10 acts of drama
On the tenth day of Christmas...
ten acts of drama, nine sleeping dragons, eight phone calls of note, seven people watching, six building blocks, five unusual accounts, four mysterious keys, three insect encounters, two people learning and one night in a tent
Fandom: Elementary
Rating: G
Summary: Sherlock always pushes just a little too far...
He had done that.
That stunned, disbelieving look that had unfolded as the judge’s words had drawn every shade of natural colour from her face.
She was looking back at him now, and her face slid into a new expression. As her jaw, her mouth, her eyebrows moved; as every facial muscle twitched into place, his mind taunted him with the definition of that expression.
Hurt.
And he had done that.
He had finally done what all had warned him he would do and gone too far. He had pushed her too far.
He had done that to Watson.
Fandom: Gears of War
Rating: 15
Summary: Dom's inner turmoil (spoilers for GoW3)
We're all going to die. It's too much, locust...lambent...they're everywhere and it's just too fucking hard to fight back anymore. I can't keep it up, I can't keep the 'nice guy' mask on much longer. I thought it was hard after losing Carlos but then losing Benedicto and Sylvia, god they were just so fucking young. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of find you Maria and now...I don't even have that. Everyone is gone and I'm still here on this dying hell-hole.
There's only one person left who I really care about as much as you or Carlos or the kids, and I'm about to watch him die fighting for this planet. I wonder if you're with the kids Maria? I wonder if there's some sort of paradise waiting for me where I can be with you all for the rest of eternity? If there's a heaven or a hell then I won't be joining you in heaven, I've made my peace with that. Maybe there really is nothing, maybe it's just an end, an eternal sleep. Fuck that sounds good right now.
I can see them on the rooftops, fighting for their lives. There's just too many for them to kill. It's over...
Maria?
There's an oil tanker there.
If...if I drive into it...it'll take out the locust and the lambent.
I can save them.
I can be with you again.
I can finally stop wearing this fucking mask.
I'm sorry Marcus, I never thought it would end like this.
Fandom: Cold Case
Rating: PG
Summary: Lilly still flinches when she sees the scar.
Sometimes the memory just catches up with her, and it's so unexpected she freezes on the spot. If she happens to glance in the mirror when undressing for the shower, and it's there. It seems to stand out so clearly, agonisingly visible on pale-white skin. In that moment she's back in the interrogation room and it's all so clear. The sound of gun shots, the warmth that just spread through her chest, the numbness that followed her through to the hospital.
Sometimes she cries, not that she means to, it's just automatic. Sometimes she just stares at it, not sure whether she's trying to will it out of existence. Other times she just jumps into the shower and scrubs so hard the burning sensation on her skin distracts her from her thoughts.
Not tonight. Tonight she looks at it. Stares at it with a blank mind, until one thought floats to the forefront.
I'm still alive.
And this time, that was enough.
Fandom: Malory Towers
Rating: PG
Summary: Alicia isn't one for outbursts of emotion.
Alicia has often said that getting overly emotional is just not her way. It's something more akin to someone like Darrell, and whilst it is entertaining to watch the dark-haired girl explode into a rage (there is something fascinating and primal about it), it's a needless waste of energy.
So how she wished she could explain how she had ended up in this situation - where one outburst of emotion had led to another and she was treading water in unknown territory.
For someone who tried her utmost to keep tight control of her emotions she had flitted between jealousy, anger, and this overwhelmning emotion that she could not describe, before finally culminating in whatever had led to her slamming Betty against the nearest wall and capturing her lips in an uncontrolled and possessive kiss.
Her breathing was ragged and her hands were shaking, her mind was running out of her control.
And were it not for the look on Betty's face that sent shivers down her spine, she would have regretted it.
Fandom: Bully (Canis Canem Edit)
Rating: PG
Summary: Pete knew he had to do something.
He probably should regret doing it. There were more reasons that he could count to do so. The pulsating black eye and the sharp pain in his ribs being just two of them.
