#I too would make James Lance my love interest if the chance ever came up | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

toocool2btrue · 5 years

Text

They were Roommates 2/2

Unedited. Please ignore the small mistakes and i hope you enjoy it.

"Nadia?"

"Helloo Lance. Longtime no see! How are you this fine afternoon?" she cheerfully greeted.

Lance's brows furrowed in confusion, Sure Nadia was one of Pidge's closest friends but she hardly came over here.

"Katie's in the kitchen." he pointed towards the almost closed door. "What brings you here?" he politely questioned and Nadia winked in reply. "I am here on a very important mission" she declared. "The greatest mission ever inthe history of mankind. I am here to do God's work!"

Lance shook his head in amusement, Pidge had no right to call him overdramatic when her own bestfriend was like a walking theatre. "You!" she pointed at him. "You might be actually very useful for this mission"

Lance immediately perked up, "What is the mission about? Is it something for Katie?" Nadia nodded approvingly, "Katie was right. You are smart"

His eyes widened, "Katie thinks I am smart?" that was news for him.

Nadia nodded, "She says you have a way with humans and this trait of yours will surely come useful because you see my dear friend Katie is a very intelligent woman when it comes to science."

Nadia then sighed exhaustedly, "But she can be so oblivious when it comes to human emotions. She wouldn't able to spot true love if he danced in front of her wearing 'I ♥ K' shirt"

Lance chuckled at the imagery, "Actually I can agree with you on that"

"I am so glad you do because now we have a chance to make things right!" Nadia stated as Lance gave her quizzical look.

"Are you trying to set her on a date?" he questioned, his tone had taken a more sober turn. Nadia could feel that although his expression hadn't really changed, the lightheartedness had disappeared.

She fixed her glasses as she continued, "Well yes. You see I have noticed that James really likes her"

"The guy inside?" he questioned again, pointing towards the kitchen. Yet again his tone was nueteral but there was a certain edge to it.

"Isn't he cute?" she questioned, suspiciously.

Lance muttered something inaudible to himself, she noticed that his eyes were constantly flitting back to the kitchen. Nadia's curiosity levels were rising as her mind played the multiple possibilities.

Katie's roommate had a thing for her? That was a stupid question to ask it seemed pretty obvious that he had. Nadia mentally facepalmed, she wouldn't put past her friend to not notice that. To be fair, he was quite a looker too. They would make a cute couple as well, she grinned evilly.

But first she needed to find out if Katie liked him as well or not. Nadia really wanted to further interrogate Lance but just at the wrong time her phone started ringing.

Usually she would just told the person to call later but considering the said person was her mom, she just sadly excused herself.

Lance only distractedly nodded in acknowledgement as Nadia headed towards Katie's room. The conversation with her mother ended up being longer than she had originally ended. By the time she finished, Katie had already returned to her room.

"Hey!" Nadia grinned widely but Katie was not going to buy the act.

"What are you doing here. Didn't you have a test today?" she questioned suspiciously.

Nadia pouted, Katie should be happy that Nadia was here to fix her weird love life. Ungrateful friends but being the good friend she was, Nadia decided not to take her friend's hostility to the heart. Instead she decided to test her theory.

"Class got cancelled. So I came here to check on Mr Cutie" she informed, Nadia leaned closer as anticipated her friend's reaction.

Katie merely smiled in amusement, "He just left a few minutes ago besides you are going to see him tomorrow in class anyway so what's the rush?"

Theory one- Currently rejected. It was time to test the second theory

"Speaking of cuties, your roommate is pretty cute too. Do you know who he is dating recently?" Nadia smirked.

To Nadia's utter amusement. Katie frowned, a look of irritation sparked in her eyes. "Geez Nads, Last time I checked I wasn't the manager of his love life"

"Still you seem to be extensively aware of it" Nadia grinned, seeing Katie's cheeks puffed up.

"Hard not to notice when he was parading them all around our apartment" Katie replied dryly causing Nadia to almost choke at her own laughter.

"Although.." Katie thoughtfully added, "He hasn't brought anyone for a longtime now"

"Do you think he might be currently interested in someone?" Nadia questioned, evilly.

Katie shook her head in a horrified manner, "God help whichever poor girl he is after now"

____________

"I don't believe this" Allura whispered. "Well it's the truth. I did an experiment and everything" Nadia assured.

"Didn't you go there to check on Katie and James?" Romelle reminded.

"I did" Nadia nodded gravely. "So did you?" Allura questioned raising a suspicious brow.

Nadia laughed nervously, "I got a bit distracted with my new observation."

"Nadia.." The two girls chided.

"Guys you have to believe me-" Nadia defense was cut off by Keith's entrance.

"Hey, what are you guys upto?" he greeted taking his usual seat next to Allura.

Nadia immediately perked up at the sight of new audience, "Keith, you have no idea what I discovered!" she declared proudly. Keith questionably looked at Allura who simply shrugged before turning back to Nadia.

"Lance likes Katie!" she announced, awaiting for another shocked reaction.

"I know that" he casually informed. "So it's actually true?" Allura questioned excitedly, earning a glare from Nadia.

Allura nervously laughed, "Now Nadia honey. You do have a tendency to overstate at times."

Keith smirked, "He rejected Miranda Green for her. Of course it's true"

"What!!" The three girls echoed.

"Please tell me you are not joking" Nadia asked in disbelief. Keith shrugged, "I don't joke"

"Dude I don't think even I could reject Miranda Green. Lance must be really serious" Nadia concluded.

Keith rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, "He talks about her all the time in class. He better be serious"

"If Katie likes Lance as well. How come they fight so much?" Romelle questioned, confused.

Nadia smirked devilishly, "It must definitely be the tension between them"

"Although.." Allura tapped her chin thoughtfully, "If you think about it. It's been sometime since Katie has mentioned a fight between her and Lance"

Keith smirked, "You guys are finally catching on. This thing has been going on for sometime now" he stated.

"How come you never mentioned it to me before?" Allura asked.

"Well it isn't really my place to tell besides I knew you guys would eventually figure it out. They radiate vibes of an old married couple"

____________________

Lance glared at the half written page, his brain felt numb and with every passing second he was losing his will to live.

"Stupid sea! Stupid fishes! Stupid life!" he muttered angrily, trying his best to keep his brain alive.

"Still here?" a mischievous voice called, he looked up to see Pidge standing at the doorway of the kitchen with her trusty laptop.

Lance groaned, rubbing his eyes "Kill me. I know you always wanted to do that"

Pidge nodded sympathetically, "I would but since I worked really hard this semester. I can't afford to go to jail"

She walked over to him and inspected the screen. A ray of hope lit inside his heart, Pidge was a genius, she could definitely help him.

"Deep sea ecology.." she mumbled to herself. Pidge sighed, giving Lance yet another sympathetic look but this one seemed more genuine.

"I am sorry but I am terrible in biology. I can't help you" she apologized and Lance's eyes widened with shock. Even Pidge couldn't help him it was definitely the end of the world.

"But your mom is a botanist! You own half a dozen plants! How can you be bad at biology?!" he questioned desperately.

"Well unfortunately my brother and I got the physics part more from our dad. As for the plants, I would consider myself more of a gardener rather than a botanist besides you wouldn't consider every dog owner a zoologist now would you" she explained.

Unfortunately that explanation brought little comfort to the sleep deprived boy. "I am going to flunk this class" he cried out in distress.

Pidge cautiously eyed her roommate, had he finally cracked?

"You aren't going to fail this assignment" she tried to reassure, comfortingly rubbing his shoulders.

"You still have time" she reminded, glancing at the clock. It was 1 in the morning. Unfortunately Lance was wasn't much a night owl, at his best he could probably stay awake till 3 am.

"Not alot of time but you can still do it" she whispered mostly to herself.

Lance lowered his head in defeat, "It's no use I don't have the energy anymore. My brain is numb"

"I can help you with that" she offered heading towards the kitchen cabinets.

"I know you are more of tea person but coffee is your savior today." she informed. Lance nodded gratefully, "So what are you working on in this fine hour?"

"Matt and I are working on a program and I needed to get the coding done for it by yesterday but then I got occupied with that project with James... so here I am!"

"We are very sad people" Lance bitterly concluded as Pidge handed him his coffee. "Drink this and I am sure you will stay awake for atleast another hour" she assured.

"Thanks" he mumbled taking a sip of the hot energizing beverage.

"Wait where are you going?" he questioned, as Pidge headed towards the door with her laptop and her own coffee mug. "Well you are working here so I will work in my room" she explained.

Lance shook his head " I think the kitchen table is big enough for both of us to work at the same time"

A bitter taste entered his mouth but it wasn't the coffee. It was jealousy as he was reminded about yesterday's events, Lance knew he was acting petty but he couldn't help it.

"You were working here with James just fine" He added.

Surprise overtook Pidge as her eyes widened at the sudden mention, it caused another wave of irrational jealousy in his stomach.

"We were working on the same thing so of course we had to sit together" she replied, feeling a spike of irritation.

Lance shrugged, "We can still work here together. There is enough space and I know this is your favorite place to work"

"Come on" he urged, "I don't bite"

Pidge wearily eyed him, "Factually speaking I do know some girls who might say otherwise" Nontheless she took a seat beside him, opening the laptop with a exhausted sigh.

She took a big gulp of coffee, glaring at the screen as Lance had a few minutes ago before started her work. Pidge furiously typed letting out all her exhaustion and frustration on the keyboard.

Lance simply watched, momentarily forgetting about his own assignment. Although she was one of the most straightforward people Lance has had the pleasure of knowing but Pidge was still great in hiding her emotions towards people.

Heck she gave Lance a hard time figuring if she liked him or not.

"P-Katie?" Lance warily called. "Hmmm?" she hummed in response, if she ever felt any surprise of him using her real she certainly didn't show it.

"Do you hate me?" he asked abruptly.

The exhausted look Pidge gave him reminded him of his dear mother, "Yes, I hate you and that's why I made you coffee and comforted you a few minutes ago" she sarcastically stated.

Lance weakly chuckled at the response, feeling a sense of relief.

"But I don't think you really like me that much either" he mumbled. "I can't blame you though I did alot of things that pissed you off"

"I used to do a lot of those things too but none of us has done either of those things for a longtime now" Pidge reminded him, still glaring at her computer screen.

"Still I threw that big party that almost got both us into deep trouble even though you warned me not to do so"

Pidge shrugged, "But we did figure out a solution and didn't get into trouble. It happened months ago and now it doesn't matter"

Lance smiled to himself, "It mattered to me. It was the first time we actually worked together"

"Oh" she whispered looking at him, realising he was right. It was the start of their era of peace after months of bickering and fighting with one another.

"And I really like it. You know us getting along..." he confessed shyly.

The night was a quiet cold one. It felt like the whole city was fast asleep except for the moon and the two souls. The late night provided an atmosphere of drunkness, the sleepy drunkness when our thoughts don't remain guarded by the walls of hesitation.

That gives us the bravery to face what we try to avoid. Lance had realized that he was long lost in those amber eyes. Not many had the courage to explore those golden orbs but here he was lost inthe desert, wandering as a thirsty man in search of water afraid that he wouldn't survive long.

Katie on the other hand was only inthe brink of realization, she had unknowingly ventured deep in the ocean, She was curiously searching for something but still unaware of the deph of the sea. The lack of awareness didn't make her fear the idea of drowning yet.

His words rang in her head, I like it when we get along. She could have retorted with her usual teasing but this was a moment of honesty so she smiled, "I do too"

The grin he gave her in response made his eyes crinkle at the ends, this was the moment she realized that despite of crazy antics at timesshe didn't dislike him. Dislike was far from what she felt, the moments of tolerance had unknowingly turned into fondness but was it the same fondness that she felt for the rest of her friends? Something felt different with Lance.

"So would you like to renew our housing contract for the next semester?" he questioned hopefully.

A few months back the idea of it gave her nightmares but now with the twist time brings Pidge found herself grinning "Sure" she agreed.

Lance's face curled into his signature impish smile, "I can't believe I finally managed to charm you" he teased but there he was again disguising something.

