#also don't know if he ever drew duke

[sarahreadstoomanycomics]

Various Batfam/Gotham characters by Marcus To.

[sjsmith56]

The Last Time - Chapter 38, Lord Buchanan

Summary: King David joins the battle, knowing that today is his last. Buchanan is severely injured and must transform into his wolf to survive.

Length: 4.6 K

Warnings: Graphic description of battle, including death of a character, and severe injury of another character.

Author’s notes: Although this chapter is written mostly from the viewpoint of King David, it also is meant to emphasize his admiration of Lord Buchanan.

<<Chapter 37

🗡️ ⚔️

One month later.

King David rose from his cot in the small room next to the command centre. He looked at his arm, noticing the blackness had extended down to his hand and over his shoulder. Next to his cot was the draught for the pain and he downed it, knowing it would do little for the intensity. If the original shot had hit the target in his chest it would have killed him within days but taking it in the arm had slowed the process. Regardless, once the blackness descended from the shoulder into his chest he was done for. He cursed Duke John Walker once more for the treachery of his betrayal. At the washing station he threw water onto his face and dried it off with a cloth. Gingerly he pulled his singlet on, then his tunic and breeches. He looked at the reinforced vest, strong enough to deflect arrows. Instead of it he would wear a regular vest, one with his crest on it, and carefully put it on, followed by the jacket. The circle of stars on the patch on the left side drew a smirk. It looked just like a target. That's probably where the marksman had aimed his poisoned shot on that day when he was first hit. Well, today he would make himself a target. Today was the day he chose to die.

Opening the door he could see the command centre was already bustling. Fury was at the map table plotting out where the assorted companies would ride out to. They had succeeded in reclaiming much of Amarillo since the arrival of the 1900 strong army of his son. His son, whose youth had been wasted by insolence and no sense of purpose had turned into a rallying point even for his troops. His youth was evident, but so was his heart and natural leadership. It had been the right decision to send him with Buchanan and his gratitude to the man could never be paid back in his mind. Once Quin was king he could bring in the many changes needed to make their part of the world a better place. They had spoken often of his father’s hopes for the Kingdom of the Western Plains, hopes that included a major change to how it would be ruled.

Inside the mess hall, he found several lords helping themselves to some food. Most saluted him and he nodded back then wondered why they were here and not with their men. Ever since Lord Buchanan and Quin arrived, then immediately joined their men he had openly spoken about the need to be on the battlefield with their companies. Fury only stayed to be with him and make sure he functioned but his own son was out there with his soldiers taking on his father's role. These few men stuffing their faces had never ventured outside of the castle except to visit the brothel.

"Out, all of you," he ordered. "Go to your men, see to their needs before your own. No wonder we're at a stalemate. Go!"

They scattered and he was left alone. He winced as he felt pain below his armpit and then it suddenly staggered him, making him gasp as he struggled to breathe. An arm came around his waist and he was helped into a chair. Fury's face came into view as he kneeled before his king.

"Your Majesty, have you taken your pain draught yet?" he asked, his face full of concern.

King David nodded then the pain eased and he was able to talk. "As soon as I rose but its effect is uneven," he said then his voice rose in anger. "Why are these leeches in here eating my food and drinking my ale? Why aren't they out in the field with their men? How are we supposed to defeat John if these fools don't command their troops?"

Fury said nothing, knowing the pain was directing many of the King's words, valid as they were. "Is today the day then?" he finally asked, noticing the King was wearing a regular vest and not the reinforced one.

"Today is the day," said the King. "The blackness covers my shoulder and that last jab of pain was under the armpit. I won't die screaming, restrained in a bed. It will be on the battlefield. My right hand still works and it will be holding a sword when I draw my last breath."

"Alright," said Fury. "Then I will accompany you. Which company?"

"My son's," said the King. "I want to fight alongside him for my last battle." He stopped talking for a moment then looked his friend in the eye. "He has surpassed all of my expectations, Nicholas. I am so proud of him."

"We all are, Your Majesty," said Fury, with a tremor of emotion in his throat. "I wish I could have influenced him like Buchanan has done. The day he came to these lands was the day that changed everything."

"He is noble born," said the King. "I say that knowing he was a farmer's son. True nobility was in his blood even then. Like you, my dear friend."

"David ... my King," said Fury, struggling to speak. "I promise to be a true counsel for the Prince. He will always have my fealty."

Fury wiped the tears that had escaped from his eyes then stood up and straightened his clothes. He brought a plate of food for the King then left the mess room, closing the door behind him. The King could hear Fury ordering the lords out in the command room to get out to their forces and be on the battlefield, this day of all days. He looked at the plate of food in front of him and put it aside. He wasn't hungry. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a large locket containing the cameo portrait of Camila, given to him on the day he agreed to the marriage. It had stayed in a drawer until the day he sent his mistresses away and begged her forgiveness.

"My wife," he whispered. "I am so sorry I didn't realize the treasure you were until it was almost too late. I have written a letter to be given to you upon your return after my death. For a small time, at least, I loved you as you deserved to be loved. You were ever steadfast in your love and support of me and I can never repay that. Be a good counsel to our son. He is a much better man than I ever was."

He kissed her image and closed the locket placing it back inside the left inner pocket of his jacket. Then he stood up, straightened his clothes and took a deep breath, daring the pain to jab at him again. The pain draught had finally taken hold and he felt better so he went to the door, opened it and nodded at Fury. The man in black nodded back, instructing one of the aides to take over monitoring the maps and positions of the various forces. Both men went out to the courtyard where their horses and the King's Guard waited. King David took it all in after he mounted his horse. The bright morning, the sound of birds all around him, as many seemed to have flocked to the castle for safety. Then he looked at the castle, his birthplace and the birthplace of the kings before him except the first one, an Air Force general before the calamity who had taken charge when the bedraggled survivors had come to the base begging for help. He had fought off bandits, looters, and armed gangs with the remaining soldiers on the base. His diary had documented the struggles of those early days. He didn't call himself a king but the people he saved had referred to him as one. When he died they convinced his son to take the title and offered their fealty to him in exchange for his protection. Quin would be the last king. They had already spoken about it, turning the kingdom into a republic where every man and woman was equal at birth. They would elect people to govern them and would ensure that no one would be homeless, no one uneducated and no one forced into servitude.

"Your Majesty?" Fury's words cut through the King's reverie. "Shall we go?"

King David smiled and nodded, turning his gaze away from the castle and riding out of the courtyard for the last time. Riding into the morning sun with his best friend, King David William George Walker felt alive, on this, the last day of his life.

They reached the edge of the battlefield less than an hour later. Buchanan and Quin were in their command tent with their commanders and sub commanders. Their numbers had lessened a little as their force had shrunken due to casualties but their force had done better than many of the others. As the King and Fury strode into the tent there was a call to attention which he waved off immediately.

"Your Majesty," said Quin. "Do you join us on the battlefield today?"

"Yes, that's my plan," he said, smiling. "I have heard many stories of the bravery of these troops that I wanted to see it for myself. Go on with your briefing. We will watch and listen in."

Buchanan's look lingered a little longer and the King knew that the man had likely figured out why he was there. He nodded grimly at the man and Buchanan nodded back, just as grimly. What he wouldn't give for more men like him. Truly, Buchanan and Fury together could take on the lawless ones in their lands and be victorious. Buchanan returned to the mission at hand and assigned the four units their positions. The archers were to position themselves in camouflaged locations and with an Oklahoman sharpshooter paired with them look for snipers and take them out by either bow or carbine. Buchanan and the Prince would shuttle between all four units, always in communication with them.

"Everyone clear?" asked Buchanan. "Go, see quickly to your breakfast and your horses. It is a cloudless day, so make sure you have your water supply secured. Good hunting."

The briefing ended and Buchanan extended his arm to both Fury and the King, receiving theirs in turn. They stepped out into the morning light and Buchanan turned to the King.

"Have you eaten yet, your Majesty?" he asked. "Our mess cook found some wild chickens and has kept us stocked with fresh eggs."

"I have, thank you," replied King David. "Please feed yourself. Don't let us stop you."

They went to the mess tent where both Buchanan and Quin grabbed fried egg sandwiches, eating them while standing. Both washed them down with a cup of strong coffee, made from freshly ground beans.

"I liked coffee well enough," commented Buchanan. "But freshly ground coffee is another experience entirely. You need to work on a way to preserve that freshness in your exports."

King David laughed. "I'll get my coffee men working on it," he said.

Both Buchanan and Quin smiled, knowing that his coffee men was a single man, a former dresser named Jose. His sole task in this war was to preserve the coffee plantation that had been started as part of the marriage arrangement with Isabella. So far, he had proved his knowledge was as good as his claims, the plants he had painstakingly smuggled out of the lawless lands had thrived in the land he cultivated for them, producing a high quality bean that produced a rich brew. Finishing their second cup each, both men put their cups down and pulled their gloves on, ready to mount their horses.

All four men, the King, Fury, Buchanan and Quin, mounted and began the ride to the farthest position where Buchanan's men had already taken their posts. Coulson saluted as the King asked him about his men.

"Almost all new recruits, your Majesty," he replied. "We worked them hard back in our kingdom and they have come through well. I would put them up against any force of battle hardened veterans. They keep me hopping for they are still full of the vigour of their youth. Practical jokes are played often but I let it ride as it relieves the tension for them." His attention was diverted elsewhere for a moment. "Liam! Have some decorum, man. There's a king here!"

They all looked to where he was yelling and Quin sniggered seeing his friend Liam standing on his horse mooning his comrades. Liam noticed who was watching and pulled his breeches up, then waved at them. Even the King smiled, remembering some of the pranks of his youth.

"I'm so sorry, your Majesty," sputtered Coulson. "I'll make sure he's disciplined."

The King waved it off and laughed outright. "To be that young, and full of piss and vinegar," he said. "I envy the boy that he can still make people laugh in the middle of a battlefield. Leave him be."

A single shot from the other side signalled the beginning of hostilities and suddenly all the soldiers, Liam included, were all business, facing towards the other side while drawing their swords. Coulson raced forward, and began calling out commands as they began advancing. Suddenly the tension ratcheted up and Coulson gave the command to attack. The King watched, impressed with the recruits, agreeing they could go up against a veteran unit anytime. He turned back to Buchanan.

"That's a good commander you have there," he said. "He has good control of his soldiers in battle."

"He is commander of Isabella's garrison," said Quin. "He came to protect her investment, in me."

The King laughed again. "Will he stay with her or the new lord?" he asked. "He would fit in well here."

"We haven't discussed it," said Quin. "But I have thought of it. I didn't think he liked me very much when I first started courting her. I think I've grown on him."

"Discuss it," he said. "You will need men like him when you become King."

"That will be some time, your Majesty," said Quin. "He may wish to stay in the Broken Lands in the interim."

"Of course," replied the King, realizing he had almost said too much. "Well, shall we go on to the next unit? Coulson has good control here."

They rode on to the next unit, the Oklahomans, under the command of Waya. It had taken them less than three days to vanquish the lawless ones from their siege of the garrison in Lubbock. They had then returned to the palace and had flanked the force positioned to the southeast of the palace. Under two fronts of attack the Duke's men had quickly surrendered. When he had been introduced to the king after that battle Waya had stood proud and tall.

"David Walker," he said, extending his forearm to the King. "Greetings from the Oklahoma tribes. I am Waya, Chief of the Cherokee Nation and Head Chief of the council for all Oklahoma tribes. We bring 400 to the fight against a man who would be a tyrant. When this war is over we look forward to opening diplomatic relations with your kingdom."

"Chief Waya," replied the King, taking the man's forearm into his own. "Thank you. The reputation of the Oklahoman tribes is well known in these parts. Your quick victory over the lawless ones is proof of the excellence of your warriors. It would be my pleasure to begin formal relations with your territory. Rest assured that under my watch and my son's after me there will be no movement against your people. You have my word as a king and a soldier."

That day was one of the proudest moments of Quin's life when his father acknowledged the importance of their participation. As he thought of that day he saw Waya approaching the party to greet them on this morning.

"Your Majesty," called out the chief. "You honour us, sir. We have already advanced a considerable distance and should take the objective by the noon hour. I have reports that our sharpshooters, along with Sir Archer's bowmen and bow-women have taken out over a dozen snipers. We'll get them all, I swear to you."

"Very good, sir," replied the King. "Carry on, Chief. You need no instruction or encouragement from me. You know what you're doing."

Waya returned to his warriors and the royal party watched for some time before leaving and moving on to the next unit. As they approached it became necessary to remove their swords as the opposing force was large and aggressive at this point. The King ordered one of his guardsmen to ride to his main force some distance away and request 100 men. He gave him a token from inside his jacket as proof the order came from him. Then he and the others joined the fray fighting back against soldiers that Quin recognized with a moment of shame as allied with his mother's kinsmen, as they wore the patch of the tarantula spider. As he slashed and slew any who attacked him he fought with a fury he hadn't felt before. When the reinforcements arrived and the royal party was able to retreat their swords dripped with blood and each man took a rag from their saddle bags to wipe the red that dripped from their blades before sheathing them. The King noticed the look on Quin's face.

"Do not give them a second thought, Quin," he said. "It disgusted your mother that they should turn on her and you, and support that usurper. They received their just reward on this day. When you ... we take their lords as prisoner they will pay with their life and livelihood."

They rode on to the next unit which was under the command of Bren who rode back to them but kept close eye on his men.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty," he said apologetically. "I can only spare a moment. This unit is most aggressive and we have our hands full." He looked to the field and yelled. "Stone, close that breach, man." He turned back to the party. "Sorry, I have to get back."

He raced back to his men and the King nodded at Fury indicating that his fate would be decided here. Drawing his sword he followed closely behind Bren. Everyone else drew their swords, following him into the battle. Once again they were in the thick of it and were soon swinging their swords at anyone who approached them wearing the opposing force's patch. At one point Buchanan and the King were fighting alongside each other hacking and slashing at the enemy. For a moment they looked to be overwhelmed but both men prevailed and cleared the space around them. They had a moment to smile at each other then Buchanan saw the King's face change from smiling to surprise while the bloom of blood spread over his chest. The King fell off of his horse as Buchanan yelled for help. Dismounting quickly he placed himself over the King protecting him from further harm. Quin, who had seen it happen cried out for a medic and rode to his father, jumping off the horse and coming to his side. His father, whose face was already ashen looked at his son with a fond smile.

"Don't weep, Quin," he said weakly. "I chose today for this. Fury will explain. Just know that at the end I loved your mother, and your sisters, and most of all, you. You will be a great king and you will defeat John Walker. Of that I am sure." The King coughed and blood spray came out as he did. Then he spoke his final words. "The King is dead. God save the King."

He gave one more cough then his eyes stayed open but he breathed no more. Quin bent his head to his father's face and kissed him, then stood up with his sword in his hand and yelled, enraged at the opposing force. Buchanan yelled at him to get back on his horse and Quin whirled, ready to strike him but when he saw who it was he mounted. Buchanan went to mount his horse and hesitated with his foot in the stirrup. At that moment he felt a blinding pain in the back of his left shoulder and almost fell off. Quin, noticing the blood on Buchanan's back grabbed his arm and helped him onto Magnus. Buchanan was hunched over, losing blood quickly. Quin looked around desperately for someone to take him from the field, finally spotting a familiar dark haired soldier riding towards them and called to him.

"Tom!" he yelled. "You must get Buchanan to the hospital. He was shot in the shoulder and I fear it has struck an artery. He could bleed out. Quick man, get him to a doctor."

Tom took Magnus' reins and began to lead Buchanan away but although he went towards the castle he didn't go to the courtyard. He went in the other direction near where the tunnel was that they came through when they first arrived.

"Tom," wheezed Buchanan, for the bullet had pierced his lung. "Take me to a doctor, now."

"No, M’Lord," said Tom. "I was given strict instructions by the Sorceress to bring you here. It is your only chance to live and you must live or else all will be lost."

"Is that why you disobeyed my order to stay with your mistress and look after her?" Buchanan eyed him darkly. "Damn you for leaving her."

"Go ahead and damn me, sir," replied Tom, tying the horses to a small group of trees. "If you die, Lady Buchanan would die from losing you so I had no choice but to follow the orders given me. Now, let me help you off."

Buchanan had lost the use of the arm on the side where the bullet had shattered his shoulder. He held on with his good hand while he tried to slide off but he still ended up falling onto the ground as Tom was much smaller than him and couldn't support his weight. The young man dragged him into the trees and began to undress Buchanan.

"What are you doing, man?" snarled Buchanan. "Stripping me of my belongings before I'm even dead?"

"No sir," protested Tom, his eyes watering as he struggled to explain. "You have to transform into your wolf, sir! It is the only way you will live from this injury. There is poison in the bullet but the wolf is immune to it. By the time you reach home as your wolf the effects of the poison will be dissipated and you can be healed of the physical injuries. But you must change quickly before it is too late then you must make the journey home, alone."

Awareness appeared in Buchanan's eyes and he allowed Tom to disrobe him. Tom saw the wound on the back had already started to turn black, hoping he had convinced his lord soon enough to transform. Struggling to stand, Buchanan waved Tom away and calmed himself. Then he envisioned himself as the white wolf and Tom watched in a combination of fascination and fear as his lord became the large white beast. His left shoulder still bore the wound and he limped when he walked but his eyes were full of understanding as he approached Tom, lifting his paw to the young man.

"Go through the tunnel and follow the path home," said Tom. "If the Sorceress is correct this war should be over any day and we will arrive home before you. You can discipline me when you transform after. I'm sorry to have disobeyed you but your life means everything to our kingdom."

