I need to give a shout-out to Lindsay, aka @timelordthirteen who created the blog header and all the lovely gifs I'm using on the official Showdown posts. (Also the two gifs used below.) Those of you who have been in the fandom for a while know that Lindsay has done the Showdown graphics for years. What you may not know is how often I, your disorganized mod, have appealed to her for help at the last minute, and she ALWAYS answers the call.
Lindsay, the Showdown blog would consist of only text posts without your talent and generosity. Thank you so much!
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rebel captain "The truth is rarely pure and never simple."
(okay I kind of cheated. it's the third line.)
"Were you and her...?"
Cassian sips his ale and swallows the no on his tongue. The truth - of what they were to each other, of unspoken and spoken things and the lines drawn between - is rarely pure and never simple. Bitter hops and a bitter pill.
Beside him, Bodhi sniffs. "Kriff, Cassian. You don't need to-to tell me what she meant to you. It was plain as day."
A long night spent in the cockpit laughing harder than he'd done in years, losing his jacket over sabaac and whiskey, starstruck and half drunk on more than just the liquor. Months after Scarif and he'd looked at her under the starlines and thought maybe.
He'd never told her, never even really thought past I'd do anything to make her smile. A fool for her who'd fooled himself, but perhaps she'd seen what he'd meant with all his gestures; tokens of his quiet, unacknowledged devotion.
If Bodhi and Melshi and Leia and Kes and all the others with their condolences knew, if they'd seen so clearly what even he hadn't known, maybe Jyn had known it too.
Before leaving the city for small-town Maine, Lacey had told herself she wasn’t going to spend every night drinking until the early hours, as she had in New York. Since moving to Storybrooke she had mostly kept that promise to herself. During the week, anyway. Weekends were a different matter. Ruby usually had Friday nights off from the diner, but that inevitably meant that she worked on Saturdays, and while Lacey wasn’t bothered by going to the Rabbit Hole by herself, it was much more fun to have Ruby’s company while she slowly went out of her mind. Saturday evening found her at the bar in Granny’s Diner, drinking her way through a few tall glasses of ice-cold oblivion and telling Ruby about her latest unsuccessful encounter with Gold.
“So he wasn’t even dressed?” Ruby set a vodka and orange in front of her, leaning on the bar and resting her chin on her hands. “At that time in the morning? Not like Gold.”
“That’s what I thought,” said Lacey, stirring her drink with a straw. “It was weird, Rubes. I was all bracing for insults and sarcasm, and it was like he couldn’t even look at me.”
“You can’t tell me you wanted insults and sarcasm.”
“No,” she admitted. “But I think I’d choose that over being ignored.”
“Oh God…” Ruby shook her head. “Would you just ask him out already? Ask him to Zelena’s stupid dance.”
“I told you, he’s not going,” said Lacey impatiently. “And even if he was, it’s obvious he’s not interested. I mean it was obvious before, but now…”
“Maybe you just disturbed him doing something?”
“Like what?” Lacey stirred her drink moodily, and looked up. “Oh God, you don’t think he had someone there, do you?”
“Like a - a woman?”
“Maybe, I don’t know.” She took a drink, enjoying the tart taste of the orange juice and the smooth heat of the vodka in her throat. “I bet he did. I bet he had someone stay the night and I woke him up from a round of hot morning sex, good God!”
“Lacey.” Ruby leaned on the bar with a patient expression on her face. “Apart from you, the only person lusting after Gold in this town is Zelena. And he would never.”
“Okay,” Lacey nodded, feeling a little better. “That’s a fair point. But it could have been someone from out of town.”
“Maybe he’s sick,” suggested Ruby. “You could have pulled him out of his death bed.”
“Hey, that’s a point.” She perked up a little. “Yeah, maybe that’s why he was off with me. Great!”
“There you go.”
Lacey groaned, slumping on the bar with her chin pushed into her folded arms.
“God, I shouldn’t wish ill health on the man, should I?” she said dolefully. “What’s wrong with me, Rubes? I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Yeah, it feels that way to me, too,” remarked Ruby.
“Why am I like this?” demanded Lacey, pushing upright again. “Past Lacey was never like this. Past Lacey would find a hot guy, have a good time, and move the hell on! Past Lacey would have been like ‘pfft, so he’s not interested, his loss’. That’s always how it was before.”
“So maybe it’s something more meaningful this time,” suggested Ruby. “Maybe present Lacey wants an actual relationship, not just hot crazy sex.”
“Oh no, present Lacey totally wants the hot crazy sex,” said Lacey, snickering as she reached for her drink. “I just need him to want me back, that’s all.”
“I told you, the ‘you seeing him naked’ thing put him off,” said Ruby. “Guys like Gold need to feel like they’re in charge.”
“Hmmm.” Lacey grinned widely. “He can do that if he wants.”
Her grin widened at the thought of Gold taking charge in a number of very delicious ways, and Ruby rolled her eyes.
“You got it bad, girl,” she observed.
“I can’t help it!” said Lacey, slapping the bar with her palms. “First time we met I saw his junk, and believe me, it was absolutely no hardship as far as I’m concerned. And since then I’ve been checking him out every chance I get.” She took a slurp of her drink to wet her throat. “I thought he looked pretty good full frontal, but did you see his ass in those pants? Biteable.”
Ruby’s eyes had gone very wide.
“Lacey, shh!” she hissed.
“What? It’s true!” Lacey waved a hand. “I always thought you’d need a big hammer to bang in a nail that size, but nope! Almost as cute and pert as mine.”
“Yeah, that’s a great point you just made about - uh - carpentry,” said Ruby loudly, and Lacey felt her brow crinkle.
