it starts with me

hngrylikethewoolf​:

@officerhxpps

Despite the image he was intending to keep, a slight smile graced Errol’s lips at the girl’s enthusiasm. She would need to learn to school her features on the job but here? Well…perhaps a bit of enthusiasm would go a long way. When he turned to her, Judy was watching him, taking in everything he was saying with wide eyes.

A chuckle escaped him as she pulled a notebook and pen from her pocket. “First off ye can get rid o’ ‘at. We’re learnin’ on t’ streets. Follow me?” His voice was even and calm, the curl of his eyebrow upward indicating she should come along as he turned on his heel, undid his cuff links and pocketed them before rolling his sleeves to his elbows. “’M gonna see what ye know, lass. 'Bout t’ town an’ magicks.”

Wait, she wasn’t supposed to use her notebook in this learning environment? How would she catch the nuances and finer details and commit them to memory? How could she study them for later? What would she reference in the field? Her memory? 

Oh boy.

Judy very clearly faltered at Errol’s direction, but she didn’t question it. Instead, she clicked her pen shut, tucked her notebook back into her pocket, and followed her boss. At the mention of testing what she already knew, the brunette shook her head, confused.

arthur-of-camelot​:

“Well we’ve had a couple other complaints that could warrant some work. A possible theft, some reported vandalism…that sort of thing.” Largely the vandalism, as he was fairly certain Jun Moon wouldn’t lay up until the officers did some more about that. Irritating, but something to take care of.

Maybe the vandalism wasn’t that big, but it needed to be dealt with. And Arthur needed to get some of these other things done before he dealt with another person claiming a vampire had attacked when they hadn’t. “Grab one of our scrapers. We may have to clear away some gum again as well.”

Judy had to stop herself from physically deflating at the mention of scraping gum. Sure, it was important to keep the town clean, but goodness, it was really starting to divert attention and resources from important matters. You know, like potential vampire attacks.

moon-yeongjun​:

“Never too late!” said Jun and without hesitation, went back to the board to fetch the petition as well. 

“Here it is–” he began “–see, it talks about making sure that areas for families– schools, parks, daycares– they remain safe for those families by mandating a zoning area of at least 250 feet. And the first part talks about keeping school communities free from vampires and other dark magicks convicted of horrible crimes.” This seemed reasonable to Jun; he knew that it wasn’t reasonable to others though and undoubtedly, his markers would be adjusted. 

But that was fine. He just needed something to be done. If he could get vampires banned from bloody schools at least! They shouldn’t be there in the first place! 

Okay, so maybe Judy had hoped it was too late to sign the petition. Not because she didn’t care about the safety of Swynlake — of course she did! It was just that, well, the issue of dark magicks was a controversial one. 

And, admittedly, signing something of this sort felt like it conflicted with her newfound, open-minded approach. Maybe if she saw some data on the matter, she could make a more objective decision...

Even still, she looked over the page enthusiastically, nodding as he provided additional explanation. 

“This is a very strong petition, Jun,” she said with a smile. Just as she was about to speak to its strengths and hopefully side-step having to sign it, she received a call via her radio. “So sorry, I have to take this.” With an apologetic smile, she handed him the paper and stepped toward the back of the store, where Uncle Waldo was still being tended to.

The Woman is Non-Stop *** [Jelley]

Belle knew that Judy was just a trainee. She also knew that Judy was ambitious–and a suck up. That wasn’t a criticism. Her and Belle were very similar in that regard. Judy had ideals. To fight against injustice and do right by the people of Swynlake, this town they both so dearly loved.

Which meant that all Belle had to do was appeal to those ideals. Perhaps some would see it as being dishonest, or manipulative, but every word that was about to come out of Belle’s mouth was true. 

She had prepared for this to be difficult. To need to be handled delicately. 

“I did,” Belle said, “submit a request. At the beginning of my research. I knew it would take a while, bureaucratic tape and all that.” Here, she gave a forgiving smile, knowing Judy’s love of bureaucratic tape. “However, I’ve followed up several times and haven’t received an answer. Even Hades can’t get them to give me a straight answer.” This was all a lie, while Belle was not above using her husband’s position on the Board, when it came to her studies, she preferred it to be on her own merit. 

“I don’t understand what’s going on. It isn’t like I’m asking for details. Just the statistics. You don’t–think they’re withholding them because they’re worried about how those statistics reflect on the sheriff’s department, do you? I can’t imagine they’d be that poor.”

