#anyway I just love it - I just love the idea that dark xena came around to the point of wanting to serve this woman simply because she | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

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#anyway I just love it - I just love the idea that dark xena came around to the point of wanting to serve this woman simply because she

mycelier · 3 years

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Xena Coffee Shop A/U Idea

So Gabrielle works in coffee shop, maybe Starbucks, but more likely a smaller more niche store that is soft and quiet with big squishy couches where all the regulars know and love her. She’s exhausted from managing the place without being an official manager (or maybe she is idk) but she smiles often and the place remains busy despite a Starbucks having moved in just around the block because (although she would absolutely deny this) the patrons look forward to her positivity and advice. But people know not to mess with her or try to cause trouble for her or any of her fellow employees because although she is sweet she’ll kick you out if you even THINK about being rude to any of the employees.

Xena founded a karate/jujitsu/something hybrid gym SOMETHING where her primary focus is helping people (in particular, women or marginalized people who feel weak or unsafe or feel incapable of protecting themselves), but she doesn’t turn away people if they come to her for the right reasons. She hosts daily fighting lessons using different techniques (jujitsu, weapons, hand to hand, p much everything) and had reached an almost legendary status to those who have come to her in their time of need. It is well known in many circles that Xena used to the be the head of a....gang? Crime syndicate? Mob? I’m not sure, but something HUGE and something that made her a lot of money and a LOT of enemies before she left the life for good. I kind of like the idea of her being some kind of crime boss for some huge underground syndicate because that gives some room for some kidnappings and crazy stuff but also that’s hot as hell.

Joxer DEFINITELY becomes an employee by simple virtue of being in the store so much and bugging her so much that he may as well be being paid for it (but also he is...surprisingly good at creating new roasts and making cool new drinks so why not). He thinks he’s suave (like Ares) but deep down knows he’s not.

Ares is the obnoxious rude ass businessman who treads the line of being banned from the store but is accepted only because he buys ENORMOUS amounts of their coffee for his meetings or whatever. He’s buff as hell and has reflexes that put a cat to shame. I’m not sure if he’s officially into martial arts but he knows a lot of things from a lot of places. OH MAYBE HE IS LIKE BIG BOSS OF CRIME SYNDICATE THAT HAD BEEN PARTNERED WITH XENA’S IDK.

Ephiny is a student of Xena’s; she’s amazing but struggles with trusting partners after the loss of her husband (Phantes). Her son is just getting to the point of toddling and she already has him INVOLVED with Xena as much as is physically possible. She also works with Gabrielle in the coffee shop and is the eventual link that brings Gab and Xena together.

Callisto was Xena’s top student and top pain in the ass until the loss of her family. She now trains at a “rival” dojo. She’s constantly proclaiming herself better than Xena and trying to take Xena down a notch or two despite the fact that that’s not how any of this works. She lost her mom and sister in a fire and blames Xena (she was 8 or 9 and a student at Xena’s dojo; Xena took her home one evening with nobody came to pick her up after practice. she tried to run into the burning building but it was too far gone. she claims Xena kept her from saving her family but deep down thinks that if she hadn’t been at practice she might have been able to save them). She will probably have some kind of redemption arc because I feel bad for her even though she is irredeemable (from what I’ve seen so far in the show).

Perdicus worked at the coffee shop but left to figure out how he could win Gabby’s heart (they grew up together and he’s loved her since he knew what love was but she’s always been...unsure). He’s gonna be in the thing as like...some kind of friend at the very least because Callisto did him dirty in the show and I liked him.

Iolus and Hercules MAY run the “rival” gym. “Rival” continues to be in quotes because although everyone in the town sees them (Xena and Herc) as rivals, they have nothing but respect for one another. Herc is in love with Xena (she thought she loved him too..once.) and Iolus THINKS he’s in love with Xena and then thinks he loves Gabby but realizes he loves Hercules; this may be a uniting factor for Xena and Gabby as they work to try and help Iolus overcome his insecurities and confess his feelings to Hercules (who will be startled but is bi as hell and will be really excited because he thought Iolus was SUPER into Gabby/straight as could be).

Autolycus is an art thief a la Cary Grant in Psych. He has a lot of money but lives relatively modestly and donate a fair amount to charities and to Gabby’s coffee shop, all under a pseudonym of course because it could never get out that he secretly wants to be Robin Hood more than anything in the world. Perhaps at some point the coffee shop has gone broke (maybe Krykus runs the shop and he’s an asshole who doesn’t care and ends up stealing a ton of money and running off into the night?????) and Autolycus (and Xena) band together to purchase the shop and put it to Gabby’s name (which upsets Gabby at first until she realizes that they were helped by the ENTIRE STAFF and a lot of the loyal customers because they love her and they love the changes she’s made to the shop).

I’m thinking...maybe one night, late, after Gabby had to stay to do inventory and order stock, she’s mugged. They have a gun and although she’s willing to give them what’s in her wallet, she fights back when they threaten to physically assault her and she ends up punched a few times. Now, depending on how dark I want this to be...she’s either beat up BAD and ends up joining the gym after Ephiny finds her and takes her to the hospital and demands she take better care of herself....but more likely (because it’s HOTTER), Gabby is saved by Xena, who had also been at her gym late doing an inventory and stock of the small pre-packaged bars and shakes she sells or something, important because maybe Gabby will start providing some kind of healthy snack as a thank you to Xena??? Anyway, Xena busts in after Gabby’s beat up and saves the damn day. Now!!! Either Xena falls in love INSTANTLY but keeps it way down because that’s who she is, or she simply thinks Gabby is cute (’m not decided) and is delighted at first when she sees Gabby show up to her gym. Gabby is enraged and frustrated that she wasn’t able to protect herself and Xena shows her how to redirect and channel her anger away from doing harm and into protecting herself.

This will EVENTUALLY and ultimately be a Xena x Gabby fic but I think it’s gonna take a while for Gabby to get there. When she realizes she loves Xena it will hit her like a sack of bricks and she won’t be able to breathe for a few moments as she takes in the woman who has become her best friend in the entire world and realizes that she absolutely loves her.

And that’s more writing or thinking about writing than I’ve done in eons but I wanted to get it down somewhere.

#xena fic idea #xena warrior princess #xena x gabrielle FOREVER #writing ideas for sometime when I actually think I can write #if anyone is even vaguely interested lemme know!#sometimes encouragement goes a long way with me

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strawberrymilkloadingscreen · 4 years

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Giving Up the Ghost Chapter 1 (Rise TMNT) (Donnie x Black&Female! Reader)

“Holy shit they’re turtle demons.”

You hadn’t believed April when she said that the demons and ghosts you were obsessed with lived in her tiny apartment. Every time you’d gone over in the last year and a half there hadn’t been that sort of itchy energy that you associated with demons, or the more groggy and cold one that came with ghosts. In fact, she didn’t live in a building considered a hot haunting zone online, her entire block was ghost free, and even the little sub place she was working at didn’t have a lick of phantom energy.

April O’Neil was as normal as could be.

However, there wasn’t anything you could say to refute the very clear evidence in front of you. Four gigantic turtles with weapons were crowded in your friend’s living room, yellow paint splattered on them, April, and the walls.

April scratched her head and ended up smearing hazard yellow paint through her cherry red curls. “Heeeey. What’re you doing here?”

“Me? Can we start talking about them?”

“Them? Psht! They’re just-“

A turtle in blue set a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, April. Talking about secret hobbies is embarrassing, but coming clean will do the body good. Like milk.”

“Leo…”

“The truth is that we’re… cosplaying.”

You rolled your eyes at that. “Seriously? That’s the best thing you can come up with? Even without my token I can practically see the energy coming from you.”

“Human girl say what?”

“She probably means the trace bits of mutagen from the oozsquitos in our blood.” A purple one muttered. “Which, I mean, is fair and accurate. Better question is how she can see anything since looking at her she’s obviously a normal everyday human.”

“WHOOOA!” You leaned back as an orange clad turtle got eye level with your chest. You weren’t sure when he got there, and that part concerned you more than a little. “What’s that!”

“What’s… Oh.” You plucked up the gem that had a perfect hole in the middle of it. “It’s the token. It lets me see ghosts, demons, but not 5’3 turtles dressed in neon orange.”

“It’s a great color. Is that violet or lavender?”

“I dunno? What are you?”

“Well I’m a warm shade of green with-“

The largest turtle plucked the smaller orange one up with one hand, and easily set him with all the others. “We’re mutants that are turtles… And ninjas. So don’t say a thing or we’ll make you disappear.”

“Isn’t that Hypno’s thing?” The one in blue wondered.

“Leo I’m trying to keep her from spilling our secret, annnd she’s fainting.”

You were in fact fainting into a pile of pure excitement and worry onto April’s paint splattered floor. The last thing you saw was April’s baseball bat, and four flinching turtles trying to get out her glitter encrusted door…

_______________________________________________________________

You ended up waking up on your front porch with a bottle of vodka tucked under your arm. You weren’t sure if it was April’s way to say sorry, or if it was to give your landlord and other passerby the idea that you passed out drunk. Either way the booze was welcome as you made your way out of the muggy summer heat and into the ice cold of your apartment. Your roommate’s cat, Xena, meowed at your return and followed you about as you took off your boots at the door. You went to the counter and pushed aside empty Chinese takeout boxes and mail to make room for the vodka.

With that task completed you quickly stripped, and tossed out the paint encrusted clothes in the trash, before cramming yourself in the shower and scrubbing hard. “How was I not robbed and murdered?”

Probably because you looked crazy. A Ouija board shirt and some booze was enough to make a handful of people back away from you; a wonderful lesson that college parties and your small town had taught you. The wet paint was probably another great deterrent. Whatever the case you were thankful enough not to get mad at the splotches that wouldn’t scrub off your dark skin. You quickly hopped out and towel dried before pulling on some comfy clothes and going back into the kitchen.

You paused beside a large tank sitting on top of some stacked books. With a groan you popped down on your knees and peered inside, a soft smile curling on your lips as you watched the turtle sitting on a pastel rock. “Hey Venus. Comfy?”

“Awe, are you talking to your turtle?” Your skin jumped and you quickly stood rod straight. “Hey don’t get jumpy on me now. Just me.”

“I mean it’s normal to get jumpy when around a walking talking garbage disposal.”

“I’d be offended if it wasn’t true.”

You rolled your eyes and grabbed the bottle of vodka. “What are you even doing here, Ricky? Jessie won’t be back for another week.”

“Forgot my phone charger here last night.” He waved the blue device around. “Oh, by the way, there was another haunting out at my Ma’s. Said she saw the pots moving. Think you could take a look?”

Ghosts… Wait, that was why you went to go see April. You’d seen some new ghost documentary on a streaming service, and you’d made plans with her to see it. When you got there…

Turtles.

Well, the red one said they were also ninja. That sounded utterly ridiculous, but you weren’t inclined to argue with demons or ghosts. Not that you had met that many, four in total including the ones today, but you’d read enough materials to know that it would be stupid to do so! Old ladies out in China Town though…

“Sorry Ricky, but I’ve got my plate full. Can you tell her I’ll try to make it some other time?”

“No prob. Pretty sure she’s just lonely and making up stuff to get some visitors. Should really go out there and scrapbook with her again now that I think about it.” He slicked back his blue hair. “Anyway, I’m heading out. If Jessie calls tell them I want some nudes”

“…No.”

“How about ‘I love you’.”

“Better.”

You waited until you heard the soft click of the door and snap of the lock before you went over to the cabinet and popped open a soda. You took a good swig before adding a splash of the vodka, and going back to the living room. Xena decided to take over your legs, but you couldn’t complain as you grabbed your laptop and began to do what you did best. Blogs were examined, newspaper articles scanned, and plenty of folklore was cracked open between sips of your boozy treat.

There were plenty of things for ninja that would come up for New York City. Everything from comic-cons, movie sets, and even a few historical events for museums. You were getting something similar for turtles as well. A new friend donated to the zoo, a fundraiser for conservation, and plenty of art meant to beautify the city.

However, when you entered the terms for humanoid turtles that’s when things were getting sketchy. Strange photos out outlines in a fish and ladder market, far more convincing ones during the hippo turtle meme a few years back, and a shaky video of black blobs ziplining down to a rooftop pool.

The more that you saw them the less you were convinced these things were demons or ghosts. Some type of cryptid maybe? Aliens? However, the term ninja made you lean more towards monsters, to be more specific kappa. Turtles that would drown their victims, rip orbs out of asses, and had a strange love for cucumber. You ended up falling asleep with Xena asleep on your keyboard and the new knowledge armed in your brain.

That was why you found yourself standing outside April’s, now non glittery, door the next morning. You had a basket hanging off your arm, and your cellphone fisted in your free hand. You kicked at the door, and only moments later it was ripped open by a still yellow streaked April.

“Oh it’s you…”

“Don’t get all excited to see me.”

The two of you stood in silence for a long moment, nervous smiles on both your faces and the air thick with tension. You took a deep breath and held out the basket full of sake and kappa.

“Here!”

“What is it?”

You looked away, your teeth sinking into your bottom lip until it stung. “Well, you had kappa in your house, and I wanted to give that as a peace offering. I dunno how you managed to meet kappa of all things in NYC, but I’m not gonna judge… Or tell. Especially that last one.”

April stared at the basket for a long moment, before looking at you with an equally bewildered look. She held up a single finger, before pulling her phone out of her pocket and tapped something out on it. “Wha-? You think they’re monsters from Japanese folklore? Girl, you really went all out with that vodka, huh?”

“I dunno what they were. One minute I was in your house, and the next it’s a mess and you have huge ass turtles in there. Isn’t that just the most interesting thing to ever happen!”

“Ahhhh not really?”

“Well, I guess you’re used to it. That’s fair.”

April gave a soft sigh before opening her door up all the way, and gesturing for you to come inside. “Look, I think the two of us are gonna have to have a long talk. Want some coffee?”

“Only if you’ve got whipped creamer.”

“Don’t you know it.”

You followed her into the apartment and your nervousness melted away. "So how'd you meet them?" "Well it all started when I was a kid thanks to a sad sad trolling attempt..."

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swanqueeneverafter · 4 years

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Sins of the Past Pt.29

Storybrooke. Swan-Mills House. Recent Past. (It's family game night with Emma and Regina vs Henry and Ella playing scrabble.) Emma: "Let's see that's one, two, three... six." Regina: (Smiles:) "Six." (While Emma and Regina continue the game, Henry turns to Ella.) Henry: "So, how are you doing? I mean, if you want we could make our excuses and-" Ella: "What? No, it's 6:30, and we just got started. We haven't even played Clue yet." Henry: (Chuckles:) "All right, it was just a thought. I know this situation is not how we thought our story would end, but I guess you don't always get the ending you want, right?" Ella: "Are you kidding? I love Game Night. (Henry chuckles again:) Seriously. I love being a part of your family, doing what families do. I love being in a home filled with memories. I haven't had that in a long time." Henry: (Smiles:) "I'm glad."

Emma: "Marrifriends? (Scoffs:) I don't think so." Regina: "What? It's a word." Emma: "No it is not." Regina: "Yes it is!" Emma: "Then use it in a sentence." Regina: "Well I don't know exactly... You told me the word anyway." Emma: (Laughs:) “When?" Regina: "I don't know, back when you first came to town, maybe." (While Emma and Regina bicker, Henry and Ella have continued talking.) Ella: "Don't act so surprised. You're not the only one with taste, Henry Swan-Mills." Henry: (Laughs:) "Why do you why do you do that. Call me Henry Swan-Mills?" Ella: "Oh, you don't like it?" Henry: "No, no. I do. It's so, uh..." Ella: "What?" Henry: "It's so you." Ella: "Yeah?" Henry: "Mmhmm." (Slowly, they lean in to kiss each other when...) Emma: "Challenge! Henry, as our resident Author, I need you to judge. Is Marrifriends a word?" Henry: "Uh... not that I'm aware of, no." Emma: "See? Overruled." Regina: "Well I dispute that." Emma: "Of course you do." (Henry and Ella smile at each other then resolve to refocus on the game.) Ella: "So, what does it mean?" Regina: "It's... (To Emma:) I can't believe you don't remember telling me." Emma: "Because I didn't." Regina: "Hm." Henry: "C'mon Mom, what do you think it means?" Regina: "Well..." (Regina's words are unheard as we fade out of the scene and return to the present.)

Camelot. Present. Night. (The fighting continues, Gabrielle and the knights of Camelot defending the castle against the undead Knights of Medhir.) Gabrielle: "Hold the line!" (Sir Leon moves back from the front line and turns to see an army of skeletons crossing the drawbridge towards him.) Sir Leon: "What in God's name..." (Gabrielle turns to see an army of skeletons behind her. Gabrielle fights one, deflecting its sword and stabs it. The skeleton shrugs and keeps fighting. Yelling her battle cry, Xena runs into the square with her sword drawn and fights another skeleton, slicing its arm off. A knight takes on the skeleton while the arm crawls along the ground.)

(Battling against seemingly insurmountable odds, the knights of Camelot retreat further into the castle. The skeletons and Knights of Medhir advance slowly towards them, when a roar from above alerts Xena and Gabrielle that reinforcements have arrived. Swooping down, Maleficent breathes fire towards the undead, causing them to burst into flames. While the mighty dragon circles the castle to make another attack, Mulan charges in, carrying two swords and ready to take on everyone. Away from the fighting, Emma, Regina and the Charmings weigh their options.) Emma: "We can't focus on the fighting right now. We have to get to Maria." Snow White: "Any ideas on where to start?" Emma: (Shakes her head:) "Last time I was here I was more concerned with getting rid of the Darkness than memorising the layout of this place. You two have more experience with castles, where would you look?" David: "Well we certainly spent more time around Arthur and Guinevere to know where their quarters were." Snow White: "It's a start." Emma: "Great, check wherever you can think of, but stay safe." David: "Don't worry, we're on it." (The Charmings leave and Emma turns to see Regina staring at the crypts.) Regina: "A magical skeleton army is attacking the castle. (Points:) I'd say there's a good chance we find at least one of those witches in there." Emma: "Let's go."

