#Phew! I certainly had a lot to write here but I hope this makes sense!

[wysteriaisapenguin]

For the railway roundabout au Is thomas the Rose or Steven this universe Or is he somehow both did he lost his memory or something

I know that I have established Thomas as Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz and that’s because the way he changes in Railroad Roundabout kinda reflects on that. So let me explain!

He initially starts off as an arrogant young man with little to no experience in working on a railway. Although he is hardworking and always eager to make himself useful, his pride and rudeness have led others to have a low opinion of him. Overtime, he realizes that in order to gain the respect and appreciation he truly deserved, he’ll need to change his behavior. He begins helping out others and taking moments to under their feelings, making him realize how valuable his relationships are. He also learns how to appreciate the life around him so that he doesn’t have to tie his self worth solely on his career.

So yeah, like Pink becoming Rose, Thomas matures to become a kinder and more empathetic person, He may have made a few foolish and impulsive decisions while doing so, but what matters is that he is always striving to be better.

I will say that there is also an equivalent to Steven in this AU! And I will elaborate some details about it down below:

A few years have passed and Thomas gradually becomes burnt out by his career. Running his branchline no longer gave him the joy he once had when he had first started. He decided that he had to step away, even though it pained him to do so. He still loved all of his friends and knew that he had built a strong reputation for himself, so leaving everything behind would be a devastating thing for him to do. Still, he knew that this would be best for him. He eventually quit and leaves Sodor so that he can go and pursue a new dream: travel the world to sightsee different railways and expand his knowledge on them.

Meanwhile, back on Sodor, a new recruit was ready to take his place. She was a young woman who had heard about the countless escapades of NWR’s #1 engine driver and was eager to work with him one day. Though she was disappointed to see that he was already gone by the time she joined the railway, she was determined to follow in his footsteps and do the best she can do. Her name was Rosie.

[zabrak-show]

In the novel Clone Wars: Stories of the Light and Dark Obi-Wan's chapter retells the episode "The Lawless". While overall I found the book, while certainly not bad, missing a certain something and although some chapters really add to the corresponding episodes such as Rex' retelling of the Umbara arc, many are just very close retellings of the episodes. Now Kenobi's chapter was a mixed bag to me because some of it is really just an exact recount of the events of the episode, however, I found some additions made in regards to Maul interesting.

To no one's surprise there's a bit about Obi-Wan's almost hatred: "Hate was not the Jedi way. But for this man, Obi-Wan had grown weary of keeping it at bay."

Then we get confirmation that Maul is either just very perceptive, simply has Kenobi all figured out or is actually able to mindprobe even such thoroughly trained - albeit here clearly distraught - Jedi as Obi-Wan: "Maul seemed to sense his thoughts."

And of course we have Obi-Wan's reaction to Satine's death - which tbh made me all the more convinced that even though Obi-Wan might have crushed on her as a padawan, he is more fond of than in love sith her at this point -: "When Maul killed Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan was stricken with sorrow. Sorrow gripped him again. But there was something else, as well. Something dangerous. Something that scorched. Satine wasn't Maul's enemy. She was just a tool Maul had used to get something he wanted, the throne of Mandalore. And a tool to hurt Obi-Wan. Using a person that way was the worst form of cruelty. Satine had been a person, and her death wasn't just a loss for Obi-Wan. It was a loss for so many more. She'd been a child on this world. Like other children, she'd taken her first step, uttered her first word, laughed and chased flitters in the tall grass of the Mandalorian plains. She'd learned to read, made friends, suffered hurts, recovered and laughed again. And she'd become a leader. She should have lived to see her world thrive, to see her people find peace, to prosper, to make music and art. She should have grown old and been able to look back on all she'd achieved.

"But in a split second, Maul had ended all that. He'd extinguished a light in the universe and replaced it with shadow. Such an act was truly the definition of the dark side. And Obi-Wan burned with rage.

"With the rage came a vision: Eyes smoldering with hatred. Screams in the red glare of a lightsaber.

"Obi-Wan would cleave Maul in two. He would do much worse. There would be nothing left of him. Or the Dathomirian. Or the commandos, those Mandalorian traitors. He would kill them Almec. He would kill anyone who'd had a hand in overthrowing Satine, anyone who'd contributed to her death.

"And he would kill anyone who tried to stop him. Anyone who stood in his way, by word or by deed.

"Anyone.

"Maul laughed. "And now we see the true Obi-Wan Kenobi. The one he hides behind a mask of wit and charm. The one who yearns to be set free."

"And if Obi-Wan gave in to his desires, he'd be giving Maul exactly what he wanted."

So overall this just aligns with the episode. Although I do think Maul's additional taunt in this is so in character for him (and it'd be hilarious if it weren't for the entirety of the situation that Maul describes Obi-Wan as witty and charming). Although it's interesting just how close Obi-Wan came to falling. And ofc this passage really just hammers home the point that Maul wanted for Obi-Wan to fall to the dark side rather than wanting to kill him.

Anyways. The passage I've been dying to point out as an avid Obimaul shipper is the following:

"You can kill me, but you will never destroy me," Obi-Wan said, trying to keep his anger under control. "It takes strength to resist the dark side. Only the weak embrace it."

"It is more powerful than you know."

"And those who oppose it are more powerful than you'll ever be."

There was still a chance to turn this right. He could not overpower Maul, but maybe he could reach him. Maybe he could match Maul's fury, not with equal fury but with understanding. With sympathy. Maul had not always been this way. He'd had his future stolen from him. He'd been warped by the Force-wielders of Dathomir. He'd been groomed to become a creature of anger and vengeance who stood before Obi-Wan.

"I know where you're from," said Obi-Wan. "I've been to your village. I know the decision to join the dark side wasn't yours. I know the Nightsisters made it for you."

Obi-Wan cringed. The words had not come out as he'd intended. He'd wanted to extend a kindness that Maul perhaps never experienced. But he let his own anger and his own fear infect his words with venom."

And then the scene moves along as seen in the episode.

But phew. I feel like there is so much to unpack here. Obi-Wan trying to reach out for Maul is soooo good. I love that meeting anger with understanding and kindness is the Obimaul trope and this is pretty much that. It's interesting that Obi-Wan aknowledges that he couldn't strike the right tone.

Honestly all of this makes me yearn for the AU where he does reach Maul and maybe I'll even write it myself. Just Maul giving in and opening himself up to said kindness (although the staging might have to be different for that e.g. Maul visiting Obi-Wan in prison as an additional scene before he kills Satine).

This also made me reconsider the Siege of Mandalore. We all know, that Maul at that point of the story is not out to kill Kenobi. And honestly, considering that Maul is hyperaware of Kenobi's emotions in these scene and could possibly also have felt Obi-Wan's "kill 'em sith kindness" impulse, isn't it even more likely, that Maul wanted Kenobi to join him in robbing Sheev of his priced pupil Anakin but also killing Palpatine? I always thought Maul wanted to reveal Sidious to Kenobi and he only adapts his plan because it isn't Obi-Wan that arrives. But with this scene in mind, couldn't it possibly be, that Maul remembered that Obi-Wan once tried to reach out for him and wanted to extend the same gesture with the goal of overthrowing Palpatine? Whilst there is this short moment in "The Son of Dathomir" comic in which Maul and Dooku unite in fighting Kenobi, I feel like after Talzin was also killed by Palpatine Maul was kind of aimless - because in the comic he (unfortunately) has essentially moved from seeing himself as Sidious' tool to being Mother Talzin's tool (he even states the latter directly) - and nothing matters to him as much as overthrowing Sidious in that final arc, because he knows if not now then never. He has foreseen what Sidious and Vader will become and knows this is his last shot to truly hurt Palpatine in any way. And lastly Maul is certainly not that delusional that he'd think he can kill Kenobi and Skywalker alone (which is an interpretation I've seen and honestly just feels wrong at that point)

Essentially I am convinced that Maul wanted to form a sort of alliance with Obi-Wan to overthrow Sidious (The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that). Maul knows that Obi-Wan knows him better than anyone and I think at the very least he hoped he could convince Obi-Wan of the truth. Additionally Obi-Wan is the only being left in his life Maul has a connection to, who hasn't been killed by Sidious.

All I am saying is that I join the ranks of other anons and blogs as a huge Obimaul enabler.

Wow!! This was so informative and awesome. I don't have that book so I appreciate the run down A LOT! And will probably save this as reference point tbh.

I don't really have anything to add other than thank you for sharing with me, and that I think you absolutely should write an AU where Obi-Wan is able to reach Maul. How that would play out and what happens when they do is a delicious thought.

[wontshutup]

Chapter 2: Time

Intro  Chapter 1

So, Chapter 2 is here! I finally managed to sit down to write it. I’ve been going through a lot of changes around me so it might not be the best...Also, I think it might be going kind of slow. Well, hope you like it.

-Milo

Notes: reader is gender neutral(if by any chance I mispronounced the pronouns, let me now), it is written in your POV and Five’s.

Warnings: I think none, but let me know if anything might be triggering. bad writing maybe. 

He wasn’t expecting that.

He didn’t really know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a teenager about to burst into tears from a feat of laughter. He was very confused, baffled by their reaction, what was it they found so funny? His patience was running thin and was doubting himself, he started to wonder if this was a good idea, maybe he got confused, maybe it wasn’t them. A cold feeling rose upon his ears and neck, partly from embarrassment, partly from deception.

The youngster wiped a tear away and recomposed themselves, hands tightly clenching at their stomach for what Five believed was tummy pain from what just happened, he was waisting valuable time in this mockery. He started his step towars Klaus who was waiting for their orders in a nearby table.

“Wait! Aaaah I-I´m, phew let me” He turned towards them again, hands tucked inside his pockets as to hide his fidgeting. They let out a soft laugh, one that Five hoped was last, and recomposed, a smirk painted upon their features. “Aaah,Sit down old man, should I still address you like that?” 

Five’s relief overtook his exasperation, it was them. Finally allowing himself a little more confidence of what to do next.

He took the seat across them and looked at them. They were leaned on the table, elbow on top supporting their face, they looked at him expectantly, and that’s when he realized, he didn’t really know what to say, he didn’t have a right way to start.

He went through his mind, trying to carefully form his next sentence, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. He opened his mouth, closed it quickly, to which they raised their brows, encouraging him to speak. The silence becoming uncomfortably long.

 “We-” he started, only to be cut off by someone.

“You got yourself some company” the voice of the barista interrupted him just when he had made up his mind to speak.

He felt as the blood started to rise to his ears, resisting the yell at the guy.

“Yes this is an ex-collea-classmate! of mine,” they said catching themselves mid sentence. “I believe you have something for me?” they continued as if Five wasn’t even there.

“Sure thing, here, your pie and bitter black coffee,” he said with an emphasis in bitter

“make that two” Five spat out quickly, a hint of arrogance in his voice. He was clearly bothered by the sudden interruption and in dire need of coffee as the strong scent of his companion’s flooded his senses, making him the more aware of the situation.

“Please” added the teenager with an embarrassed look to which the young man nodded, eyeing Five quickly before going back to the counter. “You were saying?” they asked as they took a spoonful of the pie before them.

I need your help That was the first thing he thought, the only thing he thought, but he had to be reasonable, that was no way to approach them at the moment.

“How have you been?” he asked instead, out of compromise. It had been a fair amount of time since he had seen them, but being honest, he wasn’t interested in cordialities.

He looked at Y/N who looked at him with narrowed eyes, he knew they didn’t buy the clearly fake interest in them. A smug smirk painting across their face, as if mocking them.

“I’ve been fine, thanks, but why don’t you get to the point already?”

********************************************************************************************

You couldn’t help it, it was just funny, unsettling, but funny.

“Does it have to do with the” you snorted “shrinkage?” you asked making circles in the air motioning to point out all of his young figure. 

He narrowed his gaze at you, clearly annoyed, you couldn’t really blame him for it though, not after braeaking into a laughing fit after confessing who he was, on another hand, it was payback for making you go through such an uncomfortable expirience. It was enought to go through the daily torments of your mind and the always alert mindset you brought yourself to keep at all times.

“It’s just, in case you haven’t noticed, you’re small” you took a sip out of your drink carelessly, enjoying the mix of the beverage as it went through you mouth with the amusement the situation brought to you, your eyes never leaving his face. His jaw clenched, clear sign that whatever had happened to him was not something he liked. Being honest, you weren’t being fair about the situation yourself but you decided to ignore the feeling.

“Yes, I have noticed” He said with a harsh tone. Appart from the down ageing he seemed to have some other matters going on, you decided to cut the banter.

“Now don’t get mad, what was it that you wanted to tell me?” you considered you had said enough to bother him, instead offering him a now nicer expression, encouraging him to speak.

You had gone through a lot of unpleasant situations throughout your life and knew that Five had many of his own, he had shared a couple of matters related to him with you and having de-aging being remarked to him wasn’t going to be of any help, god knows under which circumsmtances that happened and what he’s going through now.

His eyes moved as if reading invisble lines on your face, he was clearly thinking about what to say to you next

“Well, I-” after finally seeming to find the words he got interrupted once again.

“Oh Fivee!” Said a main in his 30s, he had medium lenght hair and big green eyes, somewhat of a cheaper version of what Jesus was meant to look like. 

“Not now Klaus” Five said to him exasperated. 

“Oh sorry little guy” he then looked at you “Hey! Aren’t you going to introduce us? I’m Klaus” he said, extending a hand with a big HELLO tattooed on it. You knew who Klaus was. Back at work The Umbrella academy was a common thing for your coworkers to talk about, they were all the rage in the 2000s department, however when ending up living in this time there was no trace of what The Umbrella Academy was instead, something called The Sparrow Academy had taken their place, but that was all you knew about them. He too seemed oddly familiar in actual timeline imagery, that exact image of him you had seen a lot of times while trying to avoid one of Destiny’s Children from giving you another pamphlet.

“Nice to meet you” you shaked his hand in return.

“So, should we leave?” he waved a paper bag in front of Five’s face.

“Actually Klaus, I’d like to stay” he nodded towards you.

“Oh, sure, I see, a little privacy” he nudged him in the shoulder. “About your coffee..”

“I already ordered one” Five told him in a way that seemed as if he was telling him to leave.

“Alright then, it was a pleasure to meet you..?” he fished for your name.

“Y/N” you smiled back.

“Beautiful name!, well it was a pleasure, hope he doesn’t bore you too much” and with that he left.

You returned your eyes to Five, he pinched the bridge of his nose, he looked tired, more than that, exhausted. Then a cup of coffee was laid cautiously in front of him, the smell stronger than your cup’s due to the new heat his drink emitted.

“Thank you” Five said under his breath to Ethan. He took the cup in his hands and took it to his lips, he was  letting the pleasant smell  engulf him for a moment.

“I need your help” he met your eyes, sincerity accompanying his words, like a plea. 

And at that moment you pulled yourself back to what was actually happening for a second.

He needed your help, what for? The last thing you knew he was dealing with wasn’t precisely friendly business and even worse, he hadn’t meddled with the kindest of people to be honest. Last news you had about him was that he had blown up the Comission or something of sorts, that sure angered the people in power. You knew that even if he wasn’t bad he was a dangerous man with worse enemies, and being envolved wasn’t any good.

 “I know you might have your doubts about me, but listen” he must have noticed the doubt on your features, now he had your attention. “I need you to trust me”  his eyes held yours firmly, insisting.

