#It literally takes me five times as long to write a freaking PARAGRAPH simply because it's romance

[amtrak12]

I'M NOT A ROMANCE WRITER 😭 STOP MAKING ME WRITE ROMANCE

[taliawells]

Flash Points

this got long, so grab a seahorse and saddle up

what are some of your favorite tropes? 

It is such a cliche, but I really enjoy the fake married trope. It’s so goofy, especially when they go to great lengths to prove how ~~in love!!~~ they are. Bonus points if they are very grudging about this, but end up becoming a little bit soft and closer together. I love a found family moment, and arguably they can be deeper and just as, if not more important as other familial connections. It was a choice, and that can make all the difference. Another that gets me every dang time is when a pair always call the other by their last name only. In an emotional moment when one is injured or in dire peril, when the other just cracks and uses their first name while pleading with them to hang on just OOFs right to my heart.

do you have a favorite character you’ve written, in or outside of shiver? if so, what makes them your fave? 

I really enjoy playing Talia, simply because she’s different from the types I’ve played most recently. Talia is dauntless and ruthless, but there’s a vague nervous energy deep down and she just shrouds herself in apathy and indifference. Internally there is so much more going on. She is strong and would happily throw down if the situation would call for it, but she clings to an icy poise that’s called from her for all of the different roles she has to play. She has never felt more vulnerable and yet, more like herself on land since she’s been able to take a step back and reevaluate. She’s strong and seems unwavering, but Talia is really figuring out who she is and what she wants currently, happily putting royal duties on the backburner for now... especially when a familiar face popped back up that doesn’t have her wanting to go back to the sea quite yet.

The character I played before Talia was Stella Rosenthal. She stuck with me through five iterations, and seems much more fragile than she is. She is an entirely soft human that aims to be a bright spot in a darkening world. Her strength is in her softness, and it’s almost unexpected with how gentle she is. Talia seems unbreakable, but she’s more vulnerable and guarded. Stella was a museum curator + conservator and really, really cared about inclusiveness and accessibility throughout all facets of her life. She aimed to be a walking safe space but really struggled with her own mental health at times. Stella tried to surround herself in layers and layers of light, but she struggled in immense darkness and some trauma until she started working through it. She’s deaf in one ear and her other isn’t the greatest, and I had 8 ear surgeries of my own growing up so she’s near to my heart. She was a ray of sunshine and Talia is a ball of fire. Stella is the type to Rick Roll her beloved in sign language on their wedding day, while Talia will flip the general public the bird and elope.

do you prefer writing with small casts of characters or large ones? what are some of the pros and cons?

I think I tend to like things somewhere in the middle! Of the two, I would say that I tend to gravitate towards things on the slightly smaller scale. I love a good small group where you really feel included and integral to the plot, where all of the characters and layers of the bigger story intertwine and intermingle. I tend to like that as a more casual environment with friends I’ve written with before or friends of friends. I truly love getting to know people and their characters, but I’ve been incredibly picky about truly small groups. I’ve had to miss out on one due to real life issues, and it was rough having everything move forward and then those connections carried over into future projects with the same people. If not done right, it can end up being very cliquey and that’s not a good time for anyone. I’ve been burned by that before. Some roleplays are truly massive, and that can be so great for a busy time of the year where you don’t feel like you’re holding everything up if you can’t get online for hours and hours. I was advanced literate elite on a different website back in the day (I am so freaking old) but it was just deluded pretentiousness disguised labeled good writing -- it wasn’t. Bigger ones tend to move more quickly which can be exciting, but it is so so easy to fall between the cracks and hard to feel heard. I really dig the size of Shiver and the different areas of play.

what’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done in the name of outlining/worldbuilding (timelines, research, maps, spreadsheets, etc.)? 

There was a time where I really got stuck in a rut writing bios, and I was creating yet another dark academia/murder roleplay back in the day. I had a cast of 15 characters and ended up settling on a skeleton roleplay but I wanted to come up with a fun little twist. I wanted to leave things incredibly open and let the writers sink their teeth in and really breath life into the characters. The roles were all named after flowers/plants (big shocker, bless you Jess for putting up with weekly Plant Rants with Rian™) but there were strong hints of digging a little deeper than that. Be it the symbolism of the flower, some pulled from the Victorian language of flowers, the colors, the locations. Basically, there was a lot more to the label should the writer want to dig in, or it was just simply taken at face value. It was fun seeing how it was interpreted!

The skeletons themselves were about a thick paragraph, with the bulk of things being presented in Two Truths & a Lie and a playlist for each character. What was true and what was false was left up to the writer, with the option of swapping out two of the three for a different interpretation. Three songs were to be added to the five given, but more could be subbed out. Snippets of the lyrics for each could be pulled for that section, or a quick few sentences about what the songs (and even a few classical pieces chosen by the writers) either meant to the character (a memory, etc) or what they said about them.

It was just a different way of presenting starting points for characters and a lot of fun trying to figure out what were the truths and lies throughout the game.

share the last paragraph you wrote you’re most proud of. 

