#pip is my legal son

[eeeethesilly]

more little gay poses

[leschanceux]

@fatedtruths is going to hate me! -

"what the bloody hell is this?" pip demands, slamming a folder with the emails between his brother and alexander claremont-diaz down in front of henry. he's called a formal meeting for this confrontation, just because he doesn't want witnesses or distractions; he knows exactly what information he wants from his brother, and he's determined to get it.

he must be the last person in the country to read henry's emails, having initially avoiding everything but the barest bones of the summary he'd been handed by his equerry when the situation had first broken, and then figuring that his brother and the american had deserved some small kernel of privacy after everything else. they'd been getting on so well recently, better than they had in so long, able to attempt to be brothers again instead of whatever it was that they'd become when philip had been trying to ensure henry would have a future to return to when he'd stopped messing around.

but martha had pushed and pushed and pushed, suggesting that he read the emails and constantly asking if he had yet, and his equerry had asked if he'd read them and left the folder out in plain sight, and- and so philip had settled down to read them, to allow himself a tiny window into his brother's soul without even asking henry if it was alright first.

he wished he hadn't now. he wished he'd ignored both martha and johnstone and kept his nose out of those private exchanges, gone on living in blissful ignorance of the discussions of henry's cock-sucking abilities and the other details he'd chosen to share, baring his soul to the first son.

i took my first time, with one of my brother's mates from uni when i was seventeen-

the words stare up at him, highlighted in a gaudy fucking yellow like they're not already branded into the backs of his eyelids. they're all he can focus on. out of everything henry had written to the american, this is what has his full attention, because it's so close to home.

my first time

he feels sick to his stomach. he remembers his own first time, and while that hadn't exactly been the picture of bliss and relaxation, it had at least been with someone his own age who was equally inexperienced and they had both harboured genuine feelings for each other ( though a stop was put to it all rather swiftly --- the heir to the throne of britain could not be allowed to have a relationship with just anybody, after all ).

one of my brother's mates from uni

"who was it?" he feels genuinely ill, cycling through the entirety of his class at st. andrew's to try and pin a face on someone he thinks might've been the type to take advantage of a seventeen year old.

seventeen

the age difference - six years! - sticks in his throat like shards of glass. henry had been a child. he might protest such --- the legal age of consent might be sixteen, but henry had been a child and philip's mate ( he can't even stomach thinking about the word, the faces the epithet has attached to ) had been a literal fucking adult.

my first

"henry. who, and where?" so help him god, if he doesn't get answers sometime soon, he's going to lose his mind. he's never been the most patient of people - he's never had to be, really. people don't usually keep a prince waiting for things.

mates from uni

it's sick, he thinks distantly, pressing for the sordid details of his little brother's first time - something that he would usually respect as private information, only to be shared at henry's leisure. but this... with philip's classmate. classmates? who knows how many of them decided to have a go?

he can't go down that route of thought if he wants to live to see his next birthday with all his mental faculties ( relatively ) intact.

my brother

had he done this? had he facilitated his friends to take advantage of his little brother? all those parties he'd taken henry to, all the times he'd dragged the younger boy along to dinners and activities with his friends, just so he'd have a chance at growing up around the 'right' kinds of people who were closer to him in age than gran's band of geriatrics who should really have been in the 'right' kind of nursing home rather than making legal decisions for the country. was this his fault?

"just tell me. just fucking tell me, henry."

he's going to kill whoever it is. he's going to rip whoever's head from his fucking shoulders and feed it to the crows outside the fucking tower of london.

"please, tell me."

[willowbird]

Cute uncle!Andrew and Neil with Aaron’s future kids!

Ooh! Don’t mind if I do! I hope you enjoy! <3

------

The reunion had been Abby’s idea, and while Wymack had done some obligatory grumping about the idea of having this particular group of Foxes invading their house (”I hope you remembered to hide the liquor.” “David, they’re all legal adults now and we’re inviting them over to drink with us.” “Make sure you have the fire department on standby.” “David, I highly doubt they’re going to burn down the house.” “I swear to fuck if those Minyards think they’re going break my shit I’ll haul their asses out to the park and leave them in a cardboard box.” “David, I think you’re being a bit dramatic.”) he was able to admit, at least to himself, that he was looking forward to seeing them again. 

Sure, he’d kept up with all of them individually in his own way, and they’d gotten together periodically over the years, but this would be the first time in at least a decade that the lot of them would be under one roof -- under his roof -- and he was looking forward to seeing with how own eyes how they were doing. 

He’d thought he’d known what to expect. 

After all, he’d paid attention to the pro careers of Matt, Allison, Kevin, Neil, and Andrew. He spoke with Renee at least once a year in person when she came by PSU to hand-deliver her donations (and Allison was usually with her these last few years as well). He saw less of Nicky and Aaron, since Nicholas had returned to Germany after graduation and Aaron had moved on to medical school and that was even more rigorous than the training schedule he’d put them through, but he was still aware of their general well-being. Dan he probably saw the most, as she’d gone on to coaching and was now in the same division as PSU, running a newer exy team at a small public university in northern Georgia. Kevin was always around for the holidays and visited during the off-season, and they spoke on the phone regularly -- so he was generally up-to-date with his son’s life. 

It had started out within the bounds of his expectations. Nicky and Erik had flown in the night before and stayed at a hotel in town, but Dan and Matt had arrived first because Nicholas Klose still didn’t understand the function of a goddamn alarm clock. A prompt Renee and Allison showed up a little after them, followed by a harried Nicky and an exasperated Erik. Kevin ambled in solo, followed by Neil and Andrew, who still looked unbothered by the whole damn world (probably because they were the ones typically setting it on fire, but hey - what did he know?). Last to arrive were Aaron and his wife, former Vixen and one of the youngest female neurosurgeons in the field, Katelyn. 

That was when things got... strange. 

Wymack had been in the kitchen, pouring a seltzer for his (three years sober) son, when he heard the front door open and Abby greet the final arrivals. He heard a small, excited little voice call out, “Unca Annew!! Unca Neew!!” Then there was the rapid patter of little feet followed by a squeal of delight and a deep laugh that Wymack couldn’t place because he’d legitimately never heard it before. 

Curious and confused, Wymack stepped out of the kitchen just enough to peer into the foyer and his eyes didn’t quite register what he was seeing. 

Andrew was standing in the foyer with a blond-haired little girl in his arms who couldn’t be any older than three (though frankly, he was shit at guessing ages on munchkins). He was grinning and hugging her, listening as she jabbered on about something-or-other. Neil was standing at his shoulder, also smiling, though his attention diverted and his expression softened in a way that Wymack hadn’t known the venomous little viper to be capable of. 

“U-unca Neewy?” Wymack noticed that the little girl in Andrew’s arms wasn’t the only child present. An identical child in a different colored dress was huddling behind her mother’s legs, looking anxious at the new place and the strange woman (Abby) who kept smiling down at her. 

“Hey there Pips,” Neil said quietly, crouching down and opening his arms in offering. It took a moment, then the little girl cautiously edged away from her mother before half-tripping on uncoordinated legs the five or six steps it took her to get to Neil, who wrapped her up in his arms as natural as breathing and hugged her tight. He murmured something in her ear that Wymack couldn’t hear and when the little girl nodded he scooped her up and kissed her cheek before turning to join Andrew and the other small child. 

Andrew and Neil holding children. Andrew and Neil being good with children. Andrew and Neil, smiling and laughing and comforting small little children. It was such a bizarre thing that Wymack didn’t really think when he spouted off a bewildered, “What the actual fuck?”

Seven faces instantly snapped to where he was standing and it took more will than he liked to admit for Wymack not to cower under the five disapproving adult gazes and the two shocked child ones. 

“David!” Abby hissed, and he grimaced an apology. 

“Ooooooo, he said it! He said it!” crowed the chatterbox in Andrew’s grasp. 

Andrew looked like he was about ready to commit murder and never in all the years had he known the bastard had Wymack ever felt intimidated by him -- until now. It made no sense, but somehow, he became about thirty times more effective with a small child in his arms. What the fuck was up with that?

The other child made a timid little whimpering sound and Neil shot him a similar promise of an untimely death with one scathing narrowing of his eyes. Suddenly, Wymack was very eager to cancel his plans to go see the Denver Wildcats next game. 

Then Neil softened again in that way that made Wymack feel like he’d been transported to an alternate dimension. He bounced the child gently and murmured quietly to her, and this time Wymack was able to hear what he said. 

“I know he’s big and loud, but that’s Wymack. Remember I told you about him?”

“Uh-huh...”

“Remember what I said?”

“Uh-huh...”

“Pips.” The tone was gentle, but still commanding in a way that eerily reminded Wymack of Betsy. This was getting too weird. 

The little girl hugged Neil tighter around the neck, then took two deep breaths before pulling back and peaking over at where he was still standing right at the entrance of the kitchen. She studied him warily before saying, “He’s da bear man.”

The... bear man? What... the fuck?

“That’s right. He’s big and loud but very soft. And he’ll stay far away if you don’t want him close.” 

Wymack was pretty sure he needed to lay down.

Thankfully, Aaron finally decided to speak the fuck up. Granted, the tiny fucker sounded way too amused for his own good. “Coach, you haven't met the twins yet. The little energizer bunny with Andrew is Penny and Neil’s got Piper. Piper is a bit shy, that’s all. She’s not all that great with strangers still.”

“Alright family, let’s get out of the foyer hm? Would you girls like some snacks? I bet Uncle Andrew will show you where the cookies are if you ask him nicely,” Katelyn offered with a knowing smile.

It had an immediate effect. Even the shy one, Piper, lit up like damn Christmas tree as both girls looked to Andrew like he was here to deliver them Salvation. In a childlike unison that had absolutely no right being that adorable, both girls gasped, “Cookies?!”

Andrew smirked. Then he chuckled and kissed Penny on the cheek. “Oh, I think I can find something.”

Wymack stepped out of the way as Andrew led the way with Penny, Neil and Piper right behind them, into the kitchen.

He watched them go, then just stood there, gobsmacked for a moment. Katelyn was the one to cross over to him and pat him consolingly on the shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better, Neil has already offered both of them to teach them how to pick locks when they turn five.”

It did but it didn’t. 

Aaron snickered unhelpfully. “Go have a drink, Coach. If that is fucking you up, just wait until tea time.”

“Tea time?” Even to his own ears, his voice came out raspy. “What the fuck is tea time?”

Aaron cackled in response. Cackled. 

Jesus Christ, this was not what he had signed up for.

[carewyncromwell]

[HPHM] Duncan Ashe Playlist

done because my ghost boi needs love :I // featuring Charlie Rowe as Duncan

“A Million Dreams” ~ The Greatest Showman

“Breaking the Rules” ~ She Moves

“Waiting in the Wings” ~ Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure

“You’re Not Me” ~ Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters

“Walking on Broken Glass” ~ Annie Lennox

“Underground” ~ David Bowie

“You Found Me” ~ Kelly Clarkson

“A Change in Me” ~ Beauty and the Beast (musical)

“Disappear” ~ Dear Evan Hansen (musical)

In life, Duncan Ashe was an academically average, but incredibly clever and ambitious Slytherin with a talent for Healing, ancient languages, History of Magic, and Potions; a rebellious, mischievous streak; and a long-held dream of becoming a Cursebreaker. Despite being the son of a relatively well-regarded magical family, Duncan was actually on very poor terms with his father after he remarried immediately after the death of Duncan’s mother -- a Muggle-born witch -- to a woman from the Pureblood Nott family, who Duncan suspected he’d been romantically involved with even while Duncan’s mother was ill. This resulted in Duncan largely spending his later childhood visiting his Muggle maternal grandparents instead of staying at home. At school, Duncan ended up befriending two Ravenclaws in his year, Olivia Green and Jacob Cromwell, and the three set about dealing with the Cursed Vaults that threatened their school. Over time Duncan developed romantic feelings for Jacob, but his pride, concern about his grandparents’ reaction, and fear of rejection kept him from approaching Jacob about them. After Olivia was petrified inside the Sunken Vault, Jacob and Duncan were ensnared in the web of the evil organization R, who began to threaten both boys into doing their bidding. Duncan -- thinking to pacify R, who’d recently forced Jacob to go on a less-than-legal mission for them -- set about creating a potion strong enough to break through the interior door to the Sunken Vault, since at that point the second key needed to open it was still missing. Unfortunately this very volatile experiment ended up sparking an explosion that took Duncan’s life. But when Duncan should have passed on, he did not. He couldn’t, not when he’d done absolutely nothing worthwhile. Not when there was so much he’d still wanted to do. Not when...his life had meant nothing at all. Unfortunately, although Duncan returned, Jacob did not -- for he had been expelled from Hogwarts and then disappeared without a trace. Unable to handle the grief of losing Jacob and regret at everything he didn’t do or say when it would’ve mattered, Duncan instead responded with resentment and bitterness, convincing himself that Jacob didn’t really care about him that much and had chosen his family’s safety over him -- that he’d gone with R and disappeared to do more illegal work for them, to protect the family he loved so much. And well, that was something Duncan knew he’d never understand. His mother was already dead. He didn’t have a sister like Jacob’s “Pip.” His grandparents were old and ill enough that they weren’t going to live much longer anyway...and his father and stepmother were so far-gone that Duncan’s death barely made a ripple in their lives. Perhaps it’s no wonder that Duncan reacted so bitterly to Jacob’s sister Carewyn, when meeting her for the first time. It didn’t take long, however, for Duncan to see how truly selfless and soft-hearted Carewyn was, and before long, Carewyn actually ended up “adopting” Duncan into her own inner-circle. Duncan became something of a surrogate for Jacob while he wasn’t there and came to see Carewyn as the younger sister he never had. And through Carewyn, Duncan also learned to accept how much he’d projected onto Jacob and how deeply both he and Jacob felt for each other. It’s ultimately through the love he feels for the two Cromwells that Duncan finds his true purpose, not in life, perhaps, but in after life. 

