#in a world where henry is seen as a god and william tries to play god where does that leave michael. etc etc | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

heavenunderthemoon · 4 years ago

Note

could we get another jj and daughter fic, maybe one where she has to protect herself and Henry from the unsub and is in jj and will wedding. (set in 7x24)

Per your request! Hope you like it!

“Cheers”- JJ x DAUGHTER! READER

WARNINGS: themes of violence, major fluff at the end

WORDS: 5,671

"Y/n?"

Henry's head shot up from his spot on the floor, his stack of legos momentarily forgotten as he bolted to meet his father at the door, the childlike pitter-patter of his feet enough to make you follow suit.

You followed the sound of his voice, a bit confused as to why Will was home so early. It was one of the rare days he was at work while your mother stayed home- well, she was supposed to stay home. Its had been all of an hour and a half that she had been home before she got called in, leaving you with the responsibility of watching your younger half-brother.

"Will?" You rounded the corner, footsteps immediately coming to a halt as your eyes settled upon a new face, their own eyes lighting up when you came into sight. Their demeanor made you tense. The way Will stood, slightly favoring one side, shoulder dipping as if there was a gravitational pull that only he could feel, a magnet dragging one side of his body to the ground. His eyes flickered between you and Henry and the woman. His orbs were boring into yours, as if sending you a silent message, trying to exude a wave of calmness but there was something underneath that you could see as well, a layer of alarm that made your mouth dry. One of his feet were slightly in front of the other, placing himself before her as if to serve as a barrier between you three.

And the woman. Well, she looked...dangerous. That was the first word you had thought to describe her. Her eyes were sharp, focused, and fixed you with a predatory stare. Her hair was raven black, almost like Emily's, but the comparison stopped there because Emily had never looked so feral. Your hand clamped onto Henry's shoulder, preventing him from going any closer to the woman.

"Oh, she's so beautiful, you never did say how pretty she was." Her voice was just as predatory as the rest of her. It sent shivers down your spine and you could see Will react in the same way. Her body moved, as if to take a step forward and the Lamontagne man matched her steps, earning an amused glance from the woman. Her eyes glided off of you, coming to rest on the small blonde boy by your side and her lips twisted into one of irritation.

"Is he still in diapers? I don't really do those."

Will's face contorted with an emotion you had never quite seen on the man. Unbridled rage. A horrible twisting feeling in your stomach began to settle, one that you normally faked to get out of your algebra tests, but this one was real. Incredibly real, and when the man turned to you, eyes connecting with your own, you listened when he spoke. "Take Henry to the kitchen, I'll be with you in just a second."

Your mouth opened and closed, about to protest, but when you looked back at the woman, that hungry look still in her eyes, you were turning on your heel, ushering the boy out. - "No."

"Y/n-"

"You're leaving us with her?" Your eyes flickered to the woman standing in the kitchen doorway. You had known something was wrong the minute Will had walked through the door, his voice shakily calling out your name and now you knew you had been right. Will had slunk back into the kitchen, his side still pulling him to the ground, before attempting to tell you goodbye. Henry sat on the counter where you had placed him, happily munching on a granola bar you had opened for him.

"No, Will, what the hell is going on? Something is..." You looked to the woman again, lowering your voice another octave and turning it into a hushed whisper. "Something is wrong, I can tell, okay? You're lying to me." Perhaps it was because your mother was a profiler or maybe it was the vast amount of time you spent with the man on a daily basis, but you knew it was true. The man was hiding something.

"I can't." And when he said it you knew that was true as well. His shoulders were slumped in defeat, chin turned downwards and you realized you had never seen him look so...afraid. So tired. "I need you two to behave, okay? Do whatever she says and wait for Mom to come home." His eyes were staring into yours again, pleading you, begging you, to listen and that twisting feeling in your stomach hit once more.

"I-I don't understand." Your voice was breathy, hands beginning to shake, but for the sake of Henry you were keeping it together, holding yourself together with tape and glue because he was a child and while you were still a child too, you didn't get to be one. Not right now. Not with the woman standing in the doorway, that sinister smile dancing upon her lips.

Will nodded, eyes downtrodden. A hand reached out to squeeze your shoulder. "I know. I'm sorry." He took another moment before shaking once more. "I love you, you know? I know I'm not your real father-"

"Will." You tried, tears beginning to threaten to leave your eyes.

"But you're my daughter. You're just as much mine as Henry is." He continued.

And now the tears were spilling over. You remembered when you had first met the man, how JJ had teased him about how nervous he had been. He had shaken your hand, his large hand practically consuming yours. How he had laughed when you had fixed him with narrowed eyes and a stern scowl, something that had looked ridiculous on a child so small, but he had listened all the same when you asked him 'What are your intentions with my mother?'. How, after that initial meeting, he had started to come around more often, burrowing himself into you and your mother's daily routines. Suddenly, he was pouring you cereal in the mornings, or appearing at soccer games, rowdily yelling whenever you received a yellow card. How his things began to appear in the small house your mother and you had lived in at the time, small things at first- like, a razor, or a toothbrush- and then big things- like, his old boombox that he used whenever he was in the garage, or the horde of healthy food he brought with him (because your mother and you would sustain yourself on junk if you could and you had until he showed up.).

You remembered all those things and now they were flashing before your eyes because what he was saying, how he was looking at you, made it feel like he was saying goodbye and you while you had lived in a world without William Lamontagne Jr. before, you couldn't quite picture doing it again.

"Please, don't leave us." And the words that you were pleading him with had a double meaning because god be damned if he left that threshold let alone the world.

Will didn't say anything, pulling you into a warm embrace, and you melted into it. "I love you too." You murmured against his shoulder, and he nodded, pulling back to place a hand on your cheek, staring into your face as if to blaze it into his mind, before he was turning to Henry.

"Daddy, let's play!" The boy's arms extended and his father took the cue to lift him off the counter's ledge, placing him gently on the floor.

"Daddy can't play right now, I gotta go to work. But, this is, um-"

"Izzy." The woman readily provided, stalking into the kitchen. She came to a halt next to you, her hand coming to rest on the small on your back and you fought back a repulsed snarl.

"Izzy. Can you say hi to Izzy?"

The boy didn't seem to understand the tension, something you were grateful for. "Hi, Izzy!"

"She's going to stay with you both until Mama comes home, okay?"

Henry's blonde hair moved as his head nodded. "Okay."

"Hey. I love you." Will's voice broke a little as the exchanged their goodbyes, ending in an embrace all too similar to the one you had received and you but your lip, steeling your face. You didn't know what the situation was or what the future held, but you knew one thing. You knew that every time Will's eyes filled with hurt, the woman's lips quirked in satisfaction. She took pleasure in other people's pain, and you weren't going to fuel her anymore than she needed. He told you to wait for your mother to come home.

And that was exactly what you were going to do.

Your fingers twirled a crayon between them, leg shaking underneath the dining room table you and your brother were stationed at. His eyebrows were furrowed, concentrating on the scribbles before him. You looked down to your own paper.

Blank.

How were you supposed to concentrate when Will was out there doing God knows what? Or with this woman- Izzy, if that was her real name- under the same roof. You didn't trust her, choosing not to turn your back on her the minute Will had left the house.

It was strange, you observed, to feel so unsafe in your own house. You hadn't lived there for long, only moving once Henry was born. That tiny little house your mother and you had lived in for so long hadn't been enough, and once news of her pregnancy had broke, the two parents had searched for a new house. You remembered saying goodbye to that house, all the movie nights with just the two Jareau girls, the notches on the wall to indicate height (you would insist to take your mother's height as well even if she had stopped growing long ago), the chips in the paint from when the two of you decided to move furniture by yourself, or the glow in the dark stars that used to hang from your ceiling. It hadn't been a sad goodbye, of course, because now there was a new house.

A new house that held pictures of the three of you- now four, with Henry. A house filled with toys strewn about the living room because the boy always forgot to pick them up, or his drawings strung up on the fridge. A house with a backyard (a cool one, with a tree and everything that you had tried to climb once and never had again because you got stuck and Will had to help you down). A house that was a home.

And all of that was gone in an instant because now it didn't feel like a home. It felt like a lion's den.

"I'm thirsty." Henry turned to you, and you moved to stand before the lioness was moving.

Her hand placed itself firmly on your shoulder, forcing you back into your seat, as she stared at the boy.

"I'm going to get him some water." You tried to mimic the tone your mother used when she was cross with you. The tone that said 'Don't even think about it'. But you must've done a poor job because she was chuckling softly, shaking her head, before turning her attention back to the boy.

Her slender fingers closed around a discarded green crayon, letting it glide across the boy's paper. Slowly, she began to sing, a rendition (a very poor one, in your opinion), of 'Ring Around the Rosie', and Henry was giggling.

"You're silly."

You silently thanked whatever higher power was out there for the sweet, perfectly oblivious boy that was your baby brother.

"Can we play hide-and-seek?"

"In a minute. Come here." She reached to pul the boy onto her lap, and your hand clamped down around his wrist, pulling him into your side on instinct.

"I think he's fine right here, right Hen?" You were already lifting him onto your lap, squeezing him tightly as if to reassure yourself that he was still there. He was your baby brother, your responsibility. Your mother had chided that to you a million times when he was beginning to crawl, or walk, or run. You were the older sister, the last contingency, the arms to back him when he fell, and you would make damn sure that he never did because he was Henry. The boy who, in his first moments in this world, had clenched his tiny fist around your finger and never let go. The boy whose first words had been a butchered rendition of your name (a nickname your mother still tortured you with), the boy whose first thought in the morning was to run into your room, jumping onto your sleeping figure until you were awake.

Izzy's withering stare was enough to make you feel sick, but you clenched on tighter and she, reluctantly, settled back into her seat.

"My grandfather's name was Henry. He had blonde hair just like you."

"I bet he was as psychotic as you." You said through gritted teeth, and your words only seemed to make her smile, egging her on.

"He was a scary man, yes."

"Why?" Henry's tiny voice whispered, and she clasped her hand's together.

"Let me tell you a story."

The legos on the table clashed together, a misshapen attempt at a spaceship (though you would never call it that to Henry's face, even if he didn't know what misshapen meant), taking place before you. Every so often, the boy would hold his hand out, allowing you to place another building block into his tiny palm before he decided where it went. The sound of a glass hitting the table to your right sounded and you glanced at it briefly, a cup of water for the boy.

Izzy turned, heading to the window and as Henry reached for the glass you shook your head at him. "Don't drink that."

The blonde's eyebrows scrunched, but before he could question it, his eyes were turning to something behind you and you felt a hand clamp around your mouth. You almost screamed, heart quickening, when a wisp of blonde hair fell into your eyeline and you relaxed, turning to meet your mother's gaze. Her eyes were frantic, movements swift and you saw the tiniest bit of relief before she held a finger to her lips, ushering the two of you into the hall closet quietly.

Henry was the perfect size for it, the small boy able to stand in it without his head grazing the coats hanging on the shelves but you had to hunch your back, bending your knees slightly.

"Stay here, don't come out till I say it's okay."

The FBI logo painted across her chest made your eyes widen, her hands reaching for her gun as she turned. "Woah, wait, Mom, are you gonna be okay?" Your voice hissed out your own whisper.

Your hand held her arm, tightly, enough to make her pause in her motions because before that, before your touch, she had been lost, swallowed whole in the sea of thoughts that was her worry for her children. Her worry for her son, the small boy who still hated baths and needed a nightlight, and you, a girl who had grown right alongside her, all through college, through her FBI training, through her media liaison days, and now as she was a profiler. Children who were in danger because of her.

Her bright blue orbs met yours and they softened because, as much as you would attest that you hid it well, she could see the fear that painted your face. It showed in your flared nostrils, clenched jaw, and shaking hands. "I'll be fine." She tried, but the firmness in her face never left and it was something that you weren't accustomed to. Today had been a whole lot of that- seeing things you weren't accustomed to. Will, afraid, your mother terrified, and both fighting tooth and nail for you and Henry to be okay (well, as okay as you could be shoved in a coat closet).

Still noticing concern, she gently took your hand from her arm, placing a quick maternal kiss to your cheek. You tried not to think about what she was going to do, tried not to think about the hand still on her gun, the bulletproof vest on her chest. You tried to think about this like Hide-and-seek, a fun little game on your mother's day off.

"I'll be fine." She said one last time, a whisper that haunted your ears after she closed the door. It haunted you as the yells began, screams of rage, shouts of fury, clashes, clangs, and everything in between. You grabbed Henry, pulling him into you and covering his ears as best as you could. His small hands wound their way around your shirt and even if it was your favorite (a band t-shirt that Will had gotten you and that your mother absolutely hated), you let him. His whimpers were muffled from your shirt and you shushed him softly, cooing into his ear.

"Shh, you're okay. We're okay." And you weren't sure if you were talking to him or yourself at that point.

You could hear your mother yell, a subsequent, loud 'BANG' like a glass shattering being heard and you held your breath, hearing nothing but silence after. Henry's breathing was shallow, and you strained your ears to hear anything, anything at all. You wanted to hear your mother yell, or cry, or tell you to come out, something to tell you she was okay. But nothing came.

The door of the closet was grated, small slits in the wood that were used for insulation purposes but now served to allow you to look out into the hallway and when you did you wished you hadn't. Your mother lay on the floor, the ground around her littered with broken glass- a vase, ceramic, one you had made in fourth grade (It was bumpy, sloppily painted, and had a very crude carving of your initials on the bottom) and your mother had kept all these years. You had called her a hoarder, but she called it being sentimental. From the shards that rained down upon her, and the small puddle of blood leading from her head to the floor, you assumed she had been struck down with it.

Her blonde hair was becoming stained with the scarlet liquid, body moving slowly, but surely to get up, but none of it mattered because your vision was blocked another figure moving towards your mother, a gun trained on her back and before you knew it you were moving. The closet door was thrown open, and you shut it behind you, making sure to keep Henry concealed. The sound startled Izzy, but you didn't hesitate to throw your body toward her, using all your weight to tackle her to the floor. You both landed with a 'THUD', and you groaned. The gun previously in her hand clattered to your left, but before you could make a grab for it, the brunette moved much quicker than you did after the initial shock. Her fist rained upon your cheek and you shrieked, taking the hits as you kicked at her body and twisted to try and grab the weapon.

You could see your mother standing, getting a second wind as she laid her eyes upon you, and her eyes flared with so much fury that you stopped your mad grabs for the weapon, staring up at the woman above you. Despite the pain in your nose, the feeling of blood dripping down your face, or the eye that was threatening to shut due to swelling, you smiled. Blood stained your teeth when you did, almost making you look animalistic and when you spoke, Izzy hardly had time to react.

"You lose."

The brunette's eyebrows furrowed before she was pulled up by her hair, your mother delivering a swift roundhouse kick that rendered the woman unconscious. The last thing you saw before you passed out was the panicked figure of your mother, pleading you to stay awake before you surrendered yourself to the abyss.

You woke up in an ambulance bay, eyes(or, eye) fluttering open to greet the scene before you. It was moving. That much you could feel. There was a metallic taste in your mouth that made you believe the paramedics had given you some kind of painkiller and glancing down to your arm and finding a large I.V. needle confirmed your theory. The metal walls were lined with medical supplies that tipped and toddled at every bump in the road. Paramedics, two, sat on your left, fidgeting with your cuts, rubbing something on them that you couldn't even feel. Antiseptic? Your mind tried to catch up with your surroundings.

A hand squeezed your left forearm, the grip familiar and unrelenting and you allowed it to pull you out of your hazy memories, the foggy remembrance of blows to your face. Looking in the direction of the squeeze you saw your mother, teary-eyed and red-faced. She was clutching Henry, sat upon her lap with his head burrowed into her neck, but fine all the same. Your mother looked fine as well, apart from the tiny cut on her forehead, already covered with gauze and medical tape. Knowing your mother she had probably refused medical treatment until she knew you would be okay. Her maternal instincts always did make her a little irrational sometimes (you would never say that aloud to her).

"Y/N? Y/N? She's awake! Y/n, can you say something? Y/n?" The paramedics were coming to hover over you now, a flashlight being shined in your good eye while they physically opened the other. Her grip was tightening and you licked your lips, trying your best to nod to let your mother know you were okay.

She had been a wreck when you were five and crashed your bike. That had been a small cut on your knee. Or when you fell off the monkey bars when you were eight. A scratched elbow. Now, sitting in the back of an ambulance bay after getting the crap beaten out of you, you thought she might just implode.

"Ouch."

She laughed. A breathy, tear filled laugh, but a laugh all the same, her shoulders sagging with relief. "Oh my god. You're okay?" She turned to the paramedics, of whom were now scribbling into a chart. "She's okay?" When receiving a nod, she turned back, though now her eyes were narrowed, that watery smile gone. "What part of stay here until I say-"

"You were hurt-"

"I was fine, I had it handled, and then you come out of nowhere-"

"She had a gun to your back-"

"And you're hurt! Oh my god, look at you-"

You fixed her with as sarcastic of a smile as you could, but you were sure it just looked wrong on your face now. "Gee, thanks, Mom."

She huffed, letting a hand come down softly upon your cheek to cradle it. You held in a wince, knowing it would make the situation worse.

JJ stared at you for a long moment, feeling the motions of the ambulance as they moved. Her daughter, her first baby, her child, her best friend. The girl she shared clothes with, the two of you constantly stealing each other's jeans and sweaters and claiming you hadn't. The girl she ordered far too much takeout with every Friday (you were trying to go through the entire Chinese takeout menu and the two of you were halfway there). The girl who made her coffee in the mornings, or shared her love of cherry pie, or watched too many romantic comedy movies to count. Her first baby, who still liked to go trick-or-treating because 'is there really an age limit?'. She was lying in that ambulance bay, beaten and bruised and getting gauze placed on her swollen eye, all because of her work.

The thought made her sick.

Noticing the far-off look in her eyes, you rose a hand, letting it rest on the one that sat upon your cheek. "Hey, I'm okay."

JJ stared a moment longer, not quite convinced, before she let out a long sigh, nodding softly. A small smile tugged at her lips and she dipped her head toward the medical supplies covering your swollen eye. "You look like Patchy the Pirate.

"Shut up."

You hated hospitals. They smelled like antiseptic and blood and made your head spin. The medics had cleared you five minutes ago, allowing you to leave with the promise to take the prescribed medications they had given you. Rossi had stayed with you while your mother had gone to check on Will. Now, Rossi walked you to the hospital room he was stationed in (Rossi had also informed you he had been shot, of which you had responded by quickening your pace, practically running to the room). The man's eyes twinkled when he mentioned your father, almost as if he knew something you didn't but you hardly focused on anything else, your mind consumed in the fact that Will was shot.

Seeing the open door, you didn't hesitate, running in. Your mother was standing by the bed, Henry at her side. Will was awake, an abandoned shoulder sling in his lap. You lunged at him, body covering his as you clutched him tightly.

"Woah!" The man chuckled, despite his shock at the small teenager flinging herself toward him, and hugged you back, his hand coming to cup your head.

"You were shot." You said, not quite letting go, and you could feel the man nod softly.

"I was."

You pulled away and now it was Will's turn to worry. The swelling had gone down with your time at the hospital. It wasn't gone completely, and the bruising was still prominent, but at least your mother couldn't call you 'Patchy' again. His fingers brushed against the bandage on the crest of your cheek, eyes scanning your face.

"You should see the other guy." You joked quietly, and he chuckled sadly, shaking his head.

"That's my girl."

You beamed.

Will's eyes flickered to your mother and then back to you, and you narrowed your eyes at the two of them, noticing that same twinkle that Rossi had when he brought you back over. "What? What is it?"

The two shared another look, before your mother was moving forward, grasping your hand in hers. Her eyes looked into your, letting you know it was a serious conversation, before she was speaking. "I haven't agreed to anything yet, because I want to know what you think, because what you think is important to me, and whatever you say I won't be mad, I promise-"

Your lips turned upward, settling into a smirk as you glanced at Will. "Did you finally pop the question?"

The Jareau woman's lips parted, face contorting with confusion. "Wait, she kn-"

You cut off Will's nodding, your smirk widening into a lazy grin. "Mom, he asked me for permission two weeks after he moved in- four years ago. I'm just surprised it's taken him so long." Amusement flooded your tone and it made your mother scoff, playfully hitting the Lamontagne man on his good shoulder.

"Hey! I was waiting for the right moment." He defended, and you shook your head.

"Right, 'cause in order for it to be the right moment, I have to look like Igor?" You snorted.

Your mother rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "So, I'm taking that as a yes."

You nodded, leaning into her shoulder. "Yes, it's a yes."

The two whooped, making you shake your head in embarrassment, catching the curious glances form the nurses stand you four were receiving. Henry, unaware as to the cause of celebration, joined along simply for the fun of yelling. You sighed, shrugging your shoulders before joining in.

A surprise wedding.

Well, not a surprise to you (Penelope cannot keep a secret to save her life), but a surprise to your mother all the same.

"There's gonna be a boy in the house." The blonde flurried around the guest bedroom, one of many in his large, large mansion, getting herself ready for an impromptu wedding. Her motions were erratic, dropping earrings, lipgloss tubes, and she only had one heel on.

Her statement made you snort in amusement. "There's already a boy in the house. Two of them, if I'm counting correctly."

She turned, her dress only half-way zipped up, pleading you to go along with her statement.

You sighed. "Okay, so there will be a boy in the house." You repeated with a huff. "So what? We like boys, right? Otherwise you're gonna have to cancel the event going on downstairs-"

"Y/n!" Despite the interruption, she laughed, a small bit of tension seemingly relieved. You smiled, aching your goal. With a sigh you stood, motioning for her to turn around as you both stood before the full-length mirror in the corner. Just by looking at it, you knew it was expensive. The handles were ornate, delicate engravings of rose petals and forest branches decorating the sides of it, the glass clear as day. Your mother obeyed, turning to her reflection and watching your motions in it.

You fingers gripped the zipper, tugging it gently until it was closed. "Look, if you want to bail on this wedding, we can. I will hotwire a car, pull it around front, and we'll do the whole 'screeching tires' bit and peel off into the sunset. But I know that that's not what you want." You reached up, placing the last pins in her hair.

"It isn't?" The blonde inquired, and by the pace at which her chest was rising and falling you could tell she was calming down, just the sound of your voice enough to make her do so.

"Nope. You want to go down there and marry him, not because he's the father of your child, but because it's Will. Will, the guy who makes us fantastic eggs in the morning that we can never quite replicate."

She nodded "They are good eggs."

You smiled. "And because he listens to you, and to me, and to Henry. You deserve the world, Mom, and he can give it to you." You slung an arm around her shoulder, resting your head against hers. "And his accent isn't too bad."

She laughed, it being contagious enough to spread to you. After the chuckles settled, she sighed, staring at the bandage on your cheek once more. She hadn't quite taken her eyes off of it all night.

"You scared me tonight." She said softly, and just like that her smile was gone. You stared back at her in the mirror. Standing next to her, under the roof of her millionaire coworker, you could see the similarities that people so often pointed out. After the growth spurt you had experienced last year, the two of you were practically the same height, you were probably an inch taller. Your eyes held that same hue of blue that made it look like a small oceanic whirlpool waiting to suck you under. And your golden hair glinted in the moonlight filtering in from the open window. You were a splitting image of her.

You nodded solemnly. "I know."

That answer didn't seem to be what she wanted. "She could've killed you."

"She was going to kill you. Her gun was raised," Your mother opened her mouth to speak, but you sighed. "You had her, I know."

JJ's cupped your head, patting it gently. Just as similar as you two were in looks, you were similar in actions. The Jareau woman protected her family at all costs, and you had just proved that you would do the same.

"I love you, kid."

You smiled. "I love you, too." You turned to face her, cupping her cheeks in your hand. "Now, put on your big girl pants, we have a wedding to attend."

The wedding was beautiful. You had spent the ceremony next to Penelope, the woman a blubbering mess the entire time. You weren't sure how a person so small could have that many tears, but she did, and you stood corrected.

The sound of the fork clinking against the glass made the guests turn their attention to you, and your hand clenched the cup a little tighter before you could lose your nerve. Your eyes found your mother's, her and Will at the table over, and your shoulders relaxed, the tightness in your chest dissipating.

"For the longest time, it was just my Mom and I. My Mom worked hard to make sure that I had everything I could ever possibly need, and did so without question. She's my best friend, my lifeline, and my biggest supporter, and I thought that, as long as I had her, I wouldn't need anyone else, but when I met Will, I changed my mind. Will, earlier today you said something to me that I've been thinking about. You said to me that you may not be my real father, but I am your daughter, and you loved me all the same." Your eyes turned to Will and you swallowed. "Before I met you, I had never given anyone a Father's Day card. Well, I got one for mom, but I always crossed out 'father' and put 'mother' and I didn't have to do that anymore. I had never gone to a Daddy-Daughter dance, something I definitely owe you for, because the amount of times I stepped on your toes is obscene. What I'm trying to say, is that you aren't just a fill in father for me, Will. You're my dad, as real as you can get. I love you both so much, and I'm so happy that I get to be a part of this family." You raised your glass, the other patrons following suit. Your mother had a watery smile- something you would definitely tease her about later. "Take care of my girl, 'cause I know where you live. Cheers."

"Cheers!"

#jennifer jareau x reader #Jennifer Jareau x daughter! reader #jennifer jareau #criminal minds x reader #Criminal Minds #spencer reid

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mymelodyheart · 4 years ago

Text

Miles Between Us Chapter 4 ~Reunited~

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Previously in Twists and Turns

Although it was a cold, dreich and cloudy day, it didn't stop the strains of Pharell William's song, "Happy" playing in his head. He was having one of those days where he had the world on a string, and it felt like nothing could thwart his good mood. His Sassenach was coming tomorrow, and she'd be staying with him for at least a week. She already warned him not to make too many plans as she had work to do, but he didn't care. He would be waking up every morning for the next few days with Claire in his arms, and they'd eat dinner together when their day was done. That was all that mattered.

He was about to turn around and make his way into the living room when he saw Jenny leaning against the far end counter, her arms across her chest. It only took Jamie a second to deduce his sister had been standing there a while, her grin saying it all.

"Jenny!"

"I called out to ye when I came in, but ye didnae hear me. Looks like someone is happy," Jenny observed, smirking. "What's up with ye?"

"Claire ...ye ken Claire. Ye met her over two weeks ago. She's coming over to stay for a few days. With me."

If you wish to read this on AO3, here is the link.

If you wish to read this from the beginning:

AO3 link

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Jamie eased his car into the parking lot, focusing on his breathing when his heart began to pummel against his chest. He'd known this might happen, and he'd come prepared ...or at least he hoped so. Taking his key out of the ignition, he reassured himself Claire would be with him soon enough, so he tried to remain calm.

He leaned back against his seat and shut his eyes for a moment. Breathe in, breathe out, repeat. C'mon Fraser lad, ye got this.

Claire had initially planned on making her own way to Broch Mordha, too worried for him, in case he had another one of his panic attacks. But Jamie had vehemently insisted on picking her up despite her protestations. There was no way he was going to sit around in his cottage, waiting for her to arrive when he could be with her sooner. Every second spent in her presence was precious, and he wasn't about to give up any opportunity to be with her.

When he finally gathered himself together, he noticed his knuckles had gone white from gripping the steering wheel and a dull throb slowly working its way up to the back of his head. Every noise, every reflection of sunlight bouncing off the windshield was a torment. Ah, shite! Please, not now! His jaw already ached from its constant clenching and unclenching and his molars grinding during the drive, an attempt to smother the anxiety threatening to bubble up. He'd just arrived, and already he felt like he was going to suffocate.

All the way from Broch Mordha, he'd centred his thoughts on Claire, afraid that if he allowed his mind to wander, the panic attacks would get out of hand. In his head, he'd pictured her laughing, full of life and excitement, and the way she made him feel. And he'd thought, if he could hold on to those images, he might just be able to keep the anxiety at bay, long enough until Claire was by his side.

Taking a deep fortifying breath, he exited his car, the noise around him giving off a static buzz, rivalling the one crackling in his head. On cue, an onrush of whirring sound intensified and just when he thought he was going to pass out, he caught a familiar scent as a blur in beige walked past him. Surprisingly, the din between his ears subsided into a distant hum, and his head shot up in time to see a man in an old fashion trenchcoat and a flat cap, hurriedly zig-zagging past oncoming and ongoing crowds. What the ...?

He felt drawn to the man like it was pertinent to get hold of him right this instant, not quite comprehending why. "Hey ye!" Jamie shouted after the bustling figure. "Wait up!"

The man stopped as if he'd heard he was being called, long enough for Jamie to see his profile. Harry? Harry ...as in Claire's father? Surely not! It cannae be.

Before Jamie could make sense of what he was seeing, the figure began moving again, and so he picked up the pace. "Harry?!? Hey! Stop! It's me, Jamie," he shouted.