I can’t decide between these two so yikes

The ocean could be cold, so terribly frigid in the concealed, inky depths. How many placid surfaces disguised stormier waters that hid debris pulled to a final slumber upon a sea bed? There were wrecks, warnings. Something had happened here. Good, bad. Wrought upon nature by mercurial seas or upon souls by its inhabitants. There were distinct memories of explorations of such ruins, and the most vivid cast itself upon Talia’s eyelids when she closed them. Spires of shrapnel, warped wood of vengeance that had been wreaked. They were almost skeletal, and she had so curiously flit between the carved curves. The mast had toppled and bent at unnatural angles, and she figured her own rib cage looked as such currently. An irregular thud was beating so fervently against that cage in an internal collision that threatened to sink her very being. Would the bones break in the newly found fragility of a human body, or would the heart beat itself to a mangled pulp in a valiant ploy for release? Would the state it was in even matter, as Talia never intended to offer it up for the taking? One day she would love her kingdom and she would be loved in return. That would be enough.

--

Her heart had slumbered in darkness. A place as cool, calm, dark, as unyielding and eternal as the saltwater they were pulled from. It could be as serene or tumultuous as a rolling storm – ready to pull down and trap anyone that dove too deep into those depths. One person had learned the angles of a sole beam of light and learned how to reflect it just so. One person emanated light into her dark so thoroughly and Talia held it as close as she could without immolation. She was but a jealous moon. A detached, mysterious beauty that pulled beings to her like the tide before sending them ebbing away. The hand she held was warmer than hers, and Evikaia would always hold that sentiment. Before her was a radiant beauty, though dimmed by something she couldn’t place, but Talia would turn her face towards her own personal sun until she went blind. She wanted to observe and absorb every shred of warmth he had offered until her bones were drenched in his rays and sun-bleached; washed ashore and finally free of the seaside sepulchre.

describe your current muse’s physical appearance using only one, over the top sentence.

She’s got electric boots, a mohair suit, you know I read it in a magazine.

A crepuscular girl with a crescent smile, a moon’s pull to your demise under inky waves, waves & waves & waves of dark and auburn  — a red sky warning daring you to step closer.

if you had to write a novel about one of the characters in or outside of shiver, which character would you choose and why? 

I would have to go with the meyrs! I’m so excited that we have some more in these waters, but I’m so excited to see how everything plays out in the group. The group, and different writers and perspectives, would just add more nuance and ideas than I could ever do justice solely. I think it would be so exciting to explore the different kingdoms and how different people cope with courtly life. The plot of the Amethyst leaving and all of the regents pulled from the deep to unite on one task (with their own motivations or lack thereof [[Talia]]) just offer so much to explore. I think this is much better suited for a group dynamic and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Writing one for Talia would be rather interesting as well. She has a lot of conflicting emotions about her role as Regent and the royal court. She could have had an easy, glamorous life with Vik at her side as her betrothed, but she felt she had too much potential and the opportunity for power was far more enthralling than a vapid existence. The trials were such an extended period of heightened emotions as she laid claim to what she wanted, or thought she wanted. It’s so starkly juxtaposed to her own time on land in the 1970s, and she still has a bit of flair for that era. She had never, and has never felt as free and happy since but duty called and she was bound to answer. I’d probably have to choose writing Talia living her best life while exploring her dynamic with Vik.

[thelighthousemp3]

Hey girrrl! First of all, I wanted to thank u for posting your fics. I've been struggling with anxiety and reading dianetti fics helps a lot! Second, can you write a fic settled after episode 18 of the second season, where Gina and Rosa go together to the Beyonce concert they won tickets for, and there they start to realize their feelings towards each other?

hi!! thank you for this prompt!! read on ao3 or below

Gina snatches the Beyonce tickets and waves them ecstatically in front of Rosa’s face, exclaiming something about how they’re her god-given right to own. Rosa simply smiles; she’s happy that the tickets landed with Gina. Gina’s the most enthusiastic person about Beyonce that Rosa has ever known.

To be fair, Rosa doesn’t know many Beyonce enthusiasts. She does her best to not get out much. But judging from Gina’s twitter feed (yes, she’s seen Gina’s twitter), Gina’s the most enthusiastic about Beyonce.

So yeah, Rosa Diaz has some thoughts on Gina Linetti and some on Beyonce. Who’s to judge her?? Everyone has quite a few thoughts on Gina Linetti (and Beyonce). Yeah, so Rosa’ll (never) admit that she’s listened to a few Beyonce songs upon Gina’s recommendation, even though Rosa never takes recommendations from anyone. But that doesn’t say anything.

Oh, it totally does say something. It screams that “Rosa Diaz is super gay for Gina Linetti!!”

It’s not something Rosa’s proud of. She could have decided to subtly crush on anyone, but her damn heart chose Gina freaking Linetti. The human form of the 100 emoji. The most dangerous person (next to Rosa) in the precinct. And Rosa knows that if Gina likes her back, they’d have the ability to take over the world (all while holding hands).

“Hey. Hey. Hey,” Gina says, waving her drink in front of Rosa’s face. “Snap out of it, Diaz. What’re you thinking about that’s more important than me, anyways?”

Rosa blinks a few times before taking a gulp of beer. “Hmm?” she mumbles, redirecting her focus to Gina’s face.

“Hey, sorry that you didn’t win the tickets. You know, because your boyfriend likes Beyonce so much.” Gina pulls a face of (fake) sympathy towards Rosa, who shrugs.

“No problem. They’re your god-given right,” she says. Truth be told, Rosa’s boyfriend doesn’t exist. When Captain Holt had pitched the riddle, Rosa had thought of Gina immediately upon seeing the Beyonce tickets. And that was why she had wanted to win the tickets so badly. She had wanted to take Gina to the concert, not some fake made-up boyfriend.