Pidge rolled her eyes at him, "Stop talking and get back to your work or I might start reconsidering my decision"

"Aye Aye ma'am"

__________________________

"Morning!" Lance called out to Pidge as she slowly padded out of her room.

"Morning" Pidge yawned, making a weak effort to fix her bed hair. "Did you get any sleep?" she questioned, inspecting the boy who was fully dressed and ready to go out.

Lance nodded tying his shoes, "Three hours but atleast I got the assignment done. I feel like a free man. Thanks again"

"Anytime" she mumbled still half asleep. "Hey do you want me to drive you to campus?" he asked.

Pidge shook her head, "You are already running late and I don't have class for another hour so I'll just take the bus later"

"I'll see you later" He reached out to ruffle her hair.

"Don't you always" she joked, swatting his hand away. Lance gave her a small smile, "Yeah it's just..." his eyes wandered from her to the clock on the wall. "Shoot! I am late!" he panicked, waving a quick bye before heading out of the door.

"Goofball" she whispered affectionaly closing the door.

_______________________

11:30 am marked the end of her of class. Most of the students had disappeared just as the Professor had left the room but Katie remained seated in her usual spot. She was busy reading the group messages that described the pain of her dear absent friend.

"My cramps are killing me!!"~ Nadia

"Have you tried ginger tea. It helps me"~Allura.

"I have tried everything!!"~Nadia

"There are certain exercise positions that help"~Allura

"Allura,I swear you are going to die as soon as I get the strength to get up!"~Nadia

"I am at the store. I got the painkillers and the chocolates. Coming home soon"~Romelle

"Romelle marry me!!"~Nadia

Katie giggled, Good old Romelle saving the day. Before she could further read the messages to know whether the wedding happened or not, Somebody gently tapped her shoulder.

Katie was surprised to see, pleasantly surprised to see James. "Hey" he greeted and Katie nodded in acknowledgement "Hi"

There was a nervous look in his eyes, "Uh.. Katie can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure?" she answered with uncertainty wondering what could the possible favor be. James cleared his throat, " I was wondering if you could go through with me with the last week lecture."

He nervously scratched the back of his neck, "This is kinda embarrassing but... that lecture totally went over my head and you really explain things so well. When we did the project together it was the first time I had so much fun doing something for Professor Hugo's class"

Katie cursed her pale cheeks as they turned into a bright shade of red but at the same time she felt a jab of sympathy for him. She had her older brother to help with such ordeals or else she might be in such deep waters too.

"Sure, I am free today if you want to come over?" Katie offered to which James nodded gratefully "Thank you!"

__________________

"Hmm..that's weird" she mumbled to herself opening the door to an empty and silent apartment. Lance was usually home at this time, she felt rise of disappointment in her stomach.

"Your roommate isn't home?" James questioned, looking around. Katie shrugged in response, she didn't know whether to find it unusual or normal. She headed to the kitchen where there was a note taped to the fridge.

"Gone to buy groceries" she read, shaking her head. To think he could have used his phone to an advantage and just messaged her that but then again Lance was a man of his own quirks which couldn't be questioned.

"Let's began" she declared opening her notes. James took the seat beside hers and opened his own notebook as well, "Can we please start with the numericals. They kill me a bit everytime I see them"

"Sure" Katie chuckled and they set to work. Tutoring James was hardly a difficult task, he was a fast learner and there were the occasional side conversations and remarks which made the whole thing more interesting. James certainly had a captivating personality but still Katie found herself eyeing the front door waiting for a certain someone to return from his shopping.

"When I got into this university. My mom was so happy she called all our relatives and couldn't stop praising me in front of our neighbors. It was so....embarrassing" he mumbled, the color red dusting on his tanned cheeks.

Katie couldn't help but think how cute he looked. She wasn't aware how many kinds of categories for cute guys existed but James had the mature charm to him unlike Lance who was boyishly cute. The charm of his was the only thing that made him a bit bearable before they learned to get along.

Katie groaned in agreement, "My parents were worse. You would think after my brother they would have calmed down a bit but nooo...When I got accepted they threw a party and all their colleagues and our family kept ask if I was going to follow my parents legacy but I got a decent amount of gifts. So all was forgiven"

James chuckled, leaning closer. "I don't know. I think their reaction was justified. Who wouldn't be proud to have such a genius daughter"

Katie's face turned bright crimson, only now she had noticed how close he had gotten to her. It caused a storm of butterflies in her stomach. She slightly shifted back but in a process to do, she elbowed her textbook which had been dangerously lying at the edge of the table, knocking it down. The book fell between them.

"I'll get it!!" they both called, ducking down to retrieve the book. They both looked at each other slightly startled on now close their faces were. Katie was transfixed by his gaze, not finding the strength to move. Nervousness danced in his blue eyes but they were grayish blue rather than Lance's bright blue ones.

James onthe other hand was done dancing around this topic. He gently cupped her cheek in his hands and closed the distance between them. Despite her surprise, Katie responded, her eyes closing . Her brain had gone haywire, nothing made sense anymore.

Her ears pricked at the sound of the front door closing and that was enough for her to break from her trance. Unfortunately it was proven to be too late because as she opened her eyes and pulled away.

Lance stood at the entrance of the kitchen deathly still, his bright blue eyes which usually sparkled with merriment had a maddeningly dangerous to them. He mouth which was initially opened due to shock twitched into a scowl. He shot a deathly glare towards James but when he turned towards Katie there was hurt evident in his eyes which mercilessly twisted her heart

He slammed the two paperbags containing the groceries onthe table muttering a quick "Excuse me" and then left the kitchen. The 'thud' made by the bags woke Katie from her second shock of the day.

"I am sorry.. but you should go" Katie whispered to the confused James before running after the other boy. "Lance!" she called out to him but he already slammed the door. She impatiently rapped on his door calling his name but no reply. After a minute or so, Katie gave up.

Her legs felt like they were made of jelly. With shaky steps she made her way to the couch, her heart was beating rapidly against her chest but unknown for what occasion. "What the hell is happening?" she whispered clawing her hair in frustration.

The regret was soon followed by anger, she didn't know specifically who the anger was directed to. Firstly it was on herself for letting this situation happen then it was on James for initiating the situation but inthe she found the true culprit.

Lance! How dare he react like that. Her business was none of his concern. She was most definitely not answerable to him and she didn't need to feel guilty for anything! She hadn't done anything wrong. He was no saint himself afterall, if her action was a crime that boy would be serving life in prison without parole.

She bitterly glanced at his closed door, he could live in there for the rest of his life for all she cared. To think they were making progress and she started considering him a close friend and then it all got ruined.

Katie had enough of the day, she slowly walked towards her room and then stubbornly slammed the door shut as well, It brought a little satisfaction to her at such times. Unfortunately the last traces of anger soon disappeared from her body and previous guilt returned. Despite her consolations that it didn't matter what Lance thought, deep in heart she knew it did and the fact he was hurt because of her, made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

Katie tried to view her unconscious actions with a more conscious perspective. Why did she run after him? Was she more concerned with hurting Lance rather than James? The answer was in front of her and as much as she wanted to. She couldn't deny it anymore.

"No no no. This can't be happening" she groaned in her pillow, not him. She couldn't possibly be in love with Lance, is this the price she had to pay for the amazing apartment?

But wait ! Did it mean Lance liked her too?. Katie shook her head in disbelief, it couldn't possibly be true. She was well aware of Lance's type and truthfully speaking she was far from it but his weird behavior would make a lot more sense to her now.

"Uff!" she groaned in frustration, she lay on her bed with her hands crossed against her chest. She needed to talk to Lance and make things clear with him or else her mind wouldn't stop pestering her about it.

Reluctantly she gave up the comfort and security of her bed and padded towards Lance's room. She firmly knocked at his door, her ears straining to hear the sound of approaching footsteps from the otherside.

But there were none, Katie rolled her eyes. She didn't want to play his silly games, "Lance!" she called turning the handle on his door. To her surprise, it opened to a empty room. She stood there puzzled for a second before heading to the kitchen.

There was a new note on the fridge, "Gone out" it simply read. The action she had found endearing a few hours ago now felt heart breaking. Pain clawed at her heart as Katie realized that the situation was more grave than she had anticipated.

Slowly she walked to room, she softly sighed picking up her phone and preparing herself for the long the conversation ahead. "Hey Nadia." she greeted, "Get the girls I need to tell you guys something"

______________________

Lance tried to blink back his exhaustion, it had been two days in a row since he hadn't had a proper night's rest. Ironically the reason behind his lack of sleep for each night had a stark difference between them.

He took another sip of his coffee which didn't taste half as good as the one Pidge had made that night. Lance slightly winced at the memory he was desperately trying to forget still he managed to recall it a hundred times by now each time felt like fresh stab at his heart.

The campus cafe was filled with students, most of them quietly sipping their coffee and working on their respective assignments or preparing for test but there was also small minority of people who were talking to their friends and enjoying the early morning but Lance's attention was caught by a certain couple who had just entered.

Allura and Keith looked at each other in surprise as Lance McClain came stumbling towards them . He had a troubled look on his face, Lance nervously ruffled his hair. "I..need your help" he whispered, hesitantly.

Keith looked at Lance as he had grown another head while Allura being aware of the situation decided to take matters in her own hand. "Let's take a seat and talk" she suggested, directing the two men to a empty table.

Lance explained the previous day's events "What do I do now? " he questioned, helplessness evident in his voice. Allura symphatetically patted his shoulder but Keith onthe other hand was not feeling that emphatic.

"You should do what you should've done a longtime ago. Tell her how you feel! How long had you intended to play the game house with her?" he questioned coldly.

Allura angrily eyed Keith to which he sighed and took a more gentler tone. "Look, Katie isn't forever going to wait for you to ask her out. It was this guy today but tomorrow there will be another one and eventually someone might catch her eye. So just be honest with her and tell her how you feeling!"

Allura nodded encouragingly, "Keith is right. You need to communicate with her rather than assuming everything on your own."

__________________

"There he is" Nadia pointed out the familiar burnette. Katie nodded, trying her best to keep a calm composure. She took a deep breath mentally rehearsing the speech Allura and Romelle had made for her.

"You can do this. Good luck " Nadia softly assured, the usual eccentricness was missing from her tone. Katie started walking towards the man in question with steady footsteps but the man was walking much further ahead from her.

She mustered up all her energy, "James!" she called out. The young man stopped almost immediately, he turned around to see her walking towards him with great speed. Surprise was weak word to describe what was written on his face, the man positively looked frozen in shock.

"Uh..Hi" she meekly greeted, as the whole speech flew off from her head. "Hey" he nodded in acknowledgement, there seemed to be a unspoken compeitation between them on who could die of embarrassment the fastest.

Katie sighed, rubbing her arms in comfort, "Look James, I am really sorry for giving you the wrong idea. I really like your company but I don't think of you anything more than a friend"

James gave her a small smile, There was hurt evident in his eyes and Katie felt the lump in her throat rise. She hadn't really ever envisioned herself such a heartbreaker.

"It's alright I kinda figured that. Also I am sorry too.." he shrugged trying to act casual, "For assuming things. I hope I didn't cause any big problem between you and Lance." Katie smiled bitterly looking at the ground, "You don't need to worry. We'll figure things out"

"So I'll see you in class then" she reminded awkwardlyand James nodded, "See you". Katie walked away, feeling partly relieved but now only the easy part had been over. She sighed, the hard part was yet to come.

An hour later Katie found herself seated at the back of the bus. Her mind deep in thought as she stared out of the window, how had everything turned upside down in just a day? Just two days back James was just a friend, Lance was just a friend and now here she was trying to mend her relationship with each of them.

Katie shifted in her seat as the familiar rows of buildings appeared. She wasn't even sure if Lance was going to even talk to her, she had no idea how to deal with him when he was angry which was ironic considering that they spend early months only fighting one another.

Katie yawned, trying her best to keep her eyes open. She had spent the entire night tossing and turning, reconsidering her affections a thousand times for she knew her next decision was very going to be an important one. Unfortunately the mental as well as the physical exhaustion was drowning her strength, she couldn't find the power to convince or reason with Lance at the moment.

