#wrote this a bajillion ago and forgot to post it

[rachelillustrates]

A thought on the nature of the line of Durin in "Rings of Power."

(Cause as much as I'm enjoying the show so far, this is one sticking point I need a head canon to get around.)

I am a big fan of the idea of Durin's reincarnation, and obviously the showrunners are not going in that direction - with both Durin III and Durin IV alive at the same time.

However, who is to say that a mistake wasn't made? As in, when Durin IV was born, he looked just as much like Durin I as his father did, and in the confusion, it was decided to title him as Durin, too, just in case. Perhaps also, the belief in Durin's reincarnation isn't completely widespread across all Dwarven culture - not accepted as True, by all, that is. In which case, imagine the infighting that's happening between the factions, over this discrepancy. By Mahal, perhaps Durin III himself is among the non-believers, and perhaps a bit of a shit, so maybe even he himself chose to name his son the IV just to stir things up.

In which case, after his and his son's passing, and after another child of the line of Durin is born looking just like the original, perhaps it is decided to make an addendum. Unsure of which was really the right Durin IV if the reincarnation lore is True, Durin IV as we see him in "Rings of Power" was then noted in history as Durin IV (one) and this new child, Durin IV (two). And we shall assume, of course, that this Durin grew up and lived relatively quiet, so the discrepancy would not have been noted as much by non-Dwarven eyes.

(Not sure if this will help anyone else, but it is certainly helping me.)

[dontrollthedicesideblog]

I am bajillion but 🥳🎉🎊🍺🍻 cONGRATS ON FINISHING YOUR FIC. I've been meaning to SEND THIS WAY BACK WHEN I READ THE CHAP BUT GOT SIDE TRACKED AFTER A MOVE BUT :DDDDD dude its been so cool being able to follow along with every update. Just getting excited seeing that email and running to eat up whatever u posted. And ahhhhh YU GOT TO STAY AND YOSUKE GETS HIS SISTER AND THEY BOTH JUST GET TO BE IN LOVE AND HAPPY

I'm catching up to your new stuff rn (jealous yu? 👌) but I realized I forgot to mention this forever ago but ur yukiko and yosuke friendship is THEE BEST. My fav little moment u wrote between them was from the dancing au where yosuke work the little jack frost for her to laugh at and yukiko standing up for their duet dance ;u; heheh seeing them again being besties is great

HELLO YOU FUNKY ARTIST FRIEND YOU!!!! I hope the move went well :D

thank you for following along to the end of that story!! I wouldn't have been nearly as enthusiastic about the story without the fandom being so nice to me 😭

DUDE YOSUKE AND YUKIKO FRIENDSHIP IS SO!!!!!! oh they are so underrated. they have so much potential!! their dynamic is so good!! they have a dungeons convo set!! im really happy you liked their friendship, thank you for the kind words :')

[gay-for-paulson]

“Well, No One Told Me About Her...”-- Vikki Hiller x Original Character

~~Hello there! Long time no see! So, I wrote this fic about the great Vikki Hiller a few months ago and forgot to post it! Vikki is my babe, she’s a star, I love her to pieces. And we all know what a power lesbian she is. I actually plan on writing a sequel to this story, so keep your eyes open!!

Enjoy, lovelies! <3

P.S. Shout out to @grilledcheeseandguavajelly for reading through this for me a bajillion times, for always being there to boost my confidence in my writing, and for consistently reminding me to actually post my stories ;)

Warnings: Gay Panic™ lol but for real, I don’t think anything in this warrants a warning, but let me know if you feel otherwise!

Word Count: 7,327

“Well, what a surprise! Catcher’s late, once again!” Vikki announced, tossing her gloves onto the table next to her chardonnay.

Barbara jumped in, “I wonder what it could be this time. I mean, how many stray poodles could that man possibly need to help in three days?”

“Now, now. I-I’m sure he just got held up in traffic, I mean you know what the bridge is like at this time of night,” Peter said, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers.

“Peter, he doesn’t need to cross the bridge to get to this restaurant.” Vikki pulled a compact mirror from her her purse and reapplied her lipstick.

“Well, still,” Peter muttered softly, “The bridge can get very busy…”

The maitre’d walked over to their table with a telephone in hand, “Excuse me, Miss Novak?”

“Oh, look! Right on time!” Barbara exclaimed, as Peter let out a sigh of exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Oh no, no!” Vikki interrupted, slamming her compact shut and reaching for the telephone, “I’ll talk to him this time. I refuse to let this man make a fool out of you or me any longer!”

Vikki picked up the receiver and sat back in her seat, “This is Vikki Hiller.”

Catcher Block’s voice came through the telephone over the slow swinging of a jazzy tune, “Ah! Miss Hiller! Listen, the darnedest thing happened to me today-“

“Let me guess,” Vikki crossed her legs curtly and twisted the telephone cord around her index finger, “You needed to help a blind orphan read a book? Youuuu ran into a group of homeless nuns? Oh, I know! You singlehandedly saved a group of school children from a burning building, what a hero!”

“Your words, Miss Hiller, not mine.”

“Mr. Block, let’s cut to the chase. What is your location?”

“Well, now, why would you want to know a silly thing like that?” Catcher laughed.

“Because, I am running out of patience. Miss Novak and myself have been floundering about, waiting for you to show up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the past three days. Now, I can’t speak for Miss Novak, but I, personally, am getting awfully cross.”

“And I’ll bet you look adorable when you’re cross.“

“I want an address.”

Catcher sighed, “1552 Park Street.”

“1552 Park Street,” Vicki repeated. Peters’ eyes widened as she continued, “I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” 

Vikki hung up the telephone and stood up, pulling her gloves back on, “Barbara, you enjoy your dinner, I’m going uptown to meet with the rat.”

“Oh, Vikki, you really don’t have to go to all this trouble.”

“Nonsense!” Vikki pulled on her large coat, “You’re my client and you’re my friend. I promised you a meeting with Catcher Block, so a meeting with Catcher Block is what you’ll get!"

Peter stood up from his seat, haphazardly gathering his things, “Uh-uhhm, perhaps- perhaps I should join you!”

“Peter MacMannus, you sit!”

Peter sat, and Vikki grabbed her purse and stormed out of the restaurant.