Burial Vaults. (Emma and Regina enter and Morgana turns to look at them.) Morgana: (Confidently:) “You should leave now while you still can.” Regina: “Morgana, please, I beg you. Where is our daughter?” Morgana: (Ignoring this:) “Women and children are dying. The city will fall. Isn’t it wonderful?” Emma: “You can’t mean that.” Morgana: “You should be rejoicing with me. We have magic. The people of Camelot hate me and everyone like me. Why should I feel any differently about them?” Emma: “I don’t understand, you kidnapped our daughter to bring me here and you don’t care what happens to the people of Camelot?” Morgana: “I don’t care about you anymore, Emma. We needed a child for the ritual. You see, Morgause and I intend to go back in time and reclaim what is rightfully ours. Not by lowering ourselves trying to pander to the peasants, but because we are the rightful heirs of Camelot.” Emma: “So that’s it? That’s your big plan, a time travel spell? (Scoffs:) Been there, done that, sister.” Morgana: “Oh I’m well aware of your exploits. Only this time will be different. This time there will be no Savior to ruin things.” Regina: “Morgana, I of all people know what it’s like to want to win. To do whatever it takes to get what I desire most. You’ve yet to do anything that will truly blacken your heart, but this? Using magic like this will only lead you to disaster.” Morgana: “It seems your life has worked out pretty well, and you cast the Dark Curse. I only intend to change the past for the better.” Regina: “I understand, believe me. Right now it seems like you have no other choice, but you do. You can choose to harness your gifts for good. That’s what magic should be for. That’s why you were born with these powers.” Morgana: “You don’t know what it’s like to be an outsider. To be ashamed of how you were born, to have to hide who you are. Do you think I deserve to be executed because of who I am?” Regina: “No. It doesn’t have to be like this. We can find another way.” Morgana: “There is no other way.”

(Emma walks behind a pillar as they talk and tries to dash around the other side to reach the Rowan staff. Morgana knocks the sword out of her hand and draws her own. Morgana advances on her and Emma backs up.) Emma: “What are you going to do? Kill me?” Morgana: “You don’t think I can?” Emma: “No, I just think you have Morgause do all your wet work for you.” (Morgana slashes at Emma but Regina intercepts it. Emma ducks and picks her sword up from the floor.) Regina: “Leave this one to me, Emma. Go and find Maria.” Emma: “Are you sure?” Regina: “Of course I am. I’m a better sword fighter than you anyway, remember? (Smirks:) Now go!” (Emma turns and runs from the crypt as Regina and Morgana circle each other. Morgana attacks first with an overhead strike which Regina blocks, a predatory smile on her lips.) Council Chamber. (Wrapped in blankets, Maria cries on the floor. Closing the doors behind her, Morgause strides into the chamber alone and spares the child a fleeting smile before turning her attention to the spell books on the table. Taking in the floor of the chamber, we see that Maria is placed within a familiar looking circle, occupying one corner of the inner square while three other spaces are as yet unoccupied.)

#sq #swanqueen #swan queen

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thesoullessfuck · 5 years

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Nygmobblepot Tho...

I’m not even sure if this will come out of my drafts or not but I needed to put it somewhere. I was going to go insane otherwise.

If I do post it, it’s gonna be hella long and hella personal. Some of you might relate though or it might be useful to some of you who also see yourselves in these characters like I do. Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Long ass post under the cut.

So... I have been legit trying to figure why exactly I had such a connection to this ship. This isn’t my first rodeo, obviously. I’m a 90′s kiddo. I grew up in the age of AOL chatrooms and forum boards talking about my favorite couples (canon and not) from The X-Files, Xena Warrior Princess, and The Vampire Chronicles. I was that kid.

But, for some reason, I really can’t shake my Gotham obsession. Like... for real. I annoy all of my friends. I bought a GODDAMN PENGUIN ONESIE.

Maybe it’s because the fandom is actually pretty darn great and all of the people I’ve spoken to in the Nygmobs tag are so, so incredibly nice and supportive. I haven’t felt this way since the aforementioned dark times of dial-up and AOL.

I’ve been rewatching the series in small bursts as I write my own stories and I’ve also talked a friend of mine into watching it with me from the beginning (Gotham Date Night is now my FAVORITE day of the week). But, I think I’ve finally pinned down why I love Ed and Os so damn much... I’ve mentioned before on AO3 that I relate to these two characters a lot. Both of them with their weird little insecurities and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Their penchant for manipulating people and just, in general, being horrible and toxic friends.... yeah. I legit can’t keep friends for long. I always end up screwing it up somehow and it’s really hard for me to get attached to people. But BOYO, when I do! All I want to do is spend time with those people and talk their ears off about anything and everything until, eventually, they get annoyed or I do something stupid and they inevitably leave. It always happens. No ifs, ands, or buts. The only exception to this is online friends... because I can edit away large chunks of my life and make everything look and sound more appealing. But even those friendships are painfully transient because people find new ships, new fandoms, new websites...

While we’re on the topic of transitions: I’m separated from my husband right now and it sucks. He’s probably going to read this and that also sucks.

I’ve been struggling to talk about it with my mom because she just... doesn’t get it. She understands why we’ve separated and even agrees that my husband and I have been horribly toxic to one another and definitely needed some time apart to sort out our lives. But, when I talk about making that separation permanent, she begs me to reconsider. She thinks I’m moving too quickly and that divorce is such a big deal that I shouldn’t just waltz into. And I get that... but I don’t really want to deal with it anymore. I don’t want to keep lying to myself, and my “friends” and to him anymore. My mom keeps telling me that I loved him and that I married him for a reason and that should be enough to keep trying...

But I am honestly wondering if I am even capable of that? And I don’t mean that in the super angsty “My heart is black and full of spiders” kinda way. I just genuinely don’t think I know how to love someone the way I’m supposed to. My dad was abusive, my mom is co-dependant, and my step-dad is a lazy bum whose only real contribution to my life was bringing my beautiful and wonderful siblings into the world (and he didn’t even raise them. I fucking did. That’s a whole other can of worms). So I don’t exactly have the best examples of love in my life. So I turned to books and TV shows.

I grew up reading YA romance novels and obsessed over the idea of soulmates. Twin Flames. All that jazz. I made myself believe that I was not a complete person without having that other half. And, because of that, I was terrified of being alone. I felt like my existence was somehow invalidated if I was single. Which, of course, landed me a pretty ugly reputation in school and also got me roped into some really dicey relationships.

My whole life was staged. I was never truly myself. Only a version of myself that I would curate for the people around me. I would bounce around from friend group to friend group and only get really close to a select few. And, inevitably, they would see me. The real me. And then they’d run.

And... honestly... I still don’t know why. I don’t know what it is about me that people just don’t like. I’m damn near thirty years old, I’m a teacher, and I don’t think I’m mature enough to figure it out. Aside from just accepting that I’m a bad person or something. But I don’t think that’s right. I refuse to believe that’s the answer, anyway.

I was re-reading Our Home in Gotham the other day to refresh my memory on where I left off in my story and it all just kinda came to me. Which is why I had to come on here and write it all down. I didn’t want to forget any of it.

Ed and Os saw each other. All of it. The good. The bad. The terrible. The selfishness, obsessiveness, and capacity for evil. Even if you take the inherent romance out of the equation and just look at their friendship it’s clear that they are so strongly bonded because of that transparency. They can be themselves around one another. And that’s just... enviable.

I relate to both of them so equally- and in ways that I am not proud- and it’s just so refreshing to write about them and pour myself into them and have them be seen. And, most importantly, accepted in spite of that ugliness.

No one has ever really seen me. Or, when they do, they run. I haven’t found that person yet (I don’t think) and doubt I ever will. So, in the meantime, it’s nice to read about it and write about it and watch it on repeat.

And I think that’s why this ship is so important to me and why my experience with it has been what it’s been.

#personal #nygmobblepot #yall are great

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kinsbin · 4 years

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Heaven and Earth

Title: Heaven and Earth Ship: Xena/James [Self Insert/OC] Word Count: 1754

Summary: Xena gets captured by the rebel Seed forces. James decides to go after her and proves just what he’s willing to do to get his lover back.

A/N: A self indulgent piece for myself with my ship with @nadineselfships‘s OC in her FC5 Reverse AU because i JUST WANT A BURLY MAN TO HOLD ME IN HIS ARMS OK? I’M WEAK.

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They treated her like a guest, but, she knew she was a prisoner.

Joseph’s smile was handsome but it hid behind it a sort of malice she had grown accustomed to seeing in the eyes of those around her. The longer she spent at the Resistance’s camp, the more her life was on the line. The longer she resisted, the more she could feel their resolve to keep her alive wane like the comings and goings of the moon above them all. Xena could practically hear the echoes of the grunts around the tent they held her in as she fiddled with her nails and picked at the skin along the edges of her thumbs with idle interest:

‘Why are we keeping her like this?’

‘She must have some information we can use?’

‘If we can’t get it out of her, what will we do?’

‘She’ll have to stay here or die. She can’t go back to them.’

‘We won’t let her.’

Xena tried not to cry at the noises, no distant blurs behind her head as she let out a shaky breath. The idea of never seeing her family again… of never seeing Mother or Alexys or Michael or Nadine or… or…

Or even James.

She shut her eyes tight, flinching at the mere thought of his face in the flash of memory behind her eyelids. Should she dare hope that he would come for her? Or would Mother deem it too risky and refuse to let him go? She would understand if that was the case, the grim acceptance already settling into the marrow of her bones as she pursed her lips together. Xena wasn’t like the others. She wasn’t an important member of any family, not in her own eyes. No… She was a traveler who had run into James in a tough spot and was kept because they thought they could use her, nothing more. She tried to tell herself that, anyways.

Maybe it would be better than considering the fact that she loved him. That she saw the looks he gave with those brilliant blue eyes of his. The way his nose wrinkled with that smile and his chest vibrated with his laugh. The way he looked at her like there were stars in a halo around her body every time, but she knew she wasn’t any angel he thought she might be. She was just… herself.

That was all.

The sudden sound of gunfire echoing off the canyon surrounding the small patch of river the base camp made up of startled Xena out from her dissociative reverie. She listened, intently, to the noises around her. Men screaming and shuffling, followed by their startled cries and then snaps of necks and ‘thunks’ of bullets piercing clothes and flesh as they fell. They gurgled and gasped before falling, clattering with weapons and bodies to the forest floor in heaps. They returned to the ground they originally were born from. It was a beautiful and hypnotically terrifying thing. She could imagine it behind her eyes even if her gaze could not see past the tent flaps before her. Xena shifted her legs, testing the restraints of the ropes around them and grimacing. They were like the ones keeping her wrists tied closely together. Tight and double knotted in a way only a sailor could think to untie.

Was this a random attack? Or was this… something for her? She dared not hope for the latter as she leaned forward and bit her lip, listening carefully through the unending crows of battle echoing beyond her dark haven.

Then she heard it, faint and unsure at first, but growing with every step as it pushed forward in volume.

“Xena? Xena! Dammit, where the fuck is she? Where is she?!”

James’ voice was a deep, guttural growl that echoed through the earth around them, driving itself up and into her spine. She shivered at it. She could imagine him baring his teeth at the nearest rebel soldier only to push them down and take them out with his bare hands. Gunshots were of his men, probably, taking out what they could and searching areas they could manage before having to move on to the next rebel who tried to fight back. By the sounds of footsteps fading and increasing, however, she could tell James’ men were winning. It gave her confidence to smile. Maybe even dare to laugh as she leaned and licked her lips, summoning her voice after days of keeping quiet in the presence of questioning resistance members:

“J-James? I’m he-ah-I’m here!”

The was a pause in movement somewhere outside the tent before an intense shuffling could be heard and Xena had no time to process what was going on before the tent flaps before her were ripped open.

The light blinded her for only a moment before her vision settled in against the blotches of sunny white that littered her vision behind her askew glasses. Xena cleared her throat as she winced them open, only to allow them to blow wide at the man before her. James stood kneeled in the opening of the tent now, his eyes blown wide with adrenaline and anger as he stared into her soul. His arms, up to their elbows and staining his shirt even above that, were bloody. Dripping with a fresh shade of red that could only hint to the things he’s done in the camp. It soaked into the front of his untucked shirt and against the edge of his tense jaw so that, when he licked his lip, some of it got into his mouth. It stained on the tips of his hair and dripped down his chest as he observed her and she, in return, watched him back. The smile that grew on her face was slow and relieved as he realized who she was. As his own body seemed to relax a moment before diving into the tent and all but scooping her up in his arms to bring her out.

“Fuck,” James’ breath was weak on his mouth as he heaved her bridal style in his arms and looked her over, from the bruises forming on her wrists under her restraints to the rattiness of her clothes that she hadn’t changed in days, it only served to rile him up more as his grip tensed protectively on her. “You’re okay,” He breathed out almost to help himself, “You’re okay now, I got you, alright? God look what they fucking did to you… I swear to fucking God I’ll slaughter each and every sorry motherfucker in-”

“You came.” Xena couldn’t help but blurt, her voice broken and on the verge of tears. It was enough to startle James into silence as he looked down at her.

“I what?”

“You came,” She laughed through the sudden well of tears that spilled over her cheeks, “You came back for me… You’re here. I… thought that… that you wouldn’t and…”

The answer to her fading statement was a bone crushing kiss that all but sucked her into him. His lips were hungry and daring as he took hers into them, his arms tightening protectively around her. It made Xena gasp into the kiss enough for him to deepen it, biting at her lip and pushing his soul deep into the meaning of the movements of his mouth. It wasn’t long for her to kiss back, reveling in the taste of copper and sweetness that seemed to permeate his blood stained mouth. She could feel some of the drops leaking into her own tongue, touching and smearing on the back of her teeth as she brought her tied hands up to his chest and gripped at a ragged clump of his shirt in a desperate effort to keep herself tethered to him. To keep herself near him.

When he pulled way, it wasn’t far. He kept his lips close enough to her so she could feel his breath on her lips. So she could feel his presence in her space and know that he was there. He was present. He was holding her and keeping her safe and, god, that was really all she wanted to know as she stared into his eyes again. James’ devilish gaze was accompanied by a smile that would look maniacal to almost anyone else gazing at him, a twisted and bloodied grin that was built on the decimation of a campsite of those trying to break free of the area he so carefully controlled. Screams and slaughter still echoed in the background, somewhere far away from the couple who stared so carefully at one another. This man, so battered and bruised, had fought his way to her.

Had fought for her.

“Of course I came back,” James’ voice was soft and gruff as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers with a sigh of relief, “God, of course I’d come back for you, Sweetheart. No force on heaven or earth could have stopped me from finding you. I’d have ripped every fucking Seed camp apart inch by inch to get to you. You aren’t EVER leaving me again.”

The last sentence was accompanied by a guttural growl. A possessive hiss in his voice as he gripped her arms so tight she figured they might leave bruises later, but she smiled still. It felt nice to be held like this. To be in the company of someone who would do so much for her. Who had already done so much for her when she thought she would be abandoned again… To be tossed away in the sand and never picked back up, like a ratty toy a child was uninterested in…

But he was no child, no… She had a man at her side, powerful and determined to keep what was his by him at all costs.

She leaned up and kissed him again, her kiss softer and gentle. It reeled him back in and focused him on reality, the sigh of relief leaving his lips gentle on her cheeks as she smiled into the gesture.

When they pulled away, tears formed in her eyes again and she nodded her thanks.

“I love you.” She murmured out, making a blush blossom on James’ cheeks that sent him reeling. His smile was all teeth, feral and dark and everything she loved about him as he replied through the final gunshot that signaled the assassination of the last resistance member at the small base:

“I love you too.”

#kinley writes #self ship #self insert #self ship writing #self insert writing #far cry 5 #war and peace

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faveficarchive · 5 years

Text

Fire and Ice: Part 2 & 3

By Friction

Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle

Rating: Mature

Synopsis: In this uberfic, Danielle (Gabrielle) is robbed by a mysterious woman, and as a result, discovers a lot of new things about herself.

CW: There’s straight up DV and attempted sexual assault in this story, just as a head’s up.

When Danielle arrived at work their was a message for her from Liz, the editor of the women’s section. She could barely contain her excitement as she made her way to her office. As she approached the door, Liz motioned her in.

"Dear, I’m so sorry to hear about the robbery. I’m glad you weren’t hurt."

"It wasn’t bad really, just a little excitement."

"Do the police have any leads on the robber yet?"

"No, I don’t think so. When I stopped this morning to give them a statement, they didn’t mention anything."

"I’m sure you’re tired of the whole thing." Liz paused and smiled. "I have some news that should make your day. I like your idea for the battered women’s story."

"Really?" Danielle brightened.

"Yes. It’s a fresh approach on an old topic. The idea of following up on a story done five years ago to see how the shelter’s program may have changed these women’s lives is intriguing. It’s a good human interest piece. I’m giving you the go ahead to do a small three part series."

"That’s great! Thank you."

"This is your chance. I want part one on my desk by next Tuesday."

Danielle’s thought’s were racing. This was the crack in the door she had been waiting for. If she could make this series a success, she would be given the opportunity to do more writing.

She hurried back to her desk to contact Elaine, the director of the Domestic Violence Program. When she had first arrived in town, she had made an appointment to see Elaine to discuss her idea. They hit it off immediately and quickly became friends. Elaine was a rather petite woman with long curly hair. What she lacked in stature she made up for in her serious no nonsense demeanor. Having been abused herself she was the perfect role model to guide these women into safer lives. Danielle dialed excitedly. She could hardly wait to tell her friend the good news.