The bus finally stopped at her usual stop, Katie along with a few others grabbed her bag and stood up to leave but at the last moment decided against it. She slumped back in her seat, observing the dark clouded sky which was a great representation of the storm that was going inside her. She watched the last passenger get off and then as the bus started again, Katie with her last bit of courage messaged Lance that she was going be home by 10 pm.

Surely this gave them enough time to cool down and let them have a rational conversation. Trying to ignore the knots in her stomach, Katie switched of her phone and instead tried to focus on planning her study schedule. Next stop Olkarain Library.

______________

"Concentrate!" she demanded, feeling annoyed by herself but at the moment it seemed like an impossible feat. Her mind couldn't stop thinking about Lance, she hadn't seen him since last night and although she knew he wasn't that reckless to get himself into trouble her idiotic heart couldn't help but worry. That boy better be home by the time she comes.

Katie sighed casually flipping through her textbook, she really needed to get this done but her mind was already drifting of and the library was so peaceful and quiet. Maybe if she closed her eyes for 5 minutes she would feel more refreshed and probably get something done.

Just 5 minutes, She convinced herself resting her head on the desk and closing her eyes. Just 5 minutes and she will most definitely get back to work......

A few hours later

"Katie" a voiced called out to her lightly shaking her shoulder. Katie finally lifted her head, her eyes still partly closed.

"Lance?" she groggily called out. The owner of the hand chuckled, "Unfortunately no. It's me, Ryner."

This was enough to wake her up completely, "Ryner!" she squeaked, her face flushing with embarrassment.

Ryner nodded with a small knowing smile on her face, "I have to close the library. You should pack up and go home now" she whispered softly. Katie looked around to see the library now dark and empty with the exception of Ryner and her.

She nodded and started slowly packing her things. Ryner nodded with satisfaction "It's very late, Lance must be worried about you." she remarked slyly, making Katie almost drop her precious laptop. Her mentor then thankfully walked away sparing Katie from anymore embarrassment.

Katie hoisted her backpack and finally opened her phone which she guessed had been powered off for a few hours by now. The sky was pitch black, the dark clouds had completed hidden the pale moonlight.

"What!" she exclaimed, checking the time. It was 12 am and she had messaged Lance that she would be home by 10. Hesitantly she opened her call log to see 22 missed calls and 56 messages from Lance. "This can't be happening" she muttered, if Lance was mad at her before she surely didn't want to imagine his reaction now.

But still mustering up her courage, she pressed the call option. "Hi.." She whispered helplessly.

"Katerina Paige Holt, where the hell are you!" Lance replied his voice brimming with anger and worry. She was mildly impressed that he remembered her full name considering he always prefered to call her with that awful nickname but that was something to celebrate another time.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled, there was a pause on the other line. Lance sighed and continued in a more softer tone, "Katie where are you? Do you have any idea how worried I am. It's midnight and you aren't home yet and you aren't picking up your phone. I even called your friends and they said you weren't with them. Is everything alright?"

Katie tried to swallow back the lump which had reappeared in her throat. "I am fine. I am at the Olkarain library that is near your favourite ice-cream shop". There was silence on the other line and Katie held her breath. "Stay there. I am coming to get you" he commanded, ending the call.

As Katie ended her call, a drop of water landed on the top of her head. "Quiznak!" she cursed, as she realized it had started to rain. It was the only thing left to complete this awful day. She moved nearer to the library's entrance whose design provided enough shelter from the rain.

She leaned against the door, going further down her call log praying she hadn't missed any of her mother's calls. "Hunk?" she whispered in surprise, he had called three times in a row around 9 pm. That was weird considering she and Hunk usually talked during the weekends but it must be something important. Doing a quick calculation of time difference in her head, she called her bestfriend.

"Hi Katie, where were you?" Hunk questioned. "I fell asleep while studying" she explained and Hunk chuckled in amusement.

The two friends a minute to catch up on everything before Hunk stated his reason of call, "Mom and Dad were wondering if you two would like to renew your contract. They are really hoping you do. They say they can finally sleep in peace knowing the apartment is safe and not being trashed."

Katie felt rush of gratitude for Hunk's parents trusting them so much even though they had been once very close to breaking that trust. "I would really like to renew it but I am not sure Lance wants to live with me again" she replied, her heart felt it was being squeezed mercilessly.

"Ok someone tell me what is going on between the two of you!" Hunk declared frustrated.

"I talked to Lance a few hours ago and he said the samething as you. I don't get you two, One minute you despise each other and inthe other you are best buds. Just yesterday afternoon Lance was asking me the recipe for the Peanut butter cookies to make for you and now you guys can't live with eachother?!"

Katie's eyes widened and suddenly her started beating rapidly, "Lance was asking what?"

Hunk sighed onthe other end, "He said something about you helping him with some project and that's why he wanted to surprise you with peanut butter cookies"

"He did?" she asked, her voice cracking, as unconscious tears started trailing down her face. "Katie are you alright?" Hunk's questioned startled. Before she could reply, another voice called out to her.

"Pidge! Stay there I am coming!" Lance shouted, getting out his car which he fondly named Blue although it was bright red. He pulled out ridiculously bright yellow umbrella as well and starting walking towards her not caring of the puddles that made his favorite shoes dirty.

Katie watched with a horrified realization, her heart threatened to come out of her chest and all she could think at that time was. This was no ordinary crush, it was something scarily deep. She was in love with Lance McClain.

But the idea didn't seem as terrifying as she once thought. After all the guy was Lance, the funniest person she knew but will never admit, A guy with a heart of gold and oh those blue eyes, she could stare into them forever.

As he finally reached her, Katie couldn't hold on any longer. She was done acting strong, one look of Lance standing there with that stupid bright yellow umbrella was all it took for her to engulf him in a desperate embrace.Despite his initial surprise Lance gladly returned the gesture securely wrapping his free hand around her waist.

"Hey there Pigeon, you really scared me" he softly whispered in her ear sending shivers down her spine.

"Ok I'll just hang up myself. You two continue" Hunk shouted, from the phone scaring the life out of Lance and causing him to drop the umbrella. Despite the moment Katie couldn't help but giggle pulling away from Lance. "Sorry Hunk. I'll talk to you later" she apologized sheepishly.

"You two better give me a decent explanation later or else I am gonna come back and bring Shay's cousins to kick your asses!" he threatened.

"Will do" they chorused ending the call. Lance watched love stricken as Katie clutched her stomach trying to control her laughter. "Hey there" he whispered, clasping her pale hands in his tanned ones and pulled her closer to him.

"I want to apologize for acting up like that" he mumbled and Katie nodded forgivingly.

"Also there is something important you need to know" he murmured, gently touching her cheek. Instinctively she moved closer to him as well.

"Katie, I am in love with you" he whispered feeling terrified by own his words. This was the first time he made such a strong and although she didn't immediately reply, there was something in her eyes that told him that she felt the same.

"I love you so much" he continued kissing her forehead. "You won't believe me if I told you" he softly chuckled, kissing both of her cheeks.

Katie giggled as Lance kissed the top of her nose. Lance nervously glanced at her lips and Katie smiled to herself knowing this was her move to make.

She smiled teasingly at him before finally confessing, "I love you too" she uttered shyly and then standing at the tip of her toes she finally closed the distance between them.

A Few Weeks Later

"Katie, I love your dutch braids" Allura praised. "How are they so perfect. I always end up messing mine" Allura asked.

Katie proudly held up one of them, "Lance braided them. He spent half an hour on YouTube figuring out how to do them perfectly. I tried to stop him but he was stubbornly convinced that they would suit me"

Nadia elbowed Romelle mischeviously, "Look at her. She is so smitten by him to think once they were just roommates."

The End

Hi Guys! I know this was very long post but if you made it till the end. I just wanna say I love you guys! Thanks for reading this story.

I want to specially thank @suemaryrakocy, @as2015 @nessajjewell @kathybuglove @elby-the-megnet @jewelcuzimpreciousdamit @jood-89 for their amazing and supporting comments which gave me the motivation to complete the story. Thank you so much guys. Also thank you to @rueitae For her amazing tags. They make my day. I am terribly sorry if I missed anyone, it's 2 am here and i am barely awake.

I hope you enjoy the story. Please Reblog if you liked it and please do tell me what was your favorite moment.

#plance #pidgance #roommates au #jealous lance #oblivious pidge #kallura #Keith #allura #voltron #watering the plance #garden #hunk #nadia rizavi #James Griffin #plangst #fluff #happy ending

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incaseyouart · 5 years

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-Voltron S08 thoughts-

Honestly this season was a bit of a mess, but there are enough posts floating around focusing on the negative aspects, and it’s just feeding the flames of rage, and I need to make myself feel better, so here are some of my personal positive thoughts/coping thoughts. Mega S08 spoilers and long post ahead.

- Allura: I don’t accept that she truly died. Yes her body died, just like with Shiro, but her essence has been transferred into the cosmos. Into every reality. She helped save the multiverse. And I think at the end there, for some reason, the planet Altea came back. So she achieved her dream of avenging her people. And it was implied through the Blue lion and Lance’s Altean markings (tangent thought: Lance isn’t fully Altean, he just has the markings...) that she can still communicate, at least via energy/magic/whatever.

- Lance: He gets to spend time with his family helping on the farm, and helps to spread Allura’s message of hope and peace throughout the universe. Maybe he even becomes a teacher or something down the line. I am going to imagine that he can move on from Allura and find someone else to love (and objectively, the “next person in line” seriously could be Keith. There were enough romantically-charged Klance moments to support this.)

- Shiro: He found happiness and love. Yes we don’t even really know anything about this character (I think his name is Curtis?), but at least we SAW him in the show - he was on the Atlas team, in the background, and also clearly fell in love cheering Shiro on at the arm-wrestling competition I mean c’mon same. No but seriously, seeing a fully-animated, non-censored full-on kiss between two men in a mainstream Netflix cartoon is a BIG. DEAL. The team must have worked hard to get that. At least it wasn’t another Korrasami, where fans weren’t even sure if Korra & Asami were truly in a relationship because of how rushed it was.

- Hunk: He’s a cinnamon roll version of Gordon Ramsey traveling around the galaxy facilitating diplomacy with the power of food? Fuck yes. And it looks like Shay is with him too? Even more yes. Can’t really complain much about him.

- Keith: He’s out there lookin’ fine helping his people with his mom and newly-acquired father in Kolivan (you can’t fight me on this). And who knows maybe after a few years of traveling and relief efforts he can vacation on a certain flower farm and help a certain man fall in love again I mean... Also I’m really glad they didn’t force Axca/Keith. She was there in the background helping him out, but so were Zethrid and Ezor (who btw I am glad are back together and didn’t die but also couldn’t Ezor have gotten more than one line? Did the OG VA leave?)

- Pidge: Okay she wore a suit to Shiro’s wedding. Yes I’ll take it. Also she seems like a really badass tech person who can build robots? Awesome. I really liked what we saw of Pidge this season.

- Lotor: Okay this isn’t really a positive per se, but I just need to get it out. I think I feel the most betrayed by how they treated Lotor. His character arc was a rollercoaster, and it ended very badly. We had a glimpse of what his life was truly like... he was the Draco Malfoy/Zuko who never had a chance of redemption. He tried his hardest, even admitting that being nice and working with indigenous populations works better than autocracy/annihilation, but his Dad was like “lol nope” and literally obliterated his dreams. Yes he did horrible shit, but honestly? I can see why. Holy fuck. And them showing that one shot of Lotor’s melting corpse was just... not necessary or appreciated. Anyways I’m glad we got to see cute baby Lotor but wow at what cost.

- Ryan/the other pilots: The vlogging episode was amazing. Fact. Also James face-planting into his food? Choice.

General good story things/HCs:

- Keith knifing his way out of being stuck on the “It’s a Small World” ride? Hilarious.

- The really nice moments between Keith & Lance. They openly acknowledged their bond. Keith without any sarcasm told Lance how much he means to him, and everyone else, and it was just really nice to hear and see. I really think they would have a strong relationship going forward.

