#all the side characters are fleshed out. the main characters lives outside romance i GET

[hallowpen]

The plan was to start watching The Sign by divvying up the series into two episodes per day until I could finish. Well…that plan went completely out the window and I ended up binge watching the entire thing in one go. So, as I try to gather my thoughts, I wanted to sort of get my feelings out there on what I thought was an incredible show before I finally unfilter the tags (as to avoid any outside influence on my opinion).

Let me preface this by saying that this is going to be an incredibly bias opinion given my cultural upbringing and background (I'm half-Thai and I've spent almost half of my life living in Thailand), so please take that into account before reading any further. I metaphorically removed my western-lensed glasses while watching this series and preferred to watch as a Thai viewer, which probably made the more confusing or difficult parts of the show a lot easier to swallow. So, yes, I will admit that the show was not perfect by any means, but I was able to overlook a lot of its shortcomings given the parts that had been done so well and what this series could mean for Thai QL media going forward.

My goddess, where do I even start…

I'm a sucker for the reincarnated/fated lovers trope, so the show had me before it even started. What I absolutely loved the most about the romance and the A+ chemistry was that it didn't dominate or singularly drive the story, which was refreshing to see. It gave room to explore the fantasy/mythological elements of the show, the investigatory plotlines (which we'll get to later), and the relationships of the characters surrounding the "main leads".

Episode 3, my beloved, was what solidified my trust in this series and served as the foundation for the personalized experience I curated in my continued viewing. First off (and a bit of a side note), seeing Yoshi show up as Sand just made my heart super happy. I've been following her off and on since 2018, and she was one of the only things I actually liked about หมอ มือ ใหม่… but I digress. Behind the main story (and maybe even because of it), this episode was, for all intents and purposes, a love letter to Thai culture and its religious mythology. Which, when you consider how much international draw a BL series can hold, is truly momentous. International viewers got to experience the Bang Fai Phayanak (the naga fireball festival) that occurs every Wan Ok Phansa (the last day of what is considered Buddhist Lent) and the significance it holds over Thai history and culture. Using this as the stepping stone to establish the importance of the series' reliance on naga folklore…brilliant! The episode was also the viewers' introduction to the Buddhist idea of the cyclical intermingling of karmic fates. How the implications of an interdependence on one fate more than the others would later define the relationship between Phaya, Tharn, and Chalothorn…genius! All of this!? In one episode…of a BL!? I was overwhelmed by a sense of cultural gratitude and pride, that I still can't quite shake. I think Saint knew exactly what he was doing when he chose to adapt this series and I love him even more for it.

Aside from the cultural dependency and relevance, the show delivered so much beyond that as well. The production quality sailed high above previous BL standards and, in turn, lent itself to beautiful visuals and cinematography.

The casting! Billy and Babe's chemistry was just so *chef's kiss*. I knew Billy would absolutely smash it in the role of Phaya, but I often forgot that this was Babe's first ever acting role. It was an undertaking, that you could tell, he did not take lightly. Heng!? Wow! What a performance! He's been a staple in every Idol Factory series thus far, but he really nailed the purely villainous role of Chalothorn. Gap as Yai? No notes. He was able to flesh out what could have been a very one-dimensional character. Tack and Poom as Khem and Thongtai were a welcome levity inbetween, what was otherwise, a more weighty plot.

If I had to address any gripes I had with the series, there were only two that really stood out:

1) I wish the moments/conversations between Tharn and Chalothorn that eventually led to Tharn's return hadn't happened off-screen. There was a lot left to be resolved that could have been explored in that instance. But using my own inference based on Tharn as a character, his relationship with Chalothorn, and the core of his personality, I could kind of piece together how that ending came to be.

2)The lesser intriguing elements of the investigation storylines were shaky, at best. (If you were looking for the show to have a firm western-influenced ACAB agenda, then I'm sorry to say you were setting yourself up for disappointment. As much as I selfishly wanted it to be, this series was never going to be that show, it's a Thai drama.) From a Thai perspective, it made sense that the "copaganda" aspect of the series focused on the incompetency and inefficiency of a police force where justice is often informed by wealth and greed. I got an idea of what the show's stance on the matter was supposed to be but the overall plot and its consistency got lost somewhere within the final execution.

Other than that, I was left feeling satisfyingly content with where the series landed and I will continue to highly recommend it. It's easily one on my top five favorite Thai BL dramas and just Thai dramas in general! And…

There is such a rich history of mythology and folklore left for the show to still sink its teeth into: the garuda of it all, the pre-existing feud between the naga and garuda and why that is… Aside from a few minor specificities that were missing from naga folklore (their exclusion didn't really detract from anything, but it could have served to benefit non-Thai viewers), all of that could be addressed in a second season. Which, at this point, seems pretty likely 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾 and would be HUGE in the BL world.

PLEASE, LET IT HAPPEN! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[animasola86]

Nebbia's Origin Story

You might have seen and/or read about my HL MC Nebbia DeLuca, who I kinda revived for my HL playthroughs. But this very OC has been in my brain and in several attempts at writing her story for almost a decade now.

She's also been a shotgun/blood magic wielding Templar in The Secret World/Secret World Legends, or a necromancer with a greatsword and a staff in Guild Wars 2, and a car collecting maniac world explorer in GTA Online. So having "just" a wand was quite the adjustment for her!

But enough about her alter egos, how did she come to be?

She's been in my brain ever since I came into contact with The Last of Us. That game had a serious impact on me and the stories whirling through my head. I've always been a storyteller, have written stories since an early age. I've created a lot of original characters, fleshed out, with detailed backstories, but I was never able to finish their respective stories.

The themes were always pretty similar: younger woman, older man, size difference, gruff but protective male, innocent but feisty female. Side characters were always of the jealous, dangerous kind. I've always loved taboos and kinks, and the above-mentioned dynamic is one of my favorites to write (and read) stories about.

So, inspired by Joel and Ellie's relationship, I wanted to create characters that were similar, but different. My main motive for writing was always: Something's missing in those stories, let's write it myself! It started with adding romance to a thriller, love to a murder mystery, or found family/forbidden feelings to otherwise "innocent" scenarios.

For example, I've written a story about a young woman falling in love with the married father of the kid she's supposed to babysit (I swear there's more to that story than the porn clichés, it ends up turning into a psychological drama about jealousy and domination, mental illness, murder, abduction, what's real, what's not kinda scenes; unfortunately I've never finished my first proper original work that's sitting on a USB-stick somewhere since 2011. One day I'll get to finish your story, Tasja, don't worry. You'll get your happy ending!).

And then, someday in the year 2017, I started writing a story (though the idea is much older) about a post-apocalyptic world, based on an island near my hometown. I've thrown ideas around and around, researching, visiting places, creating characters, always changing something, but the basic idea that stuck was this (I suck at summaries, btw, sorry!):

Twenty years ago, there was a black-out and society collapsed. The people on that island live in groups, as far away from each other as possible to avoid conflict, as they are all stuck there, with no way to leave the island.

Enter Nebbia, born after the End, who is a girl living in an all-female village run by a group of older women called the Elders, whose daughters (creatively named the Daughters) do all their "dirty work". Nebbia is classified as a Motherless, you guessed it, lives without a mother.

And the backstory of that, in short, is: her mother was pregnant when she was found by one of the Daughters and brought to the village, gave birth, and fled the place after she discovered their dark secret (because what's a post-apocalyptic community without a dark secret, eh?), but she left Nebbia there because she knew she would have a safe home in spite of it, that is until she turns 18, when things go really dark.

In short: there's a strange little celebration, all the girls of age are dressed in their best dresses, and then leave the village on their way to another village nearby that is run by the Men... and, uh, well, yeah, society collapsed, so they try to rebuild it, it's a breeding station, oops, you get the idea.

And that is when our male protagonist comes in: Ben, in his late thirties, a gruff, lonesome smuggler/outsider/person who doesn't have a village/group, but works between them. And he is hired by none other than Nebbia's mother, Kira, to get Nebbia and save her from the horrible fate of being bred helping society grow again.

But something happens (there's a mysterious fog that keeps the people from leaving the island, but never mind that, although that is why Nebbia is called Nebbia, because fog=nebbia in Italian, because her mother is half-Italian - also, hey, off-topic, but there's a fitness clothes store called Nebbia in the Slovak Republic, isn't that cool?) and Ben loses his memories, and when he sees Nebbia, he thinks she's Kira... and kinda falls for her, because, of course, him and her were sweethearts before the End (but they had a falling out, but he doesn't remember that yet).

And Nebbia is this innocent girl, who basically worked as a slave her whole life, can't read, can't swim, is treated very poorly, can't exist outside her village, really. (And to have such a character and let her explore the world and learn stuff and blossom would have been so interesting to write!)

So Ben saves kidnaps Nebbia from the village, and they try to find their way back to Kira... and somehow this is where my ideas froze. I wanted to show their journey through the post-apocalyptic world, how their life is, what they do to survive, who they meet, that he slowly regains his memories and realizes his feelings for this girl, and once they get to where they want to go, they find out that Kira is gone/dead/I don't know, something, aaaand their journey continues? I have no idea. I never came to those parts.

I've written so many versions of that story, in German to start with (because the island it's set on is a German island), then tried recreating it in English without the local color, but it never really worked. I didn't know where it would end.

But the characters remained inside my head, I've had so many scenarios for them because I loved their dynamic, but I've never written any of them because back then I thought I needed a full story, something with beginning and end, the whole deal. I've never written one-shots before, or even short stories. I was fixated on the whole "novel" thing, that was my goal, my dream.

But now, after having written sooo many one-shots for a fandom, just snippets of people's lives and what they do in the moment, I feel confident enough to tackle it. To create little short stories centered around those very characters: Ben and Nebbia.

I've also read so many original works on AO3 lately, and seeing how people just put their own ideas out there, for everyone to see, did something to me. I always wanted to keep my ideas to myself, because, maybe, someday, I'll finish a story and could send it to a publisher and one day have my own work in book-form, but honestly, it is such a daunting idea, when all I wanna do is tell stories.

And so now I will just tell stories. I've started by writing for these characters everyone knows and loves (and I'll keep writing Sebastian smut, don't worry!), but now it's time to branch out, give those people inside my head their story, or at least snippets of their lives, and share it with the world.

And as I write this, I am working on an AU of those characters, with a completely different setting, but the same dynamic: older man, younger woman, gruff/protective vs. innocent/feisty, love in dangerous environments. Of course, it's gonna have my usual smut elements, but also world building, side characters, character development, etc. and new things to research!

(Lemme throw in some words I learned that may give a hint to where the story is set: withers, spats, stirrup. As for the time, well, it's actually an era I've already written for, but the place is a lot more... west, way west.)

I feel very inspired, and I hope I can one day (hopefully very soon*) share their story with you.

(I've made a side blog @animasolaoriginal where I'll post it once it's done or I grow too impatient to wait! I'll also post moodboards and inspirations there - eventually! If you'd like to follow me there too, I'd very much appreciate it!)

Thank you for letting me get this out. These characters are very dear to me, and I hope, once I start uploading my original work, I might catch your interest with it, and you will start to like them too!

Edit: *I did it, I posted the first chapter! 🤠

[little-peril-stories]

Intro: The Queen of Lies

AU for The Prince of Thieves / WC: keeps changing, will let you know someday

Masterlist | Content Warnings | Mood Board | Vibey Song Lyrics | Ao3

I sold myself to a loveless thing / And I walk'd to the altar and there I lied

C.W.S., Harper's Weekly, 7 July 1866

At a Glance

Genres: romance, historical, whump

POV/tense: 3rd-person, past tense

Small main cast; single narrator two narrators lol

You can enjoy the story without reading TPOT - the side characters just won't feel nearly as fleshed out here (I think so, anyway.)

tbh it's a romance with added bonus of torture, captivity, dread, angst, intimidation, and fun whumpy happenings

Description

THE QUEEN OF LIES is a tale of quiet courage, inner strength, and forbidden love—and the ways we can change our lives for the better if only we dare to take a leap of faith.

Four years ago, Breanna Cooper made a choice that altered the course of her life forever.

She stayed.

Instead of running away from a man she knew did not and could not love her, she remained—and became Mrs. Breanna Hatchett. Now she exists quietly in a life half-lived, striving to be the perfect wife and always falling short.

One day, a chance encounter in Constable Baden Hatchett’s prison brings her face to face with a captured thief from the notorious thieving gang Iustitia aecum. Though she swears she will forget the boy to whose brutal punishment she bears witness, it soon becomes clear that forgetting him is something she simply cannot do.

On a whim, for the first time in years, Breanna takes a chance and seeks out the thief—and yet again, her life is changed forever.

Vibes & Tropes

Forbidden love

Tragic backstory

“Who did this to you?”

Gazing through cell bars

"I'll fight for you"

“Why are you helping me?”

Gloomy skies, autumn leaves, rain & thunder

Against all logic and reason…

"I will always find you"

Alternatively, if you are a music-minded person, I collected some song lyrics that make me think of this story.

Cast of Characters

Main & Major Characters

BREANNA HATCHETT: Our heroine. Four years ago, she married into an abusive relationship, and since then she has been going through her life like a ghost, doing as her husband says and trying to be the perfect wife. When fate sends her careening into the story of an imprisoned thief, her entire world is rocked to its core.

FOX/THE THIEF: Our hero. If you’re new here, enjoy spending 50% of the story not knowing his name. Sharp-tongued and defiant, impulsive and reckless, the thief is determined to take his secrets to his grave to protect his family, if that’s what it takes. He is slowly losing hope…that is, until he is granted unexpected kindness by the least likely person imaginable. Suddenly, there’s more hope and light in his life than he ever expected to see again.

CONSTABLE BADEN HATCHETT: Our bad guy. Breanna’s husband. Vindictive, controlling, and manipulative, he wields his power and influence inside and outside the prison where he works as a constable. Above all things, he despises disobedience and disorder the most. When Breanna begins to take her life into her own hands, he will stop at nothing to gain control over her once again. Whatever it takes.

JUNIOR CONSTABLE CURTIS LENTON: A constable who is not-so-secretly pining for Breanna. He is a friend to her in the only way he knows how, but this means he is sometimes overprotective of her—to a fault.

DR. ALLAN ARMSTRONG DALE: A newly employed doctor who has a habit of getting in over his head no matter what universe he's in.

SPIDER: An elusive woman who helps to run the thieving gang Iustitia aecum.

HARE: The fourth and final member of IA’s inner circle.

WOLF/THE THIEF’S BROTHER: A mysterious character whose identity the thief goes to great lengths to protect.

ALICE: Breanna’s friend who encourages her to take more risks in her life.

Other Characters

MRS. BRISTOW: A nurse working at the prison. Better at the job than the medic.

MRS. DENNISON: The Hatchetts' housekeeper.

MR. GYSBORNE: The prison medic.

JUNIOR CONSTABLE MICHAELSON: A vicious officer who works under Baden Hatchett. Notable for his leering gaze and sadistic tendencies.

MARGUERITE: Breanna’s other friend.

