#{that which was lost long ago || liam's skills and talents}

[officialthiamlibrary]

Got any canon fics set post 6B?

Here you go! A mix of older fics and some within the last month, I hope you’ll enjoy them!

Ocean Front Property and Yoda Wisdom by Diary (Teen | Complete | 1.3K) Tags: Frenemies, angst and feels Summary: Post-canon. Theo has issues, Stiles cares about Liam, and these facts interconnect. Complete. A Peek Inside: “I still don’t like or trust you. Okay, I never will. But you’ve been good for him. And I gotta admit, seeing you in love is an interesting thing.”

Hold Me. I’ve Lost My Anchor. by SterekShipper (General | Complete | 5K) Tags: Hurt/comfort, angst, there is a second fic that follows this one Summary: Once again Liam and Theo had been in a fight. There was nothing unusual about that. It happened all the time. It was a natural part of their relationship. This fight however, had a different ending. A Peek Inside: It was just a fight. There was never a reason. Not really. Their relationship consisted of bickering and playful jibes. A bond had formed the night of the hospital. The night Theo had faced the Ghost Riders head on, fully intending to sacrifice himself. All to save him.

Stones by cherrysprite (General | Complete | 2.6K) Tags: First kiss, Theo introspection Summary: Theo begins to find his place as a normal nineteen year old with an accidental rock collection. A Peek Inside: One day, he sees a man sitting outside that said cafe, playing his guitar softly while people walk past without a second thought. It’s one of the more jarring parts of Theo’s detachment, he realizes. If he were normal, he would be able to grasp how people managed to pick up on hobbies and skills. It was like Mason and his love of reading, Corey and his talent with writing, and Liam spending his weekends playing lacrosse or working out. He just always finds himself perplexed at how they’d each figured out that what they were doing was good to them.

in the hospital after the war by snaeken (General | Complete | 1.5K) Tags: Summary: "I can wipe the blood off my own face, Liam," he snarks, mainly because he doesn't know what else to do; because it's comfortable, familiar, as far as the two of them are concerned. He doesn't pull away though. "I know. But I want to." Liam looks up at him, ocean blue eyes boring into his own. Theo's breath would probably catch, if he was breathing at all. "Let me." A Peek Inside: The hospital is, well. A bit like the aftermath of a warzone. Doctors and nurses and deputies everywhere, armed with handcuffs and body bags, making arrests and treating the wounded; Theo's own wolfsbane-laced bullet wound in his shoulder was treated by Deaton, while Liam regrouped with his pack and had his own wounds treated by Argent.

it’s you, sweet baby by axebastard (Teen | Complete | 1.9K) Tags: Pining, getting together Summary: In which Theo eats a s'more for the first time and Liam isn't quite as subtle as he'd like to be. A Peek Inside: Theo blinked, one corner of his mouth twitching. So Liam was inviting him somewhere. On purpose. He didn't know whether to feel honored or suspicious.

To Take One’s Pain by Endraking (Teen | Complete | 2.5K) Tags: Minor character death, angst, sick children Summary: Liam wanders the Hospital as he does a sweep. Memories come back to him about Theo since the chimera hadn't been seen since Gabe died and Monroe fled. While walking the halls, Liam learns something that will change his perspective about Theo. A Peek Inside: Liam walked the halls of Beacon Memorial Hospital.  It wasn't that long ago that it was a battleground and not a place for the sick and injured to heal.  Memories of those times, memories of hunters killing supernaturals, memories of the Riders, memories of the chimera and the Dread Doctors pull him to wander the halls.  He's not a patient though he would garner a little less attention if he put on one of the hospital gowns.  The lights were dimmed, something the hospital did either to save money or remind some of the more active patients that it was indeed nighttime.  He moved down one hall to the next, walking up the stairs and repeating the process until he makes it to the roof.  Then he hopped into the elevator and repeated.  He was making sweeps of the hospital, but it wasn't from any present issue but his worry over his stepfather.  Doing sweeps in the preserve was one thing but it was almost too easy for the pack to forget that things attack the hospital regularly and Melissa and Dr. Geyer were right in the line of fire.  That brought him to the halls, but his mind was a million miles away as he wandered to the morgue

i know all sorts of things i don't believe by eneiryu (Explicit | Complete | 80K) Tags: Post finale, Theo Raeken centric, getting together, pack dynamics Summary: So, anyway. That’s how Theo becomes pack-mom to Scott’s merry band of supernatural misfits. A Peek Inside: Scott gets this narrow-eyed look like he knows what Theo’s thinking, but humors him regardless, “I was hoping you’d agree to stay here, help protect the town.” (...) “Okay,” Theo blurts out, cutting him off before he can speak, suddenly irrationally afraid that Scott‘s going to take it back, say nevermind, forget it, “Just until you find Monroe, right?” Scott nods, still looking perturbed but thankfully silent, “Okay. I’ll stay until then.”

you want me to hold your hand and kiss it better? by xxDreamFilledEyesxx (Mature | Complete | 3.9K) Tags: angst and feels Summary: Set after the Teen Wolf series finale: After taking Gabe's pain away, Theo thought Liam might be glad to see that he cares, so why has he been acting so strange? A Peek Inside: A few feet away stood Melissa, her face covered in pity for the life the boy on the floor had lost in a war that wasn’t his to fight. Theo's heart skipped a beat as his gaze turned to the person standing next to her. Liam.

Sun Is Up, I’m A Mess by IThinkWeHaveAnEmergency (General | Complete | 5.1K) Tags: College, mutual pining Summary: Liam transfers to San Francisco State and on his first day, runs into a face he hasn't seen in a long time. A Peek Inside: Liam steps closer to the man he hasn't seen in almost two years, his campus security guard uniform clear.

A Chimera’s First Heart by Auddieliz09 (Mature | Complete | 22K) Tags: Mild smut, first kiss Summary: Theo wouldn’t go so far as to say that everything is perfect in the months after the War, but, for him, it’s just about as perfect as his life can get. However, when someone from his past shows up on Scott's doorstep, Theo's life takes a new turn. But will it be for better or worse? A Peek Inside: When they left the hospital that night, Liam had looked at him in a way he never had before. Like he was seeing Theo for the first time without his past hanging over him. He was seeing Theo for the man he was trying to become. A man worthy of being his friend, maybe more. Theo became an official ally to the pack and began to hang out with Liam and his friends.

five punch knock out by I_write_fanfiction_sometimes (Teen | Complete | 2.4K) Tags: 5+1 Summary: Five times Liam asked what he was doing, and one time the answer was 'being happy' A Peek Inside: Theo squeezes his eyes shut and barely holds back a groan. Mint foam drips into the sink from the handle of his toothbrush and burns around the edge of his mouth. Of course it had to be Liam. Fucking Mason wouldn’t ask questions, he’d just walk right back out. Somehow though, Liam has decided he wasn’t scary.

Change of Plans by never_love_a_wild_thing (Teen | Complete | 69K) Tags: Fake relationship, light angst Summary: When Hayden breaks up with Liam minutes before his very public proposal was planned, Theo steps up to save him the embarrassment of being rejected in front of the pack. In order not to disappoint their Alpha, Theo and Liam decide to carry on faking their relationship until they can think of a good way to end it and keep everybody happy. In which Theo is crushing hard and neither of them plan things out well enough (or at all, really). A Peek Inside: Theo opened his mouth and then shut it quickly. He had argued with Liam over Hayden too many times to think that it was worth it anymore. “I just think that you should maybe figure out how she feels about it before you go and ask her to marry you in front of your entire pack,” he said.

Only you can look at me the way you do by merrythoughts, ReallyMissCoffee (Explicit | Complete | 57K) Tags: Smut Summary: But Liam knows that tonight's gonna be one of the nights where he caves in and he doesn't care. A Peek Inside: They hadn't turned up anything so why not blow off some steam and then check back later? Scott'll never know the difference.

The Truth Will Set You Free by tabbytabbytabby (Teen | Complete | 1.6K) Tags: Light angst, misunderstandings Summary: Theo realizes he has feelings for Liam, but before he can tell him he sees Liam with a girl from his class and assumes they're dating, and that Liam could never be interested in him. He makes a decision to help himself find some peace, but first, he needs to tell Liam how he feels. Liam's response surprises him. A Peek Inside: A normal morning in mid-March, standing in the Geyer’s kitchen, watching as Liam tried and mostly failed at making pancakes. He’d stood there with pancake batter all over himself, looking sleep-rumpled and adorable and the thought just struck Theo so suddenly.

The Curse of Batman and Robin by songbvrd (No Rating | Complete | 10K) Tags: Bodyswap Summary: Liam and Theo are friends. Sort of. They live together and spend a lot of time together, but they also fight. Constantly. When a body swapping curse leaves them having to pretend to be each other, shenanigans ensue. A Peek Inside: It never lasted, because as annoyed as he was by Theo, he did also like him. He would never tell him that, god forbid the already painfully egotistical chimera get another boost on his account.

The Big Bad Chimera by OTP_fandom_shipper (Teen | Complete | 643) Tags: Fluff Summary: Theo falls asleep on Liam's shoulder, so he takes a picture. Needless to say, Theo is not very happy and wants it deleted. Que the "wrestling" session in the living room. A Peek Inside: Theo arrived back at Liam’s around 5:00. The beta’s family had been gracious enough to let Theo stay with them after they found out that he had been living in his truck. He did get a job not too long ago since he had graduated high school and wanted to make his own money. He was saving to get a place of his own. Theo didn’t want to stay too long with the Geyers.

Touch my neck and I’ll touch yours by voices_in_my_head (Mature | Complete | 7.3K) Tags: Pornstar Theo Summary: ""And you, Theo, what did you do during the week?" Scott asks, clearly trying to bring him into the conversation, which no one has done aside from Liam (they talked about the new The Good Place episode, because surprise surprise, Theo got addicted to Netflix once he found out what it was) and Corey (who actually seems to enjoy Theo's presence and Liam knows they've hanged out just the two of them. Which he obviously is not jealous about, pff, why would he be? Corey has a boyfriend. ... And Liam isn't interested in Theo that way, obviously.) Theo smirks before answering, to which Liam's heart does a slight jump, hoping that no one noticed or, if they did, will be kind enough to pretend otherwise. "I did a porno."" A Peek Inside: Liam isn't entirely sure how he feels about it. Theo seems to really have turned a new leaf, and Liam is pretty sure he would have died in the hospital if he hadn't been there, but he also can't forget the way he played them all, the way Liam almost killed Scott because of him.

[parttimehuman]

may i ask for a thiam kiss number 59? thank you

For over an hour, Theo has been sitting on the bleachers now, watching. October throws winds at him that threaten to rip his ears off and he definitely should have brought a thicker jacket, but he sits still on the cold, hard bench, arms wrapped around his own body, chin buried in a scarf that mostly serves to hide his dumb smile. 

Had someone told him that this would become his life some day, Theo would have offered them a ride to Eichen House. It’s insane, really. Theo Raeken has a reputation. He’s dark, he’s mysterious. Evil, some say. He came back to town with no family but scars and tattoos covering his skin. Rumor has it he returned to his home town after being released from juvie. He must have a violent past, that’s what all the whispering voices agree on. The theory he likes the most is that he’s the arsonist responsible for the series of fires in Northern California that was all over the news roughly five years ago. 

Of course, the stories are nothing more than rumors. Theo has a difficult past, but that’s for him to deal with and talk about in privacy. Theo is not as cold and unattainable as he looks like. He’s not made of steel. He has a beating heart and hot blood in his veins and weaknesses that make him freeze his ass off while watching Beacon Hills’ lacrosse team practice. 

