartreuse (Which I think was also the case in the ITV version? ITV fans back me up.) Her black overlay/spiky number is iconic of the Austen Bad Girl, but her ball gown is a bit disappointing in its simplicity to me.

I would love to have seen a full length shot of Isabella’s black and purple number because I have a suspicion THAT would have been my favorite but I just can’t make out enough detail on it.

Zig-zag patterns on the skirt are a huge theme in this version, which is so of the period. Mrs. Cole (shout out to another future Are You Being Served? familiar, Hilda Fenemore) looks straight out of a fashion plate in her dark green party dress, which has (drumroll please…) a padded hem!

Outerwear

This version has SO MANY PELISSES AND REDINGOTES. Are they all nice? No. No they are not; I particularly hate Emma’s fugly salmon number that she wears for Strawberry picking/Box Hill. Mostly because she looks SO over-dressed compared to everyone else who’s wearing loose fitting light clothes (except Jane, who’s wearing an evening dress). Just looking at her makes me hot. I’m also NOT a huge fan of her pink winter cloak. The one trimmed with… faux ermine? One can only assume. It looks awfully tacky.

That russet pelisse tho! This is one of my all-time favorites. It’s SO. PRETTY and so detailed (See this number on Jane in P&P ’80). I think her gray fur-trimmed pelisse is pretty fabulous too, but I do not like the hat she wears with it. The brim is kind of a funky shape to me.

I know I’ve criticized brown before, but I do like it in moderation and this version is astonishingly brown-free for being made in the 70’s, so I really like her red/brown velvet spencer, especially with the cream dress and gloves, and her hat has some amazing decoration.

Jane and Mrs. Weston are the only other characters who get pelisses/redingotes. I’m not a fan of Mrs. Weston’s fuchsia number, and while I like Jane’s, it does put itself solidly in the Jane Fairfax Blue™ category.

Harriet gets pretty much only one form of outer-wear, her brown school cloak (a different brown school cloak from the one in the ‘97 version, in case you were wondering) and while it’s pretty dull, it’s hardly unexpected. Here it is paired with her rather ugly blue bonnet, with yellow ribbon. The bonnet features heavily in this episode.

To be honest for the most part I totally forgot about the…

because a lot of it is very standard. No dandy standouts here, but overall it’s pretty okay and I’m really pleased to say that there are no bib-cravats. That’s not usually so much a problem in Regency Era stuff (Since ruffles were going out at around this time), but you can really distinctly see that the ruffles (where ruffles there are – usually on older men which is good) are part of the shirt and distinctly separate from the cravat. Also there are LOTS of high collars and they’re not comically high to the point where they get wrinkled, like they were in Emma. (2020), so points for that also. These are the screencaps I gathered going back over it for posterity.

Mr. Knightley doesn’t really get a lot of cool outfits. His best is his purple velvet evening jacket which somehow manages to not look ostentatious (but is his only dress jacket), and his gold-topped Prussian boots (which you should just be able to see bottom right.) The worst though… I’m sorry, (looks up costumer’s name) Joan Ellacott – do you really expect me to feel the weight of Emma’s cock-ups when Mr. Knightley is rebuking her in such a cartoonishly proportioned top hat? It’s like being scolded by the Mad Hatter. All of the men’s hats are pretty flared in this series too, and I’m not totally sure but, I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that flared top hats are not right for this period?

I think Mr. Weston only has one day outfit (which, in keeping with his characterization is pretty farmer-chic) and one evening outfit. Frank’s dark green day-jacket is a pretty standard look on him and I don’t think we get a fresh look until his fabulous blue jacket/yellow waistcoat combo that he wears for Strawberry Picking/Box Hill. I believe his evening jacket is also dark green but it was tough to tell. Again I think he has only one set of evening-wear. I would expect Frank to have more, since he’s such a dandy.

Mr. John Knightley doesn’t have much to write home about in terms of evening kit, but DAYUM, his blue traveling coat is DOOOOOPE.

Let’s Talk Script

This adaptation was directed by John Glenister and Dramatized by Denis Constanduros.

Now I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews for this on IMDB calling it the… let’s see here… “The best Emma I’ve ever seen” and “The most true to the novel”… *Takes off spectacles and sighs heavily* I’m afraid I have to disagree. Several people also really love Doran Godwin’s Emma (We’ve already gone over why I don’t, and I have also seen reviews that name her and her lack of charisma as the main sticking point preventing them from really enjoying it, so I’m not alone). I’ve also heard it described as “sensitively handled” “Intimate” and “The most faithful to the spirit of Austen” and so forth, and again maybe it’s that prejudice against the stagey production and… no there’s definitely some other reason I have a problem with this version.

Let me make this clear – I don’t totally hate it, and I’m not here to shame the people who really love this version. Once again – if this version gives you what you want from the story I think that’s great for you. I, myself, like it pretty well and I think it’s one of the better early BBC Austen serials. It’s certainly not boring; but I do want to go over some of the changes that were made and choices in the script.

Some of them aren’t really that egregious, but they’re annoying in that I think they didn’t need to be made and don’t really add anything. Characters being added to scenes where they didn’t need to be and written out of scenes where their presence was missed. Like writing Mr. Elton out of Box Hill (And really the whole second half of the series, to facilitate Mrs. Elton flirting with Knightley), and adding Miss Bates into the after-dinner scene, I think at the Randalls Christmas party? I’m sure this was done for expediency but you have six episodes. It’s not as though you’re strapped for time.

Particularly praised, as far as I’ve seen, is the scene at Christmas when Knightley and Emma make up after their argument over Harriet. It takes place in the nursery, which I suppose isn’t an unreasonable place for Emma to be fawning over her niece (in the dramatization she seems to have been feeding the baby, where in the book she is playing with her). The book doesn’t specify where the scene takes place, although I assumed it to be a downstairs room, and I’m not sure that it’s entirely appropriate for Emma and a man (even one connected to her family through marriage) to be alone in an upstairs room together with the door closed and no more chaperone than a baby. But in spite of this, perhaps inappropriate, level of privacy, the scene feels less intimate to me than the book, where in the course of the conversation, where Mr. Knightley takes the baby from Emma “in the manner of perfect amity” and holds her himself and it is very adorable and sweet. In the dramatization, Knightley sort of just stands next to Emma’s chair and leans down a bit. After this conversation in the book, John comes into the room to talk to George, while in the show Emma puts the baby in the cradle and they leave the room to go downstairs.

But there are more outstanding changes that just feel wrong to me. When confronting Emma about her meddling in Harriet’s response to Mr. Martin’s proposal, Constanduros changes “What is the foolish girl about?” to “What is the stupid girl about?” it’s not that big a change, but it makes Mr. Knightley sound unnecessarily mean.

I’ve already mentioned the, er, additions regarding Mr. Weston’s dialogue and Mrs. Elton, and Jane shouting at Miss Bates; but by far the biggest, worst additions were made with Emma. The worst, I think, is the handling of this scene in Episode 4 when Harriet is feeling heartsick following Mr. Elton’s marriage.