DR. RICHARDS: The other, not-so-nice doctor.

INSPECTOR BULWELL: The head of the prison where Baden works.

MISS DUGFORD: A cruel bully of a nurse

FAQ

What will I like about TQOL?

Well, if you liked the thief’s snark in TPOT, then it’s, like, tripled, especially in the early chapters here. But this is a different story—far more romantic—and you might like getting to see a much softer side of him, too.

You might like Breanna’s character development from a very frightened and sheltered wife to a courageous young woman who is willing to take risks and face her fears.

If you like romantic tension, forced proximity, pining, and lots of caretaking/comfort, then I hope you’ll like this story!

How do I know if this story is for me?

You can check out the Contents/Warnings here. There are spoilers in that post, so click at your own risk.

For TPOT readers:

>>>>>

stop here if you don't want any vague spoilers for The Prince of Thieves!

>>>>>

What are the biggest differences between TPOT and TQOL?

Shorter. Fewer but often longer chapters. 3rd-person past tense.

There's the whole name thing. The name "Cooper" only shows up 3 times in the whole thing. "Mrs. Hatchett," on the other hand...

In TPOT, we know the thief’s name right away because he and two other inner circle members are POV characters. Breanna is the only POV character in TQOL........uh....listen. We just have to wait until she learns his name. For stylistic reasons.

Since Breanna didn't run away and never joined IA, all her serendipitous meetings with the thief in her past never happened. Her first encounter with him is in Chapter 1.

Obviously, since they're married, the relationship between Baden and Breanna—while strained and 100% toxic, problematic, and unhealthy—is not as antagonistic as it is in TPOT.

In the beginning, we get a little less existential dread because the thief isn’t expecting execution but rather long-term imprisonment, labour, or exile to a penal colony (no actual plot reason for this, I just wanted to play with the stakes and see how it changed the dynamics. because I can). This means that Ezra Johnston (the captured runner from TPOT) was never hanged and so we catch up with the thief in a slightly better mental state than the same point in TPOT.

Wolf and Jr. Constable Michaelson have reduced roles (compared to TPOT), while Jr. Constable Lenton (who literally only appears in two TPOT chapters) has an elevated role and gets a first name.

The time period is slightly different (because of reasons), but I doubt this is actually noticeable in the writing, only in my brain. I had to do a decent amount of research for this one particular plot thread, so now I know what decade we’re in lol.

What’s the same between TPOT and TQOL?

Well, Hatchett is still an asshole, and actually, so is the thief (affectionate)...he's still a snarky, potty-mouthed rascal. The IA setup is pretty much the same, the tattoo hasn’t changed, and the thief’s determination to keep the inner circle safe and out of Hatchett’s clutches is as strong as ever. On the IA end, everything up to the flogging has played out pretty much the same (see above q for a few lil differences). It's Breanna's life that has been wildly different.

In terms of tropes/plots….yes, I repeated a few. I don’t want to say them here bc spoilers but if you really want to know, send me a DM and I’ll spill which TPOT parts get their own AU twist.

Thanks for reading! <3 Hope you like it!

If you've made it this far, here's your reward:

Image ID: a square image of the external wall of a brick building with barred windows. White text reads: “No, not a hanging. It’s not for ladies to see or think of. No need to trouble yourself with such things.” End ID.

[aelaer]

Just saw your post about having to block the doctor strange x reader tag, and I must agree it's become the predominant DS fic that comes up as recommended on my feed as well. There are several authors I enjoy reading in that category (although lately the overall amount of fics is overwhelming), but I only started writing them myself as my stephen x ofc fics could never gain a bit of traction. I have a theory that if I went back and changed my ofc's to reader inserts, I'd probably gain a lot more readers--but I can never bring myself to doing that as I wouldn't be true to myself as an author.

I suppose that's just a writerly woe I'm sharing with someone who might understand.😏 But I'm curious; are you open to reading non-romance fics featuring original characters? I've found that tumblr can be quite snobbish towards that species of fic.

I wanted to reply to this ages ago but it requires my computer and some thinking, so I kept pushing it off again and again and again and whelp, here we are. My bad. ><

I'm the same way where being true to myself as an author is writing what I want, so I get you there. Doesn't get As Much Engagement as other tropes would, but y'know what, I can live with that. If anything, I've actually found that the fic I compromised most on (because it was for a themed exchange) is one I want to reread the least. So if anything, a lot of me writes for "do I want to reread this in the future" and that has helped me since.

It's funny since OFC romances used to be pretty popular way back when, but I guess "reader" took over that audience over the last decade because the majority of the people just wanted to insert themselves into the position instead of reading about a full-fleshed character? Honestly not sure.

Right, I keep delaying the reason I took so long to get back to you - non-romance fics with OCs. The answer, by the way, is yes. Great OCs are fantastic, but you don't tend to see many OCs outside of romance, or you only see them as side characters in another pairing's fic. They don't often have starring or co-starring roles. But I wanted to find examples with great OCs which would take time.

And now I'm taking that time. Here's some good OC-starring fics that I scoured through the tag. They're difficult to find. I had to smudge that requirement after a while. Then I gave up after I got to 2 years back in the tag.

Some of the stories that I know have very good OCs are also IronStrange, but I know that's not your cup of tea so I left it out. But I found a handful.

Keshwyn was the author that came to mind when you originally sent this ask, but I wanted to have more than one author when I wrote this. Read their series, highly recommend, top-tier OCs across the whole spectrum, with the main star being female.

This fic by LexLemon is technically PalmerStrange, but the OCs are her parents, so it's basically a delight in my eyes as Stephen's fish-out-of-water act is always funny to me.

Dragonnan writes good OCs, usually the mean sort though, the ones who hurt Stephen rather than befriend him (male and female lmao), but if you're in a whumpy mood at some point...

This isn't technically an OC, but I don't know the character from the comics, so she's an OC to me! This Stephen's new apprentice is Casey Kinmont fic by Stratagem. They just updated recently too, need to cheer them on at some point.

*sigh* Sorry love, I ran out of good OC fics that didn't have background/primary IronStrange that I could find/remember. But yeah. There's some fic/author recs.

(If anyone wants to add to the list, feel free to leave a comment or reblog. I was avoiding IronStrange for the asker in particular but I don't think the asker sees reblogs so go for it if you'd like).

Also, I love the OCs that I've come up with for my various stories in both LOTR and the MCU. I'll ramble all about them if you (or someone) wants me to, quite happily.

Hope that answers the question/reason for the ask, mostly.

[bumblyburg]

ted lasso finale thoughts

Need the richmond women's team spinoff NOW!!!!!!!!!!! And it better have LESBIANS i swear to god!!!!!!!

As always the strongest part of this ep was the team dynamics. Roy joining the diamond dogs. Isaac with the penalty kick!!!! The fucking dance sequence callback T^T theres no place like afc richmond <3 Them winning the match but losing the whole thing was a good balance of success vs realism. I didn't know enough about football to predict it beforehand LOL but that probably worked in my favor bc i genuinely didnt know whether they would win or lose. Rebecca and ted's friendship was heartwarming as always. I was living in fear that they'd become a couple even though i knew that wasn't what the writers were going for, so I probably need to rewatch to fully enjoy it.

Tedependent lost RIP. it would have made sense but at the same time im kinda glad they didn't, at least this season. trent was still very much a side character and i just don't think the story beats were there for tedtrent endgame. the story would have had to been constructed differently, or it would need another season. I also liked how the main focus was ted & rebecca's friendship rather than either of their romantic relationships. I love a good romance but its not what this story is about.

Thats part of the reason why the dutchman return felt cheap to me lol. Sorry rebecca im always rooting for you but i just wasn't feeling it. Another part of that is probably because Ted and Trent had a much stronger foundation and we still didn't get to see even their friendship develop as much as i would have liked. Maybe ive been spoiled by all the trent this season idk. but i was just hoping for a little more. After all, it's not lost on me that we only got one confirmed gay couple at the end (we don't even know anything about Michael!!! Ugh sorry Im a michael hater he's so boring.)

Speaking of boring, I simply do not care about ted's family. So him moving back was... not really compelling for me. like none of the kansas characters are fleshed out at all. i wish they had done something more interesting with them so i could actually get invested. There was something there with michelle dating their couples therapist, but it ended up falling flat imo. Also Michelle being a teacher is a total copout, I would have preferred if she had an unexpected job that revealed a new side to her. Give her a personality outside of being a wife/mother/caretaker please and thank you.

I did like how Royjamie was left openended!!! thats the ship i care most abt and i knew it wasnt going to *actually* happen so im satisfied with what we got. I am in the (im assuming) minority of royjamie enjoyers that is against roykeeleyjamie. This episode really hammered it in why roy and jamie are not good for keeley LOL, but the signs have been there all along. Keeley needs to be her own boss for a bit! Roy and jamie are just not at her maturity level (lovingly), and they've got some misogyny to work through.

(I need to think on it more, but I'm pretty sure that I liked the way this episode/season handled the Roy And Jamie Are Lowkey Sexist subplot. Like the whole fighting over a woman thing is soooo trite atp, and i still dont know how i feel about them physically fighting over her or whatever. but the story was realistic about how these asshole male footballers are going to have some weird views about women, while still shutting that down those views. like not even giving them the time of day. Keeley literally shoos them out without a word LMAO. So idk need to think about it more but at least keeley didnt end up with either of them).

Hey you know who DOES deserve each other.... and makes each other better people, as represented by their football training arc.... the student is the teacher and the teacher is the student etc etc…… Anyways royjamie is real TO ME!!! (And brett goldstein and phil dunster, number one royjamie warriors. phil dunster wrote royjamie smut I will never get over that)

Overall im sad to see ted lasso go. i think i need to sit with all 3 seasons a bit more before forming my full opinion, but s1 will always have my heart. Mostly because evil jamie and evil rebecca are so so fun to watch.

[thehare1234]

Recent TV Roundup

Soooo much television to watch…so litttle time (but I find it)…maybe this is the year I watch 100 TV shows

QL Shows

🎹First Note Of Love (Ep 2-6): it’s happeningggg they’re bonding…👀 Orca showed up and I’m immediately obsessed like whole aura and whatever is going on with the manager…all in all a great string of episodes and every time we see a flashback with the brother my heart aches…okkkk okkk episode 6 and I am officially hooked on the show I am really liking the exploration of grief and I like the side couple a lot…the preview for next episode?? I’m deceased

☀️I Hear The Sunspot (Ep 10-11): I think if I view this show away from the lens of BL and more of a coming of age, I see the vision a bit more…I just feel like the romance was going at a slow but sure pace and now has stalled…which has hindered my enjoyment slightly…I like the scenes between Taichi and his grandpa a lot though…also I been saying Maya is now shifting to just confusion as to like “why would you like this man of all people what is wrong with you” but her character doesn’t feel crucial enough in the story to get her own POV episode, although I do want to know more about her and have her be a more fleshed out character

💄Cosmetic Playlover (Ep 3-8)(end): this show was simple and cute…and felt very Japanese BL lol but I don’t know how much I’ll be thinking about it after like a week or two…like it’s not a bad show it just didn’t make a huge impression on me. (7/10)

🦜Takaras Treasure (Ep 10-11)(end): eeeeeeeeeeeee I loved this ending so much! Then opening up and Takara basically just showing how much he loves Taishin is just so beautiful and I hope they live a happy life together ❤️❤️❤️ thank god we got the special episode so I can be with them a bit more…ok the special was also cuteeeee I don’t think I liked it as much as the finale because I do feel like Takaras character became like a lil back to his closed off self but overall I liked this lil show a lot (9/10)

🐢Monster Next Door (Ep 5-6): boyfriend era? Soon? Okkk! This episode leaned a lil too much in the « fluff sequences with no point » at points but it still works for this plot because at the end of the day it’s not super complicated….okkkk this series is still cute and I like how the two mains talk to each other and sometimes do mess up…it’s just like a warm comforting tea of a series at this point and I’m excited to see what the boyfriend era will be

🤝Affair (Ep 1-2): toxic yuri? Possessive jealous behaviour? Cheating? I guess! I’m in and ready for the meds that will be this series…anddd we already have the obligatory GL bath scene (in episode 2?)…and I’m so sorry but I have never seen such unhinged « platonic » behaviour in my life…also I kept seeing comments on YouTube of people being so annoyed that we are getting so many scenes with Ek but like…I disagree? I think yeah obviously the main reason people are here is for the girls but like the show has a plot outside of just them like fight-flirting with each other so to me it makes sense to focus at least a bit on the guy that presumably one of them will be cheating on? Idk

🔙 Reverse 4 U (Ep 1): im so excited this show is on Netflix! And the first episode was cute and a great set up! I like how they showed their powers and really set up the sibling bond well…also I’m biased but I love Four but I am a simp for mean lesbians whoops

🕓4 Minutes (Ep 6-7): we’ll welll welll they were all trash in the original timeline…no notes….i hope everyone gets the revenge/justice they deserve and that Tonkla gets away with murder lol…I’m hoping next episode we see how Tyne gets shot since we now have Greats storyline…also who tf is that woman in the gallery with great….still many questions to answer in the finale but I like how we’re also getting answers and everything is making somewhat sense like I see where the seeds planted earlier are coming back up! I legit have no idea how this will end buttttt I’m thinking it’ll be like an open ending..and lowkey think they will both die and stay in the fix it timeline forever together lol

👔The Trainee (Ep 10-11): wow the discourse on this episode is something else…I never really saw Judy and Bahmee being developed as a lasting relationship and now I see why…I’m sort of disappointed she ended up with Tae again I was really hoping for her choosing to be single and both of them growing but….alas….and to be fair I have been her lowkey (minus the cheating) so I get itttt. Jane and Ryan continue to be cute and I like the way each intern is going through a journey and growing as an individual character outside the relationships…okkk one more episode to go and I like how they reflected on like how each trainee has grown and have given more of Jane’s backstory and how he ended up the way he did…I also like that some of the Ryan/Jane relationship progression was done off screen but discussed like them having 1 hour phone calls…like their relationship is just a good progression…I’m mostly just annoyed by how little characters développement they have Judy like she really was just there for? What?