"You coulda been creamed", Jimmy muttered gruffly as they both limped back to the dorms. Jimmy was worse off than Pete: black eye, busted lip, split eyebrow and barely keeping himself walking upright.
"Nah...I knew you had my back".
"You're an idiot for jumping in like that... Thanks though". That and the awkward half-smile were the two reasons Pete didn't regret jumping headfirst into a fist fight where Jimmy was outnumbered five to one.
Fandom: Primeval
Rating: PG
Summary: Today was not, as Lester had hoped, a dull and boring day.
Lester could feel his temple start to pulse as he surveyed the scene in front of him. He had no idea what had been showing at the Apollo Theatre that night but he was fairly certain that the audience hadn't paid to watch a small herd of these...these...creatures destroying the set and head butting the actors.
"So why exactly are they still here Cutter?", Lester demanded, pulling the bottom of his suit jacket away from the inquisitive mouth of one of the creatures.
"Well, the anomaly closed, there's not much we can do about that one", Cutter's thick accent sounded from behind some of the debris.
"Are they dangerous?", Lester was still eyeing the inquisitive one warily. Connor appeared, arms wrapped around a small version of one of the creatures.
"These little fellas? Nah Acrotholus, late Cretaceous herbivores, harmless these ones". Even if he had time to shout a warning, Lester wasn't certain he would have considering the irony in the fact that Connor almost immediately got charged and butted a good few metres by what Lester assumed was mummy..Acro..whateverus.
"So I see, friendly little creatures then are they?", and he smirked at the curse Connor probably hadn't meant for him to hear, "Well then, I suppose we better ship them back to the ARC until we work out what to do with them. Get to it then, show must go on and all that...". He tugged his jacket straight, shot the Acro-thingy a final look and turned on his heel.
He had a feeling that Jenny might need some help smoothing this one over with the public.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: G
Summary: The others just wouldn't understand.
I'm not usually like this, I mean...hello...super powerful wicca who's best buds with the slayer right? There's not much left that can scare me, oh...okay so a lot of things scare me but not scare me so much I end up hiding in a cupboard.
I try not to breathe too loudly, the way her slayer skills have been growing Buffy can probably hear me breathe. Oh god, what if she can hear my heart beat?! That's right genius, stress yourself out so it beats even faster.
I heard Xander calling me a few minutes about but it's quiet now, even so, I'm not coming out. Not until it's over.
Saving the world and kicking ass I can deal with, but I didn't sign up for this.
I did not sign up for karaoke.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG
Summary: Faith ponders the value of an act of sacrifice.
I've had a lot of time to think, sitting in this six-by-four. I smirk everytime I think of my cell that way, because you know...five-by-five?...Whatever. Anyway. There isn't much for a girl to do in a place like this, so thinking's all I got.
Angel came to see me to day, to tell me the news.
Buffy's dead.
He looked empty, like someone had reached in and crushed his soul. I don't know how he expected me to act, I did try to make a comment, to be flippant. After all, the last few times B and I have seen each other, we've been out for blood. Hell, she nearly killed me. So...I want to feel nothing but, there's just this ache...and it's killing me man.
She died to save the world, no surprise there. B's always been big on the grand gestures, and from most people that would be pious and irritating but damn...she actually died to save us all.
I've been going stir crazy in here, bigging myself up because you know I turned myself in, sacrificed my freedom...
Suddenly doesn't seem like such a big sacrifice.
Fandom: Rizzoli and Isles
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes life just seems like an endless stream of drama.
Jane spends a lot of time thinking when she's alone, about how her life just shudders from one drama to another. Between shootings, kidnappings, relationships and brand new nephews, the last few months have been standing room only for big events. They're a nice distraction really, from the thoughts that circle her mind. It's inevitable, she thinks anyway, when you work in law enforcement, to worry about the people you love. After all, Jane arrives at the scene when someone's elses life has been cut short. She keeps herself up at night, trying to work out ways to keep her family, her friends safe from all the dangers in the world.
No matter how many solutions she finds, there are always more problems.
