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novelconcepts · 3 years ago

Note

Prompt: Jamie is the one who finds Dani locked in the closet. Dani is still having a panic attack and Jamie helps her.

Time slips away when you're out of your head, Dani has found. It moves so much faster--so much slower--so much less correctly with blood pumping at a dizzying rate. With black spots marring her vision. With her breath caught, tangled in a fisherman's net of sharp inhale, hold, hold, bare exhale, she can't think. There are tears dewed on her eyelashes, and fingers folded into shaking fists, and she is little more than the repetition of her own weight meeting the door--again--again--again--

It's open, she realizes, and wonders how long it has been open. Not long, certainly. Not with how forcefully she's been hurling herself against unyielding lumber. Certainly, she would have--

Well. Tumbled out as she is now, a horrible muddling of limbs and purple sweater and mascara scraped down her cheeks. The breath she has been clawing for still won't quite come, not even with the door hanging open and the soft light of Flora's bedroom pouring inside.

Not even with strong hands catching her by the shoulders, a voice speaking low and smooth into the silence left in the wake of her screams.

"Hey. Hey, now. Hey, you're out, you're all good."

She blinks once. Twice. The world as painted by hysteria is neatly bisected, right down the middle. On one side: the mirror, his solemn face, the horror of being locked in with him. On the other: butterflies on the walls, a dollhouse in the corner, cool air rushing against her flushed skin.

Dark curls. Bright eyes. The gardener from lunch, the one with whom Dani still hasn't held a real conversation.

Jamie.

"What," she tries to say--what are you doing here, you left hours ago, you shouldn't be here--and can't get any further. What, echoing between them, strangled on the end of a sharp inhalation that refuses to fill her up. Her throat is closing. There is a boulder lodged against her windpipe, another sinking down against her chest. She is, she realizes, folding her hands together so hard, her knuckles stand stark against the front of Jamie's overalls.

"Kids," Jamie says--a one-word question. The panic swells higher as Dani realizes she does not know. They were there, turning the key. They were shouting through the door. And then...then...

"Don't know," she wheezes. "Don't know--I--"

Jamie grits her teeth. Her eyes dart back toward the door, her body still tilted entirely toward Dani. "You all right if I...?"

Dani nods, a rapid bird-flutter of a gesture that sends her sour stomach heaving. She gropes backward for Flora's bed, sinking onto the edge of the mattress. Jamie watches her with an expression she can't quite read, her jaw lifted, her shoulders set.

"Back in a sec. Promise."

Dani shuts her eyes, scrounging for breath, listening to the steady thud of boots striding out of the room. Her fingers sink into Flora’s bedspread, her elbows pressed to her knees as she struggles to keep from folding completely in half. Who will that help? She's out. She’s out, and there’s plenty of air out here, and she’s--

Hands, gently brushing her arms. She peels her eyes open, hating how swollen they already feel, hating that faint whistle at the back of her throat that says her lungs still aren’t quite doing their job. Jamie is kneeling on the floor, looking at her with absolutely none of the tight unease from lunch. Her expression is surprisingly warm, though creased with concern, and her hands do not fall away from Dani’s arms.

“Found ‘em,” she says. “They’re fine. What happened?”

Dani draws as deep a breath as she can manage, unseeing eyes rooted to the front of Jamie’s shirt beneath her scuffed overalls. The neat rectangle of navy cotton swells out--in--out with Jamie’s entirely-stable breaths. She finds herself blankly trying to mimic the beats, relieved and embarrassed in equal measure when Jamie seems to realize what’s happening and begins breathing with intent. In. Hold. Out. Hold. Again, again, until Dani’s heart finally catches up with her brain.

“Better?” Jamie asks. Dani, uncertain how much time has slipped away with this woman holding her by the elbows, setting a pace for slow, even breaths, nods. “Right. Good. Now: what happened?”

A flash of movement tugs at her attention, pulling her eyes to a point over Jamie’s shoulder. Miles and Flora, leaning against the doorframe, their faces ashen. She swallows hard.

“We’re sorry,” Flora says quickly.

“It got stuck,” Miles adds. There is a furtive look to his eyes that says even he does not expect her to believe this. Dani swallows again.

“Bed.”

There are more words in her--big, angry, panic-throttled words--but she wouldn’t let them fly even if Jamie weren’t here. That isn’t how you deal with kids. That isn't how you deal with traumatized orphans.

Not even when they pull stunts like this.

“Honest,” Miles starts to say. She closes her eyes, scrubs her hands over her face. Her palms are hot, her newly-caught breath stuffy. She wants to stay in the cupped enclosure of her own hands forever.

Flora makes a tiny hiccuping noise, the precursor to tears. Jamie’s hand flexes around her arm. Dani bites her tongue until the throb of pain cuts through the memory of his glasses, his glasses in the mirror, I was in there with him alone.

“We,” she says in as level a voice she can muster, “will talk about this in the morning.”

Jamie is looking at her, she realizes. Jamie, leaning back into a crouch, is watching her with the wary concern of one waiting to see if a rabbit will escape a snare unscathed. Dani gives her a very small nod--I’m okay--and she pushes to her feet, claps her hands, turns on her heel.

“Right. You heard her. Bed.”

Dani removes herself from Flora’s bed, still shaking even as she tucks the tiny girl under the covers. Jamie stands back, almost to the door, watching the proceedings as if half-believing she’ll have to take over at some point.

No, thinks Dani with hot embarrassment. This is her job, not Jamie’s. Jamie even being here is more than her job description. Even still floundering at the end of a panic attack, Dani can do this much.

“I really am sorry,” Miles mumbles, blankets pulled up to his chin. Dani searches his face. Not a single beat of a lie there now; he looks perfectly miserable, his cheeks bright with shame. She exhales, hoping her voice will hold.

It does. Barely. “Get some sleep. We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”

He rolls over, face mashed against the pillow. Dani drags in an unsteady breath, holds it as she closes in on the door, the light switch, the hallway.

“All right?” Jamie asks again when the doors have been closed and the children tucked away. Dani presses her face to her hands, groaning.

“Yeah. Yes. I’m sorry, that was--”

“Sorry?” Jamie repeats blankly. “What’ve you got to be sorry about? Didn’t lock yourself in there, I’d wager.”

No. No, she hadn’t. And tomorrow, she’ll have to pull herself together better than this--locate the mask of the Polished Au Pair, who is good with even the most difficult of children, who doesn’t scream herself hoarse and bruise up her shoulder trying to get away from memories held behind glass--

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Her voice is brittle, the words edged. Jamie only looks at her steadily, hands in her pockets, not taking so much as a step back.

“Left my flat key. Ring broke this afternoon--must’ve skidded under something out in the greenhouse. I was going to check when I heard the, ah. The...” She trails off, looking almost embarrassed for the first time--embarrassed not for herself, but for Dani, who had indeed been scraping her throat raw with shrieks. Dani grits her teeth.

“I have a--”

She’s not sure what she’s going to say next; a condition? A phobia? The absolutely horrific poor fortune to be haunted by her ex-fiance in every reflective surface? Jamie holds up a hand.

“Doesn’t matter,” she says. “Not unless you want to talk it over. Do you?”

Dani shakes her head. Truth be told, she’s wrung out--her head is pounding, her hands numb from being squeezed into such uncompromising fists. Jamie looks unsurprised.

“Then it’s your own,” she says easily. “You share it on your time. Christ, Poppins, think it’s the first time kids have reduced a grown woman to tears?”

There’s plenty to unpack here--Jamie’s kindness, in letting it slide; Jamie’s careless phrasing, as though she expects minor doses of aggression from perfectly well-mannered children every day; Jamie’s expression, even, holding firm on Dani as though she’s the only real thing in this house. Dani finds herself landing on something else entirely.

“Is that...mud?”

There are, she sees now, footprints. Wrapping down the hall, leading down the staircase, all the way to the front door. She frowns, following them at a slow clip, her legs still trembling. Jamie follows.

“Wasn’t me,” she says, as if Dani holds accusations on her tongue. “Hannah says this happens sometimes. Maybe one of the beasts taking the piss?”

“Maybe.” The prints are larger than either child could make on their own, Dani thinks with a plummeting sense of alarm. Large, and staggered, and odd. Still. Kids. Jamie’s probably right--it’s likely just a prank. A silly trick to test the new au pair’s mettle.

She turns her head, surprised to find Jamie still looking at her. “I’m sorry. Did you need help finding your key?”

Jamie shrugs. “Nah. I know the way. And if it’s not where I figure, I’ll just post up on the couch for the night. Hannah won’t mind.”

Dani smiles faintly. “There are so many bedrooms, I’m sure you could--”

Jamie flaps a hand. “Don’t like sleeping in beds that don’t belong to me. Couch’ll suit me fine. Anyway, maybe I won’t need it. Night might have a little good luck left in it yet.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to...” God, she’s so tired. What is this impulse to play hostess, even with her bones twisted to exhaustion and a thunderstorm ringing in her head? “I mean, you could...stay. I could get you a drink?”

Jamie smiles. It’s the first true smile Dani’s seen on her lips since flicking water on the kids at lunch, and it doesn’t just light up her face--it revolutionizes her entire body. All at once, Dani remembers how she’d felt watching this woman stroll into the kitchen this afternoon: like a song she’s been humming under her breath for a lifetime.

Heat twists up her neck. She clears her throat.

“I think,” Jamie says gently, “I should let you get to bed. Tomorrow, maybe. If you’re up to it.”

She leaves the rest of the offer unspoken--tomorrow, maybe you can tell me what really happened--and Dani understands, somehow, that if it never comes up again, Jamie won’t mind. Jamie doesn’t seem the sort of woman who is rocked by much.

“Thank you,” she says, walking to the front door, leaning awkwardly against the enormous slab of wood as Jamie steps outside. “For--anyway. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Jamie says, and though this woman had frowned at her this afternoon, wariness cutting grooves through her dirt-smudged face, she is nothing but warm now. Warm and more than a little bit beautiful, with moonlight scudding off her hair.

It’s been too long a night for that, Dani warns herself. Too long a life for that, probably. Certainly nothing she’s prepared to deal with right now.

“One more thing,” she adds, unable to help herself, even as Jamie crunches over gravel with hands swinging loosely at her sides. Jamie doesn’t quite stop, only turns at the waist with an inquisitive eyebrow raised. Dani smiles weakly.

“Poppins?”

“Yeah,” Jamie says, and Dani is so tired. So tired, she must be imagining the light tinge of pink around the woman’s cheeks. “You know. Julie Andrews.”

“Sure,” says Dani, who can’t think of a single actress she less embodies in this moment. “Right. Of course.”

She can’t help grinning a little, falling into bed a few minutes later--still in sweat-damp clothes, her boots barely kicked to the floor--with the scorching awareness that the surly gardener has just given her a nickname. Possibly because she doesn’t actually know Dani’s real name, sure--but a nickname, all the same. A nickname, and a warm smile, and the impression of long fingers wrapped gently around her arm.

Tomorrow, she’ll handle the kids. Put her foot down. They need to know, right off the bat, that she won’t stand for this sort of thing. She needs to know it, to prove to herself she can still do this, just as she’d insisted to Henry Wingrave. Tomorrow, she’ll talk to them the right way--steady, calm, no accusation in her tone--and give them a suitable punishment.

Tomorrow.

Tonight, Jamie’s shining eyes, slouched shoulders, accent curled around Poppins almost let her forget the horror of being locked in with a ghost.

#fanfiction #ficlet #the haunting of bly manor #dani x jamie #damie #little ones. little ones I can do #glad this one saved when my laptop flipped out in the middle and shut down #also hope my laptop isn't dead that would be terribly inconvenient

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caedmonofthehighlands · 4 years ago

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Harry Potter Fic Rec List

I’ve practically been reading Harry Potter fics since I was out of the womb and unsurprisingly, I recently ran out and have been searching the web for stories that I haven’t yet read.

I figured that with all of my fanfiction knowledge, I should make a list like the ones that have helped me to find interesting and well written fics and so, I present to you a list with my favourite Harry Potter Fanfictions. Some are Classics, some are Muggle Au’s, but they’re all worth a read.

Gelosaþ in Écnesse by Batsutousai | Completed | 98.5k | Mature

Pairing: Salazar Slytherin/ Harry Potter

Summary: Caught in the backlash of Voldemort's Killing Curse, Harry is thrown through time to a world so very different from his own.

Notes: It’s a time travel fic! I have a special place in my heart for that trope and I love this one particularly. The pairing is one I’d never even seen before and at first, I was a bit sceptical at first but I was pleasantly surprised the way everyone interacted with each other and the amount of research that clearly went into this fic. In my experience, every work of Batsutousai’s is a good read.

Gray Skye Mourning by KneazleGriff | Completed | 183.4k | Mature

Pairing: Severus Snape/ Harry Potter

Summary: As Severus Snape lay dying on the filthy floor of the Shrieking Shack, bleeding in the arms of Harry Potter, a profound, devastating realization awakens a long lost love, latent for years, torn asunder by time’s cruel fate. Is love strong enough to overcome the pain of the past and ensure severus’ survival? Time-Travel fic. SSHP

Notes: Okay, I know the summary is kind of cheesy but this fic is fantastic. It explains why Snape was such an ass in canon and it’s really touching. It’s a very emotional fic. There are a few smutty scenes so you’ll want to make sure you’re okay with reading that. Also SSHP fics that I enjoy are pretty rare since I usually steer clear of Teacher-student relationships as well as Minor-Adult relationships.(Part of why I love time travel fics so much)

Zubats, Zubats Everywhere by RenderedReversed | WIP | 16.8k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: In which Harry is pretty sure his Pokémon journey isn’t supposed to have such a copious amount of Zubats—or just the figurative one, since Arceus knows Tom Riddle pops up in his life often enough to be a Zubat in disguise.

Notes: This fic is adorable. They have Pokemon Pet names, they buy each other stuffed animals and accidental stalking? It’s more of a Oneshot Collection than a continuous fic but don’t let that stop you. Comedy, Fluff and Harry Potter. What else could you need?

Away Childish Things by lettered | Completed | 153.8k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Summary: Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

Notes: This fic. The way lettered handled the whole ‘people from the wizarding world find out about Harry’s home life’ amazingly. The characterization of the characters, their younger selves and their opinions of themselves is just... *Chef’s kiss*. I’ve read this one over and over and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived by Santi | WIP | 147.7k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Female OC

Summary: Harry Potter loves, and is loved by, his parents, his godfather, and his brother. He isn’t mistreated, abused, or neglected. So why is he a Dark Wizard? NonBWL!Harry. Not your typical Harry’s brother is the Boy Who Lived story.

