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jghouse-asia-pacific · 2 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.jg-house.com/2023/01/23/africa-palace/

The Africa Palace

The sun’s slanting rays, lighting up in golden tones every feature of the lush landscape, bathed the two levels of white stone which made up the palace and also the white stone of the other royal buildings lying on the northern edge of the park. The day was cooler now, but the warmth of the evening still could be felt, causing party goers to sweat in the twilight. An assortment of sounds, from raised voices and laughter to music, mixed with one another in strange patterns. The music which filled the warm evening air, Sylvere thought, was getting louder. It seemed to grow more urgent all the time. His eardrums ached; his feet began moving in time to a steady but occasionally syncopated beat.

Anna had made it easy for her guests to indulge. It was obvious she had spared no expense. It was a party few would forget.

Sylvere stood by himself on the terrace of the palace, a magnificent structure which had been erected in the late 1800s and now was known as the Africa Palace. He looked around, scanning the crowd and attempting to identify anyone he might know. At least two hundred people occupied the terrace and the adjacent area, the Welcome Pavilion. Perhaps another 300 people, possibly as many as 500, occupied other parts, including the banquet hall and theater, as well as different venues, such as the restaurant and exhibition halls.

Sylvere didn’t recognize anyone and studied the crowd. The men acted as if they didn’t have a care in the world. The women fawned over the men and laughed and drank among themselves, giving an impression of flippancy, even debauchery. Sylvere sipped lemonade from a glass he held in one hand. A sensation he was being watched came over him. He walked to the edge of the terrace. His new jacket, he realized, as well as his new shirt, fit him well, although his trousers were loose around the waist. The looseness was good, he thought. But certainly Chérubin had done an excellent job in commissioning a tailor in Tervuren to make a new suit for him, especially without his presence in the tailor’s shop or his knowledge of the tailoring job.

At the edge of the terrace Sylvere brought his lemonade up to his lips again. Facing the park, which opened before him in green splendor, he gazed at lawns and statues, pools of water and manicured shrubs before focusing, at last, on the impenetrable forest.

The view from the palace was impressive, much different from others he had seen in Africa, where no stone masons built Renaissance palaces and no gardeners maintained elaborate lawns.

A Woman in the Palace

An older image appeared before his eyes, however, a memory of himself lying on a stretch of hot asphalt near the Université de Kinshasa, struggling to re-gain consciousness. A police officer loomed over him, after striking him with a large baton. The officer was one of hundreds, perhaps thousands deployed by the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko to stamp out opposition to his rule. Dikembe, a fellow student, had picked Sylvere up off the ground and carried him into a store nearby. Dikembe was strong back then.

Now Dikembe was gone, killed during the last couple of days and already rotting in a mass grave in the volcanic fields outside Goma.

Blinking his eyes and seeing a statue of a deer in repose before him, Sylvere realized he didn’t want to be at the Africa Palace. He fought an impulse to dump his lemonade in the trimmed grass by the statue of the deer. He rejected the luxury and excess around him. He felt that everyone important to him either was dead or was threatened with death. He didn’t care about offers of assistance from Anna and Carolina and from Anthony and Bénédicte the nun. They all had a role in the Grand March to Death.

“I need to talk with Pépé,” Sylvere muttered in Kikongo. But his friend Pépé was far away. Where? In Goma? Was he even alive? Sylvere didn’t have an answer.

Sylvere turned to his left shifting his gaze to a statue of a man with a large dog at his feet. The statue, like the statue of the deer, made no sense. If nothing more, the remarks by the American journalist, Leon Johns, delivered in the hotel room two hours before, heightened his sense of alienation. At that moment, Sylvere detected shadowy figures approaching from his left. They stopped two meters away. He turned and saw an elderly, African couple.

“Bon soir, Sylvere,” an old man said quietly. “You don’t know us,” he added speaking in French. “We wanted to introduce ourselves.”

Sylvere stared in disbelief. He had never seen the man before. But the man knew him.

“I am here before you today because of Anthony Lukambo,” the man said looking into Sylvere’s eyes. He spoke now in Lingala. “Whatever else you may have heard about Anthony, you should know he has helped many people.” He glanced at his wife. She replied also in Lingala, “Ten years ago, Anthony saved our lives and the life of our daughter, now a nurse in Paris.” Almost immediately the elderly couple disappeared. But a second, although younger, Congolese couple replaced the first, and quickly proceeded to deliver a similar testimony.

The Palace Grounds

At the base of the stone foundation which supported the terrace looming ten meters overhead, an open, flat field of polished white pebbles extended southward perhaps 15 meters before giving way to a rolling meadow, a silent lake, and a dark forest. In the middle of the field of white pebbles, a tent had been erected, offering party goers a refuge from the crowds converging on the complex of royal buildings above. Inside the large tent made of a thin, almost transparent red fabric with only three walls, a narrow table extended the length of the eastern wall opposite a side open to the humid evening air. On the table rested a row of clear, glass jugs, each sitting on a copper stand and displaying a different liquid refreshment. Toward one end was a large number of short, circular glasses stacked upside down in the shape of a pyramid.

Soft, yellow light came from a lantern attached to the top of the tent.

Entering the tent from the west, Sylvere noticed a container of water with small slices of lemon floating in the water and a container of red wine with larger pieces of orange floating in the wine. He placed a glass in his left hand under the copper spigot attached to the jug of water and pulled the lever with his right hand. A jet of water issued. Quickly, Sylvere filled his glass and closed the lever. He looked to his left. Two couples in their 40s held glasses of wine. They were Flemish and seriously drunk. Sylvere looked away. He brought his glass to his lips. As he drank, he glanced toward the southeastern corner of the tent, where a gap was visible. Through it, Sylvere could just make out, in the twilight, a statue of a boy dressed in the attire of a hunter. It was a third art object which seemed out of place, each one more alien than the last.

“I trust you found the stories of our Congolese friends heartwarming,” a voice said in Lingala, causing Sylvere to turn his head in the direction of the voice. He recognized immediately the derisive tone and next the arrogant face of Serge Ntaganda.

With a rolled-up magazine in one hand and a plate holding several pieces of bread and cheese in his other hand, Serge smiled. In front of the small pyramid of glasses, he laid the magazine and the plate on the table, picked up one of the glasses, and, glancing at Sylvere, walked over to the jug of water. “Anthony has provided a comfortable life for our Congolese brethren,” Serge stated. “He has been very generous to Penelope and me as well,” Serge added. He didn’t look at Sylvere again. “Imagine what he could do for you,” Serge continued throwing back his shoulders and adjusting the collar of his crimson-colored shirt under his blue suit jacket.

People outside the Palace

Serge repulsed Sylvere. Not one of his words about Anthony Lukambo was true. Anthony was a gangster. Everyone knew.

“You,” one of the drunken Flemish men shouted approaching Serge and speaking in French, “aren’t you the guy who hit my car last night outside The Lodge?” It was a restaurant, Sylvere recalled, in the center of Tervuren just down the street from the restaurant, Het Park, where he had eaten dinner with Chérubin the night before.

“Sylvere, here is proof of Anthony’s generosity,” Serge added removing an envelope from a pocket of his jacket and, in one motion, depositing it in a pocket of Sylvere’s jacket. Serge moved past Sylvere and around the drunken Flemish man before disappearing through the gap in the tent.

“Wait,” the drunken Flemish man shouted following Serge but stopping at the gap. The man had witnessed Serge’s passing of the envelope to Sylvere.

“Let’s go, Eduard,” his wife said casting a glance at Sylvere, “we can’t associate with these people.” She took her husband’s arm, and the two of them started walking toward the opposite side of the tent and the warm evening air. The other Flemish man and woman, who appeared to have sobered up, stared at Sylvere for a few moments before walking away too.

Sylvere felt a wave of disgust wash over him. Ripping the envelope out of his pocket, he threw it to the ground, where it burst open, spilling a thick wad of bills onto the polished white pebbles. The breeze entering the tent from the west lifted up one 10,000-euro note, then another one. Within seconds, the notes had scattered in all directions.

Immediately the two Flemish couples re-appeared, rushing back into the tent, frantically scooping up the bills flitting across the polished white pebbles. Serge, too, re-appeared, stopping just inside the gap in the tent, staring at the scene. His jaw dropped, his head shaking. Then he disappeared into the night.

Quickly the two Flemish couples managed to collect all of the bank notes, stuffing them into the pockets of their clothing before getting to their feet. They seemed awe-struck as they looked into the face of Sylvere. They couldn’t believe he had just thrown away so much money, and then let them have it.

