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vulpixen · 2 years ago

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Forever Falls Prologue

Synopsis: A year has passed since that one fateful summer. Seasons have come and gone and now Dipper and Mabel return to where their journey began for another unforgettable summer in Gravity Falls. Some things changed while others stayed the same. Families growing with one or more new members, friendships formed, and love blossoming among many things have happened. And new mysteries around the corner.

Since that summer, Dipper and Mabel face the consequences of their choice of having not only their minds erased everything of who they were, but having much of those memories returned thanks to the efforts of their friends and family. However, despite their best efforts, the Mystery Twins face memory issues that’ll affect the rest of their lives. And the power they wield in their beings since Bill, like it or not, became a part of them. Now it’s up to them with what they want to do with it. Together. A/N: Hey all! Been a good while since the last story. Life happens as usual, but I am back and getting into the swing of things again and keeping the promise of a sequel fic to OBWHF. There is something else I want to add as well. There are going to be some changes to the story and a few less notable characters. I honestly don’t want them in the story anymore for this au such as Fiddleford’s raccoon wife. And this story will be significantly shorter than the first. After this story, that’ll be it in terms of giving this a conclusion as I, Vulpixen, have been moving on to different stories but I'm still going to write Gravity Falls related stories. Hope you all enjoy this one. The character Adeline Marks belongs to @hntrgurl13 and @scipunk63 (Purpledragon6 on AO3) and thank you.

Here's the family tree with the Pines going forward as they'll make an appearance in future chapters: Stanley and Carla ---> James and Jessie Pines (41) Stanford and Addi ---> Shauna, Shannon Pines (30) and Shifty Pines (37) James Pines and Tara Grayson ---> Cormac (20), Arya, Aria, and Anais Pines (16) Jessie Pines and Lillian Prescott ---> Tanya (22), Stanley Jr (17) and Tyrone “Ty” Pines (15) Cormac Pines and Evangeline Tremblay (engaged) ---> Xavier, Colten, Gweneira “Gwen”, and Rose Shauna Pines and Marcus “Spriggs” Valdez ---> Quincy Pines (8) Shifty Pines and Tate McGucket ---> Isaac McGucket (15) Shannon Pines-Bone and Clyde Bone (married) ---> Drake Bone (6), Conner and Connie Bone (4, adopted). Tanya Pines, Frederick "Fred" Palovich, and Kyle Harper ---> Cadence Pines, Matthias and Mordecai Pines Prologue on Ao3

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Night in Piedmont, California…

It had only been a week since Dipper and Mabel returned home after that eventful summer they had with their extended family, and all the adventures they had together. Dipper and Mabel had returned to school for their eighth grade year. There was a stark difference between the towns. Piedmont is nowhere near as small as Gravity Falls; too many faces seem to blend in with one another and can’t distinguish someone in a crowd almost.

And there was the challenge of remembering old friends and classmates. Hell, even navigating through their middle school became a maze of unfamiliarity in their eyes when they should be able to know the campus by heart in the years they’ve attended. Nothing much changed with the school, physically, but specific landmarks they’d recognize became a blur in their vision.

Dipper and Mabel remembered on the fifth day the concerned looks they got from their peers who’ve known the twins for years, or at least seen their faces, asking them if they’re alright when the pair couldn’t recall which class to go to next they shared. And didn’t recognize the faces of the teachers who’ve started teaching them, and the other students. Something that warranted a parent-teacher conference. Something Alex and Dana Pines find concerning as well.

Now, Dipper compiled a list of reminders on his notepad for himself and Mabel to use if they were to forget again, turning on alarms on their phones in case they forget the list. Mabel slept soundly with Waddles on her pastel sheets. Dipper rubbed his tired eyes and thought of his grunkles and graunties, considering the idea to call them for advice. He took his phone and pushed back the intrusive thoughts to not call them and speed dials the number. He lets the phone ring until he hears Stan on the other end.

“He-Hey, Dipper!” Stan greets on the other end of the phone. Stan, Carla, Ford and Adeline have yet to make their trip out to Antarctica, but will be soon. “How’s it hangin’? Are you and Mabel adjusting alright at home?”

Dipper lets out a tired sigh. “Things are going pretty well, but when it comes to things like school, we’re still getting pieces of those memories in middle school back to us.” Dipper picked up the goodbye letter Wendy gave him and Mabel, looking at it as he misses where his and Mabel’s lives changed forever. For better and for worse. “And it’s been overwhelming and… we miss you, Grunkle Stan, and the rest of the family.”

Stan let out a husky sigh. “It’ll be okay, Dipper. If not right now, it will be later. I really can’t imagine how much the memory wiping affected you and Mabel. Wish we were over there to give you two a hug, but pretend we’re there, giving you and Mabel a big one.” Stan couldn’t see it, but Dipper smiled at the mental image of everyone there with him and Mabel again.

“Thanks Grunkle Stan, that helps more than you know right now.”

“It’s no trouble, Dipper.”

“Have a good night. Don’t want to keep you up.”

“Alright. Night, Dipper.”

Dipper placed his cellphone on top of his dresser, inserted the cord of his charger in it, and falls asleep in his bed, hoping tomorrow will be better.

Within Dipper and Mabel’s dreams...

Dipper found himself within his own dream, fully aware like he and Mabel discovered not too long after coming back home. He gazes upon the world he created for himself in his dreams: orderly, filled with many creatures he’s come to learn of within a forest, and town nearby. The sky was cloudy and there was a breeze. Dipper takes a walk on the brick road he created towards the town when suddenly, a colorful pastel door poofs into existence and out comes Mabel and Waddles.

“Dipper!” Mabel exclaimed and her pig squealed in delight. “Took you long enough to get to sleep.”

Dipper laughed with ease to see his sister, making his dream brighter as the clouds disappeared. He opened up about what was on his mind.

“I was talking to Grunkle Stan before bed. I miss him and everyone in Gravity Falls. The memory lapses, and Bill’s power. We’re more fully aware within our dreams than we’ve ever been and can manipulate and enter other dreams too, I bet. Something we haven’t tried. Yet..” Mabel listens to her brother and thinks. Instead of trying to distract him like she would have before, she expresses her own feelings.

“I know exactly what you mean. I miss them too and these powers, like Uncle Maurice warned us about, are pretty cool when used the right way.” Mabel makes a family photo appear out of thin air.

It had everyone in the large family present in the photo: James and Jessie, Stan and Carla’s grown twin children. Tara Grayson-Pines, James’ wife and mother of their own children, Cormac, and the triplets Arya, Aria and Anais. Lilian Prescott and Maurice Pierce-Pines, Jessie’s wife and husband and parents of their three children Tanya (who is expecting a child of her own), Stanley Junior and Tyrone.

Then there’s Shauna, Shannon and Shifty, Ford and Adeline’s own grown children where the latter had been adopted long ago.

“Yeah.” Dipper sighed sadly while looking at the picture and he got a bright idea. “You thinking what I’m thinking, Mabel?”

“We should totally use our powers to traverse distance and enter the dreams of our friends and family?” Mabel paused and showed her bright grin. “Heck yeah!” Neither knew if it would be alright to just appear in their loved one’s dreams, but they won’t know unless they try.

Dipper and Mabel together manifested a door to appear before them. The twins held hands as they entered through the door together with Waddles in tow, closing upon the three entering. They enter what appears to be a central hub within a cosmic landscape containing many, many doors -- unique to each and every person -- that lead to a multitude of people and animals' dreams. The twins have their mouths agape in wonder of it all. Dipper, Mabel and Waddle’s feet were no longer touching the ground as they simply floated within the space.

They almost didn’t know where to start.

“So many doors!” Mabel’s voice echoed, making her giggle. “It would take an eternity to open them all.” Dipper gave his sister a telling look that she shouldn’t do it. “Which is something we don’t have!”

Dipper created a console with his mind before him and his sister and pet pig with the intent to make searching for their family member’s dreams less of a hassle. He touches the sphere of the imaginary machine and inputs the names of each person into the memory. Then suddenly, he felt a jolt of shock run through his head that made the console turn staticy. Mabel felt it too as she held her head.

“Ah!” Dipper groans. “There’s… there’s someone I’m forgetting!”

“Me too!”

Waddles, being quick to act, used his pig brain to create the scrapbook from nothing with his mind from memory, squealing and showing it to the twins with his hooves turning the pages for them. Dipper and Mabel squinted at the image of the whole family gathered, voices echoing in their minds that told them of each one; starting with the older and young adults and then to the teens and a young child. Stan; Ford; Adeline; Carla; Jimmy; James; Jessie; Shauna; Shannon; Tara; Lillian; Maurice; Spriggs; Tanya; Cormac; Stan Junior; Arya; Aria; Anais; Tyrone; Isaac; and finally Quincy.

Seeing all their faces and names in the picture, it brought back memories of all the adventures they had together. For better or for worse. Their adventures with their Grunkles and Graunties, learning the deep and dark secrets of their family members, and how they all became closer through the best and worst moments of that summer. It hurts that Dipper and Mabel were looking at the picture not too long ago, only for their mind to have blanked their memory. They’ll never get used to this.

It brought a sense of relief to the twins as they started to remember everything again. Dipper finishes the process of making the doors of each family member appear before them; each door is unique and set apart from one another that reflects the person they belong to. Dipper and Mabel didn’t hesitate to start from the oldest members to the youngest members of the family.

The first dream Dipper and Mabel and Waddles enter within their montage of dream-hopping is Stan’s. Stan dreams of the adventure at sea with his brother, wife and sister-in-law onboard the old Stan O’ War; they'll soon get to go on. Stan fights sea monsters, pirates, and singing shanties no matter how bad his singing was. Dipper and Mabel were pleased with what they were watching and got them excited to see more, but they had to move on to the other dreams and left through a door they created. Stan took notice.

In the next dream, that being Ford’s, and the twins and pig watch to see Ford dreaming that he ended Bill before Dipper and Mabel could make the deal with him. It brought some unpleasant memories in the twin’s minds so they quickly left as soon as they came. Ford, too, took notice of Dipper and Mabel’s departure, presuming to him that it means Bill’s power has begun to manifest within them.

Dipper and Mabel move on to their grauntie Carla’s dream where she is in a field of white and purple flowers with the sun in the horizon still in a permanent sunset, creating a lilac sky above. The twins find their grauntie sitting on a red and white blanket surveying the land before her. Carla appeared younger with her wrinkles nowhere to be found on her face, her gray hair back to its original brunette, and a flower in her hair. Then suddenly, a younger version of Stan appears, in a red suit and tie, his own brown hair in a mullet fashion, and a bright smile on his face. It endeared the twins while watching Carla interact with the dream version of her husband. And then, Carla and Stan began to age until they appeared as they do in the real world. Dipper and Mabel found it time to leave and move on to another dream.

The twins and pig find themselves in Adeline’s dream. The scene depicts a forest on a summer’s day with the sun shining through the trees. There was a noticeable amount of deer that grazed on the grass and stags butting heads against each other. Dipper tries to look for his aunt, but he sees that familiar blonde doe nearby who was utterly frightened and running away from the yellow demon triangle that cackles madly. This is a nightmare. Dipper and Mabel exchange looks, knowing what they felt to do was right, and fly to catch up to the triangle and Adeline. Dipper and Mabel punch the triangle together and put an end to him tormenting their grauntie. The twins and Waddles leave quickly before Adeline has the chance to approach them as she returns to her human self.

Dipper and Mabel and Waddles enter inside the dreams of their uncle, James Pines. The twins and pig watch him appear to be comforting a younger version of himself after pulling him out of the Bottomless Pit, looking no more than ten, and tending to the wound on his arm that will leave a mark. James reassures himself that things will get better for him. Something James needed to tell himself time and time again. Healing is not a straight road. Witnessing this made Dipper and Mabel feel relieved it wasn’t a nightmare, but a healing dream. They take their leave for their next dream.

Jessie was fighting her own demons within her dreams. Dipper and Mabel watch their aunt fighting against a shadowy manifestation of Thistle Downe in his ragged siren form. But Jessie wasn’t so much as fighting and showing that boastful confidence she often gave off, but running away from him in fear within the setting of the Woodstick Festival at night and no one but her, Thistle, and the twins and pig present. Dipper and Mabel knew they had to do something for her, too. Mabel makes two axes appear before Jessie on the stage and Dipper warns his aunt to get them and gives her morale in encouraging her to be much stronger than him. It gave Jessie enough motivation to run up to her axes, raise them high, and charge at her nightmare, cutting him in two. But before Jessie could thank the twins, they vanished.

Inside Tara’s dream, the twins and Waddles immediately witness Tara herself running across a vast distance within the woods in pursuit of an elk in her wolf form with red fur. Tara was getting closer and closer to her target. Mabel verbally encourages her aunt to keep going, but realizing she spoke, she covers her mouth. Tara reaches her goal and a bright light flashes, Dipper and Mabel’s cue she was waking up. The three take their leave to the next dream.

Within Lillian’s dream, Dipper and Mabel and Waddles find themselves on a highway on a moonlit night. And driving on that endless highway was Lillian riding on a polished white Harley wearing a pink helmet, having the time of her life, driving with no destination in mind. It was just Lillian and her train of thought wandering with not one obstacle coming into view. Seeing they were not needed, Dipper, Mabel and Waddles take their leave.

Dipper, Mabel and Waddles enter inside Maurice’s dream, finding it wasn’t like the other dreams and nightmares of the others they entered through thus far. It was the living room of the house he shares with his wives and sons. Maurice himself, a tall man with long blond hair, bushy beard and orange eyes was watching tv on the sofa. He turns and faces the twins and Waddles with a welcoming smile on his face.

“Oh hey, kids!” Maurice waved at them. “I see you figured out the dreamscape.”

“Sure have, Uncle Maurice!” Mabel took a seat next to him. “We’ve been missing you guys so we thought to see you all in your dreams.”

“We’ve only been going in their dreams, no one else's.” Dipper joined his sister and pig on the sofa.

“Good.” Maurice turned off the tv to give them his undivided attention. “I’ve been watching how their dreams have been playing out from here without interfering. I’m no dream demon, but I can see other people’s dreams of my choosing from within my own dreams. And I’ve seen what you have been doing.” Dipper and Mabel frowned, believing they were in trouble for it.

“We were trying to fix the ones with nightmares. Is that bad?” Mabel asked.

“I don’t think so, but I’d be careful. What happens to you in the dream will affect you in real life, too. People’s nightmares can get pretty nasty. It’s not your job to try to fix anyone’s dreams. You two deserve a break.” Maurice lets out a sigh as he can’t stop them. “But I know you guys will want to try all the same.”

“We don’t like seeing them go through those terrible things.”

“No one does. It’s up to you what you want to do.”

Dipper and Mabel nod at each other and get up from the sofa.

“Thanks for having us here,” says Dipper, keeping in mind what he said.

“It’s all good. Stay safe in the dreamscape.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Mabel smiled as her, Dipper and Waddles take their leave.

Within Spriggs’ dreams, Spriggs himself was flying across the forest as a fairy on a sunny day, resembling a Spanish moon moth in terms of the colors of his wings. Spriggs was carrying a piece of metal with gloved hands as he brought it to what appeared to be a metallic gateway of alien nature. Spriggs was engrossed in his work to not notice the twins and Waddles nearby behind the pine trees in working on his project. Dipper was interested in where it would lead. Soon enough, Spriggs finished and turned on the gateway and shines a great blue light upon activation. Spriggs flutters into it as if compelled to. But before he could enter it, Dipper, Mabel and Waddles see everything turn white and fading, a familiar occurrence when they were in Stan and Ford’s dreamscape all those months ago.

Dipper, Mabel and Waddles couldn’t get into Shauna’s door when it faded away from their view. It was telling she must have woken up that got Spriggs, her husband, to wake up as well. They hoped she was okay as they entered into their aunt Shannon’s dream.

Shannon’s dream was a spectacle. Dipper, Mabel and Waddles found themselves at a night club full of colorful lights, upbeat music, and familiar faces that danced on the floor or mingled at the bar. At the center stage, Shannon was the center of everyone’s attention as she danced with what appeared to be her boyfriend Clyde. She seemed happy and in her element. Mabel was digging the music and dancing with Waddles. Dipper, too, nodded his head to the beat of the music. But it didn’t last long with Dipper focusing back on the rest of the dreams he wanted to visit before the night ended. He tugged Mabel’s sweater, taking her out of the groove and followed him as did Waddles.

The next dream is Shifty’s. Shifty dream involved himself exploring a vibrant field of an array of colors Dipper, Mabel and Waddle have never seen in their world. Trees that stretch towards the red-orange sky with a blue sun shining above them. Definitely not of their world. Was it a genetic memory? Much of Shifty’s origins still remains a mystery. It is unlikely Shifty himself will ever know, but these kinds of dreams leave him to wonder what could have happened all the same. There wasn’t much the twins and pig could do but take their leave.

Within Tate’s dream, he was fishing out in the middle of Gravity Falls Lake. Everything was quiet, save for the ambient sounds of nature around him and the light breeze on a sunny day. The perfect day to fish. But he wasn’t alone as his adoptive son Isaac was fishing with him without a care. They waited for something to happen, but nothing of significance. It was just a pleasant time without disturbance. They couldn’t blame him for desiring this after everything that happened. Dipper, Mabel and Waddles leave the dream on a positive note.

Tanya’s dream was another story. Tanya, an intersex young woman with long blonde hair and partially toned skin, faces across from her a huge wolf with piercing yellow eyes and black as night fur. It was a face off. Dipper and Mabel knew better than to interfere in this as Waddles cowered behind Mabel, shaking in fear. They watch Tanya approach the wolf slowly. She was afraid, but she had to face it. Something unique to her since her lycanthropy awakened and began throwing her off her composure. On top of being pregnant at that.

“Okay, bud. This is how we’re going to do this.” Tanya stares down the wolf who gave her his undivided attention. “This body is my own. I don’t want you to do anything that could harm me and my child, or any children I have after. We share control of it. Got it?” The wolf narrows his eyes before he gives a snort as if agreeing with her. “Heh. Simple as that.”

Seeing as Tanya has it handled, Dipper and Mabel leave along with Waddles.

Within Stanley Junior’s dream, it was much more vibrant and quiet as if they were in a painting themselves of an open field next to a lake on a bright sunny day with little clouds in the sky. It didn’t take long for the twins and Waddles to find the sixteen year old boy who resembled much like his grandpa Stan as a teen, with the exception that his brown hair reaches to his shoulders and a full beard on his face he let grow out. Junior was painting a picture on a canvas of Dipper and Mabel and Waddles, having felt their presence the second they entered his dream.

“Oh! Hey Dips! Mabs! And Waddles, too.” Junior turns to face the trio with a smile on his face. “Dad told me to anticipate a visit from you guys.”

“Junior, your dream looks so pretty,” complimented Mabel.

“Why thank you. Ever since, um, you know, I became more aware within my dreams and can make it whatever I want it to be, for the most part.” Junior makes the finishing touches of the painting, showing it to them when he turns the canvas around for them to see. “What do you think?”

“Awesome!”

“You captured our likeness!”

“Thanks!”

