#teach her to understand chris--valentines day | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

calypsoff · 4 years ago

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Twenty Five.

I think I am having the worst nights sleep, worst then Robyn not being around. She might as well not be around because like, the fuck. There is nothing there, I mean there is but maybe it’s me, I need to do more. She doesn’t understand how hard it is, I mean literally my dick is so hard right now in bed with her. Lifting my head up looking down at Robyn asleep with her bonnet on, taking in a deep breath. Pressing a kiss to her cheek and moved back away from her slowly, being big spoon with a hard dick is hard. I feel like Robyn is purposely trying to not wear anything too sexy so I can’t be hard for her, but I am still hard. It seems like Robyn is having the best sleep, meanwhile I am hating it all. I even purposely slept naked and she didn’t care, grabbing my tee from the floor in a huff. This can’t happen, third day in Virginia and no sex, maybe I need to push for it. I need to do more for her, I need to be romantic, I think yes. That is what I need to do, I need to be romantic towards her, I haven’t been that. Getting up from the bed, it’s like seven in the morning. I struggle to sleep so much, I can’t sleep for shit because my dick be having a mind of its own, at one point I was even having a wet dream, nearly got caught slipping there but it needs to happen. I am going to try the romantic thing; I am really unsure if it’s me or Robyn sometimes but if this doesn’t work then we going to have some real ass problems and I don’t want that for us. I love Robyn too much for that, I adore her with my whole heart. It’s not about sex, it’s not because if it was then I would be gone a while ago, but it needs to happen because she can do it. if it was an issue where she really can’t, I would understand.

Staring at Robyn’ hazel eyes just twinkling in the sun that is shining down into the hotel room, even without makeup. I say this a lot to myself but without makeup, Robyn is ever so beautiful, and I cannot fault that. Looking away from Robyn as she turned away from the window and grabbed her drink, I pretended I was staring at my hand. I looked back at Robyn as she went back to staring out of the window, I grinned at the fact she is really my childhood sweetheart. She just so happens to be famous, but she is “you’re quiet” she caught me, she caught my eyes staring at her “just admiring you, you have such beautiful eyes. It was nice to watch” Robyn pulled a face while touching her bonnet “even with my bonnet on?” nodding my head “I am just thinking, I have been thinking a lot you know. But just thinking that you are really my childhood sweetheart. It’s kind of goofy but yeah” Robyn scrunched up her nose, she is getting shy “I have missed you a lot, it’s nice to just spend time with you and your family. Your dad is funny, it’s nice to see a father here. I think I like it the most how he babies you and you hate it” rolling my eyes “he dumb, like he don’t need to be pinching my cheeks like I am a child, but yeah. We are going to the family home today, you good with that?” I asked like I gave her a choice “I am happy with that” I need to prepare this room; it isn’t valentine’s day, but I need to make it happen.

Walking in behind Robyn into my family home “I could get used to this, afternoon!” my mother rushed over “don’t get too used to it, but I need to go and see Barry. Robyn I didn’t mention it but I need to see him, I won’t be long but I need y’all to look after Robyn for me. I mean Rich is here, but I need y’all to be good to her” Robyn is looking at me like don’t leave me “why, where are you going?” she questioned “I am just going to sort some paperwork for him, it will be quick. My mother can show you some things here, I will be back” Robyn nodded her head “ok then” wrapping my arm around Robyn, pressing a kiss to her forehead “baby I will look after you, do not worry. Hurry up though” I grinned turning around to leave, I need to prepare the hotel room and make it the most romantic thing ever, I will do the most because this needs to work. Closing the door behind me and walking down the footpath “nigga!” TJ spat, saluting him. They been waiting for me, Tina is like part of the gang now, but she could come in handy “we are here to help you!” TJ shouted; can he just not shout so much Robyn could hear him. Getting into the car “so mission sexy time is in order” hitting TJ’ arm “shut up and drive!” I spat.

Tina is so good, like I am barely doing anything, she is doing the hotel room her damn self “you think she will like this?” I questioned “oh she will, I mean who wouldn’t. This is like valentine’s day, but every day should be spoil your girlfriend day, Robyn will appreciate this so much” nodding my head, I have literally got all the balloons and roses out and all that fancy shit “Barry, can I speak to you one minute” waving him over, I need to ask him something. Walking off to the living area of the hotel “would you wear a condom?” I asked straight up “I would be shooting my babies up that, I would forever go raw” I feel like Barry has been waiting to say that “wow, relax” I said half shocked “ok, on a real but if you start to put a condom on it’s going to start making shit extra weird and then she may feel a type of way so don’t, unless you don’t want that to happen” rubbing the side of my face “not that I don’t, I just don’t want that to happen to her again. Shit, if getting her pregnant means she won’t go on tour, sign me up but yeah. Cool, I hope it works, I need to be extra romantic. You know I am goofy and shit” I am nervous that if it flops, it will be so awkward “nah, you are doing a lot for her, this will happen. I promise, I get it, but this will work. You love her a lot though. To be doing this for her, like it’s a lot” taking in a deep breath “I do, that is the thing” I mumbled, I love Robyn so much and I Would do anything for her.

I totally feel like a teenager, oh god. This is crazy to me, like I have been thinking of this day, as soon as my dad said I needed to coax her I been thinking, what is better then starting from the beginning. Dragging open the classroom door “Mr Brown, you’re late again” I busted out laughing seeing Miss Polkovita “it is so good to see you Christopher” walking towards her “bring it in” hugging her as I laughed out, I can’t believe it “this is crazy, you still around and the classroom ain’t changed at all. Look at it” I am getting major flashbacks right now “and I am still here teaching, not even you could get me to quit” moving back from the hug “this is the very desk you forced me to sit in” I pointed at the desk “you damn right it is, I was shocked to hear. They told me Christopher wants to do something nice for his girlfriend and his girlfriend is Rihanna. I goes of course I will be here, it’s so good to see you here. I honestly am really happy for you, I am not shocked that you both got together because you were so infatuated by her, you actually started to listen” I snorted laughing “we were best friends first, but I fell, this was the moment you know. But it’s dope that the school let me do this” I hope Robyn likes it.

Locking my phone smiling, Robyn is coming. I hope Tina did blindfold her, I just want to go back to basic with Robyn and I, sometimes I feel like we can trail away from what we were. I just want us to go back to that lust and love we have, I felt like bringing her here would do that. I did a little thing here “you look so nervous Christopher” I chuckled, my teacher is here like she knows me “a little, I love her. Being here has made me feel this way because it’s like stage one, I remember looking behind me and she was there, hair tied back and just so pretty. I just want her to come already” rubbing my chin feeling ever so nervous “my son doesn’t believe me that I taught you and Robyn, wait till I tell him this. But I really saw you both were meant to be, I just saw the announcement and I said ok that was going to happen, just a little too late” the door opened and Rich poked his head around “Tina I don’t like this, I really don’t” that means she wore the blindfold, Tina shuffled in with Robyn “don’t fire me just yet, just stand here for me” clasping my hands together smiling wide “I am going to take it off” Rich said as he took off her blindfold “good afternoon Miss Fenty” Robyn’ eyes widened looking around “oh my god” placing her hands over her mouth “Miss Polkovita, oh my god” Robyn hugged her “what the hell is this, Chris! What a flashback!” I really got Robyn, she is shook and I like that.

Getting up from the seat “you know only the naughty kids sit in the back” we have the classroom all to ourselves, I mean I ain’t going to flat out have sex with her here “well that is a lie, I am a good girl and I got to sit here. This feels so weird, my god. Like this is such a blast from the past” sitting on the edge of the desk facing Robyn “and you would sit right there across from me, and I would say Chris I need to do this wait. Let me finish the note” I grinned nodding my head “and when that dude tried to ask you out like the fuck, man. Nobody was dating you on my watch, you were mine. I was aggy though, I ruined everything for you” biting on my bottom lip “I also found you too skinny” I scoffed moving off the desk “you talk too much, dang. But I was so aggy with you, I ain’t let you do anything. I treated you like you were mine and you weren’t, you could have told me to go away but you didn’t” she could have “mhmmm, in a weird way I liked you” I gasped “weird way, get up. Come, we going somewhere else, let’s walk the halls” I got a little something else for her “how you get this done? I am shocked” I winked “just my secret, come on twin” Robyn got up from the seat giggling, she looks so damn happy and I like that “I love you so much, for doing this. You know it’s not valentines right? That has been” waving her off “every day is love” if this doesn’t get me in her good books, I have lost.

I busted out laughing after the picture was taken “oh wow, the exact spot too. Dang, this is crazy” the principle walked off “I can send the picture to you right now from the camera but yes, we have the old picture of Robyn and you in the hall. We pride ourselves that Rihanna came here, you just so happened to be in that picture, but I can’t wait to update it. Looks like I haven’t updated the school in years” shaking my head “I have always been a spare part huh, dang” Robyn placed her arms around me “stop it, I love you” she kissed my cheek “cool, so you send me that and we will speak soon but come” I am rushing here, I want to get to the hall “Chris, I feel overwhelmed. I am shocked. Where are we going next?” holding onto Robyn’ hand walking out of the room “a little something, like this place comes with good vibes but also I was very heartbroken when you left. I felt like this moment was taken from me because I was so close to just asking you. I was a young nigga in love Robyn, you came from the islands, you weren’t like these girls and I was so close, and you left, I was unfulfilled so badly, so it was taken from me” I know Robyn is confused, but she will understand soon when we reach the destination.

Before we turned the corner I need to ask Robyn this “hold up right, I need to cover your eyes again” Robyn sighed out “it’s nothing stupid is it?” shaking my head “promise, just trust me. I will cover your eyes with my hands” standing behind Robyn “when I say walk, start walking” placing my hands over her eyes “can you see anything?” I questioned “nope” I am super excited “then proceed baby, get walking” Robyn started to walk slowly, and I am here shuffling behind her “turn baby” she is here walking ahead, turning with Robyn “I grinned so wide seeing the school gym, Rich smiled at me shaking his head “are we there yet?” Robyn is asking that, but she is walking ever so slow “just a few more steps, like five more and then stop” Robyn shuffled and then stopped “perfect, so I am going to step back but close your eyes “fine I will” moving my hands back and running to Rich, he held the sign up “open your eyes!” I spat; Robyn has her hand in her hip. Like she is disapproving, she opened her eyes slowly in confusion “wha-?” she paused pointing at Rich “my friend here wants to ask you to the prom?” Rich could be more enthusiastic about this; Robyn placed her hands her mouth laughing “no way!” she spat “do you like it? I made this!” pointing at the sign “Barbadian Cherry will you go to prom with me? You knew about this!?” Robyn pointed at Tina “maybe, a little but answer him” Robyn nodded her head “really?” waving her over “come, we going to prom. Fulfilling something that should have happened for us, don’t cry just yet” holding Robyn’ hand, she is already emotional.

Pushing open the door to the school gym “no way! Chris!” she better like this, I spent the fuck up “I don’t have no dress Chris?” holding onto Robyn’ hands and walked in backwards so I can see Robyn’ reaction, she is so shook “we can both have our prom date, and yeah that” Barry placed the crown on my head and Robyn’ “y’all already prom queen and king, shit if you did come it would be true” Robyn is dead ass crying, she is emotional and that is good because that means I have done good for her “come, let’s have fun prom queen” letting her hands go, Robyn walked into me and hugged me tight “you be doubting me, I doubt me at times but you know I love you big head. Enjoy yourself, and I told Tina to take some pictures, memories for us. My date for prom” I think I have done; I have hit the jackpot with this “let’s dance, hear that? Our song!?” I spat, Robyn laughed “Keeping it real, son, that's right” holding Robyn’ hand to lead her to the floor “The shining star, you're my shining star, girl” I sang pointing at her as Fantasy started playing, Robyn would use this song to make me sing it with her like a fool every time.

Drinking from the bottle “she is coming back but if this doesn’t work, even I am going to cry for you but I think you got her, you got her good” Barry said as he moved away from me, turning around grinning “imagine seeing you here” I leaned against the table “likewise but I wish I looked the part” biting my bottom lip “we have a lifetime to look good, and besides my broke ass wouldn’t be able to get a suit” clearing my throat as Boyz II Men starting playing “would you like to dance?” holding my hand out to her “I would love that” I don’t know this slow dance shit so I am just going to guess it, I feel nervous weird enough. Catching Tina clasping her hands together in awe, I hope I don’t fuck this up but I am feeling hot as fuck. Robyn placed her arms around my neck as I placed hands just on her waist, we swayed slowly to the music “this has to be the best night of my life, you have shocked me so much” Robyn said, smiling at her “I will do anything, girl you need only ask. I'll make love to you, like you want me too. And I'll hold you tight, baby all through the night” I sang to Robyn, pressing a kiss to her cheek and she caught her lips on mine and initiated the kiss with me, I for one wasn’t going to do it but she did it, the kiss was so slow and sensual, a pace I am more then happy with because I have missed Robyn so much.

#Chrianna FF #Chrianna #Chrianna Fanfiction #Fanfic #Fanfiction

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hollywooduniversityalumnus · 5 years ago

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2. where are you now when i need you most?

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Crew members wrapping for the day spilled out of the open-doored set of Love is Everywhere when she arrived. In lieu of the typical mid-morning lecture for Hollywood 101, the professor had arranged for a special off-campus field trip that evening to a studio warehouse for a tour with one of the producers. When he had announced it, Professor Hunt had emphasized the importance of arriving on time with a particularly snide side-eye at her, so to play it safe, she had shown up even earlier than he had asked of the class. Finding the doorway he had specified for them to wait nearby, she leaned against the adjacent wall, glanced at the time on her phone, and let out a heavy sigh.

It had been weeks since the masquerade, and that side-eye had been the only time he had dared to acknowledge her existence. But, to be fair, she hadn’t given him much to work with; her proclivity for exchanging quick-witted barbs and snark with him had all but vanished, something that had all her friends, but especially Addison, worried.

Margot’s phone rang, making her jump, the sudden movement startling one of the people exiting the warehouse with a big roll of fabric in their arms. Mouthing apologies, she rounded the corner and put the phone to her ear.

“Keep your phone on you,” Ethan Blake instructed. She could tell without seeing him that he was in full agent mode – his professional voice was different than his speaking voice – so she bit her tongue from making a sarcastic remark. “This is going to be huge. Huge.”

“What is?” she asked.

Ethan sounded like he was smiling, which made his professional voice sound a little less so. “That tape you sent in a few weeks ago has captured the attentions of a certain rising director and his casting director currently looking to hire for a highly anticipated art house horror film.”

Her heart leapt in her throat. “Ethan.”

“I know. Keep your phone on you,” he said. “Even if you have to wrestle with alligators, even if you have to punch Masika in the face, whatever it takes, just keep that phone on you. This could be It. The golden egg. The golden goose. The-”

“Have you been watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory again?”

Her agent’s voice went from professional to sheepish. “Perhaps.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll take no more of your time. Keep that phone on and on you. Call me as soon as you hear anything. And I mean anything.”

Once she hung up, she headed back to the doorway to find a handful of her classmates idling around. Beside the doorway, the professor and a man, presumably the producer giving the tour, stood. The man, upon seeing her, held out a light brown wicker basket.

“No phones allowed on set,” he called out.

Her eyes flickered to Professor Hunt’s, who immediately focused his attention elsewhere.

Subtle.

“Actually, I have a call I’m waiting for,” she said. “It’s really urgent. Would you mind if-”

“No exceptions,” Professor Hunt emphasized. “Phone. Now.”

Margot shook her head. “I may be getting a job offer. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

This piqued the producer’s interest. Lowering the basket to his side, he asked, “May I ask what offer you might be receiving?”

She felt Professor Hunt’s gaze burning a hole in her forehead, but she kept her attention firmly on the producer. She was not unaware that her classmates had begun listening in, apparently eager to see if she would finally stir the pot after weeks of being curiously silent.

“With all due respect, sir, I’d rather not disclose that information just yet. Don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch,” she said.

The producer looked her over for a moment. “Understandable. Just keep your phone on vibrate, and step away from the group if that call comes, okay?”

She nodded.

Turning away, she made a point to immerse herself within the growing crowd of classmates gathered by the door a little way from the two older men. Addison and a few other people whose varying projects she had helped with immediately absorbed her into their conversations.

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At precisely six p.m., the professor stepped before the doorway and clapped his hands once. That was all he had to do to command their attention. All conversations ceased and the class – minus a handful of students who would be dealt with later – focused on their stern professor and his producer friend.

“Listen up, everyone. We’re fortunate the producer, Jaxson Mitchell, is giving us this opportunity. That means you will behave in a way that reflects well on the university, no exceptions.”

Margot felt his gaze burning another hole in her forehead.

The tour began earnestly, with Jaxson taking the class through several of the smaller sets that had been erected in the studio warehouse for use within the next few days. Some of the sets looked like showcase rooms in furniture stores, but with a wall missing for viewing purposes. A few of the sets, like the ornate dining room that was to be used for an important monologue, were completely enclosed for the night, and they were allowed a brief peek into them before moving on.

She was keenly aware of her phone waiting in her pocket, silent and intimidating. Though she was enjoying the tour and the amusing anecdotes that Jaxson shared, she was desperately willing for the phone to ring.

“Here’s part of the ballroom set. We’re still working on it, but as you can see, its marble pillars and glazed tile flooring will help add a sense of extravagance to the climactic scene we’ll be filming in here,” Jaxson explained.

She looked at the ballroom set and felt her stomach twist. It was beautiful, albeit unfurnished and unfinished, and it reminded her far too much of the night she was hoping not to think of.

She didn’t dare glance up to Hunt to see if he was having any similar reaction to the ballroom set. He probably was as unaffected as usual.

At long last, the tour came to a close. As they all gathered by the doorway from which they had entered, Jaxson weaved through the class, handing back the phones. Once reunited, Jenni Whitman gave hers a kiss on the back of her glittery phone case. She chuckled to herself, then felt her whole body freeze up at the feeling of her phone vibrating urgently in her dress pocket.

Oh my God.

Oh my God!

Stepping back into the warehouse, away from the din of chattering classmates, she clapped one hand over her free ear and answered her phone. “Hello?”

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As he ticked off the attendance sheet on the clipboard in his hand, Professor Hunt tutted under his breath at the names of the no-shows who would be getting a very stern warning from him in the near future. Bianca Stone, of course, was one of them, but her father kept so many people in his pocket that any misconduct she did was waved off with little more than a slap on the wrist and, at worse, a ten-page essay that was more of a punishment for him to read and mark than it was for her to write (and he suspected it wasn’t even her writing it).

“What a nice bunch of students you have, Tommy,” Jaxson said, coming to stand beside him. “So polite. I can’t say I approve of how . . . attached some of them are to their devices, but that can’t be helped, eh?”

“Oh, Miss Whitman has a serious problem,” he said, setting the clipboard down. “God forbid she and her purchased social media following be parted for more than an hour.”

Jaxson laughed. “Cold as ever.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s been good seeing you.”

“And you as well. Thank you once again for allowing us onto the set,” Professor Hunt said. “Reminded me of old times.”

Jaxson smirked. “Any chance of there being any ‘new’ times?”

Professor Hunt cocked his head to the side. “I don’t believe so. Too much to critique, so many to teach.”

Jaxson nodded solemnly. Then he lifted his gaze past Hunt and into the warehouse. “Like her, for example.”

Hunt didn’t really need to turn his head to see who Jaxson was talking about, but he did so reflexively.

Miss Schuyler stood further into the hallway separating the sets, her phone clamped to her ear as though it was the only thing providing her life. Her elated expression betrayed her; she was clearly hearing something she liked.

“What’s that smile for?”

Hunt looked at Jaxson. “What?”

“That smile.” Jaxson was genuinely curious. “I’ve not seen a smile on you in ages.”

