#let's misbehave

[mearchuimhne]

I'm stumping for my friend's play, which I have seen through many drafts and readings over the last decade.

Do you like t4t romance? Do you like queer, jazz age shenanigans and comedy? Do you like to see new arts get made and have all involved paid for it?

Please consider backing Let's Misbehave - they're so close to the goal!

[trendlory]

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They are in each other all along. ~Rumi. 

[kikiatthemirror]

The scene of Dean dancing is so important to me that I even wrote a fanfic about it, and now reading this analysis is breaking me.

I would like the answer to the only key question: how much did the writers know and how much was just coincidences? We'll never know, but damn...if it was all a coincidence, I have to start believing in a queer deity who did their best for Dean Winchester

“Let Me Call You Sweetheart” - Breakdown of the “Let’s Misbehave” Dance Scene from Heroes’ Journey

Cas, as it turned out, was lamp.

“Let Me Call You Sweetheart” - Gene Kelly’s iconic mop dance. Of course the difference between Dean Winchester and Gene Kelly is that Gene Kelly got to use an umbrella.

oh boy guys - strap in cuz we’re going to get deep into Old. Gay. Musicals. One of these references foreshadows Cas showing up in Dean’s heaven. If they did that on purpose then I’m ready to Misbehave. 👀

TBC - the Entire sequence is about Dean wanting what Garth has but didn’t realize he could have with another Man, or with Cas. That’s not up for debate in this post. There is a long history of characters ‘coming out’ in dance sequences, and I can not divorce this in my mind from the fact that Mac from Always Sunny, a character that had been closeted nearly as long as Dean Winchester, had recently come out in a dance number (x).

Instead I’m going deep dive on the chosen music and the dance references. 

Let’s Misbehave, Cole Porter, and Queercoded Innuendo

Let’s Misbehave was a gay anthem all about living outside the law written by Cole Porter, a gay man in a time when that was not a thing you were allowed to be. His work like I ‘Loved Him (But He Didn’t Love Me)’ or ‘I’m a Gigolo’ (“a dash of lavender found next to a passionless dowager”) is full of innuendo which is, in hindsight, extremely gay, but written ambiguously in ways that flew perfectly under the radar of censors at the time. His more famous musicals are still on Broadway regularly.  

In order to change up the pacing of some of his shows, the songs have been switched around somewhat.  “Let’s Misbehave” was actually written for the female lead in a show called Paris, where two characters who’ve been working together only now realize they are in love. I wonder whether people working on spn know that.

It was dropped from ‘Paris’ in favor of “Let’s Do It” (which the censors demanded be renamed, “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love” sure guys, you totally fixed it, GJ.)  35 years later it was added to the Second Act of the much more famous, “Anything Goes” where it joined songs with lines I know you will all enjoy such as “Baby, if I’m the bottom, You’re the Top.” More on Anything Goes at the end of the post. It’s fun stuff, there’s a lamp.

The Hays Office had a lot of issues with his titles, but ironically when they renamed works like ‘The Gay Divorce’ it became the infinitely funnier ‘The Gay Divorcee’. Bigots not getting it: funny for 100 years and counting. 

Dance Breakdown

Garth and Dean start dancing in white tuxes with straw hats and canes which could reference any number of B&W old movies. Dean is learning from Garth how to dance, copying him.  Just like Fred Astaire’s call and response solos in Top Hat White Tie and Tails which has this lil move. (This one is fun for the audio Astaire adds with the cane.)

then Dean goes to throw his cane and his partner is missing - he isn’t there. 

Eright - now this part - this part I want to be wrong I really do.  I really do. Now tell me this show is not referencing the one time Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire danced together when they have Dean and Garth dance together. TELL ME. 

Because here’s the thing about this number…. the one time they danced together it was to the ‘The Babbitt And The Bromide’, a song where two men repeatedly meet, beat each other up, dance together in close embrace, and then separate for decades. “they both were solid citizens they both had been around” they spend their lives with their wives, and then they meet again in heaven ….. sigh.

“A harp each one was carrying and both were wearing wings, and this is what they sang as they kept strumming on the strings, You’ve grown a little stouter since i saw you last i think, Come up and see me sometime and we’ll have a little drink” (x)

Gunna be honest. I had never once thought about the lyrics of this number before. So did the spn writers? Or were they just referencing the famous dancers? Because if it is on purpose, which is a BIG if, but if they thought about it and it’s on purpose? … Then it foreshadows Castiel in Dean’s heaven in the finale. I’m going to keep going, but that is absolutely the headline.

(This is actually not the first time we’ve seen Dean do that little heel click move. It appeared in season 6 so Jensen has had it under his belt for awhile. I just enjoy that fact.)