One weakness, to be exact. Liam Dunbar. 

The first impression Theo had of the kid was a hunch that he wasn’t going to die from natural causes. Because Liam can be loud and impulsive. He’s ready to fight people for being mean to others. He tells awful jokes and he runs his mouth and he threatens people to punch them in the balls with an adorable expression on his face. He walks into school with blue hair because he wants to, and the next week it’s suddenly pink. Because he wants it. 

Theo used to tease him for the hyperactive mess that Liam is, but when he laughed so hard that he had to wipe away a tear as he said, “I love that kid,” Theo wasn’t kidding. He knew back then that his heart was lost to the boy. Every time Liam offered to beat him up with his lacrosse stick, Theo only fell harder. 

And now here he is. With his eyes chasing Liam across the playing field, because during lacrosse, a version of Liam that doesn’t exist anywhere else comes out. It’s not just that Liam is good, which he is. Insanely talented. He’ll be going to college on a scholarship one year from now. 

The important thing is that Liam loves lacrosse. Theo remembers the night when they were driving around town in his truck and Liam told him about how his stepdad David had taught him, how they’d bonded over it and eventually become a family, how lacrosse offered Liam a way to channel all his strength and aggressions into something positive. 

When Liam sits in the library or at his desk at home trying to do homework, his attention span is short and every damn thing around him a welcome distraction. When Liam has his lacrosse gear on, a stick in his hands and an opponent ahead, he stays focused until he’s won. 

When Theo wakes him up before school in the morning asking if Liam wants to join him for a run he usually gets a pillow thrown at him in response, but when Liam is chasing the ball or leading an attack on the goal, he’s unstoppable. 

Sure, he’s fast and he’s strong and highly skilled, attentive of the game, his teammates and opponents, quick and smart in his strategic decisions, precise and forceful when he passes or takes a shot on the goal. Most importantly, though, Liam’s heart is in the game every second of it, summer heat or pattering rain be damned. 

Theo doesn’t exactly understand lacrosse. He doesn’t know the rules. When Liam throws his helmet to the ground and stomps towards the referee with a bright red face and wild gestures of his arms, Theo has no idea what he’s complaining about. He doesn’t follow when Liam recaps one of their games for him. Theo doesn’t care about the technicalities behind lacrosse. 

What Theo cares about is the grin on Liam’s face when he wins. The way he looks when he’s all sweaty and exhausted, with hair sticking to his forehead and his neck, the huge lacrosse jersey hanging from his shoulders, his eyes glowing. What he cares about is seeing Liam jump into the air after he’s scored a goal and finding him on the grass after practice when Liam is breathless and his legs shaky because he doesn’t stop until his muscles are aching. 

It’s why he comes and watches. To see Liam being himself and forgetting the world beyond the field markings. For Liam’s passion, his anger and frustration, his determination to become better, his triumphs and the happiness. 

Sometimes, Theo leaves before Liam gets the chance to take his gear off and find him on the bleachers. Sometimes, watching him is enough and there’s nothing more to get out of it for himself. 

Sometimes, there is. Sometimes, Theo stays for his dose of post-lacrosse-Liam. For breathless, messy kisses and damp skin and to lie on the ground together. To help Liam take off his gear and make out on the bleachers until the rest of the team is done showering so Theo can help Liam with that too. To wash the sweat and the dirt and grass off of his skin and shampoo his hair, to use up all the hot water that’s left and dry Liam off when they’re finally done. To drive him home after it’s long gone dark and be invited to stay for dinner by Liam’s mom. 

As always, Liam fist bumps all of his teammates after Coach blows his whistle and ends practice for the day. His helmet tumbles on the ground and he grabs a bottle of water, turning his head to see if Theo is there. He never looks during practice. But he always checks afterwards. 

“You look like you’re cold,” Liam shouts across the field. He looks the most beautiful Theo has ever seen him, cheeks pink and lips even more pink, chest heaving and sinking, the exhaustion relaxing him. 

“A little,” Theo admits. He’s smiling because Liam is, because there’s no way not to, because these minutes after practice and before it gets too cold to stay outside any longer are goddamn precious to him. Because he’s in love. Because Liam Dunbar is the most wonderful person in the world and he loves him. 

“I can’t exactly have my boyfriend freezing up there,” Liam mutters. And then he jumps over the first couple of rows like it’s nothing. He stops in front of Theo with a grin and wraps his arms around him, pulling him down and against him, lifting Theo up just to sit down on one of the benches with Theo on top of him. Theo used to think there was nothing worse than being a cliché, but having your jock boyfriend show you his strength by picking you up and letting you sit in his lap? It’s addictive. 

“Oh look, I suddenly feel like it got 300 percent hotter around here,” Theo whispers. 

Liam rolls his eyes and kisses him. Theo loves touching Liam when he’s got all his gear still on, and he loves the way he smells right now. He loves how warm he is and how fast his heart is beating. He loves that their kisses after lacrosse practice always taste like extra passion, like they haven’t seen each other in years when in reality, Theo was the one to drive Liam there two hours earlier. 

He loves how much Liam wants him and how desperate it makes him, so much so that his whole body curves into Liam’s, arms wrapping around his neck and teeth pulling at his lower lip, hips rocking against him until Liam pulls him even closer with his strong arms around Theo’s waist. 

“You were amazing today,” Theo whispers into Liam’s ear. 

Liam groans and lets his hands slip beneath Theo’s jacket and shirt. “Fuck, I love lacrosse practice,” he says. 

“And this is only practice,” Theo teases, “just you wait for the actual game on Friday.”

Liam lets out a moan and stands up, startling Theo a little. With purposeful steps, he carries him down the bleachers and away from the playing field.

“Liam,” Theo giggles, “what are you doing?”

“We need to get inside your truck,” Liam replies dryly. “Now.” 

Fuck, Theo loves lacrosse practice almost as much as Liam does. 

[seriouslyhooked]

Lost Souls and Reveries (Part 13)

22 part AU written for @cssns​. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12. Story available on AO3 Here and FF Here. Banner created by the amazingly talented @shipsxahoy​!!

Killian Jones is a wolf shifter without roots, without plans, and without a pack. He’s a rogue, someone humans should avoid and shifters should be wary of given his lineage. But one night years back set him on a path he didn’t realize he was taking, a path leading to a future he is destined for. That future is tied up in one woman – a human named Emma Nolan. Together Emma and Killian will find not only answers, but a love that’s truly fated. But will love be enough to set them free, or will past demons win out in the end? (Answer: love always wins – I am writing this so despite some tiny pockets of angst it’s basically a fluff-filled insta-love fest). Rated M.

A/N: Hey everyone! So after a long time away this chapter comes bringing some interesting new elements to the mix. I know that we have the Liam confrontation still to come, but there was another important thing that needed to happen too: Elsa and Anna needed to find out about magic. This chapter is bringing us to that moment, as well as throwing in some other elements as well. A lot of this you guys might have guessed at some of this, but I’m hoping you enjoy the layers and elements I’ve had tucked away in my mind since starting this story. As always thanks so much for reading and I am really looking forward to seeing what you all think!

Life as Emma knew it was totally and completely different than it had been just weeks ago.

Before this summer started, and before she’d found the gift of a mate and learned some big secrets about how the world really worked, she’d lived a normal life. There had been some instances of strangeness, and certainly there had been struggles strewn into her story here in Storybrooke Maine, but on the whole she’d been just a regular girl who met each and every day with a certain set of definitive facts. She didn’t even ever think about them, they were just supposed to be given parts of life, and one of those fundamental truths was that magic wasn’t real. It was a figment of fiction, a childish dream, a beautiful, hopeful imagined force, but it wasn’t supposed to actually exist.

Yet now she knew better. Emma had witnessed first hand some of the varied ways magic manifested itself. She’d seen shifters and encountered Ruby’s visions. This morning she’d even witnessed a bit of spell casting by Killian’s cousin as well, but Emma had been told by Ruby that it was nothing compared to what she’d see in the future. This was ‘mild magic’ but the magic brought about by Emma’s oldest and dearest friend was supposedly far more miraculous. That was amazing to imagine, but at the same time it didn’t make things any less uneasy. She was currently walking up the road to Elsa’s house preparing to tell her she was a witch and that was crazy. There was nothing about that that was normal or expected, and as such Emma was just a tiny bit concerned.  

“You’re going to do the talking, right?” Emma asked, checking with Ruby for the fifth time this morning about what was going to happen when they got to Anna and Elsa’s home.

This reveal had been on Emma’s mind in some capacity since Ruby and Granny showed up in Storybrooke, but now they were on the precipice of the confrontation and Emma was more than a little nervous. This was a huge secret and also a very intimate one. It would explain so much about Elsa and about Anna and their family, and Emma imagined it would be a real awakening for her friend, but at first Elsa might resist. All these years people had been teasing Elsa about her dreams or lovingly pushing the thought that maybe she truly had a gift. Emma and Anna had always known Elsa was special, but now there was more information and more possibility. If Ruby’s assessment of Elsa’s gifts was right, there was a whole new world that was about to open up to Emma’s best friend, and Emma knew that while Elsa would eventually be grateful, she might very well be hesitant at first.

Understandably Elsa was not a great proponent of change. Losing their parents so young had impacted both Elsa and Anna in incalculable ways. For Anna it had made her want to live each moment to a fuller extent. She never let a day pass where she didn’t tell people what they meant to her. She ended every friendly hang out session with an ‘I love you,’ and a huge hug at the very least. Anna was continuously grateful and energized, but she also took risks. She always said that life was all in the way you lived it. She never wanted to be afraid, and so sometimes she took things to extremes.

Elsa was almost a polar opposite, and Emma knew it wasn’t merely because she was a more introverted person. So much of that tendency towards caution had come from being the eldest sister. She’d taken on the role as caregiver and as pseudo-parent, and though Emma’s family and the whole town had come together to help the girls when their parents passed away, Elsa never shied away from her responsibilities. She became Mom and Dad and sister, guide and best friend, teacher and peer. As a result, Elsa would do anything for Anna, but in the rest of her life she was guarded. She never expended too much unnecessary energy and never gave too much away. She sided with safety and certainty, and this big reveal would hardly feel like a sure thing.

“I’m doing the talking,” Ruby promised, her hand coming to Emma’s arm in a sign of comfort. “Well, at least until you get comfortable. And you will, Emma. I promise. It’s gonna be great. I can’t see everything, as you know, but I can sense how things will end and it’s going to be more than okay.”

“I’d trust my cousin on this, love,” Killian said from Emma’s other side, squeezing her hand in a reassuring sign of connection as he did. “Ruby is never wrong about these things. If she’s confident enough to voice a vision, it will come to pass.”

“Damn right it will,” Ruby said with pride, and Emma was happy for this tiny fleeting moment.

Killian’s family might have come because of a bad situation on the horizon (and according to Ruby’s estimates they were still some time away from any kind of confrontation) but they’d done their best to live and be themselves since then. Killian’s deciding to stand his ground and confront Liam for better or worse here in Storybrooke seemed to embolden Ruby and Granny. With a plan somewhat established, they eased into things and had even started to show some signs of hope. Ruby’s visions were still unsure in regards to Liam, but her instincts weren’t as harried and afraid as they had been before, and Emma was more than glad for that.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to second-guess your abilities,” Emma said, not wanting Ruby to feel that she didn’t respect all that her new friend was capable of. “It’s just kind of a lot. Today I have to go tell my best friend she’s got magical powers. Then I have to ask her if she’s seen the future lately because there’s danger looming in a town that never really tends to see it. It’s a little…”

“Overwhelming,” Killian said at the same time that Ruby filled in with her own “totally bizarre.”