And for those of you who don’t wanna follow the link, here’s a transcription:

Emma: Now Harriet! Your allowing yourself to become so upset over Mr. Elton’s marriage is the strongest possible reproach you could make to me!

Harriet: Miss Woodhouse –

Emma: Yes it is! You could not more constantly remind me of the mistake I made, which is most hurtful!

Harriet: Oh Miss Woodhouse, it was not intended to be!

Emma: I have not said “think and talk less of Mr. Elton” for my sake, Harriet, because it is for yours I wish it. My being hurt is a very… secondary consideration, but please, please Harriet, do learn to exert a little more self-discipline in this matter.

Harriet: {Looks down} Yes, Miss Woodhouse.

Emma: We are all creatures of feeling; we all suffer disappointments, it is how we learn to suffer them that forms our character. If you continue in this way, Harriet, I shall think you wanting in true friendship for me!

Harriet: Oh, Miss Woodhouse! You, who are the best friend I’ve ever had? Oh what a horrid, horrid wretch I’ve been!”

Emma: Oh now Harriet – (She’s gonna console her now, right?)

Harriet: Oh yes, I have, I have!

Emma: Harriet, control yourself! (ha ha bitch, u thought) Now, you will tie your bonnet, and you are coming with me to call on Mr. And Mrs. Elton at the Vicarage…

Harriet: Oh, Miss Woodhouse –

Emma: Yes you are! And I’m sure you will find it far less distressing than you think.

Harriet: Oh, Miss Woodhouse, must I?

Emma: Yes, Harriet; but you may borrow my lace ruff if you wish.

Harriet: Oh may I, Miss Woodhouse? Oh, thank you!

(Look how evil she looks! She looks like she’s planning on baking Harriet into a pie!)

While this scene is in the book and much of the dialogue is also from the book, it’s the lines that were added that stick out to me. Emma does tell Harriet that her allowing herself to become upset over the Eltons is a reproach on Emma more than anything else and reminds her miserably of the “Mistake [Emma] fell into” but from this point, the script takes a left turn from the firm but kind appeal to Harriet to move on for both her happiness and Emma’s own comfort, to a far more manipulative strain.

Even after Harriet apologizes, she goes from simply appealing to Harriet to let herself move on, to basically telling her that she’s a bad friend. She treats Harriet like she’s unreasonable for feeling this way, where in the book Emma is very understanding and feels that “she could not do too much for her; that Harriet had every right to all her ingenuity and patience…” and only after Harriet goes all afternoon with Emma soothing her and no improvement in her spirits does Emma take any kind of reproachful tack whatsoever.

In this scene, Emma says that her own happiness is a secondary consideration (this is stressed much more in the book) but from the way she says it, it seems more like she just wants Harriet to shut up about it rather than actually meaning it. (This is a very prominent example of Emma’s not seeming to really like Harriet at all in this version, only tolerating her presence.)

AND THEN she does something which Emma in the book most certainly did NOT do and forces Harriet to come with her to visit the Eltons, as if to put her on the spot and test how good a little friend she will be. I can’t express how disgusted I am by the changes and interpretation here. This is the culmination of the general through-line of Emma’s manipulative characterization being taken to an extreme. She looms over Harriet sounding, by turns, like a school marm and a saccharine nanny. She’s like a (very) low budget version of Tilda Swinton as the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia.

My question about all of these changes is simply: Why? They don’t improve the story or the characters. They’re not big, but a lot of them just strike me as weird and unnecessary, but I guess there’s no accounting for artistic license.

Final Thoughts

So is it a faithful adaptation? I often find this a more complex question to answer for myself than one would think, since inflection and line delivery and even, at some points, intention behind what the characters say tends to be up to the interpretation of the person reading the book.

Is the dialogue faithful? Other than the many changes I’ve mentioned (and the numerous cuts and edits I didn’t – and besides no screenplay can be 100% faithful), for the most part yes.

Are the characters accurate to description / faithful in their portrayal – again this tends to be subjective and opinions vary. In my opinion, Emma is not. I’ve mentioned that Knightley is too old, and Emma not only seems more intentionally manipulative than I believe she’s meant to be, and also just does not seem 21. She acts and looks like a much older woman, especially when preaching at Harriet) but she’s also very gawky, and Emma is supposed to look very healthy and glowing.

So my book accuracy rating meets in the middle at a 4.5. It’s NOT the most faithful adaptation I’ve seen, nor is it the most fun or the most intimate, but it’s not totally a travesty either and there are good things in it, even with a robot witch playing the main lead.

Ribbon Rating: Tolerable (43 Ribbons )

Tone: 4

Casting: 5 (Witchy automaton Doran Goodwin plays opposite avuncular good-fellow John Carson. Fiona Walker stands out as Mrs. Elton.)

Acting: 5 (Doran Goodwin is by turns crazed and mechanical with some momentary touches of what might be actual emotion. Raymond Adamson way over-acts Mr. Weston as a hobbeldy-hoi, verging on uncouth.)

Scripting: 4

Pacing: 4

Cinematography: 4 (A bump up from the usual 1 or 2 for TV dramas of the time. Surprisingly less stagey than expected.)

Sets and Settings: 5

Costumes: 7 (Very clearly of the 70’s but drawing on perfectly accurate styles that jived well with contemporary taste)

Music: 1 (Plinky, poorly played piano music. Only used for intro and outro I think? Jane Fairfax can neither play nor sing.)

Book Accuracy: 5 (They changed a lot of small details. Lines are changed unnecessarily (Calling Harriet “Stupid” rather than “Foolish” – Why?) Mrs. Elton seems to have a thing for Knightley? People present when they shouldn’t be, others absent when they should be present, again without any apparent reason.)

#jane austen emma #jane austen #regency #period drama #costume drama #emma 1972

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myrandomfandomramblings · 3 years

Text

Madarcher fanfic

Over 2 years ago I decided to write a fic to explain all the apparent inconsistences in 7x10, especially in regard to the stage of Madarcher’s relationship. It didn’t really work and I’m not a great writer but I did end up with a pretty cute (and longer than intended – 4776 wds) fic detailing my version of how Madarcher (mostly Robin) spent the ~24 hrs before the curse. Complete with skinny dipping, proposal planning, some fun ideas of past adventures and a flashback to their first kiss. So I hope you enjoy!

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The Sun was just setting in the Enchanted Forest 2.0 turning the sky brilliant hues of pink and orange as Robin and Alice emerged from a crack in the trunk of a giant redcedar.

“See I told you Ancient Amy’s wardrobe would take us back to our realm,” Alice said gesturing to the woods around them.

“Aha, but what you failed to mention was that ancient Amy was a 20 ft long purple dragon that lived in a volcanic crater.” Robin retorted “And that to get there we would have to walk across lava fields for 6 hrs in 100 oF weather” she added, absentmindedly touching her sunburnt cheeks.

