I got all caught up in Virtual Escapade, and haven't even mentioned the delicious treats I received for chocolateboxcomm!! Please have a bite for yourself, for they are both scrumptious.

My gift is a Person Of Interest story that contextualizes the rooftop-bomb vest scene (aka Dorinda's Eternal Birthday Present), with such an excellent and steely-sad John POV, and then continues it the way I would wish it to continue. (Is there kissing? Spoiler: YISSSSSS :D)

Broken Code (1007 words) by Corvidology
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Person of Interest (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Harold Finch/John Reese
Characters: Harold Finch, John Reese
Additional Tags: Pining, Extended scene from S02E13: Dead Reckoning, First Kiss, Chocolate Box Exchange 2021
Summary:

"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" Finch had that exasperated look he saved only for John.

-----

And I also got a treat! The Sting, Henry/Johnny, a loaded moment after a con with Johnny self-critical and worried, and Henry reassuring him. It feels like an excerpt from a larger story right around the corner, I feel like I know exactly what happened, and Henry's POV is so observant and appreciative of Johnny. ♥____♥

The Save (570 words) by Keiko Kirin
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Additional Tags: Treat
Summary:

Johnny's not happy with a decision he made during their latest con.

I got two presents for the Rare Male Slash Exchange, and they are both delightful! I sincerely recommend them, they cheered me up immensely. Ahhhh. Morale can be hard to come by, but these gifts managed it.

I'm not sure which was my assigned author, maybe even both, but in any case, I appreciate my assigned author very much indeed, and also my kind treat author! You lightened a mood that really needed some lightening. ♥

In alphabetical order by title, the stories are:

1) All In (5522 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Additional Tags: Undercover as Prostitute, Misunderstandings, Getting Together
Summary:

Henry runs his cons like a well-oiled machine: every part planned out and played just so. But when he unexpectedly crosses paths with Johnny again, he’s got no choice but to work on the fly.

A "The Sting" post-canon story for Henry and Johnny, in which they accidentally re-encounter each other after a traumatic break and things get revealed. It's angsty in such a good, building, well-characterized way, and both the reasons for the angst and the answer to the angst feel solid, the tone under the author's assured command. The POV, the visuals, the language, the building tension and the release, all so good!


2) That's How the Light Gets In (10153 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Exorcist (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marcus Keane/Tomas Ortega
Characters: Marcus Keane, Tomas Ortega
Additional Tags: Trauma, Trust, Secrets, Alcohol, Confessions, Travel, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Drunkenness, Honesty, Intimacy, Comfort, Cooking, Comfort Food
Summary:

They’re deep in the throes of their latest exorcism when he hears that same voice again, a man’s voice, rough and cruel— “Whatcha gonna do, Marky boy? Shoot me? Shoot me?”

Tomas closes his eyes and exhales. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s time for him to know.

“Marcus,” he says. “I want to ask you about something.”

A "The Exorcist (TV)" story for Tomas and Marcus, set in that perfect niche between seasons one and two when they were vagabonding around America doing gray-market exorcisms. It FEEDS MY SOUL with that road-trip feeling! Slightly shabby extended-stay motel, life on the road, laundry, diner, groceries, cooking, the way that motel sheets can be so stiff and kind of rustly-loud. And the sensory details all feel just right, in tone but also in their emotional grounding--they don't exist just as window-dressing, they're real, and they have meaning and roles in the emotional build between the characters. Also, the Tomas POV of Marcus is so delicious I could lay around in it all day--Marcus's clothes, his body and body language, the way he puts a spin on his words and expressions, the ways he closes up tight sometimes. Phwoar!

The hurtcomfortex collection has gone live: listed by fandom.

I received two gifts! One for The Sting, and one for the Aubrey/Maturin books, and they're both riiight up my alley, while both coming at said alley from different directions:

feel it in my bones (1676 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Protectiveness, Minor Injuries, Caretaking, Extra Treat
Summary:

It was the closest place Henry might think of where they could go and not get found. It had been years since he'd come by, but the arrangements he'd made still seemed to be holding up: the key was hidden right where it ought to be, shoved into the finger-width gap on one side of the top step. Henry thought for a second it wasn't there, but then he caught something with the side of a knuckle that clinked, and the relief washed through him, cool shock of it like rain.

He didn't fumble too much, got the door open, and then turned and grabbed Johnny hard by the shoulder and hustled him in.