There is Dean doing that dance without a partner by his side. So next Dean makes like Gene Kelly - and he finds one. See the Lamp vs Mop Gifs at the top of the post. That’s Gene Kelly dancing with a mop to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”, something we all know Dean Winchester never says and certainly has never called Castiel.  (x)

When he’s done, Dean blows a kiss at the lamp and moves on with his dance reference tour.  Dean taps up the stairs in a likely nod to Bill ‘BoJangles’ Robinson, the highest paid black actor or performer of his time, famous for his stair tap dance. (x)

Back to the history of ‘Let’s Misbehave’ for a second. In '72 it was used in the opening credits of the movie ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)’. Then in '81 Christopher Walken strip tap danced to it on a pool table surrounded by women and photos of nude women until he revealed a giant tattoo of a heart on his chest in ‘Pennies from Heaven’ (x). So of course that’s the very thing that Dean does. Well, the tap on the table, not the stripping. 

The dance he does up there is almost a cross between a tap and a Charleston, the signature dances for the time and used in Anything Goes.  It’s also vaguely reminiscent of a dance Fred Astaire did in Swing Time that would only be called an homage to Robinson if we’re being extremely generous to Fred Astaire.

Jensen ends on a sequence of tap I find extremely impressive at its speed for someone who only learned for this very dance, and I just want to recognize and give cred to it.

It’s not specific enough choreography that I have placed it to any one dancer or dance yet, just presented with skill. I know there are more references & nods, including the little cane hop at the beginning, so if anyone picks more out I will be editing the post.

Anything Goes - keep reading

Like SPN, 'Anything Goes’ a show that people think of as lighter fair, a guilty pleasure - pulp - not much meat there. It’s easy to digest for a general audience that isn’t reading too much into anything… but try telling that to the people analyzing it… 

Anything Goes was the first successful Broadway musical comedy to build a story on two threads of pointed cultural satire, apparently. It was riske for the time. The show includes the “yes they really did put that on stage in 1927″ song lyric “If love affairs you like with young bears you like….”  and yes, that meant the same thing then.  

because I know this fandom, The show also includes the song “Blow Gabriel, Blow,” it’s all about sex, but is disguised as a religious hymn about the book of revelations, and it’s set to Jazz [the devil’s music] and ‘is about’ praying to an archangel to blow his horn and bring the end times already, because we’re already living through the apocalypse:  Enjoy some famous lines  (x): 

“I’ve been a sinner, I’ve been a scamp, But now I’m willin’ to trim my lamp” ;

“Once I was headed for hell, Once I was headed for hell; But when I got to Satan’s door I heard you blowin’ on your horn once more, So I said, “Satan, farewell!”; & “'Cause I’ve gone through brimstone, And I’ve been through the fire, And I purged my soul, And my heart too, So climb up the mountaintop, And start to blow, Gabriel, blow”

Remind you of any boys we know?

So, like in any spn analysis, the question becomes, “What did they do on purpose and what was an accident?”

Did they purposefully pick a gay song by a gay man?

Did they know about the original intended plot of the song?

Do they know about the duel nature of Anything Goes?

Did they just pick random famous dance numbers to reference or did they pay attention to lyrics and subtext?

Lamp. I’m just going to write lamp here

The episode was written by Andrew Dabb and directed by John Showalter, these questions keep coming up with the two of them. That being said, clearly the whole sequence was choreographed by someone else, and that someone else was Gordon Hart (x), who is, according to his instagram, married to a man. I don’t know about you, but if that Babbit & the Bromide stuff is on purpose, I am also ready to Misbehave.

In this case Cas was quite literally Lamp.

[belladonna-wright]

Let's Misbehave

As Time Goes By - Chapter 9

New York, 1923.

When 'Alice' met 'Adam.' @wilde-fun

Jessie: 

 Oh yes, this was more like it. Chatter filled the air as she stepped into the high-ceilinged ballroom. Light glittered off the chandeliers. Trumpets made muted wails from the little stage set up at one end of the room, and shrieks and whoops rose up from the dancers.

You looked around here, the whirling dresses, the sparkling jewellery, the flashing smiles and shining brill cream, well polished shoes, and the mud and the rubble-dust and the guns seemed like stories of a different universe. Yes, Jessie could enjoy getting lost here for a while longer. That was the joy of New York, you see. So much life, so much vibrancy, even as the bones of the city she had once known seemed to crumble every day. 

Now she wanted to forget the past, she didn’t mind so much.