 You evaluated for a second. For a long time you did everything to stay out of trouble, getting away from everything related with The Commission...

“What is it exactly?” you decided to give him a chance.

He sighed in relief, whatever it was, it was clearly important to him.

“My family needs your help” he said regaining a bit of the confidence you knew in him, lightening the air between you. His family, that was something you could work with.

“Oh so now it’s your family and not you?” you went back to mocking him, to which he puffed out some tension, giving you a smug look.

“You’re insufferable kid” he grinned before taking another sip of his coffee, his eyes giving you a silent Thank you.

“Don’t” you warned him, taking a sip of your coffee, furrowing your brows “Aand now it’s cold”

[tlbodine]

Hi! Im writing a story that has to mix fantasy and reality, Ive always been interested in folklore, cultures, and beliefs of other people. All of these things are involved in my story, I wanted to add in a character that is Native American (Her name is Rosalie), I'm on the fence because I don't want to touch something that I shouldn't. How should I go about this? Should I change her ethnicity, Should I in someway make it my own? Or how should I write it or should I write about something else.

This is tricky. And the answer is going to be really long. Sorry. 

I want to make it clear that I am not myself in any way a representative of Native people or claiming to be one. I’m just a white lady who grew up near the reservation and have had maybe more interactions with Native American cultures than a lot of people. But at the end of the day, I’d defer judgment to people closer to the people being specifically affected. 

So, with that disclaimer out of the way. Here’s the thing. I’m not here to tell anybody what they should or should not write about. But I can hopefully give you some stuff to think about that will help you decide. 

Thing One: “Native American” is not a monoculture. There are 574 tribes federally recognized by the U.S. government. They are all culturally distinct. They each have their own histories, mythology, religion, food, lifestyle, and so forth. So before you go creating any Native OC, you’re gonna want to narrow that down to a tribal affiliation. 

You can do this one of two ways. You can choose a geographic location and then look for a tribe who lives in that area, or you can choose a tribe and then root them in that geographic location. Of course, a Lakota Sioux could live in New York, but she wouldn’t be from New York, you feel me? 

Writing about “Native Americans” without understanding their tribal affiliation and history is like writing about “Europeans” as if Italians and Russians and Greeks and Germans were all the same. 

Thing Two: If you’re going to be talking about mythology/folklore, you need to do your research while also recognizing that a lot of the most accurate and authentic information is not going to be accessible to you. 

A lot of Native cultures are “closed” cultures in the sense that they’re not going to teach sacred knowledge and rituals to outsiders. They’re just not. It’s none of your business. They’re not hiding this information from you because they want to be greedy, they’re hiding it because until 1978 it was illegal for them to practice their religion in public in a lot of the country. A lot of things from Native cultures have been erased forever or diluted by outside influences. 

So this means that if you’re writing a character whose life includes or is influenced by traditional culture, there are some things you won’t be able to portray accurately. And I personally think it would be disrespectful to just make something up, especially if you don’t make it extremely clear that you’re making it up. 

For an example of how this could work: The film Dance Me Outside is a really great mystery-thriller set on a reservation, and I heartily recommend it. But there’s one scene where one of the characters has married a white guy. She brings him home to her family and, for plot reasons, needs him to be out of her hair for a bit. So she sends him out with some of her male relatives to keep him occupied. They decide it would be hilarious to do a “naming ceremony” to give him an “Indian Name.” It’s very clear in the narrative that they’re making this up as they go along -- they are creating what they think he thinks a naming ceremony would look like, and he’s gullible enough to go along with it because he’s eager to please (and at this point very drunk). The scene is very funny and advances the plot and develops some characterization without ever actually revealing any secret/sacred knowledge. 

But in general? If something is sacred to a tribe? You don’t get to fuck around with it. You don’t get to put your own fresh spin on it or just make up stuff that “sounds” authentic. Because...

Thing Three: You will encounter a TON of fake or inaccurate information out there. Just, a ton. Because here’s the thing. White folks didn’t just commit genocide against Native people. It wasn’t enough to destroy their people and their culture. White folks have a really long history with appropriating their culture. 

So the situation is that you get a group of people whose ancestors were actively hunted like animals (there were bounties for scalps!), sent to forced re-education camps where they were frequently abused and scrubbed of their culture and language, and who were not allowed to practice their religion under threat of law. And at the same time, aspects of those religions and cultures -- that the people who made them cannot practice! -- are taken and absorbed into pop culture.

Yeah. It’s shitty. 

So when you’re researching, you need to be absolutely certain that your sources are coming from actual Native Americans from the tribe you want to write about and not from white folks who think some aspect of their culture is neat. Because, personally, I feel like cultural appropriation -- in the context of Native Americans -- is continuing to perpetuate genocide, and that feels icky. 

Thing Four: Modern Natives =/= Historical Natives. 

There is this....weird, colonialist tendency to imagine Native Americans as...living fossils, or quaint backwards people who live in old-fashioned ways, or as a thing that used to exist but not anymore. I get the impression talking to a lot of people that they think Native Americans stopped existing in the Wild West days. Like “Indian” is a category in their head alongside “Cowboy” and “Samurai” and “Pirate” or whatever. 

But that’s not, like....the case. Modern Native American people exist, and they have varied and complex relationships with their culture and history just like everybody else. Some people live on reservations and practice traditional religious and cultural practices. Some people live in small towns or cities and practice a mixture of modern and more traditional lifestyles. A lot of them are Christian. Some blend cultural aspects of their tribe with Christian aspects of religion. And so on and so forth. It will 100% depend on the individual! 

There are also aspects of cultures that get blended across tribal affiliations! This is especially true among the sort of “powwow culture” groups who dance competitively or trade crafts at powwows and fairs. 

Anyway the whole thing is VERY COMPLICATED and honestly not something you’re going to learn from reading a book. It’s the kind of nuance that’s only going to make sense to you if you’re hanging out with Native people and understand their individual lives. 

Thing Five: There are a ton of harmful stereotypes and things you maybe don’t even think about or realize are stereotypes because there is so much misinformation out there. I feel like almost every representation of Native Americans in media is bad because most of the stories are written by folks who just don’t know what it’s like to be Native, and they’re writing for a White audience. 

PHEW. Okay. That was a lot. If you’re still reading, THANK YOU. 

So what’s my answer to your question? 

I think it really depends. Why do YOU want to write a Native OC? Are you willing to put in some time and effort to research them? What kind of story are they going to feature in? I think by and large, people outside of a culture shouldn’t try to write stories about being that culture. As in, like, I don’t think a white person has any business writing a story to “illuminate the struggles” of Native people or anything like that. 

But if you want one of the characters in your horror novel to be Native because the story takes place in an area with a lot of Native people, sure. That makes sense. And if that person’s frame of reference is flavored by their culture, sure, go for it. 

But I certainly would not recommend writing a story that, for example, re-casts a sacred/mythological Native American figure as a monster (cough, Wendigo, cough), or one that creatively reimagines the mythology unless it is exceptionally clear that the mythology is being reimagined and is not meant to be accurate at all (because otherwise it runs the risk of further polluting an already almost-extinct culture). 

So...that’s my opinion. I hope this was helpful!

[honeypiehotchner]

Covered Memories -- part four

Phew! It’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it? Anywho, this is back as well! I hope you enjoy xx. 

No big warnings for this chapter! Just some banter and a little fluff with Mrs. H. Small warning for mentions of death.

“You mentioned something last night.”

           My eyes open, meeting the back of the couch. Sunlight streams through the curtains, letting me know I actually fell asleep. Despite my protests last night, my body must have given in.

           It’s Sherlock who speaks to me now. “I know you’re awake,” he says. “So I’ll just continue. You mentioned the paramedics setting up an air mattress, and you said something like what I fell onto when I jumped.” Ah, damn, he heard that. I really need to be careful when I mention details from the show. “How did you know that’s how I did it?”

           Okay, so John doesn’t know about Mary, but Sherlock has already jumped and come back. This must be after Reichenbach, but if it is, where is Mary? She should be here.

           “No one knows how I faked my death,” Sherlock continues. “Not even John, but he doesn’t care how— So you can imagine my own surprise when I hear this nonexistent person mention it so casually.”

           I roll over onto my other side, using my arm as a pillow. The one John put out for me is hardly comfortable. My eyebrows raise when Sherlock turns his head to look at me. “Are you done?”

           Obviously not expecting that response, Sherlock stammers.

           “Listen,” I pause to sit up, placing both my hands on either side of my hips. “I told you. I watch the show. It’s revealed—Well, kind of. That’s one of the theories, part of one. It’s on the show. That’s how I know it.”

           “Hm,” Sherlock nods. “What was the name of the rabbit that glowed in the dark?”

           “Bluebell?” I ask. “Why are you asking me about him?”

           Sherlock doesn’t seem convinced still. “How long did it take for my brother to realize I had used his ID to get into Baskerville?”

           “23 minutes,” I say tiredly. “Mycroft’s getting slow, I think you said.”

           Sherlock narrows his eyes. “What’s Lestrade’s name?”

           “Are you sure that you even know the correct answer?” I deadpan. I can’t believe he thought this was a harder question. “It’s Greg, by the way. You really should try to get it right. He’s a good friend. I think he’d appreciate it if you’d get his name right every once in a while.”

           “As a matter of fact, I would,” Lestrade says from the doorway, offering me a smile. “Good morning, you’re looking better.”

           “Did I look that bad yesterday?” I groan.

           Lestrade realizes his mistake and immediately corrects it. “Uh, no, not at all, just tired. Anyway, Sherlock, have you found anything?”

           “He’s been sitting there watching me sleep, what do you think?”

           Sherlock glares at me. I glare right back. He’s exhausting.

           I stand up with a huff. “I’m going to take a shower.”

           “You can’t,” Sherlock mutters.

           “Why not?” I cross my arms over my chest. “You can’t keep me here and refuse to let me shower, you know. That’s cruel and inhumane.”

           Sherlock gives me a smug look. “John is in the shower at the moment.”

           “Oh, leave the poor girl alone,” Mrs. Hudson calls as she bounds up the stairs. I turn to see her coming into the room with a tray of tea. The porcelain clinks as she sets the tray down. “Come with me dear, you can use my shower,” she smiles. “And we can get you some clothes.”

           “I don’t think she will want to wear any of your clothes, Mrs. Hudson.” Sherlock smiles as he says it, like he’s pulled one over on her, but he hasn’t.

           “If you paid attention for more than five minutes, Sherlock Holmes, you’d see that your brother brought some clothes earlier this morning for Miss Singleton.”

           I stifle my laughter with my hand as Mrs. Hudson leads me down the stairs and into her flat. It’s much more welcoming, which isn’t what I expected when I arrived, but Mrs. Hudson has that motherly sense to her.

           “The shower’s just this way, dear,” Mrs. Hudson points down the hall. “Everything in there is for you, even some clothes. If you don’t like what I laid out, you can look through everything else once you’re done. Mycroft brought quite a lot.”

           I don’t know why he’d do that. But then again, even in the show, Mycroft’s actions have never made much sense to me at all. At least he’s living up to his character.

           “Thanks so much, Mrs. H,” I smile. “You’re a joy to be around compared to that lot up there.” I’ve gone full British. Might as well accept it.

           “Don’t I know it,” she laughs sneakily. “Take your time, dear. I’ll make you some breakfast.”

           “Thank you,” I say again, unable to help myself, but she waves me away. She disappears into the kitchen, so I disappear into the shower, not wanting to disobey her.

           I’ll listen to Mrs. H any day. She doesn’t nag me. Sherlock, on the other hand, is a pain in my ass, I’m learning. I have no idea how I saw past all of it on the show. It’s impossible to forget now.

+++

After I finish showering – which was much needed and dare I say it, has made me feel a million times better – I get dressed in the clothes Mrs. Hudson put in the bathroom for me. It’s a pair of jeans, new underwear, and a tan-colored sweater (thank God, or else I’ll freeze to death). I’ll have to look through what else Mycroft bought, mostly out of sheer curiosity, but also because I think I’ll need a coat at some point.

           I leave the bathroom and venture to the kitchen, following the smell of food. Mrs. Hudson’s breakfast in the show was known to be legendary, and by the way this smells, it’ll be just the same.

           “What smells so good?” I comment as I walk in, joining Mrs. H by the stove.

           “Oh, dear, it’s just eggs,” she chuckles. “And some bacon. I’ve got some bread in the toaster if you want to check on it. I’m not sure how toasted you like it.”

           I look to the toaster and pop the slices up, smiling. “They’re perfect.” I place them on the plate on the counter, grabbing the butter to coat them while they’re hot. “Thank you for cooking for me.”

           “It’s not a problem at all,” she assures me, stirring the eggs, then she stops and sighs. “Oh, I forgot to ask how you like your eggs.”

           “Scrambled,” I smile. “They look great.”

           She goes back to stirring, but with a smile this time. “Does your mother ever cook for you?”

           I still, putting the butter away. When the silence has stretched long enough, I finally say, “No, she doesn’t. She’s um…She’s passed on.”

           “Oh, dear,” Mrs. Hudson murmurs. “I’m so sorry.”

           “It’s okay,” I say. It sort of is. It’s been years now, five to be exact. Eight since dad. “Your boys upstairs – Lestrade included– They really kept me company and got me through it. Them and my sister.” I pause. I miss her. I don’t know how, but in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve forgotten about her.

           “Yes, I heard about your story. It’s a show on telly, you said?”

           “Yeah,” I nod. “It’s called Sherlock, though I’ve heard Martin—He’s the actor who plays John. Oh, that’s confusing. Anyway, I’ve heard he writes John in big letters over the script as a joke.”

           Mrs. Hudson laughs as she piles the eggs and bacon onto my plate. “It’s a funny thing, a show about those two, but I believe it. They certainly entertain me. I can see how they’d entertain everyone else.”

           I sit down with my plate, and my mouth is practically watering. Mrs. Hudson pours me a cup of tea and fixes it for me. I never really drank tea before, but however she makes it is stunning. It tastes the best. I’ll have to pay attention the next time she makes it so I can take it home with me.

           Whenever I get back home.

           I take a deep breath, chewing on my piece of toast. I didn’t think I’d miss home this much, but I also didn’t think I’d ever be in this situation. This is something even my imaginative mind couldn’t have predicted.

           And yet here I am, having breakfast at Mrs. Hudson’s while Sherlock, John, and Lestrade discuss my case above us – oh, and not to forget, while Mycroft watches the building because apparently, I’m now a person of interest, too.

           This is insane.

+++

“She doesn’t exist?” John questions. “You’re serious?”

           Lestrade shrugs, not understanding it either. “Nothing. Unless the name she’s giving to us is wrong, but she’s got no ID, so we have no way to know for sure if she’s lying. Her fingerprints didn’t match anyone’s, but that means next to nothing.”

           “Doesn’t it?” John asks.

           “It only means she doesn’t have a criminal record,” Sherlock explains quickly. “This is tricky.”

           “Oh, here we go,” John rolls his eyes. “He’s about to check out. You said she’s downstairs?”

           “Taking a shower,” Sherlock supplies, closing his eyes.

           John shares a tired look with Lestrade before nodding to the door.

           Lestrade nods. “Alright, well, I’ll go back to digging while he…” The Detective Inspector waves his hands.

           “Yeah,” John shakes his head, following Lestrade out the door and grabbing his coat off the hook on the way.