Notes: One of the only ‘Wrong boy who lived’ Fics I’ve enjoyed. Technically, Harry twin brother is the actual BWL so it’s not exactly the wrong one. This Harry is very OOC, keeping only his name and his physical features. His twin brother is really more ‘Harry Potter’ Personality-wise. Despite all of this, I absolutely loved this fic. The way Durmstrang operates is amazing and much better than Hogwarts.

The Spellmaker by SonnyGietzel | WIP | 166.7k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle | Voldemort

Summary: Latin; a dead language with no practical applications except perhaps the deciphering of old texts and as a particularly quaint party trick.Thankfully, as Harry finds out, Latin is not as dead as he was first taught when he decided to learn the language. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, of course; he loved Latin, and would have been proud to know it even had it been as useless as it was pretty. But in the world of Wizards, the world of Magic, Harry realizes his rare talent with words is particularly valuable, and allows him to use magic that no one's ever heard of, that no one's ever seen. But as time goes on, and he becomes more and more entangled in the webs spun by those around him, he starts to realize just how deep the magical rabbit hole goes and how dangerous power like his can be.All Harry had ever wanted was for the world to make sense.

Notes: Latin? Hell yeah! Harry’s spell casting by knowing latin and understanding science is so cool. Plus I just really love the librarian. It’s still updating too so you’re not just torturing yourself for the sake of entertainment if you read it,

SCHOOLED by WyrdSmith | WIP | 113.6k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: 7th Year Gryffindors learn why it is never a good idea to piss off Ravenclaw Hadrian Morgan. His payback during Professor Slytherin's class is BEAUTIFUL. In carrying it out, orphaned pureblood Hadrian catches the interest and libido of the present Lord Marvolo Slytherin, who -- with the assistance of the entire Slytherin student body as well as a few other surprising characters -- tries to lure Morgan into his life and his bed. But just how naive is Hadrian Morgan, really?1945-era mash-up of most major and minor characters of HP and other fandoms, as well as historical characters. [WAIT, PLEASE! .... ahem.... If you just heard a mental screech of brakes, please understand that this is not a farce, nor crack, nor crap. This has many reviews from now-devoted readers who almost bypassed it, but are now glad they accepted the dare to just try chapter one.]

Notes: My opinion on this fic is complicated. It’s brilliantly written. Harry is witty, sneaky and ruthless and I just love him. Tom is just a lil bit predatory. You should definitely give it a read because it’s awesome, just make sure to properly read the tags and the summary first.

Time to Put Your Galleons Where Your Mouth Is by Tsume Yuki | Completed | 46.3k | Teen and Up

Pairing: None

Summary: Harry had never been able to comprehend a sibling relationship before, but he always thought he'd be great at it. Until, as Master of Death, he's reborn one Turais Rigel Black, older brother to Sirius and Regulus. (Rebirth/time travel and Master of Death Harry)

Notes: I love this. I love this so much. Harry is so great To Sirius and Regulus. He may be a bit OP but he’s honestly just a king in every single way other than literally. This was an amazing read and a great change from the more romance-centric fics that usually catch my eye.

Kudosed, Bookmarked, Subscribed by maquira | WIP | 49.6k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle | Voldemort

Summary: By day, Harry works as a lowly assistant to his boss: the cruel, controlling Tom Riddle.By night, he lives, breathes, and writes fanfiction. And when he's not writing, he's obsessing over the work of his favorite Ao3 author: Lord_Voldemort_.So, of course, it’s only a matter of time before Harry gets caught reading Voldemort’s latest fanfiction at work… by none other than his boss.

Notes: I know it’s Harry Potter and the nearly everything about the books has to do with magic but Muggle Au’s are my guilty pleasure. Pair that with maquira’s beautiful writing and I’m hooked. Really, check out any of maquira’s other fics, they’re all just as good.

Let’s Start the Show by Terrific Lunacy | WIP | 29.9k | Mature

Pairing: Kind of Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: It started as a game. When two highborn lords come looking for a distraction from boredom, they merge the worlds of the highest class with those of the lowest class. An invitation sets things in motion that were supposed to stay locked away. Because a kingdom on the verge of collapse, a noble without a past and a circus performer with a secret are not a good combination.

Notes: Something about this fic just captivated me when I first read it. It still does, really. I love the plot, I love Harry’s cheek and you’ll love it too.

Dreams and Darkness Collide by Epic Solemnity | WIP | 209.5k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/Voldemort

Summary: Though he was raised without the expectation of saving the world, Harry still possesses a savior complex. Only, it's so dark and twistedly immoral, he created an alter ego to practice vigilantism. His second identity makes a name for himself and immediately ensnares Minister Riddle's complete and obsessive attention. A game of cat and mouse begins and morals are questioned.

Notes: I’ve read this so many times I could probably recite it by heart but I could still read it a thousand more times.

My Name is Cameron Sage by thesewarmstars | Completed | 41.8k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Severus Snape

Summary: Things are going poorly for the side of the light, and in a last-ditch effort to fulfill his destiny, Harry goes back in time to try again.

Notes: Another Time travel fic! A particularly smutty one but Sevvy has a friend for once in his life and they’re so sarcastic but they’re also really sweet.

Consuming Shadows by Child_OTKW | WIP | 312.2k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Voldemort, Harry Potter/ Male OC

Summary: On the night of the attack, Lily managed to escape with her infant son, but at the cost of her husband’s life. Distraught and distrusting of her friends, she fled to France with Harry, to raise him away from the corruption in Britain and the rising influence of the Dark Lord. She trains him to the best of her abilities, shaping him into a dangerous, intelligent and powerful wizard.But when Britain re-establishes the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry is forced to return to his once-home, he finds himself questioning whether he really wants to kill the Dark Lord. Voldemort finds an unexpected challenge in the child, and as his intrigue and amusement grows, so too does the desire to possess the spark in those defiant green eyes.

Notes: Harry attending foreign schools is also a favourite trope of mine. I love the different interpretations of different wizarding schools. Bonus points if he visits Hogwarts to attend or participate in the Triwizard Tournament.

To be Set Free by Merrinpippy | Completed | 35.8k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: Harry Potter, raised and abused by the Dursleys ever since his parents died, lives in the cupboard under the stairs. He has no friends or family who love him and his life is dull until one day a letter arrives arrives for him, written in green ink, that promises freedom. Sounds familiar, right?King Thomas Riddle's illness combined with his political paranoia pushes him to arrange three royal balls, after which his son, Prince Tom Riddle, must choose a guest to marry, thereby securing the kingdom's future and solidifying their strength in the eyes of their allies/enemies. Tom is convinced that he will be able to defy his father and choose no-one, or at least he is until at the first ball he meets an attractive stranger with dark hair and glasses who won't tell anyone his name...

Notes: Fairytale Au’s are magical and this fic just proves it. You barely even need to put a spin on cinderella to fit Harry into his role in the story, which is sad but also absolutely perfect.

Azoth by zeigeistic | Completed | 88.7k | Explicit

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy

Summary: Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Notes: Portrait Snape. That’s it. That’s all I have to say.

Death of Today by Epic Solemnity | Completed | 500.8k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Voldemort

Summary: Raised in a Muggle orphanage, Harry arrives at Hogwarts a bitter boy. Unusually intelligent, he's recruited by the Unspeakables and the Death Eaters at a young age. As he grows older, he constantly has to struggle to keep his footing around a manipulative and bored Dark Lord, who fancies mind games and intellectual entertainment.

Notes: In all honesty, I don’t have much to add. Epic Solemnity is a fantastic author though so make sure to check out their other works.

Hermione Granger’s Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by waspabi | Completed | 93.3k | Teen and Up

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy

Summary: 'You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

Notes: I live for this Au. I would give my right hand and make quite a few human sacrifices for a sequel to this story.

Rebirth by Athey | WIP | 269.7k | Mature

Pairing: Harry Potter/ Tom Riddle

Summary: Two boys grow up together in an orphanage, grow powerful at school, are torn apart by death and brought back together by rebirth. Horcruxes aren't the only way to live forever. Necromancy, reincarnation, TR/HP Slash dark!Harry.

Notes: Ah, reincarnation. I always figured that Harry’s type of immortality would be much more interesting than tom’s in this story. A little bit of smut near the end there so you might want to watch out for that.

#harry potter #fanfiction #tomarrymort #tomarry #drarry #snarry #rec list #Salazar slytherin #Honestly #i just love these

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crimsondomingo · 5 years ago

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Whumptober Day 15: Scars

Because @a-redharlequin is the best muse and dared to tease the idea of a Savitar-scarred Phantom AU.

The song Barry and Len sing is HERE.

-----

Len had never met Mr. Allen. He was hired by proxy, though he’d been told the day of his audition that the owner of the club and purported star finder, had been sitting up in the balcony, watching, and had given the order to hire Len even before they performed a background check.

After discovering Len was an orphan with a juvi record a mile long, Allen hadn’t changed his mind.

At least Len got something from his mother—his singing voice—even if she’d done little more than birth him and leave him to a deadbeat father he eventually had to run away from.

There were plenty of ways for a kid to make do on the streets, and Len had done them all, nineteen now and already world-weary. Singing for his supper was far better than the other options.

Miss Frost had given him a room in the back of the club until he made enough money to get a real apartment. There was a shower, a lounge always stocked with food, and one of Len’s favorite buildings to bask in. He’d passed it many times as a kid, wishing he could be part of the magic of the beautiful music inside.

Lucky for him, Frost had caught him singing to himself while counting the cash in her wallet after pick-pocketing her. Her grip on his wrist when she found him said she’d been the wrong kind of target, but her cold eyes had turned contemplative.

“Can you sing like that in front of a crowd?”

Ramon, who everyone called Reverb because of his sound mixing prowess, had become Len’s manager, telling him how to dress and act and which styles of songs best suited him for success, but Allen was the one that owned him.

Len kept expecting that to have a catch, but the man was like a phantom, whispered about but never seen.

Except late at night, when Len was trying to sleep, and he’d hear trills of the piano on stage and a sweet, haunting voice.

Tonight, he hadn’t slept through it, and he wasn’t going to ignore it, not when the intro was a familiar one, and the vocals so beautiful as they broke the surface.

“Wrap me in a bolt of lightning Send me on my way still smiling Maybe that's the way I should go Straight into the mouth of the unknown.”

Len padded barefoot from his room in nothing but sleep pants with a fuzzy mind that wondered if he was dreaming, pulled toward the voice and the flow of the piano into the main room of the club with its high ceiling and simple stage.

All the lights were off save one spotlighting the performer. He had to be a ghost. He was too handsome, too talented to be real, only his left side visible, just his profile as he played.

Young, mid to late 20s, brunette, with pale skin, and the most haunted expression.

Either this was a ghost or Allen finally, and he should be the one on stage each night, not finding stars from Central City’s streets who he made famous and sent on their way.

“I left the spare key on the table Never really thought I'd be able To say that I'll visit on the weekend I lost my whole life and a dear friend

“I've said it so many times I would change my ways no never mind”

Len couldn’t help it. As Allen burst into the chorus, he had to join him, adding lower baritone to Allen’s lovely tenor.

“God knows I tried—”

Allen cut off with a mash of the keys. He didn’t turn, but his left eye followed Len in his periphery like he was frozen.

“What are you doing here?” Even his speaking voice at a mad hiss was lovely.

“Frost gave me a room—”

“At the back of the club. You’re not meant to wander.”

“I’m meant to be a prisoner?”

Allen didn’t say anything, so Len continued his trek, climbing the stairs at front center stage and moving toward the piano. Allen kept turned away from him, as Len sat on the piano bench at his side.

“Terminally shy? Is that why we haven’t met?”

“Your sleep pants are riding low.”

Len looked down. They were, almost enough to see the start of the dark trail that led between his legs. He adjusted them and took note of the flush of color that filled Allen’s cheeks.

Not disinterested then, but not the scumbag Len had once feared.

Allen himself was dressed in simple black slacks and a black button down.

“Why don’t you perform?”

“I can’t do that.”

Perpetually shy, Len thought again. “Will you keep singing for me at least? I love that song. I know the harmony.”

“I heard.” Allen hesitated but soon brought his fingers up to the keys again and started back a few bars.

“I've said it so many times I would change my ways no never mind”

And again, Len joined him with the harmony.

“God knows I tried!

“Call me a sinner, call me a saint Tell me it’s over, I'll still love you the same Call me your favorite Call me the worst Tell me it’s over I don't want you to hurt It’s all that I can say So I'll be on my way…”

Allen trailed like he might pull away, get up and walk away, but Len was so transfixed, he didn’t want to lose the moment.

He put his hand on Allen’s wrist and felt the man flinch. What was his story that he was so jumpy and afraid of connection?

His other hand, the right one that he tried to keep hidden when Len touched the left, looked…different. Red and marbled and…

Scarred, Len realized.

He’d heard this place burned down once with a few people in it killed.

“Leonard—”

“Call me Len.”

“You should go back to your room.”

“Gets lonely there. Here I have company.”

Allen’s head tilted slightly, and Len almost saw beyond his profile, enough to confirm his suspicions that there was more marbled scar tissue and an eye that didn’t look as green.

Len tried to peer around to get a better look, but Allen jerked away, knocking the piano bench back as he stood and nearly sending Len toppling to the floor with it.

“I’m sorry,” Allen said, staying in the shadows but turning enough to check on Len so that he still saw how much of him those scars covered.

They were all down the right side of his face and neck. Len wondered if they covered that whole side of him beneath his clothes.

“Mr. Allen—”

“Go back to your room, Len. Please?”

Len sighed. Now, he knew that Allen stayed here too, and he wasn’t going to let this be their only duet.

He picked up the piano bench and gently placed it back where it belonged. Before he walked away, he caught Allen’s eye, even if the other man pretended like he wasn’t looking.

“And here I thought you just had a beautiful voice,” he said and smiled when Allen looked at him with a start, turning his whole half-marred face toward him.

Len walked back down the center stage steps but felt Allen’s eyes on him the whole way.

#whumptober2019 #no.15 #coldflash #phantom of the opera au

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shewhowantsmouseears · 7 years ago

Text

TvTropes in My Disney Fanfics

Sometimes when I’m bored I like to look up tv tropes and see which ones fit my (currently finished) fanfics. I kept them in a doc, and decided to share them today. It covers The Scarlet, Segreto, As Dawn Broke, The Nutcracker Prince, The Last Straw, and Love Like Lava.

If you haven’t read my stuff and are curious what they’re about, think of this as a promoted blurb.

The Scarlet

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang in an extremely loose retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the second full-length Disney story she's written. Unlike PVP, this one focuses mainly on the animal characters you'd find in Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons and stories, as do the rest of her works.

In Steampunk France, Mickey is a poor orphan paperboy by day, with a gigantic crush on his childhood friend Duchess Minerva. By night, he's The Scarlet, an amazing swordsman who vows to help the helpless and prevent a “Third Bloody Sunday.” Daisy and her band of cohorts are planning a revolution to get revenge on the rich. Duke Fantome and his band of baddies are seeking to create a new rule over France. These and other threads intertwine, resulting in a climatic showdown between red and black.