“You haven’t seen me in ages, either,” Hunt rebutted. “And it wasn’t a smile.”

Jaxson laughed. “It’s okay, Tommy, I get it. It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Seeing one of your students spread their wings and fly.” Jaxson nudged him. “C’mon, man, don’t tell me you’re not happy for her. She must’ve gotten that offer.”

“She gets a lot of offers,” Hunt said evenly. He wasn’t wrong; within a month of her attending Hollywood U, she had managed to procure key roles for projects with pop star and wild child Lisa Valentine, action film star Chris Winters, and several other celebrities who had all found her work satisfactory or better.

“All the more reason to celebrate,” Jaxson said. “But look, I’ve just got to pop over to my car real quick with some materials, and then I’ll be back to get the doors locked for the night. Do you mind getting your student? I won’t be long; I’ve still got to stop at the grocery store.”

Hunt nodded.

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“Thank you again, Mr. Cattrall. I look forward to working with you. It’s actually somewhat of a career goal for me,” she said. “It’s an honour.”

The velvety voice of the director she would soon be meeting for a table read for his newest film sounded pleased. “Well, then I hope I live up to your expectations.”

Upon hanging up, she felt all feeling returning to her body, beginning from her unwavering, wide smile that was beginning to hurt her cheeks. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, her lungs rapidly filling and emptying, as she looked deep into the warehouse and let out a small burst of laughter at what had just transpired.

She was going to be in a Cattrall. A Cattrall! The Spielberg of art house films, he had burst onto the scene with riveting dramas and unsettling experimental horror films and had already won the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prix.

And he wanted her.

Still numb, but fizzing over with excitement, Margot did a little spin and promptly bumped into another body, which knocked her off-kilter.

“Sorry, I-” She looked up to find the man she had temporarily forgotten about.

Well, that was a nice five minutes while it lasted, she thought.

“Miss Schuyler. While I assume congratulations are in order, I believe we’ll have to make them outside,” Hunt said briskly. “This set is officially closed.”

“Right, sorry,” she said. “It’s just – I’m so happy.”

Margot heard herself say it and immediately cringed. It sounded so childish, as if she was amused by everything, like finding a dime on the ground.

“And what exactly has you so happy?” he asked. “A soap opera cameo? Dancer number three in a music video?”

Without thinking, she replied, “I don’t like to reveal all my secrets just yet, professor.”

They both froze in place as the memory washed over them, a crashing wave that knocked them both off kilter.

And then he was dragging her by the elbow to the first open doorway he saw on the set, which was, ironically, the ballroom set that had yet to be finished. Before she could open her mouth, he began speaking harshly in low tones.

“That night didn’t happen, do you understand? I’ve already said everything that needs to be said. Our circumstances haven’t changed. Nothing’s changed. I don’t know what you think is going to happen, but-”

They both froze again upon hearing the loud screech that interrupted his diatribe. Pushing past her, Hunt stepped away just in time to see the giant doors of the warehouse swing shut.

“Hey! Wait! We’re in here!” she cried from behind him.

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All but running to the door, he pulled at the handle desperately, but the cold metal refused to budge.

“Let us out, you idiot!” Hunt yelled.

But it was no use. Jaxson had swiftly locked up and gone, as quick and precise as he was when he used to work for Hunt. Except, clearly, he didn’t bother to check the set one last time to confirm that absolutely no one was present. He would have to talk to him about that later.

And then Hunt sighed.

No, he wouldn’t, because Jaxson had asked him to get his student out of there. Upon seeing the presumably empty set, he had assumed that the director and his student were well on their way. No fault but his own for pulling them away for privacy.

“Oh, great,” he muttered, turning to lean against the door. “Now I’m stuck with you for who knows how long on the set of this idiotic romance film.”

Petulant as always, Miss Schuyler narrowed her eyes. “There are worse ways to spend a night.”

“I assure you, there are not,” he bit back. “Let’s just find a way out as quickly as possible. I don’t want to have to deal with you.”

Logically, the back of the warehouse would have an emergency exit. With that in mind, he began walking, weaving around miscellaneous props and tables to get as much space between her and him as possible.

From behind him, she called out, “No offense taken, in case you were wondering. Assuming you actually have emotions, or a heart at all.”

You would know, wouldn’t you? he thought bitterly.

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“Unbelievable. This is clearly a fire code violation. I’ll be drafting a strongly-worded email as soon as we get out of here.”

“If we get out of here.”

“We are not going to die in here. But someone will pay for this.”

The back of the building was glaringly bereft of exits, emergency or otherwise. As soon as Hunt had realized this, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, trying his hardest not to feel panicked at the low percentage of his battery.

Searching through his contacts list, he called Jaxson, but didn’t get an answer. He waited a minute and tried again, but to no avail.

Hm. Would Marianne still be at Faux Pas? he wondered, thinking of his magazine editor friend who was in town overseeing a shoot. This warehouse would be a bit of a detour from her drive home, but she did say she’d do anything for me.

No answer from her, either.

He huffed.

“No luck, huh?”

He turned to find her sitting on a prop chair, watching him with great interest. He rolled his eyes.

“Just look for a way out,” he snapped.

She stood, brushing off the skirt of her dress. “Prof- Hunt. Can we at least talk to each other like regular people instead of constantly being at each other’s throats? That’s going to get old fast if we’re stuck here for the night.”

He ignored that. “Perhaps there’s a side exit I missed.” He sped up his walking and felt dismayed to hear her shoes clicking against the floor as she followed.

“Who could blame a professor and student for talking when they’re accidentally locked on a set together? And we have to talk about . . . that night. Why can’t we?”

“It’s not about blame, it’s just-”

Seeing the handle jutting out from the wall made him feel relieved. But, upon pulling it and having the weak wooden door that had been propped against the wall almost fall on him, he began to lose hope that they weren’t getting out.

“Damn it!” he shouted to the fake door. And then a string of curse words that he usually wouldn’t dare to speak in front of a student, or really outside of his small circle of friends, but he didn’t feel dignified enough to stop himself.

They really were locked in for the night. And of all the rotten luck, it had to be them.

Behind him, she let out a long exhale. Then-

“Are you going to talk to me now?” Miss Schuyler asked.

His jaw clenched. “No. Not about that.”

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The lights shut off ten minutes later.

By then, Hunt had firmly seated himself in a chair by the only doorway, rifling through his contacts list for anyone who might be able to help them on short notice. He had managed to find a signal strong enough to send a few emails, one of which was a particularly strongly-worded note about the warehouse’s glaring lack of emergency exits to Jaxson and several of the studio’s warehouse managers, but as it was well past nine o’clock on a Friday, the chances of anyone answering before sunrise were slim.

In the only other chair they could find, the one she had been perched in earlier, Margot sat shivering in the cold air of the warehouse. She had not dressed like someone who had anticipated such a predicament, with no sweater or jacket to be seen. But she had pride, and she didn’t want to ask for his jacket, nor did she believe he would give it to her.

Her phone stayed in her pocket, brightness cranked to its lowest setting and on battery-saving mode. She was sure he was draining his phone battery with all the calls and emails. She didn’t want them entirely without means to contact anyone, and it seemed pointless to try when his attempts were failing. She silently thanked the universe for letting her have what must have been the last good signal to receive her call from Penn Cattrall.

When they were suddenly thrust into darkness, Hunt let out another swear word, one that made her smile despite herself. It was so strange and alien hearing him swear, like hearing Mr. Rogers or a Sesame Street character cuss out a kid or something.

And then he fell silent, and the whole warehouse was silent, and the shivers running up her spine were not just from the cold.

Margot sniffled. “Hunt?”

No reply.

The sound of shuffling, somewhere a little ways away, or perhaps closer. It was hard to tell.

“Can you say something please?” She hugged herself pathetically, feeling tears spring to her eyes as they failed to adjust to their pitch-black surroundings. “This really sucks.”

More shuffling. The sound of impact. Another swear word, murmured so low she wondered if she had heard him think it.

Then nothing.

The silence stretched on, broken only occasionally by the sound of scratching so faint that she wondered if her mind was making it up.

Tears slid down her cheeks. She was a grown-ass woman, but as the darkness swallowed her up, she felt dizzy, weak, like the child she once was, waiting, waiting . . .

Her stomach rumbled, and she instinctively curled up on the chair, knees to her chin.

It’s okay, she told herself. He’s still here. Somebody’s still here.

“Please, Thomas,” Margot whispered.

And then a brilliant spark broke through the darkness, living for one beautiful moment before extinguishing on the concrete.

And then another.

And another.

And then-

“Got it.” Hunt’s voice was a balm to her nerves. “Now, where are those candles I saw?” As he rifled around, bumping into things, she squinted at the little flame on the tip of the match he held, desperate to see anything – an eye, a cheekbone, his chin – to confirm that he was really there, and it wasn’t a hallucination. The flame was too small to make out any of his features, but its existence was enough.

She watched from her chair as he touched the flame to the wicks of several jarred candles he managed to find on a nearby table. As the candles began to melt, strong scents began dispersing into the room, clashing with one another in a way that made her feel dizzy, like after passing around one of Crash’s “Satanic cigarettes” after a night on the town. Cinnamon and spice, something tree-like, pumpkin pie . . .

Her stomach growled, loud enough for him to hear.

“Stay there,” he said, picking up one of the smaller candles. In the dim light she could see the sharp shadow of his jawline. “I’ll see if they left any catering.”

“Okay.” Her voice was hoarse.

He seemed to pause then. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just – let’s hope they have something. I didn’t really eat dinner.” She offered him a smile that was lost to the darkness.

She heard his footsteps recede, and his dim light faded into the darkness. Once she felt she was alone, she rested her chin on her knees again, squeezing her eyes shut as a few more tears pricked at them.

It’s okay. He’s still here. Somebody’s still here.

You’re not alone.

Margot took a deep breath of pine and citrus air and repeated it to herself until she heard his return.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He had never sworn so much in one night.

As his hip met the jutting corner of a table, Hunt found himself directing his exclamation of pain to the floor. Gasping, he leaned against the table for a moment to breathe and mutter a few more curses before continuing on his venture into the blackness.

All sense of dignity and professionalism had gone once that stupid fake door had almost knocked him down, and once the power went out, he felt his sanity slipping away like granules of sand through a sieve.

That is, until he heard her cry.

How weak Miss Schuyler’s voice had sounded, speaking desperately into the darkness as though he had somehow disappeared into it, leaving her beside herself, cold and scared. He had briefly considered giving her the silent treatment, but upon hearing that, he had shrugged off his jacket and was prepared to make the potentially treacherous journey of heading over to her chair to give it to her when his mind cried out to him, reminding him of the box of matches he’d confiscated from Spencer Yamaguchi a day earlier. What that boy, aptly nicknamed Crash, had planned with those matches, he did not know. But now, as he strained to remember where he had seen those obnoxious scented candles in the warehouse during the tour, he was grateful for the stunt major and his affinity for having campus contraband on hand.

He pulled the matchbox out and began striking the matches. The first few gave him no flame, and he wondered if perhaps he had confiscated a matchbox prop.

But then he heard it.

“Please, Thomas.”

The sniffle that accompanied those words conjured up a painful image that had seared itself into his memory. A woman in a beautiful blue gown standing before him, the glimmering night sky a backdrop to the tears sliding down her face, cowering as he yelled at her for deceiving him, for making him enjoy a night with her, for making him feel.

He didn’t like feeling. Didn’t like when other people made him feel. Only a few had been able to, but he had let them, because he-

Don’t think about that, he reminded himself.

He struck the next match with vigor, and the small flame that burst from it made his heart soar, even as it extinguished itself almost immediately. He let it drop and pulled another out.

Hunt shook his head as his next attempt also puttered out quickly. What kind of weak matches are these?

He worked through a few more matches, lighting them for seconds before they went out, until . . .

“Got it.”

Now he was on another search, this time for a crumb of food to feed the hungry woman he was unexpectedly stuck with for the time being. And, as he bashed his knees and hips against props and furniture that seemed to move directly into his path, he prayed that he would find something that would sustain her for the evening.

The mini fridge he found had a few large glass bottles of . . . something. Assuming they were not alcoholic – though, since this warehouse neglected to have an emergency exit, he couldn’t entirely rule out other blatant violations - he took them out and replaced them with a five-dollar bill from his wallet, hoping that whoever owned those drinks wouldn’t mind.

And then he felt his way around nearby until he nearly upturned a fruit bowl and took the lone banana within it. A paper plate close to the fruit bowl teetered over the edge of the table, but he set down his candle to catch it. Two slightly stale blueberry bagels and a few little packets of room-temperature cream cheese spread. More than he had expected to find.

He took great caution in maneuvering around the furniture he’d knocked into, but he still caught himself a few times on the hip. He had a death grip on the candle, the food plate held close to his chest. He hadn’t found utensils but was more grateful to have found anything at all.

As he neared the light emanating from the candles on the table, he heard her whispering. He didn’t have to strain his ears to hear her.

“He’s still here. Somebody’s still here.”

He set his candle down and she let out a yelp.

Pretending as though he hadn’t heard anything, he laid out the food on the table so she could see it. “I found some bagels and drinks. And a banana.”

Miss Schuyler emerged slowly from the darkness, barely illuminated from the dancing candle flames. Dragging her chair closer to the table, she sat and twisted the cap off one of the bottles. Her eyes met his as she took a long sip. Finally, she set the bottle down.

“Snapple.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Excuse me?”

“Half and half. Half iced tea, half lemonade.”

“Oh.”

She pulled apart one of the bagels and ripped one of the cream cheese packets open before turning back to him.

“Are you coming to eat or what?” she asked.

For a moment, there was silence again, but then the screeching of chair legs against concrete made her wince. And then he was in view, sitting close – but not as close as he had weeks earlier – and unpeeling the banana enough to break it in half and take the top piece.

“The rest is for you,” he said. “I had the foresight to eat dinner.”

“Lucky you,” she drawled.

He sighed.

“Are we going to talk now?” she asked. She sounded defeated, already knowing the answer.

But they were the only ones stuck in that warehouse for the night. Just him and her, and no one would blame them for talking. Just himself, but he knew her well enough that she wouldn’t usually let up so easily. Something was wrong.

“About the masquerade? I suppose we could.” He chose his next words carefully. “As long as we talk about what happened a little while ago. When you were crying.”

“You heard that.”

“There’s not much else to listen to.”

She sighed, swallowing a bite of banana. “I would say ‘don’t feel sorry for me,’ but I already know that’s not going to be a problem.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“I’ll be right back. I promise.”

She had always been afraid of the dark, but her parents were determined to rid her of that fear. When her Dora the Explorer nightlight broke, her father refused to repair it. Her mother caved and bought her a new one, but only let her plug it in on school nights. For two terrifying nights of the week, she huddled under her covers, armed with her favourite stuffed animals and a flashlight she borrowed from the clutter drawer in the kitchen.

Once, when Margot was really afraid, and the world outside her window was dark and storming, her mother taught her how to pretend she was somewhere else. The sky was falling, but in her head, the sun bore down, warming her skin, the crashing waves of the beach they’d visited the day her father left disguising the thunder that shook the windows.

Later, her mother taught her how to pretend to be someone else, too. They were in a car, and her mother had put an itchy thing on her head made of hair the colour of straw. As she braided the dry strands, she wove a backstory for the new person she would play, a young girl off to see her grandmother for the weekend with her mother, and fed her lines to repeat to the border patrol officer.

“Can you do that for me, sweet pea?”

When the officer asked her questions, she parroted the responses with as much enthusiasm as a tired seven-year-old could muster when she was cranky from being in the car too long. The officer let the car through, and her mother rewarded her with an entire kid’s meal to herself. A few hours later, her mother chucked her free toy out the window for being too noisy.

The little house they moved into was really one room with plastic curtains separating the bathroom from the kitchen and the bedroom. They had to share the bed, but her mother let her keep the nightlight on.

It wasn’t working. Neither did the light switch, which was supposed to tell the eclectrickle creature in the ceiling to brighten up the bare bulb in the ceiling. There was no space for a clutter drawer in their kitchen, so she didn’t know where she would find a flashlight, or if they even had one.

The world outside the window was blotted out by the darkness, and with nothing to break through it, she felt achingly alone. No stuffed animals to snuggle, no covers to protect her from the cold. No mother to run to.

She’ll be back. She promised.

Every time she woke up after slipping into a sleep, she was alone, lying on her side on the barren mattress. No sign of her mother returning yet. She passed the time by counting the popcorn bumps on the ceiling and the ants gathering crumbs from the floor and slipping through the crack on the windowsill. But she didn’t keep count of the days passing. It really felt like one big endless one.

Eventually, a neighbour lady came knocking. She didn’t like that her mother hadn’t come back yet. Other people showed up, men and women with water and fruit and cookies for her. Just like Miss Peaches, they had a weird look on their face when she told them about her mother’s promise.

Miss Peaches gave her a room of her own, a bed piled high with stuffed animals, and all the food she could cram into her mouth. After many attempts at soothing her in the middle of the night, Miss Peaches gifted her a beautiful lamp that emanated a gentle glow. When she curled up in bed, she thought of the beach again, of her mother holding the hand of a girl with straw hair.

Pretending came to her as easily as breathing.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“What happened to her?”

“My mother? I haven’t seen her since.”

He swore. “What about your neighbour?”

She kept her gaze focused squarely on her knees. “Miss Peaches died a few weeks before I came here.”

It sucked, losing a maternal figure twice. She really had grown to like her, even if the first year was rocky because she was still adamantly waiting. Miss Peaches had been the one to encourage her into acting and had cheered her on for the few roles she had in high school plays. When she got accepted into Hollywood U, she promised to be there for her first ever movie premiere, walking the carpet as her companion.

Another promise broken.

Hunt let out a heavy sigh. “You’ve been through it, huh.”

“And still going through it, clearly.” She chuckled to hide the sniffles. “Not a fan of the dark, obviously.”

“It should be afraid of you,” he murmured.

As weird a statement as that was, she felt the laughter bubbling from her belly. Looking up at him, her face split into a huge smile as she let herself laugh.

“What an idea. The dark being afraid of a person. I’ll have to run that by Cattrall. If anyone could pull it off, it’s him.”

“Penn Cattrall?” Hunt said. “The director?”

She nodded. “The phone call earlier. He wants me to be the lead in his next film.”

“Penn Cattrall?” Hunt repeated.

And just like that, any good mood she had dissipated. “Yes, the Penn Cattrall. Why does that surprise you so much? You’ve been monitoring my progress at Hollywood U, haven’t you? Seen all the projects I’ve contributed to? I’ve earned this and you know it.”

Silence.

Of course.

She turned her attention back to the Snapple. It must be the unsweetened kind, she mused, because the taste was slightly bland and-

“I know you have.”

Slowly, she looked back up. Hunt’s face was hard to read in the darkness, but she assumed he must’ve pulled his mouth into a grimace, like he always did once he said something he thought he shouldn’t have. She strained to see it on him now.

“Since you came to Hollywood University, you have been extraordinarily prolific with your projects. Though, obviously, you had to be in order to stay enrolled after the tiff you had with Miss Stone-”

“Her false accusation, you mean?”

He brushed off her interjection. “-That incident helped accelerate your career in ways that your fellow students only dream of. You’ve amassed an impressive catalogue, and your growth, both professionally and personally, is palpable with every credit.”

Though her cheeks warmed with his unexpected kindness, she sensed a “but” coming up.

“But,” he said, then paused thoughtfully. “You’ve got a long way to go still. A lot more to learn. Things you need to know to make sure your career has longevity and meaning. I have so much more to teach you.”

Her heart twisted.

“My place is behind the lectern, guiding you. Not . . . whatever it is that you think you want from me.”

The second part of his statement should have bothered her more than the first.