“We’ll be heading off here to see Ty’s dream, now, before our alarm wakes us up,” said Dipper.

“No problem! It was nice seeing you again. It’s only been a week and we all miss you guys.”

“We missed you, too, Junior!”

Dipper and Mabel waved goodbye to Junior as they left for Ty’s dream next.

Inside Ty’s dream, the tall black boy with blue eyes, plays a white violin before a crowd of anonymous people with his right arm intact. Ty wearing a clean black suit and shoes. The melody on the strings was sorrowful and contemplative. Tears were shedding from his eyes when he concluded his song. On the final note, Ty let lightning strike him in a great flash of light, but he was unharmed and appeared renewed by the electrical energy brought upon him and his being.

Ty was aware of Dipper and Mabel’s presence and walks up to them, his right arm fading away as he greets them with a small wave of his left hand. “Uh, hey, guys. Did you like the performance?”

The twins nod, showing sad smiles in making a quick glance at his missing arm.

“We loved it!”

“It was electrifying!”

This made Ty laugh a little. “I’m glad to see you two and Waddles again. We all miss you back home.”

“We missed you and everyone, too, Ty.” Mabel smiled.

Dipper couldn’t beat around the bush about it any longer. “Ty. How are you holding up without your arm?”

Ty glanced at where his arm was and showed a small smile. “I… I think I’ll be okay. Just not right now. Carrie and Fiddleford are helping me build a better prosthetic. Which is good since they’re hella expensive, normally, even with health insurance.”

“Hope it works out. Let us know how it goes.” Dipper and Mabel take their leave with Waddles and wave goodbye to their cousin.

Within Cormac’s dream, the albino werewolf, with a long scar across his nose, was running across a grassy plain with no destination in mind on a full moon night in the middle of nowhere. It reminded the twins of Lillian’s dream. But this time, Cormac does come across a pack of wolves he joins. Cormac and the wolves howled together that sounded melodic and it seemed to carry a long distance. It was as if he and the others were singing. Dipper and Mabel leave the dream pleased with what they’ve seen.

Within Arya, Aria and Anais’ dreams, more often than not, share the same dreams. No one knows why this is, but their strong bond could be a factor. This dream was no different tonight. The teenage werewolf triplets were enjoying themselves at the lake, a similar scene Dipper and Mabel saw before when they were saving the girls from their nightmare induced by the mares. A recurring dream. Arya was hesitant to go into the lake water, but Aria and Anais take each hand and all go together, reassuring their sister she’ll never be alone. Dipper and Mabel get closer to the end of their adventure. Only two more left.

Inside Isaac’s dream, the teenage boy with long golden hair was looking at his reflection in the mirror. Despite having said he wanted to accept the image he was born with, he hated the possibility of looking like his biological father Preston Northwest, a man he’ll never call his father after all the horrible things he committed. A face he is ashamed of looking at. He missed what he used to look like, before the raccoon shapeshifter lifted the spell she placed on him as a baby to look like someone else. A complicated situation for not only Isaac, but for the family he was raised in. Isaac placed his forehead on the mirror and sighed. Dipper and Mabel walk up to him to share some reassuring words.

“Hey, man, it’s gonna be okay.”

“No matter what you look like, you’ll always be you, Isaac. No one can take that away from you.”

Isaac lifted up his head to face himself again and brightly smiled at Dipper and Mabel. “Yeah. That’s right. I’ll try to keep that in mind. Just needed a reminder.”

With that seemingly settled, Dipper and Mabel and Waddles travel to one last dream.

Quincy, the young boy of age seven, was having himself a good dream in playing with his friends he made during the fateful summer. Dani, Jack, Kylie, Jill, Gus and Sebastian, kids around the same age as him and unique in many ways. The boy in the green shirt sprouted full green butterfly wings to fly without a care in the world, and all his friends flying with him in his pleasant dream where the sun shines bright in the sky over a flowery field in perpetual spring time. Dipper and Mabel marvel at the dream being shown, and Waddles takes delight in eating some flowers.

Dipper smiles and lets out a sigh of content.

“I think this is a good dream to leave off on.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other --”

The sound of their alarms rang that cues their adventure’s end in the dreamscape.

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Dipper, Mabel and Waddles awoke from their adventurous slumber, greeted by the sun that begins a new day. It was thankfully Saturday and they’re in no rush to get dressed yet.

Dipper and Mabel’s cell phones, however, became the first thing they had to address as they started to ring and ring in addition to text messages from their family members. It was going to take a bit of time to answer them all.

But there was one question they had on their mind: how was Shauna doing? Shauna, Shannon’s fraternal twin sister, having woken up before Dipper and Mabel could enter her dream. The twins imagine Shauna not having been well after what happened during Weirdmageddon, having been tortured alongside her siblings and parents by Bill before she and everyone else in Gravity Falls were rescued. In addition, residual trauma in her teens at the hands of Bill, or from scenarios unrelated when it had to do with her college friends and their adventures.

The first call they answer is from Ford.

“Kids!” Ford began. “Do you two have any idea what you’ve done?” He didn’t sound angry at the slightest, more so astounded by what the twins accomplished.

“Enter your dreams and everyone else in the family; save for our parents and grandpa?” answered Dipper while scratching his head.

“Yes! Kids, with this power, you have to be careful how you use it.” Ford paused to form his thoughts before saying. “Like Bill, I imagine you both would be more vulnerable in the dream and mindscape while visiting each person. If you get hurt in there, you get hurt in real life. I’m thrilled about this and… concerned, not going to lie.”

“Yeah, we get that. We talked to Maurice in his dream and we’re going to be careful with this power. We didn’t enter anyone else’s dreams besides you guys. We missed you.” Mabel replied while sitting next to Dipper in joining the conversation.

“Good, good. We all miss you, too. Looking forward to seeing you both during the holiday breaks.”

“The only dream we didn’t get to enter is Aunt Shauna’s. Is she going to be okay?”

The twins hear an audible sigh on the other end and a heavy pause until Adeline’s voice could be heard on the other end.

“After what happened to Shauna and Shannon’s eyes years ago, it was so traumatizing to Shauna she was having night terrors and couldn’t sleep at all. There’s reason to believe it’s happening again because of what Bill did to us. To put it short, he hurt us in more ways than one.” There was another pause. Adeline collected her composure to bring up the unpleasant topic. “Please don’t feel you have to fix everyone’s dreams like you did with mine and likely others. You and Mabel have already done so much. We know how to handle this with Shauna. Rest assured, she will be okay, even if not right now.”

Dipper and Mabel exchange concerned expressions and Mabel was the one to respond. “Okay, Grauntie Addi. Keep us updated, okay?”

“We will.”

#gravity falls #vulpixen and sailormew4 fanfiction #gravity falls ocs #ford pines #stan pines #dipper pines #carla mccorkle #starla #addiford #adeline marks #hntrgurl13 #scipunk63 #stanley pines #stanford pines #forever falls #obwhf au #one big weird happy family au

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jonniquidd · 4 years ago

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Trolls World Tour: A Cultural Review

Let’s talk about reproduction:

I think it is wonderful that we get to see how trolls are born in this movie. Eggs that can be hatched by everyone, and anyone. We still don’t know the circumstances that lead to birth, but I really enjoy the fact that gender isn’t a factor.

Guy diamond gives birth to a tiny little version of himself. We later see the country trolls give birth the same way. Last, we see how Cooper was born. In all these instances, there is a celebration of life (as it relates to culture) and we see that the response to birth is all different.

Let’s talk about music:

We all know that pop rules. Especially in the real world. But not many people realize that pop music takes a lot of their inspiration from other genres. Some would say that it degrades the original while others claim improvement. Either way, pop is barely original in its display.

Look at artist like Taylor Swift. She is a pop country artist. Look at Beyoncé, she is a pop hip-hop artist. Look at Gaga, she is pop techno. All of these artists are taking hints from one major genre and use it to create a more paliable form of their genre. This is the essence of pop in it’s core.

This isn’t to say that pop isn’t good. Look at how it brings people together. In the end of the movie, it is pop that helps to reunite all of the genres after they are seemingly destroyed. But let’s not forget where all of this music comes from. Black culture.

Let’s talk about race and racism:

I don’t know if you know this, but most American music came from black culture. Jazz came from us, the blues, rock’n’roll, techno, funk, disco, all of it. US! Even country music. Look at the history behind most genres and you will find black people as the inspiration.

Now with that being said, there is a part in the movie where Poppyfinds out that the history she has been told is lie. “Your scrapbooks are made by the victors,” as Prince D, tells Poppy, after she explains what she knows. He goes on to tell her that it was her people who cause the trolls to split up. It was all because pop wanted to control all music.

Sound familiar? In past, we all know that white Europeans conquered the world and forced everyone to become Christians and it wasn’t until colonies like America broke free did the world start seeing the changes we see today. In the movie, the trolls were left with one choice, take their most valued possession and run. This is very similar to the folks who fled the colonists. Native Americans, aboriginals, and even certain Asian countries gave up their land so that they could keep their way of life. It was either that, or die.

When Poppy hears this, she is rightfully concerned about what she has been taught, but just like a fair amount of white folks today, she refused tkk ok see the big picture. She says to the funk trolls, “they [the rock trolls] just need to see that we’re all the same!” She is then corrected by king Quincy, and he tells her that they are not all the same. He tells her that their differences are important and should be respected. That there is a reason for their different sounds, looks and colors. This is immediately ignored by Poppy, until Branch tells her how her ignorance is hurting everyone.

Let’s look at history again:

When we think of the progress our country has made over the years, we can clearly see that there is a new resurgence of people looking to make things the way they were. They are looking to divide us once again, but with the notion that this division will somehow bring us together. Just like Queen Barb. It isn’t until Poppy destroys the strings, that all of the trolls realize that their differences are engrained in them, and cannot be changed by any force.

Now we are beginning to see the same truth in the real world. Our differences matter, and being “colorblind” does nothing but hurt those who are proud of their differences. This is happening around the country. Folks are beginning to understand their history is a lie, what really happened, and how things led up to the world we see today. Things like gentrification, segregation, systemic racism and poverty are all being looked at under a new lens. This is important to our eventual unification.

Let’s talk about revolution:

When Poppy destroys all of the strings, it seems all hope is lost. There is no music and all of the color disappears. All of the trolls seem to finally be united, but under a banner of sadness and depression. That is until Coopre finds his rythwm once again through the sound of his own heartbeat.

It is theorized that music began with humans feeling the rhythm of their hearts and dancing to it. Since all of humanity started in Africa, it only makes sense that the “black” trolls would be the ones to bring music back. They do it by simply being themselves and enjoying being who they are. Next the country trolls follow and from there all of the trolls start singing again.

This is a beautiful representation of what is happening in the world right now. All of us are feeling the empty gray feeling of being taken from what we are meant to be. We all feel a bit drained right now, especially with the virus and constant politicizing of everyday issues.

However, black culture is rising up from this. As well as indigenous, gay, and other minority groups, we are using this sadness to make way for a better understanding. We are using our heart songs to breath new life into our cultures and the cultures of everyone else. Protesters around the country are coming together to unite their communities. Though you’re only being shown the riots, where there are peaceful protests there seem to be real talks of understanding and empathy amongst different racial groups.

Right now there is a revolution happening very similar to the one the trolls went through. Right now we are still in the silence part of the movie, but slowly the world is hearing a heartbeat. That heartbeat is going to grow into a revolution that finally unites us all, while still respecting our differences. It’s started with these protests, but is slowly becoming a work of harmony.

The final lesson from Trolls World Tour is to listen. Listen to people when they tell you how they feel. Listen to people and accept their differences. This is the only way to move forward and to create a universal harmony. You can be yourself and still be with everyone else. It’s a lot more complicated than the movie makes it out to be, but I know we can do it. We just have to listen to our hearts.

#trolls #trolls movie #trolls world tour #love #hope #peace #unification #truth #understanding #empathy

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merakiui · 4 years ago

Note

Wow! An imagines blog for afterlife! First one as far as I can see... I wish you lots of fun with this! I wonder what your favourite characters from the game are? For me it's going to be Sian and Quincy (I first think I was going to hate this little devil brat but here I am XD). If you don't mind you can do relationship hc's with them and characters of your choice if you don't mind. I don't really have anything specific in mind, just something fluffy, sorry for that! Welcome and have a nice day!

(Is it really the first? Whoa! My favorites so far would have to be Ell and Verine! There’s something refreshing about Ell’s optimistic energy, and Verine seems so soft uwu But Sian and Quincy are also growing on me too. Either way, you’ve got good taste~ Please enjoy these hcs and thank you for being the first request, anon! :D)

Relationship HCs (Sian, Quincy, Ell, and Verine)

🎤 Sian 🎤

He refuses to admit to his feelings in the beginning. Why, you may ask? Simple: It’s embarrassing.

So he does what any normal tsundere would do in that sort of situation. He pushes you away by feigning his disinterest.

Naturally, his behavior comes off as rude and abrupt, but you’re able to see past that cold exterior.

Whenever you send a smile his way or compliment him for his good work, he’s quick to deny it. Though the bright blush on his cheeks always contradicts whatever he might say.

Sometimes he thinks you just enjoy messing with him, if only to see him turn red. It’s quite cute, and you can’t help but giggle when he starts to yell.

“It’s not adorable, so stop laughing! And don’t call me cute either!”

Once you’re together, Sian drops his rude act and becomes very affectionate. He still gets shy over small aspects of your relationship, such as holding hands in public or even mustering the courage to kiss you whenever he feels like it.

Kati will definitely tease Sian whenever he talks about his wonderful, loving manager, and Cyrille will provide him with all sorts of scientific facts about the prospect of being in love, how long it exactly lasts, and why relationships are so important in terms of social interaction.

Sian does his best to ignore them, but he always finds himself getting embarrassed. “Stay out of my personal life! I don’t need your help!” Yes, he’s also blushing while he says this.

Underneath that tsundere behavior is a sweet boy who does his best to give you a perfect relationship.

He’ll take you to his favorite places to eat, claiming that you have to try some of the foods he normally gets. In return, you’ll open his horizons to the things you enjoy eating.

Definitely goes to karaoke with you! The two of you sing to your hearts’ content, sharing a few laughs at the impossible-to-hit high notes. Sian manages to surprise you the first time you hear him sing, and when you make a comment he gets extremely flustered.

On days where the weather isn’t the best, the two of you might stay inside to play card games, making small bets every now and then. Most of these bets are about the number of kisses or hugs the other will receive, and when that’s on the line Sian plays exceptionally better.

He’s written songs before, and now that the two of you are in a relationship some of these are about you. You wouldn’t have known about this had you not found a journal detailing different lyrics and song titles.

Waiting for a Sian x [insert utaite name here] collaboration.

When you confronted Sian about it, he became a mess.

Sian’s never let anyone see any of his creative work before, so this was enough to bring him close to tearing up out of pure embarrassment. He feels as though he could just die on the spot.

You understand his reaction, so you’re quick to close the journal, assuring him that you won’t pry further unless he willingly tells you more.

It takes a bit before he’s confident to actually show you and explain his thought process behind certain lyrics, but he trusts you enough and he knows you won’t laugh at him.

You’re his biggest muse when it comes to songwriting. (You’re also his biggest supporter.)

You’ll catch him humming under his breath to certain songs, and he’ll even start to mumble lyrics he’s made up on the spot. You’ll chime in with your own input, and he’ll be quick to write it down if it strikes a chord in his inspiration.

Unfortunately, his memory isn’t the best, so he often forgets things like anniversaries and special dates. He’ll always apologize with his head bowed whenever this happens, but you never seem too bothered. How can you be upset with someone as affectionate and caring as him?

In times of need, he’ll be there to assist you, as he doesn’t want you to stress yourself out. After all, it isn’t fair for his precious lover to carry overwhelming burdens all on their own.

You’ll always find yourself waking up beside the best boyfriend in the world, who will do absolutely anything for you. At the start of the relationship, he tried to do so many things to impress you. He cooked, cleaned, and made sure to always message you when you’re apart. Eventually, you had to tell him to just be himself and to stop taking advice from relationship blogs.

Please give this boy all the love in the world, and he’ll return it tenfold—albeit with a flustered stutter and pink cheeks.

🔥 Quincy 🔥

As the future Lord of the Underworld, Quincy’s quick to let others know of his position as a devil. Bow before him because it’s either his way or the highway.

He has high hopes for you and even higher hopes for himself.

Quincy will be especially impressed if you’re forward and confident in the relationship, but if you’re not that’s fine. It just means he’ll have to take the lead, which is obviously the best course of action, right? His judgement is flawless!

Just know that if anyone messes with his beloved manager, he’ll have no problem putting a curse on the unfortunate soul who decided to bother you. It’s all in good fun, so don’t worry about those silly humans who are now suffering under the weight of a heavy enchantment.

“Looks like my finger slipped. Guess you’ll have to use your puny brain to figure a way out of that. Hmph!” (Based on that cocky smirk, you’d say he’s quite satisfied with his work.)

He may even teach you a few things about the different types of magic, as he wants you to be as good as he is. Oh, but not too good! Quincy prides himself on his skills far too much to let anyone surpass him.

Every now and then, he’ll tease you about anything and everything—no matter how insignificant it is. Maybe you were late to clock in and Nyang Lead Manager scolded you, or perhaps you accidentally forget your lunch. Either way, he’s going to poke fun at those mishaps.

“Ehh? How could you forget when I reminded you earlier? Well, I suppose you can have some of my lunch. ...If you can handle it, that is.”

Spicy food is his life. He probably participates in those challenges at restaurants just to prove that he can absolutely own the competition.

Petition to get Quincy on Hot Ones.

If you’re also a fan of spicy things, it’ll be a contest to see who can handle the most spice. He ends up winning most of the time, but that’s mainly just because he’s a devil who’s used to scorching heat.

If you aren’t, he’ll be pleased to hold the title as someone who can handle extreme foods really well.

Quincy doesn’t like wasting his time on anything small, so there will always be a purpose behind what he does.

Your dates are quite the colorful variety, ranging from spending the day mixing up new elixirs to sharing stories about the Underworld. One day he’d like to show you around if you’re up for it, but the scenery might take some getting used to.

He’ll ensure that you’re never bored by dragging you around to do whatever the two of you deem exciting. When you get to relax from purifying vengeful spirits, you might find yourselves in the human world disguised under the deceptive properties of Humanizer to visit amusement parks, food vendors, and even occult shops.

The relationship is upbeat, and it keeps you on your toes. You’re never going to feel bored again with Quincy around.

Despite his teasing remarks and overflowing pride, Quincy values you a lot, and when it’s just the two of you he’ll be very endearing. It tends to catch you off guard; one minute he’s laughing about messing with Sian and the next he’s moving in to steal a quick kiss.

You’ll have to deal with any reptiles or insects that happen to cross his path, as he can’t stand them. But if you can’t handle them either, then you’ll seek out Jamie. At least he can keep them safe from Kirr and Aitachi. And from your spooked boyfriend, who wants those critters out of his sight.

Quincy will remind you to come to him if you’re ever worried over something. His advice may not be the most ground-breaking, but it’s the thought that counts. He’s willing to spend hours giving you a friendly pep-talk, and you’re bound to come out of your gloom with a fresh perspective.