“Did I?” Alice replied shrugging her shoulders, before both girls burst into laughter.

They both knew Robin wasn’t actually mad, she was just tired. They both were and after 6 months of crazy adventures throughout the realms they were both happy to be home.

“Well the good news is now all we have to do is follow the river then turn left at the bridge and we’ll be home in 20 minutes,” Alice said grabbing her girlfriend’s hand and pulling her through the trees towards the sound of rushing water.

As they walked the sound became louder and in no time they were standing at the edge of a small gorge. About 40 feet below a river snaked its way along the gorge’s base and steam rose off small rock pools beside it. A little further upstream a beautiful three-tier waterfall ended in a large pool.

“Race you to the bottom!” Alice exclaimed as she let go of Robin’s hand and began traversing the steep slope. Robin was right behind her, sliding between trees and rocks until her cloak got snagged on a rogue root. By the time she had untangled herself and got to the bottom of the gorge Alice was already swimming in the pool at the base of the waterfall and her clothes and bag were hung on a nearby willow tree. Robin’s eyes traced the lines of Alice’s body taking in the scrapes, bruises, and scars that were like a map to all of Alice’s adventures many of which Robin accompanied her on. Although they had known each other for almost 7 years and had been dating for 5, though dating seemed too insignificant a word to accurately describe there relationship, Robin was still amazed by how lucky she was to love and be loved by such a beautiful women, both inside and out.

“Are you going to join me or just stand there and stare?” Alice teased splashing some water in Robin’s direction and pulling her out of her reverie. Robin quickly discarded her clothes, hanging them beside Alice’s then joined her love in the pool. The water was cold but it felt good on Robin’s hot skin and sore muscles. As Robin swam around she watched as dirt and grim flaked off her body and diffused into the water around her. Alice swam over to her and uncorked what looked like a wine bottle “Some Greener Cleaner?” Alice asked tipping it towards Robin.

“Yes please” Robin replied cupping her hands in front of her. A bright green liquid trickled from the bottle as Alice poured it into Robin’s outstretched hands. “Thanks,” Robin said as she began lathering her hair with the colourful liquid. Alice meanwhile had poured some for herself and began doing the same. The Greener Cleaner had been a Christmas present from Zelena, a homemade potion that served as soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. It could be used in water or when you were completely dry and would vanish after being applied, leaving you sparkling clean and moisturized while having no impact on the environment. Once both girls’ had washed their hair they began rubbing the greener cleaner down their arms and legs and over the rest of their bodies, relishing the feeling of nearly a week of accumulated dirt being removed from their skin.

“Want some help?” Alice asked laughing at Robin who twisted and turned trying to reach her back.

“That would be great, Thanks Al,” Robin replied as she turned her back towards the blonde.

“My pleasure,” Alice answered playfully as she ran her hands over her girlfriend’s back and down to her butt. “How’s that” she whispered into Robin’s neck Robin let out a short moan as she leaned back into the shorter girl. “Now there’s just one more place you missed,” Alice said mischievously before collecting a finger full of green foam from Robin’s arm and depositing it on the tip of her nose.Robin spun around as Alice jumped back giggling.

“Oh I’ll get you for that,” Robin teased collecting two handfuls of green suds and holding them high for Alice to see

“Not if I get you first,” Alice countered lobbing another glob of green at Robin. And then the pool filled with flying green foam and infectious laughter that echoed off the walls of the gorge. When the foam suddenly disappeared water became the weapon of choice. The young lovers splashed each other and attempted to drag or tackle the other under the water even though they were already completely soaked. The battle only ended when both sides were completely out of breath and their sides too sore from laughing to continue.

By this time the sun had disappeared behind a hill and the sky had turned to grey effectively dropping the temperature several degrees. The water once refreshing now just felt like ice, to Robin, seeping into her veins and bones. And when she looked at Alice she noticed her teeth were chattering and her lips were starting to turn blue. “Should we warm up a bit?” Robin asked pointing slightly downstream to the steam curling off the surface of a series of small pools beside the river.Alice just nodded locking hands with Robin as they made there way out of the pool and past the willow tree their clothes were hung on.

“I’m just going to put the greener cleaner away and grab something from my bag,” Alice said shivering, “I’ll meet you there,” she added pointing to the hot pool.

“OK,” Robin replied begrudgingly untangling their hands. Robin slowly made her way to the hot pool, clambering over rocks and making sure not to trip. By the time she got there she was shivering violently but that subsided quickly once she submerged herself in the warm water. This pool was much smaller than the first, about the size of a large bathtub. Robin laid down, leaning against the wall of the small pool, and closed her eyes letting the warm water caress her tired, achy body. She only opened her eyes when she heard Alice coming towards her. Robin could only make out her silhouette as the light was quickly fading but it looked like she was carrying something in front of her.

As she got closer Robin could make out a tray that was topped with grapes, apples, a baguette, a block of cheese, a stick of cured meat and a jar of marmalade ,as well as, some plates and cutlery. She also noticed that their canteens were draped over Alice’s shoulder. “Dinner is served,” Alice said as she placed the tray and canteens by Robin’s head “I didn’t have time to cut anything though,” she added shyly.

“It’s perfect!” Robin beamed reaching up a hand to help Alice into the pool. Once Alice was comfortably seated in the hot spring beside Robin they started on the food. The crazy adventures of the day had pushed food out of Robin’s mind but now that it was right in front of her she realized just how hungry she was and it didn’t take long until all the food was gone.

“Well that was delicious, thanks Towergirl” Robin said as she sunk deeper into the pool.

“You’re welcome, Nobin,” Alice replied sinking down beside Robin and leaning her head on the archer’s shoulder, “and thanks for a great adventure, It was definitely one of my craziest, I mean we almost died 13 ½ times, assuming you count that thing with the panflute, but it was a lot of fun with you by my side,” Alice finished, a large smile spreading across her face as she closed her eyes and nestled in closer to Robin.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else,” Robin replied kissing her girlfriend’s forehead. And after that adventure she was surer than ever that she wanted to be by Alice’s side for the rest of her life.

Robin had been intrigued by the ‘girl in the tower’ since Nook first started telling her stories about his special daughter. When she first met Alice she was amazed by her beauty, tenacity and optimism and by the end of that first day, Robin knew Alice was someone special that she wanted to be part of her life. And as they got to know each other Robin’s feelings for Alice just continued to grow. She had hidden them for a long time, using the delivery of Nook’s letters and anything else she could think of as an excuse to see Alice rather than admit the real reason she visited so often and risk loosing her best friend. Eventually, they had begun hanging out, just to enjoy each other’s company, no excuses necessary, but only in the context of best friends albeit with quite a lot of less than subtle flirting. Robin had debated telling Alice about how she felt at this point but between Alice’s frequent trips to other realms to run errands for Rumple or try to find a cure for her father and Robin’s own endeavours which regularly took her away from home she had decided the time apart would put to much strain on a new relationship. However, it was in these times apart that Robin realized just how much Alice meant to her. How much she missed her, longed for her and loved her.

