#also the layout of their office is so intriguing to me what do you mean theres not like a solid wall behind their monitors.........

[rpfisfine]

find 10 hidden objects type image

[techmomma]

For those not in my server, a fun adventure update!

So I work in an office south of Seattle, like within a few blocks of the bay (excuse me, “The Sound”).

Outside our office, down the hall, we have a supply room for the building’s cleaning crew and where we put things like recycling. We like to call it our “secret room.” Well the other day I went to our Secret Room to get some glass cleaner and lo and behold, there’s another door in the room! I think I saw it before but I just never consciously registered it so it wasn’t one of those suddenly-appearing mystery doors, but I was surprised nonetheless. A secret room in a secret room!

Even more surprised to see, I was assuming, original building materials that DEFINITELY looked dated, like 1940s I guessed, despite the rest of the building looking fairly recent, like 1990s renovations is my guess. This part of the city’s got a lot of old buildings, it’s where at least a couple museums are. Intrigued, I do a little digging into property records to confirm my suspicions.

I was wrong. These building materials were not from the 40s.

They were potentially from the 1890s. This building had two records, one from 1916 that I suspect is the office next door that was joined to this building at a later date, and this one, from 1892. Either way, that makes this building, and thus those original materials I saw, at least over a hundred and ten years old, potentially 130 years old.

OH HELL YES

Unfortunately, it stinks like a log that’s been sitting in the rain for a century, so y’know. Not about to fully explore this back room which is uh. VERY DARK WITH VERY LITTLE LIGHTING. V. spooky. Exactly up Steph’s alley.

Rough drawing of what I think is the layout. To the left, with my iphone light and ambient light of the supply room, so like a max of twenty feet, I could see the left wall. To the right though, through uh... the remains of a wooden doorway frame, the light didn’t reach all the way back. Based on the direction and minimum distance I estimated, that hallway on the right that basically disappeared into darkness likely connects this building and the other building, just next to us, via an internal tunnel.

But here’s the thing: it’s an original tunnel. That passageway was part of the original building. Which means that passageway could go ANYWHERE. And best of all, there are legends of underground tunnels in this city sealed off a decade or two ago (used first by immigrant railroad workers, then maintenance crews, and sporadically by the Mob). A couple of the old buildings around here have sealed off entrances to said tunnels. Akin to the Seattle Underground, if you know what that is.

So there is a more than nonzero chance that passageway that leads off into the darkness could open into one of those tunnels.

So yes! I am going to crawl around in the passageway that looks absolutely haunted as soon as I can!

For those worried, fear not: yes I tend to run off and disappear when it comes to trips to museums and historical places, but I take urban exploration VERY seriously. I went no farther than the doorway, and though it’s clear maintenance staff uses the room as a stock and supply room and thus (probably) haven’t had any incidents, if there’s a chance it goes farther back than I think, then I’m not crawling around in there until I can get at least a respirator and good quality flashlight, preferably one I can clip on. That wood rot/old wet wood stank is bad in there, so there’s almost certainly zero ventilation, which means probably mold because Building Almost Next To A Large Body Of Water In The Already Wet PNW, but also potential pooling of dangerous gases like carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide. So ideally, I will also get a CO/HF/gas/radon detector, and investigate with that first so as to not take any chances of y’know. Entering a pocket of CO and passing out.

But I am STUPID excited to check this back room out and will lose my SHIT if it connects to anything else. At the very least, the idea of exploring 130-year-old building passageways is cool as hell.

Will keep you guys updated on my investigation and exploration of our Secret-Secret Room!

[hearteyes-for-killmonger]

2. Mona Lisa

I stay in a two room double on campus which means that I share a bathroom, but the room is my own to do with as I please, within reason.

Typically, I'm milking this privacy for the money to fund my education while simultaneously releasing my sexual tension in the most taboo of ways.

Sighing, brush my teeth and reapply my lip gloss in the mirror. I can feel tremors in my poor peach, she's reminiscing on the good times when she was exhaulted like the queen she is. Men would spend literal hours worshiping her every crevice and pay me handsomely for it.

Four days down, ten to go, I tell myself.

Sex is my ideal outlet for stress relief. It's my interest, my hobby, my reprieve. As you can imagine, I have to change my sheets on a daily basis, but I don't mind that.

Yes, I have brought a number of guys over to participate in certain acts that I'm sure my bathroom mate has heard through the wall. She doesn't look me in the eye anymore though I always speak to her.. and she hasn't done so for the past month or so. I think she's traumatized.

Tickled, I re-apply my sunscreen and change into my grey PINK leggings with matching sports bra, pulling my 360 install into a curly high bun and stretching to prepare for my mid-day jog.

Everyday, I jog through the Main Quad and work up a sparkle, since princesses don't sweat.

I carry a pink hydro flask and I jog as far as I can push myself to go, often ending up at the Oval, a place where students play volleyball and walk dogs. I like to sit out from time to time and watch.

Then I head back to my room and assemble my hygiene kit to take into the bathroom. I shower, cleanse, exfoliate if necessary, moisturize, and redress for the evening.

Today's evening wear is a black graphic half shirt with a gold crown printed on and black high waisted shorts with black platform sneakers from Dolls Kill. I add my gold anklet for mood before turning on my music.

Pretty little bird, pretty little bird

You've hit the window a few times (the window a few times)

You're pretty little bird, pretty little bird

You still ain't scared of no heights

When the spiral down feels as good as the flight

When hating you feels good for the night

When the morning comes, I hope you're still mine

My cellphone rings and it's Natalie, one of the black girls in this dorm. The first day we met, we made a silent pack to stick together, us and a couple others, and months down the road we've stuck to it.

"Back from your jog, Gem?"

"Yes, and I'm looking at my notes so no you cannot borrow them."

"Jokes on you, I took them yesterday when you were jogging and made copies, I'm set."

"You bitch," I tease. "What's the move tonight?"

"Whaaat? You're not busy with one of your John's?"

"Bitch, my legs are closed, my books are bussed wide open," I smile highlighting a sentence in the textbook. I have four exams to take.

Checking a text from one of my subs, Keon, I send a short reply with a 💋. He was just checking on me, asking about my studies.

"Well we're thinking of hitting a party with a few of the black exchange students."

Party?

My book slams shut. I have been extremely well-behaved this week, I deserve a little magic in my life. It won't hurt.

"Who's we?"

"Me, Kayla, Letitia, Kevin, and Chris."

Damn, Chris' fine ass can get it. I want him.

Okay, it's decided. I can finish up here, meet Mr. Stevens at 7 in his office, meet up with Natalie and the crew around 8 and then we'll head out. I can handle a few drinks.

Jumping up, I feel alive again for the first time in four days. I snatch up my makeup trunk and set it on my desk pulling out my handheld mirror.

Light beat. Lashes. Dark liner, heavy gloss.

I release my loosened strawberry curls from the bun letting them wave and fall on my shoulders.

xoxo

Approaching the office suite, I walk through to find that the other offices are already empty. I can tell because of the quiet and closed doors. Mr. Stevens' door is open and yellow artificial light streams into the small hallway.

When I come upon the door, Mr. Stevens is at his desk staring intently at a spread of papers, his gold-rimmed glasses fallen at the end of his nose.

My peach is telling me this scenario could be a problem. Dr. Stevens is a steak and lobster meal and my peach? She's salivating. Crossing my legs on the spot where I stand I knock on the door drawing his eye.

"Ms. Miller. Come in, have a seat."

Quickly, I plop down into one of the two chairs in front of his desk and sling my bag down to the floor beside my chair.

He awakens his computer, typing before reading through whatever's displayed. Then he turns the screen to face me and I'm looking at a layout of of my grades for the class. It's looking pretty good.

"Could be better," I stare waiting for what I came for.

"You're right, it could be. You see, as it stands everything for you is riding on this exam. You could walk away from this class with a high C or a high A. It's really up to you."

I lean forward with my elbows on the desk to look him in his narrow-set eyes.

"Look at my face, Mr. Stevens," I glare for emphasis. "Does it look like I'm down to settle for a high C? What did we discuss in the classroom?"

Again, it's a chess match of stares.

After about ten seconds this time, he pulls his glasses off, folding them gently and sitting them off the the side near the computer. He turns the computer screen back to it's original position and pulls a paper packet from his desk, raising it vertical with the print side facing towards himself and away from me.

It's the exam, I know it. I maintain eye contact.

"This," he pauses holding it up near his head. "If anyone... and I mean anyone.. discovers that you have this... you're on your own. I'll turn ya ass in so fast your head will spin. You will be expelled."

I've never heard him curse before.

"No one will find out, I'll guard it with my life."

"There's one more thing." He lowers the packet setting it away from me on the desk near his glasses. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I seem to recall you saying something along the lines of you not playing bout your grades or money.."

"Yeah?"

Licking his lips, he leans forward and I sit bolt straight.

"How far you willing to go for both?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

I blink in shock. Not good ol' Mr. Stevens! This has gotta be a joke. Mr. Hottie would never sleep with a student, he's far too strict. 

"Gemini," he whispers, the name lingering on his tongue in a way that gives me full body chills. How did he know my stage name?

"Mr. Stevens, I think you're mistaken. My name is Phoebe, remember?" I tilt my head to jog his memory. "Phoebe Miller?"

He scoffs, loosening his tie and I'm aware of myself breathing harder.. loudly.

He tosses his tie on the desk between us.

Unbuttoning the top few buttons on his shirt, I can see his sharp clavicle and a tease of the muscle beneath. My mouth is watering and he leans forward again.

"Let's skip the part where you play dumb and get straight to negotiations. You're a smart girl...Sexy," he whispers.

My eyes widen hearing that word come from his lips. My thighs press together. This isn't a body that can hold back once started up. He's treading dangerous ground.

I lean forward slightly and the corner of his lips lifts in a dark smirk.

I've never seen this man like this.

"I've been to Mickey's. You know, there's this move you do... on that pole... I've seen you do a few times now and I've been wondering every time I see your lil conceited ass in my class... how it would work if you tried it on a dick."

Shit.

He said the magic word! I'm wet. I'm wet! I cross my leg over my thigh and he sits back, standing tall as I look up at him, ready to do anything.

He walks over to the door, closing it gently and locking it. Panting, I watch him do it and then he walks back to his seat, reclining with his hands clasped loosely in front of him.

"I have the power to give you an A," he announces. "Right here, right now."

"Oh really."

Oh my fucking god, I'm so wet right now. I can feel it.

"Mhm... I can also ensure that you pass your other classes, no problem," he brushes his shoulder. "BUT."

"But," I breathe.

"I need something from you."

Blinking at his boldness, I can't help the lust that comes to my eyes. This is a fantasy. Shit like this does not happen.

"Yes?" I'm licking my lips, biting them in anticipation. Say it, I beg with my eyes. Say it!

"I want you.."

Yesss?

"..to be.."

I lean in closer.

"So eager," he laughs. "You know, the way you look at me, you remind me of the Mona Lisa. There's a secret behind your eyes and every time I see you... that's what the fuck I see. It's like you wanna fuck me..."

Sitting up again to lean forward, his face is now inches from mine.

"You're going to be my slave, Ms. Miller. My personal.. little slut. Just until the exams are over," he nods.

I have to think about that, but not for long.

"And you can ensure all A's," I confirm.

Smiling, he nods. It's the perfect scenario, I want to cry.

"Deal."

"You can't tell a soul," he whispers coming in closer. His breath smells like spearmint. His lips are centimeters away now and I can't hold myself back any longer, I close the distance meeting his soft lips with mine.

Getting as far as a peck, he pulls back looking away like a man who's just made a deal on something as trivial as a lawn gnome or a piece of patio furniture. There's an unrushed boredom that only serves to intrigue me as he goes through the buttons on his shirt, letting the white fabric fall open to reveal the built muscles I kind of knew were there... but never to this extent.

His skin looks like smooth rum and I want a taste, but he has a deliberate pattern of raised bumps all over his chest and abs. It's not a turn off. In fact, I can think of a few things to do with that.

He smirks as if reading my mind.

Leaning further forward, I'm out of my seat and leaning over the desk.

With my right hand I reach up to touch his right pectoral but snatch my hand back when he smacks it away. I feel the sting. He's heavy handed.

"Did I say you could touch me?" His eyes hold venom.

He sounds like me when I'm disciplining a sub.

"No sir."

"Don't smile."

"But my smile is so cute," I grin watching his wheels spin.

"That's true," he admits with a nod. "But you know what's even cuter?"

"There's cuter?" I tilt my head innocently and he smiles.

"Hm," he chuckles. "...Don't move."

Holding my position over his desk, I remain still as he stands up again, slowly circling out of my view. Behind me, he stands and I can feel his presence. I feel a spanking coming on. I can feel him-

"MM," I squeak feeling the first hit. It's firm, but not too rough.

"Shut up, you've taken worse," he comments and I wonder how he knows because it's true. This is nothing.

Hit number two comes and it's a little bit harder than the first.

"Be gentle," I whisper looking back.

The third hit is double the strength of the last, I feel it and breath out.

The fourth is much harder and I make a sound to let him know I feel it. He hears me because the next swat feels like he really reeled back and it stings. It has me anxious for the next hit.

"I once saw you take a flogger," he breathes and I hear it in his voice, he's getting excited. I wonder if his dick is hard. How big is it? "Who you think requested it," he huffs and the swat he takes makes me hit the desk.. for real this time.

"You're a sub-SSSS," I hiss throwing my head back. "Damnit, okay now," I warn."

"Move your hands."

I don't know.

"Get back down... and move your hands," he repeats firmly.

Hesitantly, I drop them and brace myself on the desk.

"Uh!" I close my mouth and gather myself. It really stings. He keeps hitting the same damn spot, but in the way that tying a rubber band around your finger feels good, it also feels good.

"Take those shorts off..," he mutters. I can hear him breathing and when I look back, he's taking the button up completely off and unbuckling his black leather belt. "Hurry up.. take it off."

[hoekaashi]

Pairing: Kirishima x Bakugou

Summary: Bakugou moves into a new city and is quick to make a new friend. Neither of them knew that it would lead to something more.

Word count: 1.9k

a/n: I wrote this a while ago for a sprint and Lei was very persistent about me finishing it, so here it is. ALSO THANK YOU GUABA FOR THE BANNER YOU AMAZING BEAUTIFUL SOUL.

Since moving to his new apartment, Bakugou had been trying to familiarize himself with the neighborhood’s layout. More specifically, the city he lived in. His street was different to most streets in the area and he soon realized that it was a social hub that thousands of people visited each day. He also understood why the rent for his place was so cheap.

Currently, he was trying to get some sleep, but the drunk people outside wouldn’t let him. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand.

Two am.

Two in the fucking morning.

Bakugou had enough and opened his window. Sticking his head out, he shouted. “Go the fuck home and let me get some fucking sleep, extras!”

The small group stared at him. Some of them flipped him off while others just ignored him. That didn’t sit well with him.

“I’m calling the fucking police.” That did it. They all started walking away quickly, not wanting to get arrested. Before he closed his window, he heard someone else speak.

“Thank you!”

Bakugou wasn’t sure who said that, and he wasn’t in the mood to figure it out. He just wanted to go to bed.

The next morning, he decided to make his rounds and introduce himself to his neighbors. It had been a couple weeks since he moved in, and his place was finally ready. What place? His shop right under his apartment - his flower shop. No one thought that Bakugou of all people would own a flower shop, but he enjoyed it. His mother made flower arrangements when she was stressed and it was a habit he had picked up quickly. It was relaxing for him and that’s all that mattered. He had gotten small bouquets ready for the seven people around him. If the building number wasn’t in the same tens number range as his, he wasn’t going to bother talking to them.

He quickly had gotten through the first four neighbors, all of them saying the same thing - how curious they were about him. Since first impressions mattered, Bakugou humored them and was as polite as his mouth would let him be. The next two were too busy so Bakugou made a mental note to come back later. One shop left. It was a tattoo parlor that intrigued Bakugou. The sign said they weren’t open yet, but Bakugou still tried to push the door open. When it did, a little bell rang. He looked up at that damn thing that was hanging above his head in annoyance. He could hear some music playing, but other than that, nothing. The door closed behind him, ringing the bell once more.

“Sorry, we’re not open yet!” a voice said.

Bakugou moved out of the waiting area and looked behind the wall that was blocking his view. “I saw, but I’m your new neighbor and wanted to introduce myself.”

“The flower shop!”

Bakugou didn’t see anyone and was confused about where the voice was coming from. “Yeah…”

A red haired man came out from a room in the back. “I was actually meaning to stop by sooner, but work picked up since a few people quit.”

Bakugou stared in shock at the person in front of him. He felt his heart start to race and he could feel his face start to heat up. “It’s not a problem,” he said, a bit quieter than usual. “Um, these are for you. As a hello present.”

The man took the flowers and smiled. “These look really nice, man!” Bakugou looked away to avoid him from seeing how his smile affected Bakugou. “I’m excited to see your place. The person who was there before was like this weird voodoo shop and it threw off the entire vibe of the street. Anyways, my name’s Kirishima. It’s nice to meet you, man.”

Bakugou looked up at him and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Bakugou… are you the person who thanked me when I yelled at those drunk idiots?”

Kirishima’s smile widened. “Yeah! We had been dealing with them for a while but I never had enough energy to do anything about it. We called the police a few times when it got really bad, but they always came back around. I’m glad that you did though.”

Bakugou nodded. “I gotta get back to work, it was nice to meet you.”

“You too! I’ll stop by when you open.”

Once Bakugou was back in the confines of his own shop, he took a deep breath. “Kirishima, huh?”

The day had arrived for him to open his shop. Everything was ready to go, advertisements were done. He noticed the red head pass by every day and peer in. Occasionally when Bakugou had the time, he would invite him in. Kirishima would talk and watch as Bakugou worked on flower arrangements and organizing the shop. Every time, he left with a new bouquet that Bakugou would make for him. Every time, Bakugou felt himself fall a little deeper.

The door was officially open and the shop was available to people other than Kirishima. He was so engrossed in his work that Bakugou never noticed when Kirishima had come in. Bakugou was listening to some lady talk about her obese cat and how it can’t walk from how fat it is while finishing up her arrangement, when Kirishima walked up to him. Handing off the bouquet, she left the two together.

Kirishima gave Bakugou an orchid. He laughed nervously. “I bought this as a gift but forgot what you do for a living…”

Bakugou took the flower and smirked. “You forgot I owned a flower shop?”

“Like I said, work has been busy.”

“Work has been busy,” Bakugou said at the same time.

“I’ve said that too much, huh? Not very manly of me to keep complaining.” Kirishima rubbed the nap of his neck.

Another customer walked over to the counter with a premade bouquet they wanted to buy. Bakugou stopped talking to Kirishima to take care of the transaction.

“You seem really busy. I should get out of your hair.”

“No,” Bakugou replied, way too fast. He handed the bouquet and change to the customer. “I mean, if you want to. But come back here later, shitty hair.”

“Huh? Why?”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Just do it.”

Kirishima didn’t get the chance to reply as Bakugou was whisked away by another customer. He watched the blond work a little longer. How his face softened a bit when talking about the different flowers. How his muscles flexed under his shirt as he moved. How he resisted the urge to yell at an annoying customer. Kirishima smiled to himself and headed back to his place. It was almost time for him to open and he needed to make sure everything was set up and ready to go.

By the time Kirishima was done with his last appointment for the day, the sun had begun to set. His shop wasn’t closing for another few hours, but he was done for the night. Back to back tattoos took a toll on his hand and his eyes. Looking at the time, he realized that it was only a couple minutes before Bakugou had to close. He rushed out of his office, telling one of his tattoo artists that he would be back later, and headed a couple shops down to see his friend.

“I thought you forgot about me,” he heard Bakugou say, but he couldn’t see him anywhere in the shop. 

Kirishima chuckled. “Nah, I just had a lot of people come in today.”

Bakugou walked out from the back of his shop, wiping his hands on a worn out hand towel. He had taken off his white button down shirt and had changed into a black muscle tank. Kirishima let his eyes roam over Bakugou’s arms quickly before turning his attention back to his friend.

Bakugou placed the towel down on the counter and cleaned up the stray stems and leaves scattered around the register. “That sounds good for business though.” He glanced up at Kirishima.

The red head nodded. “It was helpful, but I’m not sure if everyone can handle this much of a workload by themselves. I’ll have to find some new workers soon. That’s a problem for another day though.”

