#and dove all the way to the bottom of the queue so I could move this to the top

[crapbirdphotography]

Photogenic Red Cardinal

[btsinwonderland]

A Drop of Poison - Ch. 1: The Beginning

A Loki fanfiction!

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It’s your third week back in school and you're slumped over a tower of textbooks as some kind of makeshift pillow. Your head rests on the 394th page of “The Dream Oracle” where you’ve begun to drool. You raise a hand to wipe it away, which takes up nearly as much energy as trying to stay awake.

It was cold in the dark.

Chills ran up your arms, from your fingertips to your neck as you floated through the darkness. It was frightening the first few times you dreamt of it but now it was familiar. The cavern formed slowly as your eyes adjusted to the minimal light emitted by a fire below you. Small sticks and papers created a meager flame which reflected off the black pool of water you looked into. You always wondered who made the fire, but there was never anyone there.

In the centre of the cavern was a small lake, its ripples moved like serpents. On queue, your body flew over to the middle of the lake and dove in. You swam - more like sunk - to the bottom. It may have enveloped you in utter darkness, but you saw the glow. The bluish light of the object drew you in like a moth to a flame and you reached out for it. Once again, you were thrown out of the lake just as you were about to touch it.

You looked around at the empty cavern and noticed the shadows moving. This was new. Usually, you woke up as soon as the lake threw you out.

Near the shore, by a dangerous jut of rock, there was a man. He was tall, with raven black hair and a proud nose. His expression was one of wonder and fear. There was a green light that emerged from his hands and he waved this light in front of him and beside him, almost erratically, as if he was warning someone - or something - to stay away.

“Don’t come near me!” he shouted. It echoed through the cavern.

You came closer and recoiled at what he was speaking to. Every dark shadow was, in fact, a body. The green light that the man emitted showed their decaying, pale faces. These bodies moved towards him. Not a sound, but each expression was contorted painfully. Their bony hands reached out to him, and he threw a green ball of fire at them. Some flew backwards into the lake, but there were so many.

They surrounded him. You saw him put up the fight of his life, and yet they came closer still. Until he had nowhere to run. You reached out to try to help him, but your body was already being pulled away. The last thing you heard was him scream your name, “Freya!”

Hands slapped onto the desk, and your head bounced on the pages.

“My god, have you been sleeping here this whole time?” An annoyingly familiar voice said. “You wouldn’t believe it! They’re finally getting a replacement for Professor Rattowl.”

It took several seconds for you to remember where you were. You lifted your head and look into a pair of inquisitive brown eyes and an aloof expression.

Her hair was braided on the sides and drawn into a high ponytail. Her robes were wrinkled as usual. “Valkyrie, how did you find me in the Hufflepuff common room? I specifically told Thomas to throw you off.” Your voice was thick with sleep.

Valkyrie snorted. “Thomas is a fool for a flirty conversation. You’d think that boy had never had a wank before…”

The memory of the dream hit you, and your heart sank. “Valkyrie, I saw something.”

She glanced at you and then to the wall of the hallway. A long shadow approached swiftly. “Oh shit, the prefect!”

“Quick! Hide!” You said to Valkyrie, pointing her to the coat closet.

A gleaming head of blonde hair turned around the corner and walked towards you. His eyebrows were raised, and he adjusted his rectangular glasses, glaring at you. You tried not to look guilty.

“Eves, what are you doing? This is a quiet area, and I heard voices.” he walked around your desk, looking around suspiciously.

“I must have fallen asleep. I had a poor sleep last night so…”

“Hmmm,” he said, walking near the coat closet.

You held your breath as he reached for the brass door handle. “You know we don’t allow any other houses in our quarters, Eves.”

“Of course.”

He turned to you, reaching away from the handle. “Then you also should know we don’t condone dirtying the sacred pages of our texts,” he said, gesturing at your books with a frown. “Clean this up and head to the Great Hall. Headmistress Frigga has announcements to make.”

He left, adjusting his glasses again but with his shoulders straightened out as if he had done a good job. You wondered if he would pat himself in the back afterwards.

Valkyrie all but crashed out of the closet and mocked Gerald. “Sacred texts! What a prat.”

You chuckled as she took a chair beside you. “Sacred or not, this damned thing cost me twenty galleons!” You wiped the drool away with the sleeve of your robe. The inside was a warm yellow. You glanced at Valkyrie. “How do you keep sneaking into our common room?”

She winked at you with a mischievous smile. “I have my ways, my sweet innocent Hufflepuff darling,” she said, reaching out and patting you on the head. “I wouldn’t dare want to corrupt your purity with treasonous talk.”

You punched her in the arm. “You are a jock in the land of intellectuals,” you said with a smirk, glancing at her red and gold tie.

She linked her arm through yours and dragged you away from the desk. “Alright alright, miss intellectual, now that you’ve stopped drooling, let’s go eat.”

***

The great hall was washed in the warm light of the candles that hung beautifully in the air above you. It was a sight that had never ceased to amaze you, no matter how many times you saw it. The flames flickered in a soft dance. You followed the path of candles over to the head table where all your professors sat.

Professor Odinson was there, with his chiseled youthful face that made all the ladies, Valkyrie in particular, swoon. He was a handsome man, though he did not occupy your thoughts as often as he did for others. Beside him was Professor Sif, laughing humorously at something Professor Odinson said. Then there was Professor Fandral nodding and smiling at Professor Hogun - whom you guessed was discussing the riveting growth cycles of the mandrake.

