KISS MY HEART, LICK IT, SWALLOW IT.
DO ANYTHING YOU NEED.
AS LONG AS YOU HAVE IT AND NOBODY ELSE.

TENDER IS THE FLESH

Esme did not like the smell of blood.

She loved it.
But Esme was not a normal girl.

To Mother, she was "devil child".
In the eyes of the state, she was Esmeralda Marianne Bretkov.
And to the kids at her school, she was "the freak".

Of course, she only stayed in school till 5th grade.
Then she bit a bitch's ear off and Mother moved them to Kentucky.

There in their quiet little town, in their quiet little neighborhood, and in their quiet little house, Esme learned she was not a normal girl.

Mother locked her in the windowless basement. Permanently.

And Esme starved.
Devil child or not, she still had to eat food (like a normal girl).
But she had quite the appetite for other things.
Mother tried to wean her off. Giving her pasta and carrots and cooked chicken.
But she ate what she needed and begged for real meat.

For her disobedience, Mother whipped her twice a day.
This is how Esme learned not to make Mother angry.

But she was still ravenous.

One day near Esme's 16th birthday, Mother forgot to lock the basement door. Esme felt sunlight for the first time in years.

Mother tasted terrible. Bitter. The old religious hag's blood was curdled with her god.

Esme left the mangled body of Mother in the lake near the park.
She keeps Mother's rosary around her neck.

She left town. And went to the next town over. She learned to perfect her craft, and the process of finding and disposing of her meals.
She began to go town to town, feeding when the opportunity arose, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

She followed her nose mostly, she could smell a dying person from a mile away, but one day, she smelt something else.

Someone like her.
And that's when Esme met Lee.

Boy met girl, eater meets eater, and flesh met flesh.

Oh, how tender is the flesh that binds us.

CAST

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY AS
ESME

"I AM MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER"

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET AS
LEE

"I AM NOT MY FATHER'S SON"

WITH
TAYLOR RUSSEL AS MAREN YEARLY
ANNA COBB AS KAYLA
CONNIE BRITTON AS MOTHER
MARK RYLANCE AS SULLY
CHLOË SEVIGNY AS JANELLE KEARNS

rest of cast as described

WARNINGS!!
This fic will include graphic imagery and also descriptions of cannibalism. There will be bloody and disturbing violent content, gore, death, abandonment, mental illness, child abuse, religious themes, strong language throughout, and other mature themes.
Please be aware of your own triggers.

DISCLAIMER
I do not own the movie or the book of the title Bones and All. I only own the stories and plot of Esme and this fic.

NOTES
I am so excited for this fic you have no idea. I have a lot of great ideas and pls ask any questions you might have!! Also, I'm totally in love with timothee if you can't tell. He is such a phenomenal actor. Also, Taylor Russel is so mother and Anya Taylor Joy is the LOML. This is not canon/plot compliant AT ALL. I'm making shit up as I go along. Canon is dead, I murdered it in my basement.

DEDICATIONS
saccharineblues darlingbridgers sobersweetheartss
kaidoucraft miserablemermaid pinkalientea

STARTED: November 2022
ENDED: TBD

I WANT THAT KIND OF LOVE.
BONES AND ALL