And that's not even thinking about diseases and car accidents and...and random acts of chance.
And it doesn't help when Maura Isles is your best friend, because when you try to tell her that you lie awake at night, terrified that she'll walk out on the street one day and get hit by a falling sign and die, she'll just look back at you, cock her head on one side in that adorable way she does and tell you that there's a one in six-thousand bajillion chance of that happening, or some other crap like that.
Of course she'll then inform you that, statistically speaking of course, there's more chance of her being killed by a coconut or a vending machine than by whatever you're worrying about.
Everytime, Jane smiles, because it's not a solution but it's something.
Fandom: Elementary
Rating: G
Summary: Life, Watson, is like a show
Sherlock was prone to bouts of monologue - he never really seemed to care if anyone else was listening and Watson had to admit that some of the time she wasn't. Still, there was one speech he had come out with that had stuck with her,
"Life, Watson, is like some kind of stage show, except you must endure it for your entire existence.", there had probably been some sort of hand flourish there before the hands disappeared behind his back again, "And from the moment you wake up you must constantly switch between a variety of masks and costumes for each new scene you step into. And you will get it wrong sometimes, wear the wrong costume, not tie your mask on tight enough, but you will also get better at it, so good in fact that you drift seamlessly between your different characters".
She remembered asking him if people are just an amalgamation of characters, masks and costumes then how do we every really know who we or anyone else is. He had smiled at that for just a moment,
"Because when they are home and at their most content, every great actor takes off their costume."
Fandom: Sleeping Dogs
Rating: PG
Summary: Where does the act end, and real life begin?
Wei Shen knows all about playing a role. It's difficult to reconcile the two halves of a man undercover - the police man and the gang member. He had been told many stories about men who lost themselves to their act, but always just believed it was because they were weak.
Now he understands how wrong that belief was.
Money, violence, drugs and power all call to him, all tempt him to take yet another step away from the path. His resolve is growing weaker everyday, but he knows that if he follows that bread-trail into the darkness, he'll eventually turn around and realise he has no idea how to get back to the man he used to be.
ten acts of drama, nine sleeping dragons, eight phone calls of note, seven people watching, six building blocks, five unusual accounts, four mysterious keys, three insect encounters, two people learning and one night in a tent
Fandom: Elementary
Rating: G
Summary: Sherlock always pushes just a little too far...
He had done that.
That stunned, disbelieving look that had unfolded as the judge’s words had drawn every shade of natural colour from her face.
She was looking back at him now, and her face slid into a new expression. As her jaw, her mouth, her eyebrows moved; as every facial muscle twitched into place, his mind taunted him with the definition of that expression.
Hurt.
And he had done that.
He had finally done what all had warned him he would do and gone too far. He had pushed her too far.
He had done that to Watson.
Fandom: Gears of War
Rating: 15
Summary: Dom's inner turmoil (spoilers for GoW3)
We're all going to die. It's too much, locust...lambent...they're everywhere and it's just too fucking hard to fight back anymore. I can't keep it up, I can't keep the 'nice guy' mask on much longer. I thought it was hard after losing Carlos but then losing Benedicto and Sylvia, god they were just so fucking young. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of find you Maria and now...I don't even have that. Everyone is gone and I'm still here on this dying hell-hole.
There's only one person left who I really care about as much as you or Carlos or the kids, and I'm about to watch him die fighting for this planet. I wonder if you're with the kids Maria? I wonder if there's some sort of paradise waiting for me where I can be with you all for the rest of eternity? If there's a heaven or a hell then I won't be joining you in heaven, I've made my peace with that. Maybe there really is nothing, maybe it's just an end, an eternal sleep. Fuck that sounds good right now.
I can see them on the rooftops, fighting for their lives. There's just too many for them to kill. It's over...
Maria?
There's an oil tanker there.
If...if I drive into it...it'll take out the locust and the lambent.
I can save them.
I can be with you again.
I can finally stop wearing this fucking mask.
I'm sorry Marcus, I never thought it would end like this.