☀️ Ell ☀️

He’s a ball of energetic sunshine, so be ready for a very fun, joyful relationship!

Ell always puts you first, ensuring your happiness and well-being.

Honesty is key in this relationship, and that’s mainly because he can’t lie due to his constant sneezing.

And that’s okay because he has nothing to lie about anyways! He doesn’t want to hide anything from you; he’d rather you know than try to keep it a secret.

Imagine all of the cute dates! The both of you could go to bakeries and and sweet shops to try all sorts of delicious treats. Ell would be fond of anything sugary, insisting on playfully feeding you while you’re out in public. Or the two of you could visit craft stores so he can get more supplies for his needle felting.

He’s very big on PDA. Expect lots of hand-holding, random hugs, and kisses on the cheek—even around others when you least expect it. He’ll always smile at you, commenting on how charming you look when you blush at his sudden displays of affection.

Though he’ll try his best to tone it down if Nyang Lead Manager says something about it during work hours. He’ll quietly whine and protest as he tries to explain that it’s hard to resist. He just loves you so much! His complaints tend to get cut off once he starts to sneeze, though.

Along with gifting you his needle felting creations, he’ll also play the lyre for you. He’d be so excited to show you all of the beautiful music it can make. Sometimes he’ll play a few soothing melodies if you have trouble falling asleep.

Speaking of sleep, he adores cuddling. You’ll probably wake up each morning with him clinging to you, the blanket cast aside.

If you’re fond of taking photos, he’ll let you use the light from his halo to brighten the pictures. It makes for a perfect ring light, and he doesn’t mind others wanting to use it. After all, Licht and Kati like to use it for their SNS, so you should too.

If you’re ever having a bad day, Ell will be there to make it better. He’ll do all sorts of things for you, hearing you out when you vent to him about what’s bothering you and even attempting to make a few tiny miracles happen. Anything for his favorite person in the world!

There are times when he feels down as well, but it’s not for long. You’ll always be there to cheer him up. He’s fortunate that you have the patience to help him put his negative emotions into words, and you’ll even sit through all of the times he sneezes. For that, he’s very grateful.

His heart beats faster and he gets bashful when you praise him, but he’ll always fire back with plenty of genuine compliments so you won’t feel left out. There’s lots of love to go around.

Overall, the relationship is so sweet and enjoyable. Ell makes sure there’s never a dull moment when you’re with him, and he truly believes that the two of you will be together for a long time.

He loves you with all of his angelic heart.

“I wish we could spend more time together, but Nyang Lead Manager is giving us so much work. It’s really not—achoo!”

💊 Verine 💊

At first, Verine wonders if the reason you chose to be near him is because of the desire to protect such a sickly Soul Reaper. It bothers him to no end, as he does his best to stay strong despite always having to take different medicines and vitamins.

Once he realizes that you’re not there to pester him about his health, he’s pleasantly surprised. He’s used to others giving him looks of pity, so when you offer your support he can’t help but feel warm inside.

It actually takes him quite a while to confess; the stress of it all was like attempting to find the correct medicine for a specific ailment.

Still, he manages to push his self-consciousness aside in favor of his heart’s wishes, and it succeeds! Luckily for him, since Verine believed his chances were very slim.

While Mori considers him to be a paper doll, you think the opposite. Your boyfriend may be physically weak, but he’s got a strong will and is incredibly gentle with you.

Even if he acts like the presences of others disturbs him, he’s actually quite happy to be near the Soul Reapers. He’s always interacting with the Reapers in Diluculo, but he finds that your company is by far the best.

Most of your dates consist of staying indoors, since Verine doesn’t like the overwhelming temperatures of the outside world. (Occasionally, he’ll sacrifice his comfort so that you can enjoy the outdoors every now and then.)

However, the two of you still find plenty of things to do while inside. From watching your favorite films to assisting Verine with his medicinal herb garden, a lot of these cozy dates are quite serene.

He loves it when you cook his favorite foods. Any meal prepared by your loving hands is a gift he treasures—so much so that he thoroughly believes it’ll heal his aches and pains. Sometimes he doesn’t know how to return the gesture, so you’ll have to reassure him that you don’t need anything. Just his love is enough, and that makes him smile a bit.

Verine is touch-starved since most of his living life was spent in a hospital bed and the only contact he ever received was from doctors checking his vitals. So he’s always eager to let you hug and kiss him.

He might not be into cuddling at first only because he’s afraid his constant coughing will disrupt the calm atmosphere, but once you explain that that doesn’t bother you he’s willing to give it a try. He ends up liking it more than he thought he would, which results in lazy days where the two of you just nap in each other’s arms.

He’ll always be there for you no matter what, and he checks to make sure you’re healthy. Your physical and mental health is very important to him.

If the the two of you ever get into a disagreement, he may bottle up his true feelings for the sake of pacifying you. In the end, both of you talk through it, and this allows Verine to slowly but surely open up about how he really feels.

Verine might keep a lot of his emotions to himself when around the others, but with you he doesn’t have to.

“Ah, I must’ve fainted again. I really am useless.”

When he gets like that, just tell this sweetheart he’s in no way useless. He’s perfect in your eyes, even with his coughing and eternal illnesses, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

#afterl!fe #after l!fe #afterl!fe sian #afterl!fe quincy #afterl!fe ell #afterl!fe verine #relationship headcanons #afterl!fe x reader #afterl!fe headcanons #afterl!fe hcs #afterl!fe the sacred kaleidoscope #sian #quincy #ell #verine #afterl!fe sian x reader #afterl!fe quincy x reader #afterl!fe verine x reader #afterl!fe ell x reader

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quentinblack · 4 years ago

Photo

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 5: Andromeda II - Wotcher! (link to full story on FF.net)

Featuring: Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks

Word Count: 3.5K words

Warnings: References to Abortion and Drugs

The foul stench of warm beer engulfed Andromeda as she made her way into the dingy lit pub. It was awfully humid at the best of times, but in the July heat it was unbearable. The Leaky Cauldron was more or less empty, save for a few middle-aged wizards who she expected scarcely left the place. The barkeep nodded in acknowledgement at her.

“What can I get ya?” he asked, as he smiled Andromeda noticed that more than a few of his teeth were missing.

“Oh. Sorry. I am just meeting a friend-

“JUST MEETING A FRIEND?!”

Ted’s booming voice gave her a shock. She hadn’t noticed him at all when she’d walked in. Andromeda absent-mindedly reached to sort out her hair, but then she stopped herself when she noticed what she was doing.

“Sorry Quincy, won’t be stopping for a drink today,” Ted said to the landlord. “Make sure you save some of that Weizenbier though. I’ll be back in with Dirk next week no doubt!”

“Look forward to seeing you, Ted. Can’t promise I’ll still have any left tho’, popular stuff that, them Bavarian goblins sure know how to brew a beer!”

“That they do,” Ted quipped, as he reached out for Andromeda’s hand.

“Come on, ‘Dromeda, not got all day,” he said as he guided her towards the exit that faced into the muggle street.

“I am still not sure that I approve of that nickname,” Andromeda noted to him.

“Well I’m not sure that I approve of that purple cloak you’ve got on!” he cracked back at her. “You can’t go prancing around Southend in that in the dead of summer!”

Andromeda’s heart stopped.

“But you said…you promised that you would bring me a muggle dress to wear, Ted!”

She couldn’t believe it. She was going to look like an absolute idiot. The muggles would all be staring at her.

“Oh bugger! I did, didn’t I?” Ted said as a very serious and guilty look swamped his face.

Andromeda was crestfallen. It was the first time she was going to meet Ted’s parents and she was so very desperate to make a good first impression.

“I will look like such a fool, Ted.”

“You would indeed… it’s just as well I didn’t forget to bring you a dress then, isn’t it?” he chortled, before laughing loudly at her.

Andromeda felt her blood boiling. She hit him playfully on the arm over his denim jacket.

“Ted Tonks! You are such a... such a…

“Devilishly good looking quick-witted chap?” he quipped, before grabbing her gently by the waist as she went to hit him again. She saw his green eyes smiling at her, before he closed them and kissed her softly on the lips like he’d done on many occasions over the last few months.

“I was going to say scoundrel,” she said at the end of their brief embrace.

“Scoundrel’s good too,” Ted replied with a grin on his face, before he began crossing the road.

“Where are you… that sign over there says the nearest train station is that way. I thought you said that we were going to get there the muggle way?” Andromeda asked, pointing in the complete opposite way to where Ted had begun walking.

Ted smirked.

“We are getting there the muggle way. No trains though!” he said, as he continued to stroll down the street, before stopping abruptly in-front of a red car. He slapped his hand on the bonnet. “What’d you reckon then, Drom? Nice motor, ain’t it?”

Andromeda felt a lump in her throat. “You. You cannot mean that… that

“Ford Cortina Mark II. Finest piece of totty to ever come out ah’ Dagenham. Brand new. Or so me old man said. Surprise present for me 17th birthday. I told him not to of course. Soon enough be able to apparate everywhere anyway, but he insisted on getting me a car. Could hardly turn him down could I?”

Ted reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of keys, then put them into the door on the left hand side and opened it, indicating for her to get in.

“Come on, ‘Dromeda. I told Mum and Dad we’d be there at one!”

“But Ted. Travelling by train is one thing, but in a… in a car?”

“You’re not scared are ya?!” he asked incredulously. She was. She was very scared indeed.

She had read all about the muggle contraptions which were widely considered death-traps with wheels. The Daily Prophet was always reporting on new stories of witches and wizards narrowly avoiding getting run over and such forth. Muggles were awful at driving them, far worse than even the clumsiest of broom riders or carpet flyers – and there was a flying carpet crash or incident at least once a fortnight. In some circles there were even murmurs that the Ministry should put an outright ban on them.

“You’re welcome to get the train if you want, love. Good luck getting there without me though!”

Andromeda huffed and puffed, but eventually relented and got in the passenger side. The inside of the car was one of the most confusing things she had ever encountered. There must have been almost a dozen different nobbles in the car, with numerous symbols and numbers that made absolutely no sense to her whatsoever.

Ted got in on the driver’s side and after a brief look at a map he revved the engine, thus beginning her first of many forays in muggle vehicles.

~ ~ ~

Andromeda was starting to regret her decision not to just get changed in the back of Ted’s car – he had promised to get out and not to look and it wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she felt embarrassed getting undressed in the back seat of a car.

The smell of fried meat and pancakes wafted in from the Little Chef restaurant and flooded the humid cubicle. It was one of those moments where you questioned everything that had happened in your life to lead up to that moment. She was getting changed into a loud muggle dress in a dingy toilet cubicle in a muggle service station, which was a weird sort of complex of petrol stations, toilets and restaurants which were strategically stationed at various parts of the muggle motorways.

It seemed quite sad that such was the struggle of transportation for muggles - that whole businesses operated around them having to stop for food or toilet breaks in the middle of travelling somewhere. You didn’t need to stop for a toilet break when getting a port key or using the Floo network – that’s for sure!

Andromeda opened the door after squeezing into the dress and stared at herself in the mirror by the sinks. It was almost like an out of body experience. She was certain that the person looking back at her was herself, but at the same time she knew that it simply couldn’t be. The muggle dress that Ted had picked out for her to wear made her look, well, like a muggle.

The dress, which Ted had quipped was “Slytherin green” was in-fact a much brighter green than Salazar’s favoured dark emerald. It was a very bright green, like the zest of a lime, with a bright white trim around the collar and the bottom of the sleeves – it almost made her feel like a key-lime pie. It was a far brighter shade of fabric than Andromeda would ever willingly wear, but perhaps what was the most disconcerting was how short a cut the dress was. It fell a few inches above her knee, which, especially given her lack of tights, by her Mother’s strict standards was nothing short of scandalous.

She stared into the mirror expecting, or maybe just hoping that eventually she would feel a bit better about herself, when suddenly a stranger tapped her on the shoulder.

“Oh my god I love your dress, hun! You look rocking, girl! Where did you get it?” said the muggle woman, who Andromeda guessed was roughly her own age, if not a few years older. She had fair skin, with even fairer hair and was wearing the wackiest dress Andromeda had ever seen. It was purple, but it was also orange and red and yellow – it was enough to give you a headache just looking at it.

“Sorry I err… it was a present, from a friend, you see,” Andromeda said nervously, wondering what her Mother would think if she knew she was talking to not just a muggle-born wizard, but a proper full-on muggle girl.

“Ah, well you tell that friend they have great taste! Say, sorry if I’m wrong, but you look fairly liberal with a dress that short. Here, take a flyer!”

Andromeda took the leaflet, mumbled a slight thanks and looked down and it as the stranger scurried away.

OUR BODY – OUR CHOICE!

On the 27th October our elected politicians will make a decision on whether WE have the right to legal abortion.

We’re marching in London on SUNDAY JULY 30TH

Will you be there? Remember – WE SPOKE out about the right to contraception and THEY HAD to listen!

Make sure YOUR VOICE IS HEARD!

Andromeda really wasn’t sure on what the general consensus of contraception and abortions was in muggle quarters.

Contraception was easy enough – it was a simple spell that was readily available and easy to learn for any teenage wizard worth his salt. It had been around for centuries and whilst it was a little controversial – the vast majority of the pureblood men and politicians who opposed it were all likely using it and cheating on their wives anyway.

Abortion though, well, it was fair to say that certainly was a bit of a taboo subject in the Wizarding world, especially among pureblood families.

It was quite difficult for a lot of pure-bloods to get pregnant in the first place these days, which her mother put down to inbreeding – and in years gone by she had never missed an opportunity to make snide remarks about her sister-in-law, their Aunt Walburga, who had married her cousin, Uncle Orion.

In the more recent history however, her Mother liked to keep a low profile at Black family gatherings. It was one thing to have married your cousin, but it was another thing altogether to have the shame of your firstborn daughter having an abortion at 16.

It was never publicly revealed which Slytherin boy had impregnated her sister, but Andromeda certainly had a few candidates in mind. It was probably Yaxley – that was certainly the most popular rumour, but there was no guarantee that it wasn’t Lucius or even Thorfinn Rowle.

Andromeda even suspected that such was Bellatix’s promiscuity that perhaps even she herself did not know who it had been. But what she had known was fury like nothing she had seen before. Their mother had been incredulous – and their father, well, Andromeda had never before seen him so disgusted at someone who wasn’t a muggle or a blood traitor.

“Wow! Look at you! Barely even recognized you and what’s that, have you grown legs? Consider me impressed,” said Ted, as he smirked. He hid it well, but Andromeda did not fail to notice his eyes lingering on her legs for longer than a momentary glance.

“I shall take that as a compliment,” Andromeda said, biting her lip as she got back into the car.

“Imagine what your family would say if they could see you right now! Where did you tell them you were going today?” Ted asked as he drank from his bottle of Tizer.

“I told Mother I was meeting a friend, not a lie by any means. I told Cissy where I was really going and who I was really meeting though of course.”

“You’re gonna be in the right shit if you ever fall out with her! The stuff she’s got on you…”

“Why would we ever fall out? She is my little sister! We tell each other everything Ted, we always have done. You know what Bellatrix is like. Cissy and I always had to stick together! I am not sure that she entirely approves of our err… courting… but she would never tell Mother, Father or Bellatrix about it. Besides, like I said, she tells me everything too. I know all about her little love affair with Fabian Prewett.”

“Well, if you’re sure you can trust her,” Ted said nonchalantly as he turned on the car radio and flickered around with it a bit.

A slow, brooding guitar melody got under way, before the thundering sound of crashing upbeat drums kicked in.

“Well that’s ironic. Fitting song for us, I reckon,” Ted remarked.

I SEE A RED DOOR AND I WANT IT PAINTED BLACK

NO COLOURS ANYMORE I WANT THEM TO TURN BLACK

I SEE THE GIRLS WALK BY DRESSED IN THEIR SUMMER CLOTHES

I HAVE TO TURN MY HEAD UNTIL MY DARKNESS GOES

“Cracking band, The Stones,” he said, strumming one hand on the dashboard. “Got nicked on drugs charges the other week too, helluva story that. Imagine that. Laying in ya’ cell and Keith Richards and Mick bloody Jagger walk in. Christ.”

“Drugs charges?” Andromeda asked. “I do not understand.”

“Drugs are illegal substances. You can get arrested for buying or selling them on. Not too sure I can think of a wizarding equivalent.”

“What do these drugs do exactly if they are illegal?”

“Well, some of them are a bit like alcohol I s’pose. Bring you up, take you down. You know liquid luck, right?”

“Well, I have read about it, yes.”

“Yeah, exactly, read about it. Incredibly rare. Incredibly expensive stuff. Even a posh young witch like you’s nevva come by any…”

Andromeda flushed slightly at being called a “posh” witch.

“Right so with these drugs though, you can get a similar experience to Liquid Luck for what the average man earns in a few hours work. A lot of people just do them casually for a bit of fun now and then, but some people get proper addicted to some of them. End up ruining their lives over ‘em.”

“Oh. That sounds awful,” sighed Andromeda.

“Yeah,” agreed Ted. “But the old bill only went and busted Keith’s gaff didn’t they? They turned up at the house and found everyone high as a kite! Caught Jagger with a bit of speed, not that bad really. Charged Keith for letting people smoke cannabis in his house, what a load of nonsense. Harmless stuff that is” he said, shaking his head and looking annoyed, then he started laughing. “That’s not the best bit though! You know how the plod reckon they know they were all high? Well, they reckon that Jagger’s missus was wearing nothing but a fur rug when they turned up. A fur rug, ha-ha can you imagine them walking in and finding that?”

“That does sound like quite the shock. That poor girl,”

“They’ve got to be careful though, they have. Newspaper reckons that one of the other guys there, not in the band, just some random toff, well they reckon this bloke had a load of heroin on him. That’s proper dodgy stuff that is.”

“It is?” Andromeda asked curiously. “What is it?”

“Proper nasty stuff. One of the most addictive drugs out there. You ever see a homeless person off their rocker, they’re probably on smack. Ruins lives that stuff does. You get someone hooked on that – they’ll do just about anything for you to get another hit of it.”

~ ~ ~

Southend High Street was in many ways much like Diagon Alley. There was a vast array of smells, sounds and sights to ensnare one’s senses, with an endless stream of adults and children alike bustling around all of the shops. Whilst it was alike in that sort of sense – it was also in just as many ways completely different, it was almost like being on another planet, such was the contrast.

“There ya go!” Ted said, as he thrust a strange, yellow ice cream which had what looked almost like a little brown stick pointing out of the middle into her hand.

“Thank you, but err, what is it may I ask?” she enquired.

“That is the finest ice cream you’ll get in the country, love. Lemon ice. It’s sort of like a mixture between ice cream and sorbet. Rossi’s finest! With a chocolate flake, Cadbury’s of course! No idea why they call it a 99 though, they’re only a half crown each. Could buy like 8 of them for a pound.”

Andromeda took a slight lick, then a nibble and she did have to admit it was very nice indeed, although in the summer heat she found it was melting rather rapidly.

“I will never understand muggle money,” she sighed.