Bakugou finished up in time for closing. The only things he had left to do was lock the register, turn on the security system and switch the sign to closed. The evening had been getting warmer so he ditched his jacket and motioned for Kirishima to follow him out of his shop.

The two walked in silence for a bit. Bakugou seemed lost in thought and Kirishima didn’t know what to say to his friend. He looked up at the dark purple sky. The sun was almost gone, the street lights turning on, and the night life beginning to buzz around the two.

“Where are we going?” Kirishima asked, curiosity finally getting the best of him.

“There’s this place I like to come to once a day…” Bakugou stopped walking and Kirishima’s mouth fell open slightly.

In front of him were two rows of cherry blossom trees lining a walkway that went on as far as he could see. The crowd wasn’t too big since it was dark now, but the lights from the buildings and street lights gave the trees a different kind of life. Kirishima walked forward, forgetting about his friend. The pink petals looked like a mix of purples, yellows, and blues from the various light sources. Bakugou strolled behind his friend with his hands in his pockets.

“Whenever I feel stressed, I like to come here to relax. I’m surprised you haven’t come here before since you’ve lived here a lot longer than me.”

Kirishima didn’t know what to say. “I…” He was too awestruck by the sight before him. He shouldn’t have been surprised that a florist knew about this before him though. Even if said florist was correct about how he should’ve known about this place.

“I’ve been wanting to bring you here and figured today would be a good day.”

Kirishima finally looked at Bakugou, confusion evident on his face.

“I really don’t know how to say this… and I don’t want to ruin what we have.” Kirishima felt his heart start to race. Was this what he thought it was?

Bakugou took a deep breath and let it go. “I… fuck! Why is this so hard?!”

Kirishima turned so his back was facing the cherry blossoms. “I like you.”

Bakugou ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah shitty hair, I would hope so -”

“No. Bakugou, I like you. Like more than a friend.”

He looked up at the red head with an unreadable expression. Did Kirishima read this situation wrong? He began to panic.

“But like, if you don’t, then it’s cool bro. Don’t stress about it, I’ll get over it. It’s a silly crush-”

Bakugou shut Kirishima up by grabbing his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss. Kirishima took a moment to register what was happening and once it did, he closed his eyes and cupped Bakugou’s face. Bakugou’s hand released Kirshima’s shirt and wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. The kiss deepened quickly, their repressed feelings finally free and being expressed by their actions. By the time they pulled away, both of them were out of breath with flushed faces. Kirishima smiled and rested his forehead against Bakugou’s.

“You don’t know how long I wanted to tell you that,” Bakugou said quietly.

“You never actually said anything,” Kirishima joked.

Bakugou pulled away and placed his hands in his pockets as he began to walk away. Kirishima shouted after the pouting blond. “It was a joke Bakugou! That kiss told me everything I need to know!”

Tags: @suckersuki​, @izukyu​, @humanitys-hottestsoldier​, @bakugoustanaccount​, @sushij1ma​

[colonel-insomniac]

The Thief’s Prince (Part One)

Ok, Aladdin AU, anyone? keep in mind that since Aladdin had a genie, I kinda have to write one in too. 1 2 3 4 5 6 AO3

Bobby wouldn't be a thief if he really had any other choice. As it is, he’s simply doing what he has to in order to live, and keeping his friends alive. Instead, he’s known as a thief, a street rat, a sweet talking deceiver, and a lot of bad things he won’t repeat to anyone. Sometimes, it makes Bobby upset to know that other people think badly of him, he only ever tries to be the best he can be, but money is tight, and not everyone can afford it, or afford the reputation he’s made for himself. So he does what has to be done. 

He wishes people were kinder, or would at least see him as a robin hood of sorts, but that probably won’t happen. The only thing to comfort him right now is that no one but those closest to him are aware of his track record. They call him Acro, and where they got that name, he isn’t sure, but it’s better than them knowing his real name and calling for Bobby Porter’s head. Instead, they look for someone who doesn’t exist. 

So he wears a hooded cloak when he’s out trying to…shop. His boss, Eugene Krabbes, runs the Krustie Krabbe, a restaurant front for the true mission, in which Bobby’s managed to reach the top of the pyramid. Their mission is simple—steal from the fortunate and give to the unfortunate. Tomorrow, they’re supposed to attempt a theft mission from the palace, but Bobby isn’t really sure how they can do that without failing severely. 

Right now he’s in the marketplace, wandering through the crowded area, trying to see what he can manage to take without necessarily being noticed. The hood of his cloak is pulled over his eyes to shield him from the sun and to keep out prying eyes. Of course he only gets more stares, but there are several others with hoods up, and they’re normal people, so Bobby prays that no one suspects anything. 

There are apples, bread, cheese, pastries and so much more. There’s also some valuable-ish jewlery, but Bobby doesn’t dare try to steal those. He’s been instructed not to go that far, no matter how much he itches to. Bobby gets that they can’t really sell stolen jewlery at a restaurant, but they’d be able to sell it for more than it costs and use the money they earn to actually buy the things they need. Mr Krabbes just doesn’t listen to Bobby. 

He stops that train of thought before it can really take off, and unhooks his bag. He’s preparing himself for an easy grab-and-go. Today was a good day to hit the markets, it’s so busy they might not even notice him. Bobby inches himself towards the apple stall, inspecting the red and green and yellow fruits. His acting skills kick into effect when he brings a pale arm towards the apples, running a short finger over their unblemished skin. When he’s sure no one’s looking anymore, he tosses four apples in succession into his bag, before slowly walking away. 

No matter how many times he does this, his heart always pounds rapidly when he walks away. He knows it’s wrong to steal in theory, but is it still bad if he’s doing it for a good cause? He figures maybe it’s some sort of paradoxical situation, doing the right thing even though it’s wrong in the basest of its theories. 

Regardless, no one shouts at him to stop, and he hits up the next stall: bread. He operates this one exactly like the apples. Inspect, touch, and once the coast is clear, take. Maybe Bobby gets a little too confident with his abilities. He’s on his seventh loaf of bread when he hears the familiar phrase “Stop, thief!” 

Rolling his eyes, he takes off running, closing his bag hurriedly. He weaves through the throng of people, hoping to lose the guard that caught him, but every time he thinks he’s shaken them off, a new guard joins. It’s like running instantly means you’re guilty for something. Bobby can hear the guards barking at one another that it’s him, or rather that it’s Acro. Same difference, he supposes. 

His bag thumps against his leg, and his hood blows almost all the way off his head, but no matter how bad the stitch in his side gets, he doesn’t stop. He can’t, uness he wants to lose everything he just got. Bobby runs into a random building, up the stairs, into a random open door. He slows for a moment, trying to be as quiet as he can to throw any authority figure off his metaphorical scent. Bobby can hear them running up the stairs, their boots pounding out the beat to an unheard melody. He stops, fanning himself with a hand, before rushing to the window. The guards footsteps and yelling are quieter, but it’s only a matter of time until they have to come back down.

He thinks of the fabled Aladdin, the thief turned prince, many kingdoms over, somewhere called Aghraba. Maybe Bobby looks up to the guy a little, but only in a “he turned his life around” kind of way. Bobby can hear them coming back down, and scampers out the window, scaling the wall as fast as he can. In hindsight, maybe he should have gone down instead of up. 

On the roof is a blanket that’s rather big, and Bobby immediately knows what he ought to do. Whether it’ll work or not is another thing, but life isn’t fun if you always play by the rules. He grabs the corners of the blankets in his hands, and hopes that it works as a makeshift parachute. No time for second thoughts, he gulps, and runs, leaping off of the rooftop. 

And of course it works. Well, he doesn’t plummet to the ground, so it’s a success in his mind. He takes off running toward the Krustie Krabbe, mentally patting himself on the back for his quick thinking. Bobby notices the guards watching him from the roof he once stood in when he glances over his shoulder, still ordering him to stop. 

They really think he’ll stop when he pretty much succeeded? He laughs to himself, it’s honestly just a foolish way to think. He’s won, that’s it. 

He slows down and takes the cloak off as he nears the Krustie Krabbe, folding it up nicely before entering the establishment. Krabbes waits for him in front of his office door. Bobby knows the drill by now, and just breezes into the room, taking a seat in the velvet chair. “So.” He says, folding his freckled arms, relaxing now that he’s safe. His bag lies on the ground next to him. 

Krabbes doesn’t bother waiting for Bobby to hand him the bag, he snatches it off the floor and looks inside. “Four apples, seven loaves of bread.” Bobby states, proud of his accomplishment. It’s the most he’s managed to take in one go. 

“Good job, me boy. This is why you be the one at the top of me recruits.” Bobby shrugs, but can’t resist a small smile. 

“Anyway, that ain’t the only thing I want to talk to y’a about, boy.” Krabbes sits down behind his desk, hands fidgeting with a pen. Bobby leans forward, thoroughly intrigued. 

“About the attack on the palace tomorrow, yer the one that needs to go in.” Bobby feels the shock running through his veins like electricity. 

“What—me? But I thought… ” Bobby trails off. He’d thought about the mission before, and he wanted to be the one to go inside, but he didn’t expect to actually be chosen to go inside. 

“Look boy, you’re the only one fast enough, and you’re also the only one of my recruits who’s innocent looking. No one will suspect you, boy.” Bobby nods, stomach in knots. 

“Alright, so what’s the plan?” He asks. 

“We send you in tonight, dressed as a servant. But you are not to interact with anyone unless absolutely necessary, boy. You get too cocky sometimes, but the stakes are high for this one.” Bobby blushes and looks at his shoes. It’s true, though. He does get too sure of his abilities sometimes. 

“You are to tend to the prince and when he’s sleeping, take whatever might be valuable. You know that part of the drill. You fill up your bag, your pockets, everything that you can. We’re taking the money and giving it to the people boy, but only after we make sure our organization has enough to satisfy our needs.” Bobby nods, tended at the thought of the prince. 

Once upon a time, when Bobby was just a little boy, the prince would wander the streets of the kingdom. That’s where they met. The two became fast friends in the way children usually do, and had loads of fun despite their different backgrounds. 

But then prince Patrick’s mother died. After that, the prince hasn’t been seen again. It’s been ages since Bobby last corresponded with the prince, and he wonders if prince Patrick remembers him. 

Bobby’s never told anyone about this, and he poses a risk by showing his face around the prince at all, but Krabbes wants him to do this. And so he will. 

Later, when the shop closes, Bobby heads to the living area he shares with Sandy and Edward. Sandy’s a girl, and she’s really funny and she’s good at using her body as a weapon. Edward has less tolerance for Bobby, though. Bobby isn’t really sure of Edward’s skill set. 

He has a moment to rest before he has to set off to infiltrate the palace, so he naps, and after that, he puts on the disguise Edward had managed to get him and leaves. 

He scales the palace walls with a little bit of difficulty. They’re smooth walls so he doesn’t have much to grab onto, but he manages to climb it with relative ease and jumps down once making sure the coast was clear. 

He smooth’s out his uniform and walks on the palace pathway. He has a layout of the palace on a small piece of paper. It’s a simple drawing with the names of each room simplified by the removal of their vowels. It’s a shorthand way of writing that Bobby has found to be rather useful. 

“Hey, you!” Bobby stops in his tracks, and turns around. He recognizes the voice as one of the guards from earlier that day, but he tells himself to remain calm. He was cloaked, there’s no way he’d know that Bobby was the thief. 

“Yes sir?” Bobby replies, trying to appear as innocent as he can. 

“I haven’t seen you before. Do you have any form of identification on your person?” Bobby shakes his head. 

“No sir,” he begins, making his eyes tear up to sell the act. “I don’t come from much money and I applied for this job a while back. I only recently got approved. The king took my only form of ID and promised he would return it but he still hasn’t.” 

He sniffs, mentally crossing his fingers that this works. “I didn’t want to bring it up for fear that I’ll lose the only way I can earn a living, and my friends are very sick, I can’t afford to lose my job.” The guard looks at Bobby suspiciously, but ultimately nods, allowing him to leave. 

Bobby makes sure to profusely thank the guard before continuing on his mission. He hooks a left, then a right, and then another right before walking straight for what feels like forever, but eventually he stands face to face with an oak door. 

He knocks, waiting to hear his invitation inside before he enters the room. Prince Patrick, in Bobby’s eyes, is a sight to behold, and in a good way. He stares a moment too long before remembering to curtesy, and he can feel his cheeks heating up. “Do I…know you from somewhere?” Prince Patrick asks, his head tilted slightly. “You seem so familiar.” 

Bobby looks at him for a moment before replying “My name is Robert, but everyone calls me Bobby.” Patrick nods, eyebrows still furrowed in thought. 

“Well, Bobby, I don’t really need anything right now, but I do know it takes forever to walk all the way over here from wherever you must have been here in the palace, so you are welcome to stay.” Bobby nods, silent for maybe the first time in his life, and he can’t help thinking Edward would so appreciate Bobby being quiet. 

He takes a seat on the ground, looking up at the prince. “So,” Patrick breaks the silence. “What do you do for fun, Bobby?” 

Bobby has to think about that for a moment. He doesn’t really do anything he considers fun. It’s all in the name of survival. “I don’t do anything fun, I run errands in the marketplace sometimes.” That, Bobby thinks, isn’t a lie. He just chose not to tell the whole truth. 

“What’s the marketplace like?” The prince asks this with such intensity that it takes Bobby back before he remembers that Patrick hasn’t seen the outside world in quite some time. 

“It’s not really that interesting, Your Highness. There was a thief today, though.” 

“Did you see this thief?” 

“Not really.” Bobby feels bad lying through his teeth like this but he has to throw Patrick off any suspicion he might have against him. “They call him Acro, though that likely isn’t his real name.” 

The prince is full of questions, it seems. “What does Acro look like?” 

“I’m not really sure, they wear a cloak and always have their eyes covered. The guards haven’t caught him once. I caught a glimpse of Acro once, though. He doesn’t appear like a thief, from what I remember.” Bobby’s practically boasting now, and he has to scold himself internally. He’s getting too cocky, this is what Mr Krabbes was worried about. 

Prince Patrick regards Bobby with a curious smile, as though he knows something. “Oh really?” 

“I mean,” Bobby stammers, nervous now. “I mean that’s what I think? I can’t be sure.” The prince is onto him and he’s gonna face execution. 

Patrick studies him, nodding thoughtfully. “Well I want to leave the palace. I haven’t seen the outside world in ages.” The prince’s eyes light up. “Oh! I used to know this great boy, he also went by Bobby! Maybe you know him?” Bobby blushes and looks away, unsure of how to respond. 

“Well…I think—er I mean, it was me?” He doesn’t meet the prince’s gaze, and the heat that courses through his body is nearly unbearable. 

Neither the prince nor the thief say anything for a couple minutes. “Well how have you been, then?” Prince Patrick asks, a gentle smile on his face. 

Bobby answers as honestly as he thinks he can without confessing his crimes: “Money’s been tight across the kingdom, we’ve all essentially been scraping by, and I mean, the thieves have been making the kingdom a little unsafe. But I’m fine, really.”

“Yet you work for your money and food, correct?” Bobby’s sure this isn’t some random question. He’s convinced the prince knows, or is starting to be aware of Bobby’s background. 

“Yes, Your Highness,” Bobby begins, pausing to think of what else he can say. “I work at a dining establishment named the Krustie Krabbe, and I can manage to get by with the meager wages I earn.” Upon seeing the saddened face of the prince, Bobby makes sure to add “But it’s honest work. And life in a palace? That must be wondrous!”

The prince lets out a one syllable laugh, turning his head away from the thief. “Yeah. There are rules galore, and no one who’s actually a friend in here. It’s so lonely here. I want to leave.” He can practically see the wheels turning inside Patrick’s brain. “Oh, you could sneak me out!” 

“I—what?” Bobby asks. 

“You could sneak me out of here, and take me to the marketplace. That would be great.” Patrick claps his hands together, beaming at Bobby in such a way that he feels inclined to say yes.

“I don’t know if I can do that, I’ll have so many chores to work on here—“

“Oh please, I know you’re the thief they call Acro. I’m not that dim. Not to mention you talked about working at a restaurant. Anyone working for the palace knows this is the only job allowed!” The prince looks smug as he knows he’s beaten Bobby. 

“If you don’t take me outside these walls, I will yell for the guards and tell them exactly who you are, and say that you confessed everything to me.” Bobby mulls over his options, and decides to pull out this emergency card of his sweet talking. He usually only does this when he knows he’ll get caught otherwise, and that only happens when he’s wearing his cloak. No one he knows has ever seen him do this, but Bobby guesses maybe Patrick will have to be the first. 

Bobby stands, and Pat follows suit, scrambling off his bed and standing beside it. Bobby leaps up on the edge of the bed frame, careful not to get his shoes on the clean bed, and brings his face inches away from the prince’s. The prince looks at Bobby with wide eyes, and Bobby smirks back, tossing caution to the wind, and grabs the prince’s chin with his hand. Bobby’s curly hair sits a little over his eyes, but he doesn’t bother moving it. Maybe it adds to the effect. 

The prince practically radiates warmth, one Bobby can’t say he’s ever felt before, but it’s so great of a feeling that Bobby practically revels in it. “You wouldn’t tell anyone.” He states this with such an air of confidence it takes him by surprise. “Right?” the prince nods, cheeks flushing a delicate pink. 

“I didn’t think you really meant you’d hurt me like that.” Bobby added on. “Your sweet little Bobby would never think you’d hurt him.” He internally cringes. Every time he says that line, he always cringes. It’s just so cheesy. He cups the prince’s cheek with his hand, and his blue eyes meet Patrick’s brown ones. 

“No, I…” The prince blinks, “I would never hurt anyone.” Bobby leans away, satisfied, but still maintains the same air he had been. 

“That’s what I thought.” He leaps off the bed frame and takes the prince’s hands in his own. “Now then, I’ll take you outside the palace walls, but not because I’m afraid you will tell anyone, but because I genuinely feel bad. First, though, we must wait till everyone’s asleep.” Patrick shakes his head and nods once. 

“Only one problem with that.” Patrick points out, and Bobby’s smile falters. “The guards have shifts. They switch off every four hours.” 

“I’ll take care of that, don’t worry.” Bobby says this so confidently, even he believes it. 

“You aren’t going to murder anyone, right?” The prince cautiously asks Bobby this, and honestly, Bobby would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt a little, even if he deserved it.

“No! Of course I’m not gonna murder anyone!!!” He keeps his voice lowered, “I’m just a petty thief, not a murderer.” The comment stings, though. Bobby knows the prince doesn’t have a reason to trust him, but it still hurts. He removes his hands from Patrick’s and pivots, marching to the door. “I’m gonna go figure out how to do this, you…stay put.” He says as he opens the door. 

“Robert—Bobby, wait!” The prince rushes towards Bobby, and pushes the door back closed. “Don’t go. I’m sorry that must have been really rude.” 

“No, you’re right. You haven’t seen me in so long, you don’t even have a reason to trust me, technically. You being suspicious of me is a good thing.” Bobby’s just not used to people being suspicious of him, but that’s not Patrick’s fault. “I just gotta go figure all this out.” 

“So let’s figure it out together!” Patrick exclaims, clinging to Bobby’s arm. He seems so desperate for a friend, and Bobby can’t find it in himself to leave. He sighs and nods, allowing himself to be dragged to the prince’s bed. 

“Alright. Where are the guards in the daytime?” Bobby pulls his map of the palace and opens it, placing it on the bed for Pat. 

“Hm. They usually stay towards the front gates and with my father. They’re supposed to accompany me too, but they don’t, which is good.”

“Okay so what I’m understanding is the whole back area is essentially clear?” Patrick nods, and Bobby can feel an idea forming in his mind. “Right. I’ll meet you over at this back wall,” he places a finger on the paper, “tomorrow at noon exactly. No sooner, no later.” When Patrick nods, Bobby simply nods back. 

He’s managed to get completely distracted by his mission, all because of the prince. Truthfully, Bobby would be lying if he said he wasn’t quite enamored by the prince, but just ‘cause Aladdin wound up marrying Jasmine doesn’t mean Bobby will have the same luck. 

“Now, I seriously do have to go. I need to maintain a disguise.” Bobby practically leaps off the bed, trying to show off a little. 

He bows real low, “Good night, my prince.” 