- Zethrid & Ezor redemption. Kinda.

- All the throwbacks to earlier characters and some loose ends being tied up.

- Cosmo getting fucking huge.

- Keith being a leader of the BoM (his outfit at the end implied so).

- Allura & Bob can be cosmo-energy buddies and run the game show together and get into all sorts of shenanigans. Idk it’s an interesting thought.

- The team meeting up every year to honour Allura, and each time they have cool stories to share about how successful and peaceful and happy they are, goddamnit.

TLDR: Despite everything bad that happened with this show, I still had a lot of fun watching it and experiencing the fandom and all the content created because of it. I made friends, strengthened established bonds, felt like I was part of a huge community, feasted my eyes and ears with amazing animation and music, and generally had a good time. This fandom was honestly the best mess I’ve ever been apart of, and I hope it lives on. We can all heal each other with our own content. It’s been an honour flying with you all :)

#voltron #voltron season 8 #vld s08 #voltron s08 #voltron spoilers #my thoughts

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sasuhinasno1fan · 5 years

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The ultimate change

I kinda hate this but have no time to rewrite it. I'm sorry there isn't much klance except for a bit of bonding. Cannon Divergance

How did it come to this? It seemed like a week ago, Lance was just trying to prove he deserved his place in the fighter pilot program, though a certain asshole named James liked trying to prove he didn’t. he and Hunk had planned on grabbing Pidge and just going to town. Instead they found Pidge on the roof searching for something and hearing about Voltron. Then, Shiro came crashing down in his escape pod. Alive, with a bit of white and a new arm, but alive. But the Garrison wasn’t interested in listening to what had happened to him. they wanted answers on Shiro’s arm more. Lance lead them down to try and stop them only to see his own cousin Adam knocking Iverson to his ass.

“I thought you said you didn’t like him anymore?” Lance asked as he helped Adam drag the unconscious pilot to a nearby Jeep to get away from the Garrison.

“Not the time Lance.”

“I’m just saying. You two were engaged and you weren’t over him when he left and you’re risking your job to save him.”

“Lance, be quiet!”

Adam drove them to the house of an old Garrison professor, who apparently had a lot of secrets.

“He married an alien? Like an actual alien?” Lance asked, even as he looked at the picture in his hands. He also noticed the young baby in the woman’s arms.

“He told us that his wife had come here trying to make sure no one found this ship. We don’t exactly know where it is, just nearby.” Shiro explained. “In order to make sure no one found it, she had to leave and she took their kid with them. We could tell it still affected even though she promised he’d be safe. He made us promise that if something happened, we’d make sure this ship wasn’t taken. And I’m sure this ship we was talking about is part of Voltron.”

“Luckily for us,” Pidge said, looking at the paperwork that Adam had located that they were scanning into their laptop, “he left us with a lot of clues.”

“Plus with the info Pidge had in his diary,” Hunk started, ignoring the fiery glare he was getting from Pidge, “I can track the energy.”

So they followed Hunk’s tracker to the cave and after Lance activated the seal, found the Blue Lion. He had flown it from Earth and away from the Galra as Blue wormholed her way back to the castle. They then awoke Princess Allura and Coran and found out what was actually happening. Then Adam dropped more surprises on them.

“This woman, the one you said found the Blue Lion, was Galra?” Allura asked, her voice hard.

“Princess look, I get that you are angry with the Galra for what they’ve done, but you can’t tell me that the idea that a rebel group within their ranks isn’t too hard to believe?”

“The Galra are all the same.”

Adam looked frustrated. “Here’s a history lesson for you. Earth had a guy almost as bad as Zarkon. Believed that his race was superior to everyone and was responsible for thousands of deaths through genocide. But not everyone in his ranks were on his side. There were people who would be killed for hiding those people he believed were less than them but they did it anyway because they knew that man was wrong. Don’t stand there and tell me they’re all the same when what you’d considered to be a primitive race managed to look past that.”

In the end, the princess agreed to give them a chance and paired them up with a lion. Lance and Hunk got the Yellow Lion, Shiro and Pidge found the Green and Adam stayed with the Princess, who still couldn’t locate the Red Lion. Once they were back at the castle, they decided to leave Arus.

“That ship that was after the Blue Lion will no doubt still be tracking us and I don’t think 3 Lions is enough to take it out, judging from it’s size.” Adam pointed out.

“You’re right. The Black Lion is still under lockdown until we can find the Red Lion. My father was its Paladin. It’s possible that Zarkon could have taken it.”

“Well let’s hope it’s not on his ship then. The Blade of Mamora might be able to help us track it.” Shiro said, Allura still looking sour at the thought of having to work with Galra.

So here they were, on a set course to the coordinates that was left in that pile of papers the former professor left. God, he didn’t even know his name. Adam and Shiro said that he told them to call him Texas, never giving his real name. after he left being a professor, he’d become a fire fighter but died saving a family. Did his wife and child even know? Did they keep contact after they left? This was making Lance truly think about relationships. He never had a stable one, people calling him clingy and immature. He’d idealized Adam and Shiro’s relationship, but he saw how Adam’s worried made Shiro think Adam didn’t trust him and they split. He knew they still had feelings for each other; Adam had been inconsolable when the news about Shiro and he’d seen Shiro staring at Adam when he wasn’t looking. Their love was real but they weren’t trying to fix it. Texas obviously loved his wife, despite she was from a completely different planet. He loved her enough to let her go, so she could keep him safe. Lance didn’t want to take risks that would cause him to lose the person that mattered the most to him, whoever that might be. If he had the chance to be with that person, then he was going to take it. He was involved in a war now and now more than ever was no reason to be scared of taking chances.

Allura had been mad when the Blade on the other line said only one lion could come in, even more so when they decided Shiro would go with Blue and by default, Lance.

“I should be the one to talk to them.”

“Princess, I’m sorry, but you haven’t exactly shown a good spirit about this. We need their help and if you stand there spitting at them for something they can’t control we won’t get anywhere. You said the Black Lion would pair with me so that makes me leader and I’m doing this for the good of everyone. Lance is a good pilot. I trust him to get us there safely and I know he can provide support if I need it.”

Allura didn’t look too convinced. “Fine.”

They were on the path when Lance thanked Shiro.

“I know you and Adam aren’t really together anymore, but it’s nice to know you still trust me.”

“My relationship with Adam isn’t going to change your skill. You earned your place amongst the fighter pilots Lance. Blue choose you out of everyone and I think that counts for something. Besides, like your cousin, you have an open mind and the ability to make people feel comfortable around you. I feel like we’re going to need that.”

“You know, you could use this as an excuse to make up with Adam.”

“Lance, I appreciate it, but no. I don’t think Adam and I have a chance.”

“Even though this is a war, you’re not even going to try?”

Shiro smiled down at Lance. “You really want everyone to have a happy moment, don’t you?”

“I mean I think at the very least we deserve it.”

They reached the base and walked in carefully cautious. They entered a hall filled with masked beings of different sizes and builds.

“You claim to be Voltron, but what I question is how you ended up finding us?” the one in the middle asked.

“We followed coordinates left by one of your members. She crash landed on Earth and met someone who protected her. It was because of him we found out where the Blue Lion was.” Shiro explained.

“One of our members?”

“Yes, I believe her name was Krolia?”

One of the members moved away from their rank. They were much smaller than the rest of the group. Lance and Shiro watched as the mask dematerialized and a human face stared back at them, purple marks on either side of his cheek. Lance had only seen Krolia’s picture fully once but he could tell this person was almost her carbon copy.

“How do you know about my mother?”

Keith, as he told them, stared at the picture Lance had known. Shiro thought they should at least take it from the cabin so they had proof of who Krolia was. Lance sat next to him quiet, glancing over at where Shiro stood speaking with the head of the Blades, Kolivan. Another Galra, Ulaz, was also nearby. Ulaz had been the one to get Shiro out of capture from the Galra and sent him to Earth.

“My mother told me about my dad but I never knew him. I was still a baby when we left.” Keith said.

“According to Shiro, he talked about you a lot. He could tell your dad missed the two of you.”

“I wish I could have met him.” Keith said, eyes trained on the man he never knew. “Can I keep this?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Thanks. It’s just, my mom gave me the only photo I have of him but I keep it on me and got hurt during a mission. It was pretty soaked with blood.”

“Keep it.” Lance insisted. Keith was certainly different. For one, he seemed to fight against everything Kolivan said, so he had a rebellious streak a mile wide. Lance wasn’t gonna deny he seemed pretty and really fit. He also seemed like he needed a friend. The Blades seemed protective of their members but the way Keith fought against Kolivan, something told Lance he kept to himself.

“So why haven’t we heard about anything from Voltron until now?”

“Well, we’re still missing one Lion, which in turn keeps the Black Lion locked up still.” Lance confessed.

“What colour?” Keith asked.

“Huh?”

“What colour is the Lion?”

“Red, why?”

“My uncle, well he’s not actually my uncle but my mom grew up with him so their like siblings and he helped raise me so-”

Lance cut him off, crying to stop a smile from coming on his face. For a guy who seemed pretty serious, he rambled on a lot. It was really cute. “It’s ok, I get it trust me. Your uncle?”

“Right, he’s in Zarkon’s ranks as a spy right now. He said that he heard the Red Lion had been transferred onto Commander Sendak’s ship as a way of trying to track the other lions. I don’t think it worked since he never found the others except the Blue Lion from what we heard.”

“Then he must have been the guy chasing after us when I got Blue off Earth. He’s been chasing after us and he had what we needed this whole time. Does Kolivan know this?”

“Yeah, Thace only told me because I asked. If Kolivan’s smart, he’d send some of us with you guys to get it.”

And he did. The plan was that Lance and Hunk would distract Sendak and Pidge, who implanted the training mazes invisibility into the Green Lion, would take Shiro and the small group of Blade members onto Sendak’s ship. As Lance piloted Blue in the direction of Sendak’s ship, a private line came onto his coms.

“Lance?”

It was Keith.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just…nervous I guess and I trust you and wanted to talk a bit.”

The fact that Keith trusted him after such a short amount of time made him feel good. “Hey, your going to be fine.”

“I know, it’s just, I have this weird feeling. Like something’s gonna happen.”

“Something bad?”

“No, not bad exactly. Something big is gonna happen. I can feel it and I feel like it’s gonna change everything.”

“Well be careful ok? You said your mom was undercover as well, I think she’d like to come back to you in one piece. I know I would.”

Keith laughed a bit, brightening Lance’s mood more. “I’ll try my best. I do have a habit of getting into trouble.”

“Well try to curb the desire.”

“We’re at the ship.” Keith announced the jokes in his voice disappearing.

“And we’re nearby. Good luck.”

“You too.”

He’d been piloting Blue away from the fighters, waiting for an answer on where the Red Lion was when she burst out of the ship, quickly taking out fighter ships.

“Lance!”

“Keith? Wait, are you?” Lance asked looking as the Red Lion flew near Blue.

“Yeah. Let’s get to the castle to get the Black Lion first ok?”

While Allura certainly wasn’t happy about a member of the Blade being the chosen pilot, they quickly released the Black Lion and in a feat of desperation, were able to form Voltron and destroy the ship.

Lance found Keith in the hanger for the Red Lion.

“Well, you are certainly full of surprises, aren’t you?” Lance asked in a teasing voice.

“That’s one word for it.” Keith said, patting the ground next to him. “I guess I was right when I said I felt like everything was gonna change.”

“Change is good. It’s scary as hell yeah, but sometimes you just have to go for it. Kinda like love, the ultimate change.”

Keith got a wistful smile on his face. “My mom would say how she could have turned her back on almost everything if it meant staying with my dad. She loved him that much that she questioned her mission as a Blade. Just for those few years of happiness. Part of me wondered if it was worth it but now being a Paladin, I know it is. I’ll be doing something good and learning as I go and that makes me pretty happy.”

“I’m glad. You’re gonna do great.”

“Thanks. So, I’m gonna need some help figuring all this Paladin stuff out. Think you can help me?”