At that moment Sylvere’s other hand brushed against the other pocket of his jacket. With a sense of calm looking back at the Flemish couples, Sylvere removed a second envelope and brought it up to his face. It was the invitation to Anna’s party. When he extracted the white card with gilded words inside, he noticed the announcement of a dinner for selected guests at 8:00pm in the restaurant attached to the palace.

He looked at his watch. It was nearly 8:45pm. He was late.

***

#Africa, #AfricanStories, #Europe, #LifeCulture #Africa, #Art, #Beauty, #Culture, #Europe

#Africa #art #beauty #culture #Europe

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bcbliophile · 2 years ago

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@abeautifulmencgerie Daemon & Alona

"Your grace-- you were quite impressive in the tourney today" Alona curtsied to the Prince and offered him a polite smile. She saw him often enough at the dragon pit when she would go to see Sylver, but she didn't think she had really spoken to him before. The joust today had been quite exuberating to watch, she had sat in the box with Rhaenyra and Lady Alicent for most of it. Her family is a branch of House Velaryon, she carried the traditional features of silver blonde hair and lavender eyes, though she was quite a bit shorter than most of the dragon riders.

The feast was packed, wall to wall nobles and servants carrying trays of food. It was quite impressive-- though she supposed if you were to go all out it should be for the King's name day. Her eyes turned to look up at the Prince, he usually frightened her, all sharp edges and harsh words, but tonight there was something different and she could not put her finger on it. "I wounder if the Hightower boy will recover from the beating you gave him."

#alona's threads #v ; in the presence of dragons ( house of the dragon )#abeautifulmencgerie

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perilousplatforms · 2 years ago

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An Update and a Final Farewell

Wow, I haven’t touched this blog in years... hello to anyone who still follows this! It’s been a very, VERY long time since I’ve worked on this project in any capacity, and by now, it’s a relic of years gone by — just about 10 years, if my memory serves me well.

So, to commemorate that anniversary (which is probably not today), I wanted to properly share something to this long-forgotten blog: a project I did in early 2021 as a “final farewell” to this long-forgotten passion project.

[ RECREATING PERILOUS PLATFORMS ] is a recreation of all the levels from various complete(-ish) builds and demos of my old MLP Gen 4 fangame, Pinkie Pie’s Perilous Platforms - designed with the level-creation suite of Nintendo’s Super Mario Maker 2 video game. If you own SMM2, you can find the course world via my maker ID (DDH-165-L5G) or you can click the link to access its portfolio page that lists every individual level’s ID, a short explanation of my process, and a full playlist of my livestreams documenting the process to replay, recreate, and redesign the levels I made very long ago. Quality notwithstanding, I had a great time working on this. It felt very good to analyze younger-me and their level design philosophy at the time, and to critique my video game developer “debut” of sorts. Probably not a home run by any stretch, but a good first start. Depends, really. https://cargocollective.com/sylversedge/Recreating-Perilous-Platforms

I felt it was fair that I make this update to tell folks (or at least anyone remaining) that a lot has happened since I stopped updating the blog. That teaser from 3-4 years ago (this weird bit) was for another idea I had to finally bookend the development journey, but the RPP project ended being a much better sendoff than whatever I had planned years prior. Through random nostalgia flare-ups, storytelling of my personal lore on my Twitch streams, and tons of self-indulgent Internet searches, I’ve come to discover that a good handful of people have played Perilous Platforms in some capacity — via my itch.io page or the old DeviantArt page link, via downloads on Equestria Gaming’s Arcade, features on Equestria Daily, and other specific sites, via BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint app where it’s been properly archived, and by other means that even I’ve yet to uncover.

Let’s Play videos, written reviews, entries on fan-related MLP wikis, re-uploads on seedy websites, you name it. Thank you so much for playing!

I felt really proud that the game was able to be experienced despite the constant unfinished/unpolished state that it was in, and I just wanted to personally thank everyone for indulging a young rookie game developer that just wanted to contribute so much to a fandom that helped spark their creativity even further, and to also humbly thank everyone for their patronage and support over the years. The last thing I intend to do besides this blog update is to archive the most “complete” version of the game on Flashpoint for everyone to play - at least one that isn’t horribly broken or unplayable. After that, I likely won’t update the blog any further as I don’t use Tumblr in any capacity these days, I’ve long since “left the fandom”, and this is how I’ll finally move forward as a creator. But at the very least, I owe everyone at least a little bit of nostalgia to remember these golden times by. Thank you, and may your lives be filled with as much laughter as Pinkie Pie would’ve wanted. Take care of yourselves. - Sylver P.S. You can watch the entire process of the recreation on my Twitch channel! https://www.twitch.tv/collections/Sn41hVNYehbjTA

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princessmadafu · 4 years ago

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Faith is rocket fuel!

I have been watching the wonderful Louis Theroux's new compilation of his favourite and most thought-provoking moments. It's on BBC, and called "Life on the Edge".

I hold my hand up and say, I don't have a television, and as I don't live in BBC-land, I can only watch on my PC via VPN or my England-dwelling cousin's proxy server, but the first two episodes are out there in internet-land and sometimes it's good to be naughty. This is something that anyone of faith needs to be naughty about.

And if your conscience is at you, watch now then wait and buy the DVD later.

Louis starts off by discussing Marshall Sylver's book Passion, Profit and Power. On the cover is Mr Sylver's quote:

"It's not enough to learn, one must become."

Does this word salad remind you of anyone? I'm reaching out to my native Irish spirit guide and he tells me the initials MM are coming through to him. Actually, my native Irish spirit guide comes with a label 37.5% vol, and I blew out the mystical joss sticks in favour of a La Invicta half-corona.

Guess what Louis calls the "It's not enough to learn, one must become" quote?

He calls it PoundShop Nietzsche.

Which, you could say, is an insult to PoundShops, EuroGiants, DollarStores and [Insert your unit of currency]RetailOutlets the world over.

He goes on to say that such get-rich-quick infomercials have had a big impact by using "the vernacular language of American commerce to sell you life-changing results," and that they all sell the same message; they sell "the cult of being rich, the importance of being a success". Success naturally equating to financial success, of course, and not the success of raising a healthy, loving family or overcoming an illness or disability, or being in any way a boring normal person.

Next quote I jotted down: The Number One Tool you need to achieve success is "Irresistible Influence, getting someone to beg you for what you're selling and have them believe it was their idea." Now this one had me thinking; Which is the greater mug, Netflix or MM? Is MM is the mug, because being the talentless person she is, the only thing she has to sell is her royal connection? I can't believe Netflix would have gone into this on the strength of her invisible acting talent and non-existent production record. Short of a documentary about the history of briefcases, she has nothing to sell other than Harry. Who's the mug?

Anyway, back to Louis Theroux and later in the episode he talks about his faith, his lack of religion, and how the programmes he's made have affected how he views people who have a belief or faith in something, in anything, whether it's in God, Buddha, extra terrestrial aliens, guns or Donald Trump. It's his concept of belief that motivates this episode and is the source of the rocket fuel quote:

"Belief in general, real sincere belief, faith for want of a better term, is like rocket fuel. It powers you into achieving things that you would think would be outside your grasp."

What I haven't worked out yet is what are people grasping? Why have so many people chosen to believe in passion, profit and power? I was hoping Covid19 might help us all remember to love our neighbours, and it began well as we re-learned to care about our human relationships, both personal and on a wider scale, but now I'm back to feeling disillusioned again. So many people are grasping at the ephemeral.

When did love, humility and service to one's neighbours go so totally out of fashion?

If faith is rocket fuel, where is our rocket landing?

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jq37 · 5 years ago

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 16

Into the Woods

We rejoin our Bad Kids (minus Riz, who we’ll get to in a bit) who are still on the Goldenrod while chaos happens around them. Fig adds to the chaos by successfully (with a 30!) pretending to be one of Goldenhoard’s minions to no real plot significant effect. I just feel the need to mention every time Fig rolls a 30+. The kids get Gilear out of his hiding place--a sarcophagus--right before it’s launched out as ammo. His safety proves short-lived however because, when Ayda pings that Riz is no longer on the same plane as them, Fabian recklessly sails the Goldenrod directly into Riz’s last known location, instantly killing both himself and Gilear. So he’s for sure back to his old self.