Yes, yes she could. That was what her thesis was all about. 

Before Judy could think to control her facial expressions, an eyebrow shot up in a combination of curiosity and suspicion. On one hand, she knew Belle was only facilitating this conversation to get the information she needed, and that Judy was merely a means to an end. 

On the other hand, though, her curiosity had been stoked, and she felt unsettled by the fact that information wasn’t more readily available to the public. It was in their best interest, after all, to know the demographics of arrests and prosecutions, wasn’t it? The United Kingdom released such annual reports. Hell, even the States did the same. Why wouldn’t they follow suit in Swynlake?

That train of thought was cut short by her instinct to defend the sheriff’s department. “I doubt they’re poor at all,” the brunette said confidently. “This team works hard for the benefit of every citizen of Swynlake. The mayor knows that quite well. Perhaps there’s another reason they could be keeping that information under wraps, like —”

She wracked her brain for a potential reason, but each one she came up with either sounded far-fetched or woefully naive. Her features scrunched up.

For a moment, Judy felt torn between her loyalty to her employer and her duty to the people of Swynlake. But if there was even a hint of injustice in town, was she truly loyal to the right side? 

She glanced around the room quickly, just to make sure it was safe to say the words that tumbled out next:

moon-yeongjun​:

Jun noticed the slight frown and moment of doubt. But this was not discouraging to Jun. Everyone who he had showed the petition to had this split second reaction but then they thought more about it, eh? 

Sometimes he had to coax them along the correct thought-path. For example, he’d point out how much money it took to clean up chewing gum over the span of one year. That got many financially conscious people when they saw how expensive it was! And if that still didn’t convince them, he mentioned a few statistics about birds, squirrels, and chipmunks choking on the bits of gum. That really got to the softer hearts of Swynlake! 

See, it was always the little things. The littlest slights had the most far-reaching consequences, and that made the little things the most dangerous of all. Yes, vampires were dangerous– but the real environmental and financial killer here was chewing gum!

Judy saw the light without Jun’s usual argument, and he was proud of her for it. But ah, Judy had always been a smart cookie! 

Jun reached back and produced a pen, smiling as he did. “Thank you so much Officer Judy. I also have several other petitions, but I’m sure you saw the one about proper zoning against dark magicks, eh? I’ve also been working on a new one about leashing laws! Bah, I swear, so many irresponsible pet owners in this town. Like those Acherons! They have that massive mutt in their store without any leashing at all! It’s dangerous. You know, I’ve complained to your department at least three times already.” 

Judy had always admired Jun’s dedication when it came to matters of public concern. He was quick to act and propose solutions to just about every issue one could think of — and probably several that had never even crossed other citizens’ minds. Certainly, it had to be a lot to balance, what with running the market and all. 

In this instance, she was happy to add her signature to the next available line.

At the mention of the other petitions, however, she hesitated. “You know, oddly enough, I don’t actually think I’ve seen the one on zoning. Then again, I’ve been so bogged down with data entry lately. Haven’t had much time to look up, let alone read a petition. Could you explain it to me? Unless it’s already to late to sign?”

cinderellaashbourne​:

When Ella had come back to her apartment, without Bambi but with her daughter, the police had still been there. She had seen no point in trying to lie, when she had always hated lies and never been good at them besides. Too truthful for her own good (her stepmother had took advantage of it, looking back on things), she had recounted the events of the night just as they had happened.

She could understand why they had wanted someone to check in on her, though. Admittedly it was a long, winding tale, one that could easily be unbelievable with little evidence. It didn’t matter to Ella. She had her daughter back, safe and happy, and though she knew the trolls would not try a similar stunt in a hurry, she also knew to take extra precautions at night. She hadn’t gone as far as to move Willa’s crib into her own room, but she had spent more than a few nights curled up in the armchair in the nursery, not able to fall asleep if she was too far away from the crib.

She didn’t mind Officer Hopps stopping by, however. She was nice, a vibrant and sunny sort of person that made chatting to her easy. It almost didn’t feel like she was checking in, most of the time, just stopping by like an old friend would.

Ella was surprised, however, when there was a knock on her door in the early hours of the morning. She was up and dressed, of course — Willa was doing well at sleeping through the night now, but she’d gone to bed early the night before and Ella had absolutely expected her to wake early in the morning. Ella scooped the baby up off of the floor, holding her on her hip as she went to open the door.