🥭The Loyal Pin (Ep 5-6): welpppp the ending of this episode was wild…I like how they Pin acknowledges like…it would be really hard for them to be together (impossible even) and just the angst and yearning that comes from their situation is done really well but you can also just feel how attached they are to each other…omg this episode was so romantic and you can just feel how much they love each other…guess they could only give us one episode of that though before they are separated again 😭…also I have a weird theory that Prik is going to end up marrying the other brother but idk that seems kinda unlikely

🍫Happy of the end (Ep 1): definitely a more intense story from Japan…I definitely want to continue but maybe when I’m in a different headspace or will maybe binge this one when it comes out

📓On1y 1 (Ep 1-2): ok thé gifs on Tumblr got me…so far, this is setting up the story really well and I like the push and pull we are already getting with the two characters…I’m ready for this show to break me lol

🔫Kidnap (Ep 1): idk I’m here…nothing drew me into this toooo much but I feel a bit of the chemistry…I’ll keep watching

🃏Jack and Joker (Ep 1): omfg this show is so wild I love it…I love love love heist media so I’m in fully 100% and also I like the action so far and I love Joker like of course I doooooo

Non-QL Shows

🧛Interview With The Vampire (Ep 2-3): I’m still entertained and I like how complex each character is and I just think Louis is a really compelling character in particular…at the end of the day…imma keep watching

🏠Love Next Door (Ep 5-8): oooofffff this is still good…I think it’s definitely got every trope that has ever existed like we got the exes, we got illness, we got childhood friends to lovers…we got potential cheating like it goes on and on. While I like the romance…I think some of the strongest parts of the show is Seok-Ryus journey with her parents and the weight of the expectations and just a lot of really powerful scenes…based on the reveal in episode 8 I’m hoping for a happy ending 😭 but I also wouldn’t be as mad as other people I’ve seen talk about the show if we don’t get one I think

🏥Hospital Playlist (Ep 5): I think one episode a week is perfect for this show because as much as I like it…an episode feeels really long lol…I like how we learn things about the characters gradually and naturally and as you learn them it sort of makes previous episodes and scenes make sense…also « do you have someone you’re interested in? » « the lord » iconic no notes

☕️Ripley (Ep 3-5): I had to watch multiple episodes because it is heating up! Not the cat being what’s gonna get him caught! These episodes were so delicious the suspense and the way he is going to have to keep covering and covering his tracks now…looking at everyone with suspicion…it’s great

💍No Gain No Love (Ep 1-4): why am I watching so many KDramas at the moment? Who knows….but I just felt drawn to this one…and I’m a sucker for a fake marriage plot line so here I am…so far this show is pretty decent. I already know I probably won’t like the second couple…but the main storyline is fun…and I do feel like it’s exploring some interesting themes around women and the small ways in which being a woman in the workplace and in life is difficult and just how women can have desires and it shouldn’t be something to shame (although this show is sort of taking that as a punchline to a joke rn hoping it’ll change as it goes on)

🩲Don’t want no old man’s underpants (Ep 8): this show continues to slay like the festival was so cute and just some good old father and son bonding and like actually listening to each other it’s just really nice to see…I really love this lil show

[curried-mermaid]

A Review: Does it Count if you Lose your Virginity to an Android

 Author: Yakinikuteishoku Illustrator: Yakinikuteishoku Publishers: Seven Seas Entertainment Age Group: Older Teen, 17+/YA, Mature Genre: Girl Love, Romance Type: Manga

Content Warnings: Sex, Lewd/Naughtiness, dubious consent

Spoilers ahead

Plot

Beautiful, brainy Tsuda Akana is indispensable at the robotics manufacturer where she works, but her colleagues never see her private side. At home, Akane’s a hot mess with an apartment that looks more like a landfill than a living space. When she drunkenly orders a maid to help her tidy up, the lady android who arrives is a horny hottie who’s about o give Akane more service than she bargained for! 

Character Development

The two main characters in this are well thought out. 

Our protagonist is a brilliant young woman who is frustrated that all her planning (as she’s in the planning department) doesn’t get used once it’s in development. Her company focuses on making A.I. appliances and tech that will help make everyday life easier. She prefers to keep life just the way it is as she thinks that having a beer after a long day is more perfect than doom-scrolling with A.I. spectacles.

While her home is a disaster zone, when you mix this with beer we get shopping sprees. What’s better than getting a maid? Akane is brilliant during the day and a slob at night. It makes her character endearing from the start. The audience can relate to her because who doesn’t like a little retail therapy?

Akane is a thorough thinker. We see this when Nadeshiko tries to seduce her into “registering her fingerprint” in a certain feminine organ. Akane doesn’t want to because pleasure androids are illegal in this world and registering would not only make her complicit in such an activity but also make Nadeshiko seem like a slave (which doesn’t sit right with her). This is understandable as Nadeshiko doesn’t act or appear like normal android technologies. She can learn, has feelings, and even feels like a human. Thus, we also see that Akane has good morals as well.

Akane is also a bit of a nerd as she learns about Nadeshiko’s different functions. Being in the planning department that uses A.I. technology, she can’t help but want to know more as Nadeshiko is vastly superior to anything on the actual market. 

Only our secondary protagonist isn’t just a maid, she’s a pleasure android. Nadeshiko may be a horndog of an android but she’s also very sweet. She learns functions that can help “her master” (thought not really her master…yet) such as cooking and cleaning. She can be cunning by using her body to get Akane worked up and try to trick her into “registering”. This doesn’t happen as Akane comes to her senses at the last minute. Nadeshiko is also naive and misses social cues outside the bedroom. 

Other characters outside of this are flat. We don’t get to know Akane’s co-workers well, other than they exist. There’s not a lot of reason for them besides showing more about Akane’s work and what it’s like. 

World-building

The bit of world-building we do get shows that A.I. has been adapted to make lives easier and enjoyable. The VR spectacles are fascinating in their own right. We also know that pleasure androids are illegal. This is an interesting piece of information showing the world is still pretty conservative and weary of utilizing A.I. in those regards. Having a story that uses A.I. correlates well with the emergence of A.I. in our reality. 

The smut may be vanilla but the bathroom scene does have a unique twist that’s worth mentioning. It’s a nice twist that gives the classic bathroom scene a new take. 

Themes

Don’t drink and shop.  This is a good idea because as they say "don't shop on an empty stomach." I think the same maxim can be said for retail therapy while tipsy and drunk.

Observations & Predictions

While the main characters are great, the world-building needs to be fleshed out more. This first volume is just full of comedy watching Akane deal with this new development in her life and failing miserably. Also, the smut is pretty vanilla (while necessary as Akane was a virgin) is what you’d expect from a smut title. 

I hope that with the coming volumes we get more of a plot, more background character development, and more imaginative smut. As of this first volume, it’s cute but not worth the read.

**Watch for a special edition of the second volume.**

Recommendations

If you want a GL with the human to be Dom

Papa no Sexy Doll (Daddy’s Sexy Dolls) By: Gaku Kajikawa

[mejomonster]

Still watching 1000 stars and

Genuinely this is really good. Very much Like Crash Landing On You, I am expecting tians secret to come out about either torfun or his health condition or both and require him to go back to his family in the city, and switch the plot location somewhat to there instead. With the big contrast between the village and the city highlighted again

Love that chief loved torfun as a sister because that decouples her from the romance focus a bit, Tian falls for chief on his own and vice versa, and AGAIN like crash landing on yous commander-fiance there's a 3rd party in the picture as far as affecting things but not feelings wise. I just see a LOT of similarities to crash landing on you, if you loved that kdrama and would like some reminiscent vibes check out 1000 stars. Or if you'd like similar story beats but in a bl, or with less high stakes action tension.

In a way I very much fear Tian is the one who drove the car that hit torfun. Because he was planning to race that night. I am very afraid but also feel that is probably the case. Because it would be like destiny, connect them even more than just sharing a heart. He could've randomly got sick, randomly needed an organ, a random death donates it. That's how it is for generally all people who get organ transplants. Tian could have still found out who the person was and admired how they lived and wanted to emulate them.

But what's going to hit hardest in the plot and in my heart? If he was driving the car. If his playing his life away got her killed. Almost got them both killed. That's heavy on my heart and a dark place for the story to go but I'm betting that's where it's headed. Tians guilty dream? The thing he doesnr admit Even in the dream so he wakes up? I think it's that he might have been driving a car that night she died.

Also Tian is such a fascinating character to me. When he gets to the village it reminds me a lot of CLOY protagonist, except hes already willing to adjust and adapt for personal reasons, so he does quickly. And he wasn't all bad as scenes with Tul from the past show. But he also put up with corruption until after his life was saved, he got angry when he was sick. And most curious is hes a very good liar. Good at lying to torfuns aunt, good at lying to his parents. Good at lying to chief about how he knows torfun in a somewhat true fashion. Good at presenting things in the best way for him possible. I don't think he tried being honest to people he cared about as much until after the heart transplant. And for a protagonist it's an interesting quality, to be such a natural liar, in a situation built by his lies, but also wanting to minimize his own lying when possible. He's not a pure hearted hero, and we just see glimpses of what he thought of himself before. But we are seeing him on a path of growth.

The chief Really reminds me of CLOYs love interest. Except he's got less family baggage (tians got the cloy love interests rich family baggage lol). This show really has a nice mix and variation on CLOYs story setup. But the personal nature of torfun dying and the heart transplant and who killed her is going to make this uniquely personal with Tian holding a lot of guilt, in a way CLOYs love story didn't have.

Also his friend Tul. Love that actor so much since seeing him in theory of love. Love him in this. He's phenomenal. I want him in more shows ToT

[luhrmannatural]

I also agree about Noah thing. People want to believe in actors' words but they can often be dubious and misleading, whether be it intentionally malicious on purpose or not, actors sometimes make such comments especially if the topic is about shipping. I also don't expect Noah to have a wider knowledge on what the queerbaiting means or what the problematic things like bury your gays means. He could as well as just be like ''yeah ship byler guys it's happening'' casually, it doesn't mean byler will be canon. It's also less clear if it's gonna be one-sided or not. At best Will could be revealed as gay but be rejected by Mike. We're lucky if Will gets to live without having a bury your gays moment if he is revealed as gay. We've seen the same kinds of stuff happening over and over again in many TV shows and movies that is has become so tiring, but this kind of stuff is still happening today. Teen Wolf, the SPN, Sherlock, many shows featured in Disney, Voltron etc I can go on and on... All these shows had harmful portrayals involving either queerbaiting or bury your gays, or both. I don't want to go on details here to avoid spoilers, but I think many people already know about these shows and are knowledgable about them to an extent.

What I'm saying is that ship whatever you want guys but don't keep your expectations up that much. Yeah Stranger Things is a quite popular show and people say we already have a queer character (Robin) but honestly... that's very different than actually having a fleshed out gay romance between two main characters in a horror themed show, especially if one of them already has been shipped with a female character from the very first season. Is it impossible? No. But it's very rare and unlikely, if it happens it will be very interesting to see and cheer on. But still, it's better to not keep our hopes up for what's coming next.

yeah i’ve been having similar conversations with friends about will maybe dying. i’d honestly be shocked if they did a bury your gays thing because they cannot possibly be that stupid, but homophobia has been proven to outweigh intelligence before so who knows. i do appreciate the people with high expectations for adding some much needed positivity to the gap between episodes, but i also hate seeing people get upset when the reality doesn’t meet the expectation because it’s so justified and outsiders always react poorly.

i really do hope that for once people are proven right though. it would be really vindicating for me as someone who’s been dealing with the same thing over and over for almost a decade (whether i’ve cared about the ship or not) and i’m sure for a lot of other people too. and for it to happen on the one show that everyone’s talking about would be pretty powerful for sure

[justagirlsearchingforamuse]

Unpopular Opinion: As much as I like Warren as a character, I truly believe that he deserved more screen time and time to be fleshed out if he was going to be a romantic interest. I like the good things about Warren, he’s sweet, goofy, protective, sensitive, and just overall has a lot of good traits imo but I feel he should’ve had more flaws and a life outside of Max, yes he has friends and stuff but I’d like the hear that he has more and other problems outside of school. Possibly insecurities or not being very happy with himself, I wouldn’t mind it if instead of the humor that he has with Max, maybe we mix in some self-deprecating humor, maybe even having it in which he struggles with depression of the sorts that Max barely sees.

He has parents who have high expectations for him which would make sense considering how he says his parents will be mad he got a b on his chemistry test. Because Chloe is fleshed out and developed, given complexities and time for you to grow to like her and enjoy her as a character including her flaws and more. I would also add in a possible day in which you would be able to hang out with Warren, Kate, Chloe, or possibly Victoria (if you get her to like you). It would give us more time to have these characters fleshed out especially Warren and Kate who imo have not much character outside of the plot or Max. I like Warren and I want him to be taken seriously as a character, not treated like a creep or that he’s uncomfortable to be around, and for him to be fleshed out more.

I like Chloe a lot and giving her a lot of time to be fleshed out is good but as a result a lot of other characters fall into limbo and aren’t developed much outside of the plot. Yeah, this story is about Max and Chloe but imo in order to make your main or center relationship strong, you also have to strengthen the world and the relationships around them and give them complexities. Imo we don’t see much outside of Chloe’s world and that’s fine, I just want these other characters to be people and just as complex as Chloe even if they don’t get much screen time. If I had to add more to Warren, here is what I would add. Now this is my version or possible redesign of Warren’s character, I am in no way shaming his original version, only adding upon what I would personally enjoy in his character.

First of all, I would give Warren the same positive traits as he has above but just a few more flaws such as being insecure, clingy, self-deprecating, and awkward. I want him to be the opposite of Chloe in most ways, but I want to add depth to him and like someone Max can genuinely like flaws and all.

He has parents who have high expectations of him due to him excelling greatly academically, he spends a good bit of his time studying and trying to live up to these expectations. I’d make him more of a loner but he aspires to have more friends but he’s quite busy with school.

But he manages to keep in contact with Max and they actively help each other, studying together, watching movies together on the weekends, and just cute student things they do together. He’s a fan of sci-fi, action, thriller, and romance movies (a bit embarrassed about his love for chic-flixs as well but don’t tell max.)

We still have Warren wanting to go to the drive-in and he’s heavily excited about it especially after getting his new car as a new gift for good grades, he comes off as very excited about it, having raved about the drive-in to Max weeks prior. When he’s not studying, he’s quite friendly and a goofball, he’s often worried if he’s too clingy towards Max in texts.

Brooke has a one-sided crush on him and only really goes to the drive-in in hopes of getting closer to Warren, I would have her act cold and maybe distant towards Max but nothing more. Warren doesn’t have or expresses any interest in her at first but if Max doesn’t show any interest in him as a friend, he will hang out with Brooke more often.

He also deals with depression possibly or at least has suffered from it in the past as well as maybe anxiety, Max can find things such as anti-depressants or we can find texts of Warren anxious whenever exam periods come up despite trying to be cool about it.

He can hang out with Max if she chooses to spend one of her days with one of her friends, he and Max can choose to watch movies in his dorms or go a nearby arcade. In which we get cute moments of them bonding and Warren opening up more to Max about the things that have been happening in Arcadia Bay. You can friendzone him as well and you don’t have to consider it to be a date.

I honestly feel that Warren and a lot of the characters deserved more time but I understand that Life Is Strange is mostly about Max and Chloe and their deep friendship and love for one other. I just feel that the other characters deserve to be characters and not just tools to help the plot or forgotten in Limbo because the game isn’t about him.

[b00ket]

Just ate some shitty chocolate and mulling over my growing dislike of the arcana

Like the characters in the game, fandom (ie. like 5 people), fanartist are cool and sexy

But I feel like I would’ve enjoyed the game more if Nix Hydra actually wanted to portray POC and weren’t such vague and lazy writers

Disclaimer: I talk about Asra but I haven’t finished their route so take this grain of salt

Taking a step back and looking at this game... i don’t like it. Here’s the main reasons why:

They claim to have a diverse story and world but honestly you could change all the characters to look white and nothing would change.