Kristen brings them back up and passes some heals out generally while she’s at it. Meanwhile, with a Nat 20, Adaine fully Oracles out and knows exactly where Riz was being held. There, they find a smear of blood (which they taste???? even though they know the disease is communicable by blood???) and Riz’s briefcase, but no body. Plus Tracker smells Celestial energy and Ayda senses conjuration magic. But all that subtle sleuthing is made pointless by Kristen getting a Nat 20 (of course) to just stumble into the next room and find a room full of footage of exactly what happened. Wild.

Bill can’t get them to where Riz is. The best he can do is get them to the Astral Plane. Fig remembers to check on the stuff she stole from Vraz. Baby just got a to-do list but Fig conveniently grabbed a scroll which will create a portal back to Arborly. Then, they cast Zone of Truth on Goldenhoard who gives them this information before they get to the Astral Plane:

Arianwyn was never working with him.

He repeats what we already knew about the NK giving him a coin as part of them working together in the past. He adds that his money being spent would mean it would come back to him 5 fold and also increase the spread of the NK’s power.

He thinks the NK is a creep and says he never talks and only appears in weird dreams. At Fig’s prompting, he says he does look a lot like the skeletal figure in Adaine’s Scry on the Shadowcat. He also says he never dealt directly with the Shadowcat and can’t see her in the photo. However, the Shadowcat did put him in touch with Aelwen.

The NK had more followers in Elmville but Goldenhoard doesn’t know who else was because he refused to join the Shadowcat network, which was a requirement. (I wonder if they include whoever the couple in Sandra-Lnn’s past was)

He let the NK have Sylvere when he was taking over the world because he didn’t care about it.

Meanwhile, our little Angel Riz is en route to heaven with his dad who is happy-shocked to see him. Pok calls in that he’s coming in with a “good aligned, possible CI,” and it’s immediately clear based on the reaction of the person on the other side of the call that Pok talks about Riz all the time in glowing terms. They arrive in heaven and Riz sees that he has a little chair set up at a copy of his grave so he can sit and listen when Riz and Sklonda come and talk to him. Ally is almost crying. Lou is almost crying. I’m almost crying.

Heaven--or at least this version of heaven--is set up like an office but outside. I’m picturing the classic Window’s XP background. We learn that Pok is a part of a special force called the Lower Planar Recon Task Force. Basically, it’s full of traditionally evil aligned races (like goblins and gnolls) who are perfect for infiltrating places like Hell. We also see that Pok has a plaque for getting his death avenged by his son.

Anyway, we see where Riz gets his attitude from when Pok kicks puts his gameface on (“Clues first, friends later.”) and has an extended puzzle solving scene with Riz (sprinkled with some father/son stuff). Highlights:

Heaven actually didn’t know about the Kalina=Disease thing. Riz and the gang cracked that for them. Kalina doesn’t ping a Detect Good/Evil but Pok thinks she would ping a Detect Poison/Disease.

He started seeing Kalina about 22 years ago after a mission with the Third Ring (see below). No, he didn’t cheat on Sklonda. If it happened via sexual contact, it would have been pre-meeting her.

Kalina can’t pick things up but she can create the sensation of weight and substance by hijacking your nervous system. So, to his knowledge at the time, Pok had touched her.

He was introduced to Kalina by someone he already knew and trusted from the Third Ring (Falinel government agency).

Kalina doesn’t have godly intelligence or omniscience. The way she blew her cover was accidentally mentioning seeing something firsthand she would have had no way of seeing (a river being in a certain place). He didn’t call her out then but he clocked it and started looking into her extra-governmentally.

Kalina got Sklonda her job in Elmville--which directly put Pok in the path of Goldenhoard, who ate him. He also strongly suspects that he got Pok’s citizenship revoked--an action that allowed Goldenhoard to harm him.

Pok thinks that, despite the Bad Kids’ focus on the sex aspect of the Shadowcat plague, it’s a lot more general than that (see eg: the life transference spell moving it from Sandra-Lynn to Tracker).

Father/Son Interlude #1: Riz mentions that all of his friends are super horny all the time and he’s not about that. Pok says that he was a super late bloomer so it’s fine if he’s not into that now or if he’s not into it period--though he selfishly does want grandkids.

Father/Son Interlude #2: Pok also shares a story about his own relationship with his superficially distant but actually loving 1st gen immigrant dad the twin theses of which are “People show love in different ways,” and “Work is an act of love,” a sentiment that workaholic Riz appreciates.

Most demons can see Kalina.

Pok was in hell undercover to try and figure out how devils had been successful in keeping Kalina at bay. He showed up in the Bottomless Pit but he was trapped there for a while--presumably because Gorthalax was in a gem at that time (also Riz mentions for the first time that Sklonda is dating him which he takes OK).

Pok has a new body so Kalina can’t tap into it. Kalina must have learned where Pok was because Sklonda infected Gorthalax once they started dating and she got the info from him. And since Kalina spurred him to come rescue Pok than she probably wanted him to blow his cover.

Kalina avoided having her picture taken. Once it was taken, she wasn’t able to do certain things she was able to before.

Pok says that Riz probably won’t be able to visit him again without pretty powerful magic, but Riz isn’t too concerned because he has some pretty powerful friends. And, with that, Pok offers to hire Riz as a consultant for heaven which, you can imagine, he is very here for. He takes his son to get suited up.

Back with the other Bad Kids, they look at the assorted things Bill has looted and find some Holy Water, which they pocket, and a birthday present for Fig, which she is pretty easily convinced to open early. It’s a sick new bass which doubles as a literal axe (OK, not an axe, it has serrated edges, I just like the idea of an axe-axe) and can shatter rubies. They then say bye to Bill and get back to Arborly (with the Hangman who is still knocked out, but not destroyed like before).

The group collectively decides to leave Gilear in Arborly for both his safety and the safety of Kristen’s high level spell slots. Adaine takes some of his blood so she can Scry on him if necessary. Sandra-Lynn and Gilear exercise their parental rights to make their daughter feel awkward about her love interest. Speaking of said love interest, we learn what Ayda was working on in secret: a spell for Adaine! It’s called Adaine’s Furious Fists and it essentially lets her magic punch people. Adaine can punch people now! I mean, she’s been doing it since S1 but now she can do it effectually! Love that for her!

Back to Riz. He’s in with an angel called Isosceles (think quasi-eldritch horror Biblical angel, not Halloween costume angel) who is like the Q of the squad. Riz gets hooked up with some new gear:

Trick bullets (like how Green Arrow has trick arrows)

A grappling gun attachment for his gun

Arcadian Watch: Equipped w/ a saw, laser (1d4 radiant dmg) and lockpick

Seraphim Vest: Basically a wingsuit (temp fly speed of 40 but only laterally and down, not up)

Gregorian Tie: Equipped with a spy camera

Once he’s suited up, Pok calls up a door that will get Riz back to the moment in time it was called. But, since they’re in no rush now, he asks Riz to take a walk with him and fill him in on some of the boring, mundane, unimportant stuff he missed from RIz’s childhood. It’s very sweet.

Afterwards, Riz pops back up in Arborly and everyone is super happy to see him. Riz almost blurts out what he learned about his dad but wisely moves the conversation to the Van where he tells them everything except the personal family stuff. Based on the info from Riz, Adaine thinks that Kalina was probably introduced into eleven society a couple hundred years ago by Landrynn Lear (fake cleric spreading the Kalina virus they learned about a few eps ago) so it’s not super weird Aelwen and Arianwyn would have been working with her. It’s less weird than Pok working than them.

Kristen latches onto the part about the picture being taken of her taking away some of her power and they all do checks to puzzle that out. Adaine (with Arcana) realizes that Kalina has to maintain herself in all these people all the time and, if a picture is taken of her--has to make it so that she can be seen by all of those people at all times which is a permanent spell effect which is-as we learned earlier this season--very hard to pull off. Her not being able to do certain things once the pic was taken was probably just her losing power from the strain of this extra magical effect (my takeaway: don’t let her destroy that photo--or, use it as a bargaining chip). Kristen (with Religion) thinks the 4 transubstantiations (familiar to plague and spellbook to curse and so on) are curses which overlap and create synergy (my takeaway: take them out one by one and watch them exponentially drop off in effectiveness). Gorgug (with a Tinkerer’s check) surmises that the way to take the most pics of Kalina and weaken her would be to take a video of her and broadcast it to as many people as possible.

