Nexus 100 Friends, Green, Too Much, Brown
Jul. 4th, 2009 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
evillurksLife, and work on a longer piece of fan fiction have slowed me up a bit on these. I also tend to be reluctant to post the ones I'm less happy with, although sometimes days of prodding at them doesn't improve them much.
Title: Calm before a Storm
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow, Hawkeye, Cliff Marsland, Harry Vincent
Prompt: 021 Friends
Word Count: 190
Rating: G
Summary: A study of agents waiting for action.
Author's Notes: Not all of The Shadow’s agents are necessarily friendly with each other, but these three showed up in many stories and sometimes worked together.
He saw no reason to alert them to his presence. Attack was not due for some time yet, and he had no doubt they would be up to the task when that time came. For the moment he concealed himself, shrouded comfortably in darkness, to wait. Keen eyes lifted, and scanned past his hiding place, but he remained unmarked by that gaze.
Hawkeye was rarely quick to dismiss his own senses, but here in this stronghold set up by their Chief, there was only one man who could find a place to hide. His weathered face broke into a ready smile at the words of his companions.
Awaiting trouble, guns loaded and ready, the trio found an easy camaraderie. The most heavily built among them, the supposed thug who answered to the name of Cliff, nudged the dashing young man beside him. Harry made a contrast to Cliff and Hawkeye with his youthful good looks, but he was at home with their jokes. The coming danger only lent a welcome excitement to their conversation.
Watching unseen from the dark corner, The Shadow smiled silently, lone witness to this odd friendship.
Title: Leaf light
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow (older), unnamed criminal
Prompt: 014 Green
Word Count: 243
Rating: G
Summary: A moment of catching his breath.
Author's Notes: The Shadow as I play him did, temporarily, retire. He didn’t stick to it, but all the same I think this is a good argument in favour of laying aside the cloak.
Later and longer than most chases, he followed his quarry in silence under lamp lit trees and across shaded paths. Destruction left behind, hunter and hunted played a dangerous game across the breadth of Central Park. There were sirens in the distance, closing in a cordon to trap the fleeing engineer of crime. A shadow flitted beneath the trees, shifting to easily vanish among the trees when the criminal took a stand. His bullets shredded bark and flew into the waning night without meeting flesh. When the gun was emptied he ran again, but this time his flight was futile. The sound of the cars had been distant, but a handful of quiet officers had moved deeper in. It was an easy task for The Shadow to chase him straight into their waiting hands, and nearly as easy to escape their attention himself. He lingered long enough to see the man delivered into handcuffs, lurking in rapidly diminishing shadows as the milky predawn light crept over the scene.
Satisfied with the work of the night, he began his retreat, but at the edge of the park he glanced up. The sight of dawn’s light through the trees gave him pause. All thoughts of the long hard work behind and before him was suspended, for the space of a breath. Half the night he had run through the park, trading bullets and blood. Only now had he noticed the beauty of the surrounding green.
Title: Too Much
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow (older)
Prompt: 033 Too Much
Word Count: 191
Rating: PG
Summary: A darker piece on crimes of the modern age.
Author's Notes: With all his travel and love of other languages and cultures, I imagine hate crimes really set his teeth on edge. I know they do mine.
Crime had changed over the years, and increasingly The Shadow found himself pursuing the most slippery form of criminal he had ever encountered in his long career. In almost every respect he found them to be law-abiding citizens, people who would never dream of robbing a bank, who gave to their church every Sunday. People with ordinary jobs and families they came home to at night. Any day on the street he might pass them, and never know them for what they were. For this very reason the police all but threw their hands up at pursuing these men and women, and focused on simply cleaning up the mess.
Burning crosses, rocks thrown through windows, hit-and-runs and insults from car windows, all these were dismissed as relatively minor crimes. Yet classing them as such fueled a sentiment that sometimes exploded in horror that rocked even The Shadow to the core. Families found murdered in their beds, racial epithets scrawled on the walls, these were the culmination of such hate when allowed to fester.
Of all the crimes he pursued to justice, it was these that left his blood boiling in rage.
Title: Of Course he takes it Black
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow
Prompt: 017 Brown
Word Count: 164
Rating: G
Summary: A slightly fuzzy moment.
Author's Notes: I spent a number of years working a life-devouring sort of job, so this is based on personal experience. I’d like to think that even The Shadow has had moments like this.
The face reflected up at him was tinted in monochromatic shades of sepia, the shadows, topping hat and high collar almost black. Glimmering blue eyes were dark and weary in the gently rippling mirror. Impassively he regarded the features without any sense of recognition. The night had been long, and the day ahead would be longer. Sleep would have to wait until the criminals were safely in the hands of the police or dead. He could only hope the groundwork he’d just laid would swiftly bear fruit. In the meantime there were instructions and nudges to deliver, to aid the forces of law and his own agents in closing in on the trail.
Presently he wondered how long he had been gazing into the now flat liquid surface. A slender hand lifted the cup, and what had been a dark mirror slid hot down his throat. The Shadow was not a religious man, but he was grateful to whatever powers were above for coffee.
Title: Calm before a Storm
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow, Hawkeye, Cliff Marsland, Harry Vincent
Prompt: 021 Friends
Word Count: 190
Rating: G
Summary: A study of agents waiting for action.