(Rosa had a whole story planned out. She would have invited Gina to the concert and made up some lie about her boyfriend cancelling. Then they’d go to the concert, and at the end, Rosa would tell Gina that she had dumped her boyfriend over text.)

“Rosa! Rosa!” Gina snaps her fingers in front of Rosa’s face, interrupting the detective’s thoughts once again. “Seriously, girl! Is there something really more important on your mind than me?”

Rosa rolls her eyes; she’s not going to admit that she was just thinking about Gina. “I mean, if the tickets mean so much to you… nah, I don’t like your boyfriend,” Gina says, pursing her lips.

Rosa squints at Gina. “Really? You haven’t even met him!” she says. The boyfriend may be fake, but Rosa’s still offended. She whisks a shot of tequila away from Jake and downs it.

“Well, I do know him well enough to know that he’s fake,” Gina mumbles.

Rosa’s eyes widen. “What? How do you know that, huh?” she demands, satisfied to see Gina grow a little bit smaller under intimidation.

“I just know, Rosie,” Gina says, squaring her shoulders with confidence. “I’m a better detective than all of you.”

“You don’t know that,” Rosa accuses.

Gina ignores this and just asks, “Why’d you want the Beyonce tickets, anyways?”

“If you’re such a good detective, then why don’t you just figure it out?” Rosa snaps.

Gina seems to ponder over this statement for a few moments. She takes a sip of her drink before looking Rosa in the eye. “Huh, Rosie, I don’t know,” she smiles. “But why don’t you take the extra ticket and come to the Beyonce concert with me on Sunday, hmmm?”

Rosa clenches her fists, bewildered. She blinks a few times. “Um, yeah, sure,” she stammers.

Gina grins widely. “That’s what I thought,” she says, snatching Rosa’s beer and taking a gulp. “See, I’m a really great detective. Don’t ask, okay, boo? I’ll pick you up on Sunday.”

“But―”

“I know where you live,” Gina says.

“Stalker,” Rosa mumbles under her breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Amy dancing. Rosa quickly swipes the drink that Hank the bartender passes towards Amy, hoping to save everyone from the embarrassment of four drink Amy.

“Not a stalker,” Gina corrects. “Just very informed about everyone’s lives.”

Rosa rolls her eyes and grabs her beer back from Gina. She puts the bottle to her lips and takes a long draught, finishing the bottle off. “Gotta go,” Rosa gasps as she slides off of the bar stool and heads towards the exit to grab a cab.

“M'kay!” Gina calls after her. “Wear something nice!”

Rosa tries to avoid thinking about the heat rising to her cheeks as she quickly gets into a taxi, intending to crash as soon as she gets home.

The next day goes by uneventfully. Rosa stays boarded up in her apartment, ignoring seventeen memes from Jake, fifty-six texts from Charles, one email from Amy, and (unfortunately) nothing from Gina. She idly flips through the channels on the TV, sighing every so often and checking her phone to see if Gina’s texted her anything.

Nothing.

Rosa pulls her laptop closer and opens Spotify. She quickly logs in with Gina’s password (Gina has premium, okay? No ads. Don’t judge Rosa for having access to Gina’s Spotify) and within a few minutes, Beyonce’s newest album is blaring through Rosa’s apartment.

She doesn’t know when exactly she falls asleep, but she wakes up a few hours later with her phone blown up with notifications. Ten new memes from Jake, twenty-seven new texts from Jake, one new email from Amy, and… three new texts from Gina Linetti. Rosa ignores everything else on her phone and quickly opens the texts from Gina.

Gina: bitch stop using my spotify

Gina: i know ur listening to beyonce and while its a very sweet gesture i’d like to use my spotify now

Gina: u can listen to beyonce at the concert with me tomorrow

Rosa rolls her eyes and presses the home button on her phone, leaving Gina’s texts on read. She logs out of Gina’s Spotify and pushes her laptop away.

The day seems to pass incredibly slowly. Rosa can’t wait for the sky to go black so that she can collapse in bed after a day of absolutely no productivity.

Sleep comes to her sooner than she had expected. Shortly after sunset, Rosa falls asleep on her couch, resulting in several uncomfortable positions and stiff muscles. Oh, and also waking up at the literal crack of dawn the next day.

She still has many hours before Gina’s supposed to come and pick her up. Rosa decides to go for a ride on her motorcycle, hoping that it’ll take her mind off of Gina Linetti.

For a few hours, it seems to work. It’s just Rosa, the road, her bike, and the wind.

And then she decides to grab a coffee. She runs into Charles, and the first thing that he says is, “heard you’re going to the Beyonce concert with Gina!”

Rosa squints her eyes at him. “How’d you know that?” she asks.

Charles puffs his chest out. “I’m a detective, of course,” he says, taking a sip of coffee. Rosa stares him down for a few seconds before he deflates. “Okay, okay! Gina told Jake and Jake told five-drink Amy and five-drink Amy told me! And I may have accidentally slipped it into the Boyle weekly newsletter! Sorry, Rosa, but you and Gina would just be so cute together!”

Rosa sighs heavily. She grabs her coffee from the counter and drops a few crumpled bills in its place, swiftly turning around and heading out of the coffee place.

As soon as Rosa gets home, she decides to text Gina.

Rosa: u told jake we were going to the concert?? and he told amy who told charles who told everyone??

Gina: chill rosie

Gina: not my fault charles is a blabbermouth

Rosa: but u told jake?? who told amy who told charles??