“No, it’s not.” She set the glass bottle on the table and straightened in her seat. “Your place is behind the camera. It’s what you were meant to do, it’s your passion!” She squinted at him. “I don’t understand why you retired. You were one of the greats. Are one of the greats, I mean.”

Hunt exhaled, a sound bordering on sadness. “Some things cannot be,” he said cryptically.

And then he stood, picked up his candle, and disappeared again into the labyrinthine set.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He just knew the heart-shaped bed in the honeymoon suite set was a middle finger from the universe. Gaudy and overloaded with the cliché colour scheme of nauseating reds and pinks, the sheets were slippery silk and the pillows were fluffy from lack of use. He set his candle on the end table and pulled off his suit jacket, before remembering that he had meant to give it to her earlier.

He could practically hear Priya scoffing at him. “You’ve gone soft,” she had accused him, his office suddenly too small to have such clashing egos within it. He had denied it then, but now . . .

“So I tell you about my whole thing with the dark, and you leave me in it again?”

He winced at Margot’s harsh tone. “I was just-”

Standing in the doorway, she set down her own candle and crossed her arms over her stomach.

“And here I thought we were actually getting to know each other. We weren’t done talking. You said we could talk about-”

“We did talk about-”

“No, we didn’t!” She stepped forward, closer. “I know you feel something for me. And before you say anything, remember we’re not in class right now. You don’t have to teach me all the time. Don’t act like it’s your cross to bear.”

He didn’t budge, staring down at her with furrowed brows. “It is my job to always push you, to be firm if it means you reaching your full potential.”

“So you do care about me.”

“As a student. Look, this thing you feel for me, it’s just a crush. It’s fake love, the kind people eat up at the movies.” Gesturing around the room, he scoffed. “Look around this set! None of this is real, yet when this movie comes out, people will swoon for the romance as though real love can be like that. But it’s all fake. Manufactured. Lies.”

He heard her swallow hard. The next words she spoke came out weakly.

“My feelings for you are not fake. What I feel for you is more than just a formulaic Hollywood romance. It’s real. And real feelings are about spending time with someone and enjoying their company, even when you’re just eating stale bagels together. Sharing our vulnerable sides, our deeper thoughts. Trusting one another. Even when the other person is being ridiculously stubborn.”

He turned away from her, ignoring the pang in his chest as he did.

“Thomas.”

“Don’t,” he said, but his voice didn’t come out as stern as he wanted. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. “I just want to rest. It’s clear no one’s coming until morning. Might as well take advantage of this silly set piece. I’m sure there’s another bedroom you can stay in.”

“You-” She picked up a pillow from the bed and screamed into it. “It’s not like I want this. I would love to not have feelings for my surly professor.”

“Great. Then it’s settled.” He primly pulled back the silk sheets and slipped under them, sliding a little too far from the texture. “Good night.”

He closed his eyes and stilled.

And then, once he heard her walk away, he opened them again.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

She didn’t bother trying to navigate through the warehouse in the dark. Knowing her luck, she would probably trip and break her leg, or bleed out on some fancy imported carpet and get billed for the damages.

And Hunt would scold and scold, because that’s all he does, she thought bitterly.

For a while there, she might have thought they were getting somewhere. She didn’t expect him to do a complete one-eighty and want to dive head-first into a relationship or anything, but she did think that the progress they’d made would’ve lasted.

Two steps forward, five steps back.

Like she had done when she followed him into the garish honeymoon sweet set, she clung to the wall until she caught sight of the other candles still lit up on the table. Instead of sitting on her chair, she opted to slide to the floor, placing her candle beside her.

The warehouse’s temperature had dropped even more. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but there was even more of a chill about the air. She hugged herself and tried to keep her mind off the cold. She tried to imagine the beach, then any other memory that included the sun and its blessed warmth.

None of it worked.

After what felt like an eternity of grinding her chattering teeth together, she pulled out her phone and turned on the screen, blinking at the bright light. Just past midnight.

It was going to be a long night.

“Your cell phone has been charged this whole time?”

Hunt stood over her, jacket draped over his shoulder.

She curled her knees up to her chest. “I was just checking the time. Still no signal, if that’s what’s bothering you.”

“Did you think to try to call or text one of your little friends to help us?” he asked. “You could have tried. I did.”

“I was watching you drain your phone battery and thought it might be a good idea to preserve mine.” She rolled her eyes. “Go back to bed, professor.”

She heard him step closer. Then, something draped over her lap, a shock of warmth and textures with an exquisitely quilted inner layer. Instinctively, she snuggled underneath it, but she looked up at him in confusion.

“There are enough pillows to make a barrier,” he said quietly. “That way we won’t touch at all, and we can both get some sleep. Come along.”

“Seriously?” she asked.

He held out a hand, an olive branch. “Seriously.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

The screech of the warehouse doors opening startled them both from sleep. Jackknifing out of his lying position, he immediately dove for the suit jacket that had fallen to the floor as he slept. She was a little slower to get up but finally stood and dusted herself off.

“Tommy?”

Hunt clenched his jaw. “In here.”

Seconds later, Jaxson warily poked his head through the doorway, apprehensive of the wrath he was sure to receive from his old friend. What he didn’t expect was the presence of the student, groggily rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands at the opposite side of the room. But seeing the disturbed sheets and pillow strewn about the heart-shaped bed and the deliberate space between them now, he couldn’t help but smirk even as Hunt stalked towards him.

“Where do I even begin?” Hunt seethed. “Who was the absolute idiot who approved of this studio warehouse’s design? I need numbers, and I need them now. This is absolutely unacceptable . . .”

As Hunt began his rant, Jaxson watched as the student slipped past them and through the doors, bringing her phone to her ear as she walked.

#thomas hunt #thomas orson hunt #hollywood u #only fools fall for you #fanfiction #please let me know if the clapboard emojis are a stupid way to separate the scenes #i'm trying y'all

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aliciameade · 6 years ago

Text

Baby - Ch. 13

Title: Baby Author: aliciameade Rating: *** M *** Pairing: Stephanie Smothers/Emily Nelson Summary: That tearful kiss shared between Stephanie and Emily wasn't their first—and it certainly wasn't their last.

(Chapter 1)

Also on AO3

(You can buy me a ko-fi if you want to!)

Stephanie Smothers is a good person.

She reminds herself of this daily when she applies moisturizer at the bathroom mirror in the mornings and when she tucks her son into bed each night.

She’s made mistakes; nobody’s perfect. Some of them have been bigger than others, but that’s true for everyone. She doesn’t regret those mistakes. They’ve made her who she is today and she likes herself, for the most part. There are things she’s done that she knows if people knew about them, they’d expect her to be remorseful. Embarrassed, even.

What happened between Chris and her when they were teenagers is one of those things. She can rationalize away the judgment; they were both in mourning, they had an innate connection, there was intrigue in the way Chris looked so much like their father and Stephanie looked so much like her mother. There was a wedding photo of their shared parents on the fireplace mantle of her childhood home they’d gazed at together; it was almost spooky, the resemblances. They might have found it...kinky, in a way.

All of those things led to what transpired between them the day they met and the connection they felt was the reason it continued long enough for Stephanie to find herself knowingly pregnant by him while desperately clinging to a lie that it wasn’t his; it was her husband’s.

Her husband died angry knowing the truth.

That, she does regret. That she hadn’t been able to apologize for her dishonesty.

But she’d learned from an early age that when you loved someone, you should hold on to them. Do what you can to help them and support them and protect them. Try your best every day to make them happy even if you have to sacrifice your own happiness.

Even if that means doing something unsavory.

~ ~

It’s business as usual for a time. Parent-teacher conferences. Miles and Nicky’s school holiday program (she sits with Emily—and Sean). Three weeks of the boys being on winter break and being a 24/7 stay-at-home mom. Sometimes she watches Nicky, too, and it’s more of an excuse for Emily and her to see one another than it is to give Sean a break from taking care of him all day.

Her Excel spreadsheet grows by the day as she plans. Phone numbers, names, addresses. Dates and times. Flight numbers. Dollar amounts.

Emily insists she hasn’t heard from Faith since Los Angeles whenever Stephanie asks. She wants to know if her sister is still demanding money, still threatening Nicky.

“I’m only trying to help,” she says when Emily gets upset.

“I know,” Emily replies with a sigh and some kind of physical contact. Stephanie’s never quite certain if it’s to indicate an apology for getting irritated or out of a need for comfort.

She decides it doesn’t really matter.

They eat leftover Thanksgiving turkey after they spend the holiday apart. They kiss under the many sprigs of mistletoe that Stephanie places throughout her home. They go to the winter carnival in the town square and Emily kisses her at the bottom of the ice slide while Nicky and Miles run up its stairs, in full view of everyone. No one seems to notice. Or if they do, the gossip never makes it back to them. Stephanie’s heart had been in her throat when Emily did that.

When the countdown on television reaches zero in Times Square, they kiss while their children sleep on the floor having failed in their valiant attempt to stay awake and ring in the new year.

They cook together. Shop together. Emily spends more and more time at Stephanie’s house and Stephanie can’t help but wonder what Sean thinks of it all. Her frequent absence must be glaringly obvious to him. She wonders if he thinks it means Emily’s just unhappy or if he might think there’s more to it than that.

She doesn’t dare ask Emily and she avoids crossing paths with Sean at all costs.

It’s the weekend after Valentine’s Day when Stephanie asks Emily to spend a Saturday night with her. It’s under the guise of having their own belated night of romance and Emily readily agrees. And while Stephanie plans to indulge in that wholeheartedly, she also has an ulterior motive.

~ ~

“Hi, baby,” Emily says when she arrives. Her suit is a dark red, almost the color of blood, and Stephanie wonders if she chose it to acknowledge the recently passed holiday.

She leans up into Emily’s kiss, tugging on the lapels of her jacket to give herself a bit more lift.

“Mom?”

Miles’s voice cuts through their moment and she almost falls backward if not for Emily catching her by the elbow.

“Hey, buster, I thought you were picking out the toys you’re taking tonight?” she says as she tries to mask her panic. When she turns she finds Miles standing in the hall a few feet away, a Buzz Lightyear figure in one hand and an Iron Man in the other as if he had come to ask her opinion.

His face is full of uncertainty. “You’re kissing Emily?”

She hears Emily clear her throat and she doesn't know if it’s to speak, to not laugh, or out of discomfort. There’s no clarification from Emily and Stephanie has no choice but to respond.

“Just saying hello to my best friend,” she says as she hurries to him intent on ushering him back to his room to finish his part of packing to go spend the night at Emily’s house before Sean arrives. She doesn’t want Sean waiting in the house while he finishes.

“That was like when she kisses Nicky’s dad.” He seems curious more than anything as she takes both action figures and puts them into the overnight bag open on his bed.

She’s feared this for months. She knows Miles is a smart, observant child. She knows Emily and she aren’t always the most cautious when they’re together and away from other adults. They had been extremely prudent at first. They kept their distance, waited until any present children were distracted or absent before sharing words or touches that could prompt a question or a story that gets shared with a father.

It wasn’t always easy and they were growing careless as their comfort with one another grew. Their little escapade has grown into a full-blown love affair that’s lasted through autumn and into late winter. It felt so normal to pick up Nicky and Miles from school and often come home to find Emily already there and waiting, sometimes with a snack set out for the boys (sometimes it was even a healthy one) that it was difficult to not hold Emily’s hand while they stood side-by-side in the kitchen asking the boys about their day. It was difficult to not settle back into Emily’s arms the moment they sat together on the couch and the boys shared the bean bag chair. More often than not, she gave in.

It isn’t her fault that she can’t resist being close to Emily the moment Emily opens herself to her and invites her in with something as simple as a touch. It isn’t her fault that more than once she falls asleep there in Emily’s arms on the couch only to be stirred awake either by Emily or Miles when it’s time for bed.

It isn’t her fault that sometimes they forget to be as quiet as they should be when spending the night together with one or both of the boys in the house.

Stephanie is confident Miles has no idea what any such sounds mean; he’s too young to really understand sex and she doesn’t have plans to teach him about it with any kind of specificity for at least another year unless he asks a question that warrants it.

His ignorance, however, doesn’t assuage the fear boiling up inside her as he still seems to be thinking about what he witnessed. Nor does she know how much Nicky knows about sex and what he might be teaching Miles.

“Sometimes grown-ups like to kiss each other,” she says in response to his statement. She desperately wants to avoid lying to her son. Telling the truth isn’t an option; Miles is too young to be trusted to keep such a secret if she tells him she loves Emily that way. “Do you want to take anything else tonight?” Her hands refuse to be idle and she straightens his bedding needlessly.

“Nicky says you and his mom like to wrestle.” His voice is timid, as though he knows he’s sharing some type of secret information.

Her hands slow their smoothing of his comforter. That is a much more direct statement than commenting on a kiss. Much less simple to explain away than it being a greeting. “Nicky told you that?” she says, hoping her worry doesn’t come through in her voice as she stands and turns to him. “What else did Nicky tell you?”

“Just that you like to wrestle,” he says with a shrug. “Can I bring Unikitty, too?”

Stephanie sighs in relief at his continued innocence and the change of topic. She’s making her way toward the net suspended in the corner of his room that serves as the home for his many stuffed toys to retrieve it when she sees Emily in his doorway. Her entire outfit has been changed; the burgundy suit is gone and she’s wearing a worn-out tee from Barnard College that is a size too small and a pair of black yoga pants, one of which used to belong to Stephanie and both of which reside in a drawer that, at some point, became home to several items belonging to Emily.

“Who likes to wrestle?”

Stephanie’s not even finished reacting to Emily’s very, very poorly timed arrival and topic return when Miles is relaying what he’s just told Stephanie, to which Emily replies, “We sure do!” with a grin.

She rushes into the room, hands out to grab Miles and pick him up and crash them playfully onto his bed. “What about you?” she says as her tickling fingers make him squeal with laughter. “Do you like to wrestle?”

Stephanie watches it play out: Emily rough-housing with Miles in a way she never was good at, making him shriek and laugh and move on from his curiosity by letting him win. She doesn’t surrender too quickly, though, letting him have a good battle until, with his head in her stomach like a battering ram, he gets her onto her back to flop across her middle and pin her and declare himself the victor.

She doesn’t realize she’s crying until Emily brushes away a tear as she bends to kiss her cheek, Miles’s packed bag in her hand, to lead him out to wait for Sean and Nicky to pick him up.

Embarrassed, she finishes drying her eyes and follows. They end up in the living room and, to her surprise, Emily claims the bean bag chair instead of her usual spot on the couch and pulls Miles down to pile in next to her.

“Are you and Nicky going to finish your secret project?” she asks him in a stage whisper.

“What secret project?” Stephanie asks as she takes a seat on the couch. Her stomach feels floppy and her heart doesn’t seem to know where it should position itself in her chest. This is too real, too normal, too domestic.

Emily smiles at her and starts to say something but she’s cut off by Miles desperately and loudly shushing her to the point of clapping both of his hands over her mouth.

“It’s a secret!” he emphasizes, eyes wide in panic as he stares at Emily.

Stephanie has to try not to laugh (and cry) at the reaction. “You know we don’t keep secrets in this house, Smooch,” she scolds, but there’s no authority behind the statement and she knows it. She also knows she’s a big fat hypocrite.

She watches Emily twist her neck to free her mouth. “Maybe ‘surprise project’ is a better name for it. What do you think, bud?”

“Surprise project?” he says, as though he’s trying the phrase on for size. He nods. “Okay.”

“And I don’t get to know about this surprise project?”

“If you did, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Duhhhh,” Miles says with a dramatic eye roll.

Stephanie lets the “duh” slide in favor of...everything that’s happening right now. “Right, of course. When do I get to know what the surprise project is?”

Her question is met with a tight-lipped smile and a shrug from Miles; she looks to Emily for an answer only to see her copy his response.

It’s so adorable she could cry. Again. “I can’t have you two ganging up on me.”

“Oh, baby,” Emily says with a teasing pout, “don’t worry. I promise you’ll like it.”

Miles nods in agreement, still mum on the matter as though if he speaks he’ll ruin the surprise. His eyes light up a second later at the sound of a car in the driveway and he’s climbed out of the chair and is halfway to the door before Stephanie’s even made it to her feet.

“What are you guys cooking up?” Stephanie asks as she offers her hand to Emily to pull her up out of the low chair.

“You’ll see,” Emily says with a sly smile as she ducks down to touch her lips to Stephanie’s, hands still clasped.

They follow Miles who has the self-restraint to wait at the door instead of sprinting to Sean’s car in youthful excitement of a sleepover with his buddy.

Emily squeezes her hand. “I’ll walk him out.”

Stephanie looks up at her, a shared understanding between them. “Thank you,” she says before crouching and opening her arms. “Come give me a hug, Smooch!” She wraps him up in a bear hug when he does. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She sits back on her heels and hears Emily say, “Ready to go, little man?” A hand ruffling his curls comes with it and it makes Miles laugh.

It also makes him look up at her and say, “Love you,” before letting himself out of the house.

“Love you, too,” Emily replies without pause as she steps away from Stephanie to follow him out the door, barefoot.

Stephanie feels dizzy like she’s in a parallel universe where she married and had a child with a woman named Emily and not a man named Davis...or Chris. It’s not as though she wasn’t aware that Emily cared for Miles. They’d grown closer over the months just as she and Emily had. It was inevitable, really, when Emily was becoming more and more a mainstay in their lives. Some weeks they spent more days together than apart. Emily was becoming a provider, a caregiver. She’d tuck him into bed, sometimes with Stephanie, sometimes by herself.

She even volunteered in his and Nicky’s classroom a few weeks ago. Stephanie was certain she’d never seen jaws drop so quickly when Darren, Stacy, and Sona walked in to pick up their children that afternoon to see Emily in semi-casual clothing cleaning up the aftermath of a fingerpainting session.

So it shouldn’t knock her off her feet this much to witness Emily taking on what can only be labeled as a parental role in Miles’s life. She knows she’s done the same with Nicky, though he spends more time with Sean than he does Stephanie unlike how much time Miles spends with Emily.

She’s still kneeling when Emily returns. She looks so light and fresh-faced Stephanie doesn’t know how she looks so happy living this double life. She doesn’t have time to ponder on it, though; her mind is too preoccupied with the shared moments between Emily and Miles to think about that right now.

Emily’s smiling as she locks the door and hits all three switches to kill the porch, foyer, and kitchen lights. “What are you doing on the floor, baby?” she says as she strides toward her and extends her hand. “Come on; it’s time to get you out of these clothes.”

~ ~

“This isn’t what I had in mind when you said you were getting me out of my clothes.” Stephanie glances down at the tank top and shorts she’s been changed into. Emily had led her to the bedroom and Stephanie’s body had come alive at the familiar route, the only thing able to overcome her emotional response to domestic bliss.

She’d been sorely disappointed only to be handed clothes to put back on as soon as Emily had stripped her naked while sharing nothing but a soft kiss or two while she politely rebuffed Stephanie’s wandering hands.

But she can wait; the overwhelming, almost uncontrollable lust that sparked their affair has, after so many months, settled into burning embers instead of a roaring fire. Constant, quiet, yet hotter than the flames that birthed it. She can wait because she knows it will be amazing when they come back to it later.

“Come on,” Emily says before biting her bottom lip and tugging Stephanie back toward the living room. She seems so happy and relaxed all Stephanie can do is smile and follow until she’s being pulled down onto the couch.

“What exactly are you up to?” she asks as Emily puts on some romantic comedy. It’s a bit of a surprise, Emily choosing such a thing, but she’s been working on stopping herself from assuming anything whatsoever about the woman.

“I want to just sit here and make out with you.” Emily smiles as she says it and Stephanie’s being pulled into her lap before she even finishes responding to it.