Gorgug also has another thought: He wants to know if them having and spending their cursed money is actively endangering him. At the prospect, he decides to give all of his money away to the Tinkerer’s Hall (without telling them it’s dragon money, which means the curse won’t get passed on). Kristen, Fig, and Riz follow suit, much to Fabian’s shock and horror. Adaine opts to keep her money since she has no caring family to fall back on.

They also--I’m just gonna bluntly say this insane thing that Ally conceived of--have another shrimp party which they livestream in hopes that it will go viral, gain a following, and then when they have video of Kalina, they can get lots of people to watch it. And you know what the craziest part is? It’s not a bad plan. It’s c r a z y, but not illogical. To quote Mr. Lee Mulligan, “The charity shrimp party goes super viral.” Amazing.

The next day, Adaine brings back Boggy (who poofed in the last fight) as an owl so he’ll be a little safer while in Sylvere. Don’t worry, he’s still spherical as ever. The Hangman (now healed) stays behind, as does the Van--but they do take it actual gem out and take it with them. Baby is there and does come with them. Ayda and GaF also come at Fig’s request.

Fig is able to open a passage into Sylvere and they can instantly feel the ambient badness. They decide to start looking for the three things they need to make the Kalina Vaccine: Starmoth chrysalis, Herrowgray nectar, and Lundgreen pollen. The jocks and Boggy go for the chrysalis, Sandra-Lynn, Fig, Adaine, and Ayda go for the nectar, while Kristen, Riz, and Tracker look for the pollen.

The boys don’t find anything but, suddenly, there’s an image of a super creepy witch’s cottage in the gem, and Zathriel (the Celestial inside) bugs out before the gem goes dark. And Ragh is suddenly gone.

In her group, Sandra-Lynn flies off on Baxter in search of the nectar but the flapping noises that should be happening suddenly stop. Ayda offers to fly after her but then also becomes distressed, asking why they’re in a house (the others can’t see it) before also vanishing.

Kristen, Riz, and Tracker are looking around stagnant water for the pollen and they see Kalina’s reflection in the water. Kristen starts to film her on her crystal. Kalina (who they can all see at the same time for once) says that in Sylvere, nightmares are real, something demonstrated when Tracker fully wolfs out without the presence of an actual full moon. Kristen tries to Dimension Door out but they're too far in. They try to subdue her but Trcker vanishes into moths (?). Kalina says that Tracker is chasing down what she thinks is Kristen to kill her (which would make sense as being her nightmare). She says that she said she’d kill them if they got into the forest and here they are. She does a little damage to Riz to underline the statement and Riz starts recording her secretly. Kalina is doing small bits of damage (like 1-4 I think) but it’s enough that it will kill them before they have the chance to make tinctures.

The jocks find the chrysalis and then look for the others. Fig tries to use Ada’s feather to find her but, like the sapphire, it’s dead. Through Boggy, Adaine can see the jocks are flipping out and find the nectar and go find them.

Kristen casts Greater Restoration of Riz and tells him to find Tracker. The attacks stop on Riz and double on Kristen. She’ll be dead before she can employ any kind of healing mojo than can help significantly and the other healer is MIA. Everyone is running to find each other and then they suddenly hear, emanating from every corner of the forest creepy laughter and they all see a crowned skull. Concerning!

Detention

Fabian for Crashing the Goldenrod

This was almost like the ribbon dancing sequence except Kristen had something to potentially gain from that and this was an absolutely insane course of action for no particular reason.

Honor Roll

Kristen for Using Her One Greater Restoration on Riz

What a quintessential healer move. Having one heal and giving it away to your party member. Listen, she may have rejected Helio, but he picked her for a reason. Girl is a BAMF.

Random Thoughts

“You can't make these things up. You can. We did.”

Actual Crazy Person Bill Seacaseter: I had to kill Gilear as a matter of course but I love Gilear!

Bill tells Gilear to kill any man who looks askance at Hilariel. Fig (mirroring a comment to Bill from last season) questions what he should do if any woman looks at her. An enthusiastic, “Dealer’s choice!” is the answer.

"If you die in hell do you die in real life?"

Is the message of this season just “Vaccinate your kids”?

Fabian offers to threaten someone who’s bullying Gilear. You know what that is? Growth.

Bill brought the Bad Kids to the Astral Plane but they wanted to get back to Arborly ASAP. I wonder if there was something Brennan expected them to do there and they didn’t.

Fig ripping the scroll was wild but, honestly, I might have thought that was how it worked too. It’s for sure a thing sometimes. But, in a similar vein, very concerned Fig is going to accidentally shatter Gorthalax’s gem prematurely with that bass. Feel like she’s not 100% clear on how that works.

“I don’t have a crush one anyone. I just want to be rich.”

Riz took over from Adaine this episode in unpacking my high school experiences, lemme tell you.

Wondering where Baron fits into all this. It seems like the kind of effect that Sylvere would be able to produce but he wasn’t in Sylvere when that happened and I feel like that wouldn’t be Riz’s nightmare (unless it represented anxiety about his not dating or s/t like that). What was that about? Who exactly caused it and with what ability? Is that just a standard demon power?

Not important but last week when Brennan said a halo formed around Pok he distinctly motioned around his head and not over his head so I felt happy to have interpreted that correctly when he said this ep that the halo was one of those you see in old pics of like the Madonna and Child and not a modern-traditional angel halo.

The idea of a lower plane task force is extremely dope from a world building perspective. Like, that makes total sense.

“Don’t even talk to me until my death’s avenged.” I knew that was going to be a real mug as soon as it was said.

The stuff with Pok and Riz was so unbelievably sweet. Him having a chair set up to listen to his family talk at his grave? Him clearly being the proudest dad and talking about Riz all the time? Him wanting to just talk about unimportant stuff with Riz because it’s his important stuff. Ugh, my entire heart. And Riz immediately reverting to full, “My dad could beat up your dad,” mode. I love them so much.

I feel like Siobhan took coming up with a spell for Ayda as an actual out of game homework assignment which she should because Brennan *will* let her do it and then Ayda will save the party with it. That’s how D&D works baby I don’t make the rules. Hit me up with your best ideas.

Adaine actually asked Gilear for some of his hair in order to Scry on him and he’s the one who offered blood instead because he couldn’t spare any more hair. Feel like there’s gotta be a spell for that

Siobhan just casually says the phrase, “Mycelium web,” once again just being Adaine.

Couldn’t Kalina just say, “Screw it,” and stop showing up in pictures if the strain gets too much? Like, if your cover is blown, it’s blown. Or is it set up in such a way that it’s gonna screw her before she has the chance to turn it off?

It’s funny that Zac is playing such a low Int character because he’s actually figured out a lot of stuff this season and he’s the one who remembered that dragon madness won’t get passed on if the person who gets the money has no knowledge that it’s dragon money. I wonder if we’ll get to see him play a non-Himbo next season.

Adaine, predictably, has no social media presence. Speaking of social media, I love the naming convention of just sticking the word “fantasy” in front of things like Twitter and Google--as in, “You guys are all over Fantasy Twitter.” Like, why even complicate things? You know what this is.

Goodbye card for Gilear: Outside--Gilear I need you/Inside--to get me a cortado.

I had a stray thought that Riz could possibly use the door to come back after having done angel training for like a month but (1) that’s a little meta-gamey and (2) they were making an exception for him to be there that short time as it was. Anything else probably would have been pushing it.

Is Pok’s heaven affiliated with any deity or is it just where all the good workaholic secret agents go? To me, it seems like it liaises with all the other heavens more than being it’s own main heaven, you know?

Oh man. Ayda disappearing and Fig clutching her powerful feather, begging her to come back after indirectly putting her the situation she’s currently in? Heartbreaking dude.

I wonder why the people who disappeared disappeared beyond just getting rid of the NPCs.

Edit: Forgot to mention the part where Kristen rolled a -1 with her trash Dex so Ayda had to give her a portent roll to not instantly blow everything.

The Bad Kids are in a very precarious position right now. If I trusted Kalina to be someone of her word, I might try to bargain with her--destroy the picture in return for letting us leave. From a DM standpoint, I think it’s probably a good time for an Abernant Ex-Machina. They’re in the forest too as far as we know and they gotta come back into the story somehow. This could be the time.

Everyone going off about how Riz is a little angel and he could have told them if he was a Celestial and how much he loves Gilear while he’s not in the scene and can’t say anything is peak D&D.

Bill Seacaster saying a bunch of insane nonsense and then Adaine being like, “Nice seeing you Mr. Seacaster,” is also peak D&D.