Jamie began to walk quicker, straining his neck so he wouldn't lose sight of Harry, but the man was fleet, occasionally stopping, looking for someone or something before rushing off again. Although Jamie was agile himself on his feet, he couldn't seem to catch up, and it wasn't long before Harry disappeared through the glassed entrance. Bummer!

He ran this time. When he eventually made it inside the airport, all he could see was Harry's head, bobbing up and down among a moving group of bodies heading in the direction of the arrivals' waiting area. He continued to follow, wondering what the hell Harry was doing here. The last time he'd seen the man was before Christmas, and after that, on an old photograph, Claire had shown him. Ah, fuck! Jamie thought he must be losing his mind. Is Harry alive, or is he a ghost? Claire did tell him that Harry or Henry, or whatever he was called, died in a car accident. So what the hell is happening? Is his condition making him see the deceased or is Harry a figment of his imagination?

His eyes scanned the crowd, but Harry's head was replaced by an image of a bouncing oversized red beanie. Jamie continued to walk forward, dipping and diving, not wanting to lose him, but red beanie head was waving an arm, and it kept getting in the way. Ah hell, where did he disappear to?

Irritation coasted down his back, and his eyes landed once again on the red beanie head, walking towards him, just a few feet away. Underneath the brightly coloured headgear was a mass of dark curls that framed a rosy cheek face with crystal clear amber orbs and a smile that tugged at his heart. Gradually, as if coming out of a trance, everything came into focus, and the backdrop and the noises dissolved. His heart stopped as realisation kicked in. It's Claire!

"Sassenach," he whispered. His lungs dislodged every iota of oxygen in his body, the world seeming to suspend around them expectantly.

Before his brain could compute what was happening, Claire dropped her bags and launched herself into his arms. Her warmth, scent and breath enveloped him, soothing his soul. In that instant, everything in the world felt right again as she buried her face against his neck.

"Oh, God Jamie, I missed you," she whispered, her grasp tight around his neck. "You came, even when I told you not to. Stubborn, stubborn man!"

The tension in his muscles loosened, and the feel of her body was worth the stress he'd put himself through coming to the airport. He drew away slightly and gazed down at her beautiful face. "I had to come so I could do this," Jamie murmured, ensnaring Claire's mouth with his own.

Her lips parted on a breath, and his tongue delved in, claiming her. Reminding them both and anyone in the vicinity who was watching, to whom she belonged. She must have sensed the psychological toll on him being in a busy place and what it took out of him to drive here, and his need to be grounded and centred. She clasped his face in her hands, forcing him to withdraw the kiss on a groan. She glanced up at him and searched his face, and when she was satisfied that he was alright, she gave him a smile that caused his throat to tighten with emotion. His heart pounded so hard, she placed her hands on his chest as though to keep it from bursting free. Wanting to feel more of her, he hoisted her up and pressed her closer against him. When he lowered his head to reclaim her lips a second time, she playfully nipped at his lip, before taking control of the kiss, reminding him he belonged to her too. She tunnelled her fingers in his hair and tilted her mouth over his, kissing him fervently until they broke away, gasping for breath.

She giggled, sliding away from his grasp, only for her arms to encircle his waist. "That was some welcome. I'm tempted to come more often now if I get to receive a kiss like that every time I arrive."

A harsh sound escaped his mouth. "Ah, Christ. What universe am I on that I get to keep ye for mysel', huh?" he breathed, running a thumb across her lower lip.

"A universe tucked away in a Highlands, one that I'm so chuffed to have found because you're in it," she replied, smiling, her breath ghosting on his chin as she looked up to meet his gaze. "Though I must admit, I wasn't too thrilled when you insisted on picking me up. I have faith you'll get over your anxiety one day, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard. Healing takes time, Jamie."

He tipped her chin and smiled, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of their surroundings, finding his calm in her presence. "I ken ye still worry, but I'm getting better every day. I promise. The meditation playlist ye sent me helps a lot, and it works even if I get leg cramps out of it as a result. Next, ye'll be suggesting yoga, but I'm warning ye, that's where I draw the line, Sassenach. My limbs are fine as it is."

She scrunched up her nose at his attempt to downplay his condition. "So, no more anxiety attacks? How about nightmares?"

"No nightmares," he reassured her, picking up loose curls resting on her shoulder and letting them slide between his fingers. "Though I still wake up sometimes in a cold sweat and occasionally, I have wee attacks when I'm under stress. But they're manageable as long as I remember the breathing exercises."

"That's good, Jamie," she said, sliding her hands up and down his back. "For a minute there, when I came out, and first saw you, I thought you seemed rather pale. You looked past me like there was no recognition in your eyes, but your colour returned when I got closer. I have been worried about you coming ...so I must have imagined the whole thing."

Ah hell, Harry! He'd forgotten about him. He looked beyond her head, even though he knew Harry was long gone. Knowing it was a futile endeavour to even contemplate Harry's whereabouts, let alone start looking for him, Jamie cleared his throat and brought his attention back to Claire. He didn't want to lie to her, but there was a time and place to talk about Harry. He knew he'd delayed it for too long, but it had to wait just a wee bit longer. "Ye didnae imagine anything, Sassenach. I felt the beginnings of the panic attack, but when I saw my mate and started to call after him and follow him, I realised the distraction helped suppress it. He was going in the direction where ye came from. And then right after I lost him, I saw ye."

She cocked her head and looked at him curiously, amber eyes inquisitive, always reading between the lines. Even though he knew she appreciated that piece of information, there was still something niggling at her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Aye, I'm certain now that ye're here."

Claire studied him. "Well, the distraction from your mate helped for sure. Or at the very least, it took the edge out of the anxiety."

Jamie gave her a reassuring smile. "Indeed, it has. Shall we go?" he proposed, eager to get going.

She visibly shook herself and nodded as he stepped away from her embrace and made a move to collect her bags. Once they got going, he twined their fingers together, powerless to stop himself from kissing her knuckles and brushing them with his thumb. The noises in his head had already ceased, and with Claire by his side, not even the drone of a busy airport could yank him back into the grips of immobilising anxiety bouts.

Although seeing Harry earlier had helped quell down the panic attacks, he knew it wasn't a permanent fix. As Claire had once told him over the phone, part of his recovery included finding a healthy way to let go of the past and forgive himself. It was taking time for sure, but the more he acknowledged his demons, instead of burying it deep down into his subconsciousness, the easier it got. The more he talked about the death of his best mate, Simon MacKimmie, the lighter the load on his shoulders became. There might still be lingering guilt and the image of Simon's death deeply embedded in his memory, but as Claire often had, and time and time again said, real progress took time. Jamie understood the fix needed to be on a mental level, and that was on him.

Despite it all, he felt incredibly blessed to have a lass who was willing to walk with him through it and not for him, something perhaps his sister should take note of. He'd shared with Claire his living hell, and still, she found something beautiful in the midst of so much ugly. He was convinced more than ever, with Claire everything was possible and he was looking forward to their future.

As they made their way out of the airport and into the parking lot, Jamie squeezed Claire's hand and smiled. "So what are yer plans today, Sassenach? Do ye have to work?"

She beamed up at him. "No. Work can wait until tomorrow. I think these past few weeks I've worked enough ...not to mention missing out on a lot of weekends. I think I deserve a break."

"Aye, that ye do. So, lunch perhaps, then?" Jamie suggested, releasing her hand and clicking the key fob as his car came to view. "Ye must be hungry."

"Did you make something?"

He swiftly deposited her bags into the boot and shut the door before kissing her on the forehead. "No. But I can always whip us up something, or we can stop somewhere on the way to grab a bite ...if ye wish."

Claire shied away, for once looking reluctant. "I'm not really hungry, to be honest."

"So do ye have anything particular in mind ye want to do?" he asked, his curiosity spiking when he noticed a bright shade of red rising from her neck to her face, causing her face to flush prettily.

She chewed her lower lip. "Are you working today?"

He grinned. "No. I took a day off." And he'd arranged with Willie he wouldn't be starting work until ten tomorrow morning.

"Well, ..."

"Weel what?"

"I think I'd like to go to bed."

To bed? He searched her face looking for any evidence indicating she was unwell or fatigued. After all, she'd been working a lot these past few days. But he found none. Instead, her eyes betrayed what she had in mind. Still, he could be mistaken and wanted to be sure. "To bed or to sleep?" he asked slowly and cautiously.

She stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his, making his stomach flipped. "What do you think?" she whispered against his mouth.

There was an awareness on Claire's face that revealed she felt the wild rapping against his rib cage. Both of their breathing changed, and in an instant, the closeness of their bodies was no longer means to keep anxiety at bay.

His heart rate suddenly became an equivalent of a man running from a bull in Pamplona. "Ach, Sassenach, couldnae ye wait until we were nearer to home to tell me that?"

Her shoulders lifted. "Well, you did ask ..."

He walked her backwards against the car and pressed their forehead together. "Ah, damn it! Here I am trying to block images of what I want to do to ye the moment we're alone and be a decent boyfriend and treat ye like the sweetheart ye are. Now all I can think of is ..."

"What?" she asked innocently, her lids fluttering, her pupils obstructing out some of the gold of her irises. "What are you thinking of?"

Ah, bloody hell! He certainly didn't want to answer that. Not here at the airport's parking lot anyway. He blew out a shaky breath and adjusted his jeans. "Get in a car." The growl that broke from his throat sounded foreign to his ears, but it couldn't be helped when the sudden urgency to have Claire was thrumming in his veins. "And not another word, until we reach home."

She smiled and made a motion of zipping her lips as she got into the passenger side. He groaned inwardly, hoping and praying for another distraction. But this time for an entirely different condition that was tormenting him.

Dear Readers,

Well, I did try my hardest to finish this chapter in time for Valentine's day, but I was having too much of a good time with hubby that I thought surely you guys wouldn't mind. We had takeaways, a bottle of wine and cuddles on sofa rewatching Hunger Games. I know it's hardly a romantic film befitting Valentines, but we both loved it. My thoughts are, every day should be Valentine's day, so I hope you felt Jamie's love (and lust) for Claire in this chapter.😁

Before I sign off, I'd like to thank you for your continued readership and feedback, and I am so looking forward to what you think in my latest update. Take care of yourself and keep the love vibes rolling. Until my next instalment ...X

#melodyheart #wonderwall #milesbetweenus #ClaireBeauchamp/JamieFraser #claire beauchamp #jamie fraser #outlanderfanfic

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inky-duchess · 4 years ago

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History Bites: Coolest Battles Part 1

In History Bites, I pick the best moments of history and the antics historical figures in order to give you inspiration for your WIP. Think of History Bites like prompts, only juicer and 90% accurate (results may vary).

So in this History Bites we explore battles which could act as great inspiration for your WIPs. All of these battles are steeped in drama and blood. Let your battles commence.

The Battle of Carrhae 53BC was brought forward by many driving factors no more so than the Roman Statesman Crassus. Crassus was part of the Triumvirate and the richest man in the world. Crassus felt rather at a loss compared to his allies Pompey and Caesar who were military geniuses and his famous victory over Spartacus had been years prior. Eager to show his power, he funded and led the invasion of Parthia, Rome's largest enemy in the east. Crassus entered Parthia unchallenged, increasing his confidence as he march forward. The Parthians were not far behind, appearing before the Romans with such speed that the Romans were taken unawares. Crassus's generals recommended they get into the usual formation (infantry at the centre with cavalry on the wings) but Crassus decided to have the men form a hollow square, twelve cohorts by twelve cohorts which would protect them from being out flanked. The Roman forces march forward to get better ground by a nearby stream, where the generals advised Crassus to wait until morning to attack but Crassus's son, Publius advised they attack then and there. The Parthians played mind games with the Romans, pounding drums to unnerve them and marched with their armour covered with cloth to lull the Romans into confidence... Before revealing the steel to Romans (perhaps the first wig reveal?). The Parthians sent their mounted archers to surround the Romans, which Crassus's calvary tried to defend against but failed to do. The Parthians smashed into the legionnaires firing at them. The Romans were lucky with their large square shields and top of the range armour but the arrows still found their marks though many wounds were non fatal. The Romans quickly tried to advance to combat the range of the archers in their famous turtle formation (shields surrounding them) but they were slowed by this and the Parthians charged, tearing them to pieces. The Romans panicked and broke leading to numerous casualties. Hoping to survive until the Parthians ran out of arrows, Crassus sent his son Publius to attack the Parthian mounted archers to give the legions more breathing space. But the Parthians faced him off and separated him from his father's army, slaughtering his men. Publius did the Roman thing and killed himself rather than be taken prisoner. Crassus did not know this and ordered an advance to save his son but on his arrival he was greeted with the head if Publius set on a spear. Filled with grief, Crassys ordered a retreat. The Romans stumbled into the minor village of Carrhae to rest but the Parthians were not far behind. The Romans left their 4000 wounded behind, leaving them to be slaughtered by the Parthians. In the darkness, cohorts began to go missing as the Parthians harried the Roman army as they retreated. In the morning, the Parthians had had enough fun and offered the Romans a truce. Crassus accepted though he did not wish to meet the Parthians face to face. Crassus gave in and met the Parthians who generously offered him a horse finely arrayed with gilded tack. Crassus wanted to refuse but in the nature of truce he agreed. The Parthians led him up and down their lines so the Parthians could see him defeated and broken. Then the slaughter began. Allegedly, the Parthians wanted to make a joke of Crassus's wealth and poured molted gold down his throat after his death. The remaining legions were captured or killed.

It's 1485 and now comes the final York vs Lancastrian showdown, the Battle of Bosworth . Richard III is King of England and Henry Tudor wants to take over. They meet at Bosworth to face off, the noble Stanley family the key of winning the battle. The Stanleys were two brothers who had a large force between them and often split them in the civil wars. This way, one brother would lose but the family lands are safe. Lord Stanley is close to Richard but also stepfather to Henry. He could go either way. Richard begins the battle by striking first. He takes Lord Stanley's son and sends a message saying that he will kill him unless all of the Stanley forces side with him. Stanley reminded the king that the son held was not his only son. Richard gave the order to execute his captive but his men argued that it would only waste time and the execution could wait. Henry sent word to his stepfather too wanting a clear answer on whether or not he would be joining him or not. He only received very vague answers. Henry would have to face Richard on his own. Henry had seen very little battles so he chose to let the battle-hardened Earl of Oxford take charge. Henry sat in the rear with his forces. Oxford chose to keep his men as a single unit rather than splitting them up in an effort to beat Richard's lines. No Tudor soldier was allowed to stray from their banners. This was a tactic to ensure that they would not be encircled and crushed. The Tudor army was split into tight groups that made up a single unit with their mounted soldiers on the wings. This would protect them from flanking. Lord Stanley is watching from a ridge, taking neither side. The field is hampered by marsh land. The Tudor army is standing on this marsh when they begin to form up. Oxford commands that they move to better ground. The Tudor army was bombarded by the artillery on the York side while searching for firmer ground. When the Tudor men escaped to the marshy ground, the York side led by Richard's faithful friend Sir Robert Brackenbury advanced on them. While hails of arrows peppered each side, the two sides clashed. Oxford's troops stood their ground while the enemy commanders Brackenbury and The Duke of Norfolk. Several notable men fell on the York side and they were forced to give ground. Richard saw this and decided to send in more men under the command of Northumberland. But Northumberland didn't move an inch. Some think this was an act of betrayal while others claim that the lay of the land prevented a charge. Richard decided to end the battle by killing Henry. Spying him amongst the rearguard of the Tudor lines, Richard led the charge on horseback. Riding with his closest companions, the king raced at the pretenders group of bodyguards aiming to wipe out the leader. Richard, though hampered by scoliosis, fought ably slewing the notable Sir William Brandon, the standard-bearer of Henry and John Cheyne, Richard's brother Edward IV's former standard-bearer. Henry acted quickly. He dismounted from his horse, concealing himself among the footsoldiers about him. Henry chose not to engage Richard or his men in combat. William Stanley's men charged down the ridge... to the aid of Henry. Richard's men were now surrounded on all sides and was pushed back from Henry and straight into the marshy part of the field. Richard, ahorse at this moment, was thrown from the saddle as his horse floundered. Now unhorsed and on foot, Richard gathered his remaining guards and slogged on onwards refusing to turn back "God forbid that I retreat one step. I will either win the battle as a king, or die as one." Richard's loyal man Sir Percival was slain holding his king's banner aloft as he was killed laying legless on the ground. Dozens of Yorkists fell and soon the king was surrounded by Tudor men and slain. When his body was found in 2012, part of his skull was missing and it is generally agreed that Richard had died helmet less. Henry picked up Richard's crown from the mud and placed it on his head.

Battle of Bannockburn 1314. After William Wallace's demise in 1305, Scotland was still labouring under the yoke of the English. But by 1314, a new leader arose to battle for Scottish freedom: Robert the Bruce. Robert led the Scots to numerous guerilla victories over the far superior forces of the English. By 1314, the only outpost of English rule was Stirling Castle. Edward II, the newer and less effective King of England, decided he had best step in. He raised an army and march north to raise the siege on of Stirling Castle. Robert gathered own forces though considerably smaller to head off Edward's advance toward the castle. Around the area Robert chose, thick trees flanked the area which would drive any mounted English forces toward his own heavy infantry and into the trenches his men had dug. Edward sent in his cavalry but the Scottish infantry quickly met his charge holding off the English until reinforcements could arrive to scatter the cavalry. Another English unit charged at the Scottish centre. A young English Knight Henry de Bohun charged for Robert. The two met in the centre of the field, Bohun charged at Bruce with a lance while Robert was armed only with an axe. Robert had the smaller horse and moved his mount aside, countermanding the lance's reach. As Bohun passed him, Robert stood in his stirrups and split Bohun's head open. Robert was later pissed that the strike had broken his favourite axe. He remains the sexiest of all Scottish Kings. On that note, both armies withdrew for the night to fight on the morrow. The English crossed the eponymous stream of Bannockburn and in the night their Scottish ally Alexander Seton defected to Robert. The English panicked and feared attack, staying up all night in formation in the cold marshes. The next day, the Scots formed up on the field. Edward ordered his men to attack, his cavalry avoiding the trenches but they could not shatter the Scots lines. The English kept charging but they were repelled. Robert commanded his infantry forward, pushing the English backwards toward the trenches where multiple mounted soldiers fell in and were crushed. The Scots stopped to pray and Edward took this for a cry for mercy but one sassy English soldier is claimed to have said "For mercy but from God, not you. These men will conquer or die.". The Scottish soon swamped the English lines wherein the Knights around Edward II dragged him to safety. One of his braver Knights, Giles d'Argentan saw Edward to safety before refusing to flee and charged the Scottish, dying shorty after. The English were routed and Edward fled back to England, his army chased from Scotland by soldier and commoners alike.

The Battle of Marathon is perhaps one of the most famous battles in history. In 490 BC, the Ancient Greeks faced off against the Persian invasion led by Darius I. The Greeks were outnumbered and had a terrible track record facing the Persians so far. The Persians really wanted to beat the Greeks, there is even a legend of Darius charging a servant to remind him daily to destroy the Greeks (ancient Post-it's perhaps?). The Greeks were formed of an uneasy alliance of once enemies the Spartans and Athenians, who despite their hatred decided to band together and fight the invaders together. The Persian sailed into the Bay of Marathon which provoked the Athenians to match to Marathon to head them off. They successfully blocked off their exits and waited for the Spartans to join them but the Spartans were having a religious day and could not go. The Athenians had no choice but to shore up for battle, choosing a marshy, mountainous plateau to stop the Persians' cavalry from joining them. The Athenians opened with a missile-heavy move, ensuring their own centre made for a soft target which lured the Persians in only for them to be crushed by the flanks. The Athenians picked off the Persians as they fled back to their ships, shattering them to pieces leaving 6,000 Persians dead. The Athenians lost 200.

Battle of Gaugamela 480BC is probably one of Alexander the Great's finest masterpieces. Gaugamela was the last push of Alexander's strike toward Babylon, the heart of the Persian Empire... The same Persian Empire that supposedly ordered his father's death. Alexander arrived to battle at a disadvantage. The Persians were famed for their warrior chariots with bladed wheels which could mow down infantry, worse still the Persians had time to level and clear the battlefield which stopped any impediment against the wheels. They also had war elephants. The Persian King Darius had arranged his army in an iron scythe of cavalry, both flanks ahorse. Alexander had his army divided in two, himself riding with the cavalry on the right flank. The Macedonians advanced at an angle going the Persians would attack which they did. Darius sent a large cavalry to take out the left flank of Alexander's forces who were under the general Parmenion. While his infantry distracted the Persian in the centre, Alexander himself rode his cavalry all the way around to the furthest reaches of his flank on the right, drawing the Persian cavalry away to leave the Persians fractured. The chariots came at the right flank, the Persians hoping to decimate as many as they could in the wake of Alexander's absence. With clever utilisation of reserves, the Greeks held. Alexander gathered his rearguard and a portion of his phalanxs into a wedge, driving it at the centre of the Persian forces which were weakened by the scattering of their forces. Darius fled the battle in the wake of this, ceding Babylon and his empire to Alexander. Darius was later murdered by his own men for the defeat.

The Battle of Hastings. Its 1066 people and this time, the English are getting invaded. The irony. William the Conqueror has been cheated out of the throne of England by his cousin Edward the Confessor who had promised the throne to him years prior. In 1066, William and his Normans are on their way to claim what they believe is theirs. But before the land, the new King Harrold Godwinson has a little Norse problem. King Harald Hardrada, a Norse claimant to the throne has already invaded in the North. The two Harrolds/Harralds meet at Stamford Bridge ready for a showdown. English Harrold rode up Norse King Harald and basically read him to his face before riding off. The battle begun moments later, the two armies funnelling into the narrow pass of the eponymous bridge. The chronicles say that a Norse axeman singlehandedly held off the English advance, only defeated when an English soldier stabbed him with a spear from below. With the axeman's sacrifice, the Norse had enough time to form a shieldwall to face the English who stormed across the bridge to attack. The Norse had a great disadvantage: they had left their armour on their ships. Despite their enthusiasm and early advantage, they were mown down. Harrald Hardrada was killed by an arrow through the throat. Wear your armour children. English King Harrold has won but he cannot rest, the Normans are on their way. Harrold matches his army South and three weeks later they meet the Normans at Hastings. Harrold had luck surprising one invader and he tried to do the same with William. But the Normans had scouts and were informed of their movements, and were ready. The English lines held strong against the Norman attacks but the Normans pretended to run away so the English would break and persue them, the Normans turning on them and picking them off. King Harold was shot in the eye by an arrow (because karma is a bitch), which was the last straw for the English resistance. William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.

The Battle of Mortimer's Cross is perhaps the most fantastical battle on this list. It's 1461 and young Edward of March is fatherless and at the head of a small army. Months before his father made a bid for the throne of England and failed, his head cut off by order of Queen Margaret who now sought the destruction of Edward's family. Edward was 18 and at a distinct disadvantage. The Queen led an army of Scots and rival Lancastrians. Edward no doubt wished to take the battle to her and avenge his father but he made a stragetic move south into Wales to head off her support there led by Jasper Tudor. They met on the field of Mortimer's Cross, where in the sky three suns had risen with the dawn- a symbol of Edward's House of York and the same number as many sons were left to the family: Edward and his two brothers. Edward and Jasper both split their forces in the traditional way- the vanguard, the centre, and rear each of which would face each other in turn. Jasper was a seasoned commander and lead his men to attack the Yorkist right but the Yorks had hidden archers there to take them out, leading to mass casualties. Jasper's attack was dispersed and now the centres of the armies clashed. Edward like Jasper fought with his men in the thick of it. The Lancastrians charged but were turned away under but the battle was still undecided, each side never ceding an inch of ground. The Yorkists began to cut through the Lancastrians, the rearguarf blanking the nearby river to box them in. Jasper's father Owen Tudor (Wales's greatest love machine) tried to manoeuvre the Yorkists into following him to distract them but it didn't work leading to a retreat, many Lancastrians drowning in the river on their haste and meeting Yorkist reserves on the next bank who cut them down. Jasper Tudor had no choice but to flee leaving victory in the hands of Edward who as was his habit spared any Lancastrian soldier he captured to give them the chance to follow him. Many did.

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yourartmatters-itswhatgotmehere · 4 years ago

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The Diviners Series’ s EVIE AND SAM STORY :

They aren’t just another hate to love ya couple, there is much much more than that. They are friends. They have bond. They develop through the series. They trust each other. - Here it goes. I was putting these best parts from them for the last few days and FINALLY- can spread this into the world. THIS COUPLE. IT COUPLE. SAM LLOYD AND EVIE O’NEILL:

THIS COUPLE:

“ I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth.”

“ Yes! Yes, Sam Lloyd. I will marry you!”

FIRST MEETING

“ “ I can’t say I blame you for taking in the view. I’ve been looking for a while.”- “Do I know you?”- “Not yet. But I hope to remedy that.” He stuck out a hand.” Sam Lloyd.”- “ Miss Evangeline O’Neill of the Zenith O’Neills.”- “ The Zenith O’Neills? Now I feel underdressed. Let me just get my dinner jacket.”- “ Well, it was nice to meet you, Mr. Lloyd, but I’d better--“Sam.” He picked up her case so quickly she didn’t even see his hand move. “ Let me carry that for you.”- “Really. I can-”She made a swipe for her case but he held it up.- “ I insist. My mother would skin me for being so unchivalrous.”- “ Well.. just as far as the door, then.”- “Where ya headed?”- “My, you ask a lot of questions.”- “ Let me guess: You’re a Ziegfeld girl?” Evie shook her head. “Model? Actress? Princess? You’re too pretty to be just anybody.”- “Are you on the level?”- “ Me? I’m so on the level I can’t get off it.”-- “ If you must know, I’ve come to join a convent.”- “Seems a waste to me. Pretty girl like you.”- “Serving our lord is never a waste.”- “Oh, sure. Of course, they saw now that we’ve got Freud and the motorcar, God is dead.”- “He’s not dead; just very tired.” The corners of his mouth twitched in amusement, and Evie felt the warmth bubble up again. He thought her clever, this Sam Lloyd with his knowing grin. (…….) “ All right, then. You with your keen observations- what, exactly, do you find special about me?”- “ There’s just something about you,” he said without saying anything at all, which disappointed her. Sam rested his hand on the wall above her head, leaning closer. Evie’s stomach fluttered. It wasn’t that she didn’t know her way around the fellas, but this was a New York City fella. She didn’t want to make a scene and come off a complete rube. She was a girl who could take care of herself. Besides, if her parents heard about this, they’d yank her straight back to Ohio. Instead, Evie looped under the handsome Sam Lloyd’s arm and snatched her valise back. - “I’m afraid I have to go now. I believe I see, the, um, top nun going into the ladies’ lounge.” - “Top nun? Do you mean the Mother Superior?”- “And how! Sister… Sister, um..”- “Sister Benito Mussolini Fascisti?”- “Exactly!”- Sam Lloyd smirked. “Benito Mussolini is a prime minister of Italy. And a fascist.”- “I knew that.” Evie said, her cheeks flushing.- “Of course you did.”- “Well..” Evie stood uncertainly for a few seconds. She stuck out her hand for a shake. With a smirk, Sam Lloyd drew her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth. She heard the shoe-shine men chuckling as she pulled away, red-faced and disoriented. Should she slap him? He deserved a slap. But was that what sophisticated Manhattan moderns did? Or did they shrug it off like an old joke they were too tired to laugh at? - “You can’t blame a fella for kissing the prettiest girl in New York, can you, sister?” Sam’s grin was anything but apologetic. Evie brought up her knee quickly and decisively, and he dropped to the floor like a grain sack.- “You can’t blame a girl for her quick reflexes now, can you, pal?” She turned and hurried toward the exit.- In a pained voice, Sam Lloyd called after her: “Best of luck to the nuns. The good sister of St. Mary’s don’t know what they’re in for!”- Evie wiped the kiss from her mouth with the back of her hand and pushed her way out onto Eighth Avenue. “”

“ That son of a...”

“ Don’t kiss strange men in Penn Station.”

SECOND MEETING

“ “ Watch the Queen Of Hearts, folks. She’s the money card. Now, sir, sir- yes, you. Would you care to wager a guess. There’s no charge for this first round. Just to show you it’s an honest game I’m running.”- Evie turned the box over, upsetting the cards and the money. “Remember me, Casanova?”- It took Sam a minute, but then he smiled. “Well, if it isn’t my favourite nun. How’s the Mother Superior, Sister?”- “Don’t you ‘sister’ me. You stole my money.”- “Who, me? Do I look like a thief?”- “And how!”- “Doll, I’m sorry you got fleeced, but it wasn’t me.”- “ If you don’t want me to call a cop over here right this second and tell him you just tried to take advantage of me, you will give me my twenty dollars.”- “Now, sister, you wouldn’t--”- “I pos-i-tute-ly would! Do you know the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult?”- “Yeah, I know it, but---”- “You can’t find me there. You’d better bring me my twenty bucks if you know what’s good for you.”- “Or what?” Evie spied Sam’s jacket draped across a fire hydrant. She wiped it and slipped her arms through the sleeves. “Give that back!” Sam growled.- “Twenty bucks and it’s all yours. The museum. See you son-ski!” Laughing , Evie ran down the block.””