“Yeah, both of those actually,” Emma agreed, barking out something like a laugh again and leaning into Killian, pulling a little extra strength from him as they walked up the rest of the steps to Elsa and Anna’s house. Before they could knock though, the door flew open and there was Anna looking out of breath, as if she’d been sprinting around the house for some time.

“Aha! I knew Elsa’s hunch would be right. She mentioned that there might be guests today off handedly when she woke up, and then she said we didn’t have to clean because it was just a thought. That obviously wasn’t going to happen. Elsa knows what Elsa knows, right? Only problem is this place is so big it’s hard for just two of us, and I can never figure out how to vacuum the walls right. But it’s fine because you’re here now!”

Anna said all the words so quickly that Emma wondered if Killian and Ruby would need a translator. It was just like her friend to be going a hundred miles a minute. Her thoughts ran fast, and her tongue ran faster, that was what Elsa and Anna’s Grams had always said and she wasn’t wrong. But where others might have whiplash from the speed of that largely random monologue, Emma was totally comfortable with it. It was indication that things were as they always were here in her friends’ house, and though Emma was about to change that, she took it as a good sign that Anna immediately hugged her close in a welcoming gesture without even saying a traditional hello.

“I’m sorry, the walls?” Killian asked aloud, drawing Anna’s attention to him with the apt question. Emma watched as her friend’s eyes lit up, and she didn’t miss the way that Anna’s gaze flicked back between Emma and Killian a few times before she answered.

“Yeah. It’s like the one thing I’m not a complete disaster at,” Anna said, as if that was any kind of explanation, and Emma shared a look with Killian trying to convey that she would fill him in on Anna’s quirks and skill sets a little later. Meanwhile Ruby chuckled aloud, and Emma thought perhaps her gift made her privy to some of those images of Anna cleaning, which were, admittedly, always a riot.

“You’re never a disaster, Anna,” Elsa proclaimed from inside the house before she appeared at the doorway, looking much less windswept and out of breath than her sister. She also handled the presence of guests so differently, offering a smile and a more socially polite greeting to them all. “We were hoping to see you today, Emma. And you brought company! Hi Killian.”

“Good to see you, Elsa” Killian replied genuinely. Elsa’s smile grew at Killian’s honest enjoyment in seeing her and then her eyes moved to Ruby. Emma waited for a second to see if there would be any immediate recognition. Maybe Elsa had seen Ruby in a dream or something, but there was nothing past a mild friendliness there and Emma knew that for now Ruby was just any other person to her friend.

“Elsa, Anna, this is Killian’s cousin Ruby. She’s, uh, visiting?” Emma said, not meaning to have her inflection change so it sounded like a question, but Ruby went right ahead as if that introduction wasn’t weird and stilted at all.

“It’s really great to meet you two. I feel like I already know you guys.”

“Oh score, he’s got family! And where there’s family there’s like a million embarrassing stories and deets about how he’s going to treat our girl,” Anna said, again seeming to forget herself. After a moment she had the good sense to look a little bashful. “Oh shoot, did I say that out loud?”

“Yup,” Killian and Ruby responded at once, the latter seeming to have a lot more fun with this than the former, but Emma knew Killian had a soft spot for Anna and for Elsa. She’d watched over the past few weeks as he got to know her friends, and he’d said more than once that since they were Emma’s chosen family so to would they be his.

“What my sister probably meant to say is that it’s nice to meet you too,” Elsa said graciously. “And won’t you come in? I wouldn’t have bored you with the details, but since Anna already shared, we have in fact cleaned the house today.”

Everyone walked inside and Emma could almost imagine seeing this house for the first time again as Killian was (with Ruby it was doubtful, seeing as her gift had so much range and possibility). For Emma, this estate had always been one of the most gorgeous in Storybrooke. Anna and Elsa’s family had been some of the founding members of this town centuries ago, and they’d been old money from back in Europe well before that. At one time there’d even been a habit by some people of calling them the town royals, at least among their more jealous and less kind hearted neighbors, but that was before the tragic accident that took Anna and Elsa’s parents from them too soon. Still this house was a symbol of tradition and grace. It was old but still fresh and though it had gotten a little colder when they lost their parents, Elsa wouldn’t allow coldness to linger. She certainly could have, and Emma would have never faulted her friend for giving in to sadness, but for Anna, Elsa had always been strong. Part of that strength meant keeping this house alive and vibrant, and she’d managed to do that every day, no matter how hard it had been.

Looking around the ‘sun parlor’ (basically a fancy rich people word for sitting room with a full wall of glass windows), Emma noticed the subtle differences between their childhood version of this home and the one they were in now. Before, this place had been the epitome of prim and proper. It was still lovely, because it had been filled with the love of family, but Elsa’s mother had been meticulous in her desire to keep things as true to the original integrity of the old Victorian home as she could. Elsa, in comparison, had warmed things up. There were live plants strewn about because of Anna’s love of all things natural, and they were all blooming beautifully. There were also so many more pictures of their family and friends on the mantles and side tables. They were snapshots of happy memories, both long ago and also recent, but it never felt morbid or sad. It was a memorial and yet a living breathing tribute to the sisters now as well.

“This is a beautiful home you two have,” Killian said, showing his good manners and making Emma’s heart squeeze tightly. It was a simple compliment, but she knew both of her friends would take it as sincerely as it was meant.

“Thank you,” Elsa replied. “It’s a labor of love, but it’s always felt worth it to us.”

“You got that right,” Anna said sitting down after all of their guests were seated, and then, because she was hardly as patient as her sister, she got right down to the point. “So. What brings Killian’s mysterious cousin to our house? Emma’s got that look about her like she’s got to say something, so I’m betting it’s a doozy.”

Emma’s stomach flipped at Anna’s perceptiveness, though she should have known this would come. She was wondering what would be the best way to proceed. Emma and Ruby definitely needed to be here, as did Anna and Elsa, but though Emma would love the comfort of having Killian by her side in what could be a trying time, she wanted to make sure all parties were comfortable. This was a huge reveal to Elsa and to Anna, and though Emma knew that they loved Killian because she cared so much for him, she didn’t want anything to feel forced. As if he read her mind – whether through the mating link or through his own well-honed Emma radar – Killian squeezed her hand gently and brought it to his lips to press a gentle kiss. Then he announced his intention as their eyes still held.

“I think it might be best if I take a look around the gardens, maybe scope out this sea walk I’ve heard so much about. Would either of you mind?” Killian asked, finally turning to Emma’s friends, but they just smiled and nodded that it was fine, both of them clearly thrilled at his open affection for Emma. “I’ll be right outside should you need me, love.”

“Thank you,” Emma whispered to him before pressing a kiss to his lips and watching him slip out the door to the patio. Killian headed towards the gardens, a place where one could get lost for hours, but she was sure he wouldn’t get turned around. As a shifter, it was one of his many gifts to have that all too keen sense of direction.

“Okay that’s not fair,” Anna exclaimed, her head shaking and the braids she had in this morning following suit. “I mean seriously that man is just crazy about you. I want one!”

Emma laughed at Anna’s outburst and so did Ruby, and the slight tension that had arisen felt like it dwindled considerably. Still Emma could see that her friend, though honest, was also doing this on purpose. It might be Elsa who was a once in a generation witch, but now that Emma knew of magic and of the magic that ran in this family, she was absolutely certain Anna had gifts of her own. Perhaps they were more hidden or subdued, but they were definitely there. Elsa had always been the one with dreams that were uncannily accurate, but Anna had a way of knowing people and situations just like this one.

“Not to worry, Anna. You’ll definitely find someone,” Ruby said and though it could have been construed as a harmless comment, Anna’s eyebrows rose and her smile widened.

“Oh my gosh, you see stuff too don’t you?!” Anna exclaimed, practically squealing. “I know you do! That’s the same face Elsa makes when she has a dream. Now you have to tell us what the hell is going on!”

“You good with that, Emma?” Ruby asked and Emma nodded, moving to sit with Elsa and Anna on the couch as Ruby told them all that she knew.

Though Emma had heard most of this already, it was another experience entirely to have this conversation with Elsa and Anna present. Ruby was giving a basic 101 run down of magic and the supernatural world. Since humanity itself was formed, so to had magic been living and breathing on this earth. Many people in the know considered magic to be another of the elements that people were more familiar with. It was an essence and an energy that always came from nature somehow, but it manifested in many ways. Sometimes it took the form of witches or clairvoyants, and other times it could be seen in other supernatural beings. Ruby hadn’t mentioned shifters specifically yet, focusing instead on what was truly pertinent to Elsa and Anna, but Emma felt completely compelled by what they discovered too. It was still so new and so amazing that conceiving all of this could be real was a challenge.

The element of magic, it turned out, was all around to those who know how to wield it. For witches and warlocks and other spell-casting peoples, magic was a gift mostly held by families that originated from different hubs of magical influence. Long ago there were places on earth where magic was far more present than others. Ruby listed a few off the cuff: portions of the Amazon, oases in the Sahara, islands off of current day Malaysia and more. As such, the people who came from those areas were exposed to a very rich natural spirit for millennia. That spirit was then internalized by more sensitive families, and then, even if they left, the gift of magical ability was transferred with them.

“My family was from Ireland originally,” Ruby explained, drawing a pendant that she had that didn’t look so dissimilar from the one of Killian’s that Emma had found. As she did so, a breeze swept through the room but it was contained, gentle, warm, and well… wonderful. It smelled sweet, like the fresh bloom of wild flowers, and as Emma looked at the light swirling in the room, she could see these sort of spiritual etchings dancing in the wind of feathers, leaves, and, as one might expect with the scent, petals. “It was just a tiny Celtic town to the south of the Isle, but according to the diaries that all of the women in my family kept, there was a spring there where magic flowed freely. It was their job to protect the spring, but eventually it dried up and so they moved here.”

“This is… it’s impossible. But it’s real,” Elsa said, her fingertips trying to trace some of Ruby’s magic as it flittered through the air. As she toyed with the magic in the air, her whole being was overcome with an undeniable excitement. There wasn’t any trace of the fear she expected. If anything Elsa looked totally free to believe in something amazing and all consuming. “Magic has been real along. Just like Grams always said. I thought she was teasing, or maybe giving us something beautiful to dream of. I never thought… but it’s always been here. I can feel it now.”

“It has,” Ruby replied, her own joy at seeing Elsa experience this growing more and more by the second.

“You said the spring dried up?” Anna asked, continuing the trend that had emerged of her being the one to ask questions that all of them were thinking. “Did something happen?”

“No, it was just nature taking its course,” Ruby said, pulling back her magical display so the room was as it had been. “It was a couple hundred years ago, and then they came here, or rather, to America, hoping to find a new place to call home. The witches in my family bounced around a little bit before moving further out west. Magic loves forests and the untouched spaces of nature, and as the world has changed, so too have the places that magic likes best.”

“Can wi- wi…” Elsa faltered over the words, still clearly grappling with the new information she was hearing about herself. “Can people who access magic turn into animals by any chance? Like maybe wolves?”

“Let me guess, lots of wolf dreams have been happening since Killian came?” Ruby asked, feeling like she already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Elsa hedged. “But they’ve been around a long time. Since that day in Boston…” Elsa looked to Emma and now, finally, Emma felt like she could jump in for a bit.

“The wolves from that night are more than I ever thought they were. They are not animals, but magical people who can transform their shape. They’re called shifters,” Emma explained. “Not all shifters are wolves, but that night when I was attacked it was a rogue wolf who came after me and another rogue wolf who saved me.”