It’s so easy, so natural to sink into Emily. She’s been doing it for months and, frankly, it’s never been difficult, even from Day One. Emily had kissed her and hesitated in pulling away and Stephanie had melted.

She melts again now as she slips her arms around Emily’s neck to kiss her. It’s slow and hot and all the things that make her heart pound and toes curl and it’s only kissing, but she’s sure that kissing alone could be enough to be satisfying if it’s all they ever shared physically.

But she’s really glad they share a lot more than kisses.

“You just want to make out?” she asks with a nudge of her nose against Emily’s. “During a movie in the dark like we’re teenagers?”

Emily’s hands sweep under the edge of Stephanie’s shirt and brush over warm skin and she kisses her again before she responds. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Stephanie mumbles against her lips. She edges her kiss a bit more aggressive and fails at hiding the shiver that follows Emily’s quiet moan.

“Maybe I’ve been thinking about kissing you all day.” Emily’s hands roam a little more but never toward intimate territory.

Stephanie sighs at the confession and tightens her arms and leans back to entice Emily to lie down with her.

She resists so Stephanie whines and Emily’s hands finally slip down to her ass and squeeze it in wordless reply to her protest.

“But I want you on top of me.” Stephanie tries again, letting most of her weight pull at Emily’s shoulders in hope that her lack of subtly will do the trick.

She gets excited when Emily begins to lean with her but then she sits back again. “I’ll be on top of you later.”

Stephanie groans at the words and tries to stand up with the intent to drag Emily to her bedroom to experience just that but Emily keeps her rooted in place on her lap. “Why are you making us wait?” She runs her hands up under Emily’s adopted college tee and palms the soft, bare flesh beneath it to try to tempt her. However, she seems unfazed.

“Oh, don’t worry, baby,” Emily says with the pouty tone that Stephanie once found mildly condescending but now only finds incredibly hot. “I’ll make it worth the wait.”

Words like that are why she finds it hot so she nods. There are no more words after that for a while save for those of the movie that is playing in the background. The desperate arousal that began to spike wanes to a simmer again and Stephanie relaxes, content (for now) to share the slow, lazy kisses that promise so much more yet to come.

It distracts her from her goal for the night. It’s not until they’re in bed, breathless and recovering and she’s saying, “I love you, too,” that she remembers it.

She takes one more beat while Emily rolls off her to lay side by side, spent from their mutual release, staring at the ceiling.

“Hey, Em?” she says after clearing her throat.

Emily hums in response.

“Can we talk?”

There’s a pause, and then, “No good conversation ever begins with those words.”

Stephanie laughs nervously. “No, no. I promise it’s not like that.” It’s not like that at all and she feels bad she might have sparked such a worry in Emily. She also relishes the fact that such a thing is even possible: make Emily worry she was going to have The Talk.

She hears Emily take a breath. “We’re talking now, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” It’s Stephanie’s turn to take a breath. “Um, I’ve been thinking—”

“About?”

“I want to be with you. For real, I mean.”

There’s another lengthy pause and Emily doesn’t say anything, but she does find Stephanie’s hand and link their fingers.

“I’m tired of pretending we’re something that we’re not. I’m tired of worrying that someone might find out and what might happen if they do. I’m tired of-of sharing you.” She notices her heart is racing when she stops talking; she hadn’t realized what it would feel like to admit those things out loud.

“Are you asking me to get a divorce? Because I can’t. We don’t have a prenup; Sean will take half of what I’ve managed to keep him from spending.”

“I’m not asking you to do that.”

“Then what are you asking me to do?”

Stephanie takes another deep breath. “I want us to...run away together.”

There’s more silence followed by a bark of laughter. “We can’t just run away together, baby. Are you crazy?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it and—”

“You’ve been thinking about it?” Emily sounds amused in the darkness, but at least she doesn’t sound mad.

“Did you and Sean ever take out those life insurance policies?”

The question hangs in the air for a few extra seconds. “Yes,” Emily answers slowly. “We’re not going to kill Sean for the insurance money. Are you fucking crazy?”

“No, no, of course not!” Stephanie rushes.

“Then stop beating around the bush, Dark Side. What have you been plotting in that brain of yours?”

“Have you heard from Faith lately?” She asks the question tentatively; it’s always a sensitive topic, and for good reason.

“What? What does she have to do with any—” Emily stops mid-word.

“Is she still threatening you?” Stephanie continues. “Extorting you? Threatening Nicky?”

“Why are you bringing her up right now?”

Stephanie thinks about the one and only photograph Emily ever showed Stephanie of her and her sister as teenagers. “You’re identical, right? That means fingerprints, DNA...”

“They figured out how to tell the difference between identical twins’ DNA.”

“And you’ve been paying attention to that research because…?” Stephanie’s on thin ice with this entire conversation and while she knows it, it seems as though it might only be a shallow pond to fall into should it crack. “I know you’re going to think I’m crazy—”

“No, but I think whatever you’re about to say is probably crazy.”

“What if…” She takes a steadying breath and hopes Emily doesn’t do something like call the police. “What if you invited Faith to visit you here and...and what if Emily Nelson was found murdered in her own home?” She holds her breath and feels Emily sit up next to her, can see her looming tall in the near darkness.

“Did you just suggest killing my sister?”

“She torments you.” Stephanie tries to resist the urge to backpedal and say it’s a terrible idea but she knows it’s really not, other than the parts about murder and insurance fraud. “All she does is cause you grief. She threatens to ruin your life, to hurt Nicky. And you’re not happy here, Em, I know it. We could do it and your life insurance would help us get resettled somewhere with the boys, and—”

“If I’m dead, how do we have the insurance money? Sean’s my beneficiary.”

It takes Stephanie a second to realize Emily hasn’t thrown her out of her own house at her outlandish and highly illegal plan that involves killing her own flesh and blood. “Change it to me.”

“What?!” Emily scoffs.

“Don’t tell Sean; you don’t have to tell a beneficiary that you removed them from a policy. I’ll collect it and when Sean challenges it I’m going to explain that I know about the affair he’s been having with his T.A. I’ll say you were planning to leave him so you changed it in case he tried to hurt you once you told him because I’m your best friend and I’m the only person you could still trust to care for Nicky.

But if we do this right, I won’t have to tell him anything because as soon as your body is found, I’ll tell the police that he was cheating on you and refusing to let you out of your emotionally abusive marriage and that I knew you were planning to ask for a divorce and that he must have snapped when you told him.

We’ll need to start the paperwork to make me Nicky’s legal guardian. Sean will never sign it but if we’re halfway there when you die and he gets arrested for your murder it will be easy for me to petition the court to push it through. Sean will be in prison. Emily Nelson will be dead. I will gain custody and then Stephanie Smothers will disappear.”

“You’re going to fake your death, too?”

“I’m going to disappear on a nature walk with the boys as soon as I have the money and custody. You disappeared and changed your identity once; you can do it again and do it for all of us. New names, new social security numbers, new passports. You’ll leave the country as soon as Faith is gone and we’ll join you as soon as we can.”

There’s an excruciating length of silence and all she can hear is her own quick breath, the adrenaline of revealing her plot making her blood rush.

“All this so we can be together?” Emily finally says.

Stephanie sits up and moves close, kissing Emily’s bare shoulder. “I’d move mountains to wake up next to you every day.” Emily’s hand has remained in hers the entire conversation but it shakes loose now only to relocate to rest on Stephanie’s thigh.

“I should just divorce him.”

It’s the first real admission that Emily wants to leave Sean and the weight of that drives Stephanie to keep kissing her wherever she can reach. Not in a frantic way, but soft, warm kisses on the curve of her shoulder and the length of her upper arm. “You’ll never escape her, Em,” she says quietly. “If we’re to be together, I don’t want her haunting us. I can’t put Miles in danger.”

She feels Emily’s fingertips tickling her inner thigh in the way she does when she’s hinting at touching her with more purpose. Stephanie can’t quite believe she would be in such a mood in the middle of this conversation, even if they are having it naked and in bed. But the way her own body responds to it, how her knee tilts a bit toward Emily in a way that is inviting, makes her feel guilty for whatever judgment she was about to pass.

“You’d really kill for me?”

Stephanie reaches to touch Emily’s chin and turn her face toward her and down into a kiss. She holds it for several seconds, lips simply touching. She doesn’t know how she arrived at this place in her life to have this conversation. To even consider such a possibility. She doesn’t stop to wonder why Emily isn’t horrified by any of it.

Stephanie Smothers is a good person.

She nods and pulls Emily’s hand higher between her legs. “Anything.”

~ ~

(Chapter 14)

#a simple favor #stephanie smothers #emily nelson #murder moms #fanfic #asf fic #sorry this took 9 years to update

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morfinwen · 6 years ago

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🖊 + Lauren, 🖊 + Ian, 🖊 + Leah, 🖊 + whatever OC(s) you like.

🖊 + Lauren

Despite her short temper, she’s actually good at games like chess and Scrabble that require consideration and long-term planning. Those were the kinds of games Lauren saw her father playing with her oldest brother Jacob, so she had Jacob teach her so she could play with her dad. She never got as many games with her dad as she was hoping, but she got good enough to beat her brother, despite him being notably older.

🖊 + Ian

He’s the kind of guy to name his guitars. His current one is named Gladys. He doesn’t know why, he just thinks it looks like a Gladys. His last one was Kurt. Kurt was a good guitar, they just didn’t mesh.

Whenever the question ‘would you rather lose your sight or your hearing’ came up, he’d always pick sight, since he couldn’t fathom losing music. When he lost his sight, he felt that jittery relief you feel in a panic situation when he realized … at least it wasn’t his hearing.

🖊 + Leah

Most people think Nick Valentine is her best friend because they both remember the pre-War world (a pre-War detective had his brain scanned as part of a therapy treatment, and Nick is the synth who got those memories downloaded into his head). That’s part of it, but there’s another reason she doesn’t talk about much.

When Leah came out of the vault, into a terrifying new world that had brutally murdered and replaced the one she’d known just hours (to her) before, the first people she met needed her help. They used words she didn’t understand, and while they usually expressed sympathy for the loss of her husband and son, they had little to no advice for her on what to do next. Nick needed help too – he was currently being held prisoner by a mob boss – but he was the first person to offer concrete suggestions on what to do next, and the only person with any idea what it was like to keep going after everything and everyone you knew was gone.

She doesn’t bring it up much, because she doesn’t want her other friends feeling guilty about needing help or not immediately realizing how fish-out-of-water she was, but if it weren’t for Nick, the divide between pre-War Leah and post-War Leah would probably be greater, and much uglier.

🖊 + whatever OC(s) you like

Random list of the quality of OC’s parents, one of those things i sometimes find myself thinking about for reasons i do not know:

Top shelfReagan: Neither of her parents really knew their own parents, but they intended to do their best for their little girl. Unfortunately, she never really got to know them, either.Ash: His mother in particular, but his father did his best under the circumstances.To this day, Ash knows he can call either of them for any reason and they’ll do anything they can for him.Kira, Darcy, and Susanna: Parents and grandparents both.Ian: Not just for him, but they did their best to help Lauren too, where they could.

Generally recommendedAngie: Not all of her relatives were great, but most of them at least tried their best, and even the worst never laid a hand on her, neglected her, or intentionally made her feel uncomfortable or unwelcome.Connie: Certain parental failures in recent years have cast a dark shadow on the past, but he has no serious complaints from his childhood.Nate: His mother was absent a lot until he was ten, thanks to needing to work to keep her three kids fed, sheltered, and clothed. His stepdad kept them at arm’s length, but that was just because of a misguided fear of overstepping. Leah: Her father was a stoic man who didn’t show emotion, or like it when others did. Her mother was a neurotic woman who was frequently anxious, whether there was cause or not. But they raised her with love, even if it wasn’t always easy to see.Avery: In the immediate aftermath, Avery’s mother blamed her for the death of her little brother. It came from pain and shock, and she later apologized for it, but it left enough of an impact on Avery that she’s on this list rather than the one above.Lanzo: They provided him with everything medieval German nobles generally provided their children with, they treated their servants well, and they managed their estate well enough that he was able to let it manage itself (mostly) for decades. Lanzo doesn’t think or talk about them often, as it’s been several hundred years since they died, but he doesn’t have much bad to say about them.Niner: Not much info on them at present, but they’re probably fine. Most of Niner’s quirks are the result of her personality and werecat-ness, not bad parenting. Probably.

Improvement neededChris: His father abandoned his family when his children were seven (Marie) and three (Chris) years old. Chris has nothing good to say about him. His mother could have balanced her work/home life better, but both of her children were self-motivated enough that the effects of being left alone so much were nowhere near as bad as they could have been. And if he’s honest, Chris probably would have done many of the same things in her place.Reagan: Her aunt Jane meant well, but she let the pain of a hard childhood and the grief of losing her baby sister turn her into a woman who was too strict and unyielding, and she expected Reagan to be her mother (that is, Reagan’s mother, Jane’s sister) instead of her own person.Aidan: Given how little information Aidan has on his parents, it’s difficult to say what they should have done differently, if anything. That said, it would have been nice if his mother at least had tried to check in on them again, or left them some information. But in fairness, maybe that’s just how phoenixes are.Amanda: Jennifer took the kids with her after the divorce, and involved them in her work, encouraging them to stand up for what they believed in and speak out even when everyone else is being silent. Unfortunately, Jennifer also tended to extremes, getting worse as she got older, and her relationships with her children as adults is strained at best. Paul was a doting father when he was around, but he never had to do much more than visit a few times a year, call a few times a month, and send the support checks regularly, and he never really tried to do more. In fairness to him, he eventually realized that just being okay as a dad is not really a good thing, and has tried to make up for it.Elarin and Meaghan: Both grew up in the Jedi Temple. Neither of them have any serious grievances against the masters who raised and taught them, but the system is flawed at best.Lauren: Her parents both had to work, and had about two children more than they could manage. They were more interested in peace and quiet than giving their children what they actually needed, and interacted most with the kids they understood the best.

Go straight to Jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200Neal: Metaphorically, his father liked to start fires, and his mother poured gasoline on them. They had both wanted to leave their small town to pursue big goals, and blamed their failure to do so on everything and everyone but themselves. Sometimes they took it out on each other, but it was always easiest to take it out on Neal.Q: Technically, his mother’s sister was his guardian (he lost his parents as a baby), but his father’s (half-)brother and sister-in-law were the ones to have the biggest influence on his life. They paid for his education at expensive boarding schools, provided his wardrobe, gave him a spending allowance, and he often stayed with them in-between terms. While they never laid a hand on him, the only things Maitland and Chantal cared about were their money and their image, and they showed no mercy to anyone who threatened either of those things. Q learned from a young age that everything they offered came with strings attached.

Thanks for asking!

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keeloves · 6 years ago

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From Paws to Thumbs Review

As a belated valentine’s present to my boyfriend @disneyfanforever3 I am going to be writing a lengthy review of his fanfiction that he wrote on another website called deviant art. I will leave links if you are interested in checking it out. I have also decided I will be reviewing this chapter by chapter and then summarizing it up at the end. This way I can details correct that I didn’t in my video and so it will be nice and long and thorough. Also sorry if there are spoilers.

Chapter One kind of starts out slowly but that’s okay because we are having Scamp and Angel established as characters. Chapter one takes place after the ending Lady and the Tramp Scamp’s Adventure after Angel gets adopted. These two love to explore every possible chance they get. However Lady and Tramp don’t approve of them exploring. Scamp relationship with his parents more specifically Tramp reminds me of Triton and Ariel/Ariel and Melody. Both Tramp and Ariel lied to their children about their background and they have similar personalities but with slight differences. Both Angel and Scamp are feel like outsiders to their families but it is made even worse because of Scamp’s three annoying Bitch Sisters (See what what I did there?) Annette, Nicolette and Danielle because of how they always bully both Scamp and Angel. Lady isn’t so bad but she can be annoying but Tramp irritates the hell out of me in this chapter and that is mainly due to him making promises he never keeps, his hypocrisy and him of all people should understand Angel the best. Worst of all after Scamp and Angel bust curfew really badly and trying to reason with their parents Scamp over hears his parents talking about how they think about getting rid of Scamp and Angel simply because they can’t handle them. This really tragic especially for Angel because of how she bounced around from five families and doesn’t want to lose what she has and this is terrible for Scamp because this might mean he will be separated from Angel and thanks to his sisters bullying him he all ready feels unloved.

Chapter 2 also starts off somewhat slow but that is okay because in this chapter we are introduced to the third main character from this story Patch. Patch like Angel and Scamp loves to explore and go places. He loves his family dearly and his parents love him dearly but he also feels like he is treated unfairly because of how his parents treat his brother Lucky. Lucky like Scamp’s three annoying ass sisters loves to antagonize Patch. He bullies Patch, calls him mean names and constantly excludes from adventures that he goes on with his other two siblings Rolly and Penny. Rolly and Penny don’t bully Patch but they also just stand by while Lucky is bullying Patch and say nothing. Well one night after Lucky got home late during roll call for bed time Pongo pulls Lucky a side to talk to him about his behavior and why Patch shouldn’t go to dangerous places. This reminds me of Ariel and how Triton is always scolding her about going up to the surface. Long story short Patch and Pongo argue and Patch feels defeated. To make matters worse his brother Lucky convinces Patch that their parents will give Patch away. Now we have three dogs who love to explore and they feel lost alone and a little betrayed by their families. The Dalmatians move to America for a few reasons. One Anita and Darling are sisters in this story and they want to be closer to family and two to be safe from Cruella and her two idiot Hench men.

Chapter 3 is about how the Ratcliff’s move to New England to be safe from Cruella. They travel there by boat. In this chapter things start to pick up and move along at a faster. This is where Scamp and Angel meet Patch. The three of them instantly form a bond. Well after the three pups argued with their parents mainly Pongo and Tramp and not feeling like their parents are listening. They go and explore this house. This house belongs to a magical Wizard named Chris (Yes the author/my boyfriend inserted himself into this story all though he shows up in the next chapter) Anyways Scamp, Angel and Patch explore this beautiful house. One room catches their attention it is the magic room. This room contains a crystal ball, and a bunch of magical potions. Well they accidentally knock a magic potion over not knowing it is a magic potion. The three dogs drink it because they are thirsty and believe it to be milk. After drinking this they feel weird and fall into a deep deep sleep and end up transforming into humans.

Chapter 4 This is the Chapter where we meet the narrator/Wizard Chris. He is is in early 20s. Like any other morning Wizard Chris went down to make himself some breakfast that is until he gets side tracked by some snoring coming from his magic room. There he finds three naked children. He was not to pleased to see three naked children so he quickly covered them in robes the color of their collars. Wizard Chris has his house located far on the country side and is very much a hermit. He only leaves his house for essential items like groceries and he only talks to people when he absolutely has too. Yeah he ain’t real social is he. Well from this chapter on little did Wizard Chris know his life would be changed forever by three very special friends Scamp, Angel and Patch. Also the three children freak out for a bit because they changed from dogs to humans. over night. (BTW yes Wizard Chris gives them clothes in fact I believe he posted those pics on Tumblr if not I will give you a link once I am done with this review.)

Chapter 5.

The parents Tramp, Lady, Peridita and Pongo all try and make up with the three pups. However they are super nervous of what they are going to say. Only problem with them trying to make up with the children is that the children are gone and the parents have no clue where they are. All four parents are worried about the kids. Pongo tries to go an makes amends with Patch. In this chapter Pongo and Peridita remind me of King Triton and Sebastian from the episode of Little Mermaid episode called Charmed. In that episode Ariel discovers a magnifying glass which she calls a “Bigger Mcjigger” but when her father sees it he gets angry and destroys it. Later on in the episode he is practicing his apology to Ariel which is what Pongo is doing when he is preparing to talk for Patch. Both Sebastian and Peridita remind Pongo and Triton that an apology that needs to come from the heart. This chapter is probably is one of the more fun chapters because we have worried parents, three run away children and best of all Cruella is plotting her escape from insane asylum. Cruella is one of the smartest villains ever. Her escape plan involves her stealing a news paper, faking injuries and knocking out one of the guards with the rolled up news paper and then stealing his uniform. She has to wear a hat to hide her skunk colored hair because well that would blow her cover if she didn’t. She also locks the guard in her cell. “Cruella Devil Cruella Devil” if she doesn’t scare you no evil thing will.