This episode, Adaine, Fig*, Kristen and Brennan (as Sandra-Lynn) each rolled a Nat 20. Adaine and FIg each rolled one Nat 1 that was canceled by disadvantage and Riz rolled one Nat 1 that stuck.

*I actually am not 100% Fig rolled at Nat 20. Kristen did for sure but I don’t have a Tally for her so I might have flipped those by accident. If you happen to know for some weird reason, lemme know.

#fantasy high #fantasy high live #fantasy high spoilers #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers

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ringalingring7 · 4 years ago

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im redesigning smile precure sylver are yall ready for the sheer EDGE

#smile precure sylver

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a-wlw-reads · 6 years ago

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Do the wlw end up together : YES!

I don’t review every book that ends up on this site, so here is a big long list of books where the characters do in fact end up in a relationship (that’s not to say that the book is without drama or violence, simply that the characters’ relationship withstands it).

Out on Good Behavior by Dahlia Adler

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (YA)

Soft on Soft by Em Ali

Jam Jars by Yonnette Anderson (tw: H)

The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery

Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett (tw: R, SV)

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (YA)

The Prince and Her Dreamer by Kayla Bashe

Don’t Tell My Mother by Brigitte Bautista (tw: H)

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear (YA) (tw: R, SV)

The Normal State of Mind by Susmita Bhattacharya (tw: H)

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (MG)

A Thin Bright Line by Lucy Jane Bledsoe (tw: H, R)

Dare Truth or Promise by Paula Boock (YA) (tw: H)

Clean Slate by Andrea Bramhall (tw: H)

Waiting in the Wings by Melissa Brayden

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown (YA)

Far From Home by Lorelie Brown

Double Exposure by Chelsea M. Cameron

Marriage of Unconvenience by Chelsea M. Cameron

Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron (YA)

Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova (YA)

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (YA)

Dreadnought and Sovereign by April Daniels (YA) (tw: T)

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer (tw: SV)

The Witch Sea by Sarah Diemer

Landing by Emma Donoghue

The Dirt Chronicles by Kristyn Dunnion (tw: H, R, SV)

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis (YA)

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland (YA) (tw: H)

Moonstruck by Grace Ellis (graphic novel, MG)

Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember (YA)

Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge

Motor Crush by Brendan Fletcher (comic)

Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin (YA) (tw: H)

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin (graphic novel)

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (YA) (tw: H)

Good Moon Rising by Nancy Garden (YA) (tw: H)

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard (YA)

Cinnamon Blade: Knife in Shining Armor by Shira Glassman

The Second Mango by Shira Glassman

Being Emily by Rachel Gold (tw: T)

Love & Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves

Ammonite by Nicola Griffith

Challah and Callaloo by La Toya Hankins

Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann (YA)

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (tw: H)

The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta

Paper Love by Jae

Robins in the Night by Dajo Jago (tw: T)

Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha (YA)

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston (YA)

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston (YA)

The Dime by Kathleen Kent (tw: H, R, SV, T)

Run by Kody Keplinger (YA)

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan (tw: H, R, SV)

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King (YA)

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

The Paths of Marriage by Mala Kumar (tw: H)

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour (YA)

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee (YA)

Adaptation and Inheritance by Malinda Lo (YA)

Ash by Malinda Lo (YA)

Huntress by Malinda Lo (YA)

Ship It by Britta Lundin (YA)

37 Things I Love (In No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon (YA)

Dating Sarah Cooper by Siera Maley (YA)

The Ada Decades by Paula Martinac

In the Silence by Jaimie Leigh McGovern

Heart of Brass by Morven Moeller

Sappho’s Bar and Grill by Bonnie J. Morris

Falling Into Place by Sheryn Munir

Gretel: A Fairytale Retold by Niamh Murphy

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (tw: SV)

Roller Girl by Vanessa North

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (tw: H)

Idaho Code by Joan Opyr

The Year of the Knife by G.D. Penman

When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri

P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy (MG)

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (tw: H)

Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen (YA) (tw: H)

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield (YA) (tw: SV)

Final Draft by Riley Redgate (YA)

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan (YA)

I Can’t Think Straight by Shamim Sarif (tw: H)

The World Unseen by Shamim Sarif (tw: R)

She Is Me by Cathleen Schine

Tell it to the Bees by Fiona Shaw (tw: H)

Everfair by Nisi Shawl (tw: R)

Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley (tw: H, R, SV)

The Abyss Surrounds Us and The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie (YA)

The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding

Edge of Glory by Rachel Spangler (tw: H)

Thaw by Elyse Springer

The Princess Deception by Nell Stark

Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (YA) (tw: R)

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley (YA) (tw: H)

Heavy Vinyl by Carly Usdin (comic, YA)

Beauty and the Boss by Ali Vali

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi (H, SV)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (tw: H, R, SV)

24/7 by Yolanda Wallace

Tailor-Made by Yolanda Wallace

Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward (YA)

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (tw: H)

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (tw: H)

Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde (YA)

Trigger warning key:

H - homophobia

R - racism

SV - sexual violence

T - transphobia

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confettihipster · 5 years ago

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funniest things to happen in hollyoaks this year:

james calling maxine and sienna “the munch bunch”

nearly everything libby did

sienna’s flat slowly getting pinker and pinker by the episode

when liam locked sylver in his office and sylver threatened to pee on his desk

and then syler was like “this is the weirdest thing you have ever done” and liam’s like “what about that time i banged your wife and then i shot you”

every time breda complained to tony about how difficult her life was becoming after she killed his son

the other day when breda was listing all her victims and she did a little sad face for harry but was super smug about killing glenn

goldie’s numbered list of sex acts that she and joel can do without being smited

liam spying on harry and sadie

sadie just being the dumbest bitch on the entire planet

the painting liam got of grace and curtis as angels

“the only jesus i know is an escort from torremolinos”

when brooke said “kept my virginity got a new chair”

laurie died because he was too stubborn to listen to the actual medical professional sinead trying to save his life for the second time even tho he literally raped her

sienna refusing to have thatcher at her women’s empowerment party!!!!!

sinead reading pride and prejudice overnight to spite sienna and nancy

these women wanna get a job and get a life!

when ste was like to sinead “why don’t you have another baby or get a dog”

liam covering iona’s ears when courtney and jesse were arguing

grace and liam telling cindy about the birds

tony’s dad killing the bird

finn confronting him about killing the bird and edward is like hmmmm bit mouthy for a rapist

walter saying he has the bladder of a camel

every time bobby and max were absolutely savage to mercedes

"darling put on the rufus wainwright album” as romeo looks on in horror

sienna throwing the coins at maxine

james pretending not to laugh at scott’s jokes when he was stealing mitchell’s briefcase

james’s line about how sienna should chew maxine’s food for her and regurgitate it in her mouth

james paying the taxi driver and awkwardly walking off after everyone stormed off when they found out about maxine

breda pretending that she doesn’t know who harry is

brooke accidentally telling sylver about mercedes having an abortion and then running away

james and marnie accidentally burning romeo’s denim jacket that he stole from a gig with all harry’s stuff and marnie reassuring romeo that she will take him to buy a new one, in the background of james finding out that harry is dead

romeo and juliet wearing vans to harry’s funeral

martine telling mitchell he doesn’t need fake tan

grace calling liam an angry little wasp

grace summoning liam to watch her cause drama

james’s face when liam was like “this makes me feel cheap”

liam immediately mastering the art of using non-gendered pronouns just to keep grace on edge about whether he had grassed

libby calling sienna a posh ninja

mitchell complaining about seeing too many smug couples mitchell welcome to the heterophobe gang

nancy literally laughing at darren saying they are soulmates

tom comparing yasmine to cathy newman

cindy calling nancy a miniature margaret thatcher

#hollyoaks

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egopocalypse · 5 years ago

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idk if you're still doing writing prompts but "obsession" with puppetmaster chase, please

“How long are you going to keep me here?”

He turns to her, a placid smile on his face -the same half-amused expression he’s worn since he brought her here- and a knife in his grip, the sharpening stick poised in the other hand. It’s the same one from their kitchen, the one her mom had given them on their wedding day with a passing glance as she pressed the handle into her daughter’s hands, watching with pursed lips as his fingers wrapped around her wrists and guided her through slicing the cake.

She wonders now if her mom saw the signs before she did.

“As long as it takes for you to remember.” He drags the knife down, scraping it against engraved metal, dragging out the sound of metal against metal and her breath hitching in her throat.