Patrick nods, distracted and pink in the face, and Bobby winks before heading out the door, feeling much too confident in his abilities. Now, time to get on with the mission.

He heads inside the building, which interestingly enough, is quite cold despite being the middle of the summer. Bobby walks through the first room he finds, and opens all the drawers and cabinets. Nothing of much value, which is stupid. It’s the palace. Shouldn’t the knives be made of diamond and the bread dusted with gold? He shakes his head and grabs some silver knives anyways. 

Of course, he’s already strapped with a dagger, but there’s no harm in a little extra protection. Bobby goes from room to room in this manner, ears alert for any sort of noise. No one comes though, so he figures he’s safe. 

And then he comes across a dainty locket that is encrusted with emeralds. He pockets it for himself, intrigued. 

Eventually, he scrambles up the palace walls again, loaded with a bagful of semi-valuable items. And the locket, of course. It feels wrong, though. He knows Patrick, and the prince doesn’t suspect Bobby of robbing them. Maybe he doesn’t have to know that Bobby was the one who looted the palace. He will have to drop off the items with Krabbes and head back, insist on staying with the prince. A solid alibi. They can’t accuse him if he was with the prince. 

“Mr Krabbes, it was a success!” He calls, cloak still draped on him. He put it on at the palace, in case he got caught. The restaurant is abandoned at this time in the night, but Krabbes calls out to Bobby, telling the boy to go to his office. Bobby complies, and strides into the office, grinning past the guilt he feels. 

“Good job me boy, I knew y’a could do it. Any issues we gotta take care of?” Bobby shakes his head, even though there potentially could be. 

“I gotta head back though, boss man, otherwise they might suspect me.” Krabbes freezes at that, but nods, warning Bobby to keep his guard up as he leaves again. 

He knocks on the oak door again, and enters again, brushing the dirt stain from when he toppled over the wall on his way out. “You’re back!” Patrick exclaims, and the glee on his face makes Bobby’s heart pang in guilt. 

He nods, “Yeah, I finished my task, so I figured I’d come back.” The prince claps happily and beckons Bobby forward. 

“You’re clothes are dirty and so are you.” Patrick states matter of factly. 

“We aren’t able to bathe ourselves often in the outside walls. The last time I bathed must have been last week.” Bobby reminds himself not to get angry at the thought of how wasteful it must be to bathe every day. 

“That’s terrible. You’re free to use my washroom, if you would like to, that is.” Bobby’s eyes instantly widen at the offer and he nods shyly, slightly embarrassed at being offered a bath.

The prince shows Bobby to the room, which is complete with a marble tub with gold feet. Patrick excuses himself, and Bobby strips, stepping into the tub as it fills up with water. 

He takes the locket out of the outfit lying on the ground, and dunks it under the water in an attempt to clean it. Bobby’s fingers rub at the gold base of the locket. The emeralds glimmer under the light of the kerosene lamps. 

Bobby squints, because if he’s seeing right, it seems that there’s green fumes exiting the locket. A silhouette appears before his eyes, the same deep green of the emerald, but he has to bite his tongue to keep from screaming when yellow eyes meet his. “Greetings, Robert Porter.” The thundering voice resonated through the room and Bobby shushes the mystical form. 

“I am so dead.” Are the only words that managed to exit the boy sitting naked in the tub. 

[elamae56]

Homicide Life on the Street

I just finished watching the movie that rounded up the series and I’m feeling a little emotional. Hiding behind a cut because no one wants to read this right now.

I watched the last 6 eps of season 7 today and then watched the 2000 movie which is in youtube. To say I’m slightly emotional right now is the understatement of the decade. If there are any typos it’s because I’m typing through tears. I also can’t breath because my nose is bunged up and my eyes now hurt from the pressure in my head from the crying. This also may not be very coherant. 

I’m emotional because this was the end of a series which I started watching when I was about 16 or 17 years old back in 1995 or 1996. It was my first real ‘fandom’. Not my first slash fandom, that came later after I had gone to university, found the internet and found the thing that would become the biggest thing in my life. But HLots was the first real obsession, before slash, before pairings, before fic. I’d loved shows and characters before, thinking back I was pretty much a tv fiend since I was about 4 or 5 years old. Gentle Ben I think was my first tv love, so long ago I can barely even guarantee that was the right show. All I can remember is turning on to watch it one day and refusing to because he didn’t look right. His beard had gone, or something and apparently I didn’t believe it was him. The it was Knight Rider, Airwolf, The A Team and so on for the next ten years or so (well thirty seven to count). 

But Homicide caught me. Mid teens. I loved the characters, the stories, the look and feel. It was earthly, intriguing, dark and different. I remember boring friends at Uni talking about it so much (the ones I knew would listen anyway). I lost some of my interest as University brought with it it’s own focus; uni life, love, friends and of course no TV! I got my parents to tape it for me at home but I lost chunks of it when they forgot or didn’t bother. Still, I never forgot my first obsession even though I didn’t return to it until recently, nearly twenty five years later. 

I never saw the end of the show and now I’ve seen all 7 seasons I don’t think I ever saw the start either. I watched around season 4 and 5 with bits of 3 maybe. Now looking back I wonder how quickly I loved and how much I actually saw back then. I barely remembered many of the episodes I’ve watched over the last three weeks, some stood out; Thrill of the Kill and Hate Crimes specifically.  (I think was because when I was a teenager to enable me to ‘watch’ my favourite tv I would record them onto audio cassette so I could listen to them in bed or in the car - great for taking on holiday! And because I’d watched them I could see them in my head - ingenious or what?!I think these were two episodes I had on tape which I could then record). 

I remember the Waterfront and Dr Cox and Kellerman being under suspicion but not for what. I remember seeing Bayliss tell Pembleton about his childhood abuse but the rest of the stories are missing. I remember the layout of the squadroom, the board, the box (who’s idea was it to turn that into Gee’s office in the seventh season?!?! Ugh) and the coffee room. 

So essentially I’m really upset right now because something that was so important to me as a teenager has now concluded. And in such a sad way (everything is going blurry again). I’m not going to lie, when I watched as a teen it was Bayliss who was my favourite (lets face it Kyle Secor was gorgeous back then - still is but that’s another story) and his relationship with Frank which was for me the draw of the show. I liked all the characters, some more than others and it was the way the whole show was put together; look, sound, feel. Watching it through now, Bayliss is still my favourite, Frank still amazing but I enjoyed the other characters more, I paid more attention to Lewis and Kellerman (yes I’m slashing them) and Munch and Howard and even Felton, Crosetti and Bolander who I think had pretty much come out of it by the time I’d started watching originally. 

Watching the show now I’ve also been able to watch with a slasher’s eyes, something I didn’t have back then. I was always drawn to the partnership between Frank and Tim but I’d never paired them because I didn’t have the language or the knowledge that you could do that. I’d been intrigued by gay storylines in shows, those that were starting to emerge on tv in the 90s but it had never crossed my mind that you could ‘pair characters’ outside of the ‘canon’  (and I’m talking het as well as slash here). So this time I’ve been watching Frank and Tim and especially Tim and his relationship with Frank. Watching now I can see the love and the adoration that he has for Frank grow over the 6 seasons they were together and despite it being unrequited it’s quite easy to see that as a canon love story. I believe I’ve read somewhere that Kyle did actually approach it as Bayliss being in love with Frank (when I’m more together I’ll try and find where I read it) and watching it, I can very much believe that. 

Which is what made the movie so difficult to watch. Watching Bayliss slowly fall apart. Turn to Frank at the end when they’d caught Gee’s shooter. The scene on the roof at the end when Bayliss is confessing what he has done to Frank and the way that scene plays out. The complete inability for Frank to comprehend what Tim is telling him, to comprehend that Tim has killed someone, not just in self defence or as a cop related shooting but as a murder. A cold blooded murder (Tim used the word execution and their difference in vocab is specific). He can’t understand, gets angry (righteously) that Tim has put this on him. When Tim pleads with him to take him in or he will likely eat his gun, has thought about it before, can’t marry up his heart with his head (knows in his heart he was right but in his head he can’t accept what he has done), Frank can’t do it. Despite knowing, seeing that Tim has threatened to end his life if he doesn’t. I can’t accept that as the ending to their partnership. It stings. It hurts (blurry eyes again). After all that they’ve gone through in the past 6 years it’s upsetting that it finishes here. I’m not going to lie. I hated when Frank left at the end of season 6. I hate this a hundred times more. 

When the name goes to blue on the board, I assume we are meant to understand that Tim has indeed confessed/been taken in. By Frank? His words to Mike in Gee’s office seem to indicate so ‘good at catching the bad guys...caught me a couple tonight.’ 

...and I can’t....to hear Frank refer to Tim as a bad guy just breaks my heart into tiny pieces (oh god my nose is never going to unstuff at this rate). To be honest, that out of the whole film is what I can’t get over. And why I’m so upset I think. It really fucking hurts.  

And then. And then we get the scene of Gee in the afterlife, going into the squadroom and seeing all the people from the past, his life and the stations. Little Adena skipping past. And then seeing Felton and Crosetti in the coffee room (as it was thank god). And then the chair. The fourth chair (oh god I’m off again). Gee asks but they don’t know who it’s for, ‘we don’t know yet’ says Beau, ‘but they’ll here sooner or later.’ Gee worries about his son (he’s a foot cop now) but to me, I take that to mean be for Bayliss. He threatened his life and when Crosetti says ‘it’s not like it’s written in stone, it’s not preordained or anything.’ My brain took that to mean that if Bayliss is in custody, that won’t stop him from eventually taking his life, either in jail or on bail if he’s allowed it.

So this had been the ending tonight of a very very long fandom arch. I’m emotionally battered and bruised and feeling rather strange. I want to return to season 1 ep 1 straight away (that’s what I did with Starsky and Hutch every time I finished season 4, immediately pop the first ep in again and start over) but I’mn not sure I’m ready. I’m not sure I could watch fresh faced Tim enter that squad room, knowing where he’ll end up in seven years time. 

I loved seeing everyone come back for the movie, even for the brief scenes most of them had, it was enough (why oh why didn’t Kellerman have any scenes with Lewis though??). Cox and Griscom over Gee’s bedside? Excellent! Kellerman shovelling food down whilst Mike beats up suspects? Awesome! The knowledge that they go back to the squad room in the afterlife? Beautiful if emotionally traumatic. 

It’s going to take me a long time to get over this but suffice to say this was one of the best shows ever made. I didn’t like season 7 or the new characters much and the show was definitely at it’s best earlier on when it was in it’s original and intended format but even later on it still beats the pants off most of the shows made then and today. 

[cptn-stvngrntrgrs]

if you're still accepting prompts, I might have an idea that could be fun to write. A newly recruited agent curious about capwidow if they're a couple or not + two children running around suddenly around the compound and finds out theyre capwidow's children.

hello anon! thanks for the prompt – you’re right, THIS WAS REALLY FUN TO WRITE!! i got carried away and the fic became longer than i thought it would be. hopefully this is what you were looking for!

Title: you just have to be at the wrong place and wrong time

Relationship: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff

Summary: 

A newly recruited SHIELD agent can’t help but to think there’s more to Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers’ relationship as Avengers.

post-Endgame, based off my post-Endgame HC (where Nat is very much alive) that they eventually build SHIELD back up, with Hill as the director and Steve and Nat are still involved in it somehow. and they have a family. and sam babysits for them

Also on AO3!

“All of you are here because you advanced from the most rigorous process of recruitment - the one that ultimately tested your physical and mental capabilities,” Natasha said, addressing the 15 new SHIELD recruits in front of her. “However difficult that experience may have been, that is the easiest thing you’ll ever had to go through here. It will only get harder from now on,” she raised her eyebrows at them, scanning all their faces - which remained passive.

“Now, as your commanding officer, I expect all of you to always be on your best behavior,” she continued. “This means I expect nothing but the best from all of you. I also do not want to hear anything from anyone that my recruits are misbehaving. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!” they answered promptly.

Natasha let a hint of a smile play on her lips. “At ease.”

She watched them change into a laxer position, as did she, and lowered her voice. “Now, as you know, there is another group of new recruits, led by Captain Rogers. In two months, all of you will take another test that would give you the opportunity to level up as an agent.” she declared, already feeling a hype-sort of energy from her team, judging from their smiles and glances at each other.

“I don’t want to pressure you, but,” she let on, and all their eyes snap at her, “for the past two years, not all of the new recruits in my team got this promotion and I wish I can say the same about Steve’s- I mean, Captain Rogers’ group. But I have a good feeling this time around - I think you guys will be the ones to break my unfortunate streak.”

She smirked to herself, a playful gleam in her eyes, as she saw her agents smile to themselves as she dismissed them. She can feel that this will be the team that would finally make her win this year’s bet against Steve. He’s been getting too smug about his 100% pass rate for two years already and it’s about time she changes that.

–

“Hey why do you think Agent Romanoff wants us to beat Captain Rogers’ team? I mean, aren’t we all new SHIELD recruits here?” Paolo Crawford, a member of Natasha’s team, asked his friend.

Avery Steele, also a new recruit but in Steve’s team, just shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe it’s just a friendly competition, you know? I mean, with them being The Avengers and everything, they must be real good friends or something.”

Paolo knitted his brows together, genuinely curious. “But there was something in her eyes when she mentioned Cap’s name…” he trailed off.

Avery blinked at him. “I know you have a habit, but please, please tell me you’re not thinking of what I think you’re thinking.”

“Okay, but hear me out-”

“Paolo, stop! They are our commanding officers, let’s not think too much about it.” Avery scolded, standing up to leave him alone with his sandwich. He just pouted and continued to eat lunch by himself.

–

Well truth be told, Paolo’s been trying to figure out what was up with Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff. If there’s anything between them, that is.

His interest was piqued when he went to his first orientation as a new SHIELD recruit - and the two of them were there to personally assess everyone. After getting over a fanboy moment of being in the same room as two Avengers, Paolo noticed something. The way Steve and Natasha worked together was fascinating.

But like Avery said, they are the Avengers, and most of all, partners. Of course, he expected them to be in sync and coordinated, but seeing it up close was… unreal. One of the things Paolo prides himself on is his meticulous attention to detail, and wow, those were some details he noticed from his commanding officers!

First of all, whenever Natasha would talk or address them, Steve gets this look in his eyes, and some sort of fondness takes over his face, a ghost of a smile always on his lips. It’s as if he’s mesmerized with what she’s saying, despite him for sure hearing it around a hundred times already.

And then there was a demonstration of some sort from the two of them – different types of fighting styles that the new recruits should practice for their assessment. There’s just something about seeing them “fight” in person that Paolo couldn’t take his eyes off – they looked like they’re dancing, with each of them knowing exactly how the other moves. It was truly captivating. But besides that, the way the two of them looked at each other while doing so – Natasha’s smirks and Steve’s smug grins – was just a tad bit too flirty to be platonic, in Paolo’s most honest opinion.

Well. If there isn’t anything but partnership between Rogers and Romanoff, Paolo can’t say he’s not disappointed. That would be a serious waste of chemistry.

–

A month and a half passed quickly, and suddenly, the acceleration assessment is only two weeks away. All the new recruits are feeling the pressure and the exhaustion from trainings and drills. Their schedule is packed with different kinds of things every day, right from the moment they wake up. They only get an hour and a half lunch breaks, and dismissal at 6pm.

This particular Friday, exactly two weeks from the assessment, all 30 new recruits just seemed so defeated by lunch time that Steve took Natasha aside to talk about them.

“Nat, we should give them the rest of the day off. Let them have an early start to their weekend,” he said, moving out of earshot from the common room by turning to a corner.

“Hmmm, I guess they’re still recovering from their full-day drill yesterday,” Natasha winced at the memory. They set out a field with targets, traps, fake shooters – the works – so the recruits can experience what the assessment will be like. They all did well, which was great, but she has to admit, even she got tired from just watching them.

“And that will also give us the rest of the day off,” Steve reminded her, grinning as he put his hands on her hips.

She smirked, “Oh? Got plans, Rogers?”

“I might have a few.”

“Okay, well, let’s actually dismiss them before we start your plan and forget about them,” she chuckled, standing on her tip toes to swiftly peck his lips. His grin got wider when he turned around and she slapped his ass as he was walking back.

“Hey guys,” Natasha tried not to roll her eyes at the way Steve addressed the room. Okay, she knows it’s lunch and they’re bringing good news, but this guy is just so nice to them. It’s always like Good Cop, Bad Cop with them – she can tell that the recruits fear her, out of respect of course, but she can also tell that they adore Steve. Well, who wouldn’t?

“We know you had a tough day yesterday and this morning,” he continued, everyone’s eyes fixed on them. “So, Agent Romanoff and I decided to let you guys go early today. You’re dismissed when you’re done with lunch. See you all on Monday!” he ended with a bright smile, which was received with applause and cheers from everyone.

Steve turned around to smirk at Natasha, who just shook her head at him, and placed a hand behind her back as they turned and made their way back to the elevators. Once she was certain no one was behind them, she snaked her arm around Steve’s waist and slipped her hand in the back pocket of his jeans.

–

“Avery I’m telling you, they’re together, together!” Paolo all but hysterically screamed at his friend after telling her to meet him out that night.

After getting dismissed by their COs, Paolo was going to catch the elevator back up to his quarters to take a nap since he was done eating anyway and he wanted to rest. He was checking his phone as he was walking, not really looking ahead of him since by this time, he practically knows the layout of building by heart. The sound of laughter made him look up – half in curiosity and half in fear – because that was Agent Romanoff’s laugh.

He froze in his step. In front of him were his COs, talking in low voices while very cozily waiting for the elevator.

Feeling like he witnessed something he shouldn’t, he swiftly turned the corner and just hoped that neither of them saw him. It’s not like he’s stalking them – he really isn’t – but he’s sure Agent Romanoff won’t appreciate him seeing that.

Taking a deep breath, he sprinted for the stairs on the side and decided to go through there instead, not really wanting to chance the elevator. He didn’t stop running up the stairs until he reached the floor of his room and shut himself in.

After hearing this from his, Avery tried very hard to push it aside, but she has to admit, even she’s getting intrigued. She sighed and swirled her drink with her fingertip.

“Interesting. I’ve been hearing some, well, gossip about Captain Rogers. You know, from other recruits…”

“And…?” Paolo prompted.

Avery spoke after taking a sip of her drink. “Well, they also have suspicions on him being with Agent Romanoff,” Paolo’s eyes widened, but she continued talking, “though the two of them are known to be best friends, so it might really be just how they are with each other,” she added with a shrug.

Paolo pouted. “I just want to know the truth,” he sighed and downed his drink. Avery looked at him with something akin to pity in her eyes.

“Why don’t you just go ask them? Agent Romanoff seems to really like you, she might want to chat with her favorite recruit.”

“Do you really think I’m her favorite?” Paolo asked cheekily, to which Avery rolled her eyes fondly at. “And no way! That’s just wrong in so many levels!”

“I don’t know what to tell you then.”

–

Paolo decided to come back to the HQ that night to get some workout and training in. Although he’s grateful for having the rest of the day off, he felt… guilty somehow that he didn’t feel worked out enough. Besides, the gym and most of the compound should be empty given it’s a Friday night – most are either out and about or too tired to be up. Before heading to the gym, he went to the kitchen first to get some water.

When he got in, there were two children – a girl and a boy – sitting on one of the tables, drawing on a piece of paper, and a sandwich and juice box in front of them. Paolo stared at the two, not quite comprehending what he was seeing. As far as he was concerned, there were no children living at SHIELD’s HQ, nor are random children randomly permitted to be there. SHIELD doesn’t start them young… right? No, no, no. That can’t be.

As if sensing that someone was staring, the boy – which looks older of the two – smiled and waved at him. He has golden-blond hair and a toothy grin, and he somehow looks familiar although Paolo was certain he’s never seen this child before. The little girl with him, noticing he was looking at someone, looked up and mimicked the boy – waving and smiling at Paolo as well. She has strawberry-blonde hair, as if the two colors are mixed together to get that shade.

Huh.

Not wanting to seem like a creep, he smiled back at them and gave a little wave, turning to the fridge to get a bottle of water. He still can’t fathom who those children are and what they were doing at SHIELD!

He was about to speak out and talk to them when someone beat him to it.

“Hey… what are you guys doing here?”

Crap. That was Captain Rogers’ voice.