Chapter 6

In this chapter the three puppies now turned into human children thanks to the potion learn how to act like humans. Which meaning to walk like humans, eat like humans and refraining from their dog instincts like chasing squirrel up trees. If you guys were wonder if there were any negative side affects to this potion I am afraid there is. All three children fall ill in this chapter but luckily these are common sicknesses in children. Scamp has measles, Angel has the flu and Patch has the Chicken Pox. All though for a moment Patch thinks he caught something from a chicken lol which I thought was cute. I also learned in this chapter you don’t give sick children belles because then they become annoying but still enduring. However before they got sick the four parents were looking for them. Perdita and Lady could sense that Scamp Angel and Patch were their children while Pongo and Tramp laughed. This chapter also shows that mothers tend to be more in tune with their children. Also Wizard Chris feels like an older brother taking care of his three younger siblings and plus his “Hard shell” begins to crack when the three children become ill. (Chasing Squirrels up trees happens in the next chapter.

Chapter 7

The children have recovered from their illnesses and they along with Wizard Chris had a fun day at the park and he of course has to teach them how to act like normal children as in un teaching them from their dogie instinct. However this chapter is where things start to get more interesting because “Wizard Chris” meets this “frail old woman” who some located the big mansion that the Wizard Chris lives at. She was tired because she walked in red stilettos yeah she ain’t real smart. Well it turns out that frail old woman was Cruella. She went and stole the magic book from that Wizard Chris owns. In this chapter she puts together her own team of Villains. She steals a potion that makes animals talk. This chapter she meets Buster an old friend turned enemy of Tramp. Cruella and Buster end up making a deal to help each other get revenge. Cruella mainly wants revenge on Patch since Patch is the one defeated her and Buster wants revenge on Tramp for stealing his “Girl” (Not Lady) and running off and getting married and he wants revenge on Scamp for abandoning him. If this happens Buster will be given the chance to be a human forever and he will have money and power. She also meets the Siamese cats as in the cats that belong to Aunt Sara. She also makes a deal with the cats by promising them a life supply of Fish food and milk. They are kind of group thinkers.

Chapter 8

This chapter is probably one of my favorites because it digs into Angel’s background and how she became a street dog and why she changed home five times before getting permanently adopted by the Darlings. In case anyone is wondering what Angel’s parents look like this them and Angel of course. Her mom is the golden retriever and her dad is the Pomeranian. https://www.deviantart.com/azulalover1/art/Angel-and-her-Parents-764104159. Anyways a brief summery of Angel’s background and how she ended up a junk yard dog for years. Once Angel was a happy little puppy with two parents just playing in a junk yard well one day this dog catcher came for the dogs. The dogs tried to run away as fast as they can but Angel’s dad accidentally got ran over by the dog catcher vehicle and her mom ended up getting her paw caught in a rail road track and got hit by a train. The poor thing seeing her parents die no wonder she keeps having nightmares. The best part about this chapter for me though is that when she wishes she would have died and Wizard Chris, Patch and Scamp but mainly Scamp reassure that she is loved and that her new family (The Darlings) won’t put her out on the street again.

Chapter 9.

Okay I am not going to lie I am going to boost my own ego here a bit. See my boyfriend wrote Paws to Thumbs long before we ever met and in this chapter he was originally going to have Scamp being chased through out the woods. I was wondering if he would consider having a dynamic between the two boys Patch and Scamp because I haven’t seen them interact that much and he also wish he could find a way to include Patch more. Well thanks to my suggestion this chapter was posted later than expected and went through a major rewrite to include Patch more and incorporate him more into the story. I really love this chapter not just because I helped inspire it but because the two boys get a chance to bond and because they have a lot in common such as being well off in families and being born into luxuries that Angel did not have until she got adopted, they both feel like their parents don’t listen to them and they both have siblings that give them a hard time because they are jealous of Patch and Scamp and they love to explore. Anyways, the three Children and Wizard Chris are the park on a beautiful day just playing until Scamp hears a strange noise. Well it turned out to be a “bear” growling at him. It soon started to chase Scamp. Patch tries to help Scamp by jumping on the “bear’s” back but ends up getting thrown off towards Scamp and the boys are chased through the woods. Scamp is almost kidnapped by Buster (which he doesn’t recognize Buster because is in his human form not dog form) and if you are wondering why I put air quotes around bear its because the bear is “Reggie” another dog that is so scary even Buster is afraid of him and even before Reggie got transformed into an actual bear he looked like a dog bear hybrid. Luckily Patch knocks out Scamp (No pun intended since Patch has a brother named Lucky) I love this chapter because the two boys bond and open up to each other about their families and how they feel their parents don’t understand them. A side from being almost killed and kidnapped in this chapter this chapter was awesome. (There are more details but as I said I will be leaving a link below so you can go check out the fanfiction and I promised Chris I wouldn’t give too many spoilers lol)

Chapter 10

This chapter isn’t quite as exciting but this chapter warms my heart because I ship Scamp and Angel so much they are such an adorable couple and in this chapter I am reminded of Cory and Topanga because both couples confess they are in love with each other at age 14. Angel tells Scamp she is in love with him but while he is sleeping. Another reason this chapter warms my heart is because this shows how much these children have come to love and care about each other. First Angel has nightmares but those stop because Wizard Chris put a spell on her to stop the nightmares. Now Scamp keeps has nightmares one about being eaten by that strange bear and the one where he over hears his parents talking about sending him away (The second one did happen as discussed in the first chapter) however before he can tell Angel about the second dream because they over heard Patch having a bad dream and that dream was about Cruella. Angel and Scamp help Patch feel better by staying up with him and talking about the nightmares and Scamp then tells Angel about his second nightmares. I adore this chapter because the kids grow closer together and share a deeper bond and that is beautiful. Well shortly the nice moments are ruined between the children when a grumpy Wizard Chris gets out of bed and disguises himself as an ugly old hag as sweet revenge for waking him from his “beauty sleep”. However another reason I love this chapter very much is that we get a bit of back ground on the narrator (Wizard Chris’s background) about how he ran away from home when he was 10 years old and he claimed he was bullied and that his dad didn’t understand him. This shows that these four ar kindred spirits. This also shows that not only did these kids need Wizard Chris but it shows that Wizard Chris needed these kids too. In this chapter it is also revealed a magic mirror that Scamp sees in the magic room. The only problem is that the magic mirror shows Scamp’s reflection half and half. As in half human half dog. Oh and the last thing about this chapter is that Scamp finally confesses he is in love with Angel all though he doesn’t say it to Angel and Wizard Chris has to tell him. I love this chapter so much.

Chapter 11

At this point the Scamp, Angel and Patch have been humans for a little over two months and Wizard Chris has found away to change them back into dogs but there are a few problems none of the children want to go back to being dogs. Wizard Chris is trying to convince them to turn back to dogs and make them go back to their families but the only problem with that is he is being hypocritical in this chapter since he refuses to work out his issues with his family and thankfully the kids call him out on this. While the four argue about whether or not they should go back to their families. The villians in this story finally make a reappearance. Buster, Cruella and the two Siamese Cats (Si and Am) that are now humans and the three are being reprimanded by Cruella for not being able to kidnap the children. Buster’s plan of revenge is to have Tramp’s family work for him for all eternity (Okay so I added that in for dramatic affect) and Cruella has plans to still make a coat out of them (I think that is still the plan) or she plans to enslave all the puppies. (I am sure my lovely boyfriend will correct me if I got stuff wrong lol)

Chapter 12

The kids ran away into the woods just until they were out of Wizard Chris’s sight and this where Scamp reveals the information about the magic mirror to Patch and Angel and how about the they see their reflections. When the Patch and Angel look into the mirrors themselves they like Scamp also see their reflection split in half as in half dog half human and this makes them more confused then ever. The mirror reminds me of the mirror in Harry Potter the magic mirrors reflect the individual's heart’s desire. Oh and Angel almost tells Scamp that she is in love with him but of course that nice moment had to be ruined by the bear “Reggie”, Buster Cruella and Si and Am. The children were so scared they ran for their lives they got separated and didn’t even realize where they were running to until it was too late. Patch ran into Cruella his worst nightmare. She put a spell on him to make him tell her where the other Dalmatians were. Patch tried to resist telling his family wearabouts but couldn’t because the magic was too strong and he gave in. Angel were being harassed by the two Siamese Cats the two ladies chased Angel and captured her and tied her up with a rope and Angel tried to escape but couldn’t. Scamp is captured by Buster. Scamp runs from and he thinks he is free from Buster only for Buster to capture him again. Buster tries to manipulate Scamp into going with him but luckily Scamp isn’t going in so easily. Well now to review Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Finally we get to see The Darlings, Rodger and Anita in this chapter because it feels like forever since we we have seen them this also means we see Pongo, Perdita, Lady and Tramp. This chapter is about to get real interesting because Wizard Chris meets the families of the three children officially. He goes and explains everything and after he is done he has to do a bit of convincing to prove he is telling the truth. Jim is the one who needs convincing the most. Well in his defense if a random man showed up to my house claiming he was a wizard with three dogs that had turned into human children I would be skeptical as hell too. Finally Jim believes him after Chris makes the animals talk. If the four humans as in the Darlings and Anita and Rodger didn’t believe in real magic before well they are about to believe now. Anita and Rodger become extra terrified when they find out that Cruella not only escaped the insane asylum and discovered where they were now living. Wizard Chris tries to stop her but he gets trapped in a bubble and he can only get out if someone from the outside knows the spell. Buster threatens revenge on Tramp by taking Scamp and because Tramp steals his girl. Oh and the main characters. Oh and some other dogs get turned into humans and those dogs are Tramp, Lady, Perdita, Pongo, Tramp’s sisters Rolly, Penny and Lucky. (I am getting slightly lazy with this review lol)

Chapter 14

In this Chapter the children’s parents get turned into human by Cruella and luckily they were wearing clothes since they didn’t drink a potion. Angel frees Wizard Chris from this green bubble thing. It didn’t take long for Angel to escape since she grew up a street dog and knew how to get herself out of any tricky situation so growing up a street dog in this case worked to her advantage so her and Wizard Chris to try and go and find the others. Patch and Scamp were trying to negotiate with their stuborn siblings to help them. With Patch Penny was willing to help Rolly had to be convinced to help because he wanted food like usual and Lucky was annoyed with Patch because Lucky taunts Patch all the time. Tramp’s sister were being their usually bitchy selves. I love this chapter because it has one of my favorite moments! Patch and Scamp finally stand up to their bratty siblings. Scamp shoves his three sisters and Patch punched Lucky in the eye so yay! Finally Lucky admits his jealously to Patch and Lucky is jealous because he feels Patch is the favorite. Annette, Collette and Danielle finally confess their jealously to Scamp. They are jealous of Scamp and Angel because the two aren’t afraid to be themselves and for a long time the girls though they only had their looks to rely on. I find this chapter to be one of the more exciting chapters. Buster and Tramp full on fist fight the the bratty siblings are put in their place and it is awesome. (If Reviews beome a little skimpy I am trying not to give too much away as I said there will be a link after I am done reviewing this fanficition) Oh and Cruella destroys Wizard Chris’s magic carpet but before that he turns Reggie into a mouse. Plus as a mouse he probably won’t eat any humans or at least try and he was hella scary as a dog.

Chapter 15.

Buster tries to manipulate Scamp one more time. He tells Scamp that they could be human forever and that Scamp wouldn’t have to deal with Tramp’s lies. Scamp considers this for a split second and he comes to his senses. Scamp made that mistake once and wasn’t going to do it again. He loved his family and his father very much. Cruella Dev Vil tries to manipulate Angels by offering her what she wants and that is to bring her parents back to life. Magic can do several things but it can’t bring the dead back to life. Cruella tries to kill Angel but fortunately fails well fortunately to Scamp and Angel while unfortunately to Cruella. Scamp almost dies by falling out of a tree but luckily Wizard Chris has just enough magic to keep the tree but unfortunately due to the spell on his hands he wasn’t able to hold it long. Anyways Angel declines Cruella’s offer and realizes that she has a family that truly loves her. Once again Scamp was this close to telling Angel he is madly in love with her but that doesn’t happen for two reasons the villains interrupt them and because Angel isn’t sure they will make it out of their situation alive. Buster tries to kill Scamp and Angel but misses because he gets hit in the back of the head. Cruella tries to kill them but thankfully she misses because Patch jumps on her back. He tries to steal the book back but can’t he rips out a page he chants a spell hoping to harm Cruella but all he does is grow a dinky little flower. Cruella ties the three kids up and tries to kill the once more but fails. WIzard Chris wakes up frees the children and Buster and Cruella start to fight.

Chapter 16

This is the second to last chapter and it is kind of sad but I have enjoyed writing this review just like I have reading the fanfiction. I love this chapter because the main four characters bond and the kids learn how to do magic. They use a magic spell to defeat Buster and Cruella. However this spell requires four wizards because it has to have the four elements which are water, fire, earth and air. While the four Wizard Chris, Scamp Angel, and Patch have come up with a plan to defeat Buster and Cruella the two are arguing on who gets to kill who. This chapter reminded me of Halloween Town 2 when Marni wants to reopen the portal and her family and her one Goblin friend Luke who is not a warlock helps her anyway because he is her friend and he believes. The three children are not Wizards but they believe in magic they love each other. Oh and I forgot to mention that Cruella had split the ground earlier and turned into lava. Scamp tries to Angel he is in love but she wants him to hold off because at that moment life felt too short. The four defeated the two villains once and for all. However I would argue their own vanity and greed killed them. They fell in the lava. Scamp tried to save Buster but failed. When Cruella died her dark magic wore off and didn’t last forever. Si and Am turned back into cats and all of the magic Cruella performed was undone and the magic carptet was restored. If this chapter taught me anything revenge is never the answer and your own greed could litterally end up killing you. Also everyone makes up with their families and Lady and Angel have a beautiful moment together. Another one of my favorite moments is that Wizard Chris realizes how much he loves the children and the parents come to and understanding with their children. Oh and Scamp’s three sisters and Patch’s brother Lucky all get grounded for a month for bullying.

Chapter 17.

Well people we have arrived at the final chapter. Wizard Chris heads back to go make up with his family. He is very sad because he has grown to love the children and he was going to miss them so finally he heads back to his family and at first they don’t recognize him because he is now a grown adult in his early 20s and not the 10 year old little boy that ran away. I also forgot to mention that Wizard Chris lied to the children about his family not looking for him because they did he just used magic to hide himself. The one reason his parents recognize and know that it is him is because of a scar he has on his right eyebrow. This chapter really warms my heart because Wizard Chris gets to make amends with his family gets them back in his life while also gaining a new family with the three children and their families. The three children decide to stay human so they can have a life of freedom and joy. They might have been born dogs but will live out the rest of their lives as humans. Also Wizard Chris moves his house along with the Darling’s house to be next the plantations where Anita and Rodger live along with the Dalmatians. Angel decides to live with Wizard Chris, Jr is happy he gets a big brother and Patch is happy too! The three dogs now turned humans can live their life of freedom and still keep their family.

Well this review was going up later than I intended but none the less this was a belated Valentine’s day present for awesome boyfriend @disneyfanforever3. I really loved this fan-fiction because it shows that no matter what trouble you are having with family they will always love you and care for you. I also liked how Tramp developed in this series and I am happy he got a nice moment with Angel. He realizes that he should have understood her the most just because how similar their back grounds were. Also Scamp and Angel finally pronounce their love for each other and it makes me so happy! I hope I got some details right because for some chapters I skimmed and tried to give you the gist. Anyways here is a link to his fanfiction if you want to go check it out. https://www.deviantart.com/azulalover1/gallery/62089614/From-Paws-To-Thumbs

Also I want state we have officially been dating for a month but we both think one month anniversaries are stupid but I just felt like sharing that. Anyways I hope enjoy this review. Oh and I should mention that Patch always felt like Lucky got special treatment. Well the reason Pongo and Perdita were easy on Lucky was because for Lucky was dead for a few moments when he was born hence why he was named Lucky.

#from paws to thumbs #lady and the tramp scamp's adventure #101 Dalmatians Patch's London Adventure #fanfiction review

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brewdarrymore · 7 years ago

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happy valentines day to jaci @oxsfootfetish, who wanted tattoo shop/flower shop AU for the Wolfsong Exchange! here’s some margo hc’s and a little bit of jox, i hope you like it!!

AU where mark and gordo actually meet much later in life

The bennetts are still wolves and gordo is still a witch

The bennetts have a different witch for their pack, just some guy i guess he’s not important because he leaves later

Anyway instead of gordo owning an auto shop he owns a tattoo shop

Ox apprentices there

The shop boys are all still there

The bennetts still have like their whole ‘business’ of whatever they do with the wolf shit, but mark has his own little business on the side

It’s a flower shop right across the street from gordo’s ink

Mark’s shop is called bennett blooms

Gordo knows about the bennetts, of course, and he knows what they are

They know who Gordo is too, and they know he’s a witch

But it’s just coincidence that they both live in green creek

The bennetts never left green creek because joe never got taken because maybe richard doesn’t exist and thomas and maggie never die?? Idk it’s a nice thought isn’t it

So for years, gordo has watched this guy who owns the flower shop across the street from him. He knows his name, knows his family, knows what he is, but they’ve never spoken to each other

And for years, Mark has watched this guy who owns the tattoo shop across the street from him. He knows his name, knows his father (robert livingstone left gordo and fucked off somewhere and gordo has basically been on his own since he was like 18), knows what he is, but they’ve never spoken to each other

But they’re both very curious about each other

The bennetts and ox have lived next door to each other forever but they never actually met before because Ox and his mother are human (and maybe one day gordo showed up at the bennett house when ox was a little kid and told the bennetts never to get ox mixed up in their shit because he wants to keep ox safe. Gordo only spoke to thomas, no one else. And maybe gordo also used some of his magic to keep ox and his mother from getting too curious about the house at the end of the lane)

But then one day, inevitably, ox and joe meet

gordo freaks out because oh my god joe’s a bennett and the future alpha, and he sits ox down and explains to him that the world is very different than ox thought it was

After ox gets over his initial anger at gordo having kept secrets from him, he’s like “cool, witches and werewolves exist” and he asks gordo to show him some magic

Gordo makes his tattoos move and then ox is like “so do you give everyone who comes in here magic tattoos” and gordo is like “no they’re just normal tattoos”

Chris and tanner and rico are all like “wtf i want magic tattoos” and gordo has to spend an hour convincing them that he cannot give other people magic tattoos

So then Ox and Joe become best friends and they get closer and maybe gordo finally has a reason to talk to Mark Bennett

One afternoon, about a week after ox and joe meet, gordo gives control of the tattoo shop over to the boys for a little bit and walks across the street to bennett blooms

He’s assaulted with smells and colors when he walks inside, big and beautiful and bright flowers everywhere, of every kind

He thinks about maybe getting a bouquet for Ox’s mom because her birthday is coming up and she’s his friend and she deserves something nice

Then gordo hears, “it’s about time. I was wondering when you’d find your way over here.” and mark steps out from behind a wall of flowers

Literally it’s like a fairytale and gordo is like i absolutely cannot with this shit

He frowns at mark and says, “i told your alpha to keep away from my kid.”