The wolf whined but he looked Tom in the eye once more, turned around and began trotting towards the tunnel. Just before he entered it he looked at Tom one more time and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. Tom packed up Buchanan's clothes, noticing the jewelled crucifix, thinking of the one he gave Beth, then placed the bundle in Magnus' saddlebags. He untied the horses from the trees, mounted his horse and rode towards Bren to give himself up. Bren, Quin and Fury turned to Tom as he approached with Magnus.

"Where is Lord Buchanan?" demanded Quin. "Why are you not with him in the infirmary?"

"I didn't take him," replied Tom. "The bullet was poisoned, like the bullet that was killing the King before he chose to fall in battle. Lord Fury knows of what I speak. The white wolf is immune to the poison so I took Lord Buchanan to a quiet place so he could transform. He still has the physical injury but if he can make it home he will survive and become Lord Buchanan again."

"Who told you of all this?" asked Bren, sternly.

"The Sorceress," said Tom. "It is why I begged to come as it was my destiny to save him. I offer myself for arrest for disobeying orders."

Quin turned to Fury. "It is true," said Fury. "The bullet that hit your father before your arrival had a poison in it with no antidote. It was slowly killing him. This morning he noticed the black flesh had spread to his shoulder and the pain to his side. He made the decision to die in battle today and he fulfilled that. If Buchanan can survive by being his wolf then he should take that path instead."

"But I have no general now," said Quin, his voice quivering. "I have lost my father and my general within minutes of each other."

Fury drew himself to his full height in the saddle. "Do you think so little of me King Arthur?" he asked. "I pledged my allegiance to your grandfather, and your father. Now I pledge it to you. Together we will defeat that bastard John Walker and you can begin the changes your father envisioned and shared with you. Are you ready to be the last king of the Western Plains?"

Quin looked at Fury then set his jaw firmly. "Yes, I am King, the last King," he replied. "We will contact Buchanan's castle with the ham radio and advise them of my father's death and Buchanan's transformation. Lady Buchanan deserves to know that much. Then call in all lords, commanders and sub commanders this evening for my father's funeral, my coronation and a briefing. Tomorrow we throw everything we have at John Walker and we finish him for good. I will not go through another day losing good men to that traitor."

Fury nodded and put his hand out for Magnus saying he would make sure the horse made it to the stables. "Stick to the plan for today," he said to Quin. "Visit your men, and they are all your men, now. The King's Guard are yours. I return to the castle to come up with a plan to take tomorrow's battle and the war. We will have a burial and a coronation tonight, Your Majesty."

He bowed, then rode with Magnus and the King's horse, upon which the King's body had been fastened. Quin turned to Bren and Tom. He nodded at them both and began riding to the next unit, as a good king should. Bren studied Tom for several long moments then turned back to the battle with his sword in hand. Pulling his own sword out of its scabbard, Tom joined him and rode into the fray.

Chapter 39>>

Series Masterlist

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[naurasweetarudesu]

Hi! I'm wondering what drew you to the narrow gauge engines in particular and how you grew to love them! From a fellow narrow gauge fan <3

*Cracks knuckles* HeheheheHEHEHEHE...!

Let's begin from the beginning: I'm re-entering (gosh, is that even a word?) the fandom in October 2022. Y'all must know I have other interests other than TTTE, right? One of them was MBTI. Basically, one day I was scrolling through the Personality Data Base website to see the personality types of some characters from my childhood cartoons. Then I saw this on Peter Sam and Sir Handel's profiles:

(*btw, if you asking my opinion, No. I don't think Falcon is ENTJ. When the hell he show his Extroverted Thinking dominant thorough the show or book?*)

Since I was not really into TTTE when I was a kid, I was kind of surprised. Since when do they ever get called Stuart and Falcon? What episode? Because, tbh, I've just seen a little of the classic eras episode. They were never dubbed into Indonesian, so I never knew much of it when I was still a kid.

So, I hurried up to YouTube to see some of the episodes from classic eras. Mainly season 4 because, well, I heard the narrow gauge was introduced in season 4, and let me tell you, I just fell in love with everything in the season. The set, the warm vibes, how the characters interact with each other—they're just UVDTCIYQQFC- (*Shaking fist violently*).

Especially when I watched the Unlucky Tug's Sodor's Finest about Skarloey and learned how intertwined Skarloey is with a real-life railway, Talyllyn. His relationship with Rheneas is making me flutter. How sweet, from enemies to best friends, huh? Neat :) Or how Rheneas bravely saves the railway to parallel Dolgoch. His interaction with Skarloey in their youth is also gold. I mean, you can't tell me the: "No, thank you! You looks like a snail with that house on your back!" is not funny.

I also love how angsty and bittersweet Duke, Sir Handel, and Peter Sam's stories are. As someone who lost her loving grandpa at a young age, theyre kinda resonates with me (even though they get their happy ending while I don't). Duncan is borderline relatable and funny too. (It got better when I knew he actually swears too, even though it's just implied.)

So I fall deeper into it. Research them like crazy, get interested in Talyllyn too, listen to more of their RWS stories as audiobooks, and watch other seasons, but I always come back to season 4. Let's just say I made season 4 and the little engines home, and there's no better place than home :)

[fairwellersmustache]

My favorite novels I read for the first time in 2022

I usually do this on instagram, but since I've stopped using it, I wanted to post here

So here they are in no particular order:

1922 by Stephen King - I never read King before this year, when I went on a Libby bend before Halloween. This is story has stayed with me. I get why King is such a popular author, his writing style is so addictive that I had to read this all in one sitting. Wonderful and horrible. And though it felt inevitable, the twist at the end still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. (Anyone know if the Netflix adaptation is any good?)

The Montague Twins #2: The Devil's Music by Nathan Page & Drew Shannon - What can I say about the Montague Twins? Other than I will read as much as Page and Shannon write. The style is so cool and the story is a perfect fusion of Scooby Doo and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Truly I love to see a book with such a strong aesthetic and story. I can't wait to see where this series goes!

Any Old Diamonds by K. J. Charles - Another great of be gay, do crime fiction! One thing I was struck by reading this book was Charles' confidence in Victorian history. We love a historical fiction author who cares about the historical part! Plus the romance is very sexy. This was the first of K. J. Charles' extensive work that I've ever read, so I definitely plan to read more soon. Specifically there is a series whose events are referenced by a side character in this book that I am very interested in - hopefully I'll have more to report next year!

Any Old Diamonds by K. J. Charles - Another great of be gay, do crime fiction! One thing I was struck by reading this book was Charles' confidence in Victorian history. We love a historical fiction author who cares about the historical part! Plus the romance is very sexy. This was the first of K. J. Charles' extensive work that I've ever read, so I definitely plan to read more soon. Specifically there is a series whose events are referenced by a side character in this book that I am very interested in - hopefully I'll have more to report next year!

Any Old Diamonds by K. J. Charles - Another great of be gay, do crime fiction! One thing I was struck by reading this book was Charles' confidence in Victorian history. We love a historical fiction author who cares about the historical part! Plus the romance is very sexy. This was the first of K. J. Charles' extensive work that I've ever read, so I definitely plan to read more soon. Specifically there is a series whose events are referenced by a side character in this book that I am very interested in - hopefully I'll have more to report next year!

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall - Alexis, I meant to read more from you, I swear! (Truly he just writes too fast for me to keep up!) Hall's work made it onto my list last year with he excellent Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake and the very charming Boyfriend Material, but Hall's historical fiction is just lovely. I fell in love with the main character, Viola, immediately which is a feat because it usually takes me a while to warm up to them. And my god the tension between the main characters! I went wild for the shaving scene (if you know, you know) Anyway, I plan to at least do a reread of Boyfriend Material before finally reading Husband Material and also the rest of his books, but that may take a while.

Small Game by Blair Braverman - This book, this book. I only know Blair Braverman from her appearances on the podcast You're Wrong About (I recommend the episode "Flight 571: Survival in the Andes"), but they definitely sold me on her knowledge of survival, as well as her ability as a storyteller. I will say, though this book has been billed as horror, I don't think it fits entirely in that genre, at least not for me. I was never truly frighted for the main characters during the events of the story because I was confident in their knowledge and teamwork - which is not to say it wasn't an engaging read. I found it more engaging because it didn't give into cheap scares. My best recomendation is that if you loved books like Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain as a kid, you'll definitely love Small Game.

The Husband Bluff by @kanna-ophelia - I just (jenny-slate-screaming.png, chandler-bing-hugging-a-record.jpeg) Julius and Wren my beloveds <3. I don't even know what to say here, do you love love? Romance? Tenderness? Do you love two fools in love? and meddling friends who know better? What about class and family drama? The difference between nobility an honor? Disagreeable cats and tight leather trousers? What about the best mom in the world shutting down the worst mom in the world? (I will never get over Mel calling Wren her "chick") Anyway, if you like any of these thins, you need to read The Husband Bluff immediately, which you can do because it's on AO3 right now! (see link above)

And those are the best novels I've read this year!

I'm putting together another list of my favorite short lit, so if you liked these, be on the look out for that post to come.

In the meanwhile, happy reading!

[houseofslash]

Bo Sinclair Theory...Dukes of Hazzard

Alright fan theory time. As we all know Bo Sinclair is known for wearing a Sweetbird '69 hat (which to this day I'm still hunting for). What interests me is the car seen on the hat references the 1969 Dodge Charger, which is the same vehicle that the General Lee is. Now for those who don't know, the General Lee is the orange car driven by the two main characters of the TV Show The Dukes of Hazzard. This show aired from '79 to '85, so there is a very strong chance that the Sinclair boys would have seen this show and been familiar with it.

Continuing further, the two male leads are named Bo and Luke Duke. Bo Duke. For anyone who hasn't watched the show I'll break it down simply: Bo and Luke got in trouble for smuggling moonshine into Hazzard County in their youth and have been known to be trouble makers ever since. Out of the two Duke cousins, Luke is the more mature one and Bo is the impulsive one. Bo Duke is easily swayed by women. He is much more act first and act without thinking. He is charming as hell and uses it to his advantage many times. He's shown to have a temper and often gets in trouble for being a bit more immature than his cousin.

All of those traits are also seen in Bo Sinclair.

Which makes me wonder, if Bo Sinclair is 1) Named Bo as a nod to the Dukes of Hazzard and 2) if the character for Bo was meant to be a more extreme version of Bo Duke.

Fan theory wise, I think perhaps Bo Sinclair was a fan of the show and drafted a lot of himself after Bo Duke, even taking the name Bo. Bo Duke was an icon to a lot of people during the peak of the Dukes' fame, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of those who felt the same.

Also noting that some of the lyrics from the Dukes of Hazzard theme song oddly enough work for the Sinclair boys. "The mountain might get 'em but the law never will", "Making their way the only way they know how. That's just a little bit more than the law will allow", "I'm a good ol' boy, my mama loves me."

Maybe it's a stretch but I genuinely feel that there's some inspiration drawn from the Dukes in making Bo Sinclair, or that he himself drew some inspiration from them when growing up and shaping who he wanted to be.

[lepusrufus]

Double edged scalpel ch. 7

Ch.1 ch.2 ch.3 ch.4 ch.5 ch.6

Summary: in which Cassandra gets bullied and other sappy shenanigans

---

"Oh Nicole dear, so happy to see you again!" Duke's voice was cheerful as ever, tone masterfully crafted over years of being a businessman.

Nicole, taking small steps inside the ornate and now full of items room, greeted him with uncharacteristic giddiness.

"Duke! How's business?"

"Same as always, I'll be heading to Beneviento later tonight to deliver some tools for her," he took a long drag of his cigar and, noticing green eyes scanning over multiple items and said, "I also have your order."

With a childish grin on her face, she approached him, hands shuffling inside the small bag attached to her belt that all staff members had. She pulled out the money owed for her package and, in return, the Duke placed a decently sized box in her arms. With an oof she shifted it in a less precarious position, it's heavy contents seeming to plot against her small frame.

"Unfortunately I can't stay, duty calls. But thank you Duke."

"No worries, I do understand that your employers can be quite," he took another drag of his cigar, looking for the right word. "...demanding"

Nicole chuckled. That was one way to put it.

"Well until next time dear. Or if you find yourself in need of something else, I'll be here until six."

---

She was only wearing a long white towel when she heard a knock on the door. Assuming it was another maid, or even Anita inquiring about whether or not she'd be joining the rest of them for dinner, she opened the door just a crack.

It was a surprise to see none other than Cassandra standing there, her elegant frame in odd contrast with the modest corridor. She flung the door open, letting the brunette inside and took a quick glance down the hall, making sure no maid was on the floor after fainting due to fright.

"What are you doing here?"

"Aw, are you not happy to see me?" She was pouting, but her tone was joking.

Nicole rolled her eyes, but the small smile on her lips betrayed that she was indeed happy to see her. Cassandra only laughed instead, a beautiful melodious laugh, so unlike the dark cackles heard by prisoners down in the dungeons.

"Just sit down, I need to get dressed," Nicole pointed to the bed before moving to the small dresser and pulling out a clean uniform.

Cassandra went to sit on the slightly disheveled bed, eyes following the redhead's form as she let the towel drop to her feet and started to put on the various layers of her uniform. Then golden eyes darted to the box sitting on the bed. The tape sealing it had been cut not long after Nicole brought it back to her room to make sure all its contents made it safely. Not that she didn't trust the Duke, but postal service was postal service.

"What's this?" Cassandra inquired, trying to read the label but having no success as it had been scribbled over with a marker.

Nicole stilled for a moment, hands frozen on her white button up. She cleared her throat and shyly admitted:

"Actually that's for you. Do open it if you want."

Cassandra's eyes widened, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. The gesture had really caught her off guard. She gingerly lifted the lid, inspecting it's contents for a moment and then hummed.

"And here I was thinking you like my hair. With how much you love to pull on it and all that."

Nicole, now fully clothed and sporting a deep blush, marched to her and plucked the two boxes of red hair dye from gloved hands. She placed them on her nightstand and, with her voice just slightly more high pitched, she turned to the brunette.

"Those are mine, I meant the rest of it." And, after a chuckle, "I mean have you seen my roots? They're horrible!"

Cassandra only gave her a deadpan look and, after a long moment, said: "I think your hair is beautiful."

She didn't wait for a reply, not that it would be anything more than a stammered mumble of course. Instead she chuckled and returned her attention to the box. She examined the rest of its contents and then gingerly lifted one of the few tomes inside. The cover was glossy and malleable, it's pages shiny and with a distinct typography smell to it. It was so unlike her other books, it's pristine white state making it feel extremely out of place in the castle. She glanced at Nicole inquisitively.

"I do appreciate the gift, don't misunderstand me, but surely you know there's a small bookshop's worth of medical books in this castle."

"With all due respect, from what I've seen most of them are at least somewhat outdated. Interesting, yes, but I thought you'd like to learn something more...modern." Then she pulled out another book. "This is the same one I used while studying forensic pathology. It would make teaching you some things easier. Uh… assuming you want that."

Nicole averted her gaze, suddenly unsure of the usefulness of her gift. Cassandra however grabbed her chin between two fingers and pulled her gaze back on her. She smiled, finding the shy demeanor beyond endearing.

"I'd love that."

A small smile appeared on thin lips and Nicole leaned in to kiss Cassandra. It was soft and short, but no less intimate than the deep kisses they shared so many times in Cassandra's bed.

They had to go anyway.

---

Let's go to the library, Cassandra said. It'll be empty, she said.

When Cassandra swung open the intricate door, only to find the other two sisters lounging on one of the couches, it's not like they could do a one eighty and leave the room. That would've been both impolite and highly suspicious.

Instead, Cassandra grabbed her arm protectively and led them to the reading spot farthest from the other two. They placed one of the textbooks on the small desk and Cassandra took out a notebook. This would've been a lot more fruitful with an actual body on hand, but there were still a couple days until the human flesh supply had to be replenished and Cassandra was beyond eager to start on some things. So, for now, they had to settle for theory alone.

It took all of five minutes for the other two sisters to make their way to their desk. Daniela had a giddy yet curious expression on her face, while Bela seemed as unreadable as ever, if not for a glint in her eyes that betrayed her interest.

"Whatcha dooooing?" Came Daniela's voice, who cocked her head not unlike a curious puppy would while looking at the book's contents.

"Working," Cassandra replied, a slight growl accompanying her words.

"Could've fooled me," Bela spoke from behind the youngest sister, eyeing the hand protectively placed on Nicole's waist.

Cassandra snapped her eyes at the blonde, looking ready to throw her notebook at her head but Bela ignored her sister's ire and addressed Nicole instead.

"What are you studying?"

"I uh- just some basic anatomy concepts. Thought it would be a good idea to start with the things that the older books in the castle don't cover."

Bela only hummed, grabbed an ornate chair nearby, and plopped herself at the desk, opposite from the pair. Daniela mimicked her sister, but instead chose to sit down right by Nicole on the small couch. It took more willpower than she would admit not to glue herself to Cassandra's side when Daniela's face came uncomfortably close so she could look over the book's diagrams. She stood still as a statue though. After a couple seconds of silence and Nicole trying to figure out what she was supposed to do, Daniela drew her head back, looking at her with what was possibly the most serious expression she had seen on the youngest sister.

"You do realize we're not going to hurt you right? How could we lay a finger on our dear sister's lover hmm?"

Nicole's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure if it was due to the word used to describe her or how Daniela apparently knew that she was utterly terrified of her. Cassandra sighed beside her and, seeming to at least partially read Nicole's thoughts, clarified:

"Your heartbeat."