Paolo couldn’t see him from where he was standing at the fridge and he stood very still, not wanting to move nor show himself if possible. But he knows it’s not because he hears footsteps approaching the tables – his way – and knows Steve will see him very soon.

“Uncle Sam brought us here because he said Auntie Maria called him to come here and that you and mommy are here too!” the boy babbled on.

Hold on.

Uncle Sam and Auntie Maria??? The Falcon – Sam Wilson and Director Hill – Maria Hill? You and mommy??? These are the Captain’s children???

The Captain has kids??? Is he married??? The only quarters in this part of the HQ are Steve’s and Natasha’s – who else could be here? The little girl has more of a red hair than blonde-

Paolo’s brain was going a hundred miles a minute. He’s trying to process what was happening around him like it’s a bunch of puzzle pieces that he has to put together.

“Your uncle’s here?” he heard Steve ask again, voice louder, indicating he’s almost to where Paolo was at. In an attempt to hide himself, he opened the door of the fridge and stared at it, like he’s watching the most fascinating movie while scanning its contents. They have an awful lot of milk and cheese, he noticed.

“Yeah!” he heard the boy exclaim. “Where’s mommy?”

“Well your mom and I…” Steve trailed off, his voice right behind Paolo, no doubt catching sight of him. “Agent Crawford?” he asked, voice laced with confusion. Paolo’s hand on the milk carton froze and he almost dropped the bottle of water he was holding.

He spun a very clumsy 180 degrees, feeling heat creep up into his neck. Said Captain was only wearing a robe and pajamas. And his hair was in disarray. Oh. He’s hoping that he doesn’t look like the tomato he just saw inside the fridge.

“Yes, Captain?” he really hoped his voice was steady to Steve’s ears because it sure as hell didn’t for him.

“What are you doing here this late on a Friday night?” Steve asked, smiling at him. He didn’t look mad – if anything, he looked surprised and amused. “Isn’t everyone else out? Or you know, resting?”

Paolo nodded. “Yes, Captain. I just thought I needed more training and I was going to work out down there,” he pointed downwards, as if Steve could see the gym from underneath his finger.

Steve let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it, Agent Crawford. Get some rest. Nat, uh, I mean, Agent Romanoff is very happy with your performance. Trust me.”

Before Paolo could respond, the little boy tugged on Steve’s arm. “Daddy, I’m sleepy,” he pouted. Steve laughed and mussed up his hair.

“James, Mommy has to stay here tonight. If you want, I can go home with you two and she’ll come home tomorrow. Or… just sleep in Mommy and I’s bed here for tonight.” Steve explained.

Paolo knows this is a personal moment and he’s basically been dismissed by Steve which means he should probably leave. But alas, he felt frozen in his spot, still holding onto the fridge’s door and peering inside it while stealing glances at the three.

“With mommy!!!” the little girl squealed out. Steve grinned and leaned down to pick the little girl up in his arms. The boy – James, it seems – nodded and stood up.

“Crawford,” Paolo’s head snapped up to meet Steve’s eye, “like I said. Nat likes you, and that’s no easy feat. Take it easy. Though don’t let her know about this,” he winked, a mischievous smile on his lips. And with the girl on his right arm, Steve held out his left hand for James to hold on to.

“Y-yes, Captain.” He answered. Steve nodded and walked with the two to the elevator, finally leaving Paolo alone to slump on the floor.

Well at least his question was answered.

But what did he mean by not letting her know about “this”? That Steve told him he was her favorite or that he found out about their family?

Huh. So, Black Widow and Captain America really is a thing. And they have children. Paolo shook his head and smiled to himself. At least he shipped the right couple. He stood up and walked to his quarters. Although he was dying to tell Avery about it, the moment between him and Captain Rogers felt so… personal that he knew he can’t just talk to other people about that. Not without the consent of either of them – he knew it wasn’t his place nor his story to tell.

–

The day after the recruits’ assessments was a very tense one. The two groups were told to meet their COs first thing in the morning to learn about their results.

Steve and Natasha stood before the 30 anxious faces of the recruits, holding a piece of paper with the results. They shared a glance before Steve spoke up.

“First of all, I want to tell everyone: good job on your assessment. We were very pleased with the results.”

“Yes, I have to say, each and every one of you exceeded our expectations,” Natasha continued, to which she was met with shocked faces.

Steve observed the recruits and let out a chuckle, looking at Natasha and raising an eyebrow. The corners of her lips lifted, and she nodded. “To answer the question in your minds: Yes. All of you are now Level 2 agents. Congratulations.” He smiled and clapped his hands, which was followed by cheering and clapping from the newly-appointed agents.

After a while of celebrating, Natasha put her hand up, to which they silenced as she began to talk. “Now, as my group knows, this is the first time in two years that I had a hundred percent pass rate. Well, Captain Rogers and I have this bet – if one of us achieves that perfect rate, we’d owe the other a dare. Since we both achieved that this year, then we both owe each other a dare.” She heard the crowd go “Oooooo” and smirked.

Steve looked at her, puzzled. Natasha stared back at him and grinned. “And I want to redeem my dare right now.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? What might that dare be?”

“Kiss me.“

Silence.

The agents looked at each other, shocked. Did they hear that correctly?

Steve stared at Natasha, blinking slowly, as if she might as well have told him that she was Loki in disguise.

“Come on, Rogers, you heard me,” Natasha prompted, crossing her arms over her chest and raised a challenging eyebrow at him.

The agents are looking at them back-and-forth, like it was a movie unfolding. It took Steve a while to recover. He stood up straighter and smiled at her. “Why, do you want to make our new agents uncomfortable?” he asked, putting his hands on her waist. She let out a laugh and shook her head.

“I’m actually aiming for the opposite.” She unfolded her arms to hold onto his shirt, standing on her toes to meet Steve’s lips as he leaned down. Gasps and Awwwws erupted from the group as their lips met, which made Natasha smile as she playfully bit Steve’s lower lip before pulling away.

She turned back to the agents, waiting for someone bold enough to ask them the question. One brave soul in the back raised her hand. Natasha nodded and the agent spoke up.

“So, does that mean you and Captain Rogers are dating?”

Natasha chuckled, shaking her head. The agents looked puzzled. All but one.

“Agent Crawford, you didn’t tell them?”

All eyes snapped to Paolo, who almost jumped at the mentioned of his name. “N-no, ma’am,” he merely squeaked out, feeling flushed at getting singled out. Steve gave him a thumbs up in return. From the other group, he saw Avery shooting him a looking that’s half-glaring, half-confusion.

“Nice work. I appreciate that.” Natasha told him. “No, Steve and I aren’t dating. We’re married.”

“And we have two kids,” Steve added, smiling at everyone. They stared at them, speechless. Who would’ve guessed?

“You might be wondering why we’re telling you this now,” Natasha spoke up after a few seconds of silence. “Now that all of you have Level 2 Clearance, we can tell you this and you’ll also be seeing more of SHIELD, like getting access to more places in the HQ and such. This is just a heads up that you might see our kids, James and Sarah, roaming around. They’re usually in the higher floors and lounges so if you see them, don’t freak out. They’re used to this environment so please just say hi or something.”

“So,” Steve clapped his hands together, “that’s all for now. Once again, congratulations. We may not be your direct CO anymore, but feel free to chat if you see any of us. We’re here as your mentors to support you. Dismissed.”

–

“How dare you not tell me!” Avery whispered a bit loudly at Paolo while they were in the newly-accessible lounge.

“Captain’s orders.” Paolo grinned sheepishly, waving at the little kids who just entered the room accompanied by their father. Steve caught his eye and winked at him.

[cowardcouch]

Give Me Love

Part 2

Characters- Baekhyun and Oh Sae Ri

Genre- fluff

Author’s Note- Here you go guys! Do tell me if you like this or not? Honestly, I had a lot of problems while writing this fic. I hope you guys like it. Alert! Cute Baekhyun ahead.

Oh Sae Ri’s life had just taken a new turn; a turn which was unprecedented. She was not sure about her feelings. Was she happy? Not sure. Was she sad? Not sure. Had they promoted her because of her skills or because of the shortage of game developers at the other branch? She could never know. That was the problem with her. She could not put an end to this chain of thoughts. She never lived in the moment. She was either in the past or the present or neither of them. She had created her world, aloof in the room, where the walls were impenetrable.

“Congratulations!” Suho wished her. Sae Ri never talked to her colleagues well, except when work needed to be done. Suho was the only one she used the language with. He got this privilege since he was her cousin. She was the ‘ice queen’ of the software department. Her face was always impassive and no one dared to approach her. There were rumors that she was a ghost or an evil spirit which made her laugh at the stupid people at her workplace. The girls had an undefined abomination for her, which she never understood. The males were frightened of her.

“Thanks.” Her expression didn’t match her words as she continued concentrating on her work. “When are you throwing a party?” Suho immediately regretted his question knowing that Sae Ri wasn’t a party person. “I am not.” She nonchalantly replied and was internally screaming for being rude to the person who is a nice man. Suho pouted and was going to leave when his eyes fell on the newspaper kept on her desk. “You need to look for a place now that you’re moving.” She nodded her head. She had no idea where to go. Till now, Suho’s tutelage was the only home she knew. “I’m going to miss living with you.” She ruffled Suho’s hair making him glare at her.

“I hope you find a good place to live.”

That was the twenty-third time someone told her that. This promotion was a curse. How can sending a person on the other side of the country be helpful? Sae Ri was just an inch close to quitting her job. How could she not find a single empty apartment for herself? The apartments were sometimes too far from her workplace and some had unrealistically high rents and some had creepy neighbors. The odds were absolutely against her. Her dear cousin had offered to look for houses but being the idiot she was, she declined. She never could find out why she liked to be sadistic with her self. Finally giving up, she contacted the person she should have in the first place.

“Do you like it?”

Sae Ri didn’t answer; her expression said it all. For a person who rarely showed how she felt, her opinions were too visible. The apartment was what she had always dreamt about. The bedrooms were huge and the bathroom was twice her studio apartment. It was just at the right location. The room had a huge window which gave her the view of nature. Also, there was a piano begging to be played in the hall. It was luxurious. The rent was just what she could afford. She loved the place. Everything seemed heaven-sent. The only problem she was going to face was dealing with her roommate. He, yes he, was Suho’s friend. He was some sort of writer but Sae Ri had never heard of him. A man with beautiful gleaming eyes and the most cheerful smile she had ever seen. Judging from his clothes, he seemed quite successful which made her question him sharing his apartment with a stranger.

Was she ready to sacrifice the bedroom of her dreams for her privacy? Was she ready to sacrifice this perfect plan of God for her insecurities? Should she? “I don’t know.” She whispered so that her words were audible to only Suho. “I think you should take it. I mean, where you could find a perfect place like this. I know you don’t like having people around you but I can assure you that Baekhyun is a gentleman. He won’t cause discomfort to you.” Sae Ri’s eyes fell on the said man who was already looking at her which made her flustered. She averted her gaze and looked at her reflection on the windows of the bedroom that could be potentially hers. What if this Baekhyun guy is a creepy stalker? But he doesn’t seem like one. Writers are good people, right? I am so confused. Several thoughts ran through her head. She fisted her hands and chewed on her bottom lip. Why can’t I make a single decision? She mentally cursed at herself and then turned towards the owner of the apartment.

“I like it.”

Those three words made her the roommate of Baekhyun and a part of his plan.

Oh Sae Ri clearly remembers the day when she first played a video game in her life. Those days were among the worst in her life. Let’s say that her parents were not nice people. She hated them. They were the last people she wanted to share her pain with. Nobody shares their pain with the person who has caused the pain. She was nine when she stole a PSP from her cousin’s drawer. The tool fascinated her. Initially, it was difficult for her still young brain to comprehend the use of the buttons and the mechanism of the PSP. Pressing all the buttons at the same time didn’t help her but she didn’t give up and finally found the way to operate it.

The first game she played was a car race. She was addicted to it. A new world where the cars just race was extremely intriguing for the little girl. But she lost interest in it. The cars racing on an endless road lost the tinge of fascination as her brain exploded with different ideas. She started drawing figures in her drawing book, thinking about how she could alter the game and make it catchier. Some would say that it was abnormal behavior while some would say that it was an escape from the heart-breaking reality she wanted to getaway. It started as a distraction but became a passion. Sae Ri often found herself in-game zones of the malls or going to game hubs. She could vent out all her anger and frustration by killing people in games and getting away with it.

Zambora, the company where she worked, offered her an ocean of opportunities. In her adolescent years, she would often slow down and stop to look at its headquarters and then walk away. She would prefer to stay there rather than staying at her home, amongst a ruined family. A home usually means the presence of your family and people you care about at a place, but for her, it meant a place where she could think clearly, a place where she could say what she felt, where she didn’t have to kill her emotions and breathe slowly. Her office was her haven. People did hurt her at her workplace, called her by different names, bully her for being different and stay away from her. She didn’t want people to be scared of her. She was a human, after all, she has feelings. But the moment she lets her guard down, people walked all over her. Nobody could blame her for being a ‘tin robot’.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, buttoning her coat properly for the first day at a new yet familiar place. Her face looked drained of excitement and nervousness for a person at a new office, but she knew that she was nervous. Her legs were limp, her hands were shaky and her heartbeat was abnormal. New place, new people and new problems she had to put up with scared her. Shrugging off her feelings, she decided to clean her new bedroom before leaving the room. The aroma of a delicious meal reached her senses making her hungry. Her eyes met the man who was busy cooking something. His hair was disheveled and his occasional yawns showed how sleepy he was. Her faint footsteps made him conscious of another presence in the kitchen. “Good morning.” Baekhyun sleepily greeted the lady who didn’t respond to his words. “Suho told me that today is your first day at your new workplace so I decided to make breakfast for you.” His words made her speechless. They just met yesterday and now he is making breakfast for her.

“Thank you but I-”

“Nope. You have to eat it. No excuses. Being a good cook runs in my family. I know that I am too handsome to be a cook and my generosity must have shocked you but-”

“I already had breakfast half an hour ago. I’ll be going then.” Sae Ri cut him off and left for work leaving a dumbfounded Baekhyun in the kitchen.

“She is not much of a talker, is she? If it counts, I am a good chef.”

“This will be your office.” Sae Ri nodded her head and examined her own office. This was the first time she got her own office. The interior was just her taste, a mix of grey with black and yellow. She couldn’t be more ecstatic but she had no one she could share this news with. She had no one who would be glad to share this happiness with her, someone who would congratulate her. Sure, Suho was there but except for him, nobody cared. At the same time, she knew she was to be blamed. She never let anyone in; she never got over her past. This obstinate girl rejected her need to lean on someone; it made her feel vulnerable and fragile. She checked her phone finding five missed calls from her mom and ten messages from her dad. Without wasting any time, she got down to work, ignoring the trail of tears that sang melancholic tunes.

The first day at her office wasn’t half as bad as she expected it to be. New faces here were finding it difficult to adjust with her but they weren’t bad. They seemed helpful and human, better than the people at her previous place. The current game that Sae Ri was developing was allowed the gamers to develop their characters and create their allies. They could select the place where they wanted to challenge their enemies. She was trying to create the layout for the places. She was so immersed in her world that she didn’t even realize that it was already time to go home. She reached home late where she was greeted by Baekhyun who was holding a cake in his hands. “I hope your day was good. This is a surprise I prepared for you.” Sae Ri had no idea how to respond to this man. It was like her brain was trying to choose from a given set of statements to say something to him. He grabbed her hand and dragged her in. He made her sit on the couch and sat beside her.

“Cut the cake. It’s for you.” Sae Ri soon found a knife in her hand still trying to comprehend the situation. Had she made the wrong decision to stay with Baekhyun? Are writers this weird? She had no idea to deal with the situation. Before she could say anything, he took her hand and made her cut the cake. No one had ever been so close, up close in her personal space before. She was scary for other people but it seemed that Baekhyun wasn’t ‘other people’. She had observed that Baekhyun liked being physically and emotionally close to others and she was a mirror Baekhyun was looking into. They did not match well at all. They were like an unevenly cut square which does form perfect triangles when folded in half.

That night her strange roommate persuaded her to eat two slices of a cake and made her question his sanity.

[shesgayfor]

Patient, Sebastian

Summary: Reader is a dentist, and Sebastian, reader’s boyfriend, agrees to come in for a cleaning done by her. Fluffy kinda, detailed. 

Characters: Sebastian Stan, reader

TW: Dentist, Dental tools/talk

The two of them had only been together for a few months, but it felt like years. He was a famous actor, and she was a successful dentist. They’d met through a friend of a friend, at a dinner party. They hit it off immediately, he was quiet and charming, she was bold and sweet. It was an instant connection between them, and they both knew it. He had been not super busy lately with any projects, giving them time to properly get to know each other. Dates out in public, being snapped by paparazzi. She handled it really well, for someone who's never been in the spotlight before.

They often spoke of their work with each other, him telling her about past acting gigs and famous people he’s worked with, while she talks about her fascination with dentistry and the short list of celebrities she’s encountered. Living in Manhattan, New York she was bound to see celebrities come through her practice. Somewhere along the most recent conversation, he agreed to come into her office for a cleaning. It felt like a big step in their relationship somehow. Almost like, hey we’re getting pretty serious and you cleaning my teeth will prove that kinda thing. I mean they’d seen each other naked, so what’s her seeing his teeth any harm.

She had been finishing up a patient when her front desk receptionist interrupted her.

“Sebastian is here.” The receptionist smiled at her. Her stomach dropped at the comment, but it also made her smile.

“Thank you, Lauren. I’m almost finished.” Y/N said to her. She nodded and left the room. She excused her patient, getting herself ready to clean her new boyfriends teeth. She was actually really nervous about it, or around him. Or both?

“Hey Doctor your next patient is here, want me to send him in?” A hygienist approached, asking her.

“Yes please, thank you Amy.” She nodded as she walked into the front to retrieve the patient. Y/N walked all the way to the back of the building into her office. Sebastian’s previous dentist was sending over past records, and she wanted to print them and bring them in. She heard Amy and Sebastian lightly chatting, assuming she was bringing him into the room. Her practice was private, which meant she owned her own section in a building. The layout consisted of a small, waiting area up front. A door separating that area, to then leading to the one and only dental room, which had a sliding door to it, for maximum privacy. Her office was located right behind the dental room. It wasn’t a huge area, but it was private, and it was hers. One receptionist and two hygienists would be on staff for one day. She did most of the biggest procedures like cavity fillings, wisdom teeth pulling, braces installation and more. Her hygienists usually dealt with minor cleanings, but not today.

She grabbed all the printed papers and headed into the dental room. Slowly walking in she saw her long boyfriend sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. She quietly slid the door closed, as his head turned around to see her entering.

“Hi,” he said softly, with a smile. She placed a hand on his shoulder, before bending down to place a soft kiss on his lips. “Hi,” she said back. He was looking her up and down, intrigued by the white coat.

“So professional, doctor.” He said to her. This made her laugh, and slightly blush. God damn he made her nervous. She studied his calming face, his slightly scruffy beard and fluffy brown hair. His piercing blue eyes that intimidated the hell out of her.

“How was your day?” She pulled up a stool with wheels next to him.

“Eh, considering it’s only noon not much has happened. How’s it been here?” His words were soothing to the ears.

“Kinda busy, actually. Had an emergency root canal at 8 this morning so that’s always fun.” His face dropped to one of horror and disgust. “I know,” she laughed, “always a fun time.”

“You’re not doing a, root, canal, on me are you?” He asked.

“God no babe,” she placed a hand on his. “Just a cleaning!”

“Okay good.” He looked relieved.

“Hey, you agreed to this. I promise, I’m gentle.” She responded.

“No no I know. I trust you 100%. I need a good cleaning and who better to do it than my incredibly intelligent, beautiful girlfriend?” Her face went bright red, and against her eggshell white jacket it was quite obvious.

“Awe am I making you blush?” His voice had a hint of laughter in it.

“God you always do, don’t sweet talk me! I am your doctor.” She sounded half joking half serious.

“Alright I’ll be good.” He folded his hands on his stomach and leaned his head back into the chair.