Tropes:

Abhorrent Admirer: Mortimer towards Minnie. He can't, or won't, get the hint that Minnie wants absolutely nothing to do with him. It takes a scream and a slam of the door to the face for him to finally get it.

Accidental Kiss: Played with. Minnie offers to kiss The Scarlet for saving her, and while he's tempted, he can't go through with it. He intends to tell her so – until a child's ball smacks him in the back of his head, causing his mouth to mash with Minnie's. She thinks he was just being nervous with the kiss, and thus reciprocates.

And Now You Must Marry Me: Gladstone threatens Daisy into marriage. Played with, in that he honestly doesn't want to marry her either, but Fantome is forcing his hand.

Aren't You Going To Ravish Me?: Katarina, believing her good looks and the Scarlet's ladykiller persona combined will make him helpless before her. Instead, her seduction attempt is met with flat disappointment and a desperate escape. She's stunned, and then pissed.

Aristocrats Are Evil: Daisy believes this, and given some of their attitudes it's not hard to see why. But she eventually learns that they're just people, who can be bad, good, or somewhere in-between.

Asshole Victim: Gladstone, Mortimer.

As You Know: Ludwig explaining to Gyro their operations so the audience knows what they're doing. Lampshaded immediately by Gyro who asks why Ludwig is explaining what they already know. Ludwig replies he's been called Mr. Exposition.

Bad Boss: Fantome is more than willing to threaten, injure, and kill those working for him to get what he wants.

Battle Amongst The Flames: The Scarlet and Fantome's last duel takes place in a burning building.

Becoming The Mask: Daisy was, initially, only pretending to be Donald's friend so she could find a way to use his uncle for the sake of the revolution. But when she sees how kind he is and how deeply he loves his family, she not only becomes his real friend, she falls for him.

The Big Damn Kiss: When Minnie discovers that Mickey and the Scarlet are one and the same, [spoiler] he gets the kiss of a lifetime. Plus a whole lot extra.[spoiler]

Cannot Spit It Out: Mickey just can't tell Minnie he loves her...The Scarlet has an easier time.

Cats Are Mean: Pete and Katarina, the main cats in the story, are on the bad guys side.

Childhood Friend Romance: Mickey and Minnie.

Clark Kenting: Even though Mickey has a device that changes his voice, the “disguise” he wears is just a mask around his eyes. Lampshaded by Donald when he learns who the Scarlet is, as he's stunned that he never made the obvious connection.

Damsel In Distress: Minnie is this several times.

Dance Of Romance: Mickey, as the Scarlet, shares a ballroom dance with Minnie, flirting with her all the while.

Dirty Cop: Pete, the chief of police, and his subordinate Horace.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Horace loves Clarabelle, and the two manage to make a Heel Face Turn. Pete and Katarina, [spoiler]being related,[spoiler] also have this but it's put to the test when Fantome orders Pete to kill her after her failure.

Everyone Can See it: Amusingly, [spoiler] the Queen says this was the case with Mickey and Minnie's feelings even when they were kids.[spoiler]

Evil Genius: Fou is revealed to have been one. [spoiler] and still is.[spoiler]

Flashback: Minnie has a lengthy one, about the day she first met Mickey.

Freudian Slip: Minnie, struggling to distract Mickey, insists she has a sleep over with him. But she's so flustered it comes out as “I demand you sleep with me!” Subverted in a more innocent fashion when Donald pushes Scrooge back to be with his “fiends.” “You mean friends?” “I know what I said.”

Gibberish Of Love: Mickey is reduced to this whenever he tries to tell Minnie about his feelings. As the Scarlet, he can speak freely of how much she means to him.

Go Seduce My Archnemisis: Fantome seems to be fond of this trope. He sends Mortimer after Minnie, Gladstone after Daisy, and [spoiler] Katarina after The Scarlet.[spoiler] He's also amazingly bad at it, since none of the targets desire who's after them at all.

Green-Eyed Monster: Mickey nearly slips up about his alter ego when Mortimer is involved, even though Minnie makes it obviously clear she can't stand the snob. Even when he's on the job as the Scarlet, Mickey makes it clear how much he loathes Mortimer.

Happily Married : [spoiler] After the timeskip, Mickey and Minnie are this, as are Donald and Daisy.[spoiler]

Heel Face Turn: Clarabelle and Horace. Implied to be this with Pete and Katarina.

Honey Trap: Subverted. [spoiler] Katarina tries this on The Scarlet. It only works at the beginning because he believes the invitation was from Minnie. The second he sees who it really is, he's heading for the exit.[spoiler]

I Don't Want To Ruin Our Friendship: Ultimately what is preventing Mickey and Minnie from confessing their feelings.

Imagine Spot: Mickey is suggested to have one when he thinks the seductive invitation he received is from Minnie. Minnie is also implied to have one concerning her feelings for Mickey and the Scarlet, and for half a second considers something with the number three – and then IMMEDIATELY reprimands herself and gets off that train of thought.

Informed Attractiveness: Katarina is insulted by the Scarlet's rejection because supposedly no one has ever turned her down and she's the most beautiful woman in all of France. No evidence of either of this was stated or shown before – although it could just be part of her massive ego.

Inter-Class Romance: One of the sources of conflict between Mickey and Minnie's relationship, since it would be highly improper. Also occurs between Donald with Daisy, and Max with Roxanne.

I Was Told There Would Be Cake: When Mortimer, Horace, and Clarabelle are tasked with killing Duke Roger Rabbit, they find him eating cake with the Scarlet.

Kissed Keepsake: Mickey kisses the scarf Minnie gave him.

Light Is Not Good: Fantome is usually dressed in all white, as opposed to the Scarlet's dark colors. Fantome is absolutely the bad guy.

Love Epiphany: When Goldie, Brigetta, and Magica try to convince Daisy she could love Gladstone, their “suggestions” make her realize she's actually in love with Donald.

Loves My Alter Ego: Mickey assumes Minnie is in love with The Scarlet, as does Fantome. [spoiler] They're wrong. She truly loves Mickey.[spoiler]

Love Triangle: Mickey thinks it's this with his alter ago and Minnie. Gets worse with Mortimer going after Minnie and Daisy falling for the Scarlet.

Morally Bankrupt Banker: Slyvester Shyster.

Nice Hat: The Scarlet's got a pretty cool one.

Not Distracted By The Sexy: Katarina's seduction towards The Scarlet doesn't work. At all. He looks at her for maybe a second before leaving.

Not Good With Rejection: Mortimer and Gladstone handle theirs pretty badly, complete with French swears.

Paper-Thin Disguise: As mentioned in Clark Kenting, Mickey's “disguise” is really just a mask around his eyes.

Parental Abandonment: Given that Mickey is an orphan, you get this. Minnie's parents are said to constantly be traveling all over the world and are never home, treating their daughter more as a toy or a trophy than a blood relative.

Parental Substitute: Ludwig and Gyro are this towards Mickey.

Parents As People: Goofy is doing his best with Max, but sometimes his best just isn't good enough.

Protagonist Title: Mickey as The Scarlet.

Politically Incorrect Villain: You could blame the times, but the male villains can be pretty sexist. Fantome is heavily classist.

Post-Kiss Catatonia: After having a pretty long kiss with Minnie, Mickey makes it about three steps before falling face-first in a happy stupor.

Prince Charmless: Technically Dukes, but they are related to royalty – Fantome, Mortimer, and Gladstone (and eventually Fou) are shown to be royal pains.

Purple Is Powerful: Minnie's main color scheme is purple, and by the timeskip, [spoiler] she's a butt-kicking heroine named The Violet.[spoiler]

Quirky Miniboss Squad: Pete, Shyster, Horace and Clarabelle work for Fantome. Gladstone, Mortimer, [spoiler] Katarina and Fou [spoiler] join in as well.

Rapunzel Hair: Minnie's long locks go almost all the way down to her feet.

Rousing Speech: The Scarlet tends to give these whenever he has a big audience.

Sadistic Choice: Daisy can either marry Gladstone, dooming her to a life of misery and effectively killing the revolution since all of its members will have lost faith in her, or he can report all the members of the revolution to the police, and since they'll be seen as traitors to the crown, they'll most likely be executed.

Seduction-Proof Marriage: Even though he's not married to Minnie [spoiler]yet[spoiler], Mickey feels absolutely nothing for any other woman, even when they constantly throw themselves at his Scarlet alter ego.

Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: When Fantome completely loses it upon the revelation his plans were stopped by a mere paperboy, the remaining villains decide to cut their losses and make a break for it.

Shipper With An Agenda: Subtle, but in one scene Minnie seems to support and encourage Donald and Daisy's getting together. [spoiler] Most likely because if a rich boy and a poor girl can be together, maybe a rich girl and a poor boy can too.[spoiler]

Show Some Leg: Katarina's attempt to seduce The Scarlet. It doesn't work.

Small Name, Big Ego: Mortimer. He thinks he's the most popular and well-known man alive. Nobody really knows who he is, nor cares, and Fantome himself needs a minute to remember about him upon his introduction.

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: Donald and The Scarlet interrupt the wedding via dropping down on a GIGANTIC church bell.

Shout Out: To Darkwing Duck in one quip.

Time Skip: The last scene of the last chapter takes place one year later.

Unwanted Harem: Scrooge has this with Goldie, Magica, and Brigetta.

Would Hit A Girl: The Scarlet isn't afraid to treat Clarabelle as roughly as he does his other enemies.

Villainous Breakdown: Fantome has this three times over, due to finding out the Scarlet's identity, [spoiler] being told that his master plan would mean no one would serve him, and all of France coming to Mickey's defense.[spoiler]

Would Hurt A Child: Fantome [spoiler] is revealed to have run down a child from the poorer part of town, via carriage, just to ignite a war between the poor and rich.[spoiler]

As Dawn Broke

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the fourth full-length Disney story she's written. The Sun Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom have only recently ended their centuries-long war, but communication between the two is forbidden. This doesn't stop Princess Minnie of the Moon Kingdom from inviting Prince Mickey of the Sun Kingdom to her birthday party. From then on, the two kingdoms will never be the same – love potions, floods, grandbabies, many different stories come together, but which one can stop the genocidal madness of a man obsessed with making history?

Tropes:

Accidentally Broke The MacGuffin: Where has the Sun Talisman been all this time? It turns that Mickey, as a child, thought it was a giant cookie and ate it.

The Alcoholic: Panchito.

All Amazons Want Hercules: Implied to be the reason Peg is attracted to Pete.

All Part Of The Show: Panchito convinces the Sun Kingdom that the near-collapse of the giant straw doll at the New Year's Festival was part of the show.

Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: The Moon and Sun Talismans.

And I Must Scream: It's shown that while the Queen [spoiler] was frozen solid, she still had her mind and could hear what was going on around her – like how much her daughter thinks her mother hates her.[spoiler]

And Now You Must Marry Me: Mortimer threatens Minnie – either she marries him or he'll drown the Sun Kingdom. [spoiler] He's planning to do it anyway.[spoiler]

Arranged Marriage: Minnie is to marry Mortimer, if he passes all the requirements. It's stated that this is a Moon Royalty tradition, as Queen Lune was also arranged to marry Minnie's father.

Badly Battered Babysitter: Horace suffers this thanks to Mickey.

Becoming The Mask: Millie flirts with Goofy to get his money, but falls for him for real.

Big Beautiful Woman: Clara Cluck.

Big Brother Instinct: Donald begins to feel this way towards his student, Minnie. Possibly also Goofy towards Mickey.

Big Entrance: Mickey brings an entire singing, dancing entourage as he heads into the Moon Kingdom for Minnie's birthday. It's pretty much a direct homage to Prince Ali from Aladdin.

Body Horror: Some of it shows up after Queen Lune is freed from her icy prison. [spoiler] It's stated she lost several fingers.[spoiler]

Break His Heart To Save Him: Minnie does this to Mickey, trying to keep him out of the Moon Kingdom and safe from Mortimer's plans.

The Cameo: Since he doesn't show up again and isn't truly plot relevant, Fethry's appearance can be seen as this.

The Casanova: Panchito is implied to be this, as he flirts with all the women in his bar, and Mickey thinks he's an expert on romance. But it's ultimately shown that it's just his way of being friendly, and he's truly in love with Clara Cluck.

Crash-Into Hello: Horace and Clarabelle meet when he accidentally smacks her in the face with a door.

Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Goofy. When Millie is in danger, he proves he didn't get his bodyguard position just because of his father.

Dance Of Romance: Minnie teaches Mickey how to waltz, and they grow closer as they dance.

Deus Ex Machina: A surprising literal version takes place because of the Talismans.

Did You Actually Believe...? : Mortimer tells Pete he wouldn't hurt any Moons to get his plan to work. When Pete finds out Mortimer doesn't care who gets hurt, Sun or Moon, Mortimer mocks him for actually thinking he would tell the truth.

Dramatic Irony: On the day of Minnie's birthday, the Queen struggles to give Minnie a compliment and call her a lady. Minnie sadly thinks it's because she's so incompetent that the Queen can't imagine her as a proper lady. The Queen is actually lamenting that her baby girl is all grown up and one day will no longer need her. Similar occurrences happen as a result of the Queen's stiff upper lip coming across as disappointment.

Dramatic Necklace Removal: Played with - Minnie does this to herself, in order to convince Mickey she no longer wants to be with him.

Drowning My Sorrows: It turns out Panchito's constant drinking is this, as he's haunted by memories of the war.

The Door Slams You: Donald, as a result of Mickey's Big Entrance.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pete suffers this, and is a cause behind a lot of his more villainous actions. The problem is that he is respected, it's just that no one bothers to tell him.

Evil Minions: The Beagles are this for Mortimer.

Evil Plan: Mortimer's ultimate plan is to [spoiler] use the Moon Talisman to control the Moon Kingdom's water and flood the Sun Kingdom, effectively drowning all the Sun people.[spoiler]

Expository Hairstyle Change: In the Moon Kingdom, long hair on women is seen as a beautiful trait, even if it makes it impossible to manage and difficult to get around, like in Minnie's case. [spoiler] After the time-skip, she cuts most of it off, symbolizing her newfound independence and the courage to break tradition.[spoiler]

Face Heel Turn: Pete starts working for Mortimer when he sees the opportunity to be “useful” again. He turns back just in time.

Fantastic Racism: Suns and Moons toward each other. Suns see Moons as snobs, Moons see Suns as savages, etc.

Freudian Excuse: Mortimer claims to have this, having grown up in a family of soldiers that constantly bragged about their accomplishments in the war – accomplishments that he could never have, since the war was over by the time he was old enough to participate. He wanted to have his own accomplishment, and what greater accomplishment could he have then by killing all the Suns?