[cynical-mystic]

I didn’t think I’d like Elementary, but here we are.

I just finished a COVID induced binge of Elementary, and I have a lot of feelings.

First off, I’m furious with my teenage self for writing off this show after season one. This show is a beautiful representation of my two favorite literary characters, and I’m livid that the Sherlock hype made me write it off. Sherlock wishes it was this show.

I’m putting my feelings under a cut for spoiler purposes and length purposes.

Joan Watson is an icon. If you, for a moment, ever said to yourself, “Watson can’t be a woman” for WHATEVER reason, you should be ashamed. When a female Watson is done right, it’s magical. And this show is the embodiment of a female Watson done right.

The first thing that struck me about Joan Watson is how she dresses. She is fabulous. Constantly.

The second thing that struck me is that, unlike her original counterpart, she is not a bumbling idiot. Holmes chooses her because of how remarkable she is, not because it’s convenient. Her remarkableness is reinforced at every turn. Every person they encounter acknowledges that Watson is Holmes’ equal, including Holmes himself. Once she decides to become a detective, she is his partner in every sense of the word but a romantic one.

This leads me to my next point. From what I recall, everyone was complaining about Watson being a woman because there would be romantic undertones and they’d have sex and it would ruin everything blah blah blah. However, there is none of that. Yes, Watson is the person Holmes loves most in the world, but, newsflash, you can love someone deeply and have no romantic attachment/attraction to them! Another great thing about this is Watson feels exactly the same way about Holmes, and there is absolutely no “she loves him but he doesn’t love her so she spends the whole time pining for him in a romantic way” bullshit. Their relationship is the pinnacle of what it means to love someone completely without being romantically involved.

Some of my favorite Holmes/Watson love moments:

“For you, Watson, I would make adjustments.” - said in response to Watson being concerned about adopting a baby, it living in the brownstone with them, and how that would affect Holmes.

“I’m staying, Watson.” - Holmes finds out Watson has cancer and this is the first time Holmes hugs anyone on-screen of his own accord. He promises to stay with her to help her through it, even though he’s legally dead.

“We’re not partners. We’re two people that love each other.” - said to Watson by Holmes when he’s on the cusp of leaving for London after having confessed to a murder to keep Watson from taking the fall for it (she was innocent, btw; watch the show).

“The thought of her little boy coming home to find me on the floor with a needle in my arm” - Holmes telling Gregson about how he can’t stay; he doesn’t want to put Watson or her son in danger.

Watson telling Holmes’ father he needs more time with her as his sober companion, his father saying her time won’t be extended, and Watson staying with him even though she won’t get paid because she cares about him and wants to make sure he gets through the betrayal he just experienced.

Holmes telling Moriarty there are two people in the world she can’t predict and Watson rolling in like a bamf with Marcus and other officers to take Moriarty into custody, and Moriarty subsequently putting Watson and Holmes on the same level with regards to how she treats them.

Mycroft acknowledging that Watson is the person Holmes loves most in the world when they’re trying to find her after she’s been kidnapped.

Someone saying Ms. Watson should step out bc he doesn’t want her to see what he’s brought and Holmes going, actually she’s a doctor and can take whatever you’ve got.

“As long as we’re together, does it matter?” - the last line of the fucking show al;sndpiuahpoih[oaivhoej

These two had so many beautiful moments that were never romantically coded and that makes them so much better. They don’t need to be in a romantic relationship to be the most important person in each others’ lives. HIT ME WITH THAT KIND OF LOVE.

Now, for Sherlock Holmes. This is my favorite adaptation of this character. This Holmes goes from being a complete git to a lovable, quirky man so fluidly you don’t even realize it’s happened until you’re in the middle of it. Darcy, eat your heart out.

This Holmes also truly cares about the people he’s working with and/or for. Yes, he’s doing it for the work and the justice and the sake of solving problems, but he genuinely cares about people and can relate to them. Him being a recovering addict is probably the best thing he could have been. His body language and the meetings and everything about him show how hard he’s working to be a better person and how that’s coming across in his work. He doesn’t treat the people around him like objects to be used, but like people who are hurting. People who need help. Just...people. 

A human Sherlock Holmes? Who’s dealing with the repercussions of his past as an absolute arse in a legitimate, realistic way? Sign me the fuck up. I believe in Sherlock Holmes. In this Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock can suck it.

The last thing I want to touch on is this show’s use of the source material. It manages to have mostly completely original plots but sprinkle in some things for the Sherlockians in the most beautiful of ways.

When Watson is going through some clothes to lend to a friend, they find a deerstalker. Watson tells the friend to take it because Holmes never wears it.

They go to a convention of people dressed in costume and it cuts to two people who, from the back, appear to be Holmes and Watson dressed in clothing like the original characters’ but then it turns out to be two completely random people and Holmes and Watson are dressed normally.

“Hounded,” the episode based on The Hound of the Baskervilles? Stunning.

Cases randomly name dropped? Iconic.

Watson and Marcus going over a case obviously based on one of the original short stories? Beautiful.

Watson casually mentioning the three Garridebs and their story? Magnificent.

The modernization of the orange pip story? Marvelous.

This show is a beautiful representation of my absolute favorite piece of literature and I couldn’t be more pleased.

10/10, would recommend.

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One: Breaking the Curse

Chapter 38: Legal Counsel

Their deal was half done. Regina had gotten the charges against him dropped, and now he had to make sure that Mary Margaret "got what she deserved"-freedom. He was looking forward to that, to Regina's realization that she'd lost to him yet again. But he knew there was a long way to go before that happened. In order for everything else to work perfectly, then it had to be a long way away. In truth, he needed everything to appear like it was going in Regina's favor until he took it all away. He wanted all this to end with an angry Regina and an angry Emma staring each other dead in the eyes, daring the other to move first. That was what was going to get this Curse broken; that had been his plan all along. Right now, Regina was distracted by Mary Margaret, but when all was said and done, she'd turn her attention back to Emma. If this was the way he needed to do it in order to get that result, then so be it.

As far as the investigation went, he'd done his part, it was Regina's turn to play dirty now. She had to leave the skeleton key in the cell for Mary Margaret to find. And when all this fell apart, well…that was what Glass was for. Regina wouldn't let herself take the fall, she'd look for someone else to do it and the most willing person he saw would be Sidney Glass. There was still time for all that to happen, still a long while until he needed to have a talk with Sidney to make sure he was primed and ready to have that talk with Regina and "take one for the team" in order to save her ass. But first, he had to switch teams. Quietly for now, but he could get a little louder about it soon enough. Outside the police station he parked his car and took a deep breath. Trying to keep his head straight in all of this was like constantly trying to untangle a knot by making new ones. But he'd get there. He just had to play this out, day by day, one step at a time, one play before another. With that in mind, he focused on the purpose of his current visit, turned the car off, and went inside.

Once inside the station, he heard the two women talking in very different, very suggestive tones.

"The heating vent? Emma, I don't even know where the heating vent in my bedroom is!" Mary Margaret cried frantically. She was stressed, perhaps even loosing her grip on reality a bit. Perfect.

"Well, someone did, and they put a hunting knife in there," Emma explained, her tone was different; tender and delicate. She was trying to figure it out. The use of the word "someone" suggested she was suspicious, just as planned. That was good. She just didn't want to force the issue because of the state of her friend. Understandable. "I checked for signs of a break-in, but there weren't any."

He smiled. His employees had done well then, used the borrowed key and gotten in and out clean. It was good to know he was getting precisely what he was paying for. Once Mary Margaret discovered the skeleton key in her cell, Emma would put two and two together. She'd make an assumption, one that was incorrect, but ideal for the situation.

"You don't believe me," Mary Margaret cried.

"Of course I do," Emma exclaimed. "But what I think doesn't matter. The evidence is piling up by the hour."

"Okay, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, you should think about hiring a lawyer."

What a perfect opportunity for an entrance. He didn't need magic, sometimes the situation called perfectly for a magical appearance.

"An excellent idea," he stated finally rounding the corner and revealing his presence.

"Mr. Gold," he heard Mary Margaret breath before casting her gaze away and wringing her hands together. She looked embarrassed and guilty. It was an understandable reaction, though probably not quite for the reason that she assumed. He was a lawyer who had just caught the Sheriff talking to a suspect about a case…alone. As the Dark One he was pleased things were working out as he wanted. As Mr. Gold, attorney, he knew it was a stupid thing for his client to be doing. Not that it mattered, she'd be out of there faster than she knew.

"What are you doing here?" Emma demanded with much less tact than her mother.

"Offering my legal services."

"You're a lawyer?" she blanched.

"Ever wondered why I was so adept at contracts?" He smiled, after all this time she hadn't figured that out yet? Emma was an excellent Sheriff, her detective skills left something to be desired though. "I've been following the details of your case, Miss Blanchard," he explained turning his attention back to his would-be client. "And I think you'd be well-advised to bring me on as your counsel."

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Well, because the Sheriff had me arrested for nearly beating a man to death, and I managed to persuade the judge to drop the charges," he lied. The call they'd shared the other day made it sound like she clearly thought that he'd done some bribing to make the charges drop. From where he stood there was no need to let Emma on to his deal with Regina. At least not yet.

"Asserting your influence isn't what's needed here. We need to find the truth."

"Exerting influence may be exactly what's needed here," he argued.

"What's needed here, is for me to do my job," she fought back.

"Well, no one's stopping you. I'm only here to help."

"Enough," Mary Margaret pipped up in a voice that was less than influential but enough to quiet them both. "Please go…" she breathed.

"You heard her," Emma snapped at him but she clearly hadn't seen what he had. Mary Margaret hadn't looked at him when she'd made her order, she'd looked at Emma.

"No, I was talking to you," she corrected quickly.

The girl whipped her head back, looking shocked to hear the pronouncement. He couldn't blame her for that given their relationship. It would have been so easy to pull her aside and explain that in this situation he really was on their side, but it wouldn't help. He had to play carefully. That meant maintaining an air of mistrust. He had to let Emma be skeptical about him. He had to let Mary Margaret do the convincing.

"Oh, Emma, he's right. I need help," she explained. "And you need to do your job, or else I'm screwed. So, just please…do your job the best you can, and you'll prove me innocent. Until you do, I need some practical help."

She ended with a sweet smile typical of the schoolteacher but Emma didn't see it. She cast her gaze down looking like a hurt dog.

"Trust me," he explained stepping closer. "This is in Miss Blanchard's best interests."

He'd said the words, but he didn't exactly expect her to believe them. Fortunately for him, whether she believed them or not, she was legally bound to listen to them.

"Good luck, Mary Margaret," she nodded, stepping closer to him and looking into his eyes. He sensed a threat coming on and smiled at her as he prepared to take it. "I hope your best interests are what he's looking out for."

Yes, certainly a threat of some kind. But he held his smile as she walked away. It was a shame there was already so much bad blood between the Savior and himself. He really did appreciate her spunk.

"I can't pay you," Mary Margaret whispered when they were finally alone.

"I didn't ask for money," he pointed out.

"Then why are you doing this?" she asked.

Ah. Emma's veiled threat had gotten to her after all. Right now, his interest was in finding his son and in order to do that he needed Mary Margaret, so yes, for now this was in her best interest. She'd pay her back, in a way.

"Let's just say," he paused and let the corners of his mouth lift as he remembered saying the exact words to her so long ago in another life. "I'm invested in your future."

[arloeverton]

is that [ALFRED ENOCH]? no, that’s just [ARLO EVERTON]. [HE] is [TWENTY-EIGHT] years old and is an [ENTOMOLOGIST]. rumor has it they’ve been in town for [FOUR YEARS]. on a good day, they’re [INTELLIGENT & CURIOUS]. but watch out! they can also be [OVERSENSITIVE & AVOIDANT]. [MONTEZUMA BY FLEET FOXES] plays in my head whenever i think of them. can’t wait to see them around springhill! 

sam here bringing you my new boy, dr arlo everton. apparently i am a whore for british men w/ dimples and i am completely ok with this. he is a very new muse and i’m still figuring a lot of stuff out for him but please, please let’s plot ! @shstarters​ xoxo

Quick facts

Full name: Arlo Ernest Everton

Occupation: Entomologist

Nationality: New Zealander

Height: 6′3

Birthday: 14th September 1991

Star-sign: Virgo

Sexual orientation: Pansexual

Myers-Briggs: INFJ-T

Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw

Background

Arlo was born in Norfolk, England. The Evertons second child and first son.

His parents were high achievers -- his father a professor of dendrology and his mother an orthopedic consultant. They were loving, supportive and encouraged he and his older sister, Alvina (affectionately called ‘Alvie’ by Arlo), to explore the world around them with an open and curious mind

Arlo’s mother was offered a head consultancy role at a hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand when Arlo was just seven and so, the Everton family left England to pursue a new life on the opposite end of the earth.

Seven years his senior, Alvie moved to New York City when Arlo was fifteen and fell pregnant shortly after. His nephew, Pip, was a happy little accident, who never knew his father but was welcomed into the open arms of the Everton family. 

After completing a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and earning the university medal, Arlo decided to spread his wings further and embarked on a PhD in bee ecology and quantitative genetics at Princeton University. Alvie and Pip moved out of NYC to join him in Springhill, NJ and he’s lived there ever since. 