Oh. Yeah. Yeah her heart was beating a million miles an hour. And apparently the other three vampiric occupants of the room were able to hear it loud and clear. It did very little to ease her mind.

"Please do calm down, it feels like someone is having drumming lessons. Bad ones," Bela complained, head resting in one of her hands like she was already bored.

"Then shove a sock in your ears," Cassandra snapped.

Bela simply leaned back in her seat and stretched her arms above her head. "And risk not hearing my beloved sisters sing along to some pop song?"

Cassandra shut her mouth, a blush now slowly spreading across her cheeks while Daniela burst out into laughter. Even Nicole couldn't help betraying the brunette and letting out a giggle.

"I didn't know you could sing."

"I can't."

"Au contraire dear Cassie! Should I remind you of the last time Dragostea din tei came on the radio? The pathos!" Daniela reached over Nicole's lap to lightly shake her sister's knee through her giggles.

Cassandra only let out a long groan, face now hidden in her palms. "I hate you both."

"Mhm, we love you too," came Bela's reply, accompanied by a chuckle.

Nicole couldn't keep a small laugh while she snaked her arm behind the brunette to show some form of support against the merciless assailants. Maybe not a complete betrayal.

The scene really had something deep within her heart aching beautifully. It reminded her of the countless times she and Alex would mercilessly tease each other, but still have each other's backs through thick and thin. And for this familiarity to come from people that any sane person would consider bloodthirsty monsters? Hell, maybe they should start considering her a monster too, for the only word she could use to describe them in that moment was endearing.

"So," Bela lightly clapped her gloved hands. "Now that your pulse isn't giving me a headache anymore, what are we doing?"

She had a confident smirk on her face, but her eyes betrayed curiosity. Same for Daniela and, although mixed with a hint of annoyance, Cassandra. She opened the book in front of her, one of general human anatomy, and decided that the digestive system would be a good enough starting point.

---

Their little impromptu lesson didn't last more than two hours. Two hours that proved to Nicole just how oddly human all three sisters can be. Of course she had gotten familiar with Cassandra, intimately so, but the other two still felt like two looming monsters hiding in the shadows. At least up until now.

Bela seemed oddly intrigued by Nicole's explanation, although unlike Cassandra, she seemed to view it more like a story than anything. Daniela seemed slightly more interested, asking questions here and there and even starting to giggle like a middle schooler when they got to the rectum section. That got an eye roll from the other two. Nicole just laughed, finally understanding Mrs Hawkins, her private biology teacher from before she was allowed to step foot in any public school.

After they were done, Bela simply stood up and bid them good night. Danila instead excitedly proposed the skeletal system for next time and picked up the books she abandoned earlier. Then, with a small tower of tomes she went through a door tucked at the very back of the room. Her study, Cassandra had pointed out as they made their way out of the library.

"I didn't know your sisters were interested in medicine too." Nicole kept her voice low, almost as if talking too loudly would disturb the shadowy hallways.

"More or less. Daniela likes it and has a bit of hands-on practice but she has her nose in romance novels more often than not. Bela finds it interesting but botany is what she really loves. That and classic lit." She added the last part with a grimace and Nicole had to wonder which author had offended her personally.

Before she could continue that train of thought though, her gaze moved to the windows, the cloudless sky beyond thick glass panels full of twinkling stars. Her mind kept going back to a few hours earlier and at what Daniela had said. Lover. Did Cassandra truly see her as one or was the youngest sister just being her over the top self. Did she see Cassandra this way? Nicole had not allowed herself to dwell on that up until now, the idea that the brunette saw her as more than an over glorified lab partner with whom she occasionally scratched an itch seemed almost laughable. But the small gestures of affection shown in ways Cassandra seemed to know best were undeniably there. And the familiar flutter in her chest at each of said gestures was also undeniably there.

"What's wrong?"

Cassandra's voice, accompanied by the slight echo through the empty hallway, snapped Nicole out of her thoughts.

"Oh um- nothing." She sounded as convincing as someone trying to sell you a fork while showing you a spoon.

And Cassandra didn't seem to buy it. She moved in front of the redhead, walking backwards with no concern over possible furniture to collide into along the way.

"You always get this… face when something's bothering you."

"I do not-" the indignation in her tone was weak, little more than an attempt to change the subject.

"Mhmm you do. You normally look focused. Kind of like, if someone tried to scare you by throwing an eyeball at you, you'd laugh." She would. "Now? Now you look like a rabbit that has no time to run and is just laying low hoping whatever's hunting it passes by."

Nicole shut up for a moment, only looking at the brunette in front of her incredulously. Maybe she was far more attentive than she gave her credit for.

"Uh. Just thinking." At a raised dark eyebrow, the no shit went unsaid, so Nicole tried to elaborate. "About earlier. When we were with your sisters and Daniela uh- Daniela called me your lover."

Saying that the words felt awkward on her tongue was close to the year's biggest understatement. It felt like pulling out teeth would be an easier task. Nicole had never been good with her words, having learned since childhood to keep her mouth shut. But the fact that Cassandra seemed to share her struggle brought some semblance of comfort.

"And?" As if they were talking about the weather.

"And… was she right in describing me as such?"

She couldn't help a small gulp when the brunette stopped walking, looking at her with a frown. Any sane person would be at the very least somewhat afraid in this situation. Sanity however was scarce these days as Nicole was afraid, though not of the bodily harm that may come from her inquiry, but rather of Cassandra's answer.

"Nicole, your tongue has been in my mouth." Amongst many other places.

The redhead's cheeks turned a slight shade of crimson and she mumbled for an answer. She wasn't sure how to tell her that sleeping together did not automatically make them lovers. But then again, Cassandra's thoughts remained a mystery more than anything.

Thankfully the brunette took the metaphorical reins of the conversation and stepped forward. She wrapped her hands around Nicole's arms, gentler than one would imagine possible from her, and bent down to whisper no more than an inch away from her ear.

"I'll have you know, I'm not particularly fond of letting anyone I don't deem important touch me. Especially not the way you do."

The words made something flutter in Nicole's chest, an unfamiliar and comforting warmth. Said warmth got chipped away at the slightest bit when Cassandra pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"Should I take it that it's not mutual then?" Cassandra's tone was nonchalant, almost as if she didn't truly care about the answer. She could keep doing whatever she wanted either way, afterall who was going to stop her? But to someone who got familiar with all her small quirks and habits, the waver in her voice was more than clear.

"No." The world slipped from her lips with no hesitation.

No hesitation, because the more she thought about it, and she didn't need to think a lot mind you, the more Nicole realized that she couldn't remember a time when she felt the way she did here. Sure the initial threat of death looming over her head was anything but pleasant, but once that melted into affection and nights spent in Cassandra's arms the thought of leaving didn't as much as graze her mind.

"No, no. It is," she repeated, more certainty making its way into her tone.

At that Cassandra smiled. A small, almost shy one would say if they knew her well enough, smile. Her shoulders seemed to lose some of their tension when she leaned down again, her lips stopping not even an inch away. Nicole wasted no time leaning forward, their mouths meeting in a kiss that mixed softness and need beautifully. Their lips slid against each other until, surprisingly, it was Cassandra to pull back and sigh.

"Come sleep, we have some cutting up to do in the morning."

Nicole frowned. "Tomorrow? Wasn't that supposed to be due in a few days?"

A devilish grin appeared on black lips, fangs shimmering ominously in the low light. "Bela caught a foolish man-thing sneaking around the forest on the castle grounds. She's really excited to turn this one into a nice steak."

The redhead only let out an oh in acknowledgement. Foolish indeed. At least they could finally put into practice a few autopsy tricks Nicole had been itching to show her.

She let herself be guided back to Cassandra's chambers and into her bed, that she had grown intimately familiar with. The last thing she felt before falling asleep was the brunette's cool skin, pressed against her own. A welcomed comfort among the myriad of soft pillows that surrounded them. Nicole wondered briefly if being undead meant it was hard to keep yourself warm, but the thought quickly slipped away as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

[apollos-boyfriend]

hi!! im the non who couldnt remember abou repeat questions. and i still cant remember about them. sorry again if theres any repeats <3

did tubbo ever... consider a different villain name? i'm assuming crumb did hers in a similar fashion to his?

you mentioned ranboo having powers--does any of the main cast know about them? (also, ranboo seems like a walking hazard. obsessed with that.)

is there social media? do heroes and villains have fanpages? more importantly, are there fancams of sparklez, underscore, and cuptoast duking it out?

how many boxes does crumb have?

thats all for now heehoo. love this au <3

don't worry about repeats!! just send em as you think of them, i don't mind :D

1. he did! jordan said that while he allowed tubbo to become a villain, he drew the line at swear words in his name >:/

2. as of right now, no! if crumb's ever seen him teleport she's definitely forgotten about it. the rest of the misferns know, as does 5up, but that's about it for the moment

3. there are SO many fanpages. none of them have actual official social medias for their sonas. the only ones that come close are michael, ofc, and jordan, but his is for quality content. cuptoast's fancams mostly use hyperpop, underscore's are a mixture of rock and alternative, and captain sparklez's are. uh. so u know Those fancams. the ones with a bit too suggestive music. yeah.

4. she's gone through about five boxes by now! her original was cardboard, which lasted approximately one (1) fight. she and tubbo experimented for a bit with different metals and sturdier materials until they settled on her current one! it'd be fairly heavy for a normal person to wear and run around in, but it's basically nothing for her

[derl30]

ALTERED STATES REVIEW TIME!

OK, this tumblr is, today, a vehicle for me to review ALTERED STATES. And you (the one person who stumbled on this review two-hundred years from n- oh who am I kidding, when the aliens from A.I. who show up to thaw out Haley Joel Osment and the teddy bear who was the real hero of that movie find this) should be very excited about this. Because this movie is insane. And highly entertaining.

Yes, the movie poster looks like ass. If I told you this was a movie where William Hurt (not the William Hurt from that awful 90's Lost in Space remake, or the one who slept through an entire performance as Duke Leto in the Syfy miniseries of Dune. This is before the body snatchers got him) took ayahuasca and got in a isolation tank and it blew his mind so hard he started devolving into a neanderthal and creating dimensional portals and he couldn't stop because he was addicted to finding the truth of existence... Well you wouldn't get that from this poster, would you? So let's move on. Shall we?

The film opens in 1967 with William Hurt's character, psychopathologist Edward Jessup, already immersed in a sensory deprivation tank, whilst his colleague and “buddy” Bob Balaban (he's just Bob Balaban in everything I'm not giving you his character's name look it up yourself if it's bugging you so much) oversees.

Now, you may notice I put buddy in quotes. The reason for that is that Jessup is a self-obsessed ass who seemingly has no reason to be around other people unless he can expound to them one of his various monologues. Bob Balaban barely gets a word in edgewise throughout the entire film. Bob Balaban.

See, Jessup loves the sensory deprivation tank experience. Unsurprisingly, as it allows him to be completely alone with himself for hours.

Later, at perhaps the lamest party ever, a bunch of faculty are chilling out and listening to the Doors. Everyone we see is talking about Jessup. Why? Well, much as Jessup is obsessed with himself, everyone else seems to follow suit by being obsessed with him. One young woman, Emily, (Blair Brown) is introduced to him in this very shot below as he arrives at the party:

Notice how is framed in holy light? There is a closeup after, of him framed in blinding glowing light followed up with a zoom in on Emily's face, enraptured with this incredible dynamic man. So much so that the moment he tries to make a goddamn sandwich she starts grabbing his celery (get your mind out of the gutter) and flirting with him. Which for these two that means talking science, immediately. Talking more at each other than with each other. This is often the way with Paddy Chayefsky's scripts.

PAUSE

Paddy Chayefsky is doubtless one of the great American writers for the screen. He wrote Marty, The Hospital and Network (which is a fucking incredible piece of work). He got an Oscar for all three. He also wrote this movie (Altered States, remember? Good lord) and disowned it completely three weeks in to production. His scripts tend to have very intelligent, driven characters at the center, who monologue extensively at each other. These scripts are not attempting to sound naturalistic.

Ken Russell, however, directed the film. He, like Chayefsky, is top notch at what he does (Direct. I said he directed the film like a second ago, come on keep up). His films, like Women in Love, The Devils, (which was banned in several major countries upon release and has never been shown publicly in its full, uncut form (by the way it's a masterpiece)) the Who's Tommy, Gothic, and Lair of the White Worm are all fucking gonzo nuts. I mean like, when you gave this guy the reins, you were going to Overthetopsville and there will be no stops on this trip. And god bless! I love directors who GO for it!

You're getting the chance to make a movie. Stop hemming and hawing and hit me over the head with what you want to say! Film is a visual medium, USE IT!

I feel I might have made my feelings clear here. So, moving on...

Ken Russell and Paddy Chayefsky immediately started butting heads, right from the start. Chayefsky was a BIG deal, and he wanted control over the picture in a BIG way. Ken would listen to his suggestions on everything to lighting and set dressing, and politely tell him, “No.”, and continue being the director of the film. Chayefsky hated him pretty quickly.

He had much more control over films like The Hospital. Which, if you watch The Hospital, well, it shows. You've got great actors (George C. Scott, Dame Diana Rigg (Dame may be the greatest official title of all time)) saying great dialogue. But its just two very witty bitter people sort of expounding on topics and speaking at each other and suddenly admitting they are in love and discussing what drapes they will have to buy for their new home. It's utterly preposterous, and it doesn't work in the way Sidney Lumet got it to work in Network, by literally making one of the lead characters realize his life is turning into a ludicrous soap opera.

So of course Ken tried to humanize, naturalize, the dialogue sequences. And it works! The film feels more human than the Hospital or Network. Despite the fact that Jessup is literally becoming more and more inhuman throughout the film. One of the ways he does this is by having the character's eat, drink, and work on other things during the dialogue sequences. This is perfectly normal in film, it's called giving the actor “business” to do, during the scene. Chayefsky HATED this. “They are mumbling my precious dialogue! Chewing through it! Sucking it through a straw!” Sorry, Chayefsky buddy. It works for the picture. Chayefsky also felt the actors were too emotional with his dialogue. Right. See, they call that acting.

UNPAUSE

Which brings us back to the first meeting of Emily and Jessup at the party. They are eating during this important scene! I can just picture Chayefsky seeing this, and running to the studio brass to tattle and get Ken Russell fired (as he got Arthur Penn of Bonnie and Clyde fame fired before Ken Russell came on board).

Emily and Jessup are, true to Chayefsky form, extremely intelligent, driven people and hearing them discuss topics such as anthropology and schizophrenia is quite interesting. It's just that what is to come, film being a visual medium, will eclipse just about any dialogue, no matter how good, from our mind thingys.

The two give up on the science talk and go straight to banging on her couch. After, she asks what he was thinking about. His answer is priceless. “God. Jesus. Crucifixions.”

She smiles.

Bwahahaha! Oh Paddy Chayefsky, you sure know women.

He admits he used to have religious visions. She listens to him from the sweaty couch whilst he sits naked on the floor, and starts going on about his father's horrible death of cancer and his loss of faith. And he admits to her that he's a nut. Her response is to call him a fascinating bastard. I think Lucas may have taken notes for Padme and Anakin.

So naturally, they get married immediately.

But none of that matters because Jessup gets back in the sensory deprivation tank and has his first vision. A nightmare of his dying father and lost faith in christianity. It's pretty great, filled with foreboding hospital rooms, his father's face being covered in a burning Shroud of Turin, everything covered by horrible blood red clouds and then THIS FUCKING THING SHOWS UP AND ITS ALIVE AND WRIGGLING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

excuse me...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The many-eyed goat is slaughtered over a gold bible and suddenly Jessups screwing Emily again and we enter a blood vessel looking thing and the vision ends and he never mentions this again. Oh. Okay,

Emily continues on about what a nut Jessup is as they make marriage plans. Her monologue:

“You're an unmitigated madman. You don't have to tell me how weird you are. I know how weird you are. I'm the girl in your bed the past two months. Even sex is a mystical experience for you. You carry on like a flagellant... Which can be very nice, but I sometimes wonder if it's me that's being made love to. I feel like I'm being harpooned by some raging monk in the act of receiving God. (Emphasis mine)

"And you are a Faust-freak Eddie! You'd sell your soul to find the great truth. Well, human life doesn't have great truths. We're born in doubt. We spend our lives persuading ourselves we're alive. And one way we do that is we love each other, like I love you. I can't imagine living without you. So let's get married, and if it turns out to be a disaster, it'll be a disaster.”

It's a disaster.

As in, by the next scene. It starts off happy enough looking, they have kids and people are smiling. And hey, wow it's seven years later! But, well, see, whoops, they are getting a divorce. Well, not they. See, he is divorcing her because he considers the seven years with her a complete waste.

She still loves him, desperately. He doesn't give a shit about her or the kids. He tells Bob Balaban this, straight up. And then starts bugging him about deprivation tanks and Hinchi Indians in South America who have sacred mushrooms that can really fuck you up.

It's at this point you would like for Jessup to be hit by a Mack truck. But the movie continues on. By the way, this is one of the kids he doesn't give a crap about:

That's right. Drew Barrymore's first role is a kid that William Hurt doesn't give a shit about. Something that William Hurt would make a career out of with narcoleptic performances in Lost in Space and Syfy's Dune. So, Emily takes the kids to Africa for her anthropology work while Jessup goes to South America to go deeper into his own creepy mind.

The Hinchi Indians agree to allow him to participate in the drug ritual. They enter their holy cave.

This shot is beautiful. At this point the film becomes increasingly gorgeous. Ken Russell has started to go into overdrive, ladies and gentlemen. Buckle. Your. Seatbelts.