Give Away The Bride: In lieu of her father, Scrooge is the one to walk Minnie down the aisle.

Gold Digger: Millie, initially.

Happily Married: Horace says that the King and Queen of the Sun were very much this. Queen Lune says this was also the case when her husband was alive. [spoiler] It's implied that Goofy and Millie will be the same, as well as, inevitably, Mickey and Minnie.[spoiler]

He Knows Too Much: When Donald and Daisy overheard that Mortimer plans to drown the Sun Kingdom, Mortimer sends his goons after them.

I Lied : Mortimer directly says this to [spoiler] Pete when she says he promised he wouldn't hurt the Moons. He even seems to mock Pete for thinking he'd keep his deal. [spoiler]

I Want Grandkids: King Solaris keeps harping on how he wants grandbabies. [spoiler] Queen Lune also begins to insist once everything's patched up.[spoiler]

Lap Pillow: Mickey enjoys this once he and Minnie begin dating.

Love At First Sight: Mickey and Minnie toward each other, Clarabelle toward Horace. Possibly with Goofy towards Millie.

Love Epiphany: When Horace speaks of Mickey's mother, Mickey suddenly realizes that, like how his mother loved his father, he too loves Minnie.

Love Potion: Morgana says she can make these, although Minnie instantly realizes they're fake. Morgana admits it, and says the real “magic” is the confidence she instills in those she sells the potions to.

The Matchmaker: Daisy sees herself as this, determined to get Mickey and Minnie together.

Meaningful Name: King Solaris – Solaris is latin meaning “pertaining to the sun”. Queen Lune – a crescent shaped figure, like the moon.

Musicalis Interruptus: Amusingly in a written form. Mickey's Big Entrance consists of his servants and friends singing his praise... and they don't stop when they arrive. It comes to a complete halt when Queen Lune slams her staff and effectively tells them that this could be a reason for them going back to war!

My God, What Have I Done? : Queen Lune gets hit with this big-time when she realizes she's the reason behind Minnie's horrible self-confidence – and that Minnie is convinced Lune hates her.

Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: It takes Goofy a minute or two to realize that [spoiler] Millie survived the flood.[spoiler]

Overly Long Name: Panchito Romero Gonzales!

Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Queen Lune and her husband turned out to be this, as they loved each other deeply.

Please, I Will Do Anything!: Minnie says as much when Mortimer reveals his plan to drown the Sun Kingdom.

Private Tutor: Horace is Mickey's, and Donald is Minnie's.

Purple Is Powerful: It's stated that Queen Lune dresses in dark purples and blues, as does Minnie sometimes.

Rapunzel Hair: In the Moon Kingdom, long hair is seen as extremely beautiful, so most women have this. Daisy is an exception, and it's implied she cuts her hair to be different from the crowd.

Reality Ensues: Peace between two warring factions isn't as easy as “love conquers all!” It requires reparations, cooperation, and real communication. Also, risking your entire kingdom over a girl you like and keeping it a secret is going to royally piss off some folks. And a happy drunk is probably drinking that heavily because of something not-so-happy – like, say, the real effects of a war, PTSD.

Rebel Prince: Mickey to a T.

Rescue Romance: When Drake saves Morgana, and she sees he did so because he'd do it for anyone and not just because she's beautiful, she falls for him. In a much smaller scale, Daisy fell for Donald when the heel of her shoe broke and he happened to catch her before she would've fallen down a flight of stairs.

Running Gag: Grandbabies!

Sadistic Choice: Minnie can either marry Mortimer, dooming her to a life of misery for her and no doubt putting a terrible ruler on the throne so her kingdom will also suffer...Or Mortimer will drown an entire kingdom. [spoiler] He plans to do the latter anyway.[spoiler]

Secret Relationship: Mickey and Minnie, of course.

Shout Out : The Lion King and Aladdin both get musical-ish mentions. Mickey's entire first arrival into the Sun Kingdom is based on Prince Ali's parade.

Slapstick Knows No Gender: Clarabelle knows this, like a door to the face.

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: At Minnie's wedding, Mickey and the entire Sun Army burst in.

Spit Take: Panchito's reaction when Mickey says he loves Minnie. Goofy is on the receiving end.

Star-Crossed Lovers: Again, Mickey and Minnie.

Taken for Granite: Mortimer freezes Queen Lune in ice.

Tempting Fate: Pete tells Minnie he needs more trouble from her and the Queen like he needs a kick in the head. Cue Peg.

Those Two Bad Guys: Bankjob and Bigtime Beagle.

Time Skip: The last scene of the last chapter takes place several months ahead.

Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Clara to Panchito, Morgana to Drake.

Title Drop: Comes up as the last three words of the story.

Villain Has A Point: As awful as Mortimer is, he has a slight point in that since he was raised to hate the Suns and barely a day can go by without someone saying how much they despise the Suns, it's no real shock that he wants them all dead. A small case of Society Is To Blame, but it still doesn't excuse what he does.

War Is Hell: Played absolutely straight. Even though it ended many years ago, both sides are still struggling with the aftermath.

“Well Done, Son!” Guy: Female version. Minnie desperately wants her mother's approval, but seems to do nothing but disappoint her. But the truth is the Queen is already proud of her, and assumed Minnie already knew.

Who Names Their Kid “Dude”?: Lampshaded by Millie towards Goofy. “That's not a name, it's an insult!”

Would Hit A Girl: The Beagles to Daisy and Millie – and it's implied they'd like to do worse.

You Shall Not Pass: Morgana and Jose take on the Beagles so Daisy can escape and warn the Sun Kingdom of Mortimer's plan.

Young Love Versus Old Hate: At first this is the case – but then it's revealed there are plenty in the young generation also full of hate.

Segreto

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the second full-length Disney story she's written. A Gender Flip telling of The Little Mermaid, Mickey the mermouse is terrified of being forgotten and never making an impact on anyone. When he falls for, and saves, a beautiful castle maid, he's determined to make sure her memories of him last. A wizard of the sea offers his aide, but in pursuing her heart, Mickey unknowingly leads Minnie and an entire kingdom into peril.

Tropes:

Badly Battered Babysitter: Implied that Nemo this is to Mickey.

Compelling Voice: All mermen and mermaid have this. Mickey never even thinks of using it on Minnie. [spoiler] Our villain, on the other hand...[spoiler]

Damsel In Distress: Minnie, twice over.

Deal With The Devil: Mickey signs [villain's] contract to gain legs so he can be with Minnie.

Evil Detecting Dog: Pluto understands instantly that [Villain] is bad news, trying to bite and claw at him.

Evil Plan: [villain] 's plan all along was [spoiler] to use Mickey's Compelling Voice to hypnotize the Queen into marrying him, this gaining him back his heart and rule over the kingdom.[spoiler]

Gold Digger: Daisy, initially.

I Lied : [Villain] says as much to Mickey, even saying that he's the bad guy, of course he's going to lie.

Inter-Class Romance: Technically, as Mickey is a prince and Minnie is a maid. Played with Daisy and Donald, as she sees herself as above Donald's position, even though they are actually in the same place.

Love At First Sight: Mickey towards Minnie.

Magically Binding Contract: Wouldn't be a Little Mermaid story without one!

Massive Number Siblings: Mickey has over 70 brothers!

Meaningful Name: Segreto means secret, and Mickey's got a big one. The Kingdom of Nereid – nereid are mystical sea creatures, which, again, ties to Mickey.

Our Mermaids Are Different: Mermaids themselves are barely mentioned. Mermen have long tails, and royal mermen's tails are even longer and blue. They also have the siren singing, which compels people to do whatever they command and love them unconditionally. They can understand fish-talk as well.

Parental Abandonment: Minnie's parents died at sea. Mickey's mother is never mentioned, and it's clear his father really couldn't care less about him unless he causes trouble.

Protagonist Title: Sort of – Segreto is the nickname Mickey gets when he can't tell his land-friends his real name. It also means “secret”, of which characters hide several.

Purple Is Powerful: The Wizard wears mostly purple (and was based off the Vocaloid Gakupo) , and is supposedly the most powerful character in the story.

Reality Ensues: True Love's Kiss isn't always First Kiss – both people have to be in love. Being kissed by what is essentially a complete stranger can make a girl angry at you for a long time.

Rescue Romance: When Mickey says Minnie from Mortimer and Pete, her feelings for him truly materialize.

Sadistic Choice: If Mickey tries to stop the wedding, [villain] will erase everyone's memories of him. If he doesn't, the kingdom will be ruled by an absolutely evil figure, dooming just about everyone.

Self-Disposing Villain: If [Villain] hadn't tried to use the ocean to drown our heroes, [spoiler] Bruce wouldn't have swam in and eaten the heart. [spoiler]

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: In a different take on this trope, the wedding isn't (at first) interrupted by an outsider, but someone already there. Minnie, then Daisy, speak up, voicing their objections. Then the boys come in.

Threatening Shark: Subverted with Bruce, who loves his pals and would do anything for them. [spoiler] But his chompers sure do come in handy later.[spoiler]

True Love's Kiss: What Mickey needs to keep his legs. He keeps trying to kiss Minnie, conveniently ignoring the fact she doesn't love him yet.

The Nutcracker Prince

An AU Disney fanfic starring Donald Duck and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the fifth full-length Disney story she's written. Unlike most of her stories, which focus on Mickey and Minnie as the hero/heroine and romance being the main subject, this one has Donald and Minnie as siblings being first and foremost, and family as the biggest theme.

In a retelling of the famous ballet/story, The Nutcracker, Donald and Minnie thought they were going to live with their uncle in a magical kingdom, only for him to refuse and leave them for years. When his letters stop coming, Minnie convinces Donald to go to the kingdom to find out what happened and why he wouldn't take them in. Donald believes nothing but heartbreak and lies await them – only to discover something much worse on the horizon.

Tropes:

0% Approval Rating: The “Prince” that sits atop the throne. And it doesn't take long to find out why.

And I Must Scream: It turns out the Sugar Plum Fairy is a case of this, as is, of course, the Nutcracker Prince.

Happily Married: [spoiler] implied to be the case for Mickey and Minnie at the end.[spoiler]

Imagine Spot: Minnie has one, fantasizing about meeting Mickey in person. Donald cuts her off before it gets too far.

Insistent Terminology: Mickey is a nutcracker, NOT a toy.

Inter-Class Romance: Mickey is a prince, Minnie is a commoner. Sort of.

Meaningful Name: The Kingdom's name literally means Mouse King.

My Sister Is Off Limits!: Donald does NOT like how instantly chummy Mickey and Minnie are.

Parental Abandonment: Minnie and Donald's parents died in a car crash. Mickey's parents also died when he was young. It's implied it's because of some mystical connection between the families.

Post-Kiss Catatonia: Despite Mickey not being able to feel anything, after Minnie kisses him, he falls over in a near-dead faint.

Pretend to Be Brainwashed: Mortimer uses the crown to make Minnie his slave of love, and she drapes herself around him. But it's all an act to snatch the crown.

Protagonist Title: Averted. While Mickey is a main character, the story's heroes are actually Donald and Minnie.

Reality Ensues: Forgiveness isn't easily given, even after a life-changing event.

Rescue Romance: After Donald [spoilers] unknowingly saves Daisy from her Sugar Plum Fairy Form, she's instantly devoted to him.[spoilers]

True Love's Kiss: Minnie, being Wrong Genre Savvy, thinks one of these will cure Mickey. It doesn't.

Wrong Genre Savvy: Minnie thinks it's a basic fairy tale with black and white sides, where True Love's Kiss will cure everything and a happily ever after is guaranteed. It's much more complicated than that.

Love Like Lava

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the sixth full-length Disney story she's written. This time it's a take on classic Greek mythology, with Minnie as Aphrodite and Mickey as Hephaestus. As a newly awakened goddess, Minnie tries to understand her place in the world, where Mickey, believing role in life is to always be rejected, shuns everyone. The goddess of love falls for him instantly, but it turns out he hates her. What better way to start a relationship than by lying about who you are? Not only that, but it's got Pygmalion-Goofy, Persephone-Daisy, and Hades-Donald. It's about love, loss, acceptance, and the occasional mermaid.

Abhorrent Admirer: Minnie has her own Unwanted Harem with Gladstone, Mortimer, Pete, and (somewhat) Zeus.

Age-Gap Romance: Played with. Donald and Mickey are, technically, hundreds of years older than their female love interests. Also confusingly lampshaded with Agalma, as she wonders if it counts that she used to be marble, so theoretically she could be centuries older than Goofy.

The Alcoholic: Mortimer as Dyonsis. Played with in that as a god, he technically can't get drunk, but he sure does act like it.

Arranged Marriage: Hera tries to make one for Minnie, and it backfires spectacularly.

The Big Damn Kiss: Minnie, as the goddess of love, has a pretty powerful one. It sends such strong waves of love all across the world that it causes couples to propose, love to be requited, poems written, etc.

Cats Are Mean: As the singular cat in the cast, Pete fits the bill.

Childhood Friend Romance: The case with Goofy and Millie.

Crouching Moron Hidden Badass: Goofy surprises everyone, including himself, after he socks Bouncer Beagle in the nose.

Everyone Can See It: It becomes pretty clear, even to the ditzy mermaids and clueless Goofy, that Mickey is in love with Minnie.

Evil Plan: Pete's is to create a statue army which Minnie will bring to life, so he can have his “Forever War”.

Flashback: One chapter has Daisy telling Minnie how she met, and fell, for Donald.

Furry Confusion: Horace is in the chariot race. You know, with a horse. Try not to think about too much.

The Glomp: Minnie tends to give these to anyone she likes.

Happily Married: Donald and Daisy.

Interspecies Romance: Daisy's parents – her mother was a goddess, and her father was a human.

Love At First Sight: Minnie for Mickey, HARD. It's implied that this was the case for Mickey too, but he was immediately in denial about it.

Love Makes You Evil: Slightly �� when Daisy's father died, her mother went bananas and became incredibly over-protective of Daisy.

Meaningful Name: Agalma means “statue” in Greek. The town the horse race takes place in also means “horse”.

Not Good With Rejection: Gladstone and Mortimer get over Minnie, but Pete doesn't handle it very well.

Parental Abandonment: When Hera discovered her baby was weak and deformed, she threw him down into the mortal plane, and has since then forbidden his name to ever be spoken.

Post-Kiss Catatonia : Mickey nearly faints after his first kiss with Minnie.

Reality Ensues: Bringing the statue of a dead lover to life is going to have consequences. The story of Goofy and Agalma takes Pygmalion to its logical, heart-breaking turns.

Reincarnation Romance: Implied to happen in the epilouge.

Second Love: Goofy with Agalma.

Seduction-Proof Marriage: One of the Fates has tried to flirt with Donald before but nothing ever works.