[shipaholic]

Omens Universe, Chapter 6 Part 1

Phew! After a short break, we are back. I have had a successful day’s NaNo-ing, and this entire chapter is queued up and ready to go, so let’s do it.

This is largely based on the unfilmed episode 3 bookshop scene, set in 1800, that is available in the script book. A lot of the dialogue is taken from there, although there are some twists!

Also, I did some minor edits to the last two parts, because I set up a subplot and then ground to a halt trying to write it, so I’ve taken it out for now.

Warning for a couple paragraphs of homophobia via analogy.

Link to the next part at the end.

(From the beginning)

(last part)

(chrono)

---

Chapter 6

AD 1800

A.Z. Fell & Co. stood before him on the street corner like an unwrapped chocolate box.

The door handles were polished bronze. A placard in the front declared that the grand opening was the coming Friday. He already had some marvellous ideas about opening hours.

He pushed open his front doors and strolled inside his new shop.

It was perfect. Just a few little jobs here and there. He summoned a stepladder and picked up the nearest armful of books. This, he would do without miracles. His shelving system would be both gratifying to himself and utterly incomprehensible to customers.

While he worked, the shop bell dinged.

“I’m afraid the shop will not be open until Friday, good people,” he called down. “But we will be having a grand opening immediately after lunch.”

The voice of the Archangel Gabriel said:

“We aren’t here to buy books, Azir -”

He broke off.

Zadkiel froze.

The hardback in his hands almost toppled to the floor. He shoved it into place and jammed his right hand in his pocket, hiding the gem on his finger from view. Luckily, his sideburns concealed the serpent-shaped gem under his ear.

He aimed a smile at his visitors. Gabriel was not alone. He and Sandalphon blinked up at him. Gabriel was impeccable in dove grey, Sandalphon frumpy in beige.

“Gentlemen,” he trilled. “A pleasure to already receive some interest. Mr. Fell will be delighted.”

“Uh. Good.” Gabriel eyed him like he was a woodland creature that had turned up somewhere unexpected. “Who are you?”

“Ezra Crawleigh. I’m Mr. Fell’s assistant. How do you do?” Zadkiel held out his right hand without thinking. He yelped, grabbed the nearest shelf, and toppled off the stepladder, which broke his fall in the loosest possible sense.

“Are humans normally that size?” Sandalphon asked Gabriel in a carrying whisper.

Zadkiel leapt to his feet, dusting off splinters. Sandalphon gaped. It was possible he’d just forgotten to close his mouth.

Gabriel coughed. “Sir, we are here to speak with... Mr. Fell, was it? Is he about?”

“He’s in the back. Please, make yourselves at home. Not that at home,” Zadkiel said sharply as Sandalphon picked up a book and sniffed it.

Both angels stared at him.

“Sorry! Everything’s new, that’s all. It’s like Christmas morning, you know, before the kids start screaming and the wrapping gets everywhere. It’s great that you’re here.” His smile probably looked a bit nauseous at this point. “Just a moment...”

He edged towards the back.

“Oh, Mister Fell! You have esteemed guests!”

He tried to stroll to the back room. Definitely no running. Nope, none of that.

“That human’s a bit… off,” said Sandalphon.

Gabriel agreed. The man had a very strange walk. It was sort of… swingy.

Also, his angelic senses all agreed that the man didn’t really feel human. There was nothing celestial or infernal coming off him, which would normally indicate a human, or possibly an animal, Gabriel wasn’t the best at identifying those. But the lack of an unearthly aura didn’t feel exactly neutral. It wasn’t as if that quality was lacking, more like it was… canceling itself out, somehow. Like opposites laid on top of one another. But that wasn’t possible.

Gabriel put it out of his mind. Impossible things were, well, impossible, and thus not worth acknowledging. As an Archangel, he didn’t believe in unknown unknowns.

Zadkiel, meanwhile, made it to the door to the back room, fell through it and split apart while saying “Aaaagh,” as loudly as he could get away with.

Crowley stared at Aziraphale, wide-eyed. He flapped his arms and mouthed, “Get out there!”

“Where will you go?” Aziraphale mouthed back.

“I’ll hide! Keep them talking!”

“Pardon? Didn’t catch that?”

“Talking, Christ, Aziraphale - oh, blehhh -”

Aziraphale reappeared in the shop as if given a shove in the back. He waved to the men-shaped beings across the room.

“Gabriel - hello. Sandalphon - it’s certainly been a while.” He picked his way towards them. “Listen, if it’s about that business in Paris, um, it wasn’t my miracle…”

Sandalphon still looked baffled, but he usually did, so there was no reason to panic on that account. Gabriel frowned.

“I have no idea whereof you speak, oh Angel of the Eastern Gate.” The frown lifted slightly. “We are here with good news.”

“Oh! How lovely.” Aziraphale came to a halt. A tiny round table piled with books separated him from the two angels. Some good news would go down a treat after the scare he’d just had.

“We’re bringing you home.”

Aziraphale stared.

“Promoting you back upstairs,” Sandalphon added, helpfully.

Something wrenching and painful happened to Aziraphale. Hopes he had never voiced, even to himself, burst and shrivelled up like sickly pods under the glare of the sun.

“I’m opening this bookshop on Friday,” he said, small-voiced. “If Mr. Hatchard can make a go of it, then I think I can really…”

“It’s an excellent idea.” Gabriel clapped his hands together. “Whoever replaces you down here can use it as a base of operations.”

“Use my bookshop?”

Gabriel’s smile turned flinty. “You’re being promoted. You get to come home.”

“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to spend five minutes longer in this world that they had to,” Sandalphon said.

“Aziraphale has been here for almost six thousand years. We must applaud such devotion to duty.”

There was a box in Gabriel’s hands.

“And it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

The box opened to reveal a medal.

“I don’t want a medal,” Aziraphale said.

“That’s very noble of you.”

Aziraphale swallowed and met Gabriel’s eyes. The diamond was hard and searching and reflected nothing back at him.

Gabriel knew. He probably didn’t know what he knew, but that didn’t matter. Aziraphale had strayed, and he was being gently, lovingly forced back into the flock, where they could keep an eye on him. His lips felt numb. For some reason, they were still moving.

“But only I can properly thwart the wiles of the demon Crowley.”

Why. Why did he have to mention Crowley? Nothing he could have said would be worse.

Gabriel’s eye widened. “I do not doubt that whoever replaces you will be as good an enemy to Crowley as you are. Michael, perhaps.”

Aziraphale thought a very faint noise came from the back room. He hoped to God he had imagined it.

“Crowley’s been down here just as long as I have.”

Through flood and cave and lakes of wine. Through three thousand years of silence. Through everything.

“And he’s wily, and cunning, and brilliant, and…”

My other half.

For an instant, his heart stopped entirely.

Gabriel waited for the pause to become sufficiently uncomfortable. “It almost sounds like you like him.”

Aziraphale opened his mouth and tried to pull something up. A deflection, a lie. Nothing came. He stood sweating in the silence.

Gabriel crossed his arms. His expression was not triumphant, only terribly knowing.

“Where is your assistant?”

“Pardon?”

“The man with the walk. Is he still around?”

“Erm. He’s gone to lunch.”

“It’s eight a.m.”

Aziraphale’s mind swore loudly and then erased the memory of having done so.

“He keeps strange mealtimes. He’s a very… singular man.”

Gabriel leaned towards him. He looked oddly conspiratorial.

“Can I have a private word? In your back room, perhaps?”

This was it. Gabriel knew about Zadkiel. He knew Crowley was in the back. Maybe if he and Crowley ganged up, they could take him down… and then what, impersonate him to Sandalphon? What was wrong with him, he was an angel, angels didn’t attack their bosses, not unless they wanted to plummet into a lake of boiling sulphur at any rate -

Gabriel swept past him and headed for the back without permission. Aziraphale bobbed along behind him.

The little stockroom was empty. Aziraphale wanted to cast an eye around for Crowley, but held himself in. He stood to attention before Gabriel.

Gabriel looked down at him. He snapped his fingers. Aziraphale almost flinched. Then he realised Gabriel had performed a miracle to soundproof the room.

“Listen. Aziraphale. Can we talk?”

Aziraphale gave a squeak.

“Here’s the thing. I’m concerned for you. Six thousand years - that’s a stretch. It’s bound to have an effect on an angel. Maybe they’d start to get… overly attached? To someone on Earth that they shouldn’t?”

Aziraphale’s heart rate reached a fever pitch.

“Your assistant,” Gabriel said.

“Oh!”

He gaped at Gabriel.

“Now, obviously it’s happened before,” Gabriel went on. “The whole Nephilim thing, you remember that, you were there. Of course we made sure that no offspring would ever again be possible between our kind and humans, and not a moment too soon. Wow, was that ever disgusting! But, I suppose, if one were that way inclined, it would still be possible to develop certain feelings, a preference for one human in particular, say? And I need to make it plain that that is totally and one-hundred percent not allowed. Under any circumstances.”

Aziraphale’s mouth made a few shapes.

“Right you are?” he managed.

“Any. Circumstances.”

The diamond shone, menacingly.

Aziraphale fought down an urge to laugh hysterically.

“Yes,” he choked. “Yes. I - I see. Well. Thank goodness you arrived and - and set me straight. Not a moment too soon! Of course, I would never - but if I had - I would certainly feel my, er, preference dissipating.”

Gabriel clapped him painfully on the arm.

“Good man. So, you can just tidy up down here, and then come back to Heaven with me and Sandalphon.”

The air of giddy relief evaporated on the spot.

“We’re… going right now?”

Gabriel screwed up his face.

“Well, you know what? I might squeeze in a visit to my tailor first. Give us a couple of hours.”

Aziraphale nodded mutely. Gabriel waved.

“Catch you later.”

He swept out of the room. Soon after, the shop door slammed.

Aziraphale tiptoed to the door and checked they had both gone. He could feel no pulse of celestial energy in his shop. No angels here.

He closed the door and sagged against it.

A tiny black snake crept out from behind a shelf. It turned back into a full-sized Crowley. He dusted his coat off, frown lines deep between his hat and sunglasses.

“Well, then.”

“I could use something strong,” Aziraphale muttered.

“No time. You’re about to be press ganged back Upstairs.”

“So it appears.” Things were dire if Crowley’s first reaction to hearing bad news was to skip the drinking. “And replaced by Michael, apparently.”

Crowley shook his head vehemently. “No chance. Michael’s a wanker. Sit tight, angel. I’ve got a plan.”

Before Aziraphale could react, he snapped his fingers and vanished.

---

(link to next part)

[jessiewre]

Day 59

Tues 3rd Mar

🏔Moshi to Arusha 🚍

It was time for us to leave Moshi and move onto Arusha, a city 2 hours away renowned as the starting point for all the big safari parks.

I went up early for brekkie on the rooftop and this time, we had bananas but there appeared to be no coffee. I asked the woman and she confirmed it and was just like ‘Sorry, no coffee’.

As I write this, I have the overwhelming feeling that it definitely feels like the right time to step back from the blog. First, I’m telling you about there being no bananas at breakfast. Jesus. Then the next day there is no coffee. I’m thinking WOW. This is boring isn’t it. But then again, some of you may be so bored reading about Coronaviru that this is a welcome break.

Well, it did jazz up a bit and get exciting, cos I looked up and coffee had appeared. JUST LIKE THAT. Thats right! One minute it was there, then the next, Poof! Like magic! God knows how long it had been there, the woman didn’t feel the need to mention it to me despite knowing I wanted coffee. Absolute JOKE.

We spent the morning packing our bags and debating what our plan should be, while Phil huffed and puffed, flipping between angryman and stresshead. He had definitely got out on the wrong side of the bed, but as the great Irish philosopher Ronan Keating once said, Life is a rollercoaster. Well, Phil was certainly riding that rollercoaster. He was hot and cold like a broken tap I tells ya.

Despite Phil’s multiple attempts to get one, not having a SIM card was irritating him a lot, especially considering we needed to ring various people about hotels and safaris. So after a bit more grumbling, he went off like a true moody hero to try Vodacom again. I ‘minded the bags’ and did some hotel research (ie. I had a nice long chat with Evie and then spoke to Luke & Bex about house viewings).

Despite the 10am check out time (its more a suggestion than a rule right?), I sat in our hotel room with the door open to imply I was leaving ‘any minute’ and positioned a towel hung on the bed pole, perfectly hiding my face from the doorway view to ensure I avoided eye contact with any hotel workers passing by 😏.

I thought about Phil, all alone in that annoying phone shop, and felt a pang of guilty. Or was it hunger? Hard to know. But either way, I sent him some WhatsApp messages to give the impression I was doing lots of excellent research (that should Cheer him up, I thought), and crossed my fingers that the hilarious GIFS I was sending would put him in an AMAZING mood. He loves a GIF does our Phil. After the pain of sim card buying, I knew it could go either way but at least he’d only get the messages once he’d eventually got a working sim so I had a chance...

Well, I soon saw the ticks ☑️ turn that beautiful shade of blue and nervously waited for a response.

THANKFULLY I got two of the best emoji’s I could have hoped for.

🕺🏻 🕺🏻

It was then I knew that Sweetbox were right back in the 90s - Everything’s Gona be Alright.

My overstaying-my-welcome plan worked for 2 whole hours and I made it to midday sat in the hotel room before I got a polite knock on the door to ask me to vacate.

‘Ohh I didn’t realise the time, of course I’ll leave straight away’.

Phil returned and strongly declared we should go to Milan’s Indian for a quick lunch before going to get the bus. Well, the awkward thing was, I didn’t want to eat curry for lunch (not a sentence I say often)...but then again, I also really didn’t want to risk messing with Phil’s mood...

I decided to try the softly, softly approach and lightly suggested we go to the Kilimanjaro coffee lounge.

Phil jerked his face round to me angrily and the atmosphere instantly went ice cold.

‘What is WRONG with Milans?? You loved the food there and its really close by!’.

I quietly explained again that although it was a lovely place, I simply didn’t want curry for lunch, and he obviously couldn’t argue with that. Such is life. But it definitely REALLY annoyed him and he stropped out of the hostel with his bags in search of a tuc tuc.

We both stood on the corner of the street in blasting heat waiting for a tuc tuc to appear and for some reason, there were NONE. Everytime we saw one and waved it down, it would go zooming past and we would see there were already people in the back. Phil was ready to burst with annoyance but as the sun began to nearly melt our heads, I finally waved one down.

We went to put our bags in and then got a shock as we realised there was already a woman in the back!

‘No problem no problem’ declared the driver as he saw the look on our faces, and he ushered at me to put my rucksack into the back. Well, that was harder than it looked.

‘Oh for Gods sake’ Phil said under his breath, but not so much that we all didn’t hear him and I started to attempt getting my bag in.

Phil watched on in disbelief and was like ‘This is ridiculous! Where are we meant to sit??’

Phil then tried to get his bag in while I tried to sit in the front with the driver, but the driver was like ‘Nah you go in back’, then the woman was sort of holding Phil’s massive rucksack and there was not really any room for us and Phil just lost his rag completely 😂

‘Right, forget it! Take the bags out Jess! I AM NOT GETTING THIS TUC TUC!’

I had a point like.

Thankfully, a nearby boda driver had a great loud whistle and managed to hail another tuc tuc down straightaway, just before Phil spontaneously combusted, and we went to Kili coffee lounge where there were too many witnesses for Phil to maintain his grumpy face for too long. PHEW.