“You were attacked?!” Anna exclaimed, somehow more worried about that than the fact that Emma was telling her that people could turn into giant animals or that witchcraft was real. “And you knew, Elsa?”

“I’m sorry, Anna, I should have told you but…”

“But I made her promise not to,” Emma said, explaining the story as quickly as she could and filling in on how Elsa had been there. She’d had a dream that brought her to the city, but for a long long time they’d all just considered it this mental break. It couldn’t have been real, but now they knew it truly was. “But what I didn’t realize then is that the shifter was Killian.”

“Holy shit, your Killian?!” Anna asked, completely losing herself in the reveal before looking to Ruby. “Killian’s a wolf? That’s so awesome! So are you a wolf too then? I thought you were a witch.”

“Guilty on both counts,” Ruby said with a grin. “It’s very rare, but witches and shifters can be mates and when they are you end up with hybrids like me.”

“Oh my God mates, that sounds so… hot!” Anna said, play fanning herself as she heard. Emma couldn’t help but let out a laugh at her friend’s antics, but she continued to search Anna’s demeanor to see if she was really okay with all she was finding out or if there was more to this. Anna seemed so completely on board, and Emma wondered how that could be.

“But you said the wolf that saved you, sorry, Killian, you said he was all black right? Like midnight. And the attacker was more tan?”

“Yeah. Like a dull colored sand, why?”

“The one I’ve been dreaming of is lighter than just a pure black,” Elsa said, her confusion clearly gnawing at her.

“Let me guess, dark gray coat, that gets darker at the paws.”

“Yes,” Elsa said, her desire to know who it was winning out. “You know him?”

“It’s Liam,” Ruby confessed, and then, realizing that neither Elsa nor Anna recognized the name, she filled them in. “Killian’s brother.”

“Oh my God, so Elsa is dreaming about Killian’s brother?” Anna asked, looking almost giddy. “Wait that’s a good thing right?”

“It’s complicated,” Ruby said, deflating Anna somewhat, though Elsa seemed to already know that was the case. “And honestly, that part of all of this can wait a while longer. I think you guys will face enough today just hearing your story.”

“So you know about us then,” Elsa asked without the inflection of a real question. “You’re going to tell us about our family?”

“There’s no need for that. They can tell you themselves.”

Silence greeted Ruby’s statement, and it was one of the first times that Emma had ever seen Anna stunned into quiet like this. The pain in her friend’s eyes was mingled with a soul crushing hope, and Emma could understand it. Ruby hadn’t given her too many details, but from what she had said every old family of magic had a repository somewhere with stories and spells and all other kinds of things. It was passed down from generation to generation, and Emma assumed it would be like in the movies where there was a giant book written kind of like a diary.

“How?” Elsa asked, her voice coming out stronger than Emma would have ever imagined as she took Anna’s hand and squeezed it tight and then used her other hand to hold onto Emma.

“There’s a room in this house that no one knows about. There’s a hidden door. That’s where the answers are.”

“A hidden door?” Elsa asked, confused. “We don’t have anything like that. If we did we’d have found it by now.”

“One of you has,” Ruby said, looking to Anna with a soft smile. “You just haven’t remembered in a long time.”

At the words a spark of recollection appeared in Anna’s expression, and Emma knew her friend was working through the recesses of her mind trying to figure out exactly when that happened and where she’d found it. After a moment her eyes lit up and she jumped from the couch.

“It’s out back in the green house. But there was nothing there. Just a bunch of old herbs and dried up plants…”

“There’s a hatch door to a lower level somewhere. It won’t take long for you to find it. I can’t see what’s down there – there are blood protection spells meaning only your family can access that space, but there should be a box there. It’s blue and has your family crest. Inside there are jewels, crystals, and precious stones. They’ll tell the story if you two unlock them.”

“I’m sorry, so the stones are going to… talk to us?” Elsa asked.

“You’ll see,” Ruby said, offering a smile as Anna jumped up.

“We have to go,” Anna said, reaching back for Elsa’s hand. “We have to go right now.”

“All right, all right,” Elsa said, still not looking like she fully believed it. “Emma?”

“I think it would be best if you two did this yourselves,” Emma said, trying to hold back tears as she came to stand up with her friends.

“But you’re our sister, too” Anna said, immediately agreeing with Elsa and Emma swallowed back a lump in her throat.

“Always have been and always will be. But this… it’s your legacy and it’s a part of you guys that I think deserves the utmost care. Plus we don’t know how this blood spell thing works yet. I might not be able to go in at all. But I’ll be right here if you need me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?” Anna and Elsa asked at the same time, and Emma nodded, extending her pinky to them both and twisting tightly when they extended theirs.

“Promise.”

With that, Elsa and Anna headed out to the green house, leaving Ruby and Emma alone for pretty much the first time since Granny and Ruby arrived. It should have been a strange or awkward time, but Emma found it comfortable despite the circumstances. She and Ruby discussed a number of things about magic and about what her friends would find. They were going to be blessed today, not just with their story, but with their story told by their mother and their grandmother. Ruby might not be able to see the story, but she could feel those spirits being close. Ruby explained that it was possible to infuse sound and images into precious gems, and she had a few from her family that had always meant a lot to her. But at one point, after a bit of time discussing this new life changing moment for her friends, Killian caught Emma’s attention. He was outside and in wolf form along the tree line, looking back at the house, or more precisely at her.

“I’ve never seen Killian like this before, so happy and centered,” Ruby mused aloud, her eyes looking towards Killian as she smiled with pride and real joy. “Even when we were kids and his Mom was still here, he was always quiet and always just a little more reserved than me or the other pack pups.”

“I can’t imagine what it must have been like, growing up the way he and Liam did. The way you did, in that pack run by their father. Was it hard when they left?”

“Almost as hard as losing Liam,” Ruby confessed, her expression turning somber and remorseful. Emma wondered if Killian could hear them, but at this distance she thought it was probably doubtful. “But we have the future. I’m afraid to say anything for certain, but it doesn’t feel as menacing right now as it did before. I was panicked when I could sense Liam again, but I still see things. Good things. Things happening years down the way. I have to believe they’ll really happen. You’re going to make them happen.”

“Me?” Emma asked, shocked that she would have any sort of role. “But I’m just a human.”

“Maybe,” Ruby said, not sounding fully convinced, “But even if you’re human, Emma, you’re special. You bring out the best in Killian. You mean the world to Anna and Elsa. You have a light in you. It’s not magic per se, at least I don’t think, but it’s something, and I know it’s important. It might just be the most important thing any of us has to offer.”

Emma thanked Ruby quietly, flattered at the compliment, but unable to respond in any meaningful way because at that precise moment her phone began to ring. She’d been so unplugged for days that Emma was surprised she’d even brought it with her, but the tell tale sign of her mother’s ring tone told Emma that patience had finally run thin for Mary Margaret Nolan. Strangely that was of huge comfort to Emma, and before she so much as greeted her mother, she had a pretty good idea of where this conversation was going to go.

“Hi Mom,” Emma said, thinking about what the proper tactic was for this exchange.

In a regular situation she would apologize for being off the grid. It had been days since she spoke with anyone in her family, and that was not normal for them. But she wasn’t actually sorry for all that had happened the past few days, and Emma also knew that though her mother always meant well, she had a real knack for taking harmless statements and making them a little more innuendo packed than was strictly comfortable.

“Oh Emma, honey, you know I love you, and God knows I love Anna and Elsa nearly as much, but would it be too much for you to call your parents when finally surfacing after days and days away? We miss you.”

“I miss you too, Mom. And sorry about the delay. Things are kind of happening over here. It’s, uh, unexpected.”

“Well surprise guests will do that to you.”

“How did you know about that?” Emma asked, slightly afraid that her mother was going to rehash some truly crazy series of informants, but what she actually heard surprised her even more.

“Easy, I’m having lunch with Granny right now.”

“You’re what?!” Emma asked at the same time Ruby said, “She’s what?!” Well, look at that, even a surprise for the all-seeing Ruby. For a second Emma wondered how she’d heard what her mother said on the phone, and then she remembered Ruby had shifter hearing. She was going to have to get used to that.

“I know! It’s the wildest thing. We just happened to meet at the diner – she was questioning the integrity of the lasagna after ordering it, a good indicator of a person’s character as you know - and we got to talking.” Emma smiled at one of her mother’s strange marks of a person, but it wasn’t the first time she’d heard this bit about the lasagna. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling, Emma. First you find out your true love is a shifter and then you find out your best friends have a magical bloodline -,”

“Mom!” Emma yelled into the phone interrupting her. “You can’t go around saying things like that. Someone could hear you.”

“Emma, I’m at home,” her mother said in a slightly chastising voice, surprising Emma yet again. “Do you really think I’d be so careless? Besides, I can keep a secret you know.”

If someone had said that to Emma even a month ago she would laugh in their face. Mary Margaret Nolan keeping a secret? Yeah right. It was not her style, but that assumption had been proved wrong. She’d kept mum about shifters for years, and in doing so she’d proven that it was possible for her to not give away a private confidence. “I thought you said you were having lunch at the diner.”

“No, I said we met at the diner. I ended up convincing her to come here. Because again, that lasagna is questionable at best. She’s a funny one though, won’t let me call her anything but Granny. But I like her.”

“You realize she’s a shifter too, right? She can hear you.”

“She could hear me if she were human; she’s sitting right in front of me.”

Emma heard Granny say hello in the background and at the same time Ruby came closer and said hello herself. This could have started a whole big conversation, since her mother was clearly curious about Killian’s cousin, but Emma redirected to get some better answers.

“So did you know about Anna and Elsa all this time too?” Emma asked, hating to think this might have been yet another secret between she and her parents. Before they died, Elsa and Anna’s mother and father were good friends of Emma’s parents. But it would be a little strange that they would tell them and not their children about their family legacy.

“Oh no, honey, Granny told me. Gigi never confided in me about any of that, not that I’d ever blame her after the incident where I accidentally told you girls her real name.”

Emma felt a giggle bubble up at that memory. Yes she remembered that day. It wasn’t every day you heard the name ‘Gerda,’ and Anna and Elsa had gone bonkers over the big reveal. They’d been fixated on it for weeks, months even.

“I’m sure Gigi had all sorts of plans for how she wanted Anna and Elsa to hear all of this,” Mary Margaret said, her voice sounding out with more than a touch of sadness for her old friend. “But things happen that we can’t control. And I’m just glad that the girls are getting the chance to learn who they really are now.  And it’s so amazing! I knew about shifters – your father told me that you know everything now so you know how that went – but magic… well it’s just so exciting, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Emma said, letting out a steady breath. “Exciting would be a good word to describe the last few days.”

“Exactly, and with so much going on and so much left to talk about, I think it’s only right that everyone come to the house for dinner. I have to meet Ruby, and I want to check in on Elsa and Anna, but most of all I want to make sure my new son-in-law knows what’s what.”

“Mom,” Emma said with a blush growing over her cheeks before lowering her voice as quietly as she could while still being heard on the other end of the call. “We’re not married.”

“Ha! Maybe not yet, but don’t think a wedding is not already in the works. This mating thing sounds lovely. Your Aunt Gwen told me a bit about it a few years back. It’s like this great big love that means more than any simple ceremony can ever express, but every princess deserves a wedding and you’re darn well going to have one.”

Emma didn’t even have time to groan before Killian approached, stepping into view at the patio door with an intense look in his blue eyes. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Well this was fun. Apparently he could hear her phone calls and from quite a bit of distance away. Emma was doing all she could to not die of embarrassment, but the only thing getting her through was the look on Killian’s face that said he truly did love her and was planning for forever together. It wasn’t like her mother had picked this idea out of nowhere. Clearly Killian felt the same about them getting married, even if they hadn’t gotten there yet.