The Indians grab Jessup's hand and cut him, freaking him out. They pour his blood into the drug mixture. They begin to drink. Then he takes a sip. The intensity of the film here has quadrupled. The vision begins, fireworks going off all around him. He sees cave paintings of humans and komodo dragons and this:

The proper life he left behind with Emily. He's convulsing, sweating. The Indians are all around, masked. Snakes. He's laughing in pain. Energy spills from the void. A snake under the parasol strikes and begins to strangle him. He and Emily march toward a nuclear explosion as energy pours from the cut on his hand, becoming a lizard. From within a sandstorm, Emily watches him, naked. Jessup looks at her, entranced, as the soothing sands cover them both, slowly.

It's a beautiful sequence. A perfect film sequence. I can't overstate how strong the vision sequences are from this point forward. Great visual effects work and the madman mind of Ken Russell create something unforgettable, with it's own pace, independent from the rest of the film.

Jessup awakens with a komodo dragon laying before him, ripped to pieces. The Indians and the others all claim he killed it in rage. Jessup remembers nothing, takes samples of the drug to reproduce it, and goes back home.

Back home, Jessup keeps doing as much of the drug as he can and having Bob Balaban record results. They can't up the dosage any more so Jessup hops back in to the self deprivation tank to create a more extreme experience.

In his next session, Jessup states he is having a vision of early man, hunting a deer and killing it. Suddenly he states he is one of them, killing the deer. He begins to grunt like an animal. The two pull him out. He's incredibly pale, blood seeping out of his mouth. He can't speak, and has difficulty breathing. He insists they do an X-ray. It shows that there is a vocalizing lump in the front part of his throat. Jessup claims that his body had begun to revert to a simian state. The medical doctor agrees, stating the throat X-rays looks like that of a gorilla.

Luckily his throat returns to normal. So Jessup finishes up his day by having over a student of his and sleeping with her.

Our hero, people!

At this point we hardly feel sorry for him as his body suddenly begins to twist and bulge in the middle of the night, shifting in and out of neanderthal shapes. It's a horrific sequence, disturbing as hell. You certainly didn't expect the film to shift into body horror.

Jessup feels normal after a while. but sees visions of lava explosions, the birthing of the Earth all around him. Not a good sign.

He goes to pick up Emily from the airport the next day. She asks how he is doing.

“Oh, fine.”

Yeah right.

Emily has been told what Jessup has been doing and is worried, which of course pisses off Jessup even more. The guy is obviously obsessed with reaching the truth and root of existence, much as Emily surmised earlier, and we see he has no fear of even losing his own soul, again true to her word. The only thing that allows us to give a shit about him at this point is that Emily cares for him and she's decent people, okay?

So back Jessup goes into the tank with his ayahuasca or whatever it is. Alone. The tank door opens from the inside.

The hand that pushes it open is covered in thick hair. He's devolved.

Ape-Jessup escapes the tank room and chases a janitor around the building. Again, this scene is fucking freaky as hell. We can't get a good look at this screaming animal that was Jessup.

The janitor gets a guard to help and chases after him into the boiler room, where we finally get a good look at him when he assaults the security guard and escapes.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ape-Jessup runs through the city at night, making his way to the zoo where he kills a antelope and eats it. The Ape-Jessup sequence goes on way too long, but is nonetheless unforgettable. The makeup is much more convincing than the above picture suggests, and whoever performed Ape-Jessup did an admirable job.

The cops find an unconscious Jessup in the zoo and bring him in. Emily picks him up and questions him. Jessup admits everything that he can remember. He also admits that he probably killed that security guard. And once again doesn't seem to give a shit. Prick. He calls it the most supremely satisfying time of his life.

Even Emily seems disgusted with him. But, she's also fascinated with what he's accomplished. As an anthropologist, his transformation fascinates her. And so, she agrees to help oversee his next session. Big mistake.

Before the big session Emily and Jessup romantically reconnect, and then into the climactic session we go!

Get your popcorn ready!

After a few hours in to the session, the video monitor shows Jessup begin to literally melt apart like goo, reverting to primordial ooze, the very beginning of existence. An attempt to open the isolation tank doors blasts everyone unconscious, as light and energy pour forth. Emily is the only one left. She sees Jessup's life energy pulse from within the tank.

Rain pours down around them. The pipes on the walls twist and turn like jelly. The ground is covered with a pool of swirling fog and energy. Emily advances toward the vortex of the tank.

In the emptiness of the beginning of everything, Emily seizes the energy before her and reconstitutes Jessup.

They take him home. While he sleeps, Emily rages over the fact that she loves such a insane bastard, and can't get over him. And, then, after Bob Balaban leaves, leaving Emily alone, Jessup wakes up.

He sweetly admits that the truth he learned was that there was no learnable truth, just unknowable horror, and all that's real is human experience. And he'll be a good boy from now on. Well too bad!

Because that horrible truth isn't done with him, and it's back to goo-Jessup! Emily tries to help him, grabbing him, but this in turn effects her, turning her into a shimmering lava form of herself. Both of them begin to self-destruct as Jessup, enraged, watching her in pain, struggles to retake his humanity, slamming himself into the wall, reforming himself through sheer will and physicality. He grabs her and brings her back, mirroring what she did for him during the final session. They embrace naked in the hallway. He finally admits, “I love you, Emily.”

Fade to credits.

Awww true love!

What can I say to sum up? Awesome 80's practical effects. Genius wacko go-for-it Ken Russell directing. Out of this world vision sequences. A awake and actually remarkable performance from William Hurt. An occasionally turgid but often fascinating script by the ever ornery Paddy Chayefsky. Whats not to like?

Well, the ending is a little rushed. The ape sequence goes on for a little too long and takes up perhaps too much of the films overall running time. The central love story is, well... a little hard to swallow, but hey, I guess there really is somebody out there for everyone. Even self-absorbed, deadbeat, cheating, sensory deprivation loving, ayahuasca dropping, Harvard teachers with a messiah complex!

And on that note, aliens from A.I. Artifical Intelligence, have a good day, and don't leave poor Teddy alone with no one to keep him company!

Sayonara!

[msjr0119]

Love, Fate, Destiny

Part 6 - Jealous

Riley Brooks is a waitress in a ‘Dive bar” in New York. One Saturday night, her past comes back to haunt her as some unfamiliar punters enter her bar on a bachelor party- one of them being someone who she was once close to.

*CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY*

Tags- @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @butindeed @bbrandy2002 @kingliam2019 @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs

******

“I just came to say goodbye.”

Rileys jaw was agape. She believed that after Drake’s outburst they would talk and go back to normal. As she watched him rush out the room, she moved one foot forward deciding to follow before Maxwell pulled her back.

“Blossom, don’t run after him. It’ll cause gossip. I’ll take you to his room after. I promise.”

Riley nodded sadly, she had hoped he meant goodbye as in goodnight. If he decided to leave, what was the point in her being there- there was none.

The evening slowly drew to a close. Everyone bid each other goodnight. Maxwell held Riley back purposely making sure that everyone had gone their separate ways. Luckily, Drake’s room was close to Riley’s so no one would suspect anything suspicious.

Max opened the door, noticing his friend slumped against the bed with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He ushered Riley in. She knew Drake liked to drink, but she had never seen him this melancholy before- to drink himself into oblivion.

“Drake?” Riley spoke softly, concerned about him.

“Ri.” He couldn’t look at her, he was still pissed off with Liam for suggesting that she completed in his social season.

“I’ll leave you two to it, I’ll stay in your room Ri.”

Giving Riley a soft smile- Maxwell left the two lovers alone, he didn’t want to play gooseberry. Riley slid to the floor, sitting next to Drake- snuggling up to him.

“Sorry.” Drake said quietly and emotionally. His head was spinning and believing he wouldn’t be able to string a sentence together. Riley cupped his cheek, ensuring that his eyes were fixated on hers.

“I’m sorry too. When Liam offered me this opportunity, I just had to follow my heart that led to you.”

Drake placed a comforting arm around her, pulling her into his warm embrace. The smell of whiskey lingered, his scent made her feel intoxicated. Riley decided to make a coffee to try and sober him up- his drunk mind wouldn’t comprehend how much she truly wanted him. They sat silence for a while, holding each other affectionately.

I don't like the way he's looking at you.I'm starting to think you want him too. Am I crazy? Have I lost ya? Even though I know you love me, can't help it.

Drake didn’t want to let Riley know about his inner thoughts. Paranoid. Constantly imagining Liam attempting to steal his girl. It’s happened before when they were teenagers. So what’s preventing it from happening again. But this time, this constant thought stabbed him in the heart like a voodoo doll. Riley was the only woman he had ever had true feelings about. These seven years, he tried to move on from her but physically couldn’t- she was a distant memory that kept reoccurring in his head on a daily basis. They both eventually stood up from the floor- Drake feeling slightly less drunk.

“I suppose I better get to my own room. I love you Drake.”

“I love you too! When this sham is over, my bags are packed to come back with you. Look.”

Riley gazed over to the corner of the room where Drake’s finger pointed. A large suitcase, had been packed. Opening his wardrobe it was bare.

“I want a future with you Riley. I messed up in the past. It’ll be the biggest regret of my life.”

“You didn’t ‘mess up’ intentionally, I understand. I just wish you didn’t completely disappear off the face of the earth and had kept in touch with me. I love you. I always have and I always will. I’ll see you tomorrow baby.”

Riley text Max to make sure the coast was clear. He soon knocked on the door, and witnessed the two smooching, saying their goodbyes.

'Cause you're too sexy, beautiful

And everybody wants to taste

That's why (that's why)

I still get jealous

*****

The next morning, Riley woke up to Maxwell bounding through the door. He gave her some privacy to get ready, before introducing her to his brother- the Duke of Ramsford. Riley believed Maxwell was pulling some sick joke on her- they can’t be brothers, she thought. Maxwell was outgoing. Bertrand was a full on snob, I mean who wears sweater vests with a blazer in today’s society. He gave the impression that he was strict, like a demon headteacher who would use the cane if you did anything slightly incorrect.

“Let’s pretend that I am meeting you for the first time at a royal event. ‘Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Riley.’”

“The pleasures all mine, Duke Ramsford.”

Riley curtsied, whilst Bertrand took her hand in his right hand before kissing the back of it.

“Now, what did I do wrong?”

Riley smirked, Maxwell had explained to her about hand gestures. This was a test- a test Bertrand was hoping she would fail. Not that she gave a shit as she really wasn’t fighting for Liam’s hand.

“You should have taken my hand with your left hand. Otherwise it’s an insult.”

Straightening his expression out, he was impressed with her observation. Bertrand explained that the limo was waiting for them to take them to the Derby at Honeyhill Downs.

“I know this is all a sham and fake. But I’m so proud of you. I could turn you into a noble if you carry on impressing the Duke. Are you sure you’re a waitress and not lying to us all?”

“Max, I’m pretty sure I’m just a waitress. Let’s just say I’m a quick learner. And you’re a great teacher.”

*****

They arrived, and the press swarmed around her. Shit. Just breath Riley. Donnie Brine was pleased with Riley’s ‘confident’ attitude for a newbie and now stereotyped her as ‘the mystery woman.’ She also impressed Ana De Luca - Maxwell was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, his attitude was like that of a first time parent when their child begins to walk- he was proud beyond words.

Maxwell escorted Riley to the White tents, where she met Hana and Olivia- err Olivia. First impressions of the redhead wasn’t the best- she needed to make amends. Olivia seemed much more relaxed around Riley now knowing her true intentions of being here- but the Duchess couldn’t resist stirring the pot.

“Lady Riley, I’d like you to meet Lady Penelope and Lady Kiara. Penelope loves dogs- specifically little rat ones. And Kiara is so intelligent - she speaks so many languages.”

“Hi, Riley! And they aren’t rats- they are poodles who are fluffy and cute!” Penelope squealed. She’s going to be the ditsy one of the group.

“Bonjour Riley. Ravi de vous rencontrer.” I don’t speak french- shit.

“Lady Kiara and Drake had a thing a few years back. In fact it’s been brewing for years wouldn’t you say Ki?”

“Oui, Duchess Olivia. He’s so handsome. I’d love to know what he’s like in bed....”

Hana saw Riley freeze, gulping hard she noticed that no one observed her sudden change of expression, and the increase of her breathing.

“Lady Riley can you help with the drinks please.”

“Oh, of course Hana. Nice to meet you all.”

“Thankyou!”

“No problem”

They retrieved the drinks returning to the ladies in the white tent. Riley felt jealous- she needed to grab some air away from everyone. Explaining to Hana where she was going, Hana understood. Riley walked in a daze, she stumbled into a stable with some horses each in their own pen. No one will see me here. Sitting on some hay, she lifted her knees to her face, finally letting tears fall. After her little outburst, she began to admire the beauty of the horses. Feeling like a ‘loon’ she began to speak to the horses as if they were humans- startling one of them, it barrelled straight towards her after the pens door became loose.

“Easy, easy horsey! Everything’s okay!”

Riley shut her eyes, her body froze in shock- not knowing what to do. Should she run, should she stay frozen or should she scream for help.

“Woah there, woah!”

Drake calmed the horse down, before leading it back into a pen. Riley slowly opened her eyes, relieved that someone had come to her rescue.

“Nothing to worry about big fella. I’ll get this girl outta here for you. You okay baby?”

“You saved me. My hero!”

“Really? I thought I was saving the horse... these derby runners are like athletes. Can’t risk an injury over a stray human.”

“Oh charming. Did the horse knock the sense out of you?”

“Nah...in fact I got away without a scratch...Come here.”

Drake pulled Riley up, her hair was skew-wiff as if she had just woken up. He began to pull out hay from her beautiful brown curly locks. Before holding her protectively.

“You know id never let a horse trample you. I love you too much.”

“I love you too- even if you are a sarcastic son of a bitch.”

Drake crashed his searing hot lips onto Riley, she was intoxicating. He didn’t know how many more opportunities he would get with her alone. Grabbing her dress, he yanked it upwards and over her head before thrusting against her. His jeans tightened at the sight of her. Unzipping his jeans, she pulled out his cock gently stroking it before increasing the speed. Slipping his fingers underneath the elastic of her lace underwear, he gently pulled them to her ankles before Riley kicked them away. Laying her gently on the hay she spread her legs, positioning himself in between them - admiring her beauty. Removing his shirt, discarding it on the floor with the other clothes- she began feeling his bare muscled chest. Kissing her neck passionately, he needed her. She needed him. Losing themselves into each other’s touches. She felt her wetness slipping onto his manhood, as he entered her slowly. He took her nipple in his mouth and cradled her other breast in his calloused palm. Rocking in the perfect sync, the pair couldn’t contain their moans. Grunting as he exploded inside her -he fell to the side of her. Riley rolled over in to Drake’s arms.

“That was unexpected.” She said seductively, whilst running her finger over his chest.

“You know how I like to surprise you. Good job you got lost and I followed you.” Winking at her, he was feeling content and glad he listened to instincts.

“Yes. Even though it’s kind of creepy that you were following me. I suppose we better leave- we have a lawn party to attend. And Maxwell will be fretting.”

“It’s not creepy. If we have to go through with this charade, I’m keeping my eye on you and protecting you. I love you.”

“My knight in shining armour. Love you too Walker.”

[shaylybaby2032]

Let Me Be Your Lighthouse

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: Explicit/18+

Pairing: Gabriel x OFC

A/N: Please do not copy my work to any platform without my permission, even if giving credit.

Warnings: Eventual smut, physical/mental abuse, angst, fluff, language

Summary: A Duke of Hell wants to use Gabriel for his own nefarious plans and makes a deal with the Empty Enitity to bring the Archangel back from the dead. But, when Gabriel escapes, the Duke must reach deep into his arsenal to try and track him down. Not long after Gabriel's great escape, Sam and Dean race to save a fellow hunter who has been captured by demons and, after rescuing her, convince the woman to let them help her get rid of the demons hot on her heels. While the two occurrences seem unrelated at first, they may have more in common than any of them realize.

"A wise man once told me, 'family don't end in blood.' But it doesn't start there either. Family cares about you, not what you can do for them. Family's there; for the good, bad, all of it. They got your back, even when it hurts." -Dean Winchester

Chapter 1: Unexpected Return

The full moon hung low in the night sky over the large patch of deserted dirt in Fort Collins, Colorado that had once been an attempt at a cornfield. The former owner of the land hadn't expected this particular patch of land to be so deprived of the nutrients required to grow grass, much less the crop he had staked his financial well-being upon. He had become quite aware of the losing battle when the ground had all but spit out the yellow kernels as black and hollow husks. If he had been aware of the door that laid deep below the surface of the ground he had been trying to grow the plants in, he would probably have gone running for the hills, or the nearest church.

Unfortunately, there was no way he could have known that the very energy seeping into the ground making it volatile would find its way in to his own mind during the single year he spent trying to make the decision to dump all of his money into the plot a worthwhile choice. There was no way he could have known that exactly one year after he first set foot on to the place that he would be sitting in the local mental institution staring blankly at a wall mumbling about a void no human was ever meant to see.

When he died less than three weeks later, the bank had put a “For Sale” sign on the land. It stuck up from the ground until the elements faded the bright writing away, and it became one of those properties that fell through the cracks as it shuffled around in the system of more appealing purchases.

That was, until almost a decade later, when a man in an expensive five-piece suit walked into the bank asking to speak with the president of the establishment. The man was charming enough to disarm anyone he was speaking with in a way that, had anyone really been paying attention to the ease in which it happened, would have made them fear for their very souls. They hadn't noticed, however, and before long the engaging man with professionally short midnight hair and piercing, dark brown eyes had the female bank president completely enthralled.