Headmistress Frigga was in the middle, in her silvery blue robes with sequins sewn into intricate patterns. Her aura was one of a Queen, with a gentle and kind face. On her one side there was an empty seat and on the other side was Heimdall, the divination professor, with whom she was in a deep discussion with. His sunset coloured eyes drifted around the room before settling on you. He always knew. You smiled back and waved at him. He nodded, though his expression was strained, perhaps even troubled.

For a moment you wondered if he knew what you had dreamed. Heimdall was one of the greatest seers of your time, and you happened to be his favourite student. He already knew of your repetitive dreams regarding the cavern, but you needed to tell him about the strange development - and the mysterious man you saw. Most of the time your dreams were fuzzy, but you remembered his face with an aggressive lucidity. Blue eyes that reflected the green magic in his hands before they disappeared into darkness remained on your mind. You took a deep breath and pushed it away.

“Did they already do the first years?” You said aloud to your table.

Mo, a fellow seventh year Hufflepuff, nodded. “Yep, and I guessed about 25/30, not bad, eh?”

You smiled at him and turned around to Valkyrie, who was right behind you, seated at the Gryffindor table. She winked at you when delicious food marvellously populated the table and you all tucked in. She filled her plate and then roughly rocked Mo to the side and sat down beside you.

“What were you saying about Rattowl?” You said, biting into a chicken hand pie. The rich flavour of creamy peas and carrots filled your mouth, and you reveled in it for a brief moment.

Valkyrie had half a mouthful of sausage and chewed loudly. “Well, it’s been what? A month since he croaked?”

A Hufflpuff girl across from you both, Nila, balked at Valkyrie. “How can you say that? He was...killed.” She could barely say the last word.

Valkyrie gave her a look. “What? It don’t make no difference, does it?”

Nila huffed indignantly. Mo interjected. “Well, it’s not every day a professor disappears for three weeks, only to be found ripped apart in the Forbidden Forest.”

You all wrinkled your noses in a few seconds of awkward silence. He was right. It was a bizarre and terrible thing to have happened. You had no love for Professor Rattowl. He was a cranky old man with awful manners, but he did not deserve such a fate.

Valkyrie said, “Well I heard that the Headmistress’s son is going to be the new potions teacher.”

You raised your brows. “Professor Odinson has a brother?”

Valkyrie’s eyes lit up at the mention of him. “If there are two Thor Odinson’s, then I will die this very moment.”

You, Mo, and Nila rolled your eyes at her when the doors crashed open in an echoing sound. All the chatter in the Great Hall was silenced when a lean and tall figure in a black cloak strolled into the room. His languid pace revealed a streak of arrogance - or confidence - as he walked down the hall, towards the head table. He walked between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables and slowly removed his hood.

You audibly gasped when you saw the raven haired man with his high cheekbones and proud nose. His blue eyes snapped towards you, and you felt your face heat up in seconds. He kept his eyes on you briefly before looking back at the head table. You breathed again once he was well past you.

Valkyrie looked at you questioningly. She whispered, “what’s going on?”

You could not take your eyes off of him and whispered back, “later.”

Everybody at the table rose, and Headmistress Frigga spoke with her wand pointed at her neck. “We will never forget our dear Professor Hubert Rattowl and the legacy he leaves here. The tragedy of his passing will remain a bitter memory in the long colourful history of Hogwarts. It has been a terrible time trying to fill this role, and our surprise guest has been gracious enough to accept our invitation. Professor Loki Laufeyson’s entrance may give you a taste into his exciting curriculum as the new Potions Master.” She gave him a warm smile.

He walked over to his seat and placed his hands on the table to look out at the students. There was something both inviting and dangerous about him. You could not look away.

He smiled widely and raised his hands. “Your potions saviour is here!”

The students clapped and eventually broke into applause. The Slytherin table was particularly ecstatic. There was no mistaking what house he belonged to. He looked at every table with a wide grin, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. They rested on you and your heart stopped. They flickered away, and he moved on before sitting down as the Headmistress continued her announcements.

Your hands were still clasped together in mid clap as you looked at the same man that was in your dream. His screams echoed in your mind and you wondered if this was all a nightmare. Regardless, it was going to be an interesting semester.

[achliegh]

Trail of Breadcrumbs: Part 1

Okay y’all, I haven't written fics in years and all of them were TRASH (lol). So I’m here to see if I've improved and because I have so many fic ideas in my head that I don’t know what to do with. If you have ideas and nowhere to put them, send them my way (except for fluff I get way too uncomfortable to write that shit).

CW: Smut, cringe fluff moments (because you can’t help but be a little fluffy with these himbos), Trash writing, hand on throat but no choking

All characters belong to @lumosinlove

Finn was just chilling on the couch all stretched out with his ankles crossed as he read A Tell Tale Heart (he had never actually finished an Edgar Allen Poe book and he was determined), freshly showered from their early morning weight training with his glasses perched on his forehead because he was rubbing his eyes and forgot he pushed them up there, subconsciously pulling the book closer to his face. He could hear the shower running, not knowing which if not both his boys were in there. He sighed and yawned a little as Logan walked past the couch to grab his hat off the coffee table.