“ “What is it?” Jericho asked.- “I thought I saw someone watching us. I must’ve been mistaken.”- “It’s been a very long day. I wouldn’t be surprised if your eyes played tricks on you.”- “I suppose you’re right.” Evie said, but she had the nagging feeling she’s seen Sam Lloyd, of all the people. She had a vague impression of him leaning against a tree in that overconfident posture that annoyed her so. But Jericho was right- there was no one there now, only the lamppost and the park.””

“She’d seen him. Just for a second, but it was enough. What was it about that girl that made him lose his street smarts?”

“ This whole affair could’ve been avoided if he’d used his skill on Evie O’Neill back at Penn Station. But for some reason, he’d wanted her to see him. He’d wanted to talk to her. And when the time came, he’d wanted to kiss her as much as he’d wanted her money. That had been his undoing. Now here he was in the Museum of the Creepy Crawlies, searching in the dim light for his jacket.”

“ “Well, well, well. I suppose you’ve got my twenty bucks.” Jericho glanced from Evie to Sam and back again.- “Do you two know each other?”- “Actually, I’ve come to see Mr. William Fitzgerald. Is he here?” Sam craned his neck.- “Dr. Fitzgerald. And what business do you have with my uncle?”- “ Your.. your uncle? You don’t say! Now, isn’t that a coincidence.” ” (…)- “ He’s a cheat, a liar, a thief, a liar-”- “You said it already.” Sam noted.- “Well, I’m saying it again! This is the son of a bitch who stole my twenty dollars in Penn Station!” (…) - “Now. Did you, in fact, steal her twenty dollars? Answer carefully, young man.”- For the first time, Sam appeared nervous, raking a hand through his hair and inching just a bit closer to the door. “Well, sir, a great man once said, ‘Subjectivity is truth; truth is subjectivity’. “- “Kierkegaard,” Will said, surprised. His tone softened. “Still. Facts are facts.”- Sam looked down at his shoes.” I’m sorry. I was planning on paying her back when I saw that fella at the pawnbroker’s and gave him my last dime to get that knife back. I thought maybe it could be a peace offering.”- “Oh, dry up,” Evie muttered. “ He probably stole it himself.” “

“ “Admit it- you liked that kiss.”- “You owe me twenty dollars.”- “Cash or check?” He said cheekily. Even the dullest Ohio girls knew that bit of lingo: Kiss now or kiss later?- “ Bank’s closed, pal.”- Sam nodded. “Check, then.” Whistling, he headed for the library doors. Evie followed him up the wide, curving staircase that led to the museum’s second floor. “Can I help you, sister?”- “I’m making sure you don’t leave with half the museum.”- “Just have to iron my shoelaces,” he said, nodding towards the men’s room at the top of the stairs. When he reached the men’s room door, Evie stood outside, her arms folded across her chest. “Honestly, I’d invite you in, but I’ve managed to avoid getting arrested for pretty theft. I’d hate to go to the Tombs for perversion.”- “Whatever it takes to get you out of my uncle’s museum. I’ll wait.”- “Suit yourself, doll.””

“ “Do you think you can manage to not steal anything while I’m gone?”- “ The only thing I’m trying to steal is your heart, doll.” Sam smirked- “ You’re not that talented a thief, Sam Lloyd.” “

“ “Psst!” Sam hissed at Evie from the doorway of an office.- “Sam! What are you doing?”- “Same thing you are. Snooping around.”- “You were supposed to stay with Jericho!”- “You should know by now, doll, that I never do what I’m supposed to do.”- “Never mind that. Did you find anything?”- “Not yet. I’ll look here. You look over there.” “

“ “ And then I said to him, ‘The pleasure was all yours.’ I said it just like that, too. I had the last word.” Evie said, recounting Sam Lloyd’s first visit to the museum.- “Sure ya did.” Theta laughed. “You shouldn’t let that Sam fella get under your skin.”- “Did I say he was under my skin?”- “No. I can see you’ve really let it go, Evil.” Theta said, and Henry smirked.- “It’s over. Finished. The bum’s rush to him ,”Evie said, brushing away the wind for effect.- “Good, because we’re here. And I’m pretty sure that password isn’t Sam or Lloyd.””

“ “What’s eating you?”- “Theta, take my purse. It’s got twenty bucks in it. You might need it to bail me out.”- “For the last time, what is it?”- “Sam Lloyd.” “

“ “Let’s dance.”- “With you? Just so you know, I left my money with Theta for safekeeping.””

“ “.. That Ida was a real tomato who was not hitting on all sixes..”- “ Beg you pardon?” Will said.- “ She was pretty gullible.” Sam explained.- “Because she started spending all her clams on seances with Mary and John. Anyway, the chin music was--”- “ The what?” Will asked.- “Gossip.” Sam said. “

“ “Sam! Sam Lloyd! I need you!”- “I knew you’d come around.”- “Take a shower, pal. I need you to help me into the Tombs.””

“ “ You have a steady fella?”- “ No fella can hold me for long.”- “That a challenge?”- “No. A statement of fact.”- “We’ll see.”- “You still owe me twenty bucks.”- “ You’re a lot more like me than you think, Evie O’Neill.”- “Ha!”- “What I meant to say is, you like me a lot more than you think.”- “Keep driving, Lloyd.””

“ “Bomb and revolution? Not my style. I’ve got my own mission.”- “What mission is that? Leading girls astray with stolen gems?”- “You ever hear of something called Project Buffalo?”- “Can’t say that I have.”- “Well, if you look for any information on it, you won’t find it. It was a secret government operation during the war.”- “Then how do you know about it?”- “My mother went to work on it. She took some kind of test--”- “A test? What..?” (….)- “I’m going to find her. So now you know about me. What about you? How’d you end up with your uncle?”- “ I killed a man for insulting my honor.”- “Naturally. And?”- “And.. I robbed a five-and-dime. I can never have enough paste bracelets.”- “Who can? And?”- “And.. I accused the town golden boy of knocking up a chambermaid.”- “For fun?” (..) - “You’re on to me, Lloyd. I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you now. Be a honey and sit still while I strangle you.” Evie reached playfully for his throat and Sam jerked the wheel, making the car swerve and Evie scream.- “I’ll go quietly, sister,” Sam said, correcting their course. “Just don’t wreck us.” “

“ “Sorry. It’s just that… you’re not what I thought.”- “ That’s right. I’m a real sideshow act. How about it, Jericho? Would you like me to tell you your secrets? All the little lies you keep hidden from the world?”- “No!” Jericho jerked his hand away from Evie’s so quickly that he nearly lost his balance. Tears stung at the corners of Evie’s eyes and a lump rose in her throat. She wasn’t about to cry here, and so she ran from the library and shut herself in the bathroom.- “Nice work, Frederick,” Sam grumbled and went after her. Sam sat on the floor outside the bathroom door, hoping Evie could hear him. “Doll, I don’t care if you can read every secret I’ve got. I don’t even care if you keep me sitting outside this john all night. Well, my legs would care, but don’t mind them- they like to complain…. There is nothing wrong with you. I just want you to know that.” Silence. “Take your time, doll. You know where to find me. I’ll keep your seat worm.”- In the bathroom, Evie leaned her head against the door. “Thank you,” she whispered, though Sam was no longer there to hear it.”

“ “I’ll tell him it was my idea,” Sam said.- “Swell. I’ll tell him it was your idea, too.” Evie said.”

“ “ So her daughter kept up the taxes on Knowles’ End? Why?”- “That’s exactly what I said. See? We think alike.”- “ Will you come down from there, please? You’re making me dizzy.” Evie stopped the ladder abruptly and Sam leaped down.- “Aw, doll. You say the sweetest things.”- “Sam, I’m warning you. You might be the next victim.””

“ “What good is it to have this power and not use it?”- “ I salute your spunk, but I question your sanity,” Sam said.”

“ “Will, make her stop,” Jericho cautioned.- “ I’m with Frederick the Giant,” Sam chimed it. Will hesitated.- “ Just another moment. We’re close.”- Sam didn’t wait. “Hey, doll? Time to come up for air. Can you hear me?”- “I said just a moment!” Will snapped.”

“ Sam watched the two of them from the sidelines. Something had happened up in Brethren beyond their finding the pendant and escaping from the new faithful. And Sam didn’t like it.”

“ “ Wait a moment- what note? What are you talking about?”- “Can you tell me how evidence from a murder victim got into your museum?”- “I don’t know,” Will said softly. “I swear I don’t, Terrence.”- “And I suppose you don’t know how your cigarette lighter ended up at a murder scene, either?”- “ I- I lost it recently, and..”- “It was found at Mary White Blodgett’s house.”- “I took the shoe buckle,” Sam blurred out. “Found I out at the seaport and thought I could make a quick buck off it. There are creepy chumps who pay for that stuff.”- “Sam, don’t.” Evie warned.- He gave her a wan smile. “It’s okay, doll. Let’s call it even on that twenty bucks.” “

“ “Hiya, ladies,”- “Sam! Let go!”- “Seems like a bad idea.”- “I’m still amazed they let you out of the Tombs.”- “Chalk it up to my charm, sister. I did manage to make off with some handcuffs, though.” His smile suggested something naughty and Evie rolled her eyes. “Just wanted to let you know I’ll be gone for a few days,” he told her.- “I’ll wear a black veil and cry all night.” Theta and Mabel giggled and looked away.- “You’ll miss me. I know you will, sister.” He gave her one of those wolfish grins.- “Hey!” the conductor called. “ Get down from there!”- “Sam, you’re going to get in trouble!”- “Aw, baby, I thought you loved trouble.”- “Will you get down before you kill yourself?”- “Broken up about my well- being?”- “Get. Down.”- Sam leaped from the trolley, nearly upending a woman pushing a pram. “Sorry, ma’am.” He brushed his hands clean and shouted after them, “ One day, Evie O’Neill, you’re gonna fall head over heals for me!” - “ Don’t hold your breath!” Evie shouted back. Sam mimed an arrow through the heart and fell down. Evie laughed in spite of herself. “ Idiot.” - Theta eyebrows inched up. “That boy’s got it bad for you, Evil.”- Evie rolled her eyes. “Don’t kid yourself. It has nothing to do with me. That boy only wants what he can’t have.”- “Don’t we all?” “

“ ..Pardon me, I.. Sam Lloyd.”- “Hiya, Baby Vamp. Miss me?” (..) - “Good-bye, Sam.”- “Aww, c’mon, doll. Let’s let bygones be bygones. Did I get mad when you told them I was… how’d ya put it again?”- “A liar, a cheat, and the sort of scum the other pond scum try to swim away from?”- “That was it. Great to see you again, Sheba. Say, why don’t we find some little corner and catch up over a sloe gin fizz?” “

“ “ See, the trouble with Nietzsche, besides his being a real killjoy, is that he thinks like a spoiled seven-year-old who doesn’t want to share his sandbox toys--” - “Sam! Sam over here!” Evie blurted.- “ Well, if is isn’t the Queen of Sheba. Just the girl I’m looking for. Did Freddy tell you the news about our Diviners exhibit? I was thinking that--” - Evie threw her arms around Sam’s neck. “Sam, there you are! You’re late. Oh, but I don’t mind. How handsome you look!”- Sam’s brow furrowed. “Forgive me, Miss. I thought you were Evie O’Neill. Clearly I’ve mistaken you for someone else.”- Evie laughed too hard. “Oh, you! Always the comedian.” She slipped her arm through Sam’s, giving him a small pinch as she did. “Now, I’m late to the Whoopee Club, and I need you to escort me, won’t you? So long, Mabasie, darling! Let’s do this again soon!” Evie nodded at Jericho. “Lovely to see you again, Jericho.” (..) Outside the Bennington, Evie slipped free of Sam’s arm. “ On a second thought, it’s too chilly for a walk, and it looks like rain. I’d better grab a taxi here.”- Sam smirked. “What? And interrupt our cozy, heartfelt reunion?”- “Yes, I’m all broken up about it, too. But I’m sure I’ll recover.”- “ You remember the day we met in Penn Station?”- “ When you stole my twenty dollars? How could I forget?”- “ You told me then that you weren’t an actress. I think you pulled my leg on that one.”- “ I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Sam Lloyd.”- “ I’m sure you do. Don’t worry-- I won’t blow your cover. But I need something from you in return.”- “Have you given up petty theft in favor of blackmail now?”- “ This isn’t for me. It’s for your uncle. He’s gonna lose the museum, Evie, if we don’t pull a rabbit out of hat.” ”

“ Sam put his arm around Evie as she signed an autograph. “ Doesn’t she have beautiful penmanship?”- T. S. Woodhouse smirked. “Say, you two look cozy there. Anything the Daily News readers should know about? There were those rumors a few months ago that the two of you were an item.”- “No. We are not.” Evie said firmly.- “Now, that’s a fine way to talk to your fiancé, Lamb Chop!”- “Fiancé?” Woodhouse raised an eyebrow.- “He’s kidding on the square.” Evie said. - Sam gave her his best lovelorn look. “Why, I’ve been crazy about this kid since the day I first saw her in Penn Station.”- “Sam-” Evie warned through a tight smile.- “But who wouldn’t be? Just look at that face! “He pinched Evie’s cheek. She stepped down hard on his foot. (..) - “The Sweetheart Seer’s got a sweetheart?” a man joked.- “No, he’s not-”- “Now, honey blossom. Let’s not hide our love. Not anymore.”- “I’d like to hide my fist inside your gut,” Evie whispered low near his ear.- “ Miss! Your taxi!”- Sam practically pushed Evie into the backseat of the waiting automobile. “ You run along, sweetheart! Can’t have my little radio star catching a cold.”- “They’ll be dragging the river for your body tomorrow, Sam Lloyd.”- “Did she just say they’d drag the river for your body?” T. S. Woodhouse asked, his pencil poised above his open notebook. Sam sighed like a man deeply in love.- “She did, the little bearcat. It’s the only defense that poor, helpless girl’s got against the animal pull of our love. Uh, you can quote me on that.”- “ Animal… pull… of our…. Love..” Woodhouse was still scribbling..”

“ “.. Sam out as often as possible. Every night if you can. Now that Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are in Europe, Americans are hungry for a modern couple to take their place. You two are it.” Evie burst into uncontrollable, nervous laughter. “Is something the matter, Miss O’Neill?”- “Everything’s jake.” Evie said in a somewhat strangled voice. “Could I make a telephone call, please?” “

“ “ Well, if it isn’t the future Mrs. Lloyd.”- “Daaarling. I’ve missed you.”- Then was a brief pause on the other end, then: “Uh- oh.”- “Hahahahahahaha. Oh, you! Darling, I simply must see you. Shatt we say luncheon at noon? The Algonquin?”- Another pause. “ Are you feeling okay, Sheba?”- “Now, don’t be late, dearest. We have so much to discuss, and you know that every moment away from you is like a torture. Adieu!” Evie hung up before Sam could say another word. “

“ “Is that so? Tell me why I shouldn’t fess up to the news boys.”- “Do you know how many calls the radio station got today about us? One thousand!”- “A.. thousand?”- “One-oh-oh-oh, brother. And they’re still calling! Mr. Phillips wants to put me on two nights a week. This is going to make me famous. More famous. You, too, I suppose.”- “I bet I’d be good at being famous.”- “How lucky for us all. The point is, if you tell them it was just a joke now, I’ll look like a joke, too. Nobody wants to back a joke. Makes people grumpy. There’s only one solution, I’m afraid. We’ve got to play out this hand for a bit.”- “Yeah? What do I get out of this deal, Baby Vamp?”- “I agree not to kill you,” Evie said around a mouthful of bread. She twirled the butter knife between her fingers.- “Your terms are generous.” “

“ Sam leaned forward and took both of Evie’s hands in his. He stared into her eyes as if she were the only woman in the world. Like a traitor, Evie’s stomach gave a slight hiccup. “ Help me with Project Buffalo and the Diviners exhibit. And I promise I’ll sell this romance so hard Valentino couldn’t’ve done better.” “ (..) “ Four weeks, huh?”- “Four weeks.”- “Done. We’ll have to make the chumps believe it. Moonlight strolls. Staring into each other’s eyes. Sharing the same straw in our egg cream. Dreadful pet names.”- “ Not Lamb Chop,” Evie protested. “That’s hideous.”- “You got it, Pork Chop.”- “ I will murder you in your sleep.”- Sam grinned. “Does that mean you’re sleeping beside me?”- “Not on your life, Lloyd.” Evie smirked. ” The act’s only good when the cameras are flashing.”- “ Well, then, guess I’d better make this look good now.” Sam kissed the back of Evie’s hand.”

“ “Hey, what’s that?” Sam came and stood beside Jericho.- “If I had to guess, I’d say probably none of your business,” Jericho said, glancing down at the page.- “ That’s my favourite kind of business...” “

“ T. S. Woodhouse’s pencil hovered over his notepad. “I’m sure we’re all dying to know how you two lovebirds first met.”- “Well-”Evie started.- “It was a moonlit night,” Sam interrupted. “A full moon, as I recall. Just the prettiest September moon you ever saw. I’d lost my dog-”- “Sparky.”- “Right. I was calling. ‘Here, boy, here, Sparky!”- “It was the most heartbreaking sound you ever heard,” Evie said. “I wanted to cry just hearing it. I still want to cry when I hear Sam’s voice.” Sam raised an eyebrow at Evie’s jibe. She smiled back. The smile was a challenge.” Go on, darling. Tell them the rest.” (..) “ Not that Sam minded what I looked like. He was just so surprised to be talking to a real girl. Girl don’t usually talk to you, do they, dear? Poor baby just never had a bit of luck with the female species. Why, it was almost as if dames were repulsed by you, weren’t they, darling? Didn’t you tell me they’d shrink from your touch?”- “ But you could see the good deep in my heart, couldn’t you, Pork Chop?”- “ Yes. I had to look with magnifying glass, but there it was.”- “ What does this have to do with a missing dog?” someone shouted. “

“ “ Dear little tiny man. You’re just five feet, three inches of pure joy. My own lucky leprechaun.”- Sam glowered. “I’m five-foot-ten.”- “ Are you?” Evie said in astonishment. “ Well, now, let’s see. I’m five-foot-two..” She swooped a hand across her head to Sam’s neck, putting Sam’s claim to the test. The crowd roared.- “Five- foot- nine.” Sam’s smile was strained.- “ Love these two. Put them on the radio together. They’d be funnier than Sam ‘n’ Henry, “ the reporter said.- “ Now, now, only one of us is on the radio. Isn’t that right, darling?” Evie said. She cut her eyes at Sam in warning.- “True.” Sam said. “Only one of us has enough hot air for two nights a week.” “

“ “There’s something defective about your objects, Sam. It’s just like when I tried to read the postcard in your jacket-”- “You what? First you take my jacket, then you read my postcard? Why, you little--”- “ I was curious!”- “ That was my private property, sister!”- “YOU STOLE MY TWENTY DOLLARS!” “

“ Evie narrowed her eyes. “ I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth.”- “If I were the last man on earth it’d be because you drove the other poor suckers to early graves. Read.” “

“ “ I don’t see why I had to come.”- “Because you’re my darling fiancée. Everybody loves the Sweetheart Seer! Oh, and one more thing- if she asks, you’re converting to Judaism.”- “What? Sam!”- “Don’t worry. Everything’s jake, Baby Vamp. Just follow my led.”- “If that supposed to be reassuring, it’s not.” “

“ “You’re the elephant’s eyebrows, doll.”- “Someone has to look after you, Sam Lloyd.””

“ The truth was, he was enjoying their cooked-up romance a little too much. Whenever Evie looked at him from across whatever room they were working, he got a feeling in his stomach like they were sharing the most delicious secret. It was fun and exciting- the two of them against the world. He dreaded the countdown to the end of it. Was it too much to hope that he could change her mind along the way?”

“ “ What did you do, future Mrs. Lloyd?”- “ Good things come to those who wait.”- “That a promise?””

“ Sam had spent time traveling with a circus, but being with Evie was its own circus, a real trapeze act. He wanted to do something grand and ridiculous to prove himself to her- like go to Belmont and bet all his money on a horse. Hell, he wanted to buy her the damned horse and name it for her. It was stupid to let a girl get under his skin this way. But he didn’t feel like stopping it. “ What is it? Is there something on my face?”- “ Yeah. There’s a face on your face. It just so happens to be a really nice face.” “

“ “ Those shoes looks dangerous. Better take’ em off first.”- “I love these shoes more than you, Sam.””

“ “That was close.”- “Yeah. Yeah, it was.” Neither of them moved. His hand still cupped her wrist gently.- “I- I suppose we can go now.” Evie said.- “Suppose so. “Sam answered. “”

“ “ You were supposed to meet me at the show, Sam! I’ve spent the last two hours worried that you were bleeding to death in a ditch,” Evie continued. “Now that I know you’re okay, I just want you to be bleeding to death in a ditch.”- “Aww, Lamb Chop, you missed me.”- “That’s what you just heard?”- “What can I say? I’m an optimist.”- “ The world is full of dead optimists. Sam, Sam, Sam!”- “ That’s me. Say, how much of that coffin varnish have you had, Sheba?” “

“ “Hey! What’s the big idea?”- “I’m saving you from yourself.”- “I don’t need any saving. What I needed was that drink. You didn’t even save me the olive.”- “ Okay. That’s fair. Abso-tive-ly fair. Let’s say the tables were turned. If I were about to walk off a cliff, what would you do?”- Evie pursed her lips. “ Push?”- “I don’t believe that.”- “You would on the way down.” “

“ “You wouldn’t believe the awful stuff I find out about people.”- “Why don’t you tell them the truth?”- “The truth doesn’t sell soap. Keep it light and happy and entertaining. Give ‘em hope, kid! “- “But that makes you no better than those phony con men on Forty- second Street. You’re the real McCoy, Sheba. You don’t need to fake it.”- Evie sat up, glaring. “I did not come to this party to hear a lecture from you, Sam Lloyd. You steal people’s wallets. Don’t act like you’re better than I am.”- “Me? Sure, I’m a thief and a con. But not you, kid. Unfortunately, you care. I know you.”- “No you don’t,” Evie said, lying back again. “You just think you do because you’re my pretend fiancé. But nobody really knows anybody. We’re all just a bunch of Pears soap ads walking around clean and neat, ready to wash away to silvers.”- “What’s real, then?”- “I dunno, anymore, Sam. I really don’t.” “

“ “Thanks anyway, kid.”- “I refuse to be beaten!”- “Nah, it’s jake, doll. I’ll… I’ll take you back to the party--”- “Sam! Stay! Good boy… Listen, Sam: Do you still have that photograph from Anna Polot.. Pala.. Anna Anna?”- “It’s just a picture of me with my mother.”- “I know. But it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”- “That’s my girl.”- “I am not your girl.” “

“ “ I got you. It’s okay. Did you get anything, doll?”- “You were at a table, and Rotke was asking if you could guess at the cards in her hand. But you couldn’t. I don’t understand. Why was she testing you?””

“ “ A castle castle?”- “No, Sam. A sand castle. Yes, of course, a castle castle. But here’s the strange part: I’ve seen this particular castle before, in my dreams.”- “And were you married to a handsome prince in that dream? Was there a scepter and a throne?”- “Ha, ha. Haaa. But I have seen it in my dreams. At least, I think I have. Or one like it.”- “Someday, I’m gonna buy you a castle, future Mrs. Lloyd.”- “ I don’t know what to think when you’re not horrible. It’s very confusing.” Evie slurred. Impulsively, she kissed Sam, then laid her head on his shoulder again. (..) “The room’s gone fuzzy. Does it look fuzzy to you, Sam?”- “I think one of us is drunk, Lamb Chop.”- “Must be the room.”- “It’s not the room.” (..) “I’d imagined this evening going a whole lot differently,” Sam grunted as he tucked Evie in. Her mouth was open and a tiny snores escaped. “You are not a delicate sleeper, kid.” Sam planted a kiss on the pop of Evie’s messy head. “Sweet dreams, Sheba.” “

“ “ You told him about Project Buffalo?”- “I- I.. it isn’t what you think, Sam.” (..)- “How could you do that? I told you : No reporters. You promised to keep it a secret between you and me, Evie. I trusted you.”- “Sam, could we talk about this later? I’ll explain everything, but.. People are watching.”- “Oh, sure. I see. Wouldn’t want to disappoint your adoring public… Well, I don’t care anymore, Evie. I’ve had enough. You know what? Maybe I’ll just blow this whole thing wide open. Tell you the truth, I’m tired of going to parties every night, anyway. I’m tired of playing your pretend fiancé. Tired of you. Just tired.”- “Sam.. please.”- “Come one. Let’s get this over with.”

“ “Sam? I said, are you excited about the wedding?”- “What fella wouldn’t be?” Sam said, looking away.”

“ “The time.. the time is now,” the soldier whispered fervently as he reached into his pocket for a revolver. All eyes were on Evie, who lifted her arm in a wave, blowing kisses to the crowd. The soldier raised the gun. It shook in his hand. “The time is now,” he moaned. Evie’s smile was still bright as she turned in the soldier’s direction. Her eyes saw the gun in his hand and couldn’t quite make sense of it, as if he might be holding a fish or an albatross. Sam was quicker. Time slowed and sharpened at once. Blood thrummed in his ears, blocking out the gasps of the stunned crowd. These people receded in Sam’s mind. There was only Evie, the man, and the gun. Sam wasn’t close enough to tackle the man before he could get a shot off. There was no time to think it through. Sam pushed Evie aside and thrust his hand toward the man with the gun.- “Don’t see me,” he growled. He poured every ounce of will into that one movement. Sam felt as if he’d been struck by a tuning fork. His body trembled from the effort. His knees buckled, but Sam held on. “Don’t. See. Me.” The soldier’s haunted eyes emptied of all consciousness, like a sleepwalker’s. Sam lunged forward and pried the revolver from the man’s grime- coated fingers. Several people closest to the man with the gun had also gone slack, heads cocked toward the sky, lost in some private reverie. But the rest of the sizable crowd watched it all. (..) Murmurs became shouts. People raced forward from everywhere at once.- “What’s happening? What is it?”- “Sam Lloyd is what happened! He saved Evie O’Neill’s life!”- “He’s a Diviner, too!”- “ He’s a Diviner! A Diviner! A Diviner!”- “Their Love is Diviner and Diviner!”- “Come on, Sam, put your arm around her!”- Evie had never seen Sam like this. Bewildered. Frightened. A little lost. (..) she understood this much: Sam had one it for her. He’s risked his life to save hers. Evie slipped her arm through his, anchoring him. No one could see her gently easing the tension from his fist. No one else could see her fingers gripping his, keeping him close. (..) Beside Evie, Sam trembled.- “I’ve got you.” Evie said. She reached over and wrapped his arm around her waist, letting him hold on to her as if she were a buoy. This pleased the people, who cheered and clapped and whistled. She could feel Sam’s pulse thumping.- “ He was going to shoot you,” he whispered, dazed. “I had to stop him.” (…) - “Leave him alone!”- “C’mon, Evie. Your fella is big news.”- “ He’s not your story right now!” ”

“ The note read, simply, “Roof. Now.” (..) - “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere.”- “Congratulations. You found me. How’s the party?”- “Oh, you know. Lots of hot air and silver gravy boats. Aren’t you cold?”- “Yes.”- “Do you want to go inside?”- “No.”- “Are you al right?”- “Sure.”- “Are you lying?” (..) “Why didn’t you tell me before, when you knew about me?”- “I needed it to be a secret until I found my mother.”- “But now it’s not a secret any longer.”- “No. I reckon it’s not.”- “ Why did you do that today?”- “You’re honestly asking me that?” Sam looked at Evie, and suddenly, she knew. Don’t see me was more than Sam’s Diviner power; it was his entire worldview. It was how he’d gotten along in life, keeping hidden, only letting people see what he wanted them to see. His whole life was a sleight of hand. And he’d risked it all. For her. - “I.. thank you for saving my life. I’m so sorry about what I said to Woody. I promise I thought I was helping you, Sam.” “

“Sam.” He turned his face to her. His mouth- why had she never noticed how perfect his mouth was? Impulsively, she kissed him once on those perfect lips and stood back, waiting. His expression was unreadable, and Evie’s stomach fluttered. He shook his hand.- “Evie. Don’t.”- “Why not? Because girls shouldn’t kiss first? Am I supposed to look up at you through fluttering lashes, all phony innocence, and wait for you to feel moved? I burned that rule book a while ago, Sam.”- “I don’t care about that. Just.. please don’t kiss me if you don’t mean it.”- “I mean it right now.”- “That’s always your answer, isn’t it? Don’t think about tomorrow.”- “Now is the only thing you can count on, Sam. It’s all we really get.”

“ “Happy Diviner New Year, I guess.” Evie said, a little breathless. - “To hell with it,” Sam said and wrapped Evie in his arms, kissing her fiercely.”