"Hi, Elaine."

"Hey, I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. I read the paper. Are you okay?"

"I couldn’t be better. Listen, I’ll tell you all about that later." She paused unable to keep the excitement from her voice. "You aren’t going to believe this, but I got the go ahead for the series we discussed."

"That’s terrific! I thought you had something there."

"Have you had any luck setting up a meeting?"

"Yes, of the 35 woman who were in the program when the last story was written, nine agreed to be interviewed by you this evening at the center."

"That’s great."

"Danielle, I assured these women that their identifies would be kept confidential. I can’t stress how important that is."

"I understand. Elaine, thanks for your help with this."

"You bet, I think it can be a positive thing for the center." From Elaine’s first meeting with the young woman, she was touched by her need to help others. Danielle was genuinely interested in the program and enthusiastic in her desire to inspire battered women to seek help. Elaine felt that printing the stories of women who had been successful in turning their lives around could only encourage others.

"Okay, I’ll see you tonight then."

"And Danielle, tonight I want to hear all about this robbery thing."

Danielle was still smiling when she hung up the phone.

***

Elaine walked Danielle to the small conference room and stepped up to the podium in the front of the room to introduce her. Danielle glanced at the nine rather anxious women seated before her and touched Elaine’s arm, stopping her introduction.

"I’m sorry Elaine, I don’t mean to interrupt but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind." She spoke to the women before her. "Is there some place more comfortable we can sit and talk? A lounge or kitchen maybe? I don’t know about the rest of you but I would love a cup of coffee."

Elaine lead them to the kitchen, where they all gathered around the large table. Danielle sat on the counter facing the others. "My name is Danielle Stafford, Elaine has probably explained why I wanted to meet you here. I was hoping you would be willing to share your stories."

"Aren’t you going to tape us or something?"

Danielle smiled. "I don’t use a recorder. I like things informal. Besides, I have a knack for remembering details. Ever since I was a child I loved hearing people talk about their lives. I’d like to keep this casual if it’s okay with all of you." There was a perceptible shift in the room as the women relaxed.

A woman with short red hair spoke up. "Why do you want to hear our stories? None of us are important."

"I think everyone has a story to tell. But in addition to that, all of you are in a unique position. You have faced difficult times and made it through them. I believe that other women in similar positions might find hope for themselves in your stories. My intention is to reach out to them and show them there’s a way out."

"What about confidentiality?" a tall, willowy woman asked. "Some of us are worried that our husbands might track us down."

A woman with short cropped dark hair interrupted. "I come back to the shelter to help out when I can. I know Danielle. She spends a lot of time here. I trust her."

"Thanks Spike, I don’t intend to use any names and I will keep details from the stories that would disclose too much. I’ll give each of you the opportunity to look over what I’ve written before it’s printed. If there is anything you object to or are uncomfortable with, I’ll change it."

"That sounds fair enough." A woman with long blonde hair commented. The other women nodded in agreement.

"Great, I’d love to hear your stories. Anyone feel comfortable starting things off?"

The dark-haired woman spoke. "I think Ann should start." She turned to face a plain looking woman with straight brown hair. "If you feel up to it?

Ann looked up shyly and cleared her throat. Her hands trembled as she clutched them in her lap. She nodded.

"My name is Ann. I got married when I was sixteen. There were nine children in my family. My leaving meant one less mouth to feed so my folks didn’t care. My husband was in training to be a police officer and I felt pretty lucky that a man in such an important position would marry me. The men he worked with really liked him. His friends nicknamed him ‘ice’ because he never lost his temper, at least not around them. What they didn’t know was that he saved up all his anger for me."

"Anyway, that lucky feeling I had didn’t last long. In the fifteen years I was married to him I lost track of the number of times I was knocked unconscious. He hit me nearly every day. Any problem at work was reason enough to come home and beat the tar out of me. My nose has been broken so many times I forget what it used to look like." She shook her head in frustration, "But I stayed with him."

"I had four miscarriages. I think my body was worn out from all the beatings. Probably had a lot of bruises inside too. After I lost those four babies, my husband decided he wanted one for real and the beatings lessened. I ended up giving birth to the son he wanted."

"I was happy during those months when I was carrying my son. It was the most peaceful time I’d known in my marriage. I thought the baby was my salvation. But, shortly after his birth the beatings started up again. I didn’t mind so much cause I had Josh. He was the sweetest little boy, so shy..." she paused and looked down at her hands. The woman to her right lightly touched her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts."

"One time, not long after Josh turned seven, my husband had to take me to the hospital. I was broke up pretty good that time. I’m sure I should have gone to the hospital for a lot of the injuries I had over the years, but it was hard to explain to the doctors how I got that way, so most times I suffered alone at home."

"This time when I peed, I could see red. I knew it was bad. The doctors said it was good I came in. They had to sew me up inside. My husband told them I took a bad fall and, since he was a police officer, they believed him."

"I knew I came close to dying and after I got home I began to think about my son and what would become of him if something happened to me. After a while I worked up the courage to ask my parents for help. My father didn’t believe me. He said I should stop complaining and count my blessings, my husband was a good provider and they didn’t grow on trees. My mother, who had always born her suffering privately, thought I should do the same."

"It was five months after my parents turned me and Josh away that I got the worst beating of my life. He came home one night drunk and mean. I think I would be dead, but Josh stepped between us to protect me. I’ll never forget his small body twisted in a heap on the floor. The doctors told me he died instantly. Those few minutes play over and over in slow motion in my head. Six years later and I still see them."

The room fell completely quite as if they shared a common memory. Although her face and voice showed no trace of emotion, Danielle could see the loss reflected deeply in her eyes: a pain so great that she would forever be marked by it.

"Even though my husband didn’t mean to hurt Josh, he meant to hit me, he ended up going to jail for it. I can only hope he will be there a good long time." She took a deep breath. "Anyway that’s how I found my way here. I remember how strange it seemed to go to bed without pain and wake up without new bruises."

"At first I almost missed it. That must sound funny to you, but for nearly fifteen years the pain was there, proof that I had survived another day, reminding me I had to be careful not to set him off." She sighed at the irony.

"This place saved me. They got me the medical help I needed and kept me safe. It’s been five years, I’ve been on my own. I have a job working as a clerk in the county morgue. I don’t like being around people much, so the work suits me. It’s quiet and kinda peaceful."

There was an awkward silence. An attractive woman with brown hair tied in a pony tail spoke up. The shorter redheaded woman next to her was holding her hand. "God, we all knew how to pick ‘em didn’t we?" The women laughed in agreement.

"By the way, my name is Nikki." She looked at Danielle. "Our stories are similar except for a few different twists here and there. All of us..." She waved her arm to indicated everyone in the room. "we are the fortunate ones, we survived. Many women don’t." She looked lovingly at the woman seated beside her. "Kate and I met here. We both had feelings for women from the earliest time we could remember but we got trapped in loveless, abusive marriages trying to fit in and be ‘normal.’ Whatever that is." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, after several years of being close friends we realized that we loved each other. We’ve been together as a couple for over two years. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been."

Her partner nodded and squeezed her hand. "We went to school to become Emergency Medical Technicians. In fact, we work for the same ambulance company, usually on the same shift. The job’s different everyday. We like that. Both of us are kind of adventurous. But the best part of our work is being able to help people when they need it most."

"I think everyone here would agree that Elaine deserves the credit for giving us a second chance in life. She works hard helping women like us. Your story should really focus on her and the good she does." Everyone voiced their agreement. The bond these women shared was tangible. Danielle could almost feel the aura that surrounded them. It was a wonderful thing.

The brassy young woman with the spiky hair and vibrant eyes chimed in. "For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tara, but my friends call me Spike." She ran her hand through her shortly cropped hair for clarification and smiled. "I used to be a hooker. I was in an abusive relationship with my pimp, but only for three years. So I was luckier than some. But like the rest, I never knew what was going to set him off. I blamed myself, thought it was my fault. I wonder to this day why I stayed as long as I did. But you know, in spite of it all, I cared for him. After a bad attack he would be so attentive and loving. At times it seemed almost worth the beating."

Several of the women nodded in understanding.

"You see, they break you down over time. It’s not only physical. There is mental abuse too. Anyway I’m a survivor, thanks to the support of Elaine and the women from the shelter. Believe it or not, I’m a stunt woman in television now. I figured I been thrown around enough that it seemed right up my alley." The women laughed softly.

"Yep, life experience gave me most of the training I needed." She smiled wryly. "The best part is that now, they pay me for it - and pretty well I might add."

Rachel, the long-haired blonde sitting on the end was the next to speak. "Yeah, it’s ironic the path life leads us down. I was completely dependent on my husband. My life revolved around him. Leaving was the farthest thing from my mind.

The neighbors used to call the cops when they heard him ranting. When the police came, they never did anything. So after I got my life straightened around. I decided to become a cop."

"I found my own power. The kind that comes from deep inside. There were so many times I prayed for someone to be there to help me. In the end, I had to take that first step myself. The rest would not have been possible without Elaine. I want to make a difference, like she has. I want to help women like me. And the best part is, I think I have. At least I’ve tried."

"Although I’m new on the force, I make an effort to see that the police are more aware of the problems abused women face and why they are reluctant to press charges and ask for help. I try to stop by the center on a regular basis to encourage the new women. When they first get here they are so down on themselves. All the good feelings have been beaten out of them."

"I know Danielle too. She’s a good friend. I wanted to be interviewed, the story is a good idea. Battered women need to see that there’s still hope."

Danielle smiled, "Every now and then we all need to be reminded of that."

They talked until late. Each woman elaborating on her tale. Danielle listened intently to their stories. They were compelling and often heartbreaking. She was amazed by their strength and courage. They had found their places in life and were making their unique contribution. If only she could find hers.

***

Danielle stirred, her mind deep in the throws of a dream. She was in the park. Looking for the lovers that she had become obsessed with. They were not there. She walked to the tree and ran her fingers against the rough bark. A soft sound behind her made her turn. It was him, the thief. His face covered by the mask. He took a step toward her, raising a gloved finger to his lips. Her heart raced as he came closer, leaving only a few inches between them.

Strong hands settled firmly on her waist, easing her back against the tree. His eyes met hers, silently questioning. She placed her hands over his and guided them down over the curve of her hips. She moaned as she felt the cool fabric of her skirt caress her skin as he lifted it. Her heart hammered. She prayed he wouldn’t stop. She slipped her hands under his leather jacket and froze as they came in contact with the gently sloping curve of breasts. Her eyes snapped open.

It took her some time to fall back asleep.

A loud crash woke her the second time, something breaking. It was followed by a male voice raised in anger. It sounded like her neighbors were fighting. So much for the joys of apartment living. She tried to block out his angry voice. She was ready to grab for a pillow to cover her ears when she heard a woman’s scream, followed by a loud bang. Something was wrong. She picked up the phone and called the police.

The ranting continued. She quickly dressed in sweats and went to the door of their apartment. She could hear a muffled voice through the door.

"You bitch, what did I tell you about staying out of my things!"

A woman’s voice pleaded in the background. "Not the stomach... please." There was a sickening crack.

Danielle knocked loudly. It became quiet and she heard footsteps approach. A very handsome man opened the door. She was rather taken back by his appearance. The expression on his face was so casual that she felt she had made a mistake.

"Yes?" His voice was calm. His look questioning.

"I heard... screaming, I was concerned that someone might be hurt."

"Oh that, I’m sorry. We must have had the television too loud. I apologize."

"Of course, I’m sorry I bothered you." Danielle’s face colored. Embarrassed for jumping to a rash conclusion. She guessed it wasn’t too surprising since she had spent the evening listening to stories of abuse.

She was about to leave when she noticed blood spattered on the front of his shirt. Danielle tried to keep a neutral expression on her face. Her mind searched for a way to stall him until the police arrived. "I live across the hall." She put her hand out in greeting. "Danielle Stafford." He took it awkwardly.

"Drake Morrison". His hands were cold, clammy, not nearly as composed as his face.

"It’s nice to meet you ." He smiled warmly. His voice was so charming compared to the raging she had heard moments before that it caused a chill to run through her.

"I promise we’ll keep the noise down in the future." He began to close the door when she heard a low groan and a terrible wet coughing sound. She held her hand out stopping the door and looked at him questioningly.

"My wife’s got a cold. Bad time of year for that kind of thing."

"I’ve had some first aid training. Maybe I could take a look at her?"

"Thanks but that’s not really necessary, she’s seeing our family doctor." A small cry for help came from behind him.

His expression hardened and he glanced over his shoulder. Danielle pushed past him. About ten feet in front of her she saw a woman sprawled on the kitchen floor. She hurried toward her and nearly slipped in a pool of blood. Danielle had never seen a face so savagely brutalized. She knelt on the other side of the woman, careful not to turn her back to him. She watched him cautiously as he approached. His face stricken.

"She fell."

The terrified woman whimpered like a wounded animal. Danielle laid her hand lightly on the woman’s shoulder, in an attempt to calm her. The comment didn’t even rate an answer. Her contempt for this man rose like bile. "You can tell it to the police. They’ll be here any minute."

His mouth opened in confusion. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. Then without a word he turned and headed into another room.

The woman grabbed Danielle’s hand. "He’s going for his gun... he’s going to kill us." Another violent cough brought up blood. Danielle had no reason to doubt her. She pulled the woman to her feet and struggled toward her apartment. They made it into the hall before he caught up to them.

Danielle leaned the woman against her door and stepped in front of her protectively. "Don’t make things worse for yourself. Put the gun down."

"You should have minded your own business, bitch!" The change in his expression was terrifying. Like Jekyll and Hyde. Danielle tried to keep her composure. She had to buy them time.

"Your right, I have a real problem that way. But this can still be fixed." She paused gauging his reaction. "When the police come we can say she fell down the steps. That would explain the noises I heard. I know you didn’t mean to hurt her. She knows that too." She could see that he was considering her words. She just needed time.

A car backfired outside. He spun around to look, startled by the noise, when he turned back to face them, Danielle drove the palm of her hand into his nose. The gun flew from his hand and rattled down the stairs. He buckled and clutched his nose painfully. She used her momentary advantage to push the woman through the door to her apartment, locking it behind her.

The man pounded so violently that Danielle feared the door would give in. She grabbed for the phone and dialed 911. They calmly assured her help was coming. Danielle hung up the phone and shoved a chair under the door knob. Slipping her arm around the trembling woman’s back she moved her to the couch. The woman looked about eight months pregnant. As Danielle watched a trickle of blood run down the inside of the woman’s thigh, she silently prayed the police and ambulance would arrive in time to save the woman and her child.

In the distance she could hear the sirens approach. She took the woman’s hand in her own. "Hold on, it’s going to be all right. Help is coming."

***

Alex finished dinner and settled in for the evening. She sat by the fire, curling her legs underneath her, she paged to the next journal entry.

7/9

Faceless women with raven hair haunt my dreams. My obsession has prompted me to do something that had previously never occurred to me: I decided to go to a lesbian bar.

I fretted for an hour over what to wear, finally deciding on black jeans and a T-shirt. The club I picked was a small smoky little place. I stopped at the bar to get and drink and found a seat in the back where I could watch without attracting attention.

It wasn’t much different from other bars I had been in, with the exception that there were only women there. I watched them as they danced, talked, held hands, and kissed. Many of the women were very attractive, but I felt nothing. I finished my drink intending to leave, when a tall woman walked by me, headed toward the bar.

I inhaled and my head reeled. The scent of her leather jacket sent a rush of excitement through me. I watched her take a seat at the bar. My eyes were riveted to her back. With a shake of her head, her dark hair cascaded down her back. My heart skipped a beat. I watched with interest as she shifted in her seat, amazed at the sensations I was experiencing. My entire body tingled. She stood, her hips swaying as she pulled money out of her pocket to pay for the shot.

A pleasant fluttering in my abdomen nearly caused me to gasp out loud. My arm were covered with goose bumps. I gently ran my finger over them, thrilling at the sensation. When I looked up she was gone. A panic swept over me as I quickly scanned the room. I caught sight of her heading for the door. She was leaving.

Without thinking, I jumped up and hurried after her. Just as she was about to exit I reached out, grazing her lightly on the shoulder. When she turned to face me, my heart fell. She looked at me puzzled. I lamely apologized and told her she looked like someone I used to know. As I heard my own words, I felt that somehow they were true.

She was nice, but I left the bar alone. Unfortunately, I still felt nothing. I had no desire to be with her in a sexual way.

I am more desperately lonely than before. I could deal with the fact that I might be a lesbian. What truly depresses me is the fact that no one of either sex holds any attraction for me. I’m confused. But, these occasional bursts of sensation leave me hopeful. I feel I’m on the verge of a breakthrough. It’s both exciting and frightening.

7/10

Mother called today to remind me about the medallion. She wanted to make sure my uncle remembered to give it to me next week on my birthday. It surprises me how much this tradition means to her considering how strained her relationship was with my grandmother. She never got over the hurt and embarrassment of her mother leaving my grandfather for a woman. She felt abandoned and could never understand how my grandmother could put a mysterious woman before her own child.

I never knew my grandmother. She died before I was born. Mother never talked about her. I understood even at a very young age that the subject was not to be brought up. My mother only discussed her with me one time and it was very brief. The day my grandfather died I found her in the backyard burning stacks of papers. Her face was wet with tears. In a fit of anger she had burned the letters my grandmother had written to her throughout the years.

I never understood the magnitude of this loss until I was older. Now, I would give anything to have those letters. A sense of my heritage has always been important to me. I have recorded my thoughts since I was a child. Writing is a life line. I find solace in it no matter how alone I feel. It’s sad that we never knew each other; somehow I feel connected to her. I think her thirst for adventure is in my blood.