“Where are you headed?” Finn reached for Logan after setting his book still open on his chest and wrapped an arm around his waist. Lo laughed and turned around with Finn's hand landing on his ass.

“I told you I had to babysit for Celeste and Dumo today Ding-Dong, don’t act like you didn’t whine for a half hour about it because we don’t get to read tonight” Leo and Finn had been taking turns reading a chapter a night out loud of The Lord of The Rings to Logan and they were all really into it by now.

“Breaking the reading streak is punishable, just so you know”

“I hope that's a promise” Lo snorted and gave Finn a chaste kiss as Leo decided to make his grand entrance in only his boxers. Water dripped from his hair down his toned chest that was flushed from his hot shower as he smiled sweetly at his boys and came to stand next to Logan.

“Tell Katie I say Bonjour when you get there!” Leo leaned down for a kiss of his own and right as their lips touched Finn pinched Logan's ass making him jump and knocking his and Leo's teeth together. Making them both pull away as Finn laughed, Logan rubbing his lips and Leo running his tongue over his teeth.

“I guess that's my queue to leave” Logan shot a half hearted glare at Finn and swatted his arm away in the most dramatic of fashions. “Bye guys, love you, don’t have too much fun without me!” he walked towards the door and shoved his hat on his head then after he slipped his shoes on turned around and blew kisses to his boys as he walked out the door.

Leo was suddenly straddling Finn, smiling, he looked him in the eyes and did the infamous Head Tilt. Suddenly, Leo was on his back and Finn’s glasses fell onto his nose and they laughed as Leo set his book and glasses on the table next to the couch as Finn started kissing around the waistband of his underwear.

“Waited for Lo to leave?”

“I didn’t want to but you know he wouldn’t have left and we would have gotten an earful from Dumo- Fuck! Finn just like that” Leo threaded his fingers through his soft auburn hair as Finn sucked him all down in one go after leaving a hickey on his hip. Leo rolled his hips and tugged on Finn's hair just like he knew he liked it. “How long did Lo say he was gonna be gone tonight” Leo was watching Finn intensely as he was pulling off leisurely swirling his tongue on the head of his cock drawing shivers from him. He gave one last long suck on the head and pulled off with a pop while panting, he loves watching Leo fall apart under him and smiles.

“About 2 hours, just while Dumo and Celeste are at dinner” he spoke calmly and nonchalantly as if he wasn’t jacking Leo off with slow tugs with a twist. He lowered his head to lick the slit wanting to taste the bead of precum starting to dribble out. Leo moans and tugs Finns hair hard enough to pull the boy up to have their lips mean in a clash of teeth and tongue, he wraps the hand not in the red locks around the back of the freckles boys neck as Finn keeps pulling hitching breaths and soft pleases from the boy under him.

Leo pulls away and starts kissing Finn's cheek to his ear and basically purrs into his ear. “Finn I want you to fuck me until he comes home~” he sucks on the spot behind Finn’s ear and he tilts his head to the side to allow Leo more of his neck and shivers when He licks from the base of his throat back up the his ear and nibbles on his lobe. “Does that sound like something you want~ if not I can always go and have fun with myself.. mmm fishy” Leo pulls away to look Finn in the eyes and see the soft amber eyes with pupils blown wide and dark with lust.

“As if I would say no” He playfully rolls his eyes as Leo laughs and stands up pulling his shirt off and tossing it on the floor. “Let’s leave a path to the bedroom like breadcrumbs in depressing kids stories” he’s taking off his sweats and underwear leaving them in a perfect like to the bedroom and Leo shakes his head as he also takes off his boxers finally and hangs them on the doorknob then beckons the older boy with a nod of his head into the room.

Next thing he know he’s being tackled on that bed and they are both laughing as they roll a little ending up with Leo’s head hanging off the side of the bed and Finn kissing his neck still chuckling as he fumbles for the 3/4th empty bottle of lube and yells to their Alexa, “Alexa add Lube to the Shopping list” and snorts when she answers as he sits on his heels in between the younger boys legs and smiles at him. “You’re so pretty Peanut” he leans forward and kisses his forehead.

“Sap” Sunshine boy flicks Finn's forehead but can’t stop the smitten smile that lights up his face.

“You’re hanging out with Loops to much if you’re starting to call me a sap”

“What can I say it’s nice to be around someone as mature as I am” he laughs as Finn makes an offended sound and playfully smacks his thigh. “Are we gonna fuck or just laugh at each other while our dicks are out?”

“It’s not so different from every other day in the locker room”

“We haven’t fucked in the locker room-“

“Yet” Finn laughs and adds some lube on his fingers and warms it up by rubbing it between his fingers as he bends down to kiss Leo’s inner thighs smiling into the kisses as he looks up at Leo. “Ready Peanut?”

Smiling as a blush covers his cheeks, blue eyes meet brown. He nods and Finn gently pushes past Leo’s tight ring of muscle as the younger boy sigh in relief and he reaches down to grab behind his knees and pulls his legs up. Finn praises the higher power for his sexy flexible boyfriend that has given him so many ideas in the very moment. He starts pumping his finger in and out of Leo getting more and more turned on by the sounds the Younger boy is making, Leo is normally vocal but Finn can tell he’s putting on a show for him.