“Right. Okay let’s get started, shall we?” Her bright, straight teeth were being revealed. She rolled behind him, typing something into the computer and grabbing some materials. A high tray appeared, revealing several tools. She reached into a drawer to grab fresh gloves and a nose and mouth mask. The mask and gloves went on, and she was ready to get started. A paper like towel was placed around his neck, it being purple in color. Her foot tapped a button to make the chair go up and backwards, forcing him to be laying on his back. The overhead light gets turned on, and aimed directly at his mouth. She picks up a mini mirror, and a pointed tool as she moves it directly towards his mouth. He does a bite down, bear all teeth type of smile before he actually opens his mouth.

“Open up, babe.” She teased softly behind the mask.

“Yup.” he says as he does exactly as she asks. The current position of them was him, obviously lying flat on the chair. Her, she was sitting on the rolling stool right under his head. She was incredibly close to his face, doing this on purpose.

She moves the mirror around to check out every single tooth, with the occasional light poke from the pointed tool. “Damn Sebastian.” she whispers behind the mask, but loud enough for him to hear.

“What?” Except it came out as someone would expect it to with tools in their mouth. She brought her eyes to his, his looked slightly concerned.

“Your teeth are incredible.” She was genuinely astounded. The corners of his mouth went up to that comment.

Her mirror continued to maneuver around his mouth, checking every nook and cranny. She did this for a good two more minutes, really getting thorough. “Is that?” she started but stopped. Her pointed tool tugged lightly on a clear piece of material glued to the top and bottom behinds of his teeth. “Retainer?” She was speaking to herself at this point. He stayed quiet and just observed her as she looked. She was looking at a perfect set of teeth, each one aligned perfectly. She did a little bit more light scraping, before removing the tools from his mouth.

“Everything okay?” He asked, watching you type something into the computer.

She pulled the mask down to speak to him. “Yes yes, of course. I’m just a little confused on something I’m trying to check something out.”

“What are you confused on?” His voice was one of concern.

“I’m seeing, retainers in your mouth.”

“Oh,” he brought his finger to the back of his lower teeth. “You mean the wire thing right? That’s like glued on, right?”

“Yes those. Did you, have braces at some point? There’s no way, you’re an actor. I’ve never seen any pictures of you with braces unless I didn’t look hard enough.”

“Uh yeah, I did have braces about 5 years ago.” He laughed.

“How? As an actor? Were they clear?”

“No it was invisalign.”

“Ohhhh!” Her voice was louder at this point. “That makes so much sense holy shit.”

He nervously smiled towards her, softly speaking a “yeah.”

“Why’d you get invisalign at the mere age of 31?” She questioned. He got kinda quiet, as a sad look fell over his face. “Seb?”

“I hated my smile, Y/N. I’d been acting for 10 years at that point, I had this stupid crooked front tooth that drove me crazy. I never wanted to smile I felt ashamed. I’m in movies, and people see close ups of my face. I wanted to have a smile I could be proud of.”

Her face turned to one of sympathy. “Awe Seb, that is understandable. If it’s something that bothered you that much, then I’m happy you helped yourself. I think you’re adorable now, and I bet you were adorable with a little snaggletooth.” She laughed, trying to be sincere.

He shook his head and forced a laugh. “It wasn’t, it was annoying.”

She shrugged. “Perfect teeth are boring. But whatever, yours are perfect but you are not boring. Crazy how that works..” Her head was floating up looking around.

“Okay sorry, I got way too distracted. I’m gonna finish up.” He nodded, as she pulled back up her mask and prepared for the next step.

The next step was flossing. Since behind his top and bottom front teeth had a retainer, she had to use a different technique to do so. She pulled out a device that was small and thin enough to pull floss through tight teeth, aka his. “I really hope you floss.” She smiled down at him. He muttered an “uh huh” with her hands in his mouth. She began pulling the floss through each tooth, gently teetering back and forth between the teeth. Surprisingly, he did not bleed once. “So you floss daily? That’s, hot.” She spoke to him. His eyes widening at her comment, unsure how to respond. “Sorry, ignore that. I meant, it’s nice to see.” She quickly tried to cover it. She brought over a water squirting tool, rinsing out his mouth. “Go ahead and spit.” She said as she pointed to the small sink next to him. He did so, and she brought up the one that sucked out air into his mouth, cleaning it up.

“Bite down.” She took her gloved hands and pulled back his lips to get a good look at the teeth. “Perfect. Now for the polishing. You have a flavor preference?”

“Uh, peppermint is good?” She nodded at his response.

Another tool was revealed, this one looking like a drill, but not. It was a circular piece at the end that spun, basically an advanced toothbrush.

“Open.” She said with a slight drag on the N. He obeyed and she began cleaning and polishing every surface of each tooth. He let out a few chuckles during it, which made her laugh as well. This took about five minutes to finish, as she is always thorough and doesn’t ever miss a spot. The water tool made its way again, rinsing out his mouth. She pointed to the sink again, he knew what to do. She stuck the air sucker into his mouth, “Close. And, open.” clearing out any left over paste.

“You’re almost done.” Her eyes smiled, as he couldn’t see her whole face.

“Awe really? I’ve been enjoying this.” She shot him a look of confused and almost joking.

“Oh yeah?” Her tone was snarky.

“Yes. My girlfriend is cleaning my teeth in a very private room. I get some interesting one on one time with her. Even though it’s a little weird, I’m having a good time.” He was flashing his pearly whites at her.

“Well,” she paused. “I’m enjoying this too.” Her face slightly blushed. They both shared a laugh.

“What’s left?” He curiously asked.

“Fluoride.” She replied. He audibly groaned at the response. “Oh? Not a fan?”

“That stuff always has me on the brink of gagging, it’s the worst thing ever.” His face was one of disgust.

“Mm. Bad gag reflexes?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s fortunate for you though, cause you’d have a rough time sucking dick.” Her face was one big smirk, it was clear through the mask too.

“Dear god Y/N.” He laughed. She shrugged, “just saying.” He slowly nodded, with attitude.

She prepped the pink goo on the arch shaped mouthpiece. She filled a top and a bottom piece.

“Just breath and try not to think about it. Open.” She carefully placed the fluoride trays into his mouth, lifting up his soft top and bottom lips to fit over the tray. “60 seconds, you can do it.” She took off a glove and grabbed one of his hands with it. He closed his eyes shut, trying not to gag on this stuff. “40 seconds” she was rubbing his hand with her finger ever so lightly. “20 seconds” her ungloved hand carefully stroked his cheek, feeling his baby smooth skin. “10 seconds.”

“Okay okay, open.” She removed both the trays and tossed them to the side. A cup of water was handed to him, as she wiped his mouth off with a towel. The mask and gloves both came off, as she stood up from the rolling stool.

She gently smiled at him, “all done.” He sighed a sigh of relief, as that last part was the worst part.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She questioned.

“Not at all,” he ran his tongue over his newly polished teeth, “they feel great.” He was bearing his smile at her, which made her heart flutter.

“So on a patient level, your teeth are in incredible condition, Seb. You clearly take care of them. I recorded three fillings from the past, and the retainers from the invisalign you had years ago. Nothing looks chipped or damaged, the fillings are in great condition and the retainer looks as sturdy as it will get!”

“I-, wow yeah thank you.” He was a little embarrassed himself, his cheeks going red.

“I gotta say, this was incredibly satisfying for me. I can’t explain it really. I told you how I’ve had an obsession with dentistry since I was young, I just wanted to do this so badly. Why though? No clue.” She paused, to look at her boyfriend who was still lying on his back, with the overhead light still on. She turned it off, so she wasn’t blinding him. “To get to clean my boyfriends teeth though was, like an accomplishment for me almost? Maybe not. It’s weird, but I was just happy you let me do this for you, Seb.”

“Hey, I get it. You’re passionate, use that word instead. There’s no judgment. I admire you and your work, it isn’t easy. I mean, scraping random strangers teeth all day? I’ll pass.” He laughed at his own comment. “Your a real professional Y/N and I’ll come back anytime for you to clean my teeth.” She placed a hand on her chest and slightly took her body back. “Seb! That’s so nice oh my god!” She was enthusiastic at this point. “Here shit sorry let me put the chair back up.” She said as her foot tapped the chair back to a ninety degree angle.

“Come here.” He reached his arms out, pulling her face into his. They managed to kiss yet again, which lead to a small makeout session. She sat on his lap on the chair as the two of them continued extreme kissing.

“Wow thank you for that.” She propped herself off his lap, wiping her lips with her hand. “You taste so good.” She told him.

“Well, you did just clean my entire mouth so, I’d hope it does.” His face had a suggestive look on it.

“Dear god Sebastian you’re making me hot in my workplace, this is so dangerous.” She panted.

[oosteven-universe]

Star Trek Discovery: Aftermath #1

Star Trek Discovery: Aftermath #1 IDW Publishing 2019 Written by Kirsten Beyer & Mike Johnson Illustrated by Tony Shasteen Coloured by J.D. Mettler Lettered by Neil Uyetake     You saw the stunning conclusion of the second season of Star Trek: Discovery—now witness the Aftermath! After discovering Michael Burnham’s personal log, Spock begins to unravel the story of Burnham’s journey from orphan to Starfleet officer—and the secret history of the Red Angel as well. But as he confronts the secrets of Burnham’s past, he’ll also have to grapple with his own. An amazing new Star Trek: Discovery miniseries begins here!     Oh my stars and garters this just made me miss the show in ways I wasn't prepared for. These folks just wrote the first issue and made fit seamlessly into the shows timeline like it really is a natural extension. Everything that I see here is so beautifully done that I could hear the actors voices as I read their lines. I got so lost in this story that I have to applaud these guys and IDW for gathering the right people to do this and making it feel just incredibly natural.     I like the way that this is being told the story & plot development and the character development are spectacularly well done. The seem to be so integrally tied together and can work separately if need be and then how the pacing picks them up and constantly moves them forward creating this ebb & flow that feels like it's natural. The opening is excellent as we get a look at one of the houses who are most vocal about removing L'Rell from power. The more that changes the more things stay the same right and it's like that here when it comes to the roles of men and women in the Klingon empire. Besides what would this be without this kind of intrigue and drama?     Now Captain Pike's reliance upon his Number 1 and Spock is a bit questionable to me. Though the idea that he he needs them in ways verge on manic obsessive take the reader off script. That now we are running his life, history and what we've seen thus far of him through our minds and trying to rationalise his actions, desires and wants is sensationally well done. This is how you get a reader engaged and invested in the story and keep them coming back time and again for more. Sure there is the tie-in which is going to bring in folks but if you haven't seen it this still stands on it's own two feet as an incredibly good story.     I have been a fan, supporter and lover of Tony's work for quite some time now and if you look at these pages you'll understand why. The linework is utterly exquisite and how we see the varying weights utilised in such great ways, from absolutely delicate to fully bold, to bring out this attention to detail. Good grief I mean that linework in L'Rell's weapon or in the backgrounds behind her, hell on the Klingon Homeworld period, even the enterprise itself all of it has this desired effect upon the reader. The way we see him compose the panels so we see depth perception and the use foregrounds to backgrounds is simply stunning. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective show this masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work here is outstanding! There are these moments we see where the bridge is lit up and the monitors and all this white neon light is seen and it's breathtaking. Again seeing the Klingon homeworld and how he uses gradation and the hues and tones is extraordinary.     The book is simply utterly brilliantly done from the way we see the writing to the interior artwork. The characterisation that we see reinforces that which we already know while also being able to add to them so that continue growing and evolving before our eyes. The fact that if you don't know better this is a treasure for any Star Trek fan and it could very well just be a comic and not related to anything else. This creative team is responsible for bringing us this blind-side you kind of storytelling.

[lovely-qualms]

FMA Secret Santa 2018 Gift!!

Ahh, I’m cutting it so close, I’m so sorry I didn’t post it earlier! This is for @sassyfirealchemist (who coincidentally was also my Secret Santa!) for the Secret Santa exchange by @fmasecretsanta2018 !

I hope you like, and I’m sorry for the lateness again!

Title: Fortunes and Feelings

Rating: T+

Relationships: Roy Mustang/ Edward Elric

Tags: Historical (Victorian-ISH), Romance, Humor, Policeman!Roy, Psychic!Ed, circus

Find this fic on: FF.net and AO3

There were two things that Roy believed were working rather valiantly towards making his morning effectively terrible- well, three were he not used Hughes’ incessant early-morning ramblings. The first was the apologetic woman standing at the entrance of his favorite coffee spot who dared tell Roy the place had closed due to bankruptcy (immediately after this, a passing carriage horse had kicked a puddle directly at his boots, which did nothing to Roy’s sour mood). And, well, the young policeman and his chatty colleague currently stood in the midst of the second noisy, colorful, terrible thing.

The bloody circus.

“When I bring Elicia she’ll win every prize there is! Oh-Roy- she’s going to be so excited about that carousel! Don’t you think?” Hughes nearly squealed in delight at the thought of his daughter running around the amusements (wastes of money, in Roy’s opinion).

“Yes Hughes, I’m sure Elicia will have great fun here. Why a circus needs two policemen to keep guard in the ass crack of the morning I’m not sure.” Roy grumbled. It was currently rather cloudy and windy, and the few people actually here that weren’t staff or guard seemed to regret their forwardness of schedule.

Hughes shrugged, “You know pickpockets and drunkards love to ride the coattails of these kinds of places. Oh, look! There’re the acrobats!”

Just as Roy rolled his eyes at his friend’s behavior, a young blonde man swathed in thick brocade and fluttering silks approached them. Looking around, Roy pegged down a similarly silky tent that must belong to this man that lay to the right of them.

Roy and Hughes shook his hand (which Roy silently noted was automail) before he spoke, “Good morning, Officers. Chief Grand sent you, right? I’ll be giving you a little tour of the area, as our ringleader has a lot of last-minute preparations to take care of before the crowds really set in.”

“Do we get a name, o tour guide?” Roy asked, masking his displeasure with veiled sarcasm.

The blonde’ mouth quirked into an amused smile, “Ed. My brother and I are psychics.” Out of adherence to decorum, Roy refrained from rolling his eyes, but his skepticism must have shown through because Ed gave him an unamused look. “Let’s go see some hot spots of potential crime, shall we?“

….

They made their way slowly through the large field of gallantry and show, Ed pointing out various tents and shady areas that needed ‘special supervision’. The young man seemed incredibly familiar with the layout of the area, even though the circus hadn’t been set up for but a day or two. When asked, Ed simply explained that their layout was similar wherever they went, and he knew whose tents were whose and “all that shit”. His teasing personality got on Roy’s nerves, especially since his day hadn’t started out particularly well either.

“Those are where the drunkards like to drink and flirt with ladies and whatnot” Ed gestured to several gaps between tents sporting respectively, an ashcan and several empties liquor bottles.

“Attractive,” Roy muttered.  

Ed cast a quick, annoyed glace at Roy, “Jeez, Who spat in your breakfast?”

Roy ignored this remark, turning to Hughes instead, “I’ll patrol northern half of the grounds, you get the Southern. We can switch at noon.”

Hughes gave the teasing affirmative, “Sir, yes sir,” going as far as to offer Roy a salute before turning away to his patrol before Roy could snap back. When Roy turned around to Ed, he realized the blonde had disappeared into his nearby tent, leaving Roy alone to work.

————————————

Roy didn’t see Ed until the next week, as the circus was incredibly busy in its opening days. Between shifts patrolling the northern or southern blocks of the fairgrounds, Roy and Hughes made it their personal goals to find the most ridiculous attraction there.

Roy, in a valiant attempt to top Hughes’ sighting of “world’s hairiest man”, decided to test his luck with the fortune tellers’ tent on his break that Thursday. Surely some ridiculous prognosis of his life would override some bloke who doesn’t shave enough.

Roy easily recognized the tent- it was the reddest, most decorated tent of the lot (outside of the central Big Top of course), huge lettered sign notwithstanding. Because of the time and cool morning breeze, not many people were out yet, so Roy took the opportunity to slip through the silks hanging in the doorway and into the small room.

Inside, the tent was considerably darker than outside. The thick canvas walls blocked out the sun, and only a few candles and a dim lantern lit the inside. Ed sat on the opposite end of a small table covered in yet more silks, cards, books, and glass knick-knacks.

When Ed recognized his new customer, he smirked. “Officer, don’t you have a patrol to keep up?”

Roy sat casually in the chair across from the blonde, “I’m on my break. Decided to come check out the validity of the local psychic.”

“Well, you don’t get to check me out for free.” Ed snipped, cringing a second later when he realized how his words came out.

Roy rolled his eyes and dropped two coins into the box by the door, “Now may I check you out?”

Ed glared, “Just sit and show me your hand.”

Roy did as he was told. Ed grabbed his hand, explaining as he picked opened a large book with his free hand, “Today I’m giving palm readings. I want to switch it up every week or so, but this is a pretty simple method. Good for the start of the week.”

“You don’t really think my hand will tell me my future.” Roy stated, already not on board with Ed’s ‘methods’.

Ed looked up at Roy blandly, “Your hand’s not telling you. I’m telling you, based on how your palm lines read.”

“Well then, what do my palm lines say?”

Ed looked intently at Roy’s hand for a second, tracing down one or two larger lines, “Well this one represents your inclination towards your friends over your family, and this one here means you’ll have good luck in love….” Ed explained.

Roy snorted, “Now I know you’re phony.”

“Hey, I’m just reading what it tells me.” Ed huffed, still concentrated on the hand in his grasp. He drew a finger down Roy’s hand lightly, “Let’s see now… despite your thrilling occupation, your occupational future looks fairly calm- see, that’s this line here.” Roy refrained from rolling his eyes yet again. Ed already knew his occupation; of course, he could deduce that he lived a relatively more “thrilling” life than others.

Silence reigned for a while as Ed analyzed the finer trails of Roy’s palm, going so far as to open a reference book somewhere around the base of his thumb. The silence lasted long enough for Roy’s palm to become lightly clammy under the pressure and heat of the other’s hands before Ed broke his gaze, looking up at Roy’s face almost apologetically, “Everything else’s too vague, especially since all I’ve got is this candlelight. It sets the mood, but really messes up my vision.”

Roy, taking this admission as proof of Ed’s position as more of entertainment than of divine reading, stood, “Well, Edward, your services have been most interesting.

Ed wrinkled his nose, “My services- You make it sound like I’m a prostitute or something.”

Roy laughed, “Hey it’s you who said it.”

Ed looked exasperatedly at the policeman, “Don’t you have some drunkards to kick around or something?”

Roy, still amused, left the tent ever more intent to return.

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

He returned to Hughes after their shifts were over, finding the other man fawning over a large selection of goodies that, quote, his “darling Elicia would win for sure”.

“Well, you’re still winning. The psychic’s more sarcastic than he is ridiculous, not that I believe a word of that superstitious crap.” Roy sighed, leaning against the wall of a large pink booth.

“Where’s the ‘but’?” Hughes asked, knowing his colleague all too well.

“I have to make sure, so I’m going to check out his tent again next week.

Hughes’ smirk was enough to make Roy wish there hadn’t been a ‘but’, “Sure that’s why.”

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

Ed intrigued the policeman, and he was a far shot easier to talk to than the stuffy women who waited outside of attractions while their children wreaked havoc inside. So, with two coins and a healthy dose of skepticism, Roy returned the next week. Instead of palm books and cards, atop the tablecloth sat a box of stones, metal nubs, and string.

Ed, who had been fiddling with a string tied around a purple stone, looked up with interest, “Officer, I didn’t think you’d turn up. Crime’s been pretty high recently.”

“I can take a small break, can’t I?” Roy responded.

“You wouldn’t be shirking your duties, would you? An upstanding police officer such as yourself?” came the rebuttal.

Roy tossed his coins into the nearby coinbox, “Well, tell me my future and maybe I can dutifully return to my post.”

Ed barked out a laugh, “You’re kind of stuck up, you know that?”

Roy smirked, “So I’ve been told.” He glanced at the stones and string atop the table at which he now sat, “What’re all of these for?”

Ed’s grin grew as he drew into his element, “Pendulum reading, it’s a personal favorite of mine.”

“How does it work?”

Ed picked up a thin chain, “I’ll show you. What’s your birth month?”

“February. Why?” Roy asked.

Ed sifted through his collection on stones which all had little metal loops at their bases. He pulled out a skinny little amethyst from the depths of the box, explaining, “Your birthstone- It makes the reading clearer.” Roy hummed in acknowledgment, but let Ed focus on his work. He’d taken out various maps and calendars, and he had fixed the amethyst to a small chain. Once he was set up, Ed asked, What do you want to know? Location usually works best.”