“Okay well can we table that talk for now, please? There’s more than enough to keep us busy in the meantime,” Emma begged, not wanting to state the obvious aloud – there should be no wedding being planned since Killian hadn’t exactly asked her to get married.

“Absolutely, but we will see you all at seven. Pass on the invite to Anna and Elsa.”

“Tonight?” Emma asked, wondering if it was a good idea. “I don’t know, Mom. They just found everything out, they might need some time -,”

“We don’t need time,” Anna said, drawing everyone’s attention to the doorway where she and Elsa were standing. The sisters were holding hands again, and it was clear there had been some tears shed as they went through their family’s things, but both of them still looked happy. Emma imagined there must be so much relief even though there was the sadness of looking to the past, and with a silent nod between her and Elsa, her friend conveyed that to her as Anna continued. “What we need is some really good chicken parm. I’m talking pasta for days, the good imported cheese your Mom gets in Boston, and that home made sauce even magic couldn’t replicate.”

Everyone laughed at that, and since Emma had automatically put the call on speakerphone when Anna and Elsa came out, her mother took the initiative and replied herself. She had all of those ingredients, and she would see to it that Anna and Elsa’s favorite meal was made and ready. With that, Emma hung up on the call, and she looked first to Killian, finding his eyes shining with so much love. She held onto that, and then looked quickly to Elsa, needing to know that her friend was all right.

“Are you sure this is okay? It’s a lot to reconcile and it’s all happening very fast.”

“Fast is the way things move these days,” Elsa said with a smile that was small but also true. She looked at Emma and at Killian, nodding whether she consciously knew it or not. “And so far that seems to be a good thing. We’re not different people because of what we know now. I’m no different than I was before.”

“No, you’re not,” Emma said gladly, watching Elsa exhale a ragged breath as Ruby chimed in.

“You’ve just got some cool new abilities,” Ruby said cheerily. “And now that you guys unlocked your family secrets I can see so much more, for you and for Anna.”

“You too?” Emma asked, finding herself filled with excitement for her friend. For once Anna looked a little sheepish, something Emma had never noticed her friend experiencing before, but she acknowledged the unexpected surprise.

“Yup. Visions might not be my thing, but according to Grams messages and some of Mom’s too there’s a lot in store for me as well. But for now let’s put all of that on ice. I wasn’t kidding when I said I needed that chicken parm, because honey, it has been a day.”

Everyone could readily agree with that assessment, and in the interest of honoring her friends’ wishes, Emma held back on questions about what came next and what they had learned. Soon enough her friends would tell her. It was always just a matter of time before they shared everything with each other, and whenever that came Emma would be more than willing to listen and learn.

“How are you doing, love?” Killian asked a few moments later, when they’d all decided to head outside together to the beach walk. Elsa and Anna were talking with Ruby about summers in Storybrooke, and Emma watched at how a solid friendship was forming between them already, her heart filled with happiness as her family and Killian’s blended together.

“I’m good,” Emma said, looking to Killian and seeing his concern and affection, shining as brightly as the sun in the sky this lovely summer day. “Better with you here.”

“I feel I could say that in any moment,” Killian agreed, stopping their stroll and pulling her into his embrace. “Any instance is improved with you beside me.”

“Guess we better stick together then,” Emma teased and she delighted in the growl from Killian as his mouth claimed hers in a fierce and hungry kiss. It was impossible not to get swept away in it, her hands roaming, her body arching for closeness as she tasted him and reveled in the heat and charge between them. But before they could take things way too far given their setting, Killian pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers gently.

“Forever, Emma. That’s how long we’ll have each other.”

“Forever,” she agreed.

With that, the two of them rejoined her friends and Ruby, finding themselves enjoying a weirdly normal afternoon in the midst of so much change and transformation. And though Emma was a bit preoccupied with the idea of dinner at her parents tonight, she knew, deep down, that whatever may come she would always have Killian, and the two of them together would always make it through.

Post-Note: So there we have it. Truth be told I have SO many thoughts and ideas about Elsa and Anna’s magical reveal. I would love to write a whole scene from their POV about that, adding the layers of magic I have imagined for this story and giving their experience with the big change in their lives. Unfortunately I don’t really have time to create that chapter, at least not yet. I am debating, however, adding some extra scenes and glimpses into this story when I have the whole thing done. That being said, I have only managed to get a couple of chapters written before my school year, so it’s looking like it’s definitely going to be summer before this whole story is told. As of right now I am looking to move to a monthly posting schedule. I have this chapter, one for February and one for March all written, and I am hoping I might find a bit of time in the next three months to craft together a chapter for April, God willing. Anyway, I would love to hear what you all think, and rest assured there will be some more CS moments in the chapter next time. There’s still a lot of stuff that has to happen, so we aren’t getting full blown fluff for a while, but I trust you guys will still like the story all the same. Thanks so much for reading and hope you have a great rest of your weekend!

Tag list: @jennjenn615 @winterbaby89 @kmomof4 @teamhook @ultraluckycatnd @resident-of-storybrooke @coliferoncer @artistic-writer @snowbellewells @eastside-divebar @snarkycaptainswan4 @allofdafandoms-blog

[xtruss]

Was Shoaib Akhtar's Talent Overshadowed By His Sagas?

World’s Fastest Bowler Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan

Karthik Krishnaswamy

In Come to Think of it, we bring new perspectives to bear on received cricket wisdom. This week: was Shoaib Akhtar undervalued?

There's a fairly widely held strand of public opinion that would view Shoaib Akhtar as a wasted talent. It isn't just armchair fans who might think this - just look at his ESPNcricinfo profile.

"But that he will end his career an 'if only' or a 'coulda been' is the great tragedy," it says, fairly high up. "He had it all and he blew it." It ends with these lines: "So much so that what he did on the field had long ago ceased to matter and has been eclipsed by his scrapes off the field. For any sportsman, that is a damning indictment."

There are reasons to feel this way, of course, and the profile lists them succinctly: "doubts about his action, ball-tampering offences, beating up his own team-mates, courtroom battles against his board, long bans and heavier fines, serious career-threatening injuries and most damagingly, doping charges."

None of this is untrue, and that list doesn't even include the time Akhtar's board sent out a press release explaining his absence from a squad, and, rather than reach for one of a thousand bland corporate euphemisms, spelled out the exact nature and location of the skin condition that was keeping him out.

Akhtar's post-retirement public persona has done little to burnish his legacy. At the time of writing, he's in the news for claiming that he turned down a lucrative county contract with Nottinghamshire so that he could fight in the Kargil War. He... what? Yeah.

But hard as it seems, it's actually possible to disentangle all that from the thing that really matters, and properly appreciate Akhtar for the magnificent cricketer he was.

There was the pace, of course, and it was a strange and magical coincidence that he came along at the exact historical moment when bowling speeds were first being measured and displayed on live TV as a matter of course. You didn't just know he was quick; you knew he was quicker than anyone else, probably ever.

It was also Akhtar's fate that another purveyor of extreme pace, Brett Lee, came along at pretty much the same time. For the first two or three years of this millennium, the two of them pushed themselves, each other, and the limits of the human body to bowl faster and faster still.

The pace race was thrilling to witness, but in a WWE sort of way, bordering on silliness and fetishising pace for pace's sake. Watch the five balls that this video packages in ascending order of speed. Are they, as claimed, the five fastest deliveries in cricket history? Who knows. Do they make the batsmen cower in fear? Not particularly, and the quickest of them, bowled by Akhtar to Nick Knight during the 2003 World Cup, clocking 161.3kph, is nudged routinely to midwicket.

In the race to be the fastest bowler, one of these two purveyors of pace lost out Hamish Blair / © Getty Images

Pace is pace, yaar, but it's how you use it that counts. The pace race had an inevitable intertwining effect on the careers of Akhtar and Lee, but in doing so, it did one of them a considerable disservice. One was fast and hard-working and a fine first change behind Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. The other was fast and scary, utterly impossible to take your eyes off, and utterly unplayable on his day.

Akhtar was the superior bowler, unarguably, but even a surface reading of their Test numbers would tell you as much. The point isn't that Akhtar was better than Lee. It's that he was an almost one-of-a-kind bowler who heightened the effect of raw pace to a degree rarely seen at the highest level of the game.

There was, of course, the effect on the spectators, achieved via that run-up, that exaggerated sideways leap and javelin-thrower wind-up, the theatrics between deliveries - occasionally during his run-up - and even that hair. But all that would have come to nothing without his effect on batsmen.

When Akhtar was fully switched on, in rhythm, and at his physical peak, the pace was almost all he needed to have that effect. Pace aimed with thrilling directness at the base of the stumps. It sounds simple, but there's a reason why only a tiny fraction of other bowlers have ever really pulled it off - or even attempted it - on a regular basis. Bowling yorkers at high pace takes a lot out of your body, and there isn't a whole lot of margin for error. Get it wrong and it's a lot of energy expended, and probably a lot of runs conceded, with little left in the tank for the rest of the day's exertions.

Akhtar's genius lay in being able to beat the very best batsmen with that direct, route-one method. I mean, come on. Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in the space of two balls? Ricky Ponting, both Waughs and Adam Gilchrist in the space of 11?

In between, there were six wickets in 8.2 overs in Lahore, which sent New Zealand crashing to 73 all out on a pitch where Pakistan had made 643. Only once has a bigger first-innings lead been secured by a team bowling second, and that happened in a timeless Test.

Watch those wickets again: bowled, bowled, bowled, bowled, lbw, bowled; four pinpoint yorkers, the other two balls also full enough to just about fall under that classification, all of them beating the batsman for pace, with little or no reverse in play - New Zealand's innings only lasted 30.2 overs. This was the definition of taking the conditions out of the equation, and few did it as well as Akhtar.

There might even be a way to measure this.

When Akhtar took wickets, he took them quickly, as have the other four names on the table below. Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn have run through numerous teams, the latter in all conditions; Stuart Broad routinely goes on inspired bursts of wicket-taking; and Andy Caddick was a memorable blow-hot, blow-cold performer.

BOWLERS WITH BEST STRIKE RATES WHEN TAKING 4+ WICKETS IN AN INNS

It's an imperfect measure, of course, penalising bowlers who are part of better and deeper bowling attacks, but it says something that in the Tests where Akhtar burst through the opposition at the rate of a wicket every 23 balls, Pakistan's other bowlers took one every 75 balls. When other bowlers struggled, he often found a way.

At his peak the pace was often enough, but bowling that fast took a lot out of him, physically and mentally, as he revealed to Sidharth Monga in this fascinating interview five years ago. "I used to crawl to my bathroom every day of my career," he said. "I used to limp out of my bed. I can't remember a day I didn't have pain in my knees for the last 18 years."

Akhtar knew he needed other tricks apart from pace, and he certainly had them: swing, seam - look at this ball to Chris Gayle, in Sharjah of all places - the use of angles, the ability to manipulate batsmen with his lengths. Watch him bowl Matthew Hayden from around the wicket here. The late swing is a joy in itself, but what you won't see is the short balls he bowled before this ball, to push Hayden back and stop him from stepping out of his crease as he did time and again to fast bowlers.

Then there was the Akhtar slower ball. No bowler has ever delivered this variation with a bigger drop-off in speed from their stock ball, and he bowled it with no discernible change in arm action. England, fresh off an Ashes victory they still haven't stopped talking about, had no answer to it during their 2005-06 tour of Pakistan. Akhtar bowled many quicker spells through his career, but few approached this one in Lahore for the bafflement he caused. You want to watch this, but maybe not if you're Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell, or Liam Plunkett.