Gina: i can tell jake bc he’s my best friend

Gina: can’t blame him for having a big crush on that amy girl he’ll tell her anything

Gina: and when that girl gets drunk she can literally do anything

Gina: can’t wait for the concert tho

Rosa: it’s not a date!! why is everyone saying it’s a date???

Gina: literally did not say that in any of my texts but okay

Rosa: no!! charles thinks it’s a date!!! so now everyone does!!!!!!!

Gina: ur using way too many exclamation points n it’s scaring me

Gina: if u don’t want it to be a date then it doesn’t have to be

Rosa: oh my god all i wanna do is see beyonce

Gina: yeah with me i know

Rosa: no!!!! who said that!!!! stop listening to charles!!!!

Gina: okay okay rosa chill okay?? ur really scaring me with the exclamation points

Gina: don’t murder anyone okay

Rosa: fine whatever but i’m THIS close

Gina: so ur still coming to the concert with me tho right

Rosa: fine

Rosa’s phone dings with a new notification. With irritation, Rosa reads it to see a new email from Amy. And then without knowing why, Rosa taps on it and opens Amy’s email.

And then she’s hurling a knife at the wall because Amy’s forwarded her an article that Charles has written on Rosa and Gina’s relationship. There is a whole paragraph about “unseen sexual tension” and then another on “what their babies would look like.” The email is signed off with a long apology from Amy.

Evening doesn’t come soon enough. Rosa’s already slightly tipsy by the time Gina comes to pick her up.

“This is my nice leather jacket,” Rosa mumbles as she opens the door, remembering Gina’s comment about wearing something nice.

“Are you drunk?”

“Did you read Charles’s article?”

“I don’t read those. I’m too dignified.”

Rosa lets out a strangling noise from her throat. “Yeah? Well, so am I, but that article is a ton of bullshit! Why is everyone all up in our business?”

“Oh, Rosie.” Gina pats Rosa’s arm a few times. “Drink this.” She thrusts a water bottle into Rosa’s hand. “You gotta sober up, girl! Or else you won’t remember the truly thrilling experience of going to a Beyonce concert with Gina freaking Linetti!”

Rosa chugs down about a fourth of the water bottle before looking hesitantly at Gina. “Why am I doing this?” she mumbles.

“Seeing Beyonce? Because it’s an experience, Rosa. And it’s the best thing ever, okay? You can’t back out now, so let’s go!” And with that, Gina tugs Rosa out of the apartment.

The car ride goes by quickly. Rosa ends up finishing the rest of the water, and by the time they get to the concert, she can feel her senses coming back to her.

Gina drags her through the line at the entrance, flashing the concert tickets at the security guard. “I’m also a celebrity, so I get in anyways,” she preens.

“That’s not true,” Rosa mutters under her breath. She tries not to think about Gina’s fingers digging into her wrist as they walk into the filled concert venue.

Somehow, Gina manages to get them to the front (It has a lot to do with Rosa’s intimidating aura, but Gina will claim that it’s because of her celebrity status).

And then Beyonce Knowles gets on stage and everyone goes completely wild. Maybe it’s the blinding lights or the wind that rushes through the room from the big fans or because of the alcohol still in her system, but Rosa’s feeling the ecstasy in the place as well.

Beyonce’s singing some song that Rosa knows she’s definitely heard but Rosa’s attention isn’t fully on Beyonce. Her gaze is fixed to Gina Linetti, the other popstar in the room. And she’s watching how happy Gina looks when her own lips turn upwards and a smile blossoms to her face.

Gina’s eyes dart to Rosa for a moment before returning to Beyonce. And then she notices that Rosa’s not watching Beyonce, and she turns back to Rosa. “What are you doing!” Gina says loudly. “You should be watching Beyonce!”

“Mhmm,” Rosa mumbles under the music. She halfheartedly looks to the stage. When Rosa’s sure that Gina’s attention is transfixed to Beyonce, Rosa sneaks a look at Gina again. Gina’s mouthing the words to Beyonce’s song now.

And then someone pushes next to Gina and Gina momentarily loses her balance, stumbling right into Rosa’s arms. Rosa’s eyes widen in response as Gina looks up at her, breathless. “Good catch, Rosie,” Gina says and returns her gaze to Beyonce.

But Rosa’s eyes never leave Gina. Not when she stops Gina from attempting to join Beyonce on stage and not when Beyonce dives into the crowd and everything seems to go loud and fluorescent. Not until the very end of the concert, when she loses Gina in the crowd for a minute when Gina scurries after Beyonce to get a selfie.

And then she can’t find Gina, even though people are making way for Rosa (because she’s scary, you know) and she’s calling Gina’s name in desperation.

Rosa finally gives up and somehow heads out of the venue, towards where Gina’s car is parked. She leans on the hood for a minute before her legs get tired and she jumps up to sit on the hood of the car.

“Rosa!”

She looks up to the sound of her name being called and sees Gina trying to run/limp towards the car with a single heel in her hand. Rosa slides off of the hood of the car and rushes over to help Gina to the car.

Instead of getting in the car, Gina sits on top of the hood and pats the empty area next to her. “Sit,” she says, so Rosa joins her. Gina starts unstrapping her other shoe, so Rosa idly stares out to the night.

“How was the concert?” Gina asks a beat later. Both of her shoes dangle from one hand.

“Huh? Yeah, it was good,” Rosa says.

Gina frowns. “You’re a liar,” she decides.