Looking back now Robin was pretty sure she had been in love with Alice since the day they met but just hadn’t realized it until then and realizing just how strong her feelings were had made Robin determined to tell Alice when she returned from her travels. Alice must have been thinking along similar lines because a couple weeks later, that day came. It was Alice’s birthday, exactly two years since the day they met. Alice having just returned from her latest trip had knocked on the door of Emerald Acres Farm then waited, nervously pacing in circles, ringing her hands and rehearsing a speech under her breath: “Robin, two years ago I met you, you turned a bad day into a good day, and when you told me to make a wish I wished to spend more days with you… No… No…” Alice mumbled shaking her head “I’ve been on a lot of amazing adventures but the best has been getting to know you or they’re always better with you?” she shook her head again clearly still not happy with her words, “… and the thing is… I guess what I’m trying to say… I just want to tell you… I love you,” Alice sighed and stilled, her wheels turning, trying to find the right words, she was so focused on her thoughts she had completely forgotten where she was.

“I love you too,” came Robin’s voice from the doorway. Alice looked up in surprise. She was completely caught off guard having not heard the door open but when her gaze fell on Robin she immediately relaxed, a smile spreading across her face. The archer’s eyes were shining and a blush had covered her cheeks.

“I missed you, Nobin,” Alice teased as she stepped closer to the woman she loved. “I missed you too, TowerGirl,” Robin said laughing as a tear slid down her cheek. Alice took another step closer reaching up to wipe away the tear and then they were in each other’s arms and they were kissing and everything else melted away.

They had begun dating after that, within 6 months Robin was spending most nights at Alice’s unless they were on an adventure, which they nearly always went on together. In another 6 months they had moved Robin’s last few belongings still at Emerald Green Acres to their little cabin in the woods making their co-habitation official. By that time Robin had known that Alice was her forever but she had just always figured that they would make it official when they were ready to settle down, when they were no longer jumping between realms every other day, when they had time to plan a wedding, when they were ready to raise a family. But perhaps most importantly when they found a cure for Nook’s cursed heart so he could walk Alice down the aisle. However, this last adventure had made Robin re-evaluate these assumptions. In those moments where it seemed they were about to die, before they narrowly escaped, she was reminded that tomorrow is never guaranteed so she decided she didn’t want to wait any longer to make their love and life together official and ask Alice to marry her.

“There was certainly something extra special about this adventure, some of the scariest and happiest moments of my life” Robin added reflecting on her musings.

“I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get all of the stuff for Rumple without you. I was thinking we should probably bring it all to him tomorrow morning, then we can go see my Papa in the afternoon and have dinner with your Mom. I’m sure they’ll both be very happy to see us,” Alice said, tilting her head up slightly to look at her girlfriend.

“That sounds nice” Robin replied. But she was already starting to formulate a plan of her own. There were three things Robin needed to do before she could propose to Alice. 1) Ask Nook for his blessing. This seemed pretty old fashioned to Robin. Alice was a grown, independent woman who was more than capable of making her own decisions with or without her father’s approval, but Robin knew how much Alice’s Papa meant to her and how much he treasured her happiness and wished he could be more involved in her life. So, she figured they would probably both appreciate her sharing the plan with him first. Plus, he was hundreds of years old, or at least the Hook in Storybrooke where she grew up was. She wasn’t actually sure if the same was true of Alice’s Papa, but if it was he would likely favour the more traditional route. 2) Tell her mom. Robin knew that Zelena would be less than impressed if she heard such exciting news second hand and she was also hoping her mom might act as a sounding board to help her brainstorm some ideas and workout the logistics. 3) Get a ring (obviously). And most importantly, to maintain the surprise, Robin had to do all this without Alice finding out.

Robin had got so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even noticed that night had completely engulfed them. The sky above them was full of twinkling stars and a nearly full moon reflected off the nearby pool and provided enough light to softly illuminate their surroundings. The chirping of crickets and croaking of frogs filled the air accompanied by the occasional hoot from an owl somewhere deeper in the forest. The only other sounds Robin could hear were the running river and Alice’s slow, regular breathing as she slept soundly on Robin’s shoulder. Alice looked so peaceful and Robin hated to wake her, but she too was starting to nod off and was eager to get back to their cabin and sleep in their own bed. So, gently she nudged Alice awake and together they climbed out of the pool, collected the remnants of their dinner and retrieved their belongings from the willow. They each wrapped their cloaks around themselves like towels and crammed the rest of their belongings into Alice’s magical bag which had been gifted to her by Rumple and enchanted to fit anything without getting bigger or heavier. Then they walked in silence enjoying the smell of fresh forest air, the sound of nocturnal songs and the feeling of their hands intertwined together back to their little cabin where they swiftly threw on night gowns then climbed into bed and fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

Robin awoke the next morning to birds singing, just as the sun was beginning to rise. Beside her Alice was still fast asleep. As Robin watched her love’s chest steadily rise and fall, she began to plan her day. She wanted to get engaged as soon as possible. She didn’t want to wait any longer to commit to this amazing woman, to cement just how much Alice means to her. And she defiantly didn’t want to get whisked away on another dangerous adventure before she got the opportunity. Therefore, she had made up her mind. Today was the day to get all the logistics worked out so she could give Alice the super special proposal she deserved. The only problem was she had to come up with an excuse to be away from Alice, for the whole day.

Alice and Robin were rarely apart. When they were it was usually for no more than a few hours at a time. Their parents often joked about how they must be sick of each other, but they never were. Therefore, not only was it going to be hard to come up with a believable excuse but as Robin sat there watching Alice sleep the idea of being away from her all day was becoming less and less appealing. She knew that as soon as her girlfriend woke up and looked at her with those big blue eyes and grinned that dazzling smile Robin’s will power to leave would be all but vanished. So, determined to not be swayed Robin reached into the drawer of her bedside table to retrieve paper and a pen and began to compose a letter.

To my love, Alice,

I am sorry to leave you with only a note, but you looked so peaceful and after our last few months of adventure you definitely needed your rest, so I didn’t want to wake you. I had such a great time traveling the realms with you and I always enjoy spending time together, but I think after 6 months of being together 24/7 it would be good for both of us to have a little time to ourselves. Just one whole WHOLE day of not seeing each other. So, I’ve left to visit my mom then I will spend the rest of the day hunting and collecting food for us. You can take the items to Rumple and see your Papa or just enjoy your day. And I will meet you back here tomorrow at sunrise.

Robin reread the letter and it didn’t even convince herself. So, she continued to write.

I know this seems quite drastic, but I think it will be really good for us. So, please, please please, don’t try to find me. Under any circumstances. I will see you tomorrow at sunrise. NO SOONER, NO LATER.

All my love,

Robin

Robin reread it again. She didn’t like it. It was bossy and she worried even rude. And the explanation was lousy at best. However, she was at least convinced that it was persuasive and therefore it would ensure Alice heeded her directions and thus would provide her with the time and secrecy she needed. She was also certain she couldn’t come up with anything better. So, determinedly she got out of bed, got ready and headed to her Mom’s leaving Alice with a kiss on the forehead and the letter waiting for her on the table.