That Test match was Akhtar's 39th. He only played seven more, the last of them on an India tour in 2007, where he outbowled most of his colleagues on largely unhelpful pitches. The skills hadn't gone away but the body was uncooperative. He continued playing ODIs, sporadically, until the 2011 World Cup, and that was that.

Forty-six Tests. Umar Gul, the perennially crocked Umar Gul, played 47.

Even with all his injuries, Akhtar could have probably squeezed in a few more, what with all the bans and disciplinary troubles. But it's a marvel, come to think of it, that he left himself enough room to squeeze in all those spells, and leave us with all those memories.

[moneyscotch]

Brian May | Top 10 Most Liked Pictures on Instagram

Top Most Liked Pictures of Brian May on Instagram.Most Loved and Most Commented Pictures of Brian May on Instagram.Most Loved Pictures of Brian May on Instagram.Brian May's has more than 2 Million Followers Top Pictures has more than One Million Likes

1.

View this post on Instagram Thanks King Rami - you are IT !!! I’m still in shock at walking away with the two top awards of the night. THANK YOU Golden Globes ! BRI A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jan 7, 2019 at 3:14am PST

2.

View this post on Instagram I’m done ! After a snip to my calf muscle, I’m feeling good ! The theory is that it will release the excess tension in my Achilles’ tendon and get me out of a painful heel situation I’ve been in for many months. I had the problem all through our last tour of the USA - and although adrenaline got me through, my running around was severely curtailed, and there were a couple of nights when I really couldn’t move at all around the stage (nobody noticed, it seems ! 😏). So now I’ll be taking it easy just a bit for a while, but full recovery should be just in time for getting back out on tour in January - hopefully with a good pair of heels ! THANKS for your good wishes, folks. No cause for alarm. Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Dec 2, 2019 at 11:44am PST

3.

View this post on Instagram I had to find the spot where that lovely old group photo was taken. We did ! It’s at Royal and Toulouse, in New Orleans French Quarter - and although a few things have changed, a lot of the ancient features are still there. The lamp post has been extended upwards - presumably to accommodate that less-than-pretty piece of ‘No Right Turn’ signage - and I seem to have lost my mates ! But ... well, it was a nice feeling to get back there. Now ... how about those other memories. ! Where’s Peaches ?!! Aaaah ... it’s 2019. How did that happen ..? 💥💥💥💥 BIG THANKS to my dear friend Kimberley Barsana for sending me this great antique pic and starting a nice quest ! And thanks to Liam Wheatley who took my picture here, and Zoe Smith who led the search party ! The chap in the background in the picture from 1980 is Walter Versen - who was, for a number of years, my security guard and friend in those days. We are still pals. 💥💥💥💥 And, by the way, if you’re interested in this stuff, there are lots more vintage pictures and stories in my book —— QUEEN in 3-D. Cheers - Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Aug 19, 2019 at 2:14pm PDT

4.

View this post on Instagram Lovely !! Thanks ! Happy to be considered Memeworthy. But you haven’t seen me trying to get out of bed in the morning !!! Ha ha ! Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Nov 25, 2019 at 7:02pm PST

5.

View this post on Instagram We’ve enjoyed spending the day with this little boy in our minds. A small boy with big dreams. A young man who became a brother to Roger and John and me for 22 years. A shy boy with whom we shared an impossible vision of making music that would change the world. Little did we dare to believe it would actually happen. I’m happy that through Instagram I’ve been able to share some of the experiences of today. I’ll post some more pics and stuff when I get sorted. Meanwhile ... Asante Sana Freddie. Cheers folks. And thanks @freddiemercuryb for this lovely pic I don’t recall seeing before. Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jun 11, 2019 at 9:28am PDT

6.

View this post on Instagram I want you to know that I regard this as the crowning moment of my career ! Thank you Funko ! Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Mar 21, 2019 at 7:43pm PDT

7.

View this post on Instagram Who needs light ? Who needs focus ? It’s a moment ! I can deconvolve it later ... ! With King Rami, my buddy, at the Vanity Fiat salubrious Bash tonight in Beverley Hills. How glam are we ?!!! Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Feb 22, 2019 at 9:14pm PST

8.

View this post on Instagram Great movies on this plane ! 😊 “Bohemian Rhapsody”, eh ?! I had to take a look at it - to check out how much our movie had been ‘expurgated’ for showing on Oman Air. Yep - they sure hacked away it - no kissing, no ‘bollocks’, and Freddie wasn’t even allowed to quite get to the point of ‘confessing’ to Mary - though it was pretty clear what the scene was about. By the end I really did feel that a lot of the film’s message was lost. Which made me sad. But then again, a lot of the good stuff DID come across even in this version. And - you know - it’s easy to get all superior and disapproving about this stuff - but it wasn’t so long ago that The Rolling Stones were only allowed to perform on the USA’s Ed Sullivan Show if they changed “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” !! Don’t believe me ? Check it out on YouTube ! Maybe we’re not so liberal and progressive as we think we are ! Or maybe, for every nation, it takes time and tolerance and ... compromise ? To get to a good place. One of the things I’ve learned from animal campaigning is that shouting doesn’t always get you what you want. Bri 💥💥💥💥Thanks folks - I’ve enjoyed reading your comments. I don’t usually have time - but today I’m a captive audience and - I’ve learned a thing or two from this. Take care out there. We SHALL overcome. Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jun 12, 2019 at 6:49pm PDT

9.

View this post on Instagram Freddie lives !!! Tom MacKenzie - sculptor - and myself, with an amazing bust of Freddie which Tom and his son Grant have created using a mixture of 3-D digital modelling and traditional sculpting skills. They kindly presented this today and will donate this priceless treasure to the Queen Studio Experience exhibition in Montreux, to be enjoyed by all who visit. Amazing ! Big Thanks guys !! Bri — photo: Sara Bricusse A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Apr 16, 2019 at 7:42am PDT

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10.

View this post on Instagram This clip is stolen from @bryanjaysinger, who was evidently filming it on his iPhone. When the BR team were shooting this scene, I happened to be around, so Gwil invited me to have a go ! How did I do, folks ? Well, obviously not quite as good as Gwil ! He’s a trained artist ! 😊 We had too much fun ! I’d like to see the rest of what happened, captured by the film cameras which were still rolling ... some day. In case you’re wondering why this solo doesn’t sound like the ‘out-take’ solo in the film, I only had the idea to make that happen later, when we were polishing the soundtrack. In any case, we wouldn’t have had the facilities to do that on the day of the shoot. In the film, you hear a variant take on the Bo Rhap solo which just MIGHT have been the one previous to the final one which made it onto the record! Might ! That’s if it hadn’t been a genius first-take keeper. Ha ha ! I honestly don’t remember ! A million thanks to @mrgwilymlee Bri A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jan 14, 2019 at 2:28pm PST

Top Comments

  All these years....And his hair hasn’t changed...;-;." 

I wish he would give a TED talk one day about music and universe, and become THE icon for the enlightenment of new generation." 

Don't forget that Brian May is an Astrophysicist in addition to being the great guitarist from Queen." 

If brian may was my science teacher, and math teacher her then i would actually understand those subjects." 

I really love May. He is so well spoken, so gentle, so intelligent and such a sweet guy. Brian May is more than a talented musician, he is a great mind and most importantly, a gentle soul.💜" 

Brian may is a gentleman humble honest and generous with his time. ...we as men could all learn a thing or two from him." 

I loved al 4 of them. They did well and still do. Freddie will be missed forever but at least the band kept him alive in everyone’s hearts along with themselfvess. Ill never stop listening to Queen."  Read the full article

[noctispostmortem-blog]

{Tag dump for Liam}

[itsclydebitches]

Jupiter Ascending Fic: When the Bough Breaks

Summary: Just days after Balem returned to his adult self, Jupiter is thrown head-first into another adventure - one she, frankly, really doesn't have the energy for. But when has the universe ever taken her desires into account? Mysteries, promises, and desperate moves forward; bees, splices, and awkward family dinners. It's enough to make even her seasoned head spin.

...which doesn't even include the chance to play at 'Mother' once more. Only question is: will Jupiter take it?

(Sequel to Rock the Cradle)

Fandom: Jupiter Ascending

Words: 1,614 (so far) 

Warnings: Mentions of past child abuse, alcoholism 

Pairings: Jupiter/Caine

Where to Read it: Below the cut or on AO3 (AO3 recommended for formatting) 

When the Bough Breaks: Chapter One

Jupiter sat with her back to most of the crowd, the sun warming her neck and her hands fidgeting endlessly. One traced the condensation on her glass while the other twisted the stud in her ear.

“I spy with my little eye…” she said, turning to scan the patrons. There was certainly a lot to choose from. The day was hot, the shopping good, and everyone seemed to have had the same idea as her: get lunch at the cute little outdoor café. Jupiter saw a young couple playing footsie underneath their table, the one girl’s heels gliding over the other’s sandals. There was another woman whom she presumed was a teacher, hard at work even during the summer months, covering some poor student’s paper using Track Changes. A group of guys shared a large plate of nachos. A father absently pet his daughter’s hair as he scowled at his phone. A mother—

Jupiter whirled back around. She planted her chin in her hand and pursed her lips. Then she smiled at Caine.

“Something yellow,” she finished.

“The confection on those men’s chips,” Caine answered readily. He bit his lip slightly when she huffed.

“How—?”

“Your stared at them a moment longer than the other spots. Did you want some?”

Nachos… food did always make her feel better. She’d already had a chicken and pesto sandwich though. And an iced chai. And half of Caine’s blueberry scone.

Jupiter waved him off. “No, I’m good. You’re cheating though.”

“I am?” Caine blinked. “I thought the purpose of this game was to determine what you’d spotted based on eye-line matches, common facial tells, your individual preferences…” he trailed off when Jupiter’s sulking grew more pronounced.

“You’re supposed to guess,” she moaned.

“That… doesn’t seem to take much skill…”

Jupiter let out a groan and gave up, planting her head on the cool tabletop. Why she’d thought it would be a good idea to teach Caine a kid’s game, she didn’t know. It had started as a stupid distraction, but apparently her subconscious wasn’t willing to let things go just yet. So Jupiter was now perfectly content to glare at the table, thank you very much. It was one of those frosted glass ones and Jupiter took a ridiculous amount of pleasure in watching her blurred feet kick at the slate. She only stopped when her flip-flop bent—betrayal—and she stubbed her toe. Jupiter muttered a few obscenities into the crook of her arm.

A minute passed. Two. Then Jupiter felt the slightest poke on the top of her head. It turned into five fingers gently massaging her scalp and she groaned again, this time in contentment.

“I spy with my little eye… A queen who is rather worried about tonight’s festivities.”

“Festivities.” Jupiter’s head shot back up and she blinked at Caine. “I wouldn’t really call it ‘festivities.’”

“No? You decided to host the event.”

Okay. So Jupiter may or may not have been overly optimistic and grasping at straws the second she walked out of that throne room. Could anyone really blame her? Her life hadn’t exactly been plan-proof lately: abducted by aliens, finding out she was Queen of Far Too Much Shit, landing herself a hunky angel-wolf-boyfriend…

… finding out her would-be murderer had possibly, deliberately de-aged himself.

Balem.