Rosa stares at Gina. “What?” she asks with disbelief in her voice. “It was Beyonce. Of course it was good.”

“It was Beyonce! It was fucking fantastic! Amazing! Unbelievable! Not just good,” Gina says. “And you weren’t even watching half the time. Yeah, Diaz. When you stare at me and think I don’t notice, I do notice. Ugh, wait till we go see Rihanna.”

“I don’t wanna make this a whole thing,” Rosa says hurriedly, preparing to get off of the car. Gina’s arm flies out in front of Rosa’s chest, abruptly stopping her.

“You don’t, but I do.”

Rosa looks at Gina with a bewildered expression on her face. “What?” she asks carefully.

“C'mon, Rosa! We both know that if we joined forces, we could take over the world! While holding hands and locking lips!” Gina says, rolling her eyes at Rosa’s expression.

“What?”

“You are an actual idiot. I thought you were a detective. Yet, here I, Gina Linetti, sit, trying to explain the most basic concept to an allegedly smart detective,” Gina sighs. “You like me. I like you. Wanna make out?”

“What about everyone at the precinct―”

“Blackmail files? Uh, duh! And my naturally beautiful and intimidating aura combined with your terrifying presence is sure to make them all shut up,” Gina reasons. “What do you say, Rosie?”

“I don’t know? Kiss me?” Rosa says.

So Gina does, and it turns out to be a great night.

[rylie-studies]

wassup love!! it’s the anon who worked for 12 hours and had reading due. well!! i did it all in time and wrote the essay paragraph on it i needed to do. now i have no hw due tomorrow so i’m gonna do a face mask and watch a film bc im gonna have 5 weeks of hell after tomorrow lmao. how’s your day been??

Oh my gosh yes!! I remember you!! and I’m so happy for you and so damn proud of you for finishing all of that reading and writing the essay like that’s so freaking amazing and magnificent and I wholeheartedly support your choice to reward yourself by taking on some self-care!! It’s what you deserve, my love! I feel like my five weeks are definitely gonna be like that as well tbh (I’m trying to think positively though, but who knows what’s gonna happen) bcs I’ve got an SAT coming up in both May and June and AP exams are also on their way and I’ve gotta take three of them and then finals for school that are required by the state and I’m just trying to get by tbh fkdjskf. I would say that my day has been pretty average today like nothing too fantastic happen and I went to school then got back home and made myself some dinner and now I’m currently stressing out about my Precalculus quiz tomorrow because I genuinely don’t understand what we’re doing in class and I’m gonna have to reteach myself all of the material tonight and yeah that’s basically what I’ve been thinking about all this time kfjdkdj you know sometimes school makes me want to cry!! While you were sending this message, I was actually giving a speech out loud for myself (please don’t ask for the reason bcs I literally have no idea and I just start doing it out of the blue sometimes whenever I’m thinking about something) about how being by yourself for a long period of time actually has some advantages in that you can cultivate a connection and a wholesome relationship with yourself and focus truly on understanding who you are and your desires, thoughts, and emotions! Like a lot of people want to be in a relationship and want to feel less lonely, but I feel like there’s also a positive side into it in that it gives you an opportunity to actually recognize and realize that you are whole by yourself and you can nurture a really close and pure bond with yourself that simply cannot be replicated by an outside source as it is such a raw and candid understanding. I have a lot of thoughts like these everyday and sometimes I just gotta get them out or else I’ll explode kjdkdjf, I hope you have a whole lot of fun with your face mask and film, my love! Once again, I’m super proud of you and incredibly grateful for your existence! x 

[chaos-weekly]

code breaker

Indy wasn’t planning on answering Zion’s call, but it was too strange that he was calling at 12:30am the night Dante died. Unless he knew Dante (which was unlikely), something was up and she was going to find out what it was. 

When she answered, there were no pleasantries, just: “Indy, thank God you’re up. Grab your laptop and get to Jimmy’s now.” She didn’t bother questioning it or asking for more information, she just said she’d be there soon and went inside to grab her things. 

She arrived at the bar minutes later, backpack slung over her shoulder and eyes only slightly red. The open sign was off, but she could see Zion and some tall biker guy behind the bar, each pouring themselves another drink. Indigo took a deep breath before entering to compose herself. It was okay to be sad, but if this was about the weird circumstances surrounding Dante’s death, and she hoped it was, then she needed to pull herself together to fully function. 

“Hey,” she said as she entered the bar, using a voice that was more confident than she felt. 

“That was fast,” Zion said, surprised. “I was expecting you to be a little longer.”

“Yeah, well, the streets are empty.”

“Right.”

There was a bit of awkward silence. Zion didn’t seem to want to broach the actual topic of why he’d called her, but his companion didn’t seem to be in any hurry to talk. But she needed someone to talk and fast. Otherwise, she’d start to think about how Dante spent a lot of time here and how he’d never walk through the doors again. 

Again, she was pathetic.

“Look, this is going to sound crazy, but Dante left this note and we think you’re the one who’s supposed to decode it,” Zion said. He handed her a little sheet of paper, a note addressed to someone named Thorn, and she unfolded it. There was a reference about To Kill A Mockingbird at the top of the note followed by a sequence of binary. Indy swallowed. It was written in Dante’s almost illegible handwriting. It was definitely a note, and when she took a second to read the part in English, a frown spread deep across her lips.