As Robin walked through the woods to her mother’s farm she began brainstorming ideas for her proposal. She could put the ring in a cupcake and surprise Alice on her Birthday: the anniversary of the day they met and two years later the day they started dating. But what if Alice swallowed the ring? Maybe not the best plan. She thought about trying to recreate the day they first met but being trapped in cages, chased by an angry mob of villagers and ultimately having to turn your first friend to stone didn’t seem very romantic. She considered planning something that involved their loved ones since family was so important to both girls but ultimately decided that between Nook’s cursed heart and Zelena’s flair for the dramatic that was just asking for disaster. She was just starting to think about something more lowkey like breakfast in bed (eating), followed by a hike (walking) to a nice picnic (more eating). Afterall, Robin was a big fan of food. When she realized she could see Emerald Acres in the clearing ahead. She had been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even realized how far she had come.

As Robin approached, she noticed her Mom was on the front porch, glaring at an object as she turned it over in her hands. Hearing Robin, Zelena looked up, a smile spread across her face and the item was quickly discarded into her pocket as she ran out the gate to hug her daughter. “I missed you too Mom,” Robin sighed as Zelena squished her in a bear hug. “How long have I been gone?”

As time moved differently in each realm this was always an important question to ask. One-time Alice and Robin had left right after breakfast, spent 5 weeks in Wonderland emptying Robin’s grandmother’s, the Queen of Heart’s, vault and returning all the hearts to their rightful owners, and were home in time for dinner the same day they left. While another time, they took a quick weekend trip to Oz to visit Ruby and Dorothy and when they returned, they had missed Christmas and both their parents’ birthdays.

“About 6 months,” Zelena replied, releasing Robin from her death grip.

“That’s about how long it was for us too.”

“Speaking of you two, is everything all right, where’s Alice,” Zelena questioned

“Everything’s fine Mom. Actually more than fine. That’s why I’m here alone, actually. I wanted to tell you that I’m going to ask Alice to marry me!”

“That’s fantastic” Zelena exclaimed as she smothered Robin into another hug. “All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy and I can see that Alice makes you happy.”

“She sure does,” Robin exhaled as she hugged her mom back.

“But for the record you don’t need an agenda to visit. You can come anytime simply to see the outstanding woman that birthed and raised you,” Zelena said releasing her daughter and stepping back to strike a pose.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Robin replied rolling her eyes, “But for know I could really use your help planning the proposal… ye of endless wisdom.”

“Of course. Where should we begin?” Zelena asked as she opened the front door and led Robin into the house.

Several hours of conversation covered the following. Summaries of what they had each been up to in the last 6 months. A number of overly extravagant proposal ideas from Zelena. Robin ultimately deciding to go with her more low-key idea from earlier and Zelena helping her pick the details to make it extra-special and coincidentally a lot less low-key. She decided on marmalade toast and tea for breakfast, Alice’s favourite. The hike idea got converted to a scavenger hunt to collect clues in the form of mementos and pictures from their time together. Each clue would have a letter on the back and when they are put in order would spell ‘Will you marry me?’ After all, Alice loves adventure and puzzles. Plus, this way their loved ones could be involved by each having a clue to give Alice. Robin wanted to spend the day with Alice and see all her reactions, so she was going to accompany her. She was going to present it as an anniversary/birthday present, early or belated. That was the thing about frequently being in different realms where time moved differently, you could pretty much celebrate anything whenever you wanted. The final clue would lead them to a picnic in a clearing where a board would be set up for Alice to organize the clues and reveal the hidden message and then they could star-gaze as a newly engaged couple. Once that plan was settled Robin casually mentioned needing to find a ring. Zelena responded to this by casually going outside and using her magic to pull up the biggest diamond Robin had ever seen, directly from Earth’s mantle. She then magicked it into a ring setting that she continued to change based on Robin’s feedback until Robin had the perfect ring for Alice. One last burst of green magic created a ring box which robin placed the ring inside before slipping it into her pocket. Years later in another realm Robin would find this box, ring still inside in the basement of Roni’s bar just in time for the curse to be broken.

Having completed tasks 2 and 3 on her list Robin set off to Nook’s but when she arrived, nobody was home. Although she had wanted to have everything ready for the proposal by the end of the day, during her conversation with her mom, she had realized her vision would take a little more time and planning. Therefore, she knew she would have another opportunity to talk to Nook. In fact, Robin was sure Alice would have a letter for her to take to Nook detailing their latest adventure in the next few days.

It was routine that when they returned home from an adventure, the first day back Alice and Robin would visit Nook. Alice would stand several meters away from Nook behind a tree and yell an approximately 3-minute summary of their adventure. Any longer or closer and Nook’s life would become endangered by his poisoned heart so they would say their I love yous and good-byes and a few days later Robin would return with a letter from Alice to her Papa about their latest adventure in glorious detail. So confident in her plan, Robin returned to her mother’s.

As she approached emerald acres farm a figure outside the gate triggered her nerves which were still frayed from 6 months of dangerous adventuring. This resulted in Robin firing a warning shot at the perpetrator who Robin was relieved to realize was her aunt Regina. Regina was quick to play the how old are you now game, their way of dealing with the inter-realm time differences. Sometimes Regina guessed close like today, 23 when Robin was 25 and sometimes, she just chose outrageous numbers. Robin and Alice spent so much time in different realms and missed so many birthdays she would actually be surprised if Regina was able to guess right if she tried. Robin was less happy to hear Regina’s news, which immediately made her worry about Alice. Zelena and Regina still loved to tease not only her and Alice but also Henry and Ella about their ‘young love’. ‘A love so pure and powerful it consumes all your thoughts and prevents you from thinking about anything else, or rationally at all,’ they liked to say. Whenever Robin was daydreaming and not listening to her mom and aunt or talking exclusively about Alice, they would say she had a case of young love. Robin ignored their teasing. She was pretty sure Alice would be at Rumple’s and wanted to immediately run there. However, Regina assured her Nook was on his way to warn Rumple of the impending curse, so Robin agreed to stay and help stop it. This changed when Nook arrived with a letter for Robin from Alice detailing all of her visions for their future together. She had given everyone hugs goodbye and ran out the door as green magic braided her hair and her mother yelled, “You want to look your best for your girlfriend if it’s going to be the last time she sees you!” Robin continued to run as fast as she could all the way to Rumple’s and into Alice’s arms to see the love of her life one last time. Turns out it wasn’t the last time and she got to fall in love with the girl of her dreams all over again and this time she didn’t wait to pop the question.

--------------------------------------- The End ---------------------------------------

Note: Hook telling Robin stories about Alice before they met, a proposal involving a picnic and stargazing and Zelena using magic to braid Robin’s hair before she left to find Alice all came from different fanfics I read like 2 years ago and now can’t find again to credit. So if you wrote these thank-you for the inspiration.