They are so fucking ambiguous it drives me insane. The world in this game is never built up at ALL and neither is the magic system. They have left hints and details of a bigger complex world but never elaborate on it even when it could be relevant to the story.

Magic

Details from some stories aren’t even in others. When explaining magic to my boyfriend I was making a-lot of assumptions about how magic works because everything is so vague.

For example, magic limits are brought up maybe twice. Herbal magic exists (Mazelinka practices it I believe), runes and charms are a thing, glyphs are a thing. All these things are great details for magic that could have been explored as other forms of magic other characters have. Julian using glyph magic was never explored further, Muriel using charms and herbal magic would have been great.

The fact that these are never revisited or expanded upon digs at me. It feels like lost potential.

The minor arcana is a world detail that is only prevalent in the weekly card reading when the concept of another set of arcana is super fucking cool? Even mentioning any form of the minor arcana in the major arcana realms would be a nice tie in. But no its never even mentioned.

The world

Reading the arcana, Vesuvia feels more like a symbol than a place. It lacks a sense of life ehich is strange considering how much time we spend there. Nadia, Portia, Julian and Asra are all people who have a knowledge and understanding of Vesuvia but exploring with them is so focused on romance they lose the chance of building this world.

The outside world follows suit. Aside from names you can’t really tell me anything from outside kingdoms. Anything said about Prakra and Nevivon is vague and broad, even when Julian and Nadia are speaking about it.

The assumptions I’ve made about this world and how it functions are doing a lot of heavy lifting in giving the world life. I’ll make a post about each place in the arcana world about these assumptions just because of how important they are to my interpretations of the characters race. Ill touch on them here.

Race and Culture

This is my biggest gripe with Nix claiming to be diverse. Sure the characters have different skin tones but you could make them white and it wouldn’t affect the plot.

Everyone in this cast is some form of racially ambiguous or their culture is not in anyway important to the plot if mentioned at all.

I cannot speak on Asra’s portion but they’re not from Vesuvia. Their mom wears a headscarf but its never shown whether this is a fashion piece or religious outfit. (The fact that no other person wears a headscarf and it looks like a hijab implies muslim faith exists but its never explained) Asra themself is a magical person in tune with themself. Having them show us some of their culture would have been nice.

Nadia, despite her arc being that of family, never shows any sign of the cultural aspects of Prakra. A nice character touch would be her growing distant from her culture while with Lucio in the palace (spurred on my Lucio’s lack of care and her apathy) and later in the story doing something significant and unique to her culture. Whether it be dressing in a way that’s distinct from Vesuvian citizens to praying or making a Prakran dish with their family.

Muriel’s cultural exploration is the best out of all of the characters as it’s a main plot point. Unfortunately not enough focus is placed on it. A great touch would have been language differences, perhaps even reclaiming the fading language of his tribe after its destruction.

Both Julian and Portia being from Nevivon and having lived on a pirate ship, I expected a deeper look into pirate culture and the life of Nevivon. None are elaborated on so Julian becoming a pirate in his upright ending feels empty as I’m not invested in pirate life at all.

Not doing the bare minimum to flesh out these characters culture means the world feels flat and the characters don’t feel like true representation. A hollow attempt at giving us diverse characters in what should be a living breathing world.

Race and Design

Again, everything is ambiguous.

The smallest gripe I have is that clearly the artists are not people of color. Granted I did get this impression from the fact that the palms of the hands arent lighter than the skin tone. Its a subtle thing but doing it shows a care for detail and it makes my melanin self very happy when it’s shown.

Another smaller gripe is how ambiguous Muriel and Asra look. I had assumed Muriel was just a white guy until the name of his tribe and seeing cultural wear gave a different impression. But I can’t fault anyone fir thinking he was white. Just like I can’t really fault people for thinking Asra is also white.

Why do the lighter skin characters have natural hair colors but as soon as Nadia and Asra are shown they have fantasy hair. While having colorful hair isn’t a crime, its a tactic often used to separate people of color from truly looking like people of color. It was a wall I had from connecting with these characters.

There’s not a single black person in this game. The more I think on it the more it bugs me. So many side characters and yet none of them are black. If the devs hadn’t said the baker is black you could make a strong argument that black or Afro-centric features don’t exist in this world. There is no kinky or very curly hair. Not a wide nose to be seen. Seeing an Asra design that was inspired by African culture and saw it fit the aesthetic so well made me even more confused why there wasn’t any.

It makes me sad truly. You can’t call your game diverse when it isn’t. The Arcana is not a diverse game. It’s a lazy game with a hollow attempt at representation.

I am open to discussion on this as it’s something I’m passionate about. So if you have any insights or want to voice your own opinion I’d be happy to hear it!

[midnight-scrivener]

Okay I'm supposed to be working on my thesis but instead I'm going to pitch a show to anyone who cares to listen. It's a half-reboot, half-reimagining, all wild ride.

(a warning that comes from a place of hindsight: this gets. Long. I think it's J to skip still?)

There was a short lived television program, both commissioned and cancelled in 2001, named Tracker. Tracker was a monster-of-the-week style low-budget sci-fi adventure about an alien sent to Earth to capture runaway fugitives who wanted to make the planet their own special little evil pillow fort.

The show starred Adrian Paul (yes, that one, the Highlander guy) as the Eponymous Tracker, called Cole, and Amy Price-Francis as his human translator and romantic interest, Mel.

The show, in concept, has a lot of pros! Its Monster of the week format allowed for clean, self-contained episodes, while also hinting at larger, seasonal arcs.

There's some variation in the structure of the episodes, too, between chases and battles of wits and brawns, to whodunnits and other varieties of mystery. The main characters have great chemistry, and by keeping the episodes contained, you have the opportunity to keep the core cast small and cycle out a rotating cast of recurring side characters with their own ties to different themes and subplots. I also really liked the "learning to be human" throughline of the show, and the common theme that Mel and Cole shared, which was healing and building a life and a purpose in the face of grief and tragedy (Cole's family has been killed, and Mel's Grandmother has died).

The aliens are formless, and the bad guys take up residence in existing human hosts. This keeps the budget nice and low and means that the effectiveness of the villain relies on lore and storytelling, rather than just special effects. All the aliens can blend into a crowd of people at a glance, but they have their own arrays of strengths and weaknesses that make them interesting opponents. A lot of this is due to the low-budget nature of the show, and the original leans into the cheesy element of this pretty hard.

Another thing about the aliens all being formless is that they canonically exist outside the human gender binary! All aliens are queer by default! I love this!

And the romance between Mel and Cole is actually kind of wholesome, especially for a 2001 network tv couple.

(there aren't a lot of gifs of this show. Probably because it is like. The least relevant IP I could have chosen to spend neurons on.)

HOWEVER. this was a show that ran for one season 20 years ago.

This is because it was a bad show.

(I say the above with love, and also because I mean it with my whole heart)

I'm just going to bullet point the cons really quick* here.

(*Note from the author, I just finished reading this list back after writing it, and it Will Not Be Quick)

Cole's a cop

His sidekick is a weaselly coward and a regrettably stereotypical embodiment of the "token black comic relief" character

There's not a whole lot of meaningful character growth. Everyone ends the season pretty much where they started it.

Adrian Paul is a professional martial artist, and a physically intimidating specimen, but because of some goofy fucking effects in post, ALL of the fight scenes are somehow the worst fight scene I've ever seen.

Only the bad guys steal real human hosts, so Cole has to get his physical form elsewhere. He manifests his body based on a billboard photo of an underwear model. This wouldn't be a bad thing, except the show uses it as an excuse to play out the same gag of him walking around in briefs and everyone being uncomfortable about a billion times over.

Also it presents questions that genuinely plagued me for all of the 22 episodes. Are the briefs his flesh? Is he wearing them in the (frankly weirdly charged) bath scene where Mel washes his upper body with a sponge? The image was two dimensional, so how does he know what a butt looks like? Was it just a guess?

The weird bath scene deserves its own bullet

The plot writing was a little predictable, which isn't always a bad thing, but matched with the lack of character growth, some episodes are left feeling less than dynamic.

It was the beginning of the aughts, so there's plenty of casual ableism, sexism, racism, and a smattering of transphobia to go around.

The villains, in the spirit of cheesy sci-fi, tend to be kind of flat (almost as flat as Cole should be, given that his only point of reference was two-dimensional and ASSLESS). There are also times where we just have to take the show's word for it that they're guilty and deserve to be in jail.

The non-binary aliens thing is verbally confirmed in Canon, from what I recall, but they don't really... Do anything with it? He still uses gendered words like husband and wife and daughter, and uses gendered terminology and pronouns to refer to the fugitive aliens. I KNOW it was the 2000s, but just from a world builder's perspective, it was a missed opportunity, dude.

Cole's a cop.

Everything was pretty Cole-focused. I think the show could have benefitted from having a few more episodes where the real focus was on other characters and their problems. It would have fleshed everyone out a bit more, and been good for building relationships.

It's a space cop show. Cops in space.

But the real problem is that. In spite of the above diatribe of headaches. I do genuinely have a fondness for this wonderful, terrible piece of television. I think the concept deserves a second chance. And I am going to tell you my plan. (Read: pipe dream)

(If you've made it this far in, you HAVE to stay to the end. Sunk-cost, baby. You've wasted this much of your life on my drivel, why not waste some more?)

The proposal:

First things first, forget the space cops. There's no reason for this to be both a monster of the week and a police procedural. The world has moved past the need for fantastical police procedurals. Make the main character a mercenary/bounty hunter/gun for hire type with his own code of conduct and definition of morality. Make the invasion of earth personal (interested in some dead family, anyone?) or his biggest job to date that then becomes personal(possibly still with some dead family on the side).

Second, keep the monster-of-the-week style, but connect the lore of the worlds and aliens enough to actually start painting a tapestry of who these people are. I wanted to know more about what these people left behind to come to Earth. Also, they kind of touch on the infiltration of the upper class and the exploitation of the working class by the aliens in the original show, and how financial success and influence can be a very effective weapon. I would just say... Lean into that a little more. Let Cole stand up for good people, instead of just hunting down bad ones.

Thirdly, revamp the core and recurring characters. Give Mel a little more agency, and a life outside of Cole and his drama. Give Nestov, Cole's Sidekick, more of a personality than "chronic con artist." Plan subplots and arcs for everyone Cole comes to consider his family. The humanization of Cole and his connection to the people around him through the lens of his grief and loneliness is so under-explored in the original, but when they do touch on it, it's brilliant! Making the people around him more real will make that element feel more real. And just !!!! Human compassion, man!!!! Shows about aliens are so good for creating portraits of humanity from an outsider's perspective!!! Why not paint people as wonderful and complex and strange and kind????

Fourthly, Make It Queer As Hell. Have a masculine presenting, but comfortably he/they protagonist! No one else is doing that yet, and frankly it would be nice to get away from the stereotype that is rapidly developing in certain mindsets of non-binary identities being "girl-lite." Make all the aliens queer, and make most of the humans queer too! Queer people find each other. That's not going to stop at just one species. Also, how much fun could you have with "Alien doesn't understand gender binary?" It's a comedy jackpot! Double also, feeling like you're an outsider to the rest of your species because of your queerness could be really encapsulated in the metaphor of a literal alien being asked to conform to societal expectations that are fundamentally nonsensical to them.

And lastly... I'm actually advocating that we keep the underwear model origin story, if only because it then presents the opportunity for the actual model to make an appearance down the line, and I think the shenanigans we'd get out of that would be too much of a gold mine to pass up.

I don't know if I've sold this, to be honest. It's the wee hours of the morning where I am, and I've spent longer writing this post than I have my thesis today, and I Still do not know if I've put together a coherent thought, either about what the show is or what I want it to have been. I have no idea if my inexplicable enthusiasm for this program has come through at all.

That being said I've thought about it Too Much and ABSOLUTELY built a complete fancast for the core characters. Read on (really, at this point, you have no choice. You kind of just have to keep scrolling until you get past it. This is becoming like 'Do you love the color of the sky' but more niche and sad. I'm so sorry)

I present Rahul Kohli, he/they royalty themself, as Cole. Their work on iZombie shows an awesome sense for lovable comedic timing, and on Midnight Mass, he was a dramatic powerhouse. They can be soft and kind just as well as they can be really imposing and commanding. I think he could easily walk the tightrope between cold-steel heroism and genuine naivete that would really bring Cole's good heart to light. Also, a he/they playing a he/they? Unthinkable!

I nominate Rachel Keller to play Mel. She's another really incredible dramatic actress, and her work on Legion showed an ability to maintain a compelling portrayal of a competent person in the face of utter absurdity that I think would be a good balance for Cole's constant and unending weirdness. She has a very steady energy about her, and I think the vibes are right for a woman trying to run a legacy business while also putting up with alien bullshit at all hours in the apartment upstairs from her bar. Keller's character in Legion also had a really complete and well-rounded feeling to her, which I think is an awesome nuance to be able to bring to Mel, a character that could frankly use some more building out to do her concept justice.

I LOVE Liv Hewson for the role of Nestov. First of all, they'd be a queer actor playing a queer character, so immediate points. But also, Hewson brings such an unorthodox, spunky-yet-deadpan delivery to their characters that I think they'd be a great option to play a streetwise, grifter alien that goes from a minor antagonist to a really key part of Cole's most trusted inner circle. I also think that leaning into Nestov's queerness and his (he goes by he/him in the original show) experience as an alien on earth without the support of the fugitive gang that Cole is hunting could be a great place to bond and a wonderful change for mutual character development.

I think Lolly Adefope would be marvelous as Jess, Mel's overenthusiastic bartender who's constantly looking for a way to make Mel's relic of an establishment into the Next Big Thing. Adefope has such a bubbly, sunny energy about her, and especially as Mel's life gets crazier, she'll need a spot of normalcy. A cheerful, unconditional friend running away from a surprisingly dark English past might be just the breather Mel needs from the impending alien apocalypse. Also, it's just nice for girls to have friends who are girls, independent of men or shared romantic interest. The major change in Jess's character that I'd want is making her less creepily fascinated by Cole. In the original it felt at times like a fox eyeing a deer carcass. Especially when Cole (frequently) stripped down to his maybe-made-of-meat underwear. I'm not saying that I'll except nothing but a joyful femme lesbian, but... No, actually that's exactly it. Make Jess Gay! and use that to subvert the stereotype of the predatory lesbian that's still so prevalent in tv production today. It would also give Cole an example of human queerness to relate to and a human queer friend to build connections with.