This one starts with a rough & angry Henry POV, but it's not as simple as it might seem--his anger unfolds until we can see that it's actually about care and protectiveness, where "you didn't do what I told you to do" = "you didn't protect yourself". And Johnny's answer in return is a delight, as is Henry's realization. I absolutely adore characters expressing their deep feelings in other words. ♥___♥


Calling out loud to the sky and the clouds and the sea (1359 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Aubrey-Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin
Additional Tags: Disabled Character, Nature, Alternate Universe, Sea imagery, Dreamscapes, Birds, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Tenderness, pinch hit
Summary:
There is nothing in the world but the two of them. Nothing but the blankets and the hope and the white bird.

The road back to happiness is paved with kindness and tenderness. And feathers.

(Or: An AU inspired by "The snow goose".)


Where the Sting story is grounded and zingy and physical, this Jack/Stephen AU is lyrical, dreamlike, mysterious. It's loving and tender to the characters, and wraps them up together in the power of the sea and the warmth of the feather. Ahhhh.

post self-recs for at least three fanworks that you created

I find this one difficult! But here are a few, all medium-short: a non-Yuletide that was only belatedly uploaded to AO3, a pinch-hit for an old movie, and a Yuletide assignment for a show that sadly fell right off the earth.

1. "Some Living After We Die", Life on Mars (UK), Sam/Gene (written 2006)

I wrote this one in one long sitting (well, broken up with a walk for some fresh air), as a gift for a friend going in for surgery. It's a post-ep scene for the episode where Sam Tyler is being held hostage; right before Sam's about to get shot, Gene basically says to the gunman, after you shoot him you better shoot me instantly or I'll kill you. And I thought about the wording of that threat, and what it said about big-tough-Gene that he is practically self-immolating at the prospect of losing Sam.

Some Living After We Die (3893 words) by Dorinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Life on Mars
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gene Hunt/Sam Tyler
Characters: Gene Hunt, Sam Tyler, Nelson (Life on Mars UK)
Additional Tags: Rain, scuffling as foreplay, Alley Sex, Mutual Masturbation, Near Death Experiences, Aftermath, Drinking, Kissing, Hand Jobs
Summary:

It wasn't every day you discovered just how you'd die, when it came down to it. Or just who would die for you.

2. "I'll Marry You Some Time", Rio Bravo (1959), Colorado/Dude (written 2009)

This request went to pinch-hit at the last minute, and I had seen the movie a bunch of times, so I nabbed it. It ended up being about Dude (played by Dean Martin)--I explained his canonical breakdown (where before the movie, he came to blows with his best friend Chance [John Wayne] and left town with a woman, returned without the woman, and since then has been the town drunk, mocked and abused by the saloon of bad guys) by positing that he had been struggling against his homosexuality, even though no one else in his life was bothered by it.

I really enjoyed slipping the story right into canon scenes, and between canon scenes, and then post-canon, tangling it in there good and tight. Like, it starts out right before this singing duet between Dude (Dean Martin) and the young gunslinger Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and traces the subtext of that scene in the story's text, interpreting their demeanors and expressions in ways I enjoy:



And the story's title comes from another song they sing together in the movie, which felt perfect, and kept me from the traditional agonizing search for a fitting title. :D

I'll Marry You Some Time (4335 words) by Dorinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rio Bravo (1959)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Colorado/Dude
Characters: Colorado - Character, Dude, John T. Chance, Feathers
Additional Tags: Western, First Time, Missing Scene, Canon Related, Post-Canon
Summary:

He hasn't sung in a long time, but it's coming back to him.

3. "Blood, Steel, Skin", Rubicon, basically a Kale character study but with several pairings (written 2010)

"Rubicon" was a tragically short-lived series on AMC from 2010, with one short season: a story of espionage and conspiracy and paranoia, strongly influenced by the 1970s conspiracy-thriller movies like Three Days of the Condor and All The President's Men. It looks like all the episodes are up on Dailymotion.com; here's the pilot.

My favorite character, and the favorite of a lot of other people including TV critics, was Kale Ingram (see icon), the main character Will's supervisor, former CIA, former Marine, canonically gay and not in the closet (plus he lives with a younger boyfriend). He's extremely competent, steely but full of deadpan humor, wound up tight, a man of light and shadow, caught between his vulnerable underling (Will, a smart but fragile intel analyst) and a growing conspiracy potentially involving their mutual boss and powerful cronies.