That was the crux of it all, wasn’t it? One moment Jupiter was sort of getting used to her newfound space life, the next a capitalist obsessed mama’s boy was taking up residence in her lap. She wasn’t going to lie, not to herself at least. Balem had drawn forth a whole slew of maternal instincts that, frankly, Jupiter had thought she’d missed out on genetically. Devotion to Dude Bros 1 through 6 of her misspent youth certainly hadn’t inspired a desire for kids. Hell, even Caine hadn’t managed that, not until Jupiter actually saw him shuffling around a cranky six-year-old, trying to figure out how to talk to this girlfriend-stealing creature. Maybe it was a sliver of Seraphi rising up within her… no. Maybe it was the essence of what Seraphi could have been, if she’d bothered to spend a second to get to know the child she’d given life to. Maybe it was just that Jupiter couldn’t stand to see a tiny face crying like that. Whatever it was, Balem had managed to become quite the fixture within her heart—all the sappiness implied. Jupiter loved the brat. Only problem was, that brat was gone.

Sort of. Kind of? One second she’d had what she was coming to think of as a son, the next Jupiter just had an enemy again, breathing insults down the back of her neck… except that Balem had changed deliberately. He had started all this. At least, that was the impression Kalique and Titus held. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Balem was reading Liam and Cryian’s story the day he took a Regene-X bath with a disabled genetic code. Or hell, maybe it was a coincidence. Caine and Stinger certainly weren’t convinced (“You Majesty,” soft eyes, an almost pitying stare. “Balem, the adult Balem, lost the ability to love centuries ago…”). All Jupiter knew for sure was that she’d seen evidence of her own, things that went beyond Kalique’s stupid book or the boys’ cynicism: Balem had worn her earring. He hadn’t tossed the album back in a charred heap. Jupiter knew—could see it in his eyes—that he remembered.

Certainly all the counted for something, right?

Jupiter planted her face into her hands. “Or maybe he just couldn’t be bothered to take the damn earring out,” she muttered.

Caine nodded, understanding, fingers returning to massage Jupiter’s wrist, right where her Entitled tattoo lay. He had callouses all over, the result of handling a ridiculously wide variety of weaponry, and Jupiter found the rough texture soothing. She let out a long, slow breath.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with all this,” she said, nodding to the bags at their feet. “This was a stupid idea.”

“Stinger will appreciate the food. Even more if you cook it for him.”

“Ha. Yeah. How do you get so good at pancakes and nothing else?”

“It’s a talent.”

Jupiter continued nudging the nearest bag with the front of her flip-flop. As she did, movement caught her eye again: that mother, sitting on the table to their right, spoon feeding her infant something mushy and green. It was easy for that woman, wasn’t it? Nothing was easy for Jupiter as a potentially would-be mother… or as a daughter.

She’d been stupidly optimistic a week ago. Dealing with Balem’s transformation and his quick turn back, Jupiter had admittedly been reeling a bit. She’d thrown out the invitation to dinner with more confidence than she’d felt, especially considering there hadn’t been a dinner scheduled yet. Kalique and Titus had both agreed readily enough—no doubt they wanted to get as much dirt on their brother as possible, though the more she thought about it, the more Jupiter convinced herself that Balem wouldn’t even show. Why would he? Tens of thousands of years weren’t outweighed by a few days in her care. Besides, if Balem was anything, he was stubborn.

Sometime between Friday and Saturday those dinner plans had turned into a “reveal-you’re-a-galactic-queen-to-your-family-omg-it’s-time-Jupiter” party. She had promised her mom two days, after that fiasco of a dinner. She’d intended to call a meeting and explain things on Monday, as calmly and rationally as possible when her life was neither calm nor rational. Jupiter knew there was a hell of a lot to explain. When she’d touched back down on Earth after seeing to Balem, she’d found her family happily back at home, neither Aleksa nor Nino recalling that just hours before Jupiter had disappeared on their client’s lawn, dematerializing in a flash of blue light. Apparently the Keepers stationed on Earth had a damn good response time.

Memory wipes after the refinery… after Balem… how long could this go on? Jupiter didn’t know what the long term effects of something like that was, and frankly, she didn’t want to find out. Just tell them all ready, you dolt.

So… Monday. That had been the plan, anyway. Her mom and the others would have a few days days before Thursday’s dinner to process it all, which was a hell of a lot more than Jupiter had gotten. Imagine, coming to terms with extraterrestrial life without said life pointing a laser gun at your head, and they weren’t the once inheriting a freaking planet. (Unless they were? Who gained her inheritance when she died?? Ugh, legalities…) The only problem with this master plan was that Monday had passed her by, with Jupiter spending it hovering anxiously around her mom—opening and shutting her mouth like a caught, cowardly trout.

…Easy to imagine how well that had gone over.

Tuesday gone, Wednesday too, Thursday morning at 12:00 Jupiter had called a quick goodbye after finishing the Lawrence’s house, met Caine at the store, and proceeded to purchase all the ingredients for a dinner that was only technically still in the works.

Here and now, Jupiter sullenly kicked the bag of groceries. Again.

“You’ll break the eggs,” Caine cautioned. He didn’t sound terribly upset about that though.

“Why did we even get eggs? You don’t need eggs for a steak and baked potato dinner.”

“Stinger wants to broaden his breakfast repertoire.”

Jupiter narrowed her eyes. “Well Stinger can just—”

Bzz, Bzz.

“—call me apparently." Caine shrugged, no more knowledgeable than she was. All Jupiter could do was palm her phone and lean her elbow casually on the table.

"Hey, beekeeper. What's up?”

[schraubd]