Tragedy struck two years ago when Alvie died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm. Pip fell into the care of Arlo’s parents but after some discussion neither they nor Arlo wanted to uproot the young boy’s life any further to live in New Zealand. So Arlo became his legal guardian.

He very recently finished his PhD and has since taken up a postdoctoral researcher position with his laboratory group in Princeton. 

Personality

Incredibly smart. Could have excelled at any number of things in life: maths, political science, medicine like his mother but he was always the child that would come in with dirt beneath his fingernails, scuffs on his knees and a handful of snails he’d collected in the pockets of his overalls. 

Despite his book smarts, Arlo is a little naïve. A sweet summer child, if you will. Falls in love with every beautiful thing. Gets his heart broken every other week. Always wants to see the best in people.

He’s very loyal and trustworthy but copes with stress by engaging in avoidant behaviours. He’s not very good at expressing negative emotions as he doesn’t want to burden people with them

Wanted connections

Childhood friends -- from England or NZ! 

Friends from around town or Princeton -- I’m sure Arlo would have quite a few of these

Friends of Alvie’s -- Alvie was far more social than her brother and made quite a name for herself about town (she was an obstetrician)

Parent friends -- obviously Pip isn’t biologically Arlo’s but he treats him as such. I can imagine him being quite a little troublemaker, much to Arlo’s chagrin.

Tinder matches/crushes -- Arlo is a big ol’ romantic and would have a few of these, I’m sure

Exes -- I can see him having had a relationship when he first moved to town. Maybe one that ended after Alvie passed?

So many other things. These are all fairly lame but I’m sure we’ll dream up something more <3

[the-wotog-collection]

true canon: an explanation

True Canon is set in a typical High Fantasy D&D ye olden age world, with monsters and magic and dragons galore. It started out focused entirely on Eve and Viktor and a few others’ travels through a country called Witherhurst, and as we made more characters and stories and kingdoms, we expanded the scope of WotOG (the original D&D game) to cover all of them, until we had a nice world built up around the characters. Since not all of the stories related to the events of WotOG (and WotOG part 2: Electric Boogaloo), we decided to change the name to True Canon, so we knew which universe for sure was the foundation upon which our Many AU’s Stand. Here’s a quick n dirty timeline, for reference:

(much more under the cut)

-Eve, Viktor, and a few others that aren’t relevant to the story travel around Witherhurst on a job or something from a lady who’s Definitely Not Important At All (Her name is Prenella). At some point Prenella ditches the party and they’re stuck without a cleric for a while

-They make it to a big city, and through shenanigans that include travelling the city for fun and also almost dying to a pack of rabid dogs, Eve convinces Intem to join the party.

-Eve, Vik, and now Intem (plus one more pc) unravel a cult plot, something about the end of the world, blah blah nothing really important there. They end up taking out the cult and fighting Prenella, the cult’s leader, who also happens to be a dragon. Neat.

-After that horrifying ordeal, the party reconvenes and decides, ‘fuck it, let’s go find a new place to travel together’ and thus board a ship that they then steal from the captain (after Intem’s “pet” eats said captain).

-So begins the few years the party spends as pirates.

-Things happen, they end up fighting an eldritch god for world-ending rights, and go on their merry way.

- Intem falls into the role of reluctant (but no less ruthless) pirate captain, with vik as his first mate and eve as navigator (despite the fact that she can’t read. they figure it out)

-This is around the time Intem goes from lilac-haired sunshine boy to disgruntled cynic who’s Done With Your Shit, Viktor.

-Eventually the crew docks, and picks up Therai and Pippin for a while. Eve also brings up the idea of reviving Vik’s old travelling companion, Dante (two bros, chillin in a tavern, no feet apart ‘cause they’re so gay), and Intem’s like “Sure why the fuck not” and they set off to find his grave or whatever.

-Hatch and Xander are in the area and end up getting picked up by the crew.

-Dante gets revived, and for the next year or so, everything is fine.

-Eventually the crew docks near Therai’s old home kingdom, and he dips, taking Pippin, Xander, and Hatch with him (he really only meant to take Pip). They spend a while travelling to his kingdom, Aer-Vinn, and encounter Hatch’s long time (boy)friend Aerglo. He joins the party, at Hatch’s request.

-A little while later (vague time frame I know but exact years don’t matter here), there’s some Good Therai Angst when- Shock! Horror! - they end up stumbling upon Tal, who shares ~history~ with Therai. Not the good kind, mind you. They leave soon after meeting Tal.

-There’s a few more encounters with Therai’s old companion before Tal eventually softens up and joins the party, hell yeah. Warren joins too, because he was nearby and Also shares ~history~ with Therai and Tal. (They were all in a party together before this)

-AT THE SAME TIME THIS IS GOING ON: Rain sets out on a holy mission from their church to prove themselves worthy of being a Paladin of the Church.

-They meet Rosemary along the way, and after a small adventure together, they decide to help Rose out and find Catherine with her, because a while back Rose accidentally turned Catherine into, well, a cat.

-They do find Cat, after she’d gone through some Shit in an alternate dimension featuring a Sun Goddess and her complete mental breakdown. Cat Killed A Goddess (or two, we’ll see how the campaign goes), and made friends with the cousins Mikhail and Valentine. Mikhail doesn’t matter to the timeline right now. 

-Anyway, Rain and Rose find Cat, and settle down in a little seaside village where they work together to turn Cat back into a human.

-They Succeed!!!

-Uh-oh there’s a stranger at the door- Oh! It’s just Rain’s Cleric friend from their church, Rahon! Turns out Rain kinda went MIA and everyone back home is having a Panic, so Rahon’s here to make sure Rain is alive and well, or collect their belongings if they’re not-

-But they’re alive, so Rahon calms down and decides to stay (after sending a message back home, of course), to keep an eye or two on Rain.

-Rain is Delighted :)

-The party (minus kal) were traveling somewhere, kal ended up going the same way, and they ended up in the same city for a while. rahon saw her Up To No Good, so he kept an eye on them and saw them getting stabbed, and decided to nurse her back to health, and thus Kal Joins The Party. Rahon is an absolute sweetheart to them

-Eventually Rose, Cat, and Rain head out to a nearby cave system bc of Reasons, and end up kinda sorta stumbling into a system that leads to this world’s version of the Underdark. They need help navigating, because Fuck These Tunnels Are Confusing, and come across a little hermit drow who’s living his “best” life in his underground hut with tattered clothes and ratty books and cracked glasses.

-He just wants to see the surface but is terrified of how the world will treat him if he goes up alone, so he offers to guide everyone through the Underdark in exchange for them taking him up to the surface. Everyone agrees

-Astralus, little hermit drow lad, does so, and soon finds himself stumbling out into broad daylight. He’s got light sensitivity and everything Burns, but he’s so fucking happy oh my gods. Also he’s crying but it’s okay, he’s kinda really emotional.

-Aster joins the party! And they find out he’s cousins with Rose, who practically adopted him as a brother anyway let’s be real.

-Somehow Val learns of Cat’s whereabouts, and pops by to say hi to his trauma buddy. Cue shock as he sees her as human for the first time. Aster develops an immediate crush, and takes to following Val around like a lost puppy.

-Val is having a Time because, Aster looks just like a person he knew in an alternate universe and things didn’t turn out well for them. Yikes.

-Val joins the party, if only to tease Cat and finally have a place to be for a while

-MEANWHILE: Bree finds an abomination living in the abandoned mineshafts near her village. She decides he could probably use a friend, since the entire village is pretty scared of/hostile towards him, and becomes that friend. She finds out his name is Ve, and he’s a sweetheart. She makes immediate friends and he teaches her sign language, because he Literally Doesn’t Have A Face, he can’t speak.

-A few weeks later, either Ve or Bree decide to leave bc Fuck This Town, except they don’t say Fuck because they’re both softe beans (they both legally cannot say fuck. and i actually had an idea for how they leave ovo). Either way, they leave, and through shenanigans, they pick up Three More Tieflings, what the hell, which is kinda funny because previously, Bree didn’t think tieflings existed at all. 

-Tarvaii and Trancey are travelling together as a Chaotic Mischief Duo, and end up joining the party because Bree made friends

-Same situation with Chaym, though he was alone and depressed because his entire village got massacred. Bree made friends, and Chaym joined the party

-Chaym also ended up teaching Trancey magic, specifically Necromancy, which is kinda really stupid dangerous but it’s fine, Chaym survived, why shouldn’t Trancey? (flawed logic but okay Chaym)

-Cut to a few years later, back with Eve and Co.

-They’re in a tavern, Eve sees a depressed tiefling at the bar. What does she do? Immediately go try to cheer him up.

-She finds out he’d left his pregnant girlfriend on a mission to go help out somewhere, and ended up stuck in a weird place where time passes differently for him. It’s been 26 years, though to him it felt more like a handful of weeks. He’s scared and confused and would very much like to find his family, but he has no idea where he is.

-Eve’s heart breaks bc! he’s so sad and his girlfriend is pregnant and he’s got a family and just wants to get back to them, how could she not want to help? and thus she decides to help the tiefling, Viren, find his family.

-Through a series of events, the find out Viren’s family was living in a beautiful city built into the mountains, that fell quite a few years back. Luckily, his girlfriend left beforehand, and moved to a small mining town, where she gave birth to, and briefly raised, their son. She named him Ve, after his father, who she assumed was dead.

-There was a fire at one point, and Angelica, Viren’s girlfriend, died saving Ve. Viren is absolutely devastated when he finds out, and Eve offers to resurrect Angelica, y’know, bring the family together again, even if for just a short time.

-Vi agrees, and they do so! Woo! Also Eve and co. meet up with Ve for a while so the family really is back together.

-Intem, doing a sneaky trick, makes it so Angelica’s soul keeps the body and just, lives until the body dies, be it natural or unnatural causes. He only tells Eve and Angelica about it, and waits to see how long it takes Viren to realize ‘oh shit I’m not losing my fiance so soon’

-Also Viren and Angelica get engaged! Woo!

-A little while passes, Viren and Anne join the party, and Eve gets pregnant with Intem’s kids. At this point the party’s stopped adventuring, and they all settled down somewhere nice. Anyway Eve’s pregnant and gives birth to twins, Olive and Evergreen (Evan for short), but Olive looks more like Therai than Intem and it’s kinda weird, but nobody really minds because the twins are just, so cute. Also Therai (and co) came back and built the party a nice house, so, yeah.

-Olive and Evan grow up, and Evan takes an interest in Druid Magic. Vik lets Evan access his Giant Library and teaches him general magic stuff. Olive scares her whole ass family by taking an interest in Necromancy, and eventually someone gets in contact with Chaym (and by extension Trancey), and has him come over to teach Olive.

-Olive becomes a necromancer! And then heads off with Evan in tow to start their own life of adventuring. 

-Eve has another kid, Avery, with Therai

-Olive befriends a Whole Ass Dragon, gives him the nickname Jade, and introduces him to Evan. By the time the trio make it back to Jade’s hoard, Avery’s taken on the role of Fighter and heads out into the world to do her own thing. She also meets Clover, another fighter, and they travel together for a while before joining Olive, Evan, and Jade. 

-That’s it, that’s where we stopped on the timeline of True Canon. It’ll go on, of course, but, here’s the general timeline in 4 pages

[aswithasunbeam]

October 1809

“Morning Geli!” James called, mounting the steps of the Grange. His sister was sitting on the front porch in the autumn sunshine with an easel set before her. “Have you missed me?”

She gave him a distant look as he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“What are you painting?”

Her gaze fell back on the easel. He glanced at it, too, taking in the blurry shapes that didn’t seem to form any understandable image. She didn’t offer any explanation, not that he’d expected her to when she was so clearly in the grips of one of her distant, closed off moods.

“Love you,” he said, patting her arm affectionately before letting himself into the house.

His father’s bust stared back at him from across the foyer. He hung his hat on the stand and looked to his left to find the door to his father’s study partly ajar. Phil was in there with him, babbling on about something from the sound of it.

“And then Mr. Harris told me to add them together, but I told him no, because you showed me how to do it already, and you’re the best at math in the whole country,” Phil said from his seat on Papa’s lap.

Papa laughed. “Well, flattering as that may be, Son, I think you ought to hear your tutor out. It’s possible he was teaching you a different way to come to the same answer.”

“I don’t want to do it a different way. I want to do it the right way.”

“And my way is the right way?”

“Yes,” Phil said earnestly.

Papa laughed again and kissed Phil’s forehead. “And don’t you forget it.”

James knocked on the door and poked his head inside. “Hi Papa.”

Papa’s expression turned grave the moment he saw him. “Phil, why don’t you go find Billy? Tell him I said it was all right to go down to the river. You can take your new fishing pole along.”

“All right, Papa,” Phil agreed, sliding off his lap. As he moved towards James, he whispered, “You’re in big trouble.”

“Phil,” Papa said, voice holding a warning.

The boy scurried out of the room.

“Close the door, James,” Papa directed.

A sense of foreboding swept over him as he shut himself into his father’s office. He’d been away in Waterford for the past several months, tending to the property his mother had finally been awarded from Grandpa Schuyler’s estate and setting up his first legal practice. He was at a loss as to what had happened in his absence to cause his father’s apparent displeasure.

Papa was looking at him over the top of his spectacles, as though taking measure of him. When Papa finally spoke, it was with an air of forced casualness. “Did you have a safe ride down?”

“Yes,” he answered. He fought not to fidget as he stood straight, pinned by his father’s gaze.

“Any news you’d like to share with me?”

