Oh, you think we're equals?

Wil Wheaton singing Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" gif

2012-07-25T16:03:24Z

I made this awhile back. You know that video of Wil Wheaton singing Lady Gaga's "Pokerface?" I took a very specific scene from the video and made an animated gif.

I'd put a preview but that would give it away ;)

( wil wheaton shaking it. )

This entry was originally posted at http://obisgirl.dreamwidth.org/168209.html.

Fic: Birthday Malaise

2012-07-23T01:45:12Z

Title: Birthday Malaise
Author: kaitou_lili
Words: 982
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Codex has gotten to the point where birthdays are just sort of meh, luckily Fawkes is there to help her get in the birthday spirit. Established relationship (slight AU—since I think it was implied that Fawkes got together with that furry at the end of the last season.)

Author’s Note: Happy (belated) birthday funkyinfishnet! Sorry for the lack of sexytimes...I really did try. The slightly melancholic start is because I was listening to Bon Iver’s Beach Baby on repeat as I worked on this (and because I’ve been writing/hanging out in the angst filled Hunger Games and Grimm worlds where nothing is happy. ever.)

The balloon idea was inspired by youtuber JamieVsTheUniverse’s balloon video (yes, I have vanished into the black hole of British youtubers. Please don’t judge me too much. :-D )

Also, if anyone knows where the title comes from you have virtual pie (or cake if that is your preference) from me.

It was Saturday morning and her birthday again.

When Cyd was little birthday parties were fun extravaganzas with ponies and cakes and balloons. She especially had loved the balloons. To her six-year-old-self balloons were the epitome of birthday spirit. To her eight-year-old-self pony rides were the best way to make her feel like a queen. To her twelve-year-old-self ice cream cake meant that it was a good birthday.

But somewhere along the way birthdays stopped being so easily fun and stopped really being counted. Once twenty-five past and you could rent a car at reduced rates what really was the point?

But she knew that she was being a bit overdramatic at this point. She didn’t need a fun party, she had a job doing something she loved, the Knights of Good were great; she had Fawkes and she had soft naturally wavy hair.

As if to reassure herself of that she smoothed her hair under her palm and told herself it didn’t matter if nothing special happened for her birthday she was pretty happy with the rest of her life at the moment.

(and if she kept telling herself that, then she wouldn’t be disappointed at all.)

As Codex logged onto the Game she was surprised to notice that not a single one of the Knights of Good or the Axis of Anarchy was online.

This was decidedly odd.

Vork could be counted on taking advantage of the empty early morning hours to mine the rare minerals and gather the rare herbs that were quickly snapped up when the server was a bit more crowded. And if Vork was up then Zaboo was normally up.

In fact as Codex walked around the virtual landscape the whole server seemed like a virtual wasteland. No Tink, no Clara, no Riley, or Bruiser or anyone. Even Fawkes wasn’t online.

She tabbed over to twitter and saw no new tweets.

She tabbed over to facebook and saw no new feed messages.

She tabbed over to tumblr and didn’t even see any new ridiculous fandom memes, cat pictures, or food porn.

Codex wondered if, perhaps, she had missed the start of the zombie apocalypse. But a quick peek out her window reassured that unless zombies had suddenly stopped lusting after brains and started lusting after gardening then the end was not nigh.

Eventually her rumbling stomach got her out of her bedroom and into the kitchen where a surprise greeted her in refrigerator.

When she went to pull out the milk for her cereal (old lady grapenuts) she saw an old fashioned card with a wax seal and her name in thick calligraphy on it.

Intrigued Codex opens the card and sees a map and a simple Follow Me.

Still a bit bewildered by the card she gets dressed and is on the road following her old map. The old map takes her to the burnt out husk of Cheesybeards where she finds Ollie.

“Argg! If ye want to get the buried treasure answer my questions three. One, what is a pirate’s favorite pattern.”

“Argg-yle?”

“Correct, ye bonnie lass! Second, what is a pirate’s favorite color?”

“Arrg-nge?”

“Excellent. And finally, what is the square root of 62.”

“What! That’s not even a whole number.”

“Arrgg! You’re lucky it’s your birthday wench! Here’s the next clue.”

Codex took mini-treasure chest from Ollie that had another piece of a map in it along with some (sadly) fake doubloons.

As she walked away from the restaurant a familiar van pulled up and she saw Vork and Zaboo—in costume?

“We are here to help you on your birthday quest best friendie! Hop in!”

If she would have bet she definitely would have put her money on Zaboo for organizing what appeared was going to be a birthday extravaganza. But since he had shown up so soon as a quest assistor she now wasn’t sure who it was.

The rest of the morning passed in an almost surreal haze.

There was a paintball obstacle course where she, Vork, and Zaboo had to rescue Bladezz and Tink from real live Axis of Anarchy orcs Bruiser and Riley.

There was a hide-and-go-seek to find Clara, her new baby, and the next clue that was kicked off by Venom and Valkyrie.

And there was an epic real life Legend of Zelda style puzzle that Kwan kicked off where the entire group of the Knights of Good had to work together to get the final clue.

By this point everyone was there—except Fawkes.

It warmed Codex’s heart to see the two guilds getting along, joking, and laughing and just having a Saturday adventure. It wasn’t better than gaming but it was pretty close. The last clue had her blindfolded and led into a room. When the blindfold was pulled off she couldn’t believe her eyes.

She was in a room filled with balloons.

There were big balloons and little balloons and it was like being in a ball pit filled with balloons.

