Harper Kingsley blog

May 11, 2015 1 comment

CDandHBFH 06 [Caspian Dukes and Vereint Georges]

Title: Caspian Dukes and His Best Friend’s Husband
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Heroes & Villains
Frame set: Allies & Enemies, “Good Times”
Characters: Caspian Dukes, Vereint Georges, Warrick Tobias, Melissa Kim
Pairings: Vereint Georges/Warrick Tobias
Genre: friendship, superhero, meta
Summary: Vereint and Caspian go see a movie together.

There were times when Vereint looked around and wondered how this had become his life. Married to the superhero he’d most admired as a teen, and off to see a movie with said superhero’s best friend and fellow League member.

It seemed a bit surreal.

Vereint watched as a police car rolled up to collect the still whining mugger, who was probably cursing his own choices. Out of everyone that he could rob, he chose the worst option possible. It was the criminal equivalent of Darwinism.

Vereint unloaded the rental locker and stuck the key into the return tray. He lifted the shopping bags and started walking toward where Caspian stood arms akimbo. He took his time getting close, timing it so the police were driving away just as he reached Caspian’s side.

“Well, that was interesting,” he said.

Caspian slanted him a smile. “Glad one stupid mugger could provide the entertainment.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” Caspian held out his hand to take a bag. “Let’s get out of here. I’m even more in the mood for ice cream.”

“Yeah, sure.” Vereint gave Caspian one bag but kept the other to carry himself. “Ice cream fixes all ills.”

“Exactly,” Caspian said.

* * *

Warrick knew that Vereint liked the idea of him bonding with Melissa. It was a lucky thing that they could share a love for kdramas. It took any hardship out of the idea of hanging out with her.

He’d never spent much time around kids. If anyone had ever asked him, he would have said that he’d be terrible dealing with anyone under the age of twenty.

Before Melissa, the last time he’d spent any significant amount of time around a kid had been when he was one himself. He was smooth signing autographs, but other than those passing interactions he was uncomfortable around children.

It had taken him years to get to this point in his relationship with Melissa. He didn’t feel so awkward and ashamed that he would mess things up anymore, and that was all thanks to Vereint.

“Why don’t they talk to each other?” Melissa asked, nudging his side with her elbow. “If they just sat down and had a straightforward conversation they could be happy together. It’s so stupid and sad.”

“Communication is key,” Warrick said wisely. He shook his head. “These guys are incapable of talking about anything. It’s ridiculous.”

“They both need a good kick in the pants.” Melissa shoved a fistful of popcorn into her mouth and quickly chewed. She swallowed and pointed at the TV, “That grandma is the worst. Can you put someone in jail for being a jerk?”

“Not in America,” Warrick said. “Unfortunately.”

“So does that mean you belong in jail?” Vereint asked, coming into the room with a rustle of the plastic bags he carried. “You were a jerk when we first met.”

“Thanks, honey,” Warrick drawled sarcastically. “It’s always nice to know what you think about me.”

“Well, you’re not such a jerk now,” Vereint said. “He was horrible when we met though, ” he told Melissa who laughed.

“I can see it,” she said.

“Hey! What’s with all the abuse?” Warrick asked.

“It’s only what you deserve,” Caspian said, coming in with a bag of his own. “Getting married and settling down was the choice that you made. I still can’t believe that Vereint agreed to marry you.” He grinned and winked. “You got lucky.”

Warrick looked at Vereint–black hair a little tousled, blue eyes shining with mirth–and agreed. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

“Ah,” Vereint said, “you’re going to make me blush. He held up one bag, shaking it loudly. “We bought ice cream and all the fixings for banana splits.”

“What about M&Ms?” Melissa asked.

“Gross,” Vereint said. “I got you a bag, but I still can’t believe you’re willing to ruin a perfectly good banana split like that.”

“It makes it better,” Melissa said. She set the popcorn bowl on the coffee table and pushed aside the afghan she’d had across her lap. She stood and held out her hands to take the ice cream bag from Vereint. “I’ll get things started.”

He smiled at her, flashing his dimples. “How come you’re never so helpful when I’m cleaning fish or shelling peas?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Because those are disgusting and ice cream is delicious.”

“Well, go make some delicious splits while I put this other stuff away. Leave the maraschino cherries to me.”