“Get ready for you first lesson in human culture Keith, the person you know and love who won’t leave you alone.”

#klance au month #past adashi #klance bonding #keith was raised by the blade of mamora

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notapaladin · 5 years

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oh my god there’s MORE OF IT. Another James Asher AU, set in 1555. Simon is not a vampire...yet. His masters have set him to spy on a couple they suspected of being heretics, and he has failed Step One. In his defense, the Ashers are very nice.

Don Simon Xavier Christian Morado de la Cadena-Ysidro knew before he opened his eyes that he was in deep, deep trouble.

He was naked, and the blankets under him had the delirious softness that only came from being well and frequently washed—the bedlinens of a household which could afford to do its laundry every other day. Of course, given the occupations of the mistress of the house, they would have to. The faint breeze that was currently stirring his hair was cool and damp; he took an annoyed moment to reflect that Jeffery had been right, and it was indeed raining. The bed, meanwhile, was warm—almost too warm, with (God help him) three bodies in it. There was a sinewy bare arm slung carelessly over his stomach, and he knew that if he turned his head he would bury it in a woman’s thick red hair.

And his head felt like the King’s cavalry were galloping over it. That, at least, he could blame on the wine—wine he’d shared with the suspected heretics his lord had set him to spy upon last year. Gaining the trust of the clever, shrewd scholar Sir James Asher and his studious wife Lydia—who all said was secretly an alchemist, a secret he’d really meant to pass on to his comrades at some point—had been no easy thing, but it had led to many such late nights. Nights spent deep in wine and conversation, laughing with Mistress Asher and drawing her more distrustful husband to favor him with rare smiles. Nights where he could forget, for a time, that he was supposed to be their enemy in the guise of a friend.

His lord would have called Mistress Asher—tall, brilliant, beautiful Lydia of the thoughtful gaze and the thick spectacles—an easy target. Easy, and of lower value compared to her husband. James Asher had been knighted for his diplomatic service to the Crown; though he insisted to all and sundry that he was now naught but a simple scholar of languages, Simon knew from his sharp eyes that he had never lost his touch. He was harder to draw out, harder to make slip, and trusted Spanish Catholic noblemen not at all.

He’d trusted me quite well last night.

With a brief prayer to heaven for his immortal soul, Simon wedged open one eye. Agony lanced through his skull before he could get more than a vague impression of the room bathed in morning sunlight, and he squeezed his eyes shut with an involuntary hiss. Next to him, Sir Asher—James, he remembered gasping, please—grumbled something and pulled him closer. He froze, afraid he’d woken the man, but Asher slumbered on.

Leaving Simon to think. I must leave. Now. Before they wake in truth. Excesses of tangled limbs and breathless touches were one thing at midnight, and an entirely different thing in the light of day. He doubted God would forgive him this. He wondered fleetingly if the commandment against coveting a man’s wife still applied if one coveted the man as well. Regardless, to be caught in their bed would very possibly spell ruin—but before he could plot an escape route, he would have to get out of bed. Which meant he had to open his eyes, a difficult prospect when his eyelids felt as though they’d each had a mountain laid on top of them.

Bracing himself, he levered one eye open just enough to survey the room—all dark wood and brown brocade—through a narrow slit of vision. Yes, that was Lydia’s farthingale thrown over the chest of drawers, with James’s hose and doublet in a heap atop it. He had a hazy recollection of tumbling her back onto the bed, of her laughter and James’s half-hearted scolding as they’d worked her out of her layers, of the way her giggles had turned into sighs under their hands. As if she felt his thoughts, she nestled closer into his side, bare skin like a brand as strands of her coppery hair drifted in front of his face. When he turned his gaze to her, he felt a flush of shame at the sight of her skin marked by the too-tight grip of his nails.

His clothing was somewhere underneath theirs, he thought. He distinctly remembered loosening his ruff to let his head list onto the shoulder of James’s doublet, the way Lydia had stared at him until he’d teased her—imagine, a respectable married woman being so distracted by another man’s bare throat! Remembered the way James had commented in that falsely mild way of his that he, Simon, was distracting anyway.

He wasn’t sure which of them had kissed him first.

Nor was he sure, upon further reflection, what this made him to them. Still friends, he hoped, but...well. ‘Twould not be the first time he’d had a friendship like this end in chilly, awkward silences in the light of day. It would, however, be the first time he knew he’d mourn its loss.

“Mm. Simon…?”

Cagafuego.

Lydia was awake, and he couldn’t suppress a shiver as her lips brushed his ear. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Th’art still here.”

He found himself whispering too; he had a nasty suspicion that any noise above that would return his skull to its previous trampled-upon state. “Forgive me.”

She sighed. Any hopes that he might still be able to disentangle himself were immediately dashed as she slid a leg over his thigh, effectively pinning him. “Ridiculous man, there is naught to forgive.”

Oh. Well, at the very least Lydia was still fond of him. There was a slim chance he could escape the bed with his social connections intact. The craving to touch her, to run a hand up that leg and pull her onto him, was increasingly seeming like a good idea to give in to. As his fingers flexed—he could, if he wanted, though he thought it might be a breach of some strange etiquette not to at least invite James to watch—she murmured, “Save for the part where thou art laying on the ends of my hair.”

He shifted his weight—so he was, he’d not realized how long it was unbound when he’d been far more interested in burying his hands in it—but the movement woke James, who announced his return to the land of the living with a groan and a muttered, “Drive a dagger ‘twixt my ribs, ‘twould be a mercy.”

Lydia could despise him (and probably poison him, but that could be avoided by taking care with his food and drink). James, he was suddenly aware, could ruin him. He couldn’t think past the pounding of his heart; operating on instinct, he pushed himself upright and was halfway over Lydia’s slim form (the easiest escape route, though he cursed James for being between him and the window) when the man abruptly pulled him back down. Taken by surprise, he went with a grunt. “James—?!”

James levered himself up on one elbow, the better to look at the both of them. His hair was sticking up in all directions, and the love bites Simon remembered leaving hours ago were bruises now. “How art either of thee awake?”

The response was automatic. “We have not thine advanced years, sir--” He was cut off by his own undignified squeak when Lydia poked his ribs, just where he’d foolishly let on the previous night that he was ticklish. “Mistress—Lydia!”

She was grinning hugely at him, fingertips hovering over his stomach in clear threat. “That is my lord husband whose advanced years thou mock’st, and I do not recall such cheek from thee last night.”

Devil take the ancestors who had cursed him with skin so fair it was impossible to hide the merest flush of heat. “Ah. Last night was...” A mistake. The utter and complete failure of my mission. Damnation for my immortal soul.

The sweetest bliss I’ve ever had.

“Something to be discussed after we break our fast.” James was almost—almost—smiling at him. There was a look in his eye Simon was afraid to call fond. “Which can wait until my skull is not fit to burst its seams.” Saying so, he caressed Simon’s hip on the way to reaching across him, pulling the coverlet up over them all.

Simon blew out a breath, heart still thudding away in his ribs. “...I ought to find my own lodgings.”

Lydia gestured towards the window, out at the rain which both men knew perfectly well she couldn’t see without her spectacles. “What sort of friends would we be, sir, to let thee perish in the wet? Nay, thou must stay here at the least until it stops, for the sake of thy horse if nothing else.”

English rain could last for days. The next sennight stretched in front of him, enticing visions of a warm bed and steady hands and laughter, of James’s hands at his hips and Lydia’s mouth at his throat. Of forgetting his mission, just for a while.

Smiling, he nestled into the mattress and waited for the rain to stop.

#james asher vampire novels #barbara hambly #The Vampire OT3 #those who hunt the night #paladin writes stuff

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themastercylinder · 6 years

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Development

The man producer Richard Kobritz called upon to get him his vampire in SALEM’S LOT is Tobe Hooper, the director of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and the last person one might expect to find directing a glossy production for a major studio much less one intended as a television miniseries. Yet the hiring of Tobe Hooper is only one incident in a production chronicle almost as complex as the story of SALEM’S LOT itself, which comes to TV November 17th and 24th on CBS. Stephen King’s 400-page novel of vampirism in contemporary New England was acquired four years ago by Warner Brothers, who intended to produce it as a theatrical feature. At the outset, King and the studio agreed that he would not write the screenplay. He was busy with his own projects as a novelist (in less than a year, King’s career would begin to soar). So Warners was left with the task of finding someone to adapt King’s brilliant but complicated plot into something manageable as a normal movie and without sacrificing the elements that made the book so powerful. But over the course of the next two years, the studio was unable to come up with a satisfactory screenplay. Stirling Silliphant (who had adapted IN THE HEAT 0F THE NIGHT and more recently THE SWARM, and was also producing for Warners), Robert Getchell (ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE) and writer/director Larry Cohen (whose independent feature IT’S ALIVE was a surprise sleeper for Warners in 1974) all contributed screenplays all of them rejected by studio brass. SALEM’S LOT was becoming not only an impossible project, but a source of frustration: CARRIE, a King novel filmed by Brian DePalma, was released in late 1976 and began racking up enormous profits. Warners was sitting on a potential goldmine, but could do nothing with it.

“It was a mess,” King recalls. “Every director in Hollywood who’s ever been involved with horror wanted to do it, but nobody could come up with a script. I finally gave up trying to keep a scorecard.” At one point, if only because Warners was running out of writers and directors to consider, Tobe Hooper’s name was mentioned in connection with the SALEM’S LOT movie. But by then, interest in the project at the theatrical division was beginning to flag. Finally, it was turned over to Warner Brothers Television, in the hope that a fresh approach and the possibility of financial interest by a network would revitalize it.

Enter Richard Kobritz. Kobritz was the 38-year-old vice-president and executive production manager at Warner Brothers Television who had hired John Carpenter to direct a striking 1978 suspense telefilm, SOMEONE IS WATCHING ME, starring Lauren Hutton. As a genre buff with an eye for new talent (Carpenter went on to direct HALLOWEEN three weeks after finishing SOMEONE. . .), Kobritz at least stood a fighting chance of making some sense out of SALEM’S LOT. Kobritz began by reading the already completed screenplays. “They were terrible,” he says. “I mean, it isn’t fair to put down anyone’s hard work, but the screenplays just did not have it and I think some of the writers would probably admit that. Besides, the book is admittedly difficult to translate, so much is going on. And because of that, I think it stands a better chance as a television miniseries than a normal feature film.” So the decision was made to turn SALEM’S LOT into a miniseries and thereby lick the problem of its unwieldy length. Actually, though the production is technically labeled a miniseries, it is basically a four hour movie (31/2 hours, figuring commercial time) scheduled for successive nights. Emmy winning television writer Paul Monash was contracted to write a new, first-draft teleplay. Monash had created the landmark dramatic series, JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE (about a flamboyant lawyer in the F. Lee Bailey mold) during the late ’60’s, and as a producer was responsible for the features BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE and Brian De Palma’s CARRIE. Monash had also been producer of the mid-60’s TV series PEYTON PLACE, a credit that Kobritz, who has referred to SALEM’S LOT as “Peyton Place turning into vampires” was aware of. Clearly, one key factor in a viable teleplay would be an intelligent combination of the huge number of characters in SALEM’S LOT. Monash pulled it off.

“His screenplay I like quite a lot,” King offers enthusiastically. “Monash has succeeded in combining the characters a lot, and it works. He did try a few things that weren’t successful the first time. In one draft he combined the priest, Father Callahan, and the teacher, Jason Burke, as a priest who teaches classes and it just didn’t work, so he split them up.

“Some things were left out because of time, some because it’s television,” says King. “My favorite scene in the book is with Sandy McDougall, the young mother, where she tries to feed her dead baby, and keeps spooning the food into its mouth. That won’t be on TV, obviously.”

Other changes were made by Kobritz, who takes a strong creative interest in the films he produces. His three major alterations to Monash’s first script were: To characterize the vampire, Barlow, as a hideous, speechless fiend, not the cultured villain carried over from the novel, to have the interior of Marsten House, which looms over the town of ‘Salem’s Lot, visually resemble the vampire’s festering soul and to keep Barlow in the cellar of his lair, Marsten House, for the final confrontation with the hero (in the book he is billeted in the cellar of a boarding house once his mansion is invaded) a concept Kobritz would later say, “works in the book but wouldn’t in the film.” Kobritz also pushed the killing of an important female vampire to the climax, to give her death more impact and provide the film with a snap ending.