The six-year-old inside her screamed with delight.

Then she looked up and out the window was a white horse with a dyed pink mane.

The eight-year-old inside felt her heart soar.

And then Fawkes came in singing happy birthday with the biggest ice cream cake she had ever seen.

Ultimate Birthday Achievement Unlocked

Later that night as the party was wrapping up and the people and ponies had gone home she found Fawkes.

He pulled her close and it felt like her entire body sighed in satisfaction as he held her close.

“Did you like your birthday muffin?”

“How did you know?”

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. Archimedes. Also, I found your old diary.”

“Fawkes!”

But it was with half-hearted effort that she protested and let him pull her in for a very special birthday kiss.

codexfawkes @ 2012-06-01T20:55:00

2012-06-02T00:55:31Z

I posted some Codex/Fawkes icons in a Top 25 Relationships post. It's only 3, so I'll just post them here instead of linking, unless you want the link. :P

Here's the link, in case you want it.

Comic!

2012-05-23T18:38:02Z

Have any of you guys read the Fawkes comic yet? OMG, it's so amazing! I'm so excited to know what you guys think, if anyone's around :).

Geek and Sundry Goodies!

2012-04-05T03:12:37Z

Hopefully most of you will know about Felicia and Wil's latest project, Geek and Sundry - if not, OMG, head over there NOW.

But, specifically relevant to our interests is The Guild extras, being posted over at Youtube. Including full seasons (minus credits) and Guild extra goodies - behind the scenes, funny shots and the full seasons are annotated with tidbits, and comments from Felicia! Season 3 has just been posted, SO - likely lots of fun stuff on Codex/Fawkes!
...a season seems to being posted each day, so the next season should be up tomorrow...with hopefully even more!

In season 2, there was a joke about Vork/Felicia fanfiction and how they haven't seen any, but have seen some about Codex/Fawkes. ...I'm not sure if we should be pleased, or mildly freaked out that the team know we exist! (Highly likely given they are geeky people too!).

codexfawkes @ 2012-03-09T15:30:00

2012-03-09T20:30:32Z

i believe this is relevant to our interests. ;)

Fawkes comic is coming soon!

2012-02-09T22:52:20Z

Spotted this on Twitter a couple of days ago. Wil Wheaton revealed that he and Felicia Day have written a Fawkes comic together! He also revealed that there are two covers for it - both featuring terrific Fawkes/Codex artwork.

Check out the post at Wheaton's blog with more info on the comics here.

Guild comic reference

2011-09-26T22:50:18Z

Wil Wheaton just appeared in this Head Trips comic wearing an Anarchy t-shirt. The comic is titled Axis of Awkward. Probably irrelevant to our intrests, don't you think?

Episode 5x09 reaction post

2011-09-22T20:46:07Z

Episode 5x09 is up!

It's time to squee and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, I also welcome suggestions to how Fawkes could have fitted into the episode, should he not appear. If we're lucky, this may inspire fic. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Episode can be found here.

The Art of Fawkes

2011-09-01T15:21:53Z

Title: The Art of Fawkes
Author: kaitou_lili
Word Count: 1475
Summary: “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” Fawkes sets out for to know the enemy and finds he learns a bit more about himself too.

Author’s Note: This was inspired by the episode reaction posts! I was going to wait until the end of the season before writing anything, but this wouldn’t stay still. Also, I’m trying something new and only using quotations from Sun Tzu for Fawkes. Codex is only tangentially in this (because this is my Fawkes as a slight furry stalker piece.)

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate. Sun Tzu.

Fawkes doesn’t take well to being rejected. He recognizes and owns this. And so it is with a sinking feeling that even after Codex’s latest rejection he feels himself paradoxically becoming more interested in her.

Risk. Diplomacy. Chess.

He is the master of strategy games. He devours military history books in his spare time. He still remembers his favorite bedtime story—Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

And yet she didn’t fall to his strategy.

Codex has become interesting to him, interesting in a way that he didn’t expect. Most women he dated he found were easy to understand and easy to predict. The result of his hundred battles was expected and assured. But Codex wasn’t what he thought and while some might forget her he find that he wants to know her and he wants victory...the victory he lost by not truly understanding her in their last encounter.

Fawkes doesn’t want to know her ovulation schedule or whether her last STD check was clean, he’ll leave that to Zaboo. Rather he wants to know what makes her tick. He wants to know why it is that she is so good at avoiding his carefully planned traps and why she doesn’t say yes when every other girl has in the past. He wants to know her.

He knows Codex will be at the gaming convention. The game seems to be the one constant in her life. Fawkes pauses and gathers that information but refuses to make a judgment too quickly. That is what cost him his victory last time. This time he will observe without interaction and only after that will he weigh who she is.

Of course, their shared history is working against him. Every time she sees him she is suited up in armor and to win this battle he needs to see below the armor he needs to see her essence and, the traitorous voice in the back of his head pipes in, her heart. So he finds a way to be formless. A way to be soundless. A way to be mysterious. And he has just the way to do so.

Everyone notices the furry, but no one knows who lies beneath.

True, a storm trooper would have worked just as well for formlessness but Fawkes refuses to be that cliché.

It is in his fox costume, a subtle nod to see if she’s paying attention, that he first sees her. He’s been waiting at check in knowing that if he waits long enough she’ll appear.

And there she is. She still interests him and his heart can’t help but beat just a bit faster. He might be doing this for victory but he knows it’ll be more than little bit of fun.

Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move. Sun Tzu

He’s been watching her since she arrived and maybe it is a bit stalker-ish--though he prefers to think of it has reconnaissance or opposition research—but it isn’t all he’s doing. He’s going to some of the panels and trying the new expansion pack for the game (absolutely useless in his opinion) and even buying stuff in the vendor’s room but he’s doing it all by himself.

Bruiser is taking advantage of Bladezz being out of town and spending the weekend in with Bladezz’s mom. Kwan is at some starcraft conference on the otherside of the country. Venom and Riley are off doing normal couple-y stuff—if your normal couple was into destruction, chaos and devastation. And even Valkyrie decided not to come.

Fawkes ignores the fact that’s he’s alone (again) and refocuses his thoughts.

And hark, hanging out in the halls is good for something—there she is.

But, she seems sad or something...the Codex that originally fascinated him was always in motion and always wore her emotions on her face. This Codex that he sees seems conflicted and it gives him hope.

A fool could see that she’s trying to go back to safety with this weird thing with Zaboo—but it does worry him.

All Zaboo needs is a foothold, they are friends and they play the game together and he is always there. He moved out of his mother’s house for her and all it would take is a moment of weakness on her part and Zaboo would never let her go.

His Codex deserves more than that. She deserves more than being tied up in a relationship built on bonds of obligation and guilt.

So, he watches as she has a mini-freak out with Zaboo.

So, he watches as she eats the cookies to build up her confidence.

So, he watches, prepared to jump in to cause a distraction to make sure that Zaboo and Codex never get their chance.

And yet, when the talk starts he finds himself frozen. His Codex is there and seems slightly broken. She seems to be grasping at straws reaching for something, for anything.

And this is how he knows he’s in deep. Normally a neurotic mess like that would either leave him smirking or leave him ready to take advantage of and add her to the list.

But here and now he can’t help be feel a tendril of guilt tighten in his stomach as he wonders if he’s the reason she’s like this...if he helped break her.

In his guilt he freezes and she bares what she thinks is her heart for Zaboo.

He can’t bare to see the inevitable. He can’t bare to watch as he loses her forever and so he leaves as fast as he can.

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Sun Tzu

He normally loves conventions. There are girls in skimpier costumes than they’d dare wear in real life who after a little bit of persuasion usually join him for some fun. There are panels filled with fun things and usually he has a group of friends to mock the substandard cosplayers with.

But this convention hasn’t been that. This convention has been filled with being silent. He likes to talk and connect but being in a furry suit stops that. Spending all that time looking for Codex has left him with wide stretches of time to not only examine her but to examine himself.

He isn’t sure he likes what he sees.

He’s no longer 23 and it feels increasingly like his initial fun has become filled with excess. Being an epicurean is one thing—but it isn’t the same thing as having commitment phobia.

At the Jones Soda party he finds himself in the corner contemplating just when his relationships became more of a caricature of relationships instead of real and lasting.

And then he sees her.

There is a small temptation to resist her allure because she’s forcing him to examine himself again—but Sun Tzu would not appreciate that.

He watches as she gets sadder and drunker and tries to gather more jewels of information about her to add to his research.

Then she and Tink kiss—which is unexpected to say the least—but he watches and gathers the information.

Amazingly she’s not with Zaboo—which means that he was wrong. He hates being wrong and he feels her worm more into his heart. He hates being wrong but he wants someone who can surprise him.

He has watched her now for two days. He has seen her sad and seen her reaching out desperately grasping for love and companionship. This he can understand and work with, this he can use to make her his.

Through battle with the Knights of Goods he has learned that she values her friends and loves them.

Through his second attempt at reconciliation he has learned that she isn’t one to be impressed by shows of strength and force of power or intellect.

And now through his furry expedition he has learned that she wants connection and to be loved.

Fawkes knows he can do that. He sets out the next day, still in costume, to see if he can court her in a disguise before he reveals himself as her most hated enemy.

That fails a bit as she seems to have noticed him stalking around.

But that matters not to him. After all, as Sun Tzu says “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” And he’s ready to wage this war not with firepower but with subtle care and love until they both emerge the victors—he in love with her and she utterly in love with him.

Episode 5x06 reaction post

2011-09-01T09:38:29Z

Episode 5x06 is up!

It's time to squee and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, I also welcome suggestions to how Fawkes could have fitted into the episode, should he not appear. If we're lucky, this may inspire fic. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Episode can be found here.

Episode 5x05 reaction post

2011-08-25T16:57:53Z

Episode 5x05 is up!

It's time to squee and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, I also welcome suggestions to how Fawkes could have fitted into the episode, should he not appear. If we're lucky, this may inspire fic. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Episode can be found here.

Episode 5x04 reaction post!

2011-08-18T22:15:52Z

Episode 4 - Ends & Begins - is now up!

Copied from the previous thread - It's time to squee and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, lets talk about Codex and Fawkes! :D. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Fawkes?

2011-08-18T18:11:27Z

Did anyone else see this and wonder could it be Fawkes?

(Not sure if this picture counts as a spoiler since you can't tell who it is.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/watchtheguild/6056049246/in/photostream/

Eureka!

2011-08-16T21:31:22Z

As much as the new season of The Guild is awesome and I'm thrilled it's back.... it's not quite scratching the Codex/Fawkes itch, y'know? :)

To that I say: y'all better be watching Eureka this season.

Even though Parrish and Holly aren't quite the characters we're used to, Wil and Felicia still have great on-screen chemistry.
The show itself is great, but seeing these two opposite each other is like Codex/Fawkes methadone - definitely worth watching.