Of grandmother’s belongings, mother kept only two: the leather journal I have used since childhood, and the medallion. As the eldest daughter, the medallion will pass to me on my twenty-third birthday as it did to my mother before me. Mother never wore it that I knew of, but family is very important to her. I think the medallion represents a link to her mother. I will treasure it.

Alex set the journal down. The enormity of what she had taken from this young woman flooded over her. She knew somehow she had to set things right.

The ringing of the phone interrupted her thoughts and she moved across the room to answer. It was Sal.

"Thought you might be interested in the late news on channel seven tonight."

She clicked on her set. Danielle appeared on the screen. Alex watched intently as the cameras panned first to the woman on the stretcher and then to the concerned face of Danielle Stafford. At the corner of the screen she could see a man being directed into the squad car. She recognized the look in his eyes and knew immediately that Danielle was in trouble.

"Sal, I need you to do a favor for me."

He was surprised by the request. In all the years he’s known her, Alex had never asked anything of him. "Sure Alex, what can I do?"

"I have a package I need to have delivered to this Danielle Stafford at the newspaper on Monday. I can’t have any connection to it. If I drop it by tomorrow morning, can you find someone reliable to handle it?"

"It shouldn’t be a problem."

"Make sure the delivery person can’t be traced."

"Okay..." He hesitated. "Alex, tell me it’s not a bomb."

"That’s hardly my style." She smiled and shook her head. "And besides, what makes you think I’d trust you with a bomb?"

He laughed "I had to ask."

"Sal thanks, I owe you one."

After hanging up, Alex couldn’t get the young woman off her mind. She sensed danger and she was rarely wrong about these things. She could think of a hundred reasons why she shouldn’t get involved but none of them mattered. The instant she had sensed trouble her mind had been made up. She had a few days before she needed to leave town, enough time to follow this woman and make sure everything was okay.

***

The next evening, after visiting the hospital, Danielle went for a long walk. Her mind was swimming. In the past few days she had experienced more excitement and danger than she had her entire life, but it still left her wanting.

She walked through the park, stopping by the tree where she had seen the two women. Her fingers brushed the rough bark. She leaned against it, closing her eyes. Her mind flashed back to her dream. She could feel the strong hands moving down her hips, the warm breath against her neck. When she opened her eyes the fantasy faded. She felt empty, alone.

Danielle headed back to her apartment, taking a shortcut through a rather deserted neighborhood. Gradually she became aware of someone behind her and increased her pace. The footfalls behind her quickened, matching her own. She tried to calm her racing heart, sure her imagination was getting the best of her.

As she turned the corner, she stopped to listen. It was quiet. She took a relieved breath and was about to continue home, when a hand grabbed her from behind, pulling her into a dark alley. He pushed her roughly into the corner.

It was the Drake, the wife beater, and he had two friends with him. She looked around quickly for a way to escape. There was very little gap between the men. She was effectively trapped in the corner.

"You never should have interfered in my life, bitch." A coldness settled in the pit of her stomach. His confidence surged as he sensed her fear. He smiled menacingly.

"Go ahead, scream." He taunted her. His voice filled with hate. "No one will hear you." She tried to break past him but one of the men caught her and threw her back against the wall.

"I’m going to teach you to mind your own business." He glanced back at his friend.

"Joe, watch the entrance." The heavy set man turned and walked toward the street. That left two. She knew this might be her only chance. She had to act quickly.

As Drake reached out to grab her, she struck out hitting his bruised nose. He stepped back wincing in pain. But, before she could run, the other man punched her hard in the face. Her head snapped back and hit the brick wall. She reeled from the blow.

The wife beater wiped a trickle of blood from his nose. His eyes filled with rage. He swung at her face but she managed to dodge the blow. She tried once again to get past him but he threw her back, punching her savagely in the stomach. She doubled over with pain. Taking advantage of her weakened state, he grabbed her hair and forced upright. He hit her several times in the face, splitting her lip. She fought to stay on her feet but her legs were too wobbly to hold her up and she slumped to the ground.

"Grab her hands."

The large man pinned her hands above her head, while Drake positioned himself between her legs. "You’re going to pay for that."

Danielle struggled to free herself, but the man above her was too strong. She felt Drake’s hands slide under her skirt, pushing it up and knew he meant to rape her. She kicked wildly with her feet as he tore at her underpants. When she cried out for help, he punched her repeatedly.

Pain flooded her body, draining the strength from her limbs. She lay helpless, praying for unconsciousness.

Her vulnerability excited him. He unfastened his belt and unzipped his pants. His callused hands grabbed her thighs and forced her legs farther apart. "Here it comes bitch."

He leaned forward preparing to thrust into her, when a loud thud behind them prompted him to turn. "Joe?"

A tall figure illuminated by the street light, walked slowly toward them. He squinted, struggling in the dim light to see who approached. It was a woman.

"Joe can’t answer you, I broke his jaw." Something about her manner and confidence unnerved him. He stood up quickly, haphazardly zipping his pants.

Alex glanced at the man holding Danielle. "Let her go... NOW!"

He released Danielle and rushed Alex. She threw a round house kick to his chest knocking him to the ground. He came at her again. This time, she stepped to the side and grabbed his arm, twisting, while jerking it upward, neatly dislocating his shoulder. He dropped to the ground screaming in pain. A single punch to the temple knocked him unconscious.

Drake looked at her fearfully, not sure what he was up against. It was one on one and he didn’t like his odds. She turned to face him. He saw her face for the first time and his blood ran cold. She was smiling.

"Your fun is over. And mine is about to begin." She moved in deliberately slow, giving him time to think about his predicament. He back up fearfully, but quickly ran out of space.

"Looks like your luck just ran out." She grabbed him by the neck and pressed him viciously to the wall. He looked at her in horror as he felt his feet leave the ground. She lifted him like a rag doll. Slowly he felt her grip tighten, shutting off his air.

Disoriented and in a great deal of pain, Danielle could think of nothing but escape. She began a torturously slow crawl toward the street. As she got closer her eyes focused on the back of the tall woman strangling her attacker. The gurgling sounds he made as he gasped for air sickened her.

"You are a dead man." Alex snapped, her voice filled with menace. His feet flailed helplessly as he struggled for breath. His face was flush, an ugly purple color.

"Wait, please." Danielle tried to get up but her legs failed her. "We need to call the police." She pleaded as she crumpled back to the ground in pain.

The tall woman eased her grip, sliding him down the wall, back on his feet. His lungs burned as he took in desperately needed air. He looked into her eyes. The coldness he saw there terrified him. He prayed the girl would go for the police. Alex grabbed his crotch and twisted savagely. He released an agonizing cry as the pain tore through him in an excruciating wave. He feared he was seriously injured.

"No police" She growled.

The words sent a chill through him. Her face was poised only inches from his, her expression feral. He tried to turn his head away, but she grabbed his face and glared at him. His fear doubled when he saw the predatory look in her eyes. Understanding he was the prey, his body shook uncontrollably.

"I take care of my own problems. No loop holes. No juries."

There was something in the tone of the woman’s voice. Danielle knew without a doubt that she intended to kill him. She spoke again. Her voice weak and filled with pain. "Please don’t do it... not for me."

Alex paused and breathed deeply. She leaned into his ear and for one chilling moment he thought she might bite it off. Instead she tightened her grip on his neck and whispered. "If I ever lay eyes on you again or hear that you’ve come within a hundred miles of her, I will kill you... slowly."

She glared at him. He nodded, tears streaming down his face. "If anything happens to her, I’m coming after you." Her knee ground into his groin and he nearly passed out from the pain. She released him, letting him collapse to the ground, his pants soiled by his own blood and urine.

Danielle clutched her stomach, and tried to rise. Alex went to her side and gently picked her up, carrying her out of the alley. Danielle squeezed her eyes shut as her stomach spasmed and ripples of pain rolled through her. "I’m going to be sick..."

Alex eased her to the ground and held back her hair as the she vomited, her bruised muscles clenching painfully. Alex untucked her own shirt and used it to wipe the young woman’s mouth.

"Easy... it’s okay." She held her, speaking softly. Her soothing voice had a wonderfully calming effect. Danielle’s body relaxed in response. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the face of the woman who had saved her. A gasp escaped her lips.

Alex misunderstood her reaction. She tightened her hold on the young woman, cradling her in her arms. "I won’t let anyone hurt you."

Danielle knew without question that this was the one, the soul she sought. Fate had brought them together. She stared into Alex’s blue eyes and prayed she wasn’t hallucinating. "Are you real? Am I dreaming?"

Alex smiled softly. "I’m real." Danielle closed her eyes as a wave of pain rolled through her. Alex gently pushed her hair from her face, taking a quick inventory of the damage. The young woman grimaced in pain as Alex ran her hand over the bruised ribs. Her injuries didn’t seem life-threatening but she was reluctant to take unnecessary chances.

"I’m going to take you to the hospital."

"No, please." Danielle knew if her family found out it would be impossible to convince them she would be safe remaining in the city. She tried to get up but dizziness toppled her back into Alex’s protective arms.

"Do you live near here?"

Danielle could not make out her words, but she listened, finding comfort in the steady voice. Finally, the picture was complete: the voice, the hair, the eyes. The last thought to cross Danielle’s mind before she lost consciousness was leather, the biting scent of leather. She knew she was safe. A weariness descended on her and she gave into it without a struggle.

Alex made the decision to respect the woman’s wishes. She would take her home with her and they could talk more about it in the morning. She carried Danielle to her car and settled her gently into the passenger seat, buckling her safety belt. Danielle was in a world of hurt, even in unconsciousness her body reacted to every bump in the road. Alex drove carefully trying to spare her discomfort. Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of Alex’s cabin.

She carried the young woman in and laid her on the waterbed. Alex used a damp wash cloth to wipe the dried blood from Danielle’s face. She took great care not cause her further pain. When she had finished she allowed herself the luxury of lightly running her fingers through her soft blonde hair.

Danielle’s lashes flickered and her eyes opened. Her body ached. As the horrors of the night flooded over her once again, her stomach rebelled. She raised her hand weakly to her mouth. Alex carried her into the bathroom, where Danielle dropped to her knees. She retched into the toilet, her stomach long ago empty. Alex knelt beside her, an arm supporting her shoulders and gently wiped her face with a cool cloth.

Danielle went limp in Alex’s arms and the tears came. "God if you hadn’t come..." She cried for her helplessness, her vulnerability. For the first time, she had an idea of what the women at the shelter had faced. "I... I need a shower."

The sight of the battered young woman broke her heart. "Are you strong enough to stand?" Danielle nodded. Alex started the water and went to get some clean towels.

When she returned Danielle was in the shower. Alex set the robe, towels and toothbrush down and left, gently closing the door behind her. Much later Danielle emerged from the bathroom. She staggered, exhausted from her efforts. Alex carefully lifted her and carried her to bed. When she pulled the covers over her, Danielle grimaced. Every breath, every movement tormented her bruised ribs. She closed her eyes tightly and tried not to cry out.

"I’m going to give you something for the pain."

Alex removed a medical kit from the closet. She pulled out a hypodermic and quickly unwrapped it from its packaging. She inserted the needle into a small vial. Carefully eyeing the dosage, she pulled back the covers and injected the Demerol into the fleshy part of Danielle’s hip. "This will ease your discomfort and help you sleep." She gently tucked her in. "I’ll be in the next room, if you need anything just call." Alex stood to leave.

"Please..." Danielle reached out, imploringly. "Can you stay with me for a while?"

Alex pulled a chair next to bed and took the young woman’s hand. Danielle squeezed tightly and closed her eyes. In a few minutes the pain eased. She felt marvelously lightheaded, as if she were floating. She curled on her side facing Alex. Her eyes flickered open not quiet fixing on anything. She pulled Alex’s hand under her cheek and inhaled deeply.

Just before sleep claimed the young woman, Alex heard her whisper "I always knew you would find me."

She seemed so frail. It was all Alex could do to look at her bruised face. If she had only gotten there a few minutes sooner, but she had lost Danielle in the park when a drunk delayed her. Alex wished suddenly that she had killed all three men. They were monsters. Her anger began to surge but dissipated when she felt the woman’s warm cheek snuggle against her fingers.

Normally nothing would have prevented her from taking their worthless lives. Alex thought of the young woman’s appeal for mercy on her assailant’s behalf. She had glimpsed something she hadn’t believed existed, something she had long ago stopped fantasizing about: forgiveness. A calmness enveloped her.

She took a deep breath, allowing her body to relax. Why did this feel so right? The need to protect this young woman was almost instinctive. She watched over Danielle for a long time, until, at last, she too fell asleep.

Part 3

Danielle awoke the next morning disoriented. Memories of last night, came flooding back. Her body ached from the beating she had received, confirming that it hadn’t been a dream. She looked in wonder at the woman asleep in the chair beside her. She was the most attractive woman Danielle had ever seen. It was as if this dark beauty had stepped out of her dreams. A warrior sent to protect her, she fantasized. A calm washed over her, when she thought of this woman staying with her the entire night, insuring her well-being. She had never felt so safe, so protected.

Her muscles complained, stiff from being stationary. She needed to shift her position, but hesitated, not wanting to awaken the woman. As if sensing her thoughts, Alex opened her eyes. Danielle was momentarily stunned by the blue she saw there.

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked.

The sound of the woman’s voice was like a balm to her soul. He mind went blank for an instant. The troubled expression on the woman’s face brought Danielle back to her senses. "I’m better. I...I don’t know how to thank you."

"I was just in the right place at the right time."

"I don’t even know your name."

"There wasn’t much time for formal introductions last night." She smiled warmly. "Alex. Alex Lord."

"Danielle Stafford."

Alex gently pulled her hand from under the young woman’s cheek. Danielle flushed with embarrassment. It had felt so natural against her skin that she hadn’t realized she was still holding it.

Alex smiled. Flexing her fingers, "I’ll need these if I’m going to fix breakfast."

Danielle’s stomach perked up at the mention of food. It felt abysmally empty. When Alex went to the kitchen, Danielle gingerly made her way to the bathroom. She was shocked when she looked in the mirror. Her nose was swollen and both of her eyes were back and blue. She opened the robe and winced at the ugly bruises on her abdomen and ribs. It could have been a lot worse. She had been incredibly fortunate.

Enticed by the aroma of chicken soup. She made her way to the kitchen. "Mmm, something smells wonderful."

"Chicken soup out of a can. I’m sorry, but I’m not much of a cook." Alex apologized, placing a bowl in front of the woman.

"This is great, thanks." Danielle began eating with a fervor that warmed Alex’s heart. It was clear she relished every bite. Alex passed her the bread and watched while she finished the entire pot of soup and half a loaf of bread.

"Good to see you have an appetite." She was fascinated by the way Danielle’s eyes sparkled when she smiled.

"I’m always able to eat, believe me." Danielle commented, flashing her beautiful smile again.

"Yes, I see." Alex lifted a brow playfully. There was something completely disarming about the young woman’s demeanor. Alex found herself looking at her longer than was appropriate. She stood up and began cleaning the dishes.

Danielle stretched cautiously. Amazed how much better she felt. "That miracle drug you gave me last night really helped. Are you a doctor?"

Alex hesitated. "Not really, I hope you’re not going to turn me in for practicing without a license."

"Are you kidding? It would have been a rough night without your help." Danielle shivered involuntarily as she thought how close she had come to being raped. "Where did you learn to fight like that?

"It’s just something I picked up." Alex replied and tried to shift the direction of the conversation. "Why were you walking alone in that part of town?"

Danielle blushed. There was no way she could explain the park thing. "It’s a long story. But this wasn’t a random attack, he knew me. I called the police the night before last when he nearly beat his wife to death." She frowned. "I can’t believe he’s out walking the streets already."

"If it’s any consolation, he won’t be walking that well this morning." Alex smiled, rather pleased with the vision.

"I found that the police aren’t very effective in dealing with these situations." Danielle was puzzled by her friends reluctance to get the police involved, but after all Alex had done to help her she didn’t press it.

"It’s hard to understand what drives a person to such violence. I went to see his wife at the hospital last night, she’s in pretty bad shape. They had to deliver the baby early and weren’t sure if the child would make it. It’s so tragic. What a way to come into the world."

Alex couldn’t meet her gaze. "Violence is all some people understand, they don’t have any good in them. One way or another this baby is better off without that kind of father, believe me."

"I don’t agree. Everyone has good in them, deep down. Even he deserves a second chance, an opportunity to get help."

Alex decided not to argue the point and wondered if she needed to believe just a little of what Danielle had said. "It’s sunny outside. Feel like having a cup of coffee on the porch?"

They sat out on the deck that wrapped around the back of the house. It had a magnificent view of small lake only a hundred yards off.

Danielle sat back in the wicker chair, letting the sun warm her achy muscles. "This is a wonderful place you have."

"Thanks, actually I’m only renting. I won’t be staying much longer."

Danielle tensed at the news. "You’re moving?"

"Yeah, I never stay in one place very long. I get restless."

Danielle tried not to let her anxiousness show and changed the subject. "What do you do for a living?"

Alex hadn’t prepared herself for a conversation with the woman. She used an old standby. "I just got out of the service. I’m between jobs."

"That must be where you learned to handle yourself so well, huh?"

Alex nodded. Uncomfortable with the lie. She stood, attempting to divert the focus of the conversation. "I’m about ready for a refill. Can I get you one?" Alex walked inside, effectively avoiding further questions.

***

Detective Sands rushed into Bowin’s office and tossed a file on his desk He looked up to find her grinning ear to ear.

"We got a break on the Palanos robbery." His eyes brightened with interest.