#madarcher #curious archer #ouat #once upon a time

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lochrannn · 3 years

Text

AU-gust: Walk a mile in my red boots

Read on AO3

No warnings

prompt no 8: Character Swap

Characters: Lila Pitts, Diego Hargreeves, Five Hargreeves

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

“Five, I have to find him! I just don’t understand why you can’t see that!” Lila throws her hands up in the air, exasperation with her oldest brother hitting a boiling point.

She’s been having this argument for days now.

After they returned to 2019, to an empty mansion, no mom, no Pogo, they had spent a good few days talking about what they had experienced and how they would go on. It didn’t take too long for them to split up, though. Allison wanted to get to LA as quickly as possible to see Claire and Vanya decided to travel with her. Having left Sissy back in Dallas and learning about how her life had been leading up to her causing multiple apocalypses had been tough on her, and she said she needed some time to re-evaluate where her life should go.

Lila isn’t ready to let go of her experiences back in Dallas yet, though. She feels like it’s her responsibility to find Diego and see if he’s ok.

“Lila, he’s a lunatic who manipulated you and tried to kill our siblings. Really, really wants me dead! Why are you so desperate to go after him? What are you going to do if he tries to hurt you? You know there’s not that much you can do if we're not there for you to copy our powers. And Diego’s a highly trained assassin!” Five is trying to be understanding, but Lila can tell by the way he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet that he’s going to try any tactic he can to dissuade her.

“God, Five, why don’t you get it? You told me all about the loneliness you experienced in the apocalypse. Diego’s just lost everything. Everything he believed in has been taken away from him, I can’t imagine a place more lonely than that, except for the apocalypse, maybe. And I know he’s dangerous, but I don’t believe he’ll hurt me. And wouldn’t you rather know where he is and what he’s up to than have to wonder whether he might not come back to finish the job?” Lila knows that’s a low blow but she’s desperate. She can’t quite put into words why she feels so strongly that she has to find him, she just knows that she does.

“I’d like to see him try,” Five mumbles off to the side, but Lila can see that she’s slowly getting through to him.

It’s not like she needs his permission. She helped the little gerbil from the Commission, she’s sure she can wangle a favor out of him, she doesn’t need Five. But after everything they’ve been through, she’d much rather he was on her side on this one.

There’s a tense moment between them and then Five lets go of a long breath and nods once and Lila smiles broadly at her brother.

Before leaving the kitchen she ruffles his hair and earns herself a pretty hard slap to the hand in return.

In the end it’s not hard to find him.

Of course Herb has been keeping tabs on him. Not only is Diego a rogue Commission agent now, but the new interim head of the board is genuinely sympathetic towards the catastrophic loss Diego’s experienced and when Lila makes contact with Herb, he presses a pre-programmed briefcase into her hands and wishes her good luck.

Lila studies the sign outside the cantina. Her Spanish is a little rusty but she’s quite certain that it says no women are allowed inside.

Well, fuck that.

Usually she’s not too concerned about local customs, different strokes for different folks and all that. And it’s not like she’s traveled, really, outside of missions with the Umbrella Academy when they were children. But this sign can fuck right off. She hasn’t come all this way to find Diego to be turned away by outdated gender norms.

So she walks in holding her head up high and instantly draws everybody’s attention.

But all she can focus on is the figure that scrambles in a blur to what seems to be the back of the large room with its wooden ceilings.

He’s out of sight before she can even start running, but in her pursuit she swipes a knife off of a table and flings it out of the back door before she sprints through it herself.

She hasn’t had any real opportunity to practice using this power as she only found out Diego had it when he had repelled Vanya’s attack and had toyed with Five by whizzing a knife fractions of inches away from his head when they were fighting in the barn. At least that’s how Five tells it.

Well, Lila decides to simply wing it. Intuition has always served her quite well in copying her siblings’ powers, so why not now?

And at the same time as she bolts out the back door, she hears the sound of a knife imbedding itself in a clay wall and a loud yelp.

She turns to the noise and there he is, knife pinning his jacket to the wall, a line of blood welling up along the tear in the material - oops - and he has her leveled with a deadly glare. But he doesn’t move, just stares her down.

“Gotcha!” Lila says, trying to ease the tension between them, she thinks she deserves at least a bit of co-operation from him, seeing as she de-escalated the fight between Diego and Five back in Sissy’s barn. With her words no less!

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Diego spits out at her, his expression still murderous, but he also still hasn’t moved, so Lila continues approaching slowly while she says, “Oh you know, I’ve been jonesing for a bit of a holiday so I thought to myself ‘Where’s that bastard who played and manipulated me while I was at one of the lowest points of my life? Would really like to know what he’s up to these days.’”

For a second something almost a bit like guilt flashes across Diego’s face, but then his scowl deepens and he doesn’t say anything, nor does he make a move.

So Lila chances it and steps up to him, only to regret that the second he pulls the knife pinning him out of the wall, launches himself at her, slams her back against the wall and presses the knife to her throat.

Shit, she may have misjudged this. Maybe snark wasn’t the right choice after all.

There was a time when she thought he was quite charmed by her sharp tongue, but right now she remembers that she can’t actually be too sure about anything concerning Diego. However, there’s a feeling deep down inside of her that still believes that he won’t actually hurt her, but maybe Five is right and she’s just desperately naive.

Diego is towering over her breathing heavily, not from exertion, but clearly from rage.

“Why the fuck are you here, Lila? Is that little murderer you call a brother with you? Cause he can see what he gets for hunting me down!” he snarls.

Entirely out of options Lila decides the only way forward is with the truth. “Five’s not here. I came alone.” Oh you idiot, the voice in her head that sounds a little too much like Five chimes in. “Came to make sure you were ok,” she says, staring up at him imploringly.

That’s clearly not what he expected as she can feel his forearm twitch where he has it pressed to her collarbone and his grip on the knife at her throat falters for a second.

“Why?” he whispers. For the first time she feels like there might be a tiny bit of uncertainty in his voice.

“Cause you’re all alone, Diego, and I made you a promise and I’m not sure you really heard me… you know, the whole family thing?” Lila had made an impassioned speech back at the barn, but even though every word had been completely sincere, she feels a little awkward about the whole thing now.

A nasty grin stretches across Diego’s lips and he sneers, “I don’t believe for a second that all of your siblings feel the same way. Doubt they’ve forgotten about how I tried to kill them. Came pretty close, as well! And what the fuck makes you think I’d even want to be part of your family, anyway?”

He’s leaning against her heavily now and Lila knows he’s trying to intimidate her, but if he wanted to hurt her he would have already done so. Clearly he’s not actually willing to just leave this conversation either.

“They’ll get over themselves,” she says with as casual a shrug as she can manage with a knife to her throat, “and I care about you, Diego, the same way I think you care about me. And I don’t believe you actually want to be alone. But beyond that, it’s up to you.”