“Remember what, exactly?” She can’t hide the tremble in her voice, even as she swallows the lump in her throat. “Your delusions? The reasons I left you in the first place?” Raw wrists rub at the stiff rope tied behind her back and pain lances up her arms, cracked skin opening and bleeding warm blood again. The rope has got to be soaked in it by now.

“No no no no no no no no,” he clicks his tongue, striding forward to cup her face in his palm. “I want you to remember the good things, Songbird. Don’t you remember how happy we were? Before certain obstacles got in the way?”

He crouches down, meeting her eyes on her level, and for a moment, she can almost imagine the spark of warmth she felt when she first met him was still there.

But all she sees is ice- cold, sharp, and wild. No longer a comforting hearth but an icy blizzard, the chill seeping down to her bones. The fire has been stomped out and only icicles remain, forming a thorny hedge she couldn’t see through.

“I do remember them, Chase,” She wishes she could forget, if only so she could wrench her head out of his grasp and pretend she hadn’t been leaning into the touch, however slight it had been. “But I can’t forget what happened afterwards. I can’t forget what drove you to this.”

He shrugs, dropping his hand and examining the knife held lightly in the other. “If you don’t, that’s fine. I’ll just take the kids on a little road trip and tell them you weren’t feeling well. I’m sure they’d love to spend more time with their father.” His voice drops without warning, an edge as sharp as his blade hidden in his tone. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to see them.”

“What do you think, Stacy? Do they miss their dear old dad?” He stands back up, tracing the knife’s tip along the the chair’s arm, etching into the wood. “What do you tell them when they ask why they’re no longer allowed to visit me? Do you tell them it’s your fault? That you’re too selfish to let them spend just a few hours with me every once in a while? That you’re too scared to even let them out of your sight?”

She stays silent, terror curling in her gut as he barks out a laugh- cold, harsh, unforgiving. “Is that why you took them out of school, Stace?! Why you changed the locks as soon as you kicked me to the curb?!” There’s a manic gleam in his eyes as he explodes- frantic movements as the avalanche collapses over them. “I gave up everything for you! I did everything I could to support you and the kids, and that’s how you repay me?! By throwing me out when I needed a little help in return?!”

Her hackles rise, and she can no longer remain quiet. “You were insane, Chase!” She bristles. “I did what was best for the kids, and I see now that I was right to do it!”

“You made them targets to him! I can’t protect them-“

“Anti isn’t real!”

There’s a long, suffocating silence- the world held on a precipice as she sucks in a harsh breath, watching him with wary eyes. His gaze drops to the knife, to the light glinting off flawless steel, and she’s suddenly aware of everything. The beads of sweat on her brow, the hair sticking to the back of her neck, and the slight drop in temperature that sends shivers down her spine. Time seems to slow to a crawl, seconds ticking by as blood rushes from her face.

And all at once, it breaks.

“You’re right. He’s not real anymore.” His voice drops to a low murmur, and when he looks at her again, his pupils have shrunk to pinpricks and his eyes are almost… silver?

“But allow me to show you a few tricks I learned when he was in my head.”

Strings find her wrists, a knife finds her throat, and she goes out quietly- not with a bang, but with a whimper.

@ill-spink @abouttobesilenced @lostinegomayhem @sylver-striings @kisstheashes @here-be-beckany @chaoticnico @acuaticamber06 @spicy-spedicey @superbanananinja234 @imallwaysconfused @awkward-bullshit @cest-mellow @help-trashbin @epicfangirl01 @clownoutofdarkness @mihaela-tbg @iris-the-asparagus @sqxxddygremlin @nextstep17 @bunchofdoodlesinspace @dreamsoffallingstars @redangel201 @abyssshifter @eridangan @jaysflight @skyewardlight @wildhorsewolf @metautske @allons-ychey @stuck-in-a-l-o-o-p @kyerrio @unadventurousjulie @oliveroxenfree3 @kairomancerr @kitnkas @gray-avidan @dorito-with-no-weakness @glixbitch @spontaneoustornadoes @littleluversblog @hexatrash @bookwormscififan @paperhatcollection @novelistgeek @worm-does-shit @bustedclover @mad-men-inc @laniebugged @megasepticfan

#jacksepticeye #chase brody #jacksepticeye fanfiction #writersofjack #river's writing #puppetmaster chase

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hollyoaksloversx · 5 years ago

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Chemistry, Passion and Bad Boy Bob...

Rounding up a week in Hollyoaks (9th-13th December 2019)

The ‘who shot Mercedes’ saga continued this week as another suspect was eliminated from enquires. As the week began, Bobby was pestering Mercedes to be allowed to go and visit Sylver in prison, and was furious when she said no. That wasn’t the only trouble for Mercy, as over the days that followed, someone was clearly trying to put the wind up her. Mercedes was spooked when a disturbing photo was sent to The Dog and later, whilst in the car park, someone tried to push a barrel onto her. We didn’t have long to wait to find out who was terrorising Mercy, as young Bobby was quickly revealed to be the culprit. However, Mercy was soon given more to worry about when she received the news that a lab report had concluded that Sylver’s blood did not match a sample found on the door of The Loft...

This bombshell, announced by Grace during the quiz night, seemed to send Diane into a panic, and she confided in Edward that the blood could be hers. Deciding to own up before the police linked her with the shooting, Diane headed to the police station to confess to visiting Mercedes before she was shot. Despite Diane insisting that she’d left The Loft prior to the trigger being pulled, DS Cohen wasn’t convinced, and told Diane that her word was not enough to get her off the hook. Luckily for Diane, she had conclusive CCTV evidence that proved she couldn’t possibly have shot Mercedes. Diane took DS Cohen back to The Hutch, and presented her with a lovely little film of her and Edward getting down and dirty in the kitchen, just as the trigger was pulled. So, it would appear that Diane’s now in the clear as far as far as the shooting goes. However, there’s still the small matter of the fact that she slept with her husband’s Father, and it could well become common knowledge as DS Cohen revealed that the CCTV footage may be used as evidence at Sylver’s trial...

Meanwhile, Sid was feeling rejected as Juliet rekindled her friendship with Ollie and Imran, and called on Liam for some drugs. Later, Juliet felt guilty for ditching Sid last week and invited him back to hers, where he offered her some drugs. Juliet refused, and James returned home some time later to find Sid in a right old state, with Juliet trying and failing to help him. After realising that Liam had supplied the youngster with the drugs, James went round to confront him about the danger he had put Juliet in. However, he soon decided that a change of tactics was necessary, and he recorded Liam agreeing to supply him with half a kilo of ketamine...

It was Romeo’s talk of spending Christmas together as a family that changed James’ mind about handing the recording in. Realising that he preferred to live his life on the edge, he offered Liam the chance to go into business together (the criminal kind, of course, this Hollyoaks after all!) Initially, Liam wasn’t sold on the idea, but came round after the pair saved Kyle from a mugger outside The Hutch. The chemistry between the two continued to grow, resulting in the pair sharing a steamy kiss...

Elsewhere, determined to get Finn out of Chester once and for all, Sally, with encouragement from Edward, summoned John Paul to the village, under the guise of helping to deal with a family crisis. Arriving in the village, John Paul was angry to realise that he been duped, but eventually agreed to meet with Finn. With the support of Sally and Nancy, John Paul headed to the Hutchinson’s for his first meeting with Finn for more than five years, and made him see the pain that he was inflicting on everyone, including his own family, by setting up home in the village. Finn was persuaded to leave, which meant that John Paul finally felt able to return home full time. Needing to tie up some loose ends, John Paul headed back to Singapore, but promised Sally that he’d be back soon.

In other news this week, Jesse was ecstatic when Toby offered to help him rebrand the salon, starting with the arrival of a celebrity guest who could potentially be a new client. However, it was soon revealed that Jesse’s being taken for a ride by the newcomer. Finally, Romeo successfully launched a social media campaign to drum up business for the patisserie following the negative press coverage generated by Finn’s antics at the launch.

This Week’s Cast:

Anthony, Bobby, Breda, Brody, Celeste, Courtney, Dee Dee Diane, DS Cohen, Edward, Finn, Goldie, Grace, Imran, Jack, James, Jesse, John Paul, Juliet, Kyle, Liam, Marnie, Mercedes, Nancy, Oliver, Romeo, Rose, Sally, Sami, Scott, Sid, Sienna, Sylver, Toby, and Yasmine.

Blasts From The Past:

Adam Donovan, Glenn Donovan, Lily Drinkwell, Mac Nightingale, Donna Marie Quinn, Stuart Sumner, Harry Thompson.

