(OOC: Oh man I feel so guilty about this story *hides in box of shame*)
My stories stem from characters so I write anything and everything. Most of my stories have an element of romance in but the genre background varies wildly. Right now, I’m writing a mystery romance story. As for a Lachlan type character, well I don’t intentionally ever write anyone I know into my books, but sometimes things wind up in there anyway. Never say never.
Well the mission was over within a week. We shipped out and debriefed, there were no imminent disaster so we then got some time off for a change! A little bit of downtime before we had to start prepping for the next assignment. We went out for mid-morning coffee, which bled into lunch, which turned into spending the afternoon together strolling around the park and just remembering how good the world can be.
We then had dinner and Alistair walked me home. I kissed him and he went to leave, saying he should get home to bed. I said we definitely should get to bed and kissed him again. His expression was wonderful, it was clear he had no expectations of anything and I liked that, I don’t know why but I guess I felt respected, like he wasn’t pushing for more than I was ready to give. I know I was ready to sleep with him anyway but I still appreciated it.
The sweet man started to stammer that he didn’t expect anything and I kissed him again. No regrets, that’s how I live my life. We never know what will be our final mission and I deeply care for Alistair. It’s not love yet, it can’t be because we don’t know each other well enough, but we won’t know one another if we don’t take a chance. He kissed me then, so gently and lovingly, it was perfect.
What happened next is private but it was … incredible.
Gold: This is why we don’t work where we live. Besides it’s about situations. We are unlikely to run into a high-roller arms dealer, or his associates, in the grocery store of our home town. If we went to a large party for the elite in a big city, then the odds would increase.
Belle: *pokes him* tell them *grins*
Gold: *sighs* there was one occasion. We do tend to work in the same areas because we develop contacts, we are familiar with the terrain. I was once meeting the representative of a human trafficker in a hotel bar, and I was approached by a young woman from a previous mission.
Belle: Go on, what happened?
Gold: She’d been a hotel maid, I’d … charmed her on the previous mission. Obviously I was using a different cover identity and I couldn’t have her calling out my previous fake name. So I … I …
Belle: Yes?
Gold: I kissed her alright. I then guided her out of the bar, spun some story and said I would see her later, and then later I thought of a good cover and it was dealt with. You know you don’t have to find this quite so amusing. I’m sure it’ll happen to you one day.
Belle: *kisses him* I’m sorry I can just picture how flustered you were under all your training. It’s adorable.
Gold: *pouts* It’s not adorable, it was serious. *she kisses him again* I suppose if it wasn’t for my training I would have looked like a deer in the headlights. You know I only have eyes for you?
Belle: *rolls her eyes* of course! That doesn’t even need to be said. We just do what we have to in order to complete the mission and get home safely. You’re the one I’m coming home to.
Gold: *smiles at her* and you are the only I want to come home to *kisses her again* *waves the questioner away – busy now*
I think my brain went on vacation the moment I was told the location and circumstances of the meet. When Belle started to dance … saying I was in awe doesn’t really cover it. If it hadn’t been for my training the entire meeting would have been ruined but thankfully I managed to concentrate enough to trade the required information.
When I felt myself react I tried to draw on that same training, picturing horrible sights to try and drown out the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. It didn’t work because beauty is only skin deep. Just knowing it was Belle, that was what was too much. I was more ashamed than scared but I do have a reputation. If Belle made a report about unwanted advances, being called a ‘dirty old man’ would have been the least of my problems. I don’t have many friends among our employers, though I do have some reports of my own saved for a rainy day.
Fortunately such measures aren’t necessary. I’m more stunned than ever at Belle’s reaction. I would never have guessed she harbored any feelings for me at all. I’m counting down the days until this mission is over. I will understand of course if it was a mistake made due to the intensity of the location, and our positions, but I hope it was real. Perhaps we’ll start with going out for coffee and see where it goes from there.
Thank you! 🙂
13) Unpopular opinion about XXX character?