“Am I going to catch you drinking the syrup again?” Warrick asked. The idea of someone drinking the syrup was nauseating, except the sight he’d seen had been oddly erotic–Vereint bare-chested in the kitchen, his jeans hanging low on his hips, his head thrown back as he trickled cherry syrup into his mouth. His lips had been stained red and his tongue was sweet when Warrick kissed him. They’d ended up having sex against the counter with maraschino cherries and syrup getting everywhere, their skin sticking together as they’d stumbled to the shower for Round Two.

Seeming to read Warrick’s mind, Vereint’s grin was slightly naughty, but not enough for Melissa to notice anything untoward. “If you’re lucky. Otherwise the cherries will just disappear and you’ll never know what happened. It’ll be like an unsolved murder mystery.”

“‘The Case of the Missing Maraschinos’?” Warrick suggested.

“And on that note, I’m off,” Melissa said. “You guys would keep talking until everything melted.” She headed into the kitchen with a flip of her ponytail.

TBC…

Check out “Allies & Enemies” at: All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookStrand, Goodreads, iTunes, Kobo, Less Than Three Press, Smashwords. — superhero, urban fantasy, mm, drama. Darkstar x Blue Ice.

May 8, 2015 0 comments

Amazon Basics Wired Keyboard; Amazon Fire TV Stick; My brother was struck by a vehicle

I bought an Amazon Basics Wired Keyboard for >$12 and it works pretty good. There was a bit of a problem loading the drivers when I first plugged it in, but it eventually caught up to itself (after about 10 minutes).

It’s a nice, cheap keyboard with a fairly long cord–about four feet in length–that’s not too stiff or bindy. Though the keyboard is such a glossy black that it shows every single fingerprint or speck of dust.

* * *

Back in the day I bought the Kid an Amazon Fire TV Stick. It was on sale at the time and I wish I would have bought two of them then, as I’ve purchased a second Fire TV Stick.

We have a so-called Smart TV, but the apps refused to update and their GUI (graphic user interface) wasn’t as good as I wanted. Plus Hulu was constantly freezing, jerking, and and buffering without stopping. It got to the point that the only app we used was Netflix, and even then it was a hassle to use, refusing to auto-play the next episode when we were watching television shows.

Anyways, with the new Fire TV Stick, we’ve started being able to watch Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime in the living room, which is great, as I’m obsessed with Horrible Histories. (It’s fun and engaging edutainment that everyone should watch no matter their age. I’ve already learned a lot about real history.)

Anyways, at $39 the Fire TV Stick is worth the cost. It works great, though you cannot customize the Home screen. I’m thinking about adding the Plex app so I can use a different screen when choosing and playing media.

I was having a bit of trouble with Hulu jerking and pausing after a week of using the Fire TV Stick, but I simply unplugged it for a minute and it’s worked great since then. I guess it just needs a chance to clear its cache. As they say, “Turn it off and on again.”

For the price, it’s a great little gadget and you can take it with you when you travel. Watch some TV, play some games, and listen to music (though, while it plays your Amazon Prime Music playlists, you cannot add songs or albums from the Fire TV Stick. You’d have to log in with your desktop, phone, or tablet. But once the music is added to your lists it’s right there on the front screen of your Fire TV Stick.)

* * *

On a more horrible note, on Thursday my brother was hit by a car while riding his Go Ped. His spleen was punctured in seven places and he did some damage to his right knee cap, possibly breaking it.

There’s not a whole lot of information at this point, though he is alive and he’s going to be all right. The police haven’t gotten back to us about whether the driver of the car was arrested or if s/he drove off or anything. For all we know, it might have been a hit-and-run. My brother doesn’t remember a whole lot about the accident, just that he was driving home, then he was in the hospital.

It was a bit chilling when I saw his helmet. There was a big crack along the side where his head must have hit the pavement. If he hadn’t been wearing it, he would have been dead. As it is, he spent two hours in surgery and the doctors aren’t going to release him for several days, as he has drainage tubes in his chest and there was some talk about an air embolis.

He’s alive though, and he’s going to get better, and that’s really all that matters.

Seriously people, always wear a helmet. It will save your life.

May 3, 2015 0 comments

I saw Age of Ultron. No spoilers, just random Batman babble

I saw Age of Ultron. No spoilers.

It was a good movie. There were a few things that made me go “Meh” but I’m a big girl, I can deal with it. Besides, RDJ was a delight. I could have watched a whole extra hour and a half featuring Tony Stark (Iron Man 4 perchance?).

Anyways, during the trailers there was one for the Batman versus Superman movie.