#Hollyoaks #Highlight #Mercedes McQueen #Diane O'Connor #Edward Hutchinson #Bobby Costello #James Nightingale #Liam Donovan #John Paul McQueen #Finn O'Connor #Juliet Quinn #Sid Sumner #Marnie Nightingale #Romeo Quinn #Jesse Donovan

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thisiswhymomworries · 5 years ago

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Transgender / Non-Binary Book Reccs

links to Asexual / Aromantic, Bisexual / Pansexual, Gay (mlm), and Lesbian sheets

TCCL stands for Tulsa City-County Library, in Oklahoma. These reference sheets list the books physically available (not including ebooks only) at the 24 library locations in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For folks outside of this range, I suggest double-checking your local libraries, as well as the apps OverDrive, Hoopla, and YourCloudLibrary!

An online version of this list can be found at https://bit.ly/2lujZLR. This goodreads shelf includes ebooks, new releases, and books not available at the library! It also features a notes section that specifies which character is trans / non-binary / genderfluid / intersex / etc, their exact identity if stated in the text, and whether they are a main or side character.

In the shelf list along the left side of the page, you can also find shelves for other LGBT+ identities, as well as books featuring characters that are disabled, fat, mentally ill, neurodivergent, and people of color. All the books are cross-tagged, so a book featuring a black disabled trans woman would appear in the shelves named disabled, POC, and transgender.

transcription below the cut!

Books with Transgender, Non-Binary Characters Available at TCCL

(format: Title Author Genre)

The Black Tides of Heaven Yang, J. Y. Fantasy

The Red Threads of Fortune Yang, J. Y. Fantasy

The Descent of Monsters Yang, J. Y. Fantasy

Gender Failure Coyote, Ivan E. Autobiography

River of Teeth Gailey, Sarah Fantasy / Historical Fiction

Mask of Shadows Miller, Linsey YA Fantasy

Ruin of Stars Miller, Linsey YA Fantasy

A Darker Shade of Magic Schwab, V. E. YA Fantasy

A Gathering of Shadows Schwab, V. E. YA Fantasy

A Conjuring of Light Schwab, V. E. YA Fantasy

Gender Queer: A Memoir Kobabe, Maia Autobiography

The Lost Coast Capetta, Amy Rose YA Fantasy

I Wish You All the Best Deaver, Mason YA Romance

The High King’s Golden Tongue Derr, Megan Science Fiction

A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns Bongiovanni, Archie Graphic Novel

What We Left Behind Talley, Robin YA Romance

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion Killjoy, Margaret Fantasy / Horror

A Memory Called Empire Martine, Arkady Science Fiction

Wake of Vultures Bowen, Lila Western / Fantasy

Conspiracy of Ravens Bowen, Lila Western / Fantasy

Malice of Crows Bowen, Lila Western / Fantasy

Treason of Hawks Bowen, Lila Western / Fantasy

Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness, and Becoming a Man McBee, Thomas Page Autobiography Hungry Hearts Chapman, Elsie YA Fiction

Something Like Gravity Smith, Amber YA Romance

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter Hall, Alexis Fantasy

Birthday Russo, Meredith YA Romance

These Witches Don’t Burn Sterling, Isabel YA Fantasy

Not Your Villain Lee, C. B. Teen Fantasy

On the Edge of Gone Duyvis, Corinne YA Science Fiction

Chameleon Moon Sylver, RoAnna Fantasy

Two Boys Kissing Levithan, David YA Romance

Full Fathom Five Gladstone, Max Fantasy

Stranger Than Fanfiction Colfer, Chris YA Fiction

Beast Spangler, Brie YA Romance

Lumberjanes, Vol 1 Stevenson, Noelle Graphic Novel

The Art of Being Normal Williamson, Laura YA Fiction

Finding Your Feet Lennox, Cass Romance

The Pants Project Clarke, Cat Middle Grade Fiction

I Am J Beam, Cris YA Fiction

Amateur: A True Story about What Makes a Man McBee, Thomas Page Autobiography

The Wise and the Wicked Podos, Rebecca YA Fantasy

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children Cronn-Mills, Kirstin YA Fiction

Every Heart a Doorway McGuire, Seanan YA Fantasy

Dreadnought Daniels, April YA Fantasy

Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard Bertie, Alex Autobiography

Escapology Warom, Ren Science Fiction

Blood Binds the Pack Wells, Alex Science Fiction

If I Was Your Girl Russo, Meredith YA Romance

Alex As Well Brugman, Alyssa YA Fiction

Middlesex Eugenides, Jeffrey Historical Fiction

Annabel Winter, Kathleen Fiction

Golden Boy Tarttelin, Abigail YA Fiction

None of the Above Gregorio, I. W. YA Fiction

#transgender #non-binary #book reccs #lgbtqia #lgbt+ books #transgender is used as an umbrella term here #the books listed also include non-binary / genderfluid / genderqueer / intersex ppl

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lgbtqreads · 5 years ago

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Hey hey, do you have anything about found family? Misfits finding each other ? ideally something like The disasters but with characters in their 20s, not teenagers ( kinda like the long way to a small angry planet) bonus points if theres f/f but honestly I can live without romance

Ooh yes, try A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White, Empire of Light by Alex Harrow, and Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver!

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kisstheashes · 6 years ago

Text

Rotten Credence

Summary: The desire for revenge that boiled in Marvin’s blood was finally spilling over

Content warnings: major character death, graphic depictions of violence and burning alive

Tagging: @writerwithdepression @superbanananinja234 @egopocalypse @gum-xx-drop @clownoutofdarkness @shadowstakeall @spicydanhowell @friendly-neighborhood-badger @rogue-of-light-analyzed @acuriousquail @maybekatie @here-be-becquerel @shamrockace @sylver-rhymes @space-babe-nugget @cute-anxious-kitten @the-rampaige @starlightxnightmare @glixbitch (If you want to be added to my tag list, lmk! I’ll be happy to tag you!)

Previous parts in this verse: 1 2

A/N: This is the third part in my Corrupt!Marvin verse^^

Three days had gone by without notice. Marvin kept his eyes low as he sat at the table, pushing his food around his plate. I'm still healing. He'd managed to steal some first aid supplies without notice, giving the trash to his Master to take care of.

"Are you not hungry?" Jackie snapped, startling Marvin. Any conversation happening at the table came to a dead stop as they stared at Marvin.

"Sorry...I just got lost in thought." He bit his lip as he put effort into eating. Just until I heal...

"Why not elaborate?" Henrik's gaze bore into Marvin's head. He's the one that wants me dead.

"Nothing important." He restrained himself from snapping back at them. "You don't care anyway. Not unless you suspect it's about the fucking Glitch." He huffed, turning his attention back to the plate. Fine. Snapping at them felt good. It was the least they deserved for what they did.

Jackie narrowed his eyes, focusing on the traitor. "Medical supplies have gone missing." He watched for any sort of reaction. "We can't find any evidence you took any. But it must be you. None of us have." The traitor scowled. When he glanced at Jackie, the green in his eyes was much too obvious. Jackie bit his tongue. He'd have to tell Henrik so they could kill him before he suspected anything.

"I didn't take a damn thing! Stop accusing me of everything!" He got up, trying to leave the table but Henrik grabbed his wrist. "Get off of me!" He forced his rising magic down into his veins.

"You are not allowed away yet! Sit down!"

"Stop treating me like this! Let go of me!" He pulled as hard as he could, but he couldn't match Henrik's strength. "You're all a bunch of fucking cowards!" he screamed. "You're just scared of me! You can't fucking handle me with magic so you took it away!" He ripped out of Henrik's grasp. "Fucking. Cowards." He turned again to leave when he felt another softer touch. "What?!"

He spun around to see Chase's arm reached out to him. He retracted and pulled the brim of his hat lower over his eyes. "Please? You've barely eaten anything..." he mumbled.

Marvin chewed on his lip. "I'm not hungry." He left the room before Jackie could stop him. He needed away from their bullshit. Their condemnation. He heard someone following him and balled his hands into fists to hide the sparks. "Leave me alone."

"Bro..." Marvin turned around, glaring at Chase. Chase took off his hat and sighed, going further into the back of the house. "I never believed it..." He ran his fingers across the brim of his hat. "That...you were evil. But now...you're scaring me." He wouldn't look at Marvin. "You did something, didn't you? With him."

Marvin bit the inside of his cheek. "I don't trust you."