Plus there's a scene where shirts are removed.... I'm just sayin' :)

Episode 5x03 reaction post!

2011-08-11T23:23:03Z

Episode 3 - Megagame-o-ramacon! - is now up!

Copied from the previous thread - It's time to squee and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, I also welcome suggestions to how Fawkes could have fitted into the episode, should he not appear. If we're lucky, this may inspire fic. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Episode 5x02 reaction post!

2011-08-04T18:59:59Z

Episode 5x02 is up!

It's time to squee and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, I also welcome suggestions to how Fawkes could have fitted into the episode, should he not appear. If we're lucky, this may inspire fic. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Episode can be found here.

The Guild 5X01 Reaction Post

2011-07-28T18:01:15Z

The new episode of The Guild is going to be up on MSN in about an hour, according to the Guild's twitter feed.
This is a reaction post for that very episode, for people to squee over, and discuss the episode. Picspams and fun are also allowed.
As we are a shipping comm, I also welcome suggestions to how Fawkes could have fitted into the episode, should he not appear. If we're lucky, this may inspire fic. ;)

Looking forwards to squeeing with you, guys!

Episode is up!

PS: How many of you guys bought the Highland Sextasy poster? I sure did!

The Guild returns on July 26th!

2011-07-15T20:37:01Z

The Guild season 5 will premier on July 26th, and our community discussion posts will go up as usual.
I hope everyone else is looking forwards to it as much as I am, and that it will inspire more fic and art.

In the meantime, please spam this post with as much The Guild stuff and other amusing things as you have!

Five Times...or Four Times Codex Never Ran Into Fawkes, Plus One Time She Did

2011-06-14T23:43:36Z

Title: Five Times...or Four Times Codex Never Ran Into Fawkes, Plus One Time She Did
Author: kaitou_lili
Word Count: 2,910
Summary: Because we know what just about everyone but Fawkes does and I’m curious...also, I stole the idea that Codex was estranged from her mother from one of you wonderful people!

1. The Lawyer

Control your own destiny before someone else does. Jack Welch.

Fawkes loves working at his own small firm. He put in the time and leveled up his lawyering skills through the clerkship and big firm servitude but there is nothing better than being the master of your own destiny. He likes to think that he is doing exactly what Jack Welch said by controlling his own destiny before anyone else does. Plus he has plenty of time for gaming now since he and his partners set their own schedules.

It's hard work for sure and he has to be polite or at least courteous to clients and judges and opposing counsel all day long and that's why he started the Axis. He needed a place he could be bloodthirsty unstoppable him. There is a certain thrill that comes from stepping into the court room, a powerful thrill that comes from poking apart the opposing counsel's case until it is wobblier than a deck of cards, and there is certainly that undeniably thrill of winning. But he's a criminal defense attorney and that means sometimes winning isn't all opening arguments, vicious cross exams, and hypnotizing closings, it means that sometimes (most times) winning is getting a plea deal in place or getting off defendants that everyone knows did something but no one can prove. And he sleeps fine at night because people are innocent until proven guilty even if that means a few people that shouldn't do go free, he's upholding the very tenants of law--or at least that is what he feels most of the time and on the nights that he doesn't well, there are plenty of sins to choose from for distraction.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't revel in being able to be an unholy terror in game and an anarchist force. Every criminal defense attorney has something they do to try to stop the creep of jaded cynicism from completely taking them over. Usually some excess or sin to blunt the fact that being none of them quite grew up to be Atticus Finch. And Fawkes? Well, he's always been a fan of all of them (Malcolm Reynolds).

Tonight? Tonight his sin is women and wine.

One of the prosecutors in town is about to move out East and so he’s taking the opportunity to gather his rosebuds while he may (Robert Herrick), besides since he works across the court from them all day he never has checked a prosecutor off his experience list. They are out at Renata's...he feels lucky there. It's his go-to date bar. Occasionally he wonders what the staff thinks of him, but he's a good tipper and it's a quiet bar so he always gets good service. It's kind of like a lucky tie; he's always been successful when he brings a woman here. Which is far better than his in-court record.

That prosecutor's suit is definitely coming off soon, and while she pours herself another glass over their shared fajitas she breaks in with a tale from work. No names of course, since the loss of licensure by violation of attorney client privilege keeps both of them on the straight and narrow--or as straight and narrow as they can make it.

"You'll never believe the arson case that came across my desk."

"It's arson, how interesting can it be? Unless they need an attorney?"

The prosecutor shoots him a look of playful exasperation and continues ahead with her story as if he hadn't said a thing.

"You know what they say...redheads can't be trusted or maybe it's that it's that arson is all fun and games until your boyfriend cheats on you and you torch his cello." At this she starts giggling and Fawkes decides that the time is right.

"It's always the quiet ones," he says as he trails a kiss up her arm and suggests they head out for some place a bit more private.

The evening continues much as he expected. He's seduced so many women that by this point it seems almost formulaic in a way. He enjoys it but misses the challenge, misses the interest. And yet the next morning at work he finds himself pulling up the court docket and finding the pleadings for the case...Cyd Sherman. He has a hearing at nine so he doesn't even google her name just decides to find a redhead that weekend.

Months later after he's almost destroyed the Knights of Good; after he's taken Codex's armor off; and after he's decided to go to this non-deductible business meeting he can't stop the shiver of delight that happens when he hears that this is the Cyd Sherman. It has to be after all, how many other redheaded violinists named Cyd Sherman are there after all.