Author's Notes: Not all of The Shadow’s agents are necessarily friendly with each other, but these three showed up in many stories and sometimes worked together.
He saw no reason to alert them to his presence. Attack was not due for some time yet, and he had no doubt they would be up to the task when that time came. For the moment he concealed himself, shrouded comfortably in darkness, to wait. Keen eyes lifted, and scanned past his hiding place, but he remained unmarked by that gaze.
Hawkeye was rarely quick to dismiss his own senses, but here in this stronghold set up by their Chief, there was only one man who could find a place to hide. His weathered face broke into a ready smile at the words of his companions.
Awaiting trouble, guns loaded and ready, the trio found an easy camaraderie. The most heavily built among them, the supposed thug who answered to the name of Cliff, nudged the dashing young man beside him. Harry made a contrast to Cliff and Hawkeye with his youthful good looks, but he was at home with their jokes. The coming danger only lent a welcome excitement to their conversation.
Watching unseen from the dark corner, The Shadow smiled silently, lone witness to this odd friendship.
Title: Leaf light
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow (older), unnamed criminal
Prompt: 014 Green
Word Count: 243
Rating: G
Summary: A moment of catching his breath.
Author's Notes: The Shadow as I play him did, temporarily, retire. He didn’t stick to it, but all the same I think this is a good argument in favour of laying aside the cloak.
Later and longer than most chases, he followed his quarry in silence under lamp lit trees and across shaded paths. Destruction left behind, hunter and hunted played a dangerous game across the breadth of Central Park. There were sirens in the distance, closing in a cordon to trap the fleeing engineer of crime. A shadow flitted beneath the trees, shifting to easily vanish among the trees when the criminal took a stand. His bullets shredded bark and flew into the waning night without meeting flesh. When the gun was emptied he ran again, but this time his flight was futile. The sound of the cars had been distant, but a handful of quiet officers had moved deeper in. It was an easy task for The Shadow to chase him straight into their waiting hands, and nearly as easy to escape their attention himself. He lingered long enough to see the man delivered into handcuffs, lurking in rapidly diminishing shadows as the milky predawn light crept over the scene.
Satisfied with the work of the night, he began his retreat, but at the edge of the park he glanced up. The sight of dawn’s light through the trees gave him pause. All thoughts of the long hard work behind and before him was suspended, for the space of a breath. Half the night he had run through the park, trading bullets and blood. Only now had he noticed the beauty of the surrounding green.
Title: Too Much
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow (older)
Prompt: 033 Too Much
Word Count: 191
Rating: PG
Summary: A darker piece on crimes of the modern age.
Author's Notes: With all his travel and love of other languages and cultures, I imagine hate crimes really set his teeth on edge. I know they do mine.
Crime had changed over the years, and increasingly The Shadow found himself pursuing the most slippery form of criminal he had ever encountered in his long career. In almost every respect he found them to be law-abiding citizens, people who would never dream of robbing a bank, who gave to their church every Sunday. People with ordinary jobs and families they came home to at night. Any day on the street he might pass them, and never know them for what they were. For this very reason the police all but threw their hands up at pursuing these men and women, and focused on simply cleaning up the mess.
Burning crosses, rocks thrown through windows, hit-and-runs and insults from car windows, all these were dismissed as relatively minor crimes. Yet classing them as such fueled a sentiment that sometimes exploded in horror that rocked even The Shadow to the core. Families found murdered in their beds, racial epithets scrawled on the walls, these were the culmination of such hate when allowed to fester.
Of all the crimes he pursued to justice, it was these that left his blood boiling in rage.
Title: Of Course he takes it Black
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: The Shadow
Prompt: 017 Brown
Word Count: 164
Rating: G
Summary: A slightly fuzzy moment.
Author's Notes: I spent a number of years working a life-devouring sort of job, so this is based on personal experience. I’d like to think that even The Shadow has had moments like this.
The face reflected up at him was tinted in monochromatic shades of sepia, the shadows, topping hat and high collar almost black. Glimmering blue eyes were dark and weary in the gently rippling mirror. Impassively he regarded the features without any sense of recognition. The night had been long, and the day ahead would be longer. Sleep would have to wait until the criminals were safely in the hands of the police or dead. He could only hope the groundwork he’d just laid would swiftly bear fruit. In the meantime there were instructions and nudges to deliver, to aid the forces of law and his own agents in closing in on the trail.
Presently he wondered how long he had been gazing into the now flat liquid surface. A slender hand lifted the cup, and what had been a dark mirror slid hot down his throat. The Shadow was not a religious man, but he was grateful to whatever powers were above for coffee.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 04:08 am (UTC)Green - The moment of reflection, compared to the moments of ignoring the immediate beauty around him during the chase is a really calm, almost surreal moment. I like it.
Too Much - An appropriate piece for any time period. Hate crimes are some of the most horrific, and at times, the hardest crimes to bring justice to.
Brown - There's something wonderfully human about this moment that makes it a really nice and neat piece. You've turned a cup of coffee into a wonderfully reflective moment.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 04:16 am (UTC)Green- I'm proud of this one, I suspect much of his life is like that.
Too Much- This is what inspired the spark for the recent plot bit, of course. I wrote this first, and realized it formed a good excuse for the lung problem I'd been planning.
Brown- The moment probably strikes you that way because it's a more personal experience.