With the example of such turgid, dramatically impotent “evil in a small town” miniseries as HARVEST HOME before them, Kobritz and Monash were determined to make SALEM’S LOT work despite the television restrictions against frightening violence. The project would be designed as a relentless mood piece where the threat of violence, rather than a killing every few minutes sustained terror. And it would be cast with an eye toward good actors first, and TV names second.

But still, there was the matter of all those stakings, and a relentless murderer with no redeeming virtues. “CBS worried about a few things in the screenplay,” King explains. “They worried about using a kid as young as Mark Petrie is in the book, because you’re not supposed to put a kid that young in mortal jeopardy, although they do it every day in the soap operas. “Paul Monash finally sent them a memo that I think covered it. He pointed out, for one thing, that CARRIE which was a CBS network movie was the only movie that ever cracked the top five in the weekly ratings.”

Casting

Next came casting. From the instant Barlow was designed to symbolize “the essence of evil,” Kobritz had in mind Reggie Nalder whom he remembered from Hitchcock’s THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, and genre buffs recall from that film, Michael Armstrong’s MARK OF THE DEVIL and Curtis Harrington’s THE DEAD DON’T DIE. Kobritz’s idea was to recreate the Max Schreck vampire from Murnau’s 1922 NOSFERATU.

In a quirky touch, Kobritz also hired genre veteran Elisha Cook, Jr. (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL THE HAUNTED PALACE) and former B movie queen Marie Windsor to play Weasel, the town drunk, and Eva Miller, the landlady with whom he’d had an affair years before.

“That was an inside joke we threw in right from the start,” Kobritz concedes. “I’m a Stanley Kubrick buff, and on purpose we’ve reunited them 23 years later after THE KILLING. In the script, it says Eva and Weasel were at one time married and then got divorced, so it was funny to think of that same couple from THE KILLING, 23 years later, now divorced, but still living together. It was also the first time since then, I think, that they’d worked in a movie and had scenes together.”

The rest of the casting was less frivolous, and reflected the seriousness with which Kobritz wanted the whole enterprise to be regarded. Kobritz sent James Mason a copy of the Monash teleplay, offering him the role of Straker, the European antique dealer who has Barlow smuggled into Marsten House and whose character had been expanded in the absence of a speaking Barlow. Mason loved the part and agreed to make his first appearance in a television drama since the medium’s early days (several years earlier, he had not been told that 1974’s FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY was not intended for theatrical release).

Key supporting roles went to Emmy nominee Ed Flanders (Bill Norton, a composite character who became both the heroine’s father and the town doctor), Lew Ares (Jason Burke, the local teacher) and Geoffrey Lewis (Mike Ryerson, the gravedigger). Bonnie Bedelia, an Oscar nominee 10 years ago for THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?, was cast as Susan Norton, who is on the verge of leaving ‘Salem’s Lot before she meets Ben Mears, played by David Soul.

David Soul? Though the hiring of Soul may shock or disappoint readers of the book who know him only through STARSKY AND HUTCH, it marks a shrewd move by Kobritz (which is discussed at length in his interview). Soul’s acting ability may sometimes have been concealed in STARSKY AND HUTCH, but it wasn’t in the telefilm LITTLE LADIES OF THE NIGHT, which happens to be the highest rated TV movie ever made. His presence therefore guarantees an audience. “I think the casting of David Soul is fine,” says King. “I have no problem with that at all.”

Soul also offers a strong counterpoint to Lance Kerwin (who starred in the well reviewed, but poorly rated-1978 NBC series, JAMES AT 16), selected to play Mark Petrie. Kerwin has a brooding presence that undercuts his superficial physical resemblance to Soul, and the two actors, who join forces to destroy the vampires at the end of the film, project a strange chemistry when seen together.

Production & Direction

SALEM’S LOT was budgeted at $4 million, about norm for a prestige miniseries, with financing split between CBS and Warner Brothers and a European theatrical release was planned from the start. It would, naturally, be shorter than miniseries length, but it would also contain violence not included in the TV version for example, the staking of vampires would not occur below the camera frame, and one death in particular Bill Norton’s impalement on a wall of antlers would be seen in graphic detail, while shot in a markedly restrained fashion for television. Because of his oft stated goal of having SALEM’S LOT like a feature, not a TV special (whether it was to be released theatrically or not), Kobritz and his staff handpicked production personnel capable of providing the right texture and depth under deadline pressure. Jules Brenner, who had shot the impressive NBC miniseries HELTER SKELTER, signed on as cinematographer; Mort Rabinowitz, a 23-year veteran of the film industry who was art director for Sydney Pollack’s CASTLE KEEP for which he and his staff built a castle in Yugoslavia) and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?, was hired as production designer; and Harry Sukrnan, an Oscar winning composer (SONG WITHOUT END), who wrote the excellent music for SOMEONE IS WATCHING ME and whom Kobritz describes as “a former cohort and protégé of Victor Young,” was contracted to score SALEM’S LOT. And Tobe Hooper was enlisted as director. Following a chain of events Kobritz describes at length in his interview, Hooper was deemed the only appropriate person to direct SALEM’S LOT. Kobritz had screened for himself one recent horror film after another usually films by highly praised neophyte directors. Some of the features Kobritz found intriguing. Others, like PHANTASM, he remembers with a shudder of disbelief. None impressed him like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Hooper was called in for a meeting with Kobritz, and was signed.

It is important to note that the selection of Hooper did not signify an attempt to mimic the intensity of TEXAS CHAINSAW in a television show, which would be frankly impossible. Kobritz was searching for a filmmaker with a confident visual style, a mastery of camera movement, and an ability to follow a script and adhere to a tight schedule. There was, apparently, never any concern that Hooper would not be able to direct a film that did not contain a large quota of violence. “I think it goes without saying that if a man has a strong visual style and is also able to meet those other qualifications, his skills encompass more than the making of violent movies,” says Kobritz. “I knew Tobe was our man from the day I met him. And he’s come through like a champ.”

Hooper was signed in late spring of this year, and one of his first tasks was a field trip to the location that would be used for most of the exteriors of ‘Salem’s Lot. In 1977, Tony Richardson had directed a Warner telefilm, A DEATH IN CANAAN, which was supposed to be set in a small, contemporary Connecticut town. Ferndale, a northern California town 16 miles south of Eureka, and 75 miles south of the Oregon border, doubled perfectly as a bogus Connecticut location. Anna Cottle, associate producer for SALEM’S LOT, had been Richardson’s assistant. She remembered Ferndale and particularly the cooperation of the local inhabitants. After a brief scouting trip, Ferndale was chosen for SALEM’S LOT.

But in all of Ferndale, there was no house which could be used as a double for Marsten House, so Rabinowitz and his staff were dispatched to Ferndale to build one. They found a cottage on a hillside overlooking Ferndale and the Salt River Valley; it was decided to build a full-scale mock up of Marsten House around the existing cottage complex, complete with a stone retaining wall and several misted, dead trees. The family residing in the cottage was paid $20,000 and guaranteed all of the lumber from Marsten House once shooting was completed. The filming of SALEM’S LOT began on July 10 in Ferndale. “It took 20 working days to build Marsten House from scratch,” Rabinowitz recalls. “We put the last touches on it very late at night before shooting was to begin. I remember, my assistants and I were up there painting, and someone drove on by the road just below us. All of a sudden, he slammed on his brakes and backed up, got out of his car and just stood there staring at the house. ‘My God, I’ve lived here 25 years,’ he said, `and I never noticed that house before!’ I played along and just said, ‘Gee, I don’t know we’re just tourists.'”

Rabinowitz estimates the cost of the exterior Marsten House mock up as $100,000. Another $70,000 was spent constructing the interior of the house Kobritz’s rotting embodiment of the vampire’s soul back at the Burbank Studios. The interior rooms and passages of Marsten House posed the more difficult challenge for Rabinowitz and his staff. For one thing, there was the problem of creating atmosphere without going overboard.

“It’s a very difficult line,” admits Rabinowitz. “By the nature of the writing, you’re going into a theatrical abstraction, and you must take it further than normal, but not too much further. It’s trial and error. When I designed the interior, the first shots were way over, which I knew they would be, and I had to be careful in bringing them down not to lose all the gory description and so forth. When it’s that fine a line, I’ll intentionally go overboard and then gradually shave it back and back. I’d say it was two weeks from the first still photos and testing of the color lighting to the final result.

“I used a lot of plaster, no I could make huge craters all over the entire set and furniture so that it looked as though it was pock-marked, and from some of these larger openings in the walls I put a kind of epoxy or resin, and let it drip as if it were oozing from the interior, as if it were an open wound. We wanted a rotting, sick appearance, almost as if in discussions with the director and producer, we were looking into the body, the heart of the vampire. It reflects his whole being more so than just a decayed house. So we decided to go for an abstract image.

“Then,” Rabinowitz continues, “in front of the camera, we took the same material in medium shots and close ups and just loaded it up so it would ooze and pour right in front of you. Sometimes it’s very clear and at other times it’s not too obvious, just a little glistening in the background. “There’s a dark, greenish tint to the interior. We put down glaze after glaze after glaze, for the proper amount of sheen, and then various shades of green, mixing it up with other colors to that it wasn’t solid green.”

Two other important duties for Rabinowitz were the building of the antique shop (Strakers business front) and the small South American village where the beginning and end of the film are set.

“The Latin town was shot on the Burbank back lot and the San Fernando Valley Mission,” says Rabinowitz. “We used the interior of the mission church, and I built an adobe style native but on stage.

“My decorator, Jerry Adams, who is fantastic was responsible for most of what you see inside the antique shop. Ninety percent of what you see is his taste initially directed by me. But the individual pieces all Jerry Adams. I also have an assistant, Peter Samish, who is only 28 but is brilliant. He’s the son of Adrian Samish, the producer and former head of CBS who was not popular among many people. So Peter has not gotten where he is because of papa, he had a very rough time. But he was just to creative and inventive on this picture.”

Rabinowitz, a stickler for accuracy, found that one of his most perplexing assignments was to come up with a coffin for Barlow. “It was designed special,” he notes, “because there was no way to find anything like that. The research was difficult to come by, it’s a 400 year-old coffin but once I did find it, our cabinet shop and our antique shop here is so superb that they gave me exactly what I drew up, right on the nose. If I’d had to work at another studio, I don’t think it would have come out as well, because they are superb—just the finest in our business.”

Rabinowitz tries to be a perfectionist. A professional painter and sculptor, he has taught at UCLA and USC, and spends six months of each year at his Santa Fe, New Mexico studio, painting and sculpting for galleries. At 53, he is still excited by what he terms “that marvelous madness that is Hollywood,” and he still finds his work there a challenge. For SALEM’S LOT, in the rush of production for television, there are things he would do over if time allowed.

“There is one interior of the Glick boy’s bedroom,” Rabinowitz confesses “where I overdid the color and blew the gag. I absolutely telegraphed it by making the room a somber brown, so when the scene opens you’re in that mood already. Then, when the vampire arrives, it’s not as big a surprise. It’s still a very effective scene, but I’d have toned down my part of it more.”

In his interview, Hooper speaks of Rabinowitz with genuine awe. Rabinowitz worked closely with Hooper, and feels he developed an understanding of his personality. “He’s very good natured, extremely so,” says Rabinowitz, “very warm, but very laid back. He’s quite shy. But once he gains your confidence and you gain his, that stops. Was he articulate? With me, yes. He was very articulate. With others, not so much. It took time. It’s a personality kind of thing. But he knows exactly what he wants.”

But getting what he wants was another matter entirely for Hooper, particularly in the case of David Soul, who was also under pressure to perform. According to Soul, Hooper was articulate in relating to him what he wanted.