He didn't expect that level of danger from her.

And that makes it interesting.

Makes her interesting.

2. The Part-Time Professor

And somebody's got to take care of him so I quit school and that's what I did. Tracy Chapman.

When he was young Fawkes thought he would be a pirate and sail the high seas. His father was always by his side and together they conquered the world.

And then his mom died and his sister got married and his father got sick.

As cliché as it was he felt a bit like Tracy Chapman, someone had to take care of his father. He wasn't about to trust his beloved father with a complete stranger. Someone had to perfect their chicken soup, perfect their puddings, and perfect their applesauce.

And it wasn't all bad, it's not like he dropped out of school or anything. He's finished his bachelors and his master's degree (history) and is almost done with his Ph.D. He publishes articles and is an adjunct professor one night a week at a local community college. His students love him and the department periodically offers him a full time tenure track position, but it just doesn't feel right. After all it takes time to lose one's family the right way and for his father that indulged his love of navy battles with trips to the Tall Ships, with model scale re-enactments, and his own pirate hat nothing but the best would do.

Besides since his mother's resources went into a trust to support the family he actually gets paid to take care of his father the way he would anyway and he doesn't have to pay the bills or rent or anything. It's kind of a sweet gig, when he ignores the fact that it's HIS father that is dying.

His in game persona allows him to be the badass he knows he is even though his days are filled with sponge baths, pill distribution, and spooning soft food into his old co-Captain's mouth.

As the years have passed instead of a rotating visiting nurse he's found that one comes in every few days so he can have some time to himself and can raid with the guild.

Her name is Mrs. Sherman and his first impression is that she is the kind of blond that people spend a lifetime chasing with dye and his second is that she always seems so sad. As the years go by they start taking more and he learns more about her life. She has a daughter who she is estranged from. The daughter is supposedly a wonderful violinist. Mrs. Sherman says child prodigy. Fawkes thinks it's more likely that it's a parent overstating the facts. He'll be shocked later to realize that Mrs. Sherman wasn't lying and her child was a genuine prodigy. Mrs. Sherman seems as proud as she is ashamed of her wayward daughter. Fawkes' parents might be dead or delusional but at least he always knew they loved him.

When he first meets Codex at the game stop there is something familiar about her face.

When he finds out she plays the violin a memory tickles the back of his mind.

When he hears her voice simultaneously sad, pleading, and angry on the phone it sounds so familiar.

He later puts it together when he remembers red hair comes from a sometimes generation skipping recessive gene.

3. The Software Engineer

Code Monkey get up get coffee. Code Monkey go to job. Code Monkey have boring meeting with boring manager Rob. JoCo.

He was going to kill Rob. Seriously, who volunteers someone for pro bono work without asking them.

And he's a software engineer not some web designer. He didn't care if Rob was trying to get in the pants of the administrative assistant over at the symphony he wasn't some mindless serf who would do whatever Rob wanted.

But then how do you turn down simple web site maintenance for a non-profit, just because he hated HTML didn't mean he couldn't do it. Besides maybe he could get to the administrative assistant first. He didn't want to date her, but he'd beat Rob at least.

He picks up two iced coffees on his way in and flirts shamelessly with the administrative assistant throughout the whole meeting. He’s secured a date at Renata’s and hasn’t even looked over the actual information

The morning comes and the girl is gone. She was another blond and while he can now check off “stole girl from boss” on his life list he finds himself oddly bored and so, even though it’s seven a.m. on a Saturday morning and he could be grinding in game he finds himself picking up his work.

It turns out to be an easy update that he can solve by writing a bash script. He promptly does that and tabs over to run a dungeon not even paying attention as ShermanCyd-Bio.html is processed.

4. The Etsy Shop Owner

There is no spectacle on earth more appealing than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves. Thomas Wolfe.

Fawkes grew up in the kitchen. One of his first memories is sitting on his grandmother’s lap “helping” her pinch dough. And while when he was little it was just helping, as he got older he started doing more and more on his own.

And he loved it.

He loved the chemistry and science behind baking. He loved the creativity inherent in cooking. He loved the feeling of making a meal for his Grandma. He, after all, always had been her favorite.

One day his sister came up to him wanting to make money, as part of finishing business school she had to develop a business plan and she roped Fawkes in without a word. She figured with his skills and her business knowhow they would succeed. And, as it turns out they did.

They started the SugarShack which started out selling custom flavored sugars and expanded into homemade extracts, syrups, and other assorted sweets. His trifles where to die for, his brownies were delicious, and their best selling packages where either the sugar of the month (lavender, vanilla, citrus, lemon, basil) or syrup of the month (champagne, maple, blueberry, rhubarb) club...life was sweet...literally.

Well, except for the fact that everyone thought he was a woman named Farleigh.

Part of what brought their customers back time and time again was not just the food but also the atmosphere. The homey older sister recipes and blog posts he wrote as Farleigh where only the tip of the iceberg.

But his sister was right and business was business and so he role-played Farleigh to give his customers what they wanted. The customer is always right after all.

Imagine his surprise when post the cheesybeards fire, post the rejection, and post the rumors he heard of a weird called off wedding he saw a familiar address pop up on his syrup of the month mailing list.

Cyd Sherman. Zaboo was apparently trying to court her again.

It seemed no matter where he went there she was.

In game, out of game. In character, out of character. It didn’t matter it seemed she was always just around the bend, constantly tantalizing him by being close but just out of reach. The irony of the only girl he wanted to date twice not wanting to date him definitely got to him.