                                                     ~~~~~~~~

Vikki’s cab turned the corner onto Park Street and she was brimming with rage, just waiting to give this Catcher Block a piece of her mind. 

The cab driver pulled up in front of her destination, “That’ll be $3.25.”

She pulled a five dollar bill out of her purse and handed it to the driver, “Keep the change.” 

She got out of the cab and looked up at the blinking neon sign on the brick-front building that read, ‘Sunset Lounge’. She believed she’d overheard some of the other editors talking about this place over coffee during their morning meetings. It wasn’t until Vikki made her way closer to the entrance and noticed some smaller posters that read, ‘DANCING’, ‘GENTLEMEN’S ENTERTAINMENT’, ‘BEAUTIFUL GIRLS’, and ‘TOPLESS HOSTESSES’, that she realized what lurked inside. 

“Of course Catcher Block would be wasting my time in a place like this,” she shook her head, “He’s just like every other man.”

Vikki hiked her purse up over her shoulder, puffed up her hair, and marched inside without giving it a second thought.

The door closed behind her and the hallway inside was dark and seedy, the sound of muffled jazz music coming from somewhere she couldn’t see. She walked slowly, trying her best not to touch anything and eventually she came across a pair of glass doors that opened up into a fabulously decorated room, the music now swelling all around her. 

Vikki inhaled and took in her surroundings- half naked ladies dancing to a choreographed number on a large ornate stage, topless hostesses serving guests at the bar, a VIP lounge filled with all kinds of people. 

Well, this place sure is a gas.

She lit herself a cigarette and scanned the room for Catcher, but when she couldn’t find him, she took to moving about the room. She inched her way through the bustling crowd of tipsy older gentlemen and topless ladies holding trays of drinks, when she was dumped out right by the stage. She looked up and watched the girls dancing around in their teeny, tiny, shiny skirts and their knee high boots. Some girls wore bustiers, others simply wore tassels on their nipples, and Vikki found herself wondering whether or not those things were comfortable.

She realized she had been staring a little too long, but one of the ladies had caught her eye. All of the girls had their hair pulled back into ponytails, except for this one. Her long, dark red, wavy hair was bouncing around as she kicked her long legs high into the air, and-

“Oh!” A large man bumped into her, causing her to drop her cigarette onto the ground.

Her last cigarette.

She exhaled angrily, and shouted in the direction of the man, “Well, thank you very much!”

“Cigarettes?”

Vikki turned around and was met with a topless women holding a tray full of different brands of condoms, cigarettes, and tiny bottles of liquor.

“Oh. Umm,” she murmured as she scanned the tray, just trying to keep her eyes on the tray and the items on top of the tray. The tray. She found her brand, plucked a pack from the bunch, and tipped the hostess, trying incredibly hard not to make eye contact with her breasts. 

She didn’t want to be rude.

She pulled a cigarette out of the new pack, lit it, and searched the room once more for Mr. Block. Vikki took a long drag and exhaled a colossal cloud of smoke, “That man had better hope that I don’t find him, because when I do, the next exposé he writes will be about his own funeral.”

She caught a glimpse of the ropes leading to the VIP lounge and figured that he must be hiding there, pompous as he was. So she elbowed her way through the crowd, her cigarette locked between her knuckles. Once she made it to the red velvet ropes, she was confronted by an unenthusiastic bouncer of sorts.

“Name.”

She took a step back, brushed her hands down her dress, and cleared her throat, “Vikki Hiller.”

“Not on the list.”

Vikki’s eyes dropped down to the piece of paper in the man’s hand and then shot back up to meet his eyes, “You didn’t even look at the list.”

“You’re not on the list.”

“Well, how could you possibly know that if you didn’t take the time to check?” Vikki crossed her arms, and took a quick puff of her cigarette.

“You’re a woman.”

“And?”

“Miss, the VIP lounge is for private dances from our female dancers.”

Vikki straightened up and adjusted her coat, “You don’t know what I’m into.”

“Look, lady, you’re not on the list, so why don’t you go back to your book club or whatever and let me do my job, alright?”

“No, you look, buddy!” She pointed her index finger into his chest. “I am trying to find Catcher Block so that I can wring his sorry little neck! Now, is he on the list?”

The man sighed and looked through the names on his form, “I’m sorry, miss, there’s no one on the list with that name,” he turned the sheet around, “Look for yourself.”

Vikki scanned the names on the list and, sure enough, Catcher’s name was nowhere to be found. The crowd erupted into an uproarious round of applause as the stage dancers finished their number. She dragged on her cigarette once more, and blew the smoke up toward the ceiling, eyeing the man, “Well, thank you,” she said sarcastically, “for all of your help.”

She turned on her heels and trudged through the crowd in the opposite direction. This time, when she made her way out of the crowd, she found herself by the bar, and if she was being completely honest, a comfortable seat and a stiff drink sounded amazing right about now.

She dropped herself onto a stool, tossed her purse onto the bar, and asked for a gin and tonic.

While she waited, Vikki spun her seat around so that she was facing the crowd. She started to wonder whether Catcher was really here or if he had just sent her to this place to drive her crazy. She definitely wouldn’t put it past him. 

That man. Some nerve he has.

She caught sight of some of the dancers coming from backstage. Some were still in costume but the rest were dressed in regular clothes, so Vikki figured they must have finished their sets for the night. And still, some of the girls were only wearing those tiny skirts and those nipple tassels. Now, Vikki was definitely one to risk comfort for a stylish outfit, but if that were her, she knew she would be just freezing! She wondered if those girls were cold, too. And then there were the ones on the floor that were straight up topless. She really respected those girls. She typically had a good amount of confidence in herself and her body, but if she had to have it on full display like that, at work no less… she simply wouldn’t be able to do it. 

Wow, she thought, these girls must be so confident in themselves. So tough. She crossed her legs, and took a drag on her cigarette.  Ugh. The men they probably have to deal with night after night. No, thank you.

“Your gin and tonic, miss.”

Vikki spun back around to face the bar. She thanked the waitress, and took a sip of her drink, thankful that it helped to melt away at least some of the tension of the night. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another woman take the seat next to hers and overheard her order a dry martini.