The reading was fun enough. Roy asked a lot of trivial questions, watching the crystal swing around until it stilled over a location on the map (he was fairly certain Ed was manipulation the rock, but he didn’t comment). He liked chatting to Ed about the questions and their answers more than he did the actual reading, however.

Eventually, Roy stood up, noting his need to actually work before excusing himself from the tent.

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

Over the weeks, Roy saw Ed frequently through the circus grounds. They usually chatted briefly and went their separate ways. Every week, Roy also made a point to visit Ed’s tent for a reading of some sort. He had given up on trying to tell himself it was merely intrigue that brought him to Ed’s tent. He was fully aware that he wanted to be in the spirited blonde’s company.

Despite their daily meetings in the grounds, it wasn’t until two months after the circus’ arrival that Roy saw Ed outside of the grounds, in plain, civilian clothing. It was a Sunday, the one day the circus was closed, and coincidentally Roy’s day off.

He had been strolling down the city’s main line of stores, gazing into windows for a birthday present for Elicia, when he had seen the telltale flash of golden hair through a window reflection.

After the first incident, Roy began to see Ed in the marketplace rather frequently. He never bought anything, only talked to store owners and looked into the window of the now-vacant coffee spot. Roy always saw him at side-glances and in passing, so he never actually got around to talking to Ed outside of their occasional on-duty meetings until the next Sunday.

Exiting the local grocer’s, Roy nearly collided head-on with the small man he’d seen around town. Ed let out a colorful array of expletives, cursing Roy for making him drop his food without even looking up to see who he’d collided with.

Roy couldn’t help his amused smile, “For a fortune-teller, you’re not so perceptive on the streets.”

Ed, finally recognizing the recipient of his verbal attacks, snapped his gaze up at Roy, “Officer guy! You should’ve looked where you’re going.”

“I prefer ‘Roy’ off-duty, thank you.” He clipped back, moving from the doorway of the grocer’s to let passers-by through. Ed definitely looked different in plain clothing (just a button-down and some brown slacks), though Roy did notice how the button-down’s rolled-up sleeves did well to Ed’s general appearance. It showed off his masterful automail wonderfully, as well. If anything, he looked more mature than he did in his circus getup.

“Want a hand?” He added as the blonde was struggling to fit his wares into the crumpled paper grocery bags.

Ed shrugged, and Roy took it as an invitation to help. He fit the remaining containers into place and, before Ed could protest, took one of the bags in his arms with the excuse, “I’ve got nothing better to do.” In reality, Ed had become something of a fancy to Roy, and he intended to spend his valuable time seeing that fancy through. After all, the circus wouldn’t stay in Central forever.

Ed looked away, either embarrassed or frustrated, muttering, “Wouldn’t wanna damage your ego too badly by denying you, seems like you wouldn’t be too used to the concept.”

“Oh yeah, I’m never told no. The criminals simply run into the police car. In fact, they have to fight over who gets a ride; it’s simply infuriating!” Roy replied, shifting the bag a bit as they crossed a stopped road two blocks from the circus grounds.

Ed rolled his eyes but didn’t look particularly offended. He changed the subject, “That old coffee shop downtown: Why did it close?”

Roy shrugged, “The owner’s daughter said bankruptcy. It’s weird, because the location is great, and I never saw the place empty.”

Ed nodded but had fallen in a contemplative state that Roy felt uninclined to break him from. They reached the circus grounds at this point, and Ed snapped out of it to take Roy’s grocery sack and bid him adieu.

----------

The circus was packed up two days later. Roy tried to hide his indignation, but he could tell that Hughes sensed his mad mood.

“Come on, Roy, we can go back to catching the big guys now.” Hughes stated as they watched the pack of acrobats walk into the big tent with their equipment tied into large bundles.

“Yeah.” Roy stated mildly, pushing off the wall, “I’ll make a round.”

Hughes’ sigh didn’t escape Roy as he ambled through the falling tents and scattered flyers. he found himself outside of Ed’s tent before he knew where he’d walked. The fortune teller’s blonde head poked out from behind the curtain-door, “Roy, hey! You haven’t come around in the past few days.”

“Yeah, there’s been a lot of ruffians trying to get their final few crimes in before you all go off.” He shrugged, “Need any help packing?”

Ed gave Roy a rare smile, “Yeah, come on in.”

He was tasked with placing all of Ed’s fragile-looking crystals and glass relics into boxes full of hay, which was difficult when the objects were all awkward shapes and curves that didn’t fit nicely into a rectangular space. While working, Roy kept looking over at Ed, who seemed oddly peppy. He’d have thought moving around would be laborious and frustrating, but Ed smiled almost secretly to himself. When they were done with his packing, Roy turned to find Ed looking at him searchingly.

“I guess all that’s left is the tent, huh.” The policeman stated.

Ed looked around, “I guess so, but I can take that down myself. Thanks for the help.”

“It’s no problem,” Roy dismissed, not sure what to do, “Um, I guess have good luck in the next city…”

Ed rolled his eyes and stepped forwards, grabbing Roy’s arms and planting a light kiss on the other man’s lips. Roy froze, not quite comprehending what was happening. He hadn’t even considered his crush being a shared attraction. Through Roy’s stunned silence, Ed smirked, “I don’t like goodbyes. Get out of my tent, asshole, I’ll see you around, yeah?”

Roy couldn’t help his smile, “Yeah, see you around.” He left the tent with a small skip and didn’t explain to a confused Hughes how a patrol round of the grounds had so drastically changed his mood.

-----------

He didn’t see Ed around that day, unfortunately, as they were all gone the next day. Only a mess of paper and trash remained of the circus, and Roy felt all the more dejected for it. It was his day off, and he walked down the downtowns strip, trying to find some way to waste his time and, maybe, distract himself from the day before.

He left a clothing store empty-handed and looked over longingly at the closed doors of the closed coffee shop, really wanting some of their past wares at the moment. What he didn’t expect to see was the door open, and a young man with short, dirty blonde hair adjusting some tables outside. Curiously, he walked across the street to the man.

“Good Afternoon” he greeted, and the man looked up with a happy expression.

“Hello, you curious? We’ve had a lot of questions.” He replied.

Roy shrugged, “I guess I am. Not many shops here go back into business so quickly.”

The boy smiled, “My brother an I just bought the place yesterday. We were part of the circus that just left, and needed a change of pace.”

“Oh?” Roy’s interest had been effectively piqued, “What kind of store will it be?”

A voice from the doorway answered, “We’re selling oddities and psychic services.”

Roy whipped around, “Ed!”

The blonde laughed at Roy’s surprise, “I told you I’d see you around.”

“You didn’t have to be so cryptic,” Roy responded, but couldn’t hide his excitement. Ed had an equally happy quirk of a smile behind his trained natural look, “Where’s the fun in that? You don’t look like you’re working, wanna help set up instead of standing here pestering Al?”

Al protested his brother’s comment and Roy rolled his eyes, already crossing the threshold behind Ed, “I get it- you just like to use me.”

Ed feigned exasperation, “Took you long enough to figure it out.”

Roy helped Ed set up shop for the rest of the afternoon, but not without first pulling him out of Al’s sight and properly reciprocating Ed’s earlier kiss.

His day went much better than planned.

[thesffcorner]

Corrupt by Penelope Douglass

Corrupt is an erothic thriller that’s part of the Devil’s Night series by Penelope Douglas. It mostly follows Erika, daughter to a rich family living in the affluent community in Thunder Bay, who three years ago was involved in an event that sent 3 of Thunder Bay’s most popular and prized boys to jail. Now, they are back, and along with Michael, their best friend and the man Erika has been in love with her entire life, they plan to destroy her and exact their revenge.

This book, is probably the most disappointing thing I have ever read. And I have a lot to say about it, so buckle up; it’s going to be a long review.

First off, this has probably one of the most intriguing premises I have come across in a while; 4 boys who are the richest, most powerful, popular and well protected in an already incredibly rich and affluent community pick one night a year where they do ‘pranks’ that go from stealing trucks to arson and assault, and get away with it, because even though everyone knows who they are, they are so protected by their own community, that they never have to face consequences. Except, because of Erika they do, and now they want revenge, and to complicated things, the one who didn’t go to jail is in love with her. And yet, this book fails to deliver on every possible promise of this premise, which is almost incredible.

PoV Issues:

First off, for whatever reason we have POV’s from both Erika and Michael, which completely takes the mystery out of the book. If the whole premise is Erika not knowing whether Michael likes/hates/wants to sexually assault her, it kind of defeats the purpose of the mystery if we can read exactly what he’s thinking. Having his POV grinds a lot of the book to a halt, and it’s not delivered particularly well either; there’s long stretches of the book where we don’t have his POV, while the ending is almost entirely him, making the book feel uneven; it’s like it can’t decide if he or Erika are the protagonists and as such, character development that should come at the beginning is saved for the very end, at which point I no longer cared.

Pacing and Length:

Second, this book is just way too long. It’s almost 500 pages, and it doesn’t utilize them well. We skip between 3 years ago and the present, and the 3 years ago sections were painful. Everything that happens in the school prior to the actual Devil’s Night is straight out of a poorly written YA book, complete with the ‘popular boy I like doesn’t notice me’ trope, the ‘I think I’m plain, but I’m secretly stunning’, and most infuriatingly dialogue so bad, not only do no teenagers actually speak like that, no humans speak like that.

This was doubly confusing to me, because the one thing Douglas does do well is the banter between the Horsemen (barf); their dialogue and jokes did sound convincingly high school and like boys pretending to be tough and unbothered, but unfortunately we get very little exploring their dynamic.

You’d think that a 500 page book would have time to develop the characters and really flesh out this plan and its intricacies, but no. Instead, we have one scene of MIchael and his dad arguing about trust funds and inheritance, another scene of the guys planning to do something to Erika’s mom (and us not knowing what they did for like 20+ chapters, even though WE CAN READ FROM MICHAEL’S POV), and the rest is just inane bits of I guess character development for Erika, which is delivered in the most blunt, uninteresting straightforward manner. It doesn’t help that in the past sections, it takes about 200 pages for things to actually start getting interesting, because the start is just Erika being tormented relentlessly by all the men around her, and her not standing up, and the present is her series of increasingly dumb decisions, and back and forth between her and Michael. The plot also peaks too early, and the following 100 pages just feel like they are a waste of time rather than building tension.

The Sex Scenes:

The pacing affects even the sex scenes. Some of them are ill placed, and others are so long and drawn out that even if you are reading this book for them, you will be bored out of your mind. Again, this book can’t decide if it’s a genuine erotic thriller with stakes and a plot, and the sex is supposed to play into that, or an erotica with some mild thriller elements. If it’s the former, then the fact that we have no sex for the first 200 pages, and then like 5 or 6 really long scenes near the climax of the thriller plot is not helpful, and neither is the fact that only 2 really contribute to the plot. If it’s the latter, then there are too few of them and they come too late in the book for anyone to care at that point. 500 pages is just too long for an erotic novel, and I was tapped out on caring about the sex by the second proper sex scene.

Writing and Dialogue:

This book is not written… well. Firstly, there are tons of overlong, flat and plain unnecessary descriptions; I don’t need to know the layout of Michael’s family house unless it will contribute to the plot, or every detail of Erika’s childhood if you won’t at least describe it with flare. The point of long descriptions in FP narratives is to give us insight into how the characters see and remember the world; they’ll describe things in their individual way and note what they find important. Here it’s just flat straightforward descriptions of actions or places that tell me nothing about Erika or Michael.

This same style of flat writing permeates the book even in the sex scenes; we get them both from Michael and Erika and they sound exactly the same, there is no difference. In general there is no difference between Michael and Erika’s voices; Michael mentions cocks and boobs more and wants you to know ‘Erika is mine’ and Erika is constantly thinking only about Michael and wants you to know ‘she belongs to no one, except no one is Michael’

She also has these long monologues about wealth, privilege, social pressures and differences between men and women, and it’s almost infuriating, because Douglas is so close to actually saying something meaningful about these things, but it never goes anywhere and it only serves to tell us that yes, Erika is rich, and yes, it sometimes bothers her, but no, she’d never give up the money, even though I guess she wants to feel like she’d survive without it. If it was written better and actually informed Erika’s character, it would be an interesting study of someone who grew up rich and learning how to make it on their own outside of their privileged environment, but like a lot of things, it goes nowhere.

Then there’s the dialogue. It’s bad. I won’t belabor the point, but I will just give you two examples: on page 28:

“Rika,” he lowered his voice, his brown eyes gentle “Baby you’re beautiful. Long blonde hair, legs that no guy in this school can ignore and he prettiest blue eyes in town. You’re gorgeous”

And on page 70:

“What about you?” I finally asked, making him stop. “Did prison change you?”

He turned, looking at me with eerie calmness “I guess we’ll see”

Lack of Genuine Darkness and Consequences:

Like that second example implies, this book is ‘dark’. Unfortunately, that’s probably the biggest missed opportunity. This is hard to talk about without SPOILERS, so skip this part if you still want to read this book.

We are told that Erika did something to put the guys in jail, possibly as revenge for something they did to her; moreover, their plan is to destroy her, which could mean anything. So I was excited to get some genuinely dark stuff, but unfortunately this book has a tendency to whitewash it’s characters, and nothing they do is actually that reprehensible.

First let’s talk about Devil’s Night. I didn’t mind that the pranks the guys pulled were mostly tied to property damage and theft, because, well they are high schoolers. The orgy/sex circle in the catacombs was just… dumb. I can’t imagine why high school students would be down to have sex in an actual CATACOMB in front of a live audience that just so happens not to have phones recording everything but whatever. The only prank the boys pull which is genuinely fucked up was burning the gazebo, but while I didn’t approve, it wasn't anything that was genuinely dark.

What the guys actually do to Erika was also weird. On the one hand, taking her for a ride in a forest and pretending to want to rape her, so they scare her to stay away from Michael is pretty fucked up. But on the other hand, they don’t actually do it, and since it was Trevor pulling the shots, they never even INTENDED to do it. Even Damon, the one guy from the Horsemen who actually participated in the act, had no intention of actually assaulting Erika, which she obviously didn’t know at the time, but it makes his actions much less sinister.

Then there’s Erika. She didn’t actually do it. That’s the big twist; what gets the boys in jail, isn’t actually anything she does. Instead it was Trevor, all along because there is only one true villain and he is Trevor. What lands Damon in jail is a video of him sleeping with the mayor’s daughter, which Trevor sends to the police. Since the girl is underage, it’s legally  not consensual and well… yeah. Again, we can argue all day about consent of minors, but in this book’s universe, Michael is fine for wanting to sleep with a 16 year old Erika, and the book makes sure to tell us that Damon did seduce and consentually sleep with the girl. Even more, the mayor actually hated Damon’s family and used this to destroy him and… can we whitewash Damon a little more please? I don’t think he’s quite saintly enough. He’s the only person who does something in the ballpark of reprehensible, and surprise he’s the other designated villain.

Will and Kai get caught on tape beating up a police officer. Bad, right? Well no, it turns out the police officer they beat up, abused his sister. How noble of them. They are such good people, they went to jail for Will trying to protect his crush (whose gazebo he burned down but… Will makes no sense as a character, don’t dwell on it).

Then the actual plan. First, Michael legally forces Erika’s mother into rehab, which is illegal, but not morally wrong since she is an alcoholic and in essence he’s forcing her to get help. Then Kai, Will and Damon burn down Erika’s house, which was the only part of this plan that I genuinely felt was horrible, but that’s only because we get the one good scene of Michael and Erika bonding over her collection of matches she keeps to remember her father.

Then, Michael takes over as the proprietor of Erika’s estate and freezes all her funds which is again, is a pretty dick move, but didn’t Erika want not to be shackled by her father;s money? Also this is just the last ploy to get Erika to go to the house where the boys are hiding so they can exact their true revenge which is…. To rape her. Maybe.

This part I was really confused by. It seems that’s what they want, but later we are told that they only really wanted to frighten her and make her feel as alone and afraid as they all did when they went to jail. Which again, whitewashes their actions, but even if they did genuinely want to rape her, the plan still makes no sense.

You are telling me that these men, spent 3 years in jail and the only thing that helped them survive it, is a plan to send Erika’s mom to rehab, freeze or destroy her material properties and then rape her? And then what? None of them seem interested in killing her, so do they just… hope she doesn’t go to the police? They all have criminal records, and one of them is probably in the database for sexual offenders! And then, when we find out what had actually happened, everyone just forgives everyone, except Travis the supervillain, who gets MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD.

Now, I want to be very clear. Nothing I say here is something I condone. I do not condone sexual violence, or really any type of violence that isn’t in self defense. But either commit to the characters or don’t damnit!

Commit to the boys assaulting Erika. Maybe don’t go all the way; have Trevor intervene and save her, and maybe he convinces her to use the videos on Will’s phone if you want her to not be solely responsible for sending them to jail. Then the threat of them being in town is genuine because they are actually dangerous people. I would 100% believe that the culmination of their plan is to rape her, if we know they’d done it before, and even more so because of what they had to go through while in prison. It also helps add conflict to Erika and Michael’s characters; he could slowly find out that there was a reason Erika sent them to jail and then he actually has to choose between his friends and her. Erika actually was willing to take justice in her own hands, since she would know first hand how the previous attempt she made to get a rapist to be punished went.

Which leads me to the lack of consequences. As soon as the truth comes out Erika immediately forgives the guys for literary destroying her life, and she especially immediately forgive Michael for not even stopping for a moment to make sure what they guys told him was true, and being willing to let them assault her! Then we have Damon, who gets stabbed, but then completely gets away with helping Travis orchestrate the joyride, assaulting Erika again, kidnapping her, and helping Travis try and kill her. He just fucks off to St Petersburg! (Side note, what kind of person thinks that Damon Torrence is someone who has Russian heritage?)

Travis, a whole mess of a character, kidnaps his ex so he can lure his brother and TRY TO KILL HIM, because his ex is in love with him. He orchestrates a possible rape so he can destroy the relationship between the boys and Erika, sends the boys to jail and why? No reason! And then, he gets shot and killed by Michael, and Michael GETS AWAY WITH IT. There is no trial, no jail time, not scandal in the papers about the son of the wealthiest man in Thunder Bay and a professional NBA BASKETBALL PLAYER killing his own brother! IN WHAT UNIVERSE? That part annoyed me even more than all the other things I mentioned before; there are no consequences and no motivation and this book FAILS as a thriller.

Characters:

Let’s start with actual supervillain Trevor. He is possessive, jealous, arrogant and willing to KILL HIS OWN BROTHER just because the girls he wants is in love with him. Why?

He seems to be their abusive dad’s favorite son, he’s arranged to marry Erika anyway, he gets all of her properties and money and managed to get rid of Michael’s friends. He has everything! All he had to do was just tell his father or Erika that the gang is back and planning something, and none of this would’ve happened. He even gets an evil monologue at the end and tells Erika Damon’s backstory, both of which were straight out of a Bond movie. I hated this stupid waste of a character when he could’ve actually been fleshed out and interesting.

Alex is a character that just exists so Erika isn’t the only girl in this book. There is a very weird and inexplicable implication that she’s attracted to Erika and is maybe bisexual and maybe Erika is bisexual that goes absolutely nowhere and I absolutely hated it. It doesn’t help that this book is weirdly homophobic in some other aspects, and the way all the characters, especially the men treat Alex was just awful.

Out of the three guys, Will was the one I understood the least. He’s an alcoholic and that’s where his character starts and ends. We never learn anything interesting about him, and he barely has 10 lines in total. He might as well not have been there.

Damon we’ve been over; he’s the one that I ended up liking the most, because he was the only actually morally corrupt and interesting character. He outright hates women, has a pretty intense backstory and severe mommy issues, and even gets some interesting dialogue with Erika. He’s the only one I might be tempted to read a book about, but only if it’s much shorter than this.

At first Kai was the most interesting of the group and was the biggest wasted potential. He is closed off, secretive and seems to be the most reasonable one, and I genuinely thought that his big secret was either going to be that he has been in love with Michael this whole time, or that he was also sexually assaulted in jail. We never find out what happened to him in jail, which is a shame, but again, since this is a series it probably something Douglas is saving for the second book. As for his relationship with Michael, without me spoiling anything, it’s exactly the twist with Wentworth Miller’s character from Loft, except if the pool scene actually had actually gone with Miller joining the rest. I never like this type of queerbaity twist, especially, because as I mentioned the representation of anyone who isn’t straight or white in this book is horrendous. 

