Hello, my alien lovers!

Happy Friday!

Today, I want to nerd out about a Canadian show, Frankie Drake Mysteries.

You can watch it on a CBC Gem (which desperately needs a better user interface system). It's a cute and cozy show that's very chill to watch. It taught me stuff about Canada's history (prohibition is insane! segregation even more!) I didn't know much about.

The show is very white, cishet, and so far (mid-season 3), I feel like there were a lot of missed opportunities to use a more diverse lens to visit 1920s' Toronto.

It's a spin-off(ish?) of Murdoch Mysteries, which doesn't look very diverse either. But Murdoch was renewed for a 19th season when Frankie was cancelled after only four.

Frankie Drake Mysteries explores interesting topics. In the last episode we watched, a black resident is running for city council. Her campaign is targeted by violent acts, and the storyline brings an important perspective to conflicts inside progressive movements. The show also addresses gender inequality and pervasive patriarchy quite extensively. The queer representation is so minimal it's not worth mentioning.

I still enjoy watching it despite its flaws. I'm frustrated it was cancelled so early because it keeps improving. Season 3 has been, so far, the best season!

Welcome to Chapter 30!

It's Romance! It's Action! It's Adventure! It's everything you want it to be!

Enjoy!

lunus 🩷

If you're new to the story, start with Chapter 1

If you missed the last chapter, Previously on Perilous Love Stars

Interview with actress and soap icon, Daphne Dutrignon

I meet with soap icon and star of Betteraves & Betrayals, Daphne Dutrignon, on a crisp autumn day at a local coffee shop in Sobriquet Lake. The actress is fashionably late and arrives twenty minutes past the hour, wearing a black and red fitted pantsuit, large hoop earrings, and a gorgeous designer silk scarf that holds her vibrant red hair together. She orders a matcha latte with oat milk as soon as she arrives. “I’m off caffeine and dairy,” she tells me playfully as she lights a cigarette, waiting for our drinks. “It’s doing wonders for me,” she adds, “I just turned fifty last week. I want to take care of my body, invest in its longevity.”

Longevity is a concept with which the soap actress is very familiar. Dutrignon began her acting career in her pre-teens, booking her first gig at the age of 12. It took only two years for her to get her big break as Adele Betterave, the heir of the Betterave family on the long-running daytime soap, Betteraves & Betrayals. Originally a guest role, Adele’s arc was quickly rewritten after the audience – and most of Canada! – fell under Dutrignon’s charms. Thirty-six years later, the actress has proven she knows something about longevity as the show’s longest cast member and character.

Dutrignon acknowledges she wouldn’t be where she is now, at a stage of her career she calls “rewarding, safe, and formidable!”, if it weren’t for the hardened support of her fans. “I love the fans, they’re the heart of our show. We wake up every day and craft forty minutes of extraordinary TV just for them. I’m forever grateful and honoured by their support. The outpouring of love we receive from them, all the cards and gifts, the attention… It’s all very humbling. I will never take it for granted.”

When prompted about future plans, Dutrignon assures me she has no intention of leaving the show. “As long as I’m wanted, I’ll stick around. We have an amazing team of writers and producers, and I’m confident the show will continue to surprise and delight the fans. I’m excited to see what comes next.” When I asked her if she feels bored after playing the same character for over three decades, she promptly dismissed the idea, shaking her head.  “Absolutely not. Actors are expected to leave soaps and daytime dramas after they get famous. They’re encouraged to make fun of those projects once they pursue bigger opportunities, often cheapening their work and stomping over the love and dedication fans poured into the shows. Those actors want to become ‘movie stars.’ I don’t care about any of that. I’m doing this job because I love it. I love being Adele Betterave for our fans, five days a week, every week of the year. My commitment to our show is unwavering, and will stay that way for as long as we’re on air.”

Excerpt from Soapy Magazine, November 19XX. 

Maple and Salvatore trudged towards the center of the island through thick walls of trees and bushes for twenty minutes before the vegetation began to grow sparse. Neither of them were speaking. 