I enjoyed a simple cheese tomato toastie with fries (opposite of a curry I’d say) and now that he’d calmed down, Phil told me about his morning visit to the phone shop. While he was stood in the phone shop, stressing out and getting super angry and wound up by the slow process, he went to look at his phone and clicked to unlock it. To his utter shock, on the screen was an image he’d NEVER seen before, and it was one of those ‘Inspirational Quote’ memes.

It said:

If you can’t handle stress

You can’t handle success

He stood in total amazement, starring at the screen, wondering how the powers that be had managed to target him in this way, how google was so onto him. How had they known he was MEGA stressed and how had they got this image onto his phone?!?! Maybe it was a message from GOD?!

WELL after further investigation (the back button), he discovered that it was the profile picture of the phone shop guys. He’d added the guys number as part of the sim registration process, then he’d accidentally clicked on this guys whatsapp profile pic without realising, then locked his phone 😂😂😂😂😂.

Anyway, back to the cafe, it had been 30 minutes of good vibes so naturally Phil started to dip again, this time stressing about getting a bus to Arusha. After all the bus journeys we’ve ever done, I have NO IDEA why this simple 2 hour journey was getting to him so much, but hey ho sometimes these things don’t make sense do they. He’s a complicated and simple fellow in equal measures.

We put on our bags and walked to Tahmeed buses to see if by chance they had one of their nice buses passing through anytime soon, so we could avoid the super basic local buses that stop every 5 minutes. Much to Phil’s joy, they said SURE there’s one departing in about 15 minutes and that was the first time that day that Phil reeally smiled, ya know like with all his teeth and his eyes. It was beautiful.

The bus arrived about 30 minutes later (not too bad by African standards!) and we took a seat, only to realise it was actually some guys seat who had just jumped off the bus for a drink - and he just happened to have a huge machete on his belt! He seemed fine with it though and sat somewhere else! The bus guys weirdly would not allow anyone to have their windows open, instead insisting that we have the AC on. I kept opening my window a bit anyway as the AC above my head was blocked and I needed the fresh air, but the bus man was getting really annoyed. The locals wanted their windows open too but the bus man was stomping round the bus shutting them all and shouting at people, while people shouted back at him. As people coughed and sneezed 🤧 as humans tend to do, I wondered how many germs were getting regurgitated back through the system during this time of hyper virus mania... 🦠

The woman next to me fell asleep on me for most of the journey then we arrived to Arusha town. As we’d read would happen, we were completely HOUNDED on arrival by men trying to sell us safaris. One guy pretended to work for the bus company while getting my bag to hand me, I was like Dude I can get my own bag.

They were all talking at once trying to give us business cards, one guy said another guy was a liar, another accused another of being a thief, and it was just chaos and frankly, harassment - so Phil told them all to Frig the Frig off and we walked the 6 minute walk to our hotel Raha Leo Inn.

We walked through the door feeling immediate relief to be away from the hassling streets, when suddenly the door opened behind us and the guy who’d pretended to be working for the bus company walked in and started to try and sell us a safari!I was like Hey I thought you said you worked for the bus company mate, and he was like ‘Yes yes, they are my friends, but I have safari’. What the hell does that even mean haha. He even pointed to a safari vehicle parked outside and said ‘Uh, this is my vehicle’.

Uh, I don’t think it is mate 😂

But in an attempt to make him go away, I took the card from him and said Thanks, I’ll be in touch if we need to, ba bye now, ba bye.

It was too late though, Phil was FAR too annoyed by it all and he went for it.

‘You have just FOLLOWED US here and now you come INSIDE the hotel to hassle us?? I don’t want your card! I will NOT be doing a safari with you, take you card and please leave’.

Incase the guy wasn’t clear, Phil shoved the card into his hand while he said it.

The guy was rather disgruntled at all this but left the hotel looking defeated. Phil puffed his chest out a bit and gave his chest some big fist blows in a gorilla like fashion.

About 5 minutes later, I watched a completely different man drive off in the safari vehicle the guy had been referring to...

The hotel was clean and pleasant enough, although the lack of a TOILET SEAT was a little strange 😂. Also we noticed a man walk into the hotel and straight up to the social area without being stopped by the staff, and he turned out to be another safari seller. Hmm. We made a mental note to keep an eye on our valuables and not leave them out anywhere...

I was back to normal and ready to eat curry by dinner time so we went to find the the LP recommended Hot Plate restaurant. Directly opposite it was a stall of crazy shirts and we couldn’t resist a quick look before we headed inside, immediately finding a sweet shirt that we had to buy for 20k tsh (about £6.50). The young lads running the stall were buzzing, though why there needed to be 4 of them working I’ll never know. Thats like 1 guy for every 2 shirts available. We did the crazy handshake to celebrate the purchase which they really lolled at.

Obviously then I washed my hands - while singing the chorus of 21 seconds by So Solid Crew.

Our dinner was soooo good - maybe the best masala fries so far, a delicious dosa, and loads of other lovely food - and we went to find a tuc tuc to get back, eventually finding one at the petrol station, and took our huge doggy bag of food with us.

On return, we found out one of the hotel staff had her phone taken that very day! We told them they really needed to invest in a lock on the front door so only staff and guests could enter. They agreed with us and so will probably do absolutely nothing about it.

After spending almost 11 hours of his time searching, Phil FINALLY found the official marathon snaps of himself and was (understandably of course) very excited to see them, so we had a good look through those for about an hour (there were 10 photos after all) before finally getting back to The Crown.

3rd

[j4nn4s]

rules:

always repost the rules

answer the questions given to you by the one who tagged you!

give 11 questions

tag 11 people

i was tagged by @isakvdhflorenzi, ty miss lorena <3 1. Is the social media presence of the characters important to how you view the quality of the remake/show?

hm well skam nl is my favorite and their social media game is trash LMAOOO so generally No but i do feel like remakes who DO have such a good presence kind of elevate the show and i think it’s pretty heartwarmin to see some remakes go sm farther than skam with social media and puttin out educational and IN CHARA resources like skames does this so well and i feel like in that way, the team is really really spreadin skam’s spirit via these resources (like joana’s billion bpd awareness ig accounts and lucas rubio’s yt channel)

2. Least favourite clip of the show? Why?

tbh there are definitely some duds but probably one of the clips with sana gettin herself into a hole in s4 just bc some were hard to watch cus cringey or yikes .... idk i cant think of others LMAO

3. Which character did you feel the most connected to and why?

ijeoiqjiwoij even tho even is my all time fave skam chara, i have to say isak for all of these reasons 

4. Your least favourite part of every season?

season 1 - tbh even though i really enjoyed this season, it does take a while for it to build up like i rmr at first not being that interested until ep6 maybe ?? which is hard when you’re trying to get your friends to watch but they have to wait until ep6 before shit starts RLLY buildin up and gettin wild

season 2 - hm ig noora chasin after william ??

season 3 - bro NOTHINGGG call me a purist but its such a refined masterpiece like the pacing is good the characterization is so good ugh i deadass cant think of anythin

season 4 - i always felt a little ??? w noora being sana’s bff ig bc from s1-s3 it didn’t Feel like they were that close like even in noora’s pov, sana wasn’t really a part of it that much ?? like eva was more of noora’s bff ?? so i feel like it would have made more sense if maybe sana spoke more with chris or vilde bc sana and vilde eventually seemed to get closer esp with kosegruppa and chris has always been by sana’s side ?? idk that always confused me

5. What is your opinion on the cast’s participation on social media? Do you prefer it when the cast aren’t that involved like the Skam cast, or do you like a lot of content like the Fr cast do?

tbh i don’t care much abt the casts LMAOOO if anythin it kind of brings more harm as seen with the harassment axel and maxence get and also can bring more controversy like with irene (which honestly is p sad considerin how much i love skames bc now i feel super :/ watchin it like she shouldve just had private accts at this point)

6. Favourite song you found from Skam or the remakes?

OMFGGG love this question .... def doorman by slowthai and mura masa bc its one of my fave songs now and i got it from skam nl <3 ugh taste

7. If you could decide which characters from Skam got a season, who would you choose?

OOOHHH ugh torn bc i like isak’s pov but also i want even’s so might have to forfeit isak season for even season ....... hm so probs vilde, sana, even, noora (maybe not w william tho) and honestly maybe jonas too ??

8. Are there any moments that you liked in the show that everyone else seems to hate?

IJXDWQOIJJ yes .... remakes-wise, people hate skam nl s2’s last half but i enjoyed it for the most part ... i think the pacing was off for the last ep but personally, clip 50 made up for it and is p god tier imo ..... and also don’t think the first half of ep10 is enough to discredit the entire season bc i rlly loved seeing liv’s pov and have sm fave moments from the season 

but skam wise, omg might get a lil controversial w this one IM SORRY !!! im bein honest and its Just my opinion ok 

personally s2 got me more invested than s1 and i don’t think its a super bad season like i didnt really say many problems wrong with it until i got on tumblr wiejioqjoiqjq i was sort of interested in the questions that the noora/william dynamic brought up which is, as expressed in william’s war speech to noora, that nothing is ever black/white which i feel was a huge message and feeds into the ‘you never know what ppl are going through’ theme of the season ... like i like the idea of someone like noora, who can have a black/white mentality (as seen in the first clip of s2 when she tells vilde that they can’t have the tannin company as their sponsor bc they objectify women or smth but misses the context and what it could mean for the bus monetarily bc shes caught up in bein ‘woke’) having to break out of that and see more than one side ... and i think remakes like skam austin expanded on this idea well like when zoya was like ‘must be so nice being right all the time’ which i Do feel like is an important for youth to know today .... bc i think its so easy to get caught up in the idea of being so objectively right and morally superior that people lose sight of the more nuanced characteristics to life ... (omg long ramble BUT)

also LMAOOOOO this one might be more controversial as it pertains to bench scene s4 ok oops again doNT GOTTA AGREE !! ........ but i feel like the scene had a lot of good intentions ... i was def kind of cringing a bit tho bc i understand the subject’s sensitivity and how these topics are hard to talk about but i genuinely feel like they both made Some points and should listen to each other .... like as Hard and as maybe ‘unwoke’ it is to admit, unfortunately you sort of do have to answer the tough questions bc that way we learn from each other .... and i perfectly understand why some ppl wouldn’t want to do this and i certainly am tired abt havin to answer shit abt my sexuality or stupid male questions abt women but if u dont answer them, people do go lookin for answers still and the internet is such a shitty place that its pretty easy (esp with youtube’s algorithm) to lead you to ignorant ppl and perhaps radicalization .... questions help us to better understand our community and sometimes they can have good intentions too but we have to ask and answer them or else people will make up answers (which ive literally seen and its honestly worse to see fake as shit and UNINFORMED answers bc ppl did not want to ask you or ppl of ur identity, esp when they’re already startin from a place of hate .... but i rather have ppl ask me patronizing questions than have them spread false info bc that can do much more harm in the long run) however i DO think that isak should also consider sana’s side and i sort of wish we saw him conceding more bc they both have smth to learn from one another, like sana shouldn’t just be learnin from isak, isak needs to learn from sana too

PHEW SORRY QWIOJQWIO girl i just got opinions on some things this is when my desc rlly comes in handy .... oqjdwqioj

9. What did you learn from the show?

omg honestly too much to write here tbh ..... but if it says anythin im (very slowly) in the works of a three part skam essay about basically how skam teaches us to be better humans and how to better treat the people we care about diowjqioj essentially the three biggest themes of the show: you never know what someone is going through so always be kind, always communicate with your friends, and no person is ever alone and i feel like these are definitely rlly good messages to live by (also livet er nå BITCH !!!)

10. What is your favourite headcanon about your favourite characters?

omg tbh i could not tell u at all how the skam charas are doing except i hope even is okay thats all im thinkin of ok .... OIWXIOJX omg remakes wise tho ..... honestly im so bad at this girl IDK !!!!! LMAO i have to really think i have a bit of vdh and dutch even but thats bc we know like Zero abt them so its easier oijwiojqio idk liv and noah bein cute as shit ..... OH WAIT personally i feel like janna got a bunch of pansexual energy so my BIGGG hc is that she’s pan also bc she’s one of my all time fave charas and my fkn url so itd be dope if she was pan ok boom

11. What is your opinion on fanfiction in the fandom?

tbh i don’t read skam fanfiction but i don’t mind reading some from the remakes (tho still its rare) ... eiojeioqw i just don’t trust anyone but julie to write skam charas bc i think that’s how precious the show is to me LMAO like idk everything ive seen of skam fanfiction and ficlets and one shots, i could never get into bc the tone is just so out of character or there will be lines that just take me out of the fic bc im like this !!!! is not !!! how the chara acts !!!! so yeah idk not rlly a fan bc of my purist ass but i dont mind others reading it

Questions:

1. Favorite quote of the show?

2. Which country would you like to see have the next remake? Do you have any headcanons?

3. Which season would you rewrite and how would you rewrite it?

4. What clips do you personally like or don’t mind, but others hate?

5. Which songs do you think SKAM or the remakes should have included? For which moments?

6. Who would you give SKAM season five to and what topics and themes would it cover?

7. What moment spoke to you or touched you from SKAM the most?

8. How did you find SKAM? How did you feel about it right after watching?

9. Have you shared SKAM with any friends in real life? What did they think of it?

10. Of the remakes, which characters are your favorite of their SKAM counterparts? (Ex. who is the best Vilde remake? Eva? etc.)

11. How do you feel about the SKAM (and remakes) tumblr fandom?

I tag: @smileykeijser @whatadaze @queenofpurgatoryx @itlukey @skamyeets @shaykeijser @megeliz01 @isakcijser @wackpainterkid @axelauriantblot @kar-d-momme

(omg ik some of yall have been tagged so just ignore if u dont want to do it ok im srry it was in the RULES!)

[lettalady]

FEBRUARY FLASH FIC [OR DRABBLE OR FICLET] - Day 28 - illuminate 

He half expected this. The silent treatment after their date night got interrupted. Not just any date night, but the anniversary of when they'd started dating. (They tended not to celebrate the fact that he’d gotten shot. Just when they’d finally gotten together a month and change later.) Still. It wasn't like her not to respond.

Worry starting to buzz in the back of his mind he heads to her place. He’ll just swing by and apologize again for the interruption to their night... almost a full 24 hours ago, now. They’ve always had an understanding between them regarding their respective jobs, and the hours they demanded, the attention they demanded. This relationship can’t be falling back into the same old patterns of all the ones before. Not with her.

Hell, she’d sent coffee to the station to make sure they had something decent to keep them fueled through the night! This is just... just a dead battery. Except that it isn’t sending him straight to voicemail.  

But when he pulls into the lot of her complex her car isn’t there. He circles once, twice, just to make sure. It isn’t just that someone temporarily parked in her slot, forcing her to park elsewhere. Her car isn’t here. 

Meaning she isn’t here. 

Had she, too, been called in? Racking his brain, he can’t remember her mentioning any potential changes to her rotation. He’s tired after working through the evening and then his normal shift, but not that tired. She had the day off today. She should be here. Not that she owed him details about her whereabouts at all hours but they usually kept each other notified, all the same. 

Worry starting to fester into something harder, he dials her number again, looping the lot one last time. Perhaps, somehow, this tired detective just happened to miss the relocation of her vehicle. 

Still no answer. 

Still no silver car. 