“Another, add another! Please Finn I need more!” Leo is moving his hips but since it’s been a while since they have last done anything Finn is a little hesitant to add another so quickly with how tight Leo is. Murmuring hold on babe and be patient, He watched his finger sinking in and pulling out of Leo so many times he probably could have got off on just that but he took a couple deep breaths and added his second finger. “Yes! That feels so good, uh.” Leo’s voice pitched up at the end as Finn curled his fingers finding his prostate, he started moving his fingers faster just grazing that spot every time. He started a rhythm of moving in and out fast and deep for three thrusts and slowing down to curl his fingers to press his prostate on the fourth. Leo had his head thrown back over the side of the bed panting and not forming sentences properly as Finn fucked him with his fingers, he brought his hands up from his knees to his ankles and pulled his legs open as wide as they could so his hands were next to his shoulders and toes touching the bed above his hands and he felt Finn stop and lifted his head to look at him. “What? Why did you stop” he blinked a couple of times and realised his boyfriend was staring at his legs with a face that was just pure awe.

“WHY HAVEN'T YOU EVER DONE THAT BEFORE, holy shit I’m gonna cum just looking at you!” Finn, with a face and chest now as red as his eyebrows, reached his hand down to grip the base of his cock willing himself not to cum at the sight of a disheveled Leo with his fingers in him and his legs stretched so nearly over his shoulders. Fucking goalies man. “ I fucking love my life” he dove in for a heated and sloppy kiss as he added another finger into Leo and pumping quickly because he needed to be in him soon or he would cumbust. ;)

Leo kissed back with a burning passion and arched his back as Finn pounded his fingers in him. When Finn pulled away to pull his fingers out and lube himself up Leo let his head fall back again with a dopey smile on his face.

“Ready my little nutter butter baby” Finn smiles and lines himself up gripping one hand on Leo’s strong thigh and one hand on himself. He looks up to Leo who is biting his lip smiling with his dimples on display and Finns heart did a dumb little flip.

“Ready when you are” Leo winks and his body hums in anticipation and then pleasure as Finn presses forward into him slowly while kissing Leo’s chest leaving small hickeys as he goes. Finn watches Leo’s face open up and his mouth open as he bottoms out. Leo’s moving his hips up to meet Finn and they both sigh. The older boy starts moving slow and Steady but snaps his hips forward causing the younger boy to lose the grip on his leg that Finn had his hand on and pulls it through his own hair tugging on it lightly as an obscene moan falls from him. The pace picks up as Finn moves his free hand around Leo’s neck to just hold not choke because Leo likes to be held but not choked. The hand on his thigh is a bruising grip and the hand on his neck is keeping Leo from flying off the side of the bed.

“I knew the trail of clothes would lead to something good~” Logan was standing in the doorway to the bedroom looking at his boys with dark eyes and a smirk. He locks eyes with Leo and strides over to squat down next to him and be face to face.

“Dites-moi à quel point il ressent mon soleil ~”

To be continued….

[etherealwaifgoddess]

One In A Million - Chpt.1

Summary: Project Traveler is ready for its first test subject and you volunteer for the position, unwilling to risk any of the other brilliant minds who have been working on the project from the beginning. 

Word Count: 1.6k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! Who’s ready to get this started!? I’ve been sitting on this fic a while now and I finally feel like it’s ready to be out in the world. I’m so excited to share it with you all. Hope you enjoy! XOXO - Ash

Chapter One

“Send me.” you offer, causing the room full of scientists and PhD’s to turn and stare at you. “I mean it.” you continue, “You guys need someone you can trust who knows the science behind this if it goes wrong. The only one who will miss me is my cactus.” 

Chelton, the head of SHIELD’s Traveler project, looks at you thoughtfully. You’re young, still working towards your PhD after completing your masters a few years ago. It’s hard for him to believe you have nothing tying you to the world, but thinking back he can’t remember you ever talking about family or friends or anything personal. He assumed you were just taciturn by nature but he realizes now it was more than that. “You realize this is test number one?” he asks you, “We’re pretty sure it’s ready to go but if we’re wrong....”

You waive him off, “I know, I know. Death, dismemberment, permanent brain damage, yada, yada, yada. I’ve watched you guys work on this for two years now, it’s as ready as it’s ever gonna be. And someone needs to be the guinea pig, so it might as well be me. I’m still learning, if you lose me there’s still enough brains to keep things going and try again. If we lose one of you the project could end permanently.” You know it’s calloused but you made up your mind as soon as you had seen them putting the finishing touches on the transporter a week ago. 

“Don’t discredit yourself, Y/N.” Chelton admonishes, “You're a valued member of this team. I want you to take the weekend and really think about this. Make preparations if you’re still serious after thinking it over. When you come in on Monday if you’ve changed your mind, no one will think any less of you.” 

You give him a soft smile, knowing you need to assuage his concern, “Okay, thanks Chelton. I’ll think about it. Now, who’s ready to get out of here?” You pick up your files, ready to pack up for the day. It’s been a long week and you’re suddenly eager to get home, this will be your last weekend in the twenty-first century for a while. 

Your apartment is a small studio over top a corner shop and it’s just big enough that you’re not constantly bumping into your furniture. Definitely an upgrade from the shoe box you lived in at college with two roommates. When you had moved to the city to work on the project recreating Tony Stark’s time machine it felt like a luxury just to have a place of your own. You water the little cactus who sits on the window sill in your living room, and settle in with your laptop to pay a few bills online. If things go as planned and you come back, it will be important to still have a roof over your head. 