“Probably for the best anyway. Rumour is they’re getting rid of half crowns soon anyway! Mental if you ask me,” he snorted indignantly.

“Right well,” he pondered whilst looking out into the crowd of people ahead of them, whilst intermittently slurping big chunks of his own lemon ice. “Dad said they’d meet us outside Keddies at 1 o clock. Now by my watch that should be just about…

“Wotcher!”

Andromeda jumped slightly as Ted’s father popped out from out of nowhere and slapped his hand on Ted’s shoulder. He was slightly shorter than his son, as well as slightly rounder, but there was certainly a strong resemblance there. At a guess she would have said he was about 40.

“Alright, Dad!” Ted hollered, as he embraced his father warmly, being careful not to spill any of his ice cream on his father’s shirt. Andromeda had now spotted a slightly younger and slightly slender looking women, with dark brown hair standing alongside Ted’s father, who she assumed was Ted’s mother.

“Mum, Dad, meet Andromeda…”

“Wotcher,” his Dad said to Andromeda, as he pulled out his big hand and gave hers a firm shake. Andomeda offered a faint hello in reply. “Robert Tonks. But everyone calls me Bobby. This is my wife, Agata…”

“It is pleasure to meet you, Andromeda,” she said, in a vaguely Eastern European accent that Andromeda could not quite pick out.

“Teddy has told us so much about you. You are even more beautiful than he said you were.”

Andromeda flushed slightly at the thought of him telling his parents that he thought she was beautiful. She had to think fast to deflect away from it.

“Teddy?” Andromeda asked sarcastically at Ted. She had never heard of him being used by that name before. He blushed slightly. Ted’s father ushered them to start walking north and they continued their conversation as they trekked through the high-street.

“I call him Teddy ever since he was little boy. He was Mummy’s little teddy bear,” Agata teased gently. Ted shot her a hideous look filled with embarrassment.

“Oh don’t you worry, Andromeda. I’m sure there’s plenty more he’s kept quiet from you. We’ll fill you in on all of the secrets!” Robert said, winking once at Andromeda and then at Ted, who shot him a look that was halfway between anger and fear. “I hope that ice cream’s all you’ve eaten, Ted. Corr. Me and your mother taking you out for lunch with your missus and you’re on the ice creams already! What are ya like ehh, son?”

“You know what they say, Dad. Like father, like son!” Ted shot back.

“You calling your old man fat?” Robert scoffed incredulously.

“I’m not callin’ you skinny!” Ted joked.

“Bloody cheek! ‘Ere Andromeda he’s only showing off cause you’re here. Bet your parents don’t let you talk back to them like that, ehh?” Robert said, sneering at his son.

“Well… err no. Not quite,” she replied.

Ted and his father seemed to be exchanging in good natured banter, not uncommon to see between fellow pureblood students, but the idea of a parent and son or daughter talking to each other like that was a very alien concept to her. The Black family were all about respect, well, when Bellatrix wasn’t involved she supposed.

“Do you like seafood, Andromeda?” Agata asked her.

“Yes, I do quite like fish I suppose,” Andromeda replied politely.

“Well that is perfect. We take you to best seafood restaurant in all of Southend,” Ted’s mother said proudly, as they finally reached the end of the high-street and caught a glimpse of the sea-front. The tide was in and the crisp, blue waves were shining in the distance.

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quixoticquincy · 5 years ago

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( colin ford, ghost, he/him & cismale ) is that (don’t you (forget about me) ) by (simple minds) playing? (quincy wren) must be nearby! heard folks say the ( twenty four ) year old ( bookstore assistant ) was at the thanksgiving fair, ( looking for his friends ) when chaos ensued. during the glitch, ( he was about to run and help someone up when he found himself in the bookstore with no idea how he got there).

(death tw, homophobia mention tw, crime mention tw, gang mention tw?)

quincy in a summary? a soft summer boi who i would like to protect at all costs. even if he is already dead and doesn’t know it. works at the bookstore and loves art! he will find any excuse to sketch or paint. here’s some more stuff;

so quincy wren is from a long line of wrens, each going down a successful path. however, he was different from his siblings and from his parents!

(crime mention tw? gang mention tw?) the important thing to know about his parents is that they were definitely of a dubious nature. involved in something they shouldn’t have been doing most of the time. his older sister got involved with law enforcement and it pretty much meant they got away with things. but quin didn’t want this. his parents weren’t exactly impressed with his decision not to do that, not to go into a life or organised crime or get involved in the gang of criminals or to cater his career to help them

quin loves to paint. to draw. to do anything that involves art. he’ll often be found at the bookstore in a corner or at the counter with a pencil in his hand. if he doesn’t have the resources on him then it’ll be doodling on receipt paper. customers have been known to find doodles on their receipts. art is what he saw himself doing, along with still working at the bookstore and his family weren’t very happy over that

(homophobia tw, crime tw) his parents had some choice words to say about him loving art and not wanting a “proper career”. they immediately jumped to conclusions and labelled him as gay, telling him the sissy career would get them nowhere and acting like a pansy, he’d get nowhere with his family’s business. it wasn’t for him but he wasn’t getting that

(death tw, crime tw) one day, his parents asked him to do something for them. meet someone, pass on some information. however, he never made it there. he was dragged into an alley by rival criminals. from then on, he was a ghost. he needed to get the information, find peace, find out who killed him and why. was it because of his family? was it because of what they thought about him? was it just wrong place at the wrong time?

when he woke up, he found that his family were just... gone? the house was there, some of his things were still there but his parents and sister were gone, almost as if they’d just... moved. of course he wasn’t aware that a little time had passed and they had moved. but he still had the people he knew and.. well, he continued as if it had never happened. because he didn’t even know it had happened

he began to notice things weren’t quite right in two ways. one, he was maybe looking at men... differently to women. working something out about himself that made him feel conflicted, the comments of his parents ringing in his head. and two, that sometimes he drops things. it’s as if it just falls right through his hands. but that’s not possible, right? it’s not possible for someone to be able to walk through doors or disappear when upset?

ok so!!!! in summary, he’s just... gentle. will fill any awkward silence with small talk and anything to try and make himself and the other person comfortable.

he just wants everyone around him to be happy but he can get stressed easily sometimes. tends to turn invisible when he’s upset, angry or frustrated because his focus on being human appearing disappears

he doesn’t yet know he’s dead for sure and doesn’t know what happened to him

oh also he loves birds. probably cause his last name is wren who knows

call him quin or q, he likes that a lot better than quincy! maybe even wren, he’d accept that, even if his last name does hold a bit of a stigma cause of his parents.

but ya welcome to my ted talk i love my dead gay son. if you have any questions, just ask, i’m more than happy to ramble on about him and plot stuff!

possible connections:

- someone to tell him that he’s dead, honestly. someone who knows what “ghost” looks like and to say hey buddy, ur a ghost

- co worker at the bookstore

- someone passionate about art, reading or birds to talk to him about

- any sort of friends! friends that tell him to work less hours, friends that will let him make them endless cups of tea, friends that will let him ramble about books or help with displays at letum read

- someone that knows what happens to him? a witness to when he died?

- someone that was in the gang his parents were involved in or a rival gang

- art friends/colleagues! anyone to encourage his art or talk to him about it

#othqintro #intro #death tw #homophobia tw #crime tw #gang tw #well this was trash also lmao

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volcanofireflame150 · 5 years ago

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A Soul meets another Seoul

Ch1; Ch12

Chapter 11

I was finally learning Healing and Thunder spells, I'm currently reading through a book about the Thunder moves, and only a few caught my attention, I was writing each one of the moves down so I could remember the names of the attack. Renji came into my new office, that's right, I moved to Squad 6, Toshiro is not taking this well, but it was for the best. Anyways, Renji came in and sat down, asking, "Have you heard anything from Captain Hitsugaya, Akari?" "I have not talked to him ever since I've moved squads," I said, while writing a current attack move. Renji walks over, puts his hand over my book, I looked up and got a concerned look on him, he tells me, "He's not doing so great ever since you moved over here." "I was hoping he would forget that I was there," I told him, "Besides I didn't actually leave." I pulled out my still squad 10 badge, Renji said, "You are sneaky you know that." "Yeah, I had to reason the Head Captain, well, I didn't have to," I said, "Let's just say, he allowed me to keep it if I changed my mind of being here." "Just say that he treats you different," said Renji, getting tired of me saying it the other way around. I gave him a look, "You know on how I am, Renji, I work things my way which is why Captain Hitsugaya would always give me the heavy duties because I know on how to get it done when it needs to be." "Yeah, about that Captain Kuchiki is not letting you do the heavy work," said Renji, "He's letting me do all that." "Which is why I snuck 50 away from you," I said, pointing to the pile I took. He looks at the pile, then looks back at me shocked, "No wonder why I couldn't find them." "Don't worry, those 50 were already done before you even noticed that they were gone," I said. After Renji's visit, I could finally get back to what I was doing, I closed my office door, putting a sign saying 'Do Not Disturb!' so I could finally go back to reading, some peace and quiet, something that I needed for a while now. Then there was a knock at the damn door, I groaned, asked, "Who is it?" "You know on who it is," a familiar voice said. I asked, "Shuhei, what are you doing here?" "Does it sound like I'm Shuhei?" asked the familiar, "It's me, Renji." "What do you want, Renji?" I asked. Renji said, "Look, I know there is a sign but you have a guest and you already know on who is here, so I'll let him know that you are busy." I got up, ran to the door, and yelled, "Wait!!!" Then I noticed that Ichigo made a perfectly good voice impression of Renji, he smiled and said, "Well, well, so nice of you to finally come out." "Wow, you indeed did a good voice impression of Renji," I told him. Ichigo looked at me weird, then looked behind me, I looked seeing Renji standing there, Renji grinned, "Shuhei is not here, Ichigo is though." "You," I growled, "Moron!!" I went back into my office after I whacked Renji on the head and slammed my door in Ichigo's face. I can't believe Renji messed with my emotions like that, then I heard those 2 argue, I was hearing Ichigo saying, "What were you thinking Renji? It's obvious that her and Shuhei are getting serious, I can't believe you messed around with her emotions." "Look, I didn't know alright," Renji said to Ichigo, "I always thought if you were here to guide her back to the world of the living, she should've known that is was you." "What you do if Shuhei was here to see her?" Ichigo asked. Renji said, "I don't know, he never comes to me or anyone to see her, he just lets himself in her office." That's right, Shuhei always does that, oops, Ichigo said, "Well, that was when she was still in Squad 10, she moved squads remember?" "I'm wondering if she told him that she switched squads," I heard Renji say. I shouted out, "I told him before I came over here." "Oh shit, she heard us," Ichigo said, in a scared tone of voice. I said to them, "You guys are not that quiet whenever you 2 speak to each other." I opened the door, not only to see Renji and Ichigo, but Shuhei was walking down the hallway as if on cue for our break time together. Renji asked, "Are you ready to go to the world of the living?" "Already? But I just got here," I said, pouting. Ichigo said, "Renji, I only wanted to know if she's doing alright, if she doesn't want to leave yet, she doesn't have to, it's her choice." Then those 2 walked away, I met up with Shuhei finally, he said, "Hey, I thought you were leaving with Ichigo." "It's not even that time yet," I said, "Plus I guess I misunderstood Renji a moment ago." "I heard, I always knock first but before I even do that you open the door before I knock," he said. I blushed big time, I told him, "I just know that you would always show up when I met at our secret spot." He nods, "Hey, um, I just want to let you know that even though I love you with all my heart, I think we need to slow down because we skipped the friendship part." "Did we really?" I asked, "I thought that is what we were always doing." "Not on my part, you would always do friendly gestures, I do the boyfriend gestures," I heard him say. From that point, Shuhei is going to try his very best to make this friendship be like bedrock, I giggled at his silly mistakes, but at least he's trying, hey, most couple out there do things differently, after my shift in the Soul Society was done, I went back to the World of the Living, saying goodbye to Shuhei, I went to a random bedroom and slept on someone's bed. When I woke up, I looked to seeing Ichigo sleeping on the floor, oh shit, did I accidentally slept in Ichigo's room? I picked him up off of the floor and into HIS bed, then moved to the couch, blushing. It meant that I must've seen him changing, but I didn't make sudden move, I only looked through my left eye which was in between the bed and pillow. Oh my goodness, I did not know what happened, I was feeling my heart skipping beats like crazy. I hope he does not bring this up in conversation, he would make me feel so uncomfortable. Morning was here, I saw his father, Rukia, and his sisters coming down the stairs, Rukia has no idea why my face was still red. Then Ichigo came down, I looked away so he doesn't see, he sees me, "Morning Akari." "Morning, Ichigo," I said, trying not to be obvious that I'm blushing like crazy. Though I have a feeling that he knew that I was watching him, though Ichigo has a image to keep so he's not gonna do anything to ruin his image. Once my face stopped burning up with blushing, I finally looked at the Kurosaki family and Rukia, then I felt sort of happiness inside that I'm a part of this crazy family. Then Rukia sees me, notices a small smile forming on my face, she nudges Ichigo then pointed at me, which caused him to blush, oh no, he knows that I was watching. Shit. What do I do? Does he know? I hope not, I, too, have an image to keep. Oh no, here he comes, he sat down across from me, both of us are blushing, he asked, "Why were you in my bedroom?" "I thought I was in my own room," I said, looking down while looking at him. Ichigo then notices on how fidget I'm being, then his face got even redder, then he asked, "How much did you see?" "I only took a peek," I said, in a squealed voice. He said, "Let's hope this is a one time thing." "I don't know why I chose your room, really, I don't know why," I said to him. He understands me, thank goodness, I'm guessing that I'm too comfortable with him that I decided to sleep in his room before he does, well, guess that didn't work on how I planned it. We headed towards the school, we dropped the situation that happened because it would make everything awkward for the 2 of us, I saw Uryu and Chad, I always look forward so Ichigo and Rukia also saw them and Orihime, I went to Uryu and Chad, "Hey guys." "Hey, Akari," said Uryu. Chad only said, "Hmm." "Hey Akari can I ask you something?" Uryu asked. I nodded, "Sure, what is it?" "How come that you don't have any spiritual pressure around you?" asked Uryu. I was confused, Rukia said, "Uryu is a Quincy." "Oh that makes sense," I said. Ichigo said, "I just want to say that Uryu raises a good point because Rukia and myself, we couldn't sense yours." "I wonder why," I said, "I don't even know." "Maybe it's because of that Zanpakuto, you keep carrying around you," said Ichigo, "By the way, where is Shadow Phoenix?" "See this Scythe hair pin?" I asked, pointing at the hair pin. Now they see, Orihime said, "You look so beautiful with it." "Same with your hair pins, Orihime," I said to her. We giggled at our compliments, it's weird that I feel like I belong here, but I don't belong here at all. I was walking behind everyone, I always walk slow when something is going wrong in my mind or I'm just triggered by something, this time was different so it's neither of those 2. I was thinking on how to keep Shuhei's flirting at bay, Renji showed up out of nowhere, asking, "Why are you behind everyone?" "Geez, Renji, warn me next time," I said, "I have something on my mind." "Ah, let me guess Shuhei dumped you?" asked Renji. I gave him a very unsettling look, it was his fault for messing with my feelings in the beginning, so I kicked in the area before his vital part. I met up with the others who saw that, Ichigo felt the same pain Renji was feeling, Rukia said, "Well, it is what he deserved." I nodded, not wanting to be messed with, I'm still fuming after that, Uryu did not even say anything to me. This was not Shadow Phoenix's anger, this is my anger, she was being silent throughout the day. No one bothered me for the rest of the school hours, after school, no one still bothered me, I'm still fuming. That was until Ichigo told Renji, "You should've known better than to mess with her feeling, Renji, that was very low on your part." "I know, it's just I didn't know she would take it to heart," said Renji, "I guess she is different from us." "Just apologize and maybe you can make up on what you did," said Ichigo. He is taking this role of being a brother very well, I guess so since he has 2 sisters to look after. I forgave Renji but I still gave him the silent treatment only for 5 minutes because that really hurt my heart, when it was just me and Ichigo, I was sitting on the floor then he told me, "You can sit on my bed, I don't want you to sit on the floor." "Oh no, I think I'm good on where I am," I said, thinking of that mistake happening again. He sees a hint of red blush forming, he tells me, "I'm not going to change until everyone gives me some privacy." "Right," I said, shyly. Then he allowed me to sit up there with him, he asked, "What's going on in your mind, Akari?" "Can you be more specific?" I asked. He chuckled, "What I mean is what has been bothering you lately other than Renji telling that low phrase, there is no way Shuhei and you will ever be apart." "You know about us?" I asked. He winked and said, "I'm keeping it a secret. I'm not one who blurts out everything." "Yeah," I said, softly, "Well, there is this one thing that has me worried about you." "About me?" he said, confused. I asked, "If you happened to turn into a hollow, what do you want me to do?" "That's a deep question," he said, knowing that I'm serious. I giggled nervously, "You can think about it, you don't have to tell me right away, you know what, you can just forget about that question, besides you always win no matter what." With that, I just left knowing that I just asked a majorly important question because I have a feeling that is what is going to happen either way, I mean he's getting stronger each fight he does, I wish I was that strong, I'm only strong with my Fire attacks. I took off my Scythe hair pin, pressed the button then went to a library since it's still day time, I read at least 5 books to only kill time before the lady said that they were closing now, I asked, "Is there any place for me to do some singing?" "Oh, you mean karaoke?" she asked. I nodded, then she pointed towards the place across the street, I went there, sat in a table in a very dark corner, then a couple of people were coming my way, assuming that this is their table, all I moved was a chair to be near a window. I know I shouldn't asked Ichigo that but what was I suppose to ask around that, I haven't been here long enough. I was looking at the stars when this girl asked me, "Are you alright over there?" I looked at her, then nodded, and went back to looking at the stars, she came over and told me, "You know you can join our table since you have one of the chairs." "I only grabbed this chair to only look at the stars," I said to her. She didn't push me so she went back to her table, something inside of me wasn't settling with me, maybe she meant that she doesn't want me to be alone. I motioned her over and asked, "Were you only over here because you don't want me to be alone?" "Of course," she said, "I get it, you are not from around these parts. I totally understand on where you are coming from." I guess she convinced me to be over at the table, I felt really uncomfortable because the guys were eyeing me and the other girls were giving me glares. The nice one asked, "What's your name, sweetie?" "I'm Akari Itsuki Kurosaki," I said, noticing that I had taken Ichigo's last name. It has a nice ring to it, alright? I mean I loved the name Hitsugaya but I took a liking to Kurosaki, then I told her, "Some people call me Akari." "Nice to meet you, I'm Asteria Evarose," she said, "You can just call me Asteria." "That's a beautiful name," I said to her, "Asteria means Star right?" She nodded, "I'm from Greece." "Oh~ I bet it's lovely over there," I said, with my eyes sparkling again. She sees this and notices that I have protection with me, she chuckled, "It is lovely there." "Why were you looking at my dagger?" I asked, "I never leave without any protection on me, you don't know how many dangers I have dealt with." "You are the fighting type?" she asked. I told her, "Where I came from, protection is absolute necessary." "I see," she said, "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" "I don't show to random people who I just met," I said, changing my tone of voice. I went outside for a bit, then one of guys came out 5 minutes later then decided to creep me out by flirting with me endlessly, shit, he got me cornered I can't get Shadow Phoenix out, then I heard a deep voice shouting, "Hey! Leave her alone!" The guy looked, starting shaking and went running, it was Chad who saved me, I went to him, thanked him, he nodded, looked to his right. There was Ichigo with a worried look on his face, he asked, "What were you thinking?" "You said so yourself, I'm starting to open to more people," I said. I looked to where Asteria was, she knew that the guy she was with was going to do something nasty, she basically threw him out of her table, apparently her friends didn't like her choosing me over them. She came over and said, "I'm so sorry about that, I swear I wasn't friends with them in the beginning." "You weren't?" I asked. Asteria looks at me then goes, "They said if I don't become their friends, they would've killed me and my family." "So they took you as a hostage," I said. She nodded, "And they let my family go, took me with them, this happened in Greece." "Wait, so, you are fluent in Greek?" I asked. She nodded, "I can teach you." "Please, that would make me so thrilled," I said, squealing. She giggled, "Sure, just as long as you continue to never treat me like they treated me." "Why would I do that?" I asked, "I would never besides that would mean that I successfully made my own friend." "Your own friend? What do you mean?" she asked. I told her, "I was only accepted to a group of friends that my step brother has made to get me started." "Oh I see," she said, "What's your brothers name?" "His name is Ichigo Kurosaki," I said. Ichigo was still there, Asteria looks at him, back at me, asks, "Aren't you the one that put a glass shard near the neck of my former friend, Natsume?" I blinked, twice, then nodded, Asteria told me, "Good thing you did, she was the one that was sitting in front of Uryu." "What happened to her?" I asked, "She didn't pass away after what I did, did she?" "Hm? Oh no, she needed a couple days to think of what to do," she said, "You practically saved her from her ex boyfriend who was constantly controlling her on what to do." "I did that?" I said, confused as all hell. Ichigo asked, "What happened to Natsume?" "She's currently in your hospital, Ichigo," said Asteria, "You should know, her ex tried to kill her then something stopped her." Then Chad and Ichigo looked at me, I said, "I couldn't done that." Then I pulled out my dagger, Asteria asked, "It's not a regular dagger is it?" "No it's not," I said to her. I looked at her, she seems to believe that she knows that I am not really from this world, she asked, "Where did you come from?" "Pardon?" I said, confused. She said, "I believe in many things, who saved Natsume was pure and good, was that you or someone else?" "It was someone else," I said, "This 'dagger' is not really what you think, I only made her look like this because who would wants to see a gigantic Scythe inside of any building here." "Scythe?" she said, tilting her head. I led her to a rooftop so I could show her, she sees the Scythe, I looked at the Scythe, asking, "Mother, can you show yourself to Asteria?" Shadow Phoenix showed herself to Asteria, tells her, "I was the one who saved your friend Natsume, Asteria." "Thank you, what happened to her ex?" asked Asteria. Shadow Phoenix chuckled, "Let's just he's roaming around as a spirit now." "Mother, he's gonna haunt her," I told her. She says, "Fear not, for my power shows on who they really were, he didn't mean to do all those things to her, he was controlled by his parents so he deserved the lost of the current relationship he had with Natsume." "What was his name?" I asked. Asteria answered, "Natsume never told me his name because she was frightened by him." "His name was Azuma Kimiko," said Shadow Phoenix, "Azuma means East and Kimiko means Prince." "Oh wow," said Asteria. After all that was said and done, I walked back to Ichigo's home but instead I went to check up on how Natsume was doing, Isshin led me to her room, she was awake when I walked in, she sees me, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry after what I did to you." "Relax, I just came here to check up on you," I said, "Are you doing alright after what happened?" "Yes, you were the one who gave me the strength of standing up for myself against him," she said. Then I told her on why Azuma was acting like that towards her, she notices this, then I told her, "Though he has been through rough times, I don't think he will be welcomed into the Soul Society until he can redeem himself." "Soul Society? What do you mean by that?" she asked. I told her everything on what happened, she seems to understand on what he has to do, she asked, "Can you see him? If so, where is he?" I looked around and I found him sitting in the chair in the corner of her room, I pointed to the chair, "He's over there, looking ashamed of what he has done to you."