Michael was both the worst character and the best developed one. I understood where his anger issues stemmed from, why he was so rude and abrasive to everyone, especially Erika and even the hatred he had for Trevor. I wish we actually had time to develop his relationship with Trevor and his father, and actually delved into why they hated each other so much, but we don’t have time for that in this hell. I thought since he was a basketball player, it would actually play a part, but it doesn’t; other than one line about him being distracted because of the plan, the fact that he plays for the NBA is completely irrelevant. His relationship with Erika was infuriating. He supposedly loves her and thinks she’s his match, but he treats her like shit; possessive, hypocritical, controlling and condescending. There is no reason he should have commitment issues but he has those too, and the fact that it takes Erika being in mortal danger before he tells her he loves her was INFURIATING.

Erika was no better. I again, foolishly believed that her being a fencer would have something to do with the plot but other than an excuse for two truly bewildering scenes it doesn’t. She was an incredibly feeble character and the more the book attempted to paint her as becoming this powerful player and ‘corrupt’ girl the more I got Ana Steele and Bella Swan vibes. She is not empowered nor strong; she is constantly pushed around, insulted, yelled at and even physically manhandled by everyone around her. The fact that none of the characters talk to or treat her like an adult, or know how to communicate at all was bewildering, and she herself was just dense. Not only does she make the stupidest decisions, she also multiple times fails to grasp really simple, obvious things and her wanting to be a sociologist because she liked reading people made me scream.

What’s most frustrating, is just like with Michael there are nuggets of a good character here and there; she is sometimes observant and clever, but mostly she just allows everyone to manipulate her and I couldn’t stand it.

Conclusion?

I do NOT recommend this book. It kept me reading only because I was curious to see what had actually sent the gang to jail and when I found out I was too far into the book to justify DNFing it. But it was not good and I have no desire to read any of the subsequent books by her, unless I hear that her writing has drastically improved (which judging by the blurb for Kill Switch, the book about Damon, it doesn’t seem like it).

goodreads

[vintagesewingmachine]

The Shadowsinger - Azriel - 4/?

Azriel struggles to contain his feelings - for Elain, for Mor, for himself- and a jewel thief is running around Velaris, causing confusion. And with Cassian in Illyria, Azriel feels alone in his darkness. Into this mess waltzes a stranger, an enigma who calls herself Amuten with a mysterious past and connection to Amren.

Warning: angst, depressed thoughts, self-loathing, dark azriel, cold azriel, anxiety

dont worry there is happy Az too

<<Previous -- Next>>

Azriel sat in Rhysand’s office with him, flipping through reports. Azriel notices as Rhys looks down at his desk with a curious expression on his tanned face. 

     “This letter is addressed to you, I think, Az.” Rhys handed him a letter.

     The envelope was of good quality, expensive. Heavy, almost. 

      Rhysand cleared his throat. “Read the other side.”

     Azriel turned the envelope over in his hands. 

     In exquisite calligraphy, it read: To The Most Beautiful Mysterious Curious Shadowsinger of the Night Court 

     He opened the envelope and slid out the letter. Again, good quality, expensive paper. Quite a few pages, too. 

      Dear Azriel, it said in messy, yet elegant, scrawl. 

      I never did get to tell you the juicy gossip I promised. If you are still curious, be at the Seventh Lamppost on the Seventh Bridge across the Sidra when the sun bleeds the sky red.

     Wear something nice, Spymaster. 

     Thats all I really had to say, but I bought a lot of paper to put in this envelope to make it more intriguing to on-lookers. Flip through and scan the pages, please. I do love tricking people. 

     Sincerely, The Most Beautiful, Mysterious, and Curious

     And that was it. Azriel kept his face neutral as he did as she asked, even though it made him chuckle inside. The writer was obviously Amuten. Eventually he folded the letter and extra pages up and slipped it back into it’s envelope. It vanished in a puff of black smoke to his desk at home. 

     “Who was that from?” His High Lord questioned. 

     Azriel debated telling him it was from The Most Beautiful, Mysterious, and Curious. He settled on “Someone possible information on the jewel thief.” Truth. 

     Rhys raised a brow and commented, “Sounds like they have a pretty high opinion of you. What did it say? The Most Beautiful, Mysterious, Curious Shadowsinger of the Night Court?”

      “The first two were crossed out.”

      Rhys gave him a look. “They wouldn’t have written it if they didn’t think it.”

      The shadowsinger shrugged. “She signed it as The Most Beautiful, Mysterious, and Curious with nothing crossed out, so I don’t think you should read too much into it.”

     “A she? Oh, Az, do you have a secret lover?” His brother teased. 

     “No.”

     Rhys looked into his eyes, as if attempting to discern the truth. Good luck with that. Azriel held the stare, unreadable ice in his hazel eyes. 

     This staring contest went on for several heart beats before Rhys eventually gave up. 

     “Whatever,” he sighed dramatically. “Don’t tell me anything.”

      Azriel winnowed away without another word. 

*****

Azriel lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His shadows floated leisurely around the room, most settling in dark corners or underneath his bed. 

     Sunset approaches, his shadows murmur to him. The shifter will await your presence soon.

     Alright, alright. Azriel sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. After forcing himself to get off the bed, he ruffled through his closet.  No, no, no. 

     His shadows rushed to help him, black ripples of excitement. Here. 

     Azriel pulled out the clothing his shadows and picked out. The nicest thing in his closet. A simple, formal black jacket and suit pants and a crisp white shirt with a bow tie. 

     I am not wearing a tuxedo for a meeting to gather information. He got the impression that if they had been able, his shadows would’ve shrugged as they retreated, leaving him to his own judgement since he had dismissed their own. 

     Azriel ended up putting on casual black pants, a form-fitting white shirt, and a black jacket. He left the jacket open, and strapped Truth-Teller to shiny black belt. It was classy enough to pass in most place in Velaris, but he would certainly never be overdressed. He wondered why Amuten had told him to wear something nice. The spymaster of the High Lord of the Night Court looked down and argued with shadows about what shoes to wear.

     Totally normal.

     His shadows won out, so he pulled on dress shoes rather than his combat boots. Finally, he looked in the mirror to assess his appearance. Not that he would ever admit it, but Azriel liked to look good. Intimidating and mysterious, but sleek. 

     And he did. With sapphire siphons on his hands, large wings creating hulking shadows behind him, and inky hair, he looked good. 

     A thought popped unbidden into his mind. What would Elain think? He blushed, thankful it was invisible to himself in the dark. 

     Yes, Azriel was getting ready without the lights on. He rarely had lights on.

*****

The wind ruffled his black hair and cut through his clothing. As evening grew, the spring air chilled.

     He grinned and flapped his massive wings. Man, he loved flying.

*****

Azriel had already scoped out the meeting spot beforehand. So now he leaned against the seventh lamppost on the seventh bridge, one hand in his pocket and the other resting casually on the hilt of Truth-Teller. Shadows swirled around him, blending in with the darkness as the sun continued its path behind the mountains. 

     Amunet wasn’t here yet. Not that he could see, anyway. Realizing he had no idea what to look for (she could change her appearance after all), he sent some shadows to seek her out. They singled out a tall, elegant female who looked High Fae with pearly skin and pale blonde hair. Ice blue eyes met his across the bridge, and she sashayed her way to him. Amuten wore a silver evening gown that hugged her curves until it fell in a sparkling waterfall to pool at her feet, with a split up to her mid-thigh, so when she stepped her left leg forward, you got a full view of her long, smooth leg, and the dusty silver, strappy heels. The dress also had sheer sleeves that reached her the middle of her forearm, showcasing a large silver-and-diamond bracelet on one wrist. A matching pair of chandelier earring hanged from her ear lobes. 

     Azriel almost wished he had listened to his shadows and worn the tux. 

     “Hey, Azriel,” Amuten greeted him warmly. Then she eyed him in a way that had his insides fluttering. “You look even more handsome than usual. Absolutely dashing.”

     “Thank you,” he murmured, trying not to blush. “You look stunning.”

     Azriel had a feeling she would have tossed her hair had the locks not been swept, pinned and curled with diamond pins over one shoulder. 

     But she did flash him grin, saying, “I know.” No sharp teeth this time. 

     Suddenly a shadow flew up to his ear. Your High Lord is near, and has suspected your presence. He will discover you within a few heartbeats. 

     Unwilling to be seen by his brother, Azriel stepped forward quickly, and grabbed her arm. Then, acting on shadowy instinct, he took her into the shadow realm. But not before catching a violet eye in the crowd. 

*****

Why he had taken her into the shadow realm instead of winnowing? Azriel didn’t know. (I do it makes the escape way more interesting.)

     But he did. He had rarely taken someone into this realm. Only a handful of times and even fewer people in centuries. They usually freaked out in the hallucinatory and chilling realm. But Amuten was come, if awed. Together, they weaved between the faeries. Once Amuten realized that this was shadow-Velaris was the same layout as regular Velaris, she tugged him in one direction. Towards the theatre part of time. They ran through the grey streets, shadowy feet not really touching the ground. The silence was deafening. In the shadow realm, you couldn’t even hear yourself breathe.

     Amuten tried to pull on his arm, but learned that nothing was really substantial in this realm, so she resorted to waving her shadow-arms wildly, leaving streaks of black in the shaded atmosphere. She pointed to the theatre door, and he brought them back into colour and sound and life.

     “That was freaking awesome!” Amuten’s eyes were glowing with exhilaration. 

     Azriel cracked a small smile at her. Amuten’s moods were so contagious. Shadows spun around them in stirred energy. Scraps of black nothingness still clung to the female. 

     When she peered at them curiously, he said, “They feel more at ease with someone who has been to their realm.”

     When she looked back up at him, she wore a smile so similar to Elain’s he had to blink. Elain. The female’s name flooded him with warm feelings. 

     When Amuten made to enter the orchestra hall, Azriel realized why she had told him to dress nicely. 

     They sat in Amuten’s private box, and listened to the concert. It was beautiful. Music never failed to arouse emotion with in the shadowsinger, and it made his shadows come out and surround him in contented silence. 

     During the intermission, Amuten told him that yet another jewel had been stolen, but another one was also returned. He thanked her for the information. 

     Then she asked, “Why are you called a shadowsinger? I mean, I get the shadow part, but what about the singer?”

     Azriel paused. Nobody had ever asked him that before. There was no harm in telling her. But it was private information. Besides, she was always asking questions but never telling him anything. 

     As if reading his thoughts, she said, “I’ll tell you something personal about me.”

     He cocked his head, silently signaling for her to go on.

     “I’m part Illyrian,” Amuten confessed. 

      Part Illyrian? What? That doesn't even make any sense. Does she have wings? 

      “I know what you’re thinking,” she went on. “And I’m not going to explain my messy, complicated lineage to you right now. Maybe some other time. But I do have wings, but I usually hide them, because I never learned how to fly.”

     Unsure how to respond, Azriel answered bluntly, “I sing to my shadows.”

     Their conversation was cut off when the performance started again, and they turned their attention to the stage. They spoke of nothing of importance for the remainder of the night, and parted ways after the show.

*****

The full moon shone down on the shadowsinger as he flew home. 

*****

eek okay so I drew Amuten from her first scene and i also used charcoal pencils to draw the scene where they are running through the shadow realm. I might post them. hope you guys liked this chapter. I know its short but I just wanted it up. 

Smiles, Holly ;)

[introvertguide]

12 Angry Men; AFI #87

The next film on the AFI list was the courtroom drama 12 Angry Men (1957). This was the directorial debut of Sidney Lumet and starred Henry Fonda. The film garnered nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. There was little chance for the film to win anything as it went up against The Bridge on the River Kwai, but the nominations are signs of critical acclaim. The AFI gave the film recognition as the 88th most thrilling, Henry Fonda as Juror 8 was 28th best hero, it was 42nd best cheering movie, and number 2 best courtroom drama. It didn’t get the box office recognition it deserved, but it is theorized that it was a black and white drama filmed in one room and that was not interesting to an audience that wanted Technicolor and Panavision. Apparently even the best of stories could not compete against vibrant color and cinematic landscapes.  

Speaking of stories...SPOILER ALERT!

The story is very simple since almost the entire movie takes place inside a jury room during the deliberation of a murder trial. The very beginning has a judge explaining the idea of reasonable doubt, then he tells them that there is a mandatory death sentence that comes with a murder conviction. There are 12 jurors, all men, who argue about the guilt or innocence of the 18 year old who has been accused of murdering his father. There is a lot of evidence that would suggest the boy committed the murder and eleven of the jurors initially believe he did it. One juror, #8 played by Henry Fonda, doubts some of the evidence. This is exasperating to the others because they all want to go home but the one juror wants to talk out the details of the case before he agrees to send a boy off to die. The jurors discuss the different aspects of the case (murder weapon, witnesses, testimony) and many of the jurors start to doubt the certainty of guilt. 

The accused is Hispanic and lives in the slums of New York. He had a fight with his father and was reported to have bought a switch blade and went back and killed his father even though the boy says he went to the movies. There were two witnesses that were nearby that claimed to have seen the boy at the scene of the murder, one saying she saw the boy commit the act. Juror 8 points out many flaws in the testimony and questions the interrogation of the accused. The crux of the story is that some of the jurors are convinced of the boy’s guilt, not based on evidence, but based on prejudices they have in their personal life. Some notable members of the jury are the foreman played by Martin Balsam, the very brash and biased Juror 3 played by Lee J Cobb, and the super racist Juror 10 played by Ed Bagley

It eventually becomes painfully obvious that there is not enough solid evidence to convict the boy of this crime and all of the jurors are able to move through their own issues and vote not guilty. The jurors all leave and go separate ways and that is the end of the movie. 

The director, Sidney Lumet, had only directed television shows and off-Broadway plays before this film and the influence is apparent. The focus is on the acting and the story with very little reliance on props with the exception of a few small things (like a play). The film is very short and doesn’t really have the standard three act narrative, but more a situation with a resolve (like on TV). The movie was also extremely inexpensive (something like $350,000 which translates to about $3 million today) and completed very quickly (about three weeks). The only cinematography of note was the use of wide shots of the room and actors at the beginning of the film and the progression to tight close ups of individuals towards the end of the film. It was all very “small screen,” but that did not hurt the quality of the finished product. 

There is something positive to be said in that I don’t hate this movie, which I actually should based on other movies in the genre and the topic and setting. I do not like courtrooms. It seems to be a place of drama and a place where seemingly reasonable people are on their worst behavior. As far as jury duty goes, the idea of being locked up with a bunch of pushy, over-opinionated blowhards and forced to discuss sensitive topics gives me anxiety. There is no real action, no explosions, no beautiful vistas. There is a complete lack of diversity in the room and the jurors. It is just a bunch of men arguing and sweating in the same room for 90 minutes. I should hate this film.

However, this story is so intriguing that it wins me over every time. I love the scrutiny of the evidence. I love that cool heads prevail in each argument. I love that even the most biased member of the group is made to see reason. I love how the camera work controls the intensity of the group. I love the examination of what it means to be certain beyond a reasonable doubt. The film is incredibly entertaining and it is rare that I go through a movie without checking the time at some point, but I always am surprised how quickly the time goes with this one. 

There are a couple things to nitpick about the procedure. The murder weapon is given to the jurors to examine towards the beginning of the movie. I guess that could make sense, but the knife is given over without an evidence bag and no gloves are used. Everybody is just handling the murder weapon in a homicide case. To make things worse, Juror 8 has an almost identical switch blade knife to compare to the murder weapon. There is no way he would be able to get a knife into a courtroom, much less the jury room. Also, there are some sweeping conclusions made by the jurors that all people with nose indentations have glasses, all people with glasses are blind without them, all women are vain and don’t want to wear their glasses, and nobody wears glasses when they go to sleep. There was also fighting in the jury room. It seems like all of these things are grounds for a mistrial more than a not guilty verdict. 

Maybe the most interesting aspect of this movie is how easy it is to copy. You only need some actors and a big room with a big table and chairs. Any kind of crime mystery could be put into this outline with only the clues present. If you can’t afford to create a scene or don’t have a location, just have the actors describe it or show a picture labeled “Exhibit A.” Anything that needs explanation need only be discussed on the guise of “clarification.” It is no wonder that this layout has been parodied or copied in dozens of TV episodes. It is the template for making a quick, cheap, easy episode while still relating a compelling story.

All-in-all, this movie is fascinating in that it looks at what is likely the least interesting aspect of the US court system and somehow makes it absorbing to watch. Sidney Lumet did a great job directing and the actors really exuded the claustrophobic feeling of a contentious jury room. The film has the intricacies of a detective story, the dramatic acting of a stage play, and the budget of a TV show. For all of this, I believe it deserves a spot (albeit a lower place) on the AFI list and I would most assuredly recommend it to anyone.

[nyxwordsmith]

Chemically Imbalanced: Chapter 02: Virgil’s Golden Boy

I had a spark of inspiration at work last night, and I just had to write this one out this morning.

Summary: Roman’s first mistake was taking Mr. Sanders History class, expecting an easy ride. His second mistake? Hitting on his son.

Word Count: 1,963

Fandom/Genre: Sanders Sides-Human/School AU - fLUFFYY

Warnings: None that I can think of, but let me know if there are any!

You can also read on AO3

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Virgil sighed as he stood outside of the school, hunching into his hoodie with his hands firmly thrust into the pockets. He bit his lip, rocking from his heels to his toes, fidgeting frantically with the small cube in his pocket.

Why had he agreed to this? He didn’t know the layout of this school. He didn’t know where his Pa would be. What if he was in the middle of a class? They’d stare at him and-

Virgil felt that tell tale flutter in his chest, pulling his free hand out of his hoodie to press it against his sternum. He gently rubbed as he took a deep breath. Get it together, Virgil, you can do this.

The sooner you do this, the sooner you can go back home.

His first step forward was a lot easier than he’d expected. Still rubbing his sternum, he took the second, and third and found himself inside the foyer of the office.

The woman behind the desk eyed him suspiciously from behind a decade old computer, “Can I help you?” her sickeningly sweet voice barely held back the suspicion shining in her eyes.

Virgil slid over to the counter, letting the hand on his chest fall to the pocket on his jeans, “I’m, uh, looking for my Pa. Sanders?”

Her eyes brightened, sliding over him for a moment, “Oh! You’re-“

Virgil nodded, swallowing nervously as she flashed a bright smile at him. He couldn’t help that sick squirming in his stomach as she flicked her gaze down to the computer.

“Let me just see where he would be right about now…” her fingers danced over the old keyboard, clicking so loudly Virgil started clenching his jaw, “Ah! Yes, he’ll be finishing up his History Class in about five minutes.”

Virgil nodded, “Um, where is that?”

After some unnecessarily complicated directions, Virgil headed off into the halls of the unfamiliar school. His phone suddenly chimed in his pocket, and he deftly slid the device into his fingers, smiling when he saw a message.

[Dad]: Did you make it inside, kiddo?

Virgil unlocked the phone, quickly typing back his response as he walked blindly through the school.

[Virge]: Yeah, Dad. I’m heading to his class now.

[Dad]: I knew you could do it!

Virgil could already see his Dad’s proud smile as he snorted to himself.

He didn’t know what possessed him to look up. Or why he was even looking at his phone in the first place. But he was immensely grateful that he had looked up.

There still wasn’t enough time to brace against the force that walked headfirst into him though.

Virgil squeaked just before the contact, praying for a moment that they would hear him, leaping out of his way or…anything really.

Instead, he ended up lying on his back on the floor, staring up at a pair of grass green eyes.

They blinked, once, twice, three times before they widened, “I’m so sorry! Oh, my goodness,” the stranger was already clambering to get up, tanned cheeks tinted pink, “Are you okay?”

Virgil’s heart was pounding a mile a minute in his chest, though he wasn’t sure if it was the surprise or the closeness they’d just shared.

Before he realised, the stranger was on his feet, tall and imposing, offering his hand to him.

“Um, uh, yeah.” Virgil got his arms beneath him, “I think so.” Hesitantly, he took the strangers hand and felt like he was literally thrown onto his feet.

Damn this guy was strong.

He was a few inches taller than him, green eyes slowly sweeping over Virgil as they stood in the hallway. He was pretty tanned, which meant he was outdoorsy…something Virgil typically steered away from. His broad shoulders were tightly hugged by a white t-shirt that loosened as it fell down his chest, and Virgil had to swallow at what that meant.