I was all “Ugh” about the latest character reboot, but that trailer looked good. Maybe DC will finally have a good movie. Though I worry that they’re going to keep going super dark without going deep into the characters.

I’m sorry, but the Dark Knight series was some pretty dark stuff. Yet we didn’t get very much character exploration for all the angst and murder.

I enjoyed Michael Keaton’s Batman. He was a bit clumsy and absent-minded as Bruce Wayne which enabled people to believe his scatter brained rich guy pose. Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne was a bit too aggressive to me. There was a definite Patrick Bateman vibe about him.

That’s what I want. I want a story where some girl is talking to her friends about how she thinks Bruce Wayne might be a serial killer. She watches shows like Criminal Minds and CSI and she put the evidence together herself.

And then, because of her planting the idea, other people begin to notice the oddities of Bruce Wayne. He can’t go out as Batman because people are watching him 24/7 and he starts getting frustrated, which ups the serial killer vibe around him.

I think a silly story would be good, but a good long darkfic could be good too as long as there’s a happy ending at the end. (I like reading happy endings.)

I think that’s the greatest sin: an unsatisfactory ending.

There’s no pain like following some series for twelve books only to have the story crap out on you. There’s a reason fanfiction was invented, and it wasn’t entirely people wanting to spend more time with the characters. To spend that much time and money only to be disappointed–people start feeling a need to correct the situation.

I think endings were made to be unmade. Because what is every ending but just another new beginning.

April 12, 2015 0 comments

ROUGH PROMPT: Let’s wait three months and go to Octoberfest

This is the prompt that I’m working on at the moment. It’s currently a WIP, but it’s getting there.

“Let’s wait three months and go to Octoberfest.”- The Professor, Futurama.

That’s a nice segueway right there.

A. The Professor is the protagonist of the story. He offers the narrative that moves things along.

A1. The crew is all dead. They died during the various adventures and he was unable to bring them back correctly.

The first few times he’d operated them like meat suits. There had been free-will algorithms running to keep things interesting, but it was basically like they were still normal. The personalities were intact. (Storyline A)

Then there had been more accidents. More terrible events that he probably could have stopped if he’d had time to think things through. But their adventures were always so fast moving. There was never a single moment to stop and take a breath. (Storyline B)

* * *
Storyline A —

A: In a future where human brains–the wetware part of the equation–are so closely tied to the hardware–the Great Machine State–that it’s near to impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. There comes a moment in time where there is no discernible difference between the organic brain and the vat-grown cyber-organic implants.

Legally and actually, a Consciousness is to receive the same treatment whether they are Bodied or Bodiless. There have been numerous instances of Damage reports filed against corporations and individuals that insist on flouting the law. They are fined, and their name goes on a list. Most don’t care to be caught again, and try to avoid it.

There is a list of Mentally Damaging Individuals. It’s a collection of all the reports filed across the two States of people that habitually abuse their employees or the people around them. The mods clip out the useless reports, keeping the serial offenders on their main page. It’s not an officially sanctioned site, but the government allows it.

INFO: The two States — Bodied and Bodiless. The Earth has been Unified for 15 years. There were some people that had known no different life.

* * *
Storyline B –

B: To eat a burrito and relax.

That was the only thing he wanted to do.

But life gets hard sometimes. One minute you’re going to school and getting an education, the next you’re standing in a convenience store about to be shot, your burrito still revolving around inside the microwave.

He stood with his arms loose at his sides, his hands palm-out and obviously not reaching. (B1)

B1: And damn did he want to reach for his gun. He could feel the weight of it right there, easily within his reach.

But there were civilians around. He didn’t trust himself not to get someone dead.

He was no hero.

He’d signed up for the Army straight out of high school, and it had been a last chance option for a registered fuck up. He’d been the kid that always got things wrong, and that included hanging out with the wrong influencers–the twins hadn’t gone to juvie, their daddy was much too rich for that.

No, he’d been the poverty kid, the one with no other choices: 2 months in juvie followed by two years in the Army, or 2 months in juvie followed by 25 years in the Richard Deacon Private Funded Correctional Facility of Fort Ima (or as others called it, Hell on Earth).

He’d done the Army thing and found that he liked the lifestyle. There was something about a more regimented schedule that agreed with him–his parents had been too slack with him. They would give him money and tell him to entertain himself while they lived their own lives. It took military training to have him waking up everyday with the confidence of knowing exactly where he was going and how he was going to get there.