Mark just shrugs and says, “we tried. Carter and kelly have always been curious, but they stayed away. Joe, though. He asked questions, of course, about the people in the house down the road. We diverted. But he saw Ox from the window one day and went running out. We couldn’t stop it.”

Gordo is mad because he was forced to tell ox the truth about the world and he didn’t want to have to do that. He was always afraid of it but he hoped he could keep ox sheltered and safe, and now he can’t, he doesn’t have a choice

Mark sees all this on his face even though gordo tries to hide it, and he smiles softly and gordo promptly ignores what that smile does to him

“We won’t hurt him,” mark says gently. “He’s a special kid. He’s special to joe.”

Gordo wants to believe that, he does, because really the bennetts have never done anything that bad, they’ve never done anything to gordo, they’ve left him alone and gordo left them alone in return, they’ve always just coexisted

But gordo’s father had this unexplained hatred and distrust of the bennetts, and some of that unfortunately rubbed off on gordo before robert left

Gordo decides he’s just gonna have to watch and wait and protect ox as much as he can, and he’s gonna have to spend more time with the bennetts to see if he can trust them and prove his father wrong

Gordo clears his throat and says, “i need flowers, anyway,” and mark gives him that smile again. He helps gordo pick out a bouquet for maggie (which he lets gordo have for free) and asks gordo about his tattoos

Gordo shows him the magic ones, and then shows him a few normal ones he did on himself, and he ends up telling mark some of the stories behind them (some of them have stories, some of them don’t)

Eventually Gordo leaves the shop and goes back across the street to his tattoo parlor, and mark watches him the whole time until he’s inside the store

You see, mark is in his 30s but has never found a mate, has never had anyone to give his wolf to

But he’s been watching gordo for years and he thinks he might be something

So time passes. Joe gives ox his wolf after a few weeks. ox and joe grow up and grow closer, they start courting (and one day ox gives himself and joe little matching tattoos at gordo’s shop. The tattoo is two wolves, a black one and a white one, in a circle with triangles around the outside so it looks like the sun, and in the middle the wolves are forming a yin-yang symbol; the phases of the moon are inked in between the triangles)

Gordo is kinda mad but also impressed because the tattoos are well done and that means he’s taught ox well

So as ox and joe grow closer, gordo and mark grow (slowly) closer too

Gordo tries to resist it, but he can’t

They start spending more time together, during mark’s breaks at the flower shop he goes across the street and watches gordo tattoo people and he’s fascinated by gordo’s skill, he’s amazed by his concentration and by how much attention to detail he gives to each tattoo

And during gordo’s breaks at the tattoo shop he goes across the street and listens to mark teach him the language of flowers, and he’s amazed by how much mark knows, how he knows what every flower is called and what the meaning behind each of them is

After a few months they sleep together and gordo is like well fuck

Then mark gives him his wolf, and gordo knows what that means

He hesitates at first, and then he says, “okay.”

It takes a while for gordo to get to the place where mark is, but then he falls fast and hard and he realizes he loves mark like holy shit he loves mark so fucking much

They’re mates

And then gordo starts to get jealous of the bennett witch (who is around the bennetts just as much as gordo and ox are, he’s just been in the background this whole time)

But that doesn’t matter because the bennett witch (who shall remain nameless) wants to leave green creek and go work for another pack that his lover is in or something idk?? Yeah like he’s worked for the bennetts p much his whole life because he was assigned to them or something but he never really wanted to do it because it meant he was separated from his lover who lives somewhere else

Thomas lets him leave because he can understand love and soulmates but then he’s like “now we need a new witch”

And mark just smiles and says, “i think i may have someone in mind.”

Gordo becomes their new witch

Ox and the shop boys and Jessie and Maggie are pack still (Ox is still an alpha because it was inside him all along, and in this AU he took the bite from thomas when he turned 18. Thomas doesn’t die but he steps down as alpha as he was meant to and joe takes over, with ox as his alpha and mate by his side) also robbie is still there somehow

They all live happily ever after with no one dying ever except of old age

The end

#this is long af #I HOPE U LIKE IT JACI #wolfsong #wolfsong exchange #wolfsong server #wolfsong discord #margo #jox #my edit #my writing #my hcs

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wazafam · 4 years ago

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April Ludgate is a beloved character for her dry sense of humor and sarcastic attitude. She is the youngest employee of the Parks Department and initially very apathetic about her job. However, as the series went on April grew into a very smart and confident young woman.

RELATED: Parks And Rec: 10 Hilarious April Memes Devoted Fans Will Love

Her friends and husband often came to her for advice on difficult decisions and work-related issues. At times, April had some surprisingly wise words to say. Unfortunately, at other times she reverted back to her old self and gave an insincere or sarcastic comment.

10 Best: The Parks Department Should Absorb Animal Control

When the Animal Control Department needs a new director, Leslie suggests that April apply for the job. The following hearing doesn't go so well, but April comes up with a genius plan in the process.

Because it is ineffective and has a tiny budget, she advises that the Animal Control Department be absorbed into the Parks Department. No one can argue that this isn't a great idea.

9 Worst: Telling Tom To Get A Hello Kitty Tattoo

April is pretty famous for her sarcastic comments and hilarious one-liners. However, they can get a little old when her friends need real advice. For example, when Tom gets an offer from someone wanting to buy out Rent-A-Swag, he holds an investor's meeting and asks April for her opinion.

Instead of giving him business advice, she suggests that he get a Hello Kitty tattoo.

8 Best: Suggesting Ann Go On A Date With Tom

In the episode "Operation Ann," Leslie sets up a Valentine's Day dance with the goal of finding Ann a soulmate. Unfortunately, the night doesn't go so well for Ann and she doesn't end up making a connection with anyone.

RELATED: Parks And Rec: Why April And Chris Aren't Real Friends

In a rather out-of-character gesture, April notices that Ann has been having a good time talking to Tom and suggests that the two of them go on a date. Even though this relationship doesn't work out, it's a pretty good idea for Ann to go out with the only person to make her laugh all night.

7 Worst: Getting Ann And Tom Back Together

Going on one date might have been a fun idea, but Tom and Ann ended up being in a terrible relationship. In the episode "Sweet Sixteen," April gets drunk while Tom and Ann fight and points out that everything that the two of them fight about is stupid.

Although her goal was to break them up, this actually ends up getting them back together.

6 Best: Revealing To Andy That Everyone Is Faking It

When Andy freaks out about not knowing what he is doing at his job in London, he of course goes to April for advice. April wisely tells him that secretly no one knows what they are doing at work.

She tells him most people just fake it until they figure it out, and that Andy will figure it out too. It's pretty great advice and honestly very true.

5 Worst: Advising Subservience To Men

When the women of the Parks Department meet with Pawnee's first female city councilwoman, they discuss the inequalities of women in government. April then goes off on a tangent saying, "I think men are better than women."

Although she is obviously joking, her advice to "always walk behind the men" is probably the worst she's ever given and very unhelpful in the situation.

4 Best: Teaching Ann To Trust Her Gut

Ann is excited for April when she gets into veterinary school, so she doesn't understand why April decides not to go through with her studies. When the two take a trip to Bloomingdale for her orientation, April explains that she had a gut feeling that veterinary school wasn't right for her.

RELATED: Parks & Rec: April Ludgate's 10 Most Badass Quotes

When Ann asks April how she gets her gut to talk to her, April replies, "You don't get your gut to talk to you. You just listen when it says something." This advice helps Ann to realize she wants to raise her baby somewhere other than Pawnee.

3 Worst: Her Feedback On Leslie's Speech

April does something nice for Leslie by nominating her for the International Coalition of Women in Government award.

Leslie then practices her speech for April, who returns to her usual self by saying, "I think you should lose the first line and the last line and all of the other lines. And instead, just walk up to the mic and meow really loudly for eight minutes."

2 Best: Helping Andy With Career Decisions

When Tom offers Andy a job with his company, the first person he goes to for advice is his wife April. In this hilarious scene, April replies with, "So take it" in regards to all the positive aspects of the job, and "so don't take it" to all of the negative aspects.

She then tells Andy that she also does not know what he should do, to which Andy replies, "You give such good advice. Babe, I love you." It might seem strange, but sometimes the best advice is to just have someone listen to your confusing dilemma and not be bombarded with opinions.

1 Worst: Convincing Jen Not To Intern At The Parks Department

When April is tasked with welcoming a group of potential interns to the Parks Department, she latches on to a girl named Jen who reminds her of herself as an intern. April advises her not to take this job and to go do "something fun" instead. This advice seems to come from a place of April feeling that she has wasted her time in the Parks Department.

However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Craig helps her to realize all the amazing work she has done and April realizes she made a mistake sending Jen away.

NEXT: Parks & Rec: 10 Ways April Got Worse & Worse

Parks & Rec: April's 5 Best Pieces Of Advice (& Her 5 Worst) from https://ift.tt/3eTfXWK

#Blogger

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carey-pricemas · 8 years ago

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Updated Queue!

Ok guys so I owe you all an apology! I have been so off with my updating lately and I am SO sorry about that! I will be caught up by Friday, I promise. That said I will point out one thing that changed with the queue. I had a Connor Brown playoff beard imagine for both today and 6/8, but I only had one request for it. That said, I opted to leave it on the 8th, so I could catch up. The requester understands so I hope you guys do too! It’ll also break the Connor Brown up so it’s spread out and not all in a week XD

Thanks you guys for understanding. I promise I’ll get back on track. Love you guys! Enjoy the queue!

Today- Tyler Seguin- smut

Carter Hart- tries cheesy pickup lines

Thursday 6/1- William Nylander- I love you while drunk

JJ Piccinich- last home game win fluff/smut

Alex Wennberg- plane crash

Friday 6/2- Jakub Vrana- fluffy free reign

Downtown Connor Brown- meet and greet and surprised you like him

Jonathan Toews- smut

Matthew Tkachuk- you have a stutter

Saturday 6/3- Freddie Andersen- playoffs

Andre Burakovsky- 21st bday jealousy fluff/smut

Connor Murphy- talking about the future

Sunday 6/4- Matthew Tkachuk- falls asleep with baby bro fluff

Morgan Rielly- smut being caught

Alex Nylander- friend breakup worries

Monday 6/5- Sidney Crosby- teen son from previous relationship

William Nylander- doesn’t know you’re a virgin

Jimmy Vesey- friends set you up

Tuesday 6/6- Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson- fluff free reign

Chris Kreider- smut

Mitch Marner- insecure about love

Wednesday 6/7- Auston Matthews- grumpy after playing the Stars

Freddie Andersen- smut

William Nylander- playoff beard

Thursday 6/8- Downtown Connor Brown- playoff beard

Alex Wennberg- super smutty XD

Jordie Benn- expecting first child

Friday 6/9- Charlie McAvoy- free reign

Morgan Rielly- smut

Sebastian Aho- team finds out about you through Instagram

Saturday 6/10- Brady Skjei- makes her sing for him

Martin Jones- free rein

Alex Wennberg- nervous about telling him youre pregnant

Sunday 6/11- Brendan Gallagher- wearing a Chucky jersey

Connor McDavid- Family is Sabres fans

Tom Wilson- The first time again part 2

Monday 6/12- Matt Martin- jealous

Kasperi Kapanen- celebration smut

Auston Matthews- jealous of basketball team

Tuesday 6/13- Jakob Chychrun- boys and girls club

Kasperi Kapanen- smut someone overhears you

Martin Jones/Sidney Crosby- Skin by Rihanna

Wednesday 6/14- Derick Brassard- pregnant during playoffs

Brendan Gallagher- calm down (wink wink) during playoffs XD

Any Rangers player- John Green quote

Thursday 6/15- Andre Burakovsky- friends with Patrick Kane

Andre Burakovsky- protective from man in bar (no one knows)

Morgan Rielly- large age gap

Friday 6/16- AJ Greer- Beach volleyball for team Canada

Colton Parayko- doesn’t know you speak English

Mitch Marner- Sees self harm scars

Saturday 6/17- Auston Matthews- both busy but make it to sons game

Auston Matthews- smut doesn’t like Dylan

Carter Hart- A million reasons by Lady Gaga

Sunday 6/18- Mikkeal Boedker- run into each other at grocery store

Alex Galchenyuk- smut same circles but never met

Jeff Skinner/Justin Faulk- harassed/assaulted and they save you

Monday 6/19- Connor McDavid/Mitch Marner- Late Late show about song

Austin Matthews- jealousy birthday smut

Any Caps player- political law firm but then player gets traded

Tuesday 6/20- Zach Hyman- proposes through book

Brady Skjei- celebration smut

Matthew Tkachuk- Secret Love song by Little Mix

Wednesday 6/21- Mitch Marner- messes up Valentines day

William Nylander- car smut

Any player- your teenage son is gay and introducing you to first boyfriend

Thursday 6/22- Jacob Trouba- Part 2 of Walk in the Park

Andre Burakovsky- broke up and reunited at Casino night smut

Auston Matthews- African dancer and he gets jealous

Friday 6/23- Kasperi Kapanen- tutoring him in college

Morgan Rielly- fluffy/smutty

Auston Matthews- teammate finds sex toys (ropes)

Saturday 6/24- Morgan Rielly- one of the guys Morgan’s overprotective and jealous

Artemi Panarin- tired of being called cute smut

Morgan Rielly- escape Leafs event and find each other

Sunday 6/25- Dmytro Timashov- watch scary movies

Artemi Panarin- love the sounds you make smut

Alex Galchenyuk- Chasing Ghosts by Against the Current

Monday 6/26- Morgan Rielly- fluffy/smutty

William Nylander- first time smut

Sidney Crosby- damsel in distress

Tuesday 6/27- Taylor Hall- transition from Edmonton to NJ

Rasmus Ristolainen- fluff

Auston Matthews- yeast infection and dr visit

Wednesday 6/28- Problematic Leon Draisaitl- getting ejected during A PLAYOFF GAME

Oliver Ekman-Larsson- love at first sight

Alec Martinez- Cinco de Mayo festivities

Thursday 6/29- Auston Matthews- tired and clingy

Jordie Benn- wants to be a family with you and daughter

Auston Matthews- jealous of Laine

Friday 6/30- Auston Matthews- bad day brings food (my kind of man)

William Nylander- snaps boredom Willy takes to fair

Johnny Gaudreau- cheer him up after getting swept

Saturday 7/1- Jo Drouin- sitting front row at a game

Brandon Montour- get into a fight

Filip Forsberg- free reign

Sunday 7/2- Auston Matthews/Sidney Crosby- autoimmune disease

Steven Stamkos- free reign

Brenden Dillon/Timo Meier- free reign

Monday 7/3- Jakob Silfverberg- for noranihilia

Aaron Ekblad- free reign

Filip Forsberg- free reign

Tuesday 7/4- Brent Burns- free reign

Roman Josi- free reign

Martin Jones- free reign

Wednesday 7/5- Chris Tierney- free reign

Nikita Kucherov- free reign

Mikael Granlund- cute/fluffy

Thursday 7/6- Jonathan Marchessault- free reign

Nino Niederreiter- free reign

Morgan Rielly- avoid feelings talk and he thinks you don’t like him

Friday 7/7- Charlie Coyle- Lipstick part two

Brendan Gallagher- angry/hate each other smut

Auston Matthews- you do his makeup and Mitch puts it on Instagram

Saturday 7/8- Auston Matthews- you’re sick and he and Mitch take care of you and your kid

William Nylander- wearing something that turns him on unknowingly

Pekka Rine- celebrate sweeping Hawks

Sunday 7/9- William Nylander- free reign about butt and thighs

Auston Matthews- meeting friend who doesn’t like the Leafs

Sidney Crosby- wakes up and mutters I love you a lot

Monday 7/10- Artemi Panarin- free reign

Morgan Rielly- part of the group but he likes you but just friends

Colton Parayko- bffs and in car accident and he tells you feelings

Tuesday 7/11- William Nylander- same height insecurities

Ben Hutton- fluffy smut

Mitch Marner- gf has chronic migraines

Wednesday 7/12- Alex Nylander- faking hickies prank

Tyler Seguin- Company by Justin Bieber

Auston Matthews- Gaston song with his name and he loves it (in secret)

Thursday 7/13- Sean Monahan- after wrist surgery

Morgan Rielly- fluffy/funny butt touching

Mats Zuccarello- free reign

Friday 7/14- Auston Matthews- Toronto Furies, play Aus to see who better player is

Jakub Vrana- part two of Doughnuts

Mitch Marner- making fun of passion over el clasico

Saturday 7/15- Charlie McAvoy- free reign

Alex Galchenyuk- smut

Sam Reinhart- season ticket holder, sees you at the game

Sunday 7/16- Morgan Rielly- after getting knocked out of the playoffs

William Nylander- happy with himself after seeing scratches

Mikael Granlund- gives goal pucks to his son

Monday 7/17- Morgan Rielly- They Don’t Know about Us by One Direction

William Nylander- sees bruises after sex (non-smut) and he feels guilty

Jamie Oleksiak- taking son to meet the team

Tuesday 7/18- Andre Burakovsky- meets at a charity event, sees again later when he has a gf (probably also a multiparter

Leon Draisaitl- dominant hot smut

William Karlsson- ILYSB by LANY

Wednesday 7/19- Nazem Kadri- hit on Ovi

Leon Draisaitl- smut after finishing exams/graduation

Auston Matthews- trying to turn him on in an elevator with teammates smut

Thursday 7/20- Auston Matthews- getting knocked out of playoffs and shutting you out so he doesn’t take anger/sadness/frustration out on you

Michael Latta- Smut hot when he fights

Jonathan Toews- sequel to I’ll say yes for toews19

Friday 7/21- Andre Burakovsky- sleeping and he steals the sheets

Auston Matthews- argues about dishes

Andre Burakovsky- surprising you at graduation

Saturday 7/22- William Nylander- sleeping and someone posts a picture

Michael Latta- smut angry after game and takes it out on you

Tom Wilson- club and Tom gets jealous, heated

Sunday 7/23- Adam McQuaid- overprotective of gay son

Zach Fucale- smut after not seeing each other for awhile and she wears his jersey for first time

Milan Lucic- visiting with Bruins over the summer

Monday 7/24- Auston Matthews- thinks shes cheating and comes after her after fight

Auston Matthews- riding his thighs dirty

Auston/Willy/Mo/Freddie/Kappy choice- insecure about height/speaking Spanish/ Take on the World by You Me at Six, or Speakers by Sam Hunt

Tuesday 7/25- Adrian Kempe- Somebody Else part two

Claude Giroux/any Flyers player- partying with team and blurts feelings while tipsy

William Nylander- reader talks Swedish and Willy loves it (heated)

Wednesday 7/26- Auston Matthews- friend but he wants more but you’re unsure of his reputation

Tyler Seguin- nsfw sumt

Dylan Strome- Dive by Ed Sheeran

Thursday 7/27- Sebastian Aho- free reign

Tyler Seguin- based off his IG “love me” trying to get your attention

Mikael Granlund- he thinks you’re dating him for his money

Friday 7/28- Tyler Seguin- part 2 of Orders

Alex Nylander- smut

Tyler Seguin- friends dancing and he flirty teases you

Saturday 7/29- Jakob Chychrun- teaching kids to skate

Auston Matthews- smut based off of Fire and Desire by Drake

Connor McDavid- AHL ex who won’t stop bothering you

Sunday 7/30- Brendan Gallagher- meeting family for the first time

Dylan McIlrath- free reign fluff/steam

Auston Matthews- muscular and self conscious about it

Monday 7/31- Auston Matthews- field hockey player stages of relationship

Dylan Strome- congratulate him after winning Western Conference

Sam Reinhart- You’re Here part two

Tuesday 8/1- Auston Matthews- act like they hate each other, but really in love

Auston Matthews/Morgan Rielly (probably Mo)- scavenger hunt fluff/steam

Colton Parayko- smut comforting

Wednesday 8/2- Morgan Rielly- trying to get him to unwind after game by being a distraction