Your evenings are quiet with none of your friends living in the city. You email a few of them to let them know you’ll be away on a work trip and that you miss them. The picture of your parents sitting on the bookshelf makes your heart ache for a moment. You wonder if they would be proud of you if they were still alive. They’ve been gone for a decade now but it doesn’t do much to dull the pain of their loss. 

Your stomach rumbles, reminding you that you haven’t eaten since breakfast. Normally you’d just scrounge up something from your cupboards, whatever you had leftover from earlier in the week. But a sense of fatalism hits and you realize that if you don’t make it back in one piece on Monday it doesn’t really matter if you blow a day’s worth of pay on a five star restaurant or not. And you have been dying to go to Peter Luger Steak House since you moved to Brooklyn. You put on your nicest looking dress, dark blue silk that accents your curves without making you look lumpy, and throw on a little make up for the hell of it. This might be your last weekend alive and you’re going to make the most of it.

xxXxx

Monday comes far too quickly and you’re a little ashamed to admit you’re not feeling your best. You’ve decided it’s easier to accept the idea that you’re not walking away from the test run so that you’re not devastated if and when something goes awry. You spent the entire weekend doing all the things you usually put off for more practical endeavors. The queue on your Hulu and Netflix accounts are clear and you’ve eaten a lifetime of fancy foods. You also learned what good, twenty year old scotch tastes like and it was worth every cent. You probably didn’t need to finish off the whole bottle over the course of three days though. 

You drop your bag into your bottom desk drawer and hand Chelton an envelope when he comes over to greet you. “This is everything,” you tell him, “Passwords, account information, a list of people to contact. If things go sideways I know I can trust you to take care of things for me.”

The older man accepts the envelope but pulls you in for a brisk, uncharacteristic hug. “I’m so proud of you.” he says roughly. 

“Oh come on, pull it together old man.” you tease, “I’ll be back in all of a minute if we’ve done our jobs right.” 

“That’s right, and you’ll have some wild stories for us I’m sure.” 

You join the rest of the research group, letting them know test number one for project Traveler is a go. The room erupts into happy chaos, everyone working at their stations getting the machine up and running. You run through the processes, double checking it for full functionality, and for the first time you start to feel genuine excitement that you might actually be about to go back in time. 

Harris, one of the other original scientists on the project, gives you a run down for a second time, as if you didn’t assist with creating the protocols yourself. “You will have three jump points back to our time once you get there. One month, six months, one year. If for whatever reason you can’t get back on the first jump you still have two more shots to find your way back to us. You have to set up these three devices in the basement of the Strategic Scientific Reserve headquarters when you arrive to keep the link open for the jump points. You cannot lose this brooch or you’ll have nothing to pull you through. When you get there write down the exact time and date so you can ensure you’re at the jump points in time, it’ll be down to the second so be sure you do that first thing.” 

“I know. I’ll be just fine.” you assure him while straightening out the neckline of your smart looking dove grey suit. The team had rustled up a vintage suit for you so that you didn’t stick out like a sore thumb when you got back to 1940. You fasten the antique looking brooch to the breast of it, knowing you’ll need to carry it on you always to ensure you have a way back. The team had decided against wristbands due to how obvious they would be in another time period and had settled on a tie tack or a brooch depending if it were a man or woman going back. 

Harris nodded but carried on, “When you get there ask for Agent Wilson right away. Show him this card and he’ll get you access to one of the SSR aliases and bank accounts. You’ll be set up for as long as you need to be there. But remember, if you make any drastic changes to the past you’ll be forming a split in realities and creating a new timeline. We don’t know what kind of effects that could have. You need to stay under the radar and keep your head down.”  

“Will do. It’ll be okay. I’ll be back in a minute, maybe six if I’m having a good time. You just worry about where you’re taking us all for dinner to celebrate tonight.” 

Harris nods and lets you past him to take your place on the transporter. It’s been five years of tireless work for most of the people in the room trying to recreate and improve upon the machine Tony Stark and Bruce Banner used to send the Avengers back for the infinity stones. You learned so much in the past two years since you joined them. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and you are so grateful to have been given it.

“Okay guys, this is it. Nobody better eat my yogurt in the fridge before I get back.” you say with a wry smile, getting into position in the middle of the machine. 

A few of the guys chuckle while they begin flipping switches on the control panel, readying the transporter.

Chelton returns your smile despite deep worry lines creasing at the side of his eyes, “We’ll see you in a minute.” he says and then he presses the final set of command keys.

You don’t close your eyes, not willing to miss a moment if they’re your last. Everyone’s faces are broadcasting varying mixes of fear, excitement, and hope as you look around your team. It starts out slow, a faint tingling of the hairs on your arms. Like you had rubbed a balloon along them and static electricity had built up. The tingling increases until your whole body is thrumming with a buzzing energy and then the world goes white.

[fantasiesromancechicklits]

In Depth Thomas Doherty interview

TWO things hit home immediately on meeting Scotland’s Disney star Thomas Doherty; the first is he has the arresting good looks normally associated with boy band members, or those young men you see on giant posters on the wall of a trendy clothes shop, wearing nice tops. When Doherty later informs he has over a million Instagram followers it’s not hard to see why.