At her words she sees something crumble behind his eyes and suddenly they seem to fill with unshed tears. “Jesus, Lila, I drugged you and took you to the Commission against your will. You’re fucking crazy to be anywhere near me!”

“Yeah you did. And maybe I am. But what can you do?” Lila just says gently.

Apparently that’s how easy it is. Diego closes his eyes, presumably to stop the tears from falling, tips forward, and knocks his forehead against hers.

Then the knife is gone and Lila uses the opportunity to wrap her arms around him and he melts into her hug.

And while they stand there, Lila with her back against the wall, slightly struggling to hold a sobbing Diego upright, she rubs soothing circles into his back and whispers into his ear, “It’s gonna be alright! We can make it alright, I promise!”

#au_gust_2021 #fanfic #tua #the umbrella academy #diego hargreeves #lila pitts #dielila #diego x lila #diego/lila #five hargreeves #lochrannn lxd au challenge

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nalgenewhore · 4 years

Text

A rogue storm had her presumed dead and stranded on the red planet. Left on her own, astronaut Aelin Galathynius has four years to make it to the next drop-site, some two thousand miles. Armed with her smarts and dwindling supplies, Aelin attempts to survive on an inhospitable planet, when the nearest help is only millions of miles away.

masterlist - ao3 - last chapter

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Lorcan carefully extracted himself from Elide’s sleeping form. She whined in her slumber and swatted the air, trying to find him again. Though she had her own sleeping cabin, more often than not, she found herself in his. They both preferred to sleep together and neither minded the snug fit.

As he crept quietly, not wanting to disturb any of the sleeping crewmates on his bathroom run, he noticed that Aelin’s door was open and popped his head in. He whispered, “Ace?” There was no one there.

Logically, she was going to the bathroom, not missing in space again, but his pulse still raced and he cursed quietly, closing the door so that if anyone else woke up, they wouldn’t notice anything was amiss. He wanted to find her, for his sake and hers, but he really had to take a leak so after he had dealt with that, Lorcan set off through the ship's zero-gravity corridor.

After blowing the vehicular airlock during Aelin’s rescue, the ship was much smaller and it didn’t take him long to poke through the remaining rooms.

It didn’t take a genius, which they all were, to see that Aelin wasn’t the same. Her oddities were something they all collectively ignored, knowing she was silently berating herself for not being as she once was. Honestly, it broke their hearts to see her panic at the amount of food on her plate and struggle to stop herself from checking their supplies. It broke their hearts to see her slip away when they were all together, unable to handle the attention.

They were trying, really, they were, to not overwhelm her and keep their distance, even Rowan at times.

No one thought it would be easy once they got her back, but… Gods, it was all a mess, one that no one knew how to muddle through. Certainly not Aelin. She was just trying to get through the days, one at a time.

Lorcan shook his head to rid it of his spiraling thoughts as he slid down the ladder to the rec room and turned, finding Aelin at the back of the ship, looking out the windows. “Ace?”

She whirled quickly at his voice, her hands shaking as she let out a breathless laugh, “You scared me. Hi.”

“Hey,” he said smoothly, walking slowly over to her. “Everything ok?” She’d probably say that it was and they would both ignore the blatant lie.

“No.”

Her answer shocked him, but he controlled himself, keeping his face neutral as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his sweats, nodding his head once, twice. What shocked him was not what she said, but that she’d said it at all. Finally, someone was getting the truth. “Want to talk?”

“Lorcan Salvaterre, are you going soft on us? Asking someone to talk about their feelings?” Aelin teased him.

Lorcan humoured her by huffing a dry laugh and tilting his head to the side as he reached the windows and leaned back against them. “So?”

Aelin breathed out shakily and wiped her eyes, “Yeah, um. I don’t… I don’t know anything anymore. It all feels so fake?”

After he’d come home from deployment, he’d felt the same thing. It was like there was a glass separating him and everyone else. “I remember that.”

“You do?”

His time spent serving wasn’t something he tended to discuss openly. Lorcan nodded again, “Yeah, I served for a couple tours. I was discharged after eight years due to ‘hardship’.” He let out a humourless laugh, “I guess being held as a prisoner of war three months is classified as a ‘hardship’.”

Aelin’s eyes were wide, “I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”

“Please, don’t be. It’s not your problem, G,” he assured her. “I just want you to know that it’s ok to not be alright right now. No one is expecting you to be and don’t be hard on yourself because you’re not what you once were.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled ruefully, “Easier said than done, Commander.”

Lorcan smiled, “Yeah, it really is.” He tilted his head to the table and she nodded. They silently walked over to it and sat down on opposite sides.

“So,” she began, clasping her hands on the surface before her, “are you better now?”

“Depends on what you mean by ‘better’. Before… it was really bad. Couldn’t get out of bed, didn’t eat or drink. Could barely be around anyone else.” He stared at the table, “It’s not like that anymore, but… not every day is a good one.”

“What did you do? To make it go away?”

Lorcan looked at her for a few seconds, analyzing something. “Essar yelled at me one day. Near broke down my door and chewed me out for ignoring her and being a dick. Said just because I was going through a shit time didn’t mean I could be shitty to everyone who tried to help.” The corners of his mouth tugged up, “And then she roped in Elide. Your sister’s the scariest person I know.”

“You’re telling me that? You know how many times I had to physically restrain her from fighting anyone who dared insult me in her presence?”

They both laughed quietly. Elide was one of their safe subjects, one they literally never fought over, now. In the beginning, Aelin had been a bit… territorial and protective. After they calmed, Lorcan got serious again, “That’s not all it took. I had to work to improve and still do. You just gotta find something that makes you want to fight, Aelin. You need to fight every fucking day, every time that voice in your mind tells you you should give up now, or that no one cares. Because it’s wrong, ok? Do you think we would’ve come back for you if we didn’t care?”

Aelin ducked her head, hiding her tears. “I asked you a question, Aelin.”

She slowly rose her head, eyes of blue and gold meeting ones of pure obsidian, forged from the same raging monster that dwelled inside both of them. “No.” He nodded, that one small and satisfied grin on his lips. Despite herself, it filled her with a warming sense of pride.

“Are you gonna tell me why you’re still up?”

“I had a dream. And all of this,” she waved her hand around, indicating the past year and a half, “hadn’t happened and we were on our way to Farnor. I just- I needed to see that we were leaving it all behind.” She dropped her hands in her lap and looked down at her fingernails, all bitten down to the quick. “I’m just so tired all the time.”

“Probably cause you’re not sleeping and it’s, like, three am.”

Aelin laughed, “Gods, you’re an asshole.”

He smiled and drawled, his tone dry, “So I’ve been told. Alright,” he clapped his hands, “if you’re not going to sleep, might as well watch a movie. Where’s my laptop?” Lorcan stood and walked over to the wall of compartments, reaching up high to his personal drawer. He pulled down his personal computer and moved to the couch area, putting it down on the table.

She still hadn’t moved and Lorcan looked over his shoulder, “Well, come on. Your choice between Ant-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“Wow, so many options,” Aelin commented as she made her way over to the couch and sat down, curling her legs under her.