One concerned voicemail later he starts for home. He’s about to call her again as he turns down his side street, intending on leaving a deliberately detailed voicemail about getting off shift and going home to sleep for the next umpteen hours when he spies a familiar silver car parked in his visitor’s space. 

Ok. So she’s here. Which makes no sense no matter how you frame it. Her place was closer to the station, where they’d parted. Obviously there hadn’t been any way of telling when he’d be home again. But she’s here. Here, but not answering his calls. 

Which means she’s mad. Or something’s wrong. 

After he parks he circles her car, looking for anything amiss, the simple fact that he’s doing so absolutely killing him. If something had happened to her... why did his brain always link up with the worst possible outcome? Because of what he did all day. That’s why. 

Half ready to pounce on anything that so much as twitches he makes his way to his front door - and is greeted by silence. So her car is here but she isn’t? She’s been here. It smells of her, or maybe that’s just in his head. What’s not in his head is that there’s a bottle of water and something to eat set out for him on the kitchen table that had not been there before they left for their date. Her gentle reminder that he needs to remember to take care of himself, long shifts be damned, only makes the situation worse. 

Where is she?!

Jabbing at the screen of his phone again he auto-redials her number, his heart lurching when a dim light illuminates his darkened bedroom. Her phone is sitting on the nightstand where she always puts it. He’d called out when he came in the door, didn’t he? Maybe not. Though he certainly hadn’t been quiet about his arrival. Surely, if she was here, she’d be up and investigating. 

But then he makes out her form among the bed sheets, sleeping as haphazardly - or as hazardously to one’s bed partner - as she always does. Emitting a light laugh of relief he is at the bed in an instant, bending to kiss her awake. 

Only then does she stir, reaching beyond him to touch the bedside lamp and illuminate the room once more. 

[Well, that’s it for the February Flash Fic writing challenge. I hope everyone enjoyed the random blips as much as I enjoyed writing them. Clearly we’re going to be seeing more from the detective and the paramedic. Dare I call them a happy accident from the exercise.  ❤ ❤ Here’s hoping more fabulous characters surface while exploring prompts.... also, phew. Kinda happy I chose February? Ha!]

[softtofustew]

or maybe that’s how it has to be // notes & ending ment

pairing: kang younghyun / park jaehyung

genre: angst ; fluff 

summary: death calls childhood friends jae and brian on christmas eve. willing to make the most of their next twelve hours, they find their ways with each other — and perhaps learn how to really, truly live life on the day they’re going to die.

NOTES & ENDING MENT (2018)

hello, this is chien // on writing this christmas x death soulmates!au work, this is one of the biggest challenges i think i’ve faced in terms of writing. whilst i’m still young and brooding (i believe i am much younger than the average age of fanfiction writers… or at least the majority that i am familiar with), writing has always been here for me. i started writing fanfiction back in february of 2018, and thinking back to it, i never thought i would put out thirty (30!) works out in a span of a couple of months.

this work is particularly special to me, mostly because i’m pouring a lot of time into this baby, and because it’s posted on brian’s birthday, or as an early merry christmas.

i would just like to share some thoughts and words on ‘or maybe that’s how it has to be’, and some insight on its ideas and perimeters. if you haven’t read it, it’s here.

one; setting & perimeters

dealing with this has always been a bit of a wonder. where am i placing them? where are they going? if you notice, i’ve left this city ambiguous, though the names of the characters (minjoon, byungho, jaejoon etc) mentioned imply that it is, in fact, korea. 

as for the perimeters of the story, they are not mine to boast. they are, in fact, a work of adam silvera’s. if you follow me on twitter, i have mentioned him countless times as i wrote this work. his work is called they both die at the end (review). i shall talk a bit more on the book, and how i adapted its ideas.

the story is of two boys, two strangers, who receive individual calls about their imminent deaths in twenty-four (24) hours, the caller being ‘Death-Cast’. they meet through an app called ‘Last Friend’ (think tinder but for people about to die and try to make friends). they meet, and they spend their last day together.

once i’ve laid out these perimeters, you can see how i integrated them into my work, but tweaked a lot of the details. firstly, they die in twelve hours. why? because i don’t think i would’ve written out a whole twenty-four hours. for silvera’s work it was possible because he intertwined plenty of different points of views of different people. 

also, jae and brian are childhood best friends. i feel like them as strangers would’ve taken a lot for them to develop in such a short span of time. seeing someone from your past and reuniting with them (especially if you’ve loved the other before) i feel is more of a sentimental kind of bond over strangers!jaebri. this, of course, does away with the ‘Last Friend’ app entirely.

i never expanded on Death-Cast, but that’s because the book itself never expanded on it. also, i wanted to focus mainly on the events of the whole work. if i had had more time, i think i would’ve expanded on the background of the work, but all’s well that ends well.

two; characters

of course, it’s jae and brian! throughout this year, i’ve loved writing jaehyungparkian. there are certainly lots of reasons behind this, of course. the main one is because these two truly have a lot of chemistry irl - their backstories, their conversations, their meaningless banters on vlive etc. writing fanfiction of them never gets boring, honestly.

though it’s not obvious, i depict jae as the introvert (which is, anyway, his personality, INTP) and brian as the extrovert (who is also extroverted irl). as in the second-last scene, wherein brian asks jae what they would’ve done on their last day if they hadn’t met each other, it’s true: jae would’ve holed up by himself, brian would’ve hung out with wonpil but would never really give that true goodbye, because goodbyes are always the hardest. 

although i know there was that one christmas brian spent alone, i can’t imagine jae willingly putting up a physical fight with someone haha. 

meeting each other and catching up and everything in between works for the both of them. i love them in this work, and i hope you love them, too.

three; events

it goes without saying, doesn’t it? two childhood friends meet, spend half a day together, kiss and fall in love. cliche, i know. 

i’ve always been fond of soulmates! AUs. when i reread adam silvera’s work, i felt compelled to write a soulmates trope, but with a twist - death soulmates. clearly, it’s not a real term inculcated into my work - it’s just what jae and brian label it as. there are countless reflections in the work, wherein either or both of them think about what a miracle it is to coincidentally see each other on the day they die.

for such events to occur, you hafta make it realistic: brian gets into a fight with minjoon, in a city far from his own home, so it’s not considered ‘unrealistic’ of the both of them meeting in the same city where they both live in. it gives the sense of a coincidink to the audience, without making it too… faked? yeah.

minjoon and his gang (all made-up characters) are the cherry on the top. in adam silvera’s work, the two boys faced one of their ex’s current boyfriend and his gang. there were guns involved, but i like to keep things simple and legal (considering that this is, in fact, set in south korea.) so, on top of going to places they want to go before they die, they’ve got to square off minjoon and the gang.

as for the events, as for where they went, there’s nothing coherently ‘special’ about them, other than the sentiment behind visiting these places. i feel the plot was more of a long, drawn out build-up to the ending scenes, wherein they both knew that they loved each other and such. 

four; process

so how did i write this? this is the first time i skipped out a portion of the work to write the last few scenes first, then returning to the middle portion, and also the first time i had an alternative work.

starting it off, my first draft was a sketchy 7K-word baby before i took the first few paragraphs and rewrote it. i felt it was waayyy too forced (and way too much to handle and so i rewrote it. this baby is my second draft, and x1000 wayyyy angstier than the first child. to know more about her, scroll down to five)

as for the second (and final draft, the version that i posted) i’d finished until the coffeehouse scene when i went ice-skating with my family. of course, i’ve never gone ice-skating, and so i shuffled along the railing for three hours. during the only time i fell down, this dude helped me up (read: semi-cute dude with skating skills to die for). being me, i struggled to my feet - and slammed into the railing, skates sliding apart from each other. thus, i pulled off a nothing-less-of-gorgeous crashing stance while holding onto the railing for dear life. (which is why i never engaged in small talk with semi-cute dude. read: he skated off.)

i incorporated that into my work (except, brian doesn’t skate off after jae crashes into the railing), and i started off there, all the way until the last scene. 

and then i went back to the middle of the work and started writing. again. lol.

five; the alternate version

the first draft was… complicated. there were many different elements used in my first baby before i scrapped it. the first two scenes are exactly the same, word-for-word, but beyond that was completely and utterly different.

alternate version: jae and brian didn’t meet at the convenience store. they met at a bus stop, prior to brian’s fight with minjoon. they only went to the convenience store after a few more scenes, where they bumped into sungjin. in this version, brian and sungjin made up - they buried the hatchet between them.

also, jae’s parents did die too, in this first draft - but he wasn’t legally an adult in this version. instead, he had foster parents living on the outskirts of seoul. after meeting at the bus stop, him and brian took the bus to visit them so jae could leave their gift in the mailbox. 

also, if i had continued with the first draft, you’d be reading about sungjin realising that brian had cheated on him when they were still together! and then that’s the reason why minjoon hunts him down for a second fight. yeah. that was… unexpected. thank goodness i didn’t bulldoze through that; that would’ve been one hell of a world for me to handle, phew.

from this, you can see that my… ideas weren’t planned. i was literally going with the flow. this alternate version is even weirder than 5sos’ alternate version of she’s kinda hot, which is kinda saying something, isn’t it?

six; did they die, or did they die?

most of you would believe that they died. the last line clearly states “the last thing jae sees before his eyes is brian, brian, brian, before his world is consumed.”

but the thing is, i never said ‘and they died in the end.’ before his world is consumed. consumed by darkness? or purely just him shutting his eyes? maybe his heart stops, but beats again? maybe brian gets him out of there? truly, i’ve left the ending  ambiguous. in other words: whether they died or not on christmas day is unknown, and i’ve left it up for you to decide. 

this was one of the things i thought over the most. logically, they can’t escape from the fire, but then again, who knows? with something like Death-Cast in their alternate universe, perhaps there’s some otherworldly force? ;)

seven; quotes & inspiration

i couldn’t resist adding several quotes from they both die at the end! jae’s ment to brian, several lines in the works, some of which can be found here. if you recognise which i quoted, that means you reeaaally read thoroughly heh.

as for writing itself, there were times when i was stuck on words, which is alarming because i hardly ever get writer’s block (weeps aggressively). so i would like to thank errie, my fav internet moot, for always being there halfway across the globe to listen (read?) to my rants about the work, and for always encouraging me with her eagerness to read the work itself. and also, teenie has been a great inspiration, indirectly inspiring me every time i reread one of her works (senpai, if you ever see this, i love you). 

last note

i would like to end this by thanking everyone who has made me writing fanfiction (regularly!) an actual hobby i enjoy this year. when i first started off, i never expected to even get a handful of kudos on my first fic. admittedly, there are some works i’m not particularly satisfied of, and sometimes i wonder whether i thought of quantity over quality of the works.

everyone has their own writing style, as i do too. my kind of writing style is descriptive, long sentences. i think sometimes my long sentences are a tad too long and break away the impact of the words, which is something i feel i should work on. but writing fanfiction, truly, has improved my writing so, so much, and i’m immensely thankful for all of your comments and feedback on my writing. 

i have a couple of goals in 2019: to write a couple more jaehyungparkian ideas that i have out (pretty sure i needa start on this that i’ve been hinting since god knows when), to finish the parkbros au and to improve the impact of my writing style, and to broaden my genres of writing. throughout this year i’ve mainly been writing fluff, angst, humour. i plan on writing wayyy more action and thriller, because those genres need looooots of brushing up on (this one, i feel, was very amateur but a lot of y’all liked it hahaha so i don’t know). OH! and to plan out my works before i write them kekekeke.

in conclusion, thank you, thank you, thank you. i love you all so, so much. i will be back in 2019 with new and improved ideas to write

[enter-the-nomicon]

Im so excited for your work!! I’m rlly curious about the revival and have a lot of questions buzzing, I hope u don’t mind ahh

1. So lots have happened for the lgbt community since marriage legalization, more awareness about trans-nonbinary people and pronouns, slurs, pride month and everyday inclusivity etc., would ETN be written in the present or will it still take place 2013ish? Will we be seeing nomi rocking some airpods?

2. It’s implied that the norisu nine were very powerful and involved in magic (traveling across the world battling the sorcerer, stealing the tengu’s feathers to create the suit, creating techniques like elemental/healing/shapeshifting powers etc.) so I’m assuming they were quite older. so is it that it was nomi’s parents’ family who were the nine and not the norisu kids? or is etn more of a creative liberty/canon divergence? I’m also rlly interested in how those magic system elements are going to be handled or incorporated in your story!

3. On a lighter question, does nomi get jealous from the fangirling that comes from the ninja’s popularity, and vice versa for randy when everyone in school crushes on nomi lol

Im rlly happy for etn, again sorry if that was a lot haha. You mention personal life things being a major block for etn and that a lot of writing like chapter plans or the trilogy format having to be cut due to that, would you prefer a co-writer so your original plans can be fulfilled more or maybe just an ideator to bounce ideas around? Whatever happens, do whatever you need not as a writer but as a person. We’ll be here :D!!

Phew, making me think pretty hard on all of this 😂 But seriously, I don't mind all the questions! I think the least I can do for people who enjoy ETN and have been patient with me all these years is answer whatever questions they might have (if possible).

1. A lot has indeed happened since 2013! *Stares at 2020 and sweats* And I have certainly learned a lot about the LGBTQ+ community since originally writing ETN (I mean, outside of what I already knew as someone who's bisexual), so I can definitely say that there will be quite a number of changes to RTN to keep it up to date on that front.

As for the time period of when the fic was written.... Yes, it was written in 2013 and will likely follow that in the rewrite, the show has zero historical accuracy anyway, so if Gay marriage is already a thing no one can say otherwise 😆 Sadly, Nomi won't have airpods.... Unless McFist invents some sort of equivalent 😂

2. So I do have Plans�� for the Norisu Nine stuff, and the best way to put it is canon divergence, although if we're being technical here, the show never specifies who started the Norisu Nine and when they started it. As far as we know, Finja could've started the Norisu Nine, but the Norisu clan could be much, much older but never referred to themselves as the "Norisu Nine".

So, ETN is probably best described as an AU/ canon divergence since I originally started the story somewhere in the middle of season 1 and I didn't include everything that happened later on, or I included it but in a different way.

The rewrite will be written in a similar manner tbh, and it'll start somewhere after Randy's first battle with the Sorceress. Anything that happens after this point will likely change if not be outright removed, but I won't say what that is yet until I can properly plan out key events. :P

I will say this.... The rewrite WILL effect who is the Norisu Nine and even who the First Ninja was 😉 (Spoiler alert: it's Finja! But who is Finja anyway? Hmmm).

I'll also be very honest here, but when I wrote ETN I didn't think too hard about the magic systems the show had in place, nor did I understand how to incorporate them 😂 So, maybe I'll do a little better with the rewrite 😂😂😂😂

3. Nomi doesn't get the whole fangirling thing tbh. They also know Randy is never serious whenever he flirts with fangirls, especially, because they've seen when Randy is actually crushing on someone (Theresa). If anything, Nomi thinks fangirling is an annoyance at the best of times, and an outright distraction at the worst of times LOL. Sorry to say, Nomi doesn't get jealous very easily.

Yea, a lot of stuff has gotten in the way of my original plans for ETN, but I think I should clarify that my interest in the show has waned. I have different interests now, and I'm even working on a much larger animation project as a main writer and even as a VA for a secondary character! I talked about this before on my main account, so I won't go into it here. But ultimately, it isn't just not having the time to write a massive trilogy series, but also interest. Writing ETN was always something I did for fun and for myself, and I want the rewrite to be the same. I don't want this fic to become a job or a chore, if that makes sense?