William Nylander- long lost buddies and run into each other while out with team

Mitch Marner- dark; abuse, cutting, mental health problems

Thursday 8/3- Auston Matthews- convinces him to go to country music festival

David Pastrnak- cute and fluffy

Alex Nylander- cute/fluffy about hair/haircut

Friday 8/4- Auston Matthews- taking care of sick girlfriend

Charlie McAvoy- cute/fluffy

Jeff Skinner- comforting about self harm scars

Saturday 8/5- Mitch Marner/Willy Nylander- fight and admit they like each other cute or smut

Morgan Rielly- Leafs event with Mo and meet team for the first time

Alex Nylander- morning smut

Sunday 8/6- Sidney Crosby- have twins

Alex Nylander- about being a bad cook

Auston Matthews- in his POV; reader stressed and cuddles

Monday 8/7- Noah Hanifin- Just a Friend part two

Charlie McAvoy- smut

Auston Matthews- stressing over testing

Tuesday 8/8- Mitch Marner- reader speaks German

Charlie McAvoy- smut

Morgan Rielly/JVR/Gabe Landeskog- Say you won’t let go by James Arthur

Wednesday 8/9- Casey Cizikas- making fun of each other over concussions

Ben Hutton- smut

David Pastrnak- Disneyland tickets/fluff

Thursday 8/10- Sebastian Aho- Teaches the reader Finnish

Auston Matthews- smut after surgery he worries he’s going to hurt her

Michael Latta- babysitting his niece and calls you to come help/Latts insta with the baby

Friday 8/11- Lawson Crouse- fluffy free reign

Nico Hischier- smut

Jesse Puljujarvi- cute/fluffy free reign

Saturday 8/12- Elias Lindholm- childhood friends meet each other when older

Mikael Granlund- teasing him with team smut

Nico Hischier- meet at draft and show him around the city

Sunday 8/13- Andre Burakovsky- She’s Not Me by Zara Larsson

Roope Hint- FWB smut

Connor McDavid- Slow Hands by Niall Horan

Monday 8/14- Leon Draisaitl- tries to give you a perfect birthday, but messes it up

Sebastian Aho- sweet first time smut

Matt Martin- come home wanting quiet and he’s playing COD with boys

Tuesday- 8/15- Auston Matthews- friends since childhood start dating

Nico Hischier- depression, but he comforts her

Carter Hart- concussion and taking pain killers, makes him loopy

Wednesday- 8/16- Tyler Seguin- calls mom to ask for ring, but mom thinks its another prank

Morgan Rielly- surprising you at your graduation

David Pastrnak- reader gets wisdom teeth out and recovery

Thursday 8/17- Auston Matthews- Fire and Desire by Drake

Tom Wilson- Trainer for Caps smut

Friday 8/18- Alex Nylander- baby and baby names

Sidney Crosby- smut

Auston Matthews- reader is ace

Saturday 8/19- Alex Nylander- introduced to parents but mom doesn’t like her

Artemi Panarin- fight and makeup smut

Auston Matthews- coming home giggly drunk

Sunday 8/20- Mitch Marner- parents are getting married and siblings

Nico Hischier- high school AU

Beau Bennett- drunk hook up, bond next morning

Monday 8/21- Sidney Crosby- son from other relationship and first Mother’s Day

Morgan Rielly- clubbing and see him after breaking up

Timo Meier- free reign

Tuesday 8/22- Tyler Seguin- Ben Bishop’s best friend meet through him

Willy/Alex Nylander- problems with self harming

Dmytro Timashov- cooking/cleaning when stressed Dmytro doesn’t know why

Wednesday 8/23- Colton Parayko- honored for military service at game

Sebastian Aho- friends teasing about you and Aho in bed

Auston Matthews- they surprise you for Mother’s day

Thursday 8/24- Morgan Rielly- wear black and boys tease about being too badass for Mo

Jesse Puljujarvi- soft smut

Alexander Wennberg- Slow Hands by Niall Horan

Friday 8/25- Leon Draisaitl- can’t sleep, helps you fall asleep

Andre Burakovsky- shower smut

Dylan Strome- has crush on you but you aren’t interested

Saturday 8/26- Andre Burakovsky- Finnish rap music and chirping

Kasperi Kapanen- girlfriend is a soccer player

Alex Nylander- first sleepover and seeing her dressed down and no makeup

Sunday 8/27- Colton Parayko- work for the Blues and Hutton catches you kissing

Sidney Crosby- Small Bump by Ed Sheeran

Alex Nylander- comes to your dance competition

Monday 8/28- Geno Malkin- go on a cruise and he takes care of you after you get sun poisoning

Connor McDavid- takes care of you while you’re drunk/hungover

Tom Wilson- someone insults her and he defends you

Tuesday 8/29- William Nylander- makes banana pancakes

Mitch Marner- Canada playing home country and Canada wins and y/n is mad

Carter Hart- snuggling and listening to the rain

Wednesday 8/30- Auston Matthews- bring child to family skate/practice

Jake Virtanen- vacation in a cabin first time smut

Zach Werenski- takes puck to face and bummed but he gets to spend more time with you

Thursday 8/31- William Nylander- cute ringtone for gf and boys tease and possible proposal

TJ Oshie- takes you home from club smut

Auston Matthews- you have a bf and he seduces you to cheat

Friday 9/1- Mitch Marner- chipped tooth vs Finland

Leon Draisaitl- smut

Brayden Schenn- free reign

Saturday 9/2- Willy Nylander- active about Bell Let’s Talk cause you struggle with mental illness

Auston Matthews- before game smut

Willy/Auston/Freddie/Mitch- short and nerdy

Sunday 9/3- Brady Skjei- BFFs and secretly in love with one another and you confess

Auston Matthews smut- friend of WAG and hookup after game then he asks you out

Auston Matthews- buy a puppy together

Monday 9/4- Jordie Benn- dating but kept quiet cause shes shy, but he lets it out

Brayden Point- dirty smut

Carey Price- Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift

Tuesday 9/5- Auston Matthews- bff and comforts you after a guy wants to use you as rebound

Sidney Crosby- smut

Morgan Rielly- son’s draft day

Wednesday 9/6- Jesse Puljujarvi- Eyes Closed- Halsey

Cliff Pu- meet on vacation and lose touch but moves to Canada for school

Teuvo Teravainen- Supersankari by Laura Närhi

Thursday 9/7- Sebastian Aho- nopsajalka by lupaan olla

Tom Kuhnhackl- takes her to Germany to meet family

Marco Scandella- getting divorced, but Marco convinces her to give him second chance

Friday 9/8- William Nylander- celebrating making semi-finals

Auston Matthews- listening to music and dancing surprise smut

William Karlsson- fluffy free reign

Saturday 9/9- Anders Lee- free reign

Auston Matthews- mom doesn’t like you and speaks to him in Spanish, but you are fluent in it

William Nylander- So Wrong part two

Sunday 9/10- Sebastian Aho- proposing

Nick Schmaltz- smut

William Nylander- high school AU king and queen at dance

Monday 9/11- Sidney Crosby- wedding day fluff

Connor Brown- smut

Alex Nylander- watching Willy play in the Worlds and spending time with his fam

Tuesday 9/12- Auston Matthews- Worried his teammates don’t take you serious because you’re younger than him and in college

Trevor van Riemsdyk- gets jealous over teammate talking to you at club smut

Leon Draisaitl- with kids or pregnant gf/wife

Wednesday 9/13- Phil Kessel- pregnancy or children fluff

Auston Matthews- Because You’re Mine by Kitty Kallen

William Nylander- y/n leaf interviewer and Willy flirts with you

Thursday 9/14- Mitch Marner- gf plays hockey and gets in a fight and he’s worried/thinks its badass

Pekka Rinne- work with charity but first time meeting team as his GF at a game

#nhl imagines #nhl imagine

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jojen-hewitt · 8 years ago

Photo

“Better luck next time.”

Bank Robber AU for @ambiguous-eyepatch for the Valentines @aftgexchange!

I had a lot of fun drawing these and I hope you like it! 😃

I realized too late that this wasn't exactly what you meant by your prompt, sorry about that, but I hope it's still okay!

The rest of my mini-fic/headcanons/ramblings about this AU are below the cut:

Okay, so right off the bat I got a little carried away with this AU and its way longer than I thought it'd be, so tldr version; Andrew and Neil are rival thieves who sometimes help each other out. Neil gives fake names, Andrew finds him interesting. Two finger salutes are used back and forth. The others make appearances. Neil's a little shit to Riko. Totally impractical, illegal, and very convenient scenarios ensue. Exactly what you'd expect from what was supposed to be a Bank Robber AU but turned more into a Cat Burglar AU. Again, sorry about that!

So, *rolls up sleeves*

Andrew, Aaron, and Nicky are a gang of thieves (Aaron is the tech/medic guy, Andrew's the thief, Nicky is usually the distraction/get away driver). The three of them have been doing this since the twins were in high school. ("It's expensive raising two twin boys as a single parent. Especially when one has expensive tastes in cars and the other wants to be a doctor!" "For the last time Nicky, stop telling people we're your kids!!")

Although Andrew has been doing this on his own for a while (it's how he got himself thrown into juvie)

Neil takes to becoming a thief after his mom died. They still went on the run because they stole from his father, so he thought that would be the best way to keep up some kind of income. He changes name and appearance to avoid police and his father (heads up now, this is the last time Nathan's mentioned, didn't know how else to add him).

Neil threw his outfit together at a thrift store (Orange was the only colour of bandana left, ok).

Andrew of course bought nice, expensive, dark clothes that can blend easily in a crowd. Also to make him look ninja like, not like anyone but Nicky would dare to admit it though.

These two first meet at the Hernandez Museum in Arizona. Neil tries to steal a painting; Andrew whacks him in the gut with his poster portfolio before grabbing the painting and high tailing it outta there, (Not before he gets a fake name from Neil (probably Stefan)),

"Better luck next time." *two finger salute*

As Neil moves on to South Carolina, sometimes the orange gets recognized, so the papers have taken to calling him The Fox ("Really, Matt? That's what they call him?" "Yeah, you know, orange face mask and he's a thief. Dan came up with it. Makes sense if you ask me.")

Side note, Neil is Matt's new roommate and Matt has no clue what's going down, but accepts that his roomie runs at weird hours and prefers to keep things surface level in conversation. They're still bffs during the day when their schedules intersect.

Dan, the investigative reporter interested in this string of robberies, lives with Renee next door to the cousins, those shifty looking guys who are always angrily whispering in German at each other and coming and going at weird times, but Nicky seems nice enough and Dan thinks Renee has a thing for Andrew, (she does not, they just spar together once a week, and Renee may or may not teach Andrew some lock picking techniques... maybe), so they let it go.

Allison is a close friend of the girls and owns some of the valuables/buildings that get targeted. She's sort of confused when some of these items return a few weeks after Dan reports about them stolen, with a fox sticky note attached

(Neil may steal for a living, but he feels bad when he finds out some of that stuff is hers, so returns the more sentimental items. Andrew does not.)

Kevin is the detective trying to catch these thieves with his new partner - Andrew, who uses info to get a good location/hit or cover his trail. (also puts that criminal justice degree to some use).

*I debated making Kevin a security guard but liked the idea of Andrew being his partner while also being the criminal they're trying to catch dynamic better*

Kevin eventually joins up with Andrew's crew because Riko (Kevin's old partner, also on the robberies case) just took things way too far and sort of snapped, almost injuring Kevin. He won't take part in the robberies himself, but he'll help give a lead or distract the attention of the other officers when Andrew needs it. (He just wants Andrew to help keep him from Riko again.)

Kevin takes his job very seriously, but when he finds out Neil, an old childhood acquaintance, is The Fox he warns him to run before more trouble starts up with Riko (Neil does not, he's found a life here, even if some of its a lie, and he's gonna fight for it).

Kevin starts drinking around this time. (seriously, all he wanted was to be a good detective like his mom and dad, now he's covering for two thieves he's supposed to be apprehending for lord knows what reason)

Seth is a security guard who Nicky takes great pleasure in knocking out (he overheard the guy said some shitty things about gay people while they were staking out the place earlier)

Erik is the cousins' international seller.

Wymack is the police chief/commissioner and doesn’t get paid enough.

Now back to the thieving.

Neil keeps running into this guy at his heists and it turns into a sort of one sided rivalry of Neil trying to case the joint before Andrew gets there.

It barely works, Andrew always beats him there, but he gets better at it. (and someone would be lying if they said Andrew doesn't wait sometimes to see if the Fox shows up)

Neil's taken to calling Andrew the Monster because Allison hates whoever keeps stealing her stuff (also, getting hit by a portfolio tube hurts, Andrew, of course he's gonna think you're a monster at first) but after one time he hears Aaron yelling over Andrew's earpiece, he extends the title to "the Monsters".

which is also roughly when Andrew gives him some sort of name in return to Neil's alias (Chris this time around) because this has been going on for months now.

Andrew eventually makes a deal with him to help each other out because this thief is a train wreck and is gonna get them caught eventually (Andrew will keep the police off his tail and Neil just has to help Andrew with some of the trickier robberies).

Andrew tends to chat a little with this weird Fox named Alex or Stefan or Chris or Duncan or whoever he is today, just 'cause these robberies have started to bore him, but this,

this guy is something interesting

And they start to learn little seemingly inconvenient things about each other

("Oh, there's knives in those? Good to know." "Your mom's dead? Same for my brother. Paid for my car." "Favourite color is grey actually!" "You're more a raccoon than a fox." "Actually my family never celebrated holidays. What brings you to a jewelry store on Thanksgiving?" "I don't like being touched." "Tell your friend that I can in fact understand what he's saying in German... And fuck him too." "Ice cream is the best goddamn food in the world and I will gut you for saying otherwise!")

... Ok, last one is more context than verbatim, but you get the point...

As he gets better, Neil starts to leave little fox sticky notes behind with insults towards Detective Moriyama (because fuck that guy, he keeps bad mouthing The Fox in the news and saying it'd be easy to catch "an amateur like this flea"!!)

Kevin and Andrew have mini heart attacks when they find them ("why agree to my protection when you clearly have a death wish?!")

Eventually, Neil has perfected the art to the point where he can get the item/money before Andrew arrives, but against his better judgement (and the screams of his mother in his head to "Just run! Run! Get out of there while you can!") he stays, even just to leave Andrew with a new fake name.

One of these nights Neil almost gets caught by Riko on patrol, (who is still rather enraged by the last note; how does the Fox even know about his daddy issues?), so he has to change his appearance last minute to not get recognized on the streets.

Matt is the most surprised by the new auburn hair and blue eyes, but again, he rolls with it. Recommends that his girlfriend's roommate is really good with dying hair if he wants to mix it up again though.

Andrew and Aaron get into some trouble (*cough*Drake*cough*) so the Monsters are out of commission for a while.

Neil feels slightly responsible (somehow his tip off to Andrew leads to it, I don't know).

They haven't seen each other since that night.

Andrew eventually gets back into the swing of things ("Andrew are you sure..?" "Yes Nicky, now get in the fucking car.")

One night Kevin gets him a tip off about an opportunity at the EVRMR Private Bank (inside info from Jean who just so happens to hate working there and the Moriyamas, who own the place).

So as Andrew makes his way to the roof, he hears something below (hurried foot steps from all too familiar worn out shoes below) and he takes a glance and sees a flash of orange.

And there's that bothersome shadow who was only supposed to be a brief distraction from routine,

but now he's got a slightly new look and what appears to be a duffle full of what's supposed to be Andrew's cash.

Neil senses eyes on him and sees a figure on the roof and just knows.

Cue two finger salute. "Better luck next time!!"

And he's gone.

(Andrew still checks the vault and finds a fox sticky note that says 'Abram')

*cue Aaron's screams of annoyance and Nicky's demands to know if this guy is at least hot if they keep letting him take their marks*

(Kevin probably is downing a vodka bottle somewhere, but that's a given)

Next day, Riko is out for blood. Jean eventually quits and goes to work at the Trojan Bank.

Later, Dan decides to throw a house party for reasons (maybe a successful article? Matt got a promotion? A doomed attempt to get Renee and Andrew together?)

Renee calmly asks Andrew to come and he agrees for the sake of free booze (also Nicky has been making annoying puppy dog faces at the door ever since Dan asked him and he had to say no)

He's bored and tired and hates that his boss and Kevin are there

(Dan spends so much time hounding the police station for stories that Wymack has essentially adopted her)

Then Matt comes in with a quiet, auburn haired roommate called Neil.

That's when things start to get interesting.

#foxhole court #neil josten #andrew minyard #andreil #aftgexchange #ambiguous-eyepatch #aftg art #my art #my writing #sorta #gift exchange #bank robber au #i really hope you like it #you are such an amazing artist btw!#i felt honored making this for you!#:D #sorry its not really what you asked for... and is really long...

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justanotheraveragelesbian · 8 years ago

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My Thoughts on Supergirl 2x13

Here are my thoughts on Supergirl Episode 13 of Season 2, the Valentine’s Day episode (”Mr. and Mrs. Mxyzptlk”). Spoiler warning if you need it.

As usual this is going to be a long post, and possibly longer than usual.

I want to start by talking about the positives of this episode, which just so you know I don’t think there were many, because this is going to turn into a rant very quickly.

I was very excited about the valentine’s day episode, because it was supposed to be Sanvers centric. Which of course it wasn’t, because they got very little screen time, but what we got of them was pretty good. I liked the storyline that we got, because while most of it was predictable, the surprise that Maggie had lied to Alex about her coming out experience was good. I’ve seen some negative comments about this, because people feel like Maggie shouldn’t have lied, but the thing is that many people who come out have bad experiences. Some get to be like Alex and have a nice easy coming out where they tell everybody and everybody is happy for them, but many have to experience something closer to Maggie. Kids get kicked out of their house for being gay or trans or any other non-cisgender heterosexual. Maggie had that experience, and is a strong, independent, woman because of it. She overcame what happened to her and it is important for kids who experience that to know that they can overcome it too. So many of them feel like their life ends after they come out and because of that they take their own life. This is an important role model for them to have. It is also important for them to see Alex have a good experience, because increasingly kids are getting to have those positive reactions too. I also really like the idea that Maggie wanted Alex to feel confident and not be scared to come out, because ultimately self-doubt and self-hatred are a person’s worst enemies when they are coming out of the closet. She obviously cared about Alex, even then, and wanted her experience to be better. I was surprised by that turn, but I really enjoyed it. I also really liked that Maggie tried to make Valentine’s day special for Alex at the end, although there is a part of me that wishes Alex would have respected Maggie’s wishes. It is good to see the two of them communicating well and working through issues. The fact that Alex stopped Maggie when she tried to walk away when they were arguing was great.

Just a side note, J’onn was so cute sending a valentine’s message to M’gann. I was grinning ear to ear.

I also liked Mxy (I don’t want to type his full name every time I need to, so we’ll just stick with that). He was a fun and dynamic villain of the week, and the way that Kara dispatched him at the end of the episode was fantastic. I love it when she gets to use her intelligence to defeat a villain, just as much as I love to see her kick some butt. The effects were also fantastic on this episode. All of his powers were done really well, but also the fight between the giant, ice sculpture of Jor-El and Supergirl was fantastic. It is amazing what they are able to do on this show.