The second thing is his ankle tattoo, an inscription of sorts, but although I’m sitting a yard away I can’t make the words out. Some foreign language I’ve never come across? We talk about the tattoo puzzle later, meantime the young man from Edinburgh chats about his new Disney role.

Doherty, who is also one of the stars of Disney Channel musical, The Lodge, now stars as Harry Hook in Descendants 2, a sequel to the international TV franchise featuring the adventures of the teen offsprings of the great Disney villains such as Cruella de Vil and Maleficent.

He explains why he’s wild about Harry. “I love playing him,” says the actor who hopes his pirate Son of Hook will be the most evil villain of the past 100 years, badder than old King Kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog, (to lift from the late American songwriter Jim Croce.)

“He can be very hostile and intimidating and unpredictable, but at the same time he has a charming quality. It’s easy to see why people love him – but hate to love him at the same time. He’s such good fun to play. And his character brings a lot to the rest of the film.

Doherty seems to have natural warmth and to be entirely unassuming. As he tells of playing Captain Hook’s wicked progeny, it’s with an endearing sense of incredulity; the actor’s voice has a questioning air, wondering how he can, at just 22, be part of this worldwide franchise, be part of the offspring of the Disney parents who gave the world Miley Cyrus and Britney Selena Gomez.

He later reveals however he isn’t an innocent abroad. But for the moment we continue talk of Harry Hook. Did he channel anyone in particular when he became bad boy Harry? “I did,” he offers. “I thought of Heath Ledger when he played the Joker in Batman. His performance was amazing. He showed how you can totally immerse himself in this huge character, yet make him truthful. It’s such a shame we’ve lost him.

“When I play Harry I want that sort of truth.” He adds: “There’s a real dichotomy about him and it’s important to understand he’s still a kid, which means there’s a lot of teenage angst and frustration in the mix.

“You forget he’s the son of Hook, and don’t think about the pirate ship. What I want to come across is he’s a young man with a lot of problems – peer pressure, father pressures, and loss in his life. And this manifests itself in anger and aggression.” He laughs: “But it’s all good fun.”

Doherty clearly brings an intelligence to the role (his mother, who works in a bank – his dad is a financial adviser – made sure he finished his Highers before she agreed on him taking off to musical theatre college) but you discover there’s also an innate toughness about him which the model looks don’t suggest initially.

“I grew up hoping to become a professional footballer,” he says, revealing a world far removed from fairy princesses and camp.

His talent was such it led to professional trials with the likes of Berwick Rangers, but not quite enough to land the big leagues. “My brother was also a footballer and went to America on a footballing scholarship, so I guess I was following in his footsteps.”

Yet, while Doherty tackled and twisted his way over East Lothian grass he kept a dark, or rather a colourful, secret from many of his school chums.

“While I was seen as a football player, no-one was aware I also did musical theatre,” he says in mock conspiratorial voice. “I’d have my books and packed lunch at the top of my bag but at the bottom I’d hide my tap shoes.

“On Saturdays, for example, I’d go to musical theatre from nine ‘till one and then rush off to the game.” He adds, laughing: “Then during the week I’d turn up for musical theatre with my knees all cut and bruised. It was all a bit Billy Elliott. But I loved both.”

His very close friends accepted his leanings: “Yes, but any 13-year-old boy who wears leotard and tights two days a week is going to get slagged off,” he says, grinning. “Young boys were wary of acting. There was a sense it was all a bit effeminate. And I’d get teased. but it’s part of the banter. And my friends were fantastic and so supportive when it came to seeing my shows.”

Doherty had been attending a local drama group from a young age, but aged 13 he “really began to enjoy it". When the football dream was kicked out of the park, he decided to focus on performing and applied to the Academy of Performing Arts to study musical theatre. “I always wanted to work in TV and film but didn’t feel I was mature enough to go to acting school. And I could sing a bit, and dance as well because I had already done a lot of musical theatre shows.”

At the end of his three years, he performed his showcase and landed an agent. Now, landing representation is every young performer’s dream. But when you coax it out of Doherty there’s a realisation agents were almost queueing around the block to sign him up.

You would imagine they saw him as a cert for a role in EastEnders, a teen heartbreaker shoe-in for Hollyoaks?

“Yes, I met a few agents and some of them suggested they would get me into the likes of Hollyoaks. But it didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel passionate about the idea and felt I would be cheating a little bit.”

What happened was he worked in theatre for a short time, appearing at the Edinburgh Festival in a play about the Black Death, boils and all. Then he landed some film work in the likes of Hercules before being cast in teen musical The Lodge as Sean, filming in Northern Ireland.

He switches conversational channels to offer a bigger picture. “I don’t thinking living two steps ahead in life as being in any way productive. I like to live in the moment. That’s why there isn’t a big career plan mapped out.

“In the six months before leaving college I had the idea I’d get an agent and move to Hollywood and land films and do the red carpet thing. And then I got a little taste of it and I realised I was trying to fill my life with stuff. But I also realised if that was my intent it would never really be filled.”

What? These days actors talk of career moves as if it were a board game strategy. What made Doherty so different? What happened to bring about this epiphany?

Seems he has gone down the way of modelling after all.

“While I was doing The Lodge I was also meeting these modelling agencies, and at the same time I was going to acting auditions. But I wasn’t really thinking about the auditions; I was thinking about what the auditions would bring me. Then I went to LA and did the photo shoot for Teen Vogue and came back and thought ‘That was so much fun’ and people were saying to me it was amazing, yet at the same time it all felt very hollow, a bit vacuous.”