“ Her mind was on Sam. Theirs was supposed to be a pretend romance, nothing more. But then Sam had saved her life and she’d kissed him. She’d wanted to kiss him- that much was clear. (..) The deal with Sam was supposed to make Evie’s life easier. Instead, she was more confused than ever. “

“ “What’s the big idea, Sam? Why were you so rude to my friends?”- “ Those are not your friends. Your real friends are wondering where you are. Did you forget?” Evie’s blank expression told him that she had. “The Diviners exhibit party at the museum. It’s tonight. You’re the guest of honor.”- Evie bit her lip and rubbed at her forehead. “Honestly, Sam. I can’t tonight.”- “Why? You sick?” Sam pressed his lips to Evie’s forehead, and Evie’s stomach fluttered.- “No. But I.. it was a bad show, Sam. Very bad.”- “You’ll have a better show next time.”- “No. You don’t understand.”- “I understand that you promised, Evie.”- “I know. I know I did. And I’m sorry. Truly, I am. But I- I can’t.” (..) “You want me to go back to that museum? To talk about ghosts? You weren’t there in that house with that… that thing. You don’t know how it was! Ask Jericho. He knows. He understands what it was like.” (..) “ When I stand still, I see all of it. So I don’t stay still, and I certainly don’t go looking for more. And every night before bed, I pray for those pictures to go out of my head. When the prayers don’t work, I ask the gin to do it.”- “I’m sorry I’m not Jericho.” Sam said coolly.- “I’m sorry for everything.”- “That include last night?” Evie didn’t answer. (..) The comment about Jericho had hurt. Badly. He tried to swallow it down. “ Evie,” He said, taking gentle hold of her hand. “ The party can’t go on forever.” - Evie looked up at Sam, defiant but slightly pleading, too. Her voice was nearly a whisper. “ Why not?” She pulled her hand free of Sam’s grasp, and he let her go, watching as she ran headlong toward the hedonistic throng.”

“ Sam sat up. “I’m trying to understand all this--”- “Don’t strain,” Jericho muttered.” “

“ “Go home, Evie. We got enough trouble here.”- “Unhand me, fiancé!”- “I am not your fiancé. It was a publicity stunt, remember?”- “Right.” Evie said, nearly swallowing the word.- “Your engagement isn’t real?”- Jericho said.- “ I can assure you that the feelings Sam Sergei Lloyd Lubovitch has for any girl are nothin’ but an act.” “

“ “ I should come with you,” Jericho protested. “I’m bigger.”- “ Yeah. I know. I got eyes.” Sam sniped. “But if something goes really south with Ling and Henry, we need somebody who could drag them off to the showers. Or fight whatever comes in here.”- “I don’t like it.” Jericho said.- “I don’t like any of this, pal!” Sam yelled. “If you got a better idea, let me know.” Jericho didn’t have a better idea, but he resented being stuck at the museum instead of where the action was. That was always his role, and he was tired of it.- “Fine,” he grumbled.” “

“ “Sam. I don’t know what’s happening.”- “How drunk are you?”- “No. I mean.. I mean ‘bout any of this. About the dead and John Hobbes. Will. Rotke. Those cards we found. Project Buffalo. I need to tell you something, Sam. It’s about tonight and what happened at the show.”- Sam gestured to the dark underground, his flashlight beam bouncing off the metal and earth. “You want to have this conversation now? Here?”- “Shhh, listen. This fella brought a comb for me to read. Sam, it was James’s comb,” Evie said, heeping one hand on his back to steady herself.” (..) “ I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know anything anymore. Like you and me, for instance.”- “There is no you and me. You made that pretty clear tonight. Listen, you asked me to play a part, and I did. From now on, I travel solo.”- “Now who’s lying? You forget. I read your personal effects. I know you.”- “You know bupkes.”- “I’ve seen you. The true you. I’ve held your secrets in my hands. You’re scared, Sam. You’re pretend you’re not, but you are. Just like the rest of us.” (…) He hated that Evie had unsettled him like this. That was the trouble with letting people in- once you’d taken off the armor, it was hard to put it back on. (..) “ You steal whatever you like and never think about what it costs anyone,” Evie said, eyes brimming with tears.- “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I got no defenses against girl tears.”- “You can’t have my tears, Sam Lloyd. I revoke them. But don’t go tellin’ me what I know. ‘Cause you don’t know.”- “I don’t even know what we’re arguing about anymore.” “

“ “Oh, for Pete’s sake.” Theta tugged the gloves free. - “Why couldn’t I have been a dream walker? Why’d it have to be object reading?”- “Come on, Sheba. You can do this.” Sam nudged her. (..) - “A ship. I’m on a ship.” Evie said. She gagged. “Seasick.”- “You okay?” Sam’s voice. - “You care.” Evie murmured.- “What?” Sam said.- “Nothing.” Evie mumbled. “ “

“ “Here,” Sam said, handing Evie the skull. “You can carry that. Merry Christmas. “- Evie’s mouth twisted in revulsion. “You’ve ruined the joy of the season for me forever.” “

“ “What kinda prayer do you say to get rid of a ghost?” Theta asked.- “I surely don’t know. But I expect a prayer of any kind is better than none.”( Memphis)- All of them bowed their heads except for Sam. “Sam?” Evie nudged him with an elbow.- “ Trust me: If God exists, he’ll know I’m faking it.” “

“ “Sam!” Sam said, hugging himself. “You’re welcome. Don’t mention it.” “

“ “Sam, I think we should tell them what we’ve found.”- “Nothing doing.”- “Either you do it or I will.”- “This is twice you’ve done this to me. Remind me never to tell you a secret again.”- “It’s not your secret anymore.”- “Fine.” “

“ “ So what’s keeping this door open? How did it get left open? And why are these ghosts so powerful?” Ling pressed.- “We don’t know!” Evie, Sam and Henry said as one.” “

“ “ Oh, don’t worry- I’ll help you. But I’m not giving up my show. Nothin’ doing. Same old Uncle Will. Only looking out for himself.”- “ You’re one to talk, kid.” Sam snapped.- “ Says the thief.” Jericho said.- Sam smirked. “Pal, I’ve never pretended I wasn’t looking out for myself. And anyway, you should be happy now that coast is clear.” He jerked his head in Evie’s direction. Too late, he caught Mabel’s pained expression. Nice going, Lloyd. Great work. “Applesauce,” he muttered, feeling like a real heel. “ “

“ “ Well, if it isn’t the former future Mrs. Sam Lloyd.”- “Don’t start with me, Sam. Oh, and I see the Herald ran with your story last week.” With one gloved hand, Evie blocked out an imaginary headline in the air. “ ‘Wedding Not in the Cards for Sweetheart Seer and Hero- Diviner Sam Lloyd’ Hero- Diviner.” Evie rolled her eyes. “And how come you got a first and a last name?”- “What can I say? I lead a charmed life. Look, that’s all water under the bridge. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Bigger than you and me. Can we agree on that?”- “ That depends. Will you be speaking in clichés on the primrose path of our glorious future?”- “Evie.”- “ Yes. Fine…. Say, why didn’t you needle Uncle Will and Sister Walker for more answers about Project Buffalo? They know more than they’re telling us.”- “ Exactly! You play much poker?”- “Not really.”- “I can tell. We got us a poker game here.” “

“ “ Remember my informant on Project Buffalo?”- “ Your creepy man?”- “The same. Fella named Ben Arnold. This was sent to me at the museum, no return address.” Sam handed Evie a small, back- pages newspaper mention of a mysterious death. “He was found dead on an ash heap in Queens. He’s been strangled with piano wire.”- Exasperated, Evie handed the article back. “There’s no need for me to read it if you’re just going to narrate the whole thing, Sam.”- “ Okay. We gonna have this fight now?”- Evie kept her eyes straight ahead.“ What fight? I’m not fighting.”- “You’re the one who wanted that meshuga phony romance for publicity,” Sam reminded her. “ I’m just a fella who had the decency to end it.”- Evie stopped so fast Sam had to back up. “Decency? Decency? Says the fella out every night with a different girl! ‘Jilted Sam Lloyd Finds Comfort with Chorus Girls! Hard-Hearted Hannah Evie O’Neill Breaks Hero’s Heart.’ What a lot of hooey!”- Sam leaned against the light post like owned it. “ What do you care? It’s not like you want me, right?”- Evie drew in a sharp breath. “I- I.. don’t care!” she said with a toss of her head. “But it’s embarrassing. And you get to be ‘ poor Sam’ while I’m ‘fickle Evie.’ “ - “Give the papers another few weeks, and they’ll flip the story to ‘ Poor Evie, Cad Sam.’ What am I supposed to do, sit at home and fog up the bathroom mirror with lonely sighs?”- “ Gee, can you do that? That’s a swell trick.” Evie said sarcastically. “What is it? Why are you making that face?”- “ Incredible. You actually worked up a little angry spot in the corner of your mouth right there...”- Evie batted Sam’s finger away. “Good. It’ll make it easier for me to digest you.” “

“ “ Truce?”- “Truce. Should we tell the others that we’re still looking into Project Buffalo?”- “ Not till we find out what’s on those cards. For now, it’s our secret.”- “ And Woody’s.”- “ T. S. Woodhouse. How could I forget you told that rat reporter about Project Buffalo? Fine. Let the bum see what he can find. But that’s on you. I’m not paying him.”- “Fine.” “

“ “ Well, this had been fun. I’m headed that way. Plenty of pockets to pick this time of evening.”- “ Then I’m going the other way. Toward civilization.”- “ Always a pleasure, Lamb Chop.”- “Just remember, Sam Lubovitch Lloyd!”- “What?”- “You still owe me twenty bucks!” “

“ “Say, how come Memphis and Isaiah call you Sister?”- “ We know her. She was friends with our mama. She lives near us.” Isaiah said.- Sam tried out his most charming smile on Sister Walker. “So can I call you Sister, too?” - “You may call me Miss Walker.” “

“ If Evie read an object when Sam was near, she was somehow able to reach much deeper into the object’s past. “It’s almost as if your don’t see me routine has the opposite effect on my reading, Sam.”- “ I’ll send you a bill.” He joked.- “ I’ll deduct twenty clams.” “

“ “ Evie, since Sam seems to affect your reading ability, let’s see if you have any sway over his powers. Come sit close to him, if you would, please.” Sister Walker said. (..) She liked the way he smelled, like spicy aftershave and something else, something she could only describe as Sam. Sam squinted at her.- “You jake? You look funny.”- “I’m fine. Just.. don’t steal anything from me.”- “Here goes. Don’t see me.” Theta blinked and Sam’s shoulders sagged. She could see him losing confidence.- “Try again. Go all out.”- “You sure?” Sam said quietly.- “Yeah. Think about putting me right to sleep.”- “ Sam’s good at that.” Evie grumbled.” “

“ “Sam? Sam!”- “You’re already tried that little stunt, Evie.” She could hear Sam’s voice, but she couldn’t see him. (..) Other than Evie herself, only Memphis and Sister Walker were alert.- “I’m not pulling your leg, Sam. Honest!” Evie put out a hand and yelped when she touched something solid. He was right next to her. “Sam. You’re invisible!”- “I am?” (..)- “Twenty- two seconds,” Sister Walker said, clearly excited. “That’s how long you were invisible.”- “ Five seconds. That’s how long it’s gonna take me to give you a black eye.” Evie said.- Ling blinked. “Wh- what happened?”- “Sam went invisible. Unfortunately, he came back.” Evie told her.- Ling opened her notebook, excited. “Where- where did you go when you disappeared? Do you feel strange in any way?”- “Sam is strange in every way.” Jericho said. (…) - “ Why doesn’t Sam’s power affect you, Miss Walker?” Evie asked.- “Training. I suspect Memphis’s healing powers make him immune. As for you, Evie, it would appear that you and Sam share a special bond.”- “Swell.” “

“ “ Kinda funny when you think about it.”- “What’s that?” Will asked.- “ Me and Isaiah. Evie. Memphis. Ling. Henry. And-” Sam quickly stopped himself from saying Theta. “Us. We got a Jew, two Negroes, a half-Chinese-half-Irish girl. Coupla Catholics. Sounds like the start of some really awful joke the stuffed shirts would tell behind closed doors.”- “What’s your point?” Ling asked.- “Well, people like to say we’re not true Americans, whatever that means. But we’re the ones with these powers.” Sam shrugged. “It’s just kinda funny is all.” He caught Sister Walker throwing a meaningful glance Will’s way. It was quick but noticeable.”

“ What about Sam?.. (..) And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t still carry a torch for him. Was it normal to have a crush in two boys at the same time?”

“ “ Mabel! Say, this is a nice surprise.”- “ Sam, could you steal me a movie camera?”- “ That is, without a doubt , the most interesting question I’ve been asked today. And considering the day involved talk about ghosts and the end of the world, that’s saying something.” “

“ “ Spooky spirit sketches.” Sam grumbled.- “ Nice alliteration.” Memphis said.- “Nice what?”- “ Alliteration. It’s when you repeat the same consonant in phrase.”- “Huh. I was hoping it was something dirty.”- “Ignore him, Memphis.” Jericho said with a roll of his eyes. “We all do.” “

“ “ If I have to look through one more of these, I’m throwing myself off that balcony.” he moaned.- “Let me know if you need help,” Jericho said as he calmly restored Sam’s discarded book to its rightful place on the shelves. Memphis laughed. Those two. They were like squabbling brothers. Their arguments were better than going to the pictures.” “

“ The professor used to decorate for Christmas? That may be the most surprising thing I’ve learned today.”

“ You don’t get it, do you? You have the strongest power, Memphis.”

“ “Do you think I’m selfish?”- Sam laughed. “ Is that a trick question?””

“ “.. Oh, I see. It only counts if everybody knows about it. Don’t you get enough attention?”… “ I’m an odd fella, but I know I’m an odd fella. What I can’t figure out is why you gotta make yourself crackers trying to be somebody you can’t ever be instead of just letting yourself be the one and only Evie O’Neill.” ”

“ Every time I go somewhere with you, Sam, I’m sure it’ll be the end of me. And my shoes.”

“ “Don’t see me.” The man went slack. Sam reached into his pocket and took out a chunk of cash.- “Sam!” Evie said, looking over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”- “We might need extra money for information.”- “That’s terrible!”- “Yeah? Say, when did you develop a conscience?”- “ About the time I started reading people’s secrets for a living,” Evie said, but she was laughing. “And I hate having a conscience. Very inconvenient.”- Sam unfolded the man’s money, lifted a twenty, and put the rest back in the man’s pocket. “Happy now, Sheba?”- Evie pursed her lips and looked toward the ship’s ceiling. “That depends. Are you sore about it, Sam?”- “Yes.”- She looped her arm through his. “Then I’m happy.”- Sam burst into laughter. “Okay, Lamb Chop. You win.” “

“ That was what he couldn’t tell her- that the end of their fake romance was really about saving himself. He’d gone goofy for her, and if she broke his heart, that would be the end of the best friendship he’d ever had. He couldn’t risk that.”

“ “Holy moly! You always drive that fast?”- “Slow is for chumps.”- “ Well, I’d like to be a live chump. Take it easy, will ya?” “

“ “ You kept those and I’m the bad guy?”- “ Sam, you steal from people all the time.”( Jericho)- “ Just like Robin Hood.”- “He gave to the poor.”- “So… I’m poor.”

“ “Okay if I fill Sam in?” Evie said.- “You’ll have to. Otherwise , he’ll never shut up.”( Jericho.”) “

“ “ Fours are unlucky. The word for four sounds like the word for death.” Ling said.- Sam looked from Ling to Jericho and back. “You know what? I’m gonna call you two the spooky twins.” “

“ “Evie and I broke in” Sam said.- “ Did anyone see you breaking in?”- “No. Why?”- Will let out of a deep breath. “Because .. because that was government office and you could be arrested.”- “ Still waiting for that answer.” Sam demanded.- “Yes, we all are.” Evie chimed in. “

“ Will paled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”- Sam snorted. “Why didn’t I tell you? Oh. That’s rich. You’re the ones who’ve been keeping secrets about us from us and telling us to trust you!” “

“ “Sam?” Evie asked.- “ Yeah, okay. I’m in. But for us.” Sam said.

“ “ The unwanted dead? I sure hope they stay put while we’re here.” Sam whispered to Evie.- “ Gotta hand it to you, Sheba, you sure know how to have fun.” Woody said, and popped his chewing gum. “

“ “ Baby Vamp, with your moxie and my good looks..”Sam spread his arms wide.- “So we’re half-doomed is what you’re telling me. Well. I suppose you can always just..” Evie wiggled her fingers.- “What, dry my nail varnish? Pretend I’m a bird? Play an imaginary piano?” Sam said.- “No! Do your don’t see me trick.”- “How come yours is a ‘gift’ and mine is a ‘trick’? I’m insulted.”- “Just make yourself useful, Sam.”- Woody laughed. “ Shame you two called off your engagement. You’re a perfect couple.” “

“ “ Hold still. I want to get a picture, Evie, lean it, will ya? “Woody urged, taking a long-snouted accordion camera from his reporter’s bag.- “ To the man who tried to kill her?” Sam said. ” Nothing doing.” ”

“ “I can’t believe we actually got thrown out of an asylum.” Sam said.- “ I prefer ‘firmly escorted from the premises’.” “

“ “ I’ll think of something.” Evie said.-” Yes, you will. And that’s what I’m afraid of.” “

“ That’s how you behave like a human.” Evie whispered to Sam. “ Takes notes so you can remember.” “

“ “Stole it off Molly,” Sam said. “It’s the key to his room.”- “ So that’s why you were cozying up to her.”- “ That, and she’s a real tomato.”- “Once again, Sam, I don’t know if I want to kiss or kill you.”- “ Better kiss me, then, to make sure.” Sam said, and winked.- “Come on, Romeo.” “

“ Dammit, Evie! Stay here. Lock yourself in. I’ll get her.” Sam said, and gave chase.”

“ “ They want me to be sorry ‘bout how I done Father Hanlon, but I ain’t. He shouldn’t tried to take Jimmy for ice cream.”- “ Yeah? Why’s that?”- “I didn’t want him to do to Jimmy what he done to me.”( Conor)- “ What did Father Hanlon do to you?”- “He tol’ me nobody would believe me. His words against mine.” ( ..) - The full horror of it rose up from Sam’s stomach. “So, you tried to stop him from hurting anybody else?.. I understand. You’re not wicked, kid. Somebody is, but it ain’t you.” “

“ Me not want to be with you? Are you kidding?”

“ I’m in an asylum. Being chase by ghosts. Evie is kissing me. He didn’t know which of those seemed the most far-fetched. “

“ “Kiss us, kiss us!” the ghosts demanded.- “Sorry. I only date one at a time.”

“ Yeah. You’re gonna hate me for this but.. “And with that, Sam pushed her out of the window. Sam heard her land with an “Oof” followed by angry “Saaam!”- “She’s okay,” Sam said, nodding. “You’re next.” “

“ Evie yanked him to safety by the edge of his shirt ripping it. “ Thanks. You owe me a shirt,” Sam said.- “ You owe me twenty dollars.””

“ We can sort this out later. Right now we gotta figure out how to get these ghosts to go away.” Sam said. “Who’s got ideas? “ No one spoke. “Don’t all jump in at once. Form an orderly line.”

“ “ Here you are: The thief. The fire starter. The object reader. The dream walkers. The clairvoyant. And the healer. Do you know who I am?”- “ The man in the stovepipe hat.” Evie whispered, frightened.- “I prefer the King Of Crows. After all, why be a man when you can be a king?” “

“ “ Let us play a game to see if you worthy of my largesse.”- “We’re not playing anything with you.” Said Sam.”

“ See, that’s your generation all over- you muck up everything and then expect us to fix your messes.” Sam growled.”

“ Sam ran after Evie, calling her name. She sank to her knees on the museum’s damp yard. Sam scooped her up and held her to him. “ Hey, hey, hey. Sheba. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. Listen, you and me and the others. We’ll see this thing through. All right? C’mon, Baby Vamp. Shake your head if you hear me.” (…) Sam cupped her face gently. “You. Me. All of us. No matter what.” Finally, Evie allowed a small nod, whether of agreement or defeat, Sam couldn’t be sure. But it was a start. He helped her to her feet. The others were in the yard now.”

“ Swell. We’re the only Diviners ghost service in town without a meeting place.” Sam said.”

“ “.. and me.. I mean I know you were possessed. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have… you know. And with such… enthusiasm.”- Evie blushed. “Right. I- I wasn’t in control.”- “Yeah. Just.. ghosts.”- “Ghosts.”- “Thought so.” Sam managed a weak smile. “Well, there’s still a little time left in this miserable night, and I know a speakeasy on Fifty- second where the dames are happy to see you at this hour.”- “Yes, wouldn’t want to disappoint your harem.”- “You know.. Never mind.” “

“ “ Sam, I don’t think you should go anywhere by yourself.”- “ Yeah? You offering to be my bodyguard, Lamb Chop? Gee, that’ll be kinda awkward on my dates, won’t it?”- “Fine. Get pinched by those creepy Shadow Men. See if I care.” (..) - “A what?”- “A noodge. A little prodding. I’m getting antsy here.”- “Fine. I’ll send him an urgent letter.. Noodge? Is that a real world?”- “ It’s Yiddish. Like… Ikh hob dikh lib.”- Evie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What does that mean?”- Sam smiled. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you.”

“ He opened the door and hold out the rose. “Welcome.”- “Aww, Freddy, you shouldn’t have, “Sam said, taking the rose and threading it through the buttonhole of his coat. “This is so sudden! I don’t know what to say. Oh, okay. You’ve won me over, you big brute. The answer is yes.” With that, Sam jumped into Jericho’s arms.”

“ “ So this is where the party is. Sorry I missed it,” Sam said, barging through the doors. He gave Evie and Jericho a long sideways glance. Then he walked around the room as if studying it.”- “ Are you casing the joint, Sam?” Evie asked, annoyed by his interruption.- “ No. I’m having déjà vu.” Sam folded his arms and squinted at the meticulous of paintings of pinch-mouthed men.- “ Again?” Henry quipped, coming into the room along with Ling.- “Because you were here before,” Evie said. “I remember it from reading, your mother’s photograph. This is where she brought you when you were little. “ “

“ Evie sneaked out, closing the door quietly behind her. When she turned around, she yelped in surprise. Sam was a few feet away, leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. “You startled me” she said.- Sam wasn’t his usual good-time, smirking self. In fact, he looked as if someone had run over his dog. “What is it about that guy?”- “ I don’t know what you mean.”- “ Come on, Evie. Don’t con a con man.” “

“ Maybe you’re the one who’s miserable. You’re certainly conceited.”- “At least I know how to make a girl laugh.”- “ And put her hair out.”- “You know, some girls like that hair- pulling.”- “Then remind me to shave my head bald.”- “Wait! Just answer me this: Does he make you happy?”- “If you must know, he makes me feel like I’m the only girl in the room.”- “That’s not the same thing.”- Why was he doing this to her? “Are you one of this fellas who only likes a girl if another fella wants her? Maybe you should ask yourself that question. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to dress for dinner.” She said moving past him.- Sam reached out and held her hand softly. “Evie..”- For just a minute, she was reminded of their fake romance. Except that the expression on his face seemed very real. Was it real? Was anything with Sam real?” “

“ “What do we do now?” Henry asked.- “ Nothing, that’s what.” Sam said, sinking down onto one of the beds. “We can’t read these cards, we can’t find any other Diviners. We can’t know about ourselves and what they did to us. And I can’t use that information to find my mother.” Sam buried his head in his hands. “Could you.. not look at me right now? Thanks.”- Evie had never seen Sam like this. He was usually the one finding a way forward. It was a little scary to see him at such a loss. She reached for the mangled card.- Sam glanced up. “What are you doing?”- “ I’m going to try to read it.” Evie said, sitting beside Sam on the bed.- “You already told us you can’t read it.” Ling said.- “I couldn’t before. I still might not be able to do it. But we might. We already know that together we can strengthen one another’s energy and skills. With all of us working together, I might be able to break through.”- “You’ll be sick.”- Sam warned.- “So I’ll be sick.”- “Are you sure, doll? “ “

“ Sam” Evie whispered. “Can you help me see better?” Sam’s hand was on her shoulder. She could feel him. And then, all at once, she broke through layers of old memories to Rotke Wasserman. Rotke knew what was on the cards!”

“ I’ll help you to your room, doll.” Sam said, jumping up before Jericho could. It was petty on his part. He didn’t regret it.”

“ Wait a minute, he thought. I can. It was a risk. He wasn’t sure how much time he’d have. But Sam loved risks. He was a gambler, through and through. He grinned. “Why the hell not?”- “Don’t see me.” He said, cloaking himself. Hey, Jericho, he thought with a snort. I can do something you can’t do, pal. And then he let himself into the room. “

“ “When that son of a bitch wakes up, I’m gonna punch his lights out.”- “No, you’re not. That won’t solve anything.”- “It might.”- “ It won’t. And I’m perfectly all right.”- “Bushwa, you are! You’re still shaking.” Sam said.” Excuse my language.” “

“ “ She’s not going anywhere with you, pal. Not without the rest of us.”- “ I can speak for myself, Sam.””

“ “You.. you talked to my mother?” For all the reasons Sam had disliked Jericho, this one hurt the most. Why would she speak to these other fellas- like Jericho, of all people- and not to her own son.” “

“ He’d been thinking of Evie. Why couldn’t he just let go? Sam didn’t open up to many people. But there was something about Evie that drew him out and made him vulnerable. Sam had been up in an aeroplane with Barnstormin’ Belle. He’d flown on the trapeze and walked a wire with the circus. Most people thought that was bravery. But nothing was braver than letting somebody really know you, warts and all. Nothing was braver than trying to love and be loved.”

“ And Evie realized that Sam had been right- no matter how much she tried to make herself fit, eventually, the real, smart-mouthed Evie would come bursting out of the confining party cake with all of her opinions and wounds on display.”

“ “I need you to trust me on something.” Memphis said.- “Okay, pal.” Sam said. “You’re scaring me, but okay.” “

“ “You’re telling me not to lose hope because there are pirate pictures?”- “I’m trying here, Baby Vamp. When you’re facing evil, a good pirate picture doesn’t hurt.”- “What else?”- “ Nah. I’ve told you already.”- “Oh, please. Just one more.”- “Just one more, huh?”- “ Yeah. But make it a really good one.”- “A good one.”- “ Yes.”- “Okay.” Sam’s heart thudded against his ribs. He was dizzy. “Then how about this.” And with that, he leaned forward and kissed her. Evie put a hand to her lips and stared at Sam. “Um. You might say something here. Or slap me. Hoping it’s not that, though.” Sam joked, and swallowed hard.- “How do I know that’s real?” Evie said after she’d caught her breath.- “Let me prove it.” Sam kissed her again, longer this time. And for the first time that night, Evie did feel loved. Sam wasn’t telling her to act more like a “good girl.” he didn’t want her to be anybody but who she was. Why had she tortured herself by not letting him in?- “I’m still not convinced. You.. you might have to make your case more strongly.”- Sam’s grin was wolfish, but inside he was balloons and champagne, a full goddamn birthday party. “Sure thing, Lamb Chop.”- Evie put a finger to Sam’s lips and frowned. “ I believe I have made my feelings about that name plain.”- Sam licked up the length of her finger, drawing a grasp from here. “What can I say? I’m a naughty boy.”- “How naughty?”- “ Would you like to find out?”- Evie knew she could come back with a quip, but everything felt too real right now. She needed to be real with someone. “I would. But I’m afraid of what I’ll find out. I just need something that doesn’t feel like a lie.”- “Okay.” Sam swallowed hard, took a deep breath. “ Then here it is: All the times I say, ‘Don’t see me’? With you, I wish I had an opposite power: See me. See me, Evie. See all of me. There’s a fella who loves you right here. I’m not perfect. I’m handful. But you know what? So are you. There. Not sugarcoating it.”- “But.. what if I love you and you go away?“ Evie said, almost a whisper. - “ Sheba, I’m sitting across from you right now. Don’t you see that I’m not going anywhere?” And she knew he was being honest. There was such fear In the world. But love was everywhere if you looked. It was the best thing about humans. That they could stare into the abyss and still open up their hearts. A spit in the eye to fear. ”

“ “Wha-what’s the matter?”- “You’re not possessed by ghosts this time, are you?”- “Sam, honestly!”- “ Just checking.”- Evie kissed her way up the salty sweetness of his throat, to his ear, which she nibbled very softly, then whispered, “I am the Forgotten, forgotten no more.”- “Holy moly!” Sam jumped an Evie’s fell back against the pillow in a fit of laughter.- “Oh, Sam, your face!”- “Not amusing, Sheba.” Sam chided, but he was laughing, too.” “

“ Evie lifted Sam’s undershirt over his head and kissed the scar near his collarbone. “ Aerialist accident in the big tent.” Sam explained.- “ Mmm. Tell me later.” “

“ And then, suddenly, the whole night was too much. She was afraid. It was silly, wasn’t it? She’d been ruined by Jake Marlowe and Sarah Snow. They’d faced a street full of ghosts, and she was afraid of this, this joining of bodies, this step toward love? Her cynicism was leaving her. She was opening herself up to something more. It was somehow the scariest thing in the whole world. “ Could we.. could we just lie next to each other?” Evie said, eyes brimming with tears. “Just for a little while?”- “You’re killing me, Sheba.”- “Please? I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”- Sam lifted her chin. “ Hey. Don’t be sorry. It’s okay.” With that, he flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling with great concentration. - “What are you doing?” Evie asked.- “Thinking of the least sexual thing I can imagine. Ghost bubbes. They’re making ghost borscht and talking about their bowel troubles. Jeepers. I might never make love again. This is traumatic.”- Evie burst out laughing. Then: “Sam. I changed my mind.”- “About..?”- “You know.” She reached under the covers and touched him, biting her lip at the surprise of what she felt.- Sam gasped. “You sure?” His voice was soft and a little breathy. Evie nodded. “You’re sure-sure?”- “Sh-shut up and k-kiss me, Sam.” “

“ He scribbled a quick note- gotta run an important errand. I’ll be back by ten. He wrote I love you, then scribbled it out. Too soon? Too soon. Instead, he addressed the note to “ Lamb Chop.” She’d be so annoyed. Grinning, he grabbed his fisherman’s cap and coat. “I love you,” he whispered quietly. “ Ikh hob dikh lib.” He kissed Evie’s head. She rustled in her sleep, turning away. “Fine. I see how it is. I just wasted my best Yiddish on you, “ Sam joked to himself. He loved her. Was in love with her. Had always loved her. And it seemed that she loved him too. It was funny how the world could change on a dime like that. One minute, you were some poor chump pining after a girl you thought didn’t feel the same way about you, and the next, you were lying together, arms entwined, chest to chest, so close you could feel her heartbeat under her soft skin. You were looking into her eyes and seeing your whole future written there.”