The story is mostly based on two ENORMOUSLY SPOILERY scenes from the show:

* In 1x05, Will shadows a mysterious man who's been following him, and traces him to a restaurant, where it turns out the man is having lunch with Kale. And we get to see some of the lunch, where we see a heaping helping of yearning from the man, Donald Bloom, and his reaction to killing-for-hire vs. Kale's--that sort of characterization and implied reams of backstory is catnip to me:




* Then in 1x11, Donald is sent to kill Will, but surprisingly, Will barely manages to turn the tables. And the only person he can call, when he finds himself injured and shocky and with a dead assassin in his apartment, is Kale. Kale comes over with a "cleaner", and the scene unfolds with almost no dialogue once it gets going. (In case you can't quite see it clearly, the thing he writes on the pad to show Will is DON'T COME OUT.)



So I wrote a story grounded in Kale having to do the cleaning and disposal of someone he once worked with and who loved him. And I liked doing the present day in past tense and the flashbacks in present tense, trying to make the past seem somehow more instant-memory-like. I also enjoyed tying each flashback to a segment of the ongoing present, and also to a piece of the title:

* Blood, when Kale as a youth has accepted his sexuality and is finding his own strength in his lack of fear of pain; the nosebleed from getting punched, tasting the blood in his throat. In the present, it's his analysis of how manageable the pool of blood is, but his discomfort with that not being his first reaction.

* Steel, when Kale in the Marines is about to leave for the CIA, and he's grown scornfully weary of the military closet; the fellow Marine he's fucking and the way that guy fetishizes his dress sword. In the present, it's the steel of the dismantled tools used by the cleaner.

* Skin, when Kale is doing wetwork for the CIA with Donnie, and is realizing that he doesn't enjoy killing but Donnie sure does; the danger and crazy buzzing under Donnie's skin as he tries to get closer. And in the present, it's the feeling of Will's thin, fragile skin through his shirt when Kale touches him without gloves.

It's one of those little card-house things that got really engrossing to build, fun for me and hopefully fun for the reader.

Blood, Steel, Skin (2867 words) by Dorinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Rubicon
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kale Ingram/OMC, Donald Bloom/Kale Ingram, Walter Carrington/Kale Ingram
Characters: Kale Ingram, Donald Bloom, Will Travers
Additional Tags: Canon Gay Character, Episode Related, Military, Spies & Secret Agents
Summary:

Kale Ingram does what must be done.

Rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create.

I thought I'd go way back and rec three fanworks from the 1990s, when I guess dinosaurs still roamed the earth? :D One vid (originally made on videotape!), and two novel-length stories (originally printed as zines!).

1) "Detachable Penis", by the Media Cannibals (and remastered by justacat). The Professionals, Bodie/Doyle. Though also about the enormous (lol) homoeroticism of rough-tough-macho-manly-gunly media in general.

Detachable Penis is a vid from 1997, made by members of the vidding collective Media Cannibals. It illustrates the story from the avant-garde King Missile song/monologue using clips from The Professionals, showing us what happens to Bodie and Doyle and their biiiig, haaaaard guns cocks guns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYsSIDDkwNk




2) Chains of Being, by the_shoshanna. Space: Above and Beyond, Hawkes/McQueen.

Chains of Being is a slash novel from 1996, written for the cruelly short-lived science fiction TV show "Space: Above and Beyond". The novel explores the gradual maturation of Cooper Hawkes, a "tank" (clone), sentenced to serve in the (space) Marine Corps, and his growing connection to T.C. McQueen, his commanding officer, who it turns out is also a tank.

I always keep a copy of this novel on my phone, for re-reading and general morale. And I think it could just as easily be read as original science fiction--she does plenty of worldbuilding (and more than the show does, as the best fanworks do), and gets us settled into Hawkes's unusual POV--a grown man, but because of the cloning technology he's new to the world, with a lot to learn and assimilate. I love watching him figure things out, and build connections and relationships, especially of course the intimate relationship he eventually develops with McQueen.

Chains of Being (90836 words) by Shoshanna
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: Space: Above and Beyond
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Cooper Hawkes/T. C. McQueen
Characters: Cooper Hawkes, T. C. McQueen, Shane Vansen, Vanessa Damphousse, Paul Wang, Nathan West
Summary:

Cooper Hawkes is an in-vitro in a world of natural-borns.

A Marine, because the judge sent him to the Corps instead of to jail.

Six years old, and caught up in the middle of a war.

Cooper has learned, painfully and well, that humans despise him, that human society rejects him: the nipple-neck, the wetbrain, the tank. That surrounded by his squadron he is still, and always, alone; that, whether in the crowded barracks of boot camp or the screaming fury of battle, none of them are like him, none are what he is. None of them are bound to him with chains of being.

Except one.