It wasn't the sharp and attractive features of his face that drew her in. No, she was far too smart to be taken in by a pretty face and a fancy suit. Years of dealing with business men and women had sharpened her skill of rifling through bullshit and pipe dreams. It was his confidence that drew her in at first, and it slowly mixed in with an attribute she couldn't quite describe. After having checked the credentials he had given her, she discovered he had more than enough money to pay the offer he had presented to her for the property. It was an offer that was more than quadruple the listing price.

While she couldn't see the appeal of the dead piece of land that sat on the outskirts of her town hidden by brush and now overgrown woods, she had finally accepted his offer. When he smiled his approval, her stomach dropped to her feet. The gesture had sent a sense of unnerving through her that had her hair standing on end, and could only be described as wicked. He hadn't given her a chance to go back on her acceptance of his offer, and he grasped her hand in a handshake to seal the deal. She had fought with everything she had not to jerk away when she came in contact with his cold skin. The connection made an overwhelming sense of dread crash over her so hard that she could have sworn the light in the room hit his eyes in way that made them appear to be deep black orbs, threatening to drag her down.

As the suited man walked out onto the moonlit field, that same wicked smile was painted on his face. After all these years he had found the doorway, one that he was sure God had loathed having to make after his Archangel had fallen and created those first dark beings. His eyes flashed to black again as he pulled a glass jar of dark red liquid from a pocket inside his suit jacket. He walked in a circle as he poured the thick substance onto the ground in the shape of sigils that predated even the earliest Sumerian cuneiform. All the while he chanted a language long since dead enough to not be in any written form. When he had completed the circle, the ground beneath him began to rumble and he stepped outside of the markings just as they began to glow with an eerie black hue.

Thunder rolled above his head and lightning lit up the sky as the dirt within the circle began to shift and swirl. A thick tar like substance started to bubble up from the dirt, jerking and spasming as it was drawn to the center like metal to a magnet. The substance pooled and started to build on itself, slowly forming a humanoid shape. With another crash of thunder, the vile liquid crashed back into the ground to reveal an exact copy of the suited man standing in the center of the circle with pure loathing etched into his features.

“Eligos,” the copy growled, addressing the man that summoned it. “To what do I owe the annoyance of being called on by a mighty Duke of Hell.” it's voice held a disgusted tone as it mocked the being in front of it. “Had I been sleeping when you called I would have dragged you down to my domain on sheer principle, so I advise you to tread lightly.”

Eligos bowed respectfully as he spoke. “Oh great being of the Empty, please, pardon my intrusion, but, I am in need of your assistance.”

“MY ASSISTANCE?!” the Empty Entity barked. “WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WOULD WASTE MY TIME WITH THE LIKES OF YOU?!”

“Because I will make it worth your while,” Eligos said cooly, not even phased by the primal shout that had come from the being in front of him as he straightened his posture. “I have discovered that you know a good deal when one presents itself.”

The Empty Entity regarded the Duke with interest, though it's ire was still prominent. “What is it that you want, Eligos. My patience is already thin. Don't make it worse.”

“The Archangel, Gabriel.”

The Empty threw it's head back in a spurt of laughter so sinister that the wildlife around the area, had there been any dumb enough to wander close, would have scurried away in haste. “Why would I even entertain the idea of freeing an Archangel?”

“Because I offer two of my sixty legions of demonic soldiers for him.”

The Empty scoffed at his bargain. “Twelve thousand demon souls for an ARCHANGEL?! Even one as broken as Gabriel is worth far more than that.”

“Then name your price,” Eligos insisted, his calm exterior never faltering.

“What use could you have for an Archangel with low grace and a hefty dose of PTSD? Your superior really did quite the number on him. But, you know that. Asmodeus confided in you and you alone about his pet, among other things.”

For the first time Eligos’ still presentation faltered as his eyebrow arched in questioning.

“I receive the memories of each being that comes to my domain,” the Empty explained before he could ask. “Asmodeus was sick, even by my standards. I will only ask one more time why you want one of his broken toys.”

“Gabriel's low grace makes him vulnerable and open to... persuasion.”

“I see. You understand how devastatingly wrong darkening an angel can go, correct?”

“I have the means to control him once he's mine.”

The Empty crossed it's arms over it's chest as the being contemplated the request made by the Duke. “I want half.”

“HALF?!” Eligos spat, his tranquil demeanor completely falling. “You want HALF of my army?!”

“Yes,” The Empty confirmed. “A hundred and eighty thousand demon souls should fit the bill.”

Eligos snarled as he bit back on the expletive words on the tip of his tongue. He took a second to center himself again before he spoke. “Deal.”

“Not quite. You still need to...what's the saying? Ah, yes, sweeten the pot.”

“What else could you possibly want?!”

“Oh, you know exactly what I want.”

Realization crashed down on to the Duke and he glared at the entity before him. “You know I can't give you that.”

“I'm well aware of the rules, Eligos. I am, however, the one that had to agree to them all those eons ago with that pompous idiot that plagued the universe with his perverse creations. I am also very much conscious of your connection with what I want. If anyone can make it happen, it's you. Or...do you doubt your control over the abomination?”

“No!” Eligos spat. “She will do as I say. But, only after I have Gabriel how I want him.”

“Fair enough,” the Empty said as he closed the distance between them and extended his hand toward the demon Duke.

Eligos grasped his offered hand and shook. Thunder crashed as lightning streaked the sky, the sound causing the ground to shake. Swirling black smoke filled the air above their heads as the sound of desperate screaming ripped around the area. With another clap of thunder, the black cloud was sucked into the circle on the ground and disappeared beneath the dirt.

***

Gabriel sucked in a harsh breath as his eyes shot open. Pain seared through his skull as his blurry vision started to focus on... nothing. A complete black void surrounded him, yet somehow he laid on a sturdy surface. He jerked to a sitting position as he clutched at his chest, searching for the wound that he was sure had ended his life. He was shocked to find his body free of blood or the hole he knew he should have. He was certain he had died. Wasn't he?

“Yes, you are definitely dead,” a voice drawled from behind him.

A voice he knew well, and the sound of it took him completely off guard as he scrambled to his feet to whirl around. He then came face to face with... himself?

“What the hell?” Gabriel whispered.

“Not exactly,” he watched the other him say. “Just your friendly neighborhood primordial being.”

It finally dawned on the Archangel with whom he was speaking to. “You're the Empty Entity.”

“DING DING DING! Give the angel a prize!”

“Why am I awake?” Gabriel asked, then rolled his eyes as a thought occurred to him. “Winchesters. What have those idiots broken now?”

“Oh, trust me angel, you are going to wish it was those boys that bargained for your broken being.”

The next thing Gabriel's mind registered was the feeling of being thrown to the ground as his body forcefully coughed up the dirt that had somehow found its way into his lungs. Slowly he started to realize there was a breeze. There had been nothing but stillness in the Empty and the sudden change had his head jerking up even as his coughing persisted.

He was back on Earth.

His Earth.

He was alive.

Why?!

That's when fire erupted in a circle around him, flames he quickly recognized as holy fire. A growl rose from his chest as he pushed himself to his feet, facing the figure that was now illuminated by the flames. Rage rushed through the Archangel's system at the sight of the Demon Duke.

“Eligos,” he snarled.

“Gabriel!” Eligos retorted with mock excitement. “So nice to see you up and moving, though I think I preferred you chained with your mouth sewn shut.”

“I swear I'll incinerate you where you stand-”

“And how do you plan on doing that while you are trapped in holy fire with low grace?”

Gabriel's eyes flicked up to the sky at the dark storm clouds that had moved in. He turned back to the Duke with a smirk on his face. “I do believe it looks like rain.”

As the last word left his mouth, mother nature smiled on him and the first drops of rain started to fall. They landed on the fire with a sizzle that caused the flames to jump.

“Only a matter of time,” Gabriel continued. “Even low on grace, I'll have no problem doing away with you.”

Eligos barked out a laugh as he gestured to the Enochian symbols around the outside of the fire that the Archangel had missed in his anger. He studied the symbols closely for a moment. They had been altered with dark magic, a sinister power that he hadn't seen since before Lucifer had been locked away. His stomach dropped as he realized what the Duke intended to do and his eyes shot back to him.

“You see, Gabriel,” Eligos started, “that fire won't matter once I've darkened what little grace still resides within you, because then you will be mine to control.”

“NO!” Gabriel shouted, frantically looking around for a way to deter the Duke's plan.

“Yes!” Eligos said as an evil cackle started to flow from him.

He started to chant in a language that was a mix of Enochian and Latin, causing the sigils around Gabriel to glow and the holy fire to roar to a size that towered over his head. Immense pressure punched into his chest, sending him to his knees. He could feel the magic seeping through the fire and into his vessel. He fought against the parasitic force with every ounce of strength he had, but he could feel it invading into the very sense of who and what he was. Could feel it twisting around his grace, forcing the shadow of his large wings to blaze forth into existence. The flames licked and sighed at his shadowed feathers and an idea formed through the suffocating pain it caused. He had no choice. He couldn't allow himself to become what this magic was trying to drag him towards.

He wouldn't allow it.

With a renewed strength he contributed to the pure adrenaline of the moment, he reached behind his back and grasped at his own wing. His fingers knotted into the soft shadowed feathers, and with one last breath to accept what he was about to do, he pulled. With twisting and wrenching motions he jerked on his wing with all his might, the pain exploding into his being and blurring his vision. A feeling like magma being poured into his vessel stampeded through his body, making his throat constrict and his feathered appendages jerk of their own accord almost like they were trying to escape. He was vaguely aware of Eligos’ failed attempts at coming through the amped holy fire to stop him, but when the base of his wing separated from not only his vessel but his very being, a scream of agony ripped from his lips that sent the ground trembling. The blur of his vision turned to complete darkness for a split second before he pulled himself back from the edge of unconscious by pure will alone. He wouldn't succumb and let this demon win. Not again! Not ever again! Eligos crashed to the ground as Gabriel started the same process with his other wing. When it, too, was torn from him, both wings burned to ash as his grace shot out from the gaping wounds in his back. The ash and grace swirled around him, dousing the flames with a force that sent the Duke flying through the air out of sight and leveling everything within a twenty mile radius.

There was silence, then, as his grace shot into the sky and vanished.

Gabriel was left lying flat on his stomach, gasping for air. The wounds on his back had somehow been healed, but he still felt the agonizing emptiness from what he had done. His skin was covered in a thick layer of sweat as nausea rolled through his stomach threatening to spill the bile that his stomach now created. His body trembled as he forced himself to roll to his back, trying to control his breath and attempting to grasp what he now was.

Human.

Chapters 1 through 3 are up on Ao3. Continue reading here...

[regencylady1810]

Everything I Desire

Info: Desire and Decorum FanFicition. Mary the MC commits to a decision to be with Ernest. (Note I named My MC Mary as it wasn't known her mother was called that. Also Lady Grandmother hasn't changed her mind about the Duke) This takes place the morning after the announcement of the engagement to the Duke.

Note: characters belong to PB

"Ernest!" Mary cried as she saw him by the fence at the entrance to Hyde Park. "Mr Chambers, he gave me a letter from you. I came immediately. Though I did have to avoid Lady Grandmother and you know who."

"I hope you are fine. Yes. I had something to discuss. I didn't sleep for a minute last night for thinking of it." Ernest replied. She was about to ask but still hadn't caught her breath. "You ran all the way here didn't you?" he asked stepping closer to her.

"Of course. I'd run across the world if it meant getting to you. Ernest, please. Tell me. What's going on in that glorious head of yours?" Mary smiled and drew her fingers through his thick and luscious locks.

"I have thought about it long and hard. I may have Ledford. £7000 a year. But that is nothing. Nothing compared to you. I would give all that up. It doesn't make me happy. But you do, more than happy. So happy the greatest poets could not put it into words. I would give it up in less than a heartbeat, no regrets. If it meant we'd be together. If it freed you." he whispered. Worried someone, somewhere could be listening in. She stood on her toes and held his cheeks unable to stop smiling.

"What are you saying?" she pressed knowing he had not got to the main point.

He gave her a gentle kiss before speaking and looking deep into her eyes. "I am saying, if it is what you want, to run away with me. Will you start a new life with me? We could go to Grovenshire. Wherever you want. Further afield if you wish. This is the best way. Going against the Duke will put you in danger. And there's no certainity of success. I will do anything I can to prevent that fate. " He whispered.

She kissed him more passionately. Hugging him and he lifted her off the ground as she tightened her grip on him.

"Yes. I'd love to start a life with you. We shall be married. Maybe we could go there. But maybe we should travel around until we find our place. The place that feels just right. I shall become a seamstress, perhaps you could be a farmer or a baker? What about a teacher? You'd make a wonderful teacher." Mary smiled. "And we will have our own family. It seems perfect. Simple and perfect. I don't need wealth or status. But I do need love and happiness. And that'll be with you by my side." Mary looked into his beautiful blue eyes as she continued to smile.

"You have been thinking about this." Ernest commented. "It seems insane what we are doing. But that just seems to make it seem all the more right. And a family you say?" Ernest whispered.

"Do you not want children?"Mary asked.

"I do...it is just...what happened to Roselyn. It is just the risk. It frightens me. The thought of losing you scares me to death." Ernest said. She could see a glassy glint to his eyes. He was on the verge of crying.

"You will not lose me that easily. We shall have at least two children. And we shall grow old together. We shall live a long and happy life together. And we will live together in the next world for all eternity. The connection, the love that we share. Nothing can tear that apart. It's immortal. It's powerful." Mary whispered.

"Perhaps you should be a writer. You have such a way with words." Ernest said.

"Perhaps we both should. Ernest and Mary Sinclaire- the famous novelists and poets. You have a talent for words Ernest." Mary smiled.

"Tell me. Have you already named our children?" Ernest smiled. Mary giggled.

"I have options certainly. For a boy, Vincent after my dear father, Ernest after the God who stands before me. Barty, for you can not deny that Mr Chambers has played such a vital role in the coming together of our love? For a girl, Lydia after your mother. Georgiana for I have always wanted a daughter called that or perhaps Wilhelmina after my favourite doll from my childhood."

"I love them all. You are the most wonderful person on this earth. And I adore what you have planned out." Ernest smiled.

They walked several times around the park, planning the future and how they were going to do it. After several laps of slow walking they knew they had to return to make the final arrangements. Tomorrow they'd leave behind the life they were living and start a new one. A better one.

Mary returned to the townhouse. Her heart fluttering.

"That's the "I've kissed Mr Sinclaire" face." Brair smirked and giggled.

"Excuse me?" Mary said out the surprise thinking she was alone.

"The expression. It's the expression that screams you and Mr Sinclaire have spend some very special moments together." Brair smirked. "So...details!?"

Mary took a deep breath. "I'm leaving. With Mr Sinclaire. Tomorrow."

"Oh right." Brair said. What Mary said not registering immediatly. "Wait. Did you say leaving? You're running away together?" her face shocked.

"Yes. I have to. There's no guarantee I can beat the Duke. We all know the Duke is dangerous. God knows what he'd do. We have to run. Start a new life in a little village. Far from Edgewater." Mary replied.

"This is what you want?"

"More than anything. Though. I can't deny the fact I shall miss you." Mary replied. Tears threatening to spill.

"Nonsense. You'll be too busy being happy with your husband and new life to do something like missing me." Brair replied.

"I promise I will write and let you know where we end up. And perhaps...maybe with me gone. You can get closer to a certain Mr Malcaster." Mary teased.

Brair giggled. "What shall this mean for Edgewater?" she said her tone more serious. "And for Ledford?"

"I don't know...but if I am honest I don't care anymore. Mr Sinclaire cares not for Ledford if we are not able to be together. To me....being happy is what matters. Not large houses and masses of land. But lobe and happiness."

"That's right. Of course that's what matters. Oh come here." Brair said embracing her in a hug.

That night she packed some essentials. She looked out the window up at the stars and moons.

"Hello mama. Hello father. I hope you're together again. I hope you are happy just as you deserved in life. Father....i know you wanted me to have Edgewater. But Grandmother, she's got me engaged to Duke Richards. And you know of my love for Mr Sinclaire. Father...please give me a sign...a sign that it will not hurt you or cause you to be disappointed in me for me to run away and not have Edgewater. Give me a sign...a sign you are still here and support me and Mr Sinclaire." She whispered. She stared out the window watching the world go by. "I love you both mama and father. I miss you so much. Oh mama how I wish you could have met him. Though do you approve of him from what you have seen of him? He is just like the heroes of all the stories you told me. Remember I said someday I wanted to love someone just like those heroes? Seems I got my wish! Do you approve of him as your son in law? I love you. I love you mama."

Tiredness overcame her and she remained asleep until dawn to the sound of a robins song. A robin was right outside her window on the sill. Mary lifted the window open and held her hand out another robin flew over and began grooming the other before both robins jumped on her hand and continued to happily sing their sweet song.

"Mama? Father? Is this your sign?" Mary whispered. "You do not disapprove of our choice?"

The robins chriped a simple sound. Mary smiled. This was the sign she needed. Her parents were together. And they supported her choice."

One of the robins flew off her hand and towards her trunk she opened it and it continued to chirp. She took all dresses out and brushed her hand against the surface. The decorative paper was loose and something was under there. She pulled off the paper and saw a simple sheet of paper a letter.

She opened it up and began reading it.