“ He had friends. He had a home in them. And Evie was home, too.”

“He’ll tell Evie everything. Let her know that he loved her. Let her know how much he loved her.”

“ Help me. Can’t you see this isn’t right? But the people liked the answer the men in dark suits had supplied; it absolved them of any responsibility, and they moved on with their busy lives. “

“ In her hotel room, Evie paced, stopping only when she realized she was acting just like Will. Where was Sam? He’d promised to be there by ten, and it was now nearly ten thirty.”

“ Lefty told Evie about the men who’d come and taken Sam away in the brown sedan. By the time he’d finished, Evie was more frightened than ever. She gave Lefty a dollar and asked him to keep what he knew quiet for his own protection. Sam’s hat sat in her hands. She could feel it wanting to whisper its messages to her. “ Show me where you are, Sam.” “

“My dear Mr. Phillips. You can’t fire me. I quit.”

“ I’m going to find Sam. Those Shadow Men took him. I know it. And I’m going to follow every clue until I hunt him down and get him back.”

“ No! He is pos-i-tutely not dead! Besides, if anybody is going to have the pleasure of murdering Sam Lloyd, it ought to be me.”- Theta chuckled and shook her head. “You two. I don’t know whether to hope you get married or hope you never do.” “

“ “ Wait just a minute- when did this happen? Who arranged it?” Ling asked.- “Jericho and I did.” Evie said.- “Without asking the rest of us? Who died and made you boss?”- “My uncle Will.” Evie said through her teeth.” “

“ We have to save Sam. I won’t let him to be fed to that awful thing.”

“ My kingdom for a toothbrush, and some aspirin.”

“ “ Where the hell am I?”- “ Hello, Sam. Or do you prefer Sergei?”- “I’d prefer that you let me out of here.”

“ It had been ten years since he’d last seen her. Ten years since she’d kissed him good-bye and gone to work on Project Buffalo. She seemed smaller to him now that he was older. “Mama?”- “Sergei!” (..) There were more words, all in their native Russian: Are you hurt? Nyet. I love you. I love you, too, Mama. And: You got so big! Which made Sam laugh despite the circumstances, because mothers were mothers no matter what. He hadn’t been wrong. She was alive. All this time, alive. And these were the sons-of-bitches who’d destroyed their family, who’d kept them apart and lied about it, telling Sam’s father that Miriam had died of influenza back in 1918.- “Take her outta those chains.”- “I’m afraid I can’t do that… (..) “ Sam had never felt such blinding rage. He’d always wondered what would happen if he came face-to-face with the men who’d taken his mother. Wondered if he was capable of murder. Now he knew that he was.” “

“ “Easy, chump.”- “Who are you calling a chump?”- “Did I say chump? I meant champ. I get my vowels mixed up.” (..) Sergei. Be careful.- I do what I like, he thought, unsure if his mother could hear it.- Don’t be a pisher.- Yep. She could hear him.” “

“ “Mr. Adams. That was unnecessary.” Jake Marlowe said. - “Yeah. Make him say he’s sorry.” Sam goaded.- “ I’m sure he is.” Jake said with paternal disinterest.- Sam glared at Adams, who mouthed, I’m not sorry.” “

“ “Safe from what?” Sam repeated.”

“ Hey. Hey! Leave my mother alone! Okay, now? Now I’m mad. You made me mad. You listening to me, Mr. Heebie- Jeebies Adams and your friend, Jokes Jefferson? When I got up out of this chair, you will be sorry. Very sorry. I’m not kidding. You don’t want to fool around with me. I’m really, really mad.”

“ Fine for me or fine for the chair?… No, you don’t understand. I hate needles. A lot. I-”

“ He wanted out of his body. “ Please,” he whispered. “Please, don’t.” “

“ Split. Evie was just out of reach, and he was screaming at her to stop, to come back. Why? Sam wanted to follow that future to see where it led because it frightened him.”

“ You can also close doors. I’m just saying, some door are very good closed.”

“ “Evie. Nice hat.” Jericho said crisply.- “Thank you. I’m rather fond of it. And the person it belongs to.” “

“ We are. But first we’re going to rescue Sam.”

“ “ Can you hear me?”- “Yes. I’m Evie. I’m Sam’s friend. We’re trying to find him. We’re here to rescue him.”- “ It is hard for me with so much iron. They hold him below. Third door on right. You must go quickly.” “

“ “Sam?” she whispered into the darkened room.- “ Evie? Is that you?” Sam’s weak voice nearly wrecked Evie’s heart. He sounded sick. Broken. (..) His eyes were glassy, haunted. “Evie?”- “Sam! Oh Sam!” Evie ran over and unlatched the restraints, freeing him. She scooped him up in her arms. He fell against her chest, limp.- “ Baby Vamp, is that really you?”- “It’s really me. “ Evie said and kissed him gently on the lips. He stared into her eyes.- “Why do you look like a hobo?”- “I’ll explain later. Did he hurt you?”- “ Will you kiss me some more if I say yes?”- “I will kiss you as much as you like.” And with that, Evie kissed Sam deeply.- “Ew.” Isaiah said, embarrassed. He looked to Theta, who rolled her eyes.- “ Give ‘em a minute, kid.” Sam pulled away. His shoulders shook, and it took Evie a second to realize that he was crying.- “Oh, Sam, Sam.” Evie threw her arms around him again.- “ I’m afraid this isn’t real,” he said between hiccupping sobs. “I’m afraid in a minute I’ll wake up and I’ll be here but you won’t be.”- “I’m here, Sam, and I promise I will never leave you again.” She wiped his cheeks with her scarf. He looked so sad and bruised by life it nearly killed her.- Sam cupped Evie’s face between his dry palms. “You’re real.”- “Yes.”- “ You’re here with me now.”- “ You bet-ski.” (…) - “Theta.” Sam said in wonder. He held both of her hands.- “Missed you, too, you little criminal.”- “Hi, Sam.” Isaiah waved.- “Hey, kid. You got taller.” “

“ “ Lamb Chop, what’s your plan getting out of here?”- “We don’t have a plan.” Isaiah said.- “We’re.. improvising!” Evie added.- “Oh, shit.” Sam said and buried his face in his hands.- “ Sam Lloyd, don’t make me regret coming to rescue you!”- “I’m just saying: A plan. A plan is helpful.”- “We didn’t have time to make a plan. Every bounty hunter and federal agent is out looking for us right now. We drove straight here from New York.”- “Will is dead. And Sister Walker got arrested for treason.” Isaiah said.- “Jake Marlowe declared the Diviners Public Enemy Number One at Sarah Snow’s memorial. There’s a bounty on our heads.”- “ And there’s a girl in Nebraska, another Diviner. That’s where we headed. To Bountiful.” Isaiah added. “ And I don’t know where Memphis is.”- “We got separated in Times Square.” Theta said. Sam’s eyes widened.- “So as you can see, we’ve been rather busy.” Evie said, how amazing how quickly her feelings for Sam could slip from wild love to extreme annoyance and back again. She hadn’t quite made it back again. (..) “Do you think you can walk?”- “ Yeah.” Sam said, wincing as he scooted to the edge of the bed. Evie helped him into his shoes. He grinned. “ Hey. My hat.”- Evie took it from her head and placed it on his. And just like that it was wild love again.” “

“ I’m sorry, Baby Vamp.” Sam laced his fingers with hers. “ I promise we’ll figure it out. We’ll save your brother and my ma.”

“ “Baby Doll’s right. I say it’s time we run away and join the circus.”- “ Oh, Sam, be serious.” Evie grumbled.- “I am serious!”- “Sam! Please.” “

“ “Can I pet the tiger?”( Isaiah)- “Sure you can. I wouldn’t recommend it, though.”

“ “ Look at you! Why, you’re a man now!”( Zarilda)- “Yeah. I suppose I am.” Sam said proudly.- Evie rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother.”

“ “ Sam, are you sure you should be doing that? After all you’ve been through?”- “Everything’s jake, Baby Vamp.” “

“ Evie held her breath as Sam straightened into a perfect handstand balancing atop Hasan’s palms, raised high above his head, and held that position longer than she thought possible. Then, with a perfect grace, Sam flipped backward in a somersault and landed on his feet. “Like riding a bicycle.” Sam said.- Theta applauded. “That was the berries, Sam! And here I thought I was the elephant’s eyebrows’ cause I can top-dance.”- “You are the elephant’s eyebrows, Theta.” Sam said.- “What about me?” Evie asked, throwing her arms around Sam’s neck.- “You’re the full elephant.”- Evie wrinkled her nose. “That was a compliment?”- “And how.” ”

“ “Where’d ya pick her up, Sam?”- “Would you believe a museum of the occult?” ”

“ “A… clown?”- “Best way I can think of to disappear.”- “It had to be clowns.” (..) Sam grinned and elbowed Theta, who tried not to laugh. - “How ‘bout that? Your outside finally matches your insides, Baby Doll.” Sam said.” - “This is pos-i-tutely the worst moment of my life.” “

“ Aw, I think you’re just about the cutest clown I’ve ever known.”

“ “Zenith. I’d almost rather have the Shadow Men take me.”- Sam got quiet. “Don’t say that.”- “Sam.. Sam! Oh, Sam. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.” She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.- “Say. I like the way you apologize.”- “Don’t get used to it.” Evie said with a laugh. “I’m very rarely wrong, don’t you know. Oh, Sam. Won’t you tell me what’s eating you?” “

“ There had been a future without her. And that had frightened him the most. But how could he tell her that?”

“ “Would you mind apologizing to me again?”- “I am sorry, Sam.”- “ See, I don’t believe you’re sorry.”- “How about now?”- “The question is how sorry?” He wanted to hold her all day and all night.- “Very, very sorry.” “

“ He didn’t want her go. Ever. “Wait! You gonna apologize for that comment about Hattie?” Sam pointed to his lips. Evie grinned and kept walking.- “Not on your life, Sam Lloyd. You still owe me twenty clams.” Sam watched her go, fighting the urge to run after her and beg her to stay with him all night.”

“ “I’ve had worse.”- “Wish I’d known that before I kissed you.” “

“ The people watched the circus and Evie watched the people. Can’t you see? She thought. You are the whole circus.”

“ “How did he.. look?”- “Not.. good.”- “Well. That was very descriptive, Miss Knight. Thank You.” ( Evie, Theta) “

“ “ I wanted you to know that I’m not criminal. I.. I wanted you to know that you were a good mother, and that.. I love You.”- “Well, I appreciate that.”- The disappointment stung. Deep down, Evie had known her mother was who she was. She was never going to sweep Evie into a warm, motherly hug and tell her daughter that she loved her no matter what. But knowing that didn’t stop Evie from wanting that elusive affection. Hoping for it. This time. (..) There were bare spots on the wall, and Evie realized that those were the places where the pictures of her had once been displayed. They were all gone. She had been erased from the family story. --- Evie cried the whole way back to the circus camp. (…) - “Aw, c’mon, Pork Chop. I was only teasing. Hey, Baby Vamp?” Evie did not break stride. The circus went blurry. She blinked but it only happened again. She didn’t know where she was going. The fields were loud with barkers enticing folks into tents. All these people. Did any of them feel truly loved?- “ Baby Vamp?” Sam had caught up to her outside the empty elephant cage. “Aw, Sheba. You’re crying.”- “You’re very observant.” She shot back, and then she couldn’t stop herself from sobbing. Sam pulled her to him and wrapped her in a hug.- “It’s okay, Doll. It’s okay.” He murmured and kissed the top of her head.- “What’s the matter?” Theta’s voice.- Evie was still crying and so didn’t know what Sam whispered to Theta over the top of her head. She only knew that now there were two sets of arms around her, holding her close, holding her up. She only knew that she had family after all.” “

“ Theta pulled Evie back to safety. The ghost pointed a bony finger at Evie. “You’ll be sorry. You’ll be sorry.”- “You’re the one who’ll be sorry.” Sam barked. He joined hands with Theta and Evie.” “

“ “ Hey. I hope I didn’t wake you. I had the strangest dream..”- “ A map. Gideon, Kansas. Mabel?” Evie asked.- “Okay. We might be spending too much time together.” Sam said.”

“ “I. Won’ t. Give. Up.” Evie whispered.”

“ Stop cellar. Sam Poor Sam. Lifting her up so all she could see was smoke and sky.”

“ Sam was frantic. “Memphis. Tell me you can heal her, pal. Please, please, tell me you can.” (..) Sam fell to his knees. There were tears in his eyes. “Memphis, I’m begging you.” (..) “What are you talking about? She’s dying!” Sam shouted.” “

“ You gotta get better, okay, Lamb Chop? I still owe you twenty clams. The Evie O’Neill I know would never let me go away with that.”

“ Sam wanted to stay all night by Evie’s bedside, but Mrs. Olson insisted it wasn’t proper for a young man to spend that night in a young lady’s room.”

“ “What’s the matter with your voice?”- “ Nothing. Just, I ate some bread and, uh, it.. it scratched my throat is all.”- “You sounded like you were gonna cry.”- “No. Naw. I don’t cry, kid.”- Sarah Beth bristled. “I keep telling you! I’m not a kid. I’m a lady.”- “Sure. Of course you are. Thank you for sitting with Evie. I’ll take over now, my lady.” “

“ Hey. Hey, Baby Vamp. It’s Sam. You remember me? The fella who’s goofy for you? I was just thinking about the first time I saw you in Penn Station. You were looking at yourself in the shop window, making sure your hat was on straight. I could see your reflection. You weren’t sure if you looked like a city girl or some rube from Ohio. My first thought seeing you.. well, my first thought was, That there is a bona fide mark, Sam Lloyd. Gonna level with you, Baby Vamp. Street smarts you did not yet have. But watching you bite your kisser and fix your hat, I thought, Why does a tomato like that doubt herself? Even then, I knew you were like the Fourth of July inside a person. And then I stole twenty bucks from you like a lousy bum. But that twenty bucks brought me back to you, so maybe I’m also a real smart bum.” Gently, Sa, brushed a curl back from Evie’s cool forehead. He was relived that at least she was no longer feverish. “ I know I got a reputation as a cake-eater and a con. I can’t keep you in pearls, and the only joint I can afford is a hash house. I never wanted my name in lights the way you did. Me? You know I operate like a shell game, don’t see me and all that jazz. But if that’s what you wanted, well, by golly, I’d be in the front row, cheering you on.” Sam cleared his throat, but his voice stayed thick. “I’m cheering you on right now, Baby Doll. I’m in that front row telling you you can do this, you can get stronger and stronger, and then you’re gonna rise up outta that bed and show us all that Evie O’Neill more. You got to, okay, honey? Because I can face just about anything the King Of Crows throws at us. But I can’t do it without you. Ikh hob dikh lib. I love you, Evie. I love you. “

“ “How long have I..”- “Three days.” Ling said.- “.. eight hours and forty-two minutes.” Sam finished. Sam was there, kneeling beside her. How happy she was to see him. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days.” “

“ Sam leaned against the porch railing and grinned at Evie. “I heard the prettiest girl in the world was sitting on this porch in Nebraska.”- Henry batted his lashes. “Oh, gee. Thanks, Sam.”- Evie laughed. “I look pos-i-tutely a fright, Sam.” “

“ “A few more days, okay? I won’t almost lose you twice.” Sam said with such love that Evie was too undone to argue.- “ All right, Sam. You win. A few more days.” “

“ “I invented trouble. I know how it works. But hold on a minute. I want privacy for this next part anyhow.” Sam held Evie’s hand. “Don’t see us.” (..) He rolled a tractor nut between his grease- strained fingers. “Even seen one of these?”- Evie glanced at it. “Sure. In a picture of the crown jewels once.”- “Ha!” Sam laughed.- “What is it?”- “It’s a nut.”- “ A.. nut?”- “ Yeah. See, it, ah, it slips over a bolt like.. say, hold out your finger for a second, I’ll show you.” - Evie gave Sam a dubious look and put out her hand. “Sam Lloyd, don’t you get that struck on my finger!”- “Don’t worry. Plenty of grease on it.” Sam said. He slipped it easily on her ring finger. It was too big. “Like that.”- “And what does this nut do?”- “It joins two things together. And that makes things work. In union. Like, you know. A marriage.” Sam kept turning the nut around Evie’s finger slowly.- “Well. Now I know all about how nuts and bolts work. I’m practically an expert.” Evie want to remove the nut, and Sam covered her hand with his.- “ Don’t take it off just yet, will ya?”- “Sam?”- It seemed to Sam that he had never in his entire life been as nervous as he was just now. Or as sure. “Evie O’Neill, would you marry me?”- Evie raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t we play these roles already? A few months ago?”- “ That was pretend. I mean on the level. Evie O’Neill, would you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Lamb Chop?”- Evie could scarcely catch her breath. “If you’re pulling my leg, Sam Lloyd, I swear on all things holy..” But this face didn’t have even a trace of a smirk. Evie beamed. “Well, I’m telling you right now that you’ll have to find me a better ring. I am pos-i-tutely not wearing this one.”- “Does that mean….? “- Evie laughed and threw her arms around Sam’s neck. “ Yes! Yes, Sam Lloyd. I will marry you!”- “Hot dog!” Sam lifted Evie up and twirled her around.- “ Ow!” She said and grabbed her side. “War wound.” - “ Sorry, Baby Vamp.” He said, putting her down gently. (…) “Listen, I’ll need to keep that twenty dollars I stole from you. For the ring.”- “Sam!” Evie rolled her eyes and laughed. “Oh, who cares?” She said and kissed him again.” “

“ “I can do it.” Evie said, wincing from the pain in her side.- “Lamb Chop. We just got engaged. I won’t lose you.” Sam said.” “

“ “Jericho. I’m sorry. I should have told you before..”- “ Yes. Probably. Congratulations, by the way.”- “ Thank you. I don’t suppose you could be happy for me, could you?”- “I’m not not-happy for you…. I will always regret what happened.. what I did.. at Hopeful Harbor.”- “I know. Your sweetheart-”- “Guadalupe.” Jericho said and smiled.- “Guadalupe.” Evie repeated. How was it possible to feel relief, happiness, and jealousy all in one go? “Do you love her?”- Jericho blushed.” I’d prefer to keep that to myself.”- “Right. Of course. Pos-i-tutely. Say, do you remember that Ferris wheel ride up in Brethren?”- “ Yes. It was a great view from up there.”- “Yes. A truly spectacular view.”- “Really clear night, as I recall.”- “ Yes. Lots of stars.”- “ A very.. nice evening. Well, before we were chased by a murderous religious cult and nearly killed.” Evie laughed and Jericho laughed and there they were again, all the things that kept them tethered still firmly between them. But perhaps the tethering had grown looser.- “If Sam’s right and they are all those other universes out there, perhaps in one, you and I have settled down with a pack of smart, unruly children.”- Jericho only smiled. He looked out at the unbroken line of rural Nebraska.” This is the only universe I really know anything about, Evie. And you are marrying Sam. And I have a sweetheart named Lupe. And we have a mighty big fight ahead of us, something more important than this.” He took a deep breath. “You and I weren’t meant to be.”- “ Except as friends?” Evie asked hopefully.- Jericho shook his head, gave a little laugh. And then he smiled at her. A real smile. He struck out his hand. “Sure.” Evie gave it a solid shake. It felt like a prelude to good-bye, somehow. Like putting away old things to make room for new.” “

“ But Evie knew: Something truly terrifying had happened to Sarah Beth Olson.”

“ “Who was it who went with me to rescue Sam?”- “ Me.”- “ That’s right. And now I’m going to help you. That’s how it works.”- “How what works?”- Evie kissed Theta on the cheek. “This crackers little thing called friendship.” “

“ “ Here. Let’s stand in a circle.”- “If nothing else, we’ve really mastered facing one another in the round.” Sam said. Evie kicked him.” “

“ “I’m scared” Evie hadn’t meant to say it. It just crept out.- “ You’re telling the truth.” Ling said.- “Is that so unusual?”- “ Yes. You don’t always trust us.” “

“ They were part of one another. It was beyond telepathy; they were transcendence. They could feel one another’s heartbeats. It was as if they lived in one another’s skins. Jericho’s fingers wanted to move across the piano keys of Henry’s memory and the face of a beautiful boy in New Orleans. Theta’s anger and fear swirled inside Sam, but so did her joy at singing and dancing. Evie was Memphis on Lenox Avenue, a poem half-formed in his heart. Ling was Isaiah saying, “Listen. Listen!” while people talked around him, over him, ignoring him. Memphis felt a nagging pain in his legs and then a beauty of physics making sense as he became Ling and she him and they were all one being. Jericho could touch Theta’s firepower, borrow it, make it his. Isaiah reached into his brother’s healing with a mischievous joy- so that’s how it is! Somehow, they had gotten past shame and pride and fear to vulnerability. They weren’t just combining powers, they were connecting. Anticipating one another’s moves. Beating with one heart. It was like the most beautiful voice surrounding them, looping through them, promising that no one is ever alone because aloneness does not exist. All are connected.”

“ “I read her dolls. I know I shouldn’t have, but I had a bad feeling.”- “ Spare us the monologue. Skip to the end.” Theta said.” “

“”Where did Isaiah’s body go?” Henry asked quietly.- “Pal, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about what’s happening right now.” Sam said under his breath.” “

“ “My h-healing power f-for Isaiah.” Memphis said.- “Oh, that’s just terrific. That’s swell.” Sam said, angry.- Theta glared. “Stop it, Sam.”- “What are we supposed to do now? How are we supposed to heal the breach without a healer?”- “ He just lost his brother!” Theta shouted.“ “

“ “ If it comes to it, we can use our powers.” Sam said, reaching for Evie’s hand. She, in turn, reached for Henry’s.”

“ “What’s wrong with Memphis?” Marlowe asked.- “ He’s sick. So we shouldn’t do this.” Evie said.- “What’s the matter with him?”- “ Grief.”- “The loss of Isaiah is unfortunate. But we’ll still be able to carry on without him. The serum and the modifications I’ve made to the Eye should see to that.”- “You’re a real son-of-a-bitch.” Sam said.” (..)- “ I’ve had to make terrible sacrifices for progress.” Marlowe answered.- Henry clucked sympathetically. “I, too, hate it when my tea gets cold while I’m plotting destruction. Such a sacrifice.”- Marlowe stared at Henry. “How would you like it if the whole world knew about you and those degenerate clubs you haunt in Greenwich Village?”- “ How would you like it if I used you for kindling?” Theta shot back.- “Your village didn’t like it much.” Mr. Jefferson interjected with a snort.- Evie jumped up from her seat and kicked Jefferson in the shins, hard. “That’s for Theta.” She kicked him again, higher up. “And.. and.. that’s for Theta, too.”- “You still got a good kick on you, Baby Vamp.” Sam said admiringly.- “Thanks, Evil.” Theta said.- “You and me.” Evie said back to her. “If they come for one of us, they come for all of us.”- “How sentimental.” Jefferson said in a strained voice. He’d gotten back to his feet with murder in his eyes. He moved toward Evie. Marlowe held him back with his hand.- “Your department can take over once we’ve secured the land of the dead.”- Jefferson eyes Evie. “You’re mine.”- And Evie mouthed back a phrase for which she was certain her mother would still wash her mouth out with soap. Beside her, Sam grinned. “Oh, Baby Vamp. Let’s get married tomorrow. Promise?”- Evie softened. “ Promise.”

“ “I told you we’ve taken every precaution.” Marlowe, smug as usual.- “ In addition to being a lousy fella, you’re also a goddamned idiot.” Sam said. “

“Sam complained. “It hurt. A lot. I did not enjoy it. I would just like some recognition of my troubles.”- “ I will make you a swell little medal if we survive.” Evie said with a generous roll of her eyes.- Sam nodded approvingly. “I like medals. I accept.”- “Evie. I don’t suppose you still have that feather Isaiah gave you?” Henry asked.- “It’s in my pocket. Why?”- “ I don’t know. But Ling often needs an object to find the dead in a dream.”- “ It might lead us to the King Of Crows.” Evie said, thinking aloud.- Henry gave a wan smile. “See? We don’t even need to be hooked up to that big gold spider for all of us to be on the trolley.” “

“ “Here they come. Look innocent.” - “ Good luck with that, Sam Lloyd.” - “Baby Vamp?” Sam was looking at her with such affection it nearly broke her. “ Ikh hob dikh lib.”- “ I love you, too, Sam.” Evie whispered.” “

“ “ Are you sure you’d like to destroy such a magnificent machine?” The King Of Crows said.- “ Let me think.” Sam posed with his finger across his lips, as if pondering a deep dilemma. He dropped the pose and thumbed his nose at the King Of Crows. “ Yeah. I’m sure.”- “Let’s go.” Evie said.” “

“ “ I’m going to help, James, even if it means I’ll be trapped here.” Evie said.- “Whither thou goest, I will go.” Sam said, taking Evie’s hand. Evie kissed Sam’s cheek.- “ Leave it to you to quote Shakespeare at a time like this.” - Sam looked to Memphis. “Don’t tell her.” “

“ Sam? Where’s Sam? Sam. Where are you?”

“ Anybody seen Sam?”

“Sam? Sam Lloyd? Please, please, please answer me-”- “I’m here, Lamb Chop.”- Tears sprang to Evie’s eyes. “Sam?”- “Didn’t I promise you I’d be here?”- Evie ran the best she could, and it seemed to her that their kiss would be the kiss she would remember for the rest of her days. “I was afraid I’d lost you.”- Sam brushed his lips softly across her forehead and nuzzled her neck. “You’d never let me die when I owed you twenty bucks.”- “Sam?”- “ Let me guess- shut up?”- “No. No, talk to me. Keep talking to me.”- “There’ll be time.” he said and kissed her again.- “We did it.” Evie whispered.- “Little Fox!” Miriam called. She limped toward Sam. Freed from the Eye, she held her son tightly for the first time in nearly a decade. Evie stepped back, but Miriam pulled her close. “ So you are the one my Sergei loves?” She said.- “Ma.” Sam said, embarrassed.” “

“ “So. When is the big day?”- “As soon as she’ll let me.” Sam said and kissed Evie’s hand, and it made Evie so happy she was afraid her happiness was a bird that might fly away.” “

“ Mrs. Sam Lloyd, Evie thought. And then, Evie Lloyd. And then, Mrs. Evie O’Neill Lloyd, like British royalty. It would look very dignified on her calling cards. She’d mail a bunch of them back to the girls in Zenith. The pettiness of this warmed her.- “What are you smiling about?” Sam asked.- “Oh, nothing.”- “Now I’m worried.” “

“ “So, uh, how are your powers?” Sam whispered.- Memphis shook his head slowly. “Just a little left. Enough to fix your bruise, maybe.”- “I said Don’t see me to a fella the other day and he looked right at me and said, ‘What do you mean, don’t see you?’ I guess my pickpocketing days are truly behind me.” Sam said.- “ I picked up this saltshaker, and do you know what it told me?” Evie said.- Ling swallowed a bit of sandwich. “What?”- Evie put the shaker back down.” Pos-i-tutely nothing.” No more dream walking. No bursting into flames. No ghosts.- “I don’t see so much anymore. Just little things here and there.” Isaiah said with a shrug. (..) The powers that Project Buffalo had forced on them were fading away. What remained was all they had been through together. They could still feel one another, still sense one another’s moods and hurts. What remained was friendship. Was remained was love. It was, they knew, their greatest power.” “

“ “Do you know what he’s saying?” Evie asked her friends.- “Beats me. I don’t speak German.” Theta said.- The Diviners kept their eyes on the Goldbergs, who, in turn, watched the radio as if it needed watching, as if it might become a monster they could not stop. (..) And though she didn’t know German, it made her uneasy all the same. She sensed the fury underneath it. Seeds of evil. Growing. Metastasizing. The chant repeated several times, and she began to pick out the words being shouted over and over again. “Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler.” “

THE DIVINERS SERIES:

1. The Diviners (2012)

2. Lair Of Dreams (2015)

3. Before The Devil Breaks You (2017)

4. The King Of Crows (2020)

#libba bray #sam and evie #evie and sam #sam lloyd #evie o'neill #the diviners series #the diviners #the lair of dreams #lair of dreams #before the devil breaks you #king of crows #the king of crows #ya books couple #ya books

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lucarioisinthevoid · 4 years ago

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hello good sir (sir being a gender neutral term), i'd like to send some p r o m p t s. so i haven't played ucn in a LONG time, but some ideas off the top of my head: toy freddy (would be funny), funtime foxy (cause they're a bitch), n. fredbear and maybe nightmare (cause they're twisted versions of his b e l o v e d fredbear), and maybe foxy+bonnie (cause it's a bitch). just some ideas! also, being a man of culture, i'd like to request some tortu- jk, jk (i'd say sth funny but character limit).