His mind went utterly blank. On the way home, he’d been bursting with subjects to discuss with his father: politics, legal issues, needed business advice. They all evaporated at the expression of grave disappointment on his father’s face. “No?”

“Nothing at all?”

He shook his head and shifted his weight to his other foot.

“Hm.” Papa reached down into his desk and pulled out a broadsheet. “That’s odd, because I read the most curious thing in the newspaper from Saratoga county recently.”

“You read the newspaper from Saratoga county?”

“Not usually. Mr. Ten Broeck sent it to me for my attention to this particular item.” He tapped his finger over the leftmost column.

James approached slowly, squinting down at the small print where his father had gestured. John Cramer’s name stood out in the blur of words, and his stomach dropped down into his shoes. “Oh.”

“Oh, indeed,” Papa said. “What on earth were you thinking?”

“I….” He hesitated. “It wasn’t…I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t even there when it started.” He could see Papa’s jaw tensing as he stumbled through his explanation.

The thing was, he hadn’t even wanted to make the stupid speech in the first place. When the Federalist’s had invited him to speak, he’d known immediately it wasn’t him they wanted to hear from, but his father. The older he grew, and the more of politics he’d come to understand, the more he could feel his views departing from his father’s, but he could hardly speak his mind in front of a room of his father’s loyal supporters. And so, he hadn’t. The result had been an admittedly rather bland speech, toeing the party line and praising his father in as many ways as he could think of.

The trouble had started after he’d left. A meeting of Democrats had followed the Federal gathering, and a man by the name of John Cramer had immediately jumped up to report everything James had said. His commentary hadn’t exactly been flattering. A good deal of insult had been leveled against his father, adding to the insult.

Captain Ten Broeck had stood after Cramer was done and challenged him to a duel in James’s name. The good Captain had insisted that if James refused to hold the man accountable for his words, he would fight Cramer himself. “He won’t do it,” Cramer had sneered in reply.1

“Captain Ten Broeck was the one who challenged him in my name, but I felt duty bound to send a written challenge after he reported what happened. Cramer insulted me, and you. What was I supposed to do?”

Papa’s face paled as James explained. “Not that. Not a duel.”

“He refused anyway. That newspaper report is regarding his cowardly refusal to face me. We never came close to actually fighting.”

“Have you learned nothing from the heartache of the past years?” Papa’s voice rose uncharacteristically, his nostrils flaring in anger.

James shifted back a step, startled. “I’m sorry.”

“I can’t go through that again, Jamie. I can’t. If I lost you, like that, in such a foolhardy, pointless exercise….” Papa’s hands slipped under his glasses, his fingers pressing at his eyes. “It would kill me, Jamie.”

In retrospect, he had seen that his behavior had followed the same course as Pip’s and Papa’s. Only dumb luck had prevented his meeting the same fate. Indignation had burned through him at Cramer’s insult, but the exchange had certainly not been worth his life. Pip and Papa’s sacrifices ought to have served as better examples to him.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, more softly. “It was foolish. I know that.”

“I can’t understand why you were there in the first place. You should be focused on establishing your practice, not making politic speeches. Keep yourself out of politics altogether, at least until your settled.”

“It’s not that simple,” James argued. “Even going to court nowadays feels like a political exercise. Do you know, when Martin Van Buren won in Judge Van Ness’s court, the Judge asked Williams how he could have let that ‘little Democrat’ beat him? And Williams replied, ‘Oh, Judge, I relied upon you to supply my deficiencies.’ Making the right political connections feels like the only way I’m ever going to win a case in court.”2

“These are particularly divisive times, but the way to combat such corruption in our judicial system is surely not to engage in it. And spilling each other’s blood is hardly going to help either.”

“Easy for you to say. You have clients lining up down the street for your legal services. When you lose to Democratic judges, no one doubts your skill as an attorney. I’m only just starting. I need to prove myself.”

“You need to stay alive,” Papa snapped. “There are other careers you can undertake. You only get one life.”

James swallowed.

Papa’s voice turned pleading as he said, “Promise me you won’t ever do that again.”

“I promise,” he vowed.

As he considered what else to say, a knock came on the office door. Little Eliza’s face peeped in through the crack she’d opened. “Papa? People are here.”

“Is it Mama?” Papa asked, frowning lightly.

“No.” She leaned back out and squinted at the glass panes beside the front door. “I think’s Mr. Morris and some other people.”

“Oh,” Papa said, seizing the wheels of his chair and maneuvering out from behind the desk. “Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll let them in.”

He stopped in front of James before he passed and gestured for him to lean down. “Come here.”

James obeyed, letting his father wrap him in a loose hug.

“I love you,” Papa said.

“I love you, too,” James replied.

With that, Papa rolled out to answer the door.

“Big news, Ham, big news,” Gouverneur Morris announced, almost before the front door was even open.

James looked down the stairs as his father’s friend barreled through the foyer towards the parlor. An elderly gentleman was slowly making his way up towards the house as well, leaning heavily on a cane and the young lady accompanying him.

“Richard Morris,” his father supplied for him before heading towards the parlor. James felt his eyes widen at the name – Richard Morris had been the Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court for over a decade before his retirement. “He’s visiting Morrisania. Show him into the parlor when he makes it in, will you?”

“Yes, Papa,” he agreed.

Geli apparently had gone inside while he’d been in Papa’s office, he noted absently, her easel and paints abandoned in place.

As he watched their company’s progress from the top of the steps, he found his eyes resting far more on the young lady than on the venerated old Judge. She wore a power blue dress cut in the new style popularized by Mrs. Madison, with ivory lace detailing at the bodice, and a blue satin sash decorating the high waistline. Her hair was dark and curled into delicate little ringlets that framed her face.

She was beautiful.

“James Hamilton,” he introduced himself when they’d made it up the stairs. “A pleasure to meet you, Judge Morris.”

“Yes, yes, hello,” the Judge replied breathlessly. He coughed weakly, then seemed to notice James’ attention had fixed on the young woman at his side. “My granddaughter, Mary.”

She stretched her free hand out for him to kiss. “How do you do, Mr. Hamilton?”

He took her hand and bowed. “Very well, Miss Morris. And yourself?”

“Enjoying this lovely autumn day. Isn’t the weather beautiful, grandfather?”

“Yes, yes,” he repeated, still catching his breath.

Mary looked at James expectantly. For the second time that day, his mind felt utterly blank. He could feel the skin of his cheeks stretching as he grinned at her like an idiot.

“Is there somewhere I could sit down, young man?” Judge Morris injected into the slightly awkward silence.

“Oh, yes. Papa’s gone into the parlor with Mr. Morris. Right through here.” He showed them into the room.

“Please have a seat, Judge,” Papa invited.

“Let me get you a chair, Miss Morris,” James said, scrambling to move one of the seats from the table in the center of the room.

“I can move it,” Mary said.

“No, no, allow me,” he insisted.

In his haste to move the chair, he slammed the solid wooden leg into his shin, and had to bite back the swear that fought to escape with the sudden flash of pain.

“Are you all right?” Mary asked.

“Fine,” he said, voice tight. “Just fine. Here you are Miss.”

“Thank you?” She said it as question, as though she wasn’t quite sure what to make of his slightly desperate attempt at chivalry.

He nodded, grinning like an idiot again. What was the matter with him?

“James?” Papa asked, staring at him with a curiously fond expression.

“Yes?”

“Would you like to sit down and join us?” Papa nodded to the three other free chairs around the table.

Yes, sitting down would be far less awkward than standing at Mary’s side, grinning down at her. “Yes. Thank you.”

He placed his chair beside his father and sat down as Mr. Morris began speaking again. Papa patted at his arm and leaned over towards him while Mr. Morris addressed the Judge. “Relax,” Papa advised, sotto voce. “You’re doing fine.”

He raised his eyebrows encouragingly before turning his attention back to Mr. Morris.

James snuck a glance across the room at Mary, who he found was watching him in turn, with her head tilted slightly to the side and a subtle quirk to her lips.

Beautiful, he decided again. Simply beautiful.

[arbitrarygreay]

Killjoys Burn Notice AU

One of the main things that came out of my rewatch of Killjoys S01E02 was that a Burn Notice AU for the Killjoys characters basically writes itself. The backstories for a lot of the characters don't change much. D'avin is our Michael Westen. He and Johnny grew up with a shit dad in Miami. D'avin joined the military while Johnny stayed behind, learning to run grifts and steal cars. Eventually, D'avin goes from just military to black ops, and then gets burned, leading to his return to Miami. In the meantime, Johnny at some point tried to steal Dutch's car, when she was on the run after assassinating a local gang boss. They then joined Turin's agency, which both does bounty hunting and fixing, an agency with a reputation for providing fixer services with integrity, unlike the rampant corruption everywhere else in Miami. The Kin Rits are a powerful family based in Washington DC. Yalena and Aneela are fixers with much less ethical compunctions than Turin. Khlyen is up to Shady Government Rogue Black Ops Shit. Dutch was kidnapped from the Kin Rits as a baby and raised as a gang hitman. After finding her fairly recently, Khlyen was blackmailed into not letting Dutch know her true background, or bringing her back to DC. Hullen is an international crime syndicate, while The Lady is a step up from that, a shadowy conglomerate with a good amount of compromised "legitimate" power. Khlyen's Level 6 black ops agency was completely coopted by Hullen (hah, a shout-out to Rob Stewart's role in Nikita!). Aneela was great at STEM, and was originally going to go into biomed research, until The Lady recruited her, at which point she became a fixer like her mom, instead. Eventually, Aneela finds out about Khlyen running around with her long-lost twin in Miami, from some less-than-legal contacts. The whole Jaq situation is a hilarious morass of slow burn storylines converging. Delle Seyah is a corporate executive based in Miami, but a fair amount of time in DC for lobbying/influencing purposes. She had Jaq via anonymous-donor IVF (said donor being D'avin, of course). Delle Seyah contracted with a fixer (Aneela) to prevent her enemies from exploiting her pregnancy. The two of them never met face to face at the time, and Delle Seyah never heard Aneela's real voice. This is why Delle Seyah doesn't realize that Dutch is a twin, as she begins to interact with Team Awesome Force. However, this contact with Aneela back in the day got Delle Seyah on Khlyen's radar, so sometimes the two get up to shady shit together in Miami for mutually beneficial reasons. Jaq is a teenager in the present, and has an ear to the ground for more bizarre Florida Man shenanigans, which Team Awesome Force has a tendency of getting into. He becomes a fan of the team, tracking them down and starts hanging out with them, to their chagrin. Eventually, these seemingly unrelated happenings crash together. Delle Seyah finds out that her son has been hanging out with the fixer team she's sometimes hired and sometimes gone up against. She is not very happy about this. Aneela learns about Dutch, and Shit Happens, including Aneela and Delle Seyah finally meeting in person and hitting it off. Aneela finds out for Delle Seyah that D'avin is Jaq's sperm donor, and there are Shenanigans. The team learn that Jaq is Delle Seyah's son, and have very mixed feelings about this, especially as things with Aneela are getting murkier and murkier. And, finally, Jaq hacks the donor database himself to find out that D'avin is his biological dad. They all unite to protect Jaq from The Lady, who would hold him hostage against everyone. Family dinners get gloriously strange. In other news, Zeph left her Amish family, tried to finish her degree at a Miami for-profit scam college, and has to start working for Turin to pay the bills. It was supposed to be just a side-job until she got hired as a real scientist elsewhere, but then she joined Team Awesome Force and decided to stay. The rest of the characters are basically unchanged. Alvis is a religious activist, trying to bring about revolution. Pawter is the daughter of the Simms CEO, first a doctor and then eventually succeeding her mother as CEO. Fancy is a bounty hunter under Turin. Pree is a bartender with a very shady past. Pip is a fast-talking trust fund baby who makes deals happen under the table. (For funsies, we're going to just straight up transplant Westen-mama to be Jaqobis-mama.)

[eeeethesilly]

my dip artwork guys

angst (not doing fluff) you can tell i put a lot of effort into it

[youremypride]

Child of Satan.

Title: Child of Satan 

→ Inspired by: Case 39

Genre: Angst, Horror, Thriller

About: Strange occurrences arise when Y/N, a social worker takes in 10-year old Lilith Langdon under her care from her abusing grandmother who calls her the spawn of Satan.

Warnings: minor sexual content, mentions of killing, murder, character(s) death

Disclaimer: The plot of the story remains the same, with a few changes to fit the story I had in mind. Michael only appears near the ending of the story but he is still an importance to one of the characters. There are parts which I’ve added in from the movie, and parts I’ve changed or taken out. 

A/N: This marks the start of the Witching Hour series! It took me a lot of time because I wasn’t sure how I wanted the story to be since I planned this on a whim while watching this movie. Please feel free to leave comments on your thoughts about this, feedback is much appreciated! Until then, enjoy the movie! 

Reoccurring nightmares flooded your head in the late of night. Your body would be paralysed, refraining you from any movements from danger when something bad is about to happen. You were lying in bed, covered and secured over your comforter. Your hands were on your side but you couldn’t move them no matter how much you struggled.

Beside you stands the same man that would sit on the chair next to your bed. He would give you an endearing smile as he caresses your hair and brushes the stray hairs away from your pretty face. He places a small kiss on your temple before flipping open the book in his hands, reading off a part of the storybook, something he does to get you to fall asleep.

When he’s finished, he places the book on your side table and tucks you in one last time before wishing you goodnight and walking out of your room and closing the door. In the last seconds before you were consumed by the heavy feeling of fatigue and sleep welcoming you, you could hear your mother shouting from the lower floor, yelling at the person she was referring to not leave, until the front door slams with a loud bang and you awake from that nightmare.