“Rough night?” The lady asked, leaning her elbow on the bar.

Vikki took another sip of her drink, stamped her cigarette out in the crystal ashtray on the bar, and said, “As rough as one night can get, I think.”

The waitress placed the girl’s martini on the bar, and the girl put the olive between her teeth and pulled it off of the toothpick, “Care to talk about it?”

Vikki thought for a moment. Part of her felt uncomfortable, and a little guilty, unloading her problems onto a complete stranger, but the exhaustion of the night was taking over and she desperately needed some advice. She sighed, “I’m having trouble with a certain… gentleman. If one can even call him a gentleman, that is.” She rubbed at her forehead in an attempt to dissipate her headache, “He told me to meet him here, and-“

“Here??”

“Yes.”

The girl played with the toothpick, stuck it between her teeth, “Well, you’re right, he doesn’t sound like much of a gentleman to me.”

Vikki nodded in agreement, took a large sip of her drink, and tilted her head back. She closed her eyes and allowed the warmth of intoxication to spread throughout her body.

“I mean, he could have at least taken you to the Russian Tea Room or something, but hey, what do I know?” The woman laughed.

Her eyes still closed, Vikki actually started to laugh a little bit, too. “No, no. This wasn’t supposed to be a date or anything of that nature.”

“So, you two aren’t…?”

“Heavens, no!”

“Well, thank goodness for that! I was beginning to worry about the future of mankind for a moment, there!”

“Oh, goodness,” Vikki laughed, “No, he’s a writer, and for Know magazine of all things, so that should already tell you how pompous he is. You see, I’m a senior editor at Banner House, and this man has swindled my client out of a meeting for the past three days. I finally got so fed up that I demanded to know his whereabouts, so that I could give him a piece of my mind in person, and he gave me this address. I’ve been looking for him all night, and either he’s reeeeeally good at hiding,” she finished off her drink,” or he stood me up.”

“That sounds just awful!”

Vikki ordered a second gin and tonic, “Or he simply lied to me, which is also an incredibly real possibility, given his plethora of alibis over the past three days.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what, he sounds like a proper jackass.”

Vikki looked over at the woman, “He is a proper jackass! I’m Vikki Hiller,” she stretched her hand out, “Thank you for listening to me ramble on about my problems, I’m sure this is very uninteresting to you,” she laughed. 

The woman shook Vikki’s hand, “No, not at all, I’m… really enjoying getting to know you, Vikki Hiller.”

“May I ask your name?” 

“Cashmere.”

Vikki hesitated for a moment, “Huh, that’s… different!”

The woman laughed, “Don’t worry, that’s not my real name. Cashmere is just my stage name.”

“Oh my goodness!” Vikki put a hand over her heart, and laughed. “Not that Cashmere isn’t a pretty name!”

The waitress set Vikki’s second gin and tonic on the bar.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Some of these men can get pretty sleazy, so I like to protect my identity. My real name is Quinn.”

“Mmmm,” Vikki sipped her drink, “Well, if it means anything at all, I think Quinn is a lot prettier than Cashmere,” she smiled.

“Why, thank you, that’s very sweet of you.”

“Stage name… Oh, wait! Aren’t you one of the dancers I saw on stage earlier?”

“That I am, Miss Vikki!”

“I knew your face looked familiar! Your hair was down while you were onstage,” Vikki remarked on Quinn’s hair, now pulled back in a low bun.

“Oh, you’re right,” Quinn reached back and pulled her hair out of it’s bun, letting it fall down past her shoulders, “Some of the other girls can’t dance with their hair down, they say it get’s into their eyes, or it makes them sweaty, blah blah blah…” she laughed and shook her head, letting her hair bounce around, “I think it’s fun!”

Vikki became so distracted by Quinn’s hair, that she almost forgot to speak, “Uhm, well,” she cleared her throat, “You have really gorgeous hair, I must say.”

“Thank you!” Quinn sipped her martini, “I also wasn’t wearing this jacket on stage.”

She flashed it open for a brief moment and Vikki saw that she was one of the dancers wearing the tassels on her nipples, and her eyes went wide for a second before she forced herself to reign it in, “Oh!”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I wasn’t even thinking!”

“Oh, no! It’s not that, it’s just… aren’t you cold? When you’re walking around in just… those?” Vikki leaned in and asked.

Quinn laughed, “It can get a little chilly, yes! But when you’re dancing, it just feels so… freeing. And comfortable!”

“Wow. I don’t think I would ever have the confidence to pull those off,” Vikki crossed her legs.

“Oh, come on! You would look great, I’m sure of it!”

Vikki laughed, and covered her now reddening face. She was enjoying this conversation so much, she almost forgot why she had originally come here. That is until she noticed Catcher Block out of the corner of her eye. He was leaning against a wall, talking to another gentleman and drinking a scotch.

“Oh, lord.” Vikki drawled. 

“What is it?”

“Don’t look, but that’s the man I’ve been trying to find all night,” she said in a hushed tone, as if Catcher would be able to hear her from across the room.

Quinn looked anyway.

“I said don’t look!” Vikki laughed, “Oh, see? There. He saw you.” Vikki pulled her compact out of her purse, and reapplied her lipstick. “Well, this should be a fun conversation, that is if he doesn’t try to run away again. Is he still looking over here?”

Quinn checked, “Mhm.”

Vikki snapped her compact shut and put it back in her purse.

“You wanna give him a show?”

“What?” Vikki glanced over at her.

“Y’know… A little something to really get his attention.”

“What do you m-“ 

Vikki was cut off as Quinn reached over, hands on her cheeks, and planted a giant kiss right smack on her red lips. She was so taken by surprise, that her hands shot back and her fingers splayed open, and she practically froze right there on the spot.

Quinn pulled back and noticed Vikki’s stiff demeanor, “Ah gee, I’m so sorry… was that too much of a show?”

Vikki closed her eyes, her eyebrows raised, “Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Uhhumm, it was- Oh, god he’s coming over here.”

Quinn turned to look, and then turned back to Vikki, “Hey. You’ve got this.”

“Yes. I do.”

“Don’t let him take you for a ride again.”

“No,” Vikki downed her whole gin and tonic.

“You’re the senior editor!”

“I am!” She lit another cigarette.