Shipper On Deck: Minnie for Goofy/Agalma.

Those Two Bad Guys: Burger and Bouncer Beagle for the mortals, Gladstone and Mortimer for the gods.

World's Most Beautiful Woman: As Aphrodite, Minnie is technically this.

The Last Straw

An AU Disney fanfic starring Mickey Mouse and the gang. Written by the author behind Pirates Versus Privates, this is the seventh full-length Disney story she's written. This time she warps the classic story of Rumpelstiltskin. Minnie and Donald are a pair of poor siblings in a dwindling kingdom, ruled over by a narcissistic king. When one of Donald's big lies gets his little sister into bigger trouble, they get unexpected help from a mysterious wizard. Something is missing from the kingdom, but can anyone remember it in time?

0% Approval Rating: King Mortimer. No one, absolutely no one, likes him.

And Now You Must Marry Me: Mortimer threatens Minnie with this – later subverted when Minnie actually asks Mortimer to marry her.

Bad Boss: Mortimer treats Pete very cruelly.

The Big Damn Kiss: When Mickey and Minnie are reunited, you know it's gunna happen.

Damsel In Distress: Played with in that Minnie puts herself in distress on purpose.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pete, and to a way more ego-maniac level, Mortimer.

Face-Heel Turn: At a crucial moment, Pete finally snaps and gives Mortimer what he had coming.

Green-Eyed Monster: Part of Mortimer's issues. He's insanely jealous of Mickey.

Inter-class Romance: Mickey, a prince, and Minnie, a commoner.

My Sister Is Off Limits!: Subverted – Donald wholly encourages the romance between Mickey and Minnie.

It's All About Me: MORTIMER.

Prince Charmless: MORTIMER.

#disney #fanfic #mickey mouse #minnie mouse #donald duck #daisy duck #goofy

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ellanainthetardis · 7 years ago

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I saw this first meeting au: “My cat steals underwear and I come home to find you chasing my cat to get your underwear back” on a list and I just… couldn’t resist XD So you get a modern Au that’s half crack and half steam with a small amount of feelings on top. I don’t really know what this is but hopefully, some of you might like it!

[FF] or [ao3]

Buttercup, The Cat Burglar

Haymitch tossed his coat on the closest armchair, grumbling under his breath about how cold it was, both outside and in the house. The first thing he did was add a few logs in the dying fire and stroke it until it was a decent size again. Then, he turned around with the firm intention of pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

He hated market day.

He hated it with a passion.

He wasn’t sure if raising geese he had no desire to eat or sell so they could become food would be considered a lucrative business. As it was, he sell the eggs twice a week and the feathers he collected every couple of months, it didn’t make a fortune but added to the money he still had from his time in the military – because doing special secret operations for the government paid better than his birds – he got by easily. He wasn’t a great spender anyway now that the girls were both gone. A bottle of whiskey now and then – not enough to get irremediably addicted as promised to his surrogate kids – some books, and he was good.

He didn’t startle when he turned round to find the ugly ginger cat comfortably lying right where he hadn’t been a second ago. One would think he would have gotten used to the presence in his house but one would be very, very wrong. It was hard to get used to the muddy yellow tomcat, with its missing ear and mashed-in nose, jumping from every shadow to either hiss at you or rub against your legs lovingly, depending if he was in the mood for mayhem or food.

“What did you do now?” Haymitch asked with a resigned weariness. “Please, tell me it ain’t Greasy Sae’s stocking again…”

Ever since Prim had left for college, the cat had more or less moved from the Everdeens’ house to his. He figured that it was because Katniss had moved in with Peeta and Aster was still fragile and could barely take care of herself. He had never extended an invitation to the stupid cat but Buttercup seemed to have decided that with his owner gone for an extensive amount of time and his owner’s sister – who he hated – at the other side of town, Haymitch’s couch was the next best place to wait until Prim came back for the holidays.

So the fact that the cat seemed to have become kleptomaniac since Prim left seemed to fall on him – at least, according to the neighbors.

It had started with socks. Various sizes and colors, although almost always from Beetee Latier’s house – he knew, because after placing traps and catching the cat in a box, Beetee had knocked on his door with the culprit effectively jailed. Socks were handed back against the cat, promises were made that it would never happen again.

Of course, it had happened again.

Except not just with Beetee.

Lately, Buttercup seemed to have developed a liking for old Sae’s support stockings. The number of times he had strode back into the house with one of those dangling from his mouth…

Greasy Sae wasn’t someone who liked to joke around and he didn’t enjoy when she came around to lecture him on how to raise cats. She wasn’t moved when he pointed out Prim had done the raising. He was just… cat-sitting.

Whatever Buttercup had stolen now, it didn’t really look like a sock and Haymitch took a step closer, not frightened by the low grumbling of the clawed monster. They had an understanding the two of them. If the cat attacked him, the cat would go back to his own house and try his chance with Aster for a few days. A week of irregular meals that were never his favorite treats usually brought him back much easier to deal with.

At first, he almost concluded it was another of Sae’s stockings because of the fabric. It looked a little like nylon. Except it was an undefined color between green and blue. A pretty color, truth be told, that didn’t really fit Sae. Then, he realized it wasn’t nylon at all but lace and that the cat had already destroyed a good portion of it.

With the dexterity brought by experience, he snatched it away, tugging when Buttercup’s quick paw made a good job at trying to reclaim it by stabbing the delicate fabric with its claws.

Eventually, he managed to free it and let out a low impressed whistle once he figured out what he was holding. Lacy see through blue-green panties with a cheeky little golden bow on the back.

“Hope you didn’t get that from Sae.” he snorted, glancing at the cat. “You’re gonna get me in trouble again.”

Buttercup kneaded the couch with his claws in answer, a glint of murder in his black eyes. He was still staring at the ruined panties and Haymitch shook his head before going to the kitchen to throw them away, wondering if living with him had turned that cat into a psycho or if he had already been one before and just behaving for Prim’s sake.

Sae never came raging about an alleged panties theft so Haymitch forgot all about the matter.

At least until three days later when he found Buttercup very busy nuzzling what looked like a frilly pink thong on their kitchen’s table.

“You dirty, dirty old boy.” he accused, snatching the piece of clothing away. This one hadn’t suffered like the last one, which meant the cat hadn’t gotten around to playing with it yet or that he hadn’t been hungry enough to try and eat it. Or that he was more into nuzzling it but, really, that was pushing boundaries he didn’t feel comfortable exploring.

He studied the soft piece of fabric, unable to stop himself. It was delicate and just as see-through as the blue-green one had been, except for two thicker lines of lace at the seams that wouldn’t hide anything from view. Pretty.

“Wonder where you find this stuff.” he mumbled, his mouth suddenly a bit parched.

It had been quite a while since the last time he had let Chaff convince him to go into a bar to pick up someone and… He cleared his throat and put the thong in the box full of stolen items he kept on top of a cupboard, telling himself he would go out and find someone soon. Clearly, if he was turned on by the pink thong of a random stranger who could be absolutely ugly for all he knew, he needed to get laid very badly.

The next theft happened two days after that.

This time it was a burgundy thing in between a thong and panties, still see-through, with a triangle hole on the bottom. He figured the hole would fit right on the small of the woman’s back and…

“You started stealing in town, yeah?” he asked, his voice tight.

He didn’t know a single woman in their immediate neighborhood that would wear this sort of things. They were all either very old women or frantic mothers who were always late for something. He couldn’t imagine any in that sort of expensive kinky lingerie. Not one.

Buttercup was very irritated when he confiscated his new toy and tried to scratch him. After a couple of hours though, Haymitch was apparently forgiven on account of the cat’s empty stomach. It was almost funny to watch the animal roll on his lap and purr like a turbine, trying to get back into his good grace.

“Stupid cat.” Haymitch mumbled. “Stop stealing this stuff. I’ve got enough ‘you need a girlfriend’ bullshit from Finnick, I don’t need you jumping on that wagon. I sure don’t need a woman anyway. Though, can’t say I’d say no to a good fuck.”

He hadn’t called Chaff yet. Because Chaff, like Finnick and the rest of their friends including Prim and Katniss, were of the opinion that since he was done playing full time mentor-slash-unofficial-guardian to his neighbor’s daughters, he needed to find something else to do on the side. And by something else to do, what they really meant was someone else. Peeta had even tried to create him an account on a dating website, he had lost count of the number of blind dates he had narrowly escaped in the last couple of months… No, it was much safer to stay home, filter his calls and avoid his friends as much as possible.

He could go to the bar by himself and find a willing woman but with no one there to keep him from the edge, it would most likely end up with him getting wasted than with a one-night-stand. And if he called Finnick or Chaff… He needed to get laid, true, but he didn’t need – nor wanted – a girlfriend. No matter what his friends thought.

His last serious relationship had ended up with the girl dead along with the rest of his family while he was on the other end of the planet for a stupid mission – the one that had cost him half his team and during which he had been forced to witness forty-eight kids dying when a school was accidentally bombed. A success all around.

He would probably have ended up a waste of space, a cliché drunkard vet who could barely function, if he hadn’t met Katniss a few years after he had come back. Eleven and an orphan with a defiant attitude, a stubborn streak that was far too endearing, an adorable little sister and a depressed mother – and so very much in need of help, he had been invested before he had even realized it. Prim often said he had saved them but, really, it was the other way around.

And now they were both gone because that was how those things go. Children left the nest. And he was lonely and bored and, sure, Katniss checked in every two days and he liked her boyfriend a lot because Peeta was a sweet boy who always made sure he had fresh bread and didn’t forget to eat but… It wasn’t the same.

He didn’t need a girlfriend though.

That was just his stupid friends projecting their own life goals on him.

He jumped with a curse when Buttercup bit his hand and he glared at the tomcat on his lap.

“Yeah, fine. Let’s get you fed, you monster.” he spat, chasing him from his knees.

Routine, he told himself, routine was good. Feed the cat, grab a book… Maybe a good jerk off before bed…

Routine.

A routine that was disturbed the next morning, while he was checking on the geese, by Buttercup dashing down the street and straight through the open kitchen door as if the devil himself was hot on his heels, something red dangling between his teeth. Haymitch followed after him because the red thing looked much bigger than panties or socks.

The cat was out of breath, huddling in the corner of the kitchen, and it took Haymitch almost a whole minute to snatch the piece of fabric Buttercup had stolen this time. Lace again but not panties… He turned it around a couple of times, trying to make sense of it. Was it a bra or a top? It looked far too… slutty for a top so it must have been lingerie, a bra, yeah… Two triangle of lace that tied around the neck and the back, with a very big diamond-shaped hole in the middle that couldn’t hide much at all.

The bra’s cups didn’t look big… He was about to guess at the size by trying to fit his fist there – scientific curiosity and nothing else – when the doorbell rang. Three times in a row.

Haymitch glared at Buttercup because he had a good idea what it was about and tossed the bra on the kitchen’s table before making his way to the front door. By that time, whoever it was had rung it two more times and he hated that sound. Most people knocked around there. It wasn’t that big a town, after all.

He brutally opened the door, a scowl on his face.

The woman was… Gorgeous, was a good word for it. Posh, was another one. He didn’t think he had ever seen someone so posh in their little corner of the world before. She was wearing a soft grey high-waist pencil skirt, impossibly tall heels and a blue blouse that made her eyes look even bluer than they already were. The legs were endless and the eyes were very blue, her blond hair was pinned high in a severe bun that reminded him of Tinkerbell – because Prim had had a phase around ten when she wanted her hair just like that all the time – and didn’t suit her at all.

She looked uptight – which he hated.

Except he had a good idea of what kind of stuff she was wearing under those strict clothes and that wasn’t uptight at all – which was interesting.

“Yeah?” he said, not bothering to hide his annoyance at being disturbed.

She pursed her lips but forced a pleasant polite smile when she outstretched her hand. “Mr Abernathy, I suppose? Effie Trinket. I recently moved in a little further down the street.”

Damn but her voice was high-pitched.

And her accent… Clipped vowels and an affected tone…

The airs she was giving herself.

He folded his arms in front of his chest and ignored the hand, a little disappointed. Not that he had been fantasizing about the kinky panties’ owner but… Well, he had been a little. Maybe he had let himself picture a nice woman with a generous laugh, glossy dark hair and easy to get along who would have joked the whole criminal cat off.

And instead what he got was…

What even was she to dress like that? An accountant? A lawyer? A secretary?

“And?” he prompted when she simply stood there, waiting for him to acknowledge her words or welcome her in the neighborhood or whatever people did those days.

She pursed her lips even further and narrowed her eyes, letting her hand drop back to her side. He had to give her that, when she spoke, her voice was perfectly controlled, not a hint of irritation came through. “Do you, by any chance, own a cat, Mr Abernathy?”

“Nope.” he shrugged.

Her jaw clenched, her blue eyes glared daggers and he found himself shifting because…

She was very, very hot.

And he couldn’t stop thinking about the red bra on his kitchen table and how he had been right, there wasn’t much up there but enough that it would fit perfectly in his hands and…

Her next words jerked him off from the fantasy he was quickly falling into.

“How peculiar.” she hissed. “You see, I asked around and the consensus seems to be that you own a particular ginger cat with a missing ear.”

“That’s Primrose Everdeen’s cat, you’re looking for.” he told her, glancing around behind her.

The street was calm and deserted but he knew there would be at least one or two old women behind their curtains, spying on them. After all, Sae’s stockings weren’t the only ones that had been stolen and that Effie Trinket looked like the kind of person who give him a good run for his money. He supposed old ladies had to find their revenge where they could. Unless it was Beetee who still hadn’t forgiven him for his favorite socks getting ruined who had directed her to him.

“Primrose Everdeen.” she repeated, clearly not convinced.

He helpfully pointed at the right house, thinking it was only right Aster had to deal with this. It was her cat too after all. “Next door.”

He didn’t feel very guilty about it. Aster would probably not even answer the doorbell. She never did.

Effie Trinket – and what kind of name was that ? – didn’t even glance in the direction he indicated. She placed her hands on her hips and studied him.

She was aggravated, that was plain to see. She was also very much checking him out if he wasn’t mistaken.

He lifted his eyebrows, his lips stretching into a smirk.

She ignored it.

“Everyone seemed to agree the cat was yours.” she remarked.

“Everyone’s wrong.” he shrugged.

“Then, why did I see him dash into your backyard just a few minutes ago?” she retorted with a sweet, sweet smile that promised a thousand torture wrapped in a nice little bow.

“Didn’t say I wasn’t feeding him.” He smirked harder.

She blinked twice but he couldn’t really guess at what was happening in her head. She had a very good poker face.

“Do you train your cat to commit burglaries, Mr Abernathy?” she asked.