"We really got lucky on this one. The guys in vice picked up some rich boy on drug charges. Turns out his father is a jeweler. In an effort to save his sorry-ass son, he offered information on a recent robbery. He agreed to give the name of a fence who sold him the items, if the charges were dropped against he and his son."

"Who’s the fence"

"Our old friend Sal."

"Call Judge Brennen, let’s get a search warrant."

Marisa winked and handed Bowin the warrant. "I thought you were going to say that."

He smiled outright. "What would I do without you?"

"Beats me."

"Let’s go get him."

***

Alex rummaged through her clothing looking for something that would fit Danielle. The best she could do was a T-shirt and pair of sweats. She also grabbed a pair of underwear. Danielle was sitting on the couch, staring into the fire. She looked up when Alex came into the room.

"I think I’ve managed to find some clothes for you. They are no a fashion statement but they should do for the trip home."

Danielle was quiet. The idea of going home to her empty apartment right next door to her attacker frightened her. Alex noticed the change in the young woman and sat beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I... It’s just the thought of going home... He’s my neighbor."

Alex cursed herself for being insensitive to the young woman’s fear. The pained expression on Danielle’s face made her want to take the young woman into her arms and comfort her but she held back. "I’m sorry, I should have thought... I... you’re welcome to stay with me as long as you need to."

"I don’t want to be a bother... I’ve been too much trouble already. I just..."

"You haven’t been any trouble..." Alex tried to think of something to say that would make Danielle feel better. "I have enjoyed your company. It’s been nice having someone around to talk to."

Danielle glanced at her hopefully. "Really?"

"Yes, I’d like it if you stayed." Alex realized with some surprise that she truly meant it.

"Thanks... if I could just stay the weekend?"

"As long as you want." Alex watched the young woman visibly relax. "I have one condition though. I want you to get these underclothes on so that I can take a look at your bruises. I want to make sure you’re healing properly." Danielle heart swelled at Alex’s concern.

She beamed. "I’ll get changed."

While Danielle was in the bathroom dressing, Alex went to the bedroom to retrieve a jar of homemade salve from her medical bag.

"Okay doc... I’m ready."

Alex smiled. "Hop on the bed and lie down."

Danielle did as she asked, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. Alex sat beside her and examined the bruises on her face. The swelling had gone down from this morning, but she still looked as if she was the loser in a boxing match.

"I’m going to put a little salve on the cuts and bruises. The pressure may hurt a little, but the salve itself is painless." Alex dipped her finger in the jar and began to apply the ointment with gentle strokes.

Danielle closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain. She was sore, there was no getting around it. But, the physical discomfort was forgotten as she became acutely aware of the softness of Alex’s fingers and the tenderness in her touch.

She opened her eyes. Alex was leaning over her, blue eyes focused on the task. Her fingers were so attentive that it brought to mind the intimacy of a lover’s caress. Danielle felt the surface of her skin heat.

Her glance dropped to Alex’s mouth. Her full lips were parted slightly. She wondered if they could possibly feel as soft as they looked. Danielle wanted to know. She felt an urge to press her lips to Alex’s and fought to suppress it, but she couldn’t help thinking about what lay beyond her lips. What would this amazing woman taste like? Her body was melting under Alex’s touch. It tingled all over. She stiffened, afraid she would not be able to control the sensations building inside her.

Alex pulled back. "I’m sorry...did I hurt you?"

"Just a little," Danielle lied. "But it’s okay."

"I’m done with your face, I’m going to take a look at your ribs and stomach. Ready?" Danielle nodded.

Alex’s hand hesitated momentarily at the tie of Danielle’s robe. She flashed back to the robbery and forced her mind to clear. Her finger trembled slightly when she causally attempted to open the front. As she looked down at Danielle’s slender form, her eyes lingered on the firm, well proportioned body. Alex gently ran her fingers over the ribs. Although Danielle was terribly bruised, the skin was not broken. She slowly began to cover each bruise with the medicine.

Danielle clenched her teeth to stifle a moan. Her body was alive with sensation. She could feel her nipples harden against her bra, so sensitized that the material felt coarse against them. The muscles of her lower abdomen tightened and she felt a warm moisture building between her legs. She could not believe what was she was experiencing. Was this what other people felt? It was incredible. She glanced quickly at Alex, praying she hadn’t noticed. Alex was focused on her task.

Danielle had never in her life felt anything so wonderful. Her skin burned everywhere Alex touched. With each stroke her arousal increased. She felt a spasm between her legs and held her breath, terrified her body would betray her feelings.

Alex felt Danielle flinch and assumed she was in pain. She tried to hurry along. At last, she finished. When she removed her hand, Danielle’s body trembled. Alex quickly closed her robe.

"You’re going to be fine. Nothing’s broken. You’re healing well. I want you to apply this salve twice a day until the bruises begin to fade." She handed her the jar.

Alex noticed the oddest look on the young woman’s face. She let it pass without comment. Danielle had been through a lot in the past few days. It had taken it’s toll. Danielle needed rest and time to allow her body to heal. Alex stood up reluctantly.

"You should try to get some sleep. I’m afraid I don’t have much in the house to eat. I’m going out to get groceries. I thought I’d pick up Chinese food for dinner… if you like it."

"Sounds great!"

"Okay then, I’ll be back in a little while." Alex closed the door quietly behind her.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Danielle released an audible sigh. Her body hummed with a new found energy. The physical excitement pulsing through her was intoxicating. She pulled the comforter over herself and let her hand slide under the elastic of her underpants. Her inquisitive fingers slid lightly across her sex. She withdrew them from the slippery wetness and curled up on her side. A single tear hit the pillow. Alex had just awoken her.

***

When Alex returned she noted the subtle aroma of incense. Danielle had also set the table and started a fire. Suddenly the cabin felt like a home to her. Not since she was a child had she come home to find someone waiting for her. It reminded her how alone she had been and it hurt to realize that soon she would be alone again. Danielle would return to her life, as she would. She squared her shoulders and went to the kitchen. She found Danielle there, brewing a pot of coffee.

"I thought you were going to get some rest?" Alex questioned.

"I did sleep for a little while... I had a nightmare and..."

Alex put down the groceries and turned to face the young woman. "You don’t have to worry about him hurting you. I know his kind. He’s a coward. You’ll never see him again. In fact I doubt he’ll return to his apartment."

Danielle hugged herself rubbing her hands along her arms in an attempt to rid herself of the chill that enveloped her. "I hope you’re right. Just thinking about going home makes me nervous."

"I would never take you back there, if I thought it weren’t safe." Alex spoke with more emotion than she had intended. She felt the heat rise to her face and shifted uncomfortably.

"Anyway, I hope you’re hungry. There’s a lot of food here."

Danielle smiled, relieved to have something else to focus on. "I’m always hungry."

After they put the groceries away, they sat down to eat. Alex handed the young woman a pair of chopsticks.

Danielle had never used them before and watched Alex for a few bites before giving it a try. After a few attempts, she was successful at grabbing a pea pod and lifted it carefully. It was almost to her mouth when the sticks separated, sending it flying toward Alex who gracefully snagged it in mid air with her own chopsticks. Danielle looked at her in amazement.

"Wow, you’re really good with those!"

Alex winked. "Just one of those unusual skills I’ve picked up." Danielle looked regretfully at her empty sticks. Alex smiled and held the morsel out for her to eat. Danielle opened her mouth in grateful acceptance. As Alex slid the chopsticks from Danielle’s lips, their eyes met. Danielle felt the spark between them and glanced down.

"Maybe I should get you a fork." Alex said clearing her throat.

"No, I want to give this a chance. Let me try again."

Alex walked up behind her and leaned down. She placed her hand over Danielle’s molding her fingers into the proper position. "It’s just a matter of applying the correct amount of pressure."

Her hair draped down, tickling the young woman’s neck. Danielle felt Alex’s breath against her skin and realized if she turned her head, their lips would nearly touch. She felt a rush of heat and fought to stay concentrated on her task. With Alex steadying her fingers, she made it all the way to her mouth.

"See? Nothing to it." Alex released her hand and sat back down. "Now, try it on your own."

Danielle looked reluctantly at her friend. "Something tells me this is going to be the longest meal in history." Alex smiled.

Danielle poked at her food and tried to sound casual. "So you said you were leaving soon. Where are you moving?"

Alex hesitated momentarily. "I’m trying to decide between a couple of places." She quickly changed the focus of the conversation. "It depends on what I decide to do career wise. What about you? What do you do?"

Danielle had finally gotten the hang of eating with the strange instruments and hurried to finish a mouthful. "I work at the Sentinel."

"A reporter, huh?"

"Well, not yet. I’ve been stuck writing obituaries for the past six months, but I just got the go ahead to do my first article." Danielle paused thoughtfully. "I really don’t think of myself as a writer. I’m more of a storyteller. People’s lives and adventures fascinate me. My whole life I’ve been intrigued by exciting and dangerous tales."

Alex watched Danielle with interest. She enjoyed the animated way she spoke, using her hands and body with great flourish. "It’s good they’re finally giving you a chance."

"Yeah, this is a big break for me."

"So, what’s the story about?"

"Battered women who have survived and turned their lives around. I hope that victims of abuse who read it find comfort in hearing how others have escaped and gone on to happier lives. Maybe they’ll be encouraged to do the same."

"You like helping people." Alex stated.

"Well, yes. These women are so brave. They have triumphed over such adversity. Their stories really touched me."

Alex got up to pour coffee. "So do I get a preview of the article?"

Danielle’s face lit up. "Sure."

They sat by the fire while Danielle spoke about the women’s lives. Alex was moved. But it wasn’t just their stories that captivated her but the skill with which Danielle related them. She had a wonderful ability to bring their experiences to life. Alex felt like she was watching their stories unfold. She found herself touched by the tragedy and inspired by their courage. Alex could visualize the women, feel their pain and appreciate their achievements.

Much later that evening, Danielle finished, nearly breathless. Her face was flushed with excitement. "I’m sorry, I really ran on."

"Don’t apologize. You were wonderful. You really have a gift."

Danielle blushed, flattered. "A gift of gab maybe." She smiled.

"I think these women are fortunate to have you telling their stories. It’s great that you’ve found your niche."

Danielle had a talent for drawing people out, getting them to talk about themselves. But, so far she’d been unsuccessful with Alex. Whenever she tried, Alex became uncomfortable and changed the flow of the conversation.

"Have you found yours?" Danielle questioned.

Alex smiled cynically. "I’ve found what I’m good at. I’m just not happy doing it anymore." She stood anxiously. Danielle could almost feel the walls go up.

"I’ve kept you up long enough. You need your rest. I’ll grab a blanket and sleep on the couch."

"I don’t want to kick you out of your bed again tonight. I can sleep on the couch."

"No, I insist. I end up falling asleep on the couch most nights anyway."

"Okay, goodnight Alex." She turned, a little reluctant to face her dreams."

"Danielle if you have a nightmare and need to talk... I’m a light sleeper."

*****

Alex awoke in the middle of the night. An unfamiliar noise alerted her senses. Someone was in the room. Slowly her eyes adjusted and she looked about warily.

Danielle lay on the floor beside her, curled up in a blanket.

Alex whispered, not wanting to startle her. "Are you all right?"

Danielle rolled over to face her. "I’m sorry. Did I wake you?"

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked.

"I had another nightmare. I didn’t mean to wake you... I just wanted to be close to... someone. I’m such a coward."

"You are anything but a coward." Alex reached down to give her a hand up. "Come on, I think we would both sleep better in bed."

Danielle felt relief wash over her and she looked up gratefully. The unexpected tenderness of Alex’s expression touched her heart. Their eyes met, and Danielle felt that pleasant flutter again. She glanced away nervously.

Alex noticed her anxiety "You don’t snore, do you?" Alex teased.

"Err, no. At least I don’t think so..." She relaxed a little and decided to play along. "I hope you aren’t one of those people who steal all the covers."

Alex started toward the bedroom. "I’ve never had any complaints."

Danielle didn’t doubt that for a minute. She smiled to herself and followed.

They settled in quietly. The memories of her attackers were the furthest thing from Danielle’s mind as she lay beside the older woman. She felt safe.

"Thanks."

Alex was on her side facing the door, an ingrained safety precaution. She turned to Danielle, and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind the young woman’s ear. "Get some sleep. Everything’s going to be all right."

Danielle knew it was true; she never felt better. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In no time she was fast asleep.

*****

It was a beautiful sunny day. They rowed across the lake to a favorite spot of Alex’s to have a picnic lunch that Danielle had spent the morning preparing. After pulling the boat ashore, they hiked into the woods for several miles. It had been well worth the walk. The view when they broke through the woods into the clearing took Danielle’s breath away. The sun streamed down giving the area a magical feel.

It was a pleasant afternoon. Danielle spent most of the time chatting non-stop while Alex listened.

She had tried to draw her friend out on a couple of occasions but Alex seemed content to let Danielle monopolize the conversation. She found the stories about Danielle’s childhood experiences fascinating. Danielle’s youth had been so different from her own.

Alex began packing up the remnants of their picnic lunch while Danielle sat back enjoying the feel of the refreshing breeze against her skin. She had never been more content and didn’t want to come down from this natural high. The time she had spent with Alex the last two days had been wonderful.

She stood and stretched in the warm sunlight, taking in her surroundings with a child-like awe. Catching a glimpse of color to her right, she walked toward it.

"Wild flowers!"

Alex watched with amusement, as Danielle ran her fingers over the brightly colored petals and took in their sweet scent. She was amazed how the smallest things gave Danielle pleasure. The young woman saw only the good in things, approaching life with a naive wonder. It was a fragile quality and Alex found herself wanting to shield her from anything that would corrupt it.

Danielle sat on a log, reveling in the beauty around her. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice four fox pups emerge from a burrow near the end of the fallen tree. They ran playfully toward her. She gasped in surprise.

"Alex, look..."

Alex got to her feet and scanned the tree line cautiously, sure the mother was nearby. "Danielle, get up and back away slowly."

Danielle looked up and smiled. One pup playfully nipped at her shoelace, pulling her attention from Alex. Danielle laughed and gently ran her fingers through it’s coat. "He’s so soft."

Alex started to repeat her warning, but it was too late. The vixen broke through the woods and headed toward Danielle. There was not enough time to position herself between Danielle and the mother. Alex looked around quickly for something she could use as a weapon. She eyed a good sized rock and bent to pick it up.

Danielle noticed the mother’s approach and looked toward Alex. When her eyes settled on the crude weapon in Alex’s hand, her stomach lurched. She understood what her friend meant to do.

Alex gauged the distance, taking the weight of the rock into consideration. She watched the vixen anxiously, her muscles taut, ready to react. If the fox made a move to attack Danielle, she felt fairly confident she could hit it.

"Wait!"

Danielle slowly stood up. She took a small step backward. But, the pups followed her playfully biting at her sneakers. The mother was only about twenty feet from Danielle now, weaving back and forth, watching her intently.

Danielle sat down, eyeing the worried mother. She slid her sneakers off and began playing with the pups. The vixen got within ten feet and stopped. Her attention fully focused on the young woman.

Danielle could not contain a laugh as one aggressive pup pulled the shoe from her grasp and proudly pranced off to present the prize to it’s mother. The vixen sniffed the shoe and laid down, cautiously watching the scene.

Alex looked on in disbelief. Three of the pups were frolicking around Danielle and the fourth was snuggled up against her leg. "Alex." Danielle waved her arm, encouraging her friend to come closer.

Alex approached slowly, never taking her eyes off the mother. As she neared, the vixen sat up warily. The tall woman’s body was tense, ready to react. Danielle smiled up at her and reached out, lightly brushing the fingers that clutched the jagged weapon. The young woman’s touch melted her tension away. Danielle eased the rock from her grasp and laid it down, replacing it with the warmth of her hand. She gently pulled Alex’s arm, urging her to sit.

As soon as Alex was at their level, the pups were all over her, sniffing and prodding. Danielle held her hand, squeezing comfortingly, then she placed it on the pup at her side. "Feel how soft. Aren’t they beautiful?" The orange pups had black ears and feet. Their bellies were white and their tails were long and bushy. Their eyes were alert, cat like.

Alex ran her fingers through the plush fur, acutely aware of the hand that lay over hers. As Danielle’s fingers stroked the soft fur, her palm caressed the back of Alex’s hand. Alex sunk her fingers into the thick fur and quietly relished the innocent contact.

Danielle didn’t seem to notice. Her attention was focused on the playful pups. Alex allowed herself the luxury of extending her gaze at her young friend. She was entranced by the way Danielle’s nose crinkled when she smiled and her eyes sparkled when she laughed. Alex thought for one moment about lifting the soft fingers to her lips and quickly closed her eyes.

Suddenly the energetic pups bounded onto her lap, pushing her backward. Danielle was startled by the soft sounds coming from her friend. It struck her that it was the first time she had heard Alex laugh. It was magical.

Danielle looked down at the happy woman, normally so stoic and controlled, and her heart swelled. The pups were having a field day. One had a hold of the laces of Alex’s top, another was licking at her neck, while yet another was engaged with her in a tug of war for Danielle’s sneaker.

The sun reflected off her dazzling blue eyes and suddenly Danielle was lost in them. Without thought, she moved her hand to Alex’s face, her fingers lifting the stray strands of dark hair from her moist lips. Their eyes met and Danielle began to lean down.

There was a sharp bark. Danielle pulled back and Alex sat up quickly. The father was at the edge of the woods calling. The family quickly ran to him, disappearing into the woods. Danielle’s heart was pounding furiously. She meant to kiss Alex and had nearly done it.

Alex smiled and looked at her. "That was amazing."

Danielle heart stopped for one instant, then realized they were thinking different things. Alex hadn’t even noticed her clumsy advance.