Jolting up from your bed, beads of sweat trickled down your forehead. The back of your shirt felt damp from all the sweating and you felt your body heat increasing. You hated to relive that moment every time you went to sleep. The once bitter memory now forming into a nightmare that would continuously haunt you, taunting you and reminding you how your father had left you and your mother.

You once asked her why your father wasn’t in the picture when you got older and it made her agitated and distraught. She screeched at you, warning you never to question about him. You saw first hand what it did to her so you obeyed her, afraid something like that might happen again.

The absence of a man in the house, a husband and a father didn’t only affect your mother. It affected you too. In order to cope with your neglect and rejection, you started seeing older men that were way too old for you when you reached legal age. You would often go out to bars and solicit them, seeking solace in their presence as they are balls deep inside of you.

The pleasure and comfort these men had given you made you forget about reality and it only fuelled your need of having a cock inside you rather than drinking your problems away. Your sinful deeds would’ve made you feel guilty when your partner, Hayden is oblivious of your pussy slavering away to another man’s cock as you ride them off into the late of night, thinking you were working overtime.

Although those days are long over, you still get off from the memories, reliving them to bring you the feeling of satisfaction, one that Hayden had tried countless times but ended up giving you an unfulfilling orgasm as they always cums before you.

You had come to terms that you had issues. Daddy issues.

Another file plops down onto your desk, rounding a total of 39 case files that were assigned to you. Your manager, Wayne gave you an apologetic look and shrugs telling you that the others had their hands full just as you are. As he walks away, you scoffed and sighed at your misery.

You opened the file, greeted by a picture of the said victim. Reading through her file, you gathered that her name was Lilith Langdon, a 10-year old girl currently living with her grandmother. It states that she’s exhibited signs of apathetic, lack of interest in studying and often isolate herself with her peers. You mull over certain scenarios and why such an innocent girl could have been in such a situation.

Closing the front door behind you, you throw your keys on the console table, putting your coat and bag on the chair right beside it. Walking towards the living room, you plopped yourself onto your comfy brown couch and shuffled your hand through your front pocket to get your phone out.

As if on cue, a few messages appeared on the screen.

Hayden: hey baby, you home yet?

Hayden: miss you a lot, you still up for some thai food?

Hayden: if you’re tired, i could bring take out to yours, how ‘bout that?

You were kinda tired, and having to go out again a few hours just brings your body into a feeling of agony. Thankfully, Hayden was kind enough to know of your tiring schedule and you replied them in an instant.

You: yeap i’m home

You: yes please, thank you baby <3

Grabbing the remote of the coffee table, you turn the tv on and surfed through channels until you settled on some reruns of The Simpsons. The drowsy feeling in your eyes slowly starts creeping until your lids became heavier and heavier until your sight was nothing but obsidian.

Knocks on the door awoke you from your nap and brisk walk towards the front door. You were greeted by the sigh of Hayden, holding up the takeout of Thai food and greeting you with a grin from ear to ear. “Your delivery of Thai food is here!” They pipped, leaning in to give you a quick kiss on your lips before allowing themselves in.

They placed the takeout on the dining table as you get ready two glasses of water. They hand one of the Styrofoam boxes to you along with the utensils. You thanked them and said your prayers. “Ah, my favourite. You know me too well, baby.”

“I know my little girl enjoys chicken as much as I do.”

You love it when they call you their little girl. It brings up bubbles in your stomach and makes you feel giddy at the pet name they had given you. You insisted on them to continue calling you that when they decided to stop, saying it would made you uncomfortable due to your age.

It didn’t matter, you enjoyed it regardless. Even when Hayden was the same age as you. “So, any new updates with your recent case?” You nodded, swallowing down your food before you reply to them.

“Diego’s father missed his blood check the other day and a few other appointments he was suppose to come the last week. What bothers me is that Diego is denying everything of what he’s father is accounted for. His father has a history, and I’m afraid he’s being abused emotionally, that’s why he’s defending his father.”

Hayden nods in understanding, “He could be, but you could see how he’s trying to make it up to his son. Surely there’s a good reason why he’s been missing out lately. You did say he was working three jobs just to keep their family afloat, right?” You sighed, your eyebrows joined forming a crease in between.

“I hope you’re right about that.”

“Okay, enough talking about it. Let’s talk about what really matters right now.” They take your hand in theirs, soothing your upper hand in gentle strokes. “About us. Our relationship.”

You had wished they didn’t bring this up. It was difficult to say to them that you weren’t just ready to get married and settle down. Hayden had given you a month to think about it when they proposed to you after you gave them your answer. You had to admit but you didn’t see a future with Hayden at all. There was no point of being tied down to somebody whom you’ve lost interest since got knows when.

Finding the right words and the right reason to break it to them had your brain pulsing hard against your skull. You would’ve come out as a bitch, wasting away their time and years on you if you admit it now. Sooner or later, you have to tell them the truth.

You placed your free palm on top of theirs, mirroring the same action they did seconds ago. “I know you want an answer, but I just can’t give it to you. I’m sorry that I’m delaying it for so long and not giving you the answer you want. But I-I, I have so much to think about and I’m just too... too...” You stuttered.

“Too what, Y/N?” There was pain and sadness in their voice, but you could hear that little small hope voicing out.

“I’m afraid. I’m afraid of you losing me.” Lies. “That you’ll leave me and say that you’ve made the wrong decision in marrying me.” Lies. “That I never give you the time and affection you need and that I had distance myself from you.” Lies. That’s how you’ve managed to keep them wrapped around your finger all these years.

“No, no I would never think that baby.” They cupped your face in their palms, making you look at them. A concern expression washed over their face as they brush your cheeks with their thumb. “I’ll never leave you, what makes you think I would?”

“B-because, I’m not giving you what you want. You want a family. I don’t. Not right now, and I’m the obstacle that’s stopping you from getting what you want.” They pulled you into a hug as you wrap your arms around their neck. They sat you on top of their lap as your legs dangle over theirs. You feel their arms resting on your hips, soothing them by drawing circular patterns on your skin.

“You’re not an obstacle, baby. I’ll understand if you still need more time. Remember, I’ll always love you, okay? Don’t let those negative thoughts get to you. Come on, let’s clean up, wash up and get ready for bed, how’s that sound?” They pull you up so that your legs were wrapped on their hips before placing you on your feet and prepared to sleep.

Driving your black sedan up the roan, you read off the signs to find the right street before taking a right turn. The street was your typical suburban area. They were children playing on their lawns, some adults taking the time to mow them until you found the house you were looking for.

The roof of the house was tiled in red tiles, the wooden white planks had paint coming off from it, and streams of vines decorated the walls as they climbed up towards the roof. The windows were grimed and only the top floor had the windows opened. The lawn was unkempt, with weeds and bald patches popping up here and there. The house was surrounded with tall iron fencing that reached the height of your shoulders.

You caught movement coming from the corner of your eye and looked up to see a lady, her blonde hair in an updo bun as she takes a drag from the cigarettes she’s holding between her fingers. She only glances you for a second before disappearing into the darkness of the room as you make your way towards the front door.

Three knocks were all it took until you head heels clicking against the wooden floor on the other side. The door opens, a gap wide enough to see the person behind the door as it was secured by a safety chain to prevent it from being open any wider.

“Mrs. Langdon? I’m Y/N L/N. I’m here for your appointment.”

“It’s not the 17th yet.”

“Yes, it is, Mrs. Langdon. It’s the 17th today.”

“No, you’re wrong, sweetie.” Annoyed, you grab out the newspaper from your file bag and showed it right in front of her. “It’s the 17th. Today’s paper says so.”

She slams the door in your face, the sound of chains unlocking from behind and the door open, wider this time. She steps aside as she eyed you, gesturing you to enter. Once you’re in the foyer of the house, you take a good look at the place. It was cosy and homey, a different contrast as how she was dressed, elegance.

A little girl appears from the top of the staircase, looking down at you emotionlessly. Slowly, you call out to her, “Hey there. I wanna talk to you. Could you come down for a while?”

Light footsteps creaked the steps, as she descended down ‘til she was starting at you at eye level. “Hey there, sweetheart. My name’s Y/N. What’s your name?”

“Lily.” Her voice was soft, almost feathery. “Lily, what a beautiful name.” You turned to her grandmother, “Is there someplace we can talk?”

“Are we expecting Lily’s parents to be coming home soon?” You pipped.

Mrs. Langdon, or Constance as she preferred, only gave you a look, her dull eyes boring into yours before she takes another drag of her cigarette. “Lily’s parents are dead. I’m the only one she has left.”

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat, “I’m so sorry. The file didn’t say anything about it.”

“What is it you want, darling? I haven’t got any time and you’re wasting precious hours. On with the questions.” She scoffed softly.

“Oh, right, sorry, um... I’m here because we received a call that Lilith has been showing serious signs of neglect. Now at this point we can only assume it’s the result of family problems.”

Constance chuckles, “I presume it must’ve been one of those nosy neighbours who called in? Family problems you say? It’s only darling Lilith and me in this house. We get along just fine. I’ve been taking care of Lilith since she was a baby. Her mother died from childbirth and her father is god knows where. We don’t have any family problems. Not that I know of.”

“Well, many families aren’t aware that they’re having family problems, not until they’re too late. And that’s where we come in. We help families communicate and learn healthier ways to resolving conflict.”

“I appreciate the kindness, but we don’t need your help. I think our time here is done. You can show yourself out.” She puffs thick white smoke as she gestures you to the front door.

A few days later, Constance was called in by your manager after you’ve given him many reasons as to why you might think Lily is in trouble.

You leaned against the wall inside of Wayne’s office, looking at the Constance and Lily who was sitting on the couch. “Well, I know I’m not the perfect grandmother for Lily, I know that but she knows I show my love and care for her in other ways. She knows how I feel about her.”

You could see Lily’s face churning and twisting in discomfort, “So, tell me, Mrs. Langdon, does it concern you that Lily’s grades have dropped from A’s to D’s in three months?”

“Of course, she’s my granddaughter.”

“So, you have no idea why your granddaughter falls asleep in class every day? Why she can’t sleep at home? No idea?” You turned to look at Wayne.

“And you’ve never slept in class before, Ms. L/N? I know I did.”

Staring out at the pair from inside your office, you turned towards Wayne with an annoyed expression, “Don’t tell me you felt for that?”

Wayne sighs, “Look, cut her some slack, she the only breadwinner of her family here. We can’t guarantee every kid here has a happy childhood. I wish we could.”

“Let me talk to her, alone just for five minutes.”

“We don’t have the case, Y/N.”

“Just five minutes. Talk to them about happy children and how much they love kids.”

You approached Lily who was standing beside the water cooler. A pair of girls had rushed right in front of you with their mother behind them, telling them to slow down. You smiled at the sight. “I’ve always wanted a sister growing up, don’t you? To play with and to talk to, things that you just can’t tell anybody else, you know? Did you ever wish that? That you had a sister?”

Lily remained silent, and you cursed yourself for forgetting that her mother had died ten years ago so the idea of having a sister wouldn’t have crossed her mind.

Sensing the awkward feeling between you too, you purposely lean over the water cooler and let the cold water hit your neck, prickling your skin at the sudden temperature. Lily giggled beside you, having caught her attention by the act you did.

“Well, that was a silly thing to do, wasn’t it?” You smiled at her. “What’s happening to you?”

You kneel down, so that you were at a child’s height. “You know I can help. Let me help you.” Lily starts to look distressed, looking around her and over her shoulder.

“What is it sweetheart?” You gently place a hand on her arms.

“She hates me.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you.”

“She does. I hear her talking to herself in her bedroom.”

“What do they talk about?”

A few seconds of silence filled the air until she begins to talk again, whimpering and tears pooling in her eyes. “Sending me to hell. She calls me the spawn of Satan, and that I should’ve not been born.”

“You heard her say that?” She nods franticly.

It was a major bust to get Lily to say what she had told you. The recording evidence you need against Constance failed when Lily had said the opposite, allowing Wayne to close the case and told you to let it go.

Desperate, you seek help from an old friend.

“Y/N, what brings you here to my office?” Mike asked. You slide Lily’s case file across his desk.

“Well, well, well. It’s sitting right in front of me so I’m guessing our good friend Wayne has decided it fails to meet the criteria of child endangerment and has told you in no uncertain terms to leave it alone.”

“Surprise, surprise.”

He pushes the file back towards you, “Sorry, Y/N. I can’t.”

“Please Mike, I’m really desperate here.”

He tells you that the department doesn’t pay him enough to stake out potential child abusers and reminded you how it almost cost him his job the last time he helped. You chided in and told him how Lily’s grandmother wanted to send her to hell and called her the spawn of Satan. In the end he gave in and asked him to send him the evidence and files over, which you thanked him.

You laid across the brown couch, surfing through channels until your phone starts ringing. Thinking it was Hayden, whom you left voicemails minutes ago, you answered it in a cheery tone. “Too late, met someone else.”

“Y/N.”

“Lily?”

You could her the fear in her voice and the panic that was slowly increasing, her pants soft but sharp. She tells you that she’s scared and that Constance was waiting and ready to get her, her voice getting sleepier.

Quickly, you rushed out of your house and drove over her house, calling Mike for back up. Once you got there, the scene unfolding in front of you brought you to a shock. Constance had Lily locked in her oven, duct tape securing the handle to stop her front busting the door open. You struggled when you tried to rescue Lily out, having to fight against Constance as she pushes you away from the oven.

That is until Mike fends her off, knocking her down as you were quick to get Lily out from the oven before it could burn her.