(I will fight you for this ask. I will come to you home and pick you up and fling your body into space and into literal Among Us. My brain was going a mile a minute trying to gather enough coins to get rid of Funtime Foxy, and keep on top of EVERYTHING ELSE- And yet I was still surprised when I finally got jumpscared. Welp, I couldn’t have predicted it, so it’s kinda fun being able to write this now. Also yes, warning for mild torment! I’m just not good at writing it- Oh, also, here’s the AO3 link to the thing: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687695/chapters/67764007 You can read the whole thing there and I update it there as I do here. You can request over there to, but that’s beside the point)

Be on top of his games. Watch his shows. Check in, but only at the right times. Henry grinded his teeth. It was almost like he had a son again- dear god, this truly was hell, wasn’t it? For a moment he had thought the Helpy robot was joking as he elaborated on what the damn plastic piece of shit’s mechanic was- No. No cursing. He shook his head. That was being petty for no reason. He had a mechanic- and it was a stupid one- but that was better than nothing. It was better than being told “you will die” without being able to do anything about it. For a moment he frowned, a though manifesting itself in the back of his mind. … if he would know there was no way to escape the pain, he would grow numb to it. So whoever or whatever set this up seemed to have a keen interest in- The clock chimed, it was time to play. Instantly he pulled up the monitor. He had been gifted the leeway of being allowed to eradicate one of them- and dear god, he would not say no, not if it was the only chance to give a little bit of payback. He checked on Toy Freddy- a good contender to be murdered- and clicked the door of the- vacuum cleaner- dear god, this would make his brain rot- then he moved on to more sensible things, like checking on Foxy, who was thankfully out, then moving over to gathering coins. Laughter from the door. “Mister Miller… look at you. You seem stressed.” “Why yes, I am quite tense.” Without looking up he closed the doors, opening them up right away. “I have to admit to my distain of the character selection that currently is coming after me. They make no sense, you see?” Another, similarly as deep voice sounded, albeit with a brighter tint to it- “… oh, don’t be ashamed of that, Mr. Miller. They have more distain for you than you do for them.” Once more, doors closed, doors open. He didn’t even need to look. “I can assume that, yes, but that is hardly my issue, is it now? My issue is their reality bending and tedious habits.” For this round he would be stuck on the cameras, wouldn’t he? Once more he flipped over to Foxy, gathering coins and being quietly thankful for the fact that he and Bonnie had not switched places yet. He had to get this done in the first time-warped hour and if he didn’t- he wasn’t sure when exactly the clock would move over and he didn’t want to find out. The nightmare duo was chuckling, so he shortly put the monitor down to look inside of Nightmare Fredbear’s red eyes. “… what are you supposed to be?” “You have never truly understood your own creation, did you…? If it lives… it changes…” “The only nightmare I ever created were the suits and-“ He turned to the other side, spotting the more pinkish eyes shining from that frame. “… you. Are you not supposed to be me?” “I think you can answer that yourself.” Shaking his head, Henry dismissed both of them, closing the doors and opening the camera feed, checking once more on Foxy, helping out Toy Freddy and finally snatching up the last few coins he needed- instantly he moved over to the price corner, ordering one of the silver coins- His eyes darted to the clock- Oh god, only a few more moments before the timer skipped- The pink hellfox was peering out of its cove, grinning widely- a grin that instantly was replaced by an agonized and hateful scream as Henry used the coin, allowing himself for a moment to watch the machine literally being disintegrated into clear silver dust. From the side, Nightmare Fredbear chuckled. “… how cruel.” “This is a dog-eat-dog world. You should not try to inflict onto others what you are not willing to go through yourself.” “Oh? Are you ready for what is coming for you then?” Abruptly Henry started laughing, as he once more checked on Foxy, then moved to Toy Freddy. “What? What is coming for me? Being brought back to Fredbear’s, except this time I am immortal, have inhuman strength and can start honing my ability to move whatever I desire with my mind? What a terrible fate you are threatening me with, Nightmare! I am appalled! How dare you gift me with everything I have ever wanted!” One last time he switched back to Foxy, then deactivated the monitors, assuming it was best to be on Foxy’s camera right away, so when he pulled the camera back up- His eyes fell on the little figure of Bonnie that was now on the table. For the love of god, how could he have been that stupid!? Looking up at Nightmare Fredbear’s red eyes, he saw a bit of bemusement in it- that and a deep, underlaying level of pure disgust. “… will you ever learn, Mr. Miller? Will you ever realize that the resistance you have been met with was not from nowhere? Will you learn that you cursed them?” “NONSENSE.” Henry HISSED. “I considered you smart. I was wrong. The only reason the children were struggling against me because I could not yet accommodate them well enough- propaganda against me and my mission was spread. William seemed to have been just fine with his joke of a family that he had gotten himself in a flight of passing fancy. What made him different?!” There was only silence from the outside, as Henry glanced once more at the figure. Still Bonnie and it wouldn’t change. Muttering more so to himself than to the Fredbear, he stressed his point. “Nature has turned on me for taking what I desired, much like the ocean, the skies and the land has turned against humanity at every opportunity. Even in the different religious texts, humanity and to steal and take with violence what it needed to become what it was meant to be. One god banished the species in fear of them becoming immortal, much like the being itself- another wanted to deny us fire as petty retaliation, because fire brings creation- and it had to be taken back by theft.” Not quite, but close enough. He didn’t want to recount the stories. “… if you want to grow, you have to feed, and if you feed, you destroy. And so, destruction brings new creation. We feed off the old gods and create new rules. Nature does not like to be controlled and abused- all it wishes is to slowly burn itself out. Until nothing is left. But we humans preserve- we are a species who is so defenseless, yet have made it this far, by preserving knowledge, by learning early, early and as much as we can- eventually however it will come to a standstill. You can only learn so much with the time given. Until said time become infinite. Some ills of humanity can only be cured by allowing humans to permanently remain and learn. For that we need immortality.” There still was only silence and he sighed- He had wasted too much time. The Bonnie figure was still there, but he might as well get it over with, he wouldn’t get around him disabling the cameras. Quickly he closed the door to the left side where he knew Nightmare Fredbear was waiting, pulling up the cameras, to Bonnie’s aggressive scream- But before he could really boot the thing up, a giant black paw came from above grabbing the little tablet, cracking it. The Amalgamation was towering over him, black fur and metal broken up by the silver shine of its teeth. Baffled for a few seconds, Henry looked at him. “I… did not hear you.” “The others are not your problem anymore, are they now?” With its vile grin it picked Henry up by the head, an incredibly painful experience, playfully throwing him against the wall with full force- a crack was sounded and as Henry tried to stumble back on his feet, he quickly realized he couldn’t- something was damaged, so badly that the pain was too much- His head was still sharp though, the white pain barely being fended off by his mind trying to figure out how this creature could be HERE- It had been HIM, it was HIM, what would make him want to- Blood was dripping from out his mouth, tasting disgustingly mechanical- “… you… you are supposed to be ME-“ Smiling the monstrous bear-esque beast picked him up, causing another wave of incoherent, glowing pain to wash through Henry, his whole chest being just enough to fill the Amalgamation’s hand. “I was you. We have seen all your thoughts, all your ideas, we have shaped, and we have remembered. You are me. And we crave violence, Mister Miller. Your words were pretty to hear, but we do not believe them. We know what we are- a monster who thinks of itself too highly, an animal unable to resist the siren call of violence and blood. Our creation has not made us better than all the monsters we feared becoming. There is only one difference between us… … I am not ashamed of my needs anymore.” With that he started pulling on Henry’s arm, pulling as the delirious man convulsed under him- Ready to take a bite out of it. “But I do love creation too… and I cannot wait to see what we will turn you into. The brain is moldable, Henry. It does fantastical things under pain and pressure…” His other claw was digging into the human’s head. The other was pulling the now separated arm to his maw, biting down with a sickening, wet crunch. Happily he sighed. The few seconds of Henry’s awareness that were left only wondered quietly if his parts being consumed would mean he would never get them back- The Amalgamation seemed to hear the thought, grinning at him with its now stained teeth. “I will vomit you back… to relieve your horror…” … with that Henry faded.

#henry miller #Henry in hell #oh also if you wonder that last thing is the real quote #not relive it IS relieve and it's so weird

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notactiveanymorebestie · 4 years ago

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Finley’s Fnaf Lore (1960(?)-1985)

TW - Child death, murder, su!c!d3, just a lot of really creepy and horrifying stuff. Don’t read if you’re easily disturbed, please.

So it starts off with William Afton meeting Henry Emily in high school. They both discover they have a love for robots and building. They start to work together and create their first creation, Prototype Fredbear. They end up losing connection for awhile, each having their own family. William marries a very nice and beautiful woman who is a ballerina. She is named Elizabeth, which they do name one of their twins. Henry marries a softhearted yet determined woman named Clara, who starred in a soap opera! (heheh).

William and Elizabeth have Michael, and Henry and Clara have Sammy. William and Henry reconnect and Mike and Sam grow up together as best friends. Meanwhile, Fredbear’s opens, and it’s the biggest thing in all of Hurricane Utah. Fredbear and SpringBonnie are loved so much, and the Puppet is added after Sammy designed him.

William eventually comes out that him and Eliza are having twins, and Henry and Clara are so happy for them. The twins were named Elizabeth and Cassidy. They grew up loving plushies. Years later... Cassidy and Lizzy have grown and Michael is 14, Henry and Clara have their baby girl, Charlie Emily... William is happy, but jealous. He wanted his children to stay small and pure forever...

He starts to work on a solo project, Circus Baby’s Pizza World! He designs Baby after Elizabeth, Funtime Freddy after Michael, Lolbit after Cassidy, Funtime Foxy after himself, Ballora after his wife, and Funtime Chica after Clara, who he had... a strange obsession with, to say the least...

It opens in 1982, and Elizabeth is ecstatic. She loves Baby, but her father refuses to let her go see them. But he had a reason... This solo project was to see if he could keep children young and precious, by killing them and keeping them in these robots... He didn’t want his little girl to get hurt.

He leaves to talk to a parent, who’s twins have gone missing, Rose and David, and leaves Mike and Cass to stay with Lizzy. Michael and Cass were very close at the time, so they got distracted with their dumb stories. Lizzy runs off to see Baby, but while reaching for the ice cream that was served by CB, another scooper like design shoots out and grabs her. She screams and Mike rushes to try and get her. However, he misses, and Lizzy is forever trapped inside Circus Baby. William is heartbroken.

His baby, his sweet little girl... gone forever.. He decides to close down the place. This is due to three children, four including Lizzy, going missing inside the restaurant...

They are stuck there for years.

Michael and Cassidy’s relationship starts to break as William becomes harsher and their mother more distanced. The Emilys are doing great, though. Of course they are, they ALWAYS are.

Will and Henry decide to add Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Balloon Boy, JJ, and DeeDee. They are finished by the end of 1982, beginning the new year.

Oh! I know who I forgot to mention, Fritz. He was a taller ginger haired boy with green eyes. He was close to Cassidy and Lizzy, their best friend. After Liz’s death, he is forced to stay away from Cassidy for awhile. Michael goes through his own thing and forms a groups. Jeremy, Sammy, and Bella. They each wear masks, to take their anger and fear out on poor little Cassidy, who is tormented by animatronics after watching his own twin sister die inside one. This causes his to have nightmares every night, and traumatized him further.. Him and Fritz reconnect in the summer, and the ginger is the only one to arrive at the birthday party.

Cassidy had also been having visions of gore and terror after the nightmares. He wasn’t sure what they were at the time, so he ignored them. The day of his party was going to be great. Just him, Fritz, his momma and papa, and his Fredbear plushie. He had no idea Mike and his friends would be there. He tried to stay away from them.. He had no idea this would be his last birthday. Cassidy and Fritz were playing Fruity Maze, but only Cassidy heard his mother call for them. He ran off to get the pizza, while Fritz stayed in obliviousness. Cassidy found Mike and the others there. Unfortunately for him, his mother had already went to find Fritz. Michael and his friends pulled poor Cassy away, just leaving Fredbear Plush on the ground. Eliza and Fritz were startled by the screaming and crying. Fritz, being athletic and fast, ran across the entire diner to find Cassidy. He only saw what was left of the incident.

Absolutely horrified, Fritz grabbed the Fredbear plushies and ran home. He was never the same.

... William had it. He was done. He had to save his little boy. He tried and tried, but nothing really worked... He got frustrated and left his body at Fredbear’s, right next to the Fredbear animatronic. The remnant of Cass’s soul ended up creating another, fake version of Fredbear, which Cass deemed to be named Goldie, as a body. He woke up scared and alone, and wanted to just go home. He only had Fredbear and Spring, who could feel human emotion. The others couldnt, but at least he had two friends.

1984, a year after Cassidy’s death rolled around. That meant it marked the death day of both Cassidy and Eliza, who k!ll3d herself out of grief from her children dying. Of course, William blamed this on himself and Mike, taking his anger out by either yelling at Michael or just leaving for hours. Mike started to design animatronics himself to seek approval from his father, which eventually worked. However, it was Charlie’s birthday. Henry and Clara were extremely happy to see their little girl growing up, and Sammy was too (though he was never the same after what happened to his best friend’s little brother)

It was the night William made the biggest decision in his life.

Springbonnie was his prized creation, and she looked up to him like a god. He used her as a pawn to lure Charlie outside and lock her in the rain while he got to the car and drove to the front. Charlie tried to get in, and Puppet (her favorite) searched for the little 3 year old desperately... Charlie was losing hope until she saw Uncle Will’s car. She beamed with excitement, going to him. He told her they could get in the back... that was a lie.

Charlie was found dead an hour later with Puppet next to her.

1985, the year of misery and mystery. Four children, each of them never found. William had friends who had a little girl, named Susie. The Aftons also had a dog named Marigold who had recently had puppies. The entire litter except for one died, and that one was given to Susie. She was so happy, she named him Cookie. He was a golden puppy with one black ear.

There was another family, and they had no connection to Will. They had a little boy named Jeremy. he was the shyest kid in the class, but the smartest. No one knows how he befriended the most popular girl.

The final children... Gabriel. A sweet kid who was the leader of the group. It was Susie, Jeremy, and him against the world.. and occasionally his cousin... Fritz.

A few months after Susie had gotten Cookie, they took him to see Marigold. Cookie, scared of Will, ran away. Susie and her family/friends couldn’t find him and eventually gave up.

Driving home one night, William accidentally hit something. Getting out of the car, he realized it was the poor puppy. He didn’t really care, he just laughed and drove off. Problem was, Gabriel’s birthday was that morning. And the pup’s body was found outside the diner, mangled, by Susie. She, however, stayed strong and went to Gabe’s birthday anyways. The biggest mistake of her life. And the last, too.

Fritz had always hated animatronics since his best friend died. He hated the diner... but he liked Foxy a little. He was only there for Gabe and his friends.

The fear that filled him when Susie suddenly went missing. She was last seen crying by Fruity Maze.

Meanwhile, two familiar children were panicking. A golden bear, and a long strange marionette. Only one was visible to the children, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get them to not follow the golden bunny. She didn’t know Cassidy was an afton, he was just Goldie to her. To Charlie, that is. They watched as another child was lead away.

Poor little Jeremy, he only wanted the Bonnie plush from the claw machine. He ran out of money, but a nice green eyed rabbit offered her money to him. He just had to follow her.

Gabriel and Fritz decided to go and look for them. Cassidy froze in fear. Anyone but him, anyone but his best friend.

The two dead children could only watch as the two were stolen away. Gabriel was convinced because this rabbit said she knew where their friends were. Fritz didn’t go, until the rabbit whispered that she could show him Cassidy once more. That convinced him. When they got to the backroom, all they saw were Susie and Jeremy. Dead, bloody, no more.

Gabriel tried to scream, but was snatched up by Will in the Spring suit. Fritz went to run away to tell someone, but William threatened to kill Gabriel if he told. He said he would leave them if Fritz gave up. The 12 year old, however, refused. He grabbed a wrench, charging at the rabbit. William immediately killed Gabriel, dropping him and grabbed Fritz, cutting off the hand that the wrench was in, which also costed the child his eye.

Everything was a blur for them for what seemed like hours.

Fritz woke up to a red eyed crocodile, and golden bear, and Puppet staring at him. He noticed his friends were there too, each with a mask of an animatronic on their face. He looked back and was handed a Foxy mask.

“Is this for me?”

“Yes, put it on, and you will be given your second chance.”

He woke up once more in a strange body. He felt cold and afraid, but he saw the golden bear in front of him again.

“Hello, Fritz, I am Goldie. I’m happy to meet you.”

“Where am I?!”

“Your new body.”

It was at that moment, Fritz realized he was no longer human. He started at his new metallic hands, but he was not scared. He was worried about the others, the younger children he had seen.

The fox took his first run in the new body. He found them by Puppet, and was followed by Goldie. The three of them were broken down, letting out terrified wails.

Oh... this was all his fault. From that day on, he dedicated himself to keep the others safe with Puppet and Cassidy.

#finsfnaf #long lore post #fnaf lore post #golden memories (fnaf au)#//tw suicide #//tw child murder #//tw child death

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didanawisgi · 5 years ago

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written by Terry Newman

“Remember when the scariest kid in your neighborhood was the football jock who terrorized the high school with his minions in tow, and got bailed out by his rich parents when he went too far? Or it was the gothic malcontent with the switchblade and the swagger. Either way, what made these high-status alphas so terrifying was that they came at you in numbers. They travelled in packs. This has been our narrative, in the stories we tell—from Henry Bowers in Stephen King’s It, to Biff Tannen in Back to the Future, to Billy Hargrove in Stranger Things, central-casting bullies attracted followers. They belonged.

As any grade eight schoolgirl who’s been bullied off Instagram can attest, this stereotype still holds. But when it comes to the most dangerous and sociopathic actors, the opposite is true. All three of the young mass shooters who terrorized the United States in recent nationally reported scenes of carnage—Connor Betts in Dayton, Ohio; Patrick Crusius in El Paso, Texas; and Santino William Legan in Gilroy, California—acted alone. The old image of the bully as locker-room alpha or goth leader now seems passé. Often, it is the kid who used to be the fictional protagonist, the social outcast, the member of the Losers Club from It, whose face now appears on our screens with a nightmarish empty stare.

These recent shooters fit a similar profile. They were outsiders, all seemingly socially awkward, who became emboldened through fringe online communities that act as mutual-support societies for violent malcontents. This phenomenon is fuelled by hate, guns, mental illness and ideological extremism. But there is another factor at play here, too. Before a youth makes the decision to murder, before the gun is stashed in his backpack, before his state of mental health is so deteriorated that he commits the unthinkable, what has happened to him? It’s important to remember that these murders are also, in most cases, suicides.

In his 2008 article School Shooting as a Culturally Enforced Way of Expressing Suicidal Hostile Intentions, psychiatrist Antonio Preti summarized existing research on school shootings to the effect that “suicidal intent was found in most cases for which there was detailed information on the assailants.” The research also indicated that “among students, homicide perpetrators were more than twice as likely as their victims to have been bullied by their peers, and also were described as loners and poorly integrated into school activities…In most of the ascertained cases, perpetrators prepared a well-organized plan, and often communicated details about it to acquaintances or friends, who failed to report threats because they did not consider them serious or were embarrassed or ignorant of where to go for help. The most antisocial peers sometimes approved the plan, sharing the same anger against the stated target of violence.”

Preti’s article predated the rise of some of the most notorious web sites—including 8chan, which was shut down this week after several mass shootings were linked to its users. But the nihilistic phenomenon these killers represent predates modern social-media culture. Indeed, it predates digital communication, and even broadcast media more generally.

In 1897, French sociologist Émile Durkheim noted that suicides overall were increasing in society. But there were differences among the affected populations, he noticed. Men were more likely than women to commit suicide—though the chances decreased if the man was married and had children. Durkheim observed that social groups that were more religious exhibited lower suicide rates. (Catholics were less likely to commit suicide than Protestants, for instance.) Durkheim also noted that many people who killed themselves were young, and that the prevalence of such suicides was linked to their level of social integration: When a person felt little sense of connection or belonging, he could be led to question the value of his existence and end his life.

Durkheim labelled this form of suicide as “anomic” (others being “egoistic,” “altruistic” and “fatalistic”). Durkheim believed that these feelings of anomie assert themselves with special force at moments when society is undergoing social, political or economic upheaval—especially if such upheavals result in immediate and severe changes to everyday life.

Durkheim came from a long line of devout Jews. His father, grandfather and great grandfather had all been rabbis. And so even though he chose to pursue an academic career, his experiences taught him to respect the mental and psychological support that religious communities supplied to their members, as well as the role that ritual plays in the regulation of social behavior. In the absence of such regulation, he believed, individuals and even whole societies were at risk of falling into a state of anomie, whereby common values and meanings fall by the wayside. The resulting void doesn’t provide people with a sense of freedom, but rather rootlessness and despair.

Durkheim’s thesis has largely stood the test of time, though other scholars have reformulated it for modern audiences. In his 1955 book The Sane Society, for instance, Erich Fromm wrote that, “in the nineteenth century, the problem was that God is dead. In the twentieth century, the problem is that man is dead.” He described the twentieth century as a period of “schizoid-self alienation,” and worried that men would destroy “their world and themselves because they cannot stand any longer the boredom of a meaningless life.”

In her 2004 book Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings, Katherine Newman described findings gleaned from over 100 interviews in Arkansas and Kentucky. The male adolescent shooters at the center of her study, she concluded, “shared a belief that demonstrating strength by planned attacks on their respective institutions with (too) easily available guns would somehow mitigate their unbearable feelings of inadequacy as males and bring longed-for respect from peers.” Ten years later, in a 2014 article titled The Socioemotional Foundations of Suicide: A Microsociological View of Durkheim’s Suicide, sociologists Seth Abrutyn and Anna Mueller set out to update Durkheim’s theory about how social integration and moral regulation affect suicidality. “The greater degree to which individuals feel they have failed to meet expectations and others fail to ‘reintegrate’ them, the greater the feelings of shame and, therefore, anomie,” they concluded. “The risk of suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completions, in addition to violent aggression toward specific or random others, is a positive function of the intensity, persistence, and pervasiveness of identity, role, or status-based shame and anomie.”

Writing in the 1890s, Durkheim was highly conscious of all the ways that industrial capitalism corroded traditional forms of social regulation in society, often at the expense of religious—and even governmental—authorities. (“Depuis un siècle, en effet, le progrès économique a principalement consisté à affranchir les relations industrielles de toute réglementation. Jusqu’à des temps récents, tout un système de pouvoirs moraux avait pour fonction de les discipliner…En effet, la religion a perdu la plus grande partie de son Empire. Le pouvoir gouvernemental, au lieu d’être le régulateur de la vie économique, en est devenu l’instrument et le serviteur.”) But if he were to visit us in 2019, Durkheim would be surprised at the extent to which once-dominant ideas with no connection to economics have been marginalized as regressive and hateful—such as nationalism, patriotism and even masculinity.

This is one reason why so many people now feel unmoored. As Canadian science fiction writer Donald Kingsbury eloquently put it in his novel Courtship Rite, “Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back.” Faith in god, country and manhood might be seen as regressive by modern lights. But insofar as they were holding back male anomie, we perhaps neglected to consider what damage would be done if we discredited those ideas before finding replacements.

In the history of our species, there has never been (to the knowledge of modern scholars) a human society that did not express belief in some sort of supernatural force—which suggests that we are programmed by a need to believe in something bigger than ourselves. Sociologist Max Weber warned in 1919 that “science deals with facts. It can’t tell us what to do or what’s important.” This is to say that while the scientific revolution did a good job of helping us explain and harness the natural world, it did nothing to fill the god-shaped hole that Blaise Pascal identified in the 17th-century: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

If we are to resign ourselves to the fact that “God himself” isn’t going to intercede any time soon, then we are left with the ordinary tools of policy, such as Robert Putnam outlined in his famous 2000 book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community, in which he pointed to the value of “the connections among individuals’ social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them.” These connections could be strengthened, Putnam argued, through improved civics education, more extra-curricular activities for youth, smaller schools, family-oriented workplaces, a more enlightened approach to urbanism, technology that reinforces rather than replaces face-to-face interaction, as well as a decentralization of political power. These recommendations were written 19 years ago, before Facebook, Twitter or 4chan existed. It would be interesting to know how he would revise his recommendations now that we have a better appreciation for the massive effects of digital culture on our social dynamics.

In a 2017 article I wrote, titled Towards a Theory of Virtual Sentiments, I argued that real-time empathy generation often requires some degree of eye contact—which is hard to generate through online interaction. Moreover, it is shockingly easy to get worked up into a rage when you are interacting with an online avatar of a person you have never met. Simply put, the more we physically see each other, the less likely we are to be awful to each other. As Louis CK said in an interview about youth and technology, “They don’t look at people when they talk to them and they don’t build empathy. You know, kids are mean, and it’s cause they’re trying it out. They look at a kid and they go, ‘You’re fat,’ and then they see the kid’s face scrunch up and they go, ‘Oh, that doesn’t feel good to make a person do that.’ But when they write ‘You’re fat’ [online] then they just go, ‘Mmm, that was fun, I like that.’” Even putting aside the extreme cases of forums that cater to homicidal shooters, I remain unconvinced that any community that exists primarily in online form can be a force for long-term good. Perhaps more time offline is a good start for anyone seeking to enhance “the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness.”

Do we need a new nationalism? A new religion? What common human project can we collectively embrace that gives a sense of mission to everyone, regardless of skin color, religion, economic class or ideology? It would be presumptuous for me to suggest I have the answers. All I know is that men who see human life as meaningless are symptoms of a larger sense of anomie that, in less dramatic and destructive form, increasingly grips us all.”

Terry Newman is currently an MA student in the Sociology Department at Concordia University in Montreal. Her SSHRC-funded research is on the candidate controversies that took place during the 2015 Canadian federal election. She is also a Teaching Assistant in Concordia’s Engineering Department. She tweets from @tlnewmanmtl. She is the author of the Quillette article Through the Looking Glass at Concordia University.

#Anomie #violent crime #ideological violence #psychology #society #sociology #social commentary #tribalism #gun control

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monokingdraws · 6 years ago

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untitled fnaf work // henry visits

writing this was nice but in the end i’m not sure how i feel about this?

“William.” Henry says his old friend’s name, smiling gently. That eases a bit of the shock.

It’s a nice looking place. Not too shabby, Henry keeps saying to himself. Approaching the door and pushing it open, the full force of the Freddy’s aesthetic floods in: the smell of cheap pizza and cake, faint clanking of machinery, a pointless amount of glitter and confetti everywhere, on every surface.