Virgil rubbed his head to hide the fact they were both staring. The stranger’s deep brown hair was swept back into a ponytail, a few stray hairs falling over his forehead as he took an unconscious step back.

He was able to take more of him in then, the tall stranger wearing a pair of blue jeans, a satchel threatening to slip from his shoulder. The red leather screamed for attention, a rather intricate crest stitched onto the flap. Hadn’t he heard about that before?

“Sorry,” the stranger’s voice rumbled as he met Virgil’s eyes again suddenly, “I didn’t realise someone so gorgeous went here.”

Virgil swore his heart skipped a beat, and for a moment he thought it was his anxiety. And then the words sank in as a strange look of mortification fell onto the stranger’s face. He wasn’t sure of what to say, but Virgil’s mouth opened, hand falling limply to his side in surprise.

Wait. Wasn’t this…?

Oh, this was going to be fun.

“Can’t say you’re too shabby yourself.” Virgil tried weakly, wrapping his arm around his chest as he waited for the inevitable jerk of horror.

Instead, the stranger beamed back at him, almost out of relief, “Why, thank you!” The stranger adjusted his bag, “Roman Prince.” Virgil couldn’t help the smirk that pulled onto his face then. He knew it! “And you are?”

Oh man, Virgil couldn’t believe his luck. Roman Prince? The star actor, lover of Disney, and all-around brat? His Pa was going to love this.

“Prince? Really?” Virgil couldn’t help the urge to tease him, an idea flashing into his mind as he looked Roman up and down again. He seemed to tense, looking unsure as Virgil met his eyes, “Well, you certainly sound like one.” He tried to hide his smirk, lips twisting awkwardly as he did.

The way Roman’s eyebrow rose and confusion fell on his face was delicious, “I’m sorry, am I missing something here?”

Virgil had to supress a giggle, allowing a grin to spread on his face instead, unable to hold back the laughter. He covered his mouth quickly, surprised to find that Roman was wearing sneakers. He’d expected leather boots or something.

Oh man, his parents were going to love this. He wasn’t sure who would love it more though. Dad for a ‘chance encounter out of a fairy tale’ or Pa for ‘teasing the golden boy’.

Roman’s hands flexed nervously, rings flashing under the lights, and Virgil managed to contain his giggling. As he dropped his hand, his grin kept pulling back onto his face, despite his struggle to push it away, “Looks like you’re going to have your own fairy tale, Princey.”

Oh, that look of confusion and shock was too precious.

Virgil took the opportunity to slip around him, taking a few steps backwards as Roman abruptly turned toward him, eyes wide in surprise.

“Wait, what?” Virgil was already too far away for Roman to stop him, “What’s your name?!”

Virgil started jogging backward, “Cinderella!” he cried, turning around to sprint toward his Pa’s class.

There was silence behind him as he turned a corner, the grin pulling back onto his face as he tried desperately to suppress his giggles.

His Pa was right, he did look like a golden boy.

But that had been too easy.

Virgil took a half-step into the classroom, expecting heads to turn to his direction, but instead found the classroom empty, except for his Pa absently shuffling notes on his desk.

“Pa?” he called into the room.

His head snapped up in surprise, eyes wide before his expression softened, “Virgil.” His calm tone was a little warm as he rose from the desk. His eyebrows drew in a little, “Why are you here?”

Virgil stepped into the classroom, stepping down toward his father, “Dad wanted me to make sure you had lunch.”

‘Pa’ rolled his eyes with a small groan, “Even sick with the flu, that man is determined to look after me.”

Virgil snickered as he stopped in front of his father’s desk, “He tried to make lunch.”

His father nearly dropped the sheaf of paper’s in his hands, eyes wide, “Wha-“

“I stopped him. He’s in bed now.”

“How do we know that?”

“I made sure he took those meds that make him sleepy.” Virgil’s lips twisted into a smirk, “He was already drifting off when I left.”

His face softened again, a smirk twitching at the corner of his lip, but when they heard voices near the open door it fell away again.

Virgil knew the drill by now. Mr. Sanders. Mr. Robot. Students feared the man. Even Roman ‘Golden Child’ Prince.

As the voices faded, Virgil leant against his father’s desk with his hip, “You won’t believe who I literally ran into on my way here.”

His father’s blue eyes flashed with intrigue, “Oh?”

He’d finished gathering his things, sliding a satchel onto his shoulder, “Roman. Prince.”

His father froze, eyes carefully looking Virgil up and down, “Are you hurt? What did he say? Do I need to-“

“Pa,” Virgil chuckled, pushing off the desk, “I’m fine.” He relaxed a little, “Not sure he is though.”

“What did you-“

“I’ll tell you on the way to your office.”

Well, Virgil was right. Once the office door was closed behind them, the teacher’s hand flew to his mouth and tiny snickers escaped his father as he curled up a little against the door. Virgil grinned as he moved toward a comfy chair before his desk, flopping into it sideways.

A plaque on the desk shone menacingly at the door ‘Logan Sanders: History and Maths’

His father chuckled softly as he moved around the desk into his own seat, dropping the papers onto his desk and bag onto the floor. He fell into his chair, “You…oh my word.” He giggled, head in his hands, “Where did you get this wit from?”

Virgil chuckled himself, “You, obviously. Dad’s too nice.”

Logan lifted his head from his hands, “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, narrowing his eyes, even as he grinned at his son.

“I’ve heard the story of how you met.” Virgil waved at him absently.

Logan sighed as he leant back in his chair, “Hm. I suppose you are right.”

Virgil grinned, pulling his phone out of his pocket, “Do you have another class?”

“No, I don’t. But I do have an appointment…“ Logan’s eyes widened, “With Roman.”

Virgil suddenly turned his head to his father, a grin spread wide onto his face, “Oh. Oh. This is…this is just too good, Pa.” Logan looked down at Virgil, a little hesitant, “Just picture it.” Virgil twisted himself to face his father, forearms on his thighs, “The look on his face. As he realizes.”

Logan frowned, “I don’t think-“

“Please.”

His look of concern melted away, “Fine. This time.”

Virgil nearly fist-pumped the air. This was going to be so good. He couldn’t wait.

They settled into quiet for a few moments, Logan sifting through essays and grimacing every so often. Virgil was lounging in the seat, one leg hooked over the arm, scrolling slowly through Tumblr.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten.” Virgil muttered suddenly, eyes never leaving the screen before him.

Logan stopped entirely however, giving Virgil his full attention, “Sorry?”

“Lunch.” Virgil glanced up at his father, “Now. Or we’ll never hear the end of it.”

A stern expression crossed Logan’s face for a moment, but Virgil knew he’d give in. Dad was caring, almost to the point of over-bearing, when he was well.

He was almost insufferable when he was sick.

Logan sighed, “Oh, very well.” He got up from his desk, dropping his pen into a little box where other pens and pencils were poking out, “But you stay here.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “And ruin the surprise?” he snickered, “Not a chance.”

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[theswanprincessofficial]

Rick Rich Answers Fan Questions

We had some of our most avid fans ask their burning questions for Swan Princess Director, Richard Rich.

His long-awaited interview is here:

Don't miss hearing Rick's voice answer the last question!

What got you in to animation?

When I graduated from college, I wanted to work at Disney. That had been my life desire. I had graduated in Music and I wanted to work in the music department. Of course, there were no openings for a young guy like me. Disney had a traffic department with about 30 people that would pick up and deliver the mail all day through out the studio. The idea was that the talent would be able to go around and meet people on the lot and if they found an opening they could move out of traffic into some area that suited them in studio. For 3 months I would write a letter to Disney and the next week I would call and the next week I would write another letter and so on. Finally they said “ok ok enough, come in and we will give you a job in traffic”. The traffic department did not pay very much and I was married and had a little boy. I decided I would teach piano lessons at the studio for extra income. So on my lunch hour I taught a couple of animators and a couple secretaries. The only piano I could find was right next to the head of the animation department. Interestingly enough, the head of the animation department at that time was named Donald Duckwall. I always found that funny. An Assistant Director was retiring from the animation department and in discussions of who to hire for that position they thought it would be nice to have someone who knew something about music so they didn’t always have to go through the music department. Donald Duckwall spoke up and said “well there is this young guy in traffic who teaches piano lessons everyday next to my office on his lunch hour”. They interviewed me and 25 other people applying for that job. The job was an Assistant Director to John Lounsbery who was one of the 9 old men, original animators; he was now going to direct Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. I got the job! Really just a typical Hollywood story of going from nowhere to somewhere.

What was your inspiration to make The Swan Princess?

We wanted to make a fairy tale, a classic fairy tale, like Cinderella. Swan Lake had never been done and was very much an animation type project since the main character changes to a Swan. The only way to move forward on an idea like that is to have a great story. Brian Nissen and I started researching. We read different versions of Swan Lake, listened to the ballet, whatever we could think of. We were able to come up with a story concept that was really quite intriguing. We got more and more excited as we worked on it. The big breakthrough for us was the moon and how the moon worked into the story. She would only be a human when there was a moon. Every night she would change from a swan into a human as the moonlight touched the lake. That was a very exciting, beautiful kind of transition that could happen. What really made the story come together was that there are nights with no moon in the sky. It was a night with no moon when Odette was supposed to come to the castle so Derek could vow his everlasting love. But, of course, she couldn’t turn into Odette. She stayed as a swan. Odette had to fly to the castle and that gave us a really exciting and dramatic moment. Once we came up with that we knew we had a really great story.

Get the new Haunted by the Moon t-shirt here.

How long did the art take for the first film?

The original Swan Princess was in production for 3 years. The first 6 to 8 months was a development period. It includes writing the script and doing character designs to develop what each character will look like. The actual production period was 2 years. That is when we would do the storyboards, which all have to be hand drawn. Then we would do the layouts, which were also hand drawn, at that time. Then painting the backgrounds, completing the pencil art and painting all the cels. The art process took that entire two year period.

Check out the art here!

How long did the first film take to make without cutting anything out (in total)?

In animation we pre-edit the film. It’s not like live action where we shoot lots of footage and then we cut it all together. The entire animated film is put together in story reels using story sketches. The reason we do that is because animation requires so many people and so much money to get it all right that we don’t want to animate a scene that isn’t in the picture. We spend a lot of time in developing these story reels or anamatics we call them. They’re just still shots going from one scene to another. But we know how long each scene is and we know what the actions with be in that scene. Once we like what we see, we like the pacing of it, we like the dialogue that we’ve recorded then we move into animation. So there are very few out takes in animation. That doesn’t mean we don’t trim and tighten things up but its pretty much done in the storyboard phase of the production. So that is a big part of the 3 year production period that was required for The Swan Princess.

Are there any more productions that you are going to direct that will be in traditional animation?

Traditional animation is pretty much a thing of the past. The reason is that all of the major studios have moved into CGI. The great artists that it takes to draw a hand drawn animation feature just aren’t out there anymore. There is not eough of a demand. Back when Disney and Dreamworks and Warner Brothers were all competing for the artists there was a real boom in the need for the hand drawn artists. All that went out the window when the computer animation took over with Toy Story and slowly moved away from 2D animation. So the problem in doing more hand drawn animated film is not a desire but it’s finding the skilled and high-end talent that it requires to make a beautiful hand drawn picture. However, it is important to understand that even in the CGI world of animation it isn’t all computer and there is still the requirement for artists. We still use hand drawn art character design and storyboards. They are first designed with the pencil before we take them to CGI. Storyboard artists are very much in demand and those are the artists that visualize the written word from the script and make it come alive with drawings. Anyone who is interested in getting into animated film making does not need to specialize in animation, because that is not a step that is done anymore, but in the pre-production steps of layout, character design, storyboard, painting backgrounds and working with color. Those are still skills that every CGI production house requires. That’s where your emphasis should be put.

Experience the films on

Can you tell us something more about the series revival in 2012?

Back in the 90’s we made 3 full-length Swan Princess films and then stopped. When 2010 came around DVD sales were declining all over the industry but the Swan Princess DVD sales remained kind of steady. Sony Pictures approached The Swan Princess Producer and said “There seems to be a demand for this brand and fans out there that really like the films and the story. Would you be interested in making more of them”. We had originally thought they would need to be 2D animation, but it was really difficult to find the artists to do that. So we built all of the original characters in CGI and showed Sony that we could make them look pretty close to what they look like in 2D. They got very excited and we made the transition into the 3D world, into the CGI world. It has been so exciting because it opens up so many more possibilities of making the shows with many more visual effects.

Own the Swan Princess movies and music

How much different it is to make CGI movie than hand-drawn animated?

The difficult step in a hand drawn film is the artistry, especially finding the artists that can draw the characters so that they always look the same. Numerous skilled artists are needed because one artist can’t draw all the images of a character. Getting the characters to look the same through out the entire film is one of the biggest struggles and where we spend a lot of time and money. In CGI we build a model that is just like having a human actor. We don’t have to draw the character from every angle, which is very difficult in 2D. We can just shoot the model from a down shot, an up shot, any angle we need. That process has made the consistent look much better in CGI. No matter where we place the camera or what action the character does, it always looks like that character.The other thing that CGI adds to the process is that we get to use the live action camera. In 2D animation you pretty much can truck in, you can pan sideways but you can’t move the camera around a character. In CGI we can swish the camera around and do all of the dramatic things that you see in a live action movie. You can see this in all of the new Swan Princess films we have created, we are starting on Swan Princess 9 now and it is just thrilling to see what the camera can do in this show.Interestingly enough a CGI film is not much faster to make because some processes take longer in CGI that were shorter in 2D. A live action feature takes two or three years just like it did in the 2D drawing. It doesn’t save time and it is not cheaper. It just gives us capabilities that we didn’t ever have in 2D.For instance, when I was at Disney I was one of the Directors on The Black Cauldron. In that film Taran had a little bauble that could fly around, it was a little glowing orb. I can remember we spent 6 months on a scene where this little glowing bauble went into a cave. I wanted to make sure that the light from the bauble lit the walls of the cave. We had to make all the moving mats on the side of the wall to make it look like the light was moving across this cave, which was very time consuming. With CGI we just light it like a live action set and the bauble and the light move together. This could be created in a couple of weeks at the most.

How do you write a script for a Swan Princess movie? Where do you get ideas? Do you have plans where you are going with the story and the characters?

The stories come from a variety of ideas and requirements. Some are marketing driven. Some are fan driven. Some are just to fun ideas to experience with the characters. For instance, when we got into doing the CGI films in the series, Sony felt it was really important that Derek and Odette have a child. We didn’t want to repeat the process of growing up that we had done with Derek and Odette in the first film so we came up with the solution of having Derek and Odette adopt Alise. She gave us an opportunity to give Derek and Odette a child who could already talk and have her own story.We have had a lot of remarks from fans saying they want to see more of Odette and Derek and more of a fairy tale feeling. So in Swan 8 we have done a new story built around Derek and Odette, to capture the loving feelings that they had in the first film. Swan Princess 8 worked really well to give us a dramatic and rejuvenated love interest. In Swan 9 Alise and Lucas are now 16 and 17 involved in a love triagle with another Prince from China. Alise has to face difficult decisions about who she is going to love. It’s a very dramatic story and it captures all of the feeling that was in the original Swan film but with new characters.We don’t have a thru storyline, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings because these are not books. We come up with ideas that feed off previous stories but take us into new territory to keep all of the fans interested and show them the characters changing, growing up and facing challenges.

Get the deck of cards featuring The Swan Princess characters here

I love the character of Alise, was it risky to change the main character in the middle of the series? And will Odette ever have main role again?

Alise is still a side character. There are films that have really focused on her but she will continue to be used in the series to display the love Derek and Odette have for one another and for children.

Go Royally Undercover with Swan Princess sunglasses

Can I have hope for many more movies to come in the future beyond 8 and 9?

Hope is eternal! We are hoping that there will be many more and it looks like everyone is working to make that happen.

I've always loved the sidekicks - Jean-Bob, Speed and Puffin. I also loved the addition of Number 9 to the group (is it okay to officially count him as part of the group now?). Is it possible the original fourth sidekick, Whizzer, will return?

Yes indeed you can count Number 9 as a sidekick. His character is so entertaining. Another character in the show that really fantastic is Scully. There is something about him that draws you into the story.Whizzer was a fun, comic character in one of the earlier films. As we get farther and farther into the series there is always a chance that he could come back.

Is there a chance there will be at least one more movie with Odette turning into swan?

The idea of Odette of changing into a swan is a challenge. We get requests for that quite often but it is an issue that we face as storytellers.If Odette is changed into a swan it has do be done through magic, one of 2 ways, either through good or through evil.If we use evil, we will be repeating a plot that we have already used 3 times. There would be no suspense about Odette becoming trapped as a swan, rescued, probably by Derek, and will again becomes the human Princess Odette. It is not really good story telling.We could use good to change Odette into a swan. Once we do that and use magic to do that then she can change back and forth at will. From a storytelling standpoint the transformation loses inspiration and is no longer a vehicle for suspense or for the battle between good and evil.

Read the newest storybook where Odette turns into a swan.

What inspired the Transformation/title sequence?

Towards the end of the original show it came time to introduce the title, The Swan Princess, on the screen without giving away too much about the story. One of the highlights of that first film was seeing Odette transform from a swan into a princess. We decided to do a really neat art version of those special effects swirling up and bringing the title on screen. It is a mirror of the transformation in the show reflected in the title.

Our transformation nail wraps can be found here

Was Swan 3 originally meant to be the final film in the series?

The first 3 films were thought of as a trilogy so when we finished the 3

rd

one it was pretty much felt that it was the end. But what we didn’t forsee was that the fan base grew and wanted more. It was actually the fans that made all the new ones to happen because they clamored for more. Sony heard them and brought 6 more stories to life. It has been such an exciting opportunity to bring new stories and characters to the fans and to feel the love from the following that the original Swan Princess had.

When designing Zelda was she always intended to be as psychotic (and hilarious) as she is or was that a choice by the voice actress?

When we wrote the story for Swan 3 we wanted to have a comic villain and a female because we already had two serious, male villians with Rothbart and Clavuis. It gave us an opportunity to create a really amusing character. So the concept was in the script but the voice actor really brought Zelda’s maniacal personality to life.

Which Villain allied themselves with Rothbart first out of Clavius and Zelda?

The story Zelda tells Whizzer is only partly true. True – She found Rothbart languishing in despair after King William destroyed his power and she inspired him to work again. The part she doesn’t tell is that she and Rothbart were stuck. They needed help. Rothbart reached out to one of his younger rivals, Clavius. The three of them re-conjured the Forbidden Arts together. But after their success Rothbart turned on them both. They didn’t dare challenge his power at that time. After Clavius died in the mountain, Zelda never bothered to include Clavius in the story of the recreation of the Forbidden Arts because there was no one alive to challenge her account. She painted Clavius as an interloper who tried to steal what she and Rothbart developed together.

On the topic of the Forbidden Arts, have we truly seen the last of it in the series? Or is there a chance it might come back?

The Forbidden Arts was a power Rothbart had harnessed. There is a chance that the Forbidden Arts could come back if we discover a new and exciting way to give it additional powers so that it brings something original to the series.

Michelle Nicastro, sadly, passed away, but we were wondering if she were still alive today would you have kept her on as the voice of Odette?

Listen to Rick's answer here

The death of Michelle Nicastro was a real shock and it happened when we were just starting to do Swan 4 and rebooting up the series. It was every intention that we would use her. She was going to come in and we did not know at that time that she had been very ill and very sick. But when the time came in to record she called and said that she couldn’t do it. And she died 3 days later. And It was really a total heartbreak for us. Not because we lost her in the series because we lost an incredible actress and a sweet spirit. She, in her life, was as sweet as the character Odette. And I think that’s why she was able to portray Odette in such an incredible way, is because she actually was that kind of a person. And if she were alive today she would be the voice of Odette for as long as we could use her.

We handed this pin to the attendees of the original Swan Princess film in 1994, get yours here

About The Swan Princess

The Swan Princess is based upon the folk tale and ballet, Swan Lake. The story is transformed into a playfully fun adventure with exciting music, lovable forest friends, and of course, the handsome Prince Derek. The Swan Princess, Odette, has stayed true to original fairy tale princess with her kindness, grace, and loyalty.

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