He was tempted for a moment to do something to her shipment, but then he remembered he was roleplaying Farleigh and decided against it. It was just a simple shipment after all. It wasn’t like anything was going to happen.

When Codex wrote an email to “Farleigh” exclaiming how much she loved the syrup, Fawkes just sighed and shook his head.

+ 1

Nine o’clock on a Wednesday night was Cyd’s favorite time to go grocery shopping. You missed the crowds of the weekly dinner rush and the weekend shoppers. A next to deserted store was the best. And, since the only other people out shopping at 9pm on Wednesday were either workaholics or people just like her, the atmosphere was nice and low-key. She certainly didn’t have to worry about someone starting a conversation as they both picked out tomatoes from the vegetable bin.

Wedding season was thankfully upon her. She might have come to hate the sound of Pachelbel’s Cannon and she definitely thought most people were pretty unimaginative when it came to choosing wedding music—though the wedding industry might have been to blame for that, but it meant that she once again wasn’t completely unemployed. And not completely unemployed meant that she once again to buy something more exciting than ramen at the grocery store.

Deciding to live a little she decides to splurge on old lady rum raisin instead of old lady butter pecan, but she can't quite reach and so she stretches her body into the freezer until only her bottom half is sticking out as she searches for it. And that is when she hears a voice...

“Life be not so short but there is always time for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Why don’t you come out of there and let me reach in for a spell.”

“Seriously Fawkes? Do your lines actually work on women?”

“Codex. What a surprise...”

“I was just trying to reach some ice cream.”

“Obviously,” and with that he reaches in sliding past her into the freezer and grabs the last carton of rum raisin.

Cyd ignores the fire that sparks across her skin as he gets close; ignores the cold that sweeps in when he leaves; and ignores that bloody pang in her heart. Stupid. Cute. Gamer. Boy.

But seeing that last pint of rum raisin slip from her grasp was too much.

“That’s mine!”

“And yet, it appears to be in my hand.”

“Come on you wouldn’t even be taking the rum raisin if it wasn’t for me.”

“Really now aren’t we full of ourselves, I thought you liked old lady butter pecan. If I’m taking rum raisin it’s because I want it. When I take something it’s because I want it.”

Cyd feels like there is something she’s missing. That his words mean more than just who gets the rum raisin ice cream.

“But...I want it,” and Cyd can’t believe those words just came out of her mouth. It’s just ice cream she thinks, get a hold of yourself you have soft naturally wavy hair.

And there with a lecherous look he follow up with, “well we could have that second chance and share it.”

And Cyd still feels like she’s missing something again and she knows it isn’t fair but this was supposed to be her grocery store and her Wednesday night and her rum raisin and she responds with the tangle of feelings that he always creates in her that frustration and want buried together with hurt and exasperation always tempered with the extra awareness whenever he is in the room. And for whatever reason she takes it out on him.

“We could have if you wouldn’t have gone and messed with that furry.” And she means it to be snappy but, of course, it isn’t. It comes out plaintive and sad and she knows that she’s done for it...he’s seen her weakness and he’ll mercilessly exploit it now.

Her heart soars though when he doesn’t come back with something cutting and when his face softens.

“Well, we could share it and I’ll do better than,” this time it’s a bit less lecherous though his eyes still seem to be amused.

“Really?”

“We could call it a non-deductible business meeting,” he teases, “just name your time.”

“Wait, really?” Cyd can’t believe it, is it that easy. He’s smiling and teasing and she can feel the warmth in her stomach.

And so they do, while Cyd would have liked to just open the carton right then, she trusts herself more in the light of day and somehow ice cream has become a picnic and she has a date...er...a non-deductible business meeting.

They wander through the rest of the store and she feels like a real adult. And he’s not exactly soft and fluffy but he’s more honest and she finds herself laughing and having a good time.

By the time they have checked out she’s actually looking forward to their date tomorrow.

“Wait, how could you just promise me we could meet whenever? You always seem to be online what exactly is it that you do?”

He smirks and replies, “wouldn't you like to know."'

Guild Comic Sale

2011-05-07T02:34:13Z

Hey all,

I know the community has been quiet, but I thought that everyone should know that there is a sale this weekend on all the Guild comics that are out. Each comic is only $0.99, and bundles are on sale as well.. its really cool! Everyone should check it out!

https://digital.darkhorse.com/search/?q=guild

Divided We Fall

2011-04-03T23:19:37Z

This is something I compiled a while ago, and I think it's finally time to post it.

This is my first fanmix, just FYI. Hope you enjoy!

(Cover by me)

"Divided We Fall"

Each song on this mix is sort of like a chapter of Codex and Fawkes's relationship in Seasons 3 & 4, with an epilogue from each of the characters' points of view after Codex gives Fawkes the boot.

(Prologue) "Ever Fallen In Love" - Buzzcocks

You stir my natural emotions
You make me feel like dirt
And I'm hurt
And if I start a commotion
I run the risk of losing you and that's worse
Ever fallen in love with someone
Ever fallen in love, in love with someone, ever fallen in love
In love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with

(Meet Codex) "Confusion Girl (Shame Shame Shame)" - FrankMusik

Confusion girl never gives or takes
Tries to cover up all her mistakes
Wanting to be someone else
Anything but herself

(Meet Fawkes) "Selfish Man" - Flogging Molly

I don't eat I just devour
Everyone in every hour
All is me is all I need
And that's all that I care

(Fawkes Hits On Codex) "Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Relax, don't do it
When you wanna go to it
Relax, don't do it
When you wanna come

(After The First Date, a.k.a. The Sex) "Rock You Like A Hurricane" - Scorpions

It's early morning, the sun comes out
Last night was shaking and pretty loud
The cat is purring and scratches my skin
So what is wrong with another sin?