Maybe even on the door handles, because Henry stops, observing a sprinkle of blue and pink glitter flakes on his palm, before the first word is spoken. “Henry?” The second his eyes lay on William, the difference between them now is pointed out. At one time, the two men were peas in a pod, both sporting the same rounded body shape, but William being a man of plans and graph paper and decorative woodcarving, and Henry being a man of sweat and grease and flannel and power cord to cord, complimentary. And now - He’s not sure what to make of it. “William.” Henry says his old friend’s name, smiling gently. That eases a bit of the shock. William takes a step closer, but stares, wide-eyed. “What in the world are you doing here?” “I just came to see how you were doing. It’s been a long time, and… Uh, I wondered how things had gone.” William relaxes, and smiles back, his hands relaxing at his sides. “Going well. Going very well.” And that’s no exaggeration, Henry thinks, nodding and looking out from the entrance way, into the dining room, filled with tables, children of varying ages being corralled back to their tables after running around, gift wrapping sprinkled in some places. Lights gently and slowly change, giving the tables right by the large stage, covered by curtains, a fun color effect. A clearly marked “Prize Corner” boasts several simple games and toys to win from them. Henry takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he digests it all. It’s nice. It’s a pleasant place, full of happiness, and it puts him at ease to see that. It takes a moment, but he recognizes the waiter bringing pizza to a small table; the spitting image of his father down to the apparel, Michael smiles politely and nods as he listens to instructions. Henry doesn’t read his lips, nor can he hear over the children laughing, or the growing metal tapping sound, but it’s likely for extra sauce, or something else… It’s a real restaurant, he thinks. And then immeaditely feels that’s an odd thought, so he speaks about something else. “Michael’s a real chip off the old block, I see.” “Oh yes,” William chuckles pleasantly. “He’s such a good help. Very good at tables, we’re finding.” The two men are silent for a moment, standing somewhat awkwardly in the entrance way, but no new cars in the parking lot, and no one needs the door, so for just a moment, Henry thinks, maybe, he can stay right here and enjoy it. “Do you want to go talk for a while upstairs? That’s where my office is,” William adds. Or, upstairs works too. “Sure,” Henry eagerly agrees, but as soon as he finishes his sentence, a movement coming from the ceiling catches his eye. It’s crawling, whatever it is. Only when it stops, lowering itself on spindly malformed metal limbs to the delight of a young girl outfitted in a party hat, does Henry notice the head, a familiar fashion of faceplate. It’s the only real part of the monstrosity that has anything covering its insides beyond some feet and hands, and the shape of it embarrassingly takes Henry a second to recognize, but there’s no doubt in his mind after a second. The tie he chose to wear, for whatever godforsaken reason, feels tight and uncomfortable. Whatever the thing now on the floor, happily making garbled voice clip-esque sounds, has a head molded from Foxy’s. William’s shoulders tighten, his entire body stiffening, but Henry doesn’t see this. There is an over sized clock displayed on one wall, and it clicks to the hour, and the curtains on the stage pull themselves open. Shiny and new, details changed and fuddled with, the mascots standing there are maybe half a foot taller than their originals, but it’s hard not to call them Freddy Fazbear and friends. They stay on their stage for now, equipped with large plastic instruments, and the song they start with is what Henry would describe as “flavorless” - it carries no joy or wonder, merely imitating the sound of any generic rock song and telling kids, Welcome To Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!

“William,” Henry starts. His voice sounds awkward, a bit strained.

It’s getting overwhelming again, the way that everything is the same as before - even though, it’s clearly not. Henry shakes his head, unable to form a sentence. Clank. A large present he assumed was a prize counter table shows that it can animate, too. Thin, spindly fingers have wrapped around one edge and thrown the lid to the floor, and like something ethereal, the rise of another animatronic from the box is what shocks Henry into speaking again. “William, what’s going on here?” William says nothing, looking at his former partner blankly. And the difference between the two of them comes back to Henry, in a different way. William is thin, deepset cheekbones and scraggly hair making him look almost dirty, but over top of him is a layer of “presentable-ness,” so he can be on the floor, so he can pretend. Henry swallows, looking away from William, one hand on a wall, examining the puppet without strings. It looks too similar. It moves without any visible form of help. The girl who was playing with the mangled Foxy clone skips over to it, and it tilts its head forward as if alive, wide arms coming together to hug her quickly, before floating eerily over to another child, rubbing his hair. It looks too similar, but it absolutely cannot be, Henry tells his brain. But the subtle movement of the Puppet’s head, and his well-trained eyes prove that wrong. The Security Puppet, paint on its face changed, it’s grand hood cut off and sewn over. This realization makes Henry feel sick at once, and slowly turning to look at William, he speaks through his hand. “What the hell are you doing?” “Keep your voice down,” William demands in a cool tone. “There are children here.” Panic almost overtakes him, and Henry moves closer to the other man, almost in his face. “What in the world are you doing?! How the hell did you even get that..?” How? How? How could he? Surely, the police would have taken that away. The animatronic. Revolutionary for its time. That went outside. And crawled up right next to her, her flesh entangling in it - Henry inhales sharply, staring at the other man, and it upsets him even further that he can totally see William doing this. This… Whatever the hell it is. William merely smiles, as if satisfied, and turns slightly to open the door to a staircase. Walking silently up the stairs, Henry glares daggers at the back of the other man’s head. Things blur together slightly, and it seems like as soon as they enter the room, William is planted in an expensive looking chair, Henry practically over the table, pointing furiously at it as he speaks. “That’s my daughter.” William chuckles. “Weren’t you the one who told me I was crazy?” “That’s-” “When I told you what I saw, what had happened after you left, you told me that I was being ridiculous. That I was making things up-” “Will, I-” “-To torture you. And now you’re going to return and try to make a scene, in my restaurant?” “It’s not your damn restaurant,” Henry quips back, suddenly feeling helpless and soured by it. “Those are rip-offs of the characters I designed, and more importantly… That’s her. That’s her in there. Isn’t it? And you know it,” Henry says with an almost slap of the desk. He steps back for a second, hands in his hair, wiping sweat away. “God, how could you do this, William? How could you?” “You abandoned her.” “Excuse me?” “You abandoned her. You’re the one who ran. You left me to clean up the mess.” Henry inhales sharply, and goes back to leaning over the desk, practically ready to climb over it and tear the other man a new asshole, but is cut short by the tight yank on his tie. William growls, pulling the other man’s face close to his. “Listen to me now. Something horrible happened. I found something incredible from it, something beautiful. When I tried to tell you, you cursed me.” Wrestling his tie away, stepping back, helplessness setting in hard, Henry stammers. “You’ve- You’ve changed. You’re changed!” William’s face contorts into the darkest little vile smile Henry has ever seen, and to top it off, he laughs. “The only thing that has changed is that when tragedy struck, I learned how to control it. And you ran.” “I’ll call the police.” “And what? Tell them that The Puppet contains something that belongs to you? Nice try, idiot, the machine’s been rebuilt from the ground up time and time again. The only thing that remains… Is the spirit. And she doesn’t remember you,” William hisses. “What are you going to tell them? I stole a ghost?”

A floating, terrified sensation courses through Henry’s veins. There’s nothing he can do. He knows there is nothing he can do. He worked with the man. He can picture in his mind’s eye exactly what tricks Will would’ve have pulled to keep the robot, and the satisfied smirk on his face as he learned to contain it. Her. She was in there.

“Michael!” William barked suddenly, making Henry jump. “Stop listening in and get in here, now. ” The gentle click of the door. Uncle Henry turned, faced with the pimply teenage form of the gentle boy he practically helped raise. A young man now, frowning gently, his eyes heavy. “Do me a favor,” the man’s father ordered, “and escort this customer to the door before he becomes so unruly I have to call the cops.”

If he wasn’t in such a shocked state, regret swelling up in him, maybe Henry would’ve taken a few seconds to touch base with the teen. He hadn’t even had a chance to say hello before he saw the twisted show. No “Hi, Uncle Henry,” “I’ve missed you,” “How have you been?”.

Michael kept an uncomfortably weak grip on the larger man’s arm the whole walk, finally letting go and stepping in front of him to hold the door open, motioning him out. Unlike his father, Michael’s deep blue eyes had not lightened with age, he still had long to go, and as Henry locked eyes, a hopeful part of him thought he detected the same kind of sadness. Regret. Sorrow. A want for forgiveness.

Mechanically, Henry started his car. Driving away, the part of the short encounter he regretted the most, he thought, was that she was still there. And she’d been there for the whole time.

His little girl, always lifting up others, he had unwittingly left alone. No, not alone. But worse. In the darkness. Where she could not escape.

Regret solves nothing. The first sketch of the concept for the animatronic to transport her was done in 15 minutes on a napkin. It stung to look at. Henry swallowed, unsatisfied. And crumpled up the napkin.

#henry emily #william afton #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #ficlets

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supernaturalwiki · 7 years ago

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SuperWiki shares stuff you want to know about the Devil’s Bargain but couldn’t be bothered clicking a link to find out! * That Speight’s a tricky bastard! Richard Speight Jr. name does not appear until the end credits, to preserve the shock of Gabriel's return. This has previously been done with surprise re-appearances of Crowley and Bobby Singer. Speight filmed his appearance in mid-December after the last Con of the year (Krampus Con in Australia) so he was out of the public eye while clean shaven for the shoot.

* The first film time Danneel and Jensen appeared on screen was not in the indie movie Ten Inch Hero, but a short film made in 2004 called The Plight of Clownana. Jason Manns also appeared in the movie. * The backdrop for Sister Jo’s ministry was the backdrop used in Supernatural: The Musical! from Fan Fiction the 200th episode.

* Cupid is not an individual but rather a class of angels more correctly known as cherubs.

* It was often speculated, includeding by actor Julie McNiven, that Anna Milton’s angelic name was Anael, the name given here by Sister Jo but this was never used in canon.

* There is a meta shoutout to the “Evil Colonel Sanders" when Asmodeus eats (and spits out) a piece of fried chicken.

* The Archangel Blade was last seen when Gabriel tried to use it to kill Lucifer in Hammer of the Gods, but Lucifer turned it one Gabriel (presumably) killing him. If there is only one archangel blade (and it is implied there is) The one Asmodeus retrieved has a spiral blade, whereas the one Gabriel possessed looked like a normal angel blade. Of course this may have been an illusion to disguise it (insert your own head canon here).

* Gabriel also appeared in Metafiction but that was an illusion created by Metatron (or was it...) God confirmed that Gabriel (and Rapahel) were dead in We Happy Few. Interestingly that episode titel is a fragment ofthe St. Crispin's Day speech from William Shakespeare's play, Henry V. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. Band of Brothers is a series in which Richard Speight appeared. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.

* Directoral touches by Eduardo Sánchez- The scene where the two young boys find Castiel and poke him with a stick recalls the movie Stand By Me where a group of young boys find a body in the woods. Also after Lucifer promises the angels their wings back, there is a cut to a bucket of chicken wing bones in front of Donatello.

* The show has referred to the world where Mary is trapped as both Apocalypse World, and Earth Two - a DC comics reference. DC Comics is owned by Warner Brothers who happen to also make “Supernatural”.

Any more questions? Ask away!

#Supernatural #Devil's Bargain

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pinkletterday · 6 years ago

Text

WiP Week Day 4

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Jay Garrick/ Tina McGee, Jay Garrick & Barry Allen, past Jay Garrick/ Joan Williams, past Jay Garrick/ Earth-3 Nora Thompson, background Barry Allen/Iris West

Rating: All Audiences

Summary: Jay is having an existential crisis of his own at Barry and Iris's wedding when he meets a familiar face.

A/N: an Outtake from The Westallen Wedding Album that I didn't know what to do with.

The Road Not Travelled

Jay is nursing his drink by the water fountain looking out at the waves. He is not, whatever Joan might have said of his demeanor, brooding. He was...contemplating. Rationally. Specifically, the thought of leaving early.

“Pardon me. You are...Henry Allen?” A familiar woman interrupts Jay’s...contemplation. She has a business-like white bob and an air of stylish elegance. He had noticed her at the ceremony, wondering whether she would recognize him.

“Jay Garrick, actually,” he replies, “A...relation.”

“From Earth 2?” she queries.

“Earth 3,” he corrects. “So you know as well.”

“About parallel worlds? I’m sure everyone here knows, considering recent events,” she snorts, waving her hand. “I’m sorry. I had a very brief acquaintance with Barry’s father before he was...before he passed, and seeing your face was somewhat disconcerting.”

Ah. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I confess, I didn’t quite think this through when Cindy asked me to come with her here.” Maybe he shouldn’t be lecturing Barry on the subject.

“Must be a speedster trait,” says Tina, but she is smiling. “I’m Dr. Tina McGee. Nice to meet you.”

Doctor Tina McGee? Interesting. “Nice to meet you too, Doctor.”

“Is your son his doppelganger then?” asks Tina, after an awkward silence.

“No,” he says trying to hide a note of regret. “No, Barry doesn’t exist on my earth. My wife wasn’t Nora Allen and we were childless.”

“Ah,” says Tina awkwardly. “That’s...strange isn’t it? How many paths we leave untraversed?”

“Yes,” Jay briefly returns to brooding over his glass. “I sometimes think that we were never meant to be able to see them.”

Tina’s face turns even more curious and Jay groans internally, knowing how that sounded.

“My wife, Joan. She couldn’t have children,” he says quietly. “I loved her more than I wanted kids. We grieved and moved on. Then she passed and...I met Barry.”

He doesn’t know why he’s spilling his guts to a woman he just met. Tina always did have a way with her though. It was one of the things that had made the one on his earth stand out.

“I’m sorry,” says Tina sympathetically.

“I don’t regret my decision,” says Jay firmly. On that point at least he was certain. “The years I had with her - I wouldn’t trade them with anyone for the world. I was content. But you don’t really expect to meet the child who might have been yours, you know, even in the kind of impossible world we live in.”

“I...might understand, actually,” Tina says with a touch of sadness. “I’ve had a similar experience. Although I didn’t have to travel to another earth for it.”

Jay tilts his head questioningly at her. Tina looks wry. “The road not travelled Mr. Garrick. As you say, it can be a mixed blessing.”

Jay huffs a laugh.

“May I ask why you and your doppelganger have different names?’ she continues, her fascination clearly struggling with her British-bred sense of propriety.

“Well, as I understand it, the short version is that we were both conceived out of wedlock and then our fathers went to war. His came back. Mine didn’t,” Jay shrugs. His father issues are long dealt with. “So I got her choice of first names and her surname and Henry got his father’s. And yet we both ended up in our versions of Central City. I even met Nora Thompson once.”

“Really?” Tina asks with open interest.

“Yes. She was teaching school in the Honduras. I was there on a mission for my government,”

“You...work for the government?”

“I’m a scientist by profession. My wife and I both are. But there was a lab experiment, an explosion and I woke up as the Flash, much as Barry did. I joined my own team of superheroes, again like Barry. We are supposed to be a neutral party in world affairs, but. Well, it’s complicated.”

“It always is with the military,” snorts Tina, dismissively. “Which is why I personally don’t let them near my work, money be damned.”

“I didn’t really have a choice at the time,” says Jay a little defensively. “As it happened, there was an unexpected coup and we had to abort. Our team decided to evacuate the civillians instead. Nora wouldn’t leave until we had secured as many of the villagers as we could.”

“She sounds very brave.” says Tina, impressed.

“Yes, she was a helluva woman.,” Jay remembers still the heavy fall of auburn hair, the scent of lilac and wide green eyes, exactly like another pair he now knows. He also remembers the two of them backpedalling from an unexpected, unwelcome yet mutual attraction. “Barry looks a lot more like her than me, actually. It was a high tension, close quarters situation and she was a very beautiful woman but I was already with Joan and I would never do that to her. Joan Williams was the love of my life and always will be.” He says it with conviction. The way Barry had looked at Iris when they exchanged vows - he had looked at Joan that way every day of her life.

It had made his chest ache, both in missing her and something that felt uncomfortably close to love for his doppelganger’s son.

“Is Nora still alive on your earth?” asks Tina, almost as though she was afraid of the answer.

Jay hesitates. “I don’t know,” he exhales finally. “I thought of looking her up after finding out about Barry but...I don’t really want to. If that makes sense?”

“It more than makes sense,” assures Tina. “What happened to your doppelganger on this earth was quite traumatic - being framed for her murder, having his child taken away and locked up for years, then to be freed and reunited for less than a year before being murdered.”

“It’s not that though,” says Jay, looking away. “Fate played Henry a terrible hand, much worse than mine. I’ll own that. But my life has had its share of tragedy. Loss is practically guaranteed in the life of a superhero. And I don’t really have much left to lose anymore. It’s simply...I don’t want to look at her and maybe think of what might have been. I owe my wife more than that.”

Jay thinks of his conflicting feelings for Barry Allen. A speedster like him, born into a life he might have led, although not his son any more than he was Barry’s father. And yet, there is this inexplicable draw toward the young man, as though Henry Allen’s love for his child still echoed within the souls of his counterparts across universes. It feels like a pride and a yearning he could not explain nor quantify, and it disturbs him.

“There is no shame in being fond of Barry,” says Tina as though reading his thoughts. “Even without being related, he is a very endearing young man.” Then, wryly, “Even after he blackmails you into surrendering your prized prototype for a police sting and then loses it.”

Jay mulls this over for a minute. “You know,” he says in amusement, “I wish I could say I was surprised.” He remembers the force of nature that was Nora Thompson. She had shot him in the foot when he had tried to stop her going into a guerrilla camp after her kids.

He suspected later that she may also have done it on general principle.

“Mmm. Well I got it back in the end. And I owe him my life now,” Tina shrugs. “I’ve decided to let it go. But he can be rather single-minded in the pursuit of loftier goals, which is sometimes to his detriment.”

Jay tamps down his instinctive urge to defend Barry. It’s absurd. He knows the kid has a problem with tunnel vision, he has pulled him out of enough holes by now to have seen it first hand. “I may know where he might have got that from,” he says instead, and he does. Nora wasn’t the only one who could get a little...fixated. Hence his poor foot. Joan hadn’t been overly thrilled about that trait of his either, although age had eventually brought with it good sense.

For the most part.

Tina tilts her head, appraisingly. “And how do you know my doppelganger?”

Jay looked up in surprise. “How do you know I know your doppelganger?”

“Because you’ve been speaking to a person who should have been a total stranger as though she were someone very familiar to you?” Tina smiles. "Admit it. You know me well. Or at least my twin in your world.”

“I do,” Jay blushes and ducks his head. “Do you really want to know?”

“Well now I can’t not know can I?” Tina laughs, sitting down on the edge of the fountain.

“All right,” Jay grins. “Your counterpart moved next door to me in Larkspur, she was the prettiest girl in my high school and my first love.”

Tina throws her head back and laughs heartily “Oh my God,” she gasps. “What an American cliche!”

“You know what wasn’t an American cliche?” Jay chuckles, seating himself beside her.

“Do tell.”

“She realized she was a lesbian, dumped me and ran off to Europe to be with an exotic dancer. Last I heard, she and her wife had three children.”

Tina almost hoots in delight. Jay feels warm and pleased listening to her. He had forgotten how wonderfully frank and unselfconscious Tina’s laugh had been.

“Were you crushed?” she chortles, wiping her eyes.

“Absolutely. Moped for a year. But then I met Joan and forgave her. But I never forgot. Antonia McGee is not the kind of woman one forgets.” Jay feels young and light again as he looks at her and Tina grins back and raises her glass. “What about you?”

Tina takes a swig of her drink. “Me?” she says, thoughtfully. “Nothing so...eventful, I’m sad to say. I’m not a lesbian, but I like to think of myself as more equal opportunity. I married science, and it has been a difficult, demanding but very exciting spouse. Like you, I never regretted it. Although,” she levels a glance at him that is distinctly challenging (which Jay recollects is Tina’s way of flirting, because the woman had never understood coquetry), “having young friends like the West-Allens reminds me that there can be much more to life, and of the potentiality the future yet holds.”

“I can drink to that,” agrees Jay, clinking his glass with hers. Suddenly, he feels completely at ease as he and Tina smile at each other.

Maybe he wouldn’t try to escape early after all.

End.

#westallen #the westallen wedding album #jay garrick x tina mcgee #wip week #wip #outtake #myfic #earth-3 #the flash

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whispersandwhiskerburn · 8 years ago

Text

Much Ado About SPN Results:

SPN Fanfic Writers Team Up With Shakespeare!

It’s April 23, 2017--453 years to the day since (historians believe) that William Shakespeare, one of the greatest English writers ever, was born...and 401 years to the day since the day the Bard died! :’(

However, his words live on in his plays that are performed each year, the movie adaptations, the sayings in everyday conversation...and now in Supernatural fanfiction!

When I hit 1.5k followers, I put out a rather daunting challenge to my followers: Write a Supernatural fic using a line from one of Shakespeare’s plays, and incorporate 2-3 SPN-themed words that begin with the same letter (I, like WS appreciate alliteration).

24 brave souls took on the challenge.

The results are below the read more link, along with a brief review/rec from me for each. I hope you enjoy these and take the time to share some love with the writers--this challenge was truly out of the box and they wrote some incredible things as a result.

Let the fun begin....

Thank you all for taking on this ridiculous challenge of mine. I was blown away by the submissions, and I truly hope you had as much, or at least half as much, fun writing them as I did reading them. Thank you so much!!

Fics are in alphabetical order by prompts, not by any preferences list.

“A Life I Would Have Known” by @buffylovesfoxmulder

Prompts: Anna, Angel Blade, AU (French Mistake/EndVerse) and “This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” (Hamlet I.3).

My Fangirling: An episode rewrite of the French Mistake where Anna subs in for a much more earnest Balthazar and the reader has a surprise up her sleeve for the Winchesters. I loved it. Lengthy, but worth the read. :)

“Wanted” by @arlaina28

Prompts: Benny Lafitte, Bunker, Brothers, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother” (Henry V IV.3).

My Fangirling: An absolutely lovely smut fic between Benny and the Reader that builds up in canon-style characterizations from first meeting to the “I love you” stage. An excellent read, and a brilliant use of her prompts.

*******A Fic is on the way here!!******

“Nothing Either Good or Bad” by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog

Prompts: Donna Hanscum, Devil's Gate, Deals, and “ “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” (Hamlet II.2).

My Fangirling: Mimi delivered again! An angsty-suspense with flashes of fluff Donna x Dean fic around the danger of a Devil’s Gate—the one in Wyoming. I loved this fic, and it’s not even my ship, so definitely check it out….and hold onto your seat!

“The Valiant” by @littlegreenplasticsoldier

Prompts: Ellen Harvelle, EMF Reader, and “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once” (Julius Caesar II.2).

My Fangirling: I--I don’t know what to say here…it was beautiful and sad and it must have taken you so much time to create this, and I love it. It’s an angsty peek into Dean’s head during his time with Lisa, how he’s struggling to maintain, how he’s trying to cope with Sam’s loss—and it’s done in VERSE. You almost want to read it out loud. I just love this…and I think Shakespeare would be proud.

“Papa Don’t Preach” by @whatareyousearchingfordean

Prompts: First Blade, Fathers, “What’s gone and what’s past help should be past grief” (Winter’s Tale III.2)

My Fangirling: A Reader x Dean angst fic where she learns of a pregnancy that she hadn’t planned on and tries to explain to a Dean who worries about fatherhood. I loved the canon characterization.

*******A Fic is on the way here!!******

“All Dogs Go To Heaven” by @rachelladytietjens

Prompts: Hell Hound, Hex Bags, Heaven, and “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” (Hamlet IV.5)

My Fangirling: With what was probably the coolest title in this challenge, she did an amazing job on this fic that had some really conflicting and challenging prompts! It’s short and sweet, with no pairing, but extremely intriguing and it raised so many questions for me. Brava!

“Not So Innocent After All” by @im-most-definitely-fangirling

Prompts: Impala (Baby), Innocence, and “If music be the food of love, play on” (Twelfth Night I.1).

My Fangirling: A body-swap fic between the Reader and Dean that reveals a lot of what they’ve been hiding from each other. I loved this—besides, where can you go wrong when you end up riding Dean on the Impala? AmIright ladies?

“Wine, Meddling, and Temptation” by @avasmommy224

Prompts: Jody Mills, John's Journal, Job (Hunting), “Tempt not a desperate man” (Romeo and Juliet IV.3).

My Fangirling: I love it! The fluff with a hint of angst and reader being besties with Jody? Brilliant! She did a great job working in ALL of the prompts and this fic is fantastic. I absolutely love Jody as a matchmaker--I can just see her worrying about finding the boys the perfect lady. :) Dean x Reader with future fun times—nothing wrong with that!

*******A Fic is on the way here!!******

“Just a Little Magic...” by @wi-deangirl77

Prompts: Meg Masters, Mark of Cain, Magic (Witchcraft), “I am one who loved not wisely but too well” (Othello V.2).

My Fangirling: I was prepared for weird when I put Mark of Cain with Meg Masters and Magic, but Jess managed a canon style fic of angsty goodness that everyone should read. It’s MOC!Dean x Reader and...oh, it’s just lovely. Go read! She says it’s the start of a new series—and I, personally, can’t wait to read it!

“Chase the Nightmares Away” by @destiel-addict-forever

Prompts: Nephilim, Naomi's Room, Nightmares, “You pay a great deal too dear for something that’s given freely” (Winter’s Tale I.1).

My Fangirling: This cute little fluffy drabble is a Daddy!Lucifer fic (not kink, reader is Luci’s kid), something I imagine we’ll see more and more of as this current series continues. I swear, when I made the prompt list and put Nephilim on it, I had no idea it would become such a big thing this year on the show! Great job.

*******A Fic is on the way here!!******

“Purple Moose, Orange Squirrel, and A Pink Dress” by @mrsbatesmotel53

Prompts: Pagan God (Not Loki/Gabriel), Pie, Pranks, “We have seen better days” (As You Like It II.7) and (Timon of Athens IV.2).

My Fangirling: I absolutely loved this! It was beautifully characterized: witty reader, western-loving Dean, sassy Rowena, protective/knowledgeable Sam….and the way you combined your prompts…I just loved it. Comedy, alternate timeline, canon style…what is not to love here?

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by @roxy-davenport

Promtps: Queen of Hell (Abaddon), Quincunx (Hoodoo symbol), Quips, and “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. Some run from breaks of ice, and answer none, and some condemned for one fault alone” (Measure for Measure II.1).

My Fangirling: A rewrite of an awesome episode to include a reader insert and pairing with Crowley, this fic, like many of @roxy-davenport’s, shows a sentimental and charming side of the King of Hell in a way that even makes this Dean!Girl think fondly of the red-eyed demon. I loved the sassy way she broke down the Shakespeare quote in the fic.

“Together We Thrive” by @deansarms

Prompts: Ruby's Knife, Revenge “I burn, I pine, I perish” (Taming of the Shrew I.1).

My Fangirling: I can NOT compliment this work enough. Absolute brilliance. It’s a poem that switches from Dean’s perspective (in italics) to Sam’s perspective. It centers around the Shakespeare quote, but it provides canon accurate characterization and plot in verse form, and it….ugh, just go read it. I think I’ve reread it like five times now. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

“Friendships is Constant” by @atc74

Prompts: Samuel Campbell, Sigils, Souls, “Friendship is constant in all other things” (Much Ado About Nothing, II.1).

My Fangirling: Canon-style fluff and character analysis set in season 12, Angelina used all of her prompts, and created a catch-up moment between the boys and their mother that I think we all want to see happen on the show. Short, sweet, and adorable.

“Goodnight” by @besslincoln-bruh

Prompts: Uriel, Uniforms (Outfits), Underdog, and “Strong reasons make strong actions” (King John III.4).

My Fangirling: An interesting AU with a future Dean x Reader pairing. Reader is a lawyer trying her first defense case—to prove Dean Winchester innocent when the world (and the evidence) is against him. It was hard to tear myself away from this fic, and a creative use of all the prompts. Well worth a read!

“Sweet Revenge” by @plaidstiel-wormstache

This is a completed series. The link above is to the masterlist. She wrote it at as one long one-shot with the quote at the end, but I encouraged her to make it a series--and the whole thing is fabulous.

Prompts: Vengeful Spirits, the Veil, Vessel, and “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” (Merchant of Venice III.1).

My Fangirling: This friend went way above and beyond the call of duty and wrote a truly spectacular SERIES based off this prompt, with some inspiration in the form of a rather intriguing OFC. No pairing, but a beautiful use of all prompts in a canon-style fic set during John’s first solo hunt. Angst, sprinkles of fluff, some dark emotional stuff, and so much canon beauty…I love it. I don’t want to play favorites on this challenge, but this one is my favorite.

“Wrath” by @waywardjoy

Prompts: Werewolf, Wooden Stake, Wrath, and “Is this a dagger which I see before me…or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation” (Macbeth II.1).

My Fangirling: Short but strong, an angsty Dean x Reader piece where you see the unbridled danger that is a wrathful Winchester. My wonderful bestie worked in all of her alphabet prompts and her Shakespeare quote brilliantly. She also helped me put this whole challenge together, so extra kudos to her. :D

“Forgotten Rituals” by @thegreatficmaster

This is a completed two-part fic. The link above is to the masterlist. Both parts are for this challenge--@thegreatficmaster took on two prompts.

Prompts: Yellow-Eyed Demon, Yarrow, Youth, Zachariah, Zoroastrian Symbol, Zenith (the most powerful time), “Hell is empty and all the devils are here” (Tempest I.2), and “Pray you now, forget and forgive.” (King Lear IV.7).