I think Jemaine Clement is my ideal Vic Bruno, but. Not necessarily as he appears in the original show. In the original show, for the (many) uninitiated, Vic is Mel's ex, and a police detective. He's all right, but he sort of just serves as a narrative foil for Cole, and isn't good for too much else. This Vic would be more of a mentor figure to Mel, one of her Grandmother's regulars at the bar. He's either a former detective or a detective that's becoming more disillusioned with the abuse of power at his job by the day. He's reluctant to help out at first, and doesn't particularly like Cole, but cares enough about Mel to eventually become invested in Cole's safety by extension. The two end up having kind of a weird, tense-but-ride-or-die friendship. Vic ends up being more of a foil for Nestov's energy than Cole's. In Canon, he'd be the one confirmed token cishet, but he'd be all right in spite of that. Dad Energy.

The last main character I have Thoughts about is Tricia Helfer as Zin. Zin is the show's BBEG, the mastermind behind the fugitives' escape to Earth, and Cole's mentor-figure-turned-traitor. Mastermind is already a sexy energy, but MILF mastermind? Yes Please. I don't really have a good story reason for this decision, her performance in Battlestar Galactica is just a core memory from my childhood and I think she should get to be sexy villains more. I do know that Zin, while in concept such a cool villain, felt really under-utilized in the original show, and in this hypothetical remake I'd want so much more direct conflict between the him (as per gender in the original) and Cole. The betrayal of a trusted quasi-paternal figure is such a tasty morsel of trauma to play with, and it's one that went almost completely unacknowledged. Just like Cole is mourning his family, he's also, in a way, mourning the person he thought Zin was, and having them face off and have to confront their relationship head on would be a very sexy thing to do I think.

So those are. My thoughts.

Tl;Dr: (understandably so, holy SHIT) Im advocating for a queer remake of a shitty alien show from the early aughts. It already had the bones of hokey charm, monster of the week adventures, and misfits making found family. It just needs to re-examine its own biases and get👏 more 👏queer👏 to tell a story that's really unique and special.

[emersonfreepress]

okay so is there content that you had planned for the ROs and story in general but then scrapped cause there wasn’t a good place in the story to stick it in? and if so, can you share what it was? 👀 👀 👀

yes, definitely. *rubs hands together* oh man, you done asked THE question today xD I can't wait to get into this 😁

Academics. I almost decided to have classes and grades be a minor part of gameplay, but the more time I spent designing it the more I realized I wanted nothing to do with it 😂 I haven’t really enjoyed academic gameplay in other interactive fiction because I 1) hate having to choose between studying and interacting with awesome characters, 2) have terrible short term memory, and 3) hate school in general!! So instead I just opted to have the MC be really good at school, point blank period so I could focus on social drama and relationships instead! 😆

Physical skills. I spent literal months crafting the catering scene around setting up stats for stamina/endurance, dexterity, and strength instead of just magnetism, confidence, and persuasion. They had their own backstories with the MC’s parents being overly invested sports parents instead and I think the background choices were like... martial arts, gymnastics, and track? But yeah, I ended up scrapping it all because I was spending hours on research about those individual sports so I could integrate them into the MC’s narrative organically but like... when I tried to think of what use they would be in the actual story, I came up blank. Best decision yet, esp since it means a lot less coding!

Skin tone customization. For one, I noticed that a lot of my favorite IFs don’t offer that customization and it hasn’t impacted my experience at all. For two, I originally realized I might as well not implement it since I am striving real hard not to introduce any customization that won’t actually be mentioned in interesting or meaningful ways in-story. I don’t think it’s really all that common for real life friends (esp in high school?) to comment or compliment each other’s skin and like... when it comes from someone who doesn’t share a similar complexion or ethnic background, that type of commentary gets... d i c e y. So then I wanted to be sensitive to that but what’s the pay-off? An RO mentioning how they love your skin tone once? Awkward sentences with the MC referring to their own skin color? Idk, just wasn’t vibing with it. I’m open to revisiting it in beta or something but for now it’s scrapped.

Singing, Rapping, and Gaming as Hobbies/Talents. I feel bad about scrapping these, honestly 😂 They’re great and I really wanted to incorporate them but it just came down to already having a lot of stuff to code. Plus, I know I can write the Hobbies/Talents I stuck with far better. And for Book 2 purposes, as well!

Leo. as @sourandflightypeaches ​​ asked me about a long while ago, I had to scrap an entire RO 😢 His name is Leo, he was the nephew of wealthy west African diplomats residing in Emerson, and I love him dearly! His backstory was largely based on my mother’s childhood and the circumstances she lived through after immigrating to America. and... ok, i’m about to go on one hell of a tangent so buckle up and bear with me if you can 😅

my intention with this story, aside from writing things that I personally enjoy (graphic violence, spooky woods, social drama, romance, conspiracies 😚), is to explore greed, wealth, and how the ways people and families interact with those two things influence young people and who they grow up to be. here i go sounding pretentious af 😝 and here’s where I apply a cut for those who want to preserve a little mystery to the main characters!

With Gabe, we’ve got someone who grew up with very little stability or financial security but who has found unscrupulous methods to gain status and money, with both noble and selfish motivations.

Kile has some of that childhood experience in common with Gabe, having been in the foster care system since infancy, but they lucked out when they were adopted into massive wealth by a caring, loving couple—a couple that uses their wealth and privilege to be far more lenient and protective of Kile than is actually reasonable or responsible.

Jack comes from a prestigious wealthy family on his dad’s side who he loves dearly but there’s no getting around the fact that they love him back as much as they despise his working class mom.

Jessie is a spoiled sweet heiress (being the baby of her family and the only girl) and while she lives blissfully ignorant of the harmful source and impact of her father's income and career, she bears the weight of the expectation to fulfill very traditional gender roles, including her behavior and appearance, but also extending to her career and life plans.

Rain's wealth led to them growing up sheltered and isolated but also extremely accommodated, giving them maximum freedom and opportunity to discover and develop their personal talents and interests. However, they have almost no positive relationship with their parents who have essentially decided to give up on a kid that couldn't be exactly the accessory they tried to mold them to be—both in terms of their identity and personality.

Rupan/Rohan, at their very core, rejects everything about conformity, self-importance, and excessive luxury—which means they have never, ever truly fit in with their peers. Going full non-conformist, however, has resulted in them becoming alienated from much of their family, as well, despite them all loving each other very much. Their history with false friends and betrayals has led them to over-indulge in their vices and reckless behavior to compensate for that isolation. Sometimes, they just get in over their head and many times, they know better. Every time, it's just that the feeling of finally belonging is utterly intoxicating.

Vivian/Vincent has two extremely successful parents who didn't inherit but instead built up their wealth and they aspire to be just like them, to a degree that is well and truly unhealthy. Their mother specifically is an over-achiever and applies mountainous pressure for them to follow in her footsteps, especially academically. Vi is completely capable of achieving what their mom expects of them, but they were already an extremely sensitive perfectionist so this has made them intensely critical of themself. This is a large part of why they are such a rigid, no-nonsense person and that in turn has made them one of the most disliked people among their peers—which is a huge personal failure to them since their father is a very well-liked and socially successful person in town.

And the Emersons are peak privilege: inherent high social status, brains, looks, charisma, athleticism, and massive wealth. They could never have been anything less than extremely popular, just by virtue of their last name and the nature of the town's social dynamics and politics. And they do enjoy that privilege (esp Curt lol). However, it should go without saying that being so high profile, even (or maybe especially) just in the isolated scope of your hometown, isn't always a boon. Their family's and their own perceived failings are widely discussed and privately mocked and/or celebrated. Real friends are scarce while fake ones and snakes are plentiful. Plus their dad is a gigantic dickhead who sees his kids as extensions of his own status and reputation and not much else. Public shortcomings make for an unbearable time at home and the world outside the estate is at once overly accommodating, full of assumptions, and even subtly hostile at times—all unrelated to their own actions or character.

And with the MC, I think the narrative will make it clear there are several ways that story can go. You start off with irresponsible parents that have lost their wealth due to their own mismanagement and material ambitions—how that affects any individual MC should differ based on choices and consequences!

So why bring any of that up when I was supposed to be talking about my cut OC? 😂😂

Leo was going to be the unwelcome recent addition to his uncle’s household, the son of a brother his aunt hates for (petty af) Reasons, and she took that resentment out on him directly by restricting his access to nearly every aspect of the family's wealth. Especially material goods and living conditions. He was basically treated like the help, tasked with playing nanny for his many younger cousins and burdened with doing the homework and providing academic cover for his dumb as rocks cousin in the same grade as you all. To sum it up, he was basically a victim of trafficking at the hands of his own family with his uncle out of town enough to feign ignorance to how bad his wife was treating his nephew and his aunt going out of her way to keep him busy, at home, and isolated. This is sadly a super common form of trafficking in Francophone African cultures (although I don't think most people view it as trafficking. and I’m sure the same is true of other cultures but I don’t want to speak outside of my purview). And like I mentioned above, it’s how my own mom's (and idek how many cousins') child/teenhood went.

It’s a perspective on modern wealth, privilege and greed that I really, really wanted to tell. I am confident in saying it hasn't been explored in interactive fiction yet (though correct me—and direct me 👀—if I'm wrong) and out of all the wealth/greed explorations I came up with, it's the one I have the closest personal ties to and the strongest feelings about. The characters and plans I had for it were detailed and I'm proud of them but at the end of the day... I just couldn't find a place for Leo in the story at large.

Leo was, in fact, the last main character I came up with, when I had already designed and fleshed out the larger story and started crafting the timeline of major events. I think the worst thing I could have done for a story and perspective that I care about this much is shove it into a plot that didn't have room for it at the very base level, regardless of how well the character or his story is written. Shoe-horned characters always stick out. I didn’t want to disservice Leo by having him be the character that did nothing or could be removed from the main plot without affecting it at all, y’know? That’s so much worse than just forgoing the indulgence, imo :((

ugh.... Leooooo 😭 I'm so sorry bb, I failed youuu 😥

[anonniemousefics]

The Deal Is The Deal

Originally posted on AO3

Fandom: Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom | Kaz + Inej

Word count: 7,774

***Rating: NSFW (aged-up characters) -- I’m gonna say this is a 7 on the smut scale***

This piece follows The Trouble With Wanting and is best read second.

Synopsis: Kaz Brekker is not a useless podge who mopes and stews over his personal problems. Kaz Brekker makes deals. Kaz Brekker enforces. Kaz Brekker stays twenty steps ahead. (Or that’s at least what he tells himself.)

Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason, but the right reason made him damn near unstoppable. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. Part of crafting a persona your enemies feared involved a considerable amount of convincing yourself of your own fearlessness. And Kaz was very good at convincing. Kaz Brekker always got what he wanted. That’s what he told himself.

Because Inej Ghafa was his perfect reason. Ketterdam had tried to break her a thousand times more than it had broken him, and still she was a better person than he could ever hope to be. He’d always believed the world would be better off if Inej had her way in all things. Making that reality had now become his singular focus.

He had sat in this same spot many times before, at his desk chair in Per Haskell’s old office on the main floor of the Crow Club, considering the terms of their deal and how he would fulfill them. Kaz Brekker was not a useless podge who moped and stewed over his personal problems. Kaz Brekker made deals. Kaz Brekker enforced. Kaz Brekker stayed twenty steps ahead.

(That’s what he told himself.)

Inej had laughed at him when he’d framed it in this way – their deal. But he didn’t mind. If he ever became stranded on a desert island, he could have lived off her laugh alone.

“You can’t just call it something normal?” she had asked him, over a year ago.

They were sitting on the tiles of the roof of The Slat when Inej said this, a blanket of stars overhead. A half-empty bottle of kvas had sat between them, an unspoken boundary he wasn’t sure which one of them would attempt to cross first. Probably her, that’s what he was betting. She always had been braver than he.

“Is what we’re dealing with normal?” Kaz countered.

“A relationship where two people have problems?” said Inej, and she rolled her eyes. “No, you’re absolutely right. We’re revolutionaries.”

“You know what I mean.” Kaz shot her a sideways look. Inej sighed in reluctant acknowledgement. All Kaz had to do to know how the odds were stacked against them was to walk down the street. Men and women all over Ketterdam could hold hands, casually kiss on their way out of their front doors, fuck in dark alleys when they thought they were alone. Kaz and Inej were, as much as they hated it, different.

The only way forward, the only way Kaz knew, was to strike a deal.

“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know anything about relationships, Inej,” he said, “but I do know deals. And I know how to con. And that’s what will save this.”

“Enlighten me,” Inej drawled. She was raising an eyebrow, her head propped up on her arms as she wrapped them around her knees. Guarded, Kaz noted, and with good reason. He wasn’t offering her romance, and for that, he felt a twinge of shame. Somewhere in him had to be a better man for her, and he hoped it wouldn’t take too long to unearth him. Damn it all, he would try.

“You want me.” He could say it now with more confidence, but it still sounded unbelievable. “And I want you. Mind, body, and soul.”

“Hm.” Inej hummed her approval, lifting her head just a bit. In the dim light from the streets below, he could see a tiny smile play on her lips.

“Those are the terms of the deal. Simple enough, really. Unfortunately,” he stretched out his bad leg, leaning back on his hands, “our bodies are not holding up their end of the bargain. And what do we do when cocky little sods won’t follow through on their deals?”

Inej unfurled her legs then, leaning back as he had. She wore a cheeky half smile as she clucked her tongue with a pitying sigh.

“Penalties,” she said.

“Exactly,” Kaz nodded. “We collect. We learn their histories, we learn their motives, we learn what they love, what they hate, what frightens them, what bores them. We learn all this so we can apply the perfect amount of pressure, combined with just the right leverage.”

“I can’t believe this is making sense.” Inej was shaking her head in disbelief as she took a swig from the bottle.

“The deal is the deal, Inej,” Kaz said. He shifted so he was looking at her face, the thick braid that fell over her slender shoulder. “And if our deal is to each other, and our bodies are violating our terms, then I swear to learn everything I can to give you the leverage you need to break this stupid sod.” And he thrust a hand against his chest to drive the point home.

“He is not a stupid sod,” Inej said, tenderly, her brown eyes sparkling, and slowly, she pressed her fingers over his on his chest. Kaz swallowed hard, feeling his heart in his throat. Alive. Alive. Alive, he told himself. Her flesh was warm, dry, living, her pulse in her palm. Different. Good. Deep breath. Alive.

When his heart rate slowed again, he wrapped her fingers in his and pressed a quick kiss to the back of her hand. Alive. Good. It was good. And her smile that followed, breathtaking.

Worth it.

“And I swear the same to you,” Inej promised. She leaned closer so that their shoulders brushed, and she looked up at him through oil-black lashes. He could smell her hair in the night breeze, the sweet coconut oil she used. Intoxicating. Thank her Saints this world isn’t a just one, he thought to himself. He was sure he’d done nothing to deserve such a face. “They say Kaz Brekker never met a safe he couldn’t crack,” she went on. “I suppose I shouldn’t doubt you can figure out my combination.”

His mouth felt dry and his slacks a little tighter as she leaned over and pressed a quick kiss on his lips. It was barely a peck, but for the first time, it wasn’t enough. He found himself leaning forward, eyes closed, even as she pulled away. From the smirk she wore when he opened his eyes to her, she had noticed.

“I might like your metaphor better,” he confessed, his voice hoarse. And Inej laughed.