“Go get ‘em, Vikki Hiller.”

Vikki stood up, took a long, deep drag on her cigarette, blew the smoke out in front of her, and brushed her hands over her dress, making sure it was perfect. She puffed up her hair, and rolled her neck. 

As she walked over to Catcher, she took notice of the smug look on his face hidden underneath the thin layer of charm, and she was ready to blow her top.

“Catcher Block.”

“Ah, you must be Miss Hiller! You sound as angry as you did on the phone earlier.”

“Mmmm, yes, earlier, you mean three hours ago?? Where have you been?”

“Well, you see, I was a little busy, Miss Hiller, I-”

“Busy! Ha! Peter, Miss Novak, and I were all busy, too. Busy waiting for you! Busy sitting around when we could have been working. Or having social lives! But no, we were all busy waiting for the phone to ring so that you could tell us whatever harebrained alibi you had come up with that day!”

“Oh, have you not heard my brilliant story about how I had to help an elderly woman with a broken leg cross a busy street?”

“Why, no. I must have missed that one while I was arguing with bouncers, getting knocked over by men twice my size, and trekking around this seedy joint looking for an arrogant, self-indulgent lunatic.” Vikki’s pokes into Catcher’s chest with her index finger. “But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll catch the next one.”

Catcher started chuckling to himself.

“I’m sorry. Do you think this is funny?”

“Oh, no no. I don’t think this is funny.”

Vikki was losing her patience, “Just what are you laughing at?”

“Well, pardon me if I’m wrong, Miss Hiller, but it sure looked like you were having a good time over at the bar…”

“At the b-“ Vikki stopped in her tracks, almost forgetting the out-of-the-blue kiss that Quinn had planted on her a few moments ago.

“There it is, yes! The kiss! The one deployed in order to 'get my attention’.” Catcher made air quotes with his fingers. “The one that you definitely ‘didn’t enjoy’.”

Vikki thought for a moment. Had Quinn kissed her with intention? And not because Catch was watching? No, no. No, that’s ridiculous. Quinn had to be straight. Vikki wouldn’t necessarily label her as a ‘girly girl’, but she was still pretty feminine. And pretty. She couldn’t be a…homosexual. A lesbian. Weren’t all lesbians supposed to be butch and masculine? Yes, right, and they wear suits, not… tassels… on their nipples…

Vikki shook the thoughts from her head, “Oh, what do you know?”

Catcher let out one more snide chuckle as he eyed Vikki and leaned in close to her ear, “I know an excited woman when I see one…”

Vikki stood stark still and stared straight ahead.

“…And you were one excited woman.”

Catcher stood back up, and Vikki took a long drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke across his face, sarcastically, if that was possible. He patted her on the shoulder, “You think about that one a little bit longer. I’ll meet you and Barbara at the Waldorf Astoria tomorrow for breakfast…” he eyed her once more, “Or maybe lunch, perhaps?”

He walked away and Vikki stood alone, cigarette in hand, lost in her thoughts for a moment or two before eventually shuffling back over to her seat at the bar.

“Hey!” Quinn said, “I ordered you another gin and tonic.”

Vikki eyed the drink and considered downing it all in one gulp, but she wanted to hang on to whatever sobriety she had left.

“Do you have everything sorted out now?”

Vikki pulled her focus from the glass and simply gazed at Quinn for a moment, biting her lip. And then she stopped thinking. No more thinking. No thoughts. She leaned over and grabbed Quinn by her jacket lapels and kissed her, right there. And for longer than she had anticipated.

She sat back down onto her seat and exhaled, before wiping at the corner of her mouth with the tip of her ring finger, “Yes. Yes, I think I do.”

Quinn settled back into her own seat, dazed, “Well. That certainly was…” she trailed off, “What was that all about?”

Vikki tried to put on an air of confidence, however her vulnerability was seeping through slowly.

“You kissed me.” 

Quinn looked down at her drink, “I did.” She lightly slid her finger around the rim of the glass. “I apologize if I put you in an uncomfortable position.”

“No, no, it’s- you didn’t. In fact, I think you might have done just the opposite.”

“…The opposite?”

“Quinn, I think you may have… opened me up to a part of myself that I didn’t even know existed.”

Quinn looked more than relieved to hear Vikki say these things, yet it seemed she was still having trouble looking Vikki in the eye. She exhaled, “I’m just glad you’re not upset.”

“I am not upset. I… I don’t really have the words to describe what I’m feeling, but,” she paused, and shook her head, “I really like you, Quinn.”

Quinn looked up, her eyebrows raised. She smiled, “I really like you, too, Vikki Hiller.”

Vikki smiled back and took a sip of her drink. “I must say, this certainly does explain the things I was feeling when I saw you up on that stage,” she laughed, swirling the liquid around in her glass.

“Oh, really?”

“Mhm.”

Vikki caught Quinn staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She slid her now reddening face into her hands, “Stop that!”

“Stop what?”

“Looking at me like that,” Vikki laughed.

“I can’t help it,” Quinn sipped her drink, “Y’know, I saw you, too, when I was up on stage.”

Vikki peeked her head out from behind the palms of her hands, “You did?”

“I did. The look on your face was… pure wonder. I almost messed up the whole routine because I couldn’t take my eyes off of you,” she chuckled.

Vikki gazed at Quinn.

“And then this big lug bumped into you and made you drop the cigarette you were holding, and the vexation that washed across your face was absolutely priceless, I just knew I had to talk to you.”

“Oh goodness,” Vikki cackled, “did I really look that angry?”

“Yes, but it’s alright because then you bought another pack,” Quinn laughed right along, “Once you pulled out a new one and lit it, all I saw in your eyes was confidence. Strength. Determination.”

“Well…” Vikki grew quiet, “that’s very sweet of you to say.”

“I mean it! You, Vikki Hiller, are a force to be reckoned with.”

Vikki blushed, and took another sip of her drink, and another drag on her cigarette before stamping it out. The two girls sat in comfortable silence for a moment or two, until Vikki turned back to Quinn.

“Y’know,” she said, “I really enjoyed kissing you.”

“I enjoyed kissing you, as well.”

“I think… I think, I’d like to do it again.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?”