Greeting several friends of the hosts she knew, by a faint acquaintance, enough to get herself invited, Jessie’s keen eyes followed the flash of a bracelet in the middle distance. Ah there she was, the oil heiress with the spectacular new diamond bracelet she had heard so much about in the society pages. It was like waving a plate of meat under the nose of a dog. How was she supposed to resist?

Glad-handing her way across the room, Jessie paused here and there to greet people she knew, or to take introductions and make chatter, all the while keeping one eye flitting towards their hostess. 

She was hearing all about Mr Richards’ new shipping venture to South Africa when she saw a stranger pass across her eyeline, dark hair and broad shoulders, blocking her view for a moment. No doubt some heir to a law firm, or perhaps a trading company, he had something of the look about him, the uncanny confidence. She paid him little heed. 

Until she came closer… and stopped. Before she could reach her. The tell-tale glint on her wrist was gone. Jessie glanced first at the floor, nothing there. She glanced left and right, and caught a glimpse of the dark-haired young man disappearing into the crowd and… a flash slipping into his pocket. One corner of her mouth twisted into a smile. 

Oh. Well now this could be interesting indeed. 

Nick: 

Nick liked New York. It was a city that was constantly shifting, fighting itself until it had someone else to fight and then it would band together only to fracture again. No one seemed to be from here, yet everyone claimed it with a ferocity that was impossible to dispute. It was a world away from the memories that haunted him and the life he’d left behind, and that was exactly how he liked it. 

He might have come over in 3rd class on a steamer, but a few small jobs and he’d been able to get himself the wardrobe he needed to move among the upper crust again. Even better, he’d been friendly with enough American expats in Paris to have gotten himself introduced to some of the people here in order to secure the invitations that would allow him to move freely among them. 

He could have snuck into any of the parties, sure. But if he wanted to stay welcomed among them, it was better for his place to be genuine. And he had a feeling he would be here for quite some time. 

He greeted the hosts, greeted the guests he knew, and began to make his way around. It only took a quick scan to let him know who he should be talking to and where to focus his energy. After all, he might have a place to sleep for now, but it was always good to have a backup, and there were plenty of sharp eyed women looking for someone to satisfy them on the side. But he had a different goal first. 

In a way, she was too easy. A little bit air headed and a lot romantic, the oil heiress was showing off her new bracelet to everyone she spoke with. It only took a moment to loosen the clasp slightly. 

After he’d left the conversation, he waited for her to have another conversation with someone and leave that behind, creating the space that would create the gap in her memory, and then he slid the loosened bracelet off her wrist and into his pocket while she was in the process of turning the other direction. 

As he slipped it into his pocket, he made sure to disappear into the crowd and lose himself in a different conversation so that he would be remembered as being nowhere near the girl whenever the loss was discovered. 

Jessie: 

Jessie was annoyed, as she tried to follow the back of the man’s head as he headed through the crowd. She had been setting up this lift for weeks now, weeks! Making sure she could get herself an invite, making sure it seemed so natural that nobody would question her presence as a relative newcomer or wonder why she was here. Weeks of work! Only for some man to come along and steal it? Well she wasn’t having that!

She tracked him through the crowd, striking up a polite conversation about an opera that was on, but keeping one eye flitting towards him. 

Now she made her way after him as she saw him lingering not far from a doorway. Perfect. He was almost good looking, with his square jaw and dark hair, but right now he was a puzzle, a game to play and to try to win, which was infinitely more attractive. As she approached the doorway, Jessie slowed her walk a fraction, just so she could dance awkwardly around the trio of men who were coming in, as if she were struggling with her shoes.

She stepped to the side, crowding into his personal space just enough to unsettle. As she did, her hand slipped - quick as a flash - into the man’s pocket. Then she was off, sidling past with a muttered apology and a grumble about good manners. 

In the drawing room, she risked a brief glance at the bracelet in her fist. She smiled, slipping it into the pocket sewn into her dress, and fetching herself a drink. 

Nick:

With the main goal of his evening successfully accomplished, Nick felt that he could relax. He knew how to make himself charming enough to fit in without ever standing out, and he made use of the skill. Told a joke here, gave a flattering compliment there, and moved himself skillfully around the room to the opposite side of the heiress. 

He paused by a doorway for a moment to catch a quick breath and see if there were any good side pieces he could take advantage of while he was here. That was when he noticed her. 

She was beautiful in a way that was understated among the made up glamor of New York’s elite, but was all the more compelling for it. There was a laziness to her smile he recognized as someone comfortable with the fact that they had all the time in the world and they planned to spend it exactly as they pleased. For a moment, he wondered how he’d missed her as she came up to stand next to him. Idly, he thought about finding her a little later, after he’d had a chance to ask around and find out a little bit more about her. 