Fandom: Cold Case
Rating: PG
Summary: Lilly still flinches when she sees the scar.
Sometimes the memory just catches up with her, and it's so unexpected she freezes on the spot. If she happens to glance in the mirror when undressing for the shower, and it's there. It seems to stand out so clearly, agonisingly visible on pale-white skin. In that moment she's back in the interrogation room and it's all so clear. The sound of gun shots, the warmth that just spread through her chest, the numbness that followed her through to the hospital.
Sometimes she cries, not that she means to, it's just automatic. Sometimes she just stares at it, not sure whether she's trying to will it out of existence. Other times she just jumps into the shower and scrubs so hard the burning sensation on her skin distracts her from her thoughts.
Not tonight. Tonight she looks at it. Stares at it with a blank mind, until one thought floats to the forefront.
I'm still alive.
And this time, that was enough.
Fandom: Malory Towers
Rating: PG
Summary: Alicia isn't one for outbursts of emotion.
Alicia has often said that getting overly emotional is just not her way. It's something more akin to someone like Darrell, and whilst it is entertaining to watch the dark-haired girl explode into a rage (there is something fascinating and primal about it), it's a needless waste of energy.
So how she wished she could explain how she had ended up in this situation - where one outburst of emotion had led to another and she was treading water in unknown territory.
For someone who tried her utmost to keep tight control of her emotions she had flitted between jealousy, anger, and this overwhelmning emotion that she could not describe, before finally culminating in whatever had led to her slamming Betty against the nearest wall and capturing her lips in an uncontrolled and possessive kiss.
Her breathing was ragged and her hands were shaking, her mind was running out of her control.
And were it not for the look on Betty's face that sent shivers down her spine, she would have regretted it.
Fandom: Bully (Canis Canem Edit)
Rating: PG
Summary: Pete knew he had to do something.
He probably should regret doing it. There were more reasons that he could count to do so. The pulsating black eye and the sharp pain in his ribs being just two of them.
"You coulda been creamed", Jimmy muttered gruffly as they both limped back to the dorms. Jimmy was worse off than Pete: black eye, busted lip, split eyebrow and barely keeping himself walking upright.
"Nah...I knew you had my back".
"You're an idiot for jumping in like that... Thanks though". That and the awkward half-smile were the two reasons Pete didn't regret jumping headfirst into a fist fight where Jimmy was outnumbered five to one.
Fandom: Primeval
Rating: PG
Summary: Today was not, as Lester had hoped, a dull and boring day.
Lester could feel his temple start to pulse as he surveyed the scene in front of him. He had no idea what had been showing at the Apollo Theatre that night but he was fairly certain that the audience hadn't paid to watch a small herd of these...these...creatures destroying the set and head butting the actors.
"So why exactly are they still here Cutter?", Lester demanded, pulling the bottom of his suit jacket away from the inquisitive mouth of one of the creatures.
"Well, the anomaly closed, there's not much we can do about that one", Cutter's thick accent sounded from behind some of the debris.
"Are they dangerous?", Lester was still eyeing the inquisitive one warily. Connor appeared, arms wrapped around a small version of one of the creatures.
"These little fellas? Nah Acrotholus, late Cretaceous herbivores, harmless these ones". Even if he had time to shout a warning, Lester wasn't certain he would have considering the irony in the fact that Connor almost immediately got charged and butted a good few metres by what Lester assumed was mummy..Acro..whateverus.
"So I see, friendly little creatures then are they?", and he smirked at the curse Connor probably hadn't meant for him to hear, "Well then, I suppose we better ship them back to the ARC until we work out what to do with them. Get to it then, show must go on and all that...". He tugged his jacket straight, shot the Acro-thingy a final look and turned on his heel.
He had a feeling that Jenny might need some help smoothing this one over with the public.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: G
Summary: The others just wouldn't understand.
I'm not usually like this, I mean...hello...super powerful wicca who's best buds with the slayer right? There's not much left that can scare me, oh...okay so a lot of things scare me but not scare me so much I end up hiding in a cupboard.