“Officer Hopps,” Ella said, surprise in her voice. She smiled, shifting Willa a little. “This is… I wasn’t expecting you. Do you want to come in? I was just about to put the kettle on.”

Judy’s smile was only slightly sheepish when Ella opened the door. At least they were up and ready for the day — the young officer would have felt awful if she’d caused them both to rise earlier than they’d hoped to. 

“I’m sorry, I know it’s out of the blue — I was getting in from my overnight shift when I realized it’d been a while since I last checked in,” she explained. 

hngrylikethewoolf​:

Errol hid his grin behind his coffee cup, shaking his head with a bit of a laugh as he led the way from his office, murmuring a response as he shut the door behind them. He banked left and then right down a long hallway, taking the back way from the offices into the main area where both the detectives and Magick task force coexisted within the precinct. He caught a glimpse of Dr. Khan limping across the way, a stack of files in hand, and Errol offered a cursory wave. The Vaagh tossed one off in return and he continued on his way. 

Contrary to that small interaction, Errol and Shere got on fairly well. The Vaagh’s level-headed and no-nonsense attitude when it came to getting his work done, and the dedication that he’d shown to helping make the town safer for people like him was admirable. He wanted Hopps to see that, to learn from that, just as he wanted her to learn from all his other officers, detectives, and volunteers. 

“Right. See ‘at group, ‘bout t’ middle of t’ room? Large bloke I jus’ waved to an’ t’ younger, dark haired lad? Those are two o’ our Magicks. Khan and Long. One’s a Vaagh, a tiger shifter, an’ t’ other’s got a bit o’ transformation magic. Can turn intae a dragon. As ye might fink, folks either see ‘em as a help or a danger. Yer job’s tae learn how tae work wif ‘em, or as close as ye can.” Turning back to look at the younger officer, Errol folded his arms, staring her directly in the eye. 

“Yer gonna have Mundus an’ Magicks ‘at ye come intae contact wif in town. ‘S gonna be part o’ yer job, nae matter how ye feel. Learn, listen. ‘at’s what ‘m askin’ ye tae do tonight, aye? Can ye do ‘at?” 

Judy felt — and probably looked — like a child in a candy store as she was led back to meet the Magick task force. Although most new officers would have probably maintained some semblance of decorum, this trainee wore her excitement on her sleeve. It was a blessing and a curse, truly, to be so forthcoming, but she tried to use it to her advantage as best she could. 

Even still, she listened to Errol’s words closely, her eyes scanning the room. She nodded, taking mental notes as he explained not only the members of the task force’s roles and abilities, but how he expected her collaboration as well. 

“Of course. I’d love nothing more than to learn and listen,” the brunette agreed with a smile. To emphasize her point, she even pulled out her notepad and pen. What? He’d advised her to dress down, not come completely unprepared!

The Woman is Non-Stop *** [Jelley]

Belle was actually surprised that Judy knew when Opal’s birthday was. It took her aback for a moment. She was always so caught up in her own life, that she forgot sometimes she and her family existed to others. Which was silly, but it was still true. The wounds of living on the fringes most of your young life. It did warm Belle up immensely to Judy in kind. Belle may not be the best mother, she may take too much time away and worry too much–but she was very proud of her daughter and wanted other people to be proud of her too.

“Yes, that’s right, well–almost. 18 months in August,” Belle corrected, just so.

Belle laughed at the dissertation comment. “Quite,” she agreed. “Charged topic is an understatement. I had to fight tooth and nail to even be taken seriously concerning it. My professor didn’t think there was enough information for me to do my research, but that is the whole problem, isn’t it?!” Belle huffed indignantly and sat up a little straighter in her seat, her eyes sparking and hands moving emphatically as she spoke. 

“I have a friend whose a doctor at SGH. He’s been helping me collect case studies, mostly for FMT, but the hospital has seen plenty of werewolves in their time. What I really need, though, is statistics on how many wolves are arrested, persecuted, and processed. There is such little information available to the public, which is a crime in and of itself, don’t you think?”

Ah, there it was — the real reason for her visit.

Judy really needed to learn how to approach these situations better. Not that there was anything wrong with Belle asking for information — other than the fact she wasn’t sure she could actually give it. She just needed to trust her gut more. Stop taking things at face-value and dig a little deeper into the motives behind people’s actions.

But she’d have to sort all of that out later.

Right now, she had a hopeful brunette perched in the seat across from her, and she had to temper her expectations.