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candlelightridge · 6 years ago

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Second draft of Olive Fenn & the Dead Hen. I cleaned up some of the janky metaphors and gave it a solid ending.

Thornton Farm sat far from the main town of Candlelight Ridge, out past the train tracks, past the trestle that laid over the river. It was as far as one could be from the busy main street of town while still being considered a Candlelight home, and that was the way that William Thornton had wanted it when he built it all on his own those many years ago. Tragedy had threatened the fields many times—there was the blizzard of ’77, the fire that had nearly taken their little, red home in ’85, and the fate strung deaths of little Olive and Ruth’s parents within days of each other in ’91. The eldest daughter, Olive, took to the farm as her mother had and married with children while keeping her sister close as a sort of housekeeper—a role that Ruth demanded for the sake of her guilt-ridden heart.

Then there was the most recent tragedy of Thornton Farm: The death of Noah Fenn. Olive--now Olive Fenn--had to bury her husband in a lonely funeral, and now stood as a single mother with her two children, Jill and Quincy. The farm had grown dusty and dead from prior years of neglect, and the two sisters took to working on the reaches of the fields for a potential income—something Noah had promised to do himself, but never had the chance before his vanishing. Many things needed to be picked up in the wake of his death, governed by a schedule of taking care of children and a tedious maid job, but the two sisters were nothing if not adaptable. The farm was organized into specific plots for different crops. First there was the root field, meant for potatoes and such, then the corn field, and another half-acre for pumpkins in the fall, all of which refused to sprout much of anything... but then there was the apple orchard. Despite the neglect, the orchard grew hearty trees with plump yellow apples, but had been fed on by critters and mushrooms, thus thick with debris and briar. The orchard was the perfect place to start, Olive decided, and she could nearly hear her mama telling her to sell the fallen trees for timber, to use the mushrooms for fertilizer. She wasn’t as smart as her mama—she never had the chance to be—but Olive could learn, she could teach herself new tricks. She wasn’t the old dog she was thought to be, she told herself this all on her own. With a wheelbarrow in tow, she took to raking between the trunks of those overgrown trees—but after many hours of work, she hardly made a dent in the mess of it.

“Oh…? Oh? Hello?” a voice called to Olive just when she was about to call it a day. “Ooolive? Olive Thornton?”

“It’s been Olive Fenn a long while now,” Olive sniffed, turning every which way, but not finding the source,

“Has it?” the voice said, clucking incredulously.

It was then that a crack echoed beneath her boot, through the wide, lonely orchard, and she lifted her foot to reveal the empty eye socket of a chicken skull, halfway hidden beneath the dirt. There was a moment of stillness then, hesitation giving Olive a long pause. The voice did not speak again, but Olive stooped herself low to unearth the rest of the tiny skull, brushing her fingers along its fragile frame, fruitlessly battling ages of dirt.

“Oh, that feels much better,” the skull spoke suddenly, tiny beak clicking against itself, each oh like that of a happy, chittering hen. Ah. There was her newfound company. How long had she been out here…? Olive couldn’t even remember the last time they kept hens on the farm.

“I’m sorry,” the woman spoke, “I didn’t know you had been out here.”

“Do not worry your pretty, red feathers,” the hen said. “I was not alone.” Olive glanced around the orchard, feeling a lot less alone herself now.

“I have many friends,” the hen went on, “and we all know your secret.”

With heart beating cold, Olive stared down at her feet.

“What secret?” she asked. Her voice was barely a whisper.

“We all know your secret and we will tell everyone,” the chicken said. “That is, unless you do us four favors.”

Olive knew two things then—the very secret dangling over her, and the chilly sweat that formed from the mention of it. She knew them far too well. If Thornton Farm needed a final nail in its coffin, it would be this, and it would be Olive’s fault—her undoing would be the farm’s undoing. Olive felt there was a time in every woman’s life where she would need to make a choice she didn’t want to have to make—for the sake of not herself, but the people around her… or the people beneath her feet, dead and gone but not forgotten. Maybe this time wasn’t a singular time, but it was funny how it always came down to those moments when she was already at her wits end. Her secret was something she thought she’d never have to address again... so, of course it was coming back to haunt her.

“I’ll do anything,” Olive agreed, eyes squeezed shut. She was certain it was a fool’s errand to trust a stranger, but she had no choice. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

“Ohh! You must save the farm,” the hen said, chittering with excitement. “You must do as we say to save the farm, or we will tell everyone.”

“Okay…” Olive started, “and how will I do that?”

“Noah Fenn must be buried in each field,” it said, and Olive’s brow quivered.

“What?”

“Take Noah Fenn apart and bury him. Limb from limb. Bury Noah Fenn in the farm.”

Noah’s purple skin, torn apart, hacked apart, scattered in the garden like fertilizer. The mere thought of it was enough to make the woman gasp with fright.

“I… I can’t--” Olive stopped and shook her head, her gut twisting with sick.

“You can,” said the hen, “and you must.”

The skull began to cluck happily as it roosted on its plan, and Olive held her pounding heart with a tense hand. Bawk-bawk-BAWK. It was almost like the thing was laughing at her, taunting her; nothing nice ever came from delight in other people’s suffering. This wasn’t funny, it wasn’t simple. To unearth her late husband and disperse him… it was a cruel joke for an otherwise tragic situation.

“Let us go to the root field,” the hen finally chirped, “we can start there.”

Olive didn’t want to take the chicken anywhere close to the farmhouse, but she felt numb and spellbound as she carried it along the dirt path back. In the distance, Ruth had finished taking down the linens from the clothes line, and she called to the little ones to follow her inside, her handmade pinafore billowing with the breeze with delicacy only Ruth could embody. Two heads of copper came charging after her without question, too far away to see their mama in the distance with cupped hands to her chest. Olive knew they were much too young to understand their mama’s mistakes, but maybe someday they would. By then, would they be forgiven? Time could mend many wounds, and it could cure hatred and bitterness and hurt, but maybe her mistakes were like an apple orchard. Maybe her guilt was the fertilizer keeping it all alive. But now there was a skull of a hen in her hand, affectionately nipping her thumb nail like any other playful bird--living, or unliving, proof that what she did was real and that it had consequences. The critters were eating her apples and she was just handing them over.

The root field was overgrown and boggy, and Olive couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of it. The amount of work she would need to do to fix the rot and rain was daunting, almost too much for two sisters, and Olive really didn’t want to ask any townsfolk for help. The hen seemed to sigh along with her, trilling in disappointment.

“What a shame,” it said. Olive answered by kicking a clump of dirt into the silty mess.

“Mm.”

“There used to be potatoes larger than me here,” it went on. “Whatever happened to those large potatoes?”

Olive knew the answer, but she elected not to say it, instead pursing her lips together in silence.

“Bury Noah Fenn’s legs here. Take them off Noah Fenn, so we can have potatoes again,” the hen told her, “and carrots and onions, don’t forget!”

“Here?” Olive asked with a shutter, kicking another clump of dirt.

“Right here.”

There was an unspoken betrayal to disturbing her husband’s resting place, an act that Olive took to in the dead of the night, all on her lonesome. Her knees wobbled beneath the hem of her nightgown, sweat dripping from her cheeks despite the chill. She could never ask another soul to help her, as this was her dirty laundry and no one else’s. And… and, despite that, who would ever want to watch a widow--such as she, especially--bury her ax in her husband?

The deed was done before dawn, and the body was returned to its resting place. Olive found no sleep before her children needed to be fed. She spent hours staring at the empty spot beside her on the bed instead, mind numb and too loud to comprehend.

There was peace, if only for a little while, after Olive did as she was told. It was only a few days when they discovered the root field had cleaned itself up, and sprouts were growing in place of what was once an ugly, barren plot. No bog, no rot, no mess. The fence had even been fixed, to keep wandering deer away from the carrots--carrots that already smelled so sweet on the wind. Ruth squealed with delight upon waking up to the sight of it, and called to Olive in admiration.

“So fast!” she said, “you’re some sort of superwoman, aren’t ya’, Oli?”

Olive didn’t feel like she had anything to be praised about. A part of her wished she could have simply done this by her own merit, rather than her own folly. It felt, in a way, that this could be Noah’s way of given back to the family--finally getting to cleaning up the farm, just as he had once promised.

However, as the plants grew bigger and bigger, Olive lost any sense of relief. Their first harvest of potatoes and onions was large, and each vegetable was fat and healthy, just as they had been when the sisters were children. But something was wrong, and it wasn’t just Olive who noticed something deeply off with them.

“They look like feet!” Jill exclaimed with a giggle. “Eww! I don’t wanna eat feet!”

Her brother, younger than Jill and much more impressionable, followed her lead. “No feet!” he said. “No toes!”

When her children were outside playing, Olive skinned the potatoes quickly, removing each stubby toe, halving each arch. Her body was trembling by the time she had a pot full of them, and she boiled them so tender, the little ones would never know. Olive mashed the shape out of them, with butter and milk, and there was no talk about feet again. No more feet. No more toes. No more talk of eating them.

In the dark of the night, when her children finally drifted to sleep, Olive removed herself from the kitchen with her knuckles bloody from choring. It was so quiet, Olive couldn’t even hear the crickets outside, only the soft taps of her bare feet on the wood floor. It was only when she paused to turn off the hall light, blackening the house completely, that she heard footsteps from behind her.

“Ruth?” she whispered.

There was no answer, and no footsteps… until they started again. Shfft, shfft, shfft, shfft, like heavy calloused feet being dragged against the floorboards. A chill grasped Olive’s spine as she peeked out into the hallway from the threshold of her bedroom, trying to find any form in the pitch-black house. She knew that sound.

“Noah…?” she murmured, breath quavering. There was no answer, but the steps continued.

Like peeling off a bandaid, Olive flicked the light on in the hallway, dark wood leading into the living room, the dining room on the far side with crafts still decorating its table… and nobody there.

Olive may have been alone when she laid down, but the pacing of her late husband’s feet echoed down the hallway and into her bedroom, she felt like he was there again. Noah was there, pacing the living room over and over and over in another sleepless night. Too restless to join her in bed, too stuck in his head to talk. Olive had read too many books to count to find the words that could bring him back into the bedroom and stop that endless circling. None of them had ever worked, and they wouldn’t work now.

She didn’t sleep that night.

Only a few more days had passed before the hen called to Olive again, this time from shed, where she had left it so the kids wouldn’t find it. The last thing she’d ever want was for her children to come across something dead. Death was common on farms. They’d probably poked a dead squirrel or two already, but it was a mama’s job to keep dead things away from her children.

“Oooolive.” It sounded very happy to see her again, clucking more than a chicken that laid an egg. Olive held the skull to her chest again, locking the shed tight behind her.

“Did you see what we did, Olive?” the hen asked. “Of course you did.”

“Of course I did, yes,” Olive repeated.

“You sound tired!”

“That’s ‘cause I am.”

“Well,” it clucked, “you’ll feel much better once we have some corn in you! Nothing better than corn.”

The corn field was the closest field to the road, and had been since dilapidated by litter and the family’s old truck, which was driven over it far too many times. It wasn’t so much a corn field anymore, as it was just a field. Overgrown grass, tire marks, and an embarrassing amount of beer cans. Olive cringed as they approached the edge, worn hand palming her forehead.

“It’s about time we threw away all this trash,” the hen said. “Right?”

“Right…” Olive muttered. It was nice in theory, but the task before her wasn’t. The family needed corn, however. Festival season was about to start, and corn paired all too well with lobster and butter. She could make a steal down in Bar Harbor if she wanted, and that could put enough cash in her hand to fix up the old tractor--or even simply keep the house afloat for a good year or so. She needed corn, just as she had needed potatoes.

Olive gave the hen a knowing nod.

“Take the arms of Noah Fenn, take them right off and bury them here,” it told her. “Bury them, so we can have lots and lots of corn!”

Olive could still hear her husband’s feet scraping across the floorboards. His pacing echoed throughout the empty farm, known to just the three of them: The hen, Olive, and Noah. Did she really want to do this? Was this worth the pain? She didn’t know what could come next, and she didn’t know what would happen once she was done for good. The bird nibbled happily at her, waiting for her acceptance. There was no other answer. She had to, for the sake of the farm.

Without sleep, Olive rose from her bed in a daze to complete the second task. She could feel the skull watch her as she procured her ax from the shed, and though it had no features, she felt a sick enjoyment radiate from its empty sockets. It was like chopping wood, Olive promised herself, it was nothing to feel so ill about. In the night, her husband was a tree, and his feet were but branches dragging against the paneling, and his arms were mere kindling for fire. And she completed it before she could know otherwise.

They were buried before a single soul could ever see her from the road. It was a secret between her and the morning birds.

A week passed before the corn field was in full bloom, to the absolute delight of the children. The two of them weaved in and out of the tall stalks, chasing each other mindlessly, giggling despite how the reaches whipped their pale faces red. They were thick crops, almost as thick as an arm, and they grew taller than any corn Olive ever saw herself.

“Your mama shoulda called you Jack, huh?” Ruth joked as she whisked Quincy up and into her arms. “Lookit all your beanstalks!”

“Magic beans!” Quincy answered, “but I don’t like beans!”

“Well,” Olive met her sister halfway and kissed her son on his red forehead. “It’s a good thing you’re Quincy, and this is corn. You like corn, right?” He gave her a sloppy kiss back, which seemed to be the funniest thing he had seen all day based on his laughter.

It started to grow dark by the time the sisters took to shucking the corn, the little ones in the living room as they sat in the dining room. For a moment, Olive thought to ask her sister if she had been hearing anything abnormal at night, but Ruth wasn’t the type to hide her fright from her sister. In fact, Ruth looked happy as could be, with her cheeks pinched back and dimpled as she started their chore. Olive decided to keep it to herself, and she focused on her own husk before her.

Olive’s eyes were away from her sister for just a moment before she heard Ruth gasp and drop the vegetable onto the table. “Oh, jiminy!” Ruth cried, “I- I thought…”

Olive stood quickly, leaning over the table to take a look. Ruth had peeled back just enough to reveal a thick, green grip on the corn, leaving indents like fingers around the kernels.

“It felt like it tried to grab me,” Ruth said. “Goodness, I must be tired.”

“Why don’t ya’ go to bed a lil’ earlier than usual, hun?” Olive asked, slowly sitting back down, eyes stuck on the corn.

“Maybe I should. I’m sorry.” Ruth’s eyes fell with shame, as if she were deadweight. Olive didn’t know how to reassure her otherwise.

Every stalk of corn was just like the first. Long, thick, and grasping the corn like hand. Olive tossed the rest back into the bucket. There would be no more corn on the table, not like that. No arms, no hands, no fingers. She’d sell it all. None in the house. None on the farm.

Olive was the last to bed once more, and she buried herself in her sheets. She suspected it’d be another night of pacing, in the very least, and she waited for it to come for so long, she hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep. The night was cold, and Olive woke to herself shivering above the covers. She lifted, glancing around the empty room, unsurprised that she knocked her sheets off, but irritated that she had. Snatching her blanket back from the other side of the bed, she covered herself once more. It was merciful to finally get some sleep, and to forget what she had done, and to forget her mistakes.