(Codex's Confusion) "(You Drive Me) Crazy" - Britney Spears

Baby, I'm so into you
You've got that somethin', what can I do?

Baby, you spin me around
The earth is movin' but I can't feel the ground
Every time you look at me
My heart is jumpin', it's easy to see
You drive me crazy, I just can't sleep
I'm so excited, I'm in too deep

(Codex's Proposal) "Something To Talk About" - Bonnie Raitt

People are talkin', talkin' 'bout people
I hear them whisper... You won't believe it!
They think we're lovers kept undercover
I just ignore it, but they keep sayin' we
Laugh just a little too loud (a little too loud)
Stand just a little too close (a little too close)
We stare just a little too long
Maybe they're seein' somethin' we don't, darling
Let's give 'em something to talk about

(Fawkes Is An Epicurean) "Ladies of the World" - Flight of the Conchords

All the ladies in the world
I wanna get next to you, show you some gratitude
By making love to you (it's the least we can do)
If every soldier in the world
Put down his weapon and picked up a woman
What a peaceful world this world would be

(Codex Tells Off Fawkes) "Beat It (feat. John Mayer)" - Fall Out Boy

They told him don't you ever come around here
Don't wanna see your face you better disappear
The fire's in her eyes and her words are pretty clear
So beat it, just beat it

(Epilogue According to Codex) "Stronger" - Britney Spears

Hush, just stop... There's nothing you can do or say (baby)
I've had enough, I'm not your property as from today (baby)
You might think that I won't make it on my own
But now I'm stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killin' me no more

(Epilogue According to Fawkes) "I Want To Be Loved" - Bon Jovi

I'm gonna live, I'm gonna survive
Don't want the world to pass me by
I'm gonna dream, I ain't gonna die
Thinking my life was just a lie
I want to be loved
I want to be loved

Go ahead, listen, and enjoy!

Coming Attractions!

2011-03-28T13:47:21Z

I don't have much going on in my fic writing, But I am hacking away at one particular thing.

If Codex were pressed, she'd have to say that what started it all was the email Fawkes sent her. She would have been quite content to not deal with him ever (well, maybe not content, 'cause there was a part of her that really wanted to see him again-she just kept it down by focusing on getting a job), but then he had to come sauntering back into her life like nothing had happened. She was kinda glad, because if he was emailing her it meant he survived the Cheesybeard's blaze, and she couldn't have anything more from that day on her conscience (she was still kicking herself-Bladezz plus Fire always equaled Bad Idea). But that gladness was vastly overshadowed by the fact that it was Fawkes emailing her. She was angry with him, she was not going to acknowledge him, she was going to be strong, she was...
...reading the email.
It was an apology. Sure it may have had a pretentious quote (did G.K. Chesterton count as pretentious?), but he seemed really apologetic. And complimentary.
The compliments were what immediately set her on guard. He had never complimented her before, save That Day when he told her she was "interesting" (and maybe a few times before, on That Night, but she was pretty sure that was alcohol-induced. Mostly sure.). No. This had to be some sort of trap to get her to forgive him before he shamed her in front of the guild again. If he had wanted an actual relationship, he wouldn't have been such a d-bag to her before.
So she hunted down an equally pretentious quote, and sent him an email back telling him, in no small terms, that she was angry and hurt and didn't want to speak to him.
Okay, so maybe she just sent him the quote and told him to sod off. Close enough. She figured that would be the end of it, that she wouldn't hear from him again once he figured out that she wasn't going to play his little game.
Then he replied. Again, he was polite and contrite. But she didn't want to talk to him over email. It was so easy to get passive-aggressive, and she didn't want that. If she was going to talk to him (which she didn't want to do, she was pretty sure), she wanted to talk to him face-to-face. Hoping (perhaps not as strongly as she had before, not that she'd admit to it) that wouldn't come to pass, she continued making plans for the convention.
---
"Stop calling me." A sigh. "Please."
"But Fawkes! If I'm gonna help you and Codex make a successful reunion, then we have to make plans!"
Fawkes gave the phone a withering glare. He knew Zaboo wouldn't register it, but some part of his brain felt better despite this.
"Look, Zaboo. This is something I have to do myself-" he started to say, but Zaboo clearly wasn't listening and just steamrolled over him.
"I could give you a list of the books she has, her iTunes library-so you could serenade her-her favorite flowers, panels our guild is going to be at, anything? I'm her best friend, so it's my job to help you two make a triumphant reunion. Sidekick'd."
"Zaboo, I don't want 'anything.' I want to plan this out on my own. If you do it for me, it won't mean anything. Good bye."
"Okay Fawkes! See you the- huh. He hung up on me."

coming attractions!

2011-03-11T23:23:00Z

So I have two in progress fics at the moment (great idea fortuna_juvat!).

“Psst! Look it’s him again.”

The waitresses at Renata’s looked over and there—once again—was the restaurant legend. Seriously, he was there at least once a week and with a different girl each time. He was a surprisingly good tipper and, even though he seemed to go through women like tissues, he never hit on any of the waitresses or bartenders at Renata’s. Which, considering how often he was there, might have been a good thing.