That worked well for Maple. She needed to focus and elaborate on a strategy to appeal to Dutrignon. How would she convince the actress to follow them back to the other side of the province after trespassing on her private property? Would “Sorry for breaking in, but I know how much Betteraves & Betrayals means to you, and without your help, the show might end!” be enough?

“Here we are,” she muttered to herself when they reached a tall brick wall stretching the length of a large clearing.

The wall circled the clearing, and the only thing Maple could see from her spot beyond the wall were trees. The perception filter was still on. Every time she looked too closely at the space between the trees, she felt a headache spreading at the back of her head. 

“Can you do something about the filter? I can’t see the house.”

Salvatore shook his head. “No, but the filter isn’t working on me anymore. The house looks more like a mansion.”

“I can’t see anything.”

“Perception filters are location-based. They have a threshold. Once we cross it, it’ll stop working for you, too.”

She touched the red bricks, warmed up by the sun. “How do we get past the wall?”

“Maybe there’s a gate.”

After an hour of following the borders of the wall all around the property, two things were obvious: there was no gate, and Daphne Dutrignon really didn’t like visitors. Nothing said “leave me alone” like locking oneself inside a mansion hidden behind a perception filter, surrounded by an impenetrable wall on a recluse island. 

“I didn’t come all this way to give up now,” Maple mumbled to herself as fatigue took over her. 

She looked at the trees around the brick enclosure, thinking she could climb one and use it as a vantage point to get past the wall. But whoever had designed the island knew what they were doing. None of the trees were close enough to the wall. 

She pointed at one. “Do you think if we both get on this one, you could throw me over the wall?”

Salvatore laughed, an open-throated, generous laughter. “I don’t think the fall would be very gracious.”

“I don’t care about grace, Salvatore. I care about getting inside that house and talking to Daphne. We’ve come this far, the crew is counting on us.”

A lot of people were counting on them to succeed, something Maple was less and less sure they could achieve. Clearly, she’d underestimated Daphne’s loner tendencies. But she had to try. She owed her crew that much.

“We just need to get past the wall,” she said, thinking about other ways to accomplish that. 

“And deactivate the security system,” he added. “I can feel at least three different types of alarms and triggers in place between us and the mansion. Maybe we should find a way to let Daphne know we’re here.”

“Did you see a bell anywhere? There’s no gate. For all we know, she hasn’t left this place in years and never expected visitors.”

“How does she eat?”

“Maybe she has a massive garden or something. She’s obviously found a way to sustain herself inside these walls.”

“Or maybe there’s another way in,” he suggested. “We just have to find it.”

“We don’t have time.” 

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

She turned to face him, annoyed at his nonchalant attitude. “Why aren’t you? Everyone knows we kissed—”

He moved close to her. “Finally, you want to talk about the kiss—”

“I don’t want to talk about the kiss, I want to find Daphne.”

“We could do both at the same time.” His voice dipped to a thrilling rumble as their bodies almost touched. “I multitask very well."

She stepped back, frazzled, her back hitting the wall behind her. “Salvatore—”

“You won’t talk about the kiss. It’s like it was a mistake for you.”

“It was.”

A shadow passed through his luminous eyes. “It wasn’t for me.”

“It’s a mistake for us, for the show, for what we’re trying to accomplish here.”

“And what are ‘we’ trying to accomplish, Maple?”

She paused, watching him. “We’re here to save the show.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?” She shook her head but couldn’t retreat any longer. She was backed to a wall. 

“Why is saving the show so important that nothing else matters?” Salvatore asked. “Why can’t we explore our attraction and save the show at the same time?”

Because he was a beloved superstar, and she was a liability, hated by most of their public. Because they were both liars. Because the show mattered more than Maple’s personal life. Hundreds of jobs were at stake. It was people’s livelihoods, it was the fans’ dedication, it was what she’d shared with Mamie growing up. There were so many reasons why. 