"I can't blame you. They're treating you like shit." Chase shifted, putting his hat back on. "They're the ones acting evil. Whatever you're doing...maybe you should be doing it. I don't know!" He shook his head, mumbling something to himself. "Just...not with Anti. He's manipulating you." Marvin couldn't bear to see the pain in Chase's eyes as he finally looked up. "He's not good for you."

"You don't understand the hell they put me through!" The jagged edge in his voice was as obvious as the snarl on his face. "I didn't have any other choice! They took away my fucking magic! They want to kill me. Me against them. He was the only one who could do anything to help me." Marvin continued on to his room. "Get the fuck out of here if you want to live. Jackie is coming to kill me and it won't be pretty."

Alone. Fucking finally. He pulled open the closet, rummaging around in the depths. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found the dagger in the back, hidden in a stack of shirts. Toxic green fire plumed on his hand, traveling up the knife and imbuing itself in the blade. It hid itself, the green fire visible inside the blade only in the right light. "Be ready, Jackieboy Man..." he whispered, holding the blade up to the light. "You have no idea what I'm capable of..."

"He's influenced." Jackie frowned. "We need to kill him before it gets any worse." He glanced at Henrik, sitting at the other end of the table. "What's the best way to?"

Henrik hummed, resting his chin on his folded hands. "Anesthetic first. Then kill him while he is out. If it works."

"If it works? What the hell does that mean?" Jackie glanced at JJ, who hadn't said a word throughout the night.

"Anti's influence could very well render anything useless." Henrik stood, taking care of the abandoned plates. "Is better to try sooner than later. You are not very subtle, Jackie. He will know." Henrik scoffed as he passed Jackie at the table again. "You have been very quiet, Jameson."

JJ startled, quickly reassuring he was fine, then faltering. "I...am concerned I did the wrong thing." He fixed his slightly askew bowtie. "I was not sure it was Marvin who hurt me." His hands faltered in his signing, unable to look at Jackie. He'd been terrifying ever since Marvin had been labeled as "traitor."

Jackie narrowed his eyes. "What." JJ jumped at his sharp tone, eyes darting to him then down. "What are you talking about."

JJ wrung his hands before speaking. "I couldn't get a clear look at who it was. I...I assumed it was Marvin. It had to be." He fiddled with the buttons on his vest. "But...maybe not." He shook his head. "It had to be, did it not? He's the only one who could burn me like that."

"Whether he did or not is irrelevant!" Henrik spoke up. "He made a deal with that demon! He has turned against us." Henrik started walking in the direction of his lab. "It is us, or him."

Jackie huffed, getting up from his chair. "You've only held us up," he stated. His voice was still cold and sharp as the edge of a blade. "He needs to die before he kills us." Jackie joined Henrik in his lab, leaving Jamie alone at the table.

He sighed. He's going to want to kill me too, isn't he? He pushed up his sleeve to reveal the burn scar. I can't change his mind now.

White noise accompanied Anti's appearance. Marvin glanced at him before dropping his eyes back to the knife. "Don't go after Chase. He isn't part of this." He rested the flat of the blade against his palm, watching the fire reflected inside the blade. "He...doesn't deserve to die."

Anti narrowed his eyes, studying his puppet. He's still human, I suppose. A static noise left his throat as his head glitched to the side. "̛T͜he͜ doc̛toŕ ̵pla͠ns̕ to se̛date ͠and ͟k̶ill ͡y̷ou͜."͜

Green sparks flew off of Marvin's hands. "I'll kill them first." He stood, cracking his neck. "I'm not going to give them a single fucking chance to touch me." Fire lined the outside of his hands and arms up to his elbows. Anti walked over to him and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't want you to interfere. They're mine to kill." He picked up his mask from the nightstand and put it on. Anti's knuckles slid across his jaw and he sighed, extinguishing his fire and letting Anti hold him. "I'm glad I chose you, my King," he mumbled.

Anti held him, feeling the static humming inside his puppet's veins. He grinned before pulling away. "S̡h͟e̵d͏ ̛th͏eìr ̧b͟l͜oǫd͝,́ ̕m̧a̴ǵic̨i̷án."̸

Marvin's eyes were bright green as he entered the hallway, knife in hand. He backed into the darkest parts of the hallway, listening for where the others were. He crept down to the front of the house, noticing the cleared and empty table, along with the lab's lights on from under the closed door. "I am not the mouse you think I am..." he mumbled. He stood in front of the lab door, listening to the murmurs of conversation on the other side. His heartbeat sped up as he opened the door, shaking with excitement. "I know you want to kill me." He smiled as they turned to him, Jackie's aura already flaring.

"Traitor." Jackie readied an energy blast as Marvin's hands exploded into toxic green flame. "Fucking traitor, look at what you did to yourself! Ruined yourself with him."

Marvin kept an eye on Henrik as he tried to sneak around the lab. "Aligning with my King is the best thing I've ever done." He scowled, flames in his hands escalating. "So fuck you and fuck you for forcing me to do it." He threw the knife, only scratching Jackie before he moved. Jackie yelped as the smell of burnt skin filled the room. Marvin was on the floor before he saw where Jackie had gone, energy blast wrapped around his throat, trying to kill him. Marvin shoved with his fire filled hands, kicking Jackie off of him. He got up, noticing a white coat out of the corner of his vision and releasing a flame. Henrik sputtered and cried out as he was hit, slamming into a table as he stumbled.

Jackie's suit was torn where the fire had burned through, and ugly red marks marred his chest and stomach. He grabbed a scalpel and lept at Marvin, cutting him with it. Marvin spun around, grabbing his wrist and burning it to the bone. Jackie screamed before forcing Marvin back with a force field.

Henrik recovered from the blast, gripping the syringe tighter. Evil. The needle scratched the surface of Marvin's skin as he moved, breaking as it hit Jackie's force field. "Shit!" He heard Marvin growl before hands were on his chest, fire starting to consume him. He screamed as the green flames grew and enveloped his torso and dug under his skin. Marvin shoved, pushing an extra blast into Henrik's veins and arteries. Henrik couldn't stop screaming as the fire burned him alive from the inside out; charring his heart and boiling his blood. He fell to the floor as arteries and veins broke, blood flooding out of it's designated areas and into blotchy, deep purple spots that showed under his skin. His screaming stopped abruptly as the fire burned his heart and cut it in half. The fire on his skin died down into nothing, leaving behind nothing but a blackened torso that smelled of burnt meat and fabric.

Marvin turned back to Jackie, staring in shocked silence. "You'll get your turn too, don't worry." Green fire lined his arms as he watched Jackie's force field flicker and die. With tears in his eyes Jackie attacked- far too slow. Marvin moved out of the way, the red energy blast missing him by a mile.

"You monster!" Jackie screamed, shaking as he tried to hold himself together. One of the ceiling lights went out as he took the light as his own, the bright orb shifting in his palm. "You fucking monster!" He threw it, hitting Marvin's side before he could move, earning a grunt of pain. "How could you!"

He glared at the superhero. "You made me this way. Your hate. Your anger. Your betrayal. I did nothing yet you took my magic away. You turned everyone against me." His palms tinged green and his veins glowed as he pulled more magic to the surface.

"We never trusted you." He pulled more light down to his palm. "You were always going to betray us." He panted as he ran at the traitor, body glowing red.

Marvin caught Jackie's throat in his hand and blood flew. Jackie's neck tore open like he was being dissected, spraying blood and organ and skin tissue. Wide eyes filled with tears fell panicked then dead as Marvin's fire burned what was left of his throat. Marvin let him fall to the ground, watching as blood pooled onto the floor. His esophagus and larynx fell inside the burnt cavity of his neck, filling it with blood like it was a bowl.

He started shaking as he stared at their dead bodies for what felt like hours. All he could smell was burnt flesh. He sat on the ground next to Jackie's body, eyes unfocusing as he stared at Henrik's charred remains across the floor. He took his mask off and tossed it, not caring where it went. There wasn't anything I could do... He focused on Jackie's destroyed throat, then hid his face in his hands as he started to cry. There wasn't another way... Strands of hair were pulled into his fists as he shook violently. They didn't care about me... He started sobbing as the smell of blood filled his senses. "I'm so sorry...I had to..."

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #henrik von schneeplestein #dr schneeplestein #jackieboy man #jse egos #jse community #jse fanfiction #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jameson jackson #chase brody #my writing archive #im so n e r v o u s #sjskfjsfafas #ashes writing corner

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