“I believe he is a good actor’s director and I believe he will be even more so,” observes Soul. “I think the problems of this film, which were primarily the special effects, the vampire obviously, and the fact that we were shooting out of continuity, made it difficult for him to spend the kind of time with the actors he’d have liked to.

“Many, many times we’d pull each other aside to talk and he’d say, `Goddammit, David, I’m sorry we can’t spend more time working out these relationships, but this just isn’t the time to do it so just hang in there.’ He was concerned that everybody on the set was happy. He’s a very gentle, very, very bright man. This picture, if nothing else, will seal his future, as an important director along with the Steven Spielberg’s, the John Carpenters, the John Badhams people like that.” Soul, who was cast two months before the start of production, was able to make suggestions that helped define his character a little better, but he feels some inconsistencies remain.

“Yes, there are a lot of inconsistencies, built into the script because the producers felt that since it’s television, there needs to be this reiteration of the fears on Ben Mears’ part so the audience is constantly aware. That for me is not giving the picture everything it could have. There are only so many times Ben Mears can say, ‘Did you ever have the feeling something is inherently evil?’, you know? There are a million other ways to say that same thing. I much prefer the scenes such as the entrance of Straker with his cane, which comes far closer to creating true terror than dialogue can.”

The scene with the cane the first meeting of Mears and Straker, helps illuminate Soul’s working relationship with Mason.

“There was a certain kind of awe to my working with Mason,” Soul explains, “and I used that for the relationship between the two characters: Mears is intimidated by Straker. It sounds simplistic, but it works. I did not try to get to know Mason better, so it was as if, in my early scenes with him, this imposing stranger could be the evil coming from the house. And only as we got further into the picture did my curiosity as David Soul—and certainly as Ben Mears—manifest itself in a kind of relationship with the character. So I kept away from him in the beginning. Also, the may Tobe staged our scenes heightened the element of surprise. The scene where I meet him as he’s walking with the cane is very well staged by Tobe, because I’m staring at the house and feeling all those disturbing sensations and memories and I back out almost out of the shot and then” Soul gasps “there he is behind me. These kinds of cinematic devices helped a lot, and that’s Tobe.

“I was impressed by both Tobe and Mason. There were a lot of impressive people on this film, actors especially. Lew Ayres was the same as Mason in a way, though he was a little difficult to crack. He’s a very orthodox and tough actor. He was a matinee idol, and he considers himself still to be a star. But once that was broken down, it became a very warm relationship.

“Mason is fascinating. He’s better than most TV actors and he’s also a personality. He’s got a mystique that he’s built up forty years and that’s what you’re watching also, and what you’re playing opposite. I was surprised to find out how organically he works, he had a whole history for Straker. His conversations about the character were very intelligent.

“How did I change my own TV personality and still play a hero? It’s a good question. I don’t have a pat answer. Obviously, they’re different characters. I think the accouterments changed me somewhat the glasses, the clothes. Also, I cleaned up my speech pattern a little bit. I sound like a writer, a man who’s at home with words. In STARSKY AND HUTCH, it was always dip-dip-dip, sort of half-finished sentences, a street jargon and repartee. This time, I stuck with the lines and the discipline of a well written script. There’s also a mysterious quality to Ben Mears and I tried to work with that. I didn’t socialize a lot. It was a rough part, and in a sense, I let the neuroses that were building up in David Soul because of the pressure work for the character.

“That’s one area in which Tobe was very helpful and understanding. He listened. “Have I seen THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE? No, but I do want to, very much, after working with Tobe.”

Hooper, who’s career literally reached a standstill a year after his arrival in Hollywood, is a living testament to the difficulty of maintaining a career in the horror genre. Shortly before he was approached by Kobritz for SALEM’S LOT, Hooper had even met with Italian producers over the possibility of directing THE GUYANA MASSACRE, before his agent blew the whistle on the project (“God bless him,” Hooper now says). Hooper openly admits that SALEM’S LOT pulled him from obscurity.

“Look,” says Hooper, “this is a quantum leap for me. SALEM’S LOT is my best picture, and there’s no question about it. It’s a major studio production, I’m working with a fantastic cast and crew. And Kobritz is wonderful. This is a first for me.” But is it the same Tobe Hooper in SALEM’S LOT that we saw in THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE or even EATEN ALIVE? Can the same audacious spirit run through something created for television? “Oh, I think so,” Hooper replies. “For one thing, my style is ingrained in me. It does not change. It improves, perhaps, but it does not change. Also, SALEM’S LOT does not rely on the same kind of dynamics as CHAINSAW. It is scary, it is atmospheric, but in a different way. I do not have to cheat the audience to bring it to television.

“The style of my films is not their violence. Violence has sometimes been an ingredient in them, but because I shoot it a certain way, people may have thought that is the style all by itself. You know, I made a number of short and feature films before I entered the genre with TEXAS CHAINSAW, and they didn’t contain violence, but my style was developing nonetheless in each of those films. “Part of the idea of SALEM’S LOT is to bring the audience into the movement, in a way the camera moves almost constantly. I am leading the audience on, but I’m satisfying them too, I’m not cheating them. They’re not going to expect a dollar’s worth of scare and get 75 cents worth of talk. And you can do that without slicing someone up with a chainsaw.”

In fact, there is relatively little dialogue in SALEM’S LOT. The narrative is advanced primarily in cinematic terms through camera movement and editing, and through scenes that establish perspective in a strictly visual way. Kobritz’s desire for this effect, and his need for a director who could add to his and Monash’s ideas, not just catty them out was the main impetus behind the hiring of Tobe Hooper.

One of Hooper’s most striking scenes of barely glimpsed violence is the murder of Dr. Bill Norton by Straker, who picks him up and heaves him across a room into a wall embedded with antlers. Hooper’s camera carries the audience right along with Norton, holding on a dose shot of Norton’s horror struck face up to and including the moment of impact. Because the actual impalement is not seen in a wide shot, the scene is technically acceptable for network TV, and Hooper’s surprise trick of dragging the audience along on the victim’s death ride assures both shock and terror.

In another sequence, Hooper and his special effects team employ a coffin’s eye view of the inside of a grave, to involve the audience in the resurrection of one of the Glick brothers. In his interview, Kobritz explains the mechanics of two of SALEM’S LOTS most elaborate effects: the vampires’ contact lenses and the shot in reverse levitation scenes. Hooper discusses their emotional quality. “I invented those,” Hooper says, “working with the makeup and special effects people. The one with the eyes has to do with hypnotism. I was going for an effect that would implicate the audience again, I guess it’s my interest in psychology rather than have them walk out of the room for a drink when the vampire turns to hypnotize someone. Those are generally very boring, predicable scenes.

“I studied what I had been exposed to as a film student and moviegoer, from the old Universals all the way up to the Hammer Films. No matter how you try to explain those away or make allowances, it’s always just Chris Lee with those damned bloodshot eyes. I knew our hypnotism would have to be something that is not easy for an audience to comprehend. Well, we’ve all had bloodshot eyes. So what we came up with was a kind of contact lens that just glows and glows and follows you, and is obviously not an optical done in the lab, and is therefore strange and fascinating to look at. The result is that it makes you look in his eyes, too, and you just wonder and look and look and look.”

And the levitation scene, in which the vampires float through the window to prospective victims?

“Well, I’m sorry they told you so much about that. Damn! That’s the kind of thing that should also make you guess, no you’re riveted to your seat. It’s one of those devices that ought to be revealed after you’ve seen the picture. But since they’ve told you. “The business of bringing the kid into the room on a boom crane eliminates the use of wires, and if you keep the camera in a certain position, keep the kid moving so you’re distracted from guessing or trying to guess how the effect was done, which is unlikely anyway and you cut properly, it’s very disturbing. It’s just obvious there are no wires. I also had an ectoplasmic mist surrounding him, and issuing in a kind of vacuum from him to his victim and back again.” The levitation effect was also enriched by shooting in reverse, which made the ectoplasmic fog swirl in an eerie way.

Jack Young – The Vampire Look

“We wanted something like the Nosferatu Of Murnau’s 1922 film where the vampire was walking death, ugliness incarnate, a skull that moved and was alive. “

– producer Richard Kubritz

‘Creating the image Of the vampire was a little like a fishing expedition, ” admits makeup man Jack Young, who in his 30 years as a makeup artist has worked on films from The Wizard of Oz to Apocalypse NOW changed the at least six time,” he says displaying a small card with Polaroid shots of each of the six renditions in his lab on the Warner lot. “We tried him with light pink on his face but he looked phony, burlesque. We finally came up with the light gray which is dead and bloodless. “Reggie Nalder (who plays Barlow) has such a wonderful face; he always plays some pretty grim so We just put ears on him, made him bald, put gray horrible makeup on him and used his own lips. For the teeth I made impressions of his, created a false set and then aged them by airbrushing shadows on them. They yellow and like they have cavities.” The eerie look of the vampire Barlow’s eyes are created by contact lenses almost like half a ping-pong ball—light green in color with red veins—that fit over the eye and can only be worn for 15 minutes at a time. The pupils reflect as do the eyes of the other vampire characters in the film, an effect created by yellow screen-like contact lenses. “They spark when the light hits them,” says Young with a devious look in his eye. “It looks awful, like they have searchlights coming out Of their eyes.”

In the scene near the end of the movie when Mears is driving the stake through Barlow’s heart, Barlow’s claw-like hand flies up and grabs Ben’s wrist. “For the claws, ” says Young, “I made a composite you can form with your hands. Ifs like a clay you can hake but it has flex. It wasn’t originally made for nails but that’s what I used it for. It’s all part of the attempt to get away from the stereotype Dracula. ”

As Ben continues to drive the stake in, Barlow’s head starts to rise from the coffin to meet Ben’s. Then suddenly the flesh seems to fall from the head, revealing a ghost-like skull. “I had to make the head about four or five times to get it to come out right, ” admits Young. The final one is hand-carved out of plaster then covered with a composition of wax that would sag , not drip. “I got the skin to appear to fall away by turning a heat gun on the completed portrait head,” adds Young.

But how will all of this look on a big screen? With everyone involved with the production stressing that SALEM’S LOT is a feature, not just a television special, it seems a logical question.

“This piece was not made with a lot of concessions to TV, beyond the obvious limiting of the use of violence,” Hooper replies. “There has been some second unit shooting, about five days I think, for some of the special effects. These are physical effects, as you called them before, not opticals there are no cheap opticals designed for the TV screen. The photography is very good, Mort Rabinowitz’s art direction is just remarkable, SALEM’S LOT will look like a feature.”

SALEM’S LOT wrapped shooting on August 29. Hooper assembled his rough cut within a couple of weeks after. CBS has already begun to promote the miniseries, and will air it on too successive nights during either the November ratings “sweep” (when network ratings are closely monitored to determine future advertising rates and the best specials are consequently televised) or a date soon after.

And way up in Center Lovell, Maine, the author of SALEM’S LOT is awaiting the production’s telecast like the rest of us.

“I thought THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was a great movie, and I like the screenplay they’ve come up with for this, so I’m looking forward to it,” says Stephen King.

“What I’d really like them to do is send me a videotape of the European version. I’d be very into that.”

– Bill Kelley Cinefantastique – Volume 9, Number 2 (Winter 1979)

From “On the Set of ‘SALEM’S LOT By SUSAN CASEY” (FANGORIA Issue 4)

(Available at Amazon) Salem’s Lot 1979 Blu-ray

SALEM’S LOT (1979) RETROSPECTIVE – Filming Horror for Television (Part 1) Development The man producer Richard Kobritz called upon to get him his vampire in SALEM'S LOT is Tobe Hooper, the director of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and the last person one might expect to find directing a glossy production for a major studio much less one intended as a television miniseries.

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sasuhinasno1fan · 6 years

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Strung up for you- Klance Month Movie Week

So, I was trying to think of what I could do for movies because I have a habit of making movies I watch as I watch them into AUs. I think it sometimes helps me remember who everyone is. Anyway, I couldn’t come up with a ton when I remembered this movie. I don’t know how many people remember watching High Strung on Netflix. I think it was recently taken down from their list because it was up there the last time I was on trying to finish Queer Eye. It’s such a good movie, you can find it online or you can buy it on like iTunes or YouTube. I would so love to write a dance fic, but I can’t write dance so no hopes there, but I do hope I do this justice. A few of the scenes are directly from the movie just a heads up.