“You said you were going to help me find Daphne,” Maple said defiantly, tired of having to justify herself to him. “So, help me find her.” 

He didn’t move. She was stuck between his vigorous body and the wall. “Will you let me kiss you again when we do?”

She swallowed, remembering how good his lips felt on hers. The thrill it provoked in her body to have his mouth on her skin. “Maybe.”

“Dime la verdad, por favor.”

“One kiss,” she relented.

His entire face lit up. “Gracias.”

He could probably sense how much she wanted it, too. There was no point pretending anymore, but she wanted him to understand she couldn’t act recklessly about their attraction.

“One kiss and that’s it. We still have to find a way to get through the wall.”

“I may have an idea for that.”

In a swift movement, he grabbed the back of Maple’s thighs and pulled her up to him. By reflex, Maple tied her legs around his waist. 

“What are you doing?” she asked, the heat of his body catching her off guard.

“I can control water,” he murmured in her ear. 

“Okay, and?”

“Both our bodies are made of a lot of water.”

She felt it first in her arms. Something soft tugging, drawing her upwards. It moved from her toe to the tip of her heade. She shut her eyes.

No pain, just discomfort, the strange sensation of being physically manipulated by an external force. 

Her body levitated off the ground with Salvatore’s. She opened her eyes to find his closed in concentration. 

Maple tightened her embrace as they gained enough altitude to reach the top of the wall. She gasped. She was flying! Well, to be more precise, an alien was using his hydrokinesis powers to control her cells to make her body fly while she held onto him for dear life—but yeah, she was flying! 

Maple was amazed at the breadth of Salvatore’s powers and wondered what their limits were. She had never encountered such a diverse range of powers in her Alien studies. He controlled water, could force humans to tell the truth, and possessed heat-related telekinesis abilities that’d saved Maple from being crushed by a klieg light. Was there anything this man couldn’t do? 

The breeze brought by the wind and their elevation was welcomed, offering Maple some respite. Salvatore’s body was smouldering, and the sun was striking. Sweat started to roll down Maple’s back. 

“Your body is very warm right now,” she remarked, self-conscious about sweating in the arms of a sexy superstar.

“Don’t remind me,” he said with clenched teeth. “Too many layers.”

Salvatore was wearing only one navy cotton t-shirt, which darkened as sweat accumulated on his hard, raw muscles. Maple’s hormones agreed. It was one layer too many.

Could he fuck her while he was operating her cells to make her fly? Why was she even thinking of that? And why had she agreed to a kiss for finding Daphne when he’d already agreed to help her before? 

“How many powers do you have, and how much are they affected by the disease?” she asked, trying to think about something else.

And, theoretically speaking, how many of those powers could you use on me? She thought, her mind refusing compliance.

“Maple…” he groaned, the sound thundering all the way to her chest. All his muscles tensed at once, pushing her deeper into his iron embrace. “Could we…  discuss this…  when I’m not… flying us?”

She grabbed his neck, burying her head into his shoulder, finding comfort in his scent. She felt his dick digging on the side of her thigh. 

“I’m scared,” she said.

“I’m not going… to drop us.”

“I’m scared that if you kiss me again, I might fall for you.”

His shirt was now soaked with sweat. He grunted, beginning their landing. “Would… that be… such a bad… thing?”

She allowed herself to think about it, to let her imagination grow wild, like she did when writing stories. Salvatore grabbing her, kissing her like she was his, like he knew it and was proud of it. His eyes, his hands, all of it for her, just for her. His pleasure nipping at hers.  Her teeth biting his shoulder as he pushed inside her, grunting in her ear, telling her how feral she made him. His praises, resounding in her mind, his words echoing in rhythm with the wave of her climax. Louder, Boss. Louder, louder… 

“Maple, stop,” he pleaded through gritted teeth. “I can hear you.”

“What?”

Low and rushed, he whispered, “Louder, Boss.”

She gasped and pulled back just as a bullet passed between them. A gunshot followed. She screamed. Salvatore choked.

They fell to the ground as another gunshot rang through the air.