“Carpentry? What the hell are you - it was a metaphor, Rubes!” she insisted. “I’m talking about how Gold should man up and nail me!”
“Hey Mr Gold!” said Ruby brightly, a somewhat desperate smile on her face. “What can I get you?”
Lacey felt as though a bucket of iced water had been thrown in her face, the shock of it making her catch her breath with a gasp. A ball of lead the size of a small watermelon appeared to have dropped into her stomach and was trying to drag her down through the floorboards and into the diner cellar. She was tempted to let it. He’s right fucking behind me, isn’t he?
“Miss Lucas,” Gold’s lazy drawl made her close her eyes in horror. “Just the rent, if you please. I leave minor - uh - carpentry jobs to those with more inclination for the task.”
Lacey wanted to die. She slipped from the stool, snatching up her bag and coat. Perhaps if she didn’t open her eyes, he wouldn’t be able to see her.
“Later, Rubes,” she muttered, and almost ran from the diner.
Gold watched her go, slim legs moving remarkably quickly considering the height of her heels. Turning back to the bar, he favoured Miss Lucas with a tiny smile, but she was glaring at him, dark eyes flashing.
“Are you stupid?” she demanded, and he frowned.
“I beg your pardon?” he asked, in a freezing voice, and she threw up her hands.
“That poor girl just said out loud how much she wants to bang you, and your response is to be all snide and cutting? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What are you talking about?” he snapped. “I know full well Miss French has no interest in me other than as an object of ridicule!”
Miss Lucas put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
“Don’t you have eyes?” she demanded. “You telling me you haven’t seen her staring at you?”
“Oh, I vividly remember our first encounter,” he said dryly. “I also remember hearing her discuss it with you afterwards. You’ll forgive me if I’m not turned on by mockery.”
Miss Lucas sniffed.
“Look, if you’re getting your cock out in public you have to expect a little teasing.”
“I did not get my cock out in public!” he snapped. “It was on my own property, and frankly it’s no more your business than it was hers!”
“Yeah, well she wasn’t mocking you, she was just - surprised.”
“Oh please!” he said, in a disparaging tone. “I’ve no interest in whatever game you two are playing.”
“She just said you should man up and nail her! You heard her!”
“Really?” he said dismissively, tugging at cuffs that didn’t need it. “Hilarious, if one understands the context, I’m sure.”
“Oh my God…” She shook her head. “Blind, deaf and stupid. I should have just talked to Neal.”
“What does my son have to do with this?” he demanded, and she shrugged.
“Just saying. Something tells me he’s not as dense as you.”
Gold glared at her.
“Are you gonna give me the rent, or do I have to consider raising it?”
“Fine, resort to empty threats all you like,” she sniffed, turning away.
She unlocked the drawer beneath the counter, taking out the envelope of rent money, and slapping it on the counter. She was still glaring at him, and Gold took the money with an unpleasant smile, opening it up and beginning to count out the notes.
“She likes you,” said Miss Lucas, making him pause. “Lacey likes you. Weird as it seems to me, and as much as I don’t want to hear about her many fantasies involving you, she likes you. She likes you a lot. As in she wants to have sex with you. Also a lot.”
Gold had lost count the moment she mentioned Lacey’s name, but there was no way he was about to admit it. He gathered up the pile of bills, stuffing it back into the envelope and retrieving his notebook from his pocket.
“It’s all there,” he said stiffly, flipping through the pages.
“Just ask her out,” went on Miss Lucas. “Or go to that dance of Zelena’s if you’re gonna be a wuss about it. Then you don’t even need to ask her out. You could just - you would be there, and she would be there, and the two of you could - you know.”
Gold could barely see what he was writing, but he pretended that he knew what he was doing. He wrote the date out with such a flourish that it tore the paper, and slipped the notebook back into his pocket. The envelope of money followed it, his hands shaking a little.
“Thank you, Miss Lucas,” he said, his tone hollow. “Do give my regards to your grandmother.”
Turning on his heel, he fixed his gaze on the door and limped towards it as though it was the path to his salvation.
“Why are you both such idiots!” called Miss Lucas, and he flinched as he grasped the door handle.
Getting out into the cool summer evening, he let the door close behind him, and exhaled slowly, head rolling back as he let the soft breeze caress his skin. Surely Miss Lucas wasn’t being serious? Admittedly Lacey had said something extremely suggestive about him, but what if it was part of their banter, the joke that never got old. Gold and his naked body, forever an object of ridicule.
What if it wasn’t? A voice in his head whispered to him, a faint spark of hope igniting deep within him. What if she actually likes you? You could go to that tedious charity ball. By the sound of it, she’ll be there, no doubt reporting for the Mirror. You could ask her to dance. That wouldn’t arouse anyone’s suspicions. Maybe not even hers. And if she does like you...
The idea of Lacey actually returning his feelings was too heady to contemplate, and Gold shook his head, striding off down the street. No. He would think about this intriguing possibility when he was in the safety of his own home and with a large glass of something strong. He definitely needed a little Dutch courage to plan his next move.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Oh, God that’s SO HARD but here we go. In no particular order:
1. The whole “bravery will follow” scene in Skin Deep where Rumple realizes he’s completely and utterly in love and tells her to go to town and my whole heart bursts.
2. The scene in the library at the end of “The Crocodile” when Rumple tells Belle everything has been for Bae and she asks him on a date. (and I sadly can’t find a gif of)
3. The first reunion in 1x22 (including the “you’re real? you’re alive?” bit in the shop my heart!)
4. The end of Her Handsome Hero on the docks because even when they’re angry and fighty they still love each other so much. (And Belle headbutts him right in the mouth)
5. “All I want is a single, natural life with you” from “Beauty”. HOW LONG DID WE WAIT FOR THAT!?!