Danielle shrugged and tried to recover. "Animals like me." She winked. "You aren’t the only one with unusual skills." She effectively masked her disappointment with humor.

"Apparently not." Alex grinned.

Danielle glanced at Alex’s dark top sprinkled with red fur. She innocently wiped the hair off, accidentally brushing Alex’s breast. Suddenly aware of the intimacy of her action she pulled back. "I... err... they got hair all over you."

Alex’s nipple hardened from the brief contact. She stood up awkwardly and brushed off her clothes. A torrent of unfamiliar emotions flooded through her. "Yeah... ah... it’s getting late. We should finish packing up and go back."

"Sure, if you want." Danielle said sadly.

They picked up their things in awkward silence. Danielle was angry with herself for ruining the moment. Had Alex thought she was making a pass? She hadn’t meant anything by the casual touch, but even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew her lack of courage had been the only thing to keep her from doing more. Her fingers tingled, remembering the brief contact. She felt miserable and risked a glance at Alex who seemed to be avoiding eye contact. Danielle got up to search for her sneakers.

Alex watched Danielle walk away and grimaced. She didn’t think Danielle had noticed her react to her touch but she wasn’t sure. Alex was confused by the excitement coursing through her body. Her friends action had been innocent, she had no doubt about that, but for a split second she had considered pushing the young woman back on the grass and ...

What was happening to her? She knew she had to get a grip on her emotions. She cared about Danielle far to much to lead her on when nothing could come of it. The thought saddened her. She looked up to see Danielle return shoeless and tried to act casual.

"No luck, huh?"

"Nope." Danielle shrugged. "They were kind of old anyway." She looked hesitantly in the direction of the lake. The idea of tromping through the woods in her stocking feet didn’t appeal to her.

Alex hesitated only a moment. "I’ll give you a lift."

Danielle looked at her curiously. Alex smiled. "Come on, I’ll carry you."

"You...you mean like a piggy back ride?"

"Yeah, didn’t you ever do that when you were a kid?"

"Sure, it’s just... well I’m quite a bit heavier now. I don’t want to hurt you."

Alex’s face broke into a playful smile. "I think I can handle the strain."

Danielle couldn’t help but laugh. "All right, you asked for it."

Alex positioned herself in front of a large rock. "You’ll have to carry the basket. I’ll hold your legs." Danielle stepped up and wrapped her free arm around Alex’s neck. Her legs slid easily around the taller woman’s waist. Firm arms locked around her thighs, securing her in place. They were a perfect fit.

True to her word Alex carried her effortlessly and much sooner than Danielle would have liked, they were back at the boat. The trip across the lake back to the cabin was a quiet one. Both women had a lot on their minds. The weekend was over. It was time for Danielle to return home.

#xena #xena warrior princess #xena/gabrielle #xena/gabrielle fanfiction #author: friction #femslash #fanfiction #mature

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tearlessrain · 5 years

Text

time to subject myself to Dracula: The Dark Prince, aka another bad movie starring another dude from black sails. this time with 100% less horny on main because my only real motivation for watching it is it truly looks to be a whole new caliber of horrible and I have to see it.

witness my standards for incomprehensibly bad movies being raised prohibitively high in every way imaginable under the cut

I seriously doubt that.

this was made in 2013 by the way, not 1994 as the graphic design of that logo might suggest

oh good, once again we’re opening with an exposition narrator. except this time it’s a woman and she has less vocal inflection and emotional investment than an amazon echo.

I feel like she’s gonna tell me to turn left in 800ft

it feels like a dragon age epilogue, but just. worse.

WE ARE WATCHING A TRULY HIGH QUALITY MOVIE TONIGHT MY FRIENDS

I can’t even describe how bad this is, you really need the sound. that’s where the true lack of quality shines through. siri’s depressed sister is talking about pre-vampire dracula’s epic feats in battle to more weird sepia dioramas and the dying soldiers sound like they hired muppets to voice them

HOLY WIG BATMAN

also this dude is obnoxiously jovial considering he’s supposed to be dracula, even if this is pre-vampire

oh no dracula’s advisors, who all wear black hooded robes and scowl ominously, have betrayed him and killed his wife, how unexpected

someone drew these, looked at them, and thought “yeah that’s good enough to go in the final movie”

the characters are speaking both english and what I assume is... romanian or something? transylvanian? it’s not spanish or welsh I can tell you that much. anyway there are no subtitles and also no rhyme or reason to which they’re speaking at any given time so I hope I’m not missing anything important. probably not.

so like... they killed his wife, yes. and he went on a murderfest in what appears to be a church in revenge, makes sense. now a dude who... I think maybe he’s supposed to be a priest or something? but he wasn’t speaking english so I can’t be sure, then a voice over said “I have killed for god, the hand that fought for him will now be turned against him” but I’m unclear on who was speaking. this movie is an absolute clusterfuck and we aren’t even five minutes in yet. this is still the prologue.

now zombie alexa claims dracula was cursed with immortality “in punishment for his defiance” but I’m still not sure... what defiance. he killed the dudes who murdered his wife and that’s somehow not okay despite his apparent status as a war hero, a designation that implies a LOT of killing has already happened?

fucking finally, the title screen. usually a prologue clarifies what a movie is about but I went in thinking I knew and now have absolutely no idea what I’m watching.

a carriage drawn by friesians is rolling through a misty forest with wolf howling sound bites playing at random in the background to vaguely urgent music, now this is what I’m here to see.

nevermind the carriage is too slow so they’re leaving it because that’s a thing people do (?????)

“Lady Arwen, we cannot delay”

seriously though everyone’s mumbling so much I can’t understand them much better than when they were speaking whatever the other language was

BOOTLEG XENA RIDES AGAIN

but this time she’s accompanied by esme. we don’t know who esme is yet either.

there she goes

and now the knights are being attacked by hilarious squeaky goblin things? who I guess are led by this power rangers villain with, again, an unintentionally hilarious voice. it’s like a bad batman impression.

with every minute that passes I become less certain of what I’m actually watching.

they’re looking for the “light bringer” and telepathically overseen by the world’s most halfassed lestat dracula

they’ve also got some random prisoners in a cage wagon

okay the prisoners are being taken to dracula’s castle and I’m sorry for such an image-heavy post but I NEED you to understand the community theater level of set design/quality we’re dealing with here

“what is that?” cardboard and mod podge is my guess

so far the only thing esme has done is fall off her horse and be knocked unconscious, and now a Roving Band of Misogynists has appeared to harass Bootleg Xena 3.0 in the most generic way possible (the words “what ‘ave we got ‘ere” accompanied by a chorus of malicious cackling and some whistles have been spoken)

oooh no the ringleader of the Roving Misogynists has been given a name, and it’s ~Lucien~. I have a horrible feeling that I’m about to bear witness to the worst romantic subplot in the history of cinema.

oh for... I thought at least bootleg xena 3.0 would be a Strong Female Character and fight them off, but she just rapped lucien on the head with her sword and then they stole her very important box and left as obnoxiously as they came

OH NO SHE’S ASKING TO GO WITH THEM, SOMEHOW THAT’S HER PLAN I THINK I’M RIGHT SHE’S GONNA HOOK UP WITH LUCIEN AND IT’S GOING TO BE HORRIBLE.

“trust me” she says to esme, who, wisely, obviously does not.

I appreciate the timely thunderclap every single time the castle comes on screen

who the fuck are you, did you wander onto the wrong movie set

nope okay they’re not gonna explain that shot at all we’re just moving on to a shot of a weird angel shadow doing slow flamenco moves on the ceiling while ominously gurgling, and the prisoners being led into the throne room

“what’s happening to us?” I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE SAME THING, PRISONER #3

oh never mind that guy from before wasn’t a priest, he is remfield, chancellor of this kingdom, which means the last scene he was in makes even less sense

AKSLDGHJFGAKDLFJGHKAJGHFDKLFDS;GJokay so. remfield introduced himself then said “I will see that your needs are tended to.” then dracula in his new white contacts gets up from his shadowy throne, circumnavigates the cluster of prisoners, sniffs them dramatically, and walks back to his throne. remfield then says, “come, I will see that your needs are tended to” because proofreading is for COWARDS

now remfield is... literally giving the prisoners a tour of the castle and going on the “oh you’re our guests and many pleasures and adventures await you” speech and somehow the prisoners are accepting this despite the fact that they were just carted in on a barred wagon in shackles and got sniffed by a bad alucard cosplayer. they have a fucking harpist.

seriously, who the fuck are you

she’s just been twirling around in the background of this entire scene for no discernible reason no matter what rooms they go into

what the hell am I watching

yeah they’re just going for that incredibly suspicious food and also seem weirdly okay with the ambient clusters of scantily clad lesbians no one will explain okay they deserve whatever happens to them

WHOA TITS apparently this movie is a different rating than I thought

remfield: the newcomers have settled in

dracula: I d o n ‘ t l i k e s t r a n g e r s

then why pray tell have you brought them directly into your home in chains. I cannot stress enough how avoidable this situation was for you my dude

“just think sire, once the light bringer is in your possession no one need die again” “except those who defy me” [ominous chime as the angel shadow on the ceiling continues its sensuous flamenco dance]

meanwhile in the misty blue filter forest of eternal night, some guy in a tricorn finds a gold amulet that I think bootleg xena 3.0 dropped, and the power ranger villain rides menacingly in a random direction for a few seconds

I’m still waiting on whether this masterful display of cinematic calvinball has any cohesive story to it.

ah joy and we’re back to The Non-Adventures of Xena 3.0, Esme, and the Roving Misogynists

as an aside, I’m not calling her that just to be dumb, I’m calling her that because they still haven’t given her a name even though her sidekick got one in the first five minutes

they’ve opened the box and revealed... the light bringer, which is a wooden staff. because it is not shiny gold, the roving misogynists regard it with confounded disgrunglement and scoff at xena 3.0′s insistence that it can defeat dracula

these guys sound like what an eleven year old thinks gangs of ne’er-do-wells sound like. like cartoon weasels, if the weasels were also mediocre pirates who have heard of women, conceptually, but never seen one. like goblins in a pre-written D&D campaign run by a slightly overwhelmed first time DM.

HUR DUR WALKING STICK NOT TREASURE, WOMAN DUMB

it’s what cain used to slay abel, apparently. given that zombie alexa mentioned that dracula is the descendent of abel, this leaves us with the terrifying implication that someone did put at least some vestige of effort into writing this movie.

oh good she’s finally gonna fight lucien

no she failed again. please someone just punch the shit out of lucien so he’ll stop.

NO WHY ARE YOU MAKING OUT STOP IT GOD HAVE SOME STANDARDS WOMAN. STOP PLAYING FLOATY ROMANTIC MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND THEY ARE LITERALLY STILL STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ENTIRE BAND OF ROVING MISOGYNISTS

I thought it might at least be a trick but no she is actually, genuinely starstruck over this profoundly mediocre olde-timey frat boy who called her “sweetheart” while she was trying to explain to him why the ancient dracula-defeating relic was important.

this guy.

we did it boys, we found a worse love story than twilight

also I just. I wish I could convey with words the way the roving misogynists react to every single thing lucien and sometimes xena 3.0 says like the world’s worst greek chorus in a literally neverending stream

lucien (post makeout and xena 3.0 explaining again that the relic is ancient and powerful and they’ve searched for ages to find it): well we may not be knights but we can respect that

[cacophony of rowdy but understated agreement]

lucien: what do you think boys, should we give it back?

[assorted grumbles of assent]

xena 3.0: hm, a thief with a conscience

[gruff mercenary-esque chuckling]

lucien: maybe even a heart

[chorus of “ooooooOOOooh”s and some whistles]

it just goes on like that in every scene they happen to be physically adjacent to, they never shut up but also never actually contribute or say anything meaningful

ah, the mysterious leonardo has appeared. I think he was the one they were trying to take the light bringer to so that’s handy

“what is happening here? what is this flirtation?? is this the people to share your sacred secrets with???” - leonardo, the only remotely rational person in the entire movie

oh he is schooling these idiots, finally someone with sense. it’s bouncing right off of lucien, but at least he’s saying it.

“the scourge” - leonardo

“scourge!” “scourge!?” “scourge?” “hrgghhg??” “hrrm...” - the roving misogynists

power ranger villain and his squeaking goblins vs leonardo, the most useless female leads of all time, and the roving misogynists. who will win.

not the people watching this movie, I can tell you that much.

oh no, the lightbringer isn’t working. this will do nothing to convince the roving misogynists that it isn’t a walking stick

oop, wilhelm scream

oh no lucien has picked up the light bringer

goddamn it he’s the chosen one isn’t he

yep he activated the stick and now we all have to suffer

oh xena 3.0′s coming for power ranger villain maybe she’ll actually do something

nope she bounced off him and now he’s grabbed her and hauled her onto his horse

“you’re coming with me” he says in his weird batman voice, to make sure the audience can tell that he is in fact taking her with him

and esme has yelled “no” to make sure we remember that she’s in the movie

wait what the. did lucien just yell “xena” is that her actual name what the fuck. what the fuck. I had to have misheard that. okay I can’t tell what he’s saying for sure but someone’s bound to say her name again at some point in the movie so I’ll revisit that.

and on that note, I think I’ll end here, because there ended up being a LOT more to unpack in this movie than I expected, it’s after midnight, and I’m tired.

tomorrow, we follow lucien as he presumably goes to save some lady he wildly disrespected and then made out with one time whose name may or may not actually be xena, and hopefully figure out what the hell is even going on with dracula, remfield, and their castle full of artfully strewn half naked harpist lesbians and dancing ceiling shadows. because right now I really don’t have time to unpack all that, and I have a feeling it will only get worse.

#this is #a masterpiece #no description of mine can hope to do it justice #hypnotically incomprehensible #tearless liveblogs

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tomhollandisdaddyaf · 6 years

Text

CEO! Tom Holland

CEO! Tom Holland Tom is out looking for art to hang in his office and around the company when he meets you.

TOMS POV:

The morning came, pushing through the curtains of Toms master bedroom, he hadn’t slept right. He was already showered and dressed by the time the alarm for him to wake had gone off, all night all he could think about was the hitch in her breath when they spoke. What would she be wearing today? Would she paint a nude model or would she be the nude one tonight? The idea that he may never know what her daily life was like, well it drove him crazy. Truly drove him wild, and who the fuck is the man posting the photos? this feeling inside of him, it didn’t laps in the car, not when he pulled into the underground garage, not even when he walked by the beautiful assistant and her low cut blouse.

“Good morning Mister Holland,” She pursed her lips in a sensual way, angling her breasts towards him.

“Good morning Miss Branch,” Stopping with his hand on the door, looking her in the eye with a twinge of annoyance, “Miss Branch, we are a professional company, I would kindly ask you to button up your blouse”

“Oh I apologize Mister Holland,” Her face blushing red, biting her lips in a daring fashion, “This blouse is older, smaller,”

“You make a gracious salary here,” pinching the bridge of his nose “Buy a larger size,” Pushing the door to office and finding Harrison waiting in the small lounge area, coffee in hand.

“What do you think of Miss Branch?” Sipping on his coffee, his eyebrows wiggling at him, “And those low cut blouses,”

“I’ve already reprimanded her on her attire Harrison,” Tom walked towards his electronic tea kettle, flipping on the switch for hot water.

“Tom, Mate,” Harrison’s voice laced with worry, “What is the problem?”

The kettle screeched, hot water pouring into his favorite mug, plopping in a tea bag and sipping it “I have no problem, I just found it,” A slight pause “I don’t know, I really didn’t sleep well.”

“Probably getting sick,” Harrison shrugged, “I wanted to ask for the name of that studio you visited yesterday,”

‘For what?” Toms voice was calm and leveled, but inside he was screaming, an excuse to visit her.

“Well she called this morning,” Pressing the button on toms desk phone, typing in the code for the voicemail.

“Good morning, my name is y/n, you visited my studio yesterday. Anyways I have an open studio session at 1 today, I figured if you wanted to know about the art world then you could come take a lesson.” The sound of a car horn honking before the call ended with a harsh curse.

“Sounds like we need to attend,” Tom nodded in agreement with Harrison.

“Then I suppose we will be there at 1,” Tom smiled at his best friend and partner.

Your POV:

The walk from your apartment was grueling, New York City this time of year was a mixture of sludge like snow, pissed off commuters and tourists taking their sweet time. You had decided to call him, well his company, and inviting him to the open studio.

You tried your hardest to look like the artsy little goddess you wanted to be, but the wind had turned your textured hairstyle into a mess of tangled curls under your black beanie. The studio was still warm when you opened the doors, flipping on the low lights and boiling a pot of water, and walking through the conjoined door with the hippie bakery next door.

“Good morning y/n!” The owner smiled, her blonde hair in messy ringlets under her hat.

“Good morning Jade!” you smiled, patting her on her shoulder, “I’ve got tea brewing next door, i just came in for a croissant, ham and cheese if you please!”

“jimmy has it already made for you babe!” She pointed you to the cute boy in the corner, a bag already in hand, his tanned skin and dark eyes very compelling. You thought about those muscular arms wrapped around you, damn I need to get laid.

“Thank you!” You kissed Jade on her pink cheeks and darted back into your mouse hole.

You needed to make more art, art that you could sell, but also art that would disturb and excite. This summer in the rock formations of Utah, there was a tent where people fucked and painted them fucking, but not in the sense of realism, It was a variety of colors and movement, very abstract and erotic. Everything was erotic since he came into your life.