As she walked away, he slid his hands into his pocket, letting himself appreciate the sight of her walking away. Only to realize that his pockets were empty and he caught a glimpse of a muted sparkle between her fingers. 

“Well, damn. Brava,” he muttered to himself. 

Jessie: 

Now the ‘work’ portion of the evening was over, Jessie could give herself over to enjoying the delights of a party that clearly had cost a small fortune. She was sitting at one end of a couch in the drawing room, a cigarette holder balanced between her fingertips as she made eye contact with a handsome young man who was standing by the fireplace. He looked vigorous, there was a certain innocence in his blonde curls and a certain depth in his eyes that promised what could be a very entertaining evening, once he plucked up the courage to say hello. 

For now, she made polite chatter with some of the gals. They were comparing dressmakers. It was all useful information to know - who made the finest, but more traditional, garments, who cut corners for cheaper items, who was willing to create something daring - that she stored away for later, even if she wasn’t really paying attention. 

She raised her glass to her lips as she spotted the dark-haired young gentleman from earlier make his way into the room. She tried not to watch him, to not give away any sign that she might have memorised his face, but could not help the reflex to move her bag a little closer to her side.

Knowing there was another hunter after her prey made a woman protective.

Nick:

Nick made sure not to make it too obvious that he was following the woman into the room. He was sure that she would be aware of him. After all, she’d discovered his theft, and instead of reporting him to anyone had stolen the bracelet in return, so there was no way she didn’t know who he was (even if she didn’t know who he was in the same way he didn’t know her identity either). 

But that meant this had become a different game. He wasn’t willing to let go of a score like that, not with all the work it had taken to get it in the first place. But stealing from a thief was different from stealing from a mark - and somehow he had to do it without anyone at the party catching on to what was happening. 

It wouldn’t be any fun if he ruined the game for both of them, now would it?

He waited until he caught the eye of one of the pretty things in the circle around her, and when she gestured him over, he went gladly. “Katharine you look positively radiant.” She giggled and waved away his compliment. 

“You never change do you, Adam?”

“Why would I when you like me so much?”

“Do you know everyone else in this circle? Here, let me introduce you.” He paid polite attention as she started to go around and tell him the names he already knew, making sure not to give his quarry any particular attention. 

Jessie: 

Well he wasn’t short of balls, she’d give him that. Jessie locked eyes with Adam as she offered her hand, briefly, and smiled politely. “Alice,” she introduced herself. “Charmed.” But her eyes were offering a challenge. What? Did he think he could come and take back the prize? Well good luck to him. 

Although there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that told her that of course she should have just left once she’d got the jewellery, knowing there was another thief on the premises, she knew. But for all her planning and preparation, which had been fun, would that have been too easy? To swipe a bracelet from an unsuspecting naive young socialite who wouldn’t even really be that upset to lose it? Now this, this was an excellent game, potentially. 

But for all that she knew that she wouldn’t be able to use her actual speed or strength if it came to it, so she would have to keep her watchful eyes on this Adam. She settled back on the sofa, her purse close to her leg, her gaze flitting back to him whenever she could.

Nick: 

Alice. It was a perfectly inoffensive name which matched the inoffensive smile that she gave him. He’d bet the bracelet they were both trying to steal that it wasn’t the name she used outside these circles. But inside, it matched in the same way Adam did. 

It was only her eyes that gave her away, and only if you looked closely. No one else around them thought to do that - which was a bit of a shame. 

For a few minutes, they all chatted about the kind of nothing that socialites loved to discuss. He made sure to say the right thing at each break, scattered compliments around to each of them, and every now and then would make a reference to his time in France which would get them started on a new conversation about all the expats living over there. 

When they were excited enough not to be paying him too much attention, he looked up as if someone had caught his attention and gave a small wave. Quietly, he excused himself and received an absent dismissal in response. 

He walked into the crowd, making sure he was out of sight. It was then he cast a quick illusion to make himself invisible before moving silently back into the crowd, navigating carefully so that he didn’t bump into anyone in a way that couldn’t be easily explained. Only when he’d gotten to the couch and the purse waiting there did he move quickly, sliding his hand in and out with a speed that wasn’t quite human. 

Bracelet safely back in his pocket, he slipped away into the crowd and around the corner before dropping the illusion. He wondered how long it would take her to notice and come after him this time. 

Jessie: 

Jessie kept her eye on Adam, even if Alice supposedly didn’t, watching his reflection, stealing brief glances for half moments as she looked to someone else who was being pointed out, even after he’d left their little circle. 

The second he did, the clock began to count down. How long did she leave it before she made her excuses and left. She had to make sure that her leaving the party was so credible, so unbelievably unremarkable that even once the bracelet had finally been discovered missing, nobody would think of her at all. It was all a critical part of being ‘Alice.’ Being invisible in the skin of someone who was just utterly average. 