Judy sucked her teeth, her expression a little unsure. “I wonder how you could get your hands on those sorts of statistics? While I agree that there ought to be some more transparency, well — I’m just an officer trainee and I’m afraid I don’t have enough say to sway anyone in that direction.” Shaking her head, she sighed. 

arthur-of-camelot​:

Arthur let out a sigh. Another vampire attack report? It was starting to get outrageous. He really did think something needed to be done to educate the town properly. This wasn’t conducive to proper police work.

“By the primary school? Were they saying a child was attacked?” He peered at the information she’d written down, eyebrows furrowed. “This woman has come to us about a vampire attack before.” And she’d been proven wrong once already. Or he’d thought they’d emphasized that.

He took a breath and let it out again. “We’ll go check it out shortly. There are a few other things we should look at while we’re out as well.”

Judy wracked her brain for a moment, just in case she’d missed any details in her frantic scribbling. Ultimately, she shook her head. “She didn’t say if it was a child or not, only gave the location,” she said affirmatively, a brow arching when he mentioned she’d called in before. 

But before she could weigh in, he said they would go check it out shortly. Did that mean that she’d tag along too? 

The Woman is Non-Stop *** [Jelley]

Belle managed a smile of acknowledgement of Judy’s struggles, seeing a reflection of herself in them. Being a lawyer was hard work too and she, now, had a better idea of why some lawyers got a bad reputation. They went to school to learn the law and spent the rest of their lives trying to read between the lines, playing a chess game with a system hundreds of years in the making, with expert players who’d written the rules. 

The fatigue was wearisome, but when Belle had decided to become a lawyer, she had promised herself that she would never, ever give up believing that she could do good in the world. 

All she had to do was outsmart everyone else and Belle was as confident in her abilities to do that as she could be.

“Oh uhm, well–it’s about the barring of Magicks from the medical field,” she explained, having the elevator pitch down pat. “I am using werewolves as my case study, considering little is known about their genetic make up, which makes it extremely difficult for them to receive adequate treatment. Many are dying of preventable diseases. I am also using FMT–or, Fetal Magic Transfer–which is when a baby who has a parent that is a Magick but is being carried by a Mundus, exhibits those powers in-utero. It happened to me with Opal, which sparked my interest, since there was little available for me to educate myself with at the time.” 

Usually, Belle didn’t add that part, but she thought a personal touch might help sway Judy into helping her. 

Judy nodded as she listened to Belle’s explanation. It was quite the topic, truly, though she wasn’t surprised that Belle had selected it. She always had a way of shedding light on important matters, even if doing so went against the status quo. It was all too fitting that she was becoming a lawyer.

Plus, she could put up a hell of a fight in a debate. She remembered that much from the classes they took together.

“Oh, Opal,” she began with a smile. “How is she? She’s got to be — what, one-and-a-half now? Give or take?” Being the oldest of ten children, you’d think Judy would get sick of hearing about babies. On the contrary, she loved it. Babies were so sweet, innocent, and curious — and even better when they weren’t her responsibility. 

Growing up, Judy’s parents would jokingly call her the Energizer Bunny. She never faltered, never complained of being too tired, and very rarely took her nose off the grindstone. 

Even after her first overnight shift — which would be draining to just about any normal human being — she proved this nickname to be true. The sun had barely risen above the horizon when she bounded up the stairs of her apartment building, keys in hand. Granted, this energy was likely the byproduct of an eventful night and all the adrenaline that came with it. But still, she wasn’t even close to crashing.

So maybe that’s why she stopped short and peered at her neighbor’s door, rather than unlocking her own and getting some much-needed rest. It’d been some time since she checked in on Ella, and she felt... well, pretty guilty about it.

Glancing at her watch, Judy approached Ella’s door and knocked gently. Hopefully, she wasn’t waking her too early (though she had a sneaking suspicion she’d be up anyway — parents of young children seemed to have no other choice). 

June Task: 10 Songs Your Character Dances To

Listen to it here.

Track List:

1. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles

2. You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates

3. The Man - Taylor Swift

4. The Less I Know the Better - Tame Impala

5. Babel - Mumford & Sons

6. Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold - The Lone Bellow

7. Count on Me - Bruno Mars

8. Back to You - Twin Forks

9. Don’t Let it Get You Down - Johnnyswim

10. Brand New - Ben Rector

Can’t Be Still || [Open]

Zira had worn many masks over her long, long years. One of her favourites was that of a damsel in distress. A thousand years passed, but people were always so quick to overlook a woman. Always so quick to believe her distress. It made it impossibly easy to act. Any woman worth her salt could do it. And any woman worth her gold made frequent use of the skill.