My Dearest Mary

My heart is overjoyed to know that you are in love with a gentleman such as Mr Sinclaire. He is a good man and I am certain you will be happy together. I write this to let you know that should anything unprecedented occur, that more than anything I want you to be happy. I would rather see you happy and not have Edgewater than be miserable and have it. I want you to have everything your mother and I never had...a life together filled with happiness and love. Remember this my beloved daughter. You are the greatest thing in my life and all I want is your happiness. So I ask this of you. Do what makes you happy. You shall never disappoint me if you do that. If you ever need reminding of that, your mother and I will find a way to remind you. Have a wonderful life with Mr Sinclaire. Love each other.

I love you.

From Father.

Tears spilled from her eyes and sobs escaped her lips. The robins brushed against her hand.

"Thank you. Thank you." She whispered. The robins sang one more time before they flew out of the window together where she continued to look long after they were out of sight.

She repacked her trunk feeling lighter and happier. Brair and Mary carried it down the stairs to the shock of Mary's grandmother.

"My dear Mary. Whatever are you doing?" her grandmother asked.

"Doing what father wants me to do. I'm going to be happy. I'm leaving. I'm marrying my true love Mr Sinclaire. We are leaving this life behind." Mary replied.

"Your father wanted you to have Edgewater. And you are marrying Duke Richards. What's Mr Sinclaire compared to him?" Grandmother stated.

"You're wrong. Father wanted me to be happy more than anything. He wants me to do this. And Mr Sinclaire you ask? What is he compared to Duke Richards? He is a man of kindness, a true gentleman. He doesn't look down on anyone. He is not arrogant. He is not dangerous. He is genuine. He is charitable. He is everything the Duke isn't. He is what all men should be. He is my soul mate."

"Soulmates do not exist. Duke Richards is a good match. He earns more and has more power. Should you and Mr Sinclaire leave your lives behind you will have nothing."

Mary was fuming. But remained calm and collected. "On the contrary. With Mr Sinclaire as my husband I shall have everything in world that I desire. I care not for money not power. It seems I have learnt that lesson in my 20 years that you have not learnt in your long years. That you have not learnt from the suffering of my father. The lesson being that you don't need mass wealth of power to be happy. But you do need people, people that you love. So no grandmother. I shall not have nothing. I will have everything. And if you have a shred of respect for me. You will let me do this." Mary said. Her grandmother shocked into silence. "Goodbye grandmother. I know not when or even if we shall see each other again. But perhaps I will write to let you know we have settled in safely."

Mary and Brair picked up the trunk and walked outside to where Mr Sinclaire was waiting with his carriage. He took the trunk from them and placed it on the carriage.

Brair and Mary said their goodbyes and Mr Sinclaire took Mary's hand to help her into the carriage before climbing in himself. They leaned out the window waving to Brair as the carriage took off. When they could no longer see her they sat back.

"Are you ready for the future Mrs Sinclaire to be?" Ernest asked.

"You know I am Mr Sinclaire. I already have it all planned out." Mary smiled as she kissed him.

There was not a trace of regret, nerves or doubts in them. Only excitement and pure happiness.

[boneandfur]

Marry in Haste [6, pt2]

Notes: historical notes are at the end. // Words: 2806 // Catch up: Ch 6 (contains links to other chapters)

CHAPTER SIX, pt 2 :: Song: Scarborough Fair, Amy Nuttall.

The housekeeper unlocked the door with a flourish. I prayed to God it was not too late. "My lady, take James and Alf in with ye," she said with a respectful gleam in her eye.

With James, Alf, and Sinclaire at my side, I dashed into the room just as MacDougal laid his saw to Ned's flesh. 

Edmund was pale as a sheet, hand on the bottle of whiskey, agog. "Dita?!" 

"Stop!" I screamed, and MacDougal reared back, his face like thunder.

"Get out!" he roared like a bull, and then he turned on me. For such a big man, he moved fast. I darted towards him, grabbing the handle of the saw from his hand, and in my madness, wrested it from his grip. The teeth were brown and rusty with old blood, and I shuddered in disgust. I flung it from me, it went skittering across the floor. “Sairpent!” He grabbed me by the wrist, throwing me to the floor, but I was back on my feet and in his face with an anger I had not known I possessed. 

"Get out of my house!" I said in a voice of deadly quiet. "You'll not harm a hair on his head, do you hear me, you wicked old butcher?!" 

"I'll no' be ordered about by a woman!" MacDougal bared his teeth, shaking with anger. 

"Get out!" I roared, pointing a shaking finger at the door. I whirled on one of our footmen. "James, run and get a boy to fetch the bonesetter, as fast as you can!" 

"Yes, my lady!" James dashed from the room. 

"My lady!" MacDougal lunged for me, and Sinclaire stepped forward as though to stop him. "I told ye tae stay out o' it! I'll not be told ma business by some slanty-eyed, foreign bitch!" 

Edmund was on his feet before Sinclaire could move, and his fist hit the doctor square in the mouth. "You forget your place!" he roared, breathing in sharp, jerky pants. "You'll not lay hands on a peeress of the realm, sir! Now get out before we call Bow Street!" 

"Mr Greaves!" I shouted, and the butler came into the room at once, he had likely been waiting in the hallway for my summons. He was a big African man, balding, with a kindly smile, but today he had none, his mouth was set as hard as stone as he looked at the surgeon.

"My lady," Greaves said respectfully. "Mr Marlcaster." 

"Escort this charlatan from the property!" I ordered in a voice like steel, praying none of them could sense how I shook inside. Ye may murder yer husband here an' now... As if ye'd stabbed a knife intae his heart.

"Unhand me at once! I'll show m'self out!" MacDougal cried. "Jamie, ye wee idiot! Bring ma bag!" 

"But sir!" Jamie cried, finding his voice at last. And it squeaked. 

"We are no' welcome in this house. I wish good day to you, Madam!" MacDougal thundered at me. As he turned to go, he whispered, in a voice like ice, "Let all who hear me bear witness! I say ye do murder -- an' I'll testify against ye and yer lover at the trial!" Slamming his hat on his head and shoving his bag under his arm, he stormed out, tripping over the person coming up the steps as he shouted for Jamie to call a cab. 

When he had gone, I turned to Edmund, and as though he knew how I trembled inside, he took me into his arms and held me for a long, sweet moment. Then he sat back down on the bed, he was sweating and pale. "What have we done, Dita?" he whispered. 

"She's saved your life, most likely, Marlcaster," Sinclaire said from the doorway, and I jumped back, feeling guilty for comforting my own husband in front of my lover, though why I should feel such a confusing emotion, I knew not. "I'm not a man for medicine, but that blade would have poisoned your blood and condemned you to a long and lingering death." 

Edmund scoffed, but I saw how ill he looked, and my heart squeezed hard. "Always the bearer of good news, aren't you, Sinclaire? I think you would love comforting my widow overmuch, if I should perish."

Sinclaire ground his teeth audibly. “Is that not why you chose me as your second, sir?”

“Oh, you call yourself an honorable man, Sinclaire, but I've seen how you make eyes at my wife as though I were not right in front of you!” Edmund jeered. I placed a hand on his arm, and he pulled me roughly to him, as though he would kiss me, but at the last moment I turned my face away. I saw hurt flash in his eyes, he let go of me, and I put my hand to my lips. I did not want to be a pawn in that game, and yet suddenly I felt bereft, and ached for the kiss I had denied him. “You hope to wear the fair lady's favor and win the race, I suppose. But do you really think it shall be so easy?” he sneered.

“Enough, Ned!” I snapped, hearing the bell ring for the door. “The bonesetter will be here any moment! Do you want her to see you brawling like a common peasant, or acting like the gentleman I know you to be?”

“Send for the bishop, wife, we may as well give last rites. I will be half a man without my leg, I...” his voice dropped and he turned back to me, stroking the back of his hand across my cheek. He was shaking, his teeth chattering, and his voice had begun to slur from the drink. "But why are you crying? Will you mind so overmuch when I am dead?”

"You're not going to die!" My voice quaked a little on the last word. 

"Who in't going t' die?" It was a little old lady, ugly and wizened, with a wide mouth like a toad and shoulders wide as a dockworker's. She had a thick accent, and leaned upon a walking stick. "I be Mrs Mapp, the bonesetter. Ye must be that high-faultin' foreign miss what married this foolish man who's t' race that wicked Duke. Aye, all o' London is talkin' about it." She eyed Edmund's leg with a gimlet gaze. 

"The race!" I gasped, swallowing hard. If I gambled nothing, I would lose everything. "But how do you know, madam?" 

The bonesetter barked back a sharp laugh. "'Tis the Talk of the Town, girl!" 

When she moved toward the bed, her clothes letting off a not unappealing cloud of herbal smells, Edmund set down the bottle. "What witchcraft is this?" He stared at the old woman, throughly appalled. "Who is this hag?" 

"You respect your ma, boy?" Mrs Mapp bent her ear to his leg and then began massaging it roughly, and he howled. "That's what I thought. Feels like it ain't shattered."

"That is what the surgeon said, madam. He wanted to amputate." At Sinclaire's words, Edmund clenched his jaw and went quite pale.

"An' it was you that kicked him out, eh?" She poked a knobbly finger at me. "I like yer brass, girl. Want ter make yerself useful? Fetch me some hot water, as hot as ye can make it, and fresh, clean towels. Well? Are ye waitin' for infection tae set in, ye wee mort?" She fixed me with a gimlet eye, throwing a pitcher off the washstand to me, and then drew herself up to her full height. "Now, boy," she said, turning her attention back to my husband, "you're goin' ter want t' get very drunk." 

When I returned, my husband had drunk nearly the entire second bottle of whiskey, and when he saw me, his eyes lit up. "Look, Shinclaire, it's Dita," he slurred. "My angel." 

"Aye, she's yer angel all right, boy." The bonesetter cackled, handing Sinclaire a strap of leather, and he put it in Edmund's teeth. "Now we'll set the bone. You, lads --" and she jabbed a finger at Sinclaire and Alf, who I had quite forgotten. "Hold 'is lordship down. An' you, Angel, since ye insist on makin' use o' yerself, cant a tune fer yer man t' keep 'im calmed." She chewed on her spit. "Ye can sing, can't ye?" 

"Dita caterwauls like a cat in heat!" Edmund winked at the bonesetter. "Her mama was a celebrated opera soprano, but m' wife can't carry a tune in a bucket!" 

"Ned!" I scowled, crossing my arms. "You told me I had a beautiful voice!" 

Sinclaire coughed, looking ashamed. "He's right, y'know. Your singing voice sounds like a cat yowling. Madam, you'll want to cover your ears." 

The old woman cackled loudly, and set to her work. I opened my mouth, and began to sing a song from when I was a child, Edmund's eyes never leaving my face. 

Tell him to buy me an acre of land,

Between the salt water and the sea sand. 

Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,

And sow it all over with one peppercorn. 

Tell him to sheer't with a sickle of leather,

And bind it up with a peacock's feather. 

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...

When at last the grisly task was finished, Edmund had passed out from the pain, and the men were sweating from the exertion it had taken to hold him down. I escorted the bonesetter to the back gate and paid her a golden crown, she bit down on it, satisfied, and then looked at me with eyes that saw beyond mortal knowing, and I shivered all over at the sorrow in her eyes. 

"When he wakes, Angel, he'll be cursin' both god an' the devil. Don't ye let him go t' that race tomorrow." 

I gasped, I had quite forgotten it. "But his second will race the Duke, madam. Mr Sinclaire." 

"Oh, aye? Your lover they say, and they also say this." And she bent her lips to my ear, dry and cracked like leather. "When men and women make plans, the Devil laughs." She slipped something into my hand.

"What?" I gasped. But when I turned around, she was gone, and the breeze brought the smell of ash and bone from the charnel houses beyond the lichgate, though perhaps I only imagined it.

And inside my palm lay a knucklebone.

•••

"I'm afraid, Ernest," I whispered. We were in the back garden, sitting on the bench together in perfect propriety, as Susanna played ball with her puppy, a little white eared runt Edmund's favorite bitch, Cleopatra, had thrown. He doted on his daughter whenever he could, and I wondered how he could ever think her the child of the man beside me, who twirled his finger through one of my red curls, bringing it to his lips. 

"I do not intend to lose the race, if that is what you fear." He tugged whimsically on one ringlet. "Perhaps I need a lady's token, for luck." 

I kissed him chastely near the mouth, mindful of my husband lying inside. "Very well." He handed me his knife, and I wrapped the ringlet in my handkerchief, slipping it into his front pocket. He caught my chin in his hand, brushing his lips against mine as he stared into my eyes. We both took a sharp breath, and moved back -- and not a moment too soon. 

My Lady Grandmother walked into the garden and came up short upon seeing us, her brows shooting up in surprise. We jumped guiltily apart.  "Granddaughter, your husband is awake and asking for you." 

•••

Edmund was sitting up in bed, his face contorted in a grimace of pain. His leg was bound in boiled linen bandages and kept immobile in a splint. When he saw me, his whole aspect lightened, and he patted the space beside him. 

I sat down next to him with my knees drawn up to my chest, and when he put his arm around me, I pressed my face to his broad chest, unable to hold back my tears. "Ned, Ned." 

He tilted up my chin. "Don't cry, I am still living." He brushed his lips across my cheeks, tasting my tears. Of course, this only made me cry all the more, and I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck, lying back against the pillows with him, my body curled up against his. When he spoke, it was husky, ragged. "I don't know how I should have made it back without the thought of you in my head. When the horse threw me... I remembered that race with the Duke, years ago, before we eloped, and I thought, At last my luck has run out. And then I knew I could not live a single moment more unless I..." he turned his face, his eyes softening, and he swallowed, hard. "Unless I had but one more kiss from you, Lady wife." 

His lips on mine were gentle, but demanding: his tongue teased the seam of my lips apart, and I opened them to him, moaning a little as a ripple of heat lit up every nerve ending along my skin. He tasted of whiskey and clear, green water. "You do not know how badly I want to be buried deep inside of you, Dita." Edmund's husky admittance kindled such a longing inside of me that I was staggered by it. He took a small sip of his tea, and his eyes held the glazed look of one whose head is filled with opium Dreams. "Do you not ever think that Susanna might like a little brother to play with?" 

"She has brothers." I was referring, of course, to Briar's children, Harry and Joss, who we saw little to none of, though that was more her doing than mine. If she had not been so ridiculously jealous of me, I would have had the boys to play with Susanna, and often. Besides, it would do Edmund good to see his boys more frequently, for I knew he missed them sore.

In Edmund's voice was a bone-deep ache that made my heart fair turn over with pain for him. "I did not know my father, Dita. And I barely see the boys, for she has sent them to be raised by her mother, back in Grovershire." His lips twisted. "She says it is so she can give all her attention to me, but I... Oh, Dita, it kills me not to see my sons." 

This was the drink loosening his tongue, I was sure of it. Edmund had never expressed such a desire heretofore. In this state, I would be able to get him to admit to anything. But I was not that cruel, not yet. "Tell me again how you want to make another babe with me." I twined my fingers through his, and his brow crinkled before he burst out laughing, half sitting up. 

"Why, in the usual way, Dita. Where I take you every which way possible until you conceive, and then you do not touch me again, but go back to your lover." His voice was void of mirth as he leaned back again. "Do I have that aright?" 

"Ned..." my voice was stricken. "You know that is not... I mean..."

"It is what we do, Perdita." He sounded weary suddenly, and a shadow moved across his face. "It is the game we play. By God, I am sick to heart of it."

"Edmund, would you -- oh!" My mother in law clapped a hand over her heart, shocked to see me curled up beside her son in the bed. "You need your rest, my son." She kissed his brow, smoothing the lines away, and looked steadily at me. For once, we were at an accord. 

Very gently, I sat up, attempting to disentangle our fingers, but he gripped my hand hard, pulling me back to his chest.

"No, stay with me. I shan't be able to sleep unless you are here." His lips brushed against my ear. "I need you, Dita." 

"Well, you need your sleep more, husband." I laid my head back down upon his chest, pressing a soft kiss to the place where his heart beat so steadily beneath my cheek. "But I will stay." 

"Stay forever, Dita," he whispered. 

"I will." My false promise fell on deaf ears, he was asleep. 

•••

I could not sleep before the morning of the race, I tossed and turned in bed all night, the knucklebones upon the wash stand, mocking me. The Duke... This was under his saddle... You are a clever girl, Perdita...

I bolted up in the darkness. 

Sinclaire. 

•••

Historical notes: 

(1) Burial in consecrated ground was only permitted after 1823 without ritual, and with ritual only after the 1880 Burial Act. Usually suicides and unchristened babies were not buried in the family plot, but outside the churchyard, or to the north. I wasn't able to find much. 

Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/fcod/fcod11.htm

https://genealogy.stackexchange.com/questions/10193/burial-of-a-person-who-committed-suicide-in-18th-century-england

(2) the lyrics that Perdita sings are from a traditional ballad, a version of Scarborough Fair which can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Fair_(ballad)

••• 

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[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

'Wedding March 5': Josie Bissett & Jack Wagner on Olivia and Mick Being 'Two Feet In'

By Meredith Jacobs June 06, 2019

Mick and Olivia are back, and their relationship is better than ever in My Boyfriend's Back: Wedding March 5 on the Hallmark Channel.

Jack Wagner and Josie Bissett reprise the roles they played in four previous installments, and their characters are ready to celebrate an important milestone: the 25th anniversary of their first date. But those plans aren't without hijinks, and it's far from a drama-free time at the inn.

Wedding planner Annalise (Cindy Busby) wants to use a wedding at the inn to woo investors for her own company, but the best man of the ceremony turns out to be her ex-boyfriend, Brad (Tyler Hynes). Can Mick and Olivia help those two find their way back to each other?

TV Insider spoke with Wagner and Bissett to find out what to expect from one of Hallmark's June Weddings movies.