How she could word that question with a straight face, he wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t help a chuckle. “Ain’t my cat, sweetheart. I’m just making sure he doesn’t starve.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it only to open it again, her tone suddenly more chilly. “My name is Effie Trinket. You may address me as Effie or Miss Trinket but you certainly cannot call me sweetheart.”

“Sure.” he agreed easily. “Sorry. Princess.”

If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead.

It really shouldn’t have been that attractive.

But maybe if she would stop sneaking glances at his mouth…

“Your cat repeatedly broke into my house.” she accused.

He rolled his eyes. “Ain’t my cat and it ain’t my fault he likes socks. Take it up with Prim when she comes back from college.”

“Oh, I think we are both aware he did not steal socks.” she snapped. “Now. Do you have my belongings or should I simply go to the police station and report you for…”

“For what?” he challenged, amused.

“Feline mugging!” she exclaimed, poking his chest with an accusative finger. “You trained that beast to sneak into innocent women’s home and steal their underwear! Probably for your twisted enjoyment!”

He snorted at that. “You know, I’m half tempted to go with you just to see Cray’s face if you try to report that.” He shook his head, eyes twinkling in amusement. It had been a while since someone had bothered to keep up with him in that kind of banter. And he wasn’t the only one that the conversation had amused. He could see it under her irritation. She was enjoying this too. Maybe a little too much. Her finger was still poking at his chest, less too accuse and more to… check firmness. He batted it away. “Come in. Your stuff’s in the kitchen.”

He stepped back but she didn’t move.

She lifted perfectly shaped eyebrows. “You expect me to walk into the home of a possible pervert?”

“My cat’s the pervert.” he mocked, heading to the kitchen, leaving her to follow or stay there.

“I thought it wasn’t your cat?” she retorted.

Still, after a few seconds, he heard the front door closing and the echoing sound of her heels on floorboards. He tossed her a glance over his shoulder, not quite surprised to see her less than impressed with his house. It was a mess and not as clean as it should be. Hazelle did her best but even the most awesome housekeeper couldn’t match his natural tendency for chaos.

“Holding your nose?” he taunted. “Smell that bad?”

She looked horrified at having been found out.

“I would never!” she protested with a huff. “How rude do you suppose me to be?” She pursed her lips, looked around again and then… “I do not mean to offend you in any way but why does it smell so much like poultry?”

“’Cause some of the geese wandered in this morning.” he shrugged. He tended to leave the backdoor open and that sort of things happened more than he wanted to linger on. Hazelle always complained about having to clean geese poop from his floors.

“Geese.” she repeated slowly, understanding quickly dawning on her face. The honking had probably puzzled her. “Do you own any normal pet?”

“Normal’s overrated, sweetheart.” he dismissed.

Her face hardened again. She really wasn’t keen on pet names.

Which only made him all the more determined to use them.

Riling her up was fun.

“There you are.” she scowled once she stepped in the kitchen and found Buttercup sitting in the middle of the table, relaxed as you pleased, his butt on the red lace Haymitch had tossed there earlier. “You are a very naughty cat, mister.”

Buttercup flicked his brushy tail one way and then the other, eyeing her with obvious disdain.

Haymitch privately thought he looked less proud of himself earlier when he had been running like hell from her fury.

He grabbed the plastic box from the top of the cupboard and handed it to her. “Take whatever’s yours.”

She looked stunned at the number of pieces of clothing in the box. Socks mainly, a couple of stockings, a few half-eaten tights and, of course, her underwear.

He kept his eyes averted because now that she was standing right there in his kicthen, he felt bad.

It wasn’t that she was embarrassed exactly but she did blush a little when she quickly snatched her thongs. Her previous indignation wasn’t so funny anymore. After all, she didn’t know him and he had seen something private he hadn’t been meant to. She had every right to be furious. After the cat and after him for not controlling the furry pest better.

He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I tossed the first one in the trash. He had eaten it.”

“I see.” she said flatly before clearing her throat. “My bra, if you will? I dare not approach this cat, he almost clawed my arm off earlier.”

The blouse’s sleeves covered any possible injury from view but Haymitch winced, knowing just how vicious Buttercup could be. He didn’t escape unscathed when he rescued the bra but he didn’t think it warranted her shocked gasp. The scratches on his forearm were bleeding but it wasn’t that bad. He opened the cold tap and let water stream on it, watching her ball her underwear, probably hoping it would make it less obvious what she was carrying.

“There are trash bags in that cupboard.” he offered, pointing to a low cupboard.

“Thank you.” Her smile was relieved and grateful and, for the first time since she had rung that doorbell, genuine. It was also breathtaking. Not that Haymitch would have had admitted that. She quickly hid everything from view in the trash bag and then approached him to peer at the wound on his arm. “Do you have a first aid kit? I think you need a bandage at the very least.”

He was half tempted to let her play nurse.

“Ain’t that bad.” he denied, turning the water off and flicking his hand a few times before wiping it with a dishcloth that had been abandoned on the counter. “Look… I’m sorry, alright? For real.” He wasn’t really good at apologies and he felt awkward now. “I know I should probably have tried to find you to give it back but… He’s only stolen socks and stuff like that before, never…”

“Well… He has good lingerie taste.” she joked. “There is always that.”

Her eyes were riveted on the floor and there was a soft blush on her cheeks. It was obvious she was uncomfortable and that made him feel even worse because… He didn’t want her to feel that way. It wasn’t right.

“I didn’t look.” he lied.

She shot him an incredulous look and he winced.

“Not much.” he amended.

Her lips twitched and while the awkwardness didn’t completely disappear, she looked more amused than ill-at-ease. Confident again. He liked that, he realized, the charisma she had.

“Can’t promise it won’t happen again.” he warned. “He’s been acting out since my kid left for school.”

She frowned, curiosity written all over her face. “I thought you said it was the neighbor’s cat?”

“It is.” he confirmed and then rolled his eyes because he was so used to everyone knowing the story that it was odd to have to explain it. “The girls next door are kind of my kids. Raised them. Sort of. It’s complicated.”

“I see.” she said. She studied him for a second and then flashed him a polite smile. “Well. It was nice to meet you, Mr Abernathy, but I am afraid I must dash. I simply must get to work.”

“Okay.” he shrugged, walking her back to the front door. He watched her strut down his lane and then called out, just as she was opening the gate. “Name’s Haymitch, by the way.”

She paused, looked back with another of those blinding smiles, and then continued on her way down the street.

He found Buttercup sulking on the couch.

“Fine.” he snorted. “You’ve got taste.”

The cat growled in answer but Haymitch dropped next to him anyway, ignoring his bad mood. Buttercup was always in a bad mood.

He spent the whole day in a weird frame of mind, unable to shake off the memory of Effie Trinket staring him down. Fuck, but he had forgotten how hot a fiery woman could be.

It was all it was, of course, and he told himself that firmly.

She was witty and beautiful and clearly had no trouble flirting with strangers who owned a pervert cat…

And he had a bad case of blue balls.

When he kicked his sweatpants off that night and wrapped his hand around himself, it was just to relieve some of that tension. So, sure, he first started thinking about glaring women and, sure, those women soon turned into one gorgeous blue-eyed blonde. It wasn’t right to jerk off to the thought of the new neighbor he had only met because his cat had stolen her – kinky – panties but he was too far off to care at that point…

He couldn’t stop imagining her, what she would look like… How it would feel to rip that skirt and blouse off her, too easy to picture the red bra or the pink thong on her… None of that tight bun on her head either… Her blond hair sprawled on the pillow under her head… His fingers tangling in the strands…

His hand was rough and almost brutal as he stroke himself to relief.

Would she be rough or sweet? Soft or violent? Shy or passionate?

The possibilities were endless and by the time he made a mess of his sheets, he was out of breath, delirious with lust and half-hoping Buttercup would steal from her again just so he could have an excuse to approach her.

Not that he would ask her out…

He didn’t ask women out.

He didn’t date.

He didn’t…

But maybe they could…

Yeah, a sarcastic voice at the back of his mind mocked, a woman like her, she’s clearly into one night stands. Sure. Tell yourself that.

“Shit.” he muttered.

He hated to think the voice was right but he wasn’t very talented at hoping or lying to himself. He flopped on his stomach, firmly told himself to stop being an idiot and forced himself to go to sleep.

He went out into town the next day.

Because he was low on groceries, not because he was hoping to bump into her.

If he had hoped to bump into her, he would have been disappointed anyway because she was nowhere to be found.

He stopped at the bakery last, happy to find Katniss there so he could lecture her again about what an inconvenience her stupid cat was.

“It’s Prim’s cat, not mine.” was the only answer he got out of the girl.

Two more days passed without any burglary – although he did have a moment of hope when he found Buttercup munching on a black fabric but it turned to be one of his socks – and Haymitch pretended very hard he wasn’t disappointed with that. He wondered if she had found a system to keep her underwear a little more secure than previously or if she had just gotten better at making sure the cat couldn’t get in at all.

He wondered a lot about her.

It was ridiculous, of course. He had seen her once. Utterly ridiculous. And he was done with this weird obsession. Completely done. He was over it. Absolutely over it.

From Hazelle – who he subtly interrogated while she was doing the cleaning and complaining about how he couldn’t keep his house spotless for three bloody days straight – he got that she had moved in a little over two weeks earlier from a big city. From Sae, he figured out she wasn’t much of a cook because either she came to the restaurant – and mostly ate alone – or she ordered take out. From Peeta, he learned that she had bought the empty building at the corner of the street from the bakery and was planning to open a lingerie shop – which explained a lot if not everything. From Katniss, all he found out was that the woman was odd – which probably meant too eccentric and posh for her tastes.

After a week of heavy denial and quite a few evenings spent pretending he wasn’t jerking off to fantasies of her touching him, he finally admitted she had caught his eye and that he should do something about it.

A resolution that was quickly forgotten when he realized he hadn’t seen Buttercup in a while. He hadn’t been immediately worried because the cat came and went as he pleased and it wasn’t unheard of for him to go back to the Everdeens’ house for a night or two or even to Katniss and Peeta’s but it was odd for him not to come back and ask for food three days in a row.

He refused to admit being worried because it wasn’t like he cared about the cat – it was well known Haymitch Abernathy didn’t care for anything or anyone after all, or at least that was what he liked to pretend – but it was Prim’s cat and Prim would be devastated if anything happened to him. He looked everywhere for the stupid animal. At Aster’s, at the bakery, in the meadow, in every street and dark alley…

So, in the end, it was a bit anticlimactic when the doorbell rang, just as he was about to call Katniss and beg her to help him hunt Buttercup down, to find Effie Trinket standing on his doorstep with a slightly displeased expression on her face.

He had been imagining that very scene for a while now – and in every version of it, he was quite the charmer and it ended always ended with a kiss – but now he had more pressing concerns.

“Buttercup didn’t steal anything.” he snapped defensively before she could open her mouth. “He’s gone. I can’t find him.”

“Oh, I know.” she breathed out with obvious irritation. “He is in my bed.”

He had to do a double take at that. “What?” He frowned, taking in the short tight red dress she was wearing. It was the complete opposite style of the skirt and blouse she had been wearing the other day and he wondered if that was her being relaxed or if… “Is that a come-on?”

Because he was tempted.

But the missing cat…

She lifted her eyebrows, an amused smile floating on her lips. “Not quite. Your cat is literally in my bed and I cannot shoo him away without him hissing at me. I thought about just… bundling him in the sheets but I do not want to hurt him, no matter how rude he acts. Could you…”

“Yeah.” he said at once, puzzled by what had gotten into that tomcat now. He had never done that before. Sneak into a neighbor’s house, yes. Steal stuff, yes. But just settle there?

He followed her down the street, trying not to be too obvious when he stared at her ass. It was impossible not to stare. It was right there and that dress clung to it like a second skin and she kept swinging her hips that bit too much…

“If you are quite done ogling me…” she grinned and he realized he had been so lost in his silent contemplation he had missed them reaching her house and her unlocking the door. She was waiting for him to come in, eyebrows raised.

“Wasn’t ogling you.” he muttered.

“You are not a great liar.” she snorted.

“Arrogant much?” he scoffed, annoyed at being found out so easily.

She thought she was in control here and that, that he didn’t like at all. He liked calling the shots. He liked being in charge. He liked…

“Perhaps.” she challenged. “However that does not mean I’m wrong.”

He ignored her smug face and stepped inside.

Challenging.

That was a good word for her. She was challenging. And fuck if he had ever been able to stop himself from raising to one.

Her house couldn’t have been more different to his. It was… colorful. Bright artworks on the walls, furniture made of dark cherry wood, colors everywhere else… Curtains, rugs… He glimpsed a red fridge and matching appliances on their way past the kitchen…

The layout of the house was similar to his though, so he wasn’t surprised when she led him up the stairs and to the left. The master bedroom was all in pink and cream tones. It was ridiculous but not without its charm, he figured.

Given that everything seemed to have its proper place in the house and that everything was meticulously clean, he very much doubted she had left the bed unmade that morning so he deduced that Buttercup had been the one making a mess of it. He had made himself a nice little nest with the bedspread and the sheets.

“He has been coming and going for the last couple of days.” she explained. “I think he spent the night downstairs once or twice. We had an agreement that as long as he did not steal my underwear again he was welcome.” She pursed her lips at the cat. “But this is taking it a bit far.”

“You could have said.” he spat. “I’ve been looking for him.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “What do I know of your cat’s habits? Trust me, I did not ask him to stay.”

He studied her with some mistrust. He wasn’t going to explain to Prim that a stranger had stolen her cat.

“Get your own pet.” he warned.

“Gladly.” she huffed. “Perhaps I will get a dog. It should keep your cat from breaking and entering.”

He looked her up and down and then smirked. “You ain’t a dog person. You’re high maintenance. Like a cat.”

“Oh, you think you have me all figured out, haven’t you?” she hissed.

“Not yet.” he shrugged. “But that’s the fun part.”

He half-expected her to blush or stutter but she stared straight back at him instead, her chin jutted high, a hint of defiance in her blue eyes… At least until her gaze darted to his mouth and she licked her own lips.

His smirked widened.

Had she been thinking about him too?

All the flirting didn’t mean she wanted more but…

“Get that cat off my bed.” she ordered.

“Bossy.” he commented.

“In everything.” she remarked in a casual way that was not casual at all. Her voice was just that little bit lower and…

“What do I get out of it?” he asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Buttercup was eying both of them in turn with very obvious annoyance.

“Your cat back.” she deadpanned.

“Maybe I don’t want him back.” he challenged.

“You wanted him back two seconds ago.” she remarked.

“Maybe I’m fickle.” he shrugged.

Her grin was slow and almost predatory, her eyes were twinkling with amusement. “I sincerely hope not. Fickle men are not worth my time.”