“Oh, thank you, I don’t know what I’d do without your help. I will certainly owe you one. And so will my son for coming to my rescue. You aren’t single by chance, are you?” she joked with an airy laugh. 

“I have three children. Nuka, he’s my eldest and works at InterPride,” she listed. “Vitani is my middle child and only daughter. You may know her. She is an officer at the station.” Way higher than whatever your paygrade is. “And my youngest, Kovu, is currently enrolled at PrideU, he is so bright.” She praised all of her children, despite the fact these occupations were just roles they played, they were all still intelligent, loyal, and vicious. The most important traits that anyone could have.

Honestly, Judy was only half-listening to the woman as she set to changing her tire. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested — she loved hearing about people’s lives and children and everything in between! She was just much more interested in not damaging this car. 

Though, she’d be lying if she didn’t falter slightly at, ‘You aren’t single by chance, are you?’ Thankfully, she easily passed off her surprised laugh as a grunt, as she was in the middle of cranking the jack. 

She paused long enough to look back, smile, and say, “I’m afraid I’m married to my work.”

knightley--phillip​:

Okay, actually this was pretty informative. Phillip was a decent driver and a decent parker, but things like rules and regulations usually just went over his head. Look, if he got a speeding or parking ticket, all he did was write a cheque and bam! He could drive however fast he wanted and park  wherever the hell he wanted. Perks of being rich.

But for purposes of being in Swynlake, he had to be discreet. A loud brash posh kid who kept racking up parking tickets was sure to put him the radar of law enforcement. Plus, the Order was on the side of the police. They should work together.

He nodded along, following the pretty officer, and actually taking mental notes of the scenarios.

“Do all officers have these regulations memorized?” he asked, when she pointed out another car with a slightly different grievance. “Or are you just particularly committed to enforcing proper parking protocol?”

Most people would probably be embarrassed by being so gung-ho about parking regulations. After all, writing up citations wasn’t the most glamorous part of being a police officer, since it was more of an inconvenience than it was a help to the public.

Then again, Judy wasn’t like most people. 

She loved rules and felt sourly toward anyone who went against them. She memorized them, yes, though that was mostly to make sure she never broke one. Maybe it had something to do with being the oldest sibling. Or maybe it was a character flaw, but she’d never openly admit that!

moon-yeongjun​:

Jun nodded, more than happy to abandon Uncle Waldo to the medics who could more properly remove him from the store. At least Swynlake’s medical professionals responded so quickly! They’d be in and out with as little disturbance as possible and Jun could forget this ever happened– well, until the next time. Hah. 

He moved to the front of the store and went to fetch the petition off the corkboard where many people put their various announcements. There were HELP WANTED signs, advertisements for garage sales and for lawn services– etc. etc. When Jun was feeling truly stressed, he liked to re-organize this corkboard. Straighten out the flyers. Take down old ones. Keep everything nice and clean. 

“Here we are!” Jun said and offered her the latest petition– to ban chewing gum.

“I’m sure you can appreciate this one, eh? You poor police officers have had to spend much of your resources and time keeping this town clean, only for irresponsible hooligans to stick their germ-infested gum on just about every surface!” He sucked his teeth and shook his head. 

“Chewing gum,” Judy said slowly, a little surprised, after reading the petition’s title. It was gross, yes, to see it stuck to a bench or collecting dirt on the sidewalk, but was it petition-worthy? Was it that big of an issue? 

Clearly, as Arthur Pendragon’s signature was on the document. Maybe she just wasn’t aware of how much the department was pouring into keeping the town clean. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at her own ignorance. 

“Looks like a worthy cause to me,” she said, looking up with a smile. “Do you have a pen? I’d be happy to show my support.”

edgoldbbergg​:

Ed’s face scrunched in confusion as the officer talked. The streets moved?! Now, Ed thought he knew almost everything about magic, but moving streets? No wonder he’d been getting so lost in this town.

“The streets move?!” Ed finally responded still unable to comprehend what Judy just stated. “I mean that’s something new. I don’t think directions will be much help then. Lead the way.”

“That’s Swynlake for you,” Judy commented with a chuckle. This wasn’t the first time she’d had this conversation with a confused newcomer, and now that she was a part of the police force, she was sure it wouldn’t be her last.