She was almost asleep once again, when the blanket was suddenly pulled from her shoulders, practically off of her once more.

Olive laid there, frozen, eyes focused on the wall across from her. The moon illuminated nothing but her form, and yet she knew there was no way she was alone.

“Quincy?” she whispered. Of course there was no answer.

Instead, she felt a rough sensation on her arm. Up and down, up and down. It was warm but made Olive’s stomach twist. Slowly, she turned her head, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was stroking her arm… only to find nothing there.

Olive ripped herself from her bed, grasping her arms in horror. Bile built up in her throat then, and there was a moment where she felt as though it would spill out onto the bed. There was nothing there, but Olive knew. She knew. Noah was in bed with her, with one too many drinks, and was waking her just like he always did. One too many drinks, a hand that wouldn’t leave her skin. Too rough, too noisy, too irresponsible.

Olive didn’t sleep that night, either. Or many nights after that.

The hen didn’t need to call to Olive this time, she spoke first, waking it from its slumber in the shed. She carried it to the orchard where she found it, upon its request, and she waited in jaded silence for its third task. Olive felt weak just looking at the work in front of her, having hardly slept in months now. How much worse could it possibly get, Olive thought? Was this the true punishment for her mistakes? Her betrayal? How she slept so soundly in their bed afterward, like nothing had happened, and that nothing was wrong.

She didn’t want to finish the hen’s request, but her legs had brought her here, her heart held the chicken’s head close, and she would bury her troubles with her husband’s body. A ghost in her walls would be the least of her worries if everyone knew why.

“Behead Noah Fenn! Bury his heart here, bury his chest. We need apples!” the hen cooed. “Ohh! Apples! Apples were my favorite.”

“We have apples,” Olive offered meekly,

“Do we?” the hen asked, “would you eat one of those?”

No, she supposed she wouldn’t.

Olive didn’t even bother to dress for bed that night, nor did she feel a shiver in her legs as she reared her ax back. It felt almost pointless to put what was left of her husband back in place, but she left it without second thought. She wanted the touching to stop, she needed it to stop. It wasn’t her husband, but a ghost of a bad memory, of something she couldn’t bear to think about or relive. She buried his heavy heart deep into the soil of the orchard, and she did not hesitate to wash the stench from her body once she followed the trail back to the house.

The orchard was much further from the house than the other fields, and so the family didn’t keep an eye on it normally. The days were going fast, despite how slow they otherwise felt to the woman. She was tired, and she found no rest in the house, only brief naps during the day when Ruth could watch the kids. Olive always woke with a start, always brushed her arm like a bug just crawled up her sleeve. Olive had never been an emotional woman, despite what others would say about her--no, what Noah would say about her. Mama would be so disappointed if she knew how blank Olive was now. Fear was all she could feel.

The woman took to choring throughout the day, despite her sister’s guilty grievances. There were only so many times Olive could hear her sister scold her for doing housework, so she finally broke from the house to take a walk to the orchard. The air was perfumed with apples, and Olive breathed in with a grin, giving herself a moment of peace before what would inevitably be another storm.

Every apple in the orchard had turned a vivid, blood red. Olive wasn’t a fool, however, she knew what a heart looked like versus a pretty, red apple. She missed the yellowy, orangey hues, but supposed this wasn’t so bad. She plucked one from the closest tree, admiring how it smelled, breathing it in with a loving sigh. And she took a bite.

Thick, red juice poured out from the apple, down her chin, onto her shirt. Olive removed it from her mouth curtly, eyes wide. She let it drop onto the ground, where its juice pooled beneath it like a puddle of blood. She thought, for a moment, she could hear the beating of her husband’s heart.

She ran from the orchard, wiping the blood from her lips as she went.

Olive was hesitant to go to bed that night. The only reasonable thing that could happen, she felt, was that the hand would stop, just as the footsteps had. Would she feel his pulse? Would she feel his heart? Would she hear it in her ear, like when they once laid together, happy and in love? Olive was a strong woman, she felt like she was strong. She could handle it, whatever this ghost threw at her. If she could handle Noah’s death, she could handle this.

But, as Olive laid down, she felt something lie down with her. She squeezed her eyes tight, hoping this would be the worst of it. Her husband’s presence in bed. There was a point where she no longer wanted it, she knew that, she held that with guilt for quite some time, but she could deal with it. She could deal with it. She could be fine, she promised herself that she would be fine.

Then the weight shifted, falling onto her small frame, heavy and cruel. Arms wrapped around her waist, rough and unwelcome. Warmth on her neck. A hand on her mouth.

It took everything in Olive not to scream, just like when Noah was alive.

Olive stood and broke the invisible hold, her small feet pattering against the floor as she whisked herself through the hall. Just like that night. Just like that night, her gown was silky and white and it felt like she stepped out into the darkness in nothing. Vulnerable and uncertain. She followed Noah’s path into the woods, where he would smoke before coming inside after a long day of avoiding his family. It was so dark, but he kept a lantern there, which was broken and dim by the time Olive retraced her steps.

Further into the woods, hen in hand, Olive continued with purpose. The hen chirped in confusion, begging her for answers: Why she was up now? Where she was taking it?

In a damp tarp down toward the abandoned sled track, she finally stopped.

“How do I know he won’t come back?” she demanded,

“What do you mean?” the hen asked. “Who?”

“How do I know that when I bury Noah’s fuckin’ head, that he won’t go talkin’ to me, too?” Olive said, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want him back, I don’t.”

The skull didn’t answer, and Olive peeled back the tarp, revealing what was left of her husband’s remains. It was shattered, scattered even, not much to look at, nor much left to see. Mama’s gun made sure of that.

“I don’t want him talkin’ to me.”

“Olive…” the bird trilled, and its voice was uncharacteristically quiet. “That’s not our intention…”

“Ain’t it? Then why—?”

Something shined over Olive’s shoulder then, interrupting the two of them. Olive quickly turned to the source, fearing for the worst.

“Oli?” a delicate voice called. Olive breathed out in relief.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m here.”

“You ain’t supposed to be here,” Ruth replied, stepping down the slope, meeting Olive’s side with a little help from her sisters guiding hand.

“I know. You ain’t, either.”

“I heard you go out… you’ve been actin’ really weird, y’know?” Ruth said. “What are you doin’? We promised each other, we ain’t go out here…”

“I had to,” Olive said. “I think he’s been hauntin’ me—hauntin’ the farm.”

Ruth hesitantly cast her light over the tarp and flinched back. “Oh, jiminy, what happened to his body?”

With deliberation, the two sisters took Noah Fenn’s wrapped head up from the woods, to the pumpkin patch, and they buried him together with careful hands. This was the second time now that Ruth stood by her sister when she dealt with dirty deeds, though there was a sense of closure now—and much less questions that needed answering.

“You had to,” Ruth told her sister as they rose from the dirt. “If you didn’t, where would you be? Where would Jill be…?”

“You’ve done enough cleaning up my mistakes,” Olive told her. “I don’t know if this is the last of them, Rue.”

“Ain’t no mistake,” she said. “Don’t say you ever made a mistake. You had to.”

Olive laid down with Ruth beside her, back to back. Her sister’s heavy breaths were white noise in the darkness, but sleep would not come easy until Olive knew what would come next—if she would face her husband, as he was, or if she would hear his voice once again. The awful things he used to say to her, to their children—his cruelty toward whimsy, toward womanhood, things that a child could not understand, but feel. Olive shivered at the thought.

Time passed, and so did the seasons. Pumpkins began to grow in the patch, and they grew bigger and bigger, beyond the size of any pumpkin Olive had ever grown… and that was the only excitement Olive found in them. They looked like pumpkins, tasted like pumpkins, made lovely pumpkin pies and toasted seeds. Then, the potatoes were potatoes; the corn was corn; the apples were beautiful and yellow, sweet to the taste, juice like any other.

For once, Olive could sleep.

Olive retrieved the chicken skull from the shed, and she offered it a “hello.” She was answered with silence. Its jaw fell slack as she lifted it, loose and fragile, completely unlike its playful beak before. She buried it where she found it, with the apples it loved, deep and cozy like a proper grave, one that she had never given to anyone else. It never spoke to her again.

#mine

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airmidtheawakened · 6 years ago

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Shortly after we were all assigned to our new teachers, I had a chat with Saki about my missing memories. I couldn't forget about the dream I had in Maine, with the white-haired bitch smashing my legs to bits. I knew that what Saki'd gone through while we were fighting the Esoteric was probably similar to what I had. I wanted to know if, given the choice to forget everything that happened in the Quincy Hellhouse, he would do so. I wasn't starting to wonder if trying to find out what happened to me was even worth it. Was it really smart to choose to live with that trauma when I had the option to go through my life as though it never happened? Seeing how upset Saki was, how terrified and broken he felt after we rescued him... I didn't know if I could handle that.

Saki told me he wouldn't forget. Even with all the pain and suffering and fear. He said it all meant something. It was something he survived, something he overcame and learned from. He said if he forgot then it would all be meaningless.

That's our Saki for you. He says he's weak, that he's a coward, but I think he's the strongest in the cabal. I hope one day he realizes it for himself.

Now I couldn't very well choose to stay in the dark about my abduction if Saki was being so mature about his. I asked him if he'd go with me to see Manny the Mentalist again. I didn't want to be alone when I remembered what happened. Of course he agreed. I could have brought the rest of the cabal too, I suppose, but I didn't think they'd be able to understand what I might feel afterwards the way that Saki might. Plus, I was supposed to be the 'strong' one. I had an image I felt I needed to preserve.

We didn't go right away. We were busy with our lessons (me especially; Papa Bear is freakin' brutal), and then I had to get ready for my audition, and then we went up against the Hunger. What can I say? The life of a mage is busy. We found some time a couple days after the Hunger case came to an end. Sisi was out with Apollonia and Lipsy was at work, so Saki and I hailed a cab to head over to Manny's theater.

It probably would have been polite to call first, but I wasn't actually sure how to get in contact with Manny besides just showing up. So that's what I did. Saki and I arrived while he was getting for a performance (he does stage magic for a living). He tried to turn us away at first. He seems to be the type that avoids trouble like the plague, and my cabal is *definitely* trouble. But he did make me a promise: If I learned enough mind magic to help him, he'd get my memories back for me.

We sat down in his dressing room, Naji by my side, and Manny placed his hands on either side of my head. He prodded around my headmeats for a minute or so, this time aided with a little magical push from me. But when he stopped nothing happened. I was still just as memory-less as before. Even worse, Manny looked like he'd just seen like, ten million ghosts.

I asked what was wrong. He said my memories were *gone*. Not blocked. 100% missing. Well not 100%, as there were little images here and there that had been left behind (my dream must have been one of them), but you get the idea. You better believe I was pissed. I asked Manny to at least tell me what the images were. He said he felt something on his forehead while he was digging. A word. I asked him what it was. He told me "Whore." I asked if there was anything else. Many used some magic to transfer an image on to some paper. it was a large cavern filled with large wooden crates. He said that I had, at some point, been there.

You'll recall that when my cabal and I first found ourselves in Dr. Westgate's testing facility, we'd woken up in wooden crates. I showed the picture to Saki. I asked him how much he wanted to bet that there were people inside those crates. He agreed with me.

Of course we couldn't continue having this conversation in Manny's dressing room. We decided to head back to our duplex. On the way out Manny apologized for not being able to find more, and said he was sorry I'd lost seven years worth of memories.

I stopped. I'd only been abducted for six months. I told Manny as much, and he said he was certain my memory loss went back seven years. Which means that whatever game the bitch in white and the Seers of the Throne were playing, they'd been watching me since I was fifteen years old. Talk about skeevy.

The trip home was quiet. I was too angry to talk. But Saki's always patient with me when I get like that. We got home and he just stood there and waited while I screamed into a throw pillow.

Once I'd calmed down we started talking more. I brought up the word that'd been carved on my head, and how Saki'd had one carved into his while he was captured. Whore. Homo. I learned later that Lipsy'd had a vision where he saw the word "Freak" cut into his head. Then there was the Bitch in White. I'd seen her in my dreams. Lipsy saw her in his head when he fought the Hunger. A fellow captive of Saki's said a woman in white helped run the Quincy Hellhouse.

Everything was connected. Saki, Lipsy, SiSi and I... *we* were all connected.

We needed to get back to the Quincy Hellhouse. If there were any answers to what had happened to us, we'd start finding them there. I didn't want to make Saki go back there after his captivity there, but he said it was fine. We had no other options.

Again, it didn't happen right away. We got clotheslined by another massive disaster. That seems to happen a lot in mage life, but what can you do?

When next we meet we'll start with the aforementioned disaster. See you then.

#IC #Session recap #Mage: the Awakening #Mage the Awakening #Onyx Path #World of Darkness #NWoD

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darisu-chan · 7 years ago

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More than Fate

Prompt: Red Strings

Summary: Ichigo reflects on bonds and destiny.

You can also read it here.

Kurosaki Ichigo had been thinking about destiny a lot recently. He had been thinking about the decisions we take that eventually lead us to the right path. He wondered if those decisions were conscious or if there was something else moving the strings from behind the scenes. It was no strange for him to ponder about such things. He was a child of destiny after all. The way his parents had met, and how they had fallen in love… That couldn’t have been coincidental. It was probably something deeper and more wholesome. He had asked his father about it once, after the war had been over and they all had found peace. The older man had chuckled, his eyes having this faraway look, no doubt recalling all the memories he had about his late wife. “Whether it was fate or not, doesn’t matter, Ichigo. I’m just happy that I got to meet her and love her.” Unsatisfied with that answer, he had pressed his father for something more concrete. “You could say that the gears of destiny pushed us together. But falling in love was a conscious decision, never forget that.”

It had been eight years since that conversation had taken place, and Ichigo was still unconvinced about his father’s words. Was it a conscious decision, or was it more than that? What about Ichigo’s own destiny? The young man thought about his own life. Truth be told, for a long time it felt as if someone was pushing him towards his current path. First Aizen had claimed to be the one to orchestrate the whole thing. From Ichigo developing his Shinigami powers to battling fight after fight, becoming stronger, if only so that Aizen could have a worthy opponent. Next, it was Yhwach who had claimed such a thing. The thought left a bad taste in his mouth. He felt repulsed that such individuals had had such claims to his own life.

What about choosing then? Ichigo had chosen to live his life as a Shinigami after all. From the moment he had become one, he had loved the feeling of his sword on his hand, and his strong reiatsu engulfing him. It became familiar. It gave him a sense of purpose that in his fifteen years of life he had never had. It was the power to protect. All he had done, he had done for that purpose ─protecting. His name means he who protects, and his current path fitted his name. But had he chosen that path under the influence of his name, or had he been always destined to be a hero, to protect everyone? That he didn’t know. For a long time, he had thought his fate was to be a normal human, like the rest. He had resented that fact when he had lost his powers. Once he got them back, and he had reached adulthood, he had taken a decision. He clearly had no place in Karakura or anywhere in the human world anymore. A typical human job would bring him no satisfaction or happiness in the long run. He was destined for far greater things, or so he felt. So, when Captain Kyouraku paid him a visit six years ago, and offered him training and a position in the Gotei 13, Ichigo hadn’t thought twice about it. He talked to his father about it, sure, but his mind was already made. He said goodbye to all of his friends, promising to visit whenever he had the chance. He told Yuzu he would call once a week at least. He promised his father he would visit his cousins Ganju and Kukkaku. He told Karin he’d make sure to send someone competent to take care of ghosts, so they wouldn’t worry her so much. With that, he left and started a new life. And although he missed his family and friends, he didn’t regret moving to another dimension. He had no reason to.

“Ichigo!”

And speaking of reasons, one of his reasons for staying was knocking at his door. It was Kuchiki Rukia, the person who had given him his Shinigami powers, his mentor, best friend, partner, and, most importantly, his girlfriend of six years. He smiled warmly, and opened the door, revealing the tiny Shinigami.

“Rukia.” Her name spilled from his mouth with familiarity. The man loved saying her name.

“Hey.” She smiled at him, and hugged him. A younger Ichigo would have been surprised by her open display of affection, but after six years together, and all they had been through, he was used to it.

“Hey yourself.” He chuckled, pulling her closer to him.

They pulled away, and Rukia smiled affectionately at him. “How was Hueco Mundo?” She asked him, taking a seat on the mat. Ichigo joined her.

“Same old, same old. Grimmjow and Nel received me at the gate. Grimmjow immediately asked me to fight him.” He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Rukia snorted.

“Figures.”

“Yeah, Nel had to punch him to get him off of my back. Then she hugged me, and I almost died from asphyxiation.” Ichigo said, recalling how he had almost passed out right then and there.

Rukia frowned. “Should I be jealous?”

“Of course not. There’s no reason for you to be, and you know that.”

She smiled deviously at him. “There better not be, Kurosaki-kun.” She spoke with the saccharine voice Ichigo hated so much.

“Oi, enough of that!”

Rukia laughed openly. She loved teasing him. “So, how were things with Harribel?”

Ichigo started telling his girlfriend all about the meeting he had had with the Queen of Hueco Mundo, while his mind went back in time, to that meeting he had had with Kyouraku.

When Kyouraku went to Karakura to talk to Ichigo, the Captain Commander had told him that he wanted things to change in the Soul Society. After the last two wars, the place was a mess. They had lost a lot of good Shinigami and souls in general. The system that had worked for them for thousands of years had failed in the worst way possible. Many souls did not trust Shinigami anymore. A lot of Shinigami and the students at the academy had started questioning the methods and rules in Seireitei. Kyouraku realized that he had to change things to reach stability once again. He wasn’t Yamamoto, not in the slightest, and he had more vision than his former mentor. He knew change was needed.

For two years, all Shinigami were busy reconstructing Seireitei and other parts of Soul Society. They had also worked on a better security system, seeing as even humans had breached it. Kyouraku had sent for the Vizards help, and had tried to smooth things over with them. Once that was done, it was time for Kyouraku to implement his changes. After seeing how Shinigami, humans, Vizards, Hollows, and even a few Quincies had come together to defeat Yhwach, he realized that that was what the Gotei been missing all this time. They needed to find a way to work together in case such a monumental thing happened again. The Shinigami needed an ambassador. Naturally, Kyouraku’s first choice had been Ichigo, who was a little bit of everything. The plan was simple, Ichigo needed to come and live in the Soul Society for training. As he was already skilled at swordsmanship, shunpo, and Bankai, he wasn’t required to attend the Academy. Kido and other skills he’d need to know would be taught to him by the lieutenants and captains of the Gotei 13. Meanwhile, he’d have to work as an officer in his squad of choice. Every few months, if things remained peaceful, he’d travel to Hueco Mundo to renew their alliance, and then visit the human world to observe how things had been going. Ichigo accepted, and went to live there. He practiced his skills and learned many things from each of the members of the Gotei. After a few months, he started working at his favorite squad, the thirteenth, where he worked under Rukia. Nobody was surprised by his choice, but they decided to say nothing about it. Ichigo actually worked better there than in any other place.