“It’s an insurance policy,” she muttered, slipping off her backpack and putting it on top of the bar. She looked up at the two men in front of her, eyes scanning their faces and focusing in on the unfamiliar one. “You’re Thorn?” He nodded in response. It was the dumbest name she’d ever heard. 

“Figures.” Thorn looked as if this comment was new to him. “I can decode this, but so can anyone else. It’s literally just binary. Ones and zeroes. There are translators online.”

“But you’ll do it?” Thorn asked, surprising Indigo. His voice was just as gruff as she imagined it would be. 

“Yeah, but I’ve got to make a phone call first. I hope y’all have room for one more.”

“Who?” Thorn asked, immediately on edge.

“Dante’s sister,” Indy fired back. 

“We have room,” Zion said, eager to ease tensions. “And Indy… I’m really sorry about Dante.”

She gave a nod, swallowed, and stepped outside. 

Micah didn’t deserve to be roped into this disaster. No, she should have been sitting on the sidelines, allowed to just experience her grief and pain in solitude without the knowledge that her brother was planning on being murdered. But Dante was pulling her in from beyond the grave. He wanted her to know whatever was in this insurance policy. Indy felt like she owed it to him to at least give him that.

She called Micah five times before she picked up, and when her friend answered, the line was silent.

“Mikey?” Indy asked quietly, waiting for some indication of life.

“Indy,” Micah said, her voice shaky and quiet. “You heard?”

“I was at the festival.” There was a moment of silence, and Indigo fought back tears. “I’m so sorry, Micah. I’m so sorry.” She could hear Micah crying on the other end. It broke her heart into two. She couldn’t imagine losing a sibling, much less two. Micah was stronger than she’d ever be.

“Mikey, he left a note. It’s some kind of insurance policy. And he called you Atticus. He wants you to avenge him.” There was silence on the other end.

“What?” Micah asked. “An insurance policy? Why would Dante need insurance?” Indigo sighed.

“He told me a few months ago that he was involved in shady stuff and that he wanted to skip town. And he called me Thursday saying he was finally going to do it and that he wanted to see me one more time before he disappeared.”

“What?”

“It’s a lot, Micah. But look, I’m at Jimmy’s with some biker guy named Thorn and another friend. The rest of the note is in binary, and they want me to decode it. I’m going to hang out here until you come. You should be there when I get it.”

“Yeah,” Micah said, a rustling sound from the other line indicating movement. “Yeah, I’m on my way now. See you soon.”

The call ended and Indy headed back inside. She took a seat at the bar, and someone had made her a glass of water with a little lemon perched perfectly on the edge. 

“This is very pretty, Zion,” Indy said, opening her laptop up and pulling out a binary translator. 

“It was Thorn, actually,” he replied, nodding at the other man. Thorn was leaning against the back of the bar, arms crossed. His eyes were focused intently on her, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“You’re freaking me out, dude,” Indy told him. He simply grunted and looked away. He was like a caveman. 

Indy typed the binary from Dante’s note into a translator and clicked translate. It took a second to load, but when it did, the translation made no sense. She frowned, and Zion moved from behind the bar to look at her screen. 

“I thought you said it was a simple binary code,” he said, flustered. “Did he mess up?”

“No, Dante’s too smart to mess up,” Indigo muttered, staring at the note intently. “There’s some kind of code in the letters that came from the binary.”

“So you can’t get it,” Zion groaned. Indy looked up at him with a confident smirk.

“I never said that.”

“How long is it going to take?” Thorn asked. He’d moved from his position of being as far away from her as possible to leaning against the bar in front of her. And he was staring again.

“Considering I’ve never done this before, I’d put on some coffee,” she replied dryly. “You have beautiful eyes, by the way.” Thorn scowled, she raised her eyebrows as if daring him to reply, and he headed back towards the kitchen. 

The sound of the door opening made the two remaining in the room jump, but it was just Micah. She looked about as put together as Indy felt-- trying her hardest not to cry and having to settle for a perpetually quivering lip. Indy slipped off her barstool and made her way over to her friend, wrapping her arms around her as she sobbed into her sweatshirt. Thorn was already back with a pot of coffee by the time Micah pulled away, wiping her nose and eyes on the sleeve of her hoodie.

“Come sit next to me,” Indigo said softly. “I could use a friend who knows how to utilize the English language properly. Zion is freaked out and talking too quickly, and Thorn only responds with grunts.” This made Micah giggle, and she took the seat next to Indy’s at the bar. “Here’s the note. I thought you might want to read it.” Micah nodded and slipped from her chair to read the note in a booth on her own. Indy tried not to pay attention to the sobs and stared at her computer screen, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zion bringing her a cup of coffee. 

This was a challenging code. The most obvious key shifts hadn’t worked, and now she was having to think a little more creatively, which was hard to do with Thorn continually staring at her.

“Do you want to watch?” Indy finally asked. “If not, you’ve got to stop staring at me. Just because I can type fast doesn’t mean I’m some kind of superhuman.” He gave a shrug, as if he thought she might be an alien regardless, but moved around the bar and took a seat next to her. It was apparent that he had no idea what she was doing, but she didn’t expect him to. It felt like a small child was watching her work and it was somewhat endearing. 

“I don’t get computer stuff,” Thorn muttered, shaking his head.

“You don’t have to,” Indigo replied. “It’s not for everyone.” But she talked to him while she kept working, making small comments about why she was doing what she was doing or how she got to be such a fast typer. There wasn’t as much pressure to decode this message while explaining things to him. It just reminded her that if Dante could write this code with his limited knowledge, she could crack it with her wealth of knowledge.