And after the Army, he’d been recruited by the Project. (B2) He’d learned so many different things and fought in so many different scenarios. (B3)

His life had ballooned out into something larger than any dreams he’d once had.

He’d somehow lucked out into the perfect life for him. He had no idea how it’d happened, but he’d somehow lucked into the perfect life for him. It was as though every person and place had been crafted together just for him. (B4)

B2: He wasn’t supposed to know, but it was some kind of gateway to other worlds. They were still speculating on whether it only visited alternate Earths, or if those were actually other planets out in the universe. Which raised some serious concerns about parallel evolution.

Because either every race out there developed human characteristics naturally, or someone had been doing some tinkering.

B3: Dream manipulation. Dream thieves.

People that could reach right into your brain and pluck out the first thought you’d ever had. It was an exciting and terrifying new technology. It was also highly illegal to anyone that hadn’t earned their certification in safe Dreaming.

Bands of so-called Rogues dig into peoples’ heads and steal the secrets they find inside. The criminals make life hard for legal Dreamers.

B4: The last thing Tyler had ever wanted to do was rob a convenience store. But it was the only way to get Alphard to wake up from his Occluded state.

Tyler had been sent into the Dream world to try and talk Alphard into hitting his Eject Button.

If things worked out, Alphard would hit his Button, his Consciousness would return to his Body, and he would wake up. But if things went bad, the doctors were talking about doing a hard reboot, hoping that the momentary Body death would jerk Alphard’s Consciousness back where it belonged.

Tyler had seen what happened to some people after they’d been rebooted. Even the ones that suffered the least trauma still seemed different, changed.

Dying did something to a person. And coming back only solidified the changes and made them real.

Tyler didn’t want Alphard to go through a reboot. Not if he was available to fix things.

Which was why he was standing in a convenience store in an eerily cheery small town with a gun in his hand. He needed to add some conflict to Alphard’s Dream. It was the easiest way to kickstart Alphard’s mind before the approach and the reveal.

Tyler didn’t want to see the guy’s brain implode. Not only would it be terrible to Alphard’s mental state, but being caught in a collapsing Dream was a terrifying thing.

The oldtimers tried to say that Dreams were not real and couldn’t hurt people, but Tyler had to disagree. Even if there were no physical wounds, a person’s Consciousness could be damaged. He’d seen the tattered holes punched through his own soul; the spots where his armor hadn’t held.

Early Dream tech had let people make mistakes and experiment. Modern Dream tech could nearly take someone’s head off with its power and intensity.

Tyler had his settings turned down by default. But young kids–and Alphard–tended to crank the synch settings to max so they could fully experience the false reality of the Dreaming. In most scenarios, the person has a hard time telling Dream from reality and ends up either cutting off Dreamtime and going to rehab, or fully integrating into the Dual State.

And then there was Alphard’s situation. His stupidly deadly situation that could have so easily been avoided with the use of some common sense.

When this was all over (B5), Tyler would be having a serious talk to Alphard. He had already started semi-planning out the things he would say.

He refused to think that he might fail to get Alphard home. He had to believe that everything would work out.

“All right, this is a stick up!” he called out loudly.

He would be the best antagonist Alphard had ever known. And he would get his sorta-friend to wake up.

B5: When this is all over, if this is all over, I’m going to be a better person. The sort of person that other people look up to and admire.

I’d bought my Dream Box secondhand, and I can tell why the original owner had sold it. There were some definite slippages happening with the synch guides.

I wasn’t too worried (they’re just Dreams. There’s nothing there that can hurt me), but it’s weird to have the sensitivity jump from medium-soft to extra-hard, full-contact levels.

It’s lucky that I don’t enjoy horror mods or activity mods. Having full sensory input while undergoing a murder scene would be horrible. I don’t even like watching that kind of thing as a specter. Being actually hurt, even with the safety features to keep the pain from getting too real, was not something I was into.

In fact, I’d been prescribed Dreamtime to help with my social anxiety.

I’m supposed to interact with the Simulicra of a socializing mod. They’re to teach me how to be a normal person, and I’m supposed to show improvement at my next mental health review.

If things go well, I’ll be getting out. Back on the street where I belong, with real people and real situations, and food that doesn’t come out of a tube.

When this is all over, I am going to buy a real meal in a real restaurant. I am going to enjoy every single bite and reaffirm that the flavors I crave aren’t just from my imagination.

I am ready to really live my life.