“Well, I certainly don’t want to do it more in public! I might be a force to be reckoned with, but I am more reserved about things like this.”

“I’m not talking about here, silly!”

Quinn pulled some cash out of her jacket pocket and left a tip on the bar. Vikki followed suit, pulling a neatly folded ten dollar bill from her purse and placing it on top of her glass. Quinn grabbed her hand and pulled her through the buzzing crowd.

“Wait, where are we going?” Vikki shouted above the music.

“Backstage!”

The music swelled as they made their way closer and closer to the stage in order to reach the door. The girls ducked and weaved themselves around groups of people large and small. Dancing, drinking, networking, and definitely not moving out of the way. Vikki wasn’t afraid to use her elbows, but she made sure to keep a tight grip on Quinn’s hand, afraid of losing her in this mass of people.

After what felt like an eternity of “Hey, watch it!”’s and “S’cuse you, sweetheart!”’s, the two ladies made it to the door and pushed their way through, finally managing to escape the commotion.

Quinn exhaled, triumphantly, “Okay. Made it.”

“Well, wait, aren’t there still going to be people back there?”

“There shouldn’t be, it’s pretty late.” Quinn led Vikki down the long hallway. “Besides, I’m taking you to the dressing room. There might be some dancers lingering around in there, but I assure you they’ll be very cool about it when I ask them to leave.”

“How do you know that?”

“Honestly? Most of the dancers here are queer, and the ones who aren’t are incredibly supportive. They’re like my sisters.”

“Well, that’s really sweet.”

“And plus, they use the dressing room for this kind of thing all the time.”

“Less sweet,” Vikki joked. “It’s interesting that all of these queer women work at a gentleman’s lounge.”

“Well, now, there are a couple of reasons for that. For one thing, this place pays very well,” Quinn laughed, “And the men who come into this place might be scum bags, but at least if we’re dancing for them no one really suspects anything about us.”

“Wow…”

“And we all get to be together! I’ve known some of these women for years from other jobs, gay bars around town, things like that. Y’know, there is a bar downtown that I’d love to bring you to sometime,” Quinn winked.

Vikki tried to hide the blush spreading across her cheeks.

The two approached a large blue door with ‘Lounge Dancers’ printed on it, “Here, we are!”

Quinn opened the door to a room filled with flashy costumes and feather boas, bright lights around mirrors and posters of famous female performers plastered all over the brick walls.

There were three girls chatting on the sofa, when one of them looked over and said, “Oh hey, Quinn! Would you please tell Ginger that we do seven high kicks in this dance and not eight. She keeps messin’ up the timing,” the girl laughed.

“Listen, Kit, when we learned that dance, I swear on my life it was eight counts and eight kicks!”

“Oh yeah,” the third girl spoke up, “and the rest of us just happen to be messing it up at the exact same time in the exact same way.”

Quinn laughed, and closed the door behind Vikki, “Ginger, it’s seven kicks.”

“Told ya.” 

Ginger rolled her eyes, and Kit asked, “Who’s the tall dame ya got there, Quinn?”

“Ladies, this is Vikki. Vikki, this is Kit, Ginger, and Pamela.”

“Well, hello there, Vikki,” Pamela purred, and Kit smacked her on the shoulder.

“Soooooo, Vikki and I were hoping to use this room for a little while, if you girls don’t mind…”

Kit stood up from the sofa, “Say no more, we were just about to head out anyway.”

The other girls arose and collected their things, making for the door. Ginger said, “We’re all gonna grab a few drinks at Lottie’s if you wanna meet us there. Vikki can come, too!”

“We’ll see. If I don’t catch up, you ladies have a great time!”

“Goodnight, Quinn!” The girls hollered. 

“Goodnight, Vikki,” Pamela winked from the doorway.

Kit tugged on Pamela’s ear, “Whatsa matter with you?”

Quinn closed the door, laughing.

“Your friends seem like a real blast,” Vikki chuckled, placing her purse on top of one of the vanities, and tossing her coat onto the sofa.

“Yeah, they’re definitely an interesting pack of gals,” Quinn placed her hands on Vikki’s waist, pulling her close, “but, um… I don’t wanna talk about them anymore.”

Vikki’s voice hushed, and she glanced down at Quinn’s lips and back up to her eyes, “What do you want to talk about?”

Quinn was now an inch or two from Vikki’s face, and getting closer by the second. She brushed her bottom lip against Vikki’s, and said softly, “I don’t want to talk.”

A fire lit behind Vikki’s eyes and she closed the space between them with a passionate kiss. She threw her arms around Quinn’s neck and pulled her as close as she possibly could. She doesn’t remember ever kissing a man this intensely, or feeling anywhere near the amount of things she’s feeling right now. Sparks. Fireworks.

The two parted, breathing heavily. Quinn looked up at Vikki, “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t just something you’re experimenting with right now that you’re going to regret tomorrow, is it?”

“Quinn, just shut up and kiss me, goddamnit,” Vikki said, breathlessly, and Quinn did just that.

Vikki let her hands wander for the first time. They were exploring so many new places. Touching so many new things. Her hands were laced through Quinn’s hair, tugging, pulling. She’d never experienced anything more sensational than running her hands through the long, luscious hair of a woman. She grabbed Quinn’s ass. Every man she’d ever been with in the past had a backside so flat, you had to use a telescope to find it. Her hand lightly brushed against Quinn’s breast. Men sure as hell didn’t have those.

She slid one of her hands underneath Quinn’s jacket, embracing the bare skin of her stomach, hips, and back as she pulled her even closer, wanting to experience all of her.

Quinn started kissing down Vikki’s neck, “I wanna wrinkle that perfect dress of yours.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmmm.”

“I want you to take it off.”

Quinn looked up at Vikki for a brief moment, and kissed her hard. Rough. She reached around to unzip the dress and Vikki let it fall to the ground as she kicked her shoes off. She was now standing in the dressing room of a gentleman’s lounge wearing nothing but her bra and underwear. Which were matching, of course. 

“Wow,” Quinn breathed, “Red lace. You didn’t peg me as the red lace type.” She winked.

“Oh, didn’t I?”

“No. But, my god, am I glad to be proven wrong.”