Keith let his head fall repeatedly on the breakfast bar in Hunk, Shiro and Matt’s apartment. It was the day after the disaster of the charity event. While the Lions thought his little violin battle with James had been pretty cool and a chance they had used to show off their dance skills, he knew he embarrassed Lance. It had been partly out of jealousy of Lance being at the event with James and another part of wanting to show James that his fancy-smancy way of playing wasn’t the only way to go. Point was, he almost got into a fight, upset Lance and had to make the Lions run from their pay check when security came running in to find out what was going on.

What should have been his head landing on the countertop was stopped by his head landing on what felt like a dish towel. He looked up to see Hunk looking at his forehead before nodding

“No bruise. That’s good. Let’s not give you any reasons for Lance to think you got into a fight.”

“Huh?” what was Hunk talking about?

“You’ve been in a mood since last night and I know it’s because of Lance. You want to apologize to him, don’t you?” Hunk asked

“Of course I do, but I don’t think he wants to talk to me.” This time he put his arms up on the counter and hid his face in them.

“Come on, fierce violin street player scared to talk to his crush? What you did last night took guts.” Matt said, walking over from where he and Shiro had been playing chess

“One, my violin was stolen remember? And two, what I did last night was incredibly stupid and Lance has to hate me.” Keith muttered from his nest.

“Keith, if you go and ask Lance to forgive you and invite him to dinner, I will cook your whole meal for you.” Hunk said

Keith pulled his face out a bit. “really?”

“Invite him over to show him how sorry you are. If he’s anything like you said, he’ll give you a chance. Something tells me he’s a good judge of character.” Shiro called from his spot

“Besides, no one’s ever looked down on begging.” Matt said

Keith ignored him. Lance had been nothing but nice to him, when they first met at the train station during that dance battle between the two dance groups which lead to his violin getting stolen, Lance went with him to every nearby pawn shop to try and find it. Then he brought over a loaner violin from his school with the prospect of a trying to win a competition that could get him a student VISA, so he wouldn’t be sent back to Korea if authorities got him. He had a habit of making an ass of himself in front of Lance and seeing Lance last night, but on the arm of that asshole, it was like a breaking point. He wanted Lance’s attention on him, but he had gone about it all wrong which left him in the mess he was facing now.

But they were right, he needed to go apologize. He agreed to Hunk’s plan, reminding him not to start doing anything until he knew he could gain Lance’ forgiveness. With the address of the school from the pamphlet of the contest, Keith took the train to the school. He had been able to find a student when thankfully knew Lance and let him know where he was. As he walked to the dance studio Lance was supposed to be in, a small wave of ballet students came towards him, not paying attention to him or only just glancing at him. He guessed they got out of class. He didn’t see Lance and hoped he didn’t go in a completely different direction when he heard the piano. Keith knew the music was from a ballet, but he couldn’t place what it was. He approached the dance studio it was coming from and looked through the window. It was Lance.

There was another woman, the teacher Keith guessed, in there with him, telling him to extend and what counting out. As Keith watched Lance glide across the floor effortlessly, everything else faded away. He couldn’t hear the teacher anymore and the music being played was replaced with something else, something that spoke to how Lance moved. It soon ended as Lance finished his piece and the poised dancer became a tired student as the teacher applauded him.

“That was very good and when you do it again, it’ll be even better because you would of beat another hurdle. As dancers we have to beat those obstacles with every dance we do, but we do not try and drain ourselves in the process. Next time, you’ll be a bit closer to perfect. Great job today Lance.”

“Thank you Romelle.” Lance thanked, seeming to have his breath again.

Romelle passed him on her way out and gave a good look as she nodded hello. Keith wondered if she knew he’d been watching. He walked into the room, where Lance was pulling off his shoes and pulling on a pair of sweatpants.

“Hi.” Keith greeted.

“Keith? Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Well I’ve made a bit of an ass of myself for like the third time, so instead of apologizing again, I wanted to ask a favour.” Keith said, coming over and sitting on the bench Lance had his stuff near.

Lance scoffed. “you’re kidding right?”

“No. I wanted to take you up on your offer of that loaner violin, so I can enter the competition.”

“To be honest, I don’t think you have the discipline to even do that. That stunt you pulled with James kinda showed it.”

Ouch, but Keith deserved that. “I know, and he proved he won that one. But let me prove it to you, please?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t even get an apology.” Lance said

“Because I’ve kinda showed that words aren’t really showing how sorry I am if I’m doing the same thing two seconds later. Let me make it up to you with dinner, please?” Keith asked, on the edge of wanting to beg but he wouldn’t guilty Lance into it. He wanted Lance to come so he could show him how sorry he was.

He could see Lance was getting interested. “do I have to change?” Lance asked as he pulled on a white cropped hoodie.

Keith smiled. “I will take you any way I can get you.” He said truthfully. “8 at my place?” that smile, that one that started this whole crush came to Lance’s face as he nodded. “ok, I’ll see you then. Bye.”

“Bye.”

As he left, he passed a short girl in a leotard and green throw over, who greeted him as she walked over to Lance.

“Is that Keith?” he heard. It was silent, Keith guessing Lance was nodding, “definitely sexy fierce. Any chance you gonna tell me why he was here?”

“He invited me to dinner.” The last thing he heard was squealing before he was out of earshot, but that still didn’t stop the smile from coming to his face.

He needed to get a few things, so he called Hunk to get started on the dinner.

“I told you it would go well. I am going to cook you two such a feast.” Hunk said, sounding like he was rummaging through his fridge.

“I hope your planning on cooking for us too!” he heard Matt yell

“Order out! I’ve got an apology dinner to make!”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh at his friends. He was lucky to have them. He just hoped he was lucky enough to get Lance’s forgiveness.

After letting Pidge help him choose his outfit again – seeing how she was going out almost every night, he knew he could trust her to dress him right – Lance caught a taxi to Keith’s apartment. Last time he’d been here, he had come to offer the loaner violin and a way to get Keith to legally stay in the country, but Keith rejected the offer and Lance was sure he’d never see him again. Then there he was working as a waiter with his friends at the charity event. He wanted things to be different this time, where it didn’t end with them mad at each other. When Keith wasn’t trying to push Lance away or acting like a bit of an idiot, he was really amazing. He remembered hearing him play his first day in New York. It had only been a few minutes, but it was amazing to listen to. He could be better than James, and Lance was sure he’d be way more modest about it. And to be honest, while Lance felt a bit uncomfortable with James, he felt perfectly right with Keith.

Yeah, Lance was not above admitting he liked Keith, like a lot.

He walked into the building and started up the steps. It was dark and Lance was nervous about tripping with the violin case in his hand when he started to see a warm light. As he walked up further getting closer to Keith’s apartment, he saw the light was from a path of candles that lead all the way up to Keith’s apartment. The soft glow of the candles reflected off the rose petals that were scattered on the floor. Lance was seeing himself forgiving Keith really easily. No one had ever done this much to get an apology out of him. He finally reached the door of Keith’s apartment and decided to take the chance and see if it was open. It was, and he was greeted with the view of Keith’s apartment, candles on almost every flat surface, bunches of red and pink roses joining them. Keith was at his dining room table, inserting two roses into the large bouquet sitting on the table.

“Hi.” Keith greeted after he threw the plastic the roses had to of been wrapped in.

“Hey. So, is this my apology?” Lance asked, looking around the room.

“Yes.” Keith answered, looking slightly nervous.

“It’s working.” Lance reassured. The two shared a smile when Lance remembered what he held. “oh, right. Um, one loaner violin from the Garrison Performing Arts School.” Lance said handing over the case

“Thank you.” Keith said taking the case gently from Lance

Without the violin in his hand, Lance’s eyes started to wonder, so he wouldn’t be stuck staring at Keith. “Did you cook?” Lance asked seeing the tastefully decorated plates.

“Uh no. my friend Hunk did. I don’t remember if you remember seeing him last night. He had his hair pulled up with a yellow ribbon.” Keith explained. Lance nodded remembering who Keith was talking about. “thank you for coming tonight.” Keith thanked

Giving Keith a smile, Lance said, “your welcome.”

“I saw you dance for the first time today.” Keith said, remembering Lance’s effortless movements. Lance looked embarrassed however, so Keith continued. “I never knew dance could be so beautiful.”

“Thank you. I have this issue of letting go and not focusing on being perfect. You however seem to be able to let go really easily.”

“most of the time I don’t have someone to pull me back, but I think things might be a bit different now.” Keith said. “you’re extremely generous.”

“I know.” Lance said moving closer to Keith as he opened the violin case

“I just had this crazy idea.” Keith started, “there’s this dance competition happening, and I need a dancer. Will you compete with me?”

“Of course I will.” Lance said, not even second guessing himself. Keith had earned his forgiveness.

“Perfect. Shall I give it a go?” Keith asked, pulling the bow out and opening the small compartment for the rosin.

Lance nodded. He wanted to hear more of Keith playing, even if it was just for him. He watched Keith rosin the bow and then pull out the violin and rest it on his shoulder. Lance watched as Keith drew the bow across the strings, creating the most beautiful melody. Lance was sure it was listening to music the first time was the reason he was so enamoured with Keith.

“That was beautiful.” Lance said when Keith finished.

Setting the violin down, Keith turned to Lance, moving even closer to him. “I like playing for you.”

Lance let Keith move closer and kiss him. Lance kissed a few people in his life, but this kiss with Keith, it was like the world had stopped but they never stopped spinning. As they separated, Keith asking with his eyes if it was ok, Lance put his arms around Keith’s neck and pulled him into a deeper kiss. He felt Keith’s hand resting on his waist and the other thread through his hair. The spinning wouldn’t stop and Lance never wanted it to.

Lance sat in one of the lounges at school, the smile yet to leave his face. Keith had pushed just a bit further and left Lance with a few marks on his neck to remember him by, not like Lance could forget him if he tried. Lance never wanted to stop kissing Keith, though getting to know him once they finally pulled apart to eat their almost cold meal. Hunk really was an amazing cook, though judging from the text he got from Keith that morning, didn’t enjoy hearing that kisses took priority over his food, even though Keith said he reminded Hunk that the kisses were a good thing.

He was cleaning the blisters he gained from contemporary class that morning, hoping that it wouldn’t get worse when he had ballet. If it was pas de dux day today, he’d be in luck.

“You look way too happy to be putting Band-Aids on the blisters.” Pidge said as she came over, her face mostly hidden with her large sunglasses.

“Hey, you came in late. I thought I’d be late, but you never showed up at class. I had to cover for you in class.” Lance said, dropping a packaging on the table he had claimed as he workspace

“I got a late start. So, you gonna tell me how the dinner went?” Pidge practically begged, sitting at the edge of the chair where Lance had his foot propped up

“I don’t kiss and tell.” Lance said

“Uh huh. Though those hickies of yours do a lot of talking for me.” Pidge said, staring at the marks on Lance’s skin. “but fine, if you won’t tell me anything, I’m going to go get coffee.”

Lance started cleaning up as Pidge left when his phone started to ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi. I hope you’re not about to head to class.” Keith said, loud hip hop music in the background

“No, still have time. I had to perform surgery on my feet though because of all the blisters. Where are you?”

“At Shiro, Hunk and Matt’s apartment. They live in the apartment under me. They wanted details on how the date went.”

“Maybe I can come over after classes and we can tell them all the dirty details.” Lance suggested

“I’d like to introduce them to the guy who’s been in my mind constantly running in my mind. Besides they wanted see us tango again.”

“Well I’ve got an amazing dance partner, so tell them I’ll be honoured to dance for them.”

“Great, now that’s out of the way, any chance I can keep my favourite dancer on the phone for longer?” Keith asked, making Lance smile as he pulled his Uggs on and holding his phone between his shoulder and ear.

“It’ll take a lot to pull me away from you.”

#klancemonth2018 #klance #dancer lance #violinist keith #movie week #high strung au

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