Just dipping your brush in the paint, thinking about him, wondering about those lips and those eyes. Songs passed, hours seemed to tick by like seconds and before you knew it, it was noon and you had painted the face of the man you’d fantasized about for hours about last night. It spooked you, and if he was coming in an hour, he couldn’t see this, what would he think? That you’re obsessed with him and subconciously painted him from memory? Setting it to the side behind the front desk you scurried to set up easels, brushes, paints and charcoals. Part of you felt desperate for wanting him to come, part of you thought you had enough of, whatever he was looking for him to come back. Adjusting your black beanie, it was too late to take it off and not have beanie hair, which is much worse than hat hair, pulling on your large maroon zip up over your grey thin sweater, black wool leggings and tall boots. It wasn’t until you took a look over yourself that you realized you were in such a rush this morning to get here and beat the morning rains, that you had forgotten to put on a bra.

“Fuck,” You groaned, applying a thin line of liner to your top lid and small wings. You wanted to go natural, to impress him, but you felt comfortable in your natural state of last nights eyeliner touched up. He was a C.E.O probably fucking his secretary on his mahagony desk.

“Well don’t you look so fucking beautiful y/n,” a familiar voice sent your body into a cold frenzy.

“Um, Y/X/N, what the hell are you doing here?” You relectuatlely hugged him, he smelled the same as the day he left. “I thought you were in China or something! What the hell are you doing here?” Your voice laced with faux friendliness

“I couldn’t leave my girl for too long,” cupping your face with his soft hands, it always weirded you out how soft his hands were.

“I thought you were with Xena, or whatever her name is from LA?” He had left you the day of your opening, after he had fucked you and told you he was leaving. It’s not like you guys were exclusive or anything but you kept each other as number one, you were best friends before anything else.

“I was, I was,” His hips leaning on the door frame to the classroom studio, “But when I had to repost that photo, your burning man adventure, and then your commenting on the photo,” He ran his hand through his long black hair, “And I missed my girl,”

“I have an open studio in fifteen minutes,” finally unlocking yourself from your position “Leave or stay,” you shrugged, pushing past him to welcome the people coming in.

TOMS POV

harrison and tom exited their uber, both men had dressed down as to not draw attention to themselves. Tom in a tight fitted black wool sweater and dark jeans, Harrison in a grey wool sweater and acid washed jeans. How would this play out?

Tom walked into the familiar studio, the smell washing over him like a blanket of comfort. His eyes scanned the room, settling on her, that anxious smile painted on her pink lips. She seemed, uncomfortable even.

“She doesn’t seem very happy right now,” Harrison also picked up on the level of discomfort and quickly ducked into the group to introduce himself, Tom quickly following.

“Harrison,” he shook her hand, smiling sweetly at her, “Do you by chance have coffee or tea love?”

“Over there,” a man stated, his arm snaking around her waist. “I don’t think you need my girl to show you where it’s at.” His hand tightened its grip on her hip.

“My apologies,” Harrison smiled, shooting tom a look before heading to the refreshments bar.

“It’s wonderful to see you again y/n” Tom smiled at her, “I’m very much looking forward to this studio time, thank you for inviting my partner and I.”

“It’s not a problem Mister Holland,” Her smile was genuine, her lips pursing at his name. “Perhaps you’ll find someone special here, just what you’re looking for.”

“I do hope so,” Tom smiled, then addressing the man beside her. “My apologies, I was not aware that you had a boyfriend,” His voice stern and cold with faux politness

“I do not,” She stepped away from him, his hand still trying to grip her hip.

“Y/N go way back, she’s my girl,” He cooed at her, watching her reaction closely.

“We knew each other years ago,” her voice was cold, removing his hand from her hip and addressing the group of 10 or more. “If you guys wanna take your drinks and bring it into the studio we can start!” Moving closer to Tom she smiled up at him, “Right this way Mister Holland, I have set up a spot for you and your partner to watch as well as participate in the studio.”

“Why thank you,” Tom smiled, waving Harrison over as they follow her into the studio, leaving the boy angry in his spot.

Tom watched her closely, the way she instructed the students, explaining the perspective of the still life in someones sketch. The hour ticked by and time was called, meeting her gaze.

The world begins to go dark by 3 pm, seeing everyone being led out, Tom felt his whole world, everything that could or would happen was dependent on what he did in the next 15 minutes.

“Mate, I’ll see you back at the office.” Tom gripped Harrison’s shoulder as he left the studio. Staying in the back of the studio as everyone left, now only Tom in the room.

“Mister Holland,” You smiled at him, “what did you think of the session?”

Now or never Holland, tom thought, “I admit I was distracted the whole time,” walking over to her, running his fingers through his curls.

“Oh i apologize if the setting was not optimal for you,” she rubbed her arms, looking up at him seductively.

“I was distracted by you,” closing the space between them to cup her chin. “Perhaps if my object was as interesting as you, I would have been able to concentrate.”

“Perhaps you would be able to concentrate on me,” walking into the studio, slowly removing her larger maroon sweater, “Have you ever painted a naked woman mister holland?”

Tom followed her, closing and locked the studio door behind him, “No ma’am I do not believe I have ever had the pleasure,”

She signaled for him to sit at the easel directly in front of her, kicking away the still life on the stage. “Are you comfortable with full nudity sir?” removing her beanie and tossing it on the floor, her fingers thumbing the grey sweater around her body.

“I encourage it,” Tom smiled up at her, watching with large eyes as her sweater came up off her body and to the ground, her breasts perky and both nipples pierced, her body covered in smaller tattoos. Pulling off her black leggings, revealing her maroon thong, pulling it off and starring at him. “Suddenly Miss Y/L/N, I am no longer interested in making art.”

“Oh and what do you feel like doing Mister Holland?” Her voice low and sultry, Tom moving towards her body.

“I want to fuck you”

#tom holland daddy #tom holland smut #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland #tom holland au #tom holland ceo #ceo tom holland smut

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coloredseouls-blog · 6 years

Text

[ Retaliation ]

// Chanyeol Fanficiton Series //

[ FOUR ]

Her body froze at the all so familiar words. The words repeated in her head like a rerun of an episode.

"Anthony Takahashi has been reported dead."

Death had struck again.

Her stare on Junmyeon was intense, hands hanging at her side.

"Xena?" Chanyeol called out towards her, his voice ever so soft, placing a reassuring hand softly on her shoulder, she ignored the feeling.

Despite the fact that the last family member she had, besides her brother, had been taken from the Earth, she didn't feel anything. All she felt was numb.

Death was never friendly.

For many years, it picked and chose the most valuable people in her life to snuff out, leaving Xena always on edge.

Death didn't care. It didn't distinguish, nor did it take a disguise. It came raw, leaving a trail of negative energy in its wake.

It had ripped away a part of her, the part of her that was most loved. Her ability to love. She couldn't love anyone even if she tried, death has completely torn that away from her. It was fear; fear that everyone she loved would be snatched from her, leaving her to restart the long, difficult and aching process.

But yet even though she couldn't muster up any emotions, she still found it hard to breathe. The room slowly spun as her fist loosened touching her forehead ever so slightly, her eyes squeezed shut trying to regain her balance.

"Here sit down." The hand on her shoulder applied slight pressure signaling her to take a seat, she refused. Shaking her head she shook the hand off her, turning towards the door.

"I need some air." she mumbled before exiting the room. Chanyeol started towards the door, but a grip on his arm stopped him, his head turned to see a permissive looking Junmyeon. Junmyeon shook his head,

"Don't. Let her breathe." He consoled. Chanyeol mulled over his idea, pulling his arm out of the male's grasp he jogged out the door and out into the hallway. He jogged down the long hallway, looking in every little space of an area trying to find her small petite figure.

The hallway was dimmed illuminating a faint blue, it was filled with nothing but training rooms, some revealing the other members practicing with their most prized possessions. He ignored them, continuing his jog down the way.

He soon came to the end of the hallway, bending down placing his hands on his knees, he focused on his breathing. His chest was tight, his lungs were desperate for air. It felt almost as if the deep breathes he was taking weren't helping at all, it just made his lungs scream for air even more. There was a soft and light sniffle in the distance causing his head to shoot up frantically looking for the owner of the noise. Straightening his posture he dusted himself off pulling the now semi-soaked dress shirt that was sticking to his body, fanning it softly to cool himself down. He walked ever so carefully to where he heard the noise, he built his hopes up on finding her.

Turning the corner he stopped, the corner was dark but there was still light shining from the nearby training room allowing him to make out her face. He sighed once he saw her, a sense of relief taking over him.

"God, there you are. I've been looking for you." She raises her head at the sound his voice, almost immediately rolling her eyes. He strode towards her taking big steps. She sat on the floor arms crossed and seemed very displeased by his presence. He stood for a while seeing if she would grant his request, but that never came, taking a seat anyway. Xena refused to look at him, her gaze was planted on the wall. They sat in silence. Neither one of them dared to speak, silence thick in the room until she broke it.

"You don't have to be here. I didn't ask you to be. This isn't a first that someone significant to me has died." Her words were cold. No hint of emotion once so ever in them, causing Chanyeol to inhale deeply. Straightening his back on the wall he looked towards her finding her already looking at him with empty eyes. The way her eyes looked triggered something in him that made him slightly uncomfortable at the unusual feeling. Clearly his throat, he tore his stare away from her, picking at his worn downed nails.

"Yeah well, I know you need someone to talk to right now. And I sure as hell wasn't leaving you in this state. So, here I am."

"I don't need anyone. It's always been myself. Me, myself, and I. And I'm damn sure not making a change for anyone right now." She stood, wiping her tears, her tone harsh. She took strides out the room, running smack in Junmyeon, bouncing back at the impact. She looked up at him, his facial features contorted.

"You've had a long day. Baekhyun will show you to your room." He spoke, beckoning him with his finger. He sent the two along their way, eyes meeting with Chanyeol with mixed emotions.

"Where do we go from here?" He asked his leader, glancing at the two figures in the distance.

"There's almost so much we can do. All we can do right now is hope that the recovery process is fast, although it never is."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Anthony didn't simply die. He was assassinated."

Xena couldn't sleep that night. Her mind was a void of empty space, yet a course of emotions pulsed through her veins.

The countless times she had tried to fall asleep had left her in a cold sweat and she was pretty sure the sheets of her bed were drenched. Moonlight projected through her window, casting light upon her delicate features.

And as she rolled out of bed, she wavered in her steps, light-headed and tired. However, the adrenaline in her body pushed her to pull on some suitable clothes, heading towards the training room.

With the doors open, the room was dimly lit, some light bouncing off the weaponry hung on the walls. Her gaze was heavy, glancing at the weapons deposed at her choice. Her eyes, however, were drawn to the twin katana blades sitting in their sheath, pedestal presenting their glory.

As her fingertips grazed over the hilt of the sword, she felt a sudden wave of electricity, a new wave of energy temporarily filling the void in her heart and mind.

The training dummy before her became tattered and shreds, the slashes of her sword coming to her like second nature, inflicting wounds and cuts like the ones on her heart. Anger and rage set course through her body, the clattering of the swords on the cold tile floor sounded, mixed in with her breathing. She took one final look at her masterpiece, before ditching for the showers and her now cold bed, relief and sleep hitting her hard once she fell back between the sheets.

"Wow."

"Who would inflict such rage on this poor practice dummy? It looks like the work of a killer." Baekhyun stated, eyeing the piece of broken equipment.

"Its a practice dummy for a reason, Baek. Its supposed to end up like this." Jongdae stated, placing his hand on the male's shoulder.

"The real question is who would do this? It wasn't anyone of us." Xiumin questioned, pacing around the figure, eyes looking up to his leader when he came to stand before him.

"There's only one person I know of who can do this. And I damn certain her father just died." Chanyeol announced, looking between the group of people before him.

"Well, let's hope her skills out in the real world are just as disastrous," Junmyeon spoke, eyes the dummy once more before starting for his office.

"I want her to start training tomorrow."

#kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop fanficiton #kpop imagines #exo #exo k #exo m #exo l #Park Chanyeol #chanyeol #chanyeol fanfic #chanyeol scenario #chanyeol imagine #hitman #hitman scenario #EXO Mafia

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zrtranscripts · 7 years

Text

Season 6, Mission 7: Lessons in Love

Revenge of the Nerds

MAXINE MYERS: Wait, wait. So and Nadia's gone to work with Amelia because Amelia's taken over New Canton?

SAM YAO: Not so much taken over as, um... well, yeah. Taken over. But it's not like she's running things for them. She's got them mostly running things for her. She's just very... you know. Decisive.

PAULA COHEN: People do like a decisive leader. And I suppose they can't do much worse than they were before. Any word on the location of the babies?

SAM YAO: Mm, no. We're working on it. Even the Laundry can't find anything for us. You see, ideally, we need someone inside Sigrid's inner circle, but well, that's going to be hard to arrange. In the meantime, getting parts for this transmitter of Jody's is a good start.

MAXINE MYERS: So that's what we're heading to this comms station for. We've caught snatches of their transmissions. We know they are bound to have the cables that Jody needs. I, for one, am glad to be serving Abel.

PAULA COHEN: It didn't need to be us, though, did it? Tom was going to go, and you insisted we went instead. Five, has Maxine told you the real reason she wanted to go on this mission?

MAXINE MYERS: For Abel?

PAULA COHEN: It's because she hasn't been able to find any copies of Xena: Warrior Princess since the apocalypse, and that just happens to be what this place is broadcasting.

MAXINE MYERS: That's just a coincidence! Back me up, Sam.

SAM YAO: Oh whoa-ho-ho, no. No, no, no. You two can leave me out of this. Remember our co-parenting contract?

MAXINE MYERS: I don't think that really applies...

SAM YAO: Oh yes, it does. I can read you the exact clause. When we agreed to be co-parents, I got it from both of you, in writing, that I would never, ever be asked to adjudicate in a row.

PAULA COHEN: Fine. Five, listen to this: Max volunteered us for a mission, on date night - a date night where I was planning to make latkes - because she has a crush on Xena flipping Warrior whatever.

MAXINE MYERS: You've never seen Xena: Warrior Princess! [laugh] Right, we need to make that right immediately.

SAM YAO: Yeah. Guys, before you get Xena: Warrior Princess, you're going to have to make it through that playground full of child zombies. I think they must have been trapped in the school until the storm the other day.

MAXINE MYERS: Oh God! The kids are the worst! Run!

SAM YAO: Okay, I think you lost them. Hey, it's weird, though. That school playground's been safe for months. I've got the report here. We sent in runners to check it clear, room by room, last month.

PAULA COHEN: You think it could be a deliberate deployment, then? By the comms station?

SAM YAO: Mm, maybe. I mean, it's a bit weird for a comms station, to be honest. Not only are they broadcasting Xena, their building used to be a distribution center for Geek King. You know, you know, the online retailer.

MAXINE MYERS: Yep. Which is why they have access to Xena DVDs.

PAULA COHEN: I'm surprised it hasn't been cleared out before now. People always want DVDs and stuff.

SAM YAO: [imitates Boromir from the Lord of the Rings] "Ah, but one does not simply get DVDs during a zombie apocalypse."

MAXINE MYERS: There's a dumbass rumor that this warehouse is full of kind of extreme nerds. Dangerous. Murdery.

SAM YAO: The Winchers. Like, imagine nerds, but if they went feral. Took cosplays too far, reenacted all the goriest parts of the stuff they're into. The rumor is they used to be 4chan "alpha male" believers, and then the zombie apocalypse came, and they blamed the feminazis, and - [sighs] they just went down that rabbit hole and just kept on going.

MAXINE MYERS: They're broadcasting Xena. No one who broadcasts Xena could be an evil man.

SAM YAO: What, even if they're setting zombie traps around their perimeter?

MAXINE MYERS: Well, we don't know that was them. We'll probably find some people holed up in there, sending out Xena clips to make contact with other fans. We'll get the cables and come back later with everyone's orders for specific Blake's 7 episodes and plastic lightsabers. [laughs] It's going to be great. Come on!

[door creaks open and clangs shut]

SAM YAO: Are you in?

MAXINE MYERS: We're in. This place is huge! And... kind of spooky.

[zombie moans]

PAULA COHEN: Uh oh. Not all the warehouse pickers are gone. Some of them have turned zombie. Look, they're still at work trying to fill internet orders. See that one stacking Game of Thrones box sets?

SAM YAO: Ooh, ooh! Do they have the last season? Because I never -

MAXINE MYERS: No, Sam. We're just here for Xena. I mean, Xena and those cables. Anyway, we've got to move fast. I think that one of them spotted us.

MAXINE MYERS: Quick, into this storeroom.

[door creaks open and snaps shut]

PAULA COHEN: Wait, this is the transmission room. See? There's the broadcasting equipment.

MAXINE MYERS: Yes. These are the cables, and - !

PAULA COHEN: Oh, the DVDs. Xena: Warrior Princess. Let's see. You know you said I'm your Gabrielle, but looking at this, maybe you're the Gabrielle and I'm the Xena.

MAXINE MYERS: Honey, you have never seen the show. How can you possibly know who's the Xena?

PAULA COHEN: Uh, because she's the one who has Warrior Princess in her name? I know what you like.

SAM YAO: Okay, I've got the cams up. Uh, yup, it's clear for you to come out of there. Those zoms are trapped in an aisle of Funko figures. Oh my God!

MAXINE MYERS: What? What is it?

SAM YAO: Well, they've got an Ursula from The Little Mermaid! Do you have any idea how – well, dear God, don't eat it! Look, if you pass those Funkos on your way out – oh God! I need another camera. There's something coming, in the shadows. Someone. Guys, I think you should get out of there. Go, now!

SAM YAO: Yeah, okay. Guys, just really keep running. I've got more cams up, and [sighs] no, it doesn't look good.

PAULA COHEN: More zoms?

SAM YAO: I don't really know how to say this, guys. It appears to be Voldemort.

MAXINE MYERS: What? Voldemort is coming after us?

PAULA COHEN: Someone dressed as Voldemort.