“Well, if things keep going the way they’re going, you might be able to see me in nothing at all,” Vikki leaned in and kissed Quinn slowly, with purpose. She slid Quinn’s jacket off until it fell to the floor next to her dress. She traced her hands down the other woman’s bare, freckled arms, causing her to shiver. Quinn took off her boots and her skirt, until she was just as bare as Vikki.

Quinn quickly flipped the switch and pushed Vikki up against the door, Vikki gasping as her bare skin met the cold metal. Quinn kissed down Vikki’s neck once more, her hands running over her smooth skin, cupping her breasts, as Vikki’s eyes drifted shut. Quinn reached up and removed Vikki’s hair from its ‘do, and it fell down into a mass of dark waves that now sat just below her shoulders.

“God, you’re gorgeous.”

Quinn kissed down Vikki’s stomach and Vikki leaned her body against the door, her arms stretching up and over her head, as something inside of her pulsed, ached.

“Quinn,” Vikki breathed.

Quinn looked up and into the big, dark eyes gazing down at her. Vikki simply stared, her chest heaving. She didn’t know how to ask, but it turns out she didn’t have to say anything.

Quinn stood up, making understanding eye contact with Vikki, and she leaned in and kissed her softly, her hands on her hips. But her hands slowly moved, now teasing at the hem of Vikki’s underwear. Both of their eyes closed, Quinn broke the kiss and waited a beat, as she leaned her forehead up against Vikki’s. She felt Vikki nod, and she slid her hand down, between her legs.

Vikki exhaled at the touch, at the long-awaited release of tension, while Quinn moved her fingers rhythmically, quickly realizing just how turned on Vikki actually was.

“Oh my god, Quinn,” Vikki hummed.

Quinn kissed along her jawline, down her neck, across her collarbone.

Vicki whispered, “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course you can.”

Vikki bit her lip, “I’ve never… you know… with a man before.”

“You’ve never…”

“…Orgasmed. No. Only by myself, never with another person.”

“Oh, honey,” Quinn kissed Vikki, “I can promise you won’t be saying that after tonight.”

She began moving her fingers expertly once more and Vikki moaned and threw her head back. Quinn was slow and fast. She was rough and soft. She was so many things all at once and Vikki almost didn’t know how to process it. Sometimes her brain would take a brief second to remind her of exactly what she was doing. Something she’d never thought in her entire life she would be doing. But then Quinn would bite her ear, or leave a mark on her neck, and Vikki would tell her brain to zip it, because she was having the time of her life.

“Oh. Quinn. Fuck.”

“That’s it,” Quinn said softly. She could feel Vikki tensing up beneath her. “C’mon, Vikki Hiller. Senior editor at Banner House. Tall, gorgeous, force to be reckoned with.”

Vikki moaned, biting her lip, almost in an effort to stifle it. She was nervous. Once she did this, it would mean that she really… did this. And she was anything but prepared for what she was about to feel.

Vikki had her arms wrapped around Quinn, and she leaned her head on the other woman’s shoulder, “Quinnnn, ohhh. Oh, god!”

Quinn felt Vikki clench up around her fingers and she held her as her body rattled and jolted against her own.

Vikki held on to Quinn as tightly as she could, afraid she was going to fall to the ground because her legs just about gave out. Her vision blurred for a moment and she shook from shivers of aftershock. 

“That was…” she breathed, “I can’t…”

Quinn kissed her nose.

Vikki exhaled, smiling, “That was cute…” her smile turned devious, “but I’m no princess, honey.” She pushed Quinn over toward and onto the sofa and straddled her. She leaned down and whispered into her ear, “It’s your turn.”

Vikki moved Quinn’s long hair out of the way and kissed down her neck, leaving little bites and marks, trying to mimic what had been done to her. She felt like she should be more nervous, but she just… wasn’t. She had never made love quite like this with a man. Vikki liked it a bit rougher than the average person, but any time she was with a man, it was about as bland as an unsalted cracker. Now, she realized she was able to really let her true colors shine.

“Jesus, Vikki…” Quinn moaned.

Vikki kissed down Quinn’s chest, stopping at her breasts. She looked up at Quinn, “I wanna take these off.” She flicked one of the tassels covering Quinn’s nipples, and pulled it off. And then the other one. She massaged Quinn’s bare breast and then moved her hand down her stomach, resting her hand right above where Quinn wanted it to be… needed it to be.

She teased Quinn by rubbing overtop her underwear, just light enough to make her squirm.

“Vikki, please. Please…”

Vikki kissed Quinn’s breast and sucked on her nipple, making Quinn moan much louder than she expected her to.

“God,” Vikki said, “You think I’m gorgeous? You should see yourself.”

“Shut up,” Quinn breathed, giggling softly.

Vikki quit teasing and shoved her hand beneath the waistband of Quinn’s underwear and moved her fingers like she would on herself. Slow circles. She could feel Quinn’s arousal, she could feel her chest heaving, could hear her whimpering and whining. She wanted more. She wanted to unravel this woman. She’d never wanted anything like she wanted this.

She sped up and Quinn gasped, clutching the cushion beneath her with a white knuckled fist. Vikki took that as a wonderful sign and kept speeding up, changing rhythms, soft, hard, light, rough. 

“Vikki… aahhhh, my god. Please, Vikki.”

Vikki decided to try something that she had done on herself a few times, and she moved her fingers down and pushed two of them inside of Quinn, thrusting hard, still working her clit with her thumb. 

Quinn moaned, almost screaming, “Oh, god! Ah-Oh my god! Ohhhhh…”

Quinn’s back arched off the couch and she shook, her legs wrapped around Vikki’s body, squeezing her tight. She covered her face with her hands, muffled moans escaping.

“Vikki…” Quinn said, breathlessly, “Jesus Christ… You are very, very good at that.”

“Why, thank you.”

“You’re sure you’ve never done it with a woman before?” Quinn joked.

“Mmmmm, I’m fairly certain,” Vikki blushed, and adjusted her bra strap.

She got up off of the sofa and sauntered over toward the vanities.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Getting a cigarette,” she shuffled through her purse and she could feel Quinn’s eyes on her. She popped her hip out to the side and heard a small “Mmm…” from across the room. She just adored teasing this woman.