In any case, I wouldn't mind working with another writer on the rewrite if it means getting a lot more done and less wait time for people. However, I probably won't do this anytime soon since I'm going to start my next semester of university very soon :'D

And hey, I'm going on a bit of a limb here, but I have a hunch that you might be interested in taking on that role. If that's the case, I wouldn't mind bouncing ideas around sometime. If that's the case, feel free to dm me on my main account--> @chihuahuarocks

Okay! Hot damn, I think I answered everything? Let me know if there's something I missed, didn't explain properly, or if there's anything I should clarify! Or, if you have any other questions please feel free to ask! :D I love talking about ETN, and these questions do help me with the creative process!

[enchantmentb]

Review GoT S07E07

Warning, this is a looong ass rant. Only writing this to somehow get my growing frustration with the show off my chest.

What I actually liked:

The music. Ramin Djawadi is a genius. Honestly, it’s like he’s writing the score for a different show by this point. Truth is beautiful, it elevated the D@ny/Jon/Rhaegar/Lyanna scene to so much more than it actually was.

The scenography. The way the camera glided over King’s Landing (great CGI lol) in the beginning was stunning and the falling of the wall at the end impressive. The image of snow starting to fall over KL at the end was beautifully done. You can say a lot about D&D but they do know how to do their visuals. (So where was Ghost? Nevermind.)

Jon Snow being allowed to actually be Jon Snow for a moment with the line: “Why would anyone want to live that way?” about living in King’s Landing - as the true Northman’s he’s supposed to be. (Newsflash: you’ll have to live there eventually if you get together with D@ny).

Brienne and the Hound meeting again. They both so evidently care for Arya, aw. 

Lena Heady. My god this woman can act. Give her an Emmy already. Both Lena and Cersei outplayed everyone at that Dragonpit meeting. 

Cersei’s scene with Tyrion. Best scene of the season. It actually reminded me of the GoT-that-used-to-be in the early seasons. Finally some depth, some character exploration, some inner conflict, some kind of nuance. Despite everything - despite everything that’s happened between them with Tywin, Myrcella etc. - Cersei couldn’t bring herself to kill Tyrion and I love it. They are family. There is still some kind of bond no matter how ruptured. This is honestly why the Lannisters are one of my favourite houses. Yep, they are dysfunctional af but my god do they make up some of the most interesting characters on GoT - not to mention the best actors. The relationships between them are all fascinating. (You could argue that Cersei probably played Tyrion in this scene, but still... I just love their dynamic.)

Cersei actually making some sense. I was surprised I found myself agreeing with her a lot in this episode. Like, why do D@ny & co even need her to be in on their plan to begin with? D@ny could have easily dracarysed Cersei right there and then in the Dragonpit, not to mention Cersei hardly has any armies or support left - so what is the big deal? Cersei is right, the smartest thing for her to do is to let D@ny & co take on the NK in the North while Cersei does her best to secure her power through the Golden Company in the south. Jaime certainly had a point about them having to fight whoever wins “The Great War” - but if it’s the NK they are all f*cked anyway and if it’s D@ny & co the chances they are weakened by all the fighting are pretty high. The big fight might even cost D@ny her dragons. Tbh this is Cersei’s only chance to stay in power or even survive (D@ny will never let Cersei live) and she knows it. It’s a high gamble for sure, but if might pay off. I mean, we all know it won’t - Cersei will be killed - but I can see where she’s coming from. (Btw, I think the Dragonpit meeting also shows that Tyrion as D@ny’s Hand is - in a way - a liability for her since some part of his heart will always belong to the Lannisters.)

Alfie Allen. Sometimes I feel he, Lena Heady and Peter Dinklage are carrying the show. (I actually love Kit as well and think he’s excellent - but the Jon/D@ny dynamic needs to be explained before I give him any more accolades.) Theon finding his strength again - no matter the silly no-dick-is-sometimes-a-good-thing “twist” - almost moved me to tears.

I actually liked the boatbang scene for several reasons: 1) the music, 2) Kit Harington’s amazing hotness &  3) the juxtaposition with Bran’s information about Jon being the rightful heir put the inherent conflict in the Jon/D@ny relationship right smack there in the middle of their coupling - which made it quite an effective & angsty scene.  It’s obviously building to problems later on.

What I didn’t like:

Phew...where to begin...?

D@ny swooping in on her dragon.🙄  We have seen this 100 times already, everyone and their uncle has seen this - why is it even a moment in the episode? (Jesus, save the CGI for something better, like, I don’t know Ghost.)

Jon not lying to Cersei/bending the knee to D@ny in public. (Or whatever the eff he was doing?) Like...we get it writers, Jon Is Dumb™ . I can’t even begin to tell you how sick and tired I am of the writers dumbing down Jon to the point of being unrecognisable compared to his book counterpart, but what’s even worse: Jon going on and on about Ned’s sense of honour and “I’m not going to swear an oath which I can’t uphold.” Really? 🤔  WHAT ABOUT YOUR OATH TO THE NORTH? I’m just asking. What about that oath? Don’t give me “I’m doing as my father would have done blah blah” as long as Jon is freely giving away the North to a Targaryen queen. Just don’t. Not to mention....Ned DID lie. To everyone around him, for more than a decade, about Jon. (Granted, Jon doesn’t know that.) And to everyone in KL about treason in season 1. So, it’s not like it’s unprecedented. Nope. But the writers continue to depict Jon as dumb to ~keep up the suspense~ and now also disloyal to his own country/family...? Or what the heck? I get it, he wants to protect the North from the NK and being in an alliance with D@any is obviously a smart way to achieve that goal, but where is the inner conflict about bending the knee? This should be HUGE. And not only for Jon for that matter but for everyone around him. And why on earth didn’t he just make do with D@ny supporting him without giving away his crown & country in S07E06? I can’t with this writing, I just can’t. Either Jon is subtly playing Dany or he’s gone off the rails OOC. 

And yeah, about that: no one mentioning Sansa at that meeting? 🙄  Or any of the Starks...? And why wasn’t any of the other houses in Westeros present? Or the maesters from the Citadel? Seems like pretty important information for all the important players in Westeros.

Jon and D@ny’s scene in Dragonstone. Okay, so once again during a “bonding scene” they’re only talking about her. Only. About. Her. Ah what a romance, I guess this is how great love is built? And she mentions how ~totally unfair~ it was for the dragons to be kept locked away in this place. Really? They are weapons of mass destruction which only she can control, and then just barely. God... I hardly know what to say about the logic in GoT anymore. Are the dragons supposed to be depicted as beautiful creatures who *deserve* to be kept free now? Nevermind them casually burning and eating innocents as we saw in Essos? Or is D@ny supposed to be viewed as deluded? She locked them in herself in Mereen - so what about now? About a possible baby: okay, so Jon thinks the witch perhaps was wrong. Fair enough, she might have been? But why then has he no qualms about having sex with D@ny later? Obviously he might get her pregnant and normally (?) Jon surely wouldn’t risk that? Honestly, where is Jon Snow? This is the question I will be asking forever until he returns (if ever). I will say this though, I Iiked D@ny saying: “You were right from the beginning, if I trusted you everything would be different.” I took this as a possible clue Jon might actually be playing D@ny and is now getting her where he wants her. But who knows.

Unpopular opinion alert: the whole plot in Winterfell. I hated it. It didn’t make much sense. Everyone was acting OOC: Arya, Littlefinger - even Sansa. Arya and Sansa and Bran could have talked to each other. And apparently they did - off screen. The only question is when? How long did this deception go on? And what was their plan? To gain information from LF to get him convicted in a trial? Smart. But they didn’t even get him to say very much, we mostly saw Sansa and Arya fighting with each other. Not to mention this whole thing makes LF look stupid. And in the end pathetic. I just can’t imagine GRRM giving him this sort of ending in the books, he’s supposed to be this mastermind lolol. (I must say though that Aidan Gillen nailed his performance in LF:s last scene.) Sansa: “I’m a slow learner.” Ugh, does that mean she and Arya didn’t see through LF:s plan until the very end? That makes Arya look terrible. And Sansa not very bright tbh. And what kind of “trial” was that, Yohn Royce & the Vale just believed in Bran’s supernatural visions lol? I must say it was great the Vale was present though, now the truth is out there which strengthens the Vale’s bond to House Stark. That was a smart move from Sansa. I just feel slightly robbed tbh of 1) a more deserving ending for LF & 2) a better Winterfell/Stark story overall. I fully expected LF - if anybody! - to be one of the key players right up until the end. (It will be very interesting to see how this is handled in the books.) Anyway. I can live with him dying. It was satisfying to see Sansa finally and openly go against him & Arya slitting his throat. What I can’t live with though is the abysmal writing for the Stark family this season. Both Arya and Sansa were ready to kill each other? 🙄  Without talking to Bran who they both know sits on all this knowledge? And Bran...doesn’t he care his sisters are at each other’s throats? No matter his “robot status”? Not to mention Jon giving up the North to a Targaryen without much - evident - thought of his family (as far as we know). 🙄  It’s just awful. I sure hope “a time for wolves” is soon here or I will finally give up on this show. House Stark deserves better.🐺

The scene with Sansa and LF “reacting” to Jon bending the knee. Yeah, because there wasn’t much of a reaction?  Shouldn’t this be HUGE for Sansa? For Arya and Bran? For the North? And what, Sansa hasn’t considered that Jon needs to marry? Of course he needs to marry and get heirs, he is the the Warden of the North (as per his letter). LF is wrong about Jon marrying D@ny though. Jon has already bent the knee, she is his queen, what purpose would a marriage serve politically? The only reason D@ny would marry Jon now is for lurve. Or if she gets pregnant I suppose? Politically, there is zero need for a marriage. The smartest thing for D@ny would be to marry Jaime tbh. That would secure an alliance with her arch enemy the Lannisters. Or Gendry for that matter, if he gets recognised as the heir to House Baratheon. Or even Sam lolol, as the last heir (??) of the Reach. House Stark is already secured politically. Unless Sansa is playing LF in this scene? And unless LF is trying to get a reaction from her by mentioning Jon/D@ny? Well, that would be basically the only sign of some sort of Jonsa in this entire episode? Who knows. The writing is so bad at this point it’s hard to get a grasp of when characters are simply out of character/behaving illogically or when they are actually doing something smart.

The Dragonpit scene. Oh god, give me strength. This was basically just a setup for boatbang.🙄  “It’s your decision your grace, but if we are going to be allies in this war it’s important for the Northerners to see us as allies.” WTF Jon, make up your mind. You are NOT allies - that would actually have been logical🙄  - she is your queen. You have bent the knee, you are her subject. No matter how much you *sail together* I doubt that will go down well with the northerners. D@ny: “I’ve not come to conquer the North, I’m coming to save the North.” Okay, fine, so no need for Jon to give up his crown then? The North will continue to be independent? Either the writers are trying to whitewash D@ny here, are totally illogical or...Jon is slowly succeeding with (a very subtle) game in getting her to do what he wants? That last option would be brilliant, but frankly I think it’s too smart for this show. I hope I’m wrong. Well, anyway, so the conflict between the North and D@ny is over then? Good to know going into season 8. 

Theon/Jon scene. Jon: “You betrayed his memory!” to Theon about Ned. Unless Jon is actually playing D@ny, I can’t with this apparent hypocrisy. Is it awful writing? Or is Jon playing the game?

The Jaime/Cersei break up scene. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that Jaime rediscovered his character development and finally broke free of this very dysfunctional relationship, it’s just how it was done which left me slightly underwhelmed. After everything, after blowing up the Sept, after Tommen dying, after sleeping with Lancel, after Cersei treating Jaime like garbage for so long THIS is Jaime’s breaking point? Cersei making a deal with Euron he didn’t know about? I can buy Jaime staying with Cersei for longer than was ever healthy for anyone - after all, that is usually the case with dysfunctional relationships - but him abandoning her seemed a bit sudden, almost rushed. And surprisingly unemotional. It had made more sense a season (several seasons) ago. It would have felt more earned after Cersei blowing up the sept and Tommen dying because of it. Also, I didn’t like that Cersei didn’t seem more affected by it. Yes, she’s a manipulative narcissist/sociopath, but the show has shown her being vulnerable and having feelings before. Jaime abandoning her should affect her immensely, if only on a purely selfish level. I would have wished for a more Gone With the Wind ending lol with Cersei desperately rushing after Jaime and him delivering something akin to “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. 😊  Then again Scarlett O’Hara wasn’t pregnant when Rhett abandoned her I suppose. Cersei’s pregnancy could explain her apparent indifference.

Bran/Sam/Jon/D@ny/Rhaegar/Lyanna: Yes, overall I liked the scene, but Sam and Bran’s meeting was so incredibly rushed. My god. And how come Bran behaved more warmly towards Sam than any of his actual family? 😂  And Rhaegar... Just no. Sorry, I’m sure the actual actor is wonderful and all, but this wasn’t how I pictured Rhaegar at all - as some poor man’s version of Viserys lol. Just. No. “Robert’s rebellion was built on a lie.” 🙄 🙄 🙄  So what about Aerys burning Ned’s father and brother alive? I swear to god, if this is yet another attempt to whitewash D@ny and the Targaryens me and GoT are so done. It’s over. “He loved her. And she loved him.” Oh so J & D love each other now? Lmao when did this happen? Tbh if that is what D&D are trying to sell I can just laugh about it at this point. Like I can buy that D@ny is totally smitten even though she actually doesn’t know Jon. (They only ever talk about her.) Who wouldn’t be? He’s insanely hot and honourable and all that. I can buy a “Targaryen pull” leading to attraction between them. (Genetic Sexual Attraction.) But Jon? Two episodes ago he couldn’t care less. 😂  Either this is yet another example of incredibly crappy writing or something is up. And “Aegon”. 😂  Yeah, we can all agree that it doesn’t make any sense. 

I actually mainly loved Sansa and Arya’s last scene together so perhaps this shouldn’t be on my minus list, because finally some Stark bonding. Loved Sansa repeating Ned’s words and how the sisters finally connected other over how much they missed him. Loved how they recognised each other’s strength and how much they’ve both been through. But no mention of Jon...? Of him bending the knee? Like, the most important thing which has happened to their house in years? Or does Arya even know? Shouldn’t she be livid in that case? Bran does, is she the only Stark who doesn’t? For me it’s just such a glaring omission from their talk it puts a damper on the whole scene.

The NK bringing down the wall. Tbh I couldn’t care less. Episode S07E06 just removed the feeling of imminent danger when it comes to the NK & the WW. (Compare that episode to Hardhome! After Hardhome I felt genuinely scared.) There seems to be nothing more to know about them. They just have to be defeated - and they obviously will be. *shrugs* There is no mystery, no suspense left when it comes to the NK & the WW as far as I’m concerned. The only thing left to know is how many characters will die in “The Great War”. That’s it. 