SAM YAO: Well, I guess. It just looks so like him! Ugh, no! I just got a full face view. Actually no nose.

PAULA COHEN: Someone who has dressed up as Voldemort, and taken it so seriously, they've cut off their own nose?

SAM YAO: He's heading your way. And oh. Oh! He has a mob behind him.

MAXINE MYERS: Death Eaters?

SAM YAO: More like Ewoks, or um, Daleks? But sort of a costume mash-up? They're Darwoks? Ewoleks? Oh, that is so wrong.

PAULA COHEN: I can hear them. Oh God, they sound so weird!

MAXINE MYERS: It's not just weird, it's them. Winchers are very real. Okay, I can admit when I was wrong. They're not going to be our friends. We are not going to reenact Xena together. We've got our DVDs, we've got our cables. We need to get out of here.

SAM YAO: Uh, okay, okay. Yeah, uh, right, then left, then third right. Go. Run!

MOB: [chants in the background] Sacrifice! Sacrifice...

PAULA COHEN: Sam, this is a dead end. And it's dark.

SAM YAO: Yeah. They've turned off the lights. And I think they've cut access to half my cams!

MAXINE MYERS: Where are the Winchers?

SAM YAO: Uh... no, I can't see them on the cams.

PAULA COHEN: If we hide here for a while, maybe they'll lose interest and we'll get away.

[door opens, MOB chants in background]

WINCHER: Oh, I don't think you'll be getting away. Not now, or ever!

MAXINE MYERS: Oh God, it's Voldemort. Ugh, your nose! Did you do that to yourself?

WINCHER: Call me Harold! Harold Wincher. And I was Voldemort, but now I am – [chokes] Ah. Sorry. Uh, could somebody help me with my robe? It was meant to fall dramatically to the floor by itself, but it snagged on the Elder Wand.

MAXINE MYERS: Sam, get us out of here!

WINCHER: I am... Lord Summerisle! ... It's uh, it's from The Wicker Man. Look, I had to put it together very hastily when we saw you approaching, and he doesn't have the same striking look as our old Voldy. But you know, I've yet to actually master Avada Kedavra, but everyone loves a barbecue!

SAM YAO and MAXINE MYERS and PAULA COHEN: What?!

SAM YAO: The end of The Wicker Man! They burn Edward Woodward alive! I think the Winchers are going to reenact that. Guys!

MAXINE MYERS: The mob are going to burn us alive!

PAULA COHEN: This was meant to be a date night.

WINCHER: Ewoks! Daleks! Seize them! Bind them to the poles!

SAM YAO: Yeah, I've got a clear eye line on the mob now. Oh my God, this is so many kinds of horrible. Uh, they're all in costume, but that one is wearing a Sith Lord robe with a Time Lord headdress. How could you? Also, guys, most of their costumes are bloodstained. They're really for real.

PAULA COHEN: Maxie, if this is it, I'm sorry I was so whiny about coming here. I love spending time with you. I can't believe I was jealous of your stupid show. I love you, Max.

MAXINE MYERS: Paula, I know, love. I do. And we've been through too much for it to end up like this. Right? They are crazy fans. I am a crazy fan. I know how to get under their skin. Wincher. Harold Wincher.

WINCHER: How may I help you, heathen? A last request before you are condemned to the flames?

MAXINE MYERS: Yes. My request is: be better! [MOB quiets] Harold, this reenactment is terrible! You're just wearing an Aran jumper. Lord Summerisle had a tweed jacket. Your mob of supposedly bloodthirsty pagan villagers look like they've run naked through the merch hall of Comic-Con, covered in glue! [MOB grumbles] And we're meant to be burned in a wicker man, not tied to poles.

WINCHER: Okay, but the wicker man is a very big prop. We had no lead time, and – oh God, she's right. This is a mess! None of you are even standing like bloodthirsty pagan villagers! I – look, I'm sorry. This was a rush job, and it shows. All right, take five. Let them go.

PAULA COHEN: That was amazing, Max.

MAXINE MYERS: Not now, honey. Quick, before they change their minds. Run!

PAULA COHEN: Okay, I have to admit, that was a pretty good date night for someone who likes seeing her girlfriend save the day by being brilliant.

MAXINE MYERS: What can I say? I'm pretty motivated when I'm trying to get home so I can watch Xena with my hot girlfriend... maybe dress up in my old Xena outfit for my hot girlfriend... reenact a few Xena bathing scenes with my hot girlfriend.

PAULA COHEN: Xena outfit, you say? Like the one on the DVD box? Mm, I don't hate it.

MAXINE MYERS: Oh, mine is way better than that. I made it from scrap metal in my spare time. What? [laughs] Isn't that what anyone would do in their spare time? [laughs] [continue chatting in the background]

SAM YAO: Hey, Five, now you've got those cables, I think I've worked out an alternative route home for you. How about you and me take a little detour and leave the doctors to it, hmm?

#zombies run #zrs6 #s6m7 #lessons in love #zr transcript #zrs6 spoilers

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thedeaditeslayer · 7 years

Photo

Exclusive Interview: Bruce Campbell…Italian Style!

ComingSoon.net/ShockTillYouDrop.com‘s Italian correspondent Roberto D’Onofrio caught up with Evil Dead legend and cult film here Bruce Campbell recently for a career spanning interview as only Roberto can conduct. Here it is in “print’ for the first time.

Surely an actor like Bruce Campbell doesn’t need any introduction, his name will always be linked with the character of Ash Williams from the Evil Dead saga. When in 1979, with his friends Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, he raised 350.000 dollars to shoot the first chapter he couldn’t imagine it would soon become a cult hit, although at first just in England and Europe before the United States and that it would span two sequels, a remake and now a TV series.

Since then Bruce has gained respect from Hollywood, he appeared in television shows, directed seven films, written two books and voiced characters for Disney and other big Studios animated TV series. With his friends and partners even founded a production company, but he always kept his feet on the ground and stayed loyal to his fans, starring as himself in My Name Is Bruce (2007), a spoof of his B-movie career. He never loved Hollywood too much and in fact he lives in a small town just outside of Medford, Oregon: “I’m not interested in making a $60 million studio films with a bunch of twenty four year olds telling me what to do”, he often says.

Here’s Bruce…

ComingSoon.net: What kind of advice would you give to a young filmmaker willing to shoot a good horror movie?

Bruce Campbell: I believe you should always have a good story, don’t be a lazy writer, write good dialogs, write a great story. If you can tell a good story it doesn’t matter what the genre is, Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comedy, you still have to tell a story, so that’s the number one thing. That’s what it’s all about, we are storytellers through visual images.

CS: How “Genre Movies”, Horror particularly, have changed with the success of television since you began working in entertainment?

Campbell: Well, TV used to be terrible, while now television is the place to be and it has provided a great place for actors to be. Ten years ago there were a lot of actors that you never would have seen on television, and I say to them: Why have you waited until now? I’ve done TV for twenty five years, there’s nothing wrong with it. Everything is changed regarding Horror, it’s not “evil” anymore, it’s not something to be ashamed anymore, Horror used to be very disrespected. An actor couldn’t have a serious career in Horror, we were very marginalized and now, because of The Walking Dead and other shows, Horror is today “mainstream”. If you have forty millions people watching a show, that’s not a cold show, that’s mainstream, so I’m glad for shows like The Walking Dead, they helped, they changed people perceptions, and Horror movies, I think they got us into the same interesting territory. If you take films like Paranormal Activity, then again, they’re trying something different, it’s not all about blood, it’s creepy images that suggest you that you have heard something, you have seen something, but you are not sure. I’m glad to see movies like that come out and explore different ways of scaring people.

CS: You started your career as Ash Williams, how is it changed your relation with the character after all these years?

Campbell: Well, you become a better actor so you improve, because now you have better skills. For me, the first film was frankly about learning how to act. I can watch the first Evil Dead from about halfway on without cringing. When Army of Darkness came around, we decided to make a different type of movie altogether and made an action-adventure picture with the same imbecile. I’m very happy to come back to play Ash twenty five years after I played it, because I have twenty five years of more experience now, and I’m going to use that to make Ash a great character, that’s my goal now, let’s make him the best character I’ve ever played.

CS: You filmed “Evil Dead” with 350, 000 dollars, do you think today is still possible to raise money and make a good movie?

Campbell: Sure, why not? In 1979 when we tried to raise money to make that film the economy in United States was shit, so nobody wanted to invest. There’s not good or bad time. We had to form a company with which we could approach investors and make contracts with them, so we had to be very business like. Everyone thinks that the first Evil Dead was amateur and done in college, it’s not true, we were amateurs in experience but it was all done very professionally, with lawyers and everything, so when we had success with it there was no confusion, we knew who owned what parts of the movie and where the money had to go. Anyway, things were not easy, nobody knew Evil Dead back then, everything had to start from scratch. In the old days we had to go to a camera rental place and give them insurance, we needed to have it, and then you would rent it from them and it was very expensive and you had to get it back by a certain time otherwise they would charge you more. Same with every equipment, same with laboratory work. You had to develop your film and then you had to make it print and you had to get an editing machine and edit it, none of that was easy. In the old days it was a good way to get rid of all the lazy people, in the seventies if you were making movies and you were lazy you would never succeed. Now you can go to your local electronic store, buy an HD camera, you can use an editing software, you can use music software and FX to make all your titles and graphics for a very small amount of money. You can get yourself set for about five thousand dollars, with everything you need to make a movie. Then you go and make a movie and you put it on a pen drive and you can go to your local theatre now, because they all have digital projectors, and you give them this small thing, not that junk case of film, and they show it to the audience. So, filmmakers have no excuses now, there’s no excuses not to be able to make a low budget movie, and you can do it cheaper than 350.000 dollars. You don’t need laboratories, it’s all digital, you need a table to edit all, a tripod, you know, you don’t even need lights anymore, because cameras are so sensitive, and it’s HD, that’s a good enough quality for anything. It’s much easier to make movies now. The problem is always the same, you need an idea, if you don’t have an idea it doesn’t matter if you are Steven Spielberg.

CS: It looks as if there aren’t a lot of good ideas today…

Campbell: There are still good ideas and there were shitty ideas in the seventies. There are a lot of bad movies also in the seventies, eighties or nineties, every decade has shitty movies and every decade has classic movies.

CS: Your name is forever closely linked with the Ash character, don’t you feel a bit stuck with it? Is it a gift or a curse?

Campbell: It doesn’t bother me either way, I know who I am and it doesn’t matter who people think I am, plus everybody only watch what they want to watch. I’ve done many other things that are not Ash, but I’ve been more stereotyped by the fans than by Hollywood, the industry would let me play all kind of roles, because they know I’m just an actor, and I am respected for that. Many fans think I’m just Ash, I’ve more trouble being seen as different from fans than my own industry, because that’s all they watch, the fantastical stuff. I’ve played Cow Boys, I was Ronald Reagan, I did a French movie, I’ve been in “Hercules” and “Xena” and in many other things, but fans like what they like, and that’s OK for me. I’m embracing Ash Vs. Evil Dead again otherwise fans will get mad at me. Sam Raimi made three “Spider Man” movies which made million of dollars, but everybody kept asking him: where is the next “Evil Dead”? I did a TV Show: Burn Notice, for seven years, but fans didn’t care, they kept asking about Evil Dead. So don’t fight City Hall, give the people what they want. I’m going to give you Ash so much that you won’t be able to breath.

CS: Actually I really loved “Burn Notice”, even if it’s not Horror, what do you remember about it?

Campbell: It was a fun show to work on because it was not a Police show, it was not a Doctor show and it was not a Lawyer show, as almost everything is about today, but it had life and death, there were things about right and wrong and justice. So, it was a very good experience because I was not the star of the show, I could add the salt and pepper, I was not the meal. It was a good position to be in, because I didn’t have to carry the show.

CS: What are the differences, for an actor like you, to be in a TV series or in a movie?

Campbell: TV Series are much quicker and faster, I like it, you do more in a day, you are more efficient. Movies can be slow and very boring, I like TV Series and I’m suited for it, I’m ready to go, when I show up on a film set I want to go.

CS: After “Bubba Ho-Tep” everybody’s been waiting for the announced sequel: “Bubba Nosferatu”, will it ever be made?

Campbell: When Joe Lansdale will come back to write the script, the chance are much better. He was the one who wrote a very original story, if you don’t get the guy who is a very good writer, there’s not much to talk about. That’s what I mind about and, do we need a sequel to anything? It’s a very precious little movie, what if we made it and no one liked it? Now all you would remember is the shitty one, not the good one. I’d rather like people just remember Bubba Ho-Tep in some special way in their mind, not some franchise with merchandising and the same crap. I think that’s what helped it to stand apart, not trying to be a franchise.

CS: What do you think of the huge use of digital special effects to create monsters in Horror movies today?

Campbell: Well, there’s a lot more digital today, but digital is not your story, digital should help you tell your story. I like the use of digital in a movie like Forest Gump, because they used digital to make you think that this actor had no legs, you don’t even see the digital and that’s the way it should be. Digital FX can follow a little feather and make it flow, and flow and land at the character feet, that’s what digital is very good for. What we do with CGI in a show like Ash vs. Evil Dead is that we want to have the blood to be “old school”, so we put some tubes and we pump it through your body, but some time you need to hide the tubes, and so you just digitally erase them. We try not to use digital blood, it’s too bad, it doesn’t look right, it doesn’t move right, it looks two dimensional, they haven’t figured it out yet. Digital is too easy to fall back on, it’s a tool, it’s a very good tool, but it’s just that, it’s not going to make a movie. In the Evil Dead remake they use it mainly to hide things and mechanisms, I think it is a clever way to use it, it’s only helping.

CS: You have made seven movies as a director, will you be back any sooner behind the camera?

Campbell: When things come about, they come about, they just happen. Projects are just happening, some take a long time to get the money while other are very quick and if you are working on television you disappear from other things. When I was doing Burn Notice in Florida, I disappeared for seven years, and that restricts you from doing other things, so I never know when I’ll be able to get to other projects, who knows? I’m prepping a lot of things, some as actor, some as a director. I have writers writing many things, I have ten scripts that are ready to go, when I have time, but I’m not going to have time until Ash Vs. Evil Dead is done.

CS: You were one of the first actor, besides Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, to mix Horror and Comedy, what do you like so much of that?

Campbell: I don’t like Horror that’s grim, the world is grim, we don’t need a show to tell that to the world, it already knows it. Entertainment it’s supposed to elevate the world, a lot of humor is needed along the way, because some people don’t like Horror, they stay for the humor or, if you like Horror, maybe you will enjoy a little comedy as well. It’s just a little more of a wink of the eye at it, like everything is OK, we are just pretending that this is real.

CS: What are your thoughts about the “Evil Dead” recent remake?

Campbell: Well, I produced it, so I thought it was good. That film made ninety four million dollars, so I don’t care what anybody says! Some people were disappointed because it was so serious, but there are people who never saw Evil Dead before, and they’ve seen that movie and they were terrified. It’s a scary, creepy, dark film, and that was what the director wanted, Fede Alvarez, we wanted to support him. Even the first Evil Dead was not meant to be funny, it just was because it was cheesy, a low budget production.

CS: Sam Raimi often says that his mission in life is to torture Bruce Campbell, why?

Campbell: When we were younger men Sam and I were performing at “Bar mitzvah”, he was the magician and I was his assistant. Sam was hitting me with a stake when we were performing and the kids thought that it was funny, so Sam was convinced that he needed to hurt me in order to entertain the audience. That was thirty seven years ago and he’s still doing it.

CS: The old Oldsmobile from the first “Evil Dead” movie has appeared in all Sam Raimi films, is it the same car? And how he keeps it in such a good condition?

Campbell: Yes, it’s the same car that has been used in every Sam movie he has ever made, included The quick and the dead, which is a western. They disassembled the top of it and made it look like a wagon, while they took parts of it and put it up on a wall. I guess something wonderful happened on the back seats of that car. They even put it on a boat and shipped it to New Zealand, where we’re filming Ash Vs. Evil Dead. I will one day kill that car with my bare hands, because I don’t like the way in which he is obsessed with that car, it’s not natural.

CS: How did censorship changed since you first did a movie like “Evil Dead”? Today also television is more permissive in showing violence and blood…

Campbell: To give you a bit of history, the original Evil Dead was banned in six countries, only one month ago Germany removed the ban. For thirty seven years they had a ban against that movie. Now Horror has come out of the shadows, but it used to be pornography, we were very close to that in people perceptions. Today because of The Walking Dead and shows like that, Horror is just another genre now and it’s a very popular form of entertainment. We found a partner, “Starz”, that it will let us do what we need to do, but back then, with the first two “Evil Dead” films we had trouble with censorship, although we didn’t put any restrictions in what we wanted to show, and the fans loved that. This is the reason because we have been looking for a partner with which we could do that again, so essentially Ash Vs. Evil Dead has no censorship, it is an unrated television show, and we are very happy to present it that way, not because we feel we have to always be excessive, but it allows us to do it if we would like to, and sometimes we like to.

CS: There was a moment in which you decided you wanted to be an actor? And what advice would you give to a young actor?

Campbell: Yes, there was a moment, I was eight years old and my father was in a play, a local play, it was called “Brigadoon” and he was singing and dancing with women that were not my mother, which was strange to me but interesting, and I remember thinking that it was a different part of my father that I never saw. So that seemed very appalling, and when I got older I joined that theater crew and did plays, and I was eventually directed by my father. If I have to give an advice to young actors, that would be: don’t listen to anyone about anything, if you want to be an actor, be an actor, but you cannot be lazy. If you are lazy you will be an unemployed actor, there are many opportunities out there now, there are thousands of channels now, when I grew up there were only three channels, therefore get up your lazy ass!

#Bruce Campbell #Ash vs Evil Dead #Ash vs. Evil Dead

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