As the years passed, things became steadier with Hueco Mundo. Ichigo still visited them every six months, though. In the human world, Urahara, Yoruichi, Ishida, Inoue and Chad had everything under control, as well as the Shinigami Rukia had sent there to keep an eye on the spirits. In Rukia’s squad, he thrived, becoming Rukia’s right hand. He was very skilled as a teacher as well, and helped the squad practice their skills with the sword. There had been rumors about him becoming the next captain of that squad, not that Ichigo actually had any desires to become a captain. He thought that spot belonged to someone else. It had all worked out with no trouble whatsoever. A lot of Shinigami marveled at the efficacy of Kyouraku’s plans. They had the hero of the world in their ranks, acting as a leader and ambassador. There had been no wars in a while. It seemed meant to be. Even Ichigo was amazed by this development. Who would have thought that Kyouraku’s major plans would align with Ichigo’s own more humble plans? There was the talk of destiny again.

“So you were successful.” Rukia said rather proudly.

“The purpose of my visit was just to keep the alliance. But you can say that.” He said modestly. “I missed you, though.” He added.

Rukia blushed and smiled. “I missed you too.”

Ichigo took his time to gaze at her in wonder. She looked almost the same as she had during the night they had met. The same indigo eyes, dark hair, and that beautiful smile. Rukia was simply breathtaking. The only differences were the gloves on her hands, the lieutenant band on her arm, and that her hair was longer now, reaching past her shoulders. She had started leaving it long six years ago. She was splendid, he decided. Then, he cupped her cheek, and kissed her lips softly. He pulled the back of her head to bring her closer to him. Rukia kissed him back, hands running through his back. He grunted in delight.

It was hard to believe they were here. It was like destiny… And there was that word again, clouding his thoughts. Either by chance or by Aizen’s doing, they had met over ten years ago. She had saved his life in exchange of her powers, and thus their story had begun. Between Hollow hunting, living together, and learning things about each other, they had developed a strong bond. Rukia soon became the person closest to Ichigo. Then, she had been taken away, and Ichigo had fought his way until he had saved her. After that, things changed. No one understood him better than Rukia did, no one knew how to cheer him up the way she did. Those feelings continued growing, and not even Ichigo losing his powers or not seeing each other for seventeen months could change that. Then, the war against Yhwach came and went. He changed. He finally knew who he was. But it also became clear to him that he wasn’t unstoppable. He could lose. He could die. And Rukia could too. She changed as well. She was still scared that Yhwach’s threat would come true, even if they both along Ishida had made sure that they had destroyed him. That caused a rift in their relationship, which culminated in Rukia’s decision to marry Renji. Ichigo frowned at those intrusive thoughts. He had spent a month of misery when he learned about it. He had to thank his father for giving him the strength to tell her his feelings, otherwise Rukia would have surely married Renji, and they wouldn’t be here making out in his room.

Theirs seemed to be a story of destiny. But was that all it was? Did destiny intend for them to be right where they were right now, or were their individual decisions what led them here? He thought about Rukia’s wedding to Renji. Had he not said anything, would she still have married Renji with no regrets? Even if he interfered by confessing, perhaps she would still have married Renji anyway if her feelings for Renji had been steady. He faltered at that. Rukia’s feelings for him had been always transparent from then on. Ichigo had no reason to distrust her. That is what made him wonder all the time. The fact that she loved him back as intensely, that she wasn’t holding back any longer. He asked himself again if them being together was destiny or not? How could he know? He thought about his parents again, and his father’s cryptic words ─ You could say that the gears of destiny pushed us together. But falling in love was a conscious decision.

Falling in love was a conscious decision.

Never forget that.

The thought reverberated in his mind in pulses. Perhaps he had found his answer after all.

Ichigo, unwillingly, pulled apart from Rukia’s lips. She whined in displeasure. He chuckled at that. He kissed her forehead, and helped her sit again on the mat.

“Why did you stop?” She asked pouting.

She looked so damn gorgeous right then. Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks flushed, and her mouth swollen and red from his kisses. Rukia looked like a beautiful mess.

“Because there’s something I need to tell you.”

That caught her attention. “Oh? What is it?”

Ichigo smiled sweetly at her. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately.”

“Like what?” She frowned.

“Do you believe in destiny?” He asked her.

Rukia knitted her eyebrows, thinking her answer carefully. “Perhaps there is.” She said at last. “Some things are too much of coincidences to be a matter of chance. However, sometimes it is the choices we make which decide the paths we walk on. It is difficult to be sure which one is it. Maybe we would’ve ended here regardless of the choices we made in the end. Or maybe not. It’s one of the mysteries of life.”

Ichigo smiled fondly at her. Of course she would have had a similar mindset to his own. He nodded approvingly. “I think so to.”

Rukia smiled. “Great. But why did you ask me that?” She enquired.

“I’ve been thinking about us. About the way we met. Do you think it was destiny?”

She stopped to think for a moment. Then, she reached for his hands, and entwined their fingers. “Well, the circumstances would suggest it was fate. Back then we both were in difficult places, and through our meeting we changed and got better. We made each other better. But whether our meeting was fate or not, it doesn’t change anything for me. I still would like to meet you again no matter what.”

Ichigo’s heart beat fast inside his chest. He was more than satisfied with her answer. “Me too. No matter what, I’d choose you over and over.”

Rukia blushed. “Is that all?”

He shook his head. “No. I’ve been thinking about us, as I said before. I’ve been thinking many things. I’ve thought about how we met and our lives since then. Most importantly, I’ve been thinking about our bond. Rukia, even if our meeting was just chance, it has made me a better person. It is because of you I am who I am today. You’re the one person I trust and love the most. And I’m sure that, even if we had taken different decisions and weren’t together, our bond would have made it through. Because, Rukia, it will never break. We’re tied together by a string, and nothing, not even death, can break us apart.”

Rukia almost burst into tears at hearing his words. They were the most beautiful thing anyone had ever told her in all of her long life. Ichigo made her feel loved and cared for, in ways no one else had loved nor cared for her. He was right about their bond. Even if it never developed into a romantic relationship, their bond would never have broken. Ichigo proved it to her when he still attended her failed wedding even when he was heartbroken. If there was something real and immortal in this world, it was their bond.

“And, I just want you to know that I do think it was meant to be for me to fall in love with you. It just had to happen.” Ichigo continued saying. “But staying in love with you, getting to love you every day, even when we fight or I get frustrated at you, it’s a conscious decision. I choose every day, and I want to keep choosing you for as long as I live.” Then, he kneeled in front of her, surprising Rukia. “So, what do you say, Rukia, will you choose me too every day until we die?”

Rukia blinked back tears, and cried. She hugged him, and exclaimed. “Yes! I’ll always choose you! Now and forever! Even when we die, I’m still going to choose you! In this life and the next!”

Ichigo returned the hug, and then leaned down to kiss her passionately, letting her feel all the love he had for her. Rukia kissed him back, tears still coming out of her eyes.

After that, they didn’t return to work for the day. Not that their squad missed them, Kiyone and Sentarou had had orders from Ichigo to handle things in their absence.

Ichigo and Rukia ended up deciding on a May wedding, on the date they had met, which happened to be a few months from then. That wasn’t just fate. It was more than that.

#ichiruki #ichirukimonth #ichiruki fanfiction #my fanfiction

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ramajmedia · 5 years ago

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8 Things You’ve Never Noticed From Bram Stoker’s Dracula

If you want a feast for the eyes and a heartbreaking storyline intertwined with an epic adventure, ask Francis Ford Coppola. A director with an eye for detail and a passion for literary adaptation, Coppola has given us films like The Godfather, Apocolypse Now and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

RELATED: Dracula Meets Dracula: Gary Oldman & Luke Evans Unite For Vampire Actor Photo

The latter is one of the best known, winning three of the four Oscars for which it was nominated and featuring a stellar performance from Gary Oldman as the title character. The sets, costumes and special effects recalled a much earlier time with their rich details, most of which you probably didn't even see because you were so interested in the story. Here are ten things you didn't notice about Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

8 The Color Scheme

This is an interesting feature of the film once you take note of it, but you probably didn't initially. Few strong colors are used in the film, with a few exceptions. Most of the colors are from a basic black, white and primary color palette with nary an orange or purple in sight, although green makes a few interesting appearances.

Red is reserved almost exclusively for Dracula with a few deliberate exceptions. Each color is strongly symbolic and has unmistakable connotations the viewers will recognize. Red is the most obvious, as the color of blood and lust, as white is for brides everywhere, even Dracula's.

7 Classic Effects Techniques

You can still watch this movie and not really notice that all the effects are practical, even antiquated. Coppola was adamant that only vintage effects techniques could be used in the film, and that included editing and sound.

RELATED: 12 Best Movie Remakes of All Time

He was so determined that he fired the whole special effects team when they told him it couldn't be done and hired his son instead. The result is that in the final cut of the movie, only the blue flames that seem to protect the road leading to Dracula's castle are CGI. Of all the criticism the movie received, nobody complained about the old-school special effects.

6 Exotic Languages

The scene that included Dracula and his brides torturing Jonathan Harker in the castle was chilling enough, so maybe you just assumed the language the women were speaking with Dracula was fictional or an exotic dialect of a modern language.

It's Romanian, which isn't as widely spoken as other Romance languages like Spanish, so it was an easy thing to miss. It's even accurate to the time period, thanks to some research done by the actresses themselves. Beyond that, did you notice that this isn't the same language spoken at the beginning of the movie, which is supposed to take place in the same castle centuries ago? That was actually modern Romanian using medieval English syntax.

5 The Use of Original Text

You don't have to be familiar with the book to understand everything that's happening in Bram Stoker's Dracula, but you might miss some interesting tidbits. If you do know the book, then you can appreciate how often the original text is integrated into the script and storyline.

Virtually all of the diary entries could have been read right off the page, including much of Jonathan's harrowing ordeal escaping the castle and the last days of the Demeter, the unfortunate ship that was carrying Dracula's crates of unholy soil. The letters are also right from the book. Bram Stoker was one of the first people to use the "found footage" technique to tell a literary story, an idea way ahead of its time.

4 The Pillow Talk

You weren't supposed to notice this, but you might have suspected something like it was going on. During the scenes in which Lucy is writhing in what seems like an erotic nightmare, she can hear a voice that we can't. He's not on a mike, but Gary Oldman, the actor who plays Dracula, is sitting nearby.

RELATED: The 5 Best (and 5 Worst) Dracula Performances

Coppola asked him to speak to Sadie Frost, the actor who plays Lucy, in a seductive way while they were filming. Apparently he said some stuff that Frost doesn't dare repeat.

3 Lucy's Head

This is a weird moment of pathos that flashes across the screen for literally a second, so if you were looking at your watch or reaching deep into the popcorn bucket, you could have missed it. The last scene we see in Lucy's tomb is an intense one. Arthur is hammering a stake into her heart as Van Helsing chops off her head. Even Quincy is having trouble with it. Dracula screams in rage.

Then we get a sudden cut to van Helsing vigorously cutting through a roast as he is sitting at dinner with Mina and Jonathan. Mina asks how Lucy died, and just before Van Helsing briefly and bluntly describes her death, we get a single last shot of the tomb, with Lucy's head sitting on the stone coffin with the four men nearby, heads bowed. In case you wondered what everyone was nervously laughing at, that's what it was.

2 A Real Wedding

Winona Ryder is never going to let anyone forget this, and we can't say that we blame her. Well, you didn't see this because you assume that what you see in a movie isn't really happening. Those aren't real vampires, bustles were actually out of style in 1897, and that isn't a real wedding.

Or is it? In one of the very few sets in the film that's not a sound stage, the wedding scene in the movie was a re-shoot that was done in a real Greek Orthodox Church, with a certified and totally authentic Greek Orthodox minister. Sorry ladies, it looks like Keanu was taken the whole time.

1 The Sound Stages

This wasn't just done because Coppola wanted to give the film an authentic vintage look, although that was a convenient excuse. Coppola fans were used to epic, on-location sets, like the ones they had seen in Apocolypse Now. However, movies like this had given him a bad name.

Local authorities often refused to let him shoot in many locations after the piping hot mess that was the set of Apocolypse Now. Movies like Tropic Thunder lampoon this story, which is legendary in cinema history. The result is the real reason Coppola opted to used sound stages for virtually every scene - he didn't have a choice.

NEXT: 15 Things You Didn't Know About The Universal Monster Movies

source https://screenrant.com/never-noticed-bram-stokers-dracula/

#screenrant

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sueboohscorner · 7 years ago

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The Haves and the Have Nots S4 Ep18- A Broken Mirror *Recap & Review* #HAHN

Episode Rating Scale: (8) Enjoyable

I am really hoping Tuesday episode Candace finds out her son is dead. I mean we almost at the finale and that bombshell haven't dropped yet. I also know she better not allow Benny to go down for Quincy murder. Charles was alright with me up until that point. Let's talk.

This episode picked up where it left off. Jeffrey walks in his hotel room to find a make Justin in his bed. Looks like Jeffrey has two horny men trying to get his good good. Funny, I always thought Jeffrey was the female. Landon so horny, he doesn't care how he get laid. He approaches Justin with sexual advances. Justin lose control. He starts choking Landon. That was enough to finally make Landon leave. Justin secret is being revealed more and more. Eventually, Justin has to make a decision before his double life blows up in his face.

Jeffrey repeatedly asks Justin to leave. Justin refuse to leave. Justin has fallen in love with Jeffrey. Between having a wife and developing feelings for a man; Justin temper is becoming a ticking time bomb. Every since Justin almost got Jeffrey shot, Jeffrey just been staying away from Justin. However, Justin always find Jeffrey. Jeffrey decides to leave since Justin won't leave. Who walks through the door? Veronica Veronica Veronica. This time she is recording proof. Justin stands there half naked and in a gay man hotel room. Justin life about to blow up in smoke. He about to have some explaining to do.

War is still in hiding. Mama Rose has turned the heat up on Jim. Jim needs to find War and quickly. He meets up with Oscar. Oscar located (3) numbers for War. Oscar warns Jim that calling War isn't a good idea. Right now Jim has no choice. He calls War. Erica calls War to give him an update on Candace. Erica wants to tip the police of Candace's whereabouts. War tells her no, she is mine. Erica better be careful. Close eyes doesn't necessarily mean sleep. Don't underestimate David. Jim calls interrupt Erica and War talk of getting Candace. Jim tells War they need to make meet. War trust no one especially not Jim Cryer. Before Oscar could trace War location, War hung up the phone. Jim has a bigger problem then War. Oscar shows him what is being talked about on the news. Jennifer Sallison body showing up, wrapped in plastic with a note implementing Jim Cryer killed. Mama Rose has lit the fire. Jim, David, Katheryn and Veronica just got burned.

Jeffrey stops by to see Wyatt. Wyatt is sleeping. It looks like Anna is starting to like Wyatt. Could Wyatt be getting a girlfriend this season? Jeffrey loves Wyatt but I hope he is really over Wyatt. Wyatt and Jeffrey will never be more then friends. Oscar makes his move on Anna again. Anna is his best chance to get Wyatt's money. Jim hired Oscar to get Wyatt's inheritance transferred back to him and Katheryn. Oscar hasn't been successful. I was happy to hear Anna turn him down. I just hope he never quote the right price. Granted, it's deadly for Wyatt to have that much; but hopefully he really going to get his life together this time. We will see. But it looks like he might be liking Anna.

Erica finally comes out the bathroom. She is surprised to find David awake. I guess she really thought she put it on him. David heard her on the phone. Erica cover her tracks by saying room service. She stands there glowing. She wearing David's shirt and sexy lingerie. It would be really interesting to see her fall for David. I mean Candace fell for Oscar. It would be interesting to see how Erica hide loving David from War. Erica and David talk about Veronica's crazy shenanigans. Erica doesn't know what Veronica is capable, but David definitely does. Erica better tread lightly or she will end up a casualty to wanting David. Let's not forget what happened to Maggie Day. Deep down, Veronica was probably happy about Katheryn killing Jennifer Sallison. She wanted David too. David time with Erica is interrupted by a phone call from Jim. Jim needs to warns him about the smoking fire Mama Rose dumped on their plate. How will David and Jim get out of this heat, especially with it being all over the news? David and Jim better find away to get back on Mama Rose side.

Mitch, Hanna and Katheryn is at the police station. Hanna want answers about what's going on with her son. Katheryn wasn't able to get a hold of Marty to be Benny's lawyer. Mitch tells Hanna he just spoke to Benny's lawyer. Hanna and Katheryn are confused about who could possibly be his lawyer. In walks Veronica. Hanna can't stand Veronica. I think that feeling is mutual. The woman all throw shots at each. Veronica is extra like always. Hanna wants to see Benny. Veronica agreed to make it happen; if Hanna get on her knees and asked. Katheryn makes it clear Hanna wasn't doing that. Katheryn calls Veronica a bitch. She ready to release some of Veronica's dirty deeds. However, Katheryn has one of her own. Veronica reminds Katheryn of that as she sings bang, bang, bang in Katheryn's face. Who secrets does Veronica not know. Mitch sees none of the bickering is going to help his friend or get them in to see him. He asked Veronica politely help them see Benny. The best attorney in Georgia is also the craziest lawyer in Georgia. No one has answers to why Been is being questioned and held by the Secret Service. The Secret Service is trying to get blood from Benny. I really think it was a bad idea for Benny to agree to giving his blood. Veronica should have been in there with him. Secret Service is railroading him. All roads always lead back to Candace. I bet it does.

David see the latest news report. He doesn't understand what's going on. Why Mama Rose delivered Jennifer Sallison's body on the news station grounds? Jim try to explain she is pissed off. War shot at Mitch. All this is because War had beef with Candace. He saw Candace wasn't in that hotel room so why take it to gun play. Now a innocent child is dead. Mama Rose is pissed and she want War's head on a platter. David tried to tell Jim he will talk to Mama Rose. This time it's no talking to Mama Rose. She is pissed at Jim and David. Jim tries to explain that to David. War would be in jail for the drugs Mitch planted in his car. Jim wanted War out of jail to help get those compromising pictures from Candace. Jim was in jail so David made it happen. War was free, blood shed follow and now there will be more blood. Mama Rose about to start a War.

Charles has this plan to erase Candace dirty deeds. Give her a new life, fresh start and new image. It sounds good but Candace not built for that kind of life. As Charles points out, someone was murdered and there is a body. If he going to erase all her dirty deeds, who will take the fall for Quincy's murder. The plot thickens. Charles is setting Benny up. What is Candace going to do? We all know she is out for self. Will she go along with Charles plan? They should set War up for Quincy's death. That would explain his urge to kill Candace. I am trying to figure out what is Charles really up to with Candace. Does he want a first lady or side pieces? Do he like her or is she just a charity case for him? I mean Candace said it. She seems like a project. He said, " I been looking for someone like you. Classy with dirt." May not been his exact words but it's close. Lol. So does Charles want Candace or does his want the bedroom adventures with Candace? He made it clear she will not be his first lady. So what is it he want from her? Candace has the opportunity to be free of her crimes, live a good life, start over and sleep with the most powerful man in the world...THE PRESIDENT!. The only thing she has to do is say yes and let her brother rot in jail for a crime he didn't do. Guilty by family ties. Benny was an accessory tho. He help bury Quincy's body. Loving Candace always come with a cost. Benny loved Candace. That's his sister. However, his love for her, his trust of her and his loyalty to her just might cost him his freedom. What will Candace say, yes or no to Charles offer? Let's stay tuned in. The Have and the Have Nots is raising the bar. You can't miss it.