That was their deal. Conduct reconnaissance. Apply pressure. Utilize leverage. Crack the safe.

Nina Zenik would have a field day with these innuendoes, he realized. If it had been an actual contract, he should have considered some kind of non-disclosure clause.

Getting sloppy, Brekker.

He had his black-trousered legs propped up on the desk, trying to quickly wolf down the sandwich Pim had brought in for him from a nearby street vendor. He knew he ought to have taken the walk himself. It helped to stretch out his bad leg a few times a day or taking the stairs up to The Slat would be nearly impossible. But he was up to his tie knot in paperwork, and he got distracted far too easily these days. There were reminders of her everywhere.

This chair, for example. He was torn between saving it forever, maybe casting in bronze, or replacing it completely for the sake of his work ethic. It was there, barely a month ago, that they’d somehow found themselves late one night while Inej was portside. He couldn’t even remember now why they hadn’t gone upstairs to The Slat. Maybe it had been the crowd in the Crow Club. Didn’t matter. He’d locked the door, and one thing had led to another, and somehow he’d ended up sitting in this exact chair, Inej straddling his lap.

He thought he’d died and gone to heaven. There were no waters lapping at his ankles. Jordie’s ghost was apparently growing disinterested in his little brother’s dalliance. And Inej showed no signs of vanishing. Rather the opposite. She was above him, running her hands from his chest to his hair, her lips desperate for his. He’d even forgotten to take off his gloves, but she didn’t seem to care as he traced the slope of her hips, the curves of her muscled thighs that gripped either side of his.

“I want you,” she gasped between heated kisses. She held his jaw in her hands, demanding.

“You have me,” he rasped. He slid his hands up the lithe curve of her waist, where the base of her ribs flared with every ragged breath.

“I want to touch you.” Kaz thought he was seeing stars as she worked her lips over his jawline to the shell of his ear. She nipped at his earlobe, and he shivered. “But I’m not ready for you to touch me yet,” she whispered there.

At that, Kaz pulled back from her a moment, hovering his hands over her body. He tried to be a quick student of her, of this maddening, irresistible lock of hers. He knew well enough that when the lock said stop, you damn well stopped.

“Are you ok?” He gave her a quick, concerned assessment. Her demons were cunning, but they were becoming easier for him to spot. But in that moment, Inej was rosy-cheeked and biting her lip, her dark, thick braid coming loose around her face and shoulders. She was breathless, her breasts rising and falling just inches from his body. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t lost sleep wondering when he was going to hold them again, but he wasn’t about to press the issue. Patience. Leverage. That was their deal.

Inej leaned into him, sliding her arms over his shoulders as her breasts pressed against his chest.

“I’m just gathering information,” she insisted, meeting his lips again, just once. “Leverage.” Another kiss to his jaw. He felt like a human stick of butter, sliding down a pan. “Pressure.” And she ground her hips against his, rubbing against his cock so that it throbbed. The sound that came up from his chest was not one he’d ever heard from his body before.

“You do not have to do this, Inej,” he said, in spite of himself, still wary of the last time they’d pushed into new territory.

Inej sat back so that he could see her full face, the streetlight from outside glowing orange behind her black hair like a halo. He searched her soft brown eyes, not understanding the look on her face.

“That’s exactly why I want to,” she said, softly.

It was moments like this Kaz could almost hear the sound of lock tumblers clicking into place.

He sat back, his gloved hands gripping on the arms of his chair.

“I’m all yours, Inej,” he said, his voice husky. He trusted her with his demons. He trusted her with his life.

She had her hands on his torso, raking her eyes over his body, and he felt like he might catch fire. These men who bought their pleasure in brothels could never know the thrill of being so desperately wanted, and, for a moment, he almost pitied them. Almost.

“It doesn’t bother you, when I sit on you like this?” Inej asked, flicking a glance up at him. Kaz could only shake his head, dumbly. If she only knew how incredible she looked up there. They built monuments to this kind of glory.

“And it doesn’t bother you when I do…this?” Inej palmed her hand against his cock, and Kaz drew in a sharp breath. Had she asked a question? Was he meant to answer?

“This,” he was stammering as she slowly stroked his cock through his trousers, “this is what you want?” He wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Over him, Inej nodded, her eyes dark and smoldering. The leather on his gloves creaked as he tightened his hands on the chair. He wouldn’t try to touch her, not without instruction. Those were her terms.

Outside the locked office door, the sounds of drunken laughter and broken glass bottles rose as Kaz’s head slipped back against the chair with a groan. Inej kept her eyes trained on him, like she was hungry, devouring his every movement as she applied pressure, slowly stroking him from hilt to head and back again. As his eyes slipped close, his breathing deepening, she leaned in against him again, her body hot and taut, planting kisses up his neck.

In that moment, he didn’t give a single fuck about anything else, not revenge, not profit, not the Dime Lions, not the ghosts of his past. There was only Inej. His Inej. The girl he was determined give the world to, just you wait.

“Inej,” he breathed, and he felt her smile against his face.

“It’s good?” she whispered, checking. Good? That was a pitiful word for what it was. And if he wasn’t currently losing all sense of time and space, he’d have offered a better word.

“This is good information, Brekker,” she crooned in his ear.

Kaz was sure he’d never been so hard in his life. He clenched his fists tighter, his breath quickening, and vowed to meet this offer in equal exchange as soon as he could.

“I’m going to be a better man for you, Inej,” he heard himself spout, maybe a little too loud. He was panting, shaking. There was a crest rising inside of him, a wave of energy stronger than any he’d felt before.

“You don’t need to--” Inej started to say when Kaz let out a moan.

“I’m going to love you the way you deserve,” he swore with a gasp.

“You do; you already do,” and Inej covered his mouth with hers as he broke apart beneath her, a low moan against her lips as the wave crashed over him, sending him out into the sky.

And he didn’t care so much in the moment how gross he felt in his slacks, as Inej leaned her forehead against his. His chest heaved while he caught his breath, still coming down from the clouds, and she whispered to him, “I say your name when I touch myself, too.”

So, the chair had to go. Or stay. Whatever. Either way, in its current state, the paperwork was mounding up, and she was due back any day now, and he had to get caught up. This was not how he wanted to be spending his time while she was back in Ketterdam.

“Kaz!” Jesper Fahey shoved open the office door with a shout, startling Kaz.

“Shit, Jes. Knock,” Kaz swore. “I could have been indisposed.”

“Sure,” Jesper rolled his eyes in disbelief. Kaz pressed back a smirk to himself, thinking of the chair. Maybe the chair stayed after all.

“So, it’s true, then.” Jesper strode to the middle of the office, folding his arms. “There is a mattress in your office.”

Kaz glanced at what Jesper now pointed at, accusingly. It was true. The mattress was pushed vertical up against the wall, to keep it out of the way while he worked during the day.

“Astute of you to notice,” Kaz grunted, pulling at the next piece of paperwork in the pile. Expense reports. This one was last month’s? Fuck.

“Pim and Anika are worried about the mattress in your office,” Jesper said. “So, Kaz, why is there a mattress in your office?”

“I’m having construction done on The Slat,” Kaz shrugged, which was true. “I can’t sleep up there until it’s done.”

“That’s it?” Jesper glared at him, incredulous, his eyes in slits.

“There is no mystery here, Jes.” Kaz spread his hands out wide. “There is construction upstairs, so I sleep down here.”

“This is weird. Even for you,” Jesper frowned. “Anika thought maybe your leg was getting worse. Like you couldn’t make it up the stairs.”

“I can still beat your ass up and down those stairs. Happy? I have work.”

“So, what are you having done to The Slat?” Jesper was leaning against the far wall, his arms still crossing, looking about as moveable as a mountain. Kaz chewed on the inside of his lip.

“I just wanted running hot water,” he lied. Well, it was true enough, anyway. There would be running hot water up in The Slat when all was said and done.

He wasn’t ready to tell Jesper the real reason, what had happened six months ago that had snowballed into him sleeping on a narrow mattress at night in his office. He didn’t want to admit why aloud, but deep down, he was always waiting for the day when Inej had had enough of this, their deal, enough of him. It would break him when that happened, he knew it would. And if he had to break the news of it to Jesper, too, broken and in shambles… he just couldn’t imagine doing it. It was safer for everyone, Kaz included, if no one knew.

He’d thought that day had come six months ago. Why it hadn’t was only a testament to Inej’s undying patience.

Sometimes, when Kaz’s bad leg hurt in the night, it helped to walk the streets. He liked to think it made him look unpredictable. You never knew at what hour Dirtyhands could appear. A short stroll around the block could get the blood flowing in his leg and send a message to the thugs and goons lurking about the dark alleys at night all in the same half hour. Efficiency at its finest.

He took a slow walk that night. He’d spent too many hours at his desk that day, and his leg was stiff and the ache was constant. It was when he’d paused past the glow of a street lamp that he sensed the shadows flit about behind him, and, without moving his weight from his cane, he began to reach for the revolver in his coat pocket.

“Kaz, it’s just me.” Inej’s whisper stopped him, and as he turned to the alleyway, his girl was leaping silently from a fire escape and his heart stuttered. She could land on her feet like a cat and throw back her braid when she stood, not a bead of sweat on her.

Kaz checked the streets, back and forth, but saw no one.

“You’re following me,” he observed, and was it weird he was flattered? “I wasn’t expecting you to dock until tomorrow.”

“We caught a strong current,” said Inej, who kept to the shadows and leaned against the side of the alley. “And it’s not that I don’t trust your new spider, but I don’t trust your new spider.”

Kaz huffed a laugh. Anika was learning, but it was true there would never be another Wraith.

“Find anything interesting?” he asked.

“Your reign of terror here is making these streets rather boring,” Inej shrugged. “No one’s tried to mug me or shank me all night.”

“I gave the muggers and the shankers the night off. Tuesday nights are strictly for public urination.”

“Is that what you’re doing out and about?”

“Change starts at the top, Inej. No one gets immunity in the Barrel.”

Inej stifled a laugh behind her fingerless gloves, and Kaz desperately wanted to kiss her.

“Were you going to stop by tonight?” he asked instead.

“Depended on what I found,” she replied.

“And?”

“If you’ll have me.”

If he would have her? Saints. Perhaps he hadn’t been clear enough. He would have her every day for the rest of his life if she wanted.

“I’ll meet you in The Slat,” he said instead.

He thought about kissing her all the way home, and he climbed the stairs as quickly as his throbbing leg would allow. But when he locked the door and turned to face her, Inej was sitting on the edge of his narrow bed, her slim body looking a little slouched, as she hid a yawn behind her hand. Of course, she was exhausted. And he offered her something he’d never offered before: a place in his bed for the night.

She’d looked both a little nervous and a little intrigued by the concept, and eventually gave in. He offered her one of his nightshirts to sleep in and couldn’t help himself from gazing over her bare legs, the way the thin fabric skimmed over the supple curve of her ass.

They decided the night was just for sleeping, and while Kaz waited for drowsiness to overtake the ache in his leg, he kept glancing over at her asleep on the pillow next to him, her thick black hair spilling over the cotton like ink, her soft lashes splayed against her golden brown skin. He thought he could die happy after this.

But then, in the dead of night, everything changed.

Kaz awoke with a start, his heart pounding, when Inej screamed, terrified, pummeling at him with closed fists. He recognized the signs instantly; nightmares plagued his sleep regularly, too. He snatched at one of her wrists, trying to stop her from hitting him in the face.

“Inej! Inej!” His voice was hoarse from sleep. “Inej, it’s Kaz. It’s Kaz.”

Her eyes weren’t even open, and, as he tried to restrain her, she pulled one of her knives from under her pillow and leapt atop of him, straddling his torso with Sankta Elizabeta at his jugular in an instant.

“Inej,” he tried again, but his own voice was starting to shake.

She was slick in cold sweat, and her thighs now pressed on either side of his bare abdomen, wet flesh trapping him, pressing in on him. He was having trouble drawing a breath. Nausea churned in his stomach. He forgot all about the knife at his throat. What did it matter when the sea waves were crashing in over him, filling his mouth, his nose, his lungs…

Inej was blinking her eyes and dropped her weapon with a horrified cry.

But all he saw were her vacant eyes, purple bruising blooming from their rims, bloat rotting at her jaw. And he was drowning under her.

“Kaz! Kaz!” Inej took his face in her shaking hands, as if she could pull him back from the darkness that was overtaking him.

“Stop,” he tried to rasp, but it was barely audible. Her hands were a corpse’s, pulling him under.

Without thinking and desperate for breath, he grabbed her waist and threw her to the side. He spilled out of the bed, his stomach lurching. The nightstand rattled, and the washbasin shattered when it fell. Shards of ceramic scattered across the wood floor. He would have vomited all over it had it not been for the wastebasket. He managed to grab its edges just in time, hurling his stomach’s contents into it.

He retched so hard, tears spilled from his eyes and snot ran from his nose, but when he finally sat back, shaking and spent, Inej was there. She had put on his leather gloves before handing him a towel and a glass of water. His strong, level-headed Inej. When he could finally look at her again, her cheeks were tearstained. He could never admit defeat to such a shattered face.

“Fuck.” He released a ragged sigh as he sat back, running the back of a shaking hand along his lips. Inej sat across from him on the floor, still breathing hard from adrenaline. He needed that laugh of hers. He said the first thing that came to mind. “I’d actually really enjoyed that dinner.”

But Inej was too shaken, her brows cinched together, her raven black hair disheveled over the shoulders of the white nightshirt.

“I’m so, so sorry, Kaz.” Her voice was strained against the threat of tears.

“Are you ok?” He reached out of her gloved hands, and she took his fingertips with a little sob.

“This was a spectacular disaster,” Inej said. But Kaz squeezed her fingers, hoping she’d look at him. Needing the reassurance that this wasn’t the final straw. That they were still fighting their way out together.

“This was just good reconnaissance,” he objected, though his throat still burned. “We learned some valuable information tonight. We just need separate beds. How many fat, rich mercher families have you spied on that sleep in separate beds?”

“Those same merchers attack women in brothels, Kaz.” Inej wiped at her cheek with her spare hand, clutching at Kaz’s tightly with her other. “Maybe we just need a bigger bed,” she said with a sigh.

We. She’d said We. She hadn’t given up, hadn’t even considered it, and she’d said We. He’d buy her whatever bed she wanted after that. But The Slat was only big enough for Kaz’s narrow bed. And before he knew it, Kaz was meeting with contractors, looking over blueprints, hiring a foreman, haggling over the cost of materials, picking out new plumbing, new fixtures, and now his home had been stripped down to the studs.

The important thing was, when it was all finished, Kaz was buying the biggest, widest, most luxurious bed in all of Ketterdam, and it was going to fit, damnit.

“This is sending a message I don’t think you want to be sending, Kaz,” Jesper was saying, gesturing to the narrow mattress propped up against the wall.

“Which is what?” Kaz was growing impatient.

“That the Bastard of the Barrel sleeps like a weird little hobo,” said Jesper.