Besides, since he seemed to only come here with dates hitting on waitress might have been a bit unseemly.

His age was somewhere between mid-20s to mid-30s, but even the most senior waitress said he was a legend when she started.

Renata’s was usually pretty quiet in terms of business—though not as quiet as Cheesybeards—and so the manager liked to make sure his best customer was happy. That meant that the legend always got a nice romantic and private table with a softly flickering candle and the best atmosphere a place like Renata’s could give.

The wait staff had once tried to figure out his type but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the women he brought to the restaurant. It didn’t seem to matter whether they were tall or short; fat or skinny; or blond, brunette, redheaded, or any other hair color for that matter all seemed to be his type. He brought women in suits with high-powered hair and high heels and women in tracksuits with messy hair and tennis shoes. It seemed there wasn’t a kind of woman he liked—or a kind of woman he repeated.

Speculation ran high about who he was and what he did. Some of them thought he was a gigolo. The bartender disagreed and thought that he’d at least have some repeat clientele then. Some of them thought that he was desperate for companionship. The hostess disagreed and said that of all those women at least one of them would have been back for a second date if that were the case. And some of them thought he was just having fun playing the field.

They had bets on when he would stop bringing women, come by himself, or bring a repeat. They had bets on what the next woman would look like. They layered bets upon bets based on their little restaurant legend. It got a bit boring at Renata’s sometimes.

“Alright who had redhead?” The server from table eight—a redhead herself—smirked and collected her pot.

Later that night after the legend and his redhead left and the staff was cleaning up, the bartender spoke up.

“You know, he seemed extra into this one. I’ll enter the pot and say that if he ever brings a repeat it’ll be her.”

The rest of the staff looked shocked. The bartender was perhaps one of the most cynical staff members and he rarely got involved with the betting. None of the rest of them had seen an extra spark. But his dollar was added to the pot and maybe he had seen something they hadn’t. The bar did have a better view of the legend’s table.

I have the 5 times (they are different jobs Fawkes has) listed out but am having trouble writing them--note even though they don't run into each other Fawkes still encounters Cyd in some way. Anyway, here is the beginning of my +1 time they do!

+1 quotation (butter pecan ice cream)

Nine o’clock on a Wednesday night was Cyd’s favorite time to go grocery shopping. You missed the crowds of weekly dinner rush and the weekend shoppers. A next to deserted store was the best. And, since the only other people out shopping at 9pm on Wednesday were either workaholics or people just like her. The atmosphere was nice and low-key. She certainly didn’t have to worry about someone starting a conversation as they both picked out tomatoes from the vegetable bin.

Wedding season was thankfully upon her. She might have come to hate the sound of Pachelbel’s Cannon and she definitely thought most people were pretty unimaginative when it came to choosing wedding music—though the wedding industry might have been to blame for that, but it meant that she once again wasn’t completely unemployed. And not completely unemployed meant that she once again to buy something more exciting than ramen at the grocery store.

Also, I've been contemplating a Babies Everywhere remix fic from Fawkes' point of view.

Coming Attractions.

2011-03-11T16:41:56Z

So I know I can't be the only one who has a codex/fawkes fic brewing, but it's just not quite done.

Instead, challenge: everyone post just a snippet of what they're working on, 100 words or less. Vague descriptions of the story to give context are also welcome

I'll go: (From my "what if Codex defected at the game stop instead of Tink" story)

She'd already packed up her computer and was enjoying the late afternoon sun streaming in through the front windows, and so Cyd sat, dangling her legs as she perched on the high counter. The pleasant setting left her relaxed, so she listened indulgently to the college kid who'd come up to chat with her. He was sweet enough, but she could tell from little shake to his hands and somewhat disjointed diatribe on warlock talent trees told her that he was nervous as hell.

"Shoo." Poor guy nearly jumped out of his skin as Fawkes walked up behind him, the ridiculous command hanging in the air as he bolted.

Cyd scowled at the kilted man in front of her. "Was that really necessary?"

"You're an axis player now. There's an image to maintain, and your little admirer there certainly doesn't fit."

"Screw that. You're my guild leader, Fawkes. You don't tell me what men I can or can't talk to."

He planted his hands on either side of her, taking a step forward. "Funny you should mention that, Codex. I am in fact, the guild leader. One would think that it would be my job to run said guild."

She was suddenly acutely aware of how close he was standing as the inside of her knee brushed against his hip. "Your point?"

"My point" he growled, voice low and serious "Is that you should let me run it."

She choked back a stunned giggle, leaned back on her hands. "Is THAT what has you so bent out of shape? You're just pissed that I was right."

"That's not the point. You think you have a better way to run content? You come to me in private." the counter gave her a few inches in hight, so for once she was at eye level.

"Fine, oh mighty guild leader. No more dissent in the ranks." she said airily, watched him relax. Cyd took advantage, grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt, and leaning forward until their faces were inches apart. "But that is the LAST time you interfere with my personal life in ANY way, shape or form." his eyes widened and she barreled on, emboldened by his stunned silence. "I don't say JACK about your floozy parade, so you keep your damn mouth shut about who I choose to talk to."

She let go and watched him struggle to regain his composure. "Floozy parade. Nice. This coming from Miss Frigid herself. Tell me Codex, have you gotten laid in the current century?"

"That's- that's... none of your business." she hesitated, the carefully constructed bravado starting to crumble. She saw the arched eyebrow and the smirk, knew that he'd picked up on her uncertainty.