Going back to when you two signed on for the first Wedding March movie, what drew you to your characters and the love story between them?

Jack Wagner: I'm an executive producer, so I developed the story, so I just thought it was a very cool, little idea. I took a little from my past, my own personal life of being a pop star in the '80s and then thought it was cute to have these college sweethearts that actually were musical together and wrote songs. And then he took off 'cause he had an opportunity for a record deal and a band and a tour and then that relationship lost itself.

Then they find one another again at the wedding lodge, and it just set up for this, "Oh my gosh, they have all of these unresolved feelings, they're all still there, and let's see where this goes." I thought it was really fun and charming how they tried to suppress their feelings and then by the end of the movie, they really couldn't. They had to come out. She broke off the engagement and then eventually moved up to the lodge and that opened up for this journey of these two characters.

That was the goal, to create a story that would be charming and engaging enough that the audience would want to join along and see where their journey goes.

Josie Bissett: The very first Wedding March was our absolute favorite one out of all of them, except I have to say number five was a close second, right, Jack?

Wagner: Yeah, for sure.

Bissett: I just really was excited to, number one, do a movie with Jack, and number two, my character was just something different that I'd never really gotten to play a lot, just a romantic comedy, more light-hearted, so I just really enjoyed that aspect of it.

Now that you’ve done five movies, what do you still love about these characters and their story and what has surprised you about them after playing them multiple times?

Wagner: I love that he is persistent. I love that when he's passionate about something, he really goes after it, right? He sometimes is like a bull in a china shop, which I think is part of his charm, his flaws.

By Wedding March 5 now, we really see more of the development of the love between the two characters of Olivia and Mick, something I believe that has evolved. I think they've grown. That's what I really had hoped for the whole franchise, that the audience looks forward to that and we were able to play it out long enough where we really get that payoff in Wedding March 5 by the end of it. Where these characters had grown and how they've evolved together, with a very deep love and understanding of one another.

With a lot of comedy, too. It's a really cute movie. It's really charming and funny how we set it all up.

Bissett: I would have to say it's my favorite character I've played in my career. It's where I'm at in my life and playing just a character that has a daughter and has been married and in relationships that I resonate with. I would just say she's grown like every other human grows and we get to watch all the characters in the five Wedding Marches grow and evolve and watch their relationships grow and evolve, and what I love about playing Olivia is the real aspect of it.

It seems that going into this fifth movie that Mick and Olivia's relationship is settled, they're settled into their professional lives. Last we saw, he gave her a promise ring. The inn seems to be doing well. Do you think everything is very stable for them at the moment?

Wagner: Yes, I do. What I love about these movies is that the obstacles that they face are really very real to the audience. Every couple faces these things, right? That's what I believe gives the characters their charm and it gives the movies their charm, especially the other leads, the wedding couples and what happens with the storyline outside of just Mick and Olivia.

It's really about the obstacles and how those obstacles, how clumsily they're addressed, the problems that you face with it, the mistakes everybody makes. But ultimately, how you overcome the problems, and hopefully by the end of it, you have a real loving, kind of charming solution.

What can you say about the new couple, Annalise and Brad? What do Mick and Olivia see of themselves and their relationship in them?

Wagner: I think they see a lot of what they faced. I have scenes with Brad, Olivia has scenes with Annalise, just giving advice. And what we also see is that with the advice they give, Mick and Olivia are coming to an understanding themselves. The more they talk about it, the more they help the other characters, the more they realize, "Wow, we're really lucky. We've got something really special here together," and that's what really gives us our payoff at the end of Wedding March 5.

We know Mick and Olivia are going to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first date. Even though they were apart for some time, what does it mean for them to have that milestone?

Wagner: They had to basically re-introduce, relearn, not only who they were as a couple but individually. I think it was a real growth. Every movie is primarily about obstacles and the growth of overcoming those obstacles. That's what I think has really been the core to both characters and how to deal with those obstacles and by the end of the movie, there's some sort of loving solution, hopefully.

Bissett: Hopefully? What do you mean? It's Hallmark.

Wagner: I'm trying to leave it so there's some sort of cliffhanger.

Bissett: What's really adorable about this particular movie is the planning that both of them have going on, not realizing that the other one is doing the same thing and thinking there's no way that they'd remember. Each of them is planning something very special and put time into it and it's very heartfelt in the end, which the audience will see. It's also really cute the way the character Duke is caught in between. It's really fun. It turned out really good.

Wagner: And what's different about this movie is that Mick has always been the one pushing everything, planning and doing, and what's so lovely is that Olivia acknowledges that and says, "Mick's always been the one. I really want to ... "

So, by the time it all does happen, where they really come together with their little surprises, it's so charming and loving that we see Olivia has gone two feet in and her trying to do something really, really lovely for Mick. I think both Josie and I just naturally felt the emotion and the love in our performances. It took maybe 10 hours to shoot this scene, a long day, but I don't think there was one take where we weren't connected and really feeling this place where the characters were in that they were really two feet in together.

Bissett: Throughout these last five movies, Olivia has been the one to want to take it slow and be careful. She was engaged to someone else when she first met Mick in that very first movie, so she wants to just be sure and cautious and take her time. You could tell this movie that she's really ready to dive into this relationship with Mick and open her heart and isn't afraid anymore.

SOURCE:

https://www.tvinsider.com/784110/my-boyfriends-back-wedding-march-5-josie-bissett-jack-wagner/

[tabloidtoc]

National Examiner, May 3

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Widow Queen Elizabeth suddenly alone at 95

Page 2: Holy Moly! Stars take on film roles of biblical proportions -- Willem Dafoe, Leelee Sobieski, Keanu Reeves, Charlton Heston, Ewan McGregor

Page 3: Jon Voight, Jim Caviezel, Ingrid Bergman, Christian Bale, Max von Sydow, Steve Carell, Milla Jovovich

Page 4: Garden of Delights -- floral fashion unfolds in spring -- Olivia Wilde, Mindy Kaling, Keira Knightley

Page 5: Sarah Paulson, Drew Barrymore, Tiffany Haddish, Penelope Cruz

Page 6: Brooke Shields has finally fought her way back after a nightmarish accident she was terrified would leave her paralyzed after she broke her right femur after falling off a balance board at her New York City gym -- Brooke said it felt like it was all in slow motion and then she just started screaming -- after two surgeries and a nearly three-week hospital stay, Brooke went home to her worried family, husband Chris Henchy and their daughters Rowan and Grier, but her nightmare wasn't over because a serious staph infection sent her back to the hospital for yet another surgery, saying for the first time in her life she thought she can't power through this and she can't even stand on her leg or go up a step and she needs to relearn how to even walk and she kept saying she could feel her toes because she was so afraid she would be paralyzed but if anything, she's a fighter -- now back at home and receiving physical therapy, Brooke feels like she's slowly on her way out of the woods and she knows she's got a long way to go, but she'll get there

Page 7: Do your pets suffer from mental illness? Humans aren't the only ones who can sink into depression or fall victim to stress and anxiety; household pets also have their share of mental illness, usually it's because there's something wrong in their environment and that means they probably don't need meds or a visit to the analyst's couch, just some sensitivity on your part and a little TLC and here's how to tell whether Fluffy, Fido or Tweety have problems you need to address -- dogs can have PTSD, birds get depressed, cats can have OCD, hamsters are hoarders

Page 9: Race Against COVID Mutants -- scientists scramble as virus variations gather strength

Page 10: In an incredible stroke of luck, and savvy cop intuition, a New York State Trooper saved a missing toddler from the top of a mountain

Page 11: 3 cheers for cherries -- it's cherry season again, and whether you like them sweet or tart, these deep red fruits pack a healthful punch

Page 12: After two years of dating and five years of marriage, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston split without children, then he went on to have six kids with Angelina Jolie, so if Brad wanted to have a great big family, why didn't he and Jennifer have children of their own? After suffering through a horrible public breakup, when her husband threw her over for Angie, poor Jennifer suffered even further indignation when she was raked over the coals for not giving Brad a baby, and vicious accusations began that it was her outright refusal to have a family that started their breakup and that made Jen furious, saying a man divorcing would never be accused of choosing career over family and she's never in her life said she didn't want to have children, and she did and she does want children and she will have them and the women who inspire her are the ones who have careers and children and she's always wanted to have children, and she would never give up that experience for a career and she wants to have it all -- in 2004, while Jennifer was finishing up with the ten-year run of her hit TV show Friends and Brad was doing the flick Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jen was telling pals the time was finally right, and they were in a good place, ready to start a family and they were even preparing their home for a child by adding a playroom and a room for a nanny and they were definitely planning on having a kid but the plans were blown up when Mr. and Mrs. Smith was completed, and Brad left Jennifer for his co-star Angie, who already had a toddler and when she fell wildly in love with Brad, he also fell into the ready-made family and it turned out he liked being a dad so much, the couple have five more, three biological and two more adopted -- by the time Jennifer married Justin Theroux in 2015 and divorced two years later without a baby, she admitted that starting a family was a frightening prospect and that she had no regrets about her two marriages or remaining childless and she doesn't feel a void and her marriages have been very successful in her personal opinion, and she's sick of being beat up about it, saying there is a pressure on women to be mothers, and if they are not, then they're deemed damaged goods and maybe her purpose on this planet isn't to procreate; maybe she has other things she's supposed to do

Page 14: Dear Tony, America's Top Psychic Healer -- lying and dishonesty bring trouble to our world

Page 15: Sharon Stone starred in Basic Instinct and Casino and her life seemed to be glamorous, but behind the scenes it was a different story -- Sharon recently released her new memoir, in which she recalls the sexual abuse she and her sister Karen suffered as children and their mother's failure to protect them

Page 16: The shocking day Barry Manilow first discovered he had the heart condition AFib, he was alone and acted quickly to save his own life -- he was driving home and he felt his heart skip a beat, which doesn't sound like anything serious, so he didn't pay much attention to it and then it went blump-bla-bla-blump and it got crazier and crazier and he felt like there was a fish flopping around in his chest and it calmed down for a while, but later as he was watching TV, it started up again so he dialed his doctor, told him the problem and blurted what is this? He did what he was told and drove himself to the medical center in a panic to find out what was wrong with him and put a stop to it fast -- that first time was 25 years ago, but AFib is a lifetime problem that has to be monitored and battled consistently

Page 18: Here's some good news for fans of Don Johnson -- the actor says he's bringing one of his most beloved characters back to the small screen: Inspector Nash Bridges -- he confirmed during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that's he's currently prepping a revival of the show that ran for six seasons from 1996 to 2000 and he said they're in heavy prep for a reboot of Nash Bridges and it's Nash some years later and Cheech Marin is going to come back, and Jeff Perry, and they've got a pretty exciting show that they're prepping in San Francisco right now

Page 19: Shaquille O'Neal was spreading the love when he overheard a man making a payment on his girlfriend's engagement ring and stepped in to buy it himself -- the generous moment took place in an Atlanta jewelry store, where Shaq says he just happened to be shopping for earrings and overheard the young kid, a hard-working guy asking to make a layaway payment on the ring and that's when Shaq said tell your girlfriend he's got it and promptly handed over his credit card and at first, the shocked guy tried to turn down the offer, but Shaq wouldn't hear of it -- Shaq said he's just trying to make people smile and the random acts of kindness make him happy

Page 20: Cover Story -- after 75 years with Prince Philip, the only man she has ever loved, widowed Queen Elizabeth has to find the strength to keep going

Page 22: Cool Uses for Cola -- pop open a can for cleaning, unclogging, cooking and more

Page 24: This little baby is the toughest survivor as she has already made it through COVID-19 and a liver transplant and you'd never know it to look at joyful Winter Moore, but she's been through more than many people endure in a lifetime, all before her first birthday

Page 25: Face Mask Mistakes -- here's how to do it right to protect your health

Page 26: When Irwin Allen's production of The Towering Inferno was released to stunned audiences in 1974, it represented the pinnacle disaster film and it was far and away the highest-grossing film of the year, with a whopping $203 million worldwide -- The Towering Inferno takes place on the opening night at the world's tallest skyscraper, where faulty wiring short-circuits start a fast-moving, out-of-control blaze that threatens the guests at the opening party on one of the top floors and to the rescue comes superstar Steve McQueen as larger-than-life Fire Chief Mike O'Hallorhan, and none other than the legendary Paul Newman as architect Doug Roberts -- here are some startling secrets from the flick: McQueen, Newman and William Holden all wanted top billing and Holden was turned down as McQueen and Newman had both become bigger stars so to provide dual top billing to both McQueen and Newman the credit were arranged diagonally with McQueen in the lower left and Newman in the upper right; Newman later regretted his decision to co-star with McQueen because of the rivalry between the two, created by Steve and as a result, the fireman role dominates Newman's architect; at McQueen's insistence, both characters have the same number of lines although McQueen's character doesn't appear until 43 minutes into the film and as a result, Newman had used almost half his lines before McQueen even enters; after seeing this film, novelist Roderick Thorp had a dream that same night about a man being chased through a skyscraper by gun-wielding assailants and this was the inspiration for his 1979 book Nothing Lasts Forever which eventually was made into another blockbuster film: Die Hard

Page 28: The Dashing Duke of Edinburgh -- Prince Philip was a study in elegance -- a look at Philip's long and amazing life

Page 40: Read Your Palm -- it holds your fate

Page 42: 10 things to know about Leonardo DiCaprio

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Blue Bloods castmates Steve Schirripa and Vanessa Ray and Bridget Moynahan share a lighthearted moment behind the scenes on the Brooklyn set (picture), Hugh Grant and wife Anna hit the red carpet in London (picture), Henry Cavill is flying high with a new galpal reality TV's Natalie Viscuso of Super Sweet 16, there may be a silver lining to Kelly Clarkson's ugly divorce with estranged husband Brandon Blackstock as she says she's written 60 new songs since their split, Christie Brinkley has called aging "the last frontier" as the longtime model seeks to continue her career in front of the camera at 67, Salma Hayek says her pet owl Kering stays in her bedroom with her when husband Francois-Henri Pinault is out of town, Dolly Parton delivered a heartfelt goodbye to her dear uncle and mentor Bill Owens

Page 45: Jay Leno is ready to take a spin in L.A. in a vintage purple Barracuda (picture), Percy Gibson escorts wife Joan Collins to dinner in Hollywood (picture), Patrick Dempsey filming Devils in Italy (picture), Matthew Perry posted a behind-the-scenes shot that showed him getting prepped to appear on camera for the Friends special and the posted racked up 27,000 likes before it was deleted without comment from the actor's account, Jessica Springsteen who is the daughter of Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa could represent America at the Olympic Games in Tokyo as a champion equestrian, Rosie Perez claims she's been snubbed by the Academy Awards for more than two decades since she was nominated as a Best Supporting Actress in 1994

Page 46: Online dating isn't just for the younger crowd as studies show older adults are the fastest growing group trying it out -- if you're considering looking for love online, here are some guidelines to help you stay safe while maximizing your chances

Page 47: Fear of Flying -- these jetsetters would rather drive -- William Shatner, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Megan Fox, Sandra Bullock, Whoopi Goldberg, Kate Winslet

[dickie-gayson]

SHENANIGANS

DUKE VS THE SUN AND DICK’S HAREM OF OLDER MEN

Summary: After a rough night on patrol, Duke just wants the sun to go away. In trying to do so, he manages to drive Dick up the wall about his harem of older men.

Otherwise known as: In which Duke is too stubborn to just move his seat and Dick is in serious denial.

Characters: Duke Thomas, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Luke Fox, Stephanie Brown, Harper Row

Genre: Family, Humor

Length: 4k+

Other: Just a funny, nonsense fic (that was only supposed to be like 1k wtf) i tried to give everyone speaking parts w./o making it too confusing. Dialogue Heavy.

Find It On: Ao3 Fanfiction 

All was quiet in Wayne Manor as the sun sat high in the sky. Such a thing was not odd for the mostly nocturnal family. Today, however, was a special occasion. The previous night's patrol had been somewhat strenuous for the patrolling bats and birds, and as such, they were given a day to unwind and recover from the fatigue. Naturally, after crashing for a few hours, the members started to slowly rise and shuffle about, none-too-happy about being conscious, but alas, they were never known to maintain a healthy sleep schedule. There was always something more important to be done, even on a 'day off'. A day off in the Batfamily was really just another way of saying 'paperwork and investigation day'.

Duke slumped at the absurdly long dinner table with a loud, beleaguered groan, as if the sheer act of being conscious was a great torment of some form. Slowly, deep brown eyes rose and squinted at the window that let sunshine wash across the room. It almost looked as if the force of his glare alone could close the curtains. There was a soul-deep hatred one could only get after being put through hell and having to stave off the sweet embrace of slumber for more work. That, or being so incredibly hung-over and being forced to attend a third-graders school concert. It was almost impressive, really, how much it seemed that the sun itself personally offended him.

Another person walked into the dining room, loudly munching on their choice of breakfast (and wouldn't you know that's the only sound they made?). Duke was still getting used to living in a house full of goddamn ninjas. He purposefully ignored the person as they drew closer, in no mood to converse. Really, all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep off the rough night he had. That, and throw the sun in the fucking trash because nothing had the right to be that bright and cheery when he felt like he went twenty rounds with Troia.

His attempts to ignore the person were rendered useless as yet another person entered the room and he just knew shit was going to go down. No more than two (2) Bats can be in a room together without some sort of catastrophe going on. It's like a scientific law at this point. He let out another melodramatic sigh and let his head drop to the table with a 'thud'. Then, he winced and groaned again as his headache increased just a bit from the unnecessary abuse.