3) "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy", by Cherilyn & HG. The Fugitive (1993), Gerard/Kimble.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is a slash novel from 1997, written for the 1993 movie "The Fugitive". It follows the aftermath of the movie, with the now-exonerated Kimble receiving mysterious threats and Gerard taking him into protective custody.

It's case-plotty, but underscored all the time with the growing emotions of Kimble and Gerard, plus always fleshed out by Gerard's team. The tension between Richard and Sam builds and builds for the first half, but then having sex doesn't suddenly dissolve all the issues and make everything better--there's a good long time of them figuring out what the hell they're doing, and understanding themselves as a pair.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (131362 words) by Cherilyn, hgdoghouse
Chapters: 19/19
Fandom: The Fugitive (1993)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Samuel Gerard/Richard Kimble
Characters: Gerard, Kimble, Renfro, Poole, Newman, Biggs, OCs, Ritchie
Additional Tags: canon and OC characters of colour
Series: Part 1 of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Summary:

Kimble has suffered various attacks, which neither the police or FBI are taking seriously.

Gerard takes them very seriously, and after Kimble narrowly escapes being shot, takes him into protective custody while he and his deputies investigate.

In the course of rewatching the 1980s/90s sitcom "Night Court", I have always and increasingly slashed the hell out of Harry Stone and Dan Fielding. I mean, I couldn't help it--they did the odd-couplish fencing back and forth, yes, but they were also so affectionate and open toward each other. Especially with Dan, the more troubled and self-protective of the two, who would show vulnerabilities to Harry he would show to no one else--but I think the reason he eventually felt safe to do that, is because of the ways Harry kept reaching out to him, emotionally and physically. Sigh!

Some images from my tumblr: http://adnirod.tumblr.com/tagged/dan-fielding , but just a drop in the bucket, really.

Anyway, lamardeuse had always mentioned how much she'd like to write them, and here at last she has! And I love it, and recommend it wholeheartedly. Set in the aftermath of the "Danny's Got His Gun" sequence of episodes, aka the "MY PARTNER'S DEAD OH WAIT NO HE'S NOT" arc. ♥ ♥ ♥

A Bar of Soap and a Belt Sander (2813 words) by lamardeuse
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Night Court (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dan Fielding/Harry Stone
Additional Tags: First Time
Summary:

Since Dan had quit being such a – well, such an unremitting bastard – every waking minute of the day, it'd been getting harder for Harry to keep himself from wondering what it might be like to do more than look.

The Rare Male Slash challenge collection opened today, and I read an Exorcist Tomas/Marcus story that I loved:

Where True Love Burns, Desire (2706 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Exorcist (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Marcus Keane/Tomas Ortega
Characters: Marcus Keane, Tomas Ortega
Additional Tags: Pining, Repression, Visions, Secrets
Summary:

"He knows it," the demon murmurs. "See? He knows. But you don't, do you? He hasn't told you."

"Come on," Tomas says, raising his voice over it and making himself keep looking at Marcus—who's pale, mouth pressed into a thin flat line, barely meeting Tomas's eyes.

I particularly love the sharply-observed little details in Tomas' observations of Marcus. And the story is full of compassion and love, plus it is also hot. Win-win-win! \o/


And, there's something I forgot to mention from the last post, re: the weekend hangout with the_shoshanna:

We also watched the first episode of the new spinoff/sequel to The Bletchley Circle, the British show set in the 1950s, wherein crimes are solved by a group of underutilized women who had been codebreakers during WWII and then were firmly marginalized again after the war.

Anyway, this sequel is "The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco," and includes only the characters Jean and Millie (though they mention the others, which I like--people still exist in the universe even if we don't see them!), who end up going to San Francisco and meeting various U.S. women who help them willingly or unwillingly.

I really enjoyed it, and will keep watching. I mean, there's a mandatory buy-in at the beginning: they don't tell the police about their discovery of the murder pattern, because otherwise why would they have to go all the way to San Francisco to work on solving it themselves, and we need them to do that so we can have a show. I can totally believe that the police would have dismissed them, so I bought in pretty easily. Even if I did kind of wish we'd at least have had, you know, Jean hanging up the phone to say the cops had rolled their eyes and sent her away.

It's nice to see efforts at doing a period piece in San Francisco! I think California-wise, LA gets so much more of that sort of thing, so this is refreshing.

Also, as I told the_shoshanna, I really like the conscious evocation of the network of women, now including not just different nationalities but also different races, all doing what they can while all suffering from the patriarchy. They have bosses or husbands or other kinds of dudes in their lives making things harder in various ways, and they survive by helping each other.