As ordered by the judge, Constance had to undergo psychiatric evaluation until she is deemed fit for trial. On the other hand, Lily had been placed into a state home until they’re able to find her a new foster home. To help Lily fit in better in socialising and interacting with others, she would attend a group therapy in which children would voice out their opinions and share their problems with one another.

But something kept nagging at the back of your mind. You recall back to the day you met Lily at the hospital and how she wanted to stay with you instead. Also, when you had accompanied her to the state home, she brought it up again, giving you pleading eyes and a sad look that almost felt pitiful.

After going through documents and meetings, you got approval to become Lily’s temporary guardian before they find her a new foster home. When you reached your home, you showed her around, her eyes were twinkling like stars and her lips formed into a waxing crescent moon smile. She was happy, and you were happy too.

“What is this?” She asked, sipping the tea from her cup as you brushed her hair, detangling the strands to straighten them. “It’s chamomile. Helps me sleep.”

She takes a sip again before you spoke, “You know none of this should ever have happened. If I could make it go away, I would.”

“You did.”

You took away the cup from her and tucked her in bed.

You stared at the house from inside of your car. A dark ominous aura seeping out from the cracks of the walls. The longer you stared at it, the more it begins to bite back at you, shaking you to your bones with its soul-stirring presence.

The floorboards creaked against your shoes as you made your way up to the second floor. Turning to your left, you find Lily’s room, picking a soft teddy bear from the pile of toys placed near her window.

Adjacent to her room was Constance’s room. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to caught your attention. There were Christ signs placed over the bed, a bible laying on the top of the dresser. How religious, you thought. That is until you saw strange white marks on the wooden floor that were hidden under the rug.

You flipped it over, and the mark continues towards the door of the room. You notice a few marks on the door as well, finding it perplexing that heavy bolts and chains were screwed behind it. It made you repulsed, thinking she was locking herself from her granddaughter.

“Wayne’s looking for you.”

“Wayne wants to see you.”

Reaching your cubicle, you find Wayne sitting on your desk, Diego’s file opened in front of him.

“What’s up with Diego?”

“Oh hey, Y/N. Why don’t we talk inside my office?”

“No, tell me what’s going on?”

Wayne sighed, “Well, we don’t... We don’t know why yet but he killed his parents last night.”

The information made you shudder, almost twisting your stomach in ways you could never thought it could.

You rushed to the scene, wanting answers on why he would do something like that.

“How did this happen?”

“Gets a tire iron from the garage, heads back inside. Locks all the doors and windows, kills them in their sleep.”

The parents’ bedroom was painted in red all over. The walls were splattered in blood, the pillows were soiled deep with blood, the sheets that were once white had turned red. The crime scene almost looked like it came out of a slasher movie.

“You expect me to believe a 10-year old could do such a thing?”

“I was there when they brought him in. Took three guys to subdue him, and the kid was climbing the walls.”

“You can’t blame yourself for this. Things happen. It’s unfortunate what happened with Diego but you can’t let that haunt you. You’re only one person, Y/N. You can’t save the world. But I know one person you did save.” Hayden comforts you, both their eyes and yours directed towards Lily who was playing with sticks near the lake.

Lily knew Hayden from group therapy, Hayden being the therapist for her sessions. They had worked with kids longer than you did, and that’s how you met since your field of work worked hand in hand with each other.

She had sensed something troubling you, stating how your job was stressful and hard. You admitted how she was right, telling her how parents are just complicated.

“Is that what your parents did? You said you were alone?”

“Yeah, my dad left me when I was young, and my Mum... my Mum passed away a few years ago.”

“Your parents must’ve made you lonely.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You don’t talk about it.”

One morning you caught her with a picture of your parents, one that was taken before your father left you, when everything was fine. She said she wanted to know you better. You reprimanded her nicely, telling her not to go through your things anymore. The same day, Mike had told you how Diego received a call coming from your house. You denied, saying you didn’t call them. Lily was suspected to have called him since he was in the same group therapy as she is. You could’ve guessed she took his phone number from your back up files that you stored in your cabinet. She refuted again and again. Saying she was telling the truth and that she didn’t call him that night. Everything was leading to nowhere.

It got more confused when you visited Diego, saying that Lily did call him that night. Except that it was a man who had called him, which got you puzzled.

“So, I want you to tell me, what scares you?” Hayden asked.

“I’ll tell you want scares me if you tell me what scares you.”

“Fair enough.” Hayden pauses, trying to gather his thoughts before answering her. “When I was young, I hated using the microwave. Silly right? I would get really terrified when the light turns on and the plate of food keeps spinning around. I get paranoid when the timer doesn’t go off, thinking the microwave would explode.

My brother thought it would be funny to put popcorn in it and let me watch. I saw how it slowly swell up, the packet getting bigger and bigger. Hated them ever since.”

“You can’t be that afraid of popcorn too?”

“Sure, you can, the popping noises brings me anxiety sometimes. Now’s your turn. What scares you?”

“Me.” Lily says simply. “You scare yourself?”

“Sometimes.”

“Why? What about yourself scares you?” Hayden asked, baffled.

“I have bad thoughts.”

“About what?”

“People.”

“People in general or certain people?”

“Certain people.” Lily answered.

“Like who?”

“You.”

“You have bad thoughts about me? Why?”

She smiles at you, “I just do.”

It went on a couple of minutes before Lily and Hayden walked out of the room. You could see tiny beads of sweat forming on their forehead. “I’ve talked to many kids, I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that before.”

“Like what?”

“Threatened.”

The news broke your heart. You couldn’t think straight the whole day. Mike had given you in detail everything that happened.

An explosion had occurred in Hayden’s house, the cause of it came from the microwave. It was said to be malfunctioning while they were using it and the sudden impact and radiation had caused Hayden’s skin to burn, killing him instantly.

You loved Hayden, you really did. Mixed feelings intoxicated you, it was hard to come into terms, accepting that your lover was dead. However, a part of you felt lightened yet eating you away with guilt.

You snooped around the office, finding a package that was labelled and had a USB in it. Locking yourself in a secluded office far from the others, you plugged the USB in, which contained a video recording of Constance being interviewed.

You clicked on it, waiting for the video to load.

A man hidden behind the camera was talking to Constance, who was shown in the video.

“Take me through the conversation, Constance, about the oven.”

Constance spoke, “I was sending her back where she’s supposed to belong, in hell in fiery flames.”

“Why did you say that it was God’s will that you should kill your granddaughter?” Constance laughed, scoffing when she heard the question.

“Why is that funny, Constance?”

“Cause she’s not my granddaughter.”

“You think your daughter is the devil? Evil incarnate?”

She glances away from the camera, “I don’ care what you call it.”

“But you have stated that she kills people?” The man questions her. “Not by her own hand, they just die.”

She starts sobbing, “I had five children, three sons and two daughters, and three beautiful grandchildren.” She covers her face with her hands, whimpering as she spoke. “My youngest son was expecting his firstborn at the time with his wife. Soon as she was born, they just started dying. I guess she couldn’t get rid of me until she found somebody else.”

She looks back into the camera, almost staring into your soul from the screen. Shivers ran down your spine. You needed more information. Something wasn’t right about Lily lately.

The two guards sat her down in her chair in front of you. She was strapped in a straight jacket with an emotionless expression.

“I know I’m probably the last person you want to see right now, but you’re the only one I could talk to.”

She looks up to meet your gaze, her eyes in slits, squinting at you. “Who died?”

“A friend.” You spoke. “You’re scared. You ought to be.”

“Is she... What is she?”

Constance smirks, before a vexed look washed over her. “I can tell you what she’s not. She’s not my granddaughter, that’s for sure. She’s not a 10-year old having trouble in school and she’s not some innocent victim whose door you busted down and life you saved. She’s not going anywhere soon, darling. Not till she’s good and done with you.”

“Done with me how?” You asked. “However she wants. You think it’s an accident her ending up with you? She saw you coming a mile away.”

“Why me? I don’t have anything.”

“You have that you’re good, kindness, decency. That’s what she feeds on. Bleeds you dry, moves on to the next. We were a big family, she went through us like a wrecking ball. It’s like she sees everything, and what she doesn’t see, she senses.

Like when you call a friend and they pick it up before it rings? They say when you’re born, you’re given your eternal soul. The part of you that lives on, lives again. Whatever evil she is, didn’t come from my daughter. It was already there.

From the moment she came into being, she brought something with her. Something older, destructive. Soul of a demon.”

It takes you a moment to suppress all the information to you head. “What does she want?”

“To know what your idea of hell is, and make you live there.”

“Y/N, you petitioned for custody, you got it. She’s your responsibility, make it work.”

You sigh, “How? How do I make it work if it’s not working?”

Nancy explains, “With the same coping skills you teach these Mums and Dads every week. Walk the talk, Y/N. Walk the talk.”

As you wait for Lily’s group therapy to end, you see her walking towards another kid, whispering something inaudible in her ear. She was doing it again, until she saw that you were staring at her. You grabbed her out of the room, walking towards the elevator. “You are not going back there.”

“Why Y/N?” She repeats continuously until the both of you got inside. The elevator starts to shake vigorously before coming to a halt.

“Can I go to group next week?” Lily asked, innocently. “You’re not going back there.”

“Are you sure?” You could hear the cable starting to break and soon enough your descending down at a high speed, the lights flickering and you begin to feel the strong force against your chest.

The bell chimes and the elevator turn normal like before.

The obsidian sky turns dark, flickers of thunders spark with the occasional roar of thunders. You locked yourself in your room, ignoring Lily as you returned home.

Knocks on the door startle you, “Y/N? Y/N? Please, I know you’re in there.”

You brought up the knife towards your chest, ready to attack if anything happens. The knocks turn to loud bangs. You could hear screams and Lily pleading you to open the door.

“Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in.” The deadbolts on your door was the only thing securing you from her.

“GO AWAY!” You shout. It turned quiet, silent almost. A soft thump made you turned your head towards your closet beside you.

Bringing up the knife in your hand, you use your free hand to open the door in one swift movement. There was nothing, until a horrified deformed creature jumped at you. Its skin was burning off, exposing the red flash and arteries of the body. You scrambled away from it, quickly unlocking the bolts and running out from your house.

A bus with its light on was the first thing you charged for, seeing that the bus driver was still inside. You banged at the door, pleading for him to open it. The creature slowly catching up to you.

In the last second, he opens it and you yell at him to drive. He tells you there’s no one outside, and that only it was in your imagination. Leaving the bus, you head towards your car, grabbing the back up keys from under the boot of the car. Slowly you got in the driver’s seat.

“Leaving the child unattended is a jailable offence.” You screamed, shocked to see Lily in the backseat. She leans in closer, “You have to do what I say. If I say I want to go to group, you have to do it. If I say I want a new dress, you have to do it. If I say I want ice cream every day, after school, you have to do it, okay?”

You started sobbing, laughing almost at your unfortunate misery. “Don’t be sad. This is your new beginning.” She states, repeating the same word you once told her before. She caresses your hair in a loving manner, one that almost filled you in disgust.

“It they take her...”

“The whole thing starts all over again. You can’t let her go, you can’t let her stay. Leaves you one option.”

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Don’t tell me I don’t understand.” Constance argued. “You’ve had her, what, two months? I had her ten years. I had her for ten years. Think of it as a test of faith.”

“I don’t wanna have any faith.”

“How about anger? You got some of that?”

Silence past a few seconds.

“How? How do I...”

“Kill her?” Constance finishes for you. “In her sleep. That’s the only time you got the upper hand, is when she’s sleeping, but she almost never does. We checked on her room, every night for three months. First night she slept was the night that you busted in our front door.

I’ll tell you what I’d do different, count yourself dead at the outset. Accept that going in, use It to your advantage. If you’re not afraid, she can’t hurt you.”

You could hear the sound of Constance recording playing. You followed the sound to the living room, Lily was watching the recording from your laptop. “She did what I asked for a while and then she stopped, and started with the secrets. But they weren’t really secrets, I guess. Because I always knew what they were thinking. She stares back into the laptop screen, watching her grandmother with a look so indescribable.

Hours later, you received a call informing you that Constance was dead.

Panicked, you went to meet Mike, who said he wanted to show you something.

He had gone through you call logs, saying that Lily did call Hayden and that she was using your cell phone. He also believed that she called Diego too when he played you two recordings, one of Diego’s and Hayden’s.

“Her grandmother says I have to kill her.”

“I’ll help you.”

You’ve gotten prescription pills from the doctors, faking your insomnia and lack of sleep.

When you reached home, your entire place was a mess. You followed the trail of papers into Lily’s room where pictures of the children from her group therapy laid on the floor.

You found a cock board slipping out from underneath her bed. There were pictures pinned on them, with Diego and Hayden’s picture flipped, probably indicating of her recent kills. The next one in line was a picture of you and Mike. A dark heavy feeling sets on the pit of your stomach.

Vibrations came from underneath her mattress and you find your phone, ringing. You answered it, with Wayne telling you that Mike’s dead. You don’t know what to feel, pain, anger, frustration clashes inside you, Lily being the point of the reason, slow burning till you wish to rip her apart.

The sound of the flat screen playing startled you. Lily was sitting on the couch, eating popcorn. Irritated, you slammed the tv towards the floor, smashing it into pieces as glass flew all over the wooden floor. “Get out, get out of my house!” You yelled.

She brushed off the popcorn remains that you had slapped out of her hands, standing up and glaring at you. “Don’t yell at me!” Her face morphing into something sinister and her voice almost deep and inhuman.

You backed away from her, running towards your room to barricade yourself from Lily, or what was a manifestation of a little girl. You pushed every heavy furniture you had to the door.