Vikki placed a cigarette between her lips and and lit it. She took a puff and let out a deep exhale, looking into one of the mirrors and playing with her now tangled hair.

“That was just the best time I’ve ever had. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like that, Quinn, I mean it.”

“I hope you don’t think we’re finished…”

Vikki held her cigarette between her fingers, and glanced back over at Quinn, “…Really?”

“Come here.”

Vikki smiled a devilish smile, stamped her cigarette out in the ashtray on the vanity, and sauntered back over to the sofa, kneeling in front of Quinn. The other woman sat up and unclasped Vikki’s bra in one swift motion. She tossed it over with the other clothes on the floor, and said, “Lie back.

Vikki, impressed, raised her eyebrows and did as she was told. Quinn leaned over her and began pulling down her underwear. She spread Vikki’s legs apart and kissed her way up her thighs. The kisses didn’t last long though, as she made her way all the way up, and immediately licked from her entrance to her clit, making sure to linger there a little bit longer.

Vikki hummed in approval, letting out soft moans of pleasure. No man had ever done this for her. Missionary, yes. Most of time, actually. But this? This was definitely a first, and she was so far over the moon, she was dancing with the stars. This exact moment could last forever, if she had anything to say about it. 

Quinn used her tongue in ways Vikki certainly never imagined one could. She went a little lighter for a moment and Vikki’s hips jerked reflexively, as she ached for as much contact, as much pressure as she could get.

Quinn dug her nails into Vikki’s slender thighs and scraped just a little bit, causing Vikki to gasp, and tense up. She reached up and massaged Vikki’s breast with her free hand, pinching at her nipple, effectively undoing the woman. Vikki was already incredibly turned on, so it didn’t take any time at all.

“Quinn, fuck. You’re gonna kill me.”

Quinn sped up, she could feel how close Vikki was to breaking.

“Oh, fuck, oh my- Oh my god… Quinn, fuck. Fuck.”

Quinn felt Vikki squeeze her thighs around her. Vikki felt as though she was about to explode, her body quivering, almost unable handle the intensity of what she was feeling. Quinn dipped her tongue inside and that was it. Vikki was gone.

She screamed out Quinn’s name, her hands gripping the other woman’s hair as though it were the only thing tethering her to the earth. She jolted, surged, feeling like her body was struck by 1000 volts. By lightning. 

Quinn kept going until Vikki made her stop, and then she crawled up the length of the sofa to lay next to her. She held Vikki as she came down and kissed her, softly. An intimate kiss that lovers share. She brushed the hair out of Vikki’s face and cupped her cheek, and the two just lay there in the silence for a few moments. Soft breaths, the only sounds to be heard. 

“You certainly are no princess,” Quinn whispered.

Vikki chuckled, softly, “You’re damn right.”

“Hey, the night’s still young. We can still meet the other girls at Lottie’s, if you’re in the mood.”

“That sounds like a gas, it really does, but… maybe we could just stay here for a while?”

“Maybe we could… go back to my place instead..?”

“I would love that.” Vikki smiled, her tongue between her teeth.

Quinn smiled back and then remembered, “Oh wait, don’t you have that breakfast meeting tomorrow morning?”

Vikki thought about it for a moment, “Mmmm. You know what? I think tomorrow morning I have to bring food to the homeless shelter, and help a child get their cat out of a tree.”

Quinn laughed.

“Well, darn, I guess I’ll just have to phone them and tell them I can’t make it.”

Vikki leaned over and kissed Quinn, then rested her head on her chest. She let her eyes close as Quinn played with her hair, and she melted into the other woman completely. 

She lay there, breathing softly, thankful that Quinn had kissed her earlier. Thankful that she decided to take the leap and kiss her back. Hell, she was even thankful to Catcher Block! If he hadn’t put her through the mess that he did, she probably wouldn’t be here right now, completely comfortable with herself for the first time in a long time. 

Quinn hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head, and Vikki found herself looking forward to the rest of the night. Looking forward to tomorrow. Looking forward to forever, wherever it took her.

[amplesalty]

Christmas 2019: Day 9 - The Christmas Hope (2009)

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Nine months of gestation!

On reflection, I can see that the past two entries on this years list have been a bit of a downer. Far too centered in talk of mental illness, depression and the like. Let’s perk things up a bit with...*checks notes*...shit.

Right now millions of people across the planet (or galaxy as it were) are enjoying/not enjoying the end to a very different cinematic trilogy. Me? I have a long overdue wrap up to attend to that started many moons ago thanks to a certain little film about a certain pair of shoes based on a certain song. Quite why I’m doing this know I don’t know. I can only suspect that I’ve seen one too many reflective social media posts now that we’re reaching both the end of a year and decade, perhaps I’m subconsciously wanted to sort out unfinished business, hence looking at stuff like this, Christmas Story Live and the Christmas Carol Musical.

The movie starts with Traci here recording herself singing a song before commenting ‘American Idol here I come!’. The camera pans all through her house looking at pictures of her daughter, soppy picture frames with ‘I LOVE YOU MOMMY’ written on them and no sign of a boyfriend/husband so she has the basis for a feel good story if she does make it on. Might need to jazz it up somewhere along the line if we’re to really tug at the audiences heartstrings but it’s a start. This actress would go on to play Vicky in the live action Fairly Odd Parents movies so that’s another tie in to a previous entry. Apparently there’s a third one of those and I’m not sure if I’ve seen it.

She literally runs into a couple on her way to work, knocking their teddy bear to the floor which they graciously give to her when she mentions that her daughter would love it. This is Nathan and Megan from The Christmas Blessing, sadly both recast. Actually, maybe that’s a good thing. Not sure I’d be able to take NPH seriously after all those H&K movies recently. Nathan is a bit more of a ginger this time around, rather than the dirty blonde thing NPH has going on. Megan is expecting and they have about a bajillion teddies so they don’t mind passing one along. Hey, someone probably got you that as a gift. Be grateful!

Meanwhile, the police arrest a drug dealer and find she has a malnourished baby in her apartment so in swoop child services to save the day.

Mr. T feels your pain.

I hope you weren’t getting too attached to Traci by the way because about fifteen minutes into the film, shortly after making a heartfelt promise to her daughter that they were going to decorate the Christmas tree once she got home from work and that she had a very special present for her this year, she promptly gets run over.