Lorcan glanced at her before turning back to the screen, “Elide sits just like that.”

“You really love her,” said Aelin. Lorcan froze and slowly looked at her, his brows furrowing. “It’s good. She deserves someone like you. And Guardians of the Galaxy.”

He smiled, “You got it.” Soon, the movie was playing and they sat in a comfortable silence, understanding that what they had been talking about was done for now and they would continue on later. “Rowan really loves you too, Ace.”

She slowly turned to look at him but didn’t say anything until Lorcan elaborated. “I know you two had your moment or whatever, but he’s completely gone for you.”

A smitten smile pulled at her lips and Lorcan just had to pop her bubble, “Plus, he has a thing for know-it-all blondes.” Aelin choked and shoved his shoulder, to which Lorcan said, “Veteran abuse.”

“You’re such a dick,” she grumbled, frowning as she snuggled into his side. Lorcan just laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. After a few minutes where they watched the movie in silence, she whispered, “I don’t want to mess it up.”

“I know you don’t. I don’t think you will.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure Rowan’s ever wanted anything more than this,” Lorcan told her, resting his chin on the top of her head. “He’s waited all this time for you, he doesn’t mind waiting a little longer.”

And neither did Aelin.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“Lani, this is Flight, waiting for confirmation.”

“Copy Flight, Lani actual is ready for re-entry and landing.”

“Roger that Lani. Beginning re-entry countdown,” Manon said, her voice staticky through the headset.

Everyone was strapped into their seats, ready for landing. The timer controller turned on and the robotic tone began counting down from ten. Wordlessly, Aelin held her hand, palm up, to Rowan. He stared at her hand for a moment before gently taking it and squeezing once.

The ship shook as it was remotely piloted back into Earth’s gravity. Aelin closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, repeating soothing inhales and exhales as she felt the re-entry.

“Lani, Flight – the Thresher has confirmed it is ready for pick-up.”

“Copy, Flight.”

The metal beast rattled as the boosters detached and hurtled to the ocean, far far below them still. Aelin knew that the craft would be burning right now, but with the heat shield and their temperature-controlled suits, no one could feel a thing.

As the free-fall continued for a few minutes or so, Aelin gripped Rowan’s hand harder, tensing as the craft jerked back – the parachutes. Their descent slowed and an indeterminate amount of time later, they crashed into the ocean. The pontoons that were set off kept them afloat as they all checked in with each other, assuring that everyone was ok.

The mood was vivid and excited as a hissing sound filled the craft and the door popped open, the sun blinding. “You guys lost or something?”

Lorcan and Fenrys let out shocked cries, “Corsario?”

“The one and only,” the man replied, a smug grin splitting his face in two. His sea green eyes sparkled as he and his crew helped them out of the ship and onto the motored boat that would take them to the Thresher, Terrasen’s Navy’s amphibious transport docking ship.

“Guys, this is Rolfe Corsario, we were all in boot camp together,” Lorcan explained, gesturing between him, Fenrys, and Rolfe. The sailor held out his hand to help Aelin into the boat and she noticed that his brown skin was covered in tattoos that resembled maps. Aelin held onto his hand even after she sat down, trying to get a better look.

“Ah, can’t let you do that,” he said, pulling his hand from her grasp before hopping neatly down and sitting by the motor.

“Why not?” The whole crew, save for Lorcan and Fenrys who just rolled their eyes, leaned in to listen.

Fenrys cut in before Rolfe could answer her, “They’re not for mortal eyes.” He received a quick swat to the back of his head before Rolfe turned to her.

“They’re Mycenian markings. Can’t let outsiders see them,” he said with a wink and lazy grin as he steered the boat to the Thresher.

“They’re on your hands, dipshit,” Lorcan said, twisting his helmet off and tossing it by his feet. “Anyone can see them.”

“I’m going to ignore that and still let you onto my ship.”

One by one, the astronauts popped their helmets off and sighed at the cool ocean breeze. Aelin closed her eyes, tilting her head back up to the sun just as a shadow passed over her and she frowned, opening her eyes to find that they had arrived at the ship.

Elide offered to let Aelin go up the ladder first but the blonde shook her head, waiting until she was the last one on the boat. Taking a deep breath, Aelin stepped up to the ladder and nodded to herself, stepping on the first rung.

She froze and looked to the side, seeing Rolfe waiting patiently. He dipped his chin once, “Welcome back.”

+*+*+*+*+*

Aelin had requested that no media be there when the plane touched down in Orynth. The thought of being the centre of attention, in a media hailstorm, had her feeling queasy.

TNSB had complied and when she stepped off the plane, the only people she saw were a handful of TNSB employees, the scientists who had brought her home.

The second she saw a flash of moon-white hair and another of yellow-gold, she let out an undignified squeal and ran, blatantly ignoring Weylan and Gavriel to launch herself at Manon and Asterin. They laughed and hugged her tight.

“So, what does it take for you to get Darrow’s job,” Aelin muttered, the question directed at Manon.

The white-haired woman shrugged as Asterin cackled, “He wants to fire her.”

Aelin pulled back, “What! Why, what’d you do?”

Manon just shrugged again and flipped her hair over her shoulder, “I might’ve leaked some confidential flight plans to Elide. He didn’t appreciate that.”

“Gods, I missed you two,” Aelin breathed, hugging them close again. “Thanks for getting me home.” The back of her throat ached with tears and she wiped her eyes.

Eventually, the rest of her crew caught up with her and they exchanged professional greetings with both Weylan and Gavriel. The cold disdain for the director of TNSB was palpable and Elide gently patted Lorcan’s arm, speaking in Blackbeak as she told him, “Stop frowning at him. Weylan’s about to shit himself.”

He chuckled darkly as Manon and Asterin cackled once more. Asterin surveyed her boss, who was talking with Nesryn a few metres away, “I bet he will.”

“Ten bucks?”

“Are we children,” Aelin asked, an unimpressed arch to her brows, “Ten’s too low, I say we go for the big bucks.” They continued with their childish banter as some frazzled-looking woman herded them off the tarmac and into headquarters.

Aelin lingered outside, eyes on the sky. The woman tried to get her attention, but Rowan said he’d wait for her and catch up later.

The sun’s glare became too bright for her eyes and she blinked hard, pivoting neatly to the door, where she found Rowan. A smile grew on her face and she walked quickly to his side, tucking herself under his arm and into his side. “Waiting for me again, are we?”

She grabbed his hand and tugged him behind her, only to be sent backwards when he didn’t move. “Ro, what are you- oh!” He settled his hand on her waist and tipped her chin back, green eyes swimming with too much and not enough all at once.

“For you, Fireheart,” he murmured, tracing his thumb over the apple of her cheek, “for you I’d wait forever.”

+*+*+*+*+*+*

an: annnnd that’s a wrap! thank you all for reading and sticking with me through this whole lil thang - this was super fun to write

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