All in all a disappointing episode, especially for a season finale. For me it all comes down to what D&D are doing with the Stark family in general and Jon’s character specifically. If they are truly going for the Jon-falls-in-love-with-Dany-and-therefore-gives-her-the-North I am so done. I’m out. I am SO out. If that is the case I am also shocked. Not in my wildest imagination did I ever think D&D would make Jon betray his own family, betray Ned and Robb’s memory, because he falls in love? Wtf? I can take a lot of crappy writing in GoT since overall I honestly love the show, but THAT, just there, is my breaking point. I want Jon Snow back, the character he used to be. I want the Starks and the North to become strong again after everything they have been through. I want A Time for Wolves. 🐺 

If it actually turns out Jon has been playing D@ny to get her to do what he wants to secure the North & his family I’ll give D&D credit for pretty brilliant writing. If not, I’m done. When the real Jon Snow is back on the show, I will be back caring.

[dybdahltravels]

Bonjour from Casablanca, Morocco

March 18, 2019

Bonjour!!  We arrived late last night in Casablanca Morocco or Maroc - as it is called by the people who live here.  Anyway,  it was quite an adventure on a very small and very old airplane - but we got here safe and sound.  My gluten-free dinner was a banana and a kiwi - with no way to cut or peal the kiwi and no napkin - BUT both the banana and the kiwi were indeed gluten-free - so I’m not really complaining (much.)  My biggest worry was about food - Mark’s was that the airplane was about 50 years old (Mark’s attempt at hyperbole) - but it was all good.

We had barely gotten off the plane when I received a phone call from our guide in Morocco, Zouhair Aarab  He welcomed us to Morocco, got the name of our hotel, contacted the hotel to see if a shuttle was available then called me back. - sorry, no shuttle. Then he guided us through the airport to an ATM and to a cab - all on the phone.  He told us how much the cab should cost and wished us well.  He called again about a hour later just to make sure we were comfortable in our hotel and although he is really not our tour guide for another 2 days - encouraged me to call  for ANYTHING - directions, restaurant suggestions, activities, history - anything that would be helpful.  I like this guy already!!

The Moroccan Dirham is the currency of Morocco and $1.00 = 9.58 Dirham so in my mind 1 dirham is 10 cents.  Move the decimal point - easy-peasy.   But still when our guide said that the taxi ride would not exceed 650 dirhams - my brain freaked.  The airport was an hour from our hotel - so $65 didn’t seem unreasonable but 650 dirhams - NO FREAKING WAY!!  But I was tired and I expect things will get easier….  I hope.  When we were getting the money from the ATM we had to pick the amount and when Mark picked 2,000 dirhams I thought he was nuts - but now - less tired - I think we will need more than $200 for the next month.  Sigh…. The sign for a Dirham is DH, FYI and our cab ride cost 600 DH.

Although our taxi driver did not initially know where our hotel was - I stumbled on a gem of a hotel.  But our taxi driver freaked me out - more than once.  The first time was when I handed him the address of the hotel and he explained in French, that he didn’t have his glasses so he couldn’t read.  (I’m thinking - AND MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T BE DRIVING EITHER!!!! ) But that wasn’t all - we are careening down the expressway, when suddenly he exits into nothingness.  I think - THIS IS IT!!  “Two tourists hijacked by a taxi driver and slaughtered for  credit cards “- but being tired causes one’s mind to go a little crazy and he pointed to the expressway as we went over it - and all the traffic was completely stopped.  He explained - in French - that we were going a different way to avoid the traffic problem (I think that is what he said - my French is a little shaky.  But I  know he didn’t say - Prepare to die dirty Americans and give me your credit cards - because I had been working on that sentence in French since we exited the expressway.)  Phew!  So it turned out that this guy was a great guy - friendly and willing to help me communicate in my crappy French.  And the next thing I knew we pulled up in front of the hotel.

We are staying at a place called La Doge and when we walked in - we thought - oops - this is WAY over our pay grade - BUT I had already paid for it and it was reasonable and quite a bit cheaper than the place we are staying with our tour group beginning on Tuesday night.

We were welcomed and escorted to our room that had a welcome plate of fruit, chocolates on the pillows and beautiful fresh flowers.  The name of our room is the Coco Chanel room - no number here.  It is simply elegant.  The walls are covered in padded fabric - every inch of the 12 feet tall walls.  The entire building is Art Deco and we have furniture in our room - and in the entry room that leads into our “salle de bains” or our “chambre”  (bathroom & bedroom) one would not see that in those hotel re-sale places.  These are beautiful and unique pieces - highlighted by several pictures of Coco Chanel

Our bathroom is black marble with a very cool clawfoot bathtub (that is soooooo dangerously slippery  - we can’t believe it) but beautiful.  And of course we have a heated towel rack.

So in a place like this - can one possibly find anything to complain about?  Why, yes I can!   I happen to LOVE a top sheet and I have discovered that the top sheet is not well-loved or a "gotta-have” in many countries.   Although after only one experience I cannot definitely conclude that the entire country does NOT love the top sheet - I can conclude that Le Doge is not a fan.  Happily for us - I pack a sheet.  So, all is well - but what is it with the no top sheet?

After a good nights rest and a very French "petite dejuener” (breakfast) in the breakfast room (pinkie up!!) we decided to take a walk to explore this new city. 

Today is cloudy and that is the first day since we left Michigan than we had a cloudy day.  Construction is everywhere - at least where we walked - and where they are not redoing the sidewalks or the roads - they should be.  The city is noisy and dirty.  This is NOT Tokyo - where you could NEVER find one teeny piece of trash.  Horns are constantly honking and crossing the road is like taking your life in your hands.  If you want to cross - just step out and cross.  OMG!!!  

One of the things we really loved about Santa Cruz de Tenerife was that many of the streets were pedestrian only.  It is a great walking town.  Walking here in Casablanca - at least in the area by our hotel - is a lot like Russian roulette - from my perspective.  Pedestrians share the sidewalk with work trucks parked 2 deep, piles of gravel spilling into the streets and the sidewalks are packed with people who simply step around all this into the streets to join the sidewalks whenever they re-appear.  

I am aware that Mark & I didn’t have a good idea of the area nor an agenda that had to be completed so we were just moseying and observing while everyone else was doing what they came to do.  We did discover a HUGE skateboard park - but not much was happening there since it was a school day and mid morning.  I’m guessing that sucker will be hopping later today.

The other observation I made was that Mark and I were ABSOLUTELY the only people with short sleeves.  THE ONLY ones - despite the lovely warm weather.   We saw lots and lots of people, but no short sleeves or shorts.  We saw people in jeans and sweatshirts, in sweatpants and sweaters, some women wearing headscarves and others not.  Some of the women wearing the headscarves or hijab - were in jeans and some had on an abaya  which is a long loosely fitted garment that covers everything. We saw women wearing black niqab  - the veil that covers everything except the eyes and the first woman I saw was also wearing a baby in a front pack as well.   :) We saw women who have beautifully colored abayas and color coordinated hijabs and we saw women who apparently didn’t know matching things might be a good idea.  

We saw gym shoes and stillettos, dress shoes and the traditional Arabic shoes - I’m not sure what they are called - but I bet I will know soon.  But we did NOT see short sleeves.  We also did not see anyone wearing a burqa  - the wrap that covers everything and has netting over the eyes allowing the woman to see out - but preventing others from seeing in.    I don’t know if we will see anyone wearing that - but we might - I have certainly seen women wearing it in Detroit. Anyway - we returned to our lovely room and it was Mark’s turn to wash our laundry in the lovely clawfoot tub.  We have lines strung all over and we are just hanging out until we are ready to head out for a late lunch/early dinner giving me a chance to write.  We will head out in an hour or so - but I will be wearing long sleeves and long pants.  I’m a quick learner.

I read a little bit about the Moroccan Monarchy and discovered the King Mohammed VI was born in 1963 and has several college degrees including a PhD in Legal Studies.  Additionally speaks Arabic, Berber, English, French, and Spanish.  His family, the Alaouites, has been in power since 1664 despite the colonization by Spain and France.  In 1956 Morocco became an independent country.  HM (His Majesty) Mohammed VI has championed many reforms including ones that give women more rights - which makes sense to me - but has been greatly opposed by conservative Muslim groups.  Life is not necessarily easy even if you are King, I guess.

We haven’t seen the Casablanca’s Medina (the ancient city) or the Suk (the market) but we will be doing that with our guide - if I don’t get run over trying to get there.   Then - of course - there is Rick’s Cafe :) "Here’s looking at you, kid"

Stay tuned.

[dragon-moms]

Entry 117 - Merry

Dear Diary,

Oh gosh, so much stuff happened, so much, I just… where do I ever start? I’m sorry I’ve been gone. Where do I start?

Right, Myrmidon says to just write today, and it’s okay, so I should just write it… right, Diary? I mean, we can catch up more later… maybe you can talk to my Temporary Diary? They’re nice, too, you know?

But, okay, so I was locked up, right? Oh, I didn’t tell you about that, but I was locked up because they didn’t like Philly being my daughter… which was… right, focus on today, so, okay, so, so we were locked up, and the day was… another day. We had eaten breakfast, Myrmidon and I, and we were waiting, as usual.

And then there was shouting outside.

“Hey, you’ve been banned from this area, you can’t, hey, st…” said someone.

And then it was just silent.

Myrmidon held me closer.

“What the fuck is that, terror?” came a quiet, familiar voice.

“Gloria!” I gasped.

“My aura!” said another voice that was certainly Flare. “It’s supposed to protect me but I can get creative with it! Pretty neat, huh?”

“...let’s just hurry,” Gloria said.

“I should stay here and hold them, probably,” Flare said. “But I’ll wait for you, Mommy!”

And then Gloria rushed in.

“Gloria!” I called, feeling like I was about to start crying. “Gloria, where’s Philly? Is she okay? Dagger lost her, and I…”

“Woah, calm down, let’s… let me get you out of there first…” Gloria said, holding up a claw to shush me. “We’ll talk about everything afterwards, okay?”

“I am very grateful you are letting us out,” Myrmidon said, “but are you sure this is a good idea? This will hurt your standing as Council, I would imagine.”

“Worse than that, but it’s fine,” Gloria said, walking to the bars to look at the wards that powered them. “Fuck, I wish I was better at this. I always had Maude do this stuff…”

“Worse?” I asked, worried. “But Gloria…”

“We won’t be able to go home,” she said. “But I’m going to make sure you’re all safe. That’s the important part.” Gloria messed with the wards and the bars sparked to silence. “There, okay.”

“I’ll try to play lookout,” I heard Dagger’s voice say. “As much as I can, with your son’s aura going everywhere, anyway…”

“Thank you,” Gloria said as she unlocked the door and swung it open. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Ah, dear sibling, does the aura affect you as well?” Myrmidon asked. “It is quite inconvenient.”

“We’re breaking out of the Queen’s jail, maybe we can chit-chat some other time,” Dagger’s voice said, dripping with sarcasm. “I’m going.”

“Ah, of course,” Myrmidon said, leaving the cell.

Gloria reached out a claw for me. “Come on, up, we have to move.”

I took it, and she tugged me out of the cell. I was so overwhelmed she was here, Diary! I felt like I could barely move.

“May I inquire where we’re going?” Myrmidon asked.

“To get Philly, and then get out of here,” Gloria said, heading for the passageway. “At least I hope so, with Flare in charge,” she said under her breath.

Philly. I had to be brave for Philly. I took a breath and started to follow.

“I’ll tell Flare to try to keep his aura under control, but if we have to fight our way out he probably won’t be able to, so be careful, Myrmidon,” Gloria continued.

“Ah, perhaps it would make the most sense for me to take up the rear, then,” they said.

“Are you sure?” Gloria asked. “I can’t promise we won’t be attacked. I’d rather have noncombatants in the middle.”

“Do not worry. While I do not particularly wish to return to it, I did function as battlefield commander and warrior many times during my mother’s… previous life,” Myrmidon said.

Gloria looked at Myrmidon in surprise and maybe a little bit of admiration. “Alright. Let’s go.”

We walked into the passageway to see Flare holding two adjudicators against the wall with the weird magic thing he did last time. “Hi!” he said, grinning. “We’re breaking you out!”

I couldn’t hear the adjudicators, but they started acting like they were yelling when they saw Myrmidon and I.

“I’m glad you decided to help us,” I said to Flare, trying to ignore the dragons against the wall.

“Well, I mean, you know, I’m the Paladin! So I do cool hero things!” he said, grinning.

“Let’s just go,” Gloria said. “We can’t stall.”

��Oh, right,” Flare said. For a moment, I could hear the adjudicators yelling. Then it looked like their snouts were clamped shut. “Help me drag them into the cell? We probably can’t just let them go and they’re probably okay people so I probably shouldn’t just break their skulls.”

“Right…” Gloria said. “Right, let’s hurry…”

Gloria and Myrmidon dragged the two uncooperative adjudicators into the cell we were just in, and locked the door.

“Phew,” Flare said, finally having his claw away from his badge on his chest. “That was real neat and stuff but that was a lot of channelling.”

“Help! We need backup!” one of the adjudicators was shouting from inside the chamber.

“Okay, no more holdups,” Gloria said. “Where’s Philly?”

“Oh, I dunno,” Flare said.

Gloria looked annoyed. “Then how are we going to find her?”

“Let’s just go this way!” Flare said, and headed down the passageway.

Gloria took a breath to calm herself and followed. I followed her, and Myrmidon followed me. Occasionally we passed other dragons as Flare took seemingly random turns down passageways. I tried not to look like someone who escaped from a cell or anything, Diary, but I wasn’t sure how that was supposed to look. But I tried to stay calm. Stay strong.

Finally, Gloria stopped us. “Terror, what are you doing?”

“Finding the royal?” Flare said.

“She’s not a royal,” I said, tail swishing nervously. “She’s my daughter. She’s going to be a dragon.”

“Right, then finding her, then,” Flare said.

“This is the passage to the Queen’s personal chambers, we can’t go this way,” Gloria said, annoyed. “Come on, let’s go back… we’ll get Merry and Myrmidon out of here and then…”

“No, we should really go down this passage,” Flare said, interrupting her.

“Terror,” Gloria said, glaring at him.

Flare put a claw to the metal thingy on his head. “You trusted me to wait until today, Mommy. We waited to talk to the Queen. We need to go now, while she’s still alone.”

“Dagger?” Gloria called.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll check…” Dagger’s voice said.

“I gotta do something nice for em after all this,” Gloria said, mostly to herself.

“Ah, perhaps I can help offer some suggestions, when the time comes,” Myrmidon said.

Gloria looked to them. “Yes, definitely. If we get out of this.”

“The Queen is not alone,” Dagger’s voice said. “But that’s because she’s with Philly. Philly is hanging in a little cage with a dragon doll. What is going on?”

Flare grinned. “See? Now let’s go.” He headed down the passageway. “You take one, Mommy, I’ll take the other.”

“Why not just use your aura again?” Gloria asked, following. Myrmidon looked to me, and we both followed as well.

“I will, but you just need to pin yours first,” Flare said.

“Are… are we really going to see the Queen?” I asked. “I’ve never seen the Queen… how do you act around a Queen?”

“It’ll be fine,” Gloria said. “Though she has this thing, where she looks at you…” Gloria shook her head. “It’s fine. She’s just a person. A very big person. And we’re just going to grab Philly and leave.”

“Ok…” I said.

As we neared the end of the passage, two adjudicators stood by the big doors. They looked at us at first with confusion, and then shock, and then started approaching.

“Stop right there,” the Green on the left said.

“Okay, now!” Flare said, and pushed forward with his wings, sending a gust of wind back at Myrmidon and I. Gloria followed suit almost immediately. I had to look away, though, Diary… I didn’t want to see them hurt anyone.