My Fangirling: Nini created a very original reader here for a story the likes of which I’ve never seen before, and doubt I will see again. Azazel x Reader, sexy times, strange magics, manipulation of time and angels, old world religions, unexpected fluff…just wow…. I won’t be forgetting this series any time soon. Great job!

This link will take you to the masterpost I made of all of my celebration challenges!

Fics still to come for this challenge:

C @bringmesomepie56, 15. “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” (Twelfth Night II.5).

G @therealdeanwinchester13, 10. “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream III.2)

K @kalliravenne, 11. “I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?” (Much Ado About Nothing IV.2).

L @hellssarcasticqueen, 19. “The miserable have no other medicine, but only hope” (Measure for Measure III.1).

O @little-red-83, 18. “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt” (Measure for Measure I.4).

Tagging my Forever Crowd, because you guys need to see these so very much!

@2wonderinsighlents, @adaliamalfoy, @alcpegasus22, @andrastesflamingtitties, @angelofwinchester17, @alexastacio, @anokhi07, @ariethegreat98, @arryn-nyxx, @autopistaaningunaparte, @avasmommy224, @bennyyh, @benjerry707, @bringmesomepie56, @bucky-thorin-winchester, @bulletscrossbowpie, @but-deans-back-tho, @captainemwinchester, @carry-on-ms-believer, @casownsmyass, @cfordwrites, @chaos-and-the-calm67, @dancingalone21, @d-s-winchester, @deafgirlsarecooler, @deandoesthingstome, @deanfuckingwinchesterrr, @deanscherrypie, @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog, @deanwinchesterforpromqueen, @deliciouslyshadowymilkshake, @demonangelimpala, @demondeansdomme, @end-lessnights, @faith-in-dean, @fandommaniacx, @feelmyroarrrr, @fiveleaf, @graceforme86, @i-is-for-inspiring, @ilostmyshoe-79, @impala-dreamer, @jalove-wecallhimdean, @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes, @jencharlan, @jensen-gal, @jotink78, @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms, @katnharper, @kittenofdoomage, @kristaparadowski, @lipstickandwhiskey, @littlegreenplasticsoldier, @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid, @love-kittykat21, @loreleilara, @lunarsaturn88, @luv4jensen, @marilynnlew, @millaraysuyai, @mogaruke, @moonstonemystyk, @mrsbatesmotel53, @mrsjohnsmith, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mzpearlz, @nicolesyneah25, @nightmaredean, @notnatural-supernatural, @paintrider13-blog, @pinknerdpanda, @plaidstiel-wormstache, @rizlowwritessortof, @roxy-davenport, @rushernparadise, @salvachester, @septicxsoulxdarkxmind, @scorpiongirl1, @skathan-omaha, @spnrvt, @supernatural-jackles, @supernaturalyobsessed, @theafinnerup, @thegreatficmaster, @vote-for-pedro, @waywardjoy, @wevegotworktodo, @wi-deangirl77, @wonderange, @withoutaplease, @writingbeautifulmen, @xtina2191, @yoursmilemakesmeloveyou, and @yume-deaimashou

#spnfanfic #dean x reader #crowley x reader #angst #fluff #smut #masterlist #muchadoaboutspn #shakespeare meets spn #Check these out!

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lucarioisinthevoid · 4 years ago

Note

For the Henry in Hell- maybe N. Balloon Boy, Rockstar Foxy, Scraptrap, and maybe Dave (since Henry wants to talk more with him)?

(Okay, I’m way too fucking tired to make these, but dear god, it’s five AM and I WILL fucking get the Henry in Hell stuff done NOT READ THIS OVER I’LL REGRET THIS AFTER HAVING HAD A NAP. BUT FOR NOW? KICK MY ASS AND CALL ME A CANDY CANE. I’M NOT WASTING MORE TIME. I’LL EDIT IT TOMORROW. ENJOY.)

Does he want to talk to Dave? It’s difficult to say. He wants answers. And Dave seems like the weakest link in the chain. There seemed to be certain beings that influenced how the nights played out. For now, he knew of three for a fact. Most obvious, DeeDee. Henry was considering that perhaps she was connceted to the old man- there was a keen smell of lake water whenever she appeared. At first he hadn’t noticed, but now he couldn’t miss it, no matter how badly his anger flared up when he saw her suddenly jump out from beneath the table, or some sort of black hole of vile darkness, where all the annoying thing festered and cross-bred to create worse and worse- He took a deep breath. Stay calm. … yes, the lake. The lake brought him here, it must have some sort of importance. Being capable of changing the rule of the night… that seemed to be within the lakes domain. Then there was the suit. Of course the suit was special. Remaining behind after the night, during the downtime. Sometimes Helpy and Rockstar Freddy appeared to give advice and little prices ‘for the trouble’, but they never remained for long. Also, both of them were bears. Like the suit. He hadn’t yet found a way to make the suit react to any sort of input from his side, thus testing him and the changes he caused to his environment was almost impossible. Even calling him Goldie drew hardly any reaction from him. The most influence he had seen the suit exert was about the TV program, but his continuous presence still was beyond notable. Now, last was… … Dave. Of course. If there was one person capable of manipulating the souls without even knowing how or that he was even doing it in the first place, it was his purple companion. Sometimes he had wondered if there was such a concept as deliberate chaos manipulation. Another thing he might would have figured out if he would have not been brutally cut off from all his studies. But, no time being bitter. All he need was to figure out the variables at his disposal, then he would be able to manipulate them to his own benefit. There was an exit. This was a trap, a way to contain him, a place consuming energy like any other. And there was a way to shut it down. He merely needed to figure it out. For that, however, he needed to start getting some data. Try out different stimulus. That was what he was ready to do today. He had plenty of positive contact with Dave so far, nothing more seemed to be coming out of it. Despite everything, Dave STILL insisted this here was a great place- and Henry did not care for it. There was nothing he could bribe out of his former friend anymore, he clearly was not being cooperative- so he would show him another side, at the risk of ruining any claim to their friendship forever. … not that there were any traces left after Dave had betrayed him. Valuing his object of obsession over him, spitting in the face of everything Henry had ever done for him. Nightmare Balloon Boy slipped into the room- the night had started. “AND WHAT WILL YOU DO TODAY, TOOTHPICK?” “You will be surprised. I am sure of that…” “YOU THINK YOU CAN SURPRISE ME?” “It is not you I plan to surprise, so it hardly matters.” The animatronic looked at him suspicious. “YOU SEEM VERY CONVINCED ABOUT THIS, SHORTSNACK.” “I am.” That was where Henry stopped the conversation. Saving his energy for the one he was meaning to hurt. He glanced at the Nightmare Balloon Boy, feeling barely anything for him. This creature would not attack- it was too weak to go against the rules, so it would be leering at him while he had the camera up, grinding his teeth. Rockstar Foxy he had actually never met before- and he’d try to avoid him tonight too. For some reason he always had the eerie feeling that this bird would never like him- no matter what he tried. He loved birds a lot. That was why birds tended to stay as far away from him as possible. The plastic nightmare snarked something- But Henry wasn’t listening. He didn’t need him anymore. He didn’t have to talk to him anymore, even if he liked it, even if it was entertaining. Henry’s focus was on one thing only. Dave. Namely, how to rip him apart. Slowly his fingers tapped on the table, as he shortly took down the camera to flash the animatronic in his room, before pulling it back up, looking at the little springtrapped head moving along. … why would the one he shouldn’t have killed give Dave so much ability to manipulate the world around him? To a point that he was even allowed to join him in the office without attacking? Probably because he wanted to see them fight. And frankly- Henry wanted to fight him too. He was tired. And angry. He wanted to face the stupid child and-

Talk to him.

There was no spite for him specifically, in some way he could admire this child and the world he created. The animatronics, all filled with at least some level of personality, and somehow convincing two creatures from beyond to aid him. Yes, there was a lot of raw potential here. Perhaps it could use some guidance. … at least he could TRY. Either he would get out, he would get to teach a high potential being, or- worst case- everything would stay the same. Dear god, this place was BORING him. Boring him like constant nails on chalkboard, boring him like itching teeth and a vile smell. Nothing was truly happening- and it was driving him crazy. Even worse so that Dave claimed this place was great, while still acting as though he was Henry’s best friend. There was something so intensely infuriating about it. It didn’t FEEL like Dave was free himself, but he thought if anyone could help him get out- it would be him. Yet he denied everything- The person who kept him here… All of a sudden a terrible idea grew inside of Henry’s mind. What- What if it was the Orange Guy? At least his long lost soul, biding its time until he could come and- That would explain why Dave was filled with so much life and personality. He WOULD know him. And the guy was extremely talented at convincing those around him to aid his wants. … maybe the child form he had taken on had to do with trauma? Dave himself seemed to have at least a second soul that got stuck back from before his mother died, it would not be too unlikely- not to mention that souls were inherently ageless. Perhaps it had been an act of deception, trying to throw Henry off the trail. Yet- that would leave the question… if the soul was here with him, then what was keeping the Orange Guy alive? He shuddered and tried not to think about it. There had to be something, SOMETHING powering him. Something… No matter what, it would be upsetting to hear his friend being insulted. And his glance on the camera confirmed that it was about to be done. A choice. He had to commit, with his very soul. And he would. The vents rattled, Henry refreshed the ventilation and put down the screen, flashing the Nightmare, before looking up at the vent. Almost instantly, Dave’s eyes shined a pale light out of the darkness. His grin glowed out from under the mask, just to gently shift into innocent confusion. “Henry. Aren’t ‘cha gonna let me in?” Coldly the Pink Man looked at his former friend. “No.” Dave’s grin widened for a moment, thinking it was a little game. “Aw, c’mon! What if I say please? Please lemme in? Pretty please!” “I do not think I will.” It was then that Davetrap caught on that something was going on. His expression shifted again, fully this time around. Worry, confusion and- annoyance. Of course, always the annoyance about defiance, Dave was one and the same as him on this topic. However, Henry at least always had the authority of logic- Dave had nothing, nothing but his unstable emotions and violence to justify his wants and get his way. “… why? What’s the problem, Henry?” “I am done with you.” The word came over Henry’s lips utterly naturally. He meant it. Even as Dave recoiled. The atmosphere in the establishment instantly changed, as well as Dave’s entire expression. It was glowing still, as bright and if not brighter… and plenty of people might misunderstand it as him still having fun, still amused, however Henry knew him better than he knew himself. He knew that was nothing but rage. “What did you say there, friend?” “I told you I am done with you. William, you have done nothing so far but to disappoint me.” There was an art to it- To give just enough of a pause to let the words HURT, but not enough to let a counterargument form- to let any resistance develop. “Frankly, I have given you many chances. Too many changes. Failure after failure was all you brought me however. I put all my effort into you- effort that I could have put into ANYONE else, into a damn PET and it would have served me better.” “You-“ “No. No, William, you do not get to talk. I have kept quiet for too long. Giving you mercy, care, hoping and praying for you to turn into something better- and now look at you. Who do you think you ARE?! Using my generosity? Abusing my patience?! You were useless! You never aided me when it counted, you never LEARNED, you were SELFISH, like an ANIMAL, you were IGNORANT, you were an OBSTACLE- All my WORK, all my LOVE for you, our BOND- It never existed outside of my head, did it?!” “What- Henry, I-“ “WHAT. What do you THINK you can SAY here?! WHAT EXCUSE DO YOU HAVE, I AM DYING TO KNOW! DYING, QUITE LITERALLY, BECAUSE OF YOUR DISLOYALTY, YOU SACRIFICED ME. YOU SACRIFICED ME, AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE WORKED FOR. YOU HAVE NO DIGNITY. YOU HAVE NOTHING YOU CARE ABOUT. YOU ARE A SHAM! A SHELL OF A PERSON! A HEARTLESS MONSTER! AND NOT EVEN ONE OF THOSE THAT ARE OF WORTH, OF VALUE, OF USE! Anything that you provided me with was something I could have reached by myself. All you have done was to hinder me.” Infuriated the guy in the vents hissed. “What the fuck do you think you’re sayin’?! I’VE BEEN-“ Mockingly Henry grinned up at him. “What? What have you been doing? When have you ever been useful? Protected me? Face it, William, I pitied you and that was my mistake. I should have known that there was a reason everyone discarded you before. Once you will be gone, nobody will cry for you- nobody will miss you. The Orange Guy- to him you are merely entertainment. You are a fucking TOY at best- and more so an UNLOVEABLE, REPLACABLE TOOL.” Finish it. One last time. Slowly he stood up, stepping towards the vent. “William. Look at me. I want you to look at me, and I want you to know… … everything would have been better if you never had existed.” With that he closed the vents- both the front and the side one, just in time as the entire room was shaking, flickering, as something hysterical was making its way through it- Both sides of Dave being blocked out, as Henry fell back into his seat, raising his monitor, fixing the ventilation just in time. The night was not long after that. When he returned to the office, the suit was positioned in a way that it was looking at Henry as he entered. … somehow looking disappointed. Accusing. But Henry had no interest in that. Instead his attention was drawn to the board. All animatronics were glowing. The board was RED. Good. It was time.

#henry miller #Henry in hell #Dave Miller #Poor Dave

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gwynnew · 7 years ago

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'Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas' turns 40: An oral history of Jim Henson's holiday Muppet musical

‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/ The Jim Henson Company)

When it comes to Christmas specials, either Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is among your favorites, or you haven’t seen it yet. Jim Henson’s captivating musical, starring an ensemble of delightful Muppet critters, has never attained the holiday ubiquity of, say, A Charlie Brown Christmas (with which it shares a gentle humor and sincerity) or the subsequent The Muppet Christmas Carol, releasted in 1992, two years after Henson’s death. For years, it was impossible to find on home video. Nevertheless, Emmet Otter and his friends have maintained a devoted fanbase since their special first aired in December 1977, a following that’s bound to grow now that a 40th anniversary edition of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas has been released on DVD.

The 53-minute film tells the story of Ma Otter and her son Emmet, who live a simple but joyful life by the river in Frogtown Hollow. With Christmas around the corner, mother and son know that they’re too poor to buy each other gifts, so each secretly enters the Frogtown Hollow talent contest in hopes of spending the prize money on Christmas. Emmet, with his woodland friends, forms the jug-band of the title, but must ruin his mother’s income-generating washtub to make a washtub bass; Ma decides to perform a song, and makes a similar, O. Henry-esque sacrifice. When the talent contest takes a surprising turn, Ma and Emmet think all is lost — until they receive the best Christmas gift they never expected.

In addition to being a heartwarming piece of entertainment, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas was a landmark film for the Henson Company. More cinematic and ambitious than any of the Muppets’ previous television projects — with full sets, animatronics, and puppets custom-built for the story — the special paved the way for Henson-produced feature films like The Muppet Movie and The Dark Crystal. Even as he moved onto bigger things, Emmet Otter remained a favorite project of Henson’s throughout his life. His collaborators, including Muppet performers Frank Oz and Dave Goelz and songwriter Paul Williams, still feel the same way. As Goelz told Yahoo Entertainment, Emmet Otter “got right at the essence of Jim’s philosophy — the decency, the sense of giving. And we need that more than ever these days.”

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas premiere, Yahoo Entertainment had a conversation with Oz and Goelz (soon to be reunited onscreen in director Oz’s documentary Muppet Guys Talking), who spoke together for the first time about their Emmet Otter memories. Yahoo also talked to Williams, who shared the stories behind timeless songs like Ma Otter’s ballad “Our World.” Here is the oral history of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, from three of Henson’s closest and most devoted collaborators.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/The Jim Henson Company)

Jim Henson and his crew shot Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas in Toronto in March 1977. (The Muppet Show had premiered five months earlier, and Henson’s puppets were still best-known as residents of Sesame Street, then in its eighth season.) The hour-long film, based on a children’s book of the same name by Russell and Lillian Hoban, was adapted for the screen by Muppet Show writer Jerry Juhl. To write the songs that were crucial to the musical story, Henson approached singer-songwriter Paul Williams, one of The Muppet Show’s early guests and the writer of contemporary radio hits like the Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” and Three Dog Night’s “An Old-Fashioned Love Song.”

Paul Williams: I just hit it off beautifully with Jim and with the Muppeteers right from the start. I loved their humor. I love that there was kind of a dark edge to them, with all the bright and sparkly stuff they were doing. But Jim said, “We’re gonna do a special based on a children’s book called Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.” And he also mentioned that down the line, they were going to be be tackling their first feature-length motion picture, and that he thought this would be a great introductory thing to see how well we worked together. It was interesting because the kind of music that it required was very different than anything I’d ever done. It was what I would refer to as “Americana.”

All of the characters in Emmet Otter’s world, more than 30 including non-speaking roles, were played by six puppeteers, Henson included. Frank Oz, the Muppets’ star performer, puppeteered Ma Otter — but unusually, the man behind Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Bert, Grover, and Cookie Monster was dubbed with the voice of another performer, singer Marilyn Sokol.

Frank Oz: I would be thrown in jail if I tried to sing those songs. Songs that beautiful needed a beautiful voice; it was always intended that way. I just performed it with the dialogue live, and then in post-production Marilyn put her voice in. But Marilyn had already recorded those songs, so on set I could sing to Marilyn’s tempo and feeling and everything. And she was a beautiful singer.

Watch Ma (voiced by Marilyn Sokol, puppeteered by Frank Oz) and Emmet (Jerry Nelson) perform ‘Ain’t No Hole in the Washtub’:

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Dave Goelz, best known for the character of Gonzo, had just recently become a Muppet performer. He started out as a builder in the creature workshop, where he built several of the puppets for Emmet Otter. In the special, he played Wendell porcupine, Emmet’s slow-witted but lovable best friend.

Dave Goelz: Wendell Porcupine was a breakthrough for me at the time, because I’d only done one season on The Muppet Show and I was really a beginner. And I had some success with that character just ad-libbing in the studio. You know, Wendell had a crush on Emmett’s mother. He just loved her and he wanted to spend time with her and it was all kind of strange. But that was just off-camera.

Oz: And can I say, since I did the mother: I don’t think that obsession was truly platonic.

Goelz: [laughs] I wasn’t gonna go there.

Oz: No, Wendell was a great character, Davey. I love Wendell. He’s so pure.

Rounding out the cast were fellow Muppet performers Jerry Nelson, who played Emmet; Richard Hunt, who played Emmet’s bandmate Charlie; and Eren Ozker, who played the minor female characters (and had been the only female performer on the first season of The Muppet Show). All of the performers played multiple creatures; for example, every performer in Emmet Otter’s cuddly jug-band doubled as a member of their ill-mannered rock-and-roll rivals, the Riverbottom Nightmare band.

Goelz: In the bad guy group, I had this catfish. And I had fun doing the fish because we built a squirt mechanism into him so he could spit water. That was his wise-guy thing. Frank’s was that he was extremely tough, his word was law. [laughs] And it was just fun to do these idiots.

Oz: My guy [Chuck] — he was the leader of the group. In high school, you know when you’ve got the bad guy everybody follows, and he’s a guy who just is so cool? I saw him that way. He reminds me of guys in high school that I was scared of. [laughs]

Goelz: Oh yeah, absolutely. “I’m not hungry, I’m huuuungry.” [laughs] Oh, I loved it. Frank oftentimes will find a moment like that, and it will just be a standout in a whole television show or film. In Muppet Christmas Carol, it was Sam Eagle talking to young Scrooge about a career in “business.” The obscene lust that Sam Eagle had for “business!” Just finding those little moments that you never, ever forget.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/ The Jim Henson Company)

The songs in Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas are meant to sound like timeless American standards, songs that Ma Otter and her family would have been singing for generations. A few titles were suggested by the book, but the majority were invented from scratch by Paul Williams, who found working with Henson and the Muppets to be uniquely inspiring.

Williams: There’s such an amazing energy that you get working around Jim. I think the more calm you are, the easier the flow of the creative source. If I get tense and say, “Oh my god, I gotta finish this,” things slow down a little bit. But if you can stay as relaxed as Jim seem to be? The songs just poured out of me.

Oz: Paul got the spirit of Muppets and Jim. Not everybody can, you know? People don’t often get the fact of the sense of purity and the sense of play and the sense of integrity of character. They sometimes, as an adult, try to make things clever or funny. But Paul just approached it the same way Jim did, and we did. He had that ability to, in a way, be one of us in the musical realm.

Williams: I think the big mistake that a lot of songwriters make when they’re writing for a musical is to try to write a hit song. And I never did that.

Goelz: But you know, he wrote this lovely song “Barbecue” — “Barbecue lifts my spirit, I swear it never fails” — you know, it made me want barbecue whenever I heard it. And then he turned right around and created this incredible spiritual, “When the River Meets the Sea,” that seems like it’s been around forever. It’s so eternal and it’s so profound. I used to sing it to my kids every night when we put them to bed.

Watch (from left) Harvey Beaver (Jim Henson), Charlie Muskrat (Richard Hunt), Emmet Otter (Jerry Nelson), and Wendell Porcupine (Dave Goelz) sing ‘Barbecue’:

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Williams: I remember eating barbecue, and that I would always get it under my nails. I think maybe the first line I got was, “The sauce mama makes’ll stay there forever if you dare to get it under your nails.” And I think that because I was such a middle-of-the road writer, writing for the Carpenters and Three Dog Night, that that first line is very personal: “When you meet somebody who don’t like soul food they still got a soul, and it don’t mean that you ain’t got rhythm if you don’t like rock and roll.” There’s probably a little bit of something defensive in that about, no, I’m not part of the Laurel Canyon, Crosby-Stills-Nash-and-Young crowd, or that hardcore rock-and-roll, Rolling Stones music is not what I wrote. But just because I don’t write rock and roll doesn’t mean that I don’t have a soul. [The next line is] “If your taste’s like mine you like cider not wine” — which is interesting because I’m 27 years sober now, but at the time I definitely preferred wine. But I thought, it’s for the kids.

Oz: The music was just the most beautiful stuff. Paul’s written other stuff for us and it’s beautiful, but somehow this is really extraordinary.

Williams: I love the way that “Our World” and “Brothers” come together at the end. You know, I’m an old hippie. In the ’60s I was up in San Francisco with flowers in my hair like everybody else was, and my love beads and my tie dye T-shirts and camouflage pants and work boots and long hair and a top hat with a feather in it. So “Our World” is very, very much in that spirit. It’s a little hymn, you know? It’s like a little hymn.

Watch The ‘Our World/Brothers’ medley from ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’:

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When characters perform songs in the story, they actually “play” their individual instrument parts. The tracks were pre-recorded, so they weren’t making the music live — but the Muppeteers put enormous effort into getting it right.

Oz: We all worked hard on that. If you look at Wendell playing the jug — Davey got that jug track, and he rehearsed that jug track alone. I got the washtub track with a single string. We each got our own part and rehearsed it, and then when it was mixed together, we knew our parts. And we always took pride in the fact that we didn’t fake all that stuff; we really rehearsed that very well. We’d do that for The Muppet Show too.

Emmet Otter was a labor of love for all involved, but days of shooting with puppets could be repetitive and tedious. This is illustrated, hilariously, by an outtake reel of a single shot included on the DVD. (Watch it below.) In the 10-second shot, Ma (Oz, pre-voice dubbing) and Emmet are standing outside a music store that is being trashed by the Riverbottom Nightmare band. A drum is supposed to come rolling out of the door and land in front of them. When the drum doesn’t land in the right place, Henson resets the shot again, and again, and again, a total of 33 times, while the puppeteers ad-lib between takes.

Oz: The drum rolling was classic. I remember we rehearsed it. Jerry and I were underneath the set, just like all the other performers, so we’re in two holes. And in the rehearsal it landed beautifully, perfect — so we thought, we’ll do it again. It must have been 30, 40 takes? But Jim would not give up. We’d be there all day long.

Watch The outtakes reel for the drum-rolling scene:

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Goelz: That’s the thing that differentiates the Muppets: nobody else is crazy enough to do this.

Oz: It’s true. These days you have CG, and it’s just not as much fun because you can always throw money at something and do it. But when we did it with Jim it was real time. And so you had to be a little bit crazy – and Jim was, in that regard. He would just do anything. And I think Davey’s right, nobody actually understood the depth of experience we went through to fulfill Jim’s vision.

Goelz: That commitment is so deep and so persistent. It was actually a lesson about life, too, for me anyway. I went on from there and I thought: If something’s really important, you do whatever it takes.

Oz: What was funny to me was, that take was like shooting dice. There’s no way you could control that drum! [laughs] It was just blind faith that it would do it again.

Goelz: It’s probably worth saying that Frank and Jerry were in a lot of pain during that, because underneath that set, when you have your arm stuck in a hole, there are all these beams that go right through where your head is supposed to be. And so your head can’t be where it normally is on your shoulders; you have to put it off to the side somewhere. And it hurts like crazy. And when you go over and over like that for as long as that was, you’re in a lot of pain. And in spite of that you have to perform; you have to compartmentalize it.

Oz: And that’s what we learned from Jim. And Dave does the same thing and Richie Hunt did the same thing — all of us did the same thing, where I say, we just sustained the pain to get the performance. All of us did.

Goelz: And at the same time, Frank was still throwing in ad libs after every failure.

As a puppeteer, Goelz had his own unique physical challenge on Emmet Otter set: performing the catfish in a full tank of water during the Riverbottom Nightmare Band’s performance. (Watch it below.)

Goelz: That was a scary thing, because the set-up was, the fish tank was built into the set. It had a hole in the upstage side, away from the camera, and a wetsuit arm glued securely into it so you could fill the tank with water, put the arm inside the wetsuit on, and then somebody would put the puppet on your hand. And I was sitting on a forklift truck; there was a palette on a forklift truck that held me at the right height so I could put my arm into this tank. I remember just the whole time I was terrified that somebody might come along and turn the switch, and if that palette went down, my arm would just be cut off like a guillotine! [laughs] I think Frank knew that and he really loved it.

Oz: I love anytime when somebody else is in pain. Sure. [laughs]

Goelz: Especially me, for some reason.

Oz: Oh there’s many reasons.

The Riverbottom Nightmare Band performs their signature song. Performers include Dave Goelz as the catfish dancing in the water tank and Frank Oz as lead singer and keyboardist Chuck.

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Though filled with old-fashioned charm, Emmet Otter actually employed a savvy blend of age-old puppetry techniques and cutting-edge animatronic technology. Engineering wizard Franz “Faz” Fazakas, a frequent Muppet collaborator, designed the rowboat that could be steered along the set’s 50-foot river, and rigged versions of Ma and Emmet that could be operated via remote control while they were on the water.

Goelz: The boat was super high tech. The radio-controlled Emmet and the radio-controlled boat worked together so Emmet could row it around, just like a real rowboat.

Oz: And while the boat was being rowed around, Ma could be singing, because of the remote control. However, when it got into a closer shot, Jim just put the boat in front of the river — so we’re on the studio floor, and the camera’s shooting at us past the river in the background.

Goelz: For close-ups, they wanted to use hand puppets for better manipulation than you can get with a remote control figure. Same thing was done in The Dark Crystal actually, same exact technique. But then on the same shoot, we also had puppets marionetted. So occasionally in long shots, you’d see Emmet walking across this big wide shot as a marionette. And that was very primitive; they looked pretty silly walking along with their feet kicking out as they walked. But to me it’s all part of the charm. I just love that it’s that way.

‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ (Photo: Sony Home Pictures Entertainment/ The Jim Henson Company)

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas premiered on Canadian television in December 1977, followed by an HBO premiere in 1978 and a network premiere on ABC in 1980. The critically acclaimed special provided a groundwork for the Muppets’ feature films, which took Henson’s detailed world-building, groundbreaking special effects, and Muppet-specific cinematic techniques to a new level. Williams went on to write songs for The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and the 2008 stage adaptation of Emmet Otter. The tale of Frogtown Hollow continued to hold a special place in the hearts of those involved — including Henson, who included one of Emmet Otter’s songs in the musical program he designed for his memorial service (held in New York City on May 21, 1990, five days after his death).

Williams: The last thing that I ever expected was to hear “When the River Meets the Sea” at Jim’s funeral. It was an especially emotional moment in the funeral for me. But I think that the songs in Emmet Otter, and the way that Emmet Otter rolled out, is exactly what Jim wanted. I think it’s a gorgeous little jewel of the Muppets at their best.

Oz: If people made Emmet Otter these days, they would make it for little children. We never made it for children. We just did it for ourselves, and so we enjoyed it for ourselves.

Goelz: None of us talked about it — especially Jim — but I think that this show represented Jim’s philosophy very accurately. And I think in all of our work, a part of it may have been that we were trying to show a world the way we’d like the world to be.

Oz: It’s such a chancey thing that Jim always did, which is take a chance on real purity and sweetness. We don’t want cloying, we don’t like cute — but sweet is legitimate. And Jim just went for it.

Goelz: You know, we just did two shows with the Muppets at the Hollywood Bowl back in September. They were literally like these long, extended Muppet Shows. And we had packed houses, eighteen thousand people in the audience. You could just feel their hunger for decency, and innocence and whimsy. The world really wants that right now.

Watch Ma Otter sing ‘When the River Meets the Sea’:

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