“Hobos don’t have offices to sleep in, Jes. That’s why they’re hobos.”

“Just check into a hotel like every other normal rich bastard,” Jesper begged. “You have the money. Why are you being so weird?”

Because Inej was coming back and what kind of message would that send to her? Meeting him a hotel. After what they had done in the chair the last time she was here. That implied all kinds of things he didn’t want her worrying about.

But if Pim and Anika had wrangled Jesper into confronting him, then maybe he was worrying about the wrong message.

And for all the chaos of the Van Eck Affair, he had enjoyed their stay at the Geldrenner Hotel. Their penthouse suite had been exceptional. It was further from the Crow Club than he would have liked, but the hot running water...and the room service. And Inej could have her pick of beds if she came by. No midnight vomiting would occur there.

“I’ll take it under advisement,” he said to Jesper, dismissively. Jesper gave a sigh of defeat and turned to leave.

“You’re too rich for this weird ass behavior,” he shouted at Kaz over his shoulder.

“No one wants your financial advice,” Kaz shouted back.

But Jesper turned back in the doorway, one hand on the frame.

“Oh,” he added, “you’re still coming for drinks on Saturday? Wylan needs a final headcount.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, every damn time. Yes, Jes. Yes. I’ll always be there.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have to go book a hotel room, obviously. Tell Roeder to throw out the mattress.”

“Can I give it to Wylan? That thing looks like it needs to be incinerated.”

Wylan could have the mattress for whatever flammable experiments he was working on in his free time. Kaz was already looking forward to another stay at the Geldrenner.

He took a long walk to the Geldrenner Hotel, where he was pleased to find the penthouse suite unoccupied and currently available. He left the reservation under K. Rietveld. Inej would know.

“What does the R stand for?” she’d asked him months and months ago. Nobody would believe they were both naked when she brought it up. In his defense, it had been Inej’s idea, this new leverage. She’d suggested they undress completely and not touch each other. She had wanted to conquer her fear of being naked with a man, and she thought it was something to be done in steps.

Did she think he would say no to such a thing? He’d literally had dreams about this.

Kaz was holding a box of waffles when she suggested it. He’d brought them in for their dinner, a dinner he mistakenly assumed they would be clothed for, and his first moronic thought was that he ought to have picked a less messy food. Once it finally registered what was about to happen, he set the box down and began to slip off his tie.

“What does the R stand for?”

She was sitting across from him, completely bare, with her long black hair veiling her breasts. He looked up from his dinner. He’d been trying his best to focus on the food, to will his cock into not getting any ideas. She was gesturing to the tattoo on his bicep.

“My real surname starts with R,” he replied.

“As in Rietveld, isn’t that right?” Inej flicked him a glance, one that could set a fire smoldering deep in his guts.

“You knew?” he wondered, and then drew in a breath as Inej began to stand to her feet, leaning across the table toward him. He could see everything, from her dark, protruding nipples beneath her long hair, the smooth planes of her flat stomach, the tight curve of her brown waist. The folds where it all met. His cock throbbed, rebelliously.

“I’m the Wraith, Kaz,” she said, her voice husky. “I’m glad you finally told me.”

“This is cheating,” Kaz pointed out, as she pecked his lips.

She had tasted like apple syrup. What would the rest of her taste like?

So, he wasn’t the least bit surprised when, three days later, he was returning to his suite at the Geldrenner at the end of the day and found Inej waiting on the windowsill. She was the Wraith, always and forever. Kaz quickly unlocked the window to pull her inside.

“Please tell me you haven’t been sitting out there all day,” was his greeting.

“I wanted to watch a Ketterdam sunset again, and I don’t fall, Kaz,” Inej said. She was as brown as a nut from her days in the sun, and her cheeks were a rosy apple red. “And no,” she added, “I haven’t been waiting long. You’re not at least a little be impressed that I found you?”

“My dearest Inej, I am in a constant state of awe around you.”

She looked up at him with a brilliant, toothy grin and big, soft brown eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her waist while he kissed her, pulling her close to his chest. She smelled like salt and sea spray, and he could taste the sweat on her lips and he didn’t care. It had been over a month since he’d held her, tasted her, and his body was falling in line with the terms of their deal. He wanted her, however he could have her.

“I missed you,” she told him, as she curled her head against his chest. He drew long, slow circles up and down her back with his fingertips so that she hummed softly in approval.

“I missed you,” he said into her hair.

“I can smell myself,” Inej lamented, with a disgusted groan.

“You smell perfect.” Kaz didn’t care.

“I need a bath.”

“I’ll draw you one.”

And Kaz ordered up room service, too, while Inej bathed in the tub, filling up the bathroom with steam and lavender. She was still soaking when the food arrived, an elaborate spread, since Kaz had ordered one of everything, not knowing what she wanted, and he nudged his head into the bathroom to let her know.

The bubbles had mostly dissolved, and the water pooled just under her breasts, her brown knees bent up out of the water. She’d pulled her long, clean hair out of the tub, letting it trail over the edge to dry, while she leaned against the side of the tub with her eyes closed.

Kaz suddenly understood the myths about mermaids luring men to their deaths.

“You can come in,” she said, a soft, relaxed smile on her lips.

Kaz still wasn’t sure what to say, but wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to look upon her. He leaned against the bathroom counter, trying not to ogle like a creep.

“This bathroom,” Inej remarked, looking all around them. Kaz drew in a deep breath. This bathroom, indeed. He’d kind of been avoiding it. This was where he’d first felt her skin, had tried to kiss her, and it had sent him reeling into nightmares of his past. He hadn’t thought of it as reconnaissance then. He had just been a boy, trying to be with the girl he liked, and instead only hopelessly embarrassing himself.

Inej seemed to sense how he withdrew at the memory and held out a soapy hand to him.

“Come here,” she said, tenderly. But Kaz hesitated. Wanting. Lusting. But knowing better.

“Wet skin is a non-starter for me,” he rasped, shifting uncomfortably.

“Of course it is.” Inej looked apologetic as she pulled her hand back. She shifted in the tub, pulling at the drain.

“Don’t get out on my account,” Kaz said.

“I need to be with you when you’re making that face,” Inej insisted, and she stepped out of the tub. He still couldn’t get enough of the sight of her wet body, glistening in the lamp light, beads of moisture running in rivulets down her rich golden legs as she toweled off.

“What face?” Kaz asked.

Inej wrapped the towel around herself, tucking it over her breasts, and stepped in front of him, resting her hands on his hips. She gave a playful tug at his belt.

“You get a look when you think something’s broken beyond repair,” she said, and looked up at him with her wide, adoring eyes. “And half the time, you prove yourself wrong within the next 24 hours anyway. I love to watch that part. But not the broken face. Broken face is heart-wrenching.”

Without armor. If he was to ever have her, to love her the way she deserved, she needed to see every ugly truth the armor hid. Every time he got close, that is what her lock demanded. Without armor. He swallowed hard as he rested his hands on the wet terrycloth on her hips, holding her close.

“I half-expected to die that night,” he confessed. How glad he was he hadn’t.

“I would never have let that happen.” Inej’s gaze was steely as flint, and he believed her. But there was something else.

“It would have been a relief,” he said, lowly.

Inej pulled back and held his dark gaze, as if to hold this new plate of armor with all the love she had.

“And now?” she asked, holding him tighter. He felt her intent in the pull of her embrace, the same intent he held in his chest in every battle against their demons. Stay with me. I can’t lose this.

“I was a kid then with nothing more to lose,” he told her, and let his forehead dip to touch hers. “But now I have everything.”

He could sense her smile even as he closed his eyes, reveling in her warmth and how it no longer called to his ghosts. But then she stepped back and turned, hoisting herself up onto the countertop, still holding her towel in place. Her hair spilled loose down her back as she reached to him, pulling him closer again between her knees, the same spot where they’d tried to get close those years ago and had each nearly keeled over from the other’s proximity.

“You know the best part about surviving, I’m sure,” she said, pulling him by his tie.

“Tell me,” he said with a crooked smile. He placed his hands on the counter either side of her hips, leaning in.

“When you survive, your story isn’t over,” said Inej, as she loosened the tie knot. She pulled it off through his collar and let it drop to the floor. “And sometimes, if you’re very lucky, you get the chance to write over parts you don’t like.”

She leaned back on her hands, extending her slender neck out ever so slightly with a pointed look in her eye. The smell of lavender and soap bubbles wafted from her clean hair, and Kaz drew in a breath. He would have to have been an idiot not to catch her meaning. Go on, she was saying. Write the story we wanted.

This time, when he pressed a soft kiss to her neck, he felt her soft pulse against his lips, her fresh scent all around him, and the desire coursing through his body. She gave a soft, contented sigh and slid her hands up his shoulders as he straightened his body to meet her lips again and again, rewriting and rewriting.  

“Better,” she whispered when he finally pulled back, and she brushed the tip of her nose against his. “Much better.”

His heart was pounding mercilessly in his chest, and when he reached up to cup her precious cheek in one hand, she leaned her head into his fingers, kissing his wrist, and it shattered him.

“I never want this to end,” he said, his voice husky. Much better, indeed.

“Then don’t stop,” Inej whispered, and he brought her lips back to his.

He could sense her urgency rising, the desperation with which she began to pull him to her body, to weave her fingers into his hair, and it would have been easy to break, to let her have her way with him again. But they had a deal. Kaz Brekker never made a deal he didn’t keep. So, this was no time to lose his head, to grab at everything he wanted. He’d been preparing for this moment. If he was going to make good and pay back what he owed, he was going to have to run this like breaking into Kerch bank vault.

She was already above him, propped up on the bathroom counter of her own volition. That was a good sign, good leverage. Inej did not like being prone with him or forced into anything, and no one could fault her for that.

He brought his hands to her face, running his fingertips from her cheeks to her hair as she sighed into his mouth. He felt her part her lips to him, felt the brush of her tongue, and, emboldened, he ran his hands down her bare shoulders, her skin prickling in goosebumps.

“I love what your hands can do,” she shivered. She was pulling at the buttons of his shirt, exposing his chest where he felt as hot as a furnace against her cool hands. Let her have some control; she thrived with it. She slipped her hands into his shirt, pushing it over his shoulders until it dropped to the tile below.

He held her waist in his hands as she clutched at his shoulders, her thighs tightening on his hips as their kiss deepened. It took every ounce of restraint Kaz had to not taste every inch of her mouth, not pull at the rest of his clothing and beg her to just fuck him already please. There was nothing but a towel separating her bare breasts from his skin, and, Saint fucking hell, he wanted this. He wanted her. Her exposed thighs felt like silk against his sides, and he could only imagine what the rest of her felt like. His hands dipped a little lower, exploring the slope of her ass.

“More,” Inej panted, and Kaz couldn’t hold back a groan. He gave her ass a little squeeze, and she chuckled against his mouth. Running his hands along the underside of her thighs, he pulled her closer, letting her hook her legs around him. Heat from her cunt radiated across his lower abdomen.

“Saints, Inej,” he rasped, breathless. His slacks were uncomfortably tight, and she had to notice. When she pulled back, he was sure she had and braced himself, but there was no look of terror in her eyes this time. No, she had something else in mind.

She held up one hand and, slowly, sucked on two of her fingers. And then, with Kaz’s jaw slack in lust and awe, she slipped her hand between her legs, beneath the towel. And with her eyes on him, she began to knead.

Kaz hardly dared to breathe. He’d imagined, but he’d never seen… he’d researched for advice, like any decent con artist, but he’d only hoped…

He watched the rise and fall of the tops of her breasts in rapture, waiting for any sign that he could approach without setting off alarms. When she let out a little moan and put a hand to his chest again, he gently leaned in, taking her lips once more. He tried to put as much love and admiration and passion into that kiss as he could muster, slowly slipping his hands back to the lithe curve of her waist.

Her breathing deepened as she worked herself, and she moaned softly, her eyes falling shut. Kaz ran his fingers lightly up and down her arm, knowing what he wanted, trying to work out a strategy.

It had to be like picking a pocket. Replacing a wallet with an exact weight, so quick, no one noticed.

He kissed her ear as her head fell to the side, and then, slowly, traced the silky soft length of her arm, slipping under the towel, before gently curling his fingers over hers. She stopped the movement, but didn’t open her eyes. She wasn’t running.

He paused, too, breathing heavily in spite of himself. She was wet, practically soaked, against their fingers, and, for a brief moment, he felt the lapping of water at his ankles. He fixed his eyes on the pulse in her neck. He focused on the sound of her breath, the labored breathing of her desire. He inhaled the soap and the lavender scent of her. She was alive. So very alive. And after a moment, the dread passed, and he was still there and so was she, and his longing for her hadn’t diminished.

“Show me,” he whispered against her ear, and she leaned her head against his.

He traced the movements of her fingers, delicate, like picking a lock in the dark, slow circles around her tender nub of skin.

“Kaz,” she whispered, in a tone he was sure he’d never heard before. Lock tumblers clicking into place.

He moved his fingers as she did, through the velvety skin of her folds, until her hand dropped away from his, her eyes still closed as she bit her lip.

“I’ve wanted this,” she confessed with a groan. Kaz was out of words. Locks didn’t usually talk back, and they were never this gorgeous.

And then when she leaned back further on the counter, the towel began to slip and she did nothing to stop it. It fell away behind her, leaving every bit of her exposed to him, the full swell of her breasts and the tense muscles of her core, and Kaz didn’t mean to, but he swore out loud.

“Don’t stop,” she begged him, her arms starting to shake as she leaned back against them. “Please, Kaz, more.”

His mind was a scramble of every touch he’d ever given, every encouraging sign she’d ever given him. More what? Where to start? With his spare hand, he traced her neck again, down her sternum between her breasts, watching the line of goosebumps spring along her skin.

“With your mouth,” she gasped, and he sprang at the chance to oblige. She quivered while he trailed a line of kisses from her neck down her chest, and, growing bolder, took one dark nipple tenderly in his mouth. When she didn’t object, he ran his tongue around its rim, tasting its foreign sweetness and feeling her gasps of pleasure swell through her chest.

She raked her fingers through his hair as he felt her breathing grow haggard beneath his lips, and her hips bucked restlessly against his long fingers. He had a moment of nerves that she was growing frustrated with his inexperience, and, with a silent prayer, he slipped a digit inside of her.

She let out an audible sigh, clenching at his hair, and he knew he’d hit the right combination. As soft as before, he stroked her ridges along her cunt, still carding his thumb through her folds as she had.

Her arms gave out altogether, and he found himself standing over her as she laid back on the countertop, her hair spilling into the sink, a flush spreading across her breasts. Her body arched; her pussy felt as taut as a bowstring. He’d never seen anything so glorious in his life.

Curses fell from her beautiful lips when she came, head tilted back as a shudder overtook her whole body, spasming on his fingers. She gripped his forearm to steady herself, leaving half-moon nail marks in his skin. And then she stilled, naked, spent and breathing hard, feet on the counter with her knees bent in the air.

Kaz leaned over and kissed her forehead while she gave a breathless hum of satisfaction.