Boxing Roundup: June 1, 2019

Haven't done one of these in awhile! But it was a big night of fights, even though I missed the PBC show on FS1. Oh, I recorded it -- it's just that virtually all of it ended up airing on FS2 because some college baseball game ran long, and then the main event came out after the bloc was already scheduled to have concluded. So quickly, before moving on to the far more interesting DAZN card.... Willie Monroe Jr. (24-3, 6 KOs) UD10 Hugo Centeno Jr. (27-3, 14 KOs) We knew a lot more about Monroe coming in than we did Centeno. Monroe is a slickster who can generally outbox anyone on the B-level of the division, but really can't hang with the top dogs. Centeno was someone whose only losses came to some pretty elite fighters -- Maciej Sulecki and Jermall Charlo -- and so the question was whether he was an A-level fighter who happened to lose when matched at the very top, or was a B-level fighter who'd already seen his peak exposed. Looks like it's Door #2. This is a good win for Monroe, but it doesn't really change his position -- someone with basically zero chance to beat a Canelo or a Golovkin (who already smoked him), but might get the call to step-in as a semi-credible tune-up during a lull period. Ivan Redkach (23-4-1, 18 KOs) KO6 Devon Alexander (27-6-1, 14 KOs) Mild upset here. Alexander actually looked to be on the rebound after a long layoff battling painkiller addiction, which is an odd thing to say about a guy who was 0-1-1 in his last two fights, but most people thought he deserved the W against both Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto. Redkach was a one-time prospect who already seemed to have hit a ceiling and was seem more as a fun but limited action guy. But he caught Alexander good in round six, putting him down three times and earning the knockout. This probably ends Alexander's career at anything close to the top level, but it honestly doesn't make me feel ready to reevaluate Redkach just yet. Okay, with that out of the way, onto ... DAZN! Joshua Buatsi (11-0, 9 KOs) TKO4 Marco Antonio Periban (25-5-1, 16 KOs) A good step up for Buatsi against a former title challenger, albeit one who hadn't fought in two years. Periban tried, but he Buatsi was way too big and probably always too skilled to really ever be threatened. Periban is probably a permanent gatekeeper now, assuming he even decides to step back into the ring, which is far from clear. Buatsi is by no means a finished product, but he's got a lot of upside. Chris Algeri (24-3, 9 KOs) RTD8  Tommy Coyle (25-5, 12 KOs) Well, well. Someone finally let Chris Algeri out of the cage. After a long retirement lay-off following a beatdown from Errol Spence, Algeri looks rested, refreshed, and maybe a little more powerful than he did during his spotlight years following his upset win over Ruslan Provodnikov in 2014. He survived a bit of a scare in round two, and the body shot he put Coyle down with in round four was positively wicked. A fun action fight while it lasted, but Algeri definitely put his stamp on it. Can he compete with the top welterweights. No, it'd be the same slaughter we've already seen. Would, say, a fight against fellow Long Islander Cletus Seldin (assuming he gets past Zab Judah -- yep, that Zab Judah) be a fun time for all? I think so. Coyle was already sounding like he had one foot out the door on his career, and this loss probably will hasten that process. He might do a farewell fight back home in the UK, but I suspect that'll do it. Josh Kelly (9-0-1, 6 KOs) D10 Ray Robinson (24-3-2, 12 KOs) Robinson spoils an up-and-comer for the second straight fight, and comes out of it with a draw for the second straight fight. Kelly seems like one of those dime-a-dozen Prince Naseem Hamed wannabes that always seem to be coming up the ranks. It's not that he has no skill (he does) or no athleticism (he does). But he's just not as good as he thinks he is, and it showed against Robinson. I wasn't judging too closely, but I might have thought Kelly nonetheless deserved the edge even as he clearly faded late. But I have no quarrels with a draw (and I know many other observers thought it was Kelly who got lucky here). Callum Smith (26-0, 19 KOs) TKO3 Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (37-4, 21 KOs) Callum Smith is widely considered the best of the "fighting Smith brothers" (that'd be Callum, Liam, Paul, and Stephen). He certainly impressed here, although I'd say he pretty much did as expected. N'Dam -- who lacks a nickname as a fighter, which to this day baffles me since he should obviously be dubbed Hassan "Bam Bam" N'Dam N'Jikam -- is the real-boy equivalent of one of those punch-a-clown dummies. He goes down easy, but he always gets back up. He went down six times against Peter Quillin, was quite competitive during the rounds he stayed on his feet (I remember quipped at the time that "he's doing pretty well except for the times he's getting his ass kicked"). Anyway, Smith -- who had size and skill advantages over N'Dam -- put him down in each of the first three rounds. The third knockdown was particularly vicious, and while N'Dam naturally got to his feet, the referee waved it off. Unlike Willie Monroe, I think Callum Smith would make a genuinely interesting match-up against Canelo Alvarez if the latter felt like fully moving up. Katie Taylor (14-0, 6 KOs) MD10 Delfine Persoon (43-2, 18 KOs) There is an emergent narrative about women's boxing today, one I largely subscribe to. Basically, it holds that the women's amateur game right now is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was even a decade ago. Hence, the incoming crop of "prospects" coming out of the amateurs -- folks like Katie Taylor and Claressa Shields -- are just on a different level than even the "experienced" champions in the professional game. They're better schooled, they're stronger technically, and they've fought more consistent high-level opposition. We saw the difference when, in a highly-anticipated unification matchup, Claressa Shields ended up just running over long-time champion Christina Hammer. Yes, Shields is that good. But also her generation of fighter is just better than the one that came before, and that, as much as anything else, was what was on display in Hammer vs. Shields. That narrative explains why Katie Taylor came in as a huge favorite against Delfine Persoon, despite the latter's glittering record and near-decade long title reign. Yes, Persoon was undefeated for the past nine years. But as Teddy Atlas would put it -- against who? Against who? There was probably nobody on Persoon's resume with skills anywhere close to the top amateurs Taylor had fought regularly. Yet Persoon did her darndest to upset the story. And most observers -- myself included -- thought she ultimately deserved the nod, or at least a draw. Katie Taylor was very lucky to come away with a victory. And Delfine Persoon showed that she was every bit on the level of the very top, elite women fighting today. To be sure, it was clear that Taylor was the more skilled and well-schooled fighter in the ring. But Persoon came in with an aggressive, gritty gameplan that sought to disrupt Taylor's rhythm and turn the fight into a brawl -- which she was successful at over large periods. Taylor was most effective when she could keep distance and run Persoon into check hooks on her way inside. But Persoon, though a bit dirty and more than a bit awkward, wasn't some mindless aggressor either -- she made adjustments, and by the end of the fight really had Taylor hanging for dear life. There's a fair case that, if this was a 12 round fight over 3 minute rounds, Persoon could have gotten a stoppage (side bar: women's boxing should have 3 minute rounds and the same number of rounds as the men's game. Full stop. The 2 minute round set-up is just the most prominent example of patronizing sexism that afflicts the women's game). But let's not mislead: this wasn't the story of the talented but inexperienced starlet looking lost against the cagey, grizzled veteran and then getting gifted a decision. Taylor had a gameplan too, and had more than her share of moments. What we had was simply a great fight, perhaps the best fight we've seen to date in high-level women's boxing. Persoon was absolutely crushed when the scores were announced, and left the ring almost immediately in tears. It was hard not to feel for her -- she had been toiling in obscurity for years, ignored while fighters like Katie Taylor got all the accolades and fortune. This was her big chance, and from her vantage (and many others) this should have been her night. She put on a hell of a performance, only to have it torn away from her by the judges. I'm not going to say it was a flat robbery, but the consensus view definitely saw more observers giving Persoon the win. I've seen plenty of draw cards as well, but very few folks (other than the two judges) score it for Taylor. The good news is there's a strong case for a rematch. It was a great fight, a close fight, and one where there's still definitely unfinished business. There also aren't so many big money opportunities in women's boxing that a fight like this -- which now is pretty easy to market -- should be muscled out, though Taylor did mention a potential fight with Amanda Serrano instead. No disrespect to Serrano -- who is a great fighter in her own right -- but I hope she waits her turn. Persoon absolutely deserves a rematch, and it should come next. Andy Ruiz Jr. (33-1, 22 KOs) TKO7 Anthony Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs) A monster upset, as Ruiz becomes the first Mexican or Mexican-American fighter to win a heavyweight championship. Was it as big as Douglas over Tyson, as some commentators were breathlessly exclaiming after the fight? No. Joshua was very good but not viewed as an invincible destroyer as Tyson was at his peak, and Ruiz was more of a known quantity than Douglas was. But putting that unreachable height aside, this was a giant upset -- assuredly 2019's upset of the year. Ruiz was a substitute for Jarrell Miller, who failed a drug test and thus lost his big break, but he still got a decent amount of time to train. Of course, with Ruiz it's always "who can tell?", as the guy just comes into every fight fat. I don't mean that as an insult or anything, and he'd be the first to agree -- Andy Ruiz is chubby around the middle. For pretty much any other fighter -- no matter how much they talk about being "comfortable at the weight" or whatever -- that's a big problem. Chris Arreola, the last Mexican-American to make a run at heavyweight glory, always made light of his weight, but it really did hold him back. But for some reason Andy Ruiz is different. He's got genuinely fast hands for a heavyweight -- like, not just in the "you'd think as a fat guy he'd be a plodder, but he's actually deceptively quick", but objectively fast hands measured against any heavyweight you can think of. Ruiz throws really good combinations, quickly and accurately, and that was known coming into the fight. Of course, we knew Joshua pretty well too -- a powerful guy who'd shown both skill and resilience in his breakout fight against Wladimir Klitschko, coming off the deck to knockout the aging legend in 11 rounds. I did not think the fight against Ruiz was quite the afterthought that most were making it out to be -- yet another detour from the Joshua-Fury-Wilder merry-go-round -- but I certainly thought Joshua would win it. I was prepared to be proud of myself when Ruiz made a better accounting of himself than expected. Instead, we got a really impressive performance that included a strong round-of-the-year contender in round three. That's when Joshua dropped Ruiz and most people thought he was about to move in for the kill. Instead, Ruiz caught Joshua swinging wide and almost immediately returned the knockdown favor. A second knockdown towards the end of the round had Ruiz firmly in control and Joshua looking wobbly, fortunate to hear the bell ring. Ruiz left Joshua off the hook, it seemed, in round four, and the question was whether he had missed his chance. But instead, Ruiz knocked down Joshua twice more in the seventh -- again, precipitated by Joshua landing a decent shot and then being countered in-between when he got a little too free going for the finish. The last knockdown saw Joshua's mouthpiece go flying, and Joshua retreated to his corner clearly expecting time to be called to replace it. The referee was not obliging, insisting that Joshua come out to fight with no mouthpiece, and I do think that resulted in some confusion as to why Joshua didn't "come forward" to make crystal clear he wanted to continue. But nonetheless, that's on Joshua, who had his arms draped over the ropes and wasn't making any motions towards stepping back into the fight. He was clearly surprised by the stoppage, but not too upset by it. And on that score: I'm not wild about how Joshua reacted to the end of the fight. Yes, he was very classy in defeat, making no excuses and giving all due credit to Ruiz. Which is great, I like class. But it was a bit weird to see just how little Joshua seemed to be bothered by losing. It's not like I wanted to see a meltdown or anything, but there was a sense as the fight's tide turned in Ruiz's favor that Joshua kind of lost interest once it started to get hard in there. That doesn't really jibe with the heart he showed in the Klitschko fight, but it's something to keep an eye on going forward. Boxing is a tough business under the best of circumstances; it tends to chew up guys who -- however much natural talent they might possess -- have lost that inner drive to press back against adversity in the ring. Anyway, Joshua losing actually simplifies things in the heavyweight division going forward. His next fight will be a rematch against Ruiz, and meanwhile Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury are scheduled to fight each other assuming both get by their next opponent -- Luis Ortiz and Tom Schwarz, respectively. But a note of warning should be sounded there as well. I don't know anything about Schwarz, and frankly I expect Fury to truck him. But the Ortiz fight -- which got a lot of moans and groans because it wasn't Wilder facing Joshua or Fury -- is very much a real fight. People forget that the first fight between Wilder and Ortiz was really good and, more importantly, really competitive. It wasn't controversial, because Wilder ended up winning in a knockout, but Ortiz very easily could have taken it. He had Wilder badly hurt and nearly ready to go. For me, I saw a fight where, if you ran it back again, I could very easily see a different man end up on top. So I wouldn't be too blase about Wilder necessarily coming out on top in the rematch. He'll be the favorite, and deservedly so, but Ortiz is a very live dog in there. Wilder/Ortiz is not just some medicine we have to take until we get to the good stuff, and the outcome of tonight's fight should give us all pause before writing the conclusion as foreordained. via The Debate Link http://bit.ly/2HOrFRD

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SCOTTFORD SYLVESTER ➝ SECOND SIBLING

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

❖ FULL NAME: Scottford August Sylvester. ❖ PRONOUNS: He/Him. ❖ AGE: 25. (July 15th). ❖ BIRTH ORDER: Second. Twin to First Sylvester. ❖ GRADE: Masters (1st year). ❖ MAJOR: Theatre. ❖ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Graysexual. ❖ ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Grayromantic. ❖ FACECLAIM: Liam Hemsworth.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

[TW: DEATH]

As the only son of the Sylvester family, Scotty basically knew he was never going to please his mother, Sue. With that in mind, he allowed everything about himself to fall into place naturally. He’s perfectly aware of the fact that his mother does not approve of most of his hobbies, but Scotty’s only trying to be true to himself.

His father was known as quite the Wolverine, but considering Sue Sylvester was his mother, it was basically required from the get go that Scotty play some kind of sport. He dabbled in soccer for a while, but his real prowess was on the baseball field. Even in Little League, Scotty had a mean curveball and would play short stop in addition to pitcher. Singing, dancing, and performing wasn’t something on his radar until he saw his father in his first movie. From there, something else stirred in Scotty.

One year, the National Championships of Cheerleading were held in Las Vegas, and of course, Sue Sylvester was asked to host. Scotty was about ten years old when the whole family got tickets to a magic and illusionist show. From then on, Scotty was hooked, and would spend hours with a deck of cards, or three cups and a penny. He could make a quarter disappear right before your eyes, and his pitching skills helped him with his sleight of hand.

Magic wasn’t anything that was an acceptable Sylvester hobby, and Scotty was perfectly content to continue to play baseball all through high school. He ended up receiving a baseball scholarship to Vanderbilt University and played on a Division One team. While his mother was beyond proud, it was around this time that Scotty’s father, sounds like Huge Ackman, was cast as the leading role in Lame Is. Attending the premiere and being surrounded by so many Hollywood buffs didn’t exactly make Scotty nervous, considering he and his sister had been in the tabloids frequently thanks to their mother, birth father, and adoptive step father. With his degree in Business Marketing, Scotty wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with himself when he graduated, but he knew it wasn’t play baseball. After graduation, he felt lost.

It was then that Scotty moved back to LA to be with his family, and tried to figure out what it was that he wanted to do. He served as a sports correspondent for the LA Dodgers for a year, and finally went back to his roots: magic. He could be found everywhere from local talent shows to a street corner doing his card tricks. Because of his extreme athleticism, Scotty got involved in a few daredevil stunts, such as escape magic. As someone who normally loved to be on the field, he found it even more exciting to have to escape from those kinds of challenges. He thought that he had a pretty good show and following in the underground of LA.

With the recent resurgence of movies and television specials relating to magic, Scotty on a whim sent in a video to be cast on America’s Got Talent. While the competition was grueling, his natural charm and famous family made him an easy winner of the show. While he certainly would not have called himself a celebrity in his own right, after he won a Vegas residency, everything started to blow up exponentially.

His show in Vegas ran for about a year, in which he had the great pleasure of meeting the woman who would soon become the love of his life. She was an actress-in-training and became his assistant, and her name was Olivia. Over the course of the year, Scotty and Olivia became quite close, as they’d started dating not long after they’d met. Marriage was indeed on the table, but both admitted that they were too young for anything other than a committed relationship.

Tragedy struck in the form of a cruel accident. A set piece fell on top of Olivia, and while the show was immediately ended and she was rushed to the hospital, she sustained several head injuries that ended up taking her life. Needless to say, Scotty was devastated and has not performed live since the accident.

It’s been about a year since the accident happened, and even though Scotty is working on getting back to doing live shows again, he’s quite petrified of the prospect. He hasn’t been keeping a low profile by any means, and has made the switch into movies. He’s enrolled in PSU as a masters student to get his degree in acting in preparation for an upcoming role in a film that he’s been cast in, where he will play the late Harry Houdini.

BABY, THERE'S NO OTHER SUPERSTAR

Despite the glittering tuxedos that he was known for in his hayday, Scotty’s day wardrobe isn’t terribly flashy. He’s known to keep things on-trend, since he’s photographed so frequently by the paparazzi. His hair is usually a controlled mess, but he’s not too fond of slicking it back. Scotty has one tattoo, a playing card, on his left bicep. Because he’s still good for a pick up game of baseball, Scotty is very physically fit. He wears glasses occasionally, but sometimes wears contacts. He has no piercings and sometimes sports a beard.

YOU KNOW THAT I'LL BE YOUR PAPARAZZI

Sue Sylvester was originally a high school cheer coach, who moved on to coaching an all-star team, and is now coaching an Olympic-bound cheer team. She met her husband, Sheldon Beiste, four years ago. Sheldon was an actor, known at the time as his birth name of Shannon, but had secretly begun transitioning. Sheldon’s transition was seemingly fast and heavily documented in the media, with him becoming the face of the trans community, for which he is now a spokesperson and role model. The two married two years ago in a very public, media documented ceremony, with Sheldon legally adopting all of Sue’s children—They are all the product of various one night stands with famous men (father’s fame documented in each child’s bio).