Suddenly the pink and cream tones of the room didn’t look so ridiculous. They look intimate. He wanted to step closer to her, maybe to kiss her just to erase that taunting grin from her lips…

He didn’t move.

If he moved first, he lost.

And he was very much enjoying the game.

“Maybe I want something more than just the cat.” he stated and he barely recognized his own voice. It was rough and just as predatory as her grin.

Another woman might have been intimidated or scared by a virtual stranger making that sort of heavy flirting in their bedroom, she barely blinked. She simply tilted her head to the side. “Name your price.”

“Maybe I want to see what you’ve got under your dress.” He waited a second, just to make sure he wasn’t pushing it too far but when she just stood there and stared back with the very same glint of lust in her eyes, he licked his lips. “Maybe I want to see how this frilly stuff Buttercup stole looks on you.”

“That is assuming I have any underwear on.” she hummed.

A sound escaped his throat, halfway between a groan and a whine.

He wasn’t sure who moved first.

All he knew was that one second they were standing a respectable distance apart, the next her mouth was crushed against his, hot and demanding, and her hands were ripping buttons off his shirt. The kiss was almost brutal, dirty in all the right ways, her fingers tangled in his hair, pulled… He fumbled with the zipper of her dress, he tried to shove it down but it got stuck around her hips and she stopped him to slip it over her head instead…

She had a black lacy bra on underneath and the matching panties to go with.

And she was even more gorgeous than he had thought she would be.

He wasn’t sure how they ended up against the wall or where she had been hiding the condom she rolled on him.

They were kissing again, then she was tugging him and then he was pining her against the hard surface…

It was rough and frantic and he briefly wondered if she had been having a dry spell too because she looked as desperate and eager as he was…

The noises she was making though…

Fuck, but he could get addicted to those.

Moans and sighs and whimpers and whines…

It was over far too fast. Her strangled cry of pleasure brought him over the edge and he lost his footing frantically thrusting his release into her. They collapsed on the floor, half on the bedside rug, out of breath and a little sweaty.

It took him a good minute to get rid of the condom, knot it and carefully place it aside, too dizzy from his climax to properly compute. He didn’t even try to stand up. He was pretty sure his legs would have protested.

It could have turned awkward really fast – because what the hell had even just happened? – if she hadn’t started laughing.

“See… When a woman laughs right after I’m done with her, it doesn’t do wonders for my ego…” he joked.

She rolled on her side and hooked a leg over his hip, propping her head on her hand and patting his chest with her other one. “I have a feeling your ego doesn’t need any stroking.”

“I’ve got something else I’d prefer you to stroke anyway.” he smirked.

She glanced down and bit down on her bottom lip in a thoughtful way. He was almost scared by what her brain was imagining now. Almost. He was also excited to find out.

“Perhaps later.” she hummed. “Once you have chased the cat from my bed.”

It was a dangerous assumption. Later. He didn’t usually stick around long enough with a woman for there to be a later.

But she was gorgeous, feisty, very naked, very willing and still something of a riddle. He had never been able to resist a good riddle. Or a challenge. And she was both. She was both in a very appealing package.

“You’re a weird woman.” he told her.

She was so different from any he had met before… He wasn’t sure if it was a good or a bad thing yet.

“Says the very puzzling neighbor.” she chuckled instead of taking offense. “Do you know nobody I asked could give me the same explanation about you? According to some, you are a recluse, to others you are a secret millionaire or a generous sweet man with a boorish exterior I should definitely consider going out with…”

“Let me guess…” he snorted. “That was Sae.”

“Peeta actually.” she corrected. “Sae’s suggestions were more… akin to what we just did.”

He lifted his eyebrows, not sure if he should be surprised or disgusted by the idea of the old woman making that sort of implications. He chose to ignore it altogether and focus on the main thing. “So. You asked about me.” He probably sounded far too smug about that and maybe the taunting was a little too much but he couldn’t help it. “Liked what you saw the other day, sweetheart? Couldn’t stay away?”

“Well, you were conducting your very own investigation.” she teased. “It seemed only fair I enquired in kind.”

“How do you…” he frowned.

“People talk.” she dismissed. “And you are quite handsome despite your rude cat. I was interested anyway.”

The way she said that scared him a little.

She didn’t say it as if she intended this to be just a fun night. She said it as if she intended to have fun nights quite a few number of time in the near future and maybe some serious stuff in between the fun too.

He wasn’t sure he was up for that…

Of course, it was the moment Buttercup jumped from the bed directly on his stomach, leaving claw marks on his already scarred side, and sauntered away with his tail high, hissing for no particular reason.

“I think the cat has a crush on you, sweetheart.” he scowled, glaring at the retreating butt of the animal.

“Poor thing.” she laughed and then she got busy kissing up the side of his neck. He guided her leg more firmly over his hips so she was almost straddling him…

“He’s a fragile cat, you know.” he commented casually, running his palm up and down her thigh. “Looks all tough but… He’s been hurt pretty bad before. Made him a bit wild. Ain’t quite sure he’d known how to be tamed.”

“Some untamed animals can be very loyal pets.” she retorted, letting her lips travel to his collarbone. Her tongue found a small scare there and retraced its length. “It takes time to win anyone’s trust. I am quite… fond of him too, for what it’s worth. Despite our short acquaintance.”

How she could talk so fancy when she was doing unspeakable thing to his nipple – sucking and licking and… – he didn’t know.

“Just… Don’t toy with the cat’s feelings, yeah?” he insisted, guiding her head up to capture her mouth in a violent kiss.

“Never.” she promised, her hand wandering down his side only hesitate on the big swollen scar. She kept her eyes averted and her voice sounded more fragile than he had ever heard it. “But I hope he won’t play with mine either.”

“That’s not his style.” he snorted, brushing his fingers along the length of her spine. “He’s more into collecting your panties.”

“What a naughty cat.” she chuckled. “Is his owner just as naughty?”

He rolled them over and started kissing his way down her stomach, intending to show her just how naughty he could be.

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #prompt #thg modern au #1st meeting #hayffie pets #fighting hayffie #crack #teapot #HBIC effie #not established

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thedeadflag · 7 years ago

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@dreamsheartstory said: if you find any good sci fi, let me know… it’s so rare…

It really is. For a genre that has so much potential, it rarely makes the small screen without being corralled into a few very specific tropes (sci-fi cop procedural is so, so overdone, but I’m desperate haha)

Still, this is what I’ve watched over the past...3 years? 3 years, yeah. At least, the notable ones, not including the obvious big name Netflix marvel shows, Sense 8, orphan black, etc..

SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

The Expanse:

Harder sci-fi. Essentially, it’s the future, where humanity expanded across the system, and Mars split off to do their own thing after a civil war. The people working on “the belt”... as in the asteroid belt and other such unsavory places and stations...are the clear have-nots and are generally abused at will by both Earth and Mars, and the show starts where tensions are at an all-time high, with the belt a hair’s trigger away from revolt, and the Earth/Mars tensions coming to a head

Great casting, the crew of the Roci is fantastic. Though Thomas Jane is...a Thomas Jane character. He’s such a perfect fit for Miller, because Miller checks all the boxes for his strengths, and hides his weaknesses well enough in the flaws of the character. So i can’t blame the show for that, but I hate looking at his face. Still, the casting is just top notch. And they have Shohreh Aghdashloo, who is always fantastic, and Frankie Adams pops onto the scene in S2 and does quite well. Essentially, casting = A+

Only real complaint is that i read the book, and there’s a pansexual lady character that is exceptional and amazing and I love her and her mouth of a sailor. The show cut that and made her more passive and scared in S2, which is bullshit, and led me to stop watching because I was furious at that decision, but in the end, it’s still absolutely 100% worth watching. If just for the Roci crew alone and the endless shenanigans they get into (and sometimes out of)

Binge-worthy. Pacing of the first two episodes is a bit inconsistent, but they’re covering an absurd amount of ground, so that’s expected.

Killjoys:

Lighthearted space-faring sci-fi, set in a totally built from the ground up universe. It slowly leaks out the lore as to not jeopardize the general tone of the show. However, it does turn serious for stretches.

Easily binge-worthy. Takes 3 episodes to get momentum, but after that, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

My only real quibble is with the origins of Dutch. We get a hint of her growing up essentially as property, abused into being a living weapon/assassin, before we get a good read of the world, and that...really comes off as a bit exploitative, given she’s a woc.

The ship is an A+ lovable sassy ladybug

Dark Matter:

A bit “harder” sci-fi than Killjoys, but it has its lighthearted moments

Super super slow burn. I finished the first season and only then did I really start to dig my claws into the show. It’s slow.

That said, interesting lore, and the overarching series of narratives are solid and worthwhile, they just take an egregiously long time to lift-off.

There’s apparently wlw content in season 3. I haven’t finished S2 yet, but I’m hoping it’s solid.

Westworld:

Western meets Wizard of Oz featuring Anthony Hopkins with an old west fetish. Set far off in the future. There are, like, androids and stuff

I didn’t get through it since western shows give me the creeps, but most of my friends who watched it says it was pretty great. I only watched the first episode, but the acting and cinematography and music were all very well done.

Ascension:

A sci fi mystery, set in a space-ship, if that space-ship was sort of like one of the Bunkers in the fallout games, full of people from the 50s.

The show is not without its warts, but it’s a miniseries (so it’s not long), and it’s surprisingly well done. Doesn’t cover all the themes it brings up with the greatest nuance or skill, but I’d wager it’s probably worth a watch?

The OA:

Another mystery! Sci-fi in the vein of alien abduction and strange abilities.

It’s kind of surrealistic? It makes you pay attention, and if you slip up, you’ll probably miss out on something. There’s a decent chunk of content mashed into those surprisingly few episodes.

Didn’t like that it robbed a character of a disability. I think it would have worked just as well with the character still being blind. They could have made it work.

Trans guy rep in this show, which was a plus

American Gods:

I’m not sure if this counts? It kinda counts. I’m saying it counts. It mixes sci-fi and fantasy.

I haven’t finished this yet, mostly just because it’s hard to find torrents that aren’t tracked by the network. My ISP is okay with me getting one or two notices a month, but past that, it’s tricky, and I can’t afford a good VPN, so I’m playing the waiting game for a bit.

Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane were fantastic in the episodes I did see. The show is, if nothing else, visceral and beautifully shot.

3%:

Sci-fi in the vein of Hunger Games, but a better premise, and better executed

I only managed to get it with the dubbed audio, so that was flat out atrocious and made me weep over the injustice

Still, despite the absolutely grating audio, I pushed through that and enjoyed much of the rest of the show. it’s solid. Not, like, the best show out there, but it does what it does well, it covers its themes well, and the visual elements of the acting seemed strong.

Find the sub-titled version with the original language (portugese iirc?) audio. I think that’s available on Netflix now, or at least Netflix USA, from what I understand.

12 Monkeys:

It’s a police procedural time jumping sci-fi with a dystopian, post-apoc future.

It’s okay. Nothing special. The two leads really do try to put the show on their back, btu the writing’s not real strong. Watchable, but lots of plot holes, plot armor, and writers shoehorning in sudden/coincidental events out of nowhere to increase tension. if you want something to watch for background noise, or maybe if you want a procedural show and have checked out the others already, maybe this will be for you.

Agents of Shield:

Superhero-based sci-fi

First season is slow and full of filler because they were waiting for that Captain America Winter Soldier movie to come out before tying their show in with the events. There are guides to watching the first season. I thought it was all decently fine, and good writing alla round, there’s just too many episodes that season to justify the few meaningful narrative events.

Season 2 has Dichen Lachman. The final half of that season character-assassinates her (and the other inhumans) to provide the show a late-hour villain to root against. I hated that. It’s the weakest season, thankfully, and I’m sure there are watch-guides to skipping through that because...

Shit gets real in season 3, and it’s worth watching even outside of S1-2, I’d even rec skipping those if there wans’t so much character-building in those 2 seasons. The writing is better, the acting is better from S3 onward. There’s still some fumbling of themes, but not to the degree of the previous seasons. Same with Season 4, where it arguably has it’s greatest few episodes. Ends with a brief Hydra-AU arc that IMO is skippable, but some adored it. I didn’t, but eh.

Colony:

Harder sci-fi. Aliens invaded and swiftly won. Now they’re ruling us from a distance, using human figureheads to do so. Really neat lore, and worldbuilding.

Unfortunately, it’s the most frustrating sci-fi show i’ve seen in years, because the male cop lead always has a gut feeling that always aligns with what the revolutionaries are planning, so he always intercepts them. And they get unbelievable plot armor to escape the writers’ ham-handed tension-building, ensuring the writers don’t pay any consequences for the shitty bullshit they keep pulling over and over.

If you can take that sort of crap, and care enough about worldbuilding/lore/etc., then go for it. There’s definite value, and things improve greatly in season 2. But my lord, season 1 is so frustrating.

Person of Interest:

You’ve probably watched this one

Hard sci-fi in the vein of "Hey, maybe writing a secret intelligent AI is just a really bad idea” *five minutes later* “Oh no what have we done”

It’s a really bad idea.

But we get fun police procedural moments out of it, because John is solid, and Carter & Root & Shaw & Bear are excellent.

Bear is best.

The show has watch guides for getting through the first season, and parts of S2.

Avoid the final 3 episodes of the series. Maybe the final season altogether. Otherwise fantastic and heartwrenching stuff.

The Last Ship:

Naval Adventure to Rebuild the World After a Rampant MegaVirus sci-fi

Surprisingly decent for a show that’s basically funded entirely by the American Navy.

Just keep in mind that there will be shitty patriotism bits of bullshit tossed in here and there, and there won’t be so much shock when those bits show up.

First two seasons play out like a mix of The Hunt for Red October and Jesus Camp. It’s bizarre, but sometimes it works? Rhona Mitra and Christina Elmore are probably the reasons for that. And Dichen Lachman is in S3 and she doesn’t die, so that’s a plus.

It definitely has its dips into shit-tier quality, and self-righteous bullshittery, especially in S3.

But it also handles a national political arc halfway decently for a sci-fi show in S3.

Anywho, this is good for, like, background watching? Or low-intensity, low-effort watching. In that context, it’s a good enough show.

The Leftovers:

Three seasons of super depressing and heart-wrenching drama with sci-fi at its core (huge amounts of people vanish one day...the show is about the world finding out how to move on, what ti all means)

Excellent acting. Top notch. Like, some of the best on TV. Some stunning stuff.

The show only gets better. I didn’t like the first half of S1, it’s very slow and arduous, but it’s worth it.

Not very sci-fi, at least not until S3, but still. It works with sci-fi elements and it’s a very thoughtful, smart show.

Wayward Pines:

It’s sci-fi in the vein of Under the Dome, but it manages to be even worse somehow don’t ask me how

Oh my god don’t watch this, the cast does not make up for it, they flounder in atrocious writing. i’m only mentioning this here because it’s just so bad, don’t waste your time like I did.