Have you ever crossed the road, and looked the wrong way? A car's nearly on you? So what do you do? Something very silly; you freeze. Your life doesn't flash before you, cause you're too fucking scared to think, you just freeze and pull a stupid face.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised given this is one of those melodramatic, Hallmark movies and this whole series has been overly morbid up to this point but it still kinda threw me. Here we are all nice and happy, Traci’s going about her day and there’s a nice Christian, soft rock Christmas ballad playing in the background and then BOOM, SUV to the face.

Then it cuts to her daughter, Emily, going through the Christmas decorations before settling on a angel which she ponders on for a moment before looking to the heavens as she’s having this moment of intuition.

But when child services pop their head in again to take her away, they find that all their usual helpers are fully booked for the holidays so what else can they do? One of the workers, Patricia, has no choice but to take her home. It’s not by the book but, damnit, it’s Christmas and we’re going to give this kid some degree of stability. By sheer coincidence, Patricia happens to be the mother of one Sean Addision who was the kid that died following a car accident the start of Christmas Blessing which caused Nathan to have his Dr Cox crisis of confidence moment. These movies are just ridiculous to how everyone's lives are so intertwined.

Like, up to this point, we met Traci who then bumped into Nathan and Megan, before going to work and having a young, troubled teen skip out on his bill but Patricia was in at the same time and tipped really generously to make up for it. That same kid then pretty much steals her bag following accident and also knew Sean who was mentoring him in one of those Big Brother mentoring programs.

Patricia’s husband, Mark, is played by James Remar, he of The Warriors fame and, more pertinent to this blog, he was in the Miracle on 34th Street remake and one of the segments in the Tales from the Darkside movie. Theirs is a very frosty relationship currently owing to the death of Sean, there’s no sense of chemistry between these two and I’m surprised they’re actually as close in age as they are, Remar only 4 years older. Feels like there’s more of like a 10-20 year gap. He gets on very well with Emily though, they have this instant rapport whilst Patricia is more distant which is understandable. She obviously has to keep things professional as she can’t get too attached to these kids and doesn’t want them getting attached to her, plus there’s probably ongoing issues from Sean’s death, maybe she’s not prepared to slip back into that motherly role again. Which you can tell by that dinner she serves; rolls of wafer thin ham, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks and celery? That’s just what all the kids want.

At least she’ll read Emily a bedtime story, ‘I’ll Love You Forever’ which documents a mother who sings to her song that she’ll love him forever, even when he becomes a rebellious teenager who thinks it’s lame for her to do that. This leads to the very strange visual of him cradiling her in his arms on a rocking chair and singing it to her when she’s old and frail, a mirror image of how she first sang to him when he was a baby. This really hits Patricia in the feels as she felt distant from Sean as he seemed closer to his father, wanting to impress him by picking the sports and classes he thought his father wanted him to take. She even seems to partly blame her husband for their sons death as he switched around his work schedule to come home early for Christmas, which in turn led to Sean coming home early too. If he’d just come home on the day he intended this never would have happened! That seems grossly unfair. Even when she passed along a family heirloom in the form of her fathers watch, he was unimpressed and even managed to break it whilst horsing around with a friend in his room.

The massively tangled web of these characters comes into play again when Megan is going through some things and finds an old Christmas gift which sends Nathan into some sort of Nam flashback. Turns out Sean was holding it as he was wheeled into the hospital and Nathan had taken it upon himself to make sure it found its way to its intended destination but he just forgot about it over the years. I actually went back to check this and ,yeah, that is in the previous movie. I had this whole thing pegged as just a series of independent stories with loose connections throughout but no, apparently they had whole plot points planned out in advance.

Nathan and Patricia do interact several times as she takes the crack baby to the hospital to be checked up. There’s this strange level of frustration akin to An American Tail where Nathan keeps getting little flashbacks in his head but he’s never quite able to connect the dots.

But of course he eventually does and the present turns out to be, say it with me now, the broken watch! Perhaps more meaningful though is the accompanying note which reveals Sean intended to study social work at college because he wanted to help kids just like his mom. This seems to serve as a form of closure for her but I feel like you could already start drawing that sort of conclusion. I mean, the guy was already in that Big Brother program so you were clearly already having some sort of influence on him.

Strike two of the big overly emotional finale comes when it’s suggested Emily puts the angel atop the tree which promptly makes her bolt out of the room. Everyone is left thinking they’ve upset her but she comes back clutching a picture which she wedges onto the tree, a picture not of her mother as I had suspected but of Sean. She says he is her angel and she feels like whenever she’s felt all alone, he’s been there to help here. Awww.

The big showstopper though is the troubled kid finally coming good and, after realising who everyone is in this story, returns Traci’s bag to the Addison home. Inside was her camera and on that camera was the video from the very start of the movie. Turns out she wrote that song as a Christmas gift for Emily.

Though, I feel the writers fell short of a grand slam here. Near the end, Nathan shares the story with Megan about giving the gift to Sean’s parents and how it gave him his own little bit of closure after how much Sean’s death affected him back then. Megan goes into labour shortly afterwards and I was fully expecting them to decide to call the baby Sean but no such luck.

Christmas Blessing was lacking a little bit in the big emotional ending so it feels like this one is making up for that and then some. It’s not as cheesy as that song from Christmas Shoes but still delivers that overly sentimental feeling. Again, it’s something I am loathed to admit but it got to me a little bit. This whole movie has that same morbid energy as the other two but in a slightly different way, the first two felt like you spent the entire movie watching people who were on deaths door before something happened at the end to soften the blow. Here they just give you the death right up front and everyone is left to cope with the aftermath and reflect on how deal with it. It’s like an encapsulation of everything that Nathan has gone through over these movies, facing death in his personal and professional life but coming to terms with it.

You know what’s bullshit though? No sign of the eponymous Christmas Shoes anywhere. They’re even in the box of stuff that Megan finds the old Christmas present in. How can you make this your big conclusion and not bring them back? You brought them back the last one, you couldn’t have Megan tag along and give them to Emily at the end as some sort of passing of the torch? It was her destiny, Nathan got them for his dead mother, Charlie got them for his dead mother, those shoes have been robbed of their purpose in life.