Once she began to leave, she was marvelling, really. How did someone own such expensive jewellery and then seem not to notice at all that it had been stolen? Or had she noticed and been convinced that she would just have dropped it somewhere and they would find it at the end of the night? Or were they busy lining up all the staff to inspect their pockets before they dared accuse a guest? 

Either way, in the atrium, Jessie reached into her purse, ready to slope away. 

Well damn. 

How in the hell had that sneaky little bastard managed to get it away from her? Either he was a master of misdirection, or he had some trick up his sleeve she hadn’t known about. Either was, she was furious. 

Not that you’d know it, from the way a smile was inching across her face. 

A challenge. 

Well. Now she and Adam were going to have to have another meeting, weren’t they?

Nick: 

This time around, Nick knew better than to risk letting Alice get close. Honestly, the same house might still be too close, the same room definitely was, and if she was within 10 feet of him he had screwed up somehow. 

He didn’t know if she had magic to help her. But considering he did and made use of it liberally, it was always smarter to plan as if everyone else had at least the same advantages as him, if not better ones. Assumptions like that meant his plans were better and he was still alive to talk about them. 

It was almost a shame. He hadn’t met anyone else this good, certainly not working the upper crust like this. He wished he could have gotten to know her better. 

But he wanted the money from this bracelet more, so that came first. 

He made sure to touch base with a few other people, but the countdown clock in his head told him he should already be heading out if he didn’t want to run the risk of getting caught. So he started to make his excuses to the few people he knew and began to edge his way out. 

Jessie: 

It was harder this time, of course it was. He was alert, this Adam, she could tell that he was also trying to play it more carefully now. She absolutely should have left when she had the chance, but this was more of a rush than any of the thefts had been lately. Every time she got into his periphery she could see how he got alert, how he was beginning to head for the door. 

She had to play this wisely, and quickly. 

Jessie looked around herself. What were her options… to try to use her speed to just grab it off him before he had a chance to react? Efficient perhaps but boring, predictable, sure to make sure she wasn’t going to get any sort of invite back if anybody spotted her movement. Or… she needed a distraction. 

Her eyes darted back and forth, watching as Adam got closer and closer to the door. Now or never. 

Jessie stuck her foot out. The sturdily built young man coming into the room never stood a chance - stumbling forwards and crashing into the waiter coming the other way, sending the whole tray of empty champagne flutes crashing down, the platter ringing loudly on the floor. All eyes fell to the scene as the waiter scrabbled about, apologising profusely. She felt a touch guilty, but once she had her jewels, she could slip the boy a tip. 

As it all went on, she turned her attention - in less than an instant - to her target.

Nick: 

Nick could practically see the door and his escape route. Not that it was some magical portal that instantly meant safety - after all, being out on the street with a score like this in his pocket presented its own difficulties if any bright eyed pick pockets tried to get the jump on him. But out in the street, he knew how to disappear more easily. It was the safest he’d be until he sold it. 

When he heard the crash behind him, he hesitated for a split second. It was too convenient, too obvious, considering everything else going on. 

But not turning to look carried its own dangers if anyone noticed. Looking was natural. Curiosity was natural. So even as he took a step forward, he turned to look at the shattered mess of glass and liquid and the people complaining about the effect this had on their clothes. 

He murmured to the person next to him, “Such a waste,” and tutted agreeably as he continued to ease back towards the door, glancing around to see where Alice might be. 

Jessie: 

For even the quickest of human pickpockets, it would have been impossible - but she was one to worry about little things like a level playing field. So she moved like a blur through the side of the room, half hidden by the dark wood panels where shadows always danced, and half by the crowd of people turning to look at the ensuing chaos as the platter danced on the floor. 

Before it even stopped rattling, she had pounced - her hand darting into ‘Adam’s pocket and out again as she kept on her way, not stopping until she reached the relative safety of the shade below the stairs, where few would think to question how quickly the darling Alice had appeared from where they could have sworn she wasn’t a moment before. 

But in speed, she knew, she had sacrificed subtlety. None of the art of the first pick, none of the delicacy, if he hadn’t noticed the way she bumped into him (even if he hadn’t known who it was) he was a fool. 

Jessie kept her gaze fixed on him, holding up the bracelet to let the gold flash as she grinned at him, waggling it for just a second before she stowed it back in her pocket. A risk, of course, but with eternal life, came the excitement of knowing that there were very few situations you couldn’t find your way out of.