“Emily, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Can I come in so we can talk and work it out?” Lily called out. At this moment, that little girl outside your room wasn’t human to you, not anymore. That little girl was nothing but a demonic creature disguise as an innocent being.

You picked it the screwdriver on the floor to protect yourself against the demon. The door suddenly starts bulging unusually, a strong force trying to break it down. The walls start cracking off the concrete, the bolts on the doors unhinging and coming loose.

The door starts to open and you used every single strength you had left to pushed it closed until the entire door is being sucked away, leaving you exposed and vulnerable. You moved quickly, shifting under the bed to hide away Lily.

“Y/N. Y/N. We need to learn healthier ways of resolving conflict, Y/N.” She swats away the dresser in front of the bed effortlessly. “Most families don’t even know they have a problem, until it’s too late.”

She grabs on to the screwdriver that you left, walking around the bed till she stops by the side. In a blink of an eye, the screwdriver plunges into the wooden floor, the hand holding it was now bigger and veiny.

She crawls down to you, mocking you with her innocent bright smile as she tilts her head. “What are you doing, you silly pumpkinhead?” You could only stifle a choked laugh. “You don’t want me to come under there and get you, do you?”

“No.” You answered sharply. “I’m going to count to three. One, two...”

“No.” You shook your head, “Two and a half, two and three quarters, three. Here I come.” She teased. She crawls towards you. “No! What do you want?” You screamed.

“What you wanted from your father.” You blinked. “I want you to love me.”

“Okay,” You nodded. “I will.”

She backs away from the bed. “Come tuck me in.”

You smashed the sleeping pills into powdery form, mixing it together with the chamomile tea you just brewed. “Emily.” Lily calls you softly.

You smile at her as you enter her room, giving her the cup of tea for her to drink. Before she takes a sip, she stares at you, “Chamomile. Maybe you should have it, you look stressed.”

“I’ll have one later.” She gives you a look but it disappears after a second.

“I’m really sorry that I let things get like this.” You apologized. “We’ll do better from now on.”

“We have to.” Lily agrees. “Someone could get hurt.”

“What shall we do tomorrow?” You asked. “Surprise me.”

“I’m not so good at surprises.”

“You’re getting better.” She jibes at you playfully.

You made sure she was asleep, before you execute your plan. You locked her bedroom door, splashing crude oil all over the house and more on her door. You watched the matchstick as it starts to light up, trailing the entire house with flames. Walking out of the house, you see the flames start engulfing everything in its path, licking the exterior and burning them in seconds.

“Everybody got out okay?” A firefighter approached you. “Ma’am, anyone else inside? Yes or no?” You tuned him out as you saw Lily just a few metres away from you, unharmed and untouched. “That was mean.”

You followed the police from behind to go downtown you find you someplace to stay for a while. The ride was quiet until Lily spoke up, “Maybe we can find a hotel with a swimming pool.”

You swerved the car, exiting out of the freeway. “Where are we going?”

“You said I should surprise you.”

She smiles from the corner of your eye. Her legs tugged closely towards her chest. You could feel her staring at you.

“He hated your mother. He hated you too. Your mother lied about you, you were never his. You were just the product of one of your mother’s affairs. The day he left was the day he found out about the secrets, the lies. That’s why you kept delaying your answer for Hayden, refusing to marry him as you kept him chain to you.

But you weren’t any better than your mother, aren’t you? You let those men use you because you couldn’t cope over your father, isn’t that right, Y/N? You need a man to ground you down to fill that void inside you. That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? Rejection.”

“What are you?” She smiles slyly at you as she turns to look out the window. You stepped on the gas, accelerating at high speed. “Slow down.” Lily demands.

“What the hell are you?”

“You’re upset, you shouldn’t be driving.” You increase the speed, cruising down the street and avoiding other cars.

Your vision begins to cloud, and a new image emerges, bringing you back to the same nightmare you were having.

“Sweetheart.” You looked up to see the same man hovering above you as he strokes your hair endearingly. “Dad?”

“That’s right, sweetie. Daddy’s here.” You rise up from your bed, startling him as you pulled him into a hug. You sobbed into his shoulder, “Please, don’t leave me.” You begged.

“Please don’t leave me. I know what Mum did was wrong. It wasn’t my fault. I never wanted this either. Don’t leave me, don’t leave me please.” You hugged him even tighter, afraid he would disappear. You begged and begged until you felt his arms around your waist.

“I know it isn’t sweetheart. It’s not your fault. I love you, so so much.”

It wasn’t your fault indeed. What Lily said was the truth but your father didn’t leave you because he found out you weren’t his biological daughter. He left because he was sick. He thought that by leaving, it would take the pain of losing him easier when he died if he stayed.

He was wrong, it traumatized you into thinking that he didn’t love you and only increased your fear of rejection from men. You didn’t know because you couldn’t keep in touch. But it was time to let go of the past and your fears with it. Setting free your inner demons and to be at peace with yourself. It was time.

You were no longer afraid. You let those bad thoughts get into your head that’s why you couldn’t think and see clearly. Now that you’ve overcome it, everything felt different. You could breath easily without having the ghosts of the past hung over your shoulders and weighing you down.

“Are you scared?” You asked Lily. “I’m not.”

You swerved the car, accelerating it towards a nearby port – nosediving the car into the water. The car sunk deeper and deeper until it reaches the bottom. Lily unbuckles her seat belt, trying to escape as you reached for her hand – restraining her. She smiles at you, a smug look appearing on her face. Her side of the door opened – revealing a man who’s trying to free her, dragging her up towards the surface.

The pressure of the water starts pressing against your skulls, your lungs compressing sharply as your heart starts to pump more blood through your lungs and entire body. When you regain consciousness, you were laying down on a stretcher, and oxygen mask around your nose and mouth. Your body temperature felt really cold despite the layers of blanket covering you.

As they lift you into the ambulance, you saw the demonic creature – dissimulating herself by painting a scared and terrified expression on her innocent face. I’ve failed, you thought. Now, all that’s left is the consequences that awaits you.

“Where is she?!” You slammed your cuffed hands against metal table. “WHERE IS SHE?! Is she with that family? I need to talk to them, I need to talk to them! Do you hear me?!” You pleaded with your lawyer. He could only sigh, frustrated over your uncooperativeness. The door behinds you open, “I’m afraid your time’s up.” The officer spoke. “You have a visitor, Ma'am.”

A visitor? You wondered. Could it be Wayne, you figured. The officer grabs you off your seat and escorts you down to the meeting room. There were a few families there, visiting the other inmates of the prison. “Over there.” He brings you towards a young man, wearing a suit all clad in black with a red tie. He had wavy curled blonde hair reaching till his nape. His eyes swirled of apatite.

Like he had sensed you coming, he shifts his bored gaze from the table to you. You take a seat opposite from him – studying his features and enigmatic demeanour.

“Hello, Ms. L/N.” He greets, his voice sultry with a tint of firmness in them.

“Do I know you, sir?” You questioned. He bids you a smile, one where his lips are pressed to form a thin line. “My name’s Michael. Michael Langdon.”

“Langdon?”

“I’m sure my mother has talked about me before. Of how all her children had died? Is that right?”

“How are you here? How are you still alive?” He chuckles. “I must say, I do applaud your bravery for trying to kill my precious daughter. However, I wasn’t very pleased with your doing. Not at all.”

You stared at him, baffled. “Daughter? You’re Lily’s father?”

He gestures his hand, “That’s right. I’m Lily’s biological father.” He leans further into the table. “I’m sure you’re keen to know how and why, aren’t you?”

“Well, my story is really heart-wrenching and painful to talk about.” He expresses sarcastically. “It’s almost on par as yours.”

“And why is that?”

“Because, sweetheart. You and I are much more alike than you think you are.”

“In what way?”

“We both have daddy issues.” He giggles. “Apart from my siblings, I’m the only one in the family that does not share the same father as they do. I was a bastard, you could call that. The product of one of my mother’s affairs. Little did she know that she had just let the devil himself fuck her before planting his seed to grow inside her.

Alas, I was born. I knew something was fairly off about me and when I realised who I truly was, I concealed it from my family. In time, they all started growing their own family. You could say I was getting a little jealous.

So, I breed the first virgin I laid my eyes on – casting a spell on her to act as my loving fiancée then wife. She died from childbirth, pushing Lily out took a toll on her body, and when I laid my eyes on the precious little bun in my arms, I knew she had it inside her all along, that darkness.”

“Why did you leave her then? Why you let your mother take care of her?”

“It was irresponsible for me, I know. Leaving my child under her supervision, faking my own death and not being there for her really wounded me. But I needed to do all this for what’s coming.”

“What is coming?”

“An uprising. A war shall arise in which we will rule over Earth and everyone – or what’s left of them. Together with Lily, we shall bring down everything into ashes.”

“You’re trying to make the end of the world happen?”

“I’m not trying, sweetheart. I’m making it happen.”

Your meeting with Michael ended and it was back into your prison cell. You pondered over what he had told you hours ago. The memory still fresh and lingering around you. Was he really going to do that? And what’s the use of Lily for his plan?

“Did you meet up with her?” Lily asked, looking up from her ice cream cone, licking at it.

“I did.” He takes her hands in his, the little one enclosed in his large ones. “Do you like her?”

“Hmm... almost. Maybe if she cooperates with me after a few more visits, she’ll come around to accept the offer I’m about to propose.”

“Really? What are you going to offer her?”

“To be your new mother. Would you like that, my angel?” Lily nods, laughing giddily in excitement over the news as she wounds her little arms around her father. “I’m sure you do.”

[hamilton-one-shots]

160: “ Do you think you can teach me that? ” Philip and John Requested by: A random number generator and my imagination

It looked illegal, so, naturally, Philip’s first instinct was to get a closer look. He moved towards the curly haired stranger and watched as he spray painted the side of the building. He stayed quiet for maybe a minute before his curiosity got the best of him.

“Can’t you get arrested for that?”

The stranger turned quickly only to relax the second that he saw that it was just a kid. “Oh, hey. Why are you sneaking around like that?”

Philip shrugged. “I saw you painting and I wanted to see what was up.”

“Fair enough. And, for your information, this is perfectly legal. I’m getting paid by the owner to make this. It’s kind of like an ad for the store.”

Well, now painting all of those animals on the side of a pet shop made a lot more sense. “Then why’d you freak out so badly when you heard me?”

He sighed. “You know how it is... A guy that looks like me spray painting the side of the building?.. I have a family...”

Philip frowned. He knew that the other had a fair point and it sucked. “Well... Alright. Do you mind if I stick around? I just got off of my shift at Starbucks and my pops won’t be here for a bit. It’s better than wandering around.”

“Yeah, of course. Just keep your distance and watch the fumes. Here.” The man kneeled down and grabbed a bandana from his bag, offering it to Philip. “Breathe through that.”

Philip raised an eyebrow at the other and took a step back. “I’m not stupid. No.”

John looked at him curiously for a minute before it clicked in his mind. “Oh, no, it’s for the paint fumes. Look.” He put the bandana to his face and took a deep breath, then looked back at the younger boy. “See?”

“Right.. Sorry.” Philip took the bandana and held it over his face as the other got back to painting.

“The name’s John Laurens, by the way.” He told him as he started painting another little animal.

“John... Laurens?.. As in son of the senator, Henry Laurens?”

John tutted. “Yeah, the ‘Laurens’ Curse’. I’m not anything like him. He kicked me out the second he found out I didn’t fit into his perfect family portrait.”

Philip’s eyes went wide. “So.. Do you do this for a living?”

John stopped painting and shook his head with a small laugh. “No, I’m sorry. I realize it might’ve sounded that was.” He chuckled and got back to painting. “No, I moved in with a friend during high school and did this for some extra cash, then I went to college. I’m an art teacher at the high school not too far from here and I do this on the side.”

“Really?..” Philip looked up at the painting. Every last detail was almost perfect and he wasn’t even done yet. It looked like all of the animals were going to jump off of the wall any minute.. And this was only his side gig? “You could definitely do this at a way bigger scale for a living. You’re really good.”

John chuckled. “Thanks, I get that a lot.”

“If you know it, then what are you doing being an art teacher? Don’t you ever get tired of dealing with kids who just want an easy A?”

“Well... Yeah, but it’s a lot more than that and it’s definitely more than the pay. When I was a kid, I always drew and paint to relieve stress or just to feel and be happy, but my school didn’t have an art program. This is literally all I had growing up to support me. So I’m trying to give that to other kids, a release and a support system that I never had.”

Philip nodded in understanding. “Where did you say you taught?..”

“King High.”

He smiled widely. “I’m so taking your class this year.”

John couldn’t help but smile from behind his bandana. “Thanks, that really means a lot.”

“Yeah, of course. You seem like a really cool teacher. I’m more of a writer, but this is awesome.” And it didn’t hurt that the guy was pretty attractive, not that Philip would ever admit it out loud.

“Thanks. Why don’t you give it a try?” He smiled and gave him his spray can.

“Wait.. Me? Try to paint something like /that/?” He pointed at himself, then at the wall, wondering if John had lost his mind.

“Yeah. Just give it a try. I can always paint over it if I have to.”

Philip nodded slowly, then turned to the painting. The can he was given was brown, so he tried painting the shape of a dog. It didn’t come out half bad, but the cartoonish style was nothing like John’s more realistic one.

“Hey, that looks pretty good.”

“It looks nothing like yours...”

“Well, that’s the thing about art. There’s no right or wrong way. Your way just isn’t my way and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re a pretty good artist for someone who’s never picked up a spray can.”

Philip nodded slowly, then picked up a can of black paint to continue, the nose on his dog coming out way too blotchy. “See? I just ruined it...”