Also, Nicholas Lea (Krycek on X-Files) showed up! The Smoking Man's disciple has become a Smoking Man of his own. :D

Lately, for self-soothing purposes, I re-read (or in this case, listened) to the complete Lord of the Rings. And now there are certain kinds of fic I'm feeling an itch for. Does any of this ring a bell?

Aspects like:

* LotR book or movie inspired, rather than the recent Hobbit movie series

* Details of daily life, like eating and drinking, dressing and sleeping, etc.

* Worldbuildy, especially in small/daily-life ways

* Doesn't need to be shippy, but ships are welcome, especially: Gimli/Legolas, Frodo/Sam, Merry/Pippin

* Happy ending plz

* Doesn't need to be recent--I'm sure there's heaps of old fic as well as new that I've never read


So just for instance: have you read anything good set during or after the Scouring of the Shire? (Or even just before--what about Fredegar and his band of rebels?) Sam nurturing Frodo back to daily life the same way he's bringing the slashed-and-burned land back to life? Anything about Merry and Pippin settling in together in Crickhollow, and hunting down the last of the ruffians? I was having a chat with a friend in which we wondered, what do Hobbits do for medical care? Since I assume they have midwives, is there basically a network of Hobbit gammers who do the herblore and healing work?

It doesn't have to be set in Hobbiton, but in any case I'm not after something grand or epic. So if it's in Rivendell, I'd love to see little details of how it is for regular folk to spend time there; or if it's something like Legolas and Gimli traveling or living somewhere, what is an ordinary day and night like for them? Or Aragorn--not his lofty kingy-ness, but the grounded ordinary moments that make up his day, and what it might be like for him to spend time again with his old friends.

Doesn't necessarily have to be set after the events of war of the Ring, either--anything interesting about little child Estel growing up in Rivendell?--but since the events of the books/movies changed and deepened the characters, plus created and/or strengthened so many relationships, it does seem like post- is more likely than pre-.

I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have. And thanks!

Duuuudes the Night On Fic Mountain 2017 collection is open, and I got THREE PRESENTS. \o/ Almost Human, AND Rejseholdet, AND a Jack & Stephen treat! Check this out:

...oh wait, huh, weird. I only just now noticed that two of these pieces have no "Share" button at the top. But it shows up on the third one. So the 'share' function can be disabled? I've never seen that option. What's that about, I wonder?

Anyway, no biggie, I shall share the first two the old fashioned way, uphill both ways in the snow:

First, a really lovely romantic piece of John/Dorian art called "Halfway Till Bliss". I adore the differing expressions, and the subtleties of their faces, and Dorian's eyelashes, and John's hair. And KISSIN. <3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11205894

Then, a wonderfully grounded and real-feeling Rejseholdet story, "The (Irregular) Right Direction": it's set ten years post-canon, with Fischer permanently settled in EU law-enforcement bureaucracy, but with something unsettled and restless humming deep within him. Hmmmm, I wonder what he's still missing? :D

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11209839

And finally, a touching and nuanced Master & Commander (and/or O'Brian books) Jack & Stephen story, "Why Darwin Discovered Evolution", which has a Share button, thusly:

Why Darwin Discovered Evolution (1113 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jack Aubrey & Stephen Maturin
Characters: Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin
Additional Tags: London, Evolution, Moths, Night On Fic Mountain 2017, Night on Fic Mountain 2017 Treat
Summary:

1815: Napoleon surrenders, and is exiled to St Helena. The British Navy, after seventeen years of war, retires ships, crews and captains. John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, begins a programme of exploration which will last until 1845 and will include, in 1835, Charles Darwin's five year voyage of discovery in the Beagle.

In England, Jack Aubrey languishes on the Captains’ List, and Stephen Maturin chases moths.

Oh, Stephen. He loves Jack SO MUCH. ♥____♥ (And vice-versa, of course. Sigh!)

Along with my utterly wonderful Yuletide present, a brand-new story for The Sting just dropped right now, from mlyn:

You Lead, I'll Follow (1157 words) by mlyn
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kid Twist/Original Male Character(s), Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Kid Twist, Johnny Hooker, Henry Gondorff
Additional Tags: Pre-Slash, Feelings Realization, Con Artists
Summary:

After wrapping up the Lonnegan con, Henry and Johnny hit the road. For Johnny, a journey of one night changes everything.

It starts just post-canon, with Johnny facing a letdown, but then learning a little something that helps him proceed. Or, a couple of somethings. :D It includes a nice little portrait of Kid Twist, my favorite secondary character. ♥____♥

Recommended!