Doherty realised he was being judged for his looks alone. It didn’t sit well. “Old friends or people who didn’t know me were giving lots of attention, and it was weird when girls would scream or ask for photos but it wasn’t fulfilling.”

He felt lost, unsure of the road to take. “I began reading Eckhart Tolle a lot, (the spiritual teacher and author of books such as The Power Of Now) who has been asking why we are trying to fill our lives with stuff. You know; you get the car or the big house or whatever and then you ask yourself what you did to deserve it.

“You wonder if life is all about getting two million followers on social media.”

He has in fact just a million. The actor grins and then takes on a serious look: “But the thing is it doesn’t mean anything, except that ... well, it doesn’t define me.”

It’s quite unusual to find a young man aged just 22 who has been self-aware enough to examine the very point of his being. He could have gone the Bieber route and created minor drugs/alcohol mayhem. But of course, he’s also contained to a certain extent by the demands of Disney. The corporation Disney expects a lot of its young stars, in terms of how they represent themselves to the public, displaying a clean cut wholesomeness.

So how does Doherty balance out the Disney deal with the need to be a young man and have fun – and take a few risks? “Just don’t get caught,” he says, grinning. “But what you don’t do is overthink your status and let it get into your head because it will be a bit restrictive. What you have to do is just see yourself as a you are, which is a normal 22-year-old boy. And don’t let a couple of screaming girls sway you in any way.”

Does he read the tabloid tales of those who have lost the plot? Clearly he’s aware that celebrity is the mask that eats from within. Just think Heath Ledger.

“Yes, and I’m aware if you don’t be careful you crash and burn. Jim Carey once said he wished everyone could spend a week being rich and famous, to see what it’s really like. Attention can bring problems. But I’ve got it under control.”

What helps, apart from Eckhart Tolle and a few pages of natural common sense, is Doherty has a regular girlfriend, who happens to be his Descendants 2 co-star. “Her name is Dove Cameron and she lives in Los Angeles.” His voice becomes more animated as he expands: “She was here for the Edinburgh Festival for the first time and she loved it. She’s great. She’s like my pal, and a really good laugh. The plan is I’m going to head over to LA to live. We’re going to get a place together and live on Venice Beach.”

You tell him he’ll love it. And you’re sick with envy. “Thanks,” he says, smiling. “I think I’m making the right move. London’s great, and so is Edinburgh but it’s too cold.”

Doherty is relaxed about the future. He may be doing another season of The Lodge, and “hopefully a Descendants 3". But thanks to his Instagram success he has a regular income stream, independent of what he earns from acting. “I want to test the water,” he says of work possibilities in Tinseltown.

But gently.

“It’s good to have goals and a career and all the rest of it, but at the same time I want to enjoy life.”

He means it. The actor becomes truly animated when I tell of a young Scots actor, Declan Laird, currently making his way in Hollywood, who plays for a showbiz football team. Declan will get him a game.

“That sounds fantastic,” he says, breaking into a wide smile. “Although I’ll have to watch I don’t get kicked. But of course I won’t tell anyone I’m playing.”

We say goodbyes, but the ankle tattoo questions has to be answered. What the hell language is that? “It’s Elvish,” he declares, as if I should have known it’s Tolkien tongue.

“I’m a huge Lord Of The Rings fan, and it’s a quote from Gandalf: ‘All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that’s given to us.’ Good, eh?”

Perfect line, Thomas. Just perfect.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/15597316.Hook_lines_and_thinker__meet_the_rising_Scottish_film_star/

[naomiknight-17]

Spooky Story Time

Okay this may not be the spookiest story ever, but I was chatting with my pal @allhailweegee recently about phobias and such and this came up, so I thought I’d share it here. I don’t think I’ve ever told this story online.

Behind a cut due to length.

So way back when, when I was a tiny little baby 9-year-old and my younger brother (who I will refer to as ‘Duck’ for the purposes of this tale) was around 4 or 5, some spooky things went down in our little apartment complex.

Now this probably wasn’t the first time we had spooky encounters in that apartment, and it wasn’t the last - we had mysterious shadows walking around when there was nothing to cast them, we had unexplained noises, cupboards opening and closing themselves when you left the room, all that kind of generic paranormal junk. But this particular week or two I’m about to tell you about was the peak of activity in that home, as far as we experienced.

To rewind a little and fill in a bit of background info, this apartment complex was run by a non-profit organization, and the rent was subsidized, so we and everyone else living there were pretty damn poor and had nowhere else to go. There were a few families like ours where our parents were out of work, some disabled folks, addicts, mentally ill people, retirees low on savings - all kinds of different people with different backgrounds, all struggling one way or another.

One neighbor we had at the time was a thin, tiny, friendly old man. He was also terribly lonely, and would come by our apartment to borrow very basic things as an excuse to stand in the doorway and chat with my Mom for however long he could keep her there. So one day he’d come by to borrow a broom, the next day, to borrow a plunger, always returning things in a timely fashion so he’d have another chance to chat.

Occasionally my brother or I would come to try to pull Mom away from the door for whatever reason, and he’d pull us into the conversation, asking about school or what have you. Frankly, I was caught up in my own priorities at the time and don’t really remember what we chatted about.