"Aww, what's wrong baby bird? Long night?"

That soul-penetrating glare was leveled to the owner of the teasing, baby voice. An amused smirk is what met his eyes. Of course, it'd be Jason ready to fuck with him. He was pretty sure the oldest Batkids didn't sleep. Ever. And that they had some unnatural ability to bounce back from the worst situations like goddamn bouncy balls. Duke wasn't fully convinced they weren't secret metahumans. Just last week he caught Tim trying hang-glide with one broken arm so he could meet up with Kon at four in the morning for waffles or some equally dumb shit. And then there was the time Dick walked out of an exploding building while he was on fire and just laughed about it. Duke was almost positive there was some amount of mental trauma at the very least, given all their head and non-physical injuries.

"What is wrong with all of you?"

There was no true venom behind the words; just the understandable irritation of a kid who got clotheslined by some ugly dude in an even uglier suit at two in the morning. Jason just laughed and Dick chuckled around his spoon of probably overly sugary cereal. Great, he had the two oldest to deal with. He could already feel his desire to leap out the window rising. At least he wasn't going to get beat up by a thirteen-year-old again, that's a plus.

"Before or after the Crowbar Incident? You want a list? I bet I have more problems than Dickhead."

At that, Dick gave a derogative snort and flicked some of his cereal at Jason, who dodged it. The bit managed to hit Duke in the forehead and his glare just narrowed just a bit more at the older vigilantes. Jason pointed and laughed as the piece slowly slid and plopped onto Duke's lap.

"I'm going to go out and spit on your grave."

The oldest hero laughed loudly at Duke's irritation. He had to put his bowl on the table and steady himself at the affronted look plastered on the formerly dead man's face.

"Wow, Duke, tell me how you really feel."

It was still odd, adjusting to joking about some of them having died before. But, as he learned over time, they loved bringing it up in every situation. Mostly Jason, if he were being honest. Duke was still too scared to bring it up to Cass and Damian. Cass was too nice and also fucking scary, and Damian already beat the ever-loving hell out of him once. He did not want a repeat, thanks.

The cloud formerly hiding the sun for just a bit finally passed and Duke was, once more, hit full force with the rays of the sun. His look of intense hatred was once more turned to the offending light. Without turning his angered stare from the window, he spoke up.

"Dick, call your leather daddy."

He didn't need to turn to know the eldest just choked on his food and was trying to hack it up from the wrong tube. Jason, meanwhile, was absolutely dying. Duke shifted to glance at the two. The younger of the two ex-Robins had one hand on his knee and was pointing at Dick with his free hand, laughing obnoxiously. Meanwhile, the older was glaring, face red from just having choked on Crocky Crunch.

"Shut up, Jason. And what do you mean 'leather daddy'. I don't have a leather daddy."

Just to irritate him, Jason laughed louder. The laughter seemed to have drawn others in, because Tim slipped in, looking just shy of actually dead. Behind him was Cass, looking graceful as ever. How she did it, he'd never know. Tim looked at the scene with mild suspicion, not that Duke could blame him. There was always a fifty-fifty shot that someone laughing at another member was bad. Cass just looked entertained. Her ability to read a situation so quickly was as unnerving as it was awesome.

"Why does Jason look like he's about to pass out? Did they break out the mullet pictures again?"

Dick turned his glare to Tim.

"Not you too! There were no mullet pictures this time! Jason's laughing because he's dumb."

Jason wiped a pretend tear as he straightened up slightly.

"Wrong, Dickface. I'm laughing because Duke is my new favorite brother."

Duke just looked at him with mild confusion. Tim seemed to mirror his look, though there was a bit more skepticism. Sometimes Duke still marveled at just how much like Bruce the other was. Did they teach 'paranoia' classes here or something? Was it like a required trait when being adopted by the big bad Bat? You had to be at least level 5 in either Paranoia, Nerd, or Athlete to join their cosplay group. Dick was staring at Jason as if just said the Riddler was the new fashion icon.

"That makes no sense Jason, but no surprise here. Also, why is he your favorite? He threatened to spit on your grave!"

Jason just raises an eyebrow in response. Duke wished he could do that.

"Yeah? And he didn't wear a rainbow polka-dot shirt with high-waisted jeans and dad loafers. Not to mention you had The Mullet at the time."

Duke couldn't help but let out the disgusted sound at the mental imagery. Tim visibly shuttered and even Cass looked at Dick with something akin to mild horror. Dick just put his head in his hands.

"Why? Why am I stuck with you all? Where's Damian, I need someone in my corner."

The words basically fell on deaf ears as Duke was still marveling over the atrocious mess that was Dick Grayson's fashion choices. How the man got voted the Most Eligible Bachelor and posted up as a part-time model when he was strapped for cash, Duke would never know. You could tell he grew up in a circus from the way he dressed. Not that Duke would ever say that because it felt like a really douche thing to say and he didn't want to get suplexed by the eldest. If he didn't stand a chance against Damian, he would get demolished by Dick. The guy had more fighting experience than most heroes in the business. So, for that, he could forgive his fashion crimes. But that didn't mean he forgot what he's been trying to get Dick to do before everyone derailed the conversation. Duke snapped his fingers for attention.

"Hello? Leather daddy? Call him."

Jason started to chuckle all over again, and Tim let out a startled sort of laugh, caught off-guard by the words. Dick let out an aggravated breath. Duke could see Cass laughing silently behind her hand as she watched the idiocy unfold.

"For the last time Duke, I do NOT have a leather daddy! And why do you need Midnighter, anyway?'

Everyone went dead quiet for a moment before Jason roared with laughter, almost on the floor at this point. Even Tim was having trouble remaining standing. He needed to lean on Cass to stay upright. He wheezed out between laughs.

"Oh my god, Dick. You just- He never said it was Midnighter."

Dick's face turned an interesting deep crimson, which was still frustratingly handsome. Duke didn't think it was fair, really. When he got embarrassed, he looked something like a frightened chipmunk.

"I...Uh...He's the only one I hang out with that wears leather and you guys tease me about."

Now, Duke was no expert or anything, but he was pretty sure if Jason didn't start breathing soon, he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Being that he was too indisposed to speak, Tim had the honors of filling in for him in the 'irritate Dick Grayson' category.

"Bullshit, we keep a list."

Somewhere between the stunned look on the veteran hero's face and the surprising snort of laughter that came from Cass, Luke entered the fray. He looked around the group warily. Good instincts. While Luke was busy eating his apple and surveying the scene, Dick managed to recompose himself. He narrowed his bright eyes in distrust.

"A list?"

After a noisy bite, Luke spoke up, not content with being left out of the loop.

"A list of what?"

From somewhere near the floor, Jason managed to choke out between panting breaths.

"Dick's sugar daddies."

"Ahh, that list. You add Raptor to it yet?"

Duke slammed his hands down on the table, catching their undivided attention. The sun was hitting him just right and it was annoying as all hell. He wondered if he could convince Superman to move the sun. Or the manor. He wasn't picky.

"Focus! I'm the one with the issue here! Call up your scary leather boyfriend and tell him to bring his boyfriend here."

Dick's gaze only grew more suspicious as he eyed up Duke.

"Why do you need Apollo?"

Tim snorted and faux-whispered to Steph, who had shown up with Harper and Barbara in the time that Duke was ranting.

"He didn't even try to deny being Midnighter's other boyfriend."

If one looked closely, they could almost see a vein in Dick's head throbbing like some sort of cartoon.

"Shut. up."

Duke, in a show of almost supernatural willpower, managed to ignore them and press on with his own devastating issues. Really, they should be paying full attention to his issue. He was the new kid and this was serious.

"I need Apollo here...so I can punch him."

His voice had been so calm and serious that it actually garnered incredulous stares. Dick had to take a moment to himself out of surprise. Luke just looked at Duke with something close to disbelief.

"Wha- Why do you want to punch Apollo? You've never met him. Also, he's super-powered, my dude."

Duke gave a flat, dead-serious stare.

"I know, I don't care. I want to punch him."

This time, it was Harper who piped up.

"But why?"

"Well, I can't feasibly go outside and punch the sun, now can I?"

Dick finally seemed to recollect himself, because he took back the reigns of the conversation.

"You...want me to call Midnighter."

"Yes."

"So he can bring Apollo."

"Yep."

"So you can punch Apollo."

"Correct."

"Because you can't punch the sun?"

"You got it."

There was another beat of silence. Then, Dick decided to break it with possibly the most somber voice Duke's ever heard come from the man.

"...Duke, what, and I mean this as nicely as possible, the fuck?"

"Listen, it makes perfect sense. Back me up, Tim. You're the smart one here. I can't fight the sun, but I can fight the guy who is based on the Sun God."

It looked as if Tim was actually debating the merits of the plan when Damian spoke up. The newest addition to the batclan nearly had a goddamn heart attack because he had not seen or heard Damian come in. He eyed up the smaller boy warily.

"Wrong. You can get decimated by the guy who is based on a Sun God. Because that is exactly what will happen if you attempt to fight him, Thomas."

"Hey, all I need is one hit and I'll feel better."

At the disparaging scoff that came from Luke, Duke shot him a Look. It wasn't quite to the Bat-level yet, but he was working on it. Hey, he was pretty proud of his Look so far. It scared a few of the baddies. He'll get there one day. At the moment, however, Luke just gave him a smirk back and spoke.

"Man, you'll feel a helluva lot worse, I bet. Not only would you be fighting a superhuman, but the superhuman's angry superhuman boyfriend."

Steph piped in with a look of exaggerated and obviously fake confusion on her face.

"Dick isn't a superhuman, though."

Dick let out a frustrated growl, clearly having fallen for the bait. Steph just smiled in satisfaction.

"He meant Midnighter! I am not dating Apollo!"

"Right, you're just dating M. Who's dating Apollo."

"For fuck's sake. I'm not dating either of them!"

If Dick got any more aggravated, Duke was betting his hair would either start turning white or just fall right out. He was mentally betting on falling out. A Luthor-style Dick would be hilarious. Meanwhile, Harper figured now would be a good time to join in on the 'irritate the oldest' bonding moment they were having.

"Yeah, he's clearly dating that one angry dude who worked with him when he was a super spy or some shit."

Babs gave an entertained look to Harper at the words. She seemed to be having the time of her life messing with her ex. The look in her eyes made Duke mentally remind himself not to piss her off anytime soon.

"You mean Tiger?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"NO I'M NOT!"

He had to idly wonder where Bruce and Alfred were. They were being obnoxiously loud for being bats. Dick looked like his head was going to pop, either from aggravation or embarrassment, and the rest were having a blast. 'Nothing like family bonding over dragging a sibling.' Jason finally seemed to come out of his laughter-induced coma.

"Duh, if Dickie were smashing anyone, it'd be Constantine."

The look of sheer incredulity on Dick's face was priceless. Duke would admit this one threw him for a loop. He's heard of the tricky magic-user who sold his soul however many times. But, he's never heard of the Brit liking Dick. Not that it'd be a surprise. Duke could probably throw a rock in any direction and hit someone who wanted to bone the original Robin.

"What the hell? John Constantine? Where did that even come from?!"

Jason just gave him a serious, flat look.

"He totally has the hots for you."

Babs gave a sage nod, as if nothing truer had ever been spoken. Even Luke gave a sound of agreement. Dick couldn't help but look at them in surprise.

"No, he does not. Where did you hear that?"

"I heard it from Kyle who heard it from Simon. Apparently, during a meeting of some form where he was with John, John wouldn't stop talking 'bout how much of a beefcake you are."

"Oh my God, just end my life already. For real this time."

Tim snapped his fingers, as if remembering something.

"Oh yeah! I heard about that! It was the talk of the Watchtower for a bit there."

At this point, Dick had his head in his hands once more and looked ready to resign from life in general.

"I hate you. I hate you all."

Duke cleared his throat and waved his arms to garner their attention.

"Guys, we're getting off track. We can talk about Dick's Harem of Older Men later. I have a sun to punch."

"I do NOT have a Harem of Older Men! Where do you guys get this information?!"

The joined 'siblings' shared a look. The fact that this might have been discussed before left a look of true horror on the first Boy Wonder's face. Duke apparently hadn't been around long enough to enjoy these sessions. He wasn't sure whether he should be pleased or disappointed about that fact. Cass started ticking off sources, much to Dick's shock.

"Other heroes. Villains. Oracle. Watching you and enemies. Very obvious."

Babs looked from her successor to Dick with a growing look of amusement.

"They're not wrong. We're keeping a tally on who's in the Dick Grayson Older Men Fan Club. Fifty bucks say you get a new member in the next two months."

"There is no fan club."

Tim shook his head, as if saddened that Dick couldn't accept the obvious. Steph was having a ball needling Dick.

"There totally is. Slade's the president, M's the treasurer, Thomas Wayne Jr. is the VP, Constan-'

At that, Duke shot the blonde a look of confusion. He was still going through the list of criminal profiles and hadn't made it to that name yet. It was the fact that he recognized the name Thomas Wayne as Bruce's father that caught his attention.

"Wait, Thomas Wayne Jr.? Who the hell is that?"

Steph, as if realizing that not everyone gathered witnessed whatever fuckery brought the man around, took pity on Duke and explained just a little.

"Oh, Bruce's older brother from an alternate universe or some shit. Evil. Totally has a hard on for Dick, anyway-'

"That's so fucked up, man."

He marveled yet again over the sheer level of absurdity this family went through on a near daily basis. And he willingly submerged himself into it. Great.

"GUYS! SHUT UP! THERE IS NO HAREM OR FAN CLUB.-'

"I think we established that there is."

'-SLADE IS DEFINITELY NOT THE PRESIDENT-'

"Oh, please, he liked invented your fan club."

'-AND BRUCE'S BROTHER DOESN'T HAVE THE HOTS FOR ME."

"Yeah, cus just anyone goes to an alternate universe to stalk the alternate version of their old partner and kidnap them to keep them."

"That is NOT what went down."

"Suuuuure."

Duke really didn't want to think about ANY of that for more than three seconds, because honestly, what the in the fresh hell. How is Dick alive with that many crazy creeps after him? If it were Duke, he probably would have just hung up the tights and called it a day. He does not need whacked out assassins after his ass, no thanks. Shaking his head, as if it'd rid him of disturbing images of way-too-tight suits and creepy old men, he spoke up. Duke still hasn't gotten to punch the overly cheerful ball in the sky or its metahuman counterpart. This is unbelievable. Bats got shit done except when he needed to beat someone up.

"DICK. Bring your boyfriend's boyfriend here! I need to hit him! This shit is too bright. Gotham ain't ever this bright, what the fuck."

"Oh, for the love of- Duke, if you want to hit someone, go punch Jason."

At that moment, Damian shoved his way to the front and center of Dick's view. There was a look of disgust and irritation scrunched up on his otherwise adorable features. Duke subtly (or tried to be subtle) scooted back from the duo. That look meant he was unhappy. And if it was involving his precious oldest brother/father-figure, Duke was not getting in the middle of that. He wasn't suicidal, despite what his late-night activities might suggest.

"Grayson, we need to discuss this harem of older men dedicated to you."

Dick took a deep breath and tried to appear calm for the youngest of the family. He gave the boy a patient look that only came with years of practice.

"Damian, there is no harem, they're being dumb."

Clearly, that wasn't the answer the young hero was looking for. He gave one of his infamous little tongue clicks and rolled his eyes.

"That isn't new knowledge. However, I have seen and heard things that would coincide with their stories. I do not approve."

Just like that, Dick's calm facade shattered. Honestly, he was impressed it held for even half of the sentence.

"I swear to god, there is no harem. There isn't even a fan club. None that I've heard of, at any rate."

Damian merely gave a contemplative hum. There was that look in his eyes. You know, the look of a Bat who just became obsessed with a case. It was almost worrying because Duke was positive the kid was going to take this way too seriously.

"I need find this 'fan club' and dismantle it before they attempt anything."

Jason was practically vibrating in his seat in an attempt to hold in his raucous laughter. This was clearly the best day he's had in a while.

"That's right, baby bat! Go get 'em! They're out to steal our precious big bird."

Dick shot him the patented 'Batglare', though years of exposure lessened the effects to the smartass vigilante.

"Do NOT encourage him, Jason."

It was obvious Jason heard him, but he pretended not to and merely kept his attention solely on the youngest Robin. Tim, seeing this as a wondrous and golden opportunity to fuck with Damian, pitched in his two-cents.

"In fact, I think you should join the fan club. Work your way up the ranks, like a sort of double agent, and then bring them all down."

"Hmm...this plan has merit, even if it's coming from Drake."

"Thanks, Dami."

Jason scoffed from his position against the table.

"He only wants to join for the t-shirt."

"Tt, no. If I wanted any Grayson merchandise, I could simply go to the dollar store and buy something. I need to ensure that these...miscreants have nothing nefarious planned. Grayson often leaves himself open in such stupid ways around them."

"Excuse me? I do not. And for the last damn time...you know what? Never mind, have fun trying to find this imaginary club. And you,-'

He pointed directly at Duke, the one who started this whole thing. Duke just gave him a squinted look, still waiting for him to call Midnighter for him.

'have fun trying to fist fight something that would destroy your ass. I'm out."

With that, the eldest stalked out of the room, having hit his quota for irritation and insults for the day. Though, Luke managed to slip one more in before he was out of hearing range.

"Try not to pick up any more older men while you're out!"

"FUCK OFF!"

There was a moment of silence in which they all just kind of reveled in the shared amusement. Then, Duke turned his squint to Tim as the sun still burned his retinas.

"Hey Tim, you think you can call Superboy?"