Of course, the common sense voice in the back of her head (it sounded a lot like Pete, so her distaste) said she should have taken the opportunity to speed straight out of the door the moment she had the bracelet - he had been practically there, she could have been home before he even realised it was gone… but it wasn’t about the bracelet any more. She could almost feel adrenalin, that aliveness that came from not knowing how this would turn out, waiting to see his next move.

The game was afoot, and all that. 

Nick: 

Nick was fast when he wanted to be. But there was fast, and there was whatever the fuck she had just been up to - and there could only be one She at this point. (No, he wasn’t actually going to make this an Irene Adler reference, even in his own head. But also…you know he could.)

Regardless, it didn’t matter how fast he was because she was clearly faster, stealing the bracelet and gone again in the time it took him to turn back towards the door. 

It was the flash of gold in the shadows that had him smiling for a moment. Not an Adam smile, charmingly polite and endearing, designed to make people trust him and enjoy his company. No, this was a Nick smile with its sharp edged appreciation. If they had been somewhere else, he might have applauded. In the background, he had the thought that in another time or place, they could have even been friends. But he set it aside. People like them didn’t really make friends, did they?

That didn’t change the fun of the game in the moment. It probably would have been smarter to cut his losses at this point and let her have the bracelet, but where was the fun in that? The party wasn’t over just yet. 

So, this time he took a risk. Still watching her, he stepped back into the shadows near him and gave a quick wave. In the next moment, he was gone from her sight as the illusion hid him from view. He watched to see what she would do next. 

Jessie: 

Well you didn’t see that everyday … or didn’t not see that every day. An eyebrow lifted, and she couldn’t help but smirk a little. Oh, yes this was turning out to be a much more interesting evening than she’d anticipated. 

Ok, well, she couldn’t stay here, could she? If Adam had the power to simply disappear at will, or appear to, then she needed to be away from these crowds. It would be far too easy for someone to make her way through all of this space and bustle, unseen, and find her. It would be hard to spot someone coming until it was too late amid all of these people. 

So she slipped away, trying to use the crowd to her advantage and timing her movements to seem to disappear. She should have gone out of the nearest window of a quiet room. Instead, she made her way out towards the gardens. It was cooler out there at the rear of the house, quieter too, with only a few people standing gathered around on the patio sipping their drinks and congratulating themselves on being so frightfully original and deep as to avoid the main ballroom. But where the dappled light meant that shadows danced, and water burbled in a fountain, it was relatively quiet. She stepped onto a gravel path. Yes, good luck sneaking up on her on that, Adam. 

Nick: 

It wasn’t a true invisibility, and there was always a risk of bumping into someone since he couldn’t make himself any less solid. But as Nick moved around the edge of the room and kept an eye on Alice, he was confident that he’d gotten away with his little trick. After all, none of the rest of the guests here knew he was a Magick of any kind, and he preferred to keep it that way. They’d trust him less if they knew even the portion of it he did discuss. But there were no gasps, no screams, no sudden increase in gossip. It left him free to move and disguise any of his own small brushes with humanity in the large crowd. 

Even with his attention fixed on her, there were a few moments when he nearly lost her. She knew tricks for blending into crowds like he’d never seen before, and it was straight up luck that put him in the right position to see her slip out of the house and into the gardens. He wasn’t right behind her, but it didn’t take him long to follow her out. 

By the time he’d made it out, she had already stepped onto the gravel path, and he had to stop himself from applauding. Smart move there. Normally he hated a smart mark because of the risk involved, but he’d make an exception. 

He was able to handle two illusions at once, so for the moment he stayed where he was. But he created an illusion of footsteps on the gravel coming in just behind her. 

Jessie: 

Jessie wheeled towards the footsteps the second she heard them. 

The first time it was just a couple, stumbling their way back up the path after clearly stealing a quiet moment in the gardens. She snorted softly to herself, but said nothing as they made their way past her, the young man mumbling some excuse about admiring the roses. 

It felt agonising, waiting for the next set of footsteps. Voices trickled out through open windows and patio doors, the light drifting as people moved around inside, and yet all was quiet. She thought she heard a bird,at one point, singing to itself in a shrub somewhere not far off, but nothing suspicious. 

Until the gravel crunched again. Slowly, cockily, Jessie turned around with a smirk on her face. “Nice tr-”

She fell silent as she saw thin air, and blinked. 

Nick: 

Where he was standing, he had a perfect view of her baffled face when the footsteps echoed and there was no one there. Damn, he’d almost forgotten how fun his magic could be sometimes. So often these days, he only ever used it for stealing or for protecting himself. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to just play. 

He dropped the illusion of invisibility and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking straight towards her with a smile on his face. Why not?