“This bathroom,” she remarked again, heaving an exhausted sigh. Her cheeks were rosy as she smiled brightly up at him. Kaz grinned, crookedly, a victorious lockpick’s smile.

“This bathroom,” he agreed.

Much, much better.

Next work in this series: These Damn Crosswinds

[nothingsolutions]

**2020 Short Film** screen play draft

Showcase life as a teenager in the 2010's. What defines this generation? What will we be remembered for?

Have random segments appear and "add" to the story but take you down another rabbit hole. Keep having people asking for more but still not having answers to their previous questions.

*Have the entire story loop.

Gut Feeling

Gut Feelings

Genetically Modified

Burn if Found

Disorder

FDA Approved

Stimulant

Sensory Overload

Inborn Pattern

MUSIC

Sooner or Later - N.E.R.D

(Perfect for drive home)

Everyone Nose - N.E.R.D

Purple Baguettes - 88GLAM

Dirt and Grime - Father's Children

Territorial Pissings - Nirvana

(Skating away from home)

Never Can Say Goodbye - Jackson 5

(Perfect for falling back in bed / ending)

The End Has No End - The Strokes

(Loading Docks)

Anti Matter - N.E.R.D

Partners in Crime Part Three - The Internet

(Playing loud in the car that almost hit MAIN)

She Works Out Too Much - MGMT

(Right when they fight / spinning)

Heavy Hitter - Jack Harlow

(Loading Docks)

Molly - Iann Dior

Hive - Earl Sweatshirt

Gonna Love Me - Teyana Taylor

My Pain - Lil Capi

Shoes - Lil Capi

Swim in the light - Kid Cudi

No Church in the Wild - Jay Z & Kanye

The Boy - Shannon and the Clams

Tongue Tied - Grouplove

La-La means I love you - The Delfonics

Dance yourself clean - LCD sound system (3:08)

I hope youre doing ok - Pity party girls club

Creep - Radiohead

Lose my sleep - Jacob Boring

Hometown - French 79

Between the buttons - French 79 (2:09)

Leaf Wraps - The Homies

Oblivion - Grimes

Cha Cha - Freddie Dredd

Switch: Six - Gums

Hottest in the city - Ty

Hell n Back - Bakar

Oof - Inner Wave

New Flesh - Current Joys

Pill - D.Savage

Wow, I can get sexual too - Say Anything

Angelic Hoodrat - Kenny Mason

Sometimes (feat. Swo) - Anxiety Attacks!

Vertigo - The Hellp (running scene)

Beans - Dirtboimil

Ghostbusters - Jayy Davi$

Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Lethal Presence - Night Lovell

Phone - Lil Capi

New House - Toro y Moi

Oblivion - Grimes

Float - The Neighbourhood

Love my Way - The Psychedelic Furs

The Sharpest Lives - My Chemical Romance

Last Living Souls - Gorillaz

Mystery of Love - Mr. Fingers

Mac Miller - Congratulations piano

((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmXJpbIizUU) perfect for orange bag scene in field)

Blowout - Radiohead (last scene running down the hill)

CAST

Couple on Roof - Tori + Pablo

People in living room - Jackson,

People in Chris room - Chris, Arya, Capi

Kitchen Chopping carrots - Emma

Emma's Room - Cole

Plastic Bag/ Girl bumps into -

Bleeding Skater -

Puts down camera / in car -

Car Passangers - Levi, Casey,

*Concert

Audrey - Herself

Levi - Himself

Driving car hits Levi -

Dinner Scene - Emma +

Mirrored Dinner scene - Emma + Lookalike (Salena)

**Concept**

*Intro

\Audio: Angelic Hoodrat - Kenny Mason fade 2 Cha Cha - Freddie Dredd\

Beginning of the video is sitting in Emmas room. Shot from the opposite side so you can see the whole room and subject.

Very dimly lit (only red lights on) with music blasting.

Constantly zoom shots throughout the house with muffled music in the background to show where the movie starts. (Hallway zoom/ kitchen zoom/ bedroom zoom (Chris)/ all slow-motion with people interacting in the scenes.) People sitting on the couch/ playing Fifa/ coming out of the bathroom. Shot from outside the house to signify the volume of the music?

Cut back to subject on the computer in the right side of the room sitting on the bed.

The computer screen is glowing on the with the face of the subject. You can just see the subjects eyes over the top of the computer screen.

Close up on eyes scanning the room (slow down x35/ x45) name title appears (REF1) and goes back to typing (can barely hear the typing)

Through the glass window of the kitchen (low shot looking up) show sibling cooking something. You hear the chop of the carrots rhythmically just a little off beat to the music heard from Emmas room. Eventually she cuts one last carrot and walks to the room.

Cut to the same zoom shots but pulling back still in slow motion showing that the sibling is marching to the room.

Shot from inside the room is zooming to the door after you hear a faint knock and the Sibling passes the camera (rotate the camera) and slams the computer screen shut. As the computer screen is shutting close up on eyes slowly looking up.

Starts to scream and slowly closes eyes.

**Goes into the first transition.**

Goes black for a second but can still hear scream.

Goes back to color and MAIN is still screaming but you can only see the sky. (Head neck and blue sky)

!!!HEAD MUST BE IN THE SAME PLACE AS THE PREVIOUS FRAME!!!!

FOR CONTINUITY THIS IS A MUST Mid section head on the top line.

When the drop of the song CHA CHA - FREDDIE DREDD starts pan down in a parallax motion showing the subject is in public. Walking 'against the grain'. If everyone is walking one way have subject walk the other. Essentially getting in peoples ways.

When walking bumps into someone hard, abruptly, startling both people. By bumping into that person, the perspective is shifted to her.

@Her

Can see she's speaking but entire thing is bleeped out

(Hit each other and starts to walk away still on MAINS perspective and and she's passing she said what theeee and after it switches to her to see his perspective on the situation but then it just sticks with her.

Cuts to a kid almost getting hit by a car

'Life flashes before his eyes'

REF1

For introduction to character have a close up with face (only eyes) and name mid center

*REF: Screen Shot 2020-01-13 at 12.25.51 PM*

*Jean Jacket interlude

Back of jacket always in view from the middle of the rule of thirds.

Always shot so the jacket is right in the middle.

Only the back of the person at all times

Short shots Burst style

About 45 seconds spread throughout the video??

Or just one segment??

Shot ideas

*Making out see back of dude wearing the jacket dark shot

*Concert shot wearing the jacket walking through the crowd

*Wearing it in a house party with people doing shots around him

*

Burning candle to show the passing of time.

Shot with the LED light but only a circle of light.

Shoot with a projector over the subject

((

Make sure its apparent the music is coming from cole

As she walks closer it gets louder and louder and the music keeps on changing throughout the beginning shots

-

Shot of outside of Emmas house

Shot with 2 people 1 dude 1 girl

Dangling feet off of the house

To establish location

At sunset

Close up of them

Acting like a couple

Being close and messing around with the blasting

Music in the background

ZOOMING SHOTS THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE PULLING IN

See people all throughout the house

Playing Fifa

Gitar hero

Cooking in the kitchen

REF: 2

Low shot thru kitchen window you see (Emma/) cooking

Something. Low shot with light coming from behind her light

Coming out the window

Cut to shot of her back and see her

Cutting carrots and after a few chops she throws down the knife

And says "ughhh"

ZOOMING SHOTS THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE PULLING BACK

Showing Emma walking thru the house

Going to ""Coles room"" to shut the laptop

See people all throughout the house

Pass Gitar hero

REF: 2

))

[satan-the-avatar-of-wrath]

Walking Disaster

He sat there reading, this book conflicting and further twisting the annoying emotions within him. He wanted to hate the book, but related so much to it. The main character was living the best life, overcoming all their issues, even romancing the beautiful maiden. While, the secondary character constantly lives in the shadows, always wanting and wishing for me then what they got.

He heavily sighed, one hand massaging his thumping temples, an attempt to sooth the pain.

Satan carefully placed the book mark in its place and closed the book, tossing it aside on the table with a blunt ‘thud’. Reading to escape, only to be trapped mentally within a book; how painfully beautiful. He laughed at himself, an urge with in pressing forth to destroy his surroundings.

“This won’t do.”

He needed to stretch his legs and clear his mind, perhaps a walk was in order.

Pushing himself up from the chair, he sighed again, the pain worsening as he stood vertically up right.

“I’ve over done it again, haven’t I?…”

‘Weakling’ He mocked himself.

Walking towards the door, his image reflecting in the mirror stopped him in his tracks. To others he may look ‘well put together’ but he knew the façade, all the acting he required. His fingers slipping into his gold hair, brushing it to the side, he pauses again.

‘Doesn’t Lucifer brush it to this side?’

He frowned, clicking his tongue, and hastily brushing it to the other side. The more he tried the angrier he felt, wrath spewing forth, everything gone red.

*SMASH*

Pieces of mirror, falling and shattering even more as they hit the floor. The sound bringing him back, panting for air, his fist still pressed into the broken mirror.

He slowly retracts, fist clenched tight, blood already at the skin.

“Damn it all.”

Satan shakes off the remaining pieces in his flesh, and walk out quickly from his room. He just needed to make it outside, no runs ins, no delays, his patience wearing thin.

Turning the corner quickly, he sets his sights on the stairs near the entrance, ‘almost there’.

“Ah Satan, good I was just looking for you.” Lucifer calls not too far behind.

He freezes on spot, eyes still locked on the entrance door.

‘So close, yet so far’

“I was just on my way to you, to discuss the speech you are to-“ Lucifer stops, Satan turns around suspiciously to the silence.

He notices the eldest line of sight, tucking away his messy hand.

“What have you done, Satan?”

“Nothing, I need air, if you’ll excuse me..” He turns around again and quickly takes a few steps down.

“I’m here if you need me, I will listen, you don’t have to do this on your own.”

Satan stops dead in his tracks, a laugh slipping from his lips, he looks to Lucifer. Eyes swirling with chaos, a wicked smile plastered upon his face.

“Charmed, perhaps YOU should practise what you preach!” Before Lucifer could respond, Satan leaped the last few steps and with large strides was out of the house.

He made haste to get away from the entry of the grounds, inhaling deep the Devildom night air. Satan felt limitless, as if all the weight was being lifted from his chest, he closed his eyes and submitted to the feeling.

“OH MY GOD SATAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?”

A familiar worrisome voice broke him from the moment, looking to see Y/N staring in shock.

“Satan are you okay, your hand is bleeding, come on lets go get it cleaned up” Y/N reaches and pinches some of Satan’s jacket, dragging him gently back.

You worrying about him gave him a warm feeling, but knowing full well whose arms you’ll be in right after….

Satan quickly shook you off, “It’s fine, excuse Me.” trying to get away from you, quickly.

“Satan we need to-“

Red begins to pulsate in his vision, as he turned and shouted, “I SAID IM FINE DAMN IT!”

Y/N trembled and stumbled back a couple steps, seeing the fear fleet across your face tightened his chest. “Wait, Y/N I’m sorr-“

But before he could get his words out, you took off, tears streaming down your face.

Frustration spilled forward, “AHHHHHHH” shouting at the emptiness that was left.

…

He walked around for quite some time before stopping at a bench, sitting down. He leaned forward, hands grasping his head, muttering.

“Why? Why did I have to do that?! It’s not their fault; it’s his, its fucken Lucifer’s!”

Just then..

“Tell me brother, what have I done now?”

Satan’s head shoots up, as Lucifer stands arms folded. No words were said as they stared at each other.

Lucifer gestures to the open space next to Satan. “Is that seat taken?”

“I’m going home!” He tries to escape from Lucifer’s watchful eyes, but to no triumph.

Lucifer blocks his way, “Sit down, I think you and I need to have a chat.” It wasn’t suggestion, but order in Lucifer’s tone.

Reluctantly Satan obeyed, he huffed as he planted himself back on the bench, closing his eyes for the 3 hour ‘chat’. To his surprise Lucifer said nothing; he gracefully sat down and looked to the dark sky.

The wind blew gently, noises from the busy streets afar and their breathing, t’was all that could be heard.

“Well?” Satan asks impatiently.

Lucifer doesn’t move, his eyes quickly looking over and back to the sky.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that? You obviously don’t want to talk about why you smashed your mirror, then so be it. Perhaps explain to me then why Y/N came rushing in crying, only to lock themselves away in their room?”

Guilt stabbed Satan, he groaned and leant forward again, hands knitted together in his hair.

“Whatever you said is not of my concern, however, you should apologise none the less.” Lucifer observed Satan, it was obvious to him Satan was frustrated, but why? “and-“

“-And what?! You want me to apologise next for breaking MY mirror, want me to apologise for walking away, OR DO YOU WANT ME TO APOLOGISE FOR EXISTING?!” He stood abruptly, and shouted down to Lucifer.

Lucifer folds his arms again and hums to himself, “So that’s it..”

“That’s what then? Tell me then brother, seeing as you know everything!!”

Satan huffed and puffed, waiting for Lucifer to answer.

….

“You’re wrong Satan, I don’t know everything, but what I do know is you are angry with me…. Though, that still doesn’t excuse you from everything else.” He locks eyes with Satan, Lucifer’s eyes filled with guilt and concern. “So tell me, what I have done now, what I must do to help you.”

Satan was seething with frustration at this point, how he could just sit there and not know!! He exploded, and not just with rage, but with an aching need.

“I wasn’t chosen or created with purpose like the rest of you!! I was created from spite and rage, your damn rage! How can I ever break away from you when I’m always compared to you? Why does everything and everyone revolve around you?” He points to Lucifer, hand shaking. “Why can’t I be noticed and acknowledged for me, why… why can’t I ever be chosen for once...”

Satan swallows hard, a lump building in his throat, a draining and desperate feeling consuming him.

Lucifer diverts his eyes down towards his feet, “I’m sorry you feel that way..”

“SORRY!!!??” Satan felt the need to launch himself forward, struggling for control.

“You’re smart Satan, I’ve always known that, but right now you’re acting incredibly dense.” Lucifer chuckles lightly as he rises.

Satan lunges forward “BASTARD-“

Lucifer quickly steps aside, but before Satan could counter, he speaks up.

“You’re right you weren’t created with purpose from the father above, but you gave me purpose, you gave your brothers purpose.”

Satan turns around stunned; Lucifer sighs deep and continues.

“It doesn’t matter how or why you were created Satan, but the fulfilment you created for us… The joy and the feelings of watching you grow into your own individual. The good and the bad, we were all at our wits end, then suddenly… You were there… When we were at our lowest, it was YOU who helped us back up. You helped keep us together, while we learned alongside you in this new strange land… Our family may not be perfect Satan, and extremely dysfunctional even at its best, but you helped hold us together in our darkest times. We chose you, as you may not have had the choice then, but you saved us… That was your purpose.” Lucifer held Satan’s stare, and smiled only just.

“Now, come on. There are things to be done, and to be said.” He turned around swiftly and began walking back towards the house.

Satan stood there and watched his back, as he walked away.

“I … did that?....”

END