“Go past! Now!” Gloria called, now on . “Get in the chamber!”

Myrmidon pulled me forward and we hurried past. Myrmidon pushed the big door open, and I rushed inside.

And then there was the Queen.

She had turned from her desk. I knew she was big, but she was big, Diary. And when she looked at me, it felt like she knew all my secrets. I trembled there, for a moment.

And then Philly called out, “Mom!”

And I snapped out of it.

She was hanging in a cage on the far side of the room. A lot of the cage was taken up with a stuffed Red doll. But it was her. It was Philly.

“Philly!” I cried and ran across the room.

“M-my sweetest, the Queen…” Myrmidon started.

But I didn’t care.

“Let me get you out of here… where did you get that toy! It’s bigger than you!” I said, trying to figure out the lock.

“A Red named Flare gave it to me,” Philly said. “Which was kind of silly, but nice of him.”

“Stop,” the Queen’s voice boomed. Philly and I froze. “What are you doing here?”

“She’s with me,” Gloria said. She made her way in, and then Flare, holding the badge on his chest, followed. And then he closed the door, and propped himself against it, trying to hold it closed. “And we’re just about to leave.”

“Gloria,” the Queen said, turning to look at her. The Queen’s expression was one of sadness. Gloria looked similarly pained. “You are working for the humans, then.”

“No,” Gloria said, joining Flare to hold back the pounding on the door. “No, never. I’m loyal to you, you know that. This is just something I have to do.”

“I’m not loyal,” Flare said. “But you knew that, your highness. Hi, again, by the way. But we need to talk for two seconds.”

“Two seconds before I fill you with lightning to protect myself,” the Queen said.

“Merry?” Flare said, looking to me.

“What!” I said.

“Tell her,” Flare said, touching the metal thing on his head again. “Tell her why you have to do this.”

“Do… w-what?” I said, trembling.

The Queen turned to me.

Philly reached through the bars. I felt her little fingers brush against the scales on the back of my head.

I looked to the Queen. “When I found Philly… I was just… when I found Philly I wasn’t trying to do anything big or important or make trouble. I just found a little girl, you know? I just found a little girl, who was smart, and resourceful, but scared, and she didn’t know… I wanted to be a Mom and she was there and I took her home… and then we became a family… everyone’s been asking me about conspiracies and human politics and I don’t know any of that… I just bake bread… I just bake bread and take care of my daughter, and… and I love her so much… and Miss Queen, um… your highness… I’m here because I have to protect her… so… so please, your highness, let us go…”

“Reliquary,” Gloria said. “Just let us go, and I promise we will all disappear and cause you no more trouble. Please.”

I saw the Queen’s eyes flicker with rage as she started to turn to Gloria.

And then there was the sound of a piece of stone dropping to the floor.

The room was filled with a big burst of light, Diary! It was so bright I couldn’t see. But I heard the doors burst open.

And when I could see again, a Green with a weird mask had a big long metal pin to Gloria’s throat! The mask was so weird too! It was like she had a flat face?

“Flare, what the fuck are you doing?” the masked lady said as adjudicators poured into the chamber. “Don’t move or she dies.”

“Do you really want to do this?” Gloria said.

“It’s my fucking job, or did you not know?” the masked lady growled.

“Stop. Everyone,” the Queen’s voice said with authority. Everyone froze. “We are in no danger. We were just having a discussion with these four. Please leave my chambers. Nobody will stay to ensure I come to no harm. Nobody, please release Gloria.”

The masked lady, who I guess is named Nobody, let Gloria go. Gloria gave her a look.

“But your highness,” an adjudicator started.

“No. Leave,” the Queen said.

“...yes, your highness,” the adjudicator said, bowing. Everyone started to leave.

Flare closed the door.

“Reliquary, I can explain,” Gloria said, hurrying to the Queen as soon as the door closed.

“No time. I cannot hold this for long,” the Queen said. “Once I lose control, you will be in trouble.”

“...right,” Gloria said.

“I wanted to protect you,” the Queen said. “You protected me for so long, and when you needed me, I was here. And I brought you back. And I tried to protect you.”

Gloria was shaking. I really got the feeling I shouldn’t have been hearing this, Diary, so I tried to busy myself. I couldn’t get the lock off, so I just unhooked Philly’s cage from the ceiling. I could get her out later.

“I’d say I don’t need protecting, but I sure fucked up without you,” Gloria said. “Lost you and ended up with him. Made a mess of it.”

“You’re a fighter. You’ve always been a fighter, from the day I met you when you barged onto my farm,” the Queen said. “I was foolish to try to keep you behind my walls.”

“You’ve done a lot for me and my family,” Gloria said. “I wish you could have been a bigger part of it.”

I turned around, holding Philly’s cage. Gloria was trying not to cry. I’ve never seen Gloria cry, Diary! I… I really probably shouldn’t have been there. Myrmidon came over to take the cage from me, and hold my claw.

“You have a plan,” the Queen said.

“Yes,” Gloria said. “It’s a longshot. But Miss Nobody seems to think it will work.”

“I said nothing of the sort!” Nobody said. “You didn’t tell me about any plan having to do with breaking into the fucking Queen’s chambers!”

“You gave me the map, remember?” Gloria shot back. “That’s the plan.”

“You are still on my side, Gloria?” the Queen asked.

“Always. Fucking always I am on your side.”

“I will hold as long as I can. Go. You will be traitors the moment I run out of strength,” the Queen said. “Nobody, go with them.”

“What? No! I stay here,” Nobody said. “I stay right fucking here with you.”

“I will protect what is important to you if you protect what is important to me,” the Queen said.

“You want to go anyway,” Flare said. “Don’t you, Ivana? It’s gonna be fun, I can feel it.”

Even though the mask, Nobody looked furious. She pointed a claw at the Queen. “You better, you better keep him safe.” She turned to the door. “Flare, you’ll just find me, right? If I just go? With your god or whatever?”

“Oh, probably? If we’re on the quest together,” Flare said.

“Fine. Just find me. I’ll get ready and meet you idiots later,” and with that, she stomped out of the room.

“Go. I want to give you as much time as I can,” the Queen said.

“Let’s go, Merry,” Myrmidon said, hurrying me towards the door.

“Yes, I don’t know what’s happening, but we need to go now,” Philly said. “This is our chance.”

“I may not see you again,” Gloria said. “So I have to say it…”

“No,” the Queen said. “You will return. You are on my side, remember? Just go.”

Gloria hesitated, and then joined Myrmidon and I as we pushed out the door.

“Thanks for the talk!” Flare said. “I’ll make sure there’s not a war and stuff, I promise! Bye!”

And then we ran and ran and flew and flew, Diary… and we camped out in the middle of nowhere near the edge of Orin. Gloria had packed stuff to eat and things, which she warmed up while Flare wandered off, and soon returned with the weird mask lady.

“Can you open Philly’s cage?” Gloria asked Nobody.

“You don’t get to boss me around just because you fuck the Queen,” Nobody said. She was clearly still mad.

But she used some tools on the lock, and Philly was free.

And I’m…

Well, I’m out of time to write… we’ve got to get moving again…

I’ll fill you in on more later, Diary…

But just know, we’re together, again, okay? We’re back together.

And surely that means things will eventually be okay, right?

I hope so.

[idolsrpeople2]

I saw your tags on l******i's post about clarification and wondered if you think intellectual property still works on tumblr? News and such still use it; doesnt it comply? Youre a level-headed person so I just wondered 😊

This topic has a lot of gray areas and I could write pages and pages, but I’m not going to do that. I really don’t want to get caught up in the middle of the two blogs in question, but since I reblogged and tagged about it I guess I opened myself up to it. I’ll state my views as simply as possible and in respect to the specific posts being discussed. Keep in mind that I am an outside observer, so I have limited knowledge of the situation.

First let me post a couple of definitions of “intellectual property.”

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

The colloquial description of intellectual property is that it comprises all those things that emanate from the exercise of the human mind, such as ideas, inventions, poems, designs, music, etc. Intellectual property is therefore about creative ideas. Dissemination of these ideas benefits society and stimulates further creative activity. However, once ideas have been made public they can be copied by others. If their originators are to control and obtain remuneration from their use they can only do so within a secure legal framework, which creates property rights in those ideas.

I’m just going to focus on the issue at hand, which is creative content on tumblr, which generally doesn’t deal in patents, etc. But a type of intellectual property still exists here because the original creator of content took time and effort, and used their creativity to choose a moment and how to present it. That content should not be taken and used as one’s own with no credit to the creator. Let’s look at the pyramid of ‘ownership’ as it applies to a lot of content on kpop blogs. A group/person performs, they own that performance. A group/person uploads a video, or a fan films a performance and uploads a fancam, the video belongs to the person uploading the video. That person can either give permission to gif or edit the video (with credit of course), or they can forbid it. If fans have permission to gif/edit, then that video is up for grabs as long as the content creator who uses it credits the source. Now, we know that fancams, or any kind of video by ekso (like a vlive) will be watched by thousands. Not all of those fans are going to create content from any given video, but there are a host of fans who will. Is only one person, out of the whole fandom, allowed to create content from a particular video/moment? The first person who uses it owns it? NO.

Okay, so does that mean that fans can only create content from the same source as long as they have a totally different take on it? NO. It’s inevitable that more than one person, many people in fact, will have similar thoughts on a subject or moment. For example, if a thousand people were shown a video of someone kicking a puppy, and were asked to caption it, most would write about how horrible it was, just with different ways of saying it. It doesn’t automatically make it copying to have similar thoughts on a subject.

Let’s just take the ekso fandom as an example, since it’s the one I’m most familiar with. Every time something cute, fun, or interesting happens at a concert or on a broadcast, we get a slew of gifs, gif-sets, photos (the exact same photo posted tons of times with different captions), and video edits. Back in the day, when I used to post more, I used to livestream ekso concerts and stalk vine to find cute and interesting moments that had just happened, and then post the vine with a caption. Now, if I went into the tag, I would often see other people who found and posted the exact same vine, but with a different caption. Do I have a right to go to that person and say they can’t do that because I did it first? No, because I didn’t create the vine, I merely posted it with a caption of my own. Do I have the right to tell them they can’t post it because their caption had the same feel as mine (like we both mention that it was cute or whatever)? No, I can’t claim ownership to a common thought.

Unless a person takes creative content, such as a gif/video edit/photo edit, uses it as if it were their own without permission or credit, or takes something written word for word, then there is no stealing of ‘intellectual property.’

In regards to the two blogs in question, I’m not sure what’s going on, and I don’t want to instigate or pit one against the other, or anyone against either one of them. I follow both. But it seems as though one is accusing the other of stealing gifs, which I have seen no evidence of (I think she just re-used her own gifs in two different posts). l******i has been making gif sets for a long time, and when she does an analysis she is good about crediting sources. If someone wants to accuse another blogger of stealing gifs, or other creative content, they should provide the proof (perhaps link the original post and the post with stolen content). If the accusing blog is upset because l******i did an apartment analysis (which may not be the case, this may just be my assumption), all I can say is that l******i posted an analysis first, then posted a second part after the accusing blog posted her first apartment analysis. They both touched on some similar ideas, and included floor plans, but they did their own work. It makes sense if you are trying to figure out the layout of an apartment to look at what you can see in videos/pics and try to put it together with a possible floor plan. It was a lot of work for both of them, and I appreciate and enjoy both, but I don’t see any stealing going on. The hidden apartment idea has been going around for a while. I even posted something about a ‘secret location’ quite a while ago, but I certainly didn’t consider that the idea belonged to me. If I wasn’t so lazy and unmotivated, I might have done an analysis similar to theirs.

I’m not trying to take sides, and make one blog feel bad. I care about the bloggers I follow and want them to be happy and enjoy tumblr. At the end of the day, I reblogged l******i’s post because I saw people accusing her of things I see no evidence of, and I’ve always thought she was good about giving credit when needed. I don’t like people to be dragged just because someone made an unsubstantiated claim. Plus, I sometimes get the impression that the accusing blog feels ownership over moments or ideas, which might prevent other kd supporters from feeling like they can post about them. I really don’t want that to happen. We should be embracing and encouraging kd blogs and content creators. I previously had a bit of contact with the accusing blog and they were quite nice, so I’m hoping it was all a misunderstanding and it can be sorted out.

Basically it comes down to having integrity and not stealing something another person has actually taken time and effort to create while, at the same time, not accusing others of stealing if you don’t show what and how the content has been stolen.

Let’s remember to be kind and respect each other, especially those of us who love and support kd. We do not need in-fighting.

Phew, that was long. And I’ll probably regret it. Either blog is welcome to talk to me if they feel they were unfairly represented. 💜

[williambriar]

Angel and Demons - Can Demonolaters Work with Both?

Sigil of the Demon Crocel by William Briar

DOMAGICK CHALLENGE DAY 27

Last night, I dreamed of an angel. You might think that would be disturbing for Daemonolater, but the dream comforted me. You see, I work with this particular angel on a regular basis and number him among what 'personal pantheon.' In other words, he's one of my go-to guys.

I do admit that dealing with him is not like communicating with a demon. This may sound very woo-woo to those of you who do not sense spirits this way, but the angel vibrates on a different frequency than they do. I hear the spirits I interact with like a musical note in my head, and he's sung in a higher register.

In my opinion, this doesn't make him better than they are or good while the daemons are evil. That note distinguishes how far he is from our plane, Earth. I feel the daemons spend more time down here, or time focused on us than angels do, so they resonate on frequencies closer to that of our realm. Satan, on the other hand, who I believe represents the All… Phew! I'll never be able to sing that high!

So, yes, Daemonolaters can work with angels. A good deal of them do, including this one. I'm fascinated my Enochian, the language of the angels, too. My partners have to put up with me grumbling every time Supernatural butchers it, but I complain a lot less about that than I did about what Xena and Hercules did to mythology.

I'll even go out on what some may consider an extremely heretical limb and theorize that daemons and angels occasionally team-up when people need them. After all, I had the sigil of Sitri tucked underneath my pillow last night. In addition to the work I've been doing with her during the daytime, I've been hoping to receive a message from her during my dreams for three nights now. On the last night I was supposed to work with her, I dreamed of my angel friend. Was she telling me to go see him, or was she telling me the time was right to move on to the next daemon I planned to work with, Crocell?

According to the Ars Goetia, Crocell is a fallen angel. Besides teaching geometry and liberal sciences, he can discover water and warm it. This might not seem like an extremely useful talent to magicians nowadays, but I once lived on a farm where we had to find and dig our own well. Had I been old enough, I certainly would've called on Crocell then. In modern Daemonolatry circles, his ability to warm water is believed to transfer over to emotions, and we invite Crocell into our lives to soften those with hard dispositions.

Over the next week, I will work with Crocell to improve my negative attitude towards my creativity and my own body. I will write and paid for mine own pleasure alone. I will also focus on changing my eating habits by avoiding junk food. To start this work off, I painted a single for Crocell today in acrylics and will launch it as soon as I am done this entry. I will sleep with it beneath my pillow as well, in the hopes of receiving a message from Crocell in my dreams.

I initiate this process. I asked the Tarot what I could do to improve my outlook on myself. Two cards slipped out instead of one. They were the Two of Wands and the Queen of Cups. Reading them together, I interpreted this to mean that I should keep my sight set on the future and let my emotions guide me. I should not dwell in the past.