In any case, to the spooky happenings.

One day, a few days after the old man’s last visit, I was using the washroom. Beside the toilet was the plunger, one we had often lent to our neighbor. I was not touching it, it was neatly and tidily tucked between the toilet and bathtub in our tiny washroom. Without any provocation, the plunger flipped over - end over end, and came to rest beside my feet. I looked around in alarm, but of course, it was only me in the washroom. I convinced myself I must have knocked it over by accident somehow, and went on with my day.

At the time, my brother had a small collection of Fisher Price Little People play sets. Does anyone remember those? The old ones from the early nineties, where the toys were barely heads on round pegs? Anyway, we were playing with those. We had watched a good deal of Looney Tunes lately, and I was semi-reciting one of the bits from the cartoon, something along the lines of “Which way did he go, George? Which way did he goooo” as my brother giggled and played along, when we were very rudely interrupted.

The sound of a music box cut through the room, and my brother and I both turned to find its source. On top of a wardrobe - too high for my brother to reach, but just short enough that I could touch the shelf on tiptoe, stood a clown doll. It was the type where if you wound it up, it would play a song.

And there it was, its head slowly moving to the music, as it played a few seconds of ‘It’s a Small World After All’. 

We stared in awe. No-one had touched that toy in ages, it shouldn’t have been wound at all. No-one and nothing was near it that should have been able to set it off. It stopped after a few slow notes, and we went back to playing. I shrugged it off, rationalizing that some adult must have been messing with it recently, and it was malfunctioning. I told my brother it was probably just broken, and not to worry.

But the next day, it happened again. Again my brother and I were playing in his room, and as soon as I started quoting the Looney Tunes bit, the damn clown started moving and playing its song. This time we were spooked, and ran downstairs to play Nintendo instead.

That night, I was laying in bed trying to sleep, and trying not to think about the weird and spooky things that had been happening. My room was small, and crowded with a twin bed, a desk, a dresser and a nightstand. The only really clear space was in front of my window, where a blackout roller shade hung, to shield my room from the harsh streetlights outside. This was directly across the room from my bed. As I stared at the shade, unable to sleep, it began to move.

The bottom of the roller shade drifted away from the windowsill by a couple inches. I thought I was seeing things until THWACK! It slammed back against the sill! I watched in silent horror as this repeated, increasing in frequency, until I reached the point of panic where I leaped out of bed and ran to the hallway, screaming for my Mom.

She must have been busy with something downstairs, because she didn’t come up to check on me, but simply shouted back, trying to tell me that if my blinds were moving, I should close my window.

Of course, it must just be the wind! I tried to convince myself of this as I warily went back into the room. The blinds were still. I gingerly lifted the shade to check the window. It was closed. No draft was coming through at all. The tree outside my window showed no movement - it wasn’t even breezy outside. 

My terror renewed, and certain that my Mom would not come to help me, I dove back into bed and pulled the covers up over my head. Moments later, I heard it again - tap, TAP, THWACK! - as the blinds resumed moving on their own. I don’t know how long I endured the noise and fear, but at some point I became frustrated and yelled, “STOP IT! JUST STOP!!!”

And I’ll be damned - it stopped. The blind ‘thwack’ed one last time as it came to rest against the sill, and was silent. Finally, I calmed down and somehow got to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning, the strange events of the last few days were still on my mind, and I was starting to piece together that something paranormal may have been happening in my home. But I had to be sure.

That day, Mom had gone on some errand - probably to buy groceries, and Dad was out scouring for construction and renovation jobs as usual, so I was left very briefly in charge of the house. This was my chance.

I walked into my brother’s room, where he was quietly playing with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys. Without warning him of what I was up to - and maybe I should have - I started quoting the Looney Tunes bit again. Right on queue, that damn clown doll started playing. Duck started crying. I got mad.

I rushed to the medicine cabinet where I knew my very, VERY religious, very superstitious Italian grandmother had left us a gift on her last visit. Several vials of holy water. I grabbed one of these, and then dashed into my room to find the rosary Nana had gifted to me some time before. I knew nothing about exorcisms or ghosts save for what I’d learned through the media and Nana’s stories, so I was running blind - but I felt like I had to do something. I had to confront this thing that was terrorizing my brother and I!

So I went back into my brother’s room. Duck had fled at some point, and if I recall correctly, was hiding in our parents’ room where he felt safe.

I stood in the middle of the room, holding up the cross of my rosary at the doll, and with my other hand sprinkling holy water about the space as I’d often seen my Nana do on her visits. I can’t recall my exact words, but it was something along the lines of:

“If there’s a ghost here, you are not welcome! You need to go to heaven now! You’re scaring my brother and we don’t want you here!”

The clown did not respond.

The clown never responded again.

Later that very day, Mom came home with the groceries. She had actually taken a bit longer than expected, and apologized for such - but then told me to sit down so she could explain why.

You see, Mom had run into another neighbour on her way home, and found out that the old man who so often visited us to chat had been found dead in his home the previous day. He’d probably been dead for 2 or 3 days when he was found, because a neighbour had gone to check on him and gotten no response. Some of these details I learned a little later (my Mom wasn’t super forthcoming with this kind of information) but she gave me the basic facts that our neighbour had passed away a few days back and that we wouldn’t be seeing him anymore.

His name, which I had never known while he lived, had been George Atkinson.