Catch up on The Have and the Have Nots on Comcast On Demand or download the OWN app.

Please be the first to like, share and comment. Subscribe to sueboohscorner.com for your latest talk tv of your favorite shows. Visit Sueboohs Corner TV Series Page on Facebook as well.

Editor: Lattice Johnson

#tylerperry #OWN #thehaveandthehavenots #tikasumpter #richandpoor #HAHN

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sponfawn · 8 years ago

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Regarding Bleach and its ending

I recently found out that Bleach ended and so I decided to read the rest of it (I stopped after the Fullbring arc).

A lot of the western fandom really dislikes the last chapter.

SPOILERS

We find out that after a 10 year time jump, Rukia isn’t with Ichigo. She’s with Renji and he’s with Orihime. Personally I liked this ending. Kubo planned from the beginning for Ichigo’s kid and Rukia’s kid to meet at the end. Meaning they wouldn’t be together. I mean it was rushed, lacking in development, and there were many questions left unanswered (some of which are answered in We Do knot Always Love You - a light novel), but considering Ichigo didn’t have any room for romance during the actual series, it still made sense. It makes sense to me that he and Rukia have a really close and wonderful relationship that doesn’t need to be romantic. To be fair I did ship Ichihime, but it was more of a light “it could be nice if they got together, but I don’t think it’ll happen and he doesn’t seem to have feelings for anyone, and I think she needs to grow more herself anyway”. I also found they were interesting as foil characters.

What upsets me is that a lot of the fans hate Orihime or (in much lesser numbers) Rukia cuz of shipping wars or other misguided reasons. A lot of people dislike Orihime cuz she was used as fan service, or she didn’t always know exactly what to do, or she had human flaws as a normal 15 year old. But I love her. So much. She was one of the few main characters who really embodied what it might be like to be a kid in those situations. Chad was nearly inhuman in terms of resilience and strength, similar with Ichigo, and Ishida was never typical even without the ingrained Quincy training and ideology. She was like a tether to the reality of the events that unfolded. I was disappointed in how her development panned out, but I feel that she overcame a lot and grew emotionally even if not as much in terms of OP magic powers.

Hime was what most of us would be like in similar situations at that age - unsure, short on confidence, trying her best, making mistakes, trying to be useful, making some not so great choices in love, and getting upset when traumatic things are happening. But she also had incredible empathy, compassion, resolve, perception, and determination. A lot of people compare her to Rukia, but she was hundreds of years older with a much different life and much different expectations and training. I’ve read a couple rants where someone said they hate Orihime, wanted her to die, cuz she has low self esteem, makes bad choices, and isn’t a good role model for young girls. That somehow she makes it seem like it’s ok to not have confidence or that it’s ok to devote yourself to someone for 5 lifetimes when you’re 15. But I think they miss the point. It’s not good that she has low self esteem, but even with it she accomplishes a lot, grows, becomes happy and learns a lot as she gains confidence. Even without confidence she still moves forward and it begins to grow with her. When she has very low confidence, she is much less happy, and as it grows she is able to become stronger and more content. When she puts Ichigo on a pedestal, she isn’t seeing all of his sides - later she does and it scares her. She accepts him anyway, accepts his flaws. This isn’t a perfect message, since it’s not our job to accept all flaws, like abuse. But we do have to accept some flaws in every person we keep in our lives. A lot of people also hated that she healed Menoly and Loly saying it was unrealistic. But I'm sure there are lots of medical professionals who would do what they could in similar situations. Ichigo also fights for and with people who were enemies and protects them but no one says anything about that.

People also overlook her and Rukia’s friendship often. But I feel it’s an incredibly important part of Bleach, and who these girls are. Yes, Orihime gets jealous of Rukia at one point during the arrancar arc, but she doesn’t let those feelings take over her opinion of Rukia. She feels bad about being jealous, recognizing that it was irrational and affirming that she really likes Rukia as a person. People forget that you can’t control your emotions, just how you react to them. And the fact that these 2 don’t let things like jealousy overtake their mutual support and trust is amazing and beautiful. There is no girl on girl hate here. That is powerful and important. And it truly saddens me that people ignore this aspect of their interactions and that people go so far as to hate either of them.

#ichihime #we do knot always love you #renruki #spoilers #Orihime #bleach #Ichigo #ichiruki #rukia #female relationships

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youngerdrgrey · 8 years ago

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a woman’s worth // a queen sugar fic

written for day 20 of 30 x 31 writing challenge; prompt: song lyric as title.

about... in the recording, Davis had told Goldie, “I pay you to do what my wife won’t do.” Well, Charley wants to know what that stuff is. // title from Alicia Keys' A Woman's Worth + read on ao3

Charley stops walking with her hand wrapped around the side of the door. Wood slivers push back against her hands like they're screaming, begging for her to just keep moving. Let go, follow Micah, and leave before Davis finds a way to make this day even worse. He's already sucked an hour out of her day. Technically, he and Micah did -- the third of their newly reinstated father-son meetings, and Micah had asked Charley to just wait at the hotel this time instead of leaving. So she'd spent an hour down at the hotel bar, tracing condensation down a glass of Remy Martin and wondering how the humor only made her stomach drop lower.

Remy Newell adores her. Cherishes her mind, her drive, her ability to connect to people from different upbringings and rally them together towards a new hope for the future. And he looks damn good doing it too. But he's also the first man to look at her this way since Davis. The first man to make her smile, to get her blood pumping and have her reaching to turn her whole world on silent. But sometimes, for just a second, her phone buzzes, and she sees Davis' face first. Or she blinks awake in her room at Aunt Vi's and rolls over, expecting her husband to still be there beside her. She just finds air and disappointment. A deep seated hollow feeling that doesn't go away no matter how hard she breathes or how she scrapes her nails against her ribcage.

And she figures that she could let Davis go if she understood just one thing. And it's not why he cheated, because that's something he'll have to work out between himself and the God he sometimes believes in. But her question is a subset of why, even if it's more of a what.

Micah stills in the hall about two doors down from the penthouse. He watches her like he always does, like he sees everything but only understands the smallest bit. Like if he knits his eyebrows together, everything about her will suddenly make sense. But she rarely has a good explanation for herself. Rarely entertains anyone who'd ask for one.

"Mom?"

What do he and Davis talk about when they're alone? Do they talk at all, or do they just sit for an hour until she comes to get him? Is it like old times where they play games, or maybe they just turn on the tv and pretend they're not together at all. She could ask about that. But for now, she has another question.

Charley talks around a quivering jaw with a newfound set to her shoulders. "Give us a second."

Micah takes a step her way before he catches himself. Then he kind of bounces in his words, his choice to stay.

“I’ll be right here. I’ve got my phone so…” take her time, say what she needs to say. “I’ll be here.”

She nods her thanks, then taps along the door and pulls it back closed. She doesn’t have to turn to know Davis has come closer to her. He’d stayed near the chair once she came up to get Micah, but now he’s less than an arm’s reach away. His shadow looms over her as she does come to face him.

Davis holds his hope in the tops of his cheeks, and they rise to greet her as quickly as his hands do. He brings the hands back down, but his face keeps that light. It'd always made him seem even taller -- his light -- like he could reach up into the heavens and bring down the moon and every star in the sky for her.

"Hey, Charley," he says, as if they haven't already exchanged greetings, as if this extra moment between them is normal. She could pretend it is. Could let herself give in to the old memories and the warmth that used to wash over her at the sound of her name. He sang her name like a hymn, brushed his thumb from her nose to her lips, and left her adrift. She's coming back to herself now. She's trying to.

"I'm sorry." She blinks. Sighs. "Actually, I'm not sorry. I'm..." frustrated. Ridiculous. Her fists ball at her sides before she unclenches them. "I don't even know if I want the answer, but I have to ask. I need to know so that I can stop thinking about this every time I try to relax and wind up picturing you instead."

His cheeks deflate the longer she talks. Grounding out into their spaces on his bones. She's practiced this a hundred times over. Brushing her teeth, putting in her contacts, sitting in traffic, signing paperwork. But the lead in isn't exactly something that she can be prepared for.

She dives in anyway. "In that recording, of you and-- you said, 'I pay you to do the things my wife won't do.'"

Now he's the one who's hollow. Ghosted down cheeks and a chest full of hot air. "Charley--"

"What kinds of things?" she asks him.

"Baby, don't--"

She stresses every syllable. "What kind of things, Davis?" She wrestles with his gaze even as he tries to look away from her. "You owe me that."

"You don't want to know," he says. "You're asking, but you said it yourself. You don't--"

"What?" She takes a step in. "Don't what?"

He talks real slow after that. "Want to know, Charley. God, what's that supposed to help anyway? You want to hear positions. Places. How many times. None of that's going to help you."

"You have no idea what will help me." She has no idea what will help her.

"I'm looking out for you."

She scoffs. "You're protecting yourself. The same thing you did when you took up mistresses and sex workers instead of just communicating what you needed with me. That's what I'm here for! To be there for you. To love you and support you and get the exact same in return. Not just to fix your brand and raise your son."

He huffs at that. "I raised Micah. I was there every moment that I could be for that boy.."

"Really?" She crosses her arms. "How many times did you call him and say goodnight while a woman made her way over to your room? How many of those hurried phone calls were just to ease your guilt? And how many of those missed calls were because you were otherwise occupied, huh?"

"Charley, we agreed that none of this changes what I am to Micah. This was never about him."

"Oh, I know that. It was about you. Nothing but you." Some need to fulfill himself outside of his marriage. He was sitting there with those boys, fresh out the draft and eyes so wide they don't know what to do but look at what's out there, and he'd felt like he was missing something. Like maybe if he got to run around and be a man somewhere, he could keep on playing like them. If he could act like them, then he wasn't getting old, just getting better. She knew the psychology. Knew the stories of the men who'd wanted a break from responsibilities and took so much more from everyone else around them.

He groans. Spins with the weight of his frustration and stomps those steps back to the chair. She gives him that space, watches as he grinds his jaw.

He says, "The first time it happened, I was so scared you would find out. I couldn't stop checking for some kind of sign that you knew, that you even suspected it. But you had no idea, did you?" He grips the chair. "Out there taking care of Blue and your aunt Vi -- didn't even know what I was up to. And it felt good, Charley, to have someone just care about me. Not about the ball player, or the business man--" she scoffs, and he tenses. Grinds out, "Someone who didn't care about the husband, or the father-- don't give me that look."

"You said it didn't change how you were to Micah, now you're saying you wanted to forget about him."

"I wanted a night off."

"And I didn't?" She could shake him. "You don't think I ever wanted a break from being everything? I was the wife, the mom, the manager, the CEO, the picture perfect black princess for everyone out there who needed someone to look up to. I didn't get breaks, Davis."

"I get that."

"Do you?"

"Yes! I'll admit it. I'm not as strong as you. I couldn't be. You could be all of that, baby, and not even break a sweat. But I wanted something--"

"More?" He wanted curves and big breasts. Multiple women who'd let him take the reigns and say shit like unless I put something in it, shut your mouth. That wasn't her.

He knows that much. His voice comes out softer. "Else, Charley. Never more." He squeezes the chair again before letting it go. "Look, I don't have any answers for you. And I'm sorry. For hurting you, for putting you through this, for not being able to actually make any of this better. Because that's what I was there for. To take some of that weight you carry and let you keep on moving." From a distance, their eyes come out almost level. "I couldn't be enough for you. At least now you know it, right?"

She doesn't know what she knows. But she starts seeing a movie play out in front of her. Back in the day, before Micah'd been born but around the time when all the doubts and fears started creeping in, they'd gone on a date to the movies. He'd had to help lower her into her seat, but he hadn't complained once, not when she wanted half the concessions stand, or when she'd whined about the studying she should've been doing. He'd just got her what she needed and pulled her close for what would eventually be his favorite movie.

"'All's fair in love and basketball.'" Her eyes well up, and her jaw ticks so she has to work extra hard to keep herself from losing it. On the date, and for years, they'd joked that he was like Quincy, the boy who'd spent his whole life wanting to be in the game, but that he would make it. Turns out her husband -- ex husband -- is more like Quincy's dad, Zeke. So caught up in his own shortcomings that he destroys his family, hurts his son, and loses everything.

Davis's eyes go wide, but she doesn't take the time to explain or recap. She takes a breath to steel herself and nods.

"Goodbye, Davis." Quincy got a happy ending, even though it wasn't the story he'd been hoping for. Zeke got a passing mention about a funeral, and even that was a little more than he deserved.

Charley heads back out without another look his way. She clicks the door shut behind her.

Micah's where she left him, but he's typing, furiously. Probably texting Keke, or Nova if he's telling on her. He jumps at the sound of the door though. Steps her way, hesitates, then keeps on going. She sidesteps the hug, but wraps her arm around his shoulder. It's enough for now. She can carry a bit of this weight if she has someone to lean on. And she will always have her son.

She presses a kiss to the side of his head. He groans, but his heart's not in it.

She says to Micah, "You are more than enough, you know that, right?"

And Micah says, "I know. Love you too, Mom."

(She never does get an answer. But it might've just been the why she cared about after all.)

note: movie references are for Love and Basketball (2000). any thoughts on this fic?

#I have mixed feelings about this one so thoughts would be very much appreciated friends and followers #charley bordelon #davis west #queen sugar #queen sugar fanfic #30 x 31 #charley x davis #micah west #mine #fm #qs: fics #qs: s1 #qs: 113

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lightsize95-blog · 6 years ago

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Mike Madigan's constituents unfazed by campaign rhetoric against their guy

The Friday before Election Day, I headed to the neighborhoods hugging Midway Airport with one question on my mind: What do the people in Mike Madigan's legislative district think about Governor Bruce Rauner's reelection campaign hinging on the demonization of their representative?

For months, Rauner had been campaigning against J.B. Pritzker on the argument that he was the best man to combat the perennial Democratic state house speaker. One ad depicted Pritzker and Madigan joined in an "unholy union" by an officiant who pronounces Illinois "fucked." Another showed Rauner in mom jeans and a leather vest embroidered with a "governor" patch riding a Harley and decrying the "Madigan machine." The constant refrain could be summed up in a simple equation: Madigan = greed, corruption, and tax increases.

I figured the best place to look for some Madigan constituents would be at the speaker's district office, listed on his website as 6500 S. Pulaski. Driving down the busy commercial thoroughfare past miles of storefronts featuring advertisements mostly in Spanish, I was surprised to find the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture at this address. I blew right past it at first—there was no indication at all that the drab two-story building doubled as the home base of the longest-serving state house speaker in American history.

Upon closer examination of the edifice I noticed a tiny sign to the right of the museum doors, inches above the sidewalk: "13th Ward Democratic Organization Second Floor—North"

Inside, taped up on the shiny granite walls and partially obscured by plastic plants, were paper signs pointing to the office upstairs. Walking down a long, shadowy hallway hung with portraits of Lithuanian national heroes I finally came to a locked glass door marked by another inconspicuous piece of paper:

13th Ward Democratic Organization

Marty Quinn, Alderman

Michael J. Madigan, Committeeman

On the other side of the door several elderly people were having a leisurely chat with office workers in Spanish. I rang the bell and heard confused shuffling and mumbles through the intercom; they seemed alarmed by the arrival of a reporter. A few minutes later a middle-aged woman cautiously cracked open the door to slide through a piece of paper with the name and number of Madigan's spokesman. She wouldn't let me inside and said she had no idea where Madigan's district office was when I asked if I'd come to the right place.

The museum was otherwise deserted, so I headed to a spot called Sammy's Kitchen, right outside the northern walls of Midway. Shift workers and families filled the tiny diner, and at the bar a variety of current and former law enforcement officers offered political analysis.

A 74-year-old retired cop named Jerry didn't have a kind word for his state rep, but predicted that Rauner would lose the election. "They didn't give him a chance, Madigan or Cullerton," he said ruefully, referring to the state senate president and the state's second-in-command. He also thought the scandal over the Legionnaires' disease outbreak at the Quincy-based Illinois Veterans Home, which happened on Rauner's watch, would "take his legs off. People don't forget that stuff."

While Jerry couldn't explain why people in this neighborhood have been reelecting Madigan every two years since 1970 (he's on the ballot again this year, uncontested), he also admitted he hasn't been very plugged into politics since his retirement. Robert Eigenbauer, a 56-year-old CPD officer still on the job, said people keep voting for Madigan because he's the only choice. A lifelong resident of the area, Eigenbauer said he'd never seen Madigan out and about and wouldn't even know what the representative looked like if he hadn't seen him on TV. "I'm gonna be honest," he said between bites of well-done ground steak slathered in ketchup. "I can't tell you one thing Mike Madigan has done for this community."

Nevertheless, Eigenbauer wasn't swayed by Rauner's ads, saying the governor's inability to shepherd a budget for the state in a timely manner was proof of his incompetence.

I never found anything but the most tepid endorsement of Rauner in the neighborhood—but neither was there much enthusiasm for Pritzker, Madigan, or anyone else on the local ballot. Two years ago the general disaffection with machine politicians and random rich guys running government led to a surge of enthusiasm for Donald Trump's antiestablishment message in this part of town. In 2016, the 13th and 23rd Wards, which make up most of Madigan's 22nd state house district, were among just eight in Chicago where more than a quarter of the ballots cast were for Trump.

That Election Day, I met David Krupa waving a Trump flag and a "Hillary for Prison" sign outside a polling place at 63rd and Monitor. He described himself as a "day-one Trump supporter," 18, and a fan of the candidate's law-and-order agenda. But last summer, I got a call from Krupa, who admitted that he'd lied to me about his age (because he thought it would be cool to be quoted in the newspaper) and let me know he was now running for 13th Ward alderman against Quinn. I caught up with him at his campaign office on Tuesday, just a couple of blocks east of where he'd been stumping for Trump.

Krupa, now 19 (really) and a student at DePaul, is running as an independent. He thinks that's the only way to beat Madigan on his own turf. He's no longer an avid Trump fan, and traded in his MAGA hat for sensible khakis and a blue button-down. But he's still all about fighting the establishment. He said his youth won't thwart him from being a more transparent and accountable public servant than the incumbent Quinn, whom he described as nothing more than a Madigan "appointee." Krupa is of Polish descent, but he believes he can do a better job tending to the needs of the ward's increasingly Latino population.

"This country needs change," he said. Krupa wasn't enthused about Rauner or Pritzker, saying that it's a "shame that we have two billionaires running for governor." But as he sees it, the real problem in Illinois is Madigan. The 76-year-old speaker, he explained, is the real person in charge around here. Who's in the governor's mansion—or even in the White House—hasn't mattered in almost 50 years. v

Source: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/view-from-mike-madigans-neighborhood/Content?oid=62038959

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