I’m trying to think. This question is quite difficult really because I’m used to swallowing my unpopular opinions as I’m too scared to express them. Plus I try very hard to see both sides and that usually winds up moderating my ‘unpopular opinions’ into something more mainstream. For instance there’s something that keeps coming to mind but I’m slapping my brain right now, and saying that’s not the characters fault, that’s the writers.
I wish Cora hadn’t been killed off. Is that an unpopular opinion? I liked her, I thought her potential was cut seriously short. I also liked the Black Fairy and as much as I love the finale for all the gifts it gave us, I don’t like how it turned her into a 2D one-note villain, and then just killed her off. How about I still wish Gideon hadn’t been de-aged into a baby? I mean please don’t get me wrong, how they did it with it just happening was the best way they could have done it, and Rumple and Belle being all sweet with the baby is just adorable. I love all of the baby scenes! I just liked adult Gideon, and I liked his potential but I guess there’s always fanfic to explore that, and the cuteness of the Gold Family can’t be denied 🙂
14) Unpopular opinion about your fandom?
This is similar to question 19 so I don’t really know what I can add. I’ve rewritten this answer several times. I think basically anything I say wouldn’t be this fandom, it would just be applicable for any community really. What it boils down to is “I wish we could live and let live a little more” which I know is hopelessly naive. I mean it’s this wish which is why I’m trying so hard to temper all my statements because just because I feel that way about something, doesn’t mean that if someone feels differently they are wrong.
I do generally operate under the rule that “if I don’t have anything nice to say, then I don’t say anything” but that’s me being me. If others just want to say anti stuff all the time, then that’s cool because everyone can do what they want to do. I do kinda wish sometimes people would tag a little better. As I said before I really don’t like the jumping to conclusions, and then that becoming fact and it all being doom and gloom with no proof. Also, I think that sometimes there’s a time and a place for people to make anti comments and that where people put them isn’t always ideal.
However, that being said I’m not someone that thinks people should just “stay in their lane” but then I’m passive and not likely to argue. I’ve had comments on posts of mine that I’ve blinked at, and thought that wasn’t really called for, but I’ve never said a word about it. I don’t like drama. I love this fandom but it can be a scary place sometimes with all the drama.
20) What is the purest ship in the fandom?
Already answered – here 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
1) What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?
Erm *hides* SwanQueen. I know, I know, it’s incredible popular but I’ve just never been able to see it. I’ve tried to see it, I’ve read lots of metas and looked at the gifsets, and sweet merlin have you seen the fanart? It’s just gorgeous! Some seriously talented people there. I just don’t ship it and I’m sorry for that. I also don’t get OutlawQueen either.
I don’t actually ship Regina with anyone, I wish I did because she’s my second favorite character and I love her. I want her to be happy but nothing has clicked in my mind as being right for her. With Emma I ship Swanfire, and if Neal isn’t around then I’d probably go with MadSwan. I’m very ship and let ship, I think people should ship what makes them happy, but I do feel bad about SwanQueen. I know so many awesome people that ship them and I wish I did, I really do, but I just don’t.
Sometimes I’m like that. I mean I don’t ship Jack and Sam off Stargate SG1 either. I follow some very talented people that ship them hard but I just can’t see it. I love them individually as characters, I love them as friends and teammates but I just can’t see them working romantically and Jack and Sam were pretty much canon in the end. So the show itself shipped them. I don’t know, I just don’t get it.
6) Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?
Already answered – here 🙂
19)
What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?
Already answered – here 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
5)
Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?
I don’t think so? I’m trying to think. If anything it’s usually the other way round. I’ll see so many sweet gifsets that I’ll start shipping something that I didn’t really think all that much about before. In fact thanks to gifsets I even took a second look at an entire TV show – Farscape. I’d tried one episode of that, decided I didn’t like it – 100 awesome gifsets later – I had the collectors edition complete boxset (I’ve just started watching season four).
6) Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?