Having said all that, now it is time for the rant, because despite all the times in the episode that I smiled or laughed, by the end of it I was angry. It is obviously no secret at this point that I dislike Mon-El. Chris Wood has been doing a good job with him and I think he and Melissa Benoist have great chemistry. The two of them play off each other well, but the way that Mon-El is written is horrible. The message that this relationship sends to young girls is not positive. On a personal note, I have two teenage sons, and I have tried to teach them to treat women with respect. I have been in relationships with women before where when you treat them like crap they really like you and when you treat them well they walk all over you. I did not want that for my boys, but I also didn’t want to see them be jerks to the girls they were dating. Recently I noticed that my oldest son, who has been in a relationship for about a year, was being very mean to his girlfriend and I called him out on it. His response was that she likes it when he talks like that. I didn’t know what to say, but to groan, because that is not how I raised him, but that is the message that he is getting. That is the message that this relationship sends. Kara is well aware of Mon-El’s faults. She calls him out on it in the episode, in some of my favorite scenes. I loved that he admitted to being misogynistic. The writers are aware of these faults. He even called her a “nasty woman” for goodness sake. The two of them fight and argue all the time. This is not a healthy relationship. A man calling a woman names and being treated like he is the best possible love interest for the heroine is not the message that needs to be sent to young girls.

I feel like there is a natural comparison that can be made on the show between the three major relationships that we have gotten over the course of the two seasons. Maggie and Alex have a strong, loving relationship where they communicate well. They may have gotten into a fight this episode, but they were still able to see things from each other’s perspectives and move forward as a couple. That relationship is written so well, it is scary, because it is so often the case that well written lesbian storylines don’t last. In the first season, James and Kara may not have gotten together until the very end of the season, but they were the romantic pair from the beginning of the season. They fought on occasion and had differences of opinion. Kara actively tried to protect James, because he is only human, but James also tried to protect Kara. They argued about issues, but never called each other names or ended a fight without understanding where the other person was coming from. By contrast we have Mon-El and Kara. They fight. They argue. They do not see eye-to-eye on practically anything. He tries to protect her, because he sees her as a damsel in distress who needs a big strong man to come in and help. He talks over her and interrupts her. He calls her names. Yes, he has grown as a person a little bit, and I would say a very little bit, since the beginning of the season. Yes, I can see why Kara would want to be with an alien. Yes, I can see why Kara would want to be with a guy who looks like Chris Wood (I will admit he is attractive), but love is not about treating someone like an object. Love is not about treating someone like a prize. Love is not about treating someone like they are less than you. This show is supposed to be about Kara/Supergirl. A female hero who is strong, smart, and capable. This season has turned it into the Mon-El show, and sidelined Supergirl in her own show.

I feel like it is telling that James and Lena were not in this episode, because both of them respect Kara and Supergirl for who they are. Mon-El is a stark contrast to that. I am really hoping that by the end of the season the message is clear that this is not the kind of relationship that Kara deserves to have, but I am losing faith in the Supergirl writers to be able to write a good romance for her, not that she needs one. I was disappointed in this episode and have been disappointed in the season as a whole. This is still my favorite show on tv right now, but it is losing me (something I never thought would happen).

I am looking forward to Jeremiah coming back next episode, although it looked to me like Alex and Kara were fighting over it (possibly because Kara doesn’t think Jeremiah is really him?). This will probably be a hard one to watch. I’m hoping for less Mon-El and more focus on the Danvers family. I guess all I can do is keep my fingers crossed.

#supergirl #review #2x13 #spoilers #long post

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svbjetarch · 8 years ago

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👫 ( wowza right back at you with both ships pls c: )

♕ Let the music play…

Status : Accepting @shcllshcck 👫 for four headcanons of our muses

Chris ✗ Yuzi ❅ If you remember how we first got that couple, it was some kind of Fucking you while forcing you to talk into the phone plot, based on that, I can imagine how Chris would always bother her when she needs to call her father or worse, make her pick up in heated moments. Although both of them are aware that her father wouldn’t easily acknowledge their relationship, no matter he has quite some good position in the company, he’d probably prefer to tell - more so than her - to escape that game of hide and seek but also respect her opinion so it’s only gonna end up with him bothering her while being on the phone with her dad as little protest. ❅ The way he loves her legs and feet so he’d always buy her shoes. Imagine the moment a while before Valentine’s and they’re out in the city together, walking past some shop window and she’s instantly falling for that certain pair of high heels but already spent most of her money on shoes and undergarments etc so she’s leaving them behind after trying them once. So on Valentine’s there’s roses in the morning and some secret sharing a cake with an electric candle in his office when everyone’s out on lunch break, and the romantic dinner with rose petals in the evening until eventually he kneels down in front of her, telling her to close her eyes and slipping on those shoes for her and just imagine how cute this is! ❅ Imagine their birthdays when there’d always be some company related drinking evening since they’re still in the same department throughout the whole remaining years of her studies in university and each and every time they’d end up in the bathroom and make out with each other and it becomes a tradition since that still is how everything between them started! ❅ But the fact that she’s always driving him crazy without even realizing with the little things like putting stockings on in front of him in the morning or showing off her legs in those high heels, especially when she’s not wearing pencil skirts like in the office, or how she’s always flirting with him - secretly or openly - when drunk. Then again, he also would drive her crazy with simple things, like, she’d love-hate the sight of him slowly unbuttoning his shirt around him before going to bed or whatever. Awrwakrd as they are, they might drive each other crazy but since she entirely lacks experience it’s also a lot of shy and hidden glances from her side and the fact they need to keep it all hidden causes just this much more tension in public.

Himchan ✗ Yuzi ❅ Originally she’s only able to receive his conscious when she’s asleep or passed out but what if with time it gets stronger and she learns to control it to silently keep watch (please appreciate this pun) over him during experiments and so on but imagine the days when they test his reaction to women and females and every time there’s some pretty candidate she’s getting all jealous if he’s not getting the thoughts of killing her instantly but on the other hand she really feels guilty for her selfish desire of being the only one he shall not see as prey and all that angst for being unable to tell him and being tormented by it and eventually spilling it in front of him and he has to soothe her and he doesn’t know how and omg. ❅ The days she’s starting to visiting his conscious even when awake so she’s experiencing all his pain and every once in a while it happens she’s close to the outdoors facilities or later on needs to watch the experiments standing next to her father and she’s feeling all his pain and the first times she’d always end up screaming. But since he has enhanced senses, he’d hear all her screams and always tries to get close to her for worrying about her being in pain while she needs to come up with excuses for it each and every time and they need to find a way to work this out because they’re risking their secrets to be blown and every time it happens it’s just low-key terror for wanting to protect their secret but being unable to control their reactions. ❅ Because the scientists want to make him more of a specialized weapon, they want to make use of his good looks and to teach him about how to seduce women and so on but since she’s his doctor in charge, they make her watch all those movies with him to make him understand so at times it’s like having a movie date but on other days there’s also porn to teach him about different skills as well and all the embarrassment from her side for needing to do so and the teasing from his side. It’d be too hilarious! ❅ I had to rewatch the MV for this but whenever he changes, he gets these marks all over his skin which neither of them knew at first because he doesn’t have mirrors normally and she can’t see it when receiving his conscious so when his instincts first start to take over in front of her and she sees all these marks, she’s entirely torn between how it oddly adds to his beauty but also the danger and terror his primitive mind means to her. Though, after she’s seen it first she can’t get it out of her mind and wants to see it again and again despite the risk - my condolences. ❅ Let’s make this one more teeny-tiny headcanon as bonus: What if she can only ever get these visions when he’s in his monster mode so she really has to get to know him as a “human” too to entirely fall in love?

#sakruhlij #( Himchan )#( Chris )#( but why can't I have simple headcanons )#.• ♕ ┊ ANOTHER STORY AND ANOTHER WORLD. REMAINING HEART & SOUL FELT. ( verse )#( AU )

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ruthfeiertag · 5 years ago

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Re-Run from 2016 “To the Letter”

The following is a post I wrote back in early 2016 — a simpler, happier time — for the Month of Letters blog. While we have left Valentine's Day 2020 behind us already, I'm re-posting this piece, in part because it's amusing and, in part, because I am concerned about the U.S. Postal Service and want to remind us all how desperately important letters can be. I hope it makes you smile.

(Also, Happy May the Fourth)

*****************

14 February, 2016 St. Valentine’s Day

My dear Ms. Bradford,

Greetings and enthusiastic wishes for a Valentine’s Day alight with loads of loving letters! I write you today not only to send greetings, but also to thank you for giving me the singular honour of writing the Valentine’s Day post — and to tell you with immense regret that I can’t possibly write such a piece.

Allow me to explain. You asked that I focus on the love-letter sections of the book I have been reading, To the Letter: A Celebration of the Lost Art of Letter Writing by Simon Garfield.* If only you had asked me for a general review of the book! In that case, I could have extolled its wit and the wide range of historical examples it provides. I would have offered up moving passages, such as the one in the introductory chapter, “The Magic of Letters,” in which Mr. Garfield writes eloquently about what we are in danger of losing:

Letters have the power to grant us a larger life. They reveal motivation and deepen understanding. They are evidential. They change lives, and they rewire history. The world used to run upon their transmission — the lubricant of human interaction and the freefall [sic] of ideas, the silent conduit of the worthy and the incidental, the time we were coming for dinner, the account of our marvelous day, the weightiest joys and sorrows of love. It must have seemed impossible that their worth would ever be taken for granted or swept aside. A world without letters would surely be a world without oxygen (p. 19),

and provided instances of the author’s humour, such as when, in an aside to his discussion of Seneca’s instructional correspondence, he gently pokes fun at academics who study epistolary matters. In this note, Mr. Garfield informs us that

Seneca’s letters were longer than the norm, ranging from 149 to 4,134 words, with an average of 955, or some 10 papyrus sheets joined on a roll. Philological scholars with time on their hands have calculated that a sheet of papyrus of approximately 9 x 11 inches contained an average of 87 words, and that a letter rarely exceeded 200 words (note, p. 55),

an observation that betrays the author’s own interest in such minutiae. He also spares not the Fathers of the Church. He points out that during the millennium when “Literacy was not encouraged among the populace” (p. 81), letter-writing declined and “theological letters are all we have.” Mr. Garfield finds these letters uninspiring and cautions his readers that we “may prefer death to the lingering torture of reading them” (p. 82).

I shall say nothing at all about Mr. Garfield’s three chapters reviewing historical advice on “How to Write the Perfect Letter,” about the heated debates regarding whether letters should mimic informal conversations, about the importance of addressing recipients as befits their stations, about where to place one’s signature, nor about how leaving wide margins was a sign of wealth and status. Epistolary silence shall envelope the fascinating descriptions of the evolution of the modern postal system; not a word will there be from my pen about the incredible fact that postage used to be paid not by the sender of a letter but by the person to whom it was addressed, nor shall I mention anything about the invention of the postage stamp, despite Mr. Garfield’s engaging description of its conception.**

But love letters! You must see how this will never do. Love letters can leave us open to terrible embarrassment. Mr. Garfield acknowledges that

Love letters catch us at a time in our lives where our marrow is jelly; but we toughen up, our souls harden, and we reread them years later with a mixture of disbelief and cringing horror, and — worst of all — level judgement. The American journalist Mignon McLaughlin had it right in 1966: ‘If you must re-read old love letters,’ she wrote in The Second Neurotics Notebook, ‘better pick a room without mirrors.’ (p. 336)

Reading the love letters of others can be almost as cheek-reddening as reading our own. Shall we really subject our LetterMo companions to such blushing?

Moreover, we all know the power of a love letter. Think how we are charmed when Hamlet, that most articulate of Shakespeare’s creations, writes awkwardly to Ophelia:

'Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love. 'O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers; I have not art to reckon my groans; but that I love thee best, O most best, believe

Adieu.

'Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, HAMLET.' (Hamlet, II. ii. 1212-20***)

And never let us forget that it is a letter, and not even an intentional love letter, but merely a letter of explanation, that finally wins Mr. Darcy the heart of Elizabeth Bennet. Do we wish to tempt our friends to deploy such power wantonly and without discretion? ****

But these are fictional examples, created strictly for our amusement or even for our edification. I really don't know whether we should intrude upon the privacy of people who actually lived — though Mr. Garfield patently feels no such compunction. He shamelessly lays out for us not only the ecstatic feelings of historical couples, he even brings up — and we’re both adults, so I’m just going to write the word straight out — SEX. I fancy you don’t believe me. Permit me, for veracity’s sake, to share some examples.

If you were to glance at page seventy-three, you would find Mr. Garfield’s account of

The letters between Marcus Aurelius and Fronto [which] track the rise and fall of a courtship from about ad 139, when Aurelius was in his late teens and his teacher in his late thirties, until about ad 148. The heart of their correspondence is ablaze with passion. ‘I am dying so for love of you,’ Aurelius writes, eliciting the response from his tutor, ‘You have made me dazed and thunderstruck by your burning love.’

All I will say is that, with all the conjugating the Romans had to learn, it’s a wonder there was time for such extra-curricular activity.

Mr. Garfield follows this Latin love affair with the tragic, even more explicit tale of Heloise and Abelard, those misfortunate, twelfth-century lovers. Theirs is another pupil-pedant passion, and Abelard writes that

‘With our lessons as our pretext we abandoned ourselves entirely to love.’ There followed ‘more kissing than teaching’ and hands that ‘strayed oftener to her bosom than the pages’ (p. 76).

The story culminates in pregnancy, a secret marriage, Abelard’s castration by Heloise’s relatives, and the retreat of both lovers into monastic life. Heloise’s love and desire for her husband remain unabated; during Mass, ‘“lewd visions of the pleasures we shared take such a hold upon my unhappy soul that my thoughts are on their wantonness instead of on my own prayers”’ (p. 78).

In a later chapter, Mr. Garfield treats us to a discussion of the romance of Napoleon and Josephine, and compares the market worth of their letters to the arguably more valuable missives of Admiral Lord Nelson. “In letters,” our author confides, “as everywhere else, sex sells: the Nelson [letter] went for Ł66,000, a fair sum but less than a quarter of a Bonaparte” (p. 192). Mr. Garfield puts before us the affaire de cœr of Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert. He quotes ‘a letter which echoed the steamy transactions of Abelard and Heloise …: “When [the pastor] said Our Heavenly Father,” I said “Oh Darling Sue”; when he read the 100th Psalm, I kept saying your precious letter all over to myself, and Susie, when they sang … I made up words and kept singing how I loved you”’ (p. 248). **** In another letter, Dickinson breathlessly confides to Gilbert that if they were together, “we need not talk at all, our eyes would whisper for us, and your hand fast in mine, we would not ask for language” (p. 248).

To be sure, there are genuinely moving examples of great love to be found in the book. We are reminded that passionate romances need not be defined by tragedy. Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett fell in love through their letters, and their correspondence describes a “swift 20-month crescendo from endearing fandom to all-consuming craving” (p. 345). The two poets eloped and lived happily for the duration of their marriage. Browning was “the man who swept her [Barrett] away and liberated her passion” (p. 347) — and married her.

While the concerns of the famous hold a particular fascination for the masses — as Shakespeare writes, “What great ones do the less will prattle of”****** — the most touching and poignant letters are those of Chris Barker and Bessie Moore. Mr. Barker was a British signalman during the Second World War, Miss Moore an acquaintance from Mr. Barker’s time working in the Post Office. When they began to write, Ms. Moore was involved with someone named Nick, but three months into their correspondence Ms. Moore has shed Nick and is trying to persuade Mr. Barker that they are friends, and not mere acquaintances. She succeeds admirably, and soon Mr. Barker is assuring her of his interest in having “fun at a later date” while warning her “not to let me break your heart in 1946 or 47” (p. 145), and stoking her interest by wondering what she’s like “in the soft, warm, yielding, panting flesh” (p. 147). But before long Miss Moore’s unwavering admiration and epistolary dedication have complicated Mr. Barker’s desire and he is writing “I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU” (p. 202).

Miss Moore waits for her signalman throughout the war and his time as a POW. In the epilogue, we learn that they were married in October 1945 and had two sons. It is to the elder, Bernard, that we owe thanks for the preservation of their letters. The younger Mr. Barker says of his parents that “Their love for each other was so complete, always, that it was difficult for my brother and I in childhood and adolescence to relate to each of them as a single person” (p. 425). In the last letter of the war, Mr. Barker writes his by-now wife, “I can never be as good as you deserve, but I really will try very hard … We shall be collaborators, man and woman, husband and wife, lovers” (p. 426). The Barkers’ letters cannot be read without becoming involved in their growing affection and in the history Mr. Barker includes in his letters to the steadfast woman who would become his partner. The letters are tender and grateful and passionate, and we learn a great deal from them about Mr. Barker’s experiences as a signalman, about how to lay the foundation for a lasting, loving relationship, and about how thoroughly Victorian sexual mores had been trampled into the dust.

I cannot but think that you are as shocked as I am. You have not read the book and are innocent regarding its contents. I am sure, in my heart of hearts, that you didn’t understand what you were asking me to do. But I am equally sure, Ms. Bradford, that you agree these matters ought not be laid out before the Month of Letters community, that none of our letter-writers could ever have the slightest interest in reading about affairs of the heart (and of the body) of other people. Our reputation as an Internet society devoted to promoting the respectable art of epistolary composition would suffer dreadfully, and neither of us wants to be complicit in bring such a judgement to pass.

I do hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me for letting you down so. To make up for the lack of a post, I offer you a poem to run in its place instead, one more suitable for our impeccable epistolary society, to run in place of the piece I should have given you:

But For Lust Ruth Pitter

But for lust we could be friends, On each other’s necks could weep: In each other’s arms could sleep In the calm the cradle lends:

Lends awhile, and takes away. But for hunger, but for fear, Calm could be our day and year From the yellow to the grey:

From the gold to the grey hair, But for passion we could rest, But for passion we could feast On compassion everywhere.

Even in this night I know By the awful living dead, By this craving tear I shed, Somewhere, somewhere it is so.

I trust you understand my reasons for writing you this letter and do assure you that I remain

Your honoured and admiring epistolary confederate,

Ruth E. Feiertag

* Gotham Books, Penguin Group, 2014

** Those familiar with Terry Pritchett’s Going Postal will already have an inkling of the early history of stamps.

*** Open source Shakespeare, [http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/search/search-results.php], accessed 3 February 2016).

****Garfield irresponsibly provides no advice for the proper composition of a love letter. For that we must look to John Beguine of The Atlantic. His article, “A Modern Guide to the Love Letter,” reminds us to choose “100 percent cotton paper,” that may “suggest to your beloved those other cotton sheets you hope to share.” He also cautions us not to “succumb to the temptation to employ your own personal stationery imprinted with your name and address. Such handsome lettering makes identification appallingly easy for your lover’s attorney.” Beguine covers other topics such as Ink, Elegance (“Elegance prompts wit rather than comedy, sentiment rather than sentimentality” and “Long-winded elegance is oxymoronic. So length does matter, but in writing, less is more”), Salutation, Body (“even if you have a knack for them, no pornographic drawings”), Metaphors, Grammar, Complimentary Close, Signature (“If you can’t bring yourself to close without a signature, limit yourself to your first initial. And try to be illegible here. There’s no reason to make the job easier for a lawyer someday [sic]”), Delivery (“bribe whomever you must to have the letter placed directly upon the beloved’s pillow”), and Accepting an Answer. ([http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/a-modern-guide-to-the-love-letter/385370/])

***** One might also ponder Dickinson’s 1722 poem, “Her face was in a bed of hair”:

Her face was in a bed of hair, Like flowers in a plot — Her hand was whiter than the sperm That feeds the sacred light.

Her tongue more tender than the tune That totters in the leaves — Who hears may be incredulous, Who witnesses, believes.

****** Twelfth Night, I. I. 33. [http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/twn_1_2.html]

#Ruth Feiertag USPS SavetheUSPS #Letters #Simon Garfield #LetterWriting #USPS SavetheUSPS TotheLetter valentine's Day History

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