“Thank you for the compliment. It’s not often these days that people appreciate real craftsmanship. You look stunning by the way, I don’t think I mentioned that inside. I wouldn’t want to cause a scene.” 

Jessie: 

If she had known how very stupid she looked in that moment she probably would have broken something. There was nothing she hated more than being made to look like a fool (even when she was the one to blame, her cockiness, her ego, her pride). Then she heard another crunch behind her and she wheeled, practically snarling this time only to see Adam standing there, bold as brass. 

Jessie composed herself, quickly. Most people wouldn’t even have caught it, but then, it seemed ‘Adam’ was not most people. Most people couldn’t appear out of thin air. Even she couldn’t do that. 

“Well,” She fixed her gaze on him, taking a single step. “Talent is hard to come by. One should always try to recognise it in others.” The compliment slid off her - he might have a pretty face, but she was done letting men with pretty faces get under her skin. “Tell me, what was it that set you after the bracelet-” she withdrew the pretty little thing and held it, where it twinkled softly in the night air. She assumed he was not simply an opportunist. 

Nick: 

Nick did catch that flash of expression in a way that had every ‘danger’ signal lighting up bright red in his brain. This was maybe a game he shouldn’t be playing and a person he shouldn’t be messing with. He was the new guy in town after all, and he was well aware that there were dangerous people around. He couldn’t make the sale if he didn’t live to do it. 

Then again, he wasn’t very good at listening to those warning signals in his brain if he was curious. And he couldn’t deny he was that. 

He couldn’t stop the way his eyes drifted towards the bracelet as it appeared. Which meant he wasn’t the only reckless one of the two of them. “I like to keep my ear to the ground. She hasn’t exactly been quiet in her bragging, and there’s usually a lot less competition at this level of the circuit. High risk, of course, but pretty high reward. And oh so satisfying, don’t you think?” 

He could steal from his fellow poor people when he needed to, but marks like this were better. Not only could they afford it, they were usually part of the reason his neighbors were poor. He liked the symmetry of it. 

Jessie: 

A smile tugged at her lips. “She did make it so tempting-” Jessie conceded. For a long moment, she regarded the man. 

The trouble with this business was that you never knew who you could trust. Or rather, you knew that it was a fool’s game to trust anyone. People, usually who had never met a true criminal themselves, liked to write about the bond between rogues. Outlaws bound by their common rebellion, some romantic notion that such people could have honour amongst thieves. 

The reality of course, was anything but. Like hounds fighting for scraps they could turn on one another in an instant and destroy everything you built. That was why she worked alone, why she had worked alone ever since the Round Up Gang had mounted their horses and splintered in different directions. 

You couldn’t trust others. But then they couldn’t hurt you either.

So maybe this was a huge mistake. 

Jessie flicked her wrist, tossing the bracelet to the man. Let him have it, she reasoned to herself. He looked like he needed a win more than she did. 

“You know there’s a coffee house down the street. They do a good pastry … tomorrow? Eleven?” 

Nick: 

Even surprised, Nick could trust his reflexes so he caught the bracelet easily when she tossed it his way. 

It made him suspicious. What was her game here? After all the effort back and forth, why would she suddenly hand it over to him? She could be planning to steal it back later, of course, or she could be planning to turn him into the cops to secure her own position or….well there were probably other possibilities. He should give it back. Show that he couldn’t be so easily bought. 

But. Well. The sale of this bracelet would be enough to finally get them out of the crappy apartment they were in and into one that was slightly better. It’d pay for Graeme’s new coat and Della’s new shoes, and still leave him with enough to set up for the next job.

With the thought of the kids on his mind, he couldn’t afford to be proud. He nodded and slipped the bracelet into his pocket. 

The question did have a smile growing - and this one was different than the other smiles. It wasn’t charming and playful, part of the character of Adam, or tinged with victory as Nick’s had been. It was simple. “Yeah, I could do with a coffee. I’ll be there.” 

[cfffrk]

What if Jeeves had worked as a page boy at a private boys' school in his youth?