Limited knowledge.

“I’m thinking too complex,” she said softly, her fingers hovering over the keys as she paused her typing. “Dante doesn’t know a thing about this crap.”

“Yeah. I’ve never heard him talk about letter code before.��

“Maybe the shift is actually in the binary,” Indy mused. “You’re not supposed to shift binary, but Dante wouldn’t know that. Or maybe he would and knew no one else would think about it.” She plugged in her binary to a program and applied a shift. 

The paragraph that appeared in front of her was in coherent English. Dante was a genius, just like she always knew he was.

“Micah, Zion,” she said, scanning the message. “You’re going to want to see this.” Micah practically ran over and Zion followed close behind. The four of them crowded around her screen to read the note:

Micah, Indy, and Thorn: The Salemsville Police are corrupt, and they’re the ones who killed me. They want to wipe out the biker gang entirely. I have the dirt on them you’ll need to take them down. It’s hidden all over town. The info is on a flashdrive in my apartment. Find it.

There was a long silence. Indigo wasn’t sure how to process this. She was a full-time college student with two hard majors and a million other things to do, and he wanted her to go on a treasure hunt that would lead to them dismantling the entire police force? It seemed insane. But she trusted Dante, and judging by the look of mild panic on Micah’s face and the one of stoney determination on Thorn’s, they did too.

“My name isn’t on the note, but you can count me in anyway,” Zion said, ending the silence. “I didn’t know Dante, but I’ll do it for Jimmy and Eden.”

So Jimmy, the president of the biker club, and Eden, Zion’s older sister and Sheriff Magnus’s wife, were having an affair after all. It made sense. 

The three others just nodded, and it was decided then and there: they were going to find that information and make sure the Salemsville Police Department paid for what they did to Dante.

[tabbathajean-blog]

Pointless Research: Twilight Vampires

When one paces around their room for a good thirty minutes thinking about how dumb Twilight’s vampires are while listening to Beyonce and Nikki sing about being flawless, one must seriously consider stepping back and evaluating what events lead them to that moment in their life. Unfortunately for this dear website, I was inspired. Inspired to put those research skills that I have been developing in school, and have used almost solely for school, to use and do several hours of pointless research on a topic that has not been cool since 2013.

I’m going to a perfectly honest right now, I did not expect to end up writing solely about Twilight vampires. I had planned to talk about a couple of things and then link them to some folklore or talk about other pop culture vampires and maybe even talk about the realities of vampires and how a vampire might actually work in the real world. It was going to be pretty rad. But no, I dove into a wormhole that I genuinely had not expected. That is not to say I don’t plan to write about this topic in more detail in the future but I can not help but feel that this piece is going to be way to long as it is because, oh my goodness, this subject is way more confusing than I thought. 

If you were going to write about vampires from a preteen supernatural romance series, where would you start? Well, I’ll tell you where a grown woman with way too much time on her hands starts, the Twilight Saga wiki. Quite frankly, I did not feel like wading through a lot of needless information when someone has already condensed all the information down into articles about the very topic I was interested in. So, let me tell you what the Twilight Saga wiki page, entitled “Vampire,” said about these creatures.

In the first paragraph on page, a vampire is defined as “immortal beings who feed and survive on the blood of humans or animals.” And, you know, this definition isn’t crazy. It sounds like basically every other vampire ever but later in the section on history is says the following:

“Vampires are unharmed by garlic, holy items, or wooden stakes; they have reflections and shadows, and are able to walk freely in the sunlight without being physically damaged by it.”

Um.. What? Is that not basically everything that our standard vampire is harmed by? Given the definition that this universe uses to define a vampire and the fact that they are not weak to anything that other vampires are weak to, it is really a questions of what exactly these vampires are.

Beside being immortal and drinking blood, the following are all characteristics of Twilight’s vampires according to the Twilight wiki. 

Drinking human blood turns a vampire’s irises a red color while drinking the blood of an animal leads to the irises a golden color.

“Due to the crystalline properties of their cells, when a vampire is exposed to sunlight, their body will sparkle like diamonds.”

These vampires not only have super strength and speed but also super senses; sight, smell, and hearing are all mentioned.

They do not age and their hair and nails do not grow but if a limb is somehow removed it can be reattached with their venom.

Magic vampire venom. I’ll not even joking, this is a major plot device that we seriously need to talk about.

They, apparently, have 25 pairs of chromosomes while a normal human has 23 pairs of chromosomes. This, again, is not a joke and we are definitely talking about this and it’s lack of use in this series. 

So, this is a Twilight vampire. A vampire has 25 pairs of chromosomes, magic plot device venom, cells that have crystalline properties, and eyes that change color based on diet. But is this even remotely reasonable? You probably already know the answer because, you know, I’ve said the words magic venom more than once in the last couple of paragraphs but I’m going to spend several more pages talking about this anyway.

Why? Because chromosomes are pretty freaking rad and I am genuinely upset that magic venom is a thing in that universe when Meyer had access to something way cooler and far more believable and did not even bring it up until the last book.

So, what is a chromosome? Why am I so hyped about this? And why is it way better than whatever the heck caused Renesmee to be a thing. (Besides the need to have another book instead of just tying the series up with Eclipse.) Let’s answer that first question and then see where that takes us.

The National Human Genome Research Institute says the following about chromosomes:

“Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells. Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Passed from parents to offspring, DNA contains the specific instructions that make each type of living creature unique.”