That’s...well, the stuff that’s not far below mediocre.

#spoilers #AoS spoilers #agents of shield spoilers

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ao3feed-stucky · 7 years ago

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Doll

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2ysqSBf

by ChrissiHR

Night 16 ...in which the author accidentally wrote a reverse time travel AU featuring the Howling Commandos; Bucky Barnes’ battalion of baby sisters; hot, gay hero dads; hot, gay hero aunts who do everything hot gay hero dads do, backwards and in heels; Howard being Howard and also sometimes not terrible; Tony being Tony; Clint being an Actual Human Disaster; Natasha’s loving murder-gaze; Coulson fangirling (on the inside); blink-and-you-miss-it unrequited love and devotion; and Nick Fury who has had just about enough of all these assholes and their bullshit. Oh, and a war orphan who gets adopted by most of Brooklyn and all of the 107th.

Words: 2427, Chapters: 1/8, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of It's the Great Countdown, Darcy Lewis, Part 7 of Creature Features

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Thor - All Media Types, Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, Hawkeye (Comics), Black Widow (Comics), Winter Soldier (Comics), MASH (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Darcy Lewis, James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan, Jim Morita, Howard Stark, Gabe Jones, James Montgomery Falsworth, Jacques Dernier, Howling Commandos, Peggy Bigelow, Radar O'Reilly

Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Howling Commandos, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers

Additional Tags: 31 Days Of Halloween, Promptober, October Prompt Challenge, October 16, Suspense, Drama, Family, Family Feels, Family Drama, Team as Family, Adoption, Found Family, Creature!Darcy, song prompt, Poor Unfortunate Souls, the little mermaid soundtrack, Fluff and Humor

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2ysqSBf

#starbucks #stucky #steve rogers #bucky barnes #marvel

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gemsofthegalaxy · 3 years ago

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awh thank you SO much i love talking about myself writing. only like 3 days late or something tho :P

how many works do you have on AO3?

65 lol.

what’s your total AO3 word count?

759,272!

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On ao3, at least 17 I think? We got: MCU/Marvel/Captain America, Les Mis, Check Please!, Dangan Ronpa, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown (kinda), Miraculous Ladybug, Tangled The Series, Shadow and Bone, Steven Universe, Supernatural, The Adventure Zone, The Bright Sessions, The Penumbra Podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, Wolf 359, and Yuri On Ice.

I also have written pokemon fanfic that was posted to my fanfic.net that I havent been on in yeaaaarsss.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

We can do this if you want - a check please olympics au! not derogatory at all, I think this is a good fic tbh and it was my longest for a LONG time so it had a lot of effort put in.

A Simple Misunderstanding - i think this is also check please... yeah, one where Bitty mistakes Jack for a DILF. i tried writing dialogue in French and much of it was not good but i had lovely people help with corrections in the comments lol.

Dancing with Desire - Yuri On Ice stripper au. lol. i was surprised this got this popular because I posted it this year, and I didn't realize the YOI fandom was so active? it's not my fav of the longfics i wrote recently (not even my fav of the stripper aus if i'm being frank >_>) but i DO like it a lot and it warms my heart how many COMMENTES i got.

Do it for the vine, Steve. - fucking. memey avengers shit from the 2014ish era (my beloved).

Of course, it was you - a check please zimbits soulmate au. tbh i think I was just writing check please stuff at the right time y'know, when it was super popular and lots of people were reading it.

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

YES i respond to mooooost comments. sometimes when people leave multiple in a relatively short period of time or they're just like "<3" i don't always respond to each, but for the most part I really like to thank people for their words. And if they give me something more substantial I also try to reply in kind, like, engaging specifically with what they mentioned if possible (say, someone is like "omg these boys are so obtuse i hate them" i'd be like "you are RIGHT they have their heads in the sand") just to, idk, try to personalize it? idk I don't usually think too hard.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Um i don't usually write angst but my one Dangan Ronpa fic (derogatory ?) that i refuse to re-read is, like, angsty and i THINK features suicide or contemplation of suicide. it's the darkest fic i've written and published (tbh probably the darkest fic i've written period?) and it's weird and angsty and experimental and every day i think about orphaning it but I don't. sigh.

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I was about to say "no" and then i read the next fic and I was like oh, wait... kind of?

I've written one thing that is sort of a crossover. or, like, an au? my Tangled The Series fic is mashed with the plot of Frozen 2, where Cassandra hears a mysterious voice calling her and it leads her to the black rocks. Like in TTS, they follow the black rocks. spoilers, the voice is the moonstone.

It's also a songfic.. with lyrics as dialogue and also monologues. i know, i know. this leads me to the next question.

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not.. exactly? I guess? I've had some comments that were a bit nitpicky (again dipping in to the next question, someone told me my smut scenes were too quick :U) and stuff.

But one person commented on my TTS fic to tell me they Loved the fic, but HATED that i included song lyrics and it was weird and it "made their eyes glaze over" every time a 'song' started. And, hey, I kinda get it? I don't like reading songfics lmao. But it was a fun experiment for me to fit these lyrics into dialogue and try to make it work. i guess, according to this person, i was not successful. I do think it's best if you know the Frozen 2 soundtrack and this person said they hadn't seen it, so, yknow.

I told them their words came across as hurtful because of the tone, particularly saying their "eyes glazed over" and they were all "it's just an OPINION" and i was like "Well in my opinion it was rude of you to include that piece of criticism" and after a couple lengthy ass replies they never responded again, and i locked the thread. once again, i consider deleting that thread constantly. i feel weird unsure if i've just been overly defensive? like, i don't know if i'd consider it truly "hate" but I DO stand by feeling that it was a rude way to phrase something. & at the end of the day, the songs were not just a small part of the fic it was the entire premise, so, saying they were bad and should be removed is like. well. that's the whole point of the fic? so? okay?

wow this is a long response. i also had what turned out to be a pretty neat exchange one time where someone said, on my Check Please Olympic AU, that it might be sort of rude/callous to check your tinder and oogle at guys in front of someone you're currently sleeping with and i was like "yeah. maybe! i also based this on sort of college-like experiences where chatting about hot people with former/current hooks-ups wasn't that weird, and even if it was a bit rude i wouldn't put it past someone around my age to do it unthinkingly, so i stand by the character decision" and they were like "okay yeah i mean i can see that and i am definitely of a different generation so it still feels odd but i understandable". So that wasn't hate, but it was interesting to have someone question how i was framing something in a story when they really thought it would be a point of contention. That perspective was one I appreciated.

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Yes! and i'm not sure what is meant exactly by "what kind" but, I DO think I write smut sort of weirdly. Usually it's plot relevant, meaningful to the characters in some way. I don't always go for super sexy sex meant only to get people heated, but a sort of middle-of-the-road with some realism, but not to the level of 'laying towels down before anal' or something of that nature (snort). i often try to depict safe sex (and i will admit, i'm partial to making characters blasé about safe sex as a specific Choice, indicating that they are not fully putting their wellbeing at the forefront, or they're more desperate for connection than they are concerned about themselves). So. Totally fun, right? lmao.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I'm aware of

have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! I'd be open to it though

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! My partner @mostgeckcellent and I sort of wrote When The Chips Are Down together, except that I didn't write any of it. I contributed a lot to the concept and structure of the fic, came up with the original idea with them, etc. We watched the musical together and strategically paused to discuss and whatnot. it was fun!

what’s your all time favorite ship?

ummm i'm sort of coming out of a Stucky frenzy so I'm biased, but I think that might be it anyway. Or maybe minffel from wofl359 it's actualy fucked up how much i love those two lmfao.

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

AHHHHHHHHHHH why must this question be asked. kay. I have this monster of a Phantom Of The Opera fic that's, like, one of those "one year later" fics with the Opera reopening under new management and Meg Giry returning and. of course. She and Erik fall in love sgjh. and I actually love it dearly but.... I can't seem to end it UGH.

maybe I just love it too much? I don't know. i've re-read it a bunch but each time i'm just like "Where's the rest. oh well." and leave it again. OTL.

what are your writing strengths?

Mimicking what was said above, I think i am good at pretty snappy dialogue that is semi-realistic. In writing I do think it's a hard balance because, as someone who transcribes interviews sometimes, the way people talk, written out verbatim, is complete fucking gibberish, you know? We start and stop and cut ourselves off and make no sense, so while sometimes that can be achieved in films or possibly audio mediums I personally don't think it translates to reading/writing. But i like to try to strike that balance of naturalish realisticish but still readable, and i think I do a good job.

I also think I'm good at character dynamics and character voices, not just in dialogue itself (tho it shines there) but just nailing a lot of characters. at least people say that about me, lol, and i'm always left crying in joy and appreciation for the compliment.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Hmmm... who is good at endings? not me, for certain. I just hope the journey was good enough to pull through in the end. Also I would say, with how character focused I am, I usually have simpleish conflicts and sort of meandering, day-to-day life-plots. Which, is extremely common in fanfic as a genre, and there's nothing wrong with it, but more complicated plot driven stuff isnt my go to and I probably wouldnt be fantastic at it.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've done it before lol, as I said above. I like having characters speak languages when it makes sense, it was VERY fun to make it plot-relevant (in the Hot Hockey Dad fic, Bitty couldn't speak french so he never knew that the kids with Jack were constantly teasing him about being into the cute cashier and stuff and he also didn't realize they weren't calling him dad or anything).

I do think it can get cumbersome to read especially since usually translations are at the bottom, but, I'm clearly not against it.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Pokemon! Gotta catch em aaallll

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

UM I think currently it's still Juno Steel And The Undercover Vixen. That fic possessed me, came to me at 5am and flowed through me like water and I think it's really good. I think you can see where I changed the backstory and how it fits together differently than canon but is still true to the people in the fic, etc. and i just love it. Part of me wishes i'd either eliminated the sex scene or written more than one but that's my only gripe that i can think of, and it's still just. good. I forget who has and hasn't been tagged aaaaaahhhhh (no pressure tho this is a long one) @taniushka12 @fragileanimals @sleepyandbi and literally whoever just reblog from me if you want.

finally i am SO sorry how long this is. i am. verbose.

thanks for tagging me @arofili for this writer ask meme!

how many works do you have on AO3?

73 (wtf when did that happen)

what’s your total AO3 word count?

531,796

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

ao3 lists 50, but some of these overlap, like me tagging something both “les mis all media types” and “les mis victor hugo”. so probably around 36?

The top fandoms are Les Mis, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bartimaeus, and The Adventure Zone

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Reunion –the Untamed from Lan Sizhui’s pov

Angus McDonald and the Case of the Soul Stealer –taz fic sort of modern with magic au (also my first long fic and probably the fic with the most plot, i am very proud of it)

Wanting to Be Wanted – fma fic, 5 times Greed didn’t realize he cared about people and 1 time he did

what if the real steel samurai fandom was the friends we made along the way – ace attorney characters in the steel samurai fandom from an outside pov (i only started posting this a bit over 2 months ago, so i’m kind of impressed)

Better Than Nothing – Magnus Chase, Alex Fierro has gender feelings and receives a gift (this fic is really the one where i have zero idea why it is as popular as it is)

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

yeah! I like it when authors respond to my comments, so I try to at least say “thanks!” If someone leaves a more detailed comment, it’s fun being able to respond to the things they say and talk about any sort of ‘behind the scenes’ writing things

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I’m honestly not sure? I think even my angstiest fics have at least somewhat hopeful endings. There’s probably 5 or so I could choose from, but most of them were written a long time ago, I’m going to say Sing Tomorrow’s Song because even though the ending isn’t too angsty compared to the rest of the fic, it is about Grantaire being seduced by the personification of Death as a semi-metaphor for him dealing with depression, so it’s not exactly cheery

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Yes! I love crossovers, though I don’t write them as much as I read them. Probably the weirdest two fandoms to crossover was Les Mis and the Beka Cooper series because me and my cowriter just sort of stuck France in the middle of the Tortall universe and didn’t question it

have you ever received hate on a fic?

A couple times, but the only one I remember was when someone didn’t like me writing Enjolras as a trans man

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Hah nope I’ll read it but as of right now I’m aroace enough that I’m barely comfortable with writing kissing

have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t believe so

have you ever had a fic translated?

One of my first fics was translated into Russian on ffn, Tricksters Running. (It’s sort of a weird character study on the Doctor from Doctor Who and Gabriel from Supernatural, and despite me writing it at the age of 14 it’s not terrible? younger me was better at poetic writing than current me)

have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah, with @arofili !

what’s your all time favorite ship?

Uhhh this is hard. The ship that took up my brain for the longest time is Enjolras/Grantaire, and currently my favorite ship is Phoenix Wright/Edgeworth

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Well there’s a Lucifer au of fma that i wrote like 70k words of and hyped up to all my friends but never started posting and honestly at this point I don’t think I ever will.

For things that I started posting, A Home Beyond the What Ifs about Eponine/Cosette in Japan. I do like it, and I have a couple scenes of the next chapter written out, but I also have no motivation to actually work on it

what are your writing strengths?

Honestly? No clue, but not plot. Dialogue maybe?

what are your writing weaknesses?

Probably plot. I can sometimes come up with one, but most of my fics are just a series of loosely interconnected interactions it feels like

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Generally I don’t with a few exceptions.

If the pov character doesn’t understand what is being said, I’ll sometimes write that bit of dialogue out in whatever other language it is in to sort of add to the experience (since I assume most readers would not be able to understand it either, and those who do will be delighted)

If the language is Japanese and characters mostly speak English, I also have the dialogue be in Japanese sometimes since that is the language I actually know well enough to be reasonably confident in writing it. I would not write a full conversation in Japanese or anything, but if they’re switching between two languages then I’ll write it out in the languages it’s supposed to be in (for other languages I would usually just say “xxx” they said in y language, or italicize it if they switch between two languages enough).

Lastly, if the fic is about language then I might also do that because that’s sort of the whole point of the fic (which mostly overlaps with at least one of the above, but I have a fic in my drafts where 2 sentences don’t fit the above exceptions, so i figured i’d include this)

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Technically it was a Les Mis/Beka Cooper crossover. The first fic I posted that I wrote all by myself was a Supernatural/Doctor Who crossover. Which honestly sums up my interests as a 13-14yo pretty well I feel

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

…this is so hard

I’m going to say Truth, In the Eye of the Beholder (40k study on sharing a body from the pov of Ling Yao) because I genuinely had so much fun working on it, and I’m extremely proud of how it turned out. Definitely one if the fics I put more effort into than normal, and wrangling character arcs into place was hard, but I think it was worth the effort

I tag @micamicster @shadowy-dumbo-octopus @aromantic-enjolras @queerfandommiscellany, if you want to!

#long post #answered #tag game #my writing #suicide mention #just in case

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