[latimeria-fell-from-heaven]

omg opinions on mr reca,

he’s literally >:3, mr. reca is full of silly whimsy and i need to study him under a microscope. he’s such a pathetic unhinged freak and i LOVE that for him <33

but he don’t get pussy, that silly little man gets the biggest strap-on up his ass <33 you could get mr. reca to cum in his pants from just steeping on him a couple of times, and now he’s hooked. he’d hump your foot like the depraved dog he is and drool n pant when you press down even harder. he REEKS of obsessive masochist vibes, dude would constantly follow you around like a lost puppy and refuse to leave you alone.

might as well get yourself your very own personal dog <33

[addsalwayssick]

sirius giving remus a lap dance to the beginning of sexyback send tweet

[spinetacks]

look at these stinky kids 💞

[louissatturi]

I want to do an "essay" about the dynamic between richarlyson and his parents but i noticed that i dont watch much the pov of tazercraft and felps so im scared of saying incorrect stuff

Maybe i will do later because this "essay" is for a Noble reason (incorrect depctions of richas with his dads on ao3)

[iwtv-az-hours]

So you've heard The Vampire Sam Barcley wrote Waiting for Godot and is Irish and literally has Samuel Beckett's name

But the youngest in blood on the show is Santiago aged cca 20 (interview with Ben) meaning he was turned in the early 1920s which would mean AU Sam Beckett would have been turned in his teens to be older then Santi which doesn't seem to be right..... sus

And remember Assad in that interview mentioning there was a discussion about which book character easter egg Samuel is

And you've read the s3 renewal articles (yey s3 renewal!) confirming Sam makes it through the fire and continues to s3

What I'm trying to say is Vampire Sam is either Marius or Akasha

[headfullof-ideas]

After exhausting myself storyboarding, i decided to do some more doodling. And then i got thinking about certain aspects of the riders dynamics.

Having four fifteen to sixteen year old teenagers traveling with a twelve and thirteen year old leaves a lot of room for the older kids trying to take care of the younger kids. And the aspect of that that I was thinking of was how they handle danger.

Kari has mild anger issues due to an unstable home life with unreliable role models. She will and has gotten into fistfights with other people, something the older kids wished she didn’t do. Ant is younger than her, three inches shorted, and just attracts trouble. This kid will go a whole day purposefully avoiding anything that might end in trouble, and still end his day being chased by bandits through the woods. The older kids grow increasingly distraught at the sheer levels of chaos that Ant just attracts, usually ending in bodily harm on his end. The twins went a whole month being atheists against Loki specifically because they thought their favorite god cursed Ant with bad luck as some sort of prank.

Ant does not always purposefully attract trouble. Kari sometimes purposefully does. They are both tiny, squishy, untrained tweenagers. One of them is missing a whole foot, and is absurdly small for his age. The older kids desperately want them to stay out of trouble. As much as they can with half the Archipelago and then some after them.

So the older kids devise a super thought out, carefully constructed system of fishing them out of danger. And that is simply picking them up and running in the other direction as fast as they can.

Kari and Ant are both considerably smaller than the other riders, being considerably younger. Ant even more so, being small and light for his age. Kid weighs sixty pounds soaking wet (i had to google twelve year old boy weights to find an accurate weight for teeny Ant). They are both very easy to pick up. Carry away, now that depends. Kari kicks and bites and screams indignantly when they do it. Ant goes limp like a scruffed kitten at first, but then he gets comfortable with being around them, and soon also starts squirming and wriggling when he gets picked up and ran off with. Turns out getting kicked by a metal prosthetic hurts a lot, but they have butts of steel from riding dragons everywhere, so what’s a few bruised shins and ankles?

It’s a surprisingly effective method, especially when Ant and Kari fall behind with their much shorter legs, and when Ant was first adjusting to his prosthetic. The other riders start trading tips on where to grab the littlest riders in order to avoid the widest of their horribly frustrated swings and kicks.

It gets a little hard to do their by-then habitual scoop-and-run method when Ant and Kari stop being so little though.

Doesn’t stop them from trying.

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Imagine a being of absolute good just points at you and says, "You're the bad guys"

[notsosecretlyalesbian]

"I'm so tough, brass knuckles wear me to a fight."

Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti in Abbott Elementary | 02×03: Story Samurai

+bonus, we all feel you Barbara

[eidolontrolls]

GET MARKETABLE PLUSHIED, IDIOT

[moeblob]

(throws them into a modern AU)

So since Ymber wouldn't be a deity there are some things he lacks physically - such as no pointed ears and no bright blue undertones to his hair. Just the basic blue. (does he dye it in a modern AU ? who knows) Also while he doesn't have a collar to symbolize his servitude to humans I still think he should have a choker.

I had some help a while back brainstorming how there would be some form of "superior" dynamic could still exist and I really liked the idea given that he's a famous architect. (he does design all constructs for his city as a deity so it checks out - he likes buildings) And Deacon just admires all the guy's works and never expects to run into him but of course they do! Gotta have a very awkward "oh it's you I'm going to melt into the earth" and "I have no idea who you are but we should hang out".

Sooo Deacon still just really admires Ymber and feels like they're on totally different levels and doesn't understand why Ymber would want to associate with him since he's just a "boring human".

[notwithaste]

oh they’re leaving money on the table by not releasing the full version of this