I try not to breathe too loudly, the way her slayer skills have been growing Buffy can probably hear me breathe. Oh god, what if she can hear my heart beat?! That's right genius, stress yourself out so it beats even faster.
I heard Xander calling me a few minutes about but it's quiet now, even so, I'm not coming out. Not until it's over.
Saving the world and kicking ass I can deal with, but I didn't sign up for this.
I did not sign up for karaoke.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG
Summary: Faith ponders the value of an act of sacrifice.
I've had a lot of time to think, sitting in this six-by-four. I smirk everytime I think of my cell that way, because you know...five-by-five?...Whatever. Anyway. There isn't much for a girl to do in a place like this, so thinking's all I got.
Angel came to see me to day, to tell me the news.
Buffy's dead.
He looked empty, like someone had reached in and crushed his soul. I don't know how he expected me to act, I did try to make a comment, to be flippant. After all, the last few times B and I have seen each other, we've been out for blood. Hell, she nearly killed me. So...I want to feel nothing but, there's just this ache...and it's killing me man.
She died to save the world, no surprise there. B's always been big on the grand gestures, and from most people that would be pious and irritating but damn...she actually died to save us all.
I've been going stir crazy in here, bigging myself up because you know I turned myself in, sacrificed my freedom...
Suddenly doesn't seem like such a big sacrifice.
Fandom: Rizzoli and Isles
Rating: PG
Summary: Sometimes life just seems like an endless stream of drama.
Jane spends a lot of time thinking when she's alone, about how her life just shudders from one drama to another. Between shootings, kidnappings, relationships and brand new nephews, the last few months have been standing room only for big events. They're a nice distraction really, from the thoughts that circle her mind. It's inevitable, she thinks anyway, when you work in law enforcement, to worry about the people you love. After all, Jane arrives at the scene when someone's elses life has been cut short. She keeps herself up at night, trying to work out ways to keep her family, her friends safe from all the dangers in the world.
No matter how many solutions she finds, there are always more problems.
And that's not even thinking about diseases and car accidents and...and random acts of chance.
And it doesn't help when Maura Isles is your best friend, because when you try to tell her that you lie awake at night, terrified that she'll walk out on the street one day and get hit by a falling sign and die, she'll just look back at you, cock her head on one side in that adorable way she does and tell you that there's a one in six-thousand bajillion chance of that happening, or some other crap like that.
Of course she'll then inform you that, statistically speaking of course, there's more chance of her being killed by a coconut or a vending machine than by whatever you're worrying about.
Everytime, Jane smiles, because it's not a solution but it's something.
Fandom: Elementary
Rating: G
Summary: Life, Watson, is like a show
Sherlock was prone to bouts of monologue - he never really seemed to care if anyone else was listening and Watson had to admit that some of the time she wasn't. Still, there was one speech he had come out with that had stuck with her,
"Life, Watson, is like some kind of stage show, except you must endure it for your entire existence.", there had probably been some sort of hand flourish there before the hands disappeared behind his back again, "And from the moment you wake up you must constantly switch between a variety of masks and costumes for each new scene you step into. And you will get it wrong sometimes, wear the wrong costume, not tie your mask on tight enough, but you will also get better at it, so good in fact that you drift seamlessly between your different characters".
She remembered asking him if people are just an amalgamation of characters, masks and costumes then how do we every really know who we or anyone else is. He had smiled at that for just a moment,
"Because when they are home and at their most content, every great actor takes off their costume."
Fandom: Sleeping Dogs
Rating: PG
Summary: Where does the act end, and real life begin?
Wei Shen knows all about playing a role. It's difficult to reconcile the two halves of a man undercover - the police man and the gang member. He had been told many stories about men who lost themselves to their act, but always just believed it was because they were weak.
Now he understands how wrong that belief was.
Money, violence, drugs and power all call to him, all tempt him to take yet another step away from the path. His resolve is growing weaker everyday, but he knows that if he follows that bread-trail into the darkness, he'll eventually turn around and realise he has no idea how to get back to the man he used to be.