So, chromosome are located in cells and house DNA but not just small amounts of the stuff. The same article states that if all the DNA inside of one cell were to be remove, unwound, and  lined up end to end, that line would be nearly six feet long. That’s one cell. We literally have millions of cells in our body, just take a moment to think about that.

Okay, but why does having two extra pairs of chromosomes matter to our marble-like friends? Because that is a lot more genetic possibilities. The National Center for Biotechnology Information and the U.S. National Library of Medicine have a really interesting chromosome map for different diseases that a human may develop over time or be born with. According to this map, chromosome six has five different diseases associated with genes located on that chromosomes; this include both diabetes and epilepsy. So when I say that vampires have two extra pairs of chromosomes, that is not something to laugh at. These guys are a risk of getting some diseases that don’t even exist yet and I don’t see Edward becoming a genetic researcher anytime soon.

But these extra chromosomes may not be all bad and might actually be why vampires are like they are. In fact, everything else I’m about to write about can be explained away by simply saying “Oh, but they have two additional pairs of chromosomes so, who knows, it might be possible.” Which it actually crazy! Meyer could have gone all X-Men on us and we wouldn’t even be able to argue because we are talking about some chromosomes that don’t exist in our world! In fact, I’m about to prove that because crystalline properties. Seriously, some of the characters in X-Men had some crystalline properties and we can’t argue because mutations.

Nevertheless, let us have some fun and talk about these crystalline properties anyway. By saying something has crystalline properties I am going to assume we are talking about crystalline solids. A neat little webpage I found describes crystalline solids pretty well:

“Crystalline solids are those in which the atoms, ions, or molecules that make up the solid exist in a regular, well-defined arrangement.”

Seems simple enough, except no, there are four different types of crystalline solids; ionic, molecular, covalent network, and metallic. And given that ionic solids are super brittle, molecular solids have low melting points, and that Edward does not seem to be made of metal, we are going to say that the crystalline solid that Twilight’s vampires are made of is an covalent network solid. Which is pretty weird because that is the same category diamonds and silicon dioxide. And I’m going to be frank here, I don’t really see flexible diamonds roaming around in the wild and that is because of the covalent bonds that make up these solids.

Covalent bonds are those formed when two atoms share valence electrons rather than transfer those electrons. These types of bonds are pretty freaking strong because of this and makes the solids created incredibly hard and not very malleable. So, how are vampires not just stones and are, in fact, moving creatures? Well, the answer that the wiki provides is vampire venom and because magic vampire venom seems to be the answer to a lot of questions regarding how Twilight vampires work, we should really talk about this.

Going back to the wiki, the page on vampire venom is ridiculously short and weirdly vague when you consider how big of a spot it holds in the plot of this series. In fact, the article on vampires gave more information about this venom than the article on venom. Nevertheless, I’m going to show you just how big a plot device this venom is: 

“...[I]f an arm, leg, nose, or other such appendage should be removed, albeit painfully, it can be easily reattached. Vampire venom is noted to be the only thing that scars a vampire. Since the venom is adhesive, coating the severed end with it will help it heal faster.”

“The venom, and venom based liquids replace all of the natural chemical processes and functions in the body. It wets and pools in the mouth instead of saliva. It coats the eyes, burning through contacts after only a few hours, protecting them from damage and thus eliminating all necessity and reason to produce tears. It also lubricates them, allowing them to move around more easily within their sockets. A similar venom based liquid lubricates between the vampires cells allowing their hard stone bodies to move.”

This one may make some people uncomfortable: “Requiring little or no change to produce sperm, males can still breed… In male vampires, the venom takes on a form so similar to seminal fluid that it can bond with a human ovum, making possible the creation of a human-vampire hybrid. The underlying biochemistry and physiology is currently unknown.” 

For those who were not comfortable reading that last one and for more emphasis about how insane this venom is, that last sentence actually said that “[t]he underlying biochemistry and physiology is currently unknown.” That means that not only did Edward never become a genetic researcher but no one was remotely curious about this and decided to become any sort of researcher which is crazy because they are immortal. I’m pretty sure that taking a few decades out of your immortal life to learn more about your kind is not that big of a deal.

Nevertheless, you see the problem here; this venom is a crazy plot device that makes more questions than it answers. And if you want even more proof, the following was found on the webpage about the venom:

“Real werewolves are the only known species to be completely immune to vampire venom, whether in the painful or transformative departments.”

I’m not kidding, this is a dumb plot device. I’m sorry, I just can’t understand why Meyer chose to make magic venom the answer to everything.

As I said before, there is a much better answer to how the vampires in Twilight work; chromosomes. While I understand that this last part feels pretty rant-filled, I want people to understand why I find this so incredible; when an author is creating a world and the creatures that inhabit that world that author can not just say that something is the answer to everything without helping the reader understand why. In truth, I have read this series before; it was several years ago but I still read it and I honestly don’t remember the chromosome thing, that is how little Meyer thought it mattered. However, the reality is that if some of those vampires would bother with science we would probably not be told that the magic venom it the answer to everything and would probably have a much more viable biological understanding of them.

End of pointless research rant-paper-thing.

Now, I want to say something. I know that a lot of people could not care less about the genetics of a vampire but, like I said, this ended up being way more involved than I thought it would be. Given that, thanks for reading this far. I really do hope to do more stuff of a similar vein in the future so if anyone wants to give me some ideas or just let me know how to improve, I would be appreciate it.