John shook his head. “No, spray cans are harder to work with. We can fix it.”

“We?..” Philip was tempted to put down the can and walk away, but something just wouldn’t let him. “Do you think you can teach me that?” he asked, nodding towards the rest of the detailed work.

John nodded without a doubt in his mind. “Of course. If you can, you should come back and we can keep doing this.”

“I would love that.” Philip smiled, before being distracted by someone grabbing him and pulling him away from the wall.

“Philip, what are you doing?”

He shrugged the hands from his shoulders and waved it off, trying to ease his father’s nerves. “Chill, pops. It’s legit, I promise.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. It’s an ad for the store. You can ask the shop owner. If you want.”

Philip’s father nodded and looked at the can in his son’s hand. “And this?”

“He was just teaching me. I asked. He’s an art teacher and really cool.”

John nodded and pulled out his badge from his jacket. “Yeah, I work at King High. Sorry for worrying you like that.”

“Right.. It’s alright. Come on, Pip. It’s time to go home.” He definitely seemed more relaxed, but Philip highly doubted he actually trusted John too much. So, he just followed him without a word, waving to John as they left. Even if his art had been illegal, Philip new that he definitely made a new friend.

[blackkudos]

Gladys Knight

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer–songwriter and actress. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s and 1970s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which also included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest,

Early life

Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Merald Woodlow Knight, Sr., a postal worker and Sarah Elizabeth (née Woods). She first achieved minor fame by winning Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of seven in 1952. The following year, she, her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Elenor Guest formed a musical group called the Pips (named after another cousin, James "Pip" Woods). By the end of the decade, the act had begun to tour, and had replaced Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest with Gladys Knight's cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George.

In 1961 the group recorded "Every Beat Of My Heart" on the tiny Atlanta Huntom label, which was picked up by Vee Jay. At the same time, the group signed with Bobby Robinson's Fury label. Both labels issued different versions of the song, with the Vee Jay/Huntom version outselling the Fury remake. With the success of their follow-up, "Letter Full Of Tears", Fury released their first album. They stayed with Fury through 1962, although the hits dried up. They signed with Larry Maxwell's Maxx label in 1964 and released several modest hits produced by Van McCoy, including the original version of "Giving Up" and "Lovers Always Forgive".

Success with the Pips

Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966, and, although initially regarded as a second-string act, scored several major hit singles, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", (recorded first by Marvin Gaye but actually released a year later), Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" (1967), "Friendship Train" (1969), "If I Were Your Woman" (1970), "I Don't Want To Do Wrong" (1971), the "Grammy Award winning "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" (1972), and "Daddy Could Swear (I Declare)" (1973). In their early Motown career, Gladys Knight and the Pips toured as the opening act for Diana Ross and The Supremes. Gladys Knight stated in her memoirs that Ross kicked her off the tour because the audience's reception to Knight's soulful performance overshadowed her. Berry Gordy later told Gladys that she was giving his act a hard time.

The act eventually left Motown for a better deal with Buddah Records in 1973, and achieved full-fledged success that year with hits such as the Grammy-winning "Midnight Train to Georgia" (#1 on the pop and R&B chart), "I've Got to Use My Imagination," "The Way We Were/Try To Remember" and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me". In the summer of 1974, Knight and the Pips recorded the soundtrack to the successful film Claudine with producer Curtis Mayfield. The act was particularly successful in Europe, and especially the United Kingdom. However, a number of the Buddah singles became hits in the UK long after their success in the US. For example, "Midnight Train to Georgia" hit the UK pop charts Top 5 in the summer of 1976, a full three years after its success in the U.S.

During this period of greater recognition, Knight made her motion picture acting debut in the film, Pipe Dreams, a romantic drama set in Alaska. The film failed at the box-office, but Knight did receive a Golden Globe Best New Actress nomination.

Knight and the Pips continued to have hits until the late 1970s, when they were forced to record separately due to legal issues, resulting in Knight's first solo LP recordings--Miss Gladys Knight (1978) on Buddah and Gladys Knight (1979) on Columbia Records. Having divorced James Newman II in 1973, Knight married Barry Hankerson (future uncle of R&B singer Aaliyah), then Detroit mayor Coleman Young's executive aide. Knight and Hankerson remained married for four years, during which time they had a son, Shanga Ali. Upon their divorce, Hankerson and Knight were embroiled in a heated custody battle over Shanga Ali.

In the early 1980s, Johnny Mathis invited Gladys to record two duets – "When A Child Is Born" (previously a hit for Mathis) and "The Lord's Prayer".

Signing with Columbia Records in 1980 and restored to its familiar quartet form, Gladys Knight & the Pips began releasing new material. The act enlisted former Motown producers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for their first two albums--About Love (1980) and Touch (1981). During this period, Knight kicked a gambling addiction to the game baccarat.

In 1983 Gladys Knight and the Pips scored again with the hit "Save The Overtime For Me". The song, under the artistic direction of Leon Sylvers III (known for collaborating on Shalamar hits), was done in a soulful boogie style. The single was released from their LP "Visions" and reached number sixty-six on the Hot 100, but was more successful on the R&B where it hit number one for a single week in mid 1983. The single was the first time the group hit number one on the R&B chart since 1974.

In 1987 Knight decided to pursue a solo career and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together, All Our Love (1987), for MCA Records. Its infectious lead single, "Love Overboard", was a #1 R&B hit and won another Grammy for the act as well. After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Knight began her solo career. Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Solo music career

While still with the Pips, Gladys joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1986 AIDS benefit single, "That's What Friends Are For", a triple #1 mega-hit, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. In 1989 she recorded the title track "License to Kill" for the James Bond movie Licence to Kill, a Top 10 hit in the UK and Germany.

Gladys released her third and most successful solo LP, Good Woman, on MCA in 1991. It hit #1 on the R&B album chart and featured the #2 R&B hit "Men". It also reached #45 on the main Billboard album chart – her all-time highest showing. The album also featured "Superwoman", written by Babyface and featuring Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle. The track was also nominated for a Grammy Award. Knight and LaBelle would collaborate the same year on "I Don't Do Duets", a duet with Patti LaBelle from LaBelle's album Burnin'.

Her fourth solo LP, Just for You, went Gold and was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.

In 1992 Vernon Ray Blue II, choir master of the year asked Gladys to record his first single "He Lifted Me"

Knight created and now directs the Mormon-themed choir Saints Unified Voices. SUV has released a Grammy Award-winning CD titled One Voice, and occasionally performs at LDS church firesides.

In April 2004, Knight performed during the VH1's benefit concert Divas Live 2004 alongside Ashanti, Cyndi Lauper, Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone and Patti LaBelle, in support of the Save the Music Foundation.

In 2005 a duet between Knight and the late Ray Charles of "You Were There" was released on Charles' duets album Genius & Friends.

In 2008 a duet between Knight and Johnny Mathis was released on Mathis' album A Night to Remember.

In the spring of 2008, Knight appeared alongside Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle and Diana Ross at the 'Divas with Heart' concert in aid of cardiac research, at New York's Radio City Hall.

In 2008 Gladys, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller performed on American Idol to raise money for charity. In March 2010, Randy Jackson mentioned on a new episode of the same show that he is back in the studio with Gladys Knight working on a new album.

In 2009 Knight sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and "The Lord's Prayer" at the funeral service for Michael Jackson.

In December 2010, Knight released the single "Settle".

In September 2011, a new, updated recording of Tom Jones' 1970 classic I (Who Have Nothing) was released on iTunes and Amazon.

In 2013 Knight recorded the Lenny Kravitz written and produced song "You And I Ain't Nothin' No More" for the soundtrack from Lee Daniels' motion picture The Butler. The song was added to the movie's soundtrack of older songs by various artists so that the producers had a song to compete in the Best Song from a Motion Picture category at the Academy Awards.

Where My Heart Belongs (2014) marked her 30th top 40 R&B album, including work by Gladys Knight & the Pips. In a 2014, interview she expressed a hope that women would "Stand Up" and stop selling sex in the music/entertainment industry. She commented that the growing trend saddened her heart and that she had been taught to dress respectfully for her audiences . . . "not take it off, put it on." Knight is ranked number eighteen on VH1 network's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock.

UK Farewell Tour

In October 2009, Knight started her farewell tour of the United Kingdom which featured Tito Jackson as her supporting act and special appearances by Dionne Warwick.

The UK Farewell Tour featured higher production value than previous "Gladys Knight, a mic and a light" appearances by Gladys in the UK. A glossy program was available and the show featured pre-produced animation on large on-stage screens. The tour was promoted by an appearance on the TV program Later... with Jools Holland where Knight performed "If I Were Your Woman" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night".

At select performances on the UK Farewell Tour recordings of the concerts were made available for sale on USB flash drives.

Acting

Film

In 1976 Knight made her acting debut as the lead in the film Pipe Dreams for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. In 2003, she had a short role in the hit movie Hollywood Homicide, which starred Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. In 2009, Knight was featured in Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself, the film version of a play he had dramatized, and performed her song "The Need To Be" from the 1974 album I Feel a Song.

Television

Knight guest-starred on several television series throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with roles on Benson, The Jeffersons, A Different World, Living Single, The Jamie Foxx Show, and New York Undercover. In 1985, she co-starred on the CBS sitcom Charlie & Co. alongside comedian Flip Wilson, which lasted for one season. In April 2009, she made a special guest appearance, and performed a song, on Tyler Perry's House Of Payne. Knight has also made a number of television cameo appearances, including Las Vegas and 30 Rock. In 2012, she began a recurring role in the syndicated sitcom The First Family.

In 2012 Knight competed on the fourteenth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Tristan MacManus. They were eliminated on April 24 after losing a "dance duel" to Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan and partner Chelsie Hightower, ironically on the show's "Motown Week."

Gladys Knight & Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles

Knight's son Shanga owns a chain of chicken and waffles restaurants based in Atlanta, bearing her name. Gladys Knight & Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles currently have three locations in the Atlanta area. One location was featured on the Travel Channel original series Man v. Food. On Tuesday, June 21, 2016, authorities in Georgia raided two of the restaurants and its headquarters. WSB-TV reported that Shanga is at the center of an investigation involving unpaid taxes, penalties and interest. Georgia Department of Revenue Special Investigations Chief Jeff Mitchell told the station that the investigation solely involved Hankerson and not Knight. “Shanga's accused of stealing over $650,000 in both sales and withholding tax,” Josh Waites, a special investigator, told WSB-TV. “(With) penalties and interest, it’s up to over $1 million owed.”

Personal life

Knight has been married four times and has three children. In 1960, she married her high school sweetheart, James Newman. They had one son, James "Jimmy" Newman (1962–1999). She retired from the road to raise their child while the Pips toured on their own. In 1963, after having her only daughter, Kenya, Knight returned to recording with the Pips in order to support her family. In the early 1960s, Gladys, James, and the Pips moved to Detroit, Michigan. Knight and her family lived on Sherbourne in Sherwood Forest, an upscale neighborhood on Detroit's West Side. She also resided on LaSalle for a time. Her children attended Gesu Catholic Grade School. Newman and Knight divorced in 1973. In 1974, Knight married producer and Blackground Records founder Barry Hankerson, who is the uncle of the late R&B singer Aaliyah, in Detroit. Around 1977, they relocated to Atlanta. (The Pips, however, remained in Detroit.) The couple had one son, Shanga Hankerson, and divorced in 1981. Knight married motivational speaker Les Brown in 1995, but they separated and divorced in 1997.

Previously a Baptist, in 1997 she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, following her son and daughter. She had occasionally teased LDS Church president, the late Gordon B. Hinckley, that his flock needs to inject some "pep" into their music. Knight married William McDowell in 2001. They have sixteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

In 2017, Knight helped raise $400,000 for the Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County. The April 22nd event was held at the Palace Theatre and was co-hosted by Carol Anne Riddell and Alan Kalter.

Legacy

In 1996, Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One year before, Knight had received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2007, Knight received the Society of Singers ELLA Award at which time she was declared the "Empress of Soul". She is listed on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.

Awards, honors and achievements

Grammy Awards

Other awards and honors

1992: Essence Award for Career Achievement

1995: Hollywood Walk of Fame

1997: Trumpet Awards Foundation Pinnacle Award

2005: BET Lifetime Achievement Award

2006: Las Vegas Music Awards Legendary Award

2007: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Artist

2007: Society of Singers Ella Award, also declared the "Empress of Soul"

2008: BET Inaugural Best Living Legend Award

2008: Stardust Music Awards Lifetime Diva Award

2008: National Black Arts Festival Honoree at Legends Celebration

2011: Soul Train Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award

Academic honors

Honorary Doctorate in Performing Arts, Shaw University

Discography

Billboard Number 1 R&B Albums

Neither One of Us (1973)

Imagination (1973)

Claudine (1974)

I Feel a Song (1974)

All Our Love (1987)

Good Woman (1991)

Billboard Number 1 R&B Singles

"Every Beat of My Heart" (1961)

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968)

"If I Were Your Woman" (1970)

"Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" (1973)

"Midnight Train to Georgia" (1973)

"I've Got to Use My Imagination" (1973)

"You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" (1974)

"I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" (1974)

"Save the Overtime (For Me)" (1983)

"That's What Friends Are For" (1985)

"Love Overboard" (1987)

Published works

Knight, Gladys. At Home With Gladys Knight, McGraw-Hill, 2001 – ISBN 1-58040-075-2

Knight, Gladys. Between Each Line of Pain and Glory: My Life Story, Hyperion Press, 1998 – ISBN 0-7868-8371-5

Wikipedia

[zizzchuckrasam1989]

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