Nope, I hate very few pairings to begin with, so there’s not much chance for fandom to change my mind that much. Fandom did make me really ship Swanfire when I’d been ‘I like it but I don’t care’ beforehand. I did curse fandom a little bit for that, making me love a doomed ship heh 🙂 That’s all that really comes to mind. The thing is I did like Swanfire before, so it was like into love. Mostly with ships I either see it or I don’t.
7) Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?
Yes and no. For instance Hook, I didn’t like him back in season two but I liked his character. I thought he had a good arc, in terms of how he connected to Rumple and Bae/Neal. He had the whole revenge thing going on which played off well against Regina, showcasing character development. He was a villain, unapologetic about doing whatever it took in pursuit of his aims. I understood why he wanted revenge, I was never going to side with him because I’m 100% TeamRumple but Hook was a good character.
Now? Hook is out of his element. He hasn’t changed but how people react to him has. I never minded being an arsehole in season two because there’s nothing wrong with a good villain. As another example I hated Zelena’s actions in 3b (I will never forgive her for Neal or for what she did to Rumple) but Zelena was a villain. She had some awesome sarcastic lines, I loved to hate her. Then just like with Hook, it’s a bit like slipping into an alternate reality, they haven’t changed as characters but everyone is saying they are heroes. It’s like what people say, and what they do, are completely different, there’s this disconnect going on.
So I can’t stand either Hook or Zelena now most of the time, because it ruins suspension of disbelief. They are changing the other characters around them, making the characters I love act out of character, and do stupid things, and so I don’t like it. Now, I have no problem with either Hook or Zelena staying around on the show. I just wish it had been done in a way that rang true and made sense. There has to be justification, I loathe forced march plotting. Where the writers/creators have obviously decided something has to happen, and so it’s very much “because I said so.” I really can’t stand that.
Thank you anon! 🙂
19) What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?
Urk erm *cringes* I don’t know if should say. I really hate conflict, I’m super scared of upsetting people. Ok *deep breath* alright if I’m honest it’s the doom and gloom brigade. I don’t follow them and I try to keep my dash clear of it because tumblr is like my escape, I like it to be full of happy things, not misery but it’s really difficult to avoid sometimes. I’ve blacklisted everything I can possibly think of to keep it at a minimum.
When the show was airing I was more afraid of the fandoms reaction to what happened, than I was afraid of what happened on the show. Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not complaining that people are being negative, people can be whatever they want. It’s just sometimes it got a bit scary. Occasionally it felt like people were jumping to conclusions and it was the end of the world and there was no evidence. I love this fandom, and I love being a part of it, and it’s probably my fear of conflict that made it worse. So it’s on me really, not the fandom. I just wish we could all be nicer to one another I guess.
20) What is the purest ship in the fandom?
Depends how you define pure. I think probably the least controversial ship would have to be Snowing. I mean they are the original ship, they’ve been true love since day one, there’s no arguments that they belong together.
21) What are your thoughts on crack ships?
Already answered – here 🙂
11) Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?
I only know my corner of the fandom so I could be way off base with what’s popular or not. That being said I think I’d have to say Anna from the Frozen arc. Every other character that springs to mind I’ve seen just as many positive comments, as I have anti ones, but the Frozen arc doesn’t get much love. I really liked Anna probably because she babbles a lot, that’s something I do when I’m nervous and so I related.
21) What are your thoughts on crack ships?
Define crack ship? I mean my understanding of crack fic is like pink elephants flying in the sky, it’s something totally ridiculous and more than likely breaking the fourth wall. Labeling a ship as a ‘crack ship’ seems quite disrespectful because I’m very much ship and let ship. Just because I don’t agree, doesn’t mean that someone is wrong for shipping it. They obviously ship it for a reason and well I like people to be happy. So long as nobody is getting hurt then it’s all good. So I think my thoughts on crack ships, are basically that there isn’t really any such thing. Let people go crazy with pairings if they want.
I’ve already answered this one – here 🙂
Basically I’m never at a loss for an idea